A/N: Here's chapter 2! Enjoy! Please R&R!

Chapter 2: The Call

Mombasa, 5 months after Inception

Jacob Eames sipped on a beer as he looked down at the crowded streets below him from his balcony view from the bar he was at. It had been almost five months since he had been a part of the crew that had performed inception on Robert Fischer. And where was he now? Back in Mombasa.

After the group had gone their separate ways, Eames hadn't entirely known where to go. Arthur and Ariadne had gone off together, Cobb had stayed in America with his kids, and Yusuf had headed out on his own. And now Eames found himself in the same place he had been. Mombasa, alone.

He preferred it that way. He didn't have to watch out for anyone but himself. However, he did admit he could use some company every now and again. But then again, he could always pick someone up for that, or pay someone if he really needed to.

He took another sip of his beer, and leaned against the railing as he took another look at the street below him. The movement of all the people seemed like an excited beehive, buzzing right under his feet. A smile formed on his face at the thought, and he took another sip.

That was when his phone started buzzing in his pocket.

Eames took his phone out of his pocket, and glanced at the number briefly before smirking and answering the phone.

"Arthur, old chap. How are things?"

"Hello, Eames." Was Arthur's simple, slightly annoyed response. "Obviously you're doing well."

"When am I not?" Came Eames' smart retort.

"Never, apparently." Arthur replied. "But I didn't call you to see what you were up to."

"Oh really? I do have to say I'm disappointed. It would've been nice to have a chat with my favorite stick-in-the-mud."

Arthur let out a sigh over the phone. "I'm being serious. There's something you need to know about. There was a hacking into some major airlines a few months ago. They kept it under wraps from the press, but I found out about it."

"Alright. Let's get to the part where this is important to me." Came Eames' response.

"All of these hackings have one thing in common. They were airlines that Robert Fischer has used in the past year."

Eames' smile vanished from his face almost instantly. "What does this mean?"

"I think someone is looking for us." Arthur replied. "I started doing some digging after I found out about the airlines, and it looks like there was some other information stolen from different agencies. All it is is lists of names. People on the planes, people on trains, people in hospitals. I'm sure that more was stolen, but it was impossible for me to hack into all of the databases to know for sure. And I'm sure they've hacked into other agencies that probably didn't even notice they got inside. Whoever this hacker is, they know what they're doing."

"But why would anyone come after us? How would they even know where to look?"

"Someone must suspect foul play. It could just be a coincidence, but it's unlikely. I tossed around the idea of someone trying to steal money, but all they're taking is lists of names. Someone is hunting for us."

"So what do you suggest I do?" Eames replied. His tone was much more serious now. This was their lives they were talking about.

"Just be careful. Stay far away from anyone talking about inception, and only accept jobs from people you trust. Actually, it might be safer to not take any jobs at all for a while."

Eames nodded and self-consciously glanced over his shoulder. "Alright mate. Thanks for the heads-up."

"No problem, Eames."

Eames ended the call, but then found himself checking over his shoulder again. He knew the risks of inception, but hadn't thought that so long after it had happened that he would still be in danger. The best thing he could do now was lie low. And as he took another sip of his beer, that was exactly what he intended to do.

Mombasa: One Year after Inception

Eames sat at a table, a beer, some crap food, and a cigar on the table in front of him. A pretty decent mix. He popped the cap on the beer, and leaned back in his chair to relax. It had been seven months since his talk with Arthur, and he had been lying about as low as one could. He didn't necessarily need to take any jobs anyway. Not after the money he had pulled from the Fischer job. But he was beginning to get antsy. He hadn't done much since Arthur had called him, and it wasn't like Eames to sit still for too long. That's why he had agreed to meet with an Architect he knew today.

He spotted the man as soon as he walked in. He wasn't very tall, and he always had a nervous appearance to himself, despite being younger than Eames. The man glanced around quickly before spotting Eames, and immediately headed over to him.

"Eames." He greeted him simply as the man sat across from him.

"Louis." He replied.

The man pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his shirt pocket and immediately lit one up.

"How ya been, Eames?" The man asked him. "You seem like you're doing well. Nice new shirt, a cigar."

Eames let out a small chuckle in response. "I've been doing alright."

"I'm certainly glad you have been. But me, I've actually got to work for a living." The man took a deep drag on his cigarette. "But I need help, and I know you can help me."

Eames nodded his head, and glanced out towards the street. This balcony was his favorite spot in all of Mombasa. "I can see what I can do."

"It's a pretty simple extraction. I'm gonna need a few documents. I'm sure you can handle that. But if you wanna go in with me, I could use your help with that too."

Eames nodded. "Sounds good. Who else is involved? Anyone I know?"

"I don't believe so." Louis replied after taking another drag.

"Are they trustworthy?" Eames questioned.

"What are ya kidding me? Of course, Eames. You know me."

Eames paused for a moment and considered Arthurs warning. But, it had been quite a while since that had happened. And he had worked with Louis on many jobs, nothing had ever gone wrong.

