The girl sat in the holding cell, her limp orange hair hanging in her eyes. Nervously, she kept darting a glance towards the door, outside of which she could hear the Guardian talking to his assistant.

“Gar, we had a heck of a time catching her… thief, that’s the problem… been causing trouble…”

The sprite shook her head. She’d just been hungry; the only trouble had been caused when that woman started screaming about street trash. As if it was her fault…

“… to be done with her?”

“Who knows… no living relatives, from what we can tell…”

No, no, of course she didn’t. What were they thinking, even bothering to look?

“…sent to a foster home?”

“Either that, or deleted. Nobody seems to care much.”

The girl’s lip curled in a sneer. How very like them, not caring… Turning, she felt her way around the small cell, scrabbling in the dirt with her slender lavender fingers. She couldn’t be deleted, couldn’t let them do that. They’d already deleted…

No, don’t think about that. Raising her dirty fingers to her cheeks, she brushed the tears away, smudging her cheeks with dirt. Once more, she started brushing the dirt away, searching for some way out. Her fingers curled in a crack and she started digging more furiously, prying the stone away. A small hole was revealed and she dug more away. Glancing once over at the door, she could hear them moving about – although whether they were preparing to enter or preparing to leave, she couldn’t tell.

She had just turned back to her work when she heard the door handle move. Her efforts increased in urgency and she squirmed frantically through a hole just barely big enough to accommodate her slight form.

Without a moment to spare – the instant she had ducked out of sight, the door opened and the Guardian walked in.

“What…?” he said in confusion. “Excalibur, light…”

The sharp spotlight ran right over the hole and the girl pressed herself further back, hoping to avoid detection.

“What that little… Talbet, come look at this.”

The sound of footsteps indicated that another sprite had entered. “What is it, sir?”

“She’s gotten out. Through a hole in the wall, just like a little mouse.”

“You think there’s any use in going after her?”

The girl held her breath, praying they wouldn’t.

“No, she’s probably long gone by now. Ah well. She’s not that expert, she’ll get caught again.” The light faded and the door closed, allowing the girl to breath freely again. Get caught again? Not if she had anything to say about it. Never again would she allow herself to be trapped like a common rat again.

As she forced her way through the crumbling dirt, headed for the outside, she paused. No, not a rat. A mouse.

The Mouse.

The newly named Mouse tried to clean the dirt from her face as she walked barefoot back to her haunt. She didn’t have much luck, considering her hands were dirtier than her face. Before she had gotten within a foot of the door, a dark shape dropped down from the overhang, landing in front of her.

Only a long time of being used to this let Mouse have the self-control to not jump.

“So, little mink, where have you been?”

“Guardian got me,” she answered shortly. “Ah got out.”

“I can see that.” The shadow rose to its full height, proving to only be slightly taller than Mouse. “Did you manage to actually get anything for your troubles, mink?”

“A name,” Mouse replied quietly, not meeting the other’s eyes.

“Oh, a name, little mink? How special. And what is it this time?”

“A real name,” she spat, glowering up at him. “One they’ll know me by all ovah the Net.”

“Delusions of grandeur, again, little mink?” He clicked his tongue. “Poor little mink, can’t get it through her head that all she’ll ever be is a little street rat, living off of the goods of others and the thieving talents of her gang because she cannot get anything for herself.”

Mouse said nothing, just looked at the ground, knowing better than to argue with Kell when he was in this mood.

The sprite sighed and put a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Oh, go get something to eat, mink. Honestly, why I keep letting you pathetic little weaklings into my gang, I’ll never know…”

“Kell?”

The rusty orange sprite looked up, raising a dark blue eyebrow at the girl standing in his impromptu doorway. “What is it, little mink?”

The purple sprite took another step into the room. “What do you know about hackin’?”

Kell laughed. “Hacking, little mink? You can’t even thieve properly and you want to know how to hack?”

“Yes.” Her voice was harsh and her eyes flashed. “Ah want you to teach me.”

Kell shook his head. “No. I’m not teaching you how to hack, mink. That’s an advanced skill; once you get how to steal down, then we’ll think about it.”

She turned towards the door and Kell went back to sorting through the last day’s intake. “Kell?”

He looked up to see that she had stopped in the door and was turning back to look at him. “What now?”

“Ah… Ah’m leavin’. The gang.”

Kell rose to his feet, scattering jewelry all over the floor. “What?! We took you in and…”

“Ah know. Ah thank you, but Ah’m leavin’. Ah need to… Ah need to be on my own now.”

Kell sat down again, any trace of friendliness gone from his eyes. “Very well, mink. Good riddance to you – and good luck in the ‘real world’. You’ll need it, since I highly doubt you can make it on your own.”

Mouse smirked as she walked along the street, lost once more in those memories. Not make it, indeed. Drawing her cloak tighter around her, she turned into a side alley and continued her brisk pace.

That had been two years ago. Upon leaving the gang, she had found someone willing enough to teach her to hack. He’d become even more willing once she proved to be a brilliant pupil. Occasionally, Mouse wondered what had possessed her to pursue that, of all things, but fortune had smiled upon her and she wasn’t about to worry about it now.

Her face furrowed as she drew her mind back to the task at hand. Her tutor had managed to give her a registered icon, but he’d been unfortunately deleted before they’d been able to finish the necessary modifications she had requested. Now, she only hoped that the store that she was headed for would receive her as kindly as her old teacher had said.

Mouse clenched a fist under the cloak, eyes scanning the walls for signs of the shop. And once she got those ‘modifications’ done, she would personally go after her frie… teacher’s murderers.

Finding the correct place, she knocked briskly upon the door and waited, looking up and down the alley with a keen sense of paranoia. Hard to believe how different she had become in only two years…

“What do you want?” a voice hissed and Mouse forcibly jerked her mind back to the present.

“Ah have some business for you.”

“We’re closed,” the voice replied sharply and Mouse could sense that the small trapdoor her reluctant merchant was looking through was about to close. Shooting out a hand, she stopped it silently and showed them the ring on her finger. There was a moment of hesitation and a door opened. Mouse walked through the open door and into a small workshop. A one binome glared up at her, bustling about like a nervous Web Creature.

“What do you need, young lady?” he said nervously. “I can’t take long, I have things to do… The only reason I’m helping you is because you have Ferret’s code ring, you KNOW that, don’t you? Yes, of course you do, why am I asking…”

Mouse took off her icon and put it on the desk with more force than intended. “Ah need this reconfigured. Ah need to be able to git out of any room Ah git put in.”

“Oh, I can’t do that, miss, I’m sorry, I can’t mess with icons, not one of that caliber, you’ll have to go somewhere else, I’m sorry…”

Mouse growled slightly, not letting her voice rise to a full-fledged roar. “Ferret told me you could.”

He flitted tensely, obviously not happy with the circumstances. “Not with icons,” he repeated truthfully. “No, can’t do it with them, they aren’t properly equipped for it.”

“Then what?” Mouse demanded, starting to loose patience.

