THE LESS YOU'LL SEE
NOTES: At last, Jack. #AtlastJack But we didn't expect it to be that easy, did we? The infamous NYSM 2 heist ensues, but of course, wrought with a lot more tension, miscommunication, and juvenile misunderstandings between our boys for this imagining.
The usual drill: I cannot stress these points enough, so I will put these at the start of every chapter:
This is primarily a Lover's Death story.
I do not own anyone (i.e., characters, etc) or anything (i.e., lines, scenes, concepts, etc) from the Now You See Me series. Absolutely no copyright infringement intended.
Some events in this story are inspired by my own experiences, and should you see yourself in the story, then let me give you a high five, but that honestly was not my intention.
September 2008: #AtlastJack (Part 2)
"You know what? Screw this, and screw you," Jack drawled, drawing himself up to his full height and facing Walter down. "I'm not going to do anything for you."
Walter's eyes flashed dangerously. "You sure about that, Mr. Wilder?"
He nodded, and predictably, Danny felt the barrel of the gun against the side of his head. Jack's heart leapt in his throat even as he saw Danny struggle to keep his eyes from rolling.
"Are you really sure about that?"
Danny hated being the damsel-in-distress, but at that point, he really wasn't left with much of a choice. He tried to erase from his mind that Jack's tan face had turned ashen when the gun was aimed on the side of his head, and instead tried to yawn indifferently.
"Classic," Danny mumbled scornfully, clapping his hands lazily. "Take the ex-boyfriend hostage."
Jack, if it was possible, turned even paler at the usage of the new noun. Danny pretended not to notice. "That's rich. I'd give you a five for the suspense, probably a zero for originality."
"You think I won't call it, Mr. Atlas?" Walter's eyes flashed dangerously.
"Daniel, can you please stop talking?" Jack cut in irritably, and Danny tried not to think about how Jack had called him 'Daniel'. Jack never called him 'Daniel', apart from that first meeting two years ago. He rubbed his face irritably, turning to Walter, who regarded him with amused eyes. "Mabry, call your muscle off. I'll do it."
"Would you please STOP!" Lula said loudly, everyone turning to face her. She marched up to Jack and pointed a finger at him to emphasize her point. "You have always loved going off alone, doing shit no one knows about, and you think you can do it on your own, but you fucking can't. So quit it with your "I", Jack. I'm not letting you do shit on your own." Danny bristled inside, somehow feeling that Lula had just stolen his lines.
Before he could say anything, though, Merritt gave a loud whoop and stood up, facing down the smaller scientist. "Well, if these two turtledoves are in it together, then I suppose I've got to extend my undying support." Henley slid over to where the four stood in quiet assent.
Before anyone could put him on the spot, Danny stood up briskly and gestured toward the door. "So, Walter, pal," he said dryly, the other four looking at him. "Could you get your boys to drive us to the nearest magic shop? It looks like we'd need quite a lot of supplies to get your little toy back."
An hour later, they were in an ancient-looking magic shop, run by a Chinese elderly lady and her young grandson. The woman did not seem to understand English, and so Danny was forced to communicate with the grandson, Li.
"Could you get us these supplies, please?" Danny asked briskly, handing him a piece of paper. "We're kind of in a rush to get them, so if we could just wait for it, that would be great."
Li disappeared into the back of the shop to pick up the supplies, and once more, silence hung over them like a deadly virus. They had split up – Merritt had gone to get some food for them, Henley and Lula had gone to get them a change of clothes in the next room, seeing as they would be here for a while, which left him with Jack.
Jack cleared his throat. "Look, Danny—Daniel," he corrected himself, and another tinge of sadness colored his insides at the correction. "I'm… I'm sorry. I thought you and I could go back to the way things used to be. That's obviously not the case here. I burned you badly, and I know now that every day I was silent was every day you were tortured. I'm sorry I put you through that." Danny said nothing, staring into space stoically. Jack ran his fingers through his hair and plowed on when Danny did not respond.
"I can't imagine how hard it was for you, man," Jack said gently, and Danny hated how detached Jack was trying to be. "I could only think of you every damn day, and curse The Eye every day for it. I didn't want to lie to you, I didn't want to stay away. But I thought it would be all worth it, that the job would be well-done and perfect, just how we wanted." There was a painful pause as Jack slowly realized something. "And now, seeing how things worked out, if I had known back then that the job well-done would mean losing you, then I would have said no, in a heartbeat. But that doesn't change the fact that I said yes. So for that, I'm sorry, Daniel."
