Title: splash of color
Characters/Pairing(s): Robert/OC, Ariadne/Yusuf, Arthur/Eames (if you look REALLY close), Dom Cobb, Saito, James, Phillipa
Word Count: 4823
Rating: PG
Summary: It was love at first sight. For Robert, that is.
Author's Note: Robert-centric! fyhhafuai. And we all need to imagine that Robert is 21 and when they meet, Samantha is 19. Ok? ok.
The oil pastels have melted in her hands. The colors swirled into her palms, making a rainbow on her fingers. Those hands are stained, but they still know just where his weak spots are, the same hands that can make beautiful, glorious music, breathtaking art. They are the hands that stole his heart when he first saw her scrabbling for purchase as her fingers began to slide off the edge of the cliff. He tried to help her, but she ended up broken and bloodied at the bottom of the chasm, her fingers and hands covered in scratches and the faint traces of paint.
She is the most beautiful thing in the world, he thinks. Pale, almost seafoam, green eyes, light freckles across her cheeks and nose, thick curls of brown hair, and hands most certainly stained with oil pastels, paints, and graphite.
The first time they meet in reality, it is just another, regular day. He is meeting with the dream-team he had hired for a job. He had done it on a whim, not really know what he was getting into.
He is so glad he had hired them.
It seemed like a normal meeting at first, but when he set eyes on the architect, he fell in love. "Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you," she said, and the first thing that he thought about her was that she was Irish. "My name is Samantha Carson. I'm your architect for this job." She had brushed some of her hair out of her eyes, and he had smiled. "Just call me Robert," he told her and she grinned broader. "Sure thing," she said and she tilted her head. "Sorry," she said suddenly, standing. "I have to go." And with that, she was gone.
He is pretty sure, after her sudden leaving, the panicked look in her eyes, that there is something psychologically wrong with her. With her subconscious.
"PTSD," the extractor explains when he asks. "Something happened to her, something she'll explain to you later, maybe." Robert nods. This man is comforting, in a way. "Will it affect her work?" Robert asks him. "No, Mr. Fischer. She'll be fine," he says. "Very well, Mr. Cobb." Robert put some files down on Cobb's desk. "More info on Ellison. Good luck." And Robert walks away.
She does tell him about it, much later, when they're together.
Her first love, she told him, was a man named Sam Nathaniel. He was in the cavalry with her, horse deployment she called it. She had loved him a lot and it was ended so abruptly that she was traumatized. They had been deployed on a false mission set up by the army. Nobody was supposed to get hurt.
It was 1:17AM. The group, and of course, their horses, surrounded a bonfire, trying to keep warm. Shots had gone off nearby, scaring the sleep-drained army personnel into life. Her, Sam, and two others (Grayson and Anthony) had gone to investigate and the other 5 members of the team had stayed behind. Why they found horrified them. Two horses and two men from their regiment had been dissected and eaten. Four other men had been there, completely covered in blood and Sam had thrown up. One of the men had looked up and grinned. Those used to be her friends, the now crazed, cannibalistic, strangers staring at them had been fine a month ago. Now.. Now...
They tied and gagged them all, excluding Samantha from the gagging and taking Sam away. Samantha screamed. The men came back, and Samantha could not call them by their names, they just were not the same people she had remembered. They did the same thing to Sam that they did to Gordon and Charlie and their horses Cameo and Darton. She screamed and screamed and they laughed and laughed. She had never been so scared or heartbroken or tortured in her entire life. They had let them go, sparing their lives, and really, Samantha had never been so grateful either. She had checked the time when she got back to camp, she told him. It had been 4:26AM.
When Robert thinks back on the day they met, he remembers that it had been 4:24 and the conversation hadn't lasted more than a minute.
That explains a lot, Robert thinks once she finished telling her story.
He checks in on them every week they work for him (over 3 months) and for at least 2 weeks during the time, Samantha was sick. She tried to look at least half-way decent, but for a day when she was feeling particularly ill, she wore a hoodie and sweatpants too big for her. So big, in fact, that they threatened to fall of her slim hips. Her nose had been angry and red, her cheeks flushed, and she kept coughing. She drank all the tea offered to her by Robert and Eames every morning. She had been very quiet and it upset him a little. So, he had sat in with them for a week, just to maybe see if she would do something. He also had to keep an eye on his investments.
It had gone a lot like this:
"Petal, you're really starting to worry me," Eames had said and Robert agreed. Samantha hadn't spoken all day, and it was just a little past 7:00PM. 12 hours. "Sorry," she said, and Robert had let out a breath he really didn't realize he'd been holding. "Just, my throat is sore and I was thinking," she said quietly, voice scratchy from almost a full day of disuse. Robert had smiled and looked over at Eames. "Well, I think we're all quite glad you're not mute," he said and Robert watched and Eames had given him a pointed look.
