Okay!

So this isn't a new story, but rather one I had written as a separate fic, but due to lack of interest, I decided to scrap it, and just lump it here.

This is an Inception AU, everyone is slightly older, and it is a Traught fic, and I know it's different from my usually writing of Spitfire, and I swear I haven't given up on it, I just thought those two fit better.

I own nothing here!


"What is an idea?" Richard Grayson swung his wine glass nonchalantly, flashing his charming smile.

The man at the head of the table didn't answer; in fact, he barely reacted, he instead looked expectantly at the young man who had posed the question, pausing in cutting his dinner, waiting.

Richard, or Dick as he was better known, continued, not daring to let this opportunity go to waste. It was now or never. "It's the most resilient and inflectional virus. Unlike medical or technological viruses, an idea's more permanent. Once it's embedded in the head, it's impossible to remove, and it grows, getting stronger each day-"

Wally West, sitting across the table from Dick, spoke up, clearing his throat, "What my partner here is trying to say is that your thoughts are stored inside your mind; ideas, plans, memories, everything. While you sleep, your subconscious lowers the defenses in your mind, meaning that it's more open for someone to steal your anything from there. The process is called extraction."

"And," the older gentleman went back to cutting his dinner, splitting into a succulent chicken, not showing much enthusiasm for the conversation thus far. "That is where you come in?"

Dick took a swig of the red wine and nodded, glad he was catching on to the idea. "Yes. Mr. Durham, we can train your mind to fend off these attacks from even the most skilled extractors."

Now Mr. Durham reacted, letting out a humourless chuckle. "And how do you suppose you could manage that?"

Dick didn't let the condescending tone of Mr. Durham's question sway him, and without missing a beat, he responded, "Because I am the most skilled extractor." He paused for a second, before continuing, "I know all the tricks for finding where your secrets are stored inside your mind. And I can teach those tricks to you, so you can better prepare yourself and, even if you're sleeping, your defense is never lowered."

When Mr. Durham didn't respond, Dick decided it was time to step up his presentation and add theatrics. He stood up, grabbing the wine glass, adjusting his tie, and more boisterously, he exclaimed, "Mr. Durham, in order for this to work, I need to know how to get around your head better than anyone else. Better than your most trusted confidante, or even your wife!"

Nothing. Not even a twitch of the lips. Damn this guy was tough to crack. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Wally fiddling with his fork, growing restless at Durham's disinterest in their proposition. The man at the head of the table was sipping from his glass, but Dick persisted. "Look, if this was a dream, and you had a safe with all your secrets, I'd need to have full access to everything in there. So if you want my help, you need to completely let me in."

Kaldur Durham was many things, he had heard it all before from the tabloids, ex- business partners, anyone really. But one thing he wasn't, and wouldn't stand being taken for, was an idiot. He grabbed the napkin on his lap, and dabbed his lips, cleaning off any stray morsel there, before pushing his chair back and standing up. "Thank you for this insightful dinner gentlemen, enjoy the rest of your evening, and I'll consider your proposal."

Wally stood up as well, face tense as he watched the doors to the private room open, and Durham walk back into the crowd of the party.

"He knows." He wheeled to face Dick, eyebrows furrowing. "He's-" Wally paused, noting a tremor, making the entire room shake, lights flicker ever so slightly, and the wood panels tremble, like a mini earthquake. He looked up, as if the ceiling or the multiple chandeliers hanging from there would provide the answers, and breathed, "What's going on up there?"

Dick walked around the table, placing the wineglass on the table. "Let's go outside, I need the fresh air." Without waiting for Wally to follow, he walked through the door, made his way through the throng of people, and towards the balconies. As soon as he opened the door, the waft of marine air hit him, the sound of waves helping to clear his mind. It was a clear night, moon shining high, stars glinting outside. Perfect weather for their mission.

"You know he's playing us." Wally walked up to where Dick stood, looking out towards the sea. "We should just get out of here-"

"You know we can't." He turned to face Wally, and grinned. "Besides, he looked right at the safe when I mentioned it. We just need to wait for a bit, and explore the villa."

The red-head shrugged. "If you say so, but I still think something tipped him off and that he's messing with us."

Dick let out his signature cackle walking backwards closer to the railing of the balcony's walkway. "Come on Wally, relax! If anything tipped him off, it was the wine. Rich guy like him would never carry such subpar wine, and let me tell you, that one was terrible! You have terrible taste in wines."

