Rain poured loud on the roof. Arthur stood at a large table looking over various papers spread out before them, some in his own handwriting. research. Cobb, Eames, Ariadne all were working on their own projects in separate areas of the warehouse. Arthur's mind wondered for a moment on all he'd been asked to do.
"Dammit...focus" he scolded himself. Suddenly there was a loud bang as the door shut signifying someone had entered. There in the doorway stood a familiar form to most of the team shaking her umbrella momentarily before she looked straight at her target.
"YOU!" she said angrily as she headed toward him.
"Take it that's the ex..." Ariadne whispered to Eames.
"You'd be correct in that assumption" Eames said as he walked toward the commotion.
"Lovely to see you again Ashby" he said with a smirk.
"I don't need to hear it from you Eames!" she said shooting him a look. She then turned back to Arthur.
"As for you, you've been dream sharing...I know it..." she said angrily as she shoved him a bit.
"Ash let me explain..." Arthur said grabbing her shoulders.
"Don't touch me!" she yelled. "Dammit! Arthur...I tried getting away from all this...yet you won't bloody let me! How'd you get in? what'd you pay Nel?"
"Ash..." he tried pleading. She glanced at the papers he'd been revising, then glanced away quickly. She wouldn't get pulled in.
"It's my fault Ashby...I told him to find you..." Cobb said upon entering the room after hearing the commotion.
"Don't pull that on me Dom...I know what you're playing at" she said angrily.
The team was silent.
"Stay out of my dreams, I'm not coming back...not to this team and not to you" she said angrily as she stormed back out of the warehouse. the large door slammed shut.
"Well, that was pleasant.." Eames said "Who's hungry?"
Arthur shot him a look. Then turned to Cobb.
"I don't think it's going to happen Cobb, I know Ashby...she's too stubborn" Arthur said feeling defeated.
"She's also too stubborn to let go of all this..." Cobb said
"I'm not sneaking back there...she knows..." Arthur added.
"I don't think you'll have to...not yet anyway" Cobb said thoughtfully
Ashby entered the small apartment she shared with Nel, she threw her keys on a small table, dropped her umbrella to the ground and unceremoniously threw her coat into the small closet. Nel looked up from the book she'd been reading.
"afternoon Ash..." she began. Ashby sat in front of her glaring at her. Nel raised an eyebrow.
"How much Nel?" she asked.
"What are you talking about?" Nel said as innocently as she could.
"Don't play games...how much did he pay you to come in at night?" Ashby demanded. Nel stared blankly at her.
"I'm sure it's a good amount..." Ashby said running a hand through her dark hair. "I'm going to give you an ultimatum and for once I won't feel bad, tell me the truth or I go into my room...pack my things and leave."
"Fine..." Nel caved "Well enough to pay rent...it seemed innocent enough whatever the case is...seems he likes you...I just thought I was helping"
"Helping? Nel, this is why I can't stay in one place long...I can't begin to describe what you've been 'helping' with" Ashby tried calmly explaining. Nel thought a moment.
"Is that your ex? Is that what this is all about?" Nel asked. Ashby shot her a look and stood to return to her room.
"You really have no idea...that wouldn't even scratch the surface." She said leaving Nel to herself.
"So...Ash...what was it?" Nel asked. It had been a few hours since Ashby had returned home and confronted her roommate. She sat on an old couch reading the latest book she'd picked up.
"Beg your pardon?" Ashby asked not even looking up from her reading.
"The thing...I mean, it looked like a suitcase he brought in...asked me to monitor it but didn't really tell me anything about it.." Nel said timidly. Nel's curiosity had been a trait she'd had as long as she could remember. She glanced at Ashby who now stared at her from her book.
"It's called a PASIV device" Ashby said. She couldn't blame Nel for asking "And of course he wouldn't tell you much about it..."
"So, what is it exactly?" Nel asked. Ashby smirked.
"What makes you think I'll tell you?" She said setting her book down, she may have only been looking for a place to stay..for now, however she'd been developing a small friendship with her roommate Nel.
"Just curious...you never tell me anything" Nel shrugged. She bit her lip and grinned "Whoever that guy is...he must like you...gave you a kiss before hooking you up to that thingy"
Ashby's mood changed suddenly. She frowned.
"Don't tell me that..." she said focusing at picking a small bit of dirt from under her fingernail.
"Come on Ash..." Nel prodded. Ashby stood from the couch and took her long hair out of the pony tail it had been in as she made her way to the kitchen.
"I'm starved...what did ya' want for dinner?" she asked Nel suddenly changing the subject.
Arthur paced the warehouse thinking to himself. Eames had already left for the evening, which was a relief in his mind. He could have some peace. He stopped near the desk he'd been working at and glanced at a photo he had of Ashby hanging nearby.
"That isn't for research is it?" a small voice asked jarring him from his thoughts.
"Pardon?" He asked looking toward Ariadne.
