AN: I know, I know. I haven't updated any of my other stories in almost a year. I get it. I'm just having a really had time writing for DP anymore. I'm not here to make excuses, however. I want to start off by saying, this was never meant to be an actual story. It was originally a writing exercise, just something to help me focus while I transitioned meds. Well, it certainly accomplished that. The whole story was written in five days, as well as one round of editing. Unlike every other story I've posted, this one is written down to the last word. I'm only posting the first chapter now, because I want to edit the rest some more. (If anyone would be interested in helping, please PM me. I would greatly appreciate it.)

I also find it incredibly amusing that this is the first Merlin story I'm posting. I've been a fan of Merlin for years, and writing for it for almost as long. I've never, obviously, posted any of them until now, though. As for Now You See Me, I saw the movie for the first time a few weeks ago, and for some reason every scene stuck in my memory with almost 100% accuracy. That's never happened to me, so I decided to utilize it, as mentioned above, as a way to keep my focus and practice my writing skills.

Though this first chapter follows the script almost word for word, the story does begin to deviate, and I can promise that, even if you've seen the movie, you will be surprised. I also promise that the quality of the writing itself gets better as the story goes on, though I will say again that I'm still editing. Also, the current title and description are placeholders. Feel free to offer ideas.

Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin or Now You See Me, their characters, places or events. All rights belong to their respective owners/creators.

Edit- WOW, I only posted this half an hour ago, and I've already had to fix the formatting. Sorry.

Edit 2- This chapter has been edited and updated.

Merlin Emrys was having a good day. He had made almost two hundred dollars so far, Freya had called, and he had met up with his mom for lunch. He was currently working the street near Central Park. The air was dark and cold, and his audience huddled around him in large coats. It was late spring, and ice coated the ground. Merlin's breath fogged in front of him as he shuffled cards for a smiling blonde.

She grinned in a way he thought was supposed to be flirty. Merlin ignored her, instead starting his painstakingly memorized monolog. "Come in close. Closer."

The woman rolled her eyes playfully, but took a step closer, until she was mere inches away from the cards.

"Because the more you think you see," Merlin continued, meeting the eyes of those in the first row, "The easier it'll be to fool you. Because what is seeing? You're looking, but what you're really doing is filtering, interpreting, searching for meaning." Merlin's audience was watching him closely, hanging on every word. No one paid attention to the cards he still shuffled between his hands. "My job is to take that most precious of gifts you've given me, your attention, and use it against you."

Merlin let that linger in the air for a moment, before turning back to the blonde. "I'm going to flip through this deck, and I want you to see one card. Not this one," he showed the bottom of the deck, "That's too obvious. Pay close attention."

And giving his best showman's smile, he shuffled the deck. "That was too fast, I'll do it again. Are you ready?"

The woman nodded happily, so he shuffled again, letting his finger linger a millisecond longer on the seven of diamonds. "Now did you see one? Do you have one in mind?"

"Yes."

Merlin spread the cards, presenting the faces to the audience. "Do you see your card here?"

"No." the woman admitted.

"That's because you're looking too closely. And what have I been telling you all night? The closer you look..."

"The less you see." The audience chorused. Merlin grinned and threw his cards into the air, letting them flutter down around him as the skyscraper behind him illuminated. The crowd gasped in awe, then cheered as a pattern appeared- the seven of diamonds.

Alator Catha was having a good day. He had been recognized by an old fan, he had gotten a free drink from the waitress, and he had been able to sell a handful of his DVD's. To end the day, a skeptic and his wife had approached his table at a cafe in Chicago and asked for a demonstration.

"Now look into my eyes. And sleep." The woman instantly collapsed into his arms. He whispered in her ear for a moment. "Okay. And..." The woman woke up and stood alert. Her husband rolled his eyes and sighed heavily. Alator grinned. He loved scaring skeptics, and had quite a few tricks to do so. But he had to build up to it first.

He pulled a tenner from his pocket. "If you can get this bill from me, you can have it." The woman started forward, but her arms locked in place. She grinned, amazed.

"Go ahead." Alator smiled charmingly. "Take it. It's yours." The woman huffed a laugh. Her husband looked annoyed.

"Alright, if you can say your name, you can have it."

The woman opened her mouth, but her tongue wouldn't move. She gave a small grunt, then stared at him in awe.

Alator laughed. "Alright, just hang tight a sec. I'm gonna take a little peek under the hood of your hubby's brain."

The woman nodded excitedly, but the man began to protest. Alator ignored him.

