I really do appreciate those who have either reviewed or story alerted this. It lets me know that at least someone is reading this. Lol. This chapter is mostly a flashback towards the beginning of Eames and Raylie's acquaintance with each other. Hope you enjoy! As always, reviews are amazing...

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Four Years Earlier:

Hunched over her work table, Raylie concentrated hard on the several typed papers that were scattered before her. Pencil in hand, she circled various words, drawing arrows from them to other parts of the paper before getting frustrated and erasing previous marks she had made.

She let out a sigh as she rubbed a hand over her face. This job was becoming more frustrating than it was worth, but she had to push through it. They were going into The Mark's dream in a matter of days and she needed to know these papers inside and out in order for the mission to be a success.

Raylie tapped the pencil on the table in annoyance as she stared at each of the papers in front of her. Leave it to Cobb to pick the challenging cases.

"You concentrate any harder and you're going to give yourself an ulcer." A voice laced with an English accent spoke from behind her. She immediately turned, a small smile playing on her lips, "Do you even know what an ulcer is, Eames?"

He was leaning in the doorway, standing in silence for a moment before speaking, "Of course I do." He scoffed as Raylie raised an eyebrow in suspicion, "Let me guess, medical terminology is also not one of your specialties?"

"It looks like you need a break." He quickly changed the subject as he stepped into the room.

"So I take it you've already mastered what you need to do for this mission?" Raylie asked as she finally pulled away from her own work. "I am a genius you know." He replied arrogantly as he gave her a joking smile.

"Yeah, you and your ulcers, genius boy." She replied with a lighthearted laugh. "But in all seriousness," Eames began, ignoring her comeback, "I have finished my part of the mission, so I needed someone to harass."

Raylie shot him an 'I-knew-it' look before responding, "Arthur doesn't satisfy you anymore?" She asked, fully knowing how wrong it had sounded.

"Arthur, the lovely dear, threw a book at me the moment I walked into the room." He replied, a fake look of hurt on his face before adding cheerfully, "So it looks like it's your lucky day."

She couldn't help but crack a smile. It seemed like she wasn't the only one getting frustrated on the job if Arthur was already throwing inanimate objects. It also made her smile that Eames had tracked her down because she had been waiting all day for the opportunity to show him what she had found out.

"So I learned a new fighting move the other day." She told him, not being able to hold her excitement. If anyone appreciated a good fight, it was Eames. He perked up an eyebrow in interest, "That's wonderful. How does it go?"

"Well, you have to get your opponent on the ground, and when you're on him, you take his right arm and extend it over his-" She began to explain, talking a mile a minute before Eames interrupted with a chuckle, "Why don't you show me, love."

Raylie grinned at the man before her. She could always count on him to be fully interested in something like this. When she had tried to explain it to Cobb, he had simply nodded, telling her it sounded like a good move, before going back to his work. Only someone like Eames would care enough to ask to have it shown to him.

Eames moved closer to her so they were only a few feet apart, "So you first have to get your opponent on the ground huh?" He asked as Raylie nodded. "Ok then, take me to the ground." He told her, an amused gleam in his eye as he couldn't wait to see how someone her size would even begin to over-power and take down someone like him, being almost twice that.

"Well my plan was to just kick the guy in the jewels and once he was bent forward, grab his neck and pull him the rest of the way down." She shrugged, figuring it would be better to warn Eames of her plan before following through with something like that. She almost laughed when the amusement fell from his face and he took a slight step back.

"How about we just pretend you did all that and I'll just lie down." He said, and she couldn't know for sure, but it almost sounded as if there was a little worry in his voice. She smiled at him, "Sounds good."

And with that, Eames got to his knees before laying flat on his stomach. "No, flip over and lay on your back." Raylie told him as Eames raised an eyebrow before doing as he was instructed, "Like this?" He questioned as she nodded, "Yep." She told him before sitting down on his stomach, her legs on either side of him as she grabbed his wrists. "So if I have your right arm pinned here…" She began to demonstrate, placing his arm across his chest, him giving her a grunt in response to show that he was following along. "And then take your left arm and place it here, I could easily dislocate your shoulder if I applied pressure. But you see, you wouldn't be able to get out of the hold before I did that because-"

"Oh for the love of-Seriously?" A voice interrupted, snapping Raylie's attention over to Arthur who now stood in the doorway, a genuine look of disgust on his face, "This is a place of work, not a brothel." She gave him a look of confusion, not realizing how suggestive the situation looked with her on top of Eames, straddling him. She looked back down at Eames, only to have him grinning like a Cheshire cat at Arthur.