"Alright, mate." Eames replied. "Tell me about this job."

Paris, France: One Year after Inception

Jaclyn lazed about on the large queen bed in her suite. Across the room, Maya was staring at the screen of her laptop. It had been almost a year since she had gotten her assignment from Peter Browning, and she was beginning to give up any hope of its completion. Browning's calls had been getting more and more impatient every time she contacted him. The man wasn't very patient to begin with, and she had a feeling that he may call the job off if she didn't get results pretty soon. Jaclyn couldn't say that she would be disappointed if he did. So far, all this job had done was make her impatient, give her a headache, and giver her false hope.

Jaclyn rubbed her eyes and sighed. She glanced at the clock to her left, which promptly read '12:34am'.

"Alright. I say we call it a night." Jaclyn sighed.

Maya stretched and nodded in response. "I agree." The other girl stood from in front of her chair and crossed the room to sit next to Jaclyn on the bed.

"Your employer has sent you on a wild goose chase." Maya stated simply.

Jaclyn laughed. "Hey, I got five million so far out of this goose chase." She adjusted herself to a sitting position before talking again. "Oh, well. I told him it was a long shot. I don't think that he can take the anticipation for much longer, anyway. He'll probably call it off on his own in a couple of months."

The news had been abuzz recently with the decision to break up the Fischer-Morrow empire. The process of breaking apart the company had already begun. Jaclyn was sure that that was the reason that he had been so impatient with the assignment that he had given her.

Maya nodded in response. "He doesn't strike me as a very patient individual." Maya had been watching the news with Jaclyn. While Robert Fischer was the prominent one in the news, Peter Browning had been featured in a couple of interviews, and could always be seen lurking in the background of interviews and press conferences.

"Can you blame him?" Jaclyn responded. "He could be about to lose a lot of money if Robert doesn't make some sort of astounding business."

Maya nodded in response. She was about to speak again, when her phone went off across the room. She stood from her place on the bed, and went across the room to where her phone was sitting beside her laptop. She paused to identify the number before answering the call.

"Hello? Hey. I've been good. No, I'm not busy. Paris. Well, you know me. Ok. What kind of job? Alright. Sounds good. Do you still need an extractor? I have a pretty good one that I've been running with for a while now. Good. We'll be there. Who else are we working with? Never heard of him. Alright, I'll take your word for it. See ya then."

With that, Maya hung up the phone.

"I hope you feel like doing a job." Maya said with a laugh as she hung up her phone.

"Anything to get me out of this hotel." Jaclyn replied with a laugh.

Maya nodded. "I figured you'd say that."

Maya sat down at her computer again and started typing. "It's a guy I've worked with a couple of times before. He's alright. I already ran his name through our little database here, but he mentioned a Thief I've never heard of before. Some guy named Jacob Eames."

She typed on the keyboard and pressed enter, and then the program she had created went to work cycling through all of the lists she had created.

Jaclyn waited patiently for the low two-tone note that would indicate that there was no match on any of the lists. She was shocked when there was an upbeat 'bing' from Maya's computer.

The two of them looked at each other, then over to the computer screen, then back at each other. In one second, Jaclyn was up from her spot on the bed and at the computer screen.

"Run it again." She ordered immediately.

Without a word, Maya typed the name into the database again. They waited about thirty seconds, and then the 'bing' happened again, and his name was on the screen.

"Jacob Eames. He was on a flight from Sydney to LA with Fischer just days after his father passed away."

Jaclyn stared at the screen in disbelief. "Holy shit."

They both were silent for a moment, then Jaclyn let out an excited squeal. "Oh my god. We got a hit! I can't believe it!" She excitedly hugged her friend around her shoulders which caused Maya to let out a laugh.

"And, we're about to do a job with him. Can you believe it? Oh, wow. He's right there, literally within reach. I can't believe it."

Maya laughed at her friends rambling. "We just have to make sure that this really is him before we turn him into Browning." She added on a more serious note. "It could be just coincidence. After all, it looks like he had his ticket booked way before Fischer did."

"Oh, of course." Jaclyn replied, still breathless. "Don't worry, I won't hand someone over to Browning that could be innocent. But do you know what this means? We could be done. In another year, we could get out of this forever. Can you imagine?"

The other woman smiled and sighed. "Let's just get this job over with them over with, and then we'll talk about our future lives."

Jaclyn nodded, and then went over to her purse to fish out her phone. She glanced at her clock again, which now read 12:40am. She did the math in her head. It would be 3:40pm in Los Angles. She quickly took a couple of breaths to calm herself, before dialing for Browning.

The phone rang three times before he answered.

"Peter Browning." Came the man's voice.

"I got a hit." She answered.

There was silence on the line for a few moments, before Browning answered. "Alright. Move forward with it."

A/N: And there is chapter two! Hope you enjoyed!

Please R&R! Next chapter, Jaclyn and Eames finally meet!