Chapter 10 – The Face of War

As she ran Ariadne wondered when exactly things had become so bad, so quickly.

Probably after Arthur got shot. The memory made her flinch and turn her head to see how things were going behind her.

The cornfield provided some protection, making them hard to spot, but still it wasn't good enough. Arthur was trying very hard to keep up, hand clutching his stomach and a painful frown marking his face. They were trying to find Eames and the original Edwards, but that seemed almost impossible as drawing too much attention could call upon them a mass of projections already looking for them inside the field. They could hear them moving to catch up.

"We shouldn't have separated," Arthur said behind her, his pacing uneven.

"Too late for that."

After the other Edwards' appearance it got a little hard to plan things carefully. It seemed that second personality "woke" as soon he started to realize that their secret was in danger. And, well, he was angry. After planning the murder for months, using the first personality for a moving and sincere testimony, he really didn't want anyone ruining his vengeance against Adler. Sadly, for him and, fortunately for them, he was under the impression that killing them in a dream wouldn't resolve the problem.

Except things changed when he heard about Limbo from their conversation. That got him very interested.

There wasn't anything worse than a subject that was his subconscious. The second personality had spent so long in the "backseat", in the dark corner of their mind, that controlling projections was an easy task. If she hadn't destroyed the house around them, making a getaway, the three of them would be probably lost on Limbo right now, the mission with it.

If only she had been quicker…

"I'm fine, don't slow down," he said, noticing her change of pace.

"We have to stop," she countered, worried that he could collapse any moment.

"No… It's fine."

But his pale skin and painful expression said otherwise. She stopped, immediately trying to support him with her body, he slumped on her, making her loose her balance a little.

"Sorry."

"It's okay."

"It just looks bad," he tried to assure her. "But it's a minor wound."

Silly Ariadne had thought that Arthur was invincible. From finding out anything about anyone, having fighting skills of a gorgeous action hero to making impossible shots to help her… Well, how could she not? But she was wrong. Now he wasn't invincible anymore and that clearly bothered him. Maybe more than it bothered her.

"A minor wound bleeding like a major one, sure."

He chuckled a little, while she tried to think of something. They didn't have much time before the projections could find them. She looked down and an idea hit her. Quickly she formed in her mind the blueprint of an underground bunker, drawing a maze inside it.

A metal door formed on the ground in front of them, she opened with some difficulty, helping Arthur get down the stairs with her. Inside a series of well-lit corridors awaited and a little further she made a room with medical supplies and a place where they could rest for a bit.

Only after he sat down, finally relenting that he needed help, that Ariadne felt her heart slow down a little. She grabbed some gauze pads, water and walked to him, ready to help, but instead Arthur took the pads from her hands and began to apply them by himself.

"I can do it, thanks."

She wanted to shake him and smack him in the head; instead she let him, waiting to see him fail miserably. It didn't take too long.

"Okay, apparently, I can't do it."

"Shocking."

He opened a small smile, giving the pads back to her. Satisfied, she bent next to him, lifting his shirt a little so to access his stomach better. It was still bleeding, so she put pressure on it, trying to stop it. While she did this, Arthur went back to his Point Man act.

"We have to shoot both of them. I'm thinking of using the first one as a hostage. But he still has the advantage by using the projections against us… "

She let him talk, more worried about the wound. Edwards recognized Arthur as the leader and thus pointed his gun at him first. If she was honest to herself, she had to admit she completely panicked then. And it had nothing to do with the possibility of the mission failing. So she did the only thing she could: crumbled the walls, floors and ceiling around them but never hitting them, just like Guy did in the other dream. It was enough to distract the man and let them escape. But not enough for to stop him from pulling the trigger. Thanks to her the shot didn't hit Arthur in the heart.

It still hit him.

"I'm glad you're here," Arthur said, bringing her back from her own thoughts. "I think we have a shot at this with you being the dreamer."

"Glad to help," was her answer, probably not sounding very enthusiastic.

"Hey," he called her, making Ariadne look up and face him. "Thanks for saving me back there."

