Fic: A Father's Promise

A Father's Promise

Author: Aphrodite

Feedback: Yes, send to nsaphrodite@yahoo.com

Disclaimer: Fiction based on fictional characters.

Rating: R

Fandom: Inception

Summary: Arthur is dead and Eames seeks out to avenge his death.

Author's Notes: I'm so sorry for the delayed update. Life just got in the way of things. For most current updates, go to my website and sign up for email notifications.

A Father's Promise V

The modern one story beach house sat on the bluff overlooking the turbulent Pacific Ocean below. The round house made of glass was the type of house that only Cobb, the master in architecture, could envision. Eames had only visited the place once when he and Arthur had just begun their relationship. It was during the summer when Cobb had a mental breakdown and abandoned his kids for two weeks before Arthur came to take care of the kids. What he remembered most of that visit was sleeping in the guest bedroom under the skylight with Arthur by his side, basking in the luminescent glow of the full moon.

"It's a full moon tonight," Arthur whispered so quietly as not to disturb Phillipa in the room next to them. "Did you know that no matter where in the world, there's always a full moon tonight?"

"Okaay," Eames rose from the bed to perch on his elbows to gaze down at Arthur, "I think someone had a little too much wine for dinner."

"Eames," Arthur whispered, pressing his fingers over Eames' lips. "I'm serious. If you and I are apart right now, no matter where we are, we can still look up at the same full moon. When we think about it in that perspective, the world isn't so big after all. Umm..." Suddenly Arthur sounded so young and unsure of himself. "So let's make a promise to each now that no matter where we are we'll always find each other. Tomorrow when you leave, I won't say good-bye to you. I'll tell you that I'll see later instead because no matter what I'll find you. And every time that we're apart, I'll always see you later."

"Arthur," Eames said, laughing as he twirled Arthur's curls around his finger, "whatever you say as long as I get to fuck that amazing ass of yours."

"Shhh! A little girl is sleeping in the next room."

Arthur playfully slapped Eames' ass, which prompted Eames to grab his wrists and hold them together. Eames climbed on top of Arthur and proceeded to suck on his neck.

"Eames, please, there's a little-"

"I know. There's a little girl sleeping in the next room. That just means I'll have to silence you while I fuck you, darling." Eames smiled and lowered his lips to Arthur's, silencing his moan as he slid into him. When Arthur came after unraveling before him, he was his most beautiful, and now Eames could never see that beautiful face anymore and he was going to make Cobb pay for it.


Eames parked his car along the shoulder of the road uphill and waited patiently for the arrival of Cobb and his children. As he waited, he polished his gun, drawing even strokes across the cold metal while keeping an eye in the side view mirror. When Cobb's black Lincoln Navigator came into view, Eames loaded his gun and stepped out of his car. Eames drew his sunglasses down despite the early winter sunset and approached the vehicle as Phillipa hopped out and stood next to the nanny. Cobb was in the process of carrying James out of the car when Phillipa greeted Eames with a hug.

"Uncle Eames!" she shrieked.

"Hi, sweetheart. How are you?" Eames said in return, turning his head sideways to smile into the side view mirror.

Almost immediately, Cobb froze. He dropped James back in his car seat and stepped away from his car. He grabbed Phillipa's wrist and pulled her back towards him.

"What are you doing here, Eames?" Cobb finally asked.

"I think you know why I'm here," Eames replied. He removed his shades to reveal the blood shot eyes and the heavy bags under his eyes. His fingers were trembling violently. He hadn't slept since the day Arthur died, relying on caffeine to keep him awake. "Because you saved Arthur once, I'm going to allow you to remove your kids from the situation that will inevitably happen."

Cobb nodded once. He ushered Phillipa back into the vehicle and buckled her in. He climbed out of his car to stand before the nanny. He whispered something in Spanish to her and handed her the keys. She refused, shaking her head.

"Margarita!" Cobb yelled out loud.

She looked from Cobb to Eames and then back to Cobb, again. Finally, she nodded her head, taking the keys. She rounded the vehicle, hiked up her skirt, and climbed into the driver seat. Without even buckling her seatbelt, she made a u-turn and drove away. Cobb remained where he stood, watching the black vehicle disappeared. Eames waited for a brief moment before stepping up behind Cobb and placing a hand on his shoulder.

"We should go inside now."

Cobb sighed deeply and turned to head into his house. Eames followed close behind, not bothering to lock the door behind him after entering. Cobb disappeared into the kitchen and returned with two Heineken bottles.

"I don't drink that shit," Eames told him, whipping out his own whiskey flask. He took a swig of the alcohol and slid into the couch. From his vantage point, he could see the sun as it prepared to make the descent into the ocean. Soon the moon would rise and Eames wondered if it would be a full moon like the first time he was here. "I love this place," Eames mused, "lots of fond memories."

"I built this house for Mal. She wanted to wake up to the sunrise everyday."

"I fucked Arthur here two summers ago," Eames blurted out. He took another gulp of his whiskey and wiped his lips before capping the flask. "Phillipa was in the next room sleeping. I had to keep my mouth on his the entire time to keep him from crying out and waking up everyone in the house. Best times of my life were spent with him."

"Eames, you don't understand," Cobb interjected.

"I don't need to fuckin' understand!" Eames shouted, hurling his flask at the wall behind Cobb's head. Cobb didn't flinch. He didn't even flinch when Eames charged at him, gripping the collar of his shirt. "You fuckin' bastard! He was the only thing in life that meant something to me and you had to take him away from me. How could you?! How could you fuckin' kill him?"

"Eames, please let me explain."

"Enough explaining, Cobb," Eames told him. "I saw everything. You spared him no mercy. You raped him, who you claimed was like a kid brother to you. You had every opportunity to stop but you didn't. You didn't stop. You killed him and now I'm going to kill you- that's only right. An eye for an eye, isn't that what the old saying is? Any last words?"

