Arthur woke gasping, his hands instinctively reaching for the wounds that were no longer there.
Eames was immediately at his side, attempting to calm the point man down enough so that he could find out what was gong on in the dream. "Arthur, Arthur listen to me, you're awake, you're fine!"
Arthur was still breathing heavily, but he appeared to have calmed down a bit. Even with all his training, some deaths were just purely traumatizing, and Eames understood completely. Seeing that Arthur appeared to be getting himself under control, he decided to move forward with his questioning, "What's going on down there? Did Dick shoot you?"
"No, Cobb did. Everyone else is still asleep, but I doubt they will be for much longer."
As if on cue, Ariadne gasped awake, quickly followed by Cobb. Arthur stood and walked over to them. Kneeling in front of Ariadne, he cupped her chin in his hands, concern etched on his face, "Are you alright?"
She nodded, still trying to catch her breath. Arthur lowered his hands and the two embraced in a quick, but passionate hug.
When the pair released each other Cobb look at Arthur, "Arthur I-"
"Thank you." Arthur interrupted.
Cobb smiled slightly, nodding his head.
Arthur looked back at Ariadne and Cobb recognized the look immediately. It was a look he had once shared with his wife not so long ago; love.
Obviously something had clicked for them in the dream, it was no longer questionable, they loved each other.
The door burst open and Arthur snapped his gaze quickly to the front of the room. But not quickly enough, because Richard seemed to have caught sight of the look Ariadne and Arthur had been sharing, and his evil smile stretched from ear to ear.
"Look at this, oh look at this! Young lovers, how wonderful!" The man seemed barely able to contain his excitement at this development.
The group just glared at him, not confirming yet not denying his statement.
"Love is such a wonderful thing, isn't it Dom? Oh wait, you killed your wife, so sorry."
Cobb yelled angrily, lashing out at Richard with such force it took both Arthur and Eames to hold him back.
"Hey, calm down." Arthur commanded in a deep voice.
"Cobb, he's not worth it!" Eames added.
Arthur and Eames, preoccupied with Cobb, didn't even notice Richard sneak past them, and Ariadne, scarred half to death with the way Cobb had reacted, didn't see Richard behind her. She only became aware of his presence when he yanked painfully on her hair, forcing her to move and stand in the front of the room.
Ariadne wailed in pain as she was dragged across the floor, kicking and punching at Weilin for all her worth, but she couldn't get him to release his vice like grip on her hair.
The trio's attention went from Cobb back to Richard, glaring icy daggers at him with all their might, although that really wasn't going to help them at all.
"Let her go." Arthur said, his voice deep and dripping with venom.
"No, I don't think I will." Richard pulled on Ariadne's hair, causing her to scream loudly in pain.
It was Arthur's turn to shout angry, unintelligible words at Richard, if it hadn't been for Eames's tight grip on his wrist Arthur would have been on his feet in seconds.
"Love, its such a waste of time. Now, here's how this is going to play out, you are going to tell me how Inception works, and then I am going to let her go."
"Don't tell him!" Ariadne choked out, tears falling down her cheeks.
"Oh how sweet, being brave for your man? Lave is weakness, that is what it is. When you're in love someone can always get to you. I bet Arthur is just hating this, sitting there, unable to do anything to help." Richard sneered. He then turned and pressed Ariadne's lips to his own.
Ariadne squeaked in surprise and disgust. She gripped Richard by the shoulders, then knead him in the crotch, hard.
Richard grunted in pain, cussing under his breath. He looked up at Ariadne, who just spat on the ground next to his shoes, then he slapped her across the face. Ariadne gasped as she fell to the ground, her hand automatically flying to her injured cheek.
Eames released Arthur's wrist and he immediately ran to her side, "Are you alright?"
Ariadne nodded between tears. Arthur helped her over to the corner where they were sitting, all the while keeping a protective arm in from of her, his eyes trained on Weilin, as if he was afraid the man would try and do something to harm her more.
Richard smiled once again, deciding to just turn and leave, instead of trying to threaten the group further.
"Damn Dick," Eames shook his head, "Bested by a girl, you must be loosing your touch. Or, maybe, you're just a bobble head, a figure of power and authority. That's why you have body guards isn't it? 'Cause you don't want anyone to find out that you can't bench more than ten pounds."
Richard chose to ignore the comment, slamming the door shut angrily behind him to the angry glares of the team.
A/N: Hail people of the fanfiction world! First off, I am so sorry this chapter is so short! I must confess, my typing is catching up to my writing... I have to stop and write more of this story before I can continue. But for a while I just wasn't feeling inspired, I watched Inception last night though, so hopefully I'll be more inspired and be able to write more! As always, feedback is much appreciated! Honestly, I knew how this story was going to start, and I know how it's going to end, but I don't know how exactly I'm going to get from point A to point B, so if anyone has any ideas... help would be much appreciated at this time of crisis!
