Chapter 10 – Time for the Future Starts Now

Disclaimer: Still don't own TSCC

Two months with Derek Reese had worn on Cameron. The journey had been hard enough. Commanding a patrol intended more for exploration than to locate any signs of Skynet had been a new challenge. A mixed unit of both humans and her Silvers had made the challenge even more difficult. John had insisted she take Derek with her instead of Sergeant Wilhelm, the cigar smoking T-800 who served as her de facto second in command of the Silvers. In need of a new foot, Wilhelm had stayed behind to aide in training new recruits.

Most of the two month long patrol Derek had worked hard to be civil. Cameron had done the same. Related to each other through marriage and years of fighting against Skynet, the two had long ago worked out a tenuous truce. Over the years their relationship had become friendlier, but the early years had been marked by distrust and outright dislike for each other.

Each was guilty of provoking the other. Derek maintained a constant diatribe against Cameron, claiming she could never be trusted and was manipulating John. For her part, Cameron started staring contests with Derek every chance she got in an effort to unnerve him. She had also developed the habit of flicking him in the ears when he least suspected it.

It was not until Sarah had attempted to kill Cameron (see my other TSCC Fanfiction Cameron Grows Up) and the aftermath that their relationship began to change. Derek came to realize Cameron and John truly loved each other. He could either accept it or leave the resistance. Cameron learned to value Derek as a mentor to John. As the two learned to get along, both came to see each other as part of the extended Connor/Reese family. For better or for worse, they were family so the two had made the effort necessary to learn to get along.

Two months together under unrelenting stressful conditions would put a strain on any relationship, especially with family. Leading an expedition made up of humans and Terminators had added to the stress. Against Cameron's wishes, John had ordered her to bring Tames as part of the Terminator component of the expedition. By expedition end her Silvers interacted better with the humans than their Tame compatriots. So much for building bridges between the two groups of machines through shared experience.

In the seven months since the Battle Beneath Los Angeles, multiple expeditions had gone out in search of locations to move the Human Resistance's primary base. Cameron's expedition had been the first to leave the city of Los Angeles and move into the wilderness to the east of the destroyed city. It had also been the longest, most far-reaching and most dangerous of any expedition.

Factor in two months with Derek, a mixed company of human soldiers, Silver Brigade Terminators and Tames, terminators reprogrammed by Techs, and Cameron had reached her limit of keeping the lid on the bubbling kettle she commanded. Derek had done his best to keep the peace and his human soldiers and her Silvers had gotten along well enough. Some friendships had even been formed.

The Tames had stuck to themselves, refusing to mingle when the group stopped to rest or explore a specific area. Oddly, the Silvers dislike for the Tame Terminators seemed to rub off on their new human friends, who took little convincing to dislike any machine.

Cameron thought it sad her Silvers could learn to get along well with their human counterparts on the expedition, but maintained their dislike for the Tames. The Silvers refused to accept the Tames on equal terms. Having chosen, each for their own reason, to defy Skynet and join the Resistance, the Silvers looked down on the reprogrammed Tames.

Wilhelm had tried to explain it to her once, telling her choice was important. Choosing to serve a cause was different from being programmed to serve a cause, even if the cause was just and good. Cameron understood the importance of choice and choosing to serve or to love, but the Tames could not help the fact they had been reprogrammed to serve the Resistance.

Relieved to have returned to their home base, she simply wanted to see John, her beloved husband, and their adopted daughter, Hailey. Cameron even wanted to spend time with Sarah. A bath sounded good as well. Her hair had lost its strawberry scent John so loved.

The patrol group had dispersed after descending to the second level of the complex. Human soldiers reported to the hospital for a checkup and Terminators reported to the repair facility for a quick diagnostic scan. When finished, each was released to their quarters to see friends and family. Cameron and Derek, as leaders of the patrol, had waited to go last.

Having finished their check-ups, they were both leaving the medical area. Walking down the dark, dirty central corridor, Cameron noticed the smells of the past battle had faded but still remained. Water now leaked down the walls in some places, adding a moldy odor to the smell of the tunnel. Most of the lights still did not work, casting strange shadows on the walls.

Approaching the junction where the two would go their separate ways, Cameron slowed slightly, allowing Derek to move ahead of her. Not realizing in time what she had done, Derek was too slow in covering his ears with his hands as Cameron flicked his right ear with her steel finger.

Grinding his teeth in pain, Derek cast an angry glare in Cameron's direction as she quickly walked down the corridor to her family's quarters. Smiling back at Derek Cameron waived with the same left hand she had just used to inflict pain on him. Her new arm was functioning perfectly and her skin had regenerated, covering all but a small portion of her forearm. During the two months she had been gone new fingernails had developed and giving them a proper coat of nail polish was high on her list of priority activities for the next few days.

"I love you Derek! See you at the debriefing tomorrow."

Knowing Derek would only respond with a growl Cameron continued down the corridor, hurrying to see her family. Running feet filled the concrete tunnel with sound. Cameron was able to distinguish four sets of feet approaching, two adult humans, a small child and the strange sound of metallic feet on concrete, one of which shuffled and dragged along.

Bursting around a corner and into the dim light provided by a dirty but functioning light came her little girl, now nearly three years old. Following on her daughter's heals was her husband John and her mother-in-law and mentor Sarah.

"Mommy's home! Mommy's home!"

Her arms extended in the air, her face covered with grim and her clothes equally dirty, Hailey barreled into her mother. Scooping her child up and hugging her close, Cameron felt the strange emotion she could not explain but never tired of, the protective love she felt for her adopted daughter.

