A/N: Thank you to those who have left reviews, I appreciate your opinions and I'm glad you've enjoyed it so far. I hope not to disappoint.
Flatlander: I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'd been thinking for a while what would happen between John and Cam after she had completed her mission. I couldn't have John kill her off, though, not our Cam.
Tpolich: I didn't want to have Cameron suddenly turn human overnight, as you said. I feel that it would be a gradual learning process, much like infants go through. Later chapters will go into her emotional development, and what made her start to feel. Hope you enjoy this one for now.
Captain Jenkins turned the corner to and rushed forward, rifle at the ready. He was trying to find General Connor in the massive complex. Nobody had been able to raise him on the radio, and Major General Baum had ordered Jenkins to find him. He knew Skynet had been killed; the enemy Terminators and remaining HKs had simply shut down – no longer having a master to serve- and had been easily overcome. The biggest worry Baum had, which Jenkins shared, was that Skynet had managed to take Connor with it to oblivion, so Jenkins had been sent to find out.
He went through a doorway and saw Connor on his knees, his metal pet standing over him, holding its rifle, eyes glowing blue and a huge grin on its face. No way, he thought, no fucking way was he going to let that thing kill off their saviour.
"Hold it there, metal bitch!" He aimed his rifle at her head, the hate and venom dripping from his words. "I'm going to enjoy this," his finger started to tense on the trigger.
"Captain Jenkins, stand down!" John barked, getting back up to his feet and moved in front of Cameron, into Jenkins' line of fire. "Put that goddamn rifle down." Jenkins hesitated, "now, Captain!"
"Sir, what's going on?" he asked, slowly lowering his plasma rifle. "You were on your knees... it had a rifle raised... it was going to execute you."
Cameron realised that with her excitement at John's proposal, she hadn't noticed her rifle had still been shouldered. She dropped it to the ground. "I could never kill John Connor," she said, her face had turned blank once again. John took notice of her face and took her hand.
"It's ok, Cameron, you don't need to pretend anymore." John took the ring out of the box and slipped it onto her finger. "Captain, she wasn't going to kill me, we just got engaged."
"Request permission to speak freely, General?" John nodded. "What the fuck, sir? It's a machine."
"Captain, first of all. She is called Cameron. She is not just some machine, and perhaps if you'd ever taken the time to speak to her, you'd realise that." John's face was red with anger, and the veins sticking out from his temples as he approached the captain. Jenkins shrank slightly from his commander. As scary as the Terminators were, they didn't hold a candle to a pissed off John Connor.
"John, its ok, it doesn't matter." Cameron said softly, holding Johns hand, calming him slightly. Jenkins looked seriously confused; he'd never seen a Terminator showing emotion before. Could it have feelings, or was it just mimicking?
"Then the rumours are true?" Jenkins asked, "that you are..."
"Yes, we are a couple," he put his arm around Cameron and saw the instant look of distaste on Jenkins' face. If he doesn't like it, tough, John thought. "We've been together since before Judgement Day." Jenkins looked at John now as if he'd said white was black.
"Sir, the first infiltration models came four years after Judgement Day, how could that be possible?"
"Trust me, you're better off not knowing the answer, it's very confusing," John chuckled slightly. Before Jenkins could protest any more, John ordered him out of the room, telling him to inform General Baum he'd be in touch shortly. John had hoped to break the news himself, but undoubtedly now Jenkins would spread it around like wildfire. He'd known people wouldn't take too kindly to their engagement, but he still hoped people would come around eventually.
"John, you didn't have to defend me. I don't care what they think, only your opinion matters to me."
"I do care," he replied, pulling her closer to him and kissing her tenderly, closing his eyes as her lips melted into his. "I don't want you to have to pretend anymore, it's not fair to you. You're not like the Terminators. You know it. I know it. I want them to know it." John swept his hand in the general direction of the TechCom underground base. Cameron didn't answer; she just wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. She didn't care what the other soldiers thought of her. She knew that, with a few exceptions, they all hated her. John plainly cared, though, he wanted them to accept her, and he wanted her not to act like a machine around them. If that was what he wanted, then that's what she'd do for him.
"Come on, Cam," John took her hand and slowly led her outside towards the rest of the army. They emerged from the complex, hand in hand. When the soldiers saw John emerge, they all pumped their fists into the air and cheered. It took a few moments for them to register the fact that he was holding hands with Cameron, and what that implied, then the cheers fell silent as the resistance fighters looked on in shock. They walked together back up the hill overlooking the complex and towards the nearest base entrance, ignoring the filthy looks the soldiers gave Cameron. Before they arrived they were met by Derek, looking old and dishevelled, but surprisingly good shape for a man approaching sixty.
"Connor, you're a fucking hero," Derek said, shaking John's hand, "I can't believe we did it. Anything you want, anything, I'll get it done for you, you have my word."
