[SCC] Bequest - Sarah Connor, Kyle Reese - Teen
TITLE: Bequest
SERIES: It’s a Wonderful Life
AUTHOR: indiefic
PAIRING: Sarah Connor/Kyle Reese
RATING: Teen
WORD COUNT: ~1300
WARNINGS: Spoilers for all of season 2.
DISCLAIMER: Don't own 'em. Don't know who does.
TIMELINE: post Judgment Day
NOTES: This is a series of vignettes set post “Born to Run”
NOTES 2: This particular section is set about 6 years before the events of It’s A Wonderful Life.
SUMMARY: They have to make a move, regardless of the risk or there won’t be enough humans left in Century to do anything.
***
Century Work Camp - 2021
***
Sarah sinks down into a crouch, silently reviewing for the hundredth time the rudimentary schematics scratched into the dirt. They aren’t complete. Some of their intel is very, very sketchy. But they can’t afford to wait any longer. They have to make a move, regardless of the risk or there won’t be enough humans left in Century to do anything.
She looks up in time to see Reese approach, flanked by four of their most trusted soldiers, Velasquez, Shanks, Keller and Hyun. “We’re ready,” Reese says, meeting her eyes with a quiet intensity.
She pushes herself up to stand, brushing off her hands. Reese gives the others a sidelong glance and they all take the hint and retreat, leaving him alone with Sarah in the remains of what used to be a service corridor under Century City Mall. She and Kyle are the undisputed leaders here, it’s understandable that they would need to confer in private. But it makes Sarah uneasy.
She looks away, down at the floor, anywhere but at Kyle. He watches her with that same intensity that another Kyle, her Kyle, watched her so many years ago. This isn’t right. And it isn’t just the age difference. Yeah, so she’s forty-six and he’s nineteen, but in this world that’s all burned to hell, that hardly matters. Except that it matters to her. Because she shouldn’t be old enough to be his mother. She shouldn’t have been the one to teach him how to pound those metal motherfuckers into junk.
She shouldn’t have to mourn the loss of their son alone.
“Hey,” he says softly, stepping closer. He takes her hand. He’s getting bolder. For years he just used to watch her. But he’s a man now. And he obviously knows that she’s noticed.
She looks down at their intertwined fingers. Even knowing how wrong it is, how wrong everything is, she can’t help but take pleasure in this. She missed him for so long. She looks up, tracing his features with her eyes. But this isn’t her Kyle. This is just another boy she failed.
He reaches out and cups her cheek gently in his hand. “Sarah,” he says softly, leaning forward, pressing his forehead to hers.
She allows the contact, her eyes fluttering shut with the sweet, forbidden pleasure of it.
“We’re going to get out of here,” he says.
She nods, but wonders if it’s true. Though she spent a lifetime drilling the legend of John Connor into her son, she finds it almost impossible to emulate his accomplishments. Maybe she’s too hardened, too closed off to be able to rally people like John could. Maybe she’s too set in her ways, too inflexible to innovate like him. Maybe it’s just that she’s Sarah Connor, not John Connor, and that only John Connor is capable of accomplishing those feats.
But she still tries. She has to. Or else there’s no point to any of this. She told John she’d stop it. She already failed at that. Failed John. She can’t fail at this too. Kyle Reese has to make it out of Century Work Camp alive.
She opens her eyes and pulls back, looking at Kyle with a sad smile. “I have something for you.”
Kyle’s eyebrows raise in surprise. She feels bad about that. She knows that he understands on some level that their attraction is mutual. But she also knows that she keeps him at arm’s length. If she gave him just a little encouragement, they would probably be lovers. But she just … can’t.
Sarah lifts her hands to the collar of the military issue shirt she wears. Her fingers feel awkward, clumsy as she undoes one button and then another. Kyle watches intently. She can hear the pace of his breathing increase.
Sarah reaches in her shirt and grabs the chain. In a fluid motion, she pulls the watch out of her shirt and the chain from around her neck. She takes Kyle’s hand and presses the pocket watch into his palm, curling his fingers around it, holding his hand in both of hers.
“What is it?” he asks.
Her lips curve into a sad smile. “It’s the only thing I have left of the person who meant the world to me.” She looks up at him, watching him watching her. “You should have it.”
He opens his mouth, but then closes it again and nods. Together, they slip the chain over his head and the pocket watch slides under his shirt, against his skin. Sarah presses her hand to his chest, feeling the weight of the pocket watch through the worn fabric.
