Disclaimer: Inception does not belong to me. All readers and reviews appreciated, thank you!

Ariadne opened her apartment door, and peeked out. Her face was streaked with tears.

Cobb stepped forward. "Its just Eames and myself, Ari. Can we come in?"

She nodded consent, and gestured for the two men to step through the doorway. After shutting the door, she turned to them. "Coffee? Water?"

"Coffee would be good," Eames spoke up, and Cobb nodded.

"Listen, you guys go and sit down," - Ariadne pointed towards the living room – "and I'll be back in a few minutes." She turned and looked nervously at the door.

Cobb cleared his throat. "He's back at the clinic."

"What?" The Architect looked shaken. "But he broke out of there!"

"Yes," Eames commented drily, "so they thought the best thing was to have him back. He'll be under constant supervision."

Cobb looked at the Forger. "And if that's not going to make him worse, I don't know what will."

Eames shrugged. "They're the experts. Allegedly."

Arthur swallowed. The Plebotomist was looking at the syringe he was about to use, and also holding a piece of elastic.

"Do we have to do this?" The question came out in a whining voice, and the Point Man immediately cursed himself.

The Plebotomist glared. "You're bulimic, aren't you? We have to test your blood to see how low you are in minerals. You could drop dead from lack of potassium at any moment. That's something to think about the next time you puke."

He put the elastic tourniquet around Arthur's arm, and pulled tight. Too tight. Arthur noticed with shock that the tips of his fingers were starting to turn slightly blue.

"Listen, I think-" he paused.

"Oh, you do, do you?" The tone was mocking. Arthur felt a wave of humiliation wash over him. He gritted his teeth, and allowed the elastic to be pulled tighter. He winced.

"Oh, whats wrong with you?"

"It hurts". Arthur winced again as the elastic pulled. "My fingers are turning blue, I think the circulation is being cut-"

"Oh, for Christ's sake!" The plebotomist pulled the cap off the syringe. "Stop whining! Whose the doctor, me or you? Just grow up, be a big boy, don't be such a baby!" He put the needle in, and Arthur grimaced.

"Wow, nice veins," the phlebotomist commented sourly.

Arthur blinked, then exhaled as the blood was withdrawn.

"Right. I'll get this sent to the lab for analysis. You look as if you're about to go into shock." The phlebotomist surmised him. "Go and eat a candy bar."

"Why are you all doing this?" Enraged, Arthur got to his feet, despite feeling shaky. "Why are you all taunting me?"

"Its quite simple," the phlebotomist snapped. "Its because you assaulted one of our male nurses, then tried to harass one of our female. If it weren't for your rich benefactor, we'd have you our of here. You shouldn't be here, anyway. You're a guy. Guys don't get eating disorders. Couldn't you just work out more after you ate, or something?"

The Plebotomist turned and walked out. Arthur sat down, and quietly and angrily dissolved into tears.

Ariadne passed cups of coffee to Eames and Cobb; the two men accepted them gratefully.

"Right," Cobb spoke first. "Ari, I got your message. I understand why you don't want to see Arthur again, but this is not really Arthur. Arthur's sick, he's getting help-"

"Cobb, just shut up!" Tears were glistening in the Architects' eyes; her face was flushed. "Will you stop making excuses for him! He's not sick, he's just cruel! He came round here, tried to sleep with me, tried to take advantage-" she flushed, remembering how close she had been to letting him. "He called me easy!"

"Oh did he?" Eames raised his eyebrows. "I'll make sure he's eating a knuckle sandwich next time I visit, his teeth are probably falling out by now anyway so-"

"Eames! Cobb turned and glared at the Forger. "This isn't helping either! No one is going to the clinic at the moment – we can't! Greenwood has insisted we be banned until further notice. Arthur's under constant supervision, we can't perform inception until they lift this. We have no idea whats being done to him! He might be sitting in a circle talking about his feelings, he might be restrained to a bed with a feeding tube in his chest! Think about it!"

Eames was silent. Ariadne wiped her eyes.

"You don't like Arthur at the moment-" Cobb gestured to Ariadne – "and you've never liked him. Frankly, I don't care. All I care about is that he's ill. He's so ill he doesn't even recognise it. He's so ill that he's desperate and he'll do anything. Without Arthur, there is no team. There is no more of us. For Christ sake, please, whatever he's done, its not him. It's the illness. Ari, I know he's hurt you. I know when he recovers, he'll be mortified. But, I need you to be on board. I need you to finish those designs. Because as soon as Greenwood lifts that ban, we are going in, and we are incepting, which might do more than those psychiatrists. Because we know him!"

"Oh, do you?" Eames' voice was disbelieving.

Cobb turned. "Whats the supposed to mean?"

The Forger got up, and stood toe to toe with Cobb. "We don't know him, Cobb. None of us. He's been hiding this, hiding this for months, possibly even years. We all thought, oh Arthur's naturally thin. Small framed, fast metabolism. That's why he can eat heavy meals out and never blink. Unlike potentially fat bastards like you and I. Except, its not. Its why he always carries breath mints in his pocket. Its why he always gels his hair – because he's worried he'll start to lose it. Its why he flinches when anyone offers him food. Think of all the jobs we've been on. How many times did he slope off in secret? What do you think he was doing?"

"Well-" Cobb stopped. "I can't answer that Eames. Neither can you."

"Dom." Eames' voice was gentle. "Arthur is no longer Arthur. I know I was all for inception, but will it even work?"

Cobb cleared his throat. "It will, if we remember that we're going into his subconscious to attack whats hurting him. We'll be encountering his projections, but we need to remember that we are doing this to help him."

Eames whistled. "I don't even want to think who Arthur could project."

Cobb smiled, tiredly. "He'll probably project his views of us."

"Us?" Ariadne looked astonished. "Why would he project us?"

"Because I suspect that we are possibly aggravating the condition." Cobb answered. "Arthur probably has us all in his head, all in a way that he sees. And its probably not flattering."

Ariadne shuddered. "I don't know if I can do this."

"Ari." Cobb looked at her. "Please. I'm not sure if I can do it either. But we have to. It's the only way."