#daniel atlas

[iamfarfromvibingrightnow]

"I came into the world with the wrong family, but I’m leaving with the right one. I love you guys."

can you tell i miss them immensely

[heliads]

now you see me daniel atlas x reader where reader kinda volunteered to be a prop in a trick but atlas becomes super shy and stutters? I love me some shy men

loving your 'i love me some shy men.' speak on that anon

masterlist

Honestly, you never really thought you’d swing this. It’s one thing to talk about the Four Horsemen, sure, it’s all anyone wants to do these days, but it’s something else entirely to actually make it to one of their shows. Tickets sell out within minutes, it’s practically inhuman. 

You’ve heard rumors that the Horsemen control who gets seats at their show to make their tricks work better, which makes your presence here even more exciting. Somewhere, somehow, you were meant to be at this very show. You were intended to head over to the venue with your giggling friends, you were supposed to sit in your exact chair, and above all, you were divinely ordained to watch pure spectacle unfold before your eyes tonight. 

Maybe magic and fate aren’t that far off after all. The Four Horsemen have evidently decided to take your future into their hands tonight. It’s something fascinating, to be sure, a sort of excitement that makes your stomach spin with anticipation as you find your aisle with mounting thrill. 

Truth be told, it didn’t feel real until you were walking into the performance hall. Like, yeah, you somehow managed to get your tickets, and you’ll absolutely be holding on to your paper stub until the day you die, but it wasn’t certain. Not until you were sitting down, looking with wide eyes at the stage and seats around you like you’ll be able to spot the answer to all the tricks just by keeping your gaze strong and discerning. Maybe something would happen to pull everything away just before it started.

Goodness knows you’ve been extra careful as of late, just in case. No legs will be broken, no ankles twisted, and the chance of you losing your ticket was small but terrifying. You’ve been checking transportation schedules hours in advance, just in case, and you were fully prepared to call an Uber if something really didn’t work out.

It all went your way, though, and now you’re watching the lights dim around you. This is it, then. The show of shows, what you’ve been waiting for for ages and is now finally yours. They’re saying that the Four Horsemen are going to be the pinnacle of live entertainment for this decade at least, and when the quartet of magicians appear on the stage out of nowhere, you’re inclined to believe them. This is something altogether different than anything you’ve ever experienced before.

The show starts off like most of the Horsemen’s performances do– according to the articles you’ve had the chance to read, at least. They’ll do a few tricks, get the crowd excited, then they’ll start looking to the audience and that’s when things get really interesting. Jack Wilder does a few card tricks, Henley appears and disappears out of seemingly thin air, and then it’s Daniel Atlas’ time to go, and you lean forward slightly in your seat.

You know he’ll be interesting, that’s for sure. Of all of the performers that make up the Four Horsemen, Daniel is the only one that you’d heard of before. You’ve Googled his tricks before, watched grainy videos people took of his street shows before he joined the three other magicians and finally made it big. You’ve never been able to figure out how he did anything, not that you were looking all that closely at his hands.

No, you were, admittedly, a little more interested in the bright blue eyes flashing whenever someone fell for his tricks, the swoop of russet hair he kept irritably combing back. You’re not going to go so far as to say it was a celebrity crush, but. You know cute when you see it.

Sure enough, once Henley finishes off her performance to the thunderous applause of the audience, Atlas claps once to get everyone’s attention back on him, then announces that he’ll actually be needing a volunteer from the audience for his next trick.

One of your friends elbows you in the side. “You should totally raise your hand.”

“Really?” You ask.

“Absolutely!” She laughs. “I mean, this is your one chance to get him to notice you, right?”

You roll your eyes, but grin and do as suggested. After all, getting the chance to go up on that stage and actually have Daniel Atlas look you in the eyes would be nothing short of extraordinary. So, knowing there’s no chance he’ll actually look out and see your hand among the scores of other waving palms in this crowded room, you raise your arm, just because you can.

It’s ridiculous, the odds of actually getting picked for something like this. Hundreds of people all practically dragging each other down just for the possibility of one of the Horsemen seeing them, and you think you’ll be the one they see as opposed to anyone, anyone else.

The Four Horsemen thrive on ridiculous chances, though. Impossibility is their best habit. Somehow, Merritt McKinney turns directly at you and points.

“You,” he says, “Come up here. Yeah, you, the one I’m looking at.”

You rise slowly, as if in a dream, and, when no one stops you, walk up to the stage. It feels insane to be taking the stairs and then stepping up onto the raised platform, looking around at all the people staring back at you. Merritt heads over with a grin, whispering in your ear that he hopes stage fright isn’t an issue with you. When you shake your head, he gestures for you to walk over to Daniel, who’s waiting with an outstretched hand.

