Enter, Morpheus
"Where there is love,
There is life."
Mahatma Gandhi
A tall man wandered the battlefield of a dream. It was all that remained after Hecate and Sybil had fought for control. Dregs of a city and a dieing forest.
"You should have been here. It was beautiful." Circe told him. She was perched high above him. Sitting nimbly on the ledge of a rotting building. The roots of a long dead tree had embedded itself in the walls.
The man looked up at her to see the wind kicking the sheer red, and orange fabric around her.
"Why have you called me here?" The man asked. He was not old, but his long nimble frame made him look spindly and almost spidery.
"This young woman, Sybil. She can take control of the dreams." The Witch told him. "Take power away from the dreamer and make the dream her own."
"Impossible." The man said brushing off the dust from his black suit.
"I assure you Morpheus*, it is possible. She managed to take control of the dream from me and almost ripped the dream apart from Hecate." Circe said with a glint of admiration.
"Where is Hecate now?" He asked
"Dead." Circe said with no feeling. "Or so the Keepers tell me."
"No one can defeat Hecate." Morpheus said blandly.
"These people did." The Witch countered. "I want her. I want her back here with me. I have so much to learn from her, she has so much to learn form me."
Sybil looked idly at the pendant of Tara*. She kept the battered idol on a chain close to her since she and Nolan had left India 4 months ago. She had recklessly been without a Totem from all of that time after Hecate's kidnapping. When she and Nolan had approached Fischer in that bodega, she finally obtained the unusual object. One that would be difficult to replicate. It was hand carved out of wood and had little nuances that would go undetected by the casual observer.
"Everything okay?" Nolan asked. They were at Miles's wake. The charming house in Saint Clair had been attended to during their long absence by a trusted staff Astucieux hired. The cabinets were freshly stocked with groceries, the bed clothes changed. It felt as if they had never left.
"Yes of course." Sybil said dropping the pendent back down the little black dress she had worn for the wake. It was a beautiful day in March with clear blue skies. If it were not for the unpleasant business of the funeral of Cobb's Father, it would have been a nice time. She and Nolan had decided to take a small walk around the gardens of the house alone. The indoors filled with guests from the funeral.
"I'm glad you could come." She told him. He smiled and leaned down to kiss her on the cheek.
"I'm glad I could to." He said as she blushed.
She looked up at the young American Point Man. His new duties with his Extraction Team suited him well. He seemed to carry himself a little taller and when he was alone with her, he seemed to have more bounce in his step. They had exchanged emails and phone calls almost daily and the feeling that they knew each other very well was strange since they had had so little time to know one another in person.
Inside the kitchen of the charming little house, Ariadne was grateful that Astucieux had been gracious enough to hire special caterers and a staff to attend to their guests. They were the same staff who worked at government functions and who had to pass background tests. She had enough to worry about with Alexander now walking.
She found her self chasing after the infant as he almost ran away from her. As if it were a game. A laugh and a smile on his face. She had to weave around their guests after him. All of Miles's friends thought the presence of the little one very amusing and helped to brake the somber affair. He had made a bolt for the unattended open door when a pair of hand appeared and caught him up.
The Extractor lifted the baby up over his squeals of protesting giggles.
"It's fun to drive Mommy crazy, huh?" Cobb asked as he easily shouldered his friend's son, indifferent to the nice suit her wore.
"No, it's not." Ariadne said feeling tired already. She smoothed down Alexander's shirt and hair as his Godfather held him high enough for her to get a good look at him. "I'm going to put him to bed. It's time for his nap." She sighed. "And mine."
"I'll put him down." Cobb offered.
"You should be here with Miles's friends." Ariadne said sympathetically.
"No, I never liked this kind of thing." The Extractor said "Besides, I think the parties winding down." Cobb took a long look at the child in his arms. "It's so nice to have a baby in the house. You and Arthur should think about having another one."
