Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Terminator characters.
Notes: I want to thank the people who sent me a PM since for some reason you can't review a reposted chapter even if the one you originally reviewed was deleted, rather silly. Also, I have never liked Sarah's character as it done on the show because she appears to be suffering from constant PMS and I don't know why anyone would bother to go out with her with that personality she gives off. So, I am giving her a bit of a hard time in this story.
So, I'm guessing the last chapter wasn't that popular with only get three positive responses for it or I confused the heck out of everyone with the rearrangement of Chapter 12. Well, I hope you guys like this one.
If you are still confused I will explain. I had two versions on Chapter 12 (making up Chapters 12 and 13) posted and once people let me know which one they liked better one of them was removed. After I finished fixing up Chapter 13 it was posted as the real Chapter 13 and this one is 14. Now as long as I don't loose my marbles again and release a dumb chapter we won't have to deal with something like that again. Hmm, perhaps I should find some beta readers.
The phone that John is using is a satellite phone he picked up and is the reason why the caller ID is unknown when he calls Derek. I didn't think of natural way to insert into the story and instead just went with the note route.
Derek heard the sound of a his phone ringing and quickly grabbed it off his nightstand after letting go of the gun he was holding while he slept with his hand under his pillow. He looked at the time, 6:42am, and the caller ID 'UNKNOWN'. He considered it for a few seconds and figured it very likely that John might have picked up a new phone so he answered it.
"Hey Derek."
"John?"
"Yea. Can you round up some stuff over the next week and grab my mom and meet us next Friday?"
"Yea sure. Where am I meeting you at?"
"Calf Creek Plateau by the Sawtooth mountain range in Colorado."
"What's there?"
"Not sure exactly yet. Apparently Tech-Com found an old underground military installation in 2027, so we are going to check it out and see about starting there."
"Got it. Now what kind of supplies do you need?"
"A ton of various stuff. Grab some paper and pencil and I will hand the phone to Cameron who can tell you everything."
Derek quickly scrambled to find something to write with and some paper. He ran over to John's room and was glad to see the various school supplies still present. He heard Sarah begin to stir, no doubt caused by his running, and then heard Cameron's voice.
"Hello Derek."
"Uh, Hi, I guess. I don't know if John told you but I'm going to try and be much nicer to you but this just feels really wrong to me still."
"Yes he did and I'm sure you and I can work it out if you give me a chance."
While Derek had made that promise to John it was another thing to talk to the metal... her, like he expected. He felt himself break out in a sweat at her offer of friendship and had to choke down his hatred. The only thing that ran through his mind when she asked him to get to know her better was of a black widow spider. He wiped his head and then sat down at John's old desk getting back to the task at hand and resolving to sort things out with Cameron no matter what.
"I'll try but just give me time and lots of space."
"I will."
"Alright, so what do you need for us to get?"
"Cash in all the diamonds that are left and get some large trucks and lifting, hauling, and winching equipment."
"I take it this is going to be a long list then."
"Yes."
Derek wrote everything down and soon had several sheets of paper filled front and back. It was one hell of a list and he could understand why they were going to need the money. Perhaps Sarah and him should knock off an armored car or something before getting started because he wasn't really sure if the diamonds were going to cover it all.
He heard Sarah open her door and begin to wander the house and she soon found him with a very unhappy expression.
"Derek what the heck are you doing in here this early in the morning?"
"Is that everything?"
"Yes. We will call you again with exact GPS coordinates so that you can find us quicker."
"Is that John?," asked Sarah.
He turned to look at Sarah but she had already charged him and soon they were on the floor fighting over the phone.
"Sarah, just hold on a sec. I'm almost done."
"I DON'T CARE, NOW LET GO."
She was so mad he didn't really have a choice and let her have the phone.
"John?"
"It's Cameron."
Derek watched as Sarah's face twisted into an expression of pure rage and hatred. She had come to hate and despise Cameron more than anything else over the last few months. Derek had tried to talk to her but somehow something had become broken inside of her and Cameron had become the target of her hatred. She believed that somehow Cameron had poisoned John in some way and anytime he tried to talk to her about it she exploded at him. He quickly learned to just leave her alone and hoped that when she got back together with John she would realize that everything was really alright.
