Okay this is the last chapter (the title may just have tipped you off on that fact...lol) It's a bit longer than the rest. I hope it answers any questions you have (although not all, seeing as it is terminator story and you always have to have unanswered questions!). Let me know what you think!
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John and Cameron walk outside in silence. John has his head down and Cameron is nursing an automatic weapon. As they pass piles of debris and what appears to be a once-live army tank, Cameron stops and looks at John.
"You are upset over Allison Youngs death." John looks up.
"Yes."
"I did not have a body at that time. There was no way I could have been of any assistance in the matter."John looks at her, a sheepish expression on his face.
"I know. I realised a while ago, but I was too embarrassed to say anything. I'm sorry for yelling at you."
"It's okay, John." John smiles weakly and then gives her a puzzled look.
"Why did you just tell me that? Why is it relevant?"
"You were upset with me."John's smile widens.
"Why does that matter? I think it's interesting that you cared at all that I was upset."
"The emotional state you were in due to my supposed actions could have caused you to not trust me which would also have induced stress. Stress is not healthy in the long term for humans. Your life has enough stress."
"Oh." John's face falls.
"I also didn't enjoy you being emotionally upset with me as it gave me an unpleasant sensation- much like the one I developed when Riley was around."
"Riley? Why would you bring her up?"
"I didn't like her. She was wrong for you." John stops and looks at Cameron, taking a step closer.
"Cameron...that sounds kind of like you're jealous..." She blinks once and continues staring.
"John..." Cameron pushes John roughly to her left and rolls to her right simultaneously to avoid the gun shots coming from in front of them. The tall, middle-aged, brown-haired man raises his gun and points it at Cameron's head.
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John throws himself at the terminator, barely making the gun move half an inch off course as it fires. It's just enough.
Cameron immediately grabs the gun and uses her weight to drop his arm to the ground on the left. She twists the gun out of his hand and tosses it towards John. The T-888 grabs Camerons arms. She pushes them down and around, freeing herself from his grip. She pushes him backwards, denting the dormant army tank behind him. She throws her left arm up to hit him. He grabs her arm and other shoulder and tosses her 10 metres in front of him onto a mountain of useless debris.
I should change to a more effaceable strategy.
Cameron pushes herself up off the ground, a 7 cm gash across her left cheek, her endoskeleton chassis showing through. She runs at the T-888 and knocks him down again. She leans over him and continuously punches him alternatively with both fists. He throws her off him.
"CAMERON!!" She looks over as John tosses her the stun gun that must have fallen off the T-888.
The metal gets up and walks over to Cameron. He picks her up off the ground by the front of her clothes. She kicks at his midsection and twists her way out of his grip once more. She delivers another blow to his head with her foot and pushes him to the ground. She drops down next to him, puts the stunner up to full blast and, pressing it against his metal skull, pushes the button.
He shakes for a minute and then his eyes fade to black.
"John, find me something to open the port." John looks around and pulls something out of the pile of debris near him and runs towards her. After the cover is removed, Cameron uses her own fingers to turn the shielded tab on the end of the chip and gives it a half turn counterclockwise.
John sighs in relief as Cameron pulls out the chip and pockets it.
"Okay. We need to get that thing back to the camp as soon as possible, before everyone wakes up. Let's go." John begins to head back the way they came.
Cameron stands up and seemingly effortlessly, tosses the T-888 over her shoulder and marches forward.
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Derek walks purposefully towards John's room with his lips pursed and continuously narrowing eyes that stare straight ahead. He quickens his pace as he rounds the corner and sees the door shut quickly behind John.
He knocks on the door several times. No sound can be heard.
"John I saw you go in there, come on." Silence. This is bullshit!
Derek bangs loudly and repeatedly on the door until John opens it.
"What's up?"
"What's up? What took you so long? And don't tell me you were asleep- I just saw you go in there 1 minute ago!" Derek gestures aggressively towards the room. John steps forwards, his body still hiding the entrance, and closes the door behind him.