Almost three months without Jack had hardened Danny, surprising even himself. All the things he wanted to say – every foul word, every declaration of love, every imploration for him to never leave him again, every promise he told himself he would make if he had one more day with Jack – all these things were stuck on his throat, waiting, struggling, begging to be freed. He took several deep breaths, counting to ten, bracing himself for the impact of his words, hoping that it would make Jack understand what was going on in his head—
"Jeez, what is this thing and why is it stuck in my hand?!" Lula cried out as she entered the shop, a vase seemingly trapping her left hand.
Henley followed suit, two bags in tow, shaking her head. "I told you not to touch that, girl."
Jack's eyes left him, and just like that, Danny felt the moment dissipate into thin air, all the words left unspoken on his lips. He wanted to cry right then and there as the sleight walked over to where Lula was standing with a smile, gesturing for her to come closer to him.
"Here, let me help you with that." He started to yank gently, frowning as the vase wouldn't seem to come off. "Jesus."
Danny shook his head and walked quietly into the other room, Henley following him with narrowed eyes.
The showman was taking deep and calming breaths in the corner of the other room, his back turned to Henley. As she approached him, though, she saw his back tense and his fists clench. Through gritted teeth, he said, "Stay away from me, Henley."
"Sure," Henley said sarcastically. "Get your act together, then, Atlas, because the sooner we finish this mission, the sooner you can get me out of your hair."
He chuckled darkly. "You're telling me to get my act together? Funny, funny," he whispered, turning to her with wracked eyes. "Help me out here, because I wasn't the one who lied to your face, Henley. I wouldn't have allowed you to suffer if I had known what would have made it better. You want to know why? Because I trusted you, Henley, and you just spat that back into my face." Danny was quivering in fury now. "So don't tell me to get my act together for you, for Merritt, or for any of you, Henley, because you lost that right when you made me believe that the man I loved was dead!"
The escape artist's eyes blazed. "Okay, fine, Atlas," she said his name with venom. "I'm sorry I betrayed you. I'm sorry I made you believe in a lie. I'm sorry I didn't tell you otherwise." Tears fell from her eyes as she punched the table next to her. "But you know what? It wasn't my lie to tell! I was never supposed to know! So here's what I think – you're fucking pissed, yes, at me, at Merritt, but you know what? You're just pissed at Jack more than anyone else! He left you alone, and hurt, and confused. You knew that he knew you needed him, that maybe your little heart couldn't take it without him, but he still chose to stay away, and that pisses you off."
She wiped the angry tears from her eyes. "I watched you grieve over that man, mourn your loss, and get angry at him, at the world, at yourself, for so many months. I hated that we almost lost you at one point. So if you're headed down that road again, then you're right – the sooner we walk out of each other's lives, the better. Because I don't want to watch you go down that path I cannot follow and not be able to do anything about it." With those trembling words, Henley flounced out angrily.
The ride back to Walter's quarters was one wrought with tension and discomfort. Danny tried to ignore the fact that Lula was the only one trying to break the tension in their group, and Jack was the only who responded to her antics, albeit half-heartedly, but with a small smile nonetheless. His heart sank as he realized for the first time just how good they seemed to be for each other.
The moment they stepped out of the car, they had called an unspoken truce. It was all about the mission for now, and afterwards – they could go their separate ways for good. The last two years needn't have happened, and he could forget everything away from here, as he already planned. It was surprisingly easy to fall in sync even with the addition of Jack in the team, and in the times that his four teammates looked at him with rapt gazes, hanging on to his every word and instruction, J. Daniel Atlas almost forgot just how bad things were.
"They always travel with two… bimbos," Merritt supplied as he looked at the photos of the group they were going to impersonate for the mission.
"Oh, look at that. I wonder which among us gets to play the two bimbos," Lula said dryly as Henley laughed.
Jack nudged Lula playfully. "You'll make a beautiful bimbo," he said helpfully, earning a slap from his best friend.
Well, Danny thought to himself as he looked away from the scene. Almost.
They found themselves in front of a pristine white building, and against himself, Jack found himself grinning as he removed the pair of Ray-Bans from his eyes. He took great care in putting back the Ray-Bans into its case, pocketing it while suppressing the sentiment that came with it. He shot a sidelong glance at Danny, who didn't seem to notice or care about anything that Jack did at this point.
Taking a deep breath, he clapped his hands together. "So… are we going to do this, or what?" he said cheerfully.
A man with a thin moustache received them by the metal detectors. "Good afternoon. You might like to remove all your metal, standard protocol, you understand." He frowned slightly as he peered at the quintet. "Excuse me, where might have I seen you before?" he asked, seeming to address Danny in particular.
