Chapter Two: The Faces, the Names, and the Trends

"Peter Fleming is on the list," Diggle repeated. "Is there any member of the one percent that isn't on there?" he joked. Sometimes it did seem as though the list was composed of every billionaire outside the Queen family, with maybe a couple of 'average Joes' thrown in for accent. "Don't answer that," he added before Oliver could speak.

"I think I've got a pretty good idea why he's on the list," Oliver went over to the computer and pulled up Orwell's blog. The symbol of the all-seeing eye swirled on a red background before duplicating itself; the twin eyes settled at the top of the page above the entries. "Take a look at this. Orwell suspects him of everything from trying to kill Palm City's Secretary of Prisons to illegally arresting and detaining citizens. And he's got evidence that Fleming's involved with organized crime."

"But nothing's stuck to him so far," Diggle observed.

"It's hard to make things stick to the person in charge of local law enforcement. Fleming made a show of cleaning up his corporation, supposedly rooting out the bad apples, but his hands weren't clean," Oliver emphasized his point by tapping the notebook containing the list. Fleming's name was on there; that was all he really needed to know. "It seems a safe bet that the corruption spread to ARK's Starling City offices."

"Did you notice that Orwell hasn't updated his blog in over a year?" Diggle asked. "Do you suppose Fleming got to him?"

"I don't know, but I'd like to find out."

~VF~

The following morning, Jamie Fleming was checking her e-mail on her office computer when she noticed she had a message from Vince Faraday. She clicked on it.

I have a surprise for you.

She started to type a reply when her door opened, revealing a familiar looking six foot figure.

"Surprise!" Vince called.

Jamie blinked.

"Vince, is that you?" she asked, standing up from her desk to greet him. He looked exactly like Ian, and yet the two were so different. Since she'd known Vince, he'd always been carrying the weight of the world—or at least Palm City—on his shoulders. She didn't like to dwell on the role she had played in putting that burden there. Ian, on the other hand, was so carefree, so full of life that it was contagious.

"Who else would it be?" he asked.

"Well…" your identical twin. "What are you doing in Starling City?" the brunette asked. Vince explained to her Dana's intention to move and take Trip with her.

"So I've scheduled an interview with the Starling City P.D. and as long as I'm here, I thought I'd look up my favorite partner. You seem to be doing well here," he gestured around her large office with the fantastic view (and tried to ignore the similarities it shared with her father's office).

"I am. You know, since I've come here, for the first time I've seen the potential ARK has to do some real good for society. I think I can make a difference without hiding behind a blog. I feel different, like I'm finally…" she searched for the word.

"You're happy," Vince supplied.

"Exactly," she beamed.

"Well, I'm happy for you, Orwell."

"You can call me Jamie, Vince," she informed him, her smile dimming.

"Sorry, force of habit." Orwell had been the only name he'd had for her until she'd decided to make peace with her father. "You know, I have to say, I thought I'd have more trouble getting in to see you at your office, but I was shown right on up. It was almost like security recognized me," Vince said, puzzled.

"Is that so?" Jamie asked. Security had presumably not been informed that her boyfriend had an identical twin, an oversight on her part. Not that she would've kept Vince out, but…

"What's going on, Orwell?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean you've got that look on your face that says you're hiding something from me. I should know it because you wore it the entire time we were partners."

"Vince—"

"No, I get it. You didn't want me to associate you with your father and considering your father is Chess—"

"Vince!" she hissed.

"What? Don't tell me someone's spying on Orwell?"

"I'm not Orwell anymore. I'm through with that."

"Are you also through with keeping secrets?" he asked.

"Fine," she sighed. Then she mumbled something under her breath.

"Sorry, I couldn't make that out," Vince raised a hand to his ear.

"I said 'I'm dating your brother,'" she repeated.

Vince waited a beat, to see if she was having him on. Then he realized she was serious. He ran a hand through his sandy curls.

