Authors Notes: A few things in reference to this chapter. I believe some people had trouble getting the last chapter notification from fanfiction when I published chapter 10 so I would suggest double checking to make sure you've read it (as this chapter will be highly confusing if you did not read the last chapter).

This will be a shorter chapter, but I felt it best to stop where I did as it will allow for a set up to a substantial plot twist in the next chapter.

Also, for some of you this will be the darkest point of any fan fiction that you have ever read, for others it will not be. However, I can assure both parties that this is only a taste of how increadibly dark this story will actually get.

/././

CHAPTER 11

John blinked his eyes and tightened his brow.

"Who?" He asked in a somewhat confused tone. Charles Fischer raised one of his eyebrows slightly.

"Hhhmm…" He responded, "Thought you might have heard of me, but no matter. We have far more important matters to discuss." At this point John readily understood that Fischer appeared to be working for Skynet. He grew more defensive and angry just by looking at the older man.

"Such as?" John asked in an almost snide tone.

"Well we actually have a great many things we would like to discuss with you. For starters Mr. Connor, how did you get here?" John remained silent for the moment. He continued to pull against the restraint located around his right wrist, as each man waited for the other to speak again.

"How do you know my name?" After John asked this question Fischer slowly walked around the table John was laying on.

"As I said Mr. Connor we know a great deal about you. But for the time being let's stay with the questions at hand. How did you get here?" John thought for a moment. If Skynet and Fischer did indeed know who he was as it appeared they did, then it would be useless to try to deny a fact as large as time travel, since they would already know about this as well. John took a breath and then spoke.

"Isn't it obvious how I got here?" Fischer slowly nodded his head in response.

"I suppose a more accurate question would be WHY are you here Mr. Connor? What circumstances brought you to this place?" John did not answer and Fischer continued circle around him. Fischer then sighed.

"This can proceed so much easier Mr. Connor. I can help you if you'll let me." John raised his eyebrows with disbelief.

"Well you do want to get back to your time don't you?" Fischer asked smugly. He then placed his hands at the foot of the table.

"Maybe I…maybe we can help you with that." John strained silent even though this particular statement did spark his interest to a greater degree.

"Skynet is not evil you know." Fischer said, to which John immediately laughed bitterly in response.

"Oh I assume you know by this point that I am indeed working with Skynet. But, I'm sure that you have never even considered looking at this whole situation from a different perspective." John still did not answer and he watched as Fischer resumed pacing around his table yet again.

"I can help you John." Fischer spoke in a somewhat darker tone as he edged slightly closer.

"That is, if you'll help me." John still did not respond. Fischer shook his head and sighed again.

"So much like your mother." John's eyes widened immediately.

"What do you know about my mother?" He nearly shouted this question. Fischer smiled slightly; it was an eerie almost evil smile.

"We know a great deal about your mother. In fact, I had the honor of meeting her. That is before the unfortunate incident." John felt his heart sink.

"What incident?" He asked his voice growling with a certain rage that was intertwined with the question. Fischer reached up and stroked his goatee.

"Oh my…" he responded in a ghostly tone. "Did they not tell you?"

"Tell me what?" John asked almost afraid to hear the answer.

"Well Mr. Connor…" Fischer stated in a cold tone, "It really does pain me to tell you this, but your mother was killed quite some time ago…" John felt a lump in his throat forming as he struggled to hide his emotions. Then Fischer produced another eerie smile.

"She was killed by your beloved resistance." John felt horror slipping over him upon hearing this particular statement.

"W-h-a-t?...N-o…" John said, barely able to get the words out of his mouth.

"Yes..." Fischer responded. "Due to your mother's gallant actions in her past, she was in prison when Judgment Day occurred. That is how she survived." Fischer paused for a brief moment chuckling.

"It was very similar to how I survived actually. But, through various sequences of events Skynet was able to acquire her."

"What did you do to her?" John snarled. Fischer gave out a quiet laugh.

"We did not do anything to her Mr. Connor. In fact she was treated quiet well." Fischer responded in a silky tone as he again began to slowly walk around the room.

"Due to a certain unique set of circumstances Skynet became readily aware that previous…" Fischer paused for a moment looking as if he were searching for the correct words to use. "…versions of itself had attempted to kill both you and your mother."

"Realizing the potential value that she could have, Skynet ensured that it gained control of her." Fischer continued his meandering around the room.

"I spoke with her several times in fact…" Fischer paused again before speaking, "…purely in an attempt to gather information. I assure you that neither myself nor Skynet harmed her."

"What happened to my mother?" John shouted this time, fury pouring out of his voice. Fischer laughed again.

"You and your mother are so much alike Mr. Connor, it really is intriguing if you think about it. Like I said, we did not do anything to her, but try to protect her that is." John tilted his head to the side slightly waiting for the next statement, the next lie to come.

