Disclaimer: I don't own Inception and I receive no profit from writing this story.

A/N: First of all, I'd like to take the time to thank you all for your brilliant response to this story. Thus far, my other fic has only 54 reviews with 26 chapters after two years of being up. This story has gained in only six days 22 reviews with only six chapters up. I am blown away! After two days of absence, I came back to find my inbox flooded with alerts, favorites, and reviews for this story. That's never happened before. Also, chapter six broke my record for most reviews of a chapter ever. Thank you all so much for your support! I am humbled by your wonderful responses. Please, keep them up! They are truly inspiring!

I'd also like to give you all a heads up. In less than two weeks I'm going to be starting college. That means fewer updates and less often. I would love to keep updating as often as I have been, but from here on out I'll be lucky to get one in a week, if that. So please be patient with me. :) Thanks for the support!

Chapter 7

Arthur couldn't exactly say he was happy to see his parents there. He wasn't exactly unhappy either. His mother was a welcome sight. Despite years of difficulty in their relationship, she still was his mother and he hadn't spoken to her in years. Seeing her again was…nice. Seeing Greg, however, was not so pleasant. Especially considering that Greg was much of the reason that Arthur had stayed away for so long.

His step-father wasn't unkind, abusive, untrustworthy, or even that irritating as a person. He was, however, sadly mistaken in his role in Arthur's life. Arthur had been eighteen when his mother married Greg, and determined to be his own person. For years he'd been the only man in the house and Greg had been an unwelcome addition. Being born into a family that was so all around successful that any form of nonconformity was completely unacceptable had made Greg very sure that it would be his role as Arthur's new father to guide his step-son into the same successful path he'd been on himself. This, in Arthur's mind, was not only unnecessary, it was unacceptable. He didn't want a father. He wanted to be left alone.

Seeing Greg again after years of avoiding him had been frustrating, but he quickly recovered after Cobb left—something he was determined to hold against the trainer for all eternity—and managed to keep a calm facade as he took his parents out to dinner. Both parties tried hard to keep the conversation that night on a safe track, one that didn't involve Arthur's future or his neglect of his family of recent. Mostly they talked about Greg's business, which Arthur had zero interest in. At least it kept them talking, rather than sitting in uncomfortable silence. They parted ways awkwardly, his mother leaning in to kiss him unfamiliarly on the cheek. Greg shook his hand and they nodded at each other, unable to think of civil words of parting.

"You'll call sometimes, won't you?" his mother asked, making Arthur have to fight back a flinch at the hurt in her tone.

"Sure," he promised without much conviction. He knew she could tell he wasn't being totally sincere. Her face fell ever so slightly but she had a very controlled exterior, something he'd gotten from her. "I'll try, at least," he added finally, unable to help himself. Despite everything, he didn't want to hurt her, certainly not more than he already had.

"And you're always welcome at home," she said quickly, as though getting the words out before her resolve faltered. "Come and visit any time."

"Thanks."

She reached out and took his hand in hers, giving it a light squeeze.

"I'm proud of you."

"Thanks," he repeated. He allowed himself a small smile.

She returned it eagerly. "Have a safe flight."

"You too."

There wasn't anything else to be said. She turned back to the street where Greg was waiting with a Taxi to take them back to their hotel and, without another glance, she climbed into the cab. Arthur watched them go, raising his hand in farewell as his mother waved at him from the back seat of the car. Then, feeling like he'd eaten a rock, he climbed the stairs to his apartment and entered it for the last time.

XXX

They were at the airport bright and early the next morning. Miles was there to see them off, talking quietly to Cobb as Arthur checked in his bags and received his ticket from the smiling clerk behind the counter. She was pretty in a way, with blonde hair and blue eyes and a sweet smile. He also got the distinct impression she was flirting with him, which confused him somewhat. So he took his ticket and pushed her out of his thoughts, turning to face the two older men.

Miles gave him a warm, fatherly look. Arthur felt suddenly guilty when he realized he was far more accepting of that look from Miles than from Greg, when he knew the two men about equally. Which wasn't very well at all.

"Arthur, may I have a word with you before you go?"

"Um, sure," he agreed in surprise.

Miles placed a hand on his shoulder and steered him about twenty meters away from Cobb so that they wouldn't be overheard. Then, the old man turned to face Arthur with a look of mingled concern and eagerness on his face.

