A/N: I haven't seen the first three movies (what I know about them is only through quotes and my dad's retellings), so sorry if anything is non-canon (at least, more so than it probably already is, hehe).

Oh yeah, and I'll be referencing my other fic "Tender" a couple times, so if you get confused just hop on over to that story to check out what I'm talking about. (Don't forget to review! ;P)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything pertaining to the Terminator movies.

Disclaimer 2: I stink at writing action sequences, so sorry if they're crappy. X(

Rating: PG-13 for violence, innuendo, some mild language, and thematic elements

Genre: Drama/Angst/Action/Adventure

Summary: "This is not the future my mother warned me about." What happens when a young Kyle Reese falls in love with a broken resistance fighter; one who is obviously not Sarah Connor? John Connor does not want to find out.

Chapter 1/Phantom

It was nearing twilight. The sky was a blazing orange, red, and purple. The explosions peppering the air blended with the colors in a way that almost caused them to disappear. However the debris raining down on those on the ground proved that none of the destruction that was happening would disappear any time soon.

Kyle Reese crouched with his back against a rock, clutching his shotgun close to his chest. Every time he popped up to fire off a shot at the many T-700s that were closing in on his position, he had to duck back down before he could in order to avoid being shot. Blair Williams was on his right and Barnes was on his left, and they were not having much luck either.

"What happened?" Kyle yelled over the sound of the fighting around them. "Where did they come from?"

"I don't know!" Barnes bellowed back, rolling to the side and firing off a barrage of bullets before rolling back. "This was supposed to be a routine supply run. They weren't supposed to know about this path!"

"Well obviously someone leaked information to them!" Blair screamed to be heard as she avoided narrowly being hit by a shot fired in her general direction.

"We need to get the others and get out of here!" Kyle moved to get up to do just that but Barnes grabbed his arm and pulled him back down.

"No, you stay here. Me and Blair will do it. Don't move until we come back for you." He and Blair exchanged a look over Kyle's head.

"You're kidding me!" Kyle exclaimed. "I'm not a kid. Let me help!"

"Actually you are a kid," Blair said. "Stay here."

"But why—"

"Connor's orders were for us to keep you safe. So that's what we're doing," Barnes said with a stern look. "Now stay."

Kyle scowled but remained where he was, watching as Barnes and Blair jumped up, guns blazing, and took off to where the rest of the men were still fighting the T-700s out in the open. He shifted into a more comfortable position and squeezed his eyes shut. He had mostly given up on God (seeing as he felt Judgment Day never would have happened if God cared enough about them), but it was in moments like these when his parent's faith rose up inside of him enough to send up a short prayer for his fellow Resistance fighters.

He was interrupted by a blast hitting the rock, sharp splinters exploded everywhere. He ducked but felt one graze his cheek. His hand flew up to touch the scratch, his fingers coming away bloody. Looking up he saw that his cover had been destroyed. He looked around quickly for another place to hide but saw nothing near enough to work for him.

A T-700 spotted him and marched forward, gun blazing. Kyle cursed under his breath and dropped to his knees, letting the bullets fly over him harmlessly. While the T-700 recalculated his position, Kyle sent off some of his own shots, hitting the machine multiple times in the head and chest. He yelled in frustration as the T-700 continued to come towards him unhindered.

The teen scrambled backwards, getting to his feet and running hard. The T-700 did not have to run, but kept up a steady pace, firing continuously. Kyle had to duck and weave to avoid being hit. He looked up and spotted another large rock several feet in front of him. He sprinted for it, diving behind it just as another volley of bullets rained on him. Sitting up, he aimed his shotgun at the approaching T-700, cursing again when he discovered that his chamber was empty.

Ducking behind the rock, he held the shotgun tightly, shutting his eyes and lifting up another brief prayer, this time for himself. He then looked around him for anything he could use as a weapon. Over the shouts and gunfire he could barely hear the heavy steps of the machine and he waited for the thing to appear before him. He did not have to wait long. The T-700 suddenly appeared out of the dust swirling around him and Kyle met the glowing red eyes with some fear.

The T-700 stared at him for a moment, its chip going over the information it had been given regarding this young human male.

KYLE REESE IDENTIFICATION CONFIRMED. PROGRAMED RESPONSE: CAPTURE.

The T-700 reached out its hand to grab Kyle. Suddenly it flew to the side as a large jeep rammed into it. As Kyle watched, dumbstruck, a woman hurried stopped the car and looked over at him. All he could see of her face was her eyes and her lips, as she wore a black ski mask.

