Sniff sniff it's the last chapter…which turned out to be so long I had to split it in two! Sorry about that, I didn't think it would take this much writing to wrap everything up... Thanks to everyone who's been reading and reviewing, you've made writing so much more fun :). Have a cookie, everybody (hands round plate of cookies) hehehe

See first chapter for disclaimer.

Chapter 19: The End

The room was silent. It was just, me, Hannah, the Architect and Khenti-Irti left now. Everyone who made me feel safe was gone: Morpheus had returned to his ship and his duties, Trinity had gone back to Tom, and Niobe was no doubt now on her way to the Logos and her responsibilities as captain. Hannah was the only person whom I could draw any comfort from, and vice versa. We moved closer together as the Architect stepped towards us.

"So, here we are." He looked us up and down and we wondered what he was assessing; presumably how fit we were for whatever purpose he had planned. Suddenly he turned to Khenti-Irti, "You can release Neo now. Delete the prison programme." Hannah and I breathed an internal sigh of relief that it was over for him now, and for all the others who would be there waiting for his return. The only sting left behind was that we wouldn't be among them.

"Artemis, Apollo, won't you follow me?" He made his way over to the door and stood holding it open, his hand gesturing the way through. We were hesitant about accepting, about throwing ourselves into something without any kind of protection. But we knew that there was no choice – and as long as we had each other, somehow everything would be alright. Hannah reached out and took my hand in hers, and with a calming breath we walked in step towards the door.

OoOoO

Trinity felt the plug being slid out from the back of her neck, but was unwilling to open her eyes. She wanted to just lie still for a little longer, not having to think about anything, least of all the events that had just taken place. Even though Morpheus had endorsed it, and so had Apollo and Artemis themselves, she could hardly believe they had just abandoned the twins for the sake of a promise which would probably never be fulfilled anyway. In truth, what reason had they to trust the Architect? How did they know he wouldn't just kill Neo regardless – he was a system anomaly, after all, and what good would it do the Matrix to leave him be?

She felt Morpheus' hand on her arm, and shut her eyes tighter.

"Trin?"

Wait…that wasn't Morpheus' voice…was it? Despite herself, she allowed her eyes to open and looked up not into Morpheus' face, but one that was equally if not more familiar. Neo smiled. Although the ship was alive with the sounds of the engines, the machinery, the humming computers, she could have sworn it all silenced as she looked into his eyes. He squeezed her arm and rested his other hand on the side of her face as she tried to believe what she was seeing. Her mouth was moving but she couldn't make any words come out; she wasn't even sure what she was trying to say.

Morpheus saw Neo bending down to kiss her, and decided to give them a few moments to themselves. He looked at Niobe and they shared a smile as they sat down next to Link, who was grinning like a 5-year-old. He still hadn't gotten over being the first person to see Neo waking up.

"Can you still see the twins?" Morpheus asked.

"Yeh, they're still okay."

"Good." As Neo approached the monitors, Morpheus stood up, and only Niobe noticed that he was almost imperceptibly shaking. "Neo," he said simply.

"Hey, Morpheus." Neo held out a hand for his captain to shake, which was warmly accepted.

"It's good to have you back," Morpheus added with a smile.

"It's good to be back. Not that I really know where I was."

Link looked up in surprise, "You mean the Architect never told you? Why you were there?"

"I guessed why I was there…well, sort of…at first I thought it was something to do with being the One but since I was being ignored I figured it must have been something else."

Link's smile began to fade. The celebration of Neo's return was obviously over, and it was time to get straight back to the problem at hand.

"Did you realise you were a hostage?" Asked Morpheus gravely. Neo nodded. "Do you know what he wanted in exchange for your life?"

"No. Is this something to do with my sisters?"

"How did you know that?" Said Trinity, shocked. He remained silent and looked at the floor.

"Sit down, Neo," said Morpheus, pulling out a chair. "There's a lot we need to tell you."

