Reader's Discretion is advised. Mature Readers sexual content. Not suitable for young readers.

Now I'm living at the mercy of the hourglass
Threatened by the mysteries of the day
All I have are the memories and the photographs
Regretting things that I forgotto say

Tyler threw cops around like they were nothing more than rag dolls. Distracting them, intimidating them, causing the intended chaos so the others could make a clean getaway. One of the police officers managed to shoot Tyler in the arm. He roared like a wounded lion, stalked over furiously, menacingly, only to grab the man by the throat and slam him through the windshield of his patrol car.
"That hurt," he seethed, feeling a familiar tingle at the base of his skull.
He had to keep it lighthearted and not let rage take over, not let Skynet take over, but as a means to work off the excessive energy stored in the nanoattrioids, this was perfect. Though he was most sure that Amy would have a few choice words about his injuries later on.
Time to continue this little dance with LA's finest. An amused grin graced his face while he cracked the knuckles of his fists, his eyes scanning the 'battlefield' in front of him. He was definitely enjoying himself. If only those pesky cops realized that shooting at him was damn annoying and would not help them one bit.

After TJ successfully boosted a car, Destiny gave him driving instructions to an abandoned tunnel in downtown L.A..
"We can hide out there until this blows over," she stated as he turned the car off the main street into a dark back alley.
"A base in the future?" TJ asked as he dimmed the headlights and squinted to see in the deep dark shadows of the night and buildings.
"Yeah, it'll be Bridge Bunker," she answered. "Pull over here."
He nodded, letting the car run stationary as the others got out.
"You're not coming?" She asked, leaning into the car on the passengers side again.
"Gotta ditch the car first. Kinda suspicious. Stolen car in a back alley. Saw a seven-eleven a few blocks back."
"I like the way you're thinking," she smirked, paying no attention to the groans of disgust coming from John and Racheal.
She could make out his mischievous grin in the very scarce light of the dashboard.
"Shouldn't take more than a few minutes... Anything we need from the store?"
"You're kidding, right?" John exclaimed annoyed.
"No, not really."
"We're fugitives. We've got like every cop in the city looking for us and you want to go for a grocery run? Are you nuts?"
TJ laughed amused: "Don't worry. It'll be fine. Back in a few."

"Be careful, Tiger," she said before she closed the car door and ushered John and Racheal deeper into the shadows.
"It really is disgusting, you know," Racheal complained, clearly referring to her romantic involvement with TJ.
"Welcome to my world," she reacted with a smirk.

Racheal shivered as they sat down far from the entrance. "Bit cold in here," the girl complained as she rubbed her upper arms to get warm.
It was moments like this that she had to remember Racheal had nowhere near the level of experience of discomfort the rest of their little band had. She looked at her boyfriend who simply shrugged. The chill didn't seem to bother him one bit. No doubt the nanoattrioids doing.
"We could all snuggle up. Combined body heat will warm you up in no time. " TJ suggested with a wicked smirk. "Though skin on skin works a lot faster. Clothing just gets in the way." He added with a quip.
Racheal laughed nervously, and she gagged at the suggestion. Was he really forgetting who they were destined to be? It was a very sick idea. She noticed John eying the tunnels around the corridor and standing up while pulling Racheal with him.
"What?" She asked.
TJ rolled his eyes and snickered: "He's wanting to warm you up, among other things."
John gave TJ a look of distaste who had obviously mastered feigning a look of innocence. She nudged his arm. His little game had lasted long enough.
Racheal looked rather lost and lowered her voice. "I don't have any seeds with me."
In tune with his future version, of course TJ could not pass up this opportunity and piped up: "I'm sure he'd be willing to give you some of his. Think that was his plan."
"TJ!" Destiny slapped his arm.
"What? Just trying to be helpful."
Another masterfully feigned look of innocence, this time directed at her, had her roll her eyes in annoyance and disgust.
Racheal sighed. "Then stay out of it. None of your business anyway."
"Oh, I'll gladly stay out of your business when you learn to stay out of mine," TJ countered without missing a beat.
Racheal simply scoffed and followed John down the corridor. TJ snorted amused, and she worried about what went on in that thick skull of his. It couldn't be good.
"Could have offered some guy, guy and girl action. Doubt momma's boy would have the guts to do it though," he stated as he made no attempt to hide his amusement from his voice and face.
Destiny looked at him in utter shock and disgust. He really had a very twisted mind. Most of the time she loved what he could come up with, but now was not such an occasion. The idea was sickening, making her stomach churn violently. "My mom, TJ," she dry-heaved.
"I know. Wouldn't go through with it... Just would've liked to see the look on his face."
She shook her head and turned away from him. In a sense her mother was right; he was always looking to push the limits. For now he had pushed it too far and she couldn't face him.

