Dylan had left about 5 minutes ago, having to talk to the rest of the team, leaving me up here alone. I sighed, dropping my head with a groan before I stared at the theatre in front of me, knowing Daniel was in there preparing for his show. He was so close but at the same time, we couldn't be further away from each other. Both us are, as cliché as it sounds, on different sides of the law. Which was something you should never really be on separate sides of.

"Elle?" I turned my head to see it'd been Alma who called for me. "We're leaving." I nodded and she walked back into the apartment. I looked down at the crowds of people lining the streets, some flooding into the theatre whereas others were hanging around for Mardi Gras. I took one final look at the glittering lights, taking a deep breath in as I prepared myself. I drummed my hands on the railing before backing up and stepping into the house.

...

Ladies and gentlemen," A voice over the PA spoke. "The Savoy management welcomes you to tonight's special performance, The Four Horsemen, Act Two. Unlike traditional performances, The Four Horsemen encourage you to film, call your friends, upload, stream, and tweet the show freely. Thank you. The show will begin in a few minutes."

I took my seat and could feel Dylan's nervous energy radiating from him on my right. Alma was next to him and in the seat next to the isle. I tapped my leg, Dylan's anxiety flooding into me, though I knew we were nervous for different reasons. But I couldn't help but be excited. I'd always loved going to shows whether they were Atlas' shows or musicals, plays and ballets. Daniel, of course, knew this and frequently took me to them. I didn't think I'd end up here for my job though, in a theatre about to watch him commit a crime. The woman next to me eyed me hesitantly, obviously suspicious as to why Dylan and I were so nervous. I apologised quickly and she smiled awkwardly at me with a small nod.

"Nice watch." Alma complimented Dylan who was looking around the theatre.

"It's a family heirloom." He answered, straightening out his tie.

"By the way, I know how Shrike did that trick." Dray said, I leant forward curiously.

"How?"

"When he was 14, he saw a hole in a tree in Central Park. He had a guy who worked at the carousel sign a card for what looked like a routine little trick."

"And?" Dylan prompted.

"At the guy's retirement, 18 years later, Shrike performs, has the guy sign a card,

and presto!" She grins.

"The card is in the tree." Dylan said/

"It was in the tree for 18 years." Alma added excitedly.

"The card was in the tree." Dylan repeated. "The tree grew around the card in 18 years. I mean, that isn't magic. It's not magic."

"Dylan, you're not getting the point." I rolled my eyes and Alma nodded.

"The point is, the trick was not to look closely. It was to look so far that you see 20 years into the past. After Shrike drowned, they never found the body." She told him and Dylan stared at her for a moment.

"What are you suggesting?" He asked and before she could reply the lights dimmed.

"Arthur Tressler presents...Jack Wilder," A spotlight switched on, illuminating the young boy. "Henley Reeves," Another. "Merritt McKinney," And another before finally, one last person remained. "And Daniel Atlas." I tried to keep my expression as neutral as possible but I still felt a small flame of pride flicker in my chest. He'd always wanted to be where he is now, in front of a crowd. It was just a shame he was going to break the law to do so. "The Four Horsemen."

"Thank you." Daniel said. "Before we begin, we'd like to single out three people in particular. A man and a two women to whom we'd like to dedicate tonight's performance."

"FBI Agent Dylan Rhodes, the lovely, if somewhat inexperienced, Interpol Agent Alma Dray." Henley said condescendingly.

"And of course," Atlas added. "We can't forget the sweet and beautiful FBI Agent, tragically haunted by her past, Agent Elara Ellis, everyone." I swallowed thickly betrayal coursing through every nerve in my body at the thought that he brought up my past, something that was so hard to tell him but I'd trusted him with. I'd trusted him to never use it against me and yet here I was. Humiliation set upon me as a bright light shone down on us. I dropped my head in my hands as people began to boo us. I felt Dylan slip his hand into mine, squeezing tightly to let me know he was there.

"Yeah, Agent Rhodes has personally vowed to quote, 'nail us.'" Jack said bitterly and I lifted my head once more.

"And we encourage him to do so if he has the brains and the fur." Chuckles sounded through the theatre and I caught eyes with Daniel. I glared and shook my head slowly, almost unnoticeably. But I could tell he'd seen it by the penitent way he'd wrung his hands. I let out a small sigh of relief as the light went off, leaving us once again in darkness.

"What is magic?" Daniel began, taking slow steps backwards. "Our argument, nothing but targeted deception. So I want you to look. Look as closely as possible." He stepped in line with the rest of the horseman, slightly in front showing that he was the leader of their little group. "Because the tricks you are about to see may not seem connected. But we assure you, they are. Is what follows 100 different tricks? Or is it one giant illusion?" The lights strobed momentarily, pulsing brightly once more before going out.

