A hand on his chest woke Morpheus, his hand coming down tight around the wrist before he became clear enough to remember who occupied his bed. Releasing Neo’s hand, he looked over at the young man and rubbed his eyes, asking, “Are you all right?”

“Smith escaped the matrix.”

Startled, Morpheus rolled onto his side and repeated, “Escaped? How? When? We haven’t had trouble with him.”

“He took over Bane,” Neo explained. “When Bane disconnected, Smith was in his body and in control. I still don’t know…no, I do but…I can’t explain it. He stowed away on the ship and attacked Trin and me. Trapped her below and, and did this to me when we fought. I took a power line to the face.”

“Neo,” Morpheus whispered, shock and belated fear running through him. Neo should be dead, not just blinded.

A brief smile surfaced and Neo said, “I managed to kill him and then we took the Logos to the Machine City. It was…beautiful…at least the way I saw it.”

Frowning, Morpheus asked, “How did you see it? Weren’t you blind?”

“I saw light. Golden light. I don’t know how, but, I saw everything outlined with light. It’s how I could fight Smith.”

“And, you don’t see that now?”

“No. I don’t see anything now.”

Morpheus pushed upright, drawing his legs in and shifting to face Neo. The other man remained prone, one arm under his head as he sighed deeply. Morpheus wanted to ask about Trinity, but wasn’t sure how to phrase it. His usual blunt words seemed vastly insufficient.

“It was when we reached the Machine City,” Neo told him, as if hearing the unspoken question. “We crashed, but not before she saw the sun and the sky. I wish I could have seen them, but I’m glad Trinity did. She deserved beauty in her life and never got it.”

Morpheus wanted to protest that she’d had Neo, but remained silent.

“When we crashed, she was…speared by the metal. It pierced her in at least two places that I could feel, probably more. She was so brave, Morpheus, so damn brave.”

Neo’s voice cracked and he curled onto his side, though he remained facing Morpheus. And he didn’t cry, just shook slightly. Or, maybe he did but there were no tears. Morpheus ached to comfort the other man, but knew he would only be rebuffed.

Clearing his throat, Neo finally continued, “I made a deal. Destroy Smith in the matrix and Zion would live unmolested. The Architect connected me inside and everything was…Smith. Every person had been infected with his code. It was dark and cold and I could barely make out any light at all to fight him. We did fight, though, and I eventually won.”

That ‘eventually’ spoke volumes. Morhpeus didn’t dare ask for details, feeling certain that he’d gotten as much as Neo was willing to give.

“After that, I don’t remember anything until I woke up on that ship and was brought here,” Neo finished.

Morpheus didn’t say anything for a long time, processing both the story and his reactions to it. To have lost Trinity in such a mundane way, a ship crash, seemed so very wrong. Her death should have reflected the spectacular way she’d lived. And yet, she’d been the reason that Neo had gotten to the Machine City which had saved Zion. That alone counted for a lot. It meant everything, really.

“So what did I miss here?”

Brought out of his reverie, Morpheus’ lips twitched into a wry grin automatically. “Niobe flew us through the sewer pipes and got us here in time to set off an EMP which took down the machines attacking Zion. It also rendered our defenses useless too, as Lock was quick to point out.”

“I bet,” Neo murmured.

Morpheus’ smile broadened a bit as he said, “We argued a lot, prayed a lot more, and then the machines just left. After that, it was rebuilding for several months and a lot of politics.”

Neo’s eyebrows rose. “You got involved in politics?”

“Hell no. But it’s fun to watch sometimes. You should try it.”

And then he winced, realizing what he’d said.

Neo just chuckled, apparently sensing his consternation over the faux pas and told him, “Don’t worry about it.”

“I hate to bring it up,” Morpheus said slowly, “but you’re taking your blindness really well. Especially since it only happened a few days ago for you.”

