Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or Inception.


Author's Note: I changed the prologue around a bit. You'll want to reread it before you continue on with this chapter. Also, sorry for JJ and Garcia fans, but neither of them will be involved in this much.


Chapter One:

Strauss had gone into further explanation of this 'dream sharing' process with Hotch, and frankly, he wasn't too fond of the idea. It all seemed too much like something out of a science-fiction movie; not something that could actually be used in real life. But, when he'd reiterated the section chief 's words to the rest of the team, Reid had gone into a lengthy explanation of how the technology was possible. He'd actually heard of it, and Hotch wondered why the genius had never bothered to share the news of this invention with the rest of the team.

As it turned out, it'd been developed by the military, though others, with more malevolent intentions, had gotten then hands on the equipment as well. The BAU had received files on the team that would be teaching them. Though, none of them seemed like criminals to Hotch. At least, not the kind he was used to working with.

And that was how the BAU found themselves travelling to what used to be an abandoned warehouse outside of DC; the place they'd be meeting the team. It'd been fixed up nicely, looking as if the FBI had been planning this out for a while. Reid, Hotch, and Emily led the parade of SUVs, with the youngest chattering away from his spot in the backseat about the subconscious' role in dreams; nothing Hotch nor Emily paid much attention to. Morgan and Rossi trailed behind, making small talk as they went. Garcia and JJ had stayed behind at the academy. It didn't seem necessary for them to learn these skills; Garcia wasn't a field agent, and JJ wasn't a profiler.

As they pulled into the parking lot, it became apparent that the team they'd be working with had already arrived. Two other SUVs already sat parked in front of the doors. From what they knew, these people had been transported by plane across the country, from Los Angeles, and then taken straight here from the airport. Though, they had also been informed that they were all trusted enough to not flee, and had been allowed to roam the city of DC as they pleased while they were training the BAU, not allowed to leave unless they were heading to the warehouse. Of course, they'd be tracked down and sent immediately to jail if they did attempt to escape.

They hastily made their way into the building, wanting to escape the chilly February air as quickly as they could. Glass double doors led into a large rectangular room, with concrete walls and floors. One part had been sanctioned off, furnished with long steel tables with various chemicals scattered on top. At the other end were two rows of cots. This was all more glamorous than Cobb's team was used to; back in Paris, they'd used lawn chairs.

Speaking of Cobb's team, the five of them had congregated in one corner, talking amongst themselves as they waited for the BAU to arrive. Hotch led the agents to where they stood, halting a few feet away. He cleared his throat to announce his presence, and when he caught their attention, he spoke.

"Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner." The man who was obviously the leader of the group stuck out his hand with a terse nod towards Hotch.

"Dom Cobb." After a swift handshake, Hotch continued to introduce the rest of his own team. Once that was finished, Cobb pointed to the four others that stood beside him.

"Ariadne, our architect." She looked barely old enough to drink, much less have the experience needed to invade dreams, and held the same sort of naivety that encircled Reid.

"Arthur, the point man." He reminded Hotch of himself; an impassive expression on a sculpted face, with a dark three-piece suit and gelled hair.

"Eames, the forger." The man wore a perpetual smirk, and stubble coated his chin. He didn't look as put-together as Cobb and Arthur did.

"And Yusuf, the chemist." He looked Middle Eastern, perhaps, and had a bushy head of hair, and clothes that looked to be about a size too big for him. Cobb straightened up, sliding his hands into his pockets before he continued, "I'm the extractor."

"It's nice to meet you," lied Hotch. To be honest, he wasn't looking forward to any of this, though he knew Strauss would have his head if the BAU didn't go through with her plans.

"I understand that you already know what we're going to be teaching you?"

"We've received some brief details, but it would probably be best if you went more in-depth before we went any further."

A curious smirk inched its way onto Cobb's face as he said, "Perhaps it would be better if we showed you." He clapped his hands together. "Do you all remember how you got here?"

"Of course," twittered Reid, frowning slightly at what he considered an obvious question. "Standard FBI-issue SUVs."

