Chapter 7: Still After Us

I had someone ask me what actors would my characters be played by if I could choose. So I've come up with a list.

Addy- Kylie Rogers

Eve- Scarlett Johanson

Olivia Howard- Zoe Saldana

As for John's love interest it was a tough decision since reviewers said Kate, but I've decided to go for an OC character since I've already established that terminator John doesn't want to be restricted by fate anymore or anyone telling him how his life is supposed to be played out. Though Kate will occasionally be brought up, she won't be his end goal. On top of that I honestly didn't like her character in the movies and I don't feel like I can write her if I don't like her. At this point I've come up with a plot, but if anyone has anything they'd like to see in the story then let me know and I may incorporate it.

"Where is my Husband!?" Mom screamed in frustration and tossed the maps off the table. She was extremely pissed and edgy right now, constantly cocking her gun as if she was going to shoot something. I'm surprised she hadn't shot something already. Target practice had always been therapeutic for her since Pops had been drilling her how to use them since she was a child.

"I am unable to identify the whereabouts of Kyle Reese. There have been no signs of him from any cameras throughout the city nor have there been any descriptions or sightings of him on the web from any usual incidents. Kyle Reese has simply disappeared. I have also contacted Detective O'Brien to assist our search, but he does not have any leads either." Pops was meticulously picking up all the items Mom had knocked off the table and placing them back in their original places. Pops answer didn't make Mom feel any better, she collapsed in a chair exhausted emotionally and physically. We had been searching for Dad for two days now, with no leads at all. Mom had tried to appear nonchalant about it at first, but that facade quickly fell when Pops couldn't find Dad in any of usual places. I had never seen my mom as freaked out and stressed as she was now. I was worried too, but somehow I just knew Dad was alright wherever he was.

"Mommy, when is Daddy coming home?" Addy was in even worse shape than Mom, she hadn't stopped crying since Pops told her Dad was gone. I had her in my lap right now and I trying to get her stop crying by ribbing her back. Mom hated it whenever one of us cried. Soldiers don't cry she said. I've never seen my Mom cry before and I don't think I ever will. Or at least I hope I never have too. Seeing tears from the toughest woman I know, would break me.

"I..I don't know Adele. Now stop crying. You're a Connor and we don't cry." Mom pushed her reddish hair out her face and tiredly put up in a ponytail. Addy stopped her tears, but angrily pouted at Mom. Sensing a tantrum coming from her I got up from the chair with her in my arms and went to the fridge to get her a popsicle. Like any child Addy quickly forgot why she was upset and happily took the push pop ice cream I gave her. While Mom and Pops were discussing what they were going to do, I set Addy down on the chair and kneeled down to her height so I could see her eyes.

"Johnny, why is Mommy so mean all the time? She's always yelling at you and me all the the time. Why can't she be more like Daddy? Why isn't Daddy here to play tea party with me?" Addy was sulkily licking the push pop while she was talking to me. If the conversation weren't so serious, I would have laughed at how cute she was with her wavy blonde hair and puffy cheeks. I always loved being around my baby sister. She was a reminder that a normal life was possible. To me, she represented everything still pure and untouched in this world. She could see the world clearly, unlike the rest of of the Connor family, who were stuck with memories of dual lives. To her, life would always just be about tea parties, games, and laughter. I wanted her to stay that way, so she'd never have to see the world like I do.

"Addy, Mom is scared, but she doesn't want you to know that. That's why she's acting a little edgy right now. She just wants to find Dad and bring him home." I gently smiled at her, hoping she drop the attitude towards Mom. I admit, Mom was being a little harsh, but that's just how it would always be with her. Tough love. Mom was raised to be a fighter before anything else and that made her reserved with her emotions, even with her family, as sad as that was. The only person I really saw her be completely open with was Pops. I suppose she'd always feel more comfortable around him then anyone else because he was programmed solely for her.

"She still doesn't have to be so mean about it. I miss Daddy too." Addy stopped pouting and turned her attention away from me. Following her gaze, I saw Cain twitching and lowering his body towards the door.

"Johnny what's wrong with my dog?" Addy dumped her eaten popsicle on the table and jumped down from the chair. She ran over to Cain and started petting him to calm him. She must have thought he was getting agitated from the shouting from Mom. Cain only got more hostile and started loudly barking at the door.

"Something's wrong." I stood up with the intention of getting Addy. Cain had only ever madly barked like this at Pops when he got a little older. Cain could sense that Pops was different from us and would bark whenever he came near any of us. Dad thought it was the funniest thing that our resident puppy could sniff out a terminator. Eventually Cain had stopped barking at Pops after getting used to seeing him in the house all the time.

