Title: Life Source

Pairing: Sarah/Cameron

Rating: R

Summary: (Set in season 1, I guess I just love that house) As if the existence of terminators wasn't enough, Sarah gets attacked by a creature of the night. Cameron is the solution to Sarah's new problem. AU

Word Count: 2,760

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the main characters, I'm just a fan!

A/N: I know, it ends a little abruptly… I suck at writing endings! I have gone over a couple of times, but essentially, this fic is unbetaed.

Sarah can't remember why she went outside. She can't even remember why she snapped at Cameron to stay inside. She was usually content to allow Cameron to join her outside as long as she stayed on the porch. Sarah thought that she was just going to sit herself on the swing like she usually did almost every night.

She knew that Cameron was just inside the kitchen door, undoubtedly staring, waiting and watching. She sat there for at least an hour before she heard Cameron's weight shift. It didn't sound as if she had gone very far, but at least she wasn't staring from behind the door anymore. Sarah sighed, glancing up at the sky. There weren't many stars visible. The moon, however, was out and full. Sarah found it to be a haunting image, especially with the thin, grey clouds passing by in front. A chill ran down her spine. Sarah stood up. She walked up to the gate and glanced about her empty street. Sarah brought her arms up about herself. Cameron had always told her that wearing just singlet tops wouldn't be beneficial to her health.

Sarah had snorted at Cameron's following comment.

'But I would miss your shoulders.'

That Tin Miss would say the strangest things sometimes. Sarah wasn't sure what to make of that comment. She had gotten used to Cameron being around, but she still had that niggling feeling at the back of her mind, the possibility that Cameron would go bad. Sometimes she'd feel the need to return Cameron's silent stares, just to remind her that Sarah was still keeping an eye on her. If Cameron were human, Sarah would have laughed it off as a young girl's mere experimental fantasy, but Cameron wasn't human. Her increasingly human comments disturbed Sarah greatly when they were accompanied with a small smile from their terminator-turned-protector.

A snapped twig was the only alert Sarah had before she felt a massive weight around her shoulders. A sharp, but concentrated pain flourished from her neck. She let out a strangled cry as she flailed, attempting to banish her attacker's face from her neck. A hand clamped itself over her mouth. She bit into a finger. She heard a muffled grunt and tasted the tang of blood. The strangest sensation was filling her, or rather, leaving her. She saw the silhouette of Cameron bounding towards her before she blacked out.

---------------

'I'm sorry.'

Cameron's voice broke through the haze of sleep. No, not sleep. She had been unconscious. Sarah sat up abruptly. She felt peculiar. The scent of Cameron's strawberry shampoo was stronger than usual. The lights seemed brighter than usual. She heard what she imagined was a squirrel scaling up the tree outside.

'What happened?'

'What do you remember?'

'Someone attacked me. I think they bit me.'

Sarah tentatively touched the left side of her neck with her right hand. She felt two puncture marks.

'Are you kidding me?'

'I didn't say anything.'

'No, I mean, did I seriously get bitten by a vampire?'

'The possibility is very likely, especially since the human turned into dust when I ripped his head off. I'm sorry that I was late.'

Sarah blinked, and focused on Cameron.

'What?'

'I'm sorry that I arrived too late.'

'No, you said that he was actually a vampire? There's no such thing!'

'There is.'

'What would you know about vampires?'

'I don't sleep.'

'So?'

'There are many documentaries on the fight against the supernatural. According to Joss Whedon's documentary, the only methods that I could have applied to stop the vampire were to stake him or to take off his head. I lacked a stake.'

'Cameron, Buffy is a fictional television show. It isn't a documentary. Vampires aren't real.'

'I had surmised as much, until earlier when you were attacked.'

'This doesn't make sense. I must be dreaming.'

Sarah shook her head in an attempt to clear it. Dirt fragments fell from her hair.

'What the hell?'

'I had to bury you.'

'Excuse me?!'

'I had to bury you otherwise you would have died permanently. Vampires need to be buried in the dirt to be turned.'

'I don't want to be a vampire. I didn't know that I was going to be bitten!'

'But you bit him back.'

'I was trying to get him to let go!'

'The oral exchange of blood occurred. I had to save you.'

'By burying me in the garden.'

'Yes.'

Sarah frowned.

'Where's John?'

'He is at Morris' house.'

'What time is it?'

'It is seven in the evening. You have been recovering for nineteen hours.'

Sarah appreciated the fact that Cameron had opted for inference instead of literal terms.

'John never came home?'

'I made sure he went straight to Morris' after school.'

'You shouldn't have left him alone! Go and bring him home right now.'

'He has his cell phone. I didn't want you to wake up underground.'

Sarah shivered at Cameron's statement. That was definitely an image that she didn't want to haunt her already hectic nightmares. Cameron handed her a mug of hot chocolate. Sarah stared at it for a moment. How long has it been since she'd drunk a liquid that wasn't coffee?

'Fine. Thank you.'

'You're welcome. How do you feel?'

