Hi Everybody!
Well, it's been snowing non-stop here in England, that put me in the mood to write a Christmas/Winter one shot for TSCC.
A few things to understand. This story is set in a nondescript point in the future of my other story 'Faith Isn't Part of my Programming'. For that reason it might be useful to have read at least some of that.
But for those of you who are newcomers to my stories I'll break it down to the bits you need to know. John and Cameron are a couple. Amy is a liquid metal machine that looks like an eight year old girl sent back in time to protect Sarah. Jessica is Derek's new girlfriend who just happens to be a rich, stunning, fashion model.
That about covers it.
Enjoy!
"That's it Cameron, bend over a little more…yeah, stick your ass out more…that's it, now slide."
John continued his 'encouragement' as he watched Cameron follow his instructions to the letter, "No, no, keep your feet flat."
He watched as Cameron, with her unusual centre of gravity, toppled backwards almost comically and her ass hit the snow covered slope…again.
The look on her face as she scowled up at him could only be described at 'pissed,' and he wondered just how and why in the hell he'd gotten himself in to this situation in the first place.
"Come on, it'll be fun, it'll be fun, it'll be fun!" Jessica squealed as she bounced on the balls of her feet in the Connor's kitchen with genuine childlike excitement.
"Wait, wait, wait, you wanna take us where?" Sarah asked, if only to get the young woman to stop her incessant squealing.
"Heavenly Ski Resort, just by Lake Tahoe. It's beautiful this time of year!"
Sarah rolled her eyes at just how much the woman sounded like a sales rep the way she just described the place. "Why? And why for Christmas?"
Jessica frowned just a little, it was almost like Sarah didn't understand the appeal of going somewhere for Christmas, or Christmas altogether. "Because, it'll be fun, a nice family vacation. Come on Sarah, you've never spent Christmas on vacation?"
Sarah rolled her eyes and resumed sipping her coffee. The temperature had dropped rapidly recently in the lead up to late December, even Cameron had decided to add an extra couple of layers to her outfits lately. "Derek, remind your girlfriend why that's a bad idea please," Sarah commanded.
Jessica immediately turned to her Derek and stood expectantly with her hands on her hips, waiting for him to make the mistake of taking Sarah's side over hers. She wasn't intimidated by the woman, not any more anyway, and she wondered if Derek would ever grow a pair and stand up to her properly. "Well, Babe, you see, it's uh…" Derek paused, his eyes flicking between the woman he loved and the woman he didn't want to piss off, "we're kind of on high alert around here lately, we can't afford to just up and leave, not this close to…you know."
Jessica had long since been informed of the upcoming attempted genocide by the self aware AI defence system known as Skynet. She knew of Cameron and Amy's true nature and of John's relationship with Cameron. She knew all about where Derek had come from and about Sarah's place in history guiding her son to one day save the entire human race.
It was fair to say she'd been freaked out at first, mostly by Amy's choice of demonstration, it would be a long time before she would be able to entirely suppress that memory. However after a long few days contemplation she'd decided to try and accept that upcoming events were unavoidable, and she'd also come to accept that both Amy and Cameron were in fact people. After all, she liked them both well enough when she thought they were human, despite a rocky start with Cameron at first.
"No, Derek, this is exactly what we need to do. I can't imagine there are many idilic settings complete with ski slopes and chalet's in the future you described to me. When are we ever gonna get the chance to do this again?" Jessica finished before eyeing everyone in the room.
Sarah meanwhile was having none of it, "We're not going, that's final."
"Come on Sarah, you're outnumbered in this room four to two, majority rules," She declared confidently.
"What do you mean, four to two?" She asked, looking around for something that she clearly hadn't spotted but Jessica had.
"Well," She started with a wicked grin on her face. "I'm up for it, and Derek has never been able to say no to me." She paused and stroked his beard with the back of her hand lovingly.
"That makes two," Sarah challenged, doing her best to ignore the grin on Derek's face.
Jessica shot Sarah a look that said, 'let me finish, bitch!' before turning her gaze to John. "Now John here looks kinda uninterested, seems to me like its like mother like son. Sorry John."
"No problem." John replied with a dismissive wave of his hand, he wasn't too keen on the idea anyway, but he had his own reasons for that.
"Two each," Sarah chimed in cockily, fully expecting this vote to swing her way and be done with this ludicrous suggestion.
"Now," Jessica stepped behind Amy's chair and laid her hands gently on the little machine's shoulders. "Amy here has been bouncing in her chair ever since I first mentioned the idea," she paused and looked up at Sarah challengingly, "that's three." She said with a smile.
Sarah rolled her eyes and looked over next to her son and his unusually quiet girlfriend sitting next to him. "And Cameron?" Sarah asked, she'd been expecting her to dismiss the idea out of hand as soon as it was suggested.
Before Cameron even had a chance to open her mouth, Jessica spoke, "Oh, now Cameron here, I know that look on her face. I may not know cyborgs all that well, but I know that look. She's intrigued by the idea, but she doesn't want to commit either way." She smiled gently at Cameron, "Am I right?"
Cameron smiled appreciatively at Jessica before frowning as she considered the idea.
"Well," John leaned over and laid his hand on her thigh from the seat next to her, "would you like to go, Princess?"