"I'm glad you said that, Derek," John said, lifting up Cameron's hand so he could see the ring. "There is one thing I'd like. We would both like it if you gave us your blessing."
Derek looked at the ring, groaning inwardly. Why that? He'd known John and Cameron were intimate, they had been since just before Judgement Day, and after the shock and horror had worn off, he'd begrudgingly accepted it when he realised he'd never be able to stop them. The fact that she'd gone to extra effort to reunite Derek with "past" Kyle after Judgement day, saving his brother's life several times over and assigning him to Derek's command, allowing him to spend time once again with his unwitting brother before he inevitably had to be sent back in time, had softened his hostility towards her slightly. He'd never like her, he'd been through too much with the machines for that, but he'd tolerated her. Hell, maybe he was just getting soft in the head in his old age.
"Oh, crap," he muttered. Still, he'd given his word to John, he wouldn't break that. They all owed John their lives, so he would repay the debt, as much as it pained him to do so. "Sure, John, if that's what you want."
It had been three weeks since John and Cameron had killed Skynet together. Those three weeks had been the hardest, most stressful he'd had in a while. Fighting the war had seemed easy compared to trying to rebuild. He'd gotten used to fighting Skynet, it had been a part of him so long that it just came naturally. Peacetime, however, had brought its own challenges. With Cameron by his side, he'd fallen naturally into the role of General Connor. Now, after fulfilling one destiny, he was about to fulfil another. For it felt to him that he and Cameron were always meant to be. Fighting for their lives had developed a comradeship between the resistance fighters. Now though, with no SKynet to fight, squabbles had started over how to rebuilt society, several people trying to jockey for position and resources. He now realised that he was no longer a military commander, he was fast becoming a politician, and hating it.
John stood on top of the hill overlooking the destroyed Skynet complex, the site of man's victory over the Terminators. He felt awkward in his dress uniform, preferring the BDUs he'd become so accustomed to wearing over the last twenty five years. His tie felt tight and constricting around his neck, and his shirt felt stiff and starchy, and was creased horribly. All the military skills his mother had taught him to prepare for the war, and yet she'd never once taught him to iron a shirt or press trousers. He was sure he looked a mess.
Cameron, on the other hand, looked the very vision of beauty to him. She was wearing the pale blue prom dress she'd picked back in 2007. She'd packed it and kept it with her all these years, keeping it safe and in pristine condition. John had always wondered why, he knew she'd become strangely attached to it, after not being able to wear it when they'd missed out on Prom; after Sarkissian had car-bombed them, they'd had to move and change schools. The very sight of her in that dress took his breath away. He took her hand and smiled. Instead of her usual blank, emotionless stare, she was absolutely beaming.
She couldn't help but smile. She'd actively suppressed her emotional control subroutine, as John wanted her to be able to be herself around others, especially today. Not in all the years she'd lived with emotions had she felt as alive, as human as she did right now.
As if God himself approved their wedding, the sun was shining for the first time since John could remember, breaking through the permanent overcast of nuclear winter and casting a warm glow over the hill and onto the congregation. The two of them were brought out of their thoughts as James Ellison stood in front of them, bible open in his hands.
Special Agent- cum Major General James Ellison, also known as "The Padre," was going to conduct the ceremony. After losing an entire SWAT team to Cromartie, Ellison had hunted down John and Sarah fanatically, searching for answers. He'd not caught up to them until three years later, joining the Connors in battle against the killing machine, and later becoming one of the first members of the Resistance. He'd managed to bring the resources of the FBI to try and stop Skynet, even going so far as shutting down Cyber Research systems, creating trumped up terrorism charges against a number of their research staff and trying to get their operations shut down. After the bombs had fallen, he'd assumed the role as one of John's senior commanders, as well as the nearest thing TechCom had to a priest.
Behind John and Cameron stood his uncle, Derek, who looked extremely uncomfortable being there. He still wasn't comfortable around Cameron, and looked as awkward in dress uniform as John felt; and Charlie Dixon, who had teamed up with the Connor clan around the same time as Ellison. The three of them, John, and Cameron, had started TechCom. The "First Five," as they were also known to the troops. (Cameron received much less publicity than the rest for obvious reasons) They'd been the first ones to start the resistance, and were also the only people present for John's wedding.
John had hoped more people would attend, because he had hoped people might start to accept Cameron as a person, but so far people had failed to warm up to her. He was sure it would only be time until they came around, he just wished they could look past the coltan alloy and circuits, and see through to the inquisitive, warm, caring person she really was.
Cameron, on the other hand, cared nothing about other peoples' opinion of her; she wouldn't have cared if it had only been her and John present. It was him she wanted, and nothing else.
