Authors Note: This was inspired from watching the movie, I have changed some of events from the movie, so that it will fit the rest of the story. The Terminator does not loose his arm in the fight with the T-1000, nor does he die in the end. This is so that the story will be able to continue. I am not sure how soon I will be able to update do to school, but I promise it will be as soon as possible!

Whenever *************************** appears across the page it means that there is either a change of character poverty or a change of scene.

Enjoy, and pleeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaassssssssse review!!!!

Chapter 1: Surviving the Mill

The eighteen wheeler was jerked off balance as the Terminator quickly jerked the steering wheel to the left as the T-1000 struggled to regain control. Sliding on its side the truck screeched its way towards the factory's open doors. The Terminator perched himself on the passenger's side door bracing himself for the leap that he would need to perform in a couple of seconds.

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John tried to steer the pick-up truck away from the mill, but he soon realized that it was impossible to accomplish. Resignedly he steered the truck into the factory, all the while slamming his foot on the brakes. The pick up's wheels screeched as the rear of the car weaved back and forth.

The pick up came to a stop as it crashed into the steel wall. The airbags inflated and Sarah yelped as pain shot through her leg.

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The truck was about to slam into the factory when the Terminator leapt from his fragile perch. Rolling to lessen the force of its impact with the concrete ground, the Terminator was unable to avoid hitting the huge base of one the mill's huge machines. The impact was absorbed through his legs and several of the servos were severely damaged.

Weakly the Terminator manages to roll over and push itself up onto and elbow, watching as the semi slid into the factory. The truck was jammed in between the doors momentarily before the momentum wrenched it from the frame and halfway into the steel mill's bay.

The truck's precious cargo of Nitrogen flooded out from the cracked tank. The T-1000 pulled itself out from inside the truck slowly, before leaping over the side. Nitrogen gasses and liquid congealed around the machine as it sought a good foothold. Stepping down, the T-1000 put all of its weight on one foot. The foot broke off from the leg when its owner moved to take another step.

Caught off balance, the T-1000 put one of its flailing arms down to catch keep from falling. A loud cry of surprise and pain tore itself from the machine's mouth as its arm simply shattered.

The Terminator got to its feet weakly and picked up the gun, watching impassively as the Nitrogen started to freeze the T-1000.

"Hasta la vista, baby." The machine said as it pulled the trigger.

The T-1000 exploded into a million fragments as the bullet slammed into it.

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"Come on Mom." John urged his mother out of the wrecked pick up. Blood trickled down his chin from his bloody nose.

Sarah gasped as pain shot through her injured leg. Stifling a scream she allowed John to urge her to her feet. Hobbling, Sarah leaned most of her weight on her son as they moved towards the Terminator.

"We need to go." The Terminator stated softly.

John was looking around his mother at his friend when he noticed that the nitrogen was melting. And the T-1000's liquid alloy was forming back into a huge puddle. Somehow John knew that in a few minutes, the T-1000 would start to reform.

And then it would come after them.

Turning his mother so that they were facing the other end of the mill he started moving forward.

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The Terminator knew that they weren't going to get out of the mill in time to ditch the

T-1000. But he also knew that he had to give John and Sarah at least a chance to get further away from their antagonist. Turning around slowly-to avoid stumbling on malfunctioning legs-he walked over to Sarah's free side and looped her arm over his shoulder. Together they started walking down the steel corridor.

They made it to the two smelters before Sarah managed to gasp, "It's too hot."

With a sigh they turned around, and headed back down the corridor. The Terminator turned down a darker corridor moving quickly, half carrying Sarah.

Looking back, he saw the vague shape of the T-1000 following them. He stopped and turned towards John.

"You must go." The Terminator said sternly, in a no-nonsense tone.

John shook his head, not wanting to leave the machine.

"You must go, now!" This time the Terminator demanded it.

"No! We need to stick together!" John cried.

"Go now!" This time the Terminator gave John a gentle shove in the opposite direction.