Raylie's eyes widened as the realization hit her. She quickly scrambled to get off of Eames, straightening herself as the mischievous Brit stood as well.

"Why must you ruin all the fun in this place?" Eames asked Arthur before Raylie could say the first word. "No, no. I was just showing him a fighting hold…" She quickly backpedaled, Eames not backing her up, just standing there with a goofy grin plastered on his face.

"Cobb wanted to see you for a moment. Sorry to interrupt." Arthur replied sarcastically, explaining the reason he was there, but sounding clearly unconvinced at her excuse.

"Seriously. It's not what you think." She told Arthur a final time as she started to leave the room. Arthur merely nodded, eyebrows raised doubtfully.

"Oh, and Raylie. About that hold…" Eames' voice made Raylie stop and turn as he continued, "For future reference, I like to be on top." He gave her a cocky wink as Raylie scowled, her face turning red from embarrassment as she turned to walk off, "You're a bastard." She called back to him. "Ah, but you love it." He replied with a chuckle just before she walked out of sight.

"You are despicable Mr. Eames." Arthur told him once Raylie was gone. "Don't fret love, you'll find yourself a good man one of these days." Eames retorted, patting him on the back as Arthur shot him a glare, "Very funny."

"She is quite the firecracker though." Eames spoke after a few moments of silence, his tone seeming distracted as his mind was lost in his own thoughts.

Raylie found Cobb moments later, "You wanted to see me?" She asked as Cobb turned to look at her, "You seem quite happy about something." He spoke, observing the smile on her lips. Raylie quickly cleared her throat and any thoughts of the over-confident Englishman. She wiped the smile from her features and continued in a serious tone, "It's nothing…"

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Present:

"Well I'm sure Cobb will be thrilled to know you've accepted." She told Eames as she placed money on the bar counter to pay for the drinks. Standing up from the barstool, she continued, "I'll meet you in the front of the Kohinoor Hotel at noon tomorrow and we can then go to the airport. Your ticket has already been bought." She kept her tone professional, ignoring the Brit giving her a quick look-over. "Is that where you're staying tonight?" He asked, sounding as innocent as possible as he took his eyes away from her, turning to look at the other patrons of the bar.

"That's hardly your concern." She spat back at him, already knowing where this was going. Eames raised his eyebrows before turning back to her, "No need to get defensive. It's not like you have to hide anything from me anymore." The comment seemed innocent enough, but Raylie caught the malice in his tone. She was about to just walk off and ignore him, but he had a way of infuriating her. Bending down close to him, their faces became only a foot apart as she brought her voice down to a harsh whisper, "I have apologized countless times to you. I don't know what you want me to do. I can't go back and change what I did, but I sure as hell am not going to go through life feeling guilty about it." The two glared at each other for several moments before Eames finally spoke, keeping his anger in check as he decided to let it go for now, but the irritation was clear in his voice, "I can hardly wait to see your bright and shiny face tomorrow, sweetheart." With that, he turned back to the bar, signaling for another drink.

With an annoyed sigh, Raylie left the bar without another word. The sun had already set as she walked down the streets of Mombasa, still annoyed with what had happened. Not paying attention to anything around her, Raylie turned down an alleyway on her way back to the hotel. As soon as she turned, footsteps caught up with her and before she could do anything, she felt the hard barrel of a gun pressed into her back.

"You're a hard woman to get a hold of." A cold voice sneered into her ear as she froze at the sound of the gun cocking.

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Uh oh. Looks like someone is in a little bit of a pickle. I plan to do more flashbacks in coming chapters to mix things up with a little past and a little present. Don't worry, things with their relationship will be explained soon enough. Hope you like! Send me some love, reviews are awesome! Thanks!