Chapter Rating: T; mentions of mature content.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with Tron!

A/N: Woo! Chapter four, here ya go. :3 Again, if you spot errors, let me know! :3 I have no beta, and I usually get these out late at night, so it's easy to miss things. XD

Daikun The Time Sage- Haha, yeah, Mario Kart is one of them. But the whole line is from a reallyfunny abridged movie. XD Yugioh, bonds beyond time abridged. Ahhh, it never gets old. Hehe. :3 Thanks for pointing out where I mentioned Rez as a she! :3 Fixed it. I'm glad you love overprotective Tron, there will be quite a bit of that as I love that aspect of him too! :D

CuzImBatman-Haha, it was alright. It was my Computation Methods final, which requires me to write programs, funny enough. I totally messed up, too. But oh well, I had an A in the class so the worst I'll get is a B now. XD And yes, I am a bit lost now that I have absolutely nothing to do except play Skyrim, write, read, play with my kitty, sleep and eat. XD Hehe The wait is only short because they're already written. XD When we get all caught up, the wait will be like, forever. Just warning you. XD

And yes! :3 I did indeed write Dreams. I'm glad I inspired you! 8D Corus is just super awesome. I just have no muse for that pairing currently. All my muse is for this, a Skyrim fic, and an Eragon fic. XD

Enough of that! On to Chapter four!

Chapter 4: Circuits

Sam looked back to where he was going and narrowly avoided the light ribbon left behind by an orange light cycle. He swerved closer to Tron, frowning, "Thanks, Tron! I wasn't… paying attention," he said, a bit ashamed to admit it. He had been looking around and thinking, after all!

"When we're in these sectors, don't let your mind wander, Sam… It's dangerous," Tron replied without looking at him, he was alert and looking for more trouble in case it would happen.

"I know, I know.." Sam scowled slightly. He knew Tron was right, of course, and was only trying to help. He was more so mad at himself for being such an idiot.

Within minutes they were passing into another sector, and could tell easily because this sector was practically destroyed. "What happened here?" Sam asked, keeping alert but still looking around at fallen buildings. There were a few programs wandering around, but they looked hopeless, eager to get derezzed.

"Rez told me there was a large battle between most of CLU's forces, and most other programs. I was not around for this battle since it was right after the reintegration. I was still in the Sea." Tron said, his expression sad. This sector was the battleground, destroyed… he was meant to protect the city, but he hadn't been there to do so. "The programs here are without purpose since their sector is destroyed. A program without a purpose can become two things, hopeless and eager to derezz, depressed… like many here are. Or unpredictable, a dangerous program that has the unpredictability of a User," he explained, glancing at Sam.

Sam frowned as he listened. So a battle had destroyed this sector. How could he have left the Grid like this for so long? Sam felt a sudden pang of guilt. Why had he not checked in on the Grid sooner? He hadn't really tried to fix the portal until a couple of months after they first left. He should have started right then and there. And now look what happened in the mean time?

"This will be the first place I fix. I'll recreate the code, from the outside. I don't think I can do it from the Grid… maybe my father could, but I cannot. Not right now, at least," Sam said sadly. He saw a program sitting in an alleyway with a beam sword in hand, probably going to commit suicide.

Without thinking, Sam skidded his light cycle to a stop and jumped off, grabbing the baton. He hurried towards the alley and before the program could stab herself, he grabbed their hand. "Don't," he said, kneeling down. The program looked surprised and tried to wretch her wrist free from him.

"My name is Sam Flynn," he said, and he paused to let that information sink in. He could see the surprise in her eyes. "Don't derezz yourself, I'll rebuild this sector. There's still hope, I'll give you a purpose to live again, so please, don't do it. I promise I'll rebuild this sector and make it better than before," Sam spoke, not sure where these words were coming from. He was making hefty promises. But now he had to do it. For some reason, it made him feel good. He could bring happiness to these programs again… He could save lives.

"Rebuild…. Better… purpose?" The program repeated in a soft voice, surprise still in her eyes. "Promise…"

"Yes, I promise. Tell the other programs in this sector. Keep living, I'll give all of you a purpose again soon," Sam said with a nod, pulling himself and the girl to their feet. He took the baton from her hand and the beam sword disappeared. He watched the program nod, a new look on her face. She now had a purpose, to tell everyone else that Sam Flynn would recreate their sector, save them.

