Ch. 6
Plaza 51, Gotham City, 09:24
"Taxi!" Ariadne stepped off the curb outside the Plaza 51 while flagging down an approaching cab and hopped in when it pulled up alongside her.
The cabbie glanced back at her and started the meter. "Where to?"
"48th and Jefferson please. The dry cleaners' on the corner," she answered distractedly. Ariadne was in the middle of pulling out the list of errands left for her to do when she looked back up and suddenly locked eyes with a man on the opposite end of the street, sitting on a bench.
Gotham was a crowded city. It wasn't uncommon to meet eyes with someone for a moment with so many people around but the homeless were virtually ignored. Ariadne was guilty of looking right through them as well on several occasions but she studied him for a moment. She guessed the man across the street looked to be in his early to mid thirties, about 5'10, maybe 5'11, with blue eyes, disheveled brown hair and an overgrown beard. His frame looked bulky but it was hard to tell with all the blankets and layers of clothing obscuring his body.
The cab pulled away from the curb and Ariadne turned her attention to her list, the man on the street already forgotten.
Four hours later
The cabbie helped Ariadne take the groceries and dry cleaning out of taxi and took off quickly after she paid him. She began gathering up all the bags, looking up after feeling someone's piercing gaze on her.
It was the same man from earlier. It didn't look as though he had moved from the spot he was in earlier that morning. His outright staring began to unnerve Ariadne. He looked like a quiet man, completely at ease where he was sitting, but Ariadne sensed something off in the way he looked at her and his surroundings. Most of the homeless men she saw had bleary eyes, lined with fatigue, tired from lack of food. His eyes were very sharp and constantly moving. Almost like he was watching for something. She broke eye contact with him, finished gathering up her bags and made her way inside as quickly as she could.
Every day for the next week and a half Miranda sent Ariadne out for one thing or another and every single day that man was in the same spot, no matter what time of day it was. His eyes always found her when she left the building.
Gotham City Park, 12:35
"Arthur are you sure you don't need me to come by," Ariadne asked, looking around at the families playing in the snow. She transferred her cell phone from her left hand to her right.
"You did your part Ariadne with the maze," Arthur said on the other end of the line. "Until you have more info on her, there's no point in you coming back to the safehouse. We can't go through with the extraction until we have some kind of evidence proving Ivanov's suspicions. If she really is clean then we can't do the extraction at all. But it's on you. We don't have the luxury of time and our window is closing. I need something from you soon. Don't let me down."
Ariadne sighed as Arthur hung up. He usually wasn't so abrupt but the team was being held up because of her and she knew it. Ariadne tucked her phone away and looked around, thinking about what Arthur had said. He didn't know about the PASIV yet, which was unbelievable to Ariadne, but that gave her a little more time to find someone to man it.
She was watching several children play on a swing set when a slight movement to her right caught her eye. Ariadne didn't have to look over to know that it was the same man from outside the Plaza 51. She picked up her bag and was ready to walk back to the penthouse as quickly as she could when she noticed he had no blankets with him.
He wasn't wearing very many clothes either - just an old sweater and jeans with holes in them. The man didn't seem very cold. Ariadne noted that the man had a medium sized frame and by the looks of it, hadn't had a decent meal in a few days.
Ariadne began to walk away from the park, acutely aware of her surroundings. She was sure the man would follow her, and she was right. She could almost feel him walking behind her. Ariadne walked about three blocks, stopped suddenly and turned around. The man from outside the Plaza 51 was standing 10 feet behind her.
She raised an eyebrow. 'Starting to wonder if this guy didn't want to get caught. Maybe that's his way of begging for food.' Ariadne froze in place as a solution to her dilemma suddenly presented itself to her, like a gift on a shining silver platter. She looked the man in the eye and smiled sweetly at him.
"I've noticed you sitting outside the Plaza 51." Ariadne walked slowly towards the man, not wanting to startle him. "How long have you been there?"
The man's hard gaze softened into uncertainty as she inched closer to him. He didn't speak for a few long moments and when he finally did, his voice was rusty from disuse.
"About a year. I see everyone who comes and goes. But I've never seen you before."
Ariadne stopped about 3 feet in front of him. "Yeah, I'm kinda new around here. What's your name?"
"Name's John."
