DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters or the show.

They arrived at the new house, not able to believe their eyes. It was a Spanish style...mansion, for lack of a better word. Before they could explore the new house, Sarah immediately got down to business. She had found the new IDs on the coffee table in the main living area, and inspected them, finding them acceptable. She asked everyone to sit down, and began with the "debriefing."

"We just moved here from Seattle. John and Cameron are-" Before she could continue, John cut her off.

"Mom, may I?" Confused, and surprised, Sarah allowed him to take over, not sure what else to do.

"If it's not too weird, I'd like to be able to say that Kyle is my father. I'd like our cover to be the three of us. Derek will be Kyle's brother, and my uncle, who lives in the guest house. Cameron won't be my sister this time." Everyone, including Cameron, was confused. John had been thinking a lot about it, and he knew that he didn't want to have to be worried about being out with Cameron and keeping up the pretense of being brother and sister. If they couldn't be themselves in the house, he wanted to be able to be themselves out in the world. The trouble had been figuring out a logical reason to sell his mom on the idea. He had figured one out, but it wasn't flawless like he'd hoped.

"Mom, you can never remember to treat Cameron as a daughter. You're always talking about things that you and I did together when I was little. You talk about being pregnant with me. You're often hostile at best when around Cameron. And it's going to be hard enough convincing people that I have grown up with Kyle as a father, we don't need to add more factors to the equation. Now, more than ever, we need to avoid any suspicion at all."

"So how do we explain Cameron?" Sarah asked, which was expected, of course.

"You are her godmother, and her parents were killed in a car crash a few months ago. We moved here for a change of scenery. We can even say that she was in the crash, which could explain the metal plate in her head and her strange behavior, if the need should ever arise."

"Just a metal plate in her head?" Derek asked, somewhat amused.

"It's the most common place for a human to realistically have metal. We've encountered metal detectors, and this explanation has always worked. They run the hand-held metal detector over her head, and are convinced that that is what is setting off the larger detector."

He turned from Derek, and addressed the room again.

"As far as jobs, I think we should say that Kyle and Derek are independent security consultants. It allows them to believably have flexible schedules, as well as the money to pay for this house and whatever else we may acquire in the future. We can say that mom is a stay-at-home mom, and Cameron and I have graduated and are taking some time off before college. Is this acceptable?" When no one spoke, he continued. "I'll take that as a yes. Let's get settled then."

After inspecting the house, they found that it had a split floor plan with the master bedroom and one other room (presumably for an office or baby nursery), with the other two rooms for the children on the other side of the house. The rooms were already furnished accordingly, with a king size bed in the master bedroom, the bedroom next to it furnished as an office. The remaining two rooms were furnished with queen size beds, one for a boy, one obviously for a girl. When Sarah had realized that if Kyle were to be believed as her husband, he would need to stay in the main house, yet there was no bed for him, she pointed out, "We'll have to make the office a guest room that you can stay in." No need to make things more awkward or assuming.

Derek had returned from checking out the guest house, in which he found a bedroom with the second room being utilized as an office much like in the main house. He opened the fridge, not surprised to find it fully stocked, much like his. It had been so long since he'd had to worry about what he or others were going to eat and whether they had enough, he almost felt guilty for having this much food. He checked the clock on the microwave. It was 6:30 in the evening already. He wasn't sure when they'd arrived in this time, but he knew that it was about time for dinner. He instantly found what he was looking for. He pulled out a delicious looking steak and began preparing it. Even if it's the worst steak I've ever tasted, it'll still taste amazing to me. I can't remember the last time I had steak.

Cameron and John found their rooms. Cameron had joined John in his room. Their rooms were connected by a Jack-and-Jill bathroom, like the previous house. John was glad of this, seeing as this could now be utilized in a most advantageous way. Their first house had also had an adjoining door between their two bedrooms. It was like his mom wanted them to sneak into each others' bedrooms. He obviously knew there was no chance of this, but was amused regardless.

John had closed the door, but hadn't locked it. The advantage of sneaking around with a machine was that she could hear when someone was coming. Plus, he didn't want to alert any more suspicion than necessary. But he did want it closed, just in case.

