The bit about Niobe is here especially for my dear sister.
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Day 2
Niobe yawned, and began to stretch on the cot in her quarters long before she opened her eyes. Getting up was the closing item on her wish list at that moment, but the sense of duty won with the almost irresistible desire to stay under the rough, but warm blanket. Extremely unpleased that her dreams had been rapidly interrupted by the buzzing bell above her bed, she was at least glad that it meant that Sparks hadn't fallen asleep on his shift. Lazily, she opened her eyes.
She made the effort to dig up her private To-Do list in her half-asleep mind, and made a mental note to ask Locke to reassign Link to her ship, first thing after they dock. Since Morpheus spent most of his time in Zion, he didn't need an operator anymore. Niobe sighed. As reluctant as she was to make any changes to her crew membership, Sparks had become a real nuisance she could barely stand. She could tell the operator saw no sense whatsoever in what they were doing, and that was not how she wanted her crew members to think. Even though the war was over, she needed people who took their duties seriously. She had her sixth sense she had always trusted, and it was telling her that their watch on the sewers wasn't in vain.
Well, at least Sparks still obeyed when she snapped her "Shut Up" at him.
Niobe stretched for the last time, and she dragged herself out of bed. She jumped quickly into warm pants, a red shirt and a sweater, which remembered the times when she was still learning how to pilot a hovercraft. Darkness didn't bother her; though she would still occasionally catch herself looking for her belongings in the same places she used to keep them on the Logos.
The Logos. Niobe felt an extremely strong urge to have that ship fixed and make it fly again; she knew, though, that in such case she would find herself forced to replace both members of her crew. She rather suspected it than knew it, but she couldn't by any means rid herself of the feeling that Ghost's reluctance to even look at the wreck of that hovercraft was strictly related to the fact that it was on its board that Trinity had died.
She sighed again. So few she thought her friends, and most of them didn't even live long enough to see the end of the war.
She shrugged, bracing herself in an instant. As soon as she left her quarters, she would be again the Captain Niobe, Head Bitch in Charge, as some used to call her among the Zion fleet's captains and crew members. She shook her head as she remembered that, and smiled to her thoughts. They were goddamn right. She liked it that way.
The door swung open and Niobe stormed out of the room. Best way to wake up was to wake up fast. She headed straight for the core, stretching once again before she climbed quickly up the ladder.
Sparks was still in the operator's chair, half-lying, half-sitting. Niobe looked at him with an amused look on her face. She could almost picture the operator, sitting in an office behind a huge desk with his legs stretched on it, and covered her mouth not to let him hear her laugh. Definitely, the way Sparks held himself showed that he would rather be a leader, and not a follower. Not on _my_ ship, she thought to herself, and decided to continue watching him for a while.
"Up all night, fix this, check that, watch the code, take my shift, up all night, fix that, check this, take my shift, repeat." Sparks muttered to himself, casually throwing a small optical disk in the air.
Niobe shifted her weight, and a loose screw fell on the floor, producing noise loud enough so that Sparks turned around abruptly. His face became even whiter than usual, and he sat upright in the chair immediately, eyeing her.
"Jeezus. You scared the living shit outta me!" he breathed, throwing the disk onto the console.
"Good morning to you too, Sparks." Niobe smirked, and jumped onto the deck.
"Yeah, mornin'. Or goodnight." Sparky yawned, wiping his eyes with his palm.
"Talking to yourself again, eh? And one would think that you never set foot on Morpheus' ship." She grinned, the amused look didn't seem likely to leave her face.
"Yeah, yeah. Score, Captain. It ain't fair. My wit's fast asleep after so many hours of staring at this crap." He waved his hand towards the monitors.
"Like it was ever awake, really." Niobe bit her lips so that she wouldn't burst out laughing at the sight of Sparks' facial expression. A moment worthy of remembrance. Niobe thought that she would kill to have a camera now. The operator blinked a few times.
"C'mon, Captain. You didn't really think it was funny, did ya?" Sparks watched her with a look that combined confusion, embarrassment, and whatever was in his twisted thoughts.
"You didn't think I'd have said that if I hadn't thought it was true. Did ya." She fired back at him, and leaned in doorway, looking around the deck. "Now. Either get the hell outta here, or start backing up the harddrives."
Sparks jumped up in his chair, and glanced at her with a frightened look on his face. "Sleep, Captain, S-l-e-e-p is the word of the day! Not work!" he grumbled, and got himself up, dragging his feet towards the exit. "Man, I need a holiday. Ghost can do that. You go get all worked up today. I'm off to that thing you guys call bed."
Niobe sighed. "Can't you shut up and just go for a change?!"
"Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something.*"
Two pairs of eyes; one suddenly amused, the other annoyed, turned to the catwalk and looked at Ghost, who lazily jumped down onto the main deck, smiling to himself.
Sparks waved his hand and frowned. "Hello? I'm still right here! Did you just call me a fool?"
Niobe collapsed onto the operator's chair, laughing. "Take it as a fact, Sparks."
Ghost shook his head, walked across the deck, and stood right behind the Captain. "She said that."
The operator folded his arms and eyed the two with a face far from pleased, and rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I'm hurt, man. I think I'm gonna cry."
Niobe laughed, and bent down, pulling a grease-stained cloth from under the keyboard. "Tissue?" she grinned.
Ghost stifled a laugh.
Sparks glared at them and gritted his teeth, then sighed. He turned around and stormed through the door. A short while later, the sound of the door to his quarters shutting loudly could be heard, and echoed all over the hovercraft.
"How do we still put up with him?" Niobe sighed, turning to the Matrix feed.
Ghost looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "Been asking myself that question for a long time."
"And?"
"To study the abnormal is the best way of understanding the normal.**" he muttered.
"Spare me that shit."
"Oh, I'm sorry. Guess I shouldn't have hit you with that first thing in the morning?" Ghost smirked, and sat down in the nearby chair.
"Good guess."
Ghost leaned back in the chair, and closed his eyes. He remembered they were scheduled for a meeting with the Hammer later that day, and made a mental note to copy the disks AK had requested. Sparks had probably forgotten all about it, because they were nowhere to be found. It was still a few hours away, though, and for the time being he had nothing to do. Trying to sleep was not an option.
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The flames of the several candles located all over the place were flickering, slightly brightening the otherwise dark room. The faint light cast long shadows on the walls, and painted strange, haunting images on the rough walls, playing in the curves as if they were sinking into them. Ghost sat on the floor, resting his back against the bed. He wasn't tired; and even if he was, he didn't feel it. The tension was growing. He knew it was only a matter of time now. He had considered running away, hiding somewhere, but he knew it would hurt her. And him, too. It would hurt even more.
Sparks' heard appeared in the door. Ghost opened his eyes.
"They're here! The Nebuchadenezzar is docking!" the Logos' operator's voice sounded excited. Sparky waved his hand towards the corridor. "C'mon! We gotta see their new discovery!"
"Their new what?" Ghost frowned while getting himself up from the floor.
"Don't say you haven't heard yet?! Everyone's talking about it!" Sparks stared at him, shaking his head.
"Sparks, spit it out at last, or get the hell outta here. What's the big news I SO need to hear?"
Sparks rolled his eyes. "Geez, man. You really should go outta this cave more often than once every two weeks. They say Morpheus has found the One!"
Ghost swallowed hard, and fought the urge to kick the man out of the room and never go out of there himself. He knew all too well what news it was, but until the last minute he had been hoping it wasn't true. They had found the One. He knew what it might mean for Zion. But he also knew what it meant for him. With a sigh, he turned around, and fixed his eyes on the wall.
"You go. I'll join you in a moment."
"No way. Niobe said you gotta come NOW and you know what she means when she says _NOW_. You're comin' with me."
Sparks disappeared behind the door, but left it open, letting him know that he's waiting just outside, and wouldn't leave until Ghost had joined him. He felt slightly nauseous. The One. Given the Oracle was right, and if this indeed was that man, he would come to see the one that took his love away from him. He believed her, though he wished she were wrong, for a change. Two parts of him were fighting furiously now – the heart of a brother, and that of a man. He wished her all the best, he wished that she were happy. But he feared that he wouldn't dare to look into Trinity's eyes. She would guess, she would know his true feelings… she knew him so well.
He braced himself, and walked out of the room. Right then, he knew that all he had to do was keep his face cold and try not to look away when Trinity would come into view. He longed to see her; the long months away from her were catching up with him now. He could feel in every fiber of his body just how much he missed her, how much he yearned for her touch, for her just being near him. But now, that the One had been found, and she had fallen in love… All that would be cut short. He had no right to come near her, he had no right to feed his hopes, his love, with what another had claimed.
"Man, you look like you've just seen a ghost." Sparks whacked Ghost on the back and laughed out loud. Suddenly brought back to reality, Ghost just shook his head and followed the operator down the long, dark corridor to the elevator.
He couldn't even recall what Sparks had been saying the whole way down. Ghost just didn't listen. The operator kept talking, but his words seemed to have stayed locked behind an invisible barrier. In Ghost's mind there was nothing but an image of Trinity, just before she had left on the board of Morpheus' ship. Her eyes, looking at him with trust and hope; he could read in them that she had already missed him, that she cared. What would he see now? He wasn't sure he wanted to find out. What he wanted most was to just get back to his quarters, shut the door behind him, and try to forget the past 11 years.
