"Whats happening?" I asked. I was ashamed of the tremor of fear in my voice. But I always preferred to be in the background of things. I never liked the spot light, and now there were people, all wearing expesively cut suits, staring at us. I felt unnerved.
I had lost almost all of my ability to dream. Maybe it was the complexity of inception, dropping into limbo and coming back that stole my ability. But finally, in a discrete three star hotel in the Los Angeles area, a week after the plane ride that changed everything I had ever believed in, I dreamed.
"Cobb's drawing Fischer's attention to the strangeness of the dream," he explained to me in an irritatinly calm voice. "which is making his subconscious look for the dreamer; me."
I woke up, staring at the dark wall across from me. I was not in a world created by me, dreamt by someone else. This was reality. Right?
"Quick, give me a kiss."
I lunged across my bed to the small oak table beside it, where my bishop sat. Quickly, I knocked it over. Then again. And again.
He leaned over towards me, and without hesitating I leaned towards him. Our lips met. It was quick, it was chaste. It did no good for my already speeding heart. When he pulled away, I looked in the opposite direction immediatly, pretending to be checking the reactions of the projections, while I was really keeping my own reaction in check.
After the bishop fell toppled over for the fifth time, I was convinced. I flopped back onto the bed, letting out a rush of air and wiping stray strands of hair that clung to the sweat on my forehead.
"They're still looking at us."
"Yeah, it was worth a shot." out of the corner of my eye, I turned to see him look at me. "We should get out of here."
Then he stood. It took a moment for me to realize I had to go with him, that I wanted to. 'Worth a shot?' Had he really expected it to work at all?
Ariadne was packing her things to head back to Paris. Before the Fischer job actually happened on the plane, they had all agreed to leave at separate times. Cobbs got first obviously. No one could deny him the right to see his children for the first time in who knows how long. She did not know anyone's departure time but her own. Arthur had given her a ticket as they boarded the flight to Los Angeles, with a date and time.
She wasnt sure if she really wanted to go back to Paris. All that waited for here there was her normal life, a life that seemed too boring and dull now that she had experienced what she had. Now she had been denied her dreams, except for the one. Now, she craved the sedation that would take her back to that land where she could manipulate and create. It was like a drug, and she was slipping into withdrawl.
A knock to her hotel room shook her from her thoughts. Curiously, she opened the door as far as the chain would allow. There was a relativly attractive man standing before here, carrying a familiar silver suitcase. He was flanked by two other men.
"Are you Ariadne?" he asked her.
"That depends," she said, knowing this might as well have been an affirmative to his question. "Who are you?"
"Hale." he said plainly. "I'm in need of an architecht, and Arthur told me you may be willing to help us out."
Ariadne's heart lept to her throat at the mention of his name, but she quickly forced it down. Her silly infatuation with him because of one, meaningless kiss was embarassing, even in the private recesses of her own mind.
She unbolted her hotel door, and let them in. "I have a plane to catch in three hours," she said in a matter-of-fact voice. "What is it you need help with anyway?"
The man, Hale, cleared his throat, and waited to answer until she had closed the door once more.
"I specialize in extraction as a sort of psychological treatment," he started out slowly. "Those who are unable to root out the source of their stress, or torment or greif, may be able to find it in their own subconscious.I understand that you worked with Mr. Cobb. He has a reputation amongst those trained in this art. If he singled you out as an architect skilled enough to work with him, I trust you. Or rather, my client does." He tilted his head to one of the men who had been standing beside him.
Ariadne had not really paid attention to this man. He was small, and did well at not being noticed. He had a mousy look to him, a beard that seemed to be the result of laziness then actually wanting it there. His clothes were the expensive kind however. He was able to pay for this kind of treatment.
She looked away from the client. She felt as if she were invading his privacy, even though she was about to dive into his own mind. Hale observed her with a smile on his face. "Will you help us then?"
"I suppose. Will it be the three of us going in?" she asked, not even bothering to look at the other man more than once. He was obviously bored. He seemed more of the surfer personality, free spirited and all that. She assumed it would be Hale, the surfer, and herself executing the extraction.
Hale shook his head. "For... personal reasons, my client does not want me as a part of this. I am merely here to observe, and analyze what information you bring to me. Nor will Alex," apparently the surfer's name, "be participating beyond the first dream."