"Sorry...I was in the middle of something when you arrived." Derek opens his mouth. "...In the middle of starting something, I mean..."
"That makes no sense." What is he hiding in that room?
"Okay um...Allison is in there with me. Need more of an explanation?"
Derek narrows his eyes further.
"That's not the end of it. I hadn't noticed anything too strange since you got back...but today I talked to some of the guys and really thought about it myself..."
"Listen I..."
"Quiet. Alright, I'm just going to say it. I think...I'm not sure what I think... but I know that something is up with you and little miss Allison. There's something wrong about her...And you're being so secretive..." John shifts his feet slightly, beginning to get uncomfortable.
"Well, I mean, she had a really traumatic experience...Anyone is bound to be acting a bit odd..."
"No. It's more than that." John opens his mouth, and immediately closes it again, as if deciding what to reveal to Derek. "Kyle may have a soft spot for you and Allison, but I definitely don't!" Derek breathes heavily as he waits for John to speak. John is silent for a minute and then sighs.
"Okay...I'll tell you the secret."
"I'm listening." Derek crosses his arms.
"I'm...from the past." Derek swallows, but still stares intently at John with his lips pressed together in a hard line.
"Go on."
"As I said, I'm from the past. It was all a bit of an accident really. Someone came through time to warn us all of judgment day. Of course, almost no one took them seriously. They first came the year before I was born. My mum was the only one to believe them. She prepared me my whole life for it and tried, ultimately futilely, to prevent judgement day. Then in 2007, someone came back again. Apparently there was a vital technological leap that had to be stopped in that year. The Terminators sent someone back too, and while we were running from them, I accidently stepped into the bubble and jumped forward. That's why I was naked when you found me."
"So...you told Allison and she freaked?" John nods. "I don't blame her. Time travel...wow. That's just...weird." Derek uncrosses his arms and sighs. "But I guess that all kind of makes sense. And it explains how you know what you do and how we found you. Whatever happened to the time traveller?"
"Oh ...uh." John stutters. "H-he never made it into the bubble. The terminator ..um..knocked him away. So I guess he's still in 2007. I hope he's okay." He doesn't look like he's particularly hoping. He's still hiding something...
"So, there's nothing else? You aren't planning to go back to that terminator facility and do something stupid are you?"
"Definately not." John his head.
"Good." Just us then. "Alright, get some sleep then. Don't ever keep secrets from me or Kyle again John. You're a soldier now. We don't tolerate secrecy. That goes for Allison too." He turns around as John nods. He starts down the hall and pauses again. "A bit of a left field question here John...but...the guy-the one that came back in time....It wasn't Kyle was it?"
John laughs.
"Why would you ask that?"
"Well it's just...you gave him a strange look when you first met him, like maybe you knew him...and he seems to have a soft spot for you..." Derek asks tentatively.
"No, no it's wasn't him. But he does look a bit like me...I suppose that's why I was staring at him when I first saw him. Maybe we are distant relatives, who knows right?" Johns mouth breaks into a secret smile he can't seem to contain.
"Yeah...I guess you guys do look kind of similar...."Derek stares for a moment as John swallows, waiting to be interrogated further. "Thank you for telling me the truth. Good night."
Derek turns and heads back to his room as John breathes a sigh of relief.
John and Kyle related? I guess if there was a direct blood relation like father and son or brothers...that combined with the similar looks, well, that might have even been enough to temporarily confuse a terminator like that one that attacked John...
Derek shakes his head and smiles.
A time pretzel involving kyle going back and impregnating a woman to meet her son back in his future when they are similar ages? Nah. That's way too farfetched even for a machine dominated earth.
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"Okay, I think we are almost finished. Good thing too, seeing as the sun is pretty much up."
"Yes, several of the soldiers are already awake. I can hear them."
"At least we got it down. It's kind of a hack job seeing as we only had maybe 4 hours...but it should be enough to show them what we mean, right?" Cameron nods.
