FicWad

-I-I-I-

Trinity gently slid the jack out and stepped back as Morpheus sat up, rubbing his head. "Well? What happened?" she asked impatiently.

The hovership captain lifted a brow, amused, and she flushed. "We were lucky. It would seem that more attention is being paid to the uncle's murder than to Harry's disappearance. Apparently, his aunt has yet to even report it to the police. Although..." he frowned. "There was one man who seemed concerned. I couldn't hear much, but I believe he was sent by someone to check up on the boy."

His companion snorted bitterly. "A bit late to be checking up on him now, isn't it? Where the hell were they when his uncle was beating him?"

Morpheus shook his head, sighing. After a moment, he looked at his shipmate. "How is he?"

"He's..." she hesitated. "I don't know. He was taking it rather well, I thought, until I showed him the sky. Then..." Trinity echoed Morpheus's sigh. "I had Tank put him to bed afterwards. We'll just have to see how he is when he wakes up."

The man nodded. "Truthfully, that is better than I had hoped for. Certainly better than Neo's reaction." He smiled. "Perhaps there is a grain of wisdom after all in only waking children. They seem to bounce back more easily."

Trinity didn't answer, lost in her thoughts. Worried, she decided to bring up something that had been troubling her for the last couple of days. "Morpheus? How soon will we get back to the City?"

He looked startled. "A week, at the most."

She wet her lips and looked down, disappointed. "Oh. That's... what I thought."

"What's wrong?"

"It's... it's just that... when we get there, Harry'll go to the orphanage, and I'll only be able to see him in between tours," she finished, the last coming out in a rush.

When after nearly a minute passed and she heard nothing, Trinity looked up to see Morpheus watching her thoughtfully. "You have grown attached to the boy."

She snorted. "You could say that. And don't tell me you haven't."

Morpheus's gaze softened. "Perhaps." He studied her face. "Would you prefer he not leave?"

She blinked, frowning in disbelief. "What do you mean? We can't take him with us!" Her eyes widened as the captain stayed stubbornly silent. "Morpheus, that's a war out there! Even if he was the One, even if he could fight Agents, how could we make him? How could a child survive in a world where everyone is an enemy?"

He sighed, and met her gaze with eyes of stone. "From what you've told me, Trinity, that's exactly the kind of world he was in."

Trinity paused, her mouth open to retort. After a moment she sagged, closing her eyes wearily. "It will be his decision, One or not," she said quietly, a breath of steel sliding beneath the velvet.

He nodded, and for a minute there was only silence.

"We can't stay here. I'll take the first patrol watch, if you'll send Neo up to relieve me in a couple hours. It would be best if you were there to reassure him in the morning, and for that you will need your sleep."

Still silent, Trinity stood and walked out.

-I-I-I-

/The next morning/

-I-I-I-

"Harry, chico? You awake?"

The nine-year-old blinked his eyes open and looked towards the sound of the voice, smiling as he saw Tank's head poking through the door. "If I wasn't, I am now," he said quietly, grinning.

Tank grinned back, a bit embarrassed. "Right! Well... seeing as you slept through dinner last night, I figured you might want to eat some breakfast with us."

At this point Harry's stomach rumbled, apparently deciding to take matters into its own hands. He looked down and started to laugh. Tank joined him, until abruptly the lad stopped. "Chico?"

The boy glanced up at him, smiling uncertainly. "I... it's just that, I've laughed more in the past two days than... than I've ever laughed."

Tank studied him carefully, biting his lip. "You all right there, Harry?" he asked, sounding concerned.

Letting his eyes fall closed, Harry sighed softly. The deep bass thrum of the ship's engines cut through his bones, a constant, compelling counterpoint to his every thought and action, and one that was already beginning to feel... familiar. Maybe even homelike. "Yeah."

With a broadening smile, Harry opened his eyes. "Yeah, I think I am."

-I-I-I-

Trinity stumbled blearily into the mess hall, rubbing a hand across her eyes in a mostly useless attempt to wake herself up. Mornings was one of the few times she wanted to punch her husband, who she had discovered after their marriage to be one of those most-terrifying of humans: a morning person.

Which she was /not/.

In fact, she pondered mustily as she sat down at the table, she was the only person on board who wasn't. Tank was almost nauseatingly chipper in the mornings, and Morpheus... well, Morpheus could never be called /chipper/, but he certainly wasn't ready to bite off heads when he had to wake up early.

/Well, maybe Harry will be different/, she thought, shoveling up the first spoonful of mush.

That hope was quickly crushed as Tank entered, engaged in conversation with the aforementioned boy, who was smiling cheerfully at the much larger man. Groaning, Trinity buried her head in her arms. "I'm doomed..."

Harry paused in the doorway, staring at the disconsolate woman. "What-?"

"Don't mind her," said a voice from behind him, making him jump, and he glanced back to see a smirking Neo standing behind him. "She... isn't fond of mornings."

After a moment he giggled and let Neo lead him to a place. "Good morning," he said with a bright grin, leaning over to his erstwhile protector.

One eye flickered open, glaring blearily over her arm. "Shut up."

The others laughed. She sat up, picking up her spoon and digging determinedly into her porridge as she ignored them. Around her, her shipmates pulled out their breakfasts and followed her example.

A couple minutes later Neo looked up from the meal. "What sims are you going to start him on?" he asked the operator, an odd glint in his eye.

Tank frowned thoughtfully. "I haven't really decided yet, actually. We'll want to feed him up a bit before we start anything really physical, so combat's out."

"Sims?" Harry asked, curious.

Neo and Tank exchanged a Look, simultaneously breaking out into grins. Together, they rose and took the boy by the arms, pulling him gently but inexorably towards the door.

Trinity glanced up just as they vanished out the exit. "Be careful," she called, before letting her head sink back into her arms.

-I-I-I-

Harry stared nervously at the jacks, remembering the last time he'd laid down in their chairs.

"Alright." Tank turned to the boy. "Harry, is there ever been anything you wanted to do, more than anything in the whole world?"

He frowned momentarily, before breaking out into a wistful smile. "Well... I've always wished I could fly..."

The operator blinked. "Waddaya know, looks like we've got a pilot in the making! What do you think we should start with?" he asked Neo.

"Hangliding, maybe an ultralight after that," Neo said decisively, studying the boy. "I'm not sure he could handle anything bigger yet, and with those we can always disengage the program if something goes wrong."

"Alright, chico, you heard him!" He beckoned Harry over to the jack. "Let's get you in the air."

-I-I-I-

Morpheus stretched as Trinity relieved him at the helm, walking back to the corridor that stretched the length of the ship. Hearing excited voices, he strolled down into the jack chamber to find a jacked-in Harry and both Tank and Neo bent over a monitor.

"What's this?" he inquired, mildly amused as the two men jumped.

"Morpheus!" Neo exclaimed, grinning. "I was wondering when you'd show up! We've just been putting Harry through the flight simulator."

The captain lifted an eyebrow in interest. "Oh?"

They grinned at each other. "The kid's a natural," Tank said, still grinning. "We started him out on a hanglider, and he took to it like a fish to water. See?" He moved aside so the other man could see the screen, where a figure swooped gracefully through the air.

Morpheus studied him, eyes narrowed. "The child seems to have adapted well to the Matrix," he observed thoughtfully.

Tank and Neo imperceptibly stiffened. "Does that mean we'll be taking him through the Jump sooner?" the operator asked with deliberate casualness.

The captain's gaze turned to the others, leaving them wiggling uncomfortably. After a second he glanced back at the screen, where the tiny shape continued to fly with a nearly palpable joy.

"We will see."