Disclaimer: None of the characters belong to me. The title comes from the song "Ordinary" by Train.
A/N: This is my first Terminator story, so I hope I got everything right; I haven't seen the first two movies, so I apologize for any mistakes I might have made concerning them. This story takes place after Kate learns that her father is going to be killed by the T-X. So, please enjoy and review.
Katherine Brewster -though she despised being addressed by the name Katherine- squinted her eyes against the burning desert sun as she directed her attention away from John Connor and his machine. Was she finally believing it was a machine now? And what about all that bullshit talk about Judgment Day? It was crazy, all of it, and she wanted nothing more to do with any of it.
And that was what Kate shouted at John and the machine after they suggested that they steal the RV they had come across. John looked at her with a slightly surprised look on his face and Kate wondered if he was one of those guys that couldn't handle an angry woman. The machine just looked at her with a stony expression. "Kate..." John started but she didn't want to give him the chance to finish.
"No! My fiancé is dead and if you think giving me more bullshit about machines is going to make that okay then fuck you!" Kate spat and whirled around so fast that she nearly tripped on the rocks that slide beneath her feet and went running off into the small copse of trees that surrounded the RV in a half-circle.
John watched Kate stumble in her haste to get away (from him?) and wasn't quite sure what he should do. The Terminator started after her but John held up a hand to stop him. "I'll get her."
"My mission is to protect Katherine Brewster-" The machine started.
John sighed. "I know, believe me, I know. But I'll bring her right back here." The Terminator didn't 'look' quite convinced but John didn't really care. Kate didn't need a machine dragging her back against her will, she needed some attempt at human comfort and since he was the only person around, he figured he would have to do. John headed in the direction Kate had vanished.
The woods were scattered, yet dense, and John slipped over a blanket of pine needles as he headed up a slight hill; the leg he had torn up in the motorcycle accident still ached and burned with every step. Kate didn't have a hurt leg to hold her back and she was pissed, there was no telling just how far she could have gotten. And the T-X was still out there, looking for her; for the first time, John actually felt a pang of worry for Kate. Or was it something more? It was difficult to know that you were destined to marry someone you couldn't stand...but that wasn't exactly true anymore.
John finally stumbled upon Kate, who was sitting on the ground with her back against a tree and her face in her hands. "Kate?" He said but didn't step closer toward her.
"Go away." Kate mumbled from behind her hands. "Leave me the hell alone."
John remained where he was. "I can't do that. We have to get back to the Terminator before the T-X finds us."
"I don't care if that thing finds me." Kate snapped, her sorrowful voice laced with venom.
"Kate-"
"No!" Her head shot up and she fixed her tear filled glare on John. "You don't understand, the man I love is dead and my father might as well be. I don't care what happens to me now." Tears slipped freely onto her cheeks and she did nothing to wipe them away. Kate didn't care if John saw her cry, saw her weakness; she didn't care about anything anymore. There was no will left in her body to be strong and put on a brave face; what good would that do now?
John was silent for a while, holding Kate's gaze until it was she that had to look away. "Yeah." He sighed finally. "That sucks."
Kate looked at him in stunned surprise. "Somehow 'that sucks' doesn't quite cover it." She said and John noticed that most of the venom had left her face.
John walked closer toward Kate until he was standing beside her; she made no objections when he sat beside her. "I used to be like you." He said. Kate watched him silently. "I didn't give a damn about what happened to me after my mother died. The future, my destiny?" He shrugged "Fuck 'em."
"What changed?" Kate questioned.
John sighed; that was a good question, one he wasn't quite sure he knew the answer to. "My mom used to say 'no fate but what we make'; I never understood what that meant until after she died. The doctors said that she was going to die in six months but it took three years and that was because of her. It was her fate to die but she decided when." Kate was watching him closely. "It's my destiny to die but I have to do something great before that. I understand that now and I'm not going to stop fighting until Judgment Day is over. Never give up, that's what my mother taught me."
Kate was silent for a moment, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. "You know, you're not as bad as I thought." She smiled a little and John couldn't help but smile back.
John leaned forward, unsure of just what was driving him to do so; Kate seemed surprised when she realized his intentions but her eyes fluttered closed nonetheless and she cocked her head slightly. Their lips were about to met when movement caught John's eye and his gaze shifted from Kate's face to behind her shoulder.
A sound as loud as a crack of thunder but not nearly as solid sliced through the air and suddenly Kate found herself on her back with John on top of her. He pressed his face against her chest and shielded her face with his arms. The sound continued, loud and near, pounding into Kate's ears but she couldn't identify it; despite John covering her face, she could still feel heat against her skin.
Suddenly, the noise ended and the near blistering heat with it. John jumped up quickly and grabbed Kate's wrist, jerking her roughly to her feet. "Run." He commanded, before tearing off through the woods in the direction they had come, pulling Kate behind him.
Kate forced her feet to comply and glanced behind her; the female machine (the T-X, if she remembered correctly) was standing behind them with that strangely serene look on her face and metal jutting out where the arm should be. The metal was glowing red and Kate knew that was where the heat had come from. And the T-X was aiming to send more fire in their direction.
