Easing The Transition.
Title: Easing the Transition
Series: Agents of Inception (#1 - After The Fall)
Author: Eustacia Vye
Author's e-mail: eustacia_vye28@hotmail.com
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Ariadne/Arthur
Warning/Spoilers: Winter Soldier/AOS spoilers. Written in response to the Tumblr prompt "Do you trust me?" for Still Worth A Shot, our AA Fest there. The AO3 Collection is here.
Summary: After getting out of the office alive, they start to gather allies and figure out what should come next.
It had been exhausting to escape the office building. Ariadne had no idea why a statistics office in Baltimore would be a target for Hydra to mess with, but she supposed it was the proximity to the Triskelion in DC that made the difference. "It's the hard line connection between buildings," Arthur offered when she brought it up. "A good enough hacker will be able to get at whatever secrets hadn't been leaked to the net."
"You think there are more?" Fischer asked. The group of them were huddled in a single motel room, all paid for in cash. SHIELD was being conflated with Hydra now, so all of them were being labeled terrorists. Considering they had all joined up in the belief they were fighting terrorism, it was a sobering and disheartening realization.
Arthur snorted. "It's SHIELD. I sincerely doubt anyone could ever know all the secrets the top level agents keep. Hell, I'm sure there are hard copy files that never got digitized."
"But we're not privy to any of those files. Level Four, Statistics," Kristen said, pointing to herself. Her back business suit was rumpled, her blonde hair was mussed and was falling in wisps from her ponytail. There was weariness in her brown eyes now, and exhaustion lined her otherwise youthful features. "I could understand a Science officer or something, but not someone that crunches numbers all day."
"Who better to come up with algorithms or alternate ways to access data? That's what you're supposed to do for us," Arthur reasoned. "Any smart mind they can turn…"
That made Kristen look decidedly ill, and she turned away from the rest of the group. Besides her, Arthur, Ariadne and Fischer, there was Tadashi Lee, Darren Bartel and Sarah Paulson. Only Arthur had combat experience, though Ariadne and Fischer were willing to step up and help in this situation. "We're going to need more people," Tadashi sighed. "I'm pretty observant, but action really isn't my thing." He turned toward Bartel and Paulson. "Sorry guys, but it's obvious that it's not really your thing either. If it's just us against the world, it's not going to work out. I don't really enjoy the thought of being arrested because I worked for SHIELD."
"I know a few guys," Arthur said slowly. "I think I can trust them."
"You think," Ariadne said sharply.
"I've known Eames a long time. Not exactly a stellar reputation, sure, but he always got the job done and he would say when a job is impossible to do."
"So it's just one more person?" Kristen asked dubiously. "We're going to need a lot more than that if we want to survive."
"He knows a lot more people that I wouldn't. It's going to be a question of networking and resources. I just wish we found more people that we could have trusted at the offices."
"Why were you there, anyway?" Fischer asked, suspicion in his tone.
Ariadne hadn't wanted to ask Arthur that, given her respect for his skills and burgeoning affection for him. She shot Fischer a grateful look he didn't notice.
"I was on light duty at the time," Arthur said quietly. "Our last mission had gone south. We got out without tipping off the target that they were being watched, but we lost the artifact that we were tracking. Chitauri," he added without their prompting. "I got transferred there a week ago at Cobb's request."
Dom Cobb again. Ariadne thought of the cold and dismissive way he had held them captive in that office suite, dismissive of their fears and singlemindedly going after what he wanted. "Why would he request you?"
"The request stated it was because an artifact of some kind had been found, and he wanted me on site to be able to identify if it was Chitauri weaponry or not."
"That should be a Science Division task."
"That's what I thought, too," Arthur replied with a sigh. "But I didn't question orders."
"But now we have to," Fischer pointed out. "Now we don't know who we can trust."
"But we need people, too," Kristen pointed out. "We'll need a lot more people."
Ariadne looked at Arthur and impulsively reached out to touch his arm. "Call him, then. Let's meet and figure out what the next step will be."
***
Agent Eames looked harried when he met the group of them at a TGI Friday's in Delaware. "Not my favorite part of the country, but nothing really happens here," he told Arthur. "Seemed safe enough and away from prying eyes."
