Disclaimer: Inception still isn't mine.
A/N: Here's the next chapter. I hope you'll enjoy it! I'd say we're halfway to the end now, couple more chapters to go .
Ten
Unexpected Propositions
"I can't believe the only time I'm in Tokyo is for a job. You're telling me we don't have even a five minutes to look at the sights?"
"You can do that later. Banks is in the city, he said we were going to meet at this hotel." Cobb was pointing up at a huge skyscraper, a hotel called the Peninsula. Arthur had read about this hotel before and had to say it looked much more impressive in real life than on the photographs. No doubt this was a place to suit a businessman such as Banks. The hotel was posh to say the least. Both Japanese and foreign businessmen were entering and exiting the hotel and even if it was fairly early in the morning (Ariadne was suffering from jetlag) there was lots of movement in the lounge. The front desk staff were busy answering phones and serving the guests best as they could and when Cobb couldn't see any sign of Banks he walked up to the desk.
"May I help you Sir?" asked a young woman in English when she saw that Cobb was a foreigner.
"My name is Dominic Cobb. Mr. James Banks is uspposed tob expecting me and my company." said Cobb
"One moment please." The young woman dialled the phone and said something in Japanese and when she hung up she turned back to Cobb.
"Mr. Banks I sexpecting you in his room Mr. Cobb. I'll show the way."
Cobb gestured for the others to follow him and they went into one of the lifts.
"Well this brings back memories" said Eames as a majority of the group glanced at him. "What?" he asked with a grin. Arthur just shook his head and decided that he didn't want to know exactly what memories Eames was thinking about. The lift eventually stopped at the 5th floor and they walked out to a long wide corridor with several rooms on each side of it. The look of the corridors reminded Viviane a bit of the Shining. The stewardess stopped at a door with the room number 54 and knocked on the door.
"Enjoy your stay." she said to Cobb and then left. The extractor was about to knock on the door once more when it opened and James Banks was standing in front him. He glanced behind Cobb at the other members of his team and gave a sort of approving nod and then invited them into the room. Although 'room' was the wrong word, the suite was more like a very expensive flat with everything that added to it. Banks showed them into the office space and gestured for them to take a seat. Eames of course sat down on the couch but the rest of them decided to stand.
"I know you have a lot to do and I appreciate you coming here." said Banks at the same time as he carefully studied each and every member of the team. He strayed over to his desk, a very fancy wide desk made of mahogny, and leaned against it.
"I take it you had something important to discuss with us?" asked Cobb curiously. He knew that Padrovski was in the city staying at a nearby hotel and they were preparing to 'go get him' so to speak.
"Yes, indeed. I imagine you've planned everything out, designed the dream level, chosen the dreamer and all that so I'm assuming you're all set to go? Could you tell me exactly what the gameplan is?"
"Well Ariadne designed the dream levels, it'll just be a dream within a dream so the first dreamer is going to be myself and in the second level Eames is going to be the dreamer. We've studie Padrovski so we know him well enough to find where he's hiding the blueprint. The blueprint should be hidden inside some sort of vault. Eames is also a Forger so he can switch apperances whilst in the dream and that way easily get access to Padrovski in the dream. Once we have the blueprint the job is done. It's pretty simple."
"It appears so, but what will you do if you fail?" said a second voice. Cobb instantly recognized the heavily accented English and when he turned around Saito had entered the room along with Liam who just raised and eyebrow with a grin.
"What the hell is he doing here?" asked Ariadne cautiously. Of course she realised the answer at once and wasn't sure what to say.
"Banks?" asked Cobb, turning to the other businessman
"Dom my dear boy, I think we've been doublecrossed. This definitely brings back memories." said Eames, although he didn't sound too worried.
"Always so quick with words Mr. Eames. Maybe you want to hear us out first no?" said Saito. Liam walked through the room past Viviane and then glanced back at her. She shuddered a bit scared because she knew there was something unpredictable and unsafe about Liam. One could never be quite sure about what he was going to do. He changed his mind so quickly and so unannocuned that it easily caught you off guard.
"You know I remember the days when we were friends." Liam pointed out
"Yeah so do I. Actually you know what….I really don't you two faced, double crossing son of a bitch." Viviane replied
"I think we want some explanation." Arthur quickly cut in.
"Mr. Banks and I realised that our goals were in fact quite similar and that it would benefit both Banks Industries and Procus Global." Saito explained
"So you decided to work together?" Ariadne guessed
"Exactly. We figured it would be easier to combine forces and clearly you've worked together before." said Banks
"Lot of good that did." added Eames sarcastically. "If we are going to work together we might need some sort of insurance that a - he doesn't go beserk on us in the dreamworld because trust me it wouldn't be the first time and that b – we still get out with the payment that was agreed on. Preferably a bit of a raise considering the current situation. Life insurance. That's the word I'm looking for."
"I am sure we can come to some sort of agreement. But we need the work to be done and I strongly insist that Mr. Jones accompanies you if you wish getting paid at all." Saito told them in a calm but serious voice and they all immediately understood the seriousness of the situation they were in.
Great, thought Cobb and ran his hand through his hair, trying to think and work out some sort of a plan.
"Do we make ourselves clear? Are we good? Can you work together without killing each other?" asked Banks as he glanced between Cobb and Liam.
"Absolutely." replied Liam self-assured. "Although I can't speak for Dominic here."
"We'll do it. We'll get the blueprints for you." Cobb said, trying to hold his temper.
"Good. Mr. Padrovski is at the Imperial Hotel, he'll be there tonight and we've arranged for things to go smooth. All you have to do is to connect the PASIV device and do the job. Good luck." said Saito.
To be continued…
I know this definitely wasn't the most interesting chapter but I needed it. The next chapter will be the dream-sharing. I hope you haven't lost interest in the fic yet. Anyway, please review!