Hi everyone! Wow, thank-you to everyone who reviewed chapter two! Well here is chapter three: its setting is between "The Demon's Hand" and "Vick's Chip." Hey quick question: in "Vick's Chip" when John and Cameron are talking in John's room and Cameron is painting her nails, why does John say to Cameron something like, "but I know that in the core of your chip you're exactly like him." Is it just me or is anyone else missing how that sentence fits in with that entire scene?
The silence and tension in the kitchen was near explosive.
John glanced at Derek Reese as the man glared at Cameron while she looked out from behind the blinds in the kitchen. John opened the fridge as Derek's bitter expression deepened when Cameron turned away from the window and met his glare.
As John poured milk into his glass he watched as Derek and Cameron stared at each other. His green eyes flicked between his uncle and his machine protector. Derek's mouth and eyes were hard and still and Cameron wore her blank unemotional expression and either moved. John watched for the angry bang to occur.
As if her name had been called Cameron suddenly snapped her eye line to the doorway entering the living room and ignoring both Derek and John she walked silently from the room. Derek's bitter expression remained until he looked up at John who was watching his uncle as he took a drink from his glass.
"How can you stand that thing," Derek said through his teeth.
John put his glass down saying, "that thing's name is Cameron."
Derek gave a humorless laugh and shook his head in half disgust and half disbelief. John remembered clearly the lecture Derek had given him about Cameron when John had told him to stay out of his mother's room.
"Did she do something to you in future?" asked John. He knew the tension between Cameron and Derek ran deeper then any future-man and machine relationship, there was something personal in this hatred that Derek had towards Cameron.
Derek's lines on his face hardened and he remained silent. John waited but Derek said nothing.
"Let me guess," said John sarcastically, "Future-Me said not to tell Teenage-Me?"
"You have your reasons John," said Derek, his tone a bit less harsh then before. John sighed and placed his glass in the sink and grabbed his school bag from the counter. He called as he moved to the back door, "Cameron? You coming?"
As if by magic Cameron was suddenly at the doorway with her schoolbag over her shoulder. Derek's face darkened even further but Cameron didn't even look at him as she walked past John out the back door. John paused at for a moment before saying to Derek, "See you later."
"Make sure it doesn't kill anyone!" Derek called as John closed the door behind him. Cameron was waiting for him at the front gate of the house. John walked up to her and without saying a word Cameron walked down the street and as John had to hurry to fall into step with her he asked, "why are you so eager to get to school?"
Cameron turned her blank stare at him and paused before saying, "I'm not."
"You're walking very fast," said John. As if emphasizing a point Cameron slowed her steps down and walked slower then before. She looked at John expectably. John stared at her for a moment, her strange behavior nothing new to him but she was confusing him none-the-less.
"So," said John after a few moments of silence in such only the sound of John's footsteps could be heard against the pavement. Even though Cameron was wearing boots her steps were quiet and graceful.
"You wish to talk to me?" said Cameron turning her large brown eyes to him again. John looked at her too for a moment, paused before saying, "You still haven't told me about that alarm call in the middle of the night.
Cameron's dark hair ruffled slightly in the breeze, her brown eyes glowed and her lips parted slightly. John tore his gaze him hers; he didn't trust himself being that close to her and having the thoughts of how beautiful she was haunting his mind.
Cameron had been secretive about that midnight incident to both John and Sarah. No matter how much Sarah pushed and threatened, Cameron had only said she had a breakdown of her system and it had burnt her circuits causing her utter pain. John was thoroughly suspicious about Cameron's explanation (Sarah was utterly disbelieving of her, especially about her being in 'pain') but no matter how much Cameron was hard-pressed and in jeopardy she stuck to that same explanation.
"I have told you before," said Cameron, "there was a spark in my CPU that was interfered with my functions. I did not mean to scream; I apologies again for waking you, it won't happen again."
John held Cameron's gaze for a moment; her eyes were wide and innocent looking but there was no trace of a lie.
"Yeah whatever," muttered John lowering his gaze from her. Maybe she was telling the truth, maybe she wasn't; John might never know.
They continued to walk to school in silence. As they reached the busyness of the front of the school John spotted Cheri Weston walking the opposite way, she smiled at him in silent greeting. John slowly his walk down and watched her walk away over his shoulder.
Cameron stopped walking and watched John as he gazed at Cheri Weston's figure. She titled her head to the side. His expression made her curious; she had seen him wear that look before.