"A dream inside a dream..." She muttered. That wasnt as bad as inception at least. She almost craved the needle being injected into her skin, like a heroine addict, only she was addicted to dreaming. "So if I'm not alone, who else will be working with me?"
"Arthur," he stated matter-of-factly. "He owes me a favor or two, and I talked him into this. I have paid for you to have your flight to paris switched for tomorrow evening, already. I trust that gives you enough time to create the two levels?"
Ariadne peaked an eyebrow at Hale. "That was awfully assuming of you... but it should be enough time." she said. then, unable to resist, "When will Arthur get here?"
"Arthur will meet us at my office in about fifteen minutes." Hale stood, opened the hotel door. "After you, Miss Ariadne." he gestured. Alex picked up her packed things and followed Hale and 'the client' out the door.
The car pulled to the curb, though Ariadne could not see out of the darkly tinted windows much. she could vaguly make out the shapes of many people moving around, though that was it. Hale stepped out of the front seat, and a few seconds later, the door opened of its own accord. Ariadne grabbed one of her suit cases, and stepped out of the car, examining the victorian building in front of her, with its elaborate sign that read, Edmund Hale, Psychoanalyist.
"Pleasure to see you again, Ariadne," a smooth voice beside her said. She turned quickly in shock, coming face to face with Arthur, a man she never thought she'd see again. Stupidly, she said nothing. He took her suitcase from her slack hand, and she said absent-mindedly, "yeah, yeah. Um... you too." Oh wow, that was eloquent.
He smiled at her, and gestured that she should lead the way. Together, they followed the three men who had surprised Ariadne at her hotel room.
"I'm sorry I dragged you into this," he said to her, leaning close so that she could hear his quiet words. She repressed a shiver. "I knew you were still in town, and we needed a good architect."
"Why me?" she asked him. "I'm not exactly experienced, except for the one time."
Arthur considered her question for a moment. "The one time," he said, using her discrete reference to the inception, "was incredibly harder then this job will be, and I believe you've proven yourself. Also, you are very good at what you do, Ariadne... And there are very few people with your ability whom I trust."
She probably blushed a litte, unsuccessful in hiding her small smile. "You trust me?"
"Have you given me a reason not to?" he retorted.
"Well, Ariadne," Hale said, giving her a reason not to respond to Arthur. She had not even realized they entered the building. They were in a room that reminded her of a waiting room at the doctors, only much more comfortable and homey-looking. Hale was already proceeding though a door,and she followed him into a hallway. He opened a door, but did not head inside. "This is where you will be working. Does it suit you?"
She peered inside. It was softly lit with blue-print papers lying on an oak desk. She didnt need much for what she did, so she nodded and entered the room, setting down her back pack. She heard her suitcase being set on the floor softly behind her, and Arthur came up behind her. "You only have a few hours. The client wants this done tonight." she merely nodded, and sat at the desk.
"So explain this better to me. What exactly do you need?"
"The safe will be in here," she showed Arthur on the map. It was a detailed rendition of the second layer, the design of the dream which would belong to Arthur himself.
He nodded, pointing to the third floor of the office building. "Is this based off of the information the client gave you?"
Ariadne nodded, and explained the room to Arthur quickly, before posing her own question. "Does the client have a name?"
"I'm sure," he said, leaving it at that. Apparently names were not on the list of crucial information for this trip. In fact, they had to avoid the client himself in the dream at all costs. "How will we know the combination to the safe?"
Ariadne smiled. "I've designed it to be only one number. Shouldn't be that hard to guess."
The door opened. "Are you ready?" Alex asked, hands in his plaid shorts, with raised eyebrows. Ariadne and Arthur followed him down the hall, to a room with five armchairs arranged around a center table, which contained the familiar silver case.
She, Arthur, 'the client,' and Alex all inserted the IV's into their arms. Hale set a timer on his watch, and watched them all drift off into sleep...
The street was busy. 'The client' was about fifteen feet away from her, but she acted like everyone else around her. She looked around and realized that every single person was wearing a bathing suit. The projection's of 'the client's' mind were all half dressed, and looking down, she realized she was too.
She looked at herself with a horrified expression as a sleek red car pulled up to her. She jumped in immediatly, though she became self conscious quickly.
Arthur raised one eyebrow, but did not comment on her specifically. "Interesting projections this man has."
"What a pervert," Ariadne mumbled, and Arthur chuckled a bit. Thats when she realized he was in a bathing suit as well. And he wasnt wearing a shirt.
