Inception 1. Chapter 1

**Lovely readers...this is just a short preview of an Inception fic that I've had rattling around in my head for some time. I'm still not 100% sure on this, I think I may have dreamed up something too difficult to actually put into words. So, as a tester, I'm posting this preview chapter. Please tell me what you think...**

Victoria James went by many names. Her "official" work colleagues at the Library called her Victoria. Her "associates" in the world of cyber-terrorism called her Vix. To those that she sought to incapacitate on a purely subconscious level, she was V, the sign she left indelibly scrawled across their mind with a can of spray paint that didn't really exist.

But to her beloved father, the only person in the world that she could call hers, she was Vicky. Nobody else was allowed to call her that name any more. Sure, when she was an awkward, slightly chubby, nerdy teenager, those at school had called her that. But they were largely idiots whom she knew even then, possessed a much lower Intelligence Quotient than her. She had joined MENSA at 13 and was immediately top of the age to IQ ratio tables. So her schoolmates views on her were easy to disregard. But every so often, she used to get irrationally upset when one of the more popular boys would taunt her. Mainly due to the fact that if you took away his obnoxious personality and general contempt for those not in his group, he was stunningly gorgeous. But boys like him would only take an interest in Victoria if it was to berate them for the pleasure of others.

It did not bother her for long. Her father always had interesting tasks for her to assist him with that took her mind away from those Neanderthals. The largest of which had peaked her interest the minute he had started musing aloud over it. Dream-walking he called it. The ability to enter the subconscious of another in order to assist them to "find their way back". Victoria's mother had been diagnosed with Early-Onset Alzhiemers at the age of 39, when Victoria herself was only five. Two years later, her mother accidentally took far too many of her tablets and died after a 3 day stint in Intensive Care. At the age of seven, Victoria was left alone with her father who until that time, she had always regarded as a funny, but slightly batty "mad professor" type, always inventing useless junk and talking to himself animatedly. Her view of him changed quickly and she soon realised that she was more a child of this man than of her lovely mother. Their intellects matched perfectly. He was a genius of creation and she a genius of practical application. He had seen this and professed her his mental equal by the time she was nine.

From that point on, their shared passion was to invent a tool to help people such as her mother. People whose minds were stuck somewhere in their own head, where conventional means could not reach them. Her father envisioned that anyone suffering from the affliction that killed his wife, or those suffering major, brain-damaging head trauma, could be "brought back" if someone else's subconscious was there to guide them home. Although it was a shared dream, for her father, it had been an obsession, albeit one that she fully understood. He had been a devoted husband who treated his wife as any woman would want to be treated, with kindness, respect and love. So, Victoria allowed him to somewhat scrimp on his fatherly duties, in the hope that his creation would prevent the heartache that others may feel when someone they loved was taken away in the manner her mother was.

His progress, with her assistance had been remarkable. So much so that within only four years, people in high ranking places were taking notice. One Saturday morning, a knock came at the door that changed their lives forever. Government officials entered their home and removed any and all traces of her fathers work, threatening him that he should just "forget" about everything he had dedicated his life to for so long. He had nodded his consent with a terrified look on his face, as had Victoria.

But her father was no mug and neither was he the sort of man to indiscriminately trust those in authority simply because of their positions. He had ensured that the device he created to assist in their work, which he nick-named the PASIV, had copies secretly stashed away in places only he knew of. So he continued his work in secret, with Victoria his willing accomplice. Since that day, Victoria had "Dream-walked" in her fathers mind nearly every day that they were together. As she grew to adulthood, they had found several like-minded and trust-worthy individuals to help them, mostly thorough her secretive and highly illegal work with computers. That was when the problem of "projection aggression" had first reared it's ugly and very near fatal head. When in her fathers mind, his overwhelming love for her had ensured that his projections readily accepted her to the point that she could flat-out tell them that she should not be there, but no adverse reaction was ever made apparent. However, when Victoria drew even the slightest attention to her presence in someone else's mind, the projections attacked her to the point of her violent death in the dream.

Although panicked when this first happened, she quickly realised that the key to combat this lay in how she thought of herself when within someone else's subconscious. If she believed that she had more right to be there than any of the projections, they not only paid her no attention, but allowed her to manipulate the dreams landscape at her will, giving her almost superhuman powers within that world. Not that she would ever use these to bring harm to anyone. No, she used these to play and make life easier for herself when trying to continue the research. Say she was at the top of a tall building and wanted to be back at ground level. Her mind would simply "flatten" the building so that she could walk from the ledge to the pavement without batting an eyelid. In the same way, she could walk on water, move objects that in the real world would be much to heavy for her to make an impact on and manipulate the dreamers self image to allow her easier access to their still hidden depths. These talents had led to the nickname of "Female Jesus" being given to her by one of their co-conspirators, a lovely, if odd computer hacker called "Weasel".

Weasel had suffered severe brain damage at the age of 14 when a drunk driver had knocked him from his bike onto another oncoming car. Although his brain functioned perfectly now, it had been a struggle for him over the last 12 years, one that had left him without use of his legs at the cost of his now highly attuned mind. He had jumped at the chance of entering a world in which he could walk again and so, his loyalty to Victoria and her father was set in stone. He would never betray them to anyone.

Victoria was now 36. Her father was 66. Although her "unofficial" work took her all over the globe, she kept in close contact with both him and Weasel, through emails, texts and phone calls. While on a trip to Australia, she called Weasel, concious that although there was a huge time difference, he would be awake as he only slept for about 2 hours every day. He had once jokingly said that this was a positive side effect of his brain not having to negotiate walking and the energy saved from not using those muscles. Victoria had laughed and kissed his forehead, which made him blush. She tried the house phone first of all, as Weasel always stayed with her father when she was out of town. There was no answer which was surprising as it would have been around 8.30 pm there, and her father was always in bed by 9 on the dot. So she tried Weasel's mobile. It rang about five times, which was again unusual because he always picked a call straight up.

When he answered, his distraught state became obvious immediately. Victoria knew that her fathers mental stability had been rocked by the "bastardisation" of his work, encompassed in the fact that his invention had been used for underhand and nefarious purposes by both governments and individuals. That was the reason that she was in Australia right now, She had received word that some group had been targeting Cobol Engineering executives and she had wanted to join them in the dreamscape and scupper whatever shady plan they were up to. Sure, she couldn't stop everyone from extracting information from others, but any time she stopped this happening, by either "training" others to defend themselves against such an attack or by "going in" with them under guise as part of their team, helped to eradicate the misuse of her fathers life work. She also hoped that her efforts would help him to focus on a positive again, instead of regretting inventing the machine that had assisted with the deception.

So when Weasel answered his mobile after five or six rings with a very stressed "Thank god, I've been trying to call you for hours", she automatically knew something was very very wrong. He proceeded to tell her that her father was in Intensive Care after suffering a massive stroke. When she asked Weasel if the doctors knew what had caused it, he had scoffed. "You know about these things Vix, no-one knows why people have strokes". There was a long pause as she let the news fully sink in. Then Weasel spoke again "Although if you ask me, the news he got yesterday might have pushed him over the edge!".

"What news Weasel?" she asked stonily.

"Inception...someone did it. Some idiot went and planted something in some poor fuckers brain, Gibney called your Dad yesterday and told him that the rumours were all round the "Dreamshare" world. Happened about five months ago from what he heard. Maurice Fischer, heard of him?".

"Yeah, he died a while ago. His son was all set to take over the Fischer/Morrow empire but then demolished the whole thing. Something about wanting to be his own man or some such bullshit that those types always spout".

All Weasel said in response was "There you go!".

Victoria thought for a while and said "Whats Dad's condition like now?, Is there any point in me rushing home?".

"They've put him in a chemical coma in the hopes that some of his synapses start to rebuild. Said they're going to keep him like that for a week. So, I suppose technically no, you don't need to be here. But I think you should".

She was silent for a while and said "I'm not coming, not just yet. I'm going to the US. There is only one person stupidly self-serving and devious enough to pull this off and we both know who it is. I'm going to find him and kill him. Then I'll come home and see to Dad. Is that okay with you?".

"Vix, you know I would do anything that you or your Dad ever asked me to so of course, I'll handle things here. But seriously, killing Dom Cobb wont reverse what's happened and you know it!".

Victoria visibly flinched at the mention of his name. She had been targeting that son of a bitch for a while now, due to his reputation as the best Extractor around. But there was always some roadblock of other. Like the ridiculous loyalty he seemed to inspire in his team members or the sympathy card he regularly played on concerning his wife's death that some used as an excuse to forgive him just about anything. But now, she was determined to get to him and not just to ruin whatever job he was currently running. No, this time, she would end the bastard that had been the bane of her fathers life for so long. She would kill him and enjoy doing it.

