Love the Way You Lie | Inception | R | Dom/Mal
Title: Love the Way You Lie
Fandom: Inception
Pairing: Mal/Dom
Rating: R
Spoilers: For the movie.
Summary: Songfic based off the song "Love the Way You Lie" by Eminem feat. Rhianna. Just gonna stand there and watch me burn, but that's alright because I like the way it hurts. Series of vignettes about Mal, shadow Mal, and Cobb's extraordinarily messed up relationship.
A/N: You can play this while you read :)
"Mon cher," she whispers, grasping his wrist tightly. "I love you always."
Just gonna stand there and watch me burn
But that's alright because I like the way it hurts
Just gonna stand there and hear me cry
But that's alright because I love the way you lie
I love the way you lie
"This is real, Dom," Mal shrieks at him, chucking a china plate at his head. He ducks to the right sharply and it whizzes past his ear. Too close. "You are confusing yourself! Don't throw away the truth-" a candlestick, still a flame, hits the tapestry behind him and goes up in flames- "for easy, simple lies!" Her carefully styled hairdo is in shambles, falling in front of her eyes like a curtain, shielding him from her murderous gaze. "Dom," she growls, circling him. He backs away, toward the safe haven of the elevator grate.
He's breathing hard, locked in what could have been a dance with his dead lover. She has never looked lovelier, or been more deadly.
"This place-it's a sad man's attempt to cope," Dom says softly. Mal lets out a bark of a laugh, harsh against the silence between them, but does not respond. He runs to the elevator gate, hurls it open and then shut instantly behind his shaking frame. He is afraid.
"Do you still love me, Dom?" she calls out, flames now encircling the room. She is a wrathful goddess, sitting primly on a chaise, legs crossed. She takes a sip of his untouched wine.
He breaks as the elevator lifts away from the scene and whispers, "Always," to the wall of the elevator shaft.
and right before I'm about to drown, she resuscitates me
she fucking hates me and I love it
He's on his knees, hands tied behind his back. Another mission botched, another extraction gone awry. Dom was beginning to wonder if failure was the usual and success was a rare prize. He shoots a look at Arthur, who is tied up beside him. In front of the are two barrels of water. Water torture was a norm on the Pacific Island where their target had grown up. Dom thinks he knows what's about to happen. Arthur thinks that maybe this line of work isn't for him.
They're both wrong.
Mal strides in, all curves and dark curls. Arthur blanches and Dom feels as though he's going to be sick. It is to be the first of many times that his projection of Mal interrupts his work.
"How... quaint," she evaluates, eyes wandering over the situation at hand. She takes a gun out from behind her back and shoots Arthur in the head. "I just did him service," Mal tells Dom. "Aren't I sweet." Dom doesn't look at her.
She grabs him by the hair on the back of his head and forces his face into the water. His lungs are half filled, and he finds that he runs out of air abnormally quickly. Panic sets in and water shoots up his nose and into his mouth-
She pulls him out.
"You did this to me," she hisses in his ear. He presses his eyes shut to both stop the tears and focus his emotions. He still doesn't look at her. She forces him back under.
"You lied to me," she sobs, now crying freely, hand still knotted in his hair. "You said that we would grow old together. You promised!" She dunks him back under for a minute until he stops kicking. She drags him out, almost shocked at his compliance with death.
"Non, non, mon amour," Mal murmurs, pinching his nose and breathing into his mouth. She gives a few hard presses on his chest, and Dom comes back, spluttering and wheezing. She pets the side of his face, a caress so gentle it could have been from mother to child.
"We did," he wheezes. "Mal, we did."
"Liar," she whispers sweetly. Dom feels the kick a moment later, and awakens with the bitter taste of guilt on his tongue.
you ever love somebody so much you can barely breathe
when you're with 'em
you meet and neither one of you even knows what hit 'em
got that warm fuzzy feeling
yeah, them those chills you used to get 'em
"I'm not the marrying type," Dom tells his father. "Don't expect grandchildren."
