Chapter 17: Strong

Destiny trudged outside back to the pool-yard. Immediately taking note of the exits and marking everyone's positions, she made her way back to her chair and picked up her magazine. John had remained seated since she left and glanced at her. "Change your mind?" He asked.

Destiny crossed her arms. "Mom."

He nodded. "How is she?"

"Thought you were going to apologize."

John sighed. "I am sorry that I have made things hard on you. That wasn't my intention at first but then when you and TJ got together, I made things hard on purpose. I wanted to ruin what you had. I'm not going to lie to you, I hate the idea that the two of you are together. It bothers me that he's touched you. I don't like it but I can't change it. If I were future me perhaps then I could do something."

"Dad would kill him if he was here."

John smirked and continued. "Exactly. I just..."

"He'd kill him just like he'd kill you if he found out you slept with mom." She interrupted.

John froze. "I didn't sleep with your mom."

"I thought you said you wouldn't lie."

He swallowed hard and thought. "She told you?"

"No, but I've gotten good at observing people. Mom came back to my room still in her nightclothes. She always gets dressed right after she wakes up. Always. Never known her not to but she hates making up a bed. She left TJ in charge of me the night I got shot, and he offered her his room which she told him she'd accept. TJ told me that his bed was made up when he checked it the next morning. Made up just like he does it. She never went to bed that night, not in that bed. She went somewhere else to sleep, and your bed creaks when you're having sex. Didn't take much to realize where she was. Besides, you just confirmed it."

John didn't move but inwardly he was cursing himself.

"Why did you do it? You had Racheal. Is one not enough?"

"I love Racheal but one of the things I like the most is that I have a future with her. I did till I made her mad anyway. We were supposed to be together and that made me love her more, she wouldn't run off. I was planning to go to Rache while you were sleeping when I saw your mom and the want was there. She didn't push me away.

"Of course not, she misses dad and genetically you're the same."

He smiled faintly. "She's beautiful now but her body only gets better with age. She's gifted in breasts but hers get bigger because she's fed you with them. Her hips are wider because she birthed you. Her belly has marks from being pregnant." John shifted uncomfortably in his seat and continued. " She's changed physically because she's had kids and she did that with me, for me. Her body is changed because she loves me and I love that."

Destiny snorted. "Yeah and the big scar on her stomach is from a miscarriage. A terminator attacked mom because she's married to you. The attack killed my brother, who she tried to have because you wanted a child. They had to cut him out of her and she's forever scarred mentally and physically because dad wanted a son."

John pinked the bridge of his nose. "I am sorry that that happened but I can't change it."

"You could invest in birth control."

"Is that really what you want?"

"Yes, no. I don't know, da..John. I want to go home."

He sighed again. "I am sorry."

"No, you're only saying it because Racheal is mad and won't sleep with you."

"You're just going to continue to hate me aren't you?" He asked.

"Maybe. Ask me in twenty years."

"Is that why you won't hear me out? Because you're angry at... him and I will become him? "

Destiny said nothing so John continued. "You can't take it out on him so you're adding his faults to mine. That's harsh."

Destiny focused her attention on TJ doing laps in the pool. "John Connor is sometimes harsh too."

"How so?"

"Present you called TJ a mutt even though he didn't deserve it. You ruined my date with TJ because you simply wanted to. Dad kept Tyler and Amy apart even though he knew they liked each other because he didn't want them together. "

"If that's all he did then that's nothing."

Destiny pondered to herself. Future John was rumored to do horrible things that made people doubt the trust they had placed with him. Destiny herself could not think of anything horrible that he had done besides deny a chance at love to his closest friends and advisers. He had sent people to their deaths but what fighter had not? She had not witnessed her father's darkness. Maybe he was careful and kept her from seeing it. The only terrible thing he had done in her presence was the belting he had given her after she had snuck off with Katya to fight. Even then she understood his reasoning in hindsight. His girls ran away to a war-zone to fight the machines. He had watched them get captured by the enemy, imprisoned in the same work camp he had been in and knew they were going to be tortured; Held as bait if they were lucky or killed if they were not. All her the mighty John Connor could do was send in soldiers and hope for the best. No one would allow him or their mother to risk themselves for them.

"Well he belted me for about 30 minutes one time."

