Disclaimer: I own none of the Matrix

When Angela returned, with a dead Deer slung over her shoulder and a thin sheen of sweat on her face, she was nothing short of surprised when she saw Shadow, who as far as she knew, was one of the Enemy, sitting next to Smith with his legs crossed and his face drawn white and thoughtful as he absently tossed small sticks into the fire she had made.

"Shadow, Shadow, Shadow. Who you double-crossed now?." Angela asked, smiling smugly as she advanced towards the orange glow of the fire.

"Happy to see me, Ange?." He said, regarding her with his insane eyes.

"Yeah, it just brightened up my fuckin' day. Why are you here?."

"Locke decided that I was "in on" you rescuing Smithie, and that I helped plan it and some other paranoid bullshit. So here I am, Ange."

"I could kill that man sometimes. Well.. I don't trust you and I don't like you, but you're here now, and here's where you're gonna stay, then at least I can keep an eye on you and your loose mouth." Angela said as she placed the deer carcass on a smooth, nameless rock and began to skin and gut it.

"Do you hear that?." Smith asked suddenly, looking around, his eyes flicking nervously from one place to the next.

"What?. All I hear is the wind, big boy." Shadow said, thinning his eyes at Smith.

"Listen, you fool."

Shadow made no verbal response; instead he cocked his ear in a listening position, but still hearing nothing but the wind whistling through the trees.

"Like I said, just the wind, man."

"I hear it." Angela said, standing up sharply.

"What is it?." Shadow asked, concern finally dawning on his face.

"Sounds like an argument. Voices." A pause, and then they all heard it.

The sound of an approaching mob.

Angela's eyes widened a little as a large group of Exiles were making their way towards the group's camp.

"Just leave." Smith barked. "It's obvious why they are coming, so I will deal with them."

"No." Angela said, and then turned towards the approaching group, face stern and ready for the confrontation.

A young man, tall and handsome with his long black hair slightly windswept, approached the group with an odd aura of serenity.

"We don't want no trouble." He said softly. "We just came for the loose mouth."

"What do you want with me?." Shadow asked quietly, hiding in the shadow of a tall, sweet smelling pine.

"You ain't welcome here, we don't want double-crossers here. Knowing you, Shadow, you'll tell Smithie's friends how to get here and how to kill us all. In fact, Smithie's probably in on it as well."

"Enough." Angela snapped, and made her way to the handsome young man. "Take Shadow, I don't trust him any more than you, but Smith will not go anywhere, not while I'm still breathing."

"Why, Ange?. You got a thing for Mr. Program?. You wanna touch him?." The young man said, turning towards his group and laughing.

"No. He has been exiled, and isn't this the home away from home for Exiles?. Just because he used to be an Agent, he is not welcome?. Haven't we had other programs here before?."

The young man, now stood silent and only spoke with his eyes.

You will not stop me, I mean to have him is the message Angela got from his dark browns, but she didn't even entertain the possibility of giving in to him.

"Just let us see if he is as true as you say he is. If we see that he means to live in peace in our little pocket of the world, then you have my word, in front of all these people, that he will go free."

Anger rose up inside her like a spitting, raging fire, but before she could even think of how to react, Smith was moving towards them, seemingly unafraid.

"What are you doing?." Angela hissed, unbelieving.

"I mean them no harm, I mean this place no harm, if they wish to test me, then so be it. I don't believe I've ever failed a test."

Angela was about to protest, but two bulky young men moved forward and grappled with Shadow, before leading them both to Angela believed was surely death.

When she could no longer even hear their voices or see their shadows stretching thinly across the horizon, Angela sat heavily on the dry ground and surprised herself by beginning to cry.