A very rushed and short chapter, I must apologise, but I'm writing several chapters at once and I've rather neglected this one. I hope the general idea gets across anyway. Hopefully the next few chapters will make up for this lousy one.


Trinity took Neo's hand, leading him back to her room. She closed the door quietly after they had both entered, and motioned for Neo to sit with her on the bed. He obliged, taking his place next to her. She started slowly, 'Neo, when we're staying in Zion, do you want to live with me in my apartment? And then maybe when we next board the Nebuchadnezzar you could move in with me here.'

'Do you want me to? I'd love to live with you, but are you sure this is what you want?' Neo questioned back, looking deep into Trinity's eyes.

She nodded, staring back into his, drawn in, feeling the want to kiss him, make love to him right at that moment. Neo nodded back at her, saying, 'ok, I guess I will then.' Trinity didn't respond in anyway, too enthralled by Neo's chocolate eyes. She leaned forward, brushing her lips against his lightly first, waiting as he reacted with the same, and then deepened the kiss, pressing her lips against his properly; trying to convey her love.

The call over the intercom interrupted them, 'Trinity, please can you make sure your final work is filed ready for delivery and then report to the cockpit.'

Trinity pulled back from Neo hesitantly, slipping out of his arms. She placed one final kiss squarely on his lips, and then returned to her office briefly, gathering together all her final work which was to be hand delivered rather than emailed. She packaged it all up into a file, labelling it "Nebuchadnezzar, Trinity" and then set it down on the bed, returning to lock up her secret door. She pulled a bag out from under the bed, handing it to Neo and telling him, 'go into my hamper and collect two sets of everything, fold them neatly and put them in this bag. Then return to your room and do the same for you. Take the bag to the mess hall once you're done and I'll meet you there later.'

'Ok,' Neo said, kissing her cheek before she rushed off to the cockpit. She joined Morpheus, taking her seat next to him. He informed her, 'we're clear for entry in through gate eight. Have you finished all your work?'

'Yes, I've already sent off the papers necessary for the ships, and I have my personal papers ready for delivery,' Trinity told him, taking up the controls.

'This trip to Zion is going to be very busy for you, I hope you realize that. It is compulsory that you make a visit to the hospital as well; I've already made you an appointment.'

'What are the exact plans for the next week?' Trinity asked.

'The first day you have off to rest or do whatever you please, as you will with the second half of the second day, but the first half is when you must report to the hospital- 8AM sharp. The third day I will take you to Councillor Hammond, where we will be discussing the work that you are handing in to him. You may wish for me to stay with you then, but by all means you may request that I leave, I will let you decide when we come to it. The fourth day may be further talks, I am unsure, if they are not taking place then you will have a free day, in which I suggest you show Neo around, let him get a feel for what he is saving. The fifth day will be your exams. The sixth will be a final day of rest before we return to the ship on the seventh.'

Trinity nodded, taking in all the information.

'Have you told Neo about your exams or the extra papers you have been doing?'

'No, I didn't think it was right to tell him yet. I don't want to tell him until I'm sure of the results and what's going to happen. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to go through with this now, Morpheus, I have so much more to loose now. It may sound strange, but I…I need Neo…and I don't think I can do this…without him.'

'That's perfectly reasonable, Trinity, but just remember when you pass you don't have to take up the offer…'

'If I pass,' Trinity corrected him.

'Trinity, I know you will pass, there is no way you could fail. I have all my faith in you and I will support you one hundred percent of the way. I want you to know that there is no pressure to take up this offer if you do pass, it's only temporary, but it may turn permanent, so you just have a think about it, and maybe once you've got the results you may decided to go along with it for a while.'

'We'll see,' Trinity said quietly, still not confident that she would definitely pass. She asked, 'when will I get my results?'

'I've asked Councillor Hammond if we could have them on the sixth day, and seeing as no one else is taking the exam he said that he would make sure it was done for you. I've never told you before, Trinity, but you've made me more proud than I thought I ever could be. It has been an honour for you to have served as my second in command.'

