Author's Note: Another chapter for all of my awesome readers. Not sure how to describe it, but I know it is a bit on the lighter side. I still think it's a good read, though.
As always, let me know what you think in a review! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I own only my own plot.
Ariadne was busy cleaning her apartment when there was a loud knock on her door.
At first, she hadn't heard it, drowned out by the music from her stereo. She only noticed when she went to take the trash out; she went head first into a broad chest, which startled a yelp from her.
"Hello, there." Eames grinned down at her as he leaned against the door frame, at ease. His eyes darted down to the trash bag that she'd dropped in fright. "Sorry about that."
"Eames! What...what are you doing here?" Ariadne stooped down to pick up bits of trash that had escaped.
The man grinned, but clutched at his chest as if hurt. "Was I not who you expected? I know I'm not any ol' point man, but I would think a man of my many skills would suffice?" He faked injured when she smacked him on the chest.
"What's going on? I thought we weren't due to sleep again until Thursday? Thank you," she added when he took the bag from her.
"We need to take a vacation. To Mombasa, you and I." He paused, taking in her incredulous look. "Arthur's already left. He told me we needed to meet him immediately."
Ariadne snorted. "And it's your responsibility to fetch me?"
"No, darling. I volunteered for that." He winked. "Now, go gather some things quick. I'll toss the rubbish and come back up here."
Ariadne turned back into her apartment, leaving the door open a crack for her associate, and went to fetch her I.D.s and passport. While she dug under a precarious pile of sketch pads, Eames had returned and asked her where a small bag she could use would be. Distracted, she waved towards her room. "In the closet, on the floor probably."
It didn't occur to her that he would snoop. Until he came to the hallway holding up some of her lingerie.
"My, my Ari. Didn't know you had it in you, hm?"
"Eames!" She scrambled up, ignoring the landslide of papers and snatched the silk away from him. She shoved him towards the kitchen. "I'll get my clothes. Just...guard my apartment."
She ignored his chuckles at her pink-tinged face and threw random bits of clean clothes in the bag he'd managed to find. Stalking to her bathroom to grab her toiletries, she called out, "Why Mombasa?"
His voice came from the doorway once more, watching her throw her things in her bag. "Mombasa is where Yusuf lives. And I'm known to haunt the fair city from time to time."
"So Arthur's worried about how we haven't heard from him?"
The forger's eyes narrowed slightly. "Something like that. Not only that he's one of the few we haven't heard from in this giant clusterfuck of a mystery, but...well, the clues sort of point to a chemist. The signs are there."
Ariadne zipped her bag up and tucked her paperwork in her purse. Slipping on shoes, she met Eames stare. "Do you think Yusuf is doing this?"
"There are a lot of theories floating around. Who knows?"
"But what do you think?"
She came to stand in front of him, bag dangling from her hand, waiting.
"There are a lot of things we don't know about Yusuf. To be honest, I know the most about him compared to everyone else in our little group. I know more than most in our entire community. But the fraction of what I know about him couldn't even be compared to what I know about you. Which, to be honest, isn't a lot. Unfortunately."
She looked down, contemplating his words. Biting her lip, she said, "He's brilliant. But, that's worrisome, isn't it?"
"Ooh, yes. Indeed. Now, let's get going. Our flight leaves soon!" He tugged her towards her apartment door, barely letting her lock it on their way out.
–
"This is Saito's airline, isn't it?" Ariadne deadpanned, settling into her seat behind Eames. Once more, first class. Only one other sat in their section, an older gentleman who immediately engrossed himself with a conversation on the plane's phone in front of him.
Eames nodded. "Saito was also affected in all of this, which raises alarms. No other previous employers or marks have been involved. That we know of. It takes a strong man to admit what scares him and to admit that to other people—near strangers, especially." Ariadne wondered when Saito had called and mentioned this and voiced her puzzlement to Eames. "Cobb got a call from him maybe two weeks ago. Said it had happened three days before he'd called. We hadn't thought much on it until I noticed he was the oddball... Well, him and you."
"Me?" Her voice hitched slightly.
"You," he whispered for effect. "You are very green to this business still. You've done two small extraction jobs with Arthur and others since that bloody inception, but you know nothing, really. Your jobs have been cake, since then. You're not jaded or hardened by all of this. Which makes it curious as to why someone would target you, beyond association. And to be honest, that's all they have on you is the guilt upon association."
