Da Buffster: all answers will be written in time. Patience Grasshopper.

To everyone who thought the last chapter was short: I had the idea for a nightmare/flashback in my head about Trinity's death and I was leaving for Las Vegas. I didn't have time to write a long chapter, so I just did what I really wanted to get out.

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Fingers gripped the drawer handle and pulled, wrenching it free from the metal cabinet. No one had come down into the file level of Zion in years, and Paz's way of making an entrance included dropping a heavy drawer to the floor, almost crushing her foot, and accidentally breaking the handle off in the process.

"Shit." Paz knelt down, the overhead lights allowing her to look into the drawer.

As her fingers skimmed through the files and disks, frustration welled up. It should be here. Where the hell is it? Finally, as she came to the end of the drawer, her eyes caught the name Nebuchadnezzar on a scrap of paper. Flipping it forward, Paz saw the letters "Tri" on a disk, the rest obviously ripped off. Pulling the disk out, Paz flipped it over and smiled. Dad could be very specific and so was Morpheus. The small insignia of the Nebuchadnezzar's former captain was scribbled on the disk, telling Paz everything she needed to know. She had learned when she was younger that after the war, every captain was told to write a report on the Matrix life, freed life, and death of their former crewmembers. Apparently it was Commander Lock's last-ditch effort of keeping power within ranks.

Glancing down into the folder again, Paz's brow furrowed upon seeing her father's name written on the first disk. Upon pulling it out too, she saw Link's, and finally, Morpheus'. Placing the four disks on the floor, Paz began the process of lifting the heavy drawer back up. Sliding it into its slot, Paz slammed it in, only to have a disk that had been sticking up, pop back out as the drawer closed. Leaning over to pick it up, Paz was surprised to find it held information for the past trails held for a person who committed treason. As a thought graced her mind, Paz placed the disk in-between the others as she stood and exited.

~~*~~

"Hey Paz." Paz jumped at the sudden voice behind her.

"Niobe, how nice to see you." Paz smiled gently as she turned in her chair.

"What are you up to on this fine day? Holed up in the computer station and all." Niobe returned the smile before taking a seat beside Paz.

"I'm looking up the records of my parents." At seeing the smile vanish from Niobe's face, Paz pushed forward in an explanation. "Look, ever since I was12 years old, I have been plagued with nightmares, reliving my mother's death. I know for certain that she couldn't have died by accident."

"You aren't the first one who hoped that. And you are definitely not the first to go searching for clues." Niobe leaned back, her elbows on the armrests, bringing her hands together in her lap.

"What do you mean?"

"From what Ghost and Morpheus and your brother have told you, you believe that all of us, especially Neo, were wrecks after her death. This just isn't true. We didn't want to show you the truth when you were so young. You had been exposed to your parents lives since you were little, and this, well this we decided to keep you from." Niobe took a breath, thinking of how to form her words. "Not a week after Neo had been given your mother's ashes did he go to find out whether she had been murdered. He went to where you had been that day and checked the beams surrounding the one she had stood on. With Morpheus at his side, they found the cause of her fall. Small cuts and chips in the synthetic wood, as well as tiny pieces of earth covering a metal explosive. This explosive, however crude and small, gave off almost no explosion while still shattering the inside of whatever it was placed in, making it weak.

"They took all of this evidence to Commander Lock and the Council to have it analyzed. It was a work of art, made by someone who knew what they were doing without revealing themselves. We found no one who could've done it, but with the help of Sparks, Ghost and Link, we found some good suspects down in the bar. Now, while Sparks and Link kept Neo in one room, Morpheus, Ghost and I would question three, the others kept under the watchful eye of Lock's guards. After three-way questioning, no one was weaseled out. I thought Neo was going to cave in under all of the stress. He had gone through too much in such a short amount of time, I was genuinely worried about him."

"Yeah, but he had dealt with the machines attacking his mind..." Paz cut in.

"I know, but this was different." Niobe rebuffed gently, her mind wandering back to over twenty years ago.

~~~

"What happened to me back there?" Neo asked, his eyes searching Trinity's face in the med lab.

"The machines put a virus into your brain, which initially appeared to only give you your sight back." Trinity explained, tension causing her face to be tight. "Do you remember anything that happened?"

"No, not really. Just, telling you to stay away from me and then- nothing." Neo looked at Trinity curiously upon seeing her face relax at his statement. "Why?"

"We fought, and I had to slam a pipe into your head to knock you out." Trinity explained.

"Ahh, well that must be the reason that my head is throbbing." Neo smiled softly.

"I'm sorry, I-" Trinity began before Neo cut her off.

"It's okay, I understand. How did they stop it?"

"They, as in the doctors?" Trinity asked, gaining a nod from Neo, "They didn't. I went back to 01 and, well, putting it simply, argued my ass off. Needless to say, I was scared shitless, but they didn't know that." Trinity smiled.

"God, the war is over, can't this all stop?" Neo shook his head, his worry for Trinity's safety momentarily ignored.

"Hopefully soon."

"I just want it to end. I want it over. Haven't we gone through enough?"

~~~

"How was it different?" Paz asked, breaking Niobe's daydream.

"Well, he lost the one person that meant everything to him, and this time, there was no way he could bring her back. It had been years since he'd needed to really use his powers, and of course he hadn't forgotten them, but I don't know. Maybe he just didn't think of it."

"Wait a minute." Paz's eyebrows creased in deep thought.

~~~

As she cried beside the body of her mother, Paz barely registered her father's hand gripping Trinity's wrist tightly, his head bowed not in grief, but concentration. Upon hearing Morpheus coming around the corner with a doctor, Paz watched as Morpheus asked for Neo to try again.

"It's not working. I'm trying, but it's like a wall has been built up and I won't be let in to heal her." Neo sat back on his heels, sighing.

~~~

"He did try to heal her, I remember. I just didn't know what he was doing when I was that young. He said that he couldn't, as if a wall was put up to block him from helping her."

"Are you sure?" Niobe leaned forward.

Paz nodded resolutely.

"Then, my dear, I fear that we are going to have to pay a small visit to the Matrix for this." Niobe leaned back again.

"The Matrix? I thought we only go in there to get the people who still live there out by now." Paz shook her head, not understanding.

"We do. We always have. But they can't stop me from going in, and they won't try." Niobe smiled, standing.

"Why's that?"

"Because for about eleven years, the surviving captains and council members have been trying to find out what happened to one of the best fighters in the resistance, and as of right now, you have found out the most." Niobe paused a moment, letting her words sink in. "Let's go."

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Sorry about the long wait. I've had a big case of laziness. I hope this was a little helpful in pulling the other part of the story together with this part. I intend to continue it in the further future, but with more flashbacks to where I cut off earlier.