Title: - Reflections
Rating: - PG-13, occasional cussing and moderate violence
Disclaimer: - The Matrix universe and associated characters are owned by the Wachowski Brothers.
Agents: the series universe and associated characters are co-owned by Stormhawk and Overlord Mordax, Recruit Zane is owned by The Red Pony.
I own Sophie Starling and Jack. Yay!
Notes: - Thank you to Catherine, One Who Spins Flags, Lunar Shadowsong and Alocin for the reviews!! And Angel for beta-ing!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Chapter two- DestinyJack stared at the two tiny pills on Serenity's outstretched hands.
Blue.
Stay asleep, and believe whatever he wanted to believe.
Red.
Wake up and see the world as it really was.
His hand strayed between the two. He wanted to 'leave Kansas' as Serenity and put it. But he didn't want to leave Sophie.
He pulled his hand back.
"If I take the red pill. And I want too" He added at Serenity's look "It's just my, my friend, she wants the truth as well. Can you take her too?"
Serenity closed her hands.
"Jesus, what is this? A school trip?" The shaven headed rebel moaned
"Shut up Kai" Serenity snapped. She turned to Jack.
"If she is ready, and wants to be freed, then we will take her"
Jack smiled, and leant over towards the red pill.
Several things at once prevented him from taking it.
"Shit! Agents!" The red-haired girl screamed
Serenity's eyes widened in fear and she snatched her hand away from Jack.
"Get down and stay down!" she yelled to the potentials.
Jack ducked down under a table as he saw the group pull out guns and aim at the door. What was happening?
Suddenly the door burst open, sending splinters of wood flying across the room.
Silhouetted in the doorway, against the night sky, were three imposing suited figures. Gaze masked by dark glasses and guns simultaneously aimed into the club.
It just dawned on Jack why the rebels had been so scared
***
Sophie screwed up her eyes. The man was reaching the knife up to her thought, she cold feel the ice-cold metal against her skin. He was going to silence her. She didn't want to die!
Sophie stopped trying to remember the moves. She was just going to have to improvise.
Slamming her knee into the mans groin, and swinging her back pack around into his head, she squirmed out of his grip, and ran faster than ever before down the alley, she knew it wasn't going to slow him down for long.
"No!" Sophie groaned as she nearly ran into a wall. It was a dead end.
Checking behind her, the three men were running towards her, and were catching up fast. Her eyes darted around the dark alley. What was she supposed to do now? There was nowhere she could go!
Sophie mentally thanked whoever may be listening as she noticed an old fire escape. Sprinting towards it she prayed that it was open.
"Thank god" she muttered as the slammed the metal door behind her. She was safe.
At least she though she was. Looking around her at the confused looks of several people with guns, she decided that the alley might have been a safer option after all.
***
Smith turned from the girl who had just burst through the doorway, and placed his fingers to his earpiece ^Three humans, still plugged. Minimal threat. Eliminate the rebels only^
Sophie was still frozen to the spot when the shooting started. She instinctively dropped to the floor, and felt herself being quickly pulled under a table.
"Stay under here, hopefully they won't notice us." A hushed voice spoke.
"Jack!"
Sophie gripped her friend into a hug, before pulling away, embarrassed.
"What are you doing here? I thought you were helping your dad!"
Jack looked sheepish. "Well…about that." He sighed.
"I was contacted Soph. I wanted to tell you, I really did. But they said it would only put you in danger. I guess they weren't kidding"
Sophie jumped back as a bullet ricocheted under the table.
"You're certainly right about that!"
She cast her head down. "Jack what are we going to do?"
They were stuck under a table in the middle of what appeared to be a shoot out between a bunch of Goths and some people who wouldn't look at all out of place in a Bond film.
"I think we should probably…" James began, but was cut off as the red hair teen and Zoë, the other potential dived past them out of the fire escape, and were speedily followed by a male and female Agent.
"…Probably try to leave as soon as we can"
Peering out from under the table, Sophie watched as the tallest suited man continued to fight the group. All of them were moving at a speed that Sophie didn't even realise was possible.
