Disclaimer: I do not own Inception or any of its characters, Christopher Nolan does.
It all was a blur to me. I remembered being led out to the car by Arthur, then the whole car ride to the warehouse was a giant blur, it must have taken at least forty minutes to race across the city, but it all seemed to flash by in a matter of minutes, seconds even. The next thing I knew I was being gently helped out of the car and quickly whisked into the warehouse to avoid the cold, pouring rain.
Arthur sat me down at his workstation and retrieved a medical kit from one of the drawers of his desk. I sat there silently, staring fixedly at the spider web cracks in the concrete floor, as Arthur got out some tweezers and carefully plucked pieces of glass out of my back, arms, legs, and stomach. I would wince every time I heard a loud tinker of glass as yet another large shard of glass was taken out and dropped onto his desk. The pain was numbed by my daze to only a burning and stinging sensation.
After Arthur finished removing the glass, he delicately patched up all of my cuts and scratches with gauze strips and bandages. As I quickly lowered my shirt he said that none of the wounds were deep enough to require stitches and that all of the wounds would heal nicely so there would be no scars.
"Ariadne…I'm so sorry…I…Strauss will regret what he's done and I'll make sure he will never come near you again. He won't ever harm you, I promise," Arthur said quietly, pulling me into a soft embrace, carefully avoiding my wounds, before he pulled back, hand still squeezing my shoulder reassuringly, before he whispered, "I'll be back soon, I need to call Yusuf and Miles. I have to contact the client, too, he will need to hear about this…" he trailed off, looking towards the door.
I turned around to find Eames storming in, face flushed red and white with anger. Though when his eyes landed on me, his expression softened, his whole body relaxed its tense stature. Arthur turned back to me and said, "I'll be back as soon as I can, but Eames is going to watch you for awhile," he looked as if he wanted to say something more, but he merely bit his lip and hugged me once more before he walked briskly over to Eames and started to talk in low, hushed tones.
I turned to look out the window and watched as water droplets slowly slid down the window pane as the rain fell harder and harder, making a spit-spat noise that was oddly comforting and familiar. I leaned up tiredly against one of the large, white Grecian columns that held up the high ceiling. Blue-gray light seeped heavily through the dirty window, casting the whole warehouse in a dim, bleak light, though somehow it fit the mood perfectly. Somehow, the atmosphere was extremely befitting to the mood, to my mood. I self-consciously wrapped Arthur's jacket tighter around me, hugging my waist. As I contemplated my situation with a heavy heart, I faintly heard the door click shut and the room went very silent, though I didn't need to look back to know who was there.
Break
"So what did you do with Strauss?" Arthur asked quietly as he moved away from Ariadne with an exhausted expression on his face, his usually cool demeanor slowly slipping away to expose worry and fear.
I sighed and ran my hand through my hair before I whispered back, "I, uh, planted some cocaine on him, don't ask me where I got it, bloodied up his shirt, placed weapons on him, hired a hooker to say that he raped her and dumped him off at a police station, passed out. As soon as I left the cops came out and arrested him. If this doesn't give the client what he wants, I don't know what will. The client will get his dirt on Strauss whether he gets it from the information we extracted or by simply turning on the TV and watching the news. So, all in all, I took care of Strauss," Eames finished with a serious and distraught look on his face when he glanced over at Ariadne. "How is she?" he asked carefully.
"Physically, she has some cuts and bruises, but emotionally, I can't tell yet. That's one of the reasons why I need you here. You need to guard her and comfort her. I need to go call the client and get Yusuf and Miles over here. I'll be back as soon as I can," Arthur said quietly, shooting a regretful look Ariadne's way. He turned to leave, rubbing his hand over his face tiredly, but then he turned back and whispered, "Eames, please take care of her." His eyes had a desperate pleading look in them. I knew what I had to do. I nodded reassuringly and he turned on his heel to leave.
