Summary, Warnings, and Disclaimer: Why do I even bother with this?

"Some people see things that are and ask, Why?

Some people dream of things that never were and ask, Why not?

Some people have to go to work and don't have time for all that st."

-George Carlin

Morpheus stared at the screen, mute with shock. That was… no. It wasn't impossible, since it had happened, so it was… improbable.

Improbable he could handle. It described every day of their existence, after all.

Of course, the improbable had never hit them quite so hard and fast before as it had these last few days, but again, nothing they couldn't handle. Though of all the years he'd been unplugged from the Matrix, he had never missed getting plastered as much as he did right now.

Sighing, he walked over to the wall and activated the intercom. "Tank, I need you to come relieve me in the jack chamber. I need to jack in for a few minutes."

Trinity stared down at the child, who looked like he was wishing he could dig a hole and hide in it. "Harry…?"

Biting his lip, the boy straightened. "Y-yes, Trinity?"

"Could you teach me how to do that?" she asked, face splitting into a wide grin.

Harry gaped at her in disbelief. "What? But-"

"Because that was one of the coolest things I've ever seen!" she went on, grabbing the boy and twirling him in a hug. "Please, please, please teach me?"

"Um, sure," Harry agreed uncertainly, hugging her back. "Just as soon as I figure out how I did it," he added under his breath as she let go.

He looked out over the edge as his foster-mother rambled on. Just how had he done it, anyway? One second he was wishing he was standing next to Trinity, and the next, he was. But… it couldn't be as simple as just wanting it, could it? Because he'd wanted so many things that never came, like for actual toys to play with, for Uncle Vernon to stop beating him, for a family that loved him…

His eyes widened, as Harry thought that over again. Uncle Vernon certainly was never going to beat him again- in fact, he was probably already six feet under. Toys… the memory of the simulation flew through his mind, and he grinned. Who the hell needed toys when they could have the real thing?

Well, sort of the real thing.

And as for a loving family… Harry glanced back at Trinity's enthusiastic face. He had that now, didn't he? Provided he hadn't screwed it up with this last adventure, of course, though if Trinity was any example of how the others were going to react, that wouldn't be a problem.

Trinity was like the mother he'd never had, and Neo would be the father… Tank seemed more like the indulgent uncle, and Morpheus was perfect for the role of the strict grandfather. He still wasn't sure what they saw in him, but he knew that at this point he wouldn't give them up.

He couldn't.

"Morpheus! Did you see that?" Harry turned as Trinity spoke, to see the man had appeared on the rooftop while he was distracted.

"Yes, I did, and it was most… interesting." The dark man studied the boy intently through narrowed eyes, and Harry found himself struggling not to squirm. "Do you think you could do that again, if it was needed?"

Harry swallowed. "I… don't know, sir. I can try."

Morpheus nodded, looking out over the rooftop. "There," he said, pointing to an upthrust ventilation shaft. "Try teleporting next to the vent." If there was the slightest of pauses before he managed to say "teleporting", no one was going to call him on it.

Harry turned towards the vent, closing his eyes and mentally willing himself to be there, straining with every fiber of his being.

And nothing happened.

Frowning, he opened his eyes and looked at the vent as his thoughts raced. Why wasn't it working? He was doing everything he'd done before… No. He wasn't.

With a triumphant smile, Harry closed his eyes again, and built a picture in his mind, of himself, standing next to the ventilation duct.

This time he heard the pop, as air rushed to fill the space he'd just occupied.

Tank expertly disengaged the jack, pulling it smoothly out of the back of Harry's head. As the boy opened his eyes, he smiled. "Hola, chico. Heard you've been surprising the captain again." He leaned in closer, whispering conspiratorially. "You really shouldn't be doin' that, you know. He isn't as young as he used to be, and we wouldn't want to be giving the old man a heart attack, now would we?"

Harry choked as he snickered helplessly, trying and failing to imagine anything that would scare the stolid man into heart failure. Grinning, Tank helped him up, then walked over to unplug the others.