"You just haven't met 'the one' yet," his father says sagely. Dom shrugs his shoulders.
"I don't think there is a 'one.'"
"You are a cynic, then?"
They're standing outside the university, Dom with a cup of coffee in his hand. Autumn is descending upon the city known for its romantic appeal and the leaves around them are swiftly changing from green to shades of yellow, orange, and burgundy. The enchantingly feminine voice that had just entered the conversation gives Dom an odd chill. He grips his cup tighter.
"Yeah, maybe," he says, turning toward the voice. The woman (and yet so girlish still, young enough to skip still but old enough to have made love and liked it) is smirking at him. Dom is fond of the smirk.
"Me too," she whispers conspiratorially. "Though I don't think I'll ever stop the search. I'm a romantic, too."
"Paris is a rather appropriate town for you, then, Mademoiselle," Dom's father interjects.
"It is... adequate," she says finally, after a long pause. "I am familiar with a far more beautiful city, however." Her English is a little stunted, and Dom finds it oddly adorable.
"Where, my dear?" his father asks, intrigued. She points to her temple.
Dom considers proposing on the spot.
When she asks him, years later, exactly when he knew, he tells her that she had snared his heart before he had even laid eyes on her.
you swore you'd never hit 'em; never do nothing to hurt 'em
now you're in each other's face spewing venom in your words when you spit them
you push pull each other's hair, scratch claw hit 'em
throw 'em down pin 'em
so lost in the moments when you're in them
it's the rage that took over it controls you both
so they say you're best to go your separate ways
"Get away from me," he hisses, pushing her shaking form backwards. They're standing on their beach, wind whipping violently, reflecting the raging emotions boiling within himself. "You are poison."
Tears fall down her cheeks, and she looks at James and Phillippa, who are building sandcastles with their backs turn to the oncoming storm. "Don't you love your children enough to stay with us, Dom?" she asks him desperately.
"Those aren't our children, they're projections," Dom tells her furiously. "And you?" he spits, anger hurtling him forward, the only emotion he can grab ahold of-how dare his subconscious impersonate her, how dare it-
"We can still be together."
"No, Mal."
"If you say no, then we cannot be. But if you say yes, then we can," Mal rationalizes. "Say yes, Dom."
She reaches out to him and he slaps her hand away. She stands there, frozen in shock. He too looks down at his stinging hand, awestruck. Her eyes widen.
"How dare you," she says in a high pitched voice. "All I did was love you, Dom. All I do is love you."
She spits in his face. It's a little easier to walk away.
now you get to watch her leave out the window
I guess that's why they call it window pane
After she jumps, he shuts down. He doesn't even remember hitting Arthur's speed dial on his phone, but when Arthur carries him out of the suite, Dom prays that it is all some sick, twisted dream.
He tells Arthur to stop, to let him go. Arthur drops him and Dom falls to the floor. He pulls out her totem and spins it. Arthur tries to say something but Dom doesn't hear it.
The totem topples. Dom sobs.
baby, please come back
it wasn't you, baby it was me
This is Cobb. I'll get back to you as soon as I can. "Dom, it's Arthur. I'm- I'm so sorry about Mal, but this is the fifth time I've tried your phone in the last hour and I'm getting worried. Tell me where you are and I'll be there in less than twenty four hours. You need someone right now, and it might as well be me."
This is Cobb. I'll get back to you as soon as I can. "It's Arthur again. If you fucking kill yourself I will never forgive you. Get back to me with your location asap."
We are sorry to report that this number has been disconnected.
maybe our relationship isn't as crazy as it seems
maybe that's what happens when a tornado meets a volcano
all I know is I love you too much to walk away though
The first time he makes love with the shade, she is every bit as warm and real as he remembered her to be. She has the same mannerisms, she utters the same moans and whispers, she claws his back in the same places. Dom's dedication to detail is breaking his heart every time he wakes up.
