Chapter 4: Breaking Barriers

Breathe. Step. Swing. Duck. Step. Crouch. Swing. Block.

Repeat.

He continued through the motions, spinning, breathing, sweating, and defeating each opponent as it tried to break his concentration. They were failing. He allowed himself the slightest of smiles as another attacker fell, knocked unconscious from the blow to the head by his three foot long guard stick.

It had been one of his favorite classes since he first arrived at the Academy, and Enzo had taken to the martial arts class like a null to energy. It didn't take long for him to realize he felt most calm when he lost himself in the movements, and for a few microseconds each second, he could forget about the loneliness and isolation from his family at home… and forget the struggles he faced at the Academy. There was one struggle in particular he was avoiding. A struggle he'd been trying to avoid for the past cycle… but which wouldn't stay away from him.

Every second Guardian 452 would surprise him in a different class to try and "train him." He'd caught the cadet off guard yester-second by plopping down next to him at lunch, nearly making Enzo choke on his energy shake. He'd even had the nerve to walk in during one of Enzo's sessions with a reformatted virus named Morris… though neither Pandora nor Enzo had noticed he was leaning silently at the back until Morris asked him to play checkers when Enzo and Pandora wouldn't. Bob had won three rounds, and the ex-virus won five. Morris thought Bob was the greatest thing since touch screens.

Enzo shook his head, erasing the distracting thoughts, and moved faster, hitting his opponents harder as he quickly pushed himself to his limits. Another fighter was knocked back, wiped out on his back, and lay still before disappearing. They all flickered out until he was alone. Enzo blinked, coming up from his defensive stance in surprise. He hadn't called off the simulation. A warning bell went off in his head.

Enzo spun, brining his fighting stick around in a sharp arc. It connected with another stick, cracking loudly in the open room, and Enzo glared at Bob. Once again, the Guardian was stalking him, and he just wouldn't get the hint. "What are you still doing here?" he hissed.

Bob shrugged. "Checking up on my cadet. Nice form."

"How many times do I have to tell you? I don't want you here!"

"Then get rid of me," Bob taunted lightly, a grin slowly spreading across his face. He took advantage of Enzo's sudden hesitation and thrust his weapon forward, slamming it with both hands into Enzo's chest. The cadet crashed back into the floor.

Enzo rolled backwards and jumped to his feet, his eyes narrowing before he lunged. He swung, Bob parried, and the two danced lightly around the wide training room. The Guardian remained always on the defensive, his face set in a mask of indifference. His eyes, however, seemed to be enjoying every nano of their spar.

It was irritating to no end. Clearly, Bob was much better at sparring than Enzo anticipated, and it reminded him of how much he had admired Bob back in Mainframe. The Guardian always seemed to be good at anything he did… and it was seriously pissing Enzo off. It gave him the edge to start hitting harder, faster, and he smirked at Bob's surprise when he stumbled back.

Enzo became so focused on aiming for Bob's head he failed to keep his focus across his whole body. The leg sweep was quick, unexpected, and terribly successful. Enzo was caught so much by surprise, he cried out as he fell, his back hitting the floor so hard it knocked the wind from him. He coughed and sputtered; the room filling with the loud noise of his gaping breaths. Through watery eyes, he saw Bob kneeling next to him, waiting patiently. The cadet rolled away from him and tried to get his breathing under control.

"Want to try another round or call it?" Bob asked lightly.

Enzo looked back, glaring at the Guardian still kneeling on the floor. "I want you to leave me alone."

"That wasn't an option."

"I don't care."

"I do."

Enzo opened his mouth to speak, but shook his head instead.

"What, Enzo?"

The cadet stared at Bob before turning and walking out of the training room.

Several microseconds later, Enzo walked quietly across the Academy toward his dorm. He avoided the stares from his classmates, trying to hide the blush at their not too subtle finger pointing and the whispers that revolved around his new mentor. Like it wasn't bad enough Enzo had a reputation around the SuperComputer, but now being paired with the famous Guardian who had caused so much dispute on Viral Reformatting… Thank the User no one knew about their prior history. Well, almost no one.

A flash of blue caught his attention, and he looked up to see Pandora walking beside him. "Hey, Cadet," she greeted lightly.

"Hey," he replied, his voice slightly gruff from the long cycle.

"What's up?" At his nonchalant shrug, her voice dropped to a whisper. "That bad, huh?"

Enzo's eyes swept the halls. "And everyone seems to know about it." He looked at her, pointedly. "Right?"

She looked uncomfortable under his gaze. "Word travels fast," she answered.

Enzo looked straight ahead. "I knew it," he muttered. "I knew he would make things worse."

