Hope never abandons you. You abandon it. ~~ George Weinberg

TRINITY AND MORPHEUS

Do you know how important you are to me, Neo? Can you feel how much I love you? She moves her gaze from his face to their hands, letting it rest there for a brief moment before shifting it back. Because there are no words to describe it. There are no words to explain…

It is amazing to her sometimes. Amazing how much this one man has come to mean to her. Amazing that she, a woman who, in spite of the Oracle's words, had vowed to never let anyone past the deepest barriers to her heart, has so willingly allowed him to find his way there. Amazing that the peace and strength that come from loving him so completely can be equaled by the pain and helplessness of a time like this.

She glances at the nearby monitor, looking over the data for what feels like the millionth time. And for the millionth time, there is no change.

Shifting her focus back to Neo, her eyes fall on the pulsation of an artery in his neck, gently throbbing in rhythm with the beeping of the monitor. She stares at it with her tired eyes, increasingly entranced. While her eyelids grow heavier and begin to close, her mind begins to relax and let go, even as part of her fights it. As she continues to succumb to the hypnotic combination, she feels a thought begin to form on the outer edges of her mind.

Her eyes snap open and she instinctively reaches for it.

This is the third time since Neo's collapse that she has felt this sensation. It came in those first few minutes she was alone with him, after Morpheus and Link left to be briefed by Roland and Maggie had left the room. It had come again when Ghost's calming presence was by her side.

But like the other times it has come to her, it eludes her grasp, leaving her with an imprint of something too hazy to define.

She sighs in frustration, the heavy ache in her chest still with her and the muscles in her neck and shoulders now burning from the tension in them.

I wish I knew what to do, Neo. One hand still holding his, she moves the other to lightly caress his pale cheek. I wish I knew how to help you.

Dropping her hand to join the other, she suddenly becomes aware of another presence in the room. She freezes, instantly more alert. Her eyes dart up to search the empty air in front of her and her already tight muscles tense even further - only to return to their previous state once she recognizes who it has to be.

Lowering her gaze back to Neo, she returns to her thoughts and waits for him to approach. Several long moments later she hears his footsteps stop next to her.

After tossing a cursory glance in Bane's direction, Morpheus returns his focus to Neo and Trinity. Looking down at her, he can see she appears deeply absorbed in her own thoughts. He can also see the effects of the last few hours are quietly and subtly wearing on her.

His sense of guilt and responsibility sinks deeper into his soul. All these years, she has trusted him, helped him, followed him on this journey - in spite of the doubt he knows she's had at times. And this is where that trust has taken her.

He switches his attention to the man in front of him. If he didn't know better, he'd think he could reach out and shake him from his sleep. But he does know better. Neo too, had trusted him. Neo too, it seems, is paying a price.

He stands there for a long moment, continuing on this path, until she breaks the silence.

"The meeting is over." It was more a statement than a question.

"Yes," he replies, his eyes still fixed on Neo.

When it becomes apparent to him that she's not going to ask the question, he switches his gaze to her and supplies the answer anyway.

"They have a strategy."

Feeling his eyes on her, Trinity looks up at him. He looks tired, she decides as she waits for him to continue. Tired. Uncertain. Older. Not the man she is accustomed to seeing.

"Roland is speaking with Zion now. We are waiting for their decision."

She turns back to Neo. She doesn't have to ask Morpheus what he thinks; she can see it by looking at him. He doesn't believe they will succeed.

What does it say when even he loses hope? she wonders to herself.

"There isn't much time left," she says after a moment, her eyes focused on the steady rise and fall of Neo's chest.

Twenty-four hours. That's what he said they had left. Though she can't be certain, she imagines they have fewer than twenty of those hours remaining. And in her experience, decisions are not made quickly in Zion.

"At this point," Morpheus replies solemnly, "I do not believe they will be taking their time."

He lowers his gaze to see her hands are wrapped securely around one of Neo's. In all the years he has known her, he has never seen her more content or relaxed than she's been these last few months. It makes the contrast in her now that much more upsetting to him.

This is not how it was supposed to be, he repeats to himself. They should be -

"You haven't told them," she states, unknowingly interrupting his thoughts.

"No," he replies quietly. "I haven't."

She had already known the answer. She knew the instant Ghost suggested there was still time for Neo to end the war.

"Why not?"

'Why not?' Morpheus repeats to himself. He takes a deep breath and slowly releases it. It is a question he has asked himself repeatedly and one he still doesn't quite have an answer for.

At first, they'd all been so focused on figuring out what happened to Neo that it hadn't occurred to him to tell anyone. Nor had it come up during his briefing with Roland and his crew.

And really, why would it?

