I don't remember what happened after Seraph came in and told the Oracle that he had the codes to unlock the computer. The only thing I knew next was waking up and peering into many faces above me. There was Trinity, Niobe, Neo, Ghost, Ice, and Morpheus. The Twins pushed their way in, and off in what seemed like a distance I could hear the Oracle's voice. Everyone was trying to talk at once, but I couldn't make out what they were all saying or were trying to say. Trinity and Two helped me to my feet, then the Oracle came up and started looking me over, I guess to make sure I was ok and was going to make it. I felt sick, almost like I could throw up or pass out, or both.
"Is she alright?" I heard someone ask.
"Angel, can you hear me?" Trinity asked me.
"I think she's coming to." I heard Morpheus say in his deep voice.
"Angel?" I heard the concerned voice of Two ask in my right ear.
"Come on, everyone, give her room and air." The Oracle backed everyone away from me, except for Two who continued to hold my arm to steady me.
"Where," I looked at everyone around me. "Where am I?" I slowly and weakly asked.
"You're home, Angel." The Oracle smiled.
"In the real world? Year 2004?"
"Yes."
"Thank goodness." I breathed under my breath.
"Are you going to be ok?" Two asked, still concerned.
"Yes, I think so. As soon as the dizziness goes away I should be alright."
It wasn't long before I could stand on my own and move around normally. Two stayed right by my side through it all. While the others were busy talking, Two gave me a sweet smile that comforted me a great deal. Deep down I knew it was hopeless to love Two in the way that I did because I knew we'd never be able to stay together. After this adventure was over Two would have to go back to where he belongs. That thought alone hurt me. My smile slowly dropped and I turned my head away to hide the tears that were forming in my eyes. I didn't want Two to suspect that anything was wrong.
Two and I walked toward the others to get in on the conversation and plans that they had going on. It was at this point that neither of us knew what to do. Somehow we had to get back to the US.
"Good evening."
The deep voice made all of us turn toward the door of the warehouse's office where Smith stood, grim and menacing as ever. Not only was it Smith, but he had a whole army of his clones behind him. No one said a word as we all stood and stared in Smith's direction. Coming to think of it, I don't think anyone knew what to say.
"Smith." Neo breathed.
"Mr. Anderson." Smith said while nodding his head slowly. "Morpheus."
The Twins slowly walked in front of me when Smith took a few steps forward.
"The Merovingian left me in charge of guarding Miss Merryweather for him." Smith began in his usual slow voice. "And I do believe that you are infringing on my work."
"Yeah, it's called 'rescue'." Two blurted out.
"I don't like when someone infringes on my work."
"So?" Neo stepped toward Smith. "Go ahead and see if we care."
"We don't have to do this the hard way, you know." Smith tilted his head a little. "You can hand Miss Merryweather back over to me and I will allow you to go on your way."
"Listen, stone face, you want Angel, you will have to go through me!" Two crossed his arms over his chest.
"And me." One added.
"And us." Ice said as she, Seraph, Ghost, Neo, Trinity, Morpheus, and the rest walked in front of me. "You want Angel, you'll have to take us on first."
"Very well." Smith sighed.
Smith lifted his hand in the air and before we knew, dozens of Smiths came crashing through the windows and door and every other open place in the small office area. The Twins quickly snatched onto me and carried me out into the open. Behind us, Neo and the rest of the company took on all the Smiths with everything they had. Guns could be heard ringing out and echoing in the almost empty warehouse, fists could be heard thudding against faces and a couple of times several Smiths came bounding out of the room or were thrown through the windows by Neo's wild moves.
"Get Angel out of here!" Ghost shouted to the Twins before he was distracted by a Smith clone.
"What about you?" One shouted back.
"Never mind me and the rest, just get out of here while you still have a chance!" Ghost again shouted back.
"But…"
"Go, now!!"
Before Ghost could say anything else, the Twins grabbed me and we took off to find a way out of the building. A Smith clone stood guard at the main entrance so we couldn't get out there. The real Smith caught sight of us just as we turned to head toward the back of the warehouse. The Twins and I ran for our lives, with the real Smith in hot pursuit. Little did I know that Smith was right behind me, that is until I felt his hand trying to grab at my shirt. Not even thinking, I screamed and charged forward, nearly bumping into Two and knocking him forward into One. Two turned around and seeing what had almost happened, he placed his arm around me and pulled me close to him as we continued to run. Taking the first place we could find to hide, the Twins and I ducked into a small storage room at the back of the warehouse and slammed the door closed behind us.
"I have to admit that was a tad frightening." I said, trying to get my breath back once we were inside.
"Not as frightening as seeing Two in boxer shorts." One snickered.
"One!!" Two playfully slapped One's shoulder. "I don't think this is the time or the place to bring up how I look in boxer shorts!"
