Last chapter! At least for this fanfic. Sorry for the wait and I hope it was well worth it. As always, comments/reviews are definitely welcome!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Inception or anything relating to the film. Mmk?

Designated Driver

"I don't think head-bobbing is considered dancing, love."

Marloe laughed at Eames's comment. He was right, of course. Head-bobbing was merely nodding your head in rhythm to the music, which was exactly what the brunette woman was doing. Dancing, on the other hand—as explained by Sigourney Weaver—, was a series of movements that involved two people and harmoniously matched speed and rhythm with music. If using that definition, Marloe was not dancing. She was head-bobbing.

"I don't know if she heard you," exclaimed Cobb into Eames's ear. The music was loud in the club and it as difficult to hear anything that wasn't two inches from you.

"She laughed, so of course she heard me!"

"I heard him," Marloe finally said loudly to the two men. "I don't dance, Eames. I do this." She pointed to her nodding head and smiled.

"Well I guess that's better than what Arthur's doing." Eames motioned towards the classy man seated beside him Cobb.

While everyone else was in comfortable, suitable clubbing attire, Arthur was in his usual suit and fancy shoes. He was, however, convinced earlier by Ariadne to remove his jacket and tie to give the appearance of being laid back. The team knew better, though, than to actually believe that he would enjoy his evening with or without the jacket and tie.

Marloe leaned forward from her seat on the stool that was positioned in front of the glass bar. A puzzled look appeared on her face. "What's Arthur doing?"

Eames snickered into his Guinness bottle. "Exactly. What are you doing, my dear Arthur?"

The other man turned his attention away from the cluster of people at the center of the club and looked at Eames. "Having a good time," he said, not amused and obviously not believing what he was saying.

"But you're just staring, Arthur," commented Ariadne from beside Cobb. A piece of wavy brown hair fluttered over her right eye and she pushed it absent-mindedly behind her ear.

Arthur shrugged and Ariadne gave up.

Marloe sighed, looking out at the enthusiastic people in the club. She was happy that everyone—besides Arthur—was allowing themselves to take some time to relax. Ariadne, for the first time since Marloe had met her, had her hair gracefully flowing freely. It wasn't being tied back, pinned up, or scrunched into a tight bun. And her shoulder-revealing topaz t-shirt accented the dark skin-tight jeans nicely.

As for Cobb, he was pleasantly dressed in a pair of loose blue denims and a dark red, almost rustic-colored button-down shirt. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, which allowed the perfect visual of his strong forearms. A pair of black and white Converse topped off his attire. Marloe had smiled when she first saw his shoes because she had never seen him wear them. They had simply surprised her. She was used to seeing Cobb in such formal wear, after all.

Eames, on the other hand, didn't surprise her. His grey khaki pants showed off the shape of his ass quite nicely and Marloe found herself unintentionally staring occasionally. His black tee, to Marloe's relief, was not as tight, but the lack of sleeves showed his powerfully-built muscles just as Cobb's shirt did. Eames wanted the attention of the ladies and he was, without a doubt, getting that attention.

"He's not the only one staring," said Marloe to Ariadne. The two women smiled at the same time as they looked out at the people in the club. A group of young women sitting at an orange-lighted table were looking in Eames's direction with sly little grins on their faces.

The man said nothing at first, but simply stared back. Then, he cleared his throat and said without looking away from the girls, "If you'd all excuse me, I think I'll go get drunk with those lovely ladies over there." And he was swept away from the bar's edge to join the pretty bunch of females.

Ariadne cocked an eyebrow and Marloe rolled her eyes. "Well you can tell he was enjoying himself over here," said the latter sarcastically. But Eames had a right to be bored. The group wasn't doing a whole lot.

Cobb nodded heavily, perhaps a little too much. The fourth beer glass in his hand probably wasn't helping. "I think I might go find a table," he finally said, just loud enough for Marloe and Ariadne beside him to hear.

Marloe frowned. "You're not going to dance?"

Laughing, Cobb shook his head and responded with, "I'm not much of a dancer either."

"It might be amusing if you're drunk." Marloe smiled sarcastically.

"Yeah, so you can laugh when I fall on my ass? I don't think so."

"Well could you at least hang around here? I hadn't realized how much of a drag the club would be." Her frown grew.

"Maybe we should all go dance. Like, together," suggested Ariadne.

