Gaia was getting worried. Her fingers kept twitching on the keyboard as she continued to follow Bree and Tron went through the Matrix. She had lost track of time since they had jacked in after the others. Skip was still on the ship with her, but even so, Gaia felt utterly alone. She kept catching herself glancing at the five silent figures lying motionlessly in the chairs. All the seats were occupied now. No one else from the Nostradamus could go in to help.

Bree had called only once to ask for directions, and then all communications had ceased. Gaia knew that the reason wasn't that Bree was to busy to call. Gaia had tried to call several times, but with none resulting in contact. All she got was static. She didn't know for a fact, but she figured that as soon as Bree and Tron had entered the Matrix, she had unknowingly lost contact with them. She had also lost communication with any other ships by use of the radio Bree had used earlier, but that had happened only a little bit ago.

After he had called on Zion, Link had been in a daze, and Gaia could tell when he had contacted her, but she didn't see any point in mentioning it. She remembered that her hand was shaking as she initiated the connection between the two vessels. His voice seemed just as unstable as her hand as he told her about Morpheus. He obviously was alone and frantic. Gaia felt a hard pang of sympathy for him.

"I don't know what else we can do," he told her, trying to sound as though he was not completely devastated. Gaia did not tell him that it wasn't working.

"There has to be something," Gaia said, trying to find some kind of way that they could help.

"There's nothing. Nothing at all." Gaia could not see it, but Link had his eyes closed, as though hoping her were dreaming. "We can't get in touch with any of them, and Morpheus was our only hope."

"What about Bree?" Gaias voice gave of a slightly defensive tone. "She and Tron are still in there and we have no indication that they've been captured. They still have a chance."

"I didn't mean…" His voice trailed off. He seemed to feel embarrassed about what he had said. "I just don't see how they can-" Suddenly, his voice was cut off and there was only static coming on Gaias end. She stared at the radio, wild-eyed, like it was a predator and she the prey.

"Link?" she said, her voice just above a whisper, but she knew no voice would reply on the other end. She ended the transmission and wandered back to the operating station where she sat down and went back to work on watching Bree and Tron. If only she could be sure that they would not be caught, then her hope would be restored, and she could feel a little more at ease.

"Is there any change?" a voice asked behind Gaia as she worked. She didn't have to turn around to know it was Skip. He was the only one left besides herself.

"No," she said colorlessly.

"Is there still hope?" Gaia did not answer for a moment or two, leaving the two in silence.

"Yes."

The afternoon was getting older, while the atmosphere grew more humid by the minute. Sunlight shone down in brutal waves upon the city, baking the sidewalks and the streets. Many people had taken to staying insides where relief came from many fans and air-conditioning systems. Those who had to stay outside, or simply were part of the vast majority who could afford neither, were sluggishly moving this way and that way, drenched in their own sweat, and wearing as little clothing as possible without qualifying for indecent exposure.

Only three figures seemed undaunted by the muggy air and scorching temperatures. Their black clothing made them stick out like three sore thumbs in the heat-stroked crowd. They wore dark sunglasses that shaded their eyes from view, and were walking at a quick determined pace. The one walking in lead of the other two was a man, behind him, keeping up well, was a woman, her shadowy hair flowing out behind her. Bringing up the rear, having difficulty matching the strides of the others, was a man, much younger then the first. All three moved with a purpose, a destination set in their minds, invisible to everyone else.

"Bree?" the younger man said, coming to a halt on the sidewalk. The other two stopped, the woman turning to look at him.

"Yes, Tron?" Bree replied pleasantly. Tron paused a moment before speaking, glancing at the other man while doing so.

"Can I talk to you a minute?" he asked. Bree reached up and slid the sunglasses from her eyes, her face adorned with a pondering expression. She gazed at Tron a while, considering his question. After a minute, she glanced backwards at the other man nodded. He returned the gesture and walked a little further along, leaving the other two to talk.

"What is it Tron?" Bree asked once Neo was out of earshot. She already had a guess, but she would hear Tron out.

