The Consequences of Trust (Part 1)
Rating: NC-17 Overall
Pairing(s) / Character(s): Arthur/Eames
Warnings: Violence, angst, character death
Summary: For This Prompt in Inception Kink
Arthur is beat to death with a brick. Either dreamspace or reality, but I prefer reality.
Author's notes: Oh how I love tortured men. Bonus points to whoever can guess the character Weiss is based off of!
Beta(s): space_raider182 and queenofinfinite
Disclaimer: This story/artwork is based on characters and situations created and owned by the Christopher Nolan and Warner Bros. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. They are not mine, I just like to play with them.
ETA: This fic is now available on AO3 where both Eames' story & Arthur's are combined in order.
_____
He's pinned with his back against the wall, one hand twisting his arm up and behind him at a painfully uncomfortable angle. A vice like grip on his wrist as a strong shoulder presses hard against his chest. He can't smell anything but spice of the other man's cologne and sweat with it's suffocating proximity, as he hyperventilates into the bared neck before him.
It's so overwhelming he can't decide if he wants to kill, faint, or throw up. The nausea spikes and he thinks it will probably the latter. It takes everything he has to not burst into tears and beg. He imagines himself stuttering, mumbling please, please, please over and over again. Please stop. Don't you know you are killing me? Over and over, every night. Please stop, please stop!
It takes a second to realize he's actually saying it out loud. His whispers are desperate and choked and uncontrolled. But he isn't released from the hold. Instead the man pulls closer, wrapping the arm not holding his wrist behind him and hugging his head tight.
Arthur vaguely remembers a time when he would have already disemboweled someone five different ways from this position.
"Oh, Arthur. What have I done to you?" is whispered into his ear.
***
He doesn't like this job. He never likes jobs involving organized crime. Corporations might have better resources to hunt you down after a failed job, but at least their memory is short. Given enough time corporations will either deem you not worth their effort or rehire you. They are adept at realizing who's an asset and who isn't, even if you have burned them in the past. Corporations are willing to look the other way in the interests their business. If you can outrun the target on your back for long enough, you'll find yourself back in their good graces eventually. This is especially true when you are the best at what you do.
Criminals, on the other hand, never forget. They may let things slide temporarily, giving off the illusion of forgiveness to put their greater business needs ahead of petty vengeance. But with them, there's nothing more perilous than time and old wounds. You can be assured that somewhere down the line you'll get a knife slipped through your ribs or a bullet in your head in the name of honor and retribution. It doesn't matter how much you've done for them, they'll only remember the one time you let them down.
Sometimes you just have to take the job that’s given. It's been years since the Fischer job, and though Arthur has invested his money wisely, some of his other team has not. And Arthur isn't anything if not loyal, so when members of the Inception team need work to pay off their gambling habits, Arthur finds them work.
It's a job. It's the only job paying well right now, so Arthur takes it. And he knows it's best to keep track of who's side you've screwed over, who's blood war you're getting involved in, and if anyone on your team has pissed of the wrong people coming into a job. Arthur checks Eames’ connections at least a dozen times before he's satisfied that his team is in the clear.
He doesn't like bringing Ariadne on a job like this, but he needs someone with a clean slate, someone he doesn't' have to worry about their past when he has to suss out Eames’ and their current extractor Jackson's entire criminal history. Besides, she'll be topside and the mark will never see her face. It's a feeble justification, he knows, but time is of the essence and he's got enough to worry about.
They have one shot at getting Ulrich Weiss under. Arthur has taken on dangerous subjects before, but Weiss makes him especially nervous. Saito had been a gamble once upon a time and it had only been luck, or fate, or some generous offering from the universe, that he and Cobb came out on top in that job. Saito auditioning them was really godsend, because right now they wouldn't be alive if that hadn't been the case. Weiss is so much worse.
He's not nearly as powerful, but he's also not nearly as controlled. Saito was a businessman, a ruthless one, but one who bowed graciously to logic and necessity. Weiss is a loose canon and borderline sociopath if not fully, though Arthur could never pin a crime directly on his hands. His decisions over the organization leave a trail of blood and anger seems to fuel these decisions more than Arthur likes.
