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

A/N: I am so sorry for the long gap! School has gotten the better of me and I have been swamped with homework and just life. Hopefully I'll be able to get some writing done now that I'm on Winter Break. Thanks to everyone who has been so patient.

I do have a request to make. Does anyone that's reading this like to make a promotional vid for this fic? That would be awesome! If you're interested tell me in a review or send me a PM. Thanks again everyone!

Chapter 14

"What are we doing here?" Arthur demanded in a harsh whisper as he and Cobb walked through the obscenely large and silent lobby of the Intercontinental Hotel. Their footsteps sounded twice as loud against the marble floor due to the echo of the almost empty room. Soft jazz music poured out of invisible speakers so subtly that Arthur almost doubted he could hear it at all.

"Meeting our new employer," Cobb answered stiffly. "I'm not exactly sure what to expect from this one, so I want you to stay extra alert, alright?"

Arthur was taken aback by the order, but he nodded his obedience. They walked in silence until they reached a restaurant that was down a hallway from the lobby and overlooked, through its one wall entirely made up of windows, the pool and beach area. It seemed like a very ritzy bar/lounge sort of place more than a restaurant, Arthur noted upon closer inspection. He scanned the room, looking for someone who might look like a potential employer of anti-extractors, but no one jumped out at him. Cobb strode over to the seating hostess, a pretty girl that couldn't have been older than nineteen, and smiled at her.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for someone."

"Name please?" she asked, flipping open a black folder.

"Eames," Cobb responded in a low tone.

"Hmmm." The girl scanned the list before looking up. "Sorry, no one here by that name."

Arthur could see Cobb stiffen ever so slightly.

"Could I get you a table though, sir?"

"No, thank you," Cobb responded smoothly.

"Excuse me, miss, but these gentlemen are here for me," said a voice from behind Arthur. It was unfamiliar and clearly British and Arthur exchanged looks briefly with Cobb before they both turned in unison.

Standing behind them was a man in an odd assortment of casual and dress clothes wearing a cocky grin. He strode past Arthur and Cobb and gave the seating hostess a wink as he leaned towards her.

"I'm Mr. Thomas," he said. "I have a reservation."

She returned to her folder for a brief moment before looking up with a smile and saying, "Right this way, Mr. Thomas."

The stranger turned to the Point Man and Extractor. "I apologize for not being on time, but I always believe in being fashionably late."

He motioned for Arthur and Cobb to follow as he headed after the hostess and, reluctantly, they did.

"Who the hell is Mr. Thomas?" Arthur hissed at Cobb as they walked but his mentor quickly cut him off.

"Shh!" he snapped. "I have it under control."

Though Cobb spoke with confidence, Arthur could see the Extractor reaching into his pocket to handle this totem. Unconsciously, Arthur had done the same and the cool plastic in his hand was comforting as his fingers closed around the die. Its weight was familiar and he knew this wasn't a dream.

They reached a small table in a deserted corner of the room up against the windows. Thomas sat and waved his hand across the table to indicate that Arthur and Cobb should do the same. Both men sat, never taking their eyes off of the stranger.

"Allow me to buy you each a drink," Thomas said with a smile.

Cobb made an order, which Arthur didn't pay attention to and he asked for the same, focused more on his possible employer than on what he was about to drink. The stranger had sandy hair and blue eyes and a five o'clock shadow, all of which gave him a somewhat scruffy appearance, though his suit jacket—which covered an African-style shirt—and tailored pants were clearly expensive. Thomas ordered Ogogoro—which Arthur had never heard of and was shocked the hotel bar had access to—and then leaned back in his chair, surveying his company with interest.

"I gather you're both a little on edge," Thomas said, fiddling with the corner of the napkin in front of him.

"I apologize if we seem that way," Cobb answered, his brow nit together. "But we were supposed to be meeting a man named Eames here."

"Ah well, I never travel under my actual name if I can avoid it," Thomas replied.

"So you are Eames?" Arthur demanded.

"Yes, I am."

"Why the fake identity?" Cobb shot Arthur a warning look, but the Point Man wasn't sorry he'd asked the question.

Thomas—or Eames or whoever he really was—shifted in his chair so he was leaning toward the two men he planned on hiring. "You would too, my dear boy, if you had as many people after you as I do."

It seemed a strange thing to say when you were trying to get someone to work for you.

"What exactly do you want from us, then?" Cobb asked, and Arthur could tell he was also caught off-guard by Eames's blunt reply.

"Just a simple extraction," he said confidently. "Nothing you can't handle."

"I'm afraid you must have been misinformed. "Cobb's tone had grown slightly colder.

"Beg your pardon?" Eames asked as their drinks where placed in front of them. He lifted his glass to his lips.

"My colleague and I work in anti-extraction. We train people against having their minds invaded." Cobb's answer was slow and calculated.

"Well, that's certainly not what the Forester job you pulled recently was, now was it?" Eames watched his drink as he spoke, like the glass was far more interesting than the people he was talking to.

Arthur shot Cobb a look that said This guy knows way too much, but the extractor only saw it out of the corner of his eye. He continued to stare at Eames, though his expression made it clear he was thinking along the same lines as Arthur.

"The extraction performed on Mr. Forester was done under the most unusual of circumstances. It was an exception."

"Perhaps you'd be willing to make another?" This time Eames lifted his eyes to meet Cobb's. "I realize that you're not particularly fond of breaking the law if you can avoid it, but I assure you that performing this extraction will do more good than harm."

"And how is that?" Cobb demanded.

"The man you'd be extracting from is currently dominating South African economics in a way that is unhealthy for the entire nation. Finding out his plans for expanding his company will allow the South African government to bring him down before he smothers what's left of the economy." He raised his glass as if he were making a toast. "Those motives aren't too evil for you, are they?"

