A/N: I've probably gone and screwed up his age, but bear with me! 3
...
The night they had come home from that fateful job the guilt Cobb felt was slowly splintering into his heart. The solemn almost child-like way Arthur had been acting hadn't helped, and his request for Eames to sleep in his room had almost killed him. He knew he was all Arthur had for family, and even worse, he knewArthur would never blame him for what had happened, for what Cobb had been unable to stop. But Cobb knew that when all was said and done that he was still benefiting from the younger man's exceptional talents at the expense of his youth. He was growing up far too quickly, and it was entirely Cobb's doing.
The knock at his door had been so silent he had thought it was Arthur. Softly padding across the room, Cobb opened the door and was surprised to see a scruffy sleep deprived Eames.
"How's he doing?" Cobb whispered, as he stepped aside to allow Eames in and quietly shut the door.
"Well, I think this might be the longest time he's slept without thrashing about in a nightmare, if you count that as progress." Eames replied, rubbing his eyes that were red from lack of sleep. "'Though I can't say I do." He continued as he watched somewhat accusingly as Cobb sat slumped on the end of his bed with his head in his hands, letting out a sigh.
"So how old is our little Point man, then, if you don't mind me asking." Eames demanded, tilting his head to one side as he studied Cobb's reaction.
"He's Twenty, turning twenty-one in four months or so." Cobb replied, rubbing the back of his neck.
"I see, and how long has he been working with you?" Eames pressed.
"Since about eighteen, maybe..." Cobb looked up at Eames, his expression hard to read.
"Did you just, say, snatch him up from class one day, then?" Eames smiled, though it certainly wasn't a friendly one.
"No, no, he was already working with some other guys, they were shady guys. He was in too deep, about to get hurt real bad when I found him." Cobb defended
"So you rescued our young Arthur from 'shady guys' and decided the next best thing would be to involve him even more lucrative criminal activities? Is that how it went?" Eames accused, pacing back and forth in a show of controlled agitation.
"No, I mean, yes, but...he wanted to work. You heard him earlier, he still wants to work!" Cobb defended.
"So you've got this kid who you've saved, right? Who had no family to speak of, and he clearly feels indebted to you, and you justify that as a good reason to put him to work?" Eames mused aloud. "Tell me, what were you doing at twenty, Cobb? Because when I was twenty I was up to no good, sure, but that included sleeping with bevies of young beauties and drinking pints with my mates; not following some older man around on dangerous jobs trying my best to act twice my age."
Cobb looked up at Eames, his eyes glinting with anger and hurt.
"You are on thin ice, Eames. Don't you think I feel responsible enough as is? Do you think this is really helping?" Cobb raised his voice, standing, his hands balling into fists at his side, a dangerous glint in his eyes.
"I just see him looking up to you like you're his dad, like he'll follow you to the ends of the earth, and Jesus Christ, he's twenty? Really? How old are you? What if we hadn't been able to save him last time? Do you have any idea how many enemies you have, Cobb? You've made a name for yourself for some time now, and there's a long list of men who'd like to see a lot of bad things happen to you. They'd be just as happy now if they did them to your partner to get to you, eh?" Eames voice was also raising, and his hands gesturing angrily as he stared Cobb down unflinchingly.
Cobb stayed still, letting the words pierce him because he knew Eames was right, he'd always known that. It was just so hard to remember Arthur's true age, he hid it so well.
"I'm not saying what I'm doing is right, Eames but do you really think I could convince him otherwise? He's already made a name for himself as one of the best, should I just send him to school again so he can get snatched up by some competing crooks? Or should I just nurture his young side; buy him a kite or something? Take him to a goddamn amusement park?"
Eames chewed on his lip while he watched Cobb through contemplative eyes. Lowering his head he dropped his accusing glare.
