Inception Fic: First Deaths
This prompt was one of the ones on inception_kink that stole my brain and refused to give it back until I filled it, even though it's already been filled once before. It's just... when am I ever going to get to write something like this again? NEVER. This fandom is just SO GOOD with creativity and death and... GUH. I love it.
So yes, here is yet another fill. And expect another fic-dump within the next few days. *headdesk*
- - -
COBB
“We will do it together.”
Fingers twine around his, squeezing for reassurance, but Cobb still finds himself hesitating. It’s such a long drop. He looks down, watches cars speeding by, the projections of pedestrians crossing the street, invisible but for their bright umbrellas, unfurled to fend off the pouring rain.
He’s always hated heights.
“Dom?”
He looks over and Mal is smiling at him, her eyes worried. Her brown curls are dripping wet and hanging into her face and she still looks so lovely.
“Are you ready?” she asks, and Cobb doesn’t think he is. He looks down at the street, about forty stories below.
“It’s all right, love. We will do it together,” she says again, and Cobb nods. He closes his eyes and takes the step into nothingness, and all he feels is his stomach leaping into his throat and fingers tightening around his before he lurches awake, safe and sound on his living room floor.
ARTHUR
Cobb is slightly startled when Arthur hands him the gun.
“You know you can do it yourself,” he says, but Arthur shakes his head and steps back, holding his arms stiffly at his sides; it’s the only indication that he might not be entirely comfortable with the situation.
“No,” he says. “You’ll have to get used to killing me at some point, so just shoot and get it over with.”
Cobb glances at Mal, who simply nods. He lifts the gun and aims between Arthur’s eyes. He hesitates for only an instant, but in the split second before he pulls the trigger, a strange expression comes over Arthur’s face, an almost serene resignation to what is about to happen. The kid never even breaks eye contact.
Then the shot rings out and Arthur’s head snaps back, blood spatters the wall behind him, and the deed is done.
EAMES
Eames laughs the first time Arthur aims a gun at him.
“No, no, no, darling,” he says. “I am not to be taken out with one measly shot from you.”
Arthur glares at him over the gun barrel. “Why not? I was looking forward to this.”
“Well it’s no fun, is it?” Eames looks around the city park they’re in (one of Nash’s constructions) and suddenly there’s a grenade launcher in his hand. “I plan to go out in a blaze of glory.”
“It’ll be painful,” Cobb says from his seat on a nearby park bench. “Remember these are Arthur’s projections. His subconscious in particular can be quite violent.”
“All the better, then,” Eames says with a wink in Arthur’s direction, and then the building across the street has blown up and the projections start closing in.
YUSUF
“But why do you have to shoot me?” Yusuf asks after he’s grabbed the gun out of Eames’ hands. “Isn’t there a more humane way to go?”
“Yusuf, shooting you is humane,” Eames says, holding a hand out. “Now give me my gun.”
“What if you miss and I start bleeding out?”
“Then I shoot you again. Now, the gun, if you please.”
“So you shoot me twice? How is that possibly categorized as ‘humane’?”
“I’m a good shot, I’ll shoot you once.”
“It just seems ridiculous, is all, that there’s no other way.”
“There are other ways, but they’re painful. Look, Yusuf, the safety’s not on that gun and if you keep flinging it around you’ll end up -”
BANG.
Yusuf jolts awake. He’s lying on a cot in a cheap hotel room. He looks around and sees Eames out cold beside him, a line in his arm. Yusuf blinks a couple of times, then says, “That wasn’t so bad.”
ARIADNE
She tries not to show that she’s shaking but she knows she isn’t fooling anyone. The gun is rattling a bit in her hand and she wonders if perhaps it’s broken.
“Any day now, pet,” Eames says with a crooked grin.
“I’m getting there,” Ariadne snaps, glaring in his direction. “It’s like you think I should be used to this or something.”
“There won’t always be one of us around to wake you,” Cobb says from across the room. “Sometimes you have to do it yourself. It’ll get easier with practice.”
Ariadne laughs doubtfully, but manages to raise the gun to her temple and cock it. “Do you have any idea how messed up this is?”
“Yes,” Cobb says, “but that doesn’t mean it’s not necessary.”
“Would it help if I did it first?” Arthur asks when another minute goes by and she’s still holding the shaking gun. He’s already lifting a gun to his own temple and Ariadne shakes her head frantically.
“No, no, God, no, please don’t,” she says, then takes a deep breath, closes her eyes, and pulls the trigger.
Ariadne wakes with a gasp to find herself in the old warehouse, lying on a lawn chair and surrounded by her unconscious partners. She lies back in the chair and pulls the line out of her arm. Only then does she realize she is still shaking.
