A/N: Hmm...for some reason, I didn't like the last chapter much when I reread it. I think a couple of people were out of character. Wish I'd done it better, but I can't think of anyway I could improve it and still keep the plot line the same as I originally planned it to be- as well as keeping Dwayne in character. But at least I got some good reviews, so I suppose it isn't that bad. A big thank you to all my reviewers because you guys make writing this worth it!

Neo-lover72- I've taken your suggestion on board (the one you asked me about a couple of chapters back. With Neo comforting Trin). I promise to somehow fit it into the next chapter and ensure that I dedicate it to you!

Nice short chapter this time. I'm trying to get back into the mood of writing short chapters for some odd reason. The chapter after will most likely be a long one so I suppose a short one makes for a nice break.

Enjoy!

17

Trinity shot Neo and anxious glance, which he returned. They said nothing, knowing just with one brief look exactly what was on the other's mind. Fear...afraid of what would happen...afraid that they would not emerge from the Council's chamber as crewmembers again.

Not at all in the mood for continuing her conversation with Dwayne, Trinity pushed past him hurriedly, tugging Neo after her by the hand. At once, Dwayne darted up behind them, his short and stubby legs taking three small steps for every one of the Trinity's strides. Panting as he struggled to keep in line with them, he managed to holler a rushed statement.

"You have one hour before they demand to see you." He swerved clumsily through the oncoming crowd, dodging a group of children to meet them at an elevator. "They want both of you to go in together."

"Is that all you have to tell me?" Trinity enquired irritably, not even giving him the courtesy of turning her head. "Because if so, I'd appreciate it if you'd piss off.....now."

"Well, I can tell when I'm not wanted." Dwayne mumbled fake-huffily. "I guess I'll be seeing you around then. Bye, beautiful."

Trinity ignored him, but Neo was sure he saw her cheeks tighten at the statement. The elevator doors clashed open and a group of people bustled out onto the ground floor, leaving them room to slide into the elevator alone and ascend to the level that would take them back to their room.

"Who was that guy?" Neo asked, giving her a sideways glance that clearly depicted pure dislike for the man he mentioned.

"Dwayne?" Trinity asked, to which Neo nodded. "He's a Zion born, worthless fat failure who hasn't done anything with himself since the day he left the academy. He's been living off the good will of others ever since."

"He seems to have taken a shine to you." Neo muttered bitterly more to himself than to her. He immediately began to feel a sense of uneasiness. Gee, I hope that didn't come out wrong...I don't want her to think I'm jealous or anything...

Trinity caught the flicker in his brown eyes and was puzzled, having never seen him display such a look before. But in an instant, she knew what it meant when she considered the conversation they'd just shared with Dwayne. He's jealous! Jealous of Dwayne? That's the most absurd thing I've ever heard...not to mention the most flattering. Although he is being a little irrational...and overprotective. I've been handling people like Dwayne all my life and I don't need a body guard. I can handle myself just fine.

She froze, hearing the old Trinity emerge from within herself. Although this was not a part of her she planned to forget or loose even if most of her had changed over the course of the past month, she realized that this was not the sort of situation to be in that frame of mind.

He's being overprotective and jealous without realizing it himself. I suppose he can't help it...probably similar to the way I felt jealous of the Woman in Red when he stared after her during the time when he was taking the Agent training program.

"Dwayne was an incredibly close friend of Cypher's." Trinity explained as the doors to the elevator opened and she led the way back down an unfamiliar corridor to their shared room. "Apparently, they used to spend a lot of time together when they were at the academy. They got on well because they both disliked following orders, wanted to be rich, and had the same taste in women. In fact, they were so close at one stage that someone suspected Dwayne had something to do with the whole affair with Gina, even if that's impossible since he's never even been on board our ship."

"Oh." Neo replied, figuring out what sort of a character Dwayne was already based on a combination of what Trinity had told him, and of what he'd seen thus far. He could obviously see why Dwayne and Cypher could have been friends.

Trinity sat stiffly on the edge of the bed, watching as he packed his new clothes into the closet, selected one outfit and carried it with him towards the bathroom along with an assortment of toiletries from his bag. He crossed the room in the direction of the bathroom, pausing in front of the bed to smile at the woman who watched him. He could already clearly see the worry etched across her face, and the anxiety that danced in the depths of her ice blue eyes was painfully obvious despite all attempts she made to mask it with a stony and empty expression.

He wanted to kiss her...to comfort her...let her know that somehow he would find a way through this....he wouldn't let anything happen to him...for her. But now wasn't the time. They only had an hour before it was time to see the Council.