She nodded, opening a brief smile. The gauge below her hand was now soaked red; she pressed a new one against his stomach. The bleeding had to stop before she could clean the wound.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his hand finding hers. "We are going to do this, I can keep up."

"I'm not worried about the mission, Arthur!" her voice came out harsher than she wanted; she looked at his wound, avoiding his face. "If you die here… I can't follow you, not before making sure Eames leaves with the kick. And… You will be stuck there for who knows how long! I… I don't want to leave you alone down there."

"I don't want to be alone there either."

His confession made her look up, hair falling over her face. His gaze was intense, making her feel her cheeks warm.

"Why?" she asked, knowing full well that it was a risky question, but they had come so far, why not try to dig deeper?

"Why? I think…" he winced a little, tightening his grip on her hand. "To tell the truth… It doesn't matter what I think, you're going to be there either way."

"What does that even mean?" she pressed, frustrated, hurting him a little by literally pressing the gauze too deep.

"It means…" he sighed, lowering his head somewhat to avoid her eyes. "When I was down there, things… Things started to appear. I didn't want to face them, so… My mind brought me you. That's why I took so long to come back."

His smile was pained, but it was real. She could see that it was hard for him to confess and that only made her touch his face with her free hand, trying to soothe him, to let him know that she was there.

"I thought about it for so long why that happened and how could I stop it… Then I finally realized that no matter what I do, you'll be there, because… I want you there."

"Arthur…"

He touched her forehead with his own, her hand fell and he grabbed it, intertwining their fingers together. He felt cold, so unbearable cold. Ariadne closed her eyes, trying to forget about what was happening, the wound, the job, everything and just focus on his words.

"And I rather have the real you with me. So you can protect me by exploding houses."

She let a laugh escape; then she opened her eyes to find him looking at her like she was the only thing he ever wanted to see. The laugh stopped and Ariadne held her breath. Her heart was racing and for a brief second nothing was said as slowly he got near her, his lips just a second of finding hers.

His lips were cold, but nothing ever tasted so sweet. She remembered them differently; maybe it was because this time it was her dream and not his. It didn't matter. This time it wasn't a quick kiss full of awkwardness or a brief peck of surprise, it was a kiss of revelation and confession. She opened her mouth and he did the same and it was sweet and right.

Not real, but close.

Her hands found his hair, her fingers travelling trough it with eagerness, while he touched her face gently. His touch was everything she wanted and needed. If it wasn't for his wince of pain, she knew that they couldn't have stopped so soon, but he was hurt and they're in an underground bunker trying to stay alive in a dream with no escape. It had to end.

They broke apart and she instantly missed the feel of his soft lips on hers. His eyes were still closed, like he was trying to save the feel of the kiss as well, just for a few more seconds and she smiled.

"I wish you had explained earlier, you know… Before all this," she said, letting out a sigh.

"I'm sorry for… Taking so long to talk to you."

She shook her head, remembering to press the gauze again.

"It's okay. I get it. Well… I do now."

"I never felt this away before, Ariadne… I never…" he sighed before continuing. "I'm afraid of failing because of it."

"You won't. We won't."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because we're great at our jobs," she smiled as he chuckled. "Really, don't laugh, we are."

"What about the rest?"

"There's a rest? You mean our lives aren't our jobs?" she joked, trying hard not to look at the bloodied gauze in her hands. The wound still hadn't stopped bleeding. "I… I'm worried too, Arthur. About feeling too much, but… Does that mean we can never try? We're different than Cobb and Mal."

"Now. But…"

"Let's just get through this first. End this mess. Than we worry about it, okay?"

"I don't work that way," he smiled. "I plan ahead."

"I know. But for now, just focus on planning a way out of this level, how about that?"

"Okay, I can do that."

"Good," she smiled, but it didn't last long as she looked at his stomach.

He noticed her worried glance because he again touched the hand that was keeping the gauze on.

"I won't get lost again," he whispered to her. "You'll find me and we will get out of there together."

