Neo smirked at seeing Hunter in the café, her eyes glued to the door, a glass of soda next to her. Her eyes watched as Neo's arm pushed the door open and allowed Trinity to walk through first. She watched as they moved towards her silently. She watched until she stood and followed them without so much as a word. Exiting, Neo and Trinity moved to either side of Hunter, flanking her. Hunter's eyes widened when they stopped in front of a black car parked on a side street.
Neo opened the back door to let her in before shutting it again and moving around to the driver's side of the car. As he did this, Trinity slid into the passenger's seat. Turning the car on, Neo glanced back in his rearview mirror at the girl for a moment before shifting gears and driving off. Silence reigned for several minutes before Hunter leaned forward, curiosity getting the better of her.
"Where are we going?"
"A place where your questions will be answered." Trinity replied cryptically.
Hunter nodded, deciding not to ask another question. Instead, she watched as Neo calmly navigated the dark streets, immediately turning where Trinity pointed. No words passed between the pair until a man in a suit walked into the middle of the street.
"Oh shit. Neo, get us out of here." Trinity turned to look back, an agent car speeding up until it slammed into the back of their car. "Now!"
Neo slammed on the accelerator, hitting the agent as he did so. The agent flipped over the car and landed behind them in a flash of green coding. Breathing a sigh of relief, Trinity turned back around only to flinch as a bullet ripped through the glass of her window. Her hand flew to her cheek when she felt the sting of a graze wound.
"Are you all right?" Neo asked, concern evident in his voice. Hunter bristled at his obvious attention to Trinity, but ignored it for the moment.
"Just keep driving." Neo swerved around another car before it changed direction and slammed into his side, causing him to come to an abrupt halt upon T-boning a parked car. "Okay, running is better now."
Trinity got out, grabbing Hunter's arm the moment she had opened her door. Neo walked quickly around to meet them as they entered the first building they came to. Running up the stairs, Neo flipped open his cell phone.
"Tank, a little help?" Trinity watched as a scowl appeared on Neo's usually calm features. "All right, thanks." Shutting the phone, Neo looked at Trinity. "No way out now."
"Take her, you can safely get the two of you out of here. I'll find another way." Trinity handed Hunter to Neo.
"I'm not leaving you." Neo's eyes focused on the crimson blood still flowing freely on Trinity's cheek, his voice stubborn.
"You're going to have to. This happens, we get separated. I can handle myself. Now, go!" Trinity turned and continued up the stairs.
Hunter watched Neo cast a longing gaze at the retreating back of his counterpart before he looked at her. "Let's go."
"I just picked Hunter up, Neo. You can come out now." Tank called over the cell phone.
"Where's Trinity?" Neo replied, his eyes still on the empty chair.
"She's not with you?"
Neo let out an exasperated sigh before telling Tank to send the call through to get Morpheus out. Morpheus looked at Neo before grabbing the phone. "Find her."
Neo nodded once as his captain's RSI disappeared before running out to the stairs. Climbing to the roof, Neo looked out over the streets below him. Bending down, Neo pushed the rules away and flew up into the sky. Once at a height he deemed high enough, Neo looked down, reading the coding, his eyes were seeking only one specific strand. One strand deeply entangled with billions of others. Suddenly, Neo jerked his head, seeing the familiar strand. Blinking the coding away, Neo flew down, landing just outside the gym. It was closed, but Neo entered nonetheless.
Pocketing his glasses upon entering the pitch-black building, Neo listened for any sound. Hearing a muffled crash, Neo ran towards a door near the back of the room. Pushing it open, as it was already broken, Neo saw pieces of workout equipment broken and strewn everywhere. Continuing further in, the sounds of a struggle grew. Neo slammed open the final door, barging into a weight room. The two figures paused before one threw the other, smaller figure against the wall, and proceeded to move towards Neo.
