Summary When he team finds Ariadne dead, her sister is the second best they could find. But what Arthur didn't expect, was to fall face first into a romance.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Inception. I do however, own Callista (Callie) and Briton (To be seen in future chapters).

The team hasn't heard from Ariadne in months. Separating for about two months after a job is not uncommon, but it's been five months since her first job. No one from the team was completely sure she was okay. Cobb had sent Arthur and Eames to go check in on her. They were both happy to be able to go see her again, they both had a small thing for her, and however, it wasn't anything worth pursuing. She was too small to be looked at as a woman and to intelligent to be looked at as a girl. It was a complex situation that was not worth the headaches.

"How do you suppose she's been holding up?" Eames asked as they strolled the Parisian streets leading to Ariadna's small apartment.

"I'm not quite sure. She did quite fine once we got to the states. She slept through the night without a problem." Arthur wasn't sure how their young architect was doing, but as they came closer to the apartment building, they saw a young girl with long loose curls in her hair. She had a suitcase next to her, and a book in her hands as they rested on waist high pants and a lace t-shirt.

"Excuse us." Eames said politely as they stepped around her she nodded and moved so they could get past. They rang her bell and waited for an answer. They heard the girl dialing something on her phone and waited in silence for the door to answer.

"Hey Ari." The girl said in a sweet voice. "It's Calli… again. I'm at your apartment and I'm just wondering where the hell you are. Anyway, call me back when you get this. Bye." Eames and Arthur shared a confused look and focused on the girl again.

"You're not looking for Ariadne Willows are you?" Arthur asked.

The young girl turned to face him and it seemed as though the girl shared a similar resemblance of the architect. "I am. She's my sister. And you are?" She asked standing up on the lower step. At this moment, Arthur remembered that Ariadne mentioned a sister. Callista or Calli as Ariadne called her. She was her older sister by a year, but they were the best of friends. She was an interior design student, with a background in architecture, studying in Italy.

"Well, I'm Eames Wilson, and this gangly fellow is Arthur Dennen. It is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance." Eames said holding his hand to her. She reached out to shake it, but instead got the back of her hand kissed.

"Ari said you tried too hard to be suave and debonair." She said taking her hand back and pushing her bangs back with the other. Arthur laughed and took a hand out of his pocket to shake hers.

"It is a pleasure to meet you. Ariadne mentioned you quite a lot in the time we spent with her." Arthur admitted.

"Yes, she mentioned the two of you quite a bit. She really does enjoy working with you."

"Well, we enjoy her presence as well. Unfortunately, we started a new project and we haven't been able to get in contact with her."

"You and me both" Callie laughed. "We planned for my visit months ago, and now she's not here. I can't get in touch with her, and I'm not so good at French, so I can't even begin to search for her."

"Do you believe Fisher could have caught on?" Eames asked Arthur quietly. Calli looked between the two gentlemen as they spoke.

"I'm not sure, but we should check. Calli, I must apologize for what we are about to do. It's a terrible first impression, but it must be done." Arthur said politely to her. Calli stuck her hands into her pockets and looked at him strangely. They pressed buttons hoping someone would unlock the door and they would go to Ariadne's apartment. Luckily they were let in and Calli had the correct address.

They found a key hidden in a potted plant near the next door neighbor's door. Callie unlocked it and the boys led the way in, prepared to pull their weapons at a given notice. Calli pulled her bags inside the apartment behind them, and took in the way her sister lived. It was a small apartment, big enough for a student, large enough for a couple. The walls were bare and an old couch sat in front of a television set and stereo system. The guys began to walk around the apartment and Calli wandered the apartment on her own.

She walked towards the back of the apartment, and saw a room that must have been her bedroom. There was an awful smell coming from the room, and Calli guessed that her sister had left meat out while attempting to eat in bed. It wouldn't have been the first time Ariadne did that. Calli opened the door and her heart dropped to her stomach. A heart wrenching scream came from her mouth as she saw what was inside the bedroom.

Ariadne was lying in her bed, still in her pajamas, with a bullet wound in her temple. She seemed to be peacefully at sleep as she had passed, but Calli's world stopped. She began to run to her sister, but someone was holding her back. Calli tried fighting Arthur off as best she could, but he was still stronger than her.

"Calli, listen to me please." He picked her up and pulled her away from the bedroom. Calli tried fighting with him to let her go. She tried to run around him to get to her sister. It was no use. After a few minutes, she broke down and Arthur pulled her close. Unintentionally, she fell to her knees as the tears cascaded down her face. Her best friend was gone. There was no way that this could be happening. Who would want to kill the most wonderful person in the world?

Arthur went down with her and continued to try and soothe her.

"She'll have to come with us." Eames said coming out of the room.

