A/N: I totally screwed up and put April 15, 2009 instead of 2007 in my earlier chapters. I had forgotten that they jumped from 1999 to 2007 in the show. 2007 was the year they were supposed to return to after coming back from 2027. I guess I've just gotten used to putting 2009 on things that I did so here. I fixed it so....I would have caught it sooner, but nobody reviewed and said anything about it. I didn't notice it until I was writing this chapter. Sorry for the screw up.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything T:SCC. I wish I did, though.
Please R&R.
April 15, 2007
He had not even heard her come in. She stood at the door with a look mixed with anguish and surprise. She had walked in to find her son, the savior of mankind, the leader against the machines, lying in bed, holding hands with a machine. The irony of it did not escape her.
John looked up at his mother with surprise. John, as quickly as his wound would allow, sat up on the bed. Cameron sensing her presence would only complicate the situation, let go of John's hand and moved to leave the room.
However, before she could get off the bed, John reached for her hand and pulled at her to sit back beside him. She looked over her shoulder at him in confusion, but John only gave her a weak smile and pulled her to him.
John was surprised his mother had not already pulled out her favorite shotgun.
Maybe she hasn't done so because I'm sitting so close to Cameron, and she's afraid she'd hit me too.
Sarah did not know what to think. She had returned from picking up supplies with John Henry, and having left him to his own devices, she had headed to see if her son was conscious. He had not been so when she had left.
She had wanted to tell him that she was sorry for letting him go without her. She wanted to explain her actions to him. She needed to explain her actions to him. But that was not to be. Instead, she had rounded the corner of the bedroom, only to find her son lying in bed with a machine. A machine, who he was still holding hands with.
All of her sorrow that she had had upon entering the room had left her and was replaced with rage. Rage she held on to, so that, when the time came to put the machine down, she could use for strength.
She didn't know whether to turn around and leave, get her shotgun and blow the machine's head off, or give John a few moments to try to explain.
"John, what the hell is going here," she asked with panic and rage in her voice.
"Nothing, mom. I was just talking with Cameron," John replied as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
I'm pretty sure that she's going to go get that shotgun now.
Instead she said,"John, I need to talk to you," trying to hint that she wanted Cameron to leave the room.
"Okay, then talk," he replied knowing what she was trying to do.
"Alone," she said authoritatively.
"Cameron's staying. You can either talk with her here or leave," he stated.
Sarah tensed, moving into an aggressive posture. The rage she had been holding onto had just come to a head.
Cameron, seeing that Sarah was on the point of losing her control, let go of John's hand. She then got up and moved to leave the room.
"You have not eaten in 48 hours, John. You require nutrition. ," she stated as she moved to the door.
"I will make you pancakes," she said from the doorway, as John looked on from the bed with a betrayed expression on his face.
Once she was gone, Sarah slowly relaxed her posture.
Not wanting her to go on the offensive about Cameron, John quickly said, "The future was different."
She wanted to respond with a smart-ass remark, but decided against it.
"What do you mean by different," she asked as she stepped into the room and stood beside his bed.
"Well, of course there was the whole Judgment Day thing, but there was also something else."
"What," she asked not knowing how anything else could matter.
"Me. They didn't know anything about me. They had never heard of John Connor," he said.
"You mean that you were not there to lead them," she asked.
"Yeah, I think that it was because I jumped over my becoming this 'savior.' I was not there to become their leader. So, they did not know who I was."
"But that wasn't really all that weird," he continued, "I kind of expected something like that to happen. What was weird was that they seemed to be able to survive without me. They seemed to be able to go on without me."
Seeing that John was beginning to doubt himself and his destiny, the rage left her for the moment to be replaced by her motherly instinct. She sat down on his bed and reached to stroke his face.
"You said that they were able to survive," she asked. Seeing him nod she continued, "I think that they might be able to survive, John, but I don't think that they could win. I don't believe that they could defeat Skynet without you. They might survive for a while, but in the end Skynet will eventually defeat them."
He did not seem to be calmed by her words, but rather, depressed. She realized now, that he had thought that if they did not need him to survive that he would be able to skirt his destiny. She had just dashed those hopes.
"John, you need to embrace your destiny. You are the one person in the world that can defeat Skynet. The world needs you, John. No one else can do what you can do. You need to embrace this fact, and not try to find a way out of it," she said after a few moments.
"I know that, mom," he said starting to get angry.
"Don't you think I've realized that," he went on, "You made pretty damn sure that I could not forget. You've drilled it into my head since I was six years old. I realize that I can never have a normal life."
"Well, it sounded to me like you forgot," she replied. Her rage coming back to the forefront.
