TRON- Repurpose III

Title: Repurpose
Chapter(s): III
Author/Artist: Emo_Hazard/Jeklyn~Hyde
Pairing/Character/etc: Tron, Clu, Flynn, semi- Flynn/Tron, Clu/Tron.
Fandom: Tron, Tron: Legacy
Rating(per chapter): PG-13
Warnings(per chapter): More wangst, attempted molestation, use of the 'w' word and totally none Sueish self cameo.
Summary: The Grid is rebuilding, and Flynn hopes not to repeat the mistakes of the past. But there's still one important person missing, and Flynn needs to find him. But does Tron want to be found?
Disclaimer: Tron © Disney. I own nothing. Savvy?



He was in his arms again, cradled like a favorite toy against his broad chest. It felt good, so very good. Like he needed nothing else to live on. He smiled at every praise, every loving word whispered into his ear. He followed his every instruction, obeyed his every command. Without him, he was nothing.

"I have a task for you, Rinzler." Clu said as he lovingly stroked his hair. He looked up at his master, ready to accept his instructions. "Come with me."

Getting up, he followed Clu out of the room and to the Arena. He didn't notice the glances and stares that followed in his wake. If he had, he would wonder why they looked at him so. What was so unusual in following the Great Liberator and his every word?

The cheers of the crowd echoed out through the Grid. The Arena was the hub of this entire world; everything worth happening took place here. He stood at the Disc War entrance, waiting for the pillar to ascend and take him to the Arena.

"I want you personally to derezz this rogue program. She's been a nuisance since the Purge. Trying to incite rebellion and the like. I cant have that in my perfect system, Rinzler. Destroy her." Clu's hands on his shoulders, rubbing them slowly; was all the incentive he needed.

He purred softly at the touches, taking a deep breath and walking into the lift. Clu smiled as he watched his perfect program depart, know he would not let him down.

The crowds cheers became almost deafening as he finally ascended into the Disc Wars arena. 'RINZLER!' 'RINZLER!' 'RINZLER!' they chanted again and again. He took up his disks, charging them and taking a offensive stance, drawing even louder cheers from the audience.

He spotted his opponent on the other side of the ring. She stood with her back to him, taking her disk in hand as she turned to face him. Her eyes and hair were a matching dark brown, her face a look of grim determination.

But the moment her eyes focused on her adversary, they softened into shock.

"Tron, sir?" she spoke.

That name made something in him twitch. In retaliation, he lunged for her, throwing his discs to opposite sides, hoping to catch her in a cross fire. She leapt into the air, flipping as she threw her own disc at him. The three discs bounced and collided with each other, sending them back to the hands of their wielders.

"Sir, what are you doing?" she said again, clearly distress at fighting him.

He didn't react at all. He took up his discs again, flipping and maneuvering to out of the way of her attacks, countering when he could. She was young, but she was experienced in disc combat. Even with one weapon, she held off his attacks admirably, but not without injury.

He saw an opening and took it. Dropping down he kicked her legs out from under her then rearing back on his hands to launch her clear across the arena. She hit the wall hard and fell to the floor with a 'thud'. He marched across the floor, moving in for the kill.

"Tr…. Traitor…" she said, the wind knocked out of her. He stopped, taking up a stance again incase she attacked. "How could you let this happen to you? I thought you were better than this… stronger… why?"

Her voice cracked with sorrow. Why was she sad? He didn't understand. They were enemies. They were meant to fight and derezz one another. But there was something in her voice, something that made his limbs shake.

She saw his hesitation and made her move. Grabbing up her disc, she rolled and launched herself off the wall straight at him.

"LONG LIVE THE USERS!"

In her excitement, she failed to see the discs leave his hands. Failed to see them bounce off the walls and upward at her. Failed to feel them tear into her until she was nothing but cubed bits of data raining down on him like cyber gore.

He stood unflinching as the remains of the rogue program showered down on him. The discs returned to his hands and he made one last show of his agility to please Clu and the crowd. They roared in approval, clapping and whistling. The lift descended back into the waiting are, where Clu meet him with an approving smile.

"You did well, Rinzler. I'm so very proud of you." he said sweetly, his hand coming up to brush the hair out of his face.

The smile turned to confusion when Clu's fingers felt a wetness of his face. He took his hand away and examined the liquid on his finger tips. Looking back at him, Clu saw his loyal programs eyes turning crimson and puffy. He frowned, summoning a guard over so he could wipe the offending fluid off on their armor.