"YOU! You shouldn't even be alive right now. What did you do to John?"
"I don't understand your question."
"THE HELL YOU DO! You had to have done something to him for him to choose you over me. I've protected and taken care of him since he was little and you just show up and somehow you are more important than me. It isn't possible unless you did something to him."
This wasn't good at all thought Cameron. She never expected Sarah to develop an irrational hatred for her while John and her were away. She looked over at John and motioned for him to come over.
"John is fine and he hasn't chosen anyone. He just wanted to protect me that is all. He still loves you very much Sarah."
"I don't believe you. Just what is it that you are planning? Derek was right all along that we should have destroyed you at our first chance and when we met again I'm going to fix my mistake."
Really bad. Cameron muted the phone and quickly explained the situation to John and then gave him the phone. Cameron saw the resolve form in his eyes and knew that Sarah would loose John if she tried to force him to pick between either her or Cameron.
"Mom?"
"John. I'm so happy to hear from you. Don't worry when we met up I will free you from whatever she has done to you."
"Stop it right now and listen to me! I'm fine and Cameron hasn't done anything and I am going to be keeping her around. I'm giving you a choice here so think about it carefully. You can either come here and work with us and never bother Cameron or not at all. I will not accept anything else."
Derek watched as Sarah's face fell and he knew that John had given her a choice. He realized that this was going to happen to him the day John took off and it made him think long and hard about what was really important to him thus making him realize that if he wanted to keep John as part of his family then he had to accept Cameron in some fashion or another.
"John you can't mean that?"
"I do. Now what are you going to do?"
Sarah began to cry and Derek could see the hate and fear unravel as she was forced to look at herself. If John had changed like Derek suspected he would have then it wasn't the boy that was talking on that phone anymore and Derek knew Commander Connor well. When he firmed up his resolve nothing could change his mind and his voice bore the strength of a steel far stronger the anything Skynet could ever build the Terminators with. Sarah didn't stand a chance before Command Connor and he knew it was cruel in a way but it would force her to start to see him as the man John had become.
"John please don't do this?"
"I am doing this. Now what is your answer?"
Sarah sucked in a shuttering breath and gave her answer.
"I will leave Cameron alone."
"Good. Now I have given Derek a list of things we need, so work on that and I will see you next Friday. Alright?"
"John I sill love you."
"I know."
He hung up the phone and thought to himself, 'but it was a machine who finally showed me what real love is.' He turned to look at Cameron and saw her worried face and relaxed and reached out and held her close to him. His time with Cameron had taught him many things but the one he was most thankful for was learning what true unconditional love felt like.
"John are you alright?"
"Yea. I will get over it but I'm not sure what to do about my mom?"
"It will work out. I'm sure of it."
"I hope you are right. Well, might as well finish making breakfast right?"
She gave him her agreement and he headed back to preparing the morning meal. Cameron turned and looked over at Jessica who was still sleeping away not even stirring once during all of the noise.
Cromartie filed away the latest information he had just gotten from Derek's conversation with John. He had been monitoring Sarah and Derek's phones for a while now because he had determined that John had separated himself from Sarah and Derek months ago and had been stuck monitoring their activities for contact. Cromartie knew that John had a strong attachment to Sarah and wouldn't just leave her behind which led him to conclude that the best course of action was to monitor their communications.
While Cromartie didn't exactly have any emotions he did feel a sense of completeness knowing that he was going to finally complete his mission. A small smirk formed on his face as he began to think about what he would need to get for next Friday.
He started his car to begin collecting the necessary weapons to make sure that John didn't have a chance at survival in their next meeting. He figured a minigun and some high explosives would be appropriate for the job and when Derek got the GPS coordinates he would know exactly where to strike.
John went back to getting things ready for the day. He had decided to make a form of hash with some potatoes, precooked bacon, onions, and some eggs which were unfortunately a powered substitute since there wasn't a fridge. It didn't take him very long and it smelled rather good. He cleaned things up and got everything put onto three plates and then headed back over to get the other two.
Cameron looked up at him as he ducked into the tent and held her arms out to him. They had been doing this for so long it had become very routine and it would be nice having her walking around for herself, but he really enjoying touching and holder her all the time.
