Note: There were not many DKR flash backs in the last chapter, as there was some stuff I needed to set up. But don't worry the references aren't confined to that particular chapter. As Arthur and Eames come to understand themselves and each other better more stuff will slot into place. This chapter has some back-story in it for Arthur. Obviously there have been some slight changes to the Movies/Series the back stories are taken from to make them fit. Still no guesses on which fandoms I took Arthurs back-story from so i won't give it away.

Before Now (I Never Even Wondered)

Arthur closed the door behind Ariadne and breathed a sigh of relief. He was still a little shaken up after the game, and yet he had been left alone to field questions from the Architect and the Chemist while the other veteran dreamworkers recovered from their experiences alone. That was what he got for being the more controlled of the three. Dom, he could understand. Even if the extractor should have read the specs for the game he had picked before starting it up, Arthur could sympathise with his friend's dilemma. But what was wrong with Eames? Of them all Arthur had expected the Forger to be the least affected by what the game could do. And yet he had stormed out without giving any explanation.

Now though, finally Arthur was alone. Finally he could try and deal with his own experiences and come firmly back to reality. Taking his phone out of his pocket and scrolling swiftly through the contacts he found his Father's number.

"Hello."

"Hi Dick, It's me."

"Tommy. It's so nice to hear from you."

"Come on Dick, you know it's not Tommy anymore."

"Well I didn't think that mattered anymore. I thought you were going to stay on the legal side from now on. Besides, I'm the High Commander I can call you whatever I want."

Arthur laughed at the old man's stubborn determination to hold on to that title despite everything that had changed over the years. Dick wasn't giving the orders anymore and he knew it.

"I am. I just wanted to catch up. How is Rutherford?"

"Oh you know, the same as always. Mary is talking about Retirement again, but I don't think we'll leave the University just yet. Harry is still working at the bar and Sally and Don are fine…"

As they talked Arthur felt better by the second. There was something about talking to his father that made him feel like a teenager again. It was just what he needed. Of course back then the two had often been at odds, but they were family. Even when they had parted ways, the day that Dick Solomon had forbid his Son Tommy from leaving to go to College and he had left anyway, Thomas Arthur Solomon had still kept in touch.

Tommy couldn't believe the depths that Dick was stooping to. He had tried everything that he could to convince Tommy to stay in Rutherford, even taking him to Pendleton and trying to guilt him into going there. But the problem was that Tommy just didn't want to go. When he had tried to voice this opinion though, his father had not taken it very well.

"Oh yeah? Well guess what? This just in, you are going to Pendleton!"

He couldn't believe that Dick was being so unreasonable.

"What! No I'm not."

Dick couldn't do this. Dick couldn't decide this for him.

"You are! And that's an order."

No, no he couldn't do this. The High Commander couldn't go through with this.

"What is your problem?"

But Tommy knew that above all else his Father was in charge.

"One more word out of you and you're getting your Masters at Pendleton."

This was Tommy's life that he was talking about, his future.

"But that is…"

Everything was crumbling around him and Tommy couldn't get through to Dick to tell him.

"Care to go for your PhD?"

Why wouldn't he listen?"

"Dick, you…"

But Dick was too far gone to hear him.

"Oh look who's on the tenure track, Dr Tommy Solomon!"

He couldn't take it anymore, neither of them could so they stormed away from each other. Not really having anywhere else to go Tommy went in search of Dick's long term girlfriend Dr Mary Albright in her office.

"Dr Albright, do you have a minute?"

Mary smiled and plastered a false smile across her face. Tommy had seen that smile a lot over the last few days on almost everyones face. It was the smile that all of his father's friends wore while they tried to convince him that Pendleton was the place to be.

"Oh, sure Tommy. Here at Pendleton, our doors are always open to prospective students."

Tommy sighed and sat down across from Dr Albright.

"Thanks, uh. It's about Dick. I'm really worried. He's being incredibly selfish and bullheaded."

The false smile fell from Mary's face.

"And?"

Tommy Laughed. His father was always being selfish and bullheaded. He would have to be more specific.

"Well I need your help. We had this fight and now he's forcing me to go to Pendleton."

All pretence dropped Mary moved around the desk.

"Oh no. Oh Tommy I felt so dirty trying to get you to go to this 2-bit clown college. You are a brilliant young man. You should be able to go to any college you want. It's your life starting right now."

That was exactly what he wanted, exactly what he needed.

"But what about Dick?"

Mary scoffed as she returned to her seat.

"Oh don't worry. I'll talk to him."

Tommy sighed with relief.

"You will? Ah thanks, Dr Albright."

And it worked. Mary talked to Dick and soon enough he was being dropped off at College by his father. Although Dick was still trying to convince him to stay at home.

"You are making a big mistake mister. College is not what you think it is. It's a big ugly machine that will chew you up and spit you out. I don't approve of College."

Tommy looked at his father confused.

"You teach at a College."

But Dick was becoming irrational again.

"Oh sure, throw that in my face. You know what the problem with your generation is. You never had to work."

Here we go again, Tommy thought.

"Work? I work?"

Dick Laughed.

"Oh ha ha ah. You know what? I don't even know who you are anymore. You've changed. Oh yes, with your new life of learning, your internet, your Nintendo, your fancy friends, MTV, virtual reality, your, your, your… I don't know!"