When Arthur left, I slowly made my way over to Ariadne, who was standing by a massive white column, looking longingly out the window as drops of water slid down the glass. I took the opportunity to actually get a good look at her. Her usually sleek, wavy hair fell around her small head in matted clumps stuck together with dried blood. Her tiny legs bore long, welting scratches that went from her inner thigh all the way down to past her knees from where Strauss was clawing under her skirt. Her gray tank-top had her scarlet blood streaked all over it and gauze strips and bandages covered her arms, back, legs, and stomach. Her face was bruised with grotesque shades of purple and blue from where her head was smacked against the floor and her neck bore similar bruises from where Strauss had tried to strangle her.
But the worst thing was the haunted look in her eyes, like the life had been sucked out of them in an instant, leaving a cold, former shell of who she once was. It crushed me to see her so broken, so destroyed, like a beautiful porcelain doll that was smashed and you couldn't quite put all the pieces back together. The doll would never look the same, nor ever be the same again because that one small part of her was missing. In Ariadne's case, she lost her security, her sureness of her safety, her innocence. I inwardly promised myself and Ariadne that I would do my absolute best to help her regain all that back, because she deserved no less.
When I reached Ariadne, arms crossed over her small torso protectively, a part of me yearned to comfort her. She opened her mouth, then closed it, then opened it again to whisper shakily, "Eames…I'm so scared…I was almost raped! He could have raped me, he could have killed me! If…If it hadn't been for you guys, I don't know what would have happened…" she trailed off, sobs racking through her petite body, making her shudder uncontrollably. She looked up into my eyes with her tear-filled eyes, and when a tear escaped, I couldn't restrain myself any longer.
I brought both my hands up to gently cup her delicate face, wiping the tear away with the pad of my thumb. She didn't move, she stood perfectly still, but she didn't protest, she actually seemed comforted by the action. Hands still cupping her face I slowly leaned toward her and when our lips brushed, she didn't protest.
I kissed her softly and sweetly, then she started to kiss me back with the same softness. I put everything I had into that kiss: understanding, reassurance, comfort. I wanted to wipe away all of her troubles, all of the fear, the worry, and the hate. I didn't want to just tell her I was there for her, that I would always protect her, I had to show her; I had to show her that she could trust me.
The kiss was short but when it was over, Ariadne looked at me with new-found trust and I could see that slowly her emotional wounds were healing. I could see that her inner battle was starting to subside. Then, throwing caution to the wind, she rushed towards me and flung her arms around my neck in a hug, burying her face into the nook of my neck where I could feel hot tears forming. I hugged her back tightly as she gasped sobs out. "Oh, Ariadne, love, I'm sorry," I whispered into her ear comfortingly, "Shh, it's going to be alright, I'm here. I always will be."
I lead her carefully over to the wall and sunk down, pulling her onto my lap as I rubbed her back soothingly in small circles. I took my jacket off and slung it over her shoulders over Arthur's jacket as she continued to cry silently. I didn't know how long we sat there together as I made comforting cooing sounds but it was quite some time until she whispered, "I know you'll always be there, Eames. I always knew you would. Thank you," she looked up at me, eyes slightly red and puffy but rid of tears, and gave a small smile. I was overjoyed to see that wonderful smile again.
About an hour later, we still sat on the floor but Ariadne was somewhat peacefully asleep in my lap. Arthur, Miles, and Yusuf quietly walked in but after they saw us sitting together, they all slowly backed out. Before they left though, Arthur went to go retrieve some blankets and pillows and we gently laid Ariadne down on a makeshift bed. Miles and Yusuf quietly promised that they would be back when she woke up. After they all left, I lied down next to Ariadne and gently took her small hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
As I lay there silently, looking up at the ceiling, I realized that it was no longer raining. The storm had passed. I smiled; we made it through the storm.
AN: This was kind of angsty and a tiny bit fluffy but it seems like a good way to end the story. So, sadly, yes this is the end but it was probably the best spot to end it. I'm very, truly sorry that this took so long to get out, but it is out now and I hope this ending makes up for it! Thank you everyone who reviewed, story-alerted, favorited, and read my story! It really does mean a lot. Review please!