A/N: I'm Back! And you all thought I was dead. I apologize for my absence. It got hectic in the last couple of weeks and I broke my computer...BUT I GOT A NEW ONE! And now I can post chapters. Originally I had planned to post this chapter in full but because it is super super long I'm splitting it up. Don't know if it will be two or three parts but I think it will be two parts. So anyway here is Part 1! Hope you like it.
Chapter 7: Part 1: The Test of Trust
One Year Ago
Olivia bursted through the door of the police station, shoving past anyone in her path till she reached the front desk where a portly women who looked about ready to kill herself was playing with one of the figurines at the top her desk.
"Where's my brother?" Olivia slammed her hands down on the desk counter top, scaring the portly lady leaning back in the chair with her eyes close. It was around 10 pm, nobody enjoyed the night shift around the office. The portly women cracked her eyes open and sighed heavily. Olivia breath was shallow and patience was growing thin.
"I need you to calm down." The women stated plainly before shifting herself towards the monitor. Olivia took a deep breath in. "Where is my brother?" She asked calmly.
The portly women didn't even shift her gaze to Olivia. She blankly stared and typed at the computer. "What's his name?" The women asked.
"Jack. Jack Wilder." Olivia tumbled over the words in worry and began biting on her nails, a nasty habit she would remind herself but didn't give her the willpower to stop. If Jack was here, he'd pull them away from me. She thought.
The women typed and searched on her computer for what felt like an eternity to Olivia. The anticipation eating away at her. She was ready to just scream at the women to hurry up but knew it wouldn't get her anywhere.
"Ah here we are." A Southern accent laced into her words. "He's in custody."
"Can I see him." Olivia asked, looking beyond the desk towards the back rooms.
"He's not allowed visitors at the moment. They're getting his statement." The women informed Olivia.
"When will they be done?"
"I'm not sure, Hun. It could be awhile. Why don't you come back in the morning."
Olivia shook her head frantically, tears already streaming down her face. "No no, I can't! Please, he's my brother. He's all I have left."
The women pitied Olivia and wished there was something she could do for the young girl but it was too late into the night and honestly didn't have a lot of patience to try and get her brother a call with her.
"Look sweetie, it could be a long night for him. Why don't you come back in the morning when both of you are much more calmer." She suggested. Olivia slammed her fist in front of the women and leaned in towards her. Several people began staring at Olivia.
"Listen here, I don't care if I have to stay here all night. I'm not leaving without my brother." She snared and the women's pity look turned into an angry stare.
The woman pursed her lips and sat back in her chair. She realized that this girl must have had a long night just like her and tried giving her some sympathy. Without acknowledging Olivia, she stood up and walked away from her and into the back room. Olivia leaned over the counter, watching the women waddle through the back door labeled 'Custody Room'. She tapped her fingers on the counter.
Several moments later the women appeared once again, a couple sheets of paper stuck between her pudgy hands. She waddled back to Olivia, shuffling the papers. "Alright, I talked to his PO. Unfortunately, the man your brother decided to stupidly steal from wants to press charges." The women explained.
"Press charges!?" Olivia was flabbergasted. "For what? He stole a couple of hundred dollars off that man and by the looks of that guy, he can afford to lose some." Olivia argued.
"He may have only stolen a couple of hundreds but he also tried taking that man's watch and his wedding band." The women continued. "Your brother was stealing private property." Olivia opened her mouth to argue but the women cut her off before she could get a breath in.
"Luckily, his PO talked the man out of it. But your brother isn't going to just walk out of here with a clean slate. It's going to go on his record." Olivia released a breath of fresh air. That didn't seem too bad.
"And he's going to be spending some time in jail." The women finished. "About two weeks."
Olivia stood there, shocked. "What?" She asked.
"Either that or you pay $3,000 for bail money." The women suggested. Olivia's mouth slammed to the floor when she heard how much money they wanted for the release of Jack.
"$3-3,000?" She stuttered out. She couldn't believe it. Where on earth was she suppose to get $3,000? "That can't be right. $3,000 for stealing someone's watch and a ring? That's absurd! He got caught. It's going to go on his record. What more do they want from him? His liver?" She screamed at the women. She looked at Olivia, now completely unfazed by her.
