Against Us
Part Four
Eames blinked and saw that he was in a park. The layout of the dream was very basic and he spotted Virgil almost right away. He waited a moment before Arthur joined him. The other man was in the same clothes he had been wearing in the restaurant but his jacket was gone and his sleeves were rolled up. He looked a little worried as they watched the projections. They did not go into Arthur's head often because it did not take a lot to set off his projections. One look at Arthur and he knew the man was armed and one look at Virgil and he knew the extractor was as well.
"Not a lot of mirrors here," Eames said his arms crossed.
"There's a public restroom over there. I'm sure there will be one in there; I have your back," Arthur said and they both moved toward the bathroom. Arthur kept an eye on the door when Eames looked into the mirror.
"Who should we do this time?" he asked.
"Someone he won't expect. Go with the little boy," Arthur said. "Dream yourself up a toy with a mirror."
"That will get their attention without a doubt," Eames said.
"I'll kick you both out if things get ugly," Arthur said and their eyes met. "I've got your back, Eames."
"I know," he said and stared at the mirror. Shifting into another skin was still something that felt very unnatural. His features folded into that of a little ginger boy, around six years old with lots of freckles and big pale green eyes. He was based off of a friend that Eames had had as a kid but not entirely. Arthur was looking out the door looking like the world was about to cave in on them. The shift in the world around them was enough that the projections were starting to get antsy.
"Go show off but do it fast. Getting our extractor torn apart is probably not the best idea," Arthur said and Eames nodded. He made his way through the crowd and started to cry as he made his way to Virgil.
"Mister, mister," he said tugging on the extractor's pants. The older man blinked and looked down at Eames with a look of fear and then relief. "I can't find my mommy." He did a couple of those big, hiccupping cries that little kids always did. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Arthur moving.
"Well, I don't think I should be the one to help you," Virgil said and Eames wanted to curse the man because a guy telling a kid that he did not want to help him would make the projections nervous. He had to wrap this up fast.
"There's a picture in here, won't you help me?" Eames said and he sat down next to the extractor. He opened the toy and a little mirror flashed at them. He was himself in the reflection and when Virgil looked up, Eames had dropped his forge. Virgil jumped and scrambled back a few steps.
"How the fuck did you do that?" he asked but the dreamer changing so much was enough to set the projections off. Families and joggers were starting to crowd about them with deadly intent. Virgil had a gun in his hand but there was a single shot and a bullet between his eyes. The dream started to collapse and Eames turned just in time to see Arthur shoot him between the eyes.
Eames jerked awake breathing hard and tried to slow his pulse down. He had been killed hundreds of different ways but that never made it any easier. When he glanced over he saw that Arthur was still under but Virgil was staring at him with wide eyes. The look of surprise on the extractor's face was nice because he was pretty sure they had just landed their first job. Arthur's eyes opened slowly but he never jerked away when he was killed in a dream. If he was bothered, he was very good at concealing it from others.
"It's called 'forging' or at least that's what we called it," Eames explained. "If given enough time I could adopt the mannerisms of a person enough to mimic them in a dream."
"Like the business partner," Virgil said and he stared at them. "All right then, let's do this. The job is in Maine but the employer is willing to pay for us to get there." Eames exchanged a look with Arthur because that was a hurdle they had not been sure they could clear. "I'll tell him that we're on our way and he'll have flights for us. I'll call you with the details."
"Sounds good," Arthur said and he finished packing up their belongings.
"Nice shot by the way," Virgil said as he unlocked the door but Arthur did not respond. They did not say anything to each other as they left the restaurant and got on the subway. They remained in complete silence until they were in Arthur's apartment, jackets off and bags on the floor. In that moment Eames was not sure what he wanted to do more; kiss Arthur, fuck him, or just exchange a high five because they had gotten their first job. Arthur made the choice for him by throwing his arms around Eames and kissing him deeply. They both laughed a little when they pulled apart but stayed close.
"No going back once we get on the plane," Arthur said and they were so close that their lips were touching.
"Then we should probably tie up some loose ends here," Eames said and they smiled at each other.
The tickets to Maine came a day later. In that time Eames had moved all of his things out of his apartment and either into storage, under a false name, or into Arthur's place. Arthur took the hard drive out of his computer and locked it in a safe. All evidence of the chemicals and the PASIV device were gone and they burned any extra papers that were lying around. If anyone went into the apartment there would be no evidence anything illegal was being done in it. They packed one bag full of decent clothes and got the false ID's that Eames had created for them as soon as they decided to look into mind crime. Virgil had been clever enough to ask for those names and they went off to the airport. The extractor said that he was going to cover getting the equipment so that was one less worry on their minds. They made it to JFK and through security with no problems. They were flying first class since their employer was wealthy enough to afford it.
