Tank slid into the med bay. Moving around the tables, he came to a closed cabinet and opened it. Grabbing an IV bag and needle, he sat down on a stool. Tying the bag up on a hook, Tank pushed the needle into a vein in his left arm. Whipping his head up at the door opening, he could do nothing but sit and deal with the questions sure to come.
"What are you doing?" Neo asked, closing the door so no one else would hear or come in.
"It's my side. It's still hurting." Tank answered truthfully.
"Why didn't you stay in the hospital at Zion then? They can treat you. You'll heal faster with proper medical care and rest."
"Truthfully, I hate doctors. I hate hospitals. I'll get better on my own, don't worry." Tank smiled weakly.
"Why do you hate hospitals?" Neo asked, sitting down on one of the tables.
"My mother died in one when I was eight. I've never liked them since." Tank turned his head to one side, forcing back tears.
"I'm sorry." Neo smiled sadly before standing to leave.
"Thanks. Hey, don't tell anyone, okay? They'll kill me even before I am brought to Zion." Tank asked, trying to make light of the situation.
"Yeah. Don't worry." Neo replied, hiding the pain from his voice.
Tank watched Neo leave before pulling the needle from his arm and placing it back in the cabinet.
"Are you okay?" Trinity asked when Neo returned from his talk with Tank.
Neo paused, thinking about what to say before looking her in the eyes. "Yeah. I'm fine."
Trinity eyed him a moment longer before patting the space next to her. Neo sat in it, leaning back into her. Wrapping her arms around him, Trinity kissed his neck gently, her nose grazing his head plug. Shivering at the touch, Neo leaned his head back to rest it on Trinity's shoulder as the door opened. Turning at the intrusion, Neo and Trinity found Morpheus in the doorway.
"I have my eye on a new person. She's really got quite the record for hacking." Morpheus informed the pair, not giving more than a blink at their current position.
"She?" Neo inquired.
"Yes. She has taken a greater interest in the Matrix and myself after that daring rescue you two pulled off. Needless to say, you already have fans." Morpheus smiled gently at Neo.
"What?"
"We all get fans. I was known everywhere for the IRS d-base hack. You're known for getting Morpheus out with me." Trinity explained.
"Oh. Neat."
"Yes, it is because fans get drawn into searching for us, and an answer, as you know." Morpheus replied. "Come, see her for yourself."
Neo looked back at Trinity before standing and following Morpheus out. Arriving in the core, Neo looked at the screen, seeing a specific code being singled out. Reading it, Neo found the girl had just spilled hot coffee all over her physics book while downloading a piece of confidential information on him.
"I'm already confidential?" Neo asked, incredulous.
"You decimated a government building, Neo, what do you expect?" Morpheus replied, arching an eyebrow.
"What's her name?" Trinity asked, leaning in next to Neo.
"Hunter."
"Simple enough. Do you know why she chose it?" Trinity turned to face Morpheus.
"She hunts down information on all of us, and other information for paying customers. Much like Neo used to."
"Not all that original then." Trinity commented, turning from the screens.
"Why do you say that?" Neo asked.
Trinity turned, a look of surprise on her face.
"Why did you pick your hacker alias?"
Neo fidgeted for a moment, before answering. "Because I was alone."
Trinity nodded. "I picked mine because there were only three things I believed in before I was unplugged: myself, God, and an answer to the question, 'What is the Matrix?'"
"I picked mine since Morpheus was known in the Bible as a man who had trouble sleeping, as I did. I felt more alive asleep, and yet, I had insomnia." Morpheus shrugged his shoulders. "We all choose our names for specific reasons. Some, like Trinity, are more difficult to figure out than others. The point is, is that we pick our hacker name because it relates to who we have become in the computer world."
"Okay, I get it. So, how long are we going to watch her?" Neo asked, switching back to the topic at hand.
"A month, at least. I will set up shifts that will be appropriate for us today so that we can watch her and the Matrix and still sleep." Morpheus answered.
"A month? Do you really believe that to be enough time again?" Trinity asked, uncertainty obviously struggling with disbelief in her voice.
"Trinity, not everyone will turn into Cypher." Morpheus reasoned tiredly.
"I know. I'm just not sure we should do that again." Trinity replied.
"What's the difference between one month and six months?" Neo asked innocently.
Morpheus looked over to him before responding. "A definite choice between the red and blue pill. Cypher took a whole minute to choose. You took mere seconds. That's the difference. Uncertainty."
"Hey, I couldn't sleep. Decided to come give you a visit." Trinity appeared behind Neo, wearing a blanket around her shoulders, causing him to jump slightly.