Every time one of the rebels dived for the door, the Agent cut them off. It was like watching a wolf circling a flock of sheep.
"Jack, which ones are the good guys?"
"I thought it was Serenity and her crew but..." he shook his head. "…I'm not sure; it's hard to tell. They were very cryptic"
Jack saw Serenity duck out of the fight and shoot the remaining suited man. That wasn't something the good guys would do.
There was a blue crackle of electricity as an old woman fell to the floor. That was a bit weird. Not attempting to understand what had just happened. Jack saw the opportunity to leave
"Come on!" he yelled, dragging Sophie from under the table. They had to leave while there was a pause in the fighting
They pair speed past the group of rebels, busy trying to reload and leave before the Agent returned.
Jack jolted to a stop halfway to the door, back to her. He seemed to flicker slightly.
"Jack, we need to get out of here!"
"Oh no" Serenity said softly. "Step away from him, he's going to turn"
"What do you mean? Jack, we need to go." Reaching her hand to his shoulder, Sophie gasped as his top flickered to a suit and back.
"Agent" The shaven headed rebel spat, and aimed his gun. He wasn't about to have some kid turned into an Agent to kill him.
"No Kai, wait!" Serenity yelled, but with a muffled thud, Jack had already hit the floor.
Sophie stifled a sob, running to him. "Jack?" She choked, turning him to face her.
"Why hell did you do that Kai? He was resisting!" A man in black demanded.
Sophie ignored the quarrelling rebels, and knelt down by he friend "Jack please, wake up." She begged
His eyes flickered open, "Hey Soph" he said dazedly.
Sophie bit her lip, trying not to look at the blood quickly soaking his t-shirt. He had been shot right in the chest.
"You going to be all right, just…just..." she looked up in despair. He was going to die. She knew it. Why was this happening to them? They hadn't done anything. They were just normal people.
"Please Jack, don't leave me."
He smiled ruefully, "Soph, I need to tell you, I tried to before, but you know how I am with these types of things"
He tried to lean towards her, but winced. His hazel eyes met her tearful brown ones. It really was now or never.
"I don't think you feel the same way, but I needed to tell you. I care for you much more than a friend." Sophie held his cold hands. "I love you Sophie."
Sophie let out a slight laugh of disbelief. He felt the same way. She found out that he felt the same way as her, now.
"Jack, I've always felt that way about you. I've been in love with you since Junior high."
Jack broke into a weak grin. "Well that makes it a lot less embarrassing. I really do love you."
Sophie lent down, and softly their lips met. She didn't want it ever to end; she didn't want to let him go.
Gently he pulled away. "Please hold on Jack, I need you." Sophie cried. It wasn't fair. He couldn't leave her now!
"I wish I could. Promise me you'll never forget Soph. Remember that I love you"
Sophie felt his breathing stop, laying him down she frantically checked his pulse. He couldn't be gone. He just couldn't!
"I'm sorry, but there's nothing we can do."
Sophie ignored the tall female rebel, as her and her companions went to leave. They had let him die. That man had killed Jack and they had done nothing to stop it.
"They've changed it!" The woman in black gestured to where the fire escape had been.
She quickly ran to the main entrance, but stopped dead as she came face to chest with the Agent.
Brown smirked and shot her. The rebels quickly raised their guns and fried at the Agent.
Sophie didn't bother to try and get away. What was the point? Crouched on the floor fixated, she watched the fight. The 'Agent' was moving so fast his body blurred. Not a single bullet had touched him. How was that possible?
Smiling morbidly, she bitterly hoped he killed them all.
***
Serenity dropped her empty gun and ran at the Agent. She was damned if she was going to let him take down her whole crew.
Focusing her energy into her punches at his chest, Serenity was horrified to see them all blocked with pathetic ease, and was soon sent flying into a table by a single blow.
Dragging her self back up, Serenity was joined by the man in black, but the Agent, effortlessly countered even the two of them, with a dance of kicks and punches.
He didn't notice Kai coming up behind, planning to make his second kill of the night. Sophie however, did.
