A/N: Surprise, bitch. Bet you thought you'd seen the last of me.

I'm not even going to waste my time with an author's note at the beginning, but I will tell you that I have the best and most faithful fans in all of creation.

Chapter 9: Riding the Wave

"Arthur?! Arthur, what's going on?!" Ariadne backed up from the point man who was writhing around on the floor, clutching his head with mangled hands. Suddenly, an abrupt crack sounded from the floor of the warehouse. All other sounds died down until the silence was deafening as the battle between businessmen and civilians halted. After a few moments of impregnated silence, a crevice erupted in the floor of the warehouse, immediately swallowing up some of the projections and throwing others clear across the room. The walls bent and groaned under the change. Windows shattered all around. Ariadne knew they only had seconds, maybe a minute, before the entire structure would collapse on top of them.

"Eames?! Cobb?!" the two were no where in sight. She looked back at Arthur, who was still convulsing on the concrete. "Arthur, please. You have to tell me what to do."

Arthur groaned, trying to concentrate on the architect, the location of his friends, the collapsing building, anything besides the ungodly amount of pain he was feeling. However, amidst his agony he realized it was a different kind of pain, an emptier pain. A foreign emotion bubbled up into his chest, an emotion he had dared not feel for years upon years of torture. He could have laughed. His head snapped towards Ariadne,

"Kill me," he ordered, "Do it right now."

Ariadne's eyes widened in confusion, "What? Arthur, it can't be that easy…"

"It can! Don't you see?" Arthur took his hands off of his head despite the pain wracking his body, "the shot. They must have shot the leader. If he's dead, he can't hold me here anymore. Shoot me and this level collapses."

"Arthur, this isn't a fucking level we're talking about! This is you. Your mind, your subconscious." Ariadne's fingered fumbled with the gun in her hand. She couldn't, she wouldn't.

"No, you don't get it! It IS just a level. Without Demetri here this is just another manifestation of my dreams! Just shoot me, Ariadne, please. Trust me. Everything's going to be alright." Arthur pleaded with her, his eyes showing nothing but raw honestly mingled with pain. Ariadne didn't know what to do; she wanted to trust Arthur so badly, but after everything that had happened she just couldn't risk harming him further, and where the hell were Cobb and Eames?! An explosion sounded behind them as projections who were able to escape the crevice in the floor began to be crushed by falling debris and fire.

"Ariadne, please. If you don't kill me the building is going to collapse and that will be much more painful," Arthur's tone grew desperate. He was finally beginning to taste his freedom and he wasn't going to let anyone, even his teammate, get in the way.

"I-I-I-" she stammered, looking around frantically for the forger and extractor.

'Oh for fuck's sake…' Arthur thought to himself. His bloodied leg shot out from under him, catching the architect in the stomach. He gritted his teeth as broken bones shifted and tore the muscle under the skin, but it didn't matter. None of it mattered anymore as the tell-tale sound of a gun hitting the floor consumed his focus. The key to his release from this hell was right in front of him. His deformed and destroyed body stretched as far as it would go. Right before he swore he would pass out from the pain his toe caught the end of the weapon. If he were a tougher man he would have attempted to stop himself from crying but the time for being stoic had long passed. A giggle escaped his lips as his tears impeded his vision to the point where he almost couldn't cock the gun. Almost. A chunk of concrete landed not four feet away from where he was handcuffed, a cloud of smoke and dust enveloping the surrounding area. An explosion shook the floor. A shot rang out.

Smoke filled her nose as consciousness slammed into her once more. Ariadne looked around, seeing nothing but smoke and rubble. She couldn't see Cobb, Arthur, or even a projection. A high-pitched ringing filled her ears. She tried to move but found her leg caught underneath a slab of concrete. Pain shot up her thigh.

CRACK!

Ariadne looked upwards in horror. The balcony which Cobb and Eames had disappeared into was falling forwards, its support beams no longer up to the task. As it crashed into the floor below Ariadne could only hope that her two teammates had died quickly and that they were somewhere in the point man's mind that they could escape from. At the thought of the point man Ariadne suddenly began to scan the surrounding area when she noticed her handgun was missing.

'Oh no...' she tried to convince herself that it was just lost among the debris but she knew better. Another crack resounded, this time from the ceiling. Ariadne's eyes followed the sound to see a large piece of the warehouse rapidly growing larger above her head.