"Okay," she nodded, feeling a pressure on her chest, her fear of losing him growing deeper. "Okay."

She got up, walking towards a table where she took a piece cloth and filled with water, carefully she started to clean the wound. The skin was rigid bellow her fingers, he was in a bad shape. The bullet was still in there, she could tell.

Feeling helpless, she tried hard to keep calm.

"So, what's the plan?" she said, her voice trembling a little. "Find Eames and…"

"Shoot both Edwards, bring them to Limbo. The water tower is empty right?"

"Yes… Like you asked."

"It has a great view of the barn and the house, great place for a sniper rifle."

"You think they'll be inside the barn?"

"The first one is still there or, perhaps in the house, I don't think the other personality wants him exposed to the dream. Second personalities normally want to protect the first from harm, mostly because of some traumatic event they suffered in the past that created the split."

"You know a lot about that."

He smiled a little, shaking his head.

"Not much. I just a few things I read."

"So… Use the first one as hostage."

"Yes."

"Then… Lure him out and shoot him. The projections should die after, right?"

"I don't think so. We have to shoot them both quickly, before they catch us."

She nodded, happy to let him talk and stay alert. Suddenly her earpiece started to make static noises and she faintly heard Eames' voice.

"Ariadne, can you talk to me, if you could be so kind… I'm in a bit of a pickle, and I know you're there because the sky hasn't fallen on me yet. Are you there, darling?"

She jumped a little from surprise, but it was a relief to hear that he was still okay.

"Yes! Eames, I'm here. We're here."

"Oh, great. Arthur still kicking then?"

She winced a little before answering.

"He's hurt, but he's still here."

"Good. So, what's the plan exactly? I'm trying my best to hide, but things are getting too hot too quickly."

She explained to him Arthur's plan and they marked a place to meet in the bunker. As Eames described where he was hiding, Ariadne made an entrance to the bunker for him. After bandaging his wound, she carefully let Arthur support himself against her and they walked out of the room, looking for their forger.

She kept looking at Arthur, trying hard not to panic at him dying. She knew it was going to happen soon, but it was going to break her heart anyway.

"We're too slow," he started, his tone careful. "I think you should leave me now."

"No."

"Ariadne…"

"No! We are doing fine."

He nodded and they kept going. He was stubborn, but so was she. She wasn't about to leave him to die alone in an empty corridor. As so, slowly, they moved towards the meeting point. His body began to worn out by the minute; his skin grew paler and his breath uneven.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, she heard footsteps coming towards them. Soon, Eames appeared, waving at them.

"Did you have to make these damn corridors so long, Ariadne? I think I hurt something," he then turned towards Arthur, noticing his condition. "We don't have much time, have we?"

She shook her head, wincing.

"Here, let me help you, mate," Eames offered his shoulder and Arthur left her support. "Seems like we always end up trying to finish things right up in the nick of time."

"Let's try not to make a habit of it," Arthur said, smiling a little.

"Ah come off, what fun could that be? Right, Ariadne?"

"Sure, this is lots of fun," she responded, sarcastically. "I enjoy treating a bullet wound or two."

Eames eyed her strangely, before looking between them and smiling. Slightly embarrassed by this, Ariadne could feel her cheeks warm. Of course Eames knew something was different between Arthur and her.

After that, it was a long run towards the water tower. With no difficulty, she made a hatch and stairs leading right into it, and the three of them climbed inside. There a sniper rifle awaited them. There was also a hole with the right size for them to watch what was going on outside without risk of being seen. It had a good view of the barn entrance and the house.

Luckily they found the first Edwards sitting in the living room of the house, right by a window. Eames had a clear shot at him.

"How do we lure the other one out?" she asked.

"Shooting this one might do the trick," Eames suggested, with a smile.

"That could compromise our position, and then we would lose all advantage," Arthur said, with a wince.

"So, what then?"

"I suggest bait."

She started at Arthur, knowing immediately what he was thinking.

"No, Arthur… That's crazy."

"I'm done for, you know that. This way I can be useful at least."

