* Glad you liked the last chapter, hope you like this one! And as always, READ AND REVIEW!

Darkness had engulfed Arthur. But he did not dream. He could no longer experience normal dreams. His always had to be self-induced. Never again would he dream naturally...

"Arthur? Arthur? Wake up..."

He remembered the horror he'd felt when his foot had hit anything. But he was definitely lying on something stable now. He just didn't know what. Or where for that matter.

"Arthur! Wake up!"

He felt himself beginning to wake up. He emerged from the blackness slowly, and a little painfully. His head hurt.

"ARTHUR."

His eyes opened and he looked up at Cobb, Eames, and Lance. He was slightly embarassed for them to have found him unconscious. But that was the least of his problems now. His head hurt like a bitch. Probably from hitting the ground so hard.

He realized he was lying on one of the lawnchairs they used for the Inception operations, and wished he'd been provided with a more comfortable place to lay. But, he had to appreciate the fact that they hadn't left him on the staircase which would've been far less comfortable.

"Arthur, what happened?" Cobb asked immediately.

Arthur looked around, collecting knowledge of his surroundings. He remembered.

"I-I sort of- I passed out."

Eames rolled his eyes and said with his oh-so-British accent,

"Well, yeah. We figured that out for ourselves oddly enough..."

Arthur glared at him and sat up.

"Well, I don't know I just-" He thought desperately trying to find a sufficient lie. The only one he could think of was not something he would like to tell them but it was better than the truth that could possibly be more embarassing, "I uh- hit my head on the railing."

The three men burst into simultaneous laughter and Arthur rolled his eyes standing up, holding the edge of the chair to steady himself.

Whatever. That was just a lie, that they could laugh about as much as they wanted. The truth was far more frightening. He needed to get a clear grip on reality or he'd have a bigger problem than not knowing when the end came to the Staircase.

"Well, now that you're awake. We've been hired to perform an extraction on a Mr. Oswald Destrey. He's planning on just closing his company, causing hundreds to lose their jobs, and his brother Frank to get no part in the company."

Arthur cocked an eyebrow, "Why not just buy it from him?"

Cobb smiled and shook his index finger at him knowingly, "Because he's dying. He wants to just close the company so that no one can take it from him when he dies."

"But how are we supposed to perform an extraction on a dying guy?"

"Well, he's not on his death bed quite yet. The doctor told him he had a month to live. So during that month we've got to do this."

Arthur nodded, "I'm assuming Frank Oswald is the one who hired us?"

"Yes. So if you could just run along and do your little Point Man buisness we can get started!" Eames said teasingly.

Arthur threw him another glare and went off to, 'do his little Point Man buisness.' and figure out everything they needed to know about this Mr. Destrey guy.

He worked late into the night, and yawning he set down his pen on top of his page of notes and stretched. He checked the time on his computer and saw it was 1:37 AM. He rested his head on his palm, propped up by his elbow, and his eyelids drew together...

He was walking along a sidewalk. He looked to his left and saw the street curved up towards the sky. He didn't question it. Everything was fine here. He entered a small coffee shop within an office building and looked around.

Across from the entrance was a staircase. On which, was Lance Wilson. He was gesturing for Arthur to join him. It was then that Arthur realized he was in a dream. But that couldn't be...

"Lance!" He called, running up to him, "Why am I dreaming naturally? I can't do that anymore..."

"I'm not Lance, I'm just a part of your subconscious. You know that."

Arthur nodded in agreement and said cooly, "Well, self conscious. Why am I dreaming? I can't do that anymore..."

"Lance messed with your subconscious mind when he put in that staircase that'd you seen in a previous dream and changed it only slightly. You thought it was REAL the second time, and it damaged part of you subconscious. The mind is a delicate thing, Arthur. Not something to be toyed with like that."

Arthur nodded, and his eyebrow furrowed as he watched 'Lance' turn around and walk up the steps.

"Wait!" Arthur called but he had disappeard around the corner.

Arthur ran, up, up, up, he went in a never ending spiral.

"LANCE! LANCE!" He called.

He stepped foward and was freefalling... the staircase had ended.

Arthur's head snapped up and he looked around, terrified. Sweat had collected at his brow and his breathing was heavy again. What was happening to him?

He stood up and felt his body shake with constant tremors. He entered the bathroom and walked over to the sink. He gasped as he noticed how pale he was. He splashed some water in his face and gripped the sides of the counter for support.

"Get ahold of yourself, Arthur. You never lose your cool!" He muttered to himself.

"Can't lose what you never had, dear."

Arthur jumped and turned around to see Eames standing in the doorway.

"You alright, Arthur?" He asked curiously.

"Yeah I'm-I'm fine."