Sweet Vendetta 3/3
Sweet Vendetta
Part Three
For two days no one came to Arthur and Mal except to bring them food and to take a picture, no doubt to show Eames and Cobb. After four days Arthur was beginning to feel the effects of not enough sleep and hardly any food. Since the first day they had brought them one water bottle and half a sandwich, most of which Arthur made Mal eat. He was exhausted in a way that felt bone deep and he had a touch of nausea that never really went away. Fortunately for them it seemed that Mal was not suffering from morning sickness yet but she was weak as well. His injuries were on their way to healing which is why he knew that they would come for him soon. Mal was asleep, curled under the thin blanket that did not seem like enough. Arthur was keeping watch and he was on his feet in a second as soon as he heard the lock turn.
"Mal, wake up, someone is coming in," Arthur said. Mal stirred awake and quickly jumped to her feet. She stood behind Arthur but not enough that she could not see over his shoulder. The door opened and Adam Todd walked in, all smug conviction. Arthur wanted to punch that expression off of his face and he had to clench his fists to keep from doing just that.
"Mr. Arthur and Mrs. Cobb, I must say it is lovely to see the two of you again," Todd said.
"Can't say the same about you," Arthur said.
"Today someone shot quite a few of my guards in a truly futile attempt to find you two," Todd explained which made Arthur's blood run cold. Todd did not seem worried at all which did not bode well for them. "It's so hard to find good help these days so I'm a little annoyed about this. Do you know what would make me less annoyed?" Arthur knew when he was being baited and Mal was smart enough to figure that out on her own so they said nothing. When pressed, Arthur blamed exhaustion for why he had not seen the blow coming when Todd backhanded him. Mal made a small sound behind him and Arthur tasted blood. "I asked you a question and now I expect an answer."
"It would make you less annoyed if we agreed to do the job. My answer is the same so I guess you're going to stay annoyed." Arthur must have had some sort of death wish because he did not think twice before he spit blood all over Todd's shoes. Todd blinked once, slowly, and looked down like he could not believe what had just happened. A heavy silence passed and the two enforcers behind Todd fidgeted as if they were not sure what to do now. Todd nodded to the two of them and took a step back.
Arthur was not going to roll over for them no matter how exhausted he was. Arthur blocked the first punch from one of the guards and sucker punched him straight in the kidneys. The man grunted, stumbled and Arthur turned his fury on the other guard. Arthur threw a volley of quick punches that the guard was only able to block a few times before Arthur felt skin beneath his knuckles. Arthur was a little out of his mind between the exhaustion and how hungry he was so he excused himself for how brutally he tried to smash the guard’s face in. The other guard must have regained his composure because Arthur fell to the ground when someone landed a sharp blow on the back of his head. He stumbled, hit the floor, and his body was not responding the way it should and he could not get up as fast as he liked.
They were holding him down, punching, kicking. Arthur tasted more blood and the world seemed to blur along the edges. Vaguely he could hear someone in the background screaming for them to 'stop, stop, please, stop' so it was probably Mal. Arthur wanted to tell her that she should stop yelling. He had to keep their attention on him so they would not hurt her and if that meant a boot to the face Arthur was willing to do that. The fists and boots were suddenly gone and Arthur struggled against bruised ribs to catch his breath. Soft hands were on him, touching him, and he knew that was Mal.
"Mr. Arthur, I'm afraid that my patience is running short," Todd said from above him. The mere thought of moving to look up at Todd made Arthur struggle against throwing up. "The next time I ask will be the last and if you still refuse I'm going to put a bullet in Mrs. Cobb's head." Arthur tensed at the thought but Todd left with his two guards a moment later. The sound of the door slamming and the lock sliding into place seemed louder over the ringing in his ears.
"I can't believe you did that," Mal chastised as she struggled to help him sit up. Arthur groaned as the world spun and Mal must have been a psychic or something because she dragged him over to the toilet so he could lose the contents of his stomach. It was mostly bile and blood that stung the back of his throat and made his eyes water. When he was done Mal put his arm over her shoulder and helped him walk back to the bed.
"No, no, it's your bed, you lie down," Arthur said through split lips.
"Arthur, you're hurt, I can sleep on the floor," Mal said.
"No, no, you need it more, I'll be fine," Arthur insisted. This was not something he was going to give any ground on, because Mal was pregnant and not nearly far enough along that she was not in danger of miscarrying. The last thing Arthur wanted was for something to happen to her. Mal sighed and helped him lie down on the floor next to the bed. His blood was on her hands, underneath her fingernails, and Mal was not a person that should have blood on her hands. Arthur closed his eyes and wondered if he should sleep. His ears were ringing and he probably had a concussion but when he closed his eyes Arthur could put the rest of his pain out of his mind. He was cold though and he did not fight the shiver that ran down his spine.
"This is stupid," Mal said. "Get up here."
"I said I'm not letting you sleep on the floor, Mal," Arthur replied.
"Then get up here with me. We can share," she said. Arthur froze because that was not something he could do. Mal was a married woman and while his morals were dubious at best, sharing a bed with a married woman was not a line he wanted to cross. Mal moved so she was looking over the bed and down at him. "I know you won't do anything and we're both cold. You know I trust you and I want you to be more comfortable. I know what you're doing." What she meant was that she knew Arthur was provoking them so she would not get hurt.
Arthur said nothing because this did not seem right and he wanted Mal to be as comfortable as possible. When she climbed off the bed again and nearly dragged him onto it with her Arthur found he really did not have much of a choice in the matter. Mal laid on her back and wrapped Arthur's arms around her stomach, tangled his legs with hers and adjusted so his cheek was on her chest. It was much warmer and much more comfortable than the concrete floor and it got even better when Mal pulled the blanket over the two of them.
"If Cobb shoots me for this I'm coming back and haunting you," Arthur said. Mal chuckled, tucked his head under her chin and began to rub his back. "I'm getting blood and god knows what else all over you."
"I should probably get used to having gross things on me," Mal said and Arthur smiled against her skin. If he was with someone else this would have been intimate and sexual in a very uncomfortable way but the way Mal was holding him felt almost parental. She was going to make a good mom. Arthur trembled whether it was from the cold or his injuries but once he started he found that he could not stop. The last four days of waiting, not knowing, the pain, not enough food or water, waiting for the hammer to come down, it had felt like he was splitting open. Arthur tightened his hold on Mal a little because she needed to be safe, he had to keep her safe, that was all that mattered.
"I'm getting you out of here," Arthur whispered. "I won't let them hurt you."
"I know you won't and that worries me most of all," Mal replied. Arthur closed his eyes and tried to slow his breathing. It felt a lot like the first time he had gotten killed in a dream so many years ago, how it had felt like the room was caving in and his heart was going to explode, but Mal kissed his forehead and began to hum. It was soothing and slowly Arthur relaxed and stopped shaking. Her humming filled the silence in the cell and they waited. Todd might come back tomorrow and demand that Arthur do the job or he might wait a week. Either way they were running out of time.
+++
Eames wanted to burn the warehouse down. They were being toyed with and there was no one left for them to interrogate. The injured guards were gone by the time they walked back out of the compound leaving nothing but the bodies of their fallen comrades and bloodstains on the floor. Miles was waiting for them when they walked back out to the car; he did not look impressed. Cobb did not say anything as he climbed into the back of the car which left Eames the passenger seat. Miles started the car and they drove in silence for nearly ten minutes until Eames thought he was going to crawl out of his skin.
"This man knows that you two are alive now," Miles said.
"He knew before that," Eames said. "Todd left us a picture of Mal and Arthur time stamped to let us know that they are alive. He is playing with us."
"How much time do you think we have left?" Miles asked. Cobb made a pained sound in the back of the car; Eames ignored him.
"Arthur and Mal aren't looking too good. I'd say they're being held in a similar place," Eames said as he took in the details of the picture. Arthur looked angry, furious even, but worn around the edges as well. They were both pale and there was blood on Arthur face, hands, and clothes and he had injuries but they looked like they were healing, like it had been some time since someone had hurt him. Mal did not seem to be injured but Eames was not surprised by that. He had known from the beginning that Arthur would do whatever he could to keep Mal safe. Miles cleared his throat and Eames realized that he had cut himself off mid thought. "Let's get back so I can look this over for anything that could help us."
Once they were back in the room Eames sat down at the desk, folded his hands, and stared down at the picture. Instead of looking at Arthur and Mal he took in the details around him that he could see. The photo was not altered in any way; the pixels and everything else were untouched or it was a fantastic fake job. The date was from the day before and Arthur was holding a cell phone to show the time. Eames could make out four bars on the screen, the provider and that there was a 4G symbol in the top corner so it was in an area that had service. Behind them was a blank concrete wall with a tiny window near the ceiling and there did not seem to be any streetlights nearby. The setup of the room looked a lot like the one they had found that day but now they had too many more locations to look for and not enough time.
Eames slammed his fist on the table and relished the pain. Miles and Cobb were not in the room, they were probably asleep, but Eames could not let himself sleep knowing that Todd could be tearing Arthur apart. How could either of them be sleeping knowing that? He thought about Ethan Tomas and how he had looked when they had found him in that cell. The thought of Arthur beaten, bloody, stretched so thin made Eames want to kill everyone.
