The invariable mark of a dream is to see it come true.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
The beautiful blonde walked across the room with the utmost confidence. She was wearing a heavy silk red strapless dress that showed off her toned legs; legs that seemed to go on forever, an illusion aided by the six inch black satin shoes that she had donned. Her makeup was immaculate; her lips painted the exact shade of red to match her dress. Her baby blue eyes scanned the room before falling onto a raven haired man who was leaning against the bar, ignoring the bartender in favour of quite openly leering at the blonde beauty. The blonde smirked and continued her purposeful stride across to the man. Pressing her body flush against his, she placed her ruby lips next to his ear before whispering, "Did you see something you liked?" in the seductive tone one would imagine sirens of legends would use in order to get sailors to crash their vessels upon the rocks. It was dangerously seductive and the mark had been swiftly ensnared by use of such a tone.
"Hmm, Eames seems to have outdone himself this time. Mr Gregor has fallen for him hook, line and sinker." Ariadne stated, peering over her untouched drink at their mark being distracted by Eames disguised as the beautiful Sylvia; a honey trap created for the sole purpose of drawing the mark's attention away from the team's extractor Cobb; who was currently breaking into the proverbial safe of Mr Gregor's mind in order to obtain information pertaining to his future plans for business expansion. Information which would be later handed over to Mr Gregor's business rivals; for a substantial price of course.
"Yes, he does seem to be quite adept at seducing young business tycoons. I wonder what could be said regarding his character." Arthur replied. The duo was sitting on a stone grey corner sofa diagonally opposite from the bar. Arthur scowled lightly when peals of feminine laughter with an undertone of a deeper male laugh echoed throughout the classy cocktail bar that Ariadne had constructed. However, Arthur couldn't remain too focused upon Eames' actions. As the dreamer, he was on constant alert for any of Gregor's projections recognising his presence, or the presence of any of his colleagues, as being a foreign intrusion and attacking.
However, this was a simple extraction job. They were only one layer deep and, as of yet, nothing had gone wrong. Even if something was to go awry, a bullet in the head would be enough to prematurely wake someone up. As it was only a one layer job, there was no need for a heavy sedation and, therefore, the job came with no risk of dropping into limbo.
Out of the corner of his eye, Arthur noticed Dom entering the room and giving Arthur a brief nod. Arthur raised one of his eyebrows in a dignified form of speculation. Had Dom really already obtained the information? Arthur allowed himself a brief smile. He had forgotten how easy jobs could be when the subject had received no mental training and as such, had no defences against a master extractor such as Cobb.
Arthur watched as Cobb caught Eames' attention with the raise of a single hand. Eames, still in his guise as the flirtatious Sylvia, subtly nodded back. He tactfully removed himself from the embrace of their mark and sashayed towards where Ariadne and Arthur were situated. Cobb also swiftly moved across the room until they were all gathered round the plush corner sofa.
"So, that's it? We're already done?" Ariadne questioned, her forehead crinkled slightly in frustration which caused Eames to pull out his trademarked wide toothed grin; a grin that seemed out of place on the woman's face.
"Ah, sweetheart, are you already missing the excitement of achieving the impossible?" The voice was no longer the seductive sultry tone of Sylvia; but the deeper, rougher sound of Eames' true voice. With the completion of the job, Eames was slowly dropping his disguise. In fact, when Arthur next looked over in his direction, he was met with the sight of Eames. Unshaven Eames. Cocky and, at points, arrogant Eames. Eames with his eyes full of mirth. Eames with his ever present cocksure smirk.
The real Eames.
"Hmm, did you have to put her away so soon? Sylvia was much kinder upon the eyes." Arthur taunted, as was tradition.
"Come now darling, we all know that your dreams wouldn't be complete until I made some kind of appearance." Eames retorted with a lewd comment coupled with a term of endearment; continuing with the ritual.
"Alright children, can we get along until the timer runs out? We should have around ten minutes." Cobb interjected upon hearing the melodious tune of Edith Piaf's Non, Je Ne Regrette Rein. Arthur nodded whilst Eames simply grinned at the team's leader.
And that's when, as Eames would later say upon questioning, the shit hit the proverbial fan.
Arthur had become too relaxed. He had let his guard down. People with a past like his shouldn't let their guards down.
For when the barriers fall, prisoners escape.
A/N Ah, I knew it wouldn't be long before I was forced to add something to the Inception fandom, and an Arthur/Eames fic at that!
Anyway, this is the prologue to an ongoing multi-chaptered fic, which will probably be 5-10 chapters long.
Please R&R, concrit will be extremely appreciated.