"Sarah Connor, protect your offspring." I heard Pop's voice and then felt something push me back with inhuman strength. I violently hit the table, knocking it over. Pops doesn't know his own strength. Seconds later I heard bullets being fired and screams from Addy.

"John!" Once again I felt myself being manhandled, by my mother this time. I was being dragged out the house towards the garage. All around me bullets were flying and the ground was shaking from the massive impacts of strength from Pops. I saw the one thing I had been dreading all my life. There was a terminator fighting with Pops in front of our house. There was something strange about this terminator though. I ended up stopping to stare at it. I could hear my mom yelling at me to come on, but I couldn't move.

"Why is she so familiar?" The terminator was a female model. She was tall and shapely with sandy blonde waves. I couldn't really see her face, but my gut was telling me she was important. Suddenly she grabbed Pops by the jaw and smashed him into the ground, keeping him in place with her foot. The terminator then turned towards me and I found myself staring into bright shinning blue eyes. The blue eyes were just like the shinning red I saw from the terminators in my dreams, but these eyes weren't radiating death like the others, they were full of life.

"John Connor I must speak with you and your mother." As she was talking, Mom had put Addy down and stood in front of me with her gun pointed at the terminator.

"You're not getting anywhere near my son. Now let Pops go! Now!" Mom tried to push me back away from the terminator, but I refused to move.

"I will let your protector go, if you allow me to speak with you Sarah Connor." Pops managed to turn his head and tell Mom it was an error to listen to her. In response to Pop's warning, the terminator pushed Pop's head further into the ground.

"Wait! How do I know you won't just kill us. What's your mission?" Mom hesitantly stepped forward with her gun still cocked, ready to fire at a moments notice.

"My mission is to stop Adam, the AI created from Genisys. But first we must reacquire Kyle Reese." At the mention of my father, Mom lowered her gun.

"Kyle. You know where he is?" Terminator removed her foot from Pop's head and slowly walked towards Mom. Now I could clearly see her face and I was shocked at the face the terminator had taken.

"Addy!? Why do you have my sister's face?" Mom heard me and looked down at me like I lost my mind. My little sister had come running towards me, when she heard me call her name and took my hand. I looked back and forth between my little sister and the terminator. This machine was an older version of my sister. They had the same wavy sandy blonde hair, the same blue eyes, and the same scrunching nose. How was this possible.

"That is the name associated with this form, but I have a different name. I am Eve and I have come to stop the war before it begins." My sister's terminator crossed her arms and stared at my Mom, waiting for her to put her gun away. She even had Addy's attitude.

"Just great, more time traveling terminators. It never ends with us, does it?"

"John! Please don't do this!" My final plea must have been heard by someone. As John was just about to push the handle, a bullet hit him right in the chest. A few more bullets joined the first one, pushing John back away from me. The needle thankfully tumbled from his hand and shattered as it hit the ground. I felt myself letting out a breath I didn't know I was holding. I wasn't going to become a machine. I stopped struggling when I heard the most beautiful voice. It was like hearing dragons sing.

"Kyle! Oh Kyle, I'm so glad I made it in time." Sarah had come from behind me and pulled out a knife, cutting the bindings. I was so happy to see her that I could kiss her, right here and now. As she was helping me, John recovered from the shots and stood back up.

"Oh Mom, it'll take more than your bullets to stop me. And right now I'm not in the mood to play since you just wasted the machine matter." The nano machines started moving towards John as he raised his hand and absorbed them. John adjusted his suit and tauntingly walked towards us. Sarah wasn't done cutting the binds, she still needed to get my feet. I tried to push her away, but she just flicked my hand away.

"Now Pops!" Sarah shouted and Pops and some other woman came out with heavy artillery. The rapid shots the two were firing kept pushing John back away from us. Sarah used the distraction to quickly cut the rest of the bindings. Free from the bindings I quickly stood up and grabbed Sarah, running into the hallway she led me to.

"Sarah how did you find me? And who was that woman with Pops? Did he get a girlfriend or something." As we were running together I could almost ignore all the gunshots and fighting and just imagine we were running by the lake, hand in hand. Sarah had gotten a little taller over the years, but she still barely reached my shoulders. Her beautiful red brown hair was swinging back and forth as she was running beside me. Knowing I was so close to losing her and my kids, made me want to hold on to them even more. We made a few turns and finally made it out of the warehouse. It was night time and it was starting to drizzle.