She bit her lip, annoyed at her lack of arguments against him risking himself like that. She looked to Eames, hoping him would take her side, but he didn't say anything.

"Okay, fine. But Arthur…" she started, taking his hand. "Be careful. Down there and you know…"

"I know," he smiled reassuring.

She didn't care that Eames was just behind them, pretending not to see anything, Ariadne just grabbed Arthur close and kissed him hard. He responded with the same intensity, surprising her. It seemed he could not have cared less too.

"Don't take too long," he whispered to her, while cupping her face. "I don't want you to see me as a crazy old man."

"As long you don't forget about me."

"I don't think that's even possible."

She smiled her cheeks now definitely warm. She watched him leave, descending the stairs with some difficulty and then walking in the field. Then, she went next to Eames, looking through the hole and finding Arthur crossing towards the house.

"Well, that was very interesting. Congrats, love."

She smiled a little, embarrassed.

"Let's focus on the mission, okay?"

"Oh sure, the girl says that after kissing the Point Man during said mission. With tongue."

"Fine. Can we focus on the mission now?"

He laughed and went back to the scope of his rifle. In silence, they waited as Arthur called Edwards.

"I'm here, Edwards! Come out and talk to me," he shouted towards the house. "Or I shoot one of you."

After a minute or so, the second Edwards appeared, gun in his right hand, closing the door of the house behind him. He had a satisfied smile on his lips, his left hand resting inside one of the pockets of his yellow suit.

"You're still alive, I see. What do you want to talk about it?"

"Why did you do it? Risk your other personality for petty revenge?"

"Petty? I spend years in that company. Slaving myself just for the possibility of a promotion, of recognition. Did I get it? No. I got nothing!"

"You had something; you had a chance to start over. Now you don't even have that."

While they talked Ariadne turned to Eames.

"Can't you take the shot now?"

"Not yet."

"Why not?"

"I need to think of the kick, Ariadne. The minute I shoot any of the Edwards, the projections are going to notice us here. We need to time this so they won't kill us first."

Their solution for the kicks was rather simples this time. Or simpler than the usual. Back in the first level, Yusuf was going to tide them and make them bungee jump from their building, waking up and then propelled back to the floor safely. She just hoped everything was fine back there. As for the farm level, there was a car in the garage of the house, waiting to be used. Half an hour from there (which meant five minutes to Yusuf), at the end of a road was a cliff from where Eames would fall and wake up.

"Oh. Right. About that… I'm not going with you."

"I thought as much."

They focused back to Arthur and Edwards. It seemed that Arthur had said something that made Edwards angry, as his gun was now pointed directly at his skull.

"You're stalling me," Edwards announced. "And I don't like to be patronized. Mostly I don't like you."

Suddenly a sound vibrated trough the wind, a familiar melody barely recognizable, mixing with the clock sounds already repeating her mind. It was the signal for the kick, it would come soon. At the same time, Ariadne watched Arthur turned his head a little and gave a nod at their direction. She knew what was going to happen next and held her breath as Edwards raised his gun and, with a smirk, shot Arthur without any hesitation.

She closed her eyes against her better judgment. She knew it could happen, but it still hurt, like she was losing him for good. When she opened them again, she saw Arthur's body on the ground, lifeless. It was all that took for Ariadne to harden her resolve. She was going to follow him and quickly. But, before that, Edwards was going down.

"Damn it, he's moving away. And the projections are closing in on us," Eames announced, his voice full of frustration.

"Eames, give me the gun."

"Why? What do you have in mind?" he said while passing over the rifle.

"I'm going to end this now."

With one eye open she pointed the gun at Edwards while taking a deep breath; she tried to focus on remembering the day she first trained with guns with Arthur.

"One thing… Can I change the direction of a bullet?"

It was her dream and so, her rules. When she pulled the trigger she immediately knew it worked. Edwards's body fell, a hole in the back of his head. After barely one second so did the other Edwards, sitting on the living room sofa by the window. She manipulated the bullet so it could hit both of them, its projection making a circular trajectory.

