Kat cornered Derek, who was busy trying to delete any footage of them, while everyone else grabbed the Turk.

"What the hell was that?" Kat shouted, not caring how loud she was.

"You're alive, aren't you?" Derek retorted, not needing to clarify what she meant.

"Would you have done it? Would you have really killed that little girl?" Kat inquired, approaching him so they were standing only a few inches apart.

"…Yes" Derek answered, after mulling it over for a second.

"Oh my god…what is wrong with you?! She's a child! How can that not matter to you?" Kat exclaimed, angrily.

"Of course, it matters. But keeping you alive matters more-" Derek started, but she cut him off.

"Why? Why is my life so damn important to you?...Answer me!" Kat insisted, shoving him in the chest.

"Because you're my mission, Kat!" Derek admitted, his eyes widening when he realised what he had blurted out.

"What?" Kat frowned.

"I wasn't sent here to eliminate Skynet threats. I wasn't sent back here to protect John Connor. I was sent back to save your life" Derek explained.

"On whose orders?" Kat questioned.

"Who do you think? John told me I had to save you no matter what. Even if it meant sacrificing himself" Derek confessed.

"And then what happens? If John dies, Skynet wins. Which means we all die" Kat pointed out.

"I don't know, John didn't tell me everything" Derek shrugged.

"So, all this has just been about your orders?" Kat queried, as Derek nodded.

"Well…I'm sure John will be happy to know your such a good little soldier" Kat hissed, as she turned on her heel and left the room.

Derek gritted his teeth as he watched her go, wanting to tell her that he lied. That it wasn't the only reason he was protecting her. She had always been his idol, ever since he was a teenager, but now he actually knew her…it felt like more than that, he realised.

"Happy Birthday!" Kat grinned, as she all but bounced into the room, where John was busy typing on the computer.

"Someone seems happy" John stated, as Kat passed him a card.

"My little brother's finally sixteen, why shouldn't I be happy?" Kat stated as she sat down on John's bed.

John couldn't stop the grin that began on his face at the mention of the word 'brother'. He always wanted a sibling, and he couldn't think of anyone better than Kat. John quickly opened the card that simply stated 'Congrats, you're old now' on the front, as he shook his head fondly. When he opened the card, something fell into his lap, as he picked it up. It was a silver chain with a pendant attached, which he could see had writing on it.

"You got me a necklace?" John laughed, as she shrugged, clearly a little embarrassed.

"To John, I'll always be there for you, even when I'm not around. Kat" John read out loud, reading the tiny words on the back of the pendant.

"Do you like it?" Kat inquired, as John placed it around his neck.

"Yeah. I love it" He smiled at her, as they heard a sound from the doorway.

Both turned to see Derek standing there, and by the haunted expression on his face, he had been there for some time. Derek and Kat shared an intense look for a moment, as Derek put two and two together to understand the meaning behind the necklace. She was still expecting to die. And most likely before his next birthday.

"I'll go see if your mum needs anything" Kat mumbled, as she stood up from the bed, and pushed past Derek.

"She doesn't seem happy with you" John stated, as Derek entered his room.

"More like furious" Derek mumbled.

"I can't really blame her. You almost crossed a line yesterday" John pointed out.

"She could be dead if I hadn't. Is that really what you'd want?" Derek asked, a serious tone in his voice.

"No. I understand why you did it. You're here to make the hard choices. I guess that's why I sent you back" John theorised.

"Why are you bringing so much money? The supermarket cakes cost no more than $20" Cameron told her, as they walked towards the car, after being tasked with getting a cake for John.

"We're not going to the supermarket. I got a custom cake made last week in a bakery nearby" Kat replied.

"Why?" Cameron inquired.

"It's his sixteenth. It needs to be special" Kat explained.

"Why?" Cameron insisted.

"I…I don't know. It just is" Kat shrugged, as they reached the car, and she opened the passenger door.

"That's not a very good answer" Cameron stated, as she pulled herself into the driver's seat.

"Sometimes there's no reason to why people do things. It's just…how it is, I guess" Kat clarified, as Cameron put the key into the ignition.

Everything that happened next was a blur. The moment that Cameron turned the key, her eyes widened, and she shoved Kat out the door, with her superhuman speed and strength. Kat fell with a bang onto her back and knew instantly her back would be covered in bruises soon enough. Suddenly there was an ear-splitting bang in front of her, as the Jeep exploded, sending debris and glass everywhere. Kat held her arms to her face in an attempt to shield herself, as she crawled away from the destruction. As the flames slowly dispersed, she could see a heavily damaged Cameron still sitting in the car, staying unnaturally still.

"Cameron? Cameron!" Kat cried as she pushed herself up.

A moment later, Cameron's head twitched, and her eyes snapped open. From the blank look on her face, Kat could tell she was assessing the damage. It couldn't have been too bad, as she was soon pushing the broken dashboard off herself and exiting the car.

"Hey, are you okay?" Kat inquired, as Cameron finally seemed to notice her presence.

The machine tilted its head to the side and pressed its hand against the back of its head, as it pulled against something. Kat grimaced as Cameron pulled away a piece of metal scrap that must have been embedded in her head. She only had a split second to react before Cameron was throwing the metal towards her, only missing her head by inches.

"What are you-" Kat was cut off, as hands wrapped themselves around her neck.

She tried to choke some words out, as she clawed against Cameron's strong hands. The machine's eyes seemed out of focus as if she was barely aware of what she was doing. Suddenly, there was a shout from the house, which they both recognised was from John. Kat was dropped to the ground, as she gasped for the air she had been deprived. With a groan, she pushed herself up, knowing she needed to go after Cameron. Just as she was making her way into the house, there was a clatter above her, as she watched John and Sarah crash through the window upstairs. She was by their side in an instant, checking them over for injuries.

"What happened?" Kat questioned, as she helped John up.

"It was Sarkissian, he…he tried to…and then Cameron…she tried to shoot me!" John stuttered.

"She tried to kill me too," Kat told him.

"C'mon, we need to go" Sarah insisted, as they ran away from the house.

When Derek saw the house was ablaze, he felt his heart stop. Just for a moment. The next second, he jumped into action, and quickly knocked out a nearby firefighter and took his suit. He was quickly able to find out that two bodies had been found in the house, but there were both adult males. He allowed himself a moment to breathe a sigh of relief. She was alive. Now he just had to find her.

Author's Notes: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! We've entered Season 2 finally, this is where things are going to start getting interesting. Derek's arc will be quite different from how it is in season 2 in the show, as Kat is going to change a lot of things. Please leave a review:)

Gast: Thank you, glad you like it:)