Heya guys! So this is my first ever fanfic (go easy on me please) and I'm pretty nervous!
The whole thing is purely for pleasure, I thought it would be cool to explore Cobb/ Ariadne's relationship develop from the whole teacher/student thing, clearly they had an emotional connection in the movie...
Any feedback/advice is greatly appreciated. If all goes well I will update as soon as possible! Enjoy reading (hopefully...)!
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters or the incredible thing that is Inception! That would be the product of the very talented Christoper Nolan's genius...
Ariadne couldn't relax. She was desperately trying to keep her eyes away from the still forms of Cobb and Saito; both of whom were still slumped motionlessly into their first class seats without a glimmer of consciousness. Checking that Fischer wasn't looking; the poor guy actually looked completely lost in his own little fairy world; she settled for the next best thing, throwing a furtive, ok desperate, glance at Arthur that was filled with questions.
No response. Ugh of course he wouldn't compromise the team's security by acknowledging her in the same room as Fischer. Yusuf... is staring at his shoes still. Shit. Ok... Eames.
Eames caught her eye and gave her a little grim smile that said it all. The rest of the team hadn't changed positions since awakening and removing the PASIV so Cobb could kick himself out of limbo and Fischer wouldn't freak out at 'the crazy machine pumping shit into his arm' as Eames had put it. Kudos to Yusuf for giving Fischer a little extra juice to give them time to clear up. She pulled her knees up to her chest ... then remembered where she was and stretched them out like the first class, tight laced, business woman she was pretending to be. A girl version of Fischer: great. She refused the champagne that the stewardess was offering her and thought back to those crucial moments at the end of the job...
Ariadne grabbed the regulator off of Arthur and took two deep breaths. Checking that Fischer and Eames were safely out she made towards the surface, throwing one glance back at Cobb as she did. The scene below her broke her heart as Arthur shook Cobb frantically knowing that he wasn't going to wake up. Feeling the air shrinking in her lungs she could stand it no longer and kicked upwards, out the back of the van and broke through the surface with a huge gasp. She heard Arthur come up so twisted to see him two metres away from her, gesturing for her to follow him to shore. As she swam she contemplated. In the short time she had been in this level how long had Cobb been in Limbo? Months? Years? She knew she should have stayed and the guilt was burning her inside. As they reached the rocky shore Arthur interrogated her instantly. As she explained she saw his features change from confusion, to shock and then worst finally to a grim acceptance. She had no idea how long they'd sat there...
Ariadne checked the time for the twenty-seventh time. She was acutely aware of how quickly the time was going. Tick Tick Tick... how long was that in Limbo? A month? He would be growing old, loosing himself! No he promised!
'Don't loose yourself!' 'I won't!'
She could stand it no longer and looked over at him. His thick, blonde, slicked back hair brushed against the headrest, his features were handsomely relaxed and tilted towards her and his long body was stretched out over the full lounger in a way that really looked peaceful. But most importantly not a glimpse of consciousness broke through his mask as he lay there with the untouched glass of water by his side and it broke Ariadne's heart to see her mentor and friend, the man she was closest in the world to and the man with so much to live for, looking so vulnerable. It was freakishly unnerving to see Cobb defenceless... no she wouldn't think like that! He was going to find Saito and come back. He was Dominic Cobb for crying out loud! The greatest extractor and dream navigator in the world and he had given her his word! If anyone could get out of there it was him there was no denying that.
Then he would go back to his kids a free man and live happily ever after without her and that would be that!
Wait a second, without me? Where the hell did that come from, why should that even matter? His kids were the focus here and he only thought of her as a novice, probably a child in his eyes. Especially compared to Mal! She flinched at the memory of Mal stabbing Cobb down in Limbo and heard the reverberating gunshot that killed the manifestation of Cobb's guilt.
'That's come subconscious you got there Cobb! She's a REAL CHARMER!'
It must have hurt him to see her kill Mal, she couldn't bear the thought of Cobb resenting her. She was beginning to think (or hope) that there was something more potent then the whole Yoda/Luke thing between them; a bond or connection... Groaning inwardly she decided that sleep deprivation was getting the better of her (ok so she'd slept most of the flight but she didn't count running, car chases, espionage and alpine hiking as rejuvenating rest) and pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind...right into the section labelled 'Never going to frickin happen Ariadne!'.
Hearing a shallow cough she quickly turned to see Eames smirking somewhat.
Shit... how long have I been staring at Cobb?
Feeling her cheeks flush red she tipped her head down to hide her face, Yusuf looked up from his shoes long enough to glance between her and Eames before looking down again.
She settled into her lounger then jumped as she realised the captain was making an announcement via intercom.
They were landing in one hour and ten minutes.
Cobb had been under for years!
She felt her heart drumming against her ribs in blind panic. The tension in the compartment was throbbing: heavier then lead. She could tell the whole team was on edge... apart from Cobb and Saito (who were mentally not present but probably had it worse down under) and Fischer who was still in thoughtful la la land... lucky bastard. Though she supposed it was a good sign that he clearly had something important on his mind. She decided to distract herself by looking round at the rest of the team (the conscious ones anyway). Arthur was still staring at that one spot of leather on the seat in front of him, incredibly his gaze hadn't yet burnt an Arthur-glare-shaped hole into it and Ariadne was pretty sure the airline were going to have to replace that armrest...
Eames looked shamelessly, and in her opinion heartlessly, comfortable. But then again he was the forger. It was his job to act 'just fine thank you very much' in any freaking situation... anyway the air hostess didn't seem to mind.
Yusuf was still fascinated by his shoes. Or his own reflection in them. No change there then.
But once again she found her attention being drawn almost magnetically back to Cobb. What she would give for him to open those piercing blue eyes to open and let her know everything was going-to-be-ok! She never felt safer then when she was with him. She smiled inwardly at the irony of it before realising she was staring again and snapping herself out of her stupor and jumping back up into a sitting position. Looking up she almost fell out her seat as she realised Fischer was looking at her.
Holy crap! That must have been louder (and more spastic) then I thought. And anyway when did he come back to Earth?
Unsure what to do she smiled apologetically before gesturing towards the armrest in a 'please believe I just got my sleeve caught on this' manner. Fischer raised his eyebrows but gave a polite smile then turned away and slipped back into incepted idea thoughts (or so she hoped). Ariadne let out her breath as all her brain cells collapsed in relief as the tension in the room immediately deflated somewhat. She looked round and took in Eames's knowing smirk and the identical glares coming her way from Arthur and Yusuf before inwardly slapping herself in shame.
Focus Ariadne focus!
Not wanting to look at Cobb's unmoving form again she glanced over at Saito, feeling nothing but pity for him, stuck down in Limbo for an age with no sense of reality.
Still he knew the risks coming down there with us! Please please PLEASE let Cobb bring you back! Believe him!
At the mental reference of Cobb she felt that magnetic pull once more and found herself for the millionth willing him to wake. Her eyes roamed towards his handsome features, resting on his eyes.
Which snapped open.
Cobb was awake
He had kept him promise and come back to her.
Mildly aware that Saito was mobile she stared at Cobb, not quite believing what she saw until his blue eyes focused on hers with recognition and smiled before moving to Saito. Relief flooded her senses and in that moment, as she heard Saito dial his phone she knew that life was going to be ok.
Yes the ending was a little fluffy and cheesy... but I figured things could get a little tremulous from now on so let's all have a happy moment. Sorry for the slow pace, I wanted to establish Ariadne's feelings in this chapter
Let me know what you think! I will try to update soon if it's all ok x
