Author's Note: Chapter two up! Thanks for the nice reviews and the interest in my new fic! Those who alerted me and left reviews, you guys are the ones who let me know to keep going! You and the other readers are awesome!
I've decided to make this story my NaNoWriMo project so you'll have updates almost daily. Well, that's how it should go, anyway.

So please enjoy!

Disclaimer: I only own my plots and characters. Not Inception or anything else.

Arthur was in Chicago after a particularly rough flight from Rio. Turbulence, unpleasant passengers with him in first class, and incompetent attendants were the least of his worries at the moment, though.

He'd come to Ariadne's house in Logan's Square, hoping she was there for her brother's gathering, but found the place empty and seemingly untouched for weeks. This didn't raise the alarms in his head. He may have stayed with her family near the Illinois/Wisconsin border, he may have had the date wrong. For all he knew, it had been a week prior and she was back in her apartment in Paris, working on the renovations for the national library.

Instead, he used her bathroom and washed his clothes, as he always did when she was usually there and noticed he was in desperate need.

The small seed of worry in his mind pushed at him as he did these mundane chores. As he ate. As he repacked and booked the first flight out of O'Hare to Paris. And just before he was supposed to board his plane, he broke down and called her.

First her apartment, which went to her answering machine. This didn't surprise him as she was forever losing the handset, thus letting it go dead for days at a time. Her cell phone went right to voicemail, which did surprise him. Ariadne always had it on for work and, unless totally tied up or in a dead sleep, would trip her way to the device.

Arthur cursed Ariadne's reluctance to let him meet her family. She kept the two parts of her life exceptionally separate, stating she didn't need things messy. He wished he had her brother's number; even if it meant waking his newborn baby. Ariadne's safety was seemingly on the line.

As he finally settled into his seat for the long flight, Arthur forced himself to remain calm. Panicking did nothing and Ariadne always had a habit of drawing out ever baser emotion in him. There was absolutely nothing he could do thousands of feet in the air and he didn't need a reason for the air marshal to arrest him.

Instead, he settled in and brooded, staring at the seat in front of him.

x-x-x

Her apartment in Paris was empty. The assistant at the office said she was taking a small leave of absence. And no Extractor could claim that they were working with her currently. His questions and footwork were leading him nowhere, which caused Arthur to sit outside the Arc on a bench, waiting for Eames. A last resort.

The last time Arthur had seen the Brit, it was as he stumbled for his gun, wrapped in a sheet as Ariadne yelled at the cackling man. Ariadne managed to calm him enough to stop him from shooting their friend and told Eames to come back another time. A month ago.

"Glad to see you're fully clothed this time, Arthur. Was quite a shock for my eyes." Eames' voice, light and booming, caught Arthur's attention, causing him to sigh and roll his eyes. Turning, he responded to the Forger's light tease.

"As much as your jokes and embarrassing quips seem funny, Eames, I only called you for a serious reason. Not because I needed to give my eye sockets exercise," he snapped.

Eames studied Arthur's face for a moment before sitting next to the man. "We haven't been getting on too bad lately. So what's the matter?"

Silence, except from the locals milling around the monument and tourists snapping pictures and talking loud in their native languages. A little Asian boy stared at the men a moment before turning to his siblings who fought over a bag of sweets.

"Have you heard from Ariadne lately?"

"What's the matter? She get upset at you and is ignoring your calls?" Eames chuckled to himself.

Arthur only glared. "Her homes are empty and she's taken a leave from work. I don't want to look too deep in case I'm spoiling some sort of surprise she's cooking up. And I don't want to overreact. But I'm worried. Has she said anything to you?"

"Like what? That she's running away or something? She's not the type to run from problems, Arthur..."

Arthur frowned, but he wasn't so preoccupied that he didn't notice how Eames' voice trailed and held something guarded. Nor was he blind to the minuscule, smug grin the man was baiting him with.

"Eames..."

"Yes, my friend?"

"What do you know?"

Eames was silent a moment before answering. "You should go take a visit to San Angelo, Arthur." He clapped him on the back and stood. "I hope you find what you should be looking for. And not just the Architect. Give me a call if you need any help."

Arthur watched Eames walk away, frowning.

"San Angelo...Texas?" he muttered to himself. "I should have just did a trace on her." Rubbing at his eyes, he felt for his phone and called the airline for the next flight to Austin or Dallas.

Finishing his call, the Point Man stood and surveyed his surroundings. Since he'd gotten to the public space, the crowd had changed. Different families, couples, artists populating the area. The sun had begun to set, which had thinned out the crowds considerably. Ignoring his stomach, Arthur made to walk back to his own apartment to pack.

The fact that Eames offered up some sort of clue, or help, or whatever the city name had been calmed his riotous, worried thoughts slightly. The criminal in him was thinking three steps ahead in three separate directions; the man in him wanted to be everywhere at once, his skin crawling with possibilities of what was happening.

x-x-x

"Sweetheart, is this a good idea?"

"Yes. He'll be fine. He's Arthur, for god's sake. He'll figure it out."

Eames chuckled. "I don't know. He seemed pretty darn clueless when we chatted. He's lucky I was in the area to talk with Daniels."

Ariadne smiled to herself. "Give him time, Jack. It's only day one."

"That's Jackson to you, miss. And I don't know if you're insane or brilliant. Keep me updated, won't you?"

"Of course. Get's some rest. I'll chat with you soon, maybe."

A/N: Please tell me your thoughts and just ramble about your day if you want in a review! They make me want to post more! Thanks for reading!