He knew.
Robert had told him about is as soon as they met and Eames had promised to keep it on the down-low. Robert gave him a look. Eames grinned.
Nothing like a little bribery.
By the second month, everything was back to normal.
Except for the fact that Samantha is more or less on to his motives.
"Look, why the hell do you come by every week? What is the point? If you're so worried about us doing this job right, you shouldn'tve hired us at all. You have to trust us," Samantha said and everyone was startled out of the companionable silence. Robert was especially taken aback by her sudden outburst. "What? I doubt you come here just to watch us. Who are you involved with, hm? Is it you, Eames?" she asked and both Arthur and Robert's eyes widened. Cobb started to interfere and Arthur pushed him back with Yusuf's help. Eames was too busy laughing. "Let them go on, Cobb. If it gets out of hand, I'll give her $1,000 and call Ariadne," Arthur said and Cobb had nodded. "Alright."
"No!" Robert said in response to Samantha's outburst. "It's nothing like that. I just like observing you guys." Samantha glared and Robert's heart clenched for a moment and he thought of his father, who liked observing people, in his way. "What? Like a fucking science experiment?" she asked and Robert shook his head vigorously. "No! I just find all of you really interesting. The way you interact with one another is fascinating. And I have to keep an eye on my investments," Robert had said and Samantha had raised a brow, a sigh of defeat escaping her pink lips. "Whatever, Fischer," she had said. "Just, whatever."
Samantha walked out of the warehouse.
Robert looked over at the team, sighing.
"Well that worked out fantastically," Eames said and Robert put his head in his hands. Eames patted his shoulder. "That sucked," he said. Eames nodded. "It really did."
Robert decides to give Samantha some space and not interfere with the team until the job is over and they need their shares so they can move on. Robert is folding the last few bills into the pile and he hands it to Samantha. "That's your share," he tells her quietly. She nods and then sighs. "Look, I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to be a bitch. You're like Saito, the way you handle things, except louder, and I just didn't mean to sound so harsh. I was just... bored, I guess," she says, and Robert smiles at her. "That's fine. And I have another job for you, if you're interested," he says and she thinks about it for a moment. "Alright, I don't have anything better to do."
Eames and Arthur stay behind as well, Dom has his kids to go home to and Yusuf needs to go back home to Paris. Back home to Ariadne. The job they do is uneventful. Arthur is the extractor and point man, Samantha is the architect and Eames is the forger. They don't need a chemist, they can use Somnacin with no worries. The job lasts a week and Samantha is on the move. The next time Robert hears any news from her (it is 3 months later and the end of December, after spending Christmas with Cobb and the rest of the team), he invites her and the team to his house for New Years.
And so they go.
People are sitting on blankets on Robert's back lawn and Samantha is keeping her hands warm with a mug of coffee clasped between them. She is leaning on the railing surrounding his back porch, and Robert comes up beside her, a mug of hot chocolate in his hands. He gives her a smile and she smiles back at him and sips her coffee, staring out into the lawn. It is a full moon and everything is bathed in a distinct silver glow. Coldplay is blaring from a radio and there are loud pops from the fireworks going off nearby. Children are playing with sparklers, trying to write their names in the air before the fire disappears. Her fingers tap off a rhythm on the banister. She smiles at Robert and looks up as a loud bang is heard from a short distance away. In the glow of a pink firework, she looks even more beautiful, Robert thinks.
The people milling around his yard are mostly business partners and executives in sister companies and his own, Fischer Energy. Some of them are the team, Dom Cobb and Phillipa and James, Saito, Samantha, Arthur, Eames, Yusuf and Ariadne. They are all sharing three large blankets, just talking and sharing stories. The only one not with them is Samantha.
When the announcers on the radio begin to countdown to the New Year, everyone follows along. One of Robert's friends, a man named Grayson, is standing by with a lighter next to a bunch of fireworks. Robert has a bottle of Pinot Noir in his hand and two chilled flutes in the other. He smiles at Samantha when the radio announcer shouts, "Happy New Years!" and he opens the bottle of champagne, the yelling crowd below when the white foam comes spilling out and the fireworks begin make him smile. He fills the two flutes and hands one to Samantha with an encouraging wink.
