Beautiful Stranger

Part Four

Eames blinked and took in his surroundings. He was standing in this city that Cobb had built and Arthur's projections moved throughout the streets. A few glanced his way but they seemed like they were not agitated by his presence; not at the moment anyway. He was the dreamer and the one who made things comfortable for Arthur. For a long time Eames had studied one of Arthur's clients that he worked for on a regular basis. He would forge said client and introduce Mal as a person of interest. It was supposed to be smooth sailing from there. Cobb was there as backup just in case something happened and the dream needed to be changed. The forger shoved his hands in his pockets and walked along the road until he found Mal and Cobb sitting on a park bench outside of Arthur apartment.

"So let's get going on this. We all know the plan," Mal said. Eames made a mental note that he had to keep himself covered at all costs. He was the dreamer and the world could collapse if something happened to him. Instead they all stood up and walked into the building next to the replica of Arthur's. Eames sat down in front of some mirrors and adjusted his clothing to match that of the bartender he had seen Arthur work for. After they were all set the three of them went to the bar that was really much closer than it seemed but looped in such a way that it seemed much further away. Eames nodded and opened up the phone, dialed Arthur's number and waited for the young man to answer.

"Jason, how can I help you?" Arthur answered with no form of greeting. Not the least bit surprising.

"Hey, I was wondering if you could come down here. I have something I need you to look into," Eames said in the bartender's voice.

"I got all the information you wanted," Arthur said.

"Yes, but there is something I forgot to tell you to look into. Could you come down?" he asked and waited. There was a backup plan but it was one that involved violence.

"Fine. It's before four so I'm assuming you're going to let me in," the kid said and Eames gave the Cobbs a thumbs up.

"Knock twice and I'll let you in," Eames said and Arthur hung up the phone without a word. Outside he could not hear the shuffle of projections that were catching up quite yet but there was no telling when that was going to happen. Cobb retreated to a back room and Mal stood at the back of the bar hidden practically by shadows. There were two knocks on the door and Eames opened it to let Arthur in. He was dressed a little more casually than usual, dress shirt with dark pants and blazer, and he looked like he was a little rough around the edges. "Arthur, come on in," Eames said and he walked through the doors. The first thing he did all of three steps in was lock eyes with Mal.

"Who is she?" he demanded and he sounded angry. They were expecting that and Eames hoped that it would not be too much that he was willing to walk away.

"She's a friend of mine, Lisa, and she's actually the one who wants you to find something," Eames said and Arthur narrowed his eyes.

"I like to do my own research on my clients before I meet them," the kid said and Mal took a step forward.

"Jason knew that you trusted him and he trusts me, isn't that enough?" she said but Arthur did not move forward.

"What do you need me to find? Then I'll decide if I want to work for you," he said. Mal smiled and walked forward. She placed a piece of paper on the table and Arthur looked at it. "This is something to do with the military."

"Yes, my husband works for them, and he has not come home in a while. I was wondering if you knew any of the secrets within the ranks? Maybe somewhere safe that I could look to find them?" Mal asked. The key with extraction was using the right words to trick the mind into hiding its secrets. Safe was usually the best way to go about it.

"I don't get involved with military business," Arthur said and he pushed the paper away. "Too many ways it could go wrong."

"Could you point me in the right direction of someone who could find my information?" she asked and he stared at her.

"I have names but none of them will do this either. None of them have the resources I do," Arthur said. "What happened to the documents I gave you, Jason?"

"I put them in my safe along with anything else you gave me," Eames replied. "Your secrets are safe in there."

"That they are," Arthur said in a low voice and that was the key. Cobb was in the back no doubt picking the lock to the key and gathering the information that they needed. "Why do you keep mentioning my secrets?" Eames could feel the dream shift and he just knew the eyes of the projections were on this bar. The kid creased his eyebrows and seemed to be deep in thought. "My apartment, I was in my apartment, but how did I get there?" Eames made eye contact with Mal and she began to ease into the back to gather information with her husband. "Something isn't right."

"What are you talking about, Arthur?" Eames asked and Arthur stared at him.

"You don't know my real name," he said and there was a pounding on the door as the projections began to swarm. Eames pulled out his gun and managed to knock Arthur to the ground before he even had the chance to react. The forger faded into his own appearance and pulled their mark into the room where Mal and Cobb were looking through a pile of papers.