"I'm impressed. You need to teach me that little trick when we wake up."

"I'll. But now we have to go."

He nodded and both left the water tower, running towards the house's garage. The projections were gone as the subject had left the level, still Ariadne didn't want to stay there any longer, and they drove fast towards the road and the cliff.

"I suppose I don't have to tell you to be careful and all that, do I love?"

"I'm going to be fine, Eames. Don't worry."

Eames said nothing more, stepping on the gas. As they closed on the cliff, the sound of the music grew louder and more defined. They could see the end of the road now, and Ariadne knew it was time. She looked at the watch on her wrist, which was marking the seconds as the sound of the clock in her head went on. In the waking world, 2 and half hours had passed. They had just a few minutes before the music ended, which meant they had spent about almost hour in the farm level since Arthur died. He was alone in there for what it probably felt like weeks, if not months.

"I think it's time you went," Eames told her, while facing the cliff ahead, nearer and nearer.

She nodded, taking out a pistol from the glove compartment.

"Wish me luck, Eames," was the last thing she said before pulling the trigger against her head.

The first thing she felt was salt in her mouth and water all around her. She opened her eyes to the familiar seashore belonging to where she knew was Limbo. There wasn't any need to swim, as the waves recoiled and let her fall in the sand below. She got up, adjusting her clothes and hugging herself to keep warm.

There was no city of ruined buildings like when she saw travelling with Cobb. Instead, in front of her, was what appeared to be a beach club. A strange abandoned beach club, with no sign of life, just old umbrellas and broken reclining chairs. It reminded her of a place she couldn't quite place, but it felt she already knew.

She also noticed it was night, but without any moon or stars to be seen, the sound of waves mixing with the clock on her mind, marking slowly as time in the real world passed.

Not knowing what to do, she went to direction of the main building of the club. It was a beautiful structure with clear influence of Neo-Baroque style. And then, it suddenly hit her: she knew the construction, she knew where she was. She had studied the place in class, as well, seen in a vacation trip with friends years ago.

And as to confirm her suspicion, the entrance hall had a plate with "La Société des Bains de Mer" written on it. This was Monaco, or a condensed version of it. The hall lead her to other side of the building, were the famous Casino Square was. Just crossing the square she recognized the Casino de Monte Carlo, its tall building and towers illuminated by thousands of lights. The casino, unlike the beach club, didn't seem abandoned. There wasn't any projections walking nearby, but the sheer vividness of the building made her believe someone was inside.

It could even be Arthur, as his totem was a die.

She ran towards the entrance, an elegant and luxurious atrium revealing itself as she walked in. There were columns in each side and huge windows of stained glass on the ceiling. And all around her were carved wooden doors leading to other smaller rooms. She could hear voices coming from its others sides, people talking excitedly and the sound of cards being handled and roulettes spinning. She also heard what appeared to be someone singing an opera.

"Excusez-moi, êtes-vous perdue?" a woman's voice made her turn, surprised.

In front of her was now Mal Cobb, dressed in a tight black dress, a sweet smile on her lips and a cocktail in her left hand.

AN: I just want to thank you everyone for reading, commenting and just putting this story on yours favorite's list. I'm really sorry for the delay, life was just very busy and stressing these months. But the good news? There just a few more chapters to go (probably just 2) and it's all AA from now on :). I'm going to respond later to each review indivually. Also, happy new year everyone! :) PS. After spending hours and hours thinking how time works out in limbo and everything, I realized that the info the movie gave us isn't very acurate, at least to me it doesn't seem that way, so I just kept going with what I had in mind at the begning, so sorry if it's wrong. But the whole 1 hour = five minutes + 1 week = 6 months = 10 years, didn't seem to have a clear mathematical explanation/equasion, so... I made one up XD.

Oh, yes... Forgot to add: the french line Mal says means: "Excuse me, are you lost?" (at least I hope so! I just had six months of french class, it may not be right!). Also, merci beaucoup Caprice K for correcting the phrase! :)