So Long And Goodnight

Nickname / Pet Name

2.2

            Eames was not surprised that Arthur was as tight and rough in terms pf interactions with people as he was with everything else. It was all straight lines and crossing T's and dotting I's and everything having to be perfect. He gave a new definition to the word 'anal' which was partly why the forger had such a good time taunting him. It was a step in the right direction when he pushed Arthur against a wall and kissed him full on the lips out of nowhere. The point man went so rigid that Eames was sure that he could snap Arthur in half easily. When he did not respond the forger slid his tongue into Arthur's mouth and that was all the pushing the point man needed. Suddenly, he was kissing back with such force that Eames was sure they were going to have bruises in the morning.

             After their kiss that night and a rather intense make out session, Arthur vanished for several months. Eames was not entirely surprised. According to Cobb Arthur was not very good with relationships and he tended to play things so close to the chest that most people just gave up on him. From the way the extractor said that he seemed sure that Eames would do the same thing. The forger was not sure if he should be insulted. Eames had left a string of broken hearts and one night stands behind him compared to a man who had had maybe two serious relationships in his entire life.

            So when he showed up on Arthur's doorstep, Eames was not surprised that the point man looked nothing short of confused. “What are you doing here?” he asked.

            “Not going to invite me in? That's rather rude of you,” Eames said and he flashed his best smile. Arthur studied him for a moment before he stepped aside. The forger brushed by and made no attempt to get out of the way when their shoulders touched. Arthur shut the door and watched him carefully.

            “What are you doing here, Eames?” he asked again.

            “I'm dropping by because you never called,” Eames replied and he almost kicked himself for how mocking he sounded. He could have punched himself, however, for how much that made Arthur tense up.

            “It's not like you picked up a phone either,” he replied and he rubbed his temples. “Look, I don't know why you're here or what your motives are but I know you well enough to realize one thing about that night.”

            “And what would that be?” Eames asked and he was genuinely curious as to what Arthur thought of him.

            “That it was a one time deal. That's how you work and I get that so why don't you just go back to wherever you're staying these days. We still have a professional relationship,” Arthur said and the forger was not entirely surprised that this was what Arthur thought of him. Instead of trying to come up with some sort of excuse as to why he had never called he just walked forward until Arthur's back was against the wall. Eames put his hands on either side of the point man and pinned him against the wall.

            “Who said anything about a one time deal?” he asked and he kissed Arthur again. This time it was not rough, it was not to get a reaction, but to get a point across. When he pulled away Eames had never seen Arthur so surprised. He searched the point man's face for some sort of reaction before he felt hands snake into his hair and they were kissing again. It was slow and so different from anything Eames had ever experienced in his life. So, for the first time, he let someone else lead him into the bedroom.

            Eames went on a job after spending a month at Arthur's and after a week, he got a call from Arthur telling him that he had taken one as well. It was not entirely surprising considering how long it had been since Arthur had worked. They planned to meet back at the apartment when they were both done and go from there. Two weeks into the job the phone rang at an ungodly hour and Eames considered throwing it across the room before he looked at the screen and saw Arthur's name flashing.

            “Darling, do you have any idea what time it is?” he asked. “I need my beauty sleep after all.”

            “Eames,” Arthur said but his voice was heavy like he was having trouble breathing. The forger sat straight up in bed, a cold sweat forming over his body.

            “Arthur, what's wrong?” Eames asked.

            “I'm not sure, something went wrong, and my entire team,” the point man cut himself off and coughed violently. “They're all dead and I'm--”

            “Where are you?” Eames interrupted as he jumped out of bed. “Someone has to be close, someone has to be able to come help you, so tell me where you are.”

            “There's no one,” Arthur said in a low voice. “And I can't get up, I can't move to get help. They stabbed me--”

            “Put pressure on the wound and just hang on. I'll find some way to get you help and you're going to be okay. I promise, you're going to be okay, just hold on and don't pass out,” he said and he did not try to hide how frantic he sounded.

            “Eames,” Arthur said, “there's no time. Just stay on the line with me, please, just stay here and talk to me.” The forger swallowed the heavy lump in his throat and he sat down slowly. There was a heavy feeling in his chest that would not go away and it felt like he was going to faint. “Eames? Are you there?”

            “I'm still here, I'm here, darling, you just sit tight and I'll find some way to help, okay?” Eames said.

            “Don't hang up,” Arthur said and Eames shut his eyes.

            “Never.” The forger tried to come up with some way of getting help to Arthur but he had not been lying when he said there was no one who could help. He was too far away for even the local hospital to get to him. So Eames just talked to Arthur and before long the line went dead. The forger threw the phone across the room and walked out on the job. He found the place where Arthur had died. Just a pool of blood remained, but the PASIV was hidden nearby.

            The flight to LA was long and Eames felt like he owed it to Cobb to tell him in person. The extractor slammed his fist into the wall so hard that Eames heard bones snap.

            Eames went to Arthur's apartment. He lay in his bed for a long time and kicked a hole in the wall. He got blind drunk for days at a time and hardly went out at all. When he could think of nothing else to do he hooked himself up to the PASIV and fell into a dream.

            Eames woke up and realized he was standing in the storage locker that Arthur had died in. Sitting across the room, at a desk, he recognized a familiar body. Arthur turned around and looked at him.

            “Are you just going to stand there or are you going to take a look at this?” he asked and the forger was powerless to resist. He walked over and stared at the floor. “You let me die alone.” Eames looked up and saw the point man staring at him. “I trusted you not to go running off and you let me die alone.”

            “I didn't mean to, I had no way of getting to you, I wanted to help,” he rambled but he did not make sense to himself.

            “You teased me for years, coming up with those annoying nicknames, and then you show me that maybe you care a little only to let me die alone. How predictable,” Arthur said and he leaned back in his chair. “You going to kick this out from underneath me now?” Eames wished he had something to say but he had no words. He did care, he had felt something completely new in the time he had spent with Arthur, and never before had he felt this sense of grief, of pain. “No matter. We can have all the time in the world here. Isn't that what you want?”

            “I don't want to twist you into something ugly,” Eames said. “I don't want you to become my Mal.” Arthur moved fast and bunched Eames’ shirt in his fists.

            “You let me die alone and you can't do that for me?” he asked but the forger pushed his hands away.

            “I'm already ruining you and I won't let that happen,” Eames said. “I'm letting you go now before I do any more damage to my memory of you,” and it hurt so much to shove Arthur away, to snap his twisted projection’s neck, before he turned a gun on himself.

            The following month Eames showed up at Cobb's door and dropped the PASIV off. When asked if he was okay and what he was going to do now, the forger simply smiled and said he was going to make sure he only remembered the good times.