Right... so here is the conclusion of the story. Thanks to all those who stuck with me till the end of my first multi-chaptered fic for Inception. Disclaimers apply as usual.

"Arthur, you're always welcome to visit, but I'm not having this conversation with you." Ariadne tried valiantly to control her voice since Eames was still dead asleep upstairs, not even shifting at the sound of the doorbell that had had her shoot awake.

"Fine." The Point Man looked down into his coffee mug and she had a strange sense of déjà vu, fingering the totem in the pockets of her sweat-pants. She had quickly thrown them on after opening the door to a tight-faced Arthur with a newspaper in hands.

"I appreciate that you're trying to clean up after…" She gestured vaguely at the article in the paper talking about a man having been slaughtered in a house that appeared to have been the centre of a cocaine-dealing ring. "But I won't hear you treating me like a child anymore. I can handle this."

"I just meant that…" She would not let him finish. "I don't care. I can't and I won't do it."

She caught him looking at something behind her and slumped slightly in her seat before looking over her shoulder to find a bedraggled Eames standing in the doorframe, still only clad in boxers.

The architect had hoped he would get more sleep than this.

" What's goin' on?" The Forger managed, tiredness still seeping through his voice.

Arthur was about to speak, but Ariadne beat him to it. "Arthur is being an asshole, that's what's going on."

The Point Man shot her a withering glare. "I only came here to let you know that McAllen is in the papers and I'm working on covering your tracks but there's a lot of heat."

Though still a little glazed, Eames narrowed his eyes at the younger man. "You wouldn't be here just to tell us that."

Ariadne almost looked triumphant, but Arthur kept his cool and turned to look at her. "Can I talk to Eames alone for a minute?"

"What, so you can convince him?" She crossed her arms, but was stopped short by the Forger's voice.

"Ariadne."

She turned and glared, but then got up. Turning her back on Arthur, she walked out of the room. She only stopped for a moment to look up at Eames and grasped his hand to give it a squeeze.

For the first time in what she felt like forever, she received a smile in return. He bent down to plant a chaste kiss on her lips.

"Check if you lot woke Isa up, would you?" They both knew it was an obvious way of getting her out of the room, but she still went along with it when she saw the look he gave her.

"I'll be back in a few." She smiled back at him and went up the stairs with a last fierce look at a decidedly uncomfortable looking Arthur. Eames did not usually feel the need to mark his territory like this, nor did she. It was setting up a clear united front against him.

Isabelle was still sound asleep. Of course she would be, they had closed the door last night, only leaving theirs open. The little girl looked a little more peaceful, but perhaps Ariadne was simply hoping for too much. She closed the door again quietly.

She hesitated on the landing, but then decided to eaves-drop, since by then their voices had risen in volume enough to be picked up from upstairs.

Silently she crept down the stairs again, keeping out of sight of the doorway.

"Of course I know that, Arthur. What do you take me for?" She made out Eames' drawl even though he still sounded drained.

"A selfish bastard, that's what I take you for." She stopped short at the Point Man's icy reply.

There was a brief pause, as if the Forger felt the same as she did.

"What?" It was flat and revealed far more emotion than it probably had been intended to.

"You heard me." It was Arthur's voice again, sounding more confident. "When I gave you McAllen's location, did I not tell you not to do anything stupid? You went on a freaking rampage! I personally think you should put Isabelle somewhere safe as well and send Ariadne back to Paris while this cools down. You're dragging her into unnecessary danger again!"

Ariadne had also thought about the fact that they needed to keep the little girl safe and that it would be hard considering their line of work, but it was simply cruel to take her from the only vaguely familiar family she had.

It was logical, sure, but Arthur was not usually this cold. He was the one with the rational plans and ideas, but how could he suggest a thing like this?

She felt her fists clench by her sides. So this was what this was about. He was trying to protect her again when he had no right to. And in trying to get to that point, he was prepared to even separate Eames from both her and his own child. She did not, would not understand it.

Ever since the three of them had started working together, the Point Man had quietly been trying to bully her out of the business supposedly for her own safety. When Eames had stepped up to help her in her resistance, the friendly banter between the two men had slowly grown into something more serious.

She had not wanted to admit that it was because of her, had not wanted to realise that it was only human for Arthur to feel this way, to want to protect her at least if nothing else and to do so at all costs.

What disturbed her even more was the silence from Eames' side. She moved closer to the door, ready to stop a fight if the need arose. She was not entirely sure about how she would go about that, but she would cross that bridge when she got to it.

"Didn't play with her before dropping her on the spot, though." She then heard the Brit's quiet reply.

"I had my reasons." Arthur's tone was suddenly more solemn too.

"Sure you did. Did you know she cried at night because she didn't understand why her mentor was abandoning her?" The malice in the words made her flinch. This was her fault. Without her, they would not have this animosity erupt like that between each other.

"I was trying to do the right thing. Something that clearly eludes you."

"You were being a twat, that's what you were doing."

There was a sigh from Arthur and the scrape of a chair. "Alright. You want to get her hurt, be my guest."

Ariadne quickly hid behind a corner when she heard footsteps. She did not want to be seen.

"She's not a child Arthur. I know she told you that before. It's her decision." Eames called after the Point Man who was making his way to the door, his back turned to her hiding place.

