TJ didn’t know if it had been Sarah’s words or that the future him had had a change of heart, but he was happy to be going with John and Tyler on a field trip. Tyler had insisted at first that it should only be John and him going out for some supplies, but after Sarah had a word with him, he had changed his mind. Now TJ sat in the backseat, staring out the window, at the pedestrians, at the cars they passed by
Tyler’s driving style did not startle him. It was the driving style of someone who had needed to outrun everyone and everything else. Weaving in and out of traffic, barely missing oncoming traffic.
There were so many questions he wanted to ask the man in the driver’s seat, but he already knew that he would not get the answers he wanted so he kept quiet and tried to piece it all together in his mind. It had not gone unnoticed that Tyler reacted differently to Sarah. He engaged everyone with a deep indifference but Sarah, he respected her in his own way. Even if he went out of his way to antagonize her. Was he testing her? Or was it one last stand to show that he was the Alpha male?
By now TJ had concluded that Sarah was the Alpha female. It was her way or a big heap of trouble. When he had talked to her in the early hours of the night, he had discovered that she was actually nice and concerned about others. Even the man who had tried to kill him had been given a few kind words, based on her years of fighting this war.
“So you and mom?” He heard John ask and he turned his head to look at the two person in front of him.
“What about us?” Tyler asked gruffly.
“Cameron told me something very interesting about the two of you,” John said casually.
“Did she now? Didn’t know that tin cans had something interesting to say,” Tyler countered with sarcasm. “Unless it’s on their chip… You know that they’re programmed to lie, don’t you?”
John turned a little in the passenger’s seat and he could feel John’s eyes rest on him for a few seconds. Suddenly he felt like the third wheel, like he had no business coming along with them.
“You can drop me off here, and I’ll find my way home?” He offered.
Tyler snorted with contempt: “Yeah, you will find your way… To an early grave. Or did you forget you got a metal head on your tail?”
“No, I did not forget. How can I forget? He killed my father, tried to kill me, just like you tried,” he answered with all the strength he could muster put into his voice. “How can I tell if I am safe with you only two feet away?”
“If really had wanted you dead, don’t you think you’d be dead by now?”
“He’s got a point,” John chimed in.
“What’s stopping you? Did Sarah made you promise you would not try to commit suicide in a very weird way? Or is it your own choice?”
At that Tyler began to laugh: “You’ve got balls, kid. But I can think for myself. And since I failed to kill you the first time, it appears that you might have what it takes to make it.”
“You made it.”
“Yeah, and the price of survival was my humanity. Just like it will be for you, kid. When you stumble over the debris and ruble, over the shattered dreams and the skull of friends, family, strangers, it will drain the humanity from your soul, but it won’t be the worst you will face. It is said that death is not the worst that can happen to men, and it’s true. Death is only sweet and final relief after losing everything that ever mattered to you.”
“It is why you wanted to kill me, so I would not suffer the things you’ve had to suffer. It would have been a mercy kill,” he concluded, catching Tyler raised eyebrow on the rearview mirror. “It would have saved me from pain, heartache and mockery.”
“That’s not the worst, kid. It’s what you will have to become. Undertaker, half-breed. You will die a thousand deaths, only to rise from the ashes of the hell-fires of the war that will ravage the world in a few years, until you are me… Now, take a good look at me, take the things you could know about me into account and honestly tell me. Do you look who you see?”
He could not give a straight answer to that question because he had not seen the things Tyler had seen, not felt the things Tyler had felt, not experienced the things Tyler had experienced. At least not yet.
“You are just as foolish as John,” Tyler stated bitterly when he remained quiet. “Stupid romantic heroism tainted your opinion. The stories mom told? They come nowhere close to how it is in reality. Tales of heroism and noble sacrifice? My ass. Tales of horror and death sentences is more like it.”
He wanted to protest; say that he had never thought that but Tyler was him and he was Tyler. Tyler would automatically know it would be a lie. Until last night when the future had come at his door, he had thought it was mere imagination, wrought with romantic heroism. Tyler had been there once, though that was hard to imagine seeing that they could not be more different.