"I won't pretend that I'm not excited to see how far you'll go, Arthur," Miles began, one hand still resting on the Point-Man-to-be's shoulder. "But I can also give you a little advice before you go down this road. It's not all you think it's going to be."

"Sir?" he interrupted as politely as he could, shifting under the professor's hand.

"Once you get yourself involved in this…it's nearly impossible to stop. If you're ever going to get out easily, it's now." There was a seriousness in Miles's eyes that bothered Arthur. "So don't make this decision lightly. It will affect the rest of your life."

"I'm not sure what you mean," Arthur admitted. He glanced over Miles's shoulder to look back at Cobb. The trainer was watching them intently.

"I mean that being a Point Man will change you forever. After you become one, you can never stop being one. Even if you choose to do something else, it will always, always be a part of you." The professor looked down briefly, smiling sadly to himself as he became lost in memories for a quiet moment. "I never really stopped being an Architect," he said and Arthur knew he wasn't talking about the transition from working to teaching. "But I did eventually choose to come back to reality. To live my life in the real world. That was a hard decision, but I'm glad I made. Though, perhaps a few years too late."

Arthur opened his mouth to speak but couldn't find the words. For a short time, the two men were silent, both lost in thought. Then, finally, Arthur found his voice.

"I think this is what I want, sir." He thought of his step-father, of his real father. He'd seen too many normal lives cause dissatisfaction and even pain. "I'm ready to take a little break from reality."

"Don't be too light with this, Arthur," Miles said, though he was smiling once again.

"I won't. I'm ready."

"Good." He patted the younger man's shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. "You and Dom will make a marvelous team. I can tell."

They walked back to Cobb in silence, then said their good-byes before Arthur and his trainer turned towards their gate. Within an hour, they were sitting in first class seats, being served drinks before they took off. Arthur looked out the window as the plane tilted upwards and raced into the sky, watching Paris shrink beneath him. He sincerely hoped he'd be back someday, but at the same time, he was ready for a new chapter in his life. And it was coming fast.

XXX

Arthur woke with a start. He was surprised to find that he'd been able to sleep at all on the plane. Usually, he couldn't no matter how hard he tried. Cobb sat next to him, staring out the window as Los Angeles came into view through the patchy clouds that they were descending into. The city was just starting to truly come alive with traffic and other activity. Flying back from Paris meant basically going back in time, and they'd hardly gained an hour of time since their takeoff from Charles De Gaulle.

He waited patiently for some sort of instruction from Cobb, but none came. The plane landed and they disembarked without so much as a word to each other. It wasn't until they were standing at the luggage carousel that Cobb even opened mouth. All he said was, "Excuse me, that one's mine," to a stranger who was hefting a plain black suitcase onto his cart which Arthur was amazed his trainer could have picked out of so many others exactly like it. They exited the building and Cobb hailed a cab.

Once they were situated inside, Arthur could wait no longer. He turned to the older man, mouth open and ready to protest, when suddenly Cobb began to speak.

"I've made a reservation for you at a hotel, we're going there now. You'll stay there until we can find you an apartment." He didn't look as Arthur as he spoke. His eyes were scanning the city as it rushed past his window, as if he were looking for something in particular.

Suddenly Arthur couldn't speak. He closed his mouth in a hard line and waited for more.

"Then," Cobb continued after a short—but still far too long for Arthur's taste—silence, "we start training again. We have a lot of work to do before you're ready to pull an actual job but now that we're back in the states it's only a matter of time before someone makes an offer."

"What does that mean?" Arthur couldn't help but demand.

The trainer shifted in his seat, pulling at the lapels of his jacket to straighten it as he turned to face his student. "It means that now that I'm back, I'm bound to attract attention. People will want me to train their minds against Extraction. But I can't do that without a Point Man."

Arthur nodded. He hadn't realized there was a time limit to this.

"That doesn't mean there will be job offers right away," Cobb continued. "But they will come. And the sooner you're ready to get officially started, the better. Especially," he said with a tone to his voice that Arthur couldn't interpret, "since anti-Extraction is still fairly unknown. Turning down a job offer in a business like this could be…"

"The end of your career?" Arthur prompted when Cobb didn't finish his sentence.

"Let's just say 'detrimental' for now," the trainer suggested, looking out the window once more.

Again, silence filled the cab.

This time it lasted until they'd arrived at Arthur's hotel—a four star that didn't stand out, but clearly would be pleasant enough accommodations for the time being. Cobb asked the driver to wait for them, slipping what Arthur thought was an extra large tip to the man just before they headed inside.

