A/N: Sorry if this chapter is a bit slow, I'm still working out the kinks in the plot. Also, this is more of a Neb chapter, just to warn you. This is my first time writing about the characters who didn't make it out of the first movie, so I'm kind of excited about that. Thanks for reading and enjoy.

Right and Wrong

Chapter 3

The Neb was silent, save Apoc's heavy footsteps. He'd stopped trying to quiet himself years ago, the effort a ridiculous notion of unneeded worry. He bypassed the light switches that would turn on the dim lights leading to the Core, his eyes now fully adjusted to the darkness that accompanied the Neb during the night hours.

Once he reached the feed, Mouse swiveled enough in his chair to see Apoc. He gave a wide smile, a predictable move, it his usual welcome when he was too tired to speak, thankfully. None of them knew how he did it, how he could possibly remain so blissfully cheery. It was annoying at times, but even Apoc had to admit, without the guy around, they'd all most likely forget how to laugh.

"What if this is some kind of set up?" Mouse said suddenly, still sitting in the chair, knowing full well that he could leave now that Apoc was here.

Apoc could only make out part of the youngest crew member's mischievous face from where he stood. His eyes seemed to be gleaming out of wonder from his new theory, but Apoc knew from years of experience, the night shift was a tiring job on the eyes.

"What?" He simply replied, actually giving him permission to continue with this one.

Mouse perked up slightly and sat up straighter. "You know, what if the Agents are messing with us, making us believe that these two are as important as we think they are, especially Neo, when in reality, they're just regular red pills. What if this is a distraction and they're hiding the real guy-"

"I thought it was crazy enough that you were right about the agents protecting these two, but now you're just bagging on your own theory. The one that was actually true."

"I know, I know, but here me out! If they're so important, why haven't they just killed them already? The only reason they'd do that is if they needed Neo and Trinity for something…but how could they possibly be useful to an Agent? There's just something about that that rubs me the wrong way."

"Yeah it rubs you the wrong way, it's a crazy ass job. So what the Agents haven't killed them yet, they're machines, there's gotta be a more than logical reason for it. They never expected us to be on them for so long anyway."

"So they're using them as bait!" Mouse exclaimed.

Apoc glared uneasily into Mouse's frenzied eyes. "Possibly." He continued gruffly. "But theories aren't going to get us anywhere. Jacking in and getting those two out might not even give us answers. And if we don't get them out this time, we've been ordered to let them go. The Agents are on those two like…" He paused, his first thought 'like a cat on a mouse,' but that seemed way too cliché, considering who he was talking to.

"Like nothing I've ever seen before." Mouse finished.

Apoc nodded. "Like nothing no one's ever seen before. The Agents had an iron grip on Trinity when Morpheus tried to get her out the first time. Everyone including the Council thinks Morpheus is crazy still in pursuit of her after all these years of watching. We might have gotten her a few years ago if the Agents hadn't paired her up with Neo—"

"But if it wasn't for that, we'd of never found Neo, and he's—"

"I know what Morpheus thinks Neo is, but together they…cancel each other out. Alone, they were dead set on finding answers."

"They still search."

"Yeah, but not as much. Like any illusion, they just distract each other. And now there's this marriage shit they're trying to pull off."

Mouse was quiet for a second. "I know they still want answers. Neo's an insomniac, stays up all night trying to make sense of everything. Those Agents have bugged him more than once."

"Cause his mind's getting stronger." Apoc admitted. "I've never seen stats like his. When people get older, they fade into the Matrix, even potentials. But Neo… we need to get him out fast."

"He won't come with us without Trinity."

"Yeah." Apoc was quiet then. "The Agents had a pretty good plan there."

Mouse sat in contemplation for a moment. When he looked back up at Apoc, he noticed the expectancy in the other man's eyes. He then remembered to get out of the chair, his shift having been over for a good few minutes. Once Apoc was seated, he looked over to Mouse, knowing that he had more to say. Seeing that he was the only soul awake to listen, he gave in without much of a fight.

"Yes?" he said.

In a rare moment of question, Mouse grew serious. "Is Morpheus really going in tomorrow?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Cypher and I are on guard duty."

Mouse shook his head. "Shit. Agents are gonna be crawling all over the place."

"Yeah." Apoc replied, his careless tone of voice meant to catch Mouse by surprise. It did. He laughed at the younger crew member's bewilderment and continued. "We've got some back up."

Mouse's eyes widened at that. "Who?"

"Morpheus made a deal with Roland."

The young man was simply shocked. His hand went to clutch his hair. "How'd he do that?"

"Roland isn't one for failure. He wants a chance at getting Trinity out if anything. He could care less about Neo."

"The Hammer tried to free Trinity too?"

"After Morpheus failed the first time, no one could even get close. The Agents were too close and she was too...invested."

