Beautiful Stranger

Part One

Eames was enjoying the heat of Mombasa when he realized he was going to have to work soon. He had avoided looking at his bank account for the last few months and went with the gamble of getting declined at the wrong place and the wrong time. So he wandered from casino to casino and would gamble any chance he got. Sometimes he won, most of the time he didn't, and when he did win he quickly lost it again. He would charm people into buying him drinks and then sneak away before they could try to start a conversation. It was a system that worked for him. It was 2A.M. on a Tuesday after a long night at the casino that Eames decided to see what damage he had done over the last few months. Somewhere in the logical, and sober, part of his brain he should have expected this but the damage turned out to be much worse than he thought. If he didn't get some income within the next month paying rent would be difficult.

After several months of being more or less in hiding Eames resurfaced in the criminal world. He was a forger and those were hard to come by. He was counting on being one of the few and one of the best to find work quickly. He sat on his hands for a week until his phone finally rang.

"Eames, there are some people that want to speak to you," the voice of Dave said. 'Dave' was not his real name but he made his wages by being the middle man. He knew everyone and no one connected for the first time unless it was through him. It prevented any law enforcement agents from inserting themselves right into their world. The fact that Dave was calling interested Eames; there were few people in this profession that he had not worked with.

"Any information about the job or the people?" Eames asked because the last thing he wanted to do was appear desperate even if it was the truth.

"They're being very hush-hush about the job, but it's a husband and wife team, architect and extractor," Dave replied.

"Do they seem legitimate? I've never heard of a husband and wife team before and I haven't been out of the loop that long," the forger asked because now he was interested.

"Yes, very much so. There have been whispers about these two and all signs point to professionals with talent. My background check has revealed nothing that would convince me otherwise," Dave said. "Should I give them your information?"

"Let's see what these two are made of; send them my way," Eames said and the line went dead. If it was anyone else he would have been offended but that was just how the man worked. Eames drummed his fingers on the table and smiled to himself; he had a feeling this was going to be an interesting job

The phone call came a day later. Eames was half asleep on his couch trying to decipher whether or not his body was going to be hungover. He was having a mental battle concerning the matter when the phone rang. He made no attempt to move save reaching over and answering the phone.

"How may I help you?" he asked despite knowing exactly who was on the other line; this was his work number after all.

"Mr. Eames, my name is Dom Cobb and I was wondering if we could meet to discuss a business proposal," the man on the other line said.

"That sounds like a fine idea. Where would you like to meet?" Eames asked and wondered where he was going to get the money to fly anywhere.

"How fast can you make it to the States?" Cobb asked. The forger inwardly winced at how much that would cost him.

"Give me a day to get my affairs in order and I'll be on my way," Eames said.

"Great, contact me when you land and fly into LA if you can. If not we can meet in New York," Cobb said.

"How about New York then? We can meet halfway somewhat," he said and there was a pause. It would depend on how badly they needed him if they would go to New York to meet him.

"That sounds fair. We'll see you in a couple of days," Cobb said.

"Until then," and they both hung up. Eames rolled off the couch and stood tall. He needed to dig into the last of the money in his bank account and head for the States. From there he had a meeting with Dom Cobb about a job that no one was talking about. Highly secretive jobs usually put him off but for some reason it did not bother him this time. Usually when there was a job that no one was talking about it meant it had something to do with either extremely sensitive information or very powerful people. Both of those were an easy way to get involved with something far out of one's league and Eames had avoided that for years. There was something about the concept of a married couple working in this busines that intrigued Eames a lot more than he cared to admit.

It was not until Eames touched down in New York that he realized that Cobb had no idea what he looked like and vice-versa. He was not expecting a sign in the lobby that said 'welcome to New York Eames' but it also seemed like there had been some major communication issues since now he was lost as to what to do next. He slung his duffel bag over his shoulder and dialed the number that Cobb had called from a few days prior. It rang twice before it was answered.

"Are you in the airport?" Cobb asked without any form of greeting and Eames was beginning to think that 'manners' did not exist in this business.

"Walking toward the taxi pickup as we speak. Where would you like me to go?" Eames asked.

"Just wait by the pickup, we'll find you," Cobb said and he hung up. Eames was not entirely fond of the idea that someone could pick him out of a crowd but he kept that to himself. He really did not have any place to protest since these people had pulled him in for a job. So he stood on the edge of the curb and tried not to think about how utterly American this city was until a very basic car stopped in front of him and the passenger door opened. A man, maybe a little older than him, with dark blond hair and very blue eyes stared back. "Have a seat, Mr. Eames." The forger climbed into the car and it pulled away from the airport. "Dom Cobb," Cobb said and offered a hand as he drove along the road.

