A/N: Managed to get this one written much faster; to be honest I've been looking forward to writing this chapter since before I wrote the last.
K: Cameron isn't John's second in command, as John views them as equals. Perry, officially, is John's 2IC, but Cameron, you could say, is his co commander. She gives him invaluable advice on Skynet and the machines, which he uses in his decision making. Anway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter.
July 24th, 2011
John awoke to see Cameron slumbering peacefully in standby mode next to him. He still found it novel to watch her sleep and he liked to stay awake sometimes just to watch her; which was often difficult as Cameron usually waited until he drifted to sleep, making sure he had enough rest. Watching her sleep, her often blank and neutral face glowing with innocence and tranquillity, had an almost therapeutic effect on John; the stresses of the past few weeks seemed to just fade away as he watched her slumber in his arms.
The past month had been tough on them both. Derek had all but completely alienated himself from John; the now Lieutenant Baum would cooperate with John and follow orders but would speak only if John spoke to him first, and even then only said the absolute minimum necessary. He gave Cameron even less than that now; he never spoke to her at all, refusing to even acknowledge her existence.
Perry, on the other hand, had been strutting about like he owned the place and John had already had to reprimand him for his attitude. He'd proven himself reasonably effective as John's second in command; organising several missions against semi constructed factories and emerging airfields, pushing the machines back and preventing them from recapturing lost territory, whilst on a grander scale, John organised the worldwide response to the Skynet satellite threat. Still, John had had to warn him several times to keep his ego in check.
Cameron hadn't been exaggerating in the slightest when she'd told John that Skynet had built a lot of satellites. Within three weeks, resistance units across the world had scoured their respective countries for potential launch sites and found a total of thirty eight confirmed rockets nearing completion in the US, Russia, China, France and Japan, as well as India, Israel, even Iran and the Ukraine. Thirty eight rockets – that they knew about – were nearly ready to launch Cameron's estimate of around three hundred Skynet satellites into orbit to further strengthen the AI's iron fist over humanity.
Skynet's plans were ambitious, as were John's. On his order, resistance units all over the world were mobilised and preparing to counter the threat. It had taken much longer without any long range communications, having to pass messages from one unit to the next and so on, but John had over a hundred groups taking part in the mission. From all the intelligence photos they'd managed to get, John, Cameron, and Ellison had been able to estimate that the rockets were nearing completion, and they'd set an attack date for 1st August. John was still hoping to capture Area 51 – a mission so important that he'd decided to personally lead the bulk of Cheyenne Mountain's company to Nevada to link up with the Las Vegas cell and launch a joint attack. He knew the plan could easily go wrong, hence every unit around the world with tanks, artillery, and the few aircraft still in operation being mobilised to attack and destroy the various launch sites in case they failed.
Perry, naturally, had already disagreed with John, thinking they should simply blow up the rocket launch sites and be done with it; failing to see the bigger picture that that tactic would still leave them in relative isolation. John knew they couldn't beat Skynet alone, and it would take every single human left alive working together to bring down the beast. And their best chance at that was to capture Area 51 and reprogram the satellites for their own purposes.
It hadn't all been doom and gloom for them, he knew. John's wounds had healed well and he'd returned to light duties four days after waking up in the infirmary. 'Light' meaning no combat at all for John, at both Charlie's and Cameron's insistence; although he'd taken some time to take out a squad of new recruits for training exercises, needing to get out and do something that didn't involve long hours of sitting in the command centre at a radio – not that there were many people to speak with now that Skynet had shot down most of their satellites and had a chokehold on the airwaves, something John planned to change. Tomorrow, they'd head out towards Las Vegas, to take their offensive campaign against Skynet to another level.
John didn't want to think about that right now, though. Today was a special day; he'd earmarked it as a chance for the troops to unwind. All the soldiers who were embarking on the mission in Nevada had the day off, barring some major emergency. John had the troops out on reconnaissance and fighting patrols practically every day, and the men were exhausted. As a result, however, Skynet's forces in the region were on the defensive and John figured they could afford one day of rest. Two thirds of the men inside the mountain would take part in the attack on Area 51; John knew that at least some wouldn't be returning. So he'd given the order for a day of R&R. Although in reality he'd given the day off as an excuse to mask his real reasons.
John wrapped his arms tighter around Cameron and pulled her into an embrace, waiting until she rebooted out of standby mode. Her eyelids slowly opened and her vision was filled with John's face an inch away from hers.
