Chapter 1

"If I retreat,

words, wars and symphonies,

make room, we're taking over here."

X

"It's none of your bloody business, alright?"

"Exactly, it's our business, and I'm just trying to do what's best for the team-"

"She is what's best for th-"

"No, she's not now drop it, we need someone better."

"Better?"

The old warehouse wasn't a stranger to bickering. Arguments, however, were a different case. I had just stepped foot into the familiar room and stuffed the key in my pocket, only to find one half of the team at each other's throats.

"Hey," I said in a small voice, announcing my entrance.

Yusef caught my eye from one of the seats and smiled weakly as I walked forward. "Hey," he replied, raising a hand and waving.

I nodded in return and pointed at the scene. An eye roll came as a reply.

"Hey," I started again, louder, focusing now on the other two men. The hostility continued.

"She's not qualified."

"Qualified? I hate to break it to you sunshine but you're not 'qualified' either."

Now I found myself between the two, pushing Arthur away. "Hey. Hey!"

"Don't patronise me," he threatened, overlooking me.

I lost it, screaming. "Hey!"

His eyes lightened as he looked me in the eye. Lips twitching into the tiniest smile, he greeted me. "Ariadne, how've you been?"

"Good, I've been good. What's going on here?"

Frowning again, he looked darkly over my shoulder. "Him."

A scoff behind me.

"Eames?" I asked, turning so I could see both at once.

Easing his glare at Arthur, the forger wiped his chin with his hand and eyed me. "In case you haven't noticed, we are without an extractor. We need one for this job. I simply offered to ask an old friend of mine."

I raised an eyebrow at the word 'friend'. Arthur laughed and started to walk away. "See? And she doesn't even know the girl."

Eames' eyes turned dark as his gaze followed Arthur. "She's not a girl-"

"Eames," I scolded quietly.

He looked down at me, lips spreading into a goofy grin, "Hello darling." Pulling me into a hug, he whispered an apology in my ear with a low voice. "Sorry about that."

"Don't worry," I smiled, stepping back to look at him. "Who is she?"

Something started working in his mind, I could see the cogs turning as he gazed into my eyes. It was hard to tell if he was simply transfixed, looking for something within me, or looking through them to find something much greater. This is what had always kept me fascinated with Eames.

Abruptly dipping his head, he sighed, yet kept a smile on his face. "An old friend." I went to interrupt, but he held up his hand. "Yes, I know what you're thinking, and yes, you would be quite right. We were, um, together, yes, but it finished a few years ago, maybe not on the best terms-" He trailed off and looked down, clearing his throat. "But uh, I can assure you, I have no intent of that kind. She's just a friend."

I exhaled quietly. Something was still missing. "Well, I don't see any harm in her being here-"

"Yes, she's lovely, rea-"

"But, what can she do?" I quizzed. By this time, I had noticed that Yusef was listening to our conversation. "I mean, can she extract? Does she know anything about inception?"

Quite suddenly, his eyes lit up brightly. "Of course she does. I taught her." His smile only grew wider as I looked at him in shock. A chuckle. "She caught on very quickly. She can forge, perform extraction, inception, and a little something we liked to call 'manipulation'. Very rare, she's the best."

Confusion didn't quite cover it, I felt skeptical. Sighing, I chose the two questions that seemed most important. "So... How can she do all those things? And what's 'manipulation'?"

Again, he smiled. This time his eyes grew small, as though focusing on his answer. "Well, she's very brainy. Her mind has a very high capacity. And manipulation, Ariadne, is when a person can manipulate the subject's subconscious. They can literally control the projections. If they are the subject, then they can tell their own projections what to do. Only the very skilled can do that part, in fact I believe Carina is the only one. Not too sure."

"Carina?" I asked. He nodded in reply with a small "hm".

"So we could have got her in on the last job?" Yusef chimed in, startling me.

Eames looked at him and shrugged. "I suppose. If I had actually known of Fischer's training or Cobb's situation, then I would have suggested bringing her in."

From his corner of the room, I heard Arthur scoff to himself. I rolled my eyes, and found Eames to be doing the same, smiling.

"That wasn't aimed at you, Arthur."

He scoffed again, putting down his notes, and went to say something over his shoulder. I interrupted. "You know, we could use her. What she can do, it's useful. Even if you don't want her as an extractor."

A subtle change in his expression caught my eye. Did I say something? I thought, as his eyes seemed to sadden. Checking what I had said, I realised instantly what was wrong. He misses Cobb. It made sense that he would snap at Eames for suggesting his old friend when one of Arthur's old friends had just left him. That, and the fact that he had a short fuse when he was in a bad mood.

He looked back at us, at me, checking the sincerity I was wordlessly pleading with. Rubbing his face, he nodded. "Okay. We'll get her in." Now he stared at Eames and spoke louder, "But no funny business, we can't jeopardise this job, not like last time." From the corner of my eye, I saw Eames nod. "Where is she?"

"The last I heard, she was in Corsica. Bastia, I believe."

He stood up, striding over to us. "Okay. We'll find her and test her."

I blinked, confused. "Test her?"

X

Everything was holding up well. The projections were acting normal, and needn't use up my focus. This was what came of good practise.

Now, I was trained on observing them, analysing every move I could catch between the dancing figures.

The architect was the easiest to spot; she stood out massively, gaping with wide eyes at the beige and ivory marble arches that lined the room. Once or twice, I had caught her looking into the mirrors that paned the inner arches. Her pale skin was radiant in the glow of the chandelier light, with the ornate statues adding a tint of gold to her warmth. I smiled as she took a quick glance to the intricate paintings on the ceiling.

