Notes: Part Four out of Four of the 'No Definition' series. The order is 'Against Us', 'Sweet Vendetta', 'Case Closed', and 'I Took A Ride To Meet An Enemy.' I tried to make them stand alone but reading in order is best.

When a sinister person means to be your enemy, they always start by trying to become your friend. -William Blake

Prologue

Dominic Cobb never took for granted that he had his children back. After two years he could not make himself ever look at a moment he had with them and think that he would rather be anywhere else. He also never felt the desire to go back into the dream despite the fact that he had not touched a PASIV since. His natural dreams were beginning to return and they were amazing. The lack of structure and the fact that they felt like dreams and not reality only seemed to solidify the fact that he was once again in the real world. Every now and then something seemed to shift and he caught himself trying to change the structure of the world but considering that he had two trips to limbo under his belt Cobb thought he was in good shape. As far as he was concerned he still had his sanity and that was more than enough because it meant that he could be with his kids. Staying away from the dreams became easier the more Cobb thought about how even one trip could set him back months of progress. He was well aware that his mind was a mess and there was too much at stake to think about using a PASIV for any reason.

Even since the inception things had been going so smoothly. The International Dream Crime Association had come knocking on his door a few months prior but Arthur had taken care of that. Cobb did not consider IDCA a threat because he was confident that Arthur would not let that branch of government touch him. If he was honest with himself he was fairly confident in Arthur's abilities to keep anyone from touching them. He did not want to become too confident because he had made enemies in the past but Cobb was too distracted by the fact that his kids were still so happy to see him all the time. Every time he returned from somewhere Phillipa and James ran into his arms as if he had just come home again. Cobb felt a little guilty because it was obvious they were still afraid that he was not going to come home one day but he also could not deny that he loved the attention.

"James, eat your peas," Cobb said as James pushed his vegetables around the plate. The little boy crinkled his nose and looked down at his plate.

"Do I have to?" he asked.

"Yes. You want to grow up big and strong, don't you?" Cobb asked but that did not seem to have the effect that he wanted it to.

"I don't like them," James tried to argue even though the boy had just eaten them the previous week without complaint.

"Just eat them and stop complaining," Phillipa chastised like the sister she was. Phillipa sat up tall in her chair and held her chin high with pride. She had grown up so much in the time that he had been gone and it felt like there was a major part of her life that he would never see. She seemed more than willing to tell him everything that she possibly could at this point without any filer. Cobb really did not mind because it warmed his heart to hear her talk about how she was planning on bringing him to parents day later in the year.

It was during one of these stories that Cobb heard something odd. The house was not exactly in the middle of nowhere but his neighbors were far enough away that he could not hear anything they did. For some reason it set all of his nerves on edge and for the first time since he had come home Cobb wished he had a gun on him.

"Daddy?" Phillipa asked and he jerked back to reality.

"Yes, sweetie?" he replied.

"You weren't listening," she accused and she was correct because something was not right; Cobb could feel it in his bones. This was the first time in a long while that he had doubted Arthur's ability to protect him and the kids. There was no telling how much time he had before someone took a shot at them, or worse, and he was unarmed.

"I'm sorry, hun," he said flashing a smile. "I have an idea, why don't we go see a movie tonight and get some ice cream?" Both of the kids' eyes lit up and the smiles that followed were ecstatic.

"Yay, I'll go get my purse!" Phillipa exclaimed and she jumped off of the chair to run upstairs to get her 'purse' which was little more than a bag that Ariadne had knit for her a few weeks prior.

"No, no, Phil, we're going to be late for the movie," Cobb said. He reached for his daughter and managed to stop her before she went running into a house that he was sure was compromised.