"Is it ok if I take a shower?" He asked her pitifully, coaxing his head to the side.

Trinity nodded as her only reply, and Neo smiled quietly before completing the walk to the bathroom and closing the door behind him with a gentle click.

The bathroom was much larger than the shower blocks or tiny toilet cubicles on board the Nebuchadnezzar, and would have been almost equivalent to the size of the singular small room he had owned on the ship before he became the One. A large shower stood to one side, a toilet to the other, with a hand basin facing directly opposite it and several thin shelves stacked above it. Everything except the white curtain of fabric that lined the shower was a dull and dreary shade of teal, making him feel a sense of tiredness and depression.

Dumping the items he held in his hands to the floor carelessly, Neo stripped off and turned on the taps to the shower, stepping inside and drawing the curtain around him. He sighed, feeling the dirt that had clung to his body for weeks on end now rush away. The warm water drizzled down his skin, making his tense muscles relax and his mind feel at ease despite what was to await him in less than an hour's time. To keep his mind off the Council and the interrogation into his personal life that was sure to come, he let his mind wonder back to a time when he was repairing the ship with Trinity and a conversation they had shared....

"I had only just turned eighteen and had been unplugged and serving Morpheus on board the Neb for three years." Trinity had informed him when she accidentally brought up a woman named Gina and Neo had made further inquiries. "After being unplugged for only one year, Apoc was assigned to serve on our ship, and together the two of us were working on unplugging Switch along with a more experienced solider named Amos. We were bringing Switch to see Morpheus when we were suddenly ambushed by a group of Agents. Amos took one look at the Agents, and then one look at Apoc, Switch and I before he told us to run while he held them off. We hesitated, but since he was of a higher rank than us, we obeyed him nevertheless." She paused, staring down at the wrench resting in her lap. "No one ever saw him alive again."

Neo had looked away, unable to think of anything to say. Somehow he didn't expect Trinity to want to continue her story, but moments later, she had picked up from where she left off. He wondered now, as he stood in the shower, rubbing what he hoped was some form of shampoo through his short spikes of hair, if she had expected or hoped he would give her words of comfort in that time, and now sorely regretted that he didn't. But what could he have said? I'm sorry? He'd already told her so numerous times before....there were so many events in Trinity's life that he needed to be sorry for...

"Amos was seeing a woman on our ship." Trinity finally continued. "A woman named Gina. Naturally, she was very shaken after his death, and went into a state of depression. I remember that she hardly ever came out of her room during that time, and Morpheus didn't pressure her to do any work...understanding what she must be going through. He selected a new crewmember from the academy to work in Amos's stead. Someone who was meant to be a highly skilled hacker, and a pretty good fighter as well. But that didn't make him any less of a bastard."

"Cypher." Neo said, stating the obvious. At the time, he was still in a naïve state of uncertainty when it came to discussing Cypher's betrayal. He had always been unnerved by Cypher for some strange reason....never able to feel comfortable when having conversations with him (At one stage, he thought this may have been simply because Trinity had explained the phone conversation she'd had with Cypher before his death in detail - including the part about him loving her. It made his stomach clench inside when he thought about it...about someone else being with her, even if they had technically never been together.). But even so, Cypher had always seemed to be a friendly enough person. He definitely didn't expect him to do what he did.

But what Trinity said next changed his view on Cypher and his behavior completely. It was then that he realized why he'd always felt so unsettled when in the other man's company. Why Trinity, Dozer, Switch and Apoc seemed to treat him in a manner of distaste. It was because of a dark and well hidden past that had left a mark on him, an aura of mistrust that Neo had somehow been able to sense.

"Cypher warmed up to Gina pretty quickly, although Gina was never the sort of person to let anyone in easily, and even more so now that Amos was dead. But she befriended Cypher because she seemed to find his dry sense of humor amusing, and he was able to make her laugh when she needed to be cheered up the most. But Cypher abused his position." Trinity lowered her voice as she added darkly. "She was nearly ten years older than he was, but that didn't seem to bother him. He took advantage of his friendship with her and of her pitiful state of mind by trying to, well, he tried to assault her. When she reported it, Cypher was brought before the Council in Zion. Unfortunately, there weren't any eyewitnesses or solid evidence to prove he was guilty of the charges pressed against him, even though nearly everyone suspected he did it."

"Then why was he still working on a ship by the time I was unplugged?" Neo wondered. "Morpheus wouldn't trust him after that, would he?"

