Charlotte O'Connor's eyes focused on the spinning needle of the compass in the dim light of the street lamp. It spun around, back and forth, until it finally decided where north existed. The object clasped by the poor man kneeling in the snow reminded her of another illegal world that she was not supposed to know even existed. One that was quite close to home. She knew no one would believe her if they had not experienced it themselves. There was only one person she knew to call.
"Hello?" The voice was raspy, the person had obviously just woken up, but it was comforting nonetheless.
"Dom?" Charlotte felt her own voice waver a bit. "It's me Charlotte."
"Charlotte?" There was rustling as the person on the other end sat up in bed, Charlotte heard them reach over and turn on the lamp. "Now please tell me just why in the world are you calling at 1 in the morning?"
"I need help."
Ariadne was perched on her small apartment's living room couch. Before her was a sketchpad that was frustratingly blank. She was supposed to be working on her senior project and it was worth a huge chunk of her grade. But she kept finding herself sketching countless mazes, Penrose steps, and paradoxes. The things that could only exist in the dream world. Her professors were growing increasingly exasperated with her unrealistic designs and told her countless times to take a few physics classes. Although the inception had taken place nine months before, she was just starting to stop feeling the effects of it. Nightmares, sleep walking, an addiction to tipping over her totem, and designing dreamscapes were some of the few. She walked away from the airport without even as much as a glance from one of the other teammates. She had hoped for a thankful smile from Cobb, a funny face from Eames, a goofy grin from Yusuf, and a smirk from Arthur. She got none.
Ariadne had no knowledge of the six-week no contact rule after an assignment as big as this one and she never bothered to pick up the phone herself. She figured they thought it was a onetime deal, she was only a part time hire.
Arthur leaned his head back and closed his eyes. Only for five minutes he promised himself. He was sitting in the warehouse preparing for a job. It wasn't with the inception crew, but with a team that the employers had put together. He would simply be coordinating everything, taking on the job of research. He probably wouldn't even be going under with them. Nine months since the inception job and no job was the same to Arthur after. He hadn't contacted anyone on the team except for Cobb, and even those calls were far and few in between.
He felt himself drifting off slowly to sleep when the loud ringing of his phone jolted him out of the soon approaching dream world. The number on screen shocked him slightly. Why would he be calling so early in the morning?
"Dom? You do realize it's three in the morning here, right?"
"I know you're up working on a job anyway." His voice sounded clear and he was making snappy comebacks, he was clearly wide awake.
"True," Arthur paused slightly, running a hand over his face. "But that doesn't explain why you'd be calling so early. Nothing's wrong right? Are James and Phillipa okay?"
"No, everything is fine with us. I can't tell you much, but I need you to get the team, except Yusuf won't be needed just yet, together in the warehouse two days from now at noon. Someone will be meeting you there."
"Who?" He knew the answer, but he asked the question anyway.
"You'll see." Arthur sighed. "Now get some rest, I'm sure the job will go fine."
"I will." He hung up the phone and immediately sent a message to the two other team members. The message was brief as always- Arthur was never one for sentimentalities- 'come to the warehouse at noon two days from now.'
Ariadne slid open the large metal warehouse doors. The warehouse, located in the heart of Paris, was not a far journey from her apartment. Sometimes when she would walk aimlessly through the streets after a day of classes she found her feet taking her in the direction of the warehouse. When she caught herself she immediately turned around, not willing herself to venture to a place she felt unwelcomed.
Walking further inside, she spotted Arthur and Eames already standing together conversing slightly. Eames was making some sort of joke and Arthur pretended to think that Eames was an idiot. But it showed that he missed the forger, just that he hadn't noticed until now. Ariadne could openly admit that she missed Eames, along with everyone else.
"Hey," she said softly as she walked up to them. "What's this meeting for?" She wondered if he had decided to just have a reunion for the team or if there was a job. Considering Arthur's nature and lack of contact over the past months she decided it was probably the later.
"I honestly don't know." The answer puzzled Ariadne and she was about to question him further when she heard the doors being opened. She expected it to be Cobb or Yusuf, but the figure that walked towards them was neither. It was a tall and slender teenage girl who Ariadne would guess was about sixteen. Her eyes were a deep chocolate brown and her dark wavy hair was covered by a winter hat. She wore jeans, a large coat, and boots; an overall very simple outfit. The girl smiled, just barely lifting the corners of her mouth. Ariadne stole a quick glance at Arthur, and then Eames, neither of them seemed to recognize her. The mysterious girl was the obvious reason for the meeting and Ariadne was curious as to how she knew where the warehouse was located but no one knew who she was. She walked closer to the three of them and her smile grew ever so slightly.
"What? Mal and Dom leave the business and you all forget about me?"
Ariadne watched as Arthur and Eames looked at each other with a look of confusion. Arthur looked back at the girl, squinted, then his face lit up with recognition. Eames still looked confused. It was no wonder why Arthur was one of the best point men out there.
"No way!" He grinned one of his rare smiles that weren't smirks and said, "You're Charlotte? Mal's kid sister?"
"I prefer Charlie now, but yes it's Mal's little sister."
The realization dawned on Eames' face and he shook his head slightly. "Certainly not a kid anymore," he muttered.
"She's too young for you," Ariadne found herself saying. She had no idea where it had come from, but it elicited a soft chuckle from Arthur.
Arthur walked up to her and hugged her, she noticed that Charlotte, or Charlie, awkwardly put her arm around him and pulled away quickly. Eames only gave her a fist bump, which she returned with a giggle.
"Why don't we sit down and we can… catch up," offered Arthur already walking over to the only furniture in the entire space.
"Charlie, this is Ariadne, our Architect on our last job," introduced Arthur. He motioned to a petite woman; Charlie almost stood eight inches taller, with medium length light brown hair. She dressed in many layers and a bright colored scarf was displayed over all the other clothes. Charlie liked her already.
"What was the last job you guys did together? It was with Dom right?" She found herself making small talk, avoiding the reason she had come to them.
"Yes, it was the inception job." Ariadne seemed to be covering up shock on her face, she was failing miserably.
"Should we be telling her this?" she whispered loud enough for Charlie to hear all the way in her lawn chair across from the others.
Eames cut in, "She's Mal's little sister and practically Cobb's as well, darling. I'm pretty sure she knows everything about us already." Eames glanced quickly at Charlie, "She's just trying to avoid a certain subject, I'm sure."
"You always were a good people reader, Uncle Eames." She knew how much he hated when she called him that, even when she was seven.
"I'm too young to be your uncle," he said as always, "and how old are you anyway?"
"Seventeen," she replied coolly.
He scoffed, "Practically a child."
"And a half," Charlie said raising her eyebrows a tad, "seventeen and a half. I'll be turning eighteen in a few months."
Arthur cleared his throat gathering the attention of the others. Always in control, she thought. It was evident why Dom valued him so much.
"I hate to be blunt, Charlie," she knew he didn't, "but why are you here anyway? And why did you call us?"
Charlie let out a sigh and fell slightly backward into the taut plastic material of the chair. "Why does anyone ever call you guys, Arthur? I need a favor."