Ariadne leaned back in her seat, thinking. She barely heard the pilot's voice, and ignored the attendant, who came by to make sure everyone was seated and following the monotonous rules. It had been less than a year since the inception of Robert Fischer, but compared to the lengthy and impressive lists that Eames and the others had, she was very much new to everything. Her last two jobs were simplistic one layer dreams that were set in equally simplistic minds.
And she hadn't been allowed in the marks' minds.
There was no Cobb to guilt trip those times and Arthur had refused. Right off the bat, before telling her beyond that there was work to be had.
Once the seat belt sign dimmed, she unbuckled and slunk up behind Eames, who was accepting champagne from the attendant. She took her own drink and leaned in close to whisper, "How long have you been doing this, Eames?"
"What? Chasing after possible crazed people who are invading my subconscious? Not long, just a handful of weeks."
She stared at him, trying not to crack a smile. Despite how funny she'd found his quip, she was tired and flying rarely left her in a joking mood.
"Sorry, I forgot flying doesn't agree with you. About eight or nine years. The first few are hazy. Those were...wild days. But I was certainly older than you, m'dear. To which, I'm sorry."
"Why are you sorry?"
"Don't get me wrong, I am very glad to have met you. You're a brilliant architect, both in reality and in the dreamscape, and you're a wonderful laugh to have around. But, it's a bit disappointing to see that you had to be dragged into this with so much...youthful promise." He paused at her confused look. "I'm terrible at explaining this. A year ago, if you'd said no to Cobb's proposal of a 'mysterious job', you'd most likely be in a healthy relationship, finishing your degree, and already studying with a prominent construction company that could propel you to the stars of architecture."
"But instead, I'm single, being haunted by my subconscious, and taking the odd illegal high-end job?"
He nodded, "Instead, you're stuck. You're in this for life. You will be able to take normal building jobs, but it won't be the same... Wait, you're single?"
Ariadne bristled. "Is this really the time to talk about this?"
"What better time? I have you trapped thousands of miles in the sky, dear." She gave him a sour look. "I thought you and our darling Arthur were attached at the hip."
Ariadne narrowed her eyes at Eames seemingly innocent smile. "Not that it's any of your business, but he and I have never been dating. We're colleagues. Like you and I." She took a swallow of the champagne she'd nearly forgotten about, feeling as though she was going to need the alcohol if Eames was going to nag her the whole flight.
"Did he break your heart? Should I rough him up a bit when this is all done?" He winked, grinning bigger when he saw her lips purse.
"Nothing happened. I look up to him, like a brother. Now stop it."
He sighed dramatically. "You're no fun when we fly. We still have nearly another four hours to go."
Ariadne stared at him a moment, considering. "Since you've butted into my life a bit, mind if I ask you something?"
Eames thought about it a moment, choosing his words carefully. "Depends. Why not try and see?"
She nodded, accepting his answer. She'd expected nothing more from him. Using a measured tone, she asked, "Have you ever impersonated Cobb or the others on the job? With them or on others without them?"
There was surprise on his face, though cleverly hidden. He smirked, "Well, that's something I wasn't expecting. I've done Cobb a few times, working with him. Used it to confuse a mark. Once, I did Arthur when I was on a solo job." He cleared his throat, looking embarrassed. "It kind of caught up to him a few months later, unfortunately. Which, in turn, made him thoroughly and royally ticked off at me..."
"He beat your ass, didn't he?" Ariadne's grin was wide.
He sat up in his seat, brushing off invisible dust from his sleeves. "Just...just the once. Though, I did deserve it, I suppose. But those were in the early days. I don't really do it anymore. Not unless I have to. It's fairly uncomfortable with that very person in the same dream and you knowing them in more than just a casual way."
Ariadne nodded, understanding the possible complications. "You haven't done me, have you?"
"No, love. I haven't had the opportunity to do you yet," he said, chuckling.
Ariadne blushed lightly, but stood by her words.
Two and a half hours into their flight, Ariadne found herself drowsy, which made her heart race. This was not the place to take a nap and wake up screaming. Usually, she tried to sleep on flights that were longer than an hour, but there was no room for rest. Not when she reminded herself why she was flying to Kenya in the first place. She took a peek at Eames, who was reading a newspaper with rapt interest.
