Chapter 967

You Can Do This

John opened his eyes, the room was still dark. He heard the shower running, Jesse must be cleaning up. He couldn't believe what they'd just done. It started out in one spot and soon moved to another. At that point 'everything' happened. It was wild and it was good. He was ready for some more.

He went to get up and tripped over a pile of clothing.

John felt disorientated.

He figured he better say something to Jesse before he left. It would seem rude to just leave after what they'd just done. In for a penny, in for a pound, he decided to join her. He wanted to come back for more.

John went into the bathroom. It was dark. He wondered why Jesse showered in the dark.

He turned on the light.

He saw his things in the bathroom.

Wait a minute.

This was HIS room.

Allison went to check on Summer and found Bob there with her mother.

She was about to say something but decided not to say it in front of her younger sister. She didn't want to influence her decision either. The good news was that her mother was still there. She was very relieved her mother wasn't out on some combat operation.

That was a good thing.

Wait!

VANNA!

Allison took off at a run before she even said 'Hello'. She needed to stop Vanna. She didn't want her to go after the Metal girls at this point. Now if something bad happened to Vanna, she would feel like it was her fault.

She ran out the door and right into Vanna.

They both looked at each other and laughed.

This was one problem that hadn't gotten away from them, yet.

They went back in and Claire told them the Metal girls said that everything was under control and not to worry about it. The Metal girls told Bob to take her away. They really meant for Bob to make sure she stayed there.

Vanna stayed with Bob and Summer while Allison led Claire away.

Allison wanted to discuss the underlying issue. She was also glad her mother didn't go out on some combat operation.

Claire had been very worried about Gail earlier. She was relieved to see the five Metal girls went out to assist her. She thought she was going to go as well but they thought otherwise. They told Bob to stick with her and she quickly realized it was to make sure that she didn't go anywhere on her own. She really didn't know where she would go on her own because she didn't know where Gail was at.

She was a little surprised when Allison ran into the room and even more surprised when she ran back out of the room before she said anything. Seconds later she reappeared with Vanna in tow. They were both laughing.

Claire wondered what was so secret.

"Can you tell me what all the drama is about?" Claire asked. "I didn't go out with them."

Allison decided to get straight to the point.

"Mom, Samantha spoke with me." Allison said. "That's a big step for a lot of people."

Claire looked at Allison for a short time before she spoke. She wanted to explain herself. Maybe she would let the conversation play itself out some first. She thought her request was very practical on several levels. She didn't see why it would cause a problem.

"I asked her to do it for me. I asked her to do it for my girls." Claire said.

Allison understood her mother's concerns and fears. They were her own concerns and fears too. She wasn't sure that her mother really wanted a Terminator version of herself. She wanted to make sure. To attempt to change that decision later on could be a problem for someone. It most likely would be a problem for Samantha.

"Is that what you really want?" Allison asked. "That's a big step that will be hard to undo without 'killing' yourself."

Claire understood Allison referred to deactivating Samantha later on after she was Resequenced and contained her programming from the 'Neural Interface'. That would be like 'killing' herself. They were all aware that Cameron previously deactivated several different versions of herself, of her program.

Previously it was traumatic enough for her to learn Allison was her daughter back from the future. As time went on she learned more about Allison's back-story. She was further traumatized by some of the things that happened to her daughter, to Allison. It was quite a shock to learn that she'd been assaulted more than a few times. The fact that it started at an early age only made it worse. She felt that it was her fault because she wasn't there to protect her daughter. She would have done whatever she needed to do to prevent those things from happening to Allison. It created a sense of guilt whenever she thought about it. She tried not to think about it. What was done was done. Cameron explained to her there is no way to 'fix' that future and undo what happened to Allison. She told her they could create a new timeline and prevent all three girls from being assaulted in the future. Somehow that seemed like there would be a bunch more misery to millions of other people to have a new life created and have to go through everything that they went through the first time all over again.

"I let YOU down before." Claire said. "Do you know how hard it is for me to know and live with what was 'done' to you?"

Allison did know. It happened to her and she relived it everyday too. It wasn't her mother's fault. She saw what happened to her mother as worse.

"Mom, you were dead." Allison said. "It wasn't your fault."

