"What is the most resilient parasite?" Cobb said with his eyes narrowed thoughtfully, gently lifting the silver fork a few inches above his white china plate with gilded edges. "A bacteria? A virus? An intestina-"
"W-what Mr. Charles is trying to say," Arthur cut in suddenly, swallowing the last bits of his food before throwing the extractor a wary glance, "Is that-"
"I've got this." Cobb interrupted the tense-looking Point Man suddenly, nodding a little. "Mr. Kaneda, the most resilient parasite in the world is an idea. An idea grows, it manifests into something complex and detailed. Something that a lot of people would pay a lot of money to get their hands on."
Across the large, polished mahogany table, a pudgy, middle-aged man with a rapidly receding hairline that was flecked with gray narrowed his beady brown eyes at Cobb and Arthur, then focused on the well done steak sitting on his plate. He pursed his unusually fleshy pink lips, and fidgeted with his smooth red tie.
"What exactly are you getting at, Mr. Charles?" The businessman asked, pushing the steak across his plate with his fork.
Cobb leaned back a little, the hard edge of the chair digging in between the vertebrae of his spine. "Well, you see, the mind is most vulnerable to being invaded during a dream. In a dream, someone can steal your ideas. Ideas that could benefit your company, or destroy your company if in the wrong hands. Stealing an idea is known as extraction."
Suddenly, the entire dining room began to shake a little, the glistening crystal chandelier above them swinging back and forth. As the multiple crystals of the chandelier trembled they produced a clear, high-pitched ring that echoed throughout the room. What the Hell is going on up there? He thought, staring up at the ceiling as the shaking suddenly came to a stop, then glanced at the rigid Point Man, who was just barely shaking his head no at him. Cobb's eyes traveled to the wine glass Arthur was holding, and he noticed the way he was tightly gripping it, so tightly that his knuckles began to protrude beneath his pale skin.
The strange occurrence had caused the two suit-clad security guards standing at the double-doors behind Mr. Kaneda exchanged glances from behind their darkly-tinted glasses.
"So how do I prevent this?" Mr. Kaneda asked, the dimpled flesh from his neck spilling over the crisp collar of his suit.
"Well, I can train you, so that even when you're asleep, your subconscious will be safe from any sort of invasion." He replied, propping his elbows up on the table as if he were deep in thought. "But in order to do this, I'm going to have to know everything about you, more than your therapist, your wife-"
"I don't have a wife." Mr. Kaneda said suddenly, his chair groaning a little as he leaned back in it, lacing his pudgy fingers together thoughtfully.
"But you get the point." Cobb raised an eyebrow questioningly, pausing to wait for any sort of reply from the businessman, which turned out to be a simple nod. "Usually, extractors steal ideas from subconscious hiding places, such as safes or vaults."
At his words, Mr. Kaneda glanced worriedly at a deeply-polished wood double-door to their left, the only way out of the softly-lit dining room besides the double-doors just north of them.
"And how do I know that I will be safe against the most skilled extractor?" The pudgy businessman asked, pressing his hands against the table and raising one eyebrow as he met Cobb's gaze.
Cobb had to do his best not to smirk at how well they were doing. It looked like his decision to run with Mr. Charles had been a good idea, despite what Arthur and the rest of the team had said.
"Because I am the most skilled extractor." He said bluntly, fidgeting with the cuffs at the ends of his sleeves.
Mr. Kaneda nodded slowly, pressing his thumb against his chin thoughtfully, then promptly stood up. "I'm sorry, but I will have to decline, Mr. Charles." He said, wiping his mouth with his immaculately white napkin. "I simply don't have enough proof that I can trust you. I have guests to attend to. My guards will escort you both out."
Cobb and Arthur stood up, watching the businessman stride through the double-doors arrogantly, with his round head held high and his meaty hands swinging at his sides. The two guards standing at the doors focused their intense gazes on them, then nodded towards them.
"This way, please." The one on the right said monotonously, slowly gesturing towards the doors.
Cobb glanced at Arthur worriedly, who replied with a simple nod. They began to walk quickly, passing the various paintings that were hung up on the walls. Some were unusually colorful and painted in long but simple streaks to form some sort of shape, usually a face. Others were painstakingly detailed portraits of people and places.
They started into a dimly lit hall, the two guards following closely behind them. The air felt tense and rigid, as if at any moment something was about to go wrong.
