Some Guys Have all the Luck

A Favour Returned

Author’s Note: It’s been a LONG time (just over 2 years!) since I updated this story…At the beginning of the last chapter I posted, I said that this story had been abandoned. However, I couldn’t do that. I had to finish it. There will probably be another chapter after this one but that depends if I get any reviews! However, since it’s been a while, I’ll be surprised if anyone remembers this story!

Disclaimer: I don’t own anything associated with the Matrix. I’m just borrowing them for a while. I wish I was making money from this but unfortunately, I’m not.

lll

Lara paced nervously back and forth in Jones’ apartment. Every byte of her body was filled with worry. Where had Jones and Smith gone? Why weren’t they back yet? However, despite her best efforts at keeping it at bay, one question rose above all the others: was Smith lying? Could he be the only agent capable of fathering a child?

Lara ran a hand though her still-damp hair. Even though she had bathed that morning, the memory of Smith’s cold azure eyes roaming over her half-naked body left Lara feeling dirty and soiled. Perhaps a long hot soak in the tub could calm her jangled nerves and clear her head. Lara stripped and stood in the shower, letting the hot water flow over her body. She closed her eyes.

A sudden blast of cold air and Lara hastily scrubbed the soap from her eyes as she tried to see who had barged in on her.

“Goddamn you Smith, haven’t you screwed up my life enough? Leave me alone!” Her eyes cleared and she saw Jones looking at her. “Oh! Where did you go?” she looked up and saw the expression on his face. “What’s the matter?”

“What did Smith say to you?”

“What do you mean?”

“You know damn well what I mean. What did he talk to you about?”

For the first time, Lara was tempted to lie to Jones. She fumbled around and tried to think of something to say but the words would not come. “He…he told me that we could never have a baby. He said that you were…” Lara could feel her throat closing. What man, especially one as virile as Jones, wants to hear that his seed will never bear fruit?

“That I was what?” Jones softened his expression and took Lara into his arms. “If you love me, Lara, tell me the truth. Don’t lie.”

“He said that you and Brown were sterile. He said that out of all the agents, he is the only one who can father a child. He even offered to perform that service for you and me.” Lara flinched when she felt Jones’ body stiffen and could not bring herself to look at his face and surely see the anger that was flowing through his body. “I told him exactly what he could do with his services.”

“So that was it,” Jones replied. He sighed and held Lara closer. “Unfortunately, he was right.”

“But why? Why would Mother and Father do that to us?” Lara wailed. “Smith shouldn’t be able to have children—he’s the one who should be sterile! Any child of his would be as twisted and evil as he is. It’s not fair!”

“No, it’s not, but it’s something we’ll have to live with.”

Lara’s eyes hardened and a plan began to form in her mind. If Mother and Father did this, she thought, then perhaps they can reverse it. It wasn’t likely, but she could still hope. Her thoughts were interrupted when Jones spoke.

“Good news. I learned that you could go back to work anytime you want. I have the Architect’s promise that if Smith tries anything, he will be punished.”

“That is good news,” Lara said, crossing her fingers behind her back for telling a lie. Going back to work was not good news in any sense of the word. “I have some errands to take care of first.”

Jones checked his watch. “Speaking of which, I have to go. I’ll see you at work later.”

As soon as Jones had left, Lara threw on a skirt, blouse, and left. As soon as Lara sat down at her desk, she found work waiting for her. A lot of it. Apparently, this was Smith’s doing as his name was at the top of every report. I guess I shouldn’t complain, Lara thought as she settled in to begin the tasks ahead of her. If I don’t leave my cubicle, the less chance I’ll have to worry about running into him. And when I do, it will be to give him these damn spreadsheets.

Several hours into her task, Lara raised her head from her keyboard at the sound of unusual activity. Jones, Brown and Smith were talking amongst each other as they walked past the secretarial section. Several heavily armed police SWAT members followed at their heels.

All the work ceased as every eye followed what was happening.

