Disclaimer: I don't own BSG or Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

Summary: The Cycle continues. War threatens the world. Machines rise against Man. Judgment Day draws near. And Kara Thrace's destiny is far from over.

Rating: T - Mainly for violence and language. Also some moderate sexual references.

Pairings: Mostly John/Cameron, but also Kara/OC. Also mentions of Sarah/Kyle.

Other notes: Contains major spoilers for the BSG finale, and a lot of spoilers for TSCC in general. Takes place post BSG finale and after the events of TSCC's "Today is the Day, Part II."

Chapter 1 - Sarah's New Neighbor

All of this has happened before and all of this will happen again.
There is no fate but what we make for ourselves.

Los Angeles, California
May 9, 2009

Another day, another move in the life of Sarah Connor. She and her son were always on the move. As a rule of life, they never remained in one place for very long, as overstaying one's welcome tended to lead to trouble - a fact which they had been painfully reminded of recently.

Riley didn't have to die, Sarah thought sadly. The poor kid may have been trouble, but she was just a pawn. If only we had known the truth sooner...

At that moment, Sarah was packing the last remaining essentials into a cardboard box. She was running behind schedule at the moment, having just finished a heated argument with Derek Reese, John's uncle and a Resistance fighter from the future, and the cyborg girl everyone called Cameron. It had all started when Sarah refused to tell Derek and Cameron exactly where she and John were going. When asked for a reason, Sarah told them what they should have already known: She didn't trust them.

When Derek had begun to protest about being ditched, Sarah explained that neither he nor Cameron were being totally cut out of the loop. She would maintain regular contact with them, and would continue to call on them for assistance when needed. The difference was that they would no longer be in any position to compromise John's safety.

The discussion should have ended right there. Instead, however, the three of them had spent the next twenty minutes arguing back and forth about the "tactical soundness" of Sarah's plan. They probably would have gone on for longer if John hadn't conveniently showed up and asked for Cameron's help in cleaning out the garage. Not wanting to be left alone with an irate Sarah, Derek had suddenly remembered to go back and make sure all the weapons in the house had been accounted for.

Tactical soundness my ass, Sarah silently fumed to herself. Was it tactically sound for Cameron to hide all those endoskeleton pieces? Was it tactically sound for Derek to let his murderous girlfriend run around jeopardizing out security? Explain to me what made all that tactically sound, and then we can talk about my tactical soundness.

Having finished packing the box, Sarah folded the flaps together and lifted it off the ground with both hands. As Sarah walked out the door and began descending the flight of stairs leading to the van, she began wondering if she was really being fair. The truth was that she herself shared some of the blame for all the mishaps they had experienced.

Still, it's better this way - for everyone - John, Derek, Cameron and me, she thought, Besides you can never stay in one place for very long in this world. Especially if you want to save it.

She and John were always running. From the day Sarah had given birth to John, they had been hunted by Skynet, the computer program that would one day declare war on the human race. And likewise Sarah and John had hunted Skynet. The two of them had gone so far as to travel nine years into their future to destroy Skynet before it was born. And of course, Skynet's agents had followed, intent on killing her son and sealing the fate of mankind. Sometimes Sarah felt that she and Skynet were like a dog chasing its own tail in a circle.

Unfortunately, while Sarah was contemplating all this, she failed to watch her step and stumbled midway down the stairs. She managed to keep her balance, but the box flew out of her hands and tumbled the rest of the way down. It finally came to a rest at the bottom of the stairs, but not before releasing its contents all over the pavement.

"Damn it!" Sarah cursed her negligence and scrambled to pick everything up before someone got curious enough to take a look. After all, she didn't want everyone to know about her obsession with homemade explosives. Or for that matter any of her other unusual hobbies.

"Hey, need any help?"

Startled, Sarah looked up and saw a young woman with shoulder-length blond hair looking down at her. Oh crap.