"It's in the other room." He whispered to Arthur, glancing back at the guards, who were still following them closely. "It's just like with Saito. He glanced towards those doors when I mentioned a safe."
For a moment, his gaze fell towards the impeccably spotless beige carpet forlornly, suddenly remembering the fact that his deal with Saito had failed. A few months after the successful Inception, something went wrong. He wasn't sure exactly what, but now because of it, he had to go back to France so that he didn't end up in prison. His reunion with his children had been painfully short-lived. Now he was back in the business of stealing and planting ideas.
"So what do we do about the guards?" Arthur asked quietly, his dark eyes quickly flashing towards the men behind them.
"Take them out." He replied, fidgeting with cuffs of his sleeves before suddenly lashing around and slamming his fist into the sallow face of the man behind him.
The man stumbled backwards, outstretching his arms to balance himself. In that instant, the other guard swung his fist at him, but Arthur quickly grabbed him and slammed him against the wall. A loud thud reverberated through the hall. He glanced around, checking for anyone else, when someone behind him suddenly grabbed him tightly by the arm, and twisted it behind his back. A tight pain shot through the muscles of his arm as he felt himself slowly being brought down to his knees by the guard. He gritted his teeth until he felt pressure building up inside his mouth.
All of a sudden, the guard suddenly let go. Cobb fell forwards, breaking his fall by pressing his hands against the rough surface of the carpet.
Ariadne paced back and forth nervously, lacing her fingers together and clasping her hands, whose skin was permeated with warm sweat. Her dark gaze flickered towards the floor-to-ceiling windows at her left, which gave her a view of the large, bustling city sprawled out thousands of feet below her. The team had purposely chosen a room on the top floor of the tallest building in the city she had created, so it would be harder for projections to reach them.
Her ribs seemed to tighten around her lungs, giving them little room to expand. An odd clenching feeling settled within her chest. She looked at Arthur, who was slouched over in a black leather chair at the end of a wide table made of a dark wood that had been so well polished it was almost as reflective as a mirror. The clenching feeling now spread to her stomach, which had already been unusually queasy.
Hurry up. She thought, pulling a wavy strand of brown hair behind her ear, which was slightly numb at the edges from the chilly air that accumulated the meeting room. Her bottom lip quivered rapidly as she breathed in and out. Did it really have to take that long? Words couldn't describe how much she hated staying behind to watch the team while they went under. The apprehension, the nervousness she felt from wondering what on Earth was going on down there made her sick. She knew Architects weren't actually supposed to go under, they were just supposed to create the dreamscape and teach it to the rest of the team, but frankly she loved actually participating in the heists.
Her index finger pressed against her lower lip slightly. She let her gaze travel from Arthur, to Cobb as he sat stooped over in a chair pressed against the wall, to Eames, who lay on the ground with his back against the glass window, and the portly Mr. Kaneda, who was asleep with his face pressed against the surface of the table. Next to each of them was a bucket of water so that she could give them the kick if she needed to. The gentle hiss of the PASIV was the only sound in the room.
Suddenly there was a thunderous bang on the wood double-doors behind her. Every muscle in her body tightened fearfully as she spun around, her eyes now locked on the doors, which were obviously being shaken by someone outside of the room. Her hands felt around her back pockets for a gun, when her stomach suddenly got that dropping feeling as she realized she didn't have a gun with her.
"Oh no." She gasped under her breath, rigid, icy goose-bumps rippling through her skin.
There was no way the projections could have reached them that quickly. By now they still had to be searching for them.
Another bang roared through the room, sending an electric jolt through her body that made her spine stiffen and her muscles clench. She stared at the doors, mind completely blank as to what to do. Her lungs felt heavy and swollen with each ragged breath she made. Her fingers twitched. The air felt tense.
Suddenly the doors swung open, slamming into the walls with a loud boom. In the doorway stood a girl, probably in her early to mid-twenties. Her silky-looking hair felt a few inches above
her elbows in a smooth, uninterrupted curtain of pure ebony. A chillingly detailed tattoo of a red dragon wound around her right arm, starting at her shoulder and ending at her elbow, baring a striking contrast to her deeply-tanned skin. A small black gun was clenched tightly in her hand, a finger pressed against the trigger.
"Who are you?" Ariadne let the words completely fall out of her mouth without considering the fact that this girl was carrying a gun.