"Hey Cam, happy built day," John smiled as he cupped the side of her face and gently kissed her. He'd not mentioned a word to her about her built day and he could see the look of surprise in her face - head cocked slightly, a slight pout, and one eyebrow raised so subtly that only John could have recognised it.
Cameron still didn't quite understand it all. She'd never had a built day before; they'd discussed it long ago, before John's sixteenth birthday, but had never spoken of it again after Sarkissian's car bomb and the chaos that followed. Not until his twentieth birthday had he asked about the day she'd first come online; July 24th 2026. She knew humans placed great value on their birthdays and those of their loved ones, and Cameron felt something she couldn't identify well up inside her that John appeared to place the same value on her built day – as he'd dubbed it many years ago.
She kissed him back, harder, pulling John on top of her as she deepened the kiss and opened her mouth to invite John's tongue as she ran her hand through John's hair and tried to pull him even closer, not wanting to be separated from him even by a few centimetres. John reciprocated and caressed her tongue and the inside of her mouth with his, losing himself in their passionate moment, not wanting anything to interrupt them.
He suddenly remembered that they'd both slept naked when Cameron began grinding her hips into him, his body betraying him as he became aroused. It took every last ounce of willpower he had to break the kiss and pull himself off of her before they went too far. He had plans for today and wouldn't get anything done if they just stayed in bed and had sex, no matter how tempting it was.
Cameron frowned in confusion as John pulled away and tried again, grabbing at his crotch with one hand while the other tried to pull his head closer for another kiss.
"Ah! None of that, Cam!" he caught her hand and waggled his finger at her in a mock telling off. Cameron looked very confused now; since they first made love on Judgement Day he'd never once refused her. She ran through several possibilities, trying to understand why he was refusing her now.
"It's my built day," she said. John had told her before that people got presents and got what they wanted on their birthdays. She wanted him. Was it different for her because she'd never actually been born? "Why don't you want to?"
"I'd like nothing more," he saw the confusion still on her face and decided to reassure her. "But not yet. I got you a present." John got up out of bed and pulled on a pair of boxers and jeans to make it harder for Cameron to seduce him, and more importantly, harder for him to give into her attempts. He pulled open a drawer and took out a Rubik's cube, and handed it to Cameron. Her eyes widened as she took it from John and turned it over, running her hands over the edges and inspecting it intently. John watched as she took a few moments to run her hand over several squares that looked out of place, and started to twist and turn the layers, which turned smoothly and didn't jam like the one she'd broken before. She stopped playing with it and looked up at John, a large smile beaming from her face.
"Do you like it?" John asked.
"Yes. It's tight," she replied as she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a hug.
"It's the same one you had before," John explained as Cameron let him go and carried on playing with the Rubik's cube. When Cameron had confined him to bed until he'd recovered from the gunshot completely, John had found the perfect opportunity to sort out her present. He'd seen how devastated she'd been when she broke the puzzle before and he'd made up his mind the second the cube had shattered that he'd repair it for her. He'd gone to a lot of trouble for it; avoiding her on his little 'recon mission' with Davenport into Aurora and picking out the paints and glue. Even before Cameron had broken it there had been a dozen coloured squares missing. John had made new squares using pieces he'd cut from the coltan in her little workshop, and then painted them and stuck them onto the cube.
"I had to make some of the squares myself, so some of them are a little off colour." Cameron cared nothing about that and John could see it on her face. He instantly knew he'd made the right choice for a present. Yet another thing he loved about Cameron being a cyborg was how something so simple could create such a massive wellspring of joy inside her. Unlike human women; jewellery or expensive clothes meant nothing to her. She preferred simple, almost childish pleasures from puzzles and games that other people their age – or the age Cameron looked like – would have grown out of years ago. John secretly hoped she'd never lose her child like wonder and curiosity, something that separated her from both humans and machines and made her unique and very special in John's eyes.
"I've got a few errands to run, Cam," John said as he got up and finished getting dressed. He was deliberately wearing his own clothes today instead of uniform. Today he wasn't General Connor; he was just John – Cameron's John. Unless Skynet suddenly decided to attack the mountain with everything it had, Perry was in charge and John would spend the day alone with Cameron. "I'll be back in an hour, tops." He gave her a quick kiss and closed the door after him, leaving Cameron intent on her new present.
