Next chapter up! Woo! I have been working on this one for a few days, trying to figure out how I wanted this to go. So I finally got this finished. The plans are getting into motion, pretty soon they will be in Brendan's head. Uh oh! :O So anyways, leave reviews, I was sad to find that the last chapter didn't get very many reviews. The reviews haven't been coming lately :( So please review!
I closed my eyes hoping Inception would be mine when I opened them...nope...didn't happen.
"Alright, so we'll have three levels, of course you knew that." Dom told Ariadne and continued when she nodded at him. "The first level will be the airport, the second Cobol's Headquarters, and the third a computer lab."
"And what are we planning on doing on each level?" Ariadne asked, looking at the four men sitting around her.
"The first level you're going to try to understand what exactly he's been pulled into." Dom explained.
"Me? Why not Eames?"
"Because he'll trust you more and share information with you more willingly." Arthur answered. She looked at him then at Eames.
"But Eames can forge into me." Ariadne protested.
"He can, but only you know your brother and your past to pull it off so we can talk him into breaking into Cobol in the next level." Dom reasoned. Ariadne sighed knowing there was no way she was getting out of this.
"Alright. So the second level…"
"The second level is where we're going to try to get him to hack into Cobol and get him to erase all the prices on our heads and erase any evidence of us working with them. If we can get that idea planted into his head, he'll actually do it and we'll be free." Eames grinned widely.
Ariadne nodded. "Alright, well what's the purpose of the third layer then?"
"We're going to find and destroy the virus. It shouldn't be too hard, but we will definitely be pushing the same idea in the third level too, just to be safe." Dom replied.
"Ok, so who's going into the dreams as what?"
"You will be yourself in all the layers. The first layer Arthur, Eames, and I will be going in as Brendan's friends. Hopefully there won't be much need for interaction, we're hoping the only interaction he'll need is with you, but just in case we're going as his friends. Eames is going to be doing his research and observations soon." Dom explained.
"In the second layer, Eames will be Brendan's boss, Jonathan White. We're going to make it seem like he's hiding something from Brendan, get his suspicions going. Dom will be one of his co-workers, encouraging him to dig into Jonathan's plans and you'll be convincing him to help save you and erase the price on our heads. If you successfully do that, we should be fine." Arthur continued.
"And the third layer I will be with you, as well as Dom." Arthur answered her question before it was out of her mouth. "Dom and I will try to hack one of the computers and find the virus, once we find it, we'll create an antivirus that should destroy it…hopefully it isn't that far along, if it is, there won't be anything we can do."
"Ok, so precision and specificity is definitely important here. Especially since Brendan is familiar with extraction and knows what it's like to be in a dream. He also knows that we're planning on going into his head, so he'll be expecting it, which means his projections will be heavily armed." Ariadne said. The men nodded at her.
"It's going to be much more dangerous, we'll have to take things easy and be extra careful. A single mistake and we'll be attacked mercilessly. But we think that you will be able to keep him calm and distracted. With you there he won't be so conscious to any strangeness or unfamiliarity." Dom told her. Ariadne wrinkled her forehead in thought and looked around the room.
"Ok, well we better get started then. Dom, what do you have so far?" Ariadne asked, standing up and moving to the table. Dom grinned and Arthur shook his head, smirking. Ariadne tapped her foot impatiently as Dom made his way over to her and began explaining.
Two weeks had gone by fast. The team had most of what they needed to know down, the only thing left to learn was the Cobol layer, which had yet to be created and practiced.
"Are you all packed up?" Eames asked Arthur while Ariadne and Dom were going over the layouts of the airport and computer lab. Arthur glanced at Ariadne and sighed.
"Yeah. You?" Arthur asked. Eames nodded and frowned.
"Look, I know you're worried about leaving Ariadne, but she'll be fine, and I promise not to let anything happen to you." Eames smirked and nudged Arthur playfully. Arthur just rolled his eyes and looked at the forger.
"How long do you think you'll need?"
