Hi guys! I hope you like this chapter! I really enjoyed writing it!

Unexpected Sidekick

Chapter 8: Unexpected Technicalities

To this day, Henley couldn't exactly explain what happened at that dreaded moment. She remembered hearing a buzzing shout in her earpiece (probably one of the technicians warning her of the fall) and small snap as the invisible string holding her in midair broke, but otherwise heard nothing over the roaring of blood in her ears and the scream of the audience around her.

At first, she tried describing what happened to her friends, but none of them would believe it. True, even she thought it was crazy, and she saw the impossible happen every day!

But she swore that somehow something held onto the string, not so much pulling her up into the air but pushing against her. It felt as if an invisible hand grabbed tightly to the end of the string and pulled, but only had the strength to soften the fall, not stop it all together.

But this feeling lasted less than a second, and the next thing she knew, Henley was wrapped in Daniel's arms.

"Oh, so you have lost some weight."

Henley slapped his arm as the audience stood and clapped, and all thoughts of invisible hands, and impossible stunt disappeared into the wind.

She did vaguely wonder why Dana was breathing harshly into her mike ear.

Holy shit. Dana thought, desperately trying to control her breathing. Her hands were shaking with the effort to breathe and she collapsed into her seat as the blood rushed back to her legs.

"Um...miss? Are you alright?"

Dana was most definitely NOT alright. In fact, she had a feeling that she was going to faint, which was frightening because she hadn't felt this drained since she was ten years old when she had finally learned to master her magic.

Because there were two types of magic in this world. There was magic, and then there was magic.

And Dana definitely knew the other.

Dana didn't lie to Merritt when she said that she didn't know magic a year ago (has it only been a year ago?). She did know the tricks and how to do them, but she didn't actually perform, like her friends. The card trick she did back at the hotel was the only trick she knew, and she only learned it to win a couple hundred bucks back at college for the occasional book or two(or a greatly needed trip to Comic Con). She was supposed to "act" as if she didn't know how to do the trick, messing up the shuffle and stammering through the dialogue. But all she had to do was memorize the last card in the pile while shuffling and the card after that one was the card that the volunteer had chosen. When any of the macho college frat boys smugly told her that the next card she was going to flip was NOT their card, probably because their card was already in the pile on the table, Dana would ask them to bet on it. The slightly drunk and arrogant bastards will often bet hundreds, knowing their card was not in their hand. All Dana had to do was flip the card that was already in the pile and collect all the money.

She didn't say that their card was in HER hand, after all.

But that was the only trick she knew. That was it.

But Dana had to agree that she knew a lot of magic.

This category featured things that normal people couldn't do. Things that only occurred in movies. Dana was talking about levitating objects, creating fires, HOLY-SHIT-I'M-THE-CHOSEN-ONE type of magic.

Yes, THAT kind.

Dana never knew how she received this 'thing'. She had it as long as she remembered. She couldn't control it, not really. Sometimes it worked and other times it failed. Over the years, she learned that if she concentrated real hard, she could sort-of make things happen.

Like saving Henley from her ultimate doom.

But not the card trick. Oh no, she had no idea how she did THAT.

Her parents, the Zancigs, could do it too. Magic not magic, although they were fluent in both styles. But even they couldn't do the 'thing' like her. No, Dana remembered hazy days in a house filled with weird smelling books filled with languages she couldn't read, clusters of smoking liquids boiling in the fireplace and diagrams of lines and circles painted on strips of paper that they never let her look at. When strange things began happening around her, her parents were intrigued at what she could do.

Frustrated, actually. And not in a good way.

And that's why she hated magic. It was not because she was horrible at it, oh no.

It was the opposite.

She was TOO good.

And being TOO good wasn't good at all.

Remembering that she was being spoken too, Dana wiped the sweat on her upper lip and smiled to her seat partner, "Oh. Sorry. I say, I was a little bit worried there! These tricks are so amazing!"

The man, an attractive boy from the West Coast, judging by the way he said his 'a's, "Yeah! I mean, this is a blast! It's so awesome!"

"Yes, it is," Dana muttered, taking a deep breath in order to somehow regulate her heart beat.

I was not expecting that to be so tiring, Dana thought, placing her shaking hands into her lap. It was the truth; she had never tried anything like this before.