John left the living quarters and walked across the mountain's interior towards the mess hall, nodding towards the men he passed as they ate their breakfasts of tinned sausages and beans or fried eggs. He marched past them and into the adjoining kitchen, finding it empty as the men on cooking duty had already served up the first of the day's two meals and had cleaned up, leaving John the whole kitchen to himself.
He took a bag of sugar, some cocoa powder and some flour from the shelves; all had been left in storage since before Judgement Day, and picked some eggs from the fridge – laid by hens found on an abandoned farm by a 3rd Platoon recon squad and brought back for the very purpose John was using now; their eggs. Now he had all the ingredients to make Cameron a cake. Truthfully, he had no idea what he was doing. He cut himself a little slack, knowing that with warrior woman for a mom and a dad from a future where rat was probably a delicacy, cooking wasn't a skill that would come naturally to him. He wished now he'd watched Cameron and paid attention to something besides her pert backside as she'd cooked for him and Derek. Bah! He thought, how hard can it be?
Charlie walked into the mess hall from the infirmary – having sacrificed breakfast to attend to three wounded men from the newly formed 4th Platoon. The main thing Charlie regretted since Perry had taken over from Derek as John's second in command was the number of casualties he had to deal with. Perry seemed overzealous in fighting Skynet, and both Charlie and Ellison agreed that he was trying to prove himself better than John. He'd spent most of the night and all morning patching up the wounded men – one who'd managed to regain consciousness claimed they'd already blown apart a small factory that had recently appeared in Colorado Springs, but Perry had ordered them to take out every last machine, which had resulted in the men getting injured in a needless fire fight.
Once he'd made sure the three men were stable, he'd left Sergeant Ford in charge of the infirmary and headed for the kitchen to fix up something to eat. On the way to the kitchen, through the sparsely filled mess hall, he saw a dozen or so soldiers laughing, chatting, and eating some kind of gooey brown substance.
"Hey, lieutenant," Private Sharpe greeted Charlie as he approached his table. "Want to try some of this?"
"What is it?" Charlie peered closer and frowned at the sticky dark brown goo on the private's plate.
"It's supposed to be cake. I think. Connor's in there whipping up a whole batch of them. That's his third one," he pointed to a larger pile of the same goo on a plate on the centre table. "He may be a first class general, but the man's a piss poor cook."
"It can't be that bad, the way you're shovelling it down," Charlie commented.
"Any fresh food we can get, sir," Sharpe grinned. The private had a point, Charlie thought. Since their fresh food supplies had ran out they'd been relying almost solely on tinned and dried foods, leaving the field rations for missions for now. John had also rationed their meals to two a day; a decision that everyone knew was necessary but still proved unpopular, especially among the civilians. Charlie left Sharpe and his friends to their 'food' and walked into the kitchen, his ears instantly assaulted by a barrage of expletives that would put any drunken sailor to shame.
"John Connor, I didn't think your mom brought you up to use language like that!" Charlie mock chided John.
"Yeah, she didn't raise me to cook, either," John sighed, exasperated as he took his fourth attempt out of the oven. This one was rock hard and so badly burnt that it looked like a lump of charcoal rather than a cake. John wondered what his mom might have ever had planned for him if they'd managed to stop Judgement Day. He certainly wouldn't have made it as a chef; that was for sure.
"Jesus, John. What did you cook it with, thermite? What the hell are you doing, anyway?"
"I'm trying to make a cake for Cameron." John replied.
"Oh, right. Her... building day, was it?"
"Built day," John corrected him. He knew Charlie didn't get it, none of them would. But Charlie was open-minded and as long as John was happy and Cameron didn't hurt him, she had his blessing. Not that Charlie had the first clue about what to do if Cameron ever did do anything to hurt him. "I don't get it, Charlie. I'm supposed to be this great military leader, I supposedly beat Skynet at every turn, and I can hack a Triple 8's chip no problem, so why is a cake getting the better of me?"
"Your mom had the same problem, remember?" They both remembered the time when John and Sarah lived with Charlie. His mom, as usual for the modern day goddess of war, had been hopeless in the kitchen and Charlie had done most of the cooking for the family. Now the evidence that John had inherited Sarah's culinary skills was staring him in the face, blackened and smouldering on a plate.
How many eggs are you using?" Charlie asked, remembering the gooey substance Private Sharpe and his friends had been eating.
