My usual apologies for the lateness. I left a big chunk I had written out of here, I might add it later, I don't know.

-

Death and Rebirth

Chapter Fourteen

Dear Brother

-

It took her a moment, but she finally relaxed, and returned Tank's hug.

"Don't worry, Trin," he said soothingly, finally letting go. "Two months is a lot less time than you'd think around here. You'll be back on the Neb before you know it."

"Easy for you to say," she replied, a cynical half-smile crossing her face.

"I'm serious. You'll be doing so much that you'll blink and it'll be over."

She shook her head a little, not trusting him in the least.

"Fine, fine." He shrugged, resigning to the fact that she didn't believe him. There was only so much he could do. "Then would you at least believe me if I told you it'll be worth it?"

"I suppose."

His perpetual grin returned as he slung the heavy bag, waiting on the ground next to him, over his shoulder. "Good." He quickly hugged her once more, and headed to the nearby ship, shouting a brief goodbye back to her. Trinity stayed at the dock. leaning against a pillar as the Neb's engines started up, and the ship eventually disappeared through one of the gates.

How long had she been doing this? How long, she wondered, making her way to the freight elevator, had she been working for this? Longer than she could possibly remember, certainly, likely for her entire life. Inside the elevator she pressed the button for the lowest level of the dock.

Her whole life she had been told by parents, teachers - everyone - that she was just imagining it, she was in a bad mood, or something else to the effect that she was either going through a phase or bound for a mental institution by prom. In retrospect, she knew they all had hopes for the former, hoping that their 'reassurances' would help her to get over it. But they had only ever reassured her to the fact that she was right, and made her want to fix It all the more. She had tried all the normal things a person could think of, she recalled, stepping out of the elevator and making her way to the city's main quarters - and most of it at the suggestion of those same people who told her it was nothing. Switch even helped her with a few ideas. She volunteered everywhere imaginable, food banks, shelters, anywhere they suggested she go. But no matter how much she did, no matter how many people thanked her as they took their food off to eat, she never felt as though it would be enough. Doing those things never gave her the sense that she was making a real difference.

And the Oracle, she recalled with a cringe - tricky and ambiguous as ever - crossed her path, and told her that with another year of difficult and tedious work, she would have her answers. Another year of anguish, all in the name of her precious goals. Then she found Morpheus, and foolishly assumed that was the end of it. But no, they said. You'll have to go through plenty of training, they said. It's not as easy or fun as is seems, they told her. And then, of course, came the Antarctic-like Nebuchadnezzar, with her ancient, lumpy, uncomfortable, near-worthless beds. Her vast stores of the ever-popular, ever-lasting, non-perishable "food." The tin can walls, so thin that you could hear a mess-hall conversation all the way in the cabin if the engines were off. That goddamn test... and now this.

Slowly, lazily, she returned to Tank's apartment, neither noticing nor caring that it was deserted. Even though they had promised that this two months would be it, that after this, she'd become a full-fledged member of the crew, a little prick of doubt still nagged at her. She had been through so much already, every time thinking that that would be it, she'd be able to put her conscience at rest and do some good in the world. But, every time, it seemed, there was one more obstacle in the way - always one more. And no matter how positive she tried to be about it, she couldn't help but worry that it would all be for nothing in the end. That this, her one chance, wasn't meant to be.

Eventually, though, as she was pulling off her boots, she told herself that too much had happened, she had worked to hard and too long for this opportunity to be for nothing, for her to let it be for nothing. One way or another, she was going to make it work out.

A final thought drifted through her mind as she fell into a dreamless sleep: Damn right it'll be worth it.

-

"Trinity!' someone called from the other side of the court. "Trinity! Come on, you haven't gone up against anybody yet!"

"Go on," Ghost muttered from the steps beside her, this being the third time someone had said something like this. "One fight won't kill you. And if nothing else, it'll get them to leave you alone if a few people walk away limping."

"Come on!" The same person, situated across the makeshift dojo/basketball court, near the tables covered in nearly every food imaginable. Construct free-for-all with live entertainment, and students who wouldn't settle for anything but the best fight available. "You can fight Magus!"

