A/N: And I'm back! Happy Forth of July my American readers. I wanted to get this out earlier but I'm not even home so it was hard to sit down and write with everyone around me but I have finish! Its really nice and long and one of my favorite scenes in the book and I'm excited for you too read the twist that i put on it. Once again I would like to thank everyone who follows, favorites and reviews the story. it means so much to me and gave me such motivation overtime I checked my email and saw someone followed, reviewed or favorited the story!
Please keep on reviewing this story. More reviews, more motivation for me.
"Do me a favor." Merritt leaned down to Olivia, who had been stretching out her legs on the carpeted floor. After arriving at New Orleans, the Horsemen were quickly moved to the stage they would be preforming at. They had chucked all their luggage in one corner of the room, knowing that after tonight's show, they would no longer need it. It was about twenty minutes til show time and the Horsemen were lounging about the room.
"Visualize you most adventurous sexual experience." He asked Olivia. Jack, who had been sitting near her, holding the bunny they were going to be using in the show immediately grew wide eyes and quickly stood up.
'I don't wanna hear this!" He practically screamed and walked towards the bunny cage and put the animal down.
Olivia leaned her torso down until her breast had been pressing against the carpet. She laid down her forearms so she could look at Merritt.
"Stay out of my head, you perv." Olivia said.
"Well, no, if I stay out of your head, I'm never gonna get into your pants." He reasoned and Olivia sat up.
"Really Merritt?" She asked. Danny looked between the two of them.
"What, it's a simple favor." He defended himself. Danny walked over to them.
"Hey Liv, can I show you something?" He asked him. Olivia was thankful for Danny's rescue and took the hand he offered her. They had walked back to the velvet couch near opposite the door. He pulled out a deck of cards.
"Think of a card." He told her. Olivia looked at him skeptically and he just raised an eyebrow, coaxing her to think of a card.
"Uh...Queen of hearts." She said. Danny slid his gaze down to the deck of cards in his hand. He snapped by the deck, his arm jolting slightly before raising it to his lips and blowing on the deck of cards before enveloping it in both hands. He looked at Olivia. "Check your pocket."
Olivia reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a slightly oversize card, the words "I'm sorry." Written plain and clearly on it. Olivia chuckled and met Danny's chocolate brown eye. "Very clever." She waved the card in his face before placing it down on the marble table.
"I am." Danny said. "I shouldn't have said what I said in the car." Olivia looked taken back at Danny's words.
"Am I dreaming or did an apology actually come out of that mouth."She feigned surprised at Danny's apology. Danny chuckled and looked away from her. Olivia reached her hand out and placed it over his.
"It's okay." Danny looked at Olivia.
"Pardon the intrusion." A knock at the door, caused everyone's head to shift to the door. Thaddeus Bradley leaned against the frame of the door. Danny pulled his hand away from Olivia."I just wanted to wish you good luck."
Jack narrowed his eyes at the debunker. "What, so you can try to expose us later on you little website?"
Thaddeus smirked and nodded his head in agreement. "And on demand."
Tension in the room grew thick and all eyes were plotting murder on Thaddeus. Bad blood was an understatement if one tried to describe the relationship between the Four Horsemen and Bradley. If it weren't just for the fact Bradley tried to expose the magicians but the secrets the Horsemen knew about Bradley that caused them all to look at him with an evil eye would do the trick.
Thaddeus looked at the horsemen with a smug grin. "Operating on a special plane because of The Eye?" He asked. "I head it's a lovely place. Lost of sunshine and moonbeams. Make any magician's wish come true." Thaddeus mocked the Horsemen. "You've come a long way, much further than anyone would have expected a bunch of wanna-bes and has-beens."
Merritt stood up and straightened his jacket. "If by "has-been" you're referring to me, I just wanna say I'm flattered because I always considered myself a never-was." Merritt quipped at Thaddeus. "Do you mind if I do a quick read on you?" Merritt asked and without an answer he continued. "Okay, I'm picturing a little boy. He wants to be a great magician someday. And though he's good, he's not good enough. So he ends up at the bottom of the entertainment food chain, feeding off of those who have the talent that he never did."
