Here it is, everyone. Oh my God. It took forever and I had no inspiration whatsoever. I am so, so sorry. It's really short and I hate it and I need to go get some ice cream and rage.

Have fun with this annoying short chapter.

DREAM LEVEL 3

They ended up on a beach. Ali was walking ahead of Arthur down the boardwalk to the sand. She was now her normal height, but she looked a few years older. She had made her hair straight (an impossible feat in reality), and it went down just past her shoulders. She had worn a strapless cover-up dress and a halter-top bikini, from what Arthur could tell. The waves gently crashed against the sand and it was very relaxing. It must have been a private beach because they were really the only people on the beach. Ali, Arthur, Jakob, and a few random projections were the only ones on the beach. Jak was outstretched on his towel, an umbrella casting minimal shade over his body. They walked over to a smoothie bar and smiled at the woman behind it. Arthur spoke to her and she moved away, and let Alina get behind it and she stuck a bomb on the wall behind the shelf. She set it for the kick and smiled.

"It'll go off when the music is exactly 2 minutes in," she said and she gestured toward Jak. Arthur nodded, walked over, and spread his towel out a few feet away from his. Ali spread hers out next to Arthur's, shaking out her hair. Jak looked over, raised his hand in greeting, and settled back down. Arthur suddenly realized that he had a wedding ring on his hand. He glanced over at Ali and she had one too. Then he remembered her little memo and he wished he had a cold bottle of water to pour on his face. Ali glanced at him, eyebrow delicately raised. Arthur shook his head and leaned back on his elbows. Jak looked over at them for a few moments, studying them, and then turned away and relaxed.

"Hey man," Arthur said with a smile. It was faked, but it looked good. "I'm Joseph Aron. This is my wife, Lina," Alina leaned forward, shook Jak's hand with a warm smile.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," she said politely. He grinned and gazed out towards the breath-taking water. Arthur looked over at their surroundings and he realized this dream was based off one of the Virgin Islands. It was quite a beautiful sight. He remembered going there on vacation with Eames once. Arthur sighed and settled down on the towel, not quite liking the feel of its rough fibers against his bare back. Alina smiled slightly at him and glanced over at Jak. Arthur took this as a sign to move on.

"What are you doing out here?" Arthur asked him, his eyes glancing over at the surrounding people to see if he knew anyone. He kept seeing glimpses of a projection-Eames. Out of his peripheral, far away, standing behind a woman in line for a smoothie, talking to other projections. Jakob offered Arthur a smile.

"Vacationing. Trying to get away from everything. My work is killing me right now," he rubbed a hand on the back of his head before shaking his head and closing his eyes. Arthur looked over at Alina and she nodded ever so slightly.

Time to move in.

"Hey! No wonder I recognized you!" Arthur said with as much enthusiasm he could muster. He thought of Eames, to make it more real. "You're Jakob Nelson. The Jakob Nelson! I own the William Stable Company," Arthur said. It was an easy lie and it was also Eames's first name. Jakob smiled politely.

"I apologize, but I don't think I've ever heard that company name before," he said sheepishly. Arthur just shrugged it off.

"Not a lot of people do know my company, but that's fine. I get lots of business from small race companies anyways. In local towns where they have the tracks and things. Small business league. Nothing more," Arthur smiled at Jakob and he smiled back.

"Yeah, but my father's not doing to great right now,"

"I heard, how's he doing?" Arthur asked sympathetically, with a soft smile.

"Not too great. The chemo isn't helping anymore. He's dying," Jak said with a half-shrug. "I wish he wasn't, I really do, but, there's really nothing I can do about it. If it's his time, it's his time. You know what I'm saying?"

Arthur nodded sadly, thinking of his mother, and how the same thing happened to her when she got breast cancer. He even went to all those walks to help her. They never helped. He still donated every year.

"My mom had breast cancer, man. I truly understand," Alina looked surprised at this, but she covered it up by nestling her head on his shoulder. He smiled down at her and drew her closer, wishing for Eames.

"How long have you two been married?" Jak asked and Alina smiled at him.

"We've been married for 3 years," she said. Jakob grinned at her and then looked at Arthur, his eyes dark.

"How's business been with you?" he asked and Arthur grinned. "It's been quite well. Since me and Lina here took over the company together, instead of just me on my own, it's been a lot easier to handle. You should try it," Arthur said agreeably, his smile almost infectious. Jak gave a half-smile to the fake couple and lifted a shoulder in a half-shrug.

"I'll try, I guess," he said after a while and they let him think on it for a while, laying back on their towels and Alina ended up falling asleep. It was about an hour later in dream-time when they heard the music. Edith Piaf, Non Je ne Regrette Rien. Arthur absolutely loved this song; there was something about the French woman singing the song that made him smile. They had an explosion timed for the kick, to be set off at the smoothie bar he had seen Eames at a few hours before. Arthur quickly got Alina up and invited Jak for a smoothie. They walked over and sat down and Arthur could hear the faint ticking of the bombs inside on the wall behind the third shelf. He braced himself. He always had to. His Eames projection walked over and wrapped a strong arm around his shoulders.

"You mustn't get yourself so worked up, darling," he purred into Arthur's ear. He shivered and looked over at him. "You'll hurt yourself. Relax, let everything fall into place," he said and everything went silent except for the loud, fast ticking of the bomb.

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3..

A/N: See? It's so, so short. I hate it. The next one, I promise you, will be much, much longer, and have lots more drama-llama stuff. /pinkyswear