Marloe thought about that. She really didn't want to dance, but no one from her team seemed to be doing much. Eames was the only one enjoying himself, apparently. Of course, he was the first to get drunk. But if they all went onto the dance floor, maybe that could be fun.

"I'll go," she paused for effect, "if Arthur goes." She didn't grin at Arthur who was standing just a few feet to her right. He hadn't moved since they all arrived at the bar, and the only thing he had done at all was order several glasses of some iced alcoholic drink.

Arthur looked at Marloe and locked eyes with her. She was being completely serious and he could see it with the angry fire that was burning in her eyes. She wanted him to do something other than stand around like he been for the past hour. But dancing wasn't his thing either. At least, he didn't think it was. When an image of Marloe on the dance floor, bouncing to the music and throwing her arms up into the claustrophobic air, popped into his head, he suddenly liked the idea of moving to the rhythm with her. He wanted to see how her multi-shade blue skirt fluttered at her knees and watch her brush aside the messy hair that crossed her sapphire eyes. Suddenly, dancing didn't sound so bad. And yet, he did really want to be the one doing the dancing. He'd rather observe.

Still staring at Marloe, Arthur said, "I'll watch."

Marloe hesitated for a moment. She figured he'd say no to her dancing proposal, but it was still upsetting to hear it. "You'll watch?"

Arthur took a sip of his drink, watching Marloe all the while.

That was enough for her. If Arthur didn't want to dance, she certainly wasn't going to force him. Marloe just hoped that the negative energy that floated around him like an aura would dissipate soon, because she was growing tired of it.

She then glanced at Cobb, with the slightest bit of hope that he'd agree to go with her and Ariadne.

"No, no, no. Don't look at me. I'm staying right here. This is fun where I'm at right now."

Marloe watched him for a long moment before believing him. "Are you sure? You don't mind staying here by yourself, since Arthur doesn't seem to be much company."

"You guys are just going over there," he said, pointing in the general direction of the open dance floor at the center of the club. "Right?"

Ariadne nodded a response. "Yeah. But if you wanted to join us, you can."

"Thanks, but I'm good."

Marloe noted a slight slur in Cobb's words as he spoke. "Just don't drink too much, please. I already know you're not going to be the designated driver, but having you passed out somewhere won't be that great either." She smiled coyly and nodded at Ariadne. "Ready?"

The younger woman looked past Marloe to see what Arthur was doing. He was finishing his drink and appeared to be ordering another. He was careful not to make eye contact with either of the women. "Let's dance," she said, grinning at Marloe, but also feeling slightly disappointed that Arthur wouldn't be joining them. If Ariadne had to guess, she'd say that Arthur and Marloe had something between them, but Arthur's attitude tonight was confusing her. Still, she preferred Arthur as a friend and only that.

Marloe and Ariadne headed towards the dispersed crowd of dancers, walking closely together, as if one might be snatched away if the other drifted too far off. The dance floor itself was huge. Pretty much any place that wasn't the bar or the tables that circled the club could be considered the dance floor. However, people seemed to be choosing the very center of the building to groove around. That was the area where the overhead rainbow spotlights were mostly at. They definitely added to the whole club atmosphere, spinning across the place and creating magical effects as they reflected off of the colorful glass tables.

Waving to Eames as she passed him, Marloe strode beside Ariadne until they picked a relatively empty place to move around, ignoring the fact that the two of them had caught the eyes of several guys in their vicinity.

Eames smiled with his arms around two women at his orange table. He wouldn't bring either of them to the warehouse or to some off-the-road motel because he was smarter than that. The British man would simply enjoy their beautiful company for the time being.

Back at the bar, Arthur still didn't seem to be amused at all by the idea of dancing—unless he was watching Marloe—, but any stranger who watched his eyes would find them drifting towards Marloe all too often. He was very happy that she chose a spot that was still in his line of sight. Her shoulders were exposed in her white halter top that tied around her neck and her bare skin was the cause for his stare. But when he saw the men staring at her and Ariadne, he glared in their direction until they saw him and got his point.

"What are you looking at?" asked Cobb with drunken curiosity.

"Nothing," responded Arthur casually, pulling his eyes away from the men, who had found something else to look at now. "Just watching."

Cobb furrowed his brows in puzzlement, but said nothing. Rather, he continued drinking his fourth beer and faced the bar on his stool. He glanced down at the bottle nonchalantly. Marloe was right. He definitely wasn't going to be the designated driver tonight.