John blanched. "What did you do?"

"Ran off to kick some tin can ass, got caught and thrown in Century."

"And you wonder why he was mad?"

"No, I know why. He told me while he was doing it, made it very clear why he was angry and why I deserved every smack."

"I'm sure he's forgiven you."

"I haven't forgiven him yet."

"Sorry."

Destiny sighed feeling her anger seep away like a deflated balloon. "Fine, I forgive you."

He reached over and kissed her cheek. "Thank you."

"Mhm" She mumbled as he excitedly got up and ran over to Racheal.

She watched as John and Racheal took off further into the hotel grounds. To talk or screw, she didn't know and didn't care. She focused on TJ. He kept doing laps in the pool. He was building his own endurance and strengthened his ability to hold his breath. She put her magazine down and made her way over to the pool, careful not to slip on the water trail Racheal left behind. Destiny kicked her shoes and socks off and slipped her feet into the pool water. She watched TJ keep swimming. TJ popped up next to her and grabbed the concrete next to the spot where Destiny was sitting. He took a glance at what she was wearing. Tank top, shorts and flipflops. He smirked and pulled her into the water with him. She shrieked in surprise when she went under. TJ pulled up and held her pressed up against him. She clung to him in a death hold. "Sorry, Princess. Didn't mean to scare you."

She took a deep breath. "You know I can't swim."

"We're not swimming. I'm holding you. You're not going anywhere."

"Why did you..?"

"You watch the water even when I'm not in it. You want to be in it. This way, you're in it but you're safe."

"No one is ever safe." She mumbled.

"You can trust me."

"I do."

TJ gently let go of her once her feet touched the shallow end. Destiny reached out and ran her hands through the water, testing the sensation. He let her slowly walk around the pool, getting used to the water and helping her float once she felt ready. Destiny closed her eyes and tried to get used to the feeling of being suspended in water. Laughter broke her out of her trance and she jumped in surprise. Destiny found herself sinking to the bottom of the deep end when a hand gripped the back of her shirt and yanked her out. Being held in the air a few feet above the ground, Destiny looked up to see Tyler with his iron grip on her. Amy stood by his side and laughed. "Do you need water wings, kiddo?"

"Bite me, Adams."

"Thanks for the offer but no thanks, kid."

Destiny groaned as Tyler dropped her on solid ground. "We're having a meeting, time to head back."

Destiny got to her feet as TJ pulled himself out of the pool and handed Destiny her shoes. Tyler and Amy headed back to the hotel. Cameron and Sarah scanned the hotel grounds looking for John and Racheal who quickly ran out from near a garden area. Sarah scowled but said no word and motioned for the teens to follow inside.

Once everyone was inside, Tyler had Derek close the door and began his announcement. "We've managed to secure some funding to buy a new home and have located a place to live. Once we feel comfortable enough to move Racheal, we will begin moving over. There are eleven of us so I recommend taking over a handful of people a day, starting with the most important. Sarah and the kids should head over tomorrow. Alex, RC and I will head over in the next day followed by Amy, Derek and Cameron to arrive a day later. It gets us all over there in select groups but without attracting too much attention to ourselves."

Destiny smirked. "Too Late."

Her mother lightly slapped arm to hush her. Racheal frowned. "Why are you wet?"

"Trying to swim."

"Hmm. Change your clothes before you catch a cold."

Destiny groaned and headed off into the bathroom as Cameron laid supplies from Charley on the table beside Racheal and lifted up her shirt to expose her wound. The younger Racheal walked over to the bed and helped Cameron remove the soiled bandage. She looked away for a moment and took a deep breath, trying to still her nerves. She looked back and pulled some baby-wipes from the package and tried to clean the area as Cameron opened a bottle of hydrogen peroxide and poured it into the wound. The older Racheal winced and gasped as it foamed. Once the foam dissipated then they wrapped a clean bandage around the wound and moved Racheal over to her side to change the bandage on her back.

Destiny emerged from the bathroom dressed in some night clothes and then climbed over to the bed where her mother lay and watched as they patched her up. She curled up to her mother's front and went to sleep. The younger Racheal finished the wrappings with Cameron and attempted to climb into bed on the other side of her older-self.

