A/N Thank you guys for your comments. I love to read what you are thinking, whether you agree, disagree, give feedback or compliment ^^ It feels good to connect with my readers.
Other than that I want to warn you in advance for this chapter. Urgh so much drama, but it is needed. Next chapter will be different, I promise.
Have fun reading.

Previously:
"Arthur, don't do this." She spoke to him as she raised her hands. Her voice was trembling with fear. "Please." She added. "I thought we were friends. You need to trust me. This is all real. If you shoot me now, you will regret it." Tears now started to stream down her face.

"Arthur." Cobb tried to talk his friend out of it, but Ariadne stopped him by pulling his arm. She knew Arthur was determined. Not even Cobb could change his mind.

Arthur paid no attention to Cobb and loaded the gun, making Ada cry even harder. It was killing him to be the one who made her cry like that.

"Arthur, please don't." She begged him. The chaos of her mind then vanished and got replaced by memories. The last memory going through her mind was when Arthur asked her if she trusted him.

"Ada, I'm so, so sorry." Arthur said and pulled the trigger.

With a deafening scream Ada woke up. Emotions raced inside of her. It was as if her heart was about to explode with pain and a second ago it did. Arthur hit her right in the heart. She started to sob uncontrollably while she curled up in a ball on the floor as everything replayed in her head.

"Jezus, darling! What happened?" Eames was suddenly by her side, trying to comfort her. "You scared the hell out of me."

She was back in the bunker. In the background she could hear faint sounds of guns and explosions going off. It was no use trying to get an answer out of her. She let her emotions run freely and tears flowed down her cheeks. Then she noticed that Ariadne was crouched beside her as well.

"It's alright." The architect said and pulled the girl into a hug.

"Ariadne, love!" Eames exclaimed in happiness. He too was happy that she was back. He too suffered from the guilt, thinking that it was his fault that she ended up in the Black hole.
"Good to see you too Eames." Ariadne replied with a smile, but then quickly returned her attention to Ada.

Cobb and Arthur had also woken up in the meantime. Outside there were still projections trying to kill them.

"Eames, Arthur, we need to guard the bunker. How long have we been out?" Cobb asked.

"Just a couple of minutes." Eames replied.

They had an hour of time in level 1. It meant they had to defend the bunker until their time ran out. Eames returned to his position. Cobb gave the point man a look of pity and compassion, before joining the forger. Arthur lingered to look at Ada and felt horrible. The image of her frightened expression together with the memory of her high pitched scream of pure fear, was almost too much.

Ada then looked up into his eyes. "How could you?" She demanded between sobs.

Three words were enough to make Arthur feel the heavy weight of shame and guilt. He had no answer for her question.

"Arthur, go." Ariadne commanded and nodded in the direction of the other two men.
Arthur obeyed and left while Ada's glare of hatred burned in his back.

After an hour they all woke up. Ada had stopped crying, thanks to Ariadne's efforts to comfort her, but she still despised the point man for what he did. Cobb took care of the hotel employee that woke them up.

"Can I finally ask what happened in Limbo?" Eames eyed his colleagues, wondering what on earth could upset Ada so much.
The inventor's head shot up at the question and it looked like she was about to burst into tears again. Ariadne motioned Eames to silence by pressing her index finger to her lips.
Arthur figured he could at least explain to Ada why he shot her and of course also apologize properly. Not that it would help much, he thought grimly.
"Ada, I am…" He paused. He hoped he could have a private moment with Ada, but unfortunately he had to apologize to her in front of the rest of the team. "-sorry about what happened." He struggled with the s-word.

"Stop." Ada commanded as her watery eyes glared at him. "I don't want to hear it."

"Ada, please hear me out."

"How could you?" She asked again. "I thought I could trust you." She raised her voice and a tear rolled down her cheek.

"I only wanted to bring you back to reality." Arthur also raised his voice. He was not used to people talking to him in such a manner, not anyone close to him anyway.

"Oh yeah, thanks." The sarcasm was evident in her tone. "Thank you for 'rescuing me'. For all you know, I might have been dead by now!"

"No you would not, because it was not a gamble. We knew for sure we were dreaming." Arthur automatically defended himself, even though he knew he should not. He could not help it.

"Well, then thank you for taking matters into your own hands. Apparently my opinion does not matter anymore. Apparently I can't decide over my own fucking life!"

"Of course your opinion matters. If I had not done anything, you would be stuck in Limbo, waiting for your brain to burn out."

"Don't you get it?" Ada shouted at him. "This is not about saving my life. You were supposed to be.." She stopped to think about her sentence. What was he exactly to her? "You were supposed to be my friend. You could have shot me while I was sleeping in Limbo." She glared at him.