"Jessica awake yet?", he asked.
"No. How about we eat first and get her up in a little while?"
He smiled at her and set her down on one of the chairs and then covered up Jessica's food. He would just reheat it later for her but it would be nice just sharing a moment with Cameron. After she was all situated he sat down next to her and handed her a plate.
"So, anything on your mind?"
"No. I just wanted to chat with you for a while."
John watched as she began to eat her food and noticed something a little off with her right hand. He reached out and grabbed her right hand and looked at it.
"John, what wrong?"
"Cam, have you looked at your hand this morning?"
John let go of it and she examined it. All the tissue appeared to be completely healed. She was confused because it shouldn't have been done for several more hours.
INQUIRY - STATUS OF CURRENT REGENERATION CYCLE
COMPLETE - ALL TISSUE RESTORED
She was baffled at this development. How was it possible for her tissues to regrow this quickly?
"John grab me the scissors."
"Alright. Is there anything wrong?"
"No, but I want to double check."
John helped her cut off all the bandages and she stared at her arm in mild shock because it was in perfect shape. She turned to John and noticed he appeared to be rather confused.
"I thought it wouldn't be finished until later."
"You're correct. This is an unexpected development. I am going to start a diagnostic to see if the reason behind it can be identified."
ANALYZE - DETERMINE CAUSE OF ACCELERATED TISSUE REGENERATION
CAUSE KNOWN - BLOOD RECEIVED FROM BLOOD TRANSFUSION IS ROOT CAUSE
She was shocked. Why would John's blood have this affect on her? She didn't know but suspected that it had something to do with Amy. While it wasn't anything bad it did make her worry a bit. She hated having things change on her without her realizing it.
"Apparently the blood you gave me is the reason for the faster regeneration. I don't know exactly why but I would suspect our friend Amy."
John's brow furrowed in thought and he began to tap his foot. It was a trait she easy recognized from Commander Connor and it was surprising how quickly a lot of those traits were making an appearance. With John's scar, all he needed was a few more wrinkles and a more weathered skin and it would be impossible to tell the difference. She waited for a little while not wanted to disturb his thoughts.
"I agree with you but she mentioned changes not just a single change so I think there are some other surprises in store for us. However, I'm not very worried about them being bad changes because I believe that she wouldn't hurt either one of us."
"I agree completely. Once I am fully repaired I'm going to see if I can spot any other changes."
They finished eating their breakfast together enjoying the view and sounds of everything around them. It was a nice and easy start to a busy day and they sat together holding each others hands. John loved just spending time with her because she always made him feel at ease since she knew everything about him. There wasn't another person in the world who could handle being his wife and what it would put them through. His future self had given him a gift that was better than anything he could have ever hoped for and he knew that Cameron would take care of him and make sure he never turned into what they were fighting against.
They had been like that for about an hour and twenty minutes when Jessica called out from the tent.
"John? Cameron? Either of you two around?"
John reluctantly let go of Cameron's right hand, still marveling at how perfectly it had healed, and headed to the tent.
"Hey there."
Jessica's face held a lot of worry, no doubt believing that they might have left her behind.
"Man you two scared the heck out of me. I was worried you might have left me alone for some reason."
"We wouldn't leave you. Ever."
Her face brightened up at his statement and he could see the relief in her eyes. He said it easily and knew it to be true. He would always do whatever it took to save those that were under his care and while he knew people would die in the coming wars he would never leave those still alive behind.
"Thanks. So have both of you eaten yet?"
"I cooked up some hash and Cameron and I already ate. I have a plate for you and it just needs to be reheated and it will be fine."
"Thanks. So do you want to get started on today's work right away?"
"That would be best."
"Alright. Can you untie my hands and I will get ready while you reheat the food."
Jessica sat up and repositioned herself so that her back was toward him. John reached out and pulled the keys from around her neck and used them to unlock her hands and set the keys down beside her. She stretched her arms out and picked up her keys. He had a silly smirk on his face as she turned back around and began to unlocked her ankles.
"I was tempted to let you try and get out on your own for a while."
"Very funny. You know that I wouldn't be able to do that. Now, if you don't need any help you can leave me tied up for most of the day and it wouldn't bug me."