The Horsemen watched as Merritt's reading caused a nerve t be struck in Thaddeus, his smug grin turning sour in mere seconds of Merritt's reading. Merritt looked unsympathetic to him. "Tell me. Am I getting close?"
Thaddeus didn't say anything. Danny took the opportunity to come closer to him, pulling out the deck of cards again.
"Wait. Before you go. I'm working on something new. Do you have a second?" Danny asked. Thaddeus sighed but let Danny perform whatever magic trick he had up his sleeve. Olivia and Jack stood up and formed a line next to danny, Merritt finishing the line.
"Okay. Name a card." Danny started. Olivia sighed inwardly. Of course he would use the same trick he just used on her. The magical and special moment they had shared and the rare apology they had share dissipated into a grey, normal apology lost its touch in Olivia's eyes.
"King of Hearts." Thaddeus picked.
"Knew it!" Merritt screamed mockingly. Olivia and Danny chuckled. Danny than did the exact motions he had previously showed Olivia.
"Its up your left sleeve." Thaddeus pointed out. Danny looked surprise but Olivia could see the smug glint in his eye.
Danny looked down at his sleeve, pulled it slightly open and showed the group. Everyone looked real hard but saw no card up Danny's left sleeve.
"No. No, I don't see it up there. You know, why don't you check your unnecessary velveteen pocket there?" Danny pointed to the chest pocket on Thaddeus's crisp black suit. He opened up the pocket and pulled out a similar card to the one Danny gave Olivia. In clear, plain as day writing it said, 'Suck it." A very classy move for the Horsemen.
"Anyway, thank you so much for coming by, but this is kind of a talent only area, so…." Danny explained. Thaddeus gave a mocking smile.
"Break a leg." He wished the Horsemen.
"Hey, you break something too." Merritt wished him back. Olivia gave Thaddeus the middle finger, very lady-like of course before Jack quickly pushed her hand down. She gave him an offended look.
They watched Thaddeus, with a slightly hurt ego leave the Horsemen's dressing room before they all retreated back to their own corners, getting a few more moments of quiet before a night full of chaos ensued. Olivia passed by Danny, placing the card he had given her to his chest,
"Nice card trick." She said coldly. Danny grabbed hold of the card she had thrusted at him and looked slightly hurt by her words. He wasn't really sure why she was anger at the card trick. It's not like her card had also said 'Suck it' although it could have been implied for something else in her case but he hadn't been that careless to put the card meant for Thaddeus in Olivia's pocket. He turned to watch her playing with the white bunny that would be used in the first act. She was petting the bunny softly, scratching the creatures forehead. Merritt had walked over to Danny.
"Guess you striked out with that apology." He joked and Danny looked at him, shook his head and retreated to the corner opposite everyone, fiddling the apology card in his hand.
The audience buzzed and twittered with anticipation at the Four Horsemen's performance. The audience observed the number of security present, FBI agents hiding in the dark corners of the theater and Thaddeus Bradley with his young assistant, recording device in hand. The lights dimmed and the wide, child-like eyes turned to the stage.
"Jack Wilder...Merritt McKinney... Olivia Wilder...Daniel Atlas." As the announcer's voice boomed, halos of light casted themselves down onto each of the Four Horsemen as their name was called. They stood at the foot of the stage, scanning the audience.
"Thank you." Daniel addressed the crowd. "Before we begin, we'd like to single out two people in particular." He said to the crowd. Olivia came forward and pointed up to the balcony level. A light casted down on Agent Rhodes and Alma Dray, who both covered their face and turned away from the crowd.
"A man and a woman to whom we'd like to dedicate tonight's performance. FBI Agent Dylan Rhodes and the lovely, if somewhat inexperienced Interpol Agent Alma Dray, everyone." Olivia introduced and the crowd booed at the agents, who were, in the public eye, 'they bad guy.'
"Yeah, Agent Rhodes had personally vowed to "nail us." Jack said, causing more hisses and boos from the audience.
"And we encourage him to do so." Merritt finished and as if it was an afterthought. "Of he has the brains and the fur." This caused the audience to laugh.
