Next chapter, for anyone who's reading this/still interested. Hope you like it :) Dray xx

"Enjoy your drink." CLUs deadly tone reverberated thru the now-empty space that was the end of line club. The bombs beeped and Zuse's face fell. To his right stood his white-haired assistant program. She looked calm, but Zuse could tell she was terrified.

"End of line, man." CLU chuckled and disappeared into the darkness.

BOOM

The room exploded with such force that all of the windows were blown out. As the mist cleared, Zuse realised that he was lying on his front on the floor, still alive. He moved to check that nothing had been broken when he realised that there was an electrical field around him. Next to him he noticed 'Gem' lying motionless with her disc in her hand, which seemed to be the source of the field.

"No..." Zuse pieced together what must have happened. "Xia... Xia please... Wake up. I'm... Xia I'm sorry. Please, forgive me."

He had helped CLU against her advice and in return CLU had betrayed them... but instead of leaving him to face the consequences, Xia had protected Zuse from destruction. She lay still.

"Xia."

He lifted her lifeless body and carried it to the miraculously still functioning elevator. While they were travelling to grid-level he stood over her, rubbing his gloved hands together.

"I haven't done this in a long time, but the creator taught me so... Here we go." he placed a hand on her forehead and a hand on her disc and closed his eyes

After a while, he sat back and watched her intently. Her hair changed from white to black, and her height reverted to its original setting. Her eyelids fluttered open and she looked up at him.

"Zuse... You're alright. I hoped you'd be alright."

He sighed in relief and reached out to stroke her cheek.

"Rest, Xia."

"Where are we going?"

"Somewhere safe."

"Don't... Leave me..."

"Never again." he promised. "Rest."

Her eyes closed and she lay motionless once more. What was he thinking? He always worked alone, and he certainly didn't need a female program in the way. He slumped back against the wall of the elevator and watched her. He remembered the way she had told him that she loved him, her eyes locked on his, her flesh exposed... Now she lay in front of him, defenceless and blissfully unaware. He could do any number of things... Take her disc, derezz her, hand her over to CLU... Yes, he could. But he wouldn't. He sighed.

The elevator stopped and he gently picked her up. He carried her to the transport he had waiting for him and they set off. It would be hours before they reached the outlands. He lay her on the couch and made her comfortable. He poured himself a drink, sat down and settled in to wait.

Xia's consciousness gradually returned to her. She seemed to be lying down on some sort of soft material. She could hear the hum of transport and briefly wondered where they were going. She opened her eyes slowly to see Zuse sitting opposite her, legs folded and a wide grin spreading on his face.

"Good morning sunshine." he purred.

"Zuse... I - thank you."

His face fell a little. "You shouldn't thank me. If I'd have followed your advice we wouldn't be in this mess. You saved me, I thank you for that."

"It wasn't your fault." she hauled herself up to go to him, but doubled over in pain. He moved forwards to catch her and lay her back down, sitting beside her.

"You need to stay still. I've repaired you, but it's not permanent. Once we get to the Creator he'll complete your circuits."

She smiled and stroked his cheek. "I knew you wouldn't leave me, Zuse. Is that where we're going then?"

"To the outlands, yes. I may be powerful, but I'm nothing compared to the Creator."

"You healed me though, didn't you? Why did you do that?"

Zuse looked away. "I... I don't know." he looked angry at himself.

She lay a calming hand on his arm. "It's alright not to know, Zuse. You saved my life... We're even."

"What will you do once you're repaired fully?"

"Finish my mission."

Zuse tried not to look disappointed. "On your own."

"Probably." At this, Zuse looked away. "Unless you wish to help me."

He looked back at her.

"It will be dangerous." she warned.

"I can take care of myself, if that's what you're worried about."

"No, it's not. I know how strong you are, but all the same... I'm scared I'll lose you."

He was shocked.

"Why would that affect you?"

"Because I can't exist without you, Zuse. Knowing that you're alive has brought me this far, I couldn't take it if you were destroyed."

He looked at her seriously. "You really love me then?"

"More than anything."

He raised his eyebrows, and thought hard.

"I..." she looked concerned as he struggled to find the words. "Thank you, Xia. That means more to me than I can say."

She sigh in relief and smiled.

When they reached the outlands, they found the Creator's quarters ransacked. Walking out onto the balcony, Zuse cursed.

Slender hands wrapped around his shoulders.

"I failed. One of the original, most powerful programs in the grid and I failed..." his hand curled into a fist.

"It's alright, Zuse." She slid a hand down to his and placed something small and square into it. He lifted it up to find a small, glowing white chip.

"A programmed communicator. How did you get this?"

"Saving it for a rainy day, as the users say. It's yours."

He nodded at her, smiling. He activated the chip and the voice of the Creator sounded from it.

"Speak."

"It's Zuse. I am in the outlands with an ISO. I seek your assistance."

"Zuse! Thought you'd gone dark on us, man." Zuse winced and Xia squeezed his arm. "I'll send our coordinates to your device. Just link it to your transport and you'll get here."

"Thank you."

"No problem. Stay safe."

"Wait... Could - could you tell your son..." he took a deep breath, "Tell Sam I'm sorry. Truly sorry."

"No harm done. I'll tell him, Zuse. I appreciate it." and he was gone.

Zuse let out the breath that he was holding in.

"Let's go."

"Wait." he grabbed her arm and she turned back to him. "I... Need to ask you something."

"Anything."

"Will you... Forgive me for helping CLU?"

She smiled. "I already have. Come on."

He smiled and followed her out onto the data planes. She placed her hand on a flat space at her feet and out of the ground rose a platform with a lightcycle standing on it.

"Can you ride one of these?"

"Yes, I think so. Is it an unregistered model?"

"Yes. One of only four made by the creator when he first entered the grid."

"Then yes, I can. This..." he looked confused. "This used to be mine. Hundreds of cycles ago, we needed to move quickly around the grid. We each had a bike... Me, Tron, CLU..." he shook himself out of his reverie. "Let's go, we need to get to the creator fast, before he moves on." he inserted he chip into the white body of the bike and got on. Xia sat behind him and put her hands around his waist. He purred quietly in delight.

"Ready?" he said as the lightcycle powered up and the canopy closed over their heads.

"Always!" she affirmed, and they set off.