Hello there!

I should probably say… Welcome to 'Things That Are Broken'.

It's really great to see that already, so many people are liking my story and I really thank you for that. It's people that show their support that make me want to keep writing.

Every single person who favourites or follows or reviews this story will get a 'Thank You' PM.

Reviews will get replies free for everyone to read as in these replies I will share some information and insight and possibly sneak peeks of the story. These replies will be ABOVE the chapter. Feel free to skip them if you wish. Everyone who has reviewed as of this moment has a reply (unless I've already replied to your review in a PM)

There is another VERY IMPORTANT AN at the bottom of this chapter so please read it.

Thanks guys and I'll see you on the other side!

Jessica-Jane


Review Replies:

Laree:

I'm so glad you like my AU. I thought Jack was a bit of an underappreciated character and he was stealing so I thought, "Hmmmm… He must have some kind of backstory." Glad you like the headcannon. It's really… interesting to write.

Laree (AGAIN! YAY!):

Sad and wonderful… strange combination but eh… we can make it work. I decided to write Little Jack because I can… relate to him. I know what he's feeling and I know that when random people who saw me on the street came up and took care of me, it was the best feeling in the world at the time. I decided to make Danny the one to spur Jack's magic because Jack in the movie is such a fan of him. Henley I decided to make a caring person because she seems like the kind of person to 'baby' someone, so I translated it into caring for Little Jack. I know the type. They look nice, they tend to act nice. Onto the next one indeed!

Starstone:

I WILL! I WILL! I WILL! I'm really glad you think that it is so good.

Guest #1:

Hello there! I'm really glad you like the story and I'm super glad you like the concept. It came to me in a moment of inspiration! :P

Guest #2:

Beautifully written… I'm swooning at such lovely words! Thank you so much for saying I'm a talented writer. It's a passion of mine and it's something I really enjoy. Amazing… *swoon*. You're so nice! Definitely going to keep writing!

DeviousLightningShot:

Definitely going to continue this… Don't worry!

Aerielle:

Glad you think it's awesome! Means a lot to me mate!


Now on to the story!


It had been three years since that day. The day his parent had died while they were on holiday in New York. His father had been hit by a car as he crossed the road and his mother… well his mother had gone to the chemist and swallowed a bottle of pills only an hour after his father had been pronounced dead. It was not the best way to end one's holiday. It was because of those thoughts and memories that as he walked through Central Park, he reflected on his life. James Daniel Atlas, age 13, had died the same day as his parents. Now stood J. Daniel Atlas, age 16, preferably called Daniel or Danny. Orphan. Emancipated. Magician.

Daniel now wished he had his playing cards. His favourite playing card she'd gotten for his birthday all those years ago. But they were gone now, given to a boy who needed them more than he did. Ever since he'd given his cards to the kid and run his hand through his brown hair, he'd always been in the back of Daniel's minds. Daniel worried for a boy he had never known. But know as he walked through Central Park, he coldly realised that the boy was probably dead. He could see he was weak when he was a small kid. Three years on from now… the kid was definitely dead. Daniel sighed as he walked along the path and took a seat on a bench around a specific tree. The Lionel Shrike tree. He was tempted to look to his left, to gaze upon the patch of ground where the kid sat, but he stopped himself. There was no need, it would be empty.

Sighing, Daniel turned his gaze to the stretch of grass opposite him. It was filled with smiling couples and happy families. Something he used to have. But then something caught his eye. The grass was crowded but sneaking in between the people deftly was a small figure. A small figure whose light and nimble fingers were reaching into pockets and around wrists and hands to claim the prizes that lay there. Daniel chuckled at the sight. The kid, whose back was to him, was good. Not one person noticed his sticky fingers. Daniel was about to look away and forget about what he saw when the kid turned around. Brown hair and brown eyes. Daniel gasped. There was no way that that…

It couldn't be. Daniel shook his head. The kid he helped was small and sickly and hungry and abused and not likely to survive. But there was no mistaking those eyes. Eyes that Daniel had thought about for years. Even from a short distance and with three years without looking at him, Daniel recognised the little boy who he'd given hope. Son of a bitch.

And just to prove his identity, the boy walked away from the crowd and sat down in his spot on the edge of the path. He put all his stolen goods into a messenger bag which hung from his side and then pulled out a deck of cards. A very familiar deck of cards. Daniel chuckled breathily. Son of a bitch.

The boy carefully removed the cards from the pack and began to shuffle them. He was quite skilled Daniel noticed, his full attention on the boy as he shuffled round the bench to get a better view of the kid. Daniel recognised the tricks from the piece of paper that had rested inside the card packet and smiled when he noticed some that weren't held on it. Being a magician himself – he'd started performing on streets at the start of this year – he saw the slight stumbling in the kid's movements when he performed the more difficult tricks. But that was understandable. Judging by his pick pocketing skills, the kid would be a sleight, not an illusionist.

As Daniel mused, the kid stood up. Quickly putting his deck of cards away in his bag, he searched the ground and found three sticks. He walked a little way away from his spot and planted them in the ground. Then he went and sat back down. Daniel frowned, totally confused. What the hell was the kid doing?!

But then the kid pulled out a different pack of cards, drew three out and quick as lightning, threw them.

All three sticks were sliced in half.

Daniel's jaw dropped a centimetre. That was… amazingly impossible. How did the kid even do that?!

Daniel in the next second struggled with an idea in his head, trying to figure out if he should do it or just move on and start a magic show on the other side of the park to get some more money. But then Daniel steeled himself, and stood. And then he walked towards the boy and stood behind him.