She didn't even think it was possible, until it actually worked.

One moment, Henley was falling in the sky, and the next moment, Dana felt all her energy spill out of her body.

Just thinking about it made Dana feel hazy. Lifting her head up despite the vertigo, she glanced at the stage to see if Henley was alright. She seemed fine, and was already up on stage. Sighing in relief, Dana looked around the audience, checking each handpicked "volunteer" for the show. That was her act today. Dana or rather "Hermione Hooper" was going to be another "volunteer" in order to increase the dramatics of the show's finale.

"During the intermission, we asked all of you to write your current bank balance on a piece of paper and seal it in an envelope," Merritt said. "Now I want you to take those out. Take those out now."

Seeing everything was fine and the finale trick was on the way, Dana turned to look at Tressler, checked on Bradley, and glanced at the FBI agent, Rhodes. By this time, her eyes were swimming in tears, a side effect from the contacts she was wearing, the constant eye strain from peering in the darkness and the energy she had used for her little 'trick'. She blinked a couple of times, trying to focus her vision, but it only served to make her vision worse.

Combined with the headache that was forming due to her malfunctioning contacts, the stress from the show and the heaviness she felt from her recent magic trick, Dana felt the world shift on its axis. Holding onto the railing, she stood up, explaining that she had to use the bathroom to her seat partner. She just had to wash her face with some cool water and calm down. Maybe get a bite of that tuna salad sandwich left over from lunch. But something, a prodding feeling in the back of her head, compelled her to look back at the FBI Agents once more.

Despite her quickly dissolving vision, a pair of intense brown-almost black-eyes stood in clarity in the forefront of her mind, before she was swept in a wave of darkness.

Something was terribly wrong with Dana Downs.

At least, that's what it seemed like to Jack Wilder, magician extraordinaire, when the finale began. Dana was supposed to be the second to last "witness", a known variable in a sea of volunteers, and yet she wasn't on stage.

It hadn't been a problem, really. The Four Horsemen agreed to add Dana to the show as a safeguard, a worst-case-scenario girl, just in case one of the volunteers didn't comply with the show's directions, or was too suspicious to say the truth regarding their bank account amounts.

But Jack's smug face dropped lower and lower in response to Merritt's eyebrows, which were wrinkling so much that he compared it to the skin of an elephant hours later. The other three Horsemen exchanged glances when the mentalist didn't shout for one Miss Hermione Hooper and proceeded right with the trick.

Jack began to quickly mutter into his mike for Dana straight after that, keeping his head down in attempt to mask his desperate attempts. When Dana didn't answer him, he turned wide eyed at Daniel for answers, only to see him too shake his head in confusion.

"We would like to thank our benefactor, Arthur Tressler!" Merritt spoke, crossing the stage. She quickly cupped his mike and whispered, "Get your head in the game, Wilder."

Jack shook his head, and smiled widely as Daniel said, "In fact, why don't you come down on stage." Merritt was right, of course. It was the final act; completely this was much more important than the safety of his friend. Besides, she was probably off eating a sandwhich, or just locked herself in the bathroom or something.

Jack refused to acknowledge the stupidity of that excuse.

The Four Horsemen were, if anything, professionals, and they went with the trick without any flaws. While Merritt explained the final trick to the audience, Jack sent a smirk at Tressler as practiced, but kept his eyes moving to try and find his assistant. Dana never mentioned where she would be sitting, and Jack never asked.

And unfortunately, the room was dark except for the little pinpoints of lights from the flashlights everyone held.

"Try row 56, second story. I think I saw her during the bubble trick," Daniel whispered in his mike.

Not even acknowledging him, Daniel quickly scrutinized the area before backing out to retrieve the gigantic flashlight needed for the performance. After he flashed the light a couple of times, said a few choice words he memorized for the trick, he returned backstage and gave the flashlight ( that Dana found he suddenly thought) to the technicians.

"Hey. Have you heard from Dana?" he asked, covering his mike with his right hand.

The technician, a stage hand named Matt shrugged, "Last I saw her was on the rafters."

"The rafters?" he asked, looking up accordingly.

"Yeah. She was looking at the stage, I think," Matt said, before tapping his ear, "She gave her mike set to Jimmy and went to the audience."

