Title: What's In A Name
Author: gega cai
Pairings: Kate Brewster centric, eventual Kate/John
Rating: PG-13
Words: 2200+
Warnings: Blood, Post battle injuries
Summary: Judgment Day has come and gone. Kate Brewster struggles to find her new identity and purpose in a post-apocalyptic world.
Disclaimer: Characters and other likely inventive scenarios based on the world created by James Cameron and William Wisher Jr., John Brancato and Michael Ferris (?)

Author's Note: This fic references some events from T2, T3 and T Salvation. Fic takes place in 2009, five years after Judgment Day according to T3 (July 2004).

What's In A Name
Part 3

by gega cai

Kate patiently stared ahead as she stood half naked in the infirmary. Holding her folded shirt to her chest, she hid her discomfort as the resident physician inspected her healing wounds. The wounded soldier she had been attending to during the aerial attack had, unfortunately, taken the worst of the shelling from the HK. His body had been ripped a part, Kate figured, since she only received burns and near miss hits of the soldier's blown gear and shrapnel into her lower side and arms. Before, the wounds resembled clawed gashes to her side and something like carpet burns to her forearm and shoulder that she had instinctively held up to cover her face as the HK flew by. Now, the wounds were pink or scabbed over from healing --they itched like hell.

The physician, who simply wore faded cargo pants and a frayed, long sleeve henley shirt with a make-shift red cross arm band, raised to his feet and nodded for Kate to dress and sit on the gurney, "Healing nicely, Kate. You should be back to normal within a week. Though, I must admit I wouldn't mind you stay around here longer. You've been a big help," he smiled.

Kate blushed and knuckled her fist over her shirt at her side. The physician chuckled at her as she began to press her knuckle into the dressing of the wounds to relieve the itching.

"I'd like to stay too. You've taught me so much, but I'm not sure how much longer I'll be staying. I go where ever the war takes me," and him she thought. The physician nodded, sighing as if he heard what she meant to say. Stepping away to place back the medicine, he spoke to her over his shoulder.

"Listen, get some rest tonight. There's talk about going into Skynet territory in the morning. They'll want able hands to take care of the wounded survivors when they return," he looked back at her with an expression of helplessness over the redundancy of their duty. She lowered her gaze before looking back with a smile and nod. She could see the exhaustion settle in his face as he must have imagined what the next day would be like. They stood in the silence for as long as she could tolerate it.

"Thank you. Have a good night," Kate said as she left the infirmary to escape the sudden feeling of guilt. This place could use Kate and they all knew it. There's so much to be done, Kate, the words echoed in her mind. John Connor wouldn't allow her to stay and everyone knew that; that was understood where ever they went.

Kate approached their cots to see John sitting on the edge of his with his back to her and his elbows resting on his knees. Sitting at her cot, she saw him going through pictures, which was rare --at least in front of so many people. He looked up at Kate sitting across from him, who was watching him with some curiosity. She raised an eyebrow playfully and he smiled. Holding up a picture for her to see, he shook his head in disbelief.

"Can you imagine?" he asked absently.

She took the picture and studied it: at a benched table in the middle of a bleak desert background, was young John Connor sitting across from his mother, Sarah Connor. His mother was young like Kate and John were now. Yet, she seemed out of place from everything. She was already built for a grim future of death and destruction, yet she was stuck in the past with the knowledge of what her son must do.

Neither of them were looking at the camera. Instead, little John, arms crossed over the table top, was looking down at the scattered parts of a gun that had been taken a part. Sarah was looking at her son with one arm extended across the table top, gesturing at the parts. The moment captured was Sarah instructing her son on one of his first lessons in life. Flipping the picture over showed the date: Mexico 1992

John was seven.

Kate handed back the picture, "No, I got the watered down version of that."

John noticed Kate rubbing her side as he slid the pictures back in their place among his things, "I've got some Aloe Vera, you know. Lemons help too."

"Thanks --when was the last time you saw a lemon?" she teased.

John smiled again and Kate took some satisfaction in seeing him like that. He had his moments when he wasn't John Connor but himself. Just John. She wondered if anyone else ever saw that side of him. Maybe his mother did or that machine he tried to forget about. John laid back on his cot, relaxing for the first time in several days. He had been busy and left Kate to wonder what he had been up to while she picked at the brains of the doctors.

"Medicinal," John said under his breath. He turned to Kate who had tilted her head, waiting for him to explain what he meant. "Useless now --all this information that seemed important. What good is it when nearly anything of use is gone?"

Kate stretched over her cot, lying on her stomach and faced him as John rolled to his side to face her. She didn't know what to say to him because he was right. He knew neither of them had any answers. They laid across from each other in silence, observing one another with a mutual understanding until something caught Kate's attention and she looked up, past John's head, to see a man watching them. The man, seeing he was caught intruding their privacy, tipped his head apologetically and turned in his cot to face the opposite side of the room. There was something familiar about him...

"Kate," John whispered.

"Hm?" she looked back at John.

"I have a window, three days from tomorrow," he began. "The files I found on Cyberdyne...there was a location in there that needs checking out. After tomorrow, we need to prepare to move out."

"Okay," she said automatically.

"We'll be back," John continued. "I like it here too, Kate."

Kate woke up to the sound of people rushing pass her and outside the room of cots. A transport must have just returned, she thought as she rubbed the sleep and dirt from her face. They were all hurrying to see if their loved ones had made it back. Kate laced up her boots, and ignoring the urgency that awaited her, pressed her side: no pain or discomfort. Sighing relief, she prepared herself as she made her way through the crowded tunnels to the infirmary.