"Look, I don't make the rules. You either get them $3,000 or he sits in jail for a couple of weeks." The women finished and finally shooed her off.
Present Day
A nervous buzz filled the small apartment the Four Horsemen had been in when they first arrived. They were all moving in a slow pace, nervous to move, to breath. No one was speaking to anyone and it wasn't from the fear of the FBI showing up at their door. After the morning discover of Danny and Olivia, no one was comfortable or bold enough to mention it. Danny and Olivia refused to even look at each other. Olivia was glued to Jack side, partially on his account when he awoke to find Danny lying on the couch with his baby sister. Jack had always known Olivia and Danny held some sort of affection to each other but he had thought it was a phase; he thought Olivia wasn't ever going to act on this feelings and Danny was too much of playboy to ever care but after the realization that something may spark between the two, Jack's cool facade turned into over protective brother mood. Any time Danny had even looked at Olivia and Jack, he would return with an icy stare. And of course poor Merritt became to wall between the two boys.
A sudden stream of beeps from olivia's laptop broke the silence and everyone watched Olivia pull up the alert.
"The Firewall's down!" She screamed at everyone.
"Do they know about this?"
"What's going on?"
"Are they coming?"
The Horsemen were raced into a panic when Olivia's laptop had signaled the chip that was in Dylan Rhode's phone had been discover. Once the firewall was down, their location and other vital secrets became exposed to the FBI. The four had began scrambling around, trying to figure out what to do.
"Do they know about this?" Olivia asked, swirling around in her hair.
"They who?" Danny questioned, rummaging through papers. He still didn't make eye contact with her.
"They', 'them', whoever we're working for?"
Jack grabbed some of the papers Danny threw at him before placing them into the fire, burning them to a crisp. "Who are we working for?" He asked.
"Are we prepared to go to jail for them?" Merritt asked. The twins stopped what they were doing and looked from Merritt to Daniel. Daniel ignored their stares and continued.
"Stop being paranoid." Daniel assured them.
Jack turned towards Danny and the rest of the group. "Listen guys, I don't know if I can do this. Ican't go to jail again." He confessed, the memory of two weeks in jail and the pain that it caused him and Olivia was enough tragedy for the two of them. They didn't need a repeat of events.
"Ya Danny, if this means we spend the next 20 years in jail then this isn't worth it." Olivia walked over to Danny and tried calming down his feverish movements. It was the first time they had made contact all day. Her touch caused him to stop for a moment and look at her. Her blue eyes implored him to stop. He wrenched himself away from her.
"No one's going to jail." Danny barked. "We just have to trust that whoever we're working for has a plan." Danny continued shoving more papers at Jack "Don't screw up if you're so afraid then. You always complain you get don't treated like adults well now might be a good time to start acting like one." Danny's words hit Jack like a punch to the face and his features grew dark with anger. He threw down the paper Danny had gave him.
"I made a promise to my parents to keep Olivia and I out of trouble and I'm not gonna break that for some people we have never met." Danny reared back at Jack.
"Well then maybe your should have just stuck to acrobats and card tricks." Danny sneered at him.
"Danny stop it." Olivia warned him.
"Just stick to the plan." Danny said, shoving some valuables into a small duffle bag before zipping it up. "Stay here and burn it all."
"Wait, what?" Olivia looked at the two of them curiously.
It was then Danny had ceased his movements to realize what he had just said. Danny and Jack shared a glance.
"What do you mean 'Stay here and burn it all?'" Olivia asked. "He's coming with us."
Nobody answered her. Tension laid over the room once again. Danny pushed past Olivia and grabbed some of her items on her desk and shoved them into a small satchel. He still refused to meet her gaze. When he refused to say anything she whipped her head to Jack, who didn't even bat an eye at her.
"What did he mean, Jack?" Olivia asked.
Before Jack could answer, Danny butted in, pushing himself between the twins.
"He's staying here." He repeated. "We need to go." Danny instructed Merritt.
"What? No, I'm not leaving him behind." Olivia stated.
"Liv, I'm gonna be fine." Jack tried reassuring his sister.