"Savior… Thank you!" The program said, a smile appearing on her face.

Sam stiffened at the title given to him. Savior? No way, he wasn't… But the look on her face told him otherwise. He'd saved her, and promised to save her sector. "What's your name, program?" Sam asked, instead. If he denied the title, she wouldn't be so hopeful.

"Noda, my name is Noda," the program said, awe in her voice.

"Well, Noda, I hope we meet again soon. Don't forget to tell the other programs about my promise to you, alright?" Sam replied, handing her the baton again. They were valuable, after all. He watched the girl turn and walk down the alleyway, and Sam turned around, only to come face-to-face with Tron. "Woah! Tron, uh… I didn't know you were there…" He said, blinking.

Tron was smiling, a full on smile. Sam felt a weird sensation in his chest, but he couldn't place it. He never really felt that before. "Uh… Tron?"

"You made some hefty promises, Sam… Are you ready to take on your role in the Grid?" Tron asked, a cryptic remark and yet painfully obviously as well. Sam had just promised to fix the Grid, basically. He had told a program and that program would tell every other program. Now Sam had no choice. But was he ready for it? That's what Tron wanted to know.

Sam looked away, thinking. Was he ready? He kind of just said all of that without meaning to, but now when he thought about it. Yes, he was ready. He had all the necessary equipment, he had the notes, the codes.. He had the ability to do so. "Yeah, I can do it," Sam said as he looked back at Tron. He put a hand on the programs shoulder, feeling him give a slight shiver as the circuit under his hand glowed brighter. "Will you help, Tron?"

Tron looked at the hand on his shoulder and then nodded, his voice a bit off, "Of course, Sam," he replied, nodding. "Just remember, your coding doesn't need to be exactly like your father's. The Grid is now yours, and you need to make your own unique signature on the Grid," he said, his voice going back to normal.

Sam took his hand off the programs shoulder, hand tingling slightly. Why…? He'd wonder about that later. "Unique signature?" He murmured, nodding. Tron was right, the Grid was his now. His coding didn't need to be exactly like his fathers, he could make his own codes… Do things his own way. Actually, that made things a lot easier. Why hadn't he thought of that before? "That makes things easier," Sam said with a grin.

"Good," Tron nodded. He turned around, "Let's leave this sector, you'll be known around here soon," he said, pulling the baton apart to create a light cycle under him. Sam had followed suit and Tron quickly looked back at him before they left, "Sam… What you did was really good, you should be proud," he said, before giving the light cycle some throttle and speeding off.

Sam grinned to himself, following the other light cycle. He was proud of himself, and for some reason, having Tron's approval made a huge difference as well.

Tron had given Sam a good rundown of the state of the Grid as they toured it with their light cycles. Sam had a lot of work ahead of him, and it started with the destroyed sector, as he had promised. They pulled up in front of the building where Rez's club was located, and once off their light cycles, the program and User headed into the building, a comfortable silence between them.

While in the elevator, exhaustion suddenly hit Sam like a wave. He put a hand on the wall of the elevator to steady himself, eyes closing. Why was he suddenly so tired?

Oh. He hadn't slept yet… He had gone through a whole day at ENCOM, meetings, paper work… The usual 7 AM to 6 PM work day. Then without eating, he had gone straight to the arcade and spent awhile working on the portal's codes, and then came here. Where he had been confronted by a once-enemy.

And then proceeded to drive around through the entire Grid on light cycles with Tron. He was beat.

"Sam?" Tron asked questioningly, reaching a hand to his arm to steady the User.

Sam's eyes widened when he felt a wave of.. of something run through his body. It felt like static running through his circuits, but it was pleasant. His eyes moved to Tron's hand on his arm, two of his fingers pressing on one of his white circuits. Why did that cause such a feeling…? He'd have to ask about it, but he couldn't ask Tron. Not when he was the cause of this feeling. Maybe Rez?

"Ah.. I'm just really tired. Long day at work, then coming here…" he trailed off because Tron nodded in understanding. Sam assumed his dad had been the same way. The elevator finally opened up and Tron and Sam headed towards the door where Byte was standing. The program gave a sleazy grin and waved to Sam. It made Sam cringe and Tron tense. Sam could tell by the way Tron walked that he was tense. The doors opened and they were met with loud, club like music playing. Focus, Sam had to keep focus. Where was Rez?

