Happy Birthday Imry!

These last two parts are completely unbetaed, so everyone come down hard on any mistakes or issues you have with it:)

Disclaimer: The Matrix and all its appendages are the brainchildren of Larry and Andy Wachowski and are carefully guarded by Warner Brothers. Enter the Matrix was developed by Shiny Entertainment and produced by Infogames. This is purely a piece of nonprofit entertainment. Cursum Perficio is the title of a song on Enya's Watermark CD. References to other fandoms are intentional.

Chapter Four: Mona Lisa Oversoul

Zion's finest didn't waste any time picking up the trail the Oracle had set them on. In fact, her directions were exact, something Niobe had never expected from her. Within twenty minutes of jacking out and discussing the situation, Morpheus, Trinity, Neo, and Niobe were suited up and en route to Restaurant Le Vrai for a two o'clock meeting with the Merovingian. For the moment, relocating the Keymaker was their primary concern; Niobe's situation was currently on the sidelines, and she preferred it that way. She needed time to put her head around what she had been told. There wasn't much else to do while traversing the building and riding the elevator to their destination in any case. The building was about as aesthetically entertaining as a block of cement, having been built in the most industrial avant-garde style.

But she wouldn't let the languid façade fool her again. The restaurant's atmosphere felt as volatile and fake as the Merovingian's home, and was probably just as dangerous, if the explosives lining the place were any indication.

When they arrived at the lavishly adorned table, Niobe didn't notice Rama Kandra being bustled out as Neo did, but she did see someone she hadn't expected to see in the least.

"You're supposed to be dead," she told him fiercely.

The pale-faced vampire, still clad completely in black, simply shrugged. "You're supposed to be human," he answered lightly.

"Ah yes, I believe you are already acquainted with Vlad as well as some of my associés and my wife, Niobe," the Merovingian remarked, "but I believe this is the first time that I have met any of you. I must say, it is a real pleasure. The elite of Zion all together at once! Such an extraordinary event! Please, join us."

The Zionites sat down wordlessly and the conversation quickly turned to the task at hand.

"I knew you were coming, and I know why. It was inevitable," the Merovingian told them, "It was a matter of causality. One cause generates one effect. Don't you agree?"

"No," Morpheus answered flatly, "There are many paths, each determined by the choices people make. Everything begins there."

"Mais non. We only see one series of events. There is no evidence for other choices. This is an illusion..."

Niobe rolled her eyes and tuned the conversation out. It was like listening to Ghost talk about checking his guns, only more condescending.

Niobe...

She found herself staring at Vlad. How had he survived? She clearly remembered driving a stake into his chest in Persephone's room. She could still remember the crunching noise his ribcage had made as she had done so. She clung to the memory in defiance of his presence.

Niobe...

Niobe jerked in surprise and glared at the vampire-program to make him shut up. She saw Morpheus and the others look at her worriedly from the corners of their eyes and then realized that no one else had heard Vlad speak. Great, I'm hearing voices in my head now.

Niobe...why are you fighting?

The words felt like oil sliding across her mind, staining everything in their path and reducing them to a hazy blur. The ongoing conversation with the Merovingian faded away with the rest of the restaurant. She could only perceive herself and Vlad, and even bits of herself felt...tainted by his intrusion. She subconsciously groped for the wound on her neck, covering it with one hand.

Embrace what you're becoming.

No.

Think of the power!

Vlad brought a crystal glass filled with a rich-looking red liquid to his lips and drank deeply. Niobe cringed at the sight of it. She could see the pleasure spilling out of his black eyes as a result, and she was tempted by it. As he continued to consume his drink, she felt his suggestions seep into her like freezing rain.

She was a lot more powerful now. She had realized that while fighting Seraph. She felt it increasing as time went by. I'm getting stronger as the virus spreads, she reminded herself vehemently, one with nasty side effects.

Or are they tradeoffs?

Exchanging light sensitivity for increased strength and speed sounded like a fair deal when she thought about it.

It's not like I'll ever see the sun...

She could probably get into highly secured areas like this. She could even maybe take on an Agent...or at the very least, Trinity or Morpheus.

The haze around Morpheus cleared, and Niobe couldn't help but be angry with him. The thought of being able to defeat him in hand to hand combat filled her with twisted satisfaction. The son of a bitch deserved it. He abandoned her for a prophecy, of all things! He only started caring again when she took up with Jason, didn't he? Niobe could see herself standing triumphantly over his prone form, one foot poised to crush his windpipe. It would be so easy to do it. And then he was looking at her, dead, with lifeless eyes, and he said:

"We want the Keymaker," Morpheus announced, emphasizing that they would not leave until they knew where he was.

