Disclaimer: I don't own anything, please don't sue me!

November 9, 2007 09:02 PST
Los Angeles, California

Cameron had been working on the prototype phaser throughout the night when she heard noise coming from John's room and thought to herself, 'He's stirring, I should ensure that he doesn't overexert himself.' She put down the parts she was modifying and walked across the hall to John's room.

He was stretching out his arms when she arrived. He opened his eyes and saw her, then he grinned and asked, "Hey Cam, busy night?"

She answered, "Yes. I should have the phaser ready for testing tomorrow if I finish it tonight." Then she inquired of him, "How do you feel?"

He sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He stood up, and didn't fall over. "Glad I spent most of yesterday on my feet, so my legs would get used to standing again."

She pulled him close, ran her fingers over his cheek and said, "I love you, John. It's good to have you back."

He responded, "I love you too, Cameron." They embraced and their lips met, a silent pact between them, then the kiss intensified. She grabbed his head with one hand and ran the other all over his chest. He responded in kind, except that his other hand was on her back instead of her chest. It wasn't too long before John broke the kiss because he needed to breathe. Once he could speak he said, "We might want to head downstairs. Mom's probably wondering what's keeping us."

They descended the staircase to find not only Sarah, but also Charley, Derek, Jesse, and Agent James Ellison, the last with a notepad and pen. 'Cameron told me he was on our side, right. He's probably the only one, though.' He quipped, "OK, this isn't a tea party. What's going on?"

Sarah asked, "Who wants to start?"

James took the initiative. "We tried to capture one of the machines not long ago."

Sarah said, "Yeah, when Cromartie killed 20 of your HRT guys."

Something in the Agent's memory came bubbling to the surface. "Cromartie... The shooter with the robot leg in 1999 went by that name."

John responded, "They're the same robot underneath, Agent."

The Agent requested, "Please, call me James."

Cameron said, "James, Cromartie was disabled recently."

James wondered, "What happened?"

Charley filled in, "Sarah, John and Cameron came to recruit me. Apparently, that robot was on its way to kill me when it spotted John and Cameron."

James had started writing when Jesse muttered under her breath, "Twisted lovebirds."

Of course, Cameron heard that, but she decided to ignore it. Charley went on, "They have weapons that can knock one of these things offline. They told me it detected those, then turned tail and ran. When they caught up with it, the gunfight started."

Sarah decided to summarize, "Long story short, John got himself shot, Cameron smashed Cromartie's head, Charley got him stable enough to move, we hauled back here, Derek and Jesse were waiting for us, and we got him stabilized."

John added, "Oh, then after Cameron carried me up to my bed, I ended up in a coma until yesterday morning."

James took it all in, then asked, "Where's Cromartie now?"

Cameron replied, "In the basement. I smashed the endoskull, the CPU has been destroyed."

Derek wondered, "What possessed you to do that? Isn't removing the chip your usual MO?"

The cyborg responded, "I was angry that Cromartie dared to hurt John."

James couldn't believe what they were saying. "No, that's impossible. Machines don't feel."

Before Cameron could launch into an explanation of why she was different, John retorted, "If that were the case, then why did she cry over me for almost the entire time I was out?"

Jesse replied, "I don't know, you tell me. I only arrived eight days ago."

James put it together. "You're from the future?"

She snarked, "Yeah, 2027. She'd been by his side for 20 years."

John and Cameron looked at each other, then they both smiled briefly and he asked Jesse, "Why do you say that like it's a bad thing? Because she was built instead of born?"

When Jesse didn't respond, he snidely remarked, "Guess you're another one of the 'I hate machines no matter which side they're on' crowd."

She shot back, "You think you know it all, don't you Connor?" She leaned forward and icily remarked, "You don't know fuck-all about this."

James had encountered soldiers that had come back from Afghanistan and Iraq with not only PTSD, but foul mouths to boot. He supposed that someone from the future war would be even worse about cursing. 'I guess I'll just have to set an example.'

John managed to keep a lid on his temper as he threw out his rejoinder. "Yeah, well did SkyNet try to kill your mother before you were born? Did the 'authorities' lock her up for daring to speak the truth and try to stop it? Did it send a T-1000 to kill you when you were only a kid?" Her jaw dropped and he continued, "Did it send a triple-eight to kill you as a teenager? Are all Terminators programmed to drop everything to kill you for things you haven't done yet?" When no one said anything, he finished with, "I didn't think so. Believe what you want, but Cameron does feel, and I'm staying with her. Deal with it."

