2nd Series 01/15 - The Show Must Go On

by Sapphire1

Ace and Cosmo are on tour in Europe when disaster strikes. Now sixteen year old Cosmo has to run the show or the tour must be canceled.

The Show Must Go On
by Sapphire

Paris. The city of romance and the city of love. The goal of millions of tourist every year who wanted to see the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower and the countless other attractions the capital of France had to offer for her guests.
For the next week, the city would have one more attraction. Ace Cooper, world famous magician and star, had a six day engagement in the Hall de Siècle, a giant arena seating over a thousand people when sold out. It had been no surprise to anybody, that it had been sold out only days after the news had come out that Ace Cooper would stop by Paris during his Smoke and Mirrors Tour through Europe.
Whoever entered the hall this morning, would have doubted the show actually would be able to premier that evening. However, what looked like chaos to the outsider, was in fact a carefully choreographed activity, where everybody knew his or her place. The local hired hands transported large boxes with a red half mask logo at the side from the trucks painted with the same half mask to pre-arranged storage spaces. They were led by a small, stocky woman, who cursed at them in English, French and Spanish in equal amounts. Marion Duvall was the boss of the roadies for this tour, and took good care that no damage came to any of 'her' sensitive equipment.
At the stage the lighting rig had been lowered from the ceiling, and several electricians worked on fixing some special holo projectors to it. They were supervised by a red-haired teenager who looked not much older than sixteen years. Surprisingly enough, none of the much older men gave the teenager a hard time, and that was not due to the fact that Cosmo was the foster son of Ace Cooper - and thus by default untouchable. No, they knew that Cosmo knew the equipment inside out, maybe better than any of them. Fact was, the teenager had designed and built most of it. So, they worked efficiently, trading jokes while they connected the cables, carefully double checking everything before they accepted any of it. Though, Cosmo always had the last word.
When Ace Cooper entered the hall from one of the side entrances, he stopped for a moment, watching his friend from the distance. It had been over three years since Cosmo had stepped into his life, and so much had changed in that time. Most of all, Cosmo had changed. Ace clearly remembered the shy and scared boy who had broken into his home, attempting to steal some computer files. The Cosmo of today had little similarities to that boy anymore. Cosmo had grown quite a bit, though he still needed to fill out his lanky frame - which shouldn't be a problem, considering how much the teenager consumed normally.
Also, Cosmo finally had developed some overdue self-confidence, as it was prominent in the way he handled the others working with him, and how the others treated him in return. And it was well deserved. Cosmo had turned out as a bit of a genius with anything electronical, constantly tinkering with one project or another. As half of the stuff the teenager built ended up in Ace's show sooner or later, the magician was the last one to complain. Even Dave Mayfair, Ace's stage manager, had commented how useful the teenager was to him. High praise indeed from the old stagehand. And the things Cosmo could do with a computer - it was a kind of magic in itself.
Ace smiled at that thought as he walked down the stairs leading to the stage.
Some of the stagehands waved a short greeting to the show star, but didn't stop doing their work. Ace returned the greetings as he stepped up to the lighting rig.
"Morning, Cosmo," he greeted his ward.
Cosmo looked up from the control box he had been working on and smiled. "Morning, Ace. How did the interview go?"
Ace had spent the morning as the guest of a morning talk show, answering questions about his show and the tour. Though they didn't need the additional advertisement - there were simply no tickets left to sell - it was all part and parcel of the life of a show star. Though Ace wasn't particularly crazy about the exposure, he had long learned to live with it, and to a certain degree, he actually enjoyed it by now.
"Mmh, same as always," he shrugged. "The interviewer wanted to know how I do my tricks, and when I told her she has to figure them out by herself by coming to the show, the next question was if I dated anyone right now?"
Cosmo grinned. "So, did you tell her that you are madly in love with that beautiful French actress, but you had to promise you wouldn't tell the press about it, because her husband would find out?"
"No, I told her that in order to do my Magic I had had to swear never to get involved with a woman. She didn't believe me," Ace jested back.
"Oh, I'm sure you broke her heart with that." Cosmo pressed his one hand against his chest, slapping the other one against his forehead, mimicking a swoon.
Cosmo knew, of course, that Ace's magic had nothing to do with being abstinent. Not that Ace was somebody to have a woman in every city. There had been a few one-night stands Ace knew Cosmo knew about, and once or twice, there had been a bit more. Ace was very discrete about those encounters, but as Cosmo was living in the same home as the magician - or hotel suite as was the case during the tour - there was little the older man could hide from his ward.
Not that he ever tried. Ace didn't keep secrets from his young friend, judging him old enough to understand, or ask if he didn't. He knew he could trust him not to blab anything to the press or anybody else for that matter.
Anyway, ultimately no woman had a real chance, as there was one woman and one woman only Ace's heart belonged to. Only that woman was out of his reach, as her father was Ace's mortal enemy.