Sarah nodded in agreement. Limping slowly she started forwards, forcing John to go.

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John knew that this could be the last time that he would ever see the Terminator. He realized then that he would feel lost, alone, even abandoned if the Terminator was unable to make it through the upcoming fight.

I'm just being silly. He told himself sternly, shaking his head. It is just a machine after all. Its not like it can really feel anything…

Or can it? His thoughts were interrupted as his mother fell to her knees beside him.

"Come on Mom! You can't give up. Come on!" He begged his mother, tears of fear and grief tracking paths down his face. He pulled on his Mom's arm desperately. "Come on Mom, you can't give up now. We gotta keep going!"

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With a small groan Sarah got to her feet shakily. The only reason why she had found the strength to do so was because of her son. He was so scared, like a rabbit that's been cornered by a pack of snarling wolves. She knew that John was trying so hard not to show how scared he really was, and her heart went out to him.

There was a loud bang from behind them, and she glanced back over her shoulder just in time to see the Terminator's gun go flying. Urgently she forced her legs to move even faster.

Half stumbling she and John made it up the metal staircase. Once on the landing they paused and turned around to watch the two machines battle.

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The Terminator tried to load his gun with the last remaining grenade quickly, but with his damaged hands he was unable to. He almost had it in the slot when the T-1000 smacked the entire gun out of his hands.

After glancing at the direction the gun had gone flying for a few seconds the Terminator turned and threw the T-1000 up against the wall, extremely hard. Instead of turning around, the T-1000 morphed itself so that instead its front facing the steel wall, it was facing the Terminator.

It launched itself at the Terminator, who used his good arm to punch the T-1000 in the face.

Or at least tried too.

The Terminator's arm went through the T-1000's head. Shifting its body so that its head was to the side, the T-1000 grabbed the Terminator's arm and slammed him into a complex piece of machinery. There was a huge pleated metal wheel that was attached to some chains and was on top of a long rectangular sheet of iron. The T-1000 quickly shoved the Terminator's arm under the wheel before turning the mechanism.

There was a sickening crunch as the arm was smashed and trapped beneath the machinery.

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Sarah gasped in horror as she saw the T-1000 appear out of the haze. There was no sign of the Terminator.

Quickly she ordered John to go down the chain and onto the assembly line that headed towards the smelter. She watched as her son moved further away from her.

So much for a goodbye, she thought bitterly.

Turning she braced herself for facing the T-1000. Leaning against the fence surrounding the pit that led to the assembly belt, she pulled up her gun and aimed.

The hail of bullets that she was able to loose upon the T-1000 seemed to have no effect on the machine. Before she knew it the thing was directly upon her.

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John felt a sickening wave of horror sweep through his conscience. The T-1000 had somehow managed to get past the Terminator.

Suddenly he felt his mother's hands on his back as she urged him to go down the chain. Scrambling he managed to scurry down the chain quickly.

He glanced up and to his dismay saw that his mother had no intention of following him.

"Mom, come on!" He half screamed the words, trying to get his mother to join him.

Then the flat surface of the conveyer belt started moving, and then he could no longer see his mother.

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The T-1000 hurled Sarah against the wall and advanced towards her. Reaching out it pulled Sarah up into a sitting position. Then arm transforming into the equivalent of a thin sword it impaled her through the shoulder. Sarah cried out as pain tore through her.

"Call John."

Sarah shook her head no.

The T-1000 twisted the blade, causing her to scream.

"I know this hurts." It said calmly. "Now, call John!"

"Fuck you!" Was Sarah's heated reply.

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The Terminator's gears whined furiously as the machine strained to free its arm from the giant mechanism that had been used by the T-1000 to jam his arm. Looking around for something to pry the jaws of the mechanism open so that he could free his arm. There was an iron bar that was resting up against the wall.

Servos whining in protest to the overload of work that was being exerted, the Terminator strained to reach it.

Almost….

Almost…

…. Got it!