OoOoO

When we reached the end of the corridor, Khenti-Irti reached inside his sleeve and pulled out a key, which he fitted into the endmost door. When it opened, it was not into another staff-room or a storage facility that you'd expect to find at the back of a museum, but a large warehouse. Hannah and I realised instantly that it must have been the same type of key the Keymaker had given us.

"Won't you wait in here for just a moment?" The Architect requested, smiling. "I have one or two duties to which I must attend, but I will join you presently."

We stepped inside the nearly-empty warehouse, and looked back as Khenti-Irti shut the door. The corners of his lips were curled as he pulled it closed, and we heard a shuffle of keys before the click of one being turned in the lock. Glancing around, we could see the building hadn't been in use for a long time – there were a few piles of wooden crates here and there, but they looked empty, and the floor was covered in dirt and dust. Shreds of material hung limply in the rafters, swaying gently from side to side in a light breeze that had found its way through cracks and gaps in the roof. There was a skylight at the other end of the hall, and light peeping in under the door it illuminated, but other than that it was murky, and our shadows were barely visible in the gloom.

What do you think he wants us for? Thought Hannah.

No idea. Some kind of training maybe? What else would we need this big space for?

Guess so. Hey, do you think that door's locked? The one at the other end?

Might be. Let's go have a look.

We strode quickly down the length of the floor, scaring a few mice into their holes, and stood hands on hips in front of the main doors. They were much bigger than they had looked from the other end, presumably to allow bulky transport vehicles in and out. Sure enough, a thick chain hung between the two large handles.

Typical. Just typical.

Suddenly there was a creaking sound behind us, and turning we saw that a smaller side door which we hadn't even noticed before was opening. It's hinges were badly rusted and it shuddered round unsteadily, squeaking and groaning for all it was worth. Here comes the Architect. Time to find out our fate. Well, I was half-right.

It /was/ time to discover what was in store for us, but it wasn't the Architect who appeared silhouetted in the doorway. It was a figure in black, what looked like a suit.

Hang on…is that-

"Ah, the Misses Anderson."

Hannah looked sidelong at me. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

I'm your twin, Han, of course I'm thinking what you're thinking. And if we're right, we're totally screwed.

As the figure stepped into the edge of the pool of light created by the skylight, our fears were confirmed.

"What do you want, Smith?" Said Hannah boldly, seeming to put aside everything she knew about what to do when faced with an Agent.

Um, Hannah dearest, shouldn't we be running?

Running to where?

"I want to do what I've been sent to do," replied Smith, drawing out a gun.

OoOoO

"Did the Architect tell you what he wanted with the twins?" Asked Morpheus. Neo shook his head. "Then how did you know they were connected with this?"

Neo sighed, leaned back in his chair and fingered one of the plugs on his arm. "Just the Oracle…I don't get it."

"Don't get what? What did she tell you?" Trinity pressed, leaning forward in suspense.

"Just that…" He paused. "Just that my sisters would be ready to have their minds freed soon, and that it would 'unlock great potential' or something. I dunno." He looked around the deck mournfully. "I guess I was expecting to see them." Trinity put her hand comfortingly on his, knowing how disappointed he was feeling.

"Wait…" said Niobe slowly. She was supposed to have already returned to the Logos, but had stayed to hear the full explanation of events, as what Morpheus had told her on the intercom was barely sufficient. "They can't be as powerful as you, but doesn't unusual potential mean some kind of disruption to the system balance?"

Trinity looked at her oddly. "What are you talking about?"

"The Matrix is a computer system, right? The One is a problem for the Architect and the machines because he creates some kind of imbalance. I don't pretend to understand it, but if Neo's ability puts the Matrix at risk, what would happen if Apollo and Artemis reached their full potentials?"

"But it can't be that big a problem, can it? I mean, they can handle the One without the Matrix crashing."

"But can they handle three?"

"Don't be ridiculous," said Morpheus, "there can't be more than one."

"No," admitted Niobe, "but the One is never meant to have any siblings. As I said, they'll never match him, but they could pose a threat to the machines."

