A/N: In this chapter finally we reach the point of serious Dreaming. As always a big smile for every reader, hope you'll like that chapter.
„Arthur, can we run through first level once more?", Ariadne asks suddenly, in the middle of lunch, which causes a suspicious glare from Eames. Everything is planned for tomorrow and they've already practiced both levels a countless number of time. Yet, Arthur nods his head without the slightest hint of surprise or hesitance. If Ariadne wants to Dream this level before the job once more, Arthur will do it.
Everything is exactly as it should be. The restaurant is warm and elegant, the delicate and delicious smell in the air, every single detail on its place.
"It's amazing.", Ariadne sighs. "Every time you're the dreamer you put another element here. I can't imagine it can be more detailed than now."
Arthur smiles at her words, but his eyes remain serious. Ariadne stand turn back, staring at the restaurant's space. He gently puts his arms around her waist, once again surprised how easy it is. She leans her head on his chest, sighing.
"What's happening?", he asks quietly. "You know I can't memorize it better than now."
"I just wanted to be alone with you, without anybody who could knocks in the door at any minute, asks some question or do anything like that.", Ariadne admits.
"Eames finally gets on your nerves?", Arthur chuckles."He sometimes behaves like a child, that's pretty annoying."
"I was wondering if there was anything between you and him.", Ariadne says suddenly. She feels Arthur tenses.
"Did he suggest something like that?", he asks hurriedly.
"No!", Ariadne denies quickly. "I just think, there could be something. Call it women' instinct or whatever."
Arthur lets her go and sighs.
"There was nothing, even though Eames wanted something.", he admits with visible difficulty. "It wasn't easy time, though. It's not that I wanted to agree, but Eames saved my life that time and…", he waves his hand and shrugs.
Ariadne realizes that she's the only one, beside who Arthur shows that sometimes even he doesn't know proper words to describe something.
"It doesn't seem bad now.", she notices.
"We just used to each other, I guess. Now it doesn't matter whatever Eames still wants something or not, that though doesn't freak me out."
"And why did you kick me out from your life after inception?", Ariadne asks all of sudden.
"What's that is supposed to be?", Arthur turns to her with frown. "An interrogation?"
"No!", she protest fervently. "I just… I want to know you, really know you. I love you, but you're a mystery."
He takes a few steps and stands right in front of her. "Look at me. Ariadne, look at me."
She raises her huge eyes and glances at him quickly, before looking at one of the paintings at the room.
"Why are you asking me that?", he asks, but his voice is gently.
Ariadne looks at him briefly and walks away from him. She sits at the table they sat during their dinner in the real restaurant in the real world.
"I'm scared.", she confesses, her voice barely above whisper. "I'm scared that I won't get chance to know you better before something happens."
"Ari.", he says softly and sits beside her.
He won't give her any promises, he never does such things; the future is unknown and Arthur doesn't make promises he's not sure he can keep.
The rest of the Dream they spend in silence.
"He's bloody heavy.", Eames mutters, dragging Coyle with Arthur's help.
They're in Physiotherapy Room , where Coyle spends three hours every week exercising and being massaging. It wasn't hard task to "convince" people working there to give them free hand in taking care of Coyle today.
When Coyle is laying safely on the floor, Yusuf opens the PASIV and looks around. The rest of the team is already sitting in various places.
"Everybody's ready?", he asks and everybody confirms that.
Nobody knows how Eames managed to convince the Chemist to take apart in this mission and Yusuf barely speaks to anybody. Still, he's present and promises to go into the field if needed.
When everyone has the needle in his wrist Yusuf presses the button and the world around them disappears.
Arthur and Ariadne are sitting at the two-places table, his hand covering her. The restaurant is full of Coyle's projections and it's hard task to find Coyle himself at this crowd. Ariadne is the first to see him; he's sitting a couple of meters from them, the impatient expression on his face.
"Where's Eames?", Ariadne asks anxiously, trying to look like nothing bothered her. "He was supposed to be sitting with Coyle!"
Arthur narrows his eyes but before he has a chance to spoke he catches the picture of a plump and elegant middle-aged woman.
Coyle's wife or rather Eames as her.
He leans forward Ariadne and gently brushes her cheek.
"He's close.", he whispers softly. For every projection in this room it has to look like a lover's conversation.
Eames walks slowly toward Coyle, the painful expression on his, or rather her, face.
"Hello, John.", he says sighing ant carefully takes a seat beside him.
"Sweetheart, the spine again?", Coyle reacts immediately. "I said you, you work too much."