"Sarah…" Fischer paused briefly. "Do you mind if I call your mother Sarah?" Fischer asked, almost smugly. John did not respond and after a few seconds Fischer continued.

"Sarah was being kept in a secure Skynet facility. One that some of the resistance faction members seemed to deem of extreme importance. One night in a haphazard fashion as is their normal way of doing things, they attacked the facility. Though Skynet attempted to protect your mother and some of the other human occupants of the facility the human resistance decided it would be better to destroy the facility allowing no one to survive, rather than to let the occupants live." John's eyes began to fill with tears.

"You see Mr. Connor, I did not kill your mother…Skynet did not kill your mother." There was a long pause on Fischer's part.

"The resistance killed your mother." John dropped his head back against the metal table letting it impact with a loud thud. He then screamed a blood curtailing scream. John could not see that upon observing his pain Fischer smiled slightly.

"You see Mr. Connor we are not the enemy, they are." John flexed and strained his arms and legs against his restraints in an attempt to free himself as he screamed out in pain yet again.

Charles Fischer allowed a few moments to pass so John could regain some of his composure. He then took a step closer to him.

"That is how we were able to determine exactly who you are." John gave Fischer a curious look.

"You and your mother share similar DNA of course." John closed his eyes still attempting to fight back the raging emotions that were coursing through him. Fischer waited another moment to allow him to think before he stepped quite close to John.

"I'm going to tell you something that I should not be telling you." While John did not respond he was curious as to what Fischer was going to say, even if he suspected that it would be a lie.

Before Fischer spoke he looked around the room as if checking to see if anyone else was in the area. He stooped over John moving his face closer to John's and whispered quietly.

"I don't want any of this…I want to help you." John wrinkled his forehead in a confused expression. Fischer's voice grew quieter as he spoke.

"Skynet has discovered how to time travel." John's eyebrows raised slightly upon hearing this revelation.

"But it is extremely secretive about who has access to the Time Displacement Equipment and even who knows about it." While John remained quiet he felt his interest in this particular subject drawing him in further.

Fischer looked around the room again before he continued to speak.

"We can send you back." He said.

"And maybe even this time you'll be able to stop Judgment Day from happening." John gave Fischer a suspicious glance.

"That is what you want isn't it?" he asked. "All you have to do is help me, help you and this can all be over..." John again laughed bitterly and sarcastically.

"Why would I ever help Skynet?" Fischer's next words sent a chill up John's spine.

"Because when you think about it…nothing that you do here will ever matter." John's mouth opened slightly with surprise upon hearing these words.

"If you are sent back, everything here will be erased. It won't matter what you did or did not do, only that once you have returned to your original time you can change everything." The shock was nearly overwhelming for John. While he never fully understood exactly how time travel worked, Fischer's statements actually seemed to make some sense. Worse yet, John found that a part of him almost "wanted" to take Fischer's advice. It did not appear that he was going to receive any help from either his father or uncle. And now that he believed that both Savannah and Bedell had been killed the likelihood of anyone helping him at all seemed utterly unlikely. But to join forces with Skynet was a prospect almost beyond belief for John. He knew deep down that he would never be able to forgive himself if he actually took that step.

"Where is the base located that you came from?" Fischer asked quietly still leaning in close to John. As Charles waited for the response John could feel the internal conflict within him growing.

"Please John…" Fischer stated in a solemn voice. "Let me help you." There was another pause before he spoke again.

"Just give me a bit of information and then we can move on to far more important things…like how to get you home." John closed his eyes, fighting the emotions that now felt as if they were going to explode out of him.

"Where is the base?" Fischer asked again. John ground his teeth in frustration and then slowly opened his eyes.

"Go to hell…" He said quietly. Fischer jerked away from John.

"That's unfortunate…" Fischer responded. "I suppose I will have to use other means to help you along in this process." He then turned and walked towards an examination table that was located near to him. John heard a few clanks of metal and then saw Fischer turn towards him holding a needle.

Fischer walked slowly across the room towards John who immediately began to struggle upon seeing what was about to occur.

"As I told you Mr. Connor, there is a far easier way to do this." Fischer then pinned John's right arm securely to the metal table and plunged the steel needle into it, injecting the yellowish substance into his body. Fischer then drew back away from John.

"I'll return in a short while…maybe then you'll be more cooperative." Fischer turned and walked away toward one of the exits in the room. Within seconds John began to feel dizzy. The room started to spin and his eyesight blurred. Seconds later, a thick blackness began to creep over John's vision. He fought to stay awake, but knew it was a pointless endeavor. Moments later John drifted away into the oblivion that was unconsciousness.

/././

Authors Notes: In reference to the theory of one timeline or multiple timelines this is going to be a question that I am going to leave up to the reader to determine for himself/herself. This story functions on either plain, but in the end will be one of the key roles in determining how the reader "feels" once the story has run its full course.