[Inception] The Stein Job
omg seriously what I do in my spare time
Title: The Stein Job
Author: vikki
Pairings: light Cobb/Arthur
Wordcount: 2100
Rating/Warnings: PG-13/non-consensual kissing, sexual harrassment, violence
Summary: for this prompt at inception_kink. A mark hits on Arthur, thinking he's just a projection - so why not? Also Arthur wearing glasses.
"The second we get in that hotel with Fischer, his security is gonna be all over us. We run with Mr. Charles like we did on the Stein job."
"So you've done it before?"
"Yeah, and it didn't work. The subject realized he was dreaming and his subconscious tore us to pieces."
*
"My name is Mr. Charles. You remember me, Mr. Stein," Cobb says, whispering intimately in Frank Stein's ear. "You know why I'm here. Remember the training."
Stein pulls back at these words, eying Cobb warily. They've come to the most delicate part of the Mr. Charles routine: the part where Cobb reveals that they're dreaming. How Stein reacts will either save them (well, Cobb, anyway - the subconscious will still recognize Arthur as the dreamer) from facing reams of militarized projections or cause Arthur to decide to save the projections the trouble by shooting both Cobb and himself in the head.
Said point man is currently sitting demurely by Cobb's side, holding an iPad like a datebook clipboard and wearing a pair of squarish glasses that make him look a little less like a pointed gun and more like a secretary - Mr. Black, to be specific. He's stopped making notes and is watching Stein over his spectacles; his free hand has drifted to his side in preparation to draw his weapon.
(They knew from the start that Mr. Charles ought not to be the dreamer, the subconscious being clever enough to find the dreamer no matter what the subject thought of him or her, but the first time Cobb attempted Mr. Charles Arthur, the dreamer, was nowhere nearby for safety reasons. When the attempt went south Cobb shot himself out of the dream and Arthur came up swinging a few seconds later. Cobb couldn't blame Arthur for the black eye the point man gave him; it was, after all, the first time Arthur had died by mob attack.
After that Arthur stayed close, and thus Mr. Black was born.)
Stein's mouth works; after a moment he says, "I'm dreaming." The quiet little cafe they're sitting in goes deathly silent as every other patron turns to stare at Cobb and Arthur. Cobb feels Arthur tense despite the space between them, and he struggles not to do the same.
"That's right," he says, keeping his voice neutral and soft and gentle. "Someone is trying to break into your mind right now. I'm here to protect you. Mr. Black is here to protect you."
Stein looks back and forth across the cafe: his gaze flies to Arthur and lingers there for long enough that Cobb wonders if he's picking up on his subconscious awareness of Arthur as the dreamer. Expecting the feel of a gun barrel against the nape of his neck any second now, Cobb dips his head and catches Stein's eyes. "Look at me, Mr. Stein. It's all right. You're protected. We'll protect you and your information. Trust me." He goes so far as to gently lay a hand over Stein's fingers.
Stein doesn't pull away; he takes a deep breath and lets it out, his startled, panicked look fading. "Okay. Trust you." He nods to himself, and he glances at Arthur again. "You're ... just projections."
The cafe resumes its murmuring and the smooth jazz radio starts playing again; Cobb lets out a slow, shaky, relieved breath through his nose. The tension bleeds from Arthur as well. "That's right. We are representations of your knowledge of extraction security. Together we'll get you through this."
"Right." Stein relaxes fully, sitting back in his chair. "Right. Okay. What now?"
The difficult part over, Cobb smoothly takes the reins and encourages Stein to try to figure out why the cafe is the extractor's chosen setting, expertly misdirecting him in their purpose (he thinks it's because he met his business partner in a cafe; it's actually his recipe for expresso-chocolate truffles the client, Starbucks, is after). "Are you getting this, Mr. Black?" Cobb asks with only a cursory glance at Arthur.
'Mr. Black' is studiously taking notes, looking bored except for his slightly furrowed brow. Cobb wonders what Arthur is actually doing, but Arthur pauses to push his glasses back up his nose and nods.
"You're dressed to the nines, Mr. Black," Stein observes, looking on with a curious expression. "I don't think I even know a bespoke tailor."
"Clearly, I am the part of you that wishes you did," Arthur replies with a twitch of a smile before dropping his eyes back to his iPad.
"Why is my subconscious dressed better than I am?" Stein wonders aloud. "And why is it more handsome, too?"
Cobb can't help watching Arthur for a reaction to that, but the point man's gaze doesn't flicker. Cobb clears his throat. "Mr. Stein, when this dream began I found myself in your office, which is four floors up from here. There was a safe in the office. You know from your training that the safe traditionally holds your secrets. I believe it is imperative that we get into that safe and remove those secrets for safekeeping, before the extractors find it and break in.