She noted that behind the creakiness of his voice was a slight accent. The soft, mellow tone she heard didn't fit with the man's sharp features and piercing eyes. But it was of no concern to her what he looked like. As long as she got what she needed, it didn't matter.
"John. That's nice. I'm Ariadne. Not to be too terribly forward, but you look like you've missed a meal or two."
"What about it? You offering food?" John eyed her suspiciously. It wasn't everyday a young beautiful girl smiled and talked openly with him.
"Yeah actually I am. I was just thinking that maybe you'd like to eat something. Find shelter. Take a shower. I mean, you followed me for a reason didn't you?"
John stayed silent, watching her carefully.
"I have a proposition to make." Ariadne continued. "Seems to me like you need money. I need someone to help me with a project. I can make it worth your while. Ten thousand dollars to help me. What do you think?"
"A crock of BS is what I think it is." John took a slight step away from her. "Nobody pays that kind of money to a stranger."
"I realize I probably look crazy to you right now. But I can prove what I'm saying. All I need is a chance for you to hear me out. What I need to do is not something many people understand. And those that do understand know that it isn't exactly legal. I chose you because you are invisible to those around you. I need someone that can blend in."
"You noticed me," John pointed out.
"I have sharper eyes than most." Ariadne shrugged. "This is a one time job. I have the ten thousand waiting, should you accept. I will not give you up to the authorities or have any contact with you when this is done and over with. We'll do it quick and be on our way and nobody will ever know. You'll be safe. I give you my word."
"How do you know I won't betray you instead? You put your hope in the unknown. It is a foolish thing to do."
"I don't. But you're the best candidate for this. And what we're doing, you won't be able to explain to just anyone. Like I said, there are few who know what it is we're doing and fewer you could talk to about it."
John stayed silent, weighing his options. The ten thousand would help him a great deal. He had his own… projects… to work on. He wasn't sure what the girl was getting him into but it was worth a look. John wasn't afraid of trouble. He lived a hard life. Nobody knew trouble more than he did. And who knows? Maybe he would acquire a new skill.
"I accept. But if I don't like what I see, I'll be gone before you even realize it."
Ariadne smiled. "Just give me a chance. You won't regret it. You wanna get something to eat? I know a pretty good place over by the Plaza 51. We'll go over the details."
Ariadne caught a lucky break.
Miranda had come down with the flu and was home the following Friday. She stayed up as long as she could but was in bed by 7:30 that night. Yusuf had unwittingly taught Ariadne how to measure out the sedatives according to height and weight so it was no problem for her to put a heavy – but not so heavy as to do damage - dose of sedative in Miranda's tea, to keep her asleep as long as possible.
After she was sure Miranda was out like a light, she called John and quickly snuck him up to the penthouse. It wasn't hard once she learned that the night doorman spent most of his time in the office drinking Rotgut vodka from a plastic jug instead of manning the foyer.
She hooked herself and Miranda up to the PASIV. Ariadne's goal was to be back out in maybe ten minutes in real time which equated to about two hours in dream time.
Ariadne was nervous. She had gone over with John how the PASIV and the countdown system worked. Even though she didn't need the musical countdown or a kick, she still couldn't afford any screw ups. "You ready John? Just watch the timer. It'll wake me up in 10 minutes. Ok?"
John nodded and seated himself near the PASIV. She gave him the signal and he pushed the infusion trigger in the center.
The absence of light and stale, stagnant air were the first things she noticed. Ariadne opened her eyes and took a moment to get her bearings about her while studying her surroundings. She was standing off to the side, deep in the shadows of an open air dungeon – a prison of some sort.
There were cells all around and above her, with iron bars for the doors and windows. Ariadne was standing in the corner of a square courtyard. There were concrete stairs with railings all around, and in the middle was what looked like a pool of cloudy water.
She noticed that the dungeon had very high walls with large, uneven stones, almost impossible to climb, with multiple levels. She couldn't believe how grey everything around her was. It only added to the despair she felt just looking around the prison. Ariadne didn't think she would be able to see much of anything if it weren't for the hanging lights in the cells and the weak sunlight from the top of the pit. It felt like she was at the bottom of a very deep well.
