So I finally was able to update. Jeez, things have been so hectic and overwhelming! But I got this out...I hope you all like it, and please review! Let me know what you think...the story is coming to an end...there will be at least four more chapters and an epilogue, but we'll see...so here you go!
Inception I don't own...
Arthur and Ariadne woke up wrapped in each other's arms. Arthur opened his eyes slowly and looked at Ariadne. Her big brown eyes were gazing into his nervously.
"Sleep well?" He asked softly, trying to comfort her and distract her from the mission. She smiled and nodded.
"Yes, did you?" She asked, he grinned and kissed her gently.
"One of the best nights of sleep I have had in a while." He replied. Her smile widened and she sat up, pulling the sheets up with her.
"I better go get dressed. I have to meet Brendan soon." She sighed and got up, quickly gathering her clothing and rushing to the bathroom. Arthur watched her and admired her beauty, he stretched before also getting up and getting ready for the day.
Ariadne walked out of the bathroom with wet hair and she smiled at Arthur as he quickly stepped into the bathroom. He took a quick shower and shaved, making himself look as clean-cut and professional as possible.
Half an hour later both Arthur and Ariadne were ready for the day. Hopefully nothing would go wrong and the job would get done smoothly. They knocked on Dom's door and weren't surprised to find Yusuf, Eames, and Saito in there already.
"Where's Dom?" Ariadne asked, looking around for him.
"He took the kids to a sitter, he'll be back soon." Saito replied in his heavy accent.
"Is everyone ready?" Arthur asked, turning professional.
"Darling, I was born ready." Eames replied cockily. Arthur rolled his eyes and turned to Yusuf and Saito.
"Everything should run smoothly. I worked out the kink in the previous sedative, so being killed in the dream shouldn't send us to limbo." Yusuf informed Arthur.
"And my drivers will be ready, as soon as Ariadne and Brendan get in the limo and he drinks the water we should be able to begin." Saito said, watching Ariadne.
Ariadne was standing confidently next to Arthur. "I'm ready." She replied reassuringly.
Arthur nodded and turned to Saito. "Ok, call your men, tell them to bring Brendan into our room. Ari has her bags packed so it should look like she's ready to leave."
Saito nodded and pulled out his phone speaking in Japanese. He closed his phone when he was finished. "They'll be here in five minutes." He informed everyone.
"Ok Ari, head over to the room now, we'll be no more than five minutes behind you. The sedative should come into effect by then." Arthur told her, pulling her close and kissing the top of her head.
"Ok, I'll see you all soon." She said quietly as she exited the room.
Sure enough five minutes later Brendan was brought into the room by Saito's men. He stumbled in and Ariadne helped him stand up.
"What happened to your eye!" She shrieked. He gently brought his hand up and touched it.
"That idiot Eames punched me. I'm fine though." He assured her. She frowned and nodded.
"You ready? They should be taking us to the airport without any problems." Ariadne told Brendan.
"Yes, let's go sis." He followed her out of the room and Saito's men led them to the limo. They crawled in, not without angry glares, and carefully sat in the back of the limo.
Ariadne pulled out a bottle of champagne and poured herself a glass before pouring one for Brendan, sneaking in the sedative when he wasn't looking. She smiled and handed him the cup.
"To family." She replied, holding up her cup.
"To family." He echoed, clinking their glasses together and taking a drink. Ariadne talked softly to Brendan as she saw his eyelids becoming heavier. Soon he was completely asleep and she moved to open the door for the rest of the team.
"He's asleep, let's get started." She said as she opened the door and let them in. Arthur entered first, pulling out the PASIV device and hooking Brendan up first. Ariadne moved to sit next to Arthur and he gently inserted the needle into her wrist. She lay back, watching him. Dom moved next to Ariadne and Eames quickly followed Dom, laying next to him. Yusuf crawled in and sat next to Brendan, he eyed him warily and held out his wrist. Saito was the last to enter, he sat towards the door and closed it, nodding.
"Alright, first layer, remember the plans?" Arthur asked. Everyone nodded and he counted down. "Three, two, one…"
Ariadne's eyes fluttered open and she was sitting in a seat in the airport. Brendan was reading a book next to her and she sat up, making a small noise.
"What are you reading?" She asked looking over his shoulder.
He closed it quickly. "Nothing. How'd you sleep?" He asked and turned to face her.
"Fine." She sighed and looked around. "Our flight is soon." She told him and spotted the team, each in their disguise. Brendan nodded and looked around. Ariadne panicked as she saw him turning towards where Eames and Arthur were standing.
"Hey Brendan, what are we going to do when we get back? You have something planned right?" She asked him, letting out a relieved sigh when his gaze turned towards her.
"I uh, haven't thought about that yet." He rubbed the back of his neck embarrassed and looked away from her.
"Oh." She simply replied. "Brendan, what exactly did you get yourself into? Why are you so afraid of Cobol?"
