Hello all! So incredibly sorry for the wait! I just finished a university year so I had mounds of work and finals and papers out the wazoo. Thank you so much to everyone who is still here for the ride. I love you all! Updates will be faster now that I have absolutely nothing to do with my life :] I hope you all enjoy and review Chapter Twenty-Six! Things are getting interesting...

Eames, Estelle, and Ariadne rushed into a room and quickly slammed the door, throwing their bodies against it. They had just ran up six flights of stairs, down seven twisted hallways, and knocked over countless things while trying to get away from Bartrev's subconscious.

Estelle took a deep breathe, "Dom? Are you okay?"

She waited for her earpiece to crackle with his familiar voice, "Arthur's angry at me. Are you alright?"

She sighed in relief and chuckled, "Of course he is and yes, we're all okay. For now."

"Good," Dom said, "We should...wait, I'm not sure how to get to you. Bartrev knows he's in a dream. He thinks we're the good guys though."

"He actually believed Mr. Charles?"

Eames raised his eyebrows at that, "What an easy sap."

Ariadne rolled her eyes and began looking around the small room they had ran into. Maybe she could change the layout...

"So what will we do?" Estelle asked.

"We need to find a way to meet up and go into the final stage. He's already going on and on about how sick nuclear power makes him. That's good, right?"

Estelle smiled, "Don't seem so doubtful. We're experts."

"I know you're smirking right now," Dom smiled to himself, "Arthur is giving me an awful look. I'm going over to them now. He said something about a safe room that Ariadne put in here...try to get to that and meet us there."

"Okay, we're coming. Be safe."

Estelle turned back to Ariadne and Eames, "Ariadne, you put a safe room in this building?"

The young Architect nodded, "After last time, I figured it's better to be safe than in limbo."

"Not exactly how the saying goes, my dear," Eames said and offered her a small smile.

"Close enough," Estelle said. Her mind was running a mile a minute and her hand was shaking. Eames reached out and grabbed it, calming it with his touch.

"Everything will be okay, love."

She looked at him, "Just like last time?" She asked sadly.

He blinked and swallowed hard, "This time there isn't much to lose."

"Except the future."

Ariadne opened the door a little and looked back at them, "If you two are done being so morbid, I'd like to get to the safe room now, please."

Eames and Estelle looked at her and nodded, indicating that they were ready to go. The three of them swiftly left the small room and maneuvered themselves to the safe room that Ariadne had installed. Cobb, Bartrev, and Arthur were already there.

Cobb came out and closed the door behind him.

"Um, not that we're not thrilled to all be in one piece," Eames began, "But why are we out here in the open hallway where his subconscious is free to murder us?"

Cobb rolled his eyes, "Eames, you're charming."

"I already know this fact."

Cobb ignored him, "I need you to turn into his VP."

"Alright. Why?"

"I'm going to tell him that it's his vice president's subconscious."

"You want Bartrev to believe his vice president is doing this to him?" Ariadne asked, "Won't that just make him angry?"

Estelle cut in, "Not if we play it correctly. Dom has a point. His vice president would want Bartrev to be against nuclear power, so he would go to any lengths to get him to understand. Maybe we should include his sister, too."

"Can you make that happen?" Cobb asked.

Suddenly, Bartrev's sister appeared from around the corner, her stomach very swollen and the same lovely smile on her face.

Eames smiled, "Never question her, Dom."

Cobb smirked, "Should've known better."

Eames looked into a mirror on the wall and transformed into Bartrev's vice president. He turned to the others and nodded. They were ready.

"Let's go," Cobb said as he led them inside the safe room.

Bartrev turned and saw his sister. He immediately went to touch her but she held a hand up. Estelle stood close in order to control her.

"Do not touch me," she said in her broken english.

Bartrev's eyes widened, "Sister, I am sorry."

"You are always saying that. You are a monster, Aleks," tears formed in her eyes, "And I can not forgive you for what you have done."

Bartrev bowed his head, "I understand."

Eames, disguised as his vice president, spoke up, "I am sorry to have done this to you. I needed you to understand. This is not how things should be. You cannot go around gaining power from causing fear."

Bartrev's hands shook a little, "They all mock me. All of the countries."

Disguised Eames shook his head, "No, no they do not. You think they do. They are put off by your demanding personality, Aleks. You do not like to share."

Aleksander grumbled something, resembling what a four year old would do when being scolded. Estelle slightly lifted her eyebrow and refrained from rolling her eyes. She cast a glance at Ariadne and the two women shared a look. The president of Russia was quite childish.

He spoke up, "I am truly sorry," he turned to Cobb, the team, and his sister, "for all of the pain I have put you through."

Estelle made Yolena nod but keep a straight face. Aleksander had to know that what he had done was wrong, really wrong. She looked up at him with determination.

"You must call off the order to bomb the Powers."

Bartrev blinked and whispered, "Okay."

"Speak louder, brother," she commanded.

"I will!" He said louder and with much more conviction.

Yolena nodded, "Good."

Cobb took a step forward and said gently, "We should go."

Estelle looked at him and tried to read his mind. What was he planning? They had one more level to go. How could they convince Bartrev to go and what exactly were they going to do now that Mr. Charles had been brought out? She couldn't read him.

Bartrev looked at him, "What?"

Eames, still as the vice president, shifted his weight onto one hip, "There is still time left in my dream. My subconscious is not particularly happy with you still, Aleks. We must use this machine to wake ourselves up before the time is up."

Ariadne and Arthur looked impressed while Cobb nodded, going along with the new plan. Estelle smiled to herself and saw her hand beginning to shake. The projection of Yolena was becoming unstable. It was difficult to create a projection that everyone could see and not just the target to be deceived.

Eames looked at Estelle and saw Yolena begin to flicker. He clapped his hands, "So, what do you say? Let's wake ourselves up, eh?"

Arthur tried to ignore how uncharacteristically english the vice president sounded and produced a PASIV machine from the closet in the room. He set it up and everyone laid down. Bartrev was still under the ruse that the machine would take them back to reality. Now, he was going to really think that the third level was real.

"Ready?" Arthur asked.

Everyone nodded and he pushed the button. He watched them all go under and prayed that nothing happened to Estelle this time, especially because he wouldn't be there. He looked to the sleeping englishwoman and grabbed his gun. He kept it close to him and watched the door. Nobody was going to harm his friends, his family.

A few moments later her saw Estelle's body spasm and his stomach dropped. His eyes widened and he felt vomit build up in his throat.

"Not again."