Work Text:
equilibrium. noun. a state of balance.
xxx
It had all started after Henley left- when Danny stays in his apartment for fire days, thinking about the future of the Horsemen and laughing bitterly about them becoming a ‘single celled organism,’ as Dylan so often liked to say. But if he thinks these things, it’s only to cover up his true feelings of resentment and frustration for missing all the signs and for becoming blindsided by the fame- Daniel was a man who struggled to admit mistakes, most of all to himself.
So he sits in the center of his bedroom, alternating between mindlessly shuffling cards with effortless grace or practicing tricks he had perfected years ago, and staring out the window of his Brooklyn apartment, watching the New Yorkers below scuttle around, hurrying like ants as they try in vain to get to their 9am meetings on time. Every time he sees a flash of auburn hair, his heart leaps for a fraction of a second, thinking it’s Henley coming over for a visit- over the past year he has truly grown to enjoy her presence. But then they turn in the opposite direction, or he catches a glimpse of their face and is reminded afresh that Henley was gone. She left him. She left all of them.
They’d been a thing at one point; the two of them taking on the world, young and naïve, luring and seducing their audience in the way only magic could. He didn’t know what they’d been- there simply wasn’t a way to define it- but it had been something. Something which ran deeper than sexual attraction. And then he’d screwed up. Royally. Implied she was fat, which was not at all what he’d been saying- he’d merely been stating that Rebecca was better suited to some of those escape tricks- and she’d left, gone forever. Or so he thought. But he supposes the world of magic is a small one, and as fate had it, she re-entered his life.
This time though, it was respect and admiration he’d had for her, even if he tried to hide it from the others. Instead of quick and rushed make out sessions fueled by the high of a successful performance, they spent their nights talking, getting to know each other again. The TV buzzing lightly in the background, just the two of them left in the living room of the apartment they’d all shared last year, Jack and Merritt having retreated to get what they called their ‘beauty sleep’. They talked about everything and anything, or sometimes nothing at all. Being in the Horsemen was something Daniel never once regretted, but it had meant living in secrecy for the past 18 months, with only these three other magicians to talk to day in and day out. Sometimes it felt as though Henley was the only one who really understood him. Besides, there was only so much of Merritt’s sarcasm Daniel could handle each day- a quota he usually reached before noon.
So yes, Henley leaving again hurt. It feels like a betrayal, one he feels he didn’t deserve this time. He’d been good this time round- they all had been. They’d pulled off one of the greatest heists of all time and they’d become household heroes – but months later, all they’d done was sit their butts on the ground, bicker about movie choices and eat cheap takeout. For Henley, enough was enough and being the strong independent woman she had always been, she did what was best for her, and left.
Daniel feels lost those first few days- but worst of all, he feels alone again. The apartment too empty, the night too quiet- he can barely sleep and when he does manage, they are short lived successes. He hadn’t realized how much he’d been leaning on Henley in that first year, and how much she’d been supporting him. It wasn’t the only thing he’d missed though, and in hindsight he can’t believe how blinded he’d become.
A knock on the bedroom door startles Daniel from where he was frowning at the piles of cards in his hands, trying to figure out where the basic trick had gone wrong. Looking up, he continues to frown. He wasn't expecting anyone.
Jack’s head pops around the door. ‘Hey,’ he says quietly. Daniel stares at him, the unspoken question of “why are you here,” written clearly across his face. Lingering in the doorway, Jack holds up a plastic bag full of Chinese takeout. Ah so that’s what he’s been smelling. ‘We haven’t seen you in like a week and I- I mean we- were worried. So I thought I’d just drop by and uh…. I come bearing gifts so don’t kick me out?’ He ends with a pleading tone, eyes hopeful.
Daniel sighs and places the cards back onto the floor, before pulling himself to his feet. He brushes past Jack as he heads towards the living room, sitting down onto the sofa. ‘I swear I locked the front door,’ he says as Jack sits down in the armchair.
Jack simply smirks as he opens the first container. ‘Yes, yes you did.’
‘Magicians,’ Daniel mutters. They eat in companionable silence for a while, listening to the sounds of the traffic passing.
It’s Jack who breaks it. ‘So, uh, how are you holding up?’ Daniel continues to chew his beef. ‘Look, I know- you’re J Daniel Atlas, the man of a thousand secrets. And I get that you don’t usually do this- talk about things like this- but if you ever want to, just know that you can. Talk about this, to me, I mean.’ He pauses uncomfortably.