The girl narrowed her eyeliner-rimmed brown eyes and pursed her pale pink lips. She was breathtakingly beautiful, so beautiful that even just looking at her made Ariadne feel like a thorny weed among a field of perfect roses. Her deep brown eyes were round and framed with long black eyelashes, her lips perfectly full, her nose small and sloped. Nothing about her looked dangerous, except the fact that she was holding a gun.
"That doesn't matter." The girl replied, raising the gun towards her.
Then the thunderous boom of a gun rocketed through the air, followed by a small bullet that headed right for Ariadne. At that moment everything seemed to slow down. She darted out of the way, feeling the icy metal of the bullet ever-so-gently graze against the tip of her ear, hearing the chilling hiss. The bullet passed by her, then slammed into one of the windows. A web of cracks began to form around where the bullet was lodged, then quickly manifested until the intricate, almost lacy-looking cracks dominated the entire windows, and then finally the entire window shattered.
The high-pitched shriek of glass breaking filled the air. It felt like someone was shoving needles into her ears it was so loud. Shattered pieces of glass with dangerously jagged edges rained down, some falling out of the building, others hitting the floor.
She pressed her arms over her head for protection, crouching down in fear. Every inch of her body was trembling. Her muscles, her bones, her veins. All of it was trembling. Slowly, she looked up at the girl, who had made her way to the PASIV, which was placed on the middle of the table, and preparing to shove one of the needles into her wrist.
"What are you doing?" She yelled, instinctively diving across the table and slamming into the girl right before the needle penetrated her skin.
They both collided into the wall with a thud. Ariadne shook her head sleepily, and blinked a few times, before the girl suddenly threw her off and stood up. The rough carpet rubbed against her bare skin painfully. She clenched her eyes shut, pressing herself to her knees.
But the moment she opened her eyes, she felt a hand clasp around a huge chunk of her hair and jerk her to her feet. A blunt stabbing pain shot through her scalp. It was like her skin was being ripped off.
The girl slammed her against the wall, the back of her skull hitting the hard surface. An unbelievable, inexplicable pain erupted inside her head. It was like a tingle, but with a burning sensation mixed with it, permeating her skull. Her head felt hollow and light, like a balloon floating in the air. It almost felt like it was detached from the rest of her body.
She blinked lazily, her head still lolling a little. Without even thinking, she kneed the girl in the stomach, causing her to yell out in pain and let go of her. The skin of her skull still stung from her hair being pulled like that. Her heart was pounding desperately within her chest, the violent quakes echoing throughout her body. She watched as the girl curled over in pain with her arms wrapped around her stomach, wobbling dizzily.
What was she? A projection? But it didn't make any sense why she would try to put herself under. No, she had to have known they were there, she had to have had a plan. Maybe she had been sent to infiltrate the dream.
Suddenly, the girl grabbed her by the shoulders, digging her slightly sharp fingernails into her skin. Ariadne's eyes widened in shock, her mind completely blank as to what to do. The girl pursed her lips in frustration, and threw her against the table.
The blunt edge of the table collided with her spine, pressing into her vertebrae. Salty water accumulated in her eyes as the pain spread throughout the rest of her back. But before she could even realize how much pain she was actually in, the ferocious girl had already clasped her hands around her wrist and swung her so that she smashed against the wall once more. Her body ached with a tense, unbearable sensation that she couldn't explain.
She needed to fight back. She needed to at least do something.
Ariadne focused her watery gaze on the girl, then clenched her fist together so tight that she felt every muscle and vein in her knuckles being pulled, and swung at the girl. But the girl quickly deflected the punch by grabbing her fist. The Architect exhaled, and threw her to the ground.
"Why are you doing this?" She demanded, locking gazes with the girl.
Instead of replying, the girl just kicked her in the shin. Sharps stabs interrupted within the bones of her lower leg. She fell backwards, teeth clenched in pain. The black-haired girl loomed over her, then crouched down to grab her by the throat. But Ariadne felt a sudden surge of adrenaline shoot through her body, and rolled out of the way. She rolled all the way into the glistening pile of glass, which pressed into her skin. Instinct began to take over, and she grabbed a long, narrow shard, ignoring the pain she felt as it's sharp edges dug into her palm.
Pressing herself to her feet, she swung at the girl, who darted out of the way at the last minute, then grabbed a shard as well. The two then locked intense gazes with one another, each one waiting for the other to make a move. But neither did. Neither was sure what to do.