"I'll speak to you soon Weasel!" she stated simply as she disconnected the call.


	2. Chapter 2

**Many thanks to Nik216 and Guest X for your reviews. You kind words inspired me to get this done today!**

As Victoria approached the Cobb residence, she thought about how she should do this. She wanted the bastard dead but although she had ended many lives in dreams, she had never done so in real life. Not that she couldn't be violent and heartless in reality. She had once knocked a guy's nose so far into his own head that he had choked on his cartilage. She had helped him when he started making gasping noises and eventually, he made a full recovery. He even spoke to her occasionally, as she had undertaken some work for him and they were all good now. He knew to never touch her arse again.

As she had been such a non-descript teen, Victoria had worked hard to ensure that the same could not be said of her now. She was an expert at Muy-Thai, Karate, Kick Boxing and Ju-Jitsu. The purpose of learning these disciplines had been threefold. Firstly, to operate as she did in the dream world, she had to regard herself as somewhat invincible and to do that, she strove to get herself as physically fit as possible. Secondly, what she did was dangerous. She knew of several International government agencies that would like to take her down and they actively sought her out at every available opportunity. Thirdly, and most importantly, she liked to make men suffer under the weight of their sexual attraction for her. Not to be immodest, but her body was pretty much ideal. She wasn't thin by any means, but she had no excess body fat, a strong and flexible physique, a pert bum and breasts that had not diminished from her chubby days, but had only become more rounded and perfect with exercise. She very much played to her physical attributes with a wardrobe that consisted of rock inspired casual clothes, such as distressed skinny jeans and ripped vintage t-shirts, form-fitting short dresses for when she had to present a more glamorous and feminine image, and lots and lots of leather. She knew that how she dressed presented her a something of a bimbo, but it was done on purpose. Let people write her of as just a dumb whore if they wanted, it only made their realisation of her as their betrayer/destructor even sweeter to her.

Tonight, she was in full "V mode", which is what Weasel called it when her attire was all snarling and attitude. Black leather trousers and short jacket, silver see-through vest with a black satin bra under, black Dr Martens 16 hole boots with white laces, dark blond neck length hair purposely messy and make up that most women would reserve for Halloween. Dark purple lipstick, eyes lined thickly with black kohl and her long eyelashes curled and lacquered with mascara. She wanted to present herself as formidable, fearless and someone not to be taken lightly. She wanted him to know that she was there to not only kill him, but to punish him for his crimes against her father's intellect.

To do that, she had to talk to him first and so she walked straight up to the front door, quickly unscrewed the bulb on the porch light, readied her gun and rang the bell. It was 9.30 pm, dusky but not fully dark and not too late for social visits. As the door opened, she saw the face of the man she hated more than any other at present. She lifted her gun to point directly in his face and before he could speak, she growled "Get in the fucking house!". He complied and she entered, closing and locking the door behind her without looking. She paused for a millisecond, considering what she was preparing to do. She was about to promote herself from Internet Terrorist and Dream Invader, to Murderess. She was ready, she was prepared. But she was also terrified.

Dom looked at the woman with his hands raised at the sides of his head. As his children had been running around the house only 20 minutes earlier, his gun was still locked away in his desk drawer. He internally cursed himself for not getting it out as soon as he had checked that they were both now asleep, but as it had been nearly half a year since his encounter with Robert Fischer, which had also resulted in Cobol Engineering no longer pursuing him, he had become somewhat lax in keeping to his old routine. He backed up towards the kitchen, where he had been making himself a scotch and soda when the doorbell rang. She followed him quietly, never taking her eyes of him but somehow managing to navigate the cluttered hallway of his house, which was full of toys, piles of books and baskets full of shoes.

He kept his cool, looking towards the half full glass on the counter and then back at her. "Would you like a drink?" he asked calmly, which received only a negative toned grunt from her.

Usually, when working abroad, she had a tendency to adopt an accent, which along with the many fake passports she used, made her even harder to track down. But there was no point in doing this now, because she was going to tell this man exactly who she was. So, in her normal and ordinary mid-counties English accent, she asked "Do you know who I am?".

"I have no idea" he replied flatly. "But I would assume that you are in the employ of either Robert Fischer or Cobol?".

"Wrong. I have worked for both of them in the past but not now. Now I'm here for my own reasons. My name is Victoria James and my father, is Richard James. Do those names ring any sort of bells with you?".

"No" he answered honestly.

She scoffed, amused at the irony that this wanker didn't even had the good grace to acquaint himself with information on the man who provided him with his living. Feeling her frustration rise, she took a deep breath to calm herself and spoke again. "My father invented the PASIV. I assume I don't have to tell you what that is?". He shook his head slowly. "My father created it to help people, to guide those who were adrift in their own subconscious back to the people they loved. Did you know that?". He again shook his head. She continued "He did not and does not want his creation to be used for theft, dishonesty and most especially, the implanting of unnatural ideas in a free-thinking mind. The news that this has now happened has caused him to have a stroke, one from which he will probably never recover. Care to guess why I'm here now?".

Dom looked at the woman with resignation in his eyes and replied "To kill me". It wasn't a question, they were far beyond that now. Victoria  
nodded. Just as she was about to squeeze the trigger, putting an end to this man who she considered had killed her father, a small scared voice came from a nearby room, shouting "Daddy!". She stilled at the unexpected noise. Sure she knew that Cobb had children, but her intel had said that they were now living with their maternal grandmother, who had full custody of them due to their mother's death at his hands. Rumour was that he had only secured his entrance back into the US without being arrested for her murder by undertaking some work for the US Government. She knew that the confused look on her face was clear to him and that he was going to use her emotional reaction to his advantage.

"Miss, if you don't mind, my son is calling for me. He has night terrors and if I don't go to him soon, he'll most probably start screaming the house down, which will wake my daughter". Although she knew that this was a gambit on his part, she also recognised the genuine concern he had in his eyes for the safety of his children. So, she had a bargaining chip of her own.

"Go see to him quickly. If you're not back here in three minutes, I'll come looking for you and start shooting" she advised with a raised eyebrow, certain that the unspoken threat to his offspring was clear. Little did he know that Victoria couldn't and wouldn't bring harm to a child. As he left the kitchen, she took his glass and finished the contents in one huge gulp.

Dom quickly went to James room, only to find the boy already back asleep. Taking the opportunity to seek some sort of assistance, he took his mobile out, quickly typed "SOS" and sent it as a message to Arthur, confident that the point man would be there with as much help as possible within minutes. He exhaled and prepared to face the woman again. Finding her sat on his sofa, his empty glass in one hand and the other still pointing the gun in his direction. He slowly took a seat across from her in a high-backed chair.

"I don't know if this makes any difference, but I always assumed that the PASIV was designed by the organisation I stole it from" he said steadily. "I really didn't know that the way me and others were using it caused distress to anyone, so for what it worth, I'm sorry about your father" he continued. She knew what he was up to, he was trying to hit an emotional chord deep inside of her, to plead his unknowing innocence, to release himself from her rage. It wasn't going to work.

"Why are your children here?" she asked as a distraction, putting the focus firmly back on him rather than her.

"This is our home, where we live. Me, Phillipa and James".

"I heard you had lost custody of them because you killed their mother" she stated, intentionally coldly.

"Not true, My wife killed herself. She took steps prior to indicate my involvement, but wasn't of sound mind. Although, that didn't stop there being a warrant issued for my arrest". Dom did not want to lay out the innermost details of his troubled private life to anyone, especially this woman. But the longer he kept her talking, the longer Arthur had to rescue him. "The only thing that allowed me to reunite with my children was the act that caused you and your father such upset. While I sincerely regret that, you have to understand, I would have done anything to see them and hold them again. You can understand that right?".

Victoria flinched at his question, a fact Dom immediately noticed. He had to use this momentum. He leaned closer to her, conspiratorially, and whispered "You know what it's like to be a child without a parent don't you Victoria?".

Her anger rose immediately and she stood from her seat. "Shut the fuck up!" she growled. She began to pace the room, suddenly confused by where she was and what she had intended to do. If he was telling the truth, if he didn't know where the PASIV came from, if his children had only him and the Inception was the only way that he could get back to them, then wasn't that similar to what her father had dreamed up his invention for?. To reunite families. To bring people back together?. The irony of the situation was immediately clear to her and she couldn't help but laugh at it. She looked at him, squinted her eyes and said "If I ever find out that you've lied to me tonight, about your custody of the children, about why you did it or about you not knowing of my father, I will kill you, you know that?".

"I know that and I wouldn't blame you" he gambled.