The next morning, Sarah packed the four teenagers into a car she lifted from the parking lot and drove to their new location in Riverside. Sarah left the car running and opened the door to the new house, going through each room with her gun drawn. When she determined there was no threat, she left the house to retrieve the kids. The four teens followed her into the house and were surprised that there was no furniture in the house.

"We really are starting with nothing this time. " John remarked.

"We were lucky to find a house so quickly. " Sarah retorted.

Racheal and Destiny shrugged and started to explore the house. They both ran upstairs to explore the range of bedrooms. TJ was more interested in the lower level of the house. He kept looking over at the windows, gauging the level of view down the street. Racheal and Destiny looked through each of the bedrooms, trying to determine which one had the best view.

"This one has a good view down the street." Destiny called from the back bedroom.

"This one has a bigger closet." Racheal answered from the other end.

Destiny walked into the room and shrugged. "You don't have any clothes right now besides the ones you're wearing."

"We'll get more later on." Racheal snapped back.

John walked into the room. "Which room did you pick, Rache?"

"Think I'll stick with this one."

"Cool, then I'll get the one next door." He smirked. Destiny gagged.

"No, you won't." Sarah announced as she walked into the room.

They all turned to look at her.

"The two of you will be roomed at opposite ends of the hall."

"Mom, that's not fair." John whined.

"Destiny and TJ will be at opposite ends of the hall as well. One couple going at it lately is more than enough. This won't be another house of ill repute."

John scoffed. "Fine. Then I'll be across from Destiny and TJ can be across the hall from Rache."

TJ shrugged as he appeared in the doorway. "Won't stop much."

Sarah simply glanced at him before heading back downstairs. "We'll all be sharing rooms this time, John. Not enough bedrooms for all of us to have solitude. Tyler and Amy will have the apartment above the garage; give the rest of us the ability to sleep through the night. The rest of you will be paired up as well. Two to a room."

A few days later, everyone was attempting to settle in. Destiny and her mother had claimed the far back bedroom on the left with John and TJ sharing a room across from them. Sarah and Alex shared a room at the beginning of the hallway on the left and the younger Racheal shared a room with Cameron on the right side across from Sarah. Tyler and Amy shared the space above the garage to distance the sound of Amy's nightly cat calls. Derek remained on the couch.

John peaked around the corner from the living room to see his mother sitting at the kitchen table going through papers. Most likely going through the new Ids or sorting through leads on Skynet. It was always investigate Skynet this and research that. John was more focused on trying to live a life in the time that he had left before the war with Skynet took away his future from him. From what he found out by talking with the time-travellers he had sent back, the war with Skynet was still going strong while he was watching his hair turn gray. He may never live to see the end of the war. In his opinion, he wanted to distance himself as far from Skynet as he could, while he could. The war would consume his life in many ways. It could wait until Judgement day as far as he was concerned.

Not his mother though, she was obsessed. Spending every minute she had into trying to track down Skynet's beginning components. Kill it before it's born, stop judgment day all together. John was all for that. He just... wanted someone else to do it. He wanted to live a life as John Reese or Baum or Sanders. He didn't care which. He wanted to be anyone but John Connor. Someone normal. Someone who could be anything, who was allowed to be anything and here he was prepared to give up the cherished ruse in exchange for a girl; Though in his mind, she wasn't just some girl.

He sighed and bit the bullet. "Mom, can we talk?"

Sarah kept her eyes on the paperwork. "About what, John?"

"Racheal."

"Which one? Destiny's mother or the girl you're wasting your time with."

"The younger one."

"What about her?"

"I want to marry her."

Sarah reached across the table and grabbed him by the shirt collar. She pulled him over towards her, making him look her in the eye."Is she pregnant?"

"What?! No, mom , I swear she isn't."

"I wouldn't be surprised.
John kept his temper in check. "She's not, we're being careful, I swear."

"You shouldn't be doing anything."

"We're past that stage now, mom."

You want to marry her for the wrong reasons."

"And those are?"

"You're doing this because she asked you to."

"Wrong. I haven't said a thing to her about it. She doesn't know. I just wanted to do it before the world blows up."

"You're just doing it because that's what happened in the last timeline so you feel like you need to choose that path."

