Found Family (1/?)
Fandom: Now You See Me
Pairing: Daniel Atlas x Reader
Warnings: mentions of traumatic childhood experiences.
Part 2
“I can’t believe you broke into their apartment,” you hissed, swatting your sister on the arm as she stuck her tongue out at you.
“Your just jealous because I got to see the great J Daniel Atlas before you did. If it’s any consolation, Ididn’t get to see Jack,” she said, winking at you in a very conspicuous way.
You fought the blush that threatened to make its way onto your face. Lula was the only person on the planet that knew of your celebrity crush on the head Horseman, and that was just because you knew each other so well it was impossible to keep secrets.
“Shut up,” you muttered through gritted teeth, casting a pointed look in Dylan’s direction. The older man was typing away on a laptop resting on the kitchen counter. Luckily it didn’t seem like he’d heard anything.
“…broke into my apartment, alright?” A familiar voice echoed through the door at the top of the stairs, you straightened, running a hand through your hair nervously.
“Some amateur who knew everything about me, everything about Henley leaving, and everything about us,” Atlas continued, coming into view on the platform. Refusing to let any silly feelings get in the way of your job here, you forced yourself to breathe evenly. Lula grinned, jumping up and down next to you.
At the sight of your sister, Atlas ran a hand across his chin in dismay and leaned against the railing, “That’s her.”
“Hey!” Lula exclaimed, raising her hands above her head, beaming. You buried your face in your hands and shook your head, embarrassed for her.
“Hi,” Atlas said, exhausted defeat coating his tone. You dropped your hands, giving the three men a little wave, an apologetic wince on your face.
Dylan stood up and addressed the Horsemen, “You’ve met Lula.”
Atlas grimaced, “I’ve met her. But not the other one, who’s she?”
You took this as your cue to introduce yourself, “Um, yeah. Hi. Name’s Y/n.”
He nodded, “Nice to meet you,” then immediately turning to Dylan, “What are they doing here?”
“Well, we’re the new Horsemen!” Lula declared, making you want to curl up and die.
Atlas looked at you as if to ask ‘is she serious?’ You shrugged, “She’s right.”
“We’re the new girl Horsemen!” Lula continued, completely unprompted by anyone. To your utter dismay, she proceeded to whoop and cheer, waving her hands as if to tell them to join in.
“Lula… Lula,” you said softly, pushing her hands down.
“Nobody?” She asked, infinitely confident, “No excitement? Jack?”
“Dylan,” Merritt said, “Dylan, what’s going on?”
The three men began the descent down the stairs as Dylan explained.
“Well, Lula and Y/n have been on the underground scene for the last… decade, and I think they have some real talent and I’d like to try them out on stage to balance out the duo.”
Throughout this speech, Lula was nodding enthusiastically, a wide-eyed smile on her face. You just watched the three Horsemen with caution.
As you guessed, Jack protested, “What? No man, I thought you said after Henley left that I could get back on stage again, not someone who just showed up!”
He advanced on Dylan, the older man putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
Lula waved enthusiastically at Jack as he passed the two of you, Merritt and Atlas following close behind. When it was clear Jack wasn’t going to react, she turned to wave at Atlas who returned it halfheartedly. He met your gaze, quirking his brows in greeting. You gave him a tight-lipped smile, trying to calm your erratic heart.
“I’d said I’d think about it and I have, and I really need you behind the scenes with me for a little while,” Dylan said, an apologetic look on his face.
Jack sighed, “C’mon Dylan, I’ve been behind the scenes my whole life.”
“Which is a crime, might I add,” Lula interjected, making you wince, “Have you seen that man’s face?”
You tried not to think about the fact that Danny Atlas was standing right next to you, watching the whole encounter.
At your sister’s comment, Jack stared at her with a mix of confusion and awkwardness.
“As much as I appreciate the addition of some femininity to the group over an above what Atlas provides,” Merritt began.
You actually smiled at that, huffing a soft laugh and prompting a shocked look from the man in question.
“I think the real issue is that we’ve been in this-“ Merritt continued, but was interrupted by Atlas.
“Yeah, the issue is we have been rehearsing for months, for something… we don’t even know what it is-“
“You’re gonna keep working until-“ Dylan tried, but Atlas interjected again.
“Until we work as a single organism, I know. I’ve heard you say that,” he said, frustration leaking into his voice, “Thing is, when you say that, what I think your referring to is us,” he said, gesturing to everyone but Dylan, “you know, not you.”
“Listen, I’m getting my orders directly from The Eye, okay, and then I give them to you. Now if you don’t like that, you’re welcome to go,” Dylan said. You froze. You had been completely unaware that tension was so high between Atlas and Dylan. Would you and Lula joining help or just make the situation worse?
“No, I’m not going anywhere,” Atlas said, “But I’m… hm… I’m taking care of myself.”
“Guys,” Lula said, drawing the brunt of the attention away from the cat fight seconds from happening between Dylan and Atlas, “Can I just weigh in, because I think I see what’s going on here.”
You shook your head, “Uh, Lula, I don’t think you do-“
“You guys are this amazing, tight knit family unit,” she continued, completely ignoring your warning, “Y/n and I are these new people stepping in-“
“No no no no, we are not a family unit,”Merritt protested.
“Well, our mother… literally knifed our father in the neck one time, so you’re kinda like our family unit,” Lula said.
Atlas’s head turned to look at you, his eyes wide. You winced at the memory.
“Literally?” Merritt asked, disbelief clear in his tone.
“Uh, yeah, it was an accident,” you said, then added, “at least we think.”
“Okay…” the mentalist said, changing the subject quickly, “So does this mean we’re actually going to do something?”
“Yes,” Dylan said.
Silence fell for a moment. The five Horsemen looked at each other in shock. You met Atlas’s gaze for what felt like the millionth time so far. He quirked a brow — a mannerism you were beginning to realise he did a lot.
“You’ve all heard of Octa and they’re playboy CEO Owen Case?” Dylan asked, looking around the circle, “His partner Walter Mabry died about a year ago. You wanna know what all this has been leading to?”
“Now?” Lula asked before pulling out the blueprints Dylan had brought with him to the apartment.
“Octa’s holding a launch of of the next gen’s cell phone. Once these phones are on the streets, he’ll cipher the user’s information for the Black Market. Meaning Octa’s selling privacy to up their profit, so The Eye has decided to expose him for it. Our mission is to hijack the show.”
You looked around at everyone’s faces. Their grim expressions matched your own.
“Rehearsal’s over guys. This is what we’ve been waiting for. Now it’s time to get to work.”
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