"I'm picturing... Don't tell me." Alator raised a finger to his temple. "Mm... Of course. Beach, cocktails... Florida!" He snapped his fingers.

The man faltered. "Look, it was a business trip."

"I mean, it is a kind of business." Alator shrugged. "Maybe the oldest business."

The man fumbled for a reply, then turned to his wife. "You know what, Honey Bee, let's-"

"She can't move, mate." Alator narrowed his eyes, and decided the man wasn't ashamed enough. "You're thinking of a woman's name. A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J-" The man's eyebrow twitched. "J? Jean, Jane, Janet-"

His brow twitched again. Alator raised his. "Who's Janet?"

The woman cleared her throat, and Alator turned to her. "You know Janet?" The woman, smiling, nodded.

Alator felt his heart plummet. "It's not your best friend, is it?" He hoped his voice hadn't betrayed his emotions. The woman didn't seem to notice. She excitedly mouthed, 'sister'. Dread pooled in Alator's gut. "Your sister?"

The now terrified man whispered, "No, please!", and Alator knew for certain.

"Her sister? Oh, my god." He glared at the man. "You weren't away on business, you were away on Janet!"

The woman gaped at her husband, who muttered, "No."

"You're wife's sister!" Alator would have kept going, but the woman was slowly turning gray, and struggling with her frozen arms to hit her husband. "Okay, we need to move over here, because it seems like she's a little bit upset right now." He grabbed the man's shoulder and pulled him a few feet to the side. "Do you want this to go away?"

The man glanced away, angry and ashamed. "Yes," he growled.

"Pull out your wallet. C'mon, get it out."

The man glared, but handed Alator the wallet. "Do you shake down everybody like this?"

"No, only the special few." Alator smirked, then pulled out a handful of bills from between the leather. "Two hundred seem fair?" The man froze, and Alator decided that no, it wasn't enough. "You know what? This is a big deal. Let's go two-fifty."

The man paled, but the spark in his eyes never died. "You're a stick-up artist."

"Yeah, of course." He turned back to the woman. "Okay. And sleep!" The woman slumped. "Now, when I snap my fingers, you won't remember any of this." Alator turned to the man. "And you, Warren Beatty," he slammed his hand onto the man's forehead. "Every time you see or even think of Janet, you're gonna picture me naked. And that's not a pretty sight."

"Yeah." The man seemed scared, finally.

"And... you're wide awake!" The woman stood tall, eyes open and alert. She looked a bit confused. Alator did his best to look apologetic. "Well, we did the best we could, but some people just aren't to be hypnotized."

Mordred Clarent was having a good day. He had gotten the chance to flirt with a cute girl admiring his tricks, he had managed to confuse a mugger into leaving him alone, and he had had a wonderful lunch at Mel's Deli. He had just boarded the ferry with a spoon in hand, and ran to the upper deck.

Mordred found a good spot, and stood tall. "Ladies and gentlemen! I am the next great magician, and I will give one hundred dollars to whoever can tell me how this trick is done."

His audience perked up, large coats rustling. Mordred smirked internally. Offering them money was a wonderful way to grab their attention.

"I have an ordinary spoon from Mel's Deli, right here in Brooklyn. Check it out." Mordred showed every angle of the spoon. "Now, everyone, please pay very close attention. Because I'm about to bend this spoon with my mind."

He gripped the middle of the spoon between his thumb and forefinger, rubbing as the spoon slowly bent in half. The crowd gasped, and some shuffled closer. Mordred smirked, and handed the spoon to the man closest to him. "Thank you, thank you. Pass that around."

And then suddenly someone was gripping his wrist, reaching into his sleeve and back pocket. The man pulled out the other spoons Mordred had tucked away.

"What's this?" The man smirked. "Looks like we got a spoon and a stem."

The crowd booed, disappointed.

Mordred was annoyed now. How dare this man? "I've got other tricks-"

"Or you could give me my hundred bucks, like you said you would."

Mordred hid his frown and pulled out his wallet. He passed a hundred dollar bill into the man's hand, snuck his wallet into his own pocket, and discreetly unbuckled his watch. He said politely, "You have a very good eye, sir."

The man preened, and Mordred hurried away. Just as he was about to reach the dock, the man shouted from above him. Damn. Mordred had hoped he'd have a bit longer. He jumped onto the dock and started running.

Freya Bas was having a good day. She had managed to get some rest after her flight, she had talked to Merlin on the phone for about an hour, and tonight's show had sold out. She was just getting started on her last trick. "Okay, Los Angeles, are we ready to end this thing?"

