Hey guys! This was my favorite chapter to write. Which says a lot about my personality. LOl. Thanks again! And I hope you enjoy it!
Disclaimer as before.
Unexpected Sidekick
Chapter 10: Flaming
Jack rolled over in his bed, before letting out a large sigh. Sitting up abruptly, he swung his feet to the ground and put on his shoes.
He couldn't sleep.
And judging by the lack of people snoring in the two beds beside his, the others were facing a bad case of insomnia as well.
Shuffling out of the bedroom, Jack decided to go to the living room, where he knew the others were at, but paused after hearing a small keening noise in the direction of the other bedroom. Quietly, he changed his course and walked into the opposite room.
The only light in the small apartment was from the living room, but Jack was able to maneuver around the various furniture of the girls' room. The bed closest to the door was empty, although neatly made, but Jack paid little attention. His focus was pointed towards the little bundle beside him.
Or rather the person sleeping comfortable inside it.
Jack carefully sat on the corner of Dana's bed and watched her breathe. Jack briefly wondered if he was creepy, but he was faced with too many problems for him to truly care. He watched Dana a little bit more before sighing. He was about to stand up, but saw one of the pillows thrown hapazidly on the floor. Smiling a bit in amusement, Jack bent down to retrieve the pillow and carefully arranged it next to Dana. As if she was conscious of this new development, Dana shifted in her sleep, reached out and brought the pillow to her chest before hugging it tight.
Shaking his head, Jack turned around and walked out of the room. Shooting one last glance behind him, he walked down the hallway and into the living room of the small New York apartment that started all of this mess.
Another kind of mess was brewing in the room. The three Horsemen were crowded together, looking over the notes spread randomly on the table and whispering harshly at each other. At Jack's footsteps, three heads looked up and him. The two men went back to their convseration, using large hand movements, but Henley smiled warmly before motioning him to sit beside her.
"What's up," he said, nodding gratefully at the hot, steaming cup of coffee thrusted into his hands.
"Have you thought about the plan?" Daniel asked, placing his notes down and glanced at Jack.
Jack nodded, "Yea—"
"We can't tell her," Daniel cut off, lacing his fingers together and peering at Jack, "Can you do that?"
"Why?" Jack said, sighing in frustration.
"You know why," Merritt added, leaning back on his chair. "We're doing this just so she doesn't know."
"Look, what if she had a plan when she said—"
"She could have," Henley pointed out, "But she could be working for the FBI."
"But—"
"I don't like the idea as much as you do," Daniel interrupted, looking uneasy, "But…Henley is right. Dana was suspicious last night. Even if she was bluffing with Agent Rhodes, there were other times..."
"Like what?"
"You know," Merritt said, looking bored while twirling a pencil in his hand. "Where was she when it was her turn to perform? How did she escape those cops without a single injury? And more importantly, why did she tell the FBI with a gun to shoot?"
"I thought you were on her side," Jack protested.
"I am on my side, and my side only," Merritt said, before turning to Daniel, "No offense, Atlas."
Daniel waved it off, "Look. This is the only way. Dana, if she is a spy, knows all our plans. The only thing we can do is deviate from it. Once she is confused…"
"She'll think that we're not following the plan—" Jack finished, looking dejected. "Either way, we'll finish the job."
"Exactly," Daniel said before sighing. "So everyone understand exactly what we're doing right? Every last deta—"
"Yes, we got it," Henley said, rolling her eyes. "This isn't our first trick, Atlas. "
"Alright, alright," Daniel said, holding his hands. "Calm down, miss magician. Why don't you just get some sleep? The cops probably found out about the switched phones already—they aren't stupid enough to not check the security footage by now. They'll be here by tomorrow. We need to be ready to make our move. "
"Right," she said, before standing off. "Well I'm going to sleep. Good night everyone."
"Good night." The other men muttered.
"I'm gunna hit the haystack too," Merritt grunted before nodding at the other two. "See you in the morning."
Jack watched Merritt leave before turning to Daniel, "Aren't you going to leave too?"
"In a minute," he said, his fingers tapping on the table. "Look Jack—"
"I know," Jack said, rubbing his eyes. "I'll do my job. I can handle it."