They were lying on his bed, holding hands. Simple, yet exactly what John needed at that moment. He had just accepted the challenge of something that he felt was completely out of his capabilities. But his whole life, people have told him that it isn't, so he had to start sometime. He knew this, and knew that there was no better time to start than now. They couldn't turn down this opportunity to save the human race. They couldn't put it off. It was happening now, whether he was ready or not. And he would be ready. He'd make sure of it. If not, he hoped Cameron could make sure of it.

"Derek's making dinner. Steak." Cameron said, out of the blue.

"How do you know?"

"I can smell it."

"I mean, how do you know it's Derek?"

"Because Sarah and Kyle are still on the other side of the house. They haven't left that part of the house since we left them there. We should go see if Derek needs any help." John was surprised at her concern for Derek, but realized it was just as likely she was concerned that John needed to build a relationship with this Derek. Or she could just be concerned about what John would be eating for dinner. One could never know when it came to Cameron. It was one of the things he liked most about her.

Cameron followed him out to the kitchen, and sure enough there was Derek, preparing the steak. Derek turned to look at them as they entered. Without prompting, he explained, "Just seasoning the steak, then I'll take it outside and barbecue it." He seemed pretty excited about this, and it occurred to John that this probably was pretty exciting to Derek. Not much steak where he comes from.

"John and I will prepare the side dishes." Cameron turned to John. "You can make a salad." She went to the fridge and got the ingredients out for a salad and set it out on the counter for John. Then she went back to the fridge and extracted a bag of potatoes, and what looked to be the ingredients needed for a pie. She turned to Derek. "How do you like your potatoes?" Derek just gave her a blank expression, not completely sure what she meant. She prompted him, "Mashed, baked, grilled, fried, tatered...?" At the last word, John almost choked on the bite of carrot he'd been chewing on.

Cameron gave him a confused and worried look. She knew that he wasn't actually choking, but almost choking was never good.

"Sorry, Cameron, just...tatered?"

"Yes. Tater tots. They are made from potatoes."

Amused, John responded, "Okay, I guess that makes sense. It's just, we don't usually use it as a verb."

"Oh. Thank you for explaining." She gave John one of those smiles he always loved, which made him blush a little.

Derek spoke up, trying to relieve the tension in the room that in actuality only he felt. "So I'm just going to take this out and start grilling. So let me know if you need anything." And just like that, he was gone.

Logically, John knew that Derek had needed to start grilling, but he also suspected that his uncle had been uncomfortable with his interaction with Cameron. I'll have to be more careful in the future when I'm with Cameron around the others, he thought to himself.

Cameron, sensing that John was slightly upset, and knowing that no one could see them, placed her hand flat on her back and started rubbing it, then quickly kissed him on the cheek. He blushed again, glad that no one was there to see them.

By the time Sarah and Kyle had returned from discussing the remodeling of the office, Derek's dinner was done. They all sat down at the large dining room table, for the first time using proper tableware. It was a change for everyone, and the only one who didn't seem uncomfortable with the drastic difference was Cameron, of course.

No one knew what to do. Sarah was waiting for what she considered the "guests" to dig in first, while Derek and Kyle expected her to pray or something. Or at least invite them to eat. Finally, John reached out and started spooning mashed potatoes onto his plate. Cameron put some salad on his plate as well before the rest of the family soon joined in. Derek had cut up the steak into four separate pieces, and took one for himself. The rest followed suit. Cameron sat there, content being the only one not eating, as there was no need for her to. John felt bad, though, and spooned some mashed potatoes onto her plate, adding a little bit of salad, and cutting off a piece of his steak for her. Then he poured some of his soda into her cup before digging into his food.

Derek and Kyle, noticing this, looked at Cameron skeptically. They couldn't help but wonder why John had given the machine food if she couldn't eat it? For looks? So she wouldn't be left out? Then Cameron surprised them by taking a bite of mashed potatoes. She looked straight at them and said, "They are better tatered." This made John laugh out loud, which alleviated much of the tension in the room. Sarah was so glad to see her son laughing, that she began laughing as well. As soon as Derek and Kyle broke from their state of shock, they joined the two. Cameron, not sure what to do, but remembering what John had said about "tatered" not being used as a verb, she was able to guess that this was the source of their amusement and starting laughing as well. Seeing Cameron, a machine, laugh, set everyone off again. It was awhile before they were able to settle down and finish eating dinner, but once they did settle down, everyone was much more comfortable.

