"The woman," Eames insisted. "She's well protected but secretive. All we have to do is get beyond the initial guards and we'll be set."

"We have dealt with more difficult situation," Yusuf added breaking the long pause of Eames and Arthur glaring at each other. "Ideas?" Yusuf looked over at Arthur, who broke the staring contest with Eames to meet Yusuf's gaze.

Arthur frowned. "She's an introvert, a project designer. While she's working, she locks herself inside. She has 24 hour security, but he's correct. If we get passed the external security there isn't much to prevent us from being able to extract from her."

"It'll take a little creative thinking," Eames added. "I've never B&E'd in the real world before."

"You can lie well enough in the subconscious. How is the real world any different?" Arthur bit out trying not to be irritated with the forger. "You'll have to do the extracting," he noted to Eames, who was uncharacteristically silence. Eames merely nodded.

"Who's the architect?" Yusuf asked. Eames threw Arthur a look, which Arthur chose to ignore.

"We're still working on it," Arthur told him shortly.

.-x-.

"How much do you know about him?" Lucy asked worrying her nail with her teeth.

Gill looked over from her computer. "Enough. The same amount I keep on all of our little world of specialists."

Lucy frowned. "Did Mel ever tell you why she refused to work with him?"

"No," Gill didn't look up from her work.

"What if he's a serial killer or something?" Lucy gasped as if she was onto something.

Gill rolled her eyes. "If he were I highly doubt the extent of Mel's course of action would be to refuse to work with him. I believe police would have been involved."

"They call them cops in the states," Lucy pointed out.

Gill waved a hand absentmindedly, "Whatever."

"So not a killer then." Lucy lapsed into thought. "Well, they must have met in the states. They're both American."

"Yes," Gill responded not specifying which statement she was affirming.

"Sort of depends on your definition of killer. And American for that matter," a third voice spoke from the street entrance of the small commercial flat. Gill immediately assessed Alex. She'd seen photos of him, but the reality was quite different. The appearance was the same dark hair, dark eyes, calculating expression. But the way he carried himself, his aura and the fact that his face barely moved when he talked didn't translate into photos.

Gill gestured to Lucy. "Lucy Grigg, meet Alex Parks."

Lucy immediately shifted her lips into a fake, but believable smile. "Howyiz," the architect greeted the extractor. Between her accent and the Irish greeting, Gill reasoned that Alex only understood her because of the context. Either way the conversation had lost her interest. Gill turned back to her laptop easily navigating through sites to find the information she wanted.

It was her job to know everything about everyone that was connected to their assignment, but Gill was OCD enough that she kept tabs on anyone they were likely to encounter. She found information on the other two, but she pushed those details into a hidden file. She was taking extra precautions until she knew exactly what Alex was doing here.

Not a moment too soon, as the man in the headline of her thoughts came and leaned over her. He placed one hand on the back of her chair and the other on the table next to her computer. She forced herself to stay relaxed. "Three people know the details of the information they want. I'm researching all three and then we'll go from there to decide who is the best target." She turned suddenly so that she was looking at Alex. His face was only inches from hers. "There is another team that has been pegged for this job as well."

She waited watching his expression. His lack of a reaction told her more than surprise would have. Alex Parks was definitely hiding something, but more than that he didn't care that she knew. His steady gaze held hers for a beat. Then he smiled and looked back at her screen. "Any of the three in the lead so far?"

For now Gill consented to play along. Within reason he was willing to help and she was short of options. Turning back to the computer screen she toggled to bring up picture of the three mark options. Two were male, only one was under the age of thirty. "The younger man is Erick Herzog. He's the easiest to get ahold of. The man lives to party, but his subconscious has been trained. And he is the least likely of the three to remember all the details of the project.

"The woman is Aleida Van Selm. She has the least amount of subconscious security though getting to her might have to be a bit creative. However, she was the designer for the project so she would be guaranteed to have complete designs memorized."

She gestured to each of the photos as she spoke about the mark. "The older man is probably the most complicated. He is well-protected and has a photographic memory, which is a negative in the sense that he would be more likely to notice extraction and helpful because he would remember the plans. This is complicated further by the fact that he has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. The condition would be a variable that I can account for. It could go in our favor or be against us."

Alex kept his hands positioned on the chair and the table but lowered himself to Gill's height and looked at the screen. "And which do you think is the best choice?"

"There are many variables to consider. It's a little early to tell." Gill could see in her peripheral vision that Alex was looking at her.

"What does your gut tell you?" he asked, still watching her.

Thankfully Gill didn't have to act surprised by his suggestion; Lucy covered that for her. "Gill make a decision based on intuition? She's a point man. Have you met any of them before? She wouldn't order a pizza before doing research first."

During her tirade Lucy took in Gill's expression, so when she was done she added, "And now I'm hungry. Gill, did you put in an order?"

"Yeah, the Elephant of Siam. It should be ready in ten minutes, give or take." Gill responded automatically as she toggled the screens back to her research. She opened tabs to bank accounts and family members, while Lucy pulled on her coat and grabbed her keys. Alex asked her to pick him up something. "Gill already order food. She ordered the three most popular."

"Khao man gai?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, along with Curry Pad Thai and Shrimp Kao Phad," Lucy sent him a smile and headed out the door.

Gill was accessing the funds for family versus personal accounts, when Alex pulled her chair from the table and turned her to face him. Momentarily impressed by his ability to pull her and the chair that efficiently, Gill concluded that she was over-looking an element by not figuring muscle mass of subjects.

"How do you know what I eat?" he demanded of her. His manner was still relaxed, but Gill analyzed his face. The normal non-moving features were taut. He was bothered. Interesting.

Gill looked back at him. "Lucy—"

"Your friend is a great liar. But she is lying, isn't she?" Alex stared down at Gill. But Gill was still evaluating Alex's response. He was upset that she looked into his eating habits. More likely he was upset that she looked into him at all. But why so upset that he would show his hand. He let Gill know he could tell when Lucy was lying. Or was he faking the anger to show her that he knew so they shouldn't try to deceive him. Either way presently it wasn't a big issue.

She nodded. "Humans are creatures of habit."

"Excuse me?" Alex asked frustration leaking into his anger.

"You asked how I knew what you eat. Creatures of habit."