John scoffed. "No, the future isn't set. I can choose anyone else. The other Racheal tried to tell Rache to choose herself. Me or TJ or someone else, she was very clear that she was free to choose, and she still picked me."

Sarah shook her head and stood up to sort her paperwork. "You're just doing this because you're insecure after your fight with TJ and Destiny. You think this make you look grown up compared to them and it keeps you busy with your head in the sand and out of the game. It's an excuse to not train or prepare and you get some action in the process."

"Is that really what you think?"

"You also want to spite me because you know I don't like her."

John rolled his eyes. "Mom, I promise you you're wrong."

"Then prove it, John."

He thought for a moment. "Okay... You think I want to marry Rache because it will keep me distracted. What if I trained more? Running in the morning, target practice, research missions, the works. If I went back to training all the time, then what?"

Sarah pondered for a moment. "Tyler will train you like he's training Destiny. You will get up early every morning and train until he's done with you. You've slacked off long enough."

John smiled faintly. "And If I train with Tyler like you want?"

Sarah looked him in the eyes. "You can marry the girl but I have conditions. You will follow Tyler's orders without question. You can marry her whenever you want but in a low-key secluded place. A thousand people in a church is out of the question. "

"John rolled his eyes. "Can I at least have the night in a hotel?"

"One night, but Cameron will be remaining on the hotel grounds for your safety."

"There goes the honeymoon."

"This is not a joke, John."

"I know, mom... Fine. I agree to your terms. I will train with Tyler every day and Racheal and I can get married somewhere away from a crowd, that's safe. We can have that night in a hotel but Cameron has to go also for safety reasons. Can we stay in the same room after that?"

"As long as you two remain on some type of protection and she receives training as well."

John smiled and kissed her forehead. "Thanks mom."He turned to leave.

"John.. If you fail to keep your word, I will personally have Tyler crack down on you and work you as hard as he can."

"I know." He sighed.

He walked away feeling as if he was on cloud nine. All he had to do now was to think of a good way to ask her, plan when to ask her and of course, get a ring. John walked back to his room and sat down at his desk. He had a few ideas on the how to ask and he knew exactly when he wanted to ask. The older Racheal had mentioned in passing a few months back that her birthday was in June. June 18th to be exact. He fired up his laptop and did a search. The legal age of marriage in the state of California was eighteen for both genders. Sixteen if parental consent was given. John himself was already nineteen. Racheal was still seventeen until the 18th. He smirked. She would be eighteen years old on the 18th and therefore legally able to marry. He had already thought about what to give her as a gift, now he knew. He just didn't know how to plan it yet. It would take time. For now he had a much more potent problem. How would he be able to get a ring? He certainly couldn't afford it and there was no way he'd ask his mother to lend him the cash. He was lucky enough that he had gotten her permission for the wedding in the first place. There was little chance of him having any time left to himself to locate a part-time job in order to save for it. Even if he did manage to gain employment, it would take him a very long time to acquire the amount needed.

Credit cards were an option. He'd never had his own and couldn't ask his mom to use hers since it was always needed for supplies. He sighed deeply. He was in college though and credit card companies frequented the area every day. They were always looking to sign up some innocent student with their company. They'd flash signs claiming "automatic acceptance" and "free t-shirt when you sign." Students flocked to their cardboard tables, always willing to sign away their credit in exchange for "free" money and a sparkly prize. They were never thinking about the debt that would follow them. Fortunately though for John, he never had to worry. His whole identity would change before the balance was due. His alias could owe five grand but would the debt would vanish instantly whenever his alias did. It was what Sarah often did. Get a new identity, pile up debt on a few cards to survive and then leave the debt and cards behind along with her driver's license and fake past. Sarah Reese owed twenty-thousand, Sarah Baum owed millions but Sarah Connor was debt-free. He could give it a try too. One card may buy them the rings but he might need more for other expenses. His recent searches told him the average couple spend twenty-five thousand on a wedding, half of that was spent on the wedding band set themselves. John smirked as he clicked the submit button on his two applications.

A few days later, John sat at the table and tried to concentrate on his schoolwork. Why his professors thought he'd needed to know algebra considering what the future held, he had no idea. A light tapping at the door got his attention and he jumped to his feet. He peaked over and saw Charley standing at the door. John frowned. "What on earth was he doing here?" John walked over and opened the door. "Charley?

