RATING: PG-13
AUTHOR: Sólia
SUMMARY/ORIENTATION: Alternative universe – what would have happened if the black cat HADN'T deja-vu-ed itself? A completely different course of events… But will it lead to the same result as the movie? Morpheus is dead, having sacrificed himself for Trinity's life. Apoc, Captain Glyph, and Citadel have been killed before they could escape from the agents. Now those left alive must reach the exit before the agents stop them – who will make it out, and who will not?
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Sorry to anyone who was offended by my killing of Morpheus. It was either him or Trinity and unfortunately I like Trinity better.
In this story there will be a total of ten chapters, just to let you know now. The next two (chapters eight and nine) are significantly shorter than this or any of the previous chapters, for some reason I am not aware of. But chapter ten is pretty long, I think.
Thanks, again, to my loyalest reviewers: Mystic Kyra, Brooke and Kris; and also to Lyidia, who I forgot to acknowledge in my last chapter. Thanks heaps for your encouragement.
Chapter Seven – Loss
With Trinity directing him with precise instructions from Sparks, Neo managed to get himself all the way to the Heart O' the City Hotel without being harmed. But he wasn't exactly pleased by what he saw there.
"Beat us to it, bastards," he muttered. He really had no respect for the law today. The police were already parked out the front of the hotel.
Ghost was inside.
"This is great," Neo said darkly, slowing the motorbike right down. Trinity looked up.
"Welcome to my world," she said sardonically.
Neo parked the bike nearby, but was pissed off when a guard spotted them and hurried over.
"Ah, trooper," the man said with a grim smile. "Nice to see you back. A bit late, though. And where's your armour?"
For a moment Neo tried to think why this man knew him, and then recognised him as Mr Superior, the leader of the armed troops who had attacked them in the other building earlier that day.
"Oh, um, yes sir," Neo replied quickly, sitting straighter. Trinity gave the officer a hard, even look as she pressed herself a little closer to Neo. He understood the message – hurry up.
"Where's your armour?" Mr Superior asked again.
"Sir, we were attacked by the fugitives upon taking this woman back to her home," Neo explained. Trinity moved her head back onto his shoulder. Mr Superior looked her over.
"Our doctor said that she was most uncooperative earlier today," he said stiffly. "Stephen proclaimed that you might have mental injury."
"I might."
"Sir, with your permission, I would like to test my theory." Neo waited silently.
"Theory?" Mr Superior asked sceptically. "And what will that be?"
"The fugitives have an interest in Miss Anderson," Neo made up. "If I went inside with her I could use her as a lure-"
"No, soldier," the man snapped. "We do not use civilians as bait."
"He has my permission," Trinity said. "I'm sure I'll be fine."
"We have reason to believe that whoever is inside this building isn't one of the men from earlier today," Mr Superior said sniffily, "therefore Miss Anderson will have no value to him." He looked her up and down. "You should have gone home to your children, miss."
"I did go home. They're with a friend of mine," she said simply. "I came back with Bob to see if I could be of any help."
Neo spotted two more motorcycles, each bearing two riders, speeding into view. Coyote and Niobe pulled up before they were seen by anyone else and turned to go behind the building instead.
Mouse and Ari were still missing somewhere.
"I'm afraid not. But you're both in even worse condition than before. Trooper, please accompany Miss Anderson to the medical van to see Stephen."
"Yes, sir," Neo said tiredly, getting off the bike as the superior left. Trinity swung herself after him and stood beside him, looking around. She pointed at a fire-escape steel stairway.
"Let's go before that ass of a doctor turns up," she said, not waiting for a reply before she ran over. Neo followed her, hoping that none of the police in front of the building could see them. As he got to the second storey, however, he heard a loud male voice from amongst the police.
"Hey, look! What are they doing? Isn't that the hostage?" Stephen yelled.
"Shit," Neo said in unison with Trinity, looking down quickly. The police were raising their weapons and running into the building. That wasn't good.
Trinity kicked a window open and barged into the empty room. Neo climbed in after her and pushed the unlocked door open. They hurried out into the hall. Another door, down the hall a few metres, slammed open. Trinity snatched out her automatic pistol and aimed it at the open door, ready to kill anyone who came through it, but it was only Niobe, Coyote, Specter and Chase that entered the hall at a run and stopped at the sight of the weapon.
"Trinity!" Coyote said, blanching a little when he spotted her with the gun directed at his forehead. She lowered the weapon and put it away without a word.
"Ghost is here somewhere?" Niobe demanded. She hadn't been filled in properly. Chase nodded.