"Wow, I…I didn't even know Ian was in Starling, let alone that you and he," would hit it off— "had met. Have you been dating long?" Since when did Ian date for that matter? Last time Vince checked, his brother was a nymphomaniac.

"Long enough for me to have introduced him to my father; you do know about him being in town?"

"I heard," he grimaced. "I'm hoping to be able to avoid him."

"Surely dinner last night didn't go that badly, Faraday?"

The sound of that voice made Vince tense even as he turned to face the source of it. Sure enough, Peter Fleming stood in the doorway to the office: black haired, Vince's height, but eyes a lighter shade of blue, ears that were considerably too big for his face and a suit that probably cost more than Vince's last salary.

Faraday's heart started beating faster at the sight of that bastard who had thrown his life into chaos—the same man he'd rescued from a would-be assassin. Why, why had he saved Fleming from Dice? The blonde savant might have been crazy, but not because she'd believed the billionaire deserved to die.

"I hate to interrupt the happy couple," Peter began.

"You weren't—we're not—Dad, this is Vince," Jamie hastened to set her father straight.

Was Vince imagining it, or did the older man grow paler?

"I see."

"Don't worry, Chess. I was just leaving."

The younger man left before Peter could come up with a response. Faraday was a loose end. When he'd cleared the man's name, he'd believed the former cop was dead. But here he was, walking around, knowing Peter's secret… Well, Faraday wasn't the first. He'd just have to figure out a way to neutralize that threat.

~QL~

"Now you understand, Mr. Faraday, that this is just a preliminary interview. The higher ups will decide whether or not you get called back," Detective Lance explained as Vince took a seat opposite him.

"I understand," Vince nodded. He'd changed into a suit between leaving the ARK building and coming down to the police precinct.

"Did you bring a copy of your résumé?" Quentin asked.

Vince had and handed the piece of paper over for Lance to inspect.

"Not bad. You had a fairly impressive record at the Palm City Police Department, up until, well, the allegations against you weren't exactly kept secret."

"I'm aware of that, Detective, but as I'm sure you're aware, they were proven false. It's not entirely unheard of for an innocent man to be wrongly accused—"

Lance grunted, remembering the night he'd removed Oliver Queen's ankle bracelet. He'd had probable cause to arrest Queen.

"What's your stance on vigilantes?"

"Pardon?" Vince asked.

"You may have heard we've had a bit of a vigilante problem in this city lately. This Hood character, goes around shooting people with a bow and arrow, seems to think he's helping society by breaking laws on a regular basis. He's being credited with getting some white collar criminals to turn themselves in or try to make restitution for their deeds.

"So what's your stance on a guy that dresses up in tights, hides his face and flaunts the law?"

Vince blinked. Lance wasn't exactly hiding his feelings on the subject. It was clear what he'd have to say if he wanted a shot at this job. The difficulty was that his alter ego had a few things in common with the Hood.

He hadn't stopped to think about what he would do if he moved to Starling City—specifically, about whether the Cape would retire. If he considered the reasons why he'd donned the costume in the first place:

-To try to clear his name: That had been taken care of. He hadn't figured out what ulterior motive Fleming had in helping him, but regardless, his reputation was on the mend.

-To bring down Fleming: That remained unfinished. He could hardly work on that from another city.

-And finally, he'd worn the costume to reunite with his son, which was coincidentally why he was here, in this interview.

"Detective Lance, I can assure you that I wouldn't let anyone stop me from doing my sworn duty as a cop. Two years ago, I nearly died for the offense of refusing to take bribes to look the other way. I took pride in my name, and now that I have it back, I'm not going to do anything to jeopardize it."

Lance grinned.

"Before I let you go, do you have any questions for me?"

Author's Note: It took me three search engines to locate one buddy icon for "The Cape." That's just sad. If anyone finds/creates more, please give me a heads-up.

Chapter title is from Bowling for Soup's "High School Never Ends."

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