He cowered a bit under her obvious anger and pointed a shaky digit at the ring. “Code rings. I can do it with them. Ferret’s didn’t do that, he never got caught, his just cloaked him, many of them are different…”

Mouse hesitated then twisted the ring off. “Do it then.”

“I don’t know if I can do what you want, miss, I’ve never tried it before, I’d need a way for you to get out, a logical way, some way to initiate it…”

Mouse grit her teeth together, the binome’s incessant chattering starting to grind on her nerves. “Look,” she hissed, leaning forward on the counter. “Ah’m the Mouse. If you need something to initiate it, then…” She only paused for a second, remembering a scribble she had started leaving behind to mock her ‘victims’. Quickly, she scratched it out into the countertop. “Use that,” she snapped.

The binome nodded quickly, but Mouse had a feeling he would have accepted anything as long as it would get rid of her sooner.

“And make it snappy, Ah haven’t got all day,” Mouse growled, leaning against the wall as the binome took the ring to his toolbench.

Mouse left the shop a few hours later, idly playing with her ring. Part of her wanted to take the shopkeeper offline, simply so nobody would be able to tell her secret, but she fought that side fiercely. She wasn’t a murderer, not unless she had more just cause than that. Besides, she had more important things to worry about.

Such as finding some sort of weapon that would suit her and a way out of this User-forsaken system.

Mouse paused before a weapons store, glancing dispassionately over the items displayed in the window. Suddenly, she froze, her eyes landing on a pair of katana blades. She’d always been good at swordfighting; at least she had back when she used to have mock battles with…

Mouse paused, her hand on the handle of the shop’s door. With… who?

Shaking herself, Mouse dismissed it and entered the shop. It wasn’t too long after that that she exited with both blades sheathed on her back.

Mouse hunched over in the dark alley, watching the busy streets of the Supercomputer that lay before her. It had been easy enough to stow away on a ship headed there, cloaking herself as only the Mouse would know how to do. Smiling slightly, she idly played with her ring. Now that she was here, she could hack into the main database and track down Ferret’s murderers.

For a moment, Mouse was a little wary of the fierce, pure rage that soaked into her whenever she thought of them, but her reluctance soon passed. They had double crossed her, tricked her into letting them in, then deleted the only sprite she might have been able to call friend.

They had made a fool of her and she could not tolerate that.

Seeing that the coast was effectively clear of Guardians, Mouse stepped out of the alley and blended seamlessly into the crowd.

Guardian 452 zoomed across the city on his zipboard, sharp brown eyes surveying the busy sector below. Although he showed none of his excitement on the outside, his stomach was aflutter with the excitement of finally being able to go out and, well… guard. It seemed all those years at the academy were worth something after all…

An incredible sense of ‘wrongness’ in the system shocked him out of his thoughts and the Guardian drifted closer to the source of the feeling. It was a curious ability, that was, the power to be able to tell when something was not right in the system.

Carefully scouring the ground, he seemed to isolate the cause. Slowly, he approached the orange haired woman that was hunched over one of the many consoles that lay about the system. She had chosen her place well, it seemed, there was not much traffic in this area, only the stray binome or data sprite wandering by, nowhere near where she was working.

Landing softly behind her, the Guardian crept forward, swiftly catching one of the women’s wrists in a blue hand. “You’re under arrest.”

She whirled, knocking him away and drawing a sword. “Ah don’t think so!” she snapped and he leapt out of the way to avoid being sliced.

“Glitch, containment field!” he snapped and the keytool complied. Her sword clattered to the ground and she struggled a bit, scowling at him. He became most profoundly glad that, for once, Glitch had worked properly.

Mouse growled softly, refraining from raising the pitch to a full roar only because she didn’t want to attract attention. She had been so careful, so incredibly careful, but once she had gotten into the files of the Supercomputer, her mind had become so focused she had completely forgotten about the Guardians.

Without warning, she tensed more as things became abruptly silent. The Guardian noticed it too and looked about warily. Mouse’s stomach tightened as she caught a flash of a cloak, the fine silk something that she knew all too well.

“Let me go,” she hissed at the Guardian. Nodding towards the shadows, she added, “You think Ah’m a menace, you haven’t seen them. If Ah’m tied up like this, Ah’ll be a sittin’ duck.”

He glanced at her, then back at the shadows, quite obviously at a loss for what to do. “How do I know that you aren’t in league with them?”

Mouse smirked humorlessly at him. “You don’t. You’ll have to take my word on it.”

“Or not,” he muttered. “We’re leaving.” He grabbed her shoulder, poking up above the containment field and tried to drag her off. Mouse struggled against his hold.

“You ain’t leavin’ my katana!” she snapped irritably. “Pick it up and take it with, since you obviously ain’t gonna let me git it.”

The Guardian sighed and, with a roll of his eyes, walked over and bent to retrieve the sword. A gunshot zipped out of the shadows, narrowly missing the Guardian and causing Mouse to swear profusely. The bandits melted out of the shadows, the foremost taking great delight in seeing Mouse bound.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the Mouse. Shame about your old teacher, eh?”

Mouse snarled at him and tried to kick the sprite, succeeding only in falling over. “Cursors and clashers, Guardian, let me OUT of this bloody thing!” He looked around at the bandits surrounding them and realized that would probably be the most logical thing to do. Quickly, he disengaged it and Mouse dove for her katana, rising once more with it in her hand.

“Looks like the little rodent has gotten out of her trap,” the leader sneered. “In league with the Guardians, now, Mouse?”

She sneered at him. “Not on your life, sugah. Ah just share their opinions of trash like you!” Swinging her blade, she tried to take him out, but he nimbly danced out of her way.

“Slow and ponderous, just like that foolish teacher of yours. Honestly, Mouse, why you are so insistent about avenging his memory? He was only an old fool that was…”

Mouse cut him off, belting out her full roar. It silenced everyone, bandits and Guardian alike, as she swung at the sprite again. Once more, he dodged back, but his movements were more frantic now. None of them had ever heard a sound quite like that uttered from the mouth of a sprite and they were more than a little unnerved.

Mouse continued her attack, taking out three of the bandits before they got their wits together and realized that they severely outnumbered her. She fought like a wild thing, but they were very close to taking her down when she was suddenly snagged from the battle and rising into the air.

When the Guardian touched down, she turned on him. “Why did you just do that?”

He shook his head. “I don’t have a clue. Has to be the programming, but I couldn’t let them kill you.”

She snarled. “Ah would have killed them, those…”

“They would have killed you,” he said dryly. “No matter how good you are, against those odds…”

Mouse regained her composure, sliding the katana blades back in their sheaths. “Technicalities,” she said breezily. “Ah’m the Mouse, sugah, odds are irrelevant. And Ah hate to be rescued and then run, but Ah’ve got a plane to catch.” Giving him a saucy wink, she sauntered off, calling over her shoulder, “Stay frosty, hun!”

It was only after she was gone that the Guardian remembered that he had theoretically arrested her – which was just what Mouse had planned on.