The sound of his phone ringing was a surprise and when Eames checked the number he was even more surprised to find Ben's number flashing at him. There was really no reason for Ben to contact him directly at four in the morning and arms dealers rarely did unless they had just realized that the bomb they had sold you would explode in two minutes and not twenty.
"This is Eames," Eames said even though he did not have any bombs that could explode at the wrong time.
"Hello, Eames," Ben said. "You don't sound very happy, so I'm assuming your operation didn't go so well?"
"You could say that. Are you trying to sell me some more ammo, Ben? Because if I get anymore the Yankees are going to think I'm trying to invade them." Eames was not really in the mood for this but hanging up on someone who could probably launch a heat seeking missile at him seemed like a bad idea.
"I'm not entirely surprised, considering who you're dealing with. I'm at a diner just down the street from my place, why don't you come down? I have a feeling that I have something you'll want to see," Ben said, chuckling.
"You can't just tell me over the phone?" Eames asked.
"Sorry, Eames, you know I'm an in-person kind of guy. You probably want to get here sooner than later though," Ben replied and the line went dead. By now Ben probably knew that it was Arthur that Todd had and it was a well known fact that Eames and Arthur were partners. It made sense that if Ben knew something or had found out something about Arthur he would tell Eames even if he did not want to get involved. Scary people like Todd were not good for business; they kept prospective buyers out of the city. The smart thing to do would be to wake up Cobb and go in as a team but Eames did not have time to deal with that. Instead he grabbed his gun, an extra magazine, took the keys and raced down to the car.
The diner was easy enough to find, a hole in the wall local place. It was still hot, too hot considering the time, so all of the windows and doors to the diner were open. There were a few people at tables eating, talking, laughing; most of them looked very drunk. Eames spotted Ben alone in a booth. He was eating what looked like a large plate of pancakes with a pile of bacon off to the side. Eames sat down carefully, unsure of where this was going.
"Morning, Eames, want some coffee?" Ben asked as he took a bite of his pancakes.
"Normally I'd say yes but I'm sort of in the middle of something important, as you know," Eames replied. He was trying to keep his temper under control, he really was, but if Ben had asked him out for breakfast Eames was going to throttle him.
"I know you are and that's why you're here," Ben replied. He picked up a piece of bacon and gestured to a man that was sitting alone at a table. He looked so drunk that he could barely stay awake and more than once he started to list off to the side like he was about to curl up and go to sleep right there. He looked like any other drunk that had decided to try and sober up before driving home. "I was in here getting food as I often do at four in the morning when he walked in. Fortunately for me he is either too drunk or did not see me because if he did he would have probably shot me in the head."
"I'm sorry that you've pissed someone off, Ben, but--"
"Let me finish," Ben interrupted. "I did piss someone off and that guy over there works for that someone. In fact he is pretty high on the list of people that work for this someone. This someone is the same person you're trying to find." There was a reason Ben was being evasive because no one in this town wanted to say Todd's name. "The thing about these people is that they are taught through very interesting methods not to talk. You, however, specialize in getting people to talk without talking."
"I don't have the equipment for that," Eames replied without taking his eye off of the man.
"I might have something you could borrow," Ben replied. Eames glanced at him and Ben shrugged. "In exchange for it I just need you to get rid of our mutual problem. It would make my life easier and last much longer."
"Usually you lot don't like to get involved in this sort of thing," Eames said.
"I don't know what you're talking about. We're just meeting for some coffee then I'm going home. Whatever happens when I leave is not my business," Ben said grinning. "Have that cup, Eames, we might have to kill some time." The waitress came around and Eames drank some burnt coffee while Ben ate his breakfast like they were not looking at a man through a scope. Ben paid for their food and was on his way out the door when the man stumbled to his feet and walked out the door as well. Eames stayed a few steps behind him and could smell the alcohol on him. He was beyond drunk so it was easy to trip him in the dark parking lot, to silence him with a hand over his mouth and make him go to sleep. When Eames looked up Ben was gone but in the passenger seat of his car was a familiar silver case. As Eames put the man in the back seat of the car he remembered why Ben was a good ally to have. It was worth the 4AM coffee at least.
+++
"How in the hell did this happen?" Cobb asked when he walked out into the living room to find Eames sitting at a desk and an unconscious man on the couch. Eames barely looked up from the information on this man that he was trying to gather. They did not have much in the way of time to figure out exactly whose head they were going into but Eames did not really care right now. He barely looked up but he heard Miles join Cobb and he could feel the two of them staring at him as if they were not sure if he had gone off the deep end.
"His name is John Williams and he is the third in command of Adam Todd's enforcers. My arms dealer called me last night and told me where to find him. He should know where Arthur and Mal are. However, he is not going to just tell us where they are so I figured we should save the time and just go in and take it," Eames replied. He turned in the chair and saw that Cobb looked surprised while Miles looked thoughtful.
"Dom, please figure out a maze that would work for this since you will be the dreamer. We don't have time for Mr. Eames to memorize a new dream," Miles said. He walked further into the room and knelt down next to the PASIV, opening it up and looking it over. Cobb seemed to come out of his surprise at the situation and began to dig through his suitcase until he found a notebook.
Eames went back to ignoring the two of them in favor of using every dirty trick that Arthur had taught him over the years to find every bit of information on this man. He was not surprised that there was not much; this was the high ranking henchman of a guy that had no problem kidnapping people but there was enough that Eames had a feeling that he knew what they were getting into. This was also a man, though, who was heavily trained in how to keep quiet.
"No, I'm going to be the dreamer," Eames said.
"But I'm just an architect--" Cobb began.
"No, this guy is pretty brutal, wanted for several counts of murder. A mind like that is going to be hostile and I can hold my own against the projections much better than you can. You're going to have to extract, Cobb," Eames said.
"He's right, Dom," Miles said after a beat of silence. "Mr. Eames is much more capable of fighting than you are. You are married to my daughter and she is one of the best extractors we saw in the program. Surely you must have picked up some tips from her."
"Obviously," Cobb said as he closed his notebook. "But this is Mal. What if I mess it up?"
"Simple," Eames said as he sat back and began to remember a dream from a previous job. "Don't mess it up." Cobb did not look convinced about that but he began to talk quietly to Miles nevertheless. Eames turned his attention back to finding information on John Williams but every moment that passed made him more and more uneasy. Eames hated going in blind but there was no possible way they were going to find Arthur and Mal if they did not do this soon. He had a level now so they just needed to make sure that Cobb was not going to botch it.
Nearly two hours later and they were finally setting up the PASIV to go into the dream. Eames might have had something to do with it mostly because they were running out of sedatives to keep Williams asleep and also because Mal and Arthur had been prisoners for five days now. Eames had a good feeling that they were not going to last longer than a week. Miles finished setting up the machine and Eames did not wince at the sting from the needle in his arm.
"We have enough to put you under for ten minutes," Miles explained. "After that we will have to find more somnacin and try again. You both know that a mind can adapt to a second attempt rapidly and I'm sure Mr. Todd will be missing his comrade soon."
"Basically you're saying we only have one shot at this," Cobb said and Miles nodded. "Okay, let's do this, we can do this." Eames did not think Cobb sounded that confident but he lay down on the floor anyway. It was not like they had much of a choice. Miles glanced at the two of them, nodded and pushed the button. Eames could feel the chemicals rushing through his veins and the world faded into white.
+++
The dream was a city block that looked a lot like New York but not quite. There was a bar where Eames made sure that Williams was sitting. Cobb would have to sweet talk the man into giving up his secrets while Eames kept his distance. The dream felt stable but he had been unable to find out whether or not Williams was aware of dreaming or if he was militarized. If he was trained then things were going to get very interesting very quickly. Eames caught Cobb's eye as he walked into the bar and Eames entered a few minutes after him.
Williams was at the bar drinking what looked like straight whiskey with no regard for taste. Getting a mark drunk in a dream was not the best plan because some people got more paranoid the more they drank but it looked like this was not something they were going to have a choice about. Cobb ordered a drink and sat down next to Williams. The projections around them acted normally, as if they did not have a care in the world, and Eames watched them.
"Whiskey straight? Jeez man, are you having a bad day?" Cobb asked.
"Bad life," Williams replied as he finished another drink.
"I hear you, man. My wife just up and vanished the other day, left me the car and the house and all of the bills, can't believe the bitch did that," Cobb grumbled and Eames snorted.
"Mine is more job related," Williams said and he ordered another drink.
"Need anyone to vent to?" Cobb asked and Williams tensed. "Stranger in a bar is about as close to a therapist as you can get only without the $500 bills."
"It's not exactly something I can talk about," Williams said.
"Ah, well, we all have our secrets with work and what not," Cobb mused.
"Yeah, work, right." Williams downed another drink but he still looked uncomfortable. A waitress in the bar dropped a beer bottle and swore when it crashed to the ground. A few minutes prior she had been peppy and grinning. Eames wanted to tell Cobb to hurry it up but there was no way of doing that without drawing attention to himself. Williams probably knew who Eames was and they were lucky so far that he had not placed Cobb's face.
