Episode One (Part 3)
Title: Inception: The TV Show (1/?)
Writer: elenielofnarnia
Fandom: Inception
Pairing/Characters: Arthur, Ariadne, Eames - gueststaring Yusuf and Saito for this episode!
Rating: PG
Word Count: Approximately 12,400
Disclaimer: I do not own anything Inception--it belongs to Christopher Nolan.
Summary: Finale to episode one, the first part you can find here and the second you can find here.
Chapter One Finale: The Quail
Part Three
Norton barely looked out the window as the limo pulled up in front of the hotel tall, gleaming hotel. The head of Aoi Industries wouldn’t be meeting with him until the next night, which means he had arrived just in time. Always hours to spare.
The doorman nodded as he opened the wide glass doors for the rich man. Norton barely nodded back as his phone started to buzz up against his breast. He fished it out and flipped it open without checking who had called.
“Yeah?”
The middle son of his three was on the other end. “Hey dad, did you get off the plane safely?”
Norton smiled. “Yes I did.”
“Everything was catered to your needs? Even in the limo?”
“Of course! What’s gotten into you?”
Martin smiled in a prestigious but empty hallway. The renovated walls shined from the sun coming through a window far from him. “Nothing. Just checking in on you. Good luck on the meeting.” He clicked the cell phone closed and turned to Ellias beside him. “It’s go time.”
Norton walked into his hotel room after receiving his key-card, surprised at how quiet the floor was compared to the others. Over the hours, as he worked on different paperwork and phone calls, the hotel continually sent up complimentary food. One of his sons must have told them beforehand what he liked, because everything he received was surprisingly accurate to the things he loved.
Finally, during the late afternoon he was sent some wine. His favorite Italian wine flown in from the exact location in Florence. Bitter, with a sweet aftertaste no other wine could match.
Taking a break, Norton poured himself a glass and let it settle for a few seconds before sipping it. He sighed at the taste before taking a longer gulp. After a few long seconds he promptly collapsed onto the bed.
Arthur stood in the next room, ear pressed against the wall. He waited patiently for a sound but couldn’t hear a thing. Turning to Eames beside him he nodded.
They opened Norton’s door together just as Martin, Ellias, Ariadne and Yusuf walked out of the room across from them silently. They joined each other in Norton’s bedroom, where he lay splayed across the bed.
Ariadne looked down at the familiar silver briefcase, her eyes widening slightly at the reminder. She couldn't believe this was actually happening again.
Pulling up six chairs, Arthur placed a small stool in the middle and opened the briefcase on it. Each of them settled into their respected seats, hooking up to the device.
Eames turned to Yusuf and winked. “Did we make sure everyone went to the loo this time?” He laughed at Yusuf’s scowl just as one of the workers walked in to monitor the whole thing.
She gave them each a smile, all of them sitting and waiting… and pressed the middle button.
--
Norton barely looked out the window of the spot they had taken in the restaurant. He was used to going to this place for lunch and cocktails with his eldest son; he barely had to think when he was with Howard.
Eames observed himself in the mirror of the men’s washroom and smiled at how closely he resembled the blonde Howard Quicke.
He walked back out and approached his “father”, giving him a small smile-the same kind Howard always had plastered on his face. “Ready to go?”
Norton looked up, blinking in surprise. “What? Oh right… yes, I paid them.”
They walked out together, approaching a small black bullet-proof limo. Norton slid into the backseat first, Howard tapping on the window to make sure it was Yusuf he could see in the driver’s seat. He gave the driver a smile, thankful it wasn’t raining and slid in next to his father, letting the car drive quickly off.
Yusuf could see from one of the mirrors another car following them close behind, driven by Arthur. Ariadne sat in the passenger seat with Martin and Ellias behind them, the girl poised for an attack.
This time they were ready. With Arthur’s extensive research and the two brothers around to help he found out that the Quicke family had been trained in a small form of extraction, but mostly in defending their minds.
Soon they noticed another car keeping tabs on them. The projections.
Norton turned to his son in the limo, surprised at how he started playing with his hands. He only ever did that when he was nervous. Before Norton could ask, the car suddenly jerked to the right and he could hear shouting.
