May 22, 2010

"You sure it's wise to bring me up here?" She asked in great disbelief when he led her out on the rooftop of their hotel. "I might run and jump."
"You could do that. And I won't stop you," he nodded while he searched through the pockets of his black combat pants. "But you might want to reconsider it."
Her eyes widened at his statement. What kind of game was he playing? There was no stopping her from taking the jump. She shivered.
"It's a damn long fall. Not like you can press a button on your way down when you change your mind. Successful suicides are permanent. And this kind, well, it's very messy. Last thing to go through your head, probably your teeth if you take a header... Want some gum?" He offered, holding out the pack to her.
"Seriously?" She asked beyond belief. "I'm about to kill myself and you offer me gum? Are you insane? Oh wait, don't answer that."
He simply shrugged his shoulders, popped a stick of gum in his mouth and chewed for a while before saying: "Amy suggested it. Seems I have some anger issues, with idiots and morons. Somehow chewing gum keeps me from hitting all the stupid people in the world. A simple solution for a big problem."
She frowned deeply. Was he thinking about hitting her? He would be demoted so fast his head would spin, if her father would have been around that is. Not that Devlin would really care about that.
"Do you think I'm stupid?"
"Nah, you're just really hurting right now."
"Got that right," she grumbled.
"Listen, kid, and understand. I'm not the enemy. Never was. Your father would never have put me in charge of your safety if I had been."
"But the nanos-"
"Make me completely insane from time to time, but it's not something I choose or can control. Just like it was never TJ's choice to make. We deal with the cards we've been given, how sh-itty they may be."
"How?" She wondered aloud, trying to keep all the emotions that threatened to undermine her once more in check.
"Don't know," he admitted. "We just do. As hard or impossible it may seem. We adjust and survive," he paused for a moment. "Today I lost one of my oldest friends-"
"Yet you're not upset about it," she cut him off, anger lacing through her voice.
He shook his head and showed her a glimpse of a sad smile: "I am. Just extremely trained to hide it, to disconnect it... I'm a Lieutenant-General, not by my wish but it is what I am. I cannot afford emotions out there on the battlefield because they may incapacitate me at one point or another," he paused again and stared off into the distance for a good minute. "I'm truly sorry about your mother," he finally said.
It seemed so odd. He claimed to have real emotions without actually showing them. Yet his expressing his sympathy had been genuine and heartfelt. It confused her greatly and it sparked her curiosity.
"Thank you," she whispered. "Can I... Can I ask you something?"
He grunted lowly but not dismissively, so she took it as a yes.
"What's your secret?"
He shook his head: "No secret. You simply disconnect. It's the only way to deal with it."
"So you feel nothing? Just like that?"
He chortled: "All the officers in the Resistance, they have to make horrible decisions. And the higher up, the tougher it gets. I've sent hundreds, if not thousands to their deaths knowingly and willingly. For the good of the cause. If I had thought about it too much, had let feelings come into play, I would've done myself in years and years ago. It's a heavy burden and the only way to survive is to disconnect."
"And become them? Doesn't that mean all is lost? The moment we stop caring, is the moment we lose," she countered upset.
He took a deep breath and seem to ponder over his next words: "It's hard to explain, but we stopped caring because we care. How can we win a war if we feel guilt and sympathy for the people we have to send out into battle? It's a means to survive."
Oddly enough it made sense to her. In a sick and twisted way, in order to care the leaders had to stop caring.
"I always tried the very best out there, fighting on the front line, tried to keep the body count low, but sometimes," he sighed. "Sometimes it simply isn't enough. And people die... Good, decent people, who had no business going into battle, but went anyway because the alternative was many times worse... Your mother was one of those good people. She never stopped caring," he said with a hint of a smile. "You know, she always made sure to thank me after I hauled this or that Connor out of trouble once more... It wasn't necessary, but she always did anyway."
It brought a faint smile to her lips: "Sounds like my mom, alright."
"She never did it to ensure my loyalty, but because she wanted me to know that she appreciated the efforts to keep her family safe. No hidden agendas, or agendas behind agendas, just gratitude. That was... nice."
She looked at his face closely. No clear emotion to be read, except for in his eyes, but the tone of voice he had used, it told her a different story. Silence fell between them, one that gave her room to think and cause to fidget. In a strange way, it was quite unsettling to be talking with the Devil like this. Because, for once, he seemed a normal guy and not some created freak of nature.
"But that's not why I brought you up here," he broke the silence first. "I could say that I know and understand how you feel, but that would be a platitude, right?" He asked with a wry smile.
She nodded in agreement.
"War only knows loss and losers. Even the winners lose. War never ever leaves once you've been exposed to it. For some it simply fades into the background, for others every day becomes hell. Some chose to face their issues head on by picking up the pieces and trying to make the best of it. Others simply give up and kill themselves," he stated.
"It just hurts so much," she mumbled. "Just want to pain to go away."
"Suicide is quite the selfish act. Cowardly too... Think of those you will leave behind. Katya, Racheal, John... TJ... You're a Connor, kid. They're damn fighters, even when it seems hopeless. C wasn't just in command because of all Sarah taught him. He'd get up again and again and again. People took inspiration from his determination to keep fighting. To be a symbol like that, it's equally important to keep up the fight," he stated with conviction, tilting his head a little.
She gave him a single nod in understanding. Things began to dawn on her. She had never fully understood the reverence and idolisation of her father, and of the man she stood looking at now. Her father was the symbol of determination, of never accepting defeat. The Devil, in contrast to his nickname, had become the symbol of hope and freedom. If that were true, she began to understand the reasoning of her father for keeping Devlin alive.
As she pondered the newly-found insight into those characters, he shattered her thoughts as he remarked: "I'd get a suicide rampage taking out as many of those damned tin cans as possible, but a swan dive from a building? Nah, not very Connor-y, don't you agree?"
All she could do was nod in agreement again.
"Take up the fight, teach those metal motherf-ckers a lesson about messing with a Connor they won't soon forget," he said with a genuine smile.
She felt the power in his words, and saw another glimpse of why people wanted to follow him into the depths of hell and back. Because if he wanted to, he certainly could rally a crowd and boost their morale. He had a point which caused her to snort; before she would have hated that fact, but given all she had heard, had learned recently, she could appreciate the effort he was making, for her.
"But what if I can't do it?" She had to ask.
"Just look over your shoulder," he smirked. "And see that you're not alone in this."
On a whim she crossed the small distance between them and hugged him: "Thank you," she mumbled.
He let out a low grunt, which she recognized as mildly surprised with a hint of annoyance, and returned the hug quite awkwardly. It brought a faint smirk to her face; she had seen him wrapped around Amy without any hint of inhibition, but a friendly hug left him stumped. Yet it also brought a deep sadness at the realization that this would be the result of the life her boyfriend would have to lead.
With it came a mental kick in the ass by herself. She had been feeling so incredibly sorry for herself, for the very first very real loss she had suffered in a war that had been going on for decades, wallowing and nearly drowning in an ocean of self-pity. While the man who stood looking at her suspiciously had suffered so much more, from enemies and friends alike. A fate that now awaited TJ.
It fed her determination. Despite her tremendous loss, she would pull through, because if Devlin could, then maybe she could too.
"Can...Can you train me?..I mean dad trained me and Nana...and..mom, but what it isn't enough? What if I am not enough?"
"Kid, you're a Connor. You're enough."