"But I heard her in the audience fine..."

"I think she only took the mike that connects with the stage hands and you four," Matt replied.

Suddenly, Jimmy appeared behind Matt and asked, "Did something happen? Do you want me to look for her?"

Jack sighed, knowing that he had to get back on stage before the audience noticed, "It's fine. Keep a look out, but stay in your posts. Daniel would get pissed off if he saw you guys move."

"Yes sir," Matt said, before getting to his work. Daniel walked back up stage.

"We have a confession to make," Henley began, walking up to the audience.

"She's right," Jack said, tearing his eyes away from the audience to say,"We lied about something."

"Yes," Daniel continued, "None of you were chosen at random."

"All of you have one thing in common," Merritt concluded.

"Everyone in this room was a victim of the hard times that hit one of America's treasured cities..."Henley began, but Jack was barely listening.

"You lost your houses," Merritt said."Cars."

"Business," he managed to say, following the script just in time.

"Your loved ones," Daniel added. "But all of you were insured by the same company."

"Tressler Insurance!" the Four Horsemen stated, each of them pointing at the steadily angering man in the middle of the glowing stage.

The audience began to moan and groan, just as they planned it. Jack should have been happy, finally being able to get to this point, but all he really cared about was about Dana.

Where are you?

"Everybody look at your cell phones!" shouted one African American man, a decoy the Four Horsemen paid to act out. Just as they planned, the audience members began to scream out in awe and the room suddenly turned crazy with heightened emotions.

Perfect for a dramatic escape.

"DID YOU DO THIS?" Tressler pointed, bringing Jack back into reality.

"We would have needed your password," he pointed out smugly, before exiting toward the back, but not actually leaving the stage. Although his steps seemed calm and collected, he was actually dying to run out of the building to find his friend.

Who knows what happened to her. Did the FBI guy get her? Was it one of Bradley's people? Tressler's people?

"Or...I don't know, the name of your first pet," Daniel smugly answered.

"Where would we get that kind of information?" Merritt asked, "You certainly wouldn't tell us."

It seemed that Tressler finally understood that he was being conned; that all of this was real. He lunged, only to find his foot cuffed to the stage, preventing him from moving.

Jack stood in the back, waiting in the spot marked for him as Merritt high fived Henley. He could hear a vague, "Stop! Nobody move!" from the audience, and guessed that it was the FBI Agent. He prepared himself, knowing that he was about to go on a ride of his life. God dammit! Where are you Dana?

And then Daniel had to do that annoying wave thing just as Agent Rhodes entered the stage.

"FREEZE!"

Things became a little hectic after that. A loud shout of 12 audience members/football players ran to the stage, efficiently tackling the Agent.

"WE ARE THE FOUR HORSEMEN!" the magicians shouted, just before flying straight up into the sky. Daniel ended up standing upon the very stage rafter that Dana had been about an hour ago, although he was too busy to notice. The four magicians quickly jumped to a small platform right next to the rafters and entered the small door situated there. The door wasn't locked, and instead the doorknob was scratched and jiggled when Henley ripped it open, probably due to Dana's help.

In a matter of seconds, the four horsemen found themselves outside the building, running down the fire escape.

"COME ON!" Daniel shouted, as they met the ground, running toward the alleyways. Henley followed, Merritt right after, and Jack was last place.

Suddenly a loud noise penetrated the group's ears, "All clear, Horsemen. Sidekick in position."

"Dana!" Jack heard Henley reply back. Jack felt a heavy weight lift from his chest and he couldn't help but smile widely despite the fact that they were running from the FBI.

"Hey, guys. Sorry about finale. Was stuck in the bathroom. Shouldn't have ate that chilicheese sandwhich."

Jack just shook his head and ran faster. Hearing Dana's voice seemed to give him an extra energy push, and soon he was catching up to Merritt.

"Come on, Henley," he heard Daniel speak, helping the only girl magician.

"Open area, ahead," Dana spoke, her voice more clear. There was less background noise, showing that she was also out of the building. "Cross the fence and it'll get you to some alleys again."

"Copy that," Merritt answered just as another voice penetrated Jack's earpiece, "FREEZE! YOU'RE UNDER ARREST!"

