Down the Rabbit Hole
"I am not asleep... but that dose not mean I am awake."
Unknown
It was mid day by the time the Point Man arrived in Paris. He briefly thought about bringing her flowers. But perhaps that was to forward. He was just here to check on her after all. He was only one member of the Team checking on another member of the Team. Completely normal.
He knew her building from the time he spent teaching her dreams. He had insisted on getting a cab for her in those early days. She stayed at the warehouse late and he was reluctant to let her walk home. He would ride with her, saying that the streets of Paris were dangerous. Even going with her to her building and making certain she was safe inside before telling the driver to take him back.
He had only done this only a few times before she told him curtly that she had been living in Paris alone for two years and didn't need a chaperone. She had seemed almost angry. He could tell then, that she expected to be treated like an equal member of the Team. Nothing less would do.
Still, he tailed her from a safe distance as she walked home.
He had spent the day outside her building looking over news stands and pretending to enjoy a coffee in the quaint little cafe. Her neighborhood was lovely. Quite and very trendy. It was not swept up by the modern world. Like a Paris that existed from decades before. A special and secret place. He waited and watched for her to come home.
He was ever patient.
Time passed.
The time when she should have been home from the college came and went. He wondered if she was out with friends. Perhaps on a date. He pushed that thought out of his head. She never said anything about a boyfriend. Her time had belonged to the Team and the mission. A boyfriend would never have allowed that.
The locals had come out in the cool spring air, and still no Ariadne. They were talking in there fast clipped French accents that Arthur could barely understand. He was never good at foreign languages despite his heavily stamped passport. It was in trying to shut out their chatter that he understood a few words.
"The American girl."
"The student."
"Kidnapped."
"Last night."
"So awful."
"Police.
"No one knows."
The Point Man stood up. Silently and with a purpose, he walked to her building.
It was unlocked because of all the passing of the residents inside and he quickly walked the halls of her building like he lived there. No one stopped him and he wondered which room was hers. An older woman was sitting in the lobby. Using very bad French he asked her.
"Police. Quelle piece a et e l'womans American?" the kindly lady looked surprised. She nodded holding her heavily ringed hand over her ample bust.
"Salle 26" She said looking after the Point Man as he bounded up the stairs. Arthur didn't have a weapon on him but his face betrayed a fierceness that no one would trifle with.
Room 26's door was opened like a wound. The door was broken from it's frame and left that way. Only police tape covered the doorway. Ariadne's privet home was left exposed. Arthur found this somewhat offensive. As if Ariadne was violated, for all her neighbors to see. Fresh flowers and broken glass covered the floor.
"Sir! Quelle sont vos faire?" Came the voice of the police man leave an adjoining apartment. Arthur turned his hard face to the small man.
"Ou est la femme Americaine?" The Police man's shoulders collapsed and he said in perfect English.
"Sir, are you a relative?" Arthur nodded.
"Her boyfriend. What happened? Is she in the hospital?" he hoped.
"Let us step inside, away from the gossipers eh?" The congenial little mad guided Arthur into Ariadne's apartment and spoke quietly.
"Sir, we believe it happened sometime during the night. The neighbors heard a noise and called the police. When we came, the Lady was already gone. Her suite was as you find it now. I ask you, when was the last you heard from the Lady?"
"Over a month ago." Arthur said as if on auto pilot.
He looked around the room. Her furniture was rustic and charming. The prints on the walls were fashionable and feminine. Her little kitchen was clean and small. Large bookcases house books on art, history and mythology. A finely framed photograph of an older gentleman on the deck of a sailing yacht sat prominently on her nightstand.
There were small but colorful vases filled with fresh flowers. The broken phone was sprawled on the floor and now that he looked closer, there was blood on the floor. Her blood, broken glass and stepped on flowers polluted her floor.
This place felt tainted now. Violated. It would have been a lovely place for them to be together. But now... he had to leave.
"A month? Sir? You said you are her lover but you have not spoke with the lady in over a month? Sir, I apologize, I never got your name." the congenial little man said, growing suspicious.
Arthur turned around and left.
~Ariadne woke up to darkness. She was cold and her face hurt. Adrenaline surged into her body as she realized she didn't know where she was. Memories of those men in her room flooded back to her.
Invading her home. Their rough hands grabbing her hair. Falling flowers.
She came to realize slowly that her hands and feet were bound. She was laying on a bed of some kind. Her night clothes were still on her, and she felt the stiffness from being in the same position for to long. She couldn't help but whimper softly as fear overcame her.
