A/n: Does anyone of a way to keep a muse of running away? Mine just leaves at the most inconvenient times.

Chapter 13: FUBAR

After hacking into Skynet, human security systems were a piece of cake. Plus humans were easy to trick too. All Kat had to do was say she was with some little sheriff department in the middle of nowhere to get access, then no one kept track of where she went. Really, this was beneath her skills. The file wasn't hard to find either. In no time she was downloading the whole thing.

"Do you want some breakfast?" Kat jumped at the sound of Sarah's voice. The older woman had that stealth thing down for sure.

Kat shook her head. "No thanks, I'm kind of all pancaked out." Kat was sure Sarah would go and clean a rifle or something; instead she sat down o the couch. Surprising since Sarah and her never talked really. Sure, they were polite but it seemed like Sarah let her stay because of Derek. Sitting could mean she just wanted to see how things were coming along.

"John's only ever had one sort of girlfriend." Or sitting could mean that Sarah wanted to have a heart to heart about her son. Kat knew she looked confused with the 'huh' expression.

"Okay." Kat stretched the word out hoping by the end that she would have something else to say. Nothing came.

"Her name was Riley and it turned out that she was from the future too."

"Connor sent her back?" Why tell her this?

"Jesse brought her back as part of a plan to get rid of Cameron."

"Jesse? Derek's Jesse? She came back? Connor just said she went off mission."

Sarah leaned forward bracing her elbows on knees. "Well, getting a sixteen year-old girl killed would be off mission."

Whoa, Jesse must have really gone off the deep end after the whole Jimmy Carter thing. Sarah wasn't done yet.

"Riley was to get John to care about her, then Jesse would make her a threat that Cameron would take care of, thus driving John to scrap Cameron." Kat pulled her legs onto the couch and laid her head on her knees. She could imagine how that would affect John. "That poor girl died just because my son liked her. And he cared enough to butt heads with me over her."

"Sarah, I'm not sure what you want…"

"I don't want him to end up alone. You're good for him, not like Riley, and I know he cares about you." Kat shook her head at that. "You passed out before John had his breakdown the day you were shot. What's this?" Sarah pointed at the computer screen and quickly changed the subject. Kat guessed John's mom had said what she wanted to say and that was that. Nothing more to say.

Kat started shifting through the data. "Cause of death was six abdominal stab wounds. Well, that doesn't sound like metal."

"You're right they're efficient killing machines." The way Sarah said efficient came out like a curse. "Are you sure you've got the right dead guy?"

"Yes," Kat pointed to a line on the screen. "See? Identifying marks: Barcode tattoo right forearm. If I'm translating the medical jargon right, the poor guy was tortured before he died. Shallow lacerations three to four inches long over torso and upper body. Why would a machine do that?" Kat was trying to see all the angles, to sort through the fact to the why. It was something she could do very well.

"If metal wanted the rest of the cell, it would have just followed him home and killed everyone there." Sarah caught the look Kat shot her as she added that tidbit. "That's how we met Derek."

"Oh," Kat just kind of figured it just happened. Like the Reese and Connor lines were dragged together by fate. She turned back to the screen and started with the pictures that had been taken of the corpse. On his back, a series of numbers made Kat's blood run cold. "It was human and they were from the future."

Kat point a close up of the bloody number sliced into the skin, and as Sarah saw them she cussed. "Judgment day. We need to call the boys."

"Wait, a note was found near the body." Kat pulled another page up and started reading. "Oh, this is not good. This is so not good."

"What?" Kat could tell that Sarah was slowly climbing up the panic scale in her own special way. She didn't care. This opened a whole new can of worms and Derek needed to know right now. Even if it didn't make sense. She grabbed her cell from the coffee table and dialed John.

"The Blessed End may have an agent here and those fanatics wholly and deeply believe that killing John Connor will bring about Jesus' reign on Earth." Kat hit the send button and started to pray.

John chanced a look through the kitchen window trying to spot anyone approaching the house but the now flaming Bronco obscured most of the view.

"RPG." Cameron was standing up scanning the yard but Derek pulled her out of the windows. There had to be a fault in her programming, because who ever blew up the jeep could still blow up the kitchen and the metal was making herself a target. "Close range. They would have to be watching."

Now, John was kneeling beside a fridge, shotgun at the ready, hoping to God that metal didn't walk through the door. "Why not just kill us?"

"My guess would be that whoever it is hasn't hacked up the rest of the snake yet. These nut jobs like their order." Derek was beside him watching the front door, equally tense. "The real question is do we stay put or make a break for it."

Some lessons John would never forget. This one was a tough one that kept repeating again and again. Sometimes no matter what you choose you still get screwed. Whoever exploded the vehicle knew where they were and could just demo the entire house or they could be waiting outside to gun them down when they made a run of it. Decisions decisions. Plus there was the added element of time. A neighbor had to of seen the Bronco in the driveway and most likely called the cops.

With a mess of illegal weapons and all three being wanted by the law, it was a very bad idea to talk to law enforcement. Using a four letter word he picked up from Derek, John made up his mind. "We can't stay here."

"The window in the last room on the right provides the best cover and is the closest to the tree line." There were times whenever the eerie Cameron calm wasn't just annoying, it was annoyingly useful. Derek and John traded a look.

"The last room on the right it is." As Cameron led the way, Derek nodded for John to follow. John got to his feet. The sound of breaking glass caused John to look back and the world slowed down stretching a few seconds into hours. A grenade hit the tile floor in the kitchen, a bounced between the baseboards and spun like a top in the middle. John didn't think before he grabbed the back of Derek's jacket one handed and tried to drag him into the hall clear of the blast.