Tommy took a mental step back.

"What are you talking about?"

Dick was looking more flustered by the second.

"What am I talking about? What am I talking about? I'll tell you what I'm talking about! I don't want you to go! I don't want you to go! I don't want you to go!"

Finally understanding Tommy pulled his father over to sit down beside him.

"Come here. Sit down."

Dick huffed as he sat down.

"Why did you have to grow up?"

Tommy laughed.

"I don't know"

But Dick didn't find it funny.

"Well I don't like it. You give love, you give encouragement, you give support and then if you do a good job they just go away."

Tommy looked over at his father and smiled.

"Well then I guess you did a pretty good job then, right."

Then they were both smiling.

Then when he had left for New York to live with the Mother he hardly knew so that he could study architecture and see some more of the world, becoming Tom Hansen, they had talked every so often.

Tommy checked the paper in his hands for the seventh time as he stepped off the train. He hadn't seen his mother since he was 14 and yet here he was about to live with her so that he could start his postgratuate degree in architecture. He was a little nervous, but Janet Hansen had been quite enthusiastic about the whole idea over the phone. Dick hadn't been too thrilled with the idea, claiming loudly that if he left he could never come back. But he had said that three years before and never actually meant it.

Spotting a taxi Tommy hailed it and read the driver the address in his hand. Today he was going to start a whole new chapter in his life. Somehow his Mother had managed to get him into the program he wanted, but only by pulling in some favours. Usually Tommy could sail through the academic world, but he hadn't been paying enough attention at college, especially the first couple of years. Now though he was back on track due to the forged documents he had in his bag which officially changed his name to Thomas Arthur Hansen. It was a little strange no longer being a Solomon but as that had only been his name since he was 13 anyway he could shrug it off.

Even when he had taken his middle name to work outside the law, he had kept in touch.

Arthur looked at himself in the mirror one last time. Perfect. He looked perfect. This was who he was now. Completely in control of his life, Completely in control of everything. He was Arthur. Not Thomas Arthur Solomon, or Thomas Arthur Hansen. Just Arthur and he felt more at home in his skin than he ever had been before. This was who he was, who he was meant to be.

Arthur let the memories wash over him as he talked to his father, or rather while his father talked to him. Richard Solomon was ridiculously self-centered, always believing himself to be the centre of the universe. But he was used to it.

"So how's your new job going. I have to admit we were all very relieved when you stopped running around being shot at."

Arthur laughed a little at that. He had tried to explain to his father before that anyone hardly ever got close enough to him to shoot him in the real world, but it had never really sunk in.

"It's fine Dick. It's nice to be working with my team again, and it is a nice change not having to worry about people coming after us. But this new system we are testing is a little disconcerting. Especially the way the games select your character for you. It's supposed to put you into the character most like you. But I can't see how I ended up with the character I did this afternoon."

"Uh-huh. Tell me about it."

Arthur looked around and couldn't believe the chaos all around him. The reason that he had become a police officer was the same reason that he had idolised Batman all of these years. He wanted order, respected order. It was the opposite of everything that he hated, the chaos that had caused him to lose both of his parents. Now it was everywhere. All of the inmates of Blackgate prison had been set free. There was nothing but disorder and he hated it. Even worse was the fact that the others around him seemed to have given up. Foley, the only other officer besides the commisoner himself who was around, was refusing to fight and that left him on his own trying to organise a way out of the chaos.

All of his life Arthur had put his faith into the Gotham Police Department and Batman. They were the order that he craved, the cure to everything that was wrong with the world. But now all of that was crumbling around him. The police commissioner had been lieing to them all this time. Batman was missing and presumed dead. And the only other ranking officer in the whole of Gotham, was hiding away in his home.

"It's not that surprising Tommy. You've always thrived on order. Remember that time you left to hitch-hike across America with Harry…"

They hadn't made it very far, barely down the street, before they had to stop for a moment.

"I thought we had more money than this."

Tommy said, questioning his Uncle's earlier assessment of their situation.

"Well I thought I had smaller holes in my pockets."

Suddenly Tommy was regretting his decision to do this with Harry. But he tried to stay positive.

"You know what? This is good. This is good news Harry. This is how stories are born. Yeah, I feel like Kerouac strolling into Bakersfield. Broke. Gotta make some strolling money."

Smiling Tommy led the way inside the nearest building and introduced himself to the man behind the counter of the Garage. They emend up staying there for a few days, but soon Tommy realised that he wasn't meant for the drifter life.

"This place looks great. You didn't have to do any of this Tommy."

Tommy looked around at the once cluttered and untidy Garage.

"Ah, Well. I have trouble working in a cluttered environment. So I inventoried the tyres, and I composted the old sandwiches, and I um stacked these oil cans."

Arthur smiled at the memory before thanking his father and hanging up the phone. He was feeling better, but he still couldn't reconcile John Blake with himself. He had been so angry, and so detached from everyone else. Yes he and his family had been the outsideres while he was growing up. But he had thought he was past that now, especially as he had given up illegal dreamsharing. Blake was a hero, who stood up for what he believed, who preserved order and yet remained an outsider. He was nothing like John Blake, no matter what his father said.