The way his stomach muscles rippled fascinated Ariadne for a moment, before she realized she was staring, then looked away.
Arthur handed her a gun. "Remember, he's been trained for this, so expect an assult or two," he said. And sure enough, a man standing on a street corner ahead pulled out a gun and started shooting at them. The glass on the windsheild in front of Ariadne cracked like a spider web, and she felt Arthur's hand push her head down.
The car lurched as he punched the gas, running right over the corner, and consequntially the man with the gun.
He looked down at her with a smile. "All right?"
She was too shocked to answer, and a few mintues later, Arthur pulled over, letting Alex the surfer into the car. "Took you guys long enough," Alex grumbled. "I just had to fight off three women in bikinis. Goes against everything I stand for."
The car was silent with awkwardness as they navigated the city Ariadne had created. The car pulled into an empty, underground car garage, that was illuminated with a dull orange glow. Ariadne stepped out, looking around for anyone who might want to get them out of the client's mind. Arthur and Alex did the same as they made their way to a sight that said 'ELEVATOR.'
"Fifth floor, correct?" Arthur asked, confirming what he already knew. Ariadne had spent longer making sure he knew the maps by heart then she had actually creating them. She was cold in her bathing suit, and she really wished she had created a clothing store.
She started strait ahead while they rode the elevator up six floors. The doors opened to reveal a large room with no windows (to make it easier for Alex to defend them against projections while they slept) but beautifully furnished. The furnature was arranged in a similar way to the room at Hale's. They had made it through the first dream relativly quickly and easily, and she hoped it went just as smoothly on the next level. She wasnt so eager to wake back up though.
In her pocket, she rolled her bishop between her fingers. But she knew she was in a dream, she didnt need a chess piece to tell her that.
"So explain this to me again," Ariadne said, wanting more than anything else just to break the awkward silence that was a result of Alex's presence.
"As long as we're carefull, we can access the client's mind through a second dream on our own. The client wont actually be there, but his brain will detect further intrusion, and that will make the projections far more hostile than normal. They may even detect us almost right away." Arthur explained, handing an IV to Ariadne. "There will be minimal room for mistakes."
Ariadne sighed. "Alright."
"I'll play the music when I hear it." Alex said, taking the guns from Arthur and Ariadne.
"Try not to get killed," Arthur said as he handed over his three pistols. He sat on the chair beside Ariadne. "Ready?" He asked with a smile. She nodded, and together they traveled even deeper into the client's subconscious.
"Quick," he whispered, and his hand enclosed on the top half of her arm, pulling her into the maitenance closet in the excessivley fancy hotel. Ariadne closed the door behind her, and immediatly helped him remove the boxes from the back wall to uncover the hidden door they both knew was there.
Her knew outfit was a knee-legnth, midnight blue dress, and a pair of heels that she kicked off almost immediatly. It figures she would be dressed up in Arthur's dream. He himself wore a suit.
He turned to face her and she noticed that his tie matched her dress.
She nearly shivered when she saw his eyes run the legnth of her body, but it didnt last long. "The safe of yours, is there a catch?" he asked her.
"Besides the one digit code? No. But the room itself-"
"Will only be open for five minutes. And we have about-" he checked his watch, " fifty three minutes until it is."
They continued to move boxes out of the way, until they could open the small door and access the service hallway behind it.
Both entered, then Arthur quickly shut the door, and boldted it shut. He stood with his hands in his pockets and looked around. "Hopefully the projections cant get to us here."
Ariadne nodded. "The other exit is in the ceiling, I doubt they'll think to look there until they get desperate." She felt stupid talking about them like they could plot and think for themselves. Which, of course they could. It still felt weird.
"We dont actually have to leave here for another twenty minutes, or else its a suicide mission. Once they discover us, we'll be killed. It's best to lie low for a while, then make a break for the safe."
"Yeah," Ariadne agreed. She leaned against a wall, really wanting to sit, but even if the dress wasnt real, she felt bad ruining it.
"How have you been?" He asked her, and she realized this was a deeper question then two old friends catching up. He was asking if she was okay after the whole inception occurance.
She deliberated on how to answer, but finally answered with, "I dont dream anymore."
"Nor do I. I havent in a long while."
"I want to dream though." She looked up at him, really looked at him for the first time since he took her suitcase two worlds ago. "Is it wrong to crave this world?"
