Disclaimer: Inception does not belong to me. Sorry for the delay!
Ariadne's eyes began to flutter, and she started to sit up. Turning her head, she looked at Cobb. His blue eyes were fixed on her. She began to get up. Cobb followed her movements, not speaking.
The tension was palpable in the room, and she bit her lip. Suddenly, Cobb spoke. "Ari...listen to me."
She turned to him, the emotion displayed on his face. "What you saw..." He began to wander away, and sat on a chair. "Its the truth."
She fell silent as he continued to speak.
"We were all working together, but Arthur and Mal, they grew close. Very close." His face quivered. "I trusted him."
"But what else happened?" Ariadne queried.
"They were planning to leave, to go together." Cobb's voice broke on the last word. "I found emails that Arthur was sending. They were going to leave Paris, and head to London."
"London?"
"They thought they could both get work there." Cobb sank back down onto a seat. "I decided to wait, to see if it would actually happen."
Ariadne bit her lip. "Dom..."
"Look, let's go back to my place." He stood up. "I think I need to, well-"
Ariadne looked at him. Suddenly, she made a decision.
"All right, let's."
Cobb beamed at her. "OK."
"So you're saying your ex-partner is vindictive."
"No!" Arthur protested. "I'm saying that he's - he's confused." His voice faded, then stopped. "He has a twisted sense of what he can do."
"Why do you think that is?"
Arthur looked at Tennison. The man's deep set grey eyes were honest, and intelligent. He exhaled slowly, then continued.
"Cobb can go into people's minds," Arthur said, calmly. "He can implant ideas, extract them. Through dreams. He went into mine, altered my views on life. Turned me into a sex-obsessed, mysogynist- " his voice cracked. "He made me someone I'm not."
"But surely you had those elements in order to become that way?"
"No!" Arthur almost shouted, getting up. "I didn't - I"
"But would you say you were controlling, demanding?"
Arthur blinked. Those traits in his personality had come to the fore during his work with the team. "Yes, but I-"
"I -?"
"I'm not like that."
Ariadne entered the apartment after Cobb. He smiled at her. "Thank you."
"For what?"
"For trusting me." He spoke kindly. "I know this is a shock."
Ariadne nodded. "It is."
"So, let's talk." Cobb settled himself down in the lounge. "We need to help Arthur, and the best thing we can do is-"
"Perform an extraction," Ariadne interrupted, her heart pounding. "We need to make him forget everything about us."
"Yes!" Cobb nodded, smiling. "I agree with you."
Ariadne looked at him. A plan was forming swiftly in her mind. She was the architect - she would be able to navigate her way through the Extractor's mazes. And she would be able to lead Arthur.
"One thing, though Cobb, " she said, slowly. "Why would Mal cheat on you with Arthur...when she thought he wasn't real?"
Cobb blinked. "I-"
"You told me you incepted her, she thought everything was a lie." Ariadne's voice grew stronger. "You're lying, Cobb. You're creating dreams, trying to trick me. Because you can't accept that Arthur and I-"
Cobb got up, his expression cornered. Furious, he made his way towards her.
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