Shortly after their talk and awkward silences, Tyler escorted Destiny back inside the hotel suite. The group had reserved adjoining rooms. One for the men, the other for the women; both connected by a single door inside both rooms and a shared balcony. Destiny entered the women's room and made her way over to one of the beds, trying to avoid the eyes she felt piercing though her. She heard Cameron's voice echo behind her. "You didn't kill yourself." She stated plainly. "That's good. You're important to the war against Skynet. It would help the machines if you were gone, it would. It would be a harder battle, more years to the war."
"Feeling the love, Cam." Destiny said sarcastically. The younger Racheal snorted. Tyler walked in some paces behind Destiny. He waited as she went to the far side of the room and stared out the window. Her eyes stared into the darkness. The unrelenting tears cascaded down her face in noiseless sobbing, mirroring the falling midnight rain. Tyler glanced at Alex and spoke up. "Kid, have I ever told you the story of how your dad tried to bust into a Skynet camp and lost his pants?" Destiny turned her head towards him and frowned before shaking her head no. Tyler chuckled. "Well, it's a good one." The teenage Racheal, stepped out of one of the suites' bathroom, drying her hair with a towel. She sat on the edge of the bed by the window and beckoned Destiny to sit beside her as Tyler started his story. Alex glanced back at Tyler, a nearly invisible smile on her lips. "Well, we had the mission to go to century to bust out some prisoners and visit our ole buddy Skynet. We get roughly close to the entrance into the camp and then we spot a monkey-wagon comin to bring in a new batch of sorry asses to hell. C and I hid behind the monkey-wagon to get ourselves smuggled inside and then.." He paused to laugh. "Then C realises that the latch on the back on the monkey-wagon has hooked itself to the latch on his cargo pants and it's dragging him along. He can't hide underneath the wagon as we're pulled inside the gate, and he doesn't want to be a part of the group on the wagon since he'll be recognised so he does the only thing he can do and takes his pants off." Tyler starts laughing before continuing his story. "C and I hide under the wagon as people start filing out and of course our rookies arrive and blow the metal motherf-ckers to hell and back but the look on everyone's face when they meet the legendary John Connor in his undies." Tyler looked up to a newly formed audience. Everyone had gathered into the women's suite to hear what he had had to say. Sarah and Alex were standing aloof by their makeshift table for supplies. Destiny and Racheal were both sitting/laying on the bed and John and Derek had taken to leaning against the door frame just between the separate rooms. The only one not bothering to pay attention was Cameron who paced the balcony, most likely trying to do a perimeter search to keep an eye on everyone's safety. Racheal tried to suppress a smile, Alex let hers show, Sarah tried to ignore the story for the most part and Derek laughed while John fumed. Tyler looked over to John and smirked. "Well, it was a half assed attempt on your part. Too bad you're not brave enough to go full commando like some us. Bare assed is better than half assed." John rolled his eyes. "Haha, very funny." He said. "I'd like to think so, kid."

