[ A/N: This, to me, is a spin on the regular T2 AU fanfics. Plus, this is almost a fantasy of mine. Please enjoy, read, and rate my very first fanfic! And thanks to the writers of other Terminator fanfics for bringing me inspiration.

Note: For now, I am not finished with this story, so each chapter is subject to change. If you thoroughly enjoyed a part of the story and want it to stay, say so.

Disclaimer: I do not own, aside from Paige Anderson, any of the characters or anything else from the Terminator series.]

Foreword:

I, Paige Anderson, was fourteen when I met John Connor, but in a sense I already knew him. In fact, I kind of had a bit of a crush on him. Then, on an average school day, my life was changed forever.

...

(John's perspective)

It had been quite a while since John and Sarah escaped the last T-1000. Contrary to popular belief, he learned, that event happened not in 1994, but in 2014. He was thirteen when it happened, not ten. He and Sarah were told about this by the T-800 when it arrived, about the movies and why they were made.

They had been living at the Salceda's with Enrique and his family, trying to hide from the cops. They managed to get out of the steel mill without being caught, but they were, for the moment, L.A.'s most wanted. Once everything cooled down, Sarah was able to use her connections to get a small house near the Salceda's. It even had an underground bunker. They had new identities and continued to lay low.

John had been thinking, after they escaped, about whether or not they had really prevented Judgment Day. Cyberdyne wouldn't give up so easily, not in a million years. And Miles Dyson couldn't have been the only person responsible. Someone else had to have known about his work. John also remembered the arm, the T-800's arm. They destroyed the one they took from Cyberdyne, but the one the T-800 had lost when fighting the T-1000 was left behind. Someone could find it, someone else from Cyberdyne.

He told Sarah about his thoughts, and she didn't seem surprised. She was never easily convinced that things were fine. She'd probably thought of the problems before he did.

Their suspicions were finally confirmed, however, about a year after their escape. John caught a glimpse of a T-800 in a car from inside the house, and informed Sarah. She told him to stay inside, and went out, gun in hand. It came out, also holding a gun. "What is your mission?" she shouted at it, her gun not moving off of it.

"My mission is to protect John Connor," it replied in its familiar monotone voice. Sarah lowered her gun after a moment. "My secondary mission is to protect Paige Anderson."

Wait, John thought, what did he just say? He came outside.

"We must go," it said. "We have to reach Paige Anderson before the T-1000 finds her."

"Shit, another one?" John asked, forgetting about his previous question. "How're we gonna kill it this time?"

"There is a weapon we can use to terminate it, but I was not able to bring the device with me. We will have to create it ourselves."

"Okay," Sarah said, "Let's go." She was obviously dreading this. They had just escaped the T-1000, and now there was another one after them. Not only that, but they were now sure of the fact that they had not prevented Judgment Day.

They got in the car, the terminator sitting in the driver's seat, Sarah in the passenger's, and John in the back. They drove, most of them unaware of their destination.

...

(Paige's perspective)

"You really need to chill out," my best friend, Rachel, said to me. We were standing by my locker. I had just done the worst thing I had ever done in my life: I punched someone in the face. It wasn't that bad, but to someone who had lived fourteen years of her life without even being in detention, it was pretty bad. In my school they expelled kids for this stuff.

"I punched someone, Rachel! In the face!" I said to her, circling my face in the air with my finger. I probably did need to chill out, but at the time it didn't occur to my goody-goody brain to even try that.

"So what?" she replied. She was acting like it was something she did every day, like it wasn't a big deal. And maybe it wasn't.

"So what? So I could be expelled, that's what!" She was always more of a rule-breaker type of person than I was. She tried to pull me into every crazy thing she was doing. Graffiti, stealing, whatever it was, I always chickened out when the time came, but she would always chicken out with me. Maybe that was why we were such good friends. We evened each other out. And at the end of the day we could always enjoy watching a movie together instead of, say, making a stink bomb and setting it off in the principal's office. The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day were always favorites of ours.

"They won't expel you," she continued. "Nobody knows."

"The girl I punched knows."

"But she's an asshole and is probably in trouble herself. She won't tell anyone."

"But she would do something."

"Well..." Rachel looked away. This can't be good, I thought.

"What?" I asked her.

She looked at me and decided to be blunt. "She'll probably want revenge. An eye for an eye."

"Fuck."

What happened was this: a girl, who was indeed an asshole, was being an asshole to me. Her name was Jess. She was mean to everyone, but to me especially. Earlier that day, when I was walking to one of my classes, she walked past me with her gang of other assholes and knocked her shoulder into mine, making me drop all of my stuff. Angry and scrambling to pick up my things, I said, "Hey, watch it, jerk."

She turned, smiling, and replied, "Gladly." Then she kicked my things across the hallway, watching my papers scatter all over the floor.

I stood up, rage building inside me, and said, "I'm getting real tired of your shit."

"So the good girl wants to fight now? Cry me a river." She made a fake sad face, then laughed. She had a horrible laugh: nasally, loud, and coming with a snort every once in a while.

