Wrapping this up in the next chapter or so, I'd like to move on to some more oneshots and Rhodes+Dray! thank you guys, and enjoy!


The seemingly-impenetrable murk of Lake Mead was suddenly cut through, faintly, with the illumination from a glow stick held weakly by Henley Reeves. She was lucky the water pressure from sinking wasn't ripping it from her grasp, and also lucky that it was in her grasp in the first place.

When they had hauled the cage containing Henley onto the crane's hauling cord, Hermia had told the men to take five, presumably so she could threaten the other woman further. Instead, she had slipped the slender piece of hope into Henley's pained grasp, closing her fingers around it. "Get out if you can," Hermia had whispered, before stepping away and barking "And don't do anything stupid!" Henley had been startled, quickly concealing the small tool before the men returned to suspend her over the water.

Now she was holding her breath, trying to remain conscious, attempting to keep hold of the glow stick, and evaluating escape possibilities all at once, even as she sank further and further from the surface of the lake.

All at once, something slammed into the cage, nearly jarring precious air from Henley's startled lips, even more so when she realized by the watery light that it was Daniel who was now clawing frantically at the latches on the cage she was enclosed in. Strengthened by the sight of him, Henley concentrated on the cage's construction, which she now knew would have several weaknesses. L-corp did nothing by the book. She gestured feebly for him to keep a hold on a particular side of the cage, hoping he could see and comprehend her meaning, underwater and nearly-invisible as their surroundings were. Neither of them had an unlimited supply of air left, and Henley could only thank her lucky stars that she had ever forced Daniel into breath-holding lessons from her. But the time had been well spent, in any case, the lessons having led up to that first kiss…


It was very early into their performances when Henley had made it clear that she would not be the one who was schooled for every show, dragged through the teachings of every act, that Daniel would have to show some effort and undertake some projects of her own devising, if she was to work with him. And so she had started with the breath lessons, as so many of her projects involved water. If she was going to master his ridiculous sawn-in-half exhibitions, in those ridiculously-skimpy outfits, might she add, he was damn well going to be put through something equally as difficult.

They had started with simply doing it in the open air, Henley holding an elegant stopwatch of hers that somehow suited her perfectly, Daniel rolling his eyes as he sat, cheeks puffed, willing the time to pass quickly so she would move on.

"You know, it's not even really a test until you're facing something that leaves you literally breathless, where it's a danger to even take a breath, like under water or if someone gassed the room you're in, or-"

"-Or if an exceptionally-skilled person kisses you-"

"Hypothetically, I suppose-"

"Well if that's your professional opinion, far be it from me to refute it but I just want to prove that these lessons are useless and I can already hold my breath for perfectly sufficient periods of time-"

And he had kissed her, lunging from his chair across to her own, cupping the back of her head with one hand, and tilting her chin with the other as he captured her lips with his own. Startled, Henley had thrown a hand against his chest, but a moment later had ceased trying to push him away, and was clenching that fist into the material of his sweater, pulling him closer as their mouths wrestled. It was at least a full moment before they broke apart, thoroughly breathless, Henley's red hair tousled as if they'd been at it for hours, and a tinge of pink high up on Danny's cheeks as though he were feverish.

Running her hands through her mane to correct the messy locks, Henley averted her eyes, trying to slow her breath. "Um, well, for someone who isn't well-versed in…that…I mean the breath part, um…That was a great start, although if you planned it, you knew to take a deep breath and it's simply not the same if you know it's coming, and you need to be ready for anything in this business I think-" And she had thrown herself right back at Daniel, knocking his chair over in the process, though neither of them minded, or even remembered, ten seconds later.


"Freeze! Nobody move!" The sheriff's deputies were yelling, bounding down the dock and around the derelict marina, waving their guns and tackling various henchmen of Bradley's. There was chaotic scuffling for several moments, until a new set of sirens cut into the scene, several black cars speeding into sight; the first had hardly halted before the doors were open, and Agents Rhodes and Dray had guns drawn as they rushed forward.

"We got your call!" Rhodes yelled by way of explanation. "You'd better be right about this!"

Bradley was looking between the two groups of law enforcement advancing upon him with guns drawn, and he began slowly backing up, raising his hands. "There must be some mistake, I-I was sent another message from the person who sent me that first stream, they promised me a scoop on the Horsemen-"

"Oh, another million-dollar payday was looming and you jumped for it, huh, Thaddeus?" Agent Rhodes sneered at the magic debunker, waving his men in closer. "Where are the Horsemen?"

"At your service, Agent Rhodes, and I think we've done you a couple favors," a cheery male voice called from behind the ranks of agents and deputies. Merritt was standing there, fedora slightly askew but otherwise intact, with several of Bradley's henchmen on their knees in front of him, imitating dogs, with mouths wide open and panting in the evening gloom. "I think I'll take that tenner now."

Jack came up beside the mentalist, shoving two men to the ground who had both been handcuffed awkwardly, arms brought up under the legs, a hand locked around their neck, and the like. He was brushing his hands off, looking proud of himself. One of the men was Nate, with several thin slices across his face, and looking behind the group, several supposedly-harmless playing cards were scattered about. The bodyguard was also sporting a black eye and several wounds that appeared to be burns, all over. Merritt side-eyed the sight, and Jack shrugged. "Put up a fight." Merritt nodded. They knew he had been the one to harm their fourth Horseman, and no huge dose of mercy would've been given in any case.

Rhodes turned back to Bradley. "The girl, where is she, Bradley? And Atlas?"