Racheal chewed her lip."Sounds like something goofy my dad would have done. "John looked over at her. Racheal had talked about her mom all the time. When he first knew her at school and after she had come to live with them. Especially after the T-1000 was responsible for her mother's death, she had spent many nights climbing into his bed to stay the night. Not once since he had known her did she ever mention her father. She acted rather like him in the matter and closed the subject down whenever it was brought up. Mothers were mentioned, fathers were locked up in a box at the far corner of the memory, dangerous subjects. Yet here she was, willingly bringing the mystery man into the conversation. All John knew of him was that he had been in the military and he had passed away when Racheal was small. John glanced at Destiny and saw she too was intrigued at his mention.
John cleared his throat and looked at Racheal. "In what way?" He asked.
Racheal swished her mouth from side to side and thought. "My dad was called "Joker" because he was so clumsy sometimes that he messed things up but it always worked out in the end, usually to his own embarrassment. "
John smirked. "Did he have a tattoo of the batman joker on his right arm?"
"Mom told me it was on his left. But he died when I was three so I never saw it."
"Staff sergeant William Matthew Sanders had an animated tattoo of the joker on his left hand. He received it during his time in the military just before he died in 1997." Cameron droned out.
Racheal rolled her eyes. "Thanks, Cam."
Destiny pursed her lips and pondered as she had been doing since she returned to the suite. Suddenly it had dawned on her that her brother who had not survived was named for her mother's father who had not survived either. Naturally, her parents would not have had the ability to name her dead brother after her father's father for fear of the family secret getting out. She sighed before Racheal continued her story. "So mom went into a state of depression, sold the house, moved across country and tried to start over. She couldn't stand to look at me, said I reminded her of him so she dumped me off with her mother for ten years and decided to do more abroad time with her modelling career. Grandma Katerina died when I was thirteen and mom had to come back early from her trip in Japan. She retired from her career and took me back again." The room had gone so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. "I shouldn't have said anything." Racheal announced nervously when she all the eyes on her.

