The Matrix: Legacy
Thirty-Four
Betrayed

There was a reason as to why Krsna had sent Danaë to where Cujo undoubtedly was. It was much safer for her to be down there than to be where he was going. Krsna wasn't invisible at the moment, knowing he would need every last shred of his ability when the time came. He knew precisely where Niobe was being held: in the Merovingian's office.

"Dear God, help me," he muttered.

He could hear approaching footsteps and immediately vanished from sight; luckily, the approaching party was the vampire Vlad, not one of the werewolves. Krsna wasn't sure if a werewolf would have been able to track his scent, or even if he left one in this form. He didn't much like invisibility, though; he couldn't even see himself.

Once Vlad was gone, he reappeared and kept going for the office. Luckily, it was unguarded. Suspecting a trap, Krsna vanished once more and slid into the office. He winced as his eyes fell upon Niobe. She was beaten and unconscious; undoubtedly she wasn't very popular around here.

In the camera room, where the two former Agents had moved, Brown arched an eyebrow at the young man prowling in the Merovingian's office. "How bold," he said, amused.

Jones frowned. "I know him."

"We both do," Brown replied, almost cheerfully, "though he was much younger when we discovered that he existed."

"Aatmik's grandson, eh?"

"Alive, well, fully grown, and right where the Frenchman has been trying to get him." The pair watched the young man free Niobe and hoist her gently in his arms.

"What sort of game are you playing, Matthias?"

"I'm not the mastermind of this game, Tobias."

---------

Interestingly enough, Jacob and Esau had no problems in the enemy base, though they did leave a trail of bodies in their wake.

Subtlety was not exactly their strong point.

It was Jacob who found the girl, roughly bound, tightly gagged, and carelessly tossed into a tiny prison cell. This infuriated him, as he had a soft spot for women in general and teachers in particular. Choosing not to bother with the locks, he grabbed hold of the barred door, applied a certain amount of pressure combined with his strength, and simply pulled the door off its lock and hinges.

The young woman looked up with fear in her eyes, but Esau was already there, cutting her loose and turning on the charm. Jacob shrugged as he dropped the door. "Let's go, Esau. Someone's bound to trip an alarm, and the longer we take, the better the chance that Wingless will come after us."

Esau nodded, pulling Wingless' woman to her feet. She stumbled, as her circulation hadn't entirely returned. Annoyance flashed across Esau's face, but before he could open his mouth, Jacob had her in his arms, tossing his gun to Esau. "Move it, shorty."

Esau bared his teeth at his partner, and they left quickly.

Jacob could feel the girl trembling against his chest, and his eyes narrowed as he imagined all the tortures he would inflict upon her former captors. Recognising the look, Esau reproved, "Ah-ah-ah, Wingless gets first dibs."

Jacob merely snorted, indicating that Wingless had better move on swift feet if he wanted to get to the survivors first.

---------

Asmodeus stared at the screen. "Shit... what's that bastard D'Artagnan playing at?" He grabbed for his communications gear and dialled in a number.

"Orion? We're running low on time."

"I'm on it. What do you need?"

"Where are you?"

"Where he had those two ambushed. How the bastard pulled it off, I don't know."

"Leave Tiger's body near O'Malley. Don't bother to remove the arrow."

"What the fuck!?"

"Trust me. O'Malley is an intelligent man. He'll figure it out."

"You better hope he will, because I sure as hell don't."

"He will."

---------

Morgain and Danaë were both supporting the injured Ghost, carefully taking him upstairs. Ghost was fairly quiet during the entire process, though he was still clutching his gun and the knuckles of that hand were white.

The girls tried to be quiet, but let's face it, dragging a full-grown, injured man upstairs is not the quietest task in the world. Still, they did their best. It was unfortunately not good enough, as two werewolves were waiting for them when they made it to the top: Cain and Abel. Danaë, unaware of the near-relationship between Morgain and Abel, wasn't sure why girl and man paled considerably when they saw each other.

The trio was ushered into the weapons hallway, Cain gloating, Abel silent. Danaë couldn't help but notice that the smaller werewolf was being oddly gentle around the vinyl-clad woman. Cain made a point of leaving her to his smaller cousin, which she also found odd.

Ghost noticed the expression on her face and explained their situation softly. It wasn't soft enough, as Cain overheard and dealt Ghost a sharp blow to the head that nearly toppled poor Danaë. Abel noticed and said something in a language Danaë didn't know; judging from the vitriolic tone, she assumed it to be a sharp reprimand.

He had actually told Cain not to damage the merch.

---------

It was extremely bad luck that Krsna's invisibility, strained as it was by hiding both him and Niobe, chose to shut down the moment he walked straight into the ambush. He heard a semi-pop, looked down and realised he could see Niobe, then looked up and realised there was a gun pointed at her head, held by a large, red-haired man.

A smirking Merovingian stood just behind the man. "At last we meet, grandson of Shyama," he said smugly. Krsna's lips drew back, exposing his teeth as he snarled ferally at the Frenchman who had pushed him to leave the home he loved.

Red knew that snarl well. He himself had given it to the Merovingian a few times before the end of the Fourth Cycle of the Matrix and his subsequent betrayal of the human race. Red flinched at that thought, then sternly reminded himself he was a program now, a full program, no longer human.

Surprisingly, the Frenchman did not gloat, merely ordered Red to "escort" Krsna and his captain to the foyer. "Ze ozer guests will be zere," he added.

Ah, so Frenchie wants to wait before he gloats... how odd, Red thought as he did as ordered.

The other captives came into view - Avalon, Ghost, and a little red-haired girl who looked exactly like....

Red's gun fell from numb fingers at a girl who was the spitting image of his mother, Erin Brennan. No fucking way....

Ghost, noticing Red's stunned expression, noted the facial similarities between the huge redhead and the girl now holding him upright and blinked. The redhead was a human? No, though he certainly recognised Danaë somehow, she didn't recognise him.

Far away in a room with cameras, a pair of ex-Agents were watching this and laughing their heads off.

Once Red recovered from shock and retrieved his gun, the prisoners were herded together, excepting Avalon, who was under solo guard by Abel. The Merovingian smirked, opened his mouth....

And the double doors flew open.

Red turned in time to catch the blood-covered vampire who had just come in.

Tiger.