* So! Another chapter! Please for the love of all that is fanfiction... READ AND REVIEW!

"EAMES! LANCE! Get over here! Something's happened to- What happened to Lance?" Cobb yelled.

"Don't know! The bloke was standing up one minute, and on the ground the next! What about Arthur?" Eames asked, approaching, dragging Lance behind him.

"Don't know that either, he was fine one minute then the next he's attempting a faceplant towards the pavement!"

Eames and Cobb stood facing each other, puzzled and muttering curses under their breath. Even the sarcastic forger could think of no joke to soften the mood.

"Do you think maybe Lance was right?" Cobb whispered to Eames in case either Arthur or Lance woke.

"What? You mean about them being too young to handle this kind of strain on their minds? No. Arthur's never had a problem before."

Cobb shook his head, doubt clear on his face, "I'm not sure. I mean, Arthur's always been good but maybe he could only keep it up for a little while. Maybe he can't anymore..."

"C'mon Dom! Arthur's always been a great member of the team..." Normally he wouldn't defend the young Point Man like this but he had a feeling Lance was the one to blame, "When was it that Arthur first started acting wierd?"

Cobb thought this over carefully, and as realization spread across his face he said, "Since we ran a test with Lance... on Arthur!"

"Bingo, darling."

Both Eames and Cobb's mind zoomed into a flashback. From the end of the test with Lance.

Arthur was running up the Endless Staircase, a smirk built across his face. He thought he knew where it'd end. Little did he know that Lance had tricked him. He was running, running, running, falling...

"Arthur!" Cobb had screamed as the Point Man went into an uncontrollable freefall.

"I see your Point Man isn't as good as he first appeared." Lance had sneered.

"Alright gents. We're done here, c'mon." Eames had said and gestured for them to join him in jumping with Arthur.

They had all woken up and Arthur was sitting up, eyes wide and staring off into space, sweat rolling down his forehead, and extremely pale.

"Arthur? Are you okay?" Cobb had asked.

Arthur's breathing was heavy but he said in his normal calm voice, though they all heard the slightest bit of panic in it, "I'm fine..."

"Lance! You think... You think...?"

"Think he did this to Arthur on purpose? Yes." Eames finished for him.

"Kill him? No, you can't- You can't do that... Someone will know it was you!" Arthur cried.

"No, not true. You see, I'm going to jump off this staircase, wake up, then shoot myself and get back to level one, then I'm going to shoot myself again, and wake up. Then, while you're all asleep, I'll kill the rest of you. You, Yusuf, Eames... And then, I'll perform the extraction on Cobb."

Arthur stared at him, mouth open slightly in shock, and then- He ran past him, shoving him down the stairs. He sprinted foward, wondering what use he'd be to the team now that his mind was so screwed up. He sighed and continued running.

"HEY!" Lance yelled, coming up behind him.

Arthur whipped out his gun and shot at Lance, hitting him in the shoulder.

"Ow! Shit!"

The end of the staircase is in twenty-three more steps.

Arthur was surprised. He was getting his sense back. He thought of what he'd just done to make that happen. He'd shot Lance. Why would that make him regain his sense? He remembered something Cobb had told him on numerous occasions,

"The mind is a complex thing, Arthur."

So it was.

He continued running... He shot backwards in hopes of hitting Lance again.

Eleven more steps.

He looked back and saw Lance crumple, but he was still alive.

He shot at him and missed.

...More steps...

He frowned in frustation. He aimed carefully at Lance, who had now whipped out his own gun.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

A ringing was echoing in Arthur's ears as his vision flickered white and pain exploded in his side. He staggered and fell, clutching the bloody wound.

"What the hell is happening to them?" Cobb cried terrified as he pointed out bloody bullet wounds that were appearing all over Lance and in Arthur's side, "It looks like they've been shot!"

Arthur aimed his gun carefully and another bullet blasted into him, shattering his shoulder. He gasped in pain and fired his gun wildly in Lance's direction. To his surprise it hit Lance directly in the gut and he moaned and slid down the stairs.

Seven more steps.

Arthur clutched the rail for support and climbed the stairs.

Four more steps.

He was slowing as the blood loss got to him... He saw the end.

Jump.

He stumbled off of the staircase and fell... down... down... down...