"Cobb's not going to be happy."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Calli asked backing away from Arthurs grip. Arthur's heart palpitated a bit at the look of the young woman in front of him. She was beautiful, even if she was close to losing it all. "I'm NOT going with you, I don't even KNOW you! For all I know, you could have killed her!"

"We didn't kill her but, we might know who did." Arthur said trying to put his hands on her arms to calm her, but she inched away more and more.

"We can't just leave her here. We have to call the police."

"Alright, Arthur, you take her back to Cobb, I'll deal with the police. They're probably on the way from neighbors hearing her scream." Arthur nodded and he put his arm around Calli to lead her away from the scene. He picked up her bag and began to wheel it behind him, with the young girl at his side.

"What did you and my sister do, that she is now dead?" Calli asked nervously as Arthur was leading her through the streets of Paris.

Arthur took a deep breath and looked around at the town they were at. He decided to tell her. If she was going with him, she deserved to know the truth about her sister.

"Your sister, and a few others, myself, and Eames, were part of a plan called Inception. We are if you may, secret extractors and we enter people's dreams and pull their deepest secrets out of their mind. However, instead of stealing an idea, we planted one. The person we planted the idea in, quite possibly found out and sent people to find us."

"So, if they found Ariadne, why should I trust you? You're in the same amount of danger as she was." She said pulling away from his body.

"Because I am more skilled than she was. I've been doing this for a long time, and I will get you away and make sure you are safe."

"Where are we going?" She asked settling back into the grip Arthur had on her. He answered all the questions that she posed to him, with what seemed like honesty. Calli's head felt like it was being crushed, and she wasn't exactly sure as to what else to do.

"My place. We'll contact Cobb, our main extractor and we will get out of here."

"Where are we going after that?"

"Stateside." Calli and Arthur made their way to his upscale Parisian condo and he made her tea once he confirmed that the area was safe.

"I have to call my brother." She said once she sat down.

"No. Not yet. We have to get you into the states." Arthur said dialing Cobb's number.

"But he's my brother; he should know that our sister is dead!"

"Cobb! Something's come up. Is everything okay over there?"

"Yeah. Everything's fine. Who is that talking in the background?"

"Ariadne's sister. Ariadne's been killed."

"How do you have her sister?"

"She was with us when we found her body."

"Damn it." Cobb whispered. "Does she know?"

"Yes."

"Okay, bring her to your place in the states. We'll take care of everything and begin to teach the sister. If I remember right, she's an interior designer and architect. We'll need her."

"What if she doesn't agree?"

"Bring her stateside and let her decide on her own."

"Will do." They hung up and Arthur put his phone on the table.

"Callista, I'm going to go pack and we'll go to the states."

"What about Ariadne?"

"Eames will call when everything has been prepared. He has a way of being suave with endevors, instead of with women." Calli smiled and looked at her tea.

"I'll be in the other room if you need anything."

"Thank you." She whispered. Calli sat in the other room silently sipping her tea, looking at the lavish lifestyle Arthur lead. It was defiantly a unique apartment, and he had very good taste in Calli's opinion. It seemed to only have taken ten minutes for Arthur to pack three bags and fix his appearance to a suitable standard. Calli barely had time for her tea to cool when Arthur was ready to flea his apartment.

"Shall we?" He asked looking at her.

"Where would you like the mug?" Calli asked standing with the mug still in her hands.

"I'll take it into the kitchen for you." He said putting the suitcase down. He took it from her and walked it into the kitchen. There was something about this girl that made him floozy, so much more so than how Ariadne could. He had only known this woman for perhaps an hour, and something was already drawing him to her. Perhaps it was the fact that she was such a mix between himself and Ariadne that it was the perfect combination. She had the same mannerisms as Ariadne, with the same professionalism and grace Arthur posses.

"I don't have a plane ticket to get to the states." Calli said almost shamed. She was looking down at her rings, twisting the plain silver ring on her first finger.

"I know. I have it covered." Arthur said almost smiling at her. He held his hand out to her and she grabbed her bags, walking ahead of him. He locked the apartment's main entrance and they proceded to make their way to the airport.

"I'm not exactly sure if I should be afraid of you or completely trust you." Calli admitted as they walked.

"Well, do you trust your sister?"

"I thought I did."

"Would you trust her if she was the one who explained all this to you?" Callista thought about it for a moment before nodding her head.

"I would."

"Then believe me when I say that I'm not the one to be afraid of. I'm the one protecting you." She smiled slightly and they made their way into the airport.

"Mr. Dennen, how are you?" A woman greeted him at the desk.

"Very well, thank you." he sighed "I would like two tickets to Seattle, first flight out."

"Of course. The plane shall depart once you have been seated."

"When will that be?"

"Your flight is boarding now." The young woman said handing him two tickets. Arthur thanked the woman and handed Callista a ticket. She put it inside her satchel and followed Arthur as they made their way through the airport.