Tron pulled Sam along towards the back room, but Sam stopped him. "I'm going to find Rez real quick, I wanted to ask him something," Sam said over the noise of the club. Tron nodded, though he didn't go to the back room. Instead the security program went to the bar to wait and keep an eye on Sam.

Sam easily picked Rez out, his purple circuitry sticking out oddly against the other colors. He was at the other side of the bar. He headed over to him, sitting on one of the stools and waiting for him to finish serving the programs.

"Sam!" Rez grinned, sliding over to him once he finished. "Glad to see you're in one piece. I guess the little tour was a success, what do you think?" He asked, a curious look on his face.

"I've decided I'm going to rebuild that destroyed sector, I'll do it when I get back to my world," he replied. "I wanted to ask you something, Rez. I thought you'd know…" He trailed off. Wow, he suddenly did not want to ask him. It was kind of… awkward? Hey, why do I feel like collapsing whenever Tron touches one of my circuits? What the hell?

"Yeah?" Rez prompted, waiting. "What is it you wanted to ask?"

"Ah… Er, never mind," Sam replied, his face a little flushed as he stood to leave. But Rez stopped him, pushing him back into the seat from across the bar.

"You're not getting away that easily. What's bothering you, Sam? You can ask me anything, don't worry about it," Rez tried to persuade him. He probably already knew what it was about, judging by the flush Sam had.

"A program's circuits," Sam began, "Or my circuits, even… When a program touches them it sends this… feeling through your body. Why the hell does it do that?" Sam asked, blurting it out. God he felt so embarrassed now.

Rez laughed, which made Sam feel even worse. "Oh, that," He chuckled. "Circuits are very sensitive. The body suits, at least for Users, aren't only armor. The circuits on them are connected to your brain through the identity disc, so it's like touching a 'nerve,' I think, literally. At least, that's how the Creator described it once. For programs, well, we have circuits on our body, not just clothes. They act as our 'nerves.' It's such a nice feeling, isn't it? Of course, we programs know about your world's way of intercourse, and we can do that too, but we also have the added bonus of our circuits adding to that feeling," he explained, watching Sam shift uncomfortably. This was amusing to him.

Sam sat, feeling like he was as red as a tomato. He didn't know he would get a whole spiel about how programs have sex, god dammit. He hadn't been prepared for that! "Ah… That's something I didn't know," Sam said, clearing his throat.

Rez nodded, amused. "Well hey, if you're going to be here a lot, you might as well know how we programs work, right? It's useful to flirt," Rez winked, laughing slightly. "All it takes is a," he reached out his arm and trailed a few fingers down Sam's circuit on his arm, causing him to shiver and let out a breath, "few touches to make a program weak at the knees," he grinned.

Sam shook out of his stupor, scowling slightly, "Hey, I get it, I get it," he said, wondering why Rez was being like this. "You didn't have to go that far," he mumbled, tilting his head.

Rez grinned, "Good, glad you do. And I did, you need to see how it works, after all," he snickered and slid away once more to serve some programs after leaving Sam with a small energy drink as well.

He stared at the crystal blue drink, and practically jumped out of his seat when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Tron, and he suddenly flushed a bit. Why!? Why was he acting like this around him?

"You probably shouldn't drink that if you want rest," Tron said with a small smile.

"Ah… Y-Yeah, right," Sam said, stuttering slightly. He cursed mentally at that fact and stood. Why am I suddenly acting like this? Why the hell did Rez have to tell me all that? No, scratch that, why did I even ask him in the first place? I'm such an idiot…

Sam sighed and headed towards the back room, Tron following. Why was he… Oh, right, security program and all. He opened the door, walking into the room and plopping himself onto the bed. He expected it to be hard, but it was actually very comfortable. And what was Rez hinting at? Why did he say I needed to know that stuff? Sam asked himself as he lay back on the bed, the bed molding to his form. Wow, now this was a nice bed.

He looked to his right and saw Tron sitting comfortably in a chair, swirling one of the energy drinks. "You're not going to get any rest?" Sam asked, watching the program.

