Ariadne looked around nervously. She usually wasn't this nervous, but Arthur had been heckling her after they left the office.
"How do you know you'll be safe?" He asked her, and kept asking her.
"Arthur, shut up. I'll be fine." Ariadne wanted to pretend his question was for her, but she knew it was about Nash, and whether or not she'd be able to tell him.
Arthur looked hurt. Ariadne had tried to apologize, but he kept brushing her off. They were like that for the whole evening. Ariadne went with a few men just to piss him off. It didn't seem to work, because he kept his impassive facade.
Ariadne shivered and drew her coat tighter around her. The only reason she had was because of Arthur she remembered with a pang. A shadow arose in front of her. It crept across the alley like a ghost, hardly touching anything, hardly their.
The figure came closer and threw back its hood. Ariadne saw a dark-haired man with curls. He's cheeks were gaunt, and his eyes flashed menacingly. He threw back his head and laughed. "I assume you're the contact I was told about."
Ariadne swallowed, then drew herself to her tallest height. "Yes, I am."
Nash came a little closer. "So why is the town prostitute my contact?"
"Because I know the layouts of Fischer's home. You need it for your job."
Nash reached out and touched her cheek. "You're a pretty little girl."
"Let her go." Arthur stepped out of the shadows, his hand on his gun.
Nash snarled. "You think I'm going to let a pretty face like that go to waste? She'll be of some use, as the Indian squaw."
"I don't want to fight you Nash." Arthur said calmly. "I promised Cobb I wouldn't. But since you're threatening the miss who's gone for a walk, I think I should."
Nash threw back his head and screeched to the sky. "You want to tell her what happened that day?"
"She already knows."
"She doesn't know what happened after, does she?" Nash cackled when he saw Arthur's eyes widen. He turned to Ariadne. "Listen here. So I gave 'em to the bandits. Serve 'em right for not giving my fair share to me. But anyways, the bandits come back, with me in chains. Saito's master of the whole lot." He saw Ariadne jerk a bit. "Didn't know that, did you?" He smirked. He went on with his story. "We was working for a man named Cobol." He continued, pacing around, bursting into strange bits of guffawing, and otherwise acting drunk. "This Cobol, 'e wanted Saito dead, 'cause he stole a lot of his stuff. We fail in bringin' Saito down. Cobb and Arthur are goin' to run off, by themselves. I tells the bandits were they be. They come chasin' after 'em, catchin' 'em just as theys about to board a stagecoach. Saito gives him the option to shoot me. They refuse. They know I don't stand a chance 'gainst Cobol. He'll track me down, kill me, do the whole lot. Saito gives me to Cobol, and I am where I am now. Little messed up here," he pointed to his head, "but okay mostly. And ya see, that's why they's evil."
"They ain't evil!" Ariadne burst out, finding her voice. "They're smart, they're kind, they're everything you ain't."
Nash cackled again. "You say that now. Wait till they lose you too." He slipped away into the shadows, leaving Arthur and Ariadne alone.
Arthur was silent for a while. "You okay?" He asked, checking Ariadne with his eyes.
"I'm fine." She whispered. "Was-was it true?"
"Yeah."
"Every last bit?"
"Everything, except for us giving him to Cobol. We didn't know what Saito would do to him."
Ariadne nodded. "He didn't take the plans." She realized.
Arthur nodded. "I think it's in everyone's best interests if Eames hires another minion."