"Thanks," Arthur said. He rubbed his face tiredly, making Ariadne have to suppress the impulse to rub his back soothingly. It was kind of ridiculous, given how little she really knew about him, but she really, really wanted to.
The entire party fell silent as the waitress arrived to get their drink orders and announce the day's specials. They went through the motions of being an ordinary group of office mates out for lunch together, though they all tensed once their waitress left.
Eames looked at all of them in turn. "Do you trust me?"
"It looks like we're going to have to," Kristen replied tartly before anyone else could.
He grinned at her. "Yeah, well, trust is kind of a dangerous commodity right now."
Ariadne got the same kind of vibe from Eames that she did from Arthur- scarily competent at physical aggression if necessary, but not the type to use it if there were more peaceful means available. "I do."
Leaning back in his chair a little, Eames shook his head. "You really should exercise a little more caution there. Diving right in is a good way to get yourself hurt. Or killed."
"Or finding allies to save SHIELD from Hydra," she replied, voice stronger than she felt in that moment. Eames had a point, after all.
"Brave words from the office pool," Eames said, a measure of admiration in his tone. "So. How about the rest of you?"
Tadashi and Sarah wanted to bow out, and Ariadne couldn't blame them. Darren was still on the fence, but seemed to be waffling toward no.
"The biggest issue we would have is figuring out what to do with ourselves," Ariadne said, looking around at the others. She looked at Tadashi and Sarah. "You guys could always go to an actuary or accounting firm, something like that. It's not an issue, really. You'd be safe. But if we're going to stay SHIELD agents… What are we going to do? Just take out random Hydra agents? That's a good way to run around and just get hurt. There has to be a reason why they're exposing themselves now after being hidden so long."
"My CO was Saito, and I'm fairly damn sure the man's as loyal as they come. Shady as hell sometimes, you don't get to be Level Seven in Ops otherwise," Eames clarified hastily, "but he keeps his word no matter the cost. I know we can trust him."
"He probably has a team," Arthur commented. "Last I heard he was in competition with Cobol."
"Because Cobol's a douchebag," Eames said flatly. "Even if Cobol's not a Hydra agent, I still don't want to work with that fool. I'd rather have to deal with Nash, and he's just slimy as fuck. Have you met Yusuf in Sciences?" Eames asked Arthur.
"I don't think so, why?"
"We're going to need gear and tech. They've got all their weaponry, after all. It will only be fair for us to have something to fight them back with."
"Higher level ops agents have safe houses and know where SHIELD repositories are, don't they?" Ariadne asked.
"We're not too far from where my father lives, either," Fischer said suddenly. "We're not fond of each other, but he'll help. And if he won't, my uncle Peter will. He's ex-CIA, so he'd have contacts that haven't been burned."
Eames and Arthur grinned at Fischer. "Fantastic," Eames said. "This might just work after all."
"But do we have a target?"
Arthur nodded. "Cobb got turned somehow. And he was going after your office staff for a reason. So we need to find out what that reason is and thwart them however we can."
"Makes us sound like vigilantes," Darren groused.
"Without the SHIELD umbrella," Arthur replied solemnly, "that's exactly what we are. But we can't stand back and let them do whatever they want. We're still agents, and I still believe in the oath I took when I got my badge."
"All right," Eames said after a moment. "I'll take you two wherever you want to go," he told Tadashi and Kristen. "I wasn't followed here and I doubt that Arthur would've allowed a tail." He actually grinned at Arthur's disgruntled expression.
"I'm not sure how helpful I'd be," Darren began.
"Every little bit helps," Arthur told him seriously. "But it's your choice. We're not going to coerce anyone here. If you walk away, you walk away. No bad feelings."
"That's already different from Cobb's tactics," Ariadne pointed out.
"I gather he did a lot of things he would normally say not to do," Arthur said dryly.
"Considering the state you found us in," Ariadne murmured, "that is scarily accurate."
Conversation died down after that.