'Great, actually.'

'You look healthy, for a vampire.'

'I would tell you that I'm not a vampire, but apparently I survived a day underground.'

'Why do humans insist on denying what is able to be logically seen as reality?'

'Vampires weren't real until last night. Things we don't see, things we don't consider real, usually are so because we made them go extinct, or they really don't exist. Humans have this thing called an imagination.'

'The wind is real, but you can't see it.'

'You can feel it.'

They both fell silent. Neither wanted to bring up Cameron's unnatural existence. It would only lead to more unpleasantness. Sarah took a sip of the hot chocolate, spluttering it out almost immediately.

'I forgot.'

'What? To put in the sugar? The chocolate? This is revolting!'

'You can't consume human food anymore.'

'What?'

'You can ingest it but you are no longer able to enjoy it.'

Cameron retrieved a dishcloth and began to mop up the wasted beverage. Sarah smelt her cup. The dark brown liquid smelled like chocolate, but it had tasted like ass. She sighed. She was going to miss chocolate. She shoved the mug away from herself.

'You need sustenance.'

Sarah snorted. She didn't usually eat much, now she had a reason. Sarah didn't realise that Cameron had moved from leaning against the kitchen bench until she was right in front of her, kneeling with her neck fully exposed. Sarah could see Cameron's faux-jugular pulsing. She had never noticed veins and arteries before. Now, they were quite captivating to watch. She licked her lips unconsciously, tasting the drop of dried blood on the side of her mouth. She cleaned herself up with her tongue.

'What are you doing?'

'You need sustenance.'

'So go buy me some raw meat.'

'Drink my blood.'

'You don't have real blood.'

'It's real enough. It has the same nutritional value as human blood. Please feed.'

Sarah couldn't even laugh because of the sheer and surreal hunger she was experiencing simply from staring at Cameron's neck. Cameron had pulled her hair back, revealing more than just her neck because, of course, she was wearing her favourite black singlet top. She saw her hands reaching for Cameron's neck. She licked her lips again. Cameron didn't look her in the eye. She was facing off to Sarah's left.

She opened her mouth slowly.

*SNIKT*

Luckily, her tongue hadn't been extended, or else her fangs would have pierced it. Sarah paused, carefully tonguing her new canines. She had felt them change shape and push past her gums. It had been a very mild pain. Sarah suddenly became aware of Cameron's breathing. It seemed…. Heavier? Was that even possible? Sarah placed her hands on Cameron's shoulders, marvelling at just how smooth the skin was.

'I'm home!'

The sound of John's voice broke Sarah out of her reverie. Her fangs retracted automatically.

'Welcome back.'

'Geez Mom, you look so pale! Haven't you eaten yet?'

'Hello to you too, and no, I haven't eaten yet, how about you?'

'Had pizza at Morris'.'

'Okay. Have a shower and get to bed.'

'Yes, Mom.'

'And don't you forget it.'

John rolled his eyes at her good-naturedly and headed to his room.

'We should have told him.'

'We should have told him nothing. I will tell him when it concerns him.'

'He will be suspicious when you block out your windows and sleep in during the day.'

'What?'

'Vampires can't stay awake during the day because they need to rest and because the sun is detrimental to their health.'

'Wait, isn't being a vampire being dead? Why would the dead need to rest?'

'You are undead. You are death animated. And you physically cannot be out and about during the day. You need to rest like any other animated being.'

Sarah frowned. The fact that she would have to conduct all investigations at night worried her more than the fact that she now had to avoid sunlight in fear of her health declining. She saw Cameron moving towards the back door.

'Where are you going?'

'There is cardboard in the garage. I need to cover up your bedroom windows.'

'To stop the sun getting through.'

'Yes.'

'Thank you Cameron.'

'You are welcome, Sarah.'

---------------

Cameron had finished covering up Sarah's windows, as well as creating make shift covers for the rest of the windows in the house, leaving them just under the sills. When John left for school in the morning, she would cover the windows so that if Sarah really needed to get up while the sun was still in the sky, the oldest member of the Connor household could move about the house safely.

There was still two hours before dawn. Cameron found Sarah sitting outside again. Cameron didn't understand Sarah Connor. When most humans are attacked, they don't dare to revisit the place of their attack. They tend to be traumatised and afraid. Sarah Connor seems to defy all logic that Cameron has accumulated about humans. Instead of surrendering into a breakdown about turning into a vampire, Sarah Connor was outside thinking, most probably about how to find Sarkissian.

Cameron draped a blanket over Sarah's shoulders.

'Thank you.'

'You have thanked me more in the last twenty four hours than all of last week.'

Sarah winced at the wonder that laced Cameron's statement. Even if Cameron was a terminator, Sarah felt bad at being so noticeably ungrateful. When she really thought about it, like she had been for the past twenty minutes, Cameron was always helping her. Not just during stakeouts and protecting John, but the little things too. Cameron would always have a cup of coffee just the way she liked it ready first thing in the morning. Sarah never bothered to try to cook now. Cameron would always do it, claiming to want to put her recipes to the test after scouring the internet – and the all night cooking channel for that matter.