"He should be. He said he'd be here," she said.
"He'll be in with the exit if he hasn't left already," Specter said, leading the way down the hall. They all followed at a jog, with Chase lagging behind to make sure there were no surprise rear attacks.
Room 303 was their exit. It came into view at the same time that the guards appeared.
"Get them!" the police captain yelled as his men charged towards the rebels.
"Go!" Trinity snapped, shoving Coyote and Niobe towards the door quickly. They had all stopped at the sight of the police, but now most of them moved to the door. Chase, however, panicked and turned to run away. "No, Chay!" Trinity yelled uselessly. More police entered the hallway and cut her off.
"Stop her!" the police captain ordered the reinforcements at the other end of the hall. "Get her!"
"Sir, she's a kid," someone in the police force said hesitantly, although Neo couldn't see who it was because someone had advanced on Chase and attacked her. She hadn't been expecting it – after all, who attacks an unarmed teenage girl? – but she defended herself instantly all the same.
Neo was about to move into the room after Niobe, but he thought of Chase, currently locked in combat against someone. The police were unwilling to hurt her. They stepped away, and Neo saw. An agent. Agent Smith was here.
Niobe had her phone out.
"Coyote, Specter, one of you first, Lunar's got the line," she said quickly. Coyote lifted the ringing phone off the cradle on the table and held it to his ear.
"Get in," Trinity ordered, trying to push Neo inside before she could go after Smith and Chase herself. But Neo knew there was no way she and the young girl would be able to beat the agent and fight off the policemen, too. He grabbed her arm and pulled her into room 303 despite her protests, then kicked the man closest to the door in the head. He punched the next one in the jaw and then in the side, and kneed him in the abdomen. As the first two dropped to the floor, Neo kicked the guy behind him and, after a strong punch to the guy before him, spun around to finish the man off with three punches in the side of the head.
-
Chase, losing dismally against her opponent, was thrown into a wall, her impact so hard that the plaster cracked behind her. She dropped to the floor and scrambled to her feet. She was no match for the agent and she knew it. He went to kick her in the head but she had just enough time and sense to duck that and the next one.
Down the hall, she saw out of the corner of her eye that someone was keeping the policemen from getting into the exit room and from helping the agent out. Was it Neo, Trinity's 'friend'?
One second of wandering concentration was enough time for the agent to grab Chase by the neck and force her against the peeling wall of the hallway.
"Miss Evans, isn't it?" he asked in a low, terrible voice. Being strangled, Chase didn't get much chance to answer.
-
Agent Smith was strangling Chase. Neo glanced at Trinity, standing behind him. She left the safety of the room and took over his job of giving the others a chance to escape and fighting off the police. Neo ran over to Chase's assistance.
Smith was just saying something like, "Too bad I didn't meet you on a better day. I mightn't have needed to kill you," by the time Neo arrived. The agent tightened his grip around the teenager's throat and drew back his fist for a powerful blow, but Neo stood on one foot and kicked him hard in the back of the neck. Furious, Smith dropped Chase, and sent his fist towards Neo instead. The girl drove her fist into Agent Smith's stomach before bolting. She could be of no help now and knew it. So she left Neo under attack from the agent's heavy, fast punches. He wasn't quite as good, but nearly, a lot better than the girl was. He ducked below a punch, dodged a kick, caught an ill-meaning fist, copped a punch to the stomach, and sent one back.
Smith raised a leg quickly to kick Neo, but he shoved it away before it could hit his hip. This wasn't going to be much fun.
-
Ari kicked the window of the old church inwards. Whose smart idea was it to position an exit in the church? Did churches even have phone lines? Maybe they did now – Ari had been outside of the Matrix world for three and a half years. She made a mental note to ask Chase if their old school church had.
"Where's everyone else?" Mouse asked her, squeezing through the small hole she had made in the pretty stained glass.
"Elsewhere," she answered. Distantly, she could hear the phone ringing. Then her own mobile rang. She answered it quickly. It had to be Lunar, the operator, calling to say who had the line out of her and the Nebuchadnezzar.
"Ari, the Neb.'s got the hardline. Mouse will have to go first," Lunar said softly. That was a problem. Lunar was always bouncy and fun. Of course, her ex-partner and best friend, Citadel, had died only half an hour ago or so.
"Mouse, you're first," Ari told her companion as she strode through the pews toward the sound of the ringing phone. The older boy nodded and looked like he wanted to say something, but instead walked ahead, going into the adjoining office and answering the exit. "Lunar, where are the others?"