Cameron looked over at John who seemed to be noncommittal either way, then to Amy, who nodded vigorously. Then to a scowling Sarah and a smiling Jessica, and finally to Derek who just seemed too enamoured with Jessica to pay much attention. Shifting her gaze back to John, she gave him an almost apologetic smile. "I would like to go. I've never been on a ski slope before…I've never had a Christmas before either."
"What, never?" Jessica asked in disbelief as she turned to Derek, "You don't have Christmas in the future?"
"Well, we kinda do," He paused and rubbed the back of his neck, "but the best gift we have is surviving another day."
"Wow, way to kill the mood there Babe," Jessica said with a frown. She turned to the ray of sunshine in the room, Amy. "You've never had a Christmas either I take it?"
"Oh no, we used to do Christmas where I came from, John insisted on it." Amy answered with an excited little shuffle in her seat.
"I did, or, I do?" John asked with a confused expression.
"Of course you did, you were happy, why not try to spread a little joy? That was your reasoning anyway."
"Huh…fair enough. Well then, I guess we're going away for Christmas!" John declared.
"Awesome!" Jessica Squealed in Derek's ear, much to his and Sarah's annoyance, "I'll call Stephanie and have her make the arrangements."
Before she'd got barely halfway to her purse and her cellphone to contact her father's assistant, Sarah stopped her with an outstretched hand. "Remember, no names, we're the Smith's, or something."
Nodding seriously, Jessica turned back around to the family, her new family and rubbed her hands together. "Now, who knows how to ski?"
Apparently Cameron wasn't one of those who could ski, or rather, snowboard as the case today was. She'd quickly mastered skiing and now was trying her hand at something else.
"John," Cameron almost yelled from her position still on the seat of her pants in the freezing cold snow.
John shook his head to clear out the memory he'd just been reliving and focused on Cameron and the pissy look on her face. She'd been unable to get the hang of snowboarding, her odd centre of gravity and mass wasn't conducive to being sideways going downhill, and it was annoying her that she couldn't do it.
Matters weren't helped in the slightest when a high pitched whine shot past them. John looked up and Cameron looked back just in time to see a pink blur with two blonde pigtails flowing behind it streak past them down the slope letting out a 'whooooooooo!' as it went.
Amy had somehow been able to master the technique much quicker than Cameron had, and was now proceeding to put even the most experienced snowboarders on the slope to shame as she shot past them all, casually outdoing them all with a big grin on her face.
Cameron huffed in annoyance. She wasn't used to being beaten, and John thought it was adorable how she handled it like a bratty kid. It also helped that she'd picked out the cutest outfit for the slopes. Well, the outfit was just standard ski gear, but the purple bobble hat with flaps covering the ears, paired with matching purple mittens was too cute for him to take.
In truth Cameron had just worn what Jessica had assured her was appropriate for the occasion. But when she'd tried the hat and Jessica had called it 'adorable beyond words', Cameron had simply chosen to run with it. The mittens however were a different matter. She'd worn them because she admired their ingenuity. They were actually fingerless gloves with a flap on the back that transformed them in to mittens. She didn't require the extra warmth, but as a machine she admired efficiency…plus they were purple…and matched her hat, so it was a win-win in her eyes.
"John, help me up." Cameron demanded. That was another thing that annoyed her and perplexed John. Having a board attached to her feet hindered her ability to even stand, much less climb back up on to her feet. John was quickly starting to appreciate the extra muscle mass he'd developed since starting training with Derek, having to help her up off her ass every few minutes, and then be forced to stand there on the receiving end of a glare as if it was all his fault she couldn't do it. He'd considered reminding her that it was in fact her decision to come to the slope in the first place, but he loved her too much…and was too scared of being in her bad books to do that.
So instead he held out his hands, put his foot on the side of the board to stop it sliding and pulled with all his might to try and right his girlfriend. After a long struggle, and several beads of sweat rolling down his temple, he managed it, and still had to endure a glare. Rolling his eyes, he placed one foot on the far side of her and his hands on her waist, effectively stopping her from sliding away down the slope…again.
"You sure you don't wanna go back to the ski's?" He asked, gently and carefully, not wanting to irritate her any more.
"No!" She refused sternly, "I will not be beaten by this John."
"Look, Cameron, I know you want to conquer this, but maybe snowboarding is just beyond you?" He ventured hesitantly.
"Nothing is beyond me…you must be instructing me incorrectly," She accused, the logical part of her CPU being overshadowed by her growing annoyance and pride.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, you're blaming me for this?" John asked with a chuckle.
"Yes, your advice is obviously substandard." With that, John watched as she pushed him away non too gently. He couldn't help a smirk as she slid two or three metres, totally ignored his previous advice…and promptly fell backwards in to the slope with a dull thud.
John held his hands up in his own defence as she glared at him like it was once again all his fault that she'd fell. "Hey, you're not blaming me for that one, I didn't even say anything." With a sigh, he stepped over to her and took hold of her outstretched hands again and pulled her back to standing. Before she had a chance to slide away again, he placed his leg across her again and held her in place.
He looked up and was surprised to find her glare had subsided, replaced with a frown that broke his heart. "Hey, it's alright, it's only snowboarding. It's not exactly vital," He reasoned as he pulled her chin up with his finger.
"I know, but I don't like failing at things. Failure is unacceptable," She said as she folded her arms across her chest.
"Well, like I said, it's not important. Hey, you're a pretty good skier. Which is more than I can say for myself, I suck at it." He ducked his head under her chin again and met her eyes with her own, eventually managing to raise them up to his level again.
