Disclaimer: I do not own Inception. Christopher Nolan (and whoever he gave it to) does, so yeah.

A/N: Thanks so much for the awesome response. I know I didn't post a note on the last one, just trying to see what the response would be. And wow, I was really shocked. I'll try to keep it coming. Glad to know there are other Arthur/Ariadne fans out there. Hope you enjoy this installment.

F E V E R . . . . . . . . . d r e a m

m a e r d ... R E V E F

C H A P T E R T W O : T o m ' s D i n e r

"Don't you think?" His voice called across the table to her.

Ariadne looked up, head filled with a thick fog. She was in a diner. Tom's diner, the letters on the glass told her- though they were printed backwards. A cup of coffee and the discarded, torn husks of empty sugar packets. The man sitting opposite her, head shaved and left ear pierced, raised an eyebrow.

An old man sat in front of a chess board at the counter. A cook behind a separator, reading the want ads. A waitress texting on her phone and smacking her gum obnoxiously. But, other than them, they were alone.

She was horrified to realize she had no idea what they had been talking about. "What was the question?"

"That building." He pointed across the street. She could see the number, 235, glinting the afternoon sun back at her. "I was commenting that the space could really be transformed with some Modern Expressionist architecture to break up the historical frames."

She remembered, as if from a dream, being in Eun Sun's office. The note. 235 Donald Street. The man in front of her, Edmunde Cunningham, lifted his cup of tea to his lips.

She turned her eyes out of the window and truly looked at the building across from them. After a few moments, she offered back, "I think that could be interesting, yes." Picking up her own coffee and sipping at it gingerly, it was just the way she liked it.

"… but?" His grey eyes, which seemed to see right through her decorum, made her swallow hard.

"But, I personally think Neo-classical would look better. The modern might draw the eye, that's true. But, this is a historic district. People don't come here to explore the modern, but experience the classics." She set down her cup, finishing her opinion without reservations.

"Hmmm." He said, noncommittally.

The waitress appeared, carrying the coffee pot with her. Without asking whether or not Ariadne cared for more, she filled up the cup. "There you go, hun," her voice was husky from, no doubt, too many cigarettes.

Edmunde didn't look at her.

She glided off back to the counter, and moved a black piece on the chess board in front of the old man. He stared at the board, unmoving. A brass bishop- he was looking at a brass bishop.

"There's only one more thing, Ariadne."

She looked back, a polite smile once again taking her features, "Yes?"

"What exactly where you doing that semester of graduate school?" His voice was level, and his expression light. But, she could see a vein in his forehead appearing as if he were frustrated.

"Which semester?" She said, though she knew without a doubt which semester he was talking of. Her eyes were pulled away from Edmunde's too look at the Bishop. What were the chances?

"The semester Robert Fischer dissolved his corporation." Without missing a beat, he snapped back. The agitation began to surface in his voice- though, his expression was still as smooth and pleasant as silk.

Ariadne paled. She couldn't form words. She could only succumb to a dizzying flurry of thoughts. "…who dissolved their company?" She did her best to stay calm, to control her expression, to not give herself away. "I don't know any Robert Fischer. Was he in Paris?" She lifted her coffee to her lips and covered her expression with the cup. What was going on? Had someone talked? Was she in danger?

"Ariadne. Do you remember how you got here?" He smiled. The smile of a little boy who'd done something wicked.

"Of course, I do…" But, did she? Ariadne looked out the window for her bike. She didn't see it. "I took a cab. I had to rush to get here because I didn't know about the change, so I took a cab." For a second, though, she would have sworn she could remember taking her bike, weaving in and out of traffic to get there at a half-reasonable hour. She never quite managed to imagine it. Everything seemed just out of her reach. Like a dream. A half-remembered dream.

The old man swiveled around to look at Edmunde. The cook peered over his paper. The waitress paused to glance while making another pot of coffee.

"Ariadne. Look behind you."

Her hand went down to her right pocket, where her totem had always stayed in the dreamscape. Her pocket was not empty. She reached numb fingers in- they touched the shocking cool of her bishop. It was enough. She didn't need to knock it over to know what it's very presence meant. She withdrew her hand, as if burned.

"… turn around." He urged her.

She complied, finally, turning at the waist, just in time to hear the door chime. Four figures entered. They all seemed familiar, but the one that drew her eye- she knew. Arthur. He looked perfect.

Her breath exited her lips in a panicked gasp. She was pulled into a sort of numb confusion. This couldn't be real, she rationalized. It was just a lucid dream.

Edmunde spoke, and although unable to draw her eyes from Arthur, she listened intently. "He suggested you, you know. He said you're the best he's ever seen." She didn't know what to say, what to do. None of this made sense to her. So, she let her eyes slide over Arthur's suit and up to his brown eyes- he stared straight through her. A shiver ran up her spine. "He said you'd pick it back up quickly. That you'd want back in."

Finally, whatever had held his interest, broke it's hold. Arthur looked at Edmunde, eyebrows knitting down in disapproval. The message clear- 'Get on with it.'

"Would you, Ariadne? Would you take the chance if we offered it to-" He couldn't quite finish.

"Yes." She threw out. Turning back to face him. She was ready to talk logistics, but he seemed to have other ideas. From underneath the table, his hand pulled a cocked CZ-75. The barrel was placed against her forehead.

"Then, we'll see you on the other side." Pausing a moment, he offered, as if an after-thought. "Ready?"

She nodded. It would simply wake her. This was only a dream. He squeezed the trigger. BAM.

ENDNOTE: I promise, next bit there will be some Arthur/Ariadne interaction. Heheheheh. And some more explanation of what the hells going on. Thanks for sticking with me. 3Louene