Against Us

Part Fourteen

Eames blinked awake into the first level of the dream. Cobb had designed the therapist's office with infinite loops all around. The way Arthur rolled his eyes said that he was the one that normally got stuck being the dreamer. Eames wished he could take that burden off of the other man but he had to focus on his forge. If he was going into the dream as backup or an extractor it would be one thing but it was too risky to have the forger as the dreamer. So there Arthur was being the center of the projections' attention yet again. These projections were agitated from the beginning and Eames waited to see if they would attack right away. When it looked like they were all right for the time being the forger started to make his way through the people to find the office where he was meeting Mal, Cobb and Arthur.

When he reached the office, Eames knocked twice and the door opened. Arthur looked nervous but Eames could not blame him. Unstable minds always got creative when it came to tearing dreamers apart. To anyone else Arthur would appear completely blank but Eames knew the other man almost as well as he knew himself; he knew when Arthur was on edge. The forger walked past the point man into the room and listened to the door lock behind him. Mal and Cobb were already there and she flashed him a smile.

"Are you ready?" Mal asked and he noted that the two of them looked far too relaxed considering the mind that they were in.

"Naturally," Eames replied trying to sound casual. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Arthur narrow his eyes, no doubt seeing how Eames was trying to lighten the mood, but did not say anything.

"He should project onto a file that I'll have outside the room. All you need to do is get him to think about the people he might have killed and we'll be out," Mal said.

"How are we kicking ourselves out?" Cobb asked and there was a brief silence.

"I'll do it," Arthur said though he did not sound thrilled. Eames wondered how many times Arthur had had to kick himself out of dreams because no one else would do it.

"We're set. Let's get this done," Cobb said. Eames walked over to the mirror they had set up in the room and looked at his body. He had watched the therapist in the real world, caught on to his mannerisms, and made sure that his face was spot on. Edwards would not open up to anyone else. The dream shifted a little, the projections feeling the forge, but did not attack. The four of them walked through the building and found Edwards sitting on a couch in the waiting room. Arthur led Eames through the maze until they got to the office. The forger had long since lost his way through the maze but Arthur seemed confident.

"Be careful," Eames said in a low voice.

"You too," Arthur replied. The point man walked out into the hallway to keep on the move in case the projections caught on. Mal knew the layout, to an extent, and she was playing the part of receptionist to take Edwards to the office. The door opened and he was greeted by the young man who could be responsible for taking the life of a child. It took some self control not to flinch when they shook hands.

"John, it's so good to see you again," Eames said through the mouth of Dr. James Phillips. Edwards smiled but it looked uneasy.

"Landlord said he would kick me out if I didn't get my temper under control," Edwards said and this was the lie they had made the landlord say. All it had taken was a quick bribe but the landlord only hoped that they could get Edwards the help he so desperately needed.

"I'm glad you feel comfortable coming to see me again," Eames said and they took a seat in the office. "Why don't you tell me about your anger spells?"

"They haven't changed much since I was a kid. It's like a black out and I'm not really seeing it through my own eyes," Edwards replied. "I hear things."

"Voices?" Eames said writing a few notes down. There was a chance he could project onto the pad and not the file.

"Sort of," Edwards mumbled.

"You've been arrested a few times since we've met last," the forger said and he watched the way Edwards tensed. "Why don't you tell me about that?"

"It's not important," he said quickly.

"It is important. Let's take a look at it together?" Eames suggested and he put a call into Mal to have her bring the file. Edwards was looking terrified, angry, and the projections were getting extremely restless. Mal knocked on the door and Eames stood to open it.

"It's all here, Doctor, I made sure the police sent us everything," Mal said in an easy voice but Edwards was on his feet.

"Put that file down, bitch," Edwards warned before clutching his head. "Shut up, shut up, shut up, all of you just shut up!" A full psychotic break was not something they had expected and the dream began to collapse, to change and before Eames could do anything Edwards reached into his pocket. The gun was not supposed to be there but the forger was not entire surprised that Edwards would be armed. "You don't get to look at my file." Edwards pulled the trigger putting a bullet between Mal's eyes. The projections went crazy and the man turned to Eames to attack him as well. The forger wrestled the man to the ground but the gun went off. Eames looked at the wound on his stomach, as he was slowly bleeding out, and looked up at Edwards. "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" The gun was to his temple now, Edwards wincing painfully because of the chaos that was his head.

