To Dream of Electric Sheep 3/3 [Completed]
Arthur woke up in the back of the mini-van that he could remember getting into to take to the airport. It was still parked in the back of the parking lot that they had walked to. Eames must have put something in his water bottle to knock him out.
Arthur slipped the needle out from under his skin gently, and looked over at the third guy. Even in his sleep something about the man screamed military, possibly his haircut.
Arthur took off his jacket to switch it with Eames’s. If there were others watching the van they might be thrown off and not follow the man in the thick winter coat with the hood pulled up. Arthur’s coat was not going to fit Eames, but Arthur couldn’t bring himself to be too worried about Eames being cold after what he had pulled.
Arthur lifted military man's gun to give Eames an advantage. Despite what he just did, it was becoming apparent that he must be keeping them under to give Arthur time. As Arthur was about to leave the van he noticed a large manila envelope peeking out from the coat he had draped over Eames.
He pulled out the envelope and immediately saw his full legal name, scrawled in Eames’s handwriting. He grabbed it and got out of there swiftly.
After several flights that crisscrossed the globe with the help of several passports Arthur checked into a hotel and opened the envelope.
It was the military’s files on him and also their files on something called Specimen #001.
No.
Fuck that meant he was really a…
Well he had noticed changes.
Arthur went through all the files three times. Then he cross-referenced everything with the help of a laptop stolen from a European businessman and military passwords and codes he had stolen a long time ago.
So, it all checked out. But the one thing he couldn’t understand was why after uncovering all of that information Eames helped him get away from the military, why he had helped him.
And it definitely did not explain why Eames let Arthur, who he knew full well had a machine for a brain, kiss him silly and then looked at Arthur like he never wanted to see him leave.
People did things in dreams all the time that they wouldn’t dare do in reality.
Arthur pushed those thoughts to the back of his brain. He was a cyborg, didn’t that mean he didn’t have feelings?
------
There was a sharp knock on Arthur’s door that woke him from him a dreamless sleep. He crept cautiously to the door. There was another quieter rap and Arthur peered through the peephole. Eames.
Perhaps if things were different this would be significant.
With a small noise of frustration he jerked the door open and yanked the man in the hallway into his room.
“Eames,” he hissed, “what the fuck are you doing here?”
“I just needed to know you were okay.” Eames drew in a ragged breath and ran a hand through his hair.
Eames looked worn, tired, and generally worse for wear. Arthur had never seen Eames like this before.
“I’m fine, thanks to you.” Arthur looked cautiously down the hallway before he shut the door. “You weren’t followed?”
“I’m fairly sure I lost my tail.”
Arthur nodded. “Feel free to take a seat. Would like anything to drink?”
“Just, water thanks,” Eames said, moving further into the room.
Arthur turned and quickly poured Eames a glass of water. He returned to find Eames staring off into space. He set the water down and Eames’s eyes quickly flicked over to Arthur.
“You know it’s incredibly dangerous for you to be here right now,” Arthur said.
“Danger is my middle name.”
“Eames.”
There was a pause as Eames took a sip of water. “It’s very hard to turn down the military or the government, even when it’s not your own. It’s very easy for them to make life extremely difficult for anyone.”
“Then why help me?”
“I wasn’t sure what they wanted from you at first. I thought they just wanted a confrontation, perhaps a chance to persuade you to join up again. I didn’t realize that…”
“That I was valuable missing technology?”
“In their eyes, yes. I did my research far later than I should have. But when I realized… Well, I wasn’t going to let them take you.”
“It would most likely be extremely profitable to have your own personal cyborg, wouldn’t it, Mr. Eames?”
“Arthur,” said Eames shaking his head, sounding pained, liked the sound was being wrenched from him.
“Then where’s the benefit to you?” Arthur turned away frustrated. “They’re going to hunt you down.”
“I’m entirely off the grid. I dissolved all my ties and contacts. All my identities are brand new.”
Arthur turned to Eames and met his eyes. “You didn’t have to do this, you know.”
Eames stood and took a hesitant step towards Arthur. He wore that same look Arthur had seen in the dream. “You’re still the same Arthur I’ve always known. Nothing about you has changed.”
Arthur just looked at Eames for a long moment. When he turned away Eames let out a disappointed sigh and Arthur could hear him moving to leave.
“Eames, I can join you in Mombassa in a month’s time. I have some business I have to take care of first.”
Arthur felt a reassuring squeeze on his shoulder. A moment later he heard his door snick shut quietly.
Arthur went to his desk and pulled out the files that Eames had given him and the stolen laptop. He was up late into the night.
------
It took longer than a month.
------
The underworld was practically thrumming with the news. The dreamshare community was delighted. Soon governmental organizations would have to pander to them if they wanted to recover their lost research and technology without going to their rivals.
However there were many skeptics. How could all the databases be wiped clean? All the back up drives gone? A whole building destroyed after being evacuated by a mysterious drill. And why was a wing of a hospital decimated? Someone would really need to either have a grudge or be a radical against dreamshare being used in the military. And who would be able to pull such a thing off. You would need a team of people, a team of people with insane amounts of military clearance.
------
With all the of the gossip that had been circulating recently Eames was entirely unsurprised to see a familiar slim figure in the doorway to his bedroom when he awoke in the middle of the night.
While the time it had taken him was unfortunate, what Arthur had accomplished had been worth it.
Arthur kicked off his shoes and slowly stripped down to his boxers as he made his way to the bed.
Eames pulled the blankets back invitingly for Arthur, who slid in gracefully next to him. Eames pulled Arthur close and ran his hands over every bit of skin he could reach. It was more a gesture of reassurance, than anything.
“Next time you need to take care of something,” Eames said in his sleep-roughened voice into Arthur’s hair, “I’m coming with you.”
Arthur made a noise of assent before rolling them over and finishing what they had started in that half-remembered dream.
YEARS LATER
Eames and Arthur stood pressed shoulder to shoulder peering down at a rough sketch. The others scattered around the warehouse were used to Arthur and Eames taking the lead on planning and executing the jobs.
Eames made a disapproving sound in response to something Arthur had said. “That could work but it’s just so…” he trailed off and gestured vaguely with his hands.
“Simple. Easy,” Arthur provided.
“Plain. Dull,” Eames corrected.
“But it would work quite effectively,” Arthur pointed out, tracing his finger through the maze. Eames’s eyes trailed that finger for a moment, causing Arthur’s mouth to twist up in a bit of a smirk.
“It would work, quite well in fact,” Eames agreed. “This is one of the best mazes for this purpose that I’ve seen. But there’s no flare, no artistry in this. Really darling, we need to get you an imagination.”
“You’ll have to take it up with my programmers, Mr. Eames,” Arthur said dryly.
Eames let out a startled laugh.
“They never intended for me to think outside the box,” Arthur added in a low voice, only for Eames.
“Perhaps not. But, Arthur, what they intended hardly matters. After all you live outside the box.”