Neo shifted his stance upon seeing Agent Brown's coding. He could hear the almost inaudible moan escape Trinity's lips- he had apparently been purposefully beating her. Neo clenched his hands into tight fists and gritted his teeth.
"Mr. Anderson, how nice of you to join us." Brown swung, missing as Neo bent backwards.
Neo's anger at the pain Trinity was in due to Brown kept him from hearing the second approach of Jones. Slamming fist after fist into Brown, he finally sent the agent flying across the room. Jones cleared his throat the moment he had finished, causing Neo to spin around, seeing Trinity, yet again, at gunpoint.
"You notice, that each time you encounter us, this seems to happen. It is quite the predicament." Jones smiled evilly as Brown slammed a fist into his back.
Neo dropped to a knee. His hand shot out, grabbing the foot that was to kick him, and flattened Brown to the floor. Standing, he regarded Jones tiredly. Jones' face contorted and he swung his arm down, pulling the trigger. Trinity cried out in pain as the bullet ripped through her foot. Neo stepped forward, his heart clenching in fear and pain.
"If you move forward or fight back, the next bullet will reside in her brain." Neo lowered his head at the statement. His eyes found Trinity's, speaking volumes without trace of a sound. You better hurry and come up with a plan. Trinity nodded slightly before her eyes widened- Neo's only warning for the fist that connected with his neck.
Neo stumbled forward, only to have the collar of his new Matrix garb, a Japanese burial outfit, grabbed by Brown, yanking him back. Coughing at the loss of oxygen, Neo flew backward as Brown slammed a fist into his face. Neo could feel the warm blood drip down from his nose; he could feel the metallic taste of it in his mouth. His eyes glared up at Brown even as a kick made a sickening crunch in his ribs. Trinity flinched at the sound, causing Jones to shift slightly. As he did, Trinity flipped him over her shoulder and kicked him with her good foot. The gun flew up into the air and she grabbed it. Without so much as a moment's pause, Trinity fired it into Jones's head and then fired again- causing Brown's onslaught to come to an electrifying end.
Neo's eyes found hers across the room before he slowly stood up. Wincing at every step he made towards her, Neo smiled weakly once he wrapped his arms around her. When he finally pulled away, Neo withdrew his cell phone. Dialing Tank, he was immediately given directions to walk back out to the entrance room where a phone was to exit. Neo closed the phone and looked at Trinity.
"Tell me it isn't far."
The ring of the phone in the lobby caused a grin to spread across Neo's face.
"No, not too far."
"My God. Morpheus, get out here now!" Tank yelled over the intercom.
Neo groaned as Tank quickly unplugged him. Falling out of his chair, he landed on the metal floor with a painful 'thunk'. For the moment, Neo welcomed the unfeeling black that surrounded his senses while Trinity cried out in pain as Tank carried her to the med lab. As Morpheus moved around him, Tank looked up.
"Neo's out cold. He knocked himself out when he fell onto the floor." Morpheus nodded and ran out.
Through all of the pain, Trinity still grasped Tank's sentence and bit out fragments of a question to him. "Tank...Neo...he...okay?"
"Rest Trinity, Neo will be fine." Tank ran a soothing hand over her forehead before administering a sleeping medicine.
He watched as her face went slack and her body relaxed before gathering the necessities for cleaning her wounds. Tank looked up from taking off Trinity's boot as Morpheus pushed the door open, Neo slung over his shoulder. Laying him on the last free table, Morpheus split his shirt in half, his eyes taking in the already dark bruises on Neo's ribcage.
Trinity opened her eyes, a fuzzy haze surrounding her, keeping her from being completely alert. Shaking her head slightly, Trinity heard two separate heart monitors beeping rhythmically. Turning to look at the other bodies, Trinity felt the pain from both her injuries and from seeing Neo's bruised torso. He was sleeping soundly, hopefully all right from the fall out of the chair. Lying back down, Trinity drifted back into sleep.