"We might find that they've beaten us to it and are guarding the entrance. We'll have to fight our way through in that case."
"You've never fired a gun before, Mr. Stein, so leave that to us," Arthur adds. "Stay behind us and let us do the fighting."
Stein nods, thinking that he understands the situation perfectly, but his attention is fully on Arthur. "A gun-toting secretary, and dressed like that. I must be dreaming to meet someone like you, Mr. Black," he says, and - clearly having settled into accepting that 'Mr. Charles' and 'Mr. Black' are both merely projections - rakes his eyes over Arthur with blatant attention.
It's not precisely a surprise: Stein's trail of ex-girlfriends and boyfriends before he married his wife speaks to relatively open bisexuality, and it's obvious that he feels quite freed up by believing this is all in his head, but Cobb can't help feeling uncomfortable on Arthur's behalf. Shifting in his chair, he watches Arthur's reaction.
Which is surprisingly mild. Cobb has known Arthur a long time but primarily in a professional capacity, and he's never seen Arthur openly flirted with. Arthur actually smiles a little without lifting his gaze from the iPad, although it's more sardonic than honestly amused. His gaze flickers to Cobb. "Mr. Charles, we should get going."
Cobb shakes himself slightly and nods. "Come on." He reaches for his gun and starts leading the way to the back door. Mr. Stein stands to follow him, but Arthur beats him to it, splaying a hand in his path.
"You're last, Mr. Stein," he warns, leaving the iPad prop on the table as he reaches for his own weapon. Mr. Stein nods, a little jerky and his breathing increasingly rapid, and so the three of them are off.
On the stairs Cobb catches Arthur's elbow as the point man moves forward to take - well - point. "Are you all right with-?" he jerks his head in Stein's direction; the man is currently staring at Arthur's ass. (And Arthur's pants are tailored perfectly, which makes for quite the view.)
"It really doesn't matter," Arthur murmurs back, not looking at Cobb. "It's not a surprise, although I didn't know I was his type. Whatever keeps him happy," he concludes, and holds out his palm expectantly for the silencer in Cobb's front pocket.
Three floors of (much more sparse) militarized projections later, Arthur has lost all pretense of being Mr. Black (save for the glasses) and has left behind his suit jacket after apparently utilizing it to snap a projection's neck. (Cobb is mostly just glad he's rarely around for this sort of hand-to-hand combat Arthur takes on.) This is all fairly par for the course with Arthur, who taught Cobb most of what he knows about stealth and weaponry and gunfights, but Mr. Stein is very, very impressed.
"Damn, Mr. Black," he says. "Militarizing my subconscious is the best thing I ever did for myself." He punctuates this sentence by slapping Arthur's ass soundly as the point man passes by.
Arthur yelps, a helpless startled sound that sends Cobb's hackles up and makes Stein's eyes go round. Arthur takes a moment to rub his rear end, faint color in his cheeks, and he sends the briefest of glares Stein's way, but the incident seems to be forgotten as soon as he peeks his head into the hallway where Stein's office is located. "... wait here," he says. "Guard Stein." And he goes in.
Stein seems delighted. Cobb thinks that if he ever dared smack Mal on the butt he would have been on the wrong end of some stinging slaps on the cheek before hurriedly turning his mind from that path. "Okay, I know I'm married, but I think I made myself my ideal man with Mr. Black," Stein confides to Cobb. "Mr. Charles, can I have my mind broken into more often?"
Cobb narrows his eyes at Stein. "If you keep this up you might endanger the whole operation. What's more important: ogling Mr. Black or protecting your information?"
Stein looks duly chastened, but he mutters, "Hard to decide," when Cobb looks away.
Arthur comes back with a blood spatter smeared across his waistcoat and shirt, mopping his face with a handkerchief. It comes away faintly pink, although Arthur himself appears to be unhurt. He straightens his glasses without seeming to notice he's doing it. "Clear," he says.
"Good work," Cobb tells him, but Stein pushes him aside.
"Excuse me, Mr. Charles, but I've got to do this at least once before I wake up," he says. Then he pushes Arthur back against the wall, cups his face, and kisses him full on the mouth.
Arthur's eyes go wide and his body goes stiff; time seems to dilate and compress at the same time for Cobb, who watches with similarly round eyes. Stein lingers there for what feels like forever. Arthur's visible eye rolls towards Cobb, possibly for guidance or advice, but Cobb comes up dry. Instead he finds himself reaching out, grabbing Stein by the arm, and pulling him forcibly away from Arthur.
