Hi. The last story I wrote ended up being incredibly complex exploring the permutations caused by time travel. I want to keep this much simpler. There's going to be Jameron.

A character I always liked was Charlie Dixon . He represents a positive father figure to John. One of the aspects that makes it easy for all dad's to relate to Charlie is in his inability to help John as his destiny catches up with him. That's a common experience and dads have to learn the wisdom to know what they can do to help their kids and what isn't 'theirs' to try to help with. Hard lesson.

I really liked working with Claire Young in the last story. So let's start out from the following premises.

It's 1999. Cromartie's buried in the New Mexico desert awaiting Thermite .

Cameron's made contact with John . She hasn't revealed , at least to Sarah what she is straight away.

Lets play this up a bit. Initially Sarah really liked this girl who came over in the evenings and made John do his homework and seemed to be the reason for him taking to showering regularly, tidying his room , washing and ironing his own clothes.

One evening , a couple of weeks into the blossoming friendship , John ,Cameron and Claire , ( Cameron's mum, who spent years after JD coming to terms with whole the Alison/Cameron thing ) decides to come clean with Sarah. Unfortunately Sarah has a Desert Eagle down the side of the sofa where she's sitting at the time. Possibly with hindsight they took the wrong approach.

John decides he can't stand the tension. Cameron's informed John that Charlie's on a hit list for Greys.

John and Cameron vanish out of the back door leaving the two feuding parents to get on with it.

When it comes to the Jameron , I'm think I will be getting some help from a really good, experienced Jameron writer in our TSCC ' area'. So look out for that.

Charlie Dixon closed the door to his flat and placed his small bag of groceries on the kitchen table. He removed his jacket and thew it on the back of a chair. He had the feeling something was out of place. Damn right it was. Everything in his flat was still upside down . Charlie hadn't bothered to put stuff back properly since Sarah left. Most of her belongings, the ones the FBI hadn't' hauled away with them, were where they'd dumped it in the corner of the lounge.

Charlie's ' out of place ' sensation got stronger . It was like knowing he was being watched. But then, he got these kind of feelings most days. He found himself still half-expecting John to come in from school , drop his bag ,grab a bowl of cereal and then go and watch TV .

This time Charlie definitely heard something in the lounge. It sounded like paper being torn and rustling . Someone or something was definitely in there.

He stepped as quietly as he could to the through-door to the lounge and inch by inch, pushed it open.

Two slightly disheveled teenagers nervously looked up at him from the couch. One of the kids nearly spilled a bag of Doritos down the front of his shirt because he'd had his arm around a girl sitting next to him, which he quickly pulled away when he stood up.

Charlie couldn't help it. He broke the widest smile possible .

"Johnny," he called out, "You're here!" Charlie looked around the room. " Sarah, is she... ?"

John shook his head.

Charlie held out his arms and gestured him to come towards him Charlie hugged the breath of him . "Oh man I've missed you." He backed off ,touched John's face and brushed a lock of hair over his forehead.

Charlie let go of John "Who's you friend?"

"This is Cameron, Charlie." Charlie could hear the pride in John's voice.

Charlie wiped the palm of his right hand on his jeans.A brown haired girl got up and and walked so gracefully towards him. Her face lit up in a smile. At the same time she seemed to be studying him . She held out her hand.

"I've heard a lot about you Mr. Dixon."

"Hey, I'm just Charlie." He said as she let go of his hand.

Charlie glanced between them "So, are you two...?"

John nodded and Cameron inclined her head to onside which he took to mean yes . Cameron's hair fell to her shoulder and Charlie caught a glimpse of healing tissue on her forehead just below her brow. He made as if he hadn't seen it but Charlie sensed Cameron had registered him noticing her wound. It had been like a momentary ripple , a 'feline' curiosity in her otherwise smooth exterior.

Charlie shifted stance, and gestured towards the kitchen." I really sorry about the mess. Its not always as bad as this . Wait here I'll get the place tidied up. I've been working some real long shifts, and I haven't had much time . Say... " he brought his hands together "are you two hungry? I think I've still got some frozen pizza and fries, somewhere."

"John's hungry. He likes Pizza. That will be fine Charlie, thank you." Despite her appearance Cameron suddenly seemed much older than John. There was a protectiveness in her manner .

In the kitchen Charlie ran a bowl of hot water and began moving plates off the table .

"John, you drying?" That's how it had been . John dried and Charlie washed.

The though-door was open. Charlie glanced at Cameron who'd settled back on the sofa and curled her legs into the space where John had been sitting.

"So where did you two meet? "

"Cameron's in my class, we started dating two weeks ago ago." John seemed nervous about talking about her. Charlie reasoned Cameron was John's first real girlfriend and he was uncomfortable, not used talking about this stuff.

It was time for Charlie to drop some bigger questions.

"Were are you living now?"

"I can't tell you. I'm real sorry Charlie, but man, it's a dump and it's crap without you". John carefully put the plate in the rack

"Sarah?"

"She's OK ..."John said 'OK' like she wasn't OK."She misses you, a lot."