"Ah, yes. But this is only one of two things that you are seeking. N'est-ce pas?"

Their voices, along with the Merovingian's suggestion, broke through the haze that was filling her mind, enabling her to return her focus to the table. She suppressed the memory of the images she had just entertained, appalled with herself.

"I don't recall anyone mentioning that to you," Niobe evasively answered. The Merovingian laughed and finished off his glass of wine.

"You did not have to. After all, it was my associate who...created your current situation. My point is this: you have come to me seeking two things that are of great value to you and an inconvenience to me. And yet you have nothing to offer me in return.

Why would I want to help you?"

No one had an answer to that, which only amused the Exile even more.

"But no, under the directives of your fortuneteller, you came here blindly and without question, never even considering to bring some sort of leverage. You assumed an alternative would present itself, that there was more than one way that this could happen." Wiping his mouth on the silk napkin, he laughed again.

"You humans are so gullible."

"This isn't over," Neo warned the Merovingian.

"Not for me. But for you, it is. Au revoir."

Several of the 'associates', including Vlad, rose from their chairs to escort Morpheus' party out as the Merovingian slinked away. The vampire grabbed Niobe's shoulder, sending a sickening electric sensation through her body. Without hesitation, she shoved him away with one hand, punching him in the face. The force sent blood trickling down his nose. Unfazed, Vlad grinned.

"It's only a matter of time now," he warned her, wiping the droplets of blood off his face and sucking on his bloodied fingers.
Several feet away, Morpheus watched Niobe worriedly. "He's the one that bit her," he mumbled to himself, trying to figure out what Vlad was trying to do. He was sure there was more to it than intimidation, especially since Niobe wasn't this easy to intimidate.

"He's speeding up the change," Neo quietly told Morpheus. Already Neo could see that Vlad had undone the changes he had done to slow down the virus. He said nothing more, for Niobe walked into earshot and glared at them for staring. Reluctantly, the rebels retreated. Persephone watched them leave, her gaze fixed on Neo and Trinity. Ten seconds later, she collected her purse and trailed after them.

It was a beautiful spring day, but Vivian was in a terrible mood. Things had gone from bad to worse since her last race.
Her parents had been furious when they had arrived at the police station to escort her home. Not only had she been charged with drag racing and speeding (again), but driving a vehicle when she didn't even have a license. Even worse, her parents, being her legal guardians, had been slapped with another hefty fine, one that they couldn't possibly pay off without taking out a loan. The whole point of the race had been to win the prize money so she could get her own car back and quit her job at the same time. Now, she found herself depending on her mindless box-stacking job more than ever.

Worst of all, Joseph had never resurfaced. Vivian had tried to call him at least half a dozen times every day for a week, but never got in farther in reaching him than hearing the ring tone. He hadn't called Sally, and no one had seen him at work, school, or even the dojo in ages. It was as if he had literally fallen off the face of the earth.

And of course, to top it all off, today was Wednesday.

Stripped down to shorts and a tank top, Vivian - no, Niobe she decided, having developed a habit of calling herself that, tossed boxes from pallet to shelf without resting. That was just one small thing that her time spent at the dojo had given her - better strength and stamina. Hoping to get some overtime pay, she continued to work after most of the employees had left for lunch. At the moment, it was just her and her quota of boxes, and she liked it that way.

She wasn't sure when he showed up, but when she stopped at one point to wipe her hands clean of some dust, Richard was there with that damned smile smeared across his face. Niobe took one look at him and went back to work although his presence perturbed her.

He was after her every day now, either saying all sorts of unsubtle comments or just staring at her. At this point, she didn't think it made a difference whether she even acknowledged his existence. He didn't appear to care.

"You think you're all that, don't you?" he sneered, striding closer to her. She tensed upon his approach. Richard still had a tendency to put her on edge, but even this time felt different. It was worse.

Don't be ridiculous, she told herself. He's the same as always. Nothing is different.

"Excuse me?" she shot back.

"You heard me," he asserted, "Stop ignoring me. You can't take a hint. All because you're some famous drag racer who thinks she can beat anything with four wheels and an engine."

Her heart dropped to the bottom of her chest like a stone. How the hell does he know about that?

"Yea, I know all about your little hobby," he continued, noting her surprise, "you're not that good at hiding things. Besides, you think that is reason enough not to..." he trailed off, clenching his fists.

