Mimic
Smith's Trap

Brown and Jones have an interesting, albeit strange, proposal for the exiled Agent Smith. But what of the cost of entering the real world to assassinate Neo?


The room felt sterile. Trinity stood with her arms crossed, soaking in the sensation of this place. This was not where Morpheus should be; yet here he slept. She felt shaken inside and that feeling was only augmented when she ran her eyes across his prone form. He was more than a captain, more than a friend. He was the father of the tentative faith that had built when Neo had come into their lives. He was a foundation to her experience in this world, the knife that had severed her connections to the former one. How could this be? This was different than those few moments where she had hovered over him, prepared to pull the plug to prevent the agents from using him to gain access to Zion. She had been prepared then, she had known exactly why she was going to have to lose him. This…this was a violation.

Her eyes moved across Morpheus, cataloguing the wires connected to his ports, sustaining his life. Any moment now, any moment he should awaken and yet he didn't. She let out a sigh frustration and paced a few steps, crossing her arms before her. She stopped at the foot of his bed and glanced back into his emotionless face. "Damn it, Morpheus," she breathed, a dozen or more things on the tip of her tongue, trapped by his slumber. She wasn't angry with him, of course, but found her anger venting on any given source at any given time. Right now she wanted to ask how he had failed to defend himself.

The door at the end of the room opened and Trinity turned. As soon as he entered the room she was moving towards him, stretching her arms at the last moment to capture him into an embrace. She rested her chin against his shoulder and sighed, closing her eyes as the rage dissipated. "Nothing," she reported, then waited for Neo to speak. Her eyes opened as he took a deep breath.

"He'll be all right," he responded, pulling back and putting his hand to her cheek. His dark eyes glittered, but she could see none of his doubts reflected within them. What did that mean? Did he have no doubts?

She had them. Trinity knit her brow and glanced at her captain, then back into the face of Neo. "How do you know that?"

His answer wasn't unexpected. She knew him in and out, through and through, and yet there were times when his blind certainty seemed like a mask. This was one of those times. "He has to be. Believe that." Trinity moved back towards the bedside and gave him a sidelong look as he neared. "The Vigilant is ready."

"Are you sure this is the right thing?" she asked, watching his eyes, mesmerized by the search for his emotions.

Neo nodded and tore his gaze from hers. She followed his eyes to their captain's face and felt another pang of anger and pain that this had happened. She knew Neo's reasons and agreed with them, but a part of her did not want to leave Morpheus alone. That part was reflected within Neo, she knew. He had asked Link to remain behind, to keep watch for them. His resolve was firm. "It's the right thing. It's what he would want us to do." He turned towards her then, brushing a stray lock of hair from her face. "He'll be safe here. Out of the war."

Grunting softly, she shook her head. "He wouldn't want to miss it. I know that."

A flicker of pain flashed through his dark eyes. "Yeah. You're right about that." A few seconds that seemed like moments passed. They were both delaying the departure. She knew it and could sense he knew it as well when he said, "He'll be safe," but did not move. Their eyes locked, both trying to will the other to move or find the will to move in the other's eyes, but failing both objectives. There was an unspoken understanding between them that this could be the last time they saw Morpheus, one way or another.

That was, until, the door opened again. Trinity looked over Neo's shoulder and sighed softly as Niobe entered. Their time with Morpheus had come to an end. It was her time now. Trinity put her hand on Neo's arm, urging him towards the door gently. He took the hint and waited at the threshold while Trinity gave the female captain a reassuring touch on the shoulder. "Keep an eye on him for us. "

The left corner of Niobe's lip tilted into a half smile as she nodded, then looked beyond to where Morpheus was. Trinity followed Neo from the room and noticed Commander Lock standing outside, his expression stony. He said nothing to either of them, merely watched as they met up with Link there in the reception area. He stretched his arms, then shrugged, saying, "What's the final game plan?"

"Enter the Matrix, come home, if all goes well," Neo said, sharing a look with Trinity before continuing. "We'll send word as soon as we can. And thanks for staying here."

Link smiled at that and nodded. "Sure thing. You know you owe me big though, right?"

