Title: Choices and Chances

Author: Stormhawk

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer:

Matrix = Wachowski Brothers and Warner Brothers

ATS = Me and Lord Mordy

Stef, Stevie, Darth, Cray, Niq, and rest of Exy crew = Me

[I think this fic has the largest cast of any written yet, I'm going to do a count later.]

Always blame the locals...

Chapter Word Count: 1902

Summary: Just read the damn thing...you know you want to...

Notes: This is going chapter-by-chapter cause the ending isn't finished yet...

Please read and Review.

Ryder, the captain of the Exodus, walked up the second flight of stairs toward Darth's room. To his amazement, he heard a female voice coming from the programmer's room.

"You're doing it wrong," the female voice said and it took Ryder a moment to realize that it belong to that agent. She sounded different to when he'd heard her talk before, softer, more relaxed...human, but nonetheless in a tone that flaunted superiority. The fact that an agent was even capable of sounding that convincingly human disturbed him to no end.

"I'm not going to get the hang of this," Darth muttered.

"Shh...go slower...just relax and it'll come. I'm patient. And you were the one who boasted about not having trouble with things like this."

Ryder stopped himself from knocking on the door, and just listened. There was something completely wrong in the mansion.

"Help me would you?"

There was a heavy sigh, "you see it now? You're getting it."

"I'm learning..."

"It will be easier next time, the quicker you learn, the better it is." There was a pause, "does your captain want to come in now or is he going to stand outside your door the rest of the day?"

"Ryder?" Darth asked. There was a squeak as Darth got up and opened the door.

Ryder managed not to look sheepish as the programmer opened the door. "How long were you standing there?"

"I wasn't..."

"He was standing there for at least a minute," Mimosa said as she dropped her head backward over her chair and looked at him. "You aren't exactly a feather-weight captain and the stairs creak." Ryder gave her a strange look, her jacket was on the back of the chair and she wasn't wearing a tie.

Darth stepped aside to let the captain in, "some reason you didn't knock cap?"

"Because I heard something Darth...what exactly was it that I was hearing?"

The agent reached over to the desk and held up a black butterfly, "I was showing him how to program in Matrix code."

"He can use construct code. He's not an idiot."

"I never said or thought he was," she defensively, "but it's different when you're programming from this side of the looking glass. The best code is the one written by machines for programs, it's the most efficient system ever invented since we don't have to worry about IF...THEN...ELSE statements."

"Sorry we're only human," he said caustically.

"Lighten up cap," Darth said, unsure of why he was acting like that.

"For a robot?" he muttered.

"I'm software, not hardware," Stef said as she rubbed her temples, feeling that a agents-are-heartless speech coming on.

Ryder looked at Darth, "only programming...for a second I thought something else was going on."

Darth and Stef locked eyes for a second, both of them knew if they were ever going to tell the rest of the crew about them then this might be the best time before it got completely out of control.

Rather than being subtle, Darth walked over to Stef, motioned for her to stand up, stepped in close, wrapped his arms around her and kissed her deeply.

Ryder's expression went from shock, to horror, to disgust to anger.

"Show off," Stef whispered with a smile as they broke apart.

"Tyler Kinnell...what in HELL do you think you're doing?" Ryder asked with a barely controlled rage.

"I thought it was pretty obvious captain."

"I saw what you did, but I don't understand it."

"And I always thought your captain was a reasonably intelligent man."

"Stay out of this, program!"

"Ryder you're acting like a jerk."

"I'm still your captain, don't talk to me like that."

"So much for treating the first girl to fall in love with me like one of our own, like you said all those times."

"And when a girl falls in love with you I will. That hasn't happened yet."

"Ryder..."

"I'm not a girl?" Stef asked in confusion. She looked down at herself, "I always thought I was girl. I'm lumpy in the right places..."

"A real one," Ryder said as he stepped forward. "Not a fake one. Not a program and hell will freeze over before I treat an agent like a real person."

"Define fake," she snarled at him.

He grabbed her by the collar and punched her in the face. Before Darth could say anything, he punched her again and threw her into the wall, shattering the glass of a framed poster.

"Stef!" Darth yelled as he ran over to her. She just picked herself up and shook the glass off her, not bothering to require another shirt even though the back of hers had been ripped in a few places from the glass. "Are you all right?" he asked worriedly.

She smirked humorlessly at him, "I let him do that. I could have shot him before his first punch landed." She paused, "I could have shifted away or I could have ripped out one of his ribs and stabbed him in the heart with it," she finished quietly. He'd obviously done it to prove a point, so she was going to let him try and prove it.

"That's my girl."

"She's fake. She's a program. She's a bloody, murderous, soulless agent. Why can't you see that? If she was a normal girl she wouldn't be standing, her face would be bruised and her back would be bloody from the glass. Open your eyes Darth and see that."

