New chapter! Woo! Thanks for all the reviews and alerts. It's so exciting and encouraging to see that people are enjoying this story. It is a little different than others I have read and a lot fluffier, but things are starting to get intense now...what will happen? So anyways, here is the next chapter, sorry for the long wait, but school is busy and life has been its usual self preventing me from writing this sooner. But I finally decided to make time and here we are. Let me know what you think!
As much as I want to own Inception, I don't...Christopher Nolan is too much of a genius for our own good...haha...and if I could I would own Arthur, or better yet Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Unfortunately none of these are going to happen...oh well.
Arthur's eyes fluttered open slowly. The events of last night quickly coming to mind. His eyes quickly focused and he looked around, finding Ariadne still sleeping, clinging onto him. He sighed. It was going to be quite an ordeal if that Mercedes was still parked outside.
He didn't want to wake Ariadne up, but he needed to check outside. Slowly prying her arms from him, he sat up and wrapped the blanket around her, giving her a kiss on the forehead before briskly making his way to the window. He peered through the blinds, and sure enough the car was still there.
Arthur cursed under his breath, knowing that this meant they'd have to move everyone to a new location to keep them safe. He grabbed his suitcase and jumbled through his clothes, not caring that everything was being thrown out of order. Quickly putting on his usual three-piece suit he quietly exited the room in search of Dom.
He found Dom sitting at the kitchen table, his head in his hands. Arthur frowned, feeling guilty.
"Dom." He quietly said, looking around to make sure James and Philippa weren't near.
Dom's head snapped up and he looked at Arthur warily. His gaze moved to the rooms behind Arthur.
"Sleep well?" Dom asked. Arthur gave a slight nod, ready to just jump into the situation at hand.
"The Mercedes is still there." Arthur got straight to the point.
"I know. We're going to have to leave today. It's not safe here." Dom whispered, not wanting the kids to hear.
"Is it our fault?" Ariadne's small voice came from behind Arthur and both men turned to look at her.
"No. It's not. They could have followed me home. It's not your fault Ariadne." Dom tried to assure her.
Tears were in her eyes. "I'm so sorry Dom. And after you just got your kids back."
"Ari. It's not our fault. We know our dangers. We just hoped that Saito would have cleared the price on our heads." Arthur told her, gently grasping her shoulders and giving them a squeeze.
"Arthur's right. We've been all over the place and angered many people. It could be anyone. And it's not your fault. I was too caught up in getting back to the kids that I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings. It could easily have been my fault." Dom said, standing.
Arthur watched Ariadne carefully. Her face seemed to be more relaxed and there were only faint traces of tears on them now. He pulled her in for a hug and turned to Dom.
"So what do we do?" Ariadne mumbled into Arthur's chest.
"We pack up and leave." Dom said, moving towards the small hallway closet and pulling out three suitcases. "Be quick. Arthur call Eames and check up on him. We need to make sure we're not just paranoid. If it's just us then it might not be an issue, but if Eames has been followed, we have reason to be concerned."
Arthur pulled out his cell phone from his pocket and ushered Ariadne into the bedroom.
"Pack up. Hurry." He told her as the phone rang. Ariadne obliged and quickly threw her things into the bag, zipping it up and doing the same with Arthur's suitcase.
"Hello Darling." Eames booming voice came from the other line.
"Eames. Have you been followed?" Arthur cut to the chase, not wanting to deal with Eames' childish antics at the moment.
"Well so much for small talk. Come to think about it there has been this peculiar black Beamer parked outside of the hotel for the past two days. I hadn't thought much of it until now. Why do you ask? Were you followed?" Eames asked, his voice having a hint of accusation in it.
"Yes. We have a black Mercedes parked across the street from us." Arthur told him, nodding at Ariadne to grab the bags and follow him.
"Us? Who's with you?" Eames asked.
"Cobb, the kids, and Ariadne." Arthur stated quickly turning into the kitchen to find Dom with the kids, their bags, and a gun hidden in his jacket.
"Are you insane love? Why the hell are you with them? What happened to the no contact rule you so strictly told us to follow?" Eames raised his voice, unbelief and amusement hidden in it.
"I know, I screwed up. But that's beside the point." Arthur avoided answering Eames, knowing that he would get an earful from him.
"It's about Ariadne huh? You finally decided to take a risk and be with a girl for once? I do say she is rather lovely. I was going to make a move on her if you didn't. And don't think I didn't see that little kiss you two shared in the hotel lobby. I have eyes everywhere." Eames was rambling on, having too much fun picking on Arthur.
"Eames, can we not do this now." Arthur growled.
"Sure thing darling. But tell me what's going on now."
