He sneaked to the door with careful precision; his hand guided him along the wall. He peeked in through the door, still left ajar, and gazed through at the form he hoped to see. There was a hinting of naked flesh between the two forms stood in the way and he blushed. He could've stayed there a while longer; his smile would've been permanently cemented to his face.
The door was pulled open, and Morpheus stood before him.
'Is something the matter, Edward?'
"Well, I-I was just wondering…if I could come and visit Roy?" He looked up at him hopefully.
'I'm afraid not Edward. He's asleep at the moment. You'll just get bored.'
"N-No I won't. I can sit for a while; he doesn't have to be awake."
'He needs his rest, he's very weak. Now, why don't you go and continue with your cleaning duties, hm? I'm sure you haven't forgotten about them.'
"N-No, of course not." He sighed and turned away for the top deck. His cleaning equipment was still there from yesterday, awaiting him with stale foamy water and the faint smell of bleach. He grimaced at the thought of cleaning while Roy was still laid up and recovering, but it couldn't be helped. He took out a mop, sloshed it in the water and began to scrub along the dusty floor.
'He's still got you doing that, hasn't he?' Neo smiled from the side lines. It was just the two of them. Tank was still catching up on sleep and Dozer was still busy caring for Roy.
"You can help me if you're just going to stand there." Edward sniped.
'I'd rather not, they're you're duties after all.' He smirked.
"Shouldn't you be with Trinity?" His eyes didn't stray from the floor he was scrubbing; Neo didn't deserve the eye contact. Not while he was watching him work.
'Shouldn't you be with Roy?'
Edward's heart skipped a beat, but he tried to pay it no heed.
"M-Morpheus says I have to let him rest." He dumped the mop back in the bucket and sloshed the water to the floor.
'That shouldn't stop you. You took the risk to get him here, you put a lot of lives in danger, and now that he's just down the hall, you're just going to stay here and mop the floor?'
"I know." Edward growled, "Sucks, doesn't it?"
Neo sighed heavily, 'Edward, why did you go to the trouble in the first place?'
A blush burned up on his cheeks, his mind darted for the appropriate answer; he couldn't just come out with it.
"I-I thought he would be helpful to the Resistance." He stammered.
'We're not the only ones fighting against the machines, Edward. There are thousands of others in Zion. We're not straining for numbers.'
Edward gulped, "I thought we were…"
'I don't even know why I'm asking.' He frowned. 'The looks you give him, they're not what I would call camaraderie.'
"W-What would you call it?" Edward gulped harder.
'…Fondness, or something deeper maybe.'
Edward felt like his heart had jumped into his throat, the warmth at its core warmed the edges of his eyes and he tried to choke them back. "I-I don't know what you mean…"
'Spare me, Ed. You're scared, I get it, because you're afraid that after all this, he'll push you away, but you know, It's the 22nd Century; it's time for you to get over it. Yes, someone's going to bite your head off, but what does it matter? It's your life, not theirs.' He stood up from his wall, and made for the ladder.
"…I'm not scared." He echoed finally, the scrubbing had stopped; he gripped the handle of the mop close to his chest. "I know he won't reciprocate, I've already resigned myself to the idea. But, going back into the Beta-Matrix, my world, and seeing him there I knew that I couldn't just return without at least trying. I would regret it if I didn't… And even if he doesn't return my feelings, I can be happy knowing that at least he'll be by my side, and I'll be by his, supporting each other through this mess of a real world and fighting against the machines like true subordinates… That's all I can really ask for, and I know that at least, if I die in the heat of battle, or of old age, that I'll be dying with a smile on my face, if that's all it really amounts to…" Tears fell down his cheek and added to the soapy puddle at his feet.
'You know,' Neo smiled, 'You're supposed to strain the water out before you start mopping,' and he climbed down the ladder, the metal clang of shoes on steps echoed as Edward wept silently on the top deck, on his own now like he thought he was before.
-/\*_;)(-
Looking about the top deck, he smiled a little more hopefully. The floor was clean, shining even. Most of the debris that had been gained from the invasion had been cleaned away, except for the flaps of metal that hung low after the machines' intrusive attacks. The blood that had splattered the seats, and his clothes for that matter, were irremovable now, but it hardly mattered. It was a memento of the crew member that had been slain and of their last victorious fight. It was a piece of the Nebuchadnezzar that had remained solidly in its history. He nodded at a job well done and slumped into an operator chair. The cleaning equipment had been discarded in the middle of the floor, and he was so sick of it that he never wanted to feel the sting of bleach in the back of his throat or his eyes ever again.