"Then don't 'wake up,'" she says, grudgingly using his terms for the moment. They are both blessedly, blissfully naked. She is propped up on her elbow, breasts falling easily onto the satin sheets below them. "I hate when you leave me alone."
"I hate leaving you," he whispers, wrapping her tight in his arms, as if holding her closer can make her more real. She snuggles into him, pressing kisses upon his chest.
"Something we have in common," she laughs, but it is a bittersweet laugh, and Dom finds himself wondering if the real Mal would have laughed in this situation or cried. This Mal, this ideal parasite... for a second, Dom is sure she's sentient. Then he decides that he's giving his subconscious too much credit and slips back into blissful oblivion with the fraud.
If she ever tries to fucking leave again
Im'a tie her to the bed and set this house on fire
On Level Four, Ariadne shoots Mal, saves Fischer, does everything Dom should be doing, but isn't.
"Tell me I'm real, Dom," she begs him. He thinks to himself that he's done this before, his heart's already been broken into a million little shards... how come it hurts so damn much?
"You're real, Mal," he lies. "You're real."
"You're lying to me," she says, a soft smile touching her lips. Her breath is raspy. "But I forgive you. I always do."
She dies.
"Mal," he cries, holding her head in his lap. "Mal." She's been dead for five hours.
But then, she's also been dead for three years.
He sinks down and touches his nose to her cheek. It is horrifyingly cold. He didn't get to do this in reality, didn't get to hold the body of his dead wife. He had run... run far away from the remnants of a splattered brain upon the sidewalk, away from their children, away from the government that wanted him for murder.
"Don't leave me again," he weeps. "It's not fair."
He stands at last and carries her body to the bed, settling it down upon the pillow. The gunshot wound has stopped leaking blood. She could have been sleeping.
"I love you always," he tells her, too late.
Just gonna stand there and watch me burn
But that's alright because I like the way it hurts
Just gonna stand there and hear me cry
But that's alright because I love the way you lie
I love the way you lie
I love the way you lie
Fandom: Inception
Pairing: Mal/Dom
Rating: R
Spoilers: For the movie.
Summary: Songfic based off the song "Love the Way You Lie" by Eminem feat. Rhianna. Just gonna stand there and watch me burn, but that's alright because I like the way it hurts. Series of vignettes about Mal, shadow Mal, and Cobb's extraordinarily messed up relationship.
A/N: You can play this while you read :)
Click to view"Mon cher," she whispers, grasping his wrist tightly. "I love you always."
Just gonna stand there and watch me burn
But that's alright because I like the way it hurts
Just gonna stand there and hear me cry
But that's alright because I love the way you lie
I love the way you lie
"This is real, Dom," Mal shrieks at him, chucking a china plate at his head. He ducks to the right sharply and it whizzes past his ear. Too close. "You are confusing yourself! Don't throw away the truth-" a candlestick, still a flame, hits the tapestry behind him and goes up in flames- "for easy, simple lies!" Her carefully styled hairdo is in shambles, falling in front of her eyes like a curtain, shielding him from her murderous gaze. "Dom," she growls, circling him. He backs away, toward the safe haven of the elevator grate.
He's breathing hard, locked in what could have been a dance with his dead lover. She has never looked lovelier, or been more deadly.
"This place-it's a sad man's attempt to cope," Dom says softly. Mal lets out a bark of a laugh, harsh against the silence between them, but does not respond. He runs to the elevator gate, hurls it open and then shut instantly behind his shaking frame. He is afraid.
"Do you still love me, Dom?" she calls out, flames now encircling the room. She is a wrathful goddess, sitting primly on a chaise, legs crossed. She takes a sip of his untouched wine.