"Thank you, John," Cameron said with a half smile.
"You're welcome, Princess," He grinned as he leaned in to drop a soft kiss on her lips which she eagerly returned.
"John," She pulled back from the kiss with a more genuine smile this time. "Is it acceptable for Christmas gifts to be given early. I've researched the subject thoroughly and I'm unsure if this is allowed."
John leaned closer and planted a kiss on the end of her rosy red nose. "There aren't really any set rules Cameron," He answered with a chuckle. "It's Christmas Eve today, so I guess it's okay for gifts to change hands early. Why, what do you have in mind?"
Cameron looked at him like he'd just asked to pull her chip and examine each and every memory fragment, in other words, it appalled her to go against tradition and tell him what his gift was before he unwrapped it. "John!" She scolded, "I'm not permitted to reveal that…it's against the rules."
John laughed, a whole hearted laugh, the kind he had in abundance for Cameron. Just as he was about to say something, Jessica called out. The couple looked over to see her approaching with two cups in her hands. "Hey, male of the species, take a hike. We need to have some girl talk."
John frowned as she approached. He looked at Cameron to try and gain some sort of explanation, however her face was as blank as the day she was first created, giving away nothing. "Um, okay…"
When Jessica arrived, John eyed the cups hungrily, he was freezing his ass off too. Apart from the occasional heavy lifting, he wasn't dong much to stay warm out there. "Hey, you brought coffee, thanks Jessica!"
He reached out to take one of the cups when they were suddenly yanked out of his reach. "Hey, get your own, this is for Cameron and me."
John watched as Cameron took one of the cups from Jessica with a grateful smile. She looked over at his dumbfounded face and decided to clarify. "Hot chocolate, Jessica was kind enough to ask me if I wanted anything."
John turned to face the aforementioned Jessica as she brought her own cup up to her lips, "Oh I see, no offer for John here huh?" He said it jokingly, but he was a little hurt that she hadn't asked.
"Nope," Jessica said with a grin, "like I said, we need to have a little girl talk. So go on, skedaddle!"
John shook his head. He was supposed to be the one giving the orders, not some rich girl. But she did pay for the vacation…and she adored Cameron, so he couldn't hold it against her. He could however stitch her up, and give his male fantasy creator enough fuel to last until Judgement Day. "Alright, but you'll have to switch with me."
"Huh?"
"Well, you'll have to stand where I'm standing, otherwise Cameron here will be going for a little trip down the slope. I'd hate to have to organise a search and rescue op for my girlfriend," John said with a grin.
Jessica eyed him sceptically, knowing full well what he was getting at. With a final sigh and roll of her eyes, she sidled up next to him and took up his position. Cameron merely stood like a statue as her boyfriend was replaced with her friend.
John stood back and admired. The need to stop Cameron from tumbling down the hill had the added advantage of pressing him almost flush with his girlfriend. Now however…well, lets just say it was a pleasant view. "Aww, don't you two look like such a cute couple," He teased from the relative safety of standing just outside both of their reaches.
Just at that moment, Derek shot past them on a pair of ski's. Nothing out of the ordinary John thought…that was until he watched Amy sprinting after him down the slope, yelling insults at him almost comically. The downhill grade caused her momentum to pick up and soon her metal legs couldn't keep up with it, causing her to tumble face first in to the snow.
John looked back to find both Jessica and Cameron staring at the scene…still pressed very closely together. It made his head swim with the possibilities, after all, he'd had a boyish crush on Jessica since the first time she'd walked in to their dining room to meet the family dressed up like she was heading out to the opera or something. Hell, they were only having take out pizza.
Shaking his head, he decided a quick withdrawal was in order before he ended up letting his mouth open before his brain had a chance to veto what it was about to say. "Um, I'm gonna go help Amy," He said as he walked over and dropped a kiss on Cameron's cheek, "enjoy your chat."
With that, he walked away leaving Cameron and Jessica alone. Neither paid any thought to their close proximity to each other. Cameron had no sense of embarrassment or modesty, and Jessica just flat out didn't mind. She did take most of her clothes off for the camera and parade around in next to nothing in the name of fashion on a regular basis. They both watched John walk away for a moment before Jessica turned and started speaking in a hushed voice.
"So, are you all set for tonight?" She asked conspiratorially.
"I am. I packed what you suggested," Cameron paused and frowned as Jessica took a sip of her latte. "Are you sure about this? And what's so special about doing this here, tonight?"
Jessica rolled her eyes. The cyborg was apparently more intelligent than any human ever could be, could break her body in half without even trying, and yet she seemed so oblivious to the intricacies of human life. Whether consciously or subconsciously, Jessica had taken it upon herself to school the young woman in the ways of the world.
"Are you freaking kidding me? Come on Cameron, you're sharing a room with him. A room that overlooks a snow covered Lake Tahoe, with a roaring fireplace and a christmas tree in the corner. You have to take advantage of this situation. John will freak when he sees what his early present is!" She said with an enthusiastic smile.
Cameron meanwhile looked less sure. She'd asked Jessica almost immediately after the winter getaway had been approved what a suitable gift would be for her to get for John. Jessica had suggested many things, a lot of which Cameron had agreed to and procured on her latest visit to the mall. Christmas, while still being largely a mystery to her was something that mattered to John. Because of that she'd decided to follow each and every tradition to the letter, probably overdoing the gift thing just a little.