"Now you're being silly and that tells me you're feeling better."
She stopped where she was having only unlocked one ankle and looked at John. She stared at his eyes and could see the concern they held and considered his words. While things had changed greatly they didn't seem nearly as dire as they did yesterday. In fact, things seemed a bit better and she had engaged him in the usual silly banter between friends. John was right and she felt a new happiness flow through her. She had never had friends that would care for her this much or ones that didn't judge her on stupid little things. It was really bad that it took the end of the world and almost thirty years to get her some descent friends. She raised a hand and began to wipe at the tears that had started to flow down her face.
"Jessica I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you, really."
"I'm not upset at all. I'm just really happy that I have such nice friends now, really. So relax and get my breakfast ready."
"You sure."
"Yes."
Jessica was really confusing to him like most women did and it was such a contrast to Cameron. He could almost always understand and follow Cameron's line of thought and understood her feelings. Being around Jessica when she was like this always made him feel lucky that he had Cameron. John sighed and turned back heading to the stove intending on getting Jessica's breakfast back into an edible state. He got the stove fired up and tossed her food back into a pan and soon had it nice and hot when he saw her come over and sit down at the table as he was getting it put onto a plate. She had dressed herself in jeans and a t-shirt, no doubt planning on possibly getting a bit messy helping him with Cameron during the day.
Jessica looked at the food and inhaled the smell and found it very pleasurable. John was a really decent cook and she was glad that he cooked so often for them. If what he hold her about her mother was correct, Cameron's agreement in the matter made her believe it all the more, then Sarah would be the last person that should be allowed to cook once she arrived. She figured that John would be too busy to really do it much once things started to happen so she decided to try her best at it and see if she could improve her cooking skills.
She took a few bites and liked it even though she could tell that the eggs weren't real eggs.
"This is pretty good, thanks John."
"Glad you like it."
She continued to eat and looked over at Cameron and noticed the serene expression that her face held. John and Cameron were a real strange couple if you knew the truth but they fit together so well you would have never guessed that they should have actually been mortal enemies. It was almost like a doomsday version of Romeo and Juliet, only that play didn't include the deaths of three billion people.
Jessica thought that Cameron looked really nice today and as she continued to eat she felt that something was just slightly off with her appearance. It took her a few minutes but it finally clicked what it was.
"Holy cow! You're all healed up."
Cameron turned to look at Jessica with a playful expression running across her face.
"Of course I am. You slept through all of yesterday and John and I removed all of the bandages last night. We even talked to you a little bit about it, don't you remember?"
Jessica paused and struggled with what Cameron had just told her. Cameron's face showed no sign of deception and appeared to be completely serious. She was totally confused and tried really hard to figure out if she could have possibly slept through an entire day.
"Cam don't do that to her. She can't read you at all yet, but I have to admit that the expressions on her face are just priceless. It makes me wish I had a video camera to capture the moment."
"Wait, that was a joke?"
Cameron nodded.
"You were just teasing me?"
Cameron nodded again.
"Argh. I usually don't fall for such jokes but you had me completely convinced. John, how do you not get fooled by her?"
"You have to really know her very well."
Jessica pouted for a little bit and Cameron began to laugh at her. She had to admit that she was really surprised that Cameron would do something like that. Cameron always seemed so serious and focused on everything that for Cameron to tease her seemed almost out of the realm of possibility.
"Jessica don't worry too much about it. I only tease the ones I like."
"At least there is something positive about it then. Now I'm going to finish eating and then I would love to look at your arm."
"Sure."
Jessica finished up her food fairly quickly and thanked John for the meal. She came over to Cameron and carefully looked at her new right arm. It was beyond amazing because there wasn't a single scar or discoloration anywhere to be found. As Cameron moved it every which way she was unable to find anything wrong with it. If only a normal person could heal up like that.
"Wouldn't it be great if we could figure out how she does that and fix up other people the same way?"
John paused in his cleaning and turned to look at Jessica.
"Wait. Say that again?"
"I was just saying it would be amazing if we could figure out some of this regenerative technology works and make it work on humans."