You take it with a smile. “Thanks for having me.”

“Yeah,” he says a little quickly, “yeah, thanks for coming. Really.”

He doesn’t say anything else for a moment or two, not even about his trick. Merritt coughs pointedly behind him. “Would you like to ask the lovely young lady her name?”

Daniel’s eyes widen and he straightens up in a hurry. “Yes, yes. Sorry about that. What is your name?”

“I’m Y/N,” you tell him, “Y/N L/N.”

The crowd roars its approval, but Daniel doesn’t seem to notice them for a second. Funny, for someone who’s been performing for massive audiences this long, it’s like he’s almost forgotten what it is that he’s there to do.

Merritt walks behind you, mumbling something to you about how he always picks pretty girls for these sorts of things because it makes Atlas lose his mind. You laugh at that, and if you weren’t sure that Daniel wasn’t hopeless for you before, he’s absolutely gone now. Jack has to come up and tap his shoulder before he remembers to carry on with the introduction for the trick.

Your volunteer opportunity is actually pretty exciting, as if you’d expect anything less. Daniel invites you to step into a glass case just a few inches taller than you, then shatters the entire thing to smithereens to the shock of the audience, all with you locked inside. You’re fine, of course, and step out of a cloud of blue smoke to the delight of the onlookers just a few minutes later after Daniel gets everyone to chant the necessary ‘magic words’ as loudly as they can.

Daniel takes your hand again the second you’re back in sight, raising it to the sky as if you’ve won a boxing round. “Can we hear it for Y/N L/N, our disappearing girl?”

Under the cover of the cheers, he turns to you, whispers something so you’re the only one who can hear. “Meet me after the show? Please?”

When you nod, he smiles like a schoolboy, and it takes the combined efforts of Merritt and Jack to get him to focus on the script for their performance, even after you’ve walked off stage and settled back in your seat once more.

Your friends are cheering when you get back to your place. “Did you see Atlas?” One of your friends laughs, “He was totally smitten. Like, totally. He couldn’t stop staring at you.”

You stare at her incredulously. “Really? I mean, I thought so, but I wasn’t sure. It was probably just a part of the performance, though.”

“No way,” your friend says derisively, “I’ve never seen someone more head over heels. You can’t fake something like that, not even if you’re a world famous magician.”

Your friend is right, as it turns out. Once the Four Horsemen disappear from sight to the tumultuous applause, you and your friends head out to the lobby, all eagerly discussing the magic you’d just seen before your very eyes. As you’re about to leave, though, you spot someone waiting in the shadows, near the backstage entrance. Daniel Atlas, just as promised.

You tell your friends to go on without you, ignoring their knowing looks when you start heading Daniel’s way. His eyes light up again when he sees you heading over.

“I was hoping you’d wait around,” he admits when you’re close enough to hear him over the chatter of the departing audience.

“Well, I promised, didn’t I?” You say lightly.

He smiles bashfully. “I wanted to apologize for being so, uh, distracted during the show. See, Merritt likes to play this joke on me by trying to find people who’ll pull my focus, and it’s never affected me like this before, not before you, but–”

You just laugh. “Don’t worry about it, honestly. He kind of told me as much back on stage.”

“Really?” Daniel asks, somewhat horrified.

“It’s fine,” you tell him, “Honestly, I’m going to take it as a compliment. Not every girl gets to say that one of the Four Horsemen thought they were pretty, right?”

“No other girls,” Daniel says on impulse. “Really, it was– it was just you. Promise.”

You smile. “Does that mean I’m special, Daniel Atlas?”

“Very. Special enough to give me your number, maybe?” He asks hopefully.

“I’d say so,” you grin.

Daniel hands over his phone and you input your name and number. He pockets it with a relieved laugh, and is just about to head away when you realize that you don’t have his number. 

When you point this out to him, Daniel just smiles. “Actually, I think you do.”

Someone calls his name in earnest now, and he has to head away with copious apologies. When you go to check your phone, you realize that a piece of paper has been stuck in your pocket without your knowledge. When you pull it out, it’s a business card for a coffee shop down the block. A date and time has been scrawled on it, with messy handwriting asking if you’d be so kind as to meet him again. As promised, Daniel’s phone number is at the bottom, next to a carefully drawn heart.