Danny, of course, took it all in stride. "I don't know, probably one of my many symposiums. Maybe my book jacket?"
"I have to say, Drs. Michaelakis, I'm a huge fan of your books," the man plowed on with a small smile.
"Oh, thank you," Danny adjusted his glasses. "Which book, exactly? There have been so many."
Jack saw the narrowing of the man's eyes as he surveyed Danny with disdain before fixing his gaze pointedly on Lula, and he snorted as he realized what was happening.
"Does your… chippy always talk for you, Doctors?" he asked Lula and – apparently – Henley.
Lula's eyes widened by a fraction. "Doctors?" She glanced at Henley, eyeing her up and down. "Drs. Michaelakis?"
Jack couldn't resist it, and hey – this was probably the only time he would ever be allowed to touch Danny without earning a punch to his face. He put a friendly hand on Danny's bicep, squeezing very slightly, and he felt Danny tense for a split second before relaxing under his touch. "I'm sorry, when you say 'chippy', you are referring to Buffy here, right?" he said innocently.
"Of course," the man said flatly.
Merritt chuckled. "No, as a boy toy, Buffy prefers the word 'floozy'."
"Noted, then," the man droned on, turning his attention to the girls. "As I was saying, having the pioneers on quantum studies in this room is a huge honor, madams. And congratulations on your marriage, I'm very happy for you."
Jack cleared his throat as Merritt stifled a grin and Danny's eyes went wide. Henley, however, took it all in stride as she put Lula's hand in hers with a sweet smile on her face. "Thank you, that's very kind of you. It's been—" She looked at Lula with bright eyes. "—beautiful."
"Dr. Lana," he said easily, addressing Lula. "You had an email about our ability to maintain quantum coherence at room temperature without the use of dilution, refrigerators, or error correction. Do you care to elucidate?"
Henley nodded, nudging Lula. "Yeah, love, you did send that email."
"Right," Lula said breathlessly.
"I saw you. Or did you forget again?" Henley whispered playfully.
Lula shook her head. "No, no, sweetheart," she giggled before turning to the man. "So—what gives?"
The man looked befuddled. "I'm sorry… what gives?"
"Come on," Henley interjected impatiently. "Now, every seventh grader, even the dumb ones, know the second law of thermodynamics. 'All ordered systems tend toward disorder' – disorder! Wasn't my wife clear on that?"
"I—I—" the man bumbled.
"So I'm going to ask you one more time, sir – what gives?" Lula capped off loudly, earning a bug-eyed stare from the three men.
There was a pregnant pause, and for a while, Jack thought they were done. But the man smiled and nodded, saying, "Well, it's actually topological quantum order. The emergence of quantum effects on a macroscopic level. So that is, in fact, what gives."
The two women looked at each other for a few seconds. Henley shrugged, and Lula nodded, turning back to the man with an innocent smile on her face. "Thank you," she whispered before she took off her fur coat and helped Henley remove hers, taking Henley's hand as they passed the metal detectors.
"You know," Merritt said in a low voice as he, Danny, and Jack lined up to remove their personal effects. "Buffy's not a bad name for you – buff… taut… firm…"
"Sure, that's good," Danny said through gritted teeth. "Did you just pull a thesaurus out of your ass?" Jack gave Danny a sidelong glance, suppressing his smile as best as he could.
"Nubile," Merritt said suggestively, slapping Danny's butt with his belt and winking at Jack from above Danny's head. Jack rolled his eyes, trying not to think too much about how that made him feel.
"Okay, thank you," the showman said in a clipped tone.
"There you go," the mentalist said gruffly as he walked ahead, passing through the metal detectors.
Jack quickly followed suit, not wanting to hang back with Danny, and the metal detectors roared to life. He immediately felt himself pushed back and frisked by the guards, his… ex-boyfriend watching him carefully. The guards took his wallet and asked him to pass through again, this time with no difficulty. He hadn't noticed that Danny had followed immediately, falling in stride with him.
"You okay?" Danny asked quickly, seemingly forgetting that he hated Jack's guts.
Jack couldn't bring himself to answer the question. Instead, he whispered, "The stick's metal, how are we going to get it out?"
"Yeah, I don't know," Danny hissed back, shaking his head as they both entered the room.
As the plan started to unfold, Jack got to work. They had a lot riding on him. Henley covered for him as Lula exacerbated the distraction that Merritt brought on – he just needed a few more seconds, and—
"Gotcha," he whispered as he took the chip and slid back from under the machine. Now all he had to do was play the innocent bystander.
"Search him," the man with the moustache said crisply, his eyes on Jack. "Search them all."
Apparently, it wasn't enough.