After dinner, and after they had each had a slice of the delicious fresh apple pie Cameron had baked, Sarah and Kyle insisted on doing the dishes, since everyone else had helped to prepare the food. Derek went straight to the TV, excited to do something mindless for a little while.

Cameron and John were on their way to John's room when the door bell rang. John opened the door, which revealed John Henry, smiling somewhat creepily. At least John thought it was creepy.

"John Henry. What are you doing here?" Though John was pretty sure he knew. They were going to start now. Not even a day off. It starts now.

John Henry replied, "I am here to give you your assignments." He stood there patiently.

John realized that he was waiting to be invited in. "John Henry, would you like to come in?"

John Henry seemed thoroughly pleased as he responded, "Yes, thank you very much John."

The rest of the family had been within hearing distance, so they had convened in the great room. John Henry motioned for Cameron and John to sit down with the adults, and they obliged.

"I have found three possible leads in regards to my brother, who I believe to be Skynet." Derek and Kyle didn't know what John Henry meant by this, but didn't much care as long as it meant that they were about to take down something important, possibly Skynet.

"John and Cameron. You two will take one of the vehicles located in the garage to 3241 W. Crayson St. You will observe only. Report back any suspicious activity, and we will proceed from there." He turned to Sarah and Derek. "The two of you will visit the headquarters of a major upcoming tech company, Arkarna Industries. We need to see if there is any evidence of Artificial Intelligence research and/or development. I will disable the security system so that your presence will go undetected." Sarah hesitated to trust a machine with such an important task, but knew that she could not disable a security system herself, and decided to trust him. For now.

Then John Henry spoke to Kyle. "Kyle, Mr. Ellison will arrive shortly, and the two of you will proceed to the Los Angeles Docks where an unidentified shipment is arriving on a freighter at midnight tonight. You will simply attach this transmitter onto one of the shipments, and we will be able to track it. If you have an opportunity to determine the contents of the shipments, then you are instructed to do so, but do not attempt this if you face any risk of getting caught." John Henry handed the transmitter to Kyle.

"You have one hour to reach your assigned destinations. Once you have completed your assignments, return here. I will be returning later for a debriefing of any information that may be acquired tonight. Good luck." Another creepy smile, and John Henry exited the house.

The five of them had headed down to the basement to arm themselves and had found an alarming variety and amount of weapons. They each took their favorites before heading back upstairs. The house had been stocked with the basic necessities; basic clothing for everyone, toothbrush, toothpaste, etc. So everyone got ready for their assignments. About 15 minutes after John Henry had left, Ellison arrived and they all piled into the three different cars and headed out.

When John and Cameron arrived at 3241 W. Crayson St., John instantly identified it as a large warehouse. In his experience, large warehouses often meant trouble. John parked the car across the street. He turned to Cameron, away from the warehouse, and took in a deep breath, which he needed after seeing her bathed in the pale moonlight. Everything had happened so fast, but yet it felt like he had been waiting for this for too long. Which, technically, he had been. He couldn't help himself. He reached a hand out to brush back her hair. He loved how soft it was.

"It's the hardest thing to get right," Cameron stated.

John looked at her, confused, so she explained. "The hair. It's the hardest thing to get right."

John realized that she meant it was the hardest thing to get right on a machine. He pushed the thought out of his mind, not wanting to think of where they got the hair.

"John?" Cameron implored.

"Yeah, Cameron?" It seems like so many of our conversations go this way. But it makes sense. She's such a creature of habit.

"Do you mind that I'm a machine?"

The question threw him off. On one hand, of course it would be easier and more acceptable to be in love with a human. If Cameron were human, it would make everything easier. But on the other hand, she probably wouldn't be the same Cameron that he had grown to love. He thought of Allison. He could have tried to build something with her, but it wouldn't have been the same. She wasn't Cameron. Everything Cameron was came from her experiences...and her programming. She was who she was in part because she's a machine. He knew his answer then.

"No, I don't mind that you're a machine." She smiled widely at this, obviously being very worried that his answer would be different.

"Well, I don't mind that you're human." John recognized this as a joke, which comforted him. He laughed, which made her smile even wider.

Suddenly, her smile disappeared, though, and she became serious and focused on something outside, past John.

John turned to see what upset her, and saw a familiar face approaching the warehouse and then entering.