You smile to yourself as you tuck the card back inside your pocket. Looks like you’ve got some excitement in your life after all. The only thing it took was one bit of magic.

now you see me tag list: @mayfieldss

[mysadcorner]

Ok great! Good to know you write for now you see me :)

So I was wondering if I could request J. Daniel Atlas x female magician reader + the 1 bed trope headcanons?? I have had a crush on this man for SO long and absolutely no one on this app writes for him 😪

J. Daniel Atlas x Reader One Bed Trope Headcanons

Credit to the gifs owner - Please be specific about characters wanted in requests -

Masterlist Navigation

Atlas would be awkward when he first sees that you’ll have to share a bed together. He doesn’t know how this mistake ended up happening (or if it was done on purpose for a specific job) but it certainly wasn’t expected.

Of course, he’s going to offer you the bed, but despite the situation you don’t want to make things unfair. Because of this, you finally end up agreeing to share the bed, and trying not to make things uncomfortable for you both.

Things will be awkward when you first share the bed together, and he certainly doesn’t know which way to face. So he’ll probably have to break the ice with sarcasm or wait until you’re comfortable with the situation you’re both in. But if you’re only intending on sleeping then it shouldn’t be too bad.

If you’re sharing the bed when he’s had a crush on you for a long time then he’s going to become a bashful mess. He has confidence when he’s putting on a show but when he’s opening up about new feelings he will be very hard to genuinely communicate with. Because of this, sharing the bed with him may be more difficult than originally expected, but he does find comfort from being next to you.

Eventually the two of you become more comfortable next to each other, and once this happens you feel more at ease. He's also more willing to get comfortable in bed, no longer worrying about laying down properly or making you feel like you don't have enough space.

If the two of you can't sleep then he'll try his best to give you at least a decent conversation to help you feel more relaxed. He often has a lot on his mind so this also helps him get out a lot that he may have been holding in, and hopefully this can do the same for you as no one else is around to hear what you're both talking about.

The late night conversation he has with you while you're both stuck sharing a bed could very well lead to a confession, from either one of you. He wouldn't be too inclined to tell you his feelings in this moment though as he doesn't want to ruin things and make you feel weird lying next to him, so he'll wait for you to confess something first (even if it's just a small comment).

If the two of you did confess that night then he will hold you to the things you had said and try to talk to you more about it. This could probably end up with a relationship between the two of you, but you would need to talk a lot more and be honest more often than just this one night you spent stuck sharing a bed.

[incorrecthorsemen]

Merritt: You can address me as “Eagle One”

Merritt: Jack is “Been there done that”

Merritt: Danny is “Currently doing that”

Merritt: Lula is “If I had to pick a chick”

Merritt: Dylan… you can be “Eagle Two”

Dylan: Oh thank goodness

[hermionegalathynius]

Found Family (4/?)

So I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of positive reactions this story is getting. I just want to say thank you to everyone who takes the time to like or reblog or comment my work because it means the world to me.

Fandom: Now You See Me

Pairing: Danny Atlas x Reader

Warnings: Some swearing — read at your own discretion.

Part 3

  “Hello New York!” Danny exclaimed, stepping forward and greeting the crowd. They screamed. 

  “Thank you so much! Hey, it’s great to be back! And have you met our newest Horsemen, the May sisters! Y/n and Lula!”

  The audience cheered louder and you and Lula waved, bright smiles on both your faces. Danny grinned back at you with a wink. 

  “Feels good right?”

  You nodded, “Yep.”

  “Pretty good,” Lula said, walking across the stage, “Pretty good.”

  Danny turned back to the audience and started to calm them, “Thank you, thank you.”

  The cheering quietened.

  “Um, okay. We want to talk to you about your privacy. What does your privacy mean to you?”

  “Because apparently to Owen Case, it means absolutely nothing,” Merritt continued.

  The audience looked around nervously. Your smile widened as you moved to stand next to Danny.

  “No actually, Merritt, it means less than absolutely nothing,” you said before addressing the audience, “You see, Owen’s mocked your privacy. He’s scorned it.”

  Danny nodded, running a discreet hand down your back and loosening the tension in your shoulders. You tried not to blush in front of an audience of people. 

  “Right,” he continued, “and we’re not just talking about the things that you already agreed to when you signed probably without reading the terms and conditions of Octas 1 through 7.”

  “So,” Lula began, “Before we start the show, we had Owen agree to a few terms of our own.”

  You grinned at her, proud of her for reaching this dream. She looked so comfortable up there, talking to the audience. You were glad to be able to do it with her, too.

  “So everything that he had once considered private…” Lula trailed off.

