Angels in the Architecture (Part 3 of 3 and Epilogue)
Title: Angels in the Architecture (Part 3 of 3 and Epilogue)
Author and artist: davincis_girl
Rating: PG-13 (Swearing), Gen
Fandoms: Crossover Supernatural/Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles.
Warnings: Potential spoilers for T:SCC season 2 and SPN seasons 1-4. All art is work safe.
Author’s Notes: Both universes are seen past, present, and future. Created for spn_summergen exchange for thedreamisreal. Many thanks to betas dapatty, a constant source of encouragement and great ideas during production, and to blue_meridian for her excellent editing skills.
Summary: It’s 1999 and John Connor appears in the Winchester’s motel room cold and naked. Why is he there, and how does he know Sam Winchester?
Part One
Part Two
Everything's going to be different now. Maybe, you got nothing to lose.
- James Ellison
There’s always something to lose.
-Sarah Connor
Part 3
SATURDAY, JUNE 26, 1999
WYOMING
Let the wind blow high, let the wind blow low,
Through the streets in my kilt I'll go,
And all the lassies shout hello
Donald where's your troosers.
“What’n the hell is that?” Dean mumbled as he levered up in bed.
“That is a traditional Scottish folk song. Savannah Weaver taught it to me,” answered the computer generated voice. “It’s 4:00 a.m. I thought a song would be appropriate for your alarm. Would you like to hear the rest?”
“No!” chorused both Sam and Dean.
“No thanks, John Henry. I think we better just get ready to go.” John scrubbed the sleep from his eyes. His mind still whirled with dream imagery. Catherine Weaver with raven’s wings. Sam Winchester, older but unscarred, with black on black eyes. He couldn’t hold onto the meaning of the dream. It slipped away like sand through his fingers.
As Sam was finishing packing their gear, Dean emerged from the bathroom shirtless, scrubbing his hair with a towel. “Tell us, oh Robot Whisperer, where exactly are we heading today.”
Cameron answered before John could, “Ultimately, we are headed for Caltech. As of June of this year, they are using an Exemplar X-Class supercomputer at the university's Center for Advanced Computing Research and Jet Propulsion Laboratory. They have the disk space, the processing speed and the transfer rates we need. They are the closest acceptable facility to where we are picking me up.”
Dean felt like that girl, Peppermint Patty, in the Charlie Brown cartoons when she was trying to listen to her teacher. He cocked his head and stared pointedly at John.
“Pasadena, California,” John translated.
“But first we need to drive farther, south of Hollywood. I arrived in one of the network of civil defense fallout shelters, under the Administration Building of Los Angeles City College. I can give you more specific directions when I know our exact arrival time.
“Well, lets get a move on girls. We can grab something at the drive through before we hit the highway.” Dean finished dressing and started hauling bags out to the car.
“Cameron, I have to turn you and John Henry off now,” John said. “I’m sorry, but I need to make sure the battery on the laptop is still charged when we get there.” I would also like to be able to talk to Sam and Dean without John Henry hearing everything I say.
“Goodbye, John.”
“Goodnight, Cam,” John said, powering down and closing the laptop lid.
SATURDAY, JUNE 26, 1999
NEVADA
Dean had banished Sam to the back seat with John about 300 miles into their road trip, tired of them yelling to be heard over his music. That suited Sam just fine. He was an old hand at long highway trips, but he’d never had someone his own age to talk to on the way.
He and John compared notes about their obsession driven parents and strange childhoods. They came up with a list of ten rules to cover both families:
1. Pack light.
2. Keep your head down, especially if you are the smartest kid in the room.
3. Don’t get attached.
4. Don’t get caught.
5. Know your exits.
6. Home is not a place.
7. Sometimes what is right, is not what is legal.
8. When your parent is the toughest person you know, think about teenage rebellion very carefully.
9. Don’t let your parent (or your sibling) pick your new name.
10. Don’t tell the civilians. They really don’t want to know.
Dean got into the spirit, and added two more of his own.
11. Always order the special.
12. There is no such thing as too many weapons.
SATURDAY, JUNE 26, 1999
CALIFORNIA
They had stopped for fuel and food. Sam sat across from John, waiting for Dean to return from the bathroom. Over the remains of their meal Sam asked, “You don’t trust them do you?”
“Who?”
“Cameron and John Henry.”
“I trust Cameron. I trust her with my life. John Henry I don’t know. He’s like a little kid, you know. I don’t think he would intentionally hurt us, but I’m not sure at any moment exactly what he will do.”
“But you’re willing to let him loose on the world.”
“He’s better than what is out there now. Despite my mom’s and my best efforts, there is still a ghost in the machine. John Henry calls it ‘Big Brother’. By 2008 it has enough control that it’s knocking off people one at a time. A few years later it gets more ambitious and almost everybody dies.”
John stops talking and stares into his coffee for a moment. “So I don’t know John Henry, but Cameron does. She thinks he can stop the other AI, stop Skynet. I’ve gotta put my faith in her. It can’t get any worse.”
“Sam, better watch out or your face will freeze that way,” Dean said, lifting his jacket from the back of the chair. “Come on my pretty princesses. We’ve got miles to go.”
SATURDAY, JUNE 26, 1999
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
John stepped into the path of the Terminator as she headed towards Melrose Ave. Somewhere, he thought, is a pretty young co-ed without her clothes. With the ease of long practice, he saw her switch to her “real girl” mode, the one that had even worked on him when they met in that classroom in New Mexico.
Cameron smiled shyly and ducked her head. Through her lashes she looked at John and gave a small nervous laugh. “Hi…”
“Hello, Cameron,” John interrupted. “You can cut the act. We’ve already met.”
He reached out and brushed the palm of his hand against her face. Instantly she dropped the flirty teenage girl persona and held his gaze directly, using the skin to skin contact to increase her analysis, as he had intended.
“You are not from here,” from now lay unspoken. “Tell me.”
“It’s complicated, but we’ve lived together for months as brother and sister.” John glanced around. Even though it was the weekend, there were too many people for him, and too many security cameras. “Can we go someplace less public and talk?”
“Is Sarah Connor with you?”
“No, Mom’s not here, but there are two other people helping me.”
After a few tries upon arrival, they scouted out a position where they had a good view of the administration building of Los Angeles City College. There was a sheriff’s office at one end that made Dean decidedly nervous. He opted to stay with the Impala, for a fast getaway if needed. Now he and Sam pulled up and the pair slid into the front seat.
“Where to?” Dean asked, trying to ignore the apparently really hot girl pressed up against his side in the tight quarters of the Impala’s front seat. Robot. R-O-B-O-T.
“Drive north three blocks and turn right,” Cameron said. After getting the nod from John, Dean pulled out into traffic, following the cyborg’s directions into a area of warehouses that had seen better days. In front of one, Cameron and John hopped out. The lock was no match for Terminator strength and a moment later the Impala was easing inside.
As the large rusty door clanged shut on its tracks, Cameron approached the brothers. “Samuel Winchester and brother Dean Winchester, you are not recorded to have been allied with John Connor at this time. Did you make the jump with him?”
John spoke from behind her. “They are from this time. I’m not. It was your idea that I go to them for help.” John continued to tell the Terminator his story starting with when a pretty girl in New Mexico talked to the new boy in class.
When he finished, Cameron said, “I would like to communicate with my counterpart and the John Henry artificial intelligence.”