Racheal, Sarah, and her older self had checked into a luxury hotel. People always thought that some obscure motel was their best bet at evading whomever was chasing them, but it was a known tactic thus completely ineffective. Without drawing attention from the desk and the patrons, they had carefully unloaded what few items they could take with them; Guns, ammo, IDs, cash. All was neatly laid out on the table. Her older self had decided to name herself Alex, since she liked the name and wanted to avoid confusion. Alex sat at the table and did inventory. Racheal paced back and forth nervously before coming to a sudden halt and stating: "Going to need to find the kids. Meet up with Tyler and figure out where to move next."
She nodded in agreement. The whole team had been shattered by the sudden police raid. With John missing, she found it hard not to start pacing herself. She could only hope that their first contingency plan had taken effect.
"The game plan was to meet up by the harbors in case of separation. Stay there two days max and then move on. If they are not there by then..." She left the rest hanging in the air.
"Then they're dead or arrested." Racheal finished.
She rolled her eyes when a voice took over the room. "No. John escaped from a Mexican jail once in less than a day. Destiny escaped a Skynet work camp in four hours. TJ has the nanos and Racheal has a very keen ability to strategize. It is highly unlikely they would still be in jail for the allotted waiting time. Given their own series of skills, if captured they would escape in precisely eight hours at most unless the four of them were to be separated from each other."
Sarah smiled with false warmth. "Ah, Cameron... I sure was beginning to miss your logical explanations."
"Thank you." The machine replied.
"Please shut up." Sarah retorted.
Alex stared off into space. "John escaped the jail with help from Ellison and Destiny did not escape Century on her own, I got her out," she said with some hesitation as if she spoke the memories as they happened to return.
Racheal smirked. "Good to see you're almost you again."

John rubbed his right hand across Racheal's collar bone, down her breasts and to her hip. She smirked.
"You warm?" He asked.
"Yeah."
"Good." He said and leaned further down to kiss her. Tucking a strand of red hair behind her ear, he smiled. "I love you.
"Not Just because of…"
"The fact that we're naked, rubbing against each other to keep warm? Nah, it's nice but not why I love you." He finished.
She kissed him back as he slipped something on her hand. Surprised she broke away from the kiss and looked at the ring he had placed on her left ring finger.
"John?"
He took a deep breath. "It's not an engagement ring, Rache. It's uh... more of pre-engagement ring? Like a promise-ring or something? I mean… I want you to be my wife, just I'm not ready yet. "He sighed. "The future is pushing things at us too quickly. A year from now, the world will end. We'll be soldiers in a war instead of kids at school. You'll be my wife and second in command, TJ will be my one of my best men and within three years, we will suffer miscarriages but we'll have two daughters... The future moves too damn fast and I do want those things with you, Racheal... But for now, I just would like to be your boyfriend and take it one day at a time. I want to choose you because I want you, not because the future has foretold it."
She looked at her ring. A white gold circle, hidden underneath two rows of tiny diamonds. A large heart-shaped ruby crowned the center.
"One day at a time... I think I can do that." She smiled.
He kissed her again. "I love you." He let his right hand glide down her breasts again to her hip and inner thighs. He looked her in the eyes and he pushed her thighs apart, waiting for her to refuse him. Slowly he climbed on her and rocked his hips against her. Racheal moaned as she felt him stiffen.
Slowly John slid off of her, grabbed her hips and took a long look at her.
"Jojo, don't tease." She whined.
He smirked, crawled on top of her again and pushed himself inside her. After she let out a rewarding moan, she pulled him closer and kissed his neck.
He buried his face in her chest and thrusted hard against her. She arched her back and moaned in response.
As if on cue, TJ's voice ruined the moment. "John, pull it out an pack it up. Time to get moving."
John stopped thrusting and took a deep breath that spoke of annoyance. "Leave, TJ."
TJ chortled, clearly entertained by the fact that he had caught them in the act. "We've been here long enough. Time to leave, so pull your dick out of her and get dressed."
A roaring laughter broke the silence. "Couldn't have said it better myself, kid." Tyler laughed amused.
John rolled his eyes, decided there was nothing else he could do given the situation they were in now and continued to thrust as Racheal panted harder and harder.
"Five… more minutes" He mumbled as the delicious strain tempted him to throw caution and decency to the wind.
"Now!" Tyler's voice boomed startling them into stillness.
Strong hands closed around his upper arms as Tyler reached over and pulled him from Racheal as she tried to hook her legs through his for security.
"Damn you."John muttered as his breathing hitched.
"She's done anyway, kid" Tyler said while he hauled him over and dropped him next to his clothes.
All the while Racheal remained sprawled out on the ground, panting heavily until embarrassment sank in. Turning scarlet all over, she grabbed John's shirt off the floor and slipped it on while John quickly put some jeans on.
"Geez, do you mind?" Racheal complained as she caught Tyler's dark look in their direction.
The hulking man arched an eyebrow sardonically and said in an authoritative voice: "Get your stuff and get up. We need to get moving."
Crossing his arms and staring down at them, he didn't move one inch. She glared. "I'd like some privacy first."
His eyes began to sparkle with mischief and he snorted. "Shoulda thought of that before you jumped each other in the middle of the corridor... But don't worry... There's hardly or no room for shame in the future so it's good practice... Besides, I've pulled babies out of you. I've already seen it, girl. Now move."
As the group emerged from the hideout, they found the older Racheal waiting for them in a car with the engine running.
"Plan B?" She barked angrily before she pulled Destiny into a hug to check her for injuries.
"Really, mom?" Destiny protested.
"Get in," Tyler ordered while he got behind the wheel.

