they drove in to a secluded place and opened a large storage locker. sarah drove the car inside while the other three stood outside waiting for it to go in.

(y/n) stepped in after the car, and the terminator grabbed john by the jacket and tugged him inside. "hey! watch it, lugnuts!" john yelled as the door shut.

sarah took a deep breath as the terminator stitched the cut on her shoulder blade.

john jogged next to the terminator with a bottle of rubbing alcohol and paper towels. "listen, do you know what you're doing?"

"i have detailed files on human anatomy."

"i bet," sarah said, taking a breath, "makes you a more efficient killer, right?"

"correct."

(y/n) sat in the back, trying to get some sleep. she sprawled out on a random chair and listened to the other three talk.

john held up the terminator's jacket and let the light from the window shine through the holes. he looked at the terminator with furrowed brows. "does it hurt when you get shot?"

sarah now stood behind the terminator, getting the bullets out of his back and placing them on a table. "i sense injuries. the data could be called pain." he explained.

"john, help me with the light," sarah said, still pulling bullets out of the robot's back. "will these heal up?"

"yes."

"good. if you can't pass for human, you're not much good to us." she explained.

"how long do you live.. i mean, last?" john asked, moving away from the light, getting a paper towel for his mom.

"120 years with my existing power cell."

"can you learn stuff that you weren't programmed with? so you can be," he paused, moving the light a little, "y'know, more human. not such a dork all the time." he grinned to himself a bit.

it's silent for a moment, john and the terminator making eye contact, and then with a drop of another bullet on the metal table, the terminator faced forward again.

"my CPU is a neural net processor, a learning computer. but skynet resets the switch to read only when we are sent out alone."

"doesn't want you to do much thinkin', huh?" sarah commented, still working with the bullets.

"no."

"can we reset the switch?" john asked. both of them looked at him strangely, and then when sarah finished the bullets, she brought out an scalpel.

"wake your girlfriend up, we're gonna need as many people as we can get," sarah told john. he opened his mouth to protest, but settled with a nod, and went to wake up (y/n).

(y/n) smiled tiredly once he lightly tapped her face a few times. "john? hey," she slurred and let out a large yawn. she sat up and studied him for a moment. "what are we doing?"

ꫛ

they stood surrounding the terminator. john manned the light, sarah did the main work, like cutting the skin on his head, and (y/n) held a tissue and would clean up the blood.

sarah cut and pulled back the skin of the terminator's head, revealing a vault type thing. (y/n) softly tapped the metal with the tissue, cleaning it up some more.

"rotate the two locked-in cylinders counterclockwise." the terminator instructed, looking at himself through a mirror. sarah placed her electric screwdriver above his head.

"do it."

she did as she was told and waited for his next instructions.

"now open the port cover."

she grabbed pliers and grabbed a screw on the port cover. "pull to break the seal." she pulled, and the cover popped off easily.

"good." she followed more instructions until she could access the CPU.

"see it?" the terminator asked.

"yes."

she pulled the CPU from the vault, and the terminator didn't give any further information.

sarah walked off with the small chip in her hand while john and (y/n) played with his hands and snapped in his face.

(y/n) and john laughed over it for a bit, and then john turned towards his mom and began to ask her a question.

that question fell to deaf ears as they both noticed his mom wielding a hammer above the terminator's CPU. "no!" they both screamed loudly, john racing forward to cover it with his hands. (y/n) shaped her right hand, causing the pigment in her skin to fade into a smooth, gray metal.

"drop the hammer, connor." (y/n) said, raising her arm, which's flat shape reminded sarah of a putty knife.

"get out of my way, john," she said lowly, sending a glare (y/n)'s way. "watch it, girl."

"don't kill him." john pleaded, (y/n) gesturing to john with her arm, telling her to listen.

"it, john, not he, it." sarah corrected, still watching (y/n)'s movements. she wasn't stupid. she knew what the metal-clad girl planned to do. block the impact if john moves his hand away.

"please just put it down." sarah laughed, (y/n) inching closer to where the chip lied.

"okay, it," john got his mom's attention once again. she was more apt to accept his pleading than his girlfriend's unnerving shapeshifting. "but we need it."