"Yes, Ariadne?"
How did...
"I have eyes on the back of my head..." He turned to face her and noticed her drooping eyes. "Oh, dear."
"Yeah, that's...an understatement."
Eames looked around before taking his eyes back to the woman. "Is waking up...bad? I mean, in case you do give in?"
"I usually scream while I'm sleeping and then wake up bawling." She hid her eyes behind her hand, looking down.
"Well..." he stared at her hand, which blocked the sight of her face from him, making him frown. "That's terrible."
Ariadne looked up, startled at his seemingly callous remark. While she hadn't been expecting pity, she sure hadn't expected an offhand generic comment. Her eyes met his teasing ones, which made her smack him in the arm. "Ass."
He grabbed her hand and held it close. "Sorry. I don't do all that squishy, warm stuff that normal people do. If you ever get to know me, you'll see I really am an ass. But, this whole situation is completely fucked up. Which, in turn, is bringing out parts of me I didn't know existed."
"You're saying you're a complete rogue, who's only out for himself, then?" Ariadne tugged at her hand, but Eames didn't let go. She didn't fight him too hard on it.
"Precisely."
She leaned in close to the Englishman, staring him in the eyes. Affecting a small smile, she squeezed his hand and whispered, "You're full of shit."
Quickly, she tugged her hand out of his and leaned back, pulling the sketch book she'd managed to throw in her bag out and quickly flipped the pages to something she'd been working on for class.
Turning around, Eames stared ahead of him for a moment before muttering, "Well, I'll be damned..." and settling back to his paper, suddenly hyper-aware of Ariadne humming quietly behind him.
They landed in the small airport just outside Mombasa and traveled by taxi to the hotel Arthur had told Eames about before leaving. They checked in quickly and headed up to the room, finding Arthur in the middle of a phone call, pacing from wall to wall. When he noticed them come in, he looked at them in acknowledgment and went back to his seemingly heated conversation.
"Not even a proper welcome," Eames muttered jokingly, glaring at the suited man. Ariadne hushed him and sat on the edge of the bed, trying to ignore the weight of travel hanging on her shoulders. When she felt the large hand of her travel companion give a gentle squeeze on her shoulder, she looked up at him and gave him a tired smile. "Don't worry, Ari. I'm sure before we do too much, we can try to give you a kip with the PASIV."
"Unfortunately, we can't. Not yet," Arthur ended his phone call and strode over to the two. He looked down at Ariadne, who blinked up at him slowly. "We need to go visit Yusuf. Trying to catch him there might be tricky. He knows we're here."
"What do you mean 'he knows'? Is that good or bad?" Eames asked, incredulous. "Are we really going in there assuming he's our guy? I thought you were all about specificity." He made the air quotes in a mocking tone, which Arthur chose to ignore.
"We don't know much of anything, Eames. If you recall, your spectacular sleuthing skills didn't turn up much and we've got some of the others watching him. He hasn't made any signs of moving or leaving, but they're sure he knows we're here."
Ariadne thought a moment. "Who does he think is here? Just you? You and Eames? Cobb?"
Arthur rubbed the back of his neck as he answered her. "He knows I'm here. He might think Cobb is, we're not sure. He knows about Eames, but we're under the assumption that he's thought Eames was here the entire time since he likes to hang out here."
"So I've heard," Ariadne said, giving Eames a side glance.
"What?" he said indignantly. "The culture here is wonderful, thank you."
She shook her head. "I didn't say anything."
"Anyway," Arthur sighed, "we need to get down there. Can you take us there, Eames? You took Cobb there last time."
"Of course. Let's leave our things here and get going, then. Ari, don't forget your purse, love. Can't leave your identification laying around." Eames nodded his head to the bed, where her bag was left. She quickly shuffled over and grabbed it before joining them out the door.
Both men gave each other worried glaces as she walked ahead of them to the lobby.
A/N: Like I said, a bit different, right? Anyway, review are lovely things. They help unicorns be born and give puppies & kittens homes (I think...I suppose, but don't hold me to it).
Story recommendation is Fans? by Voldemort's Spawn.