Chapter Text
It was supposed to be easy. The first grift after they establish themselves as a group of eight, the first time they officially, of course, run a gig for The Eye. It feels like a test, like a way to see how well they actually get along with one another, knowing the full truth of it all.
It’s not all of them, of course. Henley is officially back in business, but she still has a family to take care of. She speaks to them about a “work-life balance”, but Atlas loses interest in the conversation almost immediately. Lula is also now officially a member of the team, but she still has a life in France she has to clean up before she can join them. Jack goes with her, and Atlas is sure that the two of them are going to make some sort of romantic getaway out of it. The thought makes him want to gag.
That’s how he got stuck babysitting the children with Merritt. That’s what they are, of course: children. Incredibly talented prodigy magicians, but still babies in Atlas’s eyes. Jesus, he was past forty, and these kids could only legally drink two years ago.
Plus, despite the sheer amount of talent and knowledge they had about magic, they still lacked experience. They had one successful trick (granted, it was a trick Atlas wasn’t even sure he could have pulled off in his heyday… not that he would ever admit it), but that doesn’t mean that they didn’t need watching over.
First, there was Charlie. Sure, the kid more than proved himself during the Vanderberg trick, but Atlas wondered how well the kid would do on a job he didn’t spend almost his whole life fantasizing about. If there was anything his recent endeavour taught him, it’s that you had to be calm under pressure (the pressure in that case being trapped in a giant sandbox). Every part of the con had been under Charlie’s tight control, and Atlas had seen plenty of performers lose their cool once the plan started coming off the rails, something that you only learn how to do through experience.
June had picking skills better than Jack, as he loved to remind him, but Atlas worried about her cockiness. Pride cometh before the fall, and with some of the situations they find themselves in, that fall can be mighty big.
Then of course, there was Bosco. Atlas had learned more about the kid the more time he spent with him, but if he was being honest, it was him Atlas was most worried about. If Atlas was having a moment of honesty, which can admittedly sometimes be rare for him, then he would admit that he sees a lot of himself in Bosco. The attitude, the snark, the desire to go just a little bit too far and see what happens. Bosco has more of that last one in him than Atlas ever did, and that, combined with what seems to be a large case of an inferiority complex and daddy issues, has never, in the history of the world, ended well. Atlas thinks the kid is a genius, and Atlas trusts him with his life and the life of every single person on their team… but he’s not sure if he trusts Bosco with his own life. Atlas hopes to God he’s wrong, but Bosco acts like a kid who wants to go out in a blaze of glory, saving his friends, and Atlas needs to somehow make him realize that his friends are there to prevent that from happening.
These worries churn inside Atlas. Behind the sarcasm, behind the ego, behind the machismo, Atlas deeply fears making another mistake. Although now revealed to be a lie, thinking that his actions led to Dylan being locked up for ten years changed him. It made him more hesitant, made him scared. Now that there were more people he had to look out for, kids nonetheless, scared him more than all. For the first time in his life, he is entering the role of mentor, and the weight of it terrifies him.
God, he wishes Henley were here. He looks around the plane they’re all currently on and sees the three kids all fast asleep, their eyes closed. Well, June and Charlie are fast asleep, leaning and snoring and drooling on each other.
Atlas knows Bosco well enough now to know that there’s no way the kid is asleep. Footsteps on the other side of their apartment through a closed door are enough to wake Bosco, something Atlas is sure comes from experiencing a not-so-great childhood. Sure enough, Atlas watches as Bosco peeks his eyes open to change the song on his music player. Atlas resists the urge to roll his eyes at the fact that the kid isn’t using his phone, but instead a crappy piece of 1990s technology. Of course he is. Forget the practicality of it (and the fact they were told to pack lightly). Why have something that works when you can have nostalgia?
Bosco adjusts himself in the seat and lets his eyes close again. Atlas turns away from them in the row up and to the right of them, and Merritt nudges him from where he’s sitting next to him.
“Did you ever think we’d be doing this?”
Atlas doesn’t even look at him. “What? Flying on a plane? The thought has crossed my mind.”
