Come back with me

"Words may show a man's wit, but action his meaning."

Benjamin Franklin

The plane made excellent time into Japan. A large chopper and medical staff was waiting for Arthur and his charges once they landed. The Point man held Alexander in his arms and tried to keep James and Phillipa calm as they watched their father and Ariadne wheeled off the plane in stretchers to the waiting flight.

They reached Yori's hospital in minutes. The Doctor was waiting for them on the roof along with the kindly little woman who had taken care of the children and the babies when Hecate had attacked and taken part of the team.

Arthur was reluctant to pat with his son. His wife was in inexplicable peril. She could very well be dieing. It felt like being divided in half to hand his son over to the capable and gentle nanny. He knew however, that Ariadne needed him more then Alexander did.

"They will be fine." Yori told him. "There going to be in the nurs

ery and that's only one floor below us. Arthur cast one more look at Alexander as he, James and Phillipa were escorted out of sight. He snapped his attention back to Yori as she explained.

"Saito fell asleep as soon as we were airborne. It seemed normal. As you know, he won't wake up." Yori said. Arthur kept pace with the athletic little woman.

"We tried to give him various kicks, dropping him. Throwing water on him. There are not toxins of any kind in his body. It seems like its a normal sleep." She said in a worried tone. "He just won't wake."

"Yori..." Arthur said as she kept pace with her. "Ariadne is pregnant. Could this affect the baby?" He asked. She shook her head.

"Saito had no drugs in his system." She said comforting him. "I'm betting Cobb and Ariadne don't either. That means the baby won't be affected. Were going to run tests on all of them to make sure. We can test some wake up methods on the men before we try her just to be safe." Yori turned to the Point Man.

They soon reached a secure section of the hospital. Arthur recognized it at the same ward that housed the Architect and Australian Forger when the Teams brought them back from COBAL.

Ariadne had almost been lost to the dream world. She had been so drugged and manipulated that she Believed he and Cobb and the others were trying to kill her. She had screamed in fear after seeing them. Then she had screamed for him to help her. He could still remember those same screams for help. Even then, before he had loved her, she called for him.

It was a large room. Saito was hooked up to machines and looked for all the world to be just asleep.

"How can they be like this with no drugs?" Arthur asked. Yori shook her head.

"I don't know." She said "But we will find out."

Less then an hour later, more answers came.

"They are dreaming." Yori said. "Brain activity is off the charts. Even more so then when we use the PASIV."

"How can they dream without the device?" Arthur asked. He felt guilty for getting himself some coffee and not attending to his wife. She was safely surrounded by a highly trained staff however and he was only allowed to see her though a glass window.

"Do you want my unscientific theory?" She asked him. He nodded.

"I think this has something to do with our visitor." She confessed.

"That Tall Man? Morpheus?" He asked feeling silly even speaking such a name. She nodded. The Point Man's brain started to turn.

"Why weren't we affected?" He asked. "We were in the dream to."

"I can't say." Yori said.

"Hook Cobb up to the PASIV." He told her. "I can go in, try to bring him out."

"Arthur, it's to dangerous. We should just wait longer. See if they come out naturally.

"Yori, its been over 16 hours already." the Point Man said "If they were going to wake up naturally, they would have done it. Hook Cobb up to the device."

Cobb was a difficult, but logical choice to try to bring out first. He was younger, had more experience in the dream world, and had no medical condition that hindered him. If this worked on him, then they would try Saito and Ariadne.

Arthur was the the only one Cobb would believe that he was dreaming. The only one who could safely navigate whatever nightmare Cobb was dreaming and find his way back out. The technicians hooked Arthur up to his long time friend.

"I'll bring you out after ten minuets. I'll play the music to let you know it's time." Yori said. He nodded as he tried to relax in the hospital bed next to Cobb. "Don't lose yourself." She said before casting the Point Man down into the nightmare.

"Circe." Came a voice from the abyss. Sybil and the Witch looked up from their lessons in the maze as the tall spindly man appeared out of nowhere.

"What's happened?" Circe asked.

"Their Point Man has ventured into the Extractor's dream. Attempting to rescue him." Morpheus informed her.

"Don't lose control." Circe ordered. "Keep them under. Take Arthur in if you have to."

"It's more difficult to take Arthur and Yori under." Morpheus said. "They have never been in Limbo. Their minds are still grounded in the real world."

"Just keep them under." the Witch commanded.

"I see." Sybil said softly. "You didn't have to much choice in hostages did you?" The Control shook her head. "Cobb, Ariadne and Saito were all in Limbo. Arthur, Yori, Nolan and Eames weren't." The Witch shrugged as the Tall Man slipped away.

"Think of it as another lesson. Your time in Limbo did not break your mind, only expanded it. Morpheus can't pull people into a death sleep until their minds are open to it." She explained.

"Death Sleep?" Sybil repeated. "You told me they would be fine."

