Author's Note: Okay, so the overwhelming response was for more of this fic. I have to say I agree, as I have since had more thoughts about things I would like to include. It took me a while to make this decision because I'm really happy with the way the first chapter turned out, and I'm not sure I can pull off this style as well for an entire fic. But apparently you guys think I can, and so I'm going to give it a try. It won't be a novel like The Greenhouse Effect is intended to be, but I'd like to at least explore "Kid's Story" and "A Detective Story" a little more fully, as well as how Link came to be aboard the Neb. And so, with that, I am diving into the abyss of yet another new fic, and begging you to stay with me on the journey. It will probably be more character than action, but it will not by any means be all fluff. Please be patient if updates take longer; I am, after all, writing two fics now instead of one. Oh, and if you haven't already, check out The Greenhouse Effect and let me know what you think of it.
With that, I'm going to shut up and hope you enjoy this chapter.
Michelle
Chapter 2
Trinity wakes first when the morning comes; her body has had years to acclimate to the rhythms of life on this ship. It takes her a moment to remember the previous night's events, and at first she is disoriented. She sits up as quietly as possible and watches Neo sleep. His hair is still short, barely even an inch long, and his face does not yet bear the telltale lines of exhaustion and grief that have become the signature of the Resistance. He still looks so innocent. Upon remembering her outburst the night before she is slightly embarrassed, but the feeling fades quickly, more than overwhelmed by her affection for the sleeping man lying beside her. She reaches forward and slowly runs one finger along the length of his jaw, savoring the feeling of his skin. He stirs beneath her touch, almond eyes opening just a little to peer at her sleepily, and for a second she is sorry that she has awakened him. But then he smiles, and that feeling is banished as well.
"You're still here," says Neo drowsily.
She cannot help but smile a little at the look of shining wonder on his face. What did he expect? But then, for just a moment, the doubt reappears. What if she is interpreting this all wrong? Perhaps he did not intend for her to stay. Perhaps his actions were meant only to help a friend in need, or maybe even to help himself. She has seen it before, after all, people getting close to one another solely due to isolation. And suddenly the fear is there, the thing that has haunted her dreams since that first visit—the Oracle's prophecy said only that she would fall in love with the One. It made no guarantee that he would love her in return.
"What's wrong?" he asks, baffled by her silence. He props himself up on one elbow and fixes her with those eyes.
"Nothing," she says quickly, her voice sounding forced and too loud in her own ears. "But as far as my still being here…you're stuck with me now. So deal with it."
It is the way she has always dealt with things that frighten her—to attack it. She has never run away from anything in her life. Instead she uses the anger. The anger is always there, just a breath away when she needs it most. It is left over from her time at home, from her childhood. It is knowing that she has been robbed of a mother's love. It is hearing every day that she is not good enough, will never be good enough. It is knowing that when she ran away, her father did nothing to find her.
But Neo only laughs. He throws his head back and laughs and laughs, so loud she is sure the entire ship can hear it. The laughter is a sound of pure joy, and this is utterly baffling. It is the first time he has really laughed since he was unplugged; it is the first real laugh Trinity has heard in years. She stares at him curiously for a moment, but then she catches the spark and begins to laugh too. It is a strange feeling, cathartic and somehow liberating. They lie there, laughing and laughing until they are both blinded by tears and painfully out of breath.
"Shit, Trinity," he gasps when at last he has found his voice again, rolling onto his side to face her.
"What?" she asks, raising an eyebrow at him.
"I never thought that…I…and you…and I…and…" he shrugs and dissolves into laughter again.
"Why not?" she asks, getting slightly impatient now. She cannot understand how he can think himself unworthy.
"Because you…you're the most incredible woman I've ever met. You're a goddess, Trinity. And I…" he trails off again and looks down, long fingers playing along a wrinkle in the blanket. "I'm a hacker geek with a bad day job."
Her cheeks burn hot, and she cannot meet his gaze either. She watches his hand instead, suddenly as fascinated with the wrinkle as he is.
"Neo…you know none of that is real," she manages at last. "Don't ever let anyone believe that's who you are. And for what it's worth, you never were. It just takes the right person to see through."
The feat returns as the words leave her lips; she is still sure, somehow, that he is going to reject her. But then suddenly he is there, rolling on top of her, taking her lips captive with his. The kiss takes her by surprise, and she is mortified to hear herself moan at the contact. She is not the kind of woman who screams at a man's touch. And then his hands are there too, running hungrily up and down her sides, and she is lost, gold spots dancing before her eyes. When he pulls away at last it is wrenching, like waking suddenly from a heavenly dream. She opens her mouth to say something, but the sound of heavy footfalls in the corridor outside is a cruel reminder of the day's duties ahead. Trinity sits up, giving Neo an apologetic look as she disentangles herself from his arms.
"We should…we should go," she says at last, forcing herself out of bed. "There's still a lot of repair work to be done."
"Yeah," says Neo absently, reminding her for a moment of the night they first made contact. "Sure."
She leans over and kisses his forehead as she turns to leave.