Shoving those dark thoughts aside, Ace slapped at Cosmo playfully, which the teenager dodged easily.
"Was she at least good looking? If she comes tonight, I might have a chance."
Ace shook his head. Cosmo never gave up, it seemed. "Of course she got tickets. She and her husband will be here this evening."
Ace almost laughed out loud at his friend's frustrated expression. Teenagers and their libido. "You'll have your chance, Cosmo. Soon enough."
The banter would have gone on for quite a while, if Dave Mayfair hadn't approached Ace at that moment and pulled him aside to ask a question. Dave had worked with Ace and his show from the very beginning when the then unknown magician had come to Electro City over ten years ago. If there was somebody who knew the show better than Ace, it had to be Dave. He was also the one who operated the equipment from behind the stage during the show. While Ace did the flashy show part, presenting and actually performing the tricks, Dave made sure that everything ran smoothly. Though Dave always said there was nothing to it, that is was Ace who was doing the real work, everybody in Ace's crew knew it better. Not only because Ace made sure to remind them once in a while. Dave was almost as important to the show as Ace was, only that almost nobody ever got to see it.
Cosmo's attention returned to the light rigging, while Ace and Dave talked. Ace watched him out of the corner of his eyes, feeling pride swell in his chest, as he saw with what natural ease the red haired teenager led the much older men, and how they willingly followed.
Yes, Cosmo had come a long way.
Finally, all the devices were attached as they were supposed to, and Cosmo called Dave over for the final check. It wasn't that Dave or Ace didn't trust him to do his work properly, but if there was one rule on Ace's show, then it was that safety had absolute top priority. And that meant checks on top of checks on top checks again.
After Dave gave his okay, they stepped back and Cosmo gave the command to pull up the rigging again.
Slowly the heavy contraption began to rise to the ceiling.
Ace turned to Dave.
"Have you heard anything about Phil yet?" he asked, referring to Dave's assistant who had flown back to Electro City two days ago, as his wife was expecting a baby this week.
Cosmo joined them, watching the going ons behind Ace's and Dave's back, while he listened to their conversation.
"He called last night that he got home alright, but nothing on the baby yet. But he promised he let us know the moment it's there."
"Hopefully not the very 'moment'," Ace bantered.
He would have said more, but suddenly Cosmo's eyes widened in shock. Before Ace could ask what's wrong, the teenager let go an unarticulated cry, and launched himself at Ace, tackling him around the hip. Normally, the still skinny teenager wouldn't have been able to move the heavier magician, but the attack came so suddenly, the elder man only went down with a surprised 'oomph'
They both fell to the floor in an unorderly tangle of arms and legs. The back of Ace's head connected painfully with the hard floor of the stage, but he ignored it, as one part of the lighting rig whooshed over their heads, tussling Cosmo's hair, as it missed him by mere inches.
Ace's arms immediately wrapped themselves around Cosmo's body, holding him tightly down, as the rig swung back, like a giant pendulum, again missing them only by a hair's breath. For a moment, the teenager struggled against the hold, but then he saw the reason of Ace's action, and went perfectly still, as the rig came back once again.
As they lay frozen on the floor, Ace's mind immediately began to process what must have happened.
Normally, the rigging was lowered and pulled up again with the help of three cables, attached to it with super strong magnetic connectors. Those connectors were a standard issue in the theatrical business, used almost everywhere, as they were easy to handle and were considered to be absolutely safe.
Well, it seemed as if those 'safe' connections weren't so safe after all. One of them must have failed, allowing one end of the rig to fall, and it was only thanks to Cosmo's fast reaction, that it had missed them.
Finally, the rig's oscillation was small enough for Ace and Cosmo to sit up again without danger of being hit at the head by it. Glancing around, Ace tried to access the damage done, and his eyes fell on the place Dave had stood only moments before.
The place was empty.
But a few feet away, off the edge of the stage, Dave's body laid sprawled over a few shattered chairs, looking much like a large, broken doll. From the distance, Ace couldn't make out any blood, but he feared the worst, as he also saw no movement.
"You're okay?" he asked Cosmo, whom he still held in his arms, though it was hard to tell if it was for Cosmo's safety, or because he *needed* to be sure his ward was in one piece.
Cosmo's body shook from reaction, but he managed a nod and a weak smile.
Holding on one moment longer, he finally released Cosmo with a last comforting squeeze, pulling him to his feet, as he was getting up himself. Casting one backward glance at the still slowly swinging rig, he grabbed Cosmo by his upper arms.
"You stay put," he commanded, looking in Cosmo's eyes, transferring the urgency that his order was to be obeyed to the younger man. If really the worst had happened to Dave, Cosmo didn't need to see it up close and personal.
Cosmo swallowed, then nodded again.
Releasing the teenager, Ace vaulted off the stage, nearing carefully the body of his old friend.
This didn't look good. Not good at all.