'It's been an honour to work for you, Morpheus.'

The final ten minutes or so of the journey was made in silence between the captain and his second in command.

Trinity's time in Zion was divided into to sections pretty much as Morpheus told her they would be. The first day was spent at home with Neo, but rather than resting they spent the time getting to know each other, each other's bodies and Trinity also told him about the ways in which Zion worked. Most of the day was spent in bed though, certainly not only talking. Neo learned the points of Trinity's body as well as she learned his, each finding the preferred places to touch, and discovering what would send them each into oblivion.

The second day Trinity went to the hospital like Morpheus had requested. Both Morpheus and Neo accompanied her, more for support than anything else. Trinity was a little annoyed that all this fuss was being made over her, but she accepted it graciously, and just got on with the appointment. She had to explain to one of the doctors what had happened each time she had fainted with Morpheus and Neo describing what they did when these pass outs happened. The doctor had made Trinity have several tests taken, getting her to leave behind bloody samples and urine samples to be sent off to the labs. Trinity didn't appreciate the needles been stuck in her, but she just sat there and got through it. He was told that the results would be sent to her on board the ship if they were important or health endangering. The doctor didn't think that it was anything dangerous though, more just the case of the beginnings of a light flu or a stomach bug. Trinity accepted those as either of the reasons, and agreed to be vaccinated against the flu in case that was the problem.

The second half of the day was spent in bed with Neo again, practising everything they had learned about each other the day before.

On the third day Morpheus collecting Trinity early in the morning, leaving Neo to rest for the day in the apartment on his own with members of the crew visiting through the day to keep him company. Tank took him to one of the bars with the rest of the crew, but was kind enough to make sure he only had one drink, any more could have got him completely pissed.

While Neo and the others were out in one of the bars, Trinity and Morpheus were sat in Councillor Hammond's chambers with the councillor, talking through the position that had been offered to Trinity, and what the position would require her to do. As was customary, Trinity's past in the real world was delved into to see what she had accomplished in her time. Trinity left behind the file that she had completed as part of her exams, and then returned to her apartment on her own. When she got back she found Neo asleep in bed whilst Tank, Switch and Mouse sat in the living room area, chatting. Trinity inquired why they were here, and Tank explained, 'we all went out to a bar, and I took Neo along with us, he's only had one drink, but I think that was enough for him, so we decided to let him sleep it off. We wanted to wait until you got back though just in case he was ill.'

'Ok, well thanks for bothering to wait until I got back. He'll just have to sleep it off now,' Trinity said. The others stayed with her while Neo continued to sleep, giving them some time to chat to each other.

The fourth day was indeed free, so Trinity took up Morpheus' idea of showing Neo around, and took him on a day trip of Zion, showing him all the places that there were. He got to see the orphanage, the daily market, the temple, the engineering level, and just generally what he was going to save.

The fifth day Trinity woke up with butterflies in her stomach, he wrote a note to Neo, saying that she'd be back in the afternoon because she had business to attend to, and then left him to sleep. She took her exams with Councillor Hammond watching. The exams were all written ones, one on engineering, one in computing and programming, another in advanced computing, one in electronics, one in construction and a final one in management. Trinity's general skills did not need to be tested, seeing as Morpheus had already testified for Trinity being the best engineer he had ever met. Having seen some of her work and her skills at the controls of a ship before, councillor Hammond didn't need to be further convinced.

The sixth day was more time with Neo, talking to him, showing him a bit more of Zion, and taking him out to another bar to let him get used to the Zion alcohol before dropping him back off at home the headed to meet councillor Hammond. The councillor explained to Trinity that he couldn't have her results ready for her for quite some time. Things had come up at council that needed attending to and he was overloaded with paperwork now, but he'd mark them as soon as he could and send the results on. Trinity was disappointed, but accepted the fact that she would not be receiving the marks yet.


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