A/N: Okay, I'm writing more now, even though I really don't feel like writing ^^ But I've got to kick my ass and do it, otherwise I'll NEVER start up again! And Dana's been prodding me, so really this is because she wants it. I was kinda out of the Matrix mode, so I watched Reloaded tonight, worked on my Dorky!Neo, and then came here. And the sound of this call might seem a little – unlikely – but trust me, it isn't. You guys saw some of the stuff that was said in those dark days after Revs.
Thank you all for reviewing and being extremely patient with me. And thank you to those who sent me messages – I'm healing now, so hopefully things'll be better.
Enjoy your time with Neo!
Part 3
Neo stared at the ringing phone with a sense of foreboding. He would answer the phone, and if the person was crying, he would not hang up. Trinity had run down to hall back to her phone and the desperate caller, but even though she wasn't there to watch him, the thought of disobeying her didn't even cross his mind. Trinity told him to do it, so there was no other option. Not listening to Trinity would have probably resulted in his death a long time before he ever boarded the Logos.
But still, crying females were scary things. He figured being with Trinity had left him rather inexperienced when it came to that.
Okay – deep breath, extend the arm – farther – and the phone was picked up.
"….Hello?"
"Neo?"
He sighed internally. They had called his number, why did they always sound so awed when he picked up? …. Maybe they had caught on to his dodging the calls. Nah, couldn't be. At least she wasn't crying.
"Yea, that's me."
"You really ARE there…"
Why did they always insist on making comments that made absolutely no sense?
"Where did you think I was?"
"Well… dead."
And again.
"I am dead."
"You know, dead dead."
Maybe picking up the phone was a bad idea. "I'm pretty much as dead as you can get, I think."
"But you're there."
"Where else would I be? I'm dead!"
"But you're not GONE."
Okay, NOW she's starting to speak coherently.
"No, I'm not. I'm here. We're all here."
"I want to be gone."
Wait, what?
"Excuse me?"
"It's been so horrible since you guys left – I don't want to be here anymore. It's all I ever think about. I look around and… NOBODY notices you're gone, except me…"
"No, no, no, wait. You can't die. And trust me, people notice. I don't know how, it's all rather confusing and I try not to think about it, but they do. And you can't choose die because someone else is dead!"
"You did."
…. He did NOT want to know how she knew that. And it wasn't strictly true, anyway, right? 'I mean, through doing it I ALSO ended the war.' It just happened to conveniently coincide with the dying.
"That's different. Besides, I didn't die only for that reason."
"But if you didn't have to fight, wouldn't you have?"
"Somehow I don't think the situation is quite the same."
"Feels like it."
"How would you know what it feels like? …. Look, don't kill yourself. Really."
"Why?"
"Because if you try, I'll.. I'll.. I'll do something."
"You'll do what?"
"I don't know yet. But you won't like it."
Her voice became muffled, and Neo caught something that vaguely sounded like "dork".
"What was that?"
"Nothing."
"Well, if you are so set on dying, then why did you call me?"
Silence.
Neo grinned triumphantly. The One: 1, caller: 0.
"See? You don't really want to die."
Suddenly the sound of sobbing came from the other line.
Oh, shit.
The One: 1, caller: 1.
"L-look, don't cry, I'm sorry -"
"No! No, thank you, don't be sorry, you guys have given so much, and then I bother you with calling because I wanted to make sure you're still there – "
"You don't have to call to do that!"
"What?"
"I don't know how, but it's something Trinity told me. She said that these phone calls are really for the reassurance, but that if the callers were calm enough, they would find out that they don't really need anything to reach us."
"How?"
"Don't know. I didn't ask. But it's what she told me."
"She really told you that."
"Yea."
"Then…. it's okay."
"Wait, suddenly because she said something, it's okay?"
"Yea, well, I understand now."
"How nice for you. Mind telling me?"
There was laughter. "No, no, I think I won't. Thank you, Neo. Really. And say thank you to Trinity, too."
"For what?"
"She'll know."
After the phone was hung up, Trinity walked in, a small smile on her face. "See? You can do it."
Neo spun around in his chair and stood up. "You were listening?"
"My call didn't take that long, so I tapped yours to see how you were doing."
"Really."
She walked up to him, and placed his hands on his chest, sliding them around until her arms circled his body. Neo stopped pretending to be annoyed and pressed her against him, closing his eyes as he rested his head against her hair.
"So... do you know?"
"Yes."
".... You're not going to tell me, are you?"
She gave a short laugh and lifted her mouth to his, softly brushing his lips.
"You'll figure it out eventually."
