A/N. Requesting from my Tumblr as a prize story!
Eames wasn't sure when the habit began. Not until it became an addiction. As one of the top forgers in the world, he was called by many an extractor for his skills.
But what is a forger without the right point man?
Not all point men were created equal, and Arthur was at the top of the food chain. He was the best, the brightest. Nothing slipped by him- not since Fischer.
Eames sighed as he slipped the needle into a vein, feeling the Somnacin drip into his body. His eyelids felt heavy, began to droop.
"Good morning."
He slowly opened his eyes, instantly locking on to a pair of deep chocolate brown.
"Morning Darling," Eames rolled over and placed a kiss to his lovers lips.
"How long today?" Arthur asked, trailing a white hand across Eames's broad chest.
"A few days," Eames replied, rubbing his thumb across Arthur's cheek.
Arthur sighed and nuzzled into Eames.
"It's not long enough," Arthur said, "We need more than just a few days."
"I know... but it's all I can get without being suspicious."
Arthur did not pout, because Eames knows subconsciously that Arthur never pouted. Instead he gave a sigh of long suffering and pulled Eames closer.
"Then we'll have to make the most of it."
Ariadne was walking around the hotel suite they were using as their home base. She was lucky enough to be working with Yusuf and Eames again. Cobb was busy with his children and Arthur...
They didn't talk about him anymore.
The other two members were good. The extractor, a nice woman named Ella, was very clean and precise and it showed in her work. Her husband, Ben, was the pointman. Though he couldn't hold a candle to Arthur... well no one could.
Ariadne stopped in front of the whiteboard. The extraction was fairly simple, it was the upcoming inception that would prove difficult. Their employer, a Mr. Jones, had hired them for inception, but refused to give the details until the team was able to extract information. He said he couldn't make a well informed decision on what to incept until he knew what he was working with.
The extraction was all planned out, ready to be put into motion within the week. The mark, a man who was always referred to as 'the Doctor', had an operation set for Tuesday. Thanks to Ben, the team would be able to set up in the Doctor's hospital room and complete the extraction within four to five hours. Then they would complete the job with inception.
Yusuf was out getting lunch, Ben and Ella were probably clearing up a few details, and Eames had disappeared. Ariadne worried about the forger. He and Arthur shared a special relationship and the accident probably hit him hardest. But Eames was still working, he was still in the game. He may have lost some of his charm, perhaps lost a little weight, but he hadn't gone completely off the deep end.
Arthur wouldn't want that.
It was the second day when Eames noticed something was off. He and Arthur were out shopping when he felt it. A small push inside his mind. This barely there presence that wasn't his. For a moment of terror he wondered if someone had found him hooked up to the PASIV.
But Eames had taken extra precautions. Arthur would be proud.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Arthur pulled on his arm, "You alright?"
"Yes," Eames drew himself away from the presence, "Everything is fine."
Arthur smiled, dimples and all, and God did Eames miss that smile. He leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to those smiling lips.
"Just fine," Eames whispered.
Arthur laughed and pulled him through the grocery store.
Ariadne was with Yusuf when the found Eames. He hid his tracks well, obviously having been taught by Arthur. He was spread out on the bed, hooked up to the PASIV set for 8 hours, using Yusuf's custom compound, which lead to a few days in the dream world.
"What is so good about his dream that he's there for days?" Ariadne asked, running a hand across Eames's forehead.
"What was so good about Cobb's dreams?" Yusuf countered, giving her a knowing look.
"Oh..." Ariadne said, understanding hitting her.
She stood then, pulled out a line and rolled up her sleeve.
"No," Yusuf put his hand on her wrist, "You are not going in there."
"Like hell I'm not," Ariadne said, tearing her wrist away, "He's going to be lost in there, and we have a job to do. More importantly, we have to bring him out because he is our friend."
"Ariadne," Yusuf said softly, "He wants to be in there and he's doing so reasonably. Only 8 hours at a time, not enough to damage him. Let him do this. He is grieving."
"He can't grieve alone," Ariadne insisted, "And he can't do it forever. Arthur could wake up any day. We don't know that he's gone completely."
"But he isn't here, and that's as good as gone to Eames."
"All the more reason to bring him out before he sleeps his way into limbo!"
Yusuf opened his mouth to say something, but Ariadne beat him to it.
"I am going into this dream, and nothing you say will stop me. He needs us. I understand what he's going through, but we can't loose him and Arthur!"
"Fine," Yusuf said, pulling a line out himself, "But you are not going in there alone."
The presence was getting harder to ignore. If anything it was getting bigger and stronger. Eames had felt it before, but he couldn't quite recall.
Arthur was lounging on the sofa, his lean body spread across the cushions as Eames cooked dinner- a simple stew. He brought a bowl over for Arthur before getting one for himself and sitting on the floor in front of the pointman.
"We have visitors," Arthur said, "I watched them come up the street."
"Who?" Eames asked, distracted by this nagging feeling.
"Yusuf and Ariadne."
Eames's eyes widened. He knew what this feeling was now. It hit him all at once.
Someone was tampering with his dream. Someone else was in here. And from the looks of it, the someone was Yusuf and Ariadne.