"Well, as long as we get the video footage, I should be able to go off of that for the people, but we need to be sure to get a lot of footage of the big man. He's the most important, and the closest co-workers to Brendan are important too. So I don't think I'll need more than three days, what about you?" Eames replied.
"It depends on how big the place is. If it's huge, I'll need at least a week. So it really depends, we'll find out when we get there." Arthur warily replied.
"What are you guys talking about?" Ariadne smiled, walking up to them, rubbing Arthur's arm lovingly.
"How much time we'll need at Cobol." Eames decided to be straightforward. Ariadne froze for a split second but quickly regained her composure.
"Are you all packed?" Ariadne asked. She had definitely picked up Arthur's poker face.
"Yes." Arthur simply replied. Ariadne nodded and looked at Eames.
"I guess I better get back to work then, holler if you need anything." She kissed Arthur softly before walking back to the table where Dom and his kids were.
"Auntie Ari! Can you play with us?" James asked as he tugged on her pants. Ariadne giggled and looked at Dom, silently asking for permission.
"Go ahead, I have this down." Dom smiled. Ariadne grinned and scooped up James. He let out a loud scream and began laughing as she started to tickle him on the bed. Philippa quickly joined in and soon all three were laughing so hard tears were streaming down their faces.
Arthur watched this with sad eyes. He could tell Ariadne would be a great mom, but unfortunately that would have to wait. Dom noticed Arthur's glazed over look and walked over to him.
"Hey, everything alright?" He asked. Arthur straightened up and nodded.
"Just thinking of everything we have to get done." Arthur replied. Dom sighed and let the topic slide.
"Everything's fine. We just need this last layer and we can get started and hopefully end all of this. Maybe we can go live a normal life for once." Dom told Arthur.
Arthur nodded. "I hope so." His gaze fell on Ariadne and the kids again and he couldn't help but smile.
Later that night Arthur and Ariadne lay in bed together. Holding each other before Arthur left on an extremely dangerous mission. He was heading straight into Cobol's territory and there was a high possibility he wouldn't come back. Arthur gently stroked her hair and Ariadne rested her head on Arthur's chest.
"Stay safe ok?" Ariadne whispered. Arthur nodded and kissed her forehead.
"I will. Don't worry about me ok? Everything will be fine. And when all of this is over we won't have to worry anymore."
There was a long silence and the two of them just basked in each other's presence. Both content to be where they were.
"I saw you with the kids today, you're great with them." Arthur broke the silence.
Ariadne blushed and looked up at him. "They're great. I love them. They have a lot of Dom in them."
"And Mal. You didn't know her, but they take after Mal too." Arthur said.
They both knew where this topic was going, but neither of them wanted to start it. It was too soon and still way too dangerous for that.
"Arthur, what are you trying to say?" Ariadne sighed, frustrated. She wanted to get this talk over with.
"I'm saying I want to start a family with you. But right now, it just won't work, but I still want it. I don't understand why."
Ariadne smiled. "We have time Arthur."
Arthur smiled back. "I know, I just want you to know that I'm ready when you are."
"Arthur, after what happened, I don't think right now is the best time. We should talk about this after our job." Ariadne sighed.
Arthur nodded. "Ok, I just wanted to make sure you're ok with it."
Ariadne smiled and kissed him. "Let's just, enjoy each other right now."
They stayed like that, neither one of them wanting to fall asleep. They wanted to enjoy each other's company before Arthur had to go into dangerous territory.
Morning came all too fast for the young couple and Ariadne reluctantly let Arthur get up to take a shower and get ready to go. Eames was grumbling about Arthur always choosing the earliest flights possible and not being able to get enough sleep.
Dom left James and Philippa with Yusuf while they took Eames and Arthur to the airport.
"Alright, so you guys have your cameras and everything. You know what to do right?" Dom asked.
Arthur scoffed. "Are you seriously asking me that Dom?"
"Sorry, I'm just feeling a little uneasy about all of this."