Mouse tumbled out of her bed, hitting the ground and awakening suddenly. Gingerly rubbing her bottom, she clambered back into her bed and lay there, breathing heavily. Wiping one palm across her forehead, she pushed her sweat soaked hair out of her eyes.

It was peacetime. She shouldn’t be having nightmares now, especially not about her past…

Her throat felt dry and parched, and Mouse swallowed hard, trying to clear it. Stumbling to her feet, she headed for the kitchen unit, still half asleep and groggy. Suddenly, she crashed to the ground for a second time, hearing a loud clattering behind her. Looking, she let out a strangled yelp and rushed to right the Surfbaud as Raytracer materialized before her, sitting on the ground and looking a little dazed.

“Mouse…?”

“Ah’m so sorry…” she stammered, looking unsure whether she should be more worried about the ‘baud or the Surfr. “Ah just wanted a drink, Ah wasn’t lookin’ where Ah was goin’…”

Raytracer took the ‘baud from her, leaning it back up against the wall, and led the hacker over to a sofa. Mouse dropped down into the soft cushions gratefully and Raytracer brought her a drink.

“It’s all right,” he said once he was settled next to her. “I should know better than to leave that thing lying around like that.”

“You ain’t hurt then?”

He shrugged. “Been through worse. What’s wrong with you, though? You look terrible.”

“Thanks, sugah,” Mouse grimaced, setting the glass aside. “Ah thought you were supposed to have a way with women.”

“Only when they don’t trip over me in the middle of the night,” Ray teased gently. She chuckled and he studied her. “I mean it, Mouse, what’s wrong?”

She sighed and leaned against him. “Just… dreamin’.” Before he could think of a reply to that, Mouse drew away and looked into his goggles. “Y’know somethin’, Ray? Ah’m the only REAL outlaw you’ve got here.”

“What are you talking about, Mouse? You know that Bob and I especially have prices on our head, what with Daemon and everything…”

Mouse shook her head, sending disheveled orange hair flying everywhere. “No, that ain’t what Ah meant.” She planted a finger on his chest. “You and Bob are technically legal. He’s a Guardian, despite what Daemon thinks, and you’re a WebSurfah. Ah’m a HACKER, Ray. Ah made my livin’ illegally, Bob even had to arrest me.”

“That doesn’t matter now, Mouse. Is that what this is about? You’re honest NOW…”

“Now,” she replied bitterly. “Ah dunno, Ray. Ah keep thinkin’ about my past…”

He shook his head. “Whatever it is, it can’t be that bad.”

Mouse sighed. “Ah wouldn’t be too sure about that, sugah…”

Even a week later, it bothered Mouse that she had lost so much control upon confronting Ferret’s murderers. That she had shown this ‘weakness’ to a Guardian of all entities made it even worse. But the real problem was that she had taken down at least three of the bandit’s – Layzir’s – men. He would most certainly be after her now. Not because he cared for the fallen, oh no, more like he couldn’t stand the humiliation.

Fist clenching tightly around the ownership chip in her pocket, Mouse brightened a little. She still had her life, her skills, and her weapons. And now, thanks to a well played game of cards, she had a ship. Now she could come and go as she pleased and not have to worry about stowing away upon a shipping truck.

Plus, that meant she’d be able to make it known that she would take jobs. Money would get you everywhere in this world, and it should be easy enough to get a job hacking or as a mercenary. That was one advantage to having lived on the wrong side of the law all her life – the ‘law’ ceased to be important and became only something to avoid at all costs.

Reaching the hanger where her new ship was resting, Mouse surveyed it critically. It would need a Mouse’s touch, but otherwise, it looked to be a fair ship. Confidentially, she strode towards it, swinging into the cockpit with ease, grinning as she started the engine.

Guardian 452 looked up from his packing as his roommate, Adlai Tangent, walked in, holding a datacard and shaking his head with a bemused smile. “Looks like your Mouse is on the move again, Bob.”

Bob looked up from his things as Adlai threw the datacard on the bed. He picked it up and scanned it. “She’s not my Mouse.”

“You certainly act like it,” Adlai teased him, throwing his lean, dark frame into a chair. “I swear, you’ve been more interested in her whereabouts for the past few months…”

“Curiosity!” Bob defended himself, throwing the datacard at Adlai. “She’s an interesting sprite…”

Adlai ducked and rolled his eyes. “Interesting. I swear, Bob, if I didn’t know better, I’d say you were sweet on her!”

Bob turned to glare at him. “I most certainly am not! It’s just plain curiosity, she’s the trickiest hacker I’ve ever heard of.”

Adlai shrugged. “Whatever you say, Bob.” Heaving a dramatic sigh, the deep purple sprite leaned back in his chair, running his hands through his blue hair. “What AM I going to do without you around to tease?”

“I’m sure you’ll find something,” Bob assured him absentmindedly, closing his bag.

“I know!” Adlai proclaimed, bounding to his feet. “I can take up the role of Mouse Hunter for you!”

Bob sighed shaking his head and giving his friend a wry smile. “I can tell you one thing I won’t miss when I get to Mainframe!”

“What’s that?”

“YOUR incessant teasing!”

Mouse carefully guided Ship through the Net, rather relaxed as her hands glided over the familiar controls. When she had received the vessel, its previous owner had already named it “Ship” – why, Mouse didn’t have a clue. She had decided to leave it as it was until she came up with a better name, despite how silly the current one sounded.

Without warning, a shutter wracked the ship and Mouse fought with the controls, trying to stabilize the spin she’d been flung into. She tumbled into a nosedive, the momentum of the speed she’d been going at sending Ship out of control. The hacker flung up her arms in a useless effort to protect her head as she slammed forward, hitting the steering handle and slipping unconscious.

Mouse awoke slowly, eyes fluttering open to stare at a wooden ceiling not too far above her. She lay in a small bed, a bit jumbled as if she’d been tossed there. Stiffly, she got up, sliding her legs around to slip off the bed, permitting herself to stand. It was a small room, bordered on three sides by wooden walls, but the fourth had bars. Outside of the bars sat a binome who seemed to be sleeping. Next to the binome was…

Her katana blades. Mouse curled her lip in a snarl, loathe to the idea that someone had touched her precious weapons without her permission.

She gazed at the snoring binome, idly noting that his eyes were not fully closed. There was a slight shimmer between each bar that led the hacker to suspect a force field, and the keys were too conveniently planted near one of the “openings”.

“So, we like toyin’ with ouh prisonah’s, eh?” Mouse whispered under her breath. She quietly fiddled with her ring, noting with satisfaction that they had not taken if off. Turning, she calmly studied the walls, looking at the various scribbles and drawings over the wooden planks.

“Hey! What are you doing?” the binome snapped, jumping to his feet and proving Mouse’s theory that he hadn’t really been asleep. She looked over her shoulder at him and batted her eyelashes innocently.

