Chapter 14
Neo can hear the muffled sound of weapons' fire as he leans back against the stock-room door, his mind and heart racing with a galvanizing mixture adrenaline and testosterone. Trinity expects him to crawl through the ventilation to the roof? To run away like a coward? To squeeze and shimmy his way to safety while his proverbial derrière is saved by his date, a woman wearing a Starbucks apron and a Montréal Canadians baseball cap?
But the question remains. Is she really his date? Neo shakes his head. Never mind. Man on a date or not, he is still a man, and chivalry is not dead in his universe.
Don't you worry, Trin, I'm coming…
A few bullets pierce through the plaster at his back, just missing his body, and Neo drops to the floor, covering his head. "Aww, shit!" He yells his default curse through the racket, crawling on his elbows and knees across the room. "Aww, shit!"
He has no gun, no phone, just all this useless, heavy ammunition that he throws off his shoulders into a heap on the ground. Desperate, he frantically begins to search through cupboards and drawers for anything he can use as a weapon. But all he finds are paper cups and plastic spoons, chocolate sauce and whipped cream. And after he gets over the pleasant Trinity-gets-naughty-in-noting-but-a-chef's-hat fantasy that the last two items inspire, he throws his hands up in frustration, surrendering defeat to the gods of love. Who is he kidding? He'll be lucky if he doesn't get stuck in the vent on his way up.
Just then, his prayers of woe and defeat are interrupted (or answered?) by a shrill ringing from the phone on the wall. He half expects it to be Trinity, brutally strangling an officer with one hand and calling to yell at him to get to the roof with the other. The comical and more-than-likely mental image pulls at the corners of his mouth as he answers, "Yeah."
"Hey, Neo!" It's Tank. He's chuckling, and Neo can hear a few more voices cheering in the background. "You're our hero, man! The Nebuchadnezzar rookie of the year!"
"Huh?"
"You called the cops on her! Pierced her gas tank! Drenched her from head to toe! And you're still alive! She hasn't killed you!"
"Oh… uh, yeah."
"And then somehow, you got her to go out with you! Trinity! I swear to God, a tape of this would go on the Zionist black market for a fortune!"
He grins, feeling rather good about himself. "So… you think it's a date, then?"
Neo doesn't hear the operator's answer as more gunfire ricochets through the room and a huge explosion shakes the ground. Plaster falls from the ceiling and the lights flicker. "Tank! Is Trinity okay?" he shouts into the phone, ears ringing.
"Are you kidding? That was her blowing up a helicopter with an M-160."
His shoulders slump. So much for his plan to come to her rescue. "Perfect."
"You want one? I've got several models."
"No… I think I'll just start crawling my way to the roof, thank you very much." There are a few groans, and Neo could swear he hears Switch call him a 'pussy.'
"What?" Tank exclaims. "You can't back out now! You're in the zone! Just tell me what you need… anything. Guns? Knives? A dozen red roses? I'm your fairy godmother, man."
"Really?" Neo stands up a little taller and begins to let his imagination run wild. "Anything I want?"
There is some laughing over the phone and more applause. Somebody whistles and yells, 'go, Neo!' Probably Mouse.
"Anything your heart desires," confirms Tank, typing at his keyboard. "Bibbity, Bobbity, Boo!"
Leaping behind an overturned table for cover, Trinity rips a piece of fabric from her green apron and applies it as a tourniquet to the graze on her left arm. After pulling the knot taught with her teeth and free hand, she spits out some blood and wipes her sweaty brow, panting as she replaces the clips in her guns. This was supposed to be her night off!
She grimaces as pain cuts through her from several other minor lacerations, and the discomfort is much more intense than it should be, given how often she has suffered worse without even flinching. She isn't focussing, and she has slipped out of the concentrated, intuitive subspace that has taken her years of intense training and meditation to develop. It's Neo. Her mind and heart sing his name, even as she summersaults out from her cover and engages the torrents of attacking policemen. They drop one by one, necks twisted into unnatural angles or bullets lodged in their skulls, and when Trinity finds a pair of butcher's knives next to a tray of biscotti, they fly across the room faster than the simulated officers can see them (which is impressive, considering how she'd programmed them with superior visual acuity).