They heard a gasp coming from Eames, who now finally understood the situation. Arthur clenched his jaw and breathed heavily through his nose, for she was right. It could have been different. Arthur could only blame himself for making a hasty decision at the time.

"I am still your friend." Arthur said as calmly as he could with all the emotions building up inside of him.

"No you are not." Ada stated. "A real friend would care about me." She knew the exact words to push his buttons. Her words knifed themselves directly into his heart.

Then something snapped inside of Arthur. His hand slammed onto the nightstand next to the bed, scaring everyone in the room.
"Don't you dare to say that! I did it because I cared!" How could this dense girl not understand that? It was not like he murdered her in cold blood. Did she really think it was just a matter of pulling the trigger for him?
He then pointed at the extractor. "Cobb didn't have the balls to shoot you, so I did. I shot you because I could not stand to watch you die in reality!"

There was a silence. Ada could only stare back into the point man's eyes, completely in shock.

"You will probably hate me and I don't blame you for that. I also admit that it could have gone a lot smoother, but I don't want you to think that I did it because I didn't care." Arthur calmed down a bit.
Nobody dared to say anything. Arthur then took a deep breath and made his way to the door. "I need some fresh air." He rushed out and almost knocked Cobb down, who was hiding in the hallway.
Ada could not muster a reply back because she was stunned by his outburst.

"Bloody hell." Eames said. It was the only sensible thing he could say after what he just found out.

Cobb took a minute to think about the situation. He was supposed to steer everyone back on track so that they would focus on their job once more, but how could he if his team was about to fall apart? Meanwhile Ada sunk onto a chair, lost in her own thoughts. Ariadne then rose to her feet.

"What are you doing, darling?" Eames asked.
Ariadne ignored his question and approached Ada. "You should go after him."

The inventor did not look into her eyes and could only sigh. "I can't." She finally replied.

"You must." Ariadne pushed. "You need to talk to him."

Ada was surprised by Ariadne's persistence. Before, the architect was comforting her and now she was pushing her into things. Ada looked into the girl's eyes and, just like Arthur, noticed that there was something different about Ariadne, now that she was not too busy crying to pay attention to her.
"How can I? You saw how he acted." Ada asked. "I don't think he wants to talk to me right now."

"Just go. The longer you wait, the harder it will be to fix this." Ariadne tried to pull the girl out of the chair by her arm, but she resisted and shook Ariadne off.

"I said no."

"Ariadne, give her a break." Eames butted it.
Cobb placed a hand on the forger's shoulder and shook his head. He agreed with the architect. The sooner his team reconciled with each other, the better.

Ariadne continued. "Are you scared?"

Ada was taken aback by the question. Who was she to decide what she should do? What was up with everyone suddenly telling her what to do? Yet Ada did not answer the question, because it was the truth.

"Are you scared that he's mad at you? Are you scared that you have pushed him away with your harsh words?" Ariadne pulled her arm again.
Ada shook the brown haired girl off this time as well. "I am not scared." She lied. "I don't want to talk to him myself." She tried to cover it up.

"Why?" Now Ariadne was getting frustrated.

"Because he hurt me."

Ariadne balled her fists. How childish. "He hurt you and you hurt him back. Are you waiting for him to come back to apologize to you?"

Ada did not answer. Ariadne took it as a yes. "He hurt you first, so he should apologize first, is that it?"
"No, that's not it." Ada quickly said to defend herself. The way Ariadne said it, also made Ada realize that she was being childish. Even if she went after Arthur, what was she supposed to say?

"You are both adults. Be the mature one and go apologize to him." The architect ordered.

"It is not that simple." Ada said. "I know he meant well, but it still hurts. You were there, Ariadne. I really thought I was going to die when he was about to shoot me. He also knew that." Then her eyes travelled down to stare at the ground. "I don't know if I can just forgive him like that." She said softly.

Suddenly there was a loud smack. Ada felt her left cheek burn. Ariadne just slapped her across the face. Instinctively the inventor's hand went up to rub the sore area as the girl stared back in shock. The others were surprised as well.

"Wow, relax ladies." Eames came in between them, just in case the two decided to fight.
"Ariadne, calm down." Cobb also thought she went too far.

"No I won't calm down! You are making a mistake." The architect said to Ada. "I also thought I was going to die. Don't think you're the only one who knows what that feels like! I was stuck in that goddamned place for years. You only had to face death for a mere few seconds!" Ariadne started shouting and breathed heavily through her nose as sudden anger boiled inside of her.
"You have no idea! You are nothing but a childish little infant! Stop your whining and grow up." Ariadne threatened the girl with her glares.