“Nothin’ you need to fret about, sugah.” Turning back to the wall, she scribbled her trademark mouse on the wall and was gone before the binome could even blink.

“Captain! Captain, our prisoner has escaped!”

Captain Gavin Capacitor turned from his position near the helm to glare at his approaching crew member. “Gar, lad, what do you mean she’s escaped? Nobody escapes from the hold of the Saucy Mare!”

“The Mouse does, sugah,” a voice drawled and the Captain looked up to see his prisoner lounging against the mast, one of the katana blades sheathed, the other in her hand. “Now, Ah suggest you tell me where my ship is and allow me to leave before things git rathah… unpleasant.”

“By the Code, lassie, the Crimson Binome doesn’t give up that easily! Brothers and sisters, seize this arrogant knave!”

Mouse ducked the file lock shots that were aimed at her, kicking aside one of the binomes that attacked. “Ah guess Ah’m gonna have to do this the hard way,” she murmured to herself, jumping down to the lower level of the deck. Looking around, she saw her ship stuck behind some crates and grinned humorlessly to herself. “They could have hid it a little bettah than THAT…”

“Princess Bula! If you don’t MIND joining our little party up here?”

Mouse let a small expletive slip when ‘Princess’ Bula came lumbering up from below deck. The barbarian towered well over everyone on the ship, including Mouse, despite the fact that she was a one binome.

“Ah think it’s time for me to logoff of here…” Mouse said to herself, reaching behind her to open up the hatch to Ship.

“Don’t just stand there, you scurvy dogs, stop her!” the Captain bellowed as Mouse swung into the cockpit.

“Not today, sugah,” Mouse laughed, starting up the engines and blasting off.

Mouse rose from her bed again, not having gotten a wink of sleep since Ray had tucked her back in. She had shooed him back off to his ‘baud, saying that it wasn’t fair for him to be kept awake by her churning thoughts. It had taken long enough to persuade him, but now the apartment was silent and dark, save for the small red light on the Surfbaud.

Stifling a yawn, she stumbled into the kitchen, walking softly around the Surfbaud so she didn’t wake her lover again. Hands shaking a bit, she mixed up some hot cocoa and sat down at the table, nestling the warm mug between her hands. Staring into it’s depths, Mouse tried to will sleep on herself, even if it meant using the table as a pillow.

It wasn’t that she wasn’t tired. She was exhausted, but her thoughts refused to leave her. In the daylight hours, it was easy enough to shove aside thoughts of her past, but in the dead of night, should she awake from a nightmare…

Mouse grimaced, gulping down a few mouthfuls of her cocoa. She was supposed to be competent, unshakable, not jumping at shadows like this.

The perfect mercenary.

Mouse groaned, dropping her head into her hands. Why did her conscience feel the need to haunt her relentlessly about this? Hadn’t she done enough, risking her life for Mainframe and it’s inhabitants, to soothe her mistakes of the past? Apparently not.

Still, she could hardly feel that they were mistakes. They had brought here where she was today, introduced her to these people, her family – the only family she’d ever known. She had done illegal things in the past, but she was different now! Mouse would never betray the people here, not now. She had risked too much for them and should Daemon come knocking on her door and offer her freedom for their lives, she would spit in the virus’ face.

The vehemence of her own thoughts startled Mouse and she blinked. “Ah must be tired…” she murmured softly, dumping the now cold cocoa down the sink. Setting the mug on the counter, she shuffled back off to bed, thankfully drifting off to sleep before her head even hit the pillow.

“Turbo, sugah, Ah decided a long time ago that Ah had no desire to go back to Mainframe,” Mouse drawled, planting her booted feet firmly on Ship’s console.

The figure on the holo sighed. “Mouse. You’re the only one I know of that could pull this off. The money’s good…”

“Ah’m tellin’ ya, hon, Ah ain’t gonna be too welcome there…”

“I’m sure you’ll find a way to make yourself welcome.”

Mouse shook her head, looking down at her hands. Finally, she nodded slowly and looked up. “Fine. You’ve got yourself a sprite.” She scowled. “You’re just darn lucky that Ah ain’t had many jobs lately…”

Turbo smiled wanly. “I knew I could count on you, Mouse.”

Still regretting the choice she had made, Mouse slowly steered Ship into Mainframe’s skies. Warily, she watched the city below her. “Huntin’ a Web Creature, what has this world come to…” Her voice trailed off as she saw a huge monstrosity standing in the mouth of an alley, slowly stalking towards two sprites that were cornered at the end.

“Well, if this ain’t my lucky day…” Mouse said to herself, steering Ship towards the alley. It would be easier to get them to trust her than she had thought.

It had been a harsh slap in the face to realize that Turbo had intended to ruthlessly delete Mainframe because of the Web Creature. That had been one double cross too many and had somehow thrown her in completely with the Mainframers. Once Bob had been shot into the Web, Mouse had realized that she was irreversibly there for the duration – something in her, perhaps some long buried morality code – had loudly protested against the thought of leaving Mainframe now.

Even if she could have found a way to.

The look of utter devastation on Dot’s face as Mouse had gotten her away from Megabyte and Hexadecimal had sent shivers down the hacker’s spine. She hadn’t realized that Bob had meant that much to Dot – or to Enzo. Even she felt a emptiness in her stomach as she looked around the city, realizing that the Guardian that was supposed to be there was… gone.

Her own reactions had shocked her the most; nothing that had happened should have made her feel so responsible for these people, so… connected with them. But there it was and here she was.

The real blow came when Enzo and AndrAIa rushed off to a Game – and then didn’t return.

“Game over. The User wins.”

“Enzo… NO!” Dot’s scream shot through the silence that followed that ominous announcement. Mouse almost didn’t see her sink to the ground, tears running down her face, as her eyes remained fixed on the purple cube that ascended back into the sky.

It was Dot’s whisper that brought Mouse back to her senses. “No… Enzo…”

Turning, the hacker saw Dot sitting on the floor, her hands covering her face. Swallowing, Mouse walked over to her, fully aware of the stares of everyone else in the room. Gently, she helped Dot to her feet. “C’mon,” she whispered softly. “C’mon, I know it’s hard, keep it together until we’re away from the troops…”

Dot swallowed down her tears with forcible effort and nodded. Mouse led her past the staring binomes, past Phong, and out into the corridor. Once they were away from the prying eyes, Dot slumped again, but Mouse kept a strong arm around her waist, carefully leading her towards her room.

Once she was seated on the bed, Dot’s tears flowed down her cheeks. “How…”

Mouse just shook her head, not knowing what to say. She felt tears prick her own eyelids and furiously blinked them away. The Mouse didn’t cry.