"I suggest you keep your helmet on if you're going to be doing that. I don't need the people seeing a flaw in my perfect program." Clu said before leaving, his coat billowing behind him as he walked.

He raised a hand to his face, feeling the strange, warm substance for himself. It was clear, almost unnoticeable on his black gloved hand. He blinked (a rare action) and felt his eyes sting with the salty fluid. He didn't like it. And if Clu disapproved, he liked it even less.

With a thought, his black helmet covered his wet face, hiding his flaw from the rest of the Grid.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tron woke up with a start. He didn't shot up out of the bed or scream. His eyes just snapped open and he could feel the nervous energy surging through him. Slowly he sat up in bed, surveying the little room with unblinking eyes.

His keen ears picked up a low, rumbling noise from the other side of the room. Sure enough he found Flynn dead asleep in the chair, snoring loudly as his head rolled to one side and his mouth fell open.

Tron lifted the covers off himself and put his bare feet on the floor. He paused, looking down at his newly exposed skin. He had no idea he even had skin under his armor. The carpeted floor was soft on his soles; he almost sighed from the feeling.

The program lifted himself up and started to walk, gently opening and shutting the door so as not to disturb Flynn. He explored the small home Flynn had made for himself. Nearly all white, save for a few splashes of color here and there, all the more illuminated by the stark contrast. Tron glided his fingers over the small couch, taking in the texture of the fabric.

Texture, even feeling all together was something Tron hadn't experienced for a long time. Aside from… He shook his head, trying to banish the thoughts from his mind. He made his way to the large window, hesitantly stepping through the energy field and out into the open.

He felt anxiety well up in his chest, his legs threatening to turn him around and back into the loft. But Tron planted his feet firmly on the black stone beneath him. He stared out into the emptiness, almost comforted by it. That meant there was no one else out there. No one to see him as he is.

No one to touch or hurt him.

"Tron?!" came Flynn's worried voice from inside. The User entered the living room, eyes darting frantically about until they spotted the program outside on the outcrop.

"Man, don't go wondering off on me! Jeez, give this old fart a heart attack, why don't you?" Flynn staved off the urge to throw an arm around Tron's shoulder, not wanting to scare the program again.

"So… like the view?" he said awkwardly, needing to keep talking despite not knowing what to talk about. Tron looked down, about as much of a nod in agreement as he could muster.

Flynn stood quietly at Tron's side, his toes curling with unspent anxiety. He felt a little… off about this whole situation. What with Tron being practically knocked up by his rogue digital copy and all. Did Tron even know about it? If not, how would he take the news?

Flynn honestly couldn't imagine Tron responding positively to the news. Or with a baby bump. The thought of it sent a funny feeling akin to nausea and the heebie jeebies to the Users gut.

"Hey, lets go back inside. I can make you something to eat if you're hungry. How's that sound?" he asked. Tron slowly turned and went back inside, taking each step cautiously. Flynn followed not far behind.

As he followed, Flynn began to question his eye sight, swearing he was seeing something wrong.

"Hey, Tron? Hang on for a sec." Obediently, Tron stopped and turned to face Flynn. The User waved a hand over his head, then Tron's. Sure enough he found the problem.

Tron had gotten shorter.

"The hell-?" Flynn pondered out loud. The circuits connected when the obvious reason came to mind. Clu.

Aside from brainwashing and completely fucking up the poor programs coding, he altered Tron's appearance parameters and made him a few inches shorter.

What the hell?

Flynn sighed and shook his head. "Have a seat, man. I'll get a meal going."

Again, Tron obeyed and sat himself in one of the arm chairs and Flynn busied himself in the small kitchenette. Their meal was eaten in silence. Flynn enjoyed a digitized ham and cheese omelet while Tron slowly nursed a bowl of chicken noodle soup.

Flynn kept a close watch on the program to make sure he didn't choke. Though his physical appearance included teeth, the User doubted Tron ever had to use them. The rest of the day went by uneventfully. Or what could be called 'daytime' in a world with no sun. Flynn had stopped trying to keep track a long time ago.

Tron lay in his bed, curled up under the feather down comforter, eyes twitching under his eyelids. Flynn stayed with him for a little while before excusing himself to the living room. It was time to make a call.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sam was more than a little annoyed when his 'read and snuggle' session with Quorra was interrupted. His phone was ringing in his pocket and it was disturbing something a little further south, but the younger Flynn tried gallantly to ignore it. Excusing himself, Sam left the little shanty of a home he had and went outside to talk.