'Stubborn as ever, but that could change.' Jesse ranted, "You're making a mistake, Connor. Thanks to 'her' strategies, a lot of good people have been killed. Human people, whose brains can't be put in new bodies!"

John muttered so low that only Cameron could hear, "I guess she hasn't met Dave."

She asked the bitter fighter, "Do you have any examples of my strategies resulting in more casualties than are usually encountered on missions?"

Jesse retorted, "A few excessively well-defended factories come to mind."

Cameron continued, "Were they in close proximity to SkyNet's core facility?"

The other woman huffed and replied, "No, try Topanga Canyon."

'Time Displacement Equipment was invented there.' Cameron pressed on, "Were any of those factories ever recaptured by SkyNet?"

Jesse sat back, sighing in defeat. "No."

'Next question.' "Did the casualties include people you knew?"

Jesse looked a little sad as she recalled, "A few. The only one I thought was worth a phaser was Jacob, and he was still annoying."

John thought, 'She actually builds those, and they're in common use among the Resistance? Sweet! Makes me wonder if SkyNet ever got them.'

Cameron asked, "Were you injured as a result of any of my strategies backfiring?"

Jesse was spending some of her limited free time in her quarters, alone since Derek had disappeared. The shrapnel wound on her right side was almost done healing. 'Damn scrubbed trip eight! What the Hell was Connor thinking?' Then the General himself showed up.

She immediately stood up and snapped to attention. Connor told her, "Flores, I have a mission for you. Please come with me." She complied, wondering what she had gotten herself into this time. She disagreed with him on using metal to fight for them, but she followed orders regardless.

After silently navigating a seeming maze of tunnels, they arrived at a locked blast door. General Connor put his eyes near the retinal scanners as they did their job. The door opened, and he stepped into the room, motioning for Jesse to follow. Through the window, she saw a room full of what appeared to be reactors, computers, and a platform. She asked him, "Permission to speak freely, sir?"

Connor knew he had to send her back, so he replied, "Granted."

A confused Jesse asked, "What am I looking at? What does all that do?"

He explained, "That's a time machine, Flores. I'm sending you back in time to November 1, 2007 to intercept an I-950 that was sent to that time. You will likely encounter the earlier versions of Cameron, Dixon, and myself after you arrive. You'll probably also run into my mother, Sarah Connor, and James Ellison, an FBI Agent."

'No way. No fucking way.' She retorted, "Sir, time travel should be impossible!"

"If that were true, neither Cameron nor myself would even be here. She sent herself from her original 2027 to 1999 because the other me had died. She, my mother and I all jumped from then to 2007 to try and prevent all this."

Even with that information, her opinion didn't change. "With respect, sir, I don't think it helped much."

'You have no idea.' "Firstly, were it not for Cameron, I'd be dead, so would the rest of you, we wouldn't have the phasers and shields at all, and we'd have been stuck with plasma rifles. Secondly, Dixon was an extraordinary paramedic on his own, but thanks to us intervening, he brought his teaching skills up to par and we all know how to perform first aid on the wounded."

Jesse had a burning question. "Sir, I have to ask, how long have you and..." She paused, wanting to scream every insult she knew at the metal, but she merely finished, "... your wife been together?"

For once, his shell opened up just a little bit, and she saw the man Cameron referred to as 'just John' instead of the equal-opportunity hardass she knew as 'Connor.' He was nostalgic as he recounted the tale. "I met Cameron on September 6th, 1999. She was posing as a high school student to get close to me. The next day a triple-eight attacked. If it weren't for her taking the bullets, and running Cromartie over with a truck a little later, I'd have been killed that day."

"Sir, your wife is-"

Connor restrained his temper as he retorted, "What, a machine? Physically, yes. I accepted that long ago. Otherwise, she's more human than some of us meatbags."

'Bullshit! If she's out of the picture, we might have fewer problems with morale. I'll have to see about that. No point in hanging around here anymore.' She decided to focus on the mission he had given her, to evade the risk of an enraged John Connor. "What's the 950 look like?"

He remembered the intel report, sketchy as it was. "A teenage girl. That's all we know. Cameron's earlier self is the most likely one to find her."