“We can’t have lost both of them,” Dot whispered. “We can’t… I can’t…” She stared up at the hacker, her eyes red with the force of her sorrow. “I know… that I should be strong, but… what do I have left to…”

Mouse knelt next to her, putting a hand on her arm. “Sugah, you’ve got… you’ve got everything left to fight for. Everyone’s depending on you. You can’t give up now. Enzo and Bob wouldn’t want you to…”

“No…” Dot sniffed, desperately trying to wipe her tears away. “No, they wouldn’t have…” She met Mouse’s eyes again. “I don’t even know… why I’m telling you this. We haven’t been the… best of friends…”

“Forget that,” Mouse said roughly. “Just… put that behind us. From now on, we’ll… we’ll try to get along, at best, all right? It would be pure folly to be bickering when Mainframe needs us.” Standing abruptly, she turned towards the door. “I’d… better go help the troops. Just… stay in here until you’re ready to…”

“Mouse.”

Mouse turned, warily looking at Dot.

“Thank you.”

Mouse nodded once and quickly walked out the door. Heading back to the control room, she couldn’t help but wonder why she suddenly felt less… alone.

“I can’t believe you left him back there!” Dot shouted, whirling on Mouse the minute the hacker had gotten her away from the lost Principal Office. “After all Phong’s done for you, how could you just…”

Mouse grit her teeth and clamped one hand over Dot’s mouth, the other resting heavily on her shoulder. “Sugah. We didn’t have a choice. He WANTED us to go.”

Dot broke away from Mouse, turning her back on the other woman. “But…”

Mouse glanced a few feet away at where the other rebels were milling. “No buts now, hun. You need to compile up and lead this bunch of ragtags. We’re all countin’ on you!”

“We should all be counting on Phong,” Dot whispered. “I can’t believe we left him back there… for Megabyte…” Her voice choked up and her shoulders shook. “By the Net, Mouse, I can’t do this. I’m losing everyone… First Bob, then Enzo, now Phong…”

Mouse grew silent. Every time she saw Dot display this much emotion – which was becoming more and more frequent, it seemed – she got a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach. She didn’t have a clue what to say to the other woman; she’d never lost anyone that meant that much to her, except Ferret… And even he hadn’t provoked THIS much of a reaction in her.

“They… they wouldn’t want you to just… give up…” Mouse said awkwardly. “They’d want you to keep goin’…”

Dot laughed bitterly, straightening up and swiping tears from her eyes. “They would, wouldn’t they. Not that it really seems to matter much anymore…” Her voice trailed off and she looked up at the sky, her jaw clenching. Mouse had a pretty good idea of what she was thinking about.

Shutting her eyes briefly, Mouse swallowed hard before opening them again and placing a hand on Dot’s shoulder. “C’mon. We’d bettah git away from here before Megabyte gits any bright ideas to come lookin’ for us.”

Weeks went by and the rebels managed to stay hidden, performing hit and run strikes on Megabyte’s forces. Even their best efforts seemed to do nothing but annoy the virus and it was plain that everyone was loosing hope. Dot and Mouse both struggled to keep up at least a façade of optimism, but it got harder with each passing day. Sector after sector was destroyed, and binome after binome was infected.

Mouse sighed and looked out at the dark and degrading sight of Mainframe. Even when she hadn’t really cared about the city, it had struck her as… well, beautiful. It had a comforting quality to it that she envied.

Maybe that was why she could give up her life for it now…

Shaking her head slightly, Mouse stepped out of her hiding place, slinking along in the shadows. She didn’t have the time or the opportunity to stop and sort out her life right now; she had a job to do. The sooner she got it done, the sooner she could get back to the relative safety of the hideout…

“Well, Mouse, what a surprise it is to see YOU here.”

Mouse leapt into the air and whirled about, her katana blade sliding into her hand. Her smile was forced and false, much like the emotion in her opponent’s voice. “Why, Megababe, honey, Ah was just lookin’ for you.” Inwardly, she was cursing profusely; she couldn’t be caught, not NOW.

“Come now, Mouse, is there really such need for toys like that around me? Is that any way to treat an old business partner?” Megabyte carelessly waved at her katana, which Mouse just gripped tighter.

Smiling wanly, she replied, “It’s because of that ‘business’ that Ah know bettah than to trust you any fathah than Ah can throw you.”

Megabyte shook his head. “Such words, Mouse. And when I have a proposition for you…”

Mouse narrowed her eyes. “Ah don’t want to hear anythin’ from YOU.”

“Really, Mouse, why do you stay with these rebels? They can’t possibly be paying you more than *I* could…”

“It ain’t about the money anymore,” Mouse growled, backing up a bit. “It might have been once, but… it ain’t anymore.”

“I don’t think you quite understand what I’m saying, Mouse. Either you join me, or…”

Mouse stifled a curse as viral troops slowly stepped out of the shadows, effectively surrounding her.

“Or I’m afraid I’m going to have to delete you.”

Mouse paused for a moment before laughing heartily, noticing that she had her back to a literal wall. “You wish, sugah,” she drawled before making use of her skills and leaving behind only the mouse scribble to mock her would-be captor.

“Where have you been?” was the first thing that Dot said to Mouse as she walked into the hideout. Mouse sighed heavily and flung herself onto a chair, a tad out of breath from eluding Megabyte’s henchmen.

“Megabyte decided to offah me a… position,” Mouse scowled.

“And…?” Dot asked, a dangerous edge to her voice.

Mouse’s head snapped up, glaring at the other woman. “What are you sayin’?” she snapped.

“I was just saying…”

Mouse got to her feet. “No, what are you sayin’?”

Dot was quiet.

“What is it goin’ to take to get you to trust me?!” Mouse shouted. “What more am I goin’ have t’ do? March right up to Megabyte’s door and…”

“Stop!” Dot snapped, cutting Mouse off with an abrupt hand motion. Every eye in the room was turned to the two arguing women and Dot grabbed Mouse’s arm in a steel grip. “We are taking this outside,” she hissed. “I will not argue with you in front of the troops.”

“How very noble of you.”

Dot scowled and shoved her through the door to her office, slamming the door behind her. Leaning against it, she turned a dagger sharp glare on the hacker. “Where do you get off…”

“Where do YOU get off accusin’ me of joining that… *virus*?” Mouse demanded, matching Dot’s glare with one of her own. “Do you think Ah’m THAT shallow? If so, why in the Net have Ah been stickin’ around this long? It’s not like you are payin’ me…”

“I was just asking what happened, you took it entirely the wrong way. You’re the one who thinks I don’t trust you! If I didn’t trust you, would I keep giving you power in this…”

“Hopeless cause?” Mouse supplied caustically.

“If it’s so hopeless, why don’t you just LEAVE then? Nobody’s forcing you to stick around here!” Dot snapped, storming over to her desk.

Mouse sighed heavily. “Nobody but myself…” she muttered and slammed a fist against the wall. “By the Net, Dot…”

“What?” Dot muttered.

“User… you’re not the only one that misses them!”

Silence permeated the room and Dot stared at her. “What?” she repeated.

“Ah cain’t just leave,” Mouse admitted softly. “Ah’ve gotta… cursors, Ah’ve gotta make Megabyte pay for what he did. What he’s doin’.”