"We just need to keep them safe," Cobb finished. Williams narrowed his eyes and looked at Cobb directly for the first time. Eames could practically see him trying to place Cobb's face from somewhere. Eames stood up and made his way through the bar and snuck into the backroom where the manager’s safe was. He just hoped Cobb had seen him. Moments later Cobb joined him in the manager’s office and Eames locked the door.
"Did he recognize you?" Eames asked as he pulled out his gun.
"I think he was starting to," Cobb said. The safe was in the corner of the room and Cobb knelt down in front of it. Outside the door Eames could hear people moving around and the dream warped into the maze leading from the bar to the office. The projections would come after them now but the maze was well done enough that he did not think they could get to them in time. "Got it," Cobb said and he began to go through the safe. Eames knelt down next to him and they looked through the piles of papers. Maybe this was going to take longer than they had thought.
"Apparently this guy has a lot of work related secrets," Eames said as he looked through paper after paper about people who owed protection money, where bodies were buried, who was going to get their kneecaps hit with a crowbar, all things he was not very happy about knowing. Outside the door began to shake as the projections raced through the maze but Cobb did not even look up.
"You said they were looking for someone named Lilly Tomas right?" Cobb asked.
"Yes, they want to extract her location from her brother Ethan. We can assume that Todd already has him as well," Eames replied. The projections were getting closer and he was going to have to lead them away soon if they did not hurry this up.
"This looks like a transcript of an email or some text messages. 'Todd told me about this point man and architect we have,'" Cobb read from a paper. "'The architect won't go under, we think she's pregnant, but it's been great at keeping the point subdued. He's been taking all the beatings so we don't touch her.'" Eames fantasized about how he was going to put a bullet in Todd's head. "'He's weak though and we're going to ask him one more time tomorrow to do the job or we're going to kill her. He'll say yes because he's a fucking idiot but Mr. Todd knows that since he's starving and dehydrated his body won't be able to handle the job. He'll drop into limbo or go into cardiac arrest. Mr. Todd will kill the woman and leave her as an example to everyone else.'"
"Is it dated?" Eames asked very carefully because letting Cobb see just how angry he was was probably not a good idea for the dream.
"Yeah, yesterday, they're doing this today," Cobb whispered as he dug through the papers some more. Eames did as well and he did not flinch when the projections threw themselves at the door. He turned the door to metal because it did not really matter now that they were caught. They had to find a location, it was nine in the morning topside and they might already be too late. Eames threw papers aside until he found another text message written on a piece of paper. It was from a week ago and Todd's name was at the top. It just said 'take them here' with a location. It was around the same time that Arthur and Mal had been taken. The door cracked and they were out of time.
"I have the location," Eames said as Cobb looked up.
"Are you sure?" Cobb asked as the door began to cave in.
"I have to be; we're out of time," Eames replied. He picked up his gun and shot Cobb between the eyes. He did not have time to dwell on the irony that he was the one that had put the gun in Cobb's face this time. The door burst open just as Eames put the smoking barrel to his head and pulled the trigger.
+++
Eames blinked once, twice, before his head was clear enough that he could get to his feet. The drugs were still in his system and he could hardly stand but that did not matter. There was literally no time to stop and wait because they were going to drop Arthur into limbo or let him die today. Cobb was quickly explaining what had happened in the dream as Eames gathered his things. The address was across the city and it was rush hour. It could take them up to an hour to get there. It did not matter that he had not slept naturally in over a day, it did not matter that somnacin was still rushing through his system, they had to go and they had to go now.
"The car is ready. Let's go," Miles said. They grabbed the last of their things, dragged Williams out to a dark alley where he would wake up eventually with no keys, wallet or phone and started across the city. If they were too late Eames swore to himself that he would destroy Todd’s empire.
+++
Arthur had a beautiful woman in his arms and that was not normal. There had been only a few people during the time when he and Eames were not working together but it had been a long time since he had been with someone like Mal. Even if she was just asleep and using him for warmth. She was gentle, wary of his wounds, but held on tight nevertheless. Arthur ignored his ribs in favor of letting Mal hug the life out of him. It was in no way a bad thing, and he knew that she was beginning to feel the effects of everything that had happened over the last five days. It was nearly nine in the morning judging by where he could see the sun through the window. It had only been about a day and a half since they had come to ask him to do the job and Arthur had a feeling they would come again today. He was weak from the previous beating and no one had brought them any food or water.
Mal shifted and Arthur could feel her slowly waking up. So far as the two of them could tell, the baby was okay. There was no bleeding and that was the major thing they were worried about. Mal tucked herself under Arthur's chin and sighed.
"They are going to come again soon," she said,
"Yes," Arthur replied.
"Probably today," she said and Arthur nodded. "Don't lie to me, Arthur, I'll know if you're lying. Are we going to die?" Arthur thought about lying because he wanted to reassure her, but it did not seem fair to sugar coat it at this point in the game. That was not how he worked and she had asked for the honesty.
"Cobb and Eames are alive and they're looking for us," Arthur said. "I'll do everything I can to stall for as long as possible."
"It's a 'yes' or 'no' question Arthur," Mal said.
"I don't know," he said. She nodded against his neck and held onto him a little tighter. It twinged his bruised ribs but Arthur ignored it. He was not going to deny her comfort even if it hurt him a little. The locks on the door began to open. Mal helped him out of the bed and Arthur put himself between her and the door. She took his hand and held on tight and Arthur squeezed her hand. The door opened and Todd walked in, flanked by the same two guards.
"Mr. Arthur, you're not looking so well," Todd said, smiling. Arthur was not going to allow himself to be baited by this man so he said nothing. "I see how it is. Well, it has been five days so I think you know what I want by now."
"And you know my answer," Arthur replied. Todd sighed and walked forward casually as if he was not walking over Arthur's bloodstains on the floor. Mal released his hand just as Todd took Arthur by the collar and jerked him forward.
"If you don't agree to this job I will put a bullet in Mrs. Cobb's head," Todd said as one of the guards pointed a gun at Mal.
"If you touch her I will find a way to kill myself," Arthur replied coolly. "You need someone with a delicate touch for this job, someone who knows Ethan Tomas better than most and who knows what to look for, and that's me. The entire community knows exactly who you are, Todd, and even those with no morals at all aren’t going to work for you for any price. Above all else, dreamers are selfish and none of them are going to risk their necks to do a job for you. If you kill us Cobb and Eames will make sure no one will work for you ever again. So, Mr. Todd, you need me and that means you don't lay a finger on her."
Todd still looked smug, like he had the upper hand somehow, and Arthur was done with that. Without thinking twice he slammed his forehead into Todd's nose and he felt the bone shatter. Todd cried out in pain and stumbled back, a hand over his broken nose. One of the guards came over and hit Arthur in his cracked ribs hard enough that he saw stars.
"You stupid son of a bitch!" Todd screamed. Arthur could hardly catch his breath so it was not hard for the guards to subdue him. Arthur was not sure over the ringing in his ears but he thought he heard Mal chuckling behind him. Todd pulled his hand away and Arthur enjoyed the sight of blood running down his face. If he was going to die then he was going to make sure Todd had something to remember him by, and if a crooked nose was all he could do Arthur was okay with that. “We’re plugging you in today, Arthur, and you’re going into that dream whether you like it or not.”
“Wait,” Mal said as the guards began to drag Arthur away. “You can’t do that. He’s physically weak and his body can’t take it.” Mal ran toward them as if she could stop them but one of the guards shoved her back. Arthur glanced over his shoulder and saw Mal staring at him like it was the last time she was ever going to see him. The door slammed and she was gone. Mal was right, he was too weak physically to go under, and if he did there was a very good chance he could drop into limbo or his entire body could shut down. Ethan was probably not in any better condition. The job would kill the two of them and get rid of any evidence. Then they would be free to hurt Mal any way they pleased. Todd was wheezing as they walked down the hallway and he sounded furious. The two guards pulled Arthur into a small room and forced him to sit in a chair. There was a design in front of him and nothing else.
“You have one hour to memorize this maze and then you are going under,” Todd said through his teeth. “You will find that information or I will make you watch as I torture that bitch, got it?”
“Crystal clear,” Arthur snapped. Todd looked like he was ready to put a bullet through Arthur’s head but he nodded to his guards and walked out of the room. There was the all too familiar sensation of the barrel of a gun to the back of his head.
“Get to work,” the guard said. Arthur looked down at the maze; he had one hour to stall as long as he could.
+++
The traffic was not terrible but it still took them almost an hour to get to the warehouse where Mal and Arthur were being held. Eames hoped that was where they were being held because they were officially out of time. Eames spent the entire time making sure they had enough ammo and trying to get himself in the right frame of mind. Contrary to what everyone might think it did not get easier for him to pull the trigger on real people but Eames' skin itched with the idea of killing Adam Todd. This was the type of man that was going to keep hurting people no matter what happened.
