Another Kyle

"Hey pretty Girl!"

Cameron smiled. "Hey cutie."

She closed the door to the motel room and crossed to where John was lying and launched herself onto the bed next to him.

"How was the recon?"

"The building is impressive. I have never seen a more secure non-military facility, in fact I have seen some military complexes that would be far easier to break into."

"Great." John said bitterly. "Why couldn't John Henry have given us some soft targets? Couldn't there be a mission where we have to talk to a college kid into Investment Banking instead of advanced AI design or something? I mean-" mmphm!

Cameron silenced him with a deep kiss before he could spiral into a rant.

John realized what she had done, " I was starting to rant huh?"

"You were starting to rant."

"Thank you."

She smiled. "How was shopping?"

John hesitated. Not sure how to proceed.

His pulse just jumped by 10 beats per minute and his facial temperature has risen three degrees. "What?" Cameron asked suddenly alert.

"Um, well. I guess I met my aunt or something…"

***

"You did what!?!?"

"I accepted a dinner invitation Derek. A dinner invitation from my cousin."

Three doors down from John and Cameron's room—Sarah had learned some time ago that sharing a wall with John and Cameron did horrible things to her sleep cycle, not to mention her blood pressure—Derek starred at Sarah Connor incredulously.

"Sarah you didn't!"

"Um yeah, I did. Dinner is at 7."

"You are putting them in danger."

Sarah deflated a little bit. The fire left her eyes and she looked at the floor. "I know," she whispered. "Deep down, I know."

Derek's jaw dropped. He rarely ever saw the vulnerable side of Sarah Connor, Amazon Warrior. He was struck by a powerful urge to comfort her, and before he knew what he was doing he had pulled her into a tender hug. To the surprise of both parties, she didn't resist.

"You know, I don't even think I remembered her until she spoke to me." She was sobbing now, "It made me realize how much I have lost. My family was so important to me… she is the first blood relative I have seen in 20 years."

Derek felt as though he had been punched in the stomach, I always forget that she is a regular person. She has had to be so strong for so long on her own….

"Derek," She looked up at him, the sadness and pleading in her eyes tore at him, "Its just dinner. Four, maybe five hours tops. No one knows we're here. There's no way we can compromise them. Is there? Tell me I'm wrong. We won't go if you tell me I'm wrong."

If someone had asked Derek Reese why he gave the answer he was about to give, an answer he knew would put innocent people in danger, he probably would have growled out some cold-blooded response involving "military math" where the mental health of John Connor's mother was worth far more than the lives of a few civilians, but Derek Reese would have been lying.

He gave the answer he gave because at that moment, seeing the vulnerable side of Sarah Connor, he fell in love with her.

He squeezed her tighter. "You're not wrong."

***

At 7:10pm, the "Reese" family found themselves standing outside a yellow and white house on a quiet street in the suburbs. After one last scan up and down the road, Derek reached out and pressed the doorbell. Absent-mindedly, he pulled at the collar of his hastily acquired dress shirt with his other hand. God I hate playing dress up. He glanced at Sarah out of the corner of his eye. Her defenses were back up and her vulnerability gone but she did look stunning in her simple cocktail dress. Why haven't I ever appreciated her before? His own devil's advocate laughed mockingly in his head. Because she is your nephew's mother, she was your brother's woman…. Was she? Is she? Or was she the dead Derek Reese's brother's woman? According to the hunk of tin, she never knew "his Kyle". Derek quickly buried the thought of his brother before he started to tear up. This time loop shit is messing with me.

John and Cameron stood hand and hand behind his mother and his uncle. He had told Cameron about the encounter in the grocery store and about the reactions he had noticed in the boy Kyle. She had agreed that they should observe him closely at dinner. He had stressed "observation only" back at the hotel.

"Remember, be discreet." He said out of the corner of his mouth.

She squeezed his hand, "I promise John."

The door opened and a girl with jet black hair and piercing green eyes opened the door. What is it with our family and green eyes Sarah wondered.

