...

(Paige's perspective)

Many questions were racing through my mind, but I knew I probably shouldn't ask yet. I was so confused. I thought I was going crazy. I wanted to scream, cry, stomp my feet, run. But I couldn't. I knew I couldn't. So I followed John the terminator to the parking lot of my school, where a car was waiting.

The terminator got into the driver's seat, and John and I sat in the back. In the passenger's seat sat Sarah Connor, silent. I didn't understand any of this. How could they be here, when they weren't even real? How could they be here, fictional characters in a fictional world? And why was I sitting next to them? "I'm John, by the way," John said. "And that's Sarah, and that's T. But I guess you already knew that." He smiled, but didn't get a reply. I had too many questions.

The car quickly pulled out of the parking lot. Now that we were inside and moving, I started asking my many questions. "What's going on?" seemed like a good way to start.

The terminator was the one to reply. "There is a killing machine called the T-1000 after you and John. You are here to be protected."

Chills rushed down my spine. I had seen– at least, on a screen– the T-1000. It was one of the scariest things you could ever face, but it never scared me because I thought it wasn't real.

I still had more questions. "I can guess why I'm here, but why are you here?" I asked.

"You wanna tell her, T?" John asked the terminator. And so he did.

...

My head was spinning. I couldn't believe what he just told me, but I guess I had to because of the living proof sitting in the car with me. "So you're telling me," I said, "that Skynet basically sent back terminators to create and act in the movies? Why would they do that?"

"So it would be more believable," John said. "If people thought Skynet wasn't real, they wouldn't believe anyone who showed them the proof. And if they did it early enough–"

"Then no one would expect the war," I interrupted. Then I thought of something else. "So did all that stuff in the movies really happen? Is Cyberdyne real?"

"Yes," the terminator said. "Cyberdyne was already created when the movies were released. There would be less suspicion that way."

Then I thought: would we need to be hidden? If other people recognized them, they would be asking a lot of questions. "Did anyone else see you guys?" I asked.

"Yeah," John said, "why?"

"I just thought– I mean, wouldn't they recognize you, and get suspicious?"

"No," replied the terminator. "Skynet knew that we would come in the future, so they changed the appearance of the films."

"But the Resistance knew that they would need people from the past to believe us," John said, "so someone was able to change it back. But it only looks that way to certain people."

"I guess technology will really advance, as far as movies go," I said. "But let me get this straight– I can see the terminators for what they really look like, which looks like you guys, but everyone else sees them differently?"

"Correct," the terminator stated.

"One last thing," I said. "Why is that thing after me? Why do I need to be protected?"

"Eventually," the terminator began, "you will become the Resistance's second-in-command, and–"

"Wait," John interrupted, "I don't think you wanna hear that part."

"Why? What is it?" I asked, now curious. His face was turning red.

"Just trust me."

"Okay, I guess," I said, figuring he wasn't gonna budge any time soon. But why was he blushing so much? I'll just ask later, I thought.

"So," I said, trying to shake my curiosity off, "where are we going?"

And for the first time, Sarah spoke to me. "Mexico," she said. This was gonna be a long car ride.

...

(John's perspective)

That was close, John thought. It would've gotten pretty weird if she had heard the last half of the terminator's sentence.

When she woke up and finally calmed down, John had to cut her freak-out short. They didn't want to face the police or worse, the T-1000. So they went out to the car. Once inside, John introduced himself and everyone else in the car. Which, he quickly realized, was not necessary considering she already knew all of their names. "I'm John, by the way," he had said, and he added I'm your future husband, nice to meet you, in his head. She replied by asking what was going on, and he figured that she must have been in shock. It was probably going to be pretty hard to hear that the movies and life you've been living in is a lie, and that you were destined to be in a future with nuclear war, fallout, and people-killing robots. She took it pretty well.

Then she just had to ask about her future. Oh shit, John thought, this might get awkward. Thankfully, he was able to stop the terminator from spilling all the beans. If only he could get his face to stop being red.

When his face was back to a normal color, he thought about Paige. He didn't want to think about the whole I know who I'm going to marry and she's sitting right next to me thing, so he thought about her being his future second-in-command instead. He glanced at her for a second. She was staring at the window, thankfully unaware of him looking at her. Does this chick even know how to shoot a gun? he thought to himself. I can't believe she's going to be my second-in-command.

...

[A/N: Hope you liked that chapter! And remember: read and review.]