Then the girl grabbed Ariadne by the neck. Her breath became trapped in her lungs as she tightened her grip. Desperate to be released from the pain, she tried to pry the girl's fingers away from her neck, but sadly they wouldn't budge. The lack of oxygen began to make her lungs feel like they were swelling up dangerously, like a balloon being filled with air. As water gathered in her eyes, her vision began to become warped and liquified. She gasped desperately for air.
The girl's lips began to form a devious smirk. She walked towards the area where the window once was, and dangled Ariadne out in the air.
Her eyes widened, her heart sped up so quickly it felt like it was about to explode, and her lungs swelled even more. She was dangling in open air, thousands of feet over a busy city. There was no way she would survive that fall. Even though it was a dream, she was still scared to die. She would wake up, but that girl would still be there.
"K-k-killing me w-w-won't... D-d-do you any good." She rasped in between ragged chokes. "I'll... J-j-j-just w-wake up."
"I know." The girl replied, then let go.
Suddenly Ariadne was falling. She felt her stomach drop sickeningly. Instinctively, she grabbed onto the ledge, tiny shards of glass digging into her fingers. But it didn't matter, because now she had a grip.
"Here we go." Arthur said under his breath, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips as he found himself looking upon the dark grey safe lodged into the wall.
His hands were clasped around an intricate oil painting that had once hung on the wall, in front of the safe. The corrugated bronze surface of the painting's frame pressed deep against his skin.
"I'll open it." Cobb said, stepping towards the safe.
Arthur nodded, and took a few steps back. His gaze roamed around the somewhat dark study as his friend began to open the safe. To the left, he saw a large desk made of some sort of dark, highly-polished wood with elegant carvings, a chair made of smooth-looking black leather, and a bookcase full of books of various sizes and colors. To the right was a small sofa with a coffee table that had a globe on it.
A metallic creak made him look back at the safe. The small door was now swung open and Cobb was reaching inside to grab a brown envelope. In his other hand was another envelope that was going to replace the one in the safe.
"You now I really think you should stop mentioning intestinal worms." Arthur said to his friend, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Just a suggestion."
He glanced back, then did a double-take when he realized someone was standing in the doorway. "Ariadne?"
The brown-haired college student stood in the very center of the doorway, every inch of her body trembling violently as if she had just swam in the Arctic Ocean.
"Ariadne, what are you doing here?" Cobb asked, quickly shoving the envelope in his pocket.
Why would she put herself under? She knew she was supposed to stay on the first level of the dream and administer the kick. Something very bad had to have happened for her to need to leave them.
"Someone's infiltrated the dream." She replied quickly, hurrying towards them. "A girl broke into the room. She put herself under. I'm not sure where she is, but my guess is she's headed this way."
Arthur raised an eyebrow, and exchanging worried glances with Cobb. "Are you sure she wasn't just a projection?"
"Why would she put herself under if she were a projection?" Ariadne said, turning up her palms questioningly.
No one had ever infiltrated one of their dreams before. Unless they counted Mal, but she had just been a shade. The idea of someone being sent to purposely sabotage one of their jobs made him nervous. It meant that someone else knew about them. It meant that they weren't as well hidden as they thought. The entire time they thought they had been safe, yet there was someone else who knew enough about them to be able to infiltrate their job.
"What did she look like?" Cobb said under his breath, his dark eyes rapidly flickering from Ariadne to the doorway.
"Black air, brown eyes, dragon tattoo on her arm." The Architect recited in a breathless, gasping voice, running a pale hand through her hair. "She was about my age, maybe a bit older."
Arthur sighed, looking down at the floor before directing his gaze to Ariadne. "Okay. You need to get out of here so that you can give us the kick."
"We need to find Eames." Dom announced, pointing towards the doorway and strolling past both of them.
The Point Man watched his friend make his way out of the doorway and into the hall quickly, then focused on Ariadne, who was nervously clutching the brown fabric of her cardigan with one hand and tucking her hair behind her ear with the other.
"Ariadne, thank you for warning us, but don't you think it would have just been better if you just woke her up and then killed her?" He suggested in a low voice, leaning down a little so he had better eye contact with her.
Lately the Architect had been starting to worry him. She had become more and more interested in entering the dreams, even though the job of the Architect was just to create the dreamscapes. In a way, he understood that maybe she just really liked going under, but as innocent as it seemed, he couldn't help but fear that she was becoming addicted.
