Chapter 28

Everyone kept staring at Beck in shock and surprise. Mara spoke up first. "Where in Flynn's name have you been?!" Beck lifted his hands up defensively. "Calm down, calm down. There's really nothing to get worked up about, I'm here now."

Zed furrowed an eyebrow in suspicion. "But where have you been? Paige searched the whole train and scanned the entire City, looking for you." Beck closed his eyes and hung his head. "Sorry for giving you a hard time Paige." Mara spoke again.

"It's so weird, whenever the Renegade's around, you always somehow… disappear." Paige narrowed her eyes in concentration, then her head snapped up and she looked at Beck. He knew that kind of look… she was starting to catch onto him. She was figuring it all out, and so were Zed and Mara.

Paige started. "Oh no you aren't… Please tell me that what I'm thinking isn't true!" She yelled as she stood up and reached behind her back for her disk. Beck took a few steps backward, farther away from Paige. "Paige, Paige, calm down and take a seat. I promise to explain everything."

Paige scowled as she docked her disk and sat back down on the couch. "This better be one heck of an explanation, if you don't want me to arrest you." Zed and Mara just kept staring in disbelief. Beck walked over and sat down in a chair across from them.

"Okay, it all started after Mara was done talking to me when she pulled me aside for a private discussion on the train." Paige interrupted. "Didn't it all start when you blew up that statue of Clu?" Beck turned toward Paige. "You think I'm the Renegade?"

Paige folded her arms. "It would make sense." Beck sighed in frustration and hung his head. "You're not listening. I'm trying to explain why you never saw me on the train." Mara finally spoke. "So, you're not the Renegade?" Beck looked at Mara. "Mara, I never said that I was the Renegade."

After taking a deep breath, Beck continued. "A little after Mara left me and walked back to the seats, I… basically got kidnapped." Beck wasn't technically lying; those specific events did happen in that sort of order.

Paige raised both of her eyebrows in surprise. "Well, that's a surprising excuse, a good explanation as to why we didn't see you. So, how did you get away?"

Beck reached into his pocket and pulled out his recoder, waving it in the air in front of them. "I used this to pick handcuffs." He was secretly referring to the first time he had met Tron. Mara grinned. "Wow Beck, that's very resourceful, its genius. I should keep that in mind for the future."

Zed leaned against the couch and relaxed. "Wow, and for a moment, I actually thought that you really were the Renegade."

Beck let out a nervous laugh. "Yeah, wouldn't that be something?" Mara nodded. "That would be so cool." "Yeah, it would be awesome!" Zed agreed.

Beck looked at Paige and grinned. Paige smiled back; she looked relieved that she no longer suspected Beck of being her arch enemy all this time.

Mara changed the subject. "Beck, Zed and I will show you to your room." The trio of friends all got up and walked up a flight of stairs, leading Beck to the bedroom he'll be sleeping in for the next two cycles.

Zed and Mara walked to the end of a hallway and stopped to open a door. When the three programs walked inside, Mara shut the door and locked it. She then turned towards Beck and spoke in a hushed voice. "Okay Beck, you have to tell us. Are you truly the Renegade?"

Beck was surprised that they were both still going on about this. Beck looked at Zed, who seemed just as anxious about the subject as Mara. "I thought I just explained everything downstairs." His friends looked at each other and shrugged.

Beck added something else as well. "Hey guys, please tell Paige that I am truly sorry about the hard time she had of finding me." Zed nodded his head. Mara spoke up. "Hey Beck just thought you should know two things." Beck looked at Mara. "Okay." He said.

"First thing, Zed and I offered Paige some company, so she'll be staying with us." Beck nodded. "Okay, I see no problem about that." Mara continued. "After we couldn't find you on the train, and Paige didn't see you in the city, you are no longer expected to take part in the project."

Beck tilted his head to the side. "What?" He asked. Mara repeated herself. "We contacted the program that was running the project and we told him that we couldn't find you. He said that was okay and that we can go out looking for you, but both Zed and I would be just enough for the project."

Beck understood now, he was no longer a part of the project. It wasn't much of a loss. Being here took a little suspicion off him of being a trouble maker… and he gets to spend a little more time with Paige.

As Beck unpacked and settled himself in, he heard Zed and Mara leave, shutting the front door behind them. Beck sighed and sat down on his bed. He wasn't upset that he was no longer part of the project, in fact he felt relieved that he had one current duty lifted from his shoulders.

He took a deep, calming breath as he lay down on the bed and closed his eyes. He remembered Ally, once again.


