Defiance Arc II

New and Old Friendships

At some point Tron had become weary of the two leading him. Back alleys, dark, worn down, and with them not telling him a word it was quite understandable how he couldn't help but feel paranoid. And eventually they stopped.

Getting off his bike, he stalked his way to the pair with his hand itching to bolt to his disc. The two seemed oblivious to his state as Gale lowered her visor and Geam peered around in a perimeter sweep.

"So, what are we looking for?" Tron asked.

"Not sure,"

"What is that supposed to mean?" he nearly barked in annoyance. For all he knew this was still a trap, and these two were working for Clu.

"He told us that if we needed to find him that we'd have to come here. That's it," Gale responded, her hands running over the walls of a decrepit building.

Tron allowed the two youths to search aimlessly. His sense were tingling with familiar vibrations, the old Monitor functions given to him were telling him they were in the right spot, and where ever Flynn had left his bread trail, he had hid it so only Tron could find it. His body was still antsy from the long bumpy ride over, and he couldn't help but notice this as he kneeled down to the ground and placed his palm to it. Within the microsecond that the information flashed in his mind, he could recall the past events of what happened in this odd section of the grid. It wasn't much. Almost all of it was a group of sentries who patrolled the area, until they were reassigned a new path as they hadn't been here in sometime. Whether Flynn had picked this spot purely for the fact that it'd be easy to recall his steps with little error, or he had somehow redirected the patrol in some odd way only a User could, Tron would have to ask, but in all likelihood probably wouldn't.

Finding the night the User had decided to leave his clue behind, he could see the favored robes of the User as he entered the small plaza. Starting on the south side wall, he tapped it, moved to the center of the plaza, did the same, and repeated the same with the north side and then east wall before he left out one of the eastern alleys.

Tron opened his eyes to find Gale already looking at the spot on the north wall, and Geam in the middle where the other spot was.

Coincidence. The old System Monitor proposed seeing that there were no external indication of the User placing a hidden message.

"Both of you stand over there," Tron told them pointing over to the west wall. His random order startling Gale and causing Geam to hesitantly move away from the ground he was inspecting. Quickly, he followed the path of the User. Turning back as he tapped the last wall, he saw that all the spots had lit up in glowing squares, a bright white that Tron wasn't sure how they were glowing. They all followed them with their eyes as the squares floated toward the center and formed the tetrahedral symbol of Tron before morphing together into a small chip

Tron made his way over to the floating white square and inspected it with his hand. Holographic lines of protected code ran through the miniature digital sprite. He let the other two inspect it as well when they were close enough.

"What is it?" Gale asked intently curious of the object.

"Compressed data. It was something Flynn was able to incorporate when he started the new system. It holds data at a much better capacity than most other devices on the Grid," Tron explained as he slowly pulled his disc and started pulling up menus from the interface. "His original issue was a compressor for the data, and subsequently the decompressor for it," Finding the application he was searching for, he selected it. All other menus disappeared and left a holographic mesh in the center of his disc where he glided the chip through. "It wasn't until we started the new system did he find the perfect tool," Tron finished taking one last glance at his disc and then looking at the two.

"So what's the data?" the young woman persisted.

"It's a map of an area in the Outlands," he informed, pulling up said map. The map showed a rough guide line from their position to a general area in the uncoded rocky terrain. It was far, almost ten times as far as his own hideout was from Argon.

"That's a long way out," Geam commented in his dull manner.

"Not for me,"

For a moment Gale looked to say something, but Tron felt it was time to leave the two for now and promptly cut her off before she could start.

"I should be going. I want to thank you for your help, both of you. Without you, I could have taken me xilas to find him," Tron said with true sincerity and gratitude in his voice.

"Wait, that's it? You're just leaving like that?" the bartender nearly exploded in frustration.

"I didn't finish. You two would be perfect for the Defiance, and I'd like to ask here and now, will you join us?" the leader of the Defiance asked seriously.

"The Defiance?"

"It's my- our fight against Clu. We're starting in Argon, but soon we'll be taking over other cities and occupations. We're going to free the Grid, are you willing to join our fight?"

There was a small pause that hung in the air after the asked the question. For the brief moment, Tron felt awkward asking two recently strangers to join his operation to defeat Clu, especially since one his motives for asking was purely selfish and dealt with his irreversible past.

"Yes," Gale spoke softly.

"Good, glad to hear it. I'll keep in contact with you as much as I can, but for now start by recruiting others,"

"Don't you need our help in Argon?" Geam asked.

"Argon will be handled, I need your help for the long term of this… war. Can you do that?"

The two nodded in return.

"Good. Two more orders. Choose people you trust and be weary of everyone,"

"The other order?"

"Stay alive. I need both of you and have a lot of questions to ask you before this is all over," the older man said while staring intentionally at Gale. She gave him a reassuring nod and two words.

"We will,"

"Beck," The toned Program turned to see Paige coming in from the eastern side of Argon Square. She seemed in a rush as her steps were quick and her expression seemed strained.

"Paige, I'm glad you made it," he announced happily as she was a few steps out. When she stopped in front of him she let out a disgruntled huff.

"Tell me about it. Let's get out of here, I want to put today behind me," she said with finality. Beck let out a few chuckles and raised his arm to the direction of the nearest road.

"Right this way," he joked in a formal manner. "I have the perfect place,"

The couple proceeded to the road and with Beck's Light Bike assembled they were well on their way to the 'perfect place'.

During the ride, Beck decided to tell Paige of his day hoping to get her mind of her own. He was thankful it was a cycle spent at Able's garage working with Zed and Mara, opposed to his usual Renegade escapades. He had lied about events before, especially times when he was out and about as the Renegade the whole day, but he hated to. It was the hardest part of having the alter-ego. Not the life or death situations, the opposition he faced, the loss of sleep, or even the lack of work he was able to do at the garage. It was the lying. The ones he cared most about he couldn't tell the truth. But it was for their protection.