"No! How can you be okay with this? We promised we look out for each other. I'm not leaving you here to the FBI while we go somewhere else." Olivia argued. She turned towards Danny. "You're not seriously letting him do this, are you?"
"It's part of our instructions." Danny stated.
"Then why wasn't I informed of that?" Olivia asked
"Because."
"Because why?" Olivia asked.
"I don't know Olivia, why don't we sit here and ponder that while waiting for the FBI to break down the door." Danny's eyes finally met hers.
Before Olivia could quip back a response, Merritt pulled apart the blinds on the window and saw the FBI rolling up to the apartment building. "Uh guys,...they're here."
There was a moment of silence.
"We need to go. Now." Danny grabbed hold of the two large duffle bags and threw one at Merritt before walking towards the door. Olivia stood in her place, not moving.
"No, I'm staying here." She said stubbornly. She crossed her arms over her chest. Danny sighed and walked back towards her and grabbed her wrist.
"That's not part of the plan." He stated.
"I'll be fine, just go, okay? I can handle this." Jack assured his sister.
"No. I'm not leaving you."
"If you don't don't start moving by the count of three, I swear I'll move you myself." Danny threatened. Olivia's bright blue eyes darkened at Danny's threat. She cocked an eyebrow at him, remaining her ground.
Before anyone could have time to process or even stop Danny, he swiftly grabbed Olivia and flung her over his shoulder. "Stay here and burn it all." He instructed Jack. Olivia's mouth hung open and threw glances at both Merritt and Jack to see if they would try and protest Danny's rather rude action. Neither showed any sign of remorse or attempted to free Olivia.
"J. Daniel Atlas put me down right now! Jack? Merritt? Seriously? Danny, you put me down right now or I swear to god." She screamed at Danny, hitting his back rather hard and Danny grunted slightly in pain. He turned around, whipping Olivia's head and looked at Merritt.
"A little help would be nice."
Merritt had Danny turn around so Olivia was facing him. She eyed him and clenched her jaw.
"Merritt you wouldn't dare…." Her voice trailed off as Merritt mutter a couple of words. Spots dance in her vision and blacked out shortly after.
When Danny felt her go limp, he quickly switched his hold on her so he was carrying her in his arms. He gave Jack one last glance.
"Just make sure she doesn't hurt too much." Jack asked of Danny and Danny nodded silently before following Merritt out the back entrance of the building, where a yellow taxi and large bus had been parked. Merritt threw the bags in the small compartment underneath the bus before quickly putting on the driver coat and hat that had been resting on the driver's seat. Danny had carried Olivia to the taxi and placed her in the back of the car, letting her curl up in the seat adjacent the driver's seat. After placing a blanket on her and making sure she looked moderately comfortable he climbed into the driver's seat. Net to him was a hat and a fake mustache. Of course he thought this was a very cliche disguise but with the budget and time they had, this was the best he could do. There was also a black shawl and sunglasses for Olivia but clearly she wouldn't need them. He placed the disguise on and started up the engine and raced onto the road with Merritt's bus following closely behind them.
The high speed chase for Jack Wilder had begun. The FBI, Jack, Merritt and Danny all had sped onto the freeway, speeding over a bridge. Onlookers on both sides of the bridge slowed and swerved to avoid being caught in the chase. A chopper from a local news site followed the car's path on the bridge and kept viewers updated on the chase. Swerving very violently, Jack looked in the mirror seeing them high on his tail. Jack swerved into the right lane and then back into the left in front of the big bus behind him. Rhodes and Alma went to follow his trail before switching back when the bus transferred into the right lane.
The car began to tumble and flip on the bridge, landing upside down, wrecked and destroyed. The car's underside began catching fire, quickly spreading to the inside of the car. Rhodes ran forward and tried prying Jack out of the car, while Fuller warned him to step back. When Rhodes began hearing a crackling noise, he quickly ditched his heroic act, grabbed the papers Jack tried to hide before rushing with Fuller away from the car. They watched it go up into flames and smoke, looking defeated.
Six Years Ago
"Mom watch this!" Jack said, pulling a cart that had a hat, a magic wand, cards and other odd assortments placed on top. He wore a top hat and cape while Olivia sported one of her acrobatic costumes. Jack and Olivia's mom, Helena, looked up from her affirmations book.