Ally was playing music in the club again, this time; she wasn't wearing shades to hide the sparkling enchantment of her deep blue eyes. Beck knew that music was one of Ally's many passions she had, but hers was… different.

It was definitely better than the other music in Beck's opinion. He noticed that he wasn't the only program to appreciate something unique. He could see that the other programs in the club were a lot happier than they used to be.

When Ally's shift finally ended, they both walked out of the club. "So, what are we gonna do tonight?" Beck asked, full of curiosity. Ally looked at Beck and smiled. "How about we have a little race through the city?"

Beck smirked; he was the best at racing than the rest of the Crims, he knew all sorts of techniques to make a bike go faster. When Ally and Beck agreed on the roads that they would take, they walked over to the area that they would start, and finish at.

They both rezzed their lightcycles, revved their engines a few times, and they took off on que. They sped down the roads together, side by side. A very sharp turn was coming up; it was bent in an acute angle of about 45 degrees.

Ally shifted her weight on her bike to make the turn, but her bike somehow malfunctioned and turned back into a baton on its own. Ally rolled hundreds of times across the ground until she hit a large building. The impact was very hard; she must have gotten dozens of bad injuries.

Beck pulled on his brakes as hard as he could and ran over to Ally's still body. He knelt down next to her limp figure and gently took her in his arms. Ally groaned a little from the damages that were done to her body. She opened her eyes gradually and glanced down at her midsection.

Ally seemed to have recovered quickly because she looked back up at Beck and gave off a wry smile. "I guess I should be a little more careful next time. Huh?" Beck laughed a little and glanced down at her injuries. They weren't that bad, but they would definitely hurt.

Ally reached over her shoulder and drew her disk, activating her medical code. Beck watched Ally treat her injuries with interest. He had thought that only medics could heal injuries. Apparently, he's been proven wrong by Ally… again.

She had taught him so much, how to enjoy the simple things in life, how to find the rush of excitement in the most interesting places or ways.

Ally didn't just teach Beck how to swim and how to prank, she had taught him so much more, and that would have been done later. Beck had learned how to trust and to be trusted… Beck had thanked Ally for that in the future.

Ally finished fixing her code and docked her disk again. She turned towards Beck and smiled at him. Ally was definitely a thrill seeker; she had a habit to take risks, but she was still cautious. Beck carefully helped Ally back onto her feet and looked at her baton.

Ally glanced at her baton as well. "I'm not sure what happened to it, it just… malfunctioned somehow." Beck thought for a moment, then made a decision. "I could… take a look at it… if you want." Ally looked at Beck, surprised.

"I didn't know that you knew about vehicle codes." Beck looked down at the ground, nervous whether Ally thought it was impressive of lame. Ally answered Beck's thought. "That's a useful gift that can always come in handy." Beck smiled.

Ally was always very encouraging. "Everyone's abilities and strengths are always something to be proud of." Beck took Ally's baton and rezzed it back into a bike. He knelt down again to observe the damages that were done to the code, and he saw the problem immediately.

"Several parts of the vehicle were whacked out of place pretty good, but it's fixed now." Beck said as he Derezzed the lightbike back into a baton and gave it back to Ally. Beck smirked. "Do you wanna finish that race?" Ally shook her head. "No, I'll back away like a coward this time." Beck thought for a moment.

"Do you want to go swimming and pull off another wet prank on the rooftop, like last time?" Ally's eyes sparkled, more than they ever have before. Beck could never get over her beauty, or her exciting, thrill seeking side. "Yeah, that actually sounds like a lot of fun."

They grinned, and ran for the docks.


Beck opened his eyes again. He sighed as he got up from his bed, and headed for the door. He decided to hang out with Paige for a little while. Paige. Beck stopped for a moment, thinking.

Paige was a lot like Ally, but she wasn't the same. Paige's brown eyes sparkled, but nothing like Ally's blue eyes; Paige was a thrill seeker, but not willing to take life threatening risks for the fun of it. Paige was kind, understanding, encouraging, and had a fire burning inside of her, but it was just… different.

Beck opened his bedroom door, walked down the hallway, and down the stairs. Paige was still on the couch… unmoved. She was sleeping. Beck quietly made his way across the room, heading towards her. He knelt down beside the couch and brushed a strand of hair out of her face.

Paige may not be Ally, but she was the closest to her than any other girl could possibly get. Beck gently kissed Paige on the forehead, and he kept watching her. Beck valued all of his moments with Paige, and he would never take his happy moments for granted again.