'Someone's been working hard.' Neo smiled, carrying two bowls of glop up to the top deck.
"Yeah," Edward smiled.
'I guess there's nothing left for me to do.'
"You didn't do anything anyway you bastard, although, if you really want to help then how about removing that trolley from my sight for, let's say, forever?"
'No problem.' Neo laughed. 'Have some glop, you deserve it.' He laid the dish in front of him and a spoon.
"In my whole life, I never thought I'd be so pleased to see glop right now." Edward spooned some into his mouth, taking in the bland flavour as if it were roast chicken.
'How are you feeling?' Neo asked between mouthfuls.
"Hm? About what?" Edward asked.
'You know,' Neo blushed a little from the embarrassment, 'about our conversation earlier.' He neared closer to his face. 'About you and Roy.' He mouthed.
"Oh!" His realisation caused the heat to rise to his face. "Right, yeah, erm… better, I guess."
'You're blushing.' Neo smiled.
"So? It's a touchy subject!"
'But you're feeling better about it?'
"Yeah, I-I think it's better now that I've been able to get it off my chest a little, and, I'm a little surprised."
'What about?' Neo asked through a mouth of glop.
"You're not as dense as you look."
'Of course I'm not dense!' Neo frowned.
"Well, I'm glad at least someone knows, and you're not teasing me about it." Edward poked the glop in his with distraction. "I mean, honestly, I thought you'd be the first one to point and laugh."
'You think I would do something like that? Come on Ed, you underestimate me.'
"You were quick to argue Uma Thurman over Lucy Lui."
'You made fun of Trinity.'
"Oh, yeah, I did do that, didn't I?" Edward sighed.
'You know what, it doesn't matter who we think is better than the other, or whether you're gay, straight or bisexual, I guess I'm just glad you've found someone who you love almost as much as I love Trinity.'
Edward looked up at him, and smiled, "Thanks."
'No problem.' As they continued to eat, a degree of silence purveyed the room, until a glint of a smirk caught Edward's lips.
"You have to admit though, Roy is pretty hot."
'Oh yeah, if I was gay, I would jump on him faster than a fat kid on a cupcake.' He nodded in approval.
"Do I detect a hint of jealousy?"
'Of course not, I have Trinity.'
"True, although, now that I think about, she does look like a female version of Roy."
'Don't say that.' Neo grimaced.
"Why not?"
'I've got him stuck in my head.'
"On the outside, it'll be all about Trinity, but really you'll be thinking about Roy all night long, priceless." Edward grinned.
'Looks like Roy's got competition.'
"Not if I can help it, and besides, the way I see it, if Roy had his way, he'll be coming onto Trinity."
'Why would he? It would be just like he was fucking himself.'
Edward stared pointedly at him.
'Oh, that kind of guy, huh?' Neo sighed.
"If things were different, I would say he was a vain, narcissistic, and useless bastard but, what can I do?" He sighed forlornly.
'Boy have you got it rough.'
"No kidding." Edward handed Neo the empty bowl and murmured his thanks.
'I wouldn't worry about it, things will work out.' He smiled hopefully.
"As if you believe in that bull." He pouted.
'You're right, I don't, but I'm sure you do.'
Edward smiled to himself, "Thanks for understanding."
'No problem.'
"But, this isn't something you can tell everyone else, ok? You have to keep it a secret."
'Yeah, of course.' He nodded, and headed for the ladder. 'Oh, are you going to see Roy soon?'
"If Baldy Mc8ball lets me." He frowned.
'Well, he can't keep you off him forever.'
"Let's hope." Edward smirked, but turning around, Neo was already down the ladder.
-/\*_;)(-
Edward stuck his head around the door, Neo was just close behind.
'Edward, back so soon?' Morpheus asked, he'd been expecting him this time, although his smile didn't belie it.
"Well, I finished my cleaning duties on the top deck and I thought, since it took me a few hours, that he'd be better this time."
'He's awake, but we're conducting some operations.' Morpheus answered.