When her gaze returned down, confusion and outright shock plastered her face. I turned away, refraining from a smirk. I had disguised myself as Arthur, who I knew had stayed behind in the last level. I could see her striding up to me hastily in one of the mirrors. She stopped a couple feet away from me.

"Arthur?" she whispered sharply, tugging at my sleeve.

I turned and tried to look inquisitive. "Yes?"

"What are you doing here?"

I smiled. "We're doing the job, Ariadne." She wasn't good at hiding her confusion, and I took advantage of this weakness. "Where's Eames?" I asked, trying to sound natural.

"Looking for Carina in one of the other rooms," she replied easily, betraying herself. I could see almost immediately that she knew what she had done.

I frowned. "Ariadne?"

Without looking at me, she apologised, "I, I gotta go." In seconds, I had lost her in the crowd. After a quick glance in the mirror - and a body swap to an average-looking brunette - I set off to the next room.

"Damn," I cursed, finding it empty. Did you really think he would think you would be in the next room? I sighed to myself. I had tried convincing myself that it would be fine, but now, coming to face him again, I knew I was lying. Why had he come looking for me?

Taking a deep breath, I stepped into the next room, and found what I was looking for.

Pacing in the middle of the large room was an attractive blonde, her hair coiffed into voluminous curls to her shoulders and her face perfectly made up. She was wearing an elegant black dress, tight to her body, that reached her knees. In the back of my mind, I felt a hint of intimidation as she turned and looked me up and down. I could tell she was one of Eames' previous lovers. How typical, I thought, stopping myself from rolling my eyes.

"Sorry, I didn't realise someone was in here" I said, turning to leave.

"No, no it's fine," she said dryly. I caught her glance in the mirrored wall, and I kept my focus on not giving away my forgery.

I smiled at her, then to myself. There's no use in playing games.

"You know, Eames," I began, not making eye contact, "this isn't going to work if we both look like someone else." I looked up to the mirror to find Eames looking back, a wry smile on his face.

"Hello love," he said, his voice husky.

I turned back from the mirror. "Hello," I replied, my voice small.

Smiling to himself, he nodded and gestured to me, "You look, well, you look great. Beautiful."

I nodded back. "Yeah, well, so does she." Though I said it playfully, I could taste the bitterness on my tongue, regretting it instantly.

It was hard to read the look he gave me. Half amused, the rest a mix of shock and borderline offence. He exhaled sharply, "Sorry?"

After rolling my eyes, I began pacing and held his gaze. "She's obviously someone you would go for," I breathed.

His raised his eyebrows. I smiled at the creases that appeared on his forehead. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

I scoffed and turned away. "Oh nothing, Eames, this isn't why we're here."

"No, no it's not-"

I spun around quickly, various parts of my mind desperate to know why he had come back. "Then why are we here?"

Stumbling over his words, he shook his head lightly. "Well, uh..."

"You need me."

This time, his eyes searched mine intently. It felt like before, though back then, I wouldn't have held anything back. The response came quicker than expected, his voice barely a mumble. "Yes."

I nodded lightly, not wanting to make things awkward. I knew how he felt, as his feelings mirrored mine.

"So what's the job?" I asked, keeping my voice low.

He looked up and grinned, "Oh I can't tell you that yet." The smile on his face grew when I gave him a questioning look. "Well that would ruin the surprise now, wouldn't it?"

Surprise? I thought. You have no idea.

I began walking, looking to position myself closer to the mirror. As if on cue, Ariadne burst through the door, half running, her face flustered.

"Eames," she started, "the projectio- oh." Her speech cut off as she noticed me, halting her stride.

With no hesitation, Eames gestured with his hand for her to go to him as he averted his gaze from me. She looked at me, her eyes flickering between my features, then continued walking at a slower pace.

Though she whispered, I could hear every word. "The projections are getting a bit, I don't know, anxious. And, I don't know how, but earlier, I saw Arthur in the crowd." At this point, Eames' eyes flickered to me. "I mean, how is he here? Eames?"

This time, his stare was deliberate. Ariadne turned to me too, her face changing from confusion to disbelief.

I looked at them through my eyelashes, smiling slyly. "Well Eames, I didn't want to ruin the surprise."

Before they could comprehend what I had said, the mirrors behind me erupted. They shattered panel by panel, working in toward the middle. Each one exploded quicker than the last, the broken glass hanging in mid-air.

A strangled scream escaped Ariadne's lips, muffled by her hand. She ducked her head down and Eames pulled her in close. His eyes darted around, finally coming to rest on me.

I continued to look at him, concentrating on controlling a familiar sound that reached us from two rooms down. When his eyes showed a sign of understanding, my lips pulled up into a slight smile.

In simultaneous explosions, the mirror behind me shattered as the projections surged into the room. It took but half a second for Eames' mouth to drop open, and for a shard of glass to violently pierce my back.


A/N: Firstly, I'd like to say thank you to those who read the prologue, I didn't expect so many views, let alone a few follows and a favourite. Extra big thank you to those followers and that one favourite-person(?)!

Next, wow this is a long chapter. At least compared to the prologue it is, I'm not sure how long I'm planning on averaging these chapters. This one is very dialogue fuelled, I couldn't get around it.

Lastly, I hope you enjoy, maybe stick around for the ride, and review/follow/favourite! Thank you :-)

Chapter song: Let's Kill Tonight - Panic! at The Disco

Just for the record, I posted this once without the second part, then added it. I just thought I should put that here. I post chapters for my iPad, so I've there's any italics or bolds that shouldn't be then it's because this is very fiddley!