Disclaimer—Characters belong to Christopher Nolan. No copyright infringement intended. Any similarity to events or persons living or dead is purely coincidental.
Author's Notes—Written for the Girl Saves Boy ficathon on LiveJournal. Many thanks to the wonderfully talented Night_Lotus_Blossom, my dear Jellie pal, for the beta, and for sharing my new addiction. ;)
Unmistakable Shadow—When a mission goes wrong, Cobb and Arthur get help from a surprising source. Post-movie.
Of all the jobs to screw up, he couldn't believe his downfall would be a simple, one-level Extraction. It had been a rookie mistake, a regret he knew would haunt him for years to come. He had enough demons. The very last thing he wanted was another one.
The mark had been another corporate hack, someone else Saito needed taken care of, the president of Ellison Corporation. He was a young man, a wunderkind, a rising star. While the kid was a savvy businessman, he was inexperienced in the real world. The mission prep hadn't shown any training or other preventative measures to combat against dream invasions.
As such, Cobb hadn't bothered to assemble the entire team. He'd tapped Ariadne to design the levels from school. He'd turned to Arthur to be the dreamer, so that he could extract the information. After all, that was what he did best.
It had looked picture perfect from the onset, especially since it was fully-and generously-bankrolled by Saito's accounts.
It was just once they were in the dream that they began experiencing certain anomalies, certain issues. He'd moved too quickly, a little too carelessly. And it cost them dearly.
Arthur shot him a look, a mix of annoyance and acceptance.
The point man had put up with the near misses from all of the other missions. As good as he was, as impressive as his reputation was, Cobb was, by no stretch of the imagination, perfect.
The part he dreaded the most, however, was the fact that they were all hooked up to a PASIV device in the middle of Ellison's office, where one call for security could end them both.
He'd just gotten his children back. Well, maybe not exactly, but he was back in their lives. Instead of being a voice on the telephone or the name attached to the gift tag, he was a visible, actual presence, and that had to count for something.
He wanted to blame Saito, but it had been the shrewd businessman who had given his children back to him in the first place. It wasn't like Saito had put a gun to his head and forced him to take the job. He'd willingly accepted it. He'd willingly chosen dream-sharing Extractions as his profession.
It was all his fault.
"We're not that deep," Arthur reminded. "Couple gunshots and we've got a two, three second head start."
"It won't be enough," Cobb returned, a grim expression etched in his face.
"It's better than none at all."
Before Cobb could consider his response, he swore he smelled something familiar. But, they were dreaming. It was all in his mind. He closed his eyes, though, drinking in the sweetness of coconut, the warmth of jasmine.
Mal.
He opened his blue eyes wide as he scanned the area. Where was she? Where was his mark?
"I thought you were done with her, Cobb. Once and for all."
"What?"
"I just saw her."
"Mal?"
"You still can't control her, can you?"
"No, Arthur, I left her. I left her memories, all of them, behind. She's not here, not because of me."
"Why else would she be here?"
He shrugged. "I don't know." He looked around, still unable to see her. "Where'd she go?"
"She took off with Ellison."
She was giving them the chance to escape. Mal, his Mal, not the projection he'd created from memory. His wife was trying to help them.
"Fastest way out of Ellison's office?"
Arthur's brow creased in confusion. "What?"
"Fastest way out of Ellison's office," Cobb demanded.
"Executive entrance, down the hall, second door."
"Meet you there," Cobb said before he shot his friend square in the head. He rushed to the safe in the dream as Arthur disappeared, as the walls began crumbling down around him. The lock was already open. The contents, loose pages. His eyes frantically skimmed the information, determining which acquisitions of Fischer-Morrow's former components were the ones they were eying for takeover. Satisfied he had what Saito needed, he glanced up as that sweet scent filled his lungs again.
Go now, Dom. I can't keep him forever.
He turned to see her dark shining curls, the familiar gait of her walk as she sauntered off, away from him. "Mal. Mal, wait!"
I can't do that. I'm sorry.
Cobb sat bolt upright as Arthur finished rolling up his IV cords. The point man kept a watchful eye on the timer, on the status of Ellison's sleep. Calmly, Arthur glanced at him. "Well?"
"I got it," Cobb said, removing his IV and tossing it into the case. "Unplug him."
"I do that, he wakes instantly."
"The dream's collapsing anyway."
"He's got two minutes left on the clock. We might get lucky…"
"We can't leave the case," Cobb said. "Wait…" He reached into his interior pocket, pulling out the small bottle with the sedative that had knocked the mark out in the first place. He didn't have much left, but it might be enough. "On three."
Arthur sighed but prepared to remove the last line.
When Cobb finished the count Arthur pulled the tube, the extractor emptied the bottle into Ellison's agape mouth, successfully keeping the mark under.
Arthur slammed the case, following Cobb casually out of the office, past the secretary in the outer office and toward the executive entrance just beyond.
Once they were on the sidewalk, Arthur shook his head. "Cobb, if there are any other dreams where Mal arrives…"
"She didn't shoot you this time," he pointed out.
"Doesn't matter. One more and I'm done."
"Did you see her face?"
"What's that got to do with anything?"
"Just… tell me."
"No," Arthur said. "But, she was unmistakable."
"She wasn't my projection."
"How else does your dead wife show up at one of our jobs?"
"She's not a shade anymore, Arthur. She's… She's a shadow. She was there to help us, not to hurt us. She bought us enough time to get our mission accomplished and get out."
The point man sighed. "You need help, Cobb."
He smiled. He didn't need help, because she had already provided it.
End.