February, 16, 2025

Racheal smiled from ear to ear as she marched down the hallway to central command. A rare occasion in the times they were living in, but she had a reason to smile. Finally there was something she could do in return for the man who had helped her family so many times already, who had been a crucial part in the Great Escape a few days ago.
It was just so damn cute to see the tough warrior reduced to a bumbling guy. If only she could get John on her side on this. Tyler deserved some happiness, after all he had done and would do. Surely John wouldn't deny his best friend this sliver of happiness, this tiny bit of light in the ever darkness of present day.
"Do you think it would be possible to transfer Adams to IT?" She asked when she caught her husband staring at a computer screen.
He turned to look at her, a deep frown creasing his brow: "Why? Ty is more than capable to lead that division."
She smirked: "He's taken a liking to her."
He sighed and shook his head: "So you play matchmaker?"
"Why not? Love is hard to come by nowadays, and I think they would make a great couple."
"Maybe. In another world. But now? It would only lead to complications."
Now it was her turn to frown: "Complications?"
"Ty's already stubborn and disobedient enough. No need to add to it, by tossing a woman he might desire into the mix."
"Meaning?" She asked, not liking where this conversation was heading.
"Meaning that if I transfer Amy to IT, Ty might be even less inclined to follow orders and go on certain missions."
"So you withhold this from him? You might be wrong about this. With Adams, he could become more agreeable, more malleable."
Her husband shook his head: "I can't risk it. They're both too important to the Resistance-"
"So you're just gonna deny them this chance?" She interrupted incredulously.
He stroked his chin and stared off in the distance for a long moment: "Listen and understand, Rache. If I allow this, we stand to lose not one but two extremely skilled fighters. The stubborn bastard will refuse missions that might get him killed because he has someone waiting for him. Love will weaken them, us considerably. We need him out there, risking life and limb, to free those prisoners from Skynet death camps. She might make him hesitant in the field and that could get him killed. We won't lose the war if he dies, but it will set us back."
"And her? You only focus on him... Is there something I need to know, John?"
Confusion was written all over her husband's face. The usual tells absent, so he had no idea what she meant.
"You were locked up, with her at Century. Did something happen?" She swallowed hard to fight her emotions back.
He frowned again, confused and shocked: "No... Why?"
"Your sole focus seems to be to keep him in the game. All your points are about how important he is... She helped you bring structure to the Resistance, drafted training programs for Rooks, found Bedell and so forth. Yet he's the one you keep mentioning. It sounds like avoidance to me."
"Wait... Are you accusing me of cheating?" He asked darkly. "Because... No!"
She jumped a little at the force of his voice: "Then what are you keeping from me, John? Because there's something you're not telling me."
"It's... complicated," he answered with a deep sigh.
"You know you can talk to me, John... Whatever it is, we can figure it out."
He shook his head and stared off in the distance with his head slightly tilted, a brooding look on his face, looking eerily like her mother-in-law. Sarah Connor, supposedly dead but very much alive at IntelliTech Base.
"Is that it? Your mother? You'd rather have him suffer over something that could never be than actually grant him the tiniest piece of happiness?"
He looked at her again and kept quiet for a good while: "Like I said... It's complicated... Promise me that you won't try to set them up behind my back. As tempting as it might be, I need them apart for them to remain top efficient."
She didn't like it; in this deadly and dark world, the tiniest scrap of happiness could represent a lifetime of hope. Yet her husband seemed convinced, for reasons unknown to her, that the best course of action would be to keep Devlin and Adams apart. She could argue their case until she saw blue in the face, but her husband had been right on so many occasions, so if he deemed it best that those two remained as far away from each other as possible, it most likely was.
"Fine. You really are an a-hole sometimes, you know that right?"
"Racheal, I love you but.."
"I love you too but you're still an a-hole."
"Are you still mad about earlier?"
Racheal feigned innocence. "Mad? No, honey, I'm not mad that we were spending time together and you abruptly left me to answer a conference call from IT."
"It was an important call."
"I'm sure it was."
"I was already finished."
"Well, I wasn't!" She shrieked.
He was very quiet for several seconds. "If I made it up to you.."
"I'm not in the mood."
"There's a table.." He suggested.
Racheal frowned. "Tables are for mistresses and whores. Not that I'm suggesting you find one, though god knows you'd have an easy time finding a girl on short notice."
John glared at her but said nothing.
"I have never been unfaithful to you, not even in my thoughts. I have never lied to you . I have never hated you and I have never shut you out. So don't shut me out. I still love you for you, regardless of your name or where you came from or what you do. Talk to me."