“Something’s going on out there!” Yusuf yelled. He was faking the shock of course, as was Howard.
“Keep driving!” Norton yelled, but they had slowed.
Ellias and Martin pulled on ski masks that made them look like robbers. When they were finished, Arthur stopped the car and he and Ariadne pulled one on as well. Arthur pulled out the guns, handing them back to the brothers and one with an empty holster to Ariadne as they pulled themselves out and shot back at the projections, who were shooting from a close distance.
A bullet grazed Ellias’s shoulder, but he barely winced, as they quickly approached the limo. It had finally come to a halt and Arthur pulled Yusuf out just as Ellias, Martin and Ariadne climbed into the passenger seat. Yusuf hid behind the car where it was parked by the sidewalk as Ariadne and Martin pointed their guns at Howard and Norton.
“Don’t move a muscle.” Ariadne spoke, her voice as firm as she could muster.
Norton stared at the kidnappers, unable to find his voice as the two male kidnappers put a sack over both of their heads and tied their hands.
The three of them turned back around just as Yusuf climbed back in and Arthur started driving away. As they sped down the highway the projections continued to shoot at them, Arthur trying once in awhile to shoot back.
“The feds are onto us!” He quickly yelled, making sure Norton wouldn’t get too suspicious under the sack. Luckily for them they were in a bullet-proof limo and Arthur started paying more attention to the road than to the projections.
Eventually they stopped in front of a warehouse Ariadne had made sure to add into the designs. She had tried not to make it seem too much like any warehouse she had been in before, but she still couldn’t help feeling reminiscent of the last time they had done this.
They all kept their masks on, barely conversing as they pulled Howard and Norton away into a back room. After they had been handcuffed, Arthur removed the sacks from their heads and walked out, promptly walking back in with Martin and Ellias behind him.
Arthur pulled out one of his own guns and began his slightly familiar interrogation. They had rehearsed this of course… but this was only his second inception mission. It was almost… exciting.
“Which one of your sons did you send on the extraction mission?”
Norton turned to Howard in confusion, but his son was just as perplexed. “W-what? What’re you talking about?”
Arthur pointed the gun in Norton’s shaking face. “Don’t pretend you don’t know about dream-sharing. We know you sent extractors to my employer with one of your sons as a tourist. You meant to steal one of our new mobile phone designs that belong to one of our manufacturers.”
Martin continued for him, masking his voice with a gruff sound. “A phone that turns into a cube when it isn’t in use, and opens up again when needed. Ring a bell?”
“We caught the extractors and killed them." Arthur started. "We know you could care less, but before they died they told us one of your sons had been acting as a tourist during their mission. We wanna know which son.”
“I don’t know about any extraction mission, I swear!” Norton blurted out, shaking. He turned to his son, who shook his head, terrified.
Arthur jabbed the gun onto Norton’s forehead. “I promise you I will kill all of your goddamn sons if you don’t tell us what we need to know right-” He stopped suddenly as the door opened behind him.
Ariadne stood with her mask on, Martin the only one turning. “What is it?”
“We didn’t lose the police, they’re still out there.”
Ellias walked in just as Arthur put down the gun and turned to the brothers. “Watch on them by the door. I’ll be right back.”
He quickly disappeared, slamming the door shut, as he followed Ariadne out and left Martin and Ellias alone with Howard and Norton.
The room was silent for a few long seconds, the masked men with their guns ready. Finally, Norton turned to his son, eyes wide, voice hushed. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
Howard paused, Eames working on what they had rehearsed. He closed his eyes in dread and sighed.
Norton watched him, curiously. “What? What is it?”
“I just remembered something. I… I heard about the new cube design while I was talking to some people at a dinner party. I spoke to some companies about it and tried to even negotiate with a manufacturer about possible buys. But they wouldn’t listen to me and the company was bought by somebody else.” He paused, shaking his head. “Martin knew about this and brought up extraction.”
Norton bowed his head, but fixed his gaze back on Howard. “What for?”
