Inception In Its Best Interest

**A/N: I only really have an inkling of how this is going to turn out, but there is a general outline. I'm in the middle of writing a Harry Potter fic, but given that there's more to interpret out there for Inception and my HP flow is a little rusty I figured I'd start with this one in the meantime. I only saw the movie 3 times, so if there's any inaccuracies, my bad. I'll consider altering things if it really becomes an issue other than that writing for me is purely a stress reliever. Oh, and along with HP I'm pretty Glee-obsessed, so I obviously drew inspiration from Rachel Berry on the last name. Enjoy.**

Chapter One – "Sleep"

Everything about Nadine Berry at this moment was a mess. Her hair was a black knot of a bun piled atop her head with a thin elastic headband holding back her bangs. Although she had tried her hardest to blend in some last minute concealer, the dark circles under her eyes were still very prominent. She sat in the waiting room of her therapist's office staring at the television that was currently broadcasting a news special on something about sky-diving squirrels and other random factors that Nadine could care less about. The only thing that her numb, sleep-deprived mind could process was that she needed sleep and a lot of it.

"Nadine?" the receptionist's voice cut through the air in sharp, high notes, "Dr. Miramontes is ready for ya."

Nadine stepped into the familiar space of her therapist's office and sat in the same spot on the worn, yet cozy couch that she had been frequenting for months now. Dr. Miramontes, had a warm genuine smile and all the qualities that would perfect a facade of professionalism. Nadine's file was spread open on the desk, ready to be filled with more scribbling from the doctor on what Nadine's words would actually mean today.

"Haven't gotten much sleep since the last time I saw you, huh?"

Nadine sighed and let her body sag into her seat, "Maybe an hour or two here and there, but nothing that feels like rest."

Dr. Miramontes nodded, "Interesting word choice, _rest_. You've got a pretty busy life, Nadine. How do you manage to function on the amount of sleep you're getting? Still no exhaustion by the end of the day?"

"It's not that I'm not exhausted, I am. But when I fall asleep I wake up screaming within the hour. Cold sweat, paranoia, the works. I feel like I'm going crazy."

"Night terrors are rare, but not completely unheard of in adults," her therapist persuaded, "I've been seeing you for quite awhile now and only in the last month have I been concerned about the possibility of you having repressed memories."

Nadine quirked a brow in confusion and let an uneasy feeling settle in the pit of her stomach, "What are you talking about? That I don't remember something and its just kicking my ass when I'm asleep?"

Dr. Miramontes gave one of her sad smiles, "Something like that. Now, I don't want to push you to do anything you don't want to do and I hardly want you to bring up something that could have been so traumatic that you're mind has subconsciously erased it. But at this point and for as long as I've been seeing you, I think that we might need to confront whatever happened in order for you to start sleeping through the night. This is entirely your decision though."

"What do I have to do?"

The doctor handed Nadine some pamphlets, "Normally, I would try hypnotherapy in order to bring out the memories that you might have hidden, but since it seems like yours are revealing themselves in your night terrors I looked into dream sharing."

Nadine let out a disbelieving chuckle, "Dream sharing? Are you serious?"

"It's not done in the way you think. I did extensive research on it awhile back and I think it would benefit your specific situation best. You would be put under, but not alone, I could be there if you want and a few other specialists too. This way we would have the time to work our way through your mind and find out what it is that has been interfering with your sleep."

"Will I remember when I wake up?"

"I'm not sure. You could and couldn't."

With this bit of information she tried to process when the last time she had had a good night's rest. When was the last time she was able to wake up feeling refreshed? When was the last time she didn't spend a day in the library nearly frustrated to tears in not being able to focus? The thing was that she couldn't remember which left her with one last question. What was she not remembering?

Hands clasping a pamphlet in her hand she looked up and confirmed, "I'll do it".

* * *

><p>The presence of kids squealing with delight and running amok flooded Nadine's already delicate senses causing her to grip tightly onto her purse. She was on edge and it certainly didn't help that she had another episode last night and wasn't able to catch any decent amount of sleep before having to get up for this very meeting. She thought it odd that he insisted on meeting at a park. Not a café, a restaurant, not even his house or wherever his business operated at, but the average family park in the middle of relative suburbia. It hardly seemed very professional to her, but her therapist did mention that this wasn't necessarily a board-certified company.<p>

"Nadine Berry?"

Her head shot up and to the right of her. Sleep deprivation had made her sluggish and slowed her reflexes immensely, she took a long while to take in the interruption from her thoughts. She was now staring up at a handsome blonde man with the most intense blue eyes she had ever seen. He wore a simple dark blue, collared button-up and smart khaki slacks. Now that she could focus in on his face she could tell that he was probably nearing the early half of middle-age. There were worry lines and he had the face of a man who had been through tragedies and obstacles aplenty, but he was still exceedingly good looking.

"Miss Berry?"

She had forgotten that he had addressed her earlier, "_Oh_, yes, sorry. I hate to admit I'm a little bit more than out of it. Call me Nadine," she stretched out her hand for his to shake.