"But in that case, what would the Architect want with them?" Mused Morpheus. "What do you think, Neo?"

They looked over, but Neo's chair was empty.

OoOoO

I pulled Hannah out of the way as Smith fired, aiming for her head. He emptied his clip into space and as he paused to find a spare, I jumped back up and delivered him the most powerful kick I could muster, pounding the ball of my foot into his neck. He staggered sideways but immediately recovered his posture, this time with a fresh gun pointed at my chest. I froze and held his gaze, amazed that he was pausing, but relieved beyond measure that he was – as I kept him looking at me, Hannah crept up behind him and knocked the gun from his hand. Her other arm she wrapped round his throat and pulled him down, while I grabbed the gun that was spinning across the floor.

Hannah had Smith flat on his back with one foot on his neck and as I ran over with the gun I thought we might be alright. But this was no ordinary person we were fighting. Instead of staying still to protect his neck, he reached out and took hold of Hannah's ankle, giving it a swift tug. Her leg gave way and she crashed to the floor, while he sprung back up and kicked her in the ribs. She cried out as he took hold of her collar and yanked her back up, punching her in the mouth.

"Hannah!" I bounded over, unable to watch this happening, and without looking or thinking, shot Smith in the chest. He let go of Hannah, stepped back, looked down at the wound, and folded to the floor. My hand went limp and the gun clattered down to join him.

An Agent…I just killed an Agent… Hannah stared, wiping blood from her lips, at the body on the floor, as it turned from Smith back into the person whose body he had taken over. My stomach sickened; it was a boy of no more than 12. And I had just killed him.

Sarah, don't be stupid, you had to shoot, he would have killed both of us!

I know, but…

Suddenly my train of thought was interrupted by a banging sound, as if hundreds of feet were approaching. What is that noise? I felt my knees go weak as, through the side door, another Smith appeared. And another. And another. And another.

What the hell…

But I had no time to try and work out what was going on, as they were all there to finish off the job the first Smith had come to do. I lost sight of Hannah as I was surrounded by Agents attacking me from all conceivable angles, and I had to rely on my 6th sense to know where she was. I stopped thinking at all, letting my instincts take over, as a normal mind could never work fast enough to process all the reactions I needed to block and retaliate so fast. There were just too many of them.

So this is it? The Architect wanted to kill us?

I felt a hand on my shoulder and tried to send a punch behind me, but another Smith caught my arm and twisted it round. I yelped and instinctively bent over to counteract the twist, but even in this miniscule pause they found the opportunity to knock me down. Before I knew what was happening I was on the ground, my face pushed into the floor, and amidst all the chaos I made out a distinct clicking sound, and felt the cold barrel of a gun pressed against the side of my head.

"Inevitability," came a cold voice. "Fascinating, isn't it?"

"Inevitable my arse!" Shouted Hannah, leaping through the crowd and throwing herself onto the Smith holding the gun, knocking him off my back. They rolled a couple of metres, before the surrounding Agents grabbed Hannah and pushed her down next to me. I tried to turn my head and smile, but the Smith whom she had knocked off me had been replaced as soon as he was out of the way, and my head was held firmly down.

Thanks for trying.

I couldn't watch them kill you. But I guess it's over now.

"Thought you could escape the inevitable, didn't you? Not this time." As Smith spoke, I heard someone else approaching, with slow, assured footsteps. I strained to see who it was, and in my peripheral vision could make out the Architect.

"You're a bastard," Hannah wheezed, her lungs slowly being crushed by the weight of the Smith holding her down. "And Smith…you're an exile…a fking exile…you shouldn't be working for him now…"

"He is avoiding deletion," the Architect explained. "I'm allowing him a final task." Before he had even finished, my twin and I both felt the familiar cold metal rim sinking into the skin on our faces…

We're gonna die.

Yes.

Love you, Hannah.

Love you, Sarah.

We each managed to reach a hand out far enough to intertwine our fingers, then we shut our eyes and Smith fired.