Re: Derek/John
"I saw it with my own eyes, John," he said with a sigh. "Look, you've grown up believing the myth even more than us, but I agree with you, that none of us really knew him, still we knew his actions, better than you, better than your mother. And maybe his motivation was different than we think, but we know what he did and what happened." Derek shook his head. "No, John, that's not what I mean. This was never your war. Fifteen years in the future? That will be your war, and you will grow into it, because you will have no choice. The teenager, the twenty-year old was never meant to lead. I don't think you will lead because of who Connor was, but because you are smart, and you do know plenty, will learn eve more, and you have the personality to deal with the aftermath, the politics. Connor died a little with each lesson we gave you until he's no more, but that doesn't mean that I don't think you have a very important part in our history if you want it. It's just a different one."
Derek leaned closer and kissed John's forehead. "You've had more peace than you think, and I'm glad for that," he murmured.
He smiled, but it wasn't a pleasant smile. "And that's the difference. I won't let it happen. They aren't taking Kyle or you if I can't help it. I don't give a shit what we fuck up, because we've already changed history and maybe that will be the final nail in the coffin in the great Connor's life, but I don't care, because I was never in this to turn anyone into a legend. I'm in this to destroy the machines."
He tilted his head. "So you lied, you broke down, and then you kept going." If anything that seemed to prove the fact that it did work. "You're doing fine without Sherman's help." He got up and shook his head. "And that's where you get it really fucking wrong. I can never separate my life from the machines. Never. There is not a single moment of the day that I don't look at a toaster, a phone, a computer and I don't see the enemy, I don't wait for the day the internet decides to declare war on the humans. The enemy is always metal. You can kill people, but they aren't the enemy, never have been, never will be. They are just casualties of war, whether they are your best friend, your girlfriend, or some random child, in the end, they are just pawns in a much bigger war against a ruthless enemy, so how the fuck do you want me to explain that I'd kill anyone if it helps us destroy Skynet, because Skynet is that dangerous. So if they want me to talk to him, I'll talk to him, because I need that machine to get me home. I will tell him what he wants to hear, what they all want to hear, but my focus hasn't changed at all. Go home, kill the machines. Everything else is secondary."