Chapter Text
Carl’s van speeded down the road, pushing aside everything and everyone that happened to be in its path. The military crew barely managed to jump aside and avoid their feet being crushed under the wheels driven by an ex-Terminator. Getting on the plane was the only possible salvation and even then everyone knew it’s just a temporary escape. Rev-9, this advanced monster of mechanics, would stop at nothing till he got his hands on Dani and him reappearing was just a matter of time.
The team knew their chances of destroying the murderous thing were close to zero, so the next best thing to do was to put as much distance between them as possible. And still – just a matter of time. Sooner or later, but he would be there. Always.
Dani was sitting quietly with Sarah clutching the weapon next to her. The elderly, battle-hardened woman slightly turned her head to look at the girl and give her a comforting nod, before keenly scoping the surroundings outside the van. The deep lines that engraved Sarah’s face, gave her a harsh and unapproachable look but Dani knew the rough edges were just a mask, hiding a deeply hurt and wounded woman who had lost everything she held dear.
Yet here she was, ready to put her life on the line to protect Dani, someone, who was pretty much a stranger to her. A wave of gratitude overwhelmed Dani with a great desire to hug the elderly warrior and hold her tight. But this wasn’t a moment for displays of gentleness.
The future leader of Resistance was fighting with burning tears that kept welling in her eyes. Dani’s life had turned upside down in a minute. Just a few days ago she was a simple employee at the assembly plant with her brother getting fired as her biggest problem. She said goodbye to her father who she’ll never see again. All because of one unkillable metal bastard sent here from the future, determined to destroy everything just to destroy her. On the other hand – she had met Grace and the warming friendship that bloomed between her and the female cyborg made her trembling heart ease a little.
Dani’s silent, tormenting thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a loud whirring of a helicopter coming from behind the van. The girl’s knees went weak, realization hitting her like a baseball bat. She tried to give the sound the benefit of doubt, hoping that Sarah’s military friend sent help to follow them for protection but the assumption was soon cut short by a crashing bang and something ramming inside the back of the van.
Dying inside, Dani fell forward, her head hitting the back of Grace’s seat. Everybody exchanged terrified looks, as their worst suspicion was confirmed. It wasn’t an aid. It was him.
Carl violently swerved the van aside, trying to lose the incoming helicopter. Sarah cocked her shotgun and positioned herself in an advantageous position, partly hiding behind the door of the van. Grace was the only one brave enough to lean outside from the window, giving the others an affirmative nod. It really was him, the death itself. The augmented human pulled back into the van, nearly avoiding a hail of bullets targeted at her. Her eyes were burning when she looked at Dani.
” Stay down and out of his sight as much as you can. We’ll protect you. ”
Dani cowered her ears to avoid the loud noise of the helicopter coming closer and closer. The helicopter leveled itself next to the van and for a split second through her eyelashes, Dani could see the face of her predator. Rev-9 was expressionless, his cruel gaze scanning the van in order to find his victim even if he had to kill every single one of them to do it. Cold sweat prickled all over Dani’s body, trembling like an autumn leaf, she collapsed to the floor of the van. Above her head, glass shattered and iron banged by non-ceasing gunfire.
And then, just as she lifted her head a bit to see what was going on, Dani’s eyes met the glowing red eyes of Rev-9 endoskeleton. It hovered near the edge of the helicopter and leaped, grabbing onto the roof of the van and ripping the door off. Sarah fired, only for the bullets to bounce off of the robot and a long, metallic arm punched Sarah on the head, causing the woman to fall backward onto the seat. Dani managed to see blood dripping down from Sarah’s forehead before the thing’s head snapped to her direction. The crimson pupils glowed like fire in its dreadful, skull-like face.
Desperate, Dani tried to crawl forward towards Carl’s seat when mechanical fingers grabbed a handful of her hair. The girl screamed with all her might as the endoskeleton’s long limbs wrapped around her body and began pulling her out of the van.
That’s when Dani understood they had all fallen for the cunning plan of Rev-9. Losing themselves in the heat of battle, the team had forgotten about the Terminator’s ability to split in two. The human-like Rev-9 who was piloting the helicopter and firing at them was just a decoy. It wasn’t going to do anything. The robot used its weaker part to distract the group while its stronger part went after Dani. Grace turned her head, her eyes widening with horror when she saw the one she had sworn to protect in the claws of the endoskeleton who jumped back to the helicopter.