"Hey," Stein complains, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand, giving Cobb a hurt look. "Where else am I going to get to enjoy a fantasy man besides my head?"
Arthur's lips are slightly swollen from the bruising kiss and his fingers are twitching, a fist waiting to be formed and sent Stein's way. "We're here to do a job," Cobb hisses. "Contain yourself, okay?"
Stein flinches from the force of Cobb's grip - he's taller than Arthur and Cobb both, but he's built soft. "Obviously you're my subconscious father," Stein complains when Cobb lets go, but he gets a lopsided, distant smile on his face when his gaze drifts back to Arthur. "Whatever they want, it can't be that important. Can I dream up a bedroom, you think? Add some ninjas so Mr. Black can show me his moves?" He leers at Arthur, winking. Arthur is too professional - or too focused - to do more than glare back, but Stein falters a little. "You do want to show me your moves, right? Seems wrong for my subconscious to play hard to get."
There isn't anyone else in the hallways here, but Cobb feels a prickle on the back of his neck like a thousand stares.
Arthur isn't very good at playing a part, nor has he ever pretended to be. He thins his lips. "Perhaps you feel guilty for mentally cheating on your wife," he says, cool-voiced.
"Maybe I just wanted a challenge," Stein argues, and he reaches for Arthur's bicep.
Cobb later tells himself he was merely channeling what Arthur likely wanted to do when he punched Stein as hard as he could in the mouth.
Stein grunts with the impact, staggering, and Arthur's head swivels towards Cobb so fast it's like whiplash. "What--?"
"Go go go!" Cobb urges, shoving Arthur towards the office where the safe waits. "Before we lose our window!"
"Window?" Stein is asking, his eyes going dark. "Don't tell me. You're actually ....?"
Arthur takes just long enough to deliver an uppercut to Stein's chin, leaving the man disoriented against the wall, and whirls to the office. Cobb pulls his gun and trains it on Stein. "Move and I'll shoot you in the leg," he promises, hearing the distant sound of hundreds of projections trooping up the stairs, coming for Cobb and Arthur beyond him, ready to tear them to pieces for their trespass.
"I guess I should have known I couldn't dream a guy like that up," Stein slurs through a busted lip.
"Mr. Black is certainly one of a kind," Cobb agrees, and waits for death.
fin
Title: The Stein Job
Author: vikki
Pairings: light Cobb/Arthur
Wordcount: 2100
Rating/Warnings: PG-13/non-consensual kissing, sexual harrassment, violence
Summary: for this prompt at inception_kink. A mark hits on Arthur, thinking he's just a projection - so why not? Also Arthur wearing glasses.
"The second we get in that hotel with Fischer, his security is gonna be all over us. We run with Mr. Charles like we did on the Stein job."
"So you've done it before?"
"Yeah, and it didn't work. The subject realized he was dreaming and his subconscious tore us to pieces."
*
"My name is Mr. Charles. You remember me, Mr. Stein," Cobb says, whispering intimately in Frank Stein's ear. "You know why I'm here. Remember the training."
Stein pulls back at these words, eying Cobb warily. They've come to the most delicate part of the Mr. Charles routine: the part where Cobb reveals that they're dreaming. How Stein reacts will either save them (well, Cobb, anyway - the subconscious will still recognize Arthur as the dreamer) from facing reams of militarized projections or cause Arthur to decide to save the projections the trouble by shooting both Cobb and himself in the head.
Said point man is currently sitting demurely by Cobb's side, holding an iPad like a datebook clipboard and wearing a pair of squarish glasses that make him look a little less like a pointed gun and more like a secretary - Mr. Black, to be specific. He's stopped making notes and is watching Stein over his spectacles; his free hand has drifted to his side in preparation to draw his weapon.
(They knew from the start that Mr. Charles ought not to be the dreamer, the subconscious being clever enough to find the dreamer no matter what the subject thought of him or her, but the first time Cobb attempted Mr. Charles Arthur, the dreamer, was nowhere nearby for safety reasons. When the attempt went south Cobb shot himself out of the dream and Arthur came up swinging a few seconds later. Cobb couldn't blame Arthur for the black eye the point man gave him; it was, after all, the first time Arthur had died by mob attack.
After that Arthur stayed close, and thus Mr. Black was born.)
Stein's mouth works; after a moment he says, "I'm dreaming." The quiet little cafe they're sitting in goes deathly silent as every other patron turns to stare at Cobb and Arthur. Cobb feels Arthur tense despite the space between them, and he struggles not to do the same.