"Hi. I'm Jessi." The girl gushed. "You must be Sarah."

A voice came from somewhere inside the house, "Is that them? Stephen! They're here!"

Nicole made her way into the foyer just as Jessi was shutting the door. Obviously fresh from the kitchen, she was wiping her hands with a dishcloth.

Pulling Sarah into a hug she said, "Welcome to our home."

"I am so happy to be here Nicole," Both pairs of eyes were glistening. She turned to Derek. "Nicole this is John's uncle, Derek."

"Pleasure to meet you ma'am." 'Ma'am'? Where did that come from? Thought Derek as he took her hand.

"Hello."

"And you remember my son John of course."

"Hello again, " said John before was pulled into a hug.

"And this is John's," Sarah paused almost imperceptibly, "friend, Cameron."

If Nicole noticed the pause she didn't acknowledge it, she definitely didn't see the cold stare John was throwing his mother.

"You have a lovely home Nicole," Cameron said as she too received a big hug from Nicole. This woman is so warm and open… how can she be related to Sarah? Thought Cameron, I like her.

"Thank you Cameron… well I see you have already met Jessi, let me see if I can locate the rest of my brood." Nicole turned her head back towards the kitchen and yelled, "Josh, Kyle, Stephen, our guests have arrived!"

There was a sound of pounding feet as a skinny, slightly disheveled boy came bounding haphazardly down the stairs.

"Ah. Here is my youngest, Josh. Josh this is my cousin Sarah, her son John, John's uncle Derek and Cameron."

"Josh, close your mouth," admonished Jessi teasingly from behind Sarah.

Josh turned bright red. "Um, uh, hi everybody." He tried very hard to keep his eyes on anything that wasn't Cameron.

Sorry dude thought John smugly.

Josh was saved further embarrassment as a middle aged man appeared behind Nicole followed by the boy from the super market.

"There you are. Reeses, meet my husband Stephen and my other son Kyle."

Handshakes and introductions were again exchanged all around.

"Can I get anybody a drink?" asked Stephen

"I'll take one," replied Derek as he followed Stephen down the hall.

"Same here," answered Sarah.

"Please, come sit down." Nicole as she led the group to the living room, "Dinner will be ready soon."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Can we help?"

Sarah and Cameron had spoken at the same time.

"Absolutely not! You are our guests."

As they followed Nicole Cameron squeezed John's hand to hold him back slightly and leaned over to whisper in his hear, "Definitely human." John inhaled deeply, feeling relaxed, "But," he stiffened, "I detected two… energy anomalies when we first walked in."

John's eyes bulged "What?" he hissed

Before she could answer Derek reappeared and slapped John on the back as he entered the room and took a seat next to Sarah, a huge smile on his face. Good he loves beer thought John absently.

"Later," mouthed Cameron as they she sat down next to Kyle.

Sarah and Nicole were already engrossed in a conversation.

"I see our offspring share our family's trademark eyes."

Nicole cocked her head slightly. Cameron's move thought Sarah.

"I mean John, Kyle and Jessi all have our family's green eyes."

Nicole laughed.

"Actually Sarah, Josh is the only child here with our genetics. Kyle is our adopted son and Jessi is our foster child."

"Oh… I'm sorry." Two adopted children? This woman is a saint!

"Don't be. Kyle is as much my son as Josh is, and Jessi is fast becoming my second daughter." Jessi beamed proudly.

"Second daughter?"

"My first born, Lori, is away at school right now. I'm so sad you missed her… She reminds me a little of you," she paused and her mouth formed a slight smirk, "except it isn't ranch hands with her."

Sarah blushed deeply. Derek's eyes widened a bit and John muttered amusedly, "Ranch hands?"

"Alright everyone, come and get it," came Stephen's voice from the kitchen.

Saved by the bell mused Derek. I wonder how I would look in cowboy boots…

They filed through the door and much the same way that Cameron had held John back earlier, Jessi reached for Kyle's hand and drew him close.

