Everything That Is Real (Comes Around)

Part Six

            It was well into the afternoon by the time Ariadne realized she was starving. They had been working since early in the morning so even if everyone else had eaten something they would be hungry now. There was polite conversation among them but no one seemed to be talking about anything in particular. No one seemed surprised that Arthur did not look up even when everyone else was engaged in conversation. When she looked up from her work Eames immediately caught her eyes before Ariadne was able to look away; she really did not want to deal with prying or toying right now. The longer Arthur sat in complete silence the more irritated she became. At this point they were usually bouncing information off of each other so she could design a maze that would work perfectly for the mark but now she was working with almost nothing.

            “I think we all need something to eat,” Eames announced and that got everyone's, everyone except Arthur that is, attention. “So tell me what you need and I'll go get it.” Ariadne knew this was a ploy to get her alone but she also really had no choice; he knew something was amiss and he would confront her while they were out or she would insist to stay in and then not only Eames would know something was wrong but Cobb would as well. The thought of being interrogated by both of them was not something she was exactly looking forward to so she volunteered to go with him. When he asked what Arthur wanted to eat he waved Eames off and said that he was fine. No one pushed him for an answer before Eames gathered his car keys and the two of them walked down the stairs to his car. He was strangely silent and for half a second she hoped that maybe he did not suspect anything. “So what's going on with you and our lovely point man?”

            “Nothing is 'going on' between us,” Ariadne said firmly hoping that if she denied it enough he would leave it alone.

            “I haven't seen Arthur that introverted since, well, the first time I met him not long after Mal died. He wasn't exactly sharing his life story but it would take an idiot not to notice a difference between him twelve hours ago and him now,” Eames said as they drove along a road in downtown LA. “So what happened?” She tried to think of a good way to describe their conversation, the more annoyed she got by his distance the more convinced she was that it was a fight, without spilling the contents of the last year.

            “I called him out on his bullshit and he walked out,” Ariadne said.

            “Well Arthur does have his fair share of bullshit that's for sure. So he just walked out and didn't come back?” Eames asked and she nodded.

            “I didn't even know if he was okay until you called. I was worried because you said he was in danger from Jim or Walter or whatever we're calling him,” she said and Eames nodded.

            “I still believe that but I also think order and obsession is a common trait for a point man; it's what drives them to recheck information ten times. Killing, or even hurting, Arthur before the job is done is just something guys like that don't do. He'll wait until the second we turn in the extracted information. You can relax, for now at least, as far as that is concerned.” He stopped for a moment creasing his eyebrows together. “He probably isn't going to confront you.”

            “I know he won't and at this point,” Ariadne hesitated as this realization dawned on her. “I'm not entirely sure I want him to. I've basically been sitting on my hands for a year waiting for something more to happen beyond the point of 'partner.'”

            “You mean besides physical?” Eames said and she knew her cheeks were turning red. “Oh love you didn't think that no one noticed or knew did you? I'd assure you in some way that he just needs more time but I honestly don't know if that's true. Cobb might know but I'm not sure you want to confront him about it. He doesn't like tension and if he can fix it he will try. To be honest I really have no idea what to tell you to do. You're a smart girl, just go with what sounds right.” They more or less rode in silence as they went to various different places to pick up food. Ariadne picked out something that she knew Arthur liked even if he insisted he was not hungry. Eames did not push the issue further but it was nice knowing someone else was there who could try and draw attention away from them. When they pulled back up to the building she instantly felt annoyed again and as they walked up the stairs she wondered about her realization earlier and how much truth was really in it.

***

            Arthur looked up from his computer for the first time once Ariadne left. He felt stupid for avoiding and ignoring her but he could not come up with anything to say. What she had told him was completely true and he had no counter argument. You could not dispute facts and just saying 'you're right' seemed like it was in poor taste. When she was not looking he would glance at her. Over the course of the last few hours her shoulders got stiffer and her movement more intense; she was getting angry. There was nothing he could do to ease that anger so he did nothing. Instead Arthur poured everything he had into double checking all of Walter's work. He wanted it to be all wrong so he had some moral high ground but each detail came back exactly right down to the smallest thing. It gave him a hell of a headache and hurt his pride much more than he was willing to admit.

