Notorious
Summary: AU When a night out with her boyfriend goes wrong, barely-legal Ariadne is suddenly caught in whirlwind cat and mouse game between the police and crime lords of Limboville. It doesn't help that she is suddenly being pursued by both the devilishly handsome Detective Eames and equally cunning and seductive gangster Arthur. And where's her "boyfriend" in the middle of this?
Abridged Summary: AU In a night gone wrong, Ariadne is caught in a cat/mouse game between the police and gangs of Limboville. Suddenly she is being pursued by the devilishly handsome Detective Eames and the equally seductively gangster Arthur. What's a girl to do?
Author's note: Hello, hello! This is a brand new story. My first AU for the fandom. I'm pretty excited to get this started. I wanna thank moviemaniac12 for inspiring me to write this after they publish their story Can't Be Dreamers. Please enjoy this story. I will update was much as I can. Thank you all. :)
Prologue: Just a Normal Day
The night began simple enough.
It was the eve of Ariadne Fletcher's eighteenth birthday. She had just graduated high school two days prior. Her boyfriend of three months, Bobby, picked her up from her parent's home. He bought her flowers, complimented her mother, and made small-talked her father. He charmed her and whisked her off for a fun-filled night.
His plan was simple enough: take her out to a fancy dinner to impress her, then a night club (because she can now), and hopefully, be able to coerce her into having intercourse with him.
It would have been the perfect night for the two of them.
Unfortunately, fate didn't work that way.
Deep within the streets of Limboville, two men stood in a dark alley. One was young, the other old, both smoked casually. Up above, near the edge of the fire escape, a third man stood hidden in the shadows. Without the knowledge of the men below, he listened on. The older, stockier man huffed his cigar. He narrowed his eyes at the greasy young man beside him.
"Nash, I hope you realize that Maurice is getting impatient." The older one spoke. The younger rolled his eyes.
"Yeah yeah. Hold your balls." Nash, the hitman, took a drag of his cigarette. He blew the excess into the face of the older, Peter Browning. The man scrunched his face in disgust.
"You promised him his son months ago."
"Fuck you. I have a plan."
"You know what will happen if you fail." Peter warned. Taking another drag, Nash rolled his eyes. He threw down the cigarette on the ground and stepped on it with his heel. With a cocky smile, he faced the disturbed man.
"Tonight's the night. Robert Fischer's going to return home." He nodded to Peter who nodded back. Nash held out his hand. Peter grasped it in a firm shake, slipping the hitman cash.
"You'll get the rest when Maurice sees the boy." Nash nodded before stalking off. As he watched the retreating figure, Browning sighed. He took one nice long drag before discarded his cigar and walking off in the opposite direction.
The hidden man jumped down from his hiding spot. Swiftly pulling out a phone, he dialed a memorized number.
"They're getting him tonight," pause, smirk. "I got this."
"Bobby! I can't believe you got us reservations at La Grenouille!" Ariadne cried out as her boyfriend pulled out her seat for her. He just chuckled and smirked at the waiter. In return, the worker gave him a knowing smile. "My gosh, I feel so underdressed." She wasn't in her tight black dress that Bobby had given her just for this occasion, but he didn't point that out.
"You look beautiful," he said as he sat down in his seat. Her cheeks reddened.
"Thank you," she responded quietly. He smiled her before going over his menu. She followed suit and realized the entire menu was in French. She looked at Bobby questionably.
"Oh, do you not understand the menu?" He asked when he catches her staring.
"No no, I'm fluent in French. I just didn't know you knew how to speak."
"I do. I had to learn a lot of languages when I was younger." He muttered uncomfortably.
"Why?"
"Family business." He mumbled. Ariadne blinked sensing the uneasiness in his tone but dismissed it.
"This is really nice." She said in an attempt to change the subject. Bobby beamed.
"You think so? I've always loved French food ever since I was little." Ariadne sipped her iced tea before clearing her throat.
"You know, you never talk about yourself, really." She murmured a low, nervous tone. Bobby nearly choked on his drink but stopped himself.
"There's nothing," cough, "noteworthy about my childhood." Ariadne frowned slightly.
"Well, tell me about your parents then," she suggested. Bobby winced.
"My mother died when I was young, and my father was a workaholic. Like I said, there's nothing noteworthy." He spat out the last part. Surprised by his tone, Ariadne decided to drop the subject. The two fell into an awkward silence. When the waiter finally arrived to take their orders, Bobby ordered for himself while Ariadne quietly stated her order.
