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Disclaimer: Christopher Nolan is the genius behind Inception. Not me.

Ahh, the newest instalment. I must admit, the feeling of getting a new review must be the feeling of you guys getting a new chapter alert. Some people have messaged me saying that they just can't picture Eames's girlfriend Jess. I guess that's down to my bad description, so I apologise, but if I may recommened an image? I like to think of her as rather similar to the British actress Emily Blunt. I don't know, whatever floats your boat I guess.

Thanks for the reviews, this story is getting a ridiculous amount of positive feedback. This chapter may not be as action filled as you had hoped, but I'm leading up to that.


I sat opposite the girl I knew to be Jess. She was staring down at her water, clutching the glass tightly. Arthur and Eames were in the office, planning for the un-thinkable. I fiddled with the loose strands of material on my scarf and coughed, awkwardly.

"I'm sorry for intruding on your life like this," she said, staring down at the glass. I looked at her and shook my head.

"Don't think twice about it. It's safer if we stick together. The kids seem to like the situation." I gestured into the living room where all three children were playing happily, getting along as if they had been friends forever. Children were so able to adapt, why couldn't we all have that skill? Jess looked behind her and smiled.

"I suppose." She looked at me, and I suddenly found it more comfortable when she smiled. "Your children don't look like you or Arthur, you know."

I blushed and nearly knocked the glass off the counter top. "Oh, no, they're not ours. Arthur and I aren't even married."

She laughed to herself. "That didn't stop Eames and I."

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean-"

"No, it's fine. I've had worse. Being a single mother in one of the roughest areas in London isn't a walk in the park." She smiled, gently.

I looked down at my hands. "Eames loves you very much, you know."

She nodded. "Yes, I know. He came back to me and Evangeline. He wouldn't do that if he didn't want to." Her expression quickly changed. She became serious, and she stared at me for a moment before speaking. I shuffled in my seat, uncomfortably.

"Can I ask you a question, Ariadne?"

"Shoot."

"You must answer me truthfully. Understand?" I nodded, and she continued. "Can you tell me what happened to you when you were all kidnapped?"

I stiffened. I didn't want to tell her. I didn't even want to remember it, but when I looked at her, I realised she had a right to know why she was here. I sighed.

"Jess, I assume you know what dream-sharing technology is?"

She nodded, quickly, to prove her knowlege of the subject. "Sure, PASIV, lucid dreaming, extraction...all that."

I raised my eyebrows. "Good. Well, I'm the Architect. Arthur is the Point Man. Cobb...was our Extractor. About 7 months ago, we compleated Inception."

A small flash of disbelief flashed across her eyes, but she didn't speak. I continued. "Before that, I believe Cobb and Arthur were hired to compleate an Extraction for a company called Cobal Industries. They failed, and were on the run from Cobal. After we performed Inception, we went our seperate ways. I honestly thought I would never see any of them again. I don't know what I was expecting, but I felt...let down. As if one of them would come back to Paris and see me. But no-one ever did. I was angry and lonely for a while."

I looked at her for some sign of impactience, but she seemed just as interested in my emotional feelings towards the subject than the actual facts.

"One day I came back home, and I was drugged or something because I barely remember what happened. I woke up in a room with Cobb, Arthur and Eames." I shuddered at the memory, and the feeling of coldness and pain flooded back into my body. "Cobal tortured us. It was...horrible. I was shot in the knee." I subcontiously touched my kneecap, remembering the feeling. "They placed us inside a dream. The first person to be killed in the dream and woke up, would be killed in reality. It was like some sort of sick game to them. A hunt," I hissed, feeling the hatred bubble up inside me. "Eventually, they found us. He was going to shoot me, but Arthur took the shot. Cobb...he was so...sad, I guess. His wife had died about a year ago, and now his best friend was about to be killed. I suppose that's why he shot himself before Arthur had the chance to wake up. We found his body. By then it was too late."

The image of his body threatened to appear in my head, but I shook it off. I looked at Jess, who was becoming more scared my the second, but she wanted me to go on. I sighed. "Eames said that they called him while he was with you. They want to get rid of us for seeing Cobb's body. They want to kill us."

Jess looked at me. "They can't possibly know who Evangeline and I are, or Phillipa and James!" She stuttered while speaking, and she looked at me for some sign of reassurance. Unfortunately, I just had none to give. She was still for a moment, then let her head fall into her hands.

"Oh God," she muttered, shaking her head. I reached out and grabbed her arm, and she looked up at me, eyes brimming with tears.

"Listen, I know this is unfair. You've been dragged into a situation that no-one wants to you be in. But if anyone is going to get us out of this, it's those two men in there." I gestured towards the office door, across the hall. "Eames won't let anything happen to you, or Evangeline, and Arthur won't let anything happen to me or Eames. It's going to be fine."