Thinking she was feeling frisky, Kyle smiled and kissed her cheek, "Down girl…" her eyes silenced him. "Jessi what is it?"

"There is something off with that girl."

"Huh?" Kyle deadpanned.

Jessi rolled her eyes. He may have some special gifts but when it comes right down to it he is still a guy

"Try and pay a little more attention honey," thinking twice she added, "well not too much attention."

Kyle smiled and had a remarkably similar thought to the one Jessi just had, underneath that intelligence she is still a girl. He pulled her into a deep kiss, "Don't worry kiddo."

"Kyle, Jessi—aww dude! Get a room."

Josh had come back to get them, "You know mom hates that."

"Sorry Josh" said Kyle with a little smile.

"I'm not." Was Jessi's mischievous reply as she gave Kyle another quick kiss, "Let's go."

***

"So John, what plans do you have for your life? I'm guessing you are looking at colleges about now?" Stephen shifted his gaze to Sarah and grimaced, "We just finished that whole process with Lori, talk about exhausting."

"Uh…" John was at a loss. The rare times he had shared a meal with people other than his family or cybernetic organisms from the future he had always had some sort of canned background to work with. He was flying blind here, "Well, I'm not much of a school person-"

"Amen brother!" broke in Josh, who received withering stares from both parents.

"Well what do you like to do, what are your favorite subjects?" pressed Stephen convivially

Shooting guns, blowing up buildings, and human-AI interaction thought John darkly. Before he could come up with an answer Cameron came to his rescue.

"John is brilliant with computers. I think he is going to save mankind."

Derek and Sarah froze and John suppressed a smile.

Smiling, Stephen asked, "And you Cameron? Where do you see yourself in 10 years?"

John jumped back into the conversation before Cameron could say anything else awkward, "This little lady will be dancing with the best ballet companies in the world."

Cameron blushed, "John…"

"Either that or running MIT. This girl is a wiz with numbers." He continued proudly.

"Really?" Interjected in Jessi, there was a touch of sarcasm in her tone. She had been quiet for a while now. Kyle had sat down next to Cameron and she was feeling a little threatened by the stunning brunette.

"Yup," continued John oblivious to the staring match that was now going on between the emeralds and the deep browns. "Cam is the smartest person I have ever met."

"Hold on a sec bud, you just met Kyle." Smirked Josh, "The kid is a super computer."

Kyle looked down in embarrassment and Nicole warned, "Josh, don't be rude."

Cameron had broken off her match with the raven-haired girl across from her and turned to Kyle, "Really?"

Kyle shrugged. "I like math, it makes sense to me."

She put her hand on his arm gently, "Maybe we could compare notes sometime."

Kyle's eyes widened and his jaw dropped slightly.

The light bulbs in the fixture above the table exploded. In that instant several things happened simultaneously. Cameron snapped her hand back from Kyle's arm as if stung. Derek dived under the table, Nicole screamed and Sarah reached for a gun that wasn't there.

"Damn it Jessi," said Stephen before he could stop himself. In the dark he could feel the questioning eyes of the Reese family on him, wondering why he had blamed the electrical malfunction on his foster daughter. Thinking quickly he added, "I thought you said you had fixed the wiring."

"I must have missed something Stephen, I'm sorry. I'll get some lights. Kyle can you help me?" her last sentence was not a request.

"Sure."

The two of them quickly left the room.

"No need to panic people," said Josh cockily as he pulled out a lighter and began lighting the candles in the center of the table.

Why does he have a lighter in his pocket? Thought Stephen. His train of thought derailed however as he noticed Derek sheepishly getting back into his seat.

Having realized his overreaction, Derek stammered, "Uh… sorry, old habits. You, uh, never really leave the service you know?"

That's right, Nicole had said the uncle had been trying to look up his army buddies. "No need to apologize Derek. You boys have been through a lot. Where did you serve?"

The dancing light of the candles now illuminated the room. Somehow the shadows and flickers seemed to add decades to Derek's face.

Eyes slightly unfocused, he responded, "Oh you know, here and there."