Lara was grateful when Celia came to her. If anyone would know what was going on, it would be her. Lara didn’t even have to ask.

“Something big is going down and it is very hush-hush although I did manage to find out that a human informer aboard one of the rebel ships wants to defect and be re-inserted into the Matrix.”

“And that’s the big deal?”

“No. This was supposed to happen tomorrow but he got scared and wanted out today. I think his cover was blown or something. Anyway, all the guys with guns are going to some seedy hotel to take the humans down. Smith is taking no chances and that’s why the police are in on it too.”

“All of this to jack one guy back in? Isn’t that a little extreme?”

“But girlfriend, that’s not all! This is to get the captain of a ship. He’ll be brought back here to be interrogated. He knows the codes that Smith needs to get into the mainframe of Zion. Once that happens, it can be destroyed by the sentinels.”

Lara sighed sadly. If Smith succeeded, thousands of people were going to die. If the sentinels got inside the gates of the last human refuge, there would be nothing left. Death, destruction and devastation on an almost incomprehensible scale would follow in their wake. All the humans wanted were to be free and raise their families in peace. There were more than six billion other humans in their pods. What was so threatening to the Architect about losing a few hundred batteries?

She remembered reading a file on Zion’s last attack. The sentinels, multi-armed relentless killing machines, perpetrated most of their kills by tearing the refugees apart, limb from limb. Lara shivered as the visual image of that turned her stomach.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Lara murmured to Celia.

“Tell me about it.”

“Say a prayer that our men come back safe and sound, okay?” Lara said.

“I’m way ahead of you,” came the reply.

She looked at her long-time friend’s face and saw how pale and drawn it appeared. It wasn’t the best time to bring up the subject, but it had to be done. She took Celia by the elbow. “C’mon, there’s no sense worrying ourselves until we have to. Let’s go out for lunch and drown our worries in a glass of wine. I’ve got something to tell you.”

lll

The battle in the rundown hotel had been brief but bloody. To Jones’ disappointment, several crew members of the rebel ship had escaped. However, the most important member, the captain, had been taken down and into custody by Smith himself. Sitting in the helicopter beside his superior, Jones noticed that the usually fastidious Smith seemed completely unconcerned about his now-filthy suit.

Jones glanced back to ensure that the restraints that bound their captive were secure. Until they were back in the Agency building, the real work would begin. Jones hoped that the knowledge of the deaths of his crew would provide a chink in the powerfully built African-American’s armour that could be exploited. Even so, the drugs that would be injected into the bloodstream would wear down the resolve of the strongest human. All it took was time.

With any luck, by dinnertime, it would be over and he could be with Lara. Jones allowed a small smile to cross his face as he envisioned a long and sensual lovemaking session with his future wife.

However, almost as quickly as it came, the smile disappeared from his chiselled features. I can give her terrific sex, Jones thought, but I cannot give her a child. I know Lara well enough by now that even though she said she told Smith what to do with his services, she wants children desperately. And after years of an empty marriage with me, the desire to be a mother at any cost will override her resolve. I can imagine that bastard just waiting for that to happen.

The helicopter landed on the heliport of the Agency Building and the prisoner was hustled out and into the interrogation room. It was time to start.

lll

Celia slumped back against the upholstered cushion of her chair as she tried to digest the enormity of what Lara had just told her. “Are you sure? Really, really, really sure that this is true?”

Lara nodded. “Smith told me but I didn’t believe him. I asked Jones and he confirmed it.” Her lower lip trembled. “He and Brown are sterile.”

Celia’s dark eyes shimmered with tears and she scrubbed her cheeks angrily with the palm of her hand. “I’m going to see the Oracle. Want to come with me?”

Lara checked her watch and opened her mouth to refuse as she remembered the big stack of files on her desk, awaiting her nimble fingers to enter the data into the system. “Hell with it. Some things are more important than typing goddamn reports,” she said, getting to her feet and following her friend out the door.

