"Magicians," Tony repeated, carefully pronouncing each syllable. "You're sure that's what he said?"
Steve nodded. "Straight from Coulson's mouth."
Clint shook his head. "They'll let anybody into SHIELD headquarters these days, huh?"
"They've make quite the international storm," Natasha replied. "From what I can tell, these four – Horsemen, they call themselves – seem like a force to be reckoned with."
Tony chuckled. "Still, aliens, and now magic?"
Steve shrugged. "It's pretty outlandish, but if Coulson wants us to talk with them, we will." He looked around the conference room. "Say, where's Bruce?"
"Oh, I ran into him earlier," Natasha said. "Magicians have a tendency to do things suddenly; he decided he was going to sit this one out."
"Pity," Tony sighed. "I wanted to team up with him to pull apart all their tricks."
"Bad idea, Tony," Clint warned. "I know some magicians, and nothing pisses them off faster."
The door slammed open, making the four Avengers jump. Director Fury strode into the room, followed closely by Coulson.
"Stark, you are absolutely not to piss off the magicians," Fury commanded. "We've convinced them to come here so we can create allies, not enemies. The Four Horsemen have committed massive international theft and evaded some of the FBI's top agents. We won't be able to figure out exactly how, but we'd all feel much safer if those with the knowledge were on our side." Fury turned to glance at Coulson. "Now, I have other places to be. Agent Coulson will brief you on their profiles. And all of you – not just Tony – behave." He glared around the room once more before turning on his heel and storming out.
Coulson cleared his throat. "Natasha is the only one who's familiar with the Horsemen?" he asked. Guilty stares from the men and a smug grin from Natasha confirmed his suspicions. "Alright, I'll take it from the top. They'll be here in half an hour though, so let's make this quick." He plugged a thumb drive into a nearby laptop and the Avengers turned in their seats as the projector warmed up.
"Okay," he began. "First, a summary: not too long ago, four magicians came out of nowhere and onto the Las Vegas stage. They called themselves the Four Horsemen. They were backed financially by Arthur Tressler."
Tony grimaced and muttered something sounding suspiciously like "Dick." Coulson gave him an icy glare, and Tony blinked innocently in return. Shaking his head, Coulson continued. "Their first show ended with them robbing a French bank, setting both the FBI and Interpol on their tail. Agent Dylan Rhodes headed the investigation. Over their next two shows, the Horsemen managed not only to steal millions, but also to make the government agencies of the world look ridiculous. The most curious thing about any of this is that they never kept a penny for themselves. After their third and final show, they vanished." Coulson adjusted his tie. "That is, until we found them."
"Now, one of the marvels of the Horsemen is that they ever managed to work together. First, we have the man who is presumably their leader, James Daniel Atlas. Going by Daniel, we've profiled him as an obsessive, slightly narcissistic, control freak." Coulson barely hid his glance at Tony. "He's an good illusionist – very famous, then declined before joining the Horsemen. Then, Henley Reeves. She started out as Daniel's assistant before making a name for herself as an accomplished escape artist." Coulson glanced up from his notes. "The relationship between Henley and Daniel – between Daniel and all of them, really, but especially those two – is one of the biggest strains on the Horsemen." He actually managed not to look at Clint and Natasha this time as he muttered, "Many unacknowledged romantic feelings there." He cleared his throat.
"Moving on, Jack Wilder. The youngest of the Horsemen; not much is officially known about his past. However, we were able to dig up a few records – he was in and out of the foster system as a child before finally going off the grid at age twelve. Our best guess is that he made money by picking pockets with magic as a distraction. Keep a hand on your wallets."
"The final member of the Horsemen is Merritt McKinney. This is the one you should seriously watch out for. He's a mentalist – commonly known as a mind reader." Coulson looked up again. "I mean, he can't actually read minds. Mostly just body language, really. But he's very, very good at what he does. I'd tell you not to let him catch you off guard, but he will. So try not to look too stupid while he's doing it."
The Avengers looked between each other, suddenly apprehensive. What had begun as a simple, almost silly, mission was rapidly becoming much more.
a/n: Hello! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of my Now You See Me/Avengers crossover fic, Allies. I owe a big thank you to thebabysleight and starkindustriesonline, two Tumblr roleplayers whom I must credit for this crossover idea. My plan for this fic is to have three chapters: The Avengers about the Horsemen, the Horsemen about the Avengers, and finally the two groups meeting. All reviews, comments, and constructive criticisms are greatly appreciated. I know I can always improve on my work!
See you next time!
- Julia