"O-Operations? While he's awake…?" Edward winced.
'Nothing like surgery.' Morpheus smiled. 'We're using acupuncture to boost muscle growth.'
"Then I guess it's another bad time, right?" Edward looked downcast to the floor.
'Yes, I'm afraid-.'
"E-Edward…" A dry voice called out, coughing lightly. "I-Is that you?"
"Yeah, it's me." Edward brightened up and he pushed past Morpheus, found a seat near the surgical table and pulled himself up to Roy's side. "How are you feeling?" He asked with a sympathetic smile.
"Like I've been run over by a train, and it reversed back on me." He smiled a little. "What's going on? These guys keep talking in a foreign language to each other, like I'm not in the room."
"They're just speaking English. But don't worry, Morpheus can speak Amestrian too."
"I had noticed." He sighed weakly and squinted.
'Tank, run the full body scans.' Morpheus ordered.
"Can we turn the light down? Why do my eyes hurt so much?"
'You're seeing things for the first time.' Morpheus answered.
"For the first time?" he asked hoarsely.
'The body you had in the Beta-Matrix was a figment of your mind, used to make you believe that the place you lived in was definitely reality.'
"It's like temporary accommodation. You know the crappy apartment before the mansion." Edward explained further.
"I liked my apartment; it got me through a lot." Roy chuckled dryly.
'I'm glad I got the Amestrian language download.' Neo smiled from the doorway.
'Speak for yourself.' Tank frowned, tapping at a side monitor. 'I might as well be deaf.'
"What happened to your hair, Ed?" Roy laughed, signalling to it with his eyes.
"The same thing that happened to yours; you're as bald as Morpheus." Edward grinned.
"And your clothes? What happened to your jacket?"
"That was part of the Beta-Matrix. This is all they have."
"Don't tell me I'll have to wear that." Roy frowned.
"Of course not, you wouldn't fit into it." Edward laughed, Roy smiled.
"At least it'll be better than wearing this towel over my crotch." Roy sighed resignedly. "I wish that Neo guy would stop staring." Neo turned his head away, whistling nonchalantly. "Jealous." Roy smirked.
'Something you're not telling us, Neo?' Morpheus chuckled at his own little quip.
Though Edward had been sat by him, it was the first time that he realised Roy was practically naked. His eyes strayed a little down his smooth, thin body. He hoped Roy wouldn't notice his gaze switching, but as they moved lower down each pale limb, his face was burning brighter, as if any second his cheeks would transmute themselves into great flaming beacons. Roy had noticed.
"One day, Edward. This'll all be yours." Roy chuckled, but Edward's whole body boiled a bright red until you could mistake him for having severe sunburn.
"I-I wasn't, erm, erm, I…"
"What's to be embarrassed about? As hard as it is to believe, you'll hit puberty, and then you'll be having growth spurts all over the place. You'll see."
"O-Oh, right, of course that's what you meant." Edward tried to smile away the blush, hoping that Roy's eyesight wasn't as adept as picking up on it yet.
Neo snorted a laugh.
'Morpheus? I think you should take a look at this.' Tank signalled with his finger, and Morpheus moved to see the monitor.
"Is something wrong? Tank, is it?" But Tank ignored him; each couldn't tell what the other was saying. "I must be talking to myself." Roy muttered.
"I'll ask." Edward gazed up at Tank. "What do the scans say?"
'Edward, I think now is the time for you to leave Roy alone.' Morpheus ordered.
"What? But I haven't done anything!" He whined.
'I'm sure Dozer will be happy to take you through some learning programs.' Morpheus glared straight into him, serious, unfazed. Edward sighed and got up from his seat, he made for the door with an agitated glare.
'I'll see you later, Roy.' Edward shared his reserved smile, looking back to him, but shot Morpheus his disapproving glare.
'Neo, please escort Edward there, we can't have him disobeying me again.'
Edward growled angrily and stormed from the room with Neo in tow.
-/\*_;)(-
Edward was sat in one of the seats; a plug was immobilized in the socket of his head. Dozer tapped at his keyboard, 'don't be so mad there, little man.' He smiled apologetically, 'I'm sure Morpheus meant well. The new guy needed his rest and all.'
"He wouldn't even tell me what was wrong." He grumbled.
'Wrong?'
