Disclaimer: You know. I don't own anything.

With more caution than was normal for him, Mal slowly opened the door to River's living quarters. As he expected, he found Cameron lying on her back on her bunk with River sprawled all over both Cameron and the bunk. Mal noted Simon was right in his observation that River slept better as evidenced by the fact she was not curled tight into a tiny ball with blankets pulled up to her chin.

Cameron lifted her head slightly, her one good eye and one red optic sensor focusing on Mal, slightly unnerving him. Mal remained motionless as Cameron carefully extricated herself from River. Gently, Cameron shifted River's sleeping form over before covering her with a blanket. Without making a sound, the cyborg walked past Mal and made her way towards the common area. Not wishing to wake River, Mal gently closed the door to their quarters and followed Cameron.

The petite terminator led the Captain to the bridge, taking a seat in River's preferred co-pilot's chair. Mal shut the bridge door and sat down in the pilot's seat and checked the autopilot.

"How are you feeling?"

"I am fine," Cameron monotoned in response.

"Would like to apologize…"

"Don't. I did nothing out of the ordinary. I must protect my John. That includes making certain Sarah and Derek, his family, are safe as well. Sarah is committed to ensuring John's plan for us to become part of the crew succeeds."

Taken aback, Mal turned and watched Cameron as she stared out into the black.

"Will your face, uh, how do I say this…"

"My face will heal in time. The optic covering will regenerate and in time my left eye will appear to be normal again."

"Does it bother you when you get injured like this?"

"Terminators were not meant to be vain about our appearance," Cameron answered in her even tone. "That was certainly true in my case until Riley showed up. I had to use my looks in my struggle to win my John back. Now I am afraid I do worry about my looks to a small degree."

"Riley. The blonde girl?"

"Blonde bitch whore to be exact," Cameron snapped, traces of venom in her voice.

Cameron turned her head and looked directly at Mal. "I hate her. She is dead now, but she hurt John, tried to manipulate him and destroy our relationship. The resistance fighter who brought her back in time for the mission is dead as well."

Feeling slightly creepified by Cameron's response, Mal's morbid curiosity got the best of him, compelling him to ask the obvious question. "Did you terminate them?"

"No. Jesse, the resistance fighter, murdered Riley. Derek terminated Jesse. She was his girlfriend. John ordered Derek to let Jesse go, but Derek disobeyed John. The betrayal was too personal for him and a serious threat to John's safety. It had to be carried out."

"Are you always this ruthless? This cold blooded?"

Mal watched as Cameron tilted her head, somehow the process of doing so seemed to intensify her gaze.

"No. John wants me to develop better social skills. He has given specific protocols governing my decision making process to conduct terminations. I have developed free will though, Captain. I can override any order given to me, meaning I can be disobedient like a human. I prefer not to disobey John. I find the experience to be unsettling."

"You frighten me Cameron," Mal informed the cyborg, surprising himself.

Cameron seemed to wilt ever so slightly at his words.

"I do not mean to. John likes it here on Serenity. I have never had many friends in the past for what should be obvious reasons. I truly like River. She amuses me and we have a great deal in common that others cannot understand. Kaylee is nice to me all the time and Simon means well with his offers to help with my care. The doctor finds my physiology interesting."

"Does it bother you that your mere presence scares people?"

"If you had never seen my facial wound or seen what I am capable of, you would not be intimidated by me. I would be a slender, attractive young woman who you probably would feel an instinctive need to protect, much like you do with River."

"Cameron, does it bother you that you scare people?"

"Most of the time no. There are many advantages to intimidating others. When it makes John's life more difficult, I do find I don't like how people might perceive me."

"No, Cameron. Does it bother you, just you, that you frighten people?"

This time, Cameron sat in silence, considering the question.

"On occasion. In the first future, I had no friends except Future John. I had no room or space of my own. I was told where to stand and made to do so until I was needed or Future John called for me. After I was sent back in time to protect my John, he and I became close. Then, after I was damaged, I realized I loved him. Being alone, separated from John was horrible. I don't like being alone. I liked it when I had my own room in the house we lived in for nearly a year. I had a few friends then. But that was long ago."

"Riley caused you a bit of woe? Is that why you fixate on her still?"

Cameron nodded yes. "Even though Sarah has issues with me, she has been kinder, less abusive since we jumped past Judgment Day. Derek, well, if we just have a permanent truce, that's good enough. But I will never let another female come between my John and me."

"It matters to you what they think? Sarah and Derek."

"It matters to John, so it matters to me. I have no other maternal figure to learn from. So Sarah is important to me as well as to John. Which is why I must protect her."

Surprised at Cameron's candor, Mal decided it was safe to ask a few more questions. "Do I have anything as Captain to worry about if I let you and yours join my crew?"

"Yes. If you try to harm John I will terminate you. It is not open for negotiation, even for crew membership." Cameron glared at Mal, her words chilling him to the bone. "If anyone tries to harm John."

She looked away into the black again, as if it has pained her to tell the Captain the truth. "I can't help it Captain. Protecting John is my reason for existence now. I do not wish to live without John."

Silence filled the bridge, neither speaking. Cameron broke the silence and continued to expand on her answer to Mal's question. "You have reason to fear my presence on Serenity if the Alliance learns of my existence. But other than anyone threatening to harm John, you and your crew have no direct personal reason to fear me."

"Can I count on you to protect my crew the same way you do John?"

"No. John will always be my priority, followed by Sarah, then River. Possibly Derek. After that, yes, I will do everything within my ability to protect you, the crew and Serenity."

"Well, you're honest," Mal told Cameron. "Even if you're a bit hard to take."