"I'll meet you in the mess hall, okay?"
He nods, eyes still filled with that absent look. For a moment, she envies his ability to daydream.
The mess hall onboard the Nebuchadnezzar is cold. As always. Morpheus is already there when Neo arrives, along with Tank, who has a blanket wrapped around his shoulders and is shivering violently. There are two bowls of untouched rations in front of them, the cold goop rapidly forming a dried skin around the edges of the bowl. Neo cringes and goes over to the spigot to pour himself a bowl. He nods to his captain and to Tank as he sits down at the other end of the table, then ladles up a spoonful of the goop and lets it drip back out. He knows he should eat, that he needs the energy, but he feels completely filled with emotion and unable to consume anything else after the previous night's discovery. Trinity comes in a moment later and sits across from him with her own bowl of goop and a mug of cold black Zion "coffee," which is even worse than the instant stuff Neo remembers from the Matrix. She nods at Morpheus and shoots a concerned look at Tank before acknowledging Neo with a slight flick of her eyes. She dips a spoon into the bowl and brings it carefully to her lips, eating slowly as though savoring the stuff. Neo stares for a moment, marveling at how she can even look graceful while eating utter slop. No one speaks for a long time—they all know that Morpheus will make the day's mission known when he is ready.
"Trinity," he says at last, when they have all tired of picking at their meal, "Neo. Come with me."
Morpheus and Trinity get up without a word and begin to head out of the mess hall. Neo sits watching Tank for a moment, but leaves as well when the other man does not speak. They follow Morpheus through the Core and up to the cockpit. Neo has only been up here once before, and he cannot help marveling at the view.
"Trinity, I need you to pilot for me today," says Morpheus after a moment. He sounds weary, and Neo realizes suddenly that he has hardly been off duty since his rescue three weeks prior.
"Where?" asks Trinity, taking the pilot's chair.
"In," says Morpheus, and Trinity's pale eyes widen. "And brief Neo. He'll need to know what to expect."
"Sir," says Trinity as he turns to leave, "may I ask where you're going?"
Morpheus looks slightly taken aback; she is not usually so formal with him.
"My cabin," he says simply. "You may call for me when you are within range."
Trinity only nods as he leaves, but she looks satisfied. Neo stands watching her hands fly over the controls for a moment, feeling useless and out of place. She turns to look at him over her shoulder as she finishes setting in the coordinates and cocks her head at the copilot's chair. Sit.
He obeys, then gives her a quizzical look.
"Where are we going?" It does not matter that he has learned to fly in the Matrix, he is still lost and afraid in the real world.
"To Zion," she says simply, her eyes glued to the viewscreen.
"What does that mean for us?"
"Good news and bad news," answers Trinity, sounding slightly amused. "Which would you like first?"
"The bad news," says Neo automatically. He always takes the bad news first; it is his lot in life.
"The Council is going to grill you. Morpheus has taken a lot of heat in the past few years for his steadfast belief in the prophecy. There are a lot of skeptics in Zion. They will subject you to tests to prove that you're the One, and they won't believe any of the results regardless. You just have to ignore them. Maybe worse than the skeptics are the believers. There are people in Zion who treat all Resistance members as celebrities. They follow us around and ask us to protect them…they don't realize there's nothing we can do. That's the worst of it, they trust us so blindly, and the truth is…truth is, if a real attack came, I don't know what the hell we could do to stop it." She pauses and regards him silently for a moment. "It's bad enough as it is, and you can be sure you'll get it tenfold."
Neo catches his breath. He is not used to attention. He does not like crowds, does not like public speaking, does not even like people looking at him. To be regarded as a celebrity, to be expected to lead…the full force of it weighs on him like a load of lead. For a moment he struggles to breathe.
"And the good news?" he manages at last.
Trinity gives him a little half-smile, lips just barely turned up at the corners.
"Real food. And a room with a door that locks."
Neo grins. He is reminded suddenly how much he misses such simple luxuries. The thought of a real meal and privacy is enough to make him feel a good deal better.
They fall silent, and Neo watches the viewscreen. The tunnels get darker as they near the core, and the rock changes from gray to brown to an almost-red. Stalactites and stalagmites jut out all around, creating dangerous obstacles for Trinity to maneuver past. She flies like everything else she does—gracefully and seemingly without effort. He becomes so drawn in that he is startled when Tank approaches.
Tank still has the blanket wrapped around his shoulders and is shivering even more violently now, sweat pouring down his forehead. His dark eyes look vacant and oddly glazed. Trinity turns around in her seat and regards him with a look of alarm.
"Tank, are you all right? Do you need to get to the med bay?"
He shakes his head. It seems to take great concentration for him to speak.
"Hurry, Trin."
"What is it?"
"I want to see home again."
For a moment Trinity looks as if she might cry again, then she turns sharply back to her control panel and locks her gaze on it. And suddenly Neo realizes why Morpheus has changed his mind so abruptly. He is taking Tank home to die.
Any authors interested in reviving some kind of Matrix archive outside of ff.n? Email or IM me please!
