Authors Note:

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Chapter 5

"Turn around for me, bella." Vito leaned back on his large and red satin pillows. He was twisting his fingers in the air, round and round, as if to show her what to do.

Ariadne was still in her red dress, her high heels were off though and she was holding back puddles of tears in her eyes. She promised Cobb that she was going to do this. She needed to. She turned around slowly, letting Vito's eyes engulf her petite frame.

Vito let out a small smile and whispered "Take it off." He snapped his fingers at her, her gasping in shock at his request. She looked down at her humble body and suddenly felt terrified. "Arianna, would you like my help?"

Ariadne closed her eyes and let out a small "No,' before pushing down the straps of her dress. She took a deep breath in as the dress fell off her, leaving her in a red lace bra and matching underwear. She fought hard to hold in her tears as he got up from the bed and circled her.

"You are a vision." He cooed the words to her, his arms wrapping around her small frame from behind. He leaned his lips onto her skin, tasting her neck with his tongue.

No! No! No! Her mind was mentally screaming. This was not how it was supposed to be done. She was supposed to be in love. In mind blowing lust and happiness. But no, she was in a state of complete fear. Her head spinning, wanting nothing more than to leave the situation.

His hands moved down her stomach, making their way down to her hips. "Remove everything." His thick voice whispered into her ear and shook her head. "No?" He asked, making a tisking sound at her.

"You know, Domenico is being held prisoner by Sig. Pablo. If I give him an order to kill, he will." He grabbed her arm, twisting it and pushed her onto the bed. She shouted in pain as he continued "Do you understand, Arianna?"

Ariadne yelled in pain and nodded profusely "Yes!" Vito suddenly let her go, Ariadne massaging her wrist from the pain.

"Now, mia bella. Remove my clothing for me." She turned around to face him, shaking, her eyes stinging from her excessive crying.

xxx

"Look at you, taking orders from him-" Cobb started, his eyes focused on the guard in front of him as he continued "how much does he give you?"

The guard remained silent. Dom scoffed and asked in a rough voice "You do you realize that you are not real, right?"

The guard narrowed his eyes to Cobb and stiffened. "Stop speaking, Domenico."

Oh, so this projection knew English well. Dom snickered and continued "You are just a figment of his imagination. Everything is. You, these handcuffs-" he shook his right hand to demonstrate. His left hand on the bucket that Ariadne had left behind.

The guard rolled his eyes at Dom, getting irritated by his constant talking. "You have my key, don't you?"

The guard didn't say anything, he just stood there and took a hold of his gun on his belt. Cobb smirked at the reaction and spoke "By your reaction, I can tell that you do."

Dom bit down on his bottom lip. He could tell that his plan to annoy the guard was working. But he needed him closer to him in order for his plan to work. "I don't think you understand the fact that you don't exist."

The guard chuckled at the statement and Dom continued in a firm tone "Do you have a family?" The guard suddenly stopped laughing and gave Cobb a cold stare.

"What if I told you that they weren't real? That they didn't exist? Do you think you could comprehend such a fact?" The guard released his hands off his gun and cracked his knuckles angrily, taking a step towards Dom.

"You have been created by that piece of shit that you call your boss." Cobb screamed angrily, wanting the guard to take a few more steps towards him.

"Chiudere il cazzo!" The guard growled as he took a swing at Cobb, but he was too slow. Dom lifted the bucket in his hand and threw it at his head, using his legs to punch the man's stomach twice. The guard fell straight the floor, the wooden bucket leaving a bleeding trail on his forehead.

Cobb took a deep breath, holding in the pain that his shoulder was giving him and then reached into the man's pocket and pulled out the key. He used his free hand to remove the handcuffs off of him, sighing in triumph. He quickly got up and removed the guards gun from his belt and ran towards the exit.

xxx

(Real Time: Present: Aircraft)

Eames looked down at his watch for a moment. He groaned out loud and placed one leg over his other. He then turned to his right to see Arthur fiddling with a 'LA Times' newspaper. He could tell that he wasn't reading it, he just needed a distraction.

Eames took another shot from his newly poured tequila glass and devoured the thick liquid. What in hell was taking them so long? He bit down on his bottom lip trying to do the math right. Math never ever was his strong subject.

So, twenty years was an hour in their time and it had been ten minutes... that would make it, 3 years in Limbo time? Right? He looked over at Arthur who was holding up three fingers. That bastard did know everything.

(Limbo Time: Flash forward 3 years: Cobb's Land)

"Baby, how are you feeling?" His voice was trembling as he held her cold hand in his. This could not be happening. Everything that he and Ariadne had planned was over. He felt tears swell up into his eyes.

She held onto his hand tighter and looked into blue pupils, tears falling down her cheeks as she whispered "I'm sorry, Dom." He was laying down beside her on their bed. He had called in a projection of a doctor to come and look at her and they had been right, she had lost it.

Cobb suddenly kissed her mouth once and whispered "It's not your fault. Paradoxes are hard to create. You must have forgotten how to create one." He pushed up her white night gown and placed a hand on her stomach.