The man shrugged, eyes edging to the right, and into the depths of the lake. "Several dozen feet under, I'd assume, agent, so maybe I'm not your priority right now?"


Daniel Atlas was not a man of inaction, control freak and neurotic perfectionist that he was, and it didn't make a difference whether he was on the stage, ordering a sandwich at a deli, or far beneath the surface of a lake just outside Las Vegas, Nevada, watching the love of his life struggle, half-conscious, to get herself out of a locked cage. And that was all he could do, pry uselessly at the thin metal bars as Henley visibly fought to free herself. He probably had thirty seconds of air left, and was trying hard to keep the anxiety down, which was ninety percent for Henley at the moment.

He was startled from his mental calculations by a slender hand slipping through the bars, fingers linking with his with a frantic strength, as Henley's other hand grappled with knotted chains and a sturdy padlock, while her thumb kept the glow stick in her grasp. He squinted to see the expression on her face, which was one of concentration, whether it was figuring out the locks, or staying awake, or both. He could only squeeze her hand tightly, keeping his other hand on the edge of the cage she had pointed at a moment ago.

Her movements were slowing, from what he could see, and suddenly, the glow stick, basically her life line at this point, slipped from her hold, falling through the water before Danny wrenched his hand from Henley's momentarily, snatching the light up again in time to illuminate her dropping her hands completely, and the walls of the cage collapsing in all directions.

He worked quickly, shoving the metal pieces and chains away to sink further into the depths, even abandoning the light as he grabbed Henley around the waist and kicked upwards. She wasn't moving much in his grasp, and fear lent him speed as he wrestled his way to the surface, finally breaking the surface with a gasp, and no small lack of finesse. He couldn't care about that right now though, as his eyes sought Henley's, which were closed, her skin deathly pale.

Jerking his gaze around, Danny's eyes lit on a small utility barge, little more than a heavy-duty plank of wood, about twelve square feet across and anchored to float several yards from the main pier. It was closer, and he was not bringing Henley anywhere near that bastard Bradley, and so he struck out for her, keeping her head carefully above the water as he maneuvered.

Heaving his sodden self onto the impromptu raft, Danny gingerly eased Henley up and into his lap, swallowing thickly and trying to concentrate. "Henley? Hen, can you hear me?" Her limp hand was dragging across the wood, and he lifted it, almost dropping it again in fury as he saw the swelling and obviously-grievous injury inflicted upon. It looked several hours old, but she could get an infection and permanent nerve damage if she didn't receive medical attention soon, and so much of Henley's trade image was her hands. Not that he cared about her marketability at this point about that, but she was injured, and he had to fix it.

Laying her down as gently as he could, Danny ignored the crowd turning to watch from the main pier, and the shouting of Rhodes as he barked senseless commands at his people, tearing at the neckline of the jacket she had been submerged in. Tilting her head back, Danny ran through every single stage of by-the-book CPR he had learned, slanting his mouth across hers and trying to get air down her uncooperative throat, and compressing her chest. In any other situation, fondling her chest and attacking her mouth would have been the most pleasurable activities he could think of, really, but the water dripping from his face now was not just lake water, it was tears mingling with that murky liquid.

She still wasn't moving. He repeated his motions as calmly as possible, whispering words of encouragement, promising a solo act in which she was the star, and he the assistant, if only she would come back to him. His own breaths starting to come in with difficulty, Danny fought down the panic, laying his ear next to Henley's face, for any signs of life. He had just felt a slight exhalation, or so he thought, and leaned closer, just in time for Henley to lunge up into his face, coughing up mouthfuls of water and gasping.

As quickly as she had revived, she was passing out again, falling limply against his shoulder from her position of upheaval. He smoothed her hair back from her face, pressing a kiss to her forehead and muttering thanks to the universe and any deity that would listen, before gathering his cool again, standing and hefting her in his arms to face the onlookers.


Just as Rhodes had lowered his gun, assessing the situation, a splashing rent the air, and Alma Dray had pointed out something bobbing on the surface of the lake, barely visible by the rippling light of the moon on the water. One of the deputies aimed their high-power flashlight at it in time to see Atlas, towing what looked like the unconscious escape artist girl, towards a barge.

"You'd better hope that girl's made it, Bradley, or you won't be making any sort of show anytime soon, unless it's an episode of COPS," Rhodes snarled. "We've already got a page full of indictments against you just from the past three days alone, and if you so much as move another muscle-" Bradley had been edging towards a stack of crates that concealed the pathway of a connected dock- "I will shoot you in the leg where you stand, with the weight of the law behind me."

A voice broke through Rhodes' accusatory tones. "I think it is about time he experiences the cold burn of being involuntary handcuffed, Agent Rhodes." It was Atlas, no more than a silhouette in the flickering light from the flashlights that hardly reached his position. He looked to be holding the girl, who still appeared unconscious. "And as for The Four Horsemen, well, I think we've put on enough of a show tonight."

A communal gasp came from the Clark County deputies and their sheriff, and Rhodes spun around, looking for Atlas, who had apparently just disappeared. The other two Horsemen were gone as well, and all that reminded were Bradley's men, bound, or otherwise behaving like mindless canines on the ground.

"No! We were supposed to get them too, you idiots!" Rhode yelled in frustration, rubbing his eyes wearily and holstering his gun. Alma Dray approached him, opening her mouth to say something, but he evaded her, dodging past and storming up the dock. A handcuffed Bradley was shoved in that direction as well, and the remaining men were bound and read their rights too.


Response has been so phenomenal. Thank you so much. ~Bon