Trinity gave him a wan smirk. "I'm sure security will manage to help your efforts, Link."

He shook his head at that. "No, I don't mean that. It's going to take a lot of work to keep him from jumping on a ship and following after you two once he wakes up. You do know that, right?"

"Good thing you're going to stop him," she responded smoothly as she and Neo traded places with him, positioning Link nearer to their captain's door and them further away.

"Yeah, well, that's what I'm talking about. Hard, hard work." The operator smiled at them, but it was pale compared to his usual expression and quickly faded to something grave. "Take care, you guys. Be safe?"

As they neared the door Neo nodded and opened it. "We will be. If you find anything out about Bane…"

Link nodded before he even finished the sentence. "Signed, sealed and delivered. Don't worry. I heard they're questioning him now. I wouldn't want to be in his shoes."


It was cold and dark. Everything about Zion was cold and dark. The walls, the shadows, the overbearing atmosphere; it all made him sick. It would be over soon, however. Smith consoled himself with this one driving thought. He stood quite a way from the medical center, much further than he would have liked, for the halls surrounding Captain Morpheus were tight with security. Everywhere he looked another human stood with a waiting expression, eyes darkened with concern and duty. If he attempted to attack Neo anywhere near there he would have to be extremely certain of his shot and that was one thing he did not care to take chances on.

He had things he wished to say to Neo, whisperings of hatred and expressions of his victory over him. Petty human emotions, but he felt the need to satiate them nonetheless. In his right hand a knife was curled, hidden away within the pocket of his pants, slick with the sweat of his palm. He had been waiting at least twenty minutes after giving his benefactor the slip. His body felt tense, every muscle locked and poised, ready like a trap about to spring when the right set of consequences was met. Each time someone passed he found himself taking a step forward in anticipation. The new crewmate of theirs, Link, had passed and had noticed his presence, but of course did not make the connection. How could he? Still, Smith realized then he must look strange, lurking around the shadows, waiting with what must be an anticipatory expression. So he forced himself to relax a little and paced, stretching his fingers but keeping them near his weapon.

And then his ears caught it. The familiar voice came from around the corner to his right and Smith gripped his blade, moving back into the shadows as he growled softly, "Anderson." He was talking softly with someone. Trinity, his ears identified. He was not alone. Inwardly the exile cursed, but found himself unable to lay aside the idea of letting the moment pass by. He would attack and perhaps kill them both, if Trinity did not run for help. If she did he would not follow her. Only Anderson mattered.

The footsteps came closer, pounding in his ears like a heartbeat gone wild. Smith drew the hilt of the blade out of his pocket slowly, watching, watching and waiting. As the moment neared he felt his hatred build, he felt the pressure of his task bearing down on him, breathing down his neck, a hot flame that seared him with his purpose. His breath caught as Anderson came into view, Trinity beyond him. It would be so easy, so very easy. He took a step forward and felt a grin spread along his mouth.

"Mimic, what the Hell are you doing?" The accented voice shot through him like a bell despite its whispery timbre and startled, Smith whirled around to see Steel standing behind him. The dark-eyed young man had a very serious expression fixed on him, but it melted away as he looked beyond the exile. "Leaving, Neo?"

Smith clenched his hand roughly along the hilt of his knife, but did not dare to turn, waiting for Anderson to respond. He fixed an unguardedly hateful look onto Steel's face as his enemy said, "Yeah. Time to go."

Steel nodded without saying a word about his opinion concerning Neo, merely replied, "Good luck," then returned his eyes to Smith. Their footsteps echoed away from where he stood with Steel and his chance fled with them. The exile wasn't sure whether to run after Neo and plunge the blade into him without care or to turn the knife onto this one before him. Steel blinked at the obvious hate being directed at him, but did not back down. "What were you doing?" he insisted and Smith felt the strong urge to show him.

"He wasn't doing anything, Steel. Leave him alone." Psyche came from behind her lover, her dark eyes shining with a firm intent.

Her medic wasn't ready to just let go of his suspicions. "Psyche, I saw…"

"What?" she interrupted, watching with a discerning expression.