But it was the suggestion of throwing on something skimpy on Christmas Eve and seducing John that had appealed to her the most. However she just wasn't sure why it had to be Christmas Eve in the appropriate setting, after all, surely the main attraction should've been her and not the surroundings. Or at least, she hoped that was the case.
But she also had another gift she had planned, something she hadn't consulted anybody about. Not Jessica, not Sarah, not even Amy. This one was all her own making, and she was more than nervous about going through with it. In fact, short of a life and death situation, she'd never been more torn in her life.
"Look, Cameron," The cyborg looked up from her musings to find Jessica smiling encouragingly. "It's Christmas, trust me, all guys might say they want a Playstation. But what they all really want is the woman who gives it to them wearing…not very much, wrapped up in a bow looking more appealing than the Playstation."
She reached out and patted her on the shoulder, convinced that not only was she helping her friend, but she was also helping to blow John's mind. After all, she was the main reason he'd had an amazing birthday night, despite the fact he was looking a little…tender, the next morning.
"So, did you end up going with the red or the black?" Jessica inquired nonchalantly.
"Red," Cameron answered.
"Good girl," she smiled enthusiastically. "Okay, now finish your drink, we have to teach you how to snowboard!"
"Fucking Derek!" Amy mumbled to herself as she sat up and plopped herself down on her butt in the snow. She looked up to see John approaching with a grin on his face. "Why are you looking so happy?" She snapped.
"Oh, no reason," He answered as he sat down beside her and eyed his girlfriend from a distance. It looked like a deep conversation, he idly wondered what they were discussing, and why they wanted him very far away when they did it.
Amy followed his line of sight and caught a look at what he was grinning about. Amy chuckled, Jessica was waaaaay out of his league.
"So how come you were running after Derek? What did he do this time?" John asked, idle drawing patterns in the snow while trying to allow his libido to subside on the coldness of the slope.
Amy huffed and crossed her arms across her chest. She looked like a little pink Michelin Man when she did it, such were the sheer number of extra layers she'd somehow managed to form around herself. "He threw a snowball off the back of my head."
John felt the laugh starting deep in his belly. He tried to contain it there, he really did. But eventually it worked its way higher and higher until he couldn't hold it any longer and burst out laughing. His eyes glassed over, so much so that he was unable to see the pissy look on Amy's face, but he knew it was there all the same, and it made him laugh just that much harder.
"Wha, what? That's it?" John managed to get out in between ragged breaths, "That's why you took off running?"
"Yeah," Amy leaned over and smacked a gloved hand off his arm to make him shut up, "he caught me right on the back of my head," she whined.
"Aww, dammit Amy, I thought he'd done something serious. I was just about to leap to your defence too. But come on, it was pretty funny to see you charging after him like that all because of a freaking snowball!" He howled with laughter again, much to Amy's annoyance.
"Hey! Quit it!" She yelled at him. It wasn't funny, the snowball had caught her right on the back of her head, it was in her hair and running down her neck too.
"Wait, wait. Why does it even bother you? It's not like you even feel the cold anyway." John asked, calming down just a little.
"It got in my hair and everything!" Amy whined, "and then, to top it all off I'm stuck with these short legs, I wouldn't have fallen on my face if I had longer ones!"
"You're wearing a hat!" John stated, exasperated, "and you can have any length of legs you choose!"
Amy shrugged, she had to give it to him on that one. "Shut up," with that, she stood, "I wanna go see Sarah," she declared.
John looked up, bemused at the little pink ball standing over him. "Okay then, let's go your Highness."
Amy watched as he propped himself up on one knee. Without waiting for his approval, she bounded up on to his back, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his hips.
"What the hell are you doing?" John asked, creaking slightly under her weight, it was like giving a piggy back ride to a full grown man…a small, pink full grown man.
"This is for laughing at me. Come on horsey, mush!" She dug her legs in to his side, as if that was motivation to make him move, all she was missing was a set of reins and a couple of blinkers.
With a grunt, John exerted himself and stood up, almost toppling over straight away. Taking a moment to regain his composure, he took a tentative step forward. Confident he could make it, he did his best to shuffle Amy up higher on her back. "Come on then, let's go Yoda!"
Amy unlatched one of her arms and smacked him in the side of his head lightly. "And don't call me Yoda!"
"Hey, you wanna go see Mom or not?" He snapped.
"Ooooh, somebody crawled out of bed on the wrong side this morning!" Amy teased playfully, despite the fact he was glaring daggers at the snow in front of him.
"I'm just tired alright." John answered with a sigh.
"Yeah, you make a piss poor horsey. So how come you're so tired?" As far as Amy was aware, John's training had eased off lately. Either that or his stamina levels had finally risen to what they should've been.
Ignoring the horsey jibe, John did his best to pick up his pace. "Oh, it's Cameron, she's uh…well she's…"
"Energetic?" Amy finished helpfully for him with a grin.
"Oh yeah, forgot you have a room next door to ours." John released a long sigh, contemplating how to word his next statement without either compromising his girlfriend, or dying of embarrassment.
"Well, she's recently discovered that sex is….well, good. Better than she ever thought possible." He paused and glanced back over his shoulder, "I'm exhausted."
"You know," Amy said, sounding like she had some sage wisdom about to come out of her mouth, "most guys would be delighted to be in your situation."
"Well most guys aren't sleeping with a cyborg with unending stamina and superhuman strength. It takes its toll you know."