            When she came back Arthur was not surprised when she placed one of his favorites on the table. Even in her anger Ariadne was a kind person and he admired her for that quality. Unable to meet her eyes he said a low 'thank you,' keeping his eyes fixed on the computer. Hours fell off the clock and before long it was nighttime. Everyone agreed that now was a good time to turn in; Cobb wanted to tuck his kids into bed if nothing else. So they all went their separate ways; Eames said he wanted to get drunk, Yusuf said he needed to check a supplier for more ingredients, Cobb was out the door and driving away before anyone else and Ariadne said she was going to head to bed early. The hotel was exactly where he wanted to go too but he just could not walk with her like that so he made up some bullshit excuse about how he wanted to check on something before they parted ways.

            Arthur was not keen on wasting time so when he was sure Ariadne was back at the hotel he walked back and picked up his car. It was dinner time and that meant Susana Mitchell would be at her favorite restaurant flaunting how much money she had since she could eat there. She was easy to spot in the window with her red hair and when she talked she was very physical about it; her arms moved with every word and her facial expressions were very extreme. Despite all of this there was something about the way she moved that set him on edge. When she smiled it looked more like a smirk and there was no laughter in her eyes. Off to the corner he could see her body guard watching every inch of the room. If there was someone Eames could forge into it was that body guard and Arthur made a mental note to find out exactly who that man was.

            He watched her for several hours since she seemed in no rush to finish eating. People would come and go from her table and she did not seem to care who she talked to as long as they listened, or pretended to listen, to every word she said. Susana liked to be the center of attention which really did not seem to make sense for someone who was so paranoid. When she finally paid her bill Arthur drove away before she exited the building. If he had been spotted she did not make it known and it was going to be difficult to try and get a sense of her. Eames would have to be very careful if he tried to watch her closely. He pulled into the parking garage of their hotel and leaned back against the chair. She was up there, just a few floors up, alone and with his things. He wanted to go see her, if nothing else because he really needed his suitcases, but also because they had to work together for this job. After that they could go their separate ways. They had to be civil.

            Arthur stopped on her floor with the intent of doing something, he was not sure what, when he saw his bags sitting outside her door. He felt a little crushed by the action; she did not want to see him. He had to respect her wishes so he gathered his things and went back to his own room. He opened his laptop and connected to the internet that he was paying way too much for. If nothing else he would do some normal research on Susana. Just follow some articles and see what kind of business strategies she had, who she worked for, all of the little things. Her name came up connected to various different major companies but the one that caught his eye was the same one he wished he did not see; Susana Mitchell had worked for Saito's company five years ago. Arthur wished he could write it off as some major coincidence but that was against his very nature.

            When he tried to dig a little deeper he found absolutely nothing, at least not in public records. If there was anywhere that would have the information he needed it was the database within Saito's company. He could get in, he knew he could, but to do so would create a very powerful enemy. Ariadne had suggested they be up front with the businessman but now he was not so sure. Susana was linked to Saito's company who had information that could bring down Fischer's empire before it even started. The connection made him nervous. They could confront Saito and be honest about the situation and find that he was not okay with their involvement and thus refuse to do the job which would cause Walter to leak all of his leverage or they could do the job and Saito would somehow get wind of it and suddenly turn into the worst kind of enemy, the kind that knew everything about them. Arthur decided to run it by Cobb and see what he thought.

            He closed his laptop and fell back on the bed. He was tired, exhausted even, but he knew that he would not be able to sleep. Walter, Susana, Saito, they were all spinning in his head to the point that nothing short of a sledgehammer to the skull would fix it. Which was why he called Yusuf and asked for some of the sedative that could help him get a few hours of sleep. The chemist seemed reluctant at first but agreed when Arthur pointed out that he was useless without sleep. He took some of the mild version of the sedative and drifted into a heavy sleep within seconds.

            It had been years since Arthur had had a dream naturally but even then he was restless. Something snapped him out of his chemical induced coma more than once and he had absolutely no idea what it was. If he was dreaming then he did not remember the dreams at all. Every time he lay back down to try and fall asleep Ariadne's words echoed in his head; he did not trust her, he did not feel safe around her, he did not let his guard down. What was more annoying than the repeated conversation was the knowledge that it was all true. That was infinitely worse than every time he woke up startled for no reason.

