Ariadne, despite all outward appearances of being a hippie, or a tree hugger hated the outdoors. The smell of the woods was off to her and she didn't like the idea of ruining a pair of shoes traipsing through the soggy earth on a perfectly good afternoon.

Nevertheless, here she was, in the middle of nowhere in her native Oregon surroundings listening to Arthur comment on the wildlife.

"I didn't bring you to thanksgiving so you could play Bear Grylls, lets go."

"No, I'm pretty sure you brought me three thousand miles away from home to convince your parents that they should let you stay in Paris after you finish schooling." The displeased look on Arthur's face didn't go unnoticed. "You didn't invite me to introduce your boyfriend to your parents."

Ariadne was speechless. "I thought you might understand. My parents are over protective. They nearly had a stroke when I told them that I applied to a university in France."

"But they let you go, all the same." Arthur's tone sounded offended, and for a moment, she felt ashamed that she hadn't told her parents about him.

"They have this huge thing with age. It's not a big deal to me, but they would freak out if they knew how old you were."

"Ah," Arthur breathed. "Are you telling me you can't handle your parents?"

Ariadne sighed and paced. "It's not that." Arthur strode across the ground and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"They need to know eventually. I don't plan on leaving you."

"I don't either."

"So, whats the problem?"

"My parents," Ariadne trailed off, deciding how best to break the news to Arthur. "They are somewhat traditional. If I told them we were dating and very nearly living together, my mother might have a heart attack."

"Is that all?"

"Yes." But the way it came out of her mouth did not sound very reassuring to the point man, and the disturbing way she was fingering her brown hair told him there was more to this.

"What else?" Arthur's eyebrow cocked upwards and prompted her to speak.

"Isn't it weird, us?"

"What are you talking about? What's weird?"

"God!" Ariadne's foot kicked a nearby sycamore tree. "Look at us! We don't match, we aren't the same. My parents are farmers in the middle of nowhere, and the house is small and smells like cat piss and old quilts."

"Are you saying that you don't think you're good enough for me?"

Ariadne nodded furiously, wiping moisture from her eyes. "I tried to escape it, and every time I come home, all I can think about is how severely redneck we all look compared to you." It was nothing but the truth, her parents raised chickens and her only other sibling was a pot dealer who had been to jail twice in the past three years. She tried not to think about her fat, grease monkey uncle who collected car parts in the shed outside his dilapidated house.

A smile spread across Arthur's face. "My family isn't that much better," he admitted. "I was born in Ohio. It was just after the hair teasing and neon fads from the eighties. My mom wore matching windbreakers everywhere and my dad was an accountant. You know how some people get stuck in a decade, my parents took this to the extreme. They never bought anything new and my mom was a recycling nut. It would have been okay, had it stopped there, but it didn't. They didn't believe in using soap, because the chemicals were harmful to the environment. It was embarrassing to even go out in public with them, even into my adult years. Eventually it got so bad that I just stopped going home."

Ariadne breathed. She knew that people had come from humble beginnings, but she never would have expected the suave, debonaire Arthur to have come from the same background as her.

"How long has it been since you've seen them?"

Arthur chuckled. "I try not to see them now that my job is so dangerous. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if someone got to my family after I messed a job up. It's been since I joined on with Cobb. I don't even remember what my mother looks like."

Ariadne was quiet now. She recognized how much Arthur's job wrecked what little of a relationship he had with his family, and although she hated where she came from, she couldn't bear the thought of being that distant from her family.

Tearing her gaze away from Arthur, she noted that sunset was approaching and her parents would surely be missing the pair.

"Arthur, it's getting dark. We should head back." She saw his long legs extend for a moment, then he stood clad in his blue jeans and hiking boots. He turned in a circle a few times before turning to Ariadne.

"The house is north, right?"

Ariadne's hand slid down from her forehead. "We're lost?"

"No, not lost. I just got temporarily disoriented."

"We're lost." Ariadne sighed and walked in a random direction.

"Ariadne wait."

Turning just in time, she saw a squirrel scurry up a tree with an acorn tucked neatly in its mouth. Cringing, she stepped away from the sound and screamed when the ground dropped from under her. The bottom of the pit was dank, and muddy. It was just a six feet pit, but Ariadne all the same knew she was going to be stuck here for a while.

"Are you okay?" Arthur peered down at her from the top and she stood up, brushing herself off. Nothing broken, but she was sure that something was bruised.

"I'm fine. Just get me out."

Arthur got down on his stomach and shimmied to the edge of the hole, dangling his arms down. "Grab my hands. I'll pull you up." Nodding, she wrapped her hands in his and he only waited a moment before pulling her out of the hunters trap. It was slow, as Arthur strained. She wasn't heavy by any stretch of the imagination, he was just out of shape. Once she was halfway out, she hiked her leg over the edge and rolled out.

Looking over at Arthur, she saw him rotating his shoulder, grimacing.

"What happened?"

"It was after Cobb and I had done a job on someone. They found us hiding out in the French Rivera. I guess they were better with a gun than they were with logistics." Arthur got to his feet, and gave Ariadne a cursory once over. Nothing looked out of place, and as she stood up, she appeared to be fine.

"Come on, we need to get out of the forest before nightfall."

It had taken nearly an hour before either of them spotted the familiar white farmhouse on the edge of the woods. Darkness retreated from the well lit lawn as the pair, covered in leaves and dirt walked up to the front door. Neither of them had realized how cold it was outside until they stepped into the warm house.

"There you two are! We've been worried sick about you." Shelia, Ariadne's mother flitted around the pair.

"Time ran away from us. I do apologize ma'am." Arthur bowed his head in her direction to indicate sincerity.

"Gosh Ari, he's so formal," Shelia commented, a blush rising on her cheeks.