May 22, 2010

Alex stared off in the distance for a few seconds before she spoke up. "I suppose if you are to tell funny stories about my son, I should return the favor and tell a funny one about you."
A deep frown creased Tyler's brow. If one knew his tells, one would see that worry seemed to flit across his face for the briefest of moments. Because he couldn't think of anything remotely funny that happened to him that Alex could know of but he said nothing. All eyes were upon her.
She looked in Tyler's direction pointedly, smirked and began her story.
"Just look at the guy," she told them. "Looks like some biker thug, right? Now imagine him dressed in a dirty, patched black suit. Got the image? Good, now add a small bouquet of dandelions and daisies to it."
Tyler snarled when snickers from the listeners arose in the room.
"He had even shaved for the occasion. Which occasion you ask? Well, it was shortly after the Big Escape and obviously someone had caught his attention. So he went through quite a bit to try and get the woman's attention, which is funny on its own, because Devlin is a lot of things but no Prince Charming. Still he made an effort. So dressed to the nines, bouquet of wildflowers in hand, he marched down the tunnels looking for a certain lady, of whom whispers in the tunnels had told him that she was currently on base. Only to find John waiting for him outside her quarters to inform him that the woman had been sent out into the field again and wouldn't come back any time soon."
The corners of Tyler's mouth had curled up in a growl, baring his teeth, as the crowd burst into laughter at his expense. Again. Except for Cameron and Sarah. The story took him back to the tunnels of Home Plate, where soldiers and civilians alike had snickered behind his back, and John had simply smiled amused in his face. He had wanted to punch the guy straight through the wall.
Clenching and unclenching his fists at his sides, he was barely able to keep his cool, but managed all the same. He regretted nothing and yet it was still a bad memory. Made a fool, because he had thought the woman in question might be worth every bit of effort.
"That's cruel," Sarah stated tersely while she looked in her son's direction, who simply shrugged in answer.
"John Connor ran a number of scenarios before drawing his conclusions," Cameron droned. "In most cases a romantic involvement between Major General Adams-"
"It was Adams?!" John interrupted flabbergasted. "As in Amy?!"
"Yes," Cameron continued undisturbed: "And Lieutenant General Devlin would influence the Lieutenant General's willingness to partake in high risk missions most negatively. The outcome of results for Major General Adams would have been the same."
"In other words, my son didn't think it wise for those two to hook up, that any kind of relationship they might have could prove disastrous to the Resistance," Alex concluded.
"Doesn't make it any less cruel," Sarah grumbled.
Alex shrugged: "A bit yes, mostly on John's part, but it did make for an amusing afternoon, didn't it, Destiny?" She asked looking over to her granddaughter who had given in to exhaustion and fallen asleep onto the duvet.

