Thanks to all of you who took your time to review the previous chapter.

This chapter definitely turns the story away from its prequel. Nevertheless, I hope you'll like it. It wasn't easy to write, especially because of the fact that I'm not really familiar with English phrases and item names for the sports art, Cameron and John are trying in this chapter. I hope I got them right.

This chapter is unbetaed again, so there are definitely some stupid mistakes in it, but they are all mine.

Chapter 3

"Man, I had no idea that this equipment is so heavy." John puffed as they finally reached the mountain face where, according to the guide, which Cameron found god knows where, there were some easier directions, suitable also for beginners. After convincing Cameron to go climbing, he even tried to persuade her to try a more difficult ascend, reaching as far as 5.9 grade but this time Cameron would not budge an inch and stopped his further efforts stating clearly that if he wanted to go climbing with her they would stay in the safe area of 5.2 or maximum 5.3 grade. He soon realized that she would not change her mind and accepted her condition. Sometimes it's better to be satisfied with what you can get instead of dreaming of something that's out of your reach. Or, in case of a stubborn cyborg … don't try to persuade her into something she decided not to do.

Cameron looked at him exactly like he imagined she would have looked at some complaining kid: "You wanted to go climbing, not me. Climbing is not only going up the rock, it's also carrying your equipment all the way." She grinned at him slightly.

John huffed a little, while he tried to rearrange his load of necessary equipment: many bolts, complete set of harness, a large roll of climbing rope over his right shoulder, a smaller roll of safety rope over his left shoulder, a complete set of spring loaded cams, nuts, quickdraws, belay devices, anchors and everything else that he thought would be necessary for his climbing experience. He took off his helm and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "It's easy for you to talk! You are much stronger than I am." He complained and his eyes glided over Cameron, who was also carrying everything necessary, but she still looked elegant, perked up like a candle and not sweating at all.

Cameron's smile grew wider: "I just told you: it was your decision to go climbing. If you want the complete experience, you get to carry everything first. You can't have only the goodies." From her face John could clearly see, that she enjoyed this.

"You're making fun of me, aren't you?" He sighed while still trying to find better position for the heavy equipment over his shoulders, which already ached a bit.

Cameron finally broke out into suppressed giggles and needed a second to get them under control: "Yes John, I am. But you earned it with your stubbornness."

John's face finally lost its sulky expression and he smiled at his fiancée. "OK, I admit that I didn't expect it to look like this. In my mind I only had the picture of climbing up the vertical rock and feeling like a bird. I never thought that there's hard work involved before you can go up the mountain."

Cameron stepped to him, very closely, and looked into his eyes with vaguely amused face: "But you have to learn it the hard way, don't you?" She gave him a quick peck on his lips, causing him to break into a wide smile and trying to envelop her in embrace, but she was too fast and before his arms rose she was already too far away from him. "You should now concentrate on the task at hand, John. This is the starting point of our tour. You should lay off all the gear and prepare for the climb." Even while talking, she put down her equipment and arranged it neatly on the ground.

"Now you tell me! I could have taken this burden off my shoulders before we started the chit-chat." He tried to look sullen, but failed upon seeing Cameron's bright face and her beautiful eyes, gazing at him lovingly. With a relieved sigh, he began to take off all of his equipment and tossing it on the ground. But before he finished his doing, he cast a look at Cameron and noticed her frowned face, looking at him annoyed. In a second he realized that he was again tossing everything carelessly on the ground, while her gear was neatly arranged. He grinned at her sheepishly and bent over to rearrange his scattered items.

After he reached, according to his standards, a satisfactory arrangement, he looked up at Cameron again and noticed her one sided smile: "What? Is something wrong?"

She shook her head: "No, I'm just thinking that it's funny how I only look at you and you know what I mean." Her lips curled slowly into a full smile.

"Yeah, you seem to have that effect on me." John confirmed with a grin. Then he turned to look at his climbing gear and swept over it with his hand: "I guess I'll need all of it, right?"