“No, smartass. I mean, being… I don’t even know what we are. Mentors? Elders? Wise old sages?”
Atlas side eyes him. “I feel uncomfortable with the number of times you just called me old.”
“It’s about time you face that reality, my friend. You’re old enough to be their father.” He says, pointing at the kids.
Atlas scoffs. “I’m barely old enough to be their father, just like you are barely old enough to be their grandfather.”
Merritt chuckles. “Ouch. All I’m saying is that I never thought we’d be doing this…” he gestures with his hands, “the whole… mentor thing.”
Atlas readjusts himself in his seat. He lets Merritt’s statement settle in the air for a bit before he quietly offers up a response. “It does feel… good?”
“Are you asking me or telling me?”
“Telling... I think.”
“I always did kinda wonder, man. You know, like what our purpose is. Maybe it’s to train these kids. Teach them what we know, make them better than us.”
“Better than us?”
“Oh, come on, you've seen their potential. They even had us fooled for a while there.”
Atlas hates to admit that he’s right, and equally hates to admit that it still bothers him. The pieces were there the whole time. Sure, he was distracted, the spontaneous reunion bringing out a whole lot of feelings that Atlas didn’t even know he still held on to. Atlas didn’t like surprises, least of all ones that he should have seen coming from a mile away. It made him antsy. Uneven almost. The only consultation being that one, Charlie had years to come up with that last trick and probably won’t be cooking up another dramatic reveal any time soon, and two, Atlas likes to think that he’s got his shit enough together to actually pay attention now. At least that’s what he hopes.
Atlas sighs. “You’re right.”
Merritt lets out a laugh. “I’m - I’m right? Holy cow, someone get me a camera! Maybe a bottle of champagne! J Daniel Atlas just admitted that I, a lowly magician such as myself, might actually be right about something.”
Atlas rolls his eyes. “Alright, don’t let it get to your head.”
Merritt smiles. “Admit something for me, would ya?”
“What?”
“The kids. They got to you, didn’t they? You feel it, don’t you? They’re our hope. Our future. Not just us, not just The Horsemen or The Eye. It’s bigger than that.” His tone takes on a rare levity at the end.
Atlas pauses before he responds. He looks back at the three young magicians, Charlie and June still fast asleep on each other. Bosco has given up pretending to sleep and instead lies his head against the window, looking out as his hands fiddle with the cards in his lap. Atlas feels a surge of something. Some sort of emotion that he hadn’t felt in a long time.
“Yeah. Yeah, I do feel it.”
“I knew it,” Merritt smiles, “there’s some emotion in there after all.”
Atlas frowns. “You know me, always full of surprises.”
Merritt smiles and takes a sip of whatever it was he was drinking and Atlas does the same. Maybe this is good, maybe this is what they needed, an easy job to get reacquainted with each other. Atlas thinks that this might be the beginning of something. Something good.
-
Any and all good feelings Atlas has about the three new kids quickly dissipate over the course of the job. He realizes, after day three of this, that he’s actually far too old to be doing any sort of mentoring or ‘wise-old-man-ing’ and would much rather return to a life of solitude.
He’s currently running through the jungle in some remote and desolate place in the world, the only sounds being yelling from guards and also yelling from the kids in front of him.
“I thought you said you knew where you were going!” June yells.
Charlie threw his hands in the air as much as he could while still running through the bush. “Well, that’s before we started running for our lives in the opposite direction! I didn’t research the entire jungle path!”
“Well then, your research skills are shit!”
The noises and yells behind them faded. Merritt, who had been lagging behind the group for the last half mile or so, held his hand up and leaned down to catch his breath. “I think I’m gonna need to take a breather here, folks. Also,” he said once they all stopped, “I don’t think that running from evil guards is the best time to be having this particular argument.”
June rolled her eyes at him, but at least Charlie had the decency to look sheepish.
Atlas took the break they had to assess the situation. The Eye had sent them to some random country in South America, something about an evil Big Whatever company poisoning the local communities' soil and getting a bunch of kids sick. The families had been trying for years to get the government to do something about it, but all that they did was accept the bribes to keep it all quiet.