"I didn't," he replied glaring at her.
"Make sure you don't, John," she stated.
"So, why did you go after Cameron," she asked changing the subject to the one that she had wanted to talk about.
"Because I need her," he replied knowing that this would not satisfy his mother.
"We were doing just fine before she came along," she said as she began to reminisce about the way things were before Cameron had been thrown into their lives.
"No we were not. We were surviving," John said throwing her words back at her.
"John, just because she looks like a girl, doesn't mean she is one," she stated.
"I know that mom."
"You say you do, but I see the way you look at her, and the way you act around her. You can't develop feelings for her John. She's a machine she can't feel emotion like we do, and if you develop an attachment to her, she will manipulate you with it. She will use it to destroy you."
She could lecture him on becoming the future leader of mankind, but she could not lecture him about Cameron. She didn't know what she was talking about. She knew about terminators, sure, but she did not know anything about Cameron. She was different. She was special. John knew that his mother was just trying to protect him, but what he did not know was why.
Is she trying to protect me because I'm her son or because I'm to become this "savior of mankind?"
"Why do you even care, mom," he asked.
"Because I'm your mother, and I don't want to see you hurt, John. I know how these things manipulate people, and I don't want her to do that to you."
"Oh, so it's okay for me to time travel alone to some distant future without knowing if I can get back, but it's not okay for me to develop an attachment to someone that has saved my life countless times?"
He let her think about what he said for a moment before continuing, "Time traveling to the future is not like arriving at an airport, mom. People are not waiting to pick you up, holding up signs with your name on them."
"I know, John…."
"No, mom, you don't. You don't know anything," he said interrupting her.
He had told her that once before. How she did not know anything. Maybe she didn't.
"John, I'm sorry. I thought that maybe I could stop it, and when you got to the other side that it would be a paradise."
"Well, mom, you failed. Failed epically. It wasn't a paradise. It was fucking hell. My own personal hell. And I was there alone," he finished glaring at his mother.
She had not realized just how bad she had betrayed her son until he had said that. How could he ever forgive her? She had let him go without protest, for she knew that she couldn't stop him. She could have gone with him, but she hadn't. She would never forgive herself for that. She would do anything for her son, but when the time had come when he needed her the most, she had left him, forsaken him.
Before either could say anymore, Cameron called out, "John, your pancakes are done."
John slowly got out of the bed and walked out of the room, without so much as a glance towards his mother.
June 30, 2013
He could see that the plan was screwed as soon as the attack began, but his forces were already committed. They needed to take down this facility. It had hindered their ability to conduct missions for over a month. He had had to finally commit his troops. However, once the battle had started, it had turned into chaos.
"Lieutenant, what the hell is going on," he yelled to the man beside him.
"Sir, bravo squad has run into a bit of a problem," the lieutenant replied.
"Well, they had better get their asses moving, because if they don't, then I'm personally going to kick their asses up here," he barked.
"Yes, sir," the lieutenant said as he turned to relay the message.
If bravo squad was not in place to cover their flank then the machines would overrun them. All of the squads had to do their part if the plan was to work. If one squad failed, they all failed.
As always, John led from the front. His squad was always the lead squad. Being the lead squad, meant his squad had the toughest assignments. He was the one who handed out the assignments, and he left the toughest and most crucial ones for himself. He would not let anyone else lead these. There was to much at stake. It was not that he did not trust his officers, for they were all competent men, but he knew that he could get it done better and faster, saving lives in the process.
On this assignment, his squad was the point of the spear. They were the ones, who broke through the enemies lines and opened up a hole for the others to follow. However, if the other squads did not follow as they were meant to, then his squad would be cut off. This was the case at the moment.
As he crouched behind the piece of concrete that was stopping Skynet's minions from killing him, he considered his options. Finally, he raised his head, peeking to look around what had once been a suburb outside of L.A. Now, it looked like a scrap yard with debris from anything, such as, buildings and cars to personal belongings of the people, who had once lived there. All the debris was twisted and charred from the fires of Judgment Day. After a moment of observing his situation, he sank down behind the life saving piece of concrete. He turned back to his lieutenant.
"Lieutenant, you see that big scrap pile about a hundred yards to the northeast," he asked as he pointed to it over his shoulder.
The lieutenant peeked his head over the concrete for a second and then he too sank back down, replying as he did, "Yes, sir."
"The facility should be about three hundred meters on the other side of it," He said as he remembered the scouting report, "We need to make it to that scrap pile, so that we can begin our final assault on the complex."
The lieutenant could only nod as he remembered what he had just seen.