He looked back at Paige who had laughed at a particular part of his day.

Because they weren't ready to understand the truth.

Not yet.

It was a half a pectro later when they landed on their destination. High on top of the cliffs that surround Argon, there was a small formatted platform. Old, worn, and seemingly forgotten, the circuit lights of the structure dimly stayed on, evidence power still managed to reach it at the kilometers away it was from the power source.

Beck was first to step onto the stairs that lead to the top with his companion close behind.

"What is this place?" she asked in wonder. The problems of her day pushed far to the back of her mind.

"This was an old watch outpost when Argon was still just being built," he explained.

"How do you know about it?" the commander inquired as they topped the final step.

"My boss, Able. He told us about this place a long time ago. The four of us came here and checked it out,"

"Your friends?" Paige stated more than questions.

"Yeah. We haven't been here since that one time," With the last sentence they were silent until they reached the edge of the platform.

For the second time, Argon's blue and orange hues could be seen in the distance filling up most of the space before their eyes. The light haze of smog that stayed over the city moved slightly. Moving with the flow of the life and clusters of information as it moved through the roads to the next destination. Living, with the subtle moving of the mist it was breathing, somehow organic. And with it's pacific inhales and exhales, it granted the two Programs of Grid their own tranquility. A peace of mind only acquired when two pieces of a complicated puzzle were brought together.

To the far left and right stood the roaming mountains of the Outlands. Tipped in snow and breaking through the sky, they loomed over the city, as if protecting and separating the land of the uncoded and raw code from the regulated and controlled organization of Argon. Scarred with the battle of the harsh climate and weather, jagged edges speared outward at random areas seeming to defiantly stand against the winds.

And behind them was only flat open lands for kilometers. So far that the darken sky and the black terrain of stone meshed at the horizon. From this direction, the wind was blowing toward them, causing Beck's hair to bend forward and Paige's hair that wasn't in her bun to become loose and flop lazily as they rested their forearms on the railing and stared out.

"So, last time you asked me how it was to make music, now I want to know. What's it like to fix anything in front of you?" she asked looking over at him, her left eye usually completely hidden by her hair now somewhat visible through the cracks of her hair as it parted with the soft wind.

"I can't fix everything in front of me,"

"More than what I can fix. My only solution is to hit it a few times," they both chuckled softly.

"I've had to do that myself believe it or not," the mechanic looked out to the horizon and seemed to be ponder a minute before continuing. "It's fun and incredibly satisfying. Figuring out the working pieces and parts of a complicated system, and understanding it, it's a wonderful buzzing in the back of your head. Then taking those parts and removing the non working piece, it's…" Beck suddenly blushed and turned his head away while his hand rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Sorry, this must sound really boring,"

"No! It sounds amazing. I get where you're coming from. It's similar to fixing someone's code. They're just something about fixing something that's damaged, making it work again… If only it was that simple out there," she emphasized her last statement but sorrowfully looking out to Argon.

"Maybe it is,"

"Beck…" Paige groaned in half exhaustion and playfulness knowing exactly where his thoughts were going.

"Sorry, I won't bring him up," he teased before they both fell silent again.

They had talked about it before. It wasn't exactly a date at the time, but they both managed to get some time off and meet up for a little bit. Beck had managed to reveal his fondness for the Renegade without Paige tearing his head off, all the while making completely valid points of how the Occupation wasn't the only solution to the city's issues. At the time, Paige had told him of her hatred for ISO's, which he immediately countered that Argon had never been home to ISO's, which also made for the point that before the Occupation, Argon's general populous was working well, striving even. She had to reluctantly take his word for it as he had been in Argon for xilas, and her files on the city before her arrival were somewhat on the same lines. Now… it was in a civil war of sabotage and rebellion.

"Hey… why don't we head to my place?" Paige offered, breaking their content silence. Beck raised his eyebrow and gave her a curious look with a grin.

"What'd you have in mind?"

"Don't act like that!" she laughed while giving him a shove. "You know that's not what I meant. I just wanted to show you my Monome,"

"Sounds great," he said slowly starting his way back to the stairs.

"Besides, it is cold up here. I'd rather you keep me warm," she hummed slyly, causing him to blush.

She sure knows how to be brazen.

"All the more reason to head there sooner," he automatically responded back, still feeling rather new to all of the gimmicks that went into being in a relationship. But all he would have had to do was turn around to see that she was equally as red.

And so, the two returned to Paige's apartment issued to her by the Occupation. It was one of many in a large skyscraper, and most likely looked like all the rest, but it was still hers. A place she used all about twice.

It was after their third date that she had transferred her more personal belongings to the apartment as the Renegade had infiltrated the ship and she felt it was less secure. Pavel having already attempted to enter her room on occasion.

As she gave him a quick walk through of the small place, she went to the closet of her room and retrieved the bulky device and brought it to the coffee table that sat in front of the sofa in the middle of the living room. When the two had settled on the couch, Paige tentatively started the song up.

The simple trance techno beat begun. Quickly, other elements of the song laid themselves onto the flow and created a wondrous melody. In the short minute the music played, Beck was raptured by it. He could feel it, the emotion she wrote the music with. There was a deep well of longing, a calling for something greater in notes. A desire to fulfill something that was dwelling deep inside of her. Before she was a medic. And with the added notes that were light and free, she had found it. Found that core inside of her. For a time she was happy and free, content with everything around her. That's the high point of the song, where all the parts are present and the piece is at it's loudest, it's brightest, before dipping downward into a melancholy like state. Long, slow, and deep sounds reverberate through the room as the presence takes over for a brief moment. But before it ends the previous set of notes plays lightly, as if in the distance as a reminder. A telling of sad moments only to be drowned out by the security and passion of her healing ability, always within her as her solid ground when she needs somewhere to stand.