I smiled, my right hand curling into a fist. "Gladly," I said, mocking her words. Then I punched her square in the jaw.

There wasn't blood, or bruising, or anything visible. But I was stronger than I looked, and my punch hurt. She simply rubbed her jaw, gave me an evil look, and walked away in a huff, her "friends" following her. And that was why I was freaking out.

"It doesn't matter," Rachel continued. "She knows you pack a punch. Literally." We laughed. "And it probably felt good."

"It did feel pretty damn good," I said. I decided to let it go for now.

The rest of the day went on and I didn't even see Jess the entire time. Until school let out.

I just said goodbye to Rachel and made my way, yellow backpack on my shoulders, to the library. I usually stay after school and go to the library, because my parents are always late when coming to pick me up. So, while everyone else was heading to the buses, I was heading in the opposite direction to the stairs. No one was in the hallway.

Turning one corner and then the next, out of everyone's sight, I stopped. Jess and her gang were standing by the wall, waiting for me. I tried to walk by without them noticing, but it didn't work. Jess grabbed me by the arm, then shoved my back into a locker. She grinned. Her buddies were behind her, some looking out and some watching the show. I stared at her, waiting to see what she would do, fear clearly in my eyes.

I held my hands up by my face to try to protect it, so she didn't go for my face. She punched me, hard, in the stomach. I doubled over, putting my arms around my torso. Now that my face was free, she punched me again in the face, hard enough to knock me out cold. I collapsed on the floor of the hallway. Before I was completely unconscious, I felt her kick me in my side. I was strong, but she was much stronger.

...

(John's perspective)

John asked the terminator many questions while they were in the car. "So," he began, "I guess I have to teach you everything again. Can you learn yet?"

"No," the terminator stated.

"Damn," John said. "Alright, then what about this Paige chick? Who's she?"

"She is necessary in the future," it stated vaguely. It was almost like he was avoiding the question.

"But why?" John asked.

"In the future, Paige Anderson will become your second-in-command and then, your wife."

He paused, letting that sink in. He just found out who he was going to marry, and he didn't even know her. But he was about to, which wasn't much better. "You're shitting me," he finally said.

"No," it replied, even though there was no need to. John glanced over at his mom. She was looking out the window, silent. She probably didn't like hearing about John's future wife, but her main reason for silence was most likely just Judgment Day in general. She probably felt like it couldn't be stopped. John felt the same way.

They suddenly parked in a driveway, and the terminator got out, instructing John to stay put. He watched out the window as he went up to the door and knocked. A tall, kind-looking man opened the door. They talked, and the man pointed in some direction, giving the terminator instructions. They talked more, and the man called to someone inside. He reached behind him, out of John's view, then held out a picture. It was too far away for John to see, but the terminator seemed to memorize it and said goodbye to the man. He shut the door. The terminator walked back to the car and got inside, saying nothing. They drove on.

They arrived at a school, and pulled into the parking lot. The terminator got out, and John wanted to come too, so he followed. Sarah didn't object. They went to an entrance on the side of the building, and the terminator smashed the handle on the locked door, breaking inside. They went in and down a flight of stairs, then round the corner to find a group of girls huddled in a group. There was something they were staring at. "That is her," the terminator said.

"Where?" John asked. There were too many people.

"On the floor." John looked and, upon further inspection, found that it was a girl lying on the floor that the group was staring at. They were laughing. One of them kicked her.

"Hey, douche-bags!" John shouted at them. They turned around, satisfied with themselves in one moment but afraid in the next when they saw the large man holding a gun. "Get lost!" he yelled. They turned around and all ran, not looking back. They were probably going to tell someone about the man with a gun in their school, so they had to act fast. "Help me," John told the terminator, and they went over to the girl, kneeling down. John shook her, trying to get her to wake up. It didn't work. She was out cold, and kind of looked like she had been punched in the face.

...

(Paige's perspective)

I woke, slowly, face-down on the floor. Someone was shaking my shoulder and saying something to me. I pushed myself up and turned, opening my eyes. I saw John fucking Connor kneeling next to me and next to him, what could only be a terminator. I jumped up and scooted backwards. Either I was going nuts, or Jess punched me harder than I thought. I continued to scoot away until I was able to stand up, and then I tried to run in the opposite direction. The terminator grabbed me by the back of my jacket and I screamed, trying to escape his grip. Of course, I couldn't, and as I was whirled around I shut my eyes. I stopped screaming.

"It's fine," John said to me. "We're here to protect you." I opened my eyes.

"You're..." I said, completely shocked. "You're... not real. Jesus, I'm losing my mind." I had seen them before, only in movies from the 80's and 90's. It was all so confusing.

"Listen, you're not losing your mind and we gotta book it, so can you freak out in the car?" John said. I stood still, unable to move.

"Come with us if you want to live," the terminator said. That had to have been on purpose. I nodded slowly and, my mind completely jumbled, was finally able to walk out the door with them.

...