THE LESS YOU'LL SEE

NOTES: Chapter 19, and then it's time for the main story finale! Let's bring in the Horsemen's "friends" into the mix in Chapter 20 and send them off with a bang for the last chapter: for now, allow me to indulge myself and the Horsemen with some good old college fun and drama.

This chapter is inspired by the wonderful song "Certain Things" by James Arthur. The full story may not be aligned with the tonality of this beautiful piece of music, but I assure you, it was on repeat when I was jotting down my thoughts for this story – so much so that it factors in greatly in one part that brings on the nostalgia. Just read on and see.

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.

November 2008: Certain Things

All in all, Lula's life in the recent months had exploded in her face: she had absolutely no success getting through her first semester in college, she was living the life of a stranger, and sometimes she was virtually alone within the group of people who was more family than friends to her.

To her, however, the biggest explosion was the realization that the man she loved, her best friend, would never be able to give her what she wanted, not when he already found himself taken so utterly by an absolutely crazy man who would raze the face of the earth to be with Jack: seeing them together every day reminded her as much.

Life had exploded in her face, but she really wouldn't have it any way: Lula was ridiculously happy.

Maybe she was just as crazy as Jack's crazy man was, after all.

As though he could almost hear her thoughts or feel her staring at him, Danny's eyes snapped up to meet her gaze across the table. Lula's gaze flicked very quickly to where a quietly chuckling Jack was in the middle of the room, completely engrossed in a thick book, before meeting Danny's eyes again quizzically. What the hell is that man doing?

The showman's lips turned upward in a slight smile, and he shook his head slightly. Trust me, I wish I knew, his exasperated eyes practically screamed.

And now, she and J. Daniel Atlas understood each other when it came to Jack Wilder. Yup, definitely crazy.

At that moment, Henley excitedly bound into the room, waving a yellow flier in the air, Merritt following suit, eyes rolling to the high heavens.

"Good class?" Danny asked dryly.

Merritt plopped down on the couch lazily. "Nah, party invite."

Henley looked around at the group exasperatedly: Merritt had his eyes closed, already quickly on his way to a nice, long nap; Danny was looking at her blankly; Jack didn't even seem to notice that she and Merritt had arrived. She turned to Lula, who seemed to be the only one who was actually interested.

"You seem to be the only one game, Lula. What do you say?"

Lula shrugged. "Well, when is it?"

"Tomorrow night!" Henley said excitedly. "Look, the auditorium is just two blocks away, and it's a big enough party for us to not be noticed no matter how drunk we actually get."

The self-decapitator's eyes wagged mischievously. "Open bar?"

Those two words seemed to finally catch Jack's attention: he stopped reading and looked up very suddenly, finally noticing the presence of new people in the room. "Hi Hen, Mer," he said quickly before looking at Lula. "You were saying something about an open bar?"

Danny bristled. "Hey—"

"Yes," Henley cut in quickly, flashing Jack an eager smile. "School-wide party tomorrow in the auditorium, big enough to do whatever the hell we want."

Danny held up a hand. "We aren't actually going to a party at this point, are we?"

"Why not? The last party we went to had a delightful aftermath," Jack said with a wink.

The memory of colorful lights and the dingy smell of an alleyway came back to Danny, and immediately he felt a blush creeping up to his face. He shook his head in an attempt to clear it.

"Well, I don't think it's a good idea, that's all," Danny said lamely.

"Why, Danny? Scared that some random dork will run off with Jack again?" Henley said in jest.

Lula flinched, immediately feeling the tension that crept into the group. She watched as Merritt sat up from his recline on the couch; Henley's eyes widening, realizing what she said too late' Jack shooting a death glare at Henley before turning to Danny, whose face was suddenly the picture of blankness. After a full five seconds of silence, Danny stood up wordlessly and walked out of the apartment, closing the door gently behind him.

Henley looked at Jack with worried eyes. "I'm so sorry, I didn't—"

The sleight shook his head. "It's not your fault, Hen, but… try not to do that again," he said with a sigh as he started to stand. "I better go after him—"

Merritt stood up and blocked Jack's path, shaking his head. "Jack-o, trust me when I say that you're probably not the right person to talk to Atlas right now," he said gently.

Before Jack could protest, Lula stood up and walked to the door. "I'll follow him," she volunteered, not waiting for a response from the others.

Merritt turned to Jack, who sat back on his chair resignedly. "Everything okay with you and Atlas?"

Jack chuckled. "'Okay' is an understatement. Try 'infuriatingly perfect'," he replied. "I don't know how to convince him that the boyfriend he had wasn't replaced with one made of glass."