Yawning, the emerald-eyed boy leaned back against the reclining chair. He was surprised at how much more tired he felt, now that he was back in the real world. But then, the adrenaline had long ago worn off, so it really shouldn't be surprising. He lifted a hand to cover another yawn as Trinity walked up.

"Tired?" she asked with a smile, leaning against the chair.

"A little," Harry answered, smiling back. "I guess teleportation takes it right out of me."

"I'm not surprised, considering what it entails." At his confused look she went on. "Well, think about it! You have to move every single molecule of your body over a distance. It has to be the same distance for each of them, and they have to arrive in the same formation that they were before. To do all that, even unconsciously, must be…" She shook her head wordlessly. "I mean, imagine if it didn't work, and you left a part behind, or something."

"…Eep." Harry sat up, wide-eyed and a bit green. "I hadn't thought of that."

Trinity opened and closed her mouth, chagrined. "I didn't mean it like that, I just… Look, forget I said anything, 'kay? If nothing's happened yet, it's probably not going to. Don't be afraid to try just because I opened my big mouth."

Though he still looked a tad worried, nevertheless Harry nodded, and she smiled in relief, glad she hadn't ruined it for him. "Well, if you're tired, we should probably get you to bed."

"Not yet." They both turned, and found Morpheus standing behind them, a stern look on his face as he frowned at Harry.

"Sir?" he asked, dropping his eyes to the ground as he wondered if he'd done something wrong after all.

The look, as well as the tone, changed, becoming almost… paternal. "With everything that was going on, I'm afraid we forgot something." Hopefully, the boy glanced up through his unruly bangs, and Morpheus actually… smiled? "You still haven't eaten dinner."

After a moment of disbelief, Harry nodded, breaking out into the most genuine smile any of them had yet seen from the diminutive boy. "Yes, sir."

Severus rubbed a hand across his weary face as he bent over the steaming cauldron. The last few days had not been… pleasant. Which was an understatement to top all previous declarations.

Ever since they'd found out about Potter's disappearance, Albus Dumbledore, someone that the Slytherin had come to respect above all others for his kindness and understanding, had spent most of the time with his temper on a hair-thin trigger. That temper, when they were alone, had frequently erupted into cataclysmic rages, while Severus did his best not to cower in terror.

He couldn't understand why. Sure, they'd lost the child everyone in the wizarding world looked to as their savior, but… it seemed like Albus's fury was caused by something else, something deeper. In all his years teaching at Hogwarts, and even as a student, he'd never seen anything like this from the older man.

And it scared him. Dear Merlin, but it scared him.

Trinity smiled, looking down at the boy's sleeping figure. His face was peaceful, far more so than she'd ever seen it before, a small, quiet smile creasing his features. Sighing, she bent down and pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead, then backed out of the small cabin.

Outside, Morpheus was waiting for her. "Is he all right?"

The woman nodded, feeling like her smile was permanently welded to her face. "Yeah."

Together, they walked through the ship's passages, ducking with long familiarity pipes and bundles of wires. Trinity could tell Morpheus had something he wanted to get off his mind, and she knew from experience that the best way to get him to talk was just to listen.

And sure enough, a minute later he sighed. "I wanted to thank you, Trinity."

She paused, startled. "For what?"

He gestured back towards where Harry was sleeping. "For him. The last few days… Even in the bad moments, I don't think any of us have been happier. Even, and perhaps especially him."

After a moment, Trinity bowed her head. "I'm not the one to thank, but… I understand what you mean."

The captain started walking again, and she followed. "Are you still against the possibility of the child staying with us?"

Her lips quirked. "Not so much anymore, truthfully."

"Good." Morpheus smiled again, to her surprise. Two smiles out of him, in one day? Maybe miracles did happen. "I have been considering the matter, and… when we return to Zion, I am planning to take him as my apprentice. The Council will bee surprised, but if he accepts they won't be able to stop it."

Apprentice?!

"The Council… will be very surprised. You've turned down… how many offers, over the years?" Trinity asked, choosing her words carefully.

"Too many to count. But Harry has the potential to be a good officer, and frankly, we could use the extra help. Six hour shifts around the clock have been running us ragged."