Cobb shook his head. "No, no. Before that. What were you all doing before that?"
"What do you mean?" That was Emily, irritation creeping into her voice. "We were at the BAU.." She trailed off, suddenly sounding unsure of herself. Rossi and Morgan glanced at each other, both wearing a look of confusion.

"Exactly."

Arthur took a step forward, jerking his chin towards Hotch. "You know, Agent, I would've thought that it'd be protocol for you to be carrying a gun."

Hotch's hand flew to his hip. To his dismay, his hand hit the fabric of his slacks, rather than the hard plastic of his Glock. "I put it on this morning." A rare expression of confusion crossed the unit chief's face, though he narrowed his eyes as he refocused his gaze towards Arthur. "Are you trying to tell us that we're dreaming right now?"

Eames let out a hearty laugh. "Oi, we've got a smart group here, huh? He's caught on quick." Ariadne smiled at that, and continued on from where Arthur had left off.

"In dreams, you don't realize something was strange about it until you've woken up." She was repeating, almost verbatim, the words that Cobb had spoken to her merely months before. "Your gun missing is an example, agent."

Rossi waved a hand, dismissing the whole conversation. "Great, this is all so very interesting," he said, "but how is this going to help us?"

Eames snorted, and Arthur cocked a brow, as Cobb replied, "We were informed that we'd be teaching you about extraction."

Hotch nodded. "Yes. It may help us with evidence, and confessions." Though his demeanor hadn't changed, the realization that they were, in fact, in a dream at that moment did manage to shake him a bit.

"Well, the key to extractions is knowing where to look for the information you're trying to extract." He gestured to Ariadne. "Ariadne is our architect. She designs the dream worlds that we insert ourselves into. When we're doing an extraction, we add some type of secure area; a safe, or a bank, or even a password-protected computer, and the subconscious immediately fills that with what it's trying to protect."

"So, all you need to do once you're in the dream is find that secure area and open it?" said Morgan incredulously.

"It's not usually that easy."

Arthur nodded his assent to Cobb's declaration. "The subconscious creates projections. If the dreamer becomes aware that there are foreign beings present, they'll attack." Ariadne involuntarily shuddered at this, remembering Mal's vicious attack on her, when she'd been in Cobb's dream.

"So, how come there aren't any of these so-called projections here?" questioned Reid, slightly peeved at the fact that he wasn't as informed in this field of study as he would've liked. Though, it was also true that this was not exactly a legitimate field of study in the first places; there were no books or internet resources available on the topic, as there were for the subjects of psychology, sociology, etc.

"Would there normally be people wandering around in a government building?"

Reid balked. "Uh, no."

"Well, projections act just as if they would in real life. If we were to walk out of here, we'd find some of them driving along in cars, some of them sitting in restaurants. They only get nasty once they're onto you."

Arthur grinned darkly, and commented, "Oh, do I know that."

Eames rolled his eyes. "Wah. Keep up your complainin' and see where it gets you."

Arthur said nothing in reply, instead choosing to shoot a glare back at the forger, his eyes burning a hole in the back of the older man's head.

Cobb ignored the quip, and continued, "We'll be teaching you how to perform an extraction. It'll take a while for all of you just to get used to dream sharing, but you all seem intelligent. I think you'll catch on fairly quick."


They found themselves awaking to a scene that was parallel to the place they'd been in the dream. It seemed that Ariadne had designed the dream to accurately resemble the warehouse that they'd be working in. Emily wondered how the hell they'd gotten there in the first place, knowing that the rest of the BAU was probably wondering the same thing, but decided not to voice her question. Hotch seemed angry, while the others simply looked curious, and Reid was downright excited. Of course, the condescension he'd sensed in Cobb's final sentence before they'd all woken up hadn't done much to help.

The ten of them had been hooked up to a couple of dream-shares, and they all disconnected themselves from the machine, and Arthur went to work packing them back up and setting the briefcases to the side.

"I think that was enough for one day," Cobb was saying as he stood, stretching his arms up towards the ceiling as he did so. "Tomorrow we can talk more about the details."

Hotch stood as well, his hand going to his hip, and he realized with joy that his Glock was safely tucked away in its holster, where it was supposed to be. "Fine," was all he said, and the BAU promptly left, all still a bit dazed from the previous event.