Little else was said on the ride into Los Angeles.

Sarah chewed her nails nervously as evening fell and Pops was the ever quiet sentinel. Neither noticed the life and the buzz of the city around them, but Kyle, born after the world descended into darkness was keenly aware of the manicured lawns, fields of crops, clean water….even stopping for a moment to take in the lights on their descent into the city. It was not the 2017 he remembered. It was one they had dreamed of, those who remembered the world as it was probably dreaming of it more.

Sarah clasped his hand while the engine idled and he broke out of the trance. "Sorry, I just…I was never supposed to see this."

She squeezed his hand and he put the vehicle back into drive and pulled back onto the road.

Kate's apartment was in Silver Lake. She had mentioned it once, during a quiet trip into the city to find a small band of humans who had contacted them after setting up a stronghold inside a network of three townhouses. It had been her first time back and the grief had been written on her face. "This was my home," she said.

Unlike John, she had lived a charmed life before Judgement Day. While she was an extremely strong woman, her softness is what John had sought in the darkness. She was the first thing he'd wanted to see upon returning to base. Their quarters, though small, was a home she had made for them. Faded quilts that she'd pulled from rubble and cleaned were draped over beds and John had taken a small blue china cup from a cupboard once while they were on a supply run. He'd wrapped it gingerly and tucked it inside his flight suit. "For Kate," he'd told him sheepishly, no doubt to add to the mismatched set of dishes she insisted they ate canned beans off of.

Pop's directions took them to a neighborhood that Kyle recognized. As part of TechCom, he and three others had taken cover in the ruins of the now brightly lit Texaco station two blocks back while they set up hidden radio posts throughout the city. "Here," the Terminator said.

The lovely gray brick building had manicured beds with blooms already trying to show themselves in late April. The weather had given them a mild winter and spring, the evenings still had Sarah wrapping a cardigan tightly around herself and belly. "Let's go," she murmured taking the lead.

She peered inside and found the buzzer for "Brewster." Kate hadn't start going by Connor until later in their marriage, around the time their first child was born….around the time John had found him. John had insisted that she keep some distance from him for safety. She had fought with him over it, but the first time John had called her by his last name he had radioed into base and asked snarkily for Katherine Connor. A huge grin split his face when she called him an idiot after he'd called her "Mrs. Connor."

"Hello?"

Kyle swallowed, recognizing her voice. He'd heard it so many times over radio transmissions, but it had been a long time. He stepped forward and cleared his throat. "Kate Brewster?"

"Who's asking?"

He grinned. "I was a friend of John Connor."

There was a long pause and he and Sarah exchanged nervous glances. They both almost wished that name would have no meaning, but Kate's voice was a whisper when she spoke again. "He told you about me?"

Kyle closed his eyes. "Everything."

There was another long pause before they were buzzed in.

TTTTTTTTTT

Sarah had bade Pops to stay with the Jeep, but Kate still regarded them suspiciously between the slit in the door she allowed. Kyle knew she had a handgun in her grasp on the other side of the door. Her gaze softened when she saw Sarah's belly. "You said you knew John?"

"Yeah, uh, we were in the military together," Kyle blurted, remembering John mentioned a stint in the military shortly before meeting Kate. "I'm Kyle Reese."

"And I'm Sarah…Reese."

Kate seemed to drop her guard and held the door open. She laid the handgun on the table next to the door casually and shrugged. "Sorry. Can't be too careful. John was teaching me how to shoot."

She looked exactly as she had when Kyle had met her as a teenager, minus her pregnancy. She was always beautiful, but war and worry for her husband weighed on her. She tried not to let it show publicly, but he'd seen her and John in quiet moments, when John would sneak up behind her and press his face in her hair and knead her back…much like he did with Sarah. They could be standing in the middle of a med tent and Kate would smile and close her eyes and then giggle at something he whispered to her and swat at him. He'd been a little jealous of their relationship, one that had been forged through the fire and a nuclear bunker of all places. He'd told John as much once and the older man had merely smiled and told him, "You will."

He unconsciously grasped Sarah's hand in his own. "We just wanted to make sure you're alright."

Kate nodded and tucked a strand of her auburn hair behind her ear, nervously. "I'm a survivor." She went to the fridge. "Would you like a drink?"

"Could I get a water?" Sarah spoke. She was being unusually quiet, but had been sizing the other woman up curiously.

"How far along are you?"

"Six months." Sarah grimaced and lowered herself onto the sofa and pressed a hand against her side. "The baby's giving me fits today."

"You're carrying high." Kate handed her a water bottle. "A boy?"

"Yes," she whispered.

Kyle spread his hands. "Look, the reason we came – "

A heavy knock interrupted him. "Kyle Reese."

Kate flung open the door and immediately backed up at Pops' intimidating size. "Who are you? How did you get in the building?"

Pops regarded Kate with disinterest before addressing Kyle. "We have company."