AN: So here's the double update I promised. Couldn't resist :P Thanks to 2theSky for reviewing! You're awesome ;)

"Just know that we'll be friends, for the rest of our lives" - Benjamen, Sanctus Real

Chapter Fifteen

The Virus

It felt like they were in the lab for hours. In reality, it had only been a half hour. Tony and Bruce kept switching monitors while Mira waited as patiently as she could for them to finish. After another thirty minutes went by, they finally came to a conclusion. And it wasn't a good one.

"From what it looks like, the cut that Cyrus gave you has some of the coding from his disk," Bruce explained after glancing at the monitor for another few minutes.

"What does that mean?" Dread washed over Mira as she thought of the answer that would follow.

"It means that the virus will slowly kill you," Tony replied. "And it isn't going to be a painless kill either."

"Is there a way to cure it?" Mira was surprised that Clint had stayed with them the entire time. Until now he had been pacing near the back of the room after Tony told him to go away. She held back a sigh of frustration when Tony looked at Bruce thoughtfully.

"There might be... but it's not going to be easy," Bruce replied. "We'll need the source of the virus before we can find a cure."

Wonderful... just plain wonderful. Mira felt her stomach twist with anger. She didn't enjoy the idea of having to rely on Cyrus for help. And she doubted he was in any hurry to give himself up.

"No." Clint's voice was firm and steady.

"Told ya he'd say no," Tony said with the slightest of chagrins. "Look, we may not need Cyrus, not if I can finish that experiment I've been working on," he added when Mira glared at him. "You had healing abilities on the Grid, right?"

Mira raised an eyebrow in surprise. She hadn't even thought of returning to the Grid, if that were possible. The Portals were shut down as far as she was concerned. Cyrus was the only one capable of opening them with his damaged disk.

"Is it possible we could get back to the Grid?" The anger she had felt earlier was suddenly replaced with hope. Maybe the Clu had finally been taken down. Maybe somehow, they could get back home. Mira could imagine just how happy Beck would be seeing his friends again.

"Through Flynn's arcade." Mira frowned at the thought of returning to the city she had grown up in.

"SHIELD has it under lock and key," Clint replied. "We won't be going there any time soon."

"I'm not sure going back there is an option anyways," she murmured. She looked down at the floor, wondering if the people that had adopted her had given up looking for her. If they had than the news that was leaked would be more than just shocking.

The looks she received told her that she was right. Besides, she didn't need to go back. As far as she was concerned now, the past was behind her. It was time to start looking to the future, as much as she hated to admit it.

. . .

"So where's Natasha?" Mira was still rubbing her arm where the bandage was wrapped. She had followed Clint to the living space, where they found Beck and Steve playing a game of Chess. Mira blinked in surprise when she saw that Beck was actually winning this time.

"Dealing with Fury right now," Clint replied. "He's not exactly happy with the latest news."

I can imagine, Mira thought. She was surprised the public wasn't ready to tear down Tony's door. From the stories she had seen on television, most people weren't happy with the latest news leak. A few had even come up with their own theories. But for the most part, Mira did her best to ignore the situation and focus on finding Cyrus.

"I know this isn't exactly an easy question to answer but... what happened when Loki tried taking over?" She didn't miss him wincing at the uneasy subject. They had reached the end of the living space, and Mira tried avoiding meeting his gaze as he struggled to find an answer.

"You read the file on the Tesseract?" Clint pinched the bridge of his nose when she nodded. Apparently it had some kind of energy that gave Loki the power he needed to start the war. But that was about as far as she had gotten before giving up on the file. "I was assigned to watching the energy levels. Make sure nothing dangerous got through the portal. And Loki... let's just say things didn't end well when he showed up."

From what she had seen of the visions, Loki had taken over his mind. Mira's eyes widened when she realized just how similar that was to getting repurposed.

"I'm sorry," she murmured. "That must have been tough."

"Not as difficult as dealing with the Grid, I'd imagine." Mira grinned at the remark. He had no idea how right he was.

"The Grid isn't entirely dangerous," she replied. "It only got bad when Clu came into power."

She had to admit that even before Clu had risen to power, the Grid was still dangerous. Viruses and gridbugs were a constant threat. Tron and his group had always kept them in check. Flynn had even created his own security program to deal with the problems.

Mira was thankful to be left alone as Clint's phone began to ring. She had a feeling that Natasha or Director Fury were trying to reach him. Beck and Steve finished their game of chess, with Steve giving up. Beck's grin of triumph was priceless; Mira almost wished she had a camera.