Ada could not do anything but squirm silently in her seat. This was already the third team member yelling at her.

"I thought I was dead, but I'm back. I've been given a new chance, a new shot at life. So have you and it is all thanks to Arthur. Don't treat things so lightly." Ariadne raised her arm, ready to strike again.
Cobb's eyes widened in shock and in a reflex he grabbed hold of her by the wrist to block her. "Ariadne! What are you doing?"

"Let go of me!" Ariadne screamed at her capturer. Now tears started to pour down her cheeks as her watery eyes looked at Cobb's. He was able to see the confusion, the lost of hope, the relief, everything. He could see everything in those brown marble eyes of hers. Instantly he let go of her arm. His arms circled around her and pressed her firmly against his own body. Ariadne continued to sob in his chest. Cobb stroked the top of her head.

"I understand." He said. "Everything is fine now." He was the only one who could understand her. Being stuck in dreams for so long, for so many years, it changes you. When he and Mal got out of Limbo, they could find comfort in each other. Ariadne was alone down there and had nobody to console her. She had been keeping it all in this whole time. When he asked her whether she was alright in Limbo, she courageously smiled and ensured them that she was. How foolish of him not to see through her thick mask. She needed him back then and he was not there for her. Cobb grimaced at his stupidity, but quickly shrugged that thought off. Ariadne needed him now. The woman in his arms continued to cry her heart out while Cobb only hugged her. He was not really good at comforting women, so that was the best he could do.

Ada looked at the two in front of her. The slap worked like a shock, waking her up. Ariadne was right. She got off the chair onto her feet. Eames' and Cobb's eyes followed her all the way to the door. They both nodded in understanding when Ada looked back.

Ada went to the ground floor in search of Arthur. Her heart was racing. What was she going to say to him? Would he even be willing to talk to her? Actually, there were so many things she wanted to tell him, but she didn't know how to nor did she have the courage to do so. She wandered around in the hotel. He was not outside, nor at the lounge. Where could he have gone off to? Eventually she found him in the hotel bar, drinking a golden brown liquid. She guessed it was whiskey. It would be a typical drink for him; expensive, strong and classy.

She took a deep breath, gathered all her courage and took a seat next to him.
"One beer please." She ordered, hiding her face a bit from the Chinese barman. Her eyes were still puffy from crying. Arthur turned his head towards her and eyed her. Ada felt uncomfortable as she could feel his eyes roam across her face. She did not have the courage to look at him yet and instead took a big gulp from her beer. Then she took another deep breath before saying something. While she did that, she could smell the strong scent of alcohol coming from Arthur. How much had he been drinking?

"What happened to your face?" Arthur beat her to starting a conversation.
Ada touched her left cheek. It was still sore and painful. Who could believe there was so much strength in that small little frame of Ariadne. "It's nothing." She replied.

"Did Cobb do something to you?" Arthur asked worriedly.
"No!" Ada quickly responded. She blushed at her reply, because the barman was staring at her. "No, he didn't. Ariadne did this."

"Ariadne?" Arthur asked in surprise.

This was not the way she planned the conversation. Ada was not able to figure out what she was going to say to him, but this was definitely not the way she wanted it to go.

"That's not important." Ada cut off the topic. "Arthur, I came here to talk to you." She looked at him.

Suddenly Arthur's expression hardened. "No, there's no need for that. I believe you were very clear last time." He made an attempt to stand up.
"Arthur, please." Ada exclaimed and found her hand on his, trying to make him to stay. Arthur also noticed this. She quickly retrieved her hand. Arthur decided to remain seated.

"I-" She started, but nothing more came out of her mouth. She kind of hoped that things would roll out automatically, but unfortunately it did not. She mentally slapped herself. In her head, Ariadne told her over and over again to grow up.
"I'm sorry about the way I treated you earlier." The words raced out of her mouth. "I'm sorry for being so childish about it. I did not even thank you properly for saving my life." She looked into his eyes, forcing herself with all her courage. "Thank you, Arthur."

Arthur looked back into her eyes. She forced herself not to look away. It was difficult to read him, because he put on his poker face. Her heart's rhythm increased. It was a hasty apology. Was he still mad at her? Of course he would be. Or maybe he would forgive her, because he had not yelled at her yet.

Arthur's hand went up towards her face. For the split of a moment, she thought he was going to slap her. He did no such thing. Instead he slowly reached out to her. His hand cupped the side of her face as his thumb gently rubbed her beaten cheek. Ada unconsciously leaned into his touch and held her breath. Her heart was still beating loudly. Blood now crept its way up into her cheeks. Arthur's hand travelled lower so that his thumb could caress her lips. Then he closed the gap between them in one swift movement and kissed her.