It feels like it's been forever since the last update, but things are starting to come together and details are harder to write, but it's coming together and I got this chapter up! Thank you all who are still reading this story and reviewing! It means a lot! Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Someday I will own Inception...on DVD...in 48, well 47 days...


Arthur helped Ariadne into the car. She was still sore and in pain.

"Eames, we need to stop and get her painkillers." Arthur told Eames, while carefully holding her. He could feel her flinching and trying not to whimper.

"Already done." Eames said, tossing the small bottle over his shoulder. Arthur quickly caught it and read the label. He sighed and stuffed it into his pocket.

"What's the plan?" Ariadne asked, trying to get her mind off of the pain.

"So far…nothing." Arthur admitted. He slouched for a split second before straightening up. Eames glanced at them through the mirror and frowned.

"First off, if we are going into Brendan's head, we need to create levels. He already knows we're going to try. We've told him and threatened him enough for him to know. So we're going to have to get this as realistic as we can. Since he will know, his subconscious will be heavily armed and more alert to our presence. They will attack. And if there is a virus, that will attack us immediately. So we need to get each level of the dream as realistic as we can. Ariadne, do you feel up to it? If not, Dom can." Eames rambled on, quickly throwing out the plan he had been formulating.

"When are we going to do this?" Ariadne asked, exhaling deeply.

"Three weeks. We still need to get him to talk, but we can't try to destroy the virus without planning first." Eames replied.

"Dom can do it." Arthur spoke up. Ariadne turned to him and glared.

"I can do it. But Dom can help, I'll need it." Ariadne answered Eames.

"Ari, you're not strong enough." Arthur protested.

"In three weeks I'll be fine." Ariadne tried to convince him.

"Alright." Arthur gave in, not wanting to argue with her now.

Ariadne got worn out easily so she went to bed early. Arthur was concerned, but knew he had work to get done so he just kissed her goodnight and watched her until she was out of sight.

He sighed and looked at Eames who was staring at him compassionately.

"She'll be fine. Don't worry about her, she's a tough girl." Eames replied, "Now help me go through these pictures your little woman gave me."

Arthur stood up and stretched, slowly making his way over to Eames. He picked up a few pictures and flipped through them.

"Who are they?" Arthur asked as he looked through them.

"Ah, well some of them are friends of Brendan, his bosses, and their parents. She also has some pictures of them when they were younger. She told me I should memorize all the details, and look up information on his friends and bosses. But that's where you come in. Once you find them, I'll buy tickets to fly out and observe them. As soon as that's done we can get started. Well once the dream levels are finished and we know them well enough we can get started. I think we should push back the job another week or two." Eames rambled on.

Arthur frowned and glanced and Dom, he was sitting with his kids on his lap. They were watching cartoons. Dom looked up and caught his gaze. He nodded sharply and turned to his kids.

"James, Philippa, stay here. I'll be right back, I have to talk to Uncle Artie." Dom told them, they simply nodded, their focus never leaving the TV.

"What's going on?" Dom whispered.

"Eames thinks we should push back the job another week or two." Arthur answered.

"Do you think it's necessary?" Dom asked, having faith in Arthur. He knew that his point man would make the right decision and if he thought they didn't have to push the job back, then he trusted him.

Arthur sighed and nodded. "Yes. We have a lot to cover, and this virus can be dangerous. We don't know anything about it. Eames also has a lot of people he has to go observe, especially if he'll have to forge into them."

"Alright, have you told Ariadne?" Dom asked.

"No. She's in bed, I'll tell her in the morning."

"Alright, I have to talk to her about the dream levels. We'll get started on that when she's feeling up to it." Dom said over his shoulder as he walked back to his children, who were now asleep.

"I'm gonna head to bed now." Arthur yawned and stood up, walking to the door.

"Alright. Goodnight Arthur." Dom replied. Eames just looked up briefly and nodded at him.

When Arthur entered the bedroom he found Ariadne awake and watching TV.

"Hey, I thought you were going to bed?" Arthur asked, crawling onto the bed and kissing her.

"I tried, but I couldn't sleep." Ariadne sighed.

"Why?"

"I'm afraid of having a nightmare."

"You have you been having nightmares?" Arthur questioned surprised and stared at her.

Ariadne nodded and avoided his gaze. A few tears trickled down her face and Arthur pulled her against him, cradling her and careful to not put pressure on her stomach.

"Want to tell me?"

Arthur heard her mumble something, but he couldn't understand through her sobs. He rocked her softly and waited for her to calm down and open up.

A few minutes later she calmed down enough to talk. She looked up at him, her eyes red and puffy.