Celia and Lara did not speak on the way to their mother’s apartment. Anger and frustration flowed through every digital byte in her body but now that she was finally here, Lara could not find the nerve to knock. She was almost tempted to return home and simply call, but the subject was too delicate and important to be put into a phone call or an email. Taking a deep breath, Lara rapped her knuckles hard on the door. From inside the apartment, Lara heard the Oracle invite them in and Lara wasted no time in making her way to the homey and warm kitchen. As usual, the air was filled with the delicious aroma of freshly baked cookies.

A broad smile was on the Oracle’s face. “I was just about to go and see you, Lara. I heard the good news about your engagement.”

“Why did you do it?”

“Do what, child? Excuse me, I don’t want them to burn,” the Oracle said, getting up and walking over to the stove. Taking a pair of oven mitts, she opened the oven door and withdrew a sheet of cookies. “Perfect.”

Celia watched the interaction between her friend and the Oracle. She opened her mouth to say something but her gut told her not to—Lara seemed to have everything in hand and needed no help in expressing her dismay at the decision that had been made long ago, between the Oracle and the Architect. Celia did see a glint in her mother’s eye that foretold good news. For now, it would be best to watch. And hope.

“Make it so that Brown and Jones can’t father children. Why would you do that?”

“This is a special recipe, one that I think you’ll appreciate.”

“Mother, never mind the damn cookies! Tell me what I want to know!”

The older woman sighed and indicated with a gesture that her guests seat themselves. “When your father and I programmed the agents, we thought it was best that all of them be given the ability to have sexual relations. However, at the time, we thought it would be beneficial to the Matrix to only allow the Alpha agent to produce offspring. Neither of us knew that Smith would turn out to be a sadistic sexual predator.”

“Smith is too sick and evil to be allowed to have children,” Lara fumed. “What are these for?” She demanded, pointing at the cookies.

“To undo what we have done.”

Lara furrowed her brow in confusion. “Will they make Smith impotent?”

Celia snorted. “Hah! It would serve him right, not being able to get it up anymore. The women of the Matrix can rest easy. All Smith will be able to do is look but don’t touch…I love it!”

The Oracle frowned at her daughter’s flippant remark and put the cookies into a paper bag. “No. These are not for Smith, they are for your men. These cookies will overwrite the productivity barrier programming in both Jones and Brown.” The older program smiled at the look of joy on Lara’s face. “You’ll both be able to be mothers.”

Lara leaned over and gave the Oracle a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you, Mother.”

“My pleasure, child. Oof!” The older woman said when she felt herself embraced solidly by the arms of her Latina daughter. “And a ‘you’re welcome’ to you too!”

“I guess we should be leaving now,” Celia said as she checked her watch. “Our lunch hour is almost over.”

“There’s no need. Neither of you will be stepping foot into the Agency building ever again. In fact, I expect your men will be coming here very shortly. Your lives as you knew them are over.” The Oracle deflected the questions that both her daughters sent her way. “No, no. Don’t ask me any more. You will get your answers soon. Until Jones and Brown come through my door with their news, I suggest that we all have a drink. On second thought, make that two. This day will be one for the record books as being the most memorable in the annals of the history of the Matrix.”

lll

When Jones saw Lara in the apartment, he was across the room in three large loping strides and gathered her in his arms. He savoured everything—the feel of her slim form against his body, the smell of her perfume, and the way she strained to wrap her arms around him.

For her part, Lara could feel the tenseness of his body. She did not know why he was upset; when he was ready, he would tell her. Right now, it was a time for her to be silent. Deep in her heart Lara knew that what Jones needed the most was not to answer questions, but to know that she was there for him if or when he did decide to speak.

When they parted, Lara saw the sheer and complete exhaustion in her fiancé’s face. Her female intuition told her that it was all he could do to remain standing. He needed rest, the sooner the better. Reluctantly, she pulled away and guided him to the sofa. Giving her a look of gratitude, Jones fell rather than sat on the Oracle’s battered and shabby couch. His hands dangled limply between his knees. Brown was leaning against the wall, his face drawn and stricken.