"Heart O' the City Hotel, under attack from police and agents," Lunar answered, an edge of worry in her voice. Mouse disappeared into the phone line. "I just got Coyote and Specter – they're fine."
"And Chase?"
"That's why Sparks has the church line – I've got the hotel one. She's almost in the room to answer."
-
Trinity leaned into a vicious scorpion kick, which took out the guard she was attacking. Chase ran over, leaped into the air, placed her hands firmly onto the next guard's shoulders, and flipped herself over.
"What the…?" the policeman gasped. Chase landed perfectly behind him and elbowed him sharply in the ribs, then spun to punch him in the face. He dropped to the ground, alive and generally well, but winded and sporting a broken nose.
"Go," Trinity muttered, grabbing the girl's wrist and pushing her into the room. Niobe indicated the phone, then moved out to help Trinity before the phone could ring again.
Teamed with Niobe, Trinity found that she had more confidence. Not that she wasn't capable of downing two dozen policemen herself – this would just speed up the process, so that she could help Neo faster.
"This could have gone better," Niobe muttered, not even sparing a glance over her shoulder as she moved back-to-back with her. "We should never have gone ahead with this."
"Next time something this ridiculous-" here Trinity stressed her word by ducking below a punch and immediately crouching to swing her leg at the guard's feet, and he toppled "-happens, I'll remember that I should listen to you first." She straightened and impressed a guard with her speedy chops and blocks, which didn't really impress him much at all when she moved onto him and struck him in the jaw. She proceeded to knee him in the groin and break his collarbone with a perfected chop.
"I didn't mean that," the captain answered. She punched her policeman, and he dropped to his knees. Niobe viciously lifted her knee into his chin, then kicked him in the chest.
Two left standing. Trinity took one, Niobe the other. Within ten seconds, both were lying on the floor with their friends.
-
Neo kicked the agent in the side twice, smashed his glasses, kneed him in the groin – something he had just seen Trinity do out of the corner of his eye – and punched him in the head at least three times in the space of ten seconds, but nothing slowed the inhuman man. Smith blocked Neo's next three blows, then kicked him so hard in the chest that he literally flew through the air and crashed into the plasterboard of the hotel wall. Thankfully he landed on his feet and was able to defend himself against the barrage of punches and such directed at his head. But only just. It would be so nice if this would just magically end.
-
"No, what are you doing? Morpheus didn't hire you for your craziness," Niobe said, grabbing Trinity's arm. Trinity gave her a weird look, then realised. She hadn't noticed that she had actually started moving toward Neo and Agent Smith with the unconscious intent of helping. Not that she could be of much help.
"I can't stand here and do nothing," she said in defence of her action.
-
Agent Smith grabbed Neo's shirt and threw him away from the wall – and into the other one, face first. Neo felt the broken, jagged plaster dig into his cheek, cutting him. His head ached from the impact, making him too dizzy to stop Smith from pulling him away and turning him around. He managed a punch into the agent's nose, but of course it didn't hinder him at all. Smith pushed his second, weak blow away easily and pushed him back against the wall again.
Neo hadn't known that such speed could have existed. Smith went into a blur of motion, punching him in the stomach repeatedly. It was so painful, but all he could do was close his eyes and grit his teeth in agony. Who could have known that agents were so fast? The fists hit him, hard, again and again, at least five to a second in time.
-
"You have to," Niobe said, standing a little straighter as Agent Smith started his million-punches-in-so-many-seconds routine. How painful for the new guy. She was glad that she had her hand tight around Trinity's arm. She felt a small amount of responsibility for Morpheus' second-in-command now that he was dead, but at the moment, Trinity was actually leaning against her grip, dying to rush to the aid of Neo. And Niobe had never, in all the years she had known her, seen her so desperate to get nearer to an agent, for any reason. The young woman was terrified of them – that was the only fear she would admit to. Never before had she wanted to move closer to an agent, especially Smith, for anyone.
"You don't understand," Trinity said insistently, turning to give Niobe a wide-eyed, pleading look that was completely untypical of this hard, strong young woman that reminded the captain often of herself.
"No, you're right," Niobe agreed, yanking her back a little.
-
When Smith was finished, he roughly pulled Neo forward into the middle of the hall, and then slammed his crooked elbow into his back, between his shoulder blades. Winded and coughing up blood, Neo collapsed. When was this going to end? Trinity and Niobe were watching from the other end of the hall, near the door to room 303, from which the continual ringing of the exit phone sounded. If they left now, before Smith killed him (which was definitely his purpose) they should get out in time. Otherwise the evil agent would come after them.