Approaching from one side, he saw a dark bruise already forming on the side of Dave's head, and his formerly white working coverall was starting to turn red at the left shoulder.
Fingers reached for the pulse point at the side of Dave's neck. The few seconds it took for them to register a slow, but steady beat, were to be counted among the longest in Ace's life.
Relieved Ace close his eyes for a moment.
Dave was alive.
By now, the shock, which had held the hall in its grip from the moment the connection of the lighting rig had snapped, broke. From everywhere people rushed to the stage, worry written plainly on their faces. Several gathered around Ace and Dave, concerned voices talking all at once.
"Somebody call an ambulance!" Ace called out.
Then Ace was pushed aside not to gently by Marion Duvall who carried an emergency kit in her hand.
"Step back, all of you," she commanded, as she began to administer first aid, not caring what the people around her were thinking about her brusque manors.
Knowing, there was little he could do now - though hating that fact nonetheless - Ace returned to Cosmo, who stood still frozen to the spot Ace had left him. The teenagers shoulders were slumped, his arms wrapped tightly around his torso, hugging himself as if he was trying to keep himself warm. Every now and then, a tremble traveled over the youngster's body. Wide eyes stared to where Ace was coming from, fear plainly written in them. A single tear had traveled down one cheek, hanging now like a crystal drop forgotten at Cosmo's chin.
Ace knew Cosmo was still in a state of shock. It had been close, so very damn close. If Cosmo hadn't reacted as fast as he had, throwing himself actually towards the danger to tackle him, it would be Ace laying next to Dave among the chairs, hurt, and possibly dead.
Cosmo had saved his life.
"Come," he prodded gently, as he put an arm around Cosmo's shoulder.
By now the lighting rig's swing had slowed to a barely noticeable twisting motion, and it was safe again to move around on the stage, if somebody took care not to run into the hanging, triangular structure.
Cosmo didn't resist, as the magician moved him to a row of chairs on the other side of the stage, as far away from the accident side as possible, without actually leaving the area altogether. They sat, Ace's hand on the back of Cosmo's neck, moving in small, soothing circles.
"He will be okay, Cosmo," he assured his ward, hoping desperately he was right.
Cosmo had lowered his elbows on his knees, holding his head in his hands. The shaking had stopped almost completely, though he was still pretty strung.
"I should have saved him."
For a moment, Ace was not sure if he really had heard those self-accusing words. Shocked, he stopped the massage of Cosmo's back, but kept his hand there.
"How?" he blurted out, before he could stop himself.
"I don't know," Cosmo shrugged lightly. "I just should have."
Ace wanted to scream. It was a reaction he found he often had where his ward was concerned. Cosmo had managed to save Ace's life, and now he berated himself because he hadn't been able to save Dave as well?!? This couldn't be true. The boy had done more than anybody could have expected rightfully. It had been a very critical situation, and instead of following his instincts and trying to get away himself, he had lunged towards the danger, and had saved Ace's life. And it had been damn close.
"Cosmo, listen. You saved my life. There was no way you could have saved Dave as well."
"I should have!" Cosmo repeated stubbornly.
Ace felt the sudden urge rise inside to grab Cosmo's shoulder and shake some sense into the teenager. Almost grinding his teeth, he reached instead for Cosmo's face and turned it to him, forcing the younger man to look into his eyes. The gray depths he met were dull, devoid of any emotion but guilt.
"Cosmo, listen to me," he commanded quietly. "It was an accident. There was nothing you could have done. You saved me, and that was incredibly brave of you. If not for you, I might be on my way to the hospital myself right now. You did good."
First it seemed, as if he didn't get through, but then Cosmo blinked. As his eyes opened again, Ace could see that something has changed.
"You really believe so?"
Ace nodded. "I don't believe so. I *know* so."
Cosmo's chest heaved. For a moment, he was quiet, then he nodded slowly.
"Thank you, Ace."
"Thank you. For saving my life."
Ace smiled reassuringly, then rose from his chair, pulling Cosmo out of his. Knowing Cosmo, this wasn't over, but a step in the right direction had been made. The rest would come with time.
In the meantime, the ambulance had arrived, and Dave had been placed on a stretcher to be carried out. Hoping Cosmo could cope without him for a moment, Ace went to where the stretcher stood, while the paramedics performed some last checks.
He was surprised, when he saw that Dave's eyes were open, looking around clearly confused. Then his gaze fixed on Ace, prodding him to step closer.
"Ace, the show, you..." It was clear that Dave had to fight for every word, pain burrowing deep lines in his face.
"Shhhhh," Ace tried to quiet him. "Don't worry about anything. It will be alright."
Dave obviously didn't want to be soothed.
"The show," he started again. "You have to find a way..."
The show!
Oh man!