The medic shrugged and ran his hand through his dark, wavy hair. "I saw him lurking around the shadows. I've been standing behind him a full five minutes."

Psyche turned to him with that same uncomfortable, almost knowing look about her. "What were you doing, Mimic?"

Smith let go of his knife, took his hands out of his pockets and folded his arms. "Ask him. He seems to have come to a conclusion based upon his observation of me," Smith hissed, doing nothing to disguise his sneer as he said it.

"What am I supposed to think after what's happened to Morpheus?" Steel retorted plainly. "You've been nothing short of ungrateful and hostile since we awakened you.

"I have been hostile and see no reason to discontinue, however to attack Captain Morpheus would be foolish. He is under heavy guard."

"And how would you know that if you haven't looked?"

Smith moved closer to him, pressing forward with his intimidating height, betraying no fear despite the very real possibility that this conversation could close with some uncomfortable questions coming from sources that could potentially identify him, or at very least detain him from his true purpose. "You believe yourself to be intelligent. Most of your kind do, but your unwavering faith in that fact is flawed. You accuse wildly without understanding, you assume with no knowledge of who I am or what my purpose is."

Steel's eyes narrowed to slits and he stepped forward, but Psyche's hand on his shoulder stayed him. "Steel, I think you had somewhere to be." He gave her a concerned look that she brushed aside. "Don't worry about me. Let me handle this."

"Psyche…"

"Now, Steel. That's an order."

The medic glared into her face, but said nothing, storming past her. He turned down the hall from which Neo and Trinity had come and disappeared. Smith cocked his head, watching the strange woman before him, wondering why she was so eager to come to his defense. If she had any wits she would have heeded the words of her lover and questioned the very questionable circumstances surrounding this incident, but she didn't. Why? Why would she turn a blind eye to the obvious? "Aren't you afraid I could hurt you?" he asked her curiously, supposing she would not take it as a threat.

She did not and again he wondered why. He made no attempt to appear to be jesting with her. Lips pursed, she studied him with a first hint of uncertainty flickering and dying in her eyes before stating as if it were a fact, "You won't hurt me."

"How do you know?"

"I know."

"And your opinion on Steel's accusation?"

She tilted her chin up. "Be careful, Mimic. You're walking a fine edge that you wouldn't want to fall off of before meeting with the Oracle." Her words made him flinch and he made to speak, but she cut him off and he was glad for it, for he may have easily assumed she understood his purpose here and revealed too much. "Just keep your temper in check. I wouldn't want to see you in trouble before you came to truly understood Zion and could make an…intelligent choice." Her lips curled into a smirk. "Get some rest. You're going to need it," she said as a good-bye, then swept around him.

Smith turned and watched her go, uneasy with his conviction that there were more variables to this situation than he had originally anticipated.


Author: Ruse - jedinineofnine at hotmail dot com
Disclaimer: No infringement intended.
Feedback: Yes! By all means, my precioussss, lemme know how I'm doing!
Archive: Sure, just please let me know if you will, so I can stop by and see your site.

To Reviewers:

I know this wasn't soon as I assumed it would be, but this is one fic I will NOT give up on. And now that I have my other project out of the way, I'm devoting my time to this one. Whew! I'll make no promises for anyone returning to shake their heads at, but I will put effort into this because it's the one I'm most proud of. Anyway, this chapter is short…and perhaps clumsy…but I'm trying to get back into the step of things. I even watched Revs while writing, idn't that special? ;-)

CanSpy – Hehehe. Well, they had a meeting over Morpheus, sort of. ;-) True, over was more of a placement issue rather than meaning they had a meeting "concerning" Morpheus, but ah…still okay?? ;) Thanks!

Selina – Sorry it wasn't quick! sniffle I saw that website you advertise, but got a Trojan from it. I wonder if it's been fixed yet. scratches head Thanks!

Thesseli – Thanks…I wonder what the real real world has in it too. ;-) And how many Matrices stand between Neo and it. :-D

Mazoku – Thank you! I hope I still have you when I post this! :-)

LiM – Yes…alertness, exactly. Poor Smith will have to wait to get his big chance. ;-) I hope you enjoyed! Thanks!