Do You Believe In Magic?

The two had made their way to Fleming's penthouse, quietly slipping past security, the better to continue talking in private. Moreover, Peter insisted on picking up his costume, contacts and all, "because there's no way in hell I'm going to continue parading around in your ridiculous cape." (Reluctantly, in return, he'd given his nemesis back his own costume.)

Vince had had a moment of vertigo, watching his body don Chess' regalia. Had any witnesses been present, they would have believed this conclusive proof that Vince Faraday was indeed Chess. (The fact that Chess' costume fit his body perfectly didn't help matters any. Maybe Vince was seeing things. Surely they weren't the same size?) Once the moment had passed, Vince felt more at ease talking to Chess than he suspected he would have felt talking to himself. If he didn't look too closely at his opponent's face, he could almost forget they were in this impossible situation.

"So, what's the last thing you remember before hitting the bar?" Although Faraday couldn't see it, Peter furrowed his brow in concentration.

"There was a woman, wearing fish-net stockings-"

"Why am I not surprised?"

Your reputation precedes you.

"No, it wasn't like that! I didn't sleep with her."

"Obviously not, or I would have woken up with her." Vince realized that his morning could actually have been worse than it was. Go figure. So, the bright side was he didn't wake up with one of Fleming's floozies. Somehow, the thought didn't cheer him up much.

"I wasn't trying to sleep with her, Faraday. I was trying to find out how she had gained admittance. I didn't hire her and she wasn't on the guest list. I still don't know what she was doing there. I would never have called for a magician-"

"A magician?" Vince asked.

"Right. I remember…she seemed surprised that I didn't believe in magic-"

"You…? Oh, god! You idiot! And then we just happened to wake up in each other's bodies the next morning! Do you believe in magic, now, Peter?"

"Excuse me. If this hadn't happened, would you have believed that magic was real?"

"Just forget it. What was the name of this magician?"

"I can't remember."

"Well, we're going to have to find out, aren't we? I don't see why she would have made us switch bodies, though. What the hell did you say to her?"

"Nothing! All I remember is telling her I did just fine for myself without magic and then…"

"Yes?"

"I don't know. She said something about money and power not being everything…"

Which is nonsense.

Well, Chess might believe that, but Peter knew better. Family was everything. Ah, that would explain his (Faraday's?) hangover. Speaking of family… Jamie now believed that they both knew her secret.

Thanks to your big mouth.

"Faraday, there's something I need to tell you. Orwell-"

"Oh, no! Did she hit on you thinking you were me?" In all of the confusion, Vince hadn't thought to call his partner and warn her that he had switched places with a homicidal maniac. Well, he wouldn't be winning any friend of the year awards soon.

"What? No! That would have been disturbing."

"Why would it have been disturbing?"

"Because she's my daughter."

And there are some things even we won't do, namely incest.

"Ha, good one!" Vince waited for Fleming to smile at his own joke. "You are joking, aren't you?"

"No, I'm not. Her name is Jamie Fleming and if you ever break my little girl's heart, you'll wish you died in that explosion, got it?"

"Got it."

Oh, break her heart! Please break her heart! Do you know how long it's been since I've been let out?

Not long enough, Peter thought as he clenched his fists. Why on earth did his alter ego have to be such an immature, selfish, insensitive arse?

Well, I'm a part of you, so what does that say about you, Peter?

Maybe when he found that magician, he could ask her if she did exorcisms…

I'm a second personality, not a ghost, you dim-witted-

"Hello, earth to Fleming! Are you in there? You looked like you spaced out," Vince said.

"Just contemplating what I'd like to do to you. What were you saying?"

"That there's nothing going on between me and- Jamie. We're just friends. I mean, I thought we were close friends, but she didn't say anything about being related to you, although that makes sense-the fact that she didn't say anything I mean, not the fact that she's related to you. I'm going to need time to wrap my mind around that. I don't see the resemblance. I don't see how you could be old enough to be her father-"

"Faraday, quit babbling! You're going to give me a headache. We need to decide on a course of action."

"We'll split up. You-"

"You think I'm going to leave you alone after you nearly blew my secret identity on live television?"

"Oh and I suppose you think I like the idea of letting Chess out of my sight when you swore the first thing you'd do after finding out my identity was go after my family!" Vince's eyes widened as soon as he realized what he'd said. Oh no! "If you go anywhere near my family-"

"You'll what? Bore me to tears with your babbling?" That did it. With a swish of the cape, Vince lifted Fleming off his feet.

"You do not want to know what I am capable of, Fleming," Vince hissed dangerously. "If you dare to go anywhere near Dana or Trip, you'll be begging Scales to put you out of your misery. Do you understand me?"

Feisty!

