Author's note:

Just my thoughts on what might happen if Cameron is still confused about whom she is, and what her purpose is. Takes place immediately after "Allison from Palmdale", and will be rendered AU as soon as episode 5 airs.

"That was my last 'get out of jail free'". Cameron sat in the passenger seat of the big black truck as John drove them both home.

Still red with anger at what had just ensued, John responded "Damn right." It was obvious he couldn't tell his mother or uncle about the events of the day; either one of them would immediately attempt to destroy her. In John's mind, that didn't seem like such a bad idea right now, but if she was to be destroyed, it would be on his terms, not theirs. "Where'd you get that?" The necklace on her chest was new, and furthermore, it was an excuse to temporarily distract his mind from the destruction of what he had once thought to be a friend.

Keeping her gaze on the road ahead, she answered, "I got it at this awesome thrift store in Echo Park."

Another lie. John had been tracking her all day, and knew she was nowhere near Echo Park. Why was she lying to him? She just nearly killed that other girl, but jewelry theft was something she was now secretive about?

John spent the next few minutes trying to come up with a possible motive for her lie. He also wondered how she could possibly forget that she was a machine. His train of thought was derailed when he saw Cameron reach into the glove box and pull out the 9mm Glock that was stored there. She had told him earlier that day that if she was going to kill him, he would not have time to ask about it. In this instance, he certainly wouldn't have had time to talk. He would be lucky if the whole process of her taking out the gun, racking the slide to chamber a round, and lifting it up to his head took more than 2 seconds.

At about one and a half seconds, he cranked the steering wheel sharply to the left. The g-forces threw Cameron against the passenger door, and the bullet that would have gone through his temple went through the roof of the pickup. John didn't waste another fraction of a second before he opened the door and bailed out onto the soft ground on the left side of the road. He tumbled a few times, twisting his ankle in the process. A twisted ankle and a few severe bruises were nothing compared to the injuries he would have sustained if he were in the truck that was now rolling down a steep embankment. His tumbling stopped in time for him to see the twisted metal wreckage that used to be his uncles truck finally come to a rest a couple hundred feet down the step grade.

Knowing he didn't have much time before the murderous cyborg would claw its way out of the mess, he pulled himself to his feet to get moving. A sharp pain shot up his leg as he realized his ankle was not in working order. The next thing he noticed were the taillights of a car whose driver had stopped after seeing the truck fly off the road.

Gritting his teeth against the pain in his ankle, John hobbled along the side of the road toward the parked car. His mind was racing trying to come up with a believable excuse to leave the scene of the accident immediately in the person's car.

When the driver's door opened and a middle-aged woman stepped out, she said to the boy who was now at the rear bumper of her car, "Are you okay?"

John didn't have to act like he was in pain because he was in pain, but he had to act like it was coming from other places. "N-No!" He clutched his ribs. "I have a broken ankle, and a busted rib...or two. I'm pretty sure I'm bleeding internally too." He keeled over the trunk of the car, propping himself up with one elbow, still holding his midsection with the other arm. "I need to get to a hospital immediately! Please! Drive me!"

In a state of shock, and without saying a word, the woman ran over to John to help walk to the passenger door. "Easy...easy" she said as she helped lower him into the seat, while John feigned rib injuries. "What about your car? Was there anyone else in it?"

"No. Just me. Forget about the car. I need a hospital. Please...just, drive."

It worked. The woman scurried back around to the driver's side, got in and took off down the road.

"Help!" A screaming voice came from the pile of twisted metal and rubber. "Someone get me out!"

Tears streamed down the face of the girl trapped in the steel cage that used to be a truck. Her one free arm pounded on some metal that was crumpled around her body while she frantically squirmed and writhed in place.

"Hold still, miss! We'll have you out of here in no time." One of the men from the emergency medical team tried to calm her and hold her steady while another employed the jaws-of-life on the truck. She did her best to calm herself and hold still while the hydraulic cutter snipped through the truck's unibody like construction paper.

"Take is easy miss; you may have broken bones, or internal injuries. Can you move your feet?" asked Greg, the lead EMT.

"Y-Yes." The frightened girl said as she began to move her legs and step out of the scrap heap.

Normally, Greg would have insisted that an accident victim stay still until they could delicately place her on a gurney and examine her in more detail. If she had a broken back, she could paralyze herself. But the girl in front of him stepped out of the car as easily as getting out of a lounge chair, and started walking about. She was pacing, holding her fists in her hair, crying.

"Where am I? How did I get here?"

"You're lucky to be alive, miss; and extremely lucky to have no injuries besides some torn clothes and a few scrapes...small ones at that."

She ignored the EMT and kept pacing and crying to herself, "I want to go home. I want to go home. I want to go home."

Greg put a comforting arm around the girl and said, "Okay. Okay. We'll get you home. You've been through a lot. Officer Reeds here will drive you home. There you can answer a few questions for her about what happened tonight." He and Officer Reeds both took one of her arms and helped walk her up the hill to the roadway where the squad car was parked.

Once at the top of the hill Officer Reeds opened the passenger door of the police car to let the girl sit down. She turned to Greg and asked "You sure she's fine to go home? That's a hell of a wreck down there" she gestured down the embankment.

"Million to one chance. She's fine. Must have an angel watching over her." Greg shrugged as he spoke.

Officer Reeds shook her head in bewilderment. She had seen some pretty bad wrecks where people had walked away, but nothing like this; especially the way she was trapped in the twisted metal. She looked over and watched the poor girl wipe her eyes with the torn sleeve of her shirt. "Yeah...more like a whole goddamned army of angels" she said under her breath as she bent down to talk to the passenger of her car.

"What's your name hun?"

"Allison. Young," she responded as though she had to think about what her last name was.

"Okay, Allison. I'll take you home now, but you have to tell me where home is."

Allison looked up at Officer Reeds with wet eyes and answered, "Palmdale."

"Palmdale?" She drew back a bit. "That's like 80 miles from here. What are you doing out here all by yourself so far from home?"

Her face began to clench up, and the tears started to pool again in her eyes. "I don't know. I can't remember. I just want to go home."

"Alright. I'll notify Palmdale local PD after I drop you off at home, and they will question you in the morning," she said as she closed the door and proceeded to walk around to the driver's side.

A/N: I'm trying to keep this one short and sweet so I can get it all written and posted soon. After watching Episode 4, I just had to write something about the Cameron/Allison headcase.

More to come...