"Shit! Why didn't I ever think of something like that. Damn! We could also see about adapting parts of destroyed or deactivated Terminators to aid soldiers who were badly injured. Can you imagine the advantage we could give a solider by replacing a severed limb with an artificial one as strong as any Terminators. Jessica as soon as we get stuff moving at a good pace with our Technology I want the both of you to focus on these ideas."
John's outburst really surprised Jessica as well as the pat on her back he gave when he came over.
"Good thinking. Really good thinking. Cam do you think it might be possible?"
"I believe so but the soldiers will have a hard time accepting it because of the intense hatred they will develop against the machines."
Damn, thought John, that is a problem. However, we just need to give them a role model of a solider who is admired and praised and possess implants and then I could turn the tide.
"I've got it. Cam we will tell people that you are solider who had advanced cybernetic parts implanted in a prototype program but it never got very far before the bombs fell. That way we can head off the machine hatred and give them a role model of someone to aspire to."
Cameron was amazed at the passion he held in his voice and thought the idea to be somewhat risky but it had a large number of advantages. He was really starting to think like Commander Connor and she wondered just how far he was going to adjust the timeline with her with him from the start this time. She found herself looking forward to the future for the first time in a long time.
"It could work but we will have to be careful with Derek, Sarah, Jessica, and Charlie Dixon. We don't want this secret to get out."
"Hey! I wouldn't tell a soul, I promise."
Cameron turned to look at Jessica and reached out to embrace the girl, enjoying having two arms to wrap around a person.
"Thank you. You must never ever speak a word about who I really am to anyone. Even if you find someone who you grow to love you must keep this secret even to your death."
Jessica swallowed and looked Cameron in the eyes and mustered as much conviction into her own as she could.
"I swear I will keep your secret."
"Great! I will take care of Derek and my mom. Derek will really dislike the idea but I think he will come around. His turn around really surprised me but I think he wants to have a family to be a part of and he knows that Cam will have to be a part of it so he will protect it. My mom is the one I'm really worried about, though."
"I would have to agree. She is very unstable currently."
"Yea. Well, I don't want to deal with that right now. Lets get started on today's work because it is already about 8:45am and I want to get as much done as possible."
They had gotten everything cleaned off the table and John had gotten everything for the repairs all laid out. The left leg was going to be their big project for today. If they could get the tear down all finished and get it assembled into two separate sections then it would be all ready for installation later. Once that was done he wanted to get Cameron's lower right leg attached and replace the armor plates in her chest. He knew Jessica would quickly bug out for that job and he could understand why.
"Alright Cam. What do you want us to do first?"
"John I want you and Jessica to start to assemble the frame of the upper left leg using the new parts. I'm going to get the left leg taken apart. Now that I have both hands in full working order I can get this done far quicker, especially with my strength."
Cameron wasn't kidding about getting it done quickly. Places where he would have had to spend an hour cutting it apart were done in a few minutes by her. She would just slowly bent the offending metal out of the way. The sounds it made were rather eerie and he kept on seeing Jessica look over at her with wide eyes. Jessica had only seen hints at how strong a Terminator could be and John was sure that if a kid saw her they would conclude she had to be super woman.
"Jessica!"
She turned back to face him trying to ignore what Cameron was doing. Still it really freaked her out but Cameron was still her good friend but it was hard to watch and it made her jump every time she heard the metal give under the force Cameron was applying to it.
"Sorry John."
"It's ok. Just hold this while I get these two 'bones' attached to the hip joint."
"Ok."
Jessica held them in place as he worked on attaching the parts. All that time taking them apart was at least starting to pay off and he was able to get them locked into the correct place. Once that was finished he ran the wiring harness and life support lines and connected up the servos needed by the leg. The placing of the netting and some of the other small parts he was going to leave to Cameron.
"Cam we have what we can do finished up."
"Thanks John. Can you start doing the same thing on the lower leg? Here is the ankle and the foot."
"No problem."
Jessica held things for John as he began to form the frame of the lower left leg. While they were working on that Cameron began to get everything on the upper section all finished up and in place. She had finished with everything on the left leg just as they began to work on the lower section.
It wasn't long before Jessica and John were again at a stopping point so they watched as Cameron moved very quickly and effectively at rebuilding everything in the upper leg section. It only took her about 15 minutes to get everything just the way she wanted and John was amazed as usual. She then grabbed the lower section and they watched her again perform those same amazing feats of superhuman skill which would result in a fully assembled left leg.