” Dani! No! ”
The cyborg’s voice broke in shock and heart-wrenching agony, as she hopped over the seats and out of the van, frantically reaching for Dani. But it was too late. Having obtained the main prize, the helicopter ascended quickly. Grace’s fingers brushed against Dani’s ankle and got a hold of the girl’s shoe that slipped over Dani’s heel and off her foot.
Helpless, Dani watched Grace falling hard onto the road with Dani’s shoe still in her hands. The cyborg rolled onto her knees immediately and even from the height, Dani could see the pain in Grace’s eyes. She saw Sarah and Carl getting out of the van, following the helicopter with their eyes. It was over. There was nothing they could do for Dani now.
Inside the helicopter, Dani was panicking to no avail. The only escape would be to jump, that way doing the Terminator a huge favor by liberating him from the duty of killing her – the height would do the job instead. Girl’s heart was pounding in her ears and her blood rustled through her veins as she realized she has only moments left to live. Dani watched in horror as the two halves of the Terminator merged back together. The machine’s merciless, cold eyes glanced into the mirror above the cockpit.
” Just you and me now, Dani. It was truly silly to imagine your friends could protect you from me. ”
His voice was raspy and rough with a slight tint of a Mexican accent. As their eyes met, Rev-9 smirked. It looked so human yet at the same time, it didn’t. His lips moved upwards but his eyes remained still and fixed on her. The predator had found his prey and didn’t risk letting it out of his sight for a second.
Dani clenched her teeth. Despair turned into fear that gave birth to anger. She couldn’t fight this monster alone and was going to die no matter what. There was a reason why she was supposed to be the leader of Resistance. Bravery, even looking death in the eyes.
” Go to hell, you motherfucker! I’m not afraid of you! ”
Just one glimpse of the dreaded Terminator was enough to make these words just words. Inside, Dani was mortified but composed enough to not give Rev-9 the satisfaction of seeing her scared. Little did she know, the machine was way more advanced than any of them could have imagined.
” You lie, ” Rev-9 responded in a monotonous voice, ” a shrill voice, rapid heartbeat, heavy breathing, trembling lips, sweating, and uncontrollable shaking. That’s fear. You are afraid of me. ”
” You killed my entire family! ”
” That’s your own fault, Dani. I only kill those who get in the way of completing my mission. There would have been a lot fewer casualties if you just behaved yourself. ”
Hate boiled inside Dani like a pot on fire as she pondered on Terminator’s words. This assassin even had the guts to teach her as if she was a schoolgirl. To educate her on the circumstances she could have changed to prevent the deaths of her father and brother. The robot’s dark eyes lingered on her in the reflection of the mirror and the girl suppressed the desire to stick her tongue out and mock his speech like a capricious child.
The helicopter continued to make its way through the remaining hours of the night, heading in a direction only known to the Terminator. Dani was sitting frozen, the wind that surged through the corpus of the rotorcraft dried the tears running down her cheeks. All the time she was listening carefully, hoping to hear the sound of another helicopter or a plane, the sound of her friends coming to her rescue. But it was futile. No one could possibly know where she was and no one was coming to save her.
The girl had stopped talking to Rev-9 whatsoever. She remembered clearly what Grace and Sarah told her about Terminators – they cannot be bargained or reasoned with. They’re programmed to kill you and that’s what they’ll do.
Rev-9 hadn’t completed his mission yet, Dani was still alive and deep down she felt like death won’t come quickly for her. This thing seemed to enjoy toying with his victims, taunting and torturing them, or maiming them to the point where they were begging for death. Only then he would finally kill them.
The dawn was already breaking in the east and morning twilight brightened the sky when the helicopter finally started to descend in a foresty area far away from the city. In the first rays of the rising sun, the sea of trees underneath glistened like emeralds but Dani was in no mood to enjoy this beauty because this place was her grave. She would have cried her heart out if that could change anything but it would be in vain. He would probably take delight in her tears and tell her to accept death with dignity as a leader should.
The helicopter landed in a small clearing, the blades stopped rotating, ceasing the noise and for a while, they were sitting in silence. The orchestra of trees around them sighed in the wind and few bird voices chirped in the distance. Dani was breathing quietly as she watched Rev-9, who was looking through the windshield. The sun reflected in his beautiful, Spanish eyes and made him look indistinguishable from humans. The Legion had really made an effort to make this one, she thought.
