Chapter 23

Magic

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Alternate Future Timeline:

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John decided to take Allison into his full confidence after her encounter with Mrs. Weaver. He could tell that Allison experienced a lot of difficulty with what she'd witnessed and with what almost happened to her. It was when Allison said she didn't want to go through that again that he knew she'd been assaulted before. That seemed to be a common theme among the females in the future. It saddened him some to think how she'd been abused. He'd seen firsthand what it looked like when they were out on patrols before. They'd found some female bodies after the Scavengers were done with them. Just to think of how some of them looked caused a gag reflex in him. It was clear that most of what was done to them was done while they were still alive. Most of the body parts that were cut off were healed. Death must have been like a sweet release for them. They also found younger males in the same condition. They were all eunuchs.

He decided he wanted to bring the Reese brothers up to speed on everything. He was not going to divulge his personal relationship to them.

Mrs. Weaver spoke to John about it too. She said she wanted to deal with the Scavenger problem and Skynet. She wanted to make her presence more known but not as a Terminator. That would only be to a few key individuals who would know not to challenge her. She wanted to be known so she could exert greater influence over the Resistance. This wasn't her future but it was a future. The Resistance needed a leader and a savior. She would ease her way into power as both with John's assistance.

John arranged a few things. He wanted to get it right without panicking the others. It was time to get Derek and Kyle on board about what was really happening. He asked Allison to tell her story as well. He told her it was important that she be factual as to what she'd actually witnessed.

He felt the Reese brothers were not going to be an easy sell. He knew it was a pretty unbelievable story if that is all someone heard. John started anyway as they all listened in disbelief.

Allison gave her account of what happened to her and what she saw. Allison swore to them that she was telling the truth. She knew what she saw and what happened, she was there. She knew what saved her even if she didn't know what it was at the time. She owed her life to Mrs. Weaver.

Derek was skeptical of what John and Allison told him. It seemed to go against everything he believed in or wanted to believe. It just went against all logic to hear that some of the very things they were fighting and that were killing mankind would help them.

Derek looked at Kyle and then back at John and Allison. He knew John and Allison were 'solid'. It was the facts that were hard to swallow.

"Metal helping humans? Working side by side together? Female Terminators? Liquid Metal?" Derek asked. "You have to look at this from my point of view, our point of view. Do you know how this sounds?"

John did know. His mother was sent to a mental institution for speaking the truth. He hoped they would not put him in one here. Allison came to his rescue.

"Derek, I was there. It saved me. It knew about Savannah and our 'relationship'." Allison said. "It was protecting me because of Savannah. It saved me because it knew Savannah loved me."

John wanted to tell Allison not to refer to Mrs. Weaver as 'it'.

Derek shook his head in disbelief.

"Where did it go? It sounds like some kind of - magic." Derek said. "Can you hear yourself? Can both of you hear what you are saying to us?"

Allison grew a little irritated.

"It helped me. It SAVED me and then it was gone." Allison said.

Kyle wondered how something could come from nowhere and then disappear back into nowhere.

"Where did it go?" Derek asked. "It needed to come from someplace and go back to somewhere."

Allison felt defensive.

"It was just gone." Allison said.

Kyle went over what Derek said. It was what he felt too.

"It came from nowhere and later it just 'disappeared'?" Kyle asked. "It really does sound like - magic."

John was afraid this was going from bad to worse. He still had a few cards to play.

"She is from a different future. That's what I have been trying to explain. I'm here from the past. I've told you the story three times." John said. "Allison and I are both telling the truth."

Kyle trusted Allison and knew John to be a stand up guy and natural leader.

"Listen to this, to yourself. You've told us of a different future, time travel and someone here from the past. It's so hard to accept this at face value." Kyle said. "If Allison wasn't telling us these things herself, I wouldn't believe it. I wouldn't believe any of it. It is unbelievable to anything we know."

John told Mrs. Weaver where the meeting was going to take place. She said she would be there waiting and listening.

