Dylan glared at Thaddeus Bradley as they traded blows. The Four Horsemen fought and subdued the hired henchmen and were now watching their mentor. They wanted to help but they also understood Dylan's anger and hate. Bradley met Dylan's glare before smirking wickedly.
Dylan had seen that smirk and felt a strong sense of dread.
Henley's scream made him whirl around and to his horror he saw Daniel shielding her with a small blade in his shoulder.
Then he saw the red dot on Jack's chest. "No!" He ran over and shoved Jack out of the way shielding him with his body as the gun went off and hit him in the back.
Jack stared at him before catching him as he fell. "Dylan!"
Merritt rushed at Bradley in rage only for the black man to disappear. He cursed in anger before returning to them.
Daniel put pressure on the wound. "Stay with us Dylan. You're going to be ok."
Dylan looked at them. "You guys ok?"
Henley put his head in her lap and stroked his hair. "We're ok," she said taking a shaky breath.
Jack swallowed. "Why?"
Dylan gave him a pained lopsided smile. "I care."
In the distance they heard the sirens and the Four Horsemen looked at each other wondering what to do. If they stayed they'd get caught but they couldn't leave him.
"Go…" Dylan said weakly. "I'll be fine. Go."
"But…" Jack started.
Dylan reached up and cupped the young man's cheek. "It's alright. I promise I'll be ok."
Jack shut his eyes and nodded as he gently squeezed his hand. "We'll meet you at the hospital."
Dylan nodded as Henley stood and gently lowered his head to the ground. Daniel reluctantly removed his hands from the wound. Merritt pulled Jack away and the Four reluctantly vanished and watched from afar as cops swarmed Dylan with medics before he was taken to the hospital.
Once they got out of the building and to an alley a few hours away Henley turned into Daniel's arms and sobbed. Daniel hugged her and tried to calm his own ragged breathing as he looked at Merritt and Jack.
"Nobody's ever done that for me before," Jack said as he put his hand on the cheek Dylan had touched. "I've never been protected before."
Merritt put a hand on Jack's shoulder. "You know how stubborn Dylan is. He'll be ok."
"We'd better get to the hospital," Daniel said as Henley dried her eyes. Together they left and came up with a story that would be believable.
When they arrived Dylan was still in surgery so they waited. After several hours word finally came.
"It will take time but Detective Rhodes will make it. Are you family?" the doctor asked.
Daniel nodded. "Yeah I'm his younger brother and this is my wife."
"I'm his cousin," Merritt said keeping a straight face. He motioned to Jack. "And this is…"
"I'm his son," Jack said seriously. "Detective Rhodes is my Dad."
The doctor nodded. "Room 292. We have to keep him here for a few days but we were able to extract the bullet and there was no damage to any vital organs."
They breathed a sigh of relief before thanking him and leaving for the room.
Once there Jack took a seat beside the bed and Henley took the other. Both of them took a hand and squeezed as Daniel and Merritt found chairs against the window.
Dylan opened his eyes and smirked at them. "So what's the story?"
Henley smiled as she kissed his forehead. "Well Danny's your brother and I'm his wife. Merritt's your cousin and Jack's your son."
Dylan nodded as he looked at Jack. "You alright? It's not your fault Jack."
Jack looked away. "Can you guys give us a minute?"
The other three nodded smiling before they left.
"Something wrong?" Dylan asked concerned.
Jack took a deep breath. "No one has ever done for me what you did."
Dylan frowned. "What do you mean?"
"My parents died when I was a kid and I was bounced from home to home in the foster care system," Jack said. "I was just a paycheck. Nobody cared about me so I turned to magic to cope."
The hurt man nodded as he squeezed his hand. "I've been there myself."
Jack looked at him. "I never had a family before the Four Horsemen and I never had someone I could really count on. I…what I'm trying to say…"
Dylan chuckled. "You're welcome. You can always come to me and whatever you say will stay between us."
Jack nodded. "Thanks."
Dylan nodded and for a minute the two sat in companionable silence.
"Hey Dylan?"
"Hmmm?"
Jack pulled out his card deck. "Pick a card. Any card."
Dylan chuckled and pulled out a two of clubs. "Got it." He slid it back in.
Jack shuffled the cards and pulled out the two of clubs with a grin. "This it?"
"Heh sure is."
"Maybe the one you picked but…" He flipped the card. "This one suits you better." He pressed it into Dylan's hand. "I finally got what I always wanted."
"What's that?" he asked swallowing a lump in his throat.
Jack looked right into the older magician's eyes. "A father."
Jack watched Dylan's face soften considerably as he got up and turned to leave with a small smile.
Dylan took a deep breath as he looked at the card in his hand and drew in a breath knowing just how monumental this really was.
It was the ace of hearts.
That night The Eye put a card on his nightstand. He'd received many of these cards over the years but this one held the picture of four beautiful horses surrounded by a shield. On the bottom was the word: Family.
Dylan smiled softly at how true that statement was. After all these years he got what he always wanted.
From that day forward the ace card remained in a special place right behind his driver's license alongside a picture of his father and another of the Four Horsemen at the New Orleans show six months earlier.