There was always that large knife scar there. He thought back to the bastard that gave her it and bit down on his bottom lip, trying to focus his anger and despair on the present moment.

Ariadne moved her small hand onto his, rubbing half her stomach and half his hand in the process. "I guess, it just wasn't meant to be." She sighed. Nothing was ever meant to be with them. This being a major example.

He shook his head at her and pushed himself down to her stomach, planting kisses across her scar and holding her bare hips in his hands. "Ariadne." He whispered, looking up at her.

She watched his beautiful face smile at her and she couldn't help but smile back. "We can try again soon." She nodded once and grazed a few fingers into his hair. It was slightly longer now, but he looked just as handsome as he always had.

"We need to find Saito." She remembered, the thought always being in the back of her mind now.

And he nodded at her, placing his lips onto her body, gently kissing his way up her chest to her neck. "When you feel better, we'll go." And all she could do was moan when he kissed her. She loved him so much. Damn those paradox stairs, if only she hadn't fallen-

(Limbo Time: Present: Vito's Land)

Ariadne's hands had just finished unbuttoning his dress shirt, leaving Vito in only his bottom half of clothing. She shuttered as she touched his belt, her hands undoing the clap in the front. He held back a moan in the back of his throat, as her hands grazed his bare stomach in the process.

Ariadne pulled on the belt, holding it in her hands for a moment as he whispered "Continue, Arianna." He moaned the words and she smirked at him, holding the leather belt in her hands firmly.

"I'll be glad to." And then she smacked him across the face with the leather belt as hard as she could. For a moment, Vito stumbled backward leaving Ariadne with enough time to try to leave the room. But it was too late, Vito grabbed her back into him, holding a knife to her stomach.

"Where did you get that?" She asked nervously. She could have sworn he didn't have a knife before.

He laughed at her question, softly sliding the blade along her stomach line "Arianna, this is my land. I can create what I want, bella." He held the knife sharply against her frame, his other arm holding her from behind.

"Drop it!" Dom's voice yelled in anger at the scene before him. He was holding the gun, cocking it as he shouted again "Drop it! Or I kill you."

Vito smirked at Cobb for a moment, a dry laugh tingling on his lips. "Domenico, what a pleasant surprise." He held the knife tighter against Ariadne's stomach.

"Dom, please-" she was panting, the knife was almost scratching her skin.

"You know-" Vito started, gripping Ariadne around her neck tougher. He was trying to use her as a shield. It was working, Dom couldn't find a good spot to fire at. "I never noticed that you wear a wedding ring."

Cobb's eyes widened as Vito continued "But Arianna doesn't." He chuckled, moving Ariadne slightly backward before saying "I wonder what your real amore thinks about your little adventure with mia bella."

Dom's hands were softening on the state of the gun. Whatever Vito was doing, it was working.

"Cobb, please don't listen to him." Ariadne spoke the words quickly. How the hell did Vito know about Dom's past?

"I don't believe I told you to open your pretty mouth, Principessa." He flicked the knife on her skin harshly, a large wound appearing across her stomach. Ariadne screamed in pain, Dom re-tightening his hold on the fire arm as she fell to the ground.

"You son of a bitch!" Dom yelled at him, pointing the gun at Vito's head and firing. The bullet went straight into his head and he fell to the ground, instantly falling dead.

Cobb dropped the gun onto the floor and ran over to Ariadne who was trying to wipe the blood away with her hands. "No, don't touch it." He muttered to her, "Your hands aren't clean. It will just infect it."

"Thank you." She whispered to him, holding back small tears. This was all over, wasn't it? And then her eyes widened as she shouted "We have to go! His projections will be coming for us."

Dom shook his head and replied "No. He's dead. His projections are gone too." He watched Ariadne's wound for a moment. He could tell that it was a deep mark and that it was definitely going to leave a large scar one day.

"Can you walk?" He asked her, using his only good shoulder to try to pick her up. But she nodded slowly and stood up, leaning her body weight on Dom. "Okay, let's get out of here."

He put his wounded arm around her and tried everything to keep in the pain that he was feeling too. As they slowly walked out of the city and back to the beach, neither of them said a word.

xxx

"Take a deep breath in." Cobb was staring at the wound on Ariadne's stomach and tried not to focus his eyes on her half-naked state. After he finished patching her up, there was no question about it. He was going to create a robe for her to wear.

"Dom." She called to him, her eyes wide at the needle in his hands and at the black string that he was pulling through it. "Are you sure you know what you're doing?"

He pulled on the end of thread, making a small knot before saying in a calm tone "I've seen it done before."

"Where?" Ariadne asked, resting her head back onto the sand.

Cobb moved the needle to her stomach, not touching her yet, as he whispered honestly "On 'Lost'.

"Lost? As in the television show?" Her eyebrows raised dramatically as she shook her head before saying "Please, stop."

"I can't. It's going to get infected if I don't sew it up." He placed his left hand on hers and continued softly "Just pull on my hand if it hurts too much."