John stood bent over to catch a full breath and glanced at TJ who appeared less affected by their run from the machine. Tyler had grabbed the unknown man by the collar and had thrown him into a parked car.
“You okay?” TJ asked slowly.
One moment they had been walking down the street to get some more supplies and the next they had another infiltrator chasing them. On Tyler’s order to run, they had started to run, not knowing where they had come from or where they were going.
Tyler had ordered him to run while he had grabbed the unknown man by the collar and had slammed him into a car. Without thinking John had started to run, not knowing where he came from and where he was going.
During their walk, he had noticed how very aware Tyler had been of the surroundings, of the people that had passed them by. It shouldn't have come as such a shock when Tyler had called "Metal!" followed by "Run!". Yet it had taken him by some surprise.
He began to understand why his mother was not overly fond of surprises. Most of the time, the surprises they got were not of a happy nature.

It amazed TJ how easily out of breath John had been. He wasn’t an athlete either but the adrenaline surges had been enough to push him past his limits. It was like he wasn’t himself anymore.
Patiently he waited until John had caught his breath again and took the time to look at his surroundings, trying to view it as the older version of him would have done, scanning for possible threats and abnormalities. An alley, dumpsters left and right, a few homeless people. He turned to look towards the beginning of the alley, just in time to see the unknown man come around the corner. Sunlight reflected of the shiny metal of the gun.
“Damn!” He seethed through gritted teeth, noticing that John had frozen in fear.
The man aimed for John’s head. Without thinking he grabbed John and positioned himself between their attacker and John as a shield. A shot rang out, echoing between the walls of the alley.
It felt like his right shoulder blade exploded, followed by a distant howl of which he knew that it had been his. He stumbled forward a little, knocking John to the floor, only to find his balance again when he steadied himself with his left arm against the wall. The pain was almost too overwhelming, causing him to see black spots but he had to keep focussed.
Another shot rang out, and another howl escaped him when his lower back felt on fire suddenly. A sharp stinging pain. Now he knew for sure; he was going to die.
“John,” he breathed heavily while he tried not to fall. “Get the fuck out of here.”
“Teej?” John asked concerned, his voice trembling with fear.
“Run!” He barked as he watched John scramble to his feet and make a run for it towards the other end of the alley.
A third shot was fired, another howl and he jerked, waiting for the impact but it never came. He slowly turned his head a little, just enough not to worsen the pain, to see what was happening behind him. Future him had tackled the machine and was now wrestling with it to get the gun out of its reach. It was a weird relief to see that Tyler was still alive. He might not make it but he had heard enough stories from his mother to know that John’s survival was crucial.

John looked over his shoulder as well. He felt horrible to leave his new friend behind but he had to keep going. TJ had known about the truth the future was for less than twenty-four hours. Nevertheless he had understood the importance of John Connor and had acted as a human shield when the infiltrator had aimed for him. TJ had taken a bullet for him. He would most die for him if the circumstances asked for it.
A sharp stab of sadness shot through him when he realized that in the end they would all die for him. He looked ahead again and ran even faster, finally his survival instincts had kicked in. Grazing a wall while he tried to take a corner at full speed left him wincing and clutching his elbow for a second or two before he picked up speed again. He looked over his shoulder again; no one was following him, and he did not know if that was a good thing. No Tyler. No TJ. It did not bode well.
Not seeing where he was going he ran smack into a big dumpster and fell over backwards, landing hard on his back, gasping for air on impact. The foulest curse he could think of escaped him. Why hadn't he checked the alley first?
Behind the dumpster there was a high chain link fence that would prove to be impossible to climb in time if the machine was still after him. Why hadn’t he checked the alley first? He had only one option left.
Quickly he struggled to his feet, opened the lid of the dumpster and dove in. A loud metallic crash left his ears ringing when he let the lid fall shut after he was in. The foul stench and the strange heat coming from the garbage made him sick to his stomach but he had to sit still and keep quiet if he wanted a chance at escape from the infiltrator.
Time slowed to almost a complete halt and he found himself dozing off, exhausted from the run and from thinking. TJ, was he still alive? It shocked him how easily people would lie down their lives for him. Tyler, their hope at survival, was he still alive as well?
“John!?!” Tyler’s voice sounded muffled and far away.
He snapped to attention again, his heart thumping wildly in his chest. Infiltrators were able to imitate voices, to deceive their targets. Soundlessly he pushed the lid open, just a crack to check if it was the infiltrator or Tyler. He heaved a deep sigh of relief when it was indeed Tyler standing at the mouth of the smaller alley. Then tears welled in his eyes when he saw who Tyler was carrying. TJ.
Metallic clatter reverberated when he pushed the lid open and jumped out of the dumpster to break into another sprint towards Tyler and TJ.
“You okay?” Tyler asked him gruffly.
“I’m good,” he answered quickly, eyeing TJ who showed no sign of life.
Unable to prevent it, tears slid down his cheeks: “Is he?”
“Dead? Not yet. But he’s bleeding out. One of the bullets nicked a big one, I guess.”
“Take him to Charley,” he suggested. “He saved Derek. He might be able to save him too.”