She eyed the named boy, a year or so older and a few yards to her left, briefly considering. Eventually, she sighed, saying, "All right." She finished what was left of the Pepsi in her hand in a single gulp, and met her opponent at the run-down simulation's barely visible half-court line.

"Glad to see you finally decided to get into this," he said, voice all to charming, grin all to innocent.

She narrowed her eyes at him ever so slightly, barely whispering, "Lets just get this over with."

And get it over with she did. He did put up a good fight, she would readily give him that much, using a number of the more complicated techniques taught to them by their various instructors. But he was far from the best fighter in the class. After only a few minutes, Trinity had found his weakness, and hit him with a blinding series of strikes, and landed him on his back with a kick to his sternum.

"Sorry," she said half-heartedly, extending a hand to help him up.

"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled, reluctantly accepting her assistance.

She smirked at him, and headed back to her place on the steps, beside Ghost, when voices erupted again. "One more!"

"You can fight Hex!"

Sighing again, and grumbling so no one else could hear, Trinity returned to the center of the court, meeting the eyes of the new opponent, who was practically waiting for her before the crowd even requested him. "Don't get your hopes up," she warned him vehemently. She glared slightly, but it did not seem to deter him. "I don't intend to loose, and I certainly don't intend to leave here without getting my share of the food, so I'll just deal with you quick." Him, and another two after, all beaten in much the same fashion.

Meanwhile, most of the class' male students were growing increasingly angry at the fact that Trinity - a girl, of all else - was beating the shit out of some of the best male fighters among them, and far too easily at that. So a small group of the older boys had formed, and quickly snuck up behind Ghost, halfway through the latest match, and began patronizing him.

"Ghost, man," one began, roughly pulling his attention away from the fight. "You should fight her next."

He didn't give it so much as a moment's though. "I'm not fighting her."

"Come on, Ghost, she's beating the shit out of everybody, and you said you've beaten her before."

"Once," he clarified blandly, eyes never leaving Trinity. "When she was upset and unbelievably distracted."

One of them gestured to the crowd, all too confident and undeterred. "We've got plenty of people here for a distraction."

"Not that kind of distraction," he said, growing distaste evident in his voice. "She can block that out."

"Ghost -"

"Glitch, if you want to see her lose so badly, then you go fight her." He watched as Trinity flipped her current opponent onto his back, and rendered him - though not for his lack of trying - unable to get back up for several very long seconds

"Ghost, man, if you lose, I'll never bother you about it again."

He turned to meet the other student's eyes, just as Trinity made to help her fallen adversary to his feet.

"Swear to God."

He shook his head very slowly, wondering why he was doing this, how he had been talked into it. He stood, and made his way over to meet her.

She carefully folded her arms over her chest when she noticed him, just as she had turned around, and one eyebrow was raised when he reached her. "I though we had already worked out the ass-kicking arrangements, Ghost."

"Maybe." He smirked very slightly, but otherwise remained passive. "But I've been thinking, since we were unplugged on the same day, we're almost like brother and sister. And I wouldn't want to beat my sister in front of all these people if she didn't want me to."

She glared at him as quiet laughs drifted out from the crowd. He was pushing it. "Better watch it, Ghost. Being cocky like that'll be your downfall."

"I'm simply saying, Dear Sister, that if you want to back out now and spare yourself the humiliation, no one here will think any less of you." His voice was such that if it possessed just a fraction less of a laughing quality, he would be perceived as completely serious in his words.

More laughter erupted. He was really pushing it.

Trinity seemed to stand just a bit taller, and moved to be only inches from his face. "Bring it on, Dear Brother," she whispered, barely loud enough for him to hear.

"If you insist," he grinned, and attacked. She instinctively ducked beneath his kick and moved to sweep his legs out from under him. He jumped before she could, and they separated, only to collide again milliseconds later.

Being so intently focused on one another - delivering strikes and counterstrikes, blocking, jumping, maneuvering - neither really noticed the crowd. As a whole, Zion society wasn't very sexist, but no one in the simulation had been raised in Zion - and thus they were sorely divided. The girls shouting encouragement to Trinity for another win, the boys shouting for Ghost to get at least one victory for their side. Of course, neither opponent heard a word of it.

