Chapter One: A Dark Future

Summary

John arrives in the year 2027 - alone. Catherine has abandoned him and Cameron is nowhere to be found. His uncle and father are officers of the Resistance, he acquaints himself with Allison Young - Cameron's template, and he must now prove himself worthy of their trust. Meanwhile, in 2009; Sarah and Ellison are on the run from the agencies.

Cold, Dark, and undeniably hostile. The world that John Connor had jumped to was already presenting itself as something that needed to be tread with great care. It wasn't but fifteen minutes ago that John had arrived in this terrible future. His Terminator Guardian, Cameron had jumped to the future for an unknown reason with an unknown machine. As John lye down on the makeshift cot in the camp's cell, he began to ponder whether or not he made the right choice. Not long before, his Uncle, Derek Reese had thrown him in here at the request of his father, Kyle Reese. Nobody had said anything to him since, not even the T-1001 who had accompanied him. In fact, she disappeared almost immediately after their arrival.

So many questions raced through his mind; some he didn't even want the answer to. Why had Cameron come to this future? What was she doing? John asked himself this as he scratched the concrete floor of the cell. John glided his fingers over the rough concrete and sighed in exhaustion. It wasn't just Cameron who had abandoned him; he had also abandoned his mother. "Goddammit, how could I do that to her?" John shamefully thought to himself. He felt guilty for leaving his mother to fight alone, and even feeling his mind trying desperately to catch up with him, he knew that he most likely left her to die.

Her last words to him were "I'll stop it.". But she didn't did she? The future happened regardless of the effort his mother went through. He knew she didn't give up the fight. Sarah Connor would never do that... no matter how much pressure she was under. John gazed up at the ceiling and pondered his fate onward. The situation didn't exactly call for a party, and he didn't know if he would ever be able to get back home. This T-1001, who calls itself "Catherine Weaver" had been insistent that this A.I. she was developing would assist John in the future war. It didn't matter now, this T-1001 would probably come back for him eventually since she also seemed to believe he would be the leader of mankind.

John's thoughts raced to Cameron. They hadn't exactly parted on friendly terms. He was almost completely convinced that her power cell was damaged, which gave him room to argue the leaking might have given his mother cancer. He was somewhat glad to be proven wrong. Cameron had given him the chance to determine whether she was damaged or not. She allowed him to cut deep into her and feel her Power Cell... her version of a heart.

It was cold like it should be. It was perfect. John was so close to her, close enough to bridge the gap between them. But then what?

John's question to himself would have to wait as he heard the door to the small Jail open. The person who stepped in was the girl who he thought was Cameron. It wasn't though, John had figured that out for himself when she knelt down beside the dog when he arrived and it didn't bark or go crazy like what would most likely happen if she were a Terminator. It was obvious to him that this girl was Cameron's template. He found the surplus of conveniences to be mind-boggling, to say the least.

Surprisingly, the girl smiled at John as warm as she could. A soft, welcoming smile that encouraged John that maybe some good could come of this... "Hey there. John, right? Derek sent me here to check up on you." she said.

John smiled genuinely since his arrival. Despite the situation, this girl who looked like Cameron was being rather friendly. "I'm fine. Uh, do you know when they're gonna release me?" he asked.

The Girl shrugged and took a seat outside of the cell. "Hopefully soon. This is General Perry's camp so your capture report might not have to go all the way to command. If you're lucky, Perry may talk to you here without making a big case." She answered.

This didn't do much to raise John's hopes. He guessed that the people of this future probably didn't take chances very often. He simply slouched back down onto his cot.

Allison frowned. She was still working out whether or not he was a grey or just a well-groomed tunnel rat. It didn't take a genius to figure out that there was something that he was hiding. There was a presence about him that she couldn't quite put her finger on...

"You're not from here, are you?" Allison asked as she shuffled her position on the ground.

John sighed and sat back up. "Shit, I should've thought up a cover story while I was in this cell..." John slowly sat back up and let out a subtle sigh that he hoped Allison wouldn't catch. "Well. It's complicated." he said, refusing to meet her eyes.

Allison looked worried. "Then uncomplicate it for me." she requested. John couldn't help but notice she had that same puppy dog expression accompanied by the light, soothing sound of voice that Cameron possessed. John tried desperately to think of something to say that would make her go away. Every time he looked at her, all he saw was Cameron.

John tried not to stretch out his silence too long. He didn't want Allison to think he had something to hide. With a sigh, he adjusted his sitting position more comfortably before he answered... "I'm looking for someone." he answered vaguely.

Allison frowned. She thought maybe he was probably looking for his mother or father who abandoned him when he was two, or something dramatic like that. She decided to ask anyway. "Who is it?"

John pursed his lips; he should've expected a follow-up. "Well. It's my sister. She left on short notice yesterday. I don't know where she went, but I traveled a long way to find her."

Allison smiled shyly. "Where did she go? I might be able to help you out." she offered.