There were prisoners everywhere – dangerous, feral looking men - and as she began to slowly walk around, it hit her that she was the only female in sight. Ariadne panicked for a moment, but as she walked by a cell, she saw that it was open with a cloak on the ground.
Ariadne snatched it up before anyone could see and quickly wrapped it tightly around the lower half of her face. There was a loud noise coming from the courtyard. Ariadne stuck to the shadows to avoid being seen but crept closer to the cacophony. As she listened closely, she realized that the loud, jarring sound was actually a chant.
She heard the words Deshi and Basara being repeated in staccato syllables. She had no idea what the men were saying, but they were all looking up. She followed their collective gaze and noticed a man, with a rope around his midsection attempting to scale the wall, more than likely trying to climb out. It was almost too easy to stand and watch the prisoner try and escape.
The atmosphere reeked of hopelessness and desperation. It was almost as if these prisoners had become more like animals in order to just survive in a pit where the weak were devoured.
Ariadne watched as the man fell back down. He wasn't given a chance to try again. It was disturbing how the other prisoners swarmed all over the man. The rope was torn away from him and he was thrown aside to make room for another who would try to climb.
She felt nauseous watching the horror of it all. There was no humanity to be found.
'Why would Miranda Tate have dreams of a place like this?'
It didn't make sense. Miranda was rich, almost beyond measure. She enjoyed the finer things in life. What did this desolate pit have to do with her? Ariadne receded back into the shadows just in time to see two people pass.
A strong looking but rather lean young man, possibly in his early twenties, walked by carrying a young child in his arms. Ariadne looked at the child. The child had a shaved head, skinny limbs wrapped around the man's neck, bright blue eyes, and pouty lips. At first glance, the child could be mistaken as a boy, but if anyone were to look close enough, they would realize that it was actually a little girl, about 7 or 8 years old.
What shocked Ariadne was the startling resemblance the child bore to the high society Miranda Tate. The facial features were rounded with youth, but were nearly identical otherwise.
Time seemed to slow as she stared at the ruddy faced child with dirt packed fingernails. She was rooted to the spot and had somehow forgotten to breathe. Ariadne glanced down at the girl's twig-like left arm. Miranda had a scar on her left bicep that looked like it had been a very deep laceration at one point. She never spoke of it and Ariadne never asked.
'No scar. Maybe it's not her after all,' she tried to tell herself.
There was a loud noise sounding from the opposite end of the courtyard. Ariadne tore her eyes from the child and searched for the commotion.
The second man who was climbing the wall fell, and everyone issued a collective and disappointed groan. The prisoners didn't really believe that the man could escape, but it was an amusing thing to watch. They watched one person after the next try to climb the sprawling stone wall in the same manner that a group of men would congregate around the TV for a football or basketball game.
Ariadne returned to the obscurity of the shadows. The girl had disappeared; Ariadne set off to find her. After a few minutes of turning down one corridor after another, she finally located the pair. The young man and girl were in an uncluttered cell with a hard concrete floor, sleeping on a rickety old cot.
Ariadne stood and observed them, still hidden from view in a dim corner. Suddenly, without any warning, the girl awoke and stood from where she had been sleeping. She crossed the cell and opened the door. Ariadne followed her as she crept from one staircase to another until she had made it all the way down to the stone pool at the bottom.
The girl crouched down and began to drink from the pool of water. Ariadne didn't like how murky the water was and wondered how safe it was to drink.
'This isn't right… she shouldn't be here alone.' She hoped the girl would hurry and silently tried to will her back to her cell.
Ariadne's skin went clammy and beads of nervous perspiration blossomed on her forehead when her eyes landed on five men who were, at that moment, making their way down another section of stairs and right down to the water.
Her heart began to beat furiously as she started to panic. She wanted to call out to the girl, issue some shrill warning, sound - an alarm of some kind, but she was in a dream. Ariadne wasn't so sure what the consequences of interfering would be. They weren't good when she did it with Cobb.
The men, who were talking and laughing, fell quiet when they saw the girl. One man stepped forward and leered at her. His lascivious thoughts didn't need to be verbalized.
The girl, who had spotted them at the same time Ariadne did, had moved to a stone wall on the far side of the pool. The presumed leader of the quintet said something nasty to the girl in what sounded like Moroccan Arabic.