"You have to be ******* kidding me," Tyler growled when the headlights of their car bathed a human form that was waiting for them on the road in bright light, his hand automatically reaching for his shoulder.
"What?" Racheal asked.
"Damn metal juice! All lean to the right and hold on!" He barked, swerving the car violently to the left.
The front bumper scraped the asphalt as the front of the car dove deep into its suspensions at the steep angle. He had to try because hitting the human form was an even worse option. The car protested at the abuse by shaking and swerving nearly uncontrollable at the invisible forces pulling at it.
Metal collided with metal as the human form stretched out an arm towards the passing car and formed a knife. Tyler swallowed the growl as the tip speared through the drivers door and nicked his side. Just another addition to his ever-growing collection of scars, and better him than the kids.
The knife tore the drivers side to shreds, but as he had instructed all passengers had moved to the other side to balance the car. Undoubtedly the liquid terminator had punctured one or both tires, and the car was considered a total loss.
A split second decision, he yanked on the steering wheel and the handbrake, causing the back of the car to slide away from his control, hoping it would knock the terminator back and buy the kids some time.
"OUT!" He boomed as the terminator got knocked back a few yards. "RUN!" He added, slamming his shoulder again the mangled door to open it.
He had to buy them time. With his future long gone, any sacrifice would not be costly if that meant John and the others would live. He nearly fell out of the car when the door suddenly gave way.
Scrambling to his feet quickly, he rolled his shoulders and stormed up the machine: "Time to tango, metal motherfúcker!" He growled, ramming his left shoulder into it to send it stumbling back to the floor.

"RUN!" She barked decisively at the stalling teens.
She could tell that the force of her voice had startled her daughter, but it was not something she could deal with right now. The kids' safety was their first priority.
"GO!"
She pushed at John and Destiny, hoping they would get the hint. Her younger self had taken off like an arrow from a bow. What felt like minutes, only seconds she knew, the teens finally came to their senses and ran off in the direction they had come from, cutting through the fields.
She should go too, but a glance over her shoulder told her that Tyler was in serious trouble. He was buying them time, hoping it would be enough for a clean escape, but he was bleeding pretty badly.
"GO!" He ordered her as he managed to dodge another slash at his abdomen.
She swallowed hard. The man had no reservations about death, knowing full well that it was part of his existence, but could she really walk away. He had saved members of her family so many times over the years.
He growled like a wounded monster when the knife connected with his side, bore right through his flesh and pinned him to the wrecked car. People would mention that someone would curse like a sailor, but they had obviously never met Tyler. He was uttering the foulest curses and insults now, trying to get free again.
She couldn't let him take the fall. She knew that she should. If Tyler was no match for a T-thousand, she definitely had no chance in hell. He had fought all sorts of machines, but Skynet had put out a model even he could not junk with his bare hands. The mercury killer, deadly shape-shifter was nearly invincible.
She pulled her nine millimeter and emptied the entire clip. A useless action since the shape-shifter simply absorbed the bullets without a dent. It turned its head to look at her, withdrew the knife pinning Tyler down and drove it through her abdomen in no more than a second.
A loud howl of pain pierced through the night. Hers. She had miscalculated the distance. The T-thousand retracted its knife, looked at both its victims with its head slightly and took off after the teens. It wouldn't be enough.
Time slowed to almost a standstill. As her knees buckled and she began to fall, she watched as Tyler pushed himself up from the ground. Damn nearly indestructible, she thought darkly, but it's still a chance.
She groaned when she hit the ground. This was it.
"I'm so sorry," she muttered as the pain rendered her mind incoherent. "I'm so sorry."
Tears slid down the sides of her face, as life seeped from her. She looked at the night sky. So many stars. Destiny had been right. It was lovely to watch those indeterminable amount of stars without the fear of being spotted by a Hunter-Killer.
Resigning in her fate, of her impending death, she kept looking up. Praying that the nanoattrioids would do their work and Tyler could attempt to buy the teens so more time again. The T-thousand was gone and all that remained was silence. She had always thought she would die in the heat of battle, and not on the side of some deserted road. Even if it was the result of war.
Noise. She focused on her hearing, anything better than the pain in her abdominal region, and heard footsteps fast approaching. Male. Running. Gravel sliding. She was so damn cold.
"I'm so, so sorry," she muttered one last time before darkness overtook her.

