mayachain

Title: Holding the sky suspended
Characters: Arthur/Eames
Rating: PG
Word Count: ~460
Summary: Secrets only stay secrets in a circle of one.
Notes: Title from "Epitaph on an Army of Mercenaries" by A.E. Housman

The thing about a secret is that it only ever stays a secret as long as only one person holds it. The thing about secret bolt-holes is that they are meant to never be found out. The thing about an entire circuit of bolt-holes around the world is that compromising one all too easily can mean compromising the others.

Eames hesitates for a long time before he even considers letting Arthur into, say, his place in Prague. The possibility never crosses his mind during the first years of their acquaintance. Not even when he spends two weeks laid up lost in a country he barely speaks a language of, when he hardly talks to anybody outside the grocery store until his leg is healed up enough for him to make it to the market does it occur to him to summon his... Arthur.

It’s one thing to have a flat in Mombasa that most people in their business know about. Even if he’s not actually there as often as people believe it’s difficult for a man to be the dream share forger without a somewhat steady base. But revealing that he can disappear in Stockholm or in Lima or in Adelaide is a whole different cup of tea altogether.

In the end, it’s not even a choice. They’ve barely survived an encounter with a rival team and Arthur could maybe crawl if he put his mind to it but there’s no way the man can walk on his own with two highly inconvenient bullet wounds. Eames has no way to be sure no one else is coming after them, and leaving Arthur behind to save his own skin became unthinkable a long time ago.

They’re in San Diego.

Eames props Arthur up as he fumbles the complex lock to a one-bedroom with a tiny kitchenette. He needs to shut the door against the street in a matter of seconds but it’s difficult to look away from the expression on Arthur’s face as Arthur warily examines his surroundings and figures out where they are.

Not the exact location. Where.

The thing about secrets is that they are sometimes not worth keeping. The thing about sharing a secret is that sometimes one winds up less alone. The thing about sharing a circuit of secret bolt-holes is that one may wind up in one.

The thing about sharing a circuit of bolt-holes with someone who also relies on a variety of hideouts is that one might even acquire a very large number of queen- and occasionally king-sized beds all over the world. And it means that when one lies low underneath the covers of such a bed one might end up being not alone at all and feeling very safe indeed.