Realised I forgot this last time.

Disclaimer: I do not own Now You See Me or any of the characters in it. I only own my OCs. If you steal them, I'll turn into a werewolf and eat you.

Also thanks to the peeps that commented. Made my whole day better just to think of them :)

Chapter Two

The girl awoke to find herself lying on a couch. Her head hurt and she felt sick. She screwed up her eyes against the soft yellow light. Reaching a hand out to grab the back of the couch, she pulled herself up to a sitting position and instantly regretted it. The room around her spun and flickered, making her feel dizzy and even more sick. She sat as still as possible and took a few deep breaths to calm herself before trying to figure out where she was.
Looking around, she realised that she was in the living room of quite a nice house. Everything had a nice, comfortable, homey look to it. The girl stood slowly, trying to not bring back the dizziness.
Suddenly, a door to her left opened, startling her and causing her to jump at the unexpected movement.
"Whoa, hey, it's ok. I'm not gonna hurt you. Just relax." The guy who had just entered the room held his hands up as a gesture of passiveness.
Looking at him, she guessed that he was probably somewhere around 19-20 years old. His short black hair, deep brown eyes and sharp, angular facial features made him pleasing to look at. But she had learned long before that good looking didn't necessarily mean good personality. Keeping her guard up, she took a few hesitant steps backwards.
Realising that she was feeling threatened, the guy stopped moving forwards and instead just held out one hand towards her.
"You alright?" The accent that laced his voice was a little heavier than her own, but it still brought comfort to her. She nodded, then winced at the pain in her head. He noticed her discomfort.
"How about you hold up two fingers for yes and one for no?"
Holding her aching head in her right hand, she used her left to hold up two fingers.
"Ok, so does your head hurt?"
Two fingers.
"Did you hit it on the ground?"
Again two fingers.
"Do you know the guys who were chasing you?"
She held up two, but then thought better of it and changed to three.
"Is that a sort of?"
Two fingers.
He nodded and tilted his head to the side.
"How about you sit down?"
She sat, still holding her head with one hand. Slowly, he sat beside her, making sure to not sit too close.
"Do you want me to get you something for your head?"
She held up one finger and removed her hand from her head.
"I'm Jack, by the way. Can you tell me your name?"
"Maria." Her voice came out cracked and dry.
"Here," Jack picked up a glass of water from the coffee table. "Drink this. Don't worry, I haven't poisoned it or anything."
"Thanks." She muttered as she took the glass from him. After she drained the entire glass, she lifted her head and got a proper look at this mysterious 'Jack'. He looked familiar, but she couldn't quite figure out why. Then it hit her. He (and his friends) had been all over the news and in the papers. They had even done their 'grand finale' right hear in New York, although he hadn't been in it.
"Y-your Jack Wilder."
He grinned.
"That's me."
Her jaw dropped.
"But… you're dead… on the bridge… the car…" she made a flipping motion with her hands.
Jack chuckled and shook his head.
"Do I look dead to you?"
She reached out with a slightly trembling hand and gripped his arm, as though checking that he was really there.
Not expecting much from the smallish thin girl, Jack only just managed to keep back a gasp from the feel of her vice-like grip. He realised that, despite her size and appearance, this girl could probably be a match for him in a fight. Not that he wanted to fight her. Even though she was rather thin and paler than would seem healthy, she was quite pretty. Her dirty-blond hair was still slightly damp and it hung around her soft-featured, pleasant, oval-shaped face like a curtain. Her light-blue eyes watched him carefully, like a bird watching a cat. He smiled softly at her and she returned the favour. Then, after releasing his arm, she stood and nodded gently to him.
"Thank you for your help, Jack. But I think I should be getting home now."
Jack chuckled softly.
"Home to where, might I ask? Judging by the fact that you were walking around this part of town at this time of night and you look like you haven't eaten in days, I'd say that you're most likely a street-sleeper. Or in other words, you're homeless."
Maria frowned.
"And what would you know about being homeless, pretty boy?"
"Because I was homeless once too."
The new information shocked her. Jack Wilder, the amazing magician, the master of the card, had been a street-sleeper?
"Y-you?" She couldn't believe it. He nodded.
Suddenly, a sharp pain sliced through her head, causing her to stagger and fall. She would have hit the floor had Jack's reactions not been so quick. Jumping up, he caught her round the waist with both hands, preventing her from crashing to the floor. She barely noticed as he lifted her bridal-style and carried her out of the room. Her head was swimming and her vision blurred. He was muttering to her and she clung to the sound even though she couldn't understand what he was saying. Although the injury probably had something to do with the sudden dizzy spell, she knew it was that time of the week. The time that the dream would come. Ever since she had run away from home, the terror of what she had left behind visited her weekly in nightmares.
Jack set her down on his bed. He went to get up and leave but she grabbed his hand and pulled him back.
"Please, please don't leave…" her voice was full of fear and sadness. Jack looked at her in surprise. She looked helpless and scared. It surprised him. She really came across a strong sort of person. Wary maybe, but strong. Seeing her like this, like she actually needed him, it almost broke his heart. He knew the look in her eyes though. He had seen it enough in his own in the mirror, back when he used to wake up, sweating and crying. It was a look that screamed 'my past is haunting me!'.
So rather than leaving, he lied down next to her. Her eyes closed and in a few minuets she was fast asleep. As soon as he was certain that she wasn't going to wake up, he rolled over and got out of the bed. His hand was on the door handle when he heard the first whimper. Turning back, he saw Maria beginning to twitch. Then she started to shake and shudder. And then, quite suddenly she stopped moving all together. Jack took a hesitant step towards her. Nothing. He was about to just turn around and leave when she suddenly jerked and cried out as though in pain. Then it happened again, and again. By this time tears were streaming down her face. It reminded Jack of his own painful experiences from when he was younger. Quickly and urgently, almost as though he couldn't stop himself, he lay back down next to her and pulled her into his arms. For a moment she resisted, but then relaxed in his arms. Jack heard her mutter something. He had heard somewhere that you could ask people stuff while they're asleep. He decided to try it.
"What was that?"
"Promise me…" she sighed.
Jack waited to see if that was it. When she didn't say anything else, he whispered,
"I promise."
She smiled and snuggled into him and then was quite for the rest if the night, leaving Jack wondering what he had just promised.