"I think there was something wrong with Roy's scans. He wouldn't tell me."
'Maybe that's why he asked you to leave. Maybe Roy didn't want you knowing either. The body's a pretty personal place my friend.'
"How do you figure that?" Edward growled, still in a foul mood.
'You see, when you're a bluepill, the machines are using your bodies as batteries and all for their power. Your body don't belong to you no more, not really. So, when you're a redpill, your body is yours again; it's the one thing those machines can't take from you, not without killing you anyway. You see what I'm sayin'?'
Edward looked downcast, and sighed, "Yeah." He murmured softly.
'Now to cheer you up, how about I take you through some training programs? Would that be better?' Dozer suggested with a hopeful smile.
He couldn't help but let a little smile turn up on his lips. "I guess…"
'See? We're feeling better already; boys and their violence.' He chuckled, he tapped on his keyboard. 'Now, let's start at the beginning. First up, Aikido.'
Edward shut his eyes, ready to learn the program.
Then, Apoc stepped into the top deck.
'We're almost at Zion; we're just a couple of hours away.' He reported.
'Alright, Morpheus is in the recovery room.' Dozer answered.
"Zion?" Edward muttered after a couple of minutes.
'My home city.' Dozer grinned.
"Oh, I remember, Tank told me it was the last human city."
'Sure is, but we're not there yet. Next up, Aiki Jujitsu."
-/\*_;)(-
The old man held a look of calculation as he thought through the events that had been relayed to him. Envy awaited his judgement before him, keeping his distance in a respectful manner. The only thing between them was the step onto the throne and the thick tangle of wires protruding from it.
"So, you saw Edward Elric disappear in a telephone box, correct?"
"Yeah!" Envy nodded rapidly, "Through the receiver, I'm sure!"
"And Roy Mustang is gone also?"
"He went with this guy who took him away in a car. There was another guy as well; he was there when Edward disappeared too."
"And you think Roy Mustang has gone to the same place as Edward?"
"Of course! No doubt about it!"
Father thought this through for a few seconds more, and finally, glanced back down to Envy. "Then, if I am correct, there were some other men there as well."
"Other men...?" Envy tried to think back to the event, before realising what he meant, "Oh, right! There were these guys in suits and sunglasses! They were pretty weird, and they didn't seem human. In fact, I heard them disgrace humans, just like us!"
A small smile appeared on Father's lips, the first one Envy had seen in centuries, and it made his skin crawl to think that such a point could warrant one.
"Then I am correct. I know where our sacrifices have escaped to." Father said as his smile fell away. "This means I know how you can retrieve them Envy, but I'm afraid, the method isn't easy."
"Don't worry, Father! I will get them back, no matter what!" A sadistic grin formed along Envy's face and he cracked his knuckles in preparation.
"Your loyalty is admirable, Envy. I am lucky to have a son like you. But, you will have to forgive me, because, for you to retrieve the sacrifices, I will have to destroy you first."
"...Destroy...me?" The smile dropped.
Father stood up from his thrown and leered down from before Envy. His legs went weak from the man's presence and he fell to his knees. "Have faith in your father, Envy. This will only be temporary." His hand penetrated Envy's chest and he looked up to him, blood pouring from his mouth. His wounds tried to heal, but his force couldn't withstand his father's power. Father wretched his arm out and the form before him turned to dust, all that was left of him was the thick red substance stuck to his fingers. He pulled it off, and immediately it solidified into the form of a red bean.
Blue volts of a transmutation surrounded the bean and it disappeared from his hand. He returned to his throne, sat and let a small smile crease his lips.
"Do not fail me, Envy."
-/\*_;)(-
He kissed her lips with a succulent desire. His back pressed up against the wall, she moaned against the friction. His fingers stroked through her coal black hair, her hands pressed against his waist. She turned them round and they fell upon the bed, her lips needed into his necks, and he shut his eyes breathlessly. The kisses dissipated, he didn't turn up to her, but after minutes of nothing, he glanced back up. She was straddling his hips and her arms were folded with impatience.
'What's wrong?' Neo asked.
'I should be asking you the same thing.' She asked; her voice carried a light sting. 'Is something on your mind?'
'I...' Neo looked away and began to sit up. Trinity shifted herself onto his lap and looked at him in her camouflaged manner of confusion.
'…Neo?'