“He said he did it so our companies can make the cube designs too with alterations, so it won’t look too much like the real thing.” Howard shook his head, swallowing. “I decided against it because it might cost too much and be too dangerous but-but I didn’t think Martin would be stupid enough to still go through with it! He’s always trying to upstage me, but I didn’t think he’d do something like this!”
His father turned away once again, trying not to look at one of the kidnappers. The masked man had his gaze fixed on him and it made him feel odd. Always being watched. The other barely glanced at him, his shoulder bleeding, but this one never looked away. Norton sighed, trying to look away from the masked man.
“Martin’s gonna get himself killed.” He muttered. “He’ll just bring the company down if you two don’t stop this stupid rivalry.”
Howard swivelled towards his father. “I haven’t done anything! It’s Martin… he won’t stop. Not until he has what he wants dad... your respect.”
Norton stopped, trying to think quickly. As he searched for a reply, Arthur thundered back in, mask still on and gun still in his hand. “We have to go. Keep quiet or we’ll shoot.” Without another word Norton and Howard were bagged once again.
Arthur turned to Martin and Ellias. “The feds are close by, we have to relocate.” He hated saying the word “feds”, but it sounded nothing like him, which was perfect.
Cuffing Norton and Howard again, all of them quickly pulled themselves silently back into the limo, Yusuf driving. Arthur quickly gave Norton a sedative to put him to sleep and they pulled off their masks, sighing in relief. Except for Eames, who mumbled something nobody heard under his breath behind the sack about hating sacks.
Going under with Yusuf monitoring into the second level of the dream world was much simpler this time. Each of them fell asleep as Yusuf drove his way towards the Brooklyn Bridge Ariadne had designed. In less than a minute he would be hitting the railing.
--
Norton gasped awake in a small dark room, sack off of his head but still handcuffed. He lay on the floor, looking around hurriedly and found one of the masked men staring down at him from a chair.
Ellias remained silent, trying not to meet his father’s eyes, knowing Norton would be wondering by now where Howard was. Even in the second dream level they had to make sure Norton believed he was still in reality. Piece of cake. Ellias just wished his shoulder would stop throbbing.
Norton shook his head, trying to remember what had happened.
“Where am I? Who are you?” He glared up at the masked man, surprised at how he wasn’t gazing him in the eye like the other man had earlier. “Answer me! Where’s my son? Did you hurt him?” His son… something about his son.
Ellias fought every fiber in his being not to say anything. Martin had practiced changing his voice throughout the week and had mastered a low gravely sound, while Ellias couldn’t be bothered. He also happened to be awful at it. Nobody told him he was, but he could see it in their pained expressions when he tried, so why worry?
As his father continued to ask questions, moving his cuffed hands frantically, Ellias was saved with Arthur’s intrusion. Eames, still disguised as Howard, was dragged in, his eye bruised and nose bleeding.
“I’m sorry dad, I’m sorry.” Howard looked away from his worried father, his hands still cuffed as well. He barely tried to stand, ashamed of himself.
“Sorry-what’re you sorry about?” It dawned on him all too quickly. Martin’s contribution to this awful situation. “No… you told them about Martin.”
“He sure did.” Arthur kicked him back down.
“I tried not to! I did!” Howard coughed in exhaustion. “But they threatened they would kill you…”
Everything flooded back. Norton remembered being in the restaurant with Howard and then being kidnapped-all of it. He closed his eyes, trying to think quickly but his emotions had started to take over. Howard could barely look at him and he knew he would never be mad at his oldest son.
“They have Martin right now.” Howard spoke to the floor, tears coming to his eyes. “They’re bringing him here…” At that, he went silent.
Ariadne stood outside the abandoned dock-side warehouse with Martin, her mask pulled off at the moment. She blinked, fixing her hair as Martin put out his cigarette.
“You do realize this is a dream, right? You don’t have to smoke.”
Martin smirked. “What’re you talking about? This way it especially won’t hurt me.”
“It’s pointless, that’s all I’m saying.”
“Why? We can’t be nervous in dreams?”
She didn’t reply, looking away. Arthur had to signal her, but it seemed like he was taking forever. She tried not to fidget, knowing Martin would comment, but hated the silence even more.