Trinity paused to consider this a while before she came up with her reply. "Morpheus is a very fair man who believes in second chances. He knew that no other captain would want Cypher to work on their ship after what happened, and that meant that Cypher would be out of a job. So he gave him another chance to prove he was trustworthy." Trinity clenched the cuffs of her sleeves in her fists, boiling with anger at the mere thought of what happened. "I knew Morpheus should have known better than to trust him."

"What happened to Gina?" Neo had asked.

"Naturally, she refused to work on board the same ship as Cypher again. So Morpheus had her recruited to work somewhere else." Trinity turned to smile at her co-worker. "I'll bet that she'll find it hilarious when she hears about what happened...how Morpheus was stupid enough to trust Cypher again."

"But....there isn't any proof that he's guilty, is there?"

Trinity shook her head. "Not any solid evidence. But everyone thinks he did it. There certainly isn't a doubt in my mind. Unfortunately he was the only one who could prove that he really did it or not. I guess now that he's dead we'll never be able to know..."

Maybe he told Dwayne the truth. Neo mused as he turned the shower water off, emerging from behind the curtain to snatch a ragged towel and dry himself. Wouldn't surprise me if they were that close in friendship...but if that's true then he wouldn't tell anyone the truth even now that Cypher is dead anyway. What really gets to me about the whole situation is that another human being could actually sink that low...to take advantage of a friendship they'd built with an older woman who was obviously going through some sort of mental trauma. I still can't believe there are actually people like that in the world.

He hung the towel back up and pulled on the clean outfit, consisting of a powder blue shirt made of thin fabric and dark navy cotton pants. He began to move about the bathroom and collect his things, pausing in front of the mirror when he caught sight of several fine hairs growing back on his jaw and grinned, hoping that someone had been kind enough to supply him with a shaver.

A fierce wrapping on the door broke him from his thoughts.

"Neo, we need to go." Trinity called through the door.

Neo said nothing, but pulled the door open to see Trinity glaring back at him, her face paler than usual and her eyes wide, glittering with worry. He wished he knew a way to make her feel better....some words of comfort he could say. But nothing came to mind. He swerved around her to stow his things away in his bag at the bottom of the closet.

Trinity watched him, trembling subconsciously as she wondered what would await them next. She didn't want to be afraid....people like her were never afraid...but she couldn't deny that the single emotion pouring into her very soul was none other than fear at its very worst.

I can't lose him. She told herself as she watched him move hurriedly about the room. At least I know Morpheus is on our side. But what power does he have against the Council? I guess all I can do is wait...and hope.........but they can't take him...they won't...they can't...

Neo turned back to face her, trying to think so something he could say...something he could do. But his mind was already focused on what lay ahead of them. He didn't know what they would do to him once they found out he was the One. Keep him in Zion to run tests on him? That possibility was terrifying enough on its own without having to know he'd have to deal with it without Trinity.

It's funny. He thought to himself. Before I met her, I could manage to deal with things like this just fine on my own. But it's harder now...I don't think I could ever do anything without 't do anything without consulting her first. I have to think about Trinity every time I make a decision if I want it to be the right one. Because everything I do is going to effect us in some way from now on...not just me...us...

"You ready?" She asked, trying and failing to hide her broken voice.

Neo nodded, taking to her side. He could sense the fear vibrating off her skin when he drew close to her, and automatically (as if by instinct), he ran his fingers lightly across the skin of her arm, guiding his hands between the metal of her plugs and the flesh of her pale skin. Her muscles tightened beneath his fingers, and then finally relaxed.

"It will be alright, Trin." He reassured her minutes before he pulled open the front door.

For once, she wanted to be the one who was comforted, and not the one doing the comforting. Instead of making her usual cool reply that would accompany such a remark, she spoke the question that was on her mind.

"How do you know?"

Neo took a moment to consider this before he came up with a direct response. Because I can't live without you? Because soon they'll realize that I can only reach my full potential when I think about you? Because one way or another, I'll make sure that we stay together, even if it means that we have to tell Morpheus and Tank that they need to leave without us until I've completed whatever I have to do...even if it means disobeying their orders and leaving Zion with you anyway? Because...because...

"Because it has to."

(o)

A/N: A nice, short chapter after so many long ones all in one go! I hoped you enjoyed it regardless of the length, anyways. In the next chapter, Neo and Trinity will stand before the Council and see what their response is to Neo's being the One and his relationship with Trinity, and what they plan to do about it! Stay tuned until then.

I'm still open to requests and I will try to fit in everyone's ideas because I want you to enjoy this story as much as possible. But since I already have most of this story figured out, it might be difficult...

Thanks for reading, please review!