"So what exactly happened?" Moments later and they were back in her room. Rinzler was chasing the laser pointer Mira had found in her dresser. He kept pouncing on the tiny light, sure that he could catch it with his claws.

"Well, long story short... we had some quality time." Mira bit the bottom of her lip.

She wasn't sure if telling Beck about the virus was a wise idea. They were under enough stress as it was thanks to Cyrus.

"Is that all that happened?" Beck raised an eyebrow in surprise.

Shoot. Beck knew her well enough to know that something wasn't right. Mira gazed up at the ceiling and thought of what to say next. Obviously lying wasn't the best option. But telling the truth would only make him worry.

"We were trying to figure out the effects Cyrus's disk has on wounds," she explained nervously. "From what it looks like, the end results aren't... good."

She winced when Beck's eyes widened in panic. Obviously he had not forgotten the cut on her arm left by Cyrus's disk. For a while the room was left in an awkward silence, and Mira almost wished that Beck would actually say something.

"That means you're..." Beck's words were cut short when he finally understood what that meant.

"Beck, I know what's going to happen," she finally said. "Without an anti-virus or healing abilities, it's impossible for anyone to survive."

It would be possible if we were on the Grid, she thought bitterly. But there was no going back to that. Not unless Tony had magically transported all of Flynn's work to his system.

"I don't know what to say." Rinzler finally seemed to notice the tension that filled the room. He jumped onto the bed and sat between them, licking the back of his paw as if nothing was wrong. "Aren't you afraid?"

"Strangely, I'm not," she admitted. She rubbed the back of Rinzler's ears as she thought of the close deaths she'd had. The only time she had been truly terrified was when she had faced the real Rinzler. "I suppose I'm just worried about what they'll say."

Natasha probably already knew what was going on. Clint still had that steely gaze of his, but even he was worried. She wondered how many close calls they had had. One thing was certain: She definitely didn't want to become a master assassin. She was happy to just be alive for now.

"So that's it? After everything we've been through together?" Mira looked at Beck in surprise. "You're just giving up?"

"Who said anything about giving up?" she scoffed. Beck finally locked gazes with her, eyes dark with worry and fear. She suddenly wished there was a way to comfort him, but at this point there wasn't much she could do. "Now you're starting to sound like Tron," she added halfheartedly.

Leave it to Beck to worry over a User like this. Tron had acted the same way, believing she couldn't take care of herself. Maybe Tron had a point in saying she tended to get into stupid situations. Like the fight against Cyrus.

"Sorry. I just..." Beck looked away, and Mira suddenly realized that he couldn't bring himself to finish what he was about to say. She smiled and grabbed his hand, thankful for the support he had offered all this time.

"Everything will be fine," she murmured.

She really hoped that everything would be fine. It was a selfish thought, but she couldn't imagine Beck surviving in this world on his own. He needed someone to look after him. Just like she needed someone to look after her.

. . .

Natasha frowned as she watched the video play out. The cameras that were strategically placed throughout Stark Tower were finally working. Had to pull a few strings with Tony of course, who wasn't the least bit thrilled with the idea. But after a few arguments here and there, Tony finally agreed that it was a good idea to keep an eye on Mira and Beck.

"Those two are an accident waiting to happen." Natasha whipped around to see agent Hill watching the video as well, eyes narrowed as she watched the scene play out. "It's obvious they care for one another," she added when she realized that Natasha was glaring at her.

"Any word on Cyrus?" Becoming over protective wasn't something that Natasha was ready for. Knowing that her daughter was alive had changed everything. And Fury was doing everything in his power to ensure that Cyrus was found and captured.

"The files he hacked into have been erased," agent Hill replied. "The only scans we have were from New York City."

That wasn't much of a clue. From what SHIELD had discovered, Cyrus was capable of jumping between Portals. His disk was the key to opening those Portals.

"Looks like we've got a lead." Director Fury finally joined them after giving Clint a call. "The latest energy reading is coming from Central Park. Cyrus hasn't gotten very far if he's trying to escape. Agent Romanoff, you know what to do." He glanced at Natasha, who nodded in response.

"Already on it," she replied before heading for the landing deck. It was a relief to get away from the hellicarrier for the first time in days. And this was one fight that Natasha was actually looking forward to. It was time to put this threat to an end, before it had a chance of getting worse.

AN: So yeah... Cyrus finally sort of makes an appearance after being absent for like, four chapters straight. You'll get to see what happens next tomorrow :P And I thought that line from an awesome song was very fitting. Love Sanctus Real's music.

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