I sprinted away. I faintly heard Arthur and Yusuf calling my name. I rushed over to the sparkling river and started to raise an oak bridge. It towered high above the river and as I ran across, I saw a large fault line on the other side of the river. That was from where my dream started to fall apart when I exited the dream.

Arthur and Yusuf started to near the bridge, so I made the bridge crumble from behind me. The sound of splintering wood filled the tense silence. They stopped short and shared desperate looks. I continued to run until I was safely across the bridge before I let it crumble completely. With the remnants of the bridge gone, I jogged toward the awaiting city made of shining glass.

I was worried that Eames would find me. Why? Because I just shot him, and I suspected that he would be pretty angry. He could be disguised as anyone, as Arthur, as Yusuf, or even as one of my projections. He could easily catch me, but I could easily lose him in any of my maze.

My breath was becoming more labored and my lungs started to hurt. My legs were becoming numb and heavy, but I kept pumping them with all my might. I was currently running down a street, dodging cars and projections. I looked over my shoulder, and for a split second I saw Eames at the end of the street, looking toward me. He spotted me; apparently he got a glimpse of my midnight blue scarf, and started to rush towards me.

I reached the end of the street which leads into the circular heart of the city. Since Eames had spotted me, I decided to raise an actual maze. I closed my eyes and imagined a maze of mirrors that towered twenty feet high. I opened my eyes and there it was, looking extremely intimidating. The mirrors reflected the sun light, throwing the light every which way, and it almost blinded me.

I threw one last glance over my shoulder only to see a male projection rushing toward me out of the many in the crowd, I had no doubt that it was Eames. I rushed into the maze, maneuvering my way deep inside. I heard Eames call my name, shouting, "Ariadne! Stop running away! Please just show me where you are!"

I heard a few mirrors break as I exited the maze. I let out a sigh of relief and walked toward a nearby park. At least Eames was still in the maze, or so I thought.

Suddenly, Eames appeared before me. I tried running away, but he caught my arm. He lifted me over his shoulder and carried me to a nearby wooden bench while I protested and struggled the whole way there. He gently plopped me down and put both of his arms on either side of my shoulders, trapping me on the bench. I looked anywhere but at his steady gaze.

"Ariadne, just look at me," he said.

I looked up, only to find him smirking at me. I gave him a questioning look and that made him burst out with uncontrollable laughter.

"What?" I asked, "Why are you laughing? Why aren't you mad at me?"

"Because…you seem so terrified…like I am mad at you…or something!" Eames choked out between his laughter.

He calmed down enough to explain more, "Why would I be mad at you? I actually find it pretty funny that you shot me, darling. No hard feelings, love. You've learned the lesson. It really didn't matter who you shot, as long as you shot someone."

"Okay? So can you give me some space then?" I asked, uncomfortable with Eames hovering over me.

He stuck his tongue out at me like a child before he backed away. He materialized two guns before he said, "We need to wake up before Arthur gets his knickers in a bunch. So will you have the honors?" he asked, handing me one of the guns.

"Sure," I said evilly, as he and I raised our guns simultaneously and pulled the trigger.

Break

We woke up and pulled the needles out of our arms. We went over to our work stations and Arthur announced that he had to go meet with Alex Hamilton. He walked out the door briskly and soon after Yusuf had to leave to get chemicals for the job. Miles was still at the college teaching his last few classes and he said that he would be here later in the evening. So that left Eames and me alone in the warehouse. I continued to work on my cardboard mazes while Eames read our mark's file and his son's file, Brandon Strauss.

Joseph Strauss was on vacation in Naples, Italy. He was going to take a luxury train ride to Paris, but the train would stop in Rome, Florence, Venice, Switzerland, and then end in Paris. It would be a ten hour ride with little interruptions since we would be seated in the first class section in the back of the train. I would have to play a French designer and only speak in French. Miles would play my father, Arthur my lover, and Yusuf and Eames as my body guards.

After about an hour working, Eames became very bored and called out, "Hey Ariadne! Do you want to play poker?" I heard a shuffling of cards and the sound of poker chips clicking together.

"Uh, no thanks, I don't want to risk my neck at a game of poker! I'm not dumb and I know you're the best of the best at poker and I'm definitely not going to lose my money to you," I said.

Eames put on his best pout and sighed dramatically, "No one lets me have any fun around here!"

I put on my best sad face, sticking out my lower lip and said motherly, "Aw poor Eames! Poor baby!"

Eames just stuck his tongue out at me and turned back to his work station. I went back to my maze, thinking of where I should put the short cut. Just as I was reaching for my maze, Arthur, Yusuf, and Miles walked in. Yusuf had an almost giddy look on his face and Miles had a small smile tugging at his lips.

Arthur turned to Eames and me and stated, "We are off to Naples, Italy tomorrow! Pack your things, Ariadne brush up on your French, Eames take the champagne, Yusuf, get your chemicals, and Miles, can you call Cobb? We leave at noon tomorrow, and Strauss's train will leave the next day at six-o-clock."

"This should be enough fun for you Eames!" I chuckled.

I soon would not be chuckling.

AN: I hope you like it! Just to warn you guys, it will get a little dark in the next and later chapters. This is just a filler chapter, the actual "real" story will come in the next chapter and later chapters. I'm really sorry this took so long to post. I'll try to post a new chapter every weekend, but again there will be no promises. So, tell me what you like, dislike, and things I need to improve on because I want to be a better writer. Reviews make me write faster :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Inception or any of it's characters.