***
After lunch, Eames left with Tadashi and Kristen. Fischer and Darren took one room at a Best Western and Arthur and Ariadne got the last room in a Motel Six. "Sorry about this," Arthur said to Ariadne apologetically as they entered the motel room. "But Darren was giving me dirty looks as we were discussing the hotel situation."
"He's not an easy guy to get along with," she replied with a shrug, secretly thrilled she could spend more time alone with Arthur. Not that anything seemed to be romantic at the moment, but it could.
"Thanks for being so understanding and flexible," Arthur continued. He slung his suit jacket onto the back of a chair and loosened his tie. He seemed to realize she was staring at him, and she flushed a little, wondering what he thought of her. She was a capable agent, after all, but staring like a silly teenager. There was legitimate danger in this plan of theirs, but she wasn't dead yet, dammit. Arthur was easy on the eyes, courteous and competent at what he did. Ariadne was sure the more they spent time together, she would learn more than that. But fantasizing about a potential liaison was better than contemplating Hydra agents trying to kill them.
"We probably should get a change of clothes, something for overnight," Ariadne said quietly. "We all left Baltimore so quickly."
Arthur nodded. "Good idea. We don't want to stand out too much. At least we're not high priority targets," he added. They were both aware of the high profile manhunts on news alerts.
"That we know of," she countered. "If we're important enough to try to recruit…"
Nodding again, Arthur was clearly startled by the logic. "Good point. A mall is open enough and public enough that we should be able to get what we need and go."
"And burner phones, maybe." At his assessing look, Ariadne flushed. "I watch TV, even if I'm not in the field. We'd need to be able to keep contact with the others."
"You surprise me," Arthur said with a fond smile. "Your talents were wasted in that office, you know. You're a natural."
Ariadne preened a little under the unexpected praise. "I'm a quick study."
"Well, let's go see those skills at work."
The mall wasn't very crowded, and they visited a few stores to get what they needed. She tried to look everywhere while being unobtrusive about it. Sure, they likely weren't being followed, but better to be safe than sorry, especially in their business suits. Sitting on a bench to rest her feet, Ariadne looked at Arthur. "Shoe store next, definitely. Heels don't have good enough support for all this walking we're doing."
"Depends on the brand," he corrected almost absently, looking around.
Instead of asking how he knew that, Ariadne followed his line of sight. "They're looking at us."
"Yeah. Could be trying to figure out why were here shopping rather than at work."
"Or wondering if we're SHIELD."
"Exactly. Quick, give me a kiss."
The kiss was fleeting but still sent sparks of electricity through her. Ariadne parted her lips in invitation, but he didn't quite follow through. His hand fell on top of hers, though, sending another thrill through her.
The potential goons were still staring.
"They're still looking at us."
Arthur heaved a melodramatic sigh. "Yeah, it was worth a shot."
Ariadne looked at him out of the corner of her eye, a smile starting to form on her lips. Did he just try to scam a kiss? Was he feeling this, too?
"C'mon, let's go get your comfy shoes," he declared, rising and grabbing most of their bags.
The potential goons didn't follow them, but Ariadne still felt watched. She picked out rubber soled shoes quickly, and Arthur paid for the pair with one of his credit cards. It was better not to think about why he would have so many cover identities and accounts. He was in the field, after all.
He hurried them back to the parking lot, and Ariadne dreaded what they'd find when they approached the rental car. It was intact, no sign of anything untoward. She heaved a sigh of relief when the engine turned over and they were able to drive away. Arthur kept watch on all mirrors, and left the engine running while Ariadne gave a phone to Fischer to keep contact. Arthur was texting Eames their new numbers when she got back, and she tried to memorize Eames' contact number as Arthur drove them to their motel.
Eames was waiting on Saito and his friend Yusuf to get back to him, and also mentioned trying to get in touch with Freddie Simmons, "the man with a thousand faces." Apparently, he was hard to find because he was so good at deep cover missions. "He aspires to be as good as Agent Romanoff someday," Eames said with a laugh, his voice almost tinny over the cheap phone. She could imagine his crooked grin, though. "I've met her once on my recert training. Not quite as scary as all the stories would have you believe, though that could be because I wasn't an ass in her presence."