"You're right, I'm sorry Cobb. I was out of line, it's just been...well, it's been a stressful time we've shared together, right? And I took it out on you..." Eames conceded quietly, and put his large calloused hand on Cobb's shoulder. "I haven't been that scared for someone's well being for a while now, it was too close a call. I've met a lot of sick bastards in my time, and those two were by far the sickest. As a fairly jaded criminal character myself who's accustomed to gents like those, I can't imagine how someone younger and greener like Arthur could cope."
Cobb nodded silently in agreement, his eyes staring intently far away, lost in thought. He looked twice his age, carrying the weight of his team on his shoulders and Eames suddenly felt incredibly guilty. Of course Cobb cared about Arthur, this was probably harder on him than anyone! Silently he kicked himself and grimaced at the vicious words he had stung Cobb with.
"Listen, Cobb, mate...listen to me, I was wrong to say those things." Eames said, moving his head about until Cobb was looking him in the eyes. "Get some sleep, OK? Tomorrow we'll be well rested and the three of us can tackle anything together, right?" Cobb nodded wordlessly, and Eames backed off smiling tiredly at Cobb as the older man re-seated himself on the foot of the bed. He was still in his suit, it was wrinkled beyond compare and obviously the older man hadn't slept a wink.
Eames sheepishly opened the door and made his way back into the room to check on the sleeping Arthur. He frowned as he saw the messed up empty bed.
"Cobb?" He called over his shoulder and could hear the man slowly and silently come to stand next to him.
"Do you think he heard us, then?" Eames asked, another wave of guilt crashing over him, already knowing the answer to that question.
"I know where he'll be." Cobb replied, wearily. Without questioning, Eames followed him out the door and they soon found themselves on the roof of the hotel, brilliant stars overhead in a cloudless sky. The twinkling lights of the city were all around, and sitting on the ground with his knees to his chest in a wrinkled oversized white collared shirt and boxers Arthur was staring, his back to them and seemingly lost in solemn thought at the brilliant lights.
Wordlessly Cobb and Eames sat to either side of him and took in the night sky. Arthur shivered slightly despite the warm night, and Cobb frowned. He knew from experience that Arthur would not want to talk about this, much like he never wanted to speak of any things from his past. What normally would have broken a younger man would only serve to make his Point man more deadly, more efficient and more professional.
"Arthur." Eames started, voice heavy with apology.
"Don't." Arthur replied, continuing to stare unwaveringly at the city lights. His eyes had a fiery brooding quality to them, dark pools of water that seemingly went on forever. Eames realized his eyes had changed, they had transformed into those of a cold calculating professional; it looked bizarre on such a small young kid, out of place; but Eames knew he had been transformed by their experience. For better or worse it was hard to say, but it was a change that had no doubt taken place and could not be reversed. He would never be a carefree youth, always the calm collected Point man with calculating eyes who would never again allow himself to be a victim; to be seen as weak. It was a safety blanket he had effectively surrounded himself with.
Nobody could hurt you if you never had an emotional response.
Eames mourned the loss of Arthur's adolescence, feeling a certain grim duty to do so as he knew he was the only one who would. He alone had seen those flashes of youthfulness in his face in their past jobs, staying up at night drinking or sharing drunken secrets together, making brash decisions based solely from emotion.
He decided then and there that he would make it his mission to stay light-hearted around the younger man - always poking fun, trying to catch a glimmer of the old Arthur that no one else had really seen. Arthur had already sacrificed so much of himself to be in this line of work with them, he wanted to give something back. He would do anything it took to get an emotional response from the Point man, just to remind him it was still there.
That would be his gift to him, his silent apology for not doing a better job of protecting him. He grinned to himself and patted his young companion on the back, letting the silence continue to envelop them and the starts to softly wash them in their light.
...
Though it was unspoken, Arthur had never felt more like he belonged in his life; he wanted the moment to never end. He resolved he would be as professional and mature as he could so that they would never again doubt his worthiness to be part of the team, no matter his age.
...
A/N: I hope this was OK, I just needed to wrap up my last fic, it seemed so unfinished to me! I hope you all enjoy, I'll probably be writing another fic soon, though what it'll be about I'm not sure! Any ideas? 3