What lay between them and the scrap pile was hell with all its demons coming for them.
April 15, 2007
Cameron could tell as soon as John walked into the kitchen that he was angry. She wondered if it was because of his mother or if he was still feeling betrayed because she had left his side. His mother entered the room, looking to be in turmoil. She glanced toward Cameron, and Cameron saw the look of disgust and revulsion that Sarah gave her.
Sarah, seeing that John had nothing more to say to her, mumbled, "John, I'll be back in a little while. I've got some leads on Kaliba that I need to take care of."
John did not even look up from his plate as his mother left the room.
There is a 85.9% probability that it is his mother that has angered him.
A strange sensation coursed through her as this came up on her HUD. She had been having many of these strange sensations since the car explosion on John's birthday. She had run many programs and simulations trying to discover the source of these new sensations, and she had found that most of these new sensations were centered around John. However, she could not determine why.
As John sat down at the table, Cameron sat the plate of pancakes in front of him. He immediately started to eat them. He was starving. He hated pancakes because that was all his mother seemed to know how to cook. He did not complain to her, though, because he realized that he would be relishing the thought of eating pancakes in the coming future.
"God, Cam, these are good," he said meaning every word. These had to be the best pancakes that he had ever eaten.
"I am glad you like them, John," she said feeling yet another of her new sensations.
She needed to know what these sensations were. So, she resolved to ask John about them when they were again secluded in his bedroom. John had always explained things to her. Though, he had not done so for a while because of Riley, but now that Riley was out of the picture, he would be able to explain these sensations to her. After all, she reasoned, he did love her and had promised to do anything for her. As she thought this yet another of her new sensations flared throughout her core. This one being by far the strongest.
"What did you do to them," he asked.
"I added vanilla to your mother's recipe," she answered.
"My mom doesn't have a recipe," he replied.
"Yes, she does. The back of the box," she stated in her usual monotone voice.
John almost choked on his food, he laughed so hard.
"John, you should not laugh with food in your mouth. There is a 43% chance that you could choke."
"Well, I won't laugh if you don't joke while I'm eating," he replied with a smile.
After he had finished eating he headed back towards his room. He still needed to rest after having lost all that blood. Cameron followed him to his room. She stood beside his bed until he held out his hand. She took it, and he pulled her down to him. She laid her head on his chest. As she lay there listening to the beating of his heart, she computed possible reasons for her new sensations.
With Cameron's head on his chest and her left arm draped over him, John could not feel anything but contentment. That is, until he remembered what she had told him earlier.
His curiosity finally getting the better of him again, he finally re-asked his former question," Cameron, do you really love me?"
"John, you still doubt my love for you," she asked not bothering to raise her head from his chest.
"Cam, I want to believe you, but you've told me this once before while trying to kill me," he answered.
Both times she had told him that she loved him, she had not really thought about it. It had just come to her, and without realizing what she was doing, she had told him. For a terminator to act on impulse like she had done was next to impossible. They always reasoned things through before acting on them. It was part of their programming, yet she had done so.
The first time she had done it to fool him, so he would not pull her chip. It had almost worked. She could see that he had wanted to believe her, but in the end caution had won out and her chip had been pulled. The second time, she had told him because that was what she believed he had wanted to hear.
Realizing that it would hurt him more in the end if she lied to him any longer, she told him the truth, "I don't know if I love you, John."
He had hoped that she did, but this was what he had expected.
"Do you know what love is," he asked as he ran his fingers through her wonderfully soft hair.
"The affection felt by two persons who are sexually attracted to one another, a very great interest or fondness, to take pleasure or delight in, to caress," she stated simply.
"No, I don't mean the definition. I mean the emotion," he replied.
"Then what is love, John," she asked raising her head to look him in the eyes.
"Love is when you feel that person here," he said tapping his heart, "When they come into a room your heart flutters. You can't take your eyes off them. Their prescence brightens your day. Their absence leaves you broken. They bring joy into your life. You would do anything for that person. Protect them mentally and physically from anyone or anything that tries to harm them. Above all, though, is that you realize that that person is the one person you can not live without."
"Oh, thank you for explaining," she said smiling.
"So, now that you understand what love is, do you love me," he asked looking into her beautiful big brown eyes. Eyes that he could be lost for eternity in. The eyes that seemed to reach to the bottom of his soul.
"Yes."
A/N: I hope you liked this chapter. It was a little harder to write than I thought it would be. I thought it turned out okay though. Let me know what you thought.
Next chapter we will find out why Cameron went to the future and what John Henry has been up to. Also, we will see more action in both timelines.
Thanks for reading. Please Review.