Daniel swallows his mouthful of beef and lowers his chopsticks. His immediate thought is to shut Jack down, to reject his offer, play it off- he’s goddamn J Daniel Atlas- he doesn’t need people to sort out the mess that he is internally. But his second thought is that someone cares. He may not be Merritt, but he can see it in the way Jack is holding himself tense, but at the same time fixing him with a worried gaze. And, well, he can’t remember the last time someone who wasn’t Henley cared. It’s pleasantly nice.
So instead of closing off, and because perhaps locking himself in his apartment for five days has made him slightly sentimental, he turns to Jack and fixes him with a single nod. He can see that Jack has understood the meaning, and knows how much it means. But Jack also knows that Daniel’s not quite ready. So instead he starts talking about some trashy TV show he was watching last night and a guy which reminded him of Merritt, and the moment passes. But it was there, and Daniel begins to wonder what other moments he might have missed in the past year, because he was simply too focused on Henley and the past.
xxx
As the year wears on, Daniel finds himself clinging to his fellow Horsemen more and more. When they’d first started this venture, the four of them in that apartment in Brooklyn, they’d been promised attention, fame, the eyes of the public- the one thing every magician desires. What hadn’t been advertised was the secrecy and the hiding and the doing goddamn nothing for an unspecified amount of time. If the Eye doesn’t give them something to do soon, Daniel’s going to go out of his freaking mind.
Shrugging on his coat, he grabs his keys, checks his pockets for his trusty pack of cards and heads out to face the bitter cold. The wind howls in his ears as he walks aimlessly, eyes searching for something, anything. He observes the people hurrying through a nearby park, watches a woman tuck her scarf tight around her neck before holding out a mittened hand to a small girl, pulling her along. They walk into a coffee shop at the end of the block, and for a moment Daniel wishes he was the little girl- innocent, naïve, nothing to worry about. Just as he is about to look away though, something catches his eyes.
The little girl has run up to a leather clad figure sitting in the corner of the shop. A figure who is currently shuffling a pack of cards and offering one to the girl. Without giving himself a chance to decide otherwise, Daniel hurries towards the warmth of the shop, the rich aroma of coffee beans wafting towards him. Once inside, he orders himself a coffee and leans against the counter as he watches the girl’s delighted face when her card is correctly identified. She skips away, and Daniel, fresh coffee in hand, walks over.
‘Daniel!’ greets Jack, surprised. ‘What’re you doing here?’ He clears his cards off the table and motions for Daniel to sit.
Daniel shrugs. ‘If I have to sit in my apartment any longer, counting the cracks in the ceiling…’ he trails off as Jack makes a noise of agreement.
‘Well, my apartment’s always open. Not that it’s very much- not nearly as nice as yours, and not that I’m in there half the time, but feel free to drop by if you ever need to.’ He sighs. ‘I thought we’d be living the life by now, you know? It’s not nearly as glamorous as I imagined.’
Daniel huffs out a short laugh. ‘No, it certainly isn’t.’
‘Tell you what, let’s go out and have some fun. Let’s go do a small street show together. You can’t honestly tell me that you don’t miss it?’ Daniel stays quiet. ‘I know you’ve got performance withdrawal- you practically thrive off performing!’
‘Jack, we can’t. We’re supposed to be hiding, remember?’
‘That’s why I got us these.’ Reaching into the pocket of his jacket, he pulls out a beanie with an auburn wig attached, a pair of glasses, two large scarves and a fake beard and mustache.
Daniel takes one look at the wig and mustache. ‘No.’
‘Aw come on! It’ll be fun!’
‘How long have you been carrying those around for?’
Jack looks slightly sheepish. ‘Um, a while?’ He gives a pleading look. ‘Please Danny?’
‘Fine,’ he agrees. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t a bit thrilled on the inside. Jack was always the spontaneous one, which at first had been annoying- always ruining Daniel’s carefully crafted plans. But lately, Daniel found himself more inclined to go along with whatever Jack suggested, but only if it was Jack. (He knew better than to agree to anything Merritt proposed- it was always a scheme to humiliate him in some way, as he knew from experience.) Speaking of whom, ‘How come you don’t have anything for Merritt?’