"Come with me if you want to live!" she called to him, holding out her hand, her green eyes looking at him earnestly.

Kyle did not have to think twice. He saw the red band around her arm and instantly grabbed her hand, letting her yank him into the jeep. He scrambled over her to sit in the passenger's side as she backed up and then roared away. Kyle glanced behind him and caught a glimpse of the T-700 rising and starting to follow.

"It's coming after us!" he shouted.

"Hang on!"

The woman swerved the car hard to the right, nearly knocking Kyle out of his seat. Once they were stable again, she pushed hard on the gas pedal and they went faster.

"Is he still there?" she called, glancing over at Kyle.

Kyle twisted in his seat, grabbing a hold of the back of it in order to keep his balance. "I don't see him . . ." he said, peering into the sand and dust that was being kicked up by the squealing tires of the jeep. "Wait! I see him! He's running now."

"There's a shotgun in the back!" the woman called over her shoulder. "Get back there and give him hell."

She did not have to tell him twice. Kyle carefully climbed into the bed of the jeep, picking up the shotgun and checking the bullet's chamber. Seeing it was full, he snapped it shut and aimed for the sprinting terminator. He fired off round after round, watching as the machine stumbled back a couple steps, only to gain more speed. Finally he managed to do enough damage that the T-700 suddenly collapsed to the ground and was still.

He fell back against the front seats, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Is it gone?" the woman asked.

"Yeah!" Kyle called back, tossing the shotgun aside.

The jeep began to slow and soon they stopped near a ledge out in the middle of nowhere. The woman pulled the gear into park and then jumped out and began to inspect it for damages. Kyle watched her for a moment, wondering why she kept the ski mask on. She had to be hot under there, out here in the desert. He noticed she was wearing combat boots, cargo pants, and a black tank. Military style clothing. The red band that signified she was a Resistance fighter was tied around her bare arm, hugging the toned muscle tightly as though she had randomly picked up the cloth somewhere and not bothered about the size of it.

"Who are you?" Kyle asked, once he was able to catch his breath. She glanced up at him but did not say anything for a moment.

"You're bleeding," she said brusquely and walked back to the front of the jeep, pulling out a medical kit from underneath the front seat. She then hopped up onto the bed of the jeep where he was and opened it, pulling out a couple band aids and a tiny tube of triple antibiotic. Kyle stared at the supplies.

"Where did you get that?" he asked, having not seen any time of medical supplies outside of Kate's infirmary back at the base.

"From my base," the woman said shortly. "Now hold still."

Kyle held still as she applied the medicine, careful not to use too much, and then fitted a couple band aids over it.

"We're stationed at a hospital, so these supplies were around. I was sent out to see if any other groups needed some. This is my last kit." She nodded to the white box with the red cross on it. "It was going to John Connor's base. Unfortunately I lost contact with my base who was guiding me there." She nodded to the radio in one of the corners of the bed. She closed up the box and brushed her hands across her thighs. "And it's Phantom."

Kyle blinked, trying to process all this information quickly. "What?" he asked. The woman glanced sidelong at him.

"My name. Phantom."

"That's your name?" Kyle asked skeptically. The woman, Phantom, rolled her eyes.

"Codename, idiot." She shook her head and hopped off the bed of the jeep, going back around to the front. "'Fraid you're gonna have to stay here. Can't risk you finding out where my base is."

Kyle did not move. "I know where John Connor is," he said confidently. Although with their current position in a place he knew nothing about, he was not exactly sure he could find it from there. "I'm with his group. I can take you to him."

Phantom scrutinized him for a moment. "What was Connor doing sending a kid like you into that mess over there? I thought he was supposed to be some kind of tactical genius."

Kyle thought of Blair and Bones and felt slightly guilty for leaving how he did, even though he had not had much of a choice at the time. He knew they were going to get in trouble for losing him. He did not even consider the possibility that they could be dead; he wouldn't allow his mind to think like that.

"I'm not a kid," he said, his mind still on his fellow fighters and wondering how he could contact them to tell them that he was alright.

"Pfft yeah right." Phantom rolled her eyes again. "You're what? Thirteen? Fourteen?"

Kyle looked slightly exasperated. "I'm fifteen."

"Oh wow, fifteen? Really? I'm sorry then, I had no idea you were so old and wise," Phantom snorted.

Kyle scowled, wanting to ask how old she was. She could not have been much older than nineteen or twenty, and to him that was pretty young. John Connor was thirty and his wife was not much younger. Instead he moved on to answering her rather rude question. "If you must know, it was supposed to be a routine supply run. Skynet caught wind of it somehow and we were attacked."