Olivia and Jack's mom had been diagnosed with cancer two years ago. At first the doctor had told her that it was a minor tumor and that there was nothing too serious to worry about. They had done surgery on the tumor and quickly removed it but six month later, Helena had gotten much, much worst. Now it was a race to beat Helena's clock, which was ticking rather quickly.
"Okay ready?" He asked his mom. She nodded. Although she had been in sever pain and was just marking time, she held a beautiful smile on her face.
Jack grabbed the hat off the cart he had stolen from the front desk moments prior. "Now look inside this ordinary hat. It's empty, right?" He asked his mom, tilting it sideways so she could see. She peered inside and nodded.
"Okay no Olivia, will you wave the magic wand over the hat." He asked his sister and in a very theatrical manner waved the wand over the hat. "And now…" Jack reached inside the hat and pulled out a stuffed bunny. It was Olivia's since they couldn't get a real bunny.
"Ta-da!" The twins screamed and Helena laughed in delight.
"How extraordinary! How did you do that" She asked.
Jack and Olivia exchanged a mischievous look. "Great magicians never reveal their secrets."
Helena began laughing once again but the laughs quickly turned to coaching which turned to wheezing. The remainder of her health crashed onto the children once again. They rushed to her side. She shooed them off.
"I'm fine. I'm fine." She reassured them. "I'm going to be fine."
Danny and Merritt reached the safe house around dusk. They had ditched the bus and taxi a couple of blocks from the house and walked through the back entrance. Merritt carried most of the baggage with them while Danny had Olivia, still fast asleep and wrapped in a blanket. Once they had gotten inside, Danny placed her down on the couch while Merritt turned on the news, seeing today's car chase displayed. The reporter told the story of the high speed chase that ended in a explosion that costed Jack's life. Danny looked back at Olivia and sighed.
Merritt and Danny had everything set up, the computers and the cameras. Merritt had told Danny he had put Olivia down and that she should wake naturally in a couple of hours. Merritt had placed himself at the computer looking over the final instructions and making sure everything was set. Danny had sat on the couch with Olivia, whose head was lying in his lap and the laptop balancing on the couch's arm. One hand scrolled through data while the other played with Olivia's hair.
"So when this is all over what's next?" Merritt asked. Danny looked up to see his fellow Horsemen leaning on the chair. He raised an eyebrow.
"I mean, what's next for you?" He specified. "You become one of the greats and then what?"
Danny of course knew that after they finish the tasks they were given it was in the air. No instruction, no plan. The Horsemen had talked about it several times and wondered what would be next for them. Danny knew his name would go down in infamy but that was just about as far as he got.
"And then, we become part of the eye. The greatest coven of magicians." Danny stated, placing his eyes back on the data.
Merritt quirked an eyebrow. "And you're not planning on telling Olivia of you obvious affections?" Danny's head shot up fast.
"What?"
It was no secret that Danny obviously had affections for Olivia. Everyone could see that. Unfortunately due to his lack of emotional availability and ego, Danny shut himself out from Olivia at most times. Although Danny was known for his flirtatious ways with groupies and crew members, they were merely a wall to keep Danny from having to admit his true feelings to Olivia. Merritt gave Danny an all knowing look. He wasn't born yesterday.
"Oh, c'mon Danny, it doesn't take mentalism to see the obvious affection between you and Olivia." He stated. Danny shook his head.
"I don't know what your talking about." He shifted his focus to the computer once again, trying to ignore Merritt's obvious staring. Several moments of silence passed between them before danny could no longer stand the heated stare Merritt was giving him. He slammed the laptop shut and faced Merritt fully.
"Alright, let's just say hypothetically that I admitted my feelings to Olivia." Danny started. "What happens after, huh? We go off living happily ever after, spending our lives running for FBI agents? Living in secret hiding places all over New York?" Danny began rambling off into other theories and scenarios. They had moved themselves from the couch, leaving Olivia still fast asleep, "Even if I did have feelings for her, which I'm not saying I do, I wouldn't be able to give her the life she wants." He finished,.
"And what does she want?" Merritt asked, his voice sounded like a therapist.