"Just one in that one," John pointed to the 'cake' he'd removed from the oven. "I put a lot in the others... I've got no idea what I'm doing."
"I can see that," Charlie grinned as he rolled his sleeves up and took out some more eggs. "Well," he said, noting the cocoa powder and icing sugar John had laid out. "You had the right idea, at least. All girls love chocolate, even tin ones I guess."
"She can't really taste it," John replied. "Not like we can."
"Probably a good thing, the way you've burnt it."
"Hey," John pretended to look hurt. "Are you going to help me or just make fun?"
"I can do both." Charlie showed him exactly what to do, taking him through the steps but letting John do most of it himself. It was as if they were back in Nebraska and John was still fifteen. Neither of them said it but they both missed the bond they'd had before, and it had been too long since they'd spent any real time together.
Cameron brought up her internal clock and saw that John had been gone for over three hours; much longer than he'd said he'd be. Cameron was a little upset that John had left her alone on her built day. Whatever he'd left for, she assumed it was an important task; but still, she wanted to be with John, today of all days. John had promised her that he'd make time to spend with her, and she'd been looking forward to this day for what felt like forever. She was a Terminator, and as such, she knew that she could wait for as long as it took; patience was programmed into every infiltrator and in theory she should be able to wait forever. But she'd been excited about her built day from the moment John woke her up; relished spending time alone with John, and now he'd spent three hours away from her.
She'd spent the time playing with her Rubik's cube, wanting to solve it but at the same time trying to savour the pleasure she got from it and make it last as long as possible. She didn't know why she found it so fascinating, but apart from being with John, and eating – something that made her feel human – it was the only thing that she found pleasure in. She loved the cube, but she'd prefer to be with John. She was still unsure why he'd turned down her advances. He'd reassured her over and over that he'd always love her, always want her and no other, and that she is and always would be 'the most beautiful and amazing person' he'd ever know. So while she was certain to within point one percent that he still loved her, she didn't know why he'd refused her. He was attracted to her still, she knew that. Her detailed files on anatomy and human mating habits told her that much from John's physical reaction earlier, even if she hadn't of known from experience with John.
As she got up to get dressed and look for John the bedroom door opened as John came in, his t shirt covered in a white powdered substance; most likely thermite, she calculated. She frowned as she realised John had been working all this time.
"Where were you?" She asked him.
"Busy, with Charlie. John kissed her, began to peel off his clothes and threw them to the floor. "I need a shower, Cam, you want to join me?" Cameron licked her lips and gave him a smouldering look as she followed him into their bathroom eagerly in anticipation.
Cameron had been disappointed to find that John still hadn't touched her or made any advance on her in the shower. Despite her best efforts John had gently pushed her away, forcing her to settle for nothing more than light kissing. She was getting frustrated at both his rejection and at the fact that she'd tried everything in her files on seduction, and John hadn't fallen for any of it. But this was also another reason she knew that John would beat Skynet. She was the best the AI had ever created – though she loathed being associated with Skynet in any way – she'd been created by Skynet with the sole purpose of seducing and terminating John Connor, and even she couldn't break through his defences.
Worse than that, John had teased her relentlessly while they'd showered together; kissing along her jaw line, down her neck to her collar, while his hands glided over her soft curves, brushing his fingertips delicately against her skin, just enough to leave her yearning for more. And then he'd turned off the water, given her a quick peck on the lips, towelled off and gotten dressed.
After their anticlimactic shower session, John had told her he wanted to spend the day with her alone out on the mountainside. Once they were dressed, John slung a rucksack over his shoulders and led the way outside. As soon as they were out of the tunnel they walked up the rocky slope, hand in hand. Cameron was much happier now that she was alone with John, even if being outside meant she was constantly scanning for threats. They walked slowly, ambling their way up the mountain in no great rush, both of them enjoying the chance to be alone together. For John there was another reason why he'd decided to take a walk, this was the first time he'd been outside since before Judgement Day that wasn't on a mission. They were alone, outside, without fear of UCAVs or T-1 patrols. There was always a chance that a HK or Pegasus could fly overhead, but they'd be taken care of in short order by the sentry guns Cameron had built.
"Cameron, are you okay?" John asked after walking for several hours, in comfortable silence for the most part. Both of them caught up in their own thoughts. Cameron had looked a little nervous at being outside, and John had noticed.
