Picking her lock had always been alarmingly easy. Eames let out a breath through his nose as he pushed the door open; he'd have to sit her down and explain yet again why she needed to upgrade her security. He didn't bother to hide his footsteps; Therese could sleep through a train wreck without budging. He dropped his bag on the couch and kept on to her bedroom. The thought that she may not even be home (it was Saturday night, after all) crossed his mind, but disappeared the moment he saw the lump curled up on the bed. He took the opportunity to simply look at her for a moment before pulling off his shirt and removing his shoes.

Eames quietly slid under the sheet and molded himself around the woman who gave his mind peace. His muscular arms wrapped around her smaller frame and pulled her closer to him. Burying his nose in her hair and inhaling the flowery scent of her shampoo, his body lost its tension and sank into the calm he always felt around her. He brushed his lips over the tattoo on her shoulder when she stirred. The small TARDIS with its opened door was a reminder to her that life was filled with wonder and magic and endless possibilities…if one only knew where to look. Normally he would have thought the sentiment foolish, but not with Therese. She lived by that inspiration and it endeared her to him all the more.

"You should have called," she muttered into the darkness. "I would have cleaned the place up for you."

"It was a last minute trip," he whispered back, one hand stroking her arm. "And the place looks fine, love."

Eames loosened his hold enough for her to turn around, his lips turning up in a small grin at the sight of her sleepy smile. "I always slack off on the housework when you're gone." Her eyes fluttered open. "It's sad that my only motivation for cleaning is when I'm expecting company."

"Fine, then. You can clean to your heart's delight in the morning."

"Let's not get carried away," she laughed. Her eyes swept over his face and what she could see of his neck, her hand soon following. "Something happened, didn't it," she said softly, her brow furrowing with worry. "What's wrong?"

He never could hide much from her (even though he hid everything), and he once again cursed her perceptiveness. He took her hand from his cheek and pressed a kiss into her palm. "Just another business deal gone sour. Nothing to worry your pretty head over, darling." She didn't need to know about the botched extraction that nearly cost him his life thanks to the half-witted architect. It was jobs like that that made him miss working with Cobb, Ariadne, and even Arthur. He shouldn't have come to Atlanta so soon, not while the heat was still on him, but he'd taken precautions. He'd kept his hair long and grew out his beard for that job, and gotten rid of them both in a Hungarian airport restroom. A fake name hadn't hurt his survival chances either. Glancing at the clock on her nightstand, he enveloped her in his arms again. "We'll talk some more in the morning, Therese. Go on back to sleep."

She raised an eyebrow at his dismissal but didn't argue. She snuggled into his chest, grateful for his warmth and the security that came with his embrace. "I'm glad you're back, Ian," she murmured against his skin.

So am I.

Short, sappy intro chapter is short and sappy, but there ya go! Hopefully this will be updated more frequently than my three other fics going on. For Eames' first name, I just picked one I'd read in another fic (I've read so many lately I don't remember which one) that I thought fit pretty well.