"listen to me, both of you, listen," she said, her eyes bouncing between the two. "we're better off on our own."

"but he's the only proof we have of the future, the war, and all that." john begged. (y/n) was staring at the terminator's blank and frozen expression in the mirror.

"maybe, but i don't trust it."

"but he's our friend, alright?" (y/n) added with a sigh, refusing to dehumanize the machine with the "it"s.

"you don't know what it's like to try and kill one of these things. if something goes wrong, this could be our last chance, so move!" she yelled at john, still holding the hammer.

"look, mom, if i'm supposed to be some great military leader, then maybe you should start listening to my leadership ideas once in a while!" he yelled back, making a good point. (y/n) bit back another huff, looking at her with pleading eyes.

"because if my own mother won't, how do you expect anyone else to?" he added softly, stepping back and moving his hands away from the chip. he took a few breaths and watched her.

sarah stared at the chip for a moment, then slammed the hammer down beside it. before (y/n) could charge forwards, she quickly noticed the hammer dent the metal of the cart instead. john flinched, thinking she'd broken it, but then recovered and looked at his mom once again.

"alright, we'll play it your way," she said, throwing the hammer down on the table. she breathed heavily, looking between between her son and the girl who'd returned her hand to its natural state.

(y/n) ran up and snatched the chip and ran over to the terminator. she placed the chip back in, and the terminator sat up again. "was there a problem?" he asked.

"no problems," john reassured, standing next to (y/n) with his arm on her shoulder. "whatsoever." he turned to look at his mom, and then turned around again.

"nada." (y/n) grinned, patting the large robot on the shoulder.

ꫛ

after a while, they decided everyone should get some sleep. the terminator didn't sleep, so he stood by a window and watched. sarah sat with one of (y/n)'s cigarettes, watching the terminator.

(y/n) and john, however, argued over who should sleep in the backseat of the cop car. john said he'd be fine, that she should sleep and vise versa. they settled on them sleeping together, both climbing into the car with reddened faces. (y/n) ended up laying against the right door with john laying on her. his head nuzzled into her chest. he adjusted himself a bit, wrapping his arms tighter around her waist.

sarah looked behind her at them, as they'd left the left door open so she could easily get to them. she sighed and turned to watch the terminator again.

ꫛ

once morning came, the terminator lead the two teens out to get a car. he found one, punching his fist through the driver side window.

the terminator climbed into the driver side again, this time john and (y/n) sharing the front. (y/n) didn't want to sit in the back with sarah, so she sat next to john with her legs lying over top of his.

the terminator broke some things in order to start the car. john frowned at this and leaned forward, pulled down the sun visor, and dropping the keys to the car from it. he caught them, waving them at the terminator. "are we learning, yet?"

he laughed, about to lean back in his seat when the terminator suddenly put the car in reverse. "hey!" he yelped, laughing some more. (y/n) giggled at his surprise, and pulled him back against the seat.

they drove up to sarah, who was just now walking out, shrugging on a jacket.

"we have to get as far away as the city as possible," the terminator told sarah from inside the car. (y/n) glanced at her, her cigarette smoke blowing out of the open window.

"just head south," sarah directed, opening the door and climbing in the back. and with that, they drove off.

"keep it under 65," sarah warned as they sped across the interstate, "we don't want to be pulled over."

"affirmative."

"no, no, no, no," john shook his head, "you gotta listen to the way people talk. you don't say 'affirmative' or some shit like that, you say 'no problemo'."

"oh, and if someone comes off to you with an attitude," (y/n) added on, "you say 'eat me'."

"and if you wanna shine them on, you say 'hasta la vista, baby', " john said with a soft laugh.

"hasta la vista, baby," the terminator repeated.

"yeah, or 'later, dickwad'," (y/n) suggested a more vulgar option, lightly tapping the outside of the car with her hand.

"and if someone gets upset, you say "chill out'," john continued. "you could also do combinations."

"chill out, dickwad." the terminator added two of the examples together.

"that's great, big guy!" (y/n) laughed, hitting the terminator lightly with the hand she had around john's shoulder.

"see, you're getting it," john said, lifting up his arm a bit as emphasis.