‘He’s off somewhere on “personal business,” and told us not to bother him till he came back, so I uh figured that he wouldn’t be needing any disguises and it would just be you and me…’ Daniel fixes him with a look, slightly disbelieving, but lets it go.
They pull on their large scarves and Jack hands Daniel the beanie and wig duo. Instead, Daniel grabs the beard and mustache, feeling utterly ridiculous as he puts them on. Jack meanwhile pulls on the beanie and glasses, and Daniel has to stifle a laugh at the result. The red curly hair brushes past his ears whilst the oversized glasses make his face appear small.
Jack reaches out to push Daniel’s mustache on properly. ‘Hey, it’s not like you can talk.’
‘Just remember, this was all your idea.’
They pull open the door and head back out into the chilly air. When they find a small street with a fair amount of people passing by, Jack stops and begins to corral the passerbys.
‘Ladies and gentlemen, I know it’s cold and you’d all much rather be inside, but if you just step this way, I promise to procure you a hot drink from thin air.’ A few interested heads turn as people pause, wondering if this magician would be worth their time. ‘Ma’am if you’d like to pass me your cup,’ Jack gestures at a woman with a finished coffee cup. He opens it to show the empty contents to the small gathering. ‘Where are you headed ma’am?’
‘Headed back to work unfortunately,’ she replies.
‘Ah work. Where would we all be without work? I know personally, I’d much rather be on a beach in Hawaii, soaking up the sun, watching the dolphins yadda yadda. Who am I kidding? I’d be at home all day, watching the footy with my boys!’ He earns a few chuckles at that. All the while, Jack gestures wildly with his hands, holding the woman’s cup to the side away from the crowd, and allowing Danny to discretely fill it with the fresh coffee they’d purchased before leaving the shop.
‘Well, it may be work, but at least you’ll have a hot drink,’ Jack finishes as he brings the full cup back to the front and hands it back to the woman. Murmurs and gasps ripple through the crowd. Jack smiles and steps back, gesturing at Daniel.
‘Now I’m sorry to say that I can’t procure drinks from air, and that I’m dismayed that my friend has never cared to show this trick to me before- usually his tricks ends with him spilling coffee on me,’ says Daniel, turning on the showmanship and giving a smirk as a laugh arises in the group, ‘But instead, would you like to pick a card?’ He offers a pack of cards to another young woman. ‘You’ll remember which one it is? You’re sure? Okay.’
Taking the card back, he performs a few flashy shuffles, giving Jack time to plant the card on the lady. He then fans the cards open towards the crowd. ‘Can you find your card?’ The lady frowns and shakes her head. ‘Are you sure? Why don’t you check your pocket?’ She reaches a hand into her pocket, successfully retrieving her card and staring at it in awe.
‘Okay, okay, you can do your fancy card tricks, but can you do this?’ Jack flicks a series of cards in quick succession into the air, letting them rain down before they’re caught in a spiral motion, pushed about by the wind.
And so it continues, the two of them taking turns with their tricks, pretending to outdo the other until the tops of everyone’s ears begins to turn cold and the crowd begins pulling their coats tighter around themselves.
‘Thank you, thank you all so very much for taking the time to watch and participate. We hope we’ve been able to bring a little bit of magic to your day, and when we’re able to control the weather and make this winter go away, we’ll let you know!’ Daniel passes around a small cup encouraging everyone to drop in a few dollars. As the last person leaves, he pours the coins into his pocket.
‘Not bad,’ remarks Jack as he hears the coins clinking. A reluctant smile appears on Daniel’s face. ‘See, I told you that’d be fun. And wasn’t it great? I’ve never done a street show with someone else before- I’ve always been alone. So it was nice to, you know, have you there with me.’ He finishes quietly, glancing at Daniel to observe his reaction. For once, he looks relaxed and at ease, hands held loosely in his pockets, head up high and walking at a leisurely pace. He looks over at Jack and gives a small smile.
‘Yeah, you too,’ he murmurs. ‘Now come on, let’s go home. This mustache is really starting to itch.’
xxx
It’s Daniel who notices first. The three of them, Jack, Merritt and himself, are gathered around the table in their ‘magic base camp,’ as Merritt likes to call it. They’re going over a new trick but as all good tricks start, it just isn’t working out. It’s been three fruitless hours of them finding problems, resolving them, trying the trick again, and finding yet more problems. Merritt’s on the brink of frustration, uncharacteristically scrubbing his hand across his face, his other hand gripping tight onto the table top. When the trick fails for the umpteenth time, he lets out a load groan and thumps a fist on the table.