"It's not him, you know," she whispered. "It's the gossip."

Enzo stopped. He snapped his eyes to her, pinning her under a hard glare. "You sound like you're defending him." She watched him for a moment before turning away and walking down an empty corridor. "Hey!" He followed her until she stopped abruptly and turned.

"Enzo," she whispered, "I know you're upset but-."

"You are taking his side," he accused.

She shook her head. "I'm on your side, you know that. I'm just saying that…" She looked down and took a breath. "You two are a lot alike, Enzo."

"I am nothing like him," Enzo retaliated, his voice rising in anger.

"Then maybe he's more like you."

Enzo came up short. "…What?" He grabbed her hand when she started to walk away again. "No, wait. What the Dell does that mean?"

"I just find it funny that for the Net renowned sprite who helped save us all… he seems pretty damn lonely." She held Enzo's gaze. "Why do you think that is?"

"He brought that on himself," he answered, his voice hard. "He made that choice, not us."

"And you made a choice to support Viral Reformatting. What has it cost you to be true to yourself?" She paused, searching his violet eyes. "Enzo, if everything you've told me about him before… the wedding… is true, then all I'm saying is… Bob has been paying that same price for a lot longer." She smiled sadly at him before moving away, leaving Enzo staring after her.

After a moment, he moved back into the main hallway and continued to his room. With each step, he felt himself become more and more upset at Pandora's words. What he couldn't figure out was what made him so angry about them. By the time he walked in and slammed the door, the scowl on his face made those he passed duck for cover. He was so lost in his thoughts he wasn't aware of his guest until he spoke.

"You should lock your door, you know."

Enzo's head whipped to the right where Bob sat comfortably on Enzo's bunk, his back leaning against the wall as he read through some of Enzo's reports. "Get off my bed!"

"These are very good," Bob ignored him as he continued reviewing the essay before him. The files were ripped from his hands and he looked up at the fuming cadet. "Be careful with those, you'll need them for your final project."

"Get out!"

"Sure, Enzo, because that approach has been so successful the last ten times you've used it."

The cadet threw his reports down on his desk with a bang. "Fine!" He turned and stormed out of the room. He managed two feet before he fell flat on the floor. He glared at Bob's foot, caught around Enzo's ankle. "Damn it, Bob!" He kicked Bob's foot away so hard he knocked the desk. It shook and something fell from the top shelf. It cracked against the floor. Bob reached it before Enzo could, and the cadet paused as he watched Bob still.

It was a picture taken after Mainframe's reboot. The whole gang was together, including Hex, but no one was ready for the picture. Hack and Slash were fighting, Hex was taunting Specky, Phong was racing to get into the shot… and Bob and Dot were staring at each other and smiling, their arms wrapped comfortably around the other. In the chaos of the picture, they were unaffected, both lost in a world comprised of only them. Enzo cherished the picture for how happy everyone was before Daemon.

The cadet sat up quietly, his anger fading as he saw a flash of something on Bob's face. The room was still until he softly called out, "Bob?" The Guardian snapped back to the present, the emotions on his face quickly locked down under a neutral expression. He set the picture on the desk and stood up.

"The frame cracked but the picture's okay," he said before looking down at Enzo. "Tomorrow's exam day, right?" he asked, smiling.

Enzo stared at Bob, the question confusing him.

"You have a lot of studying, so I'll leave you to it." He stood and offered a hand down to Enzo who remained still. After a moment, Bob shrugged and ruffled the cadet's hair, finally getting a response out of him. Bob laughed at his distress and walked out, shutting the door behind him.

Enzo looked from the door to the picture and back. He couldn't believe it. Bob had just run out on him. He looked at the picture once more and reached for it. His thumb ran over his sister's face, tracing her wide smile. He remembered how beautiful she was when happy.

He wondered if Bob had been thinking the same thing.

With the expansion of the Academy to include the college, the grounds and zigzag pattern of buildings were more appeasing to the eye than ever before. Luckily, the construction went out instead of up, so the top of the bell tower was still the best place to sit and watch the busy lives below. Bob let his feet dangle over the window edge and he leaned forward on his knees to stare out over the campus. The ledge, the view, the soft breeze, all were so familiar to him he felt like he'd just come home.

How many microseconds had he spent sitting up here, thinking and dreaming about the future? He chuckled. Enough to know he could have done better in several classes during his training had he not been perched on this ledge. But to him, it was worth it. He'd realized he'd fallen for his first girlfriend up here. He argued with himself over the morality of deletion, even for viruses, and came up with an idea to make a change. He opted to take a smaller, slower system over a rapidly expanding system connected to the SuperComputer for his first official assignment. His had told him he was making a mistake, had said he would be setting himself back, but he just knew that was where he needed to be.

