Hey all! Here's the latest chapter! Following Cyberbutterfly's request, I've decided to make a happy scene. Nothing will prepare you for the cuteness of Ram! Anyway, enjoy and R&R! I'm still taking suggestions for flashbacks from everyone so don't be shy... ~Moore12~

Thirteen

1985

I

Man, it felt good to get out of the office. Even though he felt slightly guilty about leaving Clu behind to run the system by himself, it was fairly easy to brush off those feelings: the old gang was back together again, and it was great to get to show the easily excitable Ram around the Grid and listen to him gush about how great his creation was.

"I still can't believe you made all of this," Ram exclaimed without even turning to look at him; he was still staring out the window of the light jet in wonder, an excited grin on his face.

Like his User, Tron could be a bit of a stick in the mud, but he just laughed at his friend's awe. "It's supposed to look like a User city, isn't it Flynn?"

Before he could answer, Ram broke in, his smile widening, "That's what I thought you were going for! It's exactly how I always pictured one to be…" his voice trailed off and he added hopefully, "Do ya think you could take us to one?"

He had never really thought about that honestly, but glancing over at Ram and back at Tron who, to his genuine surprise, looked just as hopeful as the actuary, he had to wonder if it was possible. Bringing programs to my world? he thought. Well, if I can be here…maybe they can go there. Besides, what could it hurt to take them there in the future, especially when revealing them to the world will change everything? "I can't see why not," he finally chuckled in response.

"Really?" Ram's eyes grew wide with amazement—he can't believe I'd actually take him, he thought with a laugh—and then he continued, his voice a cascade of enthusiasm, "We could go get—what do you Users call it?—ice cream and…"

"Hey, who told you about ice cream?" he asked, turning around to shoot Tron a look.

Trying his best to look wounded, Tron responded, "Hey, don't look at me, Flynn. I don't even know what that is!" He paused and then added, grinning mischievously, "You heard about it back in the old system, bud, didn't you?"

"Yeah," Ram laughed, shooting Tron a knowing look. "One of the guys on the cell block started glitching and all he could say was 'I want ice cream…now!' It was hilarious."

"Sure," he replied dryly, a smirk growing on his face. "That's exactly what happened…"

He was about to continue—about to give the two programs a better description of ice cream—when Tron interrupted him. Smiling sheepishly, he admitted, "Yori told me about ice cream a long time ago, and I may have just mentioned it to Ram."

Laughing hysterically, Ram quipped in response to Tron's admission, "Wait! That was you raving about ice cream? User, I would've never known…"

"Ram…" Tron sent Ram a warning look that only made the actuary laugh harder, his words so garbled by his laughter it was impossible to make out what he was saying. Quickly, he found himself laughing too—man, his laughter is infectious, he had to admit—and even Tron eventually chuckled.

"It's good to have you back, man," he said as soon as the laughter died down, smiling over at the little program.

II

When they arrived back at the compound, Flynn had excused himself, whispering something to Tron about having to go get his surprise. He didn't have any idea what it could be and he couldn't honestly understand why Flynn would give him something—being alive again was the greatest gift he could ever be given—but he didn't say anything. Whatever Flynn wants to do is fine by me, he thought as he listened to Tron offer some bogus explanation of Flynn having to check on Clu and make sure everything was okay.

He was about to ask Tron for the real explanation of what was happening—as an actuarial program (well, former actuarial program) he didn't really like being left in the dark—when a vehicle he didn't recognize came screeching around the corner. Kind've looks like two light cycles pressed together, he thought as he stared at in wonder. User, that's sweet.

As soon as the vehicle stopped, Flynn got out and exclaimed, "So, what'd you think of it, man? Isn't it great?"

"Yeah," he finally said after a moment of just staring at the vehicle in wonder; it was all he could say because he was—for the first time in so long—speechless.

"Would ya look at that, Tron," Flynn laughed, turning to Tron who was just smiling. "Ram's speechless. Ram! Never thought I'd see the day."