  Your heart dropped to your stomach as her mic cut out. One glance at Danny told you he understood and he quickly walked over to Lula.

  “Yeah, everything that he once considered private is now…” his mic cut off too.

  “Shit,” you whispered, not bothering to mind your language as you assumed yours had cut off too. 

  The screen behind you flashed and white noise filled the theatre. People screamed. 

  “Oh my,” a computer-generated voice echoed through the room, “As the Horsemen like to say, magic is about controlling perception.”

  You gazed up at the shifting face that appeared on the screen. Someone grabbed your arm gently and you turned to see Danny. 

 “Y/n!” He exclaimed, “Are you alright?”

  You swallowed, fear piercing through you, “I… yeah. Yeah I’m okay. What’s going on, Danny?”

  He shook his head, “I don’t know.”

  “You see them as the champions of the truth,” the voice continued, “but are they? Or is that just another one of their illusions?”

  “Shit shit shit,” Merritt was saying as he and Lula joined you and Danny in the middle of the stage, “Where’s Dylan?”

  “And Jack?” Lula added. 

  “So since they clearly love secrets, let’s reveal some of theirs.”

  “Danny, everyone, get off the stage,” Dylan’s voice crackled through the coms, “Jack, go with them. I’ll see you at the meet up point.”

  Danny’s hand moved down your arm and gripped yours. You squeezed his fingers in response.

  “Let’s go,” he said, pulling you off the stage behind him. 

  The four of you began running, the voice echoing behind you clear as day. 

  “Do you recall the death of Jack Wilder? What if I told you he’s not just alive, but he’s actually right here.”

  Jack’s alarmed face under his security cap was displayed on a screen you passed as you ran out of the backstage area.

  “Dammit,” you heard Danny mutter. His hand was still firmly clasped around yours. Normally you would be bothered by the tightness, but adrenalin was coursing through your veins and you were just that desperate not to lose track of him in this chaos. 

  “And do you know who else is here? The FBI. Let’s let them in, shall we? And now for the big reveal…”

  “Where’s the door to the roof?” Danny called to Jack as the younger man joined the group running to the meeting point. 

  “Take the next left then up the stairs,” Jack said. 

  “There’s a fifth Horseman, and he’s the biggest criminal of them all. FBI agent Dylan Rhodes.”

  The five of you punched through the door to the roof. 

  “How the hell could this happen? I thought Dylan had everything under control!” Merritt yelled.

  “Yeah. Apparently he didn’t,” Danny said, quietly frustrated in the way you knew he could get.

  Merritt whirled on the illusionist, and something in his expression told you Danny wouldn’t like what he was about to say. 

  “Maybe you’re the leak, Dan. Where’ve you been sneaking off to?” Merritt demanded. 

  Danny let go of your hand and advanced on the mentalist, “Don’t you dare for a second insinuate that I had anything to do with this!”

  “I’m not insinuating, that’s your-“ Merritt began to retort, but Jack cut in. 

  “Let’s get to the truck, come on!”

  You all ran to the black tube. Danny nudged you in front of him, and you jumped in. 

  Gritting your teeth against the roller-coster sensation in your gut, you crossed your arms over your chest and noted with some curiosity the pulsing sound coming from the gaps in the tube. 

  You could also hear Jack sliding ahead of you and Danny behind you. After a moment you also heard Merritt screaming further back. 

  Then, with a thud you tumbled into a laundry basket. 

  “Wha…” you breathed, getting a split second to gaze around at your surroundings before Danny slammed into you. 

  “Oof,” he said, “Sorry. You okay?”

  You winced, “Yeah. A little bruised, but I’ve had worse. You?”

  He nodded as Lula and Merritt tumbled into the basket next to you, “Yeah. What the hell is going on?”

  “Wasn’t there supposed to be a truck?” Merritt asked, clambering out of the basket. The rest of you followed his lead. Asian people in white aprons started yelling at you, shoving you through a crowded, steamy kitchen.

  “Wait,” Danny said in between being shoved by Chinese chefs, “did you mis-run the tube?”

  “No, I put it in the truck, I know I did!” Jack exclaimed, bumping into you while trying to dodge an oncoming tray. 

  “We’re really not in the truck right now,” you said, stumbling into Danny who reached back and grabbed your hand, the sensation becoming familiar to you.

  “Somebody must have moved the tube,” Merritt said, as you all moved through a set of doors into what looked like a restaurant, “Were we above a Chinese restaurant?”

  “I’m moving, relax!” Lula yelled at the man who was shoving her out of the kitchen. 

  “Okay, why are we here?” you demanded.