Rolling onto his back again, Neo told him, “I’m not taking anything well, Morpheus. I’m not even thinking about it. If I think about any of it, I’ll go crazy. That’s why I don’t want to see anyone. Right now, I can pretend. I can just be with you and pretend Trinity’s on her way back from a mission and just running late. Or that she’s safe in bed, waiting for us to stop talking into the night.”

Worried, Morpheus countered, “You can’t live like that, Neo.”

“I know, I do. Just…give me another couple of days, okay? Please?”

Not knowing what else to say, Morhpeus agreed helplessly, “All right, Neo. If that’s what you need.”

* * * *

Feeling that he’d pushed Morpheus to the limits of his understanding, Neo sat up and changed the subject by asking, “Breakfast?”

“I think it’s more along the lines of lunch, but come on. Let’s eat,” Morpheus replied.

The bed shifted, telling him that the other man had left, and Neo followed slowly waiting to hear which way Morpheus went. He went towards the other room so Neo headed for the bathroom. He took plenty of time to get ready for the day, relieving himself and then showering for longer than he knew he should. It was a waste of water, but one he needed to regain some equilibrium after baring himself like that to Morpheus.

When he was finally done and turned off the shower, Neo found a towel and dried off. He went slow with that, too, tracking the changes to his body that hadn’t been obvious. He still felt exhausted, but better. The aches that lingered were minor enough to ignore, but he didn’t. There was no need to be stoic or strong any more. He was…no longer The One. He was just Neo.

Or maybe he was just…Thomas Anderson.

A knock at the door startled him from his thoughts and he said, “Yeah?”

“Everything okay in there?”

Neo half-smiled and answered, “Everything’s fine, Morpheus. I’ll be out shortly.”

He hung the towel up and left the bathroom only to stop short on realizing he had no other clothes. His hand settled against his lower stomach self-consciously. He also needed to find something more permanent to cover his eyes. Morpheus might not care, but others sure as hell would.

“Neo? What’s wrong?” Morpheus asked from not far away.

It was an effort not to cover his face. Lowering his head, Neo replied, “I need something for my eyes. And I have no clothes.”

“Sorry, Neo. I should’ve thought of that. Wait here a second.”

Neo did so, not moving from where he stood.

Morpheus returned not a minute later and warned, “I’m right here,” from right next to him. Neo stayed still as surprisingly gentle hands settled something cool and hard over his ears and bridge of his nose. Glasses.

“Sunglasses?” Neo questioned.

Morpheus’ hand gripped his shoulder. “It will suffice for now. We can get something else, commission some kind of binding or covering to fit specifically for you.”

Neo shook his head and said, “It’s not that, I’m sure they’re fine. Just, where did you get sunglasses?”

Morpheus chuckled as he explained, “Rudimentary ones that don’t have any actual protection from the sun, since we don’t see the sun, but they serve this purpose.”

Neo reached up to touch them, settling them more firmly in place. “Thank you.”

“We should get you fitted for clothes of your own,” Morpheus observed. “But you can wear mine for now. You’ll have to use a belt, though.”

“A belt is fine,” Neo agreed easily.

It didn’t take long to get dressed and Morpheus was right, he did need a belt. Morpheus handed him the strip of fabric and their hands touched, just a barely-there slide of fingers on fingers that sent a shiver of awareness through him. Ignoring it, he tried to get the belt in place, but kept missing a loop.

“Here, let me.”

Neo’s hand dropped away as Morpheus moved in close to put the belt through the loops. He felt the other man’s body heat with something like gratefulness, his own body seeming not to be able to generate its own anymore. Giving in to the impulse, Neo leaned into his friend, wrapping his arms around the thick waist and holding fast.

There was a moment where Morpheus did nothing, but Neo didn’t fear rejection. He simply waited until the other man’s strong arms surrounded him and then sighed deeply. Though he didn’t know what it meant, if anything, Neo knew that the only other place he would rather be was holding Trinity.

As if reading his mind, Morpheus rumbled, “I won’t be a substitute, Neo.”

Neo’s lips twitched as he commented, “Like you ever could be.”