Martin eventually spoke up. “I know I’ll end up saying this later, but I think I should say it now.” He smiled at her furrowed but expectant eyebrows. “I mean… thank you.”
Ariadne rolled her eyes. “Really? You’re thanking me?”
“I know you were the most opposed to-”
“To incepting your father, yeah.”
“Um… no… I meant bringing me and my brother along. You were against the whole thing from the start?”
She shrugged. “I wouldn’t have done this if it went completely against everything I believed in. It’s just… how should I know if you’re more suitable for something like this than your brother?”
He rose his eyebrows. “What made you decide to come along then?”
“Arthur said you provided him with the evidence.”
He smirked. “And you trust Arthur that much?”
Ariadne paused, lost in thought for a few short seconds. “I guess I do.”
Before Martin could ask anymore questions, Arthur himself appeared in the doorway and motioned for her to come. She pulled on her mask and grabbed at the cuff of Martin’s shirt, pulling him down. She was glad he wasn’t making a comment on her height, but she knew he was thinking it.
Dragging Martin into the room, Norton looked up to see his frightened son. Before he could give him any reassurance, Norton felt himself being pulled into another room with Martin, leaving Howard behind.
An odd silver suitcase sat in the middle of the room with four chairs. They had odd metallic straps on them, keeping them hooked into the ground. Arthur let them both fall into two of them, buckling Norton and Martin in tightly before pulling out his gun once again.
“We’re going into your subconscious to find out how much of the design you saw.” He pointed at Martin as he said this. “But you’re coming with us so you can trick your son’s subconscious into giving the designs to an associate of mine.” He turned to Norton when he said this. “And before you say no, I might as well warn you now and tell you that if you don’t, Howard’s a dead man.”
Norton gulped, trying to keep himself from shaking as he finally nodded. “All right… okay fine, I’ll do it.”
Martin looked up at his father tearfully, his voice cracking. “I just thought-I just wanted to make you proud, dad. I thought I could surprise you-I didn’t know…” He stopped, looking away in shame. He knew there was a reason why he was the better actor than Ellias.
Norton watched his son, the pain clear on his face. As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t help not feeling angry with Martin. Howard had told him earlier that Martin had only done this to prove himself to his father. After all of this, they were going to kill his middle son, and for what? The boy had just wanted to make his father proud, even if it meant stealing information. Of course, he didn’t know he was going to die and the sudden reminder made Norton look away.
Arthur watched them and quickly looked at his watch, before speaking up. “All right, are we ready?”
The two nodded and Arthur hooked them up to the PASIV suitcase just as Eames and Ariadne walked in. Norton fell asleep for the second time with his son, as Ariadne helped Arthur and Eames with the device, both taking their respected seats.
Ariadne gave a quick shaky sigh. She kicked at the metal bars holding the chairs down and they barely wobbled, before finally turning to Arthur. “We could hear projections coming in, so Ellias and I will fight them off. Sound good?”
Arthur nodded, flashing a reassuring grin. “Sounds great.”
She scoffed. “Yeah, for you.”
“Oi…” Eames threw himself into the conversation. “Let’s refrain from the back-kicking this time, right?”
Arthur smiled and decided not to answer as Ariadne pressed the button.
As they both fell asleep, she turned to the door where Ellias waited with two readied guns. “Let’s do this.”
--
Arthur turned to Norton in masked camouflaged gear that made him look like a soldier. Eames stood beside him, shotgun in hand, uncomfortable in the Northern Arizona heat. Norton and Martin were dressed in similar clothes, but they were free from any masks.
“Do you know where we are?” Arthur asked, even though he knew.
Norton looked up at the mountains, the memory slowly coming back to him. “Yes… Show Low. Arizona. We used to own a cabin here. I can’t believe it…” Arthur noted to himself to praise Ariadne on her handiwork. “I used to take the boys here every summer and winter years ago… when they were younger.”
“I remember.” Martin voiced, silently.
“Where is it?” Eames asked, surprising Norton. He didn’t recognize this voice.
“Up there.” Norton pointed up at the cabin sitting on the top of the mountain, only a little bit away from them. He could see more people in the same outfits with large guns surrounding it.