            The next morning he woke up early and grabbed a quick breakfast downstairs before he headed to the office. It was before eight in the morning so Arthur knew he was going to be the first person there. When he opened the door to their office he just looked around; each of their desks displayed the part they played in this situation. Arthur looked over at Ariadne's table and admired her work; this maze she was building was impressive but it needed context. That was his job and he needed more time to work on it. So he prepared everything he had so far so he could pass the information onto the rest of the team even if that meant having to talk to Ariadne.

            They all filed in and by ten everyone was there. Cobb took one look at him and said they all needed to listen to what Arthur had to say. When all eyes were on him, even Ariadne’s, her eyes trying to burn a hole into his clothes, he presented what he knew.

            “So far everything that Walter gave us is checking out but I'm going to double check it again. Susana has the medical records to prove that she is unstable at the very least so her projections are going to be unpredictable. I do think that I have someone Eames can forge into that would help ease her mind: her bodyguard,” he said.

            “Normally I would agree but I don't think that's the case. This woman is unstable and has been trained. If there if even the slightest thing off about her body guard she's going to notice because she subconsciously knows to look for those irregularities. I can mimic people but I can't become them,” Eames replied. “I don't think we're going to trick her with that at all.”

            “She'll be even more suspicious if there's no body guard at all,” Cobb said and seemed to think on the matter for a moment. “Arthur's right; that body guard is the best shot we have at getting close to her in the dream.”

            “What about the projections? Suddenly having a bunch of people shooting at us is going to be hard to hide,” Ariadne said and Arthur stole a quick glance at her; she was staring straight ahead.

            “We'll just have to keep in constant motion throughout the maze. This woman is extremely paranoid so someone gunning to kill her is not that much of a stretch. If her guard makes it seem like someone is after her then she will probably go along with it,” Arthur replied without looking at her. Cobb was going to notice the tension between them soon enough. Eames already had, and probably had confronted Ariadne about it, but Cobb was in the dark for now.

            “How many layers are we talking about? I need to know if I need to mix a sedative and if so how strong,” Yusuf asked.

            “For now we're looking at one layer. Since she is so on edge I think you should add some relaxation components. It might ease her mind a bit. What we really need to do is find out how we can convince her to lock that secret up somewhere,” Cobb said.

            “A panic room,” Arthur said and everyone, even Ariadne, looked at him.

            “A panic room is perfect. The information will be in that room because it's safe and her mind will lock it in there. The projections will actually help us because it will convince her to go to the panic room,” Eames said nodding.

            “Let's go with that for now. Ariadne, design a city and then a building for us to go to. We're going to try and get as much information about the interior of her home as possible,” Cobb said and everyone went back to their business. Arthur took Cobb by the arm and pulled him aside. “Is there something wrong?”

            “You could say that,” he said before opening the file he had on Susana and pointing to where she worked.

            “Oh this is not good,” Cobb said trying to think on the matter. “We're stuck no matter what we do.”

            “I know,” Arthur said as he closed the file. “I didn't think telling everyone right away was what you would want. What should we do?”

            “I'll figure it out. You need to get information on the interior of her home so we can make it as perfect as possible. If she realizes she's dreaming those projections are going to go crazy. Let's just hope she's as paranoid as we think she is; if she doesn't have a panic room we're going to have to come up with something different,” Cobb said before he walked away. The ever persistent headache returned and Arthur nearly fell into his desk chair. There had to be some way to see the inside of that woman's house without letting her know what they were doing. There had to be a way for Eames to observe the body guard without drawing attention to himself. And even if this panic room idea worked they had no possible clue where they were going to drug her. There was too much going on his head for Arthur to focus on one detail at a time. And even if he did maintain some sort of focus his thoughts always went back to Ariadne. He needed to get her out of his head if he was going to get any work done.

            After trying and failing for several hours to get her out of his head Arthur looked at her. Her eyes were narrowed and she was drawing and erasing over and over again. She was focused on her work 100% and here he was hardly able to keep a straight thought. Ariadne was not thinking about him and that comfort alone was enough to get her out of his mind.

            If Ariadne did not care then neither did he.