Jamming the rod into the mechanism he was able to wrench the useless, damaged arm free. Using the rod as a support the Terminator got to his feet and followed the T-1000.

After limping up the stairs, the machine decided that stealth would be the best attack mode. Creeping up behind the T-1000 he swung the bar up, before delivering a devastating blow.

The bar slid through the T-1000's head, shoulder, and went down to its naval- splitting it in half. Then it started to reform around the bar. The Terminator cocked his head to the side in a gesture of confusion.

Then before the machine could react, the T-1000 swung the bar upwards, slamming it into the Terminator's face. The Terminator stumbled backwards as the shear force of the blow knocked him off balance. Again, the T-1000 swung the bar up, and again the Terminator received a punishing blow to the face. And then he was up against the wall.

Exactly where the T-1000 wanted him to be. The Terminator gave a frenzied attempt to get to his feet, but it was to no avail.

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Smugly, the T-1000 grasped one of the chains that kept the two-ton I beam suspended in the air. With a heave the machine pulled the girder back before pushing the beam forward.

There was a horrid crunch as the gigantic beam slammed into the Terminator's chest. The metal armor splintered under the pressure. The Terminator turned and gripped the wall behind him as he sought to pull himself into a proper standing position.

The T-1000 heaved it forward again and a smirk filled its face as the beam cracked the Terminator's spine and pelvis. The Terminator sank to his knees rendered almost completely unable to stand.

The third blow hit the Terminator in between the shoulder blades. There was another crunch as the upper back was smashed. The Terminator sagged to the floor, and began to weakly crawl forward.

The Terminator could see the M-79 lying on the ground by the base of one of the huge smelters. Using his good arm he pulled himself toward the gun army crawl style.

There was a step that separated the two floors, and the M-79 was located on the lower elevation.

The T-1000 was walking behind the Terminator, iron bar in hand.

He was so close to reaching the gun. Straining he reached for the gun, but to the machine's dismay the gun was just out of reach. He inched forward a little more, but it was to no avail.

Suddenly the T-1000 raised the bar above its head before sending it crashing into the Terminator's back. The T-1000 wrenched the bar from side to side, widening the small gap. The T-1000 removed the bar, paused for a second, then brought it crashing down again. The Terminator weakly flailed his good arm in a pathetic attempt to ward off his

enemy. The bar punched through the Terminator's power cell and all the way through his chest. Electricity ran the length of the Terminator's body as the power erupted from the cell that had been used to store it.

The Terminator's eyes dimmed and the machine froze as its body shut down.

The T-1000 looked at its handiwork for a minute, before morphing into Sarah Connor.

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"John? John? Can you hear me? Where are you?" Sarah's voice sounded weak and exhausted.

Without pausing to think about the consequences John crept out of his hiding place. The molten steel in the background gave everything a weird orange and hazy glow. His mother was clinging to the railing as she unsteadily made her way towards him. Blood was streaming down her leg, and she could barely move.

"Help me, honey…" the words came out in a gasp.

John started toward his mother when another Sarah came around the corner. This one had a determined look on her face and a loaded gun in her arms.

John looked back at the first Sarah in confusion. Then he noticed that the first Sarah's feet were melding to the floor every time they were moved.

John was horrified as he realized just how close he had come to being killed because he had thrown caution to the wind.

"John, get out of the way!" His mother's voice was pain filled, yet strong and determined at the same time.

John quickly obliged by diving to the side while screaming for his mother to shoot.

The T-1000 turned and morphed back into its police officer form and noticed to late the shotgun in the woman's hand.

Sarah fired rapidly, each shot forcing the machine further away and towards the pit of molten steel.

The T-1000 was now backed up against the railing that enclosed the pit of molten steel. There was a gap in the fence that allowed the pulley system's chain that was next to the gap to pull up buckets of the molten steel. One more shot and the monstrosity in front of her would be gone forever.

She shook the gun again to reload it. She pulled it up and squeezed the trigger. There was a click and nothing happened. The gun was out of ammo. Sarah flung the useless weapon away from her with a cry of despair.