"I didn't poison it," he says, quietly. She smiles. "I know, I'm just not a huge fan of champagne," she says and Robert shrugs. "Neither am I, but you see me enjoying myself. Why don't you look happy?" he asks, looking over at her, placing his glass on the handrail, leaning against it and looking over at her. She shrugs. "Not sure, I guess I'm just tired," she says finally after a long moment of silence. Robert bumps his shoulder against hers gently. She bites her lip and looks up at him through a curtain of thick, brown hair and he looks down at her hands, stained with colors and graphite and memories.
He falls in love again.
She smiles up at him and leans in. Robert leans down.
Their lips meet in a shower of sparks and Robert's hands reach around her waist, loving every second of the moment. Her lips are gentle against his, and Robert loves her and loves her. While the fireworks go on behind them, and the men, women, and children stare up at the sky in wonder at the lights, Robert leads Samantha to his room, tucked away in the West Wing of the house, the farthest you can get from the backyard.
Robert tells her about his father, something he doesn't normally talk about to other people. He explains to her their complicated relationship, how it changed when he died, and how he respects his father a lot more now. She listens to every word, even through the tears, and comforts him when he needs it. She understands, in that way of hers. This is when she tells him about Sam Nathaniel. She starts from the beginning, how they met, what he did to get her attention, how they started off as just friends, but Samantha fell in love with him along the way. They were together during the incident, as she calls it.
She doesn't wake up until 10:00AM the next morning and she has never felt better in her entire life.
It is the first time she doesn't relive the memory of that night.
When she sees Robert wearing nothing but boxers and cooking breakfast for her, she falls in love.
She smiles at him, through the thick hair and messy clothes and morning breath and he kisses her anyways, despite it all and she loves him so much her heart can't take it. It fills and fills and she loves and loves and there is nothing either of them can do about it.
Robert goes to the office the next morning, and when he walks in he is greeted warmly by his receptionist, Martha. He smiles at her, and walks into his office. He shuts the door, puts his briefcase down, and finds Eames standing in there, arms crossed and looking at pictures he has on the wall. Eames smiles at Robert and Robert narrows his eyes. "What are you doing here?" he asks him and Eames shrugs. "I'm hear to talk about Samantha," he says and Robert sighs as he sits in his chair. He curls his fingers around the small brass pinwheel charm off of his mother's necklace that he keeps in his pocket. "How is it going?" Eames asks and Robert smiles. "Good. It's going great, actually," he says and Eames grins. "Great. She love you back?" he asks and Robert nods. "Yeah. I think she does," Robert says and looks over at the picture on his desk. It is from the end of their first job together, the entire team assembled at the warehouse, looking at the camera and grinning. Eames and Arthur are laughing at something, Eames's arm around Arthur's shoulders. Cobb is standing next to Yusuf, both are smiling at the camera. Samantha is standing next to Robert, eyes focused on him, not the camera. Robert is looking down at her and smiling, and he looks like he's about to look back up at the camera, shaking his head. "She's changed you, Robert," Eames says quietly, and Robert looks up at him, tilting his head a little. He shrugs.
"It's true. Just look at you. You used to be all caught up in your business and you used to not care at all about the job, just gave us money and sent us on our merry ways. You care now. Ever since you met Samantha, you've cared. She changed you," Eames says and Robert thinks it over. What he says is... true. When his father died and he broke up his empire, he always cared more about his business than the job that the team would get done. He never used to care about them or the job that they did, he just gave them the money that they needed and focused on the business, just moving on. He smiles. She changed him.
She achieved the impossible.
"It's my birthday tomorrow," Samantha says, weeks later, with a smile. "And how old will you be, hm?" he asks her and she shrugs. "20." Robert smiles. "Well then, Samantha. We're just going to have to throw you a birthday party," Robert tells her, grinning from ear to ear and Samantha shakes her head vigorously. "No way! It's so last minute," she says and Robert raises an eyebrow. "The team knows your birthday is tomorrow, right?" he asks and she nods, slowly. "Yeah, of course," she says and Robert gives her a look that says well there you go, and Samantha shakes her head again. "I'm not inviting them to a birthday party for tomorrow," she says, and Robert takes her cell phone and calls them anyways.
"You're having a party," Robert says with an evil smirk. "I hate you," she says, sighing in defeat. "No you don't. You love me," Robert says as the phone rings. Samantha shrugs. "I know. I was just saying," she says and Robert grins, leans down, and kisses her.