The pad of his thumb brushes over her cheek and he says, “You look so sad.”
She presses her lips together wondering what he thinks. Does he think she mourns an old lover? That would kill her. Kyle Reese is the only man she ever loved without reservation. He will always have her heart. But he’s right. She is sad, heartbroken. Losing Kyle nearly killed her. But losing John … it did kill something inside of her. Something she can never get back. She’s afraid there’s not enough left of her heart to fight for humanity.
He takes a breath and his hands find her hips, pushing her back against the wall. Her fingers fist in the material of his shirt. He presses a kiss to her temple and she can feel the warm heat of his breath, the urgent press of his body against hers.
“We’re going to get out of here, Sarah,” he says. There’s a promise in those words, an anticipation.
She looks up at him and nods, but it’s a lie. If they both manage to make it out of here alive, it won’t be the new beginning he’s hoping for. It will be the end. He’s a man now, one hell of a soldier. He doesn’t need her to keep him safe. And the only reason she knows she still has a heart at all is that it breaks every time she looks at him.
He whispers her name again and Sarah silences him with a kiss. He’s hesitant at first, careful, waiting to see if she’s going to reconsider. But she’s not going to. Not now. She kisses him harder, nips at his lips, coaxing him to open his mouth. He does and she teases her tongue against his.
His intake of breath is sharp and one of his hands grips her hip tightly while the other threads through her hair. His reserve fades completely and he pins her to the wall with his body, pressing hot, urgent kisses to her jaw, her neck, the exposed skin of her upper chest.
Sarah blindly fumbles with the rest of the buttons of her shirt, quickly shrugging out of the garment before pulling Kyle’s over his head and tossing it away. She feels the cool metal of the pocket watch against her chest, but she’s not going to think about that right now.
***
Later, she watches him sleep. He’ll need it. Tonight’s the night they get out of here - or die trying. The pocket watch rests against his chest and she covers it gently with her hand.
“I love you, Kyle,” she whispers. “I always have.”
[end section]
Note: The ages. In "Born to Run", Aldrich says that Sarah "looks 34" in 2009, so by that token, in 2021, she's just forty-six which makes the age difference between her and Kyle a bit dodgy maybe, but not squicky or illegal. According to me ;)
SERIES: It’s a Wonderful Life
AUTHOR: indiefic
PAIRING: Sarah Connor/Kyle Reese
RATING: Teen
WORD COUNT: ~1300
WARNINGS: Spoilers for all of season 2.
DISCLAIMER: Don't own 'em. Don't know who does.
TIMELINE: post Judgment Day
NOTES: This is a series of vignettes set post “Born to Run”
NOTES 2: This particular section is set about 6 years before the events of It’s A Wonderful Life.
SUMMARY: They have to make a move, regardless of the risk or there won’t be enough humans left in Century to do anything.
***
Century Work Camp - 2021
***
Sarah sinks down into a crouch, silently reviewing for the hundredth time the rudimentary schematics scratched into the dirt. They aren’t complete. Some of their intel is very, very sketchy. But they can’t afford to wait any longer. They have to make a move, regardless of the risk or there won’t be enough humans left in Century to do anything.
She looks up in time to see Reese approach, flanked by four of their most trusted soldiers, Velasquez, Shanks, Keller and Hyun. “We’re ready,” Reese says, meeting her eyes with a quiet intensity.
She pushes herself up to stand, brushing off her hands. Reese gives the others a sidelong glance and they all take the hint and retreat, leaving him alone with Sarah in the remains of what used to be a service corridor under Century City Mall. She and Kyle are the undisputed leaders here, it’s understandable that they would need to confer in private. But it makes Sarah uneasy.
She looks away, down at the floor, anywhere but at Kyle. He watches her with that same intensity that another Kyle, her Kyle, watched her so many years ago. This isn’t right. And it isn’t just the age difference. Yeah, so she’s forty-six and he’s nineteen, but in this world that’s all burned to hell, that hardly matters. Except that it matters to her. Because she shouldn’t be old enough to be his mother. She shouldn’t have been the one to teach him how to pound those metal motherfuckers into junk.
She shouldn’t have to mourn the loss of their son alone.
“Hey,” he says softly, stepping closer. He takes her hand. He’s getting bolder. For years he just used to watch her. But he’s a man now. And he obviously knows that she’s noticed.