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Sarah knew that they were finished now. There was no hope for them. The Terminator was most likely dead, and now she was completely defenseless. There was the option of having John run while she momentarily distracted the machine, but she knew it would catch him sooner or later. When that happened there would be no Terminator to protect and save him. Ultimately he would die.

And the war would be lost.

But not just the war would be lost. All of humanity would be utterly destroyed.

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The Terminator's arm still lay outstretched from the failed attempt to reach the gun. Eyes flickered and burned red as the Terminator found a new power source.

Looking down, the machine saw the metal pole that was embedded through its body. Stiffly the Terminator grabbed the end that was sticking out of his chest and started to pull the pole out of his body.

It dropped to the floor below with a dull clang.

Reaching down the machine grabbed the M-79 and then determinedly crawled towards the chain drive that was off to the side. He could see Sarah in the opening that was located above the drive.

When the machine reached the drive it quickly pressed the UP button on the console. The drive groaned, and shuttered slightly before moving. The Terminator clambered on with as much grace as a crippled and blind cat would jump onto a fence.

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John ran over to his mother. If he was going to die at least his mother would be next to him. Not that he really wanted to die, but considering the circumstances, any chance for survival seemed pretty bleak.

Suddenly Sarah yelled for him to duck, and pulled him down. They were facing away from the T-1000, and now he was able to see why his mother had made him lie flat on the floor.

The Terminator was cresting the rise of the chain drive, his gun loaded with the last grenade. As soon as the Terminator saw that they were out of the way he fired.

The grenade shot out of the gun and slammed itself into the T-1000's body. The T-1000 looked down in confusion then looked up, rage filling its face before the grenade exploded.

The T-1000's body simply split in half. There was simply no other way to describe it. The head hung grotesquely over the rest of the twisted body. It swayed, and fought for balance before falling backwards and over the edge of the pit.

An inhuman scream echoed across the factory as the T-1000's head and upper body appeared above the molten steel. Its face morphed several times into the different faces of the people it had killed. John's foster mother appeared as did the asylum guard before it morphed into other faces so quickly they were almost impossible to distinguish. Then the familiar face of a cop reappeared before the T-1000 slipped below the surface.

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The Terminator struggled weakly to get to its feet. The machine made it to its knees before the damaged legs rebelled, causing it to fall. Once again the Terminator sought to regain his feet, and once again the leg servos stuttered a protest before the legs buckled. In an almost resigned fashion the machine started to crawl towards John and Sarah.

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John got to his feet and ran over to his mother. Sarah was holding onto the railing staring at the pit hopefully. Her face was pale from exhaustion and blood loss. She smiled at him tiredly and assured him that she would be fine.

Behind him, John heard a strange whirring sound, and he instinctively knew that it was the Terminator. There was a clunk and muttered swear word before there was another angry whir followed by a clunk. John turned around to see the pathetic shape of his protector attempting to get on its feet. John ran over to the cyborg, grabbed his arm and pulled upwards for all he was worth.

Damn, this guy's heavy, he thought as he tugged even harder. A few seconds later he saw his mother walk around to take the Terminator's other arm. Together they managed to lift the machine to its feet.

John scrutinized the damage with a sinking heart. There was a large gap in the middle of the Terminator's chest, and one arm was clearly damaged beyond use. John could also tell that the metal chest armor had been shattered, and the "bone structure" of the spine, shoulder blades, and pelvis was also severely damaged.

"I need a vacation." the machine muttered softly.

Together all three of them walked over to the edge of the pit. Once the Terminator had a good grip on the railing, Sarah and John let go of him and moved around to the other side to get a better look at the pit. Molten steel swirled and boiled in a vast orange and yellow river.

"Is it dead?" John's question seemed strangely loud in the sudden quiet.

"Terminated." was the Terminator's terse reply.

John took out the fore-arm of the first Terminator and held it up. "Will this melt in there/"

"Yes, throw it in."