They were just about to arrive at the warehouse when Eames' phone rang. He picked it up and saw Ben's number.
"It went well, Ben, thanks, but I'm kind of in the middle of something," Eames said.
"I figured you would be but I wanted to let you know that I got some interesting calls this afternoon. Apparently people are talking about this whole thing. The dream community is not pleased with how Todd is handling this. If nothing else we can take pleasure in the knowledge that Todd's name is being dragged through the dirt so no one else will take jobs for him. You dreamers are such gossips," Ben replied. "Good luck and let me know if you need anything else. I will come pick up my machine while you're gone."
"Thanks again, Ben," Eames said. They would not have been able to do this without the PASIV.
"Just do what we agreed upon and everything will be fine," Ben said, hanging up. Miles nearly ran a red light but they did not get pulled over fortunately. There was no way they could explain all of the weapons in the car right now.
"Our first priority is extraction. We need to make sure we get Mal and Arthur out of there as soon as possible," Eames explained. "Once they're safe we'll assess whether or not they need immediate medical attention. If we can wait I want to take care of Todd."
"Yes, he needs to be taken care of," Cobb said. There was an edge to his voice that Eames did not like but there was nothing he could do about it now. None of them were going to come out of this situation the same. Eames knew that he and Arthur could deal with it but he was not sure how Mal and Cobb were going to handle it. Miles stopped in front of the warehouse and Eames gathered his things.
"Be careful," Miles said. They nodded and the car drove away.
"Can I trust you to have my back?" Eames asked.
"Yes," Cobb replied. "We need to get them back."
"And we're going to. Let's go." Eames drew his pistol and they made their way toward the warehouse. As soon as they slipped through the door a bullet missed going through Eames' head by an inch. He turned and fired hitting the guard in the chest. These people were not shooting to incapacitate, they were shooting to kill. Eames did not really want to kill anyone but there did not seem to be much choice now. From behind him he heard Cobb fire a few rounds and they made their way through the warehouse. There were guards everywhere and Eames shot each one without hesitation. In Williams’ dream he had discovered that Todd hired murderers and rapists to be his bodyguards so these people were not innocent. There was still blood on his hands though and that was not something he was proud of.
Eames turned a corner and saw a metal door at the end of a corridor. He walked toward it a little faster than was wise and turned the bolt lock. It echoed in the room behind the door and he nodded to Cobb to watch his back. Eames opened the door and raised his gun. He lowered it immediately when he saw Mal staring back at him. She was covered in dirt and blood, her skin was pale and she looked a little too thin, but it was her and she was alive. She was also alone.
"Cobb," Eames said and he took Cobb's place at the door so he could make sure that no one snuck up on them. Cobb raced forward and threw his arms around Mal. Eames was surprised, and a little proud, that Cobb did not drop his gun right there.
"I've got you, I've got you," Cobb whispered into her hair. She was not crying but she pulled away from Cobb quickly.
"They took Arthur, they took him and they were going to plug him in. Eames, he isn't strong enough, he'll die, you need to find him," Mal said so quickly that it almost sounded like it was all one word.
"Get her out of here," Eames said to Cobb.
"Should you go alone?" Cobb asked but he did not look so keen on leaving Mal's side anytime soon.
"I'll be fine, just get her out of here," Eames said. Cobb nodded and Eames did not stick around to see if they were going to be okay. If he had to jump into limbo to pull Arthur back he would but it was not something he was looking forward to. There was no telling if the man he found in limbo would be the same man he had known for all these years. Time did not work normally in limbo, was the theory, and Eames could be seconds behind him and Arthur could have spent 100 years alone.
The warehouse was strangely quiet though Eames heard a few stray gunshots. None of them were at him so he could only assume they were Cobb. They did not sound like they were behind him but in front. Eames picked up the pace a little and turned a corner. There were no more doors on this end save for one at the end of the hallway. It was where the shots had come from, he was sure of it, and Eames clenched the gun tightly.
Eames placed his ear against the door but it was too thick and he could not hear anything. The door swung inwards and Eames held his gun tightly in hand as he kicked the door open. There was a single light hanging from the ceiling and a table in the middle of the room. On the floor were the bodies of two guards with gunshot wounds in their chests. In the middle of the room was Todd, his head twisted at a horrible angle, his mouth open in shock. Arthur stood in the middle of the room, blood on his clothes and his face, a gun in hand, and he looked up when Eames kicked open the door.
"Looks like you didn't need me," Eames said as he lowered his gun. Arthur dropped his gun on the ground and smiled, though it must have hurt with his bleeding lip. It was not normally a compulsion that Eames felt but he did not fight the instinct to pull Arthur into his arms. His gun was safely in its holster and Eames wrapped his arms around his partner, mindful of his many injuries. If Arthur held on a little tight it was not like there was anyone else to see.
"I got tired of waiting," Arthur replied.
+++
They found Ethan Tomas a few doors away, and Ethan, Arthur and Mal spent three days in the hospital receiving IV fluids and getting their bodies in working order. There was a collective sigh of relief when a doctor came in and told everyone that the baby was fine and everything looked good. Cobb cried, Mal didn't, Arthur looked thankful and Eames felt the last bit of tension leak from his shoulders. Arthur got stir crazy after the first day and spent the next two ignoring his doctors and putting together a detailed identity for Ethan. The doctors could not explain how Ethan just up and vanished from the hospital one day as if he had never been there and they did not notice how smug Arthur looked.
Cobb rarely left Mal's room but Eames was not as lucky. He spent a good part of the next three days catching up on sleep, returning unused ammo to Ben, and covering their tracks. He left Adam Todd's body in the middle of the desert so that there would be nothing but bones left by the time the police found him. Considering all of the things Todd was wanted for, Eames did not think they would investigate too much when they found his remains.
Arthur told Eames everything that had happened. He considered himself fortunate that they had only beaten him three times during the week and that there had been a bed for Mal to sleep on. He told Eames about how he and Mal had held each other without shame and punched Eames in the arm when Eames made a comment. They both decided that Mal would tell Cobb about that when she thought he could handle it. Arthur and Mal were close now, Eames could see it, and he supposed he had some sort of connection with Cobb as well. He had a feeling that they would be seeing Cobb and Mal a lot more in the next few years.
The four of them spent a week at the Cobbs’ house outside of LA. Miles had to go back to Paris after they got out to the hospital but Eames was fairly sure he had an ally in Miles. The four of them were very domestic which made Eames feel very strange and he could tell that Arthur was not quite comfortable with it either.
"I guess I'm just not cut out to be a homemaker," Eames said the night before they were going to leave. They were sitting on the back porch drinking beers.
"Make me a sandwich, Mr. Eames," Arthur said. Eames knocked their shoulders together and Arthur grinned. His ribs were going to take some time to heal but everything else was bruises and cuts that were slowly healing. The first few nights Arthur slept curled around Eames but as the week progressed he slowly migrated back to his side of the bed. The status quo was slowly returning and while Arthur cuddles were not a bad thing Eames was more happy that his friend was back on his feet again. Eames finished his beer and held out a hand to Arthur.
"Come to bed, honey. You need to go to work early in the morning," Eames mocked. Arthur laughed brilliantly and took his hand. They dropped their beer bottles off into the recycling and made their way to the back guestroom. As soon as the door closed Arthur pulled him into a hard and dirty kiss. Arthur was not quite feeling well enough to do anything more than make out but Eames let him guide the two of them to the bed. Arthur pushed Eames down and crawled on top of him.
"Thanks for coming for me, Eames," Arthur said.
"You had it covered," Eames replied, shrugging. Arthur smiled again and Eames pulled him down to kiss it off his lips.
They left the next morning and when Mal held onto Arthur a little longer than anyone else Cobb did not look worried. That was good because Cobb being jealous of the friendship Arthur and Mal had developed was ludicrous but Eames did not put it past Dom Cobb. They had a few hours to kill before their red eye flights so Eames found them a small pool hall so they could get drinks. They drank in comfortable silence for about ten minutes until Arthur broke it.
"I was lucky," Arthur said.
"What do you mean?" Eames asked.
"You said I had it covered but I got lucky. They let their guards down when you and Cobb started shooting up the place. If you hadn't I would have gone under to do that job and died or worse," Arthur explained, tracing the top of his glass with the tip of his finger. "You know, I never doubted for a second that you would come for me but thanks for coming anyway."
"You never have to thank me for something like that, Arthur," Eames replied. Arthur looked up from the table and his brown eyes seemed brighter than normal.
"I know I don't," he said. There were other things being said here, more than either of them was saying out loud, and the moment felt oddly tense in a way that Eames had not experienced in a long time. It felt like both of them wanted to say something else but neither of them were sure what or if it needed to be said. A loud whoop from across the bar broke the moment. They both turned to see two frat boys bump fists at one of the pool tables.
"We are unstoppable, man," one said.
"Kings of the tables, bro," said the other. Eames turned to Arthur and they both grinned. They downed the rest of their beers and both made their way over to the pool tables and the self congratulatory frat boys.
"Evening, gentlemen," Eames said smiling brightly. "Care to make a friendly wager on a game?"
