Ariadne is 31, Arthur is 34, and Eames is 38. This is set 8 years post movie. Also, as I am not a fan of using last names, I have assigned the first name of Daniel to Eames.

…Sadly none of this is mine.

Ariadne POV

"Mom, they're fighting again," the sound of my son Luke's voice rang out.

The they in question was as predictable as the fact that I would rarely leave the house without a scarf wrapped around my throat, even though it was years after that first job. Still the familiar rush of exasperation came even as I was trying to puzzle out a labyrinth for a job that we had been contracted for.

Before completely giving up on work I cast a look at Luke, "How bad is it?"

His little face screwed up in concentration, "Not as bad as that one time when he said I would be messed up cuz of Dad's faults, but worse than when he said that the two of you made no sense." Luke looked excited at the thought of violence between his father and the man that occasionally put his foot in his mouth. Just typical, only 6 years old and he was already a spitting image of his father, just mini-sized, with almost the exact same personality.

Seeing that I had no choice but to break up the fight, I threw aside my sketch pad and stood up. Taking a deep breath and straightening out my clothes took a few precious seconds, during which time blows could erupt. However, I felt calmer and I slipped on my mother persona like a second skin. It comes in handy when dealing with two men who were mature adults except while in the others presence.

Walking through the doorway, I paused and took in the picture before me lips pursing as I processed. Arthur and Eames, about a foot away from each other, Arthur's fists were clenched and the teasing look had dropped from Eames' face. They looked like two brawlers about to throw down at any given moment. I swear they were like children; it's all good to tease and make fun until someone takes it too far. It was then that Eames' careless remarks turned biting and Arthur's iron sense of control cracked.

Before I said a word to the men, I turned back to Luke, "Lucas please go to the playroom and play with your sister." Luke's face dropped almost comically at the thought of missing out on the action.

"Aww Mom, Livy's so boring, all she wants to do is play with dolls." Luke whined.

I smiled at him, "Darling, she's your sister; she'll play whatever you want just because you are her big brother. Off you go now."

Luke saw that she wasn't going to cave, so he turned towards the back of the warehouse, feet dragging and shoulders slumped, towards the playroom that had been installed for him and his 3 year old sister.

I could see that just past the two men that Dom had made his way out of his office to try and possibly run some sort of interference.

"I've got this one Dom." I said, the easy tone dropping from my voice now that Luke was out of ear shot. He looked relieved, thankful that he could leave this to me, and quickly turned back into his office.

With that, I leveled a harsh stare on the pair of them, pinning them under my gaze. One might think this would be difficult as I was a bit shorter than both of them, but my irritation gave me more than enough to work with.

"Just what the hell are you two thinking? I'm not even going to pretend to understand why the two of you feel the urge to needle each other constantly, but do you honestly think you could do it without actually getting in some sort of fight?" Each word said sharply and with increased volume.

Arthur looked like he wanted to say something, but managed to restrain himself. Eames however had no such restraint, "Darling, you know how Arthur is, one wrong word and suddenly people are getting punched. I really have nothing to do with it." With that statement he tried for an innocent air, absolutely failing, because in the 8 years that I have known him, he has been many things, innocent never being one of them.

I really couldn't believe that he said that, why couldn't he just keep his mouth shut? Is it really that difficult? Apparently. I shook my head, and noticed that Arthur was silently laughing, thinking that he was going to get out of this one. Think again.

"Arthur, I thought I could count on you to be the mature one in this scenario? Obviously not. You know that he is going for a reaction, and you clearly give it to him, every single time! Must I remind you that there are children around here? I would love for them not to have a built-in model for how to properly needle the other. Is that really too much to ask? I truly thought you two had worked out your issues." I said with a disappointed tone to my voice.

"I'm sorry Ariadne, I just," Arthur's voice trailed off, unable to think of something to say that would not make me any crazier, "I'm just going to get back to work now." With that he took himself off to his office.

I turned to face my husband, "Really Eames? I thought you said you were going to lay off? Did you know our son actually has a scale to base these interactions off of? He's 6 Daniel!" I huffed, turning to look out the window.

I felt him move closer to me, then felt his hand skim up my arm, until he was rubbing a finger over my cheek, crowding close to me. "I'm sorry Ari, you know how he gets though, I really try and then he says something about the kids or you and I lose it." His breath was warm as his words rumbled out and into my ear.

"Just let it go already! I'm yours and so are the kids! Arthur just needs to get the fuck over it and realize that nothing is going to change." I said angrily, however my voice softening by the end of the statement, as he began to nuzzle and kiss my neck.

"I still say we try and get him a girlfriend, love. Limit the time we have to spend with him outside of work." Eames said, only joking slightly.

I turned, fired up again, "That's exactly the type of thing I'm talking about Daniel, stop taunting him."

"You know it's a perfectly good idea Ari, if someone is fucking him he will be way too happy to rise to the bait. It's a win-win." He said laughingly.

"Ugh go fuck yourself Daniel." I tried to whirl away.

"Funny that's not what you said last night. I believe those words were 'Oh Danny, please fuck me, harder, harder'," Eames said, his voice taking up a tone remarkably similar to mine.

I shrieked, "You are so irritating Daniel Eames! Just leave me alone!" I stomped back into my office and slammed the door shut.

…...

This has just turned into a Two-Shot, with part 2 being the conclusion (obviously) in Eames' POV.

Please let me know what you think!