Nicole saw the look on the soldier's face and decided to change the subject.

"Sorry about the lights, we have had some electrical problems as of late," Josh snorted, "would you like some more lasagna."

She's good thought Sarah. There is no better way to distract that man than with food.

Derek smiled, snapping back to reality, "Please."

John missed the entire exchange to his left as he had been focusing on the pain in his leg. Cameron had gripped his leg tightly and was staring at him earnestly. He leaned over and she whispered, "I scanned him and I can confirm he is not a machine or an I-950. However, his DNA is altered slightly"

John frowned, "Huh?"

"Never mind, its irrelevant right now," how is that irrelevant he wondered, "what is important is that I detected the energy anomaly again. It is some kind of electromagnetic field. I have never experienced anything like it."

He looked at her, unsure of what to make of her revelation.

She dropped her voice even lower, "John, I think it came from Jessi."

Meanwhile Kyle and Jessi were embroiled in their own conversation. They had reached the closet where the light bulbs were, and had begun speaking simultaneously.

"What do you think you were doing?"

"I see what you mean about her!"

"What?"

"What?"

"There is something strange about that girl. I can't put my finger on it…. What do you mean what was I doing?

In that instant Jessi knew she had overreacted but her pride kept her engines spinning at full speed, "I meant what was with the whole deer-in-the-headlights-oh-my-god-a beautiful-girl-is-talking-to-me-look?"

Kyle sighed, "Jessi, you really need to learn to control yourself. I was shocked by how different she seemed." He trailed off, "I can't put my finger on it though..."

Focusing on the situation at hand he was suddenly angry. "Jessi what the hell? You know I love you, you know there is nobody else for me! Why can't you believe that? Have I ever given you reason to doubt me?"

Jessi deflated in an instant. She couldn't look at him. "No."

"Then why can't you trust me? I know you have been through hell but it is time to grow up, at least with me. Furthermore, outbursts like that could get people hurt!"

He saw the tear roll down he cheek. His anger vanished. He pulled her into him.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"It's ok, I know you are trying." Kyle kissed her head, "I'm just worried we are going to bankrupt this family with all the lights we are destroying," he added with a smile and a playful squeeze.

She looked up at him and wiped her eyes.

"I love you."

"I know."

Dinner resumed its course. The light bulbs lay stacked in their packaging on the kitchen counter, the group having decided that the candles were cozier. Neither Josh nor the adults in the room seemed noticed the war that was being waged between the two couples. Not that they were unobservant, neither side was aware how suspicious the other was of them. Kyle and Cameron were deep in discussion about the new theory of time-distressed relativity and Jessi and John were discussing Moore's law.

Kyle was amazed. He was finding it hard to maintain his covert surveillance of Cameron. This was perplexing. He could normally carry on a conversation with a person whilst solving complex equations in his head. Speaking with her and continuing his investigations should have been child's play, however, he was struggling to keep up with her complex reasoning.

Jessi was fairing much better, paying close attention to John while keeping a surreptitious eye on Cameron. She had to mask her surprise when Kyle took out a pen to scribble some equations on his napkin. He never needs to write things down to understand them, who is this girl? She was forced to snap her focus back to John. He may not have her intellect, but he certainly was keeping her on her toes.

"Ahh, but therein lies the problem John, given the limitations of the atomic structure of silicon, the processing speed you would require to achieve a processor such as that, is physically unattainable."

John couldn't help himself, "Is it?" he asked with a smile.

He reached over and pulled a pen out of Cameron's purse. He knew he shouldn't be doing this but he felt an unexplainable desire to prove his intellect to this girl. She was obviously leagues beyond him in intelligence, but he had something she didn't: accurate knowledge of the future.

Spreading his napkin out and angling it so she could see it. He began to scribble out some numbers and complex symbols. " You see, if you consider the transient nature of the subatomic structure of, say, silicon," he smiled at her, "you will realize that the three main flavors of quarks can be thought of as 1, 0, and not1not0."

