Cobb paced the warehouse in Eames' wake, hoping that they'd been wrong, that by some sliver of a chance Antoine had picked off some other hapless girl and that Ariadne and Arthur were simply, delayed. But after twelve hours passed without any sign he accepted the reality of their situation.

He kicked Yusuf out of the warehouse and fought the desire to brood or flee over their predicament. Eames had been right of course, as much as it stung to admit it. True, he had figured that Antoine had finally caught up with them when the chemist and the forger had returned shaken up and discussing their run-in with a collection of unsavory individuals, but, before the Saito job the same thing had occurred in his life, and none of those tails had ever belonged to Antoine.

He knew they couldn't leave Ariadne and Arthur to Antoine, his presence in their lives was a byproduct of choices he, Eames and others had made prior to those two joining their fold. But that didn't mean he was anymore thrilled at the notion of facing his former partner.

Especially now that everything was back to a semblance of normalcy.

Cobb sighed, and sank back on the couch, contemplating sleep but deciding against it for the time being. He rubbed his eyes and pulled up his email, scanning Antoine's taunt one more time before moving to the address book. It was a long shot, but if they were going to stop Antoine, they'd need Marcella, and not only had no one had seen her in over four years, no one knew where exactly she was in the world.

They had remained cordial throughout that time. Cobb would send her the occasional email, and she would return the favor, always vague in her responses. If Eames were to try and track her in a headstrong fashion they'd be no better off than they were now, and while rumors had abounded, that she was in Singapore, Cobb believed she'd returned to the states after the incident with Sofia, close enough to feel comfortable but far enough away to not draw attention to where the woman was being kept.

How well that had all worked out.

He hovered over her email address wondering if she'd take the bait. Marcella was smart, but too often her politeness overruled her sense of self-preservation. He strummed his fingers on the coffee table and clicked on the address before he had the chance to change his mind.

The email was short. A delicate inquiry into her health and well-being, with information about the kids. He signed it and sent it, before picking up his cell phone and dialing Eames. The line rang twice before the other man picked up. "Go," he said, his voice tired, that of a man who hadn't yet slept.

"Have you left Paris yet?" Cobb inquired.

"At the airport, getting ready to board as we speak. If you're trying to convince me not to find her, then you're wasting both of our time. I have a contact trying to track her right now. It may be a few days, but it's better than sitting on our hands." The forger was curt, something Cobb recognized in him to mean nervousness.

"Don't get on the plane yet. I think I know how I can find Marcella and save you from gallivanting all across the globe."

The line was silent for half a second before Eames spoke, "You have a minute to explain your plan, or I'm getting on this plane and heading to Chicago."

"I emailed her. She's always been good about getting back rather quickly. I think perhaps we can call in a favor with Saito and see if someone in his tech department can figure out where she sent the email from."

Eames cursed, "If you told her what's going on she's likely a million miles away from her suspected whereabouts by now."

Cobb resisted the urge to snarl at Eames. Emotions were running high, higher than they had in some years. Sure things had gotten heated for a bit on the Fischer job but, in that instance, the only life which had been at stake had been his own. Now, everyone was at stake. He took in a breath and spoke. "I didn't tell her anything about it; I know she'd run. The email was just an update on the kids, we've remained friendly over the years."

Another second passed. "All right," Eames said at last. "I'll skip the flight, and we can try it your way. But if I don't hear something from your end within the next...four hours I'm leaving Paris to find her." He killed the connection before Cobb could respond.

It had occurred to Cobb after the phone call he'd exchanged with Eames earlier that afternoon that the forger was also blaming himself for their kidnapping. A part of Cobb, the part which had been enraged the day prior when they'd gotten on the plane to Paris wanted him to stew in his guilt. Circumstances what they were, however, he imagined the job wasn't the catalyst to the kidnapping. Asagi may have inadvertently triggered the whole ordeal, by trying to get his sticky fingers on a ticking time bomb.

