Ingrid Michaelson – Breakable

Ariande regained consciousness with a sharp, soft intake of breathe. She leaned back into the soft cushions of her first-class seat and remembered.

Inception.

Her eyes shot open, looking for the man she'd had to leave behind, her heart swelling with the intensity of a rising wave in her chest. She saw him – Cobb – sitting across the aisle from her, an extremely strained look on his face. His eyes just skimming her relieved smile, he turned to look at the man that would be his salvation.

Ariadne jumped slightly at the sound of a nervous chuckle in her ear. Her eyes quickly skirted over her shoulder, coming to rest on another man: Arthur. He was leaning forward slightly, forearms resting on his knees, looking at Cobb. He too was relieved to find that his friend had made it back to reality. And back to his family, as well, from what Arthur could hear of Saito's one-sided conversation. Arthur felt eyes on him and turned his gaze to the side, finding Ariadne looking at him with a small smile on her too-lovely lips.

And the memories came flooding back to him: The first layer, already being screwed up and they hadn't even started yet - what with Yusef's 'rain.' Arthur shuddered invisibly at the thought. Just a minor complication and then a major one: Fischer's mind had been trained - militarized, even. And Arthur had missed it – Saito had been shot because of him. How could he have missed that? It could have ruined everything, could have killed everyone. He could have killed everyone.

He could have killed Ariadne.

Ariadne noticed his mouth pull tight and his brows crinkle together as he looked at her. "Why is he looking at me like that? Did I do something wrong?"

Arthur was lost in his thoughts, not noticing that he might have been staring at Ariadne for too long to be polite. To be simply friendly, platonic. Because that's what they were supposed to be, but not what he wanted them to be.

Arthur was pulled back into memory, to the second level now: His level. Ariadne had not looked like herself and he didn't like the way the neutral suit seemed to choke her, how her severe hairstyle seemed to pull all the color out of her face. He did like the heels, though…

And they had been sitting on the couch, watching the projections stare at him. He saw his chance and his eyes glinted with mischief. He told her to kiss him, she did, and for a moment, her felt like he had stolen something from her. But then their lips touched – for the briefest of moments – and disconnected with a soft noise of regret.

Arthur pulled himself back to reality and noticed that Ariadne was now looking at their Mark, still asleep in his chair, but starting to stir. He chuckled and watched as she turned back to him, her eyes filled with curiosity.

"What's so funny, Point Man?" she asked, sounding amused after seeing his gaze.

The words were out of his mouth before he had time to calculate what exactly he was saying (Quite an unusual occurrence, mind you). "It was worth a shot."

Ariadne blushed a deep pink, remembering when he had made the statement originally.

Arthur straightened up, smoothed down his pants legs, and brought his eyes up over the seat back to meet with hers again, noticing how the blush colored her cheeks just the right way…

~vOvOvOvOvOv~

She was on the curb, trying to hail a taxi – in vain. Arthur watched cab after cab pass her – much to her obviously growing frustration – and moved steadily up behind her, rolling a heavy bag behind him and letting a PASIV swing loosely in his grip. "Do you want a ride?"

Ariadne stilled her shaking fist at the sound of his smooth voice in her ear. She could swear she felt his breathe run luxuriously across her neck. Turning around, she noticed he was standing rather close, her nose almost brushed his chin.

"Well," Arthur started, feeling the urge to wrap his arms around her swell up unexpectedly in him. He backed up half a step and thought he saw a glimmer of something in her eye for just an instant. "Disappointment?"

"It's just an SUV, rented to get me where I'm going. Needed room for all the equipment," He motioned beside him to a silver airline cart Ariadne hadn't noticed earlier. A rolling cart almost completely filled with black duffel bags and what looked like at least ten PASIV's. "But it looks like you're having trouble getting a cab."

"Um, yeah. Thanks, Arthur."

Ariadne smiled up at him and made to grab her messenger bag from where she had placed it on the ground, only to be beat there by Arthur, who easily picked it up and gently added it to the pile on the cart. Chivalrous to the end.

She just watched as he set both the PASIV he was carrying and the rolling bag atop the cart as well, not exactly knowing why he was doing these things until his long fingers snaked around hers, coming to be intertwined.

Arthur ignored the small gasp emitted from her, certain that he was not supposed to hear it, and grabbed the cart with the other. He couldn't stop himself from smiling, though.