There were only three crews who knew of Neo's journey to the Source. With Soren and his crew dead, that left his crew and that of the Logos. It wasn't until Niobe, Ghost and Sparks came aboard that he realized he would have to address it. And even then…

"I don't know," he replies finally. "Perhaps because I wish to spare them what we are going through. Or perhaps because there is a small part of me still foolish enough to want…"

His voice trails off and Trinity closes her eyes, part of her desperately wanting to hear him finish the sentence. Instead, she hears the bitterness in his voice as he speaks again.

"But that's not going to happen." He pauses to consider her question again before he shakes his head. "I honestly don't know, Trinity."

"And Link?"

He exhales at the mention of his operator. I ask him to do one thing - to trust me. And this is what happens.

He knows Link thinks he should tell them, but the younger man has not said a word. Instead, he seems to be silently deferring to his captain's judgment. He doesn't know Link well enough yet to make an accurate guess as to why he came to that decision, but he is grateful for his silence thus far.

"To my knowledge, he has not said anything."

Trinity nods. She can understand Morpheus wanting to spare the others. She had wanted to tell Ghost - if not purely for the fact that she owes him the truth, then for her own selfish reasons. She wanted to hear him tell her Neo was wrong. She wanted to hear someone say it. But in the instant before she was going to utter the words, she realized she couldn't. He believed and that gave him hope. She couldn't take that away from him.

She's still not confident she made the right decision. Nor is she sure how long they'll be able to keep it from the others.

"Niobe will know you're keeping something from her," she says, as certain of that as she is that Ghost had picked up on it with her.

"I know," he replies, his eyes downcast.

In fact, he is sure she's already well on her way to figuring it out. When he briefed Niobe and her crew, he had skipped over Neo's declaration, concentrating instead on the events before and after his revelation, hoping they would draw one conclusion - that he hadn't had an opportunity to speak with Neo before the sentinel attack.

It seemed to have worked at the time, but he knows Niobe. Her normally welcome gaze has become uncomfortably penetrating in the short time since the briefing and he knows it's only a matter of time before she questions him. What he doesn't know is what he will say when she does.

"They should know," Trinity suddenly says, her voice laced with uncertainty even as she says it. "They need to know he's not going to end this war."

Morpheus suddenly feels himself wavering. She's right. What's the point of keeping it from them?

There are those among these crews who believe as he had believed, but while some of them feel there is still a chance Neo will come out of his coma in time to end this, he knows they're not willing to stake Zion on it. Not nearly as willing as he would have been just a few short hours ago.

Who am I to decide what they should or should not know?

"Perhaps it is best that they know. But how do I tell them, Trinity? How do I tell them the prophecy so many of us have believed would save us - the prophecy so many have given their lives for - is a lie?"

Hearing the distress coloring his voice, Trinity glances up at him to see it reflected in his eyes. Unable to recall ever seeing that level of torment in him, she lowers her eyes, feeling her own uncertainty and despair grow. She wishes she had the answer, or, at the very least, words of comfort. But she doesn't. Instead, in a move that surprises both of them, she reaches out and takes his hand in her own.

Not only does he appreciate the value of such a rare gesture from her, he can't help but notice that she has just physically linked the three of them together. The three of them. The remnants of a family.

He squeezes her hand, silently expressing his gratitude for her gesture. He almost expects her to withdraw her hand and return it to Neo's, but she doesn't; and they remain like that for a few moments, each absorbed in their own thoughts.

"I should go," he says at last. "We should be hearing from Zion soon."

She nods, though she finds herself almost wishing he wouldn't go just yet. Misery loves company, isn't that how the saying goes?

Looking back at Neo, she knits her brows together as the vague sensation returns to nag at her in something close to a whisper. Once again, she concentrates on it, only to have it evaporate like delicate wisps of warm breath in cold air. Once again, it leaves her with an ambiguous impression. This time however, the impression is enough that she tries to put it into words.

"I don't think he's going to come out of this on his own."

Morpheus feels the knot in his stomach grow tighter. He knows better than to ask how she knows. Over the last several months, the bond between Trinity and Neo has reached a level he's not sure anyone can comprehend, much less define. But he's not sure he understands what she's trying to say. Has Maggie missed something? Or does she somehow sense he's not going to recover?

"What do you mean?"

He watches as she seems to search for an answer.

"I don't know…" she finally says. "I just wish I knew how to help him."

Placing a hand on her tension-filled shoulder, he looks down at her with weary understanding. "You need to get some rest, Trinity," he says with quiet authority.

His voice draws her out of her thoughts and she looks up at him. "So do you," she counters, her tone echoing his.

Eyes locked, they can see the other won't be resting any time soon.

"I'm staying here," she says, turning away from him.

"I know."

He stands with her for another long moment, images of dreams he had for their future flashing and fading in his mind's eye. When he finally turns and leaves the room, he can't help but notice that his heart and his steps feel even heavier than when he walked in.