She stopped his fist in front of her face and froze for and instant. "You've been holding out on me," she whispered, letting the fight resume.

He was faster than before, she noticed; she would even say more alert. Of course he had been one of the better fighters she had gone up against before, but this was much different than their old fights. Had it really been that long since they last sparred, long enough for him to get this much better?

He tried to kick her again. She back flipped high into the air, landing far away and circling him quickly. "Is this all I have to do to get a fair fight out of you, Ghost?" she taunted, moving ever closer as she went around him. "Threaten public humiliation?"

"Don't flatter yourself." They met again almost moving to fast to see. "It's the training," he finished while blocking a quick series of punches.

It seemed that it was only then that the fight really started to heat up. So, naturally, it was only then that the buildings, benches and concrete dissipated into the white nothingness of the Construct. A blink, and they were all sitting in their respective jacking chairs in the massive Core of the real world.

"What the hell?!"

"They weren't finished!"

"Why'd you do that?!"

"Lunch is over," said the teacher sternly. He caught the eye of another student about to protest, silently warning her not to. "I let you stay in there twenty minutes longer as it is, but you all need to get to your classes now." He turned on his heel and left, expecting the rest of them to do the same.

"Rematch!" shouted one of the other students, just as soon as the teacher was gone and the operators had started unplugging everyone. "Tonight!"

A chorus of loud agreement resounded through out the room. Trinity and Ghost both reached around to unplug themselves, and glanced at one another when they sat up. Both agreed immediately.

"It's a draw," she announced, loud enough to be heard over the crowd.

Silence.

"WHAT?!"

"It's a draw," she repeated. "No rematch."

The two of them stood, ignoring the few protests, and made their out of the Core without looking back.

-

Zion's obviously synthetic coffee didn't have much, if any caffeine. Even so, she hadn't had enough to be in this condition, still restless hours after she had climbed into bed. The only logical and possible conclusion that she could come to was that, after spending much of the last week in simulations, running all over the digital city, and having never run in her life, her legs simply needed a good stretch, and wouldn't let her sleep until she gave it to them.

So finally, after laying in her bed for so long, she stood up, flipped on a light, and started lacing up her shoes.

-

Upon seeing her, the most incredulous look appeared on Ghost's face, and remained until she finally slowed to a halt beside him, leaning against the railing as she caught her breath.

"Trinity," he began, slowly, and the look she gave him dared him to keep using that tone. "What are you doing?"

Her eyes narrowed further - what did it look like she was doing? - and she rested her forehead on her arms, folded over the railing.

"Come on." Vainly, he tried to ease her into a standing position, or at least a straighter one. "Come on, Trin, come sit down."

She brushed him off, walked - slowly and painfully - down the nearby walkway leading to the elevator, and sat against the railing. He joined her, and allowed her another moment to let her breathing even out.

"So what to you intend to do," he mused, "when Shadow and Virgil find out that you're literally running around in the middle of the night?"

Both pairs of eye remained fixated on the tiny lights of the catacomb apartments, rising into the darkness above. "What are you going to do," she retorted, using his same monotone voice, "when one of the administrators finds out you've left after lights-out?"

They turned to each other, holding gazes for a moment. Trinity smirked, Ghost grinned, and they returned to staring straight ahead.

"Why are you out here anyway?"

"Couldn't sleep, figured walking around would help."

With a nod she accepted his response, and let the comfortable silence stretch out between them. They remained as they were, slumped against the railing, staring into space, for several very long minutes. Finally, Ghost turned to her, and found her staring up, almost wistfully.

"Trinity?" She came out of her trance and met his eyes evenly. "Are you alright?"

A hint of a smile flitted across her face before she looked away. "I was just thinking...." Sigh. "Everything just changed so fast. I just don't think I'll ever get used to it, sometimes."

"You will eventually." He reached over to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. A comforting gesture.