A buzzing sound filled the air and John turned back to see what the killing machine was preparing next. Flame was slowly spurting from the end of the metal arm and he groaned. A flame thrower, just great.
"Get down." John commanded and jerked the unsuspecting Kate forward. He pushed her down the small, sloping hill that led back toward the RV; Kate cried out in surprise and bounced and tumbled down the hill.
The flame thrower cracked to life and John pressed himself against the trunk of a tree seconds before the fire sliced through the air where Kate had been moved before.
Kate managed to dig her fingers into the dirt and stop her fall; she looked up and saw John duck behind a tree. In a matter of seconds, the whole tree seemed engulfed in flames. "John!" Kate screamed and new tears filled her eyes. She couldn't lose John too, not after Scott, not after her father might die. She shouted his name again and her vision became blurry with tears.
The flames tapered out and Kate saw only the blackened trunk of the tree; there was no sign of John. The T-X snapped its head in her direction and started stalking toward her. Kate was frozen by grief and shock and could do nothing but stare at the machine.
The T-X aimed the flame thrower into her face and Kate could see fire sputtering from the tips. So suddenly that Kate hadn't even seen the motion out of the corner of her eye, a charred branch from the equally charred tree slammed into the metal head of the female machine with such force that the head seemed knocked loose for a moment.
Kate jumped in surprise and turned in the direction the blow had come from; John was still holding tightly to the burned branch, panting, sweat and ash covering his cheeks and forehead. Kate barely had the chance to register that he was alive before the T-X had recovered from the surprise blow and was preparing to deal a blow of its own.
John tossed the branch aside and rushed forward, pulling Kate to her feet once more. As they ran through the woods, Kate stumbled but managed to keep running, holding tightly onto John's hand; the fact that he was holding onto hers just as tightly didn't escape her attention.
The woods broke into the clearing that surrounded the RV and the Terminator turned in their direction. "The T-X!" John shouted seconds before fire erupted from the flame thrower that was the T-X's arm.
John grabbed Kate around the waist, pulling her tightly against his chest and dove toward the ground, pivoting her around so that her face was against his neck and her back took the blunt of the fall. Kate's breath was knocked from her chest and she groaned, keeping her face pressed against John, eyes shut tightly; she almost felt safe.
The Terminator opened fire on the T-X, bullets whizzing overhead. The T-X continued to spew fire and John could feel the heat burning above his head; he also felt Kate shaking beneath him, shivering from fear and the noise of the crossfire.
The fire and bullets stopped simultaneously and John lifted his head; the T-X was stalking closer but the Terminator was ready to met the other machine. John got to his feet, pulling Kate, who was still pressed against him, up with him; she was still shaking and for the first time he wanted nothing more then to protect her.
The terminator met the T-X's charge attack, wrapping its arms around the female robot and pushing it back. The T-X snarled as it tried to wrestle away from the Terminator. "Go!" The male machine commanded, looking back at John. "The vehicle."
John needed no further prodding; holding Kate tightly, he rushed for the RV before the T-X could free itself. The door opened easily and it banged against the side of the trailer as John and Kate stumbled inside. He quickly slammed the door shut behind them.
"It's okay now." John mumbled, though he knew it wasn't. He looked down at Kate, who was sniffing with her face still pressed against his chest and gently pulled her away from him. "It's all right Kate."
She looked up at him, dirt and tears on her cheeks. "That thing killed Scott." Kate mumbled numbly, as though she hadn't realized it before. More tears fell.
John remained silent and led her over to a bed that extended from the wall in true RV fashion and she sat down silently. When he sat down next to her, Kate turned to look at him. "I thought you were dead." She said, eyes round. "I thought it had killed you too."
"It takes more then that to kill a Connor." John said, trying to sound lightly when really the whole thing made him sick to his stomach. Kate didn't seem to see the humor in his words. "I'm okay." These words were much more serious.
Kate sniffed and wiped at her eyes, which were now mercifully dry. "You saved my life." She whispered after a moment had passed. She watched him with her round, beautiful eyes.
"Well," John was at a loss of what to say. No one had ever shown him gratitude before. "It was nothing." He muttered, unable to think of anything better to say.
The front door to the RV was suddenly flung open and they both tensed, fearing the T-X; however, it was the Terminator. Giving them little more then a glance, he hurried to the driver's seat and retrieved the keys off the dash. The RV roared to life and the Terminator wasted no time gunning the gas pedal and the RV surged forward; the vehicle bumped over something on the ground and John wondered if it was the T-X.
The RV kicked up dust as it lurched in a 18o degree turn, heading back for the road. John peered through the windshield but he could see nothing but dust. Kate looked over at him and he turned his gaze on her face. "Thank you again." She whispered and leaned her head against his shoulder.
John smiled and slipped his arm around her waist, surprised when she didn't object. Perhaps Kate wasn't so awful after all.
At least now he had a reason to save the world.