10.
~ Daniel sat perfectly still in the bathroom and could hear the old woman in the kitchen humming. The sounds of dished rattling out of cupboards and placed on tables. flatware clinking and being placed on the table next to the plates.
Her apartment was comforting to him and he didn't want to leave it just yet.
He wasn't entirely sure he wouldn't be punished when he got home for wandering off from his parents. He might be in trouble for ruining Darcy's big night. For leaving the balcony, talking to a stranger, and losing his shoes.
No, he wasn't ready to think about all of that yet. He stood and listened to the echo of the apartment. he could guess where the kitchen was by the sounds of the old woman, and it wasn't too hard to find the bedroom. He was suddenly very tired and couldn't stay awake much longer.
'This was all just a bad dream.' he told himself as he curled up on top of her bed covers. The blanket was scratchy, but clean and smelled like soap. He was asleep before he gave a thought to anything else.
He didn't care if the old woman found him sleeping in her bed and cast him out. If mommy and papa were mad at him. He didn't care about anything.
~ He dreamed of water. Of how it felt in his hands and feet when it rained. How the air smelled so different and how the cars made so much more noise when it was storming outside. How the rain drops made little pat pat noises on the windows. The sounds of water trying to get in. Like an invading army storming a castle.
It was a comforting sound. Like being isolated from the rest of the world. No one moved around much on rainy days. They stayed at home like it wasn't safe to be out in the rain. Rain was good to him, peaceful and calm.
Then he dreamed of dogs hunting him. Of their teeth biting at him and dragging him down.
"No!" he shouted in his sleep and tried to fight off the dog that wouldn't let him go.
"It's alright, child." the old woman was saying as he swam to the surface of wakefulness. "It's alright."
"Mommy, papa." he moaned and felt too hot. "Mommy, I'm hot. I don't want the covers on me."
"You're burning up, child." the old woman whispered.
"Mommy..." he started to cry as his world become very confused. He didn't know where he was, or how he had gotten on this strange bed with some one he didn't know telling him it was alright.
"I want mommy!" he cried and covered his face with his hands. He wished he was a turtle. A creature who could just pull up inside himself when the world got too scary.
"I think your sick, child." the strange woman at his bed said.
"I want to go home!" he cried uncontrollably.
~ Ariadne hadn't spoken to her husband for the past hour. The pair had dropped off the bags of cash in the dumpster and waited a few blocks away for the kidnappers to collect their ransom. It was well past midnight and dawn was threatening to break the sky line.
Eames was on the roof keeping lookout and Cobb had even installed a tracker in one of the bags for good measure. If the kidnappers took the money, they would be able to track them.
However no one showed up to collect the ransom, leaving them all to fear Daniel was already dead.
In the suffocating quite, Arthur likewise refused to speak first. He was angry at the world just now. Mad that Ariadne had ignored his wishes and gone with him to deliver the ransom, mad that she was able to get the cash from Seth and mad that she was mad at him.
He took a deep breath and chanced a look at his wife. She had been his best friend, his team mate, his bride and the mother to his children.
She had seen Darcy through her horrible cancer treatments, his father dying and leaving behind a shattered company. She had always been a perfect wife and mother. How had they gotten here? Two strangers in a car, refusing to look at each other.
"We're not getting a divorce." he said at last.
She was silent.
"Divorce is not an option. I'm not losing you to Seth, or anyone else." he added.
She rolled her eyes and took a deep breath.
"You honestly think I'm cheating on you with Seth?" she asked.
"Arn't you?" he asked numbly. A pit of self pity burrowing deep inside him.
"Of course not, Arthur." she sighed. "I sleep next to you every night. How could you think I was ever unfaithful?"
"The money." he said darkly. "Who gives someone that kind of cash for no reason?"
"He had a reason. My designs made him a fortune and he feels slightly guilty about it." she said.
"Ariadne, he came over for dinner that one time." he pointed out. "I walked in and you were both on the couch."
"When we were separated." she said bitingly "Need I remind you, you were out with Corrine at the time. We've had a lot more drama from women interested in you than men interested in me."
That much was true. Corrine and Becky had given his marriage a true test. Not to mention the fact that his wife was raising another woman's child like her own.
"I've never cheated on you, Arthur." she said and looked out the windshield.
He shook his head.
"Ariadne, I found the birth control in your purse." he said sadly.
There, she wouldn't be able to talk her way out of that.
She glared at him in shock.
"You went through my bag?" she asked.
He laughed.
"Yes. Since I had a vasectomy, would you mind explaining to me why you're on the pill? If you're not sleeping with Seth, why are you on the pill?" he growled.
He was suddenly angry at the innocent act she was trying to give.
She said nothing, only reached for her purse and pulled out the plastic compact.
"Look inside." she demanded coldly.
"I don't want to see them." he waved a hand away from her.
"You want to crucify me, here I am. Open the compact and read the name." she ordered.
He looked back at her and took the clam like case of birth control, his hands opening it slowly to read the information and directions on the label.
"Darcy?" he asked in shock.
He looked at Ariadne.
"Darcy is having sex? She's only eleven." he said as he read his daughter's name on the label.
"She's twelve, and they are not for preventing pregnancy." she told him.
He didn't understand.
"What?" he asked.
She let out a long sigh.
"She got her first period about six months ago. It was very painful and she's had spotting ever since. The doctor feels it had to do with her cancer treatments. The pill is to correct the hormone imbalance in her system. The dancing doesn't really help, she's way too thin; the cancer treatment put her in real jeopardy of never having children. If we can get her hormones and her weight to stabilize, she could have a family one day." Ariadne explained as Arthur looked at the name tag again and still didn't understand.
"Why didn't you tell me this?" he asked.
"Darcy was embarrassed by the whole thing. She didn't want her dad to know she got her period and that she's not a little girl anymore." Ariadne told him.
"So, you kept me in the dark?"
"Arthur, I knew you wouldn't be able to handle this, so I took care of it. I have her seeing the best OBGYN in the city and hopefully, she'll be fine one day."
"Unbelievable." he grumbled.
They turned away from each other and watched the dawn creep over the city.
"The kidnappers haven't come for their money yet." Arthur said at last.
Ariadne said nothing. They both knew that could mean their son was already dead.
"I know you're angry at me. For not allowing you to do anymore inceptions." she said with difficulty.
Arthur shook his head.
"I'm not mad."
"Yes, you are. It was your chosen life's work. You loved it." she insisted.
"I loved it, but I love you and the kids more." he said. "If I can't do inceptions anymore, because of my health, then that's how it has to be."
"But you're mad at me." she said stiffly.
"No, I'm not."
"Yes, you are!"
She gave him a bitter look of frustration.
"Ariadne, I'm not blaming you." he said sincerely.
She was about to argue again when his cell phone rang.
"It's Sadie." he said with a scowl.
"Probably wants to apologize again for letting Daniel wander away." Ariadne sighed. The memory of her precious son haunting her.
"Sadie, what is it?" Arthur growled into the phone.
She saw his face lighten slightly as he listened to the other person on the phone.
"Ariadne." he whispered. "They found Daniel."
Sorry it took so long for me to update. Been very busy with work and other projects.