She looked at him suddenly, carefully scrutinizing him as if she expected to read his mind if she stared long enough. That was typical Ghost, being so caring towards her, treating her like the sister she might has well have been. Or at least, she assumed this was how brothers treated their sisters. The only example she had ever seen was Switch and her own personal pest. But she had long ago disregarded them as sibling role models, guessing it either had something to do with the age difference, or that it was just them. Either way, Ghost treated her like a sister. It was mostly little things like this, giving a bit of reassurance or comfort where and when it was needed. Strangely, though, they were mostly gestures, not words - he clearly preferred to let his actions speak for themselves. "You're too quiet."

This time, it was he who scrutinized her. "What?"

"You are," she repeated. "You don't talk enough. If no one says anything, you keep your mouth shut."

He couldn't tell if she was serious, or just making fun of him. "And what exactly do you want me to do about it?"

"I'm not saying you should do anything about it." She leaned her head back, and her eyes slipped shut. "Just stating a fact."

He watched her incredulously for another moment, and finally, finally noticed the shadow of a smirk that had crept onto her face, that unable to will it away.

He shook his head and laughed. "I can honestly say that I've never met anyone like you."

She finally laughed out loud, making him smile as well, and then fell into silence once again. He watched her for a while, watched her stare up into what would be the night sky, watched her eyes slip shut, before he finally looked away.

-

Ghost stirred suddenly, unsure of what had roused him. But when had he dozed off, and how long ago had it been?

And how long had Trinity been asleep, he wondered, again noticing her still form beside him. "Trinity." He gently touched her shoulder, not wanting to startle her.

Instead, she startled him. "What is it?" She was fully awake, alert. She met his eyes.

"I thought you were asleep."

She smiled. "No."

He forced himself to sit up straighter. "What were you doing, then?"

She sighed, shaking her head. "If I told you, you'd think I was crazy."

Why would I think that, Trin? "No I won't." I'd never think you were crazy, he thought, finding her rare and almost child-like innocence amusing.

Studying his face carefully and deciding he was being sincere, she spoke slowly. "It's just... I if concentrate enough, it's like...." She searched for the right words, never having needed them before. "It's like I can feel all the people around me. Just kind of know that they're there."

A frozen moment passed between the pair.

"Still think I have all of my marbles, Dear Brother?"

He shrugged. "Same number you had before I asked," he said, ducking away from a hit upside his head.

-

Being that she was alone in the apartment, and thinking it to be Aurora or Virgil, she ignored the heavily creaking door as it closed. Instead, she continued scrolling through the long list of pirated Matrix movie files displayed on the computer screen.

"Hello!" called a voice, sounding faint from the front room. Her head snapped around, and she was instantly on her feet and out of her room. "Is there anyone who might possibly care that I'm -" He stumbled back a ways when she rushed through the door and hugged him tightly. "Hey, Trin."

"I didn't know you were back, Tank," she commented, holding him at arms length. "Is this unusual, or does Morpheus always dock the ship early?"

"Occasionally." His first stop was the very basic, very functional refrigerator in the kitchen, digging around for something decent to eat. "Where is everyone?" he asked, picking away at a small bundle of genetically engineered grapes he had found. "Isn't it Saturday?"

"They went out to eat." They sat across from each other at the table; Trinity stole a single grape from his bunch and received no protest. "Any particular reason you're back early this time?"

"Gathering tonight," he mumbled. "We didn't want to miss it."

"What is that?" Her curiosity was suddenly peaked. "I've hear people talking about it."

Tank grinned. "Sneaking into clubs as much as you did, I think you'll like it."

-

Trinity wasn't following what the speaker - a Councilor, Dozer had said - was saying. She'd lost him about twenty seconds into his speech. Instead, she was staring down at herself, dressed in some of Zee's old clothes. She had insisted that she could simply wear some of her own, but Zee had been persistent - almost stubborn - saying that Trinity would feel horribly underdressed in her oversized, worn out and stained sweaters and pants, and she should just take hers - she was even free to keep them, they didn't fit her anymore.

