Title: Five and One

Pairing: Arthur and Eames

Fandom: Inception

Rated: T

Notes: This was taken down a while back because I put a swear word in the description... oops.

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-5-

It was their first job together, back when Mal was still in the picture and not a bat shit projection that followed Cobb everywhere doing her best to be the biggest bitch anyone's ever encountered. Before that, though, she was surprisingly very pleasant to be around. She was sweet, had an adorably dry sense of humor, was very protective of Dom and always had to be touching him as if she'd lose him forever if she hadn't maintained some form of physical contact at all times. Eames had actually been recruited due to his connection with Mal, they were old friends from high school. Arthur had already worked a few dozen jobs with the couple before Eames had stepped in.

There was something about Arthur that made Eames want to pick on him constantly, and though, at first, Arthur seemed genuinely to dislike the teasing, he eventually began to laugh along with the taunts and would poke back a bit. Cobb and Mal were glad that Arthur finally had someone he clicked with, it was completely unorthodox, that Arthur would click with Eames, but the two seemed to really enjoy each other's company almost as if they were siblings.

The job had gone unexpectedly south towards the end, Eames wound up with a bullet in his back once they had woken from the dream and attempted to make their escape. He was lucky, nothing vital or important was damaged, he was just going to have to sleep on one side for a very long time. He was okay with that. Arthur wasn't.

Mal was the first to start pointing fingers for the team's failure. Of course it landed on Eames. Dom and Arthur didn't know Eames aside from the past few months they had spent with him, but they were both set in the idea that this failure was, in fact, not his fault. They fought. They all fought. Aside from Eames. Eames sat off to the side, shirtless, waiting for someone to realize the bullet in his back was still in place and that maybe they would be kind enough to help him take care of his wound. Arthur was slowly losing his cool in the fight, the more Mal insulted and pointed out Eames' flaws, the more defensive Arthur became. Eventually, Arthur attempted to be the better man, and walked away from the commotion, apologizing to Eames for taking so long to get to his wound.

Cobb tried to calm Mal down, but she was too intent on making Eames feel guilty for screwing them over. Arthur did his best to ignore her, he was taking Eames' insults harder than Eames was, the con man thoroughly enjoyed this, though it hurt because the frailer man was tending to his wound and his anger was apparent in his movements. 'Gentle' was not on his list of what he should be at the moment. Mal's insults became more personal and rude, Eames was used to this, he'd known the girl for so long, he knew better than to take any of her outbursts personally. Arthur did not, though, and it was then that Mal said something that caused the young man to finally snap.

"You know, I'm glad your parents left you in a ditch when you were a child, they clearly knew a worthless piece of trash when they saw one."

In that moment, Eames' entire view of Arthur had changed.

A gun slowly made its way into Eames' peripheral vision, pointing straight ahead at the flushed woman.

The wounded man could feel Arthur's strained breath fly out of his nose and down his neck. Every hair on his body stood erect at that moment. Mal snapped her mouth shut, her eyes wide on Arthur.

"I'm sorry, Arthur, I-I completely forgo-"

"Shut the hell up." His voice was low, deadly calm. "No one deserves to be tossed away by their parents like that, not a single life on this planet deserves that as a child."

"I know, I know, that was completely uncalled for. I'm sorry, Arthur." Eames wasn't the smartest person in the world, but he didn't need to be to know what was going on here. Arthur was like Eames. Thrown away by the two people who were supposed to raise him, love him and teach him to be a good man. Suddenly, Eames felt nothing but guilt. The gun pulled away slowly, Arthur's hands were steady and slow now, his breathing calm, his fingers deft

It was when they were alone, when he was done cleaning and caring for Eames' wound, that Arthur gave into the sadness that inflated in his chest and leaned all of his weight on the taller man's back. Their bodies curved together in a perfect fit, Arthur's cheek rested on the back of Eames' neck and his hands sat loosely on the hips between his thighs.

The pulse in his neck pounded against the Brit's back, his flesh was burning hot.

Neither of them uttered a word.

-4-

It was a simple joke. Maybe not in the best of times or places, them just having found a spot to hide away from the projections shooting wildly at them, Arthur was in his "no mercy" mode and blood stained his skin and clothing, but it was only meant to lighten the mood.

"You know, it's really not a bad color for you. It brings out those stunning deep mahogany eyes of yours."

It wasn't the first time Eames had received that ice cold stare of death but it was the first time that Arthur had followed up with a palm to the jaw, fist to the solar plexus, kick to the back of the knee and hand slamming his face into the ground with a speed and force that honestly seems impossible for a man that fragile looking to posses.