The Eye had sent them to steal a flash drive, something that Atlas thought was so underwhelming after the Heart Diamond that he could have laughed. And it was underwhelming at first.
All in all, it was a low-profile job for them. Not every trick they ran included a large crowd and lots of cameras. If it did, they wouldn’t be able to sneak around very well now, would they?
The planning process was a lot more rushed than Atlas would normally have liked it to be. But The Eye had told him to let the kids take the lead, and that’s what he was going to do. Now, obviously, that didn’t mean keeping his comments to himself; he was not going to jeopardize the mission by not giving comments when he thought they would be helpful (or when he thought he was right), but it did mean that he would let them lead on it.
The plan was risky. Riskier than Atlas was comfortable with, but he didn’t know if it was the kids being cocky or him being out of the game for so long that made him nervous. He had a suspicion (a suspicion confirmed in the future) that the kids were riding on the high of their success with the heart diamond. But that was a once-in-a-lifetime trick, one that they planned for years. This one took them two days.
It was all going relatively well… until they got to the server room. Merritt, Charlie, and Atlas had made it to the room pretending to be repairmen for a faulty cooling system, and June had been smuggled in on one of their carts. It was a more behind-the-scenes role than Atlas was used to doing, but again… trying to let the kids lead on this one.
It wasn’t hard for Merritt to convince the guards that yes, actually, they were scheduled to come in today. And wouldn’t you know, there was something actually wrong with the cooling system. What exactly? Who knew, but as far as those front desk and guards were concerned, it was pretty serious.
They found the office with the painting on the wall that was so obviously covering up a safe that it almost made Atlas laugh. Inside was supposedly a flash drive, full of evidence and pictures and enough money logs to shut down both the company and the politicians they bribed. Atlas sometimes ponders the stupidity of the guys they take down, but hey, he’s not complaining.
The painting is easily removed from the wall, and that’s where their problems begin. “Shit.” Atlas lets out as he stares at the safe in the wall that is most definitely not the one Charlie said it was.
“I don’t understand.” Charlie’s voice is fast and high, and Atlas recognizes the tace of panic in it. “The documents said the safe was twenty years old, not this new one.”
June pushes him out of the way. “It’s okay, I can still break it.”
“Okay, well, can you still do it in two minutes and forty seconds because that’s exactly how much time we have before the next rotation of guards comes through here.”
June is already eyeing it, lightly touching the frame. “Yeah, I got it.”
“June,” Charlie warns.
“I said I got it.”
Charlie shakes his head but backs up, and Atlas watches the exchange between the two of them with worry. “We don’t have any wiggle room here. If we need to leave, we need to do it now. We can figure something else out.”
June puts her ear to the door of the safe. “I can do it.”
Merritt walks up behind her. “Not to rain on anyone’s parade, but it looks like a retina scanner, and I’m pretty sure we don’t have a way to beat one of those. As uh… talented as I’m sure you are.”
June eyes the rest of them. “Can you guys just trust me?” She snaps.
And so June continues to work on the lock, while Charlie anxiously keeps an eye on his watch. Merritt walks up to Atlas and leans into his ear. “If we don’t get out of here soon, we’re gonna be ambushed.”
“I’m very aware of that fact,” Atlas remarks back.
“I say, if she doesn’t crack it in the next forty seconds, we drag them out of here.”
“I might actually agree with that plan.”
They hear June curse behind them. “Fuck!” She yells. “I thought I had it, but he’s had it uniquely wired. I don’t get how he has the money to be able to do this.”
The wheels in Atlas’s head spin when a voice appears in his ear. “Can you guys hear me?”
It’s Bosco. Normally, Atlas would be against using comms, but in his first official outing with the children, he insisted on it. Bosco particularly gave him crap for it, and a small part (very small considering the circumstances) feels the smug feeling of satisfaction that Bosco is the one currently needing it.
Atlas brings his sleeve to his mouth. “I can hear you, go ahead.”
“There’s something wrong… this guy is much more corrupt than we thought. There’s something we missed.”