John shook his head in doubt. "You won't be able to. I honestly have no idea where she is right now. I don't even know if she wants to be around me anymore." John thought. Cameron was his guardian, and it didn't really make much sense for her to leave on such short notice. He tried so hard to convince himself she was just an emotionless shell. But that didn't answer the question as to why his future self would send such an attractive Terminator to protect him; Future John wouldn't play with his emotions like that, would he? No. Cameron often claimed that she couldn't feel, but John knew that was bullshit. He experienced her emotional capabilities firsthand during her "Allison" episode. She experienced fear and happiness. She was scared of him when he grabbed her arm, and she was happy when she was playing games with Jodie.

He also recalled her behavior around Riley. The girl from the future. John knew he didn't care about her in a way where he would call her his "girlfriend". Sure, maybe to use it around his friends if he was normal as to not feel insecure. Cameron exhibited extremely protective behavior around him whenever she was around, time after time he had told her to back off, but she was insistent something wasn't right about her. John felt he had to agree, she wasn't the person she said she was. And that was confirmed when she was shot and killed by Jesse, a Resistance soldier from the future, and lover to his Uncle, Derek Reese.

He supposed it could have been fake, all of her little expressions, but to him, that seemed unlikely. She was advanced - sure, but all the tiny little things she did, and the more she did them, it was getting harder and harder to sell that to himself.

John thought for so long Cameron had been the one to kill Riley, and he almost convinced himself of the fact that she did when they spoke on the balcony of their old home. When John visited her in the morgue, he discovered several bruises that he knew someone would never last long enough to receive in a fight with Cameron. This led him to believe maybe Cameron had a sense of respect for his emotional well-being. If Cameron was completely emotionless like everyone seemed to think she was, she would have murdered Riley at first sight, and locked John in his room for his own safety.

It didn't take long for Allison to catch up on John's silence as he thought to himself. "John?! Are you okay?" she asked in a worried tone.

John quickly returned his mind to the present and smiled sincerely at Allison. "I'm fine. Just... a lot to think about."

Allison returned his smile and stood up from her seat on the floor. "I'll give you some time alone, John. I'll make sure to ask Derek if we can see General Perry first thing in the morning." she said.

John smiled again at her. "Thank you."

Allison turned around to exit the Jail, but John noticed her stop at the last second and turn around once again to face him. "My name's Allison by the way. Allison Young."

John's eyes snapped up back to Allison's in complete surprise... He remembered... this was the girl Cameron thought she was. "Nice to meet you Allison." John returned her introduction.

Allison giggled. "You too, John. Get some rest, I can't guarantee Derek's gonna cut you any slack." she said as she walked out the door.

Fuck my life...


2009

Ellison ran back to Sarah and helped her lift Cameron into the back of the vehicle. Ellison shut both doors, and he heard the wailing sounds of sirens from Police Vehicles and Fire units screaming down the streets. Sarah ran to the passenger door of the Chevrolet Tahoe, and Ellison followed into the driver's seat. He started the vehicle with haste and sped out of the Zeira Corp. parking lot.

Once they were a safe distance from the building, Sarah looked to Ellison. "What exactly is this "John Henry"." she asked.

Ellison didn't look over as he answered. "It's an A.I. like Weaver said before she left. She asked me to teach it morals, human morals. I guess it's safe to say she was trying to build an anti-skynet A.I." he answered in a worried and rushing tone-of-voice as he took a left turn.

Sarah leaned back in her seat and let out a sharp sigh. Everything that happened in the past two days was almost too much for her to handle. Derek was dead, Charlie was dead, she had been arrested, and John jumped to the future to find... Cameron.

Cameron. This thing, this machine had wrapped her son so tightly around her metal finger, that she knew John would never let go. He proved this when he jumped forward in time to get Cameron back from the future. Sarah was scared, what if her son never returned? What if he died?

What if she didn't stop the future as she promised?

Ellison took a turn under a bridge and followed the road down into the forest.

"Where are we going?" Sarah asked.

"There's a house that I leased a while back. Never lived in it, only planned to use it as a getaway for me and my ex-wife. It's secluded enough so that Kaliba won't be able to find us without digging like hell, and the cops won't be paying attention to us much since they'll be trying to find out who the hell crashed that thing into Zeira Corp." Ellison answered as he pulled into the driveway of an old, expensive-looking cabin.

Sarah and Ellison stepped out of the SUV and opened the back to retrieve Cameron's body. They hauled her into the garage and dumped her onto the floor. Ellison stood over her. "We'll need to store her body somewhere. I don't want Savannah to see it when I pick her up from school."

Sarah nodded in agreement. "I'll have to burn her later." she said.

Ellison gave her a confused look. "Burn her? What if your son survives in the future? He's going to want to find her body." he argued.

Sarah pondered this. What if her son did survive? His entire purpose for going into the future would have been for nothing if Sarah burnt the machine. She didn't like it, but she didn't want her son's journey to go without purpose. Barely resisting the urge to cry, Sarah gestured for Ellison's help to lift Cameron's body. She'd find a place to hide her later.


This is the REDUX version which was edited on July 6th, 2019. I've decided to re-do some parts as some of the grammar is WAY off and some of the lines are either pointless or don't belong at all.

Thank you for reading.