‘I’m going to take a breather,’ he mutters before turning around sharply and stalking out of the warehouse.
Daniel, equally frustrated, throws the baton he had been twirling onto the table. Looking up, he glances at Jack standing opposite him. His hands rest on the table as he leans forward, head bent down. He’d been abnormally quiet all day Daniel realizes, but he’d been too focused on the trick to pay any notice to it.
Daniel deliberates how to approach Jack. Normally he’s the most open of the three but there are a few select topics where he simply shuts down, giving brief one worded answers before quickly shifting the focus. Daniel has a feeling that whatever he’s about to encounter, it’s going to be one of these taboo matters.
‘Jack?’ he hesitantly asks.
For a moment, he thinks Jack is going to ignore him. Then Jack looks up, meeting his eyes briefly. In them Daniel sees pain and sadness, and in Jack’s hunched posture, he reads the exposed vulnerability.
‘It’s nothing,’ he murmurs back, but it’s clear to Daniel that it’s not nothing. He turns, pulling his leather jacket off a nearby chair and shrugging it on. ‘I’m gonna head out too, not sure if I’ll be back. Don’t wait up.’ With that he heads off towards the door.
Daniel’s not sure what it is, but something compels him to follow. Something tells him that he shouldn’t leave Jack alone.
‘Wait,’ he calls out, hastening to grab his coat. Jack glances back and doesn’t pause, but he doesn’t tell Daniel to stop either, merely continues on his way. So Daniel follows, making sure to lock up the warehouse behind him before hurrying to catch up, falling in step beside Jack.
They walk and walk and walk, never speaking, never acknowledging the other. Daniel’s not sure where they’re going, but they’ve been walking for at least half an hour and he’s beginning to regret not bringing his scarf. Not that he’s going to bring it up.
So he stops peering at Jack from the corner of his eye and starts to pay attention to the plant saplings springing up and lining the sidewalk, to the calls of the birds emanating from the trees. They’ve moved away from the major roads, each street emptying further until they turn into a park.
But it only takes him lifting his eyes towards the horizon for him to realize that it’s not a park. For all he sees are rows upon rows of white crosses, each carefully nailed into the tidy lawn. That immediately has his attention snapping back to Jack. He’d always been curious about Jack’s family but he’d never pressed the issue. He supposed he was about to find out a little more of the mystery that was Jack Wilder.
They walk for a few more minutes until they slow in front of a plot. Rose Walker, the headstone read. Daniel swallowed. ‘I’ll give you a few moments,’ he murmured, only waiting for Jack’s minute nod before turning and heading towards the line of trees bordering the cemetery.
Despite Jack’s younger age, he’d still already been through so much. Usually he covered it well, his hardships buried underneath layers of smiles and jokes. He covered it so well that Daniel often forgot that perhaps in terms of life experience, Jack was not much younger than the rest of them. Daniel began to wonder just how much more there was to Jack, how much more they don’t know. He settles down, back against a tree and waits.
He gives Jack about an hour before he heads back over. On his way back, he plucks some of the flowers he saw earlier. He finds Jack sitting by the grave, staring into the distance. Wordlessly, he reaches forward and places the makeshift bouquet of flowers on the grass, the bursts of lilac and fuchsia brightening the otherwise dull green.
Jack’s gaze follows him as he gently sits down by his side. A few moments pass, with only their breaths breaking the otherwise silent cemetery.
Jack starts talking quietly. ‘Rose, Rosie she was my older sister.’ Daniel notices Jack’s limber fingers are plucking absentmindedly at the blades of grass. ‘She passed away two years ago today. It was a hit and run. Some drunk was behind the wheel, barreled right into her and then hightailed out of there. They never found him.’ His eyes flit nervously before he settles on his fingers.
‘The worst part was, it was all my fault. I was at a party and she was on her way to pick me up. I’d been drinking and so couldn’t drive home, so I’d called her, made her leave a night out with her friends to come and get me. If I’d just…’ he trails off. Daniel waits patiently.