A new song was beginning to play, signally an end to the previous electronic track. Marloe liked this sort of music because it was perfect for loosening up to and moving her slim body to. She had told Eames that she didn't dance, but it was soon going to be obvious that she did.

"I don't recognize this song," commented Ariadne who had already begun to swing her hips in rhythm to the beat.

"Did you know the last one?" questioned Marloe, setting up a point to get across to her friend.

Ariadne shook her head slightly, causing her hair to bounce just a little. "I haven't really recognized any of the music actually."

Marloe simply smiled. Her point was understood. "Well you must like it, or else you wouldn't be dancing or even be here in the first place." She swayed her hips as well and allowed her short halter top to climb up her hips, revealing a small, blue dragonfly on her left side that complimented the dark blue spiral design that made its way up that side of her shirt.

"I like it. The only club I've been to was nothing like this. Not as nice. And I came here because it was good for the team. I just wish Arthur would participate a little." Ariadne glanced back at Arthur, who hadn't moved an inch except to face Cobb.

"I know, but Cobb isn't doing a whole lot either."

"At least he's enjoying himself."

Marloe nodded, looking at both men at the bar. Cobb certainly was happy and a small getaway from the warehouse was probably doing wonders for his extremely over-active, work-absorbed mind. He needed to relax more than anyone else and it seemed he was doing just that.

Marloe just wished Arthur would do something. Watching him be so still and almost lifeless was disconcerting for her. She wanted to see some life in his eyes, rather than be so professional. Marloe just wanted him to let go of the worries about work and his job, because that was surely what his mind was focused on 24/7.

"Why won't you go dancing with them?" asked Cobb, the slur in his words suddenly vanishing. "With her."

Arthur knew exactly what he was talking about and he wasn't about to play dumb for his boss. "I can't."

Cobb watched his friend closely. He knew damn well that he wasn't talking about dancing. It didn't matter if he couldn't dance because swinging your hips doesn't take much. "Why not?"

The seriousness of the question struck Arthur and made him actually think for a good answer.

But there wasn't one.

Cobb laughed through his nose. "There's your answer," was all Cobb said before gulping down his last bit of beer. The bartender tried to give him another, but he refused, remembering Marloe's words and deciding that passing out really didn't sound that fun.

Arthur understood completely what Cobb meant. He couldn't find a reason not to be with Marloe right then, who was dancing with energy to the fast beat of the techno song. Who, even though her body seemed happy, had a face on that showed a different emotion. Who's loose blue skirt was fluttering against her thighs. And who had wanted nothing more than to dance with Arthur, but he had turned her down.

Standing up and placing his nearly-full glass down onto the glassy surface of the bar, Arthur made a decision right then. He was going to attempt to make up for being such a negative person that night by dancing with Marloe.

Cobb knew what was happening and he said, "Good choice."

Arthur smiled inside, but at the same time, he was nervous as he made his way through small clusters of people towards Marloe.

"Alright, my love!" shouted a drunken Eames from several yards away when Arthur was close enough to hear him.

Arthur ignored him as he approached the young woman.

She hadn't realized he was coming until Ariadne suddenly looked up and smiled. Marloe's hips stopped their rocking and she swung around to see Arthur just a few feet away. She stared at him, speechless, as he stopped in front of her. Brushing aside a wave of hair from her eyes, she locked yes with him.

The music playing was fast and a little crazy, but nothing was registering for Marloe. She was hardly believing that Arthur was actually on the dance floor, with his sleeves rolled up over his elbows and his top two shirt buttons undone. He was nervous, Marloe could tell, but so was she.

"I decided I wanted to dance."

Marloe smiled beautifully and said, "Good choice," not realizing that she had actually just quoted Cobb, who was observing casually as he wandered over to Eames's table of women.

The female group scattered when Cobb waved a hand at them. They weren't very happy, but they would all surely find another man to seduce.

"Thanks, mate. You're a real hero," Eames said sarcastically.

Cobb ignored him and sat down to get a better view of the three team members on the dance floor, soon to be only two—Ariadne eventually snuck away quietly behind Marloe to join Eames and Cobb. No one spoke. They only wanted to see how far the pair went.

Another song ended and there were a few moments of silence in the club, besides the obvious chatter of people. Marloe unconsciously wondered if maybe the DJ had left to take a piss or if something had gotten broken by some drunk person. But in those quiet seconds, Marloe concentrated hard into Arthur's wonderfully brown eyes.