Tron looked at him, "I'm not tired," he said simply, offering a smile.

Sam nodded, letting it slide. If he wanted to be stubborn then fine. The dull thrum of the music through the walls was beginning to lull him to sleep, surprisingly. So he closed his eyes and waited for sleep to come.

Sam woke to the sound of talking. He could here Tron's voice, and somebody else… probably Rez. He didn't really feel like waking up just yet, anyway, so he just listened, or tried to.

"I was just teaching him, no need to get so protective, Tron," Rez said, shrugging. "Besides, that's something he needs to know if he's going to be here a lot, remember? Circuits can be dangerous when used against you." he pointed out.

Tron gave a reluctant sigh. "I think you just went about it wrong, that's all," he said, raising a brow. "I think you effectively freaked him out, if that's what you were aiming for," Tron said.

Rez shrugged, "It's not the end of the world, he'll get over it," Rez said, then the sound of a door opening was heard. "Knock first!" Rez snapped, looking over at the program.

"Sorry, Rez! There's a few programs causing a ruckus…. They're drunk on energy, I need your help," she said, her circuits glowing yellow.

"Alright, coming," Rez said, looking at Tron, and then leaving the room. Sam could hear Tron sigh and sit back down.

I'm assuming they were talking about what happened at the bar last night, Sam thought. But why does Tron care? Does he just think Rez went too far? Sam decided to give it a few minutes before he rolled over with a yawn, which wasn't fake. He opened his eyes to look over at Tron, "What time is it?" He asked, his voice a bit groggy.

"Time for you to get to the portal," Tron said, standing up. He looked ready to go.

"What? Already?" Sam asked with a small frown as he pushed himself up. He looked around the room, then stood, stretching a bit and looking over at Tron again, waiting for an answer.

"Yes, it closes soon, Sam," Tron replied. "You slept for quite some time," he said, motioning for Sam to follow him. "Rez is lending us a light jet, which is apparently waiting for us on the roof," he said as he opened the door.

Loud music met their ears. Sam nodded, though he was somewhat put out by that. He didn't want to leave just yet… No, he had to work on restoring that sector, though… and he had duties in his world as well.

They took the elevator up this time, past the surface. It was a relatively short ride considering how far up they had to go. "Do you know how to pilot it? Last time it was Quorra who piloted," Sam said as they exited, looking upon the violet-glowing light jet.

"Yes, I can pilot it," Tron replied, looking away. Last time he had almost killed Sam… and Flynn and Quorra.

Sam noticed this and he shook his head, "Hey, forget the past, alright? Like I said, that wasn't you, it was Rinzler. Besides, in the end you helped us as Rinzler, even, so no harm done, move on, alright?" He said, putting a hand on Tron's shoulder, careful to avoid his circuits.

Tron nodded, "It's not that easy," he stated, heading to the jet. They both took their seats, and when the hatch closed, the circuits changed to a blue color.

The ride to the portal was quiet, neither Tron nor Sam talking. By the time they got there, Sam was ready to blurt any random topic just to break the silence. But there was no need, Tron did it. "We're here," he said as he landed the jet. The portal looked just as it had before- stairs leading up to the light, and a bridge across.

The hatch opened and Sam looked over at Tron. "I'll be back soon," he said, getting out of the jet. "I'll work on fixing that sector, and many other things…" He trailed off, watching Tron get out as well. They both headed to the portal, and Sam felt this weird sensation of wanting to do something before he left. But he shoved that feeling away.

"Hey Tron, do me a favor… stop dwelling on the past. I know it's corny, but come on, we have a new future ahead of us, you know… I'm going to fix the Grid, I promise," Sam said, stopping right before the portal to say it. He had his disc in hand.

Tron looked up with a soft smile. "I know, Sam," he said as he pushed the User into the light to get him to go, fingers pressing onto one of the glowing circuits on Sam's chest.

A/N: Hope ya'll enjoyed it! XD Reviews = Loved.

Anyway! :3 I also have another story idea brewing for Tron/Sam. *shoots self* Gosh, I just wanna finish one first but nooo, plot bunnies are evil. So I had this dream- weird, right?- and it totally inspired me to write an AU for those two. It would be very different, mind you. Might be post apocalypse/invasion of some sort, with superhumans... Well, we'll see! ;D