"I'll speak with them," Eames said, standing up, his dinner forgotten.
Arthur shrugged and continued to watch his show. Eames stepped outside the house and saw the chemist and architect waiting for him.
"We need to talk."
The accident was an accident, but no matter what was said, Eames blamed himself partly for it.
It was an easy extraction. The son of a wealthy business man wanted to know if he was in the will and what he would inherit. A simple easy in and easy out extraction. Arthur was staying with Eames, using the excuse that it would be cheaper than booking a hotel. The extractor was Eric, a man they worked with before, and he would be designing the levels as well. No need for a chemist.
The plan was very simple. Eames would forge as the lawyer, pushing for the will to be created. If all went well, then the will would be presented, Eric would take it, and the extraction would be done. Arthur, ever the pointman, would be there in case something went wrong.
Nothing went wrong with the extraction, it went smoothly. The poor boy was upset that he didn't get anything in his father's will, they got their pay, and life went on.
Unfortunately, it didn't this time. The boy ran to his father, told him about the extraction, and proceeded to demand to be put into the will. Arthur and Eames never figured out what happened to the boy, but Eames remembers the consequences.
After a night of celebrating at Eames's little apartment, Eric left on the next flight to America. Arthur and Eames however, continued their shots until they were good and wasted before passing out on the bed together.
Next they woke to a sound of gunfire. They had been found, caught, and had no where to run. They could only hope that they would be shown even the slightest bit of mercy.
No such luck.
It wasn't so bad for Eames, he had only done the forging, but Arthur. The things Arthur had to do to get the information. It was downright criminal. The things he took, the people he bribed. There was reason Arthur was the best. It was because he had no fear and he had no standards on how low to go to get the information.
The pain was excruciating. Bruises, cuts, electricity, broken bones, anything and everything. Some of it might have even been illegal, but it didn't matter. As bad as it was for Eames, it was harder to watch Arthur. He took everything they gave him with a poker face. He rarely screamed, but when he did it was short lived.
Then they took a bat to his head.
Eames never screamed louder.
They dropped their bodies in an alley way. By fate or by luck a waitress for the restaurant nearby had come out for a smoke and found them.
Then came the hospital. The machines, the wires, the needles, the fog of medication. Through it all, there was only one thing chanting through his head. Arthur Arthur Arthur. The nurses wouldn't tell him if he was okay, if he was even alive. Ariadne had dragged Cobb away from his family, insisting they needed to visit Eames and Arthur.
"Arthur is in a coma," was how they greeted the forger, "He's stable, but in a coma."
If that wasn't the start to the worse hospital visit Eames didn't know what was. It was all his fault. You never celebrate after a job until you were at least three countries or one continent away. You have no contact with your team members until three days after the job was complete. And you never, ever, let your guard down for those three days.
They broke the rules and they suffered for it.
"You need to come back," Ariadne said, "We need you up above."
"Like hell," Eames growled, "This job would go off without a hitch even if you didn't have a forger."
"Not for the job," Yusuf said, "As a friend, as a human being. We need you."
"And I need Arthur," Eames said bitterly.
"And Cobb needed Mal," Ariadne said, "And you know how well that worked out for us."
Eames sighed. He knew that he was going down the same path as the retired extractor, but he couldn't bring himself to care.
"Fine."
Yusuf and Ariadne blinked at Eames was gone.
This was stupid and Eames knew it, but he was a madman with a cause and no one could stop him from this. He woke up, Ariadne lying next to him and Yusuf on the floor. He tore the needle from his wrist and theirs. Packed up the PASIV before they were fully awake and ran from the hotel, hailing the first cab he saw and making his way to the hospital Arthur was staying at.
He burst through the doors, walking quickly to Arthur's room. It was empty, as always, and Arthur was lying there on the bed, looking utterly at peace, an expression rarely seen on the pointman.
He hadn't been here since he got released. Ignoring the tears falling down his cheeks, Eames hooked himself and Arthur up to the PASIV. He set no time limit for the Somnacin as he drifted off into sleep.
"Hello Eames."
"Arthur."
"I was wondering when you'd show up."
"Then you're ready?"
"I've been waiting for you."
"Well, I'm here now darling, let's get to it."
"With pleasure, Mr. Eames."
Ariadne woke up to see Yusuf standing over her.
"He's gone and he took the PASIV with him."
Those were the magic words and the two of them were off to the hospital, hoping and praying that Eames didn't do something stupid.
When they burst into Arthur's room, they weren't surprised at the scene before them. Eames slumped in the guest chair, connected to the PASIV while another line was hooked to Arthur's comatose form.
"What's going to happen to them?" Ariadne asked.
"Worst case scenario? They drop to limbo and never wake up."
"But they'll wake up, won't they?"
Yusuf didn't say anything.
"Yusuf?"
"I wouldn't count on it."
"We could spend eternity down here," Arthur said, "Just the two of us and any projections we wish into existence."
"An eternity with me," Eames grinned, "I'd thought I'd never hear you say that."
Arthur grinned at that leaning against the forger.
"They will miss us," he said finally.
"They already do," Eames replied, pressing a kiss to Arthur's dark hair, "But I have you and that's all that matters to me."