Author's Note: This chapter is partially inspired by DanaScully's fic "Enough" over at The Construct. Go and check it out, it's awesome.

It's opening night...wish me luck!

Daydreamer731


Chapter 5: Fire and Ice

The remainder of their stay in Zion is strange. Neo wanders by night, watching the city sleep. By day he sits in on Council meetings, listening to Morpheus argue on his behalf and answering them over and over again that he does not know how he is able to do the things he has done. Always, there is ice in his veins and a strange hollow feeling in the pit of his stomach. Over and over he tells himself that this is real, but it all feels like a fever dream.

Trinity retreats into herself again, but this time there is a finality to her grief that frightens him. She hardly eats or sleeps, and does not bother with her hair, though it is forever in her face. She refuses to appear before the Council, instead spending long hours in the sparring simulations and in the run-down workout rooms, pushing her already fine-tuned body to its limits. A strange fire burns behind her eyes, and it scares Neo that she no longer wants his attempts at comfort. He is constantly afraid now, terrified that their fledgling relationship is already at its end, doomed from birth.

He goes into the city center one evening when the Council has ended its deliberations for the day, braving the incredulous and awe-filled stares of the people to find a small shop that always has delicious odors pouring out of it. It is a bakery, of sorts, though the bread is flat, due to the lack of yeast, and dark from the coarse wheat flower. Still, it is moist and sweet, and Neo figures it is the best candidate for the job he has in mind tonight. He buys a loaf of the stuff and a thermos of coffee, and heads up to the training level.

She is stretched out on the floor doing a series of rapid push-ups when he arrives, her dark hair hiding her face so that he cannot read her expression. Her breathing is fast and sounds too shallow to him; he can tell she is in pain, but does not say anything. He knows that this silent torture is her choosing and she will be angry if he interrupts.

"Brought you something to eat," he says, when she stops to breathe at last, nearly collapsing onto her stomach.

She rolls over and looks up at him, eyes strangely translucent in the low light. Her gaze seems to go straight through him, searching. He hesitates for a moment, then offers her a hand. She does not take it, instead struggling her way up to sit on what looks to be something of an old treadmill. There are cobwebs on the belt, and Neo seriously doubts if it is still functional. She leans over, hands on her knees, obviously hurting. She looks deathly pale, and there are lines at the corners of her eyes he has not noticed before.

"Thanks," she mutters without looking at him, "but no thanks. Go to bed, Neo."

"You need to eat," he insists, pushing the package toward her.

She glares at him. Something inside him seems to snap; she has never directed a look of such pure rage and hatred at him.

"I'm not going to, so you may as well give up and go to bed. You need your sleep so you can go and be impressive in front of the Council. Zion needs you, you know. They need their savior. God forbid, you should let them down." The words are uttered with a sneer; his blood begins to boil. He has never heard her talk like this.

"Trinity…if you think that I like going to the Council meetings…that I like the attention it gets me…"

"Hey, you're the all-powerful One. Why don't you tell me how I feel?"

She gets up and grabs a pair of handweights, the pain evident in her face as she begins a fresh repetition. And suddenly he understands. And is shocked.

"Trinity…the Council…the people…this doesn't change anything between us. It's not my choice, you know that. But I'm not going to abandon you for fame. Please don't think that."

She does not answer, instead concentrating on the weights. Neo cannot stand it anymore. An idea forms suddenly, and he puts down the parcel of food and grabs a second pair of weights, bigger than the ones she has. The sudden strain on his arms is a shock; he is exhausted, and has not trained in the real world since he was first unplugged. Still, he pushes on, biting his lip until he tastes blood, and willing himself not to look over at her.

"Neo?" Her voice is filled with concern and a little annoyance, but he can tell by the rhythm of her breathing that she has not yet stopped.

His arms burn, and black spots dance before his eyes. The entire world is pain. He begins to worry that he will not be able to last long enough for his plan to have the desired effect.

"Neo, stop."

Come on, come on…

He begins to count silently, to take his mind off the pain. He barely sees out of the corner of his eye that she has stopped lifting the weights and turned to face him, arms limp at her sides, still clutching the dumbbells.

"Stop."

"I will…" he grinds out, the effort of speaking nearly too much, "when you put those damned things down and go home."

He can no longer feel his arms, but his lungs feel as if they are on the verge of exploding. He forces himself to look up at her, and at last something in her face changes.

"Damn you, Neo."

There is nothing teasing in her voice. She is completely serious. She throws down the weights with a crash and stalks out of the room.

He bends over and lets the weights drop out of his hands with a hollow thud, then sinks down to the ground, wrapping his arms around his knees. For the first time since his arrival in the real world, he dissolves into sobs of pain.


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