This is a continuation for those who prefer happy endings. I don't anticipate it going on for long since we all want Alex and Clu to live happily ever after, as soon as possible, right? Their Fairy Godmother is back to work.

Alex has been back in the real world for 18 years, before she hears a fantastic story from Sam Flynn, son of the long missing ENCOM CEO Kevin Flynn. In that time, she has done research into laser teleportation and the existence of the Grid. Now that she knows it was all real, she is determined to get back there. However, Sam tells her as far as he knows, the Grid may be dead, along with his father and Clu. Three years later, with help from Sam, Alan Bradley and another bright software engineer, Steve Delarosa, Alex may get her wish. It is now 2013.

I do not own Tron , Tron : Legacy, or even Star Trek!

Ultimate Ally : 21 years later

Chapter 1

Alex made some minor checks on the programming for the new laser unit, with additional help from her two best friends, the deservedly re-instated Board chairman Alan Bradley, and Steve Delarosa, a fellow software engineer with an imagination that blew Alex away. His visions for the future of technology rivaled Gene Roddenberry's, as far as Alex was concerned. "Dee, are you sure the specs match with previous information, and all the old protocols?"

Steve rolled his eyes again, listening to his friend. "Yes, Alex. Relax, won't you! It's looking good. Why are you so worried about this project? Lora emailed you the final numbers, didn't she?"

"Alex, I know this pet project of yours is important to you," Alan began, "but you have to trust Lora. She knows what she's doing. Are you sure there's not more to this than you're saying?" He recalled her urgency to get funding for the upgraded laser unit, and with Sam's authorization, granted the department the necessary monies. It just seemed that Alex was more personally involved in this than anyone else. The only reason he backed it was because Alex had said it was a long-forgotten Flynn augmentation to the standing system, and because Sam seemed eager for it to succeed as well. In fact, Sam was VERY eager to see the new laser brought online. Neither was confiding in Alan though, and he didn't like it.

Alex sighed as she input the last of the operations data. She looked over the new laser unit, twice as big as the old one had been. And Steve, never one to let the grass grow beneath him, was already working on plans for another that would be large enough to handle vehicles and small groups of people, as opposed to the current one that could, theoretically, transport only one person.

Sam had insisted that for now, Alan was to be kept in the dark regarding the real reason for this project and its history. Alex didn't like Alan being left out of the planning or implementation of the new laser procedure. After all, it was his wife who was helping them, having been the creator of the first laser unit that had sent Flynn to the ENCOM grid 28 years ago. Later, she inspired Kevin to upgrade it, thus he being inadvertently responsible for sending both Alex and Sam to his own private Grid. But as much as she wished she could confide in Alan, Alex cared more about her part in this research operation.

When she had returned, Alex told no one of her trip to the Grid. It was 20 years later when she accidently found out that Sam Flynn had taken a similar journey. Eventually, they compared notes. Alex learned that Kevin had again been living in exile. Clu had gone back to being the grid ruler, and to those programs still trying to foment revolution, he was a tyrant of horrible proportions. Sam had accidently been sucked in much as she had, and met up with his father, who had succeeded in preventing Clu from leaving the Grid in his distorted dream of conquest of the outside world. Alex wondered what had happened after she'd left that caused Clu to go back to his dark ways. It was as if all they had achieved together had vanished when she had.

Sam hadn't accepted his father's death, just as Alex hadn't accepted the idea that Clu might be gone. It had taken a year and a half, but she finally found Flynn's old programming specifications for the Administrative Control Program. She re-created it on one of the new, smaller storage disks, and had kept it on a chain around her neck, much as Sam had done. Still, she knew that any recreation of Clu would not be Clu. She had a plan, and it had to work. Otherwise, she'd be stuck on the Grid without Clu, the only reason she was going back at all.

On the sly, she had created several other programs ensuring that, if and when she made it back to the Grid, she would remain a permanent part of that world. But first, she had to ensure Clu's existence. It was with Sam's help, Alex had found a way to store vast memory on micro-disk. Sam told Alex that was how he had managed to keep the framework of the Grid intact since his return from the Grid. But what was actually left there, he had no idea. He saw what his father had done just as he and Quorra were exiting the system. The re-integration. For the last three years, Sam had worked on bringing back his father, with only complete failure as the result. Flynn had been Alex's friend, and it grieved her to hear he might be dead.

After all her planning, Alex hadn't confided in Sam what she really intended on doing. However, she did leave an automated Wi-mail in her work box, scheduled to be sent to him by day's end. It would explain everything to Sam, everything she wanted him to know anyway. She fingered the chain that held the two micro-disks, one with her Clu simulation, and the other being the key to her own reformation.

Steve Delarosa began the start up procedure, adjusting the settings to "Narrow Field", before hitting the start button. A hum began to build, steadily increasing in pitch. The test figure sat on the transport pad, a synthetic dummy weighing about what an average human would weigh. If this worked, and after more tests, a voluntary human subject might be used. Alan nodded when Steve looked to him for the go-ahead for the first test.

Alex stood by, not realizing she'd been holding her breath. It had taken her how many years to see this project come to fruition? Once Sam told her that the old system may have been destroyed, she despaired of ever finding her way back to the Grid.

Steve began the countdown as the sound grew louder. "six...five...four...three...two...one.

