Author's Note: Well, this was a very rushed contest entry that has been sitting on my desktop for many months. I thought I would just throw it on here. :p But I understand if no one reads it. XD It's not my best work. It's sloppy, really...But, it also has Arthur and Ariadne, and that it always a beautiful thing.

Song: I'll Hold My Breath by Ellie Goulding watch?v=RZIpo_Mzbdc (a perfect Inception song)

Enjoy!

The Seventh Cycle: An Inception Fanfic by TrueImmortality

The corridors stretched on and on, each one identical, indistinct from the others. I stood in the middle of them, wondering which door led to the right train station. Or if any of them led to the station, or any station at all. Even though I had made this level myself, I couldn't seem to recall the most important parts of the layout.

I closed my eyes and concentrated with all my might, visualizing the model of the level back at the workroom. Three spiral staircases, two regular. Okay, I knew where those were-I had just come down Spiral Number Two. All three spirals were within a dream-mile of each other.

I had built only four buildings. They formed an interlocking square. One door from each structure opened into the next building. I had thought it would be easy for me to navigate, but apparently not. My mother always said I was hopeless with directions. Now, as I stood trying to decipher my own maze, I supposed I really was directionally-challenged.

But, internally, I knew that wasn't true; I knew where to go and how to get there. The problem: I didn't want to find the way. And so my mind was making excuses for me, blotting out the right path so I could tell myself I was lost. My mind was making its own paradox to save me.

"You can't stand here forever, Ariadne."

Gasping, I whirled to face the perpetrator of that familiar voice. Leaning against one of the sleek marble pillars of Building Two, looking for all the world like he belonged there, was Dom Cobb. "Hey, there," he said, with a smile very unlike his own.

"Cobb? I-I didn't ask for you to be here!" I swallowed, taking an involuntary step back from him. What was he doing here? I said goodbye to him, like, seven months ago! I hadn't heard from him since! How had he gotten here?

"You didn't ask for me to be here? That's true, you didn't." Cobb looked up at the ceiling, his face thoughtful. "Well, maybe I'm not really here, Ariadne. Do you know what I mean?"

"No, I don't! Now would you please ride a kick back out of here! You're not making this any easier!"

"I can't do that, Ariadne."

I sighed in exasperation, throwing my hands out to the sides. "Fine. Whatever. Just stay there, then." I turned my back, pretending I didn't feel his eyes peeling off layers of my skin.

Seven steps, seven cycles. Seven steps, seven cycles. That had been my clue to escape this level. I never thought I would have to use it myself, though. "Seven steps, seven cycles..." I muttered, looking down the corridors. "Okay, seven steps, right?" I took seven even steps, bringing me to the first door of the first corridor. "Right?" I asked Cobb.

He nodded, still against the pillar. I could tell he wanted to help me more, but he couldn't. Tentatively, I reached out and put my finger to the door. It vanished at my touch, revealing a busy train station full of monotone projections and grayscale floor tiles. "Seven steps, seven cycles," Cobb reminded me, now right behind me.

I turned to glare at him. "Are you going to follow me, now?"

Cobb seemed to think about it for a minute. "Yes."

Perfect. I didn't need him hovering around me, making me even more nervous. That's all Cobb did in dreams, just upset my balance. I had to be grateful to him for introducing me to extraction, but I always felt like I had to impress him, outdo him. It didn't contribute to a healthy creative atmosphere. I had always felt a lot more comfortable around Arthur when he had taught me; he had pushed me but he hadn't unsettled me with Mals and memories and mazes.

"Well? Are we going to stand here all day, or are you going to find the seven cycles?"

I flinched at the coolness in Cobb's voice. "Yeah, of course. Just give me a minute."

"You only have two minutes to reach the middle, Ariadne."

"No, I have two hours," I snapped. "Relax, Cobb."