The girl stayed mute while the other men laughed and moved a little closer. Not wasting any time, the first man, who had crossed the room without Ariadne noticing it, lunged at the child.
The girl let loose a blood-curdling scream that echoed throughout the empty room and managed to slip through the man's arms. She made a dash for the nearest staircase when the other four men ran towards her. The men circled the girl, not unlike a pride of lions circling a gazelle. Their eyes were glazed over with lust.
Ariadne was glued to the floor, only capable of looking on in horror. The girl, who was visibly shaking, made a soft keening sound as the men closed in around her.
Suddenly the girl was cut off from Ariadne's view by the limbs of the girl's predators. Ariadne thought she was gonna be sick. She was going to witness probably the most horrible thing she had ever seen and could do nothing to help.
"TALIA!"
A deep masculine voice echoed through the prison and the head of each attacker snapped up in the direction of the sound.
The tall, broad-shouldered man who had earlier been carrying the small child suddenly appeared at the top of a set of stairs on the second level.
As he passed by Ariadne, she saw his handsome features were twisted into something very dark and dangerous. His face held the promise of death but Ariadne couldn't find it in herself to feel sorry for any of the men. All five men abandoned the young girl and ran up the stairs to rush him. The powerful man gave a guttural growl and moved to meet the approaching men head on. He swung his arms and fought them all at once with nothing held back.
She watched as pure rage was unleashed into the dank prison. It was unlike anything she had ever seen before. The violence that took place outdid every movie that she could remember watching. It was unreal. The child curled in on herself, not far from Ariadne. Her large, blue eyes took in every bone that broke, every drop of blood that was spilled.
It seemed to Ariadne that in just a few short minutes, he had torn through all five of the men and left them barely alive with their limbs horribly twisted on the unforgiving ground.
The young man rushed over to the girl and hoisted her up into the cradle of his arms. He began soothing her in a gentle voice when a loud commotion sounded. There was a mob of angry men rushing towards them. Ariadne backed away from the pair and made her way up another set of stairs. She stood safely on the third level and watched everything below her from a shadowy corner.
The young man began to run with the girl still in his arms but fell hard as someone tackled him to the ground. The girl tumbled out of his arms and was grabbed by two prisoners, their faces swathed in beige muslin.
The young man shoved his attacker away and took on the men that had the girl. He scooped her from the ground and ran around the edge of the stone pool and around the courtyard to the looming expanse of the wall.
There was a heavy feeling that settled around Ariadne. It smelled and tasted like death. She shivered under her cloak but kept watch from the courtyard entrance. She watched as the young man urgently talked to the girl.
From her vantage point, she couldn't hear what was being said, but she saw fear in the young girl's face. The man spoke briefly and then grew quiet. He didn't speak again, but touched the girl's face gently, memorizing her features.
He lifted the girl onto the first ledge to begin her climb and Ariadne noticed that she was bleeding profusely from her left arm. As she grabbed hold of the ledge, the crowd from earlier rushed up to the man and grabbed him.
The girl climbed onto the ledge and turned to look down at the man who had protected her. Ariadne knew a goodbye when she saw one, even if it was unspoken. It was such a tender, emotional thing; feelings that didn't - and couldn't - exist in a place like the pit they were standing in.
The man, who struggled earlier looked up at the girl and stopped fighting. He seemed to be in peace. He mouthed something just before he was completely swallowed by a sea of hands that punched, tore and ripped his flesh apart and broke his body. Ariadne watched the girl climb the stone wall.
There were no tears on her face, just a familiar determination that Ariadne immediately recognized. The girl climbed the wall with efficient agility until she got to a wide gap in the ledge. It was the same space that the other man had fallen.
She tensed and watched the girl pause for just a moment before leaping with everything she was capable. Ariadne held her breath, hoping she would make it. There would be nothing left if the other prisoners ever got a hold of her. The girl miraculously made the jump that grown men hadn't been able to accomplish. She then continued ascending, never once looking back. Ariadne realized then that the girl had made the jump without the rope. It was a powerful thing, seeing someone take a leap of faith, whether it be in school or at work, or a literal leap of faith.
She retreated to the shadows without sparing another glance down at the crowd. She didn't want to see what was left of the man who helped the young girl gain her freedom.