"He knows more about the military than we thought," she said. "We have more information than we expected to look through."

"I'll hold them off, get them away from you two, and we'll go from there. When you get the information wake yourselves up and give me the musical kick," Eames said and the Cobbs nodded. He kicked the back door open and took off through the maze. The projections followed, he was the dreamer and he was the one that they felt the most, and that gave Cobb and Mal more time to find the information. After that they would wake themselves up and give him the musical kick so he could avoid getting torn apart. As Eames ducked through the maze he was surprised at how organized Arthur's projections were for someone who was not trained. He was adapting at an impressive rate as if his instincts were enough that he was organized. With a little training his mind would be nothing short of sealed tight and Eames was thankful that they had managed to get this job done before Arthur was trained. The forger ducked into a building and closed the door tightly behind him. It was a small house and he could see someone sitting in the middle of the room. He turned around and Eames was surprised to find Arthur watching him carefully.

"I tracked you here after I woke up," Arthur said and then he shook his head. "Not that I'm awake now that is."

"You're right," Eames said and he took a few steps closer his hand on his gun. The dream would collapse if he died and there was still no musical kick. "So you tracked me here? That's pretty impressive for a baby."

"I have a high learning curve," he replied and he tilted his head to the side. "What are you looking for? I'm sure you've already found it but I'm curious who turned on me."

"The military hired us," the forger replied honestly. Mal and Cobb more than likely had what they needed by now and the kid was not going to remember this anyway.

"They killed those people in cold blood," Arthur said. "I saw it and confirmed it later with some research. They've been following me for a while but I have enough contacts that I can't just vanish without someone noticing."

"Looks like they're going to work something out once we report that you know," Eames said and something in his stomach twisted when Arthur smiled sadly.

"Oh they'll work something out I'm sure. You seem like a halfway intelligent man, do you really think they're going to let me live?" he asked and the sound of music began to fill the room. Eames cocked his gun, his finger on the trigger, but Arthur just stared at him. "What's your name?"

"Eames," the forger replied without thinking twice.

"It was nice to meet you, Mr. Eames," Arthur replied and before Eames could react the kid pulled out a gun and shot him right between the eyes.

Eames opened his eyes and blinked as he stared at the ceiling of the apartment. He sat up and looked around. Mal and Cobb were staring at him with rather intense expressions. He looked down at Arthur who lay completely still, a line still in his arm. The forger had no idea why he had told Arthur, the mark, exactly what they were doing. It had not seemed like he needed to lie because combined with the dream and the chloroform they would be lucky if the kid remembered his name when he woke up.

"Did you get it?" he asked despite having a good idea that Arthur had not been lying to him in the dream.

"Yes," Mal replied. "He saw everything that night so we need to get him back to his apartment and give the information to the general. Then we should vanish for a while."

"What happened out there?" Cobb asked. "Something felt like it shifted and when we turned around Arthur was gone."

"When he woke up he used his projections to track me down. He was the one that woke me up," Eames replied. "It's been a long time since I saw someone organize their projections that fast. With some training that kid's mind could be a fortress."

"His research is spot on too," Mal said. "He's pretty impressive for someone so young."

"I'll take him home," Eames said after a beat of silence. The Cobbs nodded and they began to pack up the PASIV. The forger removed the line from Arthur's arm and pulled him to his feet. Eames felt his ribs scream in pain. He had forgotten the beating he had received from someone so small. He eased Arthur into the front seat of the car and started down the road. Over and over all the forger could see in his head was that smile and how defeated Arthur had looked. "They won't just kill him. That won't fix a problem, it'll just create more." Eames was not sure who he was trying to convince.

It was late when he finally got back to the apartment building and he was thankful that no one was around. Arthur had a key and Eames carried the kid up to his apartment. When the forger opened the door he cocked an eyebrow at how simple it all was. There was hardly any furniture save what could be considered the 'essentials.' He carried Arthur into the bedroom and eased the kid onto the bed. When Arthur groaned Eames froze and wondered if he was going to have to knock him out again. Arthur blinked a few times and looked up at Eames.

"What did you do to me?" he asked and his voice sounded harsh. The forger really did not want to knock this kid out again but he could not risk Arthur following him either.

"Don't worry about it, darling; you just go back to sleep," Eames replied and he backhanded Arthur hard enough that he went completely still.