The crowd cheered. God, Freya loved that noise. It always sent chills down her spine, and energized her no matter how tired she was.

"Yeah! Alright, when that timer hits zero-" Freya gestured to the giant clock above her head, next to a smaller tank filled with grey fish, "a tank full of flesh-eating piranhas will fall from above."

The crowd cheered again as Freya slipped out of her stage clothes to reveal a flashy swimsuit. She slipped a pair of shackles on her wrist and gave a lecherous smile. "A lady has to have handcuffs, right girls?"

Freya stepped onto the platform above the tank and the crowd counted down, then suddenly she was in the water. She smiled at the crowd, and started to fiddle with her shackles. After a few seconds, her right wrist was free. Now for the tricky part. If she wasn't careful, she might drown herself.

Freya smiled and waved at the crowd, who burst into cheers. Then she swam to the bottom of the tank and yanked on the chain she had previously jammed into the bottom of the tank, her actions growing increasingly more frantic. She swam back up and hit the side of the tank, screaming enough to draw concern from the audience, but being careful not to waste air.

The crowd started to scream. "She's serious, she can't get out!"

One man took charge, and grabbed a metal pipe from behind the seats. "Get out of the way! Move, move!" He swung the pipe, but it rebounded off the tank.

Freya had been counting down the seconds, and realized that she was out of time. She finally yanked the chain free and swam to the top, gasping. And then the piranhas fell.

Freya's assistants slipped dye into the water, and the audience screamed. While everyone was distracted, Freya slipped out amid the torrent of fish and red water, and one of her assistants helped her sneak around the commotion until she stood at the back of the crowd. She nodded her thanks, then took a deep breath and screamed, "Whoever thought of this is a sick sadist!"

Silence. The crowd stared at her in awe, and then they were cheering louder than ever before.

Merlin walked into his apartment with his friend Will. They had known each other since kindergarten, and usually got along almost scarily well, but right now the athletic young man was being a bit of a brat.

"Oh, Merlin, I'm your biggest fan. Merlin, kiss me all over my gorgeous body! What else can your hands do, Merlin?"

Merlin rolled his eyes, but couldn't help the blush rising to his cheeks. "Close the door. It's a bad building."

Will did. "So, how did you do it? You know, the card on the side of the building?"

"Trade secret."

"Yeah, alright. You bribed someone, didn't you." It wasn't a question.

Merlin grinned over his shoulder. "Tower electrician."

"How much?" Will quirked an eyebrow.

"Fifty bucks."

"Hm. Cheap guy." Will collapsed on the ragged couch and grabbed the TV remote as Merlin slipped off his jacket. Something fluttered to the floor.

Will was speaking again, but Merlin wasn't listening. He picked up the tarot card. The Magician. He flipped it over and his heart skipped a beat. On the back was a delicate black eye. Merlin recognized that symbol, he had researched it for years.

He felt like he couldn't breathe, so he turned his attention to the rest of the card. Underneath the eye were four lines of script. March 29, 4:44 p.m., 45 East Evans St, NY, NY. One week from today.

"You need to leave."

Will stopped mid-sentence. "What? Merlin, you invited me over!" Then he noticed his friend's attention was elsewhere. "What is it?"

"If I'm right... I might have just achieved every magician's dream."

One week later, Merlin was on his way to East Evans Street. He was nervous. After all, there was no guarantee that the card was real, and not just a cruel prank.

Merlin was climbing out of his taxi when he saw a familiar face. "Freya?"

Freya was a tiny woman, and one of Merlin's oldest friends. They had met in fourth grade, bonding over their love of magic. They had been practically attached at the hip since.

Merlin had done a show with her once. Only once, however. They had quickly learned, that despite of their long-lasting friendship (and perhaps a bit more), the two didn't perform very well together. They were both too stubborn about their own showmanship and technique (while Freya was an escape artist, Merlin tended more towards illusions and cardistry), and neither had been willing to budge.

So in the end, they had decided that they were better off as solo acts, and became friendly rivals, fighting for audiences until Freya decided to move to California about two months ago, hoping to get better reception for her shows.

The brunette spun on her heel, beaming. "Merlin!"

Merlin grinned back. He asked, "Did you get a card too?"

"Yep! " She chirped. "Really though, Em, it's good to see you again."

"You too." Merlin relaxed. "I've missed you." He really had. They talked almost every day, of course, but after practically growing up together, it was hard not seeing each other's face every day. He wanted to catch up with her, despite already knowing all about LA from her phone calls, but then he remembered the card. He gestured to the dilapidated building. "Right, so, I was going to go scout the place out first, but I wouldn't say no to company."

