3.

~ Cobb touched on the window ledge and peered into the empty kitchen. With expert skills, he cut out a pane of glass and silently stole inside the more restricted areas of Saito's palace.

We moved quickly to the main room. A showplace for Saito to display his collections of ancient Japanese artifacts. The businessman never having gone on a dig himself, but obtaining them from museums and other collections the way a pirate would.

For men like Saito, nothing was beyond their reach.

Cobb emerged from the shadows. He spied the offish guard standing by the main stairwell and aimed his side arm at him. The silencer working perfectly as barely a puff of noise could be heard. The real danger was the noise of a body falling to the floor, and alerting the other guards.

Quickly, Cobb slid under the fallen guard and neatly caught him. Breaking his fall and muffling the sound.

The Extractor wasn't out of the woods yet. He had to remove a few more guards from the main room. Each of them falling heavily in his arms as Cobb cleared a silent and efficient path to the dinning room.

He walked assuredly to the elaborate dinning room and slid the doors open as quietly as he could. If he was caught, he had only to pretend to be lost. Time was running out, he couldn't afford to get caught.

He went to the hidden panel. A neat trick to hide things as a safe was cleverly concealed there. With light fingers, Cobb ticked away the combination. His hands sensing the click of the lock as tumblers fell away.

He turned the lever and was rewarded with a simple manilla envelope.

Cobb was quick to place the envelope in his breast pocket. Suddenly, the lights burst on and a voice barked.

"Turn around."

Saito was calm and self possessed as Cobb's anxiety caused him to pull his side arm at the interruption.

Saito looked neither frightened or impressed at the sight of Cobb's weapon trained on him.

Next to the businessman stood the pretty lady in a heavily sequined dress.

Mal.

"The gun, Dom." Mal said casually. A small Beretta in her hands. The barrel pointed right at the Extractor.

Cobb moved away from the safe. His mind racing over what to do next as his breathing picked up.

This was bad. He might still have a chance to escape. He was still armed and Saito wasn't foolish enough to get shot over some papers.

Arthur should have taken care of Saito. Kept him distracted. Kept the guard distracted. Something must have happened to the Extractor's associate.

As if summoned, two guards drug the Point Man in. Arthur was resisting valiantly. An deep scowl on his face as the Point Man did not look at all happy to have been caught.

Robotic like, Mal turned her gun on Arthur. Never once moving those deep eyes of hers off Cobb.

"Please?" Mal said in a child like voice.

Arthur gave Cobb a knowing look. A slight shake of the head. They were caught, and they knew it.

Cobb had no choice. Mal was deadly. He engaged the safety and showed he was willing to surrender his weapon. He slid the piece down the large, flawless dinning room table.

"Now the envelope, Mr. Cobb!" Saito barked. He looked angry as Cobb stalled for more time.

"Did she tell you?" The Extractor asked nodding to Mal. "Or, have you known all along?"

He placed the stolen envelope from the safe onto the table. Never taking his eyes off Mal.

"That your here to steal from me?" Saito said spitefully. "Or, that we're actually asleep?"

Cobb felt his blood run cold as the businessman's eyes dance brightly.
"I want to know the name of your employer." Saito demanded.

Mal pulled beck the hammer on her small caliber gun. The barrel aimed right at Arthur.

It was almost laughable.

"Ah, there's no use threatening him in dream? Is there?" Cobb pointed out.

"That depends on what you're threatening." Mal said in a catty voice. "Killing him will just wake him up."

Cobb knew it was going to happen.
"But pain?" Mal added. Her words just as hurtful as her deeds. She lowered her arm and didn't hesitate to fire a round into Arthur's leg.

The Point Man screamed and almost collapsed on the floor.

Cobb blinked back a sudden wave of self loathing. He was sure to hear about this from Arthur later.

"Pain is in the mind." Mal told him. "And judging by the decorum, we're in your mind. Aren't we, Arthur?"

Arthur had controlled his screaming by now. The two guards holding him up as he glared helplessly at his attacker. The lady in the sequined dress was moving to his other leg. Her gun held out and ready to shoot his other leg.