Robin O’Conlin took in the surroundings, just like her father had taught her to do. He had called it standard procedure, but she had noticed how very few Rooks actually did it. Home Plate had been her home ever since he had banned her from IntelliTech Base. It wasn’t too surprising that he had. She had messed up on the mission, and it had bought him another ticket to Century to free the people they had supposed to save from the prisoner transport.
Home Plate. Her home. Now the home to her father as well. Two months ago the General had pulled her from her team and she had not understood why until her friend Lucy had returned from the mission. IntelliTech Base had fallen in the early hours of the morning on December fourth.
Whispers in the tunnel had told of one survivor, and it should not have come as a surprise that it had been him. He wasn’t much of a father but she couldn’t blame him.
He lived for the love of battle, unlike so many others who lived to survive. However the fall of IntelliTech Base had tolled the destruction of the greater part of the Resistance’s communications. It had been a blow to the entire Resistance, and for a few weeks it had looked like they had started to lose ground to Skynet again until the Battle of Bonefields where the General had ordered a full out attack on Skynet’s forces. The body count had gone through the roof but in the end they had been victorious.
She didn’t know what to think about him living at Home Plate as well. Hardly anyone knew about their familial connection, only a handful but just like in the past, she felt that she had to live up to the standards set by the Lieutenant General.
“What are you doing out here?” A woman’s voice asked a little to the left of her.
“Thinking,” she replied as she knew that the voice belonged to the other Robin.
She had never known what to think of her namesake. For some reason, Robin Baxter had defended the Tyler Devlin no matter what he had done.
“What are you doing here?” Now it was her turn to ask.
“Taking a breather. Ty’s been a handful,” Robin answered with a faint smile.
“How’s he doing?”
“Surviving… but that’s it. The fire’s gone.”
“He’ll find it again,” she sighed.
“I don’t know, O’Conlin. He lost everything that ever mattered to him.”
It sent daggers of sadness and jealousy through her heart; so he had lost everything that ever mattered to him. Did she not matter to him? She was an accident, but she was still his daughter, even if she could never come out of his shadow.
“Everything?” She muttered, trying to keep any hint of emotion from her voice.
“Sarah’s dead. IT’s fallen.”
She had always liked Sarah. The woman had always been full of knowledge and had always tried to make her feel welcome. It felt like she had lost a mother, a feeling only strengthened when someone mentioned her, and she was close to tears again. After her father had sent her away, Sarah had set up a few meetings with her to see how she was doing, to tell her about the latest.
Sarah had even promised that she would talk to Tyler about her return to IntelliTech Base but Tyler had never budged. At the time she had not understood why. However when word was out that IntelliTech Base had fallen, it had dawned on her why.
“I’d add that he lost his mind, but that would be redundant,” Robin added with a wry smile. “He already was insane to begin with.”
For reasons unknown to herself she suddenly growled: “He is insane but he is my dad!”
“He’s what?” Robin choked, looking at her with shock written all over her face.
“He’s my dad,” she repeated this time somewhat less fierce.
She noticed how Robin suddenly turned pale.
“Didn’t you know?” She laughed haughtily. “I’m the bastard daughter of the Devil.”
Robin muttered something inaudible and no matter how hard she tried she could not understand what the woman had said.
“You’ve got your father’s eyes,” Robin mumbled while she grabbed her by the upper arms and had a good look at her.
“Let go of me,” she hissed, pulling Robin’s hands away from her.
“Why didn’t I see it sooner?” Robin asked rhetorically.
“See what sooner?”
“That you’re a Devlin,” Robin answered emotionally. “You go by the name O’Conlin, but you look a lot like your father.”
She didn’t know if she should take that as an insult or a compliment: “Geez, thanks.”
Robin smiled a little: “Is it so bad to be a Devlin?”
“How would you know? You’re not a Devlin,” she remarked coolly.
“Not yet,” Robin smirked. “But I will be one day, and I will have a son like Tyler.”
“You gotta be kidding me. Dad just lost the love of his life. No way he will fall for a woman like you any time soon.”
“What? No, no,” Robin chuckled. “If anything, Tyler’s like a son to me.”
Usually she liked cryptic remarks like this but now she didn’t get it. What was Robin aiming at? How could she become a Devlin? And what did she mean with Tyler being like a son to her?