"Ah, that's a story for when we get out of here. She's an ally. She helped lead us to you. I'd have never found you without Eve." I was going to reply to her, but I saw something coming at her head out of the corner of my eye. I yanked her forward so that we fell to the ground. A sharp blade of metal went flying past. A second later and Sarah would have lost her head.

"You're not getting getting away from me Kyle! I'm not letting you leave." John was speeding towards us from the hallway. I quickly pulled Sarah up and started running.

"Where the hell is the car!" Sarah was wildly looking around. Who else could have moved the car if Pops and that terminator were fighting John. She didn't.

"Please tell me you didn't bring our kids with you." Sarah guiltily looked back at me. "Are you crazy Sarah! They could get killed!"

"I couldn't leave them in the house by themselves. What if whoever John's working with attacked them." Sarah's logic eased some of the anger from me. It was a danger to leave them alone and it was a danger to bring them with her. At least this way we could both keep an eye on them.

"Kyle!" John had managed to catch up to us while we were standing arguing. I felt like a truck rammed into me, but it was just John. I groaned in pain from the impact. Sarah tried to get to me, but John shoved her back. Once she hit the ground Sarah whipped her gun back out and started shooting John in the chest. John just stood and let the bullets hit him. He groaned a little, but the bullets were quickly pushed out of his body by the machine matter. I couldn't move at all. The impact made my head injury surge up again and it was difficult to breathe.

"Where's Pops and Eve!" It looked like there were three Sarah's from some reason to me.

"Oh they're a little tied down…Wait, you said Eve. That's not really possible. That T-5000 shouldn't exist and she certainly should not be trying to help you…This changes things. I can't let her leave with you." I could see three Johns heading to Sarah. I wanted to move, but everything was spinning. In my confusion I saw a bright light approaching me and John.

"Dad!" One of the three Johns reached for me and tossed me out of the way of the light. I was getting tossed around a lot today. I heard a crash and metal shattering. That light must have belonged to a car. John tossed me so I wouldn't get hit. Despite him trying to turn me into a machine earlier, it touched me that John had saved me. My son was still in there, maybe I could still save him. I struggled to push myself up onto my knees to look for John.

"John!" I couldn't see him anywhere. I could smell Sarah's perfume as she came next to me and pulled me up. I wanted to tell her to stop so I could look for John. I could still help him. He wasn't lost yet. My voice was lost over the sound of multiple grenades going off. Pops had detonated them as a distraction for us to get away. Sarah and Pops helped me into the truck and quickly shut the doors. I could see my kids in the front seat and that woman from before was driving. What in the world is she doing here. Sarah and John said her name was Eve. Once in the truck was moving Pops and Sarah slammed the back shut. As the doors were closing, I could swear I saw John coming out of the flames. He was just watching us.

"Daddy you're finally back!" My waist was being squeezed by my tiny daughter and yet her grip was excruciatingly painful. Addy didn't seem to hear my grunts.

"Adele Connor it is not wise to touch Kyle Reese. He has three broken ribs and any contact with them affects his respiratory abilities." Addy pulled back from me in shock. I gave her what I hoped was a reassuring smile.

"It's okay, sweetheart. Daddy's going to be just fine…Just try to be a little gentle with me, for now." I opened my arm on my uninjured side and let her curl up next to me. I could hear Johnny arguing with Sarah about wrapping her arm. She was so stubborn about the wrong things.

"So what crazy nonsense did I miss while gone?"

"Mr. Connor, what brings you to my apartment this late? You couldn't possibly be here to propose. Not when you're pinning after that pretty red head." I was standing in front of Olivia Howard's door. I had drove over here to her complex after the failure with Kyle.

Olivia was the cousin of my friend Danny Dyson and she had worked alongside me back when I first started working on Genisys. She was the closest thing to a friend I'd had after Kyle. Danny I had befriended out of obligation for his and his father's roles in creating Skynet. Olivia was different because I had no obligation to her. No past or future connections to her. She was a breath of fresh air to me because she was proof of all the new possibilities I had access to.

"Olivia, I need to speak to you about Genisys." Olivia's teasing smile fell when I brought up the subject of work. I quickly apologized to her. I knew how much she hated to have her work brought home.

"Well come on in then John. By the way you forgot to change your shirt." Olivia opened the door and let me into her apartment. Olivia went into the kitchen and started making what I assumed were drinks.

"What are you talking about Olivia?" I lazily sat down on her couch and cut the television off. I was going to need her full attention for this conversation.

