Disclaimer: Inception does not belong to me.
Arthur looked at her, blankly. She felt her blood freeze for a second. Then, he blinked.
"Leaving?" he repeated, almost numbly. "Together?"
"Arthur. You don't want to stay here." Her voice was forceful, and she could see the subtle shifts playing over his face. "They'll help you, but you know that Fischer will always be after you. You're not safe."
"And with you?" His lip curled, and she felt her heart begin to sink. "With you, I would be safe?"
"Yes." She nodded, her facial expression emphatic. "You would. Arthur, I only want to help you."
"Does this help mean opening me up to another inception?" His tone was sharp, and she winced. She had known his words could hurt her, but she'd stubbornly refused to believe it until she confronted him.
"No." She swallowed, and took a step forward. The Point Man looked vulnerable, but also angry. "I won't. I couldn't. What we did-"
"What you did was -" Arthur turned away from her. "You don't know what its like. What its like to be like this. None of you. And you think you can just violate my-"
"Arthur," Ariadne interrupted. "Arthur, this isn't helping. We have to go. Now."
He looked at her. "I don't have any-"
"I've taken care of it." She made a swatting movement with her hand, as though brushing off his concerns. "You have to trust me. Please."
Arthur looked at her, and his face softened. He swallowed.
"OK."
Trent frowned. He looked up from the plans he was studying as Eames walked past.
"Have you seen Ariadne?" the Point asked. The Forger stopped, thinking.
"No," he replied, honestly. "She said she was going out for a walk."
"When?" Trent's tone was even, but there was a sense of concern that Eames noted. The older man swallowed.
"I'm not sure," he confessed, honestly. "Maybe a couple of hours ago?"
Trent got up. "Long walk." He turned. "Dom!"
Ariadne led Arthur outside. They had waited, hedging their movements, until the reception duty nurse had got up and shuffled away. She led him to the waiting cab.
"Hi," she said, breathlessly, ensuring Arthur sat in the backseat, and her next to him. "Could you take us to the Motel Devante, please?"
The driver nodded. "Of course." Changing gears, the cab began to move. Ariadne stole a look at the Point Man. He was looking, fixedly, out the window. Biting her lip, she put her hand on top of his. He looked surprised, but neither did he pull back.
Cobb bit his lip in frustration. "No-one is picking up."
Trent swallowed. "OK, let's try Ariadne's cell phone."
Cobb nodded, and scrolled down his list of contacts. He pressed the button.
Ariadne blinked. Her phone was vibrating in her pocket. She pulled it out, knowing she would have to answer Cobb. "Hello?"
"Ariadne. Where are you?" The Extractor's voice was friendly, neutral. She swallowed, knowing that refusing to answer would merely trigger a search.
"Oh, I'm no my way back." Her tone was light. "I wandered, so I'm in a cab. See you in a bit!"
She clicked off. Arthur turned to her, his mouth twisting. "Did you just lie - to Cobb?"
She nodded. "Yes." Was that disapproval or approval in his voice?
"Good." Arthur turned and stared stubbornly out of the window.
Cobb turned to the others. "She said she's in a cab on her way back."
Trent raised an eyebrow. "Do you believe her?"
Cobb looked at the Point. "No." He shook his head. "She's gone for Arthur, I know she has."
"Well," Trent murmured, "in that case, we leave them." Turning, he walked back into the kitchen, leaving the Extractor and Forger stunned.
The cab stopped, at the comfortable looking motel. Arthur blinked; it was on the outskirts of a small town. Ariadne turned to the cab driver. "How much?"
"For you, $50", he replied. Ariadne paid, and the two got out, her shouldering the backpack. Arthur followed her as she obtained the key from the motherly looking woman at reception. With a sense of shock, he realised that she'd planned everything to a minute detail.
She unlocked the door. "Come on."
Arthur followed her in. The room was basic, with twin beds, a table, and chairs. A small kitchenette occupied one corner of the room, and another door, which he assumed led to the bathroom.
"Listen, I'm going to take a shower," Ariadne said, casually, as though this were an everday occurrence. "Will you be-"
"What are you doing?" he said, abruptly. He was sitting on the bed, and turned his head to look at her. She met his gaze.
"Going for a shower," she replied. "You'll be ok, won't you?"
"Why have you done this?" he demanded. His tone was almost sullen. The Architect looked at him.
"Done what?" she amazed herself with the calmness of her voice. He blinked.
"Taken me from the clinic. Lied to Cobb." His lips twisted. "I'm impressed. I was beginning to think you only ever did what Cobb told you to do. Like incept me. Lie to me. Make me think you love me-"
"Shut up!"
Arthur took a step back. The sheer force of her words seemed to hit him physically. He blinked.
"Would you rather be back in the clinic?" Ariadne looked at him; her tone was sharp. "I can arrange that, Arthur. Arrange to take you back there, have them feed you food you don't want to eat, unless you can sneak off and throw it up afterwards. Leave you there to have another psychiatrist poke around inside your head, leave you there for Fischer to find you! You came to us because you wanted something from us. We put you in the clinic because we want to help you. I've taken you out because I don't think there is a future for you except by yourself!"
"Ari-" his tone was hoarse, but she decided to continue, the full force of her pent up emotion breaking loose.
"Don't you remember what you said to me when I was in the inception?" she demanded. "You said you couldn't control it, you needed help. I'm trying to help you, Arthur. I'm trying! Please, tell me - what do you think? What do you feel?"
Arthur took a deep breath, but his eyes never left hers. "Do you really want to know?"
"Yes." She took a step forward.
"I feel abandoned," he said, his voice toneless. "You, Cobb, Eames - you invaded my mind, going into scenarios that you can't possibly understand. Then, you sold me out."
"We didn't," Ariadne said, trying to keep her voice calm. "Fischer took you."
"Maybe," Arthur said quietly, "but you all didn't stop him, did you? And do you want to know why?"
He'd taken a step closer. The Architect felt her heart begin to pound. His hand was reaching for her face. He brushed a few strands away from her cheek.
"Its because none of you want to understand what this is like", he whispered. "None of you can comprehend how it feels. To walk around, feeling that you are worse than everybody else. That you have no right to feel angry, or unhappy, or miserable. The only way you can control your emotions is through eating them. But then you have to throw it up, because otherwise...you get fat. And no-one will like you for that, either."
Ariadne was silent. His hand was still brushing against her face.
"You all expect so much from me. But do you ever think about how I feel?" His tone was soft, urgent. "You all want me to be the Point Man, take responsibility for everything. But then you all make me feel as though I'm a disappointment. And thats something Robert and I share. And then you incept me."
She was looking at him, hardly daring to breathe. She swore she could see the glimmer of tears forming in his eyes.
"For days, I felt uncomfortable around food. Why did I want to eat it, even though I wasn't hungry. And then the dreams. Dreams of you, telling me how repulsive I am. Dreams of finding you with Eames. All these little fears and anxieties that just wouldn't go away. And then I was made to realise - I am a bulimic. I'm repulsive, disgusting, and ugly. None of you want me there, the only reason you incepted me is to make the problem go away. Thats what you all wanted. Cobb and Eames so they could do the job; you so you could get me into your bed. Cobb doesn't want a bluimic on the team, and you don't want a bulimic for a boyfriend. Well, here I am Ariadne - this is the real me. Still want it?"
She looked at him. A wave of anger and defiance was rising up. She slipped her hand around the back of his neck.
"Yes," she said, softly, and before he could move, she had pulled his face down to hers, letting their lips touch.
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