Eames hides the smile. Coyle reacts perfectly, even better than they expected.
"Oh, you know perfectly well that I can't!", he protest fervently, gesturing widely, like Coyle's wife used to do, before grimacing in pain and sighing once again. Coyle looks at him anxiously, but Eames avoids his gaze instead of that staring at the space.
"Remember when we were working here together?", he asks, his voice filled with nostalgia.
Coyle closes his eyes. "Of course I do.", he admits. "Sometimes I wish I wouldn't have to start working in the other business."
Eames catches Arthur's gaze and almost invisibly nods his head.
Everything goes according to the plan.
"Ari, we need to prepare.", Arthur murmurs and she feels a wave of fear.
"So soon? How is that possible?", she reacts immediately, but obediently stands up and lets him lead herself through the restaurant.
Somewhere in the middle they run into Cobb, who plays a role of waiter. The drinks he's carries are spilled all over Ariadne, exactly as planned. It gives them the chance to disappear without making Coyle's projections suspicious.
"This way, please, I'm so sorry.", Cobb repeats fervently, leading them into the safe room, Ariadne created.
"I almost missed the moment you stood up.", Cobb admits nervously. "I didn't expect it to be so soon."
"Neither we, but Eames made his sign.", Arthur explains and carefully takes the PASIV from a cabinet. He places it on low table in the middle of room.
Everything is ready, all they can do now is waiting for Eames who is supposed to bring their mark with him.
"Arthur.", Ariadne starts, her voice slightly choked. Cobb turns back to them, giving them as much privacy as he can right now.
Arthur stops her next words, kissing her hurriedly. "Everything will be fine.", he says firmly, his eyes calm and reassuring. In the same minute in the room steps Coyle, Eames behind him.
Coyle freezes and tries to turns back, but that's too late; Eames briefly puts inject him a sedative and grabs him by arm, before man fells on the floor.
"How?", Cobb asks shortly.
Eames shrugs with smile. "All we need to do is convincing him to give back his part of company to Fisher. He already decided to five up this and help his wife."
"Excellent, now hurry.", Arthur reacts immediately. When everybody is already sitting, he presses the button.
Ariadne looks around her; the interior is exactly how she designed. The typical consulting-room with white walls and tiles on the floor.
"You can put your shirt on.", she hears Cobb and watches Eames as Coyle's wife buttoning dark-emerald shirt. Coyle is standing beside her, question in his eyes.
"You need to slow down, Mrs. Coyle.", Cobb says firmly. "Make less things by herself."
"I decided to help Joanne.", Coyle announces briefly. "I won't let her run in this high-heels with tons of documents in the briefcase ever more."
"Wonderful, I'm glad to hear that.", Cobb answers immediately and looks quickly at Ariadne.
It's all in Eames's hands right now, he has to convince Coyle that giving his part of company back to Fisher is the best solution.
Coyle gently leads Eames into the corridor and Cobb and Ariadne stay alone. Ariadne glances at him anxiety clear in her huge eyes. In answer he brushes gently her cheek.
"Eames mages that, don't worry.", he reassures her. "Now we just need to wait for a kick."
As soon as everybody in the safe room is asleep, Arthur slips from it and carefully closes the door.
They decided it would be the best to act almost exactly like in Fisher Job.
Yusuf will turn one music and Arthur will blow the safe room down.
Nothing hard, considering he has done it so many times before.
Arthur walks slowly through Coyle's projections, looking as innocent and invisible as he can. He needs to get himself safely to the basement.
Suddenly he feels an intent stare at him; it feels like a laser on his back, ready to burn a whole in his body. He stifles the natural urge to look behind and check who's staring at him. It would just alarm projections even more.
He doesn't change the pace of his steps, somewhere deep inside him hoping that it's just a coincidence; that projections are unaware of his presence.
Yet, the touch on his arm, gentle for now, proves him wrong.
"Yes?", Arthur turns immediately. "How can I help you?"
The projection, who puts his hand on his shoulder is a young woman with long and slightly curled dark hair. She resembles Ariadne in some weird, very disturbing way.
"You shouldn't be here.", she says, her voice soft and distant. And then, out-of-nowhere, there's a knife in her delicate hand.
"John, wait.", Eames says and heavily sits on the bench standing beside the corridor's wall. Coyle's projections, some of them dressed as medical staff, others like patients are passing by him. Coyle joins him hesitantly.
"Don't you want go home?", his voice is filled with surprise.
"Of course I want, my dear. But firstly you need to answer my question.", Eames answers.
"Which is?"