"I'll be fast, dad, I promise." She tried to pull away but Cobb held on tight. He was about to argue with her when a shot rang through the house. The wall right next to his head shattered, raining wood down. Phillipa screamed and James attached himself to his father's leg right away. There was no time for this; Cobb picked James up and tugged Phillipa along muttering words of promise that things were going to be all right. The walls around them shattered with more bullets and he was thankful that the shooter had horrible aim horrible aim. Cobb ducked behind a corner into the guest bedroom and locked the door as a bullet whizzed by his head. He barely acknowledged pain in his forehead as he locked the door.

"Phil, James, I need you both to get under the bed and be as quiet as you can," Cobb said steadily.

"Daddy, you're bleeding," James whispered and Cobb reached up to his forehead; his fingers came away red with blood.

"I'll be fine, I just need you two to hide," he said and the kids thankfully nodded. They both climbed under the bed and moved all the way back so they were pressed against the wall. Now that they were out out of the line of fire Cobb dug through his closet and found one of Mal's handguns. He checked the magazine and it was thankfully loaded. Normally he would have been angry with her for leaving a loaded weapon in the house but this time Cobb silently thanked Mal for her paranoia.

While he was hesitant to leave them alone Cobb did not want to wait until the gunman came to him to take action. He knelt in front of the bed and looked at both of his children. James was crying silently and Phillipa was pale as she held her little brother tightly.

"I need you guys to stay here for me, okay?" Cobb said.

"No, daddy, don't leave," James whispered through his tears.

"I have to. Both of you stay here and don't come out for anyone but me, do you understand? Not even if the person says they are my friend; you don't come out." They both nodded and he tried to smile for them. "I love you both so much."

"I love you too, daddy," James said and Phillipa nodded.

"Me too. Be careful." Cobb nodded and stood up. He had not heard any gunshots since they had ducked into the room but he knew these people were not going to give up. If someone wanted to scare him they would have taken shots in a public place so they could stay hidden. The moment it moved into their home it was personal and there was deadly intent. Cobb pressed his back against the wall and reached over to slowly unlock the door. He turned the handle and swung the door open. Immediately, the shooter fired several shots and he counted them. Arthur had told him that being able to tell when your enemy was out of bullets and needed to switch magazines could save his life. Cobb listened until a final bullet was shot.

Cobb leaned around the corner and fired two shots of his own. The gunman dove behind a nearby wall and safely out of sight. Cobb leaned back away from the door and tried to steady his hand. He had never killed someone in the real world before and he was not ready to start now.

"Mr. Cobb, why don't you just come out here? I'm sure we could work something out," the gunman called out and he did not recognize the voice but that did not mean anything.

"How about you leave and we'll go from there," Cobb said and he could almost hear the assassins snicker.

"I'm afraid I can't do that." Another shot rang out and Cobb knew the bullets were going to go through the wall if he did not act fast. Cobb reached around and fired two shots fired two shots to where he hoped the gunman was standing silently praying that he hit his target. The assassin shouted in pain and Cobb heard a body fall to the ground. Cobb changed his magazine and walked slowly around the corner, gun raised. The gunman was on the ground, a bullet wound slowly turning his shirt red. Cobb walked forward until he was standing over the man and kicked his gun away.

"Who sent you?" he asked and the gunman laughed.

"Did you really think finding out would be that easy?" the gunman said with blood on his lips. "I'm sure you can find someone who can do the guesswork for you." He was trying to get Cobb to admit to knowing someone else in the business, probably Arthur, but Cobb was not going to take the bait.

"I'll make this much quicker if you give me a name." Cobb said and the assassin laughed again.

"I think I'll pass on that offer." Cobb was not sure what happened next but the gunman managed to reach into his boot and fire a single shot. The extractor hesitated only a ;ittle before putting a bullet between the would be assassins eyes. He had been standing right over the man so he had no idea how the assassin had missed.

"Daddy?" Something cold settled in Cobb's stomach and he turned around slowly to see James with a large wound on his shoulder. "I wanted to make sure you were okay." The boy fell to his knees and Cobb could barely hear himself screaming as he ran toward his son, as he got James' blood on his hands, as his entire world began to end.