Some of you right now are saying "AGAIN!" and some of you are saying "What the hell is this? Is this connected to his other stories?" the answer to that is a no.

What this is, is strictly for me … What some of you may not know is that this is one of the very first things I ever wrote for TSCC in spring of 2008. There aren't a lot of people anymore who were here in the fandom who remember what the early days were like. With the unsure understanding of where the characters were going and how fanfiction was back then while the show was running. I'm not saying this is the first story out there, but this is one of the first Jameron serials that dealt with a Post Series setting before the show was even picked up for a second season.

Now some of you are wondering why I'm going to post this, because it's not up to date, it's not to caliber of how I write now. But I want to post this, because it is the very first thing I ever wrote and it's important to me.

The Characters might not be just right, and you might find inconstancies with some things. But Remember this very first chapter was written after Season one and the rest of the story was written half way through season two. It's been mostly untouched, reedited with no add on. The Author's notes are the old ones from when this was posted, so disregard them if you want.

Welcome to the year 2008.

Happy to be Stuck with You

The rain was coming down in a torrential downpour that night, on a medium two story house outside of the city of Los Angeles. The big, fat drops slammed against a blue jeep as it made its way into the gravel driveway. Skidding to a halt, the two occupants quickly made their way to the front porch in a sprint trying to avoid being soaked in the unexpected rainstorm. Their attempts were fruitless; however, as both woman and man were sopping wet as they reached the front door.

Sarah Connor swore loudly as the wind picked up, bringing the once straight falling rain into a slant, leading the cold water right to her and her companion, Derek Reese. He tried to stifle a laugh into a snicker at Sarah's reaction to the sudden "shower" they were receiving, as he blocked the wind and rain for Sarah with his body. In Derek's opinion, the rain felt good, as where he came from clean rain water (or as clean as rain water in L.A. can get) was a blessing.

The two got into house after five minutes of fumbling with keys, then dropping them on the floor, then accidentally kicking them under the porch bench, where Sarah hit her head on the seat of the bench when she bent down to get said keys. Then, snapping the back of her head into the front of Derek's, leading to a swollen nose and five minutes of bickering. At that moment, both decided to get the keys, bumping their heads together, causing Derek to fall back and lie there until Sarah grabbed the keys and unlocked the door. She then came back to help him, only to pull too hard, which lead to him bumping his head under the bench, to which he yelled in frustration, "Stop helping me!"

As the door closed, both slumped against opposite ends of the doorway, breathing heavily in the dark house. There were a few moments of silence before a small chuckle turned into a full on laugh from Derek's side of the wall. A flash of lightning showed Derek rubbing the back of his head, laughing. "Funny Derek," he said through small, sob-like chuckles. Shaking her head, Sarah couldn't hide the huge grin on her face and gave a small half laugh, half sigh, "Jackass."

Despite Sarah's throbbing head, she and Derek's little Marx Brothers routine was just what she had needed. Since stopping Skynet, things had been a bit dull. In fact things had gotten so dull that the highlight of the last six months was that she had dyed her hair golden blond and let it grow out. The result was that it was hard to keep Derek off her, which in truth she found it telling about his personality when it came to long blond curls and his libido.

The truth was that thing had been slow for a while now since two years ago when John and Cameron took off on their own. The way they left was almost as painful as the reason they left. Though she talks to both now on the phone every couple of days, but it wasn't the same between the couple and her.

She had been finding herself spending more and more time with Derek and vice versa. She would never admit it, but she missed the old days when she had a purpose. Now she spent most days screwing around town with Derek (or screwing Derek), or listening to police scanners to beat on rapists and muggers, but it didn't bring the same closure as blasting metal or infiltrating billion dollar tech businesses, or the pleasure of listening to John's smartass comments. She even missed Cameron, who she had unofficially accepted as a daughter figure. Sometimes in the mornings she could hear the psychobabble of an argument between John and Derek about Cameron eating all the good bagels because she knew it pissed him off. The truth was she did, but would never admit it.

Now their home was an empty nest and it made her deeply sad.

Derek sensed Sarah's oncoming depression and moved quickly to stop it. "How about I make some coffee and you go change out of those clothes?"

Sarah looked as if she could cry. "Alright."

As Sarah made her way up the darkened stairs he called out, "Hey, I miss them, too."

She stopped and gave a small smile before continuing up the stairs.

Derek had been able to read her more and more, and it was no longer freaking her out nor was it awkward. Instead it brought comfort and a sense of peace to know that she had someone, even if they were not the typical romantics, per se. They love each other, and they had one another through the lonely times. That's what counted in her book.

Walking down the hall of the darkened house Sarah noticed something that iced her heart to the core.

One of the doors in the spacious four bedroom house was open. It was a door that hadn't been opened for almost two years.

It took her several minutes just to walk toward it as every fiber of her being fought not to go inside the room, but it was just something she couldn't help but do. With ginger footsteps like she was walking on egg shells she entered the empty room.