"Yes. It should successfully demonstrate that terminators can be reprogrammed to work for our side." John smiles.
"You said 'our side'." His grin becomes wider. "We make a pretty good team, you and me." One corner of Cameron's mouth twitches up in a tiny half smile.
"Yes. John, you should get some sleep. You need to be functioning at your best tonight in case our reprogramming is unsuccessful."
"Right. Okay, well wake me in a few..."
They both turn towards the sound of quickening footsteps and shouting coming from the direction of the door. They get up and walk quietly towards the entrance. Opening it a crack, John steals a glance at a panting and sweaty teenaged boy as he yells at a group of soldiers in fragmented, panicked sentences. A fellow solidier tends to his bloodied head and arms. John wedges his ear in the small space between the door and the frame. Cameron just stands where she is and cocks her head, listening intently.
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"We...I mean we were....and I was...And they..." Kyle rounds the corner, Derek by his side.
"Calm down. Talk slowly and get it all out."
"No! Time...none..."
"We aren't going to get anything at all if you don't calm down." The boy pushes the medic soldier away from his wounds and looks back at Kyle, a panicked look still clear in his eyes.
"We were out, and we were found and chased."
"Okay...At least you're back now..."
"No. We were followed." Kyle and Dereks eyes widen.
"How many and how long?"
"There were 3 of them. They'll be here in 6, maybe 7 minutes tops before...before they find us here." The boy falls to his knees, sobbing. "I'm so sorry. We didn't mean...I...I'm so sorry!"
"Stand to attention soldiers! We need to get everyone out NOW! Tell everyone to put on jackets and take as much food as the can carry without hindering their getaway. Take them to the hidden tunnels in the back. I'll come in last. Make sure we have enough explosives to cave in the entrance once we're all through."
"It wouldn't be better to use them on the terminators?"
" I'm afraid those explosives aren't nearly strong enough. We have a few granades here in case we don't get there in time. No more questions, GO!" Kyle grabs two men by their shoulders as they turn to head off. "You and you, hide on either side of this entrance as far away as you can get whilst still being able to aim for the terminators. I'll be right here to draw their attention. I'm just going to get the guns and grenades, but I'll be back as soon as I can. Huru!" Kyle and Derek turn and run towards the officers quarters as the soldiers move off to their assigned hiding spots.
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John turns to Cameron.
"It'll be a massacre. They can't possibly get everyone out that quickly."
"Yes, it will be like shooting fish in an enclosed, hollow, cylindrical shaped geometrical object."
"You mean like a barrel?" Cameron pauses and nods
"Yes." John tries not to smile.
"We need to activate the T-888 now."
"I agree." They shut the door
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Kyle finishes loading his backup gun and straps on his last grenade. He looks over at Derek (who is doing the same thing), and nods. Derek begins to head out the door when Kyle stops him.
"Hang on. How do we know they got everyone out?"
"We just have to trust them Kyle. They know what they're doing. Come on, we have to go NOW. " Kyle grabs dereks arm as he turns to leave again.
"Wait. What about Allison? Or John? I haven't seen either of them for a while. We need to warn them."
"Oh. Uh...I actually saw them earlier. John and Allison are in Allisons room..." Kyle furrows his brow.
"You mean...together?"
"Yeah...I guess they are friends now."
"Oh. Well we need to go warn them!"
Derek stares out the door.
"I think I can hear something. We may only have a couple of minutes. They might be safer staying where they are anyway..."
Kyle doesn't look convinced, but nods.
"I'll get to them if there's time. Alright brother, let's be the soldiers we are meant to be." He cocks his gun and walks out.
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John has his hand on the chip, just as he's about to insert it into the T-888 head port. He stops and looks at Cameron.
"What if we die?"
"There is a 35% chance this will occur, subject to alteration depending on the number of hostile terminators gaining access...and if we've reprogrammed this T-888 satisfactorily."
"You mean he might kill us as well?"