“I did just want to know what happened,” Dot said softly. “I know that I didn’t trust you before, but I should think that by now we can…”

Mouse smiled slightly. “If it means anythin’, Ah told him no. But Ah think Ah made him mad.”

Dot looked up at her, a smile touching her own lips. “Isn’t that all we’ve been doing?”

“Just wish we could do more…” Mouse said, her gaze darkening. “Have you seen the city lately?” She shook her head. “Even if we win… how are we goin’ to fix THAT?”

“I don’t know…” Dot sighed. She dropped her head into her hands. “I’m not sure I know much of anything anymore.” She closed her eyes tightly and let out a heavy sigh before looking at Mouse. “Isn’t there anything left?”

Mouse shook her head slowly and Dot bit her lip.

“If only Bob or Phong was here…” Mouse said bitterly. “Seems like a silly thang to wish for, but… they always seem to win…” Aware of what she had just said, Mouse quickly looked at Dot. “Ah’m sorry, Ah didn’t…”

Dot shook her head. “No…” she said softly, looking at Mouse with a sad smile. “I don’t know if it’s good or bad, but… it’s starting not to hurt so much anymore.” Her smile turned bitter. “Maybe we’re just loosing the ability to feel anything, Mouse. Megabyte’s legacy indeed…”

Mouse idly looked up from her work as the door slid open and Hack and Slash entered. She very nearly turned back to her things until she caught sight of the two sprites following them. One was tall, green, and unfamiliar – although there WAS something about him that made her wonder if she did know him after all… – but the other…

Her datapad clattered to the ground and her jaw dropped. Bob saw her staring and walked quietly over as Hack and Slash hurried over to present the green-skinned stranger to Dot. “Hello, Mouse.”

Mouse worked her jaw a couple times, trying to force something out other than incoherent sounds. “Bout… time you got home, Guardian,” she gasped out, struggling to maintain her trademark wit. “We’ve been workin’ pretty hard while you’ve been slackin’ off in the Web!”

Bob chuckled and shook his head. “I see some things never change.”

Mouse shook her head, still at a loss for words. Finally, she said, “You certainly know the right time to come in and save the day. Ah swear, Bob, Ah could just kiss you…”

“I don’t really think that’s necessary, Mouse…”

The hacker didn’t let him finish before she tackled him, swinging him down and kissing him abruptly on the mouth. When she finally let him up, Bob was gasping for air. “It’s… nice to see you too… Mouse…”

He turned around and turned a rather nice shade of purple as he noticed that Dot and Matrix were staring at him. Saying the first thing that came to mind, he exclaimed, “Dot!”

Mouse shook her head as she watched the couple awkwardly greet each other. *Blast it, Dot, you don’t shake hands with somebody that you’ve been missing for nearly a year…* Mouse thought with a sigh. Then again, it probably wouldn’t look too good for them both to kiss him. *Whoops.*

It was awhile later that Mouse, Dot, Bob, Matrix – Mouse had been quite surprised to learn that THIS was Enzo, but managed to take it in stride – and some of the higher-ranking binomes were gathered around some maps and data, trying to figure out the best way to counterattack Megabyte. Mouse wasn’t sure what triggered it – perhaps somebody said or did something – but abruptly, Dot stood up and, without a word, walked into her office.

Mouse only paused a minute before following her. Swinging open the door, she said, “All right, sugah, what do you think you’re doin’?”

Dot looked up abruptly, wiping tears from her eyes. “Oh, Mouse, I was just…”

“Can the fearless leader routine. Ah want to know what’s goin’ on between you and Bob! If you’re still mad about that little kiss Ah gave him…”

Dot hesitated for a minute and Mouse wondered if she had hit it head on. “No,” Dot said finally. “No, it’s not that…”

“Then what in the Net IS it?”

“I can’t face him,” Dot said plaintively. “Not after what I did. I gave up HOPE! I didn’t think he’d ever come back.” Her tears strengthened, running rivulets down her cheeks. “I stopped believing in him.”

“Sugah…” Mouse said softly, kneeling down next to the sobbing sprite. “We’ve all lost hope, all changed. One thang’s still the same though – your love for that sprite out there and his love for you. Go to him.”

Dot sniffed and wiped her tears away. Looking at Mouse, she said, “You think so?”

Mouse smiled. “Ah know so. C’mon, girl, you didn’t cry yourself to sleep every night he was gone just to avoid him when he got back.”

“It wasn’t every night,” Dot grumbled, her old control coming back.

Mouse raised an eyebrow and chuckled. Standing up, she said, “We’d bettah get back out there before they wondah where we went.”

“Yeah… Mouse?”

Mouse looked at her. “Yeah?”

“Thank you.” Dot took a deep breath. “I know this is going to sound sappy, but… I’m really grateful to you for… sticking around. You helped me get through a lot.” Laughing nervously, she looked at the ground. “Who would’ve thought.”

Mouse grinned a bit and gave Dot a sisterly half-hug. “No problem, sugah.”

Mouse tiredly trudged towards the door of the Principal Office, holding a zipboard in one hand. Now that Megabyte was gone, all she really wanted to do was go sleep for about a year. But the system was crashing and she was needed, therefore she couldn’t.

Stifling a yawn, she wandered over to where Matrix and AndrAIa were standing. “Am Ah doin’ this alone or…” Mouse trailed off, her eyes widening marginally when she saw the lean sprite standing next to them. Some part of her mind told her that he’d been up on the roof when Dot had announced her plan, but she hadn’t really LOOKED at him until now.

“Mouse, this is Raytracer,” AndrAIa introduced, hiding a smile behind her hand. Raytracer swiftly took Mouse’s hand in his and kissed it.

“The pleasure is all mine, lovely lady.”

“Yeah, yeah, get going,” Matrix said gruffly. “We don’t have all day. If you two will stop staring at each other and…?”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t get your wires in a knot,” Mouse retorted, flipping open her zipboard and raising an eyebrow at Raytracer. “You got one or are you going to walk?”

“Better than that, pretty lady,” he winked and whistled. A Surfbaud came shooting over and he stepped up on it. “Shall we go?”

*A WebSufr, eh?* Mouse thought, intrigued. *This ought to be VERY interesting…*

“Wake up, Sleeping Beauty.”

Mouse drifted back to the land of the living, blinking her eyes and looking up into Raytracer’s face. “Y’have got t’ be kiddin’, sugah,” she mumbled out, her accent becoming thicker and even harder to understand. “I’ can’ be mornin’…”

“It is,” Raytracer told her, unable to hide the wry grin. “Rough night?”

“You could say that,” Mouse yawned, trying to bury back under the covers.

Raytracer put a hand on her shoulder, his manner shifting to concerned. “Mouse… didn’t you go back to sleep after we talked?”

“Not… immediately. Eventually, but…” She shook her head. “Ah just had a rough night. Nightmares, don’t worry about it.”