This time Cobb met Arthur's gaze.

"I don't understand why you're so interested in this cause," Cobb admitted.

"Well you see," Eames said, finishing his drink and placing the empty glass on the table, "I'm not actually the one doing the hiring. I'm just another member of the team. The man I work for is an official in the South African government. He asked me to come here and recruit you two."

"Who else would be working with us?"

"I'll play the role of Forger, you will be cast as the Extractor, and the pretty boy here will be our Point Man." Arthur had a hard time fighting to keep his expression composed. Eames continued with, "We still need an architect but our compounds are standard and we won't need a chemist."

"You don't need an architect," Cobb said. Eames's eyebrow shot upwards incredulously. "I can design the levels."

"Does this mean I can tell my boss you'll be joining us in Johannesburg next Friday?" The Forger asked with a very pleased expression crossing his features.

Arthur shot a glance at Cobb, but he couldn't read the look in the Extractor's eyes. "I can't give you an answer now. I'll call you tonight."

"Hmmm," Eames replied, rolling his shoulders and leaning back in his chair again. "I'll need your answer before ten o'clock. That's when I have to relay your decision to my employer."

"Fine," Cobb said shortly. He stood and Arthur followed suit. "Good day, Mr. Eames. I'll be in touch with you soon."

"Please, just Eames," the Forger said, seeming genuinely bothered by the term "Mr." "And I hope you seriously consider this offer. I've done my research and you're the best in the business. I'd be sorry to have to find someone else."

XXX

"Are you going to take it?" Mal asked in a soft voice. Her face was only a few inches from Dom's as they lay nestled in their bed that night. She was half asleep, but clearly determined to stay awake until they had discussed the new offer thoroughly.

He let out a long sigh, reaching over to brush the hair from her face back behind her ear. "I don't know. I'm not really interested in another extraction just now."

"I understand," she agreed, though he could the hesitation in her voice. "But…this isn't like the Forester job. You have a choice. You don't have to do it, but you're also not being asked to commit a crime really. Is extraction even illegal in South Africa?"

"I don't know," he repeated. He rolled onto his back and stared up at the ceiling. His head ached and he wished they weren't having this discussion.

Mal propped herself up on her elbow. "Dom," she murmured, "what's wrong?"

He turned his head to look at her and tried to smile reassuringly. "I'm just tired. There's nothing wrong."

She frowned. Her hand reached out to stroke his face gently. "This job could be a good thing. Maybe it can help you come to terms with the Forester job."

"I don't need to come to terms with it," he said firmly. "Everything worked out. There's nothing to come to terms with."

"I don't believe you."

He laughed, but the sound was not genuine.

"Dom, I will not tell you you need to do this job, but I will tell you that it would not be a bad thing. I know extraction is illegal here, but it's not everywhere. Besides, it's a chance to build again. To really build—"

"I know, I know," he snapped, sitting up so that his back was turned to her. "Trust me, I've already gone through all this with myself."

He could almost envision the sour expression on her face, but he wasn't brave enough to turn around and face it.

"Well what then?" she demanded. "If you know all of the positives, what is it that's stopping you from taking the job?"

Taking a deep breath and trying to get himself back to his normal composure, he finally turned, wincing when he saw the glare in her eyes. Okay, I deserve that, he told himself.

"I don't want my name out there," said finally. "I don't know how Landy found out about me, but he did. He knew I was a good Extractor, an even better Architect. How the hell did he know that?"

"Dom…" Her fingers ran along the length of his arm.

He continued, feeling more and more frustrated as he spoke. "I don't want any more thugs coming into our home and demanding we work for them. Extraction is a dangerous lifestyle to live when you've got a family and people to go back to at night. I can't have people controlling when I see you and what jobs I can and can't take. Landy getting ahold of my information is exactly what I want to avoid. I want my name to be known for anti-extraction and nothing else."

"I know," she sighed, still rubbing his arm comfortingly. "I know."

"How am I supposed to do that if I keep taking extraction jobs?" he insisted.

She shook her head and let out a long breath. "You can't."

Rubbing his eyes with one hand he said, "Then I shouldn't take this job."

Mal bit her lip, but she nodded her agreement. "I understand."

XXX

Arthur finally forced himself to stop pacing at around nine and made himself dinner even though he wasn't hungry. Though it felt like torture, he sat down to eat and chewed with deliberate slowness. His mind, however, was going a hundred miles a minute. He was so caught up in wondering if and when Cobb was going to call and whether or not he would like what he'd hear when Cobb finally did that he almost missed the ring of his phone in the other room. Jumping from his seat like he'd been electrocuted, he raced into the bedroom and snatched up his cellphone from inside his coat pocket and flipped it open.

"Hello?"

"I'm taking the job. You don't have to join me if you don't want to." It was Cobb's voice.

"If you're taking the job, so am I," he responded without having to think. His stomach felt uneasy.

"Be here tomorrow morning and we'll talk about it."

"Fine," he agreed.

"See you then."

The dial tone buzzed in his ear for a long moment before he was able to snap his phone shut and sink onto his bed. He wasn't sure how he felt about all this—uncomfortable for sure, but unhappy? That he couldn't say. If Cobb thought it was a good idea, he'd follow, even if things had been going out of hand a little lately. Despite it all, despite the lies and the secrets, he still trusted his mentor.

XXX

A/N: This chapter has gone through three revisions, and I'm a little shocked at the turn it's taken but I'm also sort of excited. I promise that the next chapter will be interesting to make up for how short this one has been. I hope you enjoyed and I really need your reviews because I have no idea what to think of this chapter myself so I'm dying to know what you all think!