The song written of a person who's passion overflowed and bonded with their creativity to form their heart's one true melody.

"It's beautiful…" Beck whispered out, his chest tight with emotions.

"Thanks," Paige responded sheepishly. "I… I haven't let anyone listen to it in a long time,"

"I'm glad you shared it. It defines the you I know so well,"

"And that is?"

"Not the Commander," He said quite sternly as they both stared at each other. "The woman I'm looking at right now," he spoke softly, steadily growing closer to her.

The two joined together and molded together. The medic hastily pushed her companion backwards so that she was on top of him while he laid across the sofa. To them their passionate connect stretched for hours, and yet it still wasn't enough for the two, probably because it actuality it was a mere few minutes.

Both made themselves comfortable, Beck with his head resting against the arm rest, Paige finding her head against his chest. Her hand found his resting on her lower back. Reaching for it with her own, she intertwined their fingers and brought it outward to where they could both see it.

-memory-

The days were starting to get warmer around the city. The warmer months were taking over the cold. With them would be harder seaside storms, stronger winds, and the ease of tension as the stiff weather didn't tire Programs out.

High up, yet again, an infamous Paige stood tall on the edge of the cliff that surrounded an area of Argon between the striving city and depleted Purgos. While ground level was starting to warm, the kilometer from sea level where the Doctor found herself was still uncomfortably frosty. What was with her infatuation with high points over the city? Time and time again, she would stay in these viewpoints of the city, gazing over the blue and orange glows of the conflicted and mixed city. Still fighting. Still at war. Still in the midst of change.

Recalling their fourth date was bittersweet. As a great many things are. But she focused on the thoughts of their hands together. The warmth of the was generated by their fusion. The security it brought to her. The love it filled her chest with.

Looking down at her hand, her eyes looked at it with slightly bewildered eyes.

Love…

Her musings were cut short when the back of her hairs stood on end and the unnerving feeling of being watched loomed over her. Gripping the railing she was on, she looked around cautiously but found nothing but the rock formations of the cliff side. Who ever and how ever she was being spied on she wasn't sure, but they were good.

And with the eyes still probing her, she felt it was time to end her hour long sight-seeing at the old outlook post.

Paige's foot steps made no sound as she slowly prowled on the rooftops of the buildings of Argon, stalking the guards below her. Her anger heating up within her. With her focus below, she failed to notice the shadow of a Program find its way to her rooftop.

"Hello, Doctor," The mysterious Program spoke when he felt he was close enough to her. Paige instantly turned to face her unwelcome guest with Beck's disc in her right hand.

"Sorry I didn't mean to startle you," the hooded figure raised hands as if the signal he wasn't a threat.

"Who are you?" Paige knew a Program that could sneak up on her was not to be taken lightly.

"How rude of me, my name is Cyrus," the Program lifted his hood to reveal his face covered in small circuit designs that went under his robes.

Paige immediately tensed up as she recognized him from his name and appearance. Cycles of going through Beck's memories had taught her that Tron wasn't the best of character when he 'chose' his first Renegade. Cyrus had nearly killed Beck when he escaped from his prison in the Outlands and almost killed his friends not to long after.

The former commander tensed as she realized how big of threat Cyrus really was. Always prepared, vastly intelligent, and never made a move without first understanding his opponents weakness. He really was ruthless in his way of bringing his enemies down. Only Tron got the luxury of being too weak for Cyrus, as Cyrus demanded acknowledgment from him and would never derezz him before he was told he was superior.

"Tell me, did you enjoy our fights? Paige, I never wanted to hurt you when I was the Renegade. I hope you know that," Cyrus seemed to have an odd gentle sound in his voice. Sincerity. It sounded too real, and especially too sweet coming from this Program.

"What are you talking about?"

"When we were trapped on that island together, I was coming to save you!" Paige felt her anger flare up. He was lying. Beck was the only Renegade...

"Now that you're not part of the Occupation I thought I'd try to recruit you to join the Uprising, as myself, not behind a mask," Cyrus seemed genuinely caring and hopeful. Paige wanted to vomit at how the Program across of her was acting.

"Interesting, Renegade," she was nearing her breaking point.

"Paige, surely you know we've had those moments together, when we were fighting,"

"Enough Cyrus!" Paige shouted and prepared to start attacking.

What should I do... He always knows the moves of his opponents, should I start out differently?

Paige contemplated her attack. She knew she'd have to do things different if she wanted to win.

"Paige, no need to get angry. I'm just trying to help were not enemies here," Cyrus was still gentle, trying to soothe her, only fueling the raging inferno of hate within her.

"Cyrus, you're not the Renegade, not anymore," Paige said through gritted teeth.

"Paige..." Cyrus took a step closer. Paige raised her second disc and ignited it.

"I know Beck was the Renegade, he's the one I fought!" taking a feral stance, Paige prepared herself to dish out a fiery of blows. With the acknowledgement that Paige knew Cyrus was bluffing he changed his mood to his cynical superior attitude. Like taking off an imaginary mask, Cyrus's mood change was immediate.

His plan all along was to anger Paige, make her lose control. It was his favored technic to gain the advantage over his enemies, mainly Tron and Beck. Tron was harder to anger but when he was it made it a much easier fight, while Beck was so easy to anger it was almost a joke. Simply being in his presence made the young mechanic start to lose his cool. With Paige, Cyrus studied that she used it to destroy the weak guards she used to work beside. He was sure that like all other Programs, Paige would be no different.

The sinister Program only smirked back at Paige.

"Sorry Paige, did I upset you? My mistake, I figured you and Beck were close but I didn't think you'd get so upset over one little Program," Cyrus's words stabbed into Paige's heart and caused her vision to black out for a moment. The Doctor regained her focus and starred at Cyrus. He was trying to anger her.