The smell of neglect and dust lingered in the air as she stood in the doorway and looked around. The room's once ocean blue walls looked black in the dark dusk of the fading day. A shelf of stuffed animals and toddler books fit to the far wall near a closed closet door. A baby changing station was present, close to the entrance where a half bag of dusty diapers sat next to a box of baby wipes which were now so dried out they looked like paper towels.

What Sarah couldn't take her eyes off of was the now off white crib under the only window of the nursery. Derek had put it there so that the little occupant could watch the stars if he wanted too other than the hanging mobile of mounted knights above the crib.

Driven by a phantom knee jerk reaction to check inside the little bed, Sarah walked toward it. With every step into the nursery dust from the unkept carpet floated up and clung to the beautiful woman's boots.

She stopped in front of the crib and looked down on the powder blue bedding that was caked with dust and a linen covered pillow stained with small marks of uncleaned pools of drool.

With a small sniffle she reached down to touch the pillow but stopped inches from the fabric as if there was an invisible wall keeping her at bay. Her hand lingered momentarily over the bassinet before she returned it back to her side.

She squeezed her eyes shut momentarily causing several of her tears to stain the miniature pillow.

With one last sniffle she walked to the end of the room no longer being able to take the reawakened pain in her heart.

She gripped the door knob and gave the room one last heartbroken look around.

"Goodnight baby …Where ever you are."

With that she closed the door.

Sarah came down the stairs several minutes later in her lounge/training clothes, but to her slight annoyance all the lights were still off in the house and it was quiet except for the rain pattering on the windows. "I'm not playing one of your training games," she called out at the pitch black, but she received no answer.

Starting a year ago Derek had decided to start sparring matches with Sarah when she least expected, trips to the bathroom excluded. This was in the hopes of breaking the dull boredom that they were feeling as well as keeping their reflexes up. "Derek, quite your shit and make the damn coffee," she said, but still had no answer.

Sighing, she made her way to the kitchen, prepared to further beat the crap out of Derek when he jumped out at her. However a flash of lighting in the living room showed Sarah an unconscious Derek in the middle of the floor. Sarah was in such a state of shock that she failed to see the man behind her, dressed in a ritualistic cloak and a skull headpiece, raising a Billy club to knock her out.

Austin, Texas

4 Days Later

The wind was biting cold that late afternoon as day laborers worked tiredly, smashing rocks and clearing the land for the new toll road that the state government was building in the capital city and outlying areas. Among the tired construction workers was a twenty five-year-old young man heaving a sledgehammer onto a block of chalky white stone.

This young man was the only person among the tired workers who was actually enjoying himself. For years John Connor had lived in an inescapable future as the leader of humanity in a genocidal war against machines that would kill every man, woman, and child of its enemy. But with that future erased, he was no longer trapped by it and with the unknown ahead of him for the first time John felt free of the inevitability of his youth. So for the last two years he had traveled the country, as well Europe, just enjoying the freedom of the road and the unknown.

The soft crunching of gravel, that was almost inaudible to all who were not trained by their mothers to fight cyborgs from the future, made a smile break out over John's face. "How's the bulldozing coming Cam?" John brought the hammer down one more time, breathing a sigh. His breath could be clearly seen in the cold air. He turned to face a beautiful, brunette in a hardhat, and despite the weather she wore only a white tank top, black fatigues and combat boots. Cameron Phillips Connor, the former cyborg assassin turned protector of John Connor, now travel companion and wife of two months, gave him a smile, knowing she couldn't sneak up on him like she used to.

Cameron Phillips Connor had been by John's side for two years now, never leaving him, going everywhere he went. She traveled half the world with him, visiting places like New York City, London, Rome and Paris. She learned just how gorgeous the world could be and treasured all the memories John and she made on those trips.

"It's time to go home, John," said Cameron in a monotone voice.

John sighed again, putting down his hammer and pulling his work gloves off. "Let's go then," he said, shoving the gloves into the pocket of his hooded sweatshirt. Walking hand in hand, they moved toward the contractor's trailer. As they entered the warm and cozy space, they were greeted by a pretty, petite blond standing over a long table staring at construction plans.

"Hey Becky, Me and the Mrs. are rabbiting," John said, throwing his thumb at the door.

"Leaving me so soon, handsome?" The blond said in a thick Texas accent, batting her eyes at him. John felt Cameron's grip tighten on his hand possessively, which brought a small grin to his face.

"Well, I guess you kiddos want your pay," said Becky, going into the back room.

John turned around to face Cameron, who now had a frown of jealousy. He gave a small laugh and placed a chaste kiss on her nose, melting the disapproving frown on contact. The former Tech-Com officer had observed that Cameron had always had a hard time showing emotion, but when she was feeling love or jealousy the whole world would know it. They locked eyes for a moment, lost in each other's loving gaze, which seemed to be happening more and more since the wedding. It was in these moments that Cameron had started to realize that John had lost all of his boyish looks and had been replaced by the face of a handsome yet hardened man. Especially with his stubble and spiky hair, John looked nothing like the unsure fifteen-year-old she met in New Mexico and more like the man who mentored her in 2027.