The test subject vanished, in a layer by layer data breakdown, until it had all disappeared. Everyone held their breath, until 15 seconds later, it re-appeared.

Steve smiled, checking the immediate telemetry. "A variance of .00012. Barely worth mentioning. It worked perfectly, Alan!"

Alan congratulated the tech team members, while off to the side, Alex smiled, satisfied that half her plan was now assured success.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Later that evening, when most of the building staff had gone home, Alex slipped into the laser lab. She activated the power grid for the laser, checking all of the specifications for the unit. She removed her jewelry, knowing it wouldn't rezz onto the Grid anyway. Wearing only a light shirt and jeans, Alex remembered even after so long the light suit she had worn back then. It had felt so much a part of her, she felt odd once she was back to wearing regular clothing. Her cheeks grew warm when she recalled the first time Clu had de-rezzed the suit off her body. Oh god, let this work, she thought.

Alex activated the system on-switch, and waited until the system was at full power. She cursed it for being so loud, but hopefully the few people left in the building were not on this floor. What she didn't know was that Alan and Steve had been working late, discussing the successful test run on the laser. Steve had wanted to check the telemetry one more time. As they had just stepped off the elevator, both men heard the loud hum from the now active laser. Looking at each other, they broke into a run, entering the lab just in time to see Alex about to step into the target beam.

"Alex, no!" Alan shouted, leaping for her before falling to the floor. He missed her by inches. Steve tried turning off the unit, but by the time he had it powered down, she was gone. He went to help Alan up. "Now what? Did you know she was going to pull a stunt like that?"

Alan brushed himself off, more his pride than his clothing. "No, and in fact, what are the target specs?"

Steve checked the monitoring board. "This is weird. Telemetry indicates a negative .659 variance. We would never be in the negative range for targeting. And Alan, there are some codes here I don't recognize."

Alan thought back to Alex's odd behavior the last few years, her secret meetings with Sam, and her completely obsessive enthusiasm for this project. "Steve, you wrap things up here. I'm going to have a talk with Mr Flynn," he said, using the more formal name of his godson, something he did only when he was joking,...or angry.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Alex woke up to find herself lying in the street. She pushed herself up into a sitting position, making note of her clothing, not the expected light suit but what she had been wearing in the lab. It now had lit circuitry running through it. Alex smiled, feeling the joy of success. She'd made it! One more thing to check though. She stood and peered into the glass structure of a nearby building. The reflection that peered back looked years younger. Her dyed brown hair, streaked at the edges with that annoying grey, was now it's years-previous highlighted light brown. She ran her fingers over her face, feeling the smoothness that precedes age. It worked. The additional programming had created a re-digitized Alex as it transported her here, her body now younger, as young as when she'd first appeared on the Grid.

Stepping into the street, Alex realized it looked somewhat the same, with one obvious difference. The lighting was dimmer, and the silence was stifling, as if the air were so thick, no sound could travel through it. This time, no Recognizer swallowed her up. In fact, Alex saw no vehicles moving anywhere.

She proceeded up the street to where the main plaza stood. It was still there, but there was no activity. Had Sam's story meant that the Grid had all but been destroyed? Had no programs survived? Alex placed a hand at her throat, feeling for the chain that hung around her neck. She smiled when she felt it there, inside her new light suit. As long as she held on to this, the Grid had a chance at new life. And hopefully, so would Clu.

Walking in the direction of Clu's headquarters, where it had all started, Alex glanced around. There was little that had changed, yet nothing seemed the same. Where were the lights, the programs, the vehicles scanning the Grid? Alex longed to see a Recognizer hovering above her, but there was nothing. No tanks prowled the streets, no light cycles or jets were in evidence anywhere. Only occasional lightning permeated the skies.

As she neared the city center, she noticed the large tower that lorded it over everything. At the top, she expected to see the End of Line club, but instead of the brightly lit entertainment center, there was only a jagged empty place, as if the club had been ripped off the tower. Alex wondered what had happened to cause such damage.

Soon, she arrived at Clu's tower, half darkened and apparently lifeless. She entered through the familiar flight bay where she saw several vehicles still in storage but no sentries anywhere. There was still power flowing through the building, since when Alex touched the elevator keypad, the doors opened. She stepped in, and indicating the control ship entrance level on the pad, felt the swift whoosh of the lift taking her to the very top of the tower. When she stepped out, she ventured down the dim corridor she had passed through hundreds of times. Again, no sentries or Black Guard stood watch. As far as she could tell, she was all alone.

The doors to the control room opened at her touch. As she entered, Alex noticed the panels that Jarvis always worked at were still lit. As she ran her hand over it, she noticed no dust lingered. Nice, she thought. It had been 21 years, but how many cycles.

She walked over to the so-called throne seat where Clu would watch the Games through the large viewing window. She sat in the one-man chair, and letting her guard down, wept silent tears. It had changed, all of it. Sam had been right when he thought the Grid might be gone. It was here, but nothing else was. Power still ran through the system, but where were all the programs.

Alex wiped the tears from her cheeks. She had more investigating to do. She'd have to go into the city and look for someone, anyone, who could tell her what happened. And if she found no one, if not one program had survived Flynn and Clu's reintegration, that would mean she would be stuck here, alone, forever.

A/N: Anyone want to read more, let me know. This continuation came about only because of those of you who asked. Thanks for any comments, and thank you, you wonderful Alex/Clu fans!