And once again, his thoughts circled back to Mainframe.

Bob sighed.

He just had to have a picture, didn't he?

It shouldn't have been surprising, but maybe it wasn't the picture itself that bothered Bob so much. It was just the pain of seeing her again after so long. He closed his eyes and remembered the details of that second. The air was filled with excitement. Sprites and binomes cheered and cried. Everything was brighter, clearer, more breathtaking than ever before. And Dot's smile was absolutely stunning.

He'd wanted to propose right then.

Bob winced at the thought. How would things have turned out if he'd just asked her, right there after the show, right in front of everyone? Even with Daemon lingering across the Net, they would have still had each other. They would have survived… and when he showed up… maybe she would have chosen the right one…

Maybe.

"Credit for your thoughts."

Bob looked behind him, surprised. Enzo stepped forward and leaned against the ledge next to him, looking out over the campus instead of at Bob. Bob couldn't believe the cadet had found him… let alone had come up to talk to him. It wasn't a short climb. Enzo glanced at him and chuckled, pulling Bob from his musing. "What?"

"You look like a fish."

Bob snorted. "Well, you are the first sprite I've ever seen up here besides me." He shook his head. "How did you find me?"

Enzo shrugged and looked back out over the Academy. "You've always been comfortable with heights, so…" After a moment, Enzo felt Bob's eyes and looked up. He looked away and back again when Bob said nothing. He fidgeted, becoming uncomfortable under the Guardian's scrutiny. "What?" he asked, irritability edging into his voice.

"You know me that well," the Guardian answered, smiling softly.

"Maybe… once upon a time." Enzo looked away. "But not anymore."

Bob swallowed. The jovial air between them was rapidly cooling, and he wasn't sure what to say next. So he took a breath and dove in. "Why did you come up here, Enzo?"

For a long time, Enzo didn't say anything. Then, with a low voice, he asked, "You miss her… don't you?"

Damn it. Well, it was going to come up eventually… "Sometimes," Bob answered quietly, finding something fascinating to play with under his fingernails.

"I waited up every night."

Bob stopped fidgeting.

"I told her every second you were coming back."

Bob looked at Enzo.

The cadet's hands were clasped tightly together, his head bowed as he continued. "I told everyone that it was just another tiff. You were just taking a break… and then you'd show up and everything would be normal again. No one believed me… and then I stopped believing myself." He turned his head, facing Bob with pain filled eyes. "Damn it, Bob, why didn't you come back?"

Bob opened his mouth and found he had no words to answer the boy pleading to him. He ducked his head and sighed. How could he explain it without hurting Enzo?

"Dot messed up, didn't she?"

"Enzo-."

"She messed up and you can't forgive her."

Bob shook his head. "Enzo, it's more complicated than that. But I don't blame your sister." He was surprised by the hard glare he received.

"Stop lying to me," Enzo snapped. "I'm not a little kid anymore. I understand things a lot better than you think, so stop treating me like a child and tell me the truth."

The Guardian lifted his hands in mock surrender, his eyes wide. "I know that, Enzo, I just don't know why you think I'm lying."

"Because she picked Megabyte because you reminded her of everything bad that happened." Enzo waited for Bob's denial and pressed when he received none. "She didn't even care when you showed up with Glitch on your arm at the wedding, remember? She was dead set against you." Bob turned his head to avoid his accusing stare. "Dot ruined everything."

"Is that what she's been telling you?" Bob asked carefully, not surprised at the guilt she would be carrying if she believed she'd destroyed them.

"No, that's what you told her. Right?" He watched Bob turn and frown. "You told her she'd turned her back on you, on your relationship, because she was too weak to handle it."

Bob's mouth dropped. "Enzo… how do you know that?"

"I was with Dot when Matrix called her and told her you were leaving. She shot off to your apartment and I followed. I heard the fight." He looked away. "I didn't know you could get that angry. It… it scared me. I ran back to the Diner after that." He turned and leaned his back against the window ledge, letting his gaze rove around the inside of the bell tower. "It didn't make sense to me then. I thought Dot made a mistake and you would come back when it was fixed. When you didn't come back, though, I started to think you were wrong. Dot was so upset… she cried herself to sleep for cycles after you left… and I started to blame you for everything that went wrong. I mean, it was my sister who was suffering, and I thought you couldn't care less about her, about us."

Enzo looked over at Bob. "But when you looked at that picture, I," he stumbled, "I saw it, Bob. You did… do care. I think you…" he trailed off. He shook his head and started again. "I get it now. She hurt you… and you haven't been able to forgive her."