"I just keep replaying the moment Brendan fired the gun. Everything happened so fast, but it also happened so slow. The gunshot, the pain, the blood. All of it came so fast, but as soon as I was shot everything slowed down. And then I relive the moment I lost the baby." She choked back a sob.

"I'm sorry." Arthur replied.

"There's nothing you could have done Arthur. I just hate having to see everything happen over and over again." Ariadne shook her head sadly.

"How's your stomach?" Arthur asked.

"It's fine. It's still sore, but it doesn't hurt as much. I think it's healing." Ariadne replied, glad that Arthur changed the subject.

"We're pushing back the job another two weeks." Arthur blurted out.

"What? Why?" Ariadne looked up surprised.

"We have too much to get done and covered, we need more time. Eames needs more time. We all need more time Ari." Arthur told her.

Ariadne nodded. "Just as long as it's not because of me."

"No, we all need more time."

"Ok." Ariadne yawned and laid back.

"Get some sleep, I'm going to change. I'll be back." Arthur kissed her nose and walked into the bathroom. One he came out he found Ariadne asleep and curled up into a ball. He smiled and joined her, pulling her close to him.

The next day Ariadne woke up before Arthur. She quickly got dressed and made her way into Dom's room. She knocked and Dom opened the door, smiling he let her in.

"Good morning Dom." Ariadne greeted him as she walked in.

"Good morning. Where's Arthur?" Dom asked.

"He's still asleep. I figured we better get started on the dream levels."

"Did he tell you about the job?" Dom asked cautiously.

She nodded. "Yes, he's right, we need more time. Poor Eames was overwhelmed and I didn't even know it." She teased lightly.

Dom chuckled as Eames grumbled something from the couch.

"Darling, it's not as easy as you may think. Trying to become someone else takes time and patience." Eames walked over to her. Ariadne giggled and turned back to Dom.

"Alright, let's get started. Do you have paper?"

Dom nodded and walked over to his bag and pulled out two sketchpads. Ariadne watched him and glanced at James and Philippa. They were still sleeping on the bed.

"Ok, where do we start?" Dom asked, letting her lead. Ariadne tapped her chin thoughtfully, thinking of what the first layer of the dream should be. She figured the last layer should involve a computer lab if they were to try to find the virus and destroy it. She wasn't sure where to start. She didn't really know her brother anymore.

"Well the last layer should be a computer lab. It would make it easier to find the virus, don't you think?" Ariadne asked finally. Dom looked at her pensively. Ariadne could see him thinking things through and sighed in relief when he nodded and grinned.

"That's an excellent idea. But what about the first two levels?"

Ariadne sighed and shook her head. "I'm not sure yet. I don't know Brendan like I used to. But I think we should start with something familiar and common to him. Maybe an airport?" Ariadne suggested. Dom looked at Eames and Eames shook his head slightly.

"Does he spend a lot of time at them, and will he know that he's not in a real one?" Eames asked.

"Well we can use the airport here, that way he doesn't wonder how he ended up at LAX or JFK. I mean it would make most sense to use the one here." Ariadne said. Eames nodded and looked at Dom.

"I think an airport could work, we just have to figure out how we are going to incorporate that with getting deeper into his head to destroy the virus." Dom thought out loud.

"Well we could have him take a flight back to Cobol Headquarters and the second layer could be Cobol HQ." Arthur's voice surprised everyone and they turned to see him entering the room quietly.

"That actually would be a great idea. The only problem is we don't know what Cobol HQ looks like." Dom sighed and rubbed his face.

"I can go and check it out." Arthur replied. Ariadne's head snapped up and she swiveled in her chair to stare at him.

"What? No! Arthur, you can't go!" Ariadne pleaded.

"I have to, if we're going to get Cobol off our back for good and destroy that virus, we have to get the details of Cobol HQ exact. We can't afford to have any wrong details." Arthur told her, his face expressionless.

"Why can't Eames go?" Ariadne asked, ignoring Eames' "Hey!"

"Because I'm the point man, it's my job. And I can do this quickly and without being caught. I promise. Ariadne's mouth gaped at him, she knew he was right, but she didn't want to risk losing him, especially after everything that's happened.

Eames and Dom looked at Ariadne sympathetically. "He's right." Dom spoke up. Ariadne turned to look at him, her eyes sad.

"I know. I just…" Ariadne stood up and walked out of the room, rushing to hers and slamming the door. She sighed and slid down the door and began to cry softly.

Arthur was about to go after her, but Dom grabbed his arm.

"Give her a few minutes. She knows what's right, she just needs time."

Arthur nodded and frowned. "You know I'd go if I were capable of doing your job, but I'm not, and I have tons of other things to do." Eames patted him on the back and walked away.