Cameron nodded and bowed to take her harness: "First, put this on. I'm not allowing you to go anywhere near the rock without it." Her eyes told him that she really meant it, so he nodded and took his harness and began to turn it around in his hands, not really knowing how to put it on. But, being the famous stubborn John Connor, he absolutely didn't want to ask Cameron how was it supposed to be done. He looked at her from the corner of the eye and saw that she already put on hers. Now he knew exactly how to do it and managed to put his on quickly without revealing to her that he had to copy her every move. Then he turned towards Cameron, who was already picking up other pieces of equipment and hanging them on her belt. He followed her example and very soon they both looked like experienced climbers, ready to start their climb. How the looks can deceive … He quietly snorted at that thought.

Cameron eyed him carefully and after a while she realized that everything was OK, so she smiled at him: "I think that you're ready, John."

Suddenly John remembered that he didn't check the gear before they left the cabin and slapped his forehead: "Fool! I forgot to check the gear before! Now I'll have to take it off again!" He grabbed the first piece to take it off again for thorough inspection, but a small hand grabbed his arm firmly.

"I've checked every single item before. Everything's OK." Cameron stopped him before he would begin taking all the equipment off again.

He smiled at her broadly: "And as I know you, you've been more that thorough, right?"

Cameron nodded and cupped his cheek with her hand: "Yes. I can't let anything happen to you." Then she took a step back and looked at the mountain side, searching for the most appropriate direction. After few seconds she noticed a small ledge about 60 feet above the ground and quickly calculated that it would be big enough for both of them. The ascent to it looked like fairly simple climb and she decided that they should try it.

"There … over the scree slope." She pointed with her outstretched arm towards the entry point to show it to John. "There's our starting point." Her arm slowly moved up until she pointed at the ledge: "And there's where we'll rest and decide if you're able to go further up."

"Of course I'll be up to!" John objected a little put off, although he knew that Cameron was only worried for his safety.

Cameron shrugged: "We'll see. Maybe you'll find climbing not as overwhelming as you think now. It's not a walk in the park." Then she started towards the point where they would start climbing up the mountain. It was about 600 feet away from them, overlying a long, steep scree slope, which ran down into a hole about 100 feet deep. She chose her step carefully not to slide down the slope. She made a quick check of the perimeter, paying special attention to the forest on the far rim of the slope. It was unusually thick, consisting mostly of juniper and spruce, making it quite difficult to come through without a trail being cut in. After few seconds she concluded that there were no threats in the vicinity and concentrated on the rock before her.

John knew what she was doing as her head slowly swiveled from side to side and felt a wave of thankfulness sweeping over him. She's always looking out for me. What have I done to deserve such a faithful and reliable partner? She's the best! He knew better than to interrupt her doing, although he was sure it wouldn't bother her. If anyone was capable of multitasking, then it was her, his Cameron. He followed her across the slope and as his look fell down into the hole where the scree ended, a thought crossed his mind that it wouldn't be exactly the best option to fall and roll all the way down the slope into the pit. The bottom was dotted with big boulders and between them were massive heaps of intertwined branches, fallen or broken off from the trees, overlaying almost vertical back wall of the pit. Probably remnants of snow avalanches in the winter. Unbelievable how powerful the nature can be. As soon as the thought crossed his mind, he quickly averted his eyes from it and concentrated on his steps, trying to follow exactly in Cameron's ones. Cameron knew better than him how to come over such treacherous terrain without sliding down.

After few minutes they reached their starting point and as they stopped, John looked up the mountain and commented: "OK, for the record: I admit that you were right, Cam."

Cameron looked at him slightly confused: "About what?"

"That it would be too difficult if I'd insisted on grade 5.9. What grade is this direction?"

"5.2." Cameron answered laconically, but her lips did curl up almost unnoticeable upon hearing John's confession.

"Geez! It looks absolutely vertical! How does then 5.9 looks like?" John sighed in awe.

"Steeper." Cameron's answer was again quite the basic and shortest one.

"Does it get any steeper?" John couldn't believe.

"Yes. Without anything to hold at." Cameron maintained her poker face.

John finally turned his head to face her and grinned: "Payback's a bitch, right?"

"Yes." Cameron would not budge from her shortest possible answers, but the smallest tug at the corners of her lips revealed to John that she was enjoying this conversation all too much for his taste.

He suddenly bowed to her and gave her a kiss on her cheek: "I love you too." His voice was mockingly sarcastic, but at the same time loving.