Her movements are fluid and well-practiced, even though all the while she is silently chastising herself for the girlish self-indulgences that led her into this situation in the first place. What had she been thinking, letting Neo coax her to this café? Drinking non-coffee, eating pseudo-cake, and flirting shamelessly as if they were teenagers… as if this were some sort of… date? She'd maim any other man for looking at her the way he does, for saying some of the things at which she'd giggled like a smitten schoolgirl. Whatever happens, I want you to know that my last thoughts were of you. In that top. Without the coat.
How dare he! She smiles. The smug bastard! She feels giddy. Who does he think he is! Obviously he has no idea who he's dealing with!
Trinity scorpion-kicks an officer and snatches his M-16 assault rifle, shooting him in the head with it before he hits the ground.
She is The IRS D-Base Trinity! The Red Queen! The hard, fearless first officer of the Nebuchadnezzar, a woman with eyes like razors and a heart like steel! She's goddamned terrifying, for crying out loud!
Suddenly, in the middle of the gunfight, Trinity erupts into laughter, and is very nearly shot. She darts behind a support beam and has to wipe tears from behind her sunglasses. Somehow, she can't imagine Neo is much afraid of her. She lost that edge somewhere between baking him a cake and making his bed. It's awful, but Trinity can't help it. She doesn't want to be cold and intimidating anymore.
A chuckle somehow comes out as a sob as her throat constricts. It's been twelve years. Twelve years and she's so tired of being the remote, impregnable woman she has become. She didn't even know how tired until Neo came along. He makes her want to be soft. For him, in his arms, against his lips, Trinity wants to let it all go. She wants to laugh, to smile, to love, to forget the terrors of this war. For one night. For as long as they have…
Trinity's chest tightens and she plunges her hands into the pockets of her apron for two more clips, loading them in with frustrated, jerky movements. "To hell with the goddamned Prophecy," she mumbles. It's about time she starts taking her own advice. Neo needs her. They need each other, and they're entitled. She won't be the one to deny them any longer.
Trinity takes a deep breath and looks back towards the stock room entrance. Her mind is made up. She'll meet Neo on the roof (hopefully, he hasn't gotten himself jammed in the vent), and Tank can pull them out at the nearest phone. Then she'll take Neo to her quarters and tell him how she feels.
A wave of nausea causes her to swallow hard. What will she say? Neo, I love you. Or perhaps that is too blunt, too direct. She has been told that this is one of her worst faults socially. Perhaps a more tactful approach is in order…
Neo. I have committed many armed robberies in my life, and if I'm to be completely honest with you, I've come to take great pride in my work. I've stolen guns, bikes, cars, nuclear submarines, and in one spectacular instance, an agent's sunglasses. But tonight's hold-up of the Starbucks on First and Third was really something special. With anyone else it would have been just another cup of caffeinated code, but with you, every sip was magical. I don't normally do this, and I know you have a lot to deal with in your life right now, but…
Without warning, Trinity is thrown to the ground as the force of a massive explosion rips though the café, shaking the foundation and charring the front three rows of tables. Flame falls from the ceiling in chunks of burning particleboard, and Trinity tastes blood in her mouth as she pulls herself up. "What the hell?"
The all-too-familiar scent of burning hair causes her to reach up and smother the singed ends of her short black tresses, and when she finds her favorite baseball cap in a pile of smoldering rubble, Trinity tries to save it by stomping out the flames.
"Goddamn it," she mutters, picking it up and scowling at the indecipherable Habs logo. She puts the tattered hat back on her head and peers through the haze, waving smoke away from her face and coughing. What happened?
"Trin? Trin! Jesus, are you okay?" She hears his frantic voice holler through the dust and debris.
"Neo?"
She can only vaguely make out the shape of his body as he enters through the giant hole in the front wall, hurrying towards her. "Where are you? Are you hurt?"
"No, no I'm okay."
But as he gets closer, Trinity begins to wonder if she hasn't suffered from a concussion. Because if she is seeing clearly, Neo is dressed in a tuxedo.
"Hey," he greets her, clumsily stumbling over a fallen metal beam. Trinity stares back incredulously. Neo's hair is gelled into spikes, and angular sunglasses compliment his smooth, sharp features. Gold cufflinks. Leather dress shoes. A bowtie.
She blinks a few times. Yes, he is still wearing the tux.
"Neo, I'm going to ask you a question," she says slowly, evenly. "And I want an honest answer from you."
"Sure, Trin."
