"Why do I feel like a guinea pig when I wear one of these?"
Jack held up his wrist to reveal the tracking bracelet Danny made them wear. Eva slipped hers on and agreed with him.
"You're not planning on doing any experiments on us, are you Danny?" she joked. The others snickered while the man faked a laugh.
"To make you more compliant and less sarcastic? I would never!"
She rolled her as at him and chuckled. He let out a genuine laugh of his own as he checked the tracker the bracelets were transmitted to.
"Five minutes!" he warned.
They stood up from their seats and filed out of the dressing room backstage. As Eva struggled to walk in her heels, she kept a hand on Jack's shoulder. She stayed with him the whole way on the stage before taking her place on her own platform beside his.
"Arthur Tressler presents Jack Wilder, Eva Donahue, Henley Reeves, Merritt McKinney, and Daniel Atlas!"
The spotlight flickered on as their names were spoken, hitting each of their platforms individually. They waved and said hello to the audience as the others clapped for their appearance.
Daniel began the show quickly, addressing the crowd.
"What is magic?" he questioned rhetorically, "Our argument is that it's nothing but targeted deception."
They all backed up onto the center platform and stood together.
"So I want you to look. Look as closely as possible. Because the tricks you are about to see may not seem connected. But we assure you, they are."
Eva smirked and looked beyond the bright lights. She saw Agent Rhodes and his partner sitting on the upper level, watching them suspiciously.
"Is what follows one hundred different tricks? Or is it one giant illusion?"
The lights mysteriously flickered on and off. Danny and Henley took the stage first while the others backed off. Merritt went around backstage and scoped out his targets from behind the curtains.
Jack and Eva practiced their act by exchanging turns throwing cards and making them disappear. They heard Danny and Henley's act cause laughs and gasps of awe.
"They make bunnies disappear and we get to throw cards," Eva sighed, "How come we got stuck with the boring part?"
He shrugged, "Maybe you should kick Danny's ass and he'll change out the show a bit."
She laughed and shook her head dismissively. He grinned and tossed a card at her, narrowly missing her head before she caught it.
"We have fun in our own ways."
She glanced at him. He moved closer, suddenly surging forward and surprising her. Her eyes widened as he took her by the waist and pulled her body close to his.
But he paused as their faces stopped within mere inches of each other. Neither of them looked at anything but the other's lips. They stayed like that for a few moments, letting their breathless pants hit their faces.
Eva dared to look up and they met each other's eyes. His own courageous expression instantly turned hesitant and wary. He looked away and slowly loosened his hold on her.
Once he completely pulled away, he turned his back to her. This only made her more confused and even a little angry.
"Are you serious?" she scoffed, "What kind of game are you playing?"
He turned back around and ran a hand down his face, "I'm not-"
"You can't just try something and then back out before you actually do it!" she scolded, "Playing tricks on me isn't fun, Jack!"
He turned regretful and took a step closer only for her to back away. He held his hands out in a peaceful gesture.
"I'm not playing tricks. I would never do that to you."
"One year, Jack," she started, "We spent one year together and you can't so much as look at me and tell me what you want."
He laughed with a strained tone, "Don't you think I've tried? Every time I get even a little burst of confidence, all I have to finish take one look and it goes down the drain."
He gestured to her body and face, "I can't look at you without wanting something more but your eyes intimidate me."
"My eyes?" she questioned.
"Yes!" he shouted, "You're stupidly perfect caramel eyes that make me second guess myself. The same eyes that twinkle when you laugh and darken when you're pissed at me."
She frowned and furrowed her eyebrows in both confusion and simmering anger.
"Well, you're not so easy to talk to either!" she argued, "With all your grins and corny jokes that are stupid and make me laugh. And not to mention the fact that you're the only guy who isn't afraid that I'm gonna steal his wallet."
They both huffed and shut their mouths from the rants. Their eyes avoided each other again until they eventually came back together, resulting in the same thing Jack was afraid of.
His confidence was diminishing and he sighed. His expression filled with admiration as he looked over the woman he'd come to care for.
"I can't even look at you without feeling whatever it is we have," he admitted.