Claire found that to be a disturbing thought in itself. Nobody likes to hear how they died. She didn't actually know how she died. She didn't think Allison knew. Allison never said if she did. It was just bad enough to know that she was dead and she wasn't there for her daughter.

"I feel like it was." Claire said. "I want Summer, Young Allison and YOU protected."

Allison was pretty sure Cameron's intent to make sure they all had a Metal lover was more for their protection than it was for their sexual pleasure and gratification. The fact that the Metal girls were all their lovers, kept them closer to them.

"I think Cameron made sure we are all protected going forward." Allison said. "We all do have our own personal Terminator if you think about it."

Claire wanted to take it one step further. She wanted her daughters to have more than a protector and a lover. She wanted them to have 'her'.

"I want Summer and Young Allison to have a 'mother'." Claire said. "I want that for them even if she's a Terminator."

Allison didn't think anyone needed to worry about her younger self. Young Allison was going to be with Savannah. That meant Cammy and Anna should both be there as well. More than likely Cameron would be too. She thought all the bases were covered with Young Allison.

"I think Summer is the only one you need to worry about and there will be Terminators to protect her." Allison said. "The rest of us all have a Metal lover or Metal protector."

They both knew that Metal protectors would turn into Metal lovers at some point.

Claire thought about it for a few seconds. She was pretty sure that every Metal girl would attempt to protect Summer. She also knew that the male Terminators would as well. She was just with Bob a few minutes ago. She knew he would protect Summer. She knew Bob was Summer's favorite too. Maybe she wasn't thinking. Maybe she was being selfish. She needed to think about the others as well. She wasn't the only one with children.

"If you think it's a bad idea, I'll ask Samantha to drop it." Claire said. "Maybe Samantha will want to look like Riley if she is taking care of Precious. I don't know. We need to think about Precious as well."

Allison didn't have a problem with Samantha and her mother to look like the same person. She knew there would be some advantages to that. If her mother was ever targeted for termination, Samantha would be able to step in at any point and become the target herself.

"I told her I don't have a problem with her looking like you but Young Allison or Summer might." Allison said. "What about dad?"

Claire frowned at the mention of Paul. He wasn't a bad person but she didn't think that she ever loved him. She only got married because her parents insisted that she do it. They didn't care for her chosen lifestyle. She was very happy with her female lovers at the time. They all felt betrayed by her when she needed to marry Paul. She really didn't want to think about any of that right now. She could only go by what Cameron informed her about.

"Cameron told me he was protected and to not worry about him." Claire said. "She said he will have Metal protection and will survive Judgment Day if it happens."

Allison wasn't exactly sure what that meant. She knew that there was speculation that his current girlfriend was actually a Terminator. If she were a Terminator she could literally look like anyone. Cameron never offered any details other than to say that he would be taken care of.

"I think if Allison and Summer agree, you should ask him too." Allison said.

Claire would ask her daughters. She didn't think Paul had any say with what she did in that regard. She was the one that was the daily part of the girls' lives. She'd been very dissatisfied with the marriage before any of the children were born. She actually looked into getting a divorce. That was when she found out she was pregnant. The pregnancy was still a surprise to her because she didn't believe that she had any sexual intercourse with Paul during the time when she should have been to get pregnant. They actually hadn't been together for months at that time.

"He's moved on." Claire said. "It was in the making before I was pregnant with you. I really don't want to talk about him."

Allison wondered again if Cameron and River were involved in any of the 'Young girls' conceptions. What if they were all really River's daughters? Young Allison sure seemed like it sometimes but Allison knew she didn't. It seemed Young Allison was gifted and perfect at everything. It appeared Summer was too and even more so. If they were all the same person, somehow she got left out of all the good traits and abilities. Now she felt even worse about herself than she did earlier. It was her that was the failure, not Allison Young but a future version of Allison Young as her.

Claire thought about Allison's earlier statement that they didn't need to worry about Young Allison. There was a lot of truth to that statement. Young Allison's future was already planned for her by Cameron. Cameron always told her it was what Future John wanted. She actually met Future John in Cameron's future. She could tell that he wanted a lot of things. One of them was her. She was tempted by the idea just to see if he could make her 'finish'. Cameron and Duplicate Cameron made sure that didn't happen. They both needed to keep him away from Savannah as well. She would just have to wait for John and see what happened. She at least wanted to try it one time. She wanted to have one more child for herself. She was afraid Cameron would take all of her daughters from her. She needed to refocus.