One only shook his head a little and smiled.
"Well for your information, you look pretty frightening in boxer shorts too, brother." Two frowned.
"I do not." One chuckled.
"Oh yeah? Wanna bet? I remember the night I woke up and saw you walking down the hall in that state. You know how Neo can stop bullets in midair? Well bullets could have stopped in midair at seeing you like that."
"When did I ever do that?" One's eyebrows perked.
"Can't remember, but you did. Nearly freaked me out. It was a good thing the Merovingian or Persephone didn't see you looking like that."
"Would you two be quiet?" I whispered, trying to keep myself from giggling. "I think Smith is coming this way."
Just then a loud pounding was heard on the door of which we were leaning against that made us all jump and grab the door handle. I threw the Twins a glance and they gave me a glance back. Both Two and One put their weight against the door to keep Smith from coming through.
"Get something to bar the door with!" One whispered to me.
"What do I get?"
"Anything! Just get something!" One pushed harder against the door. "And hurry!"
I ran off to the other side of the small storage room and quickly looked around for something. Seeing an unopened and unused oil drum, I rushed to it and tried pushing it. It proved to be too heavy to even budge. But it was the only thing in the room we could possibly use.
"Two! Come and help me here, if One can hold Smith."
Two immediately came over to my side, One taking extra care to keep Smith on the other side of the door. Two bent down and helped me push the drum across the floor, over to where the door and One was. It was tough and hard but we finally managed to scoot the drum in position where it was safe for One to let the door go. Smith tried his best to break through, but the oil drum wasn't about to budge anytime soon. The Twins and I hoped it would be enough weight to allow us to think of a way to escape before Smith finally worked his way in.
"We've got to get out of here." Two said.
"That's easy. All we have to do is phase and go through the wall."
"Not a chance. Angel can't phase!"
"Oh yeah."
"I'm not going to leave Angel behind." Two placed his arm around my shoulder.
At this time I walked off by myself to look the room over.
"Here!" I shouted to the Twins.
Both Two and One ran over to my side.
"This looks like our only hope." I said, pointing upwards to a small skylight above me.
"How do we reach it?" Two asked.
"Dunno." I whispered.
One walked over to a corner and looked around for a little while before speaking.
"We could move these boxes under it and climb up."
"Are they sturdy and heavy enough?"
"We'll soon see." One started to lift one of the crates. "It's got a good weight to it, but not too heavy a weight. We can carry them easily and they will still give us the support we need to climb on."
At that moment a noise made us all turn around and look toward the door. Smith was slowly making his way in. He had actually moved the oil drum a little and had his arm sticking through!
"Quickly, help me get these in place!" One shouted.
Two and I ran to One's side and started picking up a box at a time and positioning it under the skylight, trying to make them sturdy and able to climb on. Box by box we carried until we had a pyramid of boxes reaching up to the small opening that was our freedom.
"Who's going to go first?" Two looked at me and One.
"I will." One said, finally. Then he descended upwards.
"Careful, One." Two nervously said while watching his brother shakily climb the tower of boxes.
When One made it to the top, he carefully balanced himself on top while he reached to unlatch the skylight. Once opened, he climbed up and onto the warehouse roof then peered down at Two and me.
"Come on you two."
Smith was fast approaching. Already he had pretty much worked his way inside. Two got up onto the boxes and started upward just as One had done. Right behind him I started to follow, careful not to slip and fall. Then it happened. Smith broke through all the way. I picked up my pace and tried to shove Two forward.
"Hey, I'm going as fast as I can." He said in an irritated tone.
"Well go faster! Smith is behind us!"
Two stopped and looked down past me.
"GO!" I shouted.
Two quickly hurried up and grabbed onto the roof's edge and pulled himself up, then he bent down through the opening and handed me his hand.
"Grab on, Angel, and I'll pull you up!"
It was at this moment that the thought, 'Why does everyone want me?' went through my mind. Just as I had grabbed onto Two's hand and he was trying to pull me up to safety, Smith had grabbed onto my right leg and was trying to pull me down towards him. After a few minutes of struggle, I was finally beginning to understand how a piece of rope must feel during a game of tug-of-war. The moment of me breaking free of Smith's grip finally came when I felt his left hand suddenly grab onto my leg as well. Not hesitating to make good use of this moment, I quickly brought my legs together, bringing my left shoe down sharply on Smith's fingers. For the first time in my life I actually heard Smith utter a cry of pain as he let go of my leg.
"Way to go, Angel!" I heard the Twins shout and cheer together over my head while they pulled me up beside them. The first thing I did was hug both of them and breathe a sigh of relief.
"This is one day where I wish I had put on my thick heeled boots." I chuckled.
"You did great just the same." Two smiled.
Two and I held our gaze for a few minutes, and then I found myself leaning over and giving him a small kiss on his dark lips.