She shook uncontrollably, her emotions completely raw. Tyler had ignored her every question about her mother, but she had heard the cry of the dying. A cry she had heard many times before, back home. This time the cry had been her mother's, but John had refused to let her go, had dragged her along, despite her struggles to break free.
The sound of metal colliding with metal, the roar of an engine revving up behind them, adrenaline and defeat had fought a bitter battle with one another. The jeep had sped past them, its tailgate lowered and in the bed had stood the Devil. One by one he had pulled them into the jeep, to discover they were another man short. Her boyfriend had disappeared into the darkness of the night as well. Her mother. TJ.
She had cursed Tyler to hell and back for ordering Derek to drive them to their new safe-place, but he had simply ignored her, resorting to silence as he had kept scanning the road behind them as they had sat in the jeep's bed. She hated him!
She hated him even more now, with his iron grip on her arm while he had escorted her to the hotel suite. The slight hope her mother and TJ had come in before them shattered upon only finding Alex, Sarah and Cameron waiting for them. John, Racheal and Derek had come in after them, quietly, their faces telling of a tragic event.
The only compensation there was, to her, was that Amy was missing too. At least the big jerk was getting a taste of his own medicine. However it was a joy she couldn't relish, because Amy had done nothing wrong.
Now she could feel her heart breaking. Her chest tightened with every sob she managed to suppress. The world shattered. Nothing more than an illusion. This whole time. Her life in both world, her father's bedtime words. It was all a big fúcking lie. A grand deception.
There was no safe. No peace. No happiness. There was nothing but words. Lie stacked upon lie, turning words into meaningless sounds. Bla-bla to ease the pain and relieve the guilt. All lies!
'No one is ever safe. You're not safe, Destiny,' her mind spun monotonically. 'Not awake. Not asleep. Not in the future, nor in the past. People die. For John. For you. We love. We lose. We try to bear it but sometimes the pain is too much to be tolerated. Sometimes people snap. Kyle died. Derek tried to eat his gun and would have succeeded if Jess hadn't startled him. Nana isn't even the same anymore. She's broken too. Everything's meant to be broken... The Devil had been right when he had quoted Plato once again: now death is not the worst thing that can happen to men; far worse are the punishments which are said to pursue them in the world below. Hell. It can't differ much from the life I live now.'
Suddenly she knew. There was only one way to get out. Only one way for the pain to truly end. With no belief in the afterlife, she would finally be at peace and safe from all the horrors and lies that made up this world. She flung the duvet off of her and took off in a mad dash, out of the room, the suite and down the hall towards the elevator.
"Devlin!" She heard Alex snap behind her. "Catch her."
With that order, she knew that her attempt to flee, to seek the final solution to end the crushing pain was over the second she heard him behind her. For a moment she was amazed how silently he could actually move for such a big guy. Under normal circumstances she already could not outrun or outsmart him, but in her current state it was even worse: next to impossible.
"Let. Me. Go!" She hissed when his right hand closed around her wrist.
She tried to yank herself free, to no avail. At least he had been so kind as to use his good hand, and not that damn iron claw.
"Hold up, kid," he said in an unusually gentle voice.
"What? No Princess or Silverspoon?" She snapped at him after she spun around, glaring daggers at him.
"And what good would that do?" He countered with a smirk.
Not much, she agreed.
"Look," he began, continuing in that gentle voice. "I know you're in a really dark place right now-"
"What the hell would you know?" She hissed furiously. "Aside from... It's all your fúcking fault!"
"More than you think... So come with me and we'll talk," he offered, letting go off her wrist.
"Aren't you supposed to return me to the room, like the damn jailer that you are?" She asked while she rubbed her wrist.
He sent her a cryptic smile: "I could do that... Or we can talk. Your choice, kid."
In spite of her dark state of mind, and her even darker thoughts, he had her interest now. Devlin was a man of action, limiting himself to necessary words. She still did not like him, hell, she really hated his guts right now, but once he had been like TJ, had been TJ. So in a second of returned sanity, she decided that it could not hurt to hear him out. In any case, she could always end it all later. Or maybe he would give her the final push.