“Tell them. Tell them what happened.” The Oracle said, looking at each of her sons in turn. “They are going to find out anyway and I think they’d rather hear it from you.”

Between them, they told the tale of the disastrous events that had transpired earlier that day. The bombed lobby. The office being destroyed by helicopter gunfire. The chase through the marketplace and the showdown in the hallway. Both he and Brown had acted cowardly to say the least by running away when their superior needed their assistance the most.

“He might still be alive, if I’d let Brown go to his aid. But I was pissed at Smith for bothering Lara this morning so I held Brown back and now Smith is dead. When the human entered his body, Smith turned to us for help but all we did was stare at him and take a step back. When Smith’s digital self exploded, the human looked at us. We were next on his list and I knew that if we stayed and fought, Brown and I would suffer the same fate. We ran in opposite directions. We didn’t know what to do or where else to go, so we came here.” Jones heard Lara’s sharp intake of breath and turned his head so he wouldn’t have to watch the woman he loved walk out of his life forever because of his cowardly actions. Without Lara, his life would have no purpose. “Let the upgrades delete me,” he muttered. “I deserve it. I prefer to die sooner rather than later anyway.” Jones removed his dark glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. He closed his eyes and leaned back onto the cushions. “Call them for me will you, Mom?”

“Call who, son?” The Oracle asked.

“The upgrades, who do you think I’m talking about? Their job is to delete programs that no longer have a purpose. I used to hunt them down and now it’s my turn. Ironic, isn’t it?”

“I’m not going to call anyone.”

“Why the hell not? As Smith used to say, it’s inevitable.”

“You misunderstood me, son. I meant that if I called the upgrades, Lara will never let me hear the end of it.”

“You got that right, Mom.” Lara responded warmly.

Jones looked up and saw the warm hazel eyes of the woman he loved looking back at him. “You’re still here? Why?”

Lara shook her head. “I will never leave you, Jones.”

Jones was too stunned and surprised to form a reply.

“You stood by me when I told you about Smith raping me. I thought you would leave but you didn’t. Now it’s my turn.”

“But what about your job?”

“My job is now is to be at your side. Forever. And the upgrades can go to hell.”

Jones took Lara’s hands in his. “But if you go with me, you’ll be hunted too.”

“I don’t care. I love you….”

Jones scowled and ran his fingers through his hair in a preoccupied way. Why wasn’t she listening? Lara was throwing away her whole life. Deep inside his programming, he was happier than he’d been in a long time because he knew that Lara loved him for who he was, not his position and power.

She loved him!

No matter what hardships lay ahead, she wanted to be by his side. But he had to be honest with her, ruthlessly honest. It was easy for her to say that she didn’t care about the consequences, and that she’d follow him anywhere, but would she still think the same when she became hungry because there was no food and cold because there was no roof over her head?

“Damn it, you should care! The only thing I can offer you is a life of constantly being on the run. You’ll always be looking over your shoulder. You deserve better.” Jones swallowed. The words were hard to say but he had no choice. “Lara, please listen. All I have to my name now is the clothes on my back and my sidearm. That’s it.”

“Then we are even. All I have is the clothes on my back and my purse.” Lara said.

“No,” Jones said, shaking his head firmly. “It’s not the same thing! I won’t let you do it. You still have a job. You still have a purpose. Don’t throw your life away because of me!”

“I’m not going back. There is nothing for me there anymore.”

“I second that,” Celia’s strident voice broke the tension. “I hated that damn place anyway. Where Brown goes, I go too.”

“That’s all well and good,” Brown said, putting his arm around Celia’s waist. “But we have to be realistic. What will we do now?”

Lara’s eyes narrowed and she looked at Jones. “Persephone owes us a favour, remember?”

“What if she doesn’t…?”

“We can’t think like that. She is our only hope.”

“Uh,” Celia broke in, “since when has Her Royal Frenchness ever cared about anyone but herself? Easy. Never. Let me spell it out for you: N-E-V-E-R.”

