A/N= As promised I dedicate this chapter to Cecilia, who doesn't like how short my chapters are. Are you happy now? ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?! Lol just kidding. It's actually not that long at all lol. Iyt only seemed long when I wrote it because once I started writing I couldn't stop. This is probably one of my favourite chapters… even though there's no Smith in it (you're all shocked now, yes?). No there's no Smith in it because this chapter's all about Emma and what happened to her after she left the Agents... Two weeks have passed since the fight by the way. I was listening to Ayumi Hamasaki a lot whilst writing this chapter which is why it's kind of sad. Don't worry about Smith, he'll be back! But just to prevent major spasms of Smith withdrawal to all the fan girls out there, there's plenty of Jones and Brown in his stead. I even indulged in a little Brown/Jones romance which had me on the verge of tears… No really… After I wrote the final line of this chapter, I read through it and got all teary-eyed and gooey and then I was like "What the hell am I doing?!" and now every time I read the Brown and Jones scene I turn to jelly. They're just so cute!!! The next chapter will have them in it too. Then we go back to Smith and then…. Dum dum dum… THE FINAL CHAPTER… Ooooooh…. I don't own the Matrix or anything related to it… until I've saved up enough coupons that is…
------------------------------------------------------------------
Emma looked at herself in the mirror. Cheeks red from crying, cuts and bruises still fresh from the fight, messy hair, purple bags under her eyes from lack of sleep… She was no longer beautiful. She was a state. She scowled at her reflection, wanting to claw at the person staring back at her for being so ugly… so stupid.
"He did this to me…" she said to herself, fists trembling.
Him…
When she came home that night two weeks ago… the first thing she did was tip up the poster that had been lying rolled up on the floor since Neo had spotted it. She ripped it into tiny pieces… little snowflakes of Smith scattered on the floor… then she cried.
And cried…
And cried…
And cried…
Days spent just lying in bed crying into her pillow. She thought programs weren't supposed to have emotions… but every time she thought about him all she could do was cry. She hated him. She hated him for being so selfish. So arrogant. She hated him for treating her so badly. She hated him for never listening to her, never letting her help him. So stubborn. She hated him for not loving her when she loved him. She loved him.
When she first saw 'The Matrix', it took her a week before she realised just how cool Agent Smith was. At least a year passed before she developed a crush on him. It wasn't until the day she left him that she realised just how strongly she was in love with him.
And now he was gone, caring about nobody but himself, ready to be destroyed all because of his own greed. He loved himself more than he'd ever love her…
To make life even more miserable, Emma's 'friends' had been calling her non-stop…
Where have you been, Emma?
I've been trying to call you for ages!
I was really worried about you…
Are you coming out tonight?
Can we come round tomorrow?
What are you doing on Saturday?
What was she doing on Saturday…? Crying, most probably. Crying and sleeping. Dreaming of a man who would never dream of her.
And then…
A loud, single knock on the door.
Emma's heat leapt as she turned away from the mirror and ran downstairs, dreading, hoping, fearing, wondering, happy, sad, angry, scared…
Opening the door, she found Brown and Jones standing on her doorstep, their faces grave.
Emma burst into tears. They didn't need to say a word. She knew why they'd come to see her.
"He's gone…" Brown muttered, saying it anyway.
--------
"It was so unusual," said Jones as he sat on Emma's sofa and allowed her to cry on his shoulder that night. "I've never seen anything like it before. He just… jumped inside Smith… completely entered his body and then…"
"His code was completely shattered," Brown finished.
"And he blew up… totally disappeared," Emma sniffed. "Right?"
The two Agents nodded.
"You knew it was going to happen but you didn't want it to…" Jones mused. "That's why you two were fighting, wasn't it?"
"Yes…" Emma said in barely a whisper.
"But why?" asked Brown. "He's going to come back, isn't he?"
"Yeah but now that he's no longer an Agent he won't be able to take over other vessels anymore."
"He will be easy to delete then."
Emma shook her head. "He has the power to duplicate himself now. Soon there'll be so many Smiths it will be impossible to destroy them all… Only Neo can do that. But to get him to destroy Smith, we would need to stop the sentinels from attacking Zion."
"We know," said Jones. "That's why we're here. We need you to delete him."
"What?!" Emma cried.