Amy looked up, for somebody exhausted, John had made decent time in getting to the chalet. "Would you rather she didn't let you touch her?"
"Hell no. I love her, I'm just tired at the minute. She'll calm down eventually…I hope." John shook his head as he stepped through the doorway and in to the relative heat of the log cabin style chalet, undoubtedly more expensive per night that a month's worth of rent on most places. Fortunately for him the Bank of Jessica was paying their way.
"And if she doesn't?" Amy asked as John walked over to a nearby couch and turned around to face away from it, releasing his hands and allowing her to drop gently on the couch.
John turned around with a sigh, slightly surprised to find Amy in her usual attire, dress, pigtails, no more winter wear. "Well, I guess we'll just have to have a little chat about the limits of a human body." John said with a slight hint of humour.
Amy stood up as high as she could and planted a surprisingly warm kiss on John's cheek. "It's a dilemma. Thanks horsey!" With that she bounded down off the couch in search of Sarah, probably near the bar and/or a fireplace.
John watched her go with a shake of his head. Wiping his cheek, he set off towards the cafe, intent on following Jessica's advice of getting his own coffee. While he had to admit he was against the trip in the first place, it was quickly growing on him. But it was so damn cold!
It came to something when even Cameron complained about the cold, which she had done on more than one occasion since they'd arrived. All it meant however was an excuse for John to keep her warm at every opportunity. John grew up mostly in Mexico and Central America, he preferred much warmer climates than this. Even the seven layers of winter gear he had on wasn't enough to stop him shivering.
With a sigh, he stripped off his gloves as he walked over to the lady behind the counter and ordered the biggest cup of coffee they sold.
He took the cup with a grateful smile after a few moments and paid up, and extortionate amount for coffee, but still, he was soooo cold. He huddled over the cup for a moment for warmth before starting back out the door. Emerging back out in to the snow, the first thing he saw was an intriguing sight. He took a few steps closer to get a better view while sipping on his still scalding hot coffee.
"John! I'm doing it!" Cameron uncharacteristically squealed in delight as she slid about ten yards down the slope before coming to an abrupt halt and landing on her ass yet again. He quickly jogged over expecting to see another glare levelled at him, probably for breaking her concentration or something, but instead he found a beaming smile and nothing short of pride on her features.
Chuckling, he handed his coffee off to an equally happy looking Jessica and helped Cameron back up on to her feet. "Wow, you finally got the hang of it huh?"
Cameron nodded vigorously, "Jessica showed me the correct method. Her instructions were much better than yours."
"Gee, thanks," John turned back around and accepted his coffee from Jessica, "I didn't realise you moonlit as an outdoors instructor." John said jokingly.
Jessica merely shrugged and smiled. Cameron however grabbed John by the front of his jacket and pointed behind her, "I want to go on that one."
John looked where she was pointing and gulped, "Uh, Cameron, I don't think you're quite good enough for that one yet."
She'd only managed ten yards on the board, and now she wanted to test her prowess on the big slope, the one only the professionals dared to attempt. Still, her pout was tempting, "Why not?"
"Maybe you should just stay on the Bunny Slope, Princess. Get some more practice in before you try to tackle that one," John suggested. Cameron however had different ideas.
"I don't need to practice. I've completed the exercise once, I can now handle any slope on this board."
Wow, machine confidence!
"Cameron, in case you didn't notice, you landed on your ass after ten yards, and this is just a gentle slope. I'd hate to see you in the middle of a six foot snowball by the time you tumbled to the bottom of that slope." He paused and grinned, despite her glare, "It'd take forever to get you warmed back up!"
With that, he dropped a kiss on her surprised lips and stepped back, leaving her to slide away on the board, glare and all still in place.
"Wow, she looks like she wants to punch you," Jessica observed as she sidled up next to John.
"Meh, she'll get over it, especially when she lands on her ass in about five seconds time."
"Um, John. She can hear you right? She has those amazing ears?" Jessica inquired, still not 100% on the abilities of the cyborg sliding down the slope with her arms folded petulantly across her chest.
"Yes, I can hear him Jessica!" Cameron hollered as she started to teeter backwards just a little.
"Uh oh, looks like you're in for an…interesting night," Jessica said with a wink to a suddenly nervous looking John.
Amy eventually found Sarah…
Sitting with her feet up in front of the fireplace, nursing what looked like some very expensive amber liquid. She was dressed in an uncharacteristic fluffy turtleneck sweater, seemingly engrossed in a book.
Sighing, Amy tentatively stepped closer, frowning at the alcohol. Eventually she reached within touching distance of the couch and Sarah still apparently hadn't noticed her. Amy launched herself and landed on her knees on the couch right next to Sarah, narrowly dodging the few drops of whisky when it sloshed out of Sarah's glass.
"Hi Sarah!" She yelled brightly, almost in her ear.
Sarah dropped her book and steadied herself before levelling a glare at Amy, "What the hell are you doing?"
Amy continued smiling despite the obvious hatred being sent in her direction from a clearly pissed Sarah, "Saying hi!"
"There was no need to jump up on the couch like that," Sarah scolded, she had to refrain from adding 'young lady' on to that too.
"That's how I say hi!" She reasoned, a happy smile still in place.
"Well don't," Sarah snapped, in no mood for any of Amy's cutesy crap, not on this vacation anyway.
