A/N: The idea for this story came soon after I watched Inception (for the second time), but I wanted to develop the plot and characters more before I started writing. Basically, I'm taking the concepts from the movie and transfering it to another main character and setting (Washington, DC in the US). A few characters from the movie appear in the story, though. I'm only posting a little to catch people's interest and see if they want to learn more, so read and let me know!

Disclaimer: In no way do I own the movie Inception or its characters (unfortunately).

"I don't think you understand the danger you're requiring my client to put herself into, Mr. Blake. She'll be under constant threat, both in and out of her dreams. Many people will attempt to kidnap her and extract your secrets."

"Which is why we will hide the information, Ms. Franks. If questioned or put into a dreamstate, Ms. Winters can truthfully reply that she does not have knowledge of the location of the information."

"Not possible. She has to know the location of the secret if she's going to protect it."

"Then what stops Ms. Winters from learning the secret and selling it to rival companies?"

"Trust, Mr. Blake. Trust, and a whole lot of money."

"Unarmed, Mona. We want you giving them a good impression."

I snorted in derision but tossed my handgun onto the bench beside me anyway.

"That doesn't mean I can't take one of theirs, does it?" I asked. Slipping a hand in my jeans pocket, I fingered the worn silver dollar, warming it with my touch. Even though we were a room and an earpiece apart, I knew Lily was smiling on the other end.

"Knock yourself out, kiddo," she replied, falling back from her temporary professional mode. She must've been out of earshot of the clients by then.

I fell silent as I drew out my coin, angling it in the fluorescent lighting of the locker room. The surface was too dull to reflect much light, but the engraving of the walking lady liberty could still be made out. With an expert flick of my fingers I sent the coin twisting through the air, then with one deft move caught it with one hand. Placing it on its edge on the bench, I flicked one side of the coin until it was spinning in place. Then I waited, counting down slowly under my breath.

"5...4...3...2...1."

It spun, and spun, and continued spinning on the spot without even the slightest waver. Satisfied, I plucked the coin from the hard surface and pocketed it once more. Knowing Lily was still listening in, I asked casually, "So do they care if the guys come out alive?"

"They told me to tell you, if you're as good as I say you are, put them out of their misery."

I set my face into the familiar professional grim expression as I drew my hair back into a ponytail.

"Then I guess this is gonna be a merciful demonstration."

Nine hundred square foot mat, padded pillars placed upright randomly on floor.

Ten men, solid build. Muscled. Roughly 180 to 200 pounds.

In suits, adequate predictability of torso muscle movement.

No organization of group movement.

Armed with standard handguns.

Ten.

I dove behind the nearest pillar as all ten guns went off in my direction, their bullets embedding themselves into the door behind me. The ten men were advancing quickly, without any caution. The second the closest one was a foot away, approaching on my left, I grabbed his gun hand and twisted his wrist. As his back hit the ground, I closed my own hand over the gun and aimed it at the owner. One shot, close-range. He didn't even have time to figure out what was going on.

Nine.

Two shots fired in rapid succession took out two more of the men, but by the second one they'd ducked out of sight and begun firing back, forcing me to take shelter behind the pillar once more. I waited until they realized that I wasn't budging, that they'd have to cease fire and approach. When I heard the slow, careful shuffling of their feet on the mat, I gripped the gun more tightly in my right hand - and leapt out at them.

Seven.

I ducked the powerful swing from the closest man, then plowed my own fist into his gut. He landed a few feet back, gasping for breath, then slumped to the ground from the bullet I sent into his forehead. Cartwheeling one-handed towards the nearest man, I took advantage of his surprise to thrust the heel of my left hand upward against his nose, forcing the bone to break and drive itself into his brain. He dropped.

Five.

One spin, and the man running towards me fell as I lashed out with my right fist and caught him in the throat. As he gasped for air through his crushed windpipe, I delivered a single bullet into his forehead, then another through the man who'd jumped out from behind a pillar to catch me unawares. Dropping behind the closest pillar, I took a deep breath and waited for the others left. They would be more cautious now that they'd seen what I could do. More cautious, and more determined.

Three.

They continued punching holes in the pillar I was hiding behind, seemingly never running out of bullets. Extra guns? Most likely. When it seemed like the pillar was riddled with bullets, I decided to do the last thing they'd expect. Storing away the gun in my hand, I gripped the tall padded cement pillar, bent my knees, and with a good amount of exertion-

-lifted it into the air.

"Shit," I definitely heard one of them say, before I hurled the 350 pound pillar at them. The three of them had been slowly working their way towards me, which meant that they were out of the open and too far away from any other pillars to dodge behind. Gravity pulled my pillar towards the ground, but not before it caught two of the men in the chest and crushed them against the floor.

One.

The third one, who had been in the back of the group, was lucky enough to avoid being hit, but as soon as I'd thrown the pillar I'd sprinted towards them. Vaulting one-handed over the fallen pillar, I drew out my handgun with the other hand. The last remaining opponent, who'd hunkered down to brace himself, looked up in time to see me land lightly in front of him, gun aimed at him. I didn't even spout out a witty remark.

Zero.

"As you can see, Ramona has extraordinary abilities in this state."

As I turned away, I could hear Lily delivering the clincher to the client on the opposite side of the two-way mirror. The floor was now clean of bodies, though a few splatters of blood remained framed against pillars or pooled on the ground.

"She has superhuman speed, strength, and endurance. She's been disciplined in this field since a young age, and therefore has more experience than most Extractors."

I picked my way around the fallen obstacles, then burst through the door to the locker room. Inside, I headed straight for the bathroom, then stopped in front of the nearest sink. Turning the old-fashioned silver knob for cold water, I dunked my head under the constant flow.

"Besides armed and unarmed combat, she has been trained in architecture, marksmanship, and deception."

My hair dripping with water, I shut off the water and made for the bench. Drawing out the silver dollar, I spun it on the bench, watched as it revolved in a perfectly circular blur, and waited for the words I wanted to hear.

"To put it simply, she's the best Guardian in the business. You won't find a better deal than this."

Picking up the handgun resting on the bench, I switched off the safety. There was a moment of silence on the other end of the earpiece as I waited. Finally, the client spoke.

"Well, Ms. Franks, I can't think of any reason to refuse your offer. We have a deal."

Pointing the gun to my temple, I pulled the trigger.