"There are millions of bullet holes in your shirt, genius. If you're always going to be popping up at my place at random hours, you could at least try not to look like you came out of an accident or shoot out." Her snarky comment made me check my shirt. She was right. I had been in such a rush to get over here that I had forgotten to change my clothes. The immaculate suit I was wearing had tears, burns, and holes all over. Scoffing, I pushed the nano machines to change my attire. The destroyed suit changed into a casual dress shirt and sweater with jeans.

"Show off." I chuckled at that. Olivia had finished making the drinks and sat on the opposite couch in front of me. She handed a glass to me.

"I have no idea why you feel the need to always give me drinks or food, when you know I don't need them." I accepted the glass of wine and relaxed into the couch. Chugging the wine in one go, I watched Olivia slowly drink hers. Olivia really was a very attractive woman. She was a bit lighter in skin tone than Danny, but shared his midnight black hair and light hazel eyes. They may be cousins, but they could pass for siblings. Olivia's voice lured me out of my trance.

"You can't fool me, John Connor...I give it to you because you still crave human interaction. You don't want to be treated like a machine. For all your talk of being evolved, you suffer from the most human emotion, loneliness." I was shocked by what she said. Olivia had finished her drink. That knowing smile on her face unnerved me. I didn't like that this woman could always see through me, but at the same time, I found myself drawn to it. She was never afraid of me, even when she found out about me. The thought of this, human affecting me like this drove the machine in me mad with fury.

"Enough…I came here to ask you about the programs we ran with Genisys." The relaxed demeanor I had from before was gone and replaced by severity.

"What about it? Adam was the only successful experiment. He became an AI just like you wanted John…Is something wrong with him?" Olivia began nervously tapping her foot. I could only imagine she was worried about Adam going offline. It was funny how attached Olivia was to him. While she did help me create the coding and essentially could be described as Adam's "Mother", he felt no such loyalty to her.

"This isn't about Adam. This about the other experiment. I want to know what you've been doing with Eve." Olivia looked confused when I brought up Eve.

"John, you know as well as I do, that Eve never passed any of the tests. Every time I tried to upload her like Adam, she crashed. Adam is the only AI online." I scratched at the side of my face where my scar used to be. This wasn't possible. How was that T-500 here then. It coming from the future was entirely possible, but having Eve downloaded into the terminator was impossible. This was going to set their plans back. Neither one of us was expecting anymore time traveling interference, especially not from another terminator.

"You and I are going to have to go check on Adam tomorrow." I sighed and leaned back on the couch. Time travel made my head hurt.

"Sure, it's not like it was my day off tomorrow." Sarcasm really was Olivia's greatest charm.

"Don't worry, I'll be sure to make it up to you." I heard Olivia shuffling around. She was probably getting another glass of wine. Dealing with me did come with a high level of stress and alcohol had a great way of relieving that stress.

"So how's it going with Mrs. Katherine? I never took you for the type to go after married women." Olivia did indeed return back to the couch with another glass of wine and the bottle. She offered to pour me another glass, but I just took the whole bottle.

Thoughts of Kate depressed me. I had wanted to find her when I first came here, but chose not to. I didn't want to be involved with her. Yet somehow we ended meeting despite my best efforts to avoid her. I thought that meant she was supposed to be with me, even though I wasn't the same. I tried to get close to her. She didn't think much of me. A crazy creep. That's what she thought, every time I tried to talk to her. Worse she was engaged. When I found out who the man was, I wanted to kill him. He was the reason she was rejecting me. I had it all planned. Kill him while Kate was at work. It was simple, all I had to was use some of my nano machines and force them down his throat. Everyone would think he just choked to death and Kate would be free. Before I went through with it, I wanted to talk to her one more time. I wanted to change her mind about me. I told her about the future I had lived and her role in it and even about the past I had been brought to. I even showed her the phase matter, hoping she'd believe. She screamed at me to never come near her again. I could handle that part. She said that she'd never willingly be with me, that the Kate I knew hadn't chosen me, she'd been forced with me because of fate telling her to. I couldn't handle that part. She ran away from me then. I never approached her again after that, only watched from afar.

Did I ever truly know what love was growing up. Everyone in my life had been placed there by fate and were unable to choose anything different, lest they destroy the path to the future. My mother had no choice. I had no choice. Kyle had no choice. Kate had no choice. I really am as empty and lonely as a machine. The nano machines were agitated moving around in response to my dark thoughts. I finished the bottle of wine and lounged back on the couch. This was one of those moments where I'd be glad to not have any of my previous memories from before I was changed. The clarity of a blank slate would have been a blessing right now.

"Don't get me started on how complicated everything is Liv."