A/N: Here's a birthday present to my readers. My longest chapter yet for this story. Hope you enjoy.

Dana sat tensed in the back seat of the car her hand covering Trip's smaller hand. Her mind buzzed with scenarios of why the men could be after them. She figured it had to be to be related to a case that she had worked on, but as hard as she tried she couldn't think of any mob related cases. She glanced over at Trip who seemed to be taking the whole situation pretty well in stride, staring calmly out the window as the darkened city scenery flew past them. She was glad that he seemed so calm, but it struck her as odd. How could he be so calm after they were near kidnapped and who know what else might have happened? An involuntary shudder ran down her spine at the thought.

She glanced up at the passengers in the front of the car. Maybe that why Trip was so calm. Trip definitely seemed to have a connection with the masked man, who ever he was. She looked up noticing a pair of eyes looking back at her. They held a mix of concern, uncertainty but also determination. She didn't turn away from his gaze. There seemed to be something familiar in it. She couldn't quite place what it was, but she had a feeling, almost like déjà vu. The eyes looked away and she turned her attention to the dark night as well.

A few minutes later, Orwell's voice broke the silence in the car. "Here we are."

Dana looked up in amazement at her surroundings. The large tents rose up out of the night sky in a way forming their own little city. Vince immediately got out, meeting Orwell in front of the car. "Take them inside. I have to go have a talk with Max."

Orwell nodded, looking over at Dana and Trip. "Please follow me."

Dana grabbed Trip's hand as they were led toward the largest tent. Dana drew back as a ball of fire emanated nearby from one of the fire eaters. She saw a beautiful blonde woman straighten up from a contortion and gasp when she caught sight of them. She saw that a man with jet black hair and a dwarf were playing cards and their arrival also caught their attention. They kept walking past everyone stopping in front of a small room.

"Come on, in here." Orwell lifted up the tent flap, revealing a room containing a small bed and a chair and few other small items.

Vince wearily entered Max's tent. The older man didn't even look up from his desk. "Before you say anything, I want you to know that I am not a babysitter or a daycare service."

"They are only going to be here on a very temporary basis. As soon as I have this situation taken care of, they are going to be going back to their lives. "

"What about you?" Max asked finally looking up.

"What about me?" Vince shot back.

"Are you going to be going back to your life as well?" Max reclined in his chair, looking squarely at Vince.

"You know I can't do that." Vince snapped. "Not as long as Chess is out there."

"How can your family return to theirs?" Max motioned to the tent that was Vince's part time residence.

"No one else knows who they are. Once, I take care of Devino. No one else will." Vince said growing agitated.

"How are you going to continue with this?" Max said motioning to the Cape and mask that Vince was still wearing.

"I'm going to tell her." Vince said. "It's only right that she knows. Trip already knows and it is only right that she does."

"I see." Max leaned forward on his desk interlacing his fingers. "You can not be swayed from this decision."

"No, she deserves to know. " Vince said adamantly. "Trip found out, and it isn't right to have him keep something like this from his mother. She is confused and frightened."

"Hmm" Max stared at Vince contemplatively. "We have discussed this before. A tiger can not change his stripes."

"I'm not asking you too." Vince shouted, before taking a breath to calm down. "All I am asking is you for to give them shelter for a day or two until I can get this resolved. I will owe you."

"They can stay, but I will remember that." Max said, dismissing Vince.

Vince stepped out of the tent and saw Raia and Ruvi standing outside the door.

Vince looked over at Raia cautiously. "Will you take care of them?"

Raia nodded as Vince gave her a small smile in return. "Thank you."

Vince walked into his temporary home and saw Dana sitting on the bed. Orwell and Trip were playing a card game at the small table. Dana looked up at him. She seemed confused and worried but wanted to appear strong. He took a deep breath trying to steady his beating heart. As much as it thrilled him to see his family, he was also worried about the shock of revealing himself.

Trip smiled up at him knowingly, he returned with a small smile of his own. His heart pounded in his ears, as he looked at Trip and Orwell. "I need to have a word with you mom."

"Come on, Trip we can continue this out here." Orwell said.

Dana looked at them departing wearily, but didn't make an attempt to stop her. She had just help save their lives.

"I promise, he'll be safe." Vince said.

Vince watched as Trip left the tent, giving him another smile.

"Okay, so why are two mob guys after me and my son?" Dana asked standing and crossing her hands over her chest.

"I'll explain that. But, I have to show you something first." Vince said stepping closer to her, pushing his hood back, revealing his curly hair.

Dana instinctively wanted to take a step back, but found herself rooted to the spot, unsure exactly what was going on.

"You deserve to know what is going on." Vince said softly, reaching for the tie that kept his mask in place. The last of the charade was about to fall. Time seemed to come to a standstill as he removed the mask.

Dana gasped as felt the blood drain away from her face. She felt lightheaded as if she were about to faint. Her mind began trying to comprehend what her eyes were seeing. Her mouth opened to try to form a question, but no words came out. She watched in a state of shock as a ghost approached her. He couldn't be a ghost. She had talked to him.

As he stood directly in front of her, she felt herself lift her hand up and touch his face. "I'm real." Two those words were all that she needed, as she collapsed into him, sobbing.

Vince held his wife next to him. It had been so long, since he had been able to hold her and feel her warmth against him. He stood there silent, giving her the time she needed to recover from the shock he had just given her. He would stand there as long as it took, just holding her.

Eventually, she pulled herself away from him, tears still creating lines down her face. He gently wiped them away, gazing down at her. He waited a moment more for her to regain her composure. "How? I saw you – on the news- there was an explosion."

"There was a tunnel underneath the train car. I was able to get in it just before the blast. The door to the tunnel shielded me. I woke up here."

Vince guided her towards the small bed that he slept on when he was at the circus. "I know you have questions."

Dana felt like Alice waking up at the other end of the rabbit hole at the end of the story, when a thought struck her. She placed her hand over her mouth as she gasped. "When you and your friends were helping Marty and his family try to escape. This is why you wouldn't turn around and look at me."

Vince nodded. "That was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. All I wanted to do was to tell you I was alive. You didn't have to carry everything by yourself. I thought by not telling you, I was protecting you. No one would go after the family of a dead man."

"Why tell me now?" Dana placed her hand over his. She was still amazed at the fact that she could do this small gesture. "Don't get me wrong. I'm glad to know you're alive and everything that is going on."

"The incident the other night changed things. Trip was exploring the building next door. I saw him and went to check on him."

Dana took a quick intake of breath. "That's why you started coming at night."

"I couldn't leave you alone, completely." Vince said as he pushed a stray strand of hair away from her face. "I had to check and make sure that both of you were alright even if it meant not as myself."

Dana smiled up at him leaning into his chest once again for a moment, before leaning out. "So, all those stories about .." Dana pointed to his outfit. "They're all true?"

"Some have been exaggerated. I had no idea how sore a superhero gets." Vince gave her a one sided smile before becoming serious again. "One of those men from earlier got a lucky shot in and wanted to use Trip as bait to get to me. I can not let anything happen to you." Vince rubbed Dana's hand with his thumb. "If anything happened to you or "Trip…."

"I'm not going to pretend that it has been easy without you." Dana said. "But, you don't need to worry about us."

Vince smiled. "I am not going to be able to come home, just yet. But, I wanted you to know that I was around and still looking out for you."

"I understand." She hugged him tightly. "I'll just pretend it is one really long stake out. You do what you have to do."

"I'm going to need you to stay here, out of sight until its safe. Okay?" Vince asked looking deeply into her eyes as if studying every feature of them.

"Okay." She leaned in and kissed him.