He contemplated her question. "I think it's hard not to. But if you arent careful, you'll become addicted to it, to the point where reality loses all of its appeal."
"How do you deal with that?"
He met her eyes. "I dont. But I try to make life as exciting as possible when I'm not dreaming."
Ariadne sighed. "I did dream once."
Why did she bring it up? She was happy that it was very dimly lit in the service hall way, so that he could not read her face a little better.
"Was it a memory?" he asked her. All she could do was nodd. "Sometimes a memory that incited powerful emotion will come back to us. But even those will begin to fade when you've done this," he gestured all around him, "too much."
she was grateful he didnt pry, as she would have done. They sat in silence for a little while, occasionally meeting each others glances. Each time she would look away, her heart pounding away in her throat. Why did she feel this way around him? Before that kiss, she had given little thought to the point man. Now he was in nearly every thought.
A bang on the door a few feet away made her jump. Arthur grinned. "Looks like they've found us." He quickly placed a hand on her shoulder (she willed herself not to think about it,) and gave her a little shove ahead of him. "Run," he instructed, and she did so.
She ran as fast as possible in her dress, which was not very fast at all. "Damn your... subconscious," she huffed out as she ran.
"Mine... is not the... one thats chasing us."
"Damn your style tastes!"
She could've sworn she heard him laugh.
They reached the end of the hall way that twisted and turned. It was a good thing they memorized the maze hidden in the center of the hotel. She gropled blindly in the dark for the handle, and yanked up as hard as she could. The sound of voices was growing nearer, though not close enough to be too much of a threat.
The hall was flooded with light as she dropped to the floor below, pulling out her hand gun. Not a second later, Arthur dropped beside her, straitening out his suit. She realized he had shed his jacket while they ran, and he rolled his sleeves up while keeping hold of his automatic gun.
"C'mon," he said, and they made a right hand turn past the numerous hotel rooms, trying to remain inconspicuous. An elderly couple exited a room, and he took her hand quickly, bringing it up to his lips to kiss. She pressed her own lips together trying to keep in the girlish reaction her body wanted to make, and she glanced up at him quick to see him smirking. They watched as the couple passed, watching them suspiciously. As soon as they were out of sight, they ran again. Arthur leading the way, still holding onto her hand.
As they came up to the elevator they needed access to, the doors opened, revealing two men with guns. They were big and quite obviously strong. Without hesitating. Arthur let go of her hand and brought the gun up, letting out a round of bullets at them. Both crumpled to the floor, and he stepped over them, checking the elevator for more people. She stared at the men, her stomach turning. She knew they werent real, but she wasnst sure if she could ever get used to killing the projections.
"Come on," he said hurriedly. She followed him inside, and the elevators closed.
As he reloaded, he said, "They're getting closer to us. But we're almost there. Unfortunatly, we'll probably be killed before Alex actually wakes us up."
"Lets just hope we get to the safe first."
The elevator opened, and they were greeted with two teenage guys, football players by the looks of it. They immediatly attacked Arthur. Ariadne picked her gun up, but didnt shoot it, selfishly hoping Arthur could fend them off himself. But then she heard a fist connect, and the doors to the elevator shut, shutting the four of them in.
She pointed directly at one of the boys' heads, closed her eyes and shot. She heard the body hit the ground, and she flinched a little. Then she heard a grunt, and another round of Arthur's bullets.
When she opened her eyes, she had three bodies at her feet, and her dress had a splatter of blood on it. She saw movement, and was thankful to see Arthur standing up, massaging his chin a bit. "Ow," he said ironically. Then he looked at her. "Are you okay?"
Ariadne swallowed and nodded. "I just dont like killing them."
He pushed the button to open the elevator door once more, getting his gun ready quicky. She followed suit, and found that they had to kill at least five more people to make it out of the elevator at all.
The ran, making lefts, rights, another right, then left again, all the while fighting off projections. Ariadne lost count of how many times she killed, or how many times she nearly avoided death. She watched Arthur too. He picked up the bulk of the work, a couple times he even pushed her out of the way. But finally they made it to the large metal door with a timer on it. There was three minutes left until it was open.
They caught their breath for a moment. "I think we've fought off the first round... We might have a few minutes until more come."
"Oh good," she gasped, leaning against the door. "Tell me again why... it was necessary I created all this extra protection against us?"
