A/N: This story is now dedicated to those who have been patiently waiting for it. Sorry to keep you all waiting.

Chapter Three

Resistance versus Assassins

Sarah had been sitting on the deck, waiting for Ellison to arrive after his meeting. Thoughts flickered through her mind, trying to paint a picture of events beyond her grasp. A nuclear weapon had been stolen by one of Skynet's machines, attempting to set off Judgment Day. And now the FBI had made a deal with a CIA assassin to kill them. Was it all connected somehow? Skynet had put machines into places already to secure resources for the future war. Had it also placed machines in places of power through governments as well?

Perhaps the assassin was the machine; Sarah knew it took a steel will to kill in cold blood. A machine would make a good assassin. She couldn't help but smile a little to herself. Sarah had finally complimented them on something that was good for a lack of emotion.

Inside, she could hear nothing but soft noises. John had retreated to his computer in order to see what he could discover about the nuclear abduction. Derek was cleaning weapons until he knew what to shoot at. And then there was Cameron… Cameron was pacing; she called it perimeter searching, but Sarah knew better. If Cameron experienced human emotion, it was actually restlessness.

A black car drove into their driveway. Sarah pushed herself to her feet as Ellison got out of his car. Immediately she sensed trouble; something had shaken him and he didn't bother to hide it. "What's wrong?" Sarah asked, folding her arms as they reached each other. Behind her, Derek cracked open the door to investigate.

"You have to leave," Ellison ordered. Sarah's brow furrowed and Derek stepped out to join them. Ellison shifted his weight as he looked around. "It's who I feared it was."

"We got Tin Miss; we're fine, aren't we?" Derek asked.

Ellison shook his head. "Cameron will help, but this man… he doesn't have to even get past her in order to succeed. He could kill all of you without having to face her," he explained. Both Sarah and Derek could tell; Ellison was more than just rattled. "I just sat in a room with Jason Bourne."

"Bourne?" Sarah repeated.

"Jack Mark and Fred mentioned something about some guy on the news named Bourne couple months ago," Derek remembered. "Said he got shot and fell off a building and didn't die. Is he a metal?"

"He could be, but I don't think so," Ellison answered. "I talked to him, and lied about not seeing you. It felt like he saw through me, more than anybody I've met before. I don't know, but I think he knew I was lying. But he didn't call me out on it."

Sarah sighed and glanced at Derek. And here comes the trouble all over again. "Get John and Cameron," Sarah told him. "We're leaving for another safe house."

"What for?" John asked. He had come outside to see what was going on. Not even two steps behind him was Cameron, eyes scanning the perimeter. "What's going on? Is it about the nuke?"

"John," Sarah started, but she was cut off by the sound of something slamming into metal. They whipped around to see a car veer off the road and run into the back of Ellison's car, moving both of them towards them. Cameron ran forward and struck back with her hands, slowing them down before they could hit the others.

"Everyone back," Derek shouted. "There's no driver." Ellison and Sarah procured guns as they ran back towards the house, Cameron covering John with herself. Her eyes stayed focused on the empty car. Scanning…analysis complete…Warning: Car is loaded with remote incendiary devices…Addendum…analyzing…Warning: Separate fuel tanks discovered; Recommended Actions: Retreat behind building walls to prevent blast from damaging John Connor…searching for attacker…Warning: remote detonator activated.

No sooner had the door to the house been opened and Cameron practically shoved everyone inside than the runaway car exploded with tremendous force, detonating Ellison's car as well. The sound of fire reverberated through John's ears as two cars and several bombs blew up, no more than twenty feet from him.

Derek peeked over the window once the blast had ceased, staring at the destruction. "You win, Ellison," he muttered. "This guy means business." He sneezed, and a window nearby fell apart. Then a gunshot cracked half a second after. He dropped his head again and pulled out his own handgun.

"Where did that shot come from?" Sarah shouted. Cameron looked in a full 360 degree search, and then answered. The shot had come from through the smoke, fired by a rifle. "Great, thermal scopes. He probably knows where we are. Derek, come with me. We're going to get this guy off of us. Cam, stay here and keep John safe. Ellison, you better leave."