Initially Sarah had been suspicious, thinking that perhaps Cameron was going to poison their food. Eventually after watching John stuff his face with pancakes made from scratch and freshly squeezed orange juice, she relented. She even complimented Cameron after roast beef had been served for dinner. Cameron had made sure that the inside was still pink. That image made her mouth water. She wondered there would be any drunks hobbling past their house at this hour.

'Sarah.'

Sarah turned her head. Cameron was sitting next to her, her neck out on offer again. Sarah's fangs slid out at the sight.

'No.'

'You must.'

'I can't.'

'I will heal and regenerate the blood quicker than a human. Don't worry.'

'You need to be ready for anything.'

'Would you prefer that I go and capture a human for you?'

'No!'

'Then I shall be your life source.'

Sarah was becoming more and more aware of her hunger. Cameron's luscious neck and her pulsing jugular, and her explicit invitation, definitely weren't helping her self-control. Sarah couldn't help but admire Cameron's body too. She had thought that vampire focused films had always exaggerated on the sex, but perhaps they had a reason to.

'Please partake of my blood before you end up doing what you will regret.'

The image of herself watching over John, and then leaping to attack his neck was the driving force of Sarah's newest fears. Her right hand caressed Cameron's cheek gratefully. Her left hand wrapped itself around Cameron's torso, pulling her closer. The blanket slid off her body. Sarah's hand slid down from Cameron's waist to her inner thigh. Cameron jerked slightly at the unexpected touch.

Sarah tilted her head to the left, lowered her mouth and bit into Cameron's neck quickly and moaned at the feel and taste of Cameron's blood gushing out and into her desperate maw. Her lips clamped down around the wound. Sarah sucked with gusto. Cameron sagged a little. A small mumble escaped her lips. If the sound of Cameron's blood rushing to her mouth weren't filling Sarah's ears, she might have heard what it was.

After some time, Cameron shifted in her embrace. She seemed to pull away. Sarah held her tighter.

'Sarah! Please stop!'

Sarah was thrown out of her bloodlust by this tone that she had never heard from Cameron's lips before. She pulled away, frightened of herself. Her tongue had a mind of its own, licking Cameron's wound tenderly before returning to its home. Cameron turned her head to look at Sarah.

'You must leave a little. If I have none, I cannot regenerate my blood. My organic systems would be weakened.'

Sarah nodded.

'Why didn't you just push me away?'

'You were growing stronger, but I didn't wish to harm you.'

'Still.'

'I thought that you would have liked to have chosen to stop.'

Sarah didn't know what to say.

'Are you okay?'

'I will be fine. I should be fully ready for you by this time tomorrow, should you wish to feed again.'

Ready for you. Cameron was hers now.

Cameron gestured towards Sarah's face.

'You still have some blood there.'

Sarah licked her lips, her tongue swirling to collect the remainder of her meal, of Cameron. Neither moved. Sarah kept her eyes locked on Cameron's. Cameron didn't waver.

'I do feel different though.'

'I do too.'

'Sarah, I feel an extra awareness of you, of your proximity. Is this an effect of being fed on by a vampire?'

'I don't know. Maybe.'

Sarah could feel her entire body. She could feel Cameron's blood swirling around inside of her. She too could feel an acute awareness of Cameron, of her body. She also noted with relief that her hunger was satiated. She still wanted to flood her mouth with Cameron's blood, but now she could control the impulses. Another feeling however, rose up from her groin. Perhaps those cheesy vampire love novels she read during her teens had been telling the truth. Vampires were sexy as hell, for both parties.

Cameron held out a hand. Sarah took it and stared at their joined hands. Cameron pulled Sarah into an embrace. It was a little stiff. Cameron lacked the practice, but Sarah could sense the intentions behind it. She could hear Cameron's heart beat just that little bit faster.

Sarah did not expect Cameron to nuzzle her neck, and she certainly did not expect herself to return the tender gesture. Another surprise. It was Sarah who initiated the searing kiss. It wasn't gentle. Tongues intertwined and teeth were used.

'Mine.'

'Yes.'

Sarah didn't want to believe it, but in that breathless whisper, Cameron meant it. In that single word, Cameron was confirming Sarah's present single most desire. Sarah drew Cameron in for another unusual, but undoubtedly passionate kiss.

Everything would be different now. Sarah could live differently now. Skynet or no Skynet, at least she knew she would now be around to see John to his adult years.

'You should return into the house. It is nearly dawn.'

'We should return to the house.'

Cameron got up, holding out a hand to Sarah. Sarah accepted Cameron's offer. Cameron went inside first because Sarah turned to check behind her one last time. As she turned to enter, she felt a resistance and fell on her arse.

'Great, another vampire thing right?'

'Yes. Sarah, please come in.'

THE END

So…? How's this as my first more than a drabble length TSCC fic?