She doesn't get much for her birthday. She gets a charm from Arthur, a loaded die. "To remember me by," he says, with a half-smile. "How could I ever forget you?" she asks and he shrugs. "It happens. My name's engraved on the bottom." She checks. It is. "Thanks, Arthur," she tells him, meaning it. "It's great." She gets a poker chip charm from Eames and a bishop charm from Ariadne. Yusuf gives her a cat and she laughs when she sees it. "It's perfect, Yusuf! What a great way to remember you by. A cat. Not anything to do with chemistry, a cat!" she exclaims, throwing her arms around Yusuf's neck, grinning. "I love it Yusuf," she told him and he smiles. "You are quite welcome, Samantha," he tells her.
Cobb gives her a replica of Mal's spinning top in charm form and she smiles. "Thanks, Cobb," she tells him, and he bites his lip, squinting. "This is something she wanted you to have when you turned 20," he says, pulling a small velvet box from his pocket and handing it to her. She opens it and her eyes fill with tears. There, nestled in the plush lining of the box, lay a small silver charm. It is a connected M and C, made of the vines of the flower that bloomed out of the center of the two letters. In the middle of the flower there was a single, red stone. "Oh, Cobb. She remembered?" she asks him wonderingly, tracing the flower. Cobb nods. "Yeah. She wanted it to be yours from the beginning. She couldn't ever find an SC, so she got this one and wore it around for a while. She didn't like it, but knew you would, so she wanted me to give it you on your 20th birthday if she wasn't there to do it herself," he said, smiling at her. She takes the charm and puts it on her bracelet with the others and pulls Cobb into a warm hug. "Thank you," she whispers and he hugs her back. "You're welcome, Samantha. You're always welcome."
It is quiet the rest of the year, until Christmas comes around and they all go over to Dom's. Robert tags along with Samantha and when she walks in the door, she is tackled by two young children. She laughs and hands Robert her gifts before scooping both of them up in her arms, hugging them tightly. "Hi Aunt Samantha!" the youngest one cries and she grins. "Hello there, James. Philly, who's already in the house?" she asks and Phillipa thinks for a moment. "Um, Uncle Yusuf and Aunt Ariadne. Uncle Eames is here, Uncle Arthur is at the store, Uncle Saito isn't here yet..." she counts off the people on her little fingers, smiling up at Samantha. "So, 4 people including my daddy are in the house right now," she says and Samantha ushers the kids and Robert inside. "Smells good, Dom!" she cries when she's inside and Dom comes over to embrace them. Ariadne leans out of the kitchen, a pair of tongs in hand and flour on her shoulders. Yusuf follows her, covered in flour and he smashes an egg on Ariadne's head. Samantha bursts into laughter as Ariadne screams at Yusuf, while Yusuf laughs and laughs while calling Ariande a literal egghead. Ariadne storms off to the bathroom, making it halfway until she bursts into laughter and turns to Yusuf. "I love you, Yusuf," she tells him and Yusuf's eyes lose all their mischeiviousness and they fill with warmth instead. "I love you too, Ari," he says and kisses her.
Samantha turns from the scene, smiling and Cobb shakes his head, but his squint is filled with approval. Eames bounds down the stairs suddenly, exclaiming something about eggnog and tickling his favorite niece. Samantha rolls her eyes and there is a knock on the door. Samantha opens it and Arthur is standing in the doorway, bags in his hands and up his shaking arms, toe against the door, covered in snow and disheveled. "Thanks," he mutters, putting all the bags on the counter, grimacing. "Hey, Sam," he tells Samantha gently, hugging her. "Hey, Artie," she tells him, teasingly and he rolls his eyes. Eames grins at Samantha and hugs her too, swinging her around. At least, attempting to. "Eames!" she cries and Eames puts her down, smiling. He presses a quick kiss to Arthur's cheek and heads off out the door, saying something like, "Off to buy a pack of cigs, won't be gone too long, don't miss me Arthur, darling," and he is gone. Cobb rolls his eyes. "I thought he would never leave," he says and Samantha gives him a mock glare. "That's rude, Cobb," she tells him and he grins. "I know," he says with a shrug and Samantha shakes her head at them. Eames walks in 15 minutes later, the top of his head covered with flurries and Saito right behind him. Samantha is in the kitchen, giggling with Ariadne over Ryan Gosling and Ryan Reynolds and singing along to Regina Spektor's On the Radio. Arthur is in the living room with Robert, helping entertain James and Phillipa. Phillipa, of course her being a girl and all, interrogates him on how his relationship with Samantha is and if he wants to break up with her, and of course Robert tells her that of course their relationship is wonderful and that he never wants to break up with her, both of which are very true statements. Arthur is laughing his ass off at Robert's uncomfortable expression and Arthur feels kind of sorry for Robert. They all had to go through it though. Arthur for Eames, Eames for Arthur, Yusuf for Ariadne, Ariadne for Yusuf. Robert would eventually get used to it. Eames comes into the living room to help with entertaining the kids and Yusuf, Cobb, Ariadne, and Samantha are cooking. It is a comfortable, family dinner, everyone surrounding the table, eating, talking, and just having a good time.