Then a new song finally started up and Marloe recognized it instantly. When I see your face, there's not a thing that I would change, 'coz you're amazing, just the way you are. It wasn't the best choice for clubbing music, but it was suiting for the moment she and Arthur were currently experiencing.

"So, are you gonna dance?" questioned Marloe slowly, never letting go of Arthur's stare.

"Yes. But there's something I want to do first." Gently taking her arm, Arthur pulled Marloe close to him and kissed her lips softly. He closed his eyes as they touched and breathed in her exotic, flowery scent.

Marloe didn't resist or move away. She let him place his other hand on the back of her neck and she shivered when his fingers made contact, giving her pleasant little goosebumps down her spine. Slowly and carefully, she put her hands at his each side of his jaw line, and kept him close. This was the moment she had secretly been longing for.

The moment he had been longing for as well, but hid by never wanting to be too close with Marloe. He was close now, and he liked it.

Eames was speechless, never actually believing Arthur could gather the balls to kiss Marloe. Cobb sat quietly having already known this time would come for the two of them. And Ariadne smiled at the two, genuinely happy for them.

Eventually and sadly, the kiss came to an end. Time, which had seemed to slow down, sped back up again. Arthur opened his eyes and smiled compassionately at Marloe, who returned the smile. Neither of them said a word for several minutes. They simply stared at each other, happy that the ice that had been covering their friendship had finally been shattered. It suddenly became obvious to Marloe that Arthur didn't think about work 24/7, but rather he thought about her.

When Marloe's heart finally returned to a relatively normal pace, she said, "I could get use to that."

Arthur laughed slightly, his brown eyes shining. "You still want to dance?"

"Actually, I think I'm good now." And she was. Marloe was very content with how the evening had turned out and she was ready to call it a night. "Unless you want to dance, because I will if you will."

Shaking his head, he responded, "If you're done, I'm done." He was acting so much more pleasant after the kiss and he could tell Marloe was enjoying that.

She nodded. "That's fine." Then she directed her attention towards the gawkers across the floor who were sitting at a lit-up orange table. Marloe and Arthur watched as Eames gave them a thumbs-up, Cobb nodded, and Ariadne smiled.

"I think they're done, too," commented Arthur.

"Yeah, agreed."

The two walked over to the table, Marloe bobbing her head again to the music that had turned into The Blackeyed Peas, Rock That Body. She wondered where the techno had gone, but she let it slip from her mind. She had just kissed Arthur, after all.

"You two lovebirds seemed to have been enjoying yourselves out there." Eames smiled slyly.

Marloe blushed, which she rarely did, and chuckled.

Sighing, the British man added, "Well, I'm ready to call it a night. What about everyone else?"

Ariadne nodded, sighing as well. "I'm good with that."

"Then are you guys ready?" questioned Cobb at Marloe and Arthur.

They nodded simultaneously.

"Good. There's one thing we have to do first: figure out a designated driver."

"Have Arthur drive," suggested Eames.

"He drank God knows how many of those drinks," said Ariadne, concerned.

"Arthur couldn't get drunk if it bit him on the arse," Eames said, smiling.

Arthur just crossed his arms in irritation.

"I haven't touched an alcoholic beverage all night. I guess I'll drive." Marloe gave in and started for the club exit.

"Guess we have our designated driver," said Cobb, standing up slowly to keep his balance in tact.

Eames followed behind him.

"You're supposed to designate the driver before hand. Not wait until everyone's already been drinking to figure it out," commented Ariadne smartly before leaving the table. She had only had one martini the whole time, but it was safer just to let someone who hadn't drank at all drive the group.

"Hm, my love, you may be right."

"Thanks Eames." Ariadne rolled her eyes and followed after Marloe and Arthur.

They were already out of the club, walking close and staying quiet. They were simply enjoying each other's presence. But Marloe broke the silence, saying, "I think I might actually be able to sleep tonight." She grinned at the thought of finally being able to get a good night's rest. "And maybe you'll sleep better, too."

Arthur put his hands into his pant pockets, smiling. "Maybe." Then he flicked something out that clattered onto the concrete of the parking lot. Very quickly he snatched up the object before Marloe could see what it was.

"What was that?" she asked curiously.

"It was nothing." And he rolled the red dice through his fingers in his pocket, sighing into the night.

This was the best dream he had ever had.

Well, the best dream-come-true.

Arthur's smile never faded.

Mwuhahahaha! You're all like, what just happened? Re-read the second to the last line for clarification. :D