Henley walked over to Jack and sat on the arm of his chair, putting an arm around him. "He lost you for three months, Jack," she said quietly. "You need to give him some time. He thought he lost you for a good three months – I doubt he'll get over that anytime soon."

"Well, God forbid that the mighty Atlas does anything haphazardly, let alone getting over a tragedy," Merritt said dryly, but Jack recognized and appreciated his friend's attempt to lighten the mood. The mentalist looked at the apartment door. "I have to say, Lula surprises me sometimes."

Jack looked at Merritt. "How?"

"Comforting the boyfriend of the love of your life? That can't be easy."

"I'm not—" Jack protested.

"Not yet, Jack," Henley cut in quietly. "But maybe one day, you won't be."

Jack took a deep breath. "She'll be okay, won't she?"

Merritt smiled. "I suspect she will be, as long as you are."

It turned out that Danny didn't go too far: he was seated on one of the benches in the park across their apartment, and turned to look at Lula as she sat on the other end of his bench.

As she turned to look at him, the showman looked away, a dry smile on his face. "Jack sent you because Merritt thought it wouldn't be a good idea for him to talk to me," he declared.

"Nice try, Sherlock, but I volunteered," she retorted.

A few seconds of silence passed. "I see," Danny hummed lowly. "Right about everything else, though?"

Lula rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah," she said begrudgingly. "You see everything, oh great Atlas."

The showman chuckled. "Don't I wish."

More silence and the chill of the air engulfed the pair. Though Lula – for once – didn't know what to say, she thought it wasn't too bad, sitting in silence with the person she had long regarded as her rival, her nemesis of sorts, but only for one reason – one person.

Dealing with her lingering feelings for Jack had gotten progressively easier: seeing him happy with Danny, her casual dates on weeknights, and being extremely busy juggling Horsemen practices and collegiate commitments helped increase her peace of mind. Sure, it didn't eradicate whatever it was she held, but hey, baby steps—

"He loves you too, you know," Danny said unexpectedly after a long stretch of silence.

Lula gave a start, snapping out of her thoughts. "Sorry?"

Danny gestured aimlessly, clearing his throat. "Jack… loves you too," he said in a clipped tone.

Lula blinked, unable to figure out where this conversation was going, or what was even the appropriate response to his no-nonsense statement. There were a lot of things she wanted to say: how it obviously wasn't enough, and how it didn't need to be; how she was never going to attempt to give Jack the happiness Danny seemed to effortlessly give, even if she died trying; how that wasn't relevant to keeping Jack safe and protected from the rest of the big, bad world. But for the life of Lula May, all she could say was, "Oh."

Danny looked at her. "It doesn't matter to me, Lula," he said quietly.

Most people would have bristled at his words, but Lula liked to think that she knew Daniel Atlas better than most people at this point. She knew him well enough to detect no arrogance in his words, or to know that it didn't matter to him not because he thought he was better than her: she knew that to Danny, all that mattered was the happiness of the person they both loved most in the world.

"I know," she said simply.

Danny's mouth quirked in a smile. "So you understand."

"I won't pretend I do, not all of it," she said quickly. "But I think I understand enough."

Danny looked down at his gloved hands, restlessly shuffling a deck of old cards. "It's… I go back to June sometimes. And I wonder how I survived it," he admitted.

"I think everyone did," Lula agreed. "I remember seeing you in that old dump for the first time since the stage. You weren't so easy on the eyes," she admitted, causing Danny to chuckle quietly.

"Trust me, I looked a lot better than I felt," he assured her.

Lula made a face. "That's hard to imagine. Eww," she said jokingly.

He gave her a small smile, which gave way into a gentle frown. "How did you… I mean…"

"News," she said crisply. "They didn't even hold a memorial for him in school. They didn't want to honor the memory of a criminal," she spat, surprised at how the memory of his loss angered her even until now. She cleared her throat, bringing herself back to the situation. "It got better, though, with you guys. I know I was a horrible replacement, probably the one person who would remind you most of Jack. And it didn't help that my card was a jibe at the whole situation: I slapped Dylan on the arm one time when I remembered I was the Wheel of Fortune."

"Thank you," Danny said, shaking his head.

"It was my pleasure," Lula smiled. There was a pause, then she asked, "Danny?"

"Mmm?"

"You know we won't let anything happen to Jack, but you know you've got to lighten up on him, right?" she said gently. When Danny said nothing, she continued, "He's in a much better position to take care of himself than the rest of us are, to be honest."

"Martial arts and card throwing won't save him all the time, Lula," Danny snapped, albeit tiredly.

"No, but we will," Lula retorted defiantly. "You, most of all."

