~full circle~

*Part One*

~a new beginning~

"You're terminated, fucker." Sarah Connor hissed as she slammed her hand down on the button to start the metal compressor.

The Terminator's steel hand still reached out for the mother of it's enemy, struggling in vain as the 'life' was squeezed out of it as it was crushed underneath the industrial compressor.

Sarah watched as the T-800's arm and hand went limp, and as the red glow of its eyes flickered out like a dying flame. As the last of its metal frame was crushed under the weight of the compressor, Sarah finally breathed. It was over.

No. Not over. Not yet, anyway.

Wincing in pain, Sarah crawled over to Kyle Reese's side, pulling her battered body over to the bottom of the stairs that Kyle had fallen down protecting her from the Terminator.

Protecting her. Guilt twisted her insides.

"Kyle?" Sarah croaked, her voice barely audible. The was silence apart from the faint humming and whirring of the industrial machines Kyle had turned on when they had first entered the warehouse to fog up the Terminator's sensors.

There wasn't much light in the room, and Sarah had to squint to see through the gloom. Dragging her injured leg behind her, Sarah dragged herself over to Kyle's side. "Kyle?" she repeated.

No answer.

Fear knotted her stomach. "K-Kyle?" she stammered. Still no answer. She felt hot tears prick behind her eyes as she slowly extended a trembling hand out to touch Kyle's shoulder. She gripped his shoulder and rolled him over onto his back, and she gasped. There was blood all over hid face, and his green eyes were closed. He wasn't moving. She couldn't tell if he was breathing because of the thick jacket that he was wearing. "No…" she whispered, her voice cracking. Tears blurred her vision. "Kyle?" she asked again, her voice cracked in emotion, finally audible. She laid her head down on his chest and cried. "Kyle…" she sobbed.

"Sarah…?" Kyle whispered, sounding confused and disorientated.

Sarah bolted upright. "Kyle!" she cried joyously. "You're alive!"

"Barely." Kyle said weakly. He looked around. "What happened? Where's the Terminator? Is it-"

"It's…terminated." Sarah said. They smiled at each other weakly.

"How did y-"

Kyle was cut off in mid-word when police sirens pierced through the faint humming of the machines surrounding Sarah and Kyle.

Kyle jumped, terrified by the unfamiliar noise. He whipped his head around looking for the source, while a long-forgotten memory of a sound just like that surfaced in his mind, but he couldn't recall what the sound was. "What's that noise?!" Kyle hissed, frightened. He tried to get to his feet, wincing in pain, but Sarah hekd him down.

"It's okay, they're just police sirens." Sarah explained to him.

"Police sirens?" Kyle echoed, finally managing to drag himself to his feet.

Sarah tried to get to her own feet, but cried out in pain as her injured leg gave out beneath her.

"You're hurt!" Kyle cried in alarm, gingerly squatting down next to her, gently removing her trembling hand for the wound and examining the deep injury in her leg.

The doors of the warehouse swung open and Kyle jumped, spinning around to see a hoard of police and paramedics storming onto the scene. In the next few minutes, confusion reigned in Kyle's mind as he and Sarah were bundled onto stretchers and carried off into the back of an ambulance.

"Wha-what's happening?!" Kyle cried in fear and alarm.

Sarah, lying in the stretcher next to his, reached for his hand. He grabbed it thankfully, squeezing it gently for comfort. "We're going to the hospital, Kyle. They're going to fix our injuries. We're safe now. Safe…" she soothed.

A young paramedic thrust his face down near Kyle's, stopping him from replying to Sarah. "Can you tell me your name, sir?"

Kyle looked over at Sarah. She smiled at him in reassurance. "You can tell him. It's okay, you can tell him."

"K-Kyle Reese." Kyle stammered in confusion, unsure of why this stranger wanted to know his name. The paramedic asked the same question to Sarah, who replied with her own name. Kyle could feel himself becoming drowsy, the exhaustion of the last few days finally catching up with him. He closed his eyes, and drifted off into a deep sleep.

*****

When Kyle opened his eyes, he felt a great fear seep into him as he found himself in unfamiliar surroundings: an unfamiliar white room that smelt of disinfectant, and lying in a stiff bed. He looked down in horror at the tubes coming out of his arms that, unbeknownst to Kyle, connected him to a drip.

"Ahhhhh!" he screamed.

"Kyle! Kyle, it's okay!" a familiar female voice pierced through Kyle's confused mind. "Kyle! It's okay! We're safe! It's alright!"

Kyle whipped his head around and the blue eyes of Sarah Connor met his own green ones.

"Sa-Sarah?" he stammered.

"It's me, Kyle." Sarah answered. "It's okay. We're okay." She soothed, trying to calm him down. He looked positively terrified.

He took a deep breath and looked at her hard, as if making sure that it really was Sarah Connor looking at him, and not some impostor. "Where are we?" he asked, finally speaking after a long silence. He was still terribly confused and disorientated.

Sarah smiled at him gently. "We're in the hospital, Kyle." Sarah explained. "We're safe."

"Sa-Safe?" Kyle queried, still quite confused. His memories of the night before were still foggy and disjointed. "How-" he trailed off and took a deep breath. "How did you kill it?" he asked her.

"I crushed it in the industrial compressor." Sarah explained to him. "It's gone."

Kyle nodded, lost for words at the bravery of this woman.

"Rest now, Kyle." Sarah said quietly. "Sleep for a little while longer. You need it." she paused, looking at him. The blood was gone from his face, but there was a bit of bruising and a few cuts on his face, though none deep enough to leave a permanent scar. She was amazed by the bravery and ingenuity that this young had demonstrated through the last few days.

"Sleep?" Kyle asked, as if he was contemplating the idea.

"Yes, sleep. We can leave tomorrow, Kyle. So you need to rest now Kyle."

"Tomorrow?" Kyle echoed.

"Yes, tomorrow." Sarah smiled at him again, and then kissed him softly.

Kyle smiled back at her and then, once again, fell deeply asleep. Tomorrow…

*TO BE CONTINUED…*