"John says I have to work harder at "pouring sugar" on my answers sometimes."

Mal looked out into the black and thought for a bit.

"No. I think I'd rather you answer me straight. Not too often a man knows exactly where he stands with someone. Well, maybe some sugar would be nice when you say bad things about Serenity."

To Mal's surprise, Cameron responded with, for her, a broad smile lasting several seconds.

"I see why John respects you." She stood up and opened the bridge door, pausing to look at Mal. "I must check on Sarah and then John. It will be time for the morning watch to wake up soon and John likes it when I'm close to him when he wakes. While he showers, I will return to my current quarters and see to it River awakens without any issues."

"Sarah says you do that."

Cameron tilted her head again, questioning Mal in silence.

"Take care of John. She left out the part about your family and friends."

"Oh," Cameron answered, straightening her head back. "Thank you for explaining."

Mal turned back to face the black after Cameron left, wondering how to deal with the aftermath of the ambush. He failed to notice the slender form that slipped past and settled into the co-pilot's seat.

"I told you."

Startled, Mal spun to see who had spoken.

"Sarah, you have got to quit that sneakin' about on my boat. It's just creepifyin'!"

Sarah smiled and shook her head. "I've explained why I do that. I'm fairly certain I can't change."

"Won't is more like it," Mal mumbled.

"That to," Sarah said, smiling as she spoke.

"Cameron's not as bad as I thought, she just scares me."

"She takes some getting used to, a lot actually, if I'm honest. But I don't worry about John anymore. Well, not like I used to before we jumped. Now, I just try to convince myself it's okay when the time comes for John to make Tin Miss a real Connor."

"The girl does have a strange way of demonstrating how she feels about your son."

"Captain, that girl would walk through fire, flood, and battlefields to be with my son. That cyborg loves him. She just shows it in ways that are troubling to other people at times. Me? I've learned to rest better knowing my son's pretty killing machine is close by keeping an eye on things."

Mal shook his head in response to Sarah's comment only to cause her to laugh, making his cheeks feel flushed and warm.

"You don't seem to mind your lil' Albatross? Why should I mind my little Terminator? They both take some getting used to."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Inara entered the common room to find Cameron ordering John to eat the bowl of oatmeal she had made; reminding him he needed the fiber in his diet. She smiled while watching the two. Despite Cameron being a cyborg, or perhaps in part because she was, Inara liked watching the interaction between the pair. It was so obvious to anyone who spent any time watching them they adored each other, each in their unique way.

At the moment, John was bristling over the Cameron's insistent mothering behavior. Later, when the pair moved to the cargo bay to spend time alone, Cameron would become annoyed with John if he became overly amorous. A fact Inara found quaint, that the little cyborg had established limits for her John.

Hearing Mal leaving the bridge area, Inara smiled, confident she looked enticing as she waited to great the Captain before breakfast.

"So Cameron can actually replay the entire ambush?" Inara heard Mal ask. "We can watch what happened?" Curious as to whom Mal was addressing, Inara watched intently the entrance from the bridge.

"You'd be surprised what we have learned going back through Cameron's files," Sarah answered, a broad smile on her face. "It's just one more reason she's a valuable member of our family."

"Ahem," Inara said, clearing her throat, bringing Mal to a sudden halt.

"Ah, good mornin' 'Nara," the Captain responded hesitantly. Sarah smiled at the frowning companion and sashayed over to the cooking area, brushing close as she passed Inara. Mal sat down, hoping to avoid the inevitable fight with Inara.

"Well, I see you managed to get John up," he said conversationally.

Cameron looked up and frowned at the Captain. "He is not being particularly cooperative about ingesting his required fiber intake for the day."

"Five days in a row, oatmeal, Cameron," John protested. "It's like eating mom's pancakes every day."

"I don't burn the oatmeal," Cameron snapped back, glaring at John.

"Mornin' twin!"

River danced into the common's area, stopping to first hug Cameron and then press her cheek briefly against John's. "Girl knows the rules," River sang to Cameron as she skipped to Mal and launched herself into his lap.

"Course set? Has Captain Daddy decided where Serenity will travel to next?"

"We're in a holding pattern River. Till we decided what to do about the double cross."

The sound of protein cooking in a skillet filled the common room, causing Cameron to come to her feet quickly and hurry into the cooking area.

"You'll start a fire, Sarah. Let me do this."

Sarah promptly handed over the cooking utensils and strolled over to the dinner table and sat down next to the Captain, ignoring Inara in the process.

"Once everyone is up, I'll have Cameron and John download the files and have everyone go over them. River can probably add some information as well. Then you can make your decision. Captain." Sarah smiled at Mel and stood back up. "I'll take a quick shower if you don't mind."

Sarah strolled towards the living quarters area. Mal could have sworn she swayed her hips a little extra, just to get him in trouble with Inara. River's soft giggle confirmed it.

"Mornin' Sarah, I mean Ms. Connor," Jayne said, stepping aside to let Sarah move by him. He watched Sarah sway down the passageway before vanishing into the bunk she had been assigned before hurrying to his seat the table.

"Smell's good little metal," the mercenary announced. "John, nothin' personal, but your ma, man…"

"Jayne, I wouldn't say another word," Mal warned. "Cameron might go all crazy like if you offend John now."

"Oh, yeah. Fergot. Pologies there John, Cameron," Jayne said, a leering grin on his face.

"Oh! You are impossible Malcolm Reynolds!"

With that declaration, Inara ran from the common area, retreating to the safety of her shuttle.

"What did I do?" a baffled Mal asked as River laughed.