"I really wish I could move like you," said Jessica.
Cameron stopped and looked at her and smiled a bit.
"Yeah you are a bit clumsy at times but don't worry even I make mistakes at times."
John snorted and had to respond to her comment.
"I don't think I have ever seem you make a mistake in motor skills."
"You have seen a few and one was even during this last week."
"Ah, you mean the tree," replied Jessica.
John frowned a bit because he didn't really count that as a real mistake but he didn't want to bother arguing over it.
Cameron stopped moving and turned to look at both of them.
"We are all finished with the mechanical assembly and I would like to start on getting these reattached to my body. John I have a favor to ask of you."
"Sure. What is it?"
"Would you be willing to give me some of your blood again?"
"Cam you don't have to ask me that. You know I don't mind doing that, but why do you need some again?"
"Now that I know how quickly the tissues can regrow I believe we can get both legs attached today and then I can rebuild my upper right leg in two days. Once that is complete I will have you rebuild my left arm and install the armor plates in my chest the same day. This will allow us to be able to finish up a little sooner and get to spent a small amount of free time together."
Cameron spoke that last part with a little bit of longing in her voice and John quickly picked up on it. The idea of being alone with Cameron all whole again brought an immense joy to heart and he would give her everything he could just to make her as she was again.
"Absolutely."
Cameron turned and looked at Jessica.
"Now you aren't allowed to run off and lock yourself up for the rest of the day."
"Why not? I might loose all of my breakfast if I have to help."
"You don't need to help but I want you watch over John because I will need about 2 to 2.5 pints of blood and that could really put a strain on his body and I want you to be able to rush him to a hospital if anything seems troublesome in even the slightest bit. Can you do that?"
"Yes. I won't let anything happen to him, I promise."
"Thank you."
Cameron turned and looked directly at John.
"Thanks for not giving up on me."
He began to reply but she placed her fingers on his lips.
"I know what you want to say and I love you very much as well but what you did freed me and allowed me to become far more than what I was meant to be. John my heart will always fully belong to you and I want you to know that and to kept it with you at all times. Can you do that?"
He nodded and she put her hand back down.
"Now help me get out of these clothes and Jessica could you please clear the table and then bring over the medical supplies."
John helped Cameron get undressed while Jessica got everything she could out of the way. Once Cameron was naked John helped her up onto the table and Jessica came over with the various medical supplies.
"Um, would you two mind if I wait in the tent until it is time for the blood transfusion?"
"That is just fine and don't worry because I will be all bandaged up when we call you out for that."
"Thanks Cameron."
Jessica left and grabbed a book from the Jeep on her way over to the tent.
"Are you ready?", asked John.
"Yes. Lets first start with the lower right leg. Cut open the joint area and then make several long incisions in various places down the length of the leg. Try to space them about 4 inches apart and we will then get the necessary tissues from this area."
John nodded to her his understanding and then began. He opened up the joint at the knee and removed all the excess tissue growth and then pinned the tissues out of the way of the joint. He then began making the other incisions on her leg exposing the muscle tissues that would be needed.
"All ready."
"Now I want you to remove thin sections of muscle tissue that run the length of the lower part of the leg and then attach them like you did before. If you have trouble let me know and I can assist with this part."
"I know."
He began removing the sections of muscle tissue and then carefully stitched them onto the various areas of the leg using the dissolvable stitches. Once he had everything the way he wanted he had Cameron look it over. She nodded to him indicating that it was in good shape and then explained the next step.
"Now cut some more tissue out and run it across the arch and top of the foot and connect it to the connection areas present."
He began the work and soon had the needed tissue. However, since the sections were a bit smaller and harder to get too it was harder for him to attached the muscle tissues. After about 40 minutes he had finished up attaching all the muscle tissues.
"Time for the skin, right Cam?"
"Yes. Cut off the skin you opened up with the incisions on my leg but don't go over two inches across. Once you have several strips wrap up the leg just like you did with the arm but use two inch wide gaps."
"Okay, but why two inches this time?"
