Disclaimer: Inception does not belong to me. Apologies for the hiatus!

Ariadne settled herself, smiling at Arthur. He blushed slightly, gazing into his cup. She swallowed, and a waitress approached her, holding a note pad. "What can I get you?"

"Oh, I'll have whatever he's having," she said, quickly. Arthur looked up, his brow creasing.

"Its a skinny latte," he said, quickly. "Low in calories, but its-" he averted his eyes, and Ariadne made a decision. "Hot chocolate, please."

The waitress nodded, and scribbled it down on her pad. Moving away slowly, Ariadne watched her until she felt that she was out of earshot, then leaned over to Arthur.

"You can drink something other than that," she said, gently. He blinked, and looked up at her.

"Well, I-" he paused, unsure. "I don't know. I'm worried I'll bloat-"

Ariadne bit her lip, suddenly realising that in this, she was coming to the heart of the Point Man. "Arthur, I'm sure you can consume more than you think." She stopped, suddenly aware of how she sounded - like a mother berating a seen-to-be-fussy child.

He swallowed. "I'm not-" he looked up as the waitress arrived with Ariadne's order. She carefully set it in front of her. "Thank you," Ariadne said, smiling. As the woman disappeared amongst the tables, she reached over, and picked up the cup, preparing to take a sip.

Suddenly, the door opened, and she turned. Several people piled in, laughing and chatting. Arthur huched over his drink, seeming to shrink into himself. She took a sip, and tried to behave normally.

Arthur took a swallow of latte. "So, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, I have the day off," she said, trying to seem as normal in her approach as possible. "We've finished working on the latest-" she paused, and blinked. Someone was approaching their table. She looked again, her heart sinking.

"Arthur!" The dark haired young woman smiled at him, almost fondly. "How are you?"

He blushed slightly. "I'm ok, thanks Allie."

Ariadne's eyes widened, and she felt an urge to get him away from the projection as quickly as possible. She leaned forward, her stance almost protective. "Arthur. We have to go."

Allie turned to her, Arthur looked surprised. "Ari, we-"

"No, I mean it!" She stood up, leaving her hot chocolate half drunk on the table. "We have to go!" Getting up, she pushed her chair in, and before he could protest further, took Arthur's hand and began to lead him out of the cafe. Allie, her mouth dropping open in shock, watched as they left.

"Wait!" Arthur turned to her, angrily, in the street. "What was that all about-"

His words were choked off as Ariadne leaned forward, and kissed him. Without hesitating, he began to wrap his arms around her. They remained locked together, oblivious to the stares of the projections as they walked past.

"That was-" Arthur whispered as they pulled apart. He stood, and looked at her, smiling. "What now?"

"Your place?"

She took a step back. She was not usually this forward, especially with the Point Man, but felt at this point, there was no time to waste in attempting to be subtle. He nodded, and sliding his fingers into hers, they began to walk down the street together, Ariadne trying not to notice the glares of the projections.

Arthur leaned out into the street. "Taxi!"

As the yellow cab curved into the side, she caught her breath, looking around for an attempted siege.

Nothing.

She swallowed. Arthur's subconscious, she wondered, was clearly a lot calmer than she felt.

"Leave it," Eames said, irritably. He was noticing Cobb's gaze at the PASIV, and the two sleeping members of the team.

"I know," Cobb replied, slightly stung by Eames' tone. "But, the two of them, they're-"

"They're together," Trent interrupted. "And its what they need."

"So far," Eames said, checking his watch, "they've been under for about ten minutes. I really think they need longer than that."

"But after Ariadne extracts-" Cobb said, his voice trailing off, "what do we do then?"

"We get Arthur treatment, and if he wants to leave, we let him," Eames said, settling back in his seat.

"What about Fischer? He sees this as revenge!"

"We'll deal with Fischer when we have to."

Cobb looked at Trent. "You're sure?"

The blonde man nodded. "Yes."

"Here we are," Arthur said, not expecting a reply, as he unlocked the door to his apartment.

Ariadne followed him. Despite having been in it in reality, she was not prepared for seeing it in a dream. Everything, she noted, seemed cleaner, more precise, more set out than in the real world. She swallowed, looking at the almost geometric precision with which Arthur had mapped out his apartment. She turned to him, wondering how a man this precise, could hide a secret with such devastating consequences.

"Arthur?"

"Yes?"

"Do you-" she broke off, aware she could not ask outright what it was that she was looking for.

Arthur had disappeared into the kitchen. "Ari? Coffee, water?"

"Water, please," she replied, deciding to move into the lounge from the hallway.

The lounge, she noted, appeared to be even more precise than she'd thought. It was spotless, with pictures hung at perfect angles, and books neatly lined up on shelves. She moved towards them, then noticed one picture was hanging at a slightly askew angle.

Putting her hand up, she tilted it, only to find it came away from the wall in her hand. Stunned, she grabbed it, and laid it on the couch.

Staring in front of her was the safe. Swallowing, she reached her hand towards it.

Cobb looked nervously at his watch. "12 minutes," he muttered. "They've got another 17."

Suddenly, his cell phone rang. Stunned, he pulled it out of his pocket. "Hello?" he asked, ignoring the furious look of Eames and wary expression of Trent.

"Dom?" Fischer's voice seeped out from the receiver. "I should have known you'd double cross me."

"What are you doing?"

Ariadne turned. Arthur, an expression of mistrust on his face, was staring right at her. She looked at him.

"Arthur. I can explain-"

Her words died in her throat. Suddenly, she noticed the gun.

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