Triptych: A Life in Ten Acts

An Inception Fanfic.

Act IX Part One:

Eames woke up to pounding on his hotel room door. There was shouting with the pounding, but his sleep-addled mind couldn't quite make it out. He stretched languidly, and cuddled closer to his bedmate.

But the pillow was cold. Eames eyes jerked open.

Arthur was gone. There was no note. Nothing.

And for a second, Eames understood how Arthur must have felt, waking up alone in a hotel room.

But the pounding on the door became more persistent, and now Ariadne's voice could be heard over Dom's.

Eames jumped to his feet and wrapped a bed sheet around himself before rushing to open the door.

"I'm awake!" Ariadne and Dom starred at him.

"What?"

"We're late. You were supposed to be up and ready forty-five minutes ago." Ariadne shoved her cell phone in his face so that he could see the glowing numerals. "Why didn't you set an alarm?"

Eames ran a hand threw is scraggly hair. "Because I thought Arth- I was going to wake up on my own."

Ariadne narrowed her eyes, but Dom just continued talking. "Well, Arthur had an urgent family thing he had to take care of, so he's in Chicago. He didn't need to go under with us anyway. Get ready and let's go." Dom turned on his heel and walked towards the elevator, the silver briefcase swinging by his side.

Eames looked back to Ariadne who was still standing in the doorway, glaring at him. "What happened?"

Eames tried to look extraordinarily innocent, but she wasn't buying.

"Eames, I know something happened. Why else would he take off?" She leaned against the doorframe and crossed her arms.

"Maybe he had a family thing." Her frown deepened.

"What. Happened?" Eames ran his hand across his stubbled face, and clutched the sheet tighter around himself.

He sighed. "I'll talk while I shower. Wouldn't want Dom to have a hissy fit."

So Ariadne followed him into the hotel room, and waited while he gathered his shower supplies and clothes and go into the shower. Ariadne sat on the closed toilet seat, and listened.

Eames allowed the scalding water to calm himself as he told Ariadne about Arthur's rage the previous night. He skimmed over the details of their heated conversation and then skimmed even more over the details of what happened afterwards.

He concluded the shower at the same time he told her of waking up alone.

Ariadne stepped out to allow him privacy to change, and when he emerged, pink and clean in a red button down, she was sitting on the bed.

"Honestly, I think you deserved it."

Eames almost dropped the brush he was attempting to detangle his hair with. "What?"

"It wasn't nice of him to do, Eames, but come on. You have to admit that it was pretty good revenge for what you did to him."

"Like he hasn't had plenty of revenge over the years, already. Bloody hell, Ariadne! I already apologized to him! If he wants to pretend that he doesn't feel anything in return, then good on him." Instead of dropping the brush, Eames instead decided to throw it towards the opposite wall. It landed squarely on top of the mini fridge, still in one piece.

Ariadne was quiet. Eames sat on the opposite side of the bed and put on his shoes and socks. He didn't need to take this out on Ariadne. This wasn't about her.

"I'm sorry. This isn't about you." He finished tying his left shoe, and then sat up, his elbows resting on his knees.

But she didn't answer. Instead, she stood, and walked around the bed to sit beside him. She took his face gently in her hands, and brought it up until he looked her in the eyes.

"So you do still love him, then." She smiled kindly, and watched his face contort between emotions. Eventually, after moments of his inability to answer, he nodded his head.

"But I screwed it up. He won't ever forgive what I did, what I said. And I don't blame him. I suppose it's my punishment for having all my lovers fall for me when I never gave a damn about them. The one person I actually care for couldn't give a shit about me."

She dropped her hands. "You let me worry about him. We'll do this job, and we'll fix it after. You know I'd help you with anything Eames, and that includes this."

He looked at her, smiling. "Thanks, pet. Means a lot."

She smiled back. "Of course it does."

A/N: Okay, so first of all, my sincerest apologies for this update taking forever. School and real life got extraordinarily hectic, and the fanfic got pushed aside. The good news is that I'm almost done with this term, and once summer comes posting will be a lot more regular and dependable. Until then, please bear with me.

Second of all, I know this is only part one of act 9, but it was all could do on the limited time I have. This was a holiday weekend for me, and despite my original hope of having loads of time to write, I ended up having far less. So I will do my best to get Part 2 up soon.

Many thanks to all my reviewers, as well as to everyone who has alerted this story or added it to your favorites. You guys make my day, and give me the push I need to finish these last weeks of school. Special thanks to annarky92 who has been so patient with me. Thanks for being so supportive. I hope you like this tiny update, and I promise this story will be finished in the next few weeks.

One last thing: please leave a review if only to tell me how upset you are that the update took forever, I deserve it!

Until next time!

sl