<-- part two | masterpost -->
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Part Three
For two days no one came to Arthur and Mal except to bring them food and to take a picture, no doubt to show Eames and Cobb. After four days Arthur was beginning to feel the effects of not enough sleep and hardly any food. Since the first day they had brought them one water bottle and half a sandwich, most of which Arthur made Mal eat. He was exhausted in a way that felt bone deep and he had a touch of nausea that never really went away. Fortunately for them it seemed that Mal was not suffering from morning sickness yet but she was weak as well. His injuries were on their way to healing which is why he knew that they would come for him soon. Mal was asleep, curled under the thin blanket that did not seem like enough. Arthur was keeping watch and he was on his feet in a second as soon as he heard the lock turn.
"Mal, wake up, someone is coming in," Arthur said. Mal stirred awake and quickly jumped to her feet. She stood behind Arthur but not enough that she could not see over his shoulder. The door opened and Adam Todd walked in, all smug conviction. Arthur wanted to punch that expression off of his face and he had to clench his fists to keep from doing just that.
"Mr. Arthur and Mrs. Cobb, I must say it is lovely to see the two of you again," Todd said.
"Can't say the same about you," Arthur said.
"Today someone shot quite a few of my guards in a truly futile attempt to find you two," Todd explained which made Arthur's blood run cold. Todd did not seem worried at all which did not bode well for them. "It's so hard to find good help these days so I'm a little annoyed about this. Do you know what would make me less annoyed?" Arthur knew when he was being baited and Mal was smart enough to figure that out on her own so they said nothing. When pressed, Arthur blamed exhaustion for why he had not seen the blow coming when Todd backhanded him. Mal made a small sound behind him and Arthur tasted blood. "I asked you a question and now I expect an answer."
"It would make you less annoyed if we agreed to do the job. My answer is the same so I guess you're going to stay annoyed." Arthur must have had some sort of death wish because he did not think twice before he spit blood all over Todd's shoes. Todd blinked once, slowly, and looked down like he could not believe what had just happened. A heavy silence passed and the two enforcers behind Todd fidgeted as if they were not sure what to do now. Todd nodded to the two of them and took a step back.
Arthur was not going to roll over for them no matter how exhausted he was. Arthur blocked the first punch from one of the guards and sucker punched him straight in the kidneys. The man grunted, stumbled and Arthur turned his fury on the other guard. Arthur threw a volley of quick punches that the guard was only able to block a few times before Arthur felt skin beneath his knuckles. Arthur was a little out of his mind between the exhaustion and how hungry he was so he excused himself for how brutally he tried to smash the guard’s face in. The other guard must have regained his composure because Arthur fell to the ground when someone landed a sharp blow on the back of his head. He stumbled, hit the floor, and his body was not responding the way it should and he could not get up as fast as he liked.
They were holding him down, punching, kicking. Arthur tasted more blood and the world seemed to blur along the edges. Vaguely he could hear someone in the background screaming for them to 'stop, stop, please, stop' so it was probably Mal. Arthur wanted to tell her that she should stop yelling. He had to keep their attention on him so they would not hurt her and if that meant a boot to the face Arthur was willing to do that. The fists and boots were suddenly gone and Arthur struggled against bruised ribs to catch his breath. Soft hands were on him, touching him, and he knew that was Mal.
"Mr. Arthur, I'm afraid that my patience is running short," Todd said from above him. The mere thought of moving to look up at Todd made Arthur struggle against throwing up. "The next time I ask will be the last and if you still refuse I'm going to put a bullet in Mrs. Cobb's head." Arthur tensed at the thought but Todd left with his two guards a moment later. The sound of the door slamming and the lock sliding into place seemed louder over the ringing in his ears.
"I can't believe you did that," Mal chastised as she struggled to help him sit up. Arthur groaned as the world spun and Mal must have been a psychic or something because she dragged him over to the toilet so he could lose the contents of his stomach. It was mostly bile and blood that stung the back of his throat and made his eyes water. When he was done Mal put his arm over her shoulder and helped him walk back to the bed.
"No, no, it's your bed, you lie down," Arthur said through split lips.
"Arthur, you're hurt, I can sleep on the floor," Mal said.
"No, no, you need it more, I'll be fine," Arthur insisted. This was not something he was going to give any ground on, because Mal was pregnant and not nearly far enough along that she was not in danger of miscarrying. The last thing Arthur wanted was for something to happen to her. Mal sighed and helped him lie down on the floor next to the bed. His blood was on her hands, underneath her fingernails, and Mal was not a person that should have blood on her hands. Arthur closed his eyes and wondered if he should sleep. His ears were ringing and he probably had a concussion but when he closed his eyes Arthur could put the rest of his pain out of his mind. He was cold though and he did not fight the shiver that ran down his spine.
"This is stupid," Mal said. "Get up here."
"I said I'm not letting you sleep on the floor, Mal," Arthur replied.
"Then get up here with me. We can share," she said. Arthur froze because that was not something he could do. Mal was a married woman and while his morals were dubious at best, sharing a bed with a married woman was not a line he wanted to cross. Mal moved so she was looking over the bed and down at him. "I know you won't do anything and we're both cold. You know I trust you and I want you to be more comfortable. I know what you're doing." What she meant was that she knew Arthur was provoking them so she would not get hurt.
Arthur said nothing because this did not seem right and he wanted Mal to be as comfortable as possible. When she climbed off the bed again and nearly dragged him onto it with her Arthur found he really did not have much of a choice in the matter. Mal laid on her back and wrapped Arthur's arms around her stomach, tangled his legs with hers and adjusted so his cheek was on her chest. It was much warmer and much more comfortable than the concrete floor and it got even better when Mal pulled the blanket over the two of them.
"If Cobb shoots me for this I'm coming back and haunting you," Arthur said. Mal chuckled, tucked his head under her chin and began to rub his back. "I'm getting blood and god knows what else all over you."
"I should probably get used to having gross things on me," Mal said and Arthur smiled against her skin. If he was with someone else this would have been intimate and sexual in a very uncomfortable way but the way Mal was holding him felt almost parental. She was going to make a good mom. Arthur trembled whether it was from the cold or his injuries but once he started he found that he could not stop. The last four days of waiting, not knowing, the pain, not enough food or water, waiting for the hammer to come down, it had felt like he was splitting open. Arthur tightened his hold on Mal a little because she needed to be safe, he had to keep her safe, that was all that mattered.
"I'm getting you out of here," Arthur whispered. "I won't let them hurt you."
"I know you won't and that worries me most of all," Mal replied. Arthur closed his eyes and tried to slow his breathing. It felt a lot like the first time he had gotten killed in a dream so many years ago, how it had felt like the room was caving in and his heart was going to explode, but Mal kissed his forehead and began to hum. It was soothing and slowly Arthur relaxed and stopped shaking. Her humming filled the silence in the cell and they waited. Todd might come back tomorrow and demand that Arthur do the job or he might wait a week. Either way they were running out of time.
+++
Eames wanted to burn the warehouse down. They were being toyed with and there was no one left for them to interrogate. The injured guards were gone by the time they walked back out of the compound leaving nothing but the bodies of their fallen comrades and bloodstains on the floor. Miles was waiting for them when they walked back out to the car; he did not look impressed. Cobb did not say anything as he climbed into the back of the car which left Eames the passenger seat. Miles started the car and they drove in silence for nearly ten minutes until Eames thought he was going to crawl out of his skin.
"This man knows that you two are alive now," Miles said.
"He knew before that," Eames said. "Todd left us a picture of Mal and Arthur time stamped to let us know that they are alive. He is playing with us."
"How much time do you think we have left?" Miles asked. Cobb made a pained sound in the back of the car; Eames ignored him.
"Arthur and Mal aren't looking too good. I'd say they're being held in a similar place," Eames said as he took in the details of the picture. Arthur looked angry, furious even, but worn around the edges as well. They were both pale and there was blood on Arthur face, hands, and clothes and he had injuries but they looked like they were healing, like it had been some time since someone had hurt him. Mal did not seem to be injured but Eames was not surprised by that. He had known from the beginning that Arthur would do whatever he could to keep Mal safe. Miles cleared his throat and Eames realized that he had cut himself off mid thought. "Let's get back so I can look this over for anything that could help us."
Once they were back in the room Eames sat down at the desk, folded his hands, and stared down at the picture. Instead of looking at Arthur and Mal he took in the details around him that he could see. The photo was not altered in any way; the pixels and everything else were untouched or it was a fantastic fake job. The date was from the day before and Arthur was holding a cell phone to show the time. Eames could make out four bars on the screen, the provider and that there was a 4G symbol in the top corner so it was in an area that had service. Behind them was a blank concrete wall with a tiny window near the ceiling and there did not seem to be any streetlights nearby. The setup of the room looked a lot like the one they had found that day but now they had too many more locations to look for and not enough time.
Eames slammed his fist on the table and relished the pain. Miles and Cobb were not in the room, they were probably asleep, but Eames could not let himself sleep knowing that Todd could be tearing Arthur apart. How could either of them be sleeping knowing that? He thought about Ethan Tomas and how he had looked when they had found him in that cell. The thought of Arthur beaten, bloody, stretched so thin made Eames want to kill everyone.