"Are you responsible for this?" She looks around and rubs some soot from her chin. "Did you just blow me up?"
He begins to shuffle nervously. "You're going to laugh when you hear the story. It's really all Tank's fault."
Trinity feels her cheeks burn. If he were anyone else, she'd kill him. "Neo, I told you to get to the roof," she says, trying her best not to notice how sexy his looks in that outfit. "You're never going to learn a thing if you don't start following my instructions. This isn't a game-"
"Just calm down and give me a chance to explain," he interrupts, stuttering a little. "See, Tank called, and he wanted to help me… us out. Mostly you. And uhm, so I asked him for some explosives."
"And a James Bond costume?"
"Well, it's waterproofed fabric, like you told me."
He extends his arm to offer her a feel of the sleeve. Trinity narrows her eyes and folds her arms across her chest. Receiving her message, he beings to talk faster.
"Anyway. So seeing as I was going with the Bond theme, Tank was good enough to wire the bombs to my wrist watch… well, long story short, I think I used too many. Or turned the wrong knob to detonate. Sorry. I got rid of the cops for you, though. They're all dead."
"And when you're faced with the same situation in the Matrix, you think it's going to be this easy?" she asks.
"Well what was I supposed to do?"
"Leave me here as I ordered you to! I was doing just fine until you-" Trinity stops herself short and freezes. "Oh, no."
"Trin? What's wr-"
Before he can get another word out, she grabs his hand and yanks in the direction the street. "Neo, come on!" she yells, sprinting towards the exit as the structure around them begins to moan, walls caving in and roof crumbling above them. They narrowly avoid being crushed by the falling metal and concrete, tripping and falling over obstacles, pulling and dragging each other along the entire way.
Trinity and Neo reach the opposite sidewalk just in time to watch the twenty two storey building collapse onto itself. People run by screaming and dialing 911 on their cellular phones, and a few people pull out video cameras.
"Lovely," Trinity deadpans, falling onto a bench. "I left my sunglasses in there."
Neo begins to laugh.
"No, no, it isn't funny. It's sad," she remarks, and he laughs harder. "That's the next lesson. Pyrotechnics. And I'm watching from the core. You can blow Switch up. See how long you last after that."
Neo lifts his head out from between his knees and pulls out a keychain and remote control from his pocket. "Okay, I think we're done here."
"That's it! I think we're done here? How about, I'm sorry, Trin, for disobeying your direct order. And for nearly killing you… again."
"I'll let you drive the Bond car. How about that?" he says, pointing the remote down the street. "It's fifteen minutes 'till midnight, and the Exit is in the penthouse apartment of the Delta hotel. Lockheart and Wheylen."
A BMW Z-8 screeches to a halt in front of them, and Trinity can't suppress a mischievous grin as she holds out her palm to accept the keys. "You changed the color," she says, sliding into the convertible's leather seat. "Bright orange?"
"Not quite," Neo replies, buckling his seatbelt. "This is pumpkin orange."
Off her look, he chuckles. "Bibbity, bobbity, boo!"
Trinity opens the glove-compartment, finding a pair of sunglasses and a Beretta 84. After resting the gun on her lap and sliding the shades onto the bridge of her nose, she pushes the key into the ignition. A thin blue laser beam flickers across her face and Neo's.
"Hello, Trinity," greets a rugged male voice as she revs the engine. "Please specify unknown passenger."
"This is Neo." Trinity shifts into drive. "He's new here."
"Security clearance?" requests the computer.
Trinity glances over at her passenger's bewildered expression. "Zero," she says squarely. "He's had enough fun with the explosives today."
"Acknowledged. It's good to see you again, Trin." The seats heat up and vibrate. "I've missed you."
"What the hell is this?" Neo finally demands, shifting uncomfortably. "Make it stop."
"Paulo, that isn't funny," Trinity says sternly, turning onto the highway. "Neo isn't Switch. Leave him alone."
"Paulo!" Neo exclaims.
"Well, whose car do you think you're in?" she answers, rather pleased that he seems jealous. "The Bond car, as you call it, is my creation. I programmed him from scratch." She runs her hand over the wheel lovingly. "We've been through a lot together."
The dashboard lights up with an electronic navigation array. "Specify destination, Trin?"
"The Delta hotel," she says. "We don't have a lot of time. I have to get Cinderella here to the Exit by midnight."