She lowered her gun with a sigh, whispered "I apologise for disturbing you" and headed for the front door. Cobb followed her and reached out to grab her free hand. She immediately recoiled from his touch, a look of true alarm on her face. People didn't touch her. Men didn't touch her. The look on her face made him drop her hand, hoping that his actions hadn't reawakened her anger with him. "I'm sorry, but I just wanted to ask, why don't use the PASIV to help your father?. From what I've heard of you, you're pretty much Superwoman in the dreamscape!".

She looked at him and said "I thought you said you didn't know who I was?".

"I didn't" he answered. "But I'm pretty quick at putting two and two together. A woman called Victoria whose father invented the PASIV. A woman known as V who is superhuman in the dreamworld, using incomprehensible skills probably afforded by prolonged access to dream sharing. I've never heard of Victoria Jackson, but doing what I used to do, I had to have heard of V!".

She considered his answer, then said "It's called dream-walking, not dreamsharing. That's what my father termed it. If you go into someone's subconscious believing that you are "sharing" the dream, you are setting yourself up for projection aggression. If you think of yourself as just "walking" in someone else's dream, you can learn to bend the will of projections and the construction of the dream to your will". She realised that she had just given away the key to her fantastical dream-walking abilities, but in truth, the captivated look on his face as she broke it down was mesmerising to her. She may have come here intent on finishing him, but could she have found someone that could not only appreciate but perhaps even learn her craft. The information she had on him previous to tonight surely pointed in that direction and if he had performed Inception to a lasting and undiscovered level, then he certainly was the best. Next to her that is.

Only one thing bothered her about what he said. He had told her that dream-walking is what he used to do. Past. She had to know more. "Why don't you do it any more?". She didn't have to elaborate, he knew exactly what she meant.

He considered how he should answer and decided that a woman such as her deserved the truth. So he told her that Robert Fischer was not the first person that he had performed Inception on. He told her all about Mal and how they had been lost in limbo for so long. He told her about them growing old and about the day that he realised that they were somewhere they should not be. He told her how Mal was resistant to his claims and how he had planted the idea that they were in a dream in her head in order to persuade her to return to real life. He told her that when they eventually got back, Mal was obsessed with the idea that they were not really back in real life. He told her how that warped her mind, to the point of her taking her life to "return" to their real children and about how she attempted to blackmail him into joining her.

When he had finished relaying the sad and tragic tale of his life, he stood in front of her with his eyes closed and one of his hands rubbing the back of his neck. Victoria looked at him, a single tear rolling down her cheek. She quickly wiped it away before he could see. She sighed, then he sighed. He opened his eyes and asked "So...why don't you do it? Go into you fathers dreams and bring him back?".

"It's not that easy, even for me" she replied.

"Tell me why?".

She didn't have chance to answer, as the front door suddenly burst open and there stood Arthur, gun raised and a look of steely determination on his face. Although initially shocked, Dom and Victoria started laughing at the look on the Pointmans face. She spoke through her giggles "I knew you had pulled something when you went to that bedroom! I should be angry, but honestly, I sort of respect that you did. It's totally something I would do given the circumstances". She was bemused by her reaction to this turn of events. She had come here wanting to kill him and now, she felt sympathy for him. She understood him. She believed his version of events and saw that in his way, he was actually trying to help her as much as he could. Her change of opinion on this man startled her, but in a good way.

Dom straightened up and looked at his old friend, still stood in the doorway, eyes trained on the firearm still held in Victoria's hand. "Arthur, this is Victoria Jackson. You may know her better as V".

At the sound of her infamous nickname, Arthur immediately trained his gun on her, an action that she quickly mirrored. Dom calmly stepped in the middle of them, basically preventing either of them getting a clear shot at the other. His gambit had the desired effect, with both Arthur and Victoria lowering their weapons, clicking the safety's back on and replacing them in their respective hiding places.

Dom gave Arthur a breakdown of the event's surrounding Victoria's unexpected visit, up to and including the question he had posed to her right before the door flew open. Arthur by nature, was a distrustful and paranoid individual, but if Cobb told him something was okay, then he accepted this unquestioningly. The three of them moved to the sofa's for comfort and Victoria prepared to share more of her experiences and insights in to their shared profession.

"When we originally started our "on-site research", it became clear that the levels of a dream were the key to unlocking how you could bring a lost conciousness back. Most of the time, although there is a part of the victim in each and every level, their root personality, the piece that you need to latch onto you in order to bring them back, is trapped in Limbo. So to deal with that, you need to go in a bit "heavy-handed" Many different consciousnesses will "counteract" the instability and confusing nature of limbo. At least, that's what my father thought. Cobb, you said before that in your past experiences of Limbo, there was only you and one other, correct?".

"Yes, the first time with Mal and the second time with Mr Saito".

"I've been to Limbo three times, twice with just one other and once with two others. The difference was amazing. When it was just me an one other, we managed to get back after about 20 Limbo years had passed. The time with two others, we got back after 15 years. Now, of course, you need a certain amount of time to locate the lost psyche and almost, rehabilitate it to accept what you propose. That normally takes a shorter time than it would in the real world, say if you were trying to teach someone how to walk, write or read after those functions had been lost following a trauma. But once you accomplish that in Limbo, you need to come back as soon as possible, because they longer you spend there, there's more risk that the victim will regress back to their former state. Plus, your dream-walkers psyche's are also at risk of being lost". She sat back pleased at the way she had managed to simply yet accurately describe the reasons why she could not just dive into her father's subconscious and bring him back herself. She needed help and that help had to know what it was doing.

Victoria looked at both men to check that they were both following her. Their interested and questioning expressions showed her that they were, so she continued. "I have a friend, Weasel. He's been in with me a few times, but as adept as he is, he just can't go further down than two levels. See, he's paralysed from the waist down, so the more unstable the dream environment gets, the more his subconscious questions what he's doing just walking around on legs. There's nobody else that I either trust enough or has the required level of experience in this field to allow them to do this with me. So that's why I can't just go in there, because I'd probably end up lost myself".

Dom and Arthur exchanged quick looks, with Arthur nodding at Dom's unspoken question. "We'll go in with you!" Arthur announced.

"I'm not asking you guys to do that!" she responded.

"We know, we're volunteering" said Dom.

"Well thanks for the offer, but it's not enough".

"We have friends. An Architect, a Chemist and a Forger, plus one other if we really needed him. With you and your friend, that would take the total to eight. Three people for the first three levels and five to go into Limbo. Would that be enough?" asked Arthur.

Victoria turned to Dom and said "Look, I don't want to kill you any more okay. But that doesn't mean that I'm about to trust you or your friends enough with my fathers mind or mine and Weasel's safety. For all I know, you could trap us down there so that I couldn't cause any further problems for all your "Dreamshare" buddies".

"And there's nothing that I could do to convince you that I wouldn't do that" said Cobb. "Except for my word. Look at me Victoria, you know that everything I've told you tonight is the truth don't you? That's why you changed your mind! I'm not involved in dream-walking any more and neither are any of the people Arthur told you about. We owe no allegiance to anyone who is still involved and they don't expect anything from us. The only person that we do owe something to, is your father. Because without him, none of us would be where we are now".

He let his words sink in, but could tell that something more, a convincer, was needed. "How about this?, before we go in, I will leave a document with a person of your choosing, which they can release if me or any of my team come back and you don't. This document will be a signed confession from me, admitting that I purposely killed my wife".

Arthur looked at Dom, immediately understanding his motivations for putting everything they had fought for at risk. He turned his gaze to Victoria and saw that she was considering it. Arthur then chipped in "Not only that, but the rest of us will sign an admittance to our part in Robert Fischers decision to dismantle his father's company. With that, and Dom's offer, it not only gives you a cast iron guarantee that we won't betray you, but ensures that we will do anything and everything to bring you back with us. Because if we don't, we're all screwed".

After a pause of about three minutes, Victoria dropped her shoulders, knowing that she actually had no other choice if she ever wanted to see her father alive and awake in the real world. She closed her eyes and nodded her head silently.


	3. Chapter 3

**I actually can't believe that I deliberated for so long over starting this story and now I can't seem to stop writing it! Thanks for all your reads, views and comments, although I would like a few more reviews if possible? (hint hint!).**

**This chapter introduces our girl V to the rest of the team, and them to her particular talents. But there is a bit of conflict, in the form of everybody's favourite British bad boy! Never fear though because as Charlotte York once said in SATC "How can sex with someone you don't like be so hot?". That should let you know just where this story is headed...**

Arthur and Ariadne stood outside the Arrivals gate, waiting for Eames and Yusuf. They had met earlier in the day at a local coffee shop and spent the last couple of hours talking and walking round with their hands held together. As ever, Ariadne was full of questions about why Dom wanted to see them all, but Arthur had promised that he wouldn't go into that until they were all together. Arthur had spoken with Saito the previous day and although he was unable to meet with the rest of group immediately, due to a rather complex merger he was in the middle of negotiating, he promised that he would come to join them if his presence was necessary. Victoria seemed confident that seven people would be sufficient, but Dom had said that they would have a "Trial run" and if she was wrong and another was needed, he would personally contact Saito.