"Hey, Johnny. Can we talk?"

"Sure, Charley, what's going on?"

Charley pulled out two envelopes from his pocket. "I got some mail for you that came to my house."

John took the mail from Charley and looked questioning at the broken seals.

"I opened in case there was some type of tracking on it. I didn't want anyone to track me here."

John nodded. "Yeah, I had ordered these a lil while ago."

"You used your last last name."

"It's easier to ditch it once I use them."

Charley smiled. "You know, Johnny, I feel that I have to warn you about credit card debt. It's a slippery slope once you get started. It'll follow you for years."

John started laughing. "On the contrary, Charley. I use them then toss them. The cards belong to someone who doesn't exist. The alias has already been used and they can't trace it here when the bill comes due."

Charley laughed. "Fair enough. Can I ask what you need them for ?"

John looked at him and smiled. "Well, Racheal's birthday is in a few days and there's thing I need to pick out for her."

"It requires two credit cards?"

John laughed. "Well, I'm getting her thing I helped you pick out for mom and I was hoping you'd help me pick out this one."

Charley smiled and through his thumb over his shoulder towards his car."I know a great place to look for one of those."

Charley pulled his truck into the parking as John handed him back his phone after using it to activate the cards. After walking in the store, they were immediately greeted by a salesman who spouted off the usual nonsense. "Hello, welcome to Jareds, the galleria of jewelry. How may we help you today?". John sighed. "Here we go."

Luckily for him, Charley put his hand on the shoulder and greeted the man. "Hi, my stepson here would like to propose to his girlfriend and needs some help picking out a ring."

The salesman didn't bat an eye. "Of course, right this way." He led them over to a section of glittering diamonds. "Here comes the sales pitch." John thought.

"We currently have a special on all bridal sets. They're about thirty to forty percent off on specially marked ring sets." "Of course you do."

"Can I get an idea of what you're looking for?

John took a deep breath. "Shame you didn't plan on these kind of questions."

"Umm." Was all he could think of to say.

Sensing his distress, Charley chimed in. "Well why don't you tell him a bit about her, Johnny? Maybe he could make some recommendations. "

"Sure, I'd be happy to help you out with that."

John thanked the stars for bringing Charley with him.

"Great.." He muttered.

"So let's start with what kind of style do you think she'd like. Most of your generation tend to favor the stone being quite large and square shape. "

John shook his head. "No, Racheal makes fun of the square cars and says everything shouldn't be made to look like a box."

The salesman laughed. "Alright, no square then. That leaves a round shaped stone. Does she like colored stones? "

John thought for a minute. He had seen her with jewelry but she never wore anything multicoloured. "No, I think a regular diamond would work."

"Okay, now then. Would you like a single stone ring or a tri-stone ring?"

"Hard question." The tri-stone would be beautiful but much more expensive and in the future, there would be no place to repair a missing diamond. With a single stone, the focus would be on it and it would likely be easier to fix and cheaper to buy.

"The single stone." He answered.

"Okay, what color band would you like? Traditionally it is yellow gold but more and more prefer the white gold color. We also have platinum which is more durable and long lasting and sterling silver which is cheaper."

"I don't know. She's very traditional but she has red hair."

"Then you'll want the silver coloring for sure. What level of durability would you like?"

"I really don't know. " John lied. He knew how much it would need to stand up in the future but he was worried about the price of three rings.

"Well you have it narrowed down really well so let me show you some samples." He disappeared into a back room for a minute and reappeared holding two small shelves of rings. "This is gold" He pointed to the one on his right."And this is platinum." He pointed to his left.

John browsed them intently, noting their style, cut and price. "Don't worry about the color, cut , clarity and all that, Johnny. Go with your gut." Charley reminded him.

John stared more intently, going back and forth with each ring on each line on each shelf. The heart cut reminded him too much of his promise ring, the marquise cut looked jagged and the princess cut didn't show the magnificence of the stone. He pointed at a ring in the lower end of the platinum. "That one." He said. The salesman pulled it out and handed it to him to look at. A simple platinum band that would hold its own against the war with a large round cut and shaped solitaire diamond. John turned it over in his hand and looked back at the remaining rings. "It's this one."

