Hi everyone! I recently saw NYSM and just HAD to write for it. This will be a multi-chapter fic mainly starring the Four Horsemen, but with a bit of a twist. This sort of came into being when I was thinking about why Daniel was given the Lovers tarot card, and why Jack go the Death card, and the plot bunnies sort of accosted me and ran with the idea. So yeah, this was born.
Each of the Horsemen get their own prologue, so don't expect the main story to start until after they're finished. Also, this will be following the movie, since it's set during the time period where they had their instructions from the Eye/Dylan. It will deviate, things will be done differently and things that I don't really understand the basis of will be changed.
Anyway, warnings; this fic contains frequent references to sexual interactions and innuendoes (both homosexual and heterosexual), swearing, magical/mythical creatures, altered original plot/storyline, AU, OOCness and also quite a lot of flirting.
Disclaimer: I don't own Now You See Me or any of the characters.
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Prologue: The Lover
It was very late in Chicago, the streets packed with the night crowd and the clubs filled to bursting with partygoers. A crowd huddled in the middle of a bustling courtyard at the foot of one of the massive skyscrapers, peering over each other's shoulders as they tried to get a glimpse of the marvel in their midst. In the centre of a circle of clear space stood a man, a wide smile curling the corners of red lips as he played for the crowd. He was of just above average height, dressed smartly in a black shirt and slacks under a black coat with his hair stylishly ruffled almost to the point of just-out-of-bed or post-sex and his eyes glowing a deep royal blue. He held a deck of cards in his hands, flipping and shuffling in complicated patterns as he explained his next trick to his entranced crowd.
"So, I'm going to flip through the deck, and you have to try to see one card." He instructed the helper he'd picked from the audience. He held up the deck, showing her the card on the bottom of the pile. "Not this one, that's too obvious." He lowered the cards again, smiling charmingly at her. "You ready?" She nodded, smiling a sultry smile. He ran his thumb up the side of the cards, lifting each for barely a quarter of a second before allowing it to fall. He repeated the action a second time before asking if she had seen one.
"Yes." It was almost a hiss, her voice low and breathy as she stared at him. He fanned the cards showing her the deck and asking if she could see it. She gave a negative answer.
"But that's because you're looking too closely. Now, what have I been telling you all night?" His voice was playfully chiding. "The closer you look..."
"...The less you see!" The crowd cheered as he threw the deck into the air, turning to look intently at the building towering above their heads as all the lights in it went dark. The crowd cheered and clapped as the visage of a playing card lit up the side of the building, the seven of diamonds forming in the lights.
The man just smirked, his whole body exuding confidence and satisfaction. "I hope you all enjoyed the show tonight!" He called to his audience. "I am Daniel Atlas, and good night!" He bowed low, accepting the cheers with a smirk and a wink, not even noticing the hooded man watching him in the crowd with a knowing smile on his face.
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Daniel and the girl from the show burst through the door of his apartment, kissing frantically and tugging at each other's clothes. Daniel broke away and shit the door, turning back to see the girl ripping off her tight little dress and pouncing on him like some kind of cat, flipping her hair over her shoulder as she settled on his lap. He ran a hand up her arm, chewing on the juncture of her neck and shoulder as she ran a hand through his thick hair.
"How did you do that?" She asked, pulling him from her neck to look in his eyes, noticing that they had changed from a pretty blue to a strange shade of purple.
"The seven of diamonds on the side of the tower? Trade secret." He smirked, dragging a finger down the centre of her chest, stopping just between her breasts when she grabbed his wrist and fixed him with a demanding look. He sighed and rolled his eyes, settling back on his elbows. "It may or may not have had something to do with the building's electrician and a certain sum of money."
"How much?"
"Uh... Fifty bucks?"
She giggled and pulled his sweater over his head. "Is it always a seven?"
"I can do that trick fifty-two different ways."
"Can you do fifty-two different tricks on me?" Daniel gave her an appraising look, red-violet eyes sweeping up and down her body.
"I'll see what I can do."
She grinned and went for his neck, moaning sluttily in his ear as she rocked on his lap. His eyes moved away from her momentarily, drawn by a strange flash of colour peeking out of his bag. He pressed a hand to her shoulder to stop her, sitting upright and accidentally toppling her onto the floor. He glanced and her to check that she was alright before going for the card lying on the table.
"You need to leave." His voice was dead serious, the lusty undertone gone as he stared at the tarot card. The girl ranted and shrieked at him, rushing half-dressed out of the apartment with a final insult thrown over her shoulder just before the door slammed behind her.
Number VI; The Lovers. A snake wrapped around a heart. It suited him, more than anyone who didn't know him could really understand. Sure, he was something of a playboy - and a successful one at that - but there was more to the escapades of Daniel Atlas than just flings of meaningless sex for pleasure. It was more than that, it was a way of life, a means of life, a necessity of life - to Daniel it was, literally, what kept him sane and healthy, glowing with life and youth, as it did to every individual of his race; to an incubus, sex was a source of energy, like food to humans or sunlight and fertiliser to plants.
He literally embodied the meaning of the tarot card - desire, passion, physical attraction, temptation, pleasure, sexuality. But for a stranger to know such a fact, for a person who had never seen his true form to know the reality of the incubi was not only disturbing but also dangerous, and it was enough to make Daniel uneasy.
But at the same time, why leave a tarot card rather than call the police or the government if someone knew what he was? Why give an address and a time and place to meet? Why leave no threats or strings attached? It piqued his curiosity, interested him in a way that nothing had for many, many years.
"45 East Evan Street, New York, on March 29th." Daniel's eyes lifted and flicked lazily to the mirror, meeting the bloody red irises of the smirking creature reflected in the glass, his tail curling around his feet and bat-like wings shifting the tiniest amount as he tilted his head, horns curling majestically from out of his feathery hair. "I'll be there, stranger."
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For those who don't know, an incubus is a male demon that, in religion and mythology, sleeps with a woman while asleep, sometimes order to father children (as in the legend of Merlin). There are also some resources that state that they feed of the energy expended during sex, and I've decided to go with this idea rather than the procreation theory, since its the most fitting explanation I can find. Incubi are recorded as being either heterosexual or bisexual depending on the text, but let's just say that Daniel is one of the bisexual incubi, okay? Makes things easier in the long run of this fic. The female counterpart of the incubus is a succubus.
Since there is so much variation in the information regarding the incubi, I'll be employing some artistic license when writing about the demons. So if you happen to have a differing opinion, feel free to tell me what you know about them, but do not criticise me for my interpretation.
Please review!