"Look baby, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you." He reached him hand forward to grasp hers. She raised her gaze from her plate to his face. He smiled softly at her and she nodded.
"I didn't mean to pry." She whispered.
"It like I told you before, my family… is complicated." She nodded once more. Sensing that she wasn't a hundred percent convinced, he got up from his seat and kneeled in front of her. He grasped her slim hand in his. She blushed and turned away thinking about how ridiculous they look at that moment. He must look as if he was proposing after all.
"Ariadne, I'm sorry." She sighed deeply before facing him. His piercing blue eyes locked into her chestnut irises.
"It's okay Bobby." She leaned down. He met her lips with his own. He raised his free hand to cup her cheek. With her unoccupied hand, she grasped the back of his head. After a chaste kiss, he pulled back and rested his forehead against her's.
"Well, this is rather cute," an unfamiliar voice cut into the couple's moment.
"I've been looking for you Robert." Robert froze on the spot when the recognition of the voice set in. Ariadne watched in curiosity as his eyes grew wider. The brunet turned slowly to find a sharp, lanky man standing. Crystal met black as their eyes met each others. Bobby stood up in an instant.
"Nash, what the hell—" Bobby didn't have the chance to finish his question before the man behind him pulled a gun out. He placed the barrel in the center of Bobby's forehead. Ariadne screamed. Her voice pierced the silent stupor that had fallen over the restaurant. The other patron's looked on in fear at the scene before an elderly woman finally screamed for some to call the police.
In a rage, the strange man struck Bobby across the face with the gun before firing warning shots into the air. Bobby fell on the floor, but didn't lose consciously. Ariadne got up from her seat to grab her boyfriend, but was stopped when Nash pointed the gun at her chest.
"It's a shame. You're such a pretty little thing. Too bad you have to die." Nash smiled with an evil glint in his eye. He cocked the gun back and then pressed his finger against the trigger. However, before he could pull it, Bobby got up from where he laid and tackled him. The gun flew out of his hand and slid across the floor. Angry, Nash kicked Bobby off of him. Paying no mind to the pain in his stomach, Bobby pulled Nash back and restrained him.
"Ariadne! Go! Get out of here!" Bobby yelled frantically. Nash attempted to escape his grip, but the younger man was stronger than he looked. Ariadne cried.
"HURRY!" Bobby demanded before Nash elbowed him in the gut. Robert folded back as Nash made a break for the gun. The hitman grabbed at it and pointed it right at the barely legal teen. She froze to the spot.
BANG.
The next time Ariadne realized was Nash screaming. The man was pushed back; his gun dropping on the floor. He pulled the bullet from his chest. The bulletproof vest that he wore underneath had worked well against the bullet shot at him. Robert was on the ground with his own pistol pointed at the man. He turned his face to the frightened girl.
"Ari! Go!" He begged.
"I'm not leaving you!" She pleaded frenziedly. Bobby shook his head at her before pointing the gun at her. Ariadne caught her breath.
"If you don't leave now, I'll shoot." He threatened. Suddenly she was pulled back by an unexpected force.
"Bobby!" She screamed. Her boyfriend shook his head. Tears fell from her eyes.
"Let go of her you bastard!" was the last thing she remembered before blacking out.
When Ariadne finally broke out of her daze, she awoke in a plain white bed. She studied her surround, but nothing seemed familiar of the place. The room was very minimalistic: plain white walls, plain white sheets, plain white desk, single door, no windows, a single chair in the corner. In the chair, a sharply dressed man sat cleaning out a gun. In a panic, she jumped out of the bed and rushed to the door.
Like lightening, the man stood in front of her only exit. He towered her by a good foot. Staring down at her, he flashed a cocky smile at her. She berated herself mentally for finding her capturer's smile so enthralling. Taking note of the man in front of her (about 6'2", milk chocolate eyes, dark brown hair, crisp, sharp suit, the most beautiful smile Ariadne's ever seen), she felt herself cower in fear.
"It's nice to meet you," the man said. Ariadne nervously stepped back.
"My name's Arthur. What's yours?"
End of Prologue
Preview of Chapter One: Safe in Hell's Fire
"Who are you?"
"Arthur."
"Why did you save me?"
"I don't know. I was suppose to kill you."