John threw the arm into the pit and they watched silently as it sank below the surface.

"And the chip."

John took out the broken chip and looked at it. So much pain and destruction had been caused by this seemingly small and insignificant item. With a shudder he threw it into the pit.

Sarah sighed with relief. "Its finally over."

The Terminator shook his head slowly. "No, there is another chip." He tapped a metal finger to the side of his head. "And it must also be destroyed."

The Terminator looked over at Sarah and saw that she understood what had to be done. There were tears in her eyes.

It took John a few a seconds to realize what the machine was saying. The meaning horrified him.

"No!" John shook his head in denial.

"I'm sorry John." The Terminator moved closer to the edge of the pit, there was a remote control in his hand.

"No, no, no! It'll be okay. Just stay with us!" John's voice cracked as he pleaded desperately with the machine.

"I have to go away, John."

"Don't do it. Please…," John's throat tightened as tears streamed down his face. " don't go!"

The Terminator turned towards John and the lighting hid the human part of his face. The metal gleamed and the eye burned red.

"It must end here…" the Terminator paused briefly to emphasize what he said, before continuing, "or I am the future."

John shook his head as the machine turned back towards the chain that led into the smelter. He decided to change tactics, and remembered how the machine had told him that it was programmed to follow his orders. "I order you not to!"

The Terminator limped stiffly over to him and put his hands on John's shoulders lightly. He turned his face to see John more clearly and as he did the metal half of his face was thrown into the shadows, revealing the human half. Reaching down, he put a metal finger to John's face catching the falling tear.

"I know now why you cry. But it is something I can never do." He stepped back to look at both of them. "Goodbye."

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Sarah's thoughts were a turmoil. Before, when the machine had first rescued her in the asylum she had despised and loathed it. Back then she hadn't trusted the thing as far as she could throw it.

Since then things had changed. Dully, she remembered what she had recorded on the tape recorder. She had been watching John try to teach the machine how to act "cool".

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Watching John with the machine, it was suddenly so clear. The Terminator wouldn't stop. It would never leave him. It would never hurt him or, shout at him, or get dunk and hit him, or say it was too busy to spend time with him. And it would die to protect him. Of all the would-be fathers that came over the years, this thing, this machine, was the only thing that measured up. In an insane world, it was the sanest choice."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~End of Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sarah smiled sadly and wiped a tear from her eyes. And now John is loosing this father as well, the thought was bitter and sad. And I, I am loosing a new found friend and comrade.

She was shaken out of her reverie as the machine offered her its hand. The two shook hands grimly.

"I can not self terminate." The machine said as it handed her the remote control that was in its good hand. She took it knowing that now she was, in a way, the executioner.

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The Terminator was just about to step into the chain when John tugged on the tattered leather jacket. "What if.." His voice quavered and waited a moment before he spoke again. "What if we copy the chip onto another disk?"

The Terminator paused. "That could be done, but we don't have such a device with us."

"Yeah we do!" John rummaged through his back pack. With a satisfied grin he pulled out a laptop. He handed it to the Terminator. The machine took it and examined the laptop.

"Hold this." The Terminator handed the laptop to John upside-down. John held the machine, brow creased in confusion. The Terminator quickly used his good arm to rip off the back of the laptop, exposing the circuit board.

"Turn it on."

John did as the Terminator asked, and logged in.

"Now, erase the entire memory."

John understood now, why the Terminator had handed him the laptop. It was completely logical to erase the memory already saved on the memory chip. This way the Terminator would be able to transfer the data on his chip to the one in front of them. Slowly the computer began to erase the data stored in its memory.

"Do you have any connection cords?"

"Yeah, uh, hang on." John scrambled over to the backpack and pulled out Old Faithful. Delicately he took the connecting cords out of the hacking device. "Are these good?" He held up the wires.

"Yes. Now, you need to connect them to the computer and to my socket." The Terminator pointed to the exposed plate that protected the socket. Then the Terminator walked completely away from the edge of the pit, and crossed the room before taking a seat. John followed him, with the cords in one hand and the computer in the other.