"How do you do that?"
"I've had a long time to perfect it. This ship echoes. When you don't want to wake every living being up on it, you learn how to move silently." Trinity explained, leaning against the side of the chair. "How is everything?"
Neo turned from her face to look back at the raindrop coding.
"Well, a 24 year old druggie was just apprehended in New York, not much else of interest."
"Why do you always watch New York?" Trinity asked, looking down towards him.
"Because I grew up there." Neo leaned back, resting his jaw on his hand.
"You weren't there when we found you though."
"I moved. That was just where I grew up." Neo explained.
"Got it. How's Hunter?" Trinity turned to look at the other screens.
Neo leaned forward and tapped one, bringing it up to the main screen.
"She's reading up on you right now." Neo answered, looking back at Trinity.
"What the hell-? How the fuck did she get that information?" Trinity squinted her eyes, anger building up within them.
"What?" Neo turned to read the coding.
"My vital statistics. She found my height, weight, eye and hair color, sex, and what fingerprints they have on me! My God, she's good. No one has been able to get that far into that stuff." Trinity allowed a hint of a smile to play at her lips.
"Why not?" Neo swiveled back around; all of this twisting was giving him a sore neck.
"Because I made it behind firewalls, various forms of file codes, and in a hidden area of the CIA database. That type of hacking takes at least nine hours, not to mention how many traces by the government must be made on her by now."
"Well, she apparently got around those traces. They haven't been tripped, look." Neo pointed to another screen, pulling up the traces.
"Damn, that girl has some skill. I wonder where she learned it." Trinity shook her head, allowing the smile to appear for an instant.
"Does it really matter?" Neo leaned his head back, looking back at her upside down.
Trinity looked down for a moment before shaking her head again. Bowing her head, Trinity kissed Neo gently upside down, sucking his upper lip into her mouth before pulling away.
"I was hoping for sleep. Now I'm thinking I came to the wrong place." Trinity grinned.
"Nah, come here. I'll guarantee you sleep." Neo pulled Trinity by the waist around the chair and into his lap.
"And if I don't?" Nose to nose, the question was breathed against his lips.
"Then you'll get you're money back tomorrow night." Neo kissed her forehead gently before she laid it against the hollow between his neck and shoulder.
Wrapping an arm around Trinity's shoulders, Neo pulled the blanket tighter around her body before settling deeper into the chair, allowing Trinity's lower spine to curve against his inner thigh in a comfortable position. Draping his right arm across her thighs to reach the keyboard, Neo tapped a few keys to pull out of New York and look at the United States instead.
An hour passed before Neo heard the distinct sound of a boot scraping on the ladder. Knowing he couldn't move, lest he wake Trinity, Neo awaited for the unknown person to come upon him. A few seconds later, Morpheus moved around to the side of the chair. Looking down in slight surprise, Morpheus saw the look of affection in Neo's eyes and the reprimand behind his lips was instantly swallowed. Neo broke the eye contact from Morpheus to look down at Trinity again and tenderly brushed a strand of hair from her face. Smiling softly in sleep, Trinity moved her head into the gentle caress from Neo's hand, causing Morpheus's mouth to drop open.
"After fifteen years, this is the first time I have seen her smile like that. I am happy it's because of you, no matter what anyone else may say. Now, I came down here to let you off early, and I think it would be a good idea, seeing her with you." Morpheus whispered softly.
"I'll have to wake her to get up the ladder." Neo murmured back, looking slightly upset.
"I'm sure she'll fall right back asleep." Morpheus placed a hand on Neo's shoulder before squeezing it gently.
Neo leaned down and kissed Trinity on the lips. As she stirred slightly, Neo trailed his fingers along her face until her eyes slowly opened.
"Wake up sleepyhead. You have to climb the ladder." Neo whispered in her ear.
It seemed as if Morpheus didn't exist at this moment, but instead was a fortunate observer to watch two of the leading soldiers be affectionate to one another. It was a gift few, if any, witness. Helping her stand slowly, Neo wrapped his hands around Trinity's waist as they walked to the ladder.
The moment Trinity had climbed the last rung; Neo lifted her back up into his arms and cradled her body against his chest. Had she been more conscious, Trinity would never have allowed such a thing to be done to her. But she was half asleep, and the warmth from his body only made her drowsier as he carefully opened their door. Placing Trinity on the bed, Neo turned to close the door tightly before kneeling in front of her prone body. Slipping her shoes off as carefully as possible, Neo pulled the three blankets they had up to her chin before taking his own shoes off. Sliding under the blankets, Neo wriggled his body up against Trinity's before drifting to sleep.