The computer, chip, and interface were set up on a stack of old palettes. “We’re good ‘till the laptop battery dies, unless this place has power.”
Cameron’s fingers flew over the keys and responses flashed across the screen. Sam considered himself a fast reader, but he couldn’t hope to keep up with this high speed conversation. Concentrating, he could get snatches of words, as well as a feeling of vertigo. The first few minutes appeared to be a sharing of information.
Abruptly there was a pause. Cameron froze, expressionless, like a snapshot of herself. Just as Sam thought, now that’s a bit disturbing, she came alive again. Now they seemed to be arguing, but who was winning was anyone’s guess.
“What the John Henry AI is proposing would be dangerous for you John. You could be caught, and detained. If the Skynet Terminator Cromartie has matched your face through any security cameras, he could be on his way here right now. You should stay hidden during the mission.”
“No. No way. No mater what time we go in, there will be people. Researchers cue up for months for time on that thing. If it’s just you, I know people are going to get hurt. Or worse. And if you do your Terminator act, you’re gonna attract attention. Cromartie comes nosing around the Exemplar X, he could wipe John Henry before he can do any good. So you are not leaving me behind.”
“Agreed,” came Cameron’s voice from the laptop.
“Then boys and girls, it’s time for a plan,” said Dean.
SUNDAY, JUNE 27, 1999
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA
“I still don’t get why we just don't blow some shit up. That’ll cause a distraction,” said Dean sipping his coffee. Dean had crashed in the back seat of the Impala while they waited for night to fall. He’d been mainlining caffeine ever since but these long days were taking a toll on him.
“Too big. We are trying to fly under the radar of anyone looking for signs of John or Cameron. We don’t want a lot of police or news interest. Just regular old vandalism is what we’re aiming for.
“Would have been fun, ya gotta admit.” They were parked in a darkest corner of an almost deserted lot. One o’clock Sunday morning was not a jumping time at Caltech’s CACR. Even so, they had taken cover a few minutes ago while a campus security vehicle slowly drove by.
Bored, Dean tried another topic. “That Cameron’s a babe, isn’t she? Do you think she’s like…fully functional?”
“Shit, Dean. You are unbelievable. She’s a robot!”
“Cyborg.”
“Whatever. She’s not even human.”
“She’s hot. She’s not evil. I can work with that.”
Cameron, with John along Sam suspected to ensure the security of others, was now scouting out the building. They would be the ones to enter the supercomputer lab. The brothers’ job was to provide the distraction and the getaway. Sam just hoped he didn’t have to provide Dean’s distractions for much longer.
This trip and the visit to LA City College had Sam thinking about his own exit strategy. He hadn’t told Dean and he sure as hell hadn’t told Dad, but John Connor still knew. Within a few minutes of their meeting, John had laid out Sam’s escape from the hunting life. It was his chance to be normal, to be free, and here someone was telling him that he actually did it. He looked over at Dean, and he suddenly felt sick. I’ve got awhile to tell him. Maybe I can get him to come with me. But Sam would not be betting on that chance.
Dean’s cell phone vibrated on the dash and he grabbed it before it danced its way to the floor. John was at the other end on Sam’s borrowed phone. Dean ended the call. “They’re ready for us at the north entrance.”
Dean pulled a black NASCAR cap down low and Sam tugged up his hood to throw his face into shadow. Wouldn’t do to get their faces on the cameras. They grabbed their supplies and started toward the building.
At the locked entrance, Cameron let them in, wearing a guard’s uniform and with a Caltech security swipe card in hand. Dean wondered where that poor guy or gal was tied up. She waved them into the closest washroom. Even a place like this didn’t put close circuit in the crapper.
John was there with a lab coat that Sam had to admit made him look years older. The id tag clipped to it wouldn’t do for close inspection, but he hopped no one got that close to the pair.
John broke the silence, “We’ll let you into an office near here. Give us five minutes and start the fire. We’ll meet you at the car.” They slipped out together and Cameron used her card to let them into a dark office two doors away before she and John continued on.
On their second pass by the lab, walking like they belonged and had a purpose, the shrill bleating of the fire alarm sounded. A scattering of people appeared from rooms along the corridor, including four from the Exemplar X lab.
The actual supercomputer was less impressive than John had expected. It was a nondescript room, harsh florescent lighting, white walls, white tile floor. Four sets of boxy, black rectangles, taller than he was by a few inches dominated the room. Air vented from the white grills on their fronts and noise from those fans, combined with the six standard looking terminals filled the room.
There was also one thing in the room that John didn’t expect. There was still someone in the lab clicking away at a keyboard while the fire alarm continued to wail. The fact that someone was smart enough to work here, but foolish enough to ignore a fire alarm boggled John’s mind.
A young man sitting at the last terminal looked up at John belligerently, “This lab’s booked. I’ve been waiting for two months and I’m in the middle of my run. Damned if I’m going to chuck it all for some idiotic fire drill or false alarm.”
“Um, sorry, Doctor Paz told me to do an emergency shutdown,” John said, supplying the name from the office they had broken into.
“He did, did he? Well, Doctor Paz can just piss off. If he thinks he can ruin my work again he’s crazy. What’s his cell number? I’m going to call him and set him straight. Of all the…” He toppled and Cameron pulled him behind the last bank of the large unit, back the way that she had traveled through the room to get the drop on him.
John got down to work.
Outside, Sam and Dean exited the building and milled around with the small crowd of people there, trying to blend in. Campus security cars were arriving, more every minute. While Dean listened to the Caltech workers and students complain, he looked for a good moment to head off to the parking lot without arousing suspicion.
“Dean, I think that guard’s giving me the hairy eyeball.” Sam said in a whisper. “She walked by me a minute ago, and now she keeps looking over at me.”
Dean looked at Sam. He looked a bit young, but with his freakish growth of late Dean thought he could pass for a college student. Then it hit him.
“Gas. You smell of gasoline, dude.” They were both so used to the smell, they tended to tune it out. “She’s making the call. Let’s walk out of here nice and slow before the shit hits the fan.”
They walked away from the group at a slow pace, but once they turned the corner of the building they broke into a run. Over his shoulder, Sam could see the flashing lights of arriving fire trucks. He also saw three security cars fan out from the building. Looking for us, Sam thought and put on another burst of speed.
As the topped the slope over the parking lot, what Sam saw brought him to an abrupt halt. Dean crashed into him from behind and they both went down face first into the damp grass.
“Wa’ the fuck, Sam?” Dean said angrily as he panted to catch a breath.
Sam grabbed a handful of jacket when Dean started to rise. “They’ve got the car blocked in.”
Dean scuttled ahead and looked down on the lot. The Impala was right where he left it, but now a campus security car was parked at an angle across its path. Since they had parked far edge of the lot in the shadow of the trees, there was no other way out.
“Shit! Shit! Shit!”
“We’ll have to call them, and then find another way out of here.”
“Oh no we don’t! I am not gonna be the one to explain to Dad how we ended up in California and lost the car. Follow me.” Not giving Sam time to argue, he backed up out of sight of the lot and started working his way around the perimeter.
Behind the trees and a few dozen yards from the cars, Dean pulled Sam close to whisper his plan, “There’s just the one guy. You step out here and walk up to him. Be real obvious, but nonthreatening, you know. I’ll get the drop on him.” Sam gave him an incredulous look. What followed was a minute of silent arguing, using only the language of body and face, a language they had perfected from long hours driving with their father from one hick town to the next.
