I Fight For The Users!

Summary: SPOILERS. Flynn survives erasing Clu, and finds that he has to help rebuild the grid. First, though, he has to help Tron
Warning(s): Spoilers for the movies Tron and Tron: Legacy; spanking; some mentions of violence

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As Tron fell slowly through the grid towards his destruction, only one feeling stayed at the forefront of his mind - relief. He was no longer corrupted by Clu. He was dying, but he was a free program - and at the last, he’d turned against the one who’d corrupted him.

When the wave of energy blasted through the grid, Tron still felt no fear. As it hit him, however, his mouth opened in a silent scream. Pieces of him were being sliced away, and though he almost welcomed the pain, it was still agony.

But his fall was beginning to slow even more, and the pain was fading gradually. When Tron landed finally, it was without the death he’d expected.

For several long moments, the program just lay there on his back. When he opened his eyes, his vision seemed strange - and it took a bit of squinting for him to realise why.

The helmet he’d been wearing for so long was gone.

Tron got to his feet, running his hands over his body. It seemed impossible, but that wave of energy had returned his body to what it had been before his corruption at Clu’s hands. The only time he’d seen this sort of power before had been at the hands of a user - Flynn.

But Tron had never seen power at this level before. It had been a huge explosion; and Tron had a very bad feeling about what had caused it.

As he looked around, Tron could see other programs apparently affected by the wave. All had almost identical looks of confusion on their faces, but Tron was only concerned with one thing - where was Flynn?

And for that matter, what had happened to Clu?

The wave had turned everything to rubble, and it took Tron a few minutes to get his bearings. He knew, of course, where Flynn had been trying to get to - but it took him a little while to get his bearings.

As soon as Tron knew where he was, though, he began walking. It would probably take him a while to get to where Flynn was - or had been - but right now, he couldn't think of what else to do.

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When Flynn had erased Clu, he'd been expecting to die; he'd been prepared for it. He'd seen Sam and Quorra escape, and believed he'd be able to die without any regrets; fully immersed in his zen state.

But Flynn wasn't dead - though Clu had been erased. As he looked down at himself, however, he realised that not all of Clu had been erased.

Because Flynn's appearance had changed, becoming the age he'd been when first entering the grid. Apparently, Flynn hadn't killed himself and Clu; perhaps they'd even been merged together somehow.

Of course, it didn't make a difference when it came down to it. The doorway to the human world was closed - and though Flynn might be able to page Alan to get him or Sam to open the doorway from the other side, he knew that there was going to be a lot of work to go into rebuilding the grid.

Sam had Quorra in the real world, and though Flynn was going to miss them both, he knew that they could deal with whatever came their way. And maybe one day, Flynn would be able to see them both again.

There was someone behind him. Flynn couldn't say how he knew that, but he did. He turned round slowly, and raised his eyebrows as he noticed Tron standing there. "Hey, man. Thanks for what you did back there."

Tron eyed Flynn, his expression unreadable. "Are you Flynn? Or are you Clu?" As he spoke, he reached behind him for his identity disk.

Flynn wasn't quite sure how to answer that, since he wasn't sure himself who he was; but that wasn't really something he should admit to anyone, not even Tron. "I'm Flynn."

"You look like Clu."

"Clu's dead. I destroyed him." Flynn paused, a little taken aback by his own feelings of regret. Of course, Clu had been his own creation. Perhaps it wasn't that surprising that he was feeling bad for it.

Tron relaxed slowly, lowering his hand and straightening up. He then stepped forward, and clasped Flynn's forearm. "It's good to see you."

It had occurred to Flynn - on more than one occasion - that it was easy for a user to mislead a program, since most programs couldn't lie. Tron believed him because, although Clu could deliverately mislead or withhold information, he hadn't lied.

But as he looked at Tron, Flynn noticed that the program was avoiding meeting his eyes. He frowned, and pushed Tron back a little to look into his eyes. "What's wrong?"

"We need to rebuild the grid," Tron replied, glancing down briefly.

That was probably part of it, but Flynn knew that there was more than that. Could programs feel guilty for something that was out of their control? For all his time spent inside the grid, Flynn still didn't really know everything about the programs; though he'd learned a lot more than when he'd first entered the grid.

"You know you couldn't have stopped Clu, right?" Flynn asked. "He was too powerful. You're lucky he only decided to turn you, and not destroy you."

Tron was silent for so long that Flynn thought he wasn't going to speak at all. When he finally did, his voice sounded quite strange. "It was wrong. I knew it was, but I couldn't break free; even when I realised I was fighting a user."