He remembered Cobb once saying to him that Ariadne reminded him slightly of Mal, in the way she was fascinated by the world of the dream. His words shook him a little bit, though, because he then realized how much she was becoming like Mal.
"I don't know. I hadn't really thought about it at the time."Ariadne replied, biting her lip. "Why do you even care?"
"I'm just saying." He spoke under his breath, keeping his gaze locked with hers. "Anyway, though, you need to get back to the first dream."
He pushed a small black gun into her pale hands, but she handed it back to him. "What?" He said.
Ariadne's eyes remained down-turned as she spoke. "Can you do it?"
Arthur sighed, and tightened his grip around the gun. His fingers slid across the icy surface a little as he fixed his index finger around the trigger. "Sure." He glanced away for a second, then angled the gun so that it was aiming for Ariadne's head. "Take a few steps back."
The Architect nodded, then obediently stepped back, her lips slightly parted and trembling.
Arthur narrowed his eyes, feeling his fingers twitch as he prepared to squeeze the trigger. Just do it already. He focused on the center of her forehead, then he closed his eyes.
There was a boom.
But it didn't come from his gun.
Arthur lowered the gun, half expecting Ariadne to collapse promptly to the ground at any minute. But she didn't. She just stood there, eyes wide with shock, her lips slightly parted, her entire body tense and rigid.
"What was that?"Ariadne said, quickly strolling up to his side.
He placed the gun back in the holster and quickly made his way out the door and into the hall. "I don't know. But you need to get back up to the first level."
"But I want to help." She argued, glaring up at him as they hurried towards where they had heard the sound of gunfire. "I'll wake up in time to administer the kick."
Arthur stopped at an area where the hall split, pressing his back against the wall and peeking around the side. "Here, shoot yourself." He said quietly, reaching for the gun, suddenly wondering why he had even bothered to put it in the holster in the first place when he knew he was going to need it.
"No!" She replied, tightly clenching her slender fingers around his wrist before he could remove the gun. "I want to stay and help you."
For a moment, they both stood there silently, glaring at each other. God, she could be so stubborn sometimes. At times it was a good thing, like when she convinced Cobb to let her assist them on the Fischer job, but right now it wasn't so good. They didn't have time for this.
"We don't have time for this, just shoot yourself in the head." He commanded with his teeth gritted, suddenly realizing how strange what he just said sounded.
"Let... Me... Help... You." She pushed the gun back as he tried to shove it into her hands.
"Fine." He rolled his eyes, then turned around to head down the hall. "Stay close to me."
They moved quickly through the maze-like hallway, searching for Cobb. It felt like at any moment someone was going to jump out from around the corner. Every time they neared a corner, Arthur could feel his pulse quicken and his fingers tense up as they hovered around the handle of his gun, only to find that no one was there. Having Ariadne tag along didn't make it any better.
They turned a corner, and both froze.
A feet few ahead of them lay Cobb's dead body, a bullet lodged into his forehead. His eyes were still open, which made the whole scene even more eerie. There was a girl crouched over him, rummaging through the pockets of his suit desperately. Long black hair hung in front of her face, blocking their view of it. Her right arm had an intricate dragon tattoo winding around it.
"That's her!" Ariadne exclaimed, grabbing him by the elbow and jerking him
In an instant the girl looked up, gasped, then immediately grabbed her gun and shot at them.
Arthur dove down, pulling Ariadne down with him. He slammed into the floor, his hands rubbing against the rough carpet, making them sting and burn painfully. The two bullets that the girl shot flew a few over their heads.
The girl grabbed a brown envelope that had been folded a few times and shoved into the pocket of Cobb jacket, tore her black high-heels off her feet, and ran down the hall.
Arthur quickly grabbed his gun from it's holster and began following after her, often glancing back to check on Ariadne. "Stay close to me." He ordered in a quick, breathless voice.
Suddenly, the hall led straight into a much larger room, a ballroom, in fact. Brilliant white light filled the room as it emanated from the gigantic crystal chandelier that was suspended from the curved ceiling. At the end of the room was a wide staircase made of brilliantly reflective marble. Projections dressed in dark suits and long, flowing dresses accumulated the ballroom.
The girl, who had been wearing a lacy bustier dress that somewhat resembled lingerie, had easily slipped into the crowd and vanished among the jumble of projections.
"Shit." Arthur cursed under his breath, running his clenched fingers through his jelled back hair. "God, she could be anywhere." Ariadne said, glancing a him as she gripped her elbows warily.