Dean won.
Once he had moved on, Sam straightened to his full height and stepped out into the lot, walking straight for the security car.
Come on! Come on! After what seemed like forever to Dean, the guard opened the door and stepped out of the car. Shielding his body from Sam using the open door, the guard called, “Stop right there…”
Dean tackled him from behind. He was as large as Dean, but not as determined. Sam came pounding towards them. “Get the keys. Open the trunk,” Dean shouted as he held the still weakly struggling man down on the cement by jacking his arm behind his back while using his body weight to pin him. Together he and Sam managed to get the guard, S. MacDonald according to his security badge, into the trunk.
“Sammy, you move this piece of shit outta the way.” Dean unlocked and jumped into the Impala, giving the dash an extra pet. Almost lost you, baby. Sam backed the car into the darkest edge of the lot and then jumped into the waiting car.
Dean tossed the phone at Sam as he drove out of the lot. Sam made the call.
“They want us to pick them up over there, behind that yellow brick building,” Sam said pointing to a small outbuilding a few hundred yards away from the main lab, but closer to them.
Expecting to be spotted any second, Dean pulled to a stop. Sam dove over the seat into the back as Dean spotted Cameron. On her signal, John came out of hiding and they both piled into the car.
All the way to the exit, Dean was praying under his breath. When he saw that there were no flashing lights or cars, he glanced upward and breathed a Hallelujah, before peeling away from the campus.
John added his own prayer as Caltech disappeared behind them that all this had been worth it.
SUNDAY, JUNE 27, 1999
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
The ancient A/C unit noisily battled the California summer heat in the cheap motel room, making little progress in the fetid, damp air. Harsh light streamed in, muted only a little by the sun-faded curtains.
“What’ll you do now?” asked Dean from where he stretched out on one of the double beds his arms folded behind his head.
“I don’t know. There are other time machines, so I can go back to 2008 if I want, I think. Don’t know if I should though. Weaver claimed I was tied to my own time line. This is part of my time line too now. I crossed over my own life, now that there are two of us here at the same time.” John paced the small space of the room like a wild cat displayed in an undersized cage.
“Does this one overwrite the other? Is my mom waiting for me or does she already have a version of me that never jumped ahead in time? Is Judgment Day canceled or just rescheduled?” He stopped and ran both hands through his short hair. The Terminator watched him impassively from her position near the window and then returned to checking the sight lines down the highway. “Right now my mom and Charley are alive. My uncle’s a happy little kid, and my dad’ll be around in a few years. Do I stay put and make sure they’re all OK?”
“Shit, man. Better you than me! Killing monsters is more my style. All this time travel crap is making my brain hurt.”
A comment about Dean’s brain was on the tip of Sam’s tongue. It was force of habit. He suppressed it. Not the right time.
“I’m gonna make a caffeine and sugar run,” Dean continued pushing off the bed. He cocked an eyebrow at Sam in silent invitation, but Sam shook his head. “I’ll be back soon.”
“Cameron spent more time with this Weaver cyborg?” Sam said sympathetically. “Maybe she knows more that you do. Why don’t you ask her?”
John had been putting off powering the chip back up. When John Henry jumped ship, did he leave enough of Cameron behind, and if he did, was she still his Cameron? Time to face the music.
After booting up the system he spoke quietly into the mic, “Cam, are you still in there?” Seconds ticked by like hours. He poised his fingers over the keys to type the question instead when she responded.
“Where else would I be, John?”
“I don’t know…shopping online?” said with a smile and a sigh of relief. “Is John Henry in there with you?”
“No. All traces of his program are gone. I performed a full diagnostic when you woke me up. However, I do still have access to files I read while were sharing this chip.”
“You were snooping.”
“I wanted to ascertain if the risk to you in this mission was justified by the potential benefits.”
“You wanted to know if he was lying?”
“Yes I did and no he wasn’t. John Henry was not lying and he believed that Weaver was also telling the truth.”
John explained his dilemma to Cameron.
“John, the Catherine Weaver construct intended for you to return to 2009 after this mission was done. I don’t know if she cared about you personally, but she did think that your survival was essential to the survival of humanity.”
“I am so tired of that gig, Cameron.”
“You also need to know John, that if your mother does not jump ahead she will be dead of cancer by 2005.”
John sat down hard on the bed near Sam as his knees buckled beneath him. He suspected something, but to have the bare fact laid out in front of him was a different thing.
“Will jumping ahead make any difference?”
“She may avoid the factors that lead to her cancer. If not, her chances of treatment are better in the future.”
He rose and walked to the Terminator at her scout post. “You need to make sure that Mom and I jump in time. You will let things play out the way they did to force Mom to go with you.” She nodded. Since she had successfully protected John Connor’s life in that time line, this order did not conflict with her basic programming.
Speaking to the computer interface again he said, “If they are not going to stay here anyway, I think I want to go back. What will happen to you?”
“Our previous method of travel was too dangerous for you. You may have died without Sam Winchesters assistance. Since we are traveling forward not back, we have more alternatives if you wish us to reunite.”
“I have several locations I could store the chip where it would be secure for the next ten years,” volunteered the Terminator. “It could be ready if and when you needed it. We cannot use the device you last used, in order to leave it available for your mother and your other self. There is another working model stored in the fallout shelter where I arrived. It was installed secretly when the rooms were built.”
“I guess it’s time to go home.”
SUNDAY, JUNE 27, 1999
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
Dean turned the corner at Melrose Ave and found a place to pull over. They all climbed out and stood in silence for a moment. There were too many goodbyes in their short lives.
“Good luck,” Dean said shaking John’s hand. “I hope you get what you are looking for. God knows you deserve it by now.”
When it was Sam’s turn he pulled John in for a hug, including some manly thumps on the back for the sake of propriety.
Seeing his last chance, Dean pulled Cameron into an embrace as well. Sam laughed when he saw the Terminator copy his back slapping perhaps a bit too hard.
John smiled as Dean rubbed his shoulder. “Maybe we’ll see you two around some time.”
“As long as it doesn’t mean the end of the world, I’m good with that. We could go to Vegas. I bet Cameron is one hell of a card counter.” Dean said. “Come on, Sammy, we’ve got miles to go before we sleep. If you can come up with something really good to tell Dad, I may even let you drive some of the way.”
SUNDAY, JUNE 27, 1999
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
The inside of the civil defense shelter was larger than John expected. According to Cameron, always the purveyor of minute factoids, the shelter had a capacity of 1469 people. John could believe that.
After a little Terminator-style demolition, Cameron revealed the components of the temporal displacement equipment. She took a moment to program the settings, and then waved John over.
“Since I will not being going with you, I have set a timer.” She pointed out the counter. Then she pulled him gently over to position him in the middle of the floor. “Stand here to make sure that you are entirely inside the field when it activates.”
“Thank you Cameron, for everything.” He pulled the chip out of his pocket and handed it to her. “Take good care of this. I’ll be wanting it back.”
“You are welcome. I will. I know.” She released him and left the room, closing the heavy metal door behind her.
The blue light engulfed him. Bright, so cold, and full of pain. It’s like being born.
THURSDAY, MAY 14, 2009
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
John didn’t think he would ever get used to time travel. He would never go through enough of these to get comfortable. He was naked again, cold again, and being watched again by someone who was neither naked nor cold. All this public nudity is getting old fast.