"It's not that," Daniel said, before standing up. "I don't doubt your abilities as a magician. It's just…prepare. You don't know what Dana's reaction will be when she sees you dead. You can't compromise this because of it. She could be acting for all we know."
"I know." Jack said.
"Right," Daniel said, before patting Jack on the shoulder. "Well good night then. "
"Good night."
Dana jolted awake as she heard a loud crunch in the living room. Gasping air in surprise, she turned to her nightstand and fumbled for her glasses. Once the room cleared, she jumped out of bed and shimmied into her jeans just as she heard Henley's voice echo into the room.
"The firewall is down! Do they know about this?"
Fearing the worst, Dana jammed her feet into her sneakers (a smart choice on her part) and practically ran into the living room.
"They who?"
"They! Them! Whoever we're working for," Henley said, sitting on the computer desk.
Assessing the situation, Dana quickly ran to the nearest table and began collecting all her notes and plans.
"Who are we working for? Merritt asked.
Dana's hands shook as she heard the conversation around her. She silently worked, but glanced toward Jack, seeing if he was alright. He seemed stunned, staring at his desk in worry, but there were too many papers for Dana to see what he was staring at.
"Stop being paranoid."
"But it really does happen," Merritt pointed out.
"Yeah, it happened to you. But that doesn't mean it will happen to us," Daniel said, not noticing his slight insult.
Suddenly Jack spoke, "Look, I don't know if I can do this. I don't want to go to jail, you know?"
Dana knew this was going to happen. She fully prepared to go to jail for them, for Jack.
She couldn't believe Jack was backing out now.
"Then don't screw up," Dana snapped, the anxiety kicking in to the point that she didn't care that she was currently being a little bitchy.
"You're always talking about wanting to be treated like an adult," Daniel added, staring at Dana before quickly turning back to Jack. "Well it is time to start acting like one. Stick to the plan. Stay here and burn it all."
Dana looked up in surprise. "Only him?"
"Yeah," Daniel said, "Change of plans."
"And why didn't I get notified?" Dana shrieked, dropping all the papers in her hands.
Daniel shrugged innocently, "You were sleeping."
All five persons, snapped their heads up as they heard police sirens close by. The magicians and Dana quickened their pace, forgetting the conversation for the moment.
"I'm here for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow," Merritt said, "That's it. Then I'm gone."
Dana looked up incredulously. Really? Was that it? Was the bond they formed in this past year not even worth a little bit of money? Feeling hurt, Dana moved to the window, staring at the little people walking on the pavement.
Henley stood up and spat, "You can do whatever you want when this is over Merritt, but until then, you stick to the plan."
Dana's eyes widened as she saw the police exit out of their cars, heading straight toward the entrance of their apartment, "Hey, guys. Um…they're here."
"Go, go, go!" Daniel said calmly, ushering the three magicians out of the room. Dana grabbed her emergency bag, slung it over her shoulder and headed toward the door.
Hesitating, Dana looked back at Jack, "Jack."
Jack stood silently before smiling, "Go on, Dana. You know the drill. I'll be there once the trick is over and we'll just run together. Just like last time."
Dana bit her lip, wanting to say something important before she left, "Jack…"
"Tell me later, alright?" Jack said, smiling. But his eyes didn't seem to light up as before. "Now go."
Dana paused, and unwillingly commanded her legs to catch up to the three other magicians. She could hear the thundering footsteps now and the shouts of "FBI" from downstairs. The group silently headed down one level of stairs before coming to a ladder. Merritt quickly opened the door.
"Ladies first."
Henley didn't smile as she climbed down the ladder and Dana was too worried to care about manners. Her hands were still shaking, but she managed to get down the ladder with haste.
Soon they were out on the street. Daniel lifted his hand on the street, signaling a taxi, but Dana really couldn't concentrate. All she could think about was poor Jack alone in the apartment, waiting to be arrested. There was no possible way that he could escape, not matter how awesome he was.
A yellow taxi pulled up. Henley quickly threw her bags into the seat and scooted in. Merritt and Daniel quickly entered as well.
But Dana stayed.
"Come on, Dana!"
She couldn't do it. She couldn't leave him there.
Her lips twitched in amusement. She had to help him with his grand escape.
She was, after all, Jack's assistant.