The quiet, calm night was interrupted when a shrill cry broke the silence. With a flick of a lamp, a corner of the room lit up with a warm light to illuminate the problem. Destiny thrashed in her bed with such force that she knocked the teenage Racheal from the bed onto the floor with a hard thud, hitting her nose against the end table. Destiny shook like she was being electrocuted; her cries were of pain and despair, like a mortally wounded person crying out that they were not yet ready to die. Sarah and Alex both jumped out of bed, simultaneously grabbing their handguns from under their pillows, ready to attack anyone they saw as a threat. Alex quickly put her gun down and ran over to the third bed where Destiny was having a fit. Tyler had burst into the room with Derek and John following close behind. He quickly assessed the situation and shooed the boys away. Alex uncovered the still sleeping girl and attempted to soothe her by rubbing her back. Out of primal instinct, Destiny recognized the feeling of touch and reacted as if she was under attack. Her cries became screams and the thrashing increased. Alex tried again to wake the girl only to have Destiny rake her fingernails across her face, leaving behind small cuts. Alex winced and dropped Destiny back against the mattress in shock. Tyler marched over to Alex's side and lifted Destiny in both arms, tight enough to restrain her fighting before dropping her back on the mattress repeatedly until the screams stopped and she opened her eyes. Exhausted and embarrassed by her episode, Destiny said nothing and rolled over to her side, taking great effort to conceal her sobs as Alex rubbed her back. Derek turned on his heels and went back to the men's suite, most likely back to bed. Tyler filled a glass with water and encouraged Destiny to take small sips to soothe her raw throat. John got a wet washcloth from the suite's bathroom, holding it to Racheal's face to get the bleeding from her nose to stop. He glared at Destiny. "Can't you just shut up already? Did you really have to wake up everyone?"
Destiny choked on her sobs, too shocked at his words to release her tears.
"John." Sarah said, anger seeping into her voice.
He looked back at Destiny. "Your mom died, I get it. You've lost someone. This is war, not a vacation. People die, bad people, good people, innocent and guilty alike. You act like you're supposed to be above pain and loss. You're not. You're-"

Whatever John was going to say was cut short when Destiny's fist met his face. Her strike landed him square on his back. Without a moment's hesitation, she stood over him and hit him again and again, letting her sadness melt and transform into anger and her anger gave her strength. After his initial shock wore off, he began to fight back and trade blows with her. She could feel a faint roar of noise in her ears, she paid it no mind focused all of her attention on John. It felt like hours before she felt two strong hands pull her off of him. "Enough." Alex said. Tyler appeared and picked her up, holding her under the shoulder with his left arm and supporting her knees with the right. He carried her out of the room as Alex and Sarah attended to John.

John wiped the blood from his mouth. "What is the hell is her problem?"
"I believe that her problem is you, or more or less what you said." Sarah supplied.
"I simply said the truth, she acts like she was never going to lose someone." John argued.
Alex shook her head. "John, she acts like that because that is what her father told her. He told her every day that she was safe and nothing bad would happen. He meant it as a comfort to ease her worry and it worked. She believed she was above the pain and loss that others felt. This was the first time she has ever lost someone besides Kyle."

John frowned. "She knew him?"
"Yes, he was a close friend to her since she was small and it hurt her alot when he was gone. Racheal's death hurt her alot more obviously and there's the matter of TJ. "

"Why would future me tell everyone is safe and everything is fine when it's a lie?
"He wanted to protect her mind and her innocence. He wanted to hide the war from her and shield her from its horrors...He didn't want her to be afraid all the time, wondering when it was her time to die. He was told...you were told that "No one-"

"—Is ever safe." John said, finishing her sentence.
"You've always been looking over your shoulder, expecting the day when your luck runs out. My John didn't want that for her. He wanted her to believe that everything would be alright, even when he knew it wouldn't be."

