Switch's Story

by MatrixMadness

Pre 'The Matrix' film, tells the story of Switch and the other members of the Nebuchadnezzar before the events of the film. Story starts from the moment Switch enters the Matrix right up until her death at the hands of Cypher. Cannon pairings (Switch x Apoc), (Neo x Trinity) First fanfic ever, please R&R :)

10. Keeping it together

Hey Readers! Sorry this update has taken so long, its been a busy week for me with exams looming -_- So updates may be a little slow for the next two weeks but after that my attention can return to this story! This chapter isn't my best work but it's needed to make the next few chapters make any sense. Anyway, I hope you still like it! :) xx

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Switch quickly pulled her jumper back over her head and shoved her arms through the sleeves as she walked towards the closed door of the washroom. She felt a bit better after a shower and change of clothes; it was like a fresh start to a very difficult day, one that was far from over. She sighed to herself and shock her head sadly as she reached out to open the door, she couldn't believe how fast the day had gone. That was a frightening thought, knowing how few days she may have left. It was probably only around midafternoon and but she had already done so much. They had all re-entered the Matrix earlier this morning, she had met with the Oracle, learnt the truth about her future, and gotten herself into a complete mess with Mouse and Cypher which she didn't have a clue how to solve. The events all seemed to blur together and she was left feeling a little amazed that it had all happened in only the past few hours.

Pushing open the door of the washroom she stepped out into the corridor, mentally preparing herself to face the others. She could only imagine the scrutiny she was going to get from Cypher. Looking up from the floor she saw that Mouse was still standing in the hall waiting of her. She knew this wouldn't be the last time they talked about their looming deaths; they were going to need to pact together if they were going to make it through the times coming. She needed him just as much as he needed her, because this was something they were only willing to confide in each other.

"Feeling better?" he asked as she came to stand beside him, giving her shoulder a quick squeeze.

She nodded, the movement bringing her back to her senses. "Yeah I'm fine. I'll meet you back out on the main bridge when your finished." she offered, gesturing to the door at the end of the hall.

"Sounds good." he agreed, smiling as he turned away from her and walked into the washroom.

Once the door closed behind him she turned and ambled down the hall, stopping outside the door leading onto the main bridge. Taking a deep breath she reached out and turned the leaver to open the heavy metal door. She tried to keep her face calm; she couldn't let on how she was feeling but more importantly she could let Cypher make her look suspicious, especially after what he thought he had seen. She hoped Cypher would let this slide but she had a feeling that wouldn't be the case. As she steeped out onto the main bridge she saw Trinity sat in front of the monitors, her eyes on the two screens running coding. They must be the displays Tank had set up to watch the two 'potentials' as Morpheus had put it. She couldn't fight her curiosity and quickly dashed over to Trinity.

"Hey, Trin." she called, as she came to stand behind her.

"Oh, hey." Trinity replied, spinning around in her chair to look at Switch, a surprised smile on her face.

She couldn't help but notice that Trinity looked a little flustered as she peered over her shoulder to look at the coding she was watching. She knew why, it must be awkward knowing that you could be practically stalking your future lover. She knew why they had to keep an eye on them but she had to admit it was a little creepy. She hadn't asked if they had been monitoring her for a long time and honestly didn't want to know. It was disconcerting to think about someone watching your every movement.

"Are these the ones you think might be the one?" she asked, pointing at two screens standing out amongst the collection of monitors. She knew they were, she wasn't that unobservant but she couldn't think of anything else to say to make conversation.

"Uh-huh." she nodded. "This is Neo." she explained, tapping the screen on her right. "And this is Drive." she said, gesturing the screen on her left.

"Which is the younger one?" she questioned; if she was going to be involved in this search then she wanted to learn as much as she possibly could. Tank had seemed eager on ejecting the younger one and she could understand why; it wasn't a good idea to eject someone over age. Cypher was a prime example of that and apparently he was one of the more minor cases. She could only image how bad some of the sever cases must be. Cypher wasn't that bad really, he hadn't shown any signs of homicidal tendencies which others apparently had but he was still a pain to live with.

"Drive is. He's twenty." she replied, her eyes now locked on his screen.

"Same age as you. That's a good starting point." Switch smirked, nudging her shoulder. She knew she was being a tease for bringing that up but couldn't help it, she was starting pick up Tank's bad habit of joking at the worst possible times.

"Shh." she hissed, her hand covering Switch's mouth. She didn't want to risk the possibility of someone overhearing anything to do with her and the one. She had managed to keep it under wraps for almost a year and wasn't going to slip up now. "You can't talk about that. Ever." she warned, glaring up at Switch but there was still a hint of humor in her eyes.

Switch nodded slightly and Trinity pulled her hand away. "Sorry." she muttered, a sheepish smile creeping onto her face.

"Honestly, your getting to be as bad as Tank. This is why I didn't tell him." she grumbled but was unable to stop the corners of her lips turning upwards as she thought about what Tank would say if he knew about this.

"What about Neo?" she asked, trying to changing the topic.

"He's twenty-seven." she replied, her eyes flicking over to his monitor. She found that her eyes always seemed to linger on his screen for longer than necessary; his coding was far less interesting than Drive's and yet she was somehow fascinated by his seemingly dull existence.

"So what are you watching for?" Switch asked, pulling over the spare chair Dozer usually used. She sat down on the chair backwards, one leg on either side of the backrest and she rested her arms on the head of the chair, looking curiously at Trinity.

"Everything. What their doing, where their going, who their seeing." she mumbled as her she forced her eyes to travel between each screen. "We're mainly watching for Agents though, there the single most dangerous threat to them while inside the Matrix." she explained, turning to look at Switch.

She nodded before resting her chin on her forearms, her eyes glued to the nearest monitor. She was getting used to seeing everything in code and could tell that this young man, Drive, was at some kind of party.

"Do you have any idea what their like?" she thought out loud. Trinity had probably gotten a feel of what they were like after all the hours she had spent watching them. While she had obviously never met them in person she must have picked up enough from watching their every move, probably more than she would have if she actually knew them.

"We've been searching through their files and found out a little bit about their past." she replied. "Drive's real name is Andrew Baker. He came from a big family of four children and is currently working as a managing consultant for a computer manufacturing company. He's exceptionally rich and lives in one of his parents many houses, and he racks in enough money to more than pay for his indulgent lifestyle." she explained. "He's social, smart, and from his coding appears to be tall and muscular with blond hair and blue eyes." she continued, highlighting pieces of the code as she spoke.

