Hey guys! First of all, I would like to thank all of the people who had reviewed, favorited, followed and to the two guests who commented... HI!
This chapter jumps around a bit, mainly because it just felt right to me. I hope you don't get confused.
Disclaimer as always.
Unexpected Sidekick
Chapter 3:Magic
One Year Later
Dana tied her hair in a pony tail furiously, before pointing her finger at the nearest person in black, "You! What the HELL are you doing?"
The poor boy jumped, nearly dropping the glass case that Henley had used in the previous act and stammered, "To-to put this away?"
"Below ground?" she asked, rubbing her temples, "Did you even read today's line up? Don't you know what's down there?"
The boy shook his head, and glanced at his friend who was trailing after him carrying iron shackles. The friend merely gave him a look that told him he was on his own.
No one messed with the assistant Dana, unless they wanted one of their arms chopped off.
"Just store it in the back," Dana managed to say, before ordering, "Well? What are you waiting for? Christmas? Hurry up!"
"You seem to be having fun."
"Ha, fun. Who hired these people anyway?" she asked, turning to Henley, who had walked up behind her.
"You, did," the magician said, her lips twitching in amusement.
"Well I must have been on drugs or something, "Dana snapped, before apologizing, "Sorry Henley. Las Vegas is just not my home base, you know? I'm feeling out of sorts. And with what's at stake..."
Henley nodded, understanding, "I know Dana. I know. But the show's almost done, and all your work as paid off. We have them."
"Not yet," Dana muttered before glaring at her friend, "Which reminds me, what are you doing here? The finale is starting soon!"
"I have a rip in my suit, the magician explained, "I was cutting it a little close tonight."
"That isn't like you," Dana said, bringing out a needle from nowhere(technically her back pocket, but it looked like nowhere).
"Nerves, I guess," Henley replied, watching as Dana got to work. "Sorry. I know you worked hard on these suits."
Dana snorted. Making the suits were the easiest part.
...0.0.0
A week after the first meeting
"I think you're taking this a little too seriously, Dana," Henley commented, leaning against the New York apartment wall. She gazed at the clutter on the floor and back at her friend's form.
"Don't you know that costumes are what makes a magician look magical?" Dana retorted, tearing another piece of paper containing costume designs and throwing it in the trashcan. "Where's Jack anyway?"
"He has gone to get the sub sandwich he said he owed you," Merritt replied over his book.
Dana smiled fondly before shaking his head and going back to work. She had no time for such thoughts, not when she had a show to create.
The mysterious Eye gave them directions, not blueprints. It gave the Four Horsemen tricks to do, but gave them no way to perform it.
It has only been a couple of days, and Dana was already feeling dire hatred for this mysterious organization(technically she had felt hatred for them long before...). But Jack and the others were adamant, and well, she couldn't argue against that.
"Well, I don't like doing nothing, do you?" Daniel said, clapping his hands before walking over to Dana. He poked her shoulder, earning him a slap on his thigh.
"But-"
"For the last time, no sparkles!"
"We will need three volunteers to pick a ball at random..."
Dana counted the number of stairs before stopping. She squeezed in through the seats, excusing herself, before sitting in the empty seat. She smiled awkwardly at the man next to him and said, "Sorry about that."
"No problem," the man said in a French accent.
Dana scanned the crowd, looking for a certain individual. Her eyes were sharper than usual today, probably because she finally had time to get new prescriptions, and she immediately found the African American man sitting in the stands, holding a recording device.
Fingering the communicator in her ear, she ordered, "Confiscate that man's phone, please."
Dana watched as the man pulled out another device from his pocket as soon as the Asian assistant left for his other duties. She wanted to wipe that smug look on his face. But she already anticipated this.
She needed his phone later.
Why aren't they...Dana thought before touching her communicator, "Don't forget to talk about the sponsor, guys."
She saw Merritt give a brief nod at her direction, "Before we begin, we would like to thank..."
"Wow that spotlight is bright," she said, turning to the man next to her. The men seemed put off, as if he wanted to watch the show than hear a young American girl blabbering in his ear. "It took me ages to get the money to pay for these seats. My bank hasn't been the nicest to me these years."
"Bank? What bank do you go to?" the man asked, probably just for . Dana could tell he wasn't interested.
She told him and watched as his face lit in recognition, "A coincidence. I also go there."
"Yeah, coincidence," she said, her face looking shocked.
She should win an Oscar after all of this is done.
Now, the man was conditioned fully. A brief Paris trip months ago established the basic mental conditioning the man needed to come to this show tonight. Merritt made sure of it. Dana's job was to make sure he didn't choose any other bank to say tonight, at the big finale.
It was imperative that the specific bank was mentioned.
"Tonight," Daniel's dramatic voice echoed through the dark stadium, making Dana simultaneously grin fondly and roll her eyes, "We are going to rob a bank!"
She did not rob a bank for no reason after all.
3 Months After First Meeting
"You what?"Jack asked, looking at her in disbelief.
"I'm going to rob a bank," Dana said, her grin wide as she saw Jack's incredulous face. It wasn't everyday that she stumped the magician and she felt incredible self satisfaction at the job well done.