"No thank you," Sarah said hastily as she did her best to block the spilled items from the woman's view. She managed to scoop everything up in her arms and dump them all back in the box. "I'm fine, really." Sarah added as she started to fold the box lids. Unfortunately, the box wouldn't close properly now.

"I just moved into the neighborhood," the blond woman said with a cheerful grin. "And actually, you're the first person I've met here."

"Really? That's funny," Sarah said as she struggled to close the box. "You're actually going to be the last person I meet here."

"You're moving out?" the woman frowned.

"Don't worry. Nothing wrong with the neighborhood. I just got a job in another state," Sarah lied. "I'm afraid I won't be of much help to you. But I'm sure the people over there-" she pointed to a random house on the other side of the street, "-would be more than happy to show you around the place." At the same time, she tried to mentally convey: Please take the hint, lady and go away.

"Well, thanks anyway," the woman smiled before adding. "You sure you don't need help with that box?"

"No - no. I'm fine. Really," Sarah insisted, now losing her patience with both the box and her new neighbor.

As Sarah spoke, she quickly did what Cameron would call a "threat assessment." The woman appeared to be in her late twenties to early thirties, definitely no older than thirty-five. Her face's complexion was naturally flawless without a hint of makeup or any other cosmetics. A pair of hazel green eyes went well with the blond hair and the pale, but healthy skin. Most men would find her quite attractive, despite her somewhat untidy hair and the rather shabby grey sweater and cargo pants she wore. And most importantly, if the woman had noticed or had taken any interest in what was in the box, she clearly wasn't showing it.

Sarah finally gave up trying to get the box closed and decided to properly deal with it later. Lifting the box off the ground, she hurried over to the van and popped open the trunk. Without even bothering to see if there was enough room, she dumped the box inside and slammed the trunk shut.

Sarah turned around and saw that the woman was still standing there. She was certainly persistent. At least she hadn't seen anything.

Sarah gave the woman her best fake smile and pleasantly said, "It was nice meeting you. I'm sorry that we won't be seeing each other again. But I'm sure you'll make a lot of new friends here."

She started walking back towards the house.

"Actually, there is something you could help me with. Are you Sarah Connor?"

Sarah froze in horror, her heart having momentarily stopped. It then started beating again at twice its normal rate. Reflexes and adrenaline kicked in. Every fiber and every nerve in Sarah's body suddenly stood ready for battle. The loaded Browning HP handgun Sarah kept concealed in the waistband of her jeans flew into her hands as she spun around to face her enemy. Within a matter of seconds, Sarah had her weapon trained on the blond woman's head.

The stranger blinked a couple times, but other than that, she did nothing to indicate that she was surprised or frightened.

"I'll take that as a yes," was all she said.

It quickly dawned on Sarah that she shouldn't be seen out in the open like this. She lowered her weapon slightly. After looking around to make sure no one else was watching, Sarah walked up to the woman.

"Let's go have a chat inside, shall we?" Sarah whispered, jabbing the barrel of the gun into the woman's ribs. "Stay in front of me, keep your hands where I can see them, and don't make any sudden movements. Got it?"

"Yeah, I got it. Don't freak out, okay?" the woman said.

"Getting moving, lady," Sarah hissed.

The mystery woman nodded and slowly walked towards the house with Sarah close behind. The moment they were inside, Sarah shut the door and locked it.

"Face the wall, put your hands up against it, and spread your legs," Sarah ordered.

The woman did as she was told. Sarah put her gun back in her pants and started patting the woman down. Once satisfied there was nothing hidden on her, Sarah spun the mystery woman around by the shoulder so that they could see each other face-to-face. She pulled out her weapon again and trained it on the woman's forehead.

"Alright miss, who are you and what do you want?" Sarah growled menacingly. She switched off the safety and tightened a finger around the trigger. "You've got exactly ten seconds to give me a good answer. Start talking now."

"Fair enough," the woman said calmly. "My name's Kara Thrace. And I'm here to help you save the world."

To be continued...