"Nice to meet you, Nadine, You can call me Dom or Cobb, first or last name doesn't really matter to me" he grasped her hand firmly offering her a warm and genuine shake. He then lowered his hands down to two children, one girl about six or seven years old and a little boy who couldn't be older than four. "These," he continued resting a hand on each child's shoulder, "Are my kids, Phillipa and James. I'm really sorry if you weren't expecting them to come too, but I don't really like to have them out of my sight for long."

_So that explains why we're at a park._ Nadine smiled at the kids sweetly, "No worries," she replied, "My therapist told me this was going to be a pretty casual meeting and I love kids." It was true. Before the sleepless nights and restless days, she was on the fast track to becoming a kindergarten teacher.

He smiled at her gratefully and sent the kids off a short hop and skip away to the playground directly across from the bench Nadine was currently occupying. "Now that I've got them going," Cobb said taking a seat and turning to face her, "What is it that I can help you with?"

"Well, I'm sure you've talked to Dr. Miramontes, right?"

He nodded, "Yes, but as I'm sure you know, because of doctor-patient confidentiality she could only tell me that you were interested in what I do and how to get us in touch with each other."

"Correct, well, I won't beat around the bush." She took a deep breath and a second to calm her nerves, "I haven't been able to really sleep in months. I guess I get enough to survive, but I am somewhat at my wits end here," she was amazed at how intently Cobb looked like he was listening, "Dr. Miramontes thinks that I have some kind of repressed memories that I can only remember in my sleep, because I have these intense night terrors that I wake up from with no memory what so all of what happened. But I can _feel _it. Like, my body is in shock when I wake up and I'm on high alert. It's terrible, and I guess what I'm asking for is to have some clarity on what is going on in my mind while I sleep."

Cobb stared at her for a moment before he spoke as if he was thinking of what to say next, "It sounds like something my team and I can work with," he started, "But it definitely isn't anything like something we've done before. Don't get me wrong, we've done things more monumental than just extracting information, but there may be two potential problems. One, before we go under you'll know that we're setting out to go hunting in your dreams which isn't something entirely new to us, but not common. And two, you have no idea what we're going into and frankly it sounds like we'll be walking into a war zone."

She took this as meaning he wasn't quite sure if he should take on the job and instantly panic arose in her chest and hammered against her lungs, "I'll do _anything_," she blurted out, "I don't have millions lying around or anything grand, but I have enough and I'll be forever indebted to you and your team if I could just get a good night's sleep." She hated how desperate she sounded, but the thought of going on just another week like this tortured her.

He gave a light-hearted chuckle and Nadine was slightly offended, did he find her desperation and pathetic pleading amusing? But she soon shed her disposition once he placed a hand on top of hers, which were fidgeting madly in her lap, and gave her a sympathetic squeeze. "I'm not in this for the money. I can't really say the same for my team, but I for one am willing to do this as long as you are."

She stared gaping at him before she finally found the words to say, "You mean, you'll do this for me for free?"

He gave a simple nod, one that Nadine found it hard to believe.

"But why?"

"I haven't discussed this with my team yet, and like I said I can't say the same for them, but let's just say that my last job left me sitting in a very good position. One that will keep me and my kids living comfortably for a very long time. Money isn't a factor for me anymore, but I can't help but remain passionate for my hobby," with this sentence he let out a bright smile, "I also want to do things right, so what better way for me to do something I love and stay within-bounds than by helping people who want it?"

"I have a feeling you're not telling me everything," she said only half-suspiciously, "But at this point, I could really care less. I'm already _this close _to admitting myself to an asylum. This…problem has been ruining my life. My grades are a mess, I can barely stay awake in class, and how am I supposed to be a good student teacher if I can hardly keep up with my students?" She took a deep breath and closed her eyes reeling in the rant that had half-way spewed from her lips, "What I mean to say is, what do you need from me to make this all work?"

With that said, Cobb retrieved his phone from his back pocket and started tapping diligently on the screen, "When is the next time you'll have a couple of hours to spare?"

"Next Saturday, I'm busy in the morning, but I'm free after one."

"Okay, I'll set up a little meeting between you and my Point Man to go over any information that could be useful to us. He might have to meet with you a couple more times afterwards. Don't worry, he can work around your schedule. From there on, it'll be a couple weeks no more than three, three and a half, before we have an action plan. I can't really give you a play-by-play right now, but I think we'll go into your dreams for a little just to test out the waters, see what we're up against, and then we'll be able to do one final extraction. Does this sound alright with you?". He looked up at her expectantly and while he had been talking she could see how interested he actually was into doing this job for her.

"Yes," she clipped.

He nodded one last time signally the mutual agreement of their conversation, "When you show up next Saturday to meet with Arthur, I will take that as meaning you are committing to this just as much as we will."

It was her turn to deliver a stiff nod, and with that things were set into motion. They spent the next thirty minutes exchanging more contact information than just phone numbers and Cobb had received a text back from Arthur confirming their Saturday appointment. When all was said and done, Cobb gathered up his reluctant children and bid Nadine farewell. She was just getting up and scrounging for her car keys in her purse when Cobb turned back to face her momentarily.

"By the way, Nadine," she looked up at him curiously, "Saturday will be a lot more formal than today was. Arthur is very work-oriented; don't be offended if he comes off as all-business. He's intrigued too, but that's just how he is."

And that was the parting thought that Dominic Cobb left to her with the stew over.


End file.