"That's right," he says, keeping his voice neutral and soft and gentle. "Someone is trying to break into your mind right now. I'm here to protect you. Mr. Black is here to protect you."
Stein looks back and forth across the cafe: his gaze flies to Arthur and lingers there for long enough that Cobb wonders if he's picking up on his subconscious awareness of Arthur as the dreamer. Expecting the feel of a gun barrel against the nape of his neck any second now, Cobb dips his head and catches Stein's eyes. "Look at me, Mr. Stein. It's all right. You're protected. We'll protect you and your information. Trust me." He goes so far as to gently lay a hand over Stein's fingers.
Stein doesn't pull away; he takes a deep breath and lets it out, his startled, panicked look fading. "Okay. Trust you." He nods to himself, and he glances at Arthur again. "You're ... just projections."
The cafe resumes its murmuring and the smooth jazz radio starts playing again; Cobb lets out a slow, shaky, relieved breath through his nose. The tension bleeds from Arthur as well. "That's right. We are representations of your knowledge of extraction security. Together we'll get you through this."
"Right." Stein relaxes fully, sitting back in his chair. "Right. Okay. What now?"
The difficult part over, Cobb smoothly takes the reins and encourages Stein to try to figure out why the cafe is the extractor's chosen setting, expertly misdirecting him in their purpose (he thinks it's because he met his business partner in a cafe; it's actually his recipe for expresso-chocolate truffles the client, Starbucks, is after). "Are you getting this, Mr. Black?" Cobb asks with only a cursory glance at Arthur.
'Mr. Black' is studiously taking notes, looking bored except for his slightly furrowed brow. Cobb wonders what Arthur is actually doing, but Arthur pauses to push his glasses back up his nose and nods.
"You're dressed to the nines, Mr. Black," Stein observes, looking on with a curious expression. "I don't think I even know a bespoke tailor."
"Clearly, I am the part of you that wishes you did," Arthur replies with a twitch of a smile before dropping his eyes back to his iPad.
"Why is my subconscious dressed better than I am?" Stein wonders aloud. "And why is it more handsome, too?"
Cobb can't help watching Arthur for a reaction to that, but the point man's gaze doesn't flicker. Cobb clears his throat. "Mr. Stein, when this dream began I found myself in your office, which is four floors up from here. There was a safe in the office. You know from your training that the safe traditionally holds your secrets. I believe it is imperative that we get into that safe and remove those secrets for safekeeping, before the extractors find it and break in.
"We might find that they've beaten us to it and are guarding the entrance. We'll have to fight our way through in that case."
"You've never fired a gun before, Mr. Stein, so leave that to us," Arthur adds. "Stay behind us and let us do the fighting."
Stein nods, thinking that he understands the situation perfectly, but his attention is fully on Arthur. "A gun-toting secretary, and dressed like that. I must be dreaming to meet someone like you, Mr. Black," he says, and - clearly having settled into accepting that 'Mr. Charles' and 'Mr. Black' are both merely projections - rakes his eyes over Arthur with blatant attention.
It's not precisely a surprise: Stein's trail of ex-girlfriends and boyfriends before he married his wife speaks to relatively open bisexuality, and it's obvious that he feels quite freed up by believing this is all in his head, but Cobb can't help feeling uncomfortable on Arthur's behalf. Shifting in his chair, he watches Arthur's reaction.
Which is surprisingly mild. Cobb has known Arthur a long time but primarily in a professional capacity, and he's never seen Arthur openly flirted with. Arthur actually smiles a little without lifting his gaze from the iPad, although it's more sardonic than honestly amused. His gaze flickers to Cobb. "Mr. Charles, we should get going."
Cobb shakes himself slightly and nods. "Come on." He reaches for his gun and starts leading the way to the back door. Mr. Stein stands to follow him, but Arthur beats him to it, splaying a hand in his path.
"You're last, Mr. Stein," he warns, leaving the iPad prop on the table as he reaches for his own weapon. Mr. Stein nods, a little jerky and his breathing increasingly rapid, and so the three of them are off.
On the stairs Cobb catches Arthur's elbow as the point man moves forward to take - well - point. "Are you all right with-?" he jerks his head in Stein's direction; the man is currently staring at Arthur's ass. (And Arthur's pants are tailored perfectly, which makes for quite the view.)
"It really doesn't matter," Arthur murmurs back, not looking at Cobb. "It's not a surprise, although I didn't know I was his type. Whatever keeps him happy," he concludes, and holds out his palm expectantly for the silencer in Cobb's front pocket.