She took a short breath in an out, preparing herself to do what Jack couldn't. She took two strides closer, speaking as she did so,
"Then close your eyes."
She grabbed his face and smashed their lips together. His hands found her waist again and pulled her close. Both of their eyes stayed screwed shut, too scared to face the reality again.
Their kiss was passionate and welcoming; filled with both relief and tension. It was the fire to the long lasting line of matches waiting to be lit.
"Finally."
They both pulled away but stayed in each other's arms as Merritt spoke. They glanced over to see him walking towards them with a shit-eating grin on his face.
He put his hat back on his head and stepped towards the curtain where he waited to go on stage.
"Now the only sexual tension in the room belongs to the rest of us," he stated.
Eva rolled her eyes and laughed, "In your dreams, buddy."
He winked and walked on stage as his name was called again. Daniel and Henley came off and saw the pair still holding onto each other. They smiled as if they knew it would happen and kept walking until they reached the dressing room.
Jack and Eva turned to each other with bright smiles. Once they pulled away, they acted as if nothing had changed, when in fact, everything had.
Unbeknownst to them, they spent the entirety of their wait thinking about it. If Merritt's act had gone any longer, Eva was sure her own questions would drive her mad. Thankfully, the man walked off the stage fifteen minutes later.
Eva and Jack took a deep breath before stepping onto the stage. Cheers and whistles rang out for the audience's favorite pair. They smiled and waved back, reaching the center of the platform quickly.
"There are two pencils out there," Jack called out, "Let me see 'em!"
He shuffled his deck of cards as two woman stood up with wooden pencils in their hands. Eva stood back as Jack prepared his solo portion of the act.
He threw the cards at both pencils, effectively impaled one and cutting the other in half. The crowd awed at the distance and skill of Jack's throwing. He demonstrated his talents a few more times on other people.
Eventually, Eva stepped forward and pulled him back by the shoulder.
"Hit the road, Jack!"
The audience laughed lightly.
"It's my turn!" she exclaimed. He conceded and bowed out, taking his place behind her.
She flourished a card in front of her hand. She turned it towards the camera in the front row so that the audience could get a better view of what it looked like.
"Now, I have to be honest with you guys..."she sighed, "I stole this card from someone out there tonight. Under your seats, you'll see a deck of cards."
The people reached under had grabbed their individual decks. They held them eagerly.
"Don't open the box quite yet. First, I want you to memorize the card printed on the front of your box. Keep that in mind for later, okay?"
She walked around and watched as they looked at the fronts of the boxes, taking in the different possible cards. Once the chatter died down, Eva held up her hands in search of her target.
"Alma Dray!" she called, "Stand up please!"
Of course she already knew where the agent was sitting, but she pretended to search for the sake of the show. She watched as the woman stood up next to Agent Rhodes, unsure of what was happening.
She held up the original card, "Is this your card?"
The woman glanced down and shook her head. Eva smiled and sighed in dismay.
"Now you see me..."
She flickered her wrist, making the card disappear. Instant gasps of surprise emitted from the crowd.
"Now you don't."
Claps surrounded her as she glanced back at Jack. He teasingly clapped and bowed to her in awe. She rolled her eyes and turned back to face the others, making them settle down with a brief wave of her hand.
"Miss Dray, will you please look inside your box?" she questioned.
The woman opened the seal and peered inside, seeing nothing but a singular card. Her face lifted in shock as she observed it before turning it to face the camera.
The card and the box matched each other perfectly. Alma inspected the box in confusion, wondering how it went from a supposedly full deck to a singular card.
While she was distracted, Eva threw out the deck Alma was looking for. It scattered and flew through the first few rows. As they fluttered down, even more cheers erupted at the illusion.
She laughed and took a step back to join with Jack. They pair grabbed each other's hands and took a bow. They waved back at the crowd even as they exited the stage.
Once they were behind the curtain, the others congratulated them briefly before Merritt walked back on stage. Eva and Jack hung back for a moment longer.
"Ready for the fun part?" he asked.
She giddily nodded and clasped his hand tightly, completely forgetting they hadn't let go the whole time. She grinned widely,
"Let's expose this bastard."
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