Tron: Deliverance

RESTART?

Beck was floating, buried deep under cold darkness. That was most of what he felt. It was strange really. There was definitely a piece of him striding through Dyson's headquarters. He had a directive to achieve. But most of him was definitely.... floating? Lost? Buried? He wasn't sure which.

Then there was a flash of pain, he had been hit. This was familiar. He was fighting. Someone was calling for him. But for the life of him he couldn't quite hear their voice. Couldn't quite place who it was. Then there was darkness again.

Then, everything broke open, shattered. And he was in a storm. Fragments of memory ripped out and settled into new places.

.........

Zed pouted as he built his depurposing machine. Beck quietly helping him. Knowing that Zed needed to process for awhile. He'd come around eventually.

"Oh, found it. Here's your wrench" Beck said as he shuffled some tools around and tried to hand Zed his best wrench.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME???" Zed exploded

"That I found your wrench?"

"No dummy! That you're the renegade! And Tron's alive! All of these things would have been good things to tell Zed. But did you? NO"

"I mean, can you blame me? How many times did you say you'd turn the renegade in if you knew who he was?"

Zed crossed his arms, his lip jutting out "That was before"

"Before?"

"UGH are you going to make me say it? Before I thought the renegade was good. Before I was on his...your side"

"To be fair, I wasn't really sure you were on my side till I found out you were trying to build this" Beck tapped the side of the machine. Though he had always thought Zed was as anti-renegade as they came, somehow his friend had come up with the extremely traitorous idea to develop technology to undo CLU's repurposing. Tron had been willing to bring Zed into the revolution when he heard that the young mechanic was nearing a working prototype. It had taken a lot of convincing. But Tron had still agreed.

"Yeah, as soon as I decided to fight the occupation I told you. Crazy huh, trusting your friends to let them in on your crazy plans?"

Beck sighed.

"Zed, I always wanted to tell you. I wanted to tell you why I needed you to cover all those shifts. Or why I missed so much time with you and Mara"

"Then why. Didn't. You. Tell. Us?" Zed enunciated each word. His face guarded and cold.

Beck stared down at his clasped hands, struggling for words.

"I guess, I was willing to risk myself. But I just wasn't willing to risk you. Either of you. You both nearly got sent to the games the cycle after Argon was occupied. You were almost ripped apart when Tesler had his asinine idea to exchange my capture for a roadster" Beck rolled his eyes at the memory and Zed snorted "You were in so much danger just being in the same city as me. I couldn't handle losing either of you if you knew the truth"

"Pretty sure I would have made fewer dumb decisions if I had known you were the renegade" Zed groused.

Beck just raised an eyebrow at him.

"Fine, I would have still made dumb decisions" Zed finally cracked and released and hard laugh. Beck chuckled along with him.

"I really am sorry" Beck said solemnly.

"Then don't do it again" Zed ordered.

"Are we...still friends, Zed?" Beck asked hopefully.

Zed gave him a slim smile "Yeah, were still friends. Although I cant wait to watch Mara rip you a new one when she finds out"