"I see without your worthless Renegade you're nothing but a..." Paige stopped listening to the Program in front of her and started planning her attack.

He was probably ready for any impulsive attack, expecting it in fact. A feint would probably be the best move. From there... I'll see how he fights.

Paige started to charge at Cyrus who immediately went into a position she was familiar with. It was one of Be- the Renegade's stances. She threw her disc up towards the right side of Cyrus's head causing him to lean away from the throw.

As he predicted she would snap. He felt joy as she charged him suddenly and prepared himself in the general stance Tron taught him.

Paige swung her recently free right hand toward Cyrus as his hand lunged out to grab her wrist. While she aimed her fist to be caught, she grabbed her disc with her other hand. The movement hidden by sight as it occurred under the cloak. Cyrus grabbed her's wrist with easy anticipation. He expected her to attack with her other arm, forgetting her disc out of rage. When he heard the hum of a disc he was already too late.

Paige silently and efficiently made her movements invisible to her opponent, sneaking her disc to the edge of her cloak. She uppercut with her disc towards the elbow of her opponent's prisoning arm, igniting it on its approach. Sadly, her target moved on instinct but wasn't able to completely avoid the attack.

Cyrus immediately retracted his arm and body when he heard the disc. Jumping back and landing, he felt the burning pain of exposed code as it was brightly lit on his wrist. The low growl that escaped his throat was filled with anger as he glowered at the Doctor of Death.

With incredible speed, she was upon him again, performing a series of lashes and jabs she had trained herself to work into a devastating combination. From a distance, it looked as if she was dancing. Her discs flying through the air with a grace and speed as their lights trailed after them in a dazzling show of two colors working together.

Unfortunately for her opponent, he was completely unaware of the amount of experience she had managed to obtain over the short time he was gone along with her hidden power-up. Barely deflecting half of her attacks and avoiding the rest, he had no chance to turn the tides and was constantly on defense.

How?! He thought enraged at his obvious disadvantage in the battle. His own modifications to his body he had figured out in his own world seemed to fail him as she pressed forward, only in different angles. Moving faster than his eyes could handle, she was visibly disappearing before his eyes to reappear in his peripheral and grant him just enough time to move out of the way of her, or Beck's, disc.

"I know what you did," came her low growl. It was hollow sounding but backed with a source of rage. Cyrus continued to parry and evade her attacks with the tightest of margins, his first error would most likely be his last.

"I know you framed him," she continued, vanishing before him to pop back into sight when he fully turned around and rolled backwards to escape yet another jab at his chest.

"I know you killed Able. Made it look like he trapped his friends. Murdered those innocent Programs," her words had done their job and throw her target's thinking off for the slightest of micros, just enough for her to land a blow. Not being quick enough to block another jab aimed mainly at his disc, Beck's disc slid forward enough to slice again at the tattooed ex-Renegade, practically skinning the bottom of his right arm. He quickly jumped back and yelled out in agony. His arm was horrifically blue with damage that was painfully worse than it looked.

"I hate Programs who are frauds. Make others look guilty. Lie to others," she spoke again, her voice starting to fill with more hatred. The look in her eyes would have set him ablaze if their volcanic lava anger could.

Looking down at his corroded arm, he knew if he stayed he'd be derezzed, the Grid wouldn't be saved, and Tron would see he defeat as a weakness. Though the last thought was unavoidable he knew his first two were more important at the moment. Taking a step back to start his retreat, his foot was greeted with a searing hot pain as a disc grazed the side of it. He instantly fell to his knee, attempting to keep pressure off the foot as the new burning registered in his mind. Looking up, he saw Paige retrieving her disc from the air with ease and stalking over to him. It was obvious she didn't plan to let him escape.

"I will derez you for what you did to Beck," she promised, her eyes and body still asserting her righteous fury that was somehow in control. Knowing he didn't have the upper hand as usual, he kept his mouth shut and stood up, prepared to fight with his last bit.

Starting with another thrust, the green circuited flashed forward. Her attack was deflected with enormous force and almost caused her to lose grip of her disc but still managed to follow through with her off-hand and scrape the edge of her love's disc into Cyrus's chest. He let out a small grunt but managed to back away again as the another blue scar ran across his body.

"You can't bring him back! Killing me will change nothing!" he barked. He hoped in fear that he could stop her somehow.

"It'll stop you from doing it to someone else!" she shot back with more force. Throwing her disc, she moved forward waiting for Cyrus as he recovered from the dodge of the easy attack. When he was moving back to face her, her other disc was already in his path and gouged into his left shoulder. She lifted her disc upward, pulling part of the voxels with it, and kicked his abdomen to have him go flying away. With his disc flown from his grasp, his severely damaged form laid crumpled on the floor as she walked over, snatching her disc from the air as she felt a little sense of resolution filling within her. The Program that had caused the most pain to the one she loved was at her mercy. She would not fail to bring him a slow, torturous death as she made him endure the pain he caused on her mechanic and the other Programs he hurt or killed. When she was near enough she could hear and see him laughing softly as he stared out at nothing.

"You think I haven't already set my plans in motion already? The Grid will see th-" he couldn't finish as Paige rammed one of her heavy boots onto his throat. She grinned cruelly as she watched him squirm and struggle to breathe. His hands were wrapped around the footwear trying in vain to remove the object obscuring the air reaching his lungs. Making sure to keep her victim alive she lifted her foot and continued to lap in his desperate state while he gourmandized air.

"I could care less about your 'plans' to destroy the Grid. You won't be making it back alive," she menacingly spat. Her gaze now looked down at him with disgust and an almost haughty intensity, yet she was anything but arrogant. The darker skinned Program had leveled out his breathing as he returned her look through half shut eyes of pain and spite.