Wally followed his friend to the railing, rolling his eyes and scoffing. "So sue me for not being a wine con-no-see-ur." He made sure to butcher the word more than he usually would, just to piss Dick off even more. The raven-haired man shook his head with a smile. Thankfully, some things never changed.

They stood for a few moments in silence watching the waves crash below, until Wally decided to look around to his left, and he groaned internally. He swallowed hard before nudging Dick and turning to face him, muttered, "What the hell is she doing here?"

At seeing the same figure Wally was seeing, Dick sobered up quickly, back straightening and muscles tensing. God, why couldn't she just let him be? He slicked his gelled hair bad even more, and tried to reassure Wally with a grin. "I'll take care of this, you just go and scout the area; stay whelmed, and I'll meet up with you later." Dick patted Wally's shoulder before sidestepping him and walking towards the woman in the forest green dress.

Wally sighed. This was going to end badly. He called out, "Yeah, Dick, we're here on business, remember?" but his words fell on deaf ears, because Dick was too far away by then.

"What brings you here Mr. Grayson? I didn't take you for the type to go to these parties." The woman Dick was walking towards had noticed him, and with a wry smile, she had made Dick want to forget everything about the mission, and spend a couple of hours here with her... or more. Oh he'd give anything- no. Focus.

"Well, I've changed a lot since you last saw me, I've acquired a taste for fancy parties, for starters." Dick had to keep his cool, she knew him too well.

And true to his thought, she started laughing, snorts mixing in with her laughs. "Please, I know you, Richard John Grayson, and you have absolutely no interest in these." She made her way ever so slowly to him, so close he could notice the details in her stormy grey eyes and all the strands of her luscious blonde hair. He was backed up against the railing, and she was getting dangerously close. "So why are you really here?"


The gunshots raging outside mixed with the explosions and yells of the people running amok outside. In the clear daylight, the fire seemed even brighter than usual. Garth focussed on the three sleeping people in the apartment with him, checking their pulses. They were all stable, and despite the chaos building outside, he hoped it wouldn't clash. He checked Dick's watch, they had time. No problem.

They were in Durham's apartment, and the operation was spread over two rooms. Durham slept on top of his bed, dressed impeccably in a suit, while Wally lounged on a small sofa, and Dick was asleep on a chair, propped on top of a platform. Garth was new to this whole thing, so he didn't quite understand why Dick was in such a position, or why he slept in a chair. But he didn't question them. They paid him well enough, and he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.


"The decor's nice, not exactly what I'd pick out for our living room, but he's got good tastes." It took all of Dick's mental strength to remember they didn't live together anymore, and he muttered a silent curse as he pulled up a heavy leather bound chair to the middle of the room, in line with the bay window.

"To each their own, but I prefer something a bit more colourful." Dick finished his preparations, and cleared his throat. "Would m'lady like to have a seat?"

Artemis chuckled mirthlessly, but still walked up to the chair, and sat down, crossing her legs in a way that made her dress ride up a bit. "What are you planning, Dick?"

With a little shrug, Dick said, "Nothing, just stay put on the chair, and let me do the rest." He took out some thick rope and tied one end to one of the chair legs, trying to focus on the knots, and not on the perfumed dress and gorgeous leg very close to him. He knew from the way she was moving them that she was taunting him. She was really pulling out all the stops today-

"Does she miss me?" Dick fumbled at her question. That was a low blow, and he couldn't work the nerve to reply. Now she had overdone her part, and was starting to cross into more touchy territory. He cleared his throat, and once he checked to make sure the rope was tightly tied, he stood up, and flashed a smile, adjusting his leather gloves. "Just stay traught and wait here, I'll be back in a bit."

Without waiting for her to reply or to complain, he opened the window and, throwing the rope over the edge, he jumped down, using the walls to hold him steady, grateful for the gloves that prevented the rope from chafing his skin.

The wind suddenly blew his bangs up, and he looked down. While most people would be mortified being in his position, he had to smile, because he was no stranger to heights, in fact, he relished looking down from them. Back to his mission, he skipped down, trying to find the right window. He finally found it two flights down, but damn it why was it locked? Wally was supposed to have it unlocked by now! He sighed and started shuffling around his pocket for the window opener, keeping one hand firm on the rope.