The sound of his phone ringing was a surprise and when Eames checked the number he was even more surprised to find Ben's number flashing at him. There was really no reason for Ben to contact him directly at four in the morning and arms dealers rarely did unless they had just realized that the bomb they had sold you would explode in two minutes and not twenty.
"This is Eames," Eames said even though he did not have any bombs that could explode at the wrong time.
"Hello, Eames," Ben said. "You don't sound very happy, so I'm assuming your operation didn't go so well?"
"You could say that. Are you trying to sell me some more ammo, Ben? Because if I get anymore the Yankees are going to think I'm trying to invade them." Eames was not really in the mood for this but hanging up on someone who could probably launch a heat seeking missile at him seemed like a bad idea.
"I'm not entirely surprised, considering who you're dealing with. I'm at a diner just down the street from my place, why don't you come down? I have a feeling that I have something you'll want to see," Ben said, chuckling.
"You can't just tell me over the phone?" Eames asked.
"Sorry, Eames, you know I'm an in-person kind of guy. You probably want to get here sooner than later though," Ben replied and the line went dead. By now Ben probably knew that it was Arthur that Todd had and it was a well known fact that Eames and Arthur were partners. It made sense that if Ben knew something or had found out something about Arthur he would tell Eames even if he did not want to get involved. Scary people like Todd were not good for business; they kept prospective buyers out of the city. The smart thing to do would be to wake up Cobb and go in as a team but Eames did not have time to deal with that. Instead he grabbed his gun, an extra magazine, took the keys and raced down to the car.
The diner was easy enough to find, a hole in the wall local place. It was still hot, too hot considering the time, so all of the windows and doors to the diner were open. There were a few people at tables eating, talking, laughing; most of them looked very drunk. Eames spotted Ben alone in a booth. He was eating what looked like a large plate of pancakes with a pile of bacon off to the side. Eames sat down carefully, unsure of where this was going.
"Morning, Eames, want some coffee?" Ben asked as he took a bite of his pancakes.
"Normally I'd say yes but I'm sort of in the middle of something important, as you know," Eames replied. He was trying to keep his temper under control, he really was, but if Ben had asked him out for breakfast Eames was going to throttle him.
"I know you are and that's why you're here," Ben replied. He picked up a piece of bacon and gestured to a man that was sitting alone at a table. He looked so drunk that he could barely stay awake and more than once he started to list off to the side like he was about to curl up and go to sleep right there. He looked like any other drunk that had decided to try and sober up before driving home. "I was in here getting food as I often do at four in the morning when he walked in. Fortunately for me he is either too drunk or did not see me because if he did he would have probably shot me in the head."
"I'm sorry that you've pissed someone off, Ben, but--"
"Let me finish," Ben interrupted. "I did piss someone off and that guy over there works for that someone. In fact he is pretty high on the list of people that work for this someone. This someone is the same person you're trying to find." There was a reason Ben was being evasive because no one in this town wanted to say Todd's name. "The thing about these people is that they are taught through very interesting methods not to talk. You, however, specialize in getting people to talk without talking."
"I don't have the equipment for that," Eames replied without taking his eye off of the man.
"I might have something you could borrow," Ben replied. Eames glanced at him and Ben shrugged. "In exchange for it I just need you to get rid of our mutual problem. It would make my life easier and last much longer."
"Usually you lot don't like to get involved in this sort of thing," Eames said.
"I don't know what you're talking about. We're just meeting for some coffee then I'm going home. Whatever happens when I leave is not my business," Ben said grinning. "Have that cup, Eames, we might have to kill some time." The waitress came around and Eames drank some burnt coffee while Ben ate his breakfast like they were not looking at a man through a scope. Ben paid for their food and was on his way out the door when the man stumbled to his feet and walked out the door as well. Eames stayed a few steps behind him and could smell the alcohol on him. He was beyond drunk so it was easy to trip him in the dark parking lot, to silence him with a hand over his mouth and make him go to sleep. When Eames looked up Ben was gone but in the passenger seat of his car was a familiar silver case. As Eames put the man in the back seat of the car he remembered why Ben was a good ally to have. It was worth the 4AM coffee at least.
+++
"How in the hell did this happen?" Cobb asked when he walked out into the living room to find Eames sitting at a desk and an unconscious man on the couch. Eames barely looked up from the information on this man that he was trying to gather. They did not have much in the way of time to figure out exactly whose head they were going into but Eames did not really care right now. He barely looked up but he heard Miles join Cobb and he could feel the two of them staring at him as if they were not sure if he had gone off the deep end.
"His name is John Williams and he is the third in command of Adam Todd's enforcers. My arms dealer called me last night and told me where to find him. He should know where Arthur and Mal are. However, he is not going to just tell us where they are so I figured we should save the time and just go in and take it," Eames replied. He turned in the chair and saw that Cobb looked surprised while Miles looked thoughtful.
"Dom, please figure out a maze that would work for this since you will be the dreamer. We don't have time for Mr. Eames to memorize a new dream," Miles said. He walked further into the room and knelt down next to the PASIV, opening it up and looking it over. Cobb seemed to come out of his surprise at the situation and began to dig through his suitcase until he found a notebook.
Eames went back to ignoring the two of them in favor of using every dirty trick that Arthur had taught him over the years to find every bit of information on this man. He was not surprised that there was not much; this was the high ranking henchman of a guy that had no problem kidnapping people but there was enough that Eames had a feeling that he knew what they were getting into. This was also a man, though, who was heavily trained in how to keep quiet.
"No, I'm going to be the dreamer," Eames said.
"But I'm just an architect--" Cobb began.
"No, this guy is pretty brutal, wanted for several counts of murder. A mind like that is going to be hostile and I can hold my own against the projections much better than you can. You're going to have to extract, Cobb," Eames said.
"He's right, Dom," Miles said after a beat of silence. "Mr. Eames is much more capable of fighting than you are. You are married to my daughter and she is one of the best extractors we saw in the program. Surely you must have picked up some tips from her."
"Obviously," Cobb said as he closed his notebook. "But this is Mal. What if I mess it up?"
"Simple," Eames said as he sat back and began to remember a dream from a previous job. "Don't mess it up." Cobb did not look convinced about that but he began to talk quietly to Miles nevertheless. Eames turned his attention back to finding information on John Williams but every moment that passed made him more and more uneasy. Eames hated going in blind but there was no possible way they were going to find Arthur and Mal if they did not do this soon. He had a level now so they just needed to make sure that Cobb was not going to botch it.
Nearly two hours later and they were finally setting up the PASIV to go into the dream. Eames might have had something to do with it mostly because they were running out of sedatives to keep Williams asleep and also because Mal and Arthur had been prisoners for five days now. Eames had a good feeling that they were not going to last longer than a week. Miles finished setting up the machine and Eames did not wince at the sting from the needle in his arm.
"We have enough to put you under for ten minutes," Miles explained. "After that we will have to find more somnacin and try again. You both know that a mind can adapt to a second attempt rapidly and I'm sure Mr. Todd will be missing his comrade soon."
"Basically you're saying we only have one shot at this," Cobb said and Miles nodded. "Okay, let's do this, we can do this." Eames did not think Cobb sounded that confident but he lay down on the floor anyway. It was not like they had much of a choice. Miles glanced at the two of them, nodded and pushed the button. Eames could feel the chemicals rushing through his veins and the world faded into white.
+++
The dream was a city block that looked a lot like New York but not quite. There was a bar where Eames made sure that Williams was sitting. Cobb would have to sweet talk the man into giving up his secrets while Eames kept his distance. The dream felt stable but he had been unable to find out whether or not Williams was aware of dreaming or if he was militarized. If he was trained then things were going to get very interesting very quickly. Eames caught Cobb's eye as he walked into the bar and Eames entered a few minutes after him.
Williams was at the bar drinking what looked like straight whiskey with no regard for taste. Getting a mark drunk in a dream was not the best plan because some people got more paranoid the more they drank but it looked like this was not something they were going to have a choice about. Cobb ordered a drink and sat down next to Williams. The projections around them acted normally, as if they did not have a care in the world, and Eames watched them.
"Whiskey straight? Jeez man, are you having a bad day?" Cobb asked.
"Bad life," Williams replied as he finished another drink.
"I hear you, man. My wife just up and vanished the other day, left me the car and the house and all of the bills, can't believe the bitch did that," Cobb grumbled and Eames snorted.
"Mine is more job related," Williams said and he ordered another drink.
"Need anyone to vent to?" Cobb asked and Williams tensed. "Stranger in a bar is about as close to a therapist as you can get only without the $500 bills."
"It's not exactly something I can talk about," Williams said.
"Ah, well, we all have our secrets with work and what not," Cobb mused.
"Yeah, work, right." Williams downed another drink but he still looked uncomfortable. A waitress in the bar dropped a beer bottle and swore when it crashed to the ground. A few minutes prior she had been peppy and grinning. Eames wanted to tell Cobb to hurry it up but there was no way of doing that without drawing attention to himself. Williams probably knew who Eames was and they were lucky so far that he had not placed Cobb's face.