‘My parents blamed me too. It’s always because of you, they said. You’re the problem child and now you’ve gone and gotten Rosie killed. She was the perfect child, the one with the grades, the one everyone’s parents liked. I was the one who was never home, the one parents tell their kids to avoid.’ Having cleared the small patch of grass, Jack’s started digging his fingers into the dirt. Without thinking, Daniel reaches out and places his hand over Jack’s, stilling his moments. When Jack continues talking, Daniel leaves his hand there, loosely covering Jack’s, rubbing soothing circles into his palm.
‘My parents were cold and silent to me in the days after the accident. So I left- I could tell they were going to kick me out so I made sure to leave before they could add that humiliation to my list of failures and mistakes. I changed my name, started living on the streets. I found I had a knack for sleight of hand and I learnt a couple of tricks from some guy I met in those first couple of weeks. I got better until I had enough to survive each day, and I went to shelters during the night, until Dylan found me and I met you guys.’
Daniel realizes that Jack’s gripping tightly onto his hand, but he scarcely feels it, eyes focused on Jack. ‘She was my best friend, always by my side, supporting me through thick and thin. It’s just hard- it’s still so fresh in my mind. I don’t know if it ever won’t be.’ He pauses for a moment. ‘The only good thing that came out of it all is that I think she’d be proud of me, of what I’m- we’re doing for people. She was big on helping those in need- I always aspired to be more like her.’
‘Tell me more about her,’ murmurs Daniel. And so Jack does. He talks and talks until the sun goes down, but even then they stay huddled together, two figures against a sea of crosses, under a blanket of twinkling stars.
xxx
It continues- they hang out, they spend more and more time at each other’s apartments, they dance around one another. But never more- only ever a carefully choreographed dance, a ballet of sorts, complete with longing looks but perhaps without the grace and elegance of ballerinas.
Jack will bring Daniel his coffee just the way he likes it, setting it down unasked without a word.
Daniel will watch Jack practicing his tricks, will pause and lean over and offer Jack small pieces of advice, will show him how to perfect moves he was doing wrong.
Jack will let himself into Daniel’s apartment, sometimes bringing food, sometimes just with his leather jacket on his back and they’ll sit and wordlessly watch TV. And if by the end of the night, they’ve drifted closer to one another on the sofa, legs practically curled together under a blanket, neither of them say anything of it. And if they spend more time sneaking glances at one another than actually paying attention to whatever’s on screen, they also don’t remark it.
Daniel will seek Jack out when he’s bored or frustrated with working on the plan, and they’ll walk around the city together, sometimes sharing stories from their past, sometimes stopping to perform impromptu shows, eager to experience the harmony they had shared the last time.
Merritt will start to notice the casual touches and careful looks between his two younger teammates. He’ll start sitting on the lone armchair on movies nights, letting Daniel and Jack share the couch, looking over periodically to see if either one has made a move. He wants it to pan out, but to pan out well- not only because it would be a major pain in the ass for them as a team if whatever was brewing didn’t work out, but because he had genuinely grown to care about them, even if he didn’t like to admit it, and wanted them to be happy. After learning what they’d been through, god only knew they deserved nice things from here on out.
Jack and Daniel, two lions circling and circling but always waiting for the other to pounce.
It continues, for five long months, and that’s when Lula arrives.
xxx
Daniel grits his teeth as he pushes open the heavy warehouse door, stepping into the large space they had turned into their headquarters. Already he can hear their loud voices; her obnoxious laugh and his warm chuckles.
As Daniel descends the stairs and turns the corner, he can see them standing in their makeshift kitchen. Lula and Jack, pressed side to side as Lula leans over to grab a handful of mushrooms. Jack says something that has Lula howling in laughter before she nudges him and tells him to stop staring before he cuts off a finger instead of the capsicum. ‘That’s my specialty,’ she says. ‘No need to steal my limelight.’
Daniel watches them as they move effortlessly around the kitchen together, weaving intricate patterns and grabbing things for one another without being asked, never once bumping into the other or getting in the way. All the while, a continuous stream of chatter never lets up, interspersed with their laughs.
When Lula had first come he’d been bitter. Bitter that Dylan was trying to replace Henley, bitter that she was interfering with the dynamic the other three horsemen had established, but mostly bitter that Merritt and Jack took to her immediately. Especially Jack. To them she was lively, fresh, exciting, full of wisecracks and jokes, but to him she was frivolous, distracting and not nearly focused enough on whatever task was at hand.