He couldn't be here, could he? I was dreaming him up because I needed pressure to figure this thing out. Yes, that made sense. Cobb would never talk to me that way if he was real. I was imagining him like I was perpetuating this level with my mind. "Seven steps, seven cycles, seven cycles-crap, why did I make this so hard?" I exclaimed.

The people in the train station took no notice of us as we waded further into the crowd. I was hoping to find something that would trigger the clue inside me. I had written the darn thing myself, hadn't I? Surely I could find it! The seven steps, that had been easy. Seven cycles must be right in front of me, but I couldn't think with Cobb at my side, silently questioning my intelligence.

He just had to go and ruin my life, didn't he? He had known I wouldn't be able to resist the dreams, which is why he had offered me the job in the first place. Cobb knew better than anyone that extraction was addictive. It was heroine a hundred fold, elusive, sweet, demanding. I would never get enough. And he had willingly sacrificed me on the altar of Necessary Unpleasantries.

I hadn't realized how much I resented him until now. I blinked as the truth hit me. For most of our time together, I had pitied Cobb. I had also loved him for giving me pure creation. But I couldn't deny the feeling of bitterness rising up in me now. I cast an involuntary glance at my unwanted companion.

It seemed like Cobb reacted to the look on my face, because suddenly he reached out and took the totem I hadn't realized I'd been holding. "No, don't touch it!" I yelped, but it was too late.

"This isn't yours," Cobb said, frowning. "You two switched?" He tossed the little red die high into the air, catching it again with ease. "That isn't a wise move, Ariadne."

"We aren't you and Mal," I replied, watching the die fly up and down with a sick feeling.

"No, you're not. I know that. But trusting someone else with your reality is a dangerous move." Cobb threw the die at me, his blue eyes like ice. "Isn't it, Ariadne?"

He might as well have slapped me. Was he suggesting I had tried to control his reality? "I-I saved you, Cobb," I spluttered. "I can't believe you would-I didn't try to hurt you-"

"Forget it," Cobb said abruptly, adjusting collar of his trench coat. I turned back to the trains and blinked, trying to obey, but it was hard. I wrapped the red die tightly in my fist.

As its edges nudged my skin, I gasped. I remembered that Arthur was here. He had entered the dream with me, and he needed me to progress to the next level. Maybe he was back in Building One or Three, wandering the corridors, but he was here. The thought gave me strength. It was funny that I, a girl who believed in the power of the feminine, could be so instantly relieved to know that my boyfriend was nearby.

A train roared by. My hair lifted from the breeze as it sped past, so I did not immediately notice the insistent pull on the back of my head until someone started yanking me backward, their hand fisted in my hair. I screamed as pain tore through my roots. Twisting, I saw a face rigid with fury attached to the hand. I recognized the man instantly.

"Fischer," I cried, seizing his hand, "let me go! Let me go!"

"You destroyed my empire," said Robert Fischer, snarling. He knocked my hand out of the way and applied more pressure to my hair. My chin shot compliantly upward as I screamed louder.

"I saved your life!" I shouted, following him backward, away from the trains, my feet skidding on the shiny tiles. "I went to Limbo for you! For you and Cobb!" I looked wildly around, and there he was, watching us with a removed expression. "Cobb! Tell him!"

"If you hadn't agreed to build for him I would still have an inheritance!" The hand jerked sharply; I howled as I felt hairs part with my scalp.

"Dom, please! Please!"

He wouldn't help me. Raising his eyebrows, he appeared to be watching a vaguely interesting soap opera. Fischer threw me to the ground. I lay there, sobbing, as he stood over me. "I didn't want to hurt you," I told him. "But I couldn't let my team down. They trusted me to make it all right, Fischer. No-" I stared in horror at the knife in Fischer's hand, "no, no! Cobb! Cobb! Help me!"

Cobb was behind Fischer now, hands at his sides, cold and impartial.

The knife was raised high into the air. As it cut though the air I gave another scream, one straight from my core. "ARTHUR!"

And, miraculously, he answered me.