"Hey."
She grins. "You turned my car orange. You're lucky I didn't leave you on the sidewalk."
"I'm orange?" Paulo sounds overwrought.
"Can you turn your boyfriend off for a moment?"
Trinity laughs. "You can dish it out but you can't take it, eh? Neo can bring his toys but Trinity must leave all hers at home?" She presses her foot to gas petal, delighted to finally be back in control. No more unpleasant surprises. Ladies and gentlemen, The Red Queen is back. "You'll find that when we do things my way, the mission goes much more smoothly. Specifically, neither of us dies from the other's stupidity."
"Are you going to throw that in my face for the rest of the night? It was an accident. Ak-si-dent."
Trinity sighs and shakes her head, aggressively weaving in and out of traffic. There is silence between them, and now that she has a moment to think clearly, she realizes how much fun she's having. How twisted is that, she wonders? This guy nearly flattens her in a massive explosion, and she is having a blast. Trinity swallows a chuckle at her pun. Neo's sense of humor is rubbing off on her…
"What?" he asks. "What's so funny?"
"Nothing." She bites her lower lip and keeps her eyes on the road. He continues to look at her, and Trinity can feel it; she can feel Neo studying her profile. She consciously pushes her shoulders back and chest forward. She must look like hell after all she has been through. After all he's put her though, she corrects. And it makes her a little self-conscious, a little nervous, so she reaches out to turn on the CD player.
"How about some music?"
"Kay." He is still looking. Trinity takes a deep breath and presses play. Hopefully this will make things less awkward…
"I'll be The One." She scowls. What? "I'll be The One, ohh-oh…"
"The Backstreet Boys?" Neo asks. "I never would have figured you for a fan."
"I'm not. I…"
The bouncy rhythm of the celebrated boy band's newest hit The One blasts over the car's impressive surround sound.
"Paulo, what the hell is this?" she yells over the rising volume.
"Trinity playlist one," replies the seductive voice. Neo raises an eyebrow at her.
"No, it isn't! Turn it off," she says, trying in vain to put off the radio.
"Unable to comply."
Trinity lets out a growl of frustration and drives faster. When she gets back to the core… heads are going to roll. Neo laughs as the boys' angelic, prepubescent voices boom around them.
"I guess you were lost when I met you
Still there were tears in your eyes
So out of trust and I knew
No more than mysteries and lies
There you were, wild and free
Reachin' out like you needed me
A helping hand to make it right
I am holding you all through the night
I'll be The One! I'll be The One!"
"I'm going to murder Tank," she hollers, cheeks burning.
"I think they're trying to brainwash me," he answers back. "If it works, it could be my superhero theme song, you know. Like the bat dance."
She shakes her head. "Bat Man wasn't a superhero. He was just a messed up guy with a lot of gadgets."
"I can't believe you don't like Bat Man."
"What does that mean?"
"Well, you dress like Cat Woman."
"I do not!"
"Proximity alert."
"For your information," she specifies, "My leathers are very practical."
"Uh-huh."
"Incoming fire."
"They're stealthy, flame and water resistant… and the inside is woven with a network of biomed sensors which-"
The racket of gunfire cuts her short as several undercover police cars converge on their position. Trinity grabs Neo's head and pushes it down. "Shit."
"Deploy the armor!" he yells.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"You programmed this thing without armor!"
"It isn't the Batmobile, Neo!"
"Incoming fire."
"Jesus!" Trinity swerves to avoid more bullets and cuts off a few SUVs. "Neo! The cigarette lighter is a control switch for the rear missile complement. Once we're in position, specify a full spread."
Neo presses his thumb to the button. "Access denied. Insufficient security clearance."
"Good one, Trin!" he yells, as she yanks at the steering wheel, sending him flying against the door.
Trinity barely maintains control of the car with one hand as she activates the weapons herself. The dashboard displays a digital screen in which the police cruisers behind them are locked in flashing red squares.
"Warning: vehicle is inside the blast radius." Paulo sounds very worried.
"Hold on to something," she yells, and before Neo can comply, they're both thrown forward with the force of the explosion. Paulo is lifted off the street and into the air, where he lands thirty feet away with a bone-shattering crash, though they are still moving.