"I don't want to go to Nevada," Cameron replied. She'd been tetchy every time the Area 51 mission was brought up but hadn't told John why. Whatever it was, it clearly bothered her and John was determined to hear it out, if only to try and reassure her.
"Why not, does something happen in Nevada to me? In the future, I mean."
"No," she answered truthfully, deciding to defy her orders from Future John and tell him everything. "You tried to stop the rocket launch at Vandenberg in 2015. You failed and were captured, and sent to a Skynet work camp. It's the same mission we'll be on tomorrow." John was stuck for words for a moment. No wonder she'd been nervous about the mission, why she'd all but begged John to let Perry or Derek lead it instead.
"We're not going to Vandenberg, Cam, and we won't fail." That still wasn't enough for Cameron, but she could see that John wouldn't budge on the issue. He was determined, stubborn; traits he shared with his future self that she admired.
"Please be careful, John." She said with a blank voice, but her eyes betrayed the worry she felt for him.
"I promise," John stuck his hand up, "scout's honour." Cameron had been extra protective of him since he'd been wounded in Aurora, and he knew he couldn't blame her. He knew only a small part of her concern was due to her mission, she'd torn herself apart with worry for him and he promised he'd never put her through that again.
Something in the corner of John's eye took his attention and he turned around, blinking a few times to make sure the sight he was seeing was real and not some kind of hallucination.
Walking out in front of them were four giraffes; three adults and a baby, happily ignoring the human and the cyborg as they searched for food. John knew there was a zoo on top of Cheyenne Mountain with the largest giraffe population in North America; he'd read about it when researching the base as a place to hide while the bombs fell. Still, the sight of actual wildlife before him, not just surviving, but seemingly thriving out on the mountain, filled him with hope that despite what Skynet threw at them, life would always find a way to bounce back.
John was pulled out of his reverie by the sound of a gun cocking and turned to see Cameron aiming a pistol at the nearest giraffe, the significance that John had found from the sight of them obviously lost on her.
"Hey! No Cam, stop!" John pulled her arm upwards as she pulled the trigger, forcing her aim high; the bullet hit nothing but air. "What're you doing?"
"Fresh meat will improve your diet and boost morale," she answered, her gun still out.
"No! Just... just leave them be," John sighed as Cameron put her pistol away. Typical Cameron, he thought. She'd just spoiled what he thought was a very romantic scene by trying to kill something, even if she'd meant well. Sadly, he wasn't surprised that she'd taken a gun with her on a romantic walk. It was things like that that reminded John she'd never be fully human; no matter how much she evolved, how human she became, the cyborg in her would always be there. John smiled and knew he wouldn't have it any other way.
John took her hand in his once more and watched them go by until they were out of sight.
"Where did you go this morning?" Cameron asked, not quite what John had expected her to ask. "You were gone for three hours and eighteen minutes, and returned covered in powder; most likely thermite."
"It wasn't thermite, Cam. It was flour."
"Why were you using flour? You can't cook."
"Don't I know it," John grinned knowingly. He looked around, taking in the view beneath them. The remains of Fort Carson were visible, only a few miles away. The scenery below was breathtaking and depressing at the same time; the immediate area surrounding the mountain had been mostly untouched by the nuclear blasts, but nuclear winter had killed off nearly every plant and tree in sight. Only the toughest, hardiest plants survived. Still, it had an eerie beauty to it that John found appealing. After spending so much time indoors, even a desolate landscape looked an inviting backdrop. "Let's stop here and eat." John sat down on a patch of smooth rock and opened up his pack, taking out two tins of spaghetti Bolognese and handing one to Cameron as she sat beside him.
Cameron noted the sour look on John's face as he ate. She wished she could experience taste as humans knew it. She could analyse the content of what she ate but experienced no actual pleasure from the data she received. She liked very spicy foods because although she couldn't taste them, the heat from the dish made her tongue tingle slightly. She also liked ice cream and fizzy drinks for similar reasons, but she and John had shared the last tub of the ice cream Lieutenant Davenport had salvaged from Fort Carson's freezers several weeks ago, and would likely never eat it again. John had told her shortly after the fresh food had been used up that she should be glad she couldn't taste; because most of the food was terrible. Cameron could agree with him to some extent on the spaghetti they were eating; it felt slimy and cold in her mouth. She couldn't taste it and still she didn't enjoy it. Still, she hoped one day she could learn to interpret the sensory data on her tongue as actual taste.