He breaks as the elevator lifts away from the scene and whispers, "Always," to the wall of the elevator shaft.
and right before I'm about to drown, she resuscitates me
she fucking hates me and I love it
He's on his knees, hands tied behind his back. Another mission botched, another extraction gone awry. Dom was beginning to wonder if failure was the usual and success was a rare prize. He shoots a look at Arthur, who is tied up beside him. In front of the are two barrels of water. Water torture was a norm on the Pacific Island where their target had grown up. Dom thinks he knows what's about to happen. Arthur thinks that maybe this line of work isn't for him.
They're both wrong.
Mal strides in, all curves and dark curls. Arthur blanches and Dom feels as though he's going to be sick. It is to be the first of many times that his projection of Mal interrupts his work.
"How... quaint," she evaluates, eyes wandering over the situation at hand. She takes a gun out from behind her back and shoots Arthur in the head. "I just did him service," Mal tells Dom. "Aren't I sweet." Dom doesn't look at her.
She grabs him by the hair on the back of his head and forces his face into the water. His lungs are half filled, and he finds that he runs out of air abnormally quickly. Panic sets in and water shoots up his nose and into his mouth-
She pulls him out.
"You did this to me," she hisses in his ear. He presses his eyes shut to both stop the tears and focus his emotions. He still doesn't look at her. She forces him back under.
"You lied to me," she sobs, now crying freely, hand still knotted in his hair. "You said that we would grow old together. You promised!" She dunks him back under for a minute until he stops kicking. She drags him out, almost shocked at his compliance with death.
"Non, non, mon amour," Mal murmurs, pinching his nose and breathing into his mouth. She gives a few hard presses on his chest, and Dom comes back, spluttering and wheezing. She pets the side of his face, a caress so gentle it could have been from mother to child.
"We did," he wheezes. "Mal, we did."
"Liar," she whispers sweetly. Dom feels the kick a moment later, and awakens with the bitter taste of guilt on his tongue.
you ever love somebody so much you can barely breathe
when you're with 'em
you meet and neither one of you even knows what hit 'em
got that warm fuzzy feeling
yeah, them those chills you used to get 'em
"I'm not the marrying type," Dom tells his father. "Don't expect grandchildren."
"You just haven't met 'the one' yet," his father says sagely. Dom shrugs his shoulders.
"I don't think there is a 'one.'"
"You are a cynic, then?"
They're standing outside the university, Dom with a cup of coffee in his hand. Autumn is descending upon the city known for its romantic appeal and the leaves around them are swiftly changing from green to shades of yellow, orange, and burgundy. The enchantingly feminine voice that had just entered the conversation gives Dom an odd chill. He grips his cup tighter.
"Yeah, maybe," he says, turning toward the voice. The woman (and yet so girlish still, young enough to skip still but old enough to have made love and liked it) is smirking at him. Dom is fond of the smirk.
"Me too," she whispers conspiratorially. "Though I don't think I'll ever stop the search. I'm a romantic, too."
"Paris is a rather appropriate town for you, then, Mademoiselle," Dom's father interjects.
"It is... adequate," she says finally, after a long pause. "I am familiar with a far more beautiful city, however." Her English is a little stunted, and Dom finds it oddly adorable.
"Where, my dear?" his father asks, intrigued. She points to her temple.
Dom considers proposing on the spot.
When she asks him, years later, exactly when he knew, he tells her that she had snared his heart before he had even laid eyes on her.
you swore you'd never hit 'em; never do nothing to hurt 'em
now you're in each other's face spewing venom in your words when you spit them
you push pull each other's hair, scratch claw hit 'em
throw 'em down pin 'em
so lost in the moments when you're in them
it's the rage that took over it controls you both
so they say you're best to go your separate ways
"Get away from me," he hisses, pushing her shaking form backwards. They're standing on their beach, wind whipping violently, reflecting the raging emotions boiling within himself. "You are poison."
Tears fall down her cheeks, and she looks at James and Phillippa, who are building sandcastles with their backs turn to the oncoming storm. "Don't you love your children enough to stay with us, Dom?" she asks him desperately.