It wasn't long before the foursome was complete and they were cramming themselves into Ariadne's small car. "Well then, here we all are again!" said Eames, a touch too loudly for Arthur's liking. "Any chance that you can give us a clue as to why Cobb's called on us darling?" he continued, turning to Arthur as they sat side by side in the back seat.

"None whatsoever Mr Eames! Dom wants to speak to you all together first, before he introduces you to our new...client".

"Wants to speak to us, yourself not included in that I note. So, you already know, but you're just being as tight-lipped and tight-arsed as always then?" Eames asked while grinning sarcastically. Arthur simply turned away from the other man and looked out of the window, a gesture Ariadne couldn't fail to smile at as she watched them in the rearview mirror. Only 10 minutes or so back in each others presence and already, Eames was grating on Arthur's fine nerves. As she looked to her side, she saw that Yusuf was also smiling at the bickering in the back seat.

At Dom's house, he was telling Victoria that she should stay in Phillipa's bedroom until he came to fetch her, an instruction that she was not taking well. "You don't understand, apart from one person who hasn't been in the dream-walking business too long or even that much, they all know of you and what you do. If you're stood there and I introduce you straight away, either you or one of my colleagues will probably end up with a bullet in your skull. So please, let me break it to them gently and then bring you out to meet them? Don't worry, I'll tell them everything, about your father, about why you have spent your time trying to stop those in our profession, they'll understand. But Victoria, you have to trust me on this okay? I know what I'm doing where these people are concerned".

Victoria considered his comments and what stood out most to her was that ever since she had told this man that her father called what they did "dream-walking", he had adopted the phrase immediately, not using "dreamsharing"any further. From the little she had learned of Dom Cobb over the last couple of days, she knew that this was a sign of respect, both to her and her father. And so, she made the decision to trust him. Just as she agreed to his request, the sound of a car pulling upon the drive was heard so she quickly walked into the pink and lilac bedroom and sat on the bed. She was in there for about 30 minutes in total and although she could only make out a few actual words, she determined that one of Dom's team members was a fellow Brit, one was Indian and the third a female American. "Interesting mix" she thought to herself and couldn't help imagining which voice went with which task. She felt certain that the Indian chap was the chemist, as the people of that country were know for their adeptness at all things related to medicine. The female American voice was puzzling, so young, but so wise. And with a slight French lilt. Then she remembered what Dom had told her about studying Architecture in Paris and not being able to "design" a dreamscape himself after his wife's death. She thought it made perfect sense that if he needed another Architect to do this, he would seek one from the same institution he had learnt his craft. Therefore, the young woman must be the Architect.

The British voice unnerved her, but she could not put her finger on why. The accent was frighteningly similar to hers and there was something of an unspoken bravado about it. By process of elimination, she knew that this voice was the Forger, the one that Arthur had told her would not only be the hardest to convince due to an undoubted former knowledge of her, but also due to the fact that he was something of a "Prick" (Arthur's word, not hers). She was secretly looking forward to meeting and learning all about them. While she had managed to collect quite a lot of info on Dom prior to the last week, details of his colleagues had been ridiculously hard to obtain.

A quiet knock came at the door and Dom opened it from the other side, smiling at her. "You ready?" he asked.

"Uh-huh" she responded. As she approached him, she added "You took any weapons off them yeah?" and smiled back at him.

As they walked into the room, the first person that Victoria saw was a small, cute woman eyeing her with caution, but still smiling. The woman came straight up to her, held out her hand and said "Hi, I'm Ariadne Strong".

"Hello, you're the Architect?".

"That's right, wow you are as sharp as Dom said! It's nice to meet you".

"Same here" Victoria replied and as she did, she heard a small "tsk" from somewhere in the room, but couldn't as yet see the person who had made the noise. The Indian man was next, his face just as suspicious as Ariadne's, but friendly nonetheless. "Dr Yusuf Shah...I'm the Chemist".

"Pleased to meet you, and happy to have someone involved in medicine with us on this. I take it Dom has made you aware of my fathers current condition?".

"He certainly has. You understand I will require some access to him in order to assess if and how much sedative may need to be given to him? You are happy for me to do this?".

"Perfectly happy, but thank you for asking". Again, a small derisive noise was made and this time, Victoria knew that the sound came from the high backed armchair, which was currently facing away from her. It became clear after a few silent moments that the occupant of the chair was going to be stubborn and not stand to introduce himself. So Victoria took it upon herself to approach him. As she rounded her body to face whomever was sat there, she noted that the man was looking down with a snarl on his face. She cleared her throat and said "I assume that you are the Forger? Arthur told me that you probably wouldn't be too happy to meet me, Mr...?".

He looked up at her, his eyes widening as he took in her appearance. From what he had heard of the infamous "V", she was some sort of Goth-cyber-punk type, all scary looking and ghostly white. But the woman in front of him, while dressed like a tomboy, was nothing like that. He tried his hardest not to let his eyes rest for too long on her ample chest, but the strategic rips and widened neck of the Sex Pistols T-shirt she had on did not help in that. The low slung, skinny jeans she wore also didn't stop him quickly eyeing the bit of toned, tanned stomach flesh he saw. But the thing that struck him most was her face. She was smiling, but there was sadness in her brown/gold eyes. Perfectly understandable given the current state of her only living relative. Her naturally bee-stung lips were painted bright red but apart from that, there was no other make up present. What's more, she didn't need it. Her skin glowed and gave the impression of being healthy and fresh. Realising that he had been looking at her without responding for some time, he quickly adopted a look of disdain to his face, in the hopes that the others would think he was ignoring her, rather than admiring her facial beauty and body

He huffed a quick breath, clasped her offered hand and simply said "Eames". For a millisecond, he thought he saw something flash through her eyes, something old and painful. But as he attempted to make sense of this, she uttered a quick "Nice to meet you!", released herself from his hand and turned to walk over to Arthur. The fact that she chose to stand next to him, of all people, irked Eames, but he was careful to not let this show.

Victoria's mind was spinning. She had thought she had recognised the voice and then the face was alarmingly familiar, but confirmation of his name made all the hurtful and nasty things he had said to her during their time at the same school come flooding back. David Eames, Rugby Team Star, leading light of the Drama Club and all round teenage Adonis was standing in front of her. He had changed, but only in so much that his actual age showed on his face, as it did with anyone. Suddenly, although she was now a full grown and stunningly attractive woman, she felt like the chubby, nerdy, spectacled girl she had been. The taunts he had led echoed through her mind. The Chubster, Roly-Poly, Thunder Thighs...and the worst...Vomming Vicky, given when she loudly and excessively threw up during a school assembly. The tears were surging at the back of her eyes, but she'd be damned if they would break through.

As she stood next to Arthur, she couldn't help but notice the look on HIS face. It showed her that if Arthur thought Eames was a prick, Eames thought Arthur was a double prick. She could use that. She had also noticed the almost lustful way that Eames had regarded her prior to giving his name and was pleased that her usual tactic again proved fruitful. She could use that too. So, she put her hand on Arthur's arm and said "Do you know Arthur, I've never asked you your surname?".

"It's Strong" he said, immediately looking over at Ariadne with a gaze full of adoration.

"Ahhhh" replied Victoria. "Newlyweds?".

"Just two months now" advised Ariadne.

"Congratulations to you both. I'm sorry if my visit has meant you haven't spent as much time together as recently wed couples should?". They both smiled at her, to assure her that that was not the case. Internally, Victoria cursed that the plan she had quickly formed some moments ago, to flaunt her body in front of Eames while shamelessly flirting with Arthur, could not now be used. She didn't know these people well, but she needed them. So, anything that might "rock the boat", such as coming between the besotted couple for less than genuine reasons, was to be avoided. Instead, she would still attempt to drive Eames wild, but not involve Arthur in this. Perhaps Dom...

Her train of thought was interrupted by Dom announcing "Okay, so we all know why we are here and while some of us might not be too happy with the situation, I think we can all agree that a debt is owed here. Victoria's father needs help and we are the people to help him. So, let's get to work. The first think that you guys need to do is go under with Victoria. While what she can do is amazing, it can be disorientating to the other dream-walkers at first, so I need you all to get a grip on what she does".

"You've already been in together then?" asked Ariadne, looking from Dom to Victoria.

"Yes" replied Dom. "It was...very eye-opening. In fact Ariadne, since you have had the least experience, I want you to spend as much time under with Victoria as possible. She could help you to enhance the way you create in there. And Eames, she could teach you a bit about forging too".