"Are you sure we can trust him?" he said, jerking his head in the program's direction.

"Do we have a choice? He was right back there when he said we didn't have a plan for after we reached the warehouse."

"I know, but-"

"Do you really think," she interrupted him, her voice suddenly very stern, "that I am really that gullible. Don't you think I understand that there is a chance he is still working for the machines and that he's leading us into a trap?" Tron cringed away from her raised tone.

"I didn't mean-" he began.

"He's not Neo, I know that too," she said with a sigh. She had now lowered her voice, looking into Trons face. She saw many emotions there, and placed a hand upon his shoulder, "But we have to trust him. At least up until the point that he betrays that trust. OK?"

For a moment, they both merely stood and stared at each other. Bree suddenly realized that as much as she had fought against it, she had bonded with one of her new crewmates. Tron had become a part of her unorthodox family, her very own little brother, related to her only by the strong feelings she felt now. She would die for him, and he for her. A chuckle escaped her as she thought of how opposed she had, at first, been to changing ships.

"What's so funny?" Tron asked. Bree shook her head, and just threw an arm around his shoulders. Together they walked back to where Neo stood, waiting for them.

"Everything all right?" he asked as they came near enough to hear him.

"Yes," Bree answered, nodding her head, "Everything's fine."

"Good, because we're here."

They had reached the peak of the sidewalk, and now looked down a long slope. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but all three of them stared directly at a grey sheet metal warehouse, its roof a faded shade of red. They all seemed to sense something sinister was in that building, just waiting for them to enter.

Within the silver metal walls of the warehouse, unknown to the three outside, Circuit was beginning to break. His mind had begun to slip through the barrier between reality and the world beyond. Cyprus's body had joined Tick's in the corner where the agents had finally dragged him. Smith had had him shot just minutes ago, but Circuit barely heard the gunshot. All of his energy was being used to keep him from letting slip the secret of hacking into Zion's system. The only thing he could still comprehend was that his friends wanted him to stay strong, so stay strong he would.

Smith could see the weakness starting to stretch across the boy's face, and smiled a sadistic smile of satisfaction. Finally, he was getting somewhere, after many hours of questioning, and after shooting two of their captives. He had not yet gotten the information he wanted, but the spent time had not been useless. He had learned several interesting facts, but one stood out among the others. Smith had wondered why the girl, Bree, he remembered, was her name, had not been with the others they had taken prisoner. The boy had let slip that she was with child, and not allowed to enter the Matrix, but Smith seemed to know her better then this insolent fools. She would come. She would try to rescue these pathetic beings.

"Now, Circuit," he said, resuming his task, "What is your relationship to Bree? How would you say she feels about you?" It took Circuit a moment to even process the question, and even longer to create an answer.

"She," he began, but then paused another long moment, during which Smith's impatience grew, "She believed in me." That was all he would say, his voice now a slurred monotone.

"Who would you say she cares about the most?" The agent smiled as he thought about the numerous possibilities if the person was one of the remaining captives who were still breathing. However, Circuit did not get a chance to answer.

"Stop it!" shouted Ace from the back wall, his voice a strained rasp. One of the agents surrounding him reared back his leg, aiming for his gut.

"Don't," Smith said bluntly, staring directly at Ace. The other agent looked at him with confusion then backed away.

Smith left his place in front of Circuit and walked over to the group of people congregated at the back of the warehouse. Ace squirmed back up into a sitting position. He tried to hold eye contact with Smith, but he could only open one of his eyes and he had to keep closing because blood from a gash on his forehead kept dripping into it. For once, Ace did not look the part of a strong captain.

"Now, why are you always the one to speak up, hm?" asked Smith as he got close to Ace and squatted down so he was at the same eye level as the bruised and bleeding man. Ace didn't answer him. He just stared as best he could at the agent and remained silent.

"You know, I've known Bree a long time," Smith said conversationally, "Possibly even longer then you've known her. I remember the first time I saw her, the first time we really looked at each other and understood the role we both played in this world. Can you say the same? Have you ever looked at her, and really understood the power that she possesses? No, all you ever saw was a pretty face."