"John, don't do this," Eames said but the pain made his forge falter just a little.

"You're not my therapist. He would never want to see my record. This isn't real, another delusion, and that means killing myself doesn't matter," Edwards said and he pulled the trigger. Cobb and Arthur burst into the room, both were bloody and out of breath, and Cobb took one look at his fiancée before his eyes went wide.

"He's awake," Arthur said and he put a bullet between Cobb's eyes. Eames stared down the barrel of the gun and did not wince when the point man pulled the trigger.

Eames woke up to chaos. Edwards had turned his fury on Mal and Cobb was trying to get the man off of his fiancée. She was screaming and Eames moved quickly. The forger yanked Edwards back to put him in a headlock. Arthur was awake now and he looked far too calm as he administered a sedative to the mark. The man went limp in Eames' arms and he dropped the man to the ground none too gently. Cobb was talking to Mal, who was on the ground and shaking, not that Eames blamed her in the slightest. Arthur looked down at Edwards, then at the unconscious intern not far away and finally at the PASIV device. The machine was tipped over and it looked like several parts were broken. The forger locked eyes with Arthur and they started having a conversation without words. Arthur shook his head because now was not the time to try and figure out what their next step was.

"What happened?" Cobb demanded as he stood, glaring daggers at Eames. "I thought you were supposed to be the best forger in the world."

"I'm not one to brag but I am one of the better ones," Eames replied. "However, he saw through the mask."

"So this is your fault," Cobb said his voice laced with violent intentions; it made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

"I wouldn't go that-" Eames began but he shut up as Cobb pulled a gun out of his pocket pointing it directly at the forger's head. For some reason his first thought was how risky it was to carry a firearm in a jacket pocket. He raised his hands and did not move because it was obvious that Cobb was not thinking straight. "He could have killed her, you son of a bitch, and it would have been your fault." Eames was about to make an argument when there was movement behind Cobb.

"Put the gun down right the fuck now, Cobb," Arthur said and his voice was low, deadly, a tone that said 'I am very serious right now.'

"What are you doing, Arthur? Why are you protecting this asshole? He's a thief, he's probably killed someone and he almost got Mal killed. Why do you care what happens to him?" Cobb spit out but he did not lower his gun.

"I do know him, I've known him for years, far longer than I've known you, so I have no qualms blowing you away for him. So, I'll say it again, but the gun down right the fuck now," Arthur said and Eames was surprised because he had not expected Arthur to admit that they knew each other even in a moment like this. It was then that the forger noticed that Mal was standing next to Arthur with a small pistol to the point man's head.

"I think you should put the gun down, Arthur," she said. She had a black eye, her lip was split, and one of her wrists looked broken. There were three people holding guns to each other's heads and he figured that Arthur was the only one smart enough to keep the safety on, his finger off the trigger, and there was no telling if a weapon was going to discharge.

"Can I make a suggestion? How about we all put our guns down?" Eames said but Cobb glared daggers at him.

"She could have died and we didn't get the information," the extractor said in a dark voice.

"True, but you can get him on other charges now. He is obviously unstable, an idiot could see that, but now you can arrest him on assault charges, maybe even attempted murder, if you have a decent lawyer. His time in jail combined with his other charges should showcase just how unstable he is and they would institutionalize him. He'd be off the streets and isn't that what you wanted?" Eames was hoping that Cobb would see the logic behind it all. Eames knew the law better than most law students since one had to know the law if one was going to break it. This way no one would take a bullet to the brain. Cobb stared at him, squinting like he was trying to get a feel for him, and lowered his weapon slowly. Arthur did the same, Mal followed and Eames released a breath he had not known he was holding.

"Go get her medical help," Arthur said. "I'll take both of your weapons as well if you don't mind." Cobb muttered something under his breath but they both turned over their guns to the point man. Arthur took control of the situation and called 911 and decided that it was probably best if the police dealt with Edwards. "Meet me at my hotel in an hour," Arthur said and he walked quickly out of the room. Eames could only silently agree; they had plenty to discuss right now.