Blue eyes connected with blue eyes, and a long and silent understanding passed between the pair. It started with Lula gasping out a light giggle, Danny chuckling, until it escalated into honest-to-goodness laughter that seemed to cement something between them that had certainly not been present before.

"Lula? Atlas?" came a voice from behind them.

The pair turned around to meet the curious gaze of Agent Dylan Rhodes, who was wearing a black jacket and a bonnet, rendering him unrecognizable to the average passersby at first glance. Lula squealed with delight and ran to the agent, giving him a quick hug, and Danny walked over with a smile on his face, taking the hand the man offered to him.

"You here for the mission, Dylan?" Danny asked, unable to keep the excitement from his voice.

Dylan gave a small smile. "Well, I'm here mostly for you guys. I needed to check up on you with some—" An old woman and a tall man appeared behind him, with similar smiles on their faces. "—some old friends."

"Hello, Daniel. Hello, Lula," the familiar Chinese old woman said warmly. "It seems like quite a while since I last saw you. You have both changed."

"Oh, she speaks English. Of course she does," Danny said under his breath, causing Lula to nudge him into silence.

Dylan gestured sheepishly to the house. "Would you mind inviting us in? It's freezing out here."

Fifteen minutes later, they found themselves all crammed in the small apartment living area, packets of cocoa, coffee, and tea strewn on the table, along with several small cups filled with hot water.

"First of all, it's time for me to blow my cover," Dylan started by throwing in a tarot card in the middle of the table: The Fool. "I received instructions from The Eye, and I'm going to expose myself for our next mission."

Henley choked into her cup, while the other four looked at him with wide eyes. "Way to start a conversation, Agent Rhodes. And very fitting card for you, then," Merritt said flatly. "Any proposals, then, how we're going to actually fool one of the greatest technological geniuses into going down on his knees for whatever it is we have?"

"Dylan, let's be serious here: how will that work? You're—we're safe while you're under the radar," Henley asked, fear creeping up into her voice.

"Yeah, I mean, come on, man," Jack interjected. "We're not that good. We need you there. We can't do this without your help, without the resources you have."

Before Dylan could reply, the small Chinese woman answered gently, "Did you really think you don't have help?" They all turned to her as she picked up Dylan's tarot card.

Fresh hope, chances, beginnings.

"Do you know why The Fool is the most powerful card in the tarot?" Her eyes laid on Dylan, who was watching her intently, trying just as hard as the rest of the team to make sense of the situation. "Not because the person who draws him is a fool – it's because he's a clean slate, and therefore, can be anything."

"You were chosen – all of you," Li said in a very matter-of-fact fashion. "Not because of who you are, but because of who you might become."

"Hold up, when you say 'chosen', are you… a part of The Eye?" Lula asked, frowning.

The old woman nodded. "Yes, we are," she said. "You've each doubted our existence, wondering if we were ever watching, if we knew all you had given to our cause." She looked around the room, her soft eyes lingering first on Danny, whose eyes were shining suspiciously, then longer on Jack, who had a half-smile on his face.

"Well, we are watching. We always have been," she continued. "We know everything each of you gave up for this mission. And you have proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that you deserve everything The Eye can offer you."

"I knew I walked into the best magic shop in the world that day," Danny said with a grin as Dylan reached out and took the old woman's hands in his, shaking them gratefully.

"Well, let's not sit around and waste time here – let's get to work!" Merritt said cheerfully.

As the others started to dive into the plans, the elaborate and thrilling set-up made especially for Arthur Tressler and Walter Mabry, Jack felt a tap on his shoulder, and he spun around to face Danny, who wordlessly offered him his hand. He took the showman's hand without hesitation, allowing himself to be led out of the apartment and into the hallway.

Danny's eyes were shifty, unable to meet his own rapt gaze, and Jack felt his hands trembling under his. The sleight tightened his grip on Danny, not saying anything, waiting patiently for his boyfriend to find the words he was looking for.

Seemingly finding the confidence, Danny took a deep breath and looked Jack in the eye. "I'm scared that something bad will happen to you. I can't stop thinking about it," he admitted quietly.

The brown-haired man smiled and bumped their foreheads together. "I know you are, and thank you," he acknowledged gently. "But Danny, I'm not made of glass. You have to remember that we signed on for this, for life. I knew the risks, and I'm taking them. We're taking them."

"I know that. But I hope you also know that you can't save us or yourself all the time," the blonde man replied immediately. "You can't… I mean—" He stalled, seemingly lost for words.

Jack laughed quietly. "I know I can't save you or myself all the time. But I do know that each time I can't, you will." He planted a small kiss on Danny's lips, awed at how it never seemed to get old. "Won't you?"