She knew it was dangerous, and probably very stupid. But she wasn't about to let him take another life that night. Whether it was innocent or not. He had killed Jack. Killed him for no good reason, and Sophie wanted revenge.
Brown growled as his gun was knocked from his hand by a round kick from the blond rebel. He lifted her up by the white leather lapel of her jacket, and threw her into the black clad man.
The smile of triumph was momentarily wiped off Brown's face, as he felt the barrel of a gun pushed up against his skull. Oddly though, he didn't have the need to shift.
Sophie leapt up and launched herself at the rebel. Knocking them both to the ground.
"Get off me little girl." Kai intoned patronisingly
Sophie let out her anger in a well-aimed punch at his face. "You killed him! Why?"
Kai wiped the blood from his lip. "You little..." he muttered, trying to draw his gun.
"Who cares who I shot? He was just a useless coppertop."
"No, he was more than that." Sophie yelled, attempting to wrestle the gun from his hands. "I'm not going to let you kill anyone else." She promised icily.
Kai laughed sharply, as he wrenched the gun from her grip. "What you gonna do to stop me? Kill me?" He mocked
Sophie's eye caught the desert eagle, skidding towards her from the ensuing fight between the two rebels and the Agent. She swiped it up.
"Sorry baby, to slow." Kai snarled pulling the trigger. Nothing happened. He went pale.
Sophie smiled darkly. "Empty."
The desert eagle gave a muffled shot
"I'm not."
***
Sophie lowered her gun with a satisfied smirk. She had killed him.
Suddenly the realisation of what just done finally dawned on her. A leaden weight settled in her stomach as she thought about it. She had just shot someone. Killed someone. She had just taken the man's life. What scared her the most though, was that she didn't regret it. She had enjoyed it.
Agent Brown dusted off his hands and, turned from his now dead assailants.
He was genuinely surprised to see the shaven headed rebel dead on the floor and a young girl still holding a gun in her hands. His gun.
The girl looked up towards him fearfully.
"I shot him." She whispered, almost to herself. "I didn't mean to, well I did, but…." She spluttered, trailing off under Browns unwavering gaze.
Brown stared at the girl quizzically. She had obviously intended to kill the man, so why was she behaving so oddly?
"Aren't you going to arrest me?" Sophie said with confusion.
She had just shot someone, A few feet away from the man. He looked like a government type, so why wasn't he rushing to arrest her?
If Brown hadn't considered it below him he would have laughed.
"No, I am not going to arrest you. You have helped detain a dangerous terrorist group." He stated.
It was the generic explanation given to un-aware humans. It wasn't exactly far from the truth.
Sophie frowned slightly. She was going to be let off? The people hadn't seemed like your average terrorists, but then that man hadn't fought like your average government agent.
She stared down at the gun, and held it out towards him.
"I think this may be yours. How…how could you move like that? It was…unreal!" she questioned with awe.
Brown holstered his gun. How much exactly had the girl seen? If she aware of the Matrix why hadn't she been one of the rebel potentials?
He requested the girl's file.
[Sophie Starling,
Date of Birth: 21/11/86
Place of Birth: Lower Downtown, Capital City,
Parents: Michele and John, father deceased, no siblings,
Education: Central West Junior High and Owen Patterson High,
Criminal record: none,
Minor hacker- blue marked.]
It appeared she had been searching for the rebels from sometime, but had yet to be contacted. Brown hated recruiting. And he particularly hated recruiting women. But the girl had managed to take out a rebel on her own. If he passed her off, Brown knew he could be questioned by the mainframe, and the last thing hewanted was to disobey the mainframe.
"Have you ever used a gun before Miss Starling?"
Sophie blinked. How did he know her name? "No…no I haven't.... Sir"
Brown assessed the girl from behind his dark glasses. He could recruit her, but if she didn't want to know the truth about the matrix…
"Uh, My friend Jack." Sophie closed her eyes a second, and took a breath.
"My friend said these people were going to tell him the truth about the Matrix. Do you know what they meant? Do you know what the Matrix is?"
Brown smirked. It appeared that he had a recruit after all.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Author's note: Please review, constructive criticism is always welcomed, and reviews make me write faster!!
Beth.