This time it was former FBI agent James Ellison, decked out in his normal immaculate suit and silk tie, staring at him while he huddled on the cold cement floor shivering in his birthday suit. The corner of Ellison’s mouth quirked as he stepped forward, shaking out a blanket and wrapping it around John.
“You Connors do know how to make an entrance. I’ll give you that.” Ellison retrieved a bag and set it down next to the boy. “I wasn’t sure of your size. Hope they fit. I’ll just give you a moment.” With that he stepped out of the room, pulling the door closed behind him.
John pulled open the paper clothes store bag. Inside he found a black hooded sweatshirt, grey track pants, underwear, socks, and a pair of black Nike shoes. As soon as his hands stopped shaking, he scrambled into the clothes, which fit fine, and the shoes, which were two sizes too large. Figures, John sighed.
The door opened a little and Ellison’s voice filtered through the crack, cool, professional, and polite all at once. “May I come in?”
“Um, sure.”
“As I said, someone told me that you were coming. I was a little skeptical, so I didn’t contact your parents until just now. We’ll head over there, if that’s alright with you.”
John felt like he had fallen down the rabbit hole. Ellison was being, if not friendly, at least helpful. And “parents”. He didn’t want to get his hopes up too much, and clamped down on the whirl of possibilities.
As he followed Ellison to the car he asked, “I know where I am, but when is this?”
“May, 2009. Thursday, May 13th to be exact.”
Shit! I overshot. To them I’ve been missing for months. He turned over the repercussions of that as Ellison drove.
He was startled when the car pulled up and stopped in front of a large familiar house. “This is Catherine Weaver’s house. What are we doing here?”
“Mrs. Weaver is on an extended trip. In the meantime, I'm overseeing the day to day operations of the company. Her cousin and her husband are watching Savannah. They thought using the same house would be less disruptive for her.”
John was himself feeling very disrupted as he passed the spot where his uncle died, gunned down by a Terminator. Did that even happen here this time? Doubt it if the kid still thinks this is her happy place.
Singing drifted out of the kitchen, exuberant but slightly out of key and John ran towards it. Chopping vegetables at the countertop was Charley Dixon, very much alive and healthy.
“Charley,” John said tentatively.
Joy transformed Dixon’s face. He grabbed John up and swung him in a circle. “Johnny-boy! We were worried we’d never see you again!”
John laughed, “I thought I might never see you again either. Damn, I missed you.”
“Come on. They’re out back in the garden.” Charley pulled John by the hand through the house and out onto a patio overlooking a huge private garden. At the far end a woman with stylishly short red hair and a young blonde girl threw something into a pond. The girl spotted him first and tugged on the woman’s sleeve.
“Aunt Lena, look! Look, it’s John!” The face had changed a little, and she was inches taller, but there was no mistake. This was Savannah Weaver. “Uncle Charley, it’s him isn’t it?”
“Yeah, pumpkin. It’s him.”
She latched herself onto John’s leg and he petted her head absently as he watched the older woman approach. It’s like a disguise, John thought. Under the well coiffed red hair, impeccable makeup, and designer dress was his mother.
“They’ve been taking care of Savannah since Catherine disappeared. Your mother could hardly do that as herself. She is now Selena Tyler, Ms. Weaver’s English cousin,” Ellison said.
“She does a pretty mean accent,” Charley added, peeling Savannah off John.
He walked towards his mother. Even at this distance he could see the tears steaming down her face.
She locked both hands on his shoulders and shook him roughly. “Don’t you do that to me again. Don’t you ever do that to me again, John!” Her words were a commandment.
“I won’t. I promise.” He wiped away her tears with his fingertips. “I love you, Mom.”
“I love you to, you stupid boy,” she said as she pulled his head against hers.
“Hey John, are you hungry. We were just going to sit down to eat,” Charley called.
“Who cooked?” John called back while still only having eyes for his mother.
“Me, of course. Your mom still ruins everything but pancakes.”
John laughed and danced back as his mother went to swat him, “OK then.”
SATURDAY, MAY 16, 2009
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
John followed Ellison out of the elevator into the basement of Ziera Corp. He entered the room that he had last seen months and years ago.
“I told you I was warned you would come. Here is how.” Ellison turned and addressed one of the large screens. “John Henry, say hello.”
**Hello, John Connor. I’m glad you have returned safely. ** Large type slid across the flat screen.
“What’s changed, John Henry? They aren’t aware of what happened. This is the only world they know, but I think you remember.”
**I do, John.**
“Then tell me what I want to know.”
**So many things have changed, both big and small. Like the beating of the wings of a butterfly. **
“How about you narrow it down to things you think I care about.”
**You already know that Charley Dixon and your mother are happily married. Both Winchester brothers are alive, although not as happy as your parents right now. I have found no evidence that Derek Reese ever jumped back in time. I still battle my Big Brother on occasions, out here in cyberspace, but he is a weak thing now, without influence. I don’t think he will last much longer. I still talk to Savannah Weaver, and occasionally sing her to sleep. **
John interrupted this free form list. “How did this happen? How could my time line have been changed?”
**Consider it a gift from my mother to you for services rendered. You had already made the change when you changed your own past, we just nudged it in the desired directions after that. **
The image of a raven, wings beating, flew across the screen.
**You were told. This has never just been a fight between man and machine, John Connor. You have always been the instrument of higher powers. **
With a click, a small drawer slid out of the wall. Inside, in a fitted slot was Cameron’s chip.
**When my mother first acquired my ambulatory body, my avatar, it was severely damaged. She set up private room where that damage could be repaired. Mr. Ellison, if you please.**
John followed Ellison through the maze of basement corridors and through a lab door. In the center of this room, was a large vat. With the push of a button, Ellison started a hydraulic lift. Emerging from that disturbing vat of liquid, was Cameron, whole and beautiful.
John blinking back sudden moisture in this eyes, touched the cold soft skin of her cheek. He turned to Ellison, “Could I have a pair of pliers and a sharp knife.” He stopped the man again on his way out the door, “Um, and some clothes too please.”
EPILOGUE:
I'd like my company to lead the world into the next century. And I'm fairly sure you're an avenging angel. So let's keep looking. Before the nightmare begins.
-Catherine Weaver
SATURDAY, MAY 30, 2009
OREGON
“Keep your head down, Sam!” Dean shouted over the roars of the attacking Khimaira. Balls of flame hit around and behind the meager shelter he had found, sending showers of cinders down on him where he crouched under the tree.
“I’m trying. I’m trying.”
"Try harder!"
The largest male broke away from the pack and readied itself for a leap, coils of muscles tightening in its flanks. Shit, this is not how I wanted to go out.
Mid-leap, thunder sounded twice, and the monster’s mismatched heads turned into so much hamburger. Dean could swear the impact of its heavy, decapitated body hitting the ground could be felt as well as heard.
A young man in dark combat armor stepped up to him and pushed back his night vision goggles. Behind him two women with some of the freakin’ most big-ass guns he’d ever seen covered his and Sam’s positions.
John Connor leaned down offering a gloved hand to Dean with a smile on his face. “Come with me if you want to live.”
He looks around and around
He sees angels in the architecture
Spinning in infinity
He says Amen! and Hallelujah!