"I don't like your attitude. It needs adjustment," he informed her. Niobe narrowed her eyes, refusing to be intimidated by him.

"I don't know what your malfunction is, but it's not my problem," she hissed back with equal force. With that, she turned her back on him, figuring that the altercation would end if she made it clear that she didn't care what he thought. Her overconfidence proved to be a big mistake, because as soon as she turned away, he struck the back of her head. Niobe spun forward, dazed by the attack. Oh shitshitshit! A second blow to the back sent her falling down on her face.

Focus! she ordered herself. Getupgetupgetupgetup...

It seemed to work, for the more she pressured herself, the more her awareness of her surroundings returned and became heightened. Time slowed down. Her breaths quickly became even and energizing. Her balance returned. And, she realized where Richard was going to strike next before he had even started to make his move.

With blinding speed that amazed both herself and her aggressor, she gathered herself into a low squat and tripped Richard, who fell down with a grunt. When he tried to get back up, she punched him in the face as hard as she could, and he didn't try to get up again. He couldn't; he was unconscious.

Niobe absently wiped her mouth without really realizing it had been split open. She backed away from Richard's body, but then suddenly changed her mind.

The bastard. She didn't doubt that he would have tried to rape her, maybe even kill her. The very thought terrified and infuriated her. It was her training that had saved her, that had given her strength. She was stronger now. She didn't need a car to beat him anymore.

And she was going to make him pay.

Seizing the heaviest crate she could lift, Niobe lugged it over to his prone body, lifted it as high as she was able to, and dropped it onto his chest, where it landed with the same sickening crunch that Vlad's ribs would later make when she stabbed him. Then, when she realized what she had just done, she fled the warehouse as fast as her legs could carry her, lost in a torrent of anger, fear, pride, and shame over her actions.

No one ever suspected her of killing Richard. Officers took one look at her and dismissed the thought. She was such a tiny girl, and even if she had a record, there was no way she could have lifted a two-hundred pound box in their eyes.
Niobe never spoke about it to anyone, although she had a nagging feeling that Thaddeus always knew. She didn't have to talk about it; less than a week later she went fro her fated run that put her in contact with the Resistance, and that was where her life in the Matrix ended.

Bottom line was, Niobe knew that she was capable of pure, violent rage. That was the problem.

"Hurry," Persephone urged her companions, gesturing to the secret passage behind the bookcase that was now quite familiar to Niobe. She let the sultry woman take the lead, still following Morpheus and his crew on autopilot. She preferred the safety of her personal space - for now.

To her surprise, Morpheus was not only more than aware of her frame of mind, he did not pressure her with questions or philosophical commentary. Instead, he just walked beside her, always keeping a decent amount of distance. She tried to glance up at him casually, trying to read his expressions. He noticed her attention and gave a small encouraging smile. I can't believe that he still believes I can fix this, she realized. Even after years of knowing him, he still astounded her.

Again, regret filled her. She missed him. She wouldn't let her pride get in the way of admitting that anymore. Hell, she was pretty sure that she still loved him. She still hated the reasons why he left her, but she didn't hate him. Niobe frowned. Why did she have to come to these conclusions now of all times? None of this was helping her find the solution to the virus.

Persephone stopped abruptly in front of the Keymaker's cell, and Neo took charge. In the meantime, Niobe stayed on guard. This was far too easy for her taste and she was certain that they were going to hit a snag soon enough. Something was going to slip through the cracks in the walls...

"It's you again!" one of the prisoners gasped. Niobe instantly recognized him; he had held down Cain (or was it Abel?) while she and Ghost had fled the Chateau. He had saved their lives.

"Yea," she answered, stepping closer to him. He stared blankly in her direction - his eyes had been gouged. "Thanks for before."

"Why did you come back? Are you insane?"

"I had to," she answered, reaching for the door.

"Had to?" the man repeated, "why-"

Suddenly, he froze in place and gasped again, shocked.

"You've turned!" he accused her, recoiling in fear to the farthest corner of his tiny cell.

"No!" she retorted quietly, trying to calm him down, "I'm not-"

"Get back!" he insisted. "Don't come near me! Go back to your kin in the arena and leave me alone!"

"Come," Persephone demanded, ignoring the prisoner, "my husband will be here any minute."

"Niobe, we must go," Morpheus said.

Behind him, Neo and Trinity flanked the Keymaker, waiting for her to join them. All she had to do was nod and follow them out.