"Perfectly," Fleming replied, ignoring Chess', well whatever that was. How could Peter ever surrender control to him when he couldn't predict what he would say or do? "Now kindly put me down. I assure you that I have more important things on my mind than playing peek-a-boo with your wife and son." Vince held on, seething, his eyes trying to search Fleming's. Unfortunately, it was hard to see anything past the stupid contacts he wore. Finally, he lowered the deranged billionaire to the floor.

"Right," Peter continued. "So, we'll split up. Jamie and I will try to locate the magician from last night. You'll do what you do best, which I assume is to run around the city in those tights."

"Seriously, when you go around wearing that, you don't get to judge me. Not to mention the fact that I'm going to be busy hunting down the guy that's after your sorry ass."

"Currently he's after you-"

"YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!" Vince took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself. "I hope you're not planning on going back to Orwell dressed like that."

"Don't worry; I won't."

VFVFVFVFVFVFVFVFVFVFVF

Vince kept his hood pulled low, concealing Fleming's hair, as he crouched on the roof of the Faradays' apartment building. Alright, so this wasn't going to get him any closer to finding Scales, but he had to see for himself that his family was okay.

The sun had set, so he felt he ought to be able to get away with no one noticing that his features weren't his own…if he was lucky. Before long, Trip climbed up on the roof, looking worried.

"Mom said she wants to have a word with you. She's on her way up now. Are you in trouble?"

"I hope not. Why would I be in trouble?" as Vince finished speaking, Dana stepped onto the roof.

"Trip, why don't you go do your homework?"

"I've already done my homework."

"Then go inside and read something, okay? Mommy needs to have a talk with your friend."

Vince distinctly heard the pre-teen murmur, "good luck" as he walked past him before disappearing into the building.

"Good evening, Mrs. Faraday." Vince did his best to reduce Fleming's voice to a rasp.

"Good evening. I want to talk about what happened at the press conference today. The man you saved, Fleming, he knows Vince was innocent, doesn't he? That's what he was going to say before Raoul opened fire." Vince tensed. He was never good at lying to Dana. Every time he paid her a visit as the Cape, he was half-waiting for her to realize who he really was. Finally, Vince nodded.

"Yes, he was."

"You got him to safety?"

"Yeah, and before you can ask, yes, I am going to find Scales and send him back to Owl Island where he belongs."

"That's great! Why am I sensing a 'but'? Fleming is going to reschedule the press conference, isn't he?"

"Actually, I'm afraid Fleming has had a change of heart."

"What?"

"Well, when I spoke to him afterwards, he was very emphatic about not wanting to announce Vince's innocence, ever."

"But, but he can't do that! How could he make such a complete turnaround so quickly? Just because Scales attacked him-"

"Oh, it's really not about Scales. It, uh, it turns out the press conference hadn't been Fleming's idea in the first place. I sort of put him up to it."

"You did?"

"Well, you know I feel strongly that Vince was wronged and that his name should be cleared."

"So what did you do, blackmail Fleming?"

"Uh…"

"I mean, if you did, you can tell me. I'm a defense attorney, remember? There's attorney-client confidentiality-"

"Da- Mrs. Faraday, I didn't blackmail Fleming. It's complicated, okay? Let's just say that I thought I'd persuaded him to see things my way, but it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be."

Dana looked into the vigilante's eyes. Was it her imagination or were they a different shade of blue this evening? She shook her head. Had to be a trick of the light.

PFPFPFPFPFPFPF

True to his word, Peter returned to Vince's cave, sans costume. As he suspected, his daughter was there, plowing away at the computer.

"What took you so long; you stop off at Trolley Park after the conference?"

Peter blinked. What was so special about Trolley Park…? Before he could answer, Orwell glanced at him.

"When did you change out of the cape?" she asked.

"Shortly after I saved your father."

"I saw the footage. Looked like you broke Scales' elbow. Don't suppose you managed to catch him?"

"Not yet, no."

"I suppose I could run a search of incoming patients in Palm City's hospitals, but somehow I don't think it'll be that easy. Even Scales isn't stupid enough to make his capture…" Orwell trailed off. Her face blanched.

I don't know. Scales is pretty stupid.

"Sweethe-" Peter coughed, "I mean, Jamie, what's wrong?"

"Vince, you didn't misplace the cape by any chance, did you?"

"No, why?" Orwell enlarged a screen showing live footage from a security camera on the roof of the Faradays' building. There, in black and white, were the clear figures of Dana Faraday and the Cape.

"Then would you care to explain how you could be in two places at the same time?"

"Not really," Fleming replied.

Faraday, you idiot! Chess fumed.

Author's Note: Thank you to IronAmerica, for beta-ing this chapter.

Well? Want to yell at me for the cliff-hanger? Think Peter ought to let Chess deal with Vince? Any issues, like with their costumes being the same size? How will I know if you don't tell me?

As usual, thank you to my reviewers, IronAmerica and Orwell!