DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN INCEPTION.

One by one, the eyes of the team opened in a flurry of rush and panic. Cobb, practically ripping the needle from his arm ran towards the door. Arthur's skin still felt a burning chill as he sat up and pulled the needle from his skin.

"Damn it!" Cobb cursed, slamming his fist against the door. "They took our Mark!"

"That was certainly unexpected," Eames muttered.

Cobb turned around and caught the Point Man's eyes with a harsh glare. He walked over (more stomping than walking), and stood directly in front of him, a scene that the others found familiar. "Arthur, where is your head?" he spat. "You could have got yourself, or Eames killed!"

Arthur blinked. "I was only trying to protect the team."

"And who were those guys? It's your job to find out the amount of subconcious security." His eyes narrowed. "Looks like you've failed again."

Arthur's fists clenched by his sides, his knuckles turning white. "That obviously wasn't subconcious security. It's not my fault you were unprepared."

"If you two ladies don't mind, I have something to say."

Cobb and Arthur swung round to look at Eames, who was standing by the PASIV, his arms crossed.

"Obviously we have a major issue on our hands. Standing here and arguing about who's fault it was isn't going to fix anything. We've lost our Mark, failed our job." His expression turned grim. "Our biggest problem now is figuring out how to avoid our unhappy employer. In the mean time, turning on each other isn't going to be of any use."

Cobb sighed. "He's right. Arthur, I'm sorry."

Arthur looked at him in sympathy. "No, you were right. I should have paid more attention to the research." He turned to Eames. " Eames, I'm sorry about your shoulder."

"I always knew you were going to get a bullet in me eventually." Eames teased, to which Arthur rolled his eyes.

Cobb turned to Yusuf, who was packing away the PASIV. His mind was clearly on something else, as his normally quick and efficient pace was slow and steady. His eyes were off into the distance.

"Yusuf, when that guy said something about...the PASIV. You said you didn't believe it..." he echoed. "What didn't you believe."

Yusuf turned and absent-mindedly tapped his foot, his expression frustrated. "It's rather unusual. I heard a while ago that there was a new form of PASIV that could take the subconcious of one person, and place it in the dreamscape of another...all on a different machine."

Ariadne's nose wrinkled in confusion. "But...he said something about the Mark's subconcious."

"That's what connects it. You've seen what happens when the dreamer becomes aware that he's dreaming- the subconcious takes hold. In our case, Johnson knew that we were going to Extract from him, therefore, he hired those people to protect his thoughts." Yusuf paced the room as his mind took hold. Cobb watched him in fascination.

"The Mark," he continued. "Once aware of the Extraction, has the upper hand. All he had to do was hook himself up on this 'New PASIV' and then the other team has a setting. All they had to do was go under when we were under, and the Mark's subconcious was the dreamscape, no matter what the setting."

"That's impossible," Arthur stated. "You have to be using the same PASIV to be in the same dreamscape."

Yusuf shook his head. "Not if you have a sample of the Mark's subconcious in the PASIV."

Eames blinked. "Mate, I did not understand a word you just said."

Yusuf sighed. "Eames, I'll put it simply so your naive little mind can understand. If the Mark goes under on the new PASIV, the next time the other team goes under, his subconcious is where they'll be. Regardless of whether he's hooked up as well."

"Pardon my French, but that's bullshit," Eames said. "That type of technology doesn't even exist!"

"But it does! And they have it!" Yusuf retorted. "That gives them a heads up on any other Extractors that don't have it!"

"Then we need to get it," Cobb said bluntly. "Yusuf, is there anyway you could get us one of those?"

Yusuf let out a small stutter before shrugging. "Cobb, I didn't even know they actually existed. I wouldn't even begin to know where to look for one."

"Well we have to try," Arthur said, walking swiftly toward one of the desks they'd set up. "In the meantime, we have to move. We have twenty-four hours, tops, before - Incorporated tries to find us."

"Where are we going to go?" Ariadne asked, slightly fazed by the whole situation.

"I'll sort that out, in the meantime, start packing the stuff away," Arthur instructed.

Cobb turned and walked towards the backroom without saying a word. Eames let out a low whistle.

"Geez, who rattled his cage?" he asked.

Arthur shot Eames a cold stare. "I think you know why, Eames. Just find a way to make yourself useful."

"Well, it's nice to know that I can help." He turned to Ariadne and gave her a reassuring smile before walking out, Yusuf in tow. Leaving her alone in the warehouse with Arthur. She looked around and saw that he was rumaging through papers on his desk, a determaned look on his face.

"Arthur?"

He swung round on his chair to look at her. He had dark circles under his eyes. Often the trademark of a point man. Especially one like Arthur who spent all his time working. Only recently had his tiredness become more noticable.

"Yes?"

"Are you okay?" she asked quietly.

After a moment, he ran his hand over his face and sighed. "Yeah, I guess. I just feel like I've let Cobb down...again."

"You're too hard on yourself."

"I just feel like I'm failing miserably at something I used to be so good at," he mumbled, clearly dejected. "Maybe I'm losing my touch."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "Arthur, you know that's not true. So you made a mistake, big deal. But we're here, and we're alive- all because you are so intent on protecting the team. You know that Cobb appreciated that more than anything else."

He smiled at her. A small gesture, but a smile none the less. "Thanks, Ari."

"Anytime."