"Since the tissue was able to regrow so fast I think it can handle the bigger gaps without trouble. That is why we can do such a large amount of work today."
"Alright."
He cut off the strips of skin and then wrapped them around her leg and foot. Once he had all the strips secured he cut off another section and then folded it across and stitched them down the sides to make her toes and attached them just like he did with her fingers. He had her look at the completed leg and she went over it very carefully. After a few minutes she smiled at him and he began to carefully bandage the leg to allow for her to start her life support systems inside of it.
"Can I go ahead and attach it now?"
"Yes."
He carefully lined up the knee joint with the lower part of the leg and slid it home. Once he was sure it was all the way in he signaled to her to engage the locks. A few clicks and whirling noises soon followed and when he heard the slight hum emerge he was sure things were operating right.
"How does it seem?"
"Like I will be able to walk again soon. Go ahead and stitch everything up and bandage up the leg because we can't really take any more tissue from there."
"Will do."
While Cameron could do most of this work herself she like watching John do it because he put so much care into each and every stitch he did. Watching him do something like this for her allowed her to see a part of just how deep his love for her was and it made her feel safe and needed at the same time. When he looked at her she was still wearing a slightly silly grin.
"What's so funny."
"You. That's all."
"I'm starting to think you have been learning things you shouldn't have from Jessica."
She just reached out and ruffed his hair a bit enjoying the expression his face made at the mild annoyance. He quickly put it back the way he liked it, not that was much to alter since he had cut it so short right after taking off with her.
"Can you try starting up the life support systems?"
"Sure."
John began looking over everything and then spotted a bit of a leak.
"Hold on Cam we got a bit of a leak on your ankle. What do you think we should do?"
She looked at it and then looked at the supplies in the medical kit and found a solution.
"John unwrap the ankle and use this 'New Skin' adhesive to seal the affect area."
John took the 'New Skin' bottle out and then carefully unwrapped her ankle. Once he got everything cleaned up he had her slowly engage the life support systems until he could see where it was come from. After he spotted the leak he had her turn off the life support systems and then carefully sealed the affect area with the adhesive. Once he was sure it was dry he used some extra wrapping around the area and then wrapped up the ankle again.
"Alright, lets try this again."
He looked everywhere and didn't see anything else that was a real leak and gave her a thumbs up.
"Great. My systems show that minimal pressure is holding well so you did a real good job. Now we have to do the large one next."
"This going to get really messy isn't it?"
"Yes. I need you to open up my back and one of my arms and we will then need to take skin from openings on my back, arm, butt, and abdomen."
"Whoa, that is large amount of stuff?"
"I know but I want to put more tissue on this leg as a whole because it has a lot to fill in and I need to put more than just minimal life support into it to prevent the tissue on the extremities from not getting enough blood and nutrients and thus beginning to die and rot."
John nodded his understanding and got to work. He moved as slowly and methodically as he could so as to not cause Cameron any more damage than was absolutely necessary. The only thing really bugging him about what he was currently doing is that he kept having thoughts about the Hostel movies running through his head. He really wished he had never bothered to watch those stupid movies as a sort of sick curiosity and hoped that the director would 'enjoy' what was going to happy soon on Judgment Day. As sad as it was, there were some people John believed didn't really deserve to be saved.
"I think I have everything all ready Cam. Anything you want to do differently on this leg then?"
"Just try to put as much extra muscle tissue on it as you can but make sure to leave enough behind."
"Will do."
He set about his work using what he could from her back first. Once he had everything that he could use from her back he removed a few sections of skin and then carefully stitched up her back. Once he was happy with his work he carefully laid a blanket down and then eased her down onto it and attached the muscles to the left leg. He then began removing tissues from her arm and abdomen and applied them to the leg. After about two hours of work he was happy with how everything was attached on the leg and foot and had Cameron confirm that the work was usable.
"I am going to start to apply the skin now. How should I do the strips?"
"One the upper section make the strips about one inch wide and leave a half inch gap. One the bottom half use the same strip width but leave a gap of only an inch."
"Ok."
He carefully applied the strips of skin from her back and wound them around the leg and then began using strips of skin from her abdomen but only used areas across her stomach because he refused to harm her prefect breasts. It was silly he knew but he just couldn't bring himself to do it and she had raised an eyebrow at him avoiding the area but she was just going to have to deal with it.