"Eames, don't you need to observe his boss?" Arthur suddenly remembered.

Eames silently cursed, forgetting about that. "Yes, which means I'm going to have to go with you. Looks like we're going together after all buddy." Eames smirked. Arthur shook his head and groaned.

"Ok, so we have our three levels, we just need to get the second level layout. The other two should be easy, the computer lab doesn't have to be anything special, just something that Brendan will believe and we can search for the virus on one of the computers. The airport should be a piece of cake, it's one that both Ariadne and I are familiar with."

"When do I need to head to Cobol?" Arthur and Eames asked simultaneously. Eames snickered and Arthur glared at him.

"I'd say in the next two weeks. This level is the one we really have to perfect, so the more details the better." Dom answered. "Eames, will that be enough time for you?"

Eames nodded and picked up his pictures. I don't know who Brendan's friends are or where to find them…Arthur mind doing me a favor and looking them up for me?" Eames batted his eyelashes and grinned. Arthur rolled his eyes and picked up his laptop, quickly finding information on them.

Eames looked over the information quickly and grinned. "Looks like I'll be teaching a lesson on forging to you two. Ariadne can go into the first level as herself."

"And the second level?" Arthur asked.

"The second level we're going to have to be Cobol employees. Ariadne still would be more useful as herself. He won't think much of her, but if he sees us in the dream, we will be screwed." Dom said.

"Alright. And the third level?"

"The third level will be trickier. I'm still debating on going as ourselves or as technicians. I'll think it over. But with the way we're thinking we might as well go as technicians. Ariadne can accompany Brendan the whole time." Dom suggested.

Arthur clenched his jaw and exhaled loudly. "Alright, but if he does anything to her, I will snap his little neck."

"Ooh, can I help?" Eames asked, smirking diabolically.

"Only if I get to finish him off." Arthur nodded.

"Sounds bloody good to me." Eames grinned.

"Ok, I'll get to work on the airport, Eames you start buying your plane tickets, and Arthur, go talk to your wife." Dom gently told him. Arthur nodded and quickly left the room, shooting one last glance at Dom and Eames before closing the door.

He opened the door gently and was surprised when the door wouldn't open. He peeked in the small crack and saw Ariadne sitting there, crying.

"Ari, let me in. Let's talk." Arthur whispered gently.

Ariadne stood up and turned to face him. He entered the room and stood there, staring at her. He could see the tears forming and he sighed.

"Ari, we both know I have to go." He sighed.

She nodded and allowed a sob to escape her. "I know." She squeaked. He grabbed her hand and pulled her to the bed.

"What's bothering you?" He asked.

"I don't want to lose you too, not after what happened..." Ariadne brushed her stomach gently. "...going to Cobol is dangerous." Ariadne whispered.

Realization hit him. "Ari, you're not going to lose me, I promise. Besides, Eames will be going with me." Arthur told her, hoping to ease her worry.

"If he doesn't keep you safe I'll trap him in a maze in limbo." Ariadne joked, sniffling.

Arthur laughed and pulled her close to him. "I'm coming back, I promise. I'm not leaving for another two weeks. It gives me plenty of time to do research and prepare for what I'm walking into. Don't worry about me. Just get your job done and soon we won't have to worry about Cobol or being chased anymore."

Ariadne nodded. "I'm sorry I freaked out. I didn't mean to, it was just all so overwhelming."

"You don't need to apologize. I understand. Now come on, Dom needs your help." Arthur smiled and took her hand, carefully pulling her up.

"He already started?" Ariadne asked, wiping away her tears. Arthur nodded.

"He needs your help though."

"So what's the plan exactly?" Ariadne asked.

"I'll explain when we're all together. We got the basic stuff figured out, now we just have to figure out the more complex things, like how we're going to destroy the virus and how do we know what the virus looks like." Arthur told her.

Ariadne nodded and blushed as she walked into the room. She was embarrassed about what happened and when she saw Dom and Eames stare at her she couldn't help but feel ashamed for her reaction.

"I'm sorry about earlier." She apologized.

"Don't worry about it, love." Eames smiled softly.

Dom smiled at her. "Come here, I need some advice on the airport."

"Wait, aren't you going to explain the plan to me first?" Ariadne asked.

Dom nodded. "Alright, Eames, go get Yusuf and pull up a few chairs. We're having our first meeting."

Hmmm...things are coming together...plans are being made. Soon they will be entering Brendan's mind...so what did you guys think of this chapter? Any ideas or suggestions? Please leave a review, they encourage me and I love to read them! They also help me understand what I'm doing right or wrong or what I need to change and do differently...thank you for reading!