Amy sat back on her haunches, her face a mask of confusion. She'd been expecting a slightly annoyed reaction, in fact she'd been hoping for one. But it looked like Sarah was truly pissed with her. "Sorry. I just thought you could use some cheering up," she said sadly.
"Well I don't alright," she tried her best to brush a couple of drops off her sweater, "this whole damn vacation was a bad idea."
"Why?" Amy asked, genuinely puzzled. Everyone seemed to be having a good time.
"Because," she begun to answer, slurring her words just a little, "it's cold, everything's expensive, I don't ski, Jessica is driving me up the wall…and, just forget it alright."
Amy took a moment to think about just what could be bothering Sarah, and then she noticed the front cover of the book. Reaching out, she raised it up so she could ensure it was what she thought it was.
"Um, Sarah?" She nodded in the direction of the book in her hands, "what's that you're reading?"
Now usually Sarah wasn't the type to read, she enjoyed it, but she never found the time. From what Amy knew of 'The Mother of All Destiny', she was expecting maybe a Guns 'n' Ammo magazine, or a true story about some war.
She was not expecting her to be reading a Twilight book. Amy had no doubts she'd just found it lying around the bar area, maybe some teenage girl left it, but she never expected her to be reading it…and to be engrossed in it.
Flicking the book closed defensively, Sarah levelled a glare once again at the, today anyway, annoying Amy. "Nothing alright!" With that, she sank back in to her chair and closed her eyes, fully expecting that to be the end of the conversation.
Amy however had other ideas, she picked up the book and scanned it quickly, the pages moving faster than was plausible for even a machine to keep up with and read. In less than a second, she placed the book down and looked at Sarah with a sympathy that would surely have irritated Sarah no end had she seen it. Amy realised what was bothering her.
"Sarah," she ventured quietly, "are you upset because everyone besides you and me are…paired off?"
Sarah's eyes snapped open and her head twisted around to face Amy so fast it caught the small liquid metal machine off guard, "What was that?"
"I'm just asking, is this why you didn't want to come here?" Amy inquired, "because you didn't want to have to sit here and watch other people being happy with their partners?"
"You don't know what you're talking about," Sarah replied coldly, daring the machine to keep pushing.
And push she did, "Look, just because Derek has Jessica and John has Cameron, doesn't mean they don't care about you any more."
"Amy…" Sarah almost growled, her grip tightening on her glass, so much so her knuckles were beginning to turn white.
"And I care about you too," Amy insisted, "I wouldn't be very good at my job if I didn't care about you."
"Stop talking, now," Sarah said sternly, she was in no mood to be talked to like this, not by Amy anyway. She liked Amy, she really did, but she had no right to be poking in to her personal life like she was.
"Come on, it's not all bad. Look around, we're in a relative paradise, and you haven't even been outside yet." Shaking her head sadly, Amy continued, "I mean, go out, try to have fun. Who knows, maybe you'll have a little by accident."
Before Sarah even had a chance to respond, Amy continued, this time with a devious little grin on her face. "Maybe if you're lucky you might even meet some hunky snowboarding dude while you're out!"
"I don't want some hunky snowboarding dude alright!" Sarah, rather than allowing her anger to continue to grow, merely let out the breath she'd been holding in the form of a sigh and reclined back in to her chair. "Just, leave it alright, please?"
Looking at Sarah, Amy had been around her long enough to know what she had on her mind. Coincidentally, it was also what was on her mind. "Charley?"
Cracking one eye open just a little, Sarah eyed her friend warily, "Yeah, Charley."
"You're worried about him?" Amy ventured.
"Yeah, I'm worried about him. We haven't heard from him since…well, you know." Before Amy had even had a chance to formulate a response, Sarah had launched in to a rant, the likes of which Amy had never seen before.
"How could we have done that to him, without even thinking either. He was happy in his life and we had to involve him in all this again. Now look at us, we're here in this magnificent chalet, Derek's girlfriend is paying for everything, we're being treated like royalty. My son is having the time of his life with his cybernetic girlfriend, Derek hasn't looked at anybody besides Jessica for a week. You're having a whale of a time and I'm fucking stuck here on my own worrying about the man who hates us with nothing but alcohol and a trashy romance novel for company."
By the time she was finished, Amy was pretty sure she hadn't taken a breath. She merely sat still on her haunches and watched her regain her composure for a moment. "Are you alright?" She asked, very softly, lest she reawaken the beast again.
Taking a long few seconds to make sure she was calm, Sarah looked over and forced a half smile. "Yeah, I'm alright," she dropped her head back on to the couch and closed her eyes, "sorry, just the whisky talking."
The next thing Sarah knew, she felt a small warm body snuggle up against her side. She lifted her arm almost on autopilot to accommodate her and found herself laying her hand back down on top of Amy's upper arm. She felt two small arms encircle her and squeeze gently.
Looking down, she found Amy smiling up at her. Just a smile, no words before she laid her head on her stomach.
Tentatively, Sarah brought her hand up and gently ran it through the length of Amy's hair, tracing her pigtails and tucking a few errant strands behind her ear.
"Thank you Amy," was all Sarah said as she continued stroking the little machine's fake hair.
She knew it wasn't right, she knew it wasn't natural. She knew the thing curled up next to her wasn't human, wasn't the little angel she appeared to be…but at that moment, she didn't care in the slightest. It was nice to have someone who genuinely cared about her besides John.