"We could always request a few more crew members. The Council would be happy to grant it." She frowned as he turned to look at her, eyebrow raised. "I'm not saying I want to, I'm just trying to anticipate what they'll say." Trinity blinked as an insidious thought hit her. "Morpheus… you're not just doing this because he might be the One, are you?"

For a few seconds there was silence, just long enough for her to regret asking. "Do you really think me so obsessed, Trinity?"

She let her breath out in a sigh. "No. But… I wanted to make sure. For Harry's sake."

He nodded, accepting her argument, even as he chose not to respond to it. "You should get some rest."

"What about you?"

"I need to speak with Tank, first. Tomorrow we need to find a place to plug in."

Trinity stopped, eyes wide. She grabbed his arm, forcing the captain to stop. "Plug in, but… The Oracle. We're taking Harry to see her?!"

Morpheus simply looked at her, dark eyes serious. "You should get some rest, Trinity. Tomorrow will be a long day."

With that, he broke away from her limp grasp, and walked away.

A/N: And thus ends the six-hour typing marathon. /head thuds onto desk/ Wake me when the reviews start coming…

Kou: /sighs/ I suppose I really can't blame her. That was a long time at the computer… Ah, well.

This was really mostly a filler chapter, though it did introduce a couple of plot elements. And I actually managed to get Hoshi to write it in a decent amount of time, compared to the last one. /raises a hand in triumph/

Review Responses:

Our thanks to: Anora, LadyDeath1, Lutheyl, marauderluva-17, micah, Mithros, pandababie, and Silver-Enchantress-Elf.

A: /blinks/ How the hell do you keep doing that? Either you come up with something better than what I had planned, or you anticipate what I'm going to do. I might as well ask you to help me write the bloody thing.

That isn't actually the worst of ideas, considering how little you really know about the Matrix.

True… Is there any way I can ask you questions? I have the first movie practically memorized, but the second and third make things so much more complicated…

Ah, well. On to the actual review response:

How will Harry fit in… I won't lie, that'll be interesting (for me to write, at least). I have a few things planned out, but I can guarantee they'll be different. I will say you've got the basic attitude pinned down with that second scene you wrote.

/grins/ You know, you're the first to twig to how hard it was for Tank to find him, and what it means. I am planning on using Snape, even if this chapter's probably the last time he'll be in the prequel.

And don't worry, the angst is pretty much over. It's just that it had to be in there at some point, and I wanted to get it mostly over with early on. The next few chapters are going to be more plot-related.

curlytop: LoL. Sorry, I just don't really trust people's minds to stay out of the gutter. I figure, if I can infer something, someone else can too.

Alright, the wizarding world exists within the Matrix, but magic is real. I'm not saying more than that.

EvilExpressions: Yeah, the Hogwarts crew'll be there, eventually.

holydak1: Harry'll stay in both, actually. And there won't be so much of an emphasis on combat training, since he's just a kid.

incybincer: The reason they don't know yet I hinted at in the second chapter: wizards are very difficult to get a trace on.

Kenny7: Lol! Sorry 'bout that, but I'm glad you really want me to update.

Marshmallow Orc: Yeah, Harry will be going to Hogwarts, but it's going to be as AU as I can make it.

Mr Blader X: /laughs/ That's the first time I've heard anyone describe one of my stories that way! LOL.

And they will find out, eventually.

Neo Anderson: Lol. Don't worry, I didn't need the phrase until next chapter, so your timing was perfect.

NeovsSmith1: That would be interesting, but it probably won't happen for a while.

ShizukaSelphie: Yeah, the whole mother bit actually surprised me at first, but then I realized how much it worked. So I'm glad you liked it, too.

Stahchild: Thx! That's one of my favorite compliments to get!

Thanks, everyone. It's this kind of encouragement that keeps me posting, instead of just writing for myself. Until my friend showed me this website, I had a really big self-confidence issue, and you guys are really helping out with that.

See? It's like what everyone's been telling you for years. People aren't so scary after all.

/blinks/ Um, Kou? Most of the people here are scary.

…Oh.

11 July 2004