"If you cans top him before he makes a copy of himself then neo won't have to destroy him and Zion wont need to be spared."
"But.. But why do I have to?"
"You want revenge for what he did to you, don't you? This is your chance."
"Besides, if somebody has to take care of his deletion it may as well be somebody he likes instead of somebody he hates…"
"He doesn't like me," Emma sighed, her eyes on the floor.
"Don't be stupid, Watts," Brown smiled.
"He did nothing but sulk after you left us."
"He was always sulky."
"True but we could both tell he was upset after you went."
"He's an Agent. Agent's don't get upset."
"You were certainly upset…"
"I'm not an Agent anymore."
"Neither is he."
"Why can't you guys do it? You were his partners after all…"
Jones and Brown looked down at the floor sadly.
"We can't…" said Jones.
"We're going to be deleted too…" said Brown.
"What?" Emma gasped. "How come?"
"They have upgrades for us. The new Agents are better apparently."
Emma shook her head, smiling although her eyes were shining with tears. "I've seen the new Agents and they are nothing compared to you guys."
"You think so?"
"I know so… You guys are cuter anyway."
Brown and Jones exchanged embarrassed smiles.
"Look Watts," Brown said seriously. "We both know how you feel about Smith."
"You do?"
They both nodded.
"It's written all over you," Jones agreed. "That's why you're the only one who can delete him at this point. He would probably fight the new Agents and make copies of himself from them… but not you."
"He's fought with me before."
"That was part of your training."
"I don't know if I can do this…" she whispered.
"Will it break your heart, Watts?" asked Brown.
"Or is your heart already broken?" asked Jones.
Emma thought about this. They were right. She stood up, full of fresh determination. "Alright," she said a little shakily. "I'll do it… let me get changed."
"You still have you old suit?" Jones said with a faint smile.
"I couldn't bear to throw it away," Emma smiled back. She disappeared upstairs, leaving Brown and Jones alone.
"She's going to be the only one left soon…" Brown said quietly.
"Don't say that," said Jones. "We're going to find a way out of this… alive. You hear me?"
Brown nodded but still didn't believe him. "Jones?" he said at length.
"Yes?"
"I'm scared."
Jones gave him a strange look. "Fear is something Agents cannot feel."
"Like love?"
Jones said nothing.
"Aren't Smith and Watts proof enough that emotions can exist in Agents?"
"Smith doesn't love her," Jones reminded him.
"But she loves him."
"She's different. She's not a proper Agent."
"But she's still a program."
"Brown, this is ridiculous. Love is-"
"Love is a word," said Emma, unable to resist quoting from 'Revolutions' as she walked down the stairs in the familiar suit she had always adored. "What matters is the connection the word implies. Love is a connection between two programs.. A connection that can never be severed no matter what."
"What about fear?" asked Brown.
"Fear is the opposite. Fear is when a connection is made between a program and another constant and they wish to terminate the connection as quickly as possible. That's all."
"So I can feel fear…" said Brown.
"Yes but you shouldn't," Jones scolded him.
Emma grinned. "You two are so cute," she said. "God, I'm going to miss you both." She threw her arms around the very shocked Agents and hugged them tightly before she opened the door and all three of them stepped outside the house.
"Watts?"
"Yes?"
"Here," Jones handed her his gun.
"Oh… Th-Thank you."
"You're going to need it."
"Right."
"I doubt we'll ever see each other again."
"It's for the best," said Brown.
"Is it?" asked Emma.
Brown sighed. "I don't even know anymore,"
"We'd better get going," said Jones. "Good luck, Watts."
"You too… Both of you."
"Goodbye, Watts," Brown said as they began to walk away.
"Goodbye," Emma said, waving sadly as she watched them leave. Then she too turned and went her own separate way.
"A connection that can never be severed… no matter what…" Brown said, repeating Emma's words as he trailed behind his partner. "Hey, Jones?"
"Yes?"
"I love you."
Jones stopped and turned to face him, frowning. "What?"
"We have a connection that can never be severed. Watts said that's what love is. That means we love each other… doesn't it?"
Jones stared at him blankly for a few seconds and then smiled. "Yes… Yes it does." He turned back round and continued walking. "Let's go."
"Okay," Brown smiled, following him faithfully to the end of their lives…