"I know, mom."

"Well, you two go wash up. Dinner is almost ready." Ariadne watched her mom walk back into the kitchen, shouting to her husband. "Gerald honey they're back."

Ariadne walked into her childhood room, surprised by the lack of dust. Everything had remained untouched since she left for university.

Ruffling through her bag, she grabbed another change of clothes before making a beeline for the bathroom.

When she had emerged twenty minutes later, hair still damp from the hot shower she had taken, she heard laughter coming from downstairs. Peeking into the guest bedroom Arthur was occupying, she hadn't seen hide nor hair of the point man. Her suspicions were confirmed when she walked back downstairs to find Arthur in another three piece suit, sans jacket with his shirt sleeves rolled up and his hands tucked casually into his pockets.

God, he was handsome.

"Where did you find him? He is so charming" Shelia gushed over Arthur as she yanked her daughter in to join them.

"That's a long story, ma."

"Well, we have plenty of time. We are still waiting on your brother to show up."

"You're kidding." Ariadne deadpanned. "Brady is still allowed inside your house?"

"We still love him, no matter what he chooses to do with his life, right Gerald?" Gerald harrumphed, not looking up from his wooden pipe.

"Oh god," Ariadne couldn't shake the feeling of dread that washed over her.

"He isn't going to show up Shelia. Pull your head out of the clouds." Gerald grumbled from the living room.

Just as soon as the condemnation left his mouth, the door opened to reveal who Arthur guessed to be Brady Gierraman.

"Oh darling, you're here!" Shelia rushed forward and enveloped the older sibling in a motherly hug.

"Great, let's eat." Without another word, Gerald strode into the dining room and poised his hands over the chicken, ready to be cut.

Ariadne and Arthur followed suit into the dining room and they settled themselves at one end of the table. The tension was thick as the family patriarch served up slabs of the cooked meat.

"Arthur, what do you do for a living?"

"I'm a researcher for a private company." It wasn't exactly a lie. He did do research.

"And how did you meet our daughter?"

Arthur and Ariadne exchanged a look and were momentarily at a loss for words until the door burst open, revealing three men wearing all black and brandishing baseball bats.

Gerald was the first to react, holing up the turkey carving knife. "You thugs get the hell out of my house!"

"We aren't here for your valuables, just Brady." The man in the middle smirked and walked towards the table. Shelia screamed as the men laid a hand on either one of his shoulders.

"Come on man, I told you I'll have the money soon" Brady pleaded as he was dragged away from the table.

"Too late. Lee says you aren't worth the time anymore. He says you aren't pulling your weight." The man in the middle was doing all the talking, it seemed the other two were just for backup.

Brady was blubbering on the floor, pleading for his life. "I am, I swear. I just need a little more time."

"How much?" Arthur stood up, reaching for his pocketbook.

"He's into Lee for five grand, fancypants."

Arthur chuckled. "Is that all?" Putting away his pocketbook, he reached instead for his gold cufflinks.

"You gonna throw in a charitable donation?" The man in the middle had a decidedly Boston accent.

Arthur tossed the cufflinks towards the man in the middle, who caught them midair. "As a pair, they're worth twice that."

"You lucky piece of shit. You better be kissing his ass. I wanted nothing more than to beat the shit out of you tonight, but it seems that you've been saved. Keep your shit in line. Have a good night, everyone." With that, the three strode out of the house, slamming the door on their way out.

"I had it under control."

"I saw that. I could have just let them kill you."

"Show a little bit of gratitude, jackass" Gerald reprimanded his son with harsh words.

"Oh, Arthur! Is there anything we can to to repay you?"

"What the hell do you do that you have cufflinks worth ten grand?" Gerald shouted.

Looking over at Ariadne, he took in a deep breath.

"What is the most resilient parasite? Bacteria, an intestinal worm? An idea. Once it has taken hold in the mind, once it is fully understood, it can be almost impossible to eradicate."

"What are you going on about, son?"

"I specialize in a type of security. There are people now called extractors. They can lure you into a dream, and steal your secrets. It's called mind theft, and I can train you, so that even in the most real of dreams, your private thoughts are never at risk."

"We have never heard of such a thing!" Sheila said, staring at Arthur. "What does this have to do with my daughter?"

"Your daughter, Ariadne has become a very skilled architect. You should be very proud of her."

"Ariadne, are you involved with this man?"

Ariadne's throat went dry, and she could only manage a small nod towards her father.

"If you ever put her at risk Arthur, I will make you regret ever meeting me. Understand?"

"Sir, your daughter is completely safe with me. I would never let anything happen to her."

"I'll make you eat those words." Gerald's warning was nothing short of what Arthur expected.

The rest of dinner passed by in an awkward silence and after the washing up was done, it was all the pair could do not to run out of the house.

Later that evening, under the cover of a vast blanket of stars, Ariadne and Arthur sat on the porch, looking out over the wilderness, cloaked in darkness.

"It's so beautiful out here at night. I had forgotten."

Arthur chuckled. "I miss Paris already. Less wildlife."

Ariadne laughed, punching him lightly in his mosquito bitten arm. "It was your idea to go on a wilderness hike." She embellished the last part with her hands in the air, waving them slightly.

"It's different out here. Savage, almost." It was true. Huntington, Oregon was miles away from any major city, and the closest neighbor was a good few miles up a gravel road.

"Why did you tell them, after you couldn't tell your own parents? What if you have put them in danger, by them just knowing who you are?"

"Relax, trust me. Nothing will ever happen to your family." He reached an arm around her and pulled the Parisian architect closer.

"I know" she muttered, letting her head nestle on his shoulder.

As Arthur dropped a chaste kiss on her forehead, the fleeting thought of a country house of their own crossed his mind.