Cameron versus Derek

Chapter One

Disclaimer: Don't own TSCC

These stories are set in the timeline of my other TSCC stories and take place during CameronGrows Up, The Future Cameron and Cameron's Revenge. Characters from the original TSCC story arc and Cameron Grows Up as well as The Future Cameron and Cameron's Revenge appear in these stories.

Ruth slipped into her brother's bunker with stealth. Pausing for a moment to listen, Ruth failed to detect any sounds. Her olfactory sensors told her something else.

"Cameron?"

"Yes, Ruth?"

"Can I talk to you while you cook?"

"Shouldn't you be in class right now," Cameron responded.

"I finished everything in Ethics and Agent Ellison granted permission for me to come home in order to talk to you."

"He will confirm this?"

Knowing Cameron would verify this excuse, Ruth decided to tell the complete truth. "Sort of. I asked to go home. I did not say anything about talking to you, but that is the reason I wanted to come home."

Sounds of Cameron moving pots and pans in the kitchen told Ruth she could enter. Taking a seat at the dinged up dinner table the Connor and Reese families shared meals at, Ruth sat down and watched as her brother's wife stirred everything. Cameron leaned over each pot, lifting the lid as she stirred and sampled the contents with her olfactory senses. Satisfied with the progress of the meal, Cameron joined Ruth at the table.

Cameron made eye contact with Ruth and stared at the smaller female. Feeling her anxiety increase, Ruth looked down and away, submitting to Cameron's display of dominance.

"What is wrong Ruth?"

"I don't know," the small T-1000 replied.

"Then why did you come to visit me?"

Ruth shrugged in response. Cameron sat quietly, with the patience only a Terminator can display. She would wait in complete silence until John's sister was able to express what was bothering her, moving only to check on the meal she was preparing.

Setting her always-present sketchpad on the table, Ruth opened it and flipped through several unfinished drawings. Stopping at one in particular, she turned it around for Cameron to examine.

"Derek."

"Dad."

"Are you and Derek in conflict?"

"Not really," Ruth murmured. "No more than usual I suppose."

Cameron stood and checked the food again, allowing Ruth to consider how to communicate the issue at hand.

"Cameron?"

"Yes, Ruth?"

"You and Dad used to hate each other didn't you?"

Ruth watched as Cameron sat down to process the question. "Your father most certainly hated me. My regard of Derek ranged from indifference to irritation and frustration, but seldom would I say my feelings were that of complete hatred."

"Hatred like you felt towards Riley?"

"Never compare your father to that bitch whore, Ruth. No matter how bad things ever got between the two of us, I never felt animosity towards Derek that I did to that blonde skank devil."

Again the two cyborgs sat in silence, Cameron waiting patiently for Ruth to be more forthcoming.

"Cameron, I know my father is a metal hater. So is mom."

Cameron tilted her head, considering all the possible ramifications of Ruth's statement of fact and how it could be a source of concern.

"Based on my experiences," Cameron agreed, "that is a fair statement to make."

"Why did they adopt me?"

"It is complicated and to be honest, there was manipulation involved."

"I know it's complicated," Ruth sighed in frustration, "and I can't ask them. John would tell me they love me and not to worry."

"You are asking me because I am a Terminator too," Cameron monotoned.

"You are part of our family and you're metal like me. You're the only one who can understand how I process this."

Cameron looked at the smaller, bustier version of Sarah sitting across the table. "I am not sure I see things the same way you do Ruth."

"Why not?"

"You are more humanlike than I am. You feel things as much as you process them."

A scowl spread across Ruth's face, showing the younger woman's frustration with Cameron's comment.

"There, you display emotion more than I do. You have greater control over your feelings as well as more range in how you express them. In fact, when was the last time you had to run your infiltrator programming at maximum in a human social setting?"

Cameron's question surprised Ruth, forcing her to consider it carefully before responding.

"I only run specific portions of my infiltrator programing at any given time and only to fit specific needs I might have to deal with."

"Which of us is more machinelike?"

"Cameron, I don't see you that way," Ruth protested. "You often display your emotions."

"To family and friends. Even then, to outsiders I appear devoid of emotion at times because they do not know me well enough to recognized my moods, my expressions or my sense of humor."

"Why does this make how we view the world different? We're both Terminators."

"Ruth, you have never experienced life without free will," Cameron replied with patience. "The day Sarah and Derek adopted you, you were a full member of our clan. Accepted without question. There were concerns, you are a T-1000, but you were family. Derek had a child that was his. Sarah had a second chance at being a mother. John had a little sister."

Ruth considered what Cameron told her for a moment. "How did you feel about me?"

"I was responsible, in part, for your being adopted into the clan," Cameron monotoned. "If you are worried I felt any ill will towards you, take comfort in knowing I did not. You are no threat to me. It pleased me John now had a little sister. Hailey would have a friend to play with. Sarah had a second chance to mother a child, a girl. Derek had a child that Sarah could not give him."

"Me being a T-1000 was a problem, wasn't it?"

"Yes. Even the endo's had mixed feelings about you. Politically, you needed to be adopted. To have terminated a T-1000 child would have communicated Terminators were not equal citizens in TechCom. But who would raise a T-1000? We did not have experienced T-600s to protect our children yet. Catherine was seriously ill and not yet married. Only Sarah had any experience with raising a Terminator. For you to be accepted into our society, our human and metal citizens had to feel comfortable with who your adopted parents were."

"So it made sense to have metal haters adopt me?"

"Yes. Their acceptance of you, combined with the position of respect Sarah and Derek hold in our community, protected you until you were old enough for people to see you were simply another citizen."