"What I care about is making you feel the pain that you caused Beck," she muttered in hate, remembering the scars on his wrists.

"Paige, Wait!" came a familiar feminine voice from behind. Taking a step back from her captive, the former commander looked back to see a cyan haired mechanic walking over with two masked Programs tailing her.

"I don't have time for this Mara!" she called out to the approaching girl.

"You can't derez him! We need him alive," Mara ignored the woman's irritated tone and walked over to look at the injured Cyrus.

"Do you know what he's done? Do you realize what he did to Beck?!" Paige exclaimed. The other two formed around the downed Program and removed their visors to reveal a familiar face and a completely new one.

"I know. But we need him…" the female mechanic said with regret.

"Need him?" the growl of a question came. "Need him for what?" the cloaked woman spat hotly, still not seeing the need for potentially the most dangerous Program on the Grid.

"Paige," Zed spoke from her side across of Cyrus's now unconscious body. "We need to know what he's been planning. Beck's the only Program who knew what happened and he never explained what it was," he explained firmly. Paige only gave him an agitated snarl in response.

"Paige," Mara gathered her attention again. "Please, come with us," she pleaded desperately, her expression that of a bleeding heart.

"I'm sorry but who is this?" the third Defiance member spoke up suddenly.

"Link, this is Paige… Beck's, um, ex-girlfriend," Zed introduced awkwardly, feeling the joke he wanted to start to be in bad taste.

"Beck was dating someone?" the lean mechanic asked in confusion.

"Yes… she was the Commander in the army when they were dating," Zed whispered to his companion but due to the silence of the rooftop they were still heard by the other two. The one being talked about rolled her eyes in annoyance as their stupidity and insensitivity blared brightly.

"That Paige?!" Link exclaimed in a hushed voice which was far louder than Zed's whisper.

"Yes, that Paige. Now they call me Doctor of Death. Want to know anything else?" Paige exploded, her tolerance snapping. She looked back to Mara with a fed up expression and was about to leave when the mechanic called her name again.

"Look, I know you don't really like us, but-"

"I never said I didn't like you," the medic commented curtly.

"Then come back with us! I want to talk to you. I want us to be... friends," Zed's girlfriend begged once more.

"Friends? We're in a war Mara. I don't have the luxury to have friends,"

"You're lying! Think about Beck, you were friends with him and you were at war with the Renegade," Mara reasoned with dangerous facts, facts that were undoubtedly volatile for the Doctor.

"That was before Clu, I-"

"You have friends Paige! We're your friends! Trust us! Trust me," Paige squeezed her eyes shut as she took a deep breath to actually let herself think. In the back of her head she could feel the disc modification tingling, telling her to attack, a route to a rage that would overcome her. She killed the tantalizing notion without hesitation. It was effortless to stop the callings and manipulations of the disc mod when all it continued to do was call out for anger. With her head clear she considered Mara's request. Really considered it.

She was tired. Exhausted. The long cycles of running around killing sentries and Black Guards only to come back to a empty hideout and empty bed did nothing to restore energy.

She was lonely. Isolated. The cycles of hearing Beck's voice in her ears had made her start to lose her sanity, which was already in jeopardy but in some weird twisted way was helping keeping her together.

She was scared. Terrified. What was she supposed to do? How long would killing guards, soldiers, and maybe one cycle Clu, keep the pain at bay?

She was aching. Pained. Everything in her life now hurt. New scars were growing and deepening within her. Scars so deep, death itself could only compare.

As much as she wanted to say no, wanted to tell them she was strong enough without them, that she didn't need help, her mind, body, and soul cried out for peace. Peace that she knew was standing right before her. In front of her bloodshot eyes was her refuge from the war, a sanctuary where she could let her burden be shared.

Go with them, keep them safe for me, Paige. Again his voice filled her hearing with ghostly winds. It was the last push she needed.

"Alright, I'll go," she conceded softly. With the words came a flooding sense of relief, and a hug. She laughed as Mara gave her a comforting bear hug and was clearly fighting back tears as straggled breaths came from her. Reluctantly, she put an arm around the emotional mechanic and rubbed her back slowly.

"Thank you," the girl whispered.

"Nice place," Paige commented as they entered into the main room of the hideout in the Outlands.

While Mara had taken Paige to the hideout in the Outlands after making a quick stop at Paige's own hideout, Zed and Link had called others to help escort the unconscious Cyrus to the base in the coliseum. Thinking it best to keep Cyrus away from the hideout, they worked out it'd be safer because of the prison cells within the stadium.

"Come on, let's get you settled," Mara said with a small smile.

"When do I get to meet the lovely members of the Uprising?" the Doctor joked, giving her companion a one sided smirk.

"Later. Hurry up, I want to talk," the other woman said urgently but with a comfortable friendliness. Complying to the request, Paige followed after the jogging Defiance member and was soon enough in a large circular room. At the far end she could see a large cylindrical tube filled with an odd bluish white gel. It was shocking to see something familiar to her, enough to make her stop mid stride and double check herself to make sure she wasn't imagining things.

"What is it?" Mara asked curiously, having noticed her pause.

"Why does Tron have one of these?" Paige asked with her gaze focused on the healing chamber.

"Long story, come on. We have more important things to talk about," Mara whined, taking the medic's hand and dragging her to a spot next to the chamber where a room was. It was very out of place to say the least but she soon found herself entering the mid sized room to find a table, a bed, and a projection screen on the opposite side.

"This is Tron's room, but he's not in town so how about you sleep here for now?" the light blue eyed girl offered hurriedly.

"Alright, Mara. What do you want to talk about?" Paige asked forward, starting to grow bored of the mechanic's rush. Mara, who was adding the new information to the main frame via the tabletop and her disc, looked up with wide eyes.