'Well, here goes nothing. I hope Arthur-'

Eames sucked in as much air as he could manage, his eyes flying open, expecting to find the crumbling remains of the warehouse. Instead, he found himself lying on a wooden floor, sunlight streaming in from a window above his head. He sat up in the blink of an eye, assessing his surroundings in short, rapid movements. Cobb and Ariadne were on the floor, a small boy lying next to them. None of them were awake, but since they did not seem injured either Eames took a moment to finally relax, seeing as there was no immediate danger. The room itself was quite domestic, if not a bit disheveled. An amoire lay in the corner, the shelves broken-

Ariadne regained consciousness just as the reality of the situation threatened to knock Eames on his back. She whipped her head around before her gaze landed on the dazed forger.

"Eames!" she yelled, "He shot himself! We only have seconds before-" a deafening groan cut out her voice as the framework of the house lurched dangerously. The two looked around the room as cracks rapidly started to run up the plaster. Not wanting to be crushed again, Ariadne only gave Eames a meaningful glance before pulling her handgun out and placing it under her chin.

"Ariadne, wait! How do you know he shot himself? How do you know he's not on this level? How-" Eames' breath began to speed up. He had come too far to lose Arthur now.

"I don't know, but I know we can't stay here. Just go!" the architect wasted no more time before pulling the trigger and securing herself into reality, or so they hoped.

The house momentarily stopped shaking and everything fell eerily silent. Eames shifted his weight until he was sitting on the floor. He covered his mouth with his hand, letting his fingers run over the rough stubble of his chin. He felt so lost, so utterly unsure of everything. He didn't know where Arthur was, where Ariadne was, whether either of them were alright. Hell, he didn't even know where he was. For all he knew this was just another trick of Demetri's. A pat on the head brought Eames out of his own thoughts. He brought his gaze up to rest on the face of a small boy, no more than eight years old, with big, brown eyes.

"Excuse me, sir? I think you should leave. It's not safe here." The boy seemed concerned but not afraid, despite the walls splintering around them.

"Arthur?" Eames whispered. In theory, any projections still alive should be furious; this boy should be trying to kill him.

"Yes, sir. Please, you need to go. Now." The boy's brown eyes shone brightly before another large crack appeared in the wall. Standing up, the boy stared at him in exasperation. "Please!" he cried one more time before running out the door. Eames just sat there, stunned. He wanted to chase after the child, yet deep inside he knew that this was not the version of Arthur that needed saving.

Cobb awoke with a pounding headache to find the forger standing over him. It took him less than a second to realize he had a gun to his temple.

"Let's go get our point man, love." Eames smiled.

BANG!

Over the years, Cobb had lost the ability to feel rested after sleep, if he managed to sleep at all. The job required him to be alert the moment he open his eyes, and this time was no different. Yet, in all his life, he could not recall a time where the cheap patterns of hotel wallpaper had made him feel so relieved. For a moment, fear clenched in his gut as he thrust his hand into the pocket of his slacks, pulling out his top and searching for the nearest flat surface, which in this case happened to be the bathroom counter. The longer the top spun the more anxious the extractor became, but much to his relief the top wobbled and soon fell on its side, rapidly spinning in circles on its axis from the momentum.

Whispers from the other room caught Cobb's attention as he walked back towards the bed he had woken up by. Eames stood over the young point man, one knee on the bed, shaking his shoulder gently. Ariadne stood against the wall, clearly having to restrain herself from joining the Brit at Arthur's side. Arthur's eyes were open, yet he did not seem to register anything the forger was saying or doing; he just stared blankly up at the ceiling. Dom's heart sank.

'No, no… it can't be, not after everything we went through...' Cobb felt tears prick in the back of his eyes as he approached the bedside.

"Arthur, darling, please answer me. It's over, everything's over. You're awake. This is real," Eames continued to beg the point man for a response, a reflex, anything. Arthur lay motionless.

Eventually Cobb came up behind the forger, placing a firm but gentle hand on his shoulder, "Come on, Eames. You knew this could happen," he murmured, feeling numb.

"No," Eames half-sobbed, half-growled at the extractor, "he's going to be alright. He has to be. He can't…" his words trailed off as he grudgingly let Cobb pull him away from the bed and lead him to a chair, tears trailing down his face. Cobb returned to Arthur's side, placing a hand against the point man's cheek, running his thumb under his brown, unseeing eyes. Ariadne sank to the floor, bringing both hands up to her mouth as her face was distorted into acute but silent grief, her agony only audible when she was forced to suck air in through her lips. This was the only sound in the room for several minutes. Cobb leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands, willing himself to keep his composure. His thoughts were plagued by memories of Arthur, Mal, his children (Oh god, what would he tell his children?) , and the mission. 'Why did I agree to take the mission in the first place? What could I have done differently? How could I let this happen?' He couldn't bring himself to accept it; it still all felt surreal and for once Cobb did not reach into his pocket to bring himself back. He couldn't. He couldn't bring himself to accept that he had lost yet another member of his family. It was too much.