"Five days with no accidents Mommy! Aren't you proud of me?"

"Oh! You are such a big girl! Finally, potty training is taking!

John ran to her and threw his arms around Cameron, hugging both his wife and child in a single loving embrace. Sarah slowed and approached quietly, giving her son and granddaughter a moment to welcome Cameron home. After nearly a minute in her husband's embrace, Cameron handed Hailey to John and hugged Sarah.

Tears fell down Cameron's cheeks, streaking the dirt on her face. Another emotion she never understood but had come to accept, the human practice of crying when happy.

Finally, the shuffling sound came to a halt. It was none other than Hailey's most common bodyguard and protector, the T-600 Old Man.

Wiping the tears from her face, Cameron looked at her husband and smiled.

"You look better John. More rested. And you, Hailey! I think you have grown 2.41 centimeters since I left! You need a bath young lady! Just because I am gone on a patrol does not mean you can get away with not cleaning yourself."

The little girl frowned and hid her face by turning it around to look beyond John, seeking sympathy from her favorite bodyguard.

"Cameron, I promise, I bathe her every day and Sarah helps too. It's an impossible task to keep Hailey clean. Old Man follows her everywhere while she's awake and he can't keep her from getting dirty either."

"It is all right John. I am just so glad to be home. Sarah, you look rested as well."

"Well, you look a fright Tin Miss. You can come to my quarters to shower and pretty yourself up. I found some new clothes in your size and half a bottle of that strawberry shampoo you like. Then we'll go to the mess for dinner. Oh, and you don't have to ask, Hailey will spend the night with me," Sarah added with a knowing smile, loving how the promise of time alone with his wife always embarrassed John.

Turning from her blushing husband and looking at Old Man, Cameron noticed new scratches on his latest set of legs. Frowning, Cameron looked the T-600 directly in the optical sensors. "I see you have been setting off fragmentary grenades again and dropping them at your feet to frighten the new human recruits. What have I told you about this practice?"

"Not to engage in the practice."

"Then why do you do it?"

John and Sarah were forced to turn their heads away and cover their mouths to avoid laughing out loud. If it was possible for a T-600, to look embarrassed and uncomfortable, then that was exactly how the all metal Terminator looked under Cameron's trademark withering Terminator glare.

"Answer me Old Man."

"Sergeant Brighton and I find it to be an effective training method."

"No, the two of you think it is amusing."

"That too, Commander Connor."

In exasperation with Hailey's trusted protector, Cameron took Hailey from John and balanced her daughter on her left hip. Cameron slipped her right arm around John's left elbow and began walking towards Sarah's quarters, pulling her husband along. Sarah and the Old Man fell in behind John and Cameron. Sarah could no longer container herself when the Old Man mimicked the newest human expression he had learned to use. The T-600 had looked at Sarah and shrugged.

That night in the Connor's living quarters…

The faint scent of strawberries filled the air. How he loved the smell of Cameron's hair. No other smell reminded John of his wife like the smell of strawberries. Cameron lay on her back next to John, her head resting on his shoulder. Drops of sweat ran down his forehead. Sweat glistened on his chest.

"I've missed you."

"No, you missed having your sexbot."

"That too."

Cameron smiled and rolled over. Raising herself up on both elbows she smiled at her husband.

"It is all right. I missed being your sexbot."

The pair laughed as John pulled Cameron to his bare chest and held her tight. She clung tight to her husband, happy to be in his arms again.

"Have the nightmares been bad?"

"Yes, but Willy forced me to take naps during the day and I've been able to get enough rest. We've made progress while you were gone. The new groups of humans we've found during our expeditions are getting healthier and their training is progressing. Almost all of our Terminators are fully functioning. Wilhelm's new foot is still bothering him a bit but he won't admit it."

"You'll get a good night's sleep tonight," Cameron whispered as she let herself slip to the side of John, allowing him to breathe easier without her steel frame resting on his chest.

"How did you hold up? Derek give you much trouble?"

"I missed you horribly. I even missed your snoring. My CPU gave me fits some nights I missed you so badly, running diagnostics all night without entering a maintenance or standby mode. It is stressful for me to be away from you that long.

Derek was fine until about two weeks ago. Then we started getting on each other's nerves. I missed Hailey. I worried constantly if she was getting enough to eat, was she developing and growing at a normal rate and if she was staying out of harms way in the tunnels. I am fully aware how difficult Hailey is to keep an eye on."

"Yeah, speaking of Hailey, I am starting to think, as much as it will hurt his feelings, we need to rotate the Old Man's protection detail to when Hailey's asleep. She loves him to death, but he just can't keep up with her anymore. Even with his new legs, the damage from the explosion has left him unable to run."

"John."

"Yes."

"We found grass. Green grass. No radioactivity. Not a lot of grass, well, weeds would be more accurate, but we found plant life above ground. It is a place we can defend, a place where we can tunnel. But more importantly, we can start our future there while we fight Skynet."

"Tomorrow Cameron. Tell me all about it tomorrow."

"John, Derek agrees with me. This is the place."

"Tomorrow. Right now, I want to take advantage of my little sexbot finally coming home. Mom's not getting any younger. There won't be too many nights in the near future where Hailey won't be here with us or we won't be on the move."

Pleased John was finally respecting her ban on "activities" when Hailey was with them, Cameron straddled her husband.

"Just what would you like your sexbot to do?"

"Anything, so long as I sleep well tonight."

"Oh, you will sleep well when I am done with you John Connor."