Neo had the knowledge of enough deaths on his mind already – Morpheus, Switch, Tank, Dozer, Apoc, Captain Glyph, Citadel… He didn't want to die worrying about the last living captain of their company, and Trinity – the latter in particular.
-
"Oh, God," Trinity whispered. She watched in silent horror as Neo weakly tried to get to his feet but didn't manage. Blood was dripping from his lips onto the floor. Smith kicked Neo in the side ferociously, ruthlessly. The poor thing cringingly drew back into a ball, trying to protect himself from Agent Smith's kicks.
She didn't notice one of the four sort-of able-bodied policemen suddenly start to gasp as his body was changed into that of an agent. Niobe did, and instantly had her gun in her hand to stop any sort of agent congregation occurring. She fired repeatedly at the man, without any expression at all. He was dead before he could be taken over. She moved onto the next one while Trinity tensely watched Smith draw out his automatic pistol. She knew what was going to happen now, but it couldn't… Neo couldn't just die…
"You can't!" she shouted in disbelief. Smith ignored her and rested one foot on Neo's side, using it to roll him onto his stomach.
-
And Neo knew what was coming. He heard Trinity's words, "You can't!" and knew it. If that hadn't convinced him, the sound of Agent Smith cocking his gun would have.
Neo didn't have the energy to yell for Trinity and Niobe to run like he would have liked to have.
Without a single word, Smith pulled the trigger. Neo made a tiny choking sound as the first bullet went into his back. Sound changed. No one was speaking, nothing was happening… the gunshot, and the next one, which hurt just as much, and some electrical sound in the background were the only noises he could hear.
Smith fired again and again, six bullets in all, all of them painful. But the pain seemed to lessen at the last ones because his lungs, heart and so forth had been ruptured and he started to lose consciousness after about the fourth.
Neo could feel the blood seeping from the blasts in the front of his chest, into a thick pool beneath him. The cold-hearted agent used his foot to roll him onto his side. Staring upwards in his last moments, Neo wondered how something could be created to be so cold and evil, and also why Trinity was still here with Niobe. If Trinity was in some stupid state of shock, the captain seemed practical enough to force her out of there. But neither had moved.
Consciousness slipped away, out of his unsteady grip. His last thought was of his and Trinity's failed attempt to save their captain. Then blackness was all around.
-
Silence reigned. Even Niobe was glancing between Neo and Trinity in confusion.
He was dead? It wasn't possible…
-
"What the hell happened?" Mouse demanded, pointing at Neo as his pulse screen suddenly showed a dead straight line with a long, horrible beep that never ended. Dead?
"He's dead," Sparks muttered, a little embarrassed that he had to be the one to say.
"But he can't be dead," Mouse insisted, mystified. "He's the One."
"Apparently not," Ghost answered quietly. "Niobe and Trinity – why haven't they gotten out?"
"He's the One!" the youngest recruit repeated.
"We have to get them out!" Ghost said loudly, ignoring the boy.
-
Neo is dead. But Neo can't be dead. Neo has to be alive. Neo is dead. The thoughts zipped through Trinity's head numbly. Niobe gave her an urgent jerk, but she ignored her. Neo couldn't be dead. It simply wasn't possible. She didn't notice the two new agents, either, until one of them shoved her back into the captain. Where had they come from? Maybe they had materialised from those still-alive men on the floor. She would have to actually kill all of her enemies in future, not leave them half-alive.
Neo is dead, but he has to be alive and fine. He can't just die. Not now, not ever – never in my lifetime. Neo is dead.
Something inside her snapped when Agent Jones checked Neo's pulse and announced, "Gone," but Niobe's grip was tight and she hadn't the angry strength yet to pull away.
"Well, goodbye, Mr Anderson," Smith said in his silky, terrible voice. She hated that voice. She hated him altogether. And now he'd taken Neo away from her. That was enough to infuriate her.
"You evil bastards!" Trinity pulled away from Niobe's surprised grasp and ran at Brown, jumping into the air to kick him hard in the head. When she landed in a low crouch, she swung her leg out into his and spun into a standing position, using the spin to punch him in the face. She kneed him in the side and directed a chop at his collarbone, kneed him in the stomach twice while she slammed her fist into his head three times. All of this happened much too quick for him to respond, which had to be some sort of miracle or record. Trinity gave the agent a high kick that unfortunately flew over his head when he ducked, but since he was ducked down, she was able to jam her knee into his jaw before he could straighten.
