The Magician's Assistant

By Hogwartswonderland

Summary: "You do understand the function of the magician's assistant, don't you?" "Yeah. She's there to distract them as he sets up the trick." In this case, the magician's assistant is Marion McKinney; whom was contracted by the Eye alongside her longtime boyfriend, Jack Wilder, and her father, Merritt McKinney. As the pseudo 'manager' of the Four Horsemen, Marion is tasked with assisting with the three act magic trick from behind the scenes. Too bad Thaddeus Bradley doesn't know about her, because otherwise he could debunk the enigma that is known as the magician's assistant.

New York City

Wednesday

"Marion, you need to get up." Marion groaned and rolled over in bed, clutching the warm comforter closer to her semi-sleeping form.

"I'm sleeping, Jack. Go away," she mumbled into the pillow. Jack let out a booming laugh before he ripped the covers away from his grumpy girlfriend, crawled into bed with her, and began peppering her face and neck with kisses.

"No can do, babe," he said in-between kisses. "You have work in 20 minutes and it is your first day as manager."

Marion shot up upon hearing the last sentence, almost hitting Jack in the process. She had been working at the same movie theatre since she was 15 years old, and now at 19, she had finally worked her way up to being a manager. With that in mind, Marion jumped out of bed, leaving Jack to laugh at her sudden burst of action, and quickly began changing into her uniform; which consisted of khaki's, black flats, and a plain black polo shirt. Once she was fully dressed, Marion grabbed her purse, keys to the building, and dark blue blazer, gave Jack a kiss on the cheek, and started to leave.

"Don't get into trouble!" she called out from over her shoulder just before walking out the door.

"Trouble is my middle name!" Marion heard Jack retort just as the door closed. She laughed and continued on her way to work, which was only three blocks away. It was a nice day out and it didn't take long for Marion to arrive.

As she approached the entrance, Marion noticed that there no customers, but the three scheduled employees were lounging around, most likely waiting for her to let them in. Kellie, a lanky girl of 16, was leaning on the brick wall and texting. Next to her, Brett- who was a friend of Jack's- was talking to Bobby, an elderly man who worked there to earn a little extra cash in order to fix up his classic mustang. Brett was the first to notice her and immediately rallied Kellie and Bobby into a cheer.

"Congratulations, Miss. Manager!" Brett called out. Marion smiled at the crew. The closeness among the employees is one of the main reasons why she stayed with the theatre for so long.

"Thanks guys." She replied as she unlocked the door to let them in. "Are you all having a good morning?" They all said 'yes' in unison and promptly began performing tasks to get ready for the business day. Marion let them get to it, only feeling a slight pang of nostalgia as she had to remind herself that she had different morning duties, and unlocked the door to the office which is where the money and other important information is kept. She placed her belongings on the spinney chair, glanced over the note left by her boss, and then began working.

The universe had a funny sense of humor because Marion's first day managing ended up being very busy. They had just received Frozen, the most popular children's movie at the time, and the lobby was filled with parents and grandparents with their children that were no older than 5. Basically, it was as if Marion had walked into a nightmare. So by 6 p.m., which was the end of her shift, Marion was quick to hand over the reins to Jarod, another manager that was only a few years older than Marion. As soon as Jarod took over, Marion gathered up her belongings and dashed out of the theatre, eager to go home to Jack and cuddle up on the couch and watch a move (that preferably was not Frozen).

Thinking about dinner and Jack, Marion reached to the back pocket of her pants to retrieve her phone in order to call Jack to see what he wanted to eat. She grabbed her phone, but realized that there was something else in her pocket as well. Puzzled, Marion reached back and in her hand was what looked like a tarot card, which she had no memory of picking up at all that day- let alone ever in her life. She quickly surveyed her surroundings to look for anyone suspicious but in New York, it was hard to tell. Seeing as there was no possible way to figure out who slipped it to her, Marion decided to examine the card closer.