"Hello?"

"Hey, kiddo." the voice freezes Sam's blood and stops his heart.

"Dad?"

"Alive and kicking, sport." said Flynn's jovial voice.

There was much shouting in relief and triumph, Sam so very happy that he hadn't lost his father again. Quorra even put down her copy of 'Around the World in 80 Days' to join in on the celebration.

"Okay, okay. All hugs and handshakes aside, I need a favor, son." said Flynn, his tone turning serious.

"No problem, dad. Name it."

"I need you guys to bring Alan into the Grid." he said firmly.

"Dad, you sure about that? Does Alan even know about the Grid?" asked the younger Flynn.

"He doesn't. But I figure you could explain all that to him before you get him here."

"Well, okay. But why do you need Alan?"

"I found Tron and he'd messed up big time." that was about as mildly as Flynn could put it. "Alan knows Tron's original coding better than I do, so I need him here to help patch the poor guy up. Think you can get him to the arcade at least?"

"I got it covered, dad. We'll be there as soon as we can." Father and son said their good byes and ended the line.

Quorra overjoyed knowing her mentor and her hero were both alive. She and Sam shared a victory hug and a couple of beers, cuddling and sharing gentle kisses. Sam was willing to wait and let Quorra make the first, to let her decide just how knowledgeable she wanted to become in the ways of the Users.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Flynn cut the connection and returned to Tron's room to check up on the program. Opening the door, he saw Tron sitting up and grasping the sheets tightly in his hands. His blue eyes shinned with new tears and fear.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Flynn went to the bed and settled on the edge, taking Tron in his arms and rocking him gently. "Having nightmares? I wouldn't be surprised, all things considered. But don't let them get to you, man. That's all in the past now. You and me, we're gonna get through this. I even sent word for Alan to come and try to help you. I bet that's gonna make your day, man. Meeting Alan1 in the flesh, right?" he grinned and ruffled Tron's hair lovingly, hoping any of this was getting through to the broken program.

Tron responded all right. He picked his head up to look straight into Flynn's eyes, his own expressing so much more than his face could at the moment. There was want in those gray-blue eyes, a want that Flynn instantly recognized and it sent a shock of something into his belly that he couldn't begin to describe.

Tron leaned forward and pressed his mouth firmly against Flynn's, opening his lips and dipping his tongue into the Users mouth. Flynn barely had time to register just what the hell Tron was doing to him before the program rolled them to where Flynn was on top of him, straddling his waist.

"Holy shit, Tron! Wha-" he didn't get to finish the sentence. Tron wrapped his arms around Flynn's shoulders, crushing their mouths together again. Flynn wrestled to get out of the programs grip, succeeding finally and flinging himself to the other side of the room to catch his breath.

Tron looked at the User with confusion, as of he'd done something wrong. His eyes were wide and tear stained, his clothing and hair disheveled and rumpled, making for a good picture of whorishness. He got off the bed and down on his hands and knees, crawling over to Flynn to lay small kisses on his bare feet. The User was shocked and appalled. Not so much by Tron's behavior, but from knowing he was basically the cause of it.

Clu couldn't take all the blame. After all, Flynn created him to seek perfection. Perfection in Clu's eyes meant that everything and everyone was to be repurposed to suit him. And it suited him to remake Tron as the obediently, semi-mindless Rinzler. A program who would obey the usurpers every twisted whim. Including demeaning himself into whore for Clu's enjoyment.

Flynn knelt down and grasped Tron's shoulders, making the program look at him dead on. "Hey, hey." he tried to sound calm despite his racing heart. "You don't have to do that, Tron. C'mere, lets get you back to bed."

Tron looked like he had just gotten slapped in the face. He looked confused and heart broken. His head dropped and he let Flynn put him back in the bed, let himself be tucked in. Had he done something wrong? He thought he would like this? Like all the times before…

A frozen gear finally turned in Tron's mind. What was supposed to be a kind gesture to a dear friend for caring for him had degenerated into something sink and perverse.

He silently cried himself to sleep, to drained and to tired to care about anything anymore.

Outside, Flynn meditated on his pillows, trying to banish certain thoughts from his mind before Sam and the others arrived.