The assassins which had once been prevalent in their line of work had been extinct for a number of years, the one exception being Sofia, but, as far as he and the others had been concerned, her deep coma was essentially as good as death. Marcella had pleaded with Mal not to kill her, and he, despite his better judgment, had sided with Marcella. For a while, he doubted his wife would forgive the transgression. True she hadn't been the intended target but, Mal had been quite protective. It also hadn't helped Sofia's case that she'd charged into their house not only looking for blood but nearly finding it. It hadn't helped that Phillipa had been only a handful of feet away when she'd fired at him. He rolled his shoulder as the memory as old wounds resurfaced.

Marcella and Eames had handled the situation, and for a while, Sofia had drifted from memory. Marcella had quit shortly after that, Antoine admitted his betrayal and broke away, and, after Eames had found Arthur for them, he too wandered away, drifting between Egypt, Mali, and Kenya.

The memories of the team from before were tainted, and while Cobb knew it was impossible in their line of work to bury bad memories, his subconscious only occasionally manifested into Antoine, or Patrick or Sofia, and always at such a distance to pose no threat. A small mercy he had been grateful for. After Mal had begun appearing he'd been fearful the rest would follow, but such hadn't been the case. He'd considered perhaps her presence had been enough to keep the others away but knowing what he did about the way projections worked he knew that wasn't true either.

He'd simply no reason to focus on them the way he did on her. And as he sat thinking about it now, he knew if he tried to build right at that moment, all of those from before would tear him apart.

Before he could delve too much deeper into his recollections, the door to the warehouse open and Eames stepped inside, trailed by Yusuf. A scowl was still plastered on his face, but by his body language, Cobb could tell he'd calmed down at least a little bit. Cobb watched as Yusuf glanced between the two of them before setting his bag down. "I'll make some tea," he said before moving to the kitchenette set up in the adjoining room.

Eames followed Yusuf's suit, setting down his bag before moving to a chair opposite of Cobb. "If you think she's in Singapore..." he started.

"I don't, I know she's in the states. Where, however, I'm not sure, and I guess because you came back you're not positive either."

"No, but I have an old colleague looking for her. I figured starting in New York seemed best." Eames said, his words coming out clipped enough Cobb knew he was still roiling with anger from their earlier exchange.

"I don't think she's in New York. If you want to stay hidden, you stay out of big cities." Cobb licked his lips, "My guess is she's at least near a city. Not near Sofia however."

Eames smiled and chuckled, "Not much in the way of horse tracks in those parts."

"Christ if that woman was ever predictable," Cobb said tapping on his keyboard. "Either way I have an idea. We've kept a casual contact over the past four years. I sent her an email tonight to see if she'd touch base. If she does, then I'm betting Saito has someone on staff who can track her location."

Cobb watched as the gears in Eames' head turned. Finally, he shrugged, "Seems plausible enough. And if you're the only one to keep contact with her after she left she's likely not to think anything of it."

Before Cobb could answer his email pinged. A smile crept on his lips, "She says she's doing good." He watched as Eames retrieved his cell phone dialing Saito. It would be early in the workday in Tokyo, but Saito had appeared to be available regardless of the time of day. He and Eames exchanged a handful of pleasantries before the other man got down to business.

"We're hoping you have someone on your payroll whose talented in the tech department." A pause, "Yes, well, we need to track the area from which an email was sent." Another pause. "Excellent mate, yes we're in Paris." Then Eames' expression changed. "He is then. I'm sorry to hear that. Well if all goes according to plan on our end, the person who did it will be handled."

Eames hung up the phone and sat it on the table. Cobb watched him for a moment, "He's going to help?"

Eames glanced at him and nodded, "Some kid he employs will be around within the hour." He sunk back into the chair. "Apparently they found Keno Asagi dead a few days back. Bullet through the head in his office."

Cobb cocked his head, "Anything taken?"

Eames shook his head. "No. Saito says they're calling it a robbery, but he thinks it was an assassination."

The two men shared a glance, and Cobb spoke for the both of them. "Antoine."

