Disclaimer: Neither Now You See Me, the characters, or the lyrics that appear at the beginning of each chapter belong to me.

Captives

Stand on the bar, stomp your feet, start clapping.
Got a real good feeling something bad about to happen.
Drinks keep coming, throw my head back laughing.
Wake up in the mornin' don't know what happened.
Whoa, something bad.
~Something Bad by Miranda Lambert/Carrie Underwood

Henley groaned as she slowly began to wake up. She blinked, wincing at the pounding in her head. How much had she had to drink last night? And when did her bed become so hard? It felt like she had fallen asleep on concrete. Yawning through the pain, she went to move her hands to push herself up, but she was met with resistance. Eyes wide open in the darkness, she became alert. Focusing on her hands, she recognized the familiar sensation of handcuffs locking her hands behind her back. Why was she in handcuffs? She tried to remember back last night, but no matter how hard she thought she couldn't remember. A better question might be where was she? Not her bed, that much was for sure. Despite being completely awake, the room was still dark, though her eyes were beginning to adjust, and the ground was hard as a rock.

A scuffling noise startled her from her thoughts. She was beginning to realize that something was very wrong, and she didn't like the thought of being blind in a dark room when she didn't even know where she was. She closed her eyes and sent up a silent prayer—please don't be rats; please don't be rats! Something nudged her boot and it was all she could do to not scream. She jumped, though, rolling painfully back onto her handcuffed hands. A second nudge and the scream almost escaped, but she somehow managed to hold it back as she forced her thoughts away from rats. Her heart was racing and she knew she would scream if it was a rat when…

"Henley?"

Her eyes shot open at the familiar voice.

"Danny?"

"Thank God." The fact that she could hear the relief in his voice showed how unnerved he was. If she focused, she could just barely make out his form beside her. "Are you all right?"

"Other than this splitting headache, I'm fine. What happened, Danny? Where are we?"

"Well, I think it's safe to say we've been kidnapped. As for the second question, you're guess is as good as mine."

"Who would kidnap us?"

Danny shrugged, but realized that Henley couldn't see and answered.

"I'm not sure. I was a bit occupied with this trick I've been working on and didn't see them until it was too late."

. The pounding in her head was still there, but it was beginning to reach a manageable level and she found she could think better. As she thought, her hands absently began playing with her restraints. She'd gone to the bar for a few drinks, but had left well before she was drunk. She had been on her way home when someone had called. Then it went dark. She frowned, straining to remember who it was who had called. It had been important, she knew it was, but…

"Dylan!"

"What?" Daniel asked.

"I was talking to Dylan before they grabbed me." She explained, struggling to remember the conversation. "He was worried, maybe even scared." She gasped. "It was Bradley. Dylan told me he had been released and that he had men watching us."

"What?" Daniel's voice squeaked just slightly. "How? The evidence."

Henley started to reply, but was cut off by the sound of a deadbolt unlocking and a door swinging open. Light flooded the room, blinding the two prisoners who quickly shut their eyes in pain. There was the sound of feet moving, and what sounded like boots dragging toward the open door. Henley forced herself to open her eyes just a hair and was able to make out the blurry shapes of two men forcing another into the room. The man stumbled, but kept his balance and turned back to face his captors.

"Trust me, friend, it's only going to end in pain. She's been cheating on you for months now. Just as that fellow beside you. He's seen quite a bit of sweet Rosie, haven't you, sir?"

The only response was the slamming of the door followed by the deadbolt slamming into place. The room was plunged into darkness once more.

"Well that was rude." Merritt commented, sounding quite cheery despite the circumstances."

"Merritt!" Henley called out, blind once more.

"Hello there, Henley dear." She didn't have to see him to know Merritt had a flirtatious grin on his face. "I thought that flash of red I saw was you. I suppose that makes the bundle over there Danny boy."

"Ha, ha, very funny." Daniel was frowning at the nickname. "I don't suppose you happen to know where we are."

"I am insulted, my friend." Merritt replied dramatically. "After all the time we've spent together and you still think so low of my abilities."

"Well then do share." He was not in the mood for Merritt's antics.

"No clue." Merritt answered cheerfully. "I'm a mentalist, not a psychic."

Daniel was about to respond with a not-so-nice-word when there was a soft click followed by a triumphant cheer. Henley's fiddling with her restraints had paid off and one hand was now free. She was an escape artist, after all, and handcuffs were her specialty. Bringing her hands around, she rubbed her free hand to get the blood flowing again and staggered to her feet. Her legs nearly gave out after the lack of use, but she grabbed hold of a wall and pulled herself up. Using her hands as a buffer, she followed the wall for several feet before finding what had to be a switch.

"And then there was light."

She flipped the switch and light flooded the room once more, blinding the occupants. This light wasn't nearly as bright, however, and their eyes soon adjusted. The three immediately studied the room, each looking for an escape. The room wasn't much bigger than ten feet in all directions, but the lack of furniture made it feel bigger. The yellowing walls were completely bare without so much as a nail. The ceiling was high with a solitary air duct in one corner. It became apparent very quickly that the only way out of the room was the solitary door that was locked tight.

"Well this is comfy." Merritt commented.

Daniel just rolled his eyes from where he sat against the wall. Merritt hadn't moved from where he stood, and they both looked at her as she studied the door with one hand free and the handcuffs dangling from the other. Satisfied that the door was solid, she turned to face her friends. She blushed slightly, realizing she was free while they were still locked up. She reached into her hair, but the bobby pin she usually kept there was gone. Frowning, she reached into her shoes, but her other lock picks were gone as well. She had to give her captors this, they knew what they were doing.

"I don't suppose either of you have a lock pick by any chance."

Merritt shook his head negative.

"That's Jack's area. Speaking of which," Daniel said as Henley began to work on her remaining handcuff. "Where is the kid?"

"He's dead, remember?" Merritt said quickly, eyes glancing to the corner of the door.

Daniel and Henley looked at him in confusion. The mentalist lifted his eyes to the corner of the door once more and the younger two looked to where he had pointed. A small camera had been neatly hidden in a drilled hole and it was clear that both had missed it on their view of the door. They looked at Merritt in wonder of how he had spotted it.

"It's a shame." The man continued, rolling his shoulders slightly. "We could have used his help right now."

"Yeah." Henley forced her voice to sound sad.

She saw what Merritt was doing. Their captors were clearly watching them and though it was probable that they knew Jack was still alive, there was still a chance they believed him dead. They would have to watch what they in order to protect the youngest member. The three fell into silence as Henley continued working on the cuff. It was much easier now that she could see the restraints and soon her cuffs were on the floor. On a whim, she stuck her hand in her pocket and grinned as she pulled out a paper clip that their captors had somehow missed.

"When we get out of here remind me to pick up escape artistry." Merritt commented, turning his back so that Henley could bend and fiddle with his handcuffs.

With the help of the paper clip, it wasn't long before Merritt was free and rubbing his raw wrists.

"Thank you, dear lady." He said with a theatrical bow.

Henley chuckled as she moved to Daniel who reluctantly turned so she could free him.

"I thought you had learned how to free yourself, Danny." She commented as the cuffs fell free.

"I did," he answered as he brought his hands around. "From the front. I can't see what I'm doing with my hands behind my back."

Tossing the handcuffs into a corner, the three stood there in silence for a few moments before Merritt spoke the question they were all wondering:

"Now what?"