“If you say so… Look, Dot just called. She wants us to get down the Principle Office as soon as we can; she wants to talk things over with us. Apparently, she and Bob think it’s time we started doing something about Daemon. But the way you look, I’m not too sure you should…”

“Ah’ll be fine,” Mouse insisted, sliding out of bed. “Just let me git dressed and wake up a bit and Ah’ll be fine.”

“If you say so. I just don’t want you falling asleep on the schematics or anything…”

“Ah won’t!” Mouse said, meaning for her words to be firm and emphatic; the yawn that interrupted them rather turned the effect, however.

Mouse tried to keep her eyes open and her mind focused on the task at hand, but Dot’s voice kept blurring and fading in and out of her hearing. She didn’t even realize that her head had dropped onto the table until Dot said, “Mouse? If I’m that boring…”

Mouse jerked her head up, face flushing with embarrassment. Everyone was staring at her, a little startled that Mouse was acting so un-Mouse-like. “Ah… Ah’m sorry, Dot, Ah had a rough night…”

“You look awful,” AndrAIa said, concerned. “Maybe you should just go lie down… We could wait and do this later, when you’re awake…”

Mouse shook her head. “No, we need to git this done with…”

“You aren’t going to be any help if you are falling asleep on the table,” Bob said firmly. “Go. Sleep. Come back when you’re coherent. We won’t do anything drastic in the few hours it will take you to get rested.”

Mouse grimaced, knowing that she was outnumbered. Standing, she stood up, nearly tripped over her chair, and stumbled for the door. Outside, she leaned against the wall, feeling her face aflame. As much as she hated to admit it, they were right. She needed rest.

Yawning, Mouse slowly walked off towards her apartment.

Mouse came out of her slumber slowly, taking an idle pleasure in lazing about in bed. Finally, the dreams had stopped, and she was well rested. Stifling a yawn, she decided that she really ought to get up, and slid out of bed, padding across the cold floor and absently clicking her icon to change her clothes. Glancing out the window, Mouse realized that she had slept much longer than she’d originally intended – it was already midafternoon.

“Bettah git ovah to the Principal Office,” she sighed. “Cain’t laze about all day…”

As she walked down the street, she noticed that some of the younger sprites – they must have just gotten out of school – walking by were looking at her with a mixture of respect and awe. The hacker chuckled a bit, shaking her head. Who would have thought, her, a small-town hero.

Her chuckle nearly burst out into full laughter as she walked by a playground and heard the sounds of chatter coming from the group of girls clustered around it.

“I get to be Mouse!”

“Oh, Lexi, you ALWAYS get to be Mouse!”

“I get to be Dot! She’s the best!”

“No way! Mouse is!”

“You’re BOTH wrong! AndrAIa is! And she gets Matrix, he’s so dreamy…”

That sparked another debate and Mouse hurried her footsteps along, hoping to be away from them so they didn’t hear her laughter.

“Mouse!” a joyful voice cried and Mouse turned around just in time to see a small green sprite barreling down the sidewalk towards her.

“Enzo, don’t you even th…!” Mouse yelped just before she was slammed to the ground. Shaking her head to clear the stars from her vision, she looked up at Enzo, who was already talking a mile a minute.

“Wow, school was so alphanumeric! I really didn’t want to go back but Dot said I had to, but it was really cool anyway, even though I’ve been back for a week, it’s STILL neat and everyone keeps bugging me for stories about all of you guys which I don’t really know but I don’t think they mind anyway, but all the girls keep bugging me about meeting you and Dot and Andi and asking me if I’m going to grow up to look just like Matrix and I like the attention but girls have cooties – well, most girls do, you and Dot and Andi don’t – but I wish I wouldn’t keep getting in trouble when they’re the one’s talking to me…”

Mouse planted a finger over Enzo’s mouth, silencing him. “Sugah, you need to stop drinkin’ so many of Dot’s energy shakes!” She removed her hand from his mouth and tried to sit up. “Now, if you wouldn’t mind getting’ off me…?”

“Oh! Sorry…” Enzo said sheepishly, letting the hacker up. “Hey, where’s everyone else? I thought I’d see Bob or Dot or…”

Mouse hastily reached down and clamped her hand back over his mouth. Looking around warily, her brow furrowed. Enzo squirmed in her grasp, but she shook her head tightly. “Be quiet.” Enzo froze and Mouse looked around, then up at the sky.

Her eye caught a small ship exiting from a portal and she cursed. “What is it!?” Enzo demanded, having pried her hand from his mouth.

“Trouble,” she replied grimly, taking off towards the Principal Office.

“She must have really been tired,” Bob said, slipping his arm around Dot’s shoulders as they exited the Principal Office. “I would have thought she’d be back by now.”

“Doesn’t surprise me,” Raytracer said dryly. “I don’t know if she got ANY sleep last night.”

“And whose fault was that?” AndrAIa asked coyly, laughing when Raytracer blushed.

“None of that,” Dot reprimanded and AndrAIa ducked her head, coughing a bit as she tried to stop.

Matrix suddenly pointed up at the sky. “Is that somebody we know?”

“What?” Dot asked, following his finger. “I’ve never seen that ship before in my life, what…”

Bob’s eyes narrowed as he stared at the moving vessel as it approached. Something about that ship…

“They shouldn’t be able to get in without requesting clearance from the Principal Office!” AndrAIa protested. “This is bad…”

“Very bad,” Mouse finished grimly as she trotted up to them. “Ah know that ship and…”

“I think we’re about to find out just how bad!” Raytracer snapped as it touched down in Baudway. “To the Web with the backstory, lets just get over there!”

“I couldn’t have put it better myself,” Bob replied, flipping out his zipboard. Dot, Matrix, and AndrAIa followed suit and Raytracer called his Surfbaud over to him. Without asking, Mouse stepped on behind him, holding tightly to his waist as they sped over to Baudway.

“How do you know these people?” Raytracer called back to her as they zipped along.

Mouse shook her head. “Ah’ll tell you latah!”

The Surfr made an exasperated noise in the back of his throat, but said no more as they hovered over the ship. Bob and Dot hesitantly touched down, watching the hatch warily. It slid smoothly open and sprites and binomes seemed to pour out, each holding a gun. Mouse tensed, her eyes locked on the opening as a final figure emerged, silk cape swirling around him.

“Layzir, you null-son, you haven’t changed a bit,” Mouse growled, her hand gripping the handle of her katana.

He looked around confused a moment before his eyes rested on her. “Ah, Mouse. I see you are still the same charming, impressionable young lass you’ve always been.” There was no mistaking the sarcasm in his voice.

Mouse’s lip curled in a sneer and she leapt down from the ‘baud, landing neatly on her feet, katana in hand. Dot crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Layzir. “I don’t know precisely who you are, but I do know that you are trespassing. Leave now, and you and your crew will remain unharmed.”

Layzir threw back his head and laughed. “Oh, Miss, you certainly have a healthy ego, don’t you? I think you’ve missed the point that you’re outnumbered.”

“Ah don’t remembah it takin’ too much to take you down!” Mouse shot back. “If Ah recall correctly, it only takes a lil’ ol’ hackah and a rookie Guardian!”