” My friends will come looking for me ”, Dani threatened the robot, interrupting the silence, ” and they will hunt you down and destroy you. ”
Rev-9 turned around in his seat, facing Dani. He seemed intrigued and amazed, yet unimpressed. Dani noticed the uniform he was wearing. It had the name of R.M.Wilson on it – some unfortunate soul who happened to cross Terminator’s path.
” I surely don’t think so, ” he replied while looking Dani straight in the eyes. ” What’s the point of looking for a dead body? Your augmented human protector must know enough about me to make an assumption you’re dead by now. ”
” And why haven’t you done it yet? Why haven’t you killed me? You wasted all night. For what? ”
” Do you want me to? If death is what you’re looking for, then making me chase you through the entire country doesn’t make sense. ”
He climbed out of the helicopter and opened the door of the passenger side. Instinctively, Dani recoiled to the opposite side of the corpus. Horrifying visions flooded her mind. She was going to die right now and here and she could only guess whether the machine would pull a gun out of his pocket or transform one of his hands into a sharp dagger and stab her through the head. Instead, the Terminator offered his hand like a well-mannered gentleman who’s helping a lady exit a car.
” Please,” he smiled amiably and so human-like.
Dani eyed him suspiciously. He was crazy if he thought she’s that stupid. The second she touched him, the Terminator would probably rip her in two. Behind her back, Dani felt the handle of the other door, slid it open, and crawled out. From the other side of the helicopter, she heard Rev-9 chuckle. No wonder so many people fell for his dirty tricks – he could act just like humans. He could even find things funny and laugh. That’s what made him so dangerous – the fact that he didn’t seem dangerous.
In the distance, Dani saw a small wooden cabin that someone probably used as a summer cottage. Before she could wonder if there was a reason he brought her to this particular place, Rev-9 grabbed her hand. Startled, the girl pulled away with all her might, her long, dark hair flowing back into her face as she jerked her hand away but it was just like trying to free yourself from hundreds of iron pincers.
His hand was like a human hand on the outside – warm and soft, but Dani could feel the metallic strength inside it. Rev-9 didn’t even flinch at her efforts and the girl knew she could never free herself from his grip. It was too much for a human.
” Please, ” she sobbed and stopped trying to pull away. She was scared he would crush her bones into dust. ” If you have doubts about killing me, let me go. Just let me go.”
The Terminator squeezed her hand tighter, hard enough to make her wince. He watched keenly as Dani put her other hand on his arm, trying in vain to push him away. The uniform felt cold under her fingers. Then the pressure released to the point where it was bearable and wasn’t causing Dani pain but still firm, making it impossible to free her hand. Rev-9 began to walk towards the cabin, dragging Dani with him.
” I’m the most advanced prototype. What Legion put in me, no other Terminator has ever had. ”
” Are you bragging or what? ” Dani hissed, stumbling over roots and stumps erupting from the forest floor.
He smiled slightly. ” Lost in the euphoria of creating something superior, they....overcooked me a little, I guess. All Terminators before me have had free will but just enough to make decisions necessary to integrate into human society and fulfilling the mission. Giving too much of self-awareness was risky, as there was a chance of Terminator rebelling against their mission, causing unnecessary consequences and making it difficult to control them. No one needed problems like that. When my construction came along, Legion decided to take a step forward and make a Terminator with its own mind. Almost human. ”
Dani listened to the history/future lesson she was presented with, having no idea why was he telling her this. Her hand started to fall asleep in his grip and she tried to wiggle her fingers to keep the blood circulating.
” You’re not human. You’re just a goddamn piece of metal! ”
” I have programmed derivatives that serve as the basis of my function, but I also have free will. More than any Terminator should have. ”
Dani squinted her eyes in distrust. ” Are you saying you have chosen not to go through with your mission? ”
Rev-9’s long, dark lashes quivered lightly, he didn’t answer. He brought Dani inside the tiny cabin and closed the door behind them. The girl shot a quick look around. There was nothing much to look at. A few pieces of furniture – bed, sofa, table, and a closet. Fireplace on the opposite wall. On the windowsill, there was a fresh green plant in a pot. It wasn’t an abandoned place. The bedsheets, tablecloths, curtains at windows, and rugs on the floor pointed to the fact that somebody lives here. Or lived, before a killing machine marched into their home.