"They will be. So long as you cooperate." The Witch said. Sybil shook her head.

She couldn't see Ariadne's baby anymore. She was sure the unborn child inside her was in very real danger. Before, she had seen a little dark haired girl, in a ballet costume. She never understood why that was, till she saw Arthur's mother. Of course. Of course he would want her to take ballet. She was about 6 years old. Fastidious and organized. Disciplined and focused. Much more so then a typical child her age.

Eames was horrified that she was to much like her father. The Forger teased that least the little girl looked like her mother. The child was her father's daughter. Completely his. Now, it was harder and harder for Sybil to see this little girl. She was slipping away. She couldn't hold onto the image of the little girl in the ballet costume anymore.

"Let Ariadne go." Sybil asked again. "Her baby will be hurt."

"Let's go and visit Nolan." Circe said brightly.

Arthur washed up on the shore of Cobb's dream. It was night out and the air was still. No breeze, no life of any kind. It was a city that stood on the shore of ocean he found himself in. Decaying building were breaking off into the water like ice bergs.

Freeing himself from the ocean, he wandered the dead, dark city. There were no lights on and ghostly shadows chased him just outside his field of vision. He sensed that there were moving things in the dark city. Real things, stalking him. More then just projections. Something... insidious.

Something inside the dream pulled him to Cobb. Arthur could sense the Extractor's presence. He knew Cobb was afraid. Heart broken. It felt real and yet, the Point Man felt on the edge of the dream and the real world. As if he could awaken form this world without a kick or killing himself. He could feel the dream and Cobb, but also feel the hospital room he had left behind. He knew that he could bring Cobb out if he could only find him.

It was then that he saw them. Projections. Like a mass of zombies, they suddenly polluted the streets of the dark city. They said nothing to the invader as Arthur slowly took another direction. He never took his eyes off the army. The projections were still and quite. Waiting for him. Blocking his escapes and entrances. Arthur found himself hurrying as they slowly gave chase.

'Don't run.' He thought to himself briefly. The projections never ran after him so long as the Point Man's walk stayed casual. He kept his stride long and purposeful as he felt himself nearing the Extractor.

Suddenly they were there. Projections. Dark and angry. Blocking his entrance to a building. He had no choice but to flee. They ran so fast. A horrible chase from which he knew no escape. He couldn't possibly fight them all.

If they tore him apart, he would only wake up. Simple enough. But the next time he ventured into Cobb's dream, they would be even more violent. It was no or never. Arthur ran. Over empty streets, a web of strange building. The projections said nothing. No screams or yelling as they gave chase. It was surreal.

Arthur evaded the projections and felt at times he was back in the military. The intensive training of escape and evade had always been something he excelled at. It was not easy however. These projections were more like creatures then humans. They hunted him as if he were food instead of an intruder.

Finally, the Point Man came to the building where he was certain his friend was. It was a hotel. Arthur swiftly made his way to the floor he knew Cobb was at. He could not explain how he knew it. A sense every dreamer feels.

It was a nice room. Or at least it had the remembrance of a nice room. Arthur stepped inside and immediately stepped on broken glass. The sound of it breaking under his foot made a hollow resonating sound. Almost musical.
"Arthur, what are you doing here?" Cobb asked. The Point Man looked up to see the Extractor in a corner. Cobb was dressed immaculately. Or he had been. His face was swollen from crying. His tie undone. He looked entirely broken.

"Cobb." Arthur said closing and locking the door behind him. Those dark projections might still be after him. "Cobb, we have to leave now. I came to get you out."

"I cant leave." Cobb said wearily. "I've tried." The Extractor sighed. "I keep reliving it. Mal, the way she just fell off that ledge." Cobb said waving a hand out the window. "She didn't even jump, just... let go of her life." The Extractor scowled and hung his head down.

"I think he's doing it." Cobb said lifting his head up and looking at an empty corner. "Don't go near him, alright?" Arthur turned to look at the corner of the ceiling that was drawing Cobb's attention. Whatever the Extractor saw, the Point Man did not. The corner was empty. Nothing was there.

It invaded the stillness of the room. Music. The obscure French song that had long been the wake up call. It's horns and singing, long and low in the slow time of the dream.

"Cobb, I've come to get you. Were leaving." Arthur said

A sudden bang on the door. The dark projections had found them. Arthur jumped and grabbed the Extractor.

He saw the Tall Man then. His smile no longer just unpleasant. But angry and wrathful. Arthur felt a pull in his body as he held tightly to his friend. The hotel room faded away and the reality of the hospital room made him feel as if he had been slapped.

"Arthur!" Yori said. "Your out!" He jumped back from the sight of her. This world felt to real. Harsh and bright. He felt like he had slept for hours as his body tried to calm down.

"Arthur." Yori said calmly. "You did it." The Point Man looked to his left and saw Cobb, breathing hard and awake.