"Not at all your type then." she whispered, giving Trinity a knowing look. He sounded great, friendly, rich, good-looking, and smart. He could be a potential match for Trinity but he would have to get through her first. She wasn't going to let any old sod get with Trinity; he would have to prove himself first. She knew Trinity wouldn't like it if she knew that she felt protective over her but that wasn't go to stop her. Trinity was like a sister to her and she was going to look out for her whether she liked it or not.

Trinity shook her head, an almost disgusted expression on her face. He was definitely not her type.

"No?" Switch questioned, raising an eyebrow at Trinity.

"Not a chance." she mumbled. "He's far too friendly." she muttered, her eyes narrowing on his screen. "Especially with the ladies…" she trailed off, a small frown forming on her face.

"What?" she asked, titling her head in confusion.

"Watch. You'll see." she directed, pointing at the screen before folding her arms in aggravation.

She watched Drive's monitor for a moment, he had left the party now and had some blond ditz in tow. She scanned through to code as the pair walked back to what appeared to be a huge mansion. Trinity was right about the house, the coding for the place practically screamed money. Eventually the pair made their way to what she assumed was Drive's room and she looked away from the screen. Even though it was only coding she knew where that was headed.

"Ugh. Disgusting." she muttered, shaking her head at the screen. That was the end of him, no way would that prick get anywhere near Trinity.

"Agreed. And he does the same thing almost every night." she retorted, her eyes locking with Switch's.

They shared a repulsed look, men like that were disgusting. How the hell could Morpheus even think that he could be the one?

"What about the other one?" Switch asked, shuffling her chair around so she could look at the other monitor. Surely at least one of them had to semi-decent.

"Neo's real name is Thomas Anderson. He lives alone now; his family has been dead for years. He works for a computer program company called MetaCortex." she explained, her eyes transfixed on the screen in front of her.

Switch raised her eyebrows at Trinity, not that she could see, her attention was consumed by the running coding of this man Neo.

"He's also a hacker selling contraband programming." she continued, excitement seeping into her voice. "And he is one of the most antisocial people I've seen. His coding says he is tall with dark hair and eye colorings." she added, her eyes never once leaving the screen.

Switch smiled to herself; Trinity clearly had a soft spot for this hacker. He sounded much better than Drive but that wasn't a hard feat. She looked at the screen for a moment, a wary expression on her face. If this Neo was the one then he better watch out because he was going to get hell from her and the rest of the crew before he got anywhere near Trinity.

"He seems nice." she mumbled, she had to give to poor guy the benefit of the doubt, for now anyway.

"Yeah." Trinity nodded, blinking as she pulled out of her absorbed state. She turned away from the screen to look at Switch, giving her a small smile.

"But the others all seemed adamant on getting Drive out because of his age." Switch whispered, shuffling her chair closer to Trinity's.

"I know…" she sighed, resting her head in her hands. "But they're just looking at it from a tactical point of view." she explained, knowing that their view on this was completely different to hers and Switch's.

"So 'tactically' speaking won't they take Drive out and realize he's not the one and then try Neo. And if it's neither of them start from scratch?" Switch asked; that would be the most logical way of tackling this. But also a waste of time, Drive had no chance in hell of being the one.

Trinity nodded; Switch had, in short, summed up Morpheus' plan for finding the one. It wasn't the best but it was all they had to go on.

"Morpheus is eager to take Drive out, mainly because he want to try something. We haven't had any luck with our search so far and were running out of time. I think Morpheus has more faith in Neo being the one but we will have to return to Zion before we can even attempt to unplug him. Which is why we haven't made any contact with him yet." she explained, trying to reason Morpheus decisions. She knew she would have plenty more of that to do when they broke the news to the rest of the crew. She had a feeling that Tank and Dozer would be on board with whatever Morpheus' plan was but the others were going to need some convincing.

"Why do we have to go to Zion?" she asked, she felt bad about it but she was suddenly excited about the idea of a trip to Zion. Not because of the search but because of what Apoc had said about it…

"Morpheus would have to appear before Council and request for the permission to eject an over age bluepill. I don't know what they will say but I think the council is becoming as desperate as is Morpheus when it comes to the search." she replied, her brows fusing together as she thought it over. Surely they would allow them to take him out, one or not she would like to meet Neo.

"So really were just going to have to try and take Drive out knowing that he isn't the one?" she questioned, it would be such a waste of time. It didn't take a genius to notice that Trinity felt something for this Neo.

She froze. Time. A waste of time. That was exactly what she needed; each failed attempt would prolong her death for a little longer. She should be trying to delay this as long as possible. Getting Neo out could wait, she still had plenty of things she wanted to do before she died.

"Drive may still be the one. I could be wrong." Trinity mumbled, her voice lacking any conviction in her claim.

"Yeah, he could be." she agreed, her voice as unconvincing as Trinity's. "But if what the Oracle said to you was true then I seriously doubt it." she added, giving Trinity a knowing smile.

"True, but for Morpheus' sake we at least have to try. We can think of this as like a test run." Trinity amended, returning Switch's smile.

"Sounds like a plan. Do you have any idea when Morpheus is going to want to put this plan into action?" she asked, hoping that he would want to wait a while.

"That's what we were looking into while Mouse was being trained and by the sounds of it he's eager to try as soon as possible." she replied, her eyes returning to Drive's screen. "He's planned it all out, down to the to tiniest detail. He's desperate alright." she chuckled, shaking her head sadly.

Switch opened her mouth to reply as the sound of scrapping metal made them both spin around and look at the dormitory door opening out onto the main bridge.

Mouse's tiny figure peered out from around the corner and he quietly stepped through the door before closing it tightly behind him, looking absolutely terrified. She knew why, anything could have happened while he was in the shower. She hadn't even seen Cypher yet but if had said something to Apoc then Mouse should be scared. Cypher had a way of putting a nasty spin on the stories he told and she didn't even what to imagine how he could have made what he saw sound like. That was her main reason for staying out on the main bridge with Trinity. Everyone else was in the mess hall, judging by the talking she could her through the closed door, and she wasn't eager to join them.

Mouse stayed glued to the closed door, his eyes darting between Switch and the door leading into the mess hall, not daring to move towards either of them.

"Hey, Mouse." Trinity called, giving him a friendly smile as she waved to him.

"Hi." he mumbled, taking a hesitate step towards them.

"You okay?" Trinity questioned, her eyes studying his panicky expression.