"Kate! This one, here," a voice called as she appeared in the entrance way to the infirmary. She paused as a wall of stench hit her: the smell of blood, perspiration, and excretion filled the room. Kate hurried to the voice and found herself looking down at a bandaged man moaning. His wounds were already dressed and Kate looked up at the doctor confused.

"For now, I need you to tend to them," he motioned at a row of half a dozen already attended to. "The worst have yet to come in and we've got a few now that need immediate assistance before the others get here so our hands won't be tied up."

Just then, a man growled from the other end of the infirmary, knocking over a man and woman trying to hold him down. The doctor clapped a hand on Kate's shoulder in gratitude and rushed over to the thrashing patient.

Kate glanced over her patients, scanning them for John's face. Not here; still out there, she thought as she injected the moaning man with a sedative. He was the worst of the bunch with severe shrapnel wounds, but he'd live. The others, Kate observed, were calm and enjoying the down time. Kate approached the last patient, who was dozing softly despite the noise coming from the other end of the infirmary. He appeared to have a head wound along with his bandaged arm that rested across his chest. He must have heard her as he opened his eyes and looked up at her with some interest.

"Hi, there," she spoke softly. "My name is Kate-"

"I know who you are," his voice broke. He assured her with a smile.

"Yeah? Sure it's not your head wound talking?" she winked. She noted his vitals were good as he spoke.

"Just a scratch. Bullet pierced the helmet and grazed the meat. Just a little dizzy, that's all," he explained.

"What happened here?" she pointed to his arm.

"I got too close to the thing," he shrugged.

"Well, you're right. You'll be fine. We'll look after the wounds and keep them clean. Keep your distance next time," she smiled as she turned to join the doctors.

"Matt," he called out to her. Kate turned back at him.

"My name is Matt."

"A blood bath," John croaked at Kate as he was carried into the infirmary. Kate helped the soldiers position John on a gurney. Ignoring the doctor's attempt to squeeze between them, Kate unhooked John's holsters and unzipped his jacket to rip open his shirt. John winced at the pain she was causing him, but Kate knew that he was mostly protesting his favorite shirt being ruined. She shot him a glance that he easily read as Get over it, John.

Kate took over attending John and spoke aloud to those around them, "Trauma to upper, right abdomen," she skimmed her hands over his blue-purple flesh. John stayed still as he watched her face for any warning or sign of a problem. His eyes involuntarily darted down to watch her fingers graze his bruised flesh. He quickly looked back at her face as she looked up at him with a questioning expression. He did his best to ignore the awkwardness of his slip until she spoke, assuring him she had not noticed, "Possible broken ribs --John? Can you feel that? I'm squeezing your hand."

He sighed relief and coupled it with an annoyed intake of air, "None of them had the stomach to put it back," he glanced at his shoulder. Kate smiled, taking some amusement in John's situation.

"That's very funny, Kate," John shook his head.

"I'm sorry," she pulled hard and felt his bones pop in her fingertips. John squeezed his eyes shut at the pain. "T-1?" she asked.

John opened his eyes and nodded, "Several --Any news from command?"

"We're the last to know anything. Feel that?" she squeezed his hand. John nodded again and squeezed back. "Good. You don't have to risk your limbs to override them, John."

"You don't have to believe me, Kate. I have nearly half of the men overriding those machines using their own guns on the other T-1s. One kid got his jacket hung up on one and I couldn't just leave him on that thing. It took a big swing at me," John motioned with his good arm at his side and shoulder.

"I can see. I don't know if they're broken or fractured," Kate said pushing his jacket and shirt aside to expose his injured chest and side.

"It's nothing. Just glad to have my arm back," John said as he massaged his relocated shoulder.

Kate, satisfied he would live despite his heroics, left him to be bandaged. She felt her blood pressure rise as she began to attend another patient. The girl soldier cried out "Hey!" as Kate knotted the dressing of her wound too tight in frustration. Kate looked down apologetically and wiped away the beaded sweat on her forehead as she stepped away to regain her nerves. It had been a long day.

"Hey, Kate," a voice called. Looking over her shoulder, Kate saw the wounded soldier from earlier: Matt, she remembered. She crossed to him, ignoring John's soft call of her name, and busied herself with Matt's updated recovery paperwork.

"Long day?" Matt asked sincerely.

"They only get longer..." she exhaled. "Looks like you'll be back in action in no time, Matt." Kate could feel John watching them, waiting for her to return to his side. She ignored the urge to go to him.

"Your friend seems hurt," Matt glanced behind Kate at John.

"Trying to be a hero gets you hurt," she cautioned. She did not know why John's actions were bothering her all of a sudden. It was just the way John was and would always be. The man could never think of acting any differently. Kate and John could thank Sarah Connor for that; Kate huffed at the thought.

"Known him for a long time, huh? How did you two meet?"

"Coincidence is what I keep telling myself," Kate laughed. "No, he saved my life and I found myself returning the favor. We survived Judgment Day together and I'm sure the rest is history or gossip depending on who you hear it from," Kate looked at Matt suspiciously, waiting for a look of guilt.

"So, it's true?"

"Which truth?"

"Surviving Judgment Day together... They say you two knew about the bombs and were underground before anything was ever launched," Matt explained in a low voice.

"I didn't know anything."

"Are you two...?" Matt quickly glanced at John and back at Kate.

Kate looked back at John to see him watching the two of them closely. His gaze focused on Kate for a moment: intense and questioning. Then, John foolishly swung off the gurney and left the infirmary without a word or second glance in her direction. Kate watched him limp out of sight into the darkened tunnels.

"Take it easy, all right?" she bade Matt with a raised eyebrow before leaving him to wonder about her and John's relationship as she did so often.