The concussion wave pushed John to the floor and starting his ears ringing. They were still inside the ten foot range of the grenade but the wall kept the direct force and shrapnel off them. Well, most of it, a quick glance proved then Derek's lower legs which were still in the kitchen were bleeding. The blast must of also forced Derek's head into the tile putting him under, he couldn't walk like this.

John heard Cameron running back toward them when the kitchen door slammed in with enough forced to knock a doorknob shaped hole into the already battered sheetrock. Whoever this was who had this planned out. The house was a trap. First the Bronco to cut off a quick escape, then the grenade to finish them off. Now the asshole was coming to make sure the job was done.

It made him sick. Was everyone out to kill him? Now, he had to get Derek to safety and fight some crazed zealot. Must be Monday was all that John could think as he released Derek's jacket, got up on one knee, and tightened his grip on his shotgun wishing he had bird shot which though not as deadly as other ammo had a larger spread pattern.

Cameron came up beside he and did a once over for injuries. John grabbed a handful of her shirt and tugged her down. "Get him out of here. I'll cover you."

"John, I should…" John didn't let her get the rest out. He knew she say something about needing to take care of the threat and her programming was just to keep him safe. Derek was starting to come to but he didn't need to be in the crossfire. Cameron could handle the older man weight better than he could in a foot race.

"Cam I said get him out of here." The voice that rung out was full of command without the slightest hit of doubt. He filed that tone away for later, right now he didn't have to register that he was starting to sound like his mother. John figured she would argue with him. Instead she looked him in the eye.

"Yes, John." She bent and pulled Derek up resting most of his mass on her shoulders. John did not wait for them to walk off. He just stood, put his back to the wall and fired a shot around the corner into the kitchen, letting whoever was in there know that they're weren't dead. Machine gun fire replied back. John dropped to his heels against the wall and waited for the shots to quiet.

When silence was broken by metal sliding on metal as a clip was replaced, he offered up a prayer to which ever gods happened to be listening, fired around the corner again and took off down the hall. Bullets impacted the ahead of him just as John drove into the bedroom. Lucky for John, Cameron had taken the quick and dirty tactic and instead of climbing through the window like she had said in the kitchen, she just busted a Derek sized hole into the side of the house. Well, not catching a bullet in his butt dangling halfway out a window would be a good thing. Yeah, for small favors.

He scrambled to his feet and fired a round into the hallway, hoping that the threat of fire would slow his own personal shoot out friend down enough that a plan would come to him. A plan always came if he could stay alive long enough and at this point a plan, seriously any plan, would be great.

John pumped the shotgun, but didn't hear the next shell slide into the chamber. After a few more pumps, the weapon proved that it was indeed empty. John swore again. He ran for the open hole in the sheet rock, then he lean back against the outside wall gripping the barrel of the shot gun like a base ball bat.

What surprised him the most was how he just settled. His breathing evened out and quieted down. His mind was running hundred miles a minute, but his body was steady and ready. Even the panic he normally felt when something was after him was slowly fading as he stood ready to Louisville slugger the prick when he followed John through the makeshift door.

A 9 mm came appeared first, but John didn't wait for the rest of the guy. With every fiber of his being John swung his make believe bat and felt it make contact.

Just as gun went out right in front to him.

Kat didn't have any idea how she managed to talk Sarah into taking her to her doctor's appointment. Take that back, Kat knew, but the subject wasn't something she wanted to think about.

Kat walked into the kitchen as they both waited from John or Derek to call about whatever they had found at the house. She just wrote it off as no news was good news. The boys would definably call if they needed back up or something. Plus, the killer looked to be human. They could take on a human. After all Derek chewed up metal for breakfast and John had a lifetime of training.

Still, Kat knew that sometimes people just died from being stupid. Careless. Cocky. Or just forgetful. One wrong move could mean a dirt nap.

That restlessness led Kat into the kitchen were she tried to talk Sarah into going to with her. She cited all the reasons. They would still be a phone call away. No one would know they were there. It would beat staring at the walls. Finally, why Kat needed to get on what Derek called the pill.

Sarah didn't say much after Kat went into detail about how young children were more vulnerable to radiation poisoning. A lot of babies died right after the bombs fell. Then when the work camps were set up those too young and too old were killed because the machines only wanted prime workers.

Kat knew that the infant killings drew a lot of parents to Tech Com. Some said that not even Moses' pharaoh was that heartless, but then pharaoh had been human. She knew that a child born now wouldn't make, and she didn't want to bring a life into the world if it wasn't going to make it.

So now Kat sat in a little room waiting for the nurse to come back with a discharge slip and the pills that she had come for. The doctor had been hurried but the clinic was busy. The nurse came back after a bit with her hands full.

"Well, all dressed I see." Kat liked this woman. She was sort of what Kat thought a mother would be like. "Well, here's a three months supply of birth control. Remember you'll need to come back before those run out. Remember they won't be fully effective for the first month so here's some condoms to keep you safe until then. And finally these are to manage the pain for now, but if it just any worse or you run out you need to go to the ER sweetie."

Kat nodded, but knew she wouldn't go. Hospitals would take one look at the bullet wounds and burn scars and called the cops. The doctor had told Kat why she was having horrible pains in her gut, but the surgery was the last option. She had been dealing with this for years. It had always gone away before.

But a scared little voice in the back of her head said it had never been this bad before.

A/n: yes, I know I'm evil. Just bare with me its for the best.