"Well thanks very much old man but I think I'm perfectly adept at my craft!" said Eames indignantly, much to Arthur's haughty derision, made clear in the snort he made.

"All the same" continued Dom calmly "Give it a try. She forged me while we were in there together and for a bit, I actually thought she was me and, I didn't know who I was!" Victoria smiled towards Eames, pleased that Dom already held her talents in such high regard. In response, Eames gave her a look that was half "fuck off" and half "fuck me?", a fact that made her smile all the more.

"We are going to have to have a trial run at getting down to Limbo level with just the seven of us, so we can see if we're going to need Saito as well" Dom said.

Again, Eames piped up. "Forgive me but there are only six of us here at the moment darling, are we expecting more company?"

Victoria told all assembled that Weasel would be there within three days. She assured them that he didn't need as much dream-walking time with her, as he had been under with her several times before. He was currently seeing to the medical and legal arrangements for her father and would get a flight to them as soon as possible. When they had all congregated and had enough shared dream-walking time together, they would attempt to reach Limbo. Depending on how that went would determine if Dom asked Saito to meet them in England, ready for them all to enter her father's subconscious together. She hoped that her mention of England may have led Eames to ask whereabouts, so she could let him know it would be their shared home town, but he didn't.

Plan formalised and agreed, Victoria prepared herself to go under with Ariadne, Arthur, Yusuf and Eames. Dom would stay behind to operate the PASIV and monitor them, as Arthur had done for her and Dom only yesterday. When needles with a small dose of Yusuf's latest concoction were ready to go and they were all "hooked up", Victoria said "Look, if it get's too much for you in there, if I'm pushing you too far or scaring you by what I can do, you must tell me immediately. If you don't and I carry on, there's a chance that your subconscious will just fall straight into Limbo all by itself and if that happens, this whole thing is a bust. Is that okay with everyone?".

Ariadne and Arthur nodded solemnly. Yusuf answered "Sure". Eames just stared at her.

"Mr Eames, you will let me know if you can't handle what I do won't you?" she asked with a suggestive tone

"Absolutely darling, although I think I'm more than equipped to deal with anything you can throw at me" he responded with a cheeky grin.

"We will see Mr Eames. We will see" was all she said in response.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello you gorgeous and discerning readers!...I totally wasn't going to do this just yet but I sort of made a deal with Nik 216! - I hope you like this Nik, I was thinking of you the whole time I typed it!**

Ariadne proved to be a quick study. While Victoria didn't think she was up to the level of taking a confident and purposeful step off a tall building or anything else that "superhuman", she was managing to manipulate the dreamscape around her without attracting the murderous attention of any projections. Victoria stood at her side, gently guiding her through the thought processes needed to become a true creator in this subconscious world, without boundaries or fear of repercussions.

What amazed Eames most about this, was that this was his subconscious. He could hear Victoria tell Ariadne exactly how to manipulate the construct of his own imagination. He was internally willing his projections, most of whom were stunningly attractive women, to attack Victoria. But when they approached her she simply gave them a look, one of indignation and derision, and they immediately backed away from her and Ariadne. While he would have liked nothing more that for her to simply disappear, so that he could crow about how much of a fraud she was, he couldn't fail to be impressed.

Sensing his feelings, Victoria approached him and said "Okay, I'm going to forge now. It's important that you look at me while I do. I want to see if you can identify the exact moment that I transform".

"That's simply ridiculous" he replied. "The essence of forging is deception, and how can you deceive someone into thinking you are someone else if you change right in front of their eyes?, it makes no sense sweetheart".

Victoria smiled gracefully at his words and picked up his hand. She placed it on her right shoulder and looked deep into his eyes. "Just, watch Mr Eames. Like I said, the moment you notice my appearance change in any way, speak up". He merely grunted in return and steadfastly held her gaze.

A few moments passed and after growing impatient with the situation, Eames removed his hand and said loudly "This is a complete and utter waste of time".

"Is it darling, really? You're not getting anything useful out of this? What a pity!" said the person before his eyes.

Eames took a small step back and looked at the man harder. He knew that face, it was so familiar to him. He was trying to remember exactly who it was when the man said "Do you know my name?".

"Of course I do, your Eames" said Eames.

"That's right" replied the man. "And who are you?".

At this question, Eames was stumped. Of course he knew his own name but for the life of him, he couldn't get his mouth to speak it. His eyes darted around the group and he saw Ariadne, Arthur and Yusuf all staring at him and the other man, with broad smiles on each of their faces. "Aha!" he thought, "I know who I am!".

"I'm Cobb - simple process of elimination!" he said, obviously proud as punch with the superior mental facilities he had used to determine this.

"No, I'm Cobb!" said the man in front of him.

"Yes you are...then, who am I?" asked Eames. His attention was thrown from the man in front of him by the sound of Ariadne giggling to his side. He looked at her and said "What's so funny?".

"Eames!" she said, suddenly in front of him rather than at his right side where she had been when he asked her the question. His facial expression changed to one of pure, frustrated confusion. Victoria immediately recognized this and stopped toying with his mind, changing back to her actual form right within his stare.

Thirty minutes later, when they were all awake and unhooked from the PASIV, Dom stood looking at his friends. Each one had woken up gently at Victoria's spoken command, with no need of any kind of kick. As he looked at each of them in turn, he saw a look of wonder from Ariadne, curiousness from Yusuf and amusement on Arthur's face. However, Eames expression was one of utter incredulity and barely covered contempt. Dom knew that Victoria's superior talents were the cause of this and that if he didn't address it immediately, it was going to be a problem. He quickly decided that a bit of "one on one" time was needed between the two Brits. Although they he had a fraught and upsetting start with her, Dom had quickly come to respect and even like Victoria over the last couple of days. Something that was helped by her extraordinary beauty and fascinating mind. He felt sure that if anyone could win Eames round, it was her. After all, Eames could never resist a beautiful woman for too long.

Dom turned to Yusuf and said "I'm going to pick up the children from Mal's mothers, would you care to join me for the ride? I can stop by a facility where you could pick up some chemical supplies?".

"I'd be delighted" replied Yusuf.

Dom already knew that Arthur intended to take Aridane out for dinner, as they had been apart for two days and needed some time to themselves. So, that left Victoria and Eames alone for at least a couple of hours, time enough for her to work her magic on him. The thought of leaving any woman alone with Eames, especially in his and his children's home, should have caused Dom alarm. But when it came to Victoria, Dom knew that she wouldn't be falling for Eames majestic and well known charms and as such, he was confident that nothing untoward was going to happen.

When they were left alone, Victoria considered telling Eames exactly how they had known each other before now, but as she had become somewhat addicted to a look of confusion flashing across his face, she decided to keep that bit of information to herself for the time being so that it could be revealed at the optimum moment. And what would make that moment better, was to have him a little...enraptured with her. She had played the seduction card many times before and knew exactly how to achieve it. Nonetheless, she knew that this man may be easy to bed, but hard to inspire true feelings in. So her approach had to counteract this. She had to be direct and act as though emotion was the last thing she wanted from him. And even if this ploy backfired on her, she still had the benefit of sex with a gorgeous and fit man, which was always a plus.

She walked straight up to him, took the glass of neat whisky from his hand and drained it, licking her lips when she finished. "Well, I don't know about you but I've had a very long and stressful couple of days, I could really use something to help me relax and unwind" she said while stretching her long limbs. "Care to help me?".

Eames looked at her and asked "Are you after a massage darling?, because I do have quite skilled hands".

"No Mr Eames, I'm after a fuck" she retorted and with that, she brought her hands to the hem of her t-shirt and lifted it off.

Eames eyes went wide when her saw her bare chest. With the enticing view of her breasts afforded to him by the ripped and aged top, he had assumed that their pertness was due to some wonderful piece of lacy scaffolding. But not so. Rosy pink areolas topped two generous mounds of flesh so tempting, that he could not resist immediately bringing his hands to them. He pinched gently to make her nipples begin to harden and her head dropped back in pleasure, a small secret smile flashing across her lips. The next thing she felt were his warm wet lips on her neck, kissing and nibbling at the sweetly scented flesh he found there.

She placed her hands on his chest, running them down his torso until they found his belt. She began to unfasten, unbutton and unzip while he continued to play with her breasts and kiss her neck. When his trousers fell to the floor, she straightened her head and moved her hands to release the buttons of his shirt. Her eyes widened when she caught sight of the many and varied markings on his chest and upper arms. She had seen him shirtless a couple of times in their shared youth, but back then, he had been free of ink. She liked this better. Tattoo's had always fascinated her but despite her image, she had never got around to getting one herself. As she ran her hands over them, stopping briefly to tease his nipples, he lifted his head to look at her. After staring into her eyes for a few moments, he attempted to take her mouth with his. She avoided this by quickly turning around and slamming her back into his chest. She grabbed his hands and brought them back to cup her breasts from behind, while she moved her hips so that her rear moved against his groin in a seductive and rhythmic way.

