Everything That Is Real (Comes Around)

Part Four

            Ariadne was furious when Cobb let it slip that Arthur was going to meet Jim alone again. When he tried to explain why she ignored him and spent the better part of the day trying to distract herself by playing with the kids or sketching in a notepad. Cobb knew that she was mad and he did not say much to her. Miles talked to her about school and whether she ever thought of going back. She lied to him, saying that she was considering it although really she had no desire to do so. If anything she just wanted to sit in on his lectures and listen without any expectation other than learning. Ariadne had a feeling that if she asked if she could do just that he would find a way to make it work but she knew that would also mean staying in one place for a semester. She was not sure if Arthur even knew how to take time off from work.

            The sound of a car pulling up in the driveway made Ariade jump to her feet faster than she thought possible, the sketchpad falling to the floor. She did not care that she was the first one to the door or that she was outside before anyone else had even reached the door. There were two cars, not one, and Eames grinned at her as he got out of the second car. She smiled warmly back but kept her eyes on Arthur. There was a cup in a plastic bag in his hand, a folder, and a set of keys. Ariadne knew just by looking at him that he was processing information and that it would take an earthquake to snap him out of this state of mind. So she did not accost him in any way as he brushed by her into the house and she took the time to hug Eames despite knowing he would turn it against her somehow.

            “You look lovely as expected,” he said looking her over and it made Ariadne blush which made him laugh a little. He rubbed her arms before he looked serious as he leaned down and whispered in her ear, “We need to talk later, just you and me.”

            “I'm glad I lived up to your expectations,” she said nodding in agreement with his last statement. The two of them walked into the house and Eames shook Cobb's hand, giving him a smile and a pat on the shoulder. Phillipa and James seemed a little intimidated by him until he made two giant lollipops appear out of nowhere and suddenly he had two new best friends. When the team asked Arthur about the file he held up a hand to silence them both, said he was working and that they would go over it when Yusuf joined them. Eames was about to argue until Cobb took him aside and explained what Ariadne already knew; this was not the time to push him. The chemist had called and said that his flight was getting in at midnight and that despite jet lag he did not want to wait until morning for an explanation.

            Ariadne sketched as she watched Arthur huddle over a desk. Eames was helping him lift a fingerprint off of the coffee cup. She could only assume that it had come from this man whom Fischer had hired to hire them. It seemed like a very redundant thing to do but at the same time he was trying to start a new company and could not risk his image being compromised in any way. If something did go wrong the paper trail would not lead back to the true client. When the print was set Arthur took a picture and loaded it into a database she was 120% sure he was not supposed to have access to. Pictures began to fly by and he rubbed his temples. Arthur got headaches when there was a puzzle he could not solve or if there was information that was eluding him and considering the situation Ariadne knew he probably had a full blown migraine. As the faces flew by on the screen he finally stood and walked outside into the night without a word.

            Ariadne glanced at Eames to see if he wanted to talk to her now but he shook his head making it the barest of movements. Cobb was watching her as well and they all seemed to be waiting for something. “What?” she asked and none of them said anything. She knew what they thought she should do. “All right, all right, I'm going,” she said before she stood and walked out the backdoor. Arthur was sitting on the steps of the porch massaging his temples. He did not flinch when she sat down next to him and that made Ariadne smile to herself. A year ago he would have turned in a state of paranoia to see who was behind him. “You know if you think any harder smoke might actually start to come out of your ears.”

            “Very funny,” Arthur muttered without looking up. “Did Cobb send you out to check on me?” Ariadne scoffed.

            “Without words more or less. I've seen you in this state before and I know you don't like to be bothered. I'm just surprised Cobb didn't know that,” she said leaning back on her hands and looking out at the night sky. It was too bright despite the late hour, the city making it impossible to see the stars at night.

            “He has seen me like this many times, he just never caught on that I like to be alone with my migraines,” Arthur said before he sat up. “I feel like I'm missing something obvious. There is some detail I overlooked that will help everything fall into place.”

            “Everything doesn't always fall into place, Arthur. Sometimes it just falls apart and all we can do is pick up the pieces and go from there,” Ariadne said and he turned to look at her; she smiled. “That's all you can do sometimes.” Arthur moved so he was leaning over her just a little looking down into her eyes.