Long, agonizing minutes later, the security team couldn't find anything on them, thanks to their well-practiced card sequence – one that Danny and Lula got the hang of fairly quickly, one that Henley got after a few days of practice, and one that Merritt royally sucked at – they were close, so damn close to leaving, and Jack's heart pounded at the thought of how they were going to get the stick out.
It didn't help that Merritt was the last one in line, and that everything relied on his abysmal card-throwing skills.
He could see the girls' eyes, wide with worry, and Danny was a picture of fake calm – but he knew better. He knew Daniel Atlas more than anyone did in this world, and he knew that pure panic raged inside their leader. Merritt looked at him with fear in his blue eyes, and Jack shook his head.
No, he couldn't afford to doubt Merritt – he had come through for Jack in the last months, had dealt with the pain of being known as Jack's murderer, almost losing the love of his own life just to protect his, and he was certainly going to come fucking through now. He couldn't allow Henley and Lula's efforts go to waste, he couldn't see Danny going to jail, all because of one tiny chip that they couldn't get out.
They were going to get out of here – together. Jack would make sure of that.
He approached the guard by the metal detectors. He saw Danny move toward the gong on the side of the entrance, and he smiled at how after all this time, they still seemed to be of one mind. Maybe some things didn't need to change, after all.
"Sir, I think you still have my wallet. Remember I gave it to you? It would be nice to leave with it."
Lula moved in place, understanding what Jack wanted to happen. Henley silently positioned herself next to the item basket, and looked at Merritt with encouraging eyes. Her gaze seemed to give him focus, and Jack saw the fear dissipate in his eyes.
"Wallet coming through," the guard told the security desk.
It all happened simultaneously: Merritt threw the card perfectly, precisely, sending it flying across the metal detector and into Lula's open coat; Henley knocked over the item basket into the metal detector; Jack's wallet came through, all to the sound of a loud gong, which Jack knew Danny had struck loudly with his belt. He smiled to himself.
Damn perfect.
The car ride back to Walter's quarters was an animated one: they were all riding on the high of a successful heist, their first as a team, and it was just perfect. Jack was laughing out loud as Lula impersonated the bumbling guard who had tried (and failed) to not look at her chest, shortly after she removed her bra, when the car suddenly stopped in the middle of the public market. The five looked around.
"Where are we?" Henley said cautiously.
Alarm bells went off in Jack's mind as they stepped out of the car. "Guys—"
"Hello, hello," came the thickly accented voice of Walter Mabry, who approached them with his usual team of muscle following him. "So you got it. Wonderful. Who has it?"
Danny raised the card in the air. "I do."
"Splendid," Walter said happily. "Now, don't take this personally, but I'm going to have to ask all of you to leave Mr. Atlas and myself to conduct business."
"Like hell we will," Jack spat as he started to walk to Walter, but was immediately seized by a stronger pair of arms.
The scientist cocked his head, and the other three were seized and dragged away as well. "Yes, you will."
It took a while, but some distance later, Jack was finally able to put his captor to the ground, and hurriedly disarmed Merritt, who instantly put the captors to sleep. He had no time to lose, though, and he ran furiously back to where he left Danny, who was shaking as he was about to hand the card over to Walter. Jack saw red when he realized that Walter's men had already started beating Danny to a pulp, stopping only for Danny to give the the card.
He pushed all the men aside like a raging bull and slammed Danny against the wall, holding him by the front of his shirt. He heard Walter command the men to keep away from them, the little pervert, but more than that, he was aware of how close they were, and how much he missed this, and how fucked-up this all was—
"Did you really think I would walk away from you?" Jack said angrily, and purely out of impulse, shoved Danny roughly away from him, taking the stick from him and brandishing it in the air. "Give me the stick, give it, and beat it!" He gave Danny another shove, putting the card back in Danny's front pocket. "Don't ever question me again, you arrogant dick!" Jack pushed Danny into a door and slammed it almightily.
"Bravo, Mr. Wilder," Walter said with a smile, his eyes flashing again. "So—the stick."
Jack gave him a half-smile. "Go to hell."
It was fun for a while, but on hindsight, he realized that he was just too tired to take them all on. Still, though, it was the better option: Danny couldn't fight to save his own life, and probably wouldn't have lasted longer than three seconds, and with two muscled men.
And hell, the world didn't need one less Danny Atlas. He knew that better than anyone. It's only just as fucking gorgeous as it was because of that guy, went Jack's delirious thoughts.
He thought he saw the smirking faces of Walter Mabry and Arthur Tressler looking down on him, heard the sound of metal clanging on metal, and everything went black.