"Let's talk to Summer about it." Claire said. "We both know Young Allison already has her future planned for her."

Everyone knew what Young Allison's future would be. It was only a matter of time at this point.

Allison didn't think that anyone could stop the inevitable. Cameron was behind it and there would be no stopping it.

"It's the 'Natural Order'." Allison said.

Claire thought back to what she saw in Cameron's future.

"It really is." Claire said. "I saw it."

Was there anyone at this point who didn't know this? It was inevitable and it was coming. EVERYONE needed to know what the future would hold. That way they won't be shocked or surprised.

Anna told Young Allison they would go over the 'operation' when they went back to the Young bunker. They knew Savannah and Cammy needed to leave to attend to some business.

Savannah gave Young Allison a long hug before she left. She also gave her some quiet advice.

"Don't overplay your hand and watch your back." Savannah whispered to her. "The unexpected will always creep up on you. It's always there waiting to show its head."

Young Allison wasn't proud of the tactic she'd used against Savannah's team. If it was the enemy, she thought it would have been fair game. The goal was to win and come out the victor. In the future, the loser was normally dead.

"I understand." Young Allison said. "It does matter how you win sometimes."

Savannah felt that she'd held an advantage all along. In this particular case she knew her enemy. She knew how she operated and she knew how she thought. That was a luxury that didn't exist on the battlefield.

"I anticipated what you planned all along." Savannah said. "I tried to cover all the bases. That's impossible to do on an actual battlefield. You need to remember that."

"YOU did cover all the bases. I tried but fell short." Young Allison said. "I've learned that the battlefield is unpredictable. I've tried to anticipate what I would face on that battlefield."

Savannah wanted to bring up one other issue. She felt it was important to discuss.

"Did you ask for drone support from John Henry or CamNet?" Savannah asked.

Young Allison swallowed hard. She'd attempted to cover all the bases.

"I tried." Young Allison said. "I wanted to play that card as well."

Savannah made two calls herself at the beginning of the challenge.

"Were there drones 'available'?" Savannah asked.

Young Allison frowned.

"No." Young Allison said. "You beat me there too."

Savannah believed that only happened because that was the first thing she did. She understood on the battlefield it would be the biggest advantage to have and the biggest disadvantage to face. 'Death from above' was what the drones represented. They could provide valuable intel as well.

"I did this time." Savannah said. "Next time I may not be as fortunate."

Young Allison looked directly into Savannah's eyes.

"Maybe we should work together." Young Allison said.

Savannah felt she'd experienced something that Young Allison hadn't yet. It wasn't something that she wanted Young Allison to experience any time soon. It was the battlefield itself. She didn't want them to be competitors but equals.

"I would like that better. I don't want us to compete against each other." Savannah said. "We will share everything equally."

Cammy and Savannah left after a round of hugs.

Young Allison watched Cammy and Savannah depart.

Anna could see the 'far off' look on Young Allison's face. She wanted to know more about Young Allison's experience on the 'battlefield'.

"What lesson did you learn?" Anna asked.

Young Allison didn't think about the 'battlefield'. She thought about Savannah instead. She thought about modifying her earlier decision.

"I learned that I love Savannah more than ever." Young Allison said. "I want my previous decision to stand."

Young Allison actually thought about changing her directive so that only Savannah would be able to touch her first. She knew she needed to respect the 'Natural Order' as well.

Anna wanted to go over the standing order. She was sure at some point in the future Young Allison would want to change it and wouldn't be able to do so. Since she was supposed to physically prevent anyone else from touching Young Allison she wondered if Young Allison would actually deactivate her If she wanted to be with someone else. It was a sobering thought. She wouldn't put it past Young Allison to do just that. Right now all she could do was go by the directive that she was given.

"It will be so." Anna said. "Only Savannah, Cameron or John, will be able to touch you first. Only you and Savannah together can change that order."

Young Allison smiled. She couldn't wait for that day to be touched by Savannah for the first time.

"Thank you." Young Allison said. "Remind me when I forget."

Anna thought that would be often in the future, in the past.

Young Allison looked forward to the day that Savannah would 'take her'.

Gail wanted to take down the target. She'd obtained the target information from John Henry and planned to act on her own. She wanted to take some of the heat off of Cameron and by extension Savannah. That was her main concern.