The lighting on stage shifted and the music turned to an ominous tone as Danny began pacing the stage. "What is magic?" He asked the crowd. "Our argument, nothing but targeted deception." He explained to the audience, who sat in their cushioned chairs and ate up what Danny had been feeding them. "So I want you to look. Look as closely as possible, because the tricks you are about to see may not seem connected. But we assure you, they are."
The magician first trick. Merritt and Jack had excited the stage, leaving only Danny and Olivia. While Daniel had been setting up a table with a black box, Olivia stepped forward into the halo of light for her and held up a pure white bunny.
"We've all heard of pulling the rabbit out of the hat." Olivia began, holding up the bunny, 'Fluffy' to the audience. Some animal lovers awed at Fluffy's entrance. "But has anyone heard of pulling a hat out of a rabbit?" She asked and thrusted Fluffy forward and like magic a sleek, black top hat appeared where Fluffy had just been and then proceeded to pull Fluffy out of the hat, a classic magician trick. The audience clapped at the opening trick. Olivia then walked back towards Danny, the halo of light growing bigger to fit Danny. Although, to be fair, there was no line light big enough for Daniel Atlas and his ego…
"And now for one of the oldest tricks in the book." She said and then turned to Danny. "Danny, if you wouldn't mind opening the box and showing everybody that it's completely empty" Danny turned the box over and around to show the emptiness and normality of the box.
"And now I'm going to take sweet little Fluffy here, and put her in this mystery box." She explained, placing fluffy down gently and closing the box. She then turned to Danny. "And now, you will say the magic words."
"Abracadabra." Danny mocked as he waved over a traditional magician's wand. "Yes and will wave this magic wand for no reason. And then…" He pulled back to entrance to the box and show the now Fluffy-less box. "Fluffy has magically vanished before your very eyes." Both Danny and Olivia feigned a shocking and surprise look on their faces as they saw Fluffy has 'disappeared.'
After a moment of silence and a faint gasp from the audience, Olivia addressed the audience. "And now we are going to debunk a few magic myths this evening." She eyed Thaddeus, who had been giving her a smug smile as he raised the video recorder slightly higher for her to see.
"We all know that Fluffy is, in fact, alive and well." She revealed as Danny peeled back the side of the box that revealed Fluffy, sitting twitching her nose.
"As has the mirror which makes the box only appear as though it's empty." He explained, flipping the mirror around to show the audience. The audience lightly clapped at the two's beginning trick as they bowed slightly before rushing off stage for Jack's trick.
Later they had reappeared on the stage. First Danny had came on the stage with a bucket of soapy water. He placed it down, winked at the audience before dipping his hands inside the bucket, pulled the out and apart, creating a big bubble that floated up into the air. The audience gasped at Danny's creation. He made several more before Olivia had appeared back on the stage. Danny turned profile,his hands dripping with soap water and started making a small bubble. Olivia began cartwheeling, back flipping down the stage until she had cartwheeled into the bubble and soared into the audience marveled at her trick as she moved elegantly in the bubble. As she had came closer and closer to the ceiling, the sharp edge of the chandelier pierced the bubble. Olivia went flailing down towards the balcony seat before Danny had caught her up, wrapping his arms around her back and legs. She clinged to his neck and looked into his eyes, smiling at him before they turned towards the audience and smiled. They gave them a standing ovation, even Alma Dray.
During intermission, the Horsemen circled up in the dressing room they were in at the beginning of the show. "Everyone knows what to do once the show over?" Danny asked the group. They all nodded in understanding.
"And we meet at the warehouse at…." He checked his watch. "1:00 am?" Again, everyone agreed to Danny's time.
"What happens if we're being tailed by an FBI agent's?" Olivia asked.
"They'll be too busy trying to get the 'football' players off of Agent Rhodes to be following us." Merritt joked.
Danny's tracker began beeping wildly, alerting him that a crew member is coming close to the dressing room. Everyone immediately took up a normal position around the dressing room as to not look suspicious to anyone backstage. On cue, a young, plucky crew member stopped just outside the doorway. "Two minutes til places."
