Disclaimer: Inception does not belong to me. Apologies for the hiatus on this fic - life interrupted a little.
Ariadne looked at the two men. Arthur's hand reached for hers, and curled his fingers round it. She squeezed it gently, enjoying the pressure and warmth of his fingers.
"This isn't how I wanted it to end."
Ariadne blinked, realising that Cobb was speaking. She looked at him. "Cobb-"
"You should have thought of that earlier," Arthur snapped. She could feel the tension in his arm. "Should have thought of that before you sold us all out to Fischer."
"I had no choice."
"You had no right."
"Stop it!" Ariadne was aware she possibly sounded shrill, but she couldn't bear to hear them argue. "Its no-one's fault, we're-"
"No-one's?" To her shock, Arthur turned to her, his dark eyes flashing. "What do you mean, exactly? Then whose is it? We fell in love, that's all we did! What was the problem, Dom? You resented me being happy, after you lost yours?"
Cobb was looking at the grey metallic floor, not responding. Arthur nudged him with his shoe. "Say something."
"All I'm going to say is that I'm sorry." Cobb looked up, meeting Arthur's eyes. "Because that's all I can say right now." He leaned forward. "We will get out of this. And then you two will go and get married, and never hear from me again."
"You mean that?" Arthur said, carefully, as though testing the words. Cobb nodded, tiredly. "Yes."
"I need to get you to a hospital," Eames insisted, stubbornly. Cassandra looked at him, her face nearly cumpling.
"We can't let them-" she swallowed. "We can't let them get away." The van was beginning to pull ahead, as though they had finally realised they were being followed. Suddenly, her eyes widened.
"What is it?" Eames asked, unnerved. He was trying to keep his concentration focused on the road, but her increasingly agitated movements were beginning to rattle him. "Cass, please, sit down!"
She shook her head. "Drive!" it was a command. Biting back an angry retort, Eames set his jaw, focusing on the road. Suddenly he noticed.
A small cannister was being thrown out of the window. As it hit the ground, it began to explode into smoke.
"What was that?" Ariadne asked. The van swerved sharply, causing the three of them to bounce against the metallic walls. Arthur swallowed, trying to maintain his composure.
"Someone's following us," Cobb said, quietly.
"Eames?" Ariadne offered, almost timidly.
"Well, if they are, they'll be dead." Arthur spoke with finality. "Fischer won't let them help us." He rubbed his face. "When Cassandra walked away from extraction, I hoped she'd be able to stay away. I never thought I'd need to bring her back on board."
"You didn't want to?" Cobb asked, softly.
"After what happened in Colombia? No."
The van jolted again. Arthur blinked. "What's going on out there?"
"Just smoke!" Cassandra shouted. Her face was wincing, and Eames bit his lip angrily. "Keep going!" She shouted. "We need to -"
Suddenly, out of nowhere, another car screamed alongside them, and slammed into them. Eames gripped the wheel more tightly and proceeded to steer the car back onto the road.
"Try that again," he muttered.
Cassandra blinked. The van was starting to turn off the main road and onto a slip road. She gulped. "Eames. I think they're planning on-"
Suddenly, the other car rammed them, hard. Before they could move, Eames and Cassandra felt their world turn upside down.
"What's going on?" Ariadne asked, tightly.
"No idea," Arthur responded. "But I think we're-"
Suddenly, the van swerved, sharply. Arthur's eyes narrowed. "I don't think we're on the road anymore." He paused, and looked at the others. Before Ariadne could answer, he reached over, and grabbed her hand.
The van pulled onto a road, and stopped.
Suddenly, the engine began, and it started to move, then accelerate. Then, it began to speed. Towards a bridge. Before anyone could stop it, it had driven through the barrier, hitting the water.
Ariadne felt herself lurch forward, followed by Cobb and Arthur. Before they realised, they had smacked into the other side of the van.
Arthur, turning, looked at her in horror. The van was moving slowly, falling. And to his shock, he noticed something dripping, then falling, through the crack in the locked back doors.
Water.
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