            “If Cobb hadn't asked you to come out and talk to me, would you have?” he asked and Ariadne smiled.

            “Of course not,” she said and Arthur leaned down kissing her very gently. It was soft, like a whisper, and not nearly enough for her tastes. Ariadne moved so she was sitting upright and leaned in close kissing him deeper before slipping her tongue into his mouth. Arthur's arms were around her waist pulling her closer and she was about to sink her fingers into his hair when he pulled away quickly. She was about to ask why when the sound of the door opening behind her drew Ariadne's attention.

            “Yusuf's plane is landing and we need to go pick him up,” Cobb said sticking his head out the door. “Are either of you coming?”

            “I need to get back to work,” Arthur said before he stood and brushed by Cobb who looked a little surprised. Ariadne smiled just a little before pushing herself to her feet and walking back into the house.

            “I'll stay here too but I think you,” she pointed to Arthur, “need to get off that computer before your minds melts.”

            “I have more work that--” he started.

            “--that can wait. Just go and try to give that brain of yours a rest,” Ariadne said and he just stared at her for what felt like a long time. She could feel Eames and Cobb watching the scene with keen interest but she ignored them.

            “Fine,” Arthur said after a long silence. He stood and pulled on his suit jacket before following Cobb out of the house. As soon as the door closed Eames clapped slowly.

            “That was impressive, my dear, very impressive,” he said smirking. “There are few things in this world that can pull Arthur away from his work like that.”

            “The computer is still running the fingerprint anyway,” Ariadne said waving him off before sitting down on one of the couches in the living room. “Besides, you said you needed to talk to me so talk to me. What can't you say in front of Cobb?” The smirk faded as Eames walked over and sat next to her, leaning forward so his elbows were on his knees.

            “This man who is blackmailing us has taken an interest in our point man,” Eames said and his voice was slow and careful. “It's like there is some sort of power struggle between the two of them. When I found Arthur today the two of them were having a stand off.”

            “Wait, a stand off? As in with guns threatening to kill each other?” Ariadne asked and he nodded.

            “Yes and I'm pretty sure our boy hit a serious nerve when he mentioned something about Fischer and who was hiring who. Is that what this is about? Is Fischer trying to hire us?” Eames asked and all she could do was nod. “Well that's out of the question. Dreams can be like repressed memories; all of a sudden you remember something you thought you forgot. Working with him is way too risky and Arthur knows that. Why would he agree to this and why is he trying to drag the rest of us into it?”

            “This man, he calls himself Jim, says he has leverage over all of us. Arthur won't give me any details but it must have been convincing enough that he agreed to the job.” Ariadne looked at her hands on her lap, twisted in the fabric of her shirt. “What you're trying to tell me is that Arthur's in danger from this man.”

            “Yes and that means you are too. Like I said, I know this type, and they attack sideways through friends and family. So that means you're going to have my watchful eye on your back at all times.” Ariadne looked up and saw that he was not implying anything by it so all she could do was nod. “On a lighter note I want to know if Arthur ever got around to admitting that he fancied you or if you just had to jump him.” That earned the forger a slap on the arm and a death glare but Ariadne told him the brief version of the breakfast story leaving out the more interesting details. Eames had an odd smile on his face when she said that Arthur had asked her to be his partner. They talked about little things until the sound of a car pulling up to the house silenced both of them. Cobb, Arthur and Yusuf all walked into the house, closing and locking the door behind them. Yusuf greeted her with a smile but they did not hug. They exchanged a few handshakes and formalities before everyone sat down in the family room.

            “This is the last time we're meeting at this house,” Cobb said before anyone could say anything. Ariadne was not surprised; she would not want this job near her family either.

            “There is a hotel within walking distance of the place I found us. I'll give you all directions when we leave tonight,” Arthur said.

            “Well this is fantastic and all but can we please get to the point here? Flying halfway around the world for a tea party isn't exactly my idea of fun,” Eames said and she knew he was playing oblivious for a reason; if he hinted that he knew anything then he would have to talk about the stand off in the alley. Arthur explained everything that had happened in detail from the first meeting in St. Peter's Plazza to the meeting in the cafe. He neglected to mention the incident in the alley and judging by his demeanor Eames was not going to say anything either. This was also the first time she got a look at the mark and realized how risky this job was going to be.

