Chapter Twelve

"I wonder when we first bought into this so satisfied with status quo have we convinced, ourselves that this is all there is well all that is within me says we were meant to break free. live like there's no tomorrow love extravagantly lead a life to be followed goodbye ordinary, goodbye ordinary..."

Music was playing softly in the room. Still she had not woken up since fighting the repurposing Dyson had forced upon her.

Beck sat beside her, hand wrapped around hers as he tried to think of others means to help her. The last time she had been in this state words brought her back. But now he wasn't even sure what to say.

He still blamed himself for all of this. After returning from their mission, everyone gave him space. The mechanics from Able's garage had even stopped by. At first he was surprised they had known he would be here. Than he guessed that Tron had told them what had happened.

"We were never meant to compromise settle for mediocrity this life was never made to be a waste, of time well all that is within me says no more just existing. No more complacency no more just settling this time goodbye to atrophy for we were meant to be alive..."

"Hey, are you alright?" He flinched when he recognized Mara's quiet voice. Standing beside her was Zed, looking more than just anxious as she continued speaking, "Look, I understand why you didn't tell us. We both do."

"This was all my fault," he suddenly whispered.

"Beck, stop blaming yourself for something you couldn't stop," Zed snapped. For all his nervousness around everyone, for the first time Zed actually spoke up. Even Mara looked at him in surprise as he leaned forward, arms folded.

He finally turned to face him, eyes widening slightly when Zed just smirked.

"So she's the girl you were with at the garage," Mara said, trying to keep the conversation from getting any worse.

"Yeah." Beck glanced back at Mira. She looked paler than ever. Her scars were now visible after Tron had forced her helmet to recede. While her circuits were glowing with health, Beck wasn't sure what kind of damage Dyson had caused internally.

"What happened to her?" Zed's question made Beck flinch again.

She had been through just about everything the world could throw at her. Her past had always been a touchy subject. And he wasn't sure whether or not Zed and Mara would understand it all. Just knowing that she was a User was probably a big enough shock for them.

"I think we'd better give them some alone time," Mara suddenly intervened, noticing the uneasy silence that had followed.

"Oh Lord have mercy on this weary soul, Come and take me to the river and make me whole. It's down the with old up with the new, The hard reset my life take two, Oh Lord have mercy on this weary soul..."

Beck's eyes widened when Mira suddenly began to stir. Once Mara and Zed were gone the music had been turned up. It was a good way to keep his mind off of the events that had occurred earlier. It seemed that her taste in music had rubbed off on him.

"I've got a new lease on life, They say you only live once, But I live twice, I've got a new lease on life, I've got a new lease on life, Yeah... Oh Lord remind me of who I am, My chains have been shattered I'm a brand new man, I'm free indeed, I'm dead no more, At my worst I'm still adored, Oh Lord remind me, this is who I am..."

"Hey." The single word made Beck grin like an idiot. Just knowing that she was finally awake gave him a small sense of hope.

"Hey," he whispered back. "How are you... feeling?" He wasn't even sure what to say after what she had been through.

"Like Thor's hammer smacked me in the back of my head," she grumbled.

Her remark made Beck stare at her in surprise. Of all the things she could have said. At least she still had a sense of humor.

"Tron said that would happen," he admitted guiltily. "Do you... know what happened?" His voice dropped to a whisper. He hated bringing it up. Just knowing what Dyson had done to her made him wish he had derezzed the nutcase.

Eyes darkening a little, she looked down at the sheets that were covering her. "I remember bits and pieces," she murmured.

Maybe it was better to leave out what had happened. Tron had once told him that he could remember every little detail of what Clu had done to him, and forced him to do. He couldn't let her live through what Dyson had forced her to do.

"I'm sorry," he suddenly told her. She just looked at him in confusion. "If I had told you what was going on... maybe none of this would've happened."

"I have a feeling this would've happened even if you had told me." She looked away, as if afraid of what to say next. "Now I know what Clint went through," she added under her breath.

The bitterness in her voice made Beck flinch, again. He had learned through Mira what had happened when the Avengers were first formed. Apparently some maniac known as Loki had tried taking over the world. And he had brainwashed more than a few SHIELD agents in the process, Clint being among them. Mind control was still a touchy subject around him.

"Everyone knows it wasn't your fault," he tried to reassure her.

"But they know about you." Beck felt that familiar twinge of regret return. How she had known about that made his mind reel with curiosity.

He had rescued Copper back when Dyson's army captured him. By now everyone had found out about his rescue. And the rescuer. Mara and Zed had pointed that out a few microcycles ago.

"I knew the risk I was taking... and I'm okay with it," he sighed.

"I told you that would happen." Mira's grin caught him by surprise. But she had told him that would happen. And he never felt happier to be proven wrong. "So I take it Birdie and Widow are gone?" She sat up, with some support from him before asking the question.