The first time he’d met her, she’d waltzed into his apartment and lay in ambush, setting up some utterly ridiculous guillotine contraption, resulting in her head supposedly falling off - perhaps hoping to impress him, but which mostly only irked him. He’d been looking forward to getting home and having some quiet time to himself, but she had just kept on talking. It would have been more spectacular, he thinks, if the guillotine had really cut off her head.
He frowns deeper as Jack smiles wider, Lula twirling towards him trying to catch mushrooms in her mouth. Her hair bounces behind her as she comes to a stop in Jack’s arms. ‘Oh my dashing hero!’ she exclaims. ‘The only fool brave enough to come to the rescue of clutzy old me.’
‘Well, milady, I’d like to think every other man was a fool for not seeing how beautiful you are,’ replies Jack with a teasing lilt. Daniel clenches his fists, noting that Lula flushes slightly before she extracts herself from Jack’s hold. It’s then that she notices Daniel and motions him over.
‘Daniel! Danny-boy! You’re back,’ she exclaims happily.
‘Don’t call me that,’ he huffs. Despite his cold demeanor towards her every day since the day they met, she had either yet to take a hint, or was extremely stubborn and determined to be overly friendly towards him. God, Daniel could never find time to think anymore around HQ, with her hanging around.
‘Oh hey Danny,’ greets Jack. ‘We’re making lasagna for dinner.’ He looks up at the mess they’ve made and the still empty dish sitting by the oven. ‘Well, we’re trying to. Wanna help? After all those dinners you’ve made for me, I know you’re a good cook, even if you refuse to admit it.’
‘No, I’ve got things to do.’
Jack’s voice loses the playfulness, and becomes instead laced with a hint of anger. ‘Come on Danny. You always retreat by yourself and you never spend time with us anymore. How come, huh? Are we not good enough for the mighty J Daniel Atlas?’ Jack’s starting to clench the knife tightly in his hand and Lula carefully pries it from his grip, placing it a safe distance away.
‘It seems that the two of you have got it all covered,’ he replies stiffly.
‘Yeah, as we do every single night. I get your focused on the Plan and all that shit, but would it really kill you to help out every once in a while with things like, oh I don’t know, cooking or keeping this place habitable? Or does The Plan have instructions for us on how to live our day to day lives as well, huh?’
‘Oh I’m sorry that at least one of us here is paying attention to the instructions from the Eye- whom, may I remind you, we have worked the past year to gain admission to, and waited another half to actually be able to do something for them. Not like we’ve all aspired to be part of the Eye or anything- I’m not giving up when we’re so close to really getting in.’
Breaking the heated stare between Jack and himself, he flicks his eyes over to Lula. ‘Don’t worry if you don’t feel the same though Lula- you’ve just waltzed in here after we did all the hard work, so I’m sure it’s all still very exciting for you.’
‘Why are you always picking on her Danny? Give her a break; she’s trying her best here and all you’re doing is pushing her away.’ Jack pauses, locking gazes with Daniel. ‘Is this because of Henley?’
Daniel starts to pull down his defensive mechanisms. He knows Jack knows that it’s still a touchy subject, something not to be brought up unless there are copious amounts of alcohol involved. It was bad enough when Lula came in pretending to know everything about everyone, but Jack should know better.
‘No,’ he replies. Well, it’s mostly true. It’s certainly not his prime reason for disliking her though.
‘Well why are you always avoiding her? Every single time she’s in a room, even if Merritt or I are there, you make up some stupid excuse to be somewhere else. We’re supposed to be a team, but that’s never going to work if you don’t pull your head out of your ass!’ By now, Jack’s voice has risen, reverberating around the walls of the warehouse.
‘Well at least you seem to be spending enough time with her to make up for the rest of us.’ Daniel’s voice is quiet but deadly.
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
Daniel remains silent and still, focused on ensuring that his face remains blank and devoid of expression.
‘Well it’s not like you’re spending any time with anyone anymore,’ says Jack, venom laced in his tone. His meaning is clear, at least to Daniel and Jack. You never spend time with me anymore. Lula is tense, observing the two men, but Daniel could care less; his attention is focused purely on Jack. Their irregular breaths fill the silence, but the tension is so thick, the air so heavy, that all it takes is Merritt’s footsteps to break it. Daniel turns on his heel and walks briskly out, headed towards the door. Jack places his shaking hand on the counter, Lula hovering nearby, unsure what to do.