Ace suddenly realized that the show tonight was in grave danger of being canceled. Without Dave to run the back stage part, there was nobody to operate that essential part of the equipment. And without the equipment, more than half of his tricks wouldn't work like they should. Normally, in a case of emergency, Phil would have been able to cover, but with him gone home, there was no replacement, nobody who knew the equipment enough to run it without danger.
Ace carefully schooled his features, hoping he didn't show the panic rising inside. In all his years, he never had had to cancel a show. The logistics of it was mind-boggling. All the tickets had to be returned, and then there would be hundreds of very disappointed people tonight.
"Don't worry," Ace comforted again. "We'll do alright without you for a day or two. Just get well soon."
Dave's eyes closed and for a moment Ace thought, the older man had finally succumbed to the pain and the drugs that had been pumped into him. But then they flickered open again.
"Cosmo," he rasped out. "He could do it."
Then, finally, the pain was too much, and Dave's eyes closed for good.
The paramedics hustled Ace aside, hefting their charge up, and carried him to the waiting ambulance. Ace could only stand and watch them go.

* * *

The dressing room of the Hall de Siècle's attraction of the coming week was a spacious affaire with all comforts a traveling show star could ask for. Still, the current star occupying said room had no eyes for those comforts right now. He was pacing from one end of the room to the other, a phone pressed against one ear, while the other hand was fidgeting around, making wild gestures the person he was talking to couldn't see.
Cosmo could see them of course, but he didn't comment on them. He was feeling better now; the shock from an hour ago had subsided as he was bouncing back with the typical attitude of a sixteen years old. Though he still felt a bit guilty that he had been unable to save Dave, he now realized and more or less accepted that actually there had been little he could have done. Everything had happened so fast, and when it had happened, all he had been able to think about had been to get Ace to safety. For him, Ace was the most important person in the world, and the thought that something might have happened to him still left a cold lump of fear in his stomach.
Ace was talking to the doctors in the hospital, trying to figure out how Dave's current condition was. Or rather, he was trying to talk to them, as they didn't seem to speak much English, and Ace's French was close to non-existing. If it wouldn't be so serious, Cosmo would surely tease Ace about the fact that there were actually things the great magician couldn't do.
Finally, Ace seemed to have located somebody who possessed at least a rudimentary command of the English language. He had stopped pacing at last, speaking more relaxed than before.
"Merci, madam. Merci beaucoup," he said finally, cutting off the connection.
"And, how is he?" Cosmo ask immediately, refraining from jumping out of his easy chair. Suddenly, all his agitation he thought he had banished, came back in full force.
Ace, who just had been about to initiate another call, turned to Cosmo, looking almost as if he had forgotten the teen was in the room as well. Cosmo was not mad about that. He knew there was a lot on Ace's mind right now.
"Well, a doctor in the hospital said that his right shoulder is pretty much bashed up. They think they can fix it, but it will be a difficult operation. There's a specialist flown in this afternoon and they hope they can operate tonight. Then they'll know more."
"Will he be fully okay again?" Cosmo asked, trying to hide his fear it might not be so. Yes, there might have been nothing he could have done, but still … it would be his fault, if Dave should be crippled for life.
Ace gave him a probing look, almost as if he was trying to read his mind. Which he couldn't do, of course, but sometimes Cosmo almost thought he could. Nobody in the world knew him as well as Ace did.
"It's not your fault, Cosmo," Ace said, as he stepped to Cosmo's chair, placing a comforting hand on his arm. Immediately Cosmo calmed down. Strange, a few years back he had been afraid of every touch, and now he found nothing but comfort in it. Especially if it was Ace.
Still Cosmo sighed. "I know," he said quietly, casting his eyes down. "I … I just wish."
When he looked up again he saw no accusation in Ace's eyes, about him. He forced a smile on his face, attempting to show Ace he was okay. He knew, he wasn't really fooling the magician, but at least he made the effort.
"I'm sure, he'll be 'fully okay' again. It may take some time, but I'll make sure he'll get the best doctors to fix him."
Finally, Cosmo nodded, accepting that Ace would do anything in his not inconsiderable power to make sure Dave would fully recover.
Ace lingered a moment longer, then, when he saw that Cosmo seemed to be okay, he picked up the phone again, requesting another connection.
Cosmo wasn't paying much attention to the call, withdrawing inside himself. He knew, Ace was trying to locate Phil, but hadn't had much luck with that so far. It was five o'clock in the morning in Electro City, but Phil was not at home. In Cosmo's mind, this could only mean one thing. The baby was coming right now, and Phil was in the hospital with his wife. Anyway, even if Ace should be able to find Phil, there was simply not enough time for him to fly to Paris for this evening's performance.
That left the question open: who would run tonight's show? Cosmo knew better than most, what was required to run the backstage equipment, having helped Dave many times. Taking a complete stranger, who never even had touched that stuff, was a terrible risk. A risk that could mean Ace's life.
There was a solution for that problem, but so far Cosmo's mind had managed to shed away from it.
