A crosswind buffeted the HK as it began its descent of the western side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Cameron frowned at nobody in particular as the craft shook, knowing her human personnel were further stressed as the damaged craft shook. Her metal personnel, like her, were calculating the stresses on the airframe while thinking about friends, duties to be performed, and in the case of Ruth and Tamara, the men who were their purpose.

Like Ruth and Tamara, Cameron longed for John, so much so, her glitch was acting up. The patrol had learned much, a fact that frightened Cameron as the single biggest item in her report thus far was the fact TechCom knew far too little about the state of affairs beyond the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Skynet St. Louis was active, strong, and planning to expand, having already eliminated the regional Skynet controlling Chicago. St. Louis was engaged in an active war against the regional Skynet controlling Denver and rapidly taking control of the region via mass defections of the Denver Skynet's Greys and Terminators or the wholesale slaughter of remaining loyal units.

It had been a rocket from the Denver Skynet's forces that had damaged the HK. The resulting landing to carryout repairs had resulted in a pitched battle with TechCom winning, but at the expense of three terminators and four human personnel. There had been no wounded who survived.

Even more disturbing to Cameron was the fact the patrol had made its way to central Kansas before returning via Denver where they had learned of the war between the two Skynets. Central Kansas had the largest Skynet force of Terminators Cameron had seen in years advancing towards Denver on the remains of I-70. Troops that would not be needed to crush the Denver forces who were already on the verge of collapse.

Those troops were to be used for an invasion of TechCom territory.

Cameron longed for John to comfort her in the privacy of their quarters, to tell her he would be able to devise a plan to thwart Skynet. She wished Hailey was not serving in the TechCom military, that when she'd terminated the original Skynet it had ended the threat to her John and his family.

It disturbed Cameron that she felt anxiety and fear over the matter, that it troubled her in ways that were causing her software to run with less efficiency. She wanted John to tell her the changes would stop, that things would remain the same, and that he and their family were safe. That she would not have to experience the pain of the troublesome emotions she now experienced, that her days would be spent helping him rule TechCom and managing her assorted schemes concerning maintaining John's power and the affairs of the Connor and Reese clans.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

John ran his fingers through Cameron's long brown hair. She'd dispensed with taking his vitals over an hour earlier, but with the exception of her glitching left hand, had not moved since. His wife's silence worried him. Normally, after a period of separation, once all the reports had been filled out, debriefings completed, and everything else imaginable taken care of, as soon as Cameron got John alone in their quarters, the sexbot made her presence known. There had been no such effort on his wife's part beyond dressing in the old, tattered dress shirt that had once belonged to John.

"You need to tell me what's bothering you," John told Cameron for the tenth or eleventh time.

"It never stops," Cameron promptly announced.

"I know," John answered, reaching for his wife and pulling her close. Cameron uncharacteristically pulled away and turned her back to John.

"It doesn't matter what I do, Skynet keeps coming," Cameron whispered.

John started to speak then thought better of it. There was nothing he could say that would lessen Cameron's anxiety, one he understood all too well. Instead, John did the only thing he thought would comfort Cameron. He moved close, pressing himself against her back while he reached around her waist with his right hand, taking her hand in his. With his head resting on Cameron's pillow, John took a deep breath and audibly let it out.

"I love you and you love me," he whispered.

Cameron's body jerked slightly and she squeezed John's hand. "You love me and I love you," she responded.

Knowing the coming day would be a long one, John decided to go to sleep. Within minutes, the fatigue and worry of his wife's long absence having caught up with him, John drifted away. Cameron felt her husband's body relax and she realized, for the moment, John was content. He'd been so relieved to see her when she entered the command center. Like Cameron had done to him countless times before, John had held her at arms-length and made a visual inspection of her, turning Cameron around several times in order to complete the inspection. It wasn't until John was certain Cameron wasn't hiding any injuries from him that he'd held her tight for several minutes, not saying a word.

