Disclaimer:: I don't own the genius work that is Inception. That pleasure belongs to Chris Nolan.
Author's Note:: I saw Inception and it was phenomenal. I saw it again and it was still fantastic. I just had to write something and this is what came out. The beginning (as always) may be slow but the plot will runaway on a fantastic adventure and carry us along with it. Each chapter is named for a song that I felt fit with it. (This is not a songfic).
Eighteen months. That was how long it had been since he was last on an international flight. Eighteen months. That was how long he had been a rich man. Sixteen months. How long he had been living in a house. 1 year. How long it had been since he last got a call to be a point man.
His life had changed after the Fischer job. Once Cobb had decided to exit the dream scene and become a full time father the calls to be a point man had died down. No one wanted half of the team despite the fact that he was the best. But it didn't matter that much to him. He had gotten a steady job, and he was almost as good at it as he was as a point man. He made good money on top of all that he had saved up and what Saito had given him. He no longer lived in hotels and apartments. He owned a house. He had "friends". They got together every other Thursday at 5:30 for drinks at the local bar.
And yet, he was very much the same person as he had been.
He was still structured, still immaculately clean, still reliable old Arthur. Even though he was happy with his new life and its routines, he still found himself missing the old days. He missed the dream sharing. He missed his old line of work. He missed his team. He had loved watching Ariadne, engrossed in a new maze, making sure everything was safe and in working condition. He had loved watching Cobb direct the team, his eyes lighting up whenever a new idea came to him. He had loved it when Yusuf, obviously in his element, had tried patiently to explaining what he was doing with his concoctions to a fairly clueless Eames. He even (although he would never admit to even thinking this) missed Eames and all of his "imaginative" ideas and actions. A part of him missed Saito too, in spite of the fact that he was only one of his many previous employers.
Until one morning, he didn't miss anything. He didn't have to. It was sitting in a town car outside of his front door. There had been a few words in greeting, a warm handshake, a glare, a sarcastic comment, idle talk, and then a flight for three across the ocean. Then they were here, standing in the Paris warehouse. Everything was exactly as they had left it eighteen months ago. Some old sketches were put up on the wall while others littered the floor. The white board was half erased, words pertaining to Fischer could still be read from it. Two chairs were gathered next to an end table while others were gathered in a semi-circle. As if by habit, Arthur and Eames slid into their seats from the last time they had been there. Saito walked around so he stood at the opening of the circle. There was a small, awkward pause.
"So," Arthur began, breaking the silence. He looked up at Saito. His ex/current employer. "You have a new job for the two of us?" It was an odd pairing, but no one else was here.
"Not just you two. I have a job for all of you." He said. "Ariadne is on her way in a car I dispatched. Yusuf will be here in two days time."
"You know, that's what I like about you, Saito." Eames said putting his hands behind his head and leaning back in his chair in a very relaxed manner. Too relaxed if you asked Arthur. "You take care of your employees in style." This earned a smile from Saito.
"I'm glad that my efforts are appreciated. I try-" there was the sound of footsteps and everybody's gaze turned to the newcomer. Ariadne stood there, her eyes sparkling with excitement a large smile on her face.
"Hi." She said simply. Arthur and Eames stood to greet her. She rushed over to them. Eames caught her in a big hug first. "It's great to see you again." She said, stepping back from Eames. "All of you. I've missed you." She moved over to Arthur who took her hand, warmly shaking it. He wore a large smile too. She then turned to Saito smiling brightly as he nodded his head in greeting. Then there was a look of confusion, and her smile faltered. She looked around as if there was some sort of joke they were keeping secret from her. "Where's Cobb?" What was presumably meant to be said in a light voice came out high pitched and rather nervous.
Arthur looked at her and sighed. "He's retired." He said gently.
"Oh." She said softly looking at her feet.
"Cobb is a family man now." Eames announced, seemingly unaware of Ariadne's disappointment. "Been away too long, doesn't want to spend a second away from his kids." Eames sat back down in his seat.
"The Fischer job was his last." Arthur said, his smile gone.
A look passed over Ariadne's face with all of the information that was suddenly forced upon her. "So we need a new extractor." Ariadne said after a few seconds. She seemed to be trying to wrap her head around this concept that the one who brought her into this wonderful world of dreams would no longer be a part of it.
"There are plenty of them out there. Good ones too if you know where to look." Eames supplied. "Why just five months ago I met this chap named Danes, I think. An absolute pleasure to work with. Wonderful imagination. Finished the job quickly and successfully. I think he's in jail now though…" he rubbed his head.
"We will need time to find one, but if we don't find anyone trustworthy or good enough one of us will have to do it." Arthur said.
"I'll give you a month to find someone, but after that you must move on with the job." Saito responded. "Which should not be difficult after the Fischer job."
"Breaking into someone's mind is always difficult." Arthur said sitting back into his seat. Ariadne followed suit. "What are we looking at here?"