John figured it was 'Showtime'.

"Will you join us?" John asked.

Derek looked at Allison and then at John.

"My instinct is to say, NO." Derek said. "Metal is the enemy."

Kyle almost felt hopeless. This new insanity didn't help.

"We're losing this war. Between Skynet Metal and Scavengers our hope and chances of survival are running out of time." Kyle said. "We're fighting a losing battle."

John wanted more.

"Will you join us?" John asked again.

Derek let out a long breath.

"Kyle?" Derek asked.

Kyle shook his head back in forth in resignation.

"What do we have to lose? It's only matter of time at this point until we are obliterated." Kyle said. "We're losing."

Kyle and Derek talked among themselves. They asked Allison her opinions and for her input.

John thought there would be a bigger argument than there was.

Allison was in John's corner on this and made that clear. The fact she wasn't assaulted and was still alive was all the proof she needed.

John noticed the side of the 'wall' morph into an 'Irish Setter' in the background. He said nothing.

"Will you join us?" John asked again.

Derek didn't look happy.

"We will but at the first sign of treachery, deception or a double cross…." Derek said. "You're asking us to join part of what we've been fighting for years."

John indicated with his head for Derek and Kyle to turn around.

"Look." John said.

They turned and looked. There was a dog there now. They didn't see it enter the room. The room was empty when they'd arrived.

The 'Irish Setter' barked once at them.

"Whose dog is that?" Allison asked. "It's beautiful."

It reminded Allison of Savannah for some reason.

Kyle looked from side to side.

"Where did it come from?" Kyle asked. "It wasn't here earlier."

Derek was amazed at the breed of bog it was on top of everything else.

"I haven't seen one of those in years, not since I was a kid." Derek said.

John played another card.

"A few seconds ago it was part of the wall." John said.

That didn't make sense to anyone there but John.

"Part of the wall?" Derek asked confused.

John played another card.

"Derek, Kyle, and Allison, I would like you to meet Mrs. Weaver. She is a Liquid Metal Terminator. She will help us in our fight against Skynet. Don't panic or do anything irrational or stupid. She is about to change form into a - female."

Before their eyes the change occurred. Kyle and Derek instinctively backed away as did Allison. The look of fear was on their faces. This was terrifying to them but it was what John told them three times earlier.

John stood to the side between them to reassure them. He moved closer to Mrs. Weaver.

Mrs. Weaver looked at Allison and showed a faint smiled.

"Miss Young, it is nice to see you again. Mr. Reese and Mr. Reese, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Mrs. Weaver said.

Derek was unable to return the greeting. He was still trying to process everything.

"Is that thing dangerous?" Derek asked nervously.

Mrs. Weaver looked at him. She still remained where she was since she could see the fear in them.

"I am very dangerous. I'm also deadly, swift and ruthless. I believe Miss Young can confirm that." Mrs. Weaver said.

Mrs. Weaver stood there in a white dress and high heels. She looked like she'd stepped out of a high end fashion magazine. It was just like Allison said.

The two brothers couldn't fathom what they'd just witnessed.

Allison was the first to respond.

"I would like to thank you for saving my life and rescuing me." Allison said. "I really mean that. Thank you."

Mrs. Weaver liked the praise.

"You're welcome." Mrs. Weaver said. "I'd do anything for Savannah's true love."

John felt triumphant.

"Do you still think I am insane or a Gray now?" John asked.

Derek started to accept what he'd witnessed. It was right in front of him.

"Are there any more surprises?" Derek asked.

Mrs. Weaver felt confidant in her new audience.

"Actually there are going to be quite a few more. In this timeline Skynet doesn't yet know of our arrival or my ability. There appear to be no other Terminators like me here." Mrs. Weaver said. "I should have quite the advantage."

Mrs. Weaver looked at each of them.

"I would also like to clean up the Scavenger 'problem'. I became aware of that problem from Savannah. It was very disturbing to me. I have saved Miss Young from three attempts to violate her."