Ellison had no real experience with religious ceremonies – he was a man of faith, sure, but no priest. When Derek had approached him and told him that John and Cameron wanted to be married, after a few large helpings of Derek's moonshine, he had spoken to John and Cameron about them making their own vows - not knowing how to conduct a wedding, he thought it would be easier, and more suited to their unique situation, to come up with their own. He was one of the few people who saw Cameron as more than a machine, as did Charlie. John figured it was probably down to them working closely with and getting to know her, before they could become prejudiced by the affects of Judgement Day. He opened up with a few choice verses from his bible, before opening the floor for John to make his vows first.
"Cameron, since we first met, I knew there was more to you than meets the eye. I've watched you grow as a person, become more than anyone imagined you could be. You've been there for me throughout the worst times of my life. When Mom died, you comforted me. You stayed with me constantly, never leaving me, even when I tried to push you away. You always said your mission was to protect me, but you did so much more than that, Cameron; you made me. You gave me the will to fight, to carry on when I'd all but given up." He paused for a moment, fighting back tears. "And I promise to love and cherish you, for as long as we live."
Cameron was taken aback for a few seconds, which to a Terminator was an eternity. It felt strange for her to display any kind of emotion around people other than John, anomalous data surged through her systems, which she associated with awkwardness. She'd always felt safer playing the robot for everyone else. She also felt a strange sensation of pride flowing through her, that she couldn't explain. She wondered if "real" humans felt the same odd mix of emotions when they were married.
"John, before I met you I was simply a machine, a Terminator. I had knowledge and a rudimentary understanding of emotion, but could never comprehend them. You taught me how to feel, to be human." Derek rolled his eyes at that last part, but thankfully he was behind John and Cameron, and neither of them saw his reaction. "Before I met you, I was a slave to logic. You defended me against others," Again, Derek couldn't help but react, remembering the amount of times John had leapt to her defence when he had tried to get her shut down. "You said once that I'm not like the others of my kind, that I have a soul. I struggled with these concepts at first, but now I realise that if I truly do have a soul, it is only because you gave me one. In return I swear that I will love you, and remain by your side, forever."
Ellison had been shocked by Cameron's speech, as had Charlie, and even Derek. He hadn't thought she could come up with something as heartfelt as that, but as John had kept insisting for years, she was different. He started to agree with Derek, they were getting old. Twenty five years ago, if someone had told him he'd be marrying the leader of humanity and a robot from the future, he'd have had them locked up in a madhouse, he'd have checked himself in along with them for even listening. And he'd thought Sarah Connor had been crazy at the time.
"Ah, right then. I suppose all that's left now is to kiss the bride." John pulled Cameron towards him, lowering his mouth down to hers and kissing her tenderly. There was no applause, no cheering, no confetti or music; just three people watching, not entirely sure what to make of it all. He knew it was the best they could have hoped for, and yet it still felt perfect to him. All that mattered was that he and Cameron were happy.
After Ellison proclaimed them man and wife, they walked hand in hand back into the underground base – they hadn't managed to build much yet in the way of new homes- and towards their private quarters, receiving mainly blank stares from most of the troops, a handful offering the slightest of nods to the happy couple, or, at least to John, anyway. Neither John nor Cameron cared. John opened the thick steel doors and turned on the lights. Cameron was about to walk in to their quarters when John pulled her back.
"Whoa, Cam, aren't you forgetting something?"
"What?" she cocked her head in what John called "confused" or "inquisitive Cameron", he still found it endearing, even now.
"I should carry you over the threshold, its tradition."
"Okay, John," she giggled knowingly, "if you think you can." John swept her off her feet, failing to suppress a groan as he struggled to hold her weight. Her coltan alloy frame made her over fifty pounds heavier than a normal girl her size would weigh. She couldn't help but laugh as he realised he'd made a mistake. But he wasn't going to back out of it now. He managed to carry her as far as the bed (or what passed for a bed, at least), and his back screamed in relief when he set her down on the double mattress, before climbing on himself, kissing her passionately.
She responded in kind, tugging at his clothes with a sense of urgency as they became more heated. Finally, her dress and his uniform were abandoned on the floor. They lay in bed together, enjoying the intimacy of their first night as man and wife, again and again.
They laid under the covers, in each others arms, exhausted (John was, at least. Cameron could never become tired, though she felt fulfilled) John kissed her gently on the lips again, not passionate this time, but tender.
"I really do love you, Cameron Connor," he said, closing his eyes as he pulled her closer, feeling sleep coming to claim him.
"I love you too, John." She rested her head on his chest and prepared to enter standby mode. Together they slept, man and machine. Man and wife.
A/N: Sappy as hell, I know, but hey, it's a wedding. I struggled to come up with vows for Cameron, so I hope it's not too corny. Also, for anyone who doesn't know military acronyms, BDU stands for battle dress uniform – standard combat trousers and jacket.
Chapter 3 coming up soon - married life isn't quite so easy when your wife's a Terminator.