Danny's eyes blazed. "Damn straight I will."

"Admit it, Atlas, this isn't half-bad."

Danny rolled his eyes to the heavens as they moved further in to the dance floor, drinks in hand. "Never to you, Henley."

Henley grinned cheekily, flipping her fake black hair. "I'll take it!" She turned to Merritt, who was surveying the crowd of college students carefully, and she sighed exasperatedly. "You, sir, should not be psychoanalyzing anyone tonight."

"Where would our darling mentalist be if he wasn't completely psycho… analyzing everyone?" Lula said innocently, something catching her eye from across the room. "Oh, you know what, I see… erm… I'll see you guys later, okay?" Without waiting for anyone to respond, Lula disappeared into the crowd.

Jack stalled, a confused look on his face. "What was that all about?"

Despite the fact that none of them had gotten much sleep the night before, what with all the excitement of planning for their London show – their last for a while, they had been told – Henley had dragged them all out of the apartment to join the campus party, insisting that they needed to "really get drunk with extensive extra-curricular involvement". Danny translated this as Henley-speak for "let's get ridiculously drunk and have a good time".

"Connor Yates," Henley said peevishly, biting her lip.

"The graffiti artist?" Danny supplied. "String bean with dark and curly hair, glasses?"

Jack narrowed his eyes at his boyfriend. "How do you know him?"

"Oh, please," the showman scoffed, but he couldn't stop a small grin finding its way on his face. "Lula and I have Biology with him. He's been particularly attuned to Lula since the first day of class. And, well… I have a thing for string beans with dark hair. They're usually pretty sexy," he deadpanned, earning a punch from Jack in the arm.

"I'm not a string bean!" Jack protested.

Danny smiled, patting Jack's cheek with his hand. "Sure, you're not," he said patronizingly. "Relax, Wilder." He frowned up at Jack's hair, which was now completely obstructed by a blonde wig. "You know, I'm not sure I like you so much as a blonde."

As if to contradict his point, two girls passed the group, looked at Jack appreciatively, and waved. "Hi, Ken," they called out alluringly before melting into the crowd.

Danny sighed loudly. Jack grinned and looked at his boyfriend, fixing the thick spectacles and touching the light beard that was obscuring his sharp features. "You were saying, Jason?" Jack asked in a low voice.

Danny grimaced. "Oh, that really is gross. I can't get used to it."

Suddenly, the low bass lines cracked and transitioned into a smooth, steady melody that sent the frenzy calming down. And almost instantly, he found himself in Jack's arms, and Daniel Atlas never felt safer.

"I'll parrot your advice back to you: relax," Jack's gentle voice whispered right into his ear. Danny suppressed a shudder: Jack's lips were cool, in contrast to the heat of his skin, and Danny caught the faint smell of alcohol mixed with the musky scent that was distinctly Jack's, a smell that he never thought he would never be acquainted with. The sensation was absolutely addicting. "Atlas, you don't seem to be taking your own advice."

Something kept Danny firmly in place, and suddenly, as though from a familiar dream or memory, the lines between want and need were completely blurred. All shyness and hesitation had disappeared between them: Jack's touch was warm, strong, confident, demanding Danny's entire being to stand fast next to his as he intertwined their fingers together.

It was perfect.

"I don't know, Jack, maybe I need you to help me relax," the showman croaked as he chanced a glance at their intertwined fingers. Had this been Jack's world a year ago, when he had taken that chance on the only other dance floor they had ever shared?

Jack smiled against the left side of Danny's neck as he whispered, "Let's see what I can do."

Something about you
It's like an addiction
Hit me with your best shot honey

"Hey, I have a question," Jack grinned as they both swayed to the music, everyone else just as lost in their own worlds as they were right now.

Danny cocked his head graciously. "I might regret answering it, but please, hit me."

"Last year… what brought that on?"

Danny frowned. "I don't understand."

Jack shrugged. "You know… what happened on the dance floor. You weren't nearly drunk enough, and before that… well, I didn't think you and I would be boarding the train anytime soon, to be honest," Jack confessed.

The showman smiled impishly, pulling Jack even closer: Daniel Atlas hated being in close proximity with people, in general. Heck, there were so many things he thought he could never do in this life until Jack Wilder well and truly became a part of his life: sharing his personal space with another person was one, but with Jack, he never seemed to mind anything – just as long as it was Jack.

"Maybe it was me thinking that I couldn't take another day of pulling my head out of my ass, or waiting for you to pull yours out of yours," Danny mused. "Maybe it was me thinking that, oh shit, if I don't move, some better person like Jasmine Tressler or Lula would realize their mistake and snatch you back up, and never let you go this time. But I always thought that maybe it was just you."

