Title: Snapshots of our Lives

Pairing(s): Mal/Dom, Arthur/Eames(eventually) but it is Arthur-centric

Rating: T (because of the occasional swear and eventual violence that will pop up)

Disclaimer: I do not own Inception or the wonderful characters that are in it, but I do enjoy playing around with them :)

A/N: An odd chapter. I know I wrote a violent one already, and touched on Arthur being not at all opposed to killing people, but I kinda wanted to write one about Nash and him being scared and talking about the common misconception people have when they first meet Arthur.


Nash was scared of Arthur. Maybe it had been his own fault for taking one look at the pretty face and jumping to conclusions. He had learned harder than most that Arthur is not a force to be reckoned with. Arthur had broken his nose with one swift punch and would have gone for more had Cobb not been there to hold the young man back. It wasn't even the fact that he had attacked him. It was the look in his eyes, this wild look that promised that if he wasn't being restrained that there wouldn't be enough of Nash left for anyone to indentify.

The feeling didn't go away for the rest of the time that they had to work together. Nash tried his best to avoid being alone with Arthur for any longer than five minutes. He was afraid that at any given second the young man was going to pounce and rip his throat out. It didn't help his nerves any that they were working for a powerful company that would kill them should they fail. He wasn't worried about failing since he was working with the best Extractor and Point-Man, but the threat was looming over his head and it made him nervous.

Arthur never smiled. Maybe that's what really unnerved Nash. No, wait he saw him smile once. And it frightened him more than it should have, but considering the circumstances he'd say his reaction was perfectly justifiable. He knew that he was working a dangerous business, but he had always managed to keep on the quiet side of things. But it seemed like trouble and danger followed Arthur and Cobb like some sort of disease.

It was this realization that he had that brought him to right now. Nash was standing near the door of the warehouse they had commandeered for the job, occasionally looking out into the streets. But for the most part, his attention was on what was happening in the building. Not too long ago Arthur had burst in dragging a man by his collar with him. He had immediately barked at Nash to guard the door and for the last ten minutes had been trying to get information out of the man. Nash winced every time the man denied knowing anything and Arthur systematically broke his fingers. Pretty soon the man was going to run out of fingers and Arthur was going to have to resort to something else.

He took a deep breath when the sound of breaking bones stopped and the man began to babble, telling Arthur everything he wanted to know. Now it would be over, Arthur would no doubt send the man off, telling him to tell his employer not to mess with them. He turned to look at the young man in time to see his pull out his gun and press it to the man's forehead. Sweat broke out on Nash's skin despite him the cold feeling that was creeping up his spine. The man on the floor was clutching his broken hand and sobbing and begging him not to pull the trigger. The Architect tried to look Arthur straight in the eye even as his dark gaze was focused on the man before him.

Nash was surprised, then again maybe he wasn't. There was no emotion of any sort in the dark eyes. Not anger, sorrow, hesitance, nothing, only coldness. He didn't even so much as blink when he pulled the trigger causing blood and brain matter to splatter on the floor behind him. Nash had to resist the urge to vomit on the spot; he had never seen anyone get killed before especially not in the ruthless and gruesome way that he had just witnessed.

"Why'd you kill him?" His voice was shaking, just as the rest of his body was.

Arthur turned to him slowly, setting his dark gaze on the shaking man. "He knew too much." His voice was unwavering and resolute.

So, Nash was frightened of Arthur. Even while his reasoning made perfect sense given the situation, it seemed a bit much. He would never be able to look at Arthur the same way and he hoped to God that they never wanted to work with him ever again. The man he had previously thought of having that face of an angel was a demon. There was something not human about him, a cruelty possessed only by those of other realms. The cold dark calculating eyes that tore through everything they looked at. Nash was right to fear this person, the man who would protect those he cared about at the risk of his life and sanity. Those eyes would haunt Nash's dreams for the rest of his days, icey cold and void of any sort of emotion.


A/N: Sorry if Arthur seemed a little un-Arthurlike, and way off base from the way I've been trying to get him, but I thought it was important to show the work-Arthur. And I wasn't in the greatest mood so a violent chapter seemed like a good idea at the time.