"You need me like I need you
We can share our dreams comin' true
I can show you what true love means
Just take my hand, baby please…"
"You're insane!" Neo exclaims, and Trinity laughs. Yes, she is definitely having fun…
"We're almost there." She nods at the hotel a few blocks ahead. "And we made excellent time."
"Warnisgh. Profffst Aleerg."
"Paulo?" Trinity taps at the scrambled screen in front of her. "Paulo? Are you alright?"
"You know, I'm not doing so well myself over here," Neo says testily. "I bit my tongue on the landing."
"Oh, no," she gasps.
"Well, it isn't that bad, but-"
"No, look." They both stare through the windshield at an upcoming barricade.
"That's a military line," she says. "Somebody called the army in."
"Shit. What are we going to do?"
"Paulo, start self-destruct sequence. Five seconds on my mark. Autopilot at sixty KPH."
"What?" Neo's eyes go wide.
"Don't worry. We won't be in this car when it blows up." She opens her car door and grabs his lapel. "Ready?"
"No!"
"Trust me." She holds out her hand. "We'll make it. Just remember to roll."
The last Neo sees of his rival Paulo is a mushroom-shaped cloud of billowing smoke as he runs with Trinity into an ally, limping slightly.
"You okay?" she asks, apparently uninjured from her leap from a speeding vehicle.
"No!"
"Well, you didn't roll."
"Oh, trust me, I rolled plenty." He examines the cuts and scrapes all over his legs and arms.
"You're fine." She peeks around a dumpster at the soldiers running back and forth, communicating on walkie-talkies. "The hotel is across the street. We'll never make it without being seen."
"Tell me you have a plan."
"Always. Come with me."
Neo can see the entire city from the roof of the Sigmund Howard Tower, a commercial complex that stands over fifty stories high. He squints out in the sunlight as the wind whips around his ears and the rumble of downtown traffic roars up from below.
"Good. It's about the same height." Trinity observes, shutting the rooftop door and checking her watch. "Home free in five minutes. You first."
Neo walks over to the edge of the building, judging the distance from the ledge to the top of the Delta hotel to be roughly forty feet. His legs feel weak. "I can't do it."
"What?"
He turns to look at her. "I can't do it. This is farther than the jump program. I couldn't even do that."
Trinity sighs. "That's because you still doubted yourself. You need to let it all go, Neo. You need to free your mind."
He scoffs. He really wishes people would stop saying that. "I don't even know what that means."
Trinity walks over to him and takes off her sunglasses. He looks down into her eyes, those amazing eyes, and his knees turn to jelly again. "I'd say you understand it better than most, double-oh."
"This?" He indicates his torn and tattered tuxedo. "This is just… this is all Tank's magic. None of it is real. None of it is me. I have no idea what I'm doing here. I'm so… God, if you had any idea how lost I am…"
He trails off as she takes his hand in hers. "I know," she says. "But you can do this."
Neo feels his throat tighten as this beautiful creature squeezes his palms. He wants to reach out and touch her; he wishes he had the courage to do it. To kiss her the way he has wanted to all night. "I feel so alone."
He didn't even mean to say it aloud, the words just escaped from his lips in a whisper before he knew what was happening. Instantly, Neo looks away in embarrassment. If he cries in front of her, he will jump off the building.
"Then, we will do it together," he hears her say softly, tightening her grip on his hand. "On my count of three?"
"What? No, I'll pull you down," he argues as she leads him back from the ledge for a running start.
"No, you won't."
"Trin-"
"Just focus on the place you want to land. Visualize yourself making the jump. You can do it, Neo. I believe in you."
As her thumb caresses small circles on his hand, Neo can think only one thing. He loves her. Somewhere tonight, he has fallen so completely, he can barely think clearly. It was probably when she started flirting with the car, covered in dirt and sweat from his botched rescue attempt. Or maybe when she suddenly began giggling to herself as they drove along the highway, nasally suppressing the laughter until it escaped in a snort.
God, he would jump over fifty buildings for her. Just for one kiss. For one night…
In a huge leap of faith, Neo closes his eyes and interlaces their fingers. Trinity weaves into him and squeezes again. "Don't worry. I'm not letting go. I promise." He feels a tingle up his arm. Her voice is nearly a purr. "Are you ready to fly?"
Neo lets out a deep breath and looks over at Trinity one last time. I love you. "Yeah. I'm ready."
She catches his eyes, and counts to three, and they run.