"They'll never know how tough it is, Dawnie, to be the one who isn't chosen. To live so near to the spotlight and never step in it. But I know. I see more than anybody realizes because nobody's watching me. I saw you last night. I see you working here today. You're not special. You're extraordinary." – Xander to Dawn in "Potential"

"I hate this. I hate being here. I hate that you have to be here. I hate that there's evil, and that I was chosen to fight it. I wish, a whole lot of the time, that I hadn't been. I know a lot of you wish I hadn't been either. But this isn't about wishes. This is about choices. I believe we can beat this evil. Not when it comes, not when its army is ready, now. Tomorrow morning I'm opening the seal. I'm going down into the hellmouth, and I'm finishing this once and for all. Right now you're asking yourself, "What makes this different? What makes us anything more than a bunch of girls being picked off one by one?" It's true none of you have the power that Faith and I do. So here's the part where you make a choice. What if you could have that power... now? In every generation, one slayer is born... because a bunch of men who died thousands of years ago made up that rule. They were powerful men. This woman is more powerful than all of them combined. So I say we change the rule. I say my power... should be our power. Tomorrow, Willow will use the essence of the scythe to change our destiny. From now on, every girl in the world who might be a slayer... will be a slayer. Every girl who could have the power... will have the power... can't stand up, will stand up. Slayers... every one of us. Make your choice. Are you ready to be strong?" – Buffy to the potential slayers in "Chosen"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What exactly do you mean by, 'I can see'?" Morpheus inquired, almost dropping the syringe he held in his hand.

"As in seeing objects, not just the sounds reverberating off of them. As in you are wearing a steel gray shirt and Trinity is wearing her gray knit top." Neo looked right at Morpheus.

"I always wear this Neo, you know that." Trinity argued, trying not to get her hopes up.

"Yes, that is true. I guess you'll just have to believe me." Neo shrugged.

~~*~~

"Neo, it's not that we aren't happy that you have your sight back, I just don't understand why the machines would heal you as punishment." Commander Lock reasoned, pacing back and forth in his chambers, Morpheus and his crew in front of him.

"I'm assuming they didn't do it purposefully. I don't know how or why, but I can see, because of whatever they did." Neo shook his head.

"I want you to go to the clinic right now and be checked out. This may be a short-term thing, or something with repercussions."

"Yes sir." Neo nodded before exiting quickly.

Once outside, Neo turned to Trinity.

"I won't be gone long."

"I would prefer it if I went with you." Trinity crossed her arms over her chest.

Neo watched as she did this and knew she'd be coming, no matter what. Nodding, he glanced at Morpheus and Link before heading towards the lift, Trinity at his side.

"Sir, may I ask you something?" Link turned to his captain, glancing at the backs of Trinity and Neo. "What if this has repercussions?"

Morpheus looked at his operator sharply before taking a deep breath. "Let's hope it doesn't."

~~*~~

Neo smiled softly, his eyes flicking from one person to the next. Trinity watched him out of the corner of her eye, and stopped dead when he reached out suddenly, gripping her arm tightly.

"Neo! What's wrong?"

"I don't know." Neo dropped slowly to his knees, Trinity guiding him down. Wincing, Neo shut his eyes tight, a searing pain flashing behind them. "It's my eyes."

"Oh God. Someone, get Doc!" Trinity whipped her head around, watching as several people ran off in the direction of the nearest clinic. "Stay with me, all right?"

Neo smiled through the pain at her command. Only when someone she cared for was in pain could she be even tougher than usual. Laughing despite his situation, Neo felt Trinity pull his upper body into her lap, cradling his head against her chest. Blinking, Neo attempted to open his eyes, only to grit his teeth and growl upon the pain shooting into his brain. His hand flew up to his eyes, rubbing them before he rolled himself from Trinity's grasp.

"Neo!" Trinity stood, moving towards him.

"Stay back. I don't want to hurt you accidentally." Neo held his free hand up, warding Trinity off.

He could feel the itch of something scratching his brain, as if trying to get in. So this is my punishment, Neo thought sarcastically. Again, he felt the itch; only it was joined with a stab of pain this time. Neo cried out once before dropping to his knees again. As quickly as it occurred, he felt the pain ebb. One bystander moved towards him, against Trinity's warning to stay back.

"Neo? Are you all right?" The man crouched down next to Neo's shivering body, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Neo's body stopped moving. In a flash, the man was against the wall, blood spraying from his nose. Trinity's eyes widened as the realization hit her- Neo had just used his powers in the real world to hurt someone. But he would never do that unless... Trinity's thoughts trailed off, suddenly understanding what the machines had done to Neo. Neo stood slowly, straightening himself before slowly turning to face Trinity. His lip curled upward in a sneer as his eyes narrowed upon finding on hers.

Trinity looked around quickly, looking for something- anything- to stop him with. She knew he would overpower her easily now that his powers had seeped into the real world, and figured the machines knew that as well. Taking a slow step to her right, Trinity watched Neo warily as she moved towards some piping that was being repaired. The people around her moved away, staring in shock as the One moved in on Trinity. Trinity quickly leaned down, grasping a pipe, and pulled it up in an arch, slamming it into Neo's jaw as she did so.

Neo stumbled backward, before gripping his jaw. Snarling, he moved forward, connecting with Trinity's cheek before being slammed in the stomach. Trinity repeated the hit before connecting with Neo's jaw again and knocking him out with a hit to his temple.

This was all Doc saw as he arrived at the scene. He saw the male half of the lovers fall unconscious to the ground as Trinity stood above him, her lip bleeding, the pipe crashing to the ground.

"Trinity, my Lord. What is going on here, and if you tell me it's a minor dispute between couples, I'll put you in the stockade." Doc slowed to a stop before kneeling next to Neo's body, and checking for a pulse.

"Doc, just trust me to keep him sedated. I'm going to get Morpheus." Trinity cast one last glance at Neo's limp form before turning to leave.

"No, you're not." Doc stood, moving in front of her.

"Doc, let me put this in words that you will understand. Get out of my way, before you end up in a hospital bed too." Trinity watched coldly as Doc moved away and hurried off, hearing him gather bystanders to help him carry Neo.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay, has it been too long? Sorry, it's not that I'm losing interest, more of lack of time. My weekends used to be a haven from schoolwork. Then junior year arrived. This year is by far the hardest, so when I update, it's literally the best I can do. I'm probably not going to go too much longer with this story, 4-5 more chapters. I'm not sure. Anyway, feedback is always welcome.