At security, they allowed Arthur right through. Calli was in shock when they just let her go through as well. There was no need to search her, but it was a bit alarming for her. When she handed the ticket to the gate, she was welcomed and shown to a first class cabin. It was a seven forty seven flight.

"Oh my god, Arthur. I have no idea how I'm going to pay you back." She said stopping at the hallway before they took a seat.

"Don't even begin to worry about it." Arthur laughed. He took her bag and put it up top for her.

The flight began and Calli felt like she was going to pass out. She lost herself in the view from her window.

"Callista." She heard Arthur's voice. She turned and saw that he had a pen and pad in his hand.

"You know you can call me Calli. Callista is such an old name." She laughed at her own name. Arthur nodded and he gave a thin smile and it showed his dimples.

"Calli, I need you to do something for me."

"What is it?" Calli asked confused.

"I need you to draw a maze that will take someone two minutes to solve when you have one to make it."

"Why?"

"Because Cobb believes that you could do just as good a job as your sister did."

"What do you mean? I'm not an architect. Whatever she did, I'm not half as good as she was."

"But you're an interior designer with a background in architecture. If anything, you could do a better job than Ariadne." Calli's eyes dropped and when she looked back to Arthur, they were blood shot.

"I'm sorry." She said whipping away tears that were falling. Besides a young man dressed in a very expensive business suit, they were the only two people in the cabin. Arthur stood up and pulled her up as well.

"There's no use in being sorry Calli." He said giving her a hug. "This isn't easy and I understand. I'm sorry we dragged you into this and for how the next couple days are going to unfold. But there is no need for you to be sorry." He felt her take a few deep breaths as her arms loosely coiled around his torso. She was taller than Ariadne and more developed physically which made her more attractive to Arthur. The way she moved, the way she spoke and acted, she already proved to be more mature than her sister. Arthur rubbed her back, and after a moment, she pulled away to look at him and genuinely whispered,

"Thank you." He nodded slightly and rubbed her arm. He let her sit down and he went back to his seat.

"Listen, take a nap and get some rest. You can draw the maze when you feel like it."

"Thanks." She nodded and drifted off to sleep. Once Arthur was sure Calli and the young man were asleep, he made a phone call to Cobb.

"Hello?"

"Cobb, Calli and I are on the plane, we should be there in a few hours."

"Okay. I'm in Southern Washington. You know the place. How's Calli doing?"

"She's not sure that she could do as well as Ariadne. Plus being a mess from what happened, she's not really stable at the moment."

"Did she draw the maze?"

"No. Like I said, she's still in shock."

"Okay. When she's back in the states, have her draw a maze. See how good she is. If she's anything like Ariadne described, she'll be perfect." Arthur nodded and leaned back into the chair.

"Why do you think they went after her first?"

"She might have made a mistake and they found her easily. We never talked to her about how to hide it."

"True. Alright, well when we land it will be late. I'll get us a hotel and stay the night. Calli will be better rested for the trip back in the morning."

"She looks like Ariadne doesn't she?" Cobb asked as he read Arthur's emotion through the phone.

"They're similar, yes, but Calli is more grown up."

"Aren't they a year apart?"

"Yes, but you'll find out tomorrow."

"See you then." Arthur hung up the phone and drifted off to sleep as well.

Arthur's dreams for the past several months had been irregular to say the least. Never a single theme, never a constant person occupied the dream matter. He hadn't been able to dream properly since his very first job with Cobb, but now, there are more pressing issues at hand. There was a young woman at the center of his thoughts and they were being projected in his mind.

He pictured her at his vacation home with him. Her feet dragging across the sand as small shorts reveled her long lean legs. The wind blowing through her long locks of brown curls reveal her exquisite profile as he walks with her and he reaches out for her hand. Her strong beautiful smile is shown for him as she takes it graciously and he feels like a kid again with a first love.

Suddenly, he was woken from the dream by the stewardess offering towels and immigration papers. He looked to see the woman waking Calli as well, but she is keeping her eye contact with him.

Perhaps she had a similar dream as well, even though they weren't experimenting with shared dreaming.

It was about eleven thirty by the time they got a rental car and began to make their way to a hotel. As they waited for information on rooms, they quickly found that the entire hotel was rented out, except for one pent house sweet that they would share for the evening.

"You take the bed, there's a couch in the other room." Arthur said to Calli as they entered the room.

"No, you're paying for the room. Take the bed, I'm used to couch crashing."

"But it is not in my nature to make the lady sleep in such a poor manner. Please, it wouldn't be right if you weren't comfortable."

Calli blushed and smiled as her eyes diverted away from Arthurs for a brief moment.

"And they say chivalry is dead." She smiled and Arthur returned it. "You are to kind for your own good Mr. Dennen. And I thank you for that." She kissed his cheek and made her way into the bedroom.