Jack raised his eyebrows in mock outrage. "Oh, so it's my fault now?"

"Maybe it was just you," Danny repeated. "Because I couldn't bring myself to stay away from you. You know I couldn't, and I hope you know by now that I probably never could."

The sleight smiled. "I'll hold you to that."

And there's certain things that I adore

And there's certain things that I ignore

But I'm certain that I'm yours

Jack realized that so much had changed in so little time: he never would have thought this time last year that he would be swaying to the beautiful melody with J. Daniel Atlas, his best friends in different corners of the dance floor, hopefully dancing with someone who made them feel almost like how Danny made him feel.

This time last year, Jack never thought that he would be this high on the thrill of their heists, high on knowing that they went through what they did and came out of it in one piece.

So much had changed, but really, Jack wouldn't have it any other way.

"I have a question this time," Danny said suddenly. "When you… when you were gone," the showman paused, taking a deep breath, holding on to Jack even tighter. "How did you do it?"

Jack didn't have to be a literature major to realize how loaded the question was: he only had to meet the troubled blue eyes of the man he loved and keep himself from drowning in the showman's fears, thoughts, feelings, and hopes. He had prepared the answer to this question months ago: in fact, from the time that he knew where he was headed.

It started with a simple translation of the question: how could you leave me? Translating it was simple. He now knew that he knew Danny better than anyone else in the world.

Answering the question was the more difficult part of the equation: Jack could tell Danny how he wanted to make sure that the plan was perfectly executed, and that would lead them to ultimately being a true part of The Eye, something they had both wanted even before they wanted each other. He could tell Danny that he wanted to prove himself, give them all an easier time out of it, and get the job done as quickly as possible, so they could be together sooner. He could tell Danny that he did it knowing that there was something bigger than the rest of them at the end of the line.

But now, Jack knew that wasn't true: there was nothing, absolutely nothing, bigger and better than he and J. Daniel Atlas together at the end of the line. He had fooled himself with the belief there was more than a best friend, more than a partner, more than a co-performer, more than a lover, waiting for him at the end of the line.

Jack Wilder had assured himself of a purpose, a goal that would give his life even more meaning than it already had, but now he knew that it had always been there: it was, it always was, and always will be creating magic with Danny, for Danny, because of Danny.

His mind was lost in so many answers that he had prepared for Danny, who was looking at him with soft blue eyes, and he opened his mouth with the full intention of telling Danny everything that was running in his mind.

Instead, the sleight kissed the showman deeply, putting lips over lips, saying everything that he couldn't articulate.

And you're like a shoulder to turn to
Cause certain things burn just when we're hanging on for dear life
We held on so tight

Danny was hypnotized. He normally hated crowds, but with every wave of movement that sent him and Jack careening together, he was never more thankful for people smelling of the gentle night. He and Jack didn't even need to move: the beating of his heart matched the slow cadence of the music, and he couldn't look away from Jack's dark eyes, even as Jack broke their long, delicious kiss.

He realized that he and Jack had only ever been together on the dance floor once prior to this. He found it magical that this second time, something seemed to bring them even closer still, though in a very different way from the first time: here they both were, holding each other tenderly in the middle of the dark dance floor, holding each other like they were each other's lifeline.

As Jack looked at him tenderly, his brown eyes full of desire and… Daniel felt his stomach swoop as though he had missed several steps going down, or he was falling from a dream at the top of a tower as he realized what he was seeing in Jack's eyes. The loss of control was something he embraced entirely, and though he didn't say it too often, he felt the words tumbling right out of his mouth.

"I love you," Danny whispered.

I've got no reason to doubt you
'Cause certain things hurt
And you're my only virtue

And I'm virtually yours

Nothing but the rhythm was moving them together. Jack smiled as he put his hands on Danny's face, pausing in the middle of the dance floor. He felt his best friend, his boyfriend, his partner, his lover – the person who mattered the most in the world to him – shiver under his touch. He stroked Danny's face like he was the most precious thing in the world.

Lord God, may someone smite J. Daniel Atlas where he stood now, because he was sure nothing in the world felt better than Jack Wilder's hands on his face, cradling him as though he were the most breakable treasure on earth—

"I love you, too," Jack said, his eyes crinkling up in a smile.

Danny huffed. "Damn straight you do."

Jack laughed, and Danny once more drank in just how beautiful it was to hear Jack Wilder laugh – he definitely could live with it. The laugh dissolved as the song ended, and Jack looked at him with that infuriatingly perfect gaze.

"You aren't going anywhere, are you, Danny?" he said softly.

Danny scoffed. "Wasn't planning to."