"What do you mean, he said he was a software developer?" John said with a chuckle, taking another swig from the beer he'd been nursing for the past half an hour.
"Yeah, that's what he said!" Jessica giggled, "He crashed one of daddy's parties, I found him munching on a shrimp skewer."
John turned his gaze toward his uncle who seemed to be trying to hide behind both Jessica and his beer, "Shrimp skewer? Fancy Party? Jeez Derek, what were you up to?"
"I was following a lead," Derek answered as he tugged Jessica in tighter with the arm he had wrapped around her waist. She'd sprawled out on top of him as soon as they'd hit the lounge and insisted John stay and chat with them for a little while.
It still confused John why she'd insisted so vehemently, but he wasn't about to say no to her, especially not when he was running the risk of Cameron still being pissed off with him from earlier. "Which lead would we have that would require you to wear a tux and wind up dating Jessica here?"
Derek chuckled, the relaxed atmosphere coupled with the beautiful woman currently lounging on top of him had loosened him up somewhat. "It was when we first decided we weren't going to try and stop J-Day. I decided to do a little snooping on your little liquid metal buddy Weaver."
"Yeah," John replied, nodding, "she does tend to roll in a higher social class than we're used to."
"Thank you!" Jessica answered, trying not to grin too much at her boyfriend trying to stutter out a reply.
John shook his head, mostly at the mushy look the couple across from him were now giving each other. Hell, they were practically undressing each other with their eyes. "Well, I'm gonna head off to bed."
"Night John," Jessica said as she snuggled backwards into Derek.
"Night," Derek added, not really paying much attention to anything besides Jessica.
John stood on slightly wobbly legs, the alcohol coupled with having to haul Cameron up off her ass every two minutes had taken it out of him. "Night you two."
He wasn't expecting a reply, so he headed off in the direction of the rooms they were occupying. First came an elevator journey, one of those annoying tunes was playing that John couldn't quite put his finger on.
Shrugging, he stepped out of the elevator and padded down the hallway. He passed first Jessica and Derek's room on the left, then his mother's on the right. Amy was 'sharing' Sarah's room, in essence that meant she was out patrolling most of the time, she was nothing if not devoted in her duty. Finally he came to the room he shared with Cameron.
It was a nice room, big, nice fireplace, amazing view from the balcony. Yep, John could certainly get used to the sweet life Jessica was providing. The king size bed was a complete bonus too, especially when it was shared with Cameron.
He pushed open the door to the room and was immediately taken by surprise.
First by the smell, the smell of something burning, but not in a bad way. Then by the light, or lack thereof, instead there was only a soft glow. Then it clicked.
Candles.
Scattered around the room, on top of dressers, closets, the TV stand, hell, even on the floor were dozens of lit candles. For a fleeting moment he thought he'd wandered in to somebody else's room by accident, that was until he remembered he had to use the key card to open the damn door.
"John?"
A soft voice from across the room stole his attention away from the room itself, and he was so glad it did.
There, on the aforementioned king size bed was Cameron, slowly drawing a teasing fingernail up her flank. Over the waistline of her underwear, down in to the valley where her body curved and eventually across her waist to lay flat on the bedsheets.
"John, you might want to close the door," She said in a soft, slightly teasing voice.
John managed to muster up enough brain power to force his mouth to close, by some miracle, and almost on autopilot, he managed to turn around and close the door.
Resting his head against the door, he took a moment to compose himself before turning back around. This site that greeted him was downright amazing, there was his Cameron wearing nothing but red lacy underwear and a smile. Finally willing his body to move, he took a couple of slow steps forward, simply taking in the sight before him.
"Cameron…I uh," Was about all he could muster up, his brain turning to mush at the sight of his girlfriend. Suddenly it all clicked, the girl talk, the distraction Jessica caused…the fact he hadn't seen Cameron in a few hours.
She'd been preparing…this. The room, the candles, her make up, her hair, all of it was done for him, and he'd never been more pleased to have such an amazing girlfriend than he was at that moment. "You did all this, for me?"
Cameron nodded as she gracefully sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. "Yes John, it's all for you," she said as she stood and stepped close to him, but not touching.
She reached out and took hold of the zip on the front of his jacket and leaned close, allowing her sweet scent to wash over him as she slowly slid the zipper lower. She hadn't even touched him yet and John could feel the electric atmosphere filling the room, the anticipation of what was to come filling him with the desire to grab her right then and there. But he knew she'd gone to this much effort for a reason, she did nothing on a whim, and she always had a plan.
Still leaning close, Cameron ran her hands higher up his chest now that the jacket was loose. Gliding her hands along his arms, she slid the jacket off his shoulders and deposited it near the bed, careful to avoid the candles. It wouldn't do to have a major disaster interrupting her alone time with John. Standing on her tiptoes, she leaned even closer, but still not touching him. "I'm glad you cam back when you did," she said, so close to his ear he could feel her warm, tickling breath.
If she didn't want him touching her with his hands, that was fine, for now. But John wasn't willing to settle for doing nothing while she did all the work. "Why's that?" He asked, before leaning just a little closer to gently place a line of kisses on her neck, starting from her jawline and moving lower.
Cameron found herself smiling from the contact, she always did like it when he kissed her neck. For some reason she seemed particularly sensitive in that area compared to others. "Because," she whispered, "it means Jessica may be more reliable than we initially thought."
John pulled back from his task and stared at her quizzically, "You mean she was in on this? Cameron, you sneaky, sneaky girl!"