Unfortunately for Daniel, Merritt intercepts him on the way to the door, blocking him from freedom and the fresh air and quiet he so desperately needs.
‘Uh uh,’ tuts Merritt. ‘I can’t have you leaving in this state Danny-boy. Who knows what you might do, completely lost and out of control.’
Daniel tries to sidestep Merritt but is stopped by an arm pressed firmly against his chest. Keeping his eyes downcast, he grinds out ‘Merritt,’ warning him.
‘As the eldest it’s my job to ensure that my fellow teammates remain happy. Clearly, that is not the case. So talk to me, what’s going on?’
‘Oh I don’t know, maybe go talk to the two lovebirds currently canoodling in the kitchen,’ he bites out sarcastically. With that, he pushes forcefully past Merritt, slipping outside where he can lose himself in the bustle of the city.
xxx
The last few days have passed by in an absolute blur-the failed Octa launch, landing in China of all places, their meeting with Walter the Wacky- and Daniel is internally wired up, his mind unable to stop turning. Nothing is going to plan, none of this was supposed to happen and Daniel’s trying desperately to catch up, to get one step ahead. He feels that he hasn’t had a moment to process everything until now, standing in the world’s oldest magic shop, the air thick with magic and secrets.
Everyone is on edge, frustrated at themselves and each other for allowing themselves to be played, and terrified because they are still being played. Daniel does not like it one bit and for the first time, his confidence in them as a team falters and he begins to question if they can really pull this all off. The tension between them all is almost unbearable. Well, the tension between all of them except Lula and Jack that is. Though their tension is still unbearable for Daniel, but in a different way.
He grabs the phone Li offers to him and moves to a more secluded part of the shop. He dials the number he’s memorized by heart- it’s one of those old corded phones where you have to turn a physical circular dial. As it begins to ring, he scans the shop. Merritt’s absent, thankfully having taken his jackass brother with him, but as he sees Jack and Lula huddled together over scattered cards, he wishes that perhaps Merritt had taken the lovebirds with him as well.
A voice echoing through the phone snaps his attention back to the task at hand. Even when everything’s gone to shit, Daniel’s going to try his best to get everyone and everything back on track, instead of playing with cards on the floor. ‘Yes this is J. Daniel Atlas,’ he says into the phone. ‘I’d like to request…’
Once everything is organised with the Eye, Daniel hangs up and carries the phone back to the counter. So far, everything in his new plan is working, giving him a semblance of control again. But if he wants it to stay that way, they need go get moving. He heads over to Jack, who is now kneeling alone by the cards, his wallet and belt beside him. His mind clouds as he considers the implications.
‘Jack we need to get going. And put your belt back on,’ Daniel tells Jack tersely, his voice clipped.
‘Oh no, we were just-‘
‘I don’t want to know.’ Daniel cuts Jack off sharply. He turns to look for Lula, but is called back by Jack’s biting voice.
‘Do you really? Because you sure as hell have been extremely interested in what Lula and I do together.’ His tone is icy and Daniel slowly turns back to find that Jack has risen, now matching his height and staring directly at him.
‘I-‘ starts Daniel.
‘No. This has gone on long enough. We’re going to talk about this, and we’re going to do it right now.’ He holds up a hand to cut off Daniel’s protest. ‘No, the Plan can wait- besides you know there’s not much we can do until morning.’
Daniel is unable to do anything but stand there, slightly shocked, so Jack grabs him by the wrist and pulls him out to the alley.
The sun is low in the sky, and they cast long and looming shadows. In the background, they can hear the noise of the city, of cars honking and rushing by. But all Daniel is focused on right now is Jack and the intensity behind his gaze.
‘What is your deal with Lula?’ he demands. Daniel doesn’t answer. Jack isn’t obtuse; he has to know why Daniel’s been avoiding her.
‘Or should I be asking what your deal is with Lula and I?’ Daniel averts his gaze, realizing too late that he’s given himself away. ‘Talk to me Danny. I told you I’d always listen, didn’t I?’
A car honks in the distance as Daniel collects his thoughts. ‘Lula… she just swept in and started taking and interfering with everything I cared about,’ Daniel murmurs. ‘Henley, the show,’ he pauses and visibly swallows. ‘You,’ he whispers.