Their client needs assurance that Weiss is stable enough to get in bed with. It's not like the client has a clean record, but they're more practical and business driven than Weiss seems to be. Arthur should just tell them not to get involved, but they know what he knows so far and they still want more information. They want to know just how dangerous Weiss is, and if he can make the kind of hard decisions that will ultimately make everyone more money. They want to know if he'll go off the deep end and screw them over. And besides, the team needs to get paid.
If Arthur is honest with himself, which he often is, he knows that he wants a challenge as well. It seems like jobs lately don't live up to Inception. It's not surprising really. Arthur misses the thrill. And as much as he doesn't like this job, he's getting the same sense of danger he used to have and that has been lacking from every mind crime he's performed since Cobb talked everyone into doing the impossible.
So Arthur prepares as thoroughly as possible. He researches all of Weiss' closest contacts, family members and business partners. He catalogues vacations, bank accounts, and criminal connections. He roots out competitors, money laundering, and secret meeting spots. And he makes damn sure that Weiss hasn't had his mind militarized. He won't make that mistake again. He pokes holes in every game plan, finding the weaknesses and creating fallbacks. He reins in overreaching ideas into plausible strategy. He leaves no stone unturned, because that's his job.
He finds out that while Weiss' mind may not be militarized, the man is paranoid and violent enough that no matter how they approach it's going to be a challenge. He also finds out that Weiss' right hand man is about the only person that Weiss truly trusts.
Derrick Kohler is a very serious and intimidating man. His stature is enough to put off anybody easily. His subdued and professional manner belies his dangerous nature. He's precise and calm in anything that he does. Any violence suspected on account of Weiss is most certainly carried out by Kohler. And Kohler is smart, because so far he hasn't been caught, and he hasn't been taken out. He's 43 years old, and that says a lot for an enforcer in this game. Arthur gets a slightly sick feeling thinking about Kohler, knowing his own nature is so similar. He thinks, in another life, that he could be very much like this man. He's taken lives before, not just in dreams, but he doesn't revel in it. He's not that cold. He's thankful for that.
Kohler is their in. Eames will forge the man to get close, to get inside information. If they spend enough time in the dream world they can see exactly how Weiss will run his business. Jackson will create varying business and criminal scenarios to test Weiss' reactions. And then they can report, with certainty to their client, just how much of a liability Weiss could be as a partner. It's not a standard extraction, not like how Cobb ran things. But it should work, assuming Weiss still take the business trip to New York he has planned, and he and Kohler don't get twitchy being tailed in the real world. They'll have to be extremely careful about their surveillance, even more so than usual.
***
This is not good. Arthur is cuffed to a hard-backed chair in the middle of perfect recreation of the run down warehouse Weiss' team uses for holding and shipping. His legs are strapped to the chair with scraps of plastic and rope. They both dig uncomfortably in his skin through his trousers.
He shouldn't be here, he should be out helping Jackson set up the rest of the cons and distracting more projections away from the extractor but he'd been ambushed by a set of rather capable ones. He's usually better than that, able to take out nearly anything that comes at him, but Weiss' projections don't play fair.
Weiss’ mind is already agitated at the situations they’ve thrown at his so far. And you can't really win when it's twelve on one, even with unlimited ammo. He doesn't know how he's tipped these particular projections off, but if Weiss' red-faced rant taking place behind him about spies and competitors is any indication, it seems Weiss has figured out, on some level, that the team is here.
This situation could, in fact, work in their favor. If Weiss thinks he's taken care of the threat, the projections might back down. Thankfully they're in Jackson's dream so if Arthur dies it won't collapse. And since Jackson is leading Weiss on specific types of business deals, instead of breaking into safes, the projections should stay calm longer.