Ghost took a deep breath to regain some composure. Sparks kept babbling. The elevator seemed to go faster than usual. He suddenly felt strangely lightheaded.
Breathe, breathe.
The door opened.
"Are you comin' or not?" Sparks tilted his head and mocked Ghost's focused expression. "Bad time for dreaming. Let's go."
Ghost glared at the operator, and without a word followed him down the catwalk to the bay where the Nebuchadenezzar had docked. The small crowd to the right caught his attention; he kept staring at the ship, trying to control his breath so that he wouldn't appear nervous. They arrived just in time; Niobe, who was standing beside Commander Locke, shot an angry glance at both men. Sparks folded his arms and found a safe spot for himself out of his Captain's sight.
They came out. Ghost held his breath, counting the crew members of Morpheus' ship. So few had returned. He recalled hearing briefly that Cypher had betrayed them, and killed nearly half the crew. He watched their faces as they passed by, and he could read the great weariness and grief, but some sort of satisfaction, too. Morpheus walked first, with his head up high, proud and stern as usual. Ghost caught his nod to Niobe. Two men who surely weren't crew members followed him, supporting Tank, who appeared injured, and looked so bad that most of those who had gathered along the passage just looked at him and shook their heads.
And then he saw her.
She looked worn out, as did all of them. But in her face Ghost saw something, and his heart stopped. There was love in the way she looked at the man who walked right beside her. Hand in hand, side by side... Those quick, meaningful looks they sent each other, those hands, joined together in a firm grip, the almost visible aura of feelings floating above them and around them hit Ghost like a bucket of ice-cold water. It didn't help. He closed his hands in fists and kept staring at her.
Her sight fell on him and her face brightened. She smiled. With every second they were closer, and Ghost subconsciously noted he was shivering. He couldn't take his eyes off her, and wondered if the One noticed. Though, at that point, he couldn't care less. She reached out her hand, and touched his shoulder briefly as they passed, not stopping. Ghost turned to look at them as they walked away, and he felt tears burning behind his eyes. When he couldn't see them anymore, his vision blurred, he lowered his head, and stood still, staring at the floor.
The crowd began to part, everyone went to resume their chores. Soon the bay was empty. Almost empty. Ghost still felt he couldn't move. Having decided it was no use trying to act, now, that he was alone, he allowed himself a minute of grief over something he was sure he had lost, forever. Then he sighed, and walked slowly back to his quarters.
"What the hell?"
Niobe's voice pulled Ghost back to reality within a fraction of a second. He looked up, and understood. The terminals flickered, and went black.
"What just happened?" Niobe frowned, and looked at him. They exchanged quick looks.
"We're about to find out. I hope." He said calmly, and waved his hand at the woman to let him on the operator's chair. His left hand worked on one keyboard, entering the coordinates for various locations in the Matrix, while his right hand moved on to the second, checking the status of their signal. He shook his head.
"No response. We're offline. But…"
"What?"
"The ship's systems are still in operation and stable."
Niobe growled and grabbed the radio. "Sparks, in 5 seconds on the main deck. Move!"
Ghost frowned, checking the plugs in the monitors' connectors. Seconds later, Sparks stormed in and looked around.
"What's going on?"
Niobe motioned her head towards the dead terminals.
Sparks ran over to them and stood behind the Captain. "What the HELL is wrong with this ship?!" he hollered, and leaned forward to the keyboard, loading the diagnostics.
"It's not the ship." Ghost said while getting up.
Niobe turned around. "What?"
"Something's disrupting our signal."
"Are you sure of this?"
Ghost nodded.
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Cliffie :P Bad, bad me. He he he.
"Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something.*" – Plato
"To study the abnormal is the best way of understanding the normal.**" – William James
A/N:
Alyanome: *hugs* There you are ;)
Dark Puck: Crying? Now that's a compliment ;) Make sure to let me know if that happens. Oh, and – I didn't expect that plug in your story. Thank you :) I feel honored.
Audrey A: Indeed he is. Oh, and here's a bit more Sparks for ya ;) Some more to come, too. Just that I can't help but spend my pathetic sense of humor on laughing at him. *hides*
Wintergirl: We'll see, we'll see. No spoilers ;) You gotta read to see what happens. I still have some tricksy stuff up my sleeve.
Spiderbob: Your assumption is correct. I'm staying true to the movies. But you can still enjoy this piece, eh? *wink, wink*
Tasar: Knowing you for quite a while, and knowing that you're not a person to say something like that lightly, I Thank You. Very Much. It means a lot.