"Looks like you've got an informer in your group," Phantom observed.

Kyle was beginning to grow angry. "Don't make presumptions about a group you don't even know. We've got good people working with us. John Connor is the best leader anyone could ever ask for. He truly cares about his people. He's going to lead us all to victory in this war." He tried not to think about how much his leader was going to be angry at him for leaving the group. He thought then of Star and realized he really should be getting back. He did not want to have her worrying about him too.

"And if you're not going to let me take you to them, I might as well walk since I can't have them worrying about me." He stood and hopped off the jeep, landing in a crouch and standing slowly, waiting to see if she would stop him.

"Wow, you're that tight with them, huh? They'd actually miss a twerp like you?" Phantom smirked, a corner of her finely shaped lips disappearing beneath the ski mask.

Kyle said nothing but started walking, deciding to just ignore her. If she wanted to insult him and refuse his help, he was not going to repeat his offer. He had only walked for a couple minutes when the jeep came rumbling up next to him.

"Get in," Phantom said briskly. "There's a map in the glove compartment."

Kyle hopped onto the bed and then climbed into the passenger's seat, glad he did once he saw his shotgun lying on the floor beneath his feet. He had almost forgotten about it. He got out the map and twisted it around for a little while, glancing at the landscape a couple times before finally deciding on which direction they should take to reach the base. The darkening sky had messed up his inner vision of the route. He pointed it out to Phantom.

"Oh great, it's gonna take all night and into tomorrow," she muttered. She glanced over at him. "I hope you don't eat much," she said with narrowed eyes.

"I don't," Kyle said defensively.

"I guess it doesn't matter," Phantom went on as though Kyle had not said anything. "A little thing like you couldn't eat much anyway."

Kyle frowned slightly. He had begun to look forward to being the leader, but she had taken all the fun out of it. He had never been so far out into the wilderness before and he found it all rather fascinating. However Phantom's cynical comments and sarcastic jabs were growing irritating.

He kept up a stubborn silence throughout the rest of the day, talking only to answer a question of Phantom's. He instead thought about Star, growing worried about her as the day wore on. He hoped Kate, into whose care he had placed the little mute girl, would take good care of her. He had no doubt that she would, he just was not used to being away from the little girl and he was feeling the effects of the separation.

He thought about Connor too, and hoped the man would not be too hard on Blair and Bones for losing him. It felt strange to be the victim of the man's overprotective tendencies. He had only been with the group for a couple months, but aside from the job of sending out messages of hope to the other Resistance groups around he had been given no jobs. Nothing that could be considered dangerous at least.

He had had to practically beg Connor to be allowed to go on this supply run. And only when Blair and Bones had sworn on their very lives that they would not let Kyle get killed did Connor reluctantly agree. He could only hope now that Connor would not hold his disappearance against them, seeing as they had been rather busy at the moment he had been attacked by the T-700. And he could only imagine what Connor would say . . .

00000

John Connor stood facing a sheepish Blair and Bones in his own sleeping quarters, his face a complete mask of no emotion. They had arrived only a few minutes before and he had taken them to his room in order to talk with them privately. He had noticed instantly the absence of Kyle. Kate, his wife, stood behind him, one hand on her swollen belly, the other on his arm. She could feel him trembling through her finger tips, although to his fellow fighters he appeared stiff and still.

"You lost him," Connor repeated Blair's words to him, in a steady voice full of controlled anger.

"We told him to stay behind the rock," Barnes explained. "When we came back the rock was half blown away. The kid wasn't there. There was no sign of him. Either Skynet nabbed him or he ran off somewhere. We looked everywhere around the place but we couldn't stay long. It was getting dark."

John breathed heavily, trying to control himself. He knew he could not blame them. They had been able to save only a fourth of their group. The entire team had returned tired, wounded, and weak. He knew it was a miracle he did not lose the entire team.

"We'll have to start waiting for any threats from Skynet. If they have him, they'll be looking for a way to tell me," John said finally.

"You don't believe he's dead then," Blair commented, thinking Skynet would probably see Kyle Reese as a big enough threat to terminate, given the fact that he had helped destroy their LA facility.

John paused, wondering if he would really be able to tell if Kyle were dead. Thinking about the whole paradox always gave him a slight headache, and he tried not to dwell on it too much. But he was pretty sure he would be able to tell if his father had died before given the chance to meet and impregnate Sarah Connor. He most likely would not be standing there in front of them.