Weiss ends his rant in a stream of curses, circling around to engage with Arthur directly. The man visibly calms himself, dry popping a pill from a tin can he holds in his hand, adjusting his tie, and shifting his shoulders in his suit jacket. It's an eerie sort of gesture, like he's trying to hold his own skin together. Sweat is beading on his forehead and his breathing is hard but Weiss pulls a serene mask over his face. It doesn't hide the wild fury in his eyes and Arthur refuses to let the shudder crawling down his spine emerge, though he wants to. He really does not like this man.
"I don't care who you are and you're lucky for that fact because it means your family is safe." Weiss' hands flutter as if he's conducting a symphony. "On another day, you might not be so lucky. I've killed whole families for less. I don't even care whom you work for. I won't need to know. Because when they find you, whoever you work for, they'll know not to fuck with me again. Do you understand?"
Arthur knows that this is Weiss being kind. His research pulled up the brutal execution of a family in their own apartment. The father had apparently been stealing cocaine from a stash he was holding for Weiss. A mother, father, daughter and young son died that day and nothing could be directly linked to Weiss. Arthur however, refuses to be intimidated. It's just a dream. So he stares impassively at Weiss. This may have been a poor decision when he looks back on it.
"Kohler!" Weiss calls. "Get over here. I want you to take care of our guest."
Arthur sees Eames' forge approach. Eames has the large man's steady, purposeful gait down perfectly. His ominous presence carries across the room. Weiss' other lackeys shuffle nervously on their feet. Even as projections in Weiss' own violent mind, they fear Kohler's presence. Eames draws a Berretta from the shoulder holster hidden under his thick, wool pea coat. He calmly raises the gun to Arthur's head ready end everything now.
"Wait!" Weiss abruptly stops mid walking away. He spins on his heels with a flourish. "I have something more fun in mind. Phillip, my boy, go fetch me a cinder from outside." Weiss tilts his head forward grinning up through his lashes like a cat looking at his prey as one of the projections goes to grab a brick from the remnants of demolished industrial walls. The knot in Arthur's stomach tightens and he can't force the shiver in his spine away this time.
Continue to Part 2
Pairing(s) / Character(s): Arthur/Eames
Warnings: Violence, angst, character death
Summary: For This Prompt in Inception Kink
Arthur is beat to death with a brick. Either dreamspace or reality, but I prefer reality.
Author's notes: Oh how I love tortured men. Bonus points to whoever can guess the character Weiss is based off of!
Beta(s): space_raider182 and queenofinfinite
Disclaimer: This story/artwork is based on characters and situations created and owned by the Christopher Nolan and Warner Bros. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. They are not mine, I just like to play with them.
ETA: This fic is now available on AO3 where both Eames' story & Arthur's are combined in order.
_____
He's pinned with his back against the wall, one hand twisting his arm up and behind him at a painfully uncomfortable angle. A vice like grip on his wrist as a strong shoulder presses hard against his chest. He can't smell anything but spice of the other man's cologne and sweat with it's suffocating proximity, as he hyperventilates into the bared neck before him.
It's so overwhelming he can't decide if he wants to kill, faint, or throw up. The nausea spikes and he thinks it will probably the latter. It takes everything he has to not burst into tears and beg. He imagines himself stuttering, mumbling please, please, please over and over again. Please stop. Don't you know you are killing me? Over and over, every night. Please stop, please stop!
It takes a second to realize he's actually saying it out loud. His whispers are desperate and choked and uncontrolled. But he isn't released from the hold. Instead the man pulls closer, wrapping the arm not holding his wrist behind him and hugging his head tight.
Arthur vaguely remembers a time when he would have already disemboweled someone five different ways from this position.
"Oh, Arthur. What have I done to you?" is whispered into his ear.
***
He doesn't like this job. He never likes jobs involving organized crime. Corporations might have better resources to hunt you down after a failed job, but at least their memory is short. Given enough time corporations will either deem you not worth their effort or rehire you. They are adept at realizing who's an asset and who isn't, even if you have burned them in the past. Corporations are willing to look the other way in the interests their business. If you can outrun the target on your back for long enough, you'll find yourself back in their good graces eventually. This is especially true when you are the best at what you do.