She remembered all those stories of American girls being taken from foreign cities and sold as sex slaves. She was a young woman, alone in Paris with no relatives and only a few friends. All of whom, she had ignored during her work on the Fischer job.
"There now girl." Came a sordid voice, defiantly male. "Were just waiting for the order before were going to be done with you." Ariadne finally found her voice, and her gusto.
"Please, you don't have to do this. You don't have to do anything." She realized the reason she couldn't see was because she was blindfolded. "Look, you can just let me go. I never saw anyone. Just drop me off someplace, I don't care." Silence was her only response. "Listen to me! Listen! I have money. I have money. I can give you money if someone paid you. Just don't do this, please!" She heard a door close and she knew instinctively that she was alone. Like a child afraid of monsters, she called out softly for a comfort.
"Arthur."
~"Arthur... Mate... all right... slow down." Eames was half asleep. As per usual, a lovely bare chested exotic woman lay next to him. She stirred as Eames took a call that would not wait.
"Ariadne." Arthur said again. Frustrated he had no one else to call. He thought about bringing Cobb in, but being back with his children was still to new. The Extractor had worked to long and hard to be back with his children to be torn away from them now.
Besides Eames was the best at what he did. Which was a little bit of everything.
"Oh Arthur," Eames sighed. "I cant help you with your love life Mate."
"Eames!" Arthur shouted. "Ariadne is gone. Her apartment has been torn apart and she was taken. She's been gone for over 18 hours now." Arthur was feeling close to panic now. It was night and he had checked into a hotel 20 miles outside of Paris to avoid the police. He was also feeling guilty for feeling tired. The time change and trip had taken it's toll on his body and he hated it for betraying him when the Architect needed him.
Eames grasped quickly the horror of the situation.
"Who took her?" He asked taking everything in with a quite professionalism.
"I don't know!" Arthur said growing angry. Things were happening to slowly. Images of her body being dumped in a river, being cut with knives... worse. So many terrible things could be happening to her right now. He could do nothing to help her. Nothing to reach her.
"Arthur, I can't help you till you calm down. Now I need you to stop a moment and really concentrate. Is there a chance this could be COBAL?" Eames asked. Arthur said nothing as the seconds ticked by. "COBAL was after you and Cobb right? Saito fixed Cobb's charges for murder but not with COBAL right?"
"Why...why go after her?" Arthur's voice sounded tiny and sad over the line.
"Someone must have seen her with us." Eames reasoned. "We were not discrete about our coming's and going's at the warehouse." Arthur said nothing.
His head hurt terribly and he couldn't take in any new information.
"Arthur? I want you to stay by the phone." Eames continued. "Get some sleep if you can, I'm leaving right now and making some calls. We will be in Paris before dinner." He stood up and went to his suitcase. "Your buying." he added.
Eames deftly dressed with one hand as he told his Teammate all this. His lady companion for the night slept on.
Arthur nodded and remained silent. He was strangely comforted by Eames. As much as they bickered and teased each other, Eames was sure of himself and his world. It felt good to talk to someone who knew what needed to be done and who could do it.
"Arthur?" Eames said softly "Talk to me mate."
"Yes." Arthur said sadly "I'll be here."
~From Japan, from America, from Brazil. Saito, Cobb and Eames converged on Paris. As painful as it was to leave his family Cobb never hesitated to jump on a plane. The Extractor had called Saito out of curiosity to see if he wanted to help or not.
Saito, attracted to the team and their work, was quick to join. Using his privet airline the team descended on the hotel Arthur was staying at.
"Arthur." Cobb said as the Point Man met them in the lobby. The men exchanged no pleasantries as Arthur filled them in on what he found in Paris.
"It's a good thing you decided to take a trip to the city of love early" Eames said "If you had waited any longer, she may have been gone for good." Eames relaxed on a gaudy but trendy sofa that clashed horrifically with his off beat wardrobe.
"Dose the girl have any family?" Saito asked looking concerned. A look the Team was not used to seeing on the businessman. Arthur shook his head.
"She had a Grandfather but she always spoke of him in the past tense. She never said anything about her parents. She was living in Paris alone." Arthur said. The hours of worry were written on his face and he looked angry more then tired.
"The Police will notify her family. Let's not worry about them." Cobb said logically. "Our working theory is that COBAL is involved. Were have no reason to think it's anyone else. We have a team in Paris right now. They have an in with COBAL and there searching for any chatter about Ariadne."