On one side there is a picture of a winged angel holding two chalices. The angel is clothed in a simple white robe and she has one foot on land and the other in water. Underneath the picture say 'The Temperance'. Marion then flipped the card to the other side, which was not as ornate as its counterpart. The only picture was of a well drawn eye with this written below it:

March 29

4:44 PM

45 East Evan St.

The moment she finished examining the card, Marion's hands began to tremble. Unfortunately, she was unable to say that she had seen this before. Her father, who she dislikes mentioning for certain reasons, was a passionate lover of the magical arts and Marion remembers sifting through his magical 'equipment' and seeing tarot cards before. They didn't look like this, but she had seen cards with the Temperance on them before. If she remembered correctly, her father told her that it stood for balance, moderation, patience, and purpose. Knowing her father would never do something like this (he isn't exactly the most subtle), Marion wondered who gave her the tarot card and why did they give her the Temperance?

Suddenly Marion's phone began to blare I lived by One Republic and on the screen, a picture of Jack holding their kitten, Miracle, popped up. Marion took a quick moment to collect herself before pressing the green accept button.

"Hey, babe!" Jack greeted his girlfriend, his voice filled with excitement.

"Hey, Jack," Marion answered back calmly. "I was just about to call you. What's up?"

"The most amazing thing happened today! But I want to tell you at home. I was just wondering what the plan for food was?"

"That is exactly what I was going to ask you. Does Chinese sound good? I pass the shop on my way home."

"Sounds perfect. So how was your first day managing?"

"Hectic," Marion sighed. "We were overrun with kids because of that Forzen movie. I really can't wait to get home."

"I'm sorry it was rough, babe. How about I pick up your favorite mint chocolate chip ice cream while on my way home?"

Marion perked up at the suggestion. "Sounds perfect! Love you and see you at home," she said before hanging up and walking into the Chinese restaurant. It only took 15 minutes for her to get the food and only 5 more to reach the entrance of her building. She nodded hello to Leroy, the elderly doorman, and proceeded to walk the arduous 5 flight of stairs up to her apartment. When she walked in, she was greeted with a very passionate kiss by Jack, who had apparently set up a romantic setting on the small dining table.

"You must have really good news if you got me my favorite pink carnations," she commented as she placed the food on the table and say down.

"Very," Jack said enthusiastically as he sat down. All was silent for a moment as the couple ate their food. Then Jack reached into the pocket of his leather jacket and pulled out a card, placed it on the table, and then slid it over to his girlfriend so she could get a closer look. What Marion saw took her by surprise. It was the same tarot card that she received as well. She hesitantly flipped the card over to see what the other side was, and saw that instead of having Temperance on it, his said Death. In that very moment Marion lost her appetite so she pushed her food away and looked at Jack worryingly.

"What's wrong, babe? This is good news! The Eye apparently wants me!"

Wordlessly, Marion takes out her own tarot card and hands it to him, allowing him to examine it curiously. "What do you think this means? I know you grew up around magic, but you don't actually practice it."

Marion shrugged. "I don't know exactly, but it seems like our best chance of finding out is to go to this place on Friday."

"I guess so," Jack agreed. He got up and walked over to his girlfriend's side, crouched down and took her hand into his. "Everything will be ok, Mare. Whatever this is, it won't take me away from you."

"But your card says Death, Jack! In magic, that can mean anything. You heard of Lionel Shrike, right?" Jack nodded his head. "He left behind his family to pursue a deadly trick he was no equipped for. My father ceased contact with me after his fall from fame to continue pursuing magic!"

"Hey," Jack said soothingly, pulling Marion into his arms. "I would never do that to you. You know that if it ever came down to it, I would give magic up to be with you."

Marion looked up to him and gives him a bright smile. "I know. And I will never ask you to. Why don't we forget about this for the time being and do something else? We might as well not dwell on it until we find out on Friday what is really going on."

Jack gave her a wide grin. "And what exactly do you have in mind?"

"Why don't you follow me and find out?" Marion called back, giving her boyfriend a coy smile as she walked towards their bedroom.