Criminals, on the other hand, never forget. They may let things slide temporarily, giving off the illusion of forgiveness to put their greater business needs ahead of petty vengeance. But with them, there's nothing more perilous than time and old wounds. You can be assured that somewhere down the line you'll get a knife slipped through your ribs or a bullet in your head in the name of honor and retribution. It doesn't matter how much you've done for them, they'll only remember the one time you let them down.
Sometimes you just have to take the job that’s given. It's been years since the Fischer job, and though Arthur has invested his money wisely, some of his other team has not. And Arthur isn't anything if not loyal, so when members of the Inception team need work to pay off their gambling habits, Arthur finds them work.
It's a job. It's the only job paying well right now, so Arthur takes it. And he knows it's best to keep track of who's side you've screwed over, who's blood war you're getting involved in, and if anyone on your team has pissed of the wrong people coming into a job. Arthur checks Eames’ connections at least a dozen times before he's satisfied that his team is in the clear.
He doesn't like bringing Ariadne on a job like this, but he needs someone with a clean slate, someone he doesn't' have to worry about their past when he has to suss out Eames’ and their current extractor Jackson's entire criminal history. Besides, she'll be topside and the mark will never see her face. It's a feeble justification, he knows, but time is of the essence and he's got enough to worry about.
They have one shot at getting Ulrich Weiss under. Arthur has taken on dangerous subjects before, but Weiss makes him especially nervous. Saito had been a gamble once upon a time and it had only been luck, or fate, or some generous offering from the universe, that he and Cobb came out on top in that job. Saito auditioning them was really godsend, because right now they wouldn't be alive if that hadn't been the case. Weiss is so much worse.
He's not nearly as powerful, but he's also not nearly as controlled. Saito was a businessman, a ruthless one, but one who bowed graciously to logic and necessity. Weiss is a loose canon and borderline sociopath if not fully, though Arthur could never pin a crime directly on his hands. His decisions over the organization leave a trail of blood and anger seems to fuel these decisions more than Arthur likes.
Their client needs assurance that Weiss is stable enough to get in bed with. It's not like the client has a clean record, but they're more practical and business driven than Weiss seems to be. Arthur should just tell them not to get involved, but they know what he knows so far and they still want more information. They want to know just how dangerous Weiss is, and if he can make the kind of hard decisions that will ultimately make everyone more money. They want to know if he'll go off the deep end and screw them over. And besides, the team needs to get paid.
If Arthur is honest with himself, which he often is, he knows that he wants a challenge as well. It seems like jobs lately don't live up to Inception. It's not surprising really. Arthur misses the thrill. And as much as he doesn't like this job, he's getting the same sense of danger he used to have and that has been lacking from every mind crime he's performed since Cobb talked everyone into doing the impossible.
So Arthur prepares as thoroughly as possible. He researches all of Weiss' closest contacts, family members and business partners. He catalogues vacations, bank accounts, and criminal connections. He roots out competitors, money laundering, and secret meeting spots. And he makes damn sure that Weiss hasn't had his mind militarized. He won't make that mistake again. He pokes holes in every game plan, finding the weaknesses and creating fallbacks. He reins in overreaching ideas into plausible strategy. He leaves no stone unturned, because that's his job.
He finds out that while Weiss' mind may not be militarized, the man is paranoid and violent enough that no matter how they approach it's going to be a challenge. He also finds out that Weiss' right hand man is about the only person that Weiss truly trusts.
Derrick Kohler is a very serious and intimidating man. His stature is enough to put off anybody easily. His subdued and professional manner belies his dangerous nature. He's precise and calm in anything that he does. Any violence suspected on account of Weiss is most certainly carried out by Kohler. And Kohler is smart, because so far he hasn't been caught, and he hasn't been taken out. He's 43 years old, and that says a lot for an enforcer in this game. Arthur gets a slightly sick feeling thinking about Kohler, knowing his own nature is so similar. He thinks, in another life, that he could be very much like this man. He's taken lives before, not just in dreams, but he doesn't revel in it. He's not that cold. He's thankful for that.
