"If we couldn't dream, our lives wouldn't mean anything anymore." –Georg Kaiser
Arthur- Los Angeles, CA
"Cobb, open up, it's me, it's Arthur."I banged on the front door. I heard the pattering of smaller feet and knew that one of the kids would open the door. They'd met "Uncle Arthur" before. I brought them presents. This time was no exception. A fancy doll from France that Ariadne had sent for Phillipa and a stuffed bear for James. They always loved the presents, and by extension, they'd grown to love me.
The door cracked open and I saw Phillipa's little face poking through the crack. She gasped, like I was the Easter Bunny or something, then threw the door open wide.
"Uncle Arthur!" She shrieked. "Daddy! Daddy, Uncle Arthur is here!" She threw herself around my legs and buried her face into my knees. She was still in that position when Cobb came up to the door, James in his arms.
"You bring me a present, Uncle Arthur?" James asked. But his little lisp was so bad that it sounded more like "You bwing me a pwesent, Un-kuh Awfuh?" I couldn't help but crack a small smile.
"You like bears, James?"
"I like bears!" James chirped in confirmation. I pulled out the stuffed animal and he hugged it like it was already his favorite toy. I presented Phillipa with her doll when she let go of my knees and told her that it was a special doll all the way from France. She looked at me with wide eyes and held the doll like it was made of glass.
"Hello, Arthur," Cobb said. His expression was light enough, but I could hear the gravity in his words. He didn't want me to be here. Whenever I came, I was trying to bring him back into our world, trying to bring him back to the team that now only consisted of me, Ariadne and Eames. Ariadne was wonderful, of course, but sometimes I questioned whether it would be too extreme to land a punch on Eames' smug face.
"Cobb. Can we talk?" Cobb looked at his kids. They looked right back at him.
"Why don't you two go play in Phillipa's room while I have a grown-up talk with Uncle Arthur?" Cobb suggested mildly to his kids.
"Okay! We'll play with our presents! Thank you Uncle Arthur!" Phillipa said dutifully. James was already halfway up the stairs, clutching the big brown bear under one arm. Once they were gone, Cobb looked at me, suddenly very serious.
"Arthur, if I've told you once, I've told you one hundred times, I don't do this anymore. My responsibility is to James and Phillipa," Cobb said somewhat harshly. I didn't even blink.
"We think Eames was bought out." I said. Cobb looked surprised.
"I thought you and he-"
"That doesn't matter." I said hastily "The problem is that we lost our forger, and Yusuf won't stay long without him. That'll leave out team with an architect and a point-man." I said a little angrily.
"What am I supposed to do about it?" Cobb asked a little sullenly. He knew that he was being an ass for abandoning us and letting our livelihoods disintegrate.
"You need to help us figure out who got to him. Someone bought him out, I know it. That's the only way Eames does anything- for a shitload of money," I spat, voicing my disgust. It was disgusting that a man's loyalty could be bought.
"Hey, take it easy, Eames has been there for us, push come to shove," Cobb said defensively. But I could see the doubt in his eyes.
"Find him for us Cobb." I said. I couldn't believe I was begging for that guy, but I was. Forgers were invaluable tools in Inception and Extraction. I may have hated the guy, but he was worth a lot. You can count the number of Forgers in the world on one hand.
"Listen, I know I guy, I'll get in touch with him, we'll figure this out," Cobb said.
"Who could you possibly know who could figure this out?" I asked a little desperately.
"Sean Gilligan. He's a genius. He knows about every Inception that goes over, every Inception that bombs, hell, he knows about every measly Extraction that happens." Cobb said. I'd never heard him speak with such reverence about… well, just about anyone.
"And you can contact him?" I asked, a little surprised. Cobb looked proud.
"I was one of the first people he trained to perform Extraction and Inception. There were only two others- This Indian guy named Raj Patel and his own daughter, Darcy." Cobb's expression was nostalgic, like it was some of the best time of his life.
"And?" I prompted. I didn't have the time to sit around and watch him reminisce.
"I bet it's Darcy who "stole" Eames. From what I heard, Raj killed himself a couple of years ago, and I've never heard anything about Darcy… which leads me to believe that she's the only other person who'd actually know what to do with Eames if they got him." Cobb said seriously.
"So you think we can contact her through her dad?" I asked in an attempt to hurry the conversation along.
"Probably. I'm pretty sure she's still a teenager." Cobb said thoughtfully. I shook my head and held my hands in a "timeout" symbol.
"You were trained- what?- ten years ago?" I asked a little weakly. I hadn't started my training until I was eighteen and it took me years to master all the complexities of the dream.