"I-I don't know, a big house, kids. The life she didn't have growing up." Danny stumbled to find the right words to use. Behind them, Olivia began to stir.
"Look Danny, you guys are young. I don't think she's thinking too much about the future." Merritt started when he noticed Olivia began to wake. "I think she wants to figure out what she wants with you…" Olivia was up now. "Good luck." Merritt finished before he had retreated to his room, wanting to avoid the traumatic scene that would come later.
Danny took in a solid, deep breath, mentally preparing himself for what he was about to tell Olivia. Admittingly, Danny was very nervous and guilty when he had read what the eye wanted from both Olivia and Danny. He wasn't sure if they knew they would develop something for each other but in any case, the eye wanted proof from all of them that they were giving complete trust in them. Unfortunately, he didn't think they would take them this far to find out if the Horsemen had complete trust in them….
"Hey…" Danny walked towards Olivia. He was still taking deep breaths.
Olivia stretched out her arms and pulled her hair back into a ponytail. She looked up at Danny with her big blue eyes. They were making it a lot harder for Danny to say what he had to say.
"Hey." She said. She looked around. "Where's Merritt?"
Danny jutted his head towards the back rooms. "He wanted to get some sleep before tonight's show…" Danny lied. It felt bitter on his mouth.
"How long have I been out?" She asked. Danny noted that she must have forgiven Merritt for putting her out because he couldn't detect any trace of anger in her voice.
"Ah, just a couple of hours." The only truth that probably would come out of his mouth today. It felt sweet. He savored it.
It was then Olivia began to notice Jack's stuff wasn't lying around. She turned around fully in her spot, trying to find any sign Jack had reached the safe house. "Where's Jack."
When Danny hadn't responded as quickly as he should have, Olivia whipped around to face him fully. Worry had begun clouding over her eyes. "Danny." She said. "Where's Jack?"
Danny looked away from her, he couldn't say it. He didn't want to. He wasn't ready to break her heart and watch the smile he loved so much to die. He didn't want that sparkle to leave her eye.
He licked his lips, swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat. " Olivia….Jack…"
"What about Jack?" He could hear the shortness of her breath.
"Jack...there was….something happened…" He tried explaining but the fear made his voice trail and the words became stuttered. She grabbed his hand.
"Danny, if you care about me at all or have any ounce of decency left, you better tell me what happened." She threatened. He took a huge breath of air.
"Jack got into a car crash." He blurted out and Olivia gasped loudly. "And….he didn't make it."
As the words came tumbling out of Danny's mouth, he immediately regretted it. He wished he didn't have to say he. He wish he could just say it wasn't true and that her brother was fine but if he wanted Olivia to be with him and for them both to be in the Eye, he had to follow orders. Feelings or no feelings.
He watched her eye leak out streams of tears, her breathing became ragged and her lips began to quiver horribly. She didn't understand. Correction, she didn't want to understand. He said he would be fine, they all promised her he would be fine. How could he be in this world and gone the next. A tide wave of traumatic memories and the feeling of lost she had gotten after her parents had died wept over her. It felt like her legs had been kicked out from under her, she felt a hole building up in her heart and her body quaked as her eyes continued to pour of salty tears. Danny reached for her hand. She pulled away.
"No, no! You're lying. He's not dead, he can't be dead. You promised me nothing would happen to him! He promised he be okay, he promised!" She began screaming at Danny.
"You lied to me, you said he'd be okay and that I would see him later! He's suppose to be here. With me. He can't be dead. He can't be. He can't be. Tell me you're lying to me, tell me you're joking around and Jack is going to pop out any moment!" By this point she was screaming at danny so loud that her voice began cracking under stress. She wasn't ready for this.
"He promised me he wouldn't leave me alone. He promised!" She screamed and threw herself at Danny, hitting him hard on the chest.
"You killed him! They killed him! The Eye killed him! You all killed him! He's dead, he's dead, he's dead!" Danny held Olivia tight as she sank to the floor, still occasionally throwing punches at him. She was too in mourning to try and do any real damage to him. Danny held her tightly and just let her cry, let her scream, kick, punch. He just held her tight and tried to get the pain to go away.