"What are you going to do with your share?" Eames asked. They were in one of the private lounges and there was no one else around.
"Buy a suit. I told you that already," Arthur replied but Eames just stared at him. "I also need a laptop and I'll go from there. What about you?"
"Not sure yet," Eames replied honestly. "We'll just have to see." They stared at each other and Arthur's eyes darted around before he leaned forward and kissed Eames briefly.
"When was the last time you flew?" Arthur asked and he stayed close.
"When I came to the states," Eames replied easily and he loved it when Arthur got that look in his eye. "Why do you ask?"
"Just wondering," the younger man replied and he sat back in the chair. They boarded the plane and Eames relaxed in the comfortable chairs. The flight was not long but that did not mean he was not going to indulge a little. When the stewardess asked if they wanted drinks Arthur declined for both of them. "No drinking on the job." Eames rolled his eyes and waited as the plane took off. The first class section was surprisingly empty with two businessmen with headphones in their ears and staring at laptops. The stewardess was off doing something when Arthur stood. Eames watched him and when their eyes met Arthur smiled wickedly. If there was one thing he had grown to know about Arthur in the months that they had known each other, it was to trust that smile because it always led to good things. He was unable to hide his grin when Arthur vanished into the first class bathroom. When ten minutes passed Eames had a pretty good idea of what that smirk meant. For a second he thought about just leaving Arthur in there just to see how riled up he could get him. That lasted for only a moment when he remembered that this was Arthur and he could not get enough of the man even if he wanted to.
Eames stood and walked over to the first class restroom. One was available and the other was locked. He knocked on the locked door twice, the door opened and Arthur pulled him inside roughly.
"I was beginning to think I should have painted you a picture," Arthur said.
"Would you? I need some good wanking material while we're working," Eames replied. Arthur rolled his eyes and pressed himself against Eames but did not touch him anywhere with his hands. Their lips were inches apart and Eames could feel Arthur's hot breath against his own mouth. "You're a fucking tease, you know that?"
"Maybe you should fuck the tease out of me," Arthur said and the words went straight to Eames' groin. That was all the motivation he needed to close those inches between them with a kiss. It was hard and open, like all their kisses seemed to be, and this time he was going to be the one to dominate it. Eames bit on Arthur's lower lip and the younger man groaned into his mouth. The toilet felt too small for what he really wanted to do to Arthur so he was going to have to be clever.
"Now while I would love to do that we are supposed to meet Virgil and our employer when we land," Eames said between kisses as he traced his fingers along Arthur's stomach. "And I know how much you value professionalism."
"You're a bastard," Arthur said but there was no bite behind it.
"So, since you're apparently the randy one right now, how about I get you off and then we'll blow off some steam on a nice hotel bed, hmm?" Eames said as he worked on the button to Arthur's pants. While he was going to be frustrated beyond belief for a few hours he knew that they really could not afford to draw too much attention to themselves and if they both stayed in here too long someone would notice. There was just enough room for Eames to drop to his knees and unbuckle Arthur's pants. He could feel the other man's gaze burning holes into his skull but he knew better than to look up when Arthur was in this state. Eames eased Arthur's pants and boxers down his legs just enough that he was able to remove the other man's cock. Vaguely he heard the sound of plastic creaking under pressure and he had a feeling that Arthur was clutching the sink with a vise like grip. Without any hint or warning Eames took the other man into his mouth slowly. After a month of having a rather intense sexual relationship with Arthur he was beginning to know exactly what his friend wanted. He knew that when an incoherent level of curses, sometimes in a couple different languages, started it meant that he needed to do whatever he had just done again. He knew that when it was just his name Arthur was close. And he knew that when all was said and done Arthur's bones turned to jelly and all he wanted to do was melt into Eames.
"Fuck, Eames," Arthur said in a breathy voice and when Eames let his eyes travel up he saw that Arthur was well on his way to biting his own finger off as he tried to remain silent. A few bobs of his head and one long lick with his tongue and Arthur was coming down Eames' throat. He swallowed the other man down easily and stood close. They kissed again, this time a little slower, more gentle, but that was how their kisses always were when they were both spent.
"For the record," Eames said. "I expect that you'll pay me back on our flight home."
"You know I hate being indebted to people," Arthur replied.