As he reached for the door handle, he paused. "Have you even asked her?" Then he left, door closing quietly behind him.

"You can come out now." The Forger's voice was far too worn out for her liking.

She stepped from around the corner to see him standing there, still eyeing the door as if looking for an answer.

"You knew I was there the whole time, didn't you?" She tried to smile, but did not think it worked.

"He did too, I'm sure." Eames rasped, gray eyes finding hers, a question in them.

"I told him to stuff it. We stick together. We can always go somewhere else." Ariadne told him, slowly approaching him, knowing that he had enough on his mind without all this.

"He did have a point, you know. I mucked up, badly. I didn't think about you or Isa at all at the time." The Forger said, looking away and up to the staircase.

"I know." She said, standing right in front of him, but he still did not look at her. She reached out, putting a hand onto his chest, needing the contact. "And at some point I will give you hell for it."

His lips quirked into a smirk of amusement despite the serious matter. "I don't doubt it."

Just as quickly he looked away again, the spark quenched again. At least it had been there. It was a start.

"Do you want me to leave?" She asked to get back to the original subject, knowing the moment had gone.

He looked back at her, startled. "I don't want you to… I want you to be safe, though." He grabbed her hand and pulled her closer to wrap his arms around her.

She kissed him and gave him a smirk that looked a little too familiar to be entirely comfortable to look at. "I can take care of myself." Then it dropped just as quickly, her face growing sombre. "I'll stay as long as you want me to."

When he pulled her into a tight embrace and mumbled a quiet 'I love you' into her hair, she was reassured that this was exactly the right thing to do, no matter if it was entirely safe or not.

The sky was only just starting to turn from dark blue to a softer gray, but the Forger already found himself outside, on the patio with his second cigarette of the day. He could not stop thinking about Arthur's visit the day before.

Ariadne had barely stirred when he had gotten up, grabbing an undershirt and his shoes. He knew she had been severely disturbed the other night. She had done well at covering it up, but he could see it anyway.

The miniscule piece of a conscience he had tucked away somewhere had reared its ugly head when he was no longer too occupied with hunting down whoever had dared hurt his daughter.

Everything they had done in the two years that he had known the little architect and still it struck him sometimes how stupid he was for getting involved with her. It was not the fact that she was a lot younger than him; it was the fact that he could not help but think that Arthur and Cobb may have been right, that she was not meant for this life.

He had been so sure that it would destroy her more if they sent her cold turkey after drawing her into this world. It was like the other two men wanted to slam the door in her face after giving her a taster.

It had been when she had used everything she could to open that door again, including drawing far too much attention to herself, that he had gotten curious. She was stubborn and far more persistent than any of them would have guessed.

Yet, here he was wondering if what he was doing to her was not far too much to ask. Of course she would not leave, that was her stubborn nature again. But was she not too young to be dragged into the mess of his life?

He took a deep drag from what was left of his cancer-stick before stamping it out and reached for his pocket to take another one but noticed movement from the corner of his eyes.

Turning, he found Isabelle in her soft blue pyjamas watching him through the glass-door. She was barefoot, clutching the small plush dragon Ariadne had bought for her to her chest. Her little hand was on the glass, but made no move to try and open the door.

Her eyes were still void of the life he had come to expect in them during his sparse visits.

He pulled his hand out of his pocket and went back to open the door. "What are you doing out of bed, precious?" He crouched down in front of her, still feeling that knot in his gut when she only stared at him quietly. She would have thrown herself at him before all this.

He reached out to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. It was ruffled from sleep. Not that he would have ever been able to have her around like this without everything that happened. The price had been far too much though.

"Daddy?"

Eames froze and stared at the tears slowly forming in her eyes. She had not cried since they had found her. Of course neither had she spoken.

"Thought you'd left again." She sniffed, clutching up the cuddly toy to hide her face behind it, more like a toddler than a child her own age.

He was still unable to move, only his eyes flicked up at the presence of someone else appearing from the staircase. Ariadne had her arms wrapped around herself and looked decidedly sleepy still, but she had caught what had happened, her tired eyes widening.

The Forger was sure his expression was not much better.

Eventually he found his speech again. "No, darling. I came back." It was almost a croak, his vocal cords struggling with the simple task.

He barely managed to open his arms for her before she was there, stuffed animal and all, trying to dig herself into his embrace. She was sobbing properly now, small wails muffled into the shirt he had thrown on before going out.

Ariadne he could tell was tearing up as well then, her hand going to her mouth as if that would stop the emotions.

Still holding his daughter close, Eames knelt on the kitchen-floor to hold her better. He did not promise her that he would always come back. He knew better than to make promises that would only end up hurting her more.

"It's okay. I'm here now." He tried instead but doubted the child cared what words of comfort he offered, the way she had attached herself to him.

She had spoken again and she was crying. Maybe that was a good sign.

Looking up, he found Ariadne approaching the two of them and she was smiling when she put a soft hand on his shoulder. He did not find it in him to return the smile, but hoped she could see the grateful look he shot her.

Perhaps it was selfish, but he could not send her away because he needed her around. At least for as long as she was willing. Arthur should mind his own bloody business.

There you have it. The end. I felt it was right to leave them there for now. It seemed like the perfect situation to end the story with even though there is clearly more ahead of them all X) Hope you enjoyed!