"You once looked at me like that," she said
John turned to look back at Cameron who was gazing at him. It was not her usual analysis look but a simple watching look. It made her look even more human then John could ever remember.
"What?"
"The way you watched her walk away," she said moving closer to him, "the expression on your face. You looked at me like that once when I touched your neck to get a reading of the rates of your body levels."
John stared at her, his feet rooted to the ground. She simply stared back, not looking the lest bit intimidated by there staring match. John watched as her eyes skimmed across his face. Maybe it was a trick of the light or maybe his imagination was in overdrive, but his stomach did a crazy flip when he so sure he saw Cameron's eyes rest a second on his lips before moving them like lightened back to his eyes…
"Hey there!"
John jumped about a foot in the air and spun around to find Morris standing behind him. He was grinning widely and said, "Man did you try that engineering homework last night? It took me too bloody hours! And your looking very nice today Cameron."
Cameron turned her blank look to Morris before saying bluntly, "Thank-you."
"Yeah," said John making his voice less shaky as possible, "it was hard."
The bell cut off the rest of the small talk that Morris was starting and there was a sudden flurry by teenage students to get into the school hallways through the metal detectors.
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The room was quiet expect for the whispering of some students as the work was past around. John stared at the problem in front of him, The chemicals of Fluoride and Carbon is mixed together to produce what?
"Having trouble with that question too?" Cheri Weston's voice whispered in his ear. He looked up. She was watching him closely.
"Er, no, um, I'm alright," said John grinning a little, "I know this one but I just can't think of the answer."
Cheri smiled, "I hate it when that happens."
John gave a half-hearted smile and turned his head back down to his paper. He felt a heat rising in his cheeks still feeling Cheri's eyes on him. He hated it when people watched him like that; his mother, Cameron, now Derek.
"Hey," said Cheri suddenly, "what are you doing this Friday?"
"Friday?" said John looking up from his paper. He leaned back in his chair and shook his head slightly, "Nothing at the moment. Why?"
"How would you like to come with me somewhere?" asked Cheri leaning forward slightly towards him, a smile on her face, her eyes bright and blonde hair falling across her shoulders, "It'll be our secret."
John stared at her for a moment. Secrets; the one word that his mother did not allow in her vocabulary unless it was outside the circle of the present day resistance fighters. Sarah hated secrets, there were no secrets in her life and there should defiantly be none in her son's either. In her view secrets can lead to the creation of Skynet, every since detail must be seen and view with the utmost care. It was how she worked, how she had survived.
"Where are we going?" asked John
Cheri's smile widened as she turned back to the board, "you'll see on Friday if you come along."
John hesitated, "Look Cheri," she turned to face him again, "my mum, she's really, you know…nosy, she won't let me go out unless she knows where I'm going. Can't you tell me now?"
Cheri stared at him. There was something cold in her stare as she snapped, "Why? Need to bring your sister along too?"
"No, that's not it-" The bell out the rest of his sentence as Cheri was suddenly on her feet and stuffing her books into her bag.
"Fine John!" she growled, "if you don't want to go with me you can just say. Don't make up some bullshit about your mum!"
"No Cheri, just tell me where we-" but Cheri was walking away. John gave a sigh as he watched her go. Damn it! Why did he always stuff things up like that?! He sighed again in frustration and moved from the room, ignoring Cameron who was waiting at the door for him.
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John didn't feel like talking as he and Cameron headed home from school. He vaguely wondered if Cameron knew if he was upset; she probably would, he had snapped at her every question today and ignored some of her others even though she had repeated them to him at least four times over as if he had not heard.
At one point he had snapped at her to "Shut-up" and instantly regretted it when he saw something flash in her usually blank eyes. It was that same look when she had spoken about love a few weeks ago to him; the imaginary hurt that he had thought he'd seen. At that moment he had wanted to take her into his arms and hug her like he had done once before but she had turned away from him and took up an uncharacteristically enthusiastic conversation with Morris.
As he walked John watched as two small children ran across the green grass of their lawn. A man, most likely their father, started yelling at the pair while watering the hedges along the fence of the garden. Two women with dogs sat at a bench as John and Cameron walked by talking to each other about their business (the dogs barked like crazy when Cameron moved past). Every now and then a car would come past down the road. Up ahead an old woman with a shopping trolley waited at the traffic lights to safely cross.