"Perfect." The salesman replied. "What about the wedding band then? Most men opt to buy both rings at the same time to guarantee they fit well together and match. Also, it's usually significantly cheaper."

John nodded so the man put back the shelves of engagement rings and brought for a shelf of rings he thought would match John's pick. He ran his eyes over the shelf, looking for a match. It was Charley who pulled it out and placed it beside the engagement ring. Another platinum band but this one had a ring of clear round diamonds in the center of it, wrapping all the way around the ring. John smiled. "Good choice, Charley."

"Alright then, Sir. What size can I get these fixed for?"

"An eight. " John blurted out. The only thing the older Racheal would help him with at all was size. "Get an eight and it will fit well now and later." She had said.

The salesman nodded and handed the rings off to another man who took the rings in the back after removing their tags. Charley nudged him."Now's the easy part. Pick yours out, Johnny."

"Any idea what you would like?" The man asked, obviously excited by the large sale he was going to make.

John nodded. "Something to match her band."

"I have just the thing." He said and pulled out a single ring.

"Platinum just likes the other two, with a row of clear, round diamonds to match the girl's wedding band."

"Perfect."

The salesman removed the tag and handed it off to be resized after making John try it on.

Charley elbowed him. "Now, is the hard part. Paying for it all."

John felt his heart drop and he counted up the price tags in his mind. He kept adding and re-adding in his mind. He'd have to use both cards up today in order to pay for it all but he could do it. One last act from John Sanders.

"Okay, that comes to eleven thousand even but since you ordered a bridal set and a wedding set, you get some discounts. Let's see, the engagement ring was on the sale too so that knocks it all down to six thousand and five hundred."

John blinked hard and handed over both cards. "It was only money, right?

A few clicks of a cash register and the man handed him a receipt and two boxes. "Done."

John thanked the guy and walked back to the truck in silence."John? You alright?"

John looked up back at Charley. "Yeah, yeah I'm good."

Charley started up the truck. "So, how are you going to do it?"

John stared at the ring box in his hand before looking at Charley." I don't know yet."

2025

"Have you lost your goddamn mind?!" Her husband seethed through gritted teeth while he slammed the palms of his hands on her desk.

It caused the discard-pile of reports to sway dangerously to the right, to the edge of her overflowing desk, but he was in luck as it remained upright and she hadn't spent hours sifting through the latest reports for nothing. She leaned back in her creaky desk chair and gave him her most neutral look. To most he was the John Connor, but to her he was simply Jo-Jo. She had long learned that she shouldn't let him intimidate her when things weren't going the way he wanted. Sure she would always back him up, but she hadn't gotten to the position of main comm specialist for TechCom on her back. She had worked her fingers to the bone, spent hours and hours pouring over important information and the insignificant, and had been recognized by Colonel Perry as an asset to TechCom very early on. In charge of compiling battlefield information, she had been crucial to a few major battles already. Not because she was John Connor's wife, but because she was very capable of carrying her own. Something her husband did not always agree on.

"You tipped him off, didn't you? Despite my specific request not to, you fucking tipped him off!" He growled angrily.

She raised an eyebrow sardonically and crossed her arms, a habit she had picked up from her mother-in-law. When John had been forcing whatever issue had gotten him worked up that time, it had turned out an effective way to have him tone down his anger. Understanding rather well what kind of pressure he was constantly under, she refused to be his punching bag.

"Watch it, John Connor," she warned him. "And so what if I did?"

He paused and looked at her intently before he pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "I don't get it, Rache. Why? Especially since I told you not to."

She shook her head; her husband could be so very stupidly stubborn: "Because I think you were wrong feeding false information into IntelliTech's data stream."

"So you went behind my back, changed the signature parameters so even his most stupid scout would pick up on it and thus tipped him off. Again, Rache, why? You're my wife. You're supposed to side with me."

Her eyebrows shot into her hairline and she stared at him with her mouth open. He really did not just pull the marriage card on her, did he? "I am, which is why I did it, John. And since you pulled the wife card, let me remind you that it is my duty as well to call you on your bullshit. If TechCom starts feeding false battlefield positions, we stand to lose IntelliTech all together. Because Tyler's not stupid, he'd know it's been done on purpose."