"Have you heard of Greenberg Enterprises?"Saito asked the three slowly nodded their head yes. "They have some wonderful ideas coming out now, don't you think? There's only one problem: they're my ideas. Greenberg Enterprises has been finding out about Proclus Global's secrets and plans. They are producing them, faster, cheaper, and environmentally friendlier. They are beginning to turn people against Proclus Global. I need to find out where they are getting their information from and why they have targeted us. Once we find the leak we can take care of plugging it." Saito finished. "Are you up to it?"
Arthur looked at Eames and Ariadne. There was no need to discuss the proposal. "Are you coming with us again?" he asked a slight smile on his lips.
~Two weeks later~
They were halfway through the month with no luck so far at finding an extractor perfect for the job. They had seen many people for the job, but there was always a flaw. He had sold out his entire group for an extra thousand. He had a history of hating women. He had a low success rate and was constantly in hiding. He had no ex- co-workers or ex-employers were around to question. It was turning out to be impossible to find a replacement for Cobb. He had just been too good at his job and too good of a person. He had big shoes to fill, and there was no Cinderella (or the male equivalent) coming along to fit the glass slipper.
In frustration of their lack of success finding an extractor the team had become deeply immersed in their jobs. Eames hardly showed up to work as he was away at Greenberg Enterprises learning all he could about the various employers there. Ariadne was so absorbed by her designs that she often forgot to eat. Although there was no set plan yet as to how heavy the sedative would have to be, Yusuf spent many hours coming up with new solutions for varying lengths. Arthur was trying to dig up every bit of information he could about the targets. He didn't want any surprises like with the Fischer Job. Never again would he be unprepared. His research this time would be solid. Arthur spent days and days pouring over every little detail he could find, often times not even bothering to go home for the night. He wanted to uncover every little useful tidbit, every dark secret, and every hidden danger. In his research one name came up over and over again. Brigitte L. Thayer. She had been paid a vast sum of money by Greenberg Enterprises, and had been in constant communication with them. Her name was still on their records, but communication wise they had abruptly stopped talking not too long ago. Arthur didn't know what to make of her. Eames had never heard her mentioned in his time observing. Ariadne didn't recognize the name from seeing it around as an important person. She seemed to be some sort of phantom in Greenberg Enterprise's past. Very much there and then gone.
Then he found her and the reason she disappeared.
Eames had decided to show up to work today and take a little break from Greenberg Enterprises. Ariadne had been wrenched away from her mazes long enough, and Yusuf had just finished testing his latest piece of work. Arthur finished writing on the dry erase board. His handwriting in a careful, neat print.
"Brigitte L. Thayer?" Ariadne asked playing with the fringe on her scarf. Arthur nodded.
"I've solved the mystery as to who she is." He said writing something else under her name. Eames groaned.
"Subconscious Security specialist." he sighed. "They've been trained."
"She's done all of the training of Greenberg Enterprises important employees, including Albert and Roland Greenberg themselves. She is our extractor." Arthur said
"She's on the wrong side." Eames pointed out. "Probably a goody two shoes. I doubt that she'd want to join our line of work."
"Why would she willingly turn against her previous employer? It would be like all of her hard work training them was for nothing." Yusuf put in.
"Revenge." Arthur said smiling a little. "She had a small issue with Roland Greenberg. Accused him of sexually harassing and stalking her. She finished their training to get paid, but I imagine she wasn't too happy about it."
"I still don't think that she'd do it." Ariadne said shaking her head. "I know I wouldn't want to spend a minute in the head of someone who I felt uncomfortable with. God forbid I had to get close to them for the job."
"She wouldn't have to get close to him though. She would just have to be in his dreams. We could run with Mr. Charles, only she really is the head of his sub-security. Brigitte L. Thayer is the easiest way to get our information." Arthur pressed. "And if she was willing to utilize the previous connections, slipping the sedative and coming up with a time and place could be easy. She offers to meet Roland somewhere, has a few drinks, slips in the sedative and we're in. We would have to go two or three levels deep just like the Fischer job."
"I thought we didn't want to repeat that." Ariadne objected. "It was too dangerous. Some of us fell into Limbo, and we're lucky that we came out with our minds intact. If someone gets stuck in Limbo without Cobb there to save them….there's no telling what would happen."
"I am working on something new." Yusuf said slowly. "A few days ago I had this idea, and I think that I might have found a way to cut out Limbo. I still need to do a lot of work, but if I should succeed…." He trailed off.
"I suppose seeing her around at work every day wouldn't be too bad." Eames said eyeing the picture of her taped on the board. "Having two stunningly beautiful girls around the warehouse might be exactly what we need." Ariadne flushed.
"We should meet her first. Then offer her the job. We can get a little feel for what she's like that way." Ariadne suggested.
"It's settled than. I'll arrange a meeting with her, and if she passes I'll bring her back here so we can all explain it to her. She may need a little convincing." Arthur announced. He had found Cinderella.
Author's Comment:: The song is "Coming Back" by Gotye. If you go and listen to the song I was thinking of it in terms of Arthur and Dream Sharing. This chapter was a bit all over the place, but I wanted to get a basic layout of the plot down before I jumped into the story. Next chapter we meet this mysterious Brigitte L. Thayer, who actually turns out to be the main character. Reviews are much appreciated!