John Henry figured he'd better update Gail on what was about to happen. He didn't want it to be a surprise for her.

"Gail, you will receive some additional support." John Henry said.

Gail was more than a little surprised by the communication.

"I didn't ask for it." Gail said. "I hope it's not Savannah."

That was what Gail attempted to prevent in the first place.

"CamNet is sending some Metal girls to assist you." John Henry said.

Gail was even more surprised at the source of the assistance.

"Did you say CamNet?" Gail asked.

John Henry was more than happy to turn the operation over to CamNet at any point.

"You've worked with CamNet in the past." John Henry said. "She's watching out for you."

Gail was worried that Cameron or CamNet wouldn't look favorably on her since she was with Savannah. It seemed to be just the opposite. They both seemed to rely on her more. They seemed to understand her love for Savannah and not be offended by it. The fact she risked her existence to save both Savannah and Cameron was never a consideration to her. She simply did the right thing both of those times. They needed help and she helped them.

She knew Savannah was 'spoken for' several times over but Savannah still chose to be with her. Savannah shared with her and it was very special to her. She would offer her files with Savannah to Cameron or CamNet if they asked or even hinted at it.

Gail wanted to know the nature of her assistance.

"How many of the Metal girls will it be?" Gail asked.

John Henry only knew for certain of the five Metal girls that were in the Command Center.

"It's five of them." John Henry said. "It will be Hanna, Sheila, Ally, Holly and Cam."

Gail wasn't going to turn down assistance if it was there. She quickly went over the objective in her mind. She figured where best to place the new troops for the mission's success.

"Split them into two teams and this is where I want them to be…." Gail said.

Gail laid out her plan to John Henry as she neared her target. The Metal girls would back her up. It appeared at this point that she wouldn't be as shot up as she might be otherwise. It did cause her some concern about the other Metal girls though. It was still better than Savannah being shot at.

Riley left Derek in a huff previously. She thought about some of the words that she'd said. She'd said them in anger and frustration. She didn't mean any of them. She felt bad about the ill way she spoke of Samantha and treated Derek earlier. That was wrong on her part to 'attack' the very people that tried to help her.

She stood in front of where Samantha was seated. She didn't know what to say. She wanted help and she wanted to be better at a lot of things.

"Samantha." Riley said.

In fifteen seconds Samantha opened her eyes and stood.

Samantha looked at Riley and smiled.

"Hello, Riley." Samantha said. "How may I assist you?"

Riley even felt worse about herself because Samantha just greeted her so kindly. That was after the way she'd treated Samantha earlier.

"Hi. Can you help me and show me how to be a better mother?" Riley asked.

Samantha thought that a lot of that would actually depend on Riley. She possessed a lot of information that she was willing to share with her. Riley would still need to do the 'heavy lifting' to actually help herself.

"Yes." Samantha said. "I have vast knowledge and want to share it with you. I want to work with you and assist you."

Riley could see how pleasant Samantha was to be with. It made her feel even guiltier about what happened before.

"Thank you. I'd appreciate that." Riley said. "If I was rude earlier, I want to apologize."

Samantha didn't view the earlier exchange as a problem. Her files indicated that there was a lot of abrasiveness between humans and Terminators upon first contact.

"I'll work within whatever parameters you feel comfortable with." Samantha said. "You know the rules Cameron established. I can't violate them. I'll be deactivated if I do."

Riley wanted to check how far the limits went.

"So if I asked you to be with Derek, you couldn't do that?" Riley asked.

"Negative." Samantha said.

Riley didn't think she could be the only one to ask. She wanted to check.

"What if Derek asked you to be with him?" Riley asked.

"Negative." Samantha said.

Riley wanted to be sure about one thing.

"What if I asked you to be with me?" Riley asked.

Savannah wasn't comfortable with the nature of the questions. She thought that Cameron should be present for any further discussion about the subject. She was the one who'd be terminated if any of Cameron's rules were violated.

"Negative." Samantha said. "We can discuss this further with Cameron. I don't wish to be deactivated."

Riley felt a little disappointed. At least at this point there was no guesswork as to what could or couldn't happen.

"I just wanted to check." Riley said. "I don't want anyone to be terminated because of me or anything that I did. If I overstep, please let me know immediately."

Samantha wasn't sure what