Chapter Seven

She shot up from her place on the old mattress. In a knee-jerk reaction, Juliet yanked out the IV. The sting was enough to almost clear her head but not enough to slow down her heart. Cobb wasn't yet awake so she scrambled to her feet. Juliet wasn't graceful and knocked into Eames who was standing at the head of the mattress, hands in his pockets. She didn't bother to apologize or register any complaint from the Englishman.

Just as Cobb was coming around, she locked eyes with the man and froze. She couldn't bear to look him in the eye for longer than a second. He would never forgive her, of that she was one hundred percent certain. Juliet had to get away from him. She put a hand to her head, mumbled something about needing air and headed for the nearest door.

Her hand slammed into the door, and once outside, fumbled in her pocket for her totem: a pink quartz. She turned it over and over in her hand. Reality wasn't much better than the dream but Juliet feared being stuck in the dream.

The door opened and shut behind her. Ariadne came up beside her, watching the taller woman for a long moment. Juliet didn't mind, she wasn't much for talking at that particular moment. They just stood that way until Ariadne drew a breath to say something. Juliet was dreading whatever it was that she was going to say.

Just then, a door slammed opened. Both women turned to see the men filing out, arms full. Juliet met Cobb's eyes once, then ducked her head. Her hands balled into fists and she desperately wanted to punch something, which was a new sensation for her.

"Juliet, you're driving. Let's go," Cobb ordered in a tone that Juliet had heard him use with his children when they were in trouble; once when James had drawn on the walls.

Obediently, Juliet followed Cobb to the car, avoiding any contact with the other men and only shooting a quick glance at Ariadne who was giving her a reassuring smile. Juliet didn't buy it, mostly because she wasn't reassured when she slid into the car and realized that it was going to be a very quiet car ride. "Where are we going?"

"Home. We've got to pack the kids' things for a long weekend with their grandfather." Cobb kept his eyes forward.

Juliet winced. "Of course. Cobb-"

"Juliet," he interrupted her. "Do you realize how long it took me to be able to see my children again?"

She know, only because she'd done her research. "I'm so sorry. I didn't realize, I swear."

"They're my life, Juliet. I'm their father. This is exactly why I stayed out of it." He didn't move his eyes, though the change in his jaw said everything.

She bit her cheek and stepped on the gas. The sooner they were back, the sooner she could just disappear to pack Phillippa's things, away from Cobb.

The rest of the ride was left with that tension. Neither spoke, nor looked at one another. When she pulled into the drive, no one else had arrived. She wasn't sure that anyone was going to arrive. They slipped into the house, which was quiet. Juliet found that odd but guessed that Miles must have taken the children to the nearby park. She often did just that when she watched them.

Cobb dropped his keys on the table by the front door, habitually scooping up the mail and flipping through it. As he walked further in, the envelopes slid across the dining room table. Juliet followed obediently, scooping up Phillippa's pink coat and hanging it on the coat hanger. "Phillippa? James?"

No one answered. Juliet immediately went to Phillippa's room, leaving Cobb to explain things to Miles and the children when he found them. She found the girl's pink duffel bag that she used when she spent nights with her friends and filled it with clothes and Phillippa's favorite stuffed animal. In the bathroom the young girl shared with her brother, Juliet packed away her toothbrush, hairbrush and other overnight supplies.

She had just finished when she heard a sound from the foyer and went to investigate. The pink duffel bag was left on Phillippa's perfectly made bed. As Juliet rounded the corner, she came face to face with Cobb's friend, Arthur. He raised a small hand gun. Juliet only had time to raise a hand before she heard the sound.

Juliet shot up, gasping from breath. Eames was at her side, pulling the IV out and keeping her low to the ground. Above her head, bullets buzzed too close to her ear. Without a second to get her barrings, Eames was pulling her toward a side door, just like the one she'd thought she'd already left through. She glanced back to see Arthur waking up, in a much more calm manner and retrieve his gun from beside him. He was firing at someone when Eames pushed her through the door.

Ariadne was waiting, waving frantically toward a car. From the other side of the building, Cobb and Arthur were running toward them, taking turns firing back over their shoulders. Juliet was still gasping for air when she curled into the backseat of the car, followed by Eames who kept her head down.

No one spoke for a few moments, then they started to sit up. Ariadne checked her mirror to make sure that Arthur and Cobb were following. Juliet fumbled for her piece of quartz and sighed with relief when she felt the crack. Reality. She was finally back in reality. "Cobb! And the kids. I have to-"

"Easy there, love." Eames was pushing her back into the seat.

Ariadne took a sharp turn. "I'm sure Arthur is filling him in. Don't worry."

"They know where he lives. Damn it. I should have known. I've screwed this all up." Juliet dropped her head against the glass, hard.

Eames shared a glance with Ariadne in the mirror.

Author's Note: THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS, GUYS! It's because of you that I keep going... that and I really wanna know where this ends up myself. So, this is actually the second version and it's much better than the other. I was having such trouble with this until it hit me, ironically in a dream, she's still dreaming. Now I just have to deal with what I avoided in this version: Cobb's reaction to endangering his kids. Yeah, I'm trying to avoid that as much as possible... somehow I don't think he'll let me.