"Charmed," Eames said as they shook hands and he saw movement in the backseat.

"This is my wife, Mal," Cobb said and Eames turned to see a young woman with curly brown hair and grey eyes looking back at him.

"It's nice to meet you," she said and her voice had a light French accent to it. He politely nodded at her and sat back in the seat.

"Introductions are all well and good but I'd really like to know why this job is so secretive. That usually means that things can go wrong very quickly," Eames said and out of the corner of his eye he saw Cobb shift uncomfortably.

"Things are a little different about this job, even for the two of us, but I really think we should discuss it when we can give you the information directly," Mal replied. "And if you're worried about sensitive information why did you agree to work with us?"

"I haven't agreed to work with you yet, darling. I'm just here for the presentation. And I agreed because the concept of you two is fascinating," Eames replied. Cobb looked at him strangely.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked.

"Partnerships in this business rarely work out so the thought of a husband and wife doing this is not something one would expect." The forger could see that Mal was watching him carefully. "I like things that can't be explained."

"Good to know," she said. "And I like to think we do things a little differently from the rest of our competition. It's what makes us stand out and what draws the attention of people like yourself."

"Flattery will get you everywhere, Mrs. Cobb," Eames replied and he grinned at her. She did not seem offended and smiled back at him. They rode for some time before the car stopped in front of a large hotel. The Cobbs climbed out of the car and Eames gathered his bag. The walked through the lobby and he was surprised that they did not stop so he could get his own room. Instead they walked straight into the elevator and went to the top floor. The penthouse that they were apparently renting was more like the places he expected his employers to stay in, not his co-workers. He was impressed and there was no use denying it. "The last few places I've worked in were basements and abandoned warehouses. This is a little nicer."

"I like that idea better than this but someone insists against it," Cobb said and his wife beamed at him.

"Please ignore my husband; he seems to think that just because we do illegal things that we have to hide like rats. We got this place when we found out that you wanted to meet us here. There is another room down the hall where you are welcome to stay."

"You are displaying a rather large amount of trust considering you just met me, Mrs. Cobb," Eames said.

"Maybe I just have faith in people," Mal replied and she smiled. "Or maybe it's the 9MM I keep within arms reach."

"Touche," Eames said and he set his bag aside. He was secretly thankful that they had a place for him to stay because his rather small bank account barely had enough money to afford a hotel room for a few days. "So when are you two finally going to tell me about this job or should I go sleep off my jet lag first?" Cobb glanced at Mal and the two of them went into the sitting room. Eames followed and fell into a rather large and comfortable chair. The husband and wife sat down on a couch nearby and Mal pulled a file out from under the couch.

"A high ranking official in the military is worried that someone witnessed something he was not supposed to. Apparently, they were moving terrorist suspects in and out of interrogation and it was supposed to be an undercover operation," Mal explained. "He seems to think this civilian saw something that could prove to be a problem for his section of the military but he wants us to find out for sure either way."

"We're doing work for the government? You should give me one good reason not to run out of here right now because I don't know about the two of you but I have warrants," Eames said in a low voice.

"I think it's a bad idea too but this guy is hiring out a private contractor. It's for a military man but not for the military," Cobb said. "He doesn't want any direct contact with us and I'd like to keep it that way too. The less he knows about us the better."

"That's all fine and dandy but this is still a political mess waiting to happen. Why would I want to get involved in that?" the forger asked.

"The pay is fantastic and it's a safe job because we are flying under the radar. The official wants nothing to do with us save our information and giving us our pay. As long as we stay smart about communication there is nothing to worry about," Mal said and she handed him the file. "This is the mark." Eames took the file and opened it. Paperclipped to a stack of papers was a photo of a kid, barely twenty-one, with dark hair slicked back and dark brown eyes. The picture was of him in a crowd and he was wearing a perfectly pressed suit that was likely worth more than the entire contents of Eames' bank account.

"This is a kid, a baby, what could he have seen that could piss off the military?" he asked. Cobb shrugged.

"I don't know the details, we still need to find out what we'll be extracting, but whatever they think this kid knows has them running scared. So scared that they are coming to us," he said. Eames took the picture off the papers and looked at it.

"So who is he?" the forger asked.

"His name is Arthur," Mal replied.