She looks down at their intertwined fingers. Even knowing how wrong it is, how wrong everything is, she can’t help but take pleasure in this. She missed him for so long. She looks up, tracing his features with her eyes. But this isn’t her Kyle. This is just another boy she failed.
He reaches out and cups her cheek gently in his hand. “Sarah,” he says softly, leaning forward, pressing his forehead to hers.
She allows the contact, her eyes fluttering shut with the sweet, forbidden pleasure of it.
“We’re going to get out of here,” he says.
She nods, but wonders if it’s true. Though she spent a lifetime drilling the legend of John Connor into her son, she finds it almost impossible to emulate his accomplishments. Maybe she’s too hardened, too closed off to be able to rally people like John could. Maybe she’s too set in her ways, too inflexible to innovate like him. Maybe it’s just that she’s Sarah Connor, not John Connor, and that only John Connor is capable of accomplishing those feats.
But she still tries. She has to. Or else there’s no point to any of this. She told John she’d stop it. She already failed at that. Failed John. She can’t fail at this too. Kyle Reese has to make it out of Century Work Camp alive.
She opens her eyes and pulls back, looking at Kyle with a sad smile. “I have something for you.”
Kyle’s eyebrows raise in surprise. She feels bad about that. She knows that he understands on some level that their attraction is mutual. But she also knows that she keeps him at arm’s length. If she gave him just a little encouragement, they would probably be lovers. But she just … can’t.
Sarah lifts her hands to the collar of the military issue shirt she wears. Her fingers feel awkward, clumsy as she undoes one button and then another. Kyle watches intently. She can hear the pace of his breathing increase.
Sarah reaches in her shirt and grabs the chain. In a fluid motion, she pulls the watch out of her shirt and the chain from around her neck. She takes Kyle’s hand and presses the pocket watch into his palm, curling his fingers around it, holding his hand in both of hers.
“What is it?” he asks.
Her lips curve into a sad smile. “It’s the only thing I have left of the person who meant the world to me.” She looks up at him, watching him watching her. “You should have it.”
He opens his mouth, but then closes it again and nods. Together, they slip the chain over his head and the pocket watch slides under his shirt, against his skin. Sarah presses her hand to his chest, feeling the weight of the pocket watch through the worn fabric.
The pad of his thumb brushes over her cheek and he says, “You look so sad.”
She presses her lips together wondering what he thinks. Does he think she mourns an old lover? That would kill her. Kyle Reese is the only man she ever loved without reservation. He will always have her heart. But he’s right. She is sad, heartbroken. Losing Kyle nearly killed her. But losing John … it did kill something inside of her. Something she can never get back. She’s afraid there’s not enough left of her heart to fight for humanity.
He takes a breath and his hands find her hips, pushing her back against the wall. Her fingers fist in the material of his shirt. He presses a kiss to her temple and she can feel the warm heat of his breath, the urgent press of his body against hers.
“We’re going to get out of here, Sarah,” he says. There’s a promise in those words, an anticipation.
She looks up at him and nods, but it’s a lie. If they both manage to make it out of here alive, it won’t be the new beginning he’s hoping for. It will be the end. He’s a man now, one hell of a soldier. He doesn’t need her to keep him safe. And the only reason she knows she still has a heart at all is that it breaks every time she looks at him.
He whispers her name again and Sarah silences him with a kiss. He’s hesitant at first, careful, waiting to see if she’s going to reconsider. But she’s not going to. Not now. She kisses him harder, nips at his lips, coaxing him to open his mouth. He does and she teases her tongue against his.
His intake of breath is sharp and one of his hands grips her hip tightly while the other threads through her hair. His reserve fades completely and he pins her to the wall with his body, pressing hot, urgent kisses to her jaw, her neck, the exposed skin of her upper chest.
Sarah blindly fumbles with the rest of the buttons of her shirt, quickly shrugging out of the garment before pulling Kyle’s over his head and tossing it away. She feels the cool metal of the pocket watch against her chest, but she’s not going to think about that right now.
***
Later, she watches him sleep. He’ll need it. Tonight’s the night they get out of here - or die trying. The pocket watch rests against his chest and she covers it gently with her hand.
“I love you, Kyle,” she whispers. “I always have.”
[end section]
Note: The ages. In "Born to Run", Aldrich says that Sarah "looks 34" in 2009, so by that token, in 2021, she's just forty-six which makes the age difference between her and Kyle a bit dodgy maybe, but not squicky or illegal. According to me ;)