John decided to drop something big of his own. "Mom doesn't know we're here."

"Jesus ,John! Then she's going to be worrying sick over you ." Charlie checked Cameron couldn't hear what he was about to say and he lowered his voice ." It's not safe for you here, the FBI are looking for your mom."

"Why do you think they were looking for her?" John appeared puzzled, but really he was testing Charlie's level of comprehension about what was happening.

"They made up some crazy story about her to get me to talk . I don't know what they really want with her."

John looked Charlie straight in the eyes. Charlie realized something had changed in him. Kids do this. One day they come home , pack their old games away in a drawer and suddenly they're getting on with the next stage of their lives , more without you. John had grown up a bit from than the last time Charlie had seen him.

"Now Charlie don't get mad , we hacked the FBI case files. They stood down surveillance on your flat , Thursday last week. Your phone's bugged and they are still opening your mail before you get it , but they've given up on mom turning up here the flat. Were OK for now."

Charlie's eyes widened, this was getting way too deep ,taking him a place he'd never been to in his life before. "John what the hell is this? I've told you about hacking, if this comes back on us they are going come down on us like a ton bricks. "

John swallowed and looked down at the pile of plates he'd dried and placed in the rack. " They won't come back at us but I'm sorry Charlie ." John glanced up at Charlie and he could sense the hurt and confusion running through him."What did the FBI tell you about us?"

Charlie shook his head . "It was some story they made up about you And your mom. I told them you were a great kid and there was no way I was believing their bullshit, not least that crap they said about you."

John looked nervous and his hand shook a little when he spoke. Charlie knew he'd had a rough time. "No seriously what did they say?"

"Oh hell I don't remember. Like I said it was some kind of bullshit to get me to talk."

"Try me."

"Ok John. Do you know who the FBI think your mom is?

"She's Sarah Connor." John answered.

"Yeh that's what they told me . So, I looked up Sarah Connor on the Internet, at work . The Sarah Connor , she looks something like your mom , she has same hair, eyes, but that's where it stops. Sarah Connor? She's right up there on the top of the FBI's Most Wanted list . Terrorism, murder, arms dealing and she's a psycho escaped from a nut house. She even blew up a computer factory . I told them your mom couldn't even use a computer, she wasn't even interested in them ."

"So you didn't believe them?"

"No way."

"Do you know what Johnny. This guy, the FBI big-man? He must of thought I was real stupid. He made up this story about you being some future world leader , being chased by time traveling killer robots."

Charlie examined John's face. John did a good job of feigning incredulity.

"Yeh , I nearly said, if you think I'm going to swallow that, you're ape-crazy as well. No wonder we've got so many nut jobs running around LA ."

Charlie suddenly looked seriously worried. " What if the FBI do find out they've been hacked."

"They won't. Relax. I'm good."

There was a slight cough Charlie and John turned to look at the through-door to the lounge . Cameron stepped in. She was holding John's cell phone at arms length.

" I switched your cell back on . It's Sarah. I'm not speaking to her. She's shouting and she's figured out where we are. She wants to talk to Charlie."

Charlie hesitantly took the cell from her hand.

"Sarah, Sarah its Charlie , thank God you are OK. "

"Johns fine. He's right here."

"Yeh, Cameron's here too." Charlie turned to look at Cameron . She was frowning. " John's one lucky guy. She's a real nice girl."

Charlie's face dropped and he shook his head.

"Hey Sarah, please, let's keep some perspective here OK."

"No, I'm not doing that tonight. I'll ask John if he wants to stay here and I'll think about it, and if it's what they want I'll get them on a Greyhound first thing tomorrow. No, he's told me the FBI surveillance is stood down."

. Sarah was ranting at him again, and she sounded totally irrational. He'd seen it once or twice in her. She was like a chain saw starting up and there was no reasoning with her until she calmed down. She wasn't that much different from other women who got wound up about stuff like Disney-scripted mechanics bills or the neighbor's dog continually crapping on their lawn. Charlie never been on the receiving end of it before. Charlie closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he put the cell back to his mouth

" Ok I'm going to end the call now Sarah. You're going to have to sit tight and trust me on this. No like hell I'm calling the FBI or the cops. You have my word. I'll think about getting them back sometime tomorrow, these kids are really tired right now."

"Goodbye Sarah." Charlie said with a finality that he'd never expected to hear in his own voice.

Cameron, John and Charlie sat around the kitchen table. They hadn't spoken since Charlie ended the call. Cameron picked at a slice of peperoni. John chewed his food without registering what he was eating . Charlie appeared couldn't focus his thoughts on the situation of the teenagers sitting in front of him. So he sat, watching them eat waiting for the right thought to come into his head. It hadn't yet, this was way too big.

Cameron's cell rang .This time when she answered ,she looked perplexed.

" I'm eating Pizza ."

"No, you asked me what I thought I was doing. I replied I am eating pizza."

Cameron rolled her eyes at John and stood up. She walked over to the kitchen window, slightly parted the curtains and carefully examined the street outside.

"Where are you?"