If his gesture affected Cameron, she didn't allow him to see it. She turned towards him and stared at him blankly: "Are you ready John?"

"As I'll ever be," answered John and in that very moment he felt a small wave of regret. Maybe this wasn't such a splendid idea after all? Maybe we should just do something else, like running through the forest? But he dismissed such doubts immediately. He wanted it, he got it and now he's going to enjoy it!

Cameron's face finally lost its blank expression and he could see a clear worry in her eyes, staring at him: "John … please, be careful!"

John noticed her inner turmoil and suddenly became serious. He pulled her into loose embrace and kissed her on the lips: "I promise to be the most careful climber ever."

Her eyes gazed at him thoughtfully and after few seconds she launched herself at him and kissed him passionately. After they broke the kiss, with John gasping for air and trying to get rid of slight dizziness, resulting from the unfolded passion, he looked at her smiling: "What was that for?"

"Because I wanted to do it. Because I love you. And to make sure you'd really be careful." Cameron's voice was quivering slightly.

"How could I not be careful? When I have so much to look forward to … a lifetime with you." John whispered and held her gaze. After a minute, he leaned back and sighed: "As much as I'd like to stay like this forever, we are here for a reason. So … let's get started, shall we?"

Cameron nodded and stepped towards the rock. But before she made a first step on it, she turned back to John: "I'll go up to the ledge and secure you. I'll call you when I'm prepared."

John nodded. He was already feeling the first rush of adrenaline and felt anxiousness, but he knew that Cameron would never forgive him should he not follow her advice. Not only that … he knew that he was no match for her in such matters.

While his mind reeled over such issues, Cameron began her ascent with ease. She had already chosen and marked all possible grips and she only followed the trajectory, she plotted before, up the rock. There were already anchors and bolts in the rock from earlier ascents which she used to fix the rope after checking them for their stability.

John was watching his fiancée with awe. She appeared to him like a giant elegant spider, smoothly gliding up the rock, making it seem like the simplest thing on this planet. She never once slipped, she always found the right grip and she advanced steadily, with a pace that would put the fastest climbers in shame. She stopped only when she had to fix the rope on one of the anchors. In a little more than two minutes she already reached the ledge which she chose for her first and maybe even the last stop and positioned herself on it, so that she could prop herself against the rock and put the rope around her back. After she was satisfied with her position, she threw him the rope.

"OK John, tie the rope to the harness and then you can come up!" Her voice echoed from the steep rocks and for a moment it even silenced the cries of jackdaws, circling over them. But they resumed their hungry calls only few seconds later.

"Coming!" John answered and took the rope, knotted it to his harness and prepared to start. Earlier he watched which grips Cameron used to get up and he tried to use the same ones. First few were relatively simple, but it sooner got more difficult. He felt how his fingers clutched around a particularly small grip, while his foot rested on another, threatening to slip any second. "Damn! This is definitely not as easy as I imagined! I should have worked out a little more!" He pressed through clenched teeth. He was strong, but climbing required another kind of strength: powerful fingers and wrists as well as toes and that were the issues John definitely didn't work on during his trainings. Then he remembered how easily Cameron made it up the wall and his stubbornness took over: "I'll make it! One way or another, I'll make it up to Cam."

"John? Everything all right?" Cameron's voice echoed again and he could swear to have heard worry in it.

"Yeah! I'm just getting used to it. It's a piece of cake!" He tried to make a joke, but noticed even himself that it sounded absolutely lame. He stopped for a second, leaned his forehead against the rock and panted quietly.

"Don't make stupid jokes, John! It's enough that you make stupid things!" Cameron's voice floated towards him, this time evidently laced with worry and annoyance.

"Sorry, Cam! I know that it was a bad one." He clutched at the grips fiercely and leaned his head back to look up. He could see Cameron's head, leaning over the edge of the ledge and her face, looking down at him. Yeah, I was right. She's definitely worried. "Don't worry Cam, everything's OK. I'm just not as fast as you."