It was on the tip of her tongue to say she was pregnant again. That she and Arthur were expecting a little girl in late August. It was a comfort to know that the baby would be so welcomed by the family. She watched as Cobb went upstairs to put Alexander to bed.
"Everything alright?" Came Arthur's voice in her ear. She smiled as she felt his arms encircle her waist from behind. His hands firmly over her abdomen.
"I almost told Cobb." She admitted. She felt him smile as he kissed her shoulder.
"Maybe we should." He told her. "Might cheer him up."
"Where have you been?" She asked suddenly.
"Showing Saito the house and grounds." He told her loosening his hold on her. "I think Yori is upstairs trying to get Shin to take a nap." Ariadne nodded. All these children in under the same roof at the same time made the ghost of Miles death seem very far away.
"Where's James and Phillipa?" Arthur asked.
"Outside playing." She told him. "Eames paid them to spy on Sybil and Nolan." Arthur laughed.
"Sybil doesn't need to be watched like that." Arthur said defensively.
"Your absolutely right." Ariadne said. "Nolan is very nice and respectful. A lot like you are. You told me how he saved her from Hecate. That must have been so romantic. It reminded me of the time you protected me from that assassin in New York. In fact, later that night we made our son."
She gave him a smug little smile and walked away. The Point Man starting to respect the Forger's worry over Sybil.
"So how did you know my Dad?" Cobb asked a tall spindly man dressed all in black.
"He and I had many shared hobbies. I was so sorry to hear of his passing." The man said. Cobb nodded and felt himself wanting all these guests to leave already. He looked over at the bar. Nolan and Sybil were having a privet conversation and they were both smiling far to much for a wake. Eames and Arthur were talking to the other guests and mourners.
"Young love is wonderful." The tall spindly man said waving a hand at Sybil. "But only to those inside of it." He added. Cobb had to chuckle.
"Well, we've all been there." The Extractor said. "If were lucky."
"Yes." The man said with a smile that made Cobb uncomfortable. "To those on the outside, it gives nothing but worry. Young love is so... fearless. It's only as we grow older that we don't give our hearts away do freely." The tall spindly man took a sip of coffee. "We never take such a leap of faith as we do when we are young." The words stirred something inside Cobb then. Mal, sitting on the ledge of that hotel. Those same words she used.
"Excuse me." Saito said coming up behind Cobb and tearing him away from the strange tall visitor. "Mr. Cobb, I thought you might like to say good bye to your father's umm... Lady Friend?" The Japanese Businessman said trying to sound tactful.
Miles had apparently maintained a lively social life complete with a lovely widow whom he spent a great deal of time with. She was a pleasant older woman who had been kind a gracious towards Cobb and meeting his Children and Team. The very picture of someone who would have made Miles very happy. But still the shock of finding Miles had maintained a love life, was a surprise to Cobb.
After saying farewell to the nice woman and Miles other friends, the Extractor had forgotten all about the strange tall man in black.
"I can drive Nolan back to Paris." Eames said as the last guest had left. Saito and Yori had stayed over in the house. The Extractor had given his friend his room that they could easily share with their two year old son. Cobb had bunked with James. The house felt filled up with life it had been missing for so many months.
"Nolan can stay here. We've made up Arthur's office into a guest room." Ariadne told him. She was doing some final cleaning in the kitchen. The staff had done a magnificent job of cleaning up after the wake. It was as if the mob of people had never been there.
"No, Sybil and I made a deal." Eames said taking off his black jacket to reveal a horrible black and white polyester shirt. A fashion don't even in the 70s.
"She has been doing really well. With the therapy and I think Nolan makes her happy." She told the Forger.
"That's what I'm worried about." Eames said. "She doesn't need some boyfriend getting her side tracked." Ariadne gave him a look she normally reserved for Arthur.