After getting everything he could from her front and arm he carefully stitched up and bandaged the wounds and then very carefully eased her onto her stomach with several towel and blankets placed on the table to cushion the area and then proceeded to get the last bits of skin needed from her butt. He formed and attached the toes and the last bits of skin. Once he was happy with everything he wrapped up everything and then opened up the area on her hip where the leg needed to be attached.
He had to reposition it a few times but was able to get the hip joint to line up and then slide home.
"We're ready. Power it up."
He heard several clicks and clatters run down the leg and then a few whirls finally followed by the usual humming sound. She turned her head to look at him with a large smile on her face.
"Is everything good?"
"Yes, well at least mechanically. I now need you to get Jessica and we can do the blood transfusion and then finish checking for leaks."
John walked over to the tent and found Jessica with her noise buried inside a book and a pair of headphones on. He reached out and tapped her foot and she let out a small scream and then gave him a rather annoyed look as she took off the headphones.
"How is everything?"
"Good, but we need you so that I can start the blood transfusion."
"Alright."
Jessica got up and came out and looked at Cameron. She looked like she had been in a very horrible accident with the number of bandages plastered all over her body and with the amount of wrapping John had put onto her legs it looked like she had two broken legs to go along with it.
"Cameron are you alright?"
"Yes I am. I know it looks bad but in about two days everything will be healed if my adjusted calculations are correct."
"Wow. Even though I have seen it I still have trouble accepting that."
"Tell me about it," commented John as he came over with a small wagon.
"Jessica I want you to help me get Cameron into this and then into the tent. After I give her my blood I'm going to be far too weak to move her."
"Sure."
They carefully worked on moving Cameron first to the Wagon and then to the tent and Jessica couldn't believe just how heavy she was. Jessica wondered how John had been able to carry her around so much all this time.
Once they had her safely in the tent John put down several towels underneath her left leg so that if any leaks were present blood wouldn't get everywhere. He then began to hook up the blood transfusion equipment and noticed Jessica's rather pale face.
"Hey now I'm the one who should be fainting not you."
"I know but I really hate watching this kind of stuff."
Cameron looked at her and while Jessica was having a hard time with it she didn't show signs of fainting at present.
"John I believe that Jessica will be able to get through this."
John turned to carefully look at Cameron and then resumed his work. Once he had everything ready he spoke again.
"Everything is all set Cam. Just tell me when to release the line."
"You can begin now as I have lowered my blood pressure enough."
Jessica watched as John's blood began to flow into Cameron and thought it rather biblical in a sense. For some reason it reminded her of the story of Adam and Eve, but she filed it away as something to talk about later. As the minutes ticked by she started to become really worried because John was getting very pale and was having trouble keeping his eyes open.
"John I have enough please stop."
John didn't respond and Jessica ran over to him and carefully undid the line putting a bandage over the wound. She then checked his vitals carefully and then turned to Cameron and could see the immense worry in her face.
"He's ok. He just fainted but will be fine and all his vitals look good."
Jessica watched the relief flood Cameron's face and she then carefully removed the other end of the transfusion needle and tubing from Cameron's neck and placed a bandage over the wound. She took the equipment outside and carefully washed it out and put it away.
As she came back into the tent Cameron spoke up.
"Jessica you are stronger than you realize. Once it came time to act you did it without hesitation even thought it was dealing with blood."
Cameron's words really surprised her and she felt herself beginning to smile.
"I think you might be right. Well anyways, are things in your leg ok?"
"Yes. The pressure is holding correctly so now all we have to do is rest. I will need some food and water soon but other than that everything is fine."
"Great. Well I'm going to go back to reading so just get my attention when you want something."
"Thank you."
"Thank you both for taking care of me."
Jessica curled back up with her book and Cameron watched John sleep happy that soon their long Journey would be over.
Notes: I do hope you guys like this one. Now I do have some good news and that is that I will get to have most of the weekend to myself and I feel like writting so I hope to try and get two more chapters out before I get slammed with work next work with the new clients.
One last thing for you guys. I have been wondering if Sarah should die or live past Judgment Day. Let me know which way you think it should be.