After nearly an hour of silence, Cobb stood up, walking in the direction of the forger, "We'll need to make arrangements, come up with a story: car accident, severe brain damage, something along those lines. We'll need to find a hospital, somewhere close…"

Eames, whose eyes had yet to leave Arthur's motionless form, finally broke away to look at the extractor in disbelief, "What? What are you talking about? We can't just leave him like that! It's- It's-"

"It's what, Eames?" Cobb desperately tried to stamp out the emotions which threatened to overtake him, "What would you have us do, huh? Just kill him?!"

"It would be better than leaving him like this for the rest of his life!"

"Why don't you do it then?!" Eames stood up, anger flaring in his gut.

"Stop it! Both of you!" Ariadne cried. The two men looked over, having nearly forgotten about the architect sitting against he wall. Eames stared at her a moment before visibly deflating, taking a few heavy steps to sit on the bed near the point man. Cobb remained standing, his fists clenched.

"Fine," Dom muttered, "but we can't use a gun. It's too messy. We'll take him somewhere away from any buildings, somewhere where we can bury him." This caused Ariadne to erupt in another fit of sobs.

Eames brushed a strand of hair behind the young man's ear, "Oh, Arthur. Love. How could you do this to us?" He stared at him a moment more before leaning over and pressing his lips to the point man's forehead. A second later, Eames felt the skin under his lips scrunch up and crumple.

"Damn it, Eames, how many times have I told you not to do that?" A small voice came from underneath him. The forger jumped back to be met with a pair of weary brown eyes staring back at him.

"Arthur?" he gaped.

The point man smirked.

"Oh, Artie it IS you! Oh bloody hell you had us worried sick, mate!" Eames laughed, wrapping his arms around the man's thin frame. Ariadne gasped, finding herself unable to do anything else but sit there and stare. Cobb's eyes widened to the size of saucers before he bounded over to the side of the bed and joined Eames in enveloping the point man.

"And I told you to stop calling me Artie, too," came Arthur's voice, muffled by his friends' embrace. When they finally let go Arthur sat up, turning to look at the architect still staring at him in disbelief.

"It's… it's really you, isn't it?" Ariadne stammered.

Arthur smiled, "It is."

Ariadne laughed, standing up and running to hug the point man, hugging him as if her life depended on it. Eames rubbed his hand across the man's back, more for his sake than Arthur's. Cobb put a hand on Arthur's shoulder; the man looking up at him while still embracing Ariadne. Arthur's eyes, though far too worn for a man his age, held nothing but peace and relief.

And for the first time in seven years, Cobb found himself content.

A/N: So, here it is. Can you even believe it? Because I sure as hell can't. I want to thank each and every person who has ever reviewed this (literally, so get ready)

A great big thanks to: wild-springflower, BlackxValentine, they'recomingtotakemeaway, Blushing Cherry, Feathered Filly, stargazer12, AtlantisGirl12, 59icewolf, realityfling18, OTS, ninasdreams, fillintheblank, the magic is real, marinawings, Ihni, kolachess, MissHaunted-MoonLight, robyn redhead, Happybubblex3, GreggoAddict, Servant05, FreedomIsNotFree996, NikkitaIronBlade.94, littlespider, frkykorngirl, Tonik2, The Dramatic Sneeze, LuxAeterna1020, Ranariel, Don Dorcha, Paradox-Imagination, Writer-N-Disguise, scorpiogirl93, silverwolfneko-chan, Merucha, SuperTeenNewsieAvengerGal, Above Water, Javiera, alaska girl, starefire25, Isilarma, Estelwin, Manina, Singer Savage, DammitimmaD, Sechee, and From Rue with Love

Also an extra big "hug-you-until-you-cant-breath" thanks to ladybug114, MillyGlassWing.32.96, E galz/The-doctor-is-on-fire, CovenantGirlLoki, Bookdancer, and the ever-mysterious Guest for reviewing and urging me to get my ass in gear despite the update date. I don't know how you guys have such faith in me, but please know that your reviews are what made this happen.

And don't think I had forgotten about you, AngelOtaku121. I don't know why, but for some reason your PM just caught me at the right place and the right time that I just went "You know what? I am going to finish this. Right now." I cannot thank you enough for your words of honestly and encouragement.

Seriously, without you guys this story would have never gotten past it's first two chapters. Thanks so much for all the kind words and the only thing I can hope for is that this ending is to your liking.

Much love,

IYD24

PS: Epilogue to follow, then I must say adieu to all my lovely readers. I can never thank you enough.