Hey guys! Sorry for the long delay. I had work and well, no internet access. Good thing that I write stories in my dreams, right? Although, one reason why it took so long is because I tried to make it clear as possible. I know one reader told me that it was kind of confusing.

I would like to thank all the people who reviewed and followed/favorited, as always. You guys give me the fuel to work :)

Also, there was a guest review that I want to answer: Yes, Dana is mean to techies. As a techie myself, I know how it feels when people get angry at you for no apparent reason. But don't worry about it. No one's perfect, and Dana has a nasty temper at times. Please forgive her.

And now for the chapter!

Disclaimer: Not mine, as always.

Unexpected Sidekick

Chapter 4: Be the Smartest Person in the Room

Dana usually woke up in stages, and this time was no different. Her heart started beating marginally faster, and she regained her ability to sense sound. The last to return was her mobility, and many mornings began with her paralyzed for seconds, even minutes at a time. She didn't know exactly when this began; if she had to guess, she would probably say during her time with her parents. Sometimes, she would stare at the dilapidated ceiling with paranoia, wondering when the day would come when she wouldn't be able to move, period. But she got used to the feeling and woke up today without much fuss.

The first thing she did was grope for her glasses, not bothering to put on contacts. As the room began to solidify, she sighed and stretched, rubbing her exposed belly and tugging her sleep tank top back down. Dana stood up and began her morning routine. Putting on some jeans and a jacket over her tank top, she passed through the doorway and down the stairs to the living room area, where Jack, Daniel and Merritt were already waiting.

"Good morning," Dana yawned, patting Merritt's shoulder like she did every morning as she passed the couch. "What's for breakfast?"

Daniel looked up from his coffee and pointed his thumb at Jack, who was busy cooking something, "Eggs, I think."

Dana rolled her eyes as she slid next to him, "No. What is MY breakfast?"

Before Daniel could retort, Jack slid a plate of with an egg and bacon sandwich to Dana.

"Thanks," she said before taking a bite.

Daniel wrinkled his nose, "Do you eat anything besides sandwiches?"

"Of course!" Dana said, swallowing loudly and wiping her mouth with her hand.

"Like what?" Daniel asked, reaching over to grab a piece of toast.

"Burgers," Dana answered, before her mouth was filled with her breakfast. "Dooommmphh hampmnhve a prommpgble withmmbb thhnaaat?"

"I'm sorry, I don't speak egg muffin," Daniel said, earning him a glare. There was something satisfying about making the teen girl glare early in the morning.

"It's not an egg muffin," Jack said, sliding between them with his own plate of food, "Sandwich, there's a difference." He knew by now not to mess with Dana and her sandwiches. In fact, it was a quirk that he found endearing.

"Same thing," Daniel waved off, sipping his coffee. "Anyway, how was yesterday's show? I heard that you had a spat with some of the technicians."

Dana blushed, "I might have been a little too harsh."

"A little?" Daniel asked, raising an eyebrow, "I could hear you cursing through our headset. Really bothered the magic out of me. I was in the middle of a shuffle. What if I lost all my cards? Huh?"

Jack rolled his eyes, "Don't worry about him. It wasn't that loud."

"Sure it wasn't." Daniel said in a tone that clearly suggested the opposite, "Anyway, why the temper?"

"I was a little stressed, alright?" Dana emphasized, running her hands through her head. "It was those two idiots. You know, the ones that came late to the debriefing the other day?"

"I don't think arriving the next day counts as 'late'," Jack mentioned, reaching for some jam.

"Whatever. Let's stop talking about that boring subject. Let's talk about," Daniel paused dramatically. "the show! The finale! Awe inspiring huh?"

Dana scoffed, "Yeah. Sure. It was fantastic."

"Tressler certainly thought so," Daniel said, playing with his fork.

Dana paused. Of course she thought it was awe-inspiring. But she couldn't literally say it out loud, much less admit it to Daniel Atlas. Or even Jack. So what if she found one trick in one show pretty cool? It was a onetime thing and she would not be feeling anything other than dire hatred for magic in the future.

Right?

"You know I despise magic," she said, spearing the fall out from her sandwich with a fork.