And then what? Return to Zion, hope that all goes well, and live with a dislike of light and a love for blood? No fucking way! Niobe told herself. There has to be a way out of this, and I know that it's somewhere in this place. I can't leave until I find it.

"Go. I'll catch up," she insisted.

Trinity shook her head. "You'll be in here alone and without an operator or backup," she warned. Niobe couldn't help but concede that she was right.

"I will stay," Morpheus decided.

"Like hell you will!" Niobe responded hotly.

Morpheus looked back and forth between her and his crew, clearly torn. He nodded to Neo and Trinity, who got the message and took of back to the foyer with the Keymaker and Persephone in tow.

"Morpheus, don't even think about it. You're compromising your crew," Niobe argued, still refusing to budge.

He regarded her, still torn, and sighed. "I don't want to leave you behind again," he confessed softly.

"You're not. I just need to get some things sorted out in here." When he still hesitated, Niobe exhaled sharply and took his hand. "Go finish what you started. Please."

He squeezed her hand, and she forced a brave smile. His hands were warm and comforting, and she didn't really want to let go. But she did in any case, relaxing her grip and stepping away. Accepting her choice, Morpheus tore off after Neo and Trinity while Niobe settled her nervous breaths, the ramifications of what she had decided to do setting in.

Receding deep inside her mind, she forced herself to embrace the burning bloodlust coursing its way through her and compelled it to deliver a destination. Show me where he wants me to go, where this virus wants me to wind up! she demanded herself. Something eventually came to her, and she let herself be guided to it, hoping that she could hold of the virus' progression with sheer willpower.

"I have to do this, Niobe. I have to go," Morpheus insisted, slinging his pack over his shoulder.

"Why?" Niobe demanded again. His attitude had changed completely since his last run a month ago, and she wasn't about to let him walk out on her without explaining himself. Why was he so distant? So distracted? Why did he spend all of his spare time in the Temple, in the Archives, and in Manifest rooms reading reports on Potentials?

He hovered at the hatch of their quarters, clearly torn between stopping to tell her and making a clean break. Looking at her sadly, he sighed.

"I didn't want to believe it, Niobe. But I met the Oracle. She knew things. She stirred something inside of me that I have always known was there and told me why it existed."

"And why does it exist?"

"Because I have to find the One. I need to learn how to find him, so that I can find him."

"And I don't fit in the equation?" she concluded angrily. He shook his head.

"No. You deserve better. And I cannot give it to you when I must focus on this."

Niobe scoffed and left the room refusing to let him see her be hurt over this. "You've always been such a dramatist, but you're right," she tossed back, "this wouldn't work out between us. It isn't fair. Don't expect me to wait!"

Four years later, the argument still stung at her as much as it stung at him.

Six feet above in the Chateau's Great Hall, the Merovingian cursed at his turn of bad luck. Why did his wife have to bear a grudge now, of all times? Granted, he knew it was going to happen eventually. He knew everything. It was his trade. This time he simply must have made a minor miscalculation in assessing her irateness, that was all. En tous cas, he reminded himself, the damage is done. He would make amends with Persephone later.

He saw Morpheus appear in time to rejoin his motley crew, although they were still one member short. The Merovingian didn't like that. He hated it when things became unpredictable.

"Let's see how this plays out," he muttered to himself, still confident that he nonetheless had the upper hand. He gestured to the Twins. "Get the Keymaker.

His command sparked a chase between them and Trinity and Morpheus. The remainder of his entourage moved to contend with Neo, but he held Vlad back. There was still one last unpredictable element to attend to before the program would feel at ease once more.

"Vlad," the Merovingian hissed as the vampire prepared to do his bidding, "I have exercised more than enough patience with regards to your endeavor. If you still cannot control your pet, kill her."

As silent as a cat, Niobe crept through the Merovingian's wine cellar towards the place she felt most drawn to.

The arena.

It was exactly as Niobe had left it when she had been stuck in the Chateau before. Dark, damp chiseled stone formed an outer wall and an inner circular pit. Broken and empty liquor bottles and ash littered the pit's stone floor.

She stepped down into it with ease and located a broken wooden arrow, one of the ones she had used against Cujo, the lycan. It was better than nothing, so she picked it up and pocketed it. Niobe wasn't bothered by the fact that she had no gun. She already knew that bullets would be of no use here.

Niobe...

Her blood turned to ice again, and she turned to face the newcomer, who was leering at her from the upper section of the arena.

Vlad.

Morpheus glared at the Twin who was holding Trinity hostage. Damn the programs! They were beginning to become ridiculously irritating. Thankfully, that didn't mean that he couldn't devise a strategy to deal with them.

