Hello!
Thank you for the reviews/alerts!
But, I don't think that this chapter is good enough. I don't know. Maybe it's because I don't know how to write action scenes. Well, you tell me what you think, and feel free to help!
Next chapter is going to have some astonishing moments.
Enjoy!
Love,
Isadora
Chapter 4 – Be nice, darling.
It was a nice afternoon, pleasantly warm and with a sweet breeze. Cobb's thoughts wondered about what happened during the morning.
He went to talk to Olivia Carey-Lewis, the mark's wife, and they talked for nearly two hours.
"How's everything going?" her voice was smooth.
"Alright. We found out that your husband is trained." Arthur hadn't committed the same mistake that happened to Fisher's Inception. Now they knew for sure what was expecting them. "Nothing to worry about." he added after see her frowning.
"Mr. Cobb, I have to ask you something..." Olivia's voice was trembling. But before she asked anything, he already knew the question and its answer. "Could I go with you?"
"No. You couldn't. There's no room for tourists." his mind flashed to Saito, who barely made it. "And you can't be with us during the Extraction, in the same room, I mean."
"But, why?"
"If you were there, you would make your husband alert of something." she started to open her mouth, but he cut her off. "However, you can stay hidden in other room, if you want to be sure that we've done our job properly."
She nodded eager. It's not that she didn't trust them, she just wanted to have the 'material' the soonest possible.
"But, nobody can see you. Not even your son."
"He won't."
And that was his clue to leave.
"Cobb! Cobb!" Ariadne yelled at him. He opened his eyes, it was already dark. He must have fell asleep. "We're going to check the details again."
Yusuf was the only one without the PASIV in his wrist, he said he wouldn't dream again, only if it was extremely necessary. So, they all agreed that he would stay in the massage room monitoring them.
Arthur was the dreamer and he was staying in the first layer. While he, Eames and Ariadne would go to the second layer with the mark. In the second level, Cobb would dream, he wasn't afraid to finding Mal anymore. And Eames had to go, because he was forging the Blondie and Ariadne was the one who knew better the place, and she needed to know what was a real Extraction.
Once they were all ready, Yusuf pressed the button.
The office was amazing. After a little research, Arthur and Eames gave to Ariadne a lot of pictures and plans to help her to do the first layer. It was going to be hard, because the mark stayed most of his time here, working. But now, after seeing this, even Jeremy would believe that this was real. Cobb touched his totem, just to make sure that he was dreaming. He was.
They passed the glass tables, the secretary spot and arrived to theirs place. It was a small conference room, where they would put the mark to Dream, going to the second layer. The team put the silver case on the wooden table. The three of them put the needles in their wrists and waited for Arthur to press the button. But, before he pressed it, he took Ariadne's needle off. They needed to talk.
"What are you doing?" she hissed, trying to grab her needle. They hadn't spoke for two weeks, they only glared to each other. She wasn't mad anymore. She only wanted to talk, to explain to him.
"We must talk." his voice was clear. He rest a finger in her mouth, she just had to listen. "I'm sorry, Ariadne. I shouldn't hav..." his voice cracked and he tried again. "I shouldn't have lied. I just wanted to protect you. Because this world is dangerous."
The Architect took his hand carefully and pressed it with hers. She tried to pretend that this contact wasn't making her shiver of pleasure.
"I know. But, you have to understand that I like danger."
"Ariadne, in this world you can feel pain. And by this I mean a lot of pain." he liked the way that their hands were together. But he looked away, averting her eyes.
"I don't care, Arthur." she sighed. "It's 'pure creation'." Ariadne smiled with her choice of words, she remembered what he had said for her.
The Point Man nodded with a smirk on his face, he felt something, but he didn't know what it was. Then he put the needle in her wrist and she closed her eyes. Now he just needed to wait.
Eames and Cobb were waiting for her. They had a sly smile on their faces.
"Were you nice, darling?" Eames voice was smug.
The Architect snorted and lead them to the other room, where the safe was. She heard Eames soft chuckle. And then the dream collapsed. They were in the warehouse again.
It was four o'clock and they were all at the massage room. Cobb had seen Olivia in a room before her husband's and nodded, nobody would see her.