That was news to Allison.

"Three attempts?" Allison asked.

The faint smile returned to Mrs. Weaver's face.

"I ended the other two attempts without you being aware of them. They were real and they would have happened." Mrs. Weaver said.

That thought made Allison cringe. She knew what it was like to he held down by force by a group of men or to have a gun held to the side of her head or a knife to her throat. She absentmindedly reached up and touched three small scars on the front side of her neck. Those three times drew blood. The others didn't.

"I apologize for being late on this third attempt, Miss Young." Mrs. Weaver said. "There were two Terminators stalking you. I needed to terminate them. They were a threat to the patrol you were separated from. They would have terminated the entire patrol. It didn't take me very long to neutralize the threat."

Derek remembered finding them. They did not know what happened to them.

"We found them split apart. Their skulls were shredded." Derek said. "You did that?"

The faint smile returned to Mrs. Weaver's face.

"Yes. My kind is unstoppable, except Mr. Connor here and his mother have defeated one of my type in the past with the aid of an endoskeleton Terminator. They have also destroyed several Terminators in the past year. Sarah Connor, John's mother, along with a Resistance fighter sent from another future timeline destroyed another Terminator decades before Judgment Day."

Derek tried to take it all in. The proof was in front of him.

"Another future? Time travel? Liquid Metal? A kid and his – mother destroying Terminators?" Derek asked. "I guess seeing is believing."

Kyle was impressed with hearing about John's mother.

"I would like to meet this woman, Sarah Connor." Kyle said. "It sounds like she is the 'Mother of the Resistance'."

Mrs. Weaver moved next to John.

"In my future John Connor is the leader of the Resistance and results in the destruction of Skynet." Mrs. Weaver said.

Derek looked at Kyle then at John.

"Maybe we should put him in charge then." Derek said.

John smiled at him and saluted.

Mrs. Weaver knew things could be different.

"I came back from the future to John's past to try to prevent Skynet. Things don't always work out as planned." Mrs. Weaver said. "Being in this timeline is one of them."

Kyle wondered where it went from here.

"What's the plan?" Kyle asked.

"I'm looking for my son." Mrs. Weaver said.

Derek thought he'd heard it all already. He was wrong.

"Your - son...?" Derek asked. "What's next?"

The three Resistance fighters looked bewildered.

Kyle thought at this point anything was possible.

"Yes. He arrived here in this timeline a year ago. He should have gone to my future. I set our arrival to be ahead of his. I wanted to be here to protect him. I think the use of the TDE so soon after the first use of it resulted in this anomaly. To make a long story short, he was the 'Colonel' from the Regular Army that took Savannah away." Mrs. Weaver said.

Allison felt her heart come alive inside of her.

"Where is she? Where's Savannah? She said she wouldn't be back for a long time, maybe never." Allison said as tears filled her eyes. "It sounded like we would never see each other again. I wanted to die."

They could all see how much Allison truly missed Savannah.

"Savannah is alive and well at my place of business." Mrs. Weaver said.

Derek thought it never ended. Here was another one.

"Place of business?" Derek asked. "Like a - company?"

Kyle knew what the Wastelands and cities looked like.

"Where's that at?" Kyle asked. "Everything is wrecked around here."

The faint smiled showed again on Mrs. Weaver's face.

"She's in the past of course." Mrs. Weaver said. "Savannah is in Paradise."

Derek, Kyle and Allison looked totally bewildered.

Magic

Life is hard and cruel
Sometimes it is very tragic
To help us move ahead
We'd all like to believe in magic

Happy endings are nice
Just as they are in a fiery tale
In life's daily struggle
We hope that we will prevail

Along with the good
There is always the bad.
What sometimes is happy
May end up being sad

We reach for the stars
We wave life's magic wand
To believe that something good
Will be spawned

So here we are
Back to where we started
Why does it hurt so much
Whenever we are parted

Nobody