"Dreams are necessary to life." –Anais Nin
Arthur- Gilligan Penthouse, Chicago , IL
Ariadne and I stood in close proximity, but neither of us said anything. I can't speak for what she was thinking, but my mind was still on what had happened between us the night before, and the looks that she and Jason had been exchanging. Nathan was putting in a good word with the manager at the desk, trying to convince him that he was family with Sean. By popular vote, we had decided that it was in our best interest to try and convince Sean to cough up a ransom for us, despite the fact that Nathan and Cobb were the two who voted against it.
Ariadne, I noticed, was watching Jason as he sat inconspicuously on a bench across the lobby. She was biting her lower lip and I might have seen a slight smile emerge on her face, but it could have been my imagination, either way, I wasn't happy. When I saw him smile back at her, I decided that enough was enough. I scooted closer to Ariadne and nudged her with my foot. She looked at me suddenly, abashed. Yeah, I thought, she better be embarrassed. She was basically having eye-sex with Jason.
"We need to talk," I whispered to her. She turned so she was facing me completely.
"About last…"
"About that dream we had," I confirmed. She bit her lip again. I hated playing this card, but I at least wanted to sort this out before she got physical with Jason.
"Arthur, not now…" Ariadne said firmly.
"If not now, then when?" I said, my tone matching hers. But we were interrupted. I think Ariadne was relieved.
"They're letting us up." Nathan said a little stiffly. I don't think that he liked the hassle of everything, especially since he was related to Sean. The manager in the lobby followed us to the elevator and scanned a key-card that would allow us to enter the penthouse. He gave Nathan a nod and the elevator doors slid shut. We all leaned back against the walls of the elevator, an awkward silence passing over us. Nathan broke the silence by clearing his throat.
"Alright, guys. Sean is in a pretty sensitive at this point. You probably shouldn't talk at all unless he speaks to you first," Nathan said carefully. "Just let me speak to him." For once, we all nodded, we all listened. We had two hours to deliver the ransom to keep Eames and Darcy out of limbo. It was funny, I was finding that I needed to be reminded of the gravity of Eames' situation because Ariadne was so much on my mind.
When we emerged from the elevator, we were immediately met by a man nearly identical to Nathan. He was older, with salt-and-pepper hair and a few more wrinkles on his face, but he was essentially the same as Nathan in appearance. Nathan greeted the man with a handshake and a grim expression. He turned to the rest of us.
"Everybody, I'd like you to meet my father, Jerry," Nathan said stiffly. "He's Sean's younger brother." We all nodded and waved collectively.
"And I'm to understand that all of you are in the… subconscious business?" Jerry said. He looked a little uncomfortable about it.
"Yes, we are," Cobb said, answering for the group. Jerry nodded, clearly finished with the small-talk.
"I'll take you all to Sean," Jerry said cautiously. Nathan nodded to him and there must have been some communication going on between them, because they didn't say anything, but a look of understanding passed between them.
We passed through some upscale rooms with decorations that were probably worth more than my whole apartment in Seattle. We came up to an ornate emerald green door with white carvings and a white Pegasus. I looked at Nathan curiously, but he wasn't paying attention to me.
"It's from the Gilligan family crest," Jerry supplied helpfully. I gave him a nod as thanks. Jerry opened the door for us, but didn't enter. He just bowed his head and let us pass through. The room we entered looked like a science lab, complete with test tubes and whirring machines. Ariadne looked just as amazed as I did. I had been expecting an invalid lying in bed, not a working scientist.
"What the hell are all of you doing in my laboratory?" A tall, ghostly looking man demanded this of us. Nathan stepped up to him, his palms up in a sign of submission.
"Sean, it's me, your nephew, Nathan," he said. At first I thought his calmness was a façade meant to merely settle our nerves, but then I realized how truly comfortable Nathan was with this man. I examined Sean. He was tall and gaunt, his cheekbones hollowed-out. His eyes were the same unnerving blue that Nathan's were, his hair the same salt-and-pepper as Jerry's, and his face was riddled with wrinkles. Perhaps his one physically redeeming attribute was his hands. They were thin and long, like the rest of him, but they were elegant like a pianist's, not gnarled and knotted like I had expected.
"Fuck off, Nate, I have work to do," Sean said. He movements were jerky and his voice unnecessarily loud. I found myself to be a bit afraid of him.
"We need to talk to you about Darcy, Uncle Sean," Nathan said calmly. Sean's spastic movements only became more violent.
"Don't talk to be about my daughter, Nate," Sean said angrily.
"She's in trouble, Sean. She and another good man, they're in trouble. They've been kidnapped and they need a ransom paid," Nathan said, his voice methodical. Sean grabbed a clipboard and began flipping through the papers, biting his lip as if he hadn't heard.