Neo's lids slid open slowly, taking in the familiar pattern of his ceiling. As he became more aware of his surroundings, Neo felt both the comforting weight of Trinity lying next to him and the pain in his stomach. Looking up, he saw two IV bags hanging, one for each of them. As his eyes slowly traveled down to Trinity's sleeping form, he felt a pang of guilt at her bandaged foot, His eyes continued traveling up her body, taking in the bruises and cuts that had surfaced from her stand against Agent Brown. As she took in a deep breath and moved her head, Neo's gaze darted to her face, watching her eyes open. They looked around the room for a moment before turning to settle on Neo.
"Hey." Trinity slowly blinked; sleep drifting out of her eyes.
"Hey." Neo smiled gently. "How are you feeling?"
Ah Neo, still thinking of others' health before your own. Will you never change? "Better. My foot doesn't hurt too much, in fact, I'm not sure it's even there, I can't feel it."
"It's there." Neo suppressed a laugh at her statement.
"How about you? You took quite a beating in there." Trinity switched the topic as she attempted to sit up. Finding it near impossible, she flopped back down with an exasperated sigh.
"It- everything hurts. I think they bruised a few ribs. My jaw is definitely banged up, I'm not sure what else." Neo lifted his hand to rub at his stubble-covered jaw, rubbing it gently. "I need to shave."
"You need to heal. Shaving will come later." Morpheus cut in, opening the door at Neo's statement. "For your information, Hunter's muscles are recovering quite remarkably. She's a welcome change from your body when we unplugged you." Morpheus informed the pair, looking at Neo.
"Why is that?"
"As your body grows older in a pod, all of your muscles begin to atrophy. They are never used, thus they fall apart. The younger the body, the less damage there is to repair."
"Oh." Neo was silent for a moment before looking back up at Morpheus. "Can you tell us what our injuries are?"
"You have sustained four badly bruised ribs, your jaw was a huge bruise; it's much better now. Your spine is bruised from Brown's punch, as are both of your forearms. Trinity, before I even start, you are bedridden until we arrive in Zion. There, you will be brought to the hospital and will stay there until you have been cleared to leave. As of right now, you have been lucky; the Matrix bullet has bruised both the muscles within your foot and the bones. Your ribs and collarbone are both bruised and you sustained a concussion. Other than that, you have multiple bruises and cuts; the worst is the bullet graze on your cheek, which I was surprised when it showed up, but Link told me it was actually from him accidentally dropping one of the medical instruments. Now, Neo, when you are ready, I'll meet you in the core." Morpheus took a breath after the long list before turning and exiting.
Neo looked at Trinity's angry expression for a moment before taking the IV out of his plug and climbing out of the bed. Standing slowly, Neo kept an arm at his ribs as he found his shirts. Sitting back down, he carefully pulled each individual shirt over his head and proceeded to poke his arms out. Leaning down to grab his boots, Neo drew back, hissing quietly.
"What's wrong?" Trinity asked, alarm evident in her voice.
"I seem to be having a difficult time getting my shoes." Neo replied, turning to look back at her, a smile upon his face.
"Quite the predicament you are in. You may have to stay here."
"Yee Gods no. Stuck here, with you? I'd rather be fed to a sentinel." Neo joked, smiling. Joking with Trinity is definitely different. As Trinity smiled back at him, she held out her hand.
"Stand up, go get them, and give them to me." The order was received with an arched eyebrow before Neo did as he was told.
Placing the shoes next to Trinity so as not to cause her any discomfort in reaching, Neo stood at the edge of the bed, watching intently. Trinity grabbed one boot and motioned for Neo to stretch out his foot. I cannot believe I am dressing him. What am I, his slave? Trinity thought, a quiver of anger shooting through her before the counter statement to her question popped into her head. Not at all, I'm his lifeline. Smiling softly as his foot slid into the heel of the boot, Trinity began to buckle it up. Switching feet, Trinity finished the process before waving him away.