Cobb couldn't allow them to torture Arthur. Mal had been right that he would experience a great deal of pain before waking up.

He had to act.

Recklessly, he made a dive for his gun on the table and shot his friend in the head.

Arthur, crumbled to the ground as the palace started to groan. The Point Man was dead as Mal looked back at Cobb in shock.

~ Arthur woke up.

~ The palace groaned again and the ceiling started to tumbled down on the once immaculate dinning room.

Cobb rolled off the table and onto the floor as the palace shook violently.

~ For a second, Arthur sat there in the tatty, run down apartment. His memories coming back to him as he realized where he was and what was happening.

With swift, well practiced movement's, he ripped out his line and was on his feet. The metal brief case in his hand.

"What are you doing? It's too soon!" Nash almost screamed. He was sweating and looking very scared.

"I know." Arthur said as he let a line slack from the mysterious case. "The dream's collapsing. I'm going to try and keep Saito under a little longer. We're almost there."

~ Cobb was fighting his way past guards that were springing out of dark corners. The palace falling down around him as it groaned and threatened to collapse at any second.

The Extractor was well briefed on the palace and all it's little traps he could use to escape the guards. The falling beams, arches and even statues only helped him to escape.

In the once opulent dinning room, Mal lazily retrieved the envelope for Mr. Saito. The businessman not able to keep his balance in the shifting world of the palace that was crumbling like a sand castle.

Saito took it from her greedily.

"He was close." Mal told him. Her voice pleased the Extractor had almost got the information. "Very close." She added.

Saito tore open the envelope to reveal nothing but blank pieces of paper.

The businessman flew into a rage. Cobb wasn't close. Cobb managed to extract the information.

"Get him!" He shouted to his guards as the palace started to fall apart. The businessman paying no attention to the self satisfied smirk on Mal's face.

In a relatively safe place, Cobb pulled free the real envelope. He didn't have much time. Nash wasn't too imaginative with his paradoxes and Cobb wouldn't be hidden here for long. If the guards didn't get him, the collapsing palace would. It was falling apart quicker every second.

He callously ripped oven the envelope to reveal classified documents Saito wanted no one to see. With a practiced eye, the Extractor looked over key words and dates. Things his employer would want. He didn't have much time as the projections of Saito guards finally found him and started shooting at him.

As the magnificent dinning room fell apart, Saito looked worriedly around him. Clearly, he was worried this might not be a dream after all.

~ The Point Man was in the shabby bedroom with the sleeping businessman. Mr. Saito stirring awake as Arthur opened the metal case he was never without. Inside the case was a complex array of machinery and chemicals that no one could explain how exactly it worked.

The Point Man seemed to know what he was doing, as he increased Saito's dosage. The businessman moved and tried to wake up as Arthur passed a worried look over him.

"This isn't going to work. Wake him up." The Point Man barked at Nash. The nervous, sweating man returning to where Cobb sat sleeping on that ordinary chair.

Nash shook him roughly.

~ Saito's palace was crumbling. It's once strong beams, breaking apart as the the entire building shook violently. Everywhere, glass was breaking over expensive display cases and part of the palace were falling on the guards. Narrowly missing the Extractor.

Cobb and the guards engaged in gun battle as the Extractor could feel he was begin pulled out of the dream.

He felt the slap Nash or Arthur must have given him. A slap that wouldn't have hurt him normally, but in this world; it knocked him to the floor.

Saito couldn't run or hid from the dinning room's roof finally falling on him. Killing him instantly as he woke up in the shabby apartment. Arthur was kneeling by his bedside. Cobb's associate, who had impressed Saito so much, looking intently over some metal briefcase.

The business man remained remarkably calm as he collected himself. Playing possum as the impressive young man from dinner seemed to not notice he was awake.

Saito slowly slid his hand under his pillow and felt the reassuring presence of a hand gun there.

"He won't wake!" Nash screamed in a panic as he shook the still sleeping Cobb more violently.

"Give him the kick!" Arthur ordered. His patience with Nash reaching it's tether.

"What?" Nash questioned.

Arthur turned to the sweaty, frightened man.

"Dunk him." The Point Man said before noticing the gun Saito had pointed at him.