"I know, right?" Tron answered, a smile creeping onto his normally stoic face. Turning to him, he continued, his voice a joking plead, "Come on, bud, say something. Anything!"

Still staring at the vehicle—User, they didn't have these in my old sector, that's for sure, he thought—he asked, "What's it called?"

"It's a light runner, Ram," Flynn explained, and, when he turned to look at him finally, he saw that he was smiling. "And it's all yours."

"What?" he exclaimed, completely shocked; there was no way he would have ever calculated this future outcome even though he had a near perfect success rate. "Flynn, I-I can't…"

"Nonsense, kiddo," Flynn just grinned, the laughter still in his voice. "It's all yours. So how about you take it out for a spin?"

And, as he drove way, he still couldn't believe all of this was really happening…It can't get much better than this, he thought, laughing to himself. This is just too glitching awesome!

2009

I

"I just have one question," Sam said softly as they sat around the table in extremely awkward silence. "Why didn't you come back?"

And, as Flynn talked, Quorra realized that something wasn't right; there was a part of this story that Flynn was leaving out intentionally, something that he was hiding. Still, she sat in silence as Flynn tried to explain why he had never come home to Sam…and seemingly completely oblivious that she and Ram were in the room as well.

She watched as Sam's scowl had vanished after Flynn explained that he couldn't get out because the portal closed on him, probably because he finally realized he hadn't abandoned him willingly, she figured. Still, there was something Flynn was leaving out…something that she personally needed to know. And it was something to do with abandonment, given the look on Ram's face as Flynn discussed how he wanted to go home for Sam.

Her gut told her that Ram could give the answers she desired, even if he had attempted to kill Flynn upon waking up. When he noticed that she was staring at him—jeez, Quorra, don't be so obvious about it, she told herself—he just stared back in glum silence. She couldn't say that she trusted Ram—even though Flynn had forgiven him, she couldn't really get over the stunt he had pulled—but, still, somehow she knew he would give her a more truthful picture of what was going on.

"The ISOs were going to be my gift to the world," Flynn was saying, that intense look back in his eyes she had seen so few times over the cycles. "They were going to change everything—science, religion, philosophy. Everything, Sam!"

Glancing over at Ram, she realized that he was glaring at her; a small, sad smirk on his face, his eyes still spoke to all of his pain, all of his fury…that clearly hadn't been dissipated just by Flynn saying he was sorry. What is really going on here? she wondered as she looked away from Ram because she just couldn't look him in the eyes anymore. Why does he seem to hate me so much when he doesn't even really know me?

"I was going to show them to the world, man!" Flynn exclaimed, pounding his fist on the table when he did. Then his voice became softer, and he added, "I may still…"

Sam looked like he was going to ask a question when Ram snorted. All eyes turned to him almost immediately, and he just smirked. "Right," he muttered. "'Cause that'll happen."

Instead of confronting Ram—which Quorra had thought he would—Flynn just looked away from the little program and said seriously, "I believe I forgot to properly introduce our guest. Sam, Quorra, this is Ram. Ram was—along with Tron and Clu—one of my co-administrators."

Quorra watched as Ram's face scrunched up in anger and was surprised when he didn't say anything in response. That was when it hit her: Flynn had originally not mentioned that Ram was a co-admin; no, he had just told Sam that it was him, Tron and Clu. Clearly, if she wanted answers, she'd have to ask Ram…and not Flynn.

And, for the first time, she wondered if she could trust her mentor after all…

II

Wait? Wait? Was his dad out of his mind?

Sam just stared at his father, unable to believe what he was hearing. His dad—who he always wanted to believe was fearless…a hero—wanted to sit around and wait? He didn't want to try to get back to the portal where the program that had destroyed his creation and his life could be destroyed? He just wanted to…sit there and do nothing when the portal was open and everything could be changed for the better. It didn't make any sense, but his dad had made it very clear that was going to be their course of action.

