NOTE: Um…so thanks to a freak tornado incident I haven't had power since Sunday and therefore have not been able to update. Or go online. At all. But now here's the note I had planned before this untimely event. Now, I have power and will be back on schedule for writing and posting this story.
I really don't know how to thank you guys for reading, reviewing, favorite-ing and signing up for this author/story alert business. Other than posting this update!
Thanks to Nikkipedia for your fantastically lengthy and in-depth reviews : ) And UT, I just lost the game.
A special shout out to The Septillionaire, my officially unofficial beta-reader. PEEP CALL!
Also, I apologize if the dialogue is not word for word from the movie…I tried very hard to re-create it and I hope that I at least half-succeeded.
The heavy rain pounded down on Ariadne as she stood on the street corner, searching the road for Cobb. As a dark vehicle pulled up, she yanked the door open, sliding inside the car that was carefully tailing the taxi in front of them.
"Look, I'm sorry about the other day. About what I said," she quickly blurted out to the man driving. She shivered and adjusted the air conditioner to point away from her. Whoever decided it should be raining during this point should be punched the moment they wake up.
He shook his head sharply. "Don't be. You were right—" was all he could get out before an unbearably loud noise ripped through the sound of the rain. The two whipped around in their seats to see a large train hurtling down the middle of the busy road. Cars smashed into each other, other drivers laying heavily on their horns.
A look of fear flashed in her eyes as Cobb sped up, avoiding the sudden out-of-place mode of transportation. She racked her brain trying to remember if she had planned out train tracks anywhere in the layout. Nothing.
"Where have you been?" yelled Arthur as Cobb and Ariadne finally pulled into the warehouse, slamming the garage door behind them. Yusuf was mixing chemicals at the long table with shaking hands and Arthur was bent over Saito's body, shoving a jacket under his head.
"We were avoiding the train!" Cobb responded in a hostile tone. He shook the rain from his jacket, shoving the gun hastily in the back of his pants.
"Why would you put a train crossing in the middle of a downtown intersection?" Arthur snapped at Ariadne. His eyes were cold, his sharp jaw line cutting through the air as he turned his face to look up at her.
"I didn't!" she shot back, holding her hands up in defense. She felt guilty, even though this wasn't her fault.
"What happened; is he dying?" he asked about Saito's condition who was now murmuring incoherently, eyes fluttering open and shut.
"He was shot," Arthur responded, pulling off his own coat and yanking his tie from his neck. He threw them behind him and Ariadne picked them up without a word, draping both over a metal chair.
"Those were not normal projections! They have been trained!" Cobb yelled at Arthur who was trying to stop the blood pouring from Saito's chest.
"How could they be trained?" Ariadne asked, her voice dripping with naivety and confusion. He explained to her that Fischer had had someone, an extractor; teach him how to fight off people who may try to attack him in his dreams. He had been prepared for this type of situation. This could easily end everything.
"This was your job! You should have seen this coming!" Cobb yelled, his voice loud and high, gesturing wildly as he closed the gap between himself and the now standing Arthur.
"It didn't show up in the research!" he spat back at his friend, their faces close, the tension in the room taut and laced with fear. Both men glared into the other's eyes, sharing an argument of a caliber they rarely experienced with each other.
The chaos around her was making Ariadne's head hurt. Her mind was already on overload being in the dream and now this. Everyone was yelling; attempting to place the blame on each other as Saito bled profusely on the concrete floor. She stood helpless, watching as Eames pulled his gun from his pocket.
"Well, let's just put him out of his misery then—" Eames calmly stated, pointing the handgun at Saito's writhing body before Cobb jumped at him, pushing him against the car.
Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion as Cobb explained that there was no way to escape the dream world safely at this point. If they got killed, they would be lost in limbo for an indefinite amount of time.
Arthur looked towards Ariadne for a brief moment and she felt her heartbeat speed up. He looked worried, showing a rare moment of weakness before turning back to Saito. Cobb must have known this all along. He hadn't told anyone what the real risks of this job were. Being lost forever. In your own mind. Something so unknown. So terrifyingly unknown.
"We just have to work as quickly as possible," Cobb finished, looking towards Ariadne who had a fixed look of worry on her face. She gulped loudly, trying to compose herself. "Take Saito upstairs," he ordered them. After a moment of hesitation Eames and Arthur lifted the body of their benefactor up the narrow staircase and laid him gently on a bare table.
Ariadne got the first aid kit from Yusuf and followed quickly, her wet shoes making tiny squeaking sounds on the stairs as she jogged up them.
They let Fischer sweat it out for at least an hour, according to plan, alone and tied up in the next room. Ariadne had designed the abandoned warehouse to be one of those places that you could get hepatitis from just looking at the table, chair or door. For inspiration, she had thought back to health class in high school where they watched countless documentaries about serial killers abducting young, attractive victims and dragging them back to scary buildings and houses.
"How's he doing?" Arthur asked quietly from behind her. Cobb and Eames were in the next room, preparing for the next step and hopefully cooling off. Yusuf had the van ready to go as soon as Eames, posing as Browning, had pried a number out of Fischer and convinced him that they were on the same side.
"He's in a lot of pain," Ariadne responded, dabbing Saito's forehead gently with a cloth. There were always accidents but they were not prepared for something like this.
Arthur leaned his back against the end of the table, rubbing his forehead. "I can't believe I didn't find anything about…there should have been something," he mumbled. He was in shock that he hadn't come across any information that would lead him to believe that Robert Fischer had had this sort of training.
Ariadne crossed to him, touching his arm lightly, "Maybe there wasn't anything to be found. That family is so rich. It would be easy for them to cover up," she tried, hoping to calm his nerves. She knew Arthur cared deep down. She knew he worried about these things. She had been there, in his dream. In his mind. She had felt what he had felt through the way he built and destroyed things around them.
"Arthur, it's time," Cobb called to him from the door to the next room. He silently left Ariadne's side and didn't return till they had finished 'torturing' Eames and thrown him in with Fischer.
"Did he believe it?" she asked quickly, ever the curious one even when the situation called for silence.
"Of course he did," Cobb responded quickly, before adding, "Take Saito to the van. It won't be long now." Arthur and Ariadne carried the older man back downstairs, loading him into the van and filling Yusuf in on what was going on upstairs.
Ariadne rolled her eyes as Eames made a kissing noise as he passed by her, pulling the bag off his head to reveal Browning's face. She tried to ignore him as he continued to try and silently get her attention. Even in a time of utmost seriousness he had the nerve to be an annoying little shit. He buckled himself into the van seat as Ariadne attached an IV to her arm. Cobb warned Yusuf on his driving before the chemist pushed the yellow button to send them into the second level of the dream. Arthur's dream.
Before she knew it she was feeling drowsy and her eyes drooped before shutting completely. Then the darkness came. Then the bright light. Then black stilettos.