  “Why am I frickin’ starving?” Lula asked, staring at the Chinese food everywhere.

  “Yeah, I’m weirdly starving too,” Jack mused.

  At their words your own stomach growled, responding to the smell of noodles and stir fry surrounding you.

  Merritt moved towards the door, popping his head outside. 

  “Something’s very wrong,” you told Danny softly.

  He nodded, brows furrowed, “Yeah, I agree.”

  “At least,” Lula began as Merritt returned, “And I know this isn’t much consolation, but apparently we’re now surrounded by Chinese food. Right?”

  “Guys…” Merritt said and you all turned to look at him, “I think where we are right now, they don’t refer to it as ‘Chinese food’. It’s just called… food.”

  “Shit,” you muttered.

  “Wait, what are you saying?” Danny asked, “How is this possible?”

  A high pitched giggle directed all of your attention to the man with a perm sitting at the table nearest you, facing away with a menu held up in front of his face. 

  “I believe in your particular parlance, the word is ‘magic’.”

Taglist:

@pulling-out-my-eyes

[flinttcanwriteipromise]

I BRING NEWS.

[intizzies]

since tiktok hates me I have to put this here too so maybe some nysm fans can see it bc I put so much work into this bloody thing istg

there's a shorter version on @ realitysplinter and this version on @ airyeditss on tiktok 🩷🩷

[ajaxpetropolisismyhusband]

Dinner - Jack wilder x reader

Warnings: Implied smut, public fingering

Im going to write two versions of this. one with the horsemen and the other with just Jack and Y/n

As the sun set over the city, the Four Horsemen - J. Daniel Atlas, Merritt McKinney, Henley Reeves, and Jack Wilder - sat around a large table at a fancy restaurant. They were all dressed to the nines, enjoying each other's company as they chatted and laughed over dinner. Y/n, Jack's girlfriend, sat beside him, feeling happy and content.

The waiter arrived at the table with a tray of desserts, each one more decadent than the last. Y/n's eyes lit up as she looked at the array of sweets in front of her. She was always a sucker for dessert, and the sight of all that sugar made her mouth water.

"Wow, these look amazing," she exclaimed, reaching for a piece of chocolate cake. But before she could take a bite, she felt a foot slide up her leg. She looked over at Jack, who was smirking at her mischievously.

"Hey, what are you doing?" she whispered, trying to nudge his foot away with her own.

"I'm just having a little fun," he replied, his eyes sparkling with mischief. "Don't tell me you don't like it."

Y/n rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but feel a little bit turned on by his teasing. She tried to focus on her dessert, but Jack's foot kept creeping up her leg, getting close to her thigh and making her squirm in her seat.

"Jack, stop it," she hissed, trying to keep her voice low so the others wouldn't hear.

But Jack just grinned even wider. "What's wrong, baby? Can't handle a little bit of fun?"

Y/n could feel her face turning red with embarrassment. She didn't want the others to know what Jack was doing under the table, but she also didn't want to give in to his teasing.

"Seriously, Jack, knock it off," she whispered, trying to sound firm.

But Jack just laughed, and his foot moved even higher up her leg. "You know you love it," he whispered back.

Y/n tried to swat his foot away, but he was too quick for her. She could feel her body getting more and more aroused as Jack's teasing continued, and she knew she had to put a stop to it before things got out of hand.

"Jack, seriously," she said, her voice trembling with desire. "Stop it, or I'm going to have to punish you later." she said now with full confidence.

Jack's eyes widened with excitement at the thought of being punished and smirked knowing she wouldn't last long. "Oh, really? And what kind of punishment are we talking about here?"

Y/n leaned in close to his ear and whispered something that made Jack's eyes go wide with excitement. He grinned at her mischievously, and then finally withdrew his foot.

Y/n let out a sigh of relief, feeling a mix of desire and frustration coursing through her body. She knew that she and Jack were going to have a lot of fun later that night, but for now, she was content to enjoy the rest of her dessert and the company of her friends.

[raiisakitsune]

Atlas: If I ever accidentally hurt Lula, I wouldn't be able to sleep at night.

Atlas: Partly because I'd feel guilty; mostly because I'd know Jack would be coming for my head.

[bellamer]

Had a dream that I was in Now You See Me 3 because Lula didn’t come back for some odd reason and the Horsemen thought they were cursed with their female members since they always left so they treated me like I wasn’t going to last so I had to prove myself as a Horseman and eventually started dating Jack. I can’t tell you what we were stealing though. It was something big and Dylan kept concealing it and we were all just like “How can we steal something and we don’t even know what it is” but that was like the challenge or something.