“She will,” Lara said, her tone confident and reassuring.

“Can you explain the reason why to me? Why are you so damn sure that she’ll agree to help us? She’s as greedy and selfish as her husband.”

“Celia’s got a point,” Brown said softly. “And I’d like to know too.”

After hesitating for a moment, Lara told her uninformed friends about the service she and Jones had performed for her in the underground parking garage on that awful night. “We stopped her from being raped by two men. She told me then that if I ever needed a favour, I could come to her.”

“Doing a favour for you and Jones I can understand. But that doesn’t apply to Celia and me,” Brown said.

“Her husband bought a casino in Las Vegas. The Frenchman may be ruthless and selfish, but even he will appreciate the surveillance experience that two Matrix agents can provide. If worse comes to worse, you could always be bouncers in case anyone gets rowdy.”

“Hell, it makes perfect sense to me,” Celia said roundly. “Considering that you two can punch through concrete and dodge bullets, I think tossing some drunks out the door on their asses would be a piece of cake.” She shrugged. “And he probably pays better too.”

The youngest agent spoke. “I don’t want to be the devil’s advocate, but what if she says no? Then what do we do?”

“If she can’t or won’t help us, then I need your help, Brown,” Lara said. “It’s something I won’t ask Jones to do.”

“I’ll do anything you need, Lara. What is it?”

Lara swallowed and looked the youngest agent right in the eyes. “If worse comes to worse and we get thrown out of the Frenchman’s place, I want you to kill me. Can you do it?”

Brown nodded. “It’ll be quick and clean. I promise you won’t feel a thing. And I know that Jones will do that same for Celia, although I hope to hell it won’t come to that.”

“It won’t,” the Oracle said softly. “But in the meantime, I think my boys would like to enjoy a special cookie recipe that I made just for them. No, not you,” she said, playfully slapping Celia’s hand away. “C’mon, eat up now.”

Brown tentatively sniffed at the cookie. “What does it do?”

“Trust me.” The Oracle smiled, her lips curving upward in a warm smile that made her dimples flash. She saw the sceptical look on Jones’ chiselled features. “All right, all right. I’ll confess. After you eat these, I expect to get many beautiful grandchildren from you both.”

Brown allowed a small smile to cross his face as he met Jones’ eye. “At least it’ll be fun making them,” he said. “For us anyway.” He easily dodged to the side as a pillow was aimed at his head.

“Just testing to see if you’ve still got your reflexes, Agent Smart Ass,” Celia said.

Everyone’s head turned when the Architect came into the room. He ducked his head under the strings of beads that hung down from the entrance of the Oracle’s kitchen. “I thought I’d find you all here. I have something to say but I think you already know what it is.” When he was sure he had the complete attention of everyone in the room, he continued. “I came to let former Agent Brown and former Agent Jones know that they are scheduled to be deleted and they are to accompany me back to my office.”

“NO!” shouted Lara and Celia in unison. “You can’t do this!”

“It’s not something that I want to do, it is something I have to do. I’m sorry.”

“Give them a thirty minute head start,” the Oracle said. “If you do that, then I’ll come back to you and be your wife again.”

The Architect’s mouth dropped open. The flush on his face indicated that this was something he had never foreseen. To have his wife return to her place at his side was a dream come true. During the time she’d left him was the worst two months of his entire existence. He’d been more drunk that sober and the Matrix had suffered but now that things were as they should be, he could afford to be generous to the two couples. His eyes never left those of his wife as he nodded his agreement to her terms.

“You all have one hour.”

lll

“What eez the meaning of this?” The Frenchman demanded. His personal bodyguards, the Virii Twins lay on the floor, unable to get up after the short altercation with Jones and Brown.

Before the couples arrived at the Merovingian’s restaurant, it was settled that Lara would do the talking when she made her request.

As always in matters of business, she was at her husband’s side, impeccably coiffed and coutured in the finest French fashion. Perceptive and savvy, she was involved in all the decision-making and it was because of her intelligence and shrewd business sense that the couple were the richest people in the entire Matrix.