Under the pretext of lowering his weapons to the ground, he unleashed a spray of bullets at the Twin's arm to enduce him to shift into nothingness. To his surprise, not only did his weapon hit the mark (or, rather, passed through it), but a second wave of gunfire also erupted, alternately directed at both Twins.

Trinity jumped free, returned to Morpheus' side and spied the unknown gunman lurking in the shadows.

"Ghost?" she said in disbelief..

"Quickly! Before they come back!" the Keymaker called out. He produced a key from his large collection and opened up the nearest car.

The Twins finally fazed back into matter and healed their wounds. Morpheus unsheathed the katana he had snatched earlier and advanced on the apparitions. "Go!" he ordered his second-in-command.

Trinity slipped into the car the Keymaker had opened, pushing him into the backseats before revving up the engine. Ghost climbed into the passenger side and reloaded his weapon.

Her mentor sliced through the Twins unsuccessfully as they sped off into the City. Unable to keep up the pace, Morpheus began to retreat to the still-open doorway back into the Chateau. The Twins were relentless, and, Morpheus realized, unbeatable. He did not have the skill to defeat them one-on-one when they possessed such a crazy advantage.

Desperate to end the confrontation now that Trinity and Ghost were already gone, Morpheus fell back on using his gun. The gunfire did force the Twins to faze out of existence and allowed him to get closer to the door, but he ran out of ammunition while still having a few paces to go. Tossing the useless gun to the side, he dashed for the exist.

If Neo had not been there trying to catch up to them, he never would have made it. Using his hyperactive speed, he grabbed his captain's arm and yanked him back inside the Chateau, slamming the door with his other hand to lock the Twins out.

"Are you all right?" Neo asked, helping Morpheus to his feet.

"Yes, I am fine. Trinity escaped with Ghost and the Keymaker. They'll need your help," Morpheus answered, seeing the worry Neo was undoubtedly feeling about Trinity's safety. He could relate at the moment.

"Okay," Neo agreed. He hesitated before returning to the upper levels to get outside. "Are you two going to be okay?"

Morpheus smiled. They really were thinking alike. "Yes," he assured him, "We'll be fine."

He truly believed that now. Time and time again, his intuition had been proven correct. His intuition had told him that leaving Niobe was a mistake. It was right. Niobe was a part of the Prophecy, just like all of Zion was. In his rashness, Morpheus had believed that he could designate who was or wasn't a part of it. The fact that Niobe kept gravitating back to them had proven him wrong. He was not about to start doubting his intuition now that he knew how to listen to it.

Nodding to Neo, he made his way back underground while Neo took to the skies.

Meanwhile, Trinity ripped through the city streets at top speed, evading the Twins as she went.

"How did you get into the garage?" she asked her brother, the curiosity getting the better of her.

Ghost fired several times at the Twins' tires before pulling his head back into the car. "Sparks and I came to find you. He worked with Link to patch a way in," he explained as quickly as he could. He had to hand it to the operators - the patch had been pure genius on their part.

His cell phone rang, and he answered it, setting it to transmit through the car's radio so Trinity could benefit from it as well.

"You convinced him to come back out?" she observed in surprise, quirking a smile, "How did you do that?"

Ghost shrugged. "I gave him my boots."

"Shut up Ghost," Sparks muttered, his voice crackling through the speakers.

"What's our status?" Trinity asked, changing the subject.

"The local hardlines have been blockaded, the cops are on your tails along with those Twin-things, and shit! I think I just saw an Agent! All we need now is for the Silons to attack and everything'll be catastrophic," he reported sarcastically.

"Any way out?" Ghost pressed, ignoring Spark's snark.

"The nearest hardline is off the freeway."

"Morpheus always said that the freeway is suicide." Trinity pointed out. The Keymaker squeaked.

"Trin, I think we've established that we're all a few cards short of a full deck! What more do you want from me?" Sparks yelled back.

Seeing that they had no other real choice, Trinity sighed. "All right. Tell me how to get there."

"I knew you would come," Vlad cooed, his phrase reminiscent of his master's. Niobe held her ground as he slinked towards her. he jumped down into the pit with the same ease that she had, never breaking his stride.

"From the moment I saw you, I knew you could be turned. I saw, and still see, the rage buried in your head, the rage that you've denied yourself."

His words were poison to her resolve. Already she could feel the ice creeping in her veins again, urging her to agree with his assessment of her. Niobe fought back, pouring all of her mental focus into pushing the encroaching ice away.