He turned towards her. "Ariadne, you need to get back to the first level and wake her up."
The architect rolled her eyes with a sigh, then shrugged in surrender. "Fine, whatever." She said, shaking her head and nervously clenching her hands together before looking up and meeting his gaze.
"Take this, I need to go after her." He said, pulling the gun out of it's holster and pushing it into her hands.
For a brief moment, her fingers gently brushed against his, and he glanced at her a little. Ariadne simply brushed her hair behind her ear and clasped both hands around the gun.
"Wait, if I have the gun, what are you going to use?" She asked, holding the gun under her red cardigan so that it was concealed.
He shrugged, glancing towards the crowd once more. "I'm not going to need it if you wake her up in time. Now go, before she gets out of here."
Ariadne nodded and headed back into the hall. How the Hell could someone have infiltrated the dream? He wondered as he quickly made his way towards the crowd, keeping his eye out for the dark-haired girl.
Suddenly, all of the projections stopped chatting quietly, and all their eyes turned towards him. He paused in his tracks. His chest began to tense up in nervousness as the projections continued to glare at him with their eyes narrowed suspiciously. Every step he made became a tiny, calculated shuffle across the glossy tile, which was a grainy shade of beige.
With the exception of an occasional blink, the projections were completely and utterly still as he shuffled by them.
Something was seriously wrong.
He could literally feel tremors reverberating through his body as his heart pounded steadily within his chest. One of the projections, a thin old man with a bushy gray moustache that covered his upper lip and a stiff black suit that was obviously a few sizes too big for him, purposely bumped into Arthur as the Point Man passed by him. As he glanced back, he could see that the old man was giving a murderous stare. Then more projections began to bump into him. A young blonde woman with a low-cut black dress, a slightly older woman with her hair cut in a short bob, a man who's face was purposely unshaven. They all walked into him, glancing back at him afterwards.
Finally, he reached the stairs, which forked and led to two different rooms. Oh God, which one to choose? He paused, observing the characteristics of each doorway. They both were identical double-doors, baring intricate carvings on the dark wood doorframes. Right or left? They both were the same. Why did Ariadne have to design the dream like that?
Finally, he sighed, and chose right, simply because of the fact that he was right-handed. He had a fifty percent chance of finding the girl in that room. It was worth a shot.
Ariadne woke up gasping desperately for air, only a second after feeling the cold metal pierce her skull. Around her was the familiar meeting room dominated by the richly-polished mahogany table, which both Arthur and Mr. Kaneda were stationed at, both still virtually dead to the world and hooked up to the PASIV. Cobb was standing in the corner, his eyes wide in fear and his chest raggedly rising up and down. His trembling hand was still hovering slightly over his heart, which probably where he had been shot.
"Are you alright?" She asked in a gasping, breathless voice.
The Extractor nodded vigorously, a few sweat-dampened strands of hair that had once been slicked back now dangling in his slightly-reddened face. "Yeah, we need to get Arthur and this girl out. Where's the ice-water?"
"Oh, right he-" She felt her lips form a small, shocked O as her voice trailed off in disappointment.
"Damnit." Cobb murmured under his breath, raking his hand through his hair slowly.
All the water buckets were on their sides, a cloud of water staining the carpet around them. Of course she spilled them. She definitely wasn't dumb, that was for sure. But at the moment, Ariadne would have really preferred that she was.
She combed her hand halfway through her hair then began clenching clumps of brown hair, her eyes darting from the girl, who was lying on the floor with her long black hair fanned out around her head, to Cobb, who was now checking the girl's pulse.
"How else can we-" Ariadne started talking when she was cut off by the sound of a ragged, breathless gasp, as if someone had just escaped from being submerged underwater for a long stretch of time.
She whipped around, and saw Eames pushing himself to his feet, an expression on his face that Ariadne had never seen him with before. He looked like he had just seen a ghost– eyes wide in not fear, but more of shock, and something that looked like... Reminiscence. His skin was pale, completely white, almost.
"I know her." He muttered under his breath, then focused his slightly crazed-looking gaze to her and Cobb. "I know her."
"Wait, what?" She said, not even bothering to ask him what was going on in the dream, or even how he had died. "You know her?"
Surely he couldn't be serious. At any other time, she wouldn't be surprised to hear that Eames had associated with a girl like her, she was his type after all– dark hair, dark eyes, deeply tanned skin, completely foreign and exotic looking. Ariadne would have guessed she was a former friend, but then again with Eames it was more likely that she was "a friend with benefits". But right now this girl had single-handedly infiltrated their mission and was posing a serious threat to them.