“The designs must be in there then, since the projections are guarding your cabin.” Eames turned to Norton. “Is there a vault in there?”
“There’s a specially-built panic room.” He replied, suddenly remembering. It had been so long, he couldn’t believe Martin would still dream about it.
Arthur turned to Eames and nodded, before turning back to Norton. “Okay, you’re going with him. Martin goes with me.”
At that, they separated.
Arthur and Martin made their way towards the projections, making themselves visible to the armed men. The shooting started almost immediately, but sporadically. Arthur kept his aim, surprised at how trained Martin was at shooting a gun. They chased the projections away from the cabin, trying to get as much away from it as possible. A few stood behind until Arthur shot at them as well.
As they took off on a nearby vehicle, sharp, thin trees flew by their vision. Martin drove in front, as Arthur shot at each projection. His aim skewed repeatedly and he swore at each miss, but eventually took down five of the projections with each twist and turn.
The two projections left rode down, gaining speed with each shot fired. Arthur barely had time to register an aim, let alone shoot at them as he dodged their bullets. He turned back to Martin, who was reaching a clear hill now and shouted out to him. “Turn back around towards them and gimme a grenade!”
“What-why?”
“Just do it!”
Martin swiftly handed him a capped grenade, turning the scooter around. He kept it still, Arthur staying in the same position but turning his head to watch the projections. As they neared, Arthur finally shouted over the engine.
At the sound of “GO”, Martin bolted towards the speeding projections, racing right past them. Before they could turn, Arthur twisted his head back around, pulled the cap out of the grenade and threw it at the men. As they turned their vehicles, the explosion stopped them from moving ever again. Arthur moved his leg out of the way as shrapnel shot through the air towards them and realized it had hit Martin instead once he heard cussing from behind him.
He turned around, noticing blood stain the leg in front of him. He shoved Martin on the shoulder, getting his attention. “You okay?”
“Just fine. Let’s get back to the cabin.”
--
Yusuf thought that he was safe from any of the oncoming projections, especially in a limo like this. But as two cars drew nearer, he found it harder to outrun them. Without warning, one of them pounded the back of the limo, making everyone lurch forward.
Ariadne and Ellias did just that into the wall as they tried to walk down the hall.
“Fantastic.” Ariadne huffed, as she pulled herself together. She gave herself a routine check, making sure the extra gun was still in place in her belt.
“I can hold them off for a bit if you want.” Ellias offered, nodding towards the gun she was holding now. “Do you even know how to use that thing?”
She gave him a sheepish grin. “I know enough.”
“Well… I’ll still protect you.”
She looked away, hoping badly that she wasn’t blushing. Clearing her throat, Ariadne brushed a hair out of her eyes and led the way down the rest of the hall. She could see the projections surrounding the warehouse, testing barricaded doors and observing the windows.
Yusuf pushed at the gas, trying to gain as much distance from the two cars as possible. He turned briefly to see if they were any closer and gasped as he turned back and almost collided into another car. Swerving abruptly to the right, part of the car briefly ended up on a sidewalk.
Ariadne looked around at the now-tilted hallway. The bullets came flying towards them through different spaces that made her hide back in the hall. This wasn’t what she had thought would happen when Arthur had advised her to bolt the chairs to the floor.
Quickly getting back up, she fired the gun as best she could at the projections. Once they ultimately walked into the warehouse, she finally started aiming and hitting her targets. In the end, she really wasn’t used to shooting a gun and had to leave the rest to Ellias.
When they were sure the projections were down, the hotel started tilting back into place again. Ariadne turned back down the hall, walking into the room with the PASIV and the four sleepers. They remained firmly in place, albeit hair and clothes a bit ruffled from the sudden atmosphere change. The straps around them had done their job perfectly.
Ariadne sighed, heart pounding in her ears. Ellias walked in from behind her, slightly less kept than her, but she didn’t care. “I’d say you knew how to use that thing better than you must’ve thought.”
She smiled, barely giving him a glance as she surveyed the room. “I guess those Bond movies were a better reference for me than I thought.”
“Grand Theft Auto for me personally.”
