Work Text:
Finally, after completing multiple shows, stealing from many rich people, and almost dying, the Four Horsemen were permitted some days off. The first was used to catch up on much needed sleep, with Danny (the earliest riser) only waking up at 11am, and everyone else following after. Dylan and Alma teased them, but the bags around their eyes indicated that they would be sleeping soundly the next night.
The two agents- well, one agent and one magician- were in the safehouse as well, supposedly to monitor the new recruits but the Horsemen knew it was because of the found family they seemed to have created. The second day was just as lazy, but more relaxation based. Henley treated herself and Alma to a girls only spa day, no matter how much Merritt joked about joining, and left mid morning for it.
Dylan, after finishing up some calls to the Eye, found himself with Daniel, both of which couldn't turn their brains off so they relaxed by challenging each other to chess, and checkers, and go, and mancala, and any other board game they could get their hands on. Merritt watched true crime shows and murder mysteries, guessing who the killer was in the first seven minutes on average (only getting one wrong, A Pie to Die For, which Merritt argues shouldn't count since it is a Hallmark movie).
Jack did what he did the day before; he slept. He woke up for breakfast with everyone, where he fell asleep on Henley's shoulder as she talked about the spa plans. Once they left he observed Dylan and Daniel's games and fell asleep in his chair. He then woke up for lunch, before settling next to Merritt to watch Knives Out, a movie he raved about. This is where he was currently, curled up asleep on the couch next to Merritt.
"I don't know how he does it," Merritt comments as the movie comes to a close, giving himself a pat on the back for getting it right once more. Dylan and Daniel had just finished a round of Clue, which they planned to play more of, so Dylan responded.
"He is a teenager, they are known for sleeping a lot." Daniel gave him a confused look at this.
"He's a teenager?" Confirming he heard correctly, Daniel looked mildly shocked. "I knew he was young but not that young."
"Yep, still nineteen." Merritt added.
"And you knew this when you met him?" Daniel asked dryly.
"Of course I did, Danny boy." Merritt responded with a smirk. The conversation seemed to be enough to wake Jack, who blinked tiredly before sitting up.
"Jack, you're nineteen?" Daniel asked once more, to which Jack nodded.
"Got out of my situation at sixteen, and have been slumming it since." He responded as he cracked his shoulders and back, shaking his head to wake up more.
"Damn, I didn't realize you ran away so young." Dylan commented. Merritt was about to say something, most likely a snarky comment, when Henley and Alma returned looking more refreshed than they ever had and each carrying a plastic bag with the spa's logo on it.
"We got freebies if anyone wants some," Alma stated, jiggling the bag around as if to explain its purpose. Jack immediately made grabby hands and Henley threw him her bag, watching as he pulled out a nice lotion and facemask before tossing it back. At Merritt's raised eyebrow he said,
"What? I don't want to end up looking like you when I'm older." A cheeky smile widened across his face as the other Horsemen laughed, even Danny giving a small huff. Merritt glared and moved closer but Jack scrambled away, saying he was putting stuff away but obviously escaping his near hypnotation.
"So what are we doing for dinner?" Alma asked after setting her bag down on the counter. The kitchen had little dinner food in it, and nobody seemed in the mood to cook anyway.
"Why don't you two have a dinner date and the four of us will go somewhere far far away so we don't have to see all that?" Merritt proposed, waving to Dylan and Alma at the end to emphasize his point.
"Works for me," Dylan responded with a look to a nodding Alma.
The two left soon after, seemingly already having a place in mind, which left the Horsemen to figure out their plans. Jack came out of his room after seeing that Merritt was distracted, and at Danny's suggestion of just walking around until they see something (to which Merritt commented "Wow Danny-O, giving up control over what we eat tonight? Are you sure you'll survive?") the four exited the safehouse and drove into town.
There was a small market square filled with shops and restaurants that they decided to hit. Henley bought herself a book from a small bookstore while Merritt got himself yet another hat before they decided on a place. After eating they continued to walk, even doing a small show for some people who recognized then (Jack made sure to give their watches and wallets back this time).
Now, Merritt was talking with some woman about his mentalism while Henley and Danny watched the sun lower behind the mountains. Jack had just exited a boutique where he had spotted a silver skull pin, perfect for his tarot card and his leather jacket, and was about to walk over to Henley and Danny when a hand gripped his upperarm.