They were hoping to meet up the next day at a Ruby Tuesday's in the next town. That left all of the agents staying at least overnight in their rooms. Ariadne hadn't really thought about it much until after dinner. It was a single room, which she hadn't paid much attention to before, but now that fact was looming large in her mind.
"I can sleep on the floor," Arthur told her as she rifled through the shopping bags from the mall.
"That'll be uncomfortable," Ariadne replied, shaking her head as she retrieved the brand new pajamas she had gotten. "We can both be adults and share the bed."
His expression was intense but not frightening, an expression on his face that she couldn't quite name. "I don't think that's a good idea, Ariadne."
Putting her pajamas down, Ariadne approached him steadily. He seemed more tense now than he had earlier, when in the mall. If anything, it seemed to get worse as she approached. She remembered his kiss, the electric sparks at their skin to skin contact.
Taking a chance, she unbuttoned her blouse as she walked closer, then tossed it negligently behind her. Standing in front of him in just her bra and skirt, she lifted her chin and maintained eye contact. "I disagree."
"Ariadne…"
"Unless there's someone else," she told him in a reasonable tone of voice, as if she was simply explaining number theory in the office. "If that's the case, I'm sorry. I'm not trying to make you feel uncomfortable. But there was something in that kiss today, wasn't there?" Arthur looked away, releasing his breath slowly, and Ariadne stepped closer. She reached behind her back to unhook her bra, almost shocked at herself. She hadn't been the type of woman to throw herself at someone just because she liked them. Then again, she was doing more than enough running and hiding just then. Right now, she needed something real to depend on.
Arthur turned back to her just as she tossed the bra aside. "Oh, God, Ariadne."
"That's a good 'Oh, God,' right?" she asked, lips quirking into a smile.
The breath seemed to leave him in a rush. "Yeah. Yeah," he repeated, licking his lips. "That's a really good 'Oh, God.'"
Reaching out to pull him closer, Ariadne let her smile widen. "Time for bed, Arthur," she said, pulling him down for a kiss.
This time, he didn't try to resist her.
The End
Series: Agents of Inception (#1 - After The Fall)
Author: Eustacia Vye
Author's e-mail: eustacia_vye28@hotmail.com
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Ariadne/Arthur
Warning/Spoilers: Winter Soldier/AOS spoilers. Written in response to the Tumblr prompt "Do you trust me?" for Still Worth A Shot, our AA Fest there. The AO3 Collection is here.
Summary: After getting out of the office alive, they start to gather allies and figure out what should come next.
It had been exhausting to escape the office building. Ariadne had no idea why a statistics office in Baltimore would be a target for Hydra to mess with, but she supposed it was the proximity to the Triskelion in DC that made the difference. "It's the hard line connection between buildings," Arthur offered when she brought it up. "A good enough hacker will be able to get at whatever secrets hadn't been leaked to the net."
"You think there are more?" Fischer asked. The group of them were huddled in a single motel room, all paid for in cash. SHIELD was being conflated with Hydra now, so all of them were being labeled terrorists. Considering they had all joined up in the belief they were fighting terrorism, it was a sobering and disheartening realization.
Arthur snorted. "It's SHIELD. I sincerely doubt anyone could ever know all the secrets the top level agents keep. Hell, I'm sure there are hard copy files that never got digitized."
"But we're not privy to any of those files. Level Four, Statistics," Kristen said, pointing to herself. Her back business suit was rumpled, her blonde hair was mussed and was falling in wisps from her ponytail. There was weariness in her brown eyes now, and exhaustion lined her otherwise youthful features. "I could understand a Science officer or something, but not someone that crunches numbers all day."
"Who better to come up with algorithms or alternate ways to access data? That's what you're supposed to do for us," Arthur reasoned. "Any smart mind they can turn…"
That made Kristen look decidedly ill, and she turned away from the rest of the group. Besides her, Arthur, Ariadne and Fischer, there was Tadashi Lee, Darren Bartel and Sarah Paulson. Only Arthur had combat experience, though Ariadne and Fischer were willing to step up and help in this situation. "We're going to need more people," Tadashi sighed. "I'm pretty observant, but action really isn't my thing." He turned toward Bartel and Paulson. "Sorry guys, but it's obvious that it's not really your thing either. If it's just us against the world, it's not going to work out. I don't really enjoy the thought of being arrested because I worked for SHIELD."