He shrugged: "A considerable loss, but not insurmountable."

She really loved her husband, but there were times she could barely stand his stubborn ass. Like now. It wasn't uncommon to put false information into the data-feed between the major divisions but never without a warning beforehand to the division leaders. It had proven to be a good way to flush out the Grays that would pop up from time to time. However this was complete misdirection and could turn out to be a very costly mistake. In more ways than one.

"You don't believe that, John. Not one bit. You told me over and over again how Adams and Devlin are important to the Resistance. Are you really willing to sacrifice one for the other? Is that how you'll play the game from now on?" She asked pointedly.

He took a deep breath: "I don't know, Rache. In war you need to be willing to sacrifice, you know that as well as I do." T

he remark cut deep, and she had to swallow the lump in her throat while tears welled in the corners of her eyes: "Yeah, I know, John. Just as loving you means you need to be willing to sacrifice too."

Finally the penny dropped: "Ah, shit, Rache. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

She waved him away when he came around her desk to comfort her and though he did look hurt at her rejection he didn't press on. "Just get out of my sight, John Connor. I still have work to do, so.. just leave."

June 16th, 2010

Sarah sat at the kitchen table and cleaned her guns. The weapons always remained in pristine and functional condition but Sarah always felt the need to clean and reload them from time to time. She found solace in the simple process of taking them apart, wiping the down and rebuilding them. Life made sense when her hands were covered in gun oil, methodically wiping the barrel of her rifle. With her genetic disposition to alcoholism and her possible future of cancer, smoking and drinking were not options to unwind. Oil and steel, cloth and brush. This was her church, her solitude.

The rhythmic beat against the hardwood floor, alerted her to a visitor coming. She glanced up at the newcomer only to realize it was her future self. "Alex" as she called herself nowadays. Alex glance at the weapons cache on the table and then at her face before retrieving a glass from the cabinet. "What happened?" She asked bluntly.

Sarah kept her eyes on the rifle she was cleaning, careful to not miss a spot. "John decided to be an idiot and propose to that girl."

Alex filled her glass from the faucet and nodded. "I'm surprised he has waited this long."

Sarah laid the newly cleaned rifle down on the table and began to disable her handgun. "I'm surprised he has asked for permission. I expected him to take off with her to Vegas or Mexico in the middle of the night like he did with Riley."

Alex shook her head. "He knows you were expecting that. You'd sent Tyler or Cameron after them once you realized he was gone and they'd be dragged back home; The deed done by that point. This way it saves him some embarrassment."

Sarah sprayed the inside of the barrel with the cleaning solution. "He said she's not pregnant but I find that hard to believe. I think she's pushing him to ask."

"She isn't. She starts to show almost immediately in one way or another. She hasn't physically changed yet and she hasn't learned yet to pick up on when he's planning something. His double backing when he leaves, the panicked look on his face when he thinks someone's watching."

Sarah scrubbed the inside of the gun with the brush and thought. "I don't like her. He doesn't have time for a distraction like this. "

Alex took a sip of water and smirked. "We don't have time for this but you know as well as I do that he will do it regardless, he's just giving you a chance to be there when he does it."

Sarah shook her head to rid herself of the thought. "I don't like the idea of her with him. What does he see in her." She asked the air.

Alex sat across her from at the table and began reloading the rifle. "You're afraid she will take him from you. It's the idea of her that you hate. Someone to come between you like Cameron did when she arrived. Racheal isn't a bad person, she's a decent fighter."

Sarah put the gun on the table and looked hard at her future self. "What does she do in the future? What is her place?"

"In my time, she's the main comm. specialist for Tech Com. Intercepts all data coming in and going out between bases. She hacks into and picks up information from Skynet and distributes it throughout the bases. Weaknesses of Terminators, location of different machines, that kind of thing. Racheal picked up on Skynet's presence close to IntelliTech and managed to warn the base in time. She's planned some of the last major battles; Where to attack, what weapons to use when we went on the offensive. She's not a physical presence like Tyler or Amy. Not that kind of soldier but not worthless either. Colonel Perry runs that division and seems to speak highly of her. She earns her keep to the Human Resistance that has nothing to do with John. He could pick worse than her, look at Riley."

Sarah scowled and grunted in agreement.