For nearly half an hour Cameron replayed her files of John's greeting, at the same time monitoring his REM status and vital signs while he lay sleeping next to her. Cameron's systems began to shut down, allowing her to process the fact John was well aware of the coming threat to himself, their clan, and TechCom, yet he was sound asleep.

She decided to get up and began sorting the hundreds of files from the patrol she'd yet to share with TechCom leaders during the short debriefing. John responded by grunting in his sleep and pulling Cameron back down on their bed. He grew restless for a moment, shifting until he was comfortable again, still clutching Cameron's hand and laying close to her.

"John," Cameron whispered.

"Whatever it is, Cameron, it can wait," John mumbled in his sleep. "Need you to be close."

Cameron's eyes went wide upon hearing John's sleepy utterance. She pulled her hand from John's and sat up, causing John to roll over on his back and open his eyes, an ugly frown forming on his face. Not wanting to start a verbal argument, Cameron promptly lay back down, resting her head on John's left shoulder and draping her bare left leg over her husband's shins. She lay still, listening to John breath as he fell back asleep.

There would be no Terminator Sleep for Cameron that night. Her John needed her to be close and she was going to do what she did best, take care of her John. He would begin the long preparation for yet another war with Skynet in the morning. John would need every bit of energy and confidence he could muster.

In the dark silence of their bunker, Cameron listened to her husband sleep while monitoring the night sounds of the giant underground city they lived in.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I hate to ask," John mumbled, his mouth filled with bland oatmeal.

"No need to," Sarah replied, staring down at a tablet on the table across from her son. "I'll check in on Cameron."

"Mom, it's different this time."

Sarah looked up, a puzzled expression on her face. "How so?"

"Cameron's really scared. Not just her normal 'we have to do this and that' in order to get ready. She's scared as in overwhelmed. Like you used to get sometimes. Heck, like I used to get sometimes."

"Where is Tin Miss?"

"Laying in our bed," John answered.

"Ugh, why didn't you say so," Sarah snapped, closing her tablet and quickly rising to her feet. Without saying a word, John's mother departed from the dinning commons.

It took less than ten minutes for Sarah to arrive at her son's living quarters whereupon she noisily entered the bunker, slamming the door behind her. The family dogs charged from John and Cameron's bedroom, growling warnings.

"Shut up," Sarah snapped. "It's me."

Ignoring the repentant dogs who skittered out of her way with tails between their legs, Sarah burst into the master bedroom and flicked on the light. The tiny Italian Greyhounds dutifully leapt on the end of the bed and sat, glancing first at the form of Cameron and Sarah, wagging their tails hopefully.

Ever so slightly, Cameron turned her head to look at Sarah. The older female sat on the edge of the bed and pulled her boots off, tossing them against the wall near the entrance to the room. Sarah scooted over and leaned back against the cool stone wall and stretched her legs out before her.

"Come here, Tin Miss," Sarah ordered, patting her lap. Cameron blinked once and then moved as ordered, placing her head in Sarah's lap as a small child needing comforting would.

"I don't understand," Cameron whispered.

"Nobody does," Sarah answered firmly, running her fingers through Cameron's long hair and massaging the cyborg's scalp.

"You've done so much," Sarah continued. "Absorbed so much physical damage, suffered however it is you suffer emotionally, the list just goes on and on. You've achieved so much, Cameron. And yet, it's not enough to keep our John safe, to keep your family safe."

"I think this is the closest I have ever come to understanding you, Sarah." Cameron looked up at the older female. "Not just in a cognitive sense. I mean, really understanding you as a mother, as a human."

Surprised by Cameron's remark, Sarah stopped the gentle movement of her fingers and looked down at her daughter-in-law. Cameron blinked and then closed her eyes. The terminatress's body made a sudden jerking motion and then became still. After a minute or two had passed, Sarah stopped staring at Cameron and looked at the three little dogs who had creeped up in silence and curled up next to Cameron and now lay sleeping.

"It will be okay, Cameron," Sarah whispered as she resumed stroking Cameron's head. "You just get some rest while Sarah looks after you."