Author's Note: This was originally posted in response to a prompt on the Inception kink meme. I cleaned up a few grammatical errors and such before I posted it here.
Warnings: There is implied character death in this story.
The First Day:
It was a quiet day in the dusty warehouse. Cobb and Arthur were discussing the next job, while Ariadne designed a level and Eames and Yusuf bickered over what sedatives they were planning to use.
It was nearly lunch. Arthur volunteered to go pick up some lunch. He started towards the door.
Eames stopped him by yelling "And none of that rabbit food! Get something real, darling!"
Arthur paused at the open door. (Later they recall how he was framed by light, as if it was some heavenly omen) He rolled his eyes and stepped out.
Minutes turned into hours. Arthur wasn't back. He hadn't called either.
Cobb slipped into the role of father and paced the floor. Ariadne had long stopped sketching and was staring at the door intently. Eames and Yusuf sat in silence.
They waited.
The sun set. Arthur was still gone.
Cobb had made 5 calls to Arthur's phone. They had gone straight to voicemail.
"What the hell is taking this long?" Cobb growled. Ariadne was still staring at the door, as if she expected Arthur to materialize at any second.
Rising to his feet, Eames said "I'll go look for him. He probably tore his suit and went prancing off to buy a new one."
No one smiled at the joke, and Eames left without another word.
He was gone an hour and a half before returning. Any humor he had towards the situation had long gone. "He's nowhere. I retraced the route he would have gone...he's not there."
Cobb had stopped pacing. He slumped in a chair, pale. "I called the hotel. He hasn't been seen there either."
Yusuf shook his head. "He's here. He wouldn't just walk out on us."
There is silence as they all register what could have happened (a gun, a knife, being pulled into a van, blood, pain - )
"Fischer?" Eames asked, trying to remain professional.
Cobb's hands were shaking slightly. "Cobol, more likely. Do they know we're here?"
(Of course they don't, it was Arthur's job to know that)
"Call the hospitals then," Yusuf said. "Maybe he was injured and didn't have a chance to contact us."
After another agonizing silence, Cobb said softly "I'll call the morgue too."
"No."
Ariadne's voice was hoarse. She hadn't moved since the first hour had passed, just stared in silence. Her eyes were still glued to the door.
"He's not dead. He's fine, he'll be here soon."
"Ariadne," Eames said, crossing to her and resting his hand on her shoulder. She jerked away angrily and fell back into silence.
"We're all worried," he said, and Ariadne's blank mask dropped for a fraction of a second (pleasenohe'snotgone) before she's a stone again, just waiting.
They make the necessary calls. No one matches the description.
Dawn was creeping through the windows when Cobb abruptly stood up and said "Shut it down. Meet back at the hotel and we'll figure out where to go from there."
They leave the warehouse slowly (because if they wait long enough, Arthur will appear and he'll be fine) and don't look back.
The First Week -
They camped out in hotel rooms, waiting. Cobb called in a personal favor with Saito, and two of the best private investigators show up on the third day.
"Most kidnappings go cold after the first 48 hours," they said solemnly. Ariadne made a small noise that's caught in between a choke and a sob.
Then she said "We don't give a damn, just find him."
They don't leave the rooms because they don't want to risk not being there for Arthur's return (or because they're scared they'll vanish too, take a step out and be devoured).
On the fifth day of no news, Cobb plugged himself in the PASIV device. Ariadne and Eames followed him, begging Yusuf to wake them up if there is any news.
In his dreams, Cobb is violent, shooting projections and destroying buildings. He screamed as he did so, haunting cries that reverberated off walls and echoed down streets. When he spotted them, he yelled "Is this what you wanted to see? Can't you give me a moment alone, for God's sake!"
Guns in dreams never run out of bullets. He fired in various directions, crying out "First Mal, and now Arthur? Who is it going to be next?"
That's when they heard the voice. "You."
They can't turn around fast enough, and for a moment they all stop breathing because it's Arthur and he's alive and well and he's framed in light from the door.
(they don't know which one of them projected him)
The light from behind the door grew brighter. Arthur smiled at them.
Cobb shook his head, saying "No, you're not real." Eames froze.
Ariadne took a step forward, reaching out her hand. "Arthur!"
The light grew brighter. The last thing any of them saw was Arthur's face as it vanished into the light.
Ariadne woke up with her hand outstretched in front of her. Cobb raced to the bathroom and retched violently.
On day seven, they know there is no hope left.
The First Few Months -
It's hard at first.
Arthur's suitcase remained untouched. They brought it with them when they left.
Cobb needed to see his children.
Yusuf went back to Mombasa.
Ariadne went to New York City (Arthur had once mentioned he loved New York), and Eames followed her.
The suitcase sits in Ariadne's apartment.