"Get out of my room Ryder before I..." he walked over to her chair and pulled her gun from her jacket.

"Or you'll shoot me?" Ryder asked incredulously. "You have never killed anyone in your life."

The programmer clicked the safety off, "it's never too late to start."

Ryder walked toward the door, "just think about one thing," he said. "Consider that maybe the only reason it is pretending to have feelings for you is so that she can get information out of you. It happens in other wars," he said as he slammed the door behind him.

Darth turned back to her and went to say something.

"Before you say anything can you yank this piece of glass out of my back?"

He nodded so she turned. He stopped and looked at her back, and it was bleeding. The bigger pieces had cut in deep but most of the smaller shards had been caught in the fabric of her shirt. "Won't it hurt? Aren't you in pain?"

"You can't hurt someone who isn't real."

"There are two people in this room and we are both very real," he said as he pulled it out. He dropped it in the bin and shook his head.

She smiled at him, "thanks, I hate shifting with sharp things sticking into my back." She disappeared and reappeared repaired and with a new shirt.

"I don't know why he's acting like that."

"It's simple, I'm an evil suit-wearing person with no soul. And I'm only after information." She smirked, "now Mr. Rebel," she said with a fake-Russian accent, "if you tell me of the evil rebel plans I will make it worth your while." She rolled her eyes, "he must be losing it if he thinks we have to resort to those tactics."

Darth's eyes glazed over for a second. "What were you thinking right then?" she asked him with a smile.

"...nothing..."

"Tell me."

"Well...on the train of thought of those tactics...Leia's outfit from the beginning of Return of the Jedi..."

"Oh..." she smirked at him, "maybe one day."

Stevie and Cray came running into the room, "what the hell is going on?" Cray demanded. "What is Ryder's problem?"

"What did he say?" Darth asked.

"Something about you losing your mind," Cray said with a shrug. "So did he walk in on you two making out or something?"

"Meep," Stef said. "What? You guys know?"

"A good guess actually," Stevie said. "We figured you'd inform the rest of the wold when you were ready."

Darth shook his head, "now why couldn't Ryder react like that?"

"Because this has changed all of us. The older ones are acting differently. Plus he hasn't had enough time around evil-suit people to realize that some of them are nice."

"I'm still telling Smith you're dating his daughter," Stef said with a smirk.

Cray meeped and looked at the floor, "I'm going to die," he muttered.

"No," Stevie said, "he's my dad, I'll tell him. And who broke the picture?" Stevie asked as she looked at the bent frame and glass splinters.

"Our dear captain threw my girlfriend into the wall after punching her in the face."

"I'm ok Darth."

He shook his head, "it's the principal of the matter. He shouldn't treat anyone like that."

"I'm not an 'anyone' to him, I'm an 'anything.'"

"If he does it again, I'm going to beat the hell out of him."

Stevie sighed happily, "that's sweet."

"Sweet?" Cray questioned, looking slightly hurt.

"That's sweet, but you were brave."

"Now that that's sorted," Darth said, "do you two mind leaving?" The teenagers shrugged and walked out of the room.

"Maybe he's right," Stef said as she sat down on the bed. "Maybe I'm not right for you...maybe we should..."

"Elope?" Darth said out of nowhere. "Or something. They need to know this is serious, Ryder needs to understand the world is a bit different to how he sees it. And that no one is defined by the suit they wear."

"He's not going to change his opinion."

" 'This war probably isn't going to end, no matter what anyone says. The higher-ups say we're going to win but I seriously doubt it. This war is going to last for the lifetime of this earth, without either side ever having a clear victory. My boy, the world might be different when you're grown up or it might be another war, but this truth stays the same. If you find a girl who you love with everything you are, and who loves you back, you take hold of her and never let her go. Worlds end with every order and bullet that's shot but there is light beyond Armageddon if you're in love. The thing that you share, the bond or whatever you want to call it, is the single reason we are alive. Don't you dare let anyone tell you otherwise, or let them take that away from you. All we ever have is right now and if you have someone to share the right now with then you have everything.'"

"Who are you quoting?"

"I've probably messed up a few words but that's basically what he said."

"Who?"

"My grandfather, and he's right."

"Was he in world war two?"

"Yeah, they felt the same way during their war. But it just doesn't apply to wartime, it's all the time. I could care less about Ryder, just so long as I have you."

"I'm yours. You've got me," Stef said with a smile.

"You want approval or something don't you? You want someone besides me to say that they accept us."

She shrugged then reluctantly nodded, "I want to know that someone doesn't think this is a bad idea."

"Then let's..." he started and then her phone rang.

She sighed and answered it, "ok, I'm coming," she said and hung it up. She looked over at Darth, "I have to go."

"I understand."