They held that position for some time, moving against each other in a slow and torturous dance. Victoria could tell how hard he was as she gyrated against him. When one of his hands moved from her upper body, she knew where it was headed and sure enough, he quickly unfastened her jeans and sunk his hand inside. As he did this, Eames was pleased to note that along with no bra, there were no panties. He ran his fingertips over the soft, smooth skin, parting the folds he found. He reached further down in order to sink two digits deep into her. She gasped as he did and reacted by slipping her hand inside his shorts and grabbing his cock. Their movements of their respective hands synchronized, slowly at first but quickly gathering pace. She felt his lips on her shoulder, leaving a wet trail behind them. Suddenly, there was a harp but welcome pain, as he sunk his teeth into her flesh. Not enough to break the skin, but surely sufficient to leave a mark for the next day.

Her immediate reaction was a sharp intake of breath through her teeth, followed by a moan of unmitigated pleasure. He brought his mouth to her ear and growled "Bend over". Although she wanted to be the dominant force in this coupling, she complied with his request. She reasoned to herself that it may be better to let him think he held the upper hand for now. It would only serve to lull him into a false sense of security where she was concerned. Victoria waited to feel him enter her, holding her breath. But it never came. Instead she could hear him moving slightly behind her. She turned her head to see what he was doing, and found him just stood, staring at her backside, making long smooth stokes at his cock with his own hand. "What the fuck are you doing?" she asked breathlessly.

"Just admiring the view sweetie. Don't worry, nothing's going to stop me destroying the sweet, wet little snatch of yours, just need to make sure that this image is firmly committed to memory". Despite her best intentions, she couldn't help but smile at his naughty and toying words and in response, she wiggled her bottom at him, giggling as she did. The move had the desired effect, as he immediately sank straight into her, filling her completely. She nearly screamed at the feeling, but stifled it by biting down hard on her lip.

Eames grabbed her hips and began pounding into her as hard as he could. He usually preferred to start off slowly, working his partner up to a frenzy and allowing her at least a couple of orgasms before he would indulge. But with this particular woman, although he wanted her badly, he just needed to lose himself in bliss as soon as possible. This was somewhat due to the fact that their union was happening in the house of a man that could return at any second, with his two young children in tow. But mostly, it was because although this woman was insanely hot, there was some nagging little thought at the back of his brain about her. He didn't know what it was or how he could go about discovering it, but it wasn't going to leave until a stronger and altogether more enjoyable sensation rocked through his mind.

Victoria was feeling the exact same way, but for completely different reasons. She had started this whole thing as a move to make him want her and while it was clear that he did, she couldn't shake her contempt of him. While he may be giving her one of the best fucks she'd ever had, she still could not forget how much of an utter wanker he was to her so long ago. She preferred that he was taking her from behind, that way she didn't have to look in those gorgeous eyes that were in danger of making her forget why she detested him so much. She began to thrust back against him as she felt one of his hands make it's way around to her front and immediately find her already throbbing clitoris. The way he manipulated it drove her insane, in a very, very good way. Within seconds, she let him know that she was ready to let it all go, by reaching her arm up and back and grabbing hold of the hair at the back of his neck, pulling it sharply.

He gasped as she did this, enjoying the sensation of the pain it afforded. It worked in perfect contrast against the immense pleasure he felt in his lower torso. He felt it begin to twist and knot, stirring, building up just ready to unleash itself deep within her. He wasn't sure he could hold it back for much longer, so he had no choice but to ensure that she would join him as he would not indulge without her either preceding or accompanying him in bliss. He straightened her by placing his free hand between both breasts and pulling her up and back. As her back touched his chest, he leaned in to her ear and said "Come on love, I can't stand it much longer. Come for me?".

She nodded silently at his request, bit her bottom lip and allowed herself to let it all go. The release he felt from her only spurred him on to join her and before long, he felt the dual sensation of his cock throbbing and her walls tightening around him. It was wonderful, it was beautiful, it was heaven. As both their bodies stopped shaking, Victoria took a deep breath and moved to release herself from him. He attempted to keep her in his grasp by tightening his grip at her crotch and chest, but she gently moved his arms aside. She pulled her jeans back up and put her t-shirt on, turned to face him and said "That was lovely, thank you". She walked away from him, recovering her jacket from the hall stand and grabbing the handle of the front door. As she started to go through, she flicked her head back towards him. He was still stood there with his trousers and shorts around his ankles and his shirt draping off one shoulder, holding onto the chair that not twenty seconds before had held the weight of her upper torso. She smiled at him, uttered a quick and mumbled goodbye and headed out the door, closing it gently behind her.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi darlings, hope you are all keeping well. Here's another bit of V's story for you and things might be getting a little...tricky!**

The next morning, as Victoria walked into Dom's house, Ariadne quickly intercepted her and practically dragged her into the kitchen. She feared the worst, that Eames had blabbed about their little tryst and now, she was about to be rebuked for her impulsive actions. However, this was not the case. Instead, Ariadne beamed at her and said "I just wanted to tell you...I could hardly sleep last night!" she told her.

"Wow" said Victoria in response. "I'm not sure I need that much detail on Newlywed life!", a small smile creeping across her face.

"No, not that, well, yes some of that, but that wasn't why I couldn't sleep!" Ariadne said quietly while blushing. "I was laid awake most of the night just thinking about what you showed me yesterday, how it really was the most wonderful thing, how it could be used for other things..."

"Things like what?" asked Victoria, worried that here was someone else who would bastardize her fathers work for their own profit.

"Well like, helping people with genuine crippling phobia's and social anxieties, or autism and other such afflictions".

Relieved that her fears were unfounded, Victoria responded "My Dad talked about that actually. He always thought that once we had managed to "bring back" someone, we could then look to tailor the process to other conditions like those you suggested. But the key is performing just one successful retrieval, that's what my Dad said. The way he figured it, start off with a worst case scenario victim and then the lesser conditions are relatively simply to alter your processes to". She smiled as she said this, remembering how her father used to let his imagination run wild, chattering at a mile a minute, while she desperately tried to keep up with him both mentally and with the notes she transcribed from his ramblings. Although it was sad for her to think of that once lively and animated man now laying still and quiet, dead in everything but the very primary brain functions, she still smiled at the memory of his wild appearance and flailing arms every time he was on a roll of creativity.

"I think he was right" interrupted Dom, stood just outside the opened kitchen door. He moved into the space and walked towards the coffee machine that had been quietly bubbling and hissing as the two women talked. "In fact, that's what you should concentrate on once we bring your father back, Victoria".

Startled at his confidence, she turned to him and took the offered cup of thick brown liquid, making a small nod of acknowledgement. "You really think we can do this?" she asked.

"Of course I do" he assured her. "What did you tell me when we first went under together and I didn't want to put that bridge over the river with all those projections around?" he asked, referring to their joint dream-walk two days prior, when she has tasked him with finding a way across a particularly turbulent stretch of water in order to continue their walk. "You said to me "If you truly believe you can do these things, then you will do them", and I did. Granted, the bridge collapsed and we both ended up drowning in the water but for a few moments there, that bridge existed and was solid and useable". He hesitated while he took a large sip of coffee. "So, it's time to start believing your own words, Victoria. Not just for you, but for the rest of us. If we go in there and you have any doubts, you'll be sentencing us all to a life in Limbo!" he added as he walked out the kitchen.

When they were alone, Ariadne spoke quietly "He's right you know. I couldn't have done those things yesterday if you wouldn't have been telling me that I could".

"I know" replied Victoria. "I'm just so scared. He's all I've got. If I lose him, I...". She was unable to continue as her throat had tightened with unrealised fears and emotions. Ariadne said nothing. She simply put down her own cup of coffee on the counter and took Victoria in her arms to comfort her. Victoria welcomed the gesture, but couldn't help but think how ridiculous the whole situation was. Here she was, a 34 year old notorious cyber terrorist and feared dream-walker, beginning to cry like a baby in the arms of a woman who not only was a good 8 years her junior, but about half a foot smaller than her. Nonetheless, the compassion shown in Ariadne's actions was not lost on her and so, just for a moment, she lost herself in not having to be strong and fearless.