He pushed the needle onto one side of the wound and Ariadne screamed loudly from the pain. He took a deep breath in and pulled the thread out, his left hand being squeezed by hers.

"That's one." He breathed out, looking down into her eyes. "Close your eyes." He whispered to her and when she did, he pushed the needle through her skin again, her yelling from the horrible pain she was experiencing.

"I hate this place!" She shouted angrily and Dom couldn't help but chuckle at her statement.

He pulled on the thread and made a small knot, the wound already starting to close up as he said "Yeah, me too."

His fingers lightly rubbed her stomach and she involuntarily shivered. It was a truly different experience from when Vito had grazed her stomach. She opened her eyes to look at Cobb as he placed the needle back into her skin. This time she didn't scream, she just squeezed his hand tightly.

"See, its not too bad. Is it?" He smirked at her and made another knot. Just one more and he was finished.

"You're not the one that is being ravaged with a needle, Dom." She had called him Dom again. For some reason, Cobb was too in-personal now. They had been through so much together.

Cobb chuckled at her and placed the needle through her once more, her closing her eyes for a moment, the pain shooting up and down her spine. "Thank you." She whispered to him softly and he just nodded once, trying to concentrate on the last knot.

He bent down towards her stomach and used his teeth to snap the thread. "That's it." He smiled at her and threw the needle and thread away from the two of them.

"Now, here comes the worst part." He sighed and removed his own shirt, looking back on his shoulder. She felt cold at the loss of body contact as he had to take his hand away form hers.

"How is it?" She asked softly, sitting up on the sand. She ran a few fingers throw her hair, removing the clumps of sand that had formed.

"I'll be fine. I just need to take a swim in the salt water to disinfect it." He bit down on his bottom lip, the pain that he was about to step into was going to be extraordinary.

"Good luck with that." Ariadne chuckled as she watched his eyes close, changing the fresh water of the 'ocean' back into salt water, as it was when they first arrived in Limbo.

"Okay, let's go." He said, standing up. His stomach churning at the thought of the salt pouring into his wound. He gulped at the idea, but it needed to be done. Salt was always the cure for wounds.

"Before you go, can you create some clothes for me?" She blushed a bright red, the color of her underwear, covering herself up her arms.

"Yes. After." Dom nodded, pushing out his hand to hers so that she can take it.

"After what?" She raised her eyebrows at him and he removed his shoes.

"After we disinfect ourselves." He pointed to the ocean and then grabbed her by her shoulders, pulling her up onto her feet.

"No!" She shook her head. That kind of pain was unbearable.

"Yes!" He laughed at her, he couldn't believe that she would rather have a needle in her skin than salt water. He pulled her, careful not to use his left shoulder, as he dragged her to the water.

"Dom, please!" She made herself heavy, dropping her body weight down to her knees and Cobb sighed.

"Fine." He breathed out for a moment, taking in her expression full of relief. He smirked at her and continued "I'll just let you die a slow and very painful death."

He let her go and walked towards the brim of the ocean, fully removing his shirt.

Ariadne's eye brows shot up as he walked into the ocean, keeping in the pain when his shoulder hit the water. She breathed in and out lowly, took a deep breath in, and walked towards the edge of the water. "Fine. I'll do it."

He smirked at her and dipped his head into the water, the morning sun hitting him when he ascended out of it.

Ariadne was hissing in pain, the wound on her stomach stinging her as she made her way towards Dom. "It's not that bad, is it?" He asked, repeating the same question from before.

She shook her head at him once, dipping her head into the water too. It felt so good to finally feel clean again. She ignored the pain that her stomach was giving her and just enjoyed the moment.

"So, which way do we go now?" She asked, speaking about Saito, her hands moving graciously in the water. The small ocean waves hitting her back.

Cobb shook his head and replied "When you heal. We'll go." He turned around towards Vito's land and continued "Until then, I'll teach you how to build here."

Ariadne smiled at him and then laughed, looking over at Vito's horrible architecture. "First, I think, we should demolish all of these buildings."

Cobb laughed at her conclusion. She was right. They had been horribly composed. He bit down on his bottom lip and turned to her, as he heard water splashing beside him.

She had stood up and she was looking down at her wounded stomach. He watched her for a moment, actually for longer than a moment. She looked...incredible.

She touched her wounded stomach and asked "Is this ever going to go away?"

He stood up on his feet as well and walked over to her, concentrating his eyes on her stomach, while replying "When you wake up."

She nodded slowly. Her eyes looking up into his his. She could feel his eyes burning onto her body. Much like Vito had done before, but this time she didn't want to run away, she wanted to relish in the moment for as long as possible.

He ran his hands through his wet hair and then took a few steps towards the shore, while saying "Let's get some new clothes."

Ariadne just nodded, watching Cobb walk out of the water and onto the beach. "And then we build?"

He turned around to face her, the sun hitting his body as he answered "Yes. And then we build."

Authors Note:

Vito's dead! Party, anyone?

And kudos to you if you guess what happens in the 'flashforward' scene.

Thank you for reading.

Please review!