6.
~ Ariadne woke to the familiar sounds of Daniel crying. A mother's instinct made jump out of bed and walk, half asleep, to his crib to feed him. The familiar sleepwalk of a nursing mother with a baby who couldn't yet make it through the night.
"It's alright, honey." she whispered to her baby as she approached the crib. Hopefully, he would only be wet and need a brief changing and feeding.
"Mommy's here." she said as she reached the crib and saw it was empty. Her son's cries were echoing all around her as she pulled the blankets off his crib in a rabid search for her son.
"Daniel!" she cried out as his cries became more insistent and wanting. "Daniel!"
She tore apart his nursery looking for her baby like a mad woman.
"Daniel! Where are you?" she screamed.
~ She woke up to Drew playing with her nose. Ariadne opened her eyes to see it was morning already and her youngest had found her way into the bedroom.
Drew was sucking on the pacifier she was too old for, and giggled at her mother.
"Morning, baby." Ariadne smiled weakly at the little girl who had Daniel's dark curling hair and her own expressive eyes.
'Daniel.' he blood ran cold at the memory of her missing son.
She jumped out of bed leaving Drew to pester a sleeping Arthur and ran to the boy's bedroom.
Dominic was awake and playing with his cars. His bed unmade and his side of the room a mess as always. Daniel's room was neat and organized. His bed was made and a little collection of Egyptian replicas were on the book shelf.
Daniel wasn't here. He didn't sleep here in his bed last night. Ariadne didn't know where her precious baby had slept last night.
She felt panic and grief swell inside her as she heard Arthur's footsteps come down the hall. Her husband was carrying Drew and both of them looked sad.
"Lets feed the kids." he said gravely.
~ Ariadne wouldn't let Dominic or Darcy go to school that day. They stayed by the phones, both knowing what they were waiting for.
"Sir, do you have any enemies? Anyone who might want to do harm to you?" the detective asked in a delicate matter.
Arthur and Ariadne kept their faces blank as they said no. There were plenty of people who would want to do them harm. The work of dream extraction didn't exactly make you friends. It was certain that they could have made a powerful mark angry enough to kidnap their child in retaliation.
Still, they didn't tell the detective this. The world of dream extraction was illegal and if it were ever found out that Arthur took part in it, their troubles had just begun.
The detectives asked more questions about Daniel. What his routines were, who he came in contact with. Was there a custody dispute, or was there any strangers lately who seemed interested in Daniel?
Ariadne couldn't think of anything unusual to tell them. With a blind child, his life was all about routine. That was how he had to function.
The detectives finally left them, and Cobb and Eames came out of Arthur's office.
"We can't rely on the police." Cobb was saying as he opened his laptop and sat in the same place as the detectives.
"Right." Eames agreed. "And I know right where to start."
"You do?" Ariadne asked in hopeful surprise.
"Isn't it obvious? Who is the one person who isn't afraid to hold our loved ones hostage to get what she wants?" the Forger said.
"You mean Genesis?" Arthur asked. "Are we even sure she's still alive? She was reaching 90 the last time I saw her."
"People like her live forever. She's tough and if you're going to get old, you have to be tough." Eames told them.
"I have her card still." Ariadne said excitedly and went to her bedroom to get it.
Arthur leaned in to Cobb and Eames. He didn't want Ariadne to hear. She was too hopeful about the Genesis theory.
"Eames, we can't rule out that some pervert took my son." he hissed.
"We won't, Arthur." Cobb said calmly. "But if anyone can help us, Genesis can. She has connections."
"She's also kidnapped us all before." Eames grumbled.
"There are also former marks, and clients." Cobb added. "We'll find him."
Arthur nodded. He knew Daniel would eventually be found. He hoped still alive.
~ Daniel was bored. He almost never got bored. He told himself stories or played with his always useful brother. Now, he had nothing to do. No toys to play with, no one to talk to, and nowhere to go.
He sat up out of the bed when he heard a toilet flush from upstairs. Someone's heavy footsteps where walking about.
'Bathroom upstairs?' he wondered.
He stood out of bed and wandered over the room. Kicking himself for not doing it before. He quickly ran into the sink, and toilet. He was in a large half bathroom. His kidnappers and wedged a bed and TV in here and made it into a cell.
He found the door. An old thing made of wood with a doorknob that he wan't used to working. It was worn smooth from years of use.
He tried to open it, but realized it was locked.
He felt down below the door at the large gap. He could feel cool air and the distinct smell of cigarettes in the other room.
Something touched his hand and he jumped. It was furry and wet to the touch and gave a feeble, curious cry.
'Cat.' he thought and put his fingers out to touch the animal.
The cat seemed to like him and rubbed it's head on his fingers. It's paws trying to catch his hands when Daniel pulled them back in.
He felt slightly better as he and the cat played through the gap under the door. The creature seeming to understand that he needed to have some contact. Some kind of reassurance that not all who lived here were evil.
The cat didn't like it when Daniel lost interest in the game and went back to the window.
No one had come and checked on him for a while. He checked his watch, the one papa had gotten him and the school hd taught him how to use. It's numbers raised in brail as if by magic. It was 1600, which meant it was only afternoon. The sun was still out? Yes, he could feel it when he went to the window.
They wouldn't check on him in his makeshift cell for a while. The window opened easier this time, and he could hear birds and traffic once more. The traffic here was much different than at home. It smelled different here to.
Home smelled of trees, wood, bricks and other comforting things. This place, wherever it was, was a jumble of dirty cars, garbage and cooking.
The cat meowed at him to come and play again, but Daniel was too busy.
He leaned out further and tried to listen to each sound. People spoke French, English and even Spanish here. Their voices sounding like whispers from where he was.
Where was he? He couldn't ever remember bring in a place like this. Nothing about the noises or the smells reminded him of anything.
There was a smell of a restaurant, but not one he had been to. It was too spicy and strange. There were sounds of barking dogs and people shouting. Police sirens were going off.
'Maybe their coming for me!' he thought hopefully and leaned out further.
He wasn't paying attention and leaned out too far. His small body tipping out and his feet losing their grip on the floor.
He flip flopped out the window into the world outside. His heart stopping as he wondered where he would land.