Behind the Scenes - 15

A/N: Victoria, I have been super inspired because movie 2 is my favorite! But also I have had a lot more free time lately. Gotta get updates in while I can! Glad you all are still enjoying this with me! :-) (Keep in mind, I'll be doing a lot of repetition coming up, like the last chapter, where I show how they feel during pivotal moments. It's intentional!)

"Thought you could use something to eat." Maggie brought Trinity some food, not realizing she had fallen asleep. It had been a few hours since she'd been back to check on them, and she needed to get a status update to her captain. She bit her lip worriedly, seeing Trinity raise her head off of Neo's stomach, eyes heavy-lidded. She felt a slight pang of guilt at having woken Trinity up; clearly it had been a while since she'd gotten any rest.

Trinity was embarrassed to have been caught unawares. She hadn't meant to fall asleep with her cheek on Neo's stomach, but she had been exhausted. She glanced down briefly, wondering if her tears had left stains on Neo's shirt. They hadn't.

"Thank you," she muttered, trying to blink away the remnants of sleep.

"Any change?"

Trinity closed her eyes and stretched her neck, feeling the stiffness from her earlier position. "No."

They talked briefly about Bane, if only to be polite. Trinity cared somewhat, sure. He was another person on their team who'd suffered from God knows what. But her mind was elsewhere. Maggie left Bane's side to go read something on the computer. Her brows furrowed in confusion.

She sighed. "This is what keeps bothering me…"

"What?" Trinity asked, holding Neo's hand.

Maggie shook her head. "His neural patterns don't read like someone who is in a coma." Trinity didn't know if she should be relieved or even more worried. His neural patterns looked like he was still jacked in. "But the thing is, they looked for him… They saw no trace of him inside the matrix." She turned to face Trinity. "But try not to worry. Morpheus is going to figure something out."

Trinity didn't know what to say or do. She reached her hand up and placed it on Neo's chest, if only to feel that his heart was still beating, and to help keep her tears at bay. "I can't help but worry. He's somewhere, and we're running out of time…" Trinity rubbed her temples with her free hand and closed her eyes.

Maggie eyed her while she checked Bane's vitals. A moment of silence passed between them before she spoke again. "So… I guess the rumors are true then," she stated plainly.

Trinity didn't care enough to argue, or try and explain. She didn't even have it in her to get mad that this woman (was it Maggie?) was bringing it up. "Yeah, afraid so."

"I think that's sweet. I'm sure it can't be easy, though. Being in love with the One." Maggie stated matter-of-factly.

Trinity looked into Neo's face, serene and far away. "It's not," she agreed softly. She didn't know why she was being so forthcoming with this woman she hardly knew. Sure, they'd seen each other in passing but it's not like they were friends. She'd spent so long keeping her and Neo's relationship a secret, she wondered why she didn't care more that everyone seemed to know now. Darkly, she wondered if she didn't care anymore because soon they'd all be dead, anyway.

"Trinity!" Morpheus called to her. He'd just popped his head into the medbay and looked alarmed. Trinity stood, hand still firmly placed on Neo's chest.

"What is it? What happened?" she asked.

"It's Seraph. We need to go. Now." He left the room, leaving Trinity and Maggie behind. The women gave each other a look before Trinity bent down to kiss Neo's forehead.

"Take care of him?" she asked Maggie. Maggie nodded her assent, and Trinity left without another word.

It had been a long and arduous night. Trinity's head was throbbing by the time she was able to get on the train to go find Neo. The Merovingian had followed through with their deal, but only Trinity was allowed to go and collect Neo from the train station. Morpheus and Seraph stayed behind.

She hadn't anticipated the ride taking so long. She sat at first, tapping her feet while she waited. Then, she bounced her right leg repeatedly. Finally, she'd had enough and decided to stand and pace instead. She was excited and anxious at the same time. She just had to get Neo back safely. She'd have traded herself for it, if it had been something she thought Merv would agree to. But thankfully it hadn't come to that.

Soon, the train started to slow and Trinity saw Neo's lone figure sitting in the train station. Her heart began to hammer in her chest and she rushed to the door, yearning to be released.

Neo saw the train approaching, his confusion mounting. He wondered if he'd conjured it, or if someone had finally come to this lone station. But then he saw it: a flash of black as the train slowed. His heart hoped and prayed it would be who he thought it was. Relief washed over him when he saw Trinity exit the train. She took off her glasses and ran towards him, wrapping her arms around him. He felt her exhale the breath from her lungs and grip him tightly.