Arthur and Eames pretended that they were costumers that were at the same room that Jeremy Carey-Lewis was, while Ariadne was the masseuse. When she was near enough, she injected Yusuf's sedative in the mark's neck. After they all checking the spot, Cobb and Yusuf entered the room. Everything was clear. No problem until now.
They all lied down comfortably, nobody wanted to feel uncomfortable after they woke up. It was going to be a long dream. And then, Yusuf pressed the button and closed the door.
As soon as they arrived in the Dream, Arthur found their mark sitting on his chair. He had a puzzled expression.
"Hello, Mr. Carey-Lewis." he said.
"Hello, Mr..." Jeremy cocked his head.
"Arthur."
"Mr. Arthur, it is. May I ask what are you doing here?" his voice was suspicious. "Damn it" Arthur thought. He wasn't suppose to find out that he was dreaming so soon.
"We're here to a conference." he played, looking around. Any projection was looking at them, yet. "It's about your sponsor. That is, we. California Iron&Co."
Ariadne looked around the room nervously, there wasn't anything out of place. She fiddled with her skirt. Everybody was dressed with formal clothes. Cobb and Eames were in a smart suit and Arthur was in a three-piece one, as usual. While she was in a black, knee-high skirt, with a light-pink blouse and a black jacket.
"I'm sorry. I forgot completely about that. You know how business are..." Jeremy's eyes were shinning, he truly believed that they were at his office. He smiled at the team and waved them to follow him.
Ariadne let out a breath that she didn't remembered to be holding. Relief crossed her features.
"But, allow me a minute, would you? I have to talk something with my... secretary." and then Jeremy waked out of the room.
Eames was looking at his back, watching if he would realize that they were dreaming.
After five minutes Mr. Carey-Lewis step back, his face was pleasant.
"Shall we go then?"
The team nodded and they went through the corridor. They passed the glass tables and the secretary spot, but they turned left, and instead of going to that small conference room, they were in a huge one. With sixteen projections sitting around a marble table.
"Actually, Mr. Jeremy, this is more of a private talk." Eames whispered.
As soon as he said that words, everybody in the room turned at them. Their eyes burning holes at their bodies.
"Why should it? Those are my co-workers, and they need to know what I decide." his voice was surprised. The projections were still staring at them.
"If you want so." Eames shrugged. They would have to improvise then.
They were sitting down when a bullet scraped through Cobb. Jeremy knew.
And chaos began.
All of the projections had a gun at once, pointed to the Point Man, he was the dreamer after all. The guy who was disturbing Jeremy's subconscious. Before a hand could be moved, Ariadne shot a projection, right on the head. Cobb, grabbed the mark and crossed the room shooting everybody that was on their way, while Eames shot the projections that dared to be near Arthur and Ariadne.
"Bloody hell!" he murmured, when a bullet passed near his eyes.
Arthur shoved Ariadne through the door and held her hand, making it impossible for her to move.
"Why did you do that?" Arthur yelled at her. His eyes wide with disbelief.
"I don't know! They would had shot us!" she heard she saying. She was scared. Arthur was crazy if he thought that they could escape that time, when everybody was pointing at him.
Arthur touched his temples and recomposed his expression, there was something odd in his eyes. Like they were excited with something, something that he would do perhaps...
"Go. And don't look back" he said before winking at her.
She blushed hard and a quick moment crossed her head, when they where at the hotel and they kissed. This was so non-Arthur that she had to grasp her totem in her jacket pocket. She nodded and run till find the door of the right conference room. Cobb was already there, and Jeremy was sleeping.
Eames and Arthur were leaving the huge conference room when they heard a glass shatter noise. They looked back only to find three dark figures breaking the windows. They were hanging by a rope, and more were coming. All of them were heavy armed.
The two men get out of there and before leaving, Arthur had the good sense to lock the door. This wasn't going to stop them, but would certainly give more time to Cobb do the Extraction, at least without shots being fired at his head.
When the entire team was inside the room to do the Extraction, they heard a door being broke down. They were coming. But before Arthur pressed the button, he closed the medium-sized windows and prayed that nobody would be small enough to enter through them.
"Good luck" he murmured before they closed their eyes. Gazing directly at Ariadne.
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