No, he couldn't.
He was only sixteen.
He couldn't run the show.
No way.
But what if Ace had to cancel the show because he was too much of a coward to offer his help? Or, even worst, what if somebody else was running the equipment, and Ace got hurt.
But, what if he did it, and he made a mistake, and Ace got hurt because of it?
How could he live with that?
But how could he live with the knowledge that he had let Ace down?
The questions chased each other around in his head, but in the end, there was only one answer.
He had to do it!
He was the only one. He just couldn't entrust Ace's safety to anybody else.
Oh god, but what if he...?
"Ace?" he asked, before his courage left him again.
The magician looked up from the phone. He had been waiting for somebody to transfer him for the last two minutes, and Cosmo could hear the music playing in the background, interrupted by a female voice every ten seconds or so.
"Yes?"
"Do you think...? What about me? I could..."
With a frown, Ace closed the connection, and turned to Cosmo, placing the phone to its cradle.
"You could what, Cosmo?"
"I ... I could run the show," Cosmo said, his face turned half away, afraid what Ace's answer would be.
He *knew* Ace wouldn't laugh, and that he would take him seriously. But, could he in all honesty accept this offer?
And he was at least as scared about of what would happen if Ace *would* accept it.

*

Ace had to admit that he didn't really know what to do. Though Dave had said, Cosmo could run the show, and Ace knew that the elder man was right; he was hesitant to ask Cosmo to do it. Not that he doubted his skills. Cosmo knew the equipment backwards, forwards, and inside out, having built half of it himself, and redesigned the other half. Right now, there was nobody he would rather trust running it than the red-haired teenager.
But he didn't know if he should burden the teenager with so much responsibility. He knew, if he asked it of him, Cosmo would agree to do it, based alone on this inexplicable loyalty the teenager showed towards him. And that exactly was the reason Ace hesitated. Cosmo was only sixteen years old, and until three years ago, he hadn't had anything that resembled a normal childhood. It had taken him over a year to draw the boy so far out of his shell that he began to react like a normal teenager. Forcing him into a position like this, where he would be responsible for a main scale operation like the show was, was a lot to ask. He had taken Cosmo with him on the tour, so the teenager could see something of the world, not that he worked around the clock on the show. Of course, keeping Cosmo off the show was nearly an impossibility, and after a short while Ace had stopped trying. He should have known better. Still, he made sure that Cosmo got out and had some fun besides hanging around a twice as old magician and his show.
No, until he had gone through all other options, he couldn't ask something like that of Cosmo. Even then, canceling the show might still be the better option.
Damn, why couldn't he find Phil? The music that played while he was waiting to be transferred was grinding on his nerves, and that woman's voice was even worst. If she didn't stop soon, he was going to reach through the phone line and strangle her - an impossibility of course, especially as the woman only existed on a tape, but he entertained that pleasant image anyway.
"Ace?" Cosmo asked hesitantly from his seat.
"Yes?"
"Do you think...? What about me? I could..."
Ah, what the heck. He closed the connection and turned to Cosmo.
"You could what, Cosmo?"
The teenager refused to look at him. He looked scared, reminding Ace of those times Cosmo had done something, and was afraid it wouldn't meet with Ace's approval. Damn, and he had thought they were over *that*.
"I ... I could run the show."
For a moment, Ace closed his eyes. He should have known. Cosmo was not stupid, and he knew that if Ace couldn't find somebody to run the show soon, the show had to be canceled. Trust it for Cosmo to come to the conclusion he should be the one to shoulder the burden.
Ace sighed as he opened his eyes.
And cursed quietly.
Cosmo sat slumped in his seat, looking defeated, his eyes cast downwards. Obviously, he had taken Ace's hesitation as a refusal.
Drawing a deep breath, he knelt at Cosmo's side and put a hand on his arm. The teenager looked up, but his eyes were blank.
"Cosmo," the magician started, unsure how he should undo the damage he had caused.
"S' okay, Ace. I understand." The toneless voice cut down right to Ace's heart.
He had really thought they were over that by now. When Cosmo had come to live with Ace, the boy had been extremely insecure, afraid of everybody and everything. Every time he had thought he had done something wrong, he had expected to be beaten, the legacy of his abusive father. Only slowly he had gained some self-confidence, but in the last year or so, he had grown surer in himself. The morning's accident must have shaken him more than Ace had thought.
"No, Cosmo, it's you who doesn't understand. I would be honored if you were willing to run the show tonight. Right now, you are the only one I can trust to do it. The only reason I didn't ask you before, is that I didn't take you on the tour with me, so you work on the show day and night. You have the right to have some fun now and then, you know."
"But … but you have nobody else to run the show for you. I can do it, I know."
Ace smiled.
"I never doubted you could. Actually, when I spoke to Dave before he was brought to the hospital, he also told me that you could do it. He is right. I know you can do it."