She finally looked up at him with the same smile, before glancing quickly at her watch and then at Arthur, rubbing her forehead. Ellias watched her with jarring interest, smirking at the one glance that seemed important to her.
“So… you and him?” He finally spoke up, pointing towards Arthur. “Why do you touch your forehead like him? Arthur.”
Ariadne stopped, flushing a deep red. “I didn’t know I was…”
“Do you guys have some sort of… thing?”
She looked away, grabbing at Martin’s straps. “Even if I knew I wouldn’t tell you.”
--
Eames had taken a shortcut he had been told about by Ariadne, making his way towards the cabin with Norton close behind. He made sure the older man didn’t get too far behind and was glad that Norton didn’t bother running off. He knew the drill.
They both wove their way through a tunnel, pulling themselves onto the porch of the now-unguarded cabin. Norton observed his surroundings in awe, Eames with less intrigue. He wanted to take off his mask badly, but knew he shouldn’t.
“Where’s the panic room?” Eames finally asked.
Without answering, Norton turned in one of the halls and made his way down to the basement. He shouted “Down here!” and Eames promptly followed him. Losing sight of the man, once he reached the bottom floor he knew the shovel was coming towards him before it actually did.
The impact to his face made him shake, even with the mask on, but he quickly pulled himself together just as Norton made a grab for his gun. Eames grabbed his arm and twisted it, making the man shout in pain. Ignoring the plea for him to let go, Eames put away his shotgun and pulled out a smaller one, pointing it at the man’s red temple.
“That was a big mistake, my friend. ‘Cause I’m nice, I won’t tell about this misunderstanding. If I did, your son’d be tortured before ‘e’s killed, so be grateful that I’m nice. But just so I know you’ve learned your lesson, you’re gonna find me that panic room door and you’ll enter the code. Got it?”
Norton nodded, gulping and Eames let go of his arm. He kept the gun close to his temple, but let him walk down to the door. Entering the code, the metal door opened in almost a flash.
Both of them peered inside expectantly, but it was Norton who gasped.
Sitting in the middle of the small room was his son Martin… at seven years old. It was definitely him, back when his hair used to curl at the ends and his bangs would cover his eyes. His cheeks were plumper then and his eyes always seemed bigger. In his hands were the rolls of plans for the cube design.
Forgetting about the man with the threatening gun behind him, Norton walked into the room gingerly. He gave Martin a pat on the head and suddenly felt a flood of emotions. His son was going to die and there was nothing he could do about it.
The young boy turned his head, big green eyes watching his father and Norton wanted to hug him then and there. Would it make a difference? He should have paid more attention to his middle son, should have showed him he loved him. Maybe if he had Martin wouldn’t have felt the desperate need to always prove himself.
The tears finally welled up in his eyes and Norton felt a sob catch in his throat. Martin looked up at him questioningly. “Daddy-are you crying? What’s wrong?” Daddy. He used to call his father daddy.
Norton tried to laugh it off. “Give me the plans, Martin.”
The seven-year-old turned away. “No.”
“Do as you’re told, son.” He gave Martin another pat on the head and eventually the boy did so.
Leaning, Norton slouched down in front of the boy as he unrolled the plans. He was surprised to find the body of a dead bobwhite quail and the tears came back. The memory came rushing back: of Howard shooting and catching his first game when he was seven himself; of his pride towards his son whenever he told the story to his friends; of how Martin had done the same thing years later-to this very quail-but Norton had been upset. He even remembered the conversation he had had with his son after the police let them off with a warning.
“Why in the world would you do something like this? Why? Haven’t I told you about the rules here?”
“You did, yeah daddy. I just wanted to prove to you that I could do what Howard did too. I want you to be proud of me.”
“I can do it too daddy.” Martin pulled the plans back into his hands from in front of Norton. “I just wanted to prove it to you. Wanted to make you proud.”
Norton slowly nodded and looked up to see an older Martin at the door of the panic room, face clenched in pain from a wound on his leg. Beside him stood the other masked man, none of them holding their guns anymore.
“Martin? Are you okay?”
--
A sudden lurch. The Earth was moving on its own, as if in an earthquake.