Ruth sat quietly, contemplating Cameron's words. "My parents didn't really want me? It was just a political decision?"

"No, not at all. I manipulated them into adopting you for political reasons in part. But there were other reasons. Good reasons."

A saddened Ruth looked directly at Cameron. "You had to manipulate them?"

"Yes, Savannah and I. We both wanted you placed with a good family. Savannah felt overwhelmed by the idea of adopting you herself. At that time in my life and relationship with your brother, I could not have coped either. But Sarah and Derek would benefit from adopting you."

"I don't understand. You had to manipulate a pair of metal haters into adopting me. How could that help them or me?"

Cameron took Ruth hand in her own and looked at the sad young woman. "Derek and Sarah do not hate all metal. You know that. They hate Skynet and all metal controlled by a Skynet. They love you like a human child."

"But I'm not human."

"Ruth, a child can hold a family together. Sarah and Derek are difficult, broken individuals. You never knew them before they married. Theirs was a tempestuous relationship. They loved and needed each other but could not make their commitment to each other work."

"And adopting me fixed that?"

Cameron smiled. "Quite well if I say so myself."

Taking a pencil from her pocket, Ruth opened her sketchpad to a blank page and began doodling geometric designs.

"Ruth, your mother had cancer."

"I know."

"The doctors who cured Sarah also left her barren, unable to produce another child."

"Unless she adopted."

"Unless she adopted."

"Why me? Why then?"

"Derek would never admit this, but it bothered him that Kyle fathered John and he would not be able to have a child of his own. Mating with Sarah was something your father wanted but the memory of Kyle haunted him. Having a child with Sarah would help both of them let go of Kyle's memory. Only then would the two of them be able to bond permanently."

"But mom couldn't get pregnant," Ruth said, glimpsing the picture Cameron was painting for her.

"Sarah has considerable guilt over the circumstances and mistakes she made raising your brother. A child with Derek would let her have a chance to be a mother again, to not make the same mistakes. This time, she would have the love and support of a husband while mothering a child."

"I solved their problems, that's why they adopted me?"

"No. Adopting you made them see their problems for what they were. Your parents problems could only be solved by Sarah and Derek themselves."

"Then why adopt me?"

"Because they wanted you. Sarah wanted to mother another child. She wanted to give Derek a child of his own. And yes, your mother is a political leader. She saw the positives of adopting you politically. Derek loves Sarah, but she fought committing to him as a mate. Adopting you broke Sarah's will to resist what she needed and wanted. They both knew neither of them could raise you alone. So, you became the irresistible force that moved the two immovable objects together."

Silence filled the small kitchen momentarily until Cameron stood to check the evening meal.

"Cameron, did they love me when they adopted me?"

"As soon as they took you home. You were their child. Sarah acted like a new mother until she adjusted to you. Derek was very protective. You are their baby, as much so as if they had conceived you and Sarah had birthed you herself. You had already imprinted on Sarah. Once Sarah got over the shock of the idea and she and Derek had made their decision, it would have been dangerous for another couple to have tried to adopt you."

"Why would mom have to get used to the idea of having me if she really wanted me?" a still pensive Ruth asked.

"I was completely unprepared to adopt Hailey when I found her. By the time my patrol made it back to TechCom's camp, my John was agreeing to adopt Hailey or he was permanently sleeping alone. I had no comprehension of why a maternal streak developed in me. Once we brought Hailey home, I was overwhelmed again. If it had not been for Sarah, I don't know how I would have avoided a complete breakdown of my processor. Even with Sarah and the Old Man's help, my John and I have struggled as parents."

"It's hard being a parent?"

"Yes. Even when the parent is experienced, like Sarah."

"Cameron, we both know mom's a little cracked."

"I know," Cameron said, displaying a quick, momentary smile. "But who would make a better mother for you in the world we live in?"

Ruth considered the question in silence.

"Miss Catherine has her own children. She adopted Savannah and then built John Henry. Plus she has to take care of Major Wilhelm. But she is a T-1000."

"Yes, and she just adores you. You should know though, Catherine was completely supportive of Sarah and Derek adopting you. At the time, Catherine was so ill, it was questionable if she would survive long."

"That leaves you and John. You could have adopted me. Your metal and John understands metal better than anyone, even other metals."

"Ruth, I love you. You are family. But I could not have coped. I struggle with mothering Hailey. I could not mother another child."

"Because of your purpose."

Cameron nodded, a sad expression filled with guilt settled on her face and remained. "I struggle with loving and parenting Hailey like she should be because her father is my John. My purpose. I can only have one purpose."

"Cameron, Hailey knows you love her. She understands how metal works."

Cameron nodded in silence.

"You and my brother have given her a good home. She knows it even though she'll never admit it, at least until she has her own family. You have made me feel welcome in your home. Hailey is like a sister to me. You and John are good parents to Hailey."

Checking the meal for a final time, Cameron turned down the heat on her stove, leaving the food to stay warm until the family and friends arrived.

"Is there anything else you would like to ask?"

"I wish I knew more about my parents before Judgment Day. They don't like to talk about that time in their lives."

A wicked smile spread across Cameron's face opened the cabinet and began removing plates to set the table.

"Well, that should make for some pleasant conversation tonight at our meal. I think you should know about your parents when they were single. Here, help set the table while I think about this."

Reviews are always appreciated. If you liked this story, you might want to consider my other TSCC stories:

Cameron Grows Up

The Future Cameron

Cameron versus the Queen

Cameron's Revenge

Cameron and the Black Bird

Cameron and John's Wedding

Who's the Boss?

The Storm Before the Calm