"No, he's not dead," he answered Blair, leaving it at that. He dismissed them then, and after they saluted and left, he turned with a sigh to his wife, laying a hand over hers as it lay on their baby.

"I shouldn't have sent him out there," he muttered, looking down at the swell of Kate's stomach and wondering what kind of a father would he be if he could not even keep track of his own teenage father.

"You had no idea this would happen," Kate told him calmly.

"Anyone who goes out there could die. I shouldn't put him in that position before I'm able to send him back."

"You can't keep him cooped up in here for eleven years," Kate pointed out gently. "He'll hate you for it. He wants to help."

"I'll find jobs he can help out with in here," John rationalized. "He can help you in the infirmary."

Kate shook her head slowly with a slight smile. "You have your father's fighting spirit, John. You can't take that away from him, or what kind of man will you send back to protect Sarah?"

At the sound of his mother's name, John reached into his pocket. "Speaking of which," he murmured, looking down at the picture of his mother the little boy had taken in Mexico. "I'm supposed to give this to him," he said, looking up at his wife. "I just don't know when I should."

Kate stepped closer and looked down at the photograph. "When the time is right, I suppose."

"And when is that?" John asked, wondering if she had any insight into the matter. He looked down into her blue eyes seriously, hoping to put his mind at ease.

Kate simply gave him a tiny smile. "You'll know," she told him, rather unhelpfully. She leaned up and pressed her lips gently against his. Even though John did not really feel any peace about the matter, he did allow himself to fall into the kiss, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her closer as he deepened it, closing his eyes and doing his best to banish all the anxious questions and worries swimming around in his head.

00000

Kyle and Phantom stopped for the night beside a large rock formation that covered them from any possible Skynet aerial hunter-killers that might be scanning for life signs. As the air grew chilly, Phantom pulled some wood from the back of the jeep and set up a small fire. It did not do much to ward off the cold, but it was better than nothing.

"You sure do have a lot of supplies," Kyle commented as Phantom sat down next to him, adjusting her ski mask.

"Yeah well, my leader's motto is 'always be prepared,'" she said, pulling her knees up and draping her arms across them. "So that's what I am. Prepared." She glanced over at him. "Hey kid," she said, her eyes surveying him briefly. "Ever had chocolate before?"

Kyle looked at her warily. Her eyes held a gleam he was not exactly sure he trusted. "No . . ." he said slowly.

"It's the best stuff," Phantom said. "Most of my experiences with it were before Judgment Day, but here and there I find a piece." She reached into her pocket and drew out a squishy looking candy wrapper. She handed it over to him.

"It'll be kinda messy," she warned, watching closely as he tore open one end and dipped his finger into the sticky goo. He pulled the finger back out and put it in his mouth. A smile crept over his face.

"Wow, that's really good," he said, hesitating before he handed it back to her.

"Naw, it's okay. We can share," she said, putting her own finger into the mix and licking the dark liquid off the digit. A companionable silence fell over them as they took turns dipping their fingers into the chocolate. It was gone all too soon. Kyle watched somewhat sadly as the wrapped blew away in the breeze, thinking Star would have enjoyed some.

His mind was still on that train of thought when Phantom suddenly moved over closer and laid down, her head on his chest. He stiffened slightly, wondering what she was doing.

"It's cold out here" was all she said. Kyle noticed the tank again and wondered why she did not have a jacket if she was always so prepared.

"You don't have a jacket?" he asked.

"Gave it to some kid somewhere, I can't remember," Phantom said, rather flippantly as she snuggled closer.

Kyle would have offered her his jacket, but he was not exactly sure how to remove it with her almost halfway on top of him. After a moment he looked down and noticed her eyes were closed. His were drooping as well. As his body began to relax, he began to feel extremely tired. His arm dropped from where he had suspended it in mid-air (due to the surprise of Phantom coming so close), and rested over her shoulders.

Phantom adjusted her head more comfortably against his chest. "This is nice," she murmured. Then added after a pause. "But if you use this to get into my pants I swear I'll kill you."

Kyle's eyes shot open and he jerked away abruptly, almost smacking the woman in the chin with his knee. "What?!" he exclaimed, looking slightly horrified and disturbed.

Phantom looked at him, looking slightly amused. "That didn't even cross your mind, did it?" she asked with a slight smirk.

Kyle scowled. "Of course it didn't," he snapped. "Why would it?"

"Seems to be the only thing on guys' mind nowadays," Phantom said with a shrug. "I can't tell you how many rapists I've had to fight off on my runs."