"Ariadne!"

It was like that one word was all we needed. Cobb miraculously launched himself at Fischer, wrestling to take the knife. And from the other side of the station, from the Building Three corridor, came my hero. Dressed in a typical three-piece suit with a gun slung casually over his shoulder. He was running toward me like his life depended on it.

"Ariadne!"

"Oh, Arthur," I said, my voice choked with tears. As he reached me I put my face to the floor-where hundreds of projections walked-and let myself cry. Above me Cobb turned the knife against Fischer; I cried even harder as I heard him die.

Then I heard Arthur speak, his voice low. "Give me the knife, Ariadne."

"Give it to him, Cobb," I said thickly. "Please."

The sound of a handle hitting the floor punctuated the noises of the station. Several pairs of legs walked by me without stopping. My projections would have reacted to an external attack, but this fight had been internal. I wasn't sure what it all meant, but I felt exhausted. I wanted to go home.

"She's got to find the seventh cycle," said Cobb.

"Yeah, I know." Arthur's voice was curt. "Thanks, Cobb."

I looked up to see the back of Cobb's trench coat vanishing into the crowd. Then Arthur filled my vision, his arms stretching out to lift me off the floor. Fischer's body was lying near us in a pool of dark blood. I shuddered.

"Hey, look at me," said Arthur gently. "Look, you're all right. I've got you."

I didn't care what was going on; I threw myself into his arms and buried my face in his collar, my sobs renewed. He wrapped his arms around me. I felt the gun hit my arm. "I'm sorry I ruined his life-I didn't want to, Arthur, but I promised to help you guys instead, and I couldn't-I couldn't-" I found breathing difficult. I struggled to suck in air.

"I know," Arthur told me, hugging me tighter. "Go on, Ariadne, just cry it out. It's going to be okay."

"And Cobb," I gasped, "Cobb...I had to do what I had to do, Arthur! What else could I do? I had to make him come back-"

"Of course you did," Arthur murmured, patting my hair. I didn't really hear him, but I loved the sound of his voice; it calmed me. "Cobb understands, Ariadne. You're the one putting those words in his mouth. He knows what you've done for him."

"Thank you." I clung to him with all my might and tried not to completely dissolve. "Thank you so much for saving me."

"Hey, my pleasure. I was ready to blow a few heads off, too, to be honest, when I saw them standing over you."

I gave a hiccuping laugh. "You would blow Cobb's head off?"

"Sure, why not? I do it all the time."

Laughing again, I smoothed his collar down. "I think we need to go, Arthur."

"Do you know what the seventh cycle is?" Arthur asked, scanning the train station with keen eyes.

To my embarrassment, I blushed. "No. I've forgotten. Well, it's been a long day," I added defensively.

"It looks like it," Arthur agreed, glancing at Fischer's body. "Okay, listen, Ariadne: the seventh cycle. You know what it is."

"I do, somewhere, but I can't remember-"

Arthur put a finger up, silencing me. "No, listen. Listen. What is it?"

I gave him a confused look, tuning my ears to the sounds around me. I heard a child crying, people's footsteps, the squeak of suitcase wheels, a bird in the rafters...and the trains. "The trains..." I said in wonder, turning to face them again.

These were old fashioned trains, ones that still ran on steam. They were richly colored and decorated. They were loosely based off toy train sets I played with as a kid. I stared at the wheels chugging beneath the engines and counted in my head the times they rolled by. One-chugga-two-chugga-three-chugga-four-chugga-

I took Arthur by the hand and walked to the very edge of the platform. "Are you ready?" I asked him, holding his hand close to my heart.

"Ready when you are," Arthur answered calmly. He bent his knees as I bent mine.

The next train rounded the corner, pulled into the glass enclosure, and I began to count. "One, two, three, four, five, six-"

On 'seven', we jumped-just as the train reached our place on the tracks. I smiled as we landed, because I could still feel Arthur's hand in mine.