"You shut up-!" Ace cried, and he was immediately slapped in the face. Smith retracted his hand, still holding it in a ready position, as though daring the man to say something else.

"Sir?" said another voice. Smith's face showed no emotion as he returned his hand to its normal position and turned away, leaving Ace lying motionlessly on the cement floor, breathing raggedly.

"What now?" Smith asked sharply.

"The girl is approaching, and she has two companions with her. They're not five minutes away now." Smith's lips turned up in spine-chilling smile.

"Perfect."

While Smith was punishing Ace for his outburst, Bree, Tron, and the program Neo, were cautiously approaching the warehouse. From what Bree could judge it was quite large, secluded off to the side behind an alleyway, far away from the bustling heart of the city. None of the three said a word. They were too close now to risk detection. Brees heart was pounding hard in her chest, Tron was beginning to sweat profusely, and even Neo, the program, looked nervously pale.

They slipped into the dark passage leading away from the street unnoticed. Their feet made the softest sounds as they treaded over dirt, garbage, and feline feces. Bree was walking closely behind Neo, with Tron trailing dutifully behind her. They were all letting their senses guide them instead of their minds. In times of danger, the mind can become overwhelmed, sometimes taking to long to analyze a situation, and before you know it your down on the ground dead.

Soon, the large wall of the warehouse was in front of them, the three crouching behind a chain link fence. Bree looked around, letting her grey eyes take in their surroundings. There were a few other people, working forklifts and such, but none of them seemed to come close to the warehouse that was the breeding point of much pain and anguish. Bree could feel the others inside; could feel Ace among them, his hope hanging on by a thread, and for a moment she thought she was going to cry. Instead she threw up.

"You OK?" Neo asked when she was finished. Bree coughed, spit out a bit more bile, and then nodded wearily. Neo nodded back, looked around quickly, and then motioned for them to follow as he moved around the fence. He pressed his body against the warehouse wall, and stared hard at the two other humans.

"I'm sorry," he said softly, looking directly at Bree. She offered him up a small smile.

"You don't have to keep saying that," she said, "It's not your fault you're a-"

"Bree!" Tron shouted from behind her. She whipped around in time to Tron on his knees. An agent stood over him with a gun pressed to the back of his head.

"Remove you're weapons, or say goodbye to your little friend," said the agent.

Bree glanced over to Neo, the program, who was pointedly avoiding looking at her. She did not look betrayed as she felt, though her eyes shone bright with the emotion. She still pitied him. He had had no choice but to lead them into this trap, she could see it in his eyes. Instead, she felt disgusted with herself. She should have kept her guard up more then she had. Tron had been right; she could not really trust the program. He was not Neo, not the person who had played the biggest part in her life. She looked back at the agent, and began removing the guns from her belt and within her coat.

"Follow me," the agent said when she had finished. He yanked Tron to his feet, and made him walk in the front, continuing to point the gun at him. Three other agents surrounded Bree and led her behind them. After a moment, Neo, the program, followed.

It had been two hours since Bree had entered the Matrix, and longer still since Smith had captured the crewmembers of both The Neo, and the Nostradamus, and every minute of that time, Bree had thought about what Smith could be doing to them. She thought of the various forms of torture he was capable of. However, with all the time she had spent imagining about it, she was not at all prepared for what she saw.

Circuit still sat in the chair, his head slumped forward as thought he were dead, but Bree could just hear him mumbling incoherently under his breath. Everyone else was piled at the back of the building, bloodied and bruised. Lock appeared to be unconscious, and Zane looked like he was having trouble breathing. For a long moment Brees gaze lingered upon the bodies of Tick and Cyprus, before finally landing upon Ace and Morpheus.

"Ace!" she cried out loud and made to run for him, momentarily forgetting about the agents around her. One of them reached out a hand and grabbed her, thrusting her backwards onto the hard floor. She hit it with a hard thud on her side, and her face quickly contorted into a wince, but in her mind she was grateful to have landed on her rear end instead of her stomach.