"And yet you are working with four magicians,"

"Keep your enemies close...," Dana quoted before pushing herself off the chair. "Hey Merritt, want breakfast?"

"It's been a year, sweetheart," Merritt answered from the sofa, his head buried in a book, "You should be able to realize that I don't eat breakfast."

"Can't hurt a girl from trying," Dana shrugged her shoulders. "Someone has to keep you alive."

"You're not getting off that easily," Daniel said, standing up as well. "What's your motive for being here, if you hate magic that much. You either have a thing for Jack or ME..." Daniel wiggled his eyebrows, "Or you just can't do magic. I mean, why else would you hate magic? No one hates magic."

"I don't have a thing for Jack," Dana said, crossing her arms, "Or you."

"So you can't do magic." Daniel said, grinning, "Oh Dana. You shouldn't hate it because you can't do it."

"Oh, here we go," Jack muttered, standing up as well, clearing the plates, and additionally standing away from the fight that was about to ensue.

"What is THAT supposed to mean?"

"It means," Daniel said, taunting her. " You just don't have the talent to be here girl. You didn't even get a tarot card."

Dana was beyond mad. What did this guy know? He knew nothing about her, so why did he just assume? One thing that Dana had, was pride. It was bad, she knew, but she couldn't help it.

"I can do magic."

"Show me then." Daniel said, smug at his accomplishment. He finally got Dana to break and show them that she could do magic. Daniel wasn't stupid. He knew, a gut feeling maybe, that Dana could do magic. Even if it was something small, there was no way that this teenager couldn't do it.

She wouldn't be here otherwise.

After a moment's pause, Dana finally agreed, "Fine," and stomped toward the living room table.

Daniel sauntered over to her, shooting a smug smirk at Jack. Jack, on the other hand, was very surprised. Never in all his years of being Dana's friend, did he ever persuade Dana to do magic. Sleight of hand, briefly, tarot cards, often, but never pick-a-card-any-card magic. And yet, here was Daniel Atlas, his idol, who barely even met Dana for a year, doing something that even Jack couldn't do.

Scowling, Jack also walked to the living room and sat down on the sofa, ignoring Merritt's feet. The older magician was still reading his book, but Jack noticed the lack of page turning.

Damn bastard was interested too.

"Here's a pack of regular playing cards," Dana began, shuffling Daniel's cards. "These are regular ones, not the crap that Danny uses for his tricks."

"Hey!" said the person being addressed, causing Jack to snicker. "I do n-"

"So that seven of spades was supposed to be slightly larger than the others?" Jack asked.

"Um...well-"

"Anyway, I'm going to spread the cards out on the table," Dana said, doing the action as she spoke, "And I want you, Daniel Atlas, to pick a random card."

Daniel grinned teasingly, much like an older brother would do to his younger when listening to the difficult test the elementary schooler had to take, and took one. He glanced at it and nodded.

"Don't show it to me, but show it to the audience." Dana said, clasping her hands around her eyes. "I won't peek."

"I believe you won't," Jack said, smiling at her antics.

"I know that," she hissed, still covering half of her face. "Done?"

"Yeah," Daniel said, after showing Jack and tilting the card a little toward Merritt, knowing better to acknowledge their mentalist's interests.

"Ok. Now put the card back in the deck, ON THE TOP...ARE YOU TRYING TO MESS ME UP...ok and now I will shuffle the deck."

The three male magicians watched amusingly as Dana tried to shuffle the deck using the bridge method. She clumsily divided the cards, dropping a few in the process before performing a bridge in the upmost concentration.

Daniel coughed. It was cute, in a way.

Dana shot a glare at him, and Daniel dropped his smile and tried to place one of total seriousness. Dana looked at him suspiciously before returning back to his cards.

"And now that I've shuffled them, I'm going to slowly place the cards down on the table," Dana said, doing just that. "If you see your card, do not say anything."

"Alright," Daniel said, watching the table as it slowly got piled on with cards. After a couple of seconds, Jack and Daniel suddenly saw their card lying in the heap on the table. They said nothing and watched as Dana piled on a few more cards before stopping.

She looked at the small deck in her hands and said, "The next card I flip is going to be your card."