[levforfakes]

theres something about daniel atlas that just makes me want to throw him against a wall

[sleepy-purple-sloth]

Being in a small (or dead) fandom is a pain because there's not enough content

[jessefandomunited]

My friend whenever I show them my latest fictional crush

[heliads]

Now You See Me Masterlist

Daniel Atlas

Someone in the Crowd - Based on this request: "daniel atlas x reader where reader volunteered to be a prop in a trick but atlas becomes super shy and stutters?" Imagine

Jack Wilder Masterlist

[kkairoxx]

NOW YOU SEE ME 3 IS CONFIRMED?!

Please give us dannyxdylan

Please give us fanboy Danial Atlas over Dylan Shrike and his father

Also Team as Family moments pls!!!

[hermionegalathynius]

Found Family (3/?)

Fandom: Now You See Me

Pairing: Daniel Atlas x Reader

Warnings: none really, just Lula’s fake severed hand.

Part 2 Part 4

Your alarm woke you up at seven o’clock on the morning of the big day. 

  Stretching out your stiff muscles, you threw on a wooly blue jumper and made your way down the hall to the main room. Danny was already moving about the kitchen, clad in tracksuit pants and a unzipped hoodie over a T-shirt, making you both coffee. It had become a routine for the two of you to drink coffee together in the mornings. Conversation occasionally accompanied the tradition, but usually you just sat in comfortable silence and you both slowly woke up. 

  Today was different though. It was clear as soon as he handed you your Yoda mug full of that life-saving substance that he had a few things to discuss. 

  “Morning,” you greeted softly, knowing if you didn’t he would probably just launch right in to whatever topic he had in mind. 

  “Morning,” he said, sitting down opposite you at the kitchen table. 

  Taking a sip, you quirked a brow at him, “Alright Danny, spit it out.”

  He nodded, stalling for a brief moment by sipping from his own mug, “Are you feeling okay? About today, I mean.”

  You gave him a teasing smile, “Why? You worried about me, Atlas?”

  He didn’t answer, opting instead to take another sip of his coffee. He is worried about me, you realised with no small amount of warmth. 

  “I’m okay, Danny. Really,” you said gently, “It’s not my first rodeo.”

  “This uh… this isn’t like any other show though,” he mused, fishing his deck of cards out of the pocket of his hoodie and mindlessly shuffling the cards. You watched, mesmerised by the fluidity of his movements and the ease at which the cards flipped between his fingers. 

  “I know. After all this Lula and I will officially be fugitives of the law, just like you, Jack and Merritt. But we knew what we were signing up to, Danny. I’ve made my choice and I’m sticking with it.”

  Swallowing he nodded, placing the cards down on the table. With a grin you grabbed them, performing your own shuffling ritual and spreading them out on the table skilfully.

  “Pick a card, and look at it.”

  He chuckled, leaning forward to pluck one from the spread. After a single glance, he placed it back in a different spot. 

  “Now shuffle it yourself,” you instructed, nodding towards the cards.

  “You know it’s not a mystery to me, right?” He reminded you as he shuffled.

  You winked, “I know, but it’s still fun. Who else can say the J Daniel Atlas was the volunteer for one of their magic tricks?”

  With a jerk of his eyebrows and that small knowing smile of his, he placed the deck down on the table again, “Fair enough.”

  Grabbing the deck, you chucked it into the air behind you, eyes trained on Danny as the cards fluttered to the floor. 

  “And the point of that was…” he trailed off, leaning back in his chair, the epitome of carefree. 

  Flicking your wrist, a playing card appeared in your hand for him to see, “Was this your card?”

  “That’s actually pretty good,” he admitted, “I didn’t even see your slight of hand.”

  “But you know how I did it,” you stated, not meaning it as a question at all. 

  “Naturally.”

  The two of you finished your coffee and got ready to meet the others at Dylan’s place. Knowing you wouldn’t have time to change properly before the show, you got into the outfit you were to perform in. It consisted of a black halter top tucked into a slater skirt with opaque tights and your leather jacket. 

  Applying a bit of mascara and eyeliner to finish it off, you walked out of your room to wait for Danny to finish up putting on his numerous disguises.

  “Woah,” he muttered as he stepped into the main room and caught sight of you leaning against the kitchen table, “you clean up nice.”

  Your eyes widened and a blush made its way onto your face. Through your spiralling thoughts and nerves about what you were going to take on today, you hadn’t thought about what Danny’s reaction would be to your being dressed up. 

