Author's Notes: This is indeed a much darker more twisted interpretation of what TSCC could have turned into. If you are looking for an, "everyone rides happily off together into the sunset" fan fic, this is not the story for you. Instead I want the reader(s) to ask themselves, "How far would I be willing to go for the person I love most?"

I've put together a few trailers that better lay out where this story is headed:

Trailer 1:

w w w . y o u t u b e . c o m /watch?v=OozSIV4PgxA

Trailer 2:

w w w . y o u t u b e . c o m /watch?v=WsNMx8BXS5M

.

.

.

Terminator

Retribution

"Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned…"

-William Congreve

Chapter 1

The concrete floor was cold and rough. The dimly lit underground room was barren. Apart from some rubble in the corner, which had undoubtedly been caused by some sort of attack or explosion, the room had little else inside of it. A dimly lit light bulb provided the only illumination. Low rumbling explosions could be felt as they reverberated throughout the area and shook the hard rock like walls. With every close detonation the light bulb flickered to different stages of dimness.

John felt a tired numbness about him as he sat on the floor leaning up against the dust covered wall. His hazel eyes twitched slightly as yet another distant explosion shook dust from the walls. He felt the vibration from the explosion travel down the wall and through his body. Another slight shiver ran up his spine as the cool air around caused goose bumps to form on his arms. The darkly colored, tattered, and torn pants and the button down long sleeve shirt that the soldiers had provided did little to insulate him from the elements.

John sighed, a long and heavy sigh as he allowed his head to drop back against the wall. The situation was not at all as he had expected. The first surprise had come when John realized that Cameron's body did not travel through time. Although Catherine Weaver's brief explanation, did make perfect sense it did not help to quell that particular disturbing realization.

The next surprise came shortly after he was discovered. While it was completely understandable that Catherine Weaver might briefly disappear due to the present circumstances it was still disturbing. Nevertheless, John had expected her to make some sort of contact with him in the time following their discovery. Yet, hours had past and she had not. No one had. John had been locked in this small room for the past several hours with absolutely no contact with anyone.

Both of these realizations paled in comparison, however, to what John considered to be one of the most heart wrenching moments of his life. It was moments after he saw her. For a brief second he had believed that everything would be alright. Cameron was there and apparently helping the resistance. She would explain everything to them. But, immediately after carefully looking at her, John realized that this was not Cameron. No, it was definitely not her. While they might look identical these were two entirely different people. John had felt the sheer horror grow as he reluctantly accepted the truth.

For an unknown reason John had still hoped that this "human" Cameron would somehow be able to help him or at least understand what he was attempting to explain. But this soon proved to be another unpleasant surprise to befallen him. This girl, this, Alison had no empathy for him. Of course he could not honestly expect her to care about him. There was really no good explanation for a random, clean, well nourished, and clean shaven, young male to be wandering around these tunnels completely naked.

Kyle and Derek obviously thought the worst as John's attempted explanations progressed. John wasn't even exactly sure what he should attempt to tell them. None of it really made sense. None of it could. And the truth itself would have sounded far more like a lie. After dragging him through the hallways at gunpoint and listening to his strained excuses the consensus of most of the group, including Derek, Kyle and Alison was that John was a Gray or something else equally unpleasant that John had never heard of before.

Hours had passed inside this room and the faint hope that Catherine Weaver would appear to provide even a small amount of information about Cameron, John Henry or the situation as a whole faded as every minute slipped by. John had begun to believe that his father and uncle might just leave him in that room to die. He knew that even in the "correct" timeline the resistance had very little material resources and John assumed they had even less now. They were unlikely to waste much on him, especially if they believed he was some sort of machine traitor. John sighed once again as he stared up at the dirty ceiling. Another low rumble caused more dust to be shaken from the walls.

Just then he heard a creak and the wooden and metal door at the front of the small room was pulled open. There was a momentary delay before both Derek and Kyle Reese emerged through the doorway, followed closely by a soldier holding a plasma rifle. It was in fact the same soldier who had located him in the hallways just hours earlier. John suspected this particular soldier still looked all too eager to use his rifle on him. After a moment of silence Derek finally spoke,

"I'm going to ask you again…Why are you here?" There was an unmistakably cold, angry tone behind Derek's voice. John frantically searched his mind still attempting to formulate some sort of reasonable explanation for the circumstances and still not being able to come up with much. Finally he spoke,

"I told you, I got lost…Some men…they cornered me and took everything I had…including my clothes." John figured that no matter what future he was in crime would be rampant, especially among "tunnel rats" so this seemed as likely an excuse as any. However, Derek shook his head.

"No, tunnel rat is as clean, or well fed as you." There was anger behind Derek's voice as he spoke.