Cosmo's eyes lit up. Ace knew that Cosmo thought the world of Dave. Hearing that the old stagehand trusted him with 'his' show must give his ego quite a boost. A boost he certainly could use.
"So, will you let me run the show?" he asked, hope evident in his voice.
Ace suppressed a sigh, then nodded. This was *not* what he wanted - Cosmo really didn't need that responsibility - but if he now said no, Cosmo had to think it was for the wrong reasons. Ultimately, he had no choice.

* * *

Two minutes to the show, and almost every seat in the Hall de Siècle was filled. Late stranglers in elegant eveningwear were rushing to their places, eager anticipation on their faces.
The sound of all those people talking at the same time reached the area behind the curtain as a buzzing murmur. The air in front and behind the stage seemed to be charged with electricity.
Ace took a peek through a strategically placed hole in the curtain, trying to cover his nervousness. Though he was an old hand to the show biz, working there for over ten years now, he still felt - and probably would feel forever - some mild form of stage fright before each and every performance. Anna had once admitted that she never really got rid of those butterflies in her belly either, even after almost twenty-five years working on all the stages of the world as the famous Zatana, before she retired and founded her school for those with the magic gift. She had said it kept on her toes, keeping the show fresh every time she stepped outside. With a small smile to himself, Ace had to admit that she was right. All his senses seemed to be hyper active.
Was Cosmo feeling the same? He wondered.
"Check, one, two three," he spoke seemingly into thin air. The sensitive microphone, hidden in the collar of his jacket, picked up the sound of his voice, and carried it to the main consol at the side of the stage.
"All green, Ace."
The reply he could hear thanks to another hidden device in his ear, sounded confident. More confident at least than Ace felt right now.
How could Cosmo be so calm?
The afternoon had been spent in frantic activity. The crew had taken the news that Cosmo would take over from Dave, with surprising acceptance. It was almost as if they had wondered why Ace hadn't announced it earlier, so as if there could have been no other decision, and everybody but Ace had seen it right away. Maybe it was just relief that they wouldn't have to cancel the show.
Anyway, everybody had been very supportive, had helped Cosmo wherever they could. At late afternoon, Ace had observed how one of the workers had intercepted the police officer who had come in to investigate the accident and who had been on his way to ask Cosmo some questions. At that time, Cosmo had been in conference with Phil, who finally had been located and who had given Cosmo many important pointers. Though Phil's daughter had been less than three hours old at the time, he basically had insisted to fly back to Paris right now, even though he knew he never would make it to the premiere. In the end, they had agreed he would take the last flight tonight, and he would be back in time for tomorrow's show. But tonight it was Cosmo's game. A game he had taken to like a fish to water.
At least it seemed so on the outside. How the teenager felt at the inside, Ace could only guess.
Sixty seconds to go.
Ace brushed a non-existing dust speck from his cape, tucking it in place. Taking in a deep breath, he walked down the stairs to the elevator platform underneath the stage, Zina at his side. For a second, he could see Cosmo's red mop of hair peeking out from behind the control consol, then he was in position.
"Thirty seconds!" announced Cosmo's voice in Ace's ear.
Distantly, the music started.
"Good luck."
"Break a leg, Ace. Twenty seconds!"
There was no turning back now.
"Ten seconds!"
Zina looked up to him, and Ace smiled back. The large cat looked far more confident than he was feeling.
"Five!"
"Four!"
"Three!"
"Two!"
"One!"
"Go!"
And the show began.

*

Cosmo felt more nervous than he had ever felt in his life, and at the same time he felt better than he ever had felt before.
The whole afternoon and up until a few minutes before the show actually started, he simply had been too busy, to really think about what he was about to do. There had been a million things to do, hundreds of people to talk to - including a very noisy police officer who had asked in very bad English questions about the accident this morning. The repair of the lighting rig had been made in record time, luckily the damage less than he had feared at first.
But now, only seconds before the show started, his anxiety came back in full force. He had seen Ace for a moment, when the magician had gone down to his starting position. As usual, Ace had looked calm, sure of himself. Cosmo knew, he never would be that confident. Never in his life. He wished, he would have had the chance to talk to Ace, but they were running out of time.
"Ten seconds!"
Was this calm sounding voice he heard really his own?
Butterflies exploded in his stomach.
Oh man, he couldn't do it. No way, he could do it. What had he been thinking? What had everybody been thinking?
"Five!"
He still could turn back, could stop the show.
"Four!"
What … what of something happened to Ace? It would be his fault. His fault alone.
"Three!"
He has gone crazy.
"Two!"
The world has gone crazy.
"One!"
No!
"Go!"
Suddenly, it seemed as he had made a step outside of himself. He watched himself pushing a button, then he flipped the switch, which would activated the hidden trapdoor, as he activated the smoke engine to hide where Ace was coming from.