  “Uh, thanks,” you mumbled, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear, “We should probably go.”

  “Yeah, let me just grab my keys.”

  ———

  Two hours later you, Merritt and Lula waited in the van parked strategically for a getaway. 

  “I have to go in 5 minutes, so any last advice,” you asked, trying to keep your breathing even. 

  “Have confidence in your own abilities,” Danny said, meeting your gaze from where he sat opposite you, “These past few weeks have proven that you’re skilled at magic and good at adapting to your situation.”

  Your breathing relaxed as you gazed at him, a grateful smile blooming across your face, “Thanks, Danny. That means a lot.”

  He shrugged, the corner of his mouth quirking up, “It’s the truth.”

  “Oh my god, my sister’s gonna get with Atlas before I get with Jack,” Lula huffed, throwing her head against the headrest of the passenger seat. 

  “I’m sorry, but was that not obvious from the first time they interacted?” Merritt drawled. 

  Your face was red. You were sure you looked like a tomato. 

  “Can we all just focus, please?” Danny snapped, then with a quick glance at you, “You should probably get going.”

  You nodded, “Yeah, okay. I’ll see you guys in there.”

  “Break a leg,” Merritt called, not bothering to turn around. 

  “Yeah, good luck Y/nn!” Lula said, using the nickname that up until this moment you had hoped the other Horsemen would never hear. 

  Sighing, you climbed out the back of the van and gave Danny one last smile, “So long, Atlas.”

  He just winked, “I’ll see you on stage.”

  Then you were off, walking at a natural pace to the front of the building. Grabbing a colourful silk scarf and a large pair of sunglasses, you donned them, hoping they took enough attention away from your features so no one recognised you later on. The front doors were automatic and slid open as you neared them. Once inside you were instantly surrounded by the hum of chatter and the beep of metal detectors. 

  There was a line to check in with the security guards, and you joined the one to the far left. 

  “Keys, cell phones, iPads in the bin,” a familiar voice was saying as you neared the front of the queue, “Thank you sir.”

  The line moved on and the woman in front of you placed her bag on the conveyor belt, “Can’t have you texting, tweeting, recording, or… eating.”

  Jack held up a banana he’d grabbed from the woman’s bag with an apologetic smile, “Sorry, we will take very good care of it for you.”

  She walked off and you stepped forward. 

  “Morning miss, can I see your employee badge?” Jack asked, the corner of his mouth tilting up in a knowing smirk. You tried not to smile back at him. 

  “I um… I was actually sent an email by Octa. I’m a vlogger…?” you said, holding up your phone with the forged email displayed on the screen.

  “Oh, great, let me just see…” Jack said, making a show of inspecting the email, “Everything seems about right, just place your bag down and come right through.”

  Then you were off again, palming the earpiece Jack hand slipped you once you were through the metal detector and placing it in your ear. 

  “Dylan, I’m in,” you whispered into your arm as you tugged off the scarf and sunglasses, depositing them in the nearest bin.

  “Great, so is Jack. Atlas, you’re up.”

  “No, Dylan I can’t,” Danny said, distress evident in his tone. 

  “Why, what’s the problem?”

  “No no no, there’s too many people, I can’t-“

  “Atlas, they got Owen landing now!” Dylan ordered. 

  “Okay.”

  You took a deep breath, heading through a door into a big room with loads of tables and chairs.  There was what seemed like a buffet along one end manned by immaculate-looking people in chef uniforms. You caught sight of a flash of dark hair and your sister winked at you. 

  Moving to a corner, you made a show of walking along the side, admiring the displays of technology while keeping an eye on Lula. 

  “Atlas, the stooge has left the building,” Jack’s voice came over the coms. 

  “The circuit board is ours, I am moving backstage,” Danny informed.

  Taking a deep breath, you made eye contact with Lula who was adjusting her chefs hat.

  “Alright, Lula,” Dylan said, “Show these guys what you’re made of.”

  You watched as your sister took a deep breath and hurried over to the meat counter, interrupting the man with the saw. 

  “I can take over from here,” she said, smiling at him, “Clark says your on a break.”

  He frowned, “What break? Who’s Clark?”

  Lula laughed, “Who’s Clark! That’s funny… you imagine if I told Roger that? He’d freak out!”

  She punctuated her sentence by spraying something on the meat that created a sudden puff of flame. 

  “Don’t do that!” The man exclaimed, reaching out his hand as if to physically restrain her. 

  “What?!” 

  You took this as your cue to begin drifting towards the counter, still gazing speculatively at the displays. 