Freya's dark eyes gleamed. "Of course."

They chatted as they entered the building. "I saw the recording of your performance in LA. It was great, but don't you think it might have been a bit morbid?"

"I loved it, the audience loved it, that's all that matters." Freya approached the staircase and began to climb.

Merlin followed. "Aren't you worried about getting sued? What if someone in the audience had fainted or something?"

"Which is why they all signed waivers when they bought their tickets. Really, Merlin, I thought it all through. It's fine."

Merlin snorted and opened his mouth to reply, but they had reached the top of the stairs by now, and a tall bald man stood in front of the door. The three stood in silence for a moment, and then the man spoke.

"So apparently none of us was the only one chosen. Let me be the first to kick my ego to the curb."

"Uh, yeah." Merlin shuffled discreetly between him and Freya. "Who are you?"

"Alator Catha. I'm assuming you've never heard of me, judging from your blank stares." Alator nodded sagely. "That's fine. And who might you be?"

Merlin wasn't too keen to answer- they didn't know this man, after all, and there were no other witnesses around- but Freya had no such reservations. "Freya Bas," She placed a hand on Merlin's shoulder. "And this is Merlin Emrys."

"Ah. How long have you been together?"

Freya and Merlin blushed in sync. "No, no! Just friends."

"We grew up together, that's all."

The man grinned and opened his mouth to reply, when something scuffled on the stairway. All three turned. Stepping onto the landing was a younger man with ice blue eyes staring in awe.

"No way... Emrys?" He took a step forward, still staring at Merlin. "Dude, I've seen everything that you have ever done. You're like... I idolize you, seriously. It's so nice to meet you. I'm Mordred, by the way."

Merlin smiled shakily. "You too."

"Question."

Mordred's head whipped around so fast his neck cracked. He seemed surprised that there were other people around.

"Did you get one of these?" Alator held up The Emperor.

Mordred presented a card in return. "Yeah. Death."

"The Chariot." Freya nodded.

"The Magician. So, are we supposed to wait around for someone?"

"The door's locked," Alator said. "Otherwise I would have gone in earlier."

Mordred smiled dangerously and reached into his pocket. "Oh, no. Nothing's ever locked." He kneeled in front of the door, poking a small wire into the keyhole and wiggling. After a moment, Merlin heard a click and the door swung open.

The air in the apartment was dusty, as were the walls and the floor. Merlin carefully picked his way into the main room, the others following behind. The floor was wooden, and creaked when stepped on.

"Man, it's freezing in here!" Mordred complained. Merlin silently agreed. They reached the main room, and on the floor lay a single white rose, and a small folded paper. A glass vase sat off to the side. "What's that?"

"I don't know," Merlin said, picking up the paper. The inside read 'Now You Don't'. He passed it to Alator.

Freya spun the rose stem around her fingers. "'A rose by any other name..."

Merlin laughed at his friend's antics as she plopped the rose stem-first into the vase. Water instantly streamed across the floor. "Whoa, what's happening?" The water bled into an indented shape in the ground, which filled quickly. Suddenly, the indented sunk deeper into the floor, and smoke rose from the floorboards.

"Merlin, did you do this?" Freya turned to him, accusing.

He couldn't really blame her. He had pulled similar tricks as a child. But still... "No. Did you?"

Mordred shook his head. "I wish."

It was beginning to get hard to see. Merlin turned to search for a light switch. Mordred pulled out a flashlight, and the small beam it gave off was enough for Merlin to find the switch. He scurried over and flipped it on, but nothing happened. "Electricity's out."

"Well, let's check." Alator reached to the small hanging light above his head and twisted a light bulb. Instantly, light shone through the room, but instead of bulbs, it came from multiple small projectors imbedded in the walls and ceiling. The light streams met in the middle of the room, creating a hologram. Merlin saw files and names, building schematics, magic tricks and bank accounts.

Freya gasped. "Blueprints!"

"Who do you think did this?" Mordred whispered.

Merlin couldn't hold back a grin. "I don't know, but I really want to meet them. This is... incredible."

"It's a show." They turned to Alator, who looked just as awed as they were.

Glancing back at the hologram, Merlin realized he was right. These were the plans for a show, one larger than he'd ever done. He read a bit more, and felt himself becoming excited. If he performed this show, followed these instructions, he could very well become the most famous illusionist in history.

Then he saw what the finale was meant to be, and Merlin grew jittery with excitement.

"Wow."