Kohler is their in. Eames will forge the man to get close, to get inside information. If they spend enough time in the dream world they can see exactly how Weiss will run his business. Jackson will create varying business and criminal scenarios to test Weiss' reactions. And then they can report, with certainty to their client, just how much of a liability Weiss could be as a partner. It's not a standard extraction, not like how Cobb ran things. But it should work, assuming Weiss still take the business trip to New York he has planned, and he and Kohler don't get twitchy being tailed in the real world. They'll have to be extremely careful about their surveillance, even more so than usual.
***
This is not good. Arthur is cuffed to a hard-backed chair in the middle of perfect recreation of the run down warehouse Weiss' team uses for holding and shipping. His legs are strapped to the chair with scraps of plastic and rope. They both dig uncomfortably in his skin through his trousers.
He shouldn't be here, he should be out helping Jackson set up the rest of the cons and distracting more projections away from the extractor but he'd been ambushed by a set of rather capable ones. He's usually better than that, able to take out nearly anything that comes at him, but Weiss' projections don't play fair.
Weiss’ mind is already agitated at the situations they’ve thrown at his so far. And you can't really win when it's twelve on one, even with unlimited ammo. He doesn't know how he's tipped these particular projections off, but if Weiss' red-faced rant taking place behind him about spies and competitors is any indication, it seems Weiss has figured out, on some level, that the team is here.
This situation could, in fact, work in their favor. If Weiss thinks he's taken care of the threat, the projections might back down. Thankfully they're in Jackson's dream so if Arthur dies it won't collapse. And since Jackson is leading Weiss on specific types of business deals, instead of breaking into safes, the projections should stay calm longer.
Weiss ends his rant in a stream of curses, circling around to engage with Arthur directly. The man visibly calms himself, dry popping a pill from a tin can he holds in his hand, adjusting his tie, and shifting his shoulders in his suit jacket. It's an eerie sort of gesture, like he's trying to hold his own skin together. Sweat is beading on his forehead and his breathing is hard but Weiss pulls a serene mask over his face. It doesn't hide the wild fury in his eyes and Arthur refuses to let the shudder crawling down his spine emerge, though he wants to. He really does not like this man.
"I don't care who you are and you're lucky for that fact because it means your family is safe." Weiss' hands flutter as if he's conducting a symphony. "On another day, you might not be so lucky. I've killed whole families for less. I don't even care whom you work for. I won't need to know. Because when they find you, whoever you work for, they'll know not to fuck with me again. Do you understand?"
Arthur knows that this is Weiss being kind. His research pulled up the brutal execution of a family in their own apartment. The father had apparently been stealing cocaine from a stash he was holding for Weiss. A mother, father, daughter and young son died that day and nothing could be directly linked to Weiss. Arthur however, refuses to be intimidated. It's just a dream. So he stares impassively at Weiss. This may have been a poor decision when he looks back on it.
"Kohler!" Weiss calls. "Get over here. I want you to take care of our guest."
Arthur sees Eames' forge approach. Eames has the large man's steady, purposeful gait down perfectly. His ominous presence carries across the room. Weiss' other lackeys shuffle nervously on their feet. Even as projections in Weiss' own violent mind, they fear Kohler's presence. Eames draws a Berretta from the shoulder holster hidden under his thick, wool pea coat. He calmly raises the gun to Arthur's head ready end everything now.
"Wait!" Weiss abruptly stops mid walking away. He spins on his heels with a flourish. "I have something more fun in mind. Phillip, my boy, go fetch me a cinder from outside." Weiss tilts his head forward grinning up through his lashes like a cat looking at his prey as one of the projections goes to grab a brick from the remnants of demolished industrial walls. The knot in Arthur's stomach tightens and he can't force the shiver in his spine away this time.
Continue to Part 2