Okay...so I watched Inception like 3 times (again) this week and I absolutely fell in love with Arthur/Ariadne. And I really wanted to write a fanfic about it. So when I read Percy Jackson again and thought about how Dionysus fell in love with Ariadne after Theseus abandoned her...I couldn't get this story idea out of my head! So here is the product of that resilient parasite of an idea and I hope you guys like it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Inception...

0-0

Mindless. Manipulated. Hurt. All of these emotions were running through Ariadne's mind as she was sitting in the old, now abandoned warehouse. She was hugging her knees to her chest, oblivious to the tears that had streaked her face and were slowly dripping onto her ironically bright, happy yellow scarf. How could she have been so gullible, so juvenile? She should've listened to her intuition; her first impressions were usually correct. For a girl that most people classified as highly intelligent for her age, how had she been so easily beguiled?

She should have seen through his mask, his disguise. But he had seemed so kind, honest, empathetic even. Maybe it had just been the fact that she had never had a guy actually like her to cause her to fall for his lies so easily. She wanted so desperately to believe that he really had feelings for her and her defenses had crumbled like a poorly structured dream layer. Henry had been flattering, calling her architectural designs breathtaking and spectacular. Ariadne had been so pleased that someone so handsome was actually paying attention to her, that she hadn't even realized what she was saying when she told him that it was nothing compared to what she could really create. Henry had asked if he could see what kind of amazing things she had designed, and at that moment something in Ariadne's mind had told her that this was going too far. However, as soon as that heart-melting smile crossed his face, she pushed the thought out of her mind and led him to her apartment to show him the dream sharing process.

The first few times into the dreamscape had seemed harmless enough; Henry had asked questions and Ariadne had happily answered them. After the shared dreaming, Henry would take her out and tell her how special she was. Ariadne had let him feed her countless lies without even realizing what was happening. It wasn't until just last night that Ariadne began to grow suspicious. When she had taken him to her apartment again, Henry had an almost hungry look in his eyes, as if he couldn't wait to manipulate the dreams they would share. And even afterwards, that greedy look hadn't disappeared from his face. He left without so much as a goodbye, or a glance in her direction.

Ariadne finally comprehended Henry's grand plan this morning. She woke up to find all of her dream equipment gone. Stolen, by the one person she had trusted enough to show. At that moment she became conscious of how oblivious she had been all this time. Henry had never actually cared about her. He had simply wanted a way to get into the dream world and he used her as that springboard. She had gone about thinking that Henry actually liked her, maybe enough to kiss her, when really he was a deceitful person just taking advantage of her. Ariadne had gotten up and ran without realizing to the old warehouse from the Fischer inception three months ago. Ariadne had known that no one had been there in months and that she'd be alone while she wallowed in her pain.

That was how she had gotten where she was now, sitting on a battered lounge chair with her knees at her chest. She pulled out her gold bishop totem and tipped it over, half hoping that this was all just a dream. But her bishop fell precisely the way it had been designed to. It wasn't a dream. No, this was reality-merciless, arduous, unforgiving reality. She had her heart broken just as her namesake, the Greek princess's heart had been broken. The mythological Ariadne had helped Theseus through the Labyrinth and had lied to her, telling her that they would run away together. But just as Henry had to her, Theseus had abandoned Ariadne once he no longer needed her. Ariadne now understood her namesake's pain. Once again, a tear slipped down Ariadne's cheek.

"Ariadne?" a familiar voice called, a voice that Ariadne had not heard in months.

Suddenly, Arthur came into view, looking concernedly at her. Arthur, with his dark hair slicked back and a briefcase in his hand. He was wearing what had been wearing on that day that Ariadne had decided to come back to the warehouse; the day that he had trained her in paradoxical architecture. His sleeves were again rolled up in a casual way, with one of his hands in his pocket. He set down his briefcase and hurried over to the lounge chair she was sitting on.

"Ariadne, what happened?" Arthur asked her, taking in her disheveled appearance.

"Arthur, I-" Ariadne then broke down and relayed the entire story about Henry to him, glad to finally have someone who would listen to her.

Once she was finished, Arthur looked straight into her eyes and said calmly, "He doesn't deserve to have you crying over him."

"What?" Ariadne asked, trying to wipe away all of her tears.

"That jerk, Henry. He used you and you shouldn't be wasting your tears on a manipulative loser like him," Arthur told her. "You deserve better than him."

"Thanks," Ariadne said, giving him a watery laugh.

"Ah, there's that naive smile of yours. I was wondering when it would come back."

"I just can't even believe how dense I was. I'm supposed to be some sort of brilliant Architect and I can't even realize when a guy is messing with me," Ariadne said meekly.

"You are a brilliant Architect. Probably the best Architect Cobb and Eames and I have ever worked with," Arthur assured her.

"I think I just wanted a kiss," Ariadne admitted sheepishly.

"You've been kissed before," Arthur said.

Ariadne raised her eyebrows. "What makes you say that?"

"Because I'm the one who did it!" Arthur reminded her amusedly.

"That 'Quick, give me a kiss' during the Fischer job? That didn't count!" Ariadne protested, failing to keep from smiling.

She barely finished her sentence when Arthur's lips met hers. Ariadne's eyes widened in shock, but her heart practically melted when she got over it.

Arthur pulled away with a mischievious grin. "Did that count?"

Ariadne didn't even answer. She simply blushed a brilliant scarlet. Ariadne cleared her throat and, eager to change the subject, she asked him, "What are you doing here in the first place?"

"Wondering where a certain dense yet brilliant Architect was to see if she wanted to maybe have lunch with a certain Point Man," Arthur replied, offering her his hand.

Ariadne smiled and took it. "Yeah. Sure."

And as Ariadne and Arthur exited the warehouse, she couldn't help but remember that her namesake had been rescued by a knight in shining armor too.

0-0

So that was the end! I hope you guys liked it because that was my very first Inception story! Please, please review!