John wondered if that old woman would be dead before Judgment Day arrived; he hoped for her sake she was. Would she be safely in her grave or would she in some career's home not understanding why a metal skeleton with glowing red eyes was shooting her to smithereens? And those two children; would they grow up in a world of blood, war and destruction? Would they become soldiers in the resistance? Or would they have their small bodies crushed beneath the rubble as the bombs and machines destroyed civilization? Or maybe they'd be burnt to caracole along with many millions of other nuclear holocaust victims?
No, John told himself firmly, no, they would stop Judgment Day again. The end of the world would never happen; they'd stop it. Him, Mom, Cameron, Derek; they'd stop it.
They had reached the house and Cameron moved inside not saying to word to John. John wanted to call out to her; say he was sorry, he hadn't meant to be so harsh to her; he'd never hurt her again.
"Hey," said Sarah as he entered the house, "Cameron is starting to act like the walking dead. What happened?"
"Nothing," said John avoiding his mother's gaze, "I think I upset her. Do we have anything to eat? I'm starving."
"In the fridge," said Sarah nodding towards the white cooler, "Did you manage to get anything else out of her about her little episode?"
"Nah," said John as he skimmed the contents of the fridge, "she's sticking to her story. Mom, I think she's telling the truth, perhaps we should believe her. She says it won't happen again."
Sarah didn't say anything and suddenly Cameron reappeared in the kitchen holding the house phone and said to John, "it's for you."
John looked at her. It was the first thing she had said to him in hours and he didn't want to blow it so he said as politely as possible, "Who is it?"
"Cheri Weston," said Cameron
John's expression turned to surprise as he glanced at the cordless phone in Cameron's hand. Should he talk to her? He hesitated before whispering, "I'm not here."
Cameron frowned and her brow creased in obvious confusion, "but you are here." She held the phone out more to him as if to emphasis the point. Sarah watched the scene half in amusement and half confusion.
"Who's Cheri Weston," Sarah asked titling her head to get a better look at John's face as he had hidden it slightly from his mother and avoided her gaze as he muttered hurriedly, "No one, just someone from school."
He looked up at Cameron who was staring at him in confusion, "She wants to speak to you."
"Tell her I'm not here and then hang up," said John. He didn't really have a particular desire to speak to Cheri, especially not with his ever-seeing mother and Cameron's hyper-hearing in the room.
Still not understanding John's hesitation Cameron put the phone back to her ear and spoke into the mouth piece, "John said he's not here. Goodbye."
Sarah snorted and John sighed in frustration and slammed the fridge shut (his apatite was no more) as Cameron clicked the phone off. Now she had done it! John shook his head and moved past Cameron, his annoyance with her suddenly flaring again. Cameron watched John walked angrily from the room.
She turned to Sarah, confusion on her face but her eyes were the same blank stare, "Did I do something wrong?"
Sarah returned Cameron's stare for a moment before saying harshly, "Your very existence is wrong."
Sarah then too left the kitchen leaving Cameron standing here alone, cordless phone still in her hand.
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It was dark outside and the only light in John's room was his desk lamp. John was ready to throw his school books out the window; set them on fire, anything, just as long as they didn't exist any longer. He picked up his chemistry book and gazed at it for a moment, the anger and annoyance at everyone pumping through him. He suddenly threw the text book with all his might across the room where it hit the wall with a loud thud.
God, he wanted to scream! But if he did he knew the house would be in chaos and that made the desire even more tempting! He ran his fingers through his hair and gripped the strands hard in frustration. He closed his eyes and took a deep breathe and counted to ten in his mind. How he would give for one day that wouldn't involve something to do with the future or something to make him angry or upset or frustrated; one day!
There was a soft knock on the door. He ignored it. He didn't want to deal with anyone. There was a moment's pause before it was opened a little and a small strip of Cameron's face could be seen through it. He turned away from her; she was the last person he wanted to see.
The door opened wider and Cameron moved inside before shutting the door with a click. She leaned her back against the wood while staring at John the entire time. John glanced at her before shrugging his shoulders saying, "what?"
Cameron lowered her eyes to the chemistry book on the floor at her feet. She slowly scooped down and picked it up. She moved over to John, quiet and graceful, and put the book down on his desk in front of him. John raised his eyes to look at her and the breath was thrown from his lungs and caught in his throat. His heart gave a jump.
She was half hidden in shadow, but her white face seemed to glow in the dim light. Her dark hair and clothes blended her well in with the darkness around her. Her brown eyes were large and whole. She looked more then beautiful, there was no word in the dictionary, in any language, to describe her. To John the words beautiful, stunning, gorgeous, spectacular; they were unworthy to be placed with her.