His head snapped up and his jaw tightened. "Ari, that's not any of your business." He replied, a little harshly.
"It's plenty of my business Brendan, I'm going home with you. I gave up everything for you, I deserve some kind of explanation." She held his gaze and Brendan finally sighed, giving in.
"After mom and dad died I left because I needed space. You reminded me too much of them and I just couldn't handle it. So while I was on my own I had to earn money. It was easy at first. I did some yard work for a little while, but soon rent became too much for me and I had to find a better paying job. That's when I came across an extractor. I don't remember his name or anything, but I do remember he told me that there was this company hiring young men and to look into it. I was desperate, so I went. It turned out that Cobol Engineering needed someone to track down extractors and find some to work for them…"
Ariadne nodded for him to continue. " I searched, but each team I found failed miserably. That's when I heard about Dom and Arthur, the dynamic duo. They were legendary and apparently extremely hard to find, but I did it, I found them. Their job was to extract information from Saito, they failed and Cobol was angry. My orders were to kill them, but I couldn't do that. The last thing I remember before changing my mind was being knocked out and when I woke up I convinced myself to get this job done. When I found out that you were living with them I had to protect you, save you from Cobol. I negotiated with them and they agreed to let you go if I killed the team and brought you with me." He told her.
Tears were stinging in her eyes. She felt so betrayed and used. Ariadne quickly pushed down all emotions and looked down, not wanting Brendan to see the anger and hurt in her eyes.
"So you used me?" She asked softly. Brendan shook his head violently.
"No! Ari, no I would never do that to you." He replied. She sucked in a breath and looked up at him.
"But it's exactly what you did. You manipulated me and made me believe you." She whispered to him.
"Ari, I did it to protect you."
"At what costs? Those people you're going to kill, they were my friends, my family. They were there for me when you weren't and you expect me to just stand by and watch this?" She stood up.
Brendan quickly followed her, grabbing her arm. "Ari wait! I'm sorry. Please, just let's talk about this later." He pleaded. She sighed and glanced behind Brendan where she saw Arthur, forged as one of Brendan's friends, watching her intently. He looked ready to pull out a gun and shoot if he had to.
She returned her gaze to Brendan and nodded. "Fine."
Brendan sighed, relieved and looked up at the flight schedules. "We're going to be boarding soon, let's get our things and head to the gate."
Ariadne nodded and as she picked up her bag she sent a thumbs up to Dom, glad that she got the first part of her job done.
"Where are we going Brendan?" She asked quietly.
"We have to go to Cobol's Headquarters. I have to talk to Mr. White and get things settled with you before I can go back for Cobb and the rest of the team." He replied.
She stiffened a little, but knowing that they were in a dream she relaxed. Brendan didn't notice any of her body movements, he was too focused on getting on the plane and not being followed.
Once they boarded the plane he allowed himself to relax more. Ariadne asked for apple juice and Brendan asked for some water. As she grabbed Brendan's water she slipped in a sedative, knowing that the second level would be a little harder.
Brendan was out within minutes and Dom, Eames, Arthur, and Yusuf quickly made their way over.
"I noticed something strange." Ariadne turned to Dom, worry etched on her face.
"The projections aren't violent at all." Dom finished for her. "Arthur and I noticed the same thing."
"Is that normal?" Ariadne asked.
"Either he's never been trained or exposed to a dream or he's been trained way better than we expected and at any moment projections could come and kill us within seconds." Arthur explained.
"He had to have been exposed, but if so don't you think it could be the virus kicking in?" Eames asked, considering options.
Everyone turned to look at Eames, impressed expressions on their faces.
"Hey! I am smarter than you all give me credit for! I don't need your condescension!" He defended. Everyone chuckled but quickly sobered up.
"If the virus is worse than we thought that could be a problem in the third level." Arthur sighed, rubbing his face.
"What? What does that mean?" Ariadne asked, worry laced in her voice.
"It means that the virus may be too far advanced to destroy. If this is true, there is nothing we can do for him and soon that virus will tell him to do something irrational. Whether it's killing himself or killing all of us we won't know until the third level." Dom finished explaining.
Ariadne looked at her brother, her expression unreadable.
"Hey, we'll do everything we can ok?" Arthur touched her shoulder gently.
"You guys need to hurry, the sedative Ariadne gave him will wear off if we don't get all of you hooked up." Yusuf urged them. They nodded and Arthur moved to sit next to Ariadne, grabbing her hand after they inserted their needles. Lucky for them Ariadne made sure to put them in first class in the plane, so there wouldn't be any interruptions.
"Are all of you ready?" Yusuf asked, getting ready to push the button on the PASIV.
They nodded. "Okay, see you up top! Good luck."
This chapter was a little shorter, but overall I'm happy with it...REview please! :D I will try to update again soon, but I have so many papers and tons of homework due within the next two weeks, plus I'm attempting the NaNoWriMo which is going ok, so I may be busy all this month, but I will try to update as much as possible!
Again by 3