Switch smiled reassuringly at him, she could tell Mouse had been in situations like this before. She didn't know much about Mouse's old life but could imagine that he had been abused quite badly back in the Matrix. She could tell by the way he moved, it was like he thought the people around him were wild animals that could lash out at any moment. She had a feeling that her and Mouse both knew well what it felt like to be the weaker individual who could only rely on the humanity of others. She knew because she had spent her life at the mercy of men who took advantage of those they deemed to be weaker than themselves. She had quickly learnt that those men existed outside the Matrix just as much as they did inside it.

"Yeah, I'm fine." he replied, nodding his head forcefully. Switch's calm state reassured him slightly, she didn't seem to be worried about what Cypher or Apoc were going to do.

Trinity smiled back at him, nodding but not really believing him. She knew something was going on with him and Switch, something that started right after the Oracle visit. She hadn't asked either of them about it and wasn't planning on it. Whatever they were dealing with was their business and she knew better that to get involved.

"The others when for lunch a while ago, their probably playing cards now. You two should go get some lunch too and join them." Trinity suggested, nudging Switch out of her chair.

"You sure?" Switch asked as she stood to her feet, she didn't want to leave Trinity alone but more importantly didn't want to face Cypher quiet yet.

"Yeah, I already ate while Tank was setting these up." she explained gesturing to the screens in front of her.

"Ooh. Are those the possible ones?" Mouse asked, excitedly leaning over Trinity's shoulder to get a better look. His eyes scanned over the coding frantically as he tried to take in the information.

"They sure are." she confirmed, moving to the side in her chair to let him have a better look.

His eyes continued to scrutinize the screens for a moment before his checks turned bright red. He let out a gasp of surprise and looked at Trinity in horror.

"It that…are they…?" he trailed off, looking back at Drive's screen in embarrassment.

"I think its lunch time." Trinity said cheerily, pushing him away from the monitor. She had completely forgotten what Drive was in the process of doing when she had shown him the screen. Poor Mouse, by the look on his face she must have scarred the kid for life.

Switch couldn't help laughing at Mouse's horrified expression as he stumbled away from the monitor; his reaction was priceless. He ambled towards her, still looking slightly shocked.

"Come on lets get some food in you." she teased, wrapping her arm around his waist as they walked towards the mess hall. She felt bad for him but at least this had taken his mind off Cypher, they didn't need to worry about that. Or so she hoped.

When they reached the mess hall door she let go of Mouse, she didn't want Cypher to try and make any snide comments about that. Pushing the door open they walked into the crowed mess hall, trying to look as casual as possible. Which was more difficult than she had thought, her mind was racing between the one, the Oracle and the situation with Mouse. She was left feeling slightly overwhelmed at how the day had turned out and knew that it was far from over.

Looking around the table she quickly worked out that Apoc, Tank, Dozer and Cypher were in the middle of an intense game of high stakes poker. They called it high stakes whenever there was actually something on the line and the collection of socks, beanie's and razors told her that this was the case.

"Hey!" Apoc called when he saw them come in, a grin forming on his face. He was relived to see Switch again; he was starting to think that she wasn't coming back.

She waved at him as she walked over to the counter, serving up two bowls of slop. She offered one to Mouse and they both took a seat on the edge of the benches opposite each other, she sat down next to Apoc while Mouse took a seat next to Dozer. She hugged onto Apoc's arm, resting her head on his shoulder for a moment before letting him go. She didn't say anything but knew he would appreciate the tiny show of affection. But she had another underlying reason of trying and make a subtle point to Cypher. Picking up the spoon from beside her bowl she prepared to undertake her favorite activity. Mushing the food around in her bowl she looking across the table and watched as the four of them continued their game.

"So winner takes all?" she asked, putting the spoon back down after eating a few mouthfuls. There was a fairly impressive amount of belongings on the table, a beany, a few pairs of socks, some soap and an almost new razor. She wouldn't mind winning all that.

"You bet." Cypher agreed, putting his hand down on the table.

Switch smiled across at Mouse, it would be interesting to see who won. It was also encouraging to see Cypher acting normally; hopefully he had brushed off what had happened before. She went back to eating, forcing herself to eat the whole bowl full. She wanted to eat quickly and get out of here, the longer she stayed the more likely it was that someone would ask a question that she didn't want to answer. She also couldn't wait to get back to Trinity; she wanted to talk with her more about the one and didn't want to leave her out there alone for too long. She wondered when Morpheus would resurface and what on earth he would say when he did. She hadn't realized she'd spaced out until Tank's triumphant yell snapped her back to reality.

"Yuusss!" he cheered, clenching his fists in victory.

"Nice. I still think you were looking at my cards." Apoc teased, nudging Tank in the side.

"Now, now Apoc. Don't be a sour loser, I won far and square." Tank protested, a smug smile on his face.

"Uh-huh. Sure you did." Cypher mock agreed, giving Apoc a knowing look.

"Hey!" Tank protested, a frown forming on his face.

"What time is it?" Dozer asked suddenly, putting a stop to their banter.

"Just past four." Switch replied, remembering the timer she had seen on the monitor just before.

"Shit. Trinity's been on shift for at least three hours. She should have gotten one of us to take over." Tank said, jumping to his feet. "I'll go relieve her." he added as he walked over to the door. He turned around to smile at them before he pushed open the door and walked out onto the main bridge.

"Well." Dozer sighed. "I'd better make a move too, Morpheus could probably do with some help." Dozer muttered as hauled himself off the bench and stood to his feet. He gave them all a wave before he left the room, headed presumably towards the driving cabin.

They all sat in silence for a moment; Switch could feel Cyphers eyes on her but refused to meet them. She didn't what to encourage him to mention what had happened earlier.

Cypher let out a sigh and stood to his feet. "Your idea of having a shower sounds pretty tempting. Would anyone else like to come?" he asked, giving Switch a sly smile.

She rolled her eyes at him. Honestly, he was so disgusting. She couldn't believe he thought she had done anything with Mouse and worse he now seeing if she was keen on doing anything with him.

"No? Okay, I'll see you all later then." Cypher replied to his own question when he saw that Switch wasn't going to say anything.

As he moved away from the table his eyes locked with Switch's and he gave her a meaningful look. His eyes were daring her to say something but she quickly lowered her gaze, unable to meet his eyes. No matter what he tried to imply she didn't have anything she needed to confess, she hadn't done anything wrong. With a smug smile Cypher turned on his heel and left the room, leaving Switch alone with Apoc and Mouse.

