Taken
Chapter 1-
The plan had been to walk away. Walk away lose all contact, cut all ties and live the rest of their lives. Only it wasn't that simple, it never was and Dom wondered why on earth he'd ever thought it would be. When was anything in his life simple?
His kids, thank the heavens, had thrown themselves into his arms and hadn't let go since he'd arrived home. The first two nights they'd climbed into his bed and the three of them had slept more soundly than they had since everything had started. They'd made pancakes in the morning, and visited the park, then the movies, none of it really mattered, as long as he had his kids back. It was the fourth night back in his own home before the anxiousness he'd managed to so far quell began to seep into his consciousness once again.
His thoughts wandered to the team. Arthur, he wondered where the point man and his best friend would be now, what he was doing? He could feel the cold regret as he recalled himself yelling in frustration at the man on the first level. Cobb shook his head ridding his mind of the thoughts. Eames, he wondered where the forger would be, he'd no doubt have broken the rules, probably already been in contact with Arthur, teasing him about something or another. Yusuf would have returned home to his study, to his own work and Saito would be long gone. Ariadne.
He sighed as he leant back into the arm chair. He'd never thanked her. Not properly and this, everything he had now, every minute he got to spend with his kids he owed it to her. He knew that there was never supposed to be a time to say their goodbyes and thankyous but that had been before she'd jumped head first into limbo right alongside him, before she'd been forced to deal with everything he never should have let her seen. He wondered how she was doing, was she back at university yet? Back immersed in her uni life, was she okay? It had been her first job after all, he could remember how he was after his first job. Another sigh pierced the silence of the room. It wasn't right, just to leave her, to deal with everything on her own, to deal with the aftermath. Worry built up within him and he stood before he became panicked. What if she wasn't alright? What if reality wasn't enough? What if she couldn't find her way in the real world, hell he hadn't even spoken to her since she'd come out of limbo. His limbo. And he certainly hadn't gone to limbo on his first job, he wondered if anyone ever had.
Standing his insides feeling frazzled he looked around the room to do something. He needed to do something. Frowning he strode purposefully towards the bedroom and pulled the draw of the side table open. Lifting up the books and various papers he pulled out a small scrap of paper that several scrambled numbers were scribbled on. He eyed the second number on the paper pulling his phone from his pocket with his other. He got to the fifth number before he jammed his thumb down on the red end call button. He couldn't ring her. She was probably fine. She was strong and capable and smart. She knew what she had been doing. She had seemed fine. What if he rang her and she was fine, what if he just dragged it all back up again. Dom sighed in frustration this time.
It was another five, long, worrisome minutes before he worked out what to do,
"Miles hi"
That night Miles had been quick to assure him that he'd checked in with the student and that she was doing okay. She'd attended her first class the day before and she was alright. He'd heaved a sigh of relief feeling himself relax.
It was two days later that another rule was broken with one text that popped up on his phone. The kids were happily winding spaghetti on their forks that they missed their fathers shocked face as he retrieved his phone from his pocket. He stood quickly and picked up the kids empty cups along with his glass leaving the lounge room under the guise of re-filling their drinks.
"Cordial Daddy?" he smiled at Phillipa's plea knowing there was no way this close to bedtime she'd be getting the red cordial they'd bought earlier that day.
Dom how are you? Give my love to Phil and James, just wondering if you've heard from Ariadne at all? Eames says hi.
He'd read the text almost three times before replying, a ghost of a smile growing on his lips as he realised the entire team had ignored the rulebook they'd written themselves. Then again when had they ever really shaped their lives according to rules? Or reality?
Miles says she's fine will talk to him again tomorrow probably, kids are asking about Uncle Arthur?
And just like that they were back in each other's lives. It hadn't been long until Uncle Arthur had visited and brought Uncle Eames, who had quickly stolen the kids' hearts like everything else. Dom had laughed while shaking his head once he learned that Eames had texted both Ariadne and Arthur the night they'd left the airport and more than that he'd made his residence slightly more permanent in the US.
It was Eames who had answered Cobb's phone when it had rang several days later as the father was slightly tied up between trying to find the right pink hair band Phillipa had requested for her play date and trying to get James dressed for preschool on time.
"And here I thought you had been ignoring me Darling" both Arthur who had a laughing James on his shoulders and Cobb straightened up as they heard Eames' voice. They both found themselves in the kitchen a moment later and it wasn't long before Cobb has swiped the phone from the forger who threw him a mock glare,
Hey!
"Ariadne?"
"Hey Cobb" he smiled in somewhat relief as he heard her voice,
"How are you?"
"I'm good, listen Miles told me that you guys were trying to contact me, I got rid of my phone, I thought we weren't allowed to contact each other. I got a new phone number and everything and I'm sorry" he chuckled at her ramble before assuring her that it was okay.
Several weeks later she had flown in from Paris during university break. Arthur had picked her up from the airport before driving for Cobbs house. She met the two kids both hanging from their Uncle Eames' arms and found herself quickly enveloped into their worlds. Phillipa was quick to attach herself to the young woman's side showing Ariadne everything in her room who was trying not to laugh as James who looked remarkably like cobb and was trying with all his might to steal her attention from his sister.
It hadn't been until after dinner and after the kids had gone to bed that Cobb had managed to talk with her properly but she'd happily grabbed a tea towel and moved beside him while Arthur and Eames flicked through the channels delightfully removing the screeching voices of the cartoons from the room,
"You look happy" she commented and he turned towards her still wrist deep in water,
"I am" he nodded and she smiled. He had thanked her properly and she'd waved it off as if it had been nothing out of the ordinary and as he'd gone to tell her exactly how much he had to thank her she'd quickly and effortlessly changed the topic which later would make him think she'd been around Eames much too long.