"At intermission, we asked you to write down your current bank balance, and seal it in an envelope." Merritt said as a halo of light shone onto him. "Now it's time to take those envelopes out. Everybody take 'em out." He paused for a couple of moments so everyone in the audience could take out their bank number.
"Now, everybody shout out your name. All at once. Go!" He instructed and a clamour of voices burst to life as everyone began shouting out their names. Merritt raised a hand to his forehead and focused on a name.
"Clement?" He called out and someone screamed. "Oh yeah way up there!" He cried out once he saw that the man Clement was in the balcony. Merritt once again focused on the names being shouted. "Dina? Robertson?" He called out once again. Dina called out a here as well.
"Joseph Hickey?" He guessed. Josepha called out to him and Merritt told her to stay standing and to focus on her balance. As she began counting, Merritt stopped her when she called out the numbers in her bank account. He did this two more times with the other names he had called out before realizing they all had the "incorrect" balance written down.
"Oh dear...just as I feared. Oh this is strange." He gave the audience a pity tone. "I hate to say this but every last one of you is dead wrong." He admits and everyone in the audience was dumbfounded at Merritt's accusation. While he had been guessing numbers, the rest of the Horsemen appeared onto the stage. Danny approached Merritt and whispered something into his ear.
"Oh yes. I almost forgot. This evening would not be possible if it weren't for our great benefactor. Arthur Tressler." Merritt raised a hand up to Tressler who accepted their praises. "Art why don't you come up on the stage for the finale?" Merritt encouraged him.
Agent Rhodes raised his walkie talkie. "Are we on red?" He asked, referring to the tracker they had. Fuller, who had been inside the truck outside the theater, watched as the monitor lit up with tiny red dots.
"Bright red. We're all standing by." He informed Rhodes. A smug smirk appeared on his face. Back on the stage, Arthur joined the Horsemen on stage.
"Now Art, did you fill out your envelope?" Olivia asked him once he reached center stage. Art shook his head. "Well, no need. We've done it for you." She informed him, raising her arm out towards Jack who was carrying a rather large check with Arthur information on it. Merritt took Olivia's place as her and Danny went to grab the check from Jack.
"Now, Art, I took a guess. North of 140. Am I right?" he asked, to which Arthur agreed. "That's 140 million, by the way." He informed the audience.
"I'm sorry Merritt." Olivia interrupted. "How can he be right about his balance and everyone else be wrong?" Olivia asked.
"I think possibly because he, too, is wrong." Merritt suggested. Arthur looked shocked but amused. Merritt turned towards the audience. "Everybody, take out your paper. And using the flashlight under your seat, start to warm up that paper. I think your correct balance begins to appear." He watched as everyone began frantically warming up their paper.
"Now, Art, don't worry, we have a flashlight for you." Merritt reassured Arthur, their gazes turning to Jack, who carried a stage light and shone the light behind the check. The Horsemen watched as Jack maneuvered the light around the check and Danny gasped in awe as the checks balance shifted.
"What's going on there, Daniel?" Merritt asked, leaning over to see.
"Wait. This is weird. A second ago, it said $144,579,651. But now...now it says $70,000 less." Danny explained to both Merritt and the audience. Merritt called out to Josepha.
"Josepha, can you stand up? Now what is your new number?"
Josepha looked at the paper, astonished at her new number. "$70,562, now in my account!" She cried out.
The crowd was flabbergasted at Josepha's sudden fluctuation in cash; Josepha was in hysterics, Tressler was taken back and Rhodes was on edge.
"Is it possible that Josepha's balance went up the exact amount that Art's went down?" Olivia asked everyone in the group. No one responded, too taken back by the decrease in money.
"Hey. Check it out. It's happening again." Jack pulled everyone's attention back to the gigantic check, which went down not $70,000 but $280k. Everyone watched in astonishment as the number changed again.
"Woah. Art's balance has gone down another 280k." Danny proclaimed. Merritt looked up at Dina Robertson.
"Dina? What did yours say?" Merritt asked. It took Dina awhile to respond, probably from the shock wave that had crashed over her.
"$281,477!" She cried out.
The Horsemen had congregated towards the front of the stage, abandoning Tressler, the light and the gigantic check.