"God, Eames, please," Cobb begged as Eames pulled the trigger, the single bullet shooting straight through his heart. "Yes," Cobb whispered, clutching his heart. "It was a father's promise."

"Fuck you, Cobb! Arthur wasn't collateral," Eames yelled, leaping at Cobb.

He wrapped his fingers around Cobb's throat and pressed down with so much force his knuckles turned white. Cobb struggled briefly before surrendering to his death. Eames spat at Cobb's face once and rose to his feet when he noticed the front door was wide opened.

When he turned around, there stood Ariande and her lovely checkered scarf in front of the wall of glass. How she got there, Eames hadn't a clue.

"Come here," she whispered, drawing him towards her with the curve of her polished finger. "I need to show you something."

Eames nodded and followed her into the adjoining entertainment room where a big screen television suddenly appeared in place of the mirror. Ariadne ushered him into the black leather theatre seat. Once Eames was settled in, she turned on the television and inserted the flask drive into the dvd player. The sun was glaring, blinding Eames just briefly, as it disappeared into the ocean. When Eames could see, again, he couldn't believe what he was seeing before his eyes.

"Arthur. You're alive?" Eames asked, getting up to run his fingertips along the glass that separated him from his lover. When he didn't get a response, he turned to Ariadne. "He's still alive?"

"No, Eames. He's dead. He's been dead for almost two weeks now. Remember you held him in your arms when he took his last breath."

"But, he's...he's here."

"Baby, it's me."

Eames' undivided attention was on the screen now.

"Mr. Eames, you're probably rolling your eyes at me right about now. Yes, I'm a fastidious jerk. I had prepared this video in advance because I knew you would be looking for answers."

"You know me too well, darling."

"I swear if there was any way out, I would have taken it, but there was none. We had forty-eight hours. Forty-eight hours before it was too late. I wanted to call you, but I knew that you wouldn't understand. You would have stopped me."

"Understand? Understand what? Goddamn!" Eames yelled, pounding his fists on the glass pane. "Cobb said I didn't understand and now you're telling me that I don't understand. What's the secret everyone is hiding away from me? What aren't you telling me?!"

"You know how we both said that when we become fathers we vowed that we won't be like our fathers and that we will always love and protect our children...well, Eames, this is my promise."

"Arthur, I don't understand," Eames murmured, shaking his head, walking backward until the back of his knees hit the couch. "Please make me understand." He slumped into the couch and hung his head between his legs, willing the throbbing headache away.

"Mal and I were close, extremely close. We were the best of friends. She would die for me and I'd do the same for her. As it turned out Dom couldn't have kids so she turned to me and asked me to father her kids. If I could help her achieve her dreams of becoming a mother, I would. She asked nothing further of me. I was fine with it, knowing well that I was nothing more than a glorified sperm donor. Then she died." There was a long pause as Eames raised his head to look up. "When she died and Dom was on the run for her murder, I came to live with Phillipa and James to care of them. As days grew into months and months into years, I came to realize that I am just as much their father as Dom is. James had just turned one when I came to live with them. When James first called me daddy, I was so proud and happy as any father would be when their baby said their first word..."

Eames shook his head, refusing to believe the words coming out of Arthur's mouth. This couldn't be true. He was lying to cover up for Cobb's actions.

"Liar! What other lies did he feed you?!" Eames yelled, flipping the coffee table upside.

He clenched his fists on the side and took deep breathes as Arthur continued telling the stories of Phillipa and James growing up. When he looked up, in the corner of his eyes, he saw Margarita in the doorway laden by Phillipa on one side and James on the other. James stripped his hand away, calling out, `Daddy'. Eames turned to look at Cobb, but James sprinted across the room and threw himself against the projection screen.

"Daddy," he sobbed.

Eames slumped to the couch, knowing that Arthur was telling the truth. Ariadne grabbed James and lifted him into her arms, allowing him to cry onto her shoulders as Arthur continued.

"Eames, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. If there was any way out of it, I would have taken it. But Nash didn't want Dom dead. He wanted Dom to kill me. We had forty hours to complete the deed or he'd kill the children. I know that if Dom were in my shoes, he'd do the same for the children. So, please let it go. Don't come after Dom. He's suffering more than you can understand. Please, Eames. Don't make me break my promise to my children."

"What...what about a lover's promise to one another?"

"And I can't forget our promise. Eames, I'll never forget our promise. I'll see you later, baby, but I'm afraid, it'll have to be in another lifetime. I'll find you. I promise. I'll find you. Remember wherever we are, we're still sleeping under the same nightly sky, looking up at the same full moon. I promise you we will find each other. I'll see you later, Mr. Eames. Until then, live your life everyday like it's the greatest day of your life."

And then he was gone. Everything was black save for the luminescent glow coming through the windows. Eames turned his head to find a full moon hanging in the nightly sky. Arthur was right. They would see each later. They would find each other.

"I promise, my sweet Arthur. And we will find each other. I'll see you later, darling," Eames whispered.

He pushed himself off the couch and approached Ariande. Understanding, Ariadne handed James to Eames. Eames cradled James in his arms and walked past Margarita, taking Phillipa's hand in his. Together, they left the glass beach house where Arthur and Eames made a lover's promise years ago under a luminescent full moon.

Closing Notes: To read all my fics including this one and other Inception Slash stories, visit Aphrodite's Labyrinth. There you'll also find stories inspired by the sparkly boys of 'Nsync like the classic, "A Tale of Two of Boybands", first archived here a decade ago, and some stories inspired by my current muse, Jason Castro. For a complete collection of Jason Castro slash, vist my author's page at Castrofics.