Cameron held her hand out the window letting the air flow over and under it, she giggled at the feeling.
"What?" Derek looked over at her.
"The wind. I can feel it on my hand, on my skin. It sort of tingles." She answered. "And the sky. It's so beautiful. Cumulus clouds." Cameron looked over at him. "John watches a program on television, an animated series. During the opening credits there's a scene of a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. It looks just like this sky."
Derek couldn't help the smile that crossed his face and then quickly fought it back. This was crazy. She was…it was metal. He fucked a metal. He was considering what? A relationship with a terminator? Like they were gonna set up house? Buy the whole white picket fence routine? He quickly swerved off the main highway and headed down a narrow dirt road. Stopping short under a group of trees, he jumped out of the truck and slammed the door shut.
Closing her eyes, Cameron slowly unlatched the buckle on her seatbelt. She debated following Derek, but considered his reasoning behind the unscheduled stop and her options.
Guilt, she was sure he was feeling this. Regret, more than likely. Anger? Naturally, he had been intimate with his worse enemy. She may have been reprogrammed, but she was still essentially the reason his whole world was obliterated.
"Cameron!" Derek stood next the door and rapt on the window. "Get out here!"
Cameron jumped at the sound before opening the door and stood before him.
"Yes?" She swallowed hard.
Derek noted that her throat convulsed but also noticed how smooth her skin was. He groaned and shook his head, hoping to clear his head.
"What are you?"
Her forehead furrowed in confusion. "I…what? I'm a cyborg. A Terminator."
Taking her by her shoulders, Derek looked into her eyes. "What are you?" He accented his question with a slight shake.
"Derek, you know what I am, I'm a…"
"Cameron! You are not listening. Hear what I'm asking. What are you?"
She paused, cocking her head to one side, she searched her databases, hoping she could extrapolate some sort answer to satisfy him.
"Stop! Not in your chip. Not in your database. Look deeper." His voice softened. "What, who are you?"
The confusion, the frustration was tangible in her face. She blinked several times before biting her bottom lip. "I…I…I don't know Derek, I don't know anymore. I only know I'm not what I was. I'm not what I was originally designed for before I came back." She shook her head.
"I'm more. John Connor made me more." She reached up and touched his cheek. "You made me more."
He placed his hand over hers.
"How did you become more? How did I make you more?" She thought for a moment, her brow creased attempting to do as Derek asked. She wasn't sure where she was supposed to look for these answers but she had to keep searching. Why, she asked herself? Because she cared, she cared what Derek thought of her. She cared what John thought of her. She even cared what Sarah thought of her.
"I'm a girl, a woman. And I feel, I care." Cameron looked into his eyes, hoping they might tell her what he was thinking.
"You were programmed to kill John, that was your mission. What's your mission now? Is it the same?" Derek held his breath as he waited for her answer.
Cameron thought about his for a moment and smiled at Derek. It was a small smile, but it reached her eyes and it caused Derek's heart to beat just a little faster.
"I have free will Derek. I do not want to harm John, or Sarah. Or you. I was reprogrammed to protect John, but the other program, the one designated to kill him, it's gone Derek. My mission, my choice is John. My choice is you." She moved closer to him.
"I don't have any expectations." Her voice lowered to a whisper. "I just want to be able to be with you. Whenever you want me."
She looked up into his eyes.
"Are you with me?" Cameron wasn't sure what she was really asking or what she expected his answer to be.
"I want to be with you Cameron. I don't want to want you, but I can't stop." He pulled her closer to him. "It's not love Cameron. I don't know what it is. But I couldn't do this with a machine. I can only do this with a woman. I need to see you as a woman. I need you to be a woman."
"I can be a woman for you, Derek. I can be your woman. No love, I don't even know if I'm capable of this particular emotion or if I'd even recognize it." She whispered, afraid if she spoke too loudly, he would push her away.
"That's good baby, because I don't know if I can either." Derek took her chin his hand and leaned down, kissing her deeply. Love, what was love really? Now need, desire. He knew what they were and he knew he needed and wanted her.
He looked into her eyes. "I'm with you."
Derek's phone rang and he looked at the screen, it was Sarah. He flipped it open and waited for the code.
"We're on our way Sarah. Um, wait a sec." He turned to Cameron. "About how long until we get there?"
She quickly calculated drive time and added 45 minutes. "Approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes."
Derek chuckled. "Approximately?"
"I cannot be exact with unknown terrain and traffic situations." Cameron gave a slight huff.
"Did you hear?" He asked Sarah. "Okay, be careful and we'll see you there."
Derek closed his phone and turned back to Cameron.
"Over 2 hours, really?" The meeting spot had been changed to a military cemetery and he thought they could probably make it here in under 2 hours.
Cameron gave a small shrug. "I just thought…" She found she couldn't finish as she bit her bottom lip.
Derek moaned as he pulled her close. Opening the door to the back seat, Derek pushed her in, pulling off her shoes and pants he groaned.
"You thought right baby." He unzipped his pants and settled in between her legs and slid into her heat. "You thought right."