chesstotem | for isnt_the

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who: arthur (isnt_the_same)

for isnt_the_same

The only thing more cathartic than drawing, in Ariadne's experience, was shooting at things. And after the week she'd had, she needed to shoot some things.

She'd gone into this assignment, bright-eyed and ready to bring down the bad guys. They'd assembled her identity, using her own background in design to get her an in with their cooperative witness, Miles.

But Ariadne hadn't counted on enjoying the dream sharing as much as she had - not after three years of being repulsed by the very idea of it. Nor had she counted on liking the team - Cobb, charismatic but broken; Eames, oozing charm from every pore; Yusuf, a bit absent-minded but genuinely kind; Arthur, always in control but barely concealing something wild and dark.

And now she'd just found out her job wasn't done. Her assignment was going to continue - Cobb and the others, they'd realized, weren't the kingpins they had originally thought. Ariadne was a little relieved, but now they were expecting her to keep her cover, try to get as much information from them as she could. For how long, she didn't know.

The thought made her nervous. So she did the only thing that could help relieve some of her tension - she went to the shooting range. She was intent on the paper target in front of her, putting bullet holes right in the center of the chest.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

With her talent? How could she expect otherwise?

He shook his head. "You're a rarity in this business, Ariadne. If I don't scoop you up for myself, it won't be long before someone else does."

She laughed, ducking her head slightly to hide her embarrassment. "Who says I'd let anyone scoop me up? Maybe I want to freelance." She didn't really mean that - aside from being assigned to keep tabs on Arthur, she liked spending time with him - they got along well, and they worked well together. Frankly, they did make a good team. Even if what they were doing was illegal and she would eventually be busting him for it.

"So the the thought of being my partner doesn't interest you?" He knew that wasn't the case, though. He could tell.

"No, I just... I guess I feel a bit like someone is proposing marriage after only one date," she said with a smile. "I'll be happy to work with you again, though. I'd like it, as a matter of fact." The disturbing thing was, that was the absolute truth.

"Ah." He knew she might have been feeling that way, but he couldn't help himself. She was good--pure talent and he hadn't met anyone in a long time who possessed such skill. She already surpassed Cobb in his book when it came to building.

"Good. But we can discuss this more later, if you'd like."

"Of course." She put her hand on his arm, reassuring. "Name the time and place. You've taught me a lot; I'd be crazy to turn down the opportunity to keep learning from you."

He nodded with a smile. A genuine one. "My hotel suite at..." He looked down at his watch again. "Eight? We can have dinner there as well if you get hungry."

"All right; I'll be there." She grinned and stuck out her hand for him to shake.

Now she had to figure out what to wear.

He shake her hand.

After he left the shooting range, he went straight back to his hotel and started immersing himself in his again. The only reason he came to this particular town was because he needed to talk to Ariadne in person. And now that he had accomplished that, all that needed to happen tonight was for her to agree to be his partner and the rest would go off from there.

Ariadne went to her tiny apartment, and spent a lot longer figuring out what to wear than she probably should have. Eventually, she settled on what had become normal attire for her - jeans, a blouse, her rust-red jacket. But the scarf she chose was a little bit nicer than normal, and she put on just a touch of makeup.

She told herself she just wanted to impress Arthur professionally, though she didn't really believe that, in her heart of hearts.

Still, she was determined to do the job she was here to do, to the best of her abilities. It was precisely eight when she knocked on the door of Arthur's hotel suite. It was suitably fancy, not like the dingy little apartment she'd been renting.

Arthur opened the door and smiled when he found her there. "Right on time," he said as he stepped aside so she could walk in. The suite was tidy with the decor suiting Arthur to a tee. The only place that showed any hint of personally was the coffee table in the living that currently housed his laptop and other paper work.

"I try never to be late," she pointed out with a smile as he led her inside. "Especially when I've had an offer as nice as yours."

He turned his head a little to smile at her as he led her over to the sitting area. He gestured with his hand for her to sit down on the couch while he sat on the couch opposite her. Rummaging through the files, he picked one up and handed it to her. "The CEO of a computer software company wants to know if his CFO is laundering money," he stated. "The job would take about two weeks tops, including planning and execution."

She frowned a little, knowing that couldn't possibly be the whole story - money laundering could be tough to track down, but eventually, the financial records would lead to it, if it was there. Still, she wasn't sure if that was something Ariadne should know. She was smart, but she didn't have CIA training, she kept reminding herself.

"Sounds pretty easy. A lot easier than the last job," she said after a moment's pause.

He huffed out a laugh. "Anything's easier than the last job."

Arthur continued with the information on the file he just handed her. "In addition to the money laundering, the CEO wants information on more...personal matters." Taking the file back from her, he opened it and took out a list of expenses. "The CFO has been spending time pursuing illegal activities and the client wants to know what exactly they are and how they pertain to the money laundering. His computer's clean and so is his day planner."

"You may have a point there," she said with a smile, then opened the file and began flipping through it.

"I see. And, most importantly, who he's working for?"

“The CFO? He’s working for the executive chairman: the client—the CEO,” he explained.

"Sure, legally. But who's directing his illegal activities? Somehow I don't think it's very likely that he just up and decided to start laundering money for himself one day. From what I understand, money laundering is usually part of something bigger, right?"

“Of course, well, here’s the hard part of the job. There’s a man who runs an underground crime ring in the same city as the company’s headquarters. As far as I can tell, for some reason, he has the CFO wrapped around his finger so what he says, goes.”

"So we're being asked to expose the CFO's illegal activities, in a way that won't turn the blame onto the CEO, and at the same time uncover his connection to this criminal underground, and what their purpose is in using him. So maybe not quite so easy," she joked.

He shrugged, grinning. "Can you really compare any extraction job to an inception job? Inception is nearly impossible."

"I guess not," she said, perching on the sofa to take a closer look at the file. "So, this'll be just the two of us, then? I guess most extractions don't require that many people, either..."

"Yeah, just the two of us. The Mark's mind isn't militarized so we've got that going for us," he said. "This'll pretty much be an in an out job."

"Once we figure out what we're actually looking for," she pointed out with a smile.

"I'll have to figure out what sort of dream will work best for it, too..."

"That, too," he added.

"We'll figure it out," he said.

for isnt_the_same

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