Disclaimer: I don't own Inception, I'm simply in awe of its outstanding plot and set of characters

Just a small oneshot with an insight into Arthur's thoughts when Ariadne accuses him of 'not seeing' what is wrong with Dom's head.

Reviews would be very welcome, appreciated, and rewarded with virtual chocolate brownies :)

What Don't I See?

She thinks I don't see it. She thinks I'm stupid, a fool, an idiot; she thinks I'm too stubborn to let myself see it. She thinks I'm too scared of facing the truth, she thinks I'm blinded by affection for a friend.

But I'm not.

Because I do see it.

I see what's missing from my best friend's eyes, and it isn't sanity. It's Mal.

I hear the crazed edge to his voice, I see the manic glint in his eye, I feel the desperate grip of his hand on my arm. I understand it better than she thinks; better than anyone thinks. He's my best friend, how could I not see it?

What was it that she said?

Oh yes, that was it. She accused me of not wanting to see it.

Of course I don't want to see it! Who wants to watch their best friend slowly die inside, watch them crumble to nothing before your very eyes. No-one. No-one wants to see that happen. I'm no different.

I've seen things that would make lesser men weak at the knees, I've killed my friends and they've killed me, and we've survived every time.

Would you like to know a simple fact?

I would take a thousand bullets to the head if I thought it would bring Dom back. When I frown at him and scowl he thinks it's because he had to shoot me again to get out of a bad situation.

But it isn't.

I don't care about that, I care about him. I care about the two kids slowly forgetting their father's face. I care about the woman who took me under her wing and introduced me to this dream world, only to leave the real one far too soon.

Mal's life was a dream, her death an injustice. I want to avenge it but there's no-one to blame. I know Dom shoulders the responsibility but any fool could see he never had the strength to argue with her, let alone kill her. Which was something I'll admit I was always impressed with – I've met my fair share of French women over the years, one of their common factors that was not only their alluring accents was their feisty tempers.

Then again, just about everyone in this business has a feisty temper. How else do you survive?

So Ariadne cannot question me; she cannot doubt me and she cannot judge me.

Because I see the pain; I feel it and know it and it drowns me every day. I wake up, I do the job, I go to bed, I worry for my friend, and then I sleep.

And then I wake up again and the first thing I do is reach for my totem.

I see the danger of my life, my job, my existence. I see the damage it causes and I see the suffering it can bring. I see the way Dom's brow puckers as he consoles children who are growing up fast without him. I see how his projection of his wife is so very far from the real woman he is imitating. I see how he clings to the projection as he slowly lets it drain him of reality.

I see so much.

So tell me, what don't I see?