Distantly, he heard applause thunder up, as Ace and Zina appeared on the stage, seemingly out of nowhere. The cameras were all working properly, the three screens on top of the consol showing what happened on the stage in crystal clarity.
He activated the computer program, which started the first grand trick, as Ace began to explain what he was planning to do to the enthralled audience.
Everything worked as planned.
A strange exaltation filled him, while at the same time a never felt calmness settled over him. It was amazing. Never before he had felt so…right. *This* was what he wanted to do, what he was good at. Without even knowing it, he had worked to this point for the last three years. From the day he had broken into the Express to steal Angel's files, to the first moment he had helped Ace develop one of his tricks, to the time he had started to help out with the show. He knew that sometimes Ace thought he was working too much, that he should spend more time with his friends having some fun. But he *was* having fun. Working on the show *was* fun - though he never took it lightly. He knew what was at risk.
The show went on. People were constantly rushing past Cosmo's place, some in costumes, ready to go on the stage for the trappings - as he liked to call the 'show' part - others to move props, or help with this or that. This far in the tour, most knew what to do at what point of time.
Everything went well. That was until the last trick before the break. In this illusion, Ace would enter a tank full of water, chained up to the hilts. He had thirty seconds before two cables would be dropped into the tank, electrocuting him if he didn't managed to get out of the chains and the tank in time. The reason this illusion was placed just before the intermission was because Ace would be dripping wet afterwards, and needed the fifteen minutes break to get dry again.
Cosmo's job was on one hand to make sure the remote lock of the chains would open in time for Ace to get rid of them, and also to activate the device, which dropped the cables with the thirty seconds delay.
Cosmo could hear in his headphones, how Ace started his prep talk about how it is unwise to mix electricity with water, demonstrating the electrical charge of the cables by touching them to each other, generating a large, cackling arch between them. Cosmo watched how three helpers pushed the water tank onto the stage, fixing it to its position. He guided the reflectors to follow Ace, as he walked around the tank, making a joke about how he had bought it for a swimming pool, but found it was a bit to small for laps. The audience hung at his every word.
Next Ace took off his jacket, having dropped the cape earlier. With it the connection Ace had with Cosmo was also gone, as the microphone had been hidden in the jacket's collar. While one of the assistants took the jacket, the other one passed a metal detector over Ace's body, searching for any metallic devices, in order to show that he had no hidden keys on his body. Then they began to chain him up, after demonstrating the sturdiness of the bonds. To add to the excitement, one placed a hood over Ace's head, making him effectively blind. Finally, he was led up the scaffold at the side of the tank, until he stood at the edge of the water, where he received another set of chains around his ankles, attached to a heavy weight.
Finally, he was bound up good.
He tilted his head for a second, the prearranged signal to start the clock.
Thirty seconds!
Ace jumped into the tank, the weight pulling him down immediately. Instantly, he began to fight the bonds, though mostly for the benefit of the audience, which could see his shadow projected against a white canvas stretched in front of the Plexiglass walls of the tank.
Cosmo flipped the switch, which unlocked the padlock holding the chains together.
And saw with horror, that the signal light didn't turn green, as it was supposed to, but remained red.
"Shit!" Cosmo muttered, as he toggled the switch a couple of times, but without any better results.
"Shitshitshitshit!"
Oh god, what was he to do? If the chains didn't get off in time, Ace wouldn't be able to get rid of the hood. He wouldn't be able to see what he was doing. He wouldn't get out of the tank in time. He would be electrocuted.
What was he to do?
Five seconds had already gone by.
Cosmo looked frantically around the control board to see if he could find something - anything - to stop the program, which even now began to lower the cable ends, which spewed sparks in all directions, towards the water.
His fingers flew over the keyboard, trying to halt the release program, but it was to no avail. He couldn't simply shut the program off, as this would mean that the cables would drop into the tank immediately.
Twenty seconds remained.
Cosmo glanced at the monitors on top of the consol and saw how Ace still was struggling with the chains around his chests. Normally, by this time, he should have loosened at least those around his arms, so he could start working on the chain around his ankles.
They were running out of time, and there was not a damn thing he could do.
Briefly, he thought about rushing onto the stage and smashing the water tank somehow. But he cast that idea aside immediately, as he knew the Plexiglas walls were unbreakable.
He had to free Ace!
Suddenly, he had an idea. A wild idea, admittingly, but an idea, which might save Ace - or at least buy him enough time to free himself.
He went back to the computer keyboard and began to type furiously. If he couldn't stop the program, he might still be able to slow it down enough to buy some more time for Ace. For one second, he was almost glad it wasn't Angel he was working with, though with her, this problem most likely never would have risen. The computer, which ran the show on this tour, was much less sophisticated than the Magic Express' AI. Maybe possible to keep it busy with so much other stuff, that the program that controlled the clock and with it the mechanism, which lowered the cables, would run a little bit slower. It would be only a few seconds he would be able to gain, but maybe it would be enough for Ace to safe himself.