-Paul Simon
Note:
I am planning to illustrate all the rules and post them here, or at least post links here. Here is what I have so far:
Author and artist: davincis_girl
Rating: PG-13 (Swearing), Gen
Fandoms: Crossover Supernatural/Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles.
Warnings: Potential spoilers for T:SCC season 2 and SPN seasons 1-4. All art is work safe.
Author’s Notes: Both universes are seen past, present, and future. Created for spn_summergen exchange for thedreamisreal. Many thanks to betas dapatty, a constant source of encouragement and great ideas during production, and to blue_meridian for her excellent editing skills.
Summary: It’s 1999 and John Connor appears in the Winchester’s motel room cold and naked. Why is he there, and how does he know Sam Winchester?
Part One
Part Two
Everything's going to be different now. Maybe, you got nothing to lose.
- James Ellison
There’s always something to lose.
-Sarah Connor
Part 3
SATURDAY, JUNE 26, 1999
WYOMING
Let the wind blow high, let the wind blow low,
Through the streets in my kilt I'll go,
And all the lassies shout hello
Donald where's your troosers.
“What’n the hell is that?” Dean mumbled as he levered up in bed.
“That is a traditional Scottish folk song. Savannah Weaver taught it to me,” answered the computer generated voice. “It’s 4:00 a.m. I thought a song would be appropriate for your alarm. Would you like to hear the rest?”
“No!” chorused both Sam and Dean.
“No thanks, John Henry. I think we better just get ready to go.” John scrubbed the sleep from his eyes. His mind still whirled with dream imagery. Catherine Weaver with raven’s wings. Sam Winchester, older but unscarred, with black on black eyes. He couldn’t hold onto the meaning of the dream. It slipped away like sand through his fingers.
As Sam was finishing packing their gear, Dean emerged from the bathroom shirtless, scrubbing his hair with a towel. “Tell us, oh Robot Whisperer, where exactly are we heading today.”
Cameron answered before John could, “Ultimately, we are headed for Caltech. As of June of this year, they are using an Exemplar X-Class supercomputer at the university's Center for Advanced Computing Research and Jet Propulsion Laboratory. They have the disk space, the processing speed and the transfer rates we need. They are the closest acceptable facility to where we are picking me up.”
Dean felt like that girl, Peppermint Patty, in the Charlie Brown cartoons when she was trying to listen to her teacher. He cocked his head and stared pointedly at John.
“Pasadena, California,” John translated.
“But first we need to drive farther, south of Hollywood. I arrived in one of the network of civil defense fallout shelters, under the Administration Building of Los Angeles City College. I can give you more specific directions when I know our exact arrival time.
“Well, lets get a move on girls. We can grab something at the drive through before we hit the highway.” Dean finished dressing and started hauling bags out to the car.
“Cameron, I have to turn you and John Henry off now,” John said. “I’m sorry, but I need to make sure the battery on the laptop is still charged when we get there.” I would also like to be able to talk to Sam and Dean without John Henry hearing everything I say.
“Goodbye, John.”
“Goodnight, Cam,” John said, powering down and closing the laptop lid.
SATURDAY, JUNE 26, 1999
NEVADA
Dean had banished Sam to the back seat with John about 300 miles into their road trip, tired of them yelling to be heard over his music. That suited Sam just fine. He was an old hand at long highway trips, but he’d never had someone his own age to talk to on the way.
He and John compared notes about their obsession driven parents and strange childhoods. They came up with a list of ten rules to cover both families:
1. Pack light.
2. Keep your head down, especially if you are the smartest kid in the room.
3. Don’t get attached.
4. Don’t get caught.
5. Know your exits.
6. Home is not a place.
7. Sometimes what is right, is not what is legal.
8. When your parent is the toughest person you know, think about teenage rebellion very carefully.
9. Don’t let your parent (or your sibling) pick your new name.
10. Don’t tell the civilians. They really don’t want to know.
Dean got into the spirit, and added two more of his own.
11. Always order the special.
12. There is no such thing as too many weapons.
SATURDAY, JUNE 26, 1999
CALIFORNIA
They had stopped for fuel and food. Sam sat across from John, waiting for Dean to return from the bathroom. Over the remains of their meal Sam asked, “You don’t trust them do you?”
“Who?”
“Cameron and John Henry.”
“I trust Cameron. I trust her with my life. John Henry I don’t know. He’s like a little kid, you know. I don’t think he would intentionally hurt us, but I’m not sure at any moment exactly what he will do.”
“But you’re willing to let him loose on the world.”
“He’s better than what is out there now. Despite my mom’s and my best efforts, there is still a ghost in the machine. John Henry calls it ‘Big Brother’. By 2008 it has enough control that it’s knocking off people one at a time. A few years later it gets more ambitious and almost everybody dies.”
John stops talking and stares into his coffee for a moment. “So I don’t know John Henry, but Cameron does. She thinks he can stop the other AI, stop Skynet. I’ve gotta put my faith in her. It can’t get any worse.”
“Sam, better watch out or your face will freeze that way,” Dean said, lifting his jacket from the back of the chair. “Come on my pretty princesses. We’ve got miles to go.”
SATURDAY, JUNE 26, 1999
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
John stepped into the path of the Terminator as she headed towards Melrose Ave. Somewhere, he thought, is a pretty young co-ed without her clothes. With the ease of long practice, he saw her switch to her “real girl” mode, the one that had even worked on him when they met in that classroom in New Mexico.
Cameron smiled shyly and ducked her head. Through her lashes she looked at John and gave a small nervous laugh. “Hi…”
“Hello, Cameron,” John interrupted. “You can cut the act. We’ve already met.”
He reached out and brushed the palm of his hand against her face. Instantly she dropped the flirty teenage girl persona and held his gaze directly, using the skin to skin contact to increase her analysis, as he had intended.
“You are not from here,” from now lay unspoken. “Tell me.”
“It’s complicated, but we’ve lived together for months as brother and sister.” John glanced around. Even though it was the weekend, there were too many people for him, and too many security cameras. “Can we go someplace less public and talk?”
“Is Sarah Connor with you?”
“No, Mom’s not here, but there are two other people helping me.”
After a few tries upon arrival, they scouted out a position where they had a good view of the administration building of Los Angeles City College. There was a sheriff’s office at one end that made Dean decidedly nervous. He opted to stay with the Impala, for a fast getaway if needed. Now he and Sam pulled up and the pair slid into the front seat.
“Where to?” Dean asked, trying to ignore the apparently really hot girl pressed up against his side in the tight quarters of the Impala’s front seat. Robot. R-O-B-O-T.
“Drive north three blocks and turn right,” Cameron said. After getting the nod from John, Dean pulled out into traffic, following the cyborg’s directions into a area of warehouses that had seen better days. In front of one, Cameron and John hopped out. The lock was no match for Terminator strength and a moment later the Impala was easing inside.
As the large rusty door clanged shut on its tracks, Cameron approached the brothers. “Samuel Winchester and brother Dean Winchester, you are not recorded to have been allied with John Connor at this time. Did you make the jump with him?”
John spoke from behind her. “They are from this time. I’m not. It was your idea that I go to them for help.” John continued to tell the Terminator his story starting with when a pretty girl in New Mexico talked to the new boy in class.
When he finished, Cameron said, “I would like to communicate with my counterpart and the John Henry artificial intelligence.”