Bob stared at the cadet in shock. It was hard for him to remember Enzo Matrix was still not quite an adult. In his eyes, he was much smarter than Bob could ever hope to be. But he still didn't have the whole story… "Enzo, I wasn't lying when I said Dot wasn't to blame."

Enzo frowned. "What do you mean?"

"It wasn't just the wars in Mainframe that made it hard for her to be with me. It was everything that happened in the Web, too." Bob sighed and looked up at the darkening sky. "It wouldn't be fair to blame her for everything, when I did things that pulled us apart, too."

"Like what?"

Bob brought his feet up onto the ledge and turned to face Enzo, pressing his back against the stone window frame. With a deep breath, he summarized his time in the Web, this time sharing his imprisonment in Villanova… and his enslavement to Constantia. He also told Enzo about the uploaded memories, and how Dot didn't just learn about the memories, but experienced them as if she'd been there.

When Bob reached the end, the sky was dark and a full moon had risen. The campus below was dazzling with bright lights. Enzo had sunk down to the floor, listening intently to every word without interrupting. Bob tried to see the cadet's face as he finished, but it was hidden in shadow. He called down to the boy, who'd become so still he feared he'd fallen asleep.

"She shouldn't blame you, Bob," Enzo said softly. "You weren't really in control of yourself… and you didn't have a lot of options left."

"That's easy for us to say," he countered. "But she saw what happened through my own eyes. She felt it... she knew what I was thinking… and feeling…" He sighed again. "Enzo, if I'd seen her with another sprite like that, I think I'd go out of my mind. I don't know if I could look at her the same way again without remembering."

Enzo was quiet for several breaths. "Did she forgive you for it?"

"We never really had a chance to talk about it."

"Maybe… if she forgave you for being with another sprite… you could forgive her for the same thing." Enzo looked up to Bob. "I know it sounds really simple, but isn't that really what it comes down to?"

Bob opened his mouth to argue and found himself in doubt. How wonderful and horrible it would be if that was really all it took to fix everything. But despite the excitement he began to feel at the idea of seeing her again, at talking and possibly forgiving, he couldn't stop the rush of fear in his heart. It had been five hours… what if she'd moved on like he'd tried to do? For him to go back and be rejected… again…

"Bob?"

"I think it's time we called it a night." He moved off the ledge and held out his hand to help the cadet to his feet. Enzo stood and stretched before staring at Bob. The Guardian gazed at the teenager with a youthful face and a maturity that would put wise men to shame. He'd grown up so much, and Bob felt a sudden pang of regret for missing every moment of the boy's youth since he'd left.

As if reading his thoughts, Enzo suddenly stepped forward and wrapped Bob in a hug. The Guardian hesitated for only a moment before returning the embrace. Bob turned his head and pressed his cheek into Enzo's hair, and whispered, "Thank you."

"For what?" came the muffled reply.

"For giving me another chance." He felt a squeeze around his shoulders before Enzo pulled away. The cadet smiled shyly up at him and scratched his head.

"Well, then I guess I should be thanking you, too."

"For what?"

"For stalking me, you wing nut."

They laughed and began their long trek down the stairs of the bell tower, both feeling that, for the first time in hours, they had something good to look forward to.

A/N: Hi all! Thanks so much for the continued support, I am truly grateful to everyone who has taken the time to drop a note, follow, or favorite the story! I've been very lucky my muse has been so cooperative with me to be able to keep my goals of a chapter per week. Unfortunately, I am going to be late on the next chapter for Reboot because I will not be able to access the internet for the last two weeks of February while I'm out with my military unit. If we don't go, I'll have the chapter updated on time. If I do end up going, I will have the next chapter updated either March 1st or 2nd. Please feel free to drop any thoughts you may have on the story, I love hearing what you like or don't like in the chapters. It also gives me an idea of how the chapters are coming across to you. Sometimes it makes perfect sense in my mind and everyone else is going, "Uh, ya lost me." I hope that hasn't happened so far, but if it has, let me know and I'll try to make better sense for you.

Thanks again, gang!

A/N 3/3/13: Hi there. So, I'm very sorry I am unable to keep my promise of updating every other Sunday. I have found that this story is slowly becoming a bigger beast than I had anticipated. There's a lot I would like to do with the plot, but the limited time I have to commit to writing around my job has made it challenging to meet my self-imposed deadlines. For the time being, I cannot give you all a definite time on my next update, but I can ensure you that I am working on the story. I would rather post a good chapter late than a mediocre chapter early just for the sake of posting on a Sunday.

So thank you for your patience, and I know you'll all be hearing from me soon!