Atlas tenses and sees Charlie freeze beside him. “Are you okay? Do we need to come get you?”
There’s a moment of static on the other end. “No, but… be careful. I have a bad feeling.”
The line goes dead. “Great,” Atlas mutters. “He’s got a feeling.”
“Yeah,” Merritt says behind him, “I think I’m starting to get the same one.”
Merrit sees Charlie glance at his watch. “Thirty seconds before the guards are here,”
June mutters something. “Just give me… five more…” Atlas hears her groan, and something hit the safe, and with it the sweet, sweet sound of a lock undoing.
Merritt turns around, absolutely dumbfounded. “There’s no way you should have been able to open that.”
She grins at him. “A magician never reveals her secrets.”
Atlas is less than amused. “We have to move, now.”
He moves past her and throws open the lock, and all four of them stare at the contents inside. The flashdrive is in there, yes, but so are vials of things that Atlas really, really does not want to know what the contents of.
June turns to the others. “What are those?”
Atlas is still looking at them, a pit forming in his stomach. “Probably something very, very bad. We need to get out of here.”
Charlie stands next to him. “If that’s some sort of biochemical weapon, we can’t let them keep it.”
“We also can’t risk it breaking on one of us. We don’t know how deadly it is.”
Charlie frowns at him. “So we let them use it against someone?”
“No,” Atlas doesn’t have time to argue with him. “We use what’s on this,” he holds up the flash drive, “to bury them. But first, we actually have to survive the trip out of here.”
Charlie frowns. “Fine. But I think you’re wrong.”
“Somehow I’ll live with that.”
“Uh, guys, I hate to break up this little powwow, but I think we have company.”
As soon as Merritt says that, the lights of the room turn on, and Charlie looks at his watch. “Shit. We’re too late.”
The panic in his eyes makes it clear to Atlas that now it is time for him to take control. “Everyone down. June, put the safe back to normal, Merritt, get the lights.”
Surprisingly, it’s a familiar voice they hear. One with a good, yet ridiculous to them, Eastern European accent. “My, my, what an impressive setup.” The Faux-Europen Bosco exclaims. If Atlas had to guess, he would say Bosco was talking loud enough to give them a heads up in case they were still in the room. Good thinking, kid.
June, Charlie, Merritt, and Atlas all remain crouched in the room. Atlas knows that they are about four seconds away from being exposed, and he’s going through his options when a door in the back opens and a guard walks right into the room.
Atlas nods to Merritt, and he immediately jumps up from behind the guard, wrapping a hand around his mouth and whispering something to him in his ear. Atlas watches as the guard slumps, and he catches the shocked faces of June and Chalie in the corner. Atlas has the very brief, very naive thought that maybe, just maybe, they can still pull this thing off, but then the lights come on and there ‘European Bosco’ and ‘Evil CEO’ stand, staring at the scene in front of them - Atlas, Charlie, and June all crouched on the ground and a security guard currently in the process of faiting to the ground in front of Merritt.
Merritt has the audacity to laugh. “Uh… I can explain. You’re feeling very sleepy-”
He barely has time to finish before Bosco turns to the CEO and punches him square in the jaw, knocking him unconscious.
Merritt tilts his head. “Yeah, that works too.”
“What the hell are you guys still doing here?” He whisper yells.
“We had a mishap with the safe,” June admits. “Well… I did.”
“We both did,” Charlie amends, “it was much more advanced than we thought it was going to be.”
Bosco frowns and is about to speak, but Atlas interrupts them, “We don’t have time for this; we have to get out of here.”
“Right,” Bosco says, leaning down and grabbing the ID card from the man on the floor. “This will get us through the building, but it won’t be long before people notice that something is wrong.”
Merritt nods, “Then let’s get moving.”
They grab the flash drive out of the safe and put it in a backpack they brought in to complete their “maintenance worker” cosplay. Bosco takes off his fake mustache and removes his suit, the interior flipped around to match the guard uniform. His pants aren’t the right color, but they don’t have enough time for him to change. Plus, at this point, Atlas is sure that if they’re not yet, everyone is about to be on high alert. Charlie leads them out, having a map of the complex on his phone, and Atlas watches the rest of them leave.