"Go on. Just don't forget to bring some food back later." Trinity watched as Neo nodded and turned towards the door. When he stopped at it, Trinity opened her mouth in question. "What is it?"
Neo turned from the door, casting an eye upon Trinity's anxious figure. Moving forward silently, ignoring Trinity's question, Neo placed a hand on either side of Trinity, bracing himself before he brushed his lips against hers. The kiss was soft, gentle almost. Pulling away slowly, Neo felt Trinity's calm breathing upon his face- a world apart from the fierce beating of her heart. In almost two months, Neo mused, I not only can sense the electric interior that opposes her calm exterior, but also know that only I am the cause of it.
Trinity slowly opened her eyes before closing her mouth and swallowing rather audibly. "Well," Her eyes flicked up from his mouth to his eyes. "You'd better go."
Neo's own eyes dipped back down to Trinity lips before he swallowed the urge to kiss her again and straightened up, his intent clearly to leave. This time, when he got to the door, he didn't hesitate and exited swiftly. His pace wasn't quick due to his ribs, and the climb up to the core was a painfully slow one. Dropping onto the floor, Neo turned to see Morpheus walking from the direction of the med lab.
"Neo, I'm glad to see you, I was hoping I could speak with you privately." Morpheus smiled the paternal smile Neo knew so well.
"Sure, what is it?" Neo inquired as he moved slowly around the monitors towards the jack-in chairs, following Morpheus. Morpheus handed him a set of tools and proceeded to sit down beside what used to be Apoc's plug-in chair before replying.
"What do you believe in? For this war I mean."
Neo was surprised at how direct the question was, and at the same time, befuddled by how extremely broad the answer could turn out to be. Neo thought for a moment as to just how he could respond to the question before actually doing so.
"That is too general of a question for me to answer easily."
"What makes you keep going? I watch you when you are inside the Matrix and when you are outside of it, and I can only gain an inkling as to why you continue when even you yourself cannot see the end." Morpheus rephrased.
"The possibility of an end. It's the fact that there is no infinity when it comes to life and war. It has to end somewhere. Where, I don't know. When, I don't know. I'm just satisfied with the knowledge that it does end." Neo answered, his words taking form as he thought of them.
"For a moment there, I actually thought you would say that Trinity kept you going." Morpheus smiled.
Neo allowed the edges of his mouth to twist upward for a moment before responding. "Trinity is- my motivation."
Morpheus nodded his head in understanding but decided not to press the subject any further. Returning to look at the underside of the chair, Morpheus began working on various pieces that had been denied a proper repair for far too long. Neo watched silently for a moment before placing the rest of the tools beside his captain and wandered off in the direction of the med lab. Arriving a few moments later, Neo took in the sight of Tank pulling out pins from Hunter's cloth-covered body.
"What's that?" Neo inquired, keeping the laugh from escaping his lips when Tank jumped at his sudden appearance.
"These help make your muscles react, thus rebuild them." Tank explained once he had calmed his racing pulse.
"How's she doing?" Neo moved towards the table and placed his hands on the edges, resting his weight.
"All right considering. She's only woken up once, and that was a relatively interesting experience."
"Why do you say that?" Neo looked up from the young face in question.
"She was freaking from her eyes hurting and seeing these in her. I thought it was funny afterwards, once she was asleep again, but I felt so bad for her because I was the only one here and she didn't really recognize me. I was the 'guy who wrapped her in a blanket and put her in the med lab.' Nobody special."
"Yet." Neo smiled softly.
"Are you saying she may take a shining towards ol' Tank here?" Tank laughed at the idea and dropped another pin into the solution.
"Who can resist? You're a genuinely good person. Trusting you was easy for me, it should be easy for her." Neo looked down at the sleeping form once again before turning to leave.
"Thank you."
Neo turned at the unexpected reply. "For what?"
"For everything. I've never been much for words, more of loud exclamations and huge sighs of relief. So, thank you." Tank smiled gratefully at Neo who only nodded before leaving.