The computer, chip, and interface were set up on a stack of old palettes. “We’re good ‘till the laptop battery dies, unless this place has power.”
Cameron’s fingers flew over the keys and responses flashed across the screen. Sam considered himself a fast reader, but he couldn’t hope to keep up with this high speed conversation. Concentrating, he could get snatches of words, as well as a feeling of vertigo. The first few minutes appeared to be a sharing of information.
Abruptly there was a pause. Cameron froze, expressionless, like a snapshot of herself. Just as Sam thought, now that’s a bit disturbing, she came alive again. Now they seemed to be arguing, but who was winning was anyone’s guess.
“What the John Henry AI is proposing would be dangerous for you John. You could be caught, and detained. If the Skynet Terminator Cromartie has matched your face through any security cameras, he could be on his way here right now. You should stay hidden during the mission.”
“No. No way. No mater what time we go in, there will be people. Researchers cue up for months for time on that thing. If it’s just you, I know people are going to get hurt. Or worse. And if you do your Terminator act, you’re gonna attract attention. Cromartie comes nosing around the Exemplar X, he could wipe John Henry before he can do any good. So you are not leaving me behind.”
“Agreed,” came Cameron’s voice from the laptop.
“Then boys and girls, it’s time for a plan,” said Dean.
SUNDAY, JUNE 27, 1999
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA
“I still don’t get why we just don't blow some shit up. That’ll cause a distraction,” said Dean sipping his coffee. Dean had crashed in the back seat of the Impala while they waited for night to fall. He’d been mainlining caffeine ever since but these long days were taking a toll on him.
“Too big. We are trying to fly under the radar of anyone looking for signs of John or Cameron. We don’t want a lot of police or news interest. Just regular old vandalism is what we’re aiming for.
“Would have been fun, ya gotta admit.” They were parked in a darkest corner of an almost deserted lot. One o’clock Sunday morning was not a jumping time at Caltech’s CACR. Even so, they had taken cover a few minutes ago while a campus security vehicle slowly drove by.
Bored, Dean tried another topic. “That Cameron’s a babe, isn’t she? Do you think she’s like…fully functional?”
“Shit, Dean. You are unbelievable. She’s a robot!”
“Cyborg.”
“Whatever. She’s not even human.”
“She’s hot. She’s not evil. I can work with that.”
Cameron, with John along Sam suspected to ensure the security of others, was now scouting out the building. They would be the ones to enter the supercomputer lab. The brothers’ job was to provide the distraction and the getaway. Sam just hoped he didn’t have to provide Dean’s distractions for much longer.
This trip and the visit to LA City College had Sam thinking about his own exit strategy. He hadn’t told Dean and he sure as hell hadn’t told Dad, but John Connor still knew. Within a few minutes of their meeting, John had laid out Sam’s escape from the hunting life. It was his chance to be normal, to be free, and here someone was telling him that he actually did it. He looked over at Dean, and he suddenly felt sick. I’ve got awhile to tell him. Maybe I can get him to come with me. But Sam would not be betting on that chance.
Dean’s cell phone vibrated on the dash and he grabbed it before it danced its way to the floor. John was at the other end on Sam’s borrowed phone. Dean ended the call. “They’re ready for us at the north entrance.”
Dean pulled a black NASCAR cap down low and Sam tugged up his hood to throw his face into shadow. Wouldn’t do to get their faces on the cameras. They grabbed their supplies and started toward the building.
At the locked entrance, Cameron let them in, wearing a guard’s uniform and with a Caltech security swipe card in hand. Dean wondered where that poor guy or gal was tied up. She waved them into the closest washroom. Even a place like this didn’t put close circuit in the crapper.
John was there with a lab coat that Sam had to admit made him look years older. The id tag clipped to it wouldn’t do for close inspection, but he hopped no one got that close to the pair.
John broke the silence, “We’ll let you into an office near here. Give us five minutes and start the fire. We’ll meet you at the car.” They slipped out together and Cameron used her card to let them into a dark office two doors away before she and John continued on.
On their second pass by the lab, walking like they belonged and had a purpose, the shrill bleating of the fire alarm sounded. A scattering of people appeared from rooms along the corridor, including four from the Exemplar X lab.
The actual supercomputer was less impressive than John had expected. It was a nondescript room, harsh florescent lighting, white walls, white tile floor. Four sets of boxy, black rectangles, taller than he was by a few inches dominated the room. Air vented from the white grills on their fronts and noise from those fans, combined with the six standard looking terminals filled the room.
There was also one thing in the room that John didn’t expect. There was still someone in the lab clicking away at a keyboard while the fire alarm continued to wail. The fact that someone was smart enough to work here, but foolish enough to ignore a fire alarm boggled John’s mind.
A young man sitting at the last terminal looked up at John belligerently, “This lab’s booked. I’ve been waiting for two months and I’m in the middle of my run. Damned if I’m going to chuck it all for some idiotic fire drill or false alarm.”
“Um, sorry, Doctor Paz told me to do an emergency shutdown,” John said, supplying the name from the office they had broken into.
“He did, did he? Well, Doctor Paz can just piss off. If he thinks he can ruin my work again he’s crazy. What’s his cell number? I’m going to call him and set him straight. Of all the…” He toppled and Cameron pulled him behind the last bank of the large unit, back the way that she had traveled through the room to get the drop on him.
John got down to work.
Outside, Sam and Dean exited the building and milled around with the small crowd of people there, trying to blend in. Campus security cars were arriving, more every minute. While Dean listened to the Caltech workers and students complain, he looked for a good moment to head off to the parking lot without arousing suspicion.
“Dean, I think that guard’s giving me the hairy eyeball.” Sam said in a whisper. “She walked by me a minute ago, and now she keeps looking over at me.”
Dean looked at Sam. He looked a bit young, but with his freakish growth of late Dean thought he could pass for a college student. Then it hit him.
“Gas. You smell of gasoline, dude.” They were both so used to the smell, they tended to tune it out. “She’s making the call. Let’s walk out of here nice and slow before the shit hits the fan.”
They walked away from the group at a slow pace, but once they turned the corner of the building they broke into a run. Over his shoulder, Sam could see the flashing lights of arriving fire trucks. He also saw three security cars fan out from the building. Looking for us, Sam thought and put on another burst of speed.
As the topped the slope over the parking lot, what Sam saw brought him to an abrupt halt. Dean crashed into him from behind and they both went down face first into the damp grass.
“Wa’ the fuck, Sam?” Dean said angrily as he panted to catch a breath.
Sam grabbed a handful of jacket when Dean started to rise. “They’ve got the car blocked in.”
Dean scuttled ahead and looked down on the lot. The Impala was right where he left it, but now a campus security car was parked at an angle across its path. Since they had parked far edge of the lot in the shadow of the trees, there was no other way out.
“Shit! Shit! Shit!”
“We’ll have to call them, and then find another way out of here.”
“Oh no we don’t! I am not gonna be the one to explain to Dad how we ended up in California and lost the car. Follow me.” Not giving Sam time to argue, he backed up out of sight of the lot and started working his way around the perimeter.
Behind the trees and a few dozen yards from the cars, Dean pulled Sam close to whisper his plan, “There’s just the one guy. You step out here and walk up to him. Be real obvious, but nonthreatening, you know. I’ll get the drop on him.” Sam gave him an incredulous look. What followed was a minute of silent arguing, using only the language of body and face, a language they had perfected from long hours driving with their father from one hick town to the next.