Suddenly, he started dropping. He hung onto the rope for dear life as he quickly tried to find some ledge of anything that would stop his free fall into the rocky terrain below. But then, with a whiplash, he stopped. He looked up, and saw that the chair was empty, but its size prevented it from flying through the window, something he was infinitely thankful for. "Damn you Artemis."

He climbed back to the window he had been about to break into, and once he reached it, he took out the contraption that would allow him to unlock the window.


Wally walked around cautiously, loosening his bowtie, ruffling his hair a bit. He wasn't the biggest fan of hair gel, but fancy dinner parties required that he try to control his wild hair. He suddenly stopped. He heard footsteps behind him so he quickly flattened himself against the wall behind a corner ahead, taking his gun out. The footsteps suddenly stopped and he dared to look around the corner. It was empty, so where did the-

"Now Mr. West, let's not make this hard for either of us. " A gun was pressed against his head, and he recognized the voice all too well.

He let out a chuckle. Maybe he could work his way out of this. After all, he was well-known as a charmer. "Well, it depends-"

"Can it West. I'm not interested and you're testing my patience. " The gun pressed more into his skull, making him wince. "Now, drop the gun and walk." Wally had no choice but to comply, letting go of the gun. It was too early to leave. Dick needed more time, especially since he hadn't been able to unlock the window because the stupid door was locked. Stalling was his best weapon now. Of course she's be immune to his charm, but that didn't mean he couldn't make her life a little bit more complicated.


Dick finally made his way back to the room where he had dined earlier. The party was done now, so it was much easier to walk around the villa, and the lights much dimmer, so his suit helped to camouflage him. Of course he had to deal with the occasional guard here or there, but it was nothing that couldn't be solved with his gun.

He walked up to the panel that Durham had subtly glanced at while they were talking and, pushing the panel away, he saw the safe. He could finally feel victory become more real. With careful movements, he turned the wheel on the safe, remembering the code's order and numbers. With a click, the safe opened, and inside was the manila envelope they were there for. He folded it and placed it in the inside coat pocket that the decoy envelope had been stashed. With the decoy in hand, he unfurled and was about to place it in the safe, until the lights clicked on.

"Back away from the safe Mr. Grayson." Dick cursed. How did Durham figure it out? "Now."

Gun in one hand and decoy envelop in the other, he backed away to the center of the room, training his gun on the two people standing there in the doorway. One of them was Durham, who had taken off his dinner jacket since the party was over, but was still decked out in a vest and tie. He was unarmed, but Artemis, who stood beside him, held a gun that was just as readily pointed at him. Shit.

It quickly turned to double shit when Wally was dragged inside by two guards, each one having grabbed an arm, holding him still. Artemis turned and the gun that had been pointing at him, was now pointed at Wally. "Please?"

Dick couldn't resist her, especially when she used that tone, and slid the gun half-way across the table, now clear of the dinner dishes that had been left when they were last here. He could feel Wally's metaphorical laser eyes dig craters into his skull, but he paid no attention.

"How'd you figure it out? Or did she tell you?" Dick now addressed Durham, whose pursed lips betrayed nothing.

"Are you referring to the fact that you're here to steal from me, or that we are actually dreaming?" Now he smirked, having pulled out his trump card. Dick didn't think he could curse so much in one day, so he made a mental note to see if he could come up with some new ones afterwards. Kaldur cleared his throat, "Now, the envelope?"

When Dick didn't move, Artemis cocked the gun, training it right against Wally's head. Dick smiled. "Oh come on Artemis, there's no use in threatening him, we can't die in dreams, you know that."

"True, but pain is only a state of mind, so if I do this-" She quickly aimed the gun at his feet and shot there, getting the red-head to yelp in pain, and Dick closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. "There, message delivered; now, the envelope?"

Dick let out the breath he was holding, and with a brief glance at Wally, he dived on top of the table, grabbing his gun, and before anyone could react, he shot Wally point-blank on the forehead, 'killing' him. With his leaving, the dream world started collapsing. It had been Wally's dream they were in, so without a host to keep the world intact, the world, and the villa they were in was coming down on top of them.

While everyone was distracted with the falling chandeliers, he bolted through the door, leaving behind the decoy envelope and running to find a spot where he could read the contents of the real envelope, extracting the information he needed.

Durham saw that the envelope was left behind, and he shook his head, it always happened, great legends turned out to be such disappointments.

"I don't see why he'd run, but at least your information's safe." Artemis smiled, passing the envelope to Durham. With a little bow of the head, he accepted it, and opened the envelope, making sure he wasn't missing anything. Clearly Mr. Grayson had indeed gotten one past him; the envelope was a fluke, filled with blank pages. "After him!"


Wally's eyes snapped open, and without a second to think, he bolted right out of the chair, grabbing the silver briefcase that was on the table beside him, pulling out a cord from it, walking into Durham's room. He set the briefcase down on the floor and opened it, revealing a complicated contraption within.

"What are you doing? It's too soon!" Garth bellowed, trying to make himself heard above the chaos outside.

"The dream is collapsing, but I need to give them more time!" Wally was busy with the briefcase, so Garth dropped the subject, and continued to stand watch as to what happened outside.


Having ran down a few floors, Dick felt safe enough to skim through the documents he was extracting. He ripped open the envelope, and started poring over its contents. Page after page he read, his frustration growing each minute. These reports were incomplete! They were lacking key facts that would make these make sense!

Gunshots rang around him, guards running towards him, despite the destruction happening around them. He ran away from them, the bullets whizzing past him and adding more to the destruction.


"This isn't working, wake him up." Wally turned his head back to face Garth's panicked one.

Garth ran to Dick and started shaking him, slapping him, anything. "Nothing's working!"


Dick picked himself off the floor. Why the hell was he now flying and shaking around like a puppet? If Wally had anything to do with this-


"Give him the kick!" Wally replied.

"What?" He rolled his eyes at Garth's cluelessness. "Dunk him!" Wally turned his attention back to the briefcase, still trying to deal with the machine inside it. Until, for the second time that day, a gun was being pointed at his head, this time, by Durham himself.

Garth finally realized what the water tub was there for, and tipped Dick over.


Suddenly, the entire room went quiet. Nothing was crumbling down, nothing stirred, no guns were shooting. It was unsettling, and a shiver ran down his spine, as cliché as that might seem.

Then suddenly the room started shaking, and he started to feel drops splatter on him, until waves of water broke in from everywhere around him, drenching him completely, and begun to engulf him. He had to wake up.


Time slowed as he fell, until he was fully submerged and started thrashing around, emerging and taking in great gasps of air. He finally woke up!

Garth didn't notice the man approaching him until it was too late. Durham wrapped his arm around Garth's throat, suffocating the other man, while still keeping Wally at bay with the gun's barrel, but Garth threw a good fight, and at the opportune moment that they approached the bathtub, Dick sprung out and tackled Durham, and between the two, they managed to subdue him.


As Kaldur came to, Dick fiddled with the gun Durham had hidden in under his pillow. A clever trick. "You were prepared."

It wasn't a question, so Kaldur ignored it, pressing on with his own questions, even though he was their captive. "How did you come across this apartment? Not even the head of my security knows about this."

Dick smirked. "Well, the thing is that a man of your stature can't really keep things a secret for too long, particularly with a married woman."

"She'd never-" Kaldur touched the ring on his left hand, thinking of Tula.

"And yet, here we are." Dick raised his arms with an air of finality. Now it was time to get into the matter at hand. "Mr. Durham, you clearly were expecting us. You had a gun hidden under your pillow, and your papers were edited. So why'd you let us in at all?"

"It was an audition." Kaldur shifted in his chair, expression growing more serious.

Wally and Garth exchanged looks, but Dick kept his full attention on Durham. "A-an audition? For-...for what?"

Kaldur shook his head. "It does not matter, you failed."

Dick and Wally exchanged looks of confusion. Dick cleared his throat and sat up straighter in his chair. It was hard to keep the confusion out of his voice while he responded. "We extracted every piece of information there, how-"

The older man interrupted him, shaking his head. "Your deception was obvious. You claimed too much and I, Mr. Grayson, am not a fool." Kaldur smirked a bit at Dick's slight falter in his composure. "So leave now, and I'll consider forgetting this and not pressing charges."

Wally turned back outside, and saw the locals getting closer to the apartment; they were a few feet away at best. "Hey Dick, hurry it up."