"I don't think he is side tracking her. I think he's helping her." She washed her hands and sighed. "Technically, she's an adult and she is not related to any of us. She doesn't have to do anything we say." Eames gave her a frustrated look. Knowing the Architect was right.
"Fine, he can stay here. I'll stay in the guest room with him." The Forger said.
In Sybil's little room later that night, Ariadne and the Control were stretched out on her bed thumbing though Sybil's sketch book.
"These are not bad." Ariadne said looking at the details of a city that had been overgrown with forests.
"I'm no artist." She told the Architect.
" Yes you are. And you don't have to be." Ariadne comforted. "In architecture, all you have to really work on is lines. Making nice 3d perception, and you can do that." She looked at the detail of waterfalls coming from the buildings. "So this is what yours and Hecate's dream looked like." She whispered. Sybil sighed. Ariadne came to a beautifully rendered drawing of Nolan then, She barely had time to take it in before Sybil slapped the book away, her cheeks hot.
"What?" Ariadne said with an understanding smile. "That was nice." Sybil shook her head. And said nothing. The Architect sighed. "You know, we all like Nolan. A lot."
"Eames doesn't." Sybil said putting her book away. Pretending to be interested in the colorful vintage posters adorning her neat fashionable little room.
"Eames cares about you. He doesn't want to see you get hurt." Ariadne told her.
"Percy would never hurt me." the Control told her.
"I know that." Ariadne said. "Sometimes, when your young, love doesn't always work out."
"Were not in love." Sybil said shaking her head.
"Okay." Ariadne laughed. Her voice saying she didn't believe her at all. Sybil turned to the Architect and rested her head on her hand.
"I think I might want to have sex with him." She confessed. Ariadne nodded.
"Has Nolan been pressuring you to?" She asked.
"No." Sybil told her. "Typical American prude." Ariadne laughed.
"Well, if you think your both ready, then you should. I can make an appointment with my doctor and we can talk about birth control."
"I already did all that." Sybil said. Ariadne looked surprised.
"You have?" She asked.
"Yeah, in Japan. After we got back from Greece." Sybil told her. "You were worried about Arthur and then with you finding out you were pregnant again and then Miles passing away..."
"How did you know I'm pregnant?" Ariadne asked in surprise, inspecting her abdomen. She wasn't showing at all yet.
"I don't know." Sybil said honestly. "But it made me decide to go on birth control. I don't want to get into trouble like you did."
"I'm married Sybil." Ariadne said with a laugh.
"Yeah, now you are." Sybil teased. The Architect laughed. It was good to have the same old Sybil back. Smart mouthed and everything.
"Yeah, you don't want to trap Nolan like I did with Arthur." Ariadne joked. After so many months and years of worry, it felt good to share a laugh.
"How was your talk with Sybil?" Arthur asked. He was getting ready for bed as she was designing mazes for an upcoming extraction job.
"Just girl talk." Ariadne said secretively.
"Your not going to tell me?" Arthur asked climbing into bed.
"No." Ariadne said blissfully.
"You know we all worry about her." He husband told her. "I can tell you that no matter how Sybil feels about Nolan, no matter how much we all like him, he's still just a man. Men are always only after one thing."
"No!" Ariadne gasped, in mock horror. Arthur rolled his eyes. She smiled at him. "Were you only after 'one thing' with me?" She asked.
"Absolutely." He confessed quickly. "The moment I saw you till the deed was done, that's all I ever thought about. It was Hell."
"Hmm, I should have held out longer." She said thoughtfully.
The charming house in Saint Cloud went to sleep. All of it's rooms were filled with loved ones fit to bursting. The family, peaceful in their beds, never heard the tall spindly man silently creeping about in the darkness.
*Morpheus: Greek, God of dreams. He is also found in the "Matrix" as well as the graphic novels "Sandman" by Neil Gaiman.
*Tara: Buddhism, Goddess, mother of liberation.
I suddenly got inspired to pick the story up again. Can't let them be to happy for to long. :)