Ellison shook his head. "He already knows I'm here. I better come," he assured. John started to protest, but Cameron put a hand on his shoulder. Analyzing…shooter Jason Bourne has a 86% kill chance of striking John if he does not stay put…Recommended Course of Action: keep John low to the ground and head towards back.

"I will take him to the other safehouse," Cameron answered blankly. It might have been a calm tone, but inside her emotion simulator was heating up quickly. In roughly 7.4395 seconds her security had been breached and John was in a much higher threat of danger than he had been. Analyzing and comparing to other known templates…emotion is fear…fear is debilitating, increasing motor response control.

Sarah, Derek, and Ellison moved sideways out of the house, making sure to stay behind cover. Sarah reached a small opening and then ran for the next house. A stream of bullets rained down hair's breath away from her head, striking wood behind her. Gunfire from Derek and Ellison stopped any more from finding their mark.

The shooter, Paz, stopped firing as shots discovered his point of view. He withdrew from sight and began dissembling his rifle. Once it was in his backpack he started away towards the alley, letting the three give chase. Three of them against him meant Bourne had an easier shot. He whispered something into his headset before snapping it and breaking it. Paz took out a pistol and turned into a dead-end alley.

Quick on his tail, Ellison led the way. He entered the passage the shooter had taken and spotted the alleyway. Taking cover against the corner, Sarah and Derek lined up behind him. Ellison counted down on his fingers, and all three of them spun into the alley, guns at the ready.

There was no shooter.

Derek hesitated. "Where'd he go?" he asked. Sarah glanced around and noticed; the manhole was partly open. She started to step forward to examine it.

Gunfire ripped from the dumpster, nearly hitting Sarah. They ducked backwards from the alley entrance; Sarah took cover one way and Ellison and Derek the other. She gritted her teeth; how had he had time to do all of that? Derek caught her attention and signaled a question. She nodded, noting she wasn't hurt.

Inwardly, Derek sighed in relief. He was going to get this guy now; anger was fueling his movements. What type of person just plotted killing like this? There was little sound from the alley, and Derek guessed he was taking proper cover. That wasn't the case. Abruptly the gunman shot out from the alley and struck. A thrown garbage lid struck Sarah in the head, knocking her off her feet. Before she had hit the ground, the shooter was in Ellison and Derek's faces.

A flurry of blows painfully disarmed both of them, and Ellison was knocked unconscious by a chance blow to a weak spot on his skull. Derek was struck as well, stumbling backwards to get away from the quick dulling pain.

Sarah grunted and got to her feet to see Ellison unconscious and Derek falling backwards by a man with a rusted frying pan. "Jason Bourne," she accused.

The man hesitated, and then spoke. "Associate," he answered, and came at her with his improvised weapon.

X

Inside the house, John was moving back towards the back of the house, trying to keep out of any possible sight. Cameron stood unafraid of bullets, no gun in her hand but without need of one. She was busy scanning for any more threats to John. The first shooter had left, drawing the other three with him. That left only her and John; Cameron ran a probability that suggested a second target would approach. This second attacker would likely be Jason Bourne.

Scanning…analyzing sound and thermal readings…no threat detected; re-run search; Scanning…switching to lower decibel ranges…sound detected, analyzing for threat…sound analyzed; Warning: threat detected.

Jason D. W. Bourne was walking, swiftly, through the smoke towards the house. His breath was held and his eyes stung, but doing so would allow him to approach better. But no sooner had he reached midway through the smoke than he heard a female voice shout, "John, run!"

His cover somehow broken, Bourne raised his gun and fired in the general direction of the voice. Cameron felt a round strike her shoulder and reported the wound to be cleaned after this was over. John was behind her, reaching for his gun. "John, he wants you, not me. I will take care of him. Get to safety," Cameron ordered, and marched forward as a man burst from the smoke.