"Yeah, Sean's got a few screws loose up there. But how could you not if you were capable of creating Inception?" Cobb said, putting a finger to his temple. "She wasn't even ten when we started training. She was seven, maybe eight. Sean wanted her to be the best. I think he taught her stuff that he didn't even teach me and Raj." Cobb seemed a little resentful at that. I felt my cheeks coloring slightly.
"So you think we're losing our forger because we're being out-bidded by a teenager?" I asked furiously. That was embarrassing, infuriating, and I wouldn't stand for it. Cobb thought about it for a moment.
"Definitely."
"Shit, man," I said angrily. "You have to tell me where we can find this guy."
"Chicago." Cobb said. "I'll call him for you, so he'll expect you. I'll get you the address. But I'm not helping. I'm staying with the kids." I nodded. But I knew that Cobb was the kind of guy who was in for a penny, in for a pound.
"Sure, sure. Well, I'm going to get going. I have to book a couple of seats on the next flight out to Chicago." I said, turning towards the door.
"Wait," Cobb called. He stood and followed me to the door. "You'll let me know how things are going right? I mean, I still want you guys to get Eames back." I inclined my head only slightly.
"Sure, Cobb." I said, a little more stiffly. He nodded his thanks, and I left the house. When I got back in the car, Ariadne was waiting anxiously.
"How did it go?" Ariadne asked. She was sitting in the passenger seat with her feet on the dashboard, exactly where I had told her not to put them.
"Feet down, Ari," I reminded her gently. She swung them down and slouched in her seat.
"Is Cobb in, or what?" She asked, looking up at me with her warm brown eyes.
"He says he's just doing us a little favor. He says he's going to try and call the guys who bought out Eames and see if we can reach an arrangement. But he's totally in. We should expect him to follow us within a couple of days." Ariadne nodded, satisfied.
"Where are we going?" She asked. I relayed Cobb's claim to her, and she agreed wholeheartedly that we should get out there, before they actually used our Forger.
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Chicago, IL
We flew into O'Hare airport and checked into an upscale hotel downtown. We got a shared suite on the top floor. It had separate bedrooms, much to my disappointment. Ariadne, forever the grad student, was absolutely stunned by our suite. I found it to be merely satisfactory.
"Have you gotten Cobb's call yet?" Ariadne asked me as she flopped down on my bed. It bothered me that she had wrinkled the covers, but I held back my reprimands.
"Not yet. I think you'll know when I do," I told her. She nodded and laid back on my bed, only mussing it up further. I watched her warily. Ever since the Saito-Fischer job, I hadn't been quite sure what to do with Ariadne. I mean, we never talked about our kiss on the second level down; she never made any advances of her own accord. I was nothing if not methodical and objective, but with this damn architect, I couldn't seem to figure things out.
"Hey, Ariadne." I said, looking at her suddenly. She looked back at me with raised eyebrows- curious.
"Yeah?" Ariadne replied. She sounded hopeful- or was that just me being delusional?
"Do you maybe want to go to dinner or something? I mean, while we wait for Cobb's news?" I sounded stupid even to myself. I was never so insecure. She smiled a little, only one corner of her mouth pulling up.
"Yeah, yeah, that sounds really good. Where do you want to go?" She asked. I smiled. That was one hurdle cleared.
"Well do you want to go somewhere fancy or low-key?" I asked. I knew what her answer would be.
"Low-key. I don't really want to get dressed up for it," she said, smirking a little at my perfectly straight tie. I felt it a little self-consciously before I untied it, then unbuttoned the first button on my shirt. I felt bare and naked without a jacket or even a tie, but she smiled at me.
"Low-key. Got it," I said, grinning a little stupidly.
"Okay, slim, how about I pick the restaurant though? I think I have more expertise at low-class dining." Ariadne said raising her eyebrows as she looked me up and down. I gave her a similar look right back.
"Really? Well I know more about eating out in Chicago than you," I responded with a slight joke in my voice. She crossed her arms and looked doubtful.
"I bet you only ate out at the places that charged four dollars for a glass of water," Ariadne scoffed. I smiled knowingly at her.
"Come on, just let me choose. I'll show you a great time," I promised, holding my hand out to her as an offer. She gave me a suspicious smile before taking it, and we walked out. I didn't realize that I forgot my phone until we were in the back of a cab, our arms intertwined. So I decided that for once, it could wait.
A/N: Here we go, back on path with our canon characters! (I hope you like A/A!) Maybe you've figured out who's gone missing from the canon team :). I'm sorry it took so long, I was at a soccer tournament out of state for a few days and just got back to the internet. Hopefully they'll come out faster now. Please review! Any constructive criticism is welcome!