Chapter 10 – Conflicting interests

Disclaimer: see Chapter 3

A/n: Thanks to magicalbrat, LiMiYa, Angel-of-light91, Long lost sorrow, E.L. Lockhart. That's my most reviews for a chapter ever:P

But flippin' nora! I know I'm a long time updating (a major understatement), but I did have exams and the like.. so, I suppose that's my humble excuse yet again. Anyway they're finally over, so, on with the story!

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For a few, unbreathable seconds, time seemed to stop. The moment froze, held, held… The silence was complete.

A faint swish of air was all the warning Ana got. Suddenly, the space where the strange woman had been standing was inexplicably empty. Jerking her neck up to follow the flash of black her eyes widened in green disbelief, and she involuntarily staggered to her feet, seemingly forgetting the previous danger and tension of the situation. She needn't have worried. The man - what had she called him? - Mr. Smith, had similarly left his position. The sight that greeted Ana was unreal, surreal – it had to be anything but real.

This was no time for an English lesson.

The woman, Niobe, (it seemed familiar, right somehow, to use her name) had jumped impossibly high. What had seemed to Ana to be an insurmountable wall had been scaled in a matter of milliseconds. Rushing to the entrance of the alley, all caution forgotten, Ana caught a glimpse of a fleeing black shape, closely pursued by another, high on the jagged rooftops. Guessing the direction Niobe was taking, Ana sped into motion, racing through the streets, following the faint sounds of pursuit.

Then the most shocking event so far. The sound of a gunshot ripped through the air, tearing through the tranquillity of the sleeping sound. Her heart skipped three beats. Ana froze, mouth unconsciously wide open in a gesture of shock and horror. She was a law-abiding girl. But this man, or woman, had a gun. Unfreezing her posture, she was impelled by some force to continue. She knew she had to. Lives were at stake.

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Morpheus still stood behind Switch, fiercely gripping the back of the operator's chair, as if this would make Switch's blurred fingers fly any faster. There was a look of grim determination in his eyes.

"None of the other crew members of the Logos are in there, sir. Just Niobe."

"The other ships?"

There was a short pause, with only the sound of clattering keys and the low hum of the monitors. Morpheus smiled grimly at the remembrance of Niobe's intense hate of silence. She used to hum the old popular tunes from the Matrix if a stint at the Core was too quiet. Used to.

"No, sir. Just Niobe, Trinity, the Anomaly and now an Agent. Only one Agent though."

One too many thought Morpheus. His speech came quick and efficient, belied by a look of…was that panic in his eyes? No, thought Switch. Morpheus never panicked.

"Ok. I want you to…this will be faster if I do it myself. Thanks, Switch."

Morpheus swung into the chair that Switch had just vacated. He fixed the headset on as though he had never left the position of operator. The green light of the monitors and the harsh overhead lighting gave both of them an unhealthy-looking pallor.

"We're going to need to pinpoint their exact locations, and as many exits as possible. Our primary objective is to unplug our little Anomaly. Trinity and Niobe can handle themselves. Now it's a little more…complicated."

That was an understatement, thought Switch wryly.

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Trinity knew she was nearing her destination. This time she had no idea what she would find. This mission was more complicated than the average, as it involved a potential who was unaware and more than likely unwilling to be unplugged. What would that do to her mind? She would just have to trust that Morpheus was right. He always was. But now Niobe was involved? Things would get even more complicated.

Suddenly she froze as the sound of a distant gunshot reached the alleyways. Anyone looking out of the window would have marvelled at the way the lithe figure, clad in faintly shimmering leather, seemed to disappear into thin air, the speed it moved. But of course no-one was looking out of the window. Only the rats lived here.

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For what seemed like the millionth time during that endless night, Ana froze in amazement. She had finally reached the centre of the conflict. If the gravity-defying leaps and rolls of the pair had seemed impossible, this was something else. The two black figures now stood exposed on a jagged rooftop, scattered with broken brick chimneys and shattered lengths of guttering. The harsh moonlight cast similarly jagged shadows and glistened off the metal in their sunglasses and the man's gun. As Ana reached the scene, crouching behind a brick pillar after sprinting as lightly as possible up the twisting fire escape, the woman dashed to crouch behind another chimney on the other side of the roof. Her whole body was cast into shadow, but Ana could still see the faintly glowing aura of red silhouetting her shape. In fact, it was even stronger now. Meanwhile, the man seemed to emanate a haze of green. Ana could see the whole scene as it played out.

As the man in the crisp suit reached again for his gun, shooting two bullets into the chimney the woman was sheltering behind, she feinted left before twisting to perform an impossible leap sideways, black-clad body spinning through the air as the man shot again and again.

Ana could not see how he could have missed, but as the man darted forward with the speed of a cheetah, the woman braced herself against the crumbling pillar in front of her before arching backwards to flip over his head, not pausing as she landed gracefully on the ground but sprinting towards the edge, finding her gun and shooting over her shoulder with similar precision.

Ana marvelled again at the sheer height and speed of the manoeuvre, but the man seemed unperturbed. Somehow, he was back in his original position, still tearing the air with gunshot after gunshot. No-one could possibly run that fast. He did not chase the woman but stood, seemingly relaxed. His trousers and jacket still seemed freshly ironed, as though this was merely a business meeting, and even his shoes sparkled. His sunglasses had not been removed.

Suddenly, just as the woman reached the end of the roof, and launched herself from the edge, she gave a strangled cry of pain and fell through the air. Ana had to dig her nails into the brick in front of her to keep from crying out and rushing forwards. The man in the suit…Smith, sauntered slowly over to the edge where the woman had fallen. Ana felt a flash of …almost pain across her stomach as he let out a mocking laugh. She knew without doubt that this man was an enemy. That must make the mysterious woman a friend. If she was alive.

What had happened to her?

The man stepped off the edge, disappearing in a mixture of a jump and a fall. The roof was deserted. The only sign that people had been there were the two deep holes blasted into the chimney. Stirring from her hiding-place, Ana hurried over to the spot, reaching out her fingers to convince her mind that it was true.

Yes.

Almost as though they had been carved into the rough brickwork, two tunnels sliced cleanly into the chimney. If they could do this to hard stone, what would they do to human flesh? Ana knew the answer. She had watched too many hospital dramas to be ignorant of the impact of steel on flesh.

Heart pounding and hands shaking, she slowly made her way to the spot where the two had vanished, and peered cautiously over the edge. She needn't have worried. Neither of the figures was looking in her direction. Instead, their eyes were locked together.

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A/n: Well, I hope that was up to standard…tell me what you think!