Disclaimer: I don't own Inception nor any of it's characters.

Warnings: Graphic and Non-graphic scenes of torture. Non-graphic sex later in the story. Slash, Eames/Arthur

Rating: T for now, maybe M later, I'll keep you updated.

Summary: Eames looses himself in a forge and both he and Arthur are left to try to help him remember who he is and why he lost himself in the first place.

Chapter Three

Investigation and Planning

"Brutal murder was an understatement. This has the makings of a professional mob hit," Eames said wincing at the crime scene photos in front of him laid out on the coffee table. It was two weeks after being hired by their client and the two were dutifully working away. They had spent the last two weeks setting up, getting the initial information about the murder and preliminary investigations into the background of Rickard and his family. Eames leaned back into the couch and read more from the police report. The victim, an 84-year-old man named Mark Rickard, was murdered in his retirement home around the hours of 1 am to 2 am. He was suffocated with a hand; someone covered his mouth and nose while they kneeled on his chest but not before he was severely beaten, tortured and blinded with acid. The police had no suspects, no witnesses, no leads what so ever.

"So how are we gonna catch this guy? A two way extraction?" Eames asks Arthur who is studying at the desk.

"You forge someone trying to get Walcott to admit the deed and meanwhile I'll be searching for a safe to read his subconscious thoughts that your questions bring up. Pretty standard," Arthur agreed. He had his laptop open in front of him looking up the mark and emailing some of his contacts, looking for deeper, dirtier details.

"Do you think we should give Ariadne a call?" Arthur asked scanning some recent mazes he'd printed up.

"Naw, we can do it. We don't need a masterpiece. We should give her a call soon though. She wanted to have us over for supper to celebrate her graduation," Eames said smiling at the thought of their architect friend. Ari was the person he texted the most next to Arthur and was quite protective of her. She had talent and the most adorable personality.

The two of them continued to research for the next little while in silence before Arthur sighed and turned towards Eames.

"What do you think of our client?" Arthur asks him.

Eames looked up from the papers again and pondered silently before answering. Eames was the Sherlock Holmes of dreaming. "It's the power of deduction my dear Watson!" Yes Eames had actually said that, often, Arthur though ruefully to himself with an eye roll. Eames always caught the little details that made someone unique and he always got the implications of those details. He was a master of understanding behavior and psychology, that's why he was so good at emulating people. Other forgers just did what other people were doing; all surface stuff but it rarely tricked the projections for long. Eames did the little things, the ticks and tells, but he knew why the person was doing them so he was able to forge a lot more than just the actions and appearance but also the personality, the way the person thought and his/her reasons for doing, feeling or thinking something. Eames was more likely to become celibate than to get detected by either a mark or by the projections. He could spend weeks walking around in someone's subconscious. He had tricked identical twins into believing he was the other, he had forged soul mate's and the other was never the wiser, he could trick a mother into thinking he was her own child. Arthur was so proud of how good Eames was but it also scared him. Eames wasn't the best because he just looked like someone in a dream, but because he became them. Arthur had seen Eames loose himself a couple of times and feared the day he wouldn't be able to find Eames and separate him from his dream personalities.

They had met with Edward Rickard, their client, three other times since the initial meet but Eames had had him pegged after only the first meeting. Arthur thought he was rather eccentric for a businessman.

"He's not crazy, just tired and stressed. He recently picked up smoking; he isn't sleeping, and has lost a lot of weight. He is struggling with his father's death and he feels guilty about it. I don't think he did it but that he feels like he should have reported the suspected abuse earlier or that he was responsible for the torture in some way. I think we should trust his instincts about this Walcott guy. How did he get our number by the way?"

"He used to work for my parents. He was one of the few who were legitimate. I guess my parent's have been bragging to their rich friends about their criminal genius son and his significant other."

"Yeah you are something to brag about aren't you?" Eames smiled reassuringly at Arthur knowing how hard it was for Arthur to talk about his family.

After finishing reading the police reports Eames mused aloud to Arthur.

"Judging from these injuries and the acid burns in particular I'd say the murderer is former military or professional criminal. These injuries are all efficient and painful, something that takes practice to inflict correctly. Many of the injuries are classic torture methods for getting information. Pulled fingernails, slices and burns, the usual stuff. They are all methodical and precise. The acid is more underground mob stuff though. He appears to have let Rickard out of his bonds before blinding him with the acid and killing him. It looks like the killer wanted Rickard to think he was getting away before taking that away from him. Real brutal stuff. We're dealing with a sicko here. Does Walcott have a background in organized crime or the military?"

"I don't know. This guy looks squeaky clean at first glance. He's 37, from La Pine, Oregon. He's been working in nursing and retirement homes since he graduated and all of his references seem to check out. He's still in the state, working for a different home now though. I think this might be a fake identity but it's a good one. I'm having a hard time tracking this guy."

"My Arthur having a hard time tracking someone?" Eames said with fake incredulity, he turned serious and continued. "Why do you suspect this guy isn't who he says he is? Have any of your contacts with the crime syndicate come back with anything yet?"

"Nothing concrete. If he did kill Rickard he had to have had practice somewhere. The injuries aren't hesitant or shaky. These are stone cold cuts and bruises, which only come with lots of practice and training."

"Maybe we shouldn't rule out mob ties then. There are few people who can forge the documents needed to pull off a good false identity."

"Yourself being counted in that number of course," Arthur teased and Eames smiled at him knowingly. Eames got up from the couch and walked over to Arthur.