"Well, what a pleasant surprise," Smith said as he stepped into the dim light of the hangings lamps dangling from the ceiling.

Bree was also not ready for this. The only time she had ever really seen Smith face-to-face, was for a brief moment while she, Neo, and Morpheus were trying to find their way to the Architect. He had appeared before Neo could get to the door, and spoken momentarily before more agents had poured form the other doors in the hallway. That had been the last time she had ever seen him, until now. Her entire body seemed to become lifeless; her blood seemed to freeze in her veins. In essence, this had been the man who had taken Neo from her.

"You son-of-a-bitch!" she growled through gritted teeth. Bree pushed herself off the ground and made to lunge at the grinning agent, but she was suddenly forced back by a hard punch from one of the other agents. She stayed on the ground, wiping her fingers across her bottom lip, and examining the crimson blood that stained them when she did.

"I think it would be in your best interest not to attack me," said Smith pleasantly. Movement to her left made her look to the back wall again where her close friends lay in a heap. One of the other agents was escorting Tron over to them, the gun still being held to his head. "We wouldn't want one of them to have an accident."

"What do you want?" Bree asked him scathingly.

"You know very well what I want." Smith's smile had evaporated now, leaving his face frighteningly blank.

"And you know I don't have the information you want, so why lure me into the Matrix?"

"The boy has proven more difficult then I had anticipated," he said, indicating Circuit, "I need you to get him to tell me, otherwise, you all die." He said this last part with a tone that Bree could only describe later excitement.

Bree looked over at the limp figure that was Circuit, mind and spirit all but broken. Then she looked over to the other crewmembers, in too much pain to say anything anymore. She could see Ace trying to look at her, but one of his eyes was puffy and red, while the other was covered in drying blood. She looked the bodies of the two men Smith had eradicated from the world, and finally she gazed at the program that had the largest hand in what was happening. She suddenly realized it had not been Smith who had lured her in, she had lured herself in. She had just wanted to look into a replica of the face she had once loved so much one more time.

"I'll do it, under one condition," she said, slowly looking back to the agent.

"Let me guess," Smith said jadedly, "You want everyone to walk out of here safely?"

"I don't want him terminated," she stated unwaveringly, nodding her head towards the program, who raised his head and looked at her in confusion. Smith, too, seemed confused and surprised. He quickly regained composure.

"Done," he said simply.

Bree methodically rose to her feet again, feeling every bruise caused by her collision with the solid floor. Her lower lip throbbed painfully, but she ignored all of it and walked sluggishly over to where Circuit sat. It pained her even more than any physical damage she had ever sustained to see him in the state he was in. She knelt down before him, placing both hands on his knees, her grey eyes shining with compassion and concern.

"Circuit?" she said softly, "Circuit, wake up, it's Bree." His eyes fluttered open, and he lifted his head enough to stare at her through half-open eyes, but he said nothing.

"Circuit," she repeated, her voice faltering slightly, "I need you to tell me how to hack into the system from the Matrix." She was very aware of all the eyes upon her. Everyone in the room seemed to be watching her as she coaxed out the information from Circuit's mind. She tried hard not to think about Ace, Tron, and all the others.

Circuit mumbled something inaudible.

"What did you say?" she asked gently. Circuit's eyes had closed back up, but he opened them just enough to see when she spoke.

"Shift change," he murmured, his head rolling over and resting upon his left shoulder.

"What does that mean?" Smith demanded.

"I think he's talking about the shift change in the main control building in Zion," Bree told him, never taking her eyes off of Circuit, "What about the shift change, Circuit?"

"No one there," he said, his voice barely above a whisper, "You can't get in while people are there." He fell silent again, the effort of these sentences seeming to take all of his energy.

"What is he saying?" Smith asked curtly.

"He says that-" Bree began.

"You have to wait until the next shift change," Circuit said, looking more conscious then he had in a while. He was looking directly into Bree's face, and she looked back.