She finally consented, allowing the older woman to pick out a somewhat tight, sleeveless white shirt, cut near to her collarbones, and a pair of tan-colored pants that somehow fit her anorexic-looking body just right. She'd been talked into a few extras - a golden, netted wraparound for her waist, a silver bracelet with teardrop charms, and a simple chain necklace. She still wasn't used to most of it - she couldn't remember ever wearing jewelry, even when she was younger.

She looked back to the front of the massive cavern, not having to strain to hear the Councilor, still speaking, despite the enormity of the crowd, and the slight hum from shuffling feet, rustling fabric, and whispered comments. He seemed to be standing in an alcove that naturally amplified and projected his voice, even to the farthest wall.

"Is this all we do?" Tank gave her a sideways glance, to indicate that he was listening. "Listen to people give speeches?"

He snorted quietly. "Just a few more minutes."

"In a few minutes, my feet will officially be killing me," she grumbled into his ear. "Why can't we wear shoes in here, anyway?"

He laughed a bit louder, drawing glances from surrounding people. "You'll be ready to cut your legs off at the hip by the end of this, Trin."

Applause and cheers rang up around them, and it took her a moment to realize that the Councilor had said something, ending his speech when Tank was speaking. She wasn't startled, only surprised, by a loud, low, resonating drum being struck behind her place on a ledge off to the side, followed moments later by quieter drums, beginning to beat out a rhythm.

"Excuse me," Tank said absently, though Trinity, staring out into the crowd, didn't hear. The entire crowd began to move in a giant wave, those closest to the drummers beginning the dance first, their movements quickly rippling out into the rest of the group. Spreading through the massive cavern, just as a smile slowly spread over her face.

"Tank -" But as she turned to pull him onto the dance floor with her, she found herself standing among strangers. Scanning the area, she just saw him disappear among the erratically moving bodies - although she did not fail to notice that he seemed to be following the path of a group of girls, likely not much older than he was. She glared slightly at his retreating form. But as her eyes came up, and she quickly took everything in, she noticed Ghost, looking rather uncomfortable and out of place, and like he would be perfectly content to melt into the stone wall he was leaning against. He did not see her weave through small, chatting groups to his side.

"Dance with me," she said with a smile, startling him, and tugging him along by his wrist..

He immediately pulled back, and instinctively jerked his wrist away. "I'd really rather not." He sounded much more at ease that she knew he was.

"It's fun, Ghost, come on."

He pulled his wrist back before she had a chance to take it again. "I'm fine here."

She cocked her head to the side, growing impatient, and planted her hands firmly on her hips. "You can't stand there all night. Come on, you'll like it."

"I'm fine." He shifted his eyes to hers briefly, then away again. "I can't dance anyway."

Trinity snatched his wrist before he could move, and held on tight. "It's fun." He didn't look convinced. "I'll show you how do dance, Ghost."

He was about to protest yet again when their eyes accidentally locked. They were different, not like he had ever seen them before. They did not hold the slight gloom that seemed to come with that uneasy feeling that the world was not right. There was not a darkness that followed coming to terms with reality. No, those were all gone, replaced by a light spirit, a normality. A smile on her face, reflected into her eyes.

Without conscious thought, he let her lead him out into the crowd, gyrating to the beat of the drums.

-

It was late at night in the Mess hall, her first day back on the Neb, and her first day ever as a member of her crew. Trinity and Tank sat to one end of the table, slightly off from the rest of them. Leaning over to him, she whispered in his ear a few brief words of thanks. She thanked him for letting her stay with his family, but they both knew it was far more than that. It was thanks not only for a place to stay, people to take care of her and show her around, to explain all of the little details of the real world and the last human city.

It was an unspoken and heartfelt thanks to him for giving her a family in a world where she hardly knew her way, barely belonged, and where she truly needed it.

-

And thus, ladies and (possibly a few) gentlemen, I find myself at a crossroads. This story could be ended here. I could walk away, and it could be deemed finished. But of course, that leaves ideas unexplored, thoughts unexplained, and promises to you points unfulfilled. Hmm. Hm, hm, hm. What's a writer to do?

What do you think?