Dick sighed, "Alright, time for the direct approach." He grabbed Durham by the scruff of his suit and pulled him onto the ground, cocking the gun. In a much gruffer voice, he demanded, "Tell us what you know, now!"

Kaldur landed on the white carpet that had been at his feet a few seconds before, and when he passed his hand over it in order to get back up, it felt different than the one he was accustomed to. He let out a laugh, one that confused the other three men in the room. Of all the reactions they expected, this was nowhere close to their expectations. "I've always hated this carpet, but Tula insisted on it, and made me feel the fabric a million times. She loves wool, and a wool carpet was all she wanted; but this, this is polyester, which means, I'm still dreaming."


Raquel checked her watch. 30 seconds to go, it was time to sound the signal. She stood up from her seat, dropping the magazine she was reading, and walked over to the seats to the other side of the aisle. The train's lurches didn't faze her as she took out a silver suitcase with a complicated machine inside it. In the digital display, a timer showing 27 seconds bleeped every second in a countdown. She grabbed the mp3 player in her pocket and placed it over Garth's ears, and pressed play just as the timer beeped 25.


You could barely hear it, but Wally was used to the song, they were running out of time. He looked at Garth, who had also heard the faint, distorted melody of the song. However, Dick and Durham were enthralled in their conversation, so neither noted the external and out of place song. "Dick..."

Dick nodded, ears perking to the slowed music. He turned back to face Durham, who was now standing up. "A dream within a dream! I must retract my earlier conclusion, Mr. Grayson, you indeed live up to your expectations, and yet, as impressed as I am, I will not reveal anything."

Dick grimaced, his patience wearing thin. "You don't understand our situation Mr. Durham. The company that hired us won't take failure as an answer, and they'll chase us down to get them the information they need."

"Then let them be disappointed! I have no care for your, or your team's well-being." He turned his eyes to where the red-head had been standing a few seconds before. They were now three.


Like an alarm beep, it woke Wally up, and he quickly assessed the situation and set to work.

"How'd it go?" Raquel asked, moving to take the seat that Wally had just vacated, switching spots so that Wally was now crouching in front of the suitcase. The music still played in Garth's ears, and Wally braced himself as the train lurched.


"And, Mr. Grayson, when you're in my dream, you play by my rules." The smirk grew wider, Grayson was losing ground in this battle.

"Ah, but you see Mr Durham..." Garth smiled, hearing footsteps trampling up the steps. "We're in mine." The door burst open and people ran inside, running them over with their sheer numbers and force.


Dick pinched the bridge of his nose. How did this get so crazy? Meanwhile Garth scrambled awake, blinking rapidly. Durham was still asleep, still under the effects of the sleeping agent.

"Nice job genius, how could you mess up the carpet!" Wally exclaimed, in complete disbelief that the carpet's material could mess this entire operation up.

Garth spluttered. "How the hell was I supposed to know that he'd crash face-first on it?"

Wally shook his head. "You're the architect, you need to know these sort of things! And you," He turned to Dick, who was checking Durham's pulse. "What was that all about?"

Dick didn't need Wally to explain, and neither did he want to deal with that now. "I have it under control."

Wally scoffed, smiling ever so slightly. "I'd hate to see it out of control."

"This isn't going to work, I'm getting off at Union." Dick stood up, grabbing his suitcase from the overhead compartment, and taking out a large wad of cash from his pocket. "Every man," he looked at Raquel's raised eyebrow. "Er, woman too, for themselves." He threw the cash to Raquel to divvy up.

"He's not going to check all the compartments." Wally really didn't understand Dick's tension.

"Yeah well, I don't like trains." Dick gave a curt nod to Garth and Raquel, before walking to the front of the compartment. Wally packed up the suitcase and followed suit.

A while later, Kaldur stirred, waking up. He looked around and only saw a young African American woman reading a magazine. He looked out the window and smiled. He had found his man.


Mkay! So I think everyone's getting the gist of who's who right? And I hope the cuts weren't too abrupt, I tried to make it somewhat jarring, but still creating a flow, not sure it worked.

And, like I said, this story isn't being continued, I hope everyone enjoyed it nonetheless.

Now, I have a poll up, because I have two other fics that I started, but am not sure if people are interested in having them continue, and I'd love it if you guys could input your opinion.

Let me know what you think!

Hezpeller