I hadn't planned on continuing this story. But enough people I think added it to a Story Alert that I felt like I should try at least. Hopefully I haven't completely butchered what I thought was a relatively good story.
Also, I haven't quite decided on a pairing for this story yet. But I can tell you it's definitely not Cobb/Ariadne. Even though this chapter contains mostly them in it. I'd write them a little differently if it were.
Disclaimer - I wouldn't be writing this if I owned it :)
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Extraction is very different from Inception.
Ariadne learns this fairly quickly. The tactics are different, more urgent. Although the inception was no leisurely stroll on the park, there seems to be less time to do an extraction. It's almost more exciting this way.
Except for the fact that she was trapped on the first level of the dream, waiting for the kick from up above, and with no one to talk to. The projections hounding on the steel door in front of her aren't really helping any either.
She's locked herself, ironically, in a bank safe with the team. One that conveniently locks from the inside and only she knows the combination. She wishes she descended to the second level, but someone's gotta be the guard.
She sighs and glances at her watch, willing time to move faster.
The music starts playing.
###
Emerging from a dream always felt so surreal to her. She grips the bishop in her pocket to make sure she's really woken up, just in case. She has.
She glances quickly over to her left and right to make sure the others have as well. All except for The Mark. They're coming out of slumber. She quickly removes her drip and The Mark's as well, as he's sitting closest to her.
They get up and disappear without a trace.
"Two hours from now, in The Renaissance," is all she hears from Arthur before he disappears.
###
Two hours is a long time to kill in the middle of nowhere Ohio. Ariadne manages though, and makes sure she doesn't show up at the hotel bar too early, looking suspicious.
The first person she spots is Eames, and not surprisingly, he has a woman on each side. She sits down on the other side of one of the women and orders a drink, feigning disinterest.
The women leave eventually and all it takes is a brief shared glance for her to understand her directions.
Eames and Arthur greet her at the elevator twenty minutes later.
"Where's Alphonse?" she asks. Alphonse is their extractor, and he'd usually be with them.
"Upstairs," Arthur answers briskly.
"Why?" she asks.
"Just because," Arthur replies and his tone implies that that is the end of it. Ariadne wonders if there's something wrong. They hadn't somehow failed the job in the last two hours, had they? Her worried expression catches Eames's attention and he grins at her, which confuses her even more.
###
Alphonse greets them with expensive champagne and a ridiculous three layer cake that says "Happy Birthday Ariadne!" on it.
Arthur is terrible at keeping secrets and looking natural, Ariadne decides.
"Make a wish darling," Eames says next to her. He places an arm around her shoulder and kisses the top of her head. She knows he's got alternative motives, and her suspicions are confirmed when she notices Arthur's glare.
Eames had grown fond of her during the mission. There's dinners, meetings, and even dreams behind them now, so naturally Eames uses her to antagonize Arthur with to no end. Their relationship is much different from when they'd barely spoken two sentences to one another during the inception.
In her defense, all of her time was occupied by another blue-eyed man she wished here tonight. It's her wish to see him again as she blows out the candles.
Not even five minutes later, there's a soft, coded rapt on the door. Ariadne cannot contain her excitement when she realizes who it is.
She runs to him with much more force than she had when she was reunited with Arthur. Cobb is knocked to the ground, and then they're both laughing, and she's ready to cry because it's been so long since she'd seen him, the man who's probably her closest friend.
She doesn't notice the way Arthur's eyes change when he sees them together.
###
She spends the whole night talking only to Cobb. She asks about his children, his parents, his life. Cobb knows most of what's gone on in her life because of Professor Miles. His eyes tell her that he knows what she did to herself, but he doesn't mention it with other people around.
"How's your building going?" he asks.
"See for yourself," she offers. He takes her up on it. It's only 5 minutes in the real world after all.
###
Cobb is amazed by the cities Ariadne has built inside herself. She was truly a prodigy and could be world renowned if she could mimic even a fraction of her designs in the real world. Cobb feels guilty for bringing her into the dreams. Reality isn't what Ariadne wants anymore. He knows this because he's been keeping tabs on her. Miles is worried too.
Ariadne glows with pride when she sees how deep in awe Cobb is. But she doesn't miss the darkness behind his eyes, and she's reminded that he knows what it cost for her to build this infinite dreamscape.
"How far down did you go Ariadne?" the question is simple yet threatening to her because she knows she has to acknowledge what's been wrong. And she'd tried so hard to forget it too.
"Not far enough to be lost," she answers truthfully. "I remembered what happened with Mal." But it was tempting all the same, and she had even constructed a lover to keep her company as she dove deeper into the recesses of her mind. If it hadn't been for Miles, she may have gone that deep. The thought scares her.
"You almost did." And he's holding papers in his hands and she knows for sure now that he knows everything. The psychiatrist's report, the testimony from her friends, her rapidly falling grades, they're all collected in that little plain folder, and Cobb is looking at her with concerned eyes.
"I'm sorry," he says remorsefully, which surprises her. "I shouldn't have brought you into this, I know what you're going through, it shouldn't be something you have to deal with, I should've better prepared you but I was so concerned with getting back home that I…"
She places a finger over his mouth and hugs him.
"You never did anything but introduce me to the most wonderful dream," she says. "I did everything to myself, because I couldn't handle reality anymore. But it's okay now. Please don't worry about me Cobb. I won't…" she pauses, unsure if she wants to finish her sentence.
"You won't turn out like me?" he's smiling for the first time since they entered the dream. She can't help but laugh a little despite herself.
"Yes," she answers. "I won't turn out like you. I'm better than that you know."
They laugh simultaneously, and continue to explore her city. Cobb knows she'll be all right, but he tells both Arthur and Eames to keep a look on her and keep him updated from time to time. Arthur only nods stiffly, and Eames laughs and says he'll keep a special eye on their architect.
Cobb isn't sure he wants to know. He saw Eames's influence on Ariadne's city. The forger's taste for flair was easy to recognize, having worked with him on many a dream before. But he trusts that his protégé is in good hands, he would trust Arthur and Eames with his life, had before, and even though he didn't turn out all that great, he hoped at least Ariadne would.
She was better than him in all aspects, after all.