She then pulled away and crushed her lips to his. He sighed as he felt her tongue on his, and she was all around him. He hardly cared where they were; he was just glad to have her arms around him once more.

After a moment, Trinity pulled away, gulping down air. "We have to go. Come on," she said as she pulled him by the hand towards the open doors of the train. "I'll explain everything during the ride." They sat side by side on the plastic chairs, Neo looking all around him. Trinity still held tight to Neo's hand, grateful she'd finally found him.

"It's the cleanest subway I've ever seen," he joked.

She smirked. "It belongs to the Merovingian," she said. And she explained everything that had happened: how Seraph had collected them and told them where to find the Trainman, how they had tried confronting him to no avail, and how they'd ended up at the club Hel. He listened intently, without interruptions. That is, until she got to the part of her holding a gun to Merv's head.

"You did what?" Neo asked incredulously.

Trinity shrugged. "I did what I had to. It was taking too long, and we needed to find you."

Neo gaped at her. "You could have been killed. Why would you do that?"

"Well, it worked, didn't it? You should have seen his face, Neo. I don't think Merv knew I had the balls to pull something like that, but I guess I did. I really was tired of his shit," Trinity smiled. "And Persephone knew it. She knew I wasn't joking. She wouldn't let him call my bluff and kill me anyway."

"What did she say?" he asked, still completely astonished at Trinity's story.

Trinity smiled and rested her cheek on Neo's shoulder. She said, 'she'll do it. If she has to, she'll kill every one of us. She's in love.' And she was right."

Neo sighed. "I guess I should be thanking you, then, instead of being upset," he muttered. "But I'm not happy you put your life at risk." He leaned his cheek down onto the top of her head.

"You're welcome. Though I only got you back for completely selfish reasons, obviously. Being in love and all." Trinity sniggered.

"Very funny. But Trinity, please don't do that again. I'm serious. I can't do any of this without you. You know that. It can't have even been more than a few hours ago that I saved your life because I couldn't live without you. Don't tempt fate like that. Please." He kissed the top of her head and she sighed at the contact.

"I know. And you're right. I'd say I was sorry, but it helped me find you. It brought you back to me. I'd do it again if I had to."

"I know. But I'm asking you to be more careful, okay?"

She squeezed his hand in agreement. "Okay. But it's your turn now. What happened while you've been stuck here?"

And Neo told her; about Sati, her parents, and his weird interaction with the Trainman. He told her how he'd tried walking the tracks but had ended up walking in a loop instead. Trinity didn't interrupt him as he spoke, but she shuddered at the thought of being stranded like that. She didn't necessarily have claustrophobia, living on the Neb for so long meant you didn't care about confined spaces, but to be trapped in this place with no foreseeable way out and all alone, at least for part of the time? She didn't dare think of how she would have reacted.

Neo finished his story and by this time, the train was starting to slow down. They arrived at the station where Morpheus and Seraph were waiting for them. They each shook Neo's hand in greeting, welcoming him back.

"We have a car waiting out front," Morpheus told the pair. He led the way up the stairs to street level where they did indeed see a car waiting for them. There was no sign of the Merovingian or his cronies anywhere, and they were grateful for that. Trinity and Neo sat in the backseat, and Neo instinctively reached for Trinity's hand once they were settled. She smiled a small smile to herself, knowing he'd done it out of habit. She could see his face; he was clearly distracted. Trinity loved the type of relationship they'd finally grown into. As she looked out the window at the passing city blocks, she pessimistically wondered to herself how much longer it would last.

After a few minutes of driving, Neo suddenly spoke up. "I can't leave yet. I have to see her."

Trinity sighed. She knew who he meant. "Now?" she asked.

His face looked grim. "It's my last chance."

Morpheus turned around and Trinity nodded at him. He set his lips in a fine line, but directed Seraph to change course. Seraph knew where to go, and they drove the rest of the way in silence. The only change was Neo was now somehow gripping Trinity's hand even more tightly than he had before.

As they pulled up in front of a random building, Seraph parked the car. Trinity leaned over to Neo and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Be careful," she whispered into his ear, and he squeezed her hand reassuringly before stepping out to follow Seraph.

Morpheus and Trinity waited in the car, neither knowing what to say. They'd been through so much together, in the last ten years Trinity had served under him. The Neb had been their home, and since Neo had been in his 'coma,' Trinity had barely spoken to Morpheus since it happened. The grief was weird, she realized. It made her feel both empty and overwhelmed at the same time. And she knew, more than anyone else, Morpheus was the only one to really understand what she was feeling right now.

"How are you holding up?" she asked him gently, leaning her body forward and placing a hand on his shoulder from the backseat.

He sighed heavily. "I don't know," he responded dully.

"Yeah. Me either." She saw Morpheus shake his head. "What?"

"I saw you die, Trinity. You flatlined. Losing the Neb was most definitely difficult. It felt like losing my home, because… well, it was my home. But watching you die in front of me?" He swallowed. "I'm just grateful it wasn't permanent."

Trinity felt her eyes start to burn. "Me too, sir."

"You must understand. You've grown into a fine soldier. But more than that, you've turned into the only family I have. I don't want to see you get hurt," Morpheus spoke matter-of-factly, but Trinity could hear the dip in octave that suggested he was holding back his emotions.

"I understand." She squeezed his shoulder, and he reached up a hand to lay gently on top of hers. They sat this way for a few moments before he pulled his hand away, and she did the same. They spent the next ten minutes in silence, before Neo and Seraph finally returned.

Neo sat back down in his seat, face set as hard as marble. Morpheus directed Seraph to the predetermined exit point from their location. For a moment, they drove in silence, before finally Trinity couldn't take it any longer.

"Well? What did you learn?" she asked, trying to mask her impatience.

Neo took a deep breath, and did his best to relay everything the Oracle had said: how she doesn't know how this will end, how he used his connection to the source to stop the sentinels as well as jack in without meaning to, and finally how tonight was the night all of this was going to end, one way or another. No one knew how to respond. Throughout Neo's story though, Trinity had inched closer to him. She had linked her arm through his, their hands locked tight. As they waited to arrive at their destination, she laid her head on his shoulder and used all her energy to will her tears away.

Something told her they weren't going to make it to tomorrow.

Seraph wished them luck as they each answered the calls in turn. Trinity went first, followed by Morpheus. Before Neo left, though, he gave Seraph one last handshake.

"Thank you. For everything," he said earnestly.

Seraph nodded back at him. "Good luck, Neo. You are going to need it."

Neo tensed his jaw, answered the call, and awoke to Trinity's face glancing down at him. "How are you feeling? Are you alright?" she asked, her worry clear in her voice.

He nodded. As he took in his surroundings, he realized they weren't alone. Everyone - the crews from both ships - were all looking expectantly at him. He suddenly felt anxious, like in that dream he would have as a child about being on stage in his underwear and everyone was looking at him and pointing. Only, this was real. He was hot, and his heart was hammering. He felt the weight of the world on his shoulders, and why shouldn't he? It literally was.

"I need time," he said calmly, though he certainly didn't feel any semblance of calm. He implored them to understand. Trinity watched as he sat up, scratched the back of his head nervously, and the crowd parted like the biblical Red Sea. Neo walked through the crowd, like the 'savior' that he was, and she immediately felt sympathy for him. She knew how little time they had left, and she knew Neo was taking on the pressure of this solely because he had chosen to save her over the human race. He'd wanted to have his cake and eat it too, and now he had only a few hours to come up with a plan to make that happen.

Trinity knew Neo needed his space, but most of all he needed time. But time was the one thing they didn't have. She didn't know what to say to him to try and make him feel better, and she even wondered if 'feeling better' was even attainable at this point, even if she did know what to say. She was confused and aggravated and felt completely powerless, which pissed her the hell off.

As she listened in on the interrogation of Bane, she knew something was wrong with him. She couldn't tell what it was, but he was … off. She didn't know much about the man prior to this incident, but the way he spoke was … wrong, somehow. She tried to pay attention and watch his physical cues, as well as listen to his verbal ones, but her mind kept flashing back to Neo.

While Trinity listened to Bane's interrogation, Neo sat alone in one of the cabins onboard the Hammer. His mind was racing. He needed to come up with a plan, and fast. As best as he could, he replayed his conversation over and over with the Oracle, wondering if she had left him any breadcrumbs he just hadn't noticed before. But he came up empty. She had said she didn't know how it was going to end, and he believed her.

Part of him wanted to go find Trinity and talk this through with her, but he couldn't burden her with this. He wouldn't. For the first time ever, he wished he could go to sleep and have another vision. The one of Trinity dying had plagued him for so long, it had grown into a cancer of his mind that he'd been more than desperate to get rid of. Now, he wondered if it had been a gift that he just hadn't noticed at first. Wondering if he could conjure a vision without needing to dream, Neo decided to clear his mind and attempt a meditative state.

At first, nothing happened. He sat like this, eyes closed and feeling frustrated for several long minutes, but then, plain as day, he saw flashes of the source, and then flashes of the Machine City. Neo's stomach dropped. It can't be… no, that can't be it, he tried to reason with himself. But the moment that connection was made, it was all over. He knew it in his gut. He was going to have to go to the Machine City. He didn't know how, but he just knew.

How on Earth was he going to break the news to everyone? To Trinity? God, just picturing her face as he explained his plan… he knew she would be devastated. If he was being honest with himself, he was devastated. Not only did he not want to leave her behind and do any of this without her, he knew the machines would not let him leave once he arrived. He was going to break his promise and leave her all alone.

The hot tears pricked the back of his eyes, and he gripped the side of the cot with all his strength. He and Trinity had been through so much together already. They had saved each others' lives, provided love and companionship to one another, and grown to be two halves of the same coin over the course of their relationship. It saddened Neo, causing an ache in his bones, to know there were things they were never going to have, never going to experience together. They were never going to go on any real dates, they were never going to get married, and worst of all, they were never going to have a family of their own. This war had been all-consuming these last seven months that Neo had been a part of this world, and he realized in this moment how bitter he was that he wasn't going to see the prosperity Zion could achieve once it was all finally over.

Trinity… telling her his plan was going to break her heart. They had truly become one, and in Neo's mind, wherever she went, he would follow, and he knew she would want to do the same. He gritted his teeth, wondering how he was going to break this news to her while also convincing her to stay behind. He ignored the little voice in the back of his mind that told him, 'but you want her to come with you, don't you?' He couldn't give in. He had to find a way to be brave without her.

It took a few moments for Neo to gather the strength to stand. He'd never been a particularly brave man before being unplugged for the first time. He'd been as average as average could be, outside of his hacking skills. Never in a million years would he think he'd have the weight of an entire war and the fate of the human race resting on his shoulders. He was intimidated by all this, and scared shitless about the fact that he knew he would likely die tonight.

He hastily wiped a stray tear away, took a deep breath, and stood up on shaking legs. It was now or never, and he needed as much time as possible to put his plan into action. He shook out his hands, trying to will the nerves away, before straightening his spine and walking out to where the others were waiting.

He entered the small room, and everyone stopped speaking, eyes whipping over to look at him. He felt uncomfortable under the weight of their gazes, but his eyes landed on Trinity's and he found the strength to speak. She looked worried and scared, but she still gave him the strength he needed.

"Hi. I know time is always against us. I'm sorry that I took so long, but I wanted to be sure."

"Sure of what?" Trinity asked. Her stomach tightened, knowing by the look on Neo's face that what he was about to say was not going to be good news.

"I know what I have to do," he said simply.

"What?" Morpheus asked, the same worry coating his voice.

"There's no easy way to say this so I'll just say it. I have to take one of the ships." Trinity blanched.

"What?" Roland screeched, bewildered.

"To go where?" Morpheus asked, with equal surprise.

Neo clenched his fists. It was time. "To the Machine City," he said, eyes landing on Trinity's once more. She blinked, stunned. "I know it's difficult to understand."

"No, it's not. You're out of your goddamned mind!" Roland exclaimed.

"I still have to go," Neo argued.

Trinity couldn't breathe. She felt her lungs squeezing and the air around her got hot. She could see Neo and Morpheus talking, but she couldn't understand what was going on. Her palms started to sweat and her head began to buzz. She thought she might get sick. This was her worst fear, playing out right in front of her. She'd known it, though, hadn't she? She knew her gut had been screaming warnings at her, all along.

She could see it in his face, and her legs almost gave out from under her. Neo was planning on leaving her behind.

"You have to believe me, I have to go," he said imploringly. Just when he thought all was lost, Niobe stepped up.

"He can take mine," she stated simply. Trinity eyed her friend, wondering if she should feel anger towards her for being complicit in this nonsense, or grateful that she was going to give them a chance. Because this was it. It was all going to come down to whatever happened tonight.

Lost in her thoughts, Trinity hardly noticed as everyone started filing out of the room. The air was tense and Neo's face was ashen. He was nervous. They made eye contact across the room, but Trinity could barely move. She felt numb with fear. Niobe and Morpheus spoke to one another, but Trinity's gaze was glued to Neo's beautiful face. He thanked Niobe, and her legs started working again. She found the strength to leave the room. She took a deep breath, trying to steel her nerves. Because wherever Neo went, Trinity was going to follow. She'd be damned if he was going to leave her behind. And so it was decided.

Now she just had to find the strength to die.

A/N: Gosh angst isn't my favorite but I just loved the tension in this last scene! I think one more chapter of movie 3 and then it's onto 4! Please leave a review, they make me haapppyyy!