Ariadne was silent the whole ride. Arthur noticed this, but didn't push it. He knew she was handling it in her own way, instead he put his arm around her and let her rest her head against his shoulder.
Eames kept grumbling about being tired, but Arthur ignored him and finally just punched him on the shoulder.
"Eames, calm down! You can sleep on the plane!" Arthur rolled his eyes and gritted his teeth, annoyed with Eames' complaining.
Ariadne giggled quietly. "I'm sorry about my freak out last week. I didn't mean to cry and get angry, it just was so much happening in one week that I was overwhelmed, stressed, and tired."
"Hey, you don't need to apologize." Arthur told her.
"No, I do. It was so unlike me and I can't believe I acted so immaturely."
Arthur shook his head and kissed the top of her head. "I'm going to miss you."
"Me too." Ariadne whispered, leaning into him.
Dom pulled into the parking spot and they quickly made their way to security. Eames turned around and patted Ariadne on the back and giving Dom a handshake.
"I'll take care of him darling, don't you worry your pretty little head off." He grinned at her before giving her a kiss on the cheek and walking through security.
Arthur lingered a while longer, turning to Dom first and saying his goodbyes. Dom was kind enough to walk away and give them a moment. Arthur turned to Ariadne and sighed.
"I'll be fine. I promise. I will be back in hopefully less than a week and we can get this over with."
Ariadne nodded and looked down, not wanting to cry. "Just, don't do anything stupid and be extra careful."
"I will."
"I love you Arthur." Ariadne hugged Arthur, clinging onto him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him. He rubbed her back gently, savoring this moment.
When she finally pulled away she smiled. "Go on Point Man, you have a job to do."
Arthur smiled back and kissed her. He kissed her nose, cheek, eyelids, and the top of her head. "Alright Architect, I expect you to be able to get this second layer done as soon as I get back."
Ariadne giggled and nodded, standing on her toes to kiss him again. "Go on before you miss your flight."
"Bye Ari. I love you."
"I love you too Arthur, I'll see you soon."
Arthur briskly walked to security and was soon out of Ariadne's sight. She sighed and turned around and walked to Dom.
"Let's go." She said. Dom nodded and followed her to the car.
"You ok?" He finally asked after ten minutes of silence.
"Yeah, everything will be fine, but I need to talk to Brendan again. Alone. He can't be suspicious of anything."
"Are you sure you're ready for that?" Dom asked, eyeing her carefully. She nodded curtly and turned to him.
"We need this to run as smooth as possible, and frankly I think this is the only way. I'll sweet talk him, get him to believe me and believe that I want to go back with him, and we can sedate him in the process. That way he'll really believe we're at the airport. I have to convince him that he needs to meet his friends there too, that way you guys won't be suspicious in the dream." Ariadne explained.
Dom raised his eyebrows. He was impressed with her thinking. "You really have been hanging around Arthur too much." He joked. Ariadne blushed, but kept his gaze.
"Alright, it sounds like a plan to me. When do you want to talk to him? That way I can give Saito a call and tell him we're ready for this next step and inform him of it."
"Tomorrow. I need to get this over with and talk to him. However I will have to talk to him throughout the whole week. And when Arthur gets back we can work on the second layer and once we have that completed I'll tell him I have to say goodbye to you guys and we'll 'leave' with Saito's escorts, and I'll give him the sedative in the limo. Then we can go from there." Ariadne told Dom her plan.
"Ok, when we get back to the hotel I'll call Saito. This may be easier than we thought." Dom shrugged.
So Ariadne is going to take a stab at Brendan (not literally...at least not that I know of, but then again anything can happen...) What did you think of this chapter, more information and not as much fluff, but there will be some soon...review please! Thoughts, ideas, suggestions...all gladly accepted, encouraged, and welcome! Thank you for reading!
I also want to give a shout out to Legal-Assassin-006 for reviewing for I think every chapter! :D Your reviews are greatly appreciated and they help me with my writing. Thank you!