"Did Skynet send you?" Kyle quickly retorted after Derek finished speaking.

"No…" John replied promptly, with certain earnestness in his voice, "Skynet didn't send me here."

"Then what faction are you with?" A third very familiar yet cold voice asked. John flicked his eyes to the left as Alison emerged yet again from the darkness behind Kyle. Given his initial reaction to her in the tunnel, it did not surprise John at all that they had brought her to interrogate him further. Yet it was the question that perplexed him.

"Faction?" He asked. Here was a term he had never heard before. Not from his uncle, Cameron or anyone else that he had known until now.

"I know you're not with us." Kyle stated as he stared at John, "Is the Northwest faction making a move on us again." Still extremely confused John responded,

"No, I'm not with them, I'm not with anyone."
"You have to be with someone." Alison quickly shot back, "If you're not with the Northwest Faction, then who are you with?"

"Nobody…I swear." John replied attempting to garner some sympathy from Alison, even though he knew he would more than likely receive none. Derek sighed, and then spoke,

"This is getting old…"

"I say we kill him…" The young soldier standing next to Derek quickly stated. John felt his heart drop into his stomach as the group stared at him.

"Well…He won't tell us anything." Kyle replied and then continued, "We can't trust him, and he's not much good to us."

"He's not even that good looking." Alison replied with a cold smirk on her face. Kyle rolled his eyes and chuckled slightly. John's emotions recoiled at Alison's insult. While she was not Cameron the overwhelming similarity was still nearly too much for him to handle.

Derek continued to stare at John with an icy look in his eyes.

"I'm going to ask one more time, who are you with?" Derek again asked, more anger in his voice this time around, "Skynet?...The Northwest?...Who?" John was becoming more desperate.

"I told you, I'm not with anyone." Derek shook his head.

"Screw it…" He replied as he turned and then stated in a cold and callous voice. "He's no good to us…Kill him…" John felt as if his heart stopped for a moment as he watched Kyle, his father, and Alison turn away from him. The soldier who had been standing next to Derek produced an almost evil grin, took a half step forward towards John and began to raise his rifle. John couldn't believe it. Was this how it was supposed to end? Nothing that he had ever been taught or told could have led him to the conclusion that he would die in such a pointless manner such as this. As John heard the safety on the rifle click off he searched his mind for something, anything that might help him. Then suddenly it came to him.

"Martin Bedell!" John almost shouted the name out. Upon hearing this utterance Alison quickly snapped around, almost if something had hit her.

"What?" She replied with a subtle yet obvious emotional tone behind her voice. Still aiming his rifle at John the soldier glanced over at Derek and Kyle who had also turned at this point. Derek raised his hand slightly gesturing for the soldier to put down his weapon. Alison stepped back towards John.

"What do you know about him?" John raised his eyebrows slightly. There was something in the tone of Alison's voice that suggested feelings far beyond curiosity. This surprised John, and he did not immediately answer. Alison scowled at him,

"WHAT, do you know about him?" She began to take another step towards John, but Kyle quickly grabbed her by the arm pulling her back slightly. Alison whipped her head around towards Kyle, glaring at him. Kyle shook his head ever so slightly in a "no" fashion. She relaxed somewhat and stepped back.

"What do you know about Bedell?" Derek asked in a jaded tone of voice. John was quickly beginning to wonder if he had chosen the right course of action. Obviously this group knew Martin well. Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing remained to be seen. John decided that he had to take a chance. Even given his limited knowledge of Martin, John considered himself a pretty good judge of character (at least at times). He guessed that it was still more than likely that knowing Martin would be considered a good thing even in this "alternate" future. John finally spoke,

"I'm with Bedell….I'm with Martin Bedell." John watched as Alison clenched her jaw again continued to stare at him. If it were possible, it appeared she hated him even more now than before. An eerie silence fell over the room for a brief moment before Derek finally spoke,

"Alright kid…we'll see how this plays out." Before Derek could begin another sentence a second soldier came bursting through the door. The thin, fair skinned male with black hair and green eyes was nearly out of breath.

"Sir we found one." Derek jerked his head back over towards the soldier.

"What did you find Spears?"

"A machine…a skin job…"

"What? Where?" Kyle asked quickly with a palpable degree of concern in his voice.

"South side corridors." Spears responded as Derek, Kyle and Alison began to move towards the door. Derek looked back over at the young soldier who was still looking very eager to kill John.

"You, watch him!" Derek responded as he pointed at John and then quickly moved out of the door with his brother and Matthew Spears. Alison also moved towards the door, but then stopped for a moment at the exit, and turned around to look at John.

"If you're lying about Martin…" She hesitated for a moment, "I'll kill you myself." Alison then disappeared through the doorway leaving John alone in the room with one disappointed and solitary soldier.