Jack couldn't take it anymore. Wincing, he let out, "Sorry Dana. The card we picked is already on the desk."

In one motion, Dana gathered all the cards on the table into her hand, combing it with the deck already in her hand, and threw it at the glass window beside them. The cards hit the glass and exploded onto the carpet, covering the floor with cards.

"Well thanks for telling me," Dana said, slamming the table in sudden frustration. "That was part of the trick you know. I already knew that, and now you ruined it."

Jack waved his arms, alarmed, "Oh. I didn't...I mean..."

"Nice try, right kid," Daniel said, standing up as well. "You might have made a sleight of hand error towards the end. Maybe you should practice shuffling..."

"It was going fine," Dana said, glaring at the pieces on the floor, "You shouldn't have said anything. It was going perfectly."

"Uh huh," Daniel said, not looking convinced. Jack wasn't as well, but he already felt guilty at the angry look on Dana's face. He turned to Merritt for help, but all he saw was the cover of the book.

"Hey, did I hear a slam?" asked an airy voice for the top of the stairs. Jack looked up to see Henley arrive, putting on a jacket as she walked.

Suddenly the door slammed open, followed by a crowd of policemen, "Put your hands where we can see them!"

Dana, Daniel and Jack raised their hands, glancing at each other in amusement. Merritt didn't even bother to stand up and Henley was doing her best not to look relaxed.

Daniel wasn't even trying at all and in fact wasn't even bothering to look compliant as he started shooting offhand remarks at the cops handcuffing him. Dana wasn't shooting glares at Daniel for a change and was instead staring with a weird concentration at the man at the head of the team, a man with unruly hair and a beard.

He will ask about the look later.

Jack was tackled onto the table they were just sitting around, his face pressed up against the glass. He smiled inwardly as he felt the smooth feeling of handcuffs around his wrist. That brings back memories, Jack thought as he glanced at the table. His eyes flickered upwards, trying to see the others but something in the window caught his eye.

Jack's eyes widened in disbelief as he saw a lone playing card on the window. Strangely the card wasn't stuck on his side but outside, the other side of the window.

The five of spades, the card that Daniel showed him during Dana's trick, stared back at him.

Dana sighed loudly, leaning back on the chair of the bluish-gray interrogation room. She could hear practically nothing from outside, and oh, she tried. Not that she was worried.

Nope.

Despite her so called life in crime, Dana was never truly arrested. Handcuffed, yeah. Chased by policemen, occasionally. But cops never got close enough for them to actually stick her in this room.

But it a little terrifying.

Dana jumped as the door slammed open, bringing a loudly cursing scruffy-and handsome-looking man in a shirt and tie. She glanced at him for a few seconds, instantaneously knowing what happened to get him so peeved.

"Let's just get this over with, I don't have the patience for it," he claimed, sitting down in front of her.

Dana's lips twitched in amusement, "Went to see Atlas, I presume."

The man muttered in outrage, rubbing his wrists absentmindedly. The woman that entered with him, a blonde French lady, answered, shook her head but remained silent.

"How do you know that?" he asked, before sarcastically saying, "Wait. Let me guess, MAGIC."

Dana shook her head, "Not magic, I'm afraid. But if you're into that sort of thing, you can always go back to Atlas. He'll be very glad to assist yo-"

"I do NOT have time to play games!" the man shouted, pounding the table. The french woman immedietly started whispering at him, telling him to calm down.

"I will NOT calm down," he said, before turning to Dana. Dana responded by putting her hands up, well as much as she could considering that they were shackled to the table.

"Woah. Calm down Incredible Hulk. What's up with you?"

The man paused, before asking incredulously, "Did you just call me the Incredible Hulk?"

Dana tilted her head, "I don't know, did I?"

The man grumbled in annoyance and the French lady took charge, "I think it is our job to ask the questions. What is your part in all of this?"

Dana scrunched up her eyebrows in confusion, "In all of what?"

"Don't bulls-"

"Mr. Rhodes!" she said, and Dana smirked. Now she had a name to a face.

"Yes, Mr. Rhodes," she mocked, "Finish the sentence, why don't you."