"When?" she asked, "Circuit, when is the next shift change."

"Fifteen minutes," he mumbled, and then he fell back out of the conscious world. Bree let her hands slide off of his knees and stood back up. Before she could do anything else she was seized from behind, two agents grabbing her arms and half-dragged her over to the back wall and threw down with the others.

"Thank you very much," Smith said as he followed them, "You've been a big help." Bree stared at him with all the contempt she could muster, not looking away until he turned his back and began ordering the other agents around, one of them sitting at a computer, waiting.

"Bree, what are you thinking?" Tron whispered to her angrily. She hated hearing that tone in his voice, but she had done what she had to do.

"I know what I'm doing," she said, looking at him expressionlessly, "Remember what I said about trusting me?" This didn't seem to make Tron feel any better, but it appeared to intrigue him into silence.

Bree's attention, however, had shifted over to Ace, who was lying just a few feet away from her. Keeping her eye on the agents who surrounded them she crawled slowly over to him, reaching out a hand and stroking his short dark hair. She took a dirty rage from her pocket and wiped the blood from his good eye so he could look at her.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her, his voice no more then a rasp now.

"I had to come," she whispered, her voice cracking with emotion as she stared at his battered face, "You knew I would."

"It's my fault," he said with difficulty, "I'm supposed to be the captain, and I led everyone into danger, including you."

"No," Bree told his sharply, resting her hand upon one of his bruised cheeks, "It is not your fault. You did all you could. I chose to come here. I knew the risk. Besides, you're a great captain." The comment was so sincere, that it surprised Bree for a moment. She had never thought those words could ever come out of her mouth without sounding forced.

"Hey!" cried a voice that shook Bree out of her shock, "What are you doing?"

Several agents were advancing on Neo, the program. He had taken off his sunglasses and Bree could see the genuine fear in his brown eyes. It was the look of an animal when they know they're about to die. Bree watched in puzzlement before suddenly realizing what was happening. She jumped up, leaving Ace's side.

"You promised he wouldn't be terminated!" she screamed as she tried to run to the program and was restrained by other agents.

"Didn't the real Neo ever teach you anything," Smith said, turning towards her, "I can't be trusted." There seemed to be something like laughter in his voice.

Bree stared on in horror as the agents closed in on Neo, the program. They had him boxed into a corner now, and she closed her eyes instinctively so she wouldn't have to see such a precise replica of someone she loved erased from the Matrix forever. But, there was suddenly a large flash of light, and though Bree quickly reopened her eyes, it was a few minutes before she could see anything clearly, and what she saw seemed to send her brain into a momentary stupor.

Neo was fighting back. He arms and legs were moving at such a speed that Bree's eyes could not keep up. Her lips crept into a smirk and she expertly twisted herself from the agents' grasp, and copied Neo's move. She spun around, kicking and throwing punches as though her body had been set on turbo. There had only been a few agents on her, and she soon freed herself of them. As they tried to get back up, Bree ran swiftly across the room to help Neo. She grabbed an agent that was trying to choke him by the shoulders and threw him off with ease. Together, she and Neo fought tooth-and-nail to keep the agents back. More agents that were in the warehouse rushed to help them. Bree chanced a glance at her watch that was still intact on her wrist, and grinned. The fifteen minutes was almost up. Smith knew it too.

"What are you doing?" he shouted at the other agents, "It's almost time for the shift change! We have to hack into their system!" None of the other agents seemed to hear them. Bree and Neo were very efficiently keeping them from following orders.

In a fit of rage Smith made to join the battle, but then his eyes caught the clock in the corner of the computer screen. Just one minute to go. Roaring with anger he sat down at the computer and typed hurriedly on the keyboard, keeping his eyes on the fight. He thought the machines had reprogrammed the imposter Neo to not move so fast. Perhaps they had forgotten. But did the machines forget things? He couldn't answer the question now as the clock finally counted down to zero. He opened up the back door into Zion's main computer and then brought up the virus file. With a satisfied grin he let the bug loose into the system. He leaned back to watch it wreak havoc, his hand still on the mouse.