Kyle choked. "Well you don't have to worry about me," he said, still looking bothered.

Phantom laughed. "I bet you're still a virgin, aren't you?"

"So what if I am?" Kyle asked indignantly, his face flushing. He wanted her to stop talking. Now. "What's it to you?"

"Have you ever even kissed a girl?" Now Phantom looked more amused than ever.

"Shut up, already," he insisted. "I'm not going to come on to you or anything so you can just stop now."

"Don't tell me you're into guys," she asked, almost rolling on the ground with laughter now.

"NO!" Kyle yelled so loud his voice cracked and ended up in a squeak. He glowered at the laughing woman.

After a moment she stopped. "I'm sorry," she said, although it did not sound like she really meant it, especially since she was smirking at him. "I guess it's not your fault, growing up as you did. Skynet didn't really give you a chance to learn anything about sex, did they?"

"Oh and you know everything about that sort of stuff," Kyle muttered spitefully, he wondered if he had misjudged her age and she was actually a lot older than she seemed. He felt some satisfaction in seeing her eyes lose their laughter and her lips tighten, before feeling slightly bad.

"Let's just say some guy taught me really fast that one can take what they want when the world's at war, and give nothing back. It's actually a pretty good lesson once you get the hang of it. Who's going to care in the end anyway? We're all as good as dead." Phantom's voice faded and she turned away from him to sit closer to the fire.

Kyle sat in the darkness and shivered for a few moments before crawling over. He shrugged off his jacket and wrapped it around Phantom's shoulders. She drew it closer to her but did not look over at him.

"I'm . . . sorry," he said after a moment. "I didn't know."

Phantom rolled her eyes. "Of course you didn't," she snapped irritably. "You just met me a couple hours ago." There was an uncomfortable pause. Then she sighed and looked over at him.

"Sorry for laughing at you. It's rare to find someone as pure as you. Keep that, for as long as you can. It's sacred nowadays."

Kyle smiled slightly, feeling suddenly very awkward and not knowing what to say. "Thanks, I guess," he said finally, sitting down a little ways from her. Phantom looked amused again.

"Am I that repulsive now?" she asked.

"No," Kyle flushed. "I just didn't think you wanted me to sit next to you."

Phantom rolled her eyes again. "Get over yourself, kid," she said, moving over to sit close again, leaning against his shoulder.

They sat in silence for a while, Kyle trying to sort through everything that had just happened, attempting to forget most of it. "Why do you wear that ski mask?" he asked, curious as to why she had not taken it off.

"None of your business" came the sharp answer.

Kyle wondered if Phantom was bi-polar. That would certainly explain her strange mood swings. Slowly his eyes began to droop again, the lids slowly closing over the hazel, black, and white spheres. He slumped back against the tire of the jeep that stood behind them and was soon snoring lightly.

Phantom looked down into his face, before reaching over and brushing the light brown hair off his forehead. Her eyes seemed to soften as she watched him sleep. Slowly she reached up and pulled off the ski mask. A fountain of blonde waves fell over her shoulders and she ran a hand through the hair, brushing it back. Her fingers traveled down her cheek and then dropped to trail down Kyle's.

"You have no idea how lucky you are," she muttered, unable to keep from sounding slightly resentful. After a moment she laid down beside the boy, resting her head against his chest once more, listening to his heart beat steadily. She moved her arm up slowly to reach around his neck, letting her fingers rest in his hair. Her eyes began to close and soon she was asleep as well.

The fire dimmed and slowly reduced into a pile of burning embers that began to cool one by one, the warm orange glow of each one fading to black charcoal. Nothing stirred, no birds chirped, no crickets sang. Sand danced along the dunes around the sleeping Resistance fighters as the wind picked up the small specks and carried them off to rest in someplace new. Some of them found a home on the clothes and skin of Kyle and Phantom but the two did not stir.

High up in the air, a Skynet Aerial Hunter-Killer circled around the site. It had detected two life-forms only a moment ago; however now the two blips on its radar were gone. It did one more sweep to make sure it had not missed anything, before moving on, its conclusion being that the life-forms had been those of two animals. The heat signatures certainly had not been large enough for any humans. It flew back to its regular spot, circling the air above Skynet's new LA factory, that it slowly, but surely, was rebuilding.

Wow, that ended up a lot longer than I thought it would be! I got into such a writing frenzy, I could barely stop! I hope you all enjoyed it. Phantom's quite the character, isn't she? ;P And I thought the action sequence wasn't too bad after all. Huh. Well, review and tell me what YOU think! XD