"I want to know what happened to Beck," she asked without thinking. When she reanalyzed her words she covered her mouth with her hands and gave a horrified expression. The sigh that escaped Paige was not one of sorrow, or guilt, but one of annoyance as she knew the topic was going to be brought up eventually.

"It's fine, Mara," Paige reassured lightly, placing her Monome, picture, and extra disc on the table before lying down on the bed. There was a moment of silence as the two thought about what to say. Right before Mara could apologize, the cloaked medic began her retelling of Beck's tragic fate. By the time she had caught up to where they were at that very moment, Mara had bawled her eyes out multiple times, half the time she would join in and they would both just sit next to each other in a tight cocoon of each other's arms letting their emotions free. It was something she had never experienced before, the need for ones comfort or support, aside from Beck, who had his own special place for things she had never done before.

"Look at us… we probably look terrible," Mara joked with a laugh that gave way to a half spasm of her lungs as she still hadn't completely stopped crying yet.

"Who cares. Your boyfriend's not here, and no one is going to see me in here," Paige replied with just as much energy as she whipped her noise with a tissue, her own crying having finished a while ago.

"How do you know Zed's my boyfriend?" Mara inquired with suspicion.

"Beck told me more about you two the cycle we met," the older woman chuckled softly.

"What'd he say?" Mara asked deadpanned, fearing the worst. The medic couldn't help but let out another laugh at her friend's tone.

"Something along the lines 'They're both head over heels for each other, they just don't know it'," she recited in a bad impression of the lovable mechanic. Mara only groaned in response and cradled her face in her palms. Paige laughed at her response and hugged the girl.

"He always right. Makes me mad how he knew," Mara mumbled into her palms. They fell into a comfortable silence, allowing their emotions and feeling settle.

"Most of the time," Paige commented lightly, gaining her a quirked eyebrow from Mara.

"When we first started dating he couldn't stop seeing me as Tesler's Commander," she answered the young mechanic's question.

"Did he ever stop seeing that?" she asked quizzically. Only a fraction of a nano later did her mind catch up to her mouth and was able to answer the question.

"Yes. Our last couple of dates he proved himself capable of reading someone," Paige answered sweetly.

"Hard to imagine him dating… you," Mara pointed out sheepishly, deciding to test the limits of her new companion's humor.

"Me too. But that's what makes him, him," Paige agreed completely. There was a comfortable silence between the two as they reminisced in their own memories of the savvy mechanic.

"Anything else you want to know?" Paige broke the silence after the time had passed.

"If you saw him again, what would you do?" The question had caught her off-guard and she had to take a micro to think about it.

"I'd make sure he felt the pain I've been in," she answered confidently, making Mara turn to her in bewilderment.

"How would you do that?"

"Well, between you and me, I'm a much better fighter than he is," she whispered conspiratorially.

"So… you're just going to beat him up?" Mara asked as if she still didn't understand.

"Yes. But I'd tell him I love him right after," she spoke softer and stared at his identity disc on the table.

"Well… it's definitely you," Mara admitted quietly.

"Thanks," she answered dryly.

"Hey, I just wanted to say I'm sorry about that one time,"

"What time?"

"When we ran into you outside the coliseum,"

"Oh, it's fine,"

"No, please. I want to apologize. When I saw you, when I saw Beck's disc, everything just went red for a second. I don't lose control like that,"

"It's alright Mara,"

Right after she said finished talking there was a knocking at the door. Mara called out letting whoever it was know it was okay to come in. Walking in was a familiar brown haired bulky Program who Paige had encountered by the coliseum.

"Paige!" Gav cried in shock. Her expression went flaccid hearing his almost horrified reaction to her presence.

"Are you always so loud?" She bit back menacingly. Quickly, he recovered and calmed his racing circulator.

"No. You just surprised me..." He trailed off as he focused closely on the two women sitting on the bed. "I can go if you guys want to keep talking," he offered gently, his empathy taking over his front most thoughts.

"It's fine, I was just about to go get you," Mara sighed out as she stood. "Let's go, I know Paige is exhausted," at her words the medic raised an eyebrow before letting the realization that she really was faint come back to her.

"Alright, we'll talk later," Gav nodded politely before heading back out of the room with Mara right behind. Once left alone, Paige laid back down on the bed with heavy eyelids forcing themselves closed. She fought their weight but soon succumbed to the relieving dreamweaves of sleep.

The cold winds of the Outlands blasted across the uneven rocky lands, lifting lose dirt and small peebles and throwing them off high ledges to deep dark ravines. The rough edges of the mountains outlined from the darker backdrop of nearly black cloudy skies. In the opposite direction, Tron City shined with tall skyscrapers and search lights. The city appearing peaceful in the atmosphere of the Outlands, not telling the dark reign that was controlling it.

The great hero Tron was focusing more on the ground than the scenery of tall structures, his eyes scanning for evidence of a path. It wasn't long that he found what he was looking for, having tracked Programs in worse conditions with less information and direction to go on. Keeping low to the ground, he followed the path until it lead into a narrow tunnel near the middle of the mountain incredibly far from the city. Staying vigilant, he flew around the area and canvased it, making absolutely sure he wasn't followed and that he had followed the right tracks. Though, he kept his distance when he saw the carved out room near the top of the elevation, he knew who ever was there was aware of his presence.

Feeling a direct approach his best option, he flew toward the small landing that jutted out from the room and prepared a tight landing. If anything, his ship would simply fly into the room and destroy any traps that were probably in place, but as expected from the Program, his ship derezzed when he neared the cliff edge and he landed with a roll. Standing slowly, he made his way into the darkened room, passing through the thin digital net that separated the cold air of the Outlands from the warmer inside air. When his foot found purchase on the plastic tiles on the floor, the room lit up and Tron started to feel exposed as he couldn't sense any blaring threat.