He also watches as Bosco leans down and grabs the gun from the security guard. Atlas eyes him, and the two of them share a look. Atlas isn’t sure what it is, but long after all this is over, he’ll think back to it and recognize it as a look of mutual understanding that they both agreed to do what needed to be done to keep the rest of them safe. Atlas will wish, later on, that he had realized that in the moment.
They make it all the way out the exit of the building before the alarms start going off, and they hear the sound of guards behind them. After looking at each other, they make the silent decision to book it, and so they run into the jungle. Atlas spends a second wishing that Jack were here. He was always good at losing a tail, or, if it comes down to it, beating up unsuspecting guards.
Instead, Atlas is running for his life through the jungle with Merritt and a bunch of kids, no extra tricks up their sleeve. Well, Atlas always had some sort of trick up his sleeve. But one that would get the five of them to the getaway car they have parked on the other side of the jungle? He’s not sure he can do that.
So instead, they run.
After about a mile, when they can’t hear the sound of people chasing after them, they find a clearing next to a small stream and essentially collapse on the ground. June wordlessly passes around a bottle of water to the rest of them, and they take a second to just catch their breath together.
“Alright,” Merritt asks, “what’s the plan?”
Now that he’s looking at him, Charlie looks thrown. “Well, the car is back,” he turns in the direction they were just running from and points. “That way.”
“Can’t we just… I don’t know, call someone from The Eye? Get a helicopter or something to come rescue us.” June asks.
Atlas answers. “It doesn’t work that way. Plus, there’s no service out here. I already tried.”
The five of them sit in the silence that is only broken by the sounds of heavy breathing. Atlas is thinking, trying to come up with some master plan, when Bosco stands up.
“Give me the backpack.” He says while holding out his hand to June.
She immediately stands. “Why?”
Bosco shakes his head. “Just give me the backpack.”
June reluctantly hands him the backpack. He sets it on the ground and takes out the flash drive at the same time he reaches into his pocket and takes out one nearly identical. Atlas watches as he slips the fake one back into the backpack. “Take this.” He says, holding out the real one to Atlas.
“What are you doing?” Atlas responds instead.
Bosco looks at him. “I’m gonna take the backpack, and I’m going to run back towards the building.”
“Now, why would you do something stupid like that?” Merritt asks, taking a spot next to Atlas.
“I can outrun the guards, or at least keep them busy enough that they leave you guys alone long enough to get back to the car.”
Charlie and June stand up next to Merritt and Atlas. The four of them look at Bosco, each with a disapproving look. “And what if you get caught?” Charlie asks.
“Then you guys will break me out once you get a better plan.”
“Listen, we know these guys aren’t who we thought they were. If they catch you…. I don’t like it.” June admits.
“I don’t like it either,” Atlas turns to him. “This isn’t how we do things. We don’t leave people behind.”
“You’re not leaving me behind.” Bosco protests, “You’re letting me play hide and seek with the guards and then you’re coming back to get me.”
“Listen, as much as I love a dramatic and slightly suicidal plan, I think I stand with the rest of the team here when I say I don’t like this idea very much,” Merritt adds.
“Listen, it’s not suicidal,” Bosco says, already slipping the backpack on his back. “I’m not surrendering myself so you guys can be free, I’m just asking you to trust me to do this. And then,” he adds, making eye contact with Charlie, “I’m trusting you guys to come back and get me.”
“It’s an unnecessary risk.” Atlas protests.
Bosco shrugs. “Unless anyone else has any ideas, I’m doing this.”
Charlie steps forward. “I’ll do it.”
Bosco laughs. “I love you man, but there’s no way you’re outrunning anybody. Plus, you know this jungle more than anyone else here; you need to get them back to the car.”
“Then I’ll go,” June adds.
Bosco shakes his head. “You’re too valuable. If you guys can’t make it back to the care, then they’ll need you to get them into another one.” Bosco looks at Atlas, and suddenly, Atlas hates this leadership role.
