Disclaimer: Inception does not belong to me.

Arthur opened the door to the staff lounge, and sighed with relief. No-one else was in there. He hurried in, put his pile of marking on one of the tables, and immediately walked to the coffee machine. As he plugged in 25 cents, he felt himself relax, and smiled as the hot, foamy brew cascaded into the plastic cup. He retrieved it, placed it on the table, and sat down to mark the Twelth graders' assignments.

He pulled the top one of the pile. He picked up his red biro, and began to read it, mentally frowning at some of the small grammatical errors. Crossing through a couple of words, he began to concentrate.

"Arthur!"

He looked up. Eames had just entered, and, unusually, was biting his lip. In fact, Arthur could have sworn he looked nervous. "Arthur, are you-"

"Cut it out, Eames," Arthur interrupted, bending his head over the assignment. "I know what you did."

Eames looked at him, relief beginning to play across his face. "You do?"

"Yes." Arthur put the biro down, folded his arms, and looked at him directly. "I know that you told your students - who then went and told everyone else - that I threw ice cream at Robert. Thanks."

Eames swallowed. "Oh, yes, I did." He nodded. "Yes."

"In fact," Arthur continued, "I should thank you. Apparently, I'm now 'The Man'."

Eames snorted. "Impossible."

"Oh really?" Arthur arched an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Because thats me." Eames retrieved cup of tea from the machine, and sat opposite the younger man. He took a sip and grimaced. "Disgusting."

"It will be if you put four sugars in it," Arthur said. "If Dracula bit you, he'd get diabetes."

"Forget Dracula. I'd rather it was Bella Swann." Eames took another sip, and grimaced further. "Anyway. Congratulations. Ariadne thinks you're her knight in shining armour, the students think you're the man, the Faculty think you're actually human." Eames looked at him, and smiled. "Well done."

There was an undertone to the Drama specialists' words that Arthur noticed. A hint of unease, of trying to be too positive. He leaned back, and looked at him. Eames took another sip of tea, and cleared his throat.

"I think it was incredibly stupid, extremely reckless, and completely out of character." He met Arthur's eyes. "There are easier ways to make someone realise that you like them."

Arthur bit his lip. "Agreed." He sighed. "I have no idea how this is going to pan out. I could-"

Suddenly, the door to the lounge opened, and Summer, Cobb's PA, put her head round the door.

"Oh, Arthur! There you are!" She swallowed. "I've been looking for you!"

Arthur looked at her. Cobb's PA was sweet, but somewhat ditzy. He smiled. "I'm here."

She nodded. "Right. You need to see Dom. Right away."

"But-" Arthur bit back his irritation. He still had the grading to finish. Sighing, he got up. "OK."

Eames sipped his tea. "See you later."

Arthur followed Summer to Cobb's office. As she opened the door, his breath caught in his throat.

Cobb was there. With Fischer. And the Superintendent. As she opened the door, she patted his shoulder, as thought trying to convey sympathy.

"Arthur!" Cobb stood up. "Please, do come in."

Arthur nodded. As he walked over the threshold, he caught Robert's smirk. He felt a rush of anger, but swallowed, and tried to remain composed.

"Ms Henderson?"

Ariadne looked up. Her Twelth Grade Fine Art class was leaving. She smiled at Bethany and Jess, two of her hardest working and most dedicated students. "Yes, girls?"

Bethany cleared her throat. "Ms Henderson, we're aware that Mr Ogilvie has been suspended from being Vice Principal, and we are starting a petition."

Ariadne's eyes widened. "A petition?"

Jess nodded. "Yes. What he did to Mr Fischer - it wasn't life threatening!" She showed a clipboard to the Art specialist. On it was a piece of paper, which had already picked up ten signatures from students. Jess swallowed. "Mr Ogilvie should be re-instated."

Ariadne bit her lip, trying to hide her smile. "Well, I don't think I can sign it," she said, noting the way the two students' faces fell, "but thats because I'm on the Faculty. But, I really think you should distribute it around the school."

Bethany smiled. "Thank you."

The two girls turned, and left. Ariadne bit her lip, wondering how Arthur was. She hadn't see him all day, and realised that she would have to approach him soon. Looking up at the clock, she saw it was nearly 2pm. Another half hour, and she'd catch him at the end of the day.

The Superintendent eyeballed Arthur across the room, allowing a torturous silence to open up. Arthur swallowed, and looked at the older man. He cleared his throat.

"I do appreciate, Arthur, that this may seem unfair." His tone was soothing, as though Arthur were an unruly child. "But the school district has its reputation to think of. What you did to Robert was technically assault, and we cannot allow this."

Arthur opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Cobb caught his eye, and Arthur noted the distress that was there. The Superintendent turned to Robert. "Robert would you care to explain how you feel?"

Robert cleared his throat. "Well, its all been very distressing," he said, his voice trembling. "I just took a colleague out for a friendly meal, and Arthur shows such hostility, and such anger!" He turned to the Superintendent. "I'm sure you appreciate its been very hard for me. I haven't been able to concentrate on my work, which makes me feel incompetent, and that distresses me further." He sniffled, and Arthur felt his blood pressure shoot up. His lip trembled, and he slumped. "Oh God!"

Cobb and Arthur exchanged glances. Arthur knew that they were silently agreeing that Fischer should win an Oscar.

The Superintendent cleared his throat again. "Well, Arthur, I think you appreciate the seriousness of this. Robert is clearly feeling hurt and intimidated by your behaviour. So, in my capacity as Superintendent, I'm going to override Dom's decision." Cobb stared, his jaw dropping. "I hereby declare you are completely suspended from your post until the investigation is completed." Arthur blinked, and felt his insides collapse.

"Completely suspended?" His voice was barely a whisper.

The Superintendent nodded. "Completely. Please gather what you need, and vacate the school premises. Dom?" Cobb looked up. "Would you escort Arthur out?"

Cobb nodded, and got up. As though he were in a dream, Arthur began to move out of his seat, and into the corridor.

Ariadne finished cleaning her brushes, and put them in the pot she used. Looking at the clock, she saw it was 2.30pm. Swallowing, she locked the door, and hurried to Arthur's office.

To her astonishment, she saw him walking down the corridor, holding a box. Next to him was Cobb.

"Arthur!" Ariadne was shocked. "What's happened?"

"Full suspension," Arthur said. His tone was grim.

"They can't do this!" Ariadne choked, aghast.

"Oh, they can," Cobb said, bitterly. "Fischer's father is a friend of the District Superintendent."

"Arthur!" Ariadne looked at him. "You can't take this lying down!"

Arthur swallowed, and looked at her. "Don't worry. I'm not."

Ariadne nodded, remembering the petition. "Good. Because I'm going to make sure nobody else does!"

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