"It's obvious that the Paris land has made her insane," Daniel joked, earning a slap from Henley.
"You do realize darling," Merritt said, "That we are eventually going to do as you just suggested?"
"Yeah," Dana said, crossing her arms.
Everyone turned silent, waiting for the assistant to elaborate. Dana sighed after a moment and said, "Look. You guys were out all day these last couple of weeks conditioning-" Merritt shot her a glare, "Ok OK. Hypnosis-ing the guy while I was stuck here doing nothing! And as my job as an assistant, it's my duty to get this plan rolling."
"By robbing a bank?" Jack asked.
"By robbing the blueprints of the bank vault! There's a difference."
"Frankly, I don't see one," Jack said, crossing his arms.
Henley continued, "Considering that the Eye gave us the blueprints already."
Dana let out a frustrated groan, and pointed out, "Do you know what the colors of the walls are?"
"Blue?" Daniel interrupted, causing Dana to throw a pillow at his forehead. By the time they made it to Las Vegas, Dana predicted that Daniel would be in serious chronic pain.
"No, it's not." she said, "In fact, we don't know what it is because the Eye forgot to mention that detail. Wouldn't the guy be suspicious if he steps into a bank and the walls are glittering purple?"
"I told you I was sorry for that!" shouted Daniel.
"Sorry Dan," Dana said before turning to Jack, "Do you see why I have to do this?"
Jack looked unconvinced, as was Henley. Merritt didn't seem to care, one way or the other, but that was just the way he was.
"I think we should let her do it," said, to Dana's surprise, Daniel Atlas. He stepped forward from his place near the doorway, the usual playful and sarcastic look wiped clear from his face. "She can take care of herself."
Dana glanced up at Daniel, suddenly very very shy. When she brought the topic up, she was half scared that they would say no. She was just an assistant after all, even if she technically knew more magic than they did. Emphasis on KNOW. Her argument was based on pure stupidity and stubbornness. She didn't think anyone would say yes. Now that someone did, she really had nothing to say.
She smiled at him, unsure and slightly anxious. Daniel seemed to catch whatever she was conveying, because she really didn't know, and send a wink in return.
Smug bastard.
"OH MY GOD, stand up!" Dana said, pushing the stunned guy off his feet."That's your number!"
Dana stabbed a microphone that was attached to her chair in the French guy's hand. The man, thank his small soul, was too bewildered to notice.
"What is your bank?"
The French guy spoke and Dana smiled, although a little bit grimly.
It spooked her sometimes to see Merritt in action.
A month after first meeting
"So..."
"So..." Dana said, her hands clasped in front of her like a good child. The rest of the Four Horsemen had left to get a bite to eat, leaving her and Merritt, who strangely didn't want any dinner, alone.
"Who are you...really?" Merritt asked, bending forward.
Dana snorted, "You tell me."
"That's the problem," Merritt said, frustration finally showing in his eyes, "I can't read you, at all. It's...strange. Your emotions, your body position...I feel like I get you and the next moment you counteract it..."
Dana shrugged," I know all the tricks."
"Are you a mentalist like me?" Merritt asked.
"No..." she said, shaking her head. "I'm not a magician, like I told you. I'm just an assistant."
"Don't give me bull. You're not just an assistant. And if you were, you have to be skilled enough to surpass even me and probably all of us."
"No I can't," Dana said. "I can't hypnotize people like you can. I'm just...it's hard to explain."
"Try me," Merritt said.
Usually Dana would say no, saying some sarcastic remark that would deflect the question. But something stopped her. Maybe it was Merritt's age or the fact that he was wearing cowboy boots.
Or maybe it was that feeling as if he knew and saw much terrible things in the world and somehow, he could understand.
"Look. I understand things. I understand how each trick works, how each stunt is pulled off. It was ...drilled into me. But I never tried it. I never...did it, you know?"
"Then how you deflecting me?"
Dana sighed, "Because it's one of the things that I learned that I used..." she looked up, begging the man to understand.
Slowly, Merritt glanced at her and nodded. He stood up suddenly and patted her on the shoulder before saying, "Want some coffee?"
"Sure."
The man placed the transporter on his head. Dana watched as he disappeared.
She closed her eyes and smiled.
She waited.
And waited.
"PSTTTTT! Dana!" a voice in her ear shouted, causing her to flinch.
"What?" she answered, glancing at the people around her. Luckily, they were too busy staring at the stage to notice a crazy lady talking to herself.
"Why isn't the money coming?" Daniel asked, his voice hysteric, although a quick glance at the stage showed that Daniel's outer appearance was still set in a smirk.
"According to my calculations, the velocity of the money that will fly into the vent, due to it's angle of elevation-"
"Speak English!" he hissed.
Dana clucked her tongue at the interruption. She waited three seconds.
"Dan-"
"NOW," she said, just as the stage burst with sound, money flying from the vents and to the spectators. She stood up, just like the rest, and watched in awe as the world suddenly turned into a gigantic adult snow globe. Laughing in glee, she jumped up to catch a bill and felt her breath catch in her chest.
Sometimes, magic was magical.