She let a small smile form across her mouth. I believed what I had said. Arthur and Eames wouldn't let anything happen to anyone. As for the children, I had a gun upstairs, and I would kill anyone who tried to hurt them. The sudden bloodthurst shocked me, but I liked it. It was as if all the anger and pain caused could be realised in one shot.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up and saw Arthur standing over me. He was serious, and his face was blank, like it usually was in a serious situation, but his eyes were a hint of fear. Uncertainty.

"Jess, do you know how to use a gun?" he asked. Jess looked a little shocked at his question. She shook her head furiously, as if gun was a dirty word. Arthur nodded. "Eames will teach you. We don't know what's going to happen, and we need everyone to be prepared."

He nodded to Eames. Eames grabbed her hand and escorted her to the back door. I remember the first time I was taught to use a gun, during the training for Inception. Eames had taught me for that as well.

"Just try not to think about it too much. Shooting should be insinct, not knowlege."

"I look stupid."

"No you don't, I acually think you look rather sexy with it."

"I bet you use that on all the Architects."

"You bet I do. Now just try and point, aim and shoot."

I never really thought I would need to use it. But those lessons paid off when I shot Mal. Perfect aim, may I add.

"Come on." I felt Arthur pull me up from the chair on which I was sitting.

"Where are we going?"

"Just come with me," he said, without looking at me. He dragged me by hand, up the stairs. Had he not been so serious, I would have guessed he was going to start a repeat of last night's episode. He pulled me into Phillipa's room and opened her closet door. Before doing anything else, he froze and looked at the floor.

"Ariadne...I need you to listen to me, and not inturrupt, because I know how stubborn you are." He walked into the closet, and for a moment, I thought he had gone insane, trying to find Narnia or something. He let his hand run down the wall, until it stopped at an invisible spot. He looked at me, before pushing on it, causing the wall to move. I leaned forward, and saw there was a small room inside. A panic room. I looked at him for some explaination.

"When I used to stay here, when I was younger and just starting out in the buisness, Cobb showed me this. He told me if there was ever any danger, or something that caused me to feel unsafe or uncomfortable, this was the place to hide." He pointed into the small room. "There is a safe in there, holding a gun, and $10,000." He reached down and grabbed my other hand, holding them up to his face. "If something happens to me or Eames, I need to you to take the kids and come in here."

I raised my eyebrow. I pushed myself away and stood at arms length. He still held my hands.

"Sure, I'll take the kids here, but I'm not going anywhere, unless you're with me."


I sighed at her.

"See what I meant about being stubborn?"

I leaned behind myself and pulled back the door of the panic room. When it was in place, it was invisible. No-one would suspect a thing. It was the perfect hiding spot.

When I was 18, and just started working for Cobb, I would stay here, since I had nowhere to go. Cobb became the brother that I never had, and Mal was my new mother figure. One time, I heard an earsplitting shatter of glass downstairs, and a cry. I couldn't think of anything but to run into the panic room. I stayed in there for half an hour, convinced that Cobb and Mal were in trouble. I was so cowardly. When Cobb came upstairs and found me, he laughed. It turned out that he had dropped a plate and it scared Mal, causing her to cry out in shock. I felt like an idiot, but he praised me for knowing what to do in a situation that could have been. As I got older, I realised there was no point of surviving in a panic room, if there was no-one to survive for. Evertime I heard a noise, I would start running downstairs, gun in hand. That just made Cobb laugh even more.

I turned back to Ariadne and pulled her back closer. I gave her a small kiss and smirked at her, just because I knew it annoyed her.

"You know, one day you're going to need help, and you'll wish you had a panic room."

She smiled and reached up to kiss my cheek. "Then you'll have to build one for me."

Later that night, I decided to put James in Phillipa's room for the night. He and Phillipa both moaned at me, but I was not budging from my decision. I tucked them under the bedsheets and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Can you guys promise me something?" They both nodded. "If you hear something, anything. A noise or a voice that you don't know, don't leave this room, ok? Just hide under the bed. Wait for one of us to come to you. Just me, Ariadne, Eames or Jess. Don't you move. Understand?"

James nodded mindlessly, but Phillipa clutched her toy. When I looked at her, I had a feeling that this wasn't the first time she had recived those instructions.

"Phillipa, understand?" She hesitated, but nodded. I bent over and kissed both of their foreheads, hoping that nothing would happen in the night to prevent me from not ever doing this again. I switched the light off and shut the door. On the way out, I saw Eames and Jess in the hall. Eames was holding Evangeline in his arms, and cradling her tightly.

"You can put her in Phillipa's room," I said, gesturing to the door. "James is in there too." Eames nodded, and returned to the whispers with his girls. I left them alone, knowing that if this was their goodbye, then they would want their privacy.

Cobal was coming for us. Most likely tonight. But I wasn't going to let them get anyone. Not now, not ever again.