"How about we start with yours," he replied back, "What is your part in all the act. Are you the fifth horsemen?"

Dana shuddered, "Is that what they are calling me nowadays, the fifth horsemen? That's cliche isn't it? I mean, has anyone done their research? There is no such thing as the 'fifth' horsemen. There's only supposed to be Four. You know, the four horesmen of the apocalypse: conquest, war, famine, death."

Rhodes blinked, staring at the suddenly talkative Dana. Gaining composure, he ventured cautiously, "So that's what you do. Research?"

"Some," Dana snorted, "If that's what you call it. You can call me an assistant, of sorts."

"An assistant, like a wearing short skirts, skinny as hell girl-"

"Tell me Mr. Rhodes," she interrupted, leaning forward a bit, "Do I look like that kind of girl?"

Rhodes stared back, his glare kind of overwhelming, "You talk a lot more than any of the other magicians I interrogated."

Dana shrugged, leaning back into her chair, "Yeah. Well, I'm not a magician."

"No, but your parents were," the French lady said, stepping up to the plate. She took out a white manila folder, and put it on the desk. Dana saw her face stapled on the first page, along with her information.

"You have a record of me in there?" Dana asked surprised.

"Yes, you seem to be quite well known in the New York police department, Miss Zancig."

Dana winced at her last name being mentioned, "Actually it's Downs,"

"There's no mention of last name changes in the records," Agent Dray answered, frowning.

"Yeah, well, I didn't have time to get it done 'officially'," Dana said, making quotation marks with her fingers.

"Yes, well, until that's done, you are still Dana Zancig, age 19. You're parents were Jesse and Andy Zancig, both magicians. They were very popular in the 80's until their illusions were debunked by Thaddeus Bradley-"

Dana stopped paying attention and glanced up, confused and intrigued. She saw it. It was faint but she saw it.

Dylan Rhodes twitched at Bradley's name.

She stared again, trying to find the twitch but it was gone. Masked. She couldn't find it, which bothered her, because she usually found everything. No, this man wasn't an ordinary man.

She wondered if anyone else noticed.

"Your parents were gone from the public eye after that until, they returned with a new show. Apparently, it was one of the biggest comebacks of the century," the agent continued, "It says here that you were born a few years after."

Seeing Dana nod, the woman continued," At the age of thirteen, you were-" she glanced up in surprise. "Is this correct?"

Dana smiled condescendingly, "Well, I don't know until you tell me, agent."

"It says here that you attended Johns Hopkins University at age thirteen."

Rhodes lifted an eyebrow, glancing at her. Dana shrugged, "Yeah, about right."

"And it says that you dropped out a year later,"

"What can I say?" Dana said, trying hard to remain cool. She didn't anticipate them bringing up her past. It was a touchy experience to talk about, "It was too stuffy there."

"Your drop out day is the same as the day your parents died in a car accident."

Caught, Dana managed to grin, despite feeling as if she was punched in the gut, and shrug her shoulders, "Dunno about that." She tilted her head and said, "Are we done here? Look, lady, I appreciate you helping me remember my info but I think my time here is done."

"You can't leave yet," Rhodes said, suddenly speaking after a bout of silence.

"Actually, I can," Dana said, swiftly standing up. Rhodes quickly stood up as well, reaching his hand toward his gun. "Relax, I'm not going to try to escape."

"Not going to throw the 'smartest guy in the room' crap at me?"he asked, one eye quirked.

Dana smiled. She liked this guy. He was funny, in his own way, "Did Atlas say that? Did he tell you that the 'closer you look-"

"The less you actually see, yeah yeah," Rhodes finished, smiling.

Dana shook his head," You know he said the exact same thing to me when I first met him."

"Oh really," he actually looked interested. The French woman was looking at the pair in amusement.

"Yup. He told me that and I was like 'of course you idiot, I'm farsighted!' and that was the end up that," Dana said, before hitting her fists down on the table, causing her handcuffs to fall out. "See, I didn't try to escape. Just hurt my wrists a bit,"

"How did you-"

Dana grinned widely as she reached the door knob. She opened the door and turned to look at the pair, specifically Dylan Rhodes, and winked.

"You fell right into this one...Magic, of course."