Yusuf hit the railing of the bridge. Ariadne and Ellias pushed the chairs, tipping them back.
Eames, Arthur, Martin and Norton woke up with a start. Barely a second passed by as they gasped awake again in the car, Ariadne and Ellias joining them.
--
Norton snorted awake in his hotel room in Japan, his eyes groggy. He turned to the digital clock beside him: noon. He had been asleep for twelve hours. Usually he barely slept for eight, but this time he didn’t mind.
That was an… odd dream he had.
His phone buzzed on the coffee table and he pulled himself up, realizing then that he hadn’t even changed into his night clothes. The cell rang three times before he opened it quickly.
“Yeah?”
“Dad?” It was Martin. The dream started coming back to him at his son’s voice. Earlier that month he had given all control to Howard for when he himself retired. Now maybe he would change his mind.
“Martin? What’re you… what’s up kiddo?”
“Nothing, I was just checking on you… calling you since eight in the morning ‘cause I thought you’d be up by then.”
“Yeah… yeah, usually I am. I guess I was jetlagged or something.” He chuckled, smiling to himself. He remembered then that Martin actually always called him every morning-making sure he was up. Thinking about it now, Norton realized that his middle son may currently be at work… at his desk.
Was Howard with him?
“Well, good luck on the meeting then. I have some work I need to get to, but I’ll call you later, sound good?”
Norton nodded and then stopped, realizing his son couldn’t see him. “That sounds great.”
--
Ariadne gave a loud tap to the warehouse door; the same one she had been in when she first shared a dream with Cobb. The wine bottle felt heavy in her left hand as Arthur opened the door with a smile and let her in.
“Okay, she’s here.”
“Finally.” Eames breathed, pulling himself out of his chair and walking towards her. “And she brought wine!” Before Ariadne could make a move he had already taken it out of her hands and brandished a bottle opener out of nowhere.
Looking around briefly, she sat down in Eames’s chair. “Where’s Yusuf?”
“Couldn’t make it. We were lucky we could even get him earlier for this mission.” Arthur replied.
Ariadne smirked. “This mission?”
Eames nodded, pouring some wine. “Yeah, can we hold off on the ones pertaining to inception for awhile?” He turned, flashing a smile. “What’re you now Ariadne, nineteen? Eighteen?”
She glared back. “I’m almost twenty-three.”
“Good!” He brightened, ignoring the glare. “Not illegal to give you this then!”
She rolled her eyes as he handed her the glass and sat on the edge of the table. Ariadne turned back to Arthur after taking a small sip. “So what’re you asking from me? Do you guys want me here more often?”
Arthur looked away, almost embarrassed. He paused for too long, finally letting Eames sigh and roll his eyes.
“Yes… yes-that’s what we want, okay? You happy now?”
She couldn’t help smiling, watching Arthur rub the back of his neck. “A little bit. I guess we’re bringing the team back together then?”
“The pay’s great.” Arthur finally spoke. “And you have to admit… this is something not many people get the opportunity to do very often.”
“That’s true.” She nodded. “I guess I’ll stick around then. Cheers.” She clicked her glass with Eames’s, but he shook his head.
“No, no… we’re not celebrating over that. We’re celebrating over a mission done well. Tell ‘er what Quicke told you this morning, Arthur.”
Arthur turned back, sitting on the edge of another table. “Martin called and told me his father spoke to the three of them. Norton will be retiring in a few years and he said he was going to give Martin more say in the company and he didn’t have to answer to Howard anymore. They’ll pretty much co-own the place.”
“And that’s… good?” Ariadne asked, sipping again.
“That’s great, love. An idea can manifest in many ways and this is probably the best.” Eames replied.
“But for once Eames is right-”
“Oh, thank you Arthur.”
“You’re welcome." Arthur barely turned. "I don’t think we should take on inception jobs very often. But we’ll take on others that can involve extracting or maybe even more complicated jobs. What do you say Ariadne? You in?"
Eames nodded. “We need somebody around to keep Arthur from losing sight of the word relax.” He chuckled, well-aware that Arthur was now glaring at him, but Ariadne smiled and lifted her glass once again.
“I already said it… I’m in.”
End of episode one.