- - -
Thanks for reading! Please leave a comment if you like! :D
So yes, here is yet another fill. And expect another fic-dump within the next few days. *headdesk*
- - -
COBB
“We will do it together.”
Fingers twine around his, squeezing for reassurance, but Cobb still finds himself hesitating. It’s such a long drop. He looks down, watches cars speeding by, the projections of pedestrians crossing the street, invisible but for their bright umbrellas, unfurled to fend off the pouring rain.
He’s always hated heights.
“Dom?”
He looks over and Mal is smiling at him, her eyes worried. Her brown curls are dripping wet and hanging into her face and she still looks so lovely.
“Are you ready?” she asks, and Cobb doesn’t think he is. He looks down at the street, about forty stories below.
“It’s all right, love. We will do it together,” she says again, and Cobb nods. He closes his eyes and takes the step into nothingness, and all he feels is his stomach leaping into his throat and fingers tightening around his before he lurches awake, safe and sound on his living room floor.
ARTHUR
Cobb is slightly startled when Arthur hands him the gun.
“You know you can do it yourself,” he says, but Arthur shakes his head and steps back, holding his arms stiffly at his sides; it’s the only indication that he might not be entirely comfortable with the situation.
“No,” he says. “You’ll have to get used to killing me at some point, so just shoot and get it over with.”
Cobb glances at Mal, who simply nods. He lifts the gun and aims between Arthur’s eyes. He hesitates for only an instant, but in the split second before he pulls the trigger, a strange expression comes over Arthur’s face, an almost serene resignation to what is about to happen. The kid never even breaks eye contact.
Then the shot rings out and Arthur’s head snaps back, blood spatters the wall behind him, and the deed is done.
EAMES
Eames laughs the first time Arthur aims a gun at him.
“No, no, no, darling,” he says. “I am not to be taken out with one measly shot from you.”
Arthur glares at him over the gun barrel. “Why not? I was looking forward to this.”
“Well it’s no fun, is it?” Eames looks around the city park they’re in (one of Nash’s constructions) and suddenly there’s a grenade launcher in his hand. “I plan to go out in a blaze of glory.”
“It’ll be painful,” Cobb says from his seat on a nearby park bench. “Remember these are Arthur’s projections. His subconscious in particular can be quite violent.”
“All the better, then,” Eames says with a wink in Arthur’s direction, and then the building across the street has blown up and the projections start closing in.
YUSUF
“But why do you have to shoot me?” Yusuf asks after he’s grabbed the gun out of Eames’ hands. “Isn’t there a more humane way to go?”
“Yusuf, shooting you is humane,” Eames says, holding a hand out. “Now give me my gun.”
“What if you miss and I start bleeding out?”
“Then I shoot you again. Now, the gun, if you please.”
“So you shoot me twice? How is that possibly categorized as ‘humane’?”
“I’m a good shot, I’ll shoot you once.”
“It just seems ridiculous, is all, that there’s no other way.”
“There are other ways, but they’re painful. Look, Yusuf, the safety’s not on that gun and if you keep flinging it around you’ll end up -”
BANG.
Yusuf jolts awake. He’s lying on a cot in a cheap hotel room. He looks around and sees Eames out cold beside him, a line in his arm. Yusuf blinks a couple of times, then says, “That wasn’t so bad.”
ARIADNE
She tries not to show that she’s shaking but she knows she isn’t fooling anyone. The gun is rattling a bit in her hand and she wonders if perhaps it’s broken.
“Any day now, pet,” Eames says with a crooked grin.
“I’m getting there,” Ariadne snaps, glaring in his direction. “It’s like you think I should be used to this or something.”
“There won’t always be one of us around to wake you,” Cobb says from across the room. “Sometimes you have to do it yourself. It’ll get easier with practice.”
Ariadne laughs doubtfully, but manages to raise the gun to her temple and cock it. “Do you have any idea how messed up this is?”
“Yes,” Cobb says, “but that doesn’t mean it’s not necessary.”
“Would it help if I did it first?” Arthur asks when another minute goes by and she’s still holding the shaking gun. He’s already lifting a gun to his own temple and Ariadne shakes her head frantically.
“No, no, God, no, please don’t,” she says, then takes a deep breath, closes her eyes, and pulls the trigger.
Ariadne wakes with a gasp to find herself in the old warehouse, lying on a lawn chair and surrounded by her unconscious partners. She lies back in the chair and pulls the line out of her arm. Only then does she realize she is still shaking.
- - -
Thanks for reading! Please leave a comment if you like! :D