Arthur turned to Dom and raised his eyebrows in question. Dom sighed and looked at Ariadne pleadingly. Ariadne nodded and turned to James and Philippa.
"Hey James, Philippa, why don't we go to your rooms really quick. We can pick out a few toys for the trip." She told them, holding out her hands for them. They nodded vigorously and took her hands, happily leading her to their rooms.
"Give me the phone." Dom told Arthur. Arthur tossed his phone to him and glanced back at Ariadne's retreating form and frowned.
"Eames. We're going to meet at our presumed spot." Dom told him and Arthur's head snapped up. He knew that they only went there if there was an absolute emergency. Dom ignored the look Arthur gave him and listened to Eames.
"What? Is it that serious? Who do you think is following us?" Eames shouting voice could be heard from the phone and Arthur raised his brows.
Dom sighed. "I don't know, but if we're not the only ones being followed, this could be serious." Dom rubbed his face and let out an exasperated sigh.
"Well then I better contact Yusuf. Did either of you bother to check up on him?" Eames was angry and Dom knew it.
"No, we haven't had time. We just found out last night. This morning the car was still there and thought to call you first. We'll let you contact Yusuf and when we meet we'll get a hold of Saito." Dom tried to calm Eames down, but knew he had a right to be angry.
"Alright. I'll see you soon." Eames said before hanging up. Dom tossed Arthur his phone back and called for Ariadne and the kids. They came out giggling and Dom couldn't help but smile.
Ariadne walked up to Arthur, a questioning look in her eye.
Later.He mouthed. Ariadne nodded and turned to Dom and the kids.
"Alright, is everyone ready?" Ariadne asked.
"Yes!" James and Philippa squealed and Dom simply nodded.
"Follow me." He said as he picked up the bags and carefully maneuvered around James and Philippa.
Ariadne grabbed Arthur's hand, lacing their fingers together. She needed some reassurance and comfort. He sensed that and squeezed her hand. Having slung both their bags over his shoulder he slumped a little to the left.
"Coming?" Dom called from the garage.
"Yeah, we'll be right there!" Arthur called back, pulling Ariadne. They walked into the garage to find a dark blue Ford Expedition. Dom was moving James and Philippa's car seats to the last row, allowing room for Ariadne in the middle row.
"Throw your stuff in the back." Dom ordered and put James and Philippa in the back seat, making sure their car seats were secure.
Ariadne slid into the middle row sitting in the middle seat so she could see where they were heading.
"Where's the presumed meeting spot?" Ariadne asked Arthur quietly.
"We'll talk about this once we're driving. We have to make sure the house isn't bugged or anything. Be patient." Arthur whispered. He glanced back at his godchildren and frowned. They were too young to have to live the life of fugitives. He hoped that things would get resolved soon.
Ariadne followed his gaze and sighed. "They'll be fine. We'll make sure of it. Don't beat yourself up."
"I know, but I want to protect them. They shouldn't have to live this life. They look a lot like Mal. They have Dom's hair, but their faces have Mal written all over them." Arthur said, his eyes and voice soft.
Ariadne nodded, not sure of what to say. She leaned forward and kissed him softly. Tears forming in her eyes again she pulled away and looked down.
"Hey." Arthur grabbed her chin gently and pulled her face up so her eyes met his. "I promise I won't let anything happen to you."
"I'm not worried about me. I'm worried about all of us, about you. I don't want anything to happen to you. I don't know what I'd do." Ariadne's voice cracked.
"I won't let anything happen to me either." Arthur told her, but Ariadne shook her head.
"You can't promise me that."
"But I am." Arthur insisted. Ariadne sniffled and nodded. The genuine look in his eyes encouraged her. She kissed him again, this time with more urgency. He pulled away as Dom jumped into the driver's seat.
"Alright, we're going to have to abandon the car. When we get to the airport make sure to stay close and move quickly. Arthur you might need to call Saito and ask for him to let us use his airline so we can have privacy."
Arthur nodded and pulled out his phone, quickly doing as he was told. Dom pulled out of the driveway and Ariadne buckled up, watching the two men anxiously.
"So much for getting back to a normal life." She heard Dom mutter. Ariadne frowned and turned to Arthur who had just hung up the phone.
"Everything's clear. He said to stay safe and he'll keep in contact with us." Arthur informed them.
"Ok. So who's going to tell me where we're heading." Ariadne couldn't take it anymore and asked.
So things are getting intense now! Uh oh! Haha...I have to add some drama, but I drama adds to the excitement. Oh! And if you have any suggestions on where their "presumed meeting spot" is please let me know. I still need to figure it out to be honest. I'm not sure where I want them to go...so yeah leave a review with your suggestion! Reviews make me happy and encourage me to write...