There is a routine they now follow: Never go anywhere alone. Always keep the phone on and ready. Check in every day or so, just so that the others know you are alive and well.
They don't talk about the silent routine, the things they do since they now know how easy it is to disappear without a trace.
Cobb checks on his kids nearly every hour at night.
Ariadne locks the doors twice and now has a gun in her dresser drawer.
Eames still checks pictures of John Does, searching for an answer.
One night, Eames invited Ariadne to dinner. "We can't live our lives behind doors, darling," he said (the 'darling' instantly brings up memories, and he wishes he hadn't said it). "Its just a dinner."
She agreed. The night went well until the end.
They're waiting for a subway. There is a mad rush of people, and when the confusion dies down Ariadne is gone.
Blind panic set in. "ARIADNE!" Eames yelled, pushing through the crowd because it won't be like Arthur, it won't be like that...
(more desperation, more pain, the fear and then the emptiness when you know they aren't coming back)
He heard he cry out "Eames!" and there she is, nearly knocking over bystanders, trying to get to him. She wrapped her hands around his arm, eyes still panicked.
"I thought they got you," she said.
The shaking is solely because of adrenaline, he tells himself. "Same here."
When they reached her apartment, she made it to the door before turning and saying "I'm scared. I'm scared that one day I'll just vanish, I'll be out and then I'll just be gone. I'm scared that its going to happen again, that it'll be Yusuf or Cobb or you, because I can't do this, I can't pretend that I don't miss him and that I wish could at least know what happened to him, and I can't lose someone else."
Eames pulled her into a hug, holding her tightly and repeating "Don't worry, I'm here, I'm not leaving you."
Surprisingly enough, he is the first one to cry.
(the emotions can only be buried for so long)
They stayed at her apartment that night, because its time and they had to let go.
The suitcase sat in front of them. Eames got through the locks in no time.
Inside are some clothes, a handgun, a bottle of sleeping pills, an extra toothbrush and a small notebook.
The notebook is filled with lines of neat handwriting: notes about jobs and marks. There's a small enveloped addressed to a Sally. There's a picture of the team before the Fischer job, where they all look relatively happy.
There's an address written on the first page, directing them to a Sally Callahan who lives outside of Boston.
They're on a plane the next day.
The address is a nice house in the suburbs. It's miles away from Arthur and the danger he lived (and probably died) by.
When they ring the doorbell, a woman answered the door.
"Sally Callahan?" Eames asked.
"Yes."
"We're friends of Arthurs."
The woman's expression turned from one of politeness into a warm smile (she didn't know, she thought he was safe). "Do you want to come in?"
She led them into a pristine sitting room. "Can I get you something to drink?"
Eames shook his head. Ariadne asked "How are you related to Arthur?"
Sally smiled. "He's my brother. We keep in touch, and he stops by every now and again."
When neither smiled back, he face fell. "Where is he?"
"You might want to sit down," Eames said awkwardly (because how do you tell someone that their brother is gone, probably dead?).
Her face went white. "Is he dead?"
After a long pause, Ariadne said "We don't know. He went out one day and he just...disappeared."
She wanted to add "I'm so sorry," but Sally cut her off. "How long? How long has he been gone?"
"Almost two months."
"Two months?" Sally stared at the two of them with disbelief. "He's been gone two months and you never contacted his family? You didn't think we'd want to know he was missing? Who the hell do you think you are?"
The tears started then, and Sally buried her face into her hands. Eames motioned to the door. "I'm very sorry for your loss," he said as he slipped out the door.
Ariadne put the envelope on the table. "He left this for you."
The woman didn't look up (the blame is palpable, she might as well have been screaming 'you killed him'), so Ariadne followed Eames back to the rental car.
"Will it get better?" she asked when they're on the plane home.
Eames didn't have an answer (that will make her feel better) so her just squeezes her hand.
The Rest -
There were firsts for a long time - the first holiday without him, the first New Years, the first year.
There was that question that dangled out of reach, something that could (maybe, hopefully) numb the ache.
"I'm assuming it was a mugging gone wrong," Cobb said after the third year. He's nursing a drink, staring off into space. "He was in the wrong place, the wrong time. They hid the body."
"Still think it was Cobol," Eames muttered.
Cobb shook his head. "They would have come for me too. No, it was an accident." He paused. "I should've gone with him. Maybe he would..."
Ariadne cut him off. "Cobb, don't blame yourself. There wasn't any way we could've known what would happen."
They sit in silence then, remembering, wishing they could go back and stop him from leaving, to slam the door shut.
Later on, when they hook up the PASIV to run through a few designs for an up-coming job, they pretend they don't see the door surrounded by light that one or all of them are projecting. They try to ignore the glimpse of a man walking through that door, which slams shut with a thunderous noise that lingers before fading out.
(in the end, there is always silence.)