Hi! This is my first fanfic under this account, and I'm so glad to finally be able to put it up! I've loved Now You See Me since the first movie came out three years ago, but I never read FanFiction for it, because I don't typically do that with one or two movies because there's not a giant fan base for it, and I crave more fics than people can crank out! But I was watching the first movie again last night, and then I had a thought about Daniel and Jack, and then this came forth.
So, I hope you guys enjoy this, because this is one ship that I am determined will never sink!
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Anyone who has even a passing familiarity with J. Daniel Atlas knows what a control freak he is. It's practically renowned worldwide – it was something the FBI used when tracking down their team, something the Four Horsemen had planned for. Daniel wasn't ashamed of it, either. He knew he was a control freak, but he couldn't help it – not that he really felt the need to. He was just fine with everyone knowing about his need for control, as well. He was fine with being infamous for it.
When the public learned about his and Jack Wilder's relationship, the thought remained in people's minds. Automatically, without conscious thought, they assumed that Daniel was the dominant in the relationship. It would make sense, really, considering his obsessive need for control and his neuroticism when things didn't go exactly according to his plans. Even looking at Jack, they knew – or thought they knew – that Jack was obviously submissive material. After all, he was like a puppy – the youngest of the Horsemen; practically the baby. He was unassuming and underestimated, and seemed to have no problem with Daniel leading the Horsemen in their shows and tricks. When Daniel would instruct him with some part of the magic show, he would obey faithfully and immediately.
To be honest, Merritt and Henley had assumed the same as everyone else had, originally. Even in close quarters, behind the curtain backstage, they followed the same sort of routine as they put on in front of everyone else. It didn't look difficult for them, either – they followed this persona without a second thought.
Merritt was skilled in watching micro expressions and tiny little tics people portrayed without noticing, though, so he was the first to figure it out. At least sexually, Daniel could not be seen in any way as being the dominant one in their little love fest. It took him almost a month since their relationship had started that he'd finally figured it out; Daniel was very good at keeping his poker face locked down, but Jack had no such talent. It wasn't obvious, of course – a raised eyebrow here and there, or a slight narrowing of eyes, on Jack's part. Merritt hadn't been looking for this information exactly, which was the only reason he could give for it taking so long before he discovered it, but now that he'd noticed it, he had to smirk and chuckle a bit to himself every time Daniel backtracked at the sight of Jack's slight frown of disapproval in his direction. Daniel was whipped by the lover eight years his junior, and frankly it was adorable enough that for once, Merritt didn't tease them about it. After all, he reasoned, if they knew that he could tell all this by their expressions, they would likely try and hide it a lot better. And Merritt, for all his sexual deviance, was not interested in voyeurism to see Daniel giving up his carefully built up control.
Henley found out about the dynamics of their relationship in a much more obvious way. She was an escape artist, not a mentalist, so she didn't notice like Merritt now did how Daniel would accede to Jack's wishes on the mere slightest twitch of an eye.
The first time she got a hint that the couple was not what they appeared and portrayed was before a show in their year of planning before they were known internationally. She'd known that Jack and Daniel were backstage, but as they weren't ones to have sex where just anyone could walk in, she never suspected that they might be so open with anything else, either.
Really, it was just kissing – although she admitted that if there were children present she'd cover their eyes, because it was far from a chaste kiss. But she was surprised to see Daniel the one pressed against the wall – and not fighting back while Jack covered as much of him as he could, holding his hands against the wall behind them.
Later, she reasoned with herself that Jack might not have necessarily been the one "on top", so to speak. Really, they were parallel in their body language, and Daniel hadn't looked panicked as the one with his back to the wall – not like she'd seen before when he'd realized he didn't have complete control of a situation. And surely if Daniel'd had no control he would've been panicking, at least slightly. Not just standing there pliantly while being thoroughly kissed.
She thought nothing more of it until a few weeks later, when her assumptions hit her like a slap in the face and she could deny it no longer.
She'd gone to lunch with Merritt, coming back later to an empty apartment. Stopping, she heard nothing of Daniel and Jack, so she'd gone searching for them.
Really, she should've been smarter about opening closed doors – especially when she knew at least that they were in a romantic relationship, and being home alone was an invitation for them to do anything. Nevertheless, she was surprised when she opened the bedroom door and saw them largely naked on the bed, still going at it as they hadn't noticed her in their, ah – preoccupation.
All of her subconscious assumptions about the two were immediately wiped away when she saw their positions. Closing the door quickly and silently to give them their privacy, she blinked as she remembered the scene she'd come upon.
Daniel, underneath Jack. Daniel, hands crossed on the pillow above him. Jack, holding said hands by their wrists, in a clear pose of dominance. Jack, pressing into Daniel. Daniel, whispering, desperate pleas falling from his bruised and well-kissed lips. Jack, biting and sucking and licking Daniel's neck. Daniel, with the array of hickies not just on his neck, but also on his sides and his legs, in the few inches she could see that Jack's body didn't cover. Daniel, not panicking as he gave his control over completely to someone else.
She smirked to herself slightly. Really, if Jack was the one that was able to break through the control freak's hard exterior, then good on him. Just so long as she didn't have to walk in on that again. Really, they were like her brothers, and while she'd never had a problem with gays before, she did have a problem seeing them going at it. She'd have to remember being more careful about closed doors.
Daniel and Jack didn't care what the public thought. Both were perfectly content to leave them to their own assumptions, because their opinions would never make a dent in their relationship. It was just none of their business. Jack didn't care that people thought that his lover was the one to top him in the bedroom, and Daniel never complained when Jack was doing to him that wonderful trick with his fingers. (He was a sleight, after all; he was good with his hands.)
So, the world could think what they wanted. Daniel was in charge in public – the leader of the Four Horsemen. He could lead them in all of their stunts and shows and magic tricks, because he was a control freak, and he was good at it. He knew how to make things run smoothly like a well-oiled machine, and even if his neuroticism could get on everyone's nerves, they knew that they could count on him to know what he was doing.
But in the bedroom, the mask fell, and he was all Jack's. Because he was alright with giving up his control if it was into Jack's hands. Because even though for Jack nothing is ever locked, he waited for Daniel to open the door for him. Because Jack treated this offering like the gift that it was, and never betrayed Daniel's trust with it. Because the two of them were magicians; masters of diversion.
So while the world assumed one thing, and saw exactly what they wanted them to see, something else entirely went on behind the curtain.
Because, as Daniel was fond of saying – The more you think you see, the easier it is to fool you. The closer you look, the less you see.
And they were just fine with that.
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I hope you loved it! I think the two of them are just adorable, and I could totally see this dynamic being the case if they really did get into a relationship. :)
Thanks for reading!