He looked around the room for his mother. She was sitting up against the wall, sound asleep. He smiled softly, it looked like everything was going to be all right. He connected the cords into the computer, and looked up at the Terminator.

"If I do not come back online after the information is copied, and the new chip is inserted, then you might as well just dump me into the pit." The Terminator gave another attempt at a smile. His upper lip curled into somewhat better smile.

"See, that was better. The more you practice the better you'll get." Taking a deep breath he began to plug in the cords.

"Going offline, now." The Terminator stated. There was a sound that reminded John of powering down a car. The exposed red eye dimmed as the Terminator shut himself off.

A beep was issued from the computer and a window popped up.

There is a device that is trying to copy into the memory drive. Should it be allowed to continue?

John clicked the yes button. The window disappeared and another one popped up. It showed the progress of the download, and below the bar he could see the many files that were being copied.

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An hour later the computer informed him that the download was complete. While he had been waiting he had bandaged his mother's leg and given her a shot of morphine for the pain. She had slept through the entire thing.

Fingers trembling John began to disconnect the cords from the computer. Then he flipped the computer over and began to dismantle the memory chip from the motherboard. At one point there was a shower of sparks and panic shot through him. Had he damaged the chip?

Once he had the chip disconnected from the computer he moved over to kneel at the Terminator's side. He paused a moment before inserting the new chip. He screwed the metal capsule back into place before he stepped back.

Three minutes went by and there was no sign of 'life' from the machine. Even as he began to loose hope he heard a low whirr coming from the machine. The single red eye lit up.

"Coming back online." the Terminator's voice sounded strained, almost as if it were sick. John ran forwards and hugged the machine tightly. He was surprised when he felt the Terminator return the gesture.

Using the notches on the wall beside him, the Terminator pulled himself up onto his feet.

"Throw the chip into the smelter."

John did as he was asked. As he watched the chip sink into the lava he realized how close he had come to loosing his protector. No, not just protector, but his friend, father figure.

When he turned back around he saw the crippled machine standing by the end of the corridor, Sarah in his arms. John grabbed his things and ran over to join them.

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When Sarah came to she realized that she was being carried by someone. Someone with a tattered leather jacket on. And there was hole in that someone's chest.

Almost hesitantly she allowed her eyes to travel upwards. The Terminator's familiar and stoic face greeted her.

"You're gonna need a lot of repair work, aren't you?"

She heard John call her name with a shout of joy.

"Mom, I did it! I did it! I made it so that he could stay!" John jabbered the words excitedly.

"Affirmative." The Terminator finally answered her question.

"What did I tell you about saying that.?"

"No problemo does not work in this case." Was the Terminator's confused reply. "Or does it?"

"No, it doesn't your were right," John sighed a content agreement before continuing, "but instead of saying affirmative ya say yes. Got it?'

"Yes"

The Terminator scanned the near bye surroundings for a car. His sensors told him that there was a limo in a near by parking lot. He set Sarah down and turned to John.

"I'll be back."

Then he jogged off. Usually his gait was smooth, controlled and effortless, but the damaged leg servos made it harder to keep his balance. He rounded the corner of the parking lot and broke the gate.

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John huffed noisily as he waited for the Terminator to return. His breath misted in puffs from the cold, but right now the cold felt good. There was a screech of tires and a limo stopped right in front of them.

He peered into the driver's cabin and took in the dangling wires. There were no keys in the ignition. He pointed at the wires. "Are we learning yet?"

"There were no keys in the parameter of the vehicle."

"oh."

The Terminator got out of the car opened up the back door and walked over to Sarah. He picked her up delicately and placed her in the back seat.

" Get in."

John scrambled into the back of the car.

The Terminator shut the door and got back in the driver's seat.

The limo sped off into the night with its two passengers fast asleep.

Authors Note: Well I hope you liked it! Remember reviews are very very nice!