"What was that about?" Apoc asked, turning to stare at Switch in bewilderment. It had sounded like Cypher was trying to convince Switch into the shower with him. He tried to keep himself calm, if Cypher was lusting after Switch he would find that Apoc and Tank had something in common; they would both got to any means to protect the people they cared about. Apoc remembered not long after he had been ejected that Cypher had been in pretty bad shape after Tank had 'dealt with' his interest in Trinity.

"No idea." Mouse muttered, shrugging his shoulders as though he knew nothing.

"Just Cypher being his usually snarky self." Switch replied, laughing awkwardly.

The door to the mess hall was suddenly hauled open and Trinity stomped into the room, looking a little annoyed and deep in thought. Switch sighed in relief as she entered; thank god she was here. Apoc's last question had been a little too close to what she really didn't want to talk about.

Trinity walked over to the bench and pulled out a cup, placing it down on the counter top with far more force than necessary before filling it with water. She took a long sip of water and smashed the now empty cup back down onto the bench. Taking a deep breath she wandered back over to the table and sat down next to Mouse, slumping over the table. A scowl formed on her face as she crossed her arms and rested her chin on her forearms.

"What's wrong Trin?" Apoc asked, ducking his head down to look at her.

"Cypher's a dick." she muttered, sitting up straighter in her chair.

Switch smiled, she knew that all too well. Someone just needed to give him a good slap in the face. She had felt a little sorry for him earlier today when she had learnt about him being ejected over age but she didn't think that was any excuse for the way he was acting.

"What's he done this time?" Apoc sighed, his brows creasing in annoyance. Cypher was starting to really piss him off with the way he was treating Trinity, Mouse and Switch.

"Nothing just his snide comments are getting to me." she replied, brushing it off as though it didn't matter. "And Drive, god he's even worse." she added, shaking her head, she was sick and tired of all this bullshit.

"Tell me about it. Last night when I was on shift Morpheus asked me to keep an eye on the three of them, well now two, and he was at it not once but three times, with different girls. It's bloody disgusting." Apoc agreed, his face scrunching up in distaste.

"Guys! We have innocent ears at the table!" Switch cried in mock horror, reaching across the table to cover Mouse's ears. She was only teasing really but still meant it; she didn't want Mouse to get embarrassed again.

Trinity and Apoc burst out laughing, shaking their heads when Switch looked at them in bewilderment.

"What?" she asked confused at to why on earth that was so funny.

"Innocent…" Apoc chuckled, looking pointedly at Mouse who was quickly turning bright red.

"He's far from it." Trinity muttered, giving him a disapproving look.

"Wait you used to, to?" Switch gasped, looking at him in shock. She hadn't thought for a moment that Mouse had been anything like Drive.

He quickly shook his head, his eyes widening and his face burning bright red.

"He used to watch plenty of it." Apoc stated bluntly, his eyes scrutinizing Mouse's face.

No. She didn't believe it. She had thought he was a little was a bit of a perv when he watched Trinity but this? She didn't want to believe it was true.

"I couldn't help it, we're human aren't we? We're not machines, we you know… have certain instincts and to deny them is… well that's like denying our own humanity." Mouse stuttered, trying to defend himself.

"Oh god, they're going to eat that up in Zion." Apoc chucked, shaking his head in dismay. Mouse really was hopeless.

Mouse hesitatively looked up at Apoc, confused at to what he was getting at.

"The people in Zion have a similar mind set to you, embracing their sexuality and having pride in being human and all that." Trinity explained, giving him a small smile.

Mouse just nodded, unsure what he should say to that. He was surprised he had gotten off that easily and didn't want to risk saying anything else.

They all fell into an awkward silence after that, each looking around the table unsure what to say now. It was too awkward to continue that line of conversation but sitting in silence was almost just as bad.

"What does Zion look like?" Switch asked casually, as though they hadn't been talking about anything out of the ordinary.

"Hmm." Apoc pondered, turning to look at Trinity. It wasn't exactly an easy place to describe.

"It's a like a huge version of this ship mixed in with an underground tunnel system." Trinity said, trying to describe the unique city.

"Yeah, that's a good way of putting it. When you arrive there's a huge bridge were all the ships are repaired and docked when they're not in use. And then you go through a massive gate and enter into the city where everyone lives." Apoc explained, his eyes lighting up as thought about it. He missed Zion. It had been almost four months since he had last been and thinking about it made him wish he could go back soon, especially if Switch was also going to be there…

"In the living section there is a huge metal frame work made up of bridges and elevators that connect all the rooms and levels surrounding the ground floor. It's like a giant cylinder with rooms dug into the rock walls and metal making up all the pathways and doors." Trinity added, trying to give her a better description.

"It sounds amazing." Mouse sighed, looking excitedly at Trinity.

Trinity smiled at his enthusiasm, she had a feeling that Mouse was going to love Zion.

"So what do people do in Zion?" Switch asked. Her life here was consumed with the search of the one so what did everyone not on the ships do exactly?

"They live normal lives, well as normal as you can in the real world." Apoc replied, giving her a small smile. "People in Zion also make all the clothes and supplies for our ships." he added.

"Zion has lots of interesting things for the people who live there but for us on the ships when we go there it usually just to rest and have a good time." Trinity explained, giving Apoc a knowing look.

Apoc chuckled, a grin forming on his face. "I bet any crew member on a ship will tell you Zion is good for four things, sleep, food, partying and sex." Apoc answered, looking sideways at Switch.

Trinity shook her head. "Don't look at her as you say that! Honestly." she almost growled, shaking her head at him. "Don't listen to him Switch." she scolded, glaring dangerously at Apoc. She wouldn't have Apoc implying anything like that about Switch.

"What? I was speaking about everyone in general. Not all of those apply to everyone." he protested, his shoulders hunching in defeat.

"You had better have been." she teased, her eyes narrowing at him.

Switch smiled at their odd argument, she wasn't even sure who she agreed with or why they arguing in the first place. It was a fact, you couldn't deny that it was the thought of Zion that got you through the trying moments, like when you were freezing cold, hungry, or simply in need of some privacy.

Switch turned to look at the closed door of the mess hall when she heard the sound of pounding footsteps. A second later the door flew open and Tank's eager face rushed into the room. He almost collided with the table as he ran over to them.

"Woah take it easy there." Apoc laughed, steadying Tanks shoulders so he wouldn't fall over.

Tank took a deep breath, trying to pull himself together.

"What is it?" Trinity asked, a tinge if panic in her voice. Tank had been on shift, had something happened to Neo or Drive? She felt her heartbeat spike as she thought of Neo, she didn't want to even think about an Agent finding or killing him.