Samantha feels like she has finally, finally, made it home.
New Years is just them. Their time together. No parties, no people, just them alone. She is drinking red wine and staring out into the lawn, eyes distant. It is a half-moon this year, but it is bright and clear. Robert walks up to her and drops a kiss to the top of her head. "Hey," she says quietly, and he gives her a small smile. "Come with me," he whispers into her ear and she looks up. She puts her wine glass down on the banister, looking over at him. "Where?" she asks. He shrugs. "Trust me." And she does.
He leads her to a park nearby, and they sit on a bench, not talking, just sitting there. Robert breaks the silence. "I have a question, Samantha," he says and she looks at him, head tilted. "What's that?" she asks and he stands up off the bench and gets down on one knee. "Will you marry me?" he asks, taking out a small velvet box. In it was a beautiful ring, silver and a flower with a single red stone in the center. She bites her lip, tears filling her eyes. "Of course I will, Robert," she whispers, smiling. And he kisses her sweet and soft.
They get married 2 years later, when she is 22. It is a traditional wedding with a traditional cake. It is mostly yellow, white, and light blue and a lot of people are there. Eames is Robert's best man, and Ariadne is a bridesmaid along with one of Samantha's other friends Amelia. Arthur is a groomsman and Phillipa is the flower girl. James is the ring bearer and there aren't very many attendants but the reception is nice. It is a quiet, semi-formal wedding and it is something that Samantha absolutely loved.
When Samantha finds out that she's pregnant, she almost faints.
She cannot believe it. She is the happiest she's ever been.
The nurse hands Samantha her twin boys 9 months later and she bursts into tears, holding them close to her. Robert smiles through his own tears. One of them, with Robert's eyes, hair, and cheekbones but Samantha's nose sighs in his sleep and she smiles.
"What are you going to name them?" Robert asks quietly, looking down at the children. She shifts her arm and shows him the baby. "This one is definitely Arthur Penn Fischer. The other," she says, looking down at the other twin, the one with Samantha's hair, her eyes, her freckles, but Robert's cheekbones and nose, and the one that came out first kicking and screaming, "is definitely Jonah Eames Fischer," she said chuckling as the baby made a soft, gurgling noise.
"Those names are perfect," Robert said, scooping Jonah into his arms and leaning down to kiss Samantha's sweaty forehead. "Absolutely perfect."
Two years later, Samantha is pregnant with a third child, and she is glowing. It is a warm spring day and Samantha is sitting outside, her giant Irish Wolfhound Maud laying next to her on the porch. Robert, Arthur, and Jonah are playing in the yard, laughing and Jonah suddenly screams as his father lifts him onto his shoulders. Samantha smiles at them, and pats Maud's head. "Go play with them, girl," she tells the dog and she looks up at Samantha, head cocked. "Go on," she encourages, and the dog bounds away, stopping in front of the two year old Arthur who laughs at the dog. "Mauld!" he cries and the dog cocks her head. "Daddy, look! Mauld!" he cries again and Robert laughs at his son. Jonah is yelling, "Giddyup! Giddyup!" and Robert is running around the yard, his delighted screams heard everywhere.
When Mallorie Cobb Fischer is born, Samantha is even more exhausted and she can barely stay awake to name her.
"What are you going to name her, Sam?" Robert asks her and she looks blearily down at the little girl in her arms. She is a blend of Robert and Samantha. Samantha's curly hair, Robert's cheekbones, Samantha's nose, and her eyes were a beautiful blue-green color. She is tired and she can barely keep her eyes open, but she smiles down at her third child, her little girl, and says, "Mallorie. Mallorie Cobb." before she falls asleep.
Maybe they're not perfect, maybe they're not always "sane", but sometimes people get changed by other people who aren't perfect or sane either. It happens everyday, and it doesn't really matter if their hands are stained with paint or oils or tar or even blood. They still change people to be better than they are. Than they ever were.
The way Samantha, whose hands were stained with blood and paint, changed Robert's life for the better, changed Samantha and the way she saw the world. Maybe it's not always filled with love all the time, but it sure isn't filled with trauma and pain all the time either.
Really, everyone is just another splash of color on a painting, a blank canvas. Sometimes two people get blended together to make a new color, something never seen before, and it works. Sometimes people even change their colors to match others. This panting is always changing because we are always changing. And so, the painting never stays the same, though it is still beautiful, no matter the changes.