Author's Note: Apparently I'll be posting the chapters in a more chronological order than I do elsewhere. Hope that helps. For the prompt "Courageous" from 7rainbowprompts.

Le Disko

3: Courageous [Red]

Point twelve millicycles pass before Tron leaves the portal. At the outskirts of the Grid he writes a shortcut to the center of the city, then one to the sector held by Crystal's sister Sirens.

Yssandra is the one who owns the club at the sector's heart and she greets him with a green cocktail and a suggestion.

"My bouncer needs work."

Cyrus is a program better suited for analyzing security threats than filtering the programs entering her establishment. According to Yssandra he was at the End of Line Club when Gem brought in Sam.

Sam. Not even half a millicycle and the thought leaves an aching loneliness that Tron can't stand. He concentrates instead on building a security team to assist him in unifying the Grid's sectors, starting with Cyrus.

"What can you tell me about this sector?" he asks the program.

"Low traffic, but tensions are high. Yssandra and Nyx monitor with a firm hand but recent events will change its neutrality." Cyrus flicks his eyes up and down, adds, "Your presence won't help."

"Not my concern. I need yours."

Something shifts in Cyrus's face and he draws himself up tall while the blue circuits on his hands, ill-suited for combat but no doubt quick with interfaces, glow. "What do you need me to do?"

"I need a security team. Enyo and I are to unify and secure the Grid by the time Sam-by the time the User returns."

"So he's coming back."

That's the question, isn't it? In the later cycles so many feared that the Creator would turn his back and leave them without a directive in a system that can't function without a sysadmin. It's why Flynn wrote Clu.

Now the portal's closed and the uneasy feeling is settling back in, something not even Tron can deny. But there's the old leather jacket, folded on placed on a shelf in his small room. There's a warm, breathy promise echoing in his memory.

"He will," Tron says, then gestures for Cyrus to follow him. "As part of the Resistance you know capable programs. Who do you recommend?"

Her name is Sen. She's taking point while others raid a hidden cache of weapons two sectors over but she seems flighty and anxious, not something Tron's looking for. He's no longer familiar with the Gridscape, though, and has only Cyrus's-and Yssandra's-word to go on. "I need a team to help me unify the sectors. Cyrus says you're capable."

"I'm just a repair utility stuck with guard duty."

"He says you're lethal with a beam katana."

She turns on Cyrus. "You told him what I did during the Purge?"

"He asked. Besides, we have a new User now. He'll fix everything and the Grid will be back to normal."

Sen looks up at the sky to the east. "Then where is he? Why hasn't he fixed everything already?"

"He will," Tron says. "He's...not used to his User powers. And he has a life outside the Grid to sort out before coming back. Until he returns we have to secure what's left of the city. Our directive is to unify the sectors, contain gridbug swarms, and derezz any supporters of Clu. Can you do that?"

As with Cyrus her attitude changes, like Tron's invitation triggers something deep inside her programming.

"I'll do it."

The decision to pursue Zaller, a Black Guard stationed at the Arena who overcame his rectification following the Reintegration, is all on Tron. He needs a strong program to help with a sudden surge in gridbug attacks and Zaller fits the bill, but for Tron he's also a reminder of what a second chance looks like.

"I was a Black Guard."

"I was the Enforcer. And here I am restoring the Grid. Join me."

"Yes."

They discover Caix while hunting down Octane. The sector leader is gone by the time they arrive at the central tower but Caix is there, disk out and ready. Apparently Octane promised her a chance to derezz both the Enforcer and a Black Guard. It takes a heavy blow to the circuits on her chest to knock her offline and after they scan the building they wait for her to wake up.

"Where's Octane?" Tron asks while Sen scans Cyrus and Zaller for damage.

"Don't know. Got hired less than a millicycle ago to derezz you. That's it."

"She's a Disc Wars combatant," Zaller says. "Had she survived the penultimate round she'd have faced you."

"Except the system collapsed and you were suddenly free." Tron studies her for a few microcycles, then asks, "How long did you wait?"

"Rumors spread after the Reintegration about Rinzler. About you. Didn't change what you did, so I followed them. Then you appeared on the Grid like an ISO, holed up in a neutral sector where nobody could touch you." Light green eyes turn skyward. "Then the portal opened."

Caix then looks straight at Tron. "He trusts you. After everything you did he came to you."

"I'm not Rinzler. And I'm not the only one looking for something. A purpose. A reason." After a moment's hesitance he adds, "I could use you."

Tron is sure he has everyone he needs for the task at hand but something's still off. Several centicycles later it dawns on him and when Sam returns he asks for help.

"What do you need?"

"I need you to write a program."