"We have confession to make." Merritt said.
"He's right. We lied about something." Jack confessed to the audience. A low murmur ran over the crowd.
"Yes. None of you were chosen at random." Danny explains. "All of you have one thing in common."
"Everyone in this room was a victim of the hard times that hit one of America's most treasured cities." Olivia explained to the audience. "Some of you lost your houses, your cars, your business, your loved one. But all of you were insured by the same company…"
"Tressler Insurance." The Horsemen said in unision.
"You were abandoned!"
"You were loopholed!
Tressler looked at the Horsemen, angered and surprised by their sudden shift in character. After all he has done for them, took them in, invested in their little magic acts and made them the stars they are today this is how they repay him. Accusing him of being a crook.
"This is all for show. Correct?" He asked Olivia. A threatening tone in his voice.
"If you mean we're doing it onstage in front of a paying audience? Then yes, it's for show." She mocked his threatening tone and Tressler was taking back.
A young man stood up in the crowd, holding out his phone. "Whoa, whoa! I've got $82,000 in my bank account! It say it right here on my phone. Everyone take out their phone!" The crowd frantically reached for their phones and opened up any bank app they had on their phones. They watched as the number on their phone soared, giving them back the money that was taken from them during the hard times. Many shouted, cheered for the Horsemen but all of them began reaching for anger towards Tressler.
Agent Rhodes fumbled for his walkie talkie and spoke into it, anger as all hell. "Is this for real?"
Back in the van, Fuller and the rest of his crew were frantically checking every data, tracking and bank site they could find, looking for some explanation.
"I don't know…" His voice trailed still looking around the many monitors.
Rhodes gripped the phone tighter. "Is this happening?"
"I don't know! I don't know!" Fuller screamed in frustration. Finally, one crew member found a breach in Tressler's bank account. A bug had been planted inside the account. He screamed into the walkie talkie. "We got confirmation. It's really happening. They robbed him!"
Back on the stage, Tressler was red in the face, anger blackened his eyes and he stared at the Horsemen, who had been walking towards the back of the stage.
"Did you do this!" He screamed at them.
"How could we, Art?" Olivia asked him. "We don't have your password. We'd need access to information we could never get out hands on." Olivia gave him a smug smirk and a wink.
"Yes, security questions, for instance, like...I don't know, your mother's maiden name of the name of your first pet." Danny revealed to him and Tressler's face dropped when he recalled the plane ride earlier. Danny's horrible go at Mentalism was a trick. He had been tricked.
"Don't let them get away!" Rhodes screamed as he hastily got out from his seat and rushed downstairs to the main floor.
"Hey, we left you the jet and the Rolls." Merritt gave him some comfort. The Horsemen reached the back of the stage, high fiving and smiling at each other in success. The grasped hold of the cords that were hanging near the back of the stage.
"Stop!" Rhodes screamed at them.
"We are the Four Horsemen. Goodnight." They said in unison. Danny waved at Rhodes.
"Freeze!"
In a frenzy and just as the Horsemen began their rapid flight up, many of the audience members began to scream 'quarterback!' and rushed onto the stage and tackled Rhodes to the ground. Body after body they piled and began clawing at him, trying to tear him apart. Tressler watched in anger and shock.
While many of the agents in the theater were trying to get the hypnotized members off Agent Rhodes, the Horsemen had already begun their escape. They rushed themselves out the back door, down a flight of fire escape stairs in the back of the theater and into the alley way that led out into the colorful city of New Orleans.
Not wasting any time, Alma Dray rushed out of the theater, into the fray of Mardi Gras, watching everyone screamed and shout and drink. She looked around, trying to keep her head from spinning after the events in the theater. It was then she noticed an alleyway next to the theater and saw shadows running the other way from the backstage door.
Olivia screamed at the rest that she could see Alma Dray behind them and without hesitation, the Horsemen split up. Danny grasped hold of Olivia's hand just as Alma had gotten close enough to them. Jack and Olivia both screamed in protest, not wanting to be split up from each other in times of great stress but Merritt grasped hold of Jack's collar while danny grabbed Olivia's hand tighter and pulled them away.