John felt strained. Why did he always end up running? When would it end? Cameron was right this time. There was no way a man would be able to beat Cameron, but if he died then it was all over; and those shots were getting closer and closer to him. Torn by his own inability, John leapt out the back window and headed for the safe house. He would be back soon, with a shotgun.

Seeing his target escape out the back, Bourne turned his attention to the teenage woman. He emptied his magazine as he fired at her, but thought maybe he was hallucinating. Every one of his shots hit with excellent accuracy, but she only twitched at his shots. His gun empty at the moment, Bourne let it drop and charged the girl.

Cameron saw him race forward and raised a fist to strike a finishing blow. But instead of engaging her hand-to-hand, she was suddenly tackled backwards into the couch. Her sensors scrambled to unveil the strategy when Bourne attempted to strike at her. Cameron caught his attack and shoved him off of her. Bourne flew backwards into the bookshelf, spilling its contents and knocking him to the ground.

The Terminator protector got to her feet and walked towards Bourne as he got to his feet as well. He grimaced; something was wrong here. He had fired an entire magazine into her, but she was unaffected and had shoved him across the room. Jason Bourne noticed it first. Something was different about her eyes; she wasn't human, not entirely. David Webb snapped them out of it; their life was at stake now.

Bourne ducked beneath Cameron's first swing and delivered a perfect strike to her stomach. Solid muscle met his blow but she didn't even stagger. Instead, she grabbed him as though it didn't even matter. Bourne punched upwards at her chin as she tossed him, and Cameron's eyes were diverted enough to disrupt her throw; she relied upon sight. Accordingly, she reduced her dependence on sight for the fight and increased her other sensory outputs.

This time, Bourne landed on his feet and picked up the closest weapon; a small blanket. He twisted it up as Cameron stalked towards him. She swung at him and Bourne wrapped the blanket around her arm to slow her swing. It didn't work and he was forced to take a step backwards. Cameron swung again, analyzing his movements to decipher his strategy. She swung again, trying to work the assassin into a corner. Instead, Bourne lashed out with the blanket, using it in the same way as a wet towel.

It snapped about .9836 inches from her right eye, but the result was the same. The small sonic boom was enough to cause the human part of her eye to snap shut, protecting itself until it could heal. Cameron could force it open, but that would delay her healing process and result in it taking longer to heal. So she was reduced to one eye as Bourne prepared for another strike.

Cameron caught the second whip attack and ripped the blanket away from Bourne's grip. He let go of it after he had momentum and slammed his shoulder into Cameron, forcing her to stumble back. She wrapped her legs around his torso and rolled, pinning him with her weight. All of her processes were focusing on integral weak points on Bourne's body, but he seemed to be able to protect all of them at the last second.

Stuck beneath an inhuman girl who weighed about as much as he did, Bourne defended himself from her attacks. She felt like steel, and he couldn't block his forever. He twisted as she reared a punch, and the momentum tipped them slightly. He pushed and both of them fell sideways. Cameron caught herself from hitting her head, but it allowed Bourne to snake away back to his feet.

She got to her feet and found the assassin had already procured another tool. This time he had a table leg. Cameron examined the wall next to her and removed part of a steel pipe. Inside of Bourne, both his personas swore.

X

John kept his pace normal but quick as he moved down the street. He needed to hurry to reach the safe house. Not that he would be staying there, but there were better weapons he could get to help Cameron and the others. He had come so close to losing her before; he wasn't about to lose her now.

At first John didn't notice the footsteps behind him, his thoughts focused on Cameron's safety. But he did hear the gun click and a voice call out, "Freeze."

John had been working on his reflexes lately, and he was able to draw his own gun and turn before the word was finished. The future general found himself gun to gun with a woman named Nicky Parsons. Neither moved, said a word.

Nicky's eyes bored into John's and he kept up his glare. Perhaps he could intimidate them with the things he was supposed to be. On the other side, Nicky stared deep into John Connor. The defiance and determination were blocking out anything else she could find out from him. Psychology had never been tested much in high stress situations. If she was Bourne, she might have just shot him in the leg and be down with it.

Instead, she searched deeper until she found what she was looking for. Then Nicky moved.