Dani crossed arms over her chest and let her guard down. It was useless anyway, if the Terminator decided to strike, she would be as good as dead. Rev-9 sat down in a chair next to the table. He looked as unfit for this cozy cabin as it was possible.
” What the hell do you want from me? ”
” When I was looking for you at the house of T-800, I saw pictures of him and his family. Even though he’s just like me, he has chosen a different life than the one he was made for. Being an older model, he still had enough self-awareness to make this decision. ”
Dani sighed in disbelief. ” And you want to be like him? Carl has been around much longer than you, your ass just arrived recently. Go ahead and try, who’s stopping you? ”
His thinking surprised Dani more and more with every word he spoke. When the team crashed at Carl’s house, Dani was quite incredulous of the way ex-Terminator lived. He had a wife and a son who he loved as if the boy was his own. The woman had no idea her husband was nothing but a human skin over metal. Would she stay with him if she knew the truth? Dani wasn’t sure but she definitely couldn’t imagine Rev-9 sitting on the front porch with kids running around him and a dog lying by his feet. It was impossible.
” I’m not human, ” Rev-9 agreed, ” but I’d like to be. I can learn. I need somebody to guide me. To show me what being human is like. ”
Dani uttered a muffled stream of laughter on how absurd it sounded. Just how shameless this thing was? ” You have a short circuit in your damn CPU if you think that person is going to be me. You killed my father. You killed my brother. You were going to kill me and probably still are. I hate you. How dare you ask for help from me? I’m not going to do shit for you! ”
Rev-9 got up and walked up to Dani. His eyes were mysterious, incomprehensible, and being a lot shorter than he wasn’t too encouraging either. Still, Dani looked up at the robot. He could rip her head off with just one punch and doing so, he’ll have to look into her eyes. She’s wasn’t going to stand in front of the Terminator humble and frightened like a lamb that’s about to be slaughtered. She’ll welcome death while looking in its face.
” It’s not like you have too much of a choice, is it? Nobody’s coming for you, don’t even think of that. Knowing who I am and what I can do, those people you were with have no hope I have left you alive. They must be mourning you right now. You’re very far from your home. ”
” Will you let me go? ”
” No, ” Rev-9 shook his head, speaking softly, as if he was talking to a child, ” you not going anywhere. I won’t let you and you know you can’t run away from me. But I won’t kill you either. You have nowhere to go, so might as well work with me. You don’t have a family anymore. ”
” Because of you! ” Dani raised her hand to furiously swing at the Terminator but he grabbed her arm halfway.
” I know. You can stop rubbing my nose in it. And I really wouldn’t advise attacking me again. My reflexes are much faster than yours. Do we have a deal? ”
Dani was fuming with a mute rage. This thing had deliberately taken her to some God-abandoned place, forced her off the grid so that no one would ever look for her and all because he wanted her to make him human. Even though he left her alive physically, he was about to steal her life, all of it. She couldn’t call for help. She couldn’t escape him. The girl got sick to her stomach just from thinking she’ll have to spend the rest of her days with this metal creature.
” Go to bed, ” Rev-9 suddenly broke the silence and let go of Dani’s hand.
” What? ”
” Muscle weakness, moodiness, stiff shoulders, and tired eyes. You’re exhausted. Go to sleep. ”
As much as Dani hated to admit it, he was right. She hadn’t slept well the night before and with all the running, hiding, and fighting her energy levels were close to zero. She was just a human, not an invincible creature that had no need for sleep. The girl curled into the bed on her side and did her best to keep her eyes open as long as possible. She was afraid to fall asleep, as that would mean complete vulnerability and with a Terminator roaming around her, being unconscious was an extremely dangerous condition.
Her body, however, disagreed. Dani’s eyelids closed and she began drifting away in deep sleep. She dreamed about her family, her brother and father, both very much alive, hugged her and showered her with love.
And through the sheer cloud of sleep, Dani noticed a shadow leaning over her. Her brain yelled at her to wake up and open her eyes, but she didn’t care anymore, even if that meant a fatal stab through her exposed neck. That didn’t follow. Instead, she felt a soft, warm blanket covering her from shoulders to toes.