AN: This started out as a lighthearted 'awkward turtle' micro, but it got quite nasty towards the end, sry.
Back From the War
"I can not......will not, let Danny Dyson carry on working towards something that will destroy ninety nine percent of all humanity. Sarah, you know this makes sense". It was a deliberate move on John's part to call his Mother by her given name. By this simple tactic he had removed himself from the 'dependency' part of their relationship. There will always be times when John will allow Sarah to treat him like her teenage son again. He needs those moments just as much as Sarah, although he refuses to admit it, even to himself. But today was not one of those times. Today he had a point to make, an argument to win, a future foe to vanquish.
"We know where he is, we know what he is doing. We have all the details of the building's security, we have the codes to get around that security, and what's more.....we have this..." John reached into his pocket and withdrew a clear plastic bag. Inside, was an off-white orb with a few, thin tendril-like red lines cascading around the surface. John let it fall onto the table and Sarah was horrified to see an iris staring back at her.
"Is that an....eye?" An expression of revulsion etched into her face. She wasn't disgusted with the eye, but with John. "Why would you even carry that around with you?"
"Relax, it's not real." He glanced to where Cameron sits, they share a conspiratorial smirk. "It's a mock up of Danny Dyson's retina." Picking up the bag and waving it in front of Sarah's face, "This will open doors. Well, it will open the doors that have retina scanners attached to them, at least. The doors to the inner sanctum of Kaliba - Research and development."
"How did you get a scan of his retina?"
"Didn't need to. We hacked a scanner and downloaded the cache."
"That simple, huh?"
"Simple? Not really. 23 good soldiers, good men, family men, died on that mission. So no, it wasn't simple, but it was successful."
Within seconds, the faces of his dead comrades had paraded themselves across his consciousness. The misery and despair of the parents, widows, and children that were left behind will haunt him for the rest of his life. As will the veiled hatred in their eyes. Cameron instinctively knew what was occupying John's mind. After all, they had spent the last five years of their life sharing every moment and every experience. She knew him better than he knew himself.
"I didn't mean to....." Sarah started to say, but was interrupted while searching for the appropriate word.
"You weren't to know, Sarah."
This was probably the nicest thing Cameron had said to Sarah since their return. She was, of course, simply buying time for John to rejoin them in the here and now. Sarah still hadn't fully accepted the fact that her son was in a relationship with a cyborg, an artificial intelligence, a machine. It still bothered Sarah immensely, Cameron was ambivalent to this.
Turning to look directly into Cameron's eyes, Sarah couldn't contain her distrust. There was more than a hint of accusation in her voice when she asked "And where were you when those men died?"
"She was by my side, hacking the scanner. Where did you think she was?" His eyes were glaring, daring his mother to break rank and defy him. He knew that he would have to take a stand against Sarah's negativity towards Cameron. As far as John was concerned, it couldn't happen soon enough. If it was allowed to fester it would just come back and bite him in the ass, and he wasn't going to let that happen.
"At your side? Your right hand 'man', huh?"
"My partner, yes"
Sarah slumps back in her chair but her eyes never leave John's. This is not a defeat, just a tactical withdrawal. Sarah isn't going to give John a chance to reinforce his delusions that 'Cameron' could ever start to reciprocate his feelings.
"James, do you have anything to say?" John can see his mother is entrenched and decides to engage the 'quiet man'. At least James is neutral towards Cameron, which means his agenda is the matter at hand, surviving an attack on a Kaliba installation.
"Well, assuming that everything here is as accurate as you say..."
"It is" Pre-empted Cameron.
Determined to complete his sentence, he continues "...assuming that it is, then it is just a matter of working out the entry and exit points, and the timing. That, and acquiring enough C4, without raising any FBI anti-terrorists alarms."
While James was talking John had walked the small distance around the table, and was now standing behind Cameron's chair. Holding her left hand in his, he gently caressed the side of her neck with his free hand. He could see his mother squirming in her seat, even though she was doing her best to hide her awkwardness caused by his display of affection. She wasn't going to be baited.
At precisely the moment Sarah thought she couldn't feel any more uncomfortable, Cameron slightly leant into John's caresses, and allowed her eyelids to lower slightly.
Sarah made a bolt for the kitchen "I need coffee".
With just the three of them in the room James chuckled slightly "Did you two plan that?"
"Plan what?" was the innocent reply.
James wagged his finger, while he grinned and slowly shook his head. "You know? During the six months you were gone, her worst fear was that she would never see you again. Her only son. Her only family."
"James..."
He held up one finger to show he hadn't finished. John backed off from the man being interrupted twice in as many minutes. "Her second worst fear was you two....happening". While saying the word 'happening' James held up his hands facing each other with the fingers splayed, and gently moved them together "Tread lightly, is all I'm saying. She's been through a lot".
"James I know you're being a good friend to my mother, and that's what she needs. But what else she needs is to understand that I'm not her little kid any more. I know she's been through a lot, she's dragged me through most of it. But during her last six months I have spent five years in Hell. I have seen things that will never leave me. I have done things that I will share with nobody, things that I will take to my grave. Through it all I had one person I could rely on. One person who wouldn't judge me. One person who hadn't abandoned me. One person that made the fight worth fighting. One person that mattered more to me than life itself. And if Sarah can't deal with it, then so be it. I will be gone from her life, forever".