"We just need to keep them safe," Cobb finished. Williams narrowed his eyes and looked at Cobb directly for the first time. Eames could practically see him trying to place Cobb's face from somewhere. Eames stood up and made his way through the bar and snuck into the backroom where the manager’s safe was. He just hoped Cobb had seen him. Moments later Cobb joined him in the manager’s office and Eames locked the door.
"Did he recognize you?" Eames asked as he pulled out his gun.
"I think he was starting to," Cobb said. The safe was in the corner of the room and Cobb knelt down in front of it. Outside the door Eames could hear people moving around and the dream warped into the maze leading from the bar to the office. The projections would come after them now but the maze was well done enough that he did not think they could get to them in time. "Got it," Cobb said and he began to go through the safe. Eames knelt down next to him and they looked through the piles of papers. Maybe this was going to take longer than they had thought.
"Apparently this guy has a lot of work related secrets," Eames said as he looked through paper after paper about people who owed protection money, where bodies were buried, who was going to get their kneecaps hit with a crowbar, all things he was not very happy about knowing. Outside the door began to shake as the projections raced through the maze but Cobb did not even look up.
"You said they were looking for someone named Lilly Tomas right?" Cobb asked.
"Yes, they want to extract her location from her brother Ethan. We can assume that Todd already has him as well," Eames replied. The projections were getting closer and he was going to have to lead them away soon if they did not hurry this up.
"This looks like a transcript of an email or some text messages. 'Todd told me about this point man and architect we have,'" Cobb read from a paper. "'The architect won't go under, we think she's pregnant, but it's been great at keeping the point subdued. He's been taking all the beatings so we don't touch her.'" Eames fantasized about how he was going to put a bullet in Todd's head. "'He's weak though and we're going to ask him one more time tomorrow to do the job or we're going to kill her. He'll say yes because he's a fucking idiot but Mr. Todd knows that since he's starving and dehydrated his body won't be able to handle the job. He'll drop into limbo or go into cardiac arrest. Mr. Todd will kill the woman and leave her as an example to everyone else.'"
"Is it dated?" Eames asked very carefully because letting Cobb see just how angry he was was probably not a good idea for the dream.
"Yeah, yesterday, they're doing this today," Cobb whispered as he dug through the papers some more. Eames did as well and he did not flinch when the projections threw themselves at the door. He turned the door to metal because it did not really matter now that they were caught. They had to find a location, it was nine in the morning topside and they might already be too late. Eames threw papers aside until he found another text message written on a piece of paper. It was from a week ago and Todd's name was at the top. It just said 'take them here' with a location. It was around the same time that Arthur and Mal had been taken. The door cracked and they were out of time.
"I have the location," Eames said as Cobb looked up.
"Are you sure?" Cobb asked as the door began to cave in.
"I have to be; we're out of time," Eames replied. He picked up his gun and shot Cobb between the eyes. He did not have time to dwell on the irony that he was the one that had put the gun in Cobb's face this time. The door burst open just as Eames put the smoking barrel to his head and pulled the trigger.
+++
Eames blinked once, twice, before his head was clear enough that he could get to his feet. The drugs were still in his system and he could hardly stand but that did not matter. There was literally no time to stop and wait because they were going to drop Arthur into limbo or let him die today. Cobb was quickly explaining what had happened in the dream as Eames gathered his things. The address was across the city and it was rush hour. It could take them up to an hour to get there. It did not matter that he had not slept naturally in over a day, it did not matter that somnacin was still rushing through his system, they had to go and they had to go now.
"The car is ready. Let's go," Miles said. They grabbed the last of their things, dragged Williams out to a dark alley where he would wake up eventually with no keys, wallet or phone and started across the city. If they were too late Eames swore to himself that he would destroy Todd’s empire.
+++
Arthur had a beautiful woman in his arms and that was not normal. There had been only a few people during the time when he and Eames were not working together but it had been a long time since he had been with someone like Mal. Even if she was just asleep and using him for warmth. She was gentle, wary of his wounds, but held on tight nevertheless. Arthur ignored his ribs in favor of letting Mal hug the life out of him. It was in no way a bad thing, and he knew that she was beginning to feel the effects of everything that had happened over the last five days. It was nearly nine in the morning judging by where he could see the sun through the window. It had only been about a day and a half since they had come to ask him to do the job and Arthur had a feeling they would come again today. He was weak from the previous beating and no one had brought them any food or water.
Mal shifted and Arthur could feel her slowly waking up. So far as the two of them could tell, the baby was okay. There was no bleeding and that was the major thing they were worried about. Mal tucked herself under Arthur's chin and sighed.
"They are going to come again soon," she said,
"Yes," Arthur replied.
"Probably today," she said and Arthur nodded. "Don't lie to me, Arthur, I'll know if you're lying. Are we going to die?" Arthur thought about lying because he wanted to reassure her, but it did not seem fair to sugar coat it at this point in the game. That was not how he worked and she had asked for the honesty.
"Cobb and Eames are alive and they're looking for us," Arthur said. "I'll do everything I can to stall for as long as possible."
"It's a 'yes' or 'no' question Arthur," Mal said.
"I don't know," he said. She nodded against his neck and held onto him a little tighter. It twinged his bruised ribs but Arthur ignored it. He was not going to deny her comfort even if it hurt him a little. The locks on the door began to open. Mal helped him out of the bed and Arthur put himself between her and the door. She took his hand and held on tight and Arthur squeezed her hand. The door opened and Todd walked in, flanked by the same two guards.
"Mr. Arthur, you're not looking so well," Todd said, smiling. Arthur was not going to allow himself to be baited by this man so he said nothing. "I see how it is. Well, it has been five days so I think you know what I want by now."
"And you know my answer," Arthur replied. Todd sighed and walked forward casually as if he was not walking over Arthur's bloodstains on the floor. Mal released his hand just as Todd took Arthur by the collar and jerked him forward.
"If you don't agree to this job I will put a bullet in Mrs. Cobb's head," Todd said as one of the guards pointed a gun at Mal.
"If you touch her I will find a way to kill myself," Arthur replied coolly. "You need someone with a delicate touch for this job, someone who knows Ethan Tomas better than most and who knows what to look for, and that's me. The entire community knows exactly who you are, Todd, and even those with no morals at all aren’t going to work for you for any price. Above all else, dreamers are selfish and none of them are going to risk their necks to do a job for you. If you kill us Cobb and Eames will make sure no one will work for you ever again. So, Mr. Todd, you need me and that means you don't lay a finger on her."
Todd still looked smug, like he had the upper hand somehow, and Arthur was done with that. Without thinking twice he slammed his forehead into Todd's nose and he felt the bone shatter. Todd cried out in pain and stumbled back, a hand over his broken nose. One of the guards came over and hit Arthur in his cracked ribs hard enough that he saw stars.
"You stupid son of a bitch!" Todd screamed. Arthur could hardly catch his breath so it was not hard for the guards to subdue him. Arthur was not sure over the ringing in his ears but he thought he heard Mal chuckling behind him. Todd pulled his hand away and Arthur enjoyed the sight of blood running down his face. If he was going to die then he was going to make sure Todd had something to remember him by, and if a crooked nose was all he could do Arthur was okay with that. “We’re plugging you in today, Arthur, and you’re going into that dream whether you like it or not.”
“Wait,” Mal said as the guards began to drag Arthur away. “You can’t do that. He’s physically weak and his body can’t take it.” Mal ran toward them as if she could stop them but one of the guards shoved her back. Arthur glanced over his shoulder and saw Mal staring at him like it was the last time she was ever going to see him. The door slammed and she was gone. Mal was right, he was too weak physically to go under, and if he did there was a very good chance he could drop into limbo or his entire body could shut down. Ethan was probably not in any better condition. The job would kill the two of them and get rid of any evidence. Then they would be free to hurt Mal any way they pleased. Todd was wheezing as they walked down the hallway and he sounded furious. The two guards pulled Arthur into a small room and forced him to sit in a chair. There was a design in front of him and nothing else.
“You have one hour to memorize this maze and then you are going under,” Todd said through his teeth. “You will find that information or I will make you watch as I torture that bitch, got it?”
“Crystal clear,” Arthur snapped. Todd looked like he was ready to put a bullet through Arthur’s head but he nodded to his guards and walked out of the room. There was the all too familiar sensation of the barrel of a gun to the back of his head.
“Get to work,” the guard said. Arthur looked down at the maze; he had one hour to stall as long as he could.
+++
The traffic was not terrible but it still took them almost an hour to get to the warehouse where Mal and Arthur were being held. Eames hoped that was where they were being held because they were officially out of time. Eames spent the entire time making sure they had enough ammo and trying to get himself in the right frame of mind. Contrary to what everyone might think it did not get easier for him to pull the trigger on real people but Eames' skin itched with the idea of killing Adam Todd. This was the type of man that was going to keep hurting people no matter what happened.
They were just about to arrive at the warehouse when Eames' phone rang. He picked it up and saw Ben's number.