How could anything so heavenly be so dangerous?
"Please don't be angry at me," she said. Their eyes met and John felt the tension and frustration in his mind begin to evaporate. How could he be so annoyed and angry at such a creature like her? She wasn't to blame for any anger he was feeling at the world.
Cameron reached down and pushed the hair from John's eyes and a jolt of something ran down his spine as her fingertips brushed his forehead.
The silence continued until Cameron let her hand drop and said, "You remind me of him."
"Who?" asked John, his voice was scratchy and low. He swallowed the lump in his throat as Cameron turned away from him and sat on his bed facing him.
"Kyle Reese," said Cameron. John's eyes widened in shock and surprise and his body froze. The warmth that had spread through him at seeing Cameron had disappeared slightly at her unexpected words. Cameron never ever spoke about his father; his mother and uncle hardly did and he had always presumed Cameron had never known his father.
"You knew him?" said John turning around fully in his seat to look at her in disbelief, "are you serious?!"
"Yes," said Cameron, "but only very briefly. Just before he was sent back to the past I met him," she suddenly smiled, "he's different then Derek Reese."
"Yeah?" said John, suddenly extremely interested
"Yeah," said Cameron, "he was kinder. You look like him; more then you do with Sarah. You have the same completion, same build, but his hair was lighter, more of a blonde shade. But you have the same eyes…"
She trailed off as she watched him as he smiled, "yeah…yeah my mum sometimes said that when I was younger."
"She's right," agreed Cameron, "the same shade of green," she cocked her head to the side, "the same kindness in them. You have the same smile too. Your eyes go brighter too when you smile; your emotions show in them."
John looked up at Cameron who was watching him as she continued, "He treated me differently; like another solider, like John Connor did. I could tell he saw beyond the metal and machine; just like you have."
Cameron's gaze moved from John's for a moment as she reached into her pocket and pulled something out. It was a slip of paper; it was old and a yellow colour as if a light coloured tea and been spilt on it. Cameron stood from John's bed and leaned forward and placed the folded paper onto his desk saying, "This is for you."
John watched as Cameron then walked across the room and opened the door as the hallway light spilt into the room and onto her. She looked back at John as she closed the door.
John turned his gaze to the slip of paper. He stared at it for a moment before curiously picking it up. It felt frail under his fingers and he carefully unpeeled the sides until it opened fully. He moved it over to the light of the lamp for a better look.
The paper was torn at the edges and the writing was in black ink; faded but still visible. John felt like he was holding a two thousand year document in his hands.
His eyes widened in shock as he read:
Dear John,
The future is what we make it, never forget that. I was sent back in time to help mankind, to create you, my own son who is at least twenty years older then me. It sounds crazy I know, but Cameron promised she would give this to you way or another. Listen to me; my future, my life is dark and gone; we fight to survive but you, you have to fight for life, you fight for those who cannot fight and I'm telling you now John you have done a great job of it here.
But I know that is not what you want to hear; about the future and of my life. The John I know has explained everything to me, all he plans to do in the future to help insure your survival as a child. Listen to your mother, Cameron and to Derek and all the others that are sent back, they know how to help you; hope and love doesn't stop at one species, its nature for it to move into all.
I'm not destined to live John, understand that. But I created you with Sarah and I am about to cross all boundaries of logic and reason to do that. You have to keep fighting; fight like every day is your last day alive. If you can stop Judgment Day from ever occurring, try; try harder then you've ever tried before because you are fighting for something that is worth fighting for. Every day is a gift, everyone in your life means something special to you; don't wait to show them that. Life doesn't wait and either should you. Know that I am proud of you John, no matter what happens and even though I know you in another time you are still my son and I love you.
Your father,
Kyle Reese.
John stared at the paper in front of him. He could feel the tears already being to form; his body was frozen in shock but he didn't move, he said nothing, he felt…everything; joy, sadness, pain; emotions of the human. He just stared at the fading black handwriting in front of him, the dim light from his desk lamp the only light source in the room.
Finally finished! LOL, I just watched the episode where Cameron says to John, "I'm a bitch whore" and John's like, "did your new friend tell you that?" and Cameron goes, "no she cried." LOL!! Classic, you gotta love Cameron and her terminator ways! Lol!
Anyways, please, please review for me!! :)