Frantically, Cosmo began to work on the keyboard, starting program over program, always cautious not to disturb the computer too much, as this might result in the reversed effect he was aiming for.
Eight seconds left.
Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see that Ace had managed to free himself from the chains around his chest. Cosmo didn't know - and right now didn't care - how Ace had managed to do it without the key. The magician's silhouette now was bent forward, as he was working on the chain around his ankles.
He was still three seconds behind the plan. Three seconds, which could mean the difference between success and dead.
Four seconds to go.
Cosmo had the feeling his efforts had *some* effect, though how much there was no way of saying. He didn't stop though.
Two more seconds.
Ace was still in inside the tank, though he was straightening up again.
It was too late.
Zero!
The end of the two cables touched the surface of the water. A blue and white arch of lighting blinded for a second everybody in the audience. Cosmo saw the flash on his TV screens.
"Ace!"
He didn't know if he had whispered the name, or screamed it.
It seemed as if the audience had inhaled simultaneously, and now was holding its collective breath.
Oh god!
Where was Ace? Had he managed to get out of the tank in time? Or was he now floating in it, dead?
Had he failed?
For a very short moment, Cosmo felt as his life, his future had crumbled into dust. If…if Ace really should be dead, he would have to return to his father. Three years ago, Ace had saved him from the brute, who had used every opportunity to beat and belittle Cosmo wherever he could. Though Cosmo had changed quite a bit, had gained some self confidence, the mere thought of his father still made him shiver all over his body. No, he couldn't go back to his father. Never.
Even then, a life without Ace…. It was inconceivable. Ace was more than his guardian, his foster father. He was his best friend and the thought of living without him didn't bear thinking about.
Finally, the whiteness of the screens cleared, and Cosmo could see the water tank.
The *empty* water tank!
There was no sign of Ace.
He got out!
He had survived!
"Well done, Cosmo!"
"Ace!"
Cosmo didn't think, he simply threw himself into Ace's strong arms, desperately needing the affirmation that his friend was okay. Ace's arms locked around him, holding him tightly.
"You're okay, Ace. You're okay," he almost sobbed, as he buried his face in Ace's chest, never minding that it was dripping wet. That the water tasted a little of salt nobody needed to know.
"I'm fine, Cosmo. You bought me enough time to get out. Thank you."
Cosmo had no idea how long he reveled in the security of Ace's arms. It couldn't have been more than a few seconds actually, but it was enough to turn his world the right side up again.
Carefully, he untangled himself, fighting to regain his control. Damn, he couldn't act like a six year old kid. He was sixteen after all, almost an adult.
"You're okay, Ace," he said once more, much calmer now. It was half a statement, half a question.
Ace smiled, as he stroke his wet hair out of the face. "I'm fine," he repeated again.
He hesitated, then sighed. "I have to go back on stage, Cosmo," he said, sounding apologetic.
Cosmo sighed as well, then nodded. "I know."
Ace smiled again, then squeezed Cosmo's upper arm reaffirmingly for a short second.
"I see you in a few."
Then he was gone, like a shadow in the night.
On the screen, Cosmo saw how Ace reappeared on the stage in front of the water tank. The crowd exploded in applause, leaping to their feet as one, giving Ace a standing ovation. Ace bowed.
Even after he had gone off the stage, the audience didn't stop applauding, demanding an encore.
But Ace didn't go back. Instead, he went to Cosmo, who still stood where he had left him. Quietly he accepted a towel - and the congratulations - from one of the stagehands. He thanked him absent mindly, but his concentration was still mostly on Cosmo.
By now, everything finally had settled in. Ace was alive, but it had been close. Too close. And it would have been his fault if Ace had died.
"Ace. I'm sorry. I don't know what happened. I have no idea. It simply didn't unlock. I tried, I really tried."
"I know you did, Cosmo. It is not your fault," Ace tried to stop Cosmo's rambling.
"But..."
"Cosmo!" Ace grabbed Cosmo on the shoulders. "Listen. It was a simple technical problem. Things like this happen. That's the reason we always have a back up, in case something goes wrong."
Ace hold up a small lock pick made from an extremely durable plastic material, undetectable by any metal detector. Cosmo stared at it, as if he never had seen it before.
"You had a lock pick with you?!?"
Ace just grinned.
"I wouldn't have made it though, if you hadn't slowed down the computer. Thank you."
Cosmo wiped off his hands at his pants. He should have known that Ace still had an ace up his sleeve, so to speak. Ace was, after all, the Magician. He would always be able to help himself.
Suddenly he felt much better. Nothing could happen to Ace. Never.
A smile crept up on his face.
"You did very good work, Cosmo," Ace said. "So, how did you like it so far?"
The threatened smile exploded on Cosmo's face. He grinned at Ace.
There was only one thing he *could* say.
"I love that job!"