Preface
"I have an idea." Cobb announced.
"Always a dangerous undertaking." Eames snorted. Cobb shot him a stern look, but continued.
"We're getting into bigger projects now. I want as little room for error as possible. You know what the biggest problem we face is."
Eames sighed. "Limbo."
"Precisely. And I think I may have a way to get around, or I guess I should say out, of it." Cobb said.
"And how do you presume we do that?" Eames asked. Despite his misgivings about what idea Cobb had, his curiosity was now peaked.
"Inception." Cobb said simply, but it carried a force that changed the atmosphere of the room. Eames half-expected to find the occupants of the bar to turn to look in their direction, sensing that someone was messing around in his head while he dreamed. But the other attendants continued nurturing their drinks and sloppy conversations.
Cobb had asked Eames to meet him at this shady bar where they were currently holding Cobb's pitch. They had both always preferred areas that were crowded, but with the ability to slip into the background unnoticed.
"Cobb…Dom, we've talked about this before. It's possible, but it's bloody difficult." Eames said whilst looking over his shoulder. Just the act of mentioning inception made him feel more criminal than anything, and for him being who he was, that's saying quite a lot.
"But you see how it would work, don't you? Let's say the dreamers get lost down there. One of them performs inception; they plant the idea that this world is not real. The dreamers will come to believe that notion and they'll wake themselves up." Cobb said in a bit of a rush while gesturing his hands to add emphasis. Clearly, he had been fostering this idea for a little while now.
"Yes, there's no doubt whatsoever that the idea is brilliant, Cobb, "Eames said fidgeting with his glass, "but I have to ask, why are you only telling me this? I'm only a forger, after all. Why not tell Arthur or someone else more capable about this?"
Cobb smiled slightly. "Yes, Arthur would probably be better suited for this job, no offense meant," he said. Eames raised his hands in a "none taken" gesture. "However, I feel, and I'm sure you'd agree with me, that Arthur might find the idea, well, somewhat unethical."
Eames chuckled and nodded. "So, you sought out the most corrupt of all of us?" Cobb merely shrugged and took a swig from his glass while observing the rest of the bar, giving Eames a moment to consider. He retrieved a toothpick from his pocket and began to work on it while he thought.
"Alright," Eames finally said, "Let's say I do take you up on your offer. How is it going to be done? We'll run some sort of practice test, I assume?"
Cobb nodded as he finished the rest of his drink. He gave Eames a calculating look. After a moment he finally spoke, "Yes. If all goes well, just one practice test will be necessary. You'll be involved, naturally. I'm thinking we'll only need one other person to help run the experiment. I'll oversee everything, of course, but you'll need someone in with you. Preferably, someone who doesn't know about this."
"So, who will be going in with me, then?" Eames asked, one eyebrow raised.
"Well, that's the part I've struggled with the most. My first thought was Ariadne, but she's still getting her feet wet. I'd rather her focus more on perfecting her skills than to undertake such a task. Yusuf might be okay, but I know he hates coming into the dreams and I'd be hard-pressed to think of a good reason to get him to enter this one. Plus, he's hard at work on his new concoction. Mal doesn't do this kind of thing anymore and I hate to even ask her to think of doing something like this." Cobb paused and there was a heavy silence that hung in the air. "So," he pressed on, "That only leaves one person…"
"Arthur." Eames finished for him.
"Arthur." Cobb agreed.
"You know he'd be appalled if he found out about this, let alone that he'd be apart of it, right?" Eames asked.
"I know. But Eames, come on…you know how important this is. After what happened last time…I didn't think Mal and I would ever get out. We didn't have to resort to inception, thank god, but it was close. Had we been down there any longer and had we not been as experienced…well, I'd rather not think about it. But for the rest of you, the risk of getting lost in Limbo is only too real. I've spent years trying to put together the best goddamn team out there and I refuse to lose them over something that we might have been able to prevent. Eames…William, please. I'm asking you as a colleague, as your friend, if you'll help me try to do everything in my power to make this work. Will you help me? Will you help us, the team?" He finished his impromptu speech, but his pleading eyes remained on Eames' face waiting for an answer.
Eames worried the toothpick in his mouth for a minute while he took in his surroundings, determined to look anywhere but Cobb's face. When he could finally avoid the plea any longer, he looked back at his friend.
"Okay. But promise me, Dom. Promise me you'll make sure to do everything in your power to get us back out in one piece, understood?"
"You've got it. Thank you, Eames."
"God…" Eames choked quietly before downing the rest of his drink. Cobb was already up and headed for the exit. Eames couldn't put his finger on it, but something about this didn't feel right. Every time he stole a wallet right under some poor fool's nose or walked away from a casino with his pockets significantly heavier he'd never felt this kind of dread and anxious anticipation. He could only hope that they'd be safe in Cobb's hands and that poor, poor Arthur would not figure out what they were up to.