Kat watched from across the room as John sat down next to Derek and told him the fate of his brother. She watched Derek's expression changed from prideful to sad and then back again. She could tell John so badly wanted to tell him that he was his uncle, but with Sarah looming behind him, he couldn't.
The next morning, she slowly approached Derek who was sleeping soundly, obviously exhausted over what had happened the last few days. Sarah had suggested that he sleep on the couch, but Kat wouldn't hear of it and offered her bed up. She rubbed her lower back lightly, having not had a good night's sleep. She crouched down beside the bed and began to peel away the bandage covering his wound, when his hand suddenly shot out and grabbed her wrist. He looked at her with wide eyes, as it took him a moment to realise who it was.
"Sorry" He mumbled, letting go of her wrist.
"It's alright. You got shot, it's understandable that you'd be jumpy" Kat shrugged.
"Is…is this your room?" He questioned, seeming to wake up a bit more.
"Yeah" She nodded, as she peeled back his bandage.
"I could have slept on the couch, you know" He suggested.
"I think I can handle sleeping on the sofa for a few days" She exclaimed, happy with how he's wound looked.
"John never said you had an English accent…I guess I thought you would have lost it" Derek informed her.
"Oh and I guess you're going to make fun of me too…John did for about 2 years after we first met" Kat rolled her eyes, sticking the bandage back down.
"No, it's just different…I don't think I've heard anyone with an English accent since Judgement Day" Derek confessed, unsure why he said it.
"You'll get sick of me and my accent checking on your wound pretty soon" Kat laughed, as she went to stand up.
"…You can't tell John" She mumbled, her voice suddenly serious, when she made it to the doorframe.
"Tell him what?" Derek frowned.
"Just act like you knew me vaguely in the future, he's already suspicious that Cameron didn't know me" Kat went on.
"You want me to lie to him?" Derek questioned.
"It's better than the truth" She theorised.
"I…I'm sorry" Derek offered, not knowing what else to say.
"Do you know when…it happens?" She inquired.
"No" He shook his head.
"Okay…it's probably better I don't know" She stated, before walking out the room.
Derek watched her go with a frown on his face, she was completely different to what he had expected. He hadn't known what to say when she asked him when she would die…it was kinder to bend the truth a little. He didn't know exactly when she would die, but how could he tell someone they only had a few years left to live?
"How is he?" Sarah asked Kat, when she entered the kitchen.
"As good as can be expected I guess" She shrugged.
Sarah tried to convince John to bunk off school, so they could retrieve the hand that they had lost at the scene of Derek's escape, but he wasn't having it.
"I can help if you want" Kat piped up.
"No, go to school, look after him. Cameron can help" Sarah theorised.
"Yes, ma'am" Kat replied, giving a mock salute.
Sarah rolled her eyes fondly, as Kat grabbed her bag and began to rush after John, who seemed suspiciously eager to get to school. Kat thought over her conversation with Derek most of the day, feeling strangely unaffected by the conformation that she was going to die. She realised that somewhere along the way she had stopped seeing herself as a person, she was a bodyguard primarily. She wasn't sure how she felt about that. She skipped last period and wandered back to the house and began to scope out the area like she always did before John returned. She looked for Derek on the couch and frowned when she saw he was no longer there. She heard a clicking sound from Sarah's bedroom and took out the small gun she had concealed in her waistband. She pushed the doors open to find Derek sitting cross-legged on the floor, reloading guns.
"Should you even be out of bed yet?" Kat queried, noticing the blood on his top.
"I'm fine…you seem a little jumpy" He dismissed, glancing up to where she put her gun on the side.
"Well I'm not used to having anyone else here. Why are you reloading guns?" Kat asked.
"I don't like firing a weapon I didn't set up myself" He explained, as Kat nodded, thinking it was understandable.
"Sarah won't like you being in here" Kat pointed out.
"Why?" He inquired.
"It's her room…privacy" She stated, seeing his blank expression.
"There's not much of that in the future" Derek retorted.
"There's no Sarah Connor who will bust your head for going through her things either" Kat informed him, as Derek gave her an amused look.
"Where were you today?" He asked, as he went to stand up, seemingly having taken her advice.
"School…I skipped last period" She shrugged.
"You go to school...How old are you?" He frowned, as he looked her up and down.
"Eighteen…why?" She replied.
"John always made you seem older" He mumbled, as he began to walk out of the room, a gun in tow.
"Sorry to disappoint" She shrugged, walking behind him.
"If you're here who's watching John?" He queried, as they entered the living room.
"Sarah usually turns up at the school an hour before the end of the day…then she just trials him home. He doesn't know, I don't think" She exclaimed, grabbing a drink from the fridge.
"Well then who's watching you?" He suggested, as Kat scoffed.
"I can handle myself" She told him, as he raised an eyebrow at her.
"You're bleeding again. Let me look at it" She said, changing the subject.
"It's fine" He responded.
"It's not fine. Sit down" She ordered him, as he let out an amused sound.
"Who was that guy? The paramedic?" Derek questioned, sitting on the couch with a small groan.
"Sarah's ex" Kat mumbled, as she crouched down beside him.
"He's a liability" Derek suggested, as Kat lifted his shirt up to reveal the wound that had soaked through the dressing.
"You'd be dead without him" Kat retorted, as she went to grab a few things from the counter.
"We can't trust him" Derek insisted, as she came over with a new dressing.
"He's a good guy. He won't tell anyone" Kat shook her head.
"You're being naïve" Derek exclaimed, as she ripped off the bandage, as he hissed in pain.
"Oops" She smirked, as she began to clean the wound.
"I suppose you trust the machine too?" He asked.
"We need Cameron-" She started, but he cut her off.
"It's not a person. It's not something you can trust" He told her.
"I don't trust her. But at the end of the day she can protect John better than any of us. You're not exactly up to it right now, are you?" She pointed out, putting the new dressing on.
"You're making a mistake" He shook his head, as she looked up to him.
"Did you know her…in the future?" Kat guessed, feeling a little intimidated under his intense gaze.
"I can't have that thing here…I can't sleep with it here" He admitted, his face softening a bit.
She stood up and left the room for a moment before coming back in with a small device and placing it in Derek's hand.
"What's this?" He queried.
"EMP grenade. It's small but it will do the job. Try not to use it though, or we'll have to move" She explained.
"I didn't realise you guys had things like this back then…now, I guess" He frowned.
"I came up with this design, John built it" She shrugged, as they heard the door open.
"Hey, how was school?" Kat called over to John.
"It was alright" He mumbled in response.
"Just alright? Because I heard that you got partnered up with Cheri in science" She grinned, raising an eyebrow.
"Well…I mean…that was…wait, how do you even know about that?" He stuttered.
"Oh, I have my ways…she's cute, a little weird, but cute" She smirked.
"I'm glad you approve" John chuckled, as the door opened once again.
"I need you to get on the computer and find an address" Sarah announced, handing a piece of paper to John.
He grabbed the paper from her hand and gave Kat a look before walking to his room. Derek couldn't help but take note of the interactions of the last few minutes, finding the Connor's different from what he had expected.
"Who's been in my room?" Sarah frowned, noticing her guns were out.
"Don't look at me" Kat replied, putting her hands up in mock defence.
"Go in my bedroom again and I'll bust your head" Sarah warned him, repeating the exact words Kat had said earlier.
"Now that is a classic 'I told you so' moment" Kat laughed, as even Derek had a small smile on his face.
Author's Notes: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Thanks to the guest who reviewed, it will help motivate me to write some more chapters. Please leave a review:)