Three floors of (much more sparse) militarized projections later, Arthur has lost all pretense of being Mr. Black (save for the glasses) and has left behind his suit jacket after apparently utilizing it to snap a projection's neck. (Cobb is mostly just glad he's rarely around for this sort of hand-to-hand combat Arthur takes on.) This is all fairly par for the course with Arthur, who taught Cobb most of what he knows about stealth and weaponry and gunfights, but Mr. Stein is very, very impressed.
"Damn, Mr. Black," he says. "Militarizing my subconscious is the best thing I ever did for myself." He punctuates this sentence by slapping Arthur's ass soundly as the point man passes by.
Arthur yelps, a helpless startled sound that sends Cobb's hackles up and makes Stein's eyes go round. Arthur takes a moment to rub his rear end, faint color in his cheeks, and he sends the briefest of glares Stein's way, but the incident seems to be forgotten as soon as he peeks his head into the hallway where Stein's office is located. "... wait here," he says. "Guard Stein." And he goes in.
Stein seems delighted. Cobb thinks that if he ever dared smack Mal on the butt he would have been on the wrong end of some stinging slaps on the cheek before hurriedly turning his mind from that path. "Okay, I know I'm married, but I think I made myself my ideal man with Mr. Black," Stein confides to Cobb. "Mr. Charles, can I have my mind broken into more often?"
Cobb narrows his eyes at Stein. "If you keep this up you might endanger the whole operation. What's more important: ogling Mr. Black or protecting your information?"
Stein looks duly chastened, but he mutters, "Hard to decide," when Cobb looks away.
Arthur comes back with a blood spatter smeared across his waistcoat and shirt, mopping his face with a handkerchief. It comes away faintly pink, although Arthur himself appears to be unhurt. He straightens his glasses without seeming to notice he's doing it. "Clear," he says.
"Good work," Cobb tells him, but Stein pushes him aside.
"Excuse me, Mr. Charles, but I've got to do this at least once before I wake up," he says. Then he pushes Arthur back against the wall, cups his face, and kisses him full on the mouth.
Arthur's eyes go wide and his body goes stiff; time seems to dilate and compress at the same time for Cobb, who watches with similarly round eyes. Stein lingers there for what feels like forever. Arthur's visible eye rolls towards Cobb, possibly for guidance or advice, but Cobb comes up dry. Instead he finds himself reaching out, grabbing Stein by the arm, and pulling him forcibly away from Arthur.
"Hey," Stein complains, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand, giving Cobb a hurt look. "Where else am I going to get to enjoy a fantasy man besides my head?"
Arthur's lips are slightly swollen from the bruising kiss and his fingers are twitching, a fist waiting to be formed and sent Stein's way. "We're here to do a job," Cobb hisses. "Contain yourself, okay?"
Stein flinches from the force of Cobb's grip - he's taller than Arthur and Cobb both, but he's built soft. "Obviously you're my subconscious father," Stein complains when Cobb lets go, but he gets a lopsided, distant smile on his face when his gaze drifts back to Arthur. "Whatever they want, it can't be that important. Can I dream up a bedroom, you think? Add some ninjas so Mr. Black can show me his moves?" He leers at Arthur, winking. Arthur is too professional - or too focused - to do more than glare back, but Stein falters a little. "You do want to show me your moves, right? Seems wrong for my subconscious to play hard to get."
There isn't anyone else in the hallways here, but Cobb feels a prickle on the back of his neck like a thousand stares.
Arthur isn't very good at playing a part, nor has he ever pretended to be. He thins his lips. "Perhaps you feel guilty for mentally cheating on your wife," he says, cool-voiced.
"Maybe I just wanted a challenge," Stein argues, and he reaches for Arthur's bicep.
Cobb later tells himself he was merely channeling what Arthur likely wanted to do when he punched Stein as hard as he could in the mouth.
Stein grunts with the impact, staggering, and Arthur's head swivels towards Cobb so fast it's like whiplash. "What--?"
"Go go go!" Cobb urges, shoving Arthur towards the office where the safe waits. "Before we lose our window!"
"Window?" Stein is asking, his eyes going dark. "Don't tell me. You're actually ....?"
Arthur takes just long enough to deliver an uppercut to Stein's chin, leaving the man disoriented against the wall, and whirls to the office. Cobb pulls his gun and trains it on Stein. "Move and I'll shoot you in the leg," he promises, hearing the distant sound of hundreds of projections trooping up the stairs, coming for Cobb and Arthur beyond him, ready to tear them to pieces for their trespass.
"I guess I should have known I couldn't dream a guy like that up," Stein slurs through a busted lip.
"Mr. Black is certainly one of a kind," Cobb agrees, and waits for death.
fin