Terribly sorry for not updating on Monday like I promised. Life keeps getting in the way, and frankly, I wanted this chapter to be perfect. Hope it was worth the wait!

It was around midnight when Eames, Cobb, and Yusuf arrived at my apartment to pick me up. I hadn't been able to sleep anyway, and had been pacing around my room thinking about what we were planning to do. It was unnerving me to think that we were about to perform inception on Ariadne. Just thinking about her in general made my stomach queasy, and the added pressure of a job was making it even worse.

Finally the glow of headlights from Cobb's car shown through the window of my room, and I couldn't have been more relieved. I quickly ran out to meet him.

"Get any sleep, darling?" Eames smirked as I got in.

"Not a wink." I replied, not missing a beat. I had already decided that Eames was to be ignored as much as possible, but obviously that wasn't happening. Eames said something else, but I was too zoned out to hear him.

The rest of the drive to Ariadne's apartment was spent going over the plans. For this first dream, I would try to put her subconscious at ease in an attempt to make the next dreams a bit safer. To accomplish this, we had decided on an environment that was inviting, but not too conspicuous (which you will know soon enough).

"Please tell me you didn't pick anything too embarrassing, Eames." I pleaded as we pulled up outside the apartment complex.

"Darling, I may be eccentric, but I have excellent taste in music."

"I highly doubt that." I mumbled under my breath, getting out of the car.

"Don't worry," said Cobb in a whisper, "I made sure it was an appropriate choice." He smiled mischievously and I was forced to roll my eyes. His teasing was beginning to get old, but I was nonetheless thankful for his reassurance.

We walked into the building without saying a word, and I lead then all to her room. Once we got there, Eames began to pick skillfully at the lock trying to open the door. Things were silent for a few moments.

"Why are so worried about a bloody song anyway?" he asked in a loud whisper.

"Because you are the last person on the planet I would ask relationship advice from, and I don't want you to ruin this!" I sneered in his face. Cobb shook his head and Eames chortled.

"You have no idea, darling."

He unlocked the door and the four of us entered as soundlessly as we could. We worked softly and quietly, fearing that any noise - no matter how quiet - would instantly cause Ariadne to wake. Once the PASIV was in place, the hardest part was inserting the needle into a sleeping Ariadne. All the while, I couldn't help but notice how adorable she looked when she slept.

"Okay, Arthur," said Cobb, "let's see your wrist." I held out my hand and he inserted the needle. Just as Cobb was inserting a needle into his wrist, Eames gave one last smirk.

"I hope you appreciate what we're doing for you, Arthur." he whispered and inserted his own needle. But before I had the chance to reply, Yusuf pressed the button and the three of us fell asleep on the floor.

I opened my eyes and saw that I was standing in the middle of a bar which was full of projections. I found myself wearing an even fancier suit than I usually do, along with a bow tie (thank you very much to Cobb and Eames). I made my way to the bar, noticing that it was set inside a hotel, just like Cobb had planned out. When I was a few steps away, I spotted Ariadne, and my heart skipped a beat. She was sitting alone, looking a bit dazed. Swallowing any last minute nerves, I walked over and sat down next to her on her left side.

"Can I buy you a drink?" I asked smoothly. She turned to me surprised.

"Uh... that's okay, I can pay." She reached for her wallet but I grabbed her hand, which I noticed were very soft, even in the dream world.

"It's no trouble, Ariadne." I pulled out my own wallet and payed for her tab whilst ordering myself a drink. The bartender was a pretty blonde, who was wearing way too much makeup and skimpy clothing. When I handed her Ariadne's tab and ordered a drink, the smile she gave me had a very familiar feel to it.

"Be back in a moment, darling." As soon as the words left her mouth she gave me a wink, and I knew instantly who she really was. I had to fight to keep myself from showing any signs of recognition in front of Ariadne, though.

"You really didn't have to do that, but thanks." she smiled shyly, which I returned with one of my own.

"Your very welcome." I replied, my voice sounding a bit strained in my efforts to keep things under control. The blonde soon returned with my drink, glancing between me and Ariadne.