"Who will take over the company?", Eames asks without any sign of hesitance.
Coyle frowns. "Why are you asking about it?"
Eames sighs and shifts his position with a grimace of pain. "I heard some rumors.", he admits. "That young Fisher is rather unhappy with all his previous actions, that it was a reaction of Maurice's death."
Coyle looks at him with thoughtful eyes and bites his upper lips.
"Maybe you should think about giving your part of the company back to him?", Eames suggests openly, deciding that Coyle's wife wouldn't use any deceitful methods to convince her husband.
Coyle's reaction proves him right. "There's something in this idea.", he admits.
Arthur's breath is rapid and his left side of the body is aching and bleeding.
Yet, it doesn't matter; he managed to get to the basement and placed charges, so he'll be able to give others the kick.
There're two problems though: he can't go back to the safe room and he needs to blow it right now as the door are slowly giving up under pressure of projections.
"Hope, you convince him", he murmurs and presses the button on detonator.
Ariadne gasps feeling the whole room around her is moving. She wants to say something, ask Cobb what's happening, but she doesn't have time to do so.
She opens her eyes in chaotic world of free-falling and sounds of building crumpling down. Again, before she can react, she feels a sharp pain in her neck and darkness swallows her.
This time she wakes up in a peaceful quietness of physiotherapy room.
"Ariadne!", Yusuf knees down beside her chair. "What's happened? It's too soon!"
She is disoriented when she slowly gets up. "I don't know.", she admits slowly. "It seems Arthur gave us the kick sooner than we planned."
In this moment Arthur's eyes snap open and he's sits still for a tiniest moment before looking at Ariadne.
"It was supposed to be a nice, synchronized kick, not coming-out-of-the-dream-by-breaking-the-neck!", Eames complains loudly, massaging his nape and glaring at Arthur, who shrugs defensively.
"Projection get violent, I couldn't wait for Yusuf sign.", he explains calmly"
"It doesn't matter right now.", Cobb interrupts him quickly. "Eames do you think you successed?"
Eames grimaces. "No idea. But Coyle rather likes the idea, so there's a chance."
Arthur takes the PASIV and checks Coyle, who still lays limp on the chair.
"He should be asleep for another thirty minutes, but better don't press luck unnecessarily and get out of here.", he warns and takes Ariadne's hand. She obediently follows him, feeling strangely empty and exhausted after this job.
It wasn't tough, not only because of the fact that after Fisher Job hardly anything would seem to be hard. The problem lays elsewhere.
Arthur.
Ariadne couldn't stop thinking about him all the time in the second level of the Dream. It wasn't matter that there was no Limbo threat and being killed meant just waking up.
The picture of scares covering his body was too clear in her eyes.
She clenches his finger with enough force to make him look at her with anxiety. Yet, Ariadne doesn't him the chance to ask about anything.
"Just take me back, ok?", she whispers softly ad he nods his head.
They don't talk much during the drive. Cobb has a frown and he's staring intently through the car' window on passing people and buildings. Eames is smoking a cigarette and watching idly the smoke. Ariadne's head leans on the window frame, her eyes closes and Arthur forces down the urge to let the steering wheel free and embraces her. He glances at back mirror, the car, security guys are driving, right behind them.
"We could try to escape", Eames notices surprising everybody. Cobb turns back and glances over his shoulder at the car behind them.
"They're armed, that's certain.", he says warningly.
Arthur glances hurriedly at Ariadne, who stares at him with eyes wide opened, her body tense.
"No escaping.", he snaps flatly and Ariadne relaxes slightly, again resting her head on the window frame.
"Easy, darling.", Eames laughs. "It was just a suggestion.", he opens the window and throw out the cigarette.
Ariadne sighs when they reach the villa and its spectacular garden.
She almost run through the hall and up the stairs, Arthur follows hurriedly after her and catches her in front of their room door.
"Tell me, what's wrong.", he says firmly, closing the door behind them. She sits heavily on the bed and shrugs, her motion filled with such despair that makes Arthur feel a pang in his chest. He puts arms around her and kisses the nape of her neck.
"I'm so scared.", Ariadne whispers eventually. "That I'll lose you. Even today, when the risk was so low, I couldn't stop thinking about you and all this scares and…"
She stops, when Arthur puts his long finger on her lips. She so sure that now she'll listen a list of reassuring words that at first she can't catch the sense of his words.
"You what?", she frowns.
"I love you, Ariadne.", Arthur repeats patiently.
It makes her literally speechless and even more scared.
Because losing him now, when they're really together would be the worst thing in the world.