            “This is a suicide mission,” Cobb said as he closed the file. “The dream is going to be dangerous by itself but this woman is someone who would kill us for this without a second thought.”

            “I know,” Arthur said in a flat voice. “And I'm still looking for a way to get out of this job but I’ve got nothing so far. I just can't find anything on this man. I can't find anything that he might have over all of us either. Word about all of us working together last year got around somehow and he seems to think he has something over each of us because we're all considered “the best” in our respective fields.”

            “Ever since our last job together I've been getting a lot more orders for chemicals than before,” Yusuf said. “I figured some word had to have gotten out.”

            “Arthur and I have been working on jobs for the past year or so and apparently have quite a reputation. I think we were the ones that caught Fischer's eye to be honest,” Ariadne said and Cobb nodded.

            “To an extent; Arthur and I did a lot of jobs after Mal died and Eames is well known as well. Even if we didn't know each other beforehand I have a feeling we would be in this same place right now under slightly different circumstances,” he said and he looked deep in thought. Ariadne glanced at Arthur whose eyes were glued to the laptop screen again. She could practically see the faces flashing past in his eyes. There was an uneasy silence before the laptop made a beep. Everyone turned and looked at Arthur as he stared at the screen and looked around.

            “His name is Walter Larson,” he began. “His criminal record includes fraud, kidnapping, robbery and attempted murder. He apparently fell off of the government’s grid about three years ago.”

            “I've heard of Walter,” Eames said. “To say he's a point man like our lovable Arthur,” that earned him a dark glare, “would be a bit of a stretch. We're talking about a person with zero moral compass. One of those willing to do anything to get the job done.”

            “We've agreed to do the job so this job should be done,” Cobb said and Ariadne saw Arthur tense. “Now we really just need to figure out a way to deal with Fischer so we don't trigger any memories.”

            “What about Saito?” Yusuf asked. “He's a businessman before our employer and well before a comrade. How is he going to react to this?”

            “I'd say we keep it from him but he'd find out somehow. Be up front I suppose,” Eames said. Ariadne yawned without even thinking twice about it and it seemed like enough to convince everyone else that it was time to turn in. Arthur gave the address to Eames and Yusuf who agreed to take one car before leaving. Arthur went to gather their bags and Cobb whispered to her that she needed to look out for him. She knew what he meant but did not acknowledge that it happened at all. After giving the address to Cobb the two of them walked out of the house and climbed into their rental car with Arthur carrying their bags and the PASIV.

            The hotel they were staying at was hardly lavish but it was nice enough that Arthur did not stand out too much in his suit. Ariadne was not surprised to find that he had made reservations for all of them earlier that day. Nevertheless the looks he got from Eames and Yusuf when he collected all of their room keys was entertaining if nothing else. Their hotel room was modest enough and when they both walked into the room Ariadne could hear Eames snickering from the hallway before Arthur kicked the door shut.

            “We need to get some sleep,” he said loosening his tie as he peeled away each layer of his suit.

            “We do but why don't we dream first?” Ariadne asked and he stopped what he was doing to look at her.

            “You want to go under? Just the two of us?” Arthur asked. She smiled and walked over, taking his hand and entwining their fingers.

            “We haven't shared a dream, just the two of us, in a long time. Don't worry; we'll go into my head,” Ariadne said pulling him toward the bed. He sat down on the edge and she kissed him briefly before she picked up the PASIV and put it in the middle of the bed.

            “You're the architect; you should build the dream,” Arthur said as she drew out two lines.

            “True, but you don't want me in your head right now, do you.” Ariadne did not need to ask him the question, she merely stated it, because they both knew it was true. “Besides, you never build for me. Let's see what you can get up to in five minutes.” The familiar statement made Arthur smile as he lay down on the bed facing her, the machine between them, as she set the timer. When the lines were set she was about to hit the button when he leaned over and kissed her before turning the machine on. As the chemicals raced through her body Ariadne felt everything start to fade and the last thing she remembered was the feeling of Arthur's lips against hers.