Aftermath

Written by Anakin McFly

and maybe one day on a grave somewhere will be the words "he played Neo".

only there would be no body beneath, for the Anu is immortal.

leaving his empty coffin, he runs off to another universe to continue with his travels. for a while, he joins John Constantine for a quiet cigarette in his dingy apartment, one of the few people - and spider - ever welcomed into his life. they speak no words. there are no words to be said.

(Dr. Mercer would have a lot of words to say, but Dr. Mercer isn't there.)

and he meets, along the way, the many incarnations of Neo, each one still earnestly seeking for the truth, and walks with some of them to face their final victory.

he shares pizza and beer with Conor, and they chat drunkenly through the night until they pass out together on the floor. not-Tim leaves quietly the next morning, so as not to wake him, nursing a terrible hangover because that's one thing immortality doesn't protect against. when Conor finally wakes, his head hurting so bad that it could burst, he can't tell what happened the night before and how much of it was just a dream. but then he sees the note tacked on his door:

"Thanks for a good time. - K."

with a thousand dollars in bills attached.

not-Tim meets Wick at a cosy ramen cafe where he's eating alone, because Neo for some reason has stopped coming for their monthly lunch. the cafe won't let John bring his newest puppy in. not-Tim is not a puppy, so they do.

John asks about Neo. in not-Tim's eyes, he sees the answer. he continues eating his ramen in silence, first his hands and then his body trembling with stifled rage and grief. because he still remembers Neo so clearly: that calm and wisdom and sadness in his eyes, the way Neo would defuse conflicts with just a quiet word; and it isn't fair that he should be the one to go. not like this. not so soon. he wants to fight, for Neo, and if there were anything he could do, anyone he could kill, anything, to make it all right, to make him live again, to...

not-Tim sits with him as he cries.

#