A/N: Ack I realized I haven't updated in FOREVER, but homework, you know (junior year should just end now). anyways, we're getting a little bit deeper (WE NEED TO GO DEEPER) into the plot now, so I'm quite happy about that. enjoy! As always, Inception does not belong to me. however, Vittoria and Zoe are my own made up characters.



That Saturday, while the team took the weekend off, Vittoria trained Zoe.

"But it's Saturday. I don't want to work on Saturday," Zoe whined to Arthur.

"Zoe, if you want to work with us, you're going to have to train," he scolded. Zoe pouted and looked to Ariadne for help. Ariadne gave her an empathetic smile and shrugged.

On Saturday, there was peace and quiet in Ariadne's apartment for a change. Arthur sat at the kitchen table, working on his laptop, giving an occasional grunt of confusion. Ariadne locked herself away in her room, drawing outlines of the various dream levels and constantly clutching at her hair in frustration.

Deciding to put her mind at ease, Ariadne slipped out of her room and into the bathroom to take a shower. She sighed as the hot water trickled across her skin and steam filled the tiny bathroom. Normally, Ariadne took 5 minutes to shower, trying her best not to use all the hot water- there were 3 people living in her apartment, after all. But today, there was no one to argue with her so Ariadne took her own sweet time.

However, Arthur, not realizing that Ariadne was still in the bathroom, decided to take a shower as well…

"You've done this before, no?" Vittoria asked Zoe, holding a needle.

Zoe nodded.

"Good, let's begin shall we?" she added with a smirk so devilish, Zoe was almost sure Vittoria was going to kill her.

In truth, the woman terrified Zoe. Every time Vittoria spoke, Zoe shut her mouth and tended to hide behind Arthur. The only reason she didn't want to be there was because it was Vittoria and she knew she was going to be alone with her.

Vittoria slipped the PASIV needle under Zoe's skin, as well as her own. Sitting in lawn chairs, side by side, in the warehouse, the two of them felt their eyelids slowly droop shut until finally, they fell into a state of relaxation.

When they opened their eyes, they found themselves sitting in a quiet café.

"The secret to extraction," Vittoria began with no delay, "is asking the right questions."

Humming quietly to himself, Arthur made his way towards the bathroom door. The bathroom door- which had a broken lock. He swung the door open, revealing Ariadne wearing nothing but her bra and panties, drying her hair.

"HOLY FUCK, ARTHUR. WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" she screamed, shielding her body with her arms.

"OH MY GOD, I AM SO SORRY," Arthur screamed, simultaneously as he closed his eyes.

"WHAT THE FUCK?" Ariadne cried as she shoved Arthur out of the doorway and slammed the door shut.

Flabbergasted, Arthur took a few steps backwards and sat himself down on the couch. He stared at the blank wall across from him in shock; his back slumped into a perfect curve and his arms dangled between his legs.

When Ariadne finally emerged from the bathroom, Arthur shot up from the couch. They stared at each other for a moment and then Ariadne pursed her lips, her eyes shooting towards the ground, unable to face Arthur.

"Ariadne, I'm so sorry. I honestly didn't know you were still in there. You usually only take a few minutes so I just figured you were already done," Arthur explained in a hurry taking a step forward.

"No, no it's all my fault. I really should have just fixed the lock earlier," Ariadne retaliated, her face turning red.

"I didn't even see anything," Arthur insisted.

"We'll just… Leave it then. It never happened." Ariadne agreed, closing her eyes, as if doing so would erase the memory from her mind.

"Is it just always going to be like this, then?" Arthur asked.

"Like what?"

"Pretending like these things never happened."

Ariadne bit her lower lip, searching for an answer. A few times, she opened her mouth to speak, only to close it once again to search for a better response.

"Look, I like you Arthur. I really do. But it's totally unprofessional. And especially with your sister living with us. We can't let things get too awkward," she said at last.

"Right… too awkward…" Arthur mumbled, towering over Ariadne.

"Arthur, we can't…" she muttered, longing to reach out and touch him. She could feel the heat radiating from his body and she wanted nothing more than to hold him. Ariadne's eyes trailed from the ground up to Arthur's face. Their eyes locked, faces just inches apart, and for what seemed to be forever, they simply stared at each other. There was nothing to be said- they knew.

They knew of the uncanny bond they had with each other. They knew what the other was thinking. They understood now- there was an undeniable attraction between the two of them. Whether or not it was love, they could not yet tell, but they simply could not stay away from each other.

Their moment of silence was thusly interrupted by a loud ringing. Ariadne looked back down at the ground, letting out a nervous chuckle as she slipped away to answer the phone. Surprisingly enough, it was Vittoria on the other end. Ariadne wondered how she even came to obtain her number- they had only known each other for a few days after all.

"Hello? Ariadne? It's me, Vittoria," she explained, rather smugly.

"Oh, yes? What is it? Should we- I mean I come pick up Zoe now?"

"No, no that won't be necessary. If it's alright with you, I'd like to take Zoe to dinner. Bond with her," Vittoria questioned. Ariadne could hear her smiling into the phone.

"Oh uhm well…" Ariadne trailed before holding out the phone to Arthur, letting out a squeak to catch his attention.

Arthur took the phone from Ariadne, listened to what Vittoria had to say, mumbled a quick, "Sure as long as she's back before 10" and hung up.

Ariadne stood across the room, fiddling with her fingers. They stared at each other in an awkward silence until Ariadne finally spoke.

"I should get back to work now…" she said quietly.

"Yeah, me too…" Arthur mumbled, his face turning a fire-y red.

The pair turned from each other and walked away- Ariadne to her room and Arthur to his laptop- and as always, pretended nothing happened.


A/N: he he I'm such a tease.