Ariadne opened her eyes and found herself back in Miranda's room. John began to say something but Ariadne cut him off with a quick shake of her head. She took the other line out of Miranda, who was still asleep, and proceeded to pack up. John wordlessly followed suit and five minutes later they were back in her room.
"So, what happened?" John asked.
"I…I don't know," Ariadne answered, still shaken. "I was in a prison that looked like the bottom of a well. There was this little girl and -," she cut herself off, feeling overwhelmed with emotion.
That dream was one of the most disturbing things Ariadne had seen in her life. She felt sad for the girl and especially the young man. She had a sudden urge to cry and wished John weren't there at that moment.
Ariadne collected herself and motioned to John. The two of them left the penthouse. Once they were safely outside, she turned to John and reached into her pocket for the wad of cash that was now his. "Ten thousand, as promised. Go quickly and don't look back."
John took the money wordlessly and disappeared down the street. He didn't turn back and Ariadne didn't stay to watch him go.
John stuffed the cash in his pocket and kept moving, mind on what had just happened. Ariadne was right – there was no way he would be able to explain it. She thoroughly explained what it was but what she did was something that had to be seen to truly understand.
After twenty minutes of walking, he reached the entrance to the sewers and lowered himself in. John followed the curve of the tunnel until he reached a wide opening. John stepped through it and entered a large space that had been converted into a room. To the left was a ledge with cool, metal railings. Beyond the railing was a waterfall of stagnant sewer water.
To the right was a narrow bed in the far corner and maps affixed all over the concrete wall. John focused on the ledge where two men stood talking with one another. The first man was wiry looking and stood at six feet. He had on black tactical pants with kneepads, and a black shirt with a black Kevlar vest over it that had seen better days. The other man stood well over six feet tall and was powerfully built. He was wearing black laced combat boots with severely scuffed toes and dark olive green cargo pants. John noticed that the usual accompanying vest he usually wore was lying on the bed.
The broad-chested man was shirtless and had striated defined muscles and a scar that ran the entire length of his spine. He stopped talking and turned to face John who focused on his face, which only showed his sharp hazel eyes. The rest of his face was obscured by a black metallic mask that covered his nose, mouth and jaw.
It wrapped itself around the man's head and lower face and in the space between his eyes. The coiled grey tubes around the mouth area eerily resembled fangs. When he finally spoke, his voice was an odd rumbling mixture of melodious and mechanical.
"Barsad. You're back sooner than expected. What do you have for me?"
Ariadne spent the entirety of the following week in a state of perpetual worry, her thoughts predominantly occupied by Arthur. She had to find a way to tell him what she had seen. The information was crucial to the mission but she couldn't think of a way to do it without alerting him to the fact that she had stolen equipment and initiated an extraction.
He might not realize what she had done initially, but he'd suspect enough to investigate. And when he found out - and he would find out - it would be over for her. Knowing Arthur, he would more than likely remove her from the job. Ariadne, lost in her thoughts for a moment, sighed and continued to mop the kitchen floor, still undecided on what to do.
Half an hour later, Ariadne heard the front door slam shut. At first she just kept cleaning the kitchen. Then she stopped as she remembered that Miranda had a full day of meetings and probably wouldn't be back until at least 9:00 that night. She looked at the clock, heart suddenly pounding hard. 11:30.
There was a way to get information while skirting around the unauthorized extraction. Seeing what was in Miranda's head finally gave Ariadne the courage to do what she should've done from the beginning.
She figured had ample time to try and get into Miranda's room, but breaking into a room could take some time - especially since she had never done it before. And she couldn't chance Miranda suddenly popping in. It would only take once to be discovered.
'This might be my only chance for a long time,' she thought, putting the mop down in its bucket.
Ariadne first checked the rest of the penthouse to make sure everything was in order. She then walked upstairs and stood in front of Miranda's door, nerves jangling. She kneeled in front of the door handle and studied the lock. It looked like a typical door lock, nothing fancy.
'Always keep a tool of some sort on you. It can be anything: a knife, a bobby pin - whatever. Just have something with you all the time, you never know when you're gonna need it.'
This was the first thing she had learned from Eames about picking locks.
Since then, Ariadne kept a small Swiss knife on her, along with her totem. It had a few different knives and tools on it that often came in handy for her.