"What's going on down there?" Cobb asked, strolling over to them.
Eames finally shook his head and established eye contact with the Extractor. "She got to Mr. Kaneda, and she told him me, you, and Arthur are trying to perform an Extraction."
She watched Cobb inhale sharply, once again running his hand through his hair. "Shit."
"And she's captured Arthur." Eames added suddenly.
At the moment, it didn't seem like the situation could get much worse. This girl had compromised their entire operation in a matter of minutes. They would be lucky if they even got out with the idea.
"Does she have the idea?" Ariadne asked, glancing up at Eames.
The Forger shrugged with his palms upturned. "I don't know."
"Put me under, Eames." Cobb said suddenly, rolling his sleeves back all the way to his elbow to expose his forearm. "And Ariadne, I want you to get out of here. Shoot yourself, stab yourself, jump off the building, I really don't care. Just get out."
"But-" The Architect argued, stepping forward quickly.
"No buts, Ariadne, this is too dangerous for you." He warned, sitting down in the chair, arm outstretched and upturned so that his wrist was exposed and ready for a needle to be placed into it.
"You heard the man, darling." Eames said, shoving the needle into a now-sleeping Cobb's wrist. "Take my gun, if you want."
Then there was another gasp.
Ariadne whipped around, and saw the girl pushing herself to her feet, her dark hair falling in front of her face. The girl looked up, then quickly ran towards the shattered window before either the Forger or the Architect could say anything.
"Marisol?" Eames said, his eyes meeting the intense brown gaze of the girl, who was gripping the edge of the window, her chest rising and falling in ragged, breathless heaves.
The brunette didn't answer, but instead let herself fall backwards out of the window.
"Wait!" Eames yelled, rushing towards her, even though it was obviously too late.
Ariadne just stood there, bewildered by the sequence of events that had just unraveled before her.
"You know her?" She asked, tilting her head slightly.
Eames exhaled as he placed one hand on his side, inadvertently pushing back his slightly-wrinkled black dress coat to reveal a small handgun attached to his belt. "Um... Yes, she is– or was, an old friend. I used to work with her."
More like friend with benefits. She mused, taking her mind off of the task at hand momentarily. It didn't surprise her that Eames had been friends with someone like that. As her gaze moved around the room, she realized that Arthur was stirring in his seat, until his eyes opened lazily. Cobb stirred also, then slowly opened his eyes.
"Did you get it?" Ariadne asked Cobb, even though her gaze was still fixated on the Point Man as he pulled the needle out of his skin.
"Yeah." Cobb said with a quick nod, pulling his gun out. "Let's get out before Mr. Kaneda wakes up."
There was the sound of several gunshots, then they all dropped to the floor.
Cobb opened his eyes to the familiar sight of a cramped train compartment, Arthur, Ariadne, and Eames all sitting across from him, Mr. Kaneda sitting next to him. Yusuf was kneeled near the PASIV.
"Did you get it?" Yusuf asked quietly, his dark brown gaze moving around the compartment nervously.
"Yes." He replied, sticking his slightly trembling hand in his pocket just to be sure.
His unnaturally rapid heartbeat slowed to a more comfortable pace as he felt his fingers grazing across the smooth surface of the envelope, which had been folded several times in order to fit into his pocket.
"Why the Hell did you let her go under?" Arthur demanded bluntly as he stood up, his dark eyes narrowed angrily.
Yusuf's hands quickly shot up as if someone were holding a gun to him. "She had a gun, Arthur. I told her no, but she knocked me out. I woke up a few seconds before you all."
It was at that moment that Cobb noticed the large lump that was swelling on the Chemist's temple. The lump was clouded with different shades of black, blue, and purple. Apparently she's as dangerous in reality as she is in a dream. He thought.
"Well, either way, let's get out of here before Mr. Kaneda gets up." He said, looking towards the portly businessman as he leaned against the wall, asleep.
A few minutes later, the train stopped at a large station that closely resembled Grand Central Station. They all got off quickly.
"I'll get the papers to Mr. Hadock, and the money should be wired to your bank accounts in about a week." Cobb said, glancing around the large, crowded station. "You know the drill, no contact for a month, unless it's a true emergency. I'll contact you when there's another job."