"Why do you deny it?" Vlad pressed softly, venturing to gently run a hand up her arm. The contact made Niobe nauseous. She felt like she was trying to work against a stampeding elephant. The urge to fall under Vlad's sway became unbearable.

"You know what it feels like," he whispered, caressing her cheek, "to gorge on someone's pain, to have the power to end life in the palm of your hand, the satisfaction and pleasure..."

He removed her sunglasses and looked her in the eye. "You've done it before. You can do it again."

Vlad took a step backward, trying to assess if the virus had completed its function. Niobe meekly stepped back towards him and smiled, baring her fangs. Vlad was ecstatic.

And then she shoved the broken arrow shard into his chest. He wasn't so ecstatic about that.

Vlad howled in pain and reeled backwards, glaring at Niobe, who had assumed an attack stance. She had distinctly felt a change in herself when he had been injured. It was like getting a sip of water after walking through a desert with none. Based on that, she knew what she had to do to end this.

He clenched the end of the wooden shard and pulled with all his might. It came out, and he chucked it to the side.

"You missed. Again."

Damn. Ghost always had a better aim.

Within seconds, Vlad had leapt forward, engaging the two of them in a bitter brawl. He was furious and lashed out at her in rage with every move, doing everything he could to pin her down. Niobe pulled out all the stops to keep off the assault, using every tactic she knew to enhance her speed and conserve her focus. For a moment or two, she pushed herself into attacking, her fists raging with equal ferocity as his. But she couldn't keep the pace up, having spent most of her energy warding off his mental attack, and he managed to get in several strong blows, eventually pinning her to a wall of the arena by the throat. Rubbish clattered below her as she struggled to break free.

"You cannot win," he said, his hand tightening its grip around her neck while the other held her chest down. Niobe gasped for breath while he leaned closer, watching her with a gleeful expression. "You will join me or you will die," he told her.

Behind him, Niobe spotted another darkly-dressed figure entering the arena and caught the sight of a glint of steel by his side. When the person started to advance on them, she summoned up the remainder of her strength and kicked Vlad in the side. It didn't hurt him in the least, but it put him off-balance enough for Morpheus to knock him off of her.

Enraged by his presence and assuming Niobe was no longer a threat, Vlad redirected all of his attention to him, leaving her sprawled on the ground to regain her breath. Morpheus wielded his katana like a madman, trying to land a hit on the vampire, but found it equally difficult as working against the Twins. Like Niobe, he too was tired, and his moves were lagging enough to give Vlad room to evade.

Morpheus pressed harder on the attack in hopes of cutting the fight short, but slipped up, allowing Vlad to knock the sword out of his hands. It tumbled off out of his reach, landing a few feet away from a dazed Niobe.

Encouraged by this turn of events, Vlad boldly swiped Morpheus across the face and chest and then took a leap backwards to gloat and watch him stumble.

"Stupid human. I'm a program! I'm immortal! I'll live for all eternity!" he spat.

"Then spend it in pieces!" Niobe yelled back. Gripping Morpheus' katana in both hands, she whirled herself towards the vampire and aimed for his head. With one powerful swoop, it was sliced off and toppled unceremoniously to the ground.

Both Vlad's body and hers collapsed to the ground, the former writhing in pain and the latter twitching in confusion. Morpheus closed the distance between himself and Niobe in seconds, drawing her to him comfortingly while she coughed and gasped.

"Niobe?"

She blinked several times to shake the cobwebs out of her mind and relaxed into Morpheus' chest. Niobe wasn't completely sure if decapitating Vlad had done the trick, but there was no more ice in her veins and her eyes didn't hurt anymore. What's more, she felt no pleasure or satisfaction from killing the program, only exhaustion.

"I'm fine," she assured Morpheus, smiling as he helped her up."Why did you come back?"

"I had to," he answered simply. Niobe nodded and grasped his hands in thanks. Like before, they were warm, and the warmth was comforting, only now it was even more so because she could feel the heat of her own hands returning. Unable to come up with a vocal reply to her touch, Morpheus wrested one of his hands free from hers and snaked it behind her neck, bringing her lips to his. She kissed him back deeply, the pent-up feelings from the past four years of separation spilling out, and she was thrilled to feel him respond back in kind.

They allowed themselves only a few seconds of distraction before breaking the kiss off. Niobe stopped only to collect a set of keys from Vlad's pockets to ensure their escape, anxious to be back in her element behind the wheel with her foot on the gas pedal.