Someone grabbed her arms and twisted them behind her back, useless. She left her shoulders to carry her weight and leaned back, lifting her feet from the ground. Whoever had her leaned back also, so that she wouldn't be able to get her feet back to the floor afterwards. Pretending not to care, Trinity kicked her heels into whoever's kneecaps and smacked her head back into his face. She heard his glasses break, but of course, she already knew that it was an agent. Either Smith or Jones, she didn't know or care which. Brown dusted himself off while Niobe hurried forward, cursing Trinity for her rash actions under her breath. She didn't last quite as long as Trinity, quickly shoved into a wall and pinned, her face pressed against the peeling plaster and her brown eyes narrowed.
"Ah, Trinity," Agent Smith said in his smirking, evilly smooth voice. He came from somewhere closer to Neo – Neo's dead body – so it wasn't him that held Trinity suspended in the air.
He moved slowly around into view. He seemed amused by Trinity's furious blue eyes. She wanted nothing but to kill him. He stepped closer.
"Interesting codes you gave me," he said, almost smiling. "Very funny. Especially when you read them backwards. But you know, I'm not really a 'heartless prick'."
"You aren't?" Trinity hissed. "Why don't you do something to prove it?"
Smith got a little closer.
"You two will be spending a bit of time with me soon anyway, since I have seen how your friends would rather come in and try to save your captured than unplug them," the agent said. "Then you can tell for yourself what I'm really like."
He was going to use the serum to break into her and Niobe's minds. At least now she wouldn't have the mental energy to obsess over Neo's death.
Maybe, just maybe, he was just alive, just breathing enough to keep his lungs going? Maybe he could still hear her if she spoke to him?
Determined to find out, Trinity kicked out viciously, catching Smith in the chest and pushing him right back. She leaned forward as far as the grip would allow, then slammed her head back so hard she felt dizzy herself. When the death grip pinning her arms was loosened, she managed to elbow Agent Jones in the ribs, and he released her. She stumbled in her landing.
Thankfully, Niobe had decided to escape, too. Somehow she got Brown to let her go and she fought him away from her as she backed in the direction of the room 303. Jones and Smith moved over to help their fellow to contain her, so Trinity took the opportunity to drop down beside Neo unnoticed.
"Neo?" she asked, scared. She brushed a lock of her black hair behind her ear and touched his wrist. No pulse. She rested the same hand on his jaw, one finger over his pulse point. He was dead. He wasn't breathing or anything, just dead.
He was dead, despite the impossibility of it all.
"How can you be dead? No, you just can't be," she said, her voice lowering. When she continued, it was almost a whisper. "No, you can't die. The Oracle… You can't die."
She had told him once, but he had thought that she was acting. What he didn't understand was that she really did love him. She didn't mean to, but when one of the agents grabbed at her, she blurted it out again.
"You can't be dead because I love you!" she screamed, fighting Smith off her and taking Neo's head in her hands. His eyes were closed, deep in permanent sleep, the darkest night of all. His skin was even paler than ever before. She stroked his black hair from his face and kissed him quickly, their last.
Hands dragged her away from Neo and threw her against the wall.
"Sentimental humans," Agent Smith said. He punched her in the jaw twice, holding her still with one hand on her shoulder.
"Any ideas?" Niobe yelled angrily.
"Go!" Trinity answered, her head snapping to one side from the next blow. The other woman hesitated for only a moment, then fought Brown and Jones away from her and got her break, using her chance to bolt for the still-ringing phone. Both agents followed her into the room. Obviously, they were too late. Niobe must have answered the exit and left the Matrix behind.
Jones and Brown strode back into the room, almost human in their disappointment.
Agent Smith punched Trinity again.
-
The bodies of Citadel and Glyph lay silently in their chairs, disconnected, not that that mattered. Ari took up Lunar's seat at the operator's station while the older woman cried over Citadel and helped Specter move the bodies. She stared at what she saw on the screen.
He was dead. Neo, Trinity's 'friend', was dead. But Chase had said that Morpheus believed him to be the Chosen One, who in turn couldn't die until his purpose was fulfilled. She had heard it all before.
"Chase!" she said, pointing at the screen. Her best friend walked over, dusting her hands on her legs.
"What? Hey, Trinity's being killed, look!" She pointed it out.
"It's Neo. He's dead! I thought Trinity said he was the One?"
"She did. Sounded like she believed it, too. But he's dead? That doesn't make sense," Chase insisted.
-
Smith pulled his fist back for the final strike, which Trinity knew would render her unconscious, but she didn't close her eyes. She wasn't so cowardly. She wouldn't let her enemy know she was scared. He didn't need to know and he never would.
He let the punch go – it was going to knock her out – but someone caught it in midair, stopping it from ever touching her.