"You were able to break free when it really counted, though," Flynn pointed out. Seeing the look on Tron's face, however, he sighed, realising that his words weren't getting through. "I don't have any suggestions to help you," he admitted.

"I'm not asking you to help me," Tron replied. "All I can do is make up for what I became here, and try to fix the grid as best I can."

"I'll help," Flynn said, a little eagerly.

Tron watched him, and then turned to look at the place where Sam and Quorra had been. "I thought you were going home."

There was no accusation in Tron's voice, but Flynn felt the weight of guilt from his lack of action keenly. He'd been eager to protect Quorra, but in doing so, he'd abandoned the grid and its inhabitants. He'd stood by and done nothing while Clu had enslaved the programs.

"The gateway's been shut," Flynn said out loud. "I couldn't leave even if I wanted to." Maybe he would be able to eventually; but he wasn't even going to think about that right now.

"I see." Tron nodded slightly, and sighed. "We have a lot of work to do." He turned to leave.

"Wait." Flynn put his hand on Tron's arm, stopping him.

Tron paused, but didn't turn to face Flynn. "We have a lot of work to do," he repeated. "There is no point in talking about this anymore."

"I know you're feeling guilty," Flynn said after a brief hesitation. "I can help."

"Is that what this feeling is?"

Flynn nodded. "Yeah. And if I help you, it won't be pleasant or fun; but it'll help you feel better."

Tron looked at Flynn for a few moments, and then slowly lowered his head. "I don't understand how you intend to help me; but if you can, I'd be grateful." He made no attempt to remove Flynn's hand from his arm.

"You might not think so once I start..." Flynn looked around, and frowned slightly. "Is there someplace I can sit down?"

"That wave of energy turned everything to rubble. I don't think there's anything left..." Tron looked at Flynn. "Why do you need to sit down?"

Flynn didn't immediately answer that question, instead continuing to look around. His gaze fell on the transport ship he, Quorra, and Sam had used to fly in, and he thought maybe that could work better. "Never mind." He used his grip on Tron to tow the program over to the ship.

"Where are we going?"

"Right now? Nowhere." Flynn let go of Tron's arm, and stepped behind the program, giving him a shove over the ship. "Grab onto the far edge," he ordered.

Tron slowly stretched out his hands to grasp the edge of the ship, stretching himself over enough that he was almost standing on tiptoe. "Is this really going to work?" he asked, sounding doubtful.

"It's punishment," Flynn said, knowing that programs had access to all sorts of information - and it shouldn't surprise him that Tron knew about what he was going to do. He braced his hand on Tron's back, and then raised his other hand, bringing it hard down on Tron's bottom.

Tron jerked a little, but didn't make any sound.

Flynn landed his hand in a harder swat, and continued to smack Tron's bottom hard, feeling the program jerk every time his hand fell, though he still made no sound. Flynn continued for several more hard smacks, and then realised he wasn't really getting anywhere. He thought briefly about what to do, and then called on the power he still had a user, lightly brushing his hand over the lower part of Tron's blue uniform.

Tron flinched as, responding to Flynn's thoughts and touch, his trousers slid down around his ankles, leaving his bottom bare and showing some signs of the spanking he'd already received.

Flynn hesitated briefly, but then - moving his other hand back to Tron's back - he resumed spanking the program's now-bare bottom. This time, although Tron made no move to get away, he started to squirm a little - and if Flynn listened closely, he could just about hear some tears starting.

Knowing that he was at least getting somewhere, Flynn increased the force and speed behind the swats, hearing Tron beginning to sob as his bottom grew hot underneath Flynn's punishing hand. He moved his hand lower down to land some swats to the tops of Tron's thighs, and saw the program finally lower his head and go limp.

Flynn stopped, finally, and passed his hand over Tron's trousers. The program winced as they were replaced over his sore bottom, and as he stood up, he rubbed at the seat of his trousers, and then wiped at his eyes.

"Feeling better?" Flynn asked.

Tron thought about that for a moment, and then nodded slowly. "Yes, I believe I do. I've been well-punished for my actions and to take away the guilt I feel."

"You feeling up to rebuilding the grid?" At Tron's nod, Flynn grinned and gestured towards the ship. "We can check the damage much better using that."

Tron looked between the ship and Flynn. "Are you serious? I'm not going to be able to sit after this."

"Sure you will. It just won't be very pleasant." Flynn laughed at the look on Tron's face. "Okay, I'll check the situation from the air - you can check it from the ground. Is that better?"

Tron nodded. "Yes, much better."

The End