Well, if it was up to him. As he had admitted, Clu had changed the game by bringing him there…and he was going to change it. Whether Dad likes it or not, he thought as he watched his dad retire for the night, still shocked—and fairly upset—by the turn of events.

When he glanced over at Quorra, she just shot him a sympathetic look. Clearly, she knows all about Dad's inaction, he thought bitterly. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Ram—who was, in his opinion, fairly psychotic—was staring at him, a rueful smile on his face. "I'm sorry, kid," he said softly, his voice extremely bitter. "Flynn's not gonna do anything."

Sam was about to ask Ram why that was—clearly, he knew more about his father than even Quorra—but he didn't get the chance. Curling up on the couch—and offering him one last crooked, sympathetic smile—the little program promptly powered down without another word.

"I'll show you to your room," Quorra said softly, gesturing to a hallway. "Come on."

Before they left the room, Sam grabbed Quorra by the shoulder. "Look, I don't care what Dad says, alright?" he said seriously, hoping she would go along with him. "I need to get to that portal."

"Your father said we should wait," Quorra replied hesitantly, and he could tell she wasn't really convinced by what she was saying. "And I believe we should trust his judgment."

"Look," Sam exclaimed, wanting to make her realize more than anything that this wasn't how they should do things…that maybe, just maybe, her mentor was wrong about something. "You don't seem the type to sit around and wait. So, please, will you help me?"

"Alright," she finally replied after a moment of awkward silence. "There's a program I once knew called Zuse. If anyone can help you, it's him…all you need to do is get to his sector."

Now this is what I'm talking about, Sam thought as he offered Quorra a small smile. Got to dive into things headfirst…

III

Ram awoke with a start; his CPU pounding, he sat up and looked around frantically. After a moment, he sighed with relief. It's nothing, he told himself, allowing himself to shut his eyes once more. Nothing's wrong. You're…well…relatively safe.

For some reason, he couldn't just power down again. Everything that had happened once again hit him—he could almost see Flynn's terrified face—and he slumped to the ground. It almost felt like his processors were breaking apart, almost felt like he was losing everything that made him who he was. Oh, right, he thought bitterly. I already did. I'm just as bad…as Clu…

"Ram?" a voice broke him from his terrible thoughts, and he looked up to see the Quorra staring at him, a concerned expression on her face. Yeah, let's just stare at the glitching program, he thought dryly as he pushed himself off the ground and back onto the couch. "Are you alright?"

"What'd you care?" he muttered, not wanting to deal with the stupid ISO at the moment…or ever. He honestly just wanted her to leave him alone because he couldn't bear to even look at her. Brought back too many painful memories…just as most things did these days.

"Look, Ram," Quorra growled—trying to intimidate me of all programs, he almost laughed—and glared at him, "I don't know what your deal is, but I know you know something…something that Flynn isn't telling me."

Wow, she's smart, he thought, his classic smirk forming on his face again. But there's only a 2% chance I'm going to tell her what she wants to know. Still smirking at her, he asked, not really expecting much of an answer, "I'll tell ya what you want to know…if you tell me what in the name of the Users woke me up."

"Sam," Quorra responded immediately, a smile forming on her face. "He's going to the portal. I sent him to someone we can trust."

You got to be kidding me, Ram thought as he just stared at the ISO, trying to suppress his anger. "And who did you send him to?" he demanded, unable to believe this was really happening, that the stupid ISO had probably allowed the User to walk into a trap.

"Zuse," she replied, seemingly confused and angered by his reaction. "Why? What do you care?"

Upon hearing the name of the program—that glitching viral that helped Clu capture him all those long, brutal cycles ago—Ram exploded on the inside even though he managed to remain calm on the outside. This wasn't happening…this couldn't be happening. He wasn't going to…he was. He had to help the User; it was just a part of his programming. "Well," he muttered bitterly, glaring up at Quorra. "You sent him right into a trap. Good job."