Lara stood beside Jones and he clasped her hand tightly. Their whole lives relied on what would transpire in the next few minutes. “We need your help.”

An incredulous scoff was the reply. “I know zat already,” he said smugly, slowly swirling the brandy in his snifter. “But why should I assist you?”

“If you were smart, you’d jump at the chance to have two highly trained and experienced Matrix agents as part of their security team. They are better than any human or program at spotting a cheater or someone who is counting cards.”

Persephone’s gaze shifted to her husband’s face and she did not miss the tightening of his mouth nor the blaze of fury that sparked his eyes. She bit her lip. Lara had just made the biggest mistake of her life by openly insulting her husband.

The Merovingian smiled thinly and when he spoke, everyone could hear the sneer in his tone. “I may be a lot of things, mademoiselle, but being a fool is not one of them. I recognize the benefits of having Agents Jones and Brown work for me, as well as Miss Alvarez. I could use their talents and training but you are another story. I would have no use for you. As Ms Alvarez is the office manager for the secretarial pool, she has supervisory skills that will be useful to me. You, however, are nothing more than a typist.” He smirked, thoroughly enjoying the stricken look on her face. He’d shot a bolt she never saw coming.

“No! You can’t do this!” Lara shouted but her anger dwindled at the icy rage that radiated from the Merovingian like a palpable aura.

“Do not tell me what I can or cannot do in my own place,” he warned her. “Send the others in but take her away.”

“But…you owe us,” she whispered, her throat closing and preventing her from speaking.

“What are you babbling about? I do not owe you anything.”

The Twins glanced sidelong at each other but said nothing. They knew some of the details of what had occurred that night from what they saw for themselves—the missing jewelery, the torn dress and the shattered look on their mistress’ face. Between them, they pieced together what happened and what might have happened. Persephone in particular owed Jones and Lara big time.

Jones released Lara’s hand and strode forward to where the Merovingian and his wife sat. He leaned forward until there was less than a foot of air between his face and Persephone’s. She was startled but held her seat although she quaked to the soles of her Bruno Magli shoes. “Have you forgotten what Lara and I did for you already?” Jones snarled. “You would have suffered the worst and you know it, you ungrateful bitch.

Persephone swallowed, unable to hold Jones’ furious gaze any longer, and by sheer force of will, buried her apprehension as deep within her programming as she could. Still, it was not enough to make her forget. She never told her husband what had nearly happened in the parking garage but she remembered the hard grip of the mugger on her body, ripping her dress down, his rough fingers pinching her nipples, his hands groping her breasts…and what would have happened if Jones and Lara hadn’t arrived when they did.

She blinked quickly, forcing the images away as she paid attention to what was going on around her now. Four lives depended on her. If she refused their appeal for help, all of them would be killed by the upgrades in a matter of hours. Her eyes looked down as she remembered the time when she and The Merovingian had stood in the same place centuries before, asking for help. It had been so long ago…they were so deeply in love. And desperate. Desperate to survive, despite the overwhelming odds against them.

“There is a heliport on the roof. My love,” Persephone said, “would you radio the pilot that he is to take four passengers?”

The Merovingian pursed his lips tightly together. “But I ordered that she stay behind. I don’t speak to hear myself talk. When I give orders, I expect them to be obeyed.”

“All or none,” she said. Before he could open his mouth to dispute the matter further, Persephone’s control snapped. “If Lara Rodgers does not go with her friends, then I will divorce you and get half of everything. Which is it to be?”

The Frenchman swallowed his gall as his wife threatened to remove him his one Achilles heel: his wealth and power. Before everyone in the room, he was silenced and helpless. He nodded his head and rose from the table to carry out his wife’s instructions. He looked at the Twins with an arch of his carefully manicured eyebrow and they accompanied him, one at either shoulder. They glanced over their shoulders at Persephone and they understood one another. A wrong had been set right.