"Just as you would be aware of your surroundings, you should be aware of the item in front of you. What type of lock you're dealing with, the type of knob, any scratches or dings on it. It may seem like a minor thing, but it's important. You should be able to assess all of that without even touching the door. Some people like to booby trap their doors. If anything looks odd to you, don't touch it."
She studied the door handle and the lock for a moment before reaching for the knife in her pocket. Everything looked good so far. Ariadne lifted her arms to bring the knife up towards the lock. As she did that, she wobbled slightly, losing the balance she had on her knees and suddenly pitched forward.
Ariadne's hands shot out reflexively and her left hand latched onto the door by accident. As she regained her balance, she realized her hand was gripping the doorknob and that it was unlocked.
'Oh God, something's wrong,' Ariadne thought as she scrambled to her feet. 'Miranda never leaves her door unlocked. I should just turn around and leave… call Arthur, tell him it can't be done. Something's not right.'
But as she was thinking these things, her feet were on autopilot, moving her forward until she was all the way in Miranda's room, with the door closing softly behind her.
For the next hour, despite her blaringly loud internal warnings, Ariadne poured over every nook and cranny in the room. She had searched high and low and was getting frustrated when she realized that she had missed the closet entirely.
Ariadne stepped through the French doors leading to the inside of the closet, her gaze wanted to be everywhere at once.
Inside, it was huge and just as decadent as the rest of the room. There was a large cheval mirror with heavy gold trimming on the opposite side of the closet, and shelves all around it. Miranda had clothes for days and shoes for every social engagement. And yet, everything still had its specific place.
Ariadne searched through the closet, running her fingers against any hard surface she could find from top to bottom, and carefully looking between the layers of clothing. Another 45 minutes later, she threw herself on the floor in frustration, hot, sweaty, and horribly disappointed.
There was nothing.
All she had learned in that time was that Miranda had a passionate love for all things Michael Kors. Not helpful or useful in any way. She stood up, stretching, joints popping, and studied her reflection absently.
'All this time spent here for nothing,'she thought bitterly.
She turned to leave when something caught her eye. Up near the left hand corner of the mirror, there was something that looked like a tiny switch. The top of the switch glinted in the faint light from the rest of the closet.
Ariadne's eyes had caught it from a strange angle, or else she would've never noticed it. She narrowed her eyes and reached up towards the switch and pushed it up. She jumped back as there was a soft sliding sound, like a door gliding open.
The mirror slid to the right, revealing a tiny room that had nothing in it but a thin black curtain on the opposite wall. Ariadne walked over and pulled the fabric aside before stepping inside another room. She saw a small office that looked more inviting than the rest of the penthouse put together. The room was done in earth tones. The walls were a light green with a wooden floor. The furniture consisted of a desk, a few comfy looking chairs, some shelves and a desk lamp that was still turned on. They were all some type of brown or green. The room reminded Ariadne of a forest.
It didn't seem like Miranda's taste at all. She looked around the office and still saw nothing real personal. She didn't understand why Miranda wanted to hide an office if there was nothing to hide.
'The hidden door was a little intense, but still nothing here...' Ariadne thought as she opened up the desk and saw nothing out of the ordinary. She tried hard not to disturb anything, but still lightly shuffled the papers around in the top drawer. She frowned as her hand bumped against something towards the back of the drawer.
Ariadne peered in and saw two little booklets, one dark blue, the other Bordeaux red. They were passports.
She opened up the dark blue one; an American passport.
Miranda Tate. The name and picture was clear as day on the page.
Ariadne closed that one and picked up the other passport, which was a French passport. She opened it and saw the same picture but a different name.
Talia Ducard.
Ariadne's mind went back to Miranda's dream. The man in the dream addressed the little girl as Talia. She also remembered that as the little girl was climbing, she was bleeding profusely from her left bicep in the same spot as Miranda's scar.
Ariadne's hands went cold. She thought what she had seen was a vivid dream of Miranda's. She was wrong.
It was a memory.
A/N: Hi everyone! Just wanted to say thank you again for reading. Honestly I wasn't too happy with this chapter (writing can be so difficult sometimes...) but I hope you liked it anyway. Or could tolerate it at least lol. Let me know what you think! :D