"I know a few guys," Arthur said slowly. "I think I can trust them."
"You think," Ariadne said sharply.
"I've known Eames a long time. Not exactly a stellar reputation, sure, but he always got the job done and he would say when a job is impossible to do."
"So it's just one more person?" Kristen asked dubiously. "We're going to need a lot more than that if we want to survive."
"He knows a lot more people that I wouldn't. It's going to be a question of networking and resources. I just wish we found more people that we could have trusted at the offices."
"Why were you there, anyway?" Fischer asked, suspicion in his tone.
Ariadne hadn't wanted to ask Arthur that, given her respect for his skills and burgeoning affection for him. She shot Fischer a grateful look he didn't notice.
"I was on light duty at the time," Arthur said quietly. "Our last mission had gone south. We got out without tipping off the target that they were being watched, but we lost the artifact that we were tracking. Chitauri," he added without their prompting. "I got transferred there a week ago at Cobb's request."
Dom Cobb again. Ariadne thought of the cold and dismissive way he had held them captive in that office suite, dismissive of their fears and singlemindedly going after what he wanted. "Why would he request you?"
"The request stated it was because an artifact of some kind had been found, and he wanted me on site to be able to identify if it was Chitauri weaponry or not."
"That should be a Science Division task."
"That's what I thought, too," Arthur replied with a sigh. "But I didn't question orders."
"But now we have to," Fischer pointed out. "Now we don't know who we can trust."
"But we need people, too," Kristen pointed out. "We'll need a lot more people."
Ariadne looked at Arthur and impulsively reached out to touch his arm. "Call him, then. Let's meet and figure out what the next step will be."
***
Agent Eames looked harried when he met the group of them at a TGI Friday's in Delaware. "Not my favorite part of the country, but nothing really happens here," he told Arthur. "Seemed safe enough and away from prying eyes."
"Thanks," Arthur said. He rubbed his face tiredly, making Ariadne have to suppress the impulse to rub his back soothingly. It was kind of ridiculous, given how little she really knew about him, but she really, really wanted to.
The entire party fell silent as the waitress arrived to get their drink orders and announce the day's specials. They went through the motions of being an ordinary group of office mates out for lunch together, though they all tensed once their waitress left.
Eames looked at all of them in turn. "Do you trust me?"
"It looks like we're going to have to," Kristen replied tartly before anyone else could.
He grinned at her. "Yeah, well, trust is kind of a dangerous commodity right now."
Ariadne got the same kind of vibe from Eames that she did from Arthur- scarily competent at physical aggression if necessary, but not the type to use it if there were more peaceful means available. "I do."
Leaning back in his chair a little, Eames shook his head. "You really should exercise a little more caution there. Diving right in is a good way to get yourself hurt. Or killed."
"Or finding allies to save SHIELD from Hydra," she replied, voice stronger than she felt in that moment. Eames had a point, after all.
"Brave words from the office pool," Eames said, a measure of admiration in his tone. "So. How about the rest of you?"
Tadashi and Sarah wanted to bow out, and Ariadne couldn't blame them. Darren was still on the fence, but seemed to be waffling toward no.
"The biggest issue we would have is figuring out what to do with ourselves," Ariadne said, looking around at the others. She looked at Tadashi and Sarah. "You guys could always go to an actuary or accounting firm, something like that. It's not an issue, really. You'd be safe. But if we're going to stay SHIELD agents… What are we going to do? Just take out random Hydra agents? That's a good way to run around and just get hurt. There has to be a reason why they're exposing themselves now after being hidden so long."
"My CO was Saito, and I'm fairly damn sure the man's as loyal as they come. Shady as hell sometimes, you don't get to be Level Seven in Ops otherwise," Eames clarified hastily, "but he keeps his word no matter the cost. I know we can trust him."