In the study, Dom and Arthur were talking recent events over while Yusuf researched the ongoing treatment and rehabilitation of stroke victims. Although he specialised in the concoction and administration of chemical compounds, he was a qualified medical practitioner and therefore, the closest the team had to an actual practising doctor. As such, it would fall to him to be the one who saw to Victoria's father mental and physical needs once he was located. The responsibility of the task was not lost on him and as a result, he would spend every spare second learning as much as he could before they went in. As Victoria and Ariadne entered the room, bringing specially made herbal tea for both him and Arthur, Yusuf was struck by the older woman's intense beauty. He felt sure that his friend Eames would waste no time in attempting a seduction, but wasn't sure how successful he would be. She sat immediately next to him and asked how his studies were progressing.

"Very well thank you Miss James. I'm presently downloading information from both UCLA's and Harvard's research facilities and then, I'm going to spend some time on the website of the McConnell Brain Imaging centre. I am certain that I will soon be fully equipped to undertake this task with you". Victoria couldn't help but be charmed by his considered words and the obvious care he was placing in his duties.

She smiled at him and said "Thank you Dr Shah".

"Please?, Yusuf!".

"Then I'm Victoria".

As they sat there smiling at each other, Eames entered the room, immediately noticing how close they were sat and their shared expressions. Yusuf stood to greet him and asked "Did you manage to find those supplies I needed?".

"Certainly did old friend, they're in a box on the kitchen counter as we speak!".

"Excellent, thank you Eames. I'll go start assembling them right now!" he exclaimed as he left the room. Eames wasted no time in occupying Yusuf's former seat, ensuring his thigh was snugly tucked against Victoria's. "Moving on from me already darling?" he said quietly so he was not overheard by the other three occupants of the room.

"I don't know what you are talking about" she responded coolly.

"You and Yusuf looking all cosy just now, I thought you may have been scoping out a new conquest!".

"Are you jealous Mr Eames?. Do you believe my sexual attentions should be focussed only on you now, after our brief dalliance last night?"

"Dalliance?, well I must say that I thought a little more of it than that. In fact, I enjoyed it so much, that I believe a repeat performance may be in order, simply for research purposes you understand?".

"Well I'm not sure exactly what kind of research you consider is needed, but I'm pretty much a "been there, done that" kind of woman. I very rarely make the same mistake twice so while your request is noted, I'm afraid I have to decline". With that, she rose from the seat and made her way over to Dom and the others, who were stood around a Laptop looking at flight details.

Eames just sat there, not entirely comfortable with the thought that this woman, this beautiful, enticing woman, was trying to play him at his own game and apparently, she was winning. He smiled to himself, while dreaming up ways that would ensure she would succumb to him again.

The rest of the day was dedicated to more dream-walk practice. Yusuf stayed behind to operate the PASIV this time, as he was also setting up the equipment needed to distil one of his "special concoctions" of sedative, tailored to the teams specific needs. The group decided to attempt two levels this time. The first would be in Arthur's dream and the second in Eames'. The first level was pretty uneventful, with Ariadne managing to raise fairly large structures at will without being subjected to any unwanted attention. Victoria again forged in front of Eames, this time with Dom watching too. Between the two men, they were more easily able to identify when she changed, but still got confused when she imitated them and then asked who she and they were. When she had retaken her normal appearance, she assured them "Don't worry guys, the more practice you have and the further you go down, you'll be able to decipher the forge's much more easily". She saw them glance at each other, with looks of even further confusion on their faces and continued. "As you have more full dream-walk experience, the "unreal" aspects of what I can do will just become acclimatised in your brain. As such, you will more readily accept what you see without believing it to be reality. That's how you'll learn to imitate it. Let's go down once more now? It should make it easier to understand".

Dom thought about her request and said "For now, just take Eames with you. I don't really need to learn the forging thing as much as he does and to be honest, it's that long since I've built without repercussions, I sort of want to give it a try here with Ariadne. Is that okay?".

Victoria couldn't help but notice Eames' grin at Dom's suggestion, which annoyed her immensely. However, she reluctantly agreed to the request, mainly because she could see in Dom's eyes just how much he wanted a chance to create a structure again.

When they entered Eames subconscious, the first thing that Victoria noticed was the coldness of their surroundings. The next thing that she noticed was that the outfit Arthur has assumed for her in the previous level, one of sensible sweater, jeans and sneakers, was now gone and instead, she was wearing high heels and a little red skin tight dress. She turned to Eames, standing right behind her with an innocent look on his face and a thick wool knit coat over the same clothes he was previously wearing. "Very funny! and original" she said walking over to him. "Give me your coat" she demanded.

"And what's that magic word sweetheart?" he asked with a taunting expression.

"Fuck you!" she spat out before turning and walking in the opposite direction, round a corner and out of his sight.

"That's two words!" he called after her, with a chuckle.

As she fumed at his belligerence, she suddenly realised that being freezing cold and in inappropriate footwear was just like any obstacle she could face in someone else's dream, something that she could manipulate. Therefore, by the time Eames had caught up with her, she had resumed the clothing she had on in Arthur's dream and added a parka jacket to it. "Spoilsport!" he remarked at her changed appearance.

"Shut up Eames, you're here to learn, not to letch over me dressed like a cheap tart" she replied.

"I was learning darling, I was trying to work out which part of that arse would most like to be spanked next time we have a "dalliance" as you so politely put it. And I'll have you know that the dress was actually a Westwood so I very much doubt a cheap tart could afford it!".

"Like I said Eames, it won't be happening again so you taking the time to scope out my behind is simply a waste of both of our times". He walked round to stand behind her, roughly grabbed her hips and pulled them back towards his groin so that she could feel just how ready he was for her to surrender to him. The environment about them suddenly changed and as she looked around, she was surprised to find that they were beside a gently lapping lakeside. There were trees and brightly coloured plants everywhere and the temperature had altered to reflect a balmy, breezy sunny day. She knew she had not done this so could only reason that he had. It worried her because when she had first turned the corner, there had been plenty of projections milling around and if he was making changes of this magnitude, they might end up being attacked. But remarkably, nothing happened. The projections carried on their own path's, barely taking notice of the couple who were getting closer and closer to each other by the second.

Eames placed his mouth right next to her ear and said "I'm a quick learner darling, only have to be shown something once before I pick it up. I watched you and Ariadne carefully yesterday you know? And I listened to every word you said to her. About how you just need to consider yourself permitted to change things and about how it was a question of ego before reality. Well, as I'm sure you've worked out by now, nobody has a bigger ego than I! I have changed our surroundings so that the outfit I originally put you in is more than acceptable. Don't you want to take that coat of now, hmmmm? It is getting rather warm isn't it?".

As she looked down at her own chest, she realised that the red dress was back. She knew in her mind that this was not real. She knew that in reality, she was in a chemically induced slumber on a sofa in Dom's lounge. She knew that the only true connection between her and this man was the needle in her arm linking her to the PASIV. But something inside her, something dark and buried away that she rarely acknowledged, twitched. She didn't like the feeling, It was unusual and it perturbed her. When she had saw him for the first time, she had made a mental note to never agree to anything that came out of his sinfully full-lipped mouth. But she had to admit, it was very warm, a fact highlighted by the small bead of sweat that ran down the side of her face that was nearest to him.

Eames, never a one to miss an opportunity, quickly stretched out his tongue and caught the bead as it passed him. She gasped at the sensation of the wet and silky feeling against her skin. As he moved his mouth back to her ear, he whispered "I learnt something else yesterday as well. I learnt that when a man grabs your hips and proves to you just how much he want's you, you just cannot resist. You get wet just knowing that my dick is hard for you, don't you?".

Victoria shuddered at his words. She didn't want him to be right, but he was. She began to mentally will herself to move away from him but found that her feet wouldn't move. All of sudden, a screech of tyres was heard followed by the slamming of car doors. The distraction served to make Eames hands fall away from her hips, so she took the opportunity put a good few feet between them and adjust her appearance once more. She lost the coat and the red dress that had been underneath it and gained all black baggy clothing, that disguised her ample curves and showed no skin apart from that on her face.

Eames then realised that the sudden appearance of the car, now mysteriously disappeared from the spot that it come to a loud halt close by them, was her doing. He scoffed and shrugged and said quietly "Clever girl" while looking directly into her eyes.

"Come on Mr Eames, let's get on with what we came here to do" she said as she walked in the direction of the nearest multi storey building.


	6. Chapter 6

They stood together at the top of the building, looking down at the pavement 40 floors below. Victoria was enjoying herself, mainly because Eames wasn't. "Look, I know that time goes slower when were down here but we haven't got all day. If you don't think you can do it, even with that massive ego of yours, then we will try it again another day. Simple as that!" she said tauntingly.