Dean won.
Once he had moved on, Sam straightened to his full height and stepped out into the lot, walking straight for the security car.
Come on! Come on! After what seemed like forever to Dean, the guard opened the door and stepped out of the car. Shielding his body from Sam using the open door, the guard called, “Stop right there…”
Dean tackled him from behind. He was as large as Dean, but not as determined. Sam came pounding towards them. “Get the keys. Open the trunk,” Dean shouted as he held the still weakly struggling man down on the cement by jacking his arm behind his back while using his body weight to pin him. Together he and Sam managed to get the guard, S. MacDonald according to his security badge, into the trunk.
“Sammy, you move this piece of shit outta the way.” Dean unlocked and jumped into the Impala, giving the dash an extra pet. Almost lost you, baby. Sam backed the car into the darkest edge of the lot and then jumped into the waiting car.
Dean tossed the phone at Sam as he drove out of the lot. Sam made the call.
“They want us to pick them up over there, behind that yellow brick building,” Sam said pointing to a small outbuilding a few hundred yards away from the main lab, but closer to them.
Expecting to be spotted any second, Dean pulled to a stop. Sam dove over the seat into the back as Dean spotted Cameron. On her signal, John came out of hiding and they both piled into the car.
All the way to the exit, Dean was praying under his breath. When he saw that there were no flashing lights or cars, he glanced upward and breathed a Hallelujah, before peeling away from the campus.
John added his own prayer as Caltech disappeared behind them that all this had been worth it.
SUNDAY, JUNE 27, 1999
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
The ancient A/C unit noisily battled the California summer heat in the cheap motel room, making little progress in the fetid, damp air. Harsh light streamed in, muted only a little by the sun-faded curtains.
“What’ll you do now?” asked Dean from where he stretched out on one of the double beds his arms folded behind his head.
“I don’t know. There are other time machines, so I can go back to 2008 if I want, I think. Don’t know if I should though. Weaver claimed I was tied to my own time line. This is part of my time line too now. I crossed over my own life, now that there are two of us here at the same time.” John paced the small space of the room like a wild cat displayed in an undersized cage.
“Does this one overwrite the other? Is my mom waiting for me or does she already have a version of me that never jumped ahead in time? Is Judgment Day canceled or just rescheduled?” He stopped and ran both hands through his short hair. The Terminator watched him impassively from her position near the window and then returned to checking the sight lines down the highway. “Right now my mom and Charley are alive. My uncle’s a happy little kid, and my dad’ll be around in a few years. Do I stay put and make sure they’re all OK?”
“Shit, man. Better you than me! Killing monsters is more my style. All this time travel crap is making my brain hurt.”
A comment about Dean’s brain was on the tip of Sam’s tongue. It was force of habit. He suppressed it. Not the right time.
“I’m gonna make a caffeine and sugar run,” Dean continued pushing off the bed. He cocked an eyebrow at Sam in silent invitation, but Sam shook his head. “I’ll be back soon.”
“Cameron spent more time with this Weaver cyborg?” Sam said sympathetically. “Maybe she knows more that you do. Why don’t you ask her?”
John had been putting off powering the chip back up. When John Henry jumped ship, did he leave enough of Cameron behind, and if he did, was she still his Cameron? Time to face the music.
After booting up the system he spoke quietly into the mic, “Cam, are you still in there?” Seconds ticked by like hours. He poised his fingers over the keys to type the question instead when she responded.
“Where else would I be, John?”
“I don’t know…shopping online?” said with a smile and a sigh of relief. “Is John Henry in there with you?”
“No. All traces of his program are gone. I performed a full diagnostic when you woke me up. However, I do still have access to files I read while were sharing this chip.”
“You were snooping.”
“I wanted to ascertain if the risk to you in this mission was justified by the potential benefits.”
“You wanted to know if he was lying?”
“Yes I did and no he wasn’t. John Henry was not lying and he believed that Weaver was also telling the truth.”
John explained his dilemma to Cameron.
“John, the Catherine Weaver construct intended for you to return to 2009 after this mission was done. I don’t know if she cared about you personally, but she did think that your survival was essential to the survival of humanity.”
“I am so tired of that gig, Cameron.”
“You also need to know John, that if your mother does not jump ahead she will be dead of cancer by 2005.”
John sat down hard on the bed near Sam as his knees buckled beneath him. He suspected something, but to have the bare fact laid out in front of him was a different thing.
“Will jumping ahead make any difference?”
“She may avoid the factors that lead to her cancer. If not, her chances of treatment are better in the future.”
He rose and walked to the Terminator at her scout post. “You need to make sure that Mom and I jump in time. You will let things play out the way they did to force Mom to go with you.” She nodded. Since she had successfully protected John Connor’s life in that time line, this order did not conflict with her basic programming.
Speaking to the computer interface again he said, “If they are not going to stay here anyway, I think I want to go back. What will happen to you?”
“Our previous method of travel was too dangerous for you. You may have died without Sam Winchesters assistance. Since we are traveling forward not back, we have more alternatives if you wish us to reunite.”
“I have several locations I could store the chip where it would be secure for the next ten years,” volunteered the Terminator. “It could be ready if and when you needed it. We cannot use the device you last used, in order to leave it available for your mother and your other self. There is another working model stored in the fallout shelter where I arrived. It was installed secretly when the rooms were built.”
“I guess it’s time to go home.”
SUNDAY, JUNE 27, 1999
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
Dean turned the corner at Melrose Ave and found a place to pull over. They all climbed out and stood in silence for a moment. There were too many goodbyes in their short lives.
“Good luck,” Dean said shaking John’s hand. “I hope you get what you are looking for. God knows you deserve it by now.”
When it was Sam’s turn he pulled John in for a hug, including some manly thumps on the back for the sake of propriety.
Seeing his last chance, Dean pulled Cameron into an embrace as well. Sam laughed when he saw the Terminator copy his back slapping perhaps a bit too hard.
John smiled as Dean rubbed his shoulder. “Maybe we’ll see you two around some time.”
“As long as it doesn’t mean the end of the world, I’m good with that. We could go to Vegas. I bet Cameron is one hell of a card counter.” Dean said. “Come on, Sammy, we’ve got miles to go before we sleep. If you can come up with something really good to tell Dad, I may even let you drive some of the way.”
SUNDAY, JUNE 27, 1999
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
The inside of the civil defense shelter was larger than John expected. According to Cameron, always the purveyor of minute factoids, the shelter had a capacity of 1469 people. John could believe that.
After a little Terminator-style demolition, Cameron revealed the components of the temporal displacement equipment. She took a moment to program the settings, and then waved John over.
“Since I will not being going with you, I have set a timer.” She pointed out the counter. Then she pulled him gently over to position him in the middle of the floor. “Stand here to make sure that you are entirely inside the field when it activates.”
“Thank you Cameron, for everything.” He pulled the chip out of his pocket and handed it to her. “Take good care of this. I’ll be wanting it back.”
“You are welcome. I will. I know.” She released him and left the room, closing the heavy metal door behind her.
The blue light engulfed him. Bright, so cold, and full of pain. It’s like being born.
THURSDAY, MAY 14, 2009
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
John didn’t think he would ever get used to time travel. He would never go through enough of these to get comfortable. He was naked again, cold again, and being watched again by someone who was neither naked nor cold. All this public nudity is getting old fast.