When John had finished his food he finally answered her question. "This is what I was doing earlier, Cam." He pulled out a package wrapped in paper and handed it to her. She opened the paper wrapping to reveal a small chocolate cake, freshly made from the look of it. "It's your built day cake."
"You made it?" Cameron asked. "You can't cook. You're worse than Derek."
"Hey," John swatted playfully at her. "I'm not that bad!"
"Derek Reese never set fire to the kitchen while making toast," she replied curtly, a crooked grin on her lips.
"Well, Charlie helped... a little." John decided not to tell her it was his fifth attempt. She'd said it herself; he was a terrible cook. She could probably even work out how many attempts he'd made by judging how long he was gone for. Instead of flogging a dead horse trying to defend his pitiful skills in the kitchen, he took out a single candle and stuck it in the centre of the cake, lighting it with a match from the kitchen.
"Blow it out, Cam. Make a wish." Cameron didn't see how blowing out a candle on a cake could grant someone's wish, but she knew it was part of birthday tradition and John had clearly gone to a lot of effort, so she'd humour him. She thought about what she wanted; more than anything she wanted John to be safe and for them never to be apart. She blew on the candle, a little too hard as it was dislodged from the cake and fell to the ground. "I wished for..."
"Don't say it!" John interrupted her. "It won't come true."
"Wishing on a cake won't make it come true," Cameron interjected.
"I don't know about that," John pulled her hand up to his lips and kissed it gently. "It did for me, once." John broke the cake in half and gave her a piece. She delicately placed it in her mouth and analysed its contents. She could tell without tasting that the cake was as it should be; it was light and fluffy, with a sticky, smooth chocolate centre. She smiled slightly as she realised that Charlie Dixon had likely done more than 'helped a little'.
"Cam, I've been thinking about something," John started as he finished his slice. "When Davenport found out you're a cyborg, he freaked out at first, but he's taken it pretty well." Cameron saw his point; the lieutenant's knee jerk reaction was the same as every single human she'd encountered in the future who'd learned her identity. But in the weeks John had her and Lieutenant Davenport working together, he'd learnt to get along with her, even if he was still slightly uneasy around her.
"I'm thinking, maybe everyone else will be okay with it if we just tell them rather than wait for them to find out. After we kick Skynet's ass across Nevada and come home, I'm going to tell everyone. About us, too; I don't care what they might think about us." John meant every word of it; morale had been high since he'd taken command and he genuinely believed that if their good luck continued in Nevada that people would be able to accept it, that they didn't necessarily have to be like Derek. He was even hopeful that he could stop them from automatically hating every machine and get them to fully accept Cameron, despite being a cyborg.
Cameron had heard enough. She said nothing but stood up, taking John's hand and pulling him to his feet, and marched back down the mountain; neither of them spoke a single word during their descent. She kept his hand tightly in hers until they were through the blast doors and then led him back to their quarters.
As soon as John shut the door she was upon him. She pushed John down to the bed, straddling his hips as she held his face in her hands and kissed him deeply. This time John didn't push her away or refuse. He slowly removed her clothes, piece by piece until she was bare, kissing every inch of flesh he uncovered as she did the same to him, deliberately slowing down and ignoring their mutually growing sense of urgency. He'd made her wait all day for this and he planned on them savouring every last moment. It felt different to both of them; it wasn't as passionate or rushed as their first time together, when they'd tried to greedily devour each other. They took their time, each enjoying what the other had to offer and basking in the sensual delights they both received in return.
Cameron gave out a slight mewl of pleasure as John gently slipped into her, her eyes once again glowed a soft blue that entranced John as he moved in her. Every nerve in her body – organic and cybernetic – was consumed in rapturous fire as she and John made love. His lips found hers once more; instead of crashing together passionately, their kiss was slow, constant and smouldering. John kept his eyes open and locked with hers, not wanting to lose sight of her for a single moment as naked, connected, they danced. They were connected in every sense of the word, not merely at the loins or the lips, but their minds, their very souls, were connected in a way neither of them had ever thought possible.
For hours they were as one. One being, one mind, one soul, as they ignored their individual needs and sought only to please the other; moving against each other towards their mutual pleasure, and finally cried out together in shared ecstasy.
John held Cameron closely in his arms afterwards, both of them still tingling slightly and bathing in the warm afterglow of their act. Spent, John fought to keep his eyes open. He knew it was such a guy thing to do; falling asleep after sex. He tried to fight the urge but it was inevitable.
