Why hello there dear readers! First off, let me apologize. I know that you all are probably sick of my lame excuses but it seems as if my life has been put on fast-forward the last few weeks. While writing this chapter I split it in half because I didn't realize that it was becoming so lengthy. Stay tuned for the next chapter; there will be some drama!
Disclaimer: I do not own Inception. :(
Ariadne's P.O.V.
She stared, shocked, at Arthur's ringing cell phone. "Are you going to pick it up?" She hated how timid her voice sounded. Ever since Arthur had mentioned Natalie she felt her heart sink. The way he talked about her and not to mention the fact that she was drop dead gorgeous made Ariadne's heart flutter with despair. Comparing her and Natalie was like comparing a vibrant flower to a short, dull weed.
"Cobb." Arthur's greeting jolted her out of her self-misery.
"Yes, I'm doing well. How are you? How are the kids?...That's good." Ariadne stared intently at Arthur; she was trying to decipher both sides of the conversation. "Nash?" Ariadne's head jolted up at the sound of the slimy architect's name. She felt rooted to the ground as Arthur's deep, dark eyes flicked upwards to meet her softer hazel ones. "No, we haven't heard from or seen Nash at all." Arthur's voice was fluid but she could spot the pain in his eyes as he lied to one of his closest friends. "You want me to visit? But I'm in the middle of a job." Once again Ariadne found herself wishing that she possessed superhuman hearing in order to comprehend Cobb's incoherent mumbling. She was just about to ask Arthur if she could speak to Cobb when a very unwanted visitor strutted through the warehouse door.
"You will tell Cobb you'll be at his house by tomorrow." Nash commanded smoothly. His eyes had the quality of one who knows he is in complete control of the situation.
"Actually I will be able to make it. Yes, the job will be fine. I'm glad the kids are excited. Bye." Arthur pressed the end call button as his eyes flashed murderously to Nash. "If you think you can force me into spying on my friends then you are out of your mind. It's hard enough to research him and plot how to break into his mind without personally visiting him!" Excluding the incident when Arthur had yelled at Cobb during the Fischer job Ariadne had never seen Arthur this uncollected before. As petty as it seemed she liked when Arthur lost control; it made him appear not as perfect and more like a human being with emotions.
"You don't have a choice. You should be grateful; this is the last time you will be able to speak with Cobb." Nash's voice seemed to vibrate within the interior of Ariadne's head. Did Cobb ever mention Cobol's affairs with you, Arthur?" Nash's tone became uncertain.
"Cobol's affairs?" Arthur stuttered. "No, why would he tell me about them?"
"Good." Ariadne could detect the faint but present note of relief in Nash's voice. "You better get going then if you're supposed to be at Cobb's tomorrow."
"Yeah." Arthur looked defeated. "Ariadne can I speak with you for a moment?"
She was taken aback. Glancing nervously at Nash she followed Arthur into one of the side rooms of the warehouse and at Arthur's request shut the door behind her. She blinked several times, willing her eyes to adjust to the dim light.
"Ariadne I assume that no one has explained the job to you yet?" His voice floated to her through the darkness.
"I-I haven't been told anything." She stuttered and realized that her lack of knowledge was very odd. How did she not realize that she was missing such a crucial piece of information?
"Well…it's complicated." Arthur's sigh reached her ears. "Cobol Engineering fears that Cobb has some valuable information regarding them; information that could shut them down if the authorities ever discovered it. Cobol wants us to go into Cobb's head to see if he has the info. Problem is that Cobb is an experienced extractor and he is bound to know what is going on. So Cobol is going to set up a mock job and force Cobb to cooperate, probably by threatening his children, and when we are in the middle of the "job" we are supposed to put Cobb under and break into his head. Since he will already be in a dream state he might not even realize what is going on."
"He might not?" Ariadne's voice sounded indignant, even to her ears. "We could be hurt, sent to limbo, or worse, Cobb will realize what is going on and tear us to pieces!"
"Yes, I know. That is why when I'm visiting him I'll try to find out if he does have any information. If he doesn't then we don't need to complete this job at all."
"And do you really think Cobol will let us walk away unscathed?" Her voice was soft.
"Probably not, but I can bargain the rest of the team for just me and Cobb. We're the ones they want." Arthur tried to reassure her. Her worried expression remained on her face, however; she could tell that he knew she wasn't assuaged.
"Be careful and hurry back." She threw her arms around him; a gesture that surprised not only him but her also. "I don't think I can stay sane with just Eames to keep me company."
His low chuckle rang in the small room. "Don't worry you'll have Yusuf here too, and I'll personally make sure that Nash behaves himself."
"You two done yet? I'm getting older by the second!" Nash's impatient tone reached their ears.
As Arthur opened the door and she stepped back in the brightly lit room she could see Eames making some obscure hand gestures. Squinting, she realized that he was making a heart and pointing between her and Arthur. Scowling, and hoping that her face wasn't turning beet red, she sat down on one of the chairs as Arthur muttered his good-byes to the rest of the team. She glanced up as his footsteps grew fainter, and was rewarded as his strong eyes met hers for a fraction of a second. Then the door swung shut with a click and silence dominated the room.
"Eames, Yusuf, would you two be so kind as to leave me with Ariadne for a few minutes?" Nash's voice was sarcastically sweet. "We haven't got to know one another yet." A silky smile appeared on his lips.
"Over my f****** dead body." Eames's voice was low and threatening.
Feeling that all hell was about to break loose if she didn't do something she burst out. "Eames it's okay. I'll be fine." Wait, what was she doing? She didn't know if she was going to be fine. From what she had observed Nash was a complete psycho! But, she told herself she hadn't taken an extensive two week self-defense class for nothing and she felt fairly confident as she calmly looked both Eames and Yusuf in the eyes and politely asked them to leave.
Click. The door swung shut behind them. Screech. Nash was dragging a chair and carrying a PASIV toward her. She inserted the needle into her wrist after it was tossed at her and tried to stem the flow of thoughts gushing throughout her mind.
"Let's see what you can do."
Hopefully I will not have as much work this week so I can post the next chapter by this weekend. If you would be so kind to leave a review that would make my day :).