"Those aren't our children, they're projections," Dom tells her furiously. "And you?" he spits, anger hurtling him forward, the only emotion he can grab ahold of-how dare his subconscious impersonate her, how dare it-
"We can still be together."
"No, Mal."
"If you say no, then we cannot be. But if you say yes, then we can," Mal rationalizes. "Say yes, Dom."
She reaches out to him and he slaps her hand away. She stands there, frozen in shock. He too looks down at his stinging hand, awestruck. Her eyes widen.
"How dare you," she says in a high pitched voice. "All I did was love you, Dom. All I do is love you."
She spits in his face. It's a little easier to walk away.
now you get to watch her leave out the window
I guess that's why they call it window pane
After she jumps, he shuts down. He doesn't even remember hitting Arthur's speed dial on his phone, but when Arthur carries him out of the suite, Dom prays that it is all some sick, twisted dream.
He tells Arthur to stop, to let him go. Arthur drops him and Dom falls to the floor. He pulls out her totem and spins it. Arthur tries to say something but Dom doesn't hear it.
The totem topples. Dom sobs.
baby, please come back
it wasn't you, baby it was me
This is Cobb. I'll get back to you as soon as I can. "Dom, it's Arthur. I'm- I'm so sorry about Mal, but this is the fifth time I've tried your phone in the last hour and I'm getting worried. Tell me where you are and I'll be there in less than twenty four hours. You need someone right now, and it might as well be me."
This is Cobb. I'll get back to you as soon as I can. "It's Arthur again. If you fucking kill yourself I will never forgive you. Get back to me with your location asap."
We are sorry to report that this number has been disconnected.
maybe our relationship isn't as crazy as it seems
maybe that's what happens when a tornado meets a volcano
all I know is I love you too much to walk away though
The first time he makes love with the shade, she is every bit as warm and real as he remembered her to be. She has the same mannerisms, she utters the same moans and whispers, she claws his back in the same places. Dom's dedication to detail is breaking his heart every time he wakes up.
"Then don't 'wake up,'" she says, grudgingly using his terms for the moment. They are both blessedly, blissfully naked. She is propped up on her elbow, breasts falling easily onto the satin sheets below them. "I hate when you leave me alone."
"I hate leaving you," he whispers, wrapping her tight in his arms, as if holding her closer can make her more real. She snuggles into him, pressing kisses upon his chest.
"Something we have in common," she laughs, but it is a bittersweet laugh, and Dom finds himself wondering if the real Mal would have laughed in this situation or cried. This Mal, this ideal parasite... for a second, Dom is sure she's sentient. Then he decides that he's giving his subconscious too much credit and slips back into blissful oblivion with the fraud.
If she ever tries to fucking leave again
Im'a tie her to the bed and set this house on fire
On Level Four, Ariadne shoots Mal, saves Fischer, does everything Dom should be doing, but isn't.
"Tell me I'm real, Dom," she begs him. He thinks to himself that he's done this before, his heart's already been broken into a million little shards... how come it hurts so damn much?
"You're real, Mal," he lies. "You're real."
"You're lying to me," she says, a soft smile touching her lips. Her breath is raspy. "But I forgive you. I always do."
She dies.
"Mal," he cries, holding her head in his lap. "Mal." She's been dead for five hours.
But then, she's also been dead for three years.
He sinks down and touches his nose to her cheek. It is horrifyingly cold. He didn't get to do this in reality, didn't get to hold the body of his dead wife. He had run... run far away from the remnants of a splattered brain upon the sidewalk, away from their children, away from the government that wanted him for murder.
"Don't leave me again," he weeps. "It's not fair."
He stands at last and carries her body to the bed, settling it down upon the pillow. The gunshot wound has stopped leaking blood. She could have been sleeping.
"I love you always," he tells her, too late.
Just gonna stand there and watch me burn
But that's alright because I like the way it hurts
Just gonna stand there and hear me cry
But that's alright because I love the way you lie
I love the way you lie
I love the way you lie