The little boy was still sat on the grass, facing the sticks he'd sliced in half. He was getting better, and a corner of his mouth turned up for a second before it drooped again. Staring at the ground, he saw the shadows fall over him and tensed himself, ready to attack whoever was behind him in an instant. But then he felt a hand run itself softly through his hair. He gasped at the familiar feeling. The familiar weight on his head. The familiar rush of warmth that it bought. Without ingle thought to warn him against it, the boy stood up quickly and threw himself at the body behind him. Little arms wound their way around a waist and clung to a jacket, un-willing to let go. A face was smooshed into a stomach and the boy vaguely above him heard a quiet laugh.

The force of the boy's hug forced Daniel to take a step back and he quietly laughed. The boy was smooshing his face into Daniel's stomach so he took the hand that rested on the boy's head and began to card his fingers through the boy's brown hair. A smile graced his features at the feelings the boy stirred within him and he revelled in it, though only for a moment as the boy quickly pulled back, taking a few steps away from him and looking down to the ground. Thankfully, Daniel sighed relieved, he didn't make a run for it.

"That's a uh- pretty neat trick you did before with the cards." Daniel crouched down to be at the boy's height. The boy astutely looked down at his feet, hands clutching the strap of his messenger bag."I've never seen anyone before who could do that."

"Really?" the voice that answered him was small and child-like. It clenched at Daniel's heart.

"Really," Daniel answers the boy. "You've got a real talent for doing that."

There was silence for a moment before a quiet, "Thanks," fills the space between them.

"Can I ask you a question kiddo?" Daniel took the silence as an affirmative. "Why do you still practice those card tricks?"

Silence. Daniel forged on. "They're not your talent. You're a sleight not an illusionist. So why do you still practice with them?"

"Because," the boy looked up at Daniel with nervous, puppy-dog brown eyes. "I wanna be the most famous magician who ever lived."

Daniel smiled softly at the boy and reached a hand up, running it over the kid's head. Daniel smiled when the kid discreetly tried to nuzzle his palm, soaking in the precious moments of affection he could. "What's your name kiddo?"

The boy bit his lip, wondering whether he should trust this stranger. "Jack," he finally answered. "I'm Jack Wilder."

"Well Jack Wilder," Daniel held a hand out. "I'm J. Daniel Atlas. It's nice to finally meet you."

Jack smiled a smile, the first one in two years and shook Daniel's hand shyly.

"You know," Daniel muses, sitting down in the grass. Jack did the same only a second later. Sitting cross-legged their knees just brushed each others'. "I'm a magician."

"Really?!" Jack gasped, eyes filled with wonder.

"Really," Daniel nodded and then stopped. Was he really about to make this offer? He couldn't do this? Could he? But then Daniel looked into those eyes and he knew that yes… of course he could.

"Jack." Daniel leant forward to look Jack in the eye. "Would you like to come with me?"

"Go where?" Jack's voice was wary.

"Anywhere," Daniel answered easily. "You can come and live with me and we'll learn magic and we can," Daniel tried to find the right words. "We can get away Jack. You wouldn't have to live here in the Park. You wouldn't have to steal. You could have a life Jack and a house and a bed and a meal every night." And a family.

Jack stayed silent when Daniel was talking, frowning down at the ground and biting his lip in thought. He'd never had a family before, but the last time he'd lived somewhere all it bought him was pain and ouchies. But he got hurt where he was now too. Big bullies trying to beat him up and doing it when he couldn't fight them off enough. He was wary of Daniel, he didn't trust people. People just hurt you. But then he remembered when Daniel had helped him. The cards falling into his lap and the hand in his hair.

Jack looked up at Daniel, still worrying his lip. "Will you look after me?" Daniel looked confused, his thoughts had drifted while he waited for Jack to make his decision. "If I go with you," Jack clarified. "Will you look after me?"

"I promise Jack," Daniel said tenderly as his hand reached up to run through the kid's hair. The tension seemed to melt off Jack. He really liked that. "I will always, always, look after you."

"Starting now?" The childish question bought a chuckle to Daniel's lips as he stood pulling Jack up with him. He noticed the flinch that ran through Jack when his hands landed on his shoulders, he pretended that it didn't grip at his heart.

"Starting now," Daniel answered reverently and knelt up seconds before Jack threw himself at Daniel again for a tight hug. He could feel the tears running down Jack's face so he pulled Jack into a proper hug with an arm tight around Jack's waist and the other resting on his head and carding through his hair. Jack's arms were tight around Daniel's neck as he buried his head in Daniel's shoulder.

"C'mon kiddo," Daniel quipped as he heaved Jack up and into his arms, settling him on his hip. Jack let out a squeal of surprise and a small laugh. The first laugh in eight years. His hands hung loosely around Daniel's neck and Daniel's own supported Jack's weight. It felt like carrying a toddler. Jack was so underweight."Let's get going."

Daniel felt Jack nod and began walking. Away from Jack's patch of grass (Jack stared back at it). Away from the Lionel Shrike tree. Away from the gates of Central Park and out into the city. Out of the old life and into the new. Daniel smiled to himself… That new life looked pretty good.


So there was First Meeting. Hope you liked it. Review, Favourite, Follow, all that jazz!

Something very important right now.

I will be opening up an opportunity for you, the readers.

If you so desire, you can put in a request for a scene. It can be a cute/fluffy Jack and Daniel scene or a look into someone's thoughts or even an AU which I can shove in a separate story. Anything you like. I have quite a few moments/scenes already planned out but if you would like to suggest an idea, I will write that moment for you and dedicate it to you. If you have an idea, put in your review or PM me and I'll get on to it as soon as I can.

Thanks for reading and I hope you take the plunge and suggest a moment (whatever it may be),

Jessica-Jane