Cameron quickly moved through to the lounge , stood by the window and peered out . She scanned around the car park behind the flat with her Cell against her ear.

"No I'm fine. No, honestly I'm fine."

"Sarah got stressed that's all. No, there's no need for you to come to LA."

Cameron touched the side of her forehead as if she was pushing a strand of hair back into place.

"It's graze. It's healing."

"No she didn't damage me."

"Look I can handle this. Please, don't shout. Shouting doesn't help the situation"

Cameron's voice became firmer. "You should go home . Right now . "

She rolled her head back and stared at the ceiling. She needed to determine caller wasn't on Charlie's roof. There was no heat trace she could detect above their heads . Cameron put the cell to her other ear and let out a sigh.

" No! There's absolutely no necessity for you to drive out here. To do so would be counterproductive."

John made a whirling motion with his fingers. Cameron picked up the cue

"The place is crawling with cops."

"You're not coming to Mr. Dixon's flat and that's final. If you want to put it like that, then yes, I am giving you an order ."

"I have to go, now . I'll see you soon."

"Soon Mum."

"Yep, love you too."

Charlie looked to John for an explanation. John shifted in his seat as if he was considering what to say.

"Our mum's don't get on, or rather my mom fell out with Cameron's mom. "

"Yeh I kinda guessed that." Charlie nodded. He pulled a can off a six pack and offered it to Cameron. She shook her head. He then pulled another one and handed it to John. Charlie allowed John the occasional beer at home.

"Our mothers arriving here: It would be like plutonium and uranium coming together." Cameron suddenly announced. She looked around to see if she had made an effective joke. Charlie pulled his ring-pull and started sipping beer. He was gazing into the living room carpet. She wasn't sure if he'd understood , so she developed her point ." In an atomic weapon uranium and plutonium are driven together by an explosive force thus creating the nuclear reaction which gives the weapon its devastating effect in the theater of war ."

Charlie let out a something between a sigh and a silent whistle. He leaned forward,rested his chin on his hand then glanced up at John.

John grinned and quickly changed the subject. " Did you have a good day at work, Charlie?"

Charlie was right . John had been exhausted. He'd fallen asleep on Cameron's shoulder watching TV. She had her arm protectively around him and he was curled against her. Another half hour and he'd be dribbling on her shirt. Cameron didn't seem tired herself, just quiet and calm. Charlie reasoned, after being with Sarah that's what exactly John needed right now- an oasis of peace and calm. Sarah had sounded totally wired-out on the cell.

Charlie watched as Cameron gently extracted herself from John and without waking him up. She controlled his unconscious fall onto the couch and lifted his head to put a cushion under it. She seemed to do this with total ease. Then she carefully placed the sleeping roll over him.

Cameron sat down on the floor and put her back against the sofa in front of John's sleeping form and wrapped her hands around her knees. She appeared to be totally immersed in a programme about the history and development of Russian Tanks. She had the volume down really low. Most of it was in Russian and Charlie thought it looked like she was taking mental notes and studying for an exam.

"You going to tell me what the hell is really happening here?" Charlie asked as quietly as he could.

Suddenly he saw it again, that shift in her expression. Without taking her eyes off the screen Cameron pursed her lips and shook her head. Within a microsecond she'd recalled the following:

One experience Cameron had of this kind of situation was sitting in with a Tech-crew in Future-John's over-spill quarters. They'd put on CD's and get blasted out of their heads on on Still . Their behavior quickly regressed to that of the teenagers she had recently observed in school . One night someone had made a compilation of Pre-JD animations like Simpsons and South Park. There were also clips from violent martial arts movies which they found entertaining.

On John's request Cameron hung around to keep them in order, mainly ( John requested) to stop males overly-bothering females . John also suggested it would be a way of her bonding with other females . She'd observed deep emotional, violent undercurrents running beneath these rituals particularly amongst the males . That night she kept glaring at a male lieutenant to get him to stop repeatedly 'looking over' one of the women in her group. The woman told Cameron he was 'creeping her out'.

Humans were complex and some aspects of their behavior were going to ever remain intangible to Cameron. For example the whole Tech- crew found a clip of a animated cat nailing another animal's tongue to a butcher's block amusing. Looking around the quarters. Using her visual imaging she morphed the loud, aggressive male lieutenant to a cartoon version of himself. Then she ran a visual simulation of putting her hand down his throat partially pulling out his tongue and nailing it to the door frame with a 100mm galvanized clout nail. However Cameron came to the conclusion this 'sim' would not be considered amusing to discuss amongst her group. To understand why it would not be regarded as amusing with all the violence on the screen, was another intangible.

The humans appeared to be projecting their aggression and hostility into the characters. Through laughing at them, they sublimated their innate hostility . This reduced tension and increased effective social interaction.

Cameron glanced up at Charlie . He was on his third beer and had begun slumping into his chair. The TV documentary she was watching in Charlie's living room was highly informative. Particularly concerning the effectiveness of 45mm armor plating to the hulls of the Russian T-34 tanks .

She made her decision.

"Hey Charlie" she asked in a low voice " would you prefer to watch The Simpsons instead?"