Jesse had one other burning question. "What if I find any Grays?"

Connor knew that the order he was about to give would condemn hundreds, if not thousands, to their deaths, but the sarcastic part of his brain reminded him, 'Billions are dead thanks to SkyNet, and these traitors work for it. Fuck it, we're all gonna die soon anyway, what's a few thousand more?' He pulled a plastic case with an old SD card in it and told her, "This contains a video message to any and all Resistance members in the past. You'll need to put this in your mouth, seeing as we have to send you back naked."

She had gone nearly nude before, but only in extreme cases. "Sir?"

He sighed and elaborated, "The only way to send back anything non-organic that's bigger is to grow a flesh covering around it, like a Terminator."

He knew she could kick ass on most of the males on any base, but all the same he ordered her, "Leave everything except what I just gave you at the security station, even your clothes." He extended his hand. "Good luck, soldier."

She shook his hand, then they walked toward the security station. After depositing everything as ordered, she walked onto the platform. Connor told the bubble tech the spatial and temporal coordinates, then he moved closer to where the bubble would appear and said, "Two more things, Jesse."

'Huh?' "What are those, sir?"

"First, I'd suggest kneeling to fit in the bubble. Second, say hello to Derek Reese for me." Then he backed away as the lightning started to crackle.

She could see the sphere forming around her, and she hurriedly put the card and case in her mouth and shut it tightly, but she wondered, 'Derek? He got sent back?' Then there was a flash of light, and she was dumped in a back alley on November 1, 2007.

Jesse showed everyone present the newest scar, on her right side, and explained, "There was a reprogrammed triple-eight in a bunker I was assigned to. It went bad, and took out half that bunker before it could be scrapped." She was lost in memory as she went on, "Bird, Cullie. That's from the same shrapnel that killed Cullie." She returned to the present and continued, "Connor sent me back to deal with the new arrival and any Grays." She saw the confused look and Charley and James' faces and explained, "Grays are traitors, humans that work for SkyNet. I-950s are grown from modified human DNA and given cybernetic implants. They're meant to truly infiltrate us, destroy us from the inside out. Machines follow their orders outside of SkyNet supervision. Dogs can't sniff 'em out."

Jesse knew that now was the time to show them the files on the card. She pulled it out of her pocket and explained, "Before he sent me back, Connor had me smuggle this in my mouth. Said it had a video you needed to watch."

"I'll be back with my computer." John went and retrieved the item in question, then booted it while he was on his way downstairs. When he arrived, everyone was silent until the boot cycle was complete. Everyone gathered around him as he put the card into the appropriate slot and a window with the contents appeared. He saw the file marked, 'Watch Me First' and opened it.

The video took over the screen and they all saw the face of John's future self. He started, "This is General John Connor. If you're watching this, I'll assume that you made contact with Jesse Flores. Congratulations on surviving that long."

He went on, "On this memory card are lists of known Grays and SkyNet creators. My standing order for every member of the Resistance, including myself, is that they are to be killed on sight. These traitors cannot be allowed to destroy Earth, and humanity after that! They have done far too much damage to us to be allowed to live!" The camera shook as he continued, "We're losing this war, and even with all the tech on our side, SkyNet's overwhelming us by sheer numbers. I don't know how much longer I have until they reach this bunker and the time machine further in. I guess SkyNet decided to have its minions use all that intelligence it programmed into them." His finger hovered over a button, but right before he pressed it he said, "General John Connor, signing off." Then the video ended.

Everyone sat in silence for several minutes, unable or unwilling to comprehend the part about humans losing to SkyNet. John broke the silence by asking Jesse, "Were we losing?"

She hung her head in resignation as she admitted,"We were losing, slowly, but just the same."

John was still shocked about his future self's standing order. "How did I turn into that bad of a hardass General dude?"

Jesse snarked, "Oh, the usual, horrors of war in a nuclear wasteland and all that." She gestured to the cyborg as she said, "Cameron over there wasn't immune either. She went through four endos last I heard."

'Four? What made me that inefficient... and what kind of threat was there to John?' Cameron asked, "What precipitated the need for additional endoskeletons in my Model?"

Derek replied, "Probably jumping in front of plasma blasts to protect John."

Jesse answered, "Yeah, one of them from one of his own troops. Turned out to be a thirty-six year old woman. Once Cameron was fixed up, John killed the traitorous bitch that shot her. Blew her head off with his .45."