"NO...no, I am going to do this, it's just that it's a pretty big thing to wrap one's head around isn't it? Willingly stepping off a tall building I mean, even when one knows perfectly well that its not real" replied Eames. For one moment, Victoria saw beyond the swaggering bravado and overbearing self love and glimpsed a man unsure of what he should do next. It shouldn't have had the effect that it had on her. It should have made her laugh right in his stupidly gorgeous face and goad him about his lack of creativity and imagination. But it didn't. It made her...sympathize with him, as she remembered how many attempts it had took her to master this particular skill.

So, she simply took his hand, moved as close to the edge as he was and said gently "We'll do it together okay?". He nodded in response while still looking down. She reached out one hand and gently tipped his chin up and towards her. "Just look in my eyes, don't look down. You ready?".

"Yes" he said firmly.

"Okay, just reach one leg out as if taking a huge step over a dirty puddle. You wouldn't want to get those lovely shoes ruined would you?" she joked. He didn't reply, he just chuckled lowly at her attempt to lighten his mood and stuck his left leg out as instructed. She followed suit and then purposefully leaned her body forward to transfer her weight. Sensing her actions, Eames immediately copied them. He closed his eyes tight and said a secret prayer that this would work. He was interrupted from this by her voice softly saying his name. He opened his eyes and looked at her, then looked around to find that they were stood on the pavement they had previously seen from far above. He let go of her hand and in that split second, she saw his face change again, back into the Eames that she hated so very much.

"I did it, I bloody did it! Of course I knew that it could be done, I mean, you do it all the time darling don't you? So of course I could do it...". As he continued to go on about how easy it had been and how he had never doubted his abilities, Victoria walked up behind him and pushed him over sharply to "kick" him back to the first level. When he had disappeared from her sight, she closed her eyes and followed him.

As she opened them again, she found herself directly in front of Dom, Arthur and Ariadne. Eames was to the side of her, brushing the dust of his clothes and staring at her with obvious confusion. "What the bloody fuck was that?" he asked. "Are you that annoyed that I found it so easy to replicate your talents?".

She stared at him and said "I don't wish to talk about it right now, we should all go. Are you three ready?". When she received nods of assent all round, she added "Wake up".

As the five awoke in their different positions around the living room, Victoria stood immediately, pulled the PASIV probe out of her arm and stormed off out of the house. Ariadne quickly jumped up to follow her and Arthur looked directly at Eames and said "What the hell did you do now?". Eames took his time in rising from his prone position, straightened his shirt and jacket and turned to find both Arthur and Dom staring at him intently.

"Well I must say, your faith in me simply gladdens my heart!" he replied sarcastically.

*****************************************************************

"Wait up" Ariadne called out as she struggled to keep pace with the much taller woman. Any other voice would not have caused Victoria to stop, but she had a feeling about Ariadne, a good feeling. So she stopped in her tracks and waited for the other woman to stand in front of her. "What's wrong? What did Eames do to upset you?".

"Nothing Ariadne. There is nothing that limp-dicked arsehole could do to affect me enough to be upset!" Victoria responded coolly.

"Not true!" Ariadne chimed.

Victoria looked down at the other woman and snapped "What?".

"Number one, I've heard enough about Eames' sexual peccadillo's to know that he's definitely not a limp dick, although I'm pretty sure Arthur would agree with the arsehole part!. Second, he's obviously upset you so stop being an ass and tell me what he did, please?".

Victoria allowed herself a small chuckle and said "Nothing, he did nothing. But he thinks he did something which he didn't do!".

"Okay, my brain actually blew up at that contradiction in terms. What EXACTLY did he do, or not do?".

"Stepping off a high rise building. I told him it was the one thing that I really struggled to master. If you knew how many times I've kicked back awake seconds before being splattered on a pavement!... Anyway, he was about to do it and just for a second, I saw him pause. So, I...helped him. I took his hand and encouraged him to shift his weight and we made the step together. Then he starts shouting his mouth off about how he did it so easily, like he's some kind of God or something...and he just pissed me off. So I kicked him back up. I couldn't stand to listen to him any longer. He is such an arrogant fucker!".

"You have to tell him" Ariadne replied calmly.

"I can't do that, it could rock his confidence to an extent that he may not be able to function as he needs to when we go in. We're on a short time frame here you know?, I need all of you to get as proficient in your assigned roles as quickly as possible and as a Forger, his is a crucial part of what we have to do. I can't risk knocking his development back so...I'll just have to put up with his boasting. I can't diminish his confidence".

Now it was Ariadne's turn to chuckle. "Are you kidding me? This is Eames we're talking about, the guy has so much ego that his picture appears as the definition in the dictionary! Trust me, he can stand a knock back or two and still get the job done. Tell him Victoria, you can't go on with something festering between you, not if he's as important to the job as you say".

*********************************************************************

Two hours later, Victoria was attempting to give her hotel room some semblance of order when there was a knock at the door. She had called through to Reception 15 minutes earlier and requested a rare steak, fries and a salad with a bottle of Merlot be sent up. So instead of stopping her chore of collecting all the dirty clothes that were scattered around the room, she simply yelled "Come in" without turning to face the door. When she heard it open, she called out "Just put it on the table thank you, there's a tip waiting for you on there!".

"Thanks so much darling but I usually get tipped after I provide a service!" said Eames with a smug grin.

"What do you want Eames" she replied, still facing away from him.

"Dear Ariadne said you wanted to speak with me. I assume it to apologize for your shoddy treatment of me earlier today!".

Drawing in a deep breath to calm herself, she fixed a steely gaze to her eyes and turned to face him. "Ariadne was mistaken. I neither want nor need to speak with you about anything. You can leave" she said, pleased with the fact that her voice was completely devoid of emotion as she spoke.

"Come on love, why so surly?. We had a lovely little fuck the other night and since, you've been a right snarky madam. Scared I might turn you down if you ask for more? I wouldn't you know! You were far to gorgeously orgasmic for me to not want to have another go!". He had made his way across to her as he spoke and was now right in front of her face, noses nearly touching.

Victoria altered her expression to one of mock-simpering adoration and said sarcastically "Oh please Mr Eames, would you be so kind as to stick your cock in me again? I simply can't exist anymore without having you inside me again!". She looked him dead in the eye to let him know she was in no way serious about her words.

"There's really no need to be such a bitch about it darling. Just because I have bested your considerable dream-sharing skills" he retorted.

That really was the last straw for Victoria, not only had he referred to her fathers work by it's bastard name, assumed he was better than her at her her life's work and thought he was due an apology, but now, he was standing here affronted at her dismissal of his offer to fuck her again. She slowly pulled her arm back...and slapped him straight across the face.

"YOU UTTER, ARROGANT, PRICK!" she shouted. "It's dream walking NOT dream-sharing! And just so you know, you DIDN'T make that step by yourself. I took your hand and pulled you to shift your weight. You would have been splattered and kicked back up if it wasn't for me distilling a smidgen of my confidence into you. You might have made me cum Eames but it's not like I haven't got battery operated devices that do just as good a job without having your annoying Faux-English upper class accent to go along with it!".

Victoria immediately knew that her words had hit home. She saw a multitude of thoughts flash across his face, saw the realization that what she said happened on the high rise was the truth, saw that he suspected she knew more of him than she had ever let on. She also saw that for once in his overly-verbose life, he was speechless.

Victoria took a step back away from him and left out a slow breath. She continued to stare straight into his eyes and again, just for a milli-second, she saw something else pass over his eyes, something akin to regret laced with confusion. She held her nerve and spoke again. "Victoria James. Victoria...James! My god, are you that self-deluding that you don't even remember the name of the girl that you taunted horribly for over four years. Or is just that only females in attractive packaging will adhere in your memory. Your accent is fake Eames, we don't speak with a silver spoon in our mouths where we both come from. You went to St Martin's Catholic College, where you were the star of the Rugby Under 18's and one of the most popular boys to ever attend. I was spotty, chubby, nerdy and wore glasses. I once threw up in an assembly after getting food poisoning and you laughed your perfectly taut arse off at me. Gave me a charming nickname that stuck until I left the horrid place. Remember me now?". She realized that as she spoke, tears had begun to form in the corners of her eyes. Goddamn her stupid female emotions!

"Vomming Vicky" he uttered dejectedly, as his dire teenage treatment of her came flooding back into his brain. "I-I'm sorry, I had no idea. Truly! I am well aware of what a privileged spoilt brat I was then!".

"Then?" she asked pointedly. He looked contrite and for a second, she softened. It didn't last long. The next words to come out of his mouth resulted in her delivering a mighty kick to his mid-section (she restrained her foot from going between his legs), and forcibly man-handling him out of her room, with the threat of further violence if he didn't remove himself from her presence immediately. As she shut the door behind him she screamed "NOBODY CALLS ME THAT!".

Eames stood with his back against the door. He sighed and said to himself "All I said was 'I'm sorry Vicky!'".


End file.