Eames nodded, "It must be." He leaned forward, "I wonder, however, if he knew where she was before this whole mix, or if Antoine was the one who found her first."

Cob considered the question for a moment. "I don't know what I'd place my bet on, but if he'd known for a while he would have snatched up Ariadne ages ago, and I'm betting Asagi would still be alive. It's not like we've had a perfect watch on her all this time, but it seems like Asagi got lucky or, at least thought he had."

Eames looked away. Before Cobb could continue Yusuf stepped into the area with a tea tray. "Oolong was all that was in the kitchen. There are milk and sugar as well." He placed it on the table before sitting on the opposite side of the couch and helping himself to a cup.

Cobb looked at Eames before turning back to the chemist. "Look, Yusuf-"

The other man raised his hand to silence him, "Whatever it is, I don't care. You know my going rate if I have to go under and what I charge per compound."

Cobb shook his head. "There shouldn't be anything like that this time." He glanced at Eames who was staring at him, "What I was going to say is if there's a place for you to go you may want to consider going there. If this blows up like we both think it will, your safety can't be guaranteed."

Yusuf shot Cobb a sideways glance. "You're trying to track down a Memorist aren't you? If you find them, I'm sure whatever happens I'll be fine."

"What he's saying mate, is not just that your mind could be broken but that you could potentially be killed," Eames added.

"So be it. I'm not going back to Mombasa right now. Quite frankly I like Ariadne and would like to see her returned to safety before I depart."

Cobb looked to Eames once more who shrugged. "Do as you wish then. After Saito's contact shows up, I'm going to Miles. I'm going to need him to take the kids somewhere Antoine wouldn't think to look."

A pounding cut off any further conversation. Cobb rose slowly and made his way to the door, his gun at the ready. "Can I help you?" he called.

"Yeah, I think. I'm looking for Dominic Cobb, per Mr. Saito. Something about tech assistance."

Cobb cracked the door slightly. A short, college-aged man stood before him, coffee in one hand and a computer tucked under the opposite arm. He blinked but said nothing. Deciding he looked relatively harmless and remembered they had the numbers, Cobb opened the door the remainder of the way.

The young man stepped in, "Are you, Mr. Cobb? What exactly is it you need help with?"

"We need to see if you can track the location from where an email was sent. I know this is probably a unique request but-"

"Child's play."

Cobb said nothing and showed the man to the sitting area. Without as much as an acknowledgment, he sunk into the couch next to Yusuf and booted up the laptop, his fingers flying over the keyboard. "All right, that's ready. Can you show me the email?"

Cobb pulled up an email Marcella had sent to him. The tech took the computer from the coffee table, and Cobb watched with curiosity as he pulled up window after window of information before closing out of them and typing it into his computer.

"What are you doing exactly?" Cobb inquired.

"Checking the metadata against my programming. Shouldn't take more than a few minutes." The tech said without looking up.

"But that was a lot of information, are you sure you-"

"Eidetic memory. Ah, here we go." All three men leaned in. "The email is coming from the United States, looks like Maryland, a residence in Laurel Park."

"Any chance there's a horse track near there?" Eames asked.

"You can look," the tech said, "Google would work."

Yusuf snorted, and Cobb and Eames shot him a look. The forger typed into his cell phone and nodded after a moment. "Sure enough." He tucked his phone into his jacket pocket and rose. "Looks like that's where I'm heading then."

"Well hold it," Cobb said. "How can we be sure that-"

"The older emails match this location also." The tech interjected.

Cobb exhaled and nodded to Eames. "I don't know if you're going to be able to convince her to come with you, but, I wish you luck. We'll be here in the meantime."

Eames retrieved his bag, "I'll keep in touch. We know that Antoine took Arthur and Ariadne to the states so we may pursue them."

Cobb didn't like that idea one bit but decided against voicing his concerns. "Be careful." But Eames was already out the door.

A/N: This chapter brought to you by:

Digital Daggers-Back To the Start