He couldn't hold back any more and leaned in to kiss her delicious looking lips. Lightly trailing the fingernails on one hand up and down her back, his other tangled in her long wavy hair and pulled her closer.
Cameron allowed herself to revel in the feelings and sensation that only John could stir in her body. The simple joining of her lips with his brought her an irrational sense of closeness, a feeling of contentment in knowing that John Connor loved her, that he cherished her, and that she loved him. Ever since she'd realised she did in fact love John, she'd taken every opportunity to prove it to him in any way she could. It'd been like a tidal wave had hit her all of a sudden, she'd held back for so long, not sure of her true feelings for the man. But ever since that moment she had no doubts any more, she was in love with John Connor, and no amount of logic her CPU could throw at her could change that, she simply knew it.
Pulling back from the kiss, Cameron gently placed her palm on John's cheek and gave it the smallest stroke of affection, bringing a smile to his face. "Would you like your early presents?"
John had almost forgotten about her question earlier that day, about whether early gifts were 'permitted' in the rules of Christmas. In fact, his brain had turned to mush just about the moment he walked through the door. Now though, he recalled the details and dropped a quick kiss on her lips through a childish grin. "Of course."
With a smile almost as enthusiastic as his, Cameron stepped back. "I actually have two gifts to give you tonight," she paused and frowned, "Is that okay?" She really was concerned about what she had planned breaking the rules. She waned everything to be perfect, to be right. If she wasn't allowed to do any of this then it simply couldn't be done.
"Of course it is Cameron, the more the better," John said with a grin as his eyes slowly wandered down and back up her body. "What's my first present?"
Smiling at his eagerness, and his approval, Cameron lowered her arms, gesturing to herself as if she were some kind of prize in a gameshow. "Me John. I'm your first gift."
John, no matter how hard he tried could not keep the goofy grin off his face. The scene before him could've only been improved if she stood there wrapped in a bow that matched her underwear. Unable to resist any longer, he took a quick step forward and pulled her in to his arms again, leaning down to kiss her for all he was worth. Well, he was, until he felt her gently but insistently pushing him backwards.
He relented and looked at her with a questioning expression, still holding her in his arms. "What's wrong?"
"I need to give you your second gift before you unwrap your first," she stated coolly and calmly, as if it wasn't the sexiest thing John could've heard at that moment.
His idiotic grin returning full force, John released her just a little, "So where is it?"
Smiling, Cameron pointed across the room, "It's under the tree. That's traditional for Christmas gifts, am I correct?"
"Yeah, you're right," John said with a chuckle as he let go of Cameron, but not before dropping a kiss on the tip of her nose. He watched as she settled back down on to the bed as he made his way over towards the large, fully decorated Christmas tree in the corner of the room by the balcony. Then a thought struck him, the entire tree trunk was surrounded by packages, all neatly wrapped, and from what he could see, they all had his name on the tags.
"Um, which one?" He asked dumbly.
"The smallest one near to your left foot, on top of the others," Cameron explained from her position on the bed. She watched as he picked it up and held it up in the air for confirmation, "Yes, that one."
John turned the small box over in his hands as he made his way back to the bed. His attention was stolen away from the box however when he looked down to see Cameron laid out underneath him on the bed, so tempting, so inviting.
NO! Be strong John…Open the gift, then you can have your way with her!
Never one to argue with himself, John kneeled down beside the bed, but not before gently pushing Cameron flat on to her back. He settled on to his knees, ignoring the odd look she was giving him and placed the parcel on her perfectly flat belly. Holding it in place with one hand, he slowly untied the gold bow with the other and watched the ribbon come loose when the bow was loosened. The top layers of wrapping paper came away with it, revealing something underneath.
Slowly peeling away the paper ad bow, John uncovered a small blue box. With everything still resting on her belly, he glanced up to find Cameron looking…nervous. Why was she nervous? Had he done something wrong? "Are you okay, Princess?"
Snapping her attention to his face rather than the box, she forced a smile and began to lift the paper and ribbon out from underneath the box. She discarded the paper by the side of the bed, again careful not to throw it in to a candle, and lifted the box off her belly while she sat up and swung her legs either side of him. She held the base of the box in her thumb and forefinger and moved it towards him, very slowly, as if reluctant to even be offering it to him at all. She still wasn't entirely sure about this, whether or not it was right.
Putting aside her odd behaviour, John focused on the box, "Can I open it?"
Cameron gave a tiny nod and watched as he lifted the hinged lid of the box. John stared at the contents, at first surprised by her choice of gift, and then confused as to why she wanted to give it to him that night, on Christmas Eve, why couldn't it have just waited until Christmas Day with the rest of the family?
Bringing the box closer to her, Cameron lifted the gift out of it and carefully placed the now empty box down beside her on the bed. She held the item between her thumb and forefinger and simply stared at it, as if contemplating her next move.
Realising she was having some sort of internal debate, John raised her chin up with his finger and met her eyes with his. "Hey, I love you," he didn't know why he said it, he just had a feeling it was what she wanted to hear.
And it was. She cast aside all her doubts, all her insecurities and all her worries, safe in the knowledge that what he'd just said was true.
"John Connor," she brought the gleaming ring up in between them, "will you marry me?"
Yeah I know, I'm evil!
This will integrate with the main story at some point down the line so you'll all eventually find out his answer.
Until then, contemplate what your answer would be!