Jack tensed and turned quickly, expcting some FBI or Interpol agent he would need to take down then alert the others of, but froze immediately when he recognized the man.
"Jack! Where have you been?" Phillip kept his hand tightly on Jacks arm as he asked the seemingly normal question. But Jack could hear the undercurrent of livid anger he knew so well, demanding to know where he had been the past year.
"Jack! Where have you been?!" Phillip screamed after Jack shut the door, calling Jacks explanation an excuse.
"Phillip, hey." Jack responded after a second too long. "Um, look my friends are here and I just need to-" Jack tried to shake his arm out of Phillips grip but the man held on tightly, his fingers bruising.
"Jack, who's this?" Henley asked as her and Danny made their way over, smiles on their faces.
"Hey there, I'm Phillip, Jacks ex." Phillip answered, shaking both of their hands and turning Jack around so his back was to Phillip; not good not good not good.
"He never mentioned having an ex." Daniel stated, a slight furrow in his brow.
"Well, we never technically broke up. One day he just left and I had no clue why," Phillip gave him a small shake, one that looked playful but only hid a promise of fear.
"You fucking whore! Nobody else could love you, not like me!" Phillip punctuated each word with a punch, ignoring Jacks tearful apologies.
"Oh, that would be us. A calling to be a magician, it seems." Henley responded with a sweet smile, althought Jack could see the slight bitterness.
"Oh yeah? Here I thought he had done it for fun, he can be a little shit like that, right?" An uneasy chuckle left Henley and Daniel at the joke.
"Open the door you little shit!" Phillip banged at the bathroom door as Jack cowered inside after the first time Phillip had hit him.
"We need to go," Jack managed to get out, sounding breathy and trembly and scared.
"Aw, Jack, c'mon! We only just now reunited, I was hoping to talk to you." Phillip squeezed his arm tighter as he said this. "We'll go talk over there for a bit, you all enjoy yourselves!"
"Actually, Jack is right. We should be getting back. Friends of ours are staying with us and we wouldn't want them in the house alone." Henley quickly stated, taking a step in the direction Phillip had.
"Well Jack wants to talk with me, it's been so long, right Jack?" Phillip shook Jack again, who stumbled slightly. When he didn't respond immediately Phillip dug his nails discreetly into Jacks arm.
"Everything is fine, right Jack?" Phillip asked, his tone caring but his eyes firey. Jack answered "Of course," and the policeman walked away from their apartment door.
"What's going on here?" Merritt questioned as he sauntered up to the group, his eyes glancing at everyone but settling on Jack.
"Just Jack and I leaving. C'mon," Phillip stated with a false smile, taking a step backwards and dragging Jack with him.
"Phillip, no-" Jack couldn't stop the fear from entering his voice as he tried to get away and back to his friends. Suddenly, a different hand grasped Phillips and released his grip, causing Jack to almost fall if Danny hadn't caught him.
"Phillip, huh?" Merritt, the owner of said hand, asked.
"Don't fucking touch me," Phillip growled.
"Don't fucking touch my friend. Listen here," Merritt grabbed Phillips neck and in a moment the man was hypnotized, his eyes blank and his focus on Merritt. He leaned in and whispered something into Phillips ear, before snapping and shoving the man to the ground.
Phillip struggled to get up and ran away from the Horsemen, causing people to whisper and look between him and Merritt. Merritt gave them all a disarming smile, and the night seemed to go back on track.
"What did you say?" Jack asked in a small voice while the four drove back to the safehouse. Daniel was in the passenger seat as Henley drove, holding hands as Daniel looked out the window. Merritt was in the back seat with Jack, taking the right side so Jack could lean against the door without hurting his already bruising arm. "To Phillip," He clarified unnecessarily.
"I just told him if he ever got near you again, ever even thought about you again, he would feel all the pain he ever inflicted on you amplified by 10." Merritt explained simply with a shrug. "And everytime he hears the word 'c'mon' he will do the chicken dance uncontrollably."
An unexpected bark of laughter tore out of Jack, leaving the boy with a small, but genuine, smile on his face. The smile only lasted for a moment, that of course Daniel had to ruin.
"So who was he to you? He said an ex, was that true?" He inquired. Jack froze and Merritt got ready to hypnotize Danny into silence.
"You don't have to answer that, Daniel is an asshole." Henley quickly stated, her eyes glacing to the backseat from the mirror.