"I promise, we will meet them at the house!" He called back to her as they rushed towards the crowd.
Rhodes managed to get himself out from under the dog pile, staring at the anger audience and Thaddeus, who gave him a smirk and tipped his black hat. He gripped his walkie talkie hard, knuckles white. "I want everyone on the streets. Everyone." He ordered. "Fuller, meet me in front with the tracker.
Olivia and Danny pushed themselves into the frenzy of drunk people. They dodged beaded necklace and trampled drunken pedestrians, occasionally looking behind them to see if Alma had been on their trail. Rhodes had been jumping cars and walls trying to locate Danny's location on the tracker. When he had reached the center of the party, a young officer ran towards him, bumped him and ran the other way. Distracted and dazed, Rhodes was not aware the man had slipped something into his pocket and once he realized this he began taking off in the direction of the young officer.
Meanwhile, Alma was still chasing after the two Horsemen, pushing past the drunken people who had no clue of their rush. Alma was right on their tail when a much wider path was made for them. Grateful for the path, Olivia and Danny ran straight through but unfortunately were not quick enough for the man hole that had been cover and was filtering steam and smoke up from its depths. While Danny had cut through the smoke with ease Olivia found herself slowing down in the smoke, it infiltrating her nose and mouth and into her lungs. Her lungs contracted in response and caused an abrupt change of breath. She stumbled like the many drunken people around her. Danny turned around to check on Alma's progress when he saw Olivia stumble, coughed and almost collapse.
"Olivia, come on!" He screamed, grabbing her arm rather roughly and heaved her forward with him, unaware of the burning sensation that was coursing through her lungs.
They cut into an open alleyway that led to a parking lot and was a couple of feet from their safe house. Danny tightened his grip on Olivia, now one arm under hers to keep her up and running. The burning sensation was becoming stronger and unbearable. She coughed and wheezed with every couple of steps she took. Danny was too preoccupied with outrunning Alma to notice.
The reached a large wall and Danny could see Alma getting closer. He reached over to Olivia and helped push her up and over the large wall. She tumbled over the top and landed flat on her back, gasping for air and too in pain to move. Danny had begun climbing the wall when Alma pulled out her gun.
"Freeze!" She screamed and held the gun up ready to fire. Danny knew she would shoot, she couldn't He was unarmed. He gave her a faint smirk and placed his hands up in surrender before jumping over the wall, leaving Alma defeated and Rhodes yelling at her. His tracker beeps and they changed courses, back into the fray and away from the Horsemen.
Danny got up from his crouch position, straightening his jacket before getting off the car that had been right under them.
"Come on, we gotta keep...moving…" Danny's voice trailed when he noticed Olivia, still not getting up. She was holding her chest tight and her eyes screwed shut. She was coughing like a smoker. "Olivia!" He screamed and came up beside her head. Danny wasn't sure what he was suppose to do. He couldn't leave her there but they certainly could wait around here for her to catch her breath. He had seen Olivia have asthma attacks before, it was one of the first things he learned about her but never something like this. She was shaking horrible and didn't even seem responsive. Danny grabbed hold of her arm once again and threw it over his shoulder, dragging her up and began running as best as he could. She could barely breath, let alone try and hold her weight against him.
They finally reached the safe house around 20 minutes later and by that point both of them were too tired to make it up the stairs. Danny collapsed after the first couple of steps, letting both him and Olivia go down onto the wooden staircase. He sat there, muscles burning and heavy and looked at olivia who was white from lack of oxygen. Jack and Merritt were on the second floor. They could hear him if he screamed…
"Jack! Merritt!" He tried screaming but it came out as a raspy scream. He wasn't sure if they heard him and went to try again but heard the door open and slam shut.
"Yo Danny, what gives, you're…Oh My God!" His voice trailed off and he screamed when he got to the stairwell and saw Danny and Olivia lying there. Danny looked up at him frantically.
"I can't...get...her up the….stairs." He explained and followed Jack's gaze to Olivia, whose wheezing had gotten worse and she looked pale as ever. He screamed for Merritt, who rushed out of the room and gasped as well.