"no problemo." the terminator responded as they pulled into a market with a cafe.

"got any cash?" sarah finally spoke, holding her hand out to john.

"yeah, i got a couple hundred bucks," he said waving his wad around. "i'll give you half."

sarah snatched it from his hand earning a snicker from (y/n) and a "mom!" from john.

she took some and gave the rest to john. "get some food for you and the girl." she opened the door and climbed out the car.

(y/n) frowned at being called "the girl" for the second time while john sat forward again. he put his arm on (y/n)'s shoulder and mumbled, "she has no sense of humor."

the three jumped out of the car, (y/n) stretching some and then following john around.

"and that's another thing," john said as he fell in next to the terminator, "you can lighten up a bit yourself. me and (y/n) here" he gently nudged her side, "are the only ones who can take a joke.

"this whole routine is getting old, okay?" he said looking up at him, squinting because of the sun.

"i mean, you're acting like such a bonehead," (y/n) told the terminator.

"yeah! smile once in a while," john added, taking (y/n)'s hand while they walked to order their food.

"smile?"

"yeah, y'know, smile." john grinned, "watch." he walked up to the lady behind the counter. "hey," he smiled at her, "nice place you got here. how's business?"

the lady stared at him for a minute and then frowned. "give me a break," she huffed.

(y/n) stifled a laugh as he turned back around. "shut up," he said, playfully hitting her arm. "that was a bad example."

(y/n) scanned the place, and then pointed at a guy on the phone a few feet away. "you see that guy over there? that's a smile," she explained.

the terminator stared at the guy for a minute, and then turned to face them again. he attempted at a smile, but it was more scary than it was friendly.

john winced, and (y/n) brought a hand to her mouth, not being able to control her laughter. "holy shit," she breathed between laughs.

john looked at him for a moment. the terminator was still smiling. "that's good," he assured, patting his arm, "maybe you should practice in front of a mirror or something."

they walked back to the car, (y/n) and john sitting in the front sharing some fries. sarah was in the back with the door open, not facing them. john lifted up his basket of fries and offered them to sarah. she ignored him.

(y/n) looked at john sympathetically, but plucked a fry from his basket. john stepped out of the car, his eyes questioning if (y/n) wanted to come with him. she shook her head and told him she'll be behind him in a minute.

"my name's (y/n), by the way." she gave an unsure smile and continued, "i do really love john, if that means anything. he means a lot to me, y'know. also, i'm not a terminator like you may think," she sighed, "i was fully human once."

she stepped out of the car, and found john. he stood next to the terminator, watching some kids play with fake guns. "we're not gonna make it, are we?" john asked, turning back to face him. "people, i mean."

the terminator watched the kids a bit too. "it's in your nature to destroy yourselves."

john glanced at them again, and sighed. "yeah, major drag, huh?" (y/n) grabbed john's hand in an attempt to make him feel somewhat better.

"i need to know how skynet gets built. who's responsible?" sarah had apparently stepped out of the car not long after (y/n) had.

"the man most directly responsible is miles bennett dyson."

"who is that?" sarah asked, following the terminator after he slammed the hood of the car shut and walked off.

"the director of special projects at cyberdyne's systems corporation."

they got back into the car, john and (y/n) were stuck in the back again. "why him?" sarah turned to face the terminator.

"in a few months, he creates an evolutionary type of microprocessor." the terminator stopped and watched the road.

"go on," sarah pushed, moving her hand in a circular motion for him to continue, "then what?"

"in three years, cyberdyne will become the largest supply of military computer systems. all stealth bombers will be upgraded with cyberdyne computers becoming fully unmanned." he continued to explain things about skynet and the future.

"it becomes aware at 2:14 am EST, August 29th. in a panic, they try to pull the plug." he continued.

"skynet fights back." sarah concluded.

"yes. it launches its missiles against the targets in russia."

"why attack russia? aren't they our friends now?" john asked leaning up towards the terminator.

"because skynet knows that the Russian's counterattack will eliminate it's enemies here."

"jesus," sarah said, throwing her head back against the seat. "how much do you know about dyson?"

"i have detailed files."

"i want to know everything. what he looks like, where he lives, everything."

~

word count: 2619