"Mr. Gilligan," Cobb said quietly. Nathan looked at Cobb like he was crazy, but it got Sean to look up. He looked at Cobb with wide, maniacal eyes.
"You." He said. "Who the fuck let you in?" His voice was filled with loathing. Cobb didn't look surprised, but he looked disappointed. He backed up a little until he was behind Jason again, where he had started. Sean followed him with bloodshot eyes, but didn't say anything to him. He turned to Nathan.
"I don't give a damn about what happened to Darcy," he said to Nathan. Nathan bowed his head, but Ariadne and I shared an incredulous look. What father didn't give a shit about his daughter?
"I'm sorry to have bothered you, Uncle Se-."
"Get out, and bring the rest of those damned dreamers with you," Sean interrupted his nephew harshly. Nathan ushered us out quickly. Jerry closed the door behind us.
"I told you all that this whole thing was a waste of time," Nathan told us. He was clearly unhappy that we had gotten such a clear view into his personal life without making any progress towards helping Darcy. We were about to leave, when Jerry interrupted us.
"I have enough saved up, Nathan. I have an account with about four-point three million saved up, mostly stock profit from Sean's company." Jerry said. His face was pale. He'd heard his son talking, and he was actually concerned for his niece's well-being. Nathan looked between all of us, then back at his father. He nodded, then they withdrew and began discussing with each other. I turned to look at Ariadne, but saw that she had already shifted towards Jason.
"It's been a while," she said to him, a smile on her lips. He grinned back at her. It made me want to vomit.
Darcy- First Level, Dream State
Raj must have used a timed kick because only seconds after he delivered his dramatic monologue to us, he disappeared. Eames looked at me, a slightly worried look in his eyes.
"That man there- he's barking mad, thinking he can send us to Limbo," Eames said, running his fingers through his hair. I quickly released Eames' hand and started digging through my pockets in a fury. Eames realized what I was doing in an instant, but he looked at me like I was crazy.
"My totem- my totem isn't there," I said, my voice panicky. I checked my pockets again. How could I have not noticed that it was missing?
"Calm down, darling, we know that we're dreaming. He told us we were," Eames said, his voice methodical. He was being much to calm for my liking.
"Why the hell would I calm down, Eames? Hmm? I don't have my totem!" I felt tears prickling at my eyes. I immediately wiped at them away. I hadn't cried in years, so of course I had to cry in front of Eames.
"Calm down, it's a bloody trinket. I'm here, and you're here. We can keep a hold on reality for each other, yeah?" Eames said, taking my shoulders firmly. I decided that I would not be consoled so easily. I pulled away from him roughly, much to his surprise.
"No, no. I need it, I need it." I said. How could I explain this to him? I'd had that watch on my person for ten years straight. Now it was gone. My one shred of reality, my constant, the only thing that stayed consistent with me- it was gone.
"Jesus Christ, calm down Darcy! You're dreaming, I promise you, you're dreaming," Eames said. He was losing his cool as well. We couldn't afford for two of us to be going crazy, but I couldn't exactly get a grip on myself. I cried wordlessly. I gripped my head between my hands. I had to calm down.
"You don't know Eames, you don't know what this means!" I screamed. Eames looked a little confused for a moment, trying to match his assurances to my jarred response.
"Then enlighten me, darling! Help me understand!" He said. His voice was escalating in volume and pitch.
"I can't explain," I said looking up at him miserably. He looked pissed.
"I don't get you! What the bloody hell is wrong with you? I mean, are you even listening to what you're saying? It's bloody gibberish!" He yelled at me.
"I just need my totem, okay Eames? I need a grip on what's real, because your word isn't good enough, people can lie to you, they can say things that aren't true," I said angrily.
"You know, a totem's just supposed to help you keep a grip on reality, but you're using it to keep yourself sane!" Eames yelled.
"I'm not crazy!" I said shrilly. He laughed mirthlessly.
"You're crazier than Cobb," he said his voice suddenly low.
"Shut up!" I said, angry that I couldn't formulate a better response.
"Piss off!" He instructed me furiously. So I did the only thing I could think of. I turned and started running in the opposite direction. And I made it rain.
I was sobbing harder than I ever had, and in my confusion, I didn't realize where I was going. I didn't realize that I was headed towards the small African-style village that my mind had drawn up. It was where Eames' subconscious was residing. It didn't even occur to me that they'd recognize me as the dreamer straight away. So when they attacked me, I was totally unprepared.
I was approached by a single boy, a young man holding a spear with red and white paint decorating his face. For a moment we just stared at each other. Then, in one swift movement, he plunged the spear into the left side of my chest. I screamed as loud as I could, but soon the one attacker was not alone, and I was overcome.
A/N: Sorry it took me a bit longer to get this one out, there was a lot of writing, and re-writing of this chapter, but hopefully, the next chapter will be out soon! Please review with your thoughts and reactions!