batmanschmatman | 018 [audio]

[That at least earned a genuine smile from her. It keeps up for a few moments before it slowly dissolves away again. Franklin's post had only cemented her suspicions of what had happened.]

Hayley killed someone.

[And the warden feels an immense amount of guilt for it, that much is clear.]

[Dick immediately sobers, looking away from Ariadne and not bothering with the notebook.]

I know.

[And again, he really, really didn't know what to think about it. On the one hand, he'd promised he wouldn't stop being friends with her once he found out why she was an inmate, and he'd known something like this was the case from the way she'd talked about what she'd done at home, but he didn't understand why she'd just... killed a guy. And honestly? He had no idea what he was supposed to do about it.]

[Ariadne watched him, looking for a response more than that, whether in his body language or expression. Maybe this was really how Cobb felt. He'd planted an idea in Mal's head, who said that Ariadne, just in being here, hadn't planted that one in Hayley's? Needless to say, she knew nothing about the inmate's past and could really only make assumptions. However, Dick's reaction doesn't give her much encouragement.

Still the timing of the whole night before had been absolutely uncanny. The architect briefly thought about the bags sitting in her kitchen. Arthur was more than competent and he'd been here longer. He could save Cobb, right?]

[Dick was quiet for a moment before looking over at her, noting the searching expression. He smiled slightly, not sure what she was looking for. He wasn't really sure of anything when it came to this whole situation, honestly, and for the moment? He didn't want to think about it. It was easier to pretend like he wasn't conflicted or extremely bothered by what had happened and focus on the here and now instead.]

What?

[Ariadne didn't quite know what to think of his general non-reaction, but after a couple moments of considering, thought it was likely better that he took a neutral position in not saying anything. He didn't have to get involved. She leaned back against the couch, shifting so she faced him more fully and shook her head.]

How's the nose?

[AND SHE UTTERED THE WORST WORD AGAIN. The rattling starts up and she's unfolding her legs from underneath herself, looking around.]

It's doing better.

[It was. There was still some bruising, but it was fading and he'd probably be fine in another couple days, maybe another two or three weeks according to Dr. Jones. He might have elaborated, but he noticed the change in her position and general demeanor and he shifted on the couch too, more alert and focused on what was bothering her, which once again he couldn't see or hear.]

What's wrong?

[And there came the train through her front door. She literally had nowhere to go, she couldn't jump far enough or high enough and simply closed her eyes. If it was going to to hit her, then she didn't want to see it. She wanted to wake up.]

Wake me up. Wake me up. Wake me up.

[Dick still couldn't see... the elephant or whatever it was that was freaking her out this badly, but he knew he needed to try and get her to focus on reality, while not freaking her out more then he had to. And if they were about to be trampled by something, he needed to get her out of the way so he had any hope of

So, this time, he pulled her off the couch and hopefully far enough away from the intruder that was apparently coming in through the front door that she could focus on him and not whatever it was that was freaking her out this badly.

He gently grabbed her by the shoulders, trying to get her to look at him. This felt oddly familiar. For only having been here for twoish months, he'd done a lot of talking people down from hallucinations.] Ariadne, calm down, it's okay. It's okay.

[They just cleared the train and Ariadne could hear the roar of it in her ears, just behind her as she kept her eyes shut while it passed, not even quite aware he was talking to her or even that he'd saved her. Her hand almost immediately found its way to his elbow, anchoring her as she worked on breathing.

Between her gasping breaths:] I can't do... this.

[She'd said something similar after being stabbed by Mal, of seeing what Cobb's subconscious could do to her.]

[He squeezed her shoulders, his voice calm and controlled. The important thing in this sort of situation was to stay calm yourself, give the other person something to anchor themselves with, and between his training and practical use between things like fear toxin and detox, he was pretty used to doing just this.] It's okay, just take deep - Just keep breathing. It's okay. You're safe. Just keep focused on me, okay? You can do this, I know you can. Just take it easy.

[She thought about telling him that she'd meant the Barge, that she couldn't do the Barge anymore. It seemed to be clearly having an effect on her ability to distinguish between dreams and reality. But, she forced herself to listen to Dick and her other hand struggled away from her pocket to his on her shoulder. Breathe in, breathe out. ]

[Dick smiled slightly, squeezing her shoulders reassuringly.] See, you're okay. Everything's going to be fine.

[Of course, he wasn't thinking of the more long term stuff, but even if he had, he'd be saying the same thing.]

[Ariadne finally pried her eyelids open, feeling a little better for the shoulder squeeze. Her breath still continued to come quickly and she thought she saw some spots out of the corners of her eyes. And the rapid nodding that followed didn't help much. Things were going to be fine.

Stop thinking about trains, because if she didn't have a phobia of them before, one was rapidly developing.]

[His smile got wider as she opened her eyes, giving her another couple beats to try and get things under control, gently putting a hand against her cheek to try and get her to stop nodding. That was a great way to just feel more dizzy when you were already hyperventilating.] Take it easy. How do you feel?

[The touch on her cheek kept her from nodding as she focused on his touch. Her mind told her it was time to start taking things into account. 1) The train didn't hit her and they weren't on the couch anymore. She certainly didn't do anything so that mean that Dick had gotten her out of the way. 2) She'd mentioned wanting to be woken up and she'd been working on not mentioning dream sharing to him. 3) ...his hands were a little cold, but that was pretty okay. 4) She needed to breathe properly, as the lightheadedness was starting.]

I'm... I'm okay.

Good. Just keep breathing. [He was going to sit here with her until he was sure she was okay, since hyperventilating and passing out was definitely not fun - something he knew from experience - and when you were this freaked out, it was helpful to have another person sitting there with you helping you through it. He did, however, move his hand back down to her shoulder.]

[Ariadne was about to nod again before she realized that that's why his hand had been on her cheek. She closes her eyes again to work on slowing her breaths. And they did gradually. After a minute, the architect opened her eyes again and offered a quiet smile.]

...thanks.

[He returned the smile with one of his own and leaned over to retrieve the notebook and pen, which were both dumped on the ground from the dive for safety, returning to the architect's side with a sheepish smile.]

Sorry. Just in Ba- ... you know.

[He looked at her in concern, brow furrowed slightly.] Seriously, what's wrong?

[The "Ba-" caught her attention and wanted to comment on it but his question caught her a little off-guard.]

Trains. I'm seeing trains. I was... once I was in a car that was hit by a train. I don't... I don't like trains.

[She really hadn't minded them before, but after being introduced to Cobb and his slight obsession with trains, not to mention this flood now, she didn't like them so much.

That and she feels like she's going absolutely mental.]

I'd say that's totally fair.

[His tone was sympathetic, and his next question was written down, since it involved a noun directly. The question itself was sort of just curiosity, since it seemed like a bit of a jump between the two.]

Why did you say it was a Batelephant?

[Ariadne shifted her weight a little.]

Because it means I don't have to think about trains.

[And she'd been a little out of sorts for most of the day.]

[He nodded, opened his mouth to say something, and then closed it again, smiling sheepishly.]

This is really annoying.

[Ariadne quietly reached for one of his hands.]

I won't be offended. Don't worry about it.

[He chuckled a little awkwardly. He still wasn't planning on actually letting his guard down, but this was starting to wander into the "Gee Grayson, probably should have thought this through a little better" territory.]

It's just embarrassing.

[Ariadne tilted her head a little to the side. She really didn't want him to feel awkward or embarrassed, especially when she'd just thrown herself and him to dodge an invisible train. She tucked some hair behind her ear and asked:] More embarrassing then freaking out over something no one else can see?

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