Disclaimer: I do not own Inception or any of the characters.
Countess of Dreams: Chapter 1
The dream-share community, both illegal and legal, was a small place. Full of aliases and strict recommendations of work. It bred distrust and betrayal like a
disease. Dom Cobb was currently facing a stone cold room as he introduced the new point-man on his team. He had reunited his Inception team to begin new
jobs together. He had taken much needed time off and seen his children grow for a year before he felt the pull of inspiration and creation that had defined his
time as an architect and extractor. No longer did he battle each and everyday with the projection of his late wife, but simply felt at peace with himself and the
thirst for creation that he had once had.
He had softly started contacting old friends and began sniffing around for a fairly simple job that wouldn't take him far from his kids. He had settled with a
job in the Montana hills and had been slowly reunited with his old team as they straggled in from all over the world. The only piece missing was Arthur who was
finishing a job in Russia, but had provided a recommendation for a reliable point-man to take over while he was absent. This brought Dom back to his currently
silent workroom.
"As you all know, Arthur is currently on another job and won't be with us for several weeks. This is Arthur's replacement, Georgiana. She comes highly
recommended both from Arthur and several other extractors." The petite blonde beside him inclined her head ever so slightly at this introduction, but kept her
mouth shut.
"Oh no no," spoke up a sultry British accent to Dom's left," I don't know her and I think we should just wait until Arthur joins us. We can all pitch in some
extra and work on research in his absence."
"You've never been that much of a team player Eames," spoke up a quiet voice seated with her legs pulled up underneath her. "You didn't know me when I
was recruited for Inception and you took to me just fine."
The two stared at each other for a moment before the British man huffed a breath and pushed off the wall towards the exit.
"Eames!", shouted Cobb after him.
"Leave it," said the woman in a posher version of Eames' accent standing beside him," he will come around. I'm sure he will call Arthur, they will have a nice
talk and he will come around."
"You don't know Eames very well then."
"No," she said quietly," only what Arthur has told me."
Nothing else was said after the anti-climatic arrival and the entire team simply buckled down to the work at hand. Georgiana settled in a secluded corner
away from the rest of the team and set to work. She could feel eyes periodically watching her as she worked, but she straightened her spine and simply
continued the work Cobb had left her with. Eames did not reappear until late in the afternoon and only after Cobb had gone after him several hours prior. He did
not say anything to anyone, but gathered his few belongings and moved to Yusuf's lab off the main room.
"Would you like to get a drink together?", questioned Ariadne softly over Georgiana's shoulder as the evening grew long. "As the only ladies on this team, I
thought we might break the ice and get to know one another better. After all, we might need to gang up on the boys later and it will be nice to have someone
on my side this time around."
Georgiana regarded the brunette for a moment and watched as she nervously flipped her wavy hair over her shoulder before bestowing a small smile on her,
"Of course, I would like that very much. Just let me finish up a few things, it shouldn't take more than a few minutes."
Ariadne nodded and decided to check in with Yusuf and Eames for a few minutes while she waited. The two men were sitting together drinking whiskey and
trading stories of jobs gone wrong when she walked in. It was obvious they had been at it for awhile as both men boisterously greeted her as she entered the
room. She smiled and listened to their babble for a few minutes before she interrupted with a question that had been on her lips since their newest member was
introduced hours earlier.
"Eames…. it doesn't seem normal for you to take such a violent dislike to someone you have never met before… yet you did today. What is it about her that
bothers you so?"
The laughter that had been bubbling from both men silenced immediately and Eames' face sobered quickly as his green eyes unclouded and studied Ariadne.
He saw no guile in the young architect. She was still so innocent even though she had been working in illegal dream-share for a year now.
"I have seen her face somewhere before, and it was not on this side of the law. I don't trust that she does this job for the right reasons."
Ariadne huffed a laugh, "That's rich coming from you Eames. I doubt anyone in our line of work specifically in this building do this work for the right reasons.
Who are you to say what the right reasons are anyway?"
He flinched minutely and didn't answer but simply continued watching her thoughtfully.
"Do you doubt Arthur and his word?"
This question caused an even longer pause and he chose his next words with care. "No… darling Arthur has always been as good as his word, but in this I
think he might be mistaken."
Ariadne shook her head, "Well I think she seems nice and I intend to spend time with her and find out more about her."
A voice shouted her name from the main room of the building and she turned to leave.
"She is still so annoyingly naive about this world."
Yusuf didn't respond for a moment, "Don't we all wish that we could say that we were still like that?"
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