"No, you all deserve to know." Jack disagreed, shifting slightly in his seat and wishing he had a deck of cards. "So, um, I ran away when I was sixteen, and was on the streets for about a year. I met Phillip during one of my shows, literally ran into him when I was running from a guy whose wallet I stole. He stopped the guy, then asked if I wanted to get a coffee.
"We kept seeing each other for a couple of months, and we texted throughout, then a few days after I turned eighteen he asked me on an official date. It was all normal, at first, then he asked me to move in after only two months, but I wasn't really in a position to say no, y'know?" Jack laughed a bit at this. Nobody else found it funny.
"So I moved into his apartment and it was great. And then he started getting angry at things, things he hadn't before. But it was fine, and we worked it out. Then one day, during an argument, he hit me. I ran to the bathroom and locked the door, I was freaking out and he was trying to break down the door and was yelling at me, but once I came out he apologized. He didn't mean to do it, I know he didn't.
"But the fights got worse and he kept hitting me, and then they weren't fights because I wasn't fighting back. I was terrified of him, but I couldn't leave. He was the only constant in my life, the only thing that guaranteed a place to sleep and something to eat, y'know? I only found peace when I was performing, when he let me perform. It got so bad one night that the neighbors called the cops, and I had to tell them that I was fine.
"Then I was doing a show, and I stole the guys wallet, and I found the tarot card and I knew that this was it. I was done. So that night I left. It wasn't like with my parents, where I snuck out quietly to not alert them, this time I just ran. He was too slow to catch me, then I found you all. I never thought I'd see him again." Jack finished breathlessly and with a tear rolling down his cheek. The car was parked, had been for a couple of minutes, but nobody got out, instead all the Horsemen were dead silent as Jack told his tale.
Henley had a hand over her mouth and tears in her eyes. Daniel looked shocked, which was impressive, and had a deep simmering anger everyone could feel. Merritt looked... like he had accepted this. Like he knew.
"Did you know, Merritt?" Daniel asked, noticing the lack of a response from the man.
"I found him during a nightmare, was able to figure out most of it." Merritt nodded.
"I told him all of it," Jack amended. "I wanted to."
"Jack I'm so sorry." Henley breathed, reaching an arm behind her seat for Jack to grasp.
"Nothing for you to be sorry about." Jack responded with a small smile. For the first time in a long time, he could feel the love and the caringness that these people had for him.
"Wait," Daniel said in a perplexed tone as they exited the car and walked up to the safehouse. "You said you got together right after you turned eighteen, right?"
"Yes." Jack responded somewhat shortly, not wanting to continue talking about the subject for much longer.
"But he was texting with you and meeting you for months earlier?" Daniel proded.
"Yes."
"And he knew you were seventeen then?"
"Probably."
"...I'm going to fucking kill him." Danny's serious statement shocked Jack into asking,
"What? How does that change anything?" Jack questioned.
"I think," Henley gently slipped her hand into Jacks. "He's thinking that the piece of shit groomed you too. Why else would you get together mere days after you turned eighteen?"
A small 'oh' left Jack as he realized that they were probably right, that Phillip had planned it from when they met. He was silent as they entered the house, and he felt bad as Dylan and Alma stopped laughing after feeling the somber mood.
"What happened?" Dylan asked, looking the four over for injuries. He watched as Henley grabbed an ice pack for Jack and made him take off his leather jacket to place it on the finger shaped bruises.
"We ran into a piece of shit ex of Jacks. Don't worry, he won't be coming back." Merritt explained simply. Dylan nodded, then cocked his head toward Jack.
"You okay?" The small words warmed Jack despite the ice pack, and he felt a smile grow.
"Yeah, yeah I am." He assured, a small glance to the other Horsemen all Dylan needed to see to believe him. Jack sat on the couch with his legs up, before gesturing for people to follow. Everyone ended up in a hodge podge of the floor, the couch, and the one chair as Merritt put on the Clue movie, which Dylan and Daniel were immediately enraptured by.
Jack used the movie as background noise as he looked at everyone else in the room. They way they had backed him up, protected him, supported him this whole year washed over him, and a distinct feeling of safety settled in. Jack felt his eyes grow heavy and realized his head was slumped onto Merritts shoulder about a third of the way into the movie.
As his eyes slid shut and he felt his muscles relax he knew that he was okay, would be okay. After all, he had his family with him.