There intimate moment, however, was cut short by Becky returning to the room counting the money out loud. "648, 649, and 650! There's your weekly pay. 650 each." Becky handed both of them their money.

Cameron began recounting the money herself while John gave a grateful smile at the contractor.

"Thanks." Not knowing what to do at the moment, John had an awkward moment staring at Becky with a stupid smile, as Becky looked him over like a piece of meat.

"You be careful, Cammy, I just might steal tall, dark and handsome from you." The older woman's words took the awkwardness John had been feeling to a brand new level as he gave a nervous laugh.

Then with all the bluntness of a shotgun Cameron answered in deadpan, "Over my dead body." John turned with a look of half fear, half shock at Cameron as she looked intensely at the blond.

There was a tense silence before the older women gave a belly laugh. "Whoo-wee, your bride's a spitfire! You know that, Grayson?"

John let out a silent sigh of relief. "It's what I love about her," said John, wrapping his arm around Cameron's waist and leading her out the door as fast as he could. "Have a good weekend, Beck," John called out as the trailer door closed.

Both John and Cameron stood outside of the trailer in silence. Cameron looked suddenly guilty for her lack of restraint, but there was just something about blonds and John that made her malfunction. The girl fully expected to get a lecture from John about humor and sarcasm, but instead she got an amused wolfish grin. "I should start warning people about your temper," said John, giving Cameron a playful push.

"I'm sorry, John. I didn't mean to make trouble," The machine apologized with a disappointed face.

"Trouble? That wasn't trouble, Angel. Trouble was in Paris when you insulted that owner by listing the health code violations that her five-star restaurant was breaking, Trouble was calling mom from Amsterdam to ask her if I could use her as a reference so I could apply for a blowjob. Thanks for that, by the way" John said sarcastically.

He sighed hopelessly at his wife and her innocent eyes as he removed her hard hat and putting an arm around her shoulders, he led them to their motorcycle.

When they reached the motorcycle, John grabbed both their jackets resting on the seat. "Here's Wooby," John smiled, handing Cameron her prized purple leather jacket. Cameron took her jacket, and gave a blank look that told him that she was not amused.

Cameron never use to understand why John named her jacket Wooby, like a small child's stuffed animal, but then he explained that it was like her security blanket. To which she said this was false, because he was her security blanket. Cameron also stated that John had the same strange attachment to his weathered brown leather jacket, which was given to him by Sarah who had worn it the first time Cameron met her in 1999. John also addressed this as symbol of his mentor and teaching, sort of like how martial arts students would wear the symbol of their former masters.

John and Cameron put on their jackets and mounted the bike. "How about after a shower and a change we spend some of this cashy money on somewhere with a view for dinner?" John said, looking back at Cameron who was putting on some goggles that made her look to cute for words.

"That sounds lovely," said Cameron, kissing John on the cheek. John started up the motorcycle and put on his helmet, closing his visor he drove into the Texas evening.

After a detour through downtown Austin to get a feel of the night life and to see the cities recently put up Christmas decorations, they finally reached their apartment by the Colorado River. After three flights of steps, both came to their front door and found an envelope jammed into the crack of the doorway. Cameron pulled it out and examined it before John took it. "Advertisements," he said, annoyed.

It amazed John the amount of door-to-door salesmen and Mormons that came by at all hours of the day. Cameron unlocked the door and they entered the one bedroom apartment. It was small but cozy, with a small kitchen, a bar and a dining area, all of which were connected to the living room. John threw the envelope on the dining room table then plopped down on the couch. Cameron said she would take the first shower and disappeared into their bedroom.

John slumped on the couch, falling in and out of consciousness waiting for Cameron to finish. Suddenly he got an idea to join her. A maniacal grin spread across his face as he started his approach to their bedroom, but just as he got to the dining room he heard the squeak of the water faucet and the water stop. "Damn," he swore quietly.

Standing in the middle of the dining area John saw the envelope lying on the table. He sighed heavily. Defeated, he grabbed the envelope. "Do you have what it takes to get to heaven," John remarked to himself in a stupid advertisement voice as he began opening the flap.

John's face went from blank and unanimated to frozen in shock as he pulled out a picture of his mother and Uncle tied up in their underwear, most likely as a form of humiliation for his benefit. Both where on the floor with a jagged knife to Sarah's taut stomach, a small piece of paper was attached by paperclip to the photo that read,

SAVE THEM CONNOR, IF YOU CAN!

John's face went from shock to one of pure anger.

"So they know who you are, general," a deep voice called from the entrance to the apartment.

Two dark figures stood at the door inside the apartment.

Author's Notes.

The chapter is named after the Huey Lewis Song - Stuck with you. I thought that it was the perfect fit for both Sarah/Derek and John/Cameron as both couples have accepted that they are stuck with one another.

The sparring game came from watching the pink panther movie Shot in the Dark, Were Cluesso's butler Kato attacks him when he least expects it. So I thought it would be a fun game that both of them would do in there infinite spare time.

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