"But it's a lie.
"Santa Claus and the toothfairies are lies. Lies that we knowingly tell to get children to believe that the world is full of magic and not all nightmares."
John said nothing more as he looked from Destiny and Tyler to Racheal before leaving the suite and walking down the hall. Racheal waited a moment and followed him out. Sarah looked at Cameron and nodded in John's direction. Cameron and Racheal followed him out to the poolyard. Cameron hung back at surveyed the landscape for possible threats.
"John?" Racheal asked tentatively.
"Hey." He smiled tiredly.
"What's the matter?"
"Just..frustrated with everything." He sighed deeply. "Racheal's dead, Amy and TJ are missing..maybe dead. We have to move again because we've been caught. I'm tired of being caught. I'm tired of running. I'm tired of people dying." He pointed back towards the hotel. "She keeps acting like a brat."
"Her mother just died. Her boyfriend might be dead too."
"She shouldn't be dating him."
"But she is, John. "
"If I had it my way.."
"But you don't."
"I don't want her with him."
"That is not your choice, John"
"I don't like him."
"Do you honestly think your mother likes me? ...I promise you she doesn't."
"It's not the same thing."
"Yeah, yeah it is. She loves him."
"I don't like it."
A roaring laugh came from behind and the turned to see Tyler with a wicked smirk on his face.
"What do you want?"
Tyler simply shrugged. "Just wanted to make sure the kid didn't beat you to a pulp."
John frowned. "She didn't. I fought back."
"Not well. She bloodied your lip and got quite a few licks in."
"I blacked her eye."
"You got one hit kid, she got dozens. Girl is a better fighter than you. You're jealous."
"I am not."
"You are. Jealous of her skill, without a doubt, and jealous of her relationship."
"What?"
"You are jealous of her and TJ. "
"You're insane."
"Obviously but you are jealous. Question is if you're jealous of her taking away your friend or if you're jealous of your friend for taking away your girl."
John blanched.
"So what is it, kid? Jealous of the girl or the boy?"
"I'm not jealous."
"Yes, you are. You weren't this gruff with the kid before she dated TJ. You were friendly with TJ until he took the girl you wanted. You let the grudge go when you got her for yourself then you went back to the hostile attitude when you found out he's been taking your kid for a ride. You are jealous."
"So what if I am?"
Tyler shrugged."I want to know what your problem is. I want your head in the game boy. All of this damn jealously feeds the drama that are you surrounded by. We are divided and a divided Resistance serves Skynet."
"What do you know about it?"
"When I was TJ in another timeline, something similar happened. Future you and I both fell for Adams. "
"What?"
"You proposed to her and she rejected you. She chose me instead and you were mighty sore over it. Didn't talk to me for weeks. Our spat gave Skynet power. We split apart, Skynet took full advantage of the situation and a lot of people got killed. Are you going to risk that much this time because the girl has your friend or because the friend is screwing the girl and you ain't?
"That's disgusting!"
"Yeah but I've heard of things far worse that happened in the future. So?"
"Fine. I'm jealous that Destiny is with TJ and I've lost a friend because he'd rather be screwing a little girl instead."
"Most days, you'd rather be screwing a little girl than training or being around him either. He makes an effort to do things besides sleep around. Amy does more than just warm my bed. You on the other hand spend all your time riding Racheal into the ground, and if she's busy then you get busy with her older self."
John fumed and turned to see Racheal's reaction when he realized she was no longer there.
"She walked away a while ago, boy. It's helps to pay attention to women, not just f-ck 'em"
John stormed away to find Racheal.