Bob blinked and looked at Layzir again, who scowled at Mouse. “Luck. But speaking of Guardians, that would be precisely the reason I am here. As you probably know, Daemon has set a rather… large bounty on the head of your friend there, and I fully intend to collect.”

“Cocky as usual, Ah see,” Mouse snarled. “Ah’m afraid that’s one bounty you’ll have to skip out on. You took away my life once, Ah ain’t goin’ to let you do it again!”

“I grow weary of your senseless prattle!” Layzir snapped at her. “I will have that Guardian, dead or alive!” As if that was some unspoken command, the armed henchmen attacked.

A good dozen of them leapt for Bob, but the blue Guardian merely grinned. “I don’t think so…” Feet still planted firmly on his zipboard, he shot straight up in the air and the thugs ran headfirst into each other.

Mouse hacked her way mechanically through the thugs, her eyes blazing as she stared at Layzir. All around her, the battle was raging, but all she could see was that smug sprite, standing there in his silken cape, surveying everything with his red-eyed gaze. He wouldn’t win, not this time. She wouldn’t let him win. This time, he would be the one to fall…

Something struck her hands sharply and she cried out as the sword went skidding away from her. A large hulking brute of a sprite stood over her, pointing a gun directly at her forehead. Mouse covered her head with both arms – like that would do anything – and kicked blindly. His laugh told her she hadn’t come close to hitting him. The sound of the gun being cocked rang in her ears, painfully loud over the sound of the battle.

“Heads up!” a voice called and both Mouse and her attacker looked up to see Raytracer come whipping by, flipping his ‘baud and whacking the bandit in the head. He slumped the ground, unconscious, and Mouse quickly grabbed her sword.

“My hero,” she drawled and Raytracer bowed, still hovering on his board, before flying off to make trouble for somebody else. Mouse turned, once more finding Layzir in the crowd. He was ranting loudly to his folk about their incompetence, something that was quite apparent, considering how badly they were being beaten. AndrAIa and Matrix actually seemed to be ENJOYING themselves - *but then again, they would…*

Mouse resumed her headlong plunge towards the leader, this time making sure she kept an eye out for his henchmen. She wouldn’t be caught unawares again. It appeared that she wasn’t the only one aiming for Layzir; Bob was working his way through the crowd towards the bandit leader. Mouse nearly yelled at him to go back – they were TRYING to get the fool Guardian and he was just helping them along by walking right into their arms. But, she knew from experience that it would be a waste of her breath.

Just before she broke through the crowd, a nimble woman leapt in her path, instantly engaging the hacker. Mouse fought furiously, but the woman was good. Over the black-clad ninja’s shoulder, Mouse could see that Bob had reached Layzir and the two men were bantering back and forth. Glaring once more into the eyes of her opponent, Mouse tried to knock the other woman out of her way, but it was useless.

“Bob!” Dot’s shrill cry rang through the air and Mouse snapped her head up to look. Layzir had gotten an energy rope from somewhere and knocked Bob’s zipboard away. The Guardian had been doing a fair job of avoiding capture, but Layzir caught his ankles, sending the blue skinned sprite tumbling.

Mouse shoved the ninja out of her way with sudden fury, letting out a roar. Layzir froze and turned, just in time to jump out of the way of Mouse’s katana. “Ah thought Ah told you,” she hissed, boring into his eyes. “You wrecked my life once and you are not goin’ to do it again!” Slapping his hands with the sword blade, she knocked the rope out of his grasp. Pressing forward, she kept swinging at him until he tumbled to the ground. Hands shaking, she held the katana tip to his throat.

“Not so tough now, are you, without your little bodyguards,” Mouse growled softly.

He wet his lips, looking at the blade, then up at her. Everyone else had froze, staring at the two sprites. “You wouldn’t do it, Mouse,” he said softly, his voice mocking. “You keep telling everyone you’re not a murderer; would you really disprove that whole morale you have for yourself just for me?”

Her eyes narrowed. “It wouldn’t be murdah,” she snapped. “It would be justice. And don’t tempt me, null-son. You don’t know what ah would or wouldn’t do.”

“Mouse…” Bob said quietly, stepping forward and moving like he was going to take the blade away from her.

“Get away, Guardian,” she said harshly. “Ah’ve waited my whole life to do this, Ah’m not goin’ to…”

“It won’t fix anything he’s done, Mouse,” Matrix said from the crowd. “I know. I’ve been there. Killing him won’t bring back anything.”

Mouse clenched her jaw, flicking her gaze over to where Matrix was standing. AndrAIa was next to him, her hand on his arm. Turning her gaze back to Layzir, her eyes hardened. “It won’t fix anythin’ he’s done,” she said softly. “But it will stop him from doin’ anythin’ more.”

Before anyone could stop her, Mouse brought the sword down in a swift slice.

Mouse sat on the highest section of Floating Point, her knees tucked up to her chin as she stared out at the city. Her city. It was a strange feeling, to know for the first time in her life, she had a home. A real home, not just someplace that she could inhabit for a few days before leaving when the local authorities caught on to her.

Years of living on the run let her know that someone was coming across the grass to her, no matter how silent he tried to make his footsteps. “You ain’t happy with what Ah did, are you.”

Raytracer sat down next to her quietly, making himself comfortable before he said a word. “No…” he said slowly. “I can’t say that I am. I believe that you must have had your reasons…”

“Ah did.” Mouse sighed and leaned back until she was resting against him. “Ray, Ah… Ah think Ah need to… tell you some thangs. It might not be the shortest story in the world, but…”

He wrapped an arm around her comfortingly. “I’ve got free time for as long as you need to tell it.”

Her voice was hesitant at first, something that she was profoundly not used to. Still, the longer she talked, the easier became, until the whole story seemed to spill out into the space between them. He listened patiently until she was finished, then hugged her tightly.

“I still don’t know if I like it…” he whispered in her ear. “But at least I understand you now.”

Mouse chuckled. “That’s good. Cause Ah sure don’t.” They lapsed into silence once more, staring out at Mainframe. “It’s funny,” Mouse said finally. “What this place can do to you. Ah nevah thought Ah’d be fightin’ FOR somethin’.”

“Me either…” Raytracer said softly. “Especially not a system. Just something about this place, these people… I didn’t really know any of them, but once I got here, I couldn’t let it be destroyed. I had to help.”

“These loveable Mainframahs sure can be convincin’ when they want to be.”

“So can a certain electric haired beauty I know.”

Mouse turned to look at him, planting a finger on his nose. “Flattery will git you everywhere,” she said softly, looking him in the eye the best she could. Leaning over, she kissed him full on the mouth, and he hugged her tightly. When they parted, she sighed happily. “Ah love you, Raytracah.”

He laughed and hugged her again. “I love you too, my little Mouse.” Pulling her to her feet, he draped an arm about her shoulders. “C’mon. Let’s go home.”

Mouse snuggled closer to him, the word sweet on her tongue.

Home.