"Just help me get them up the stairs." Jack ordered, rushing to his sister's side and pull her up again, dragging her up the stairs with Merritt following behind. They rushed themselves back into the room they were in where they began a heated argument.
"What happened?" Jack screamed at Danny as he laided Olivia down on the couch, brushing back some of the hairs that had caught onto her face.
"I don't….know," Danny breathed out heavily, sitting into the chair adjacent from them.
"Manhole...sm-smoke…"Olivia tried explaining but found it just irritated her lungs even more. She coughed loud and deep.
"Shit." Merritt whispered. "She doesn't look too good."
"How did that even happen." Danny asked, his breath much more even and his voice was stable.
"The smoke...it infiltrated her lungs. Its causing the contracting." he explained, grasping his sister's hand. "Plus she had been running, it irritated her lungs even more."
"So, what? We give her, her inhaler?" Merritt asked. Jack looked at him like he had six heads.
"No that's a rescue inhaler, she needs medical attention. We need to get her to a doctor who can give her something to help get the smoke out." Jack said while trying to get Olivia up.
Danny sat up straight and looked at Jack dead in the eye. "Are you insane? We can't do that?"
Jack looked at Danny. "She needs a doctor."
"If we go to the hospital, they'll call the FBI and we will go to jail." Danny explained.
"She needs a doctor Danny!" Jack yelled.
"Are you really willing to risk going to jail over this?" Danny asked him, taking a step towards Jack.
"She is my only family left, I'm not gonna let her die just because you don't want to go to jail!" Jack's face began growing red. "Unlike you, I have a soul and am capable of feeling emotions." Jack quipped.
"Just because you don't give a damn about anyone else doesn't mean I don't either. I'm going with or without you."
Danny was taken back from Jack's words and stood dumbfounded as Jack tried coaxing Olivia into getting herself up. Merritt pushed himself between the two.
"Jack what does Olivia need?" Merritt asked. Jack looked at him shocked.
"She...uh...needs this thing...a nebulizer. You put a mask over her mouth and medicine is dispensed through it, it helps clear out whatever is in her lungs." Jack explained.
"You think an EMT trunk would have one on scene?"
"Probably, they would keep it on incase someone was in a fire. Why?" Jack asked.
Merritt looked between the two. "Because I think i know where we can get one."
Merritt and Danny eyed an EMT trunk that had been parked just outside the festivities. Many of the crew members around it were lounging around, sitting inside the vehicle back where they kept all the medical supplies. There were three of them.
Merritt turned his gaze to Danny. "Okay so I take the one on the right, get him to tell us where he keeps the nebulizer and you take care of the other one." he instructed and Danny nodded. The two turned back to the truck.
"Were you really going to let Olivia die?" He asked him. Danny did a double take.
"What kind of question is that?" He asked.
"Well I mean that would kinda be tragic if you let the girl you have feelings for die." Merritt said causally. Danny eyed him hard. Merritt gave him an all-knowing look.
"Oh come on, you know it's true."
Before Danny could rebutt, the third crew member went around to the front of the truck. Merritt grabbed Danny's arm. "Now, now, now. Go!"
Quickly, Merritt began his mentalism on the volunteer while Danny skillfully punched the other one. Merritt programmed his mind quickly and watched as the guy grabbed hold of the nebulizer in the back and handed it to Merritt, along with the medicine.
"Alright let's go!" Danny said and the two vanished into the night, leaving everyone dazed and confused.
Jack showed Danny and Merritt how to hook up the machine and place the medicine inside the cartridge before turning it on. They could see the medicine begin to fog up the mask Olivia was wearing and her eyes softened, her breathing starting to become relax.
"So now what?" Merritt asked.
"We just make sure she gets all the medicine and monitor it." Jack explained.
Merritt and Danny nodded in understanding. Merritt stretched his arms over his head and let out a rather loud yawn. "Alright well, I'm going to bed considering I'll probably be the one driving tomorrow." He looked between the two boys before retreating to the small bedroom next door. Jack and Danny looked awkwardly at each other.
"I can take first watch if you want." Danny offered.