"Tricks the client's mind into believing it's putting up a fight. Therefore, less projections."
"Brillient," she muttered, looking at the timer. "Fifty eight seconds."
"We only have three seconds to get in, right?"
"Yeah, then only five minutes to get back out." He nodded, holding the handle, ready for the timer to strike zero.
Ariadne was lucky she glanced over her shoulder at all. At three seconds left, she turned to see one women pointing a gun at them. She heard the click of the door, heard Arthur pulling the door open, unaware of their company. Ariadne spun around and gave his back a hard shove as the women shot. The bullet didnt miss. It tore through Ariadne's heart, and she screamed in pain, but Arthur was inside, and the door was closing.
She looked up at him, seeing the horror in his eyes as the doors shut all the way.
She choked on the blood, hoping she would die soon, so she could wake up. Even so, she grabbed her own gun as quickly as she could manage and killed the women with a headshot. She lay on the floor, choking on blood and sobs. She couldnt manage the courage to kill herself, so she suffered, hoping Arthur would be there to save her soon.
The minutes dragged, and dragged.
Finally, the doors opened to reveal an open safe, but no Arthur.
Ariadne stared at the ceiling, not sure if she should be feeling more afraid or confused. Had he been killed in there? What about her?
She was unsure how long she stared at the ceiling, gasping for breath and trying to ignore the pain, but one moment she blinked, and the other she was back in the room Alex had been watching them in. She was lying on the floor, and she turned her head to come face to face with the sightless eyes of a dead projection.
Ariadne felt disoriented. Only a few seconds ago she had been in terrible pain, and now she felt fine.
"Ariadne," Arthurs voice said, sounding extremly relieved. "Are you all right?"
He offered her a hand, and she took it gladly. "What happened?"
"Alex took a heavy beating, and accidently knocked me over. I woke up right away and tried to help him, but he was killed eventually."
"Did you get the information?"
"Yes, I woke up when I was trying to get back to help you." his eyes searched hers, and this time she couldnt look away. "You're okay?" his voice sounded a little off. Ariadne nodded, and he took a step closer. She knew what was going to happen.
It wasnt soft, quick, and chaste like the first kiss has been. He nearly crashed into her, though it didnt hurt. It was emergent, but sweet. Passionate. Ariadne reached her arms up to twine around his neck, and was meshed against his chest. Then she remembered they were in bathing suits now, and suddenly they werent such a bad thing. Who knew how long they stood kissing, passion building and building.
She ran her hands down his chest, and his fingers traveled lightly up her spine causing her to shiver and moan slightly. Somehow she had her legs wrapped around his waist, and he was walking somewhere, he mumbled her name and his fingers moved to her-
"So?"
Ariadne opened her eyes. She was breathing heavily, and she felt a little light headed. She also felt a little sick, like when you're trying so hard not to start sobbing. And she wanted to cry because something had been taken from her.
The silence was thick in the air, and she couldnt look over at him. Eventually, he answered the question.
"Yes. I, um..." she had never head him lost for words before. His voice started to speak again, and a conversation took place that she didnt listen too. She held onto the arm-rests of her chair like they were holding her into place.
She reached into her coat and pulled out the bishop, setting it on the table beside the case. She knocked it over, heard it fall over with a clunck, leaned back in her chair with a relieved sigh. somehow that had comforted her.
She heard a door click closed, and she looked up to see Arthur standing by it. They were alone in the room, silence heavy. This was their deciding moment.
Finally, "I'm sorry. I crossed a line."
"No!" she said quickly. Then she looked away, embarassed. "No, I uh..." But she couldnt articulate the words.
He started to walk towards her, rolling the red die in his hand. "I wont work."
"So?" she challenged, not feeling as strong as her words. He stopped when he was directly in front of her, closing his fist over the die. He shook his fist contemplativley, then shoved it in his pocket. He leaned forward, bracing himself with his arms on the armrests.
"So." He nodded, and it sounded like an agreement.
Then he leaned in and kissed her.
A/N: So theres my Inception ficlet. It wasnt really supposed to have a story line like that. I dont even know what was in the safe to be honest, I didnt have it planned out that far. Its also wayyy longer then I wanted. But I like it, and i hope you did too.
And please excuse spelling/grammar errors. I'm terrible at spelling, and my microsoft word isnt working.
Reviews are golden :)
-Kayleigh