"Reality sucks then doesn't it?" she'd asked still leaning down to put away a colander. He'd turned a frown on his face at her words.
"What do you mean?" he asked and she'd obviously quickly caught onto his worry, straightening up and offering him a smile,
"I mean with architecture Cobb, Miles said that I need to make sure I stick to all the rules in the real world when he looked over my last assignment" he smiled gently nodding at her words,
"Ah, of course, well Miles told me that you still did quite well" he said with a smile and she shook her head realising just how much he'd checked up on her.
"I'm glad you called Cobb"
She had stayed with the small family for another two weeks, spending the entirety of her holidays there. Miles had checked in with her a couple of times, whenever he called the house to talk to his grandchildren as well. The fact that he was her teacher brought great amusement to the children, James promising Miles that he'd make sure Ariadne had done her homework.
Eames and Arthur were there often as well, sometimes crashing on the couches or leaving very late. They popped in whenever they weren't…well doing whatever they were now. She settled extremely easily into Cobb's new found life even though it was only a fortnight. She helped with dinner, the kids, and Eames, cheering with happiness when their pasta wasn't all stuck together and their sausages weren't singed around the edges. She tagged along with Cobb to take the kids to preschool, even stopping in to listen to kids read one Friday.
She wasn't sure when she realised just how well she was fitting in, she had a feeling though it was when Dom had handed her the print out of her return ticket to Paris with a small smile. She'd spent that night awake studying the ceiling. Paris. It was her home, her school, her city, her life. But she still smiled and ignored the uneasy feeling that built in her chest when she was woken by two screaming children when the sun rose the next morning, she would miss them, so much. Paris ... it had everything but her family.
Family. Family was a foreign concept, it had been for so long. She'd learned to grow, to learn, to live and make the best out of everything on her own. And she had been more than prepared to continue doing so, keeping everyone at arm's length, never letting anyone too close. And then everything changed when Miles introduced her to a one Dominic Cobb and then she was Alice who had stumbled into a wonderland of impossible reality.
She'd found her place with them during the job, slowly bonding with each of them and sure they still knew nothing about her, still didn't really know her. But they did care, they showed that on the job, she still honestly meant something to them and she was still slightly amazed at how quickly this family had swept her into their lives.
She hadn't had a family in a long time and now she had it all.
She and Dom would travel through the city, mostly on foot, he'd show her his favourite architecture and she'd marvel at his intensity and passion as he spoke. After all, she had never really seen him as an architect. She quickly found exactly how skilled, how detail oriented he was. And how similar and yet different their tastes were. She'd argue with him about which window's should be where and how they could improve it and together they'd rebuild the world they were looking at.
Eames and Arthur took her out several times, they played tourist with her, seeing the sights she couldn't miss while there. The forger took great pleasure in purchasing her the stupid touristy things and Arthur would laugh at her as Eames pulled a cap over her head.
Content. She couldn't pin point the moment she realised that she hadn't felt so at complete peace in a long time.
When it was time to leave they all accompanied her to the airport, Phillipa with a small frown on her face, her brow creased, which a smiling Ariadne reached to smooth several times making the little girl smile. Arthur carried her bag in which the young girl had unpacked twice until Dom relented promising her they would go to Paris to see Ariadne soon and the architect herself had promised the five year old that she would see her again soon.
James grinned at the planes from his perfect view atop of Eames' shoulders telling his new uncle that he'd fly them one day. Ariadne smiled as she watched the forger take the boy very seriously, not laughing at his plans instead asking the mini-Cobb where he was going to fly him. Phillipa's hand was still clutched in hers and Arthur and Dom walked just behind them. She sighed as she handed her ticket over before turning back to the group. Eames had stepped towards her and bent forward making James laugh before the small boy wrapped his arms around Ariadne's neck slipping from Eames' shoulders. The man himself wrapped her in a tight hug not long after promising to come and see her soon before planting a kiss on her forehead.
Arthur had embraced her tightly as well and she held on for a moment not wanting to leave before he smiled down at her making her promise to call when she landed. Ariadne turned to peer down at Phillipa whose shoulder was still in contact with Ariadnes hips, staying close. She crouched down and then smiled up at Arthur in thanks, who quickly steadied her when she took the force that Phillipa threw herself at her with. She held the little girl promising to see her soon and it was Dom that had to pry the little girl away from her a moment later pulling her into his own secure arms.
She hugged Dom last, thanking him again for letting her stay and they both knew that she was thanking him for a lot more. His blue eyes burned in her mind long after she'd boarded the plane and was flying over the seas home-bound.
After she'd settled back into Paris which she found increasingly harder than she'd anticipated she spoke to Dom and the kids every couple of nights, Arthur and Eames too, they'd both randomly text her and they'd keep her entertained during university, Arthur teasingly chiding her for not paying attention.
Dom had indeed booked flights for Paris as James excitedly told her one night and she'd grinned snuggling further into the arm chair her heart aching, wishing they were there. That she could hug them. She could see now why Dom had done everything he had to get back to them. They'd weaved their way into her heart in a way she'd never believed possible.
It was three weeks when it happened. When everything went pear-shaped. When Ariadne had headed home on an average day, after an average lecture, not, however, back to an average empty apartment. Two days later Miles scrolled through his contacts from where he stood in the centre of a room. A messy, destroyed, trashed room that was most certainly not the way his student kept it.
"Dom you need to come to Paris"
Hey guys, so this is my first ever inception fic I absolutely love the movie and I'm not sure if anyone's still on here but I hope they are and hope you like this
Please review and let me know if I should continue?
Nina
x