"That photo...you don't keep it for research do you?" she asked. Arthur smirked, much as Ariadne could be a bit naive she could also be incredibly perceptive.
"What are you still doing here?" He smiled at her "Thought you'd be out by now"
"Thought the same of you, I was just working on some layouts, yourself?" she asked sitting in a nearby chair.
"Um...well..just" Arthur stammered, he was usually much more articulate "Nothing really."
"You miss her, don't you?" Ariadne said.
"It's funny," he thought out loud "I thought I was over her...then Cobb sends me out to find her again and it all comes back"
"What happened?" she asked. Arthur looked to her figuring out if he would tell.
"If you don't mind me asking..." Ariadne added trying to ease the situation.
"Where do I start?" He laughed slightly.
"She seems a bit um...brash?" Ariadne laughed "For you"
Arthur smiled at her, she'd become somewhat of a sister to him.
"You saw her in a bad mood...she can be pleasant, when she feels like it" he smiled.
"How did you meet?" She asked curiously.
"Cobb and I were in London working for Cobol...given the job, Cobb thought it would be wise to have another pointman on duty." Arthur began "I wasn't terribly happy at the idea to be honest, given our first meeting...neither was she. I had no idea how I was going to deal with this...girl. God, we got into some arguments, but she was amazing...she could find things on our marks that I couldn't and vice versa.
I'm not sure exactly how or when it happened, but silly as it sounds, we fell in love...I remember it being around the time Mal had James. I was spending most of my time with her in London, I was supposed to go home to see my family for Christmas, but chose to be with her that year. Christmas morning, I proposed. We'd agreed to wait until the Cobol job was finished to get married. She spoke often, how she hated working under Cobol...how she was going to leave after we were married. Both of us were in good enough standing with Cobol to leave when we chose, no questions asked...everything was lining up for us"
Arthur sat a moment staring past the papers at his desk.
"What happened?" Ariadne asked "She seems to hate you now"
"She doesn't hate me...at least not directly," Arthur corrected before he continued "It came time for extraction, it wasn't your average job either. The team consisted of of Cobb, myself, Ashby, Nash and Eames...Mal monitored us. Cobb insisted she stay out of that job...I was insistent Ashby stay behind as well, however, she's stubborn. too stubborn. We thought it would be fine, she was top of her game and so was I.
Nothing, no amount of research either of us did could prepare us for what would happen. We knew the mark suffered from extreme paranoia and schizophrenia...which is risky even when it's moderate. We didn't realize just how violent his sub conscious would be, it was nightmarish...the projections didn't even seem human. I was 'kicked' from the dream before Ashby was. I remember waking up, feeling pain and looking to Mal who looked terrified...my arm was covered in blood.."
"What? How is that even possible?" Ariadne asked astonished.
"It usually isn't...only in rare cases will the dreamer experience real physical harm. This was one of those unfortunate cases, I really can't even begin to describe what we saw while in the dream...not something I enjoy thinking about.
Anyway, after realizing it was one of those rare cases...I immediately turned to Ashby who was suffering various injuries, I didn't know what to do...it was sheer panic, I demanded Mal get me water and I tried waking Ash up. She did wake finally, terrified. Once I was able to calm her down, we awoke the others...however, we'd failed the job...failure wasn't in Cobol's vocabulary. We returned to Ashby's home where she immediately began packing...some of Cobol's men were already there waiting for us. We were held at gunpoint, if we attempted to leave...they'd kill us. They offered us a deal, with our good standings...we'd have a second chance, same with Cobb and Eames...we had 24 hours to decide, if we chose to run...then we'd be hunted.
Ashby, as soon as they left, resumed packing. I tried talking her out of it, saying we'd regain our good standing with another job and be able to leave. She'd have none of it and we argued...it came down to her ultimatum; her or Cobol. I panicked and froze...If I followed her, we would be hunted and possibly killed..if I chose Cobol, I lost her. Before I could say anything, she left."
Ariadne placed a hand on Arthur's shoulder sensing this wasn't something he talked about often, he had always been so focused on the task at hand, she'd never seen him divulge much info on his personal life.
"You said she'd bought her freedom..." Ariadne said encouraging him to continue. He nodded.
"She did. At a huge cost..." He began "Ashby works hard, she was extremely good at the job, I'm sure she still is...anyway, she was paid well. she lived well. However, she took everything she owned and paid Cobol off. She's completely free from them. however, she's working far beneath what she should be and living in a dingy hole in the wall apartment. And I don't know that she can forgive me for that"
Ariadne reached out and hugged him close. She felt sorry for him now, the job he'd been asked couldn't be easy on him.
"I think you should talk to her, in person...maybe she'd have an easier time then?" Ariadne suggested. Arthur looked at her as if she were crazy.
"Coming from a female point of view," she smirked "it might help you win her over"
Arthur smirked back not saying anything.
"Get some sleep, think on it, I'll see you tomorrow" she smiled warmly before leaving.