All of a sudden, the screen went pitch black, and then began to fill up with the words IT WAS INEVITABLE. Smith leaned forward, his brows furrowing, his fury growing. Those pathetic humans had tricked him. Well, they would pay for that. He got up so quickly that the chair he had been sitting in toppled over backwards, and made to move towards the ongoing fight. However, something pulled him back. He looked down to see the mouse melting into his hand. He tugged his arm hard but it would budge, and his hand was slowly turning silver. What appeared to be liquid metal was creeping up his arm, covering every inch of it as it went. He let out a shout of furious horror.

The battle raging in the corner came to a halt as all the agents turned to watch as their leader was blanketed by the silvery substance. Bree and Neo stood side-by-side, watching solemnly along with the rest. It wasn't long before Smith was completely obscured, and his screaming ceased. In a flash, the liquid silver was sucked back in through the mouse wire, and Agent Smith was gone forever. A moment later the other agents collapsed to the ground, limp and lifeless. Letting out a heavy sigh, Bree slid to the ground and sat with her knees up and her head resting upon her arms, trying to catch her breath. Then, she started to chuckle, and looked up at Neo.

"Nice performance," she said, still laughing. She held up her arm to him.

"Yeah, you too," he said mirthfully as he helped her up. Suddenly remembering the other crewmembers, Bree hurried over to where they were and knelt down beside Morpheus and Ace to undo their bonds. Neo did the same thing to Lock, Zane, and Magnet. Tron was staring at everything, stunned.

"What just happened?" he asked as Bree helped Ace to sit up.

"I told you to trust me," she said with a smirk, "Do you really think I would have completely trusted Neo if I thought he was a program made by the same machines who brought Smith back?"

"But he-"

"Did exactly what he had to do to pull off the plan," she finished for him, "He's been the real Neo all along, at least the mental imprint of the real Neo, but he definitely had the agents fooled. Do you really think they communicate with the machines? No, the machines just monitor their programs. They would have had no idea that their agents thought they had sent them a Neo program to fool me."

"Why didn't you tell me that then?" Tron asked, slightly hurt.

"Would you have believed me?" Tron looked at the ground.

"Exactly. Though if Mr. Genius over there," she nodded towards Neo who was helping Magnet sit up, "hadn't already given a reason for how he remembered Ace, then I at least wouldn't have had to ask him that question about the spoon." Neo chuckled a bit as he hoisted Zane up and supported his weight.

"Shall we get out of here?" he said. Bree nodded and helped Ace up, directing Tron over to help Magnet, and Neo took Morpheus on his other shoulder.

Steadying his burden, Tron staggered over to the chair in the middle of the room and helped Circuit up, though he managed to walk on his own better then the others. At the door, they all looked back at the bodies of Tick and Cyprus for just a moment, and then they walked out of the warehouse.

It was slow going back out onto the sidewalk, but they finally managed it. Once they were back out into the hot afternoon, which had begun to fade into the cool evening, Bree set Ace down on a nearby bench, ignoring the odd looks that passersby were giving the group. She reached down to her hip and took out a small black phone. She didn't know whether or not it would work, since the virus she had created to counter Smith's had never been tested until now. She dialed the necessary numbers on the phone and held it up to her ear. It rang a few times then…

"Operator," said Gaias voice hopefully.

"Everything is fine," Bree said, "Smith and the agents are gone. Set us up an exit and then call Link, I'm sure he's driven himself crazy trying to lift the cover-up program." Gaia gave her directions to the exit, sounding as though she were on the verge of tears of joy when Bree hung up on her. She picked Ace back up and nodded for the others to follow her.

They were an odd precession as they all walked down the sidewalk, Bree in the lead. She watched the streets signs as they passed and turned down another dark alley when she reached Vermont St. She looked left and right before staggering over to a door on the left. With an effort due to Ace's weight, she turned the doorknob and found herself in a deserted apartment kitchen. A phone sat ringing incessantly beside the toaster. Grunting, she dragged Ace over, pulling a chair with her and sat him down in it. Tron and Neo did the same with their baggage. The phone kept ringing.