"Sure thing," the cab driver said with a grin. He settled back in his seat, making himself comfortable.

The ease with which they checked into the hotel showed just how much Cobb had been doing this lately. He kept one hand in his pocket at all times, the other rested on the counter, giving him a look of effortlessness that almost made Arthur jealous. Cobb got the keys and led the younger man to the elevator. He pushed the button marked 7, and up they went, the quiet made more obvious by the elevator music. It was the first hotel Arthur had been in with elevator music. The doors slid open and with sure steps, Cobb strode off in the direction of Arthur's room. Deftly he unlocked it and held the door open for Arthur to place his things inside. Then, he spoke again.

"You can unpack later. We have a taxi waiting."

Arthur got the feeling that that cab driver would have waited for a week before he gave up on them, but he didn't argue. He dumped his things on the bed and, turned to follow Cobb out.

XXX

Arthur couldn't explain the feeling in the pit of his stomach as he mounted Cobb's front steps. It wasn't fear—he'd become familiar with fear over the past six months, and being faced with a bullet to the stomach was very different from meeting your boss's wife. And it wasn't excitement, because there was too much of him that was used to the idea of Cobb as his trainer and he was almost reluctant to change things now. And yet it wasn't reluctance either. It was an unnamed sensation that made him wordless as he stood beside Cobb, watching the door open as if in slow motion.

The sound of a child gabbing in some distant room was the first thing that greeted them as they entered. It was followed quickly by the soft voice of a woman, and the smell of breakfast wafting back to them. To his surprise, Arthur realized he was starving. Airplane food had never appealed to him.

There was a click as the door closed behind them. For some reason, it seemed to echo in the hall and suddenly everything was silent in the house.

"Dom?"

Cobb had dropped his bags and was heading straight down the hall. Arthur hesitated for a moment before following.

"Dom?" They reached the end of the hall just as she turned the corner. Arthur's heart beat a little faster.

She was beautiful. Her hair fell in soft, perfect dark curls that framed her heart shaped face, bouncing lightly above her shoulders when she stopped so suddenly. Dark eyes and lashes made her eyes the focus of her features. They shone with excitement and—was she actually nervous? Her lips parted slightly, not exactly in a smile, and she took a deep breath as she saw them.

"Mal," Cobb said softly, stepping forward.

For a moment, she watched him with a serious expression in her lovely face. Then, almost tentatively, she stepped into his arms, leaning her head against his chest. He kissed her forehead lightly.

Suddenly, Arthur felt as though he was intruding. It had been six months since he'd met Cobb. That meant six months that his trainer had spent away from his wife and child. The stirrings of guilt replaced the unnamed feeling in his stomach. Though he knew it didn't make things better, he looked away, trying to give them some space.

"He's exactly like I imagined him." Her voice brought Arthur out of his thoughts.

She was standing next to her husband, her arms around his waist. Her eyes scrutinized Arthur, looking him up and down, but mostly focusing on his face. He couldn't bring himself to move at all, trapped by her gaze.

"He'll need work." She tilted her head to one side as she spoke. "But I like him already."

This time, he managed to shift his weight awkwardly.

"Don't get too attached just yet," Cobb warned, steering her towards the kitchen. "You haven't tried to teach him anything."

Arthur didn't know whether to feel insulted or flattered by the first statement from Cobb that might have been mistaken for affection. He stood there silently, unsure what to say. Finally, he followed the Cobbs as they headed to the kitchen.

"He doesn't say much, does he?" Mal asked, already dishing up a plate for her husband.

"Normally, I can't get him to stop asking questions," Cobb replied, having a seat at the kitchen table.

"Sit down, Arthur," Mal said. She smiled at him and he immediately obeyed.

Cobb let out a small laugh—the first one Arthur had ever heard from him. "I've never seen him so compliant."

"Well," she said, placing a plate in front of Arthur, "That's not a bad thing."

He took the plate and, picking up his fork, began playing with his food.

"You're going to have to learn to speak a little more than that, if I'm going to teach you anything." Mal was leaving the kitchen, looking over her shoulder as she spoke.

Soon, it was just Arthur and Cobb alone in the kitchen. They ate in silence and Arthur was left to think about how he was completely unsure of what was happening.

XXX

A/N: I'm really interested in your opinions about Mal. Please review if you liked her. Or review if you didn't. Either way, I'm a little nervous about her so please let me know!