This time it was former FBI agent James Ellison, decked out in his normal immaculate suit and silk tie, staring at him while he huddled on the cold cement floor shivering in his birthday suit. The corner of Ellison’s mouth quirked as he stepped forward, shaking out a blanket and wrapping it around John.
“You Connors do know how to make an entrance. I’ll give you that.” Ellison retrieved a bag and set it down next to the boy. “I wasn’t sure of your size. Hope they fit. I’ll just give you a moment.” With that he stepped out of the room, pulling the door closed behind him.
John pulled open the paper clothes store bag. Inside he found a black hooded sweatshirt, grey track pants, underwear, socks, and a pair of black Nike shoes. As soon as his hands stopped shaking, he scrambled into the clothes, which fit fine, and the shoes, which were two sizes too large. Figures, John sighed.
The door opened a little and Ellison’s voice filtered through the crack, cool, professional, and polite all at once. “May I come in?”
“Um, sure.”
“As I said, someone told me that you were coming. I was a little skeptical, so I didn’t contact your parents until just now. We’ll head over there, if that’s alright with you.”
John felt like he had fallen down the rabbit hole. Ellison was being, if not friendly, at least helpful. And “parents”. He didn’t want to get his hopes up too much, and clamped down on the whirl of possibilities.
As he followed Ellison to the car he asked, “I know where I am, but when is this?”
“May, 2009. Thursday, May 13th to be exact.”
Shit! I overshot. To them I’ve been missing for months. He turned over the repercussions of that as Ellison drove.
He was startled when the car pulled up and stopped in front of a large familiar house. “This is Catherine Weaver’s house. What are we doing here?”
“Mrs. Weaver is on an extended trip. In the meantime, I'm overseeing the day to day operations of the company. Her cousin and her husband are watching Savannah. They thought using the same house would be less disruptive for her.”
John was himself feeling very disrupted as he passed the spot where his uncle died, gunned down by a Terminator. Did that even happen here this time? Doubt it if the kid still thinks this is her happy place.
Singing drifted out of the kitchen, exuberant but slightly out of key and John ran towards it. Chopping vegetables at the countertop was Charley Dixon, very much alive and healthy.
“Charley,” John said tentatively.
Joy transformed Dixon’s face. He grabbed John up and swung him in a circle. “Johnny-boy! We were worried we’d never see you again!”
John laughed, “I thought I might never see you again either. Damn, I missed you.”
“Come on. They’re out back in the garden.” Charley pulled John by the hand through the house and out onto a patio overlooking a huge private garden. At the far end a woman with stylishly short red hair and a young blonde girl threw something into a pond. The girl spotted him first and tugged on the woman’s sleeve.
“Aunt Lena, look! Look, it’s John!” The face had changed a little, and she was inches taller, but there was no mistake. This was Savannah Weaver. “Uncle Charley, it’s him isn’t it?”
“Yeah, pumpkin. It’s him.”
She latched herself onto John’s leg and he petted her head absently as he watched the older woman approach. It’s like a disguise, John thought. Under the well coiffed red hair, impeccable makeup, and designer dress was his mother.
“They’ve been taking care of Savannah since Catherine disappeared. Your mother could hardly do that as herself. She is now Selena Tyler, Ms. Weaver’s English cousin,” Ellison said.
“She does a pretty mean accent,” Charley added, peeling Savannah off John.
He walked towards his mother. Even at this distance he could see the tears steaming down her face.
She locked both hands on his shoulders and shook him roughly. “Don’t you do that to me again. Don’t you ever do that to me again, John!” Her words were a commandment.
“I won’t. I promise.” He wiped away her tears with his fingertips. “I love you, Mom.”
“I love you to, you stupid boy,” she said as she pulled his head against hers.
“Hey John, are you hungry. We were just going to sit down to eat,” Charley called.
“Who cooked?” John called back while still only having eyes for his mother.
“Me, of course. Your mom still ruins everything but pancakes.”
John laughed and danced back as his mother went to swat him, “OK then.”
SATURDAY, MAY 16, 2009
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
John followed Ellison out of the elevator into the basement of Ziera Corp. He entered the room that he had last seen months and years ago.
“I told you I was warned you would come. Here is how.” Ellison turned and addressed one of the large screens. “John Henry, say hello.”
**Hello, John Connor. I’m glad you have returned safely. ** Large type slid across the flat screen.
“What’s changed, John Henry? They aren’t aware of what happened. This is the only world they know, but I think you remember.”
**I do, John.**
“Then tell me what I want to know.”
**So many things have changed, both big and small. Like the beating of the wings of a butterfly. **
“How about you narrow it down to things you think I care about.”
**You already know that Charley Dixon and your mother are happily married. Both Winchester brothers are alive, although not as happy as your parents right now. I have found no evidence that Derek Reese ever jumped back in time. I still battle my Big Brother on occasions, out here in cyberspace, but he is a weak thing now, without influence. I don’t think he will last much longer. I still talk to Savannah Weaver, and occasionally sing her to sleep. **
John interrupted this free form list. “How did this happen? How could my time line have been changed?”
**Consider it a gift from my mother to you for services rendered. You had already made the change when you changed your own past, we just nudged it in the desired directions after that. **
The image of a raven, wings beating, flew across the screen.
**You were told. This has never just been a fight between man and machine, John Connor. You have always been the instrument of higher powers. **
With a click, a small drawer slid out of the wall. Inside, in a fitted slot was Cameron’s chip.
**When my mother first acquired my ambulatory body, my avatar, it was severely damaged. She set up private room where that damage could be repaired. Mr. Ellison, if you please.**
John followed Ellison through the maze of basement corridors and through a lab door. In the center of this room, was a large vat. With the push of a button, Ellison started a hydraulic lift. Emerging from that disturbing vat of liquid, was Cameron, whole and beautiful.
John blinking back sudden moisture in this eyes, touched the cold soft skin of her cheek. He turned to Ellison, “Could I have a pair of pliers and a sharp knife.” He stopped the man again on his way out the door, “Um, and some clothes too please.”
EPILOGUE:
I'd like my company to lead the world into the next century. And I'm fairly sure you're an avenging angel. So let's keep looking. Before the nightmare begins.
-Catherine Weaver
SATURDAY, MAY 30, 2009
OREGON
“Keep your head down, Sam!” Dean shouted over the roars of the attacking Khimaira. Balls of flame hit around and behind the meager shelter he had found, sending showers of cinders down on him where he crouched under the tree.
“I’m trying. I’m trying.”
"Try harder!"
The largest male broke away from the pack and readied itself for a leap, coils of muscles tightening in its flanks. Shit, this is not how I wanted to go out.
Mid-leap, thunder sounded twice, and the monster’s mismatched heads turned into so much hamburger. Dean could swear the impact of its heavy, decapitated body hitting the ground could be felt as well as heard.
A young man in dark combat armor stepped up to him and pushed back his night vision goggles. Behind him two women with some of the freakin’ most big-ass guns he’d ever seen covered his and Sam’s positions.
John Connor leaned down offering a gloved hand to Dean with a smile on his face. “Come with me if you want to live.”
He looks around and around
He sees angels in the architecture
Spinning in infinity
He says Amen! and Hallelujah!
-Paul Simon
Note:
I am planning to illustrate all the rules and post them here, or at least post links here. Here is what I have so far:
