Well... To say this chapter gave me fits would be a severe understatement... It just didn't want to be written. Add that to a busy schedule and you get no update for almost 6 weeks. Oh that's really bad. I am so sorry! I promise I will try not to let it happen again... I hope you'll forgive me for taking this long...

P.S. I don't own Inception or it's characters.

"Darling are you sure you'll be fine? Dom said he can send the children to their grandmother's." Eames watched Daphne while she was making a snack for James and Phillipa.

"Here you are." Ignoring Eames she slid a plate in front of each child.

"Thank you!" They both grinned as they started eating the carrots and ranch dressing.

"I'll be fine." She kissed Eames' cheek. "You guys have fun tonight." Dom and Eames were going to pick Yusuf up from the airport.

"If you're sure." He said hesitantly. He felt uneasy about leaving her. He wasn't sure when he turned into worrywart Arthur.

"I'm sure. Are you?" She pulled him out of the kitchen and kissed him.

"Yes." He wrapped his arms around her. "Call me if you need anything alright?"

"Don't worry. I will. Nick you are just as bad as Arthur with all your worrying." She teased.

"Please don't tell him." He'd never hear the end of it.

"I'll think about it. Have fun with Yusuf." She sat down on the couch and propped her feet up.

He plopped down on the couch beside her. "It won't be as much fun without you." He pouted.

"Well you could always stay with me." She snuggled up to him.

"No, I need him to help me talk to Yusuf."Dom walked in.

"I don't want to know."Daphne rolled her eyes and kissed Eames' cheek. "I'll see you when you get back. Be good."

"Always Darling." He kissed her.

"Thanks Daphne." Dom said as he and Eames walked out the door.

"Aunt Daphne?" Phillipa called from her room.

"Yeah Sweetie?" Daphne walked into the bedroom.

"We need another blanket to make our fort!" She jumped up and down on her bed.

"Yeah!" James echoed.

Daphne laughed. "I thought the two of you were going to get in bed."

"We had to make a fort first. Will you get us another blanket please?" She folded her hands and pouted.

"Please?" James did the same.

"Oh alright." Daphne kissed their cheeks. "Promise me you will go to bed if I get you one more blanket?"

"We promise." They giggled.

"I'll be right back." She walked out of their room to the linen closet. She pulled a blanket off of the top shelf. She was about to close the door when something silver caught her eye. "It can't be." She muttered as she pulled the silver briefcase down and opened it. "It is." She shook her head. "That weasel." She knew Dom and Mal had a PASIV at one time, but Dom said it was lost. Or that Mal had hidden it. She stashed the briefcase in the closet and walked back to the kids' room with the blanket.

She sat on the couch and tapped her fingers on the briefcase. The temptation was almost too much for her to bear. Arthur would be mad at her if she used it. "But Arthur is in Sacramento with Ariadne. He won't know." She reasoned with herself. Dom and Eames were going to be harder to convince. Maybe she could use it and stash it away in the closet before they got back. She opened the briefcase and it looked just like she remembered it. There was a bottle of a strange sedative she didn't recognize. It had been expired for over a year. She vaguely remembered Yusuf saying that most sedatives stayed good beyond their expiration date. She hoped this was one of them. She remembered the video, and the emotions it brought back. She pulled her totem out of her pocket. She still kept it with her. Just in case she needed it, but she hadn't. She gazed intently at the maze on the square piece of paper. She rubbed her thumb across the paper to calm her nerves. She took a deep breath folding the paper and slipping it back into her pocket. She unwound the tube and poured the sedative in. Her heart was pounding and her hands were shaking. The needle slipped and scratched her arm. She took a deep breath and tried again. She winced at the prick and pressed the button.

"What did you say?" Yusuf asked Dom to repeat himself. Surely the man had not just asked for his help on another job. The Fischer inception was supposed to be the last.

"We need your help." Dom sighed. He didn't want to do more work again, but the situation presented itself and he couldn't refuse.

"I brought several types of sedative with me. Do you still have that bottle that Mal used?"

"Yes. It's in the closet with the PASIV." Dom said quietly. He didn't like admitting that he had lied about having it.

"You've had a PASIV this whole time?" Eames voice got higher with each word.

"Yes." Dom rolled his eyes.

"Does Daphne know this?" He felt panic welling inside him.

"No. Besides, it doesn't even work." The gravity of what could happen if he was wrong began to weigh on him.

"Let's go." Eames stood up from the table abandoning his drink.

"I haven't finished my drink yet." Yusuf complained.

"Forget it. Let's go." Eames walked to the door. He had a sick feeling in his stomach. He was afraid that Dom was wrong and that the PASIV did indeed work. The thought terrified him.

Daphne walked around the scenery she had created. It was just as she remembered it, and the memories couldn't compare to really dreaming and creating again. She noted the irony of her thoughts. Sure Arthur was going to kill her. Dom and Eames would be angry, but Dom would understand and Eames loved her. Something in the back of her mind reminded her that this was a very bad idea, but for the time being she pushed that thought as far away as she could.

Eames walked into Dom's house. "Daphne?" He called. He saw her stretched out on the couch. The needle was still in her arm and she had a couple minutes left. He noticed the blood that ran down her arm. He was about to pull the needle out when Yusuf stopped him.

"Don't interrupt. You know how dangerous that can be." Yusuf warned and loosened his grip on Eames' arm.

"I know, but what if she is in danger? I can't lose her again." He was panicking. He couldn't lose her again.

"You won't lose her." Yusuf tried to sound confident. He looked at Dom and swore under his breath. "You said you destroyed this one." He held up the bottle.

"You just asked me if I still had it." Dom was confused.

"I meant the other one. This one…" He shook his head. "Has very nasty side effects. I think Mal only used it once. She wasn't the same afterward." He thought that it encouraged her warped sense of reality. He didn't tell Eames that.

Eames looked sick. "This is what screwed Mal up. Isn't it?"

"Among other things." Yusuf muttered as he checked Daphne's pulse.

"Arthur is going to kill me." Eames shook his head. "And then I'll kill myself."

"Good luck with that." Yusuf said sarcastically.

Dom rolled his eyes. "No one is going to die. She'll be alright. She has been out of dreaming for long enough that she should be alright."

"Should?" Eames asked in disbelief. "I need reassurance. Some kind of certainty."

"Nick. You know that nothing in this line of work is ever certain." He glanced at Daphne as the timer on the PASIV ran out and she sat up gasping.

"Good morning Arthur." Ariadne smiled at him as he walked in the kitchen.

"Good morning." He stifled a yawn.

"None of that." Ariadne teased. "Coffee?" She held out a mug.

"Thank you." He kissed her cheek.

"You're welcome. Did you sleep well?" She sat down at the table and glanced at the morning headlines. There was more news about the "Walter's Scandal", but there was no news about how Pop was doing. If no news was supposed to be good news – she wondered why she was still so worried.

"I slept great. How about you?" He sat down across from her.

"I slept well. Better than I have been." She smiled.

"That's good." He reached across the table and squeezed her hand.

"Who is that?" She asked when his phone started ringing.

"Nick. Why is he calling?" He let it ring a couple of times before answering it. "Hello?"

"Bloody Hell Arthur! What took you so long?" Ariadne could hear Eames' booming voice through the phone.

"Sorry Nick. I was talking to Ari." He rolled his eyes.

Ariadne giggled. She could Eames carrying on about something. "I love you." She whispered.

Arthur winked at her. "Alright Nick! So what did you want?" He sounded annoyed.

Ariadne watched Arthur's face fall. A sick feeling crept into her stomach. She watched Arthur chew on his lip for a few minutes. Finally Arthur hung up without saying a word. Ariadne wanted to know what was wrong but, in the same breath, she didn't. She was afraid it was about Daphne. She looked up at Arthur. "Why did Nick call?" She tried to sound calm, but her shaky voice betrayed her.

"Daphne." He began.

Ariadne's heart sank.

"Somehow she found the PASIV that Mal had hidden in the closet. Dom knew about it, but he didn't think it worked." He took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "But it did. Yusuf said the sedative she used has nasty side effects. Mal used the same one and she was never the same. I don't know who I should be angry with – Daphne for using the PASIV, Dom and Nick for leaving her alone, or myself for everything." He threw his hands up.

"Arthur." She stood up and walked around the table to hug him. "It's not your fault. Don't blame yourself." She kissed his cheek.

"I know, but…"

"No. I know how you feel. It's easy to blame yourself when it's not your fault. Trust me. I know." She had to learn that she couldn't blame herself for what happened to Pop.

"Thank you." He knew she was right and he felt a little better. "Nick said she won't talk to them, but she keeps asking to see me." He had hesitated to tell her because he didn't want to leave her.

"You need to go see her Arthur." Ariadne said firmly. She laughed when she realized how serious she sounded.

"Well that was my plan Sweetheart." He chuckled at her.

She blushed. "Do you want me to go with you?" She asked shyly.

"I would love for you to. Maybe it would help Daphne to see you too." He smiled at her and changed the subject. "Have you heard anything?" He gestured to the newspaper on the table.

"I haven't." She sighed walking around the table to pick up her coffee mug. "More coffee?" She filled her mug.

"No thanks." He walked up behind her and kissed her cheek. "I love you." He whispered in her ear.

She smiled. "I love you too." She turned around and kissed him. "What would I do without you?" She laid her head on his shoulder.

"Well for starters, you wouldn't have a shoulder to lean on right now." He pulled her into an embrace.

"Thank you." She murmured.

Daphne was sitting on Dom's back porch swing. Arthur took a deep breath and walked outside. "Hey." He smiled as he sat down beside her.

"Hey." She glanced at him.

They sat in awkward silence. Neither sure of what to say. Arthur didn't want to make her angry and Daphne was terrified that he was angry with her.

"Arthur. I'm so sorry. Please don't be mad at me." She started sobbing.

"Oh Daph." He hugged her. "I'm not mad at you. I'm just glad that you are alright." He held her close. "I love you."

She wrapped her arms around him. "Thank you Arthur. That's what I needed to hear."

"Well. It's the truth. Was the temptation too great?" He couldn't help but tease her a little bit.

"Phillipa and James wanted another blanket to finish their fort. I pulled the blanket off the shelf and there it was. I made sure the kids were asleep before I pulled it out. I figured I could go in and be out before the guys got back. I would be the only who knew."

"What was it like? Was it worth it?" He wanted to know if she would be willing to try it again.

"It was incredible!" She grinned. "Endless creation Arthur! It was fantastic. You know something though – I had it all wrong."

"How so?" He was confused.

"I figured you would all be furious with me – You most of all. I figured Dom would understand, and I knew that Nick loved me." She bit her lip to help stop crying. "And, well, you're not mad. Dom seems really disappointed. And Nick is SO mad at me." She let out a sob.

"Do you want me to beat him up for you?" Arthur was joking, but he would beat Nick up if she wanted him to.

"No. That's okay." A sob caught in her throat.

"He was really worried about you." For the life of him he didn't know where that comment came from or why he was defending Eames.

"I know he was. I'm sure you were too. I'm sorry I scared you." She whispered.

"I'm just glad you are alright." Arthur hugged her again.

"I heard them talking earlier." She half muttered.

"About what?" He wondered what they had been talking about and if it was anything that they hadn't told him yet.

"Yusuf said I used the same sedative that messed Mal up. What if I end up just like her?" She started crying again.

"You won't end up just like her." He tried to sound confident, but he was concerned. He needed to learn more about the sedative.

"How do you know?" She wiped her eyes.

"I won't let that happen to you. I promise." He hugged her.

"Thanks Arthur." She hugged him. She felt like he was older than her, and was going to look out for her. She vaguely remembered feeling like this when she came out of limbo.

"Hey you two." Ariadne joined them on the porch.

"Hey Ari." She felt a little better just seeing Ariadne. "Are you feeling better?"

"I am." The brunette winked at Arthur. "Thanks. How are you?"

Daphne shrugged and blinked back tears.

"I'll let you two talk." He stood up and kissed Ariadne's cheek.

"Thanks Arthur." Ariadne sat down on the swing.

Daphne puffed out her cheeks and let out a deep breath. She pulled her long black hair back into a messy bun.

Ariadne snorted. "I'm sorry. You looked funny."

"I feel like I'm going crazy, but please don't tell Arthur." She begged.

"You aren't going crazy." Ariadne tried to calm her down.

"But Mal…" She began.

"Daphne. You aren't Mal. No one…" She almost said 'no one has performed inception on you', but she wasn't sure if Daphne knew.

"No one what?" Daphne sounded confused.

"No one thinks you will end up like Mal." She hugged her.

"You know what Ari? You really are one of my best friends. No one outside of the team knows about extraction and I can never tell anyone what really happened to me. Sometimes I forget and almost blab to one of my friends from school or my parents when they ask me about my mugging. I hate having to lie to them, but it makes it easier knowing that I can talk to you and you won't think I'm crazy. Enough about me." She cleared her throat. "How is Jack's father?"

"I haven't heard anything. I wish I knew something, but I know worrying won't do me any good. I'll try to call Jack this afternoon, and I may try to go by the hospital if Pop feels up to it." She hoped that Pop was doing better even though she knew his chances were slim.

"I'll go with you if you want me to." Daphne offered. "Anything to get out of here."

"I don't blame you. Have you talked to Dom or Nick?" She knew the answer before she asked.

"No." Was the terse reply. "Dom hasn't said a word to me. He just seems really disappointed. Nick is so mad at me." She huffed and crossed her arms.

"Nick was just scared he would lose you again." She explained carefully.

"I know, but he didn't have to yell at me! I was confused enough when I woke up without him yelling at me!" She started sobbing.

"I remember how confused I was the first time I shared a dream with Dom, and I don't know what I would have done if Arthur had yelled at me." She couldn't imagine the pain that Daphne was feeling right now. "No, I do know what I would have done." She corrected herself.

"What would you have done?" Daphne stopped sobbing to hear what Ariadne was going to say. She was curious.

"I would have smacked him like I did the morning he woke me up. Well, I didn't smack him – I smacked the phone out of his hand." She remembered how mad she had been at him.

"What did he do?" She wondered how stupid her brother had been while she was in the hospital.

"He was yelling into his phone one morning around 6 so I banged on the door to let him know he woke me. He yelled 'what?' and I yelled back that he woke me up and then I smacked the phone out of his hand and slammed the door in his face." She laughed – the retelling was definitely funnier than the incident itself.

"That sounds like Arthur." Daphne rolled her eyes. "He'll get so into a conversation and then he blows up at the first person who interrupts."

"And he was on the phone with your parents." She added.

"That was when they were still mad that he didn't look after me. That's not something I ever want to live through again, and yet I did the very thing that caused it in the first place. You would have thought I would have learned my lesson. Oh well." She shrugged. "In some ways I feel just as confused now as I did when I woke up." She wiped away a stray tear.

"I wish I could tell you when the confusion goes away." She felt just as helpless.

"I don't think it ever really goes away." She shook her head and snorted. "Extraction is mind blowing – Well, you know that."

"Yes I do." She agreed. "So there will always be some confusion until you wrap your mind around it. If that's even possible." Her mind hurt just thinking about it.

Daphne pulled her dark hair out of the bun without a word. She ran her hands through her hair several times before pulling it back into a bun again.

Ariadne remembered it was one of Daphne's nervous habits.

Daphne drew her legs up and hugged them to her chest. "It's really quite something." She whispered.

"What's something?" Ariadne wasn't sure she heard her right.

"Nick and myself. He's taller than me and twice my size." She chewed on her lip as if she were trying to recall what she wanted to say. "And yet, I've never been afraid of him. When I woke up the three of them were standing in front of me staring. They looked scared to death. I was completely out of sorts. I couldn't even speak. I felt like I had just been startled awake out of a deep sleep. Yusuf gave me some water and told me I should try to sleep. If I could have stood up without my legs giving out I would have run away. I know I shouldn't have gone in again, but I couldn't help it. I had to know, but if I had known how angry Nick would be at me… I don't think I would have. I've never been afraid of him until he yelled at me this morning." She started crying. His angry words echoed in her head. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? OR WERE YOU EVEN THINKING AT ALL?" He shouted.

She didn't know so she didn't answer him.

"You realize you could have died in there right? What if you had gone to limbo again? We would have had to pull you out and save you again." His tone was lower, but still angry.

She just started at her hands that were folded in her lap.

"Well? Do you have anything to say, or are you just going to sit there?" He glowered.

"I want to see Arthur." She said quietly.

"You want to see Arthur?" His tone mocked her.

She didn't say anything. She wondered where her spine had gone.

"Fine." He stomped back into the house.

"I guess I'm surprised he called Arthur." She wiped her eyes and blew her nose with the tissue Ariadne handed her. "I don't know where my spine was."

"It was just as confused as the rest of you." Ariadne tried to sound serious, but failed.

Daphne laughed. "Thank you Ari."

"Let's get out of here. Arthur reserved two hotel rooms for us. You can get some sleep and have peace and quiet."

"Sounds great. I just have to get my bag." She stood up and walked back inside.

They could hear Arthur talking to Eames in the kitchen. "I'm going to tell them we're leaving."

Daphne nodded and turned into the kids' playroom to get her bag.

"Arthur?" Ariadne walked into the kitchen. "We're going to leave."

He nodded. "How is she? Is she alright?"

She didn't know how to answer him. "Define 'alright' Arthur."

"She's not alright. Is she?" He was afraid to ask.

"No Arthur. She's not."

Again, sorry it took so long to update. Let me know what you thought. Thanks! :)