'...It's nothing.' He breathed finally, looking into her eyes.
'Are you sure?'
'Not really.' He sighed.
'You can tell me what's wrong; you know that, don't you?'
'Of course I know, but... I can't.' He looked away.
'Why not?'
'It's a secret; I promised I wouldn't tell anyone else.' He kissed her neck lightly, 'so, don't worry about it.'
'As long as you don't.' Trinity smiled against his lips.
Neo looked up to her and kissed her lips, his hands brought her closer to his crotch and he kneaded into it appreciatively, 'I won't.'
-/\*_;)(-
The whole room shuddered momentarily. Alphonse's head connected with the wall and he jolted awake. He rubbed his head sleepily, and getting up shakily, stepped for the door of his bedroom. He looked out through it, and found Ghost striding towards him.
"What was that about?" Alphonse blinked and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.
'We're here.' Ghost answered.
"You mean Zion?"
'Yeah, so if I were you, I would collect what little you have and move out.'
"We're not staying here?"
'No, we're going for some accommodation while we fill up on supplies.'
"Alright." Alphonse sighed, "Then let me get my shirt on."
'Don't take too long, we're letting engineers do some repairs on the ship as well.'
Alphonse stepped out from his room now fully clothed. He found the exit out and looked out upon the underground cavern that he seemed to be swallowed in.
Where the hell...am I?
Author's note: Da dada la! Chapter 10! Ten chapters finally! I can't even remember when I started this fiction up; it seems like so long ago. Oops, now that makes me sound lazy, like it's taken me this long because I'm procrastinating. To be honest I probably have better things to do right now, but why not be doing this? It's great fun writing these fictions for you guys, plus great practice for me in the long run! Anyway, I want to say thanks to all you guys for reading and reviewing like you have.
Honestly though, we're not finished quite yet! For all those who enjoy reading my Omake's, I've decided that every ten chapters, I will write two or three omakes instead of the traditional one when I'm inspired. Heck, it's one of my thank you presents to all those who read.
I've changed the chapter title name; you're going to have to get use to this happening, otherwise we won't get anyway now, will we? I've started getting into Muse, which I'm surprised I didn't discover before, because I have watched a few twilight films… Anyway, this chapter is called Undisclosed Desires by Muse from the Album The Resistance (the album suits the Matrix well, does it not?) I decided this one would be better because it sounds like a reassuring song from Neo to Edward. The song does suggest that Neo would have to be in love with Ed for this to work, but it does give a sense that he's in full support of it, which he is as of this chapter. These are some of the lyric that stand out to me, "I know you've suffered, but I don't want you to hide," "I want to exorcize the demons from your past," "I want to reconcile the violence in your heart", "You may be a sinner", "You are the one". It's a nice and catchy tune as well, so I can't argue with it. It suits this chapter better than the other one, I think. I could be wrong.
For all those curious readers, I know what is happening in my story! There are no worries to it now! I've got a lot of stuff going on in here, and a lot of things have been pre-referenced by now, so no moaning when the twists come up!
On the beta-reader front though, I have not been able to secure a replacement yet, so all beta-reading is being handled by me. If you find any mistakes in the chapter then let me know! ^^
Hm, I've always thought Apoc seems to resemble Alessandro Juliani, the voice of L, of course, if you don't know what he looks like, he's in Smallville at the moment as Dr Emil Hamilton and he was in Battlestar Galactica as goodness knows who. Juliani is probably the only reason why I watch Smallville. But I still protest, Dozer is definitely the spitting image of Killer Bee from Naruto Shippuden, only with black hair and no sunglasses.
But enough of that. Thank you for reading, and as always, keep reviewing.
As an extra note, Chapter 11 should be out in two weeks. Of course, I would've said sooner, such as in a week's time, but since you got two omakes at the end of this story; I thought it would be worth making you wait a little. Besides, we're heading for Zion now and it's a fairly long journey! There, two weeks delay because of the change of locale. It's not because I need time to write chapter 11 because it's already finished. It's to give me chance to get to chapter 16 in the writing. I need to stay chapters ahead of you all or I get stressed.
Thank you for reading, your reviews and all of your support!
Ophelia Davis
/tmp/uploads/FF_1442475_ 8of8 at 04:56:43 on21/06/2012 King Edward VII School