He almost doesn’t look up, too afraid to see Jack’s response. When he does though, Jack’s staring back at him with a look of vexation. ‘So that’s what it is- jealousy. You’re jealous of Lula.’
‘So what if I am?’ Daniel looks at his feet, shoves his hands deeper into his pockets and hunches over. It’s in vain though- his protective barriers had been worn down long ago by Jack, his confident outer façade stripped away.
‘Well you should have said something!’ Jack explodes. ‘There was something there, lingering between us for months before Lula came. Months! But every time I tried to push at it, every time I tried to get closer to you, to maybe take it to something more, you resisted. You shut down, you pushed me out.’
‘It didn’t mean you had to go and flirt with her right in front of me every time I was in the same room as you!’ Daniel’s voice rises to match Jack’s.
‘What would you have had me do then Danny? Wait for you forever? You weren’t making any moves, and I got tired of waiting! Sorry for being interested in someone who actually pays attention to me.’ Jack throws his arms up.
‘I do pay attention to you.’
‘And when was the last time the two of us even had a proper conversation about something that wasn’t the show, huh?’
Daniel blanches. God Jack’s right- he can’t remember. It must have been sometime before Lula came, over a month ago.
‘Exactly.’ Jack takes a step forward and Daniel moves to lean back, but feels the cold hard bricks behind him, and forces himself to instead stand tall. ‘Look, I get if you’re not ready, but I don’t want to just be your rebound guy, or whatever, okay? I can see the signs- you only started noticing me after Henley left. Henley, who you’ve been pining over for years. So I get it, okay? But you can’t not say anything and then get jealous when I decide to move on! That’s not how it works!’
By now there is only an inch of space between Daniel and Jack. ‘Well what do you want me to say? That you’re not a rebound? Because it’s true, you’re not. You’re so much more than that.’ Daniel takes a shaky breath. ‘Do you want me to admit that I think about you at night when I can’t sleep? That I wish all those times we crashed at each other’s apartment had been something more? Because I do, okay!’
‘Why did you keep me in the dark about all of that for months? Why?’ Jacks grinds out angrily.
‘Because I was scared okay!’ yells Daniel. ‘I didn’t want to ruin what we had and I didn’t trust myself to not fuck things up. But then Lula came and suddenly you were all over her and she was all over you and I thought I’d missed my chance.’
Jack doesn’t say anything for a moment. Then; ‘You’re lucky I’m so ridiculously into you,’ and the next thing Daniel knows is Jack’s lips are on his and he can feel Jack’s body pushing him against the wall. At first he’s caught by surprise, but quickly he’s kissing Jack back, reaching his hands up to Jack’s hair, holding him steady.
Pulling back, Jack looks into Daniel’s eyes. ‘Does that clear things up for you? I was all over Lula, because I couldn’t be all over you. You, Danny, you who has been on this journey with me from day one. You who I’ve spent countless days and nights with. Just… you.’
His gaze bores into Daniel, who is struggling to focus on anything other than Jack’s warm breath on his lips. Then everything starts to catch up to him; the reality of what Jack had just admitted to him, the reality of what had just happened. And in that moment all he can think is screw Macau, screw the plan. He’s got Jack freaking Wilder nestled in between his legs and that’s all that really matters.
xxx
He’s still riding high on the exhilaration and adrenaline pumping through his veins. They’d done it. The five of them. They’d pulled off one of the greatest heists- they’d outed Walter and Tressler, and everything had gone exactly to plan. He sees Dylan shyly smiling at the crowd, Merritt and Lula beaming and waving, but mostly he sees Jack. Jack, looking proud of himself, but also of the other Horsemen, as he stares not at the crowd but at them, with such devotion and awe in his eyes, as though he can’t believe he gets to call them his family, that he gets to call them a unit.
Daniel waits until they’ve jumped off the stage and onto their escape boat, waits until the noise of the crowd fades and is replaced with the loud cracks of fireworks exploding above their heads. Only then does he pull Jack towards him, winding his arms around him to hold him close and leaning in for an ardent kiss.
He can feel Jack smiling beneath his lips and he pulls back to lean his forehead against Jack’s. ‘Happy New Year,’ he murmurs.
And what a happy new year it will be, he thinks. Him and Jack, against the world- what more could he possibly need?