"Dana?" Jack asked, skidding to a stop as he heard police sirens.

"Hello, boys," he heard Dana say calmly, "Long time no see. Are you still reading fanfiction about me? I'm flattered."

"Come on, lover boy," Merritt suddenly interrupted, pulling Jack toward the fence. "You can listen to her flirting later."

Jack jumped the fence, and ran again, trying to clear his mind. He was getting distracted by Dana and that was a problem.

"She can take care of herself," Merritt said.

Jack knew that better than anyone. Hadn't he mentioned that in order to get her in this mess in the first place?

"Right," Jack muttered, dodging a trash can. Suddenly he heard footsteps behind him. "Guys. Someone's right behind us."

"Shit," Daniel muttered, speeding up. "We need to split up."

"Got it," Jack said, pulling the others into the left as a fork appeared on the road. Daniel slowed down, so that he was the last person in line. He grabbed Jack's shoulder quickly, before looking into his eyes. Jack searched for a moment before nodding.

He was just given an assignment.

Daniel hopped over another fence, cursing a bit when his pants got caught. He could barely hear anything over the roar of blood in his ears and his breath came harsh. Frankly, he wasn't the best athlete of the four, but he was the only one able to be a good decoy. Luckily, his plan worked and he could hear the footsteps of his chaser only a few feet behind him.

Whoever it was, he was fast on his feet.

I need coverage. Daniel thought and he ran toward the sounds of partying. Next thing he knew, he was in the middle of the Mardi Gras parade. Smiling a little at the perfection, he ran, swiftly avoiding the colorfully decorated people and half naked women that would have taken his interest if it wasn't for the fact that he was being chased.

Daniel sneaked a peek behind him and saw that it was the French lady following after. If he was surprised by the gender, he didn't show and just tried to increase his speed. He turned back to his front only to see Motherfing luck. Agent Rhodes.

The agent seemed confused, scanning the crowds. Just when his eyes were about to head toward his direction, a police officer bumped into the agent, causing him to turn around.

"Nice," Daniel muttered into his mike set, before changing his course.

"Yeah, well I'm not a master for nothing," Jack's voice echoed past the loud background noise.

Daniel just smiled and ran ahead, seeing a wall he could jump. He could hear the French Lady's footsteps only a few feet away from him. There was a fifty-fifty chance that he would be able to jump over it before she caught him. Well. Might as well. He readied himself and jumped.

"STOP!"

I tried. "Sorry guys," he muttered, before turning around on the wall and lifting his hands up as he saw the gun pointed at him.

The French lady released the safety but did nothing else. Daniel wasn't sure if she was going to shoot, and he really didn't want to find out. There was a chance he might get out of this alive, but if he decided to run, there was no doubt that he would get shot at.

Right after he made the decision to run, another voice echoed out, "Go ahead, SHOOT!"

Daniel turned around, only to see Dana appear to his left, looking slightly haggard but confident. There was a broad scratch across her cheek and Daniel could see small bruises littered across her collarbones.

The French lady turned as well and pointed the gun at Dana, only to quickly put it back at Daniel. She seemed confused, not knowing who was the most dangerous of the two.

"Go ahead, shoot him."

Daniel felt a ray of panic. What? Shoot him? Was she insane? Was she...betraying him? The Four Horsemen? Why wasn't she at the performance? Was this her plan all along, to stop the Eye's plans from working? Did she hate magic that much?

"What the hell are you doing?" another voice cried, and Daniel groaned as Agent Rhodes appeared behind the French Lady. Seeing him and Dana, Rhodes quickly pulled out his own gun and trained it on the girl.

Dana calmly said," Shoot him, already," and pushed out her wrists," And arrest me."

The two cops watched her in confusion, and they weren't the only ones. Daniel felt betrayed, and his vision was red with anger. After all this time...all the efforts...was I being used?

Dana rolled her eyes," Are you two deaf as well as blind? Shoot. Him. SHOOT. Him."

"You want us to shoot him," the French lady said. "You're friend."

"Yes."

The French lady's hands shook, before pulling down her gun. "I cannot."

Daniel took this time to bolt, and quickly jumped down to the other side. Before anyone could follow him, he began to run.

He only stopped, after two more turns in the alleys, when he heard a loud BANG of a gun being fired.