...

The lights turned back on, two of them shining on a small box in the centre of the stage. Daniel and Henley entered, the red-head cradling a rabbit in her hands. "And now for one of the oldest tricks in the book." She stated. "Danny, if you wouldn't mind opening up the box, and showing everybody that it's completely empty." Daniel did as she'd asked and opened the box to reveal that it was in fact empty. He shut it back up again, opening the lid on the top. "I'm gonna take sweet little Fluffy here, and put her inside this mystery box."

Daniel shut the lid again and turned to Henley. "And now, you will say the magic word."

"Abracadabra?" She grinned.

"Yes," He pulled out the typical magician's wand, one you'd find as a cheap kid's toys. "And I will wave this magic wand for no reason." He threw it behind himself to the back of the stage. "And then..." Daniel quickly opened the box with no rabbit in sight. "Fluffy has magically vanished before your very eyes."

"And now we are gonna debunk a few magic myths this evening." Henley announced. "We all know that Fluffy is, in fact, alive and well." Daniel pulled a mirror down, revealing the white rabbit. "And Fluffy has miraculously appeared." She pulled the rabbit out, once again holding it against her chest.

Daniel pulled the mirror from the box and began twirling it in his hands absentmindedly. "As has the mirror which makes the box only appear as though it's empty."

"Now, we've all heard of pulling the rabbit out of the hat." Reeves smiled mischievously.

"But has anyone heard of pulling a hat out of a rabbit?" She grinned and held the rabbit out in front of her. The rabbit transformed into a top hat, causing the crowd to roar.

...

"There are two pencils out there." Jack called, shuffling his cards. "Hold 'em up high. Let me see 'em."

"Here!" One woman called.

"Yeah!" Another shouted.

...

"Now, we're gonna need 12 courageous volunteers." Merritt spoke to the crowd. After choosing the twelve and getting them onto the stage, he turned to the audience. "If you haven't experienced mass hypnosis, you're about to." He warned before going back to the volunteers.

"And sleep. Down, down. Sleep, sleep. Completely sleep. Good, good. Sleep, sleep." He walked along the row of them, pressing each of their shoulders as he gave the commands. Their heads dropping into a sleep. "When you hear the word 'freeze' you are all football players. And your job is to tackle, dismantle, crush, tear limb from limb, the quarterback. You will know who the quarterback is. He will be the one saying that word. Freeze." He repeated.

He woke them all up and gathered them in a circle. "Put your hands in the middle." He ordered. "1, 2, 3...Kill the quarterback!" They shouted. "Get on back to your seats. I got a feeling I'm gonna be seeing you soon."

...

"3, 2, 1." The crowed chanted. Jack let the cards fly out of the deck, the one with the woman's signature landing directly onto her pencil. He kept hold of the last one, flinging it across the audience with astounding accuracy and force as it'd chopped the pencil she help up in half.

...

I watched with fascination as Daniel created huge bubbles out of thin air. Soon enough, bubbles were floating across the stage, catching the light and gleaming with glorious colours. Daniel then made a bigger one. Henley ran up and jumped into it. She twirled and spun gracefully until she got too close to a chandelier. I quickly stood, seeing how close she was getting and slipped past a confused Dylan and Alma. Right as she brushed against it, the bubble popped. She screamed and fell. I sprinted over and got there just in time to see her fall into Daniel's arms. I let out a sigh of relief, though at the same time, I felt an inkling of jealousy course through me.

I knew Daniel assured me nothing was going on, but I wasn't sure how much I could trust him. I clapped with the rest of the crowd but it was half-hearted as doubt began to wade it's way through my mind. I shouldn't have been feeling so jealous or heartbroken. We were on different sides, we hadn't been a couple for a year and I wasn't even sure of my own feelings for him.

Daniel let Henley down as the lights turned back to the stage and off them. When he looked up, his eyes locked with mine. I forced a small smile, though he knew me well enough to know what was going on. His eyes widened and he frantically shook his head. "Ellie-" I heard him say but I'd already turned around and quickly walked back into my seat. Once I was there, I let out a deep sigh.

A/N:

Only 5/6 chapters left you guys!!

I'd love ideas for the 3rd part of Pansy which are going to be little one shots involving Elle and The Horsemen after the first movie so if you guys want to send me prompts, please feel free, I'd appreaciate it a lot :D

Thank you all so much for all the votes/comments so far!!! Keep it up, it's amazing :)

x Clara