"Hello?" He called out tentatively, his voice unfiltered by his helmet. He froze when he heard a quiet footstep towards the corridor to his left.

"It can't be…" he heard a distant voice come from the direction. A voice he knew all too well.

"Flynn, is that you?" Tron once again called out, hoping in vain his ears hadn't played tricks on him.

"Tron…" a robed man appeared out of the corner of the hall way, followed by a taller woman who wore the regular skin tight black suit and armor. Tron immediately collapsed his helmet and started to pace over the aged man who met him halfway and embraced him in a firm hug.

"It's good to see you, man," Flynn stated in a breathlessly joyous tone. The two broke apart and both reanalyzed the situation they were in, making sure it was real.

"It's good to see you too, old friend," Tron said in a calm reassuring tone.

"I thought you were dead! How'd you escape Clu?" the User asked as the third person in the room slowly drifted over to the two and placed her disc on her back.

"I didn't. He held me prisoner, until I was rescued. I've been hiding out on the edge of the Grid since," Tron summarized nicely.

"Jeez, you don't know how happy I am to see you again," Flynn voiced relieved.

"Hello, I'm Quorra," the only female of the room bluntly introduced herself, sticking her hand out for Tron to shake. He took it after a small hesitant moment, as he was caught off guard by the Program's odd demeanor.

"Ah, yes! Sorry. Tron meet Quorra. Quorra, Tron," Flynn introduced the two before taking a step back to allow Quorra to form a small triangle between the three of them.

"How do you know Flynn?" Tron asked, curious to hear of Flynn's trusted companion.

"He saved me in the Outlands," she said.

"Anon was able to keep her safe through most of it," Flynn added, which sparked Tron's interest.

"I'm glad he didn't get repurposed like the others. Where is he?" Tron asked figuring the Program to be nearby. When the other two expressions' worsened he figured the answer.

"I see," he spoke softly, feeling his own sorrow for the mute system monitor.

"We can catch up more over dinner, come, we were just about to prepare to eat," Flynn said shifting the mood and conversation to a less depressing topic.

While Flynn was making dinner, Quorra had taken the liberty to show Tron their cozy home. Walking past the books and asking if he knew any of the readings, which he didn't, showing the fireplace that was lit with a small blue flame, the bedrooms, and ending it out on the cliffside edge where he had originally entered the place from. Before she had the chance to show him the lower garage and the other section of the carved out mountain, Flynn had called them to the table stating he was done with cooking the food. As they all settled into a seat, Tron noticed the plates in front of them, along with the food in the center of the table. While Tron was no stranger to the User's need for energy in the source of 'food' he had never had an opportunity to actually eat the so called substance. As Flynn piled on what appeared to be a white chunky blob sitting in a small pool of yellow liquid, Tron wondered if it was truly safe to consume it.

"You don't have to eat it if you don't want to, Tron," Flynn commented with a small laugh when he saw the worried expression of his friend. "It won't hurt you, but I don't think you'd like this kind of chicken marinade, Alan was never a fan," he went on cutting up a slice of the chicken on his plate and eating it.

"Right…" Tron trailed of as he used a fork to grab one of the three chicken masses and placed it on his plate. Quorra seemed content with not eating and simply drank her wine glass of light blue energy.

"So, do you want to start first or should I?" Flynn asked, looking to the Child Basic with a smile.

"You first, I think mine's longer," Tron said. Kevin nodded before catching the Program up on the events he went through after he ran from Clu. It wasn't much. To put it simply, he had just hid off the Grid. He told him how he watched the ISO's being slaughtered in their homes when not too long ago they had let an ISO become a co-administrator for the system.

After Tron was caught up, he told the two about his own story. How he was carted off by Clu to be reprogrammed only to be saved by a sentry who apparently retained his mind through repurposing. Then they found their way to Argon where Tron trained him until ultimately having to trap him in his own world with Able's help. It wasn't much longer until the Occupation came along and he found Beck. Flynn asked why he decided to take another Program under his wing and was satisfied with the answer he was given. Tron told him how he saw the determination in the boy's eyes, how he fought for his friends and his foes retelling the tale of Beck and Paige on the island. He had made a mistake with Cyrus only because he had saved him and need his help, Beck was a choice he made purely out of the young mechanic's own drive and personality.

"But he's not perfect…" Tron said in a melancholy tone. "He started to see that Commander he saved. After he stopped a train full of Programs from dying without the mask, they started to see each other,"

"Really? How close did they get to each other?" Flynn asked softly.

"Very. If I didn't know better I'd say he was in love with her,"

"Talk about Romeo and Juliet…" the middle aged User muttered to himself.

"If things turned out differently I'm sure he would have told her everything. He would have given up everything just to try and make her join us," Tron said bleakly.

"What happened?" Quorra asked intently listening to the story, finding it far more interesting than the books she had read.

And so he continued his tale of the Super Recognizer and how Cutler had been reprogrammed to seek out Tron and repurpose him as Clu originally planned. But as usual, Beck had come in just at the right time to save him before that could happen. The Super Recognizer crashed and the Uprising began, and turned into the Defiance. The joy didn't last long however, as it was only a few cycles later when everything went terribly wrong.

"Tron?" Quorra asked gently when the Program had stopped and his head slumped down.

"It was my own fault really. I knew he wasn't ready but he seemed so sure of himself… I saw myself in his eyes, those same eyes that wanted to save everyone from Clu and wanted to free the Grid…" Tron mumbled in grief.

"What happened?" Flynn asked gently, hoping to coax the pained Program on.

"He was killed. By the same person he loved. I should have seen it, he was exhausted. I shouldn't have left him alone with her…" Tron trailed off again as he was finally vocalizing his bottle up grief. "She killed him and by the time I went back to find him it was far too late. She was just sitting there, holding his disc. She figured out it was him. She learned everything about him…" Tron said softly.