"If it's correct that COBAL is involved," Saito said in his careful English. "Perhaps I can negotiate her release."
The Team looked at Saito in almost fearful surprise. The same look they gave him when he told them he bought an airline because it seemed "neater". Saito shrugged.
"There is no business in keeping a girl hostage when a settlement can be reached. If COBAL is seeking an expansion plan, I can give them one. If it will grant the girl's freedom, then my corporation can do without an 'it' product for the quarter." Saito smiled softly as he excused himself and took his cell phone out. Cobb nodded in amusement.
"Hopefully he can move the mountains he thinks he can." Cobb said. He looked the Point Man over. His normally neat and ordered appearance was disheveled and made Arthur look younger and almost frail. "Arthur, go clean up." Cobb said quietly. "We need you to be together on this."
Arthur nodded dumbly as his Team went to work on bringing the Architect back.
~The Architect felt vague hunger and she wondered how long she had been in this all to real Limbo. Her eyes were still covered and she felt tired and worn out from her ordeal. The sensory deprivation left her without any real feeling of time. It could have been a day in this place, it could have been a week. She tried to keep calm.
She slept fitfully. Always dreaming little dreams of her kidnapping. Soon enough, she felt her ability to control her dreams. The lucid dreaming bended itself to her will. She dreamed wonderful things.
~She dreamed they had spent the entire day in her neighborhood. Shopping at the local markets. Looking at the little shops and people watching. The sky was a bright blue as they stopped to by food to make dinner. They both were relaxed and happy. Arthur was out of his suit for once. He was dressed casual.
Arthur was in her apartment.
"Do you like the flowers?" She asked him. He was looking around her home as she put the canvas grocery bags on her small dinning room table. He gave her one of his rare smiles.
"Very nice." He said leaning over and kissing her neck. His light wet breath on her. She felt herself blush hard. Arthur looked happy as she unpacked the groceries.
He looked over her tiny little apartment. It's blue wallpaper. Its tiny kitchen. He examined her bookcase that divided her bedroom from the kitchen. He looked at all her books carefully..
While he did this, she started to cook their dinner.
"We can always go out." He reminded her. She shook her head.
"No, this is nice." She told him. He was by her side. Helping her to cook. They talked endlessly of literature and art. Arthur, showing those careful manners of his and fine appreciation for the arts. His intelligence was so refined. They ate a light dinner. Just enough to give them energy to make love.
Arthur's large hands were around her face. His tall frame had to stoop down to meet her lips. She rested her hands on his hips as she stood on tip toe.
They were in bed then. As easily as a dream. His warm body felt heavy and perfect over hers. She could bear his weight all night. His movements, eliciting primal responses from her. Her own body moving into the waking world.~
She found herself awake suddenly. Her dream had melted away. Her lover, the memory of his body with hers, gone. It was enough to make her cry at the loss.
She was back in this place. This real and awful place. She felt real fear envelop her. What were these men going to do to her? Rape her? Kill her? She had no idea where she even was. How could Arthur ever find her? She felt hours tick by.
She entertained herself with thoughts of Arthur and the Team mowing over her captures like so many disposable projections in a dream. It was a good fantasy. One which the Team made a graceful and unexplainable entrance. The Point Man, Forger and Extractor both made quick work of her captures.
Arthur would untie her, tell her he was taking her home. He gathered her small weary body in his strong arms and marched her proudly out of this place. She was safely wrapped in his body. He would tell her he would never let anyone hurt her. That of course he would come, nothing would stop him. These thoughts gave her comfort, but in the end, she was still alone, cold and terrified.
It seemed an age before she heard voices. They seemed to speak louder then normal. But that may just have been her time without any noise. Perhaps it had made sensitive to their voices. They were voices she did not know. But they spoke names she knew all to well.
"Cobb made the call." A gruff male voice said in a horribly low class accent. "He said to kill the girl and throw her body in the river. Cobb doesn't want any lose ends from the Fischer job."
Ariadne found herself breathing hard. It made no sense. They had spoken to Cobb? Cobb told them to kill her? She struggled against her ropes as every nightmare became real. She heard a door open and footsteps and hands took hold of her. She tried to fight but was to weak.
Her ties were cut, she found herself crying out but the voice didn't sound at all like her own. It sounded like the voice of someone who had given up. Who was to weak to cry out.
And then, it was over.