After letting out few more pants, more as a relief than the need, he finally concentrated on climbing again and in few minutes, although more than five times the time Cameron needed for her ascent up to the ledge, he was about 35 feet above the starting point. By now he definitely realized that rock climbing wasn't as easy as it seemed and he reached the decision that it will not become his favorite activity in the foreseeable future. In fact, it was something he wasn't keen on repeating ever again. The adrenaline kept him on move and he was even beginning to enjoy the fact that he managed to beat his own fears and doubts, but it didn't change his mind. He was about half way up to the ledge where Cameron carefully and still worried waited for him, staring at him like a hawk. She took good care that the rope was constantly strained enough, holding it in her powerful hands. With her strength she wouldn't need to put it around her back, but she liked to keep up the appearance for John.

He grabbed at the next grip and eased a bit to relax his muscles for a while. He just leaned his head backwards to look at his love, patiently waiting for him up above as a screeching sound penetrated his mind. Before he could detect and catalogue it, he felt how the small grip he was holding onto broke off and he lost balance and toppled backwards. He lost footing and his other hand, clutching to the rope was suddenly overburdened and the rope slipped through his desperately clenched fist. In a matter of a second, he found himself falling down the rock, just to be abruptly stopped a second later. A violent pull at his harness caused him to grunt in pain and surprise and after his head cleared a bit, he realized that he was dangling on the rope about 25 feet over the scree slope. His fall hadn't been the longest one, but it nevertheless caused him to feel dizzy and a pain in his chest and back underlined that he was still here only because of the harness, which on the other hand squeezed his chest mightily. The fact that his climbing route wasn't directly aimed towards the ledge, but set a little aside, caused that he was now dangling on the rope like a pendulum. He could hear Cameron's cries but needed a second to get his head back in the game. Then he looked up and saw Cameron's panicked face, leaning over the ledge, while she was still trying to steady the rope.

"Oh shit!" He didn't even know that he said it aloud. In instant he regretted not to have listened to Cameron and insisted on going rock climbing instead. "This is SO not good!" He was still talking aloud.

"JOHN! ARE YOU ALL RIGHT!" Cameron screamed at the top of her lungs. Wait! Does she have lungs at all? It struck him that it was really bad timing for such idiotic thoughts, but his brain was obviously still working under shock from the fall

He shook his head slightly, afraid that, should he overdo it, he could begin to swing even more. In the next moment he crashed against the rock and grunted again in pain. He tried to grab at something with his hands, but he already bounced off the mountainside and only empty air was there where his hands were frantically trying to get a grip at something, at anything. Concentrate John! You have to stay calm and concentrated! Get a hold at something!

"JOOOHN!" Cameron's voice was, if it was even possible, additionally gaining on volume and now she was already screaming, while she still fought with the rope. Until she could steady John she wouldn't be able to pull him up. As she now looked along the rope, she suddenly felt a wave of panic sweeping over her. Just above John, there was a small riff in the rock and the rope was furiously rubbing against it. The edge of the rock riff looked extremely sharp and she could see that the rope already began to tear. "DON'T MOVE JOHN! THE ROPE IS TEARING! STAY COMPLETELY STILL!" She screamed and felt how her mind was slowly beginning to panic. Her John was helplessly dangling on the rope which threatened to tear every second and she was unable to do anything but scream and wait until he steadied enough for her to pull him up. If the rope wouldn't tear before, that is!

"Yeah, Cam, I'm all right. I'll try to be as still as possible." John finally managed to answer her. He tried to sound reassuring, but fear could clearly be heard in his voice. Cameron's information that the rope was tearing sent cold shivers down his spine and as he looked up he could see that it was true. Just about 6 feet above him the rope was rubbing against a sharp edge and tearing visibly more with each passing second. Strings of woven material were slowly tearing off and the rope was already cut down to the half of its diameter. He gazed at it and knew that he couldn't do a damn thing but wait and hope. He tried to reach the rock with his hands and feet, but he was still too far away and swinging too much to succeed.

Cameron finally managed to steady the rope enough and began to pull at it carefully. She was afraid that it might tear, should she be too forceful. But just as she tried to pull at it gently, a sharp pang announced that the rope tore off completely. As she saw the tattered end of the rope, relieved of its burden, flying up towards her, a terrifying scream, full of anguish and fear left her lips.