"Will that be all, Mr. Eames?"

-3-

Eames had been hit again. This time, he wasn't so lucky. The shot had penetrated it's way through his lower abdomen, leaving him plummeting to his knees while Cobb did his best to drag him up and out of the gunfire.

They had been ambushed at their work place by a previous target that had figured them out after the job was done.

Arthur had been around guns and gunfire for as long as he could remember. He was used to people dying. He wasn't used to people he cared about dying. Seeing the bullet drop Eames to his knees hit a trigger in him that he had hoped would never have to be used.

Fading in and out of consciousness, Eames hadn't seen what exactly Arthur had done to rid them of the pesky little fuckers, but when his vision cleared for a moment as Yusuf and Arthur dragged him out of the workshop and into the car, he noted the dozens of bodies that littered the floor and all of the blood that was smeared over every individual object in the entire building. He also noted that Arthur was the only one in the group with any kind of weapon on him. He was the only one with blood on him as well. The others were completely clean.

Ariadne shook and seemed almost scared of the man as she took Arthur's hand to calm him down.

-2-

This one, Eames wasn't sure about.

He and Arthur were out on a date, a late dinner at a very romantic Italian restaurant.

They were having a lovely time, laughing, touching hands intimately, drinking wine, talking about the good times they've shared.

Suddenly, Arthur's gaze had slipped past Eames, his eyes turned cold, though what truly unsettled the con man was the unmatched taunting smirk that played at the other man's lips.

A glass fell to the floor and shattered behind Eames. He turned to find another man staring back at Arthur in sheer terror, frozen to the core. What left Arthur's lips next sent the man running for the door in hysteria and Eames hand shaking ever so slightly.

"How's the family?"

-1-

The whole point of this job was to convince the target that Eames was a traitor to his team, get close to her and take the information needed. The only reason they picked Eames to be the traitor was because not only is he a great con artist, but he has, in fact, betrayed them before. Years ago. It's long forgotten.

To all but Eames.

Cobb, Ariadne, Yusuf and Arthur were on their knees, hands zip tied behind their backs. One of the guards had let Eames up and cut him loose. The target handed him the gun and told him to make it quick.

In this line of business, it's no surprise that acting has become such a mastered art.

The bullet flew through Cobb's head before he could finish calling him a piece of shit.

Ariadne hit the floor after she had turned her head to shout her love to her partner, tears streamed down her face like waterfalls. She was proud of that because she had only recently mastered crying on cue.

Yusuf went out as he prayed in a low whisper, at least he made it seem that way, he was really just reciting the lyrics to "Under Pressure" by David Bowie in his native tongue. He's a fan.

Eames pressed the barrel to Arthur's forehead. He had been fine up until he looked the kneeling man in the eyes. Memories of the time he had betrayed his lover in the past flooded his mind, the pain of guilt rang through his body when he remembered the depression his actions had sent Arthur into, the hatred he had earned from the one man he ever loved burned him from the inside and seared right to his skin. His gut curled. He was going to throw up.

"If you were this good at hiding your true intentions then you could have tried a little harder when you fucked me. Worst sex I've ever had."

Eames wondered, as he pulled the trigger, if he was more afraid of what Arthur had just said about his sex skills being true or the fact that he had once again shot his lover through the head as if he meant nothing.

He really needed to get out of this job.

-1-

Eames went out of his way to make this night special for Arthur. He went the whole nine yards, the lights were off all through the house, candles dimly lit the rooms to make the trail of rose petals visible enough for Arthur to follow when he came over, Frank Sinatra's voice played quietly in the back ground. A box of chocolate covered strawberries (Arthur's favorite food ever) laid in wait with a bottle of his favorite white wine in the bathroom where Eames sat patiently, filling the tub with hot water and lavender scented bubble bath soap.

Eames was excited, he'd wanted to do this for so long. He was going to give Arthur the most romantic night of his life and then he was going to make sweet, lasting, wonderful love to the man who's given him a true reason to live. A reason to wake up in the morning, a reason to fight, a reason to love, a reason to call himself a decent human being and it not be a lie. Arthur was the only man he'd ever loved, and oh, did this man love Arthur. With every bone in his body, he loved Arthur. So it was natural that when Arthur stepped up to the door with tears welling up in his eyes and a disappointed look on his face that Eames knew he was about to hear something he wasn't going to like.

"Ariadne's pregnant, Eames. We can't go on like this anymore. I'm so sorry."