"He probably has a team," Arthur commented. "Last I heard he was in competition with Cobol."
"Because Cobol's a douchebag," Eames said flatly. "Even if Cobol's not a Hydra agent, I still don't want to work with that fool. I'd rather have to deal with Nash, and he's just slimy as fuck. Have you met Yusuf in Sciences?" Eames asked Arthur.
"I don't think so, why?"
"We're going to need gear and tech. They've got all their weaponry, after all. It will only be fair for us to have something to fight them back with."
"Higher level ops agents have safe houses and know where SHIELD repositories are, don't they?" Ariadne asked.
"We're not too far from where my father lives, either," Fischer said suddenly. "We're not fond of each other, but he'll help. And if he won't, my uncle Peter will. He's ex-CIA, so he'd have contacts that haven't been burned."
Eames and Arthur grinned at Fischer. "Fantastic," Eames said. "This might just work after all."
"But do we have a target?"
Arthur nodded. "Cobb got turned somehow. And he was going after your office staff for a reason. So we need to find out what that reason is and thwart them however we can."
"Makes us sound like vigilantes," Darren groused.
"Without the SHIELD umbrella," Arthur replied solemnly, "that's exactly what we are. But we can't stand back and let them do whatever they want. We're still agents, and I still believe in the oath I took when I got my badge."
"All right," Eames said after a moment. "I'll take you two wherever you want to go," he told Tadashi and Kristen. "I wasn't followed here and I doubt that Arthur would've allowed a tail." He actually grinned at Arthur's disgruntled expression.
"I'm not sure how helpful I'd be," Darren began.
"Every little bit helps," Arthur told him seriously. "But it's your choice. We're not going to coerce anyone here. If you walk away, you walk away. No bad feelings."
"That's already different from Cobb's tactics," Ariadne pointed out.
"I gather he did a lot of things he would normally say not to do," Arthur said dryly.
"Considering the state you found us in," Ariadne murmured, "that is scarily accurate."
Conversation died down after that.
***
After lunch, Eames left with Tadashi and Kristen. Fischer and Darren took one room at a Best Western and Arthur and Ariadne got the last room in a Motel Six. "Sorry about this," Arthur said to Ariadne apologetically as they entered the motel room. "But Darren was giving me dirty looks as we were discussing the hotel situation."
"He's not an easy guy to get along with," she replied with a shrug, secretly thrilled she could spend more time alone with Arthur. Not that anything seemed to be romantic at the moment, but it could.
"Thanks for being so understanding and flexible," Arthur continued. He slung his suit jacket onto the back of a chair and loosened his tie. He seemed to realize she was staring at him, and she flushed a little, wondering what he thought of her. She was a capable agent, after all, but staring like a silly teenager. There was legitimate danger in this plan of theirs, but she wasn't dead yet, dammit. Arthur was easy on the eyes, courteous and competent at what he did. Ariadne was sure the more they spent time together, she would learn more than that. But fantasizing about a potential liaison was better than contemplating Hydra agents trying to kill them.
"We probably should get a change of clothes, something for overnight," Ariadne said quietly. "We all left Baltimore so quickly."
Arthur nodded. "Good idea. We don't want to stand out too much. At least we're not high priority targets," he added. They were both aware of the high profile manhunts on news alerts.
"That we know of," she countered. "If we're important enough to try to recruit…"
Nodding again, Arthur was clearly startled by the logic. "Good point. A mall is open enough and public enough that we should be able to get what we need and go."
"And burner phones, maybe." At his assessing look, Ariadne flushed. "I watch TV, even if I'm not in the field. We'd need to be able to keep contact with the others."
"You surprise me," Arthur said with a fond smile. "Your talents were wasted in that office, you know. You're a natural."
Ariadne preened a little under the unexpected praise. "I'm a quick study."
"Well, let's go see those skills at work."
The mall wasn't very crowded, and they visited a few stores to get what they needed. She tried to look everywhere while being unobtrusive about it. Sure, they likely weren't being followed, but better to be safe than sorry, especially in their business suits. Sitting on a bench to rest her feet, Ariadne looked at Arthur. "Shoe store next, definitely. Heels don't have good enough support for all this walking we're doing."