"So nice of you to pay for your girlfriend's tab." she remarked. Ariadne nearly fell off the stool.

"What? No, no he's not my boyfriend." she said with a blush. I was pretty sure my face was red too.

"Yeah, we're just friends." I added. Glaring at the woman, who just shrugged.

"Could have fooled me. You two are absolutely adorable together anyway." I saw Ariadne cover her face in embarrassment. The bartender glanced at her watch. "Well, time for me to clock outta this joint. See you two around, alright?" neither of us returned any sort of goodbye as she grabbed her coat and walked out of the hotel. The two of us sat in silence for about a minute.

"Well, that was strange, wasn't it?" I said lightheartedly. She mumbled something I couldn't understand. "Are you okay?" her head shot up.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I just zoned out for a moment."

Just then the doors to the bar opened again, and an obviously drunk man walked in. He was pretty good-looking as far as guys go, but was stumbling so much that I wondered how he had even managed to get here without killing himself. The man walked up and sat a few seats down from Ariadne on the other side.

"It it just me, or is he staring at me?" she asked a few minutes later. I discretely looked over towards the man, who was indeed staring her down with a look of want in his eyes. I unconsciously clenched my fist.

"He's staring at you, just don't even look at him." I warned. The man seemed to notice this, and he began to yell loud enough for the entire place to hear.

"Hey cutie, why don't you come on over here and we can have a little talk?" Next to me, I felt Ariadne tense up, and projections giving us weird looks.

"Don't answer him." I said calmly. She gave a nod, but was still shaking with fear. The man got annoyed when Ariadne didn't answer.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!" I placed a hand on her shoulder, and she still said nothing. I could tell she was scared, but was trying hard not to show it. Finally the man stood up and made his way over to us. I stood up at the same time Ariadne did, and gently pushed her behind me, using myself as a human barrier between her and the creep approaching us.

"What do you want?" I asked in an even but firm tone.

"Why are you taking up for her?" he spat back at me. "I just wanna have a little fun, and your in my way, so move it." I stood still, not budging an inch. "Oh yeah, you wanna do this the hard way, then, do ya?"

"Just leave now, and no one will get hurt." I warned. I felt Ariadne's hand on my upper arm, silently begging me to stop. I tried not to think about her touch and how it made my skin tingle, but I failed. The only thing that brought me back to the present was the man in front of me as he began to laugh hysterically at my words. I could smell the alcohol on his breath, and as he gulped down another shot, he turned back to me with a strangely familiar gleam of mischief in his eyes.

"Bring it on, hotshot!"

He clenched his left hand into a fist and took a swing at me, which I easily missed for two reasons; one, because he was drunk and therefore his perception was off, and two, because I was already expecting it. As I easily dodged his pathetic punch, I sent one of my own flying into his face. Ariadne gasped behind me as the drunken pervert fell to the floor. He started to crawl backwards to his seat, his hand clutching his nose and face where my fist had hit. As he slowly got to his feet – never taking his eyes off me – he gave me five final words.

"This night isn't over yet." That was the cue.

"We'll just see about that." I replied, and putting my arms around Ariadne, I steered us away from the bar, and a bit closer to the dance floor. Once we were a safe distance away, I turned to her. "Well, that was quite exciting, wasn't it?" she gave me a look.

"You call that exciting? Arthur, you could have killed that guy! Or he could have killed you!"

The look in her eyes as she spoke gave off the emotion of fear, but was quickly hidden behind her normal, care-free self. I refused to ponder what that meant, for at that time, I noticed that the music grew louder and started playing the song that Eames and Cobb had picked out. I recognized it as a something that would be found on a classic rock station, but had a bit of a Spanish sound to it. I turned back to Ariadne and gave her my most charming smile.

"Shall we dance?" She gave me another confused look, but I could see the gears in her head whirling around trying to decipher why the heck I would ask her to dance. But when I held my hand out, she placed hers in mind, and I lead her to the dance floor.

So, what do you think? Too OOC? Perfect? REVIEW PLEASE!

Props if you can guess what the song is =) *hinthint* (I will revile it later anyway, but guess if you want!)