Jesse frowned, unsure of where he was going with this

"Add to that the three unstable flavors can be thought of as -1,-0, and –not1not0."

"So? What does this have to do with my point?"

Johns grin broadened you would be a terrible chess player my dear, "Think about it. Instead of binary, you now have a sexenary computer system. Not to mention the fact that your chip structure has just shrunk to the subatomic level. I believe that would translate to a chip with the processing power of a top of the line personal computer that would only be visible using a microscope."

"Ok. Fine. I'll play your game. Say you could build something like this, I don't think its possible but lets assume it is. 1) How would it connect to anything, in other words how could it interface with the outside world? 2) How would one program it? And 3) how would you power it?" Jessi ticked off her points on her fingers.

"I'm glad you asked that…."

Stephen was finding it harder and harder to pay attention to the conversation at his end of the table. He had heard what John and Jessi were discussing. He was floored when he glanced at some of the things John was scribbling down for her. That's impossible! Davis just theorized about that sub-spatial folding a month ago! Good with computers?! This kid could replace my entire staff…hell, he could replace me!

***

Derek excused himself from the table to answer nature's call. He was feeling fantastic. The great food, the fine wine and the easy conversation had relaxed him more than he had been in years. He walked down the hallway to the rest room. Cute family, I wish I had had this. He paused, hand on his stomach, I wish Sarah shared Nicole's cooking genes!

Finished with the bathroom Derek began to walk towards the front of the house, pausing to look Nicole and Steven's wedding picture. I wish that were me and Sarah… he shook with fraternal guilt and accidentally knocked some documents off of the table the picture had been on.

"Shit, Sarah you're driving home," he mumbled.

He bent to pick up the stack of papers and froze. He slowly reached out to grab them and then, even more slowly, he straightened up. The top paper was a letter.

"We cordially invite you to the annual employee picnic," the letter began.

Derek wasn't looking at the writing. His eyes were fixed on the letterhead.

Holy Shit….

Back in the dinning room the rest of the Reese family were getting ready to leave.

Nicole and Sarah were hugging.

"I can't believe how fast that went!" exclaimed Sarah

"I know… it's so good to see you!"

Jessi was staring at John incredulously, "Can I keep those?" She asked pointing to the napkin. She wanted to rework his equations, she was a little miffed that he had shown her up.

"Sure. No problem" John shrugged.

Kyle beamed, thoroughly impressed with the girl he had just met, "You are one unique girl Cameron."

"One of a kind!" she replied with a smile.

"I hope so! If there were more of you I think you could take over the world in a matter of days."

Her eyes widened. You have no idea.

Worried that he had offended her he pulled her into a friendly hug. It was then that he noticed.

Her heart! It doesn't sound right! The beat is way to fast…and it doesn't seem to becoming from the right place… it's too low on her frame… could this be what was throwing Jessi and I?

He broke their hug and smiled, "I enjoyed meeting you."

"Likewise."

He couldn't wait to talk to Jessi. He focused his thoughts and reached out to her, as he had many times before.

Yes?

I think I figured out why she seems different! He heartbeat is as fast as a newborn's and it doesn't seem to be coming from the right place. Something is definitely off with her.

We'll talk later.

Cameron had been saying goodbye to Josh when she sensed the anomaly again. Three to be exact. It was different this time, more directed, more organized…almost like a transmission of some kind… Luckily, she had been actively scanning for the anomaly and was able to triangulate the origin of each burst. Her targeting reticule was flashing between Kyle and Jessi.

She cocked her head to one side. What the?

The gathering was breaking up. John and Sarah were already standing outside the door. She followed Derek out and turned to wave goodbye. Everyone was smiling and waving back but Kyle and Jessi were staring at her intently.

Derek tossed Sarah the keys who tossed them to John, "Safety first," she laughed.

Cameron was straggling as she attempted to interpret the energy burst she had intercepted. She finally got into the truck and closed the door. She was about to inform John of her discovery when Derek beat her to the punch.

"I think we have a problem."