Disclaimer: I do not own Inception. Reviews are not only accepted and encouraged, but really positive ego buffers.

Detective Joshua Black sat in his office, leaning up against the leather upholstery of the black swivel chair. His feet were up on his desk, the heels of his thrift store dress shoes sitting over accumulated files of crime rates. His office phone was up against his ear and he was listening inently, but without respect.

"I understand," he said dryly, "Sir, I am not doctor, but you sound to me like you need to take two dosages of vicodin and get off my dick."

He hung up the phone, practically slamming it on the receiver.

"Fuck," he muttered, rubbing his hands over his face and sighing. He liked to help people, he liked to help people help themselves which is the main reason he decided to become a detective. Throughout the academy, he knew his true goal was to be where he was now, sitting behind a desk and pushing stacks and stacks of files on criminal activity. But - - there's always a but - - he didn't like the hands he's been dealt. He hadn't realized when he was younger just how much life being a detective takes out of you. By the time he completed a full case, he felt like he was already whithered away and buried. Today, he'd been trying to relinquish the negativity. Trying to relax without seeming careless.

He inhaled deeply then exhaled slowly, creating a new mood and clearing out his frustration before it could seep into anger. He tossed his hands behind his head and closed his eyes, imagining lying on a beautiful beach in Bora Bora. The vision ended when he felt air against him as his office door opened. He opened his eyes to see the one and only Alan Gezersky standing in front of him. His eyes were wide and he looked disturbed and shocked. His stance was awkward, but that wasn't exactly a deviation from the regular.

Joshua waited for him to say something, but Alan's silence said that Joshua had to begin the situation.

"Something I can help you with, Alan?"

Alan was preturbed, but managed to utter the following: "Arthur Hanson's dead."

Cobb received the call around ten a.m. He had been up all night thinking about the words Arthur had said to him the night that he basically jumped out of the car and walked off without even looking back once. Those words were haunting him, repeating in his head over and over again.

"...once I step foot out of this car, you'll never see me again."

At first he thought that it was empty threat, but he hadn't heard from him at all.

He hadn't gotten any late night calls from bartenders.

He hadn't gotten any word from the exhausted point.

Cobb wouldn't even let the possibility of him being dead get passed him. It was a possibility and he's learned that, in life, possibilities are really all you need.

So, when the call came. There was no surprise.

"So, can I see him?"

"I'm guessing it was because of this particular road," the police officer said. "There's been cases of people falling over that cliff. Understandably so, just looking past from a distance, it looks like the road is just still going. The sharp turn is really difficult to see especially at night. He was probably speeding, missed the turn, and...well, the rest is here."

Joshua listened with a stern, blank expression on his face. He'd been finding it difficult to believe Hanson was dead. He couldn't be...yet, all of the facts were laid out in front of him. Police cars were surrounding the quiet road. He and a rookie stood close to the cliff, looking down at the barely recognizable car that sat at the bottom of the ditch. All signs were pointing to it.

"We're getting people on fishing the car out of there, maybe then we'll find something left of him. But I doubt it, the whole thing's charred."

Joshua nodded once. "Thank you. You can leave now."

The young guy gave Joshua a look of confusion before walking away.

Right after the rookie walked away, Alan came up standing next to Joshua. His expression was somber, shocked, and utterly disturbed. He stared down at the accident without saying a word.

"Alan, let me ask you something."

"Shoot," Alan didn't change his expression, his voice was monotonous.

"You met this guy a few times, right?"

"Sure."

"Do you think he's dead?"

Alan forced out a choked chuckle. "He would do anything for some kind of redemption. With this guy, you can never know. But I...I think he's dead."

Joshua nodded. "Good."

Alan swallowed. He knew for sure Arthur wasn't dead. He was too fucked up to die right now.

Cobb held the phone against his cheek, pressing it on his shoulder as he typed furiously at his laptop.

"Arthur's not stupid," he said into the phone. "He's crazy, but he's not stupid."

Cobb typed a name into the search engine. He smiled at the results.

"He's a genius, actually... No, he told me something a few days ago. . .I've got a hunch. I'm trying to see if I'm right."

The next thing he typed in gave him no results aside from a few articles of which had one name in it or one phrase.

"Wait a sec-" Cobb set the phone down and stared at the computer screen.

The pieces were consolidating. He shook his head, smiling again. He picked up the phone.

"I knew there was a reason I always kept him around."