"Do you want to call your family or their contacts? See if they know anything?" Eames asked gently. Arthur shook his head firmly.

"No, I'll find something I'm sure."

" Alright monkey. I'm gonna go to make dinner. I'll holler when it's ready," Eames said placing a hand on Arthur's cheek. He ran his thumb down his cheekbone lightly before kissing Arthur on the top of the head and walking to the kitchen. Eames stooped and picked up Dolos from the ground, as the cat came over and rubbed himself against his leg. "Wanna check on the boys before you come on in for dinner? Me and Dolos will be in the kitchen."

"For being English, your speech is horrific sometimes," Arthur called after him. After two minutes more of working, Arthur felt something brush his legs and heard a small meow. Arthur smiled, leaned down and plucked the lithe cat from the ground and placed him down on his legs. "Arthur did you steal my cat?" Eames called from the kitchen.

"Our cat, Eames. No I didn't. He came to me, he must not like whatever it is your cooking in there."

"Hardy har," Eames sarcastically laughed.

Dolos curled in Arthur's lap and slept while he continued with his online investigation. After ten minutes more of research Arthur put Dolos on his bed atop the couch and opened the patio door that lead to the garden veranda that he and Eames had got for their dogs. He whistled shrilly and the two dogs came bounding towards him through the shrubs and small trees. Twyrch got to him first and Arthur knelt to pet the dog. Twyrch was well behaved, he knew better than to jump or lick, he nuzzled affectionately but not aggressively. Llydd on the other hand immediately jumped onto Arthur's lap, his muddy paws making prints on his dress pants. He groaned and picked up the puppy and placed him on the ground beside Twyrch. He spent the reminder of the time before dinner playing fetch with Twyrch while Llydd ran behind him, often tripping up the other dog when he would get too enthusiastic.

Eames called Arthur into dinner a little while later. He usually cooked while Arthur always baked. Baking took too much precision and not enough imagination for Eames to enjoy. He never followed a cookbook and it was damn near impossible to replicate any of his dishes but Arthur had never tasted such good food in all his life than in his years with Eames as his cook.

Eames smiled at him when he saw the puppy prints but frowned when he caught sight of Llydd in his arms and Twyrch at his heels.

"Gorgeous, we got an apartment with a garden for a reason. The dogs are suppose to stay in it," Eames chastised his lover but came over with a wash cloth to wipe the pup's paw's clean.

"They miss us though, come on Eames let him stay through the meal, and then we can go for a walk with them. Please?" Arthur asked with great big puppy dog eyes. Eames chuckled and rolled his eyes before agreeing and bringing out the food. Eames had been the one to buy Twyrch 6 years ago. Arthur had always wanted a dog when he was growing up but had not been allowed. Dolos was Arthur's gift to Eames and Llydd had been for Twyrch who was home by himself allot, or at least that's what Arthur told Eames when he had brought the puppy home. Eames' suspected it was also an apology for the last two years and a way to mark the restart of their relationship.

The two ate silently for a while. Halfway through the meal Eames brought up the job again.

"Why would anyone go through so much effort on this guy? You wouldn't hire a hit man and a good one at that to torture someone to death unless you needed something from him."

"Or maybe you needed something from his son. Send a message through the death of the father. Show him what you can do, blackmail him. Thus the months of abuse in the home before the murder."

"It also explains the state that the son is in. The extreme stress and guilt," Eames chewed his food thoughtfully before continuing. "It doesn't explain why Edward would hire us though. If he knew who had killed his father, i.e. the blackmailer and why, the blackmail, he wouldn't need us. What about the other son? Could it have been directed at Edward's brother Herman?"

"I'll put some research into it later. Thanks for the meal Dan, it was great as usual," Arthur said spooning some of the meat off the table and in front of Llydd. The puppy ate it up greedily and licked his fingers when Arthur bent to pet him. Twyrch was curled in the corner with Dolos and watched with mild disdain. Twyrch hated people food.

"Arthur you are going to spoil that dog rotten," Eames chided as he grabbed Arthur's plate to bring it to the kitchen. Arthur smiled and hummed to the pup as he picked him up and stroked his smooth fur. He handed him to Eames when he came back into the room and started cleaning up for him. Eames went into the living room and snuggled with Llydd and waited for Arthur. Eames relished in the affectionate atmosphere he and his man had cultivated together.

It had taken a long time for Arthur let down his guard and let Eames in. In the beginning of their friendship, Eames had been a veritable mess. Dependent on his friends and family to the point of pathetic, he had been damaged goods. He had also been loyal to a fault and didn't let new people anywhere near him unless they had earned his trust and his trust was hard won. Arthur and he had had a shaky start to say the least. That was different now though. With other people, you'd barely guess they were a couple but alone Arthur allowed himself to feel and to show that feeling. That also meant Eames got an earful when Arthur was pissed off at him, but you can't get the good without the bad. He felt blessed that Arthur could ever love him, let alone let him into his home and into his confidence. Both men were fiercely loyal and for a while that was what their relationship had been based on. A strong friendship, a need to have someone in their lives that they could trust to be honest and to always have their backs.

Of course there was the mind-blowing sex that had defined their relationship for the first few years as well. They had been as bad as teenagers for a while, sneaking away into closets and stairways for a quick jerk-off in the middle of a job. Their relationship had eventually shifted from sexual satisfaction to something more intimate but neither of them could quite remember when. When they had moved in together, officially together, it had surprised both of them how okay they were with it. Both of them had expected to freak out about the commitment and responsibilities but it was strangely easy for the two of them. They just worked together.