Both of them knew they'd miss this. They didn't know how long they'd be in Nevada for, but John doubted they'd get the chance to be together like this while they were there. He made a mental note to wake up early and do it again in the morning, although he didn't see how it could ever compare to what they'd just done. This time had been completely on another level; lust hadn't played even the slightest part in their act. Their first ever time together had been explosive. This had been something entirely different; slow burning and all consuming.
There were no words John could think of to even describe it, nor was there anything he could say could possibly follow it. He said the only thing he could think of before he lost the battle to stay awake, even if it didn't speak one iota of how he truly felt.
"I love you Cameron."
"I love you too, John. Thank you for my built day." Cameron stayed awake and watched him drift to sleep; gently stroking his face as he loudly snored like a pig. She didn't care. Strangely, she liked it. She didn't enter standby mode that night, she was happy to hold John in her arms and be held in his, and instead watched him slumber peacefully.
Denver
"God damn it!" Jessica Morgan yelled over the din of gunfire as a heavy volley of 30mm shells roared inches over her head and shattered the 4x4 several metres behind her, the driver and gunner still inside vanished in a hail of fire. They'd been pressing the advantage General Connor's commando assaults on the airfields had bought them and were in the process of taking out a small factory that had popped up recently in Denver, when reinforcements showed up out of nowhere.
Now her squad was getting cut to ribbons by the T-2s that had arrived, and 2nd Squad were pinned down by a pair of HKs; both Stinger missiles in the hands of her own squad mates and useless against the thick armour of the antitank UGVs. Jessica jumped up and ran for the cover of a pile of debris, shells exploding around her as she fired in the direction of the nearest T-2, not seeing whether her thermite rounds were connecting with the target or not. She was too concerned with keeping one step ahead of the heavy rounds exploding right behind her. She dived for the debris pile and just barely made it to find herself pinned with the other four members of her squad in the same position.
"Now what?" one of her men, Davies, asked her. They were out of grenades and only had thermite rounds left, which worked fine against T-1s but required sustained and concentrated fire to bring down the larger, more heavily armoured T-2s. And the way they were raining fire down on Jessica and her squad, they'd never live long enough to put that many rounds into them. Apart from their Stingers they had no rockets, and no real chance of beating the trio of T-2 behemoths that were quickly moving to flank them. Jessica found herself unsure of what to do; she needed the other squad to help them out but they were still pinned down and her own squad's radio was trashed, shattered by a 30mm round that had also torn apart the man operating it.
Before she could give any orders she heard the deafening report of another heavy gun from the opposite direction, followed by a second shot that sounded like the crack of doom, resulting in a slight slackening of fire as one of the T-2s was lobotomised by the high calibre rounds. Jessica peeked around the debris pile and saw a lone man standing tall on top of a battered semi truck, a massive sniper rifle in his hands that was almost as big as her. He fired two more shots – their reports drowning out even the rapid fire barking of the drones' massive cannons - and two explosions tore into the heads of the T-2s, shattering their sensors and CPUs. Jessica watched intently as the man dropped the rifle and threw a pair of hand grenades in a high arc towards the machines, both impacted the upper chests of the machines and exploded; the high explosives tore through their armour and ripped their chain guns from their 'shoulders'. Once the final grenade exploded everything was silent.
Jessica ran out to meet their saviour as he easily jumped down from his spot on top of the truck. She was greeted by what she saw as an absolute god of a man. Six foot four at least, powerfully built with a large chest and broad shoulders, and swept back dark blonde hair. Cute too, she thought.
"Hey, thanks for saving our asses back there, that was amazing! Are you from Cheyenne? Part of Connor's group?"
"John Connor? No," the man answered, tilting his head slightly at the mention of the great general."
"We've got to help out our other squad, but we'd love it if you could join us," Jessica offered. He nodded his agreement and flashed her and awkward smile. She got a weird vibe from the newcomer, but he'd already proven himself far too useful with that rifle of his and that grenade stunt he pulled to pass up. "Great. Anyway, I'm Jessica Morgan," she stuck her hand out for the newcomer, who took her hand in a vice like grip as they shook.
"Robert Kester," the man replied.
A/N: Hope you all enjoyed it, let me know what you think. I've kept it at a T rating for now. I'd like to keep it as a T, but if people think it should be changed to an M rating, please do let me know and I'll alter it.