“Admit it. You’ve run through the alternatives. This makes the most sense. Everyone else is too…. Useful. I’m the one they’ve already seen, I’m the one they’ll recognize and,” he adds with a grimace and a shrug, “I’m the most expendable one here.”
“Don’t fucking say that.” June hisses. “You’re not expendable to us.” Charlie nods beside her. “Tell him, Atlas.”
Atlas looks at Bosco. Really looks. He sees the determination, the fierceness in his eyes. It’s enough for him to know three things. One, that Bosco is going to do this whether they agree to it or not. Two, that there really isn’t another solution here that doesn’t lead to all five of them being caught. And three, that Bosco really does believe it, believes that he’s expendable.
Jesus Christ, Atlas thinks, this is not something a twenty-three-year-old kid should have to go through. Atlas feels a fierce surge of protectiveness through him, and he’s about to shut this whole idea down, but then Bosco speaks.
“Trust me.” He makes sure he’s looking Atlas right in the eyes. “Trust me.”
And fuck, if that doesn’t settle it for Atlas. Even if he thinks it’s a stupid idea, even if he doesn’t like it, even if it could get the kid killed, if Bosco doesn’t see that he trusts him now, then this partnership is never gonna work. Atlas steadies himself and takes a deep breath.
“Let’s do it.”
June and Charlie both turn on him, expressions of disbelief on their face. Atlas knows they’re about to argue with him, but instead of letting them, he places his hand on Bosco’s shoulder. “Don’t get caught. Don’t die. Keep your com on and get somewhere with service. We’ll come find you when we can.”
Bosco nods at him. “Yeah,” he says softly. “Will do.”
June steps up to him, but Atlas shakes his head. She looks between the two of them, and the fight goes out of her. Instead, she settles for grabbing Bosco in a hug. “Yeah. Don’t die.”
Despite the circumstances, Bosco laughs. “Not planning on it.”
“Good,” June says, and the other boys pretend not to hear the catch in her voice, “because I’d be really pissed off at you.”
He smiles. “And nobody wants that.”
She steps back, and Charlie walks up to him. “Are you sure?”
Bosco nods.
Charlie hugs him. “Don’t do anything stupid.”
They stay that way for a moment before they hear the first sign of guards out in the distance. Charlie pulls away.
“Right,” Merritt says, “time to get moving.” He turns to Bosco. “Good luck, kid.”
With another quick hug, June and Charlie turn away and follow Merritt, but before they leave, Bosco pulls Atlas aside. He reaches behind his back and hands him something. “Take this.”
Atlas looks at his hand and sees the gun he stole from the guard earlier. Atlas looks at him. “Are you sure it wouldn’t be better off with you?”
Bosco shrugs. “Guns really aren’t my style.”
“Not mine either.”
Bosco shakes his head. “I need you to keep them safe.”
Despite himself, Atlas nods and grabs the gun from him, tucking it in his pants. “I will.”
Bosco nods. “Okay. I’ll see you on the other side.”
Atlas has to force himself to smile. “You better.”
The sound of guards approaching gets closer, and Atlas knows it’s now or never. He watches as Bosco realizes it at the same time, and watches with guilt as Bosco takes off in a run. Not away from the noise, but towards it.
Atlas turns and finds Merritt, Charlie, and June all standing there looking at him, the latter two practically hugging each other with tears in their eyes. Merritt gives him a sympathetic look. “Right,” Atlas says, “let’s go.”
They make it another ten minutes before they first hear it. It’s faint, but the sound of it pierces through the jungle.
June and Charlie stop in their tracks, and Atlas can’t help but look back despite knowing he won’t be able to see anything. Merritt places his hand on his shoulder, and June lets out a cry.
Atlas shakes his head and looks at the other three. “Come on, we have to keep moving.”
The fight has left Charlie and June, and they wordlessly follow behind him. Atlas knows it's heartless, but if they don’t keep moving, then they won’t be able to go back for Bosco. And they will go back for him, and he will be fine. At least that’s what Atlas tells himself over and over again.
He tries to forget the sound of a gunshot echoing through the jungle.