"I'll see you guys in a while," she said, slamming the taxi door shut. "I'll come back with Jack."
"Dana!" Henley's voice echoed, but the taxi was already on its way. Dana watched it going and quickly headed back inside, her fists clenching in determination.
She was just about to get on the ladder and back upstairs when she heard the light footsteps of Jack above her.
She knew the sound of his footsteps. This didn't bode well for her at all.
Dana grabbed Jack's hand as he landed and instinctively ducked as he shot a punch where her face should have been. Dana tugged on his arm and began running, watching his face widen in surprise, "Dana!"
"Just like old times, right Jack?" Dana laughed, dodging people and objects as she heard an angry shout behind her.
"Not really," Jack huffed, as he tried to sound annoyed. "If I remember, I was the one who grabbed your hand."
"Yeah, but we didn't have the Hulk smashing towards us that time," Dana quipped, before letting go of Jack's hand to neatly jump over a metal cart. "Come on, slow poke!"
The two burst out of the door, and immediately put on a poker face as they saw two agents scanning the area. Jack lifted his jacket collar up and tilted his head down while Dana flipped her jacket hoodie over her face. It seemed to work for a moment, until one of the FBI grabbed onto Jack's neck.
Everything else was a blur. Jack managed to slam one guy headfirst into a black car. Dana, despite what she implied, really was not familiar with fighting at all and was immediately encased in the steel arms of one of the agents. She struggled, squirming, before quickly kicking the guy in his crotch and ducking out of the way. The agent howled and Jack quickly punched the guy in his stomach before twisting his wrists. Jumping over the car's hood, Jack entered the driver's seat.
"Come on!"
Dana opened the door and was about to go in when she was grabbed not to gently by Agent Rhodes, who finally decided to show up.
"Jack!" Dana cried in surprise, but Jack, who had thought Dana was beside him, pressed on the gas pedal and shot off.
Agent Rhodes was stronger than he looked and Dana cried out in terror as he kept a firm grasp on her wrist.
"You're coming with me," he said, before turning to a random passerby who was staring at the scene in horror. "FBI. I'm going to have to take this car." Rhodes shoved Dana in the passenger seat, before entering himself.
Dana desperately tried to open the door but it was locked. The car suddenly swerved, causing her to fly almost into Rhodes' lap.
"You should put on your seat belt," he said before taking another sharp left turn.
"Let me go!" Dana said.
"How about no," Rhodes said calmly, his eyes firmly on Jack's black car in front of him.
Dana gasped as the car entered the bridge and held onto the car seat tightly as Rhodes drove in and out of the cars. Car horns blared in warning and the sound, combined with Dana's own heart beat, made it impossible for her to hear. Dana gave up trying to escape, knowing that it was futile now. She could only hope that she would be able to swindle her way out at court, although she knew it was a small chance.
All she cared about was not getting herself or Jack killed.
"GOGOGOGOGO!" Agent Rhodes shouted to himself as a big bus blocked his view. He braked before shifting to the right of the bus, just as Jack's black car did the same.
But Jack's car didn't right itself. It kept on going to the left and quickly hit the left land divider. Dana shouted in terror as the black car jumped in midair, fire leaping out from the metal deathtrap, before tumbling to the ground. Dana ripped the door open and ran blindingly toward the car, but Agent Rhodes got to it first. He pulled the door open and launched himself into the upside down car before struggling to pull Jack out. Dana tried to get in between him, but one agent pulled her back and grabbed onto her arms. Kicking and screaming, Dana cried out, totally and utterly afraid. Dana closed her eyes concentrating hard as she could thinking Get him out of there. Come on! Work! Why won't you work, damn it!
The car suddenly sprouted more fire and Dana knew it was about to explode any second. People were screaming, but Dana couldn't understand.
Another agent was grabbing Agent Rhodes, trying to pull him out before it was too late.
"Move back move back!" the agent holding her cried, pulling her back from the car.
No! She wanted to be near Jack. She needed to help him. Why wasn't anyone helping him?
The two agents stumbled out and ran away from the car just as the machine exploded in a burst of fire. Dana could barely hear herself over the heavy fear of guilt and terror as her best friend, her magician, and her love god damnit blew up in flames.
"JACKKKKK!"