"Com'on, kid!" Tyler growled while he carried him to the car. "Stay with me!"
TJ looked white as a ghost, slipping in and out of consciousness irregularly.
“The bullets… They were meant for me,” John kept repeating.”
“Yeah, we already established that a few minutes ago.”
“He doesn’t know me, and he takes them for me.”
“He knows stories about you,” Tyler said gruffly when they reached the car. “Back door!” He barked.
John dug up the set of car keys from the pocket of his jacket and unlocked the car before opening the back door so Tyler could lay down TJ in the backseat.
“You know where Charley lives?”
“Yes,” John stammered.
“Then you drive. I’ll keep pressure on the kid’s wounds.”
He climbed in the backseat with TJ and made sure that he kept enough pressure on the veins to keep his younger version from bleeding out. Battlefield medical attention one-oh-one. Knowledge on treating wounds was vital for survival.
“What are you waiting for?” He growled when he felt that John was sure taking his time to get behind the wheel.
John got in the car as quickly as he could and started the engine.
“You okay back there?” John asked while he let the car pull away from the curb.
“Yeah, we’re peachy keen,” he replied sarcastically. “Got any more stupid questions?”
“No,” John muttered, letting the car speed up.
“Then shut up and drive!”
He watched as John nodded and then his attention back to his younger self. This was not his past. It had changed beyond belief. The bullets had indeed been meant for John, but he had been stupid enough to let Sarah convince him to take TJ with them. In that perspective she did not differ much from the Sarah he had known; if she could find a way to get her way, she would find it and use it. No one else could manipulate him like she could.
John had told him about this little side mission, a wakeup call for the John of the present. He hadn’t been told any details, only that this had to happen. This wasn’t the wakeup call future John had intended.
Now the life of his younger self hang in the balance. He had wanted to kill TJ only hours before to spare him from all the misery and pain the future would bring, he was now worried about the fate of the kid.
“Com’on, kid,” he said in a friendly whisper when it appeared that TJ was regaining consciousness once again. “You’re a little, brave soldier. You can beat this.”
“Did you say something?” John asked.
“None of your goddamn business,” he barked annoyed.
He had been sent back to be a referee in this event, only to intervene when things were to get out of hand, but he should have stepped in sooner. He should have left the kids at home. He should have ignored the order as was standard procedure for him. Following orders had only gotten him into trouble before, and it had gotten them into trouble now.

Chapter 18: No Return To Innocence

Chapter 20: The Nightmare Begins