"It is a possibility, yes." John swallows.
"Cameron, is there anything you want to say to me in case we don't make it?"
"No john." John sighs. It's now or never. He grits his teeth and continues speaking.
"Look...I know you can't ever love me or anything but.."
"John, you theoretically shouldn't love or be with anyone-being alone will significantly increase your safety and rationality margin. But I understand that being John Conner can be lonely..." John grabs her hands and she looks down then up. "John, I'm a machine. You should be with a human girl; someone like you."
"Cameron....I had the exact perfect situation. I had you as a human...only, I realised she could never really be you. I didn't want her. When I was around her all I could think about was you, all I want, is you. I don't care if you're a cyborg." He brings his hand up to gently caress the exposed coltan on her injured face with the tips of his fingers. " I...I love you. Every part of you."
They stare for a bit and John begins to lean in. At the last moment Cameron stops him and puts her hand over his, grasping it.
"You need to put the chip in now. The terminators will arrive in approximately 2.32 minutes. She removes his hand from her face as he inserts the chip.
"120 seconds right?" She nods and heads to the door. We could die right now....it's wrong...she doesn't love me...at least, not in the way a human loves. But she never wants to be without me and would die for me. She even put her life in my hands when she gave me that pocket-watch detonator. Isn't that love? John looks up as Cameron reaches the door, her hand almost touching the knob. Screw it. "Cameron" she spins around. "Joh..." He grabs her face in his hands and pushes her up against the wall, kissing her fervently and desperately. After several moments he stops and looks at her, his eyes searching hers.
"Cameron? Are you okay?" He questions.
"The sensation is not unpleasant." She pauses and then brings her hands up to his face and closes her eyes, kissing him back. It starts off passionate once again, and eventually begins to slow down, the kisses becoming sweeter as time runs short. John has one hand over hers on his face and one hand behind her neck as they both pull back ever so slightly, their faces barely an inch apart. John breathes heavily, his gaze continuing to wander back and forth from her eyes to her lips.
"We need to go." Cameron says quietly, her palms still resting against his cheeks.
"Yes. We do." They both drop their hands and spin around to see Weaver standing in the room. Gunshot sounds can be heard through the wall.
"Weaver? What do you mean, we? Where are we going?"
Weaver answers as she tosses the bed aside and punches an unbelievably large hole in the cement that was once beneath it. She pulls out similar equipment to what was seen previously in her basement – a time jumper. She switches it on and a charging noise can be heard.
"Back home. Back to your mother in 2007. " John and Cameron look at each other, Cameron actually looks mildly shocked. What the hell? "I told you John, everything is organised and timed exactly as I wish it. I've had this planned for longer than you can possibly imagine." She says, answering his questioning look. She continues to attend to the computer parts in front of her.
"But..why now? I don't understand. Why did you even bring me here? Why did you send Cameron first?"
"You would not have gone if you didn't have a reason to jump. You've learned what you needed to learn, and now it's time to leave." The room starts to shudder and flash as the time jumper almost finishes warming up.
They hear screams outside as the terminators break through the walls just outside their room. John grabs Cameron's hand. "You're coming with me this time. I won't lose you again." She squeezes his hand back and gives him a small smile.
"Wherever John Conner goes, I go too. I won't ever leave you unprotected." He smiles back.
Just as the room begins to fade away in a blinding light and deafening crack, the re-programmed T-888 sits up and looks at them, eyes flashing red as the wall collapses behind them and Kyle Reese stumbles through it, gun in hand.
"Allison!"
Then the world disappears in a blaze of fire, screams and gunshots.
THE END (to be continued but not by me...)
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Okay guys that's it! Hope you enjoyed it. Sorry I had to end it a bit abruptly, but exams are coming up and i thought this ending was better than nothing.
There are other season 3 stories some people have been writing if you'd like to see a different take on it. I hear there are some good ones. Anyway, thanks for reading and here's to getting an actual season 3! (Hey, it could happen...)