"It went well, Ben, thanks, but I'm kind of in the middle of something," Eames said.
"I figured you would be but I wanted to let you know that I got some interesting calls this afternoon. Apparently people are talking about this whole thing. The dream community is not pleased with how Todd is handling this. If nothing else we can take pleasure in the knowledge that Todd's name is being dragged through the dirt so no one else will take jobs for him. You dreamers are such gossips," Ben replied. "Good luck and let me know if you need anything else. I will come pick up my machine while you're gone."
"Thanks again, Ben," Eames said. They would not have been able to do this without the PASIV.
"Just do what we agreed upon and everything will be fine," Ben said, hanging up. Miles nearly ran a red light but they did not get pulled over fortunately. There was no way they could explain all of the weapons in the car right now.
"Our first priority is extraction. We need to make sure we get Mal and Arthur out of there as soon as possible," Eames explained. "Once they're safe we'll assess whether or not they need immediate medical attention. If we can wait I want to take care of Todd."
"Yes, he needs to be taken care of," Cobb said. There was an edge to his voice that Eames did not like but there was nothing he could do about it now. None of them were going to come out of this situation the same. Eames knew that he and Arthur could deal with it but he was not sure how Mal and Cobb were going to handle it. Miles stopped in front of the warehouse and Eames gathered his things.
"Be careful," Miles said. They nodded and the car drove away.
"Can I trust you to have my back?" Eames asked.
"Yes," Cobb replied. "We need to get them back."
"And we're going to. Let's go." Eames drew his pistol and they made their way toward the warehouse. As soon as they slipped through the door a bullet missed going through Eames' head by an inch. He turned and fired hitting the guard in the chest. These people were not shooting to incapacitate, they were shooting to kill. Eames did not really want to kill anyone but there did not seem to be much choice now. From behind him he heard Cobb fire a few rounds and they made their way through the warehouse. There were guards everywhere and Eames shot each one without hesitation. In Williams’ dream he had discovered that Todd hired murderers and rapists to be his bodyguards so these people were not innocent. There was still blood on his hands though and that was not something he was proud of.
Eames turned a corner and saw a metal door at the end of a corridor. He walked toward it a little faster than was wise and turned the bolt lock. It echoed in the room behind the door and he nodded to Cobb to watch his back. Eames opened the door and raised his gun. He lowered it immediately when he saw Mal staring back at him. She was covered in dirt and blood, her skin was pale and she looked a little too thin, but it was her and she was alive. She was also alone.
"Cobb," Eames said and he took Cobb's place at the door so he could make sure that no one snuck up on them. Cobb raced forward and threw his arms around Mal. Eames was surprised, and a little proud, that Cobb did not drop his gun right there.
"I've got you, I've got you," Cobb whispered into her hair. She was not crying but she pulled away from Cobb quickly.
"They took Arthur, they took him and they were going to plug him in. Eames, he isn't strong enough, he'll die, you need to find him," Mal said so quickly that it almost sounded like it was all one word.
"Get her out of here," Eames said to Cobb.
"Should you go alone?" Cobb asked but he did not look so keen on leaving Mal's side anytime soon.
"I'll be fine, just get her out of here," Eames said. Cobb nodded and Eames did not stick around to see if they were going to be okay. If he had to jump into limbo to pull Arthur back he would but it was not something he was looking forward to. There was no telling if the man he found in limbo would be the same man he had known for all these years. Time did not work normally in limbo, was the theory, and Eames could be seconds behind him and Arthur could have spent 100 years alone.
The warehouse was strangely quiet though Eames heard a few stray gunshots. None of them were at him so he could only assume they were Cobb. They did not sound like they were behind him but in front. Eames picked up the pace a little and turned a corner. There were no more doors on this end save for one at the end of the hallway. It was where the shots had come from, he was sure of it, and Eames clenched the gun tightly.
Eames placed his ear against the door but it was too thick and he could not hear anything. The door swung inwards and Eames held his gun tightly in hand as he kicked the door open. There was a single light hanging from the ceiling and a table in the middle of the room. On the floor were the bodies of two guards with gunshot wounds in their chests. In the middle of the room was Todd, his head twisted at a horrible angle, his mouth open in shock. Arthur stood in the middle of the room, blood on his clothes and his face, a gun in hand, and he looked up when Eames kicked open the door.
"Looks like you didn't need me," Eames said as he lowered his gun. Arthur dropped his gun on the ground and smiled, though it must have hurt with his bleeding lip. It was not normally a compulsion that Eames felt but he did not fight the instinct to pull Arthur into his arms. His gun was safely in its holster and Eames wrapped his arms around his partner, mindful of his many injuries. If Arthur held on a little tight it was not like there was anyone else to see.
"I got tired of waiting," Arthur replied.
+++
They found Ethan Tomas a few doors away, and Ethan, Arthur and Mal spent three days in the hospital receiving IV fluids and getting their bodies in working order. There was a collective sigh of relief when a doctor came in and told everyone that the baby was fine and everything looked good. Cobb cried, Mal didn't, Arthur looked thankful and Eames felt the last bit of tension leak from his shoulders. Arthur got stir crazy after the first day and spent the next two ignoring his doctors and putting together a detailed identity for Ethan. The doctors could not explain how Ethan just up and vanished from the hospital one day as if he had never been there and they did not notice how smug Arthur looked.
Cobb rarely left Mal's room but Eames was not as lucky. He spent a good part of the next three days catching up on sleep, returning unused ammo to Ben, and covering their tracks. He left Adam Todd's body in the middle of the desert so that there would be nothing but bones left by the time the police found him. Considering all of the things Todd was wanted for, Eames did not think they would investigate too much when they found his remains.
Arthur told Eames everything that had happened. He considered himself fortunate that they had only beaten him three times during the week and that there had been a bed for Mal to sleep on. He told Eames about how he and Mal had held each other without shame and punched Eames in the arm when Eames made a comment. They both decided that Mal would tell Cobb about that when she thought he could handle it. Arthur and Mal were close now, Eames could see it, and he supposed he had some sort of connection with Cobb as well. He had a feeling that they would be seeing Cobb and Mal a lot more in the next few years.
The four of them spent a week at the Cobbs’ house outside of LA. Miles had to go back to Paris after they got out to the hospital but Eames was fairly sure he had an ally in Miles. The four of them were very domestic which made Eames feel very strange and he could tell that Arthur was not quite comfortable with it either.
"I guess I'm just not cut out to be a homemaker," Eames said the night before they were going to leave. They were sitting on the back porch drinking beers.
"Make me a sandwich, Mr. Eames," Arthur said. Eames knocked their shoulders together and Arthur grinned. His ribs were going to take some time to heal but everything else was bruises and cuts that were slowly healing. The first few nights Arthur slept curled around Eames but as the week progressed he slowly migrated back to his side of the bed. The status quo was slowly returning and while Arthur cuddles were not a bad thing Eames was more happy that his friend was back on his feet again. Eames finished his beer and held out a hand to Arthur.
"Come to bed, honey. You need to go to work early in the morning," Eames mocked. Arthur laughed brilliantly and took his hand. They dropped their beer bottles off into the recycling and made their way to the back guestroom. As soon as the door closed Arthur pulled him into a hard and dirty kiss. Arthur was not quite feeling well enough to do anything more than make out but Eames let him guide the two of them to the bed. Arthur pushed Eames down and crawled on top of him.
"Thanks for coming for me, Eames," Arthur said.
"You had it covered," Eames replied, shrugging. Arthur smiled again and Eames pulled him down to kiss it off his lips.
They left the next morning and when Mal held onto Arthur a little longer than anyone else Cobb did not look worried. That was good because Cobb being jealous of the friendship Arthur and Mal had developed was ludicrous but Eames did not put it past Dom Cobb. They had a few hours to kill before their red eye flights so Eames found them a small pool hall so they could get drinks. They drank in comfortable silence for about ten minutes until Arthur broke it.
"I was lucky," Arthur said.
"What do you mean?" Eames asked.
"You said I had it covered but I got lucky. They let their guards down when you and Cobb started shooting up the place. If you hadn't I would have gone under to do that job and died or worse," Arthur explained, tracing the top of his glass with the tip of his finger. "You know, I never doubted for a second that you would come for me but thanks for coming anyway."
"You never have to thank me for something like that, Arthur," Eames replied. Arthur looked up from the table and his brown eyes seemed brighter than normal.
"I know I don't," he said. There were other things being said here, more than either of them was saying out loud, and the moment felt oddly tense in a way that Eames had not experienced in a long time. It felt like both of them wanted to say something else but neither of them were sure what or if it needed to be said. A loud whoop from across the bar broke the moment. They both turned to see two frat boys bump fists at one of the pool tables.
"We are unstoppable, man," one said.
"Kings of the tables, bro," said the other. Eames turned to Arthur and they both grinned. They downed the rest of their beers and both made their way over to the pool tables and the self congratulatory frat boys.
"Evening, gentlemen," Eames said smiling brightly. "Care to make a friendly wager on a game?"
<-- part two | masterpost -->
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