"I guess I should go," Neo said. He turned to leave.

"Neo," Bree called after him. He stopped and turned to look at her. She didn't say anything else for a moment or two.

"Thank you," she told her softly. He smiled, nodded, and was out the door in a flash. With a deep breath, Bree picked up the phone.

"Time to go home."

Six years, eight months, eight weeks later, Bree stood on the loading platform of Bay Five, watching as Morpheus stepped out of a large ship, limping slightly, but he had a large smile on his face. He had been inspecting The Neo, now that the repairs had been finished after an accident it had a few months ago. In that time, Morpheus had been appointed to the Council, and Ace had been asked to fill his place, which meant Bree was finally the captain of the ship she loved.

"Its perfect," he told her happily, "Good as new." Bree smiled back at him and looked back to the ship, contemplating what to call it.

"It'll always be the same ship, no matter how much work is done on it," she said. Morpheus grinned and nodded his head.

"Well now there's just the matter of the crew. You who you can and can't have so don't try to pull anything." They both smiled at each other, and Bree chuckled a bit.

"Don't worry," she said to him, "I know who my crew is." Her smile broadened as she thought of the people she had already chosen.

"Too bad I'm now Command of Defense now, huh?" said a voice behind her.

Bree turned around to see Ace standing there, his hair longer now, but with the same blue eyes glinting in the light of the city. In his arms, he held a small boy with his parents' dark hair, but a pair of warm brown eyes that were unlike either of them. The child was squirming around in Ace's arms and with a smile Ace set him down.

"Mommy!" the boy cried and ran to Bree who held her arms wide open to catch him. She scooped him up and hugged him tightly to her body.

"Hey, sweetie," she said giving her son a kiss on his cheek, "You want to see mommy's new ship. I'm going to be the captain."

"Ooh!" he said and wiggled out of her grasp, running towards the ship. She made to go after him but Morpheus held up his hand.

"Allow me," he said, "You do enough babysitting for me, it's the least I can do." Bree smiled softly and nodded, watching Morpheus disappear back into the ship after her little boy. Ace came up behind her wrapping his arms around her neck.

"So who's going to be traveling on the big, fancy ship with you?" he asked her.

"Well," she said, reaching up a hand and playing with his hair while they both kept their eyes on the ship's entrance, "Since Niobe is taking over for Lock on the Nostradamus, Tron will be the pilot, Zane, Bolt, and Magnet are going to be a full-on mechanics team, Gaia is going to be our medic, and Link will serve as the operator." Ace laughed.

"And obviously Circuit will be your computer programmer, right?" he inquired playfully.

"Well," she said, turning her head at an angle so she could look at him, "Of course, that way I'll have everyone I love on the ship with me." She grinned playfully back as he looked mockingly hurt. Bree laughed openly, Ace, after a moment, joining in, and they kissed for a moment.

"Ewww!" shouted a small voice from the ship, "That's gross!" Bree and Ace broke away from each other and looked up to see their little son standing there with Morpheus. All three adults laughed, leaving the boy to look at them confused.

"All right," Bree said, "I think its time for lunch."

"Yay!" the boy exclaimed clapping his hands and jumping up and down. Bree smiled and held out her hand.

"Ok, say goodbye to Morpheus, Neo," she told him. Neo looked up at the tall, dark-skinned man.

"Bye," he said, and ran to his mother, wrapping his hand in hers. And together, Ace, Bree, and their son, Neo, walked their way back to their home.

Love is life. Life is love. Bree lived and breathed these words after the ordeal in the Matrix. She no longer worried about the machines betraying them again, nor did she go into the Matrix expecting to see Neo. She knew he would not show up again, but she also knew that he would always be there, and he would always be here, in the real world. Her son was Neo's namesake, but Bree felt he was much more. He would never be able to enter the Matrix, but he would become and important member of the city of Zion.