John wondered, "What was her name?"

"Cheri Westin. Had quite the grudge over you and Cameron. Said she went to school with the two of you when everyone thought you were siblings."

John snarked, "Thanks a lot, mom."

Sarah retorted, "If I had taken the tack we are now, people would have asked too many questions. We'd have had to move again."

Cameron played the role of Captain Obvious. "We did anyway after Carter blew up the old house."

James asked, "Carter?"

Sarah filled him in. "Another machine, sent back to stockpile the metal SkyNet uses to build the Terminators."

Charley asked, "Where is it now?"

Derek answered, "The basement. Cameron put Carter and Vick down there after we moved in."

Cameron supplied, "A Terminator was posing as Vick Chamberlain, husband to Barbara Chamberlain, the former City Manager of Los Angeles. After she had completed her part in creating SkyNet, Vick killed her."

James needed to know more. "What did she build?"

John replied, "ARTIE, it stands for 'Automated Real-time Traffic Information Exchange.' It'll allow SkyNet to monitor everything and control all of it's units at once."

Charley said, "Oh, the screwball traffic system that crashed."

Sarah interrupted, "Back on topic here, what are we going to do about the Grays? Do we follow his standing order and kill these people or what?"

James warned them, "If you commit to such a course of action, I may not be able to protect you from the consequences."

Sarah's phone beeped, indicating a text message. She fumbled with it for a minute before she asked John, "Remind me again, how do I look at my messages?"

He showed her, then she read it aloud. "Wi-Fi'd It, 10:00 AM, three days. Table 19." After a moment she added, "It's from Sarkissian."

John asked, "He still has the Turk?"

Sarah replied, "So he says." Then she started giving orders. "Derek, Jesse, I want you two to do a stake-out. Let me know if he's lying or not. Cameron, you'll be going in with me on the day of the meet. John, you'll be waiting outside, covering our backs. Charley, James, you should go back to your jobs, but be ready to respond if we call needing help." She asked James, "Just how many people in the FBI know about the machines, Agent?"

James answered, "All of us. Every last Agent. We've even recalled all of our overseas Agents to help us with this."

Jesse remarked, "Who knows, some of your fellow Agents might be Resistance fighters."

Charley hated to rain on their parade, but he felt the need to say something, so he added,"Or machines. Cromartie put himself in as Robert Kester, what's to stop more from doing the same?"

Before James could say anything, Derek replied,"Absolutely nothing." He told Sarah, "Use the safe house Jesse and I got from scrapping that old 800. There's a Jeep there, all gassed up and ready to go. Last thing we need is anyone or anything tracing us back here."

Everyone nodded their agreement, then Cameron asked, "John, what do you want to do about the Grays?"

He thought about that for a minute, then responded, "I don't know yet, but let's worry about the Turk for now. Once we have SkyNet's brain, we'll start really cleaning house, or planet in this case."

Sarah questioned him, "What if something comes up?"

John answered, "We'll deal with it. For me, being flexible goes without saying."

'Flexible... he means adaptable. He's very good at that.' Cameron asked, "What are we going to do while we wait for three days?"

Derek rose, then Jesse followed suit as he said, "Guess that's our cue to get to work."

Charley looked at his watch, then said, "I start in an hour. You know how they rotate our shifts."

James had been writing the entire time, so he finished with his notes and said, "I need to return to my office. It seems my CI's have provided me a wealth of information we can use to prevent the Apocalypse."

Sarah, ever paranoid, asked, "Wait, are we listed in your computers as alive?"

James answered, "No. I have a set of confidential informants with no names or faces. However, they do bear a striking resemblance to the people currently in this house."

Everyone exchanged their goodbyes, then the others filed out, leaving Sarah, John, and Cameron in the house. The elder Connor then inquired of her son, "So, what are you going to do for three days?"

John laid out for them, "Rest, recover, hack into Carter's chip." Then he mused, "How exactly did he escape the bunker?"

Cameron got up and informed him, "I'll meet you in your room with Carter's chip."

John called after her, "See you in a bit, babe." Then he asked his mother, "What about you? Any progress with Vick's papers?"

She sighed and reported, "Nothing but ARTIE. I only have three more folders to go, and so far, nothing immediately useful."

John closed his computer and replied, "Well, off I go, then."