  “Who the hell is Roger?” The man continued.

  “Does Lisa know that you don’t know Roger?” your sister continued, her strategically baffled expression flustering the poor man. 

  “I don’t know who Lisa is.”

  “Are you kidding me man, you don’t know who Lisa is now?”

  “No I don’t.”

  “Oh my god.”

  “Just get away!”

  “No give me that! Don’t make me have to go to Brian!”

  “I don’t know who that is! This is a dangerous tool, maybe you should-“

  “Why are you acting like thi- aaahhh!” Lula screamed. 

  “That’s my cue,” you whispered, head shooting up just in time to see the saw dig into your sister’s arm. 

  Grabbing your first aid kit from your bag, you hurried over to the panicking chefs with your sister screaming in agony in the middle. 

  “Move please! Move! Paramedic coming through!” You commanded, pushing through the crowd of white uniforms. 

  “Someone hand me a towel!” You instructed, holding out your hand as you gripped Lula’s arm. 

  Somehow a black napkin made its way into your hand and you began tying it around the wound. 

  “Alright, try to stay calm, Miss. I’m going to take you to the bathrooms to get this cleaned up and looked after,” you said loudly, trying to draw as much attention to the commotion as possible. Out of the corner of your eye you saw Merritt lead Owens away. Good, the distraction was working. 

  “What is this? A miracle towel?” Lula was muttering, “You know what? This has shown me that I’m not cut out for this kind of work!”

  With that, she slapped the man she’d been arguing with across the chest and allowed you to lead her away. 

  “Thank you, and goodbye!” She exclaimed, swinging her ‘injured’ arm and causing the fake severed hand to fling across the space and land in the meat spread. People gasped in disgust as the two of you quickly hurried out of sight. 

  “Nice job,” you whispered to her as you entered the bathrooms, checking to make sure it was empty before helping Lula out of her chef uniform and taking off your own floor length coat to reveal your leather jacket. 

  “You too. Now let’s go do what we’re actually good at,” she said with a grin before rushing out and down the corridor to the backstage area. With an amused shake of your head, you followed her, combat boots beating against the tiled floor. 

  Once backstage, you stopped next to Jack who was saying to your sister, “I’m actually nervous, and I’m not even going on stage.”

  “You know, some say it helps — when your nervous — to picture each other naked,” she said, making you sigh. 

  “It’s uh, actually picture the audience naked,” Danny said, sliding up next to you. 

  You grinned at him, winking. His serious expression thawed and he smiled.

  “No, no this is new. This is a new science. So we should…” Lula trailed off. 

  “Not in the right mood,” Jack said with a nervous laugh. You gave her a reassuring pat on the back. 

  “That just leaves you and me, old buddy,” Merritt said to Danny.

  “What do you- oh. Picture each other- no. No thank you,” the illusionist said, shaking his head adamantly. You giggled lightly. 

  “Fine then. Y/n? How about it? I know from the neck up there are some issues, but from the neck down… the David.”

  “Okay, that’s… nice,” Danny said, sarcasm dripping from his tone. 

  “Aw, don’t be jealous Atlas. I’m just having fun,” Merritt teased. You slapped his arm gently, rolling your eyes. 

  “…Owen Case!” The announcer said, indicating it was almost time for the four of you to make it onto stage. 

  “Good morning, Octa-lites,” Merritt murmured beside you, repeated by Owen on the big screen. Your mouth quirked into a knowing smirk. 

  “Now I’ve made the claim that Octa 8 is pure magic. But the truth is, that’s just one of those things I say… when in fact, I mean something else.”

  The audience was beginning to get suspicious, catching on that something strange was happening here. You grinned at Danny as the two of you along with Merritt and Lula made your way to the space behind the big screens. 

  “What else do I mean?” Merritt and Owen continued, “Well, here to fill you in on all of my fabulous lies and hypocrisy, and to perform some of the most dazzling feats of magic you have ever seen…”

  You could hear the audience’s excitement bow as they began to clock on to where this was going. The reality of the situation made you take in a shaky breath. In response, Danny’s hand found yours, squeezing it gently. You turned to look at him, breath caught in your throat.

  “You’re gonna be great,” he whispered, “They’ll love you. It’s impossible not to.”

  You gave him a grateful smile as you all braced yourselves.

  “They are the world’s greatest magicians, here to expose me for the fraud I truly am. Ladies and gentlemen, here are the Horsemen!”

  The four of you ran at the board, aiming for the trap doors you knew were hidden in them. With a jump, you broke through, landing on stage in front of blinding lights.