He ran across the poolyard and stopped when he found her. Racheal was sitting at the edge of the pool , kicking her toes in the water. John watched her for a moment and then walked over.
"Rach?"
She turned and looked at him with her eyes blazing.
"Oh..you're mad."
"Yes, I'm mad."
"I don't understand."
"You never do. You never pay attention"
"Is this about what Tyler said?"
"It's about what you didn't say, John."
John remained quiet.
"Tyler called me a bed warmer and you said nothing... Is that what I am to you? Nothing but a f-ck buddy?"
"No, you're supposed to by my wife."
"Yeah, see that's the other problem, John. You think I'm supposed to marry you because that's what happened last time. That's not what has to happen. The future is always changing. The set path doesn't have to be the only path."
"I want you to-."
"You didn't ask me and I haven't said yes."
"Racheal, will you-?"
"No."
"But... Rache."
"I said no. After how I've seen you treat Destiny and TJ, I don't think you're the kind of person that I want to be with. You bullied her for being upset that she has no mother when you know yourself you be upset if yours was gone. Not to mention you don't seem to be upset that Racheal is gone either. With TJ, you stole me right out from under him, which is a low thing to do regardless of who you are. He's your friend and you took his girlfriend, then you go and ruin the afternoon he had planned with his girlfriend. You would be pissed off if he had done that to you. If you want to be with me then you need to change how you treat people."

"I'm sorry."

"If you're sorry, then fix this."Racheal huffed and walked back to the hotel room, leaving John standing there confused and upset.

Footsteps walked on the grass. Bodies of police officers were being loaded into many ambulances. Broken bones, concussions yet no deaths. A man surveyed the area and looked back at the house. He wandered through the house, the air conditioning blowing through his brown hair. There were many detectives photographing each room, documenting the contents on a notepad. The Connors lived here. A group of domestic terrorists hell bent on destruction. There were whispering roaming the rooms. Why were they not found earlier? Where did they plan to attack next? How did they manage to escape? Heads shook on shoulders, sighs were uttered. The man watched uninterested.
"Hey!" A voice cried out. The man turned to see a man dressed in uniform."You can't be here." The uniformed man exclaimed and proceeded to escort the man from the home.

When they reached the bushes on the edge of the property, away from the crowds, the uniformed man unhanded the trespasser. The man turned around and looked at the officer as he was unhanded. "Thank you for your assistance." He said and drove his right arm through the man's abdomen . As the officer dropped to the ground, the man removed his arm and shook off the blood. He stared at his victim's body as his own turned to silver and then morphed into the likeness of the officer.

John paced around the poolyard as Cameron watched him. He tugged at his hair and pondered what to do about the situation. He hated to admit it but Racheal was right, about everything. He had taken her away from TJ rather than let the future unfold naturally. She would have left TJ and gone to him in her own time. He had destroyed a relationship out of spite. Though if he was completely honest with himself, he would have admitted that he feared Racheal would have remained with TJ and shunned him instead. With Destiny, Racheal made a fair point. Destiny had lost her mother. Racheal and TJ both had and Racheal had spent enough time in John's company for him to know how deeply Adalyn's death had hurt her, how it hurt her still. He could not expect Destiny to recover from that in mere hours and unlike Racheal, Destiny had never been without her mother until she came to this time. He sighed deeply. This would take some doing to right the wrongs. He ran his hand through his hair again and walked back to the hotel suite with Cameron following him. He walked into the women's suite and looked around. Sarah and Alex had gone to bed. Racheal and Destiny had returned to their bed as well. Destiny appeared to be asleep but John could tell that Racheal was still awake and very aware that he was in the room with them. Cameron returned to her post by the window to due surveillance. John walked over to the bed where Destiny and Racheal were laying. He took his shoes off and looked at Racheal. She glanced down at Destiny and wrapped her arms around her. Slowly and gently, she pulled Destiny closer to herself so that she was in the middle of the bed rather than the right side of it. John climbed on top of the covers where Destiny had been laying. He curled up to her and wrapped his right arm around her waist. He looked at Racheal. She curled up to Destiny's left side and wrapped her left arm across Destiny's back, on top of John's arm. He smiled at her faintly and closed his eyes.