"They left a few pectrocycles ago," he explained. "They wanted to explain to Fury what happened."

This time it was Mira's turn to flinch. Beck doubted whatever the director of SHIELD had to say would be anything friendly.

"What about the Grid itself?" she asked the question hesitantly, and Beck could understand her reluctance.

"Sam's rewriting the cities that were taken out by Dyson," he replied. He didn't miss the look of wariness flashing in her eyes. Again he would have told her that none of what had happened was her fault. This was all because Dyson had forced her into joining the army.

"That's good to hear." Another silence fell between them.

"Uh, Natasha wanted me to give you this." He broke the silence by handing her the baton Tron had given to Natasha. Remembering that Mira had lost her last light sword, he knew that she would need another one to defend herself.

Mira eyed the baton warily before turning it into a light sword. "Thanks," she murmured.

"Everything's going to be different now," Beck sighed after sitting on the bed beside her.

"I think we said goodbye to ordinary xilacycles ago," she laughed.

Beck couldn't help but grin at that. Their lives had always been a challenge. But now they could get through those challenges together. Without warning he embraced her with a hug, realizing just how much he had missed her.

"I missed you," he whispered.

"I missed you too, bitbrain." For the first time since this had started, he was happy. He would never let this happen to her again. Not as long as he was still breathing.

. . .

Checked the time in the User world. It was late by the time things had finally settled. And still the nightmarish visions kept coming back. Most of the cities had been restored in a matter of hours thanks to Sam and Quorra's help. But still I kept thinking back to everything that happened.

I knew now what it was like to not have any control over my actions. Despite what I had told Beck (he was still apologizing after I got out of the bed), I had seen everything. At least up until Dyson had given me a second disk. After that everything went blank.

"You sure about this?" We were in the elevator. Everyone was still in what was the old safehouse that Tron had modified. Sam wanted to run a checkup to make sure the cities were suitable for living.

"I need to face them sooner or later," Beck sighed, voice wary from all the worrying. "Mara and Zed were the only ones who stopped by earlier."

Even I was having second thoughts about seeing them. After what had happened, I wouldn't blame them for hating me. Beck had told me that it was Clint who derezzed Dyson. I'd never been happier to hear that kind of news. Though I still cringed at the thought of killing anyone.

Being part of SHIELD meant I had to take those kind of risks.

Soon the elevator reached it's destination. It seemed like we both took a deep breath before facing the wrath of everyone from Argon City.

What we didn't expect was to find everyone standing there, whispering to one another. And in that moment a hand reached out for Beck, pulling him forward. Mara, followed quickly by Zed, than soon everyone from Able's garage had joined them.

"Beck, you'll always have a place at the garage, no matter what you've done." Beck was at a loss for words. In the back of the crowd stood Able himself, nodding in approval.

"I... thank you," he stammered.

"He never did anything wrong," Mara pointed out. "You saved our lives, countless times, even when we pushed you away... that takes more than just courage."

Leave it to Mara to always put on a good speech. I sat in the back of the group, aware of the stares everyone gave me every now and than. Half of me was expecting them to ignore me. And the other half was bracing myself for the shouting that would follow.

"So uh... does this mean you'll be going back to work?" I was even more surprised when Link asked the question.

He seemed less nervous around large crowds now, even making eye contact with the programs around him every few minutes.

"Don't know," he replied with a shrug. He glanced back at me, suddenly looking worried again. "Are you okay?" he asked for what felt like the hundredth time. I think by now I've gotten used to being asked the million dollar question every few minutes.

"Beck, I should probably go back," I murmured halfheartedly. Not that I didn't want to leave. I was going to have to face the wrath of Fury sooner or later.

"Are you sure?" An uncomfortable hush fell upon the room. I'm guessing it was Mara and Zed who told everyone what had happened to me, if Tron hadn't told them. So far no one made a comment, and I'd rather leave it that way.

"Yeah, I'm sure."

For a while we did nothing. All I could think of was how long it would take for things to go back to normal. Well, at least our definition of normal. Like I had said earlier, our lives were never going to be ordinary.

Than after what felt the longest time of just staring at each other, Beck did something unexpected. We kissed. And I've never felt more at home now, wrapped in his arms in an embrace. With everyone still watching.

And I could care less. This was where I belonged. Here on the Grid, surrounded by the programs I had grown up with. Nothing would ever take that away. Not Dyson or SHIELD.

AN: So that's the end of it. Like I said, there may or may not be a bonus chapter. And the next book will likely be started on Monday if I get the chance, Easter is a big day for my family. First we go to the dawn service at church, than spend the rest of the day with my dad's side of the family. Yep, family is very important to us :) So thanks to 2theSky, Sunofaia and Panda Bear Lover 317 for reviewing! You guys are awesome :D

Lyrics come from Goodbye Ordinary and New Lease On Life from MercyMe