Seconds before the rope tore off, John finally managed to steady himself by propping against the rock with his legs. He felt how he was lifted a bit and looked up in anticipation to be able to help Cameron lift him up as he heard a pang and he began falling. He heard an indescribable scream and he only vaguely recognized the voice as Cameron's. In the moment as he started falling, he felt like time would slow down to a crawling speed. In a second he saw everything clearly, he relived past few months in a brief moment, remembering every detail of their winter vacation, remembering every single detail of Cameron's face, every single feature of her perfect body. He didn't hear the screeching sound of the anchors, being pulled out of the rock; he didn't even feel the sharp tugs at his harness as the failing anchors stopped his fall for a split second before giving in.

It can't end like this! It simply can't! Besides Cameron's face this was the only thought that was on his mind. He felt the rush of wind against his skin, his hair fluttered in the airstream, he heard Cameron screaming like he never heard anyone screaming before. "I'm sorry, I love you." Without consciously knowing he screamed these words out just before he crashed.

Cameron was for the first time in her existence completely lost in her terror. She screamed and only barely remembered to hold tight to the rock, not to fall down too. A small piece of her mind, the machine part, remained calm and told her that she must not fall. Only if she stayed here and then descended to John, would she be able to help him, should he be lucky enough to survive the gruesome fall. The same part also told her that he wasn't that high and that his chances of surviving the fall were quite good. He was falling towards inclined scree slope and that rose his survival chances significatnly. Then she heard John screaming that he loved her and for a second she was lost in her panic again. Immediately after his scream, she heard a loud thud as John hit the slope, his pained cry and then sound of human body, rolling down the slope, accompanied by screams of pain, but only few seconds later the tumbling of a body and rattling of the scree were the only sounds that she could hear. Regardless the terror that got her tightly in its claws, she managed to realize that John obviously survived the fall, otherwise he wouldn't scream. Afterwards he apparently lost consciousness. She bowed to look down just in time to see John's body tumbling down into the pit uncontrolled and another wave of fear almost pushed her off the ledge. However, there was still the chance that he'd be OK. He has to be OK, he simply has! I can't lose him!

After screaming out his last words, John crashed on the top of the scree slope. He hit the ground with his feet first, felt how both bones in his left leg snapped and screamed in excruciating pain. He toppled backwards and hit the ground with the back of his head. A sharp pain like he'd been stabbed with a large sword in the head penetrated his head and after a turn or two, after few pained cries, the darkness claimed his consciousness. He didn't feel how his body tumbled down the scree slope uncontrolled. He fell in the same pit he was looking at before. He didn't feel anymore how few of his ribs broke. He didn't feel how his head crashed against the many rocks and didn't know that only the helmet prevented his skull from cracking. He was lucky not to witness anything of what happened to him.

Cameron wasn't that lucky. She saw his seemingly lifeless body landing at the bottom of the pit. She saw how he remained there lying unmoving like a broken puppet.

Not a second after John's body came to rest at the end of the slope she was already scrambling down the mountain. She had to suppress the urge to simply jump down. No matter the fact that she was a cyborg, the 60 feet fall to the ground was still quite a distance and she would definitely suffer some severe damage to her legs and wouldn't be able to help John. She climbed down as fast as she could and as she was still about 20 feet above the ground, she pushed herself from the rock and turned around her axis in the air to jump the rest of the distance to the slope.

She landed heavily on her feet and felt how the servos in her legs almost gave up to the forces for which they weren't designed. Her feet buried themselves deep into the scree and she had to use all her abilities to remain in upright position. Of course she slipped, but she used the momentum to simply run down the slope. She didn't care how she will stop at the bottom of the pit. Only John mattered, only his life was important.

She ran the distance to the bottom of the pit in only few seconds with John's battered body in the center of her attention all the time. She gained such a momentum and speed, that she wasn't able to stop at the bottom. So she simply chose the biggest boulder in there and crashed into it to stop her run. Even though she was a machine, she let out a grunt as she crashed into the rock, ten times her size and almost overturned it.

She didn't care for the cuts in her face; she didn't notice that she almost peeled off the skin on her right hand. She didn't leave John's body out of her sight and in the next instant she was already kneeling by his side and scanning him.