"No it's fine. I can take first watch. In a couple hours we can switch." Jack said and Danny nodded, giving Olivia a sympathetic look before going off to the bedroom.
Jack rubbed his face before pulling up a chair next to Olivia, She turned her head slowly towards him and removed the mask. Jack protested.
"You could go to sleep. I'm fine." She reassured him and he chuckled, pulling the mask back over her mouth.
"I'm not gonna leave you here." He said. "We already lose mom and dad, I'm not about to lose you too."
Olivia wanted to protest but knew that Jack's stubborn mind would keep him from going to sleep. She sighed as best she could and rolled her head back over, staring up at the ceiling.
A couple hours had went by. Olivia had drifted off into sleep, leaving Jack alone, sitting a couple of feet away from her. He was exhausted but the fear of shutting his eyes and not being able to keep Olivia alive scared him awake.
"I can watch her." Jack jumped at Danny's voice and turned to face him. He was wearing a pair of jeans and a sweater. His hair was disheveled and he once again had dark circles under his eyes. He held a blanket in one hand.
"No, I can watch her…"
"You're about to fall asleep, I can watch her." Danny told him again. "I'm not gonna let anything happen to her."
Jack nodded, silently agreeing to letting Danny take over. He walked over to Olivia and kissed her forehead before retiring to bed. Danny pulled the chair Jack had been sitting in closer to Olivia, placing the blanket over her. A couple of moments later, she stirred and turned over towards him.
"Hey." She whispered.
"Hi." He said.
Olivia peeled off the mask that had been on her face, the medicine now gone completely. For a couple of moments neither of them spoke. It was silence. Danny didn't want to meet her eye in fear of the guilt that was gnawing at him would eat him whole.
"I just want to tell you...um...I wasn't really going...to...you know...let you…"He stuttered.
"I know." Olivia said. Their eyes met.
For a couple of more moments they sat in silence, looking at each other then around the room. Olivia shivered.
"Cold?" He asked.
"Just a little." She admitted, bring the blanket up to her chin. "Not the most warm blanket in the world." She chuckled.
Danny wasn't really sure what he was thinking. He had seen it in the movies and thought it would help. He got up from the chair and gently pushed Olivia's legs off the couch.
"What are you doing?" She asked.
"You said you were cold." He stated and pulled on Olivia's arm so she was leaning against him. He shifted them so they were now lying on the couch together, his arms wrapped around her body and the blanket laid over them.
"Better?"
Olivia would be lying if she said she hadn't been dreaming about this moment. Him holding her. He was warm and the sweater he was wearing was soft and it tickled her nose. The cologne he had on from earlier still lingered and it just made her be able to relax into him more.
Olivia just nodded and snuggled into Danny's body more. They didn't speak, just laid down and enjoyed the quiet and warmth of each other.
The sun began to rise around six. Merritt stretched himself, the lumpy mattress giving him so knots in his back. Jack was still fast asleep, his mouth wide open and limbs sprawled everywhere. He chuckled and looked over to find Danny's cot empty.
He had walked into the main room and found Olivia and Danny on the couch, still curled up in each other. Their breathing was still insinc. Merritt chuckled and padded back to Jack and his room.
"Jack…" He began shaking him. "Jack…"
Jack slowly opened his eyes. "What?"
"You need to see this." He jutted his head towards the main room.
Jack climbed out of bed and rubbed to grits from his eye, following Merritt into the main room.
"Seriously what's going…"Jack didn't finish his sentence when he saw Danny and Olivia's sleeping arrangement. You would think Jack would have been red face at seeing his baby sister sleeping with the notorious playboy in the group but Jack just smirked and looked at Merritt.
"And he says he doesn't have feeling for her." He joked and Merritt chuckled quietly.
Merritt walked over to the two and shook Danny lightly, trying not to wake up Olivia. Danny's head shifted slightly before fully waking up.
"Morning sleeping beauty." Merritt joked and Danny shot up when he saw that Merritt and Jack had seen Danny and Olivia asleep together.
"Oh we were just….I mean she was...it's not…"Danny tried explaining. Merritt shushed him.
"Trust me, we don't want to know."
