AN: Hello, yes, it is another chapter of Natural Inception. Its Christmas Break! I hope everyone has been having a good time and that everyone enjoys this chapter. :)
Disclaimer: I don't own Inception, but I do own the concept of natural inception and my OCs.
Warning: Adult Language/Situations, Death, OOCness (out of characterness)
Recap:
Alice didn't speak, but smiled and nodded to Ariadne. Still smiling silently she picked up her bag and walked out of the room. Arthur got to his knees, as if he were going to follow her and Ariadne felt herself shrink a little, so she had been right...
"You should go after her."
"What?"
"Aren't you going to go after her? She's the one who really saved you, she's the one who kicked us."
Arthur looked at the door then back to her, for a second he hesitated and Ariadne felt herself shrink even more. But then Arthur leaned over the small distance between them, hand cupping the side of her face, he kissed her. It was brief, it was soft, sweet and warm; a mirror of their kiss during the Fischer job; "You saved me... Ariadne..."
But, before Ariadne could reply, there was a sharp rap on the door; "Open the door Arthur!"
It was Eames...
Start:
30 Minutes Earlier:
Marcus Blood gently tipped his chair back so that it was resting on two legs as he surveyed his team before him; he was rather proud of his collection. "I think Cobb's old team has had enough time to relax... we know they have already contacted one another. Claudia, go give a message to their Forger and tell them we are to meet tomorrow for a little... a little get together..." The wicked smile on Bloods face told Claudia that what he had planned was something cruel and unpleasant, maybe he was going to test their talents before they started going after Alice.
Arthur and Ariadne's Hotel Room
Ariadne dashed to open the door, since the second Arthur had started to stand he'd slumped back down, still weak from the dream. Eames, quickly followed by Usef entered their room; "We have a problem." Eames said, "That other Forger Claudia came by, they want to see us, tomorrow! Darlings, we don't have any more time... what happened to you Arthur?" Eames said, noticing that Arthur was still sitting on the floor.
"Rose trapped him in a dream. I just got him out." Ariadne said, with a quick explanation, "Now, what is this about a meeting?"
"You went into that dream alone!" Eames said, sounding surprised and more then a little angry, "Ariadne, what if you'd gotten trapped too."
"This isn't the time." Ariadne said, matching Eames volume, which was quite impressive, "We need to do something fast otherwise, we really will have to do what Marcus wants!"
"Why don't we just do that?"
Everyone in the room turned to look at Arthur, stunned.
"What?" Ariadne said quietly, she could have heard him wrong. There was no way... Arthur wouldn't want to kill Alice...
"Before I got trapped... Alice asked me to make sure we followed Blood's orders. She doesn't think that she can control her alternate persona any more." He looked over at Ariadne, "This is the only way I can see us getting out cleanly, we have no time to plan, and we still have Dom to worry about too."
Ariadne bit her lip and she looked over at the other two members of their team; Eames was looking down at Arthur his expression worried and dark, Yusef was staring at his hands, which were clasped tightly in front of him. And Arthur was staring at her; "We have no choice anymore..."
Ariadne hoped he was wrong, but even she couldn't dream up a way to save Cobb, keep Alice alive and save her from Rosa, stop Marcus and his team and keep everyone she cared about unharmed. The odds were stacked against them.
"The meeting is going to take place at an abandoned school on the corner of Apple Ave and 13th Street." Eames said, "We are supposed to meet them at noon."
Arthur got up from the floor and sighed, "Thanks for the heads up Eames... you guys should get some sleep, we'll have to be rested for tomorrow..."
Yusef and Eames left in silence, not even a little innuendo from Eames to attempt to soften the stifling atmosphere around them. When the door clicked shut Arthur turned and looked at Ariadne, she asked in a small voice; "Is there really no other way?"
"We have too much to loose... not enough to gain, Ari..." Arthur sounded defeated, tired, more tired then she had ever heard him sound, his whole body seemed to sag a little. Alice's suicide declaration and the loss of their week for planning had come as a hard blow. She couldn't bare to see him this way, she was so used to seeing him neat and in control, these emotions and rage and defeat that ebbed out of his body like waves of an ocean was enough to make her heart break.
"Arthur..." Her voice was cracked as she stepped forward and pulled him towards her, holding him close. From then it was like a switch had gone off, he was kissing her and her fingers were digging at his tie. She undid his shirt next as he pushed the thin jacket off of her shoulders with one hand and threaded the fingers of the other in her hair. Ariadne's fingers were working at his belt as he pushed the straps of the tank-style shirt she'd been wearing under the jacket down to her hips. Arthur's own fingers undid her pants and he pushed them off, kicking off his own once she'd pushed them to his knees, breaking the kiss for a second to do so.
They were on the bed, arms wrapped around each other, Ariadne kissing him for all she was worth. Then Arthur pulled away, he looked down at their bodies: him in just boxers her in her bra and panties; "Ariadne... Ari... we can't do this tonight."
Those words sunk into her head, bringing back the tiredness that the bliss of loosing themselves in each other had washed away for a brief moment. "Ok..." He puled the covers over their bodies and pulled her close, "Thank you..." He whispered to her and she was all right with it, with waiting. Because in a way he was right, there was too much going on...
"Good Night Arthur."
"Good Night Ariadne..."
The Peacock Inn:
Alice checked in to her new hotel room, she had to change hotels since Marcus might be visiting them personally soon. She had watched through the peep hole in her door as Claudia left down the hall after dropping off an small envelope in front of the door that belonged to Arthur's Forger and Chemist. The new hotel room was recently remodeled, the smell of paint still hung faintly in the air. There was a deep brown dresser and desk, a cabinet with a TV, a mini fridge, and a dark blue and green bed. Alice put her suit case on the bed and opened it. Her bag contained clothes and another small silver briefcase, inside the brief case was a machine used for dream sharing and three IVs and a box of tiny metal vials. As Alice pulled out a vial labeled Cantarella she heard Rosa stir in the back of her mind.
You know you are loosing...
"Shut up." Alice said a loud to herself, putting the vial into the machine.
You know you can't stop me, why try anymore?
Broken images flashed through her mind; the dead mayors, her parents bodies, blood flowing over the floors, Arthur broken and bleeding on the floor of the office from the dream. In the background Rosa's giggles echoed. "I said SHUT UP!" Alice screamed, sliding the IV into her arm and pressing the button on the machine. The voice and images stopped and she only had time to climb onto the comforter of her bed before sleep took over. A sleep so dark and deep that dreams could not exist, it was the only way... the only way to keep both of them prisoners in their shared mind.
Ariadne awoke in the morning to find Arthur's arms still wrapped around her and hers around him. "Today's the day..." She whispered into his chest.
"It is..." His voice startled her and his arms tightened around her body, "Are you ready?"
"Are you?"
"As I'll ever be." He sat up, releasing her and they got dressed, brushed their teeth and hair in silence. Eames and Yusef mett them in the lobby and they set off to meet their enemy.
A/N: And, this is the end of another chapter... R and R please!