If someone would say that Cameron was a religious person … well, that would be completely incorrect assumption. She didn't care about the religion, about god. But if you'd ask her something about religion … you'd get very correct answers. Her knowledge in this area was very extensive and thorough. But at this moment she suddenly found herself praying to some divine force to make her John live, to make him OK. She had absolutely no clue where such ideas came from; possibly from the many TV shows and movies that she used to watch in the night hours before she began her relationship with John. Ever since they came together, she spent her nights in John's bed, watching over him, enjoying the fact that she was always able to calm him down when he experienced one of his nightmares again.

She quickly checked John and sighed relieved after she realized that he was still alive. But he was in a very bad condition: tibia and fibula in his left leg were broken, he broke four ribs and he suffered a severe head trauma. His life signs were stable, but that didn't mean that he couldn't have suffered any internal injuries. She couldn't detect any, but she could be wrong. She measured his pulse and blood pressure and they were in expected limits, giving her vague reassurance that there were no heavy, life threatening, internal injuries. However he was unconscious and her first task was to bring him back to the cabin.

But before she could do anything, she had to immobilize his left leg to avoid any possible complications and further damage to it. She realized that she could use some branches from the spruce trees as provisional help until she could make it right. She looked back down at John, put her hand on his bruised cheek and kissed him lightly on his bloodied lips: "I'll be right back John."

She didn't understand why she talked to him while he was unconscious and couldn't hear her, but she simply felt the urge to do it. At the same time she felt how her eyes were getting wet, but sniffed the tears back and wiped the eyes with the back of her hand. Now was not the time to cry, now was the time to handle, to save his life. She got up and looked around to find some appropriate branches to immobilize his leg and saw the heaps, which John noticed before from above, lying between the boulders at the bottom of the pit. She quickly went over to one of them and as she reached it, she analyzed it for a second to find the most suitable ones. After she made her selection, she bowed and pulled four almost straight branches from the heap, not paying attention to the others.

After returning to John, she quickly repositioned him so that she was able to immobilize his leg. But before she began working, she again reached for his cheek and stroked it gently. "I'm so sorry John. I promised I'd never let anything happen to you and now …" She sniffed lightly and turned her attention to his leg. She snapped the branches so that they were of right length and positioned them so that they would offer his broken bones some support. After she was satisfied with their positions, she took the rest of the safety rope, which she still carried over her shoulders and wound it around John's leg. Good that he's unconscious. I don't want him to suffer the pain, but this would hurt him a lot.

Few minutes later she was satisfied with how she managed to immobilize his leg. She checked his vitals again and noticed no change. She felt strangely relieved and let out a quiet sigh.

For a second she gazed at John's battered and bruised face, still blaming herself for what happened to him, although she knew perfectly well that it was just an accident. I should have noticed the riff in the rock as I was going up! I should have been able to prevent this! She quickly dismissed such thoughts. She should help John first! Then she turned her look upwards and tried to find the best way up the scree slope.

Finding no traces of any trails up the slope and realizing that the rims of the abyss they were in were impassable, she decided to go straight up the scree. She carefully picked John up, cradled him like a small baby and began her ascent. Regardless the fact that she was a cyborg and couldn't get tired, she quickly realized that it would be a difficult way up. For each two steps that she made upwards, she slipped one step downwards on the rolling stones. But she continued with unwavering, steady pace and few minutes later she was already at the point, where they started their climbing adventure. She looked at John's face quickly and noticed that his condition didn't change. He was still unconscious and his vitals were still in expected limits.

She set off towards the forest, aiming for the trail they came up before. Now she could go faster and she began to run, however not as fast as she could, for she was afraid to hurt John even more.

As soon as she approached the forest, she suddenly registered something odd. All the birds that were before singing like crazy fell silent in an instant. That could mean only one thing: there was someone in the forest. She stopped abruptly and tried to scan the surroundings but in the moment she stopped, she heard a hiss and two objects hit her in her hip. She instantly recognized them as electrodes of the taser and knew she should pull them out immediately but before she could react, she felt a jolt of electrical charge sent through them and her systems began to shut down. She fell to her knees and toppled over on her face, burying John, whom she still cradled in her arms, under her.

TBC