"It's not your fault, Tron. Beck knew what he was getting into," Flynn comforted.

"I know, but it still doesn't mean I couldn't have stopped him," Tron let out a sigh before deciding to move on. "After that, she took off with his disc. I talked to her when we ran into each other on one of the command ships. Her anger is all she's holding onto right now, it's the only thing keeping her sane," he explained. Tron finished his story by telling them he had followed Clu back to Tron City and then found out they were looking for the two, which led him to their current position.

"I see…" Flynn thought it over as Quorra was feeling it to be her turn to talk. She quickly explained the time she had been on the Grid to see to Radia at Tron City, only to be stopped by the sentries. Then she recalled the corrupt Program, Abraxas and how Anon stopped his attack on the ISO's. She witnessed Clu attack Flynn but ran away before she could see Tron's fate, and how she met up with Anon right afterwards. They went to see Zuse before his club was destroyed by Clu's forces. Using Zuse's help they went to Arjia City to tell Radia of what Clu had done only to be beaten by the Program. Luckily, they had convinced her that Clu was lying. At that point Anon and Quorra had become separated, but it was already too late for her as Clu had started his obliteration of ISO's. The two reunited at Arjia City only to watch as Clu had Abraxas derez Radia. Anon convinced her to run while he dealt with Abraxas. She watched as the city collapsed and felt the utter hopelessness of her situation. She took a solar sailor to the distant cities off in the corners of the Grid and managed to find Ada who had escaped from the purge as well. They were safe for a little while as Clu's forces hadn't reach out so far yet but were constantly on the move knowing he wasn't far behind. It wasn't until they made it to Carbonite City where they were finally caught up with.

"Unfortunately, I had to knock out Paige before we-"

"Paige?" Tron interjected.

"Yeah, I believe that was her name," Quorra answered baffled by the sudden interest.

"Can I see what she looks like?" he asked urgently. Quorra shrugged in response before she pulled out her disc.

"Sure, I don't see why it's so important," she said as she projected a clear image of the medic. Tron's eyes widened in shock as the image of the former commander appeared before him.

"That's her," he breathed out, trying to wrap his head around the fact the two had met.

"Her who?" Flynn asked.

"That's the commander," having only heard of one commander so far the two figured this was the same person who Tron spoke of when he mentioned his Renegade.

"So this is who Beck fell head over heels for," Flynn said with a sly grin, as if it made things much clearer. The ISO turned off the image and returned her disc to the dock.

"What does this mean?" she asked.

"Nothing. I just can't believe you two have met," the Program answered. "Sorry, please continue," he urged, but lingered on the thought that Paige had met an ISO.

The ISO continued telling her tale. After fleeing Carbonite City, the pair started to back track and headed back towards the center of Grid figuring the further they went outward the less chance they'd be captured with the army so close behind. They kept their heads down as they retraced there steps and managed to make it back to Tron City. Sadly, one guard had spotted the two and asked to see their identity discs. They ran away and escaped for a short time stealing a Recognizer, but while they were flying over the Outlands Clu's army had caught up to them. It wasn't long before they were brought down. Quorra had survived the crash landing and found a cave to hide in as the site was investigated. When the soldiers had left, she quickly looked for Ada but couldn't find any evidence she was alive. After wondering the Outlands for a few days, she collapsed. It was then that Flynn had found her and saved her.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Tron condoled.

"Thank you," she muttered back.

"Well, now that we're all caught up and dinner is finished," Flynn called out while giving Quorra a irritated look, he proceeded to stand up and went for the main dish that still had one chicken breast sitting in the marinade.

"I'm sure you're tired from your journey, why don't I show you to your room?" the ISO perkily offered, standing with her eyes gleaming with joy.

"Quorra, don't forget, it's your turn to do dishes," Flynn called from the other room he had entered, no doubt the kitchen. Tron heard a muffled curse from the woman as they walked down the hallway to a room.

"This Uprising or Defiance whatever you're calling it, do you really think it can stop Clu?"

.

.

.

"It's the only thing we can count on,"

.

"Even without Beck? You put a lot of faith into this one guy it sounds,"

.

"I don't know… He was my second chance, at more than just this Defiance. It'll be hard without him, but I don't give up,"

.

.

"Well, you might not have to fight without him,"

.

.

.

"What?"

AN: Hello everyone. Sorry about the wait for those of you who are interested and following the story thus far. I'd excuse myself with life and things, but I just lost interest for a bit.

I'm surprised how close I came to finishing this chapter without uploading it, granted I think I wanted to add more to certain areas but I've lost since forgotten what I wanted to put where, and most of whats happening in my own bloody story.

Comments on the chapter, I hope you guys don't mind that I basically killed off Cyrus. Honestly, I hated him in Uprising but for all the right reasons. His appearance was that of a true overpowering villain. Always shows up at the worst time, has the most evil plans, actions, and decisions for others, and this factor of fear and helplessness when facing him. For months I kept wondering, where the hell are they going with him? Will he ever die? Can anyone beat him? Yeah, Tron could seeing that he's healed but I feel he's more of Beck's problem and nemesis more than Tron's, so it'd only make sense that Beck be the one to do it. Didn't happen in this story lol. I figured the power device was supposed to be given back to Beck and he would kill Cyrus because he couldn't control the anger and power. It would lead to a emotional and groundbreaking episode for Beck as he's stern on no killing, change up the character a little and maybe even break him to a point where he'd go to Paige and in a sense break her world with the reveal of him being the Renegade. I thought it'd be genius.
I wanted to make it more emotional for Paige but figured what I had was enough for her joining the Defiance finally.

Probably have a few grammar and italics issues as I only went through this to put the italics back in.

Thank you for your patience, and I hoped you enjoyed!

-Rose's Requiem