After Mouse was rendered too stunned to say anything, he slowly retreated to his room, promptly muttering to himself once he thought he was out of earshot. Apoc rolled his eyes. He hardly talked this much. Frankly, there wasn't ever this much to talk about. He knew how Mouse worked; he theorized about the endless possibilities of the Matrix and created erotic construct programs to distract himself from the horrors that lay ahead. They all felt death, this war bad enough to inflict fear, and now this mission was rearing its ugly head. But Apoc knew out of years of experience, fear is a drive and death is inevitable. If he has to go one day, he'll go fighting.

…

Morpheus was in no state of mind to sleep. Meditation was his only weapon against his nerves, tomorrow most likely the only chance the Fleet will ever have again at freeing Neo and Trinity. The risk of going against the Agents was becoming extremely dangerous to both his crew and their targets, not to mention that they were both already much too old to be targeted in the first place.

He let his mind wander to his first and only correspondence with Trinity, one he believed she still remembered. She had to remember.

"Very good, Trinity."

She was at her computer, reeling from her successful hack into the IRS database when the message came up. Her screen blacking out initially caught her attention, but the message was what unnerved her. Who was this hacking into her computer? How had her secret leaked? She was only a senior in high school and her identity had already been breached? Her future looked bleak for a moment before another message was typed up.

"I've been watching you. You're more than ready to know the truth."

She simply stared at the monitor, eyes bulging, brain firing, hands hovering over her keyboard, deeply contemplating on what to write back.

"Morpheus? I've been looking for you." She finally typed in.

"No, you've been looking of an answer." Then a second later, "You know the question."

She hesitated, blown away by this moment. Her hands moved without thought.

"What is the Matrix?"

She reminded him so much of himself. The passion, the diligence, the more than subconscious drive to find meaning and truth in a caged world of secrets. She had been determined in her searches and very much invested into following him into hell if she had to, which was what many pod-borns interpreted the real world to be at first sight. But not Trinity, or so he hoped. He would envision her awaking on the Neb after rehabilitation, maybe initially shocked at what was before her, but much more interested and inquisitive about what there was to discover about reality and all of its truths.

But the turn of events that followed just the next day not only drove Trinity further away from her searching and hacking in general, but earned him the divided faith that Fleet Captains now had in him. Some admire him for his actions, having managed to get all of his crew members back on the Neb alive after meeting the swarm of Agents that met them with Trinity. Others think his decisions rash and unorthodox having lost Trinity to the Agents so easily.

Half of the Council fought him in his seemingly blind devotion to free Trinity, and now Neo. No one knew why they were so important to the Agents; they'd never been this protective over any one red pill before, which was the reasoning of the supporting Council members' concern for the potentials. Any attack to the machines is a good cause, and if these potentials were being protected, by all means, get them out of the Matrix if only to weaken the machines in some way.

The argument still held relevance. An unknown cause could very well be a trap. Morpheus was one of their best Captains regarding how many potentials he'd unplugged, so if anyone could make this rescue possible, it was him. But the mission was becoming too time consuming and too dangerous.

They had one more chance.

He would not fail this time.

…

About an hour in, Apoc heard footsteps. He knew it was Switch before she came into sight. She usually came and found him if she couldn't sleep, wherever he was, at the feed or in his room. She wasn't an insomniac, but she didn't much like to be alone, especially when she'd just end up biding her time lying in bed, sleepless and bored. She didn't look it, but she liked company, especially his. They didn't talk much, but they didn't really need to, human contact all any soldier ever needed. Humanity was simple that way. They fought to preserve that simplicity.

Switch reached the feed and stood by Apoc's side, crossing her arms as he turned his eyes to see her. "I've never heard you talk so much before." She said, her tone sounding slightly amused though her eyes were as sharp as ever, even with lack of sleep.

He shook his head. "Sure you have."

"Not to the runt."

Apoc was silent then, his eyes gazing back to the feed for a moment. "He needs someone to humor him every once in a while." Then, "How could you hear us?"

"I was in the mess. I knew it was close to your shift, so I didn't bother waking you up five minutes early."

"How considerate of you." His tone was flat.

She punched his arm lightly before stepping back and leaning on the back of his chair. "So, anything interesting happen with the coppertop couple?"

He shook his head. "Nothing really. Trinity just got back from work."

They were like that for a while, watching the feed like some kind of weird reality TV show with no sound. Eventually, Switch's hand rested on Apoc's shoulder from behind, his hand promptly meeting hers, a wordless conversation now passing between them. She hadn't said anything when Morpheus made the decision to bring only Apoc and Cypher on tomorrows mission, which usually meant she didn't care, but she hadn't even met his eye, which meant otherwise. As her fingers tightened around his, he knew how she felt and wanted nothing but to succeed tomorrow, if only to stay alive one more day.

Something suddenly caught his eye on screens. "Oh Shit."

"What is it?" Switch said, concern immediately thick in her voice.

"Go get Morpheus, I'll get Tank. This is serious." He practically jumped out of his chair. "If we don't get to them soon, there won't be anyone to unplug."

Thanks for reading again :) Next chapter will hopefully be action packed and a little sappy for those of you Neo/Trinity fans