"We, I mean you, not me, are going into the Matrix tomorrow." Tank explained, stuttering as he almost jumped with excitement. This was what they had been waiting for and he was finally going to be able to operate for an official mission. He knew this mission would be dangerous but he was excited to be apart of it.

"What?" Trinity shouted, staring at Tank in shock. They couldn't be getting Drive out now, could they?

"Morpheus is taking you in to get Drive out." he replied as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Dozer is going to get Cypher and Morpheus will be down in a minute." he added, taking a seat next to Mouse.

Switch looked at Trinity, sharing a meaningful look. This wasn't going to turn out well. She knew for a fact that they were wasting their time but she could live with that, hell she couldn't live without it. As soon as they found the one she was a dead woman. She tried to push it from her mind; she needed to focus. If they were going back into the Matrix they would all be in danger yet again and she didn't want to die any earlier than she had too.

Cypher and Dozer wandered into the mess hall and took a seat next to Switch and Apoc. Dozer looked a little worn out and Cypher looked down right pissed.

"Morpheus is crazy." Apoc muttered to Dozer, shaking his head in bewilderment.

"Crazy? He's completely lost it. The man's a lunatic." Cypher replied, looking at the empty seat in front of him in disgust.

"There's no doubt he's crazy but we have to trust him." Tank protested, trying to defend Morpheus.

"He's not the one." Trinity stated bluntly, crossing her arms in annoyance.

"Oh really? What gave it away?" Cypher teased, smiling mockingly at her.

"We might as well humor him, if he wants to take him out then fine. This can be a practice run for when we do find the one." Trinity suggested, ignoring Cyphers comment.

"True. I mean what's the worst that can happen? He's not the one and we take him to Zion." Apoc added, trying to back up Trinity's point.

"And then we can take Neo out." Tank continued, smiling at all of them.

"Sure that's a great idea we'll just go to Zion and ask to take out some over ager on a whim." Cypher muttered, glaring at Tank. "This is the dumbest plan I have ever heard of. Morpheus doesn't have a clue what he's doing and might as well just admit it." Cypher added, turning to look at Trinity.

"I think Neo could be the one and Morpheus knows what he's doing." Tank objected, the veins in his neck twitching with anger.

"Neo has shown more promise than anyone else." Trinity added quietly, giving Tank a small smile.

"Exactly. So it wouldn't be on some whim, we'll just have to be careful about how we break the news to him." Apoc amended, trying to calm Tank down. Tank wasn't one to get angry but Cypher had a way of making you feel degraded in an argument, which was enough to annoy even the most placid of people.

"Break what news to him?" Morpheus asked, leaning against the doorframe of the mess hall entrance.

Shit. Switch turned to look towards the door, she hadn't heard him come in and just hoped that he hadn't been there long.

"Morpheus!" Tank called, turning around to look at him as he walked over to the table.

Morpheus swung his legs over the bench and took a seat next Tank, looking across a Cypher who had turned suddenly quiet. Switch smiled, Cypher may talk bad behind Morpheus' back but he didn't have the guts to say it to his face.

"So…" Morpheus began, taking a deep breath as he looked around the table. "You've all heard that we are going to try and take Drive out of the Matrix." Morpheus began, trying to decide how to word this. He had a feeling that most of his crew weren't really onboard with this plan.

"Yeah we heard." Cypher muttered, his eyes down on the table.

"Trinity and myself have devised a plan for how to get him out. Its been decided that he should be contacted first and then met in person as this will help to ensure his cooperation." Morpheus explained, looking across at Trinity.

"Wait in person? You mean pick him up in the car like normal or…?" Apoc questioned, his eyes darting between Trinity and Morpheus in confusion. They didn't normally like to spend any more time than necessary inside the Matrix, every moment in there just increased the risk of being found by Agents.

"The plan is simple really. Apoc, Trinity and Switch you will go to our usual place and contact him, from there you will arrange a place to meet him. Once that is decided upon Switch and Trinity will meet with him and convince him to leave with them. Then Apoc will drive them back to the hotel." Morpheus clarified, simplifying the plan they had formed. He didn't go into detail as he wanted to break the news to them as quickly as possible.

"Why can't I go with them to meet him?" Apoc asked, sounding slightly annoyed. He knew exactly why Morpheus only wanted them to meet with him, Drive left places with woman all the time except for very different reasons.

"We don't want to intimidate him. He will obviously underestimate us and not perceive us as any type of threat. A feat you may not be able to pull off." Trinity replied, giving Apoc a small smile. It was true but she knew the real reason why Apoc wasn't going to be happy with this plan, if it came down to it her and Switch were going to have to seduce him out of there.

"Exactly." Morpheus agreed, relieved that Trinity had though up something to say to that.

Apoc opened his mouth to protest, this didn't sit right with him.

"We can take care of ourselves, Apoc." Trinity cut in, giving him a look that warned him to drop it. They had more important things to work out than that.

"Anyway." Morpheus sighed, trying to change the topic. "We will contact him in the morning and arrange a time and place to meet." Morpheus said, looking around the table at the mixture of confused, annoyed and excited faces.

"You know what. Fine. That's all goods with me, lets just go risk our lives for some idiot." Cypher muttered as he stood up from the table. "Now if you don't mind I'm going back to my room. I'll see you all at dinner." he added, giving them all a mock smile before he turned and sauntered from the room, grumbling something inaudible under his breath.

Tank stared after him, shocked at his sudden reaction. He hadn't expected Cypher to act like that, Cypher was well known for his snide comments but not for his dramatics.

"Asshole." Tank muttered. He knew Cypher had a point but he didn't have to be such a dick about it.

Switch looked across at Trinity and raised her eyebrows. Cypher really knew how to make things worse. But as much as she hated to admit it Cypher was right, they were risking their lives for no real reason.

Morpheus looked across at Trinity, he knew he was in command but didn't like his plans to be met with such resentment. He knew this was an act of desperation but they had to try something.

"Don't worry about it." Trinity stated, giving him a small smile. She didn't like his plan either but she had to go along with it, she didn't have a valid reason to object.

"I'm going to set course for Zion." Morpheus muttered, pulling himself up from the table.

"What, why?" Tank called, grabbing Morpheus' arm as he walked past him.

"We're getting close to time for a charge up and I'm going to need to speak with the council." Morpheus explained, without the slightest trace of enthusiasm in his voice.

"We'll help you then." Tank said, jumping to his feet. He gave Morpheus an encouraging slap on the back before walking out of the mess hall.

Dozer stood up from the table and walked over to Morpheus, giving him a reassuring smile before he followed Tank out into the main bridge.

Switch smiled at the way Tank and Dozer had so quickly jumped in to cheer Morpheus up. She had always viewed Morpheus as a fearless warrior, her commanding officer, and a wise leader but now that she thought about it he was human too. Morpheus had a huge weigh of responsibility placed on his shoulders and would need all their help if he was to complete the Oracles prophesy.

Morpheus turned to look at them, giving Trinity an almost apologetic look as he wandered out of the room. He knew that she was going to get questioned by the others and he was leaving her alone to deal with them.

The four of them were left alone again, still seated where they had been when Tank had come rushing in a moment earlier. Switch shook her head, turning to look at Apoc. She didn't know what to expect next, this day had been surreal. The Oracle, the one, this mission tomorrow, it was turning out to be one of the most eventful days she'd ever had in the real world.

"Trinity." Apoc questioned, trying to keep his voice calm. He wasn't mad at Trinity or even Morpheus if he was honest with himself but this plan was madness, there was no other way to describe it. What did anger him though was that only Cypher seemed to think the same as he did.

"Look Apoc, I know what your going to say and don't bother. There's nothing either you or me can say that will change Morpheus' mind. He knows just as well as we do that Drive is no more the one than, than Mouse is but he wants to at least try." Trinity retaliated to the questions Apoc was yet to ask, trying to reason with him before an argument even started.

"Hey." Mouse protested, glaring at Trinity for a moment before he broke out into a grin.

Trinity smiled back at him, she appreciated his attempt to lighten the mood.

Apoc muttered something under his breath but didn't say any more on the matter. He had plenty he wanted to say but knew it wouldn't make any difference; Morpheus was set on this tactic. Switch reached out and took his hand, trying to comfort him a little. She didn't want for him and Trinity to fight because right now she would be taking Trinity's side. For mainly selfish reasons, she wanted to prolong the finding of the one for as long as possible.

They all sat in silence, Trinity unsure what to say now. She hadn't meant to snap at Apoc, he had a right to ask and she had shut him down before he could even say anything.

Switch gave Trinity a small smile; she knew this was difficult for her. She didn't know what to say either though; she was too heartbroken to make any logical decision based on this search. Her whole perspective had been skewed this morning when she had learnt that this search would result in both her own and Mouse's deaths. She looked across and Mouse and choked down a lump in her throat. It was too horrible to even think about Mouse, the little character that he was, dying long before his time.

"Well at least we will get to go to Zion soon." Mouse mumbled, trying to break the awkward silence. He looked shyly at Switch and Apoc hoping to get, specifically Switch's, mind off the search.

"Yeah." Apoc sighed, standing to his feet. "I'll see you all later, okay?" he asked as he wandered over to the door.

Switch began to stand up but Trinity pulled her back down, giving her a warning look. "Okay, see you later." Trinity called after his retreating figure.

Apoc didn't even turn to look back at them as he left the room. Switch knew he must be really annoyed or upset if he couldn't even look at her. She wanted to follow him and try to convince him that this had to be done but instead looked to Trinity; she must need something important if she was keeping her away from Apoc.

"Just leave him." Trinity stated; she needed to talk to Switch more than Apoc did right now. "He'll be fine." she added when she saw the concern in Switch's eyes.

Switch slowly nodded her head, curious as to what Trinity needed her for.

Trinity looked to the closed door of the mess hall then back at Mouse and Switch, now might be the only chance she got them alone.

"You okay Trin?" Mouse asked, noticing the nervous way her eyes were darting around the room.

"Yeah. I'm fine." she replied, quickly nodding her head. "Are you though?" she asked, looking at Mouse and studying his face for the panic she had seen earlier.

"Course." he answered almost too quickly, looking between Trinity and Switch in confusion. That couldn't be further from the truth but he knew that Switch wanted what had happened with the Oracle to stay private.

"Bullshit." Trinity countered, her eyes still scrutinizing his face. "I know something is wrong." she stated, almost daring him to say otherwise.

Mouse didn't say anything, his gaze traveling between Trinity and Switch. He didn't want to risk agreeing or arguing with Trinity because this wasn't just his secret to keep and he didn't want to mess that up for Switch.

"Look…" Trinity sighed. "I know I have no right to ask either of you this but I know your hiding something from me." Trinity began, looking cautiously at Switch. She knew this was an intrusion on both of their privacy but she couldn't stand seeing the pained expressions the two of them where sharing. She had seen it back out on the main bridge and now again, and could pin point exactly when they had started acting like this. "It has to do with the Oracle doesn't it?" she asked quietly, unable to meet either of their gazes.

Mouse looked to Switch, his eyes questioning her as to what he should say. They could try and lie but he knew they wouldn't convince her. He was torn between wanting to tell her the truth and wanting to keep this private. He liked Trinity and knew he could trust her but he didn't want to risk losing it. Switch had told him they had to keep it together for the sake of the others and telling Trinity would be the final step in accepting his fate. He couldn't stop the tears that suddenly sprung to his eyes. He was going to die and there was nothing he could do about it. Not a week ago he had been freed from his own personal hell in the Matrix and now his life was being snatched away from him. Being on the Neb had made him feel more alive than he had ever felt inside the Matrix because this was the first place that he had been accepted for who he was. He knew he wasn't perfect, he was far from it, but they had all welcomed him in nonetheless. They had made him feel as though maybe this life was worth living. He had felt useless all his life and thought he had finally found his purpose in this world. But he was wrong. He wouldn't live long enough to be worth anything.

"Mouse?" Trinity questioned, reaching out to rub his arm gently. She immediately regretted asking him anything. She'd had a feeling his news hadn't been good but hadn't realized just how bad it was.

Switch locked eyes with Mouse, giving him a small smile. She took a deep breath, trying not to cry herself. She had kept it together this long and didn't want to lose it now.

"It's okay Mouse, you can tell her." Switch said, trying to calm him down. If telling someone would make him feel better then she wasn't going to stop him, the decision was his. She didn't want Apoc to know anything about this but beyond that Mouse could tell whoever he liked if he really wanted too.

Mouse nodded, sniffling down any further tears. He rubbed his eyes, feeling embarrassed about breaking down in front of Trinity. He didn't want her to think he was any weaker than she probably already did.

"Okay." he began, his voice coming out coarse and shaky. "The Oracle told us…that, that we're going to, to..." he stuttered, almost giving into the sobs threating to take him over again. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. "Die." he stated, his voice breaking as he told her. Saying it out loud seemed to somehow make it feel more real, it was like his whole body knew that it was true.

Trinity's mouth dropped and her hand came up to cover it. Water swelled up in her eyes as she looked between Mouse and Switch. She couldn't believe it; she didn't want to believe it.

"Where the one's path begins is where our path ends." Switch muttered, feeling numb as she repeated the Oracles words.

"No." Trinity choked out, shaking her head as tears rolled down her face. She refused to accept that they were going to die. She hadn't known them for long but had grown fond of them since she had first started watching them months ago. She didn't even want to think about losing them. She hid her face in her hands, unable to look at either of them. She knew she must be making this so much worse for them but needed a minute to pull herself together. Her mind flooded with an onslaught of emotions and her strong feral side warned her that she needed to distance herself from them. They were going to die and she would only hurt herself is she got any closer to them. In this line of work you had to be independent, you couldn't care, you couldn't love; it hurt too much. But she pushed that side away, she didn't care if when they died she had piece her broken heart back together because right now nothing would hurt more than pushing them away. They needed her now more than ever and she couldn't do that to them, she couldn't push them away. Not now, not ever.

"It's okay Trin." Switch mumbled, wrapping her arm around Trinity's shoulder. This was why she hadn't wanted to tell anyone, seeing Trinity cry over her death was almost more painful than knowing she was going to die. She could only image what it would be like if she told Apoc and she didn't even what to think what it would be like once she did die.

"I'm so sorry." Trinity sobbed, pulling Switch into a hug that wasn't like how they normally hugged, it was as though she could already feel her slipping away from her.

"Hey, I'm not dead yet." Switch chucked sadly, trying to keep herself from crying as her heart tightened painfully in her chest.

"Yeah." Mouse agreed, giving Trinity's shoulder a reassuring pat. He didn't want to see her cry any longer, they were going to die no matter what and crying about it wouldn't change anything.

Trinity nodded and let go of Switch, forcing herself to sit up straighter in her chair. She had to pull herself together, they were the ones who should need comforting and yet it was the opposite way around.

Switch looked at Trinity for a moment, waiting until she had calmed down. She had more she needed to say and didn't want to spring it on her until she was sure that Trinity had pulled herself together.

"You can't tell anyone about this." Switch requested, her eyes locking with Trinity's. It was bad enough that she knew but telling the others would be even worse.

Trinity nodded, she fully understood why Switch wouldn't want anyone else to know about this. Her mind went to Apoc, she couldn't bear the thought of him losing Switch; she knew this would tear him apart and he would be damaged beyond repair when she died. She didn't have to say anything though, Switch knew just as well as she did what this would do to him.

"Of course. This stays between us." she agreed, giving them a small smile.

"Trin, can you promise me something?" Mouse asked, looking shyly at her.

Trinity nodded, her eyes meeting his as he thought over how to phrase what he wanted her to do.

"Can we try and act as though nothing has changed. I don't want to spend the rest of my life sad. I want to live, to help find the one, and to go out fighting." Mouse said, giving them both a sad smile. It wasn't ideal but it was the best he could do with the life he had left to live.

"Definitely. We could have months or only days left, no one knows, but we have to make the most of the time we do have right now." Switch agreed, returning his smile.

"You know you're probably the bravest people I know." Trinity mused, looking them both over. Not many people she knew would cope with the knowledge of their deaths this well. Mouse was something else; he had gone through hell this week and still had a smile on face and Switch, god she was tough. Nothing could get to her anymore, not even death. She had changed so much over the past month, when she had first been ejected she was a just a scared little thing but now there was a strength to her. Something she hadn't seen in her since before she had been ejected from the Matrix, but this was different somehow. Her courage now wasn't because of fear; it was because of acceptance. They were so different and yet both so similar in the way they faced this with more courage than she had ever expected.

Mouse smiled, a genuine smile this time. He had never been called brave before and he knew it was true; he was going to be brave from now on. He had nothing left to lose.

"Come on then." Switch suggested, standing up from the table. "We can't spend all day moping around in here." she added, placing her hands on her hips as she waited for them to get up, a smile playing on her face. She didn't know what to say to Trinity's comment but it meant more to her than anything else she had ever said to her.

"Right you are." Mouse agreed, jumping to his feet and offering his hand to Trinity.

Trinity took Mouse's outstretched arm and climbed over the bench to stand beside him. Without another word they all left the mess hall and walked out onto the main deck, seeing Tank still seated at the monitor. He spun around when he saw them come in, a smile forming on his face.

"Oh hey, I didn't realize you guys were still in there." he called as they wandered over to him. His eyes narrowed in on Trinity's red puffy eyes as she came to stand beside him. He looked over Switch and Mouse and noticed that Mouse too looked like he had been crying. "You okay?" he questioned, looking at Trinity in concern.

"Yeah." Trinity nodded, giving him a warm smile. "I'm actually gonna go check on Morpheus and Dozer, see if they need any help." Trinity explained as she backed away from them.

"Okay, see you later then." Switch replied, waving as Trinity made her way over to the ladder leading up to the driving cabin.

Switch watched as Trinity hauled herself up the metal rungs and pulled open the door to the driving cabin, shutting the door tightly behind her. She pulled her eyes away and looked back at Mouse who was still standing beside her. She wanted to go see Apoc but felt bad about leaving Mouse on his own.

"You guys wanna check out the potentials, get a feel for what Drive will be like when we meet him tomorrow?" Tank asked, turning back around to face them.

"Sure." Mouse agreed, moving closed to stand beside Tank's chair and gesturing for Switch to take the other seat.

"Trinity was showing me before but you two go for it, I actually need to go talk to Apoc anyway." Switch explained, shuffling towards the door leading to the dormitories.

"Okay, take a seat then Mouse." Tank replied, tapping the seat next to him.

Switch smiled at Mouse as he sat down next to Tank before she dashed from the room. She hauled the door open and pulled it shut firmly behind her, leaving her alone in the cold dormitory corridor. She stood there for a moment, enjoying having some privacy. She hadn't even had a moment alone since the Oracle visit and wanted time to process what had happened but she knew that would have to wait. She wandered down the hall towards Apoc's room and stopped outside his door. She hesitated for a moment before she took a deep breath and reached out to tap her knuckles to the metal frame of his door. She heard Apoc's heavy footsteps rush over to the door and a second later the door was pulled open and Apoc looked out at her, a smile forming on his face when he saw her.

"Hey." he welcomed, standing aside so she could walk into his room.

She smiled at him and crept into the room, standing just behind him as he closed the door. He turned to face her but was no longer smiling. She sighed and ambled over to his bed, sinking down onto the cold woolen blanket strewn across it. He followed her and took a seat next to her, his eyes studying her face as she sat with her knees pulled to her chest. He knew she always did that when she was worried or scared about something. He felt bad about having stormed out before; Switch was obviously dealing with something worse than just this mission tomorrow.

"Switch." he questioned, reaching out to place his hand on her knee.

"Mmm?" she murmured as she turned to face him, her eyes locking onto his.

"Something's wrong." he stated, his eyes never leaving her face.

She shook her head, forcing a small smile. "It's nothing. Trinity's just stressed about tomorrow, hell we all are. But everyone's being so difficult about it and Trinity really doesn't need any extra pressure right now. It's just annoying me that's all." she explained, feeling awful with each word. It was true but she had said it in a way that made it sound like Apoc and Cypher were the problem. She knew it was harsh; his opinion wasn't what was bothering her but it was better than the truth.

Apoc didn't say anything but simply lowered his gaze, feeling sickened with himself. He knew he shouldn't have reacted like he had, Morpheus must know what he was doing. He had only made this even more difficult for Trinity, he knew that as first mate everyone would take out all there complaints on her and he didn't need to add to that.

"I'm worried about tomorrow." she mumbled, knowing that Apoc was at a loss for what to say. She was more scared about them though, she felt as though she was already losing him. She didn't have long left with him and didn't want to waste that time like this. They hadn't even argued really but she still felt as though they were at odds with each other.

"Me too." he replied, taking her hand in his and gently tracing the tendons on her hand with his fingertips.

She smiled and rested her head on his shoulder, feeling herself calm down a little after the stressful day.

"At least by the end of tomorrow we will know if Drive is the one or not." Switch added, closing her eyes for a moment. She was starting to feel a little tired even though it was only around five; the events of the day were starting to catch up with her.

"True and Morpheus has set course for Zion so we should be there in a few weeks." Apoc agreed, rustling her hair with the hand not holding hers.

"Yeah." she sighed, stretching out her arms as she hopped off the edge of the bed. "I should really get some sleep." she mumbled as she turned to face him, holding his hands as she stood in between his knees.

"It's only five?" he questioned, sliding his hands slowly up her arms before they came to rest on her shoulders.

"I know but I'm on shift at twelve, and it's a double so I won't be off until six tomorrow morning." she explained, her body automatically moving closer to his until they were almost chest to chest. She was slightly taller than him when he was sitting down and used that to her advantage, pushing her shoulders back to enhance the effect. He didn't seem to notice though, his eyebrows creasing as he looked at her in confusion.

"I'm on at three." he stated, titling his head to look at her.

"Not anymore. You took my shift last night so I'm taking yours." she countered, a smile forming on her face.

"What? You don't have to do that. I'm quite capable of taking my own shift." he protested, he didn't understand why she wanted to take his shift, surely she knew that she didn't have to make for last night in anyway. He had taken her shift so she would be better rested when she entered the Matrix, if anything he should be taking her shift again tonight.

"I know you are but I won't be able to sleep again at that time so I might as well take both." she explained, taking his hands again and pulling him to his feet.

"But-" he began as he clambered off the bed and stood to his feet.

"Shh." she cut in, stopping him from saying anything else. "It's fine, just walk me to my room." she requested, slipping her arm through his and giving him a shy smile.

"Okay." he sighed as he led her from the room. He knew there was no point in arguing with her; he could never win. She was so damn stubborn when she wanted to be.

He pushed open the door of his room and walked out into the corridor, still holding her arm as he led her over to her room. He turned to face her when they reached the door to her room. She let go of his arm and stood in front of him, giving him a sad smile as she leaned against the closed door of her room.

"Apoc…" she began, lifting her eyes to look at him.

"Yeah?" he questioned, taking a hesitative step towards her. There was something extremely arousing about the way Switch was pressed up against the door of her room.

"Can you do something for me?" she asked, giving him subtle look over.

"Anything." he blurted out, mentally kicking himself for how desperate that sounded.

"Could you check on how Trinity is doing? I know she would appreciate a little more support, she's feeling the weight of this mission more than the rest of us." she questioned, smiling shyly at him. She knew tomorrow would be so much easier of Apoc and Trinity were on good terms again.

"Course. I need to apologize to her for before anyway." he agreed, returning her smile.

"Thank you." she replied, a devilish grin forming on her face as she grabbed the hem of his jumper.

"Oh and one more thing." she chuckled as pulled him towards her.

He smiled and pushed her against the wall harder and pressed his body into hers until there was no space between them. He felt her shiver as his body covered hers and his hands moved to her waist, pulling her impossibly closer to him.

"And what would that be?" he breathed into her ear, his hands slowly running up her sides.

She didn't reply to him but instead wrapped her arms around his neck, moving his head in front of hers. Before she could say anything his lips crashed into hers, taking her by surprise. Her eyes widened before she relaxed into him, her lips moving against his as he titled her head to the side. Her heart started beating faster and she could hardly breath. She couldn't feel anything but him and his hands on her, which were slowly driving her to the point of madness. His tongue teased open her lips and slid into mouth, gently stroking her tongue as he deepened the kiss. She groaned into his mouth and forced her chest towards his. He resentfully pulled back for air and their bodies heaved against each other as they caught their breath.

She rested her head on his shoulder as she tried to calm down, she hadn't expected for anything that heated to happen between them.

"I should really get to bed." she sighed, soothingly stroking his hair as he clung onto her.

He pulled back to look at her, nodding his head sadly. He knew they were going to have to wait until they got to Zion before they could share anymore than these chaste moments but that didn't make it any easier.

"I'll see you in the morning then." he mumbled, placing a lingering kiss on her forehead.

She nodded, smiling at the change in this kiss. He had gone from complete passion to the sweetest of sincere and she loved both of them. Two separate emotions displayed simultaneously. She suddenly realized that Apoc was the only person to ever show her both of those together.

"Goodnight." she whispered as he took a step away from her. She quietly opened the door to her room and gave him as small smile as she shut it softly behind her.

She smiled to herself as she changed into her sleep clothes. She knew it would the moments with Apoc that would help her keep it together. She had accepted that her death was coming but her life wasn't over yet.

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Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you thought, reviews are honestly the best thing in the world! :) I actually cannot wait to write the next chapters so you should get an update soon! :D xx