"Depends on the brand," he corrected almost absently, looking around.
Instead of asking how he knew that, Ariadne followed his line of sight. "They're looking at us."
"Yeah. Could be trying to figure out why were here shopping rather than at work."
"Or wondering if we're SHIELD."
"Exactly. Quick, give me a kiss."
The kiss was fleeting but still sent sparks of electricity through her. Ariadne parted her lips in invitation, but he didn't quite follow through. His hand fell on top of hers, though, sending another thrill through her.
The potential goons were still staring.
"They're still looking at us."
Arthur heaved a melodramatic sigh. "Yeah, it was worth a shot."
Ariadne looked at him out of the corner of her eye, a smile starting to form on her lips. Did he just try to scam a kiss? Was he feeling this, too?
"C'mon, let's go get your comfy shoes," he declared, rising and grabbing most of their bags.
The potential goons didn't follow them, but Ariadne still felt watched. She picked out rubber soled shoes quickly, and Arthur paid for the pair with one of his credit cards. It was better not to think about why he would have so many cover identities and accounts. He was in the field, after all.
He hurried them back to the parking lot, and Ariadne dreaded what they'd find when they approached the rental car. It was intact, no sign of anything untoward. She heaved a sigh of relief when the engine turned over and they were able to drive away. Arthur kept watch on all mirrors, and left the engine running while Ariadne gave a phone to Fischer to keep contact. Arthur was texting Eames their new numbers when she got back, and she tried to memorize Eames' contact number as Arthur drove them to their motel.
Eames was waiting on Saito and his friend Yusuf to get back to him, and also mentioned trying to get in touch with Freddie Simmons, "the man with a thousand faces." Apparently, he was hard to find because he was so good at deep cover missions. "He aspires to be as good as Agent Romanoff someday," Eames said with a laugh, his voice almost tinny over the cheap phone. She could imagine his crooked grin, though. "I've met her once on my recert training. Not quite as scary as all the stories would have you believe, though that could be because I wasn't an ass in her presence."
They were hoping to meet up the next day at a Ruby Tuesday's in the next town. That left all of the agents staying at least overnight in their rooms. Ariadne hadn't really thought about it much until after dinner. It was a single room, which she hadn't paid much attention to before, but now that fact was looming large in her mind.
"I can sleep on the floor," Arthur told her as she rifled through the shopping bags from the mall.
"That'll be uncomfortable," Ariadne replied, shaking her head as she retrieved the brand new pajamas she had gotten. "We can both be adults and share the bed."
His expression was intense but not frightening, an expression on his face that she couldn't quite name. "I don't think that's a good idea, Ariadne."
Putting her pajamas down, Ariadne approached him steadily. He seemed more tense now than he had earlier, when in the mall. If anything, it seemed to get worse as she approached. She remembered his kiss, the electric sparks at their skin to skin contact.
Taking a chance, she unbuttoned her blouse as she walked closer, then tossed it negligently behind her. Standing in front of him in just her bra and skirt, she lifted her chin and maintained eye contact. "I disagree."
"Ariadne…"
"Unless there's someone else," she told him in a reasonable tone of voice, as if she was simply explaining number theory in the office. "If that's the case, I'm sorry. I'm not trying to make you feel uncomfortable. But there was something in that kiss today, wasn't there?" Arthur looked away, releasing his breath slowly, and Ariadne stepped closer. She reached behind her back to unhook her bra, almost shocked at herself. She hadn't been the type of woman to throw herself at someone just because she liked them. Then again, she was doing more than enough running and hiding just then. Right now, she needed something real to depend on.
Arthur turned back to her just as she tossed the bra aside. "Oh, God, Ariadne."
"That's a good 'Oh, God,' right?" she asked, lips quirking into a smile.
The breath seemed to leave him in a rush. "Yeah. Yeah," he repeated, licking his lips. "That's a really good 'Oh, God.'"
Reaching out to pull him closer, Ariadne let her smile widen. "Time for bed, Arthur," she said, pulling him down for a kiss.
This time, he didn't try to resist her.
The End