Author's Notes: Wow, I made a deadline on a fanfiction! I rarely procrastinate on things, but fanfiction is a whole different story. I made a deadline. *dances around while laughing hysterically*

Come Back to Me: Chapter 6

I saw myself before I floated out of view. Where am I going? It seems a lifetime ago that I waited for this moment. Now that it's here, I don't know what's to happen to me. I no longer feel the need to breathe, but I do so out of habit. As I once learned, it's not air I'm breathing now, but what the hell? Does anything really matter anymore? I can see nothing but pure light anymore. It's not really bright; it's this dull aching that reminds me of my past life.

I have entered a room now filled from wall to wall with people. The room seems to grow as more people are added. It seems as if the entire city of Zion is here. "What are we doing here?" I try to ask the nearest person. "We're waiting," the person whispers hauntingly. I find that my own voice is not nearly as faded yet.

"What are we waiting for?" I try to ask again. No one seems to either hear me or know. It is finally Tank who can give me an answer.

"We're waiting for something to happen. Something we can't explain, something that involves the Matrix. That's all anyone knows. We'll know what to do when the time comes. That is good enough for most people," He whispers as he turns to leave.

"Wait, Tank!" I call after him. My voice is heard above most of the others, and they turn to look at their new arrival. "What happened to you? Morpheus, Trinity, and Neo are the only ones who knew. They wouldn't tell us."

"They had good reason not to," Switch came closer to me. "It all came down to Cypher's betrayal. They would have only told those who really needed to know. We died in the Matrix, Dozer was shocked to death, and Tank died of an infected wound that couldn't be cleansed in time. He withheld his pain, so that Neo and Trinity could get Morpheus out in time. If you being here is any indication of what is happening down there, Tank died for a lost cause."

"Not lost, not yet," I mumble in denial. My lips twist up in an ironic smile. "Neo sacrificed Zion to save Trinity. I heard their conversation. Oh, he'll save the rest of humanity," I reassure of their shocked, but saddened expressions. "But, he did something that no one else could do. He sacrificed everything we've built so that he save both his love of Trinity and his love of humanity. I don't understand what we're waiting for then."

"I do," Mouse spoke up for the first time. Every pair eyes in that room landed on him. "We're waiting for the final battle. We're waiting to be reborn." Excited chatter started in various places around the room.

"How do you know?" I asked. I've been through too much to just listen to one single voice anymore.

"Morpheus believed in something that I saw happen. Neo believed in something that he made happen. It's our turn to believe in something that will happen. Why? Because we've fought this battle too long and too hard for it not to happen," Tank answered with a determination set of his jaw. For the first time since I left Morpheus all those ages ago, I felt pure, raw hope.

Neo felt numb as he gazed on the form of Niobe. He didn't need to look at the monitors above her to tell that she had died in the Matrix. Morpheus gently unplugged her as he and Trinity gently moved her body to the floor on the other side of the room. Knowing the customs from before, he found one of the extra blankets to lay over her. Morpheus cleaned her face with a soft washcloth meant only for these occasions, after closing her eyes and kissing her forehead. Morpheus whispers to her, and Link moves to comfort Morpheus, but Trinity shakes her head no.

Link's hand lowers and he pads silently back to the other side of the room. This was the first time he had seen death on a ship first hand, but it would not be the last. Better that he understood how it was handled now for future purposes. Trinity and Neo closed their eyes and bowed their heads towards Niobe. Morpheus gathered himself together and exited the room without another word. "How could we lose another person after everything we've gone through, Neo? How?" Trinity asked as she banged her fist on the far wall. The lights above flickered from the force.

"It wasn't your fault, Trinity," Eizus announced from the doorway. "She's been dying for about a year now. There was nothing you could have done. She wanted to die fighting instead of the disease she had, but we didn't know she would do anything like this." He bowed his head to hide his guilt from them.

"She's been dying for a year and you did nothing but watch her die?" Trinity asked with an edge to her voice. Link's voice cut in sharply to stop her from doing anything rash.

"God damn it, Trinity. Don't you think we haven't tried? By the time we found out, there was nothing we could have done to save her. The only reason I know at all is because Eizus let it slip at dinner once. Fortunately, Aurelie and I were the only two there. There is nothing any of us could have done to stop her." Link rarely snapped at anyone, but one of the last surviving people had died because she couldn't fight it any longer. This was no time for arguing.

"I'm going back in the matrix," Trinity declared. Link looked up in shock at her rashness. It might get her killed again someday.

"Not without me, you're not," Neo proclaimed as he moved towards the stations.

"You're both insane," Link mumbled as he moved towards the monitors to load them up.

"Insane with a purpose. There's always reasons for our insanity and the insanity that's called the matrix. We have to destroy Bane." Link barely heard as he mumbled about how they were going to get themselves killed one day. After they had been loaded up, Aurelie shrieked and collapsed.

Trinity's cell rang outside the building that Neo was moving to have a look at. "Yes," Trinity answered as she followed Neo into the building. "Aurelie has gone into shock, and we can't find Morpheus. I don't know what to do!" Link's frantic voice came over the static line.

"Don't not move her. Raise her legs, and loosen tight clothing. Is she breathing? Ok, begin resuscitation immediately. Keep checking breathing every ten minutes, and only call back if she gets worse." Trinity's mask of calm didn't slip as she entered through the front doors.

"Problem?" Neo asked as he studied the person at the front desk. He also seemed to be looking through the floors as if looking for something or someone above.

"Aurelie's gone into severe shock. Did you find out anything?" She asked as they walked back through the doors looking casual and not in any hurry so as not to alert their presence.

"We're going to need a really big bomb." Neo answered as he walked faster towards Bane's location.

"Why?"

"That building was swarming with agents, sub-programmers, and the Architect. If we blow it up…."

"We're going to have a lot of people to welcome to the real world." Trinity adjusted her shades as they came to a dead stop. She had grown accustomed to Neo watching her back, but it was her turn to watch. Unsheathing her dagger as well, she also took out the weapon that saved her life many a time.

"Here? She asked. Not a hint of apprehension in her voice was betrayed.

"Now," an Agent Smith to her right answered as he attacked. He lunged at her, but Neo's dagger was in his throat before he got within five feet of Trinity. Trinity sidestepped the only other Agent Smith before slashing at his ribs. He grinned at her while pulling the stained blade out of his chest. A bullet to the head stopped him in his tracks before he could attack Neo.

Trinity turned to see the first Agent Smith morphing back into the once infamous Bane. "That's one problem solved. Let's see if we can help the emotionally shaken up Aurelie. Link, we need an exit," Neo stated into his phone.

"Can't give you one, Neo. The only power you didn't knock out is the one line that's connecting you to the Matrix. You're lucky not to be dead right now. We have Aurelie stabilized, but it'll be hours before we get power back with all of us working on it."

"Shit," was all Trinity said when Neo relayed to her the news.

"We're going to need a bomb the size of a car directed across the street from where we entered the Matrix. Be prepared to explain to about a couple billion people why their lives have been a lie. We'll try not to get ourselves killed." Cursing could be heard on the other end of the phone as Neo led Trinity back to the other building.

"And why are we trying not to get ourselves killed?" Trinity asked as the dodged into a narrow alleyway to avoid being spotted by yet another agent. Their presence must have been alerted by Agent Smith because that was the fourth Agent they had to avoid.

"That bomb should be big enough to take out half of Manhattan. We should probably wait until they can get us out of the Matrix before we set it off. Otherwise, we will be stuck in the Matrix with only a couple hundred Agent Smiths." Neo stopped short as they came across the spot where the building was before.

"What?" Trinity asked as she nearly ran into the back of him.

"It's gone," Neo answered as he turned towards her.

"What's gone?" Trinity asked. She could feel a tingling of danger creeping up her spine.

"The building holding the Matrix together. The programmers are gone as well, and they are about fifty agents towards us from all directions," Neo answered as he grabbed her around the waist.

"Not good," she responded.

"Understatement," Neo replied as they took off from the ground. Helicopters filled the air with agents as pilots.

"Here we go again," Neo whispered to no one in particular as he took off towards the mountains. Gunshots filled the air as agents followed….

A.N. Lots of conflicts. I'll try to have the next chapter up Thursday or Friday. I'll have it written by then, but it depends on you guys as to when I put it up. I just love writing action. I find that it mixes well with drama, angst, and romance. Ja ne ~Insane Pineapple from Naboo

Responses:

Dreamingofani: Consider this chapter dedicated to you. It was your review that inspired the first part of this chapter. How? Well, you made my deicide that maybe I didn't want her dead in the final outcome… Thanks, I keep trying new things with this story, so having a little bit of everything, I wasn't really sure it blended all together.

Choirgrlalex: Yeah, dialogue. I'm working on that. I think it got closer to the characterizations by the fourth chapter, but I've always had problems with mixing dialogue with characterizations. Thanks! I just love the reviews I get, the good and the bad.

Lovewildfire: Did you have to go read 'Across the Black Sea?' It is one of the worst things I've ever written! I'm glad you found something good about it though. I'll probably rewrite the entire thing one day with a lot more detail and plotline. Thanks, and Niobe still has a part to play! ^_~ And now we'll have an air chase scene. This is going to be one of the most interesting things I've ever written. Neo, dodging bullets while flying and holding Trinity… I'll have more emphasis on the reactions of Niobe's death in the next chapter. Ok, well they neutralize Bane, but they did the next best thing. It just happened to cause a bad reaction…

Diamond-Dancer: All songs are good at the appropriate timing.  Well, except it will be a long time before I write a songfic that isn't Lord of the Rings Humor oriented. I'll look it up as soon as I find the time. I love my reviewers' opinions. Nothing they say is stupid to any decent author. Well, they are a flamers that need to get a life if they don't have anything useful to say, but I just find them funny anyway. Sorry, I'm rambling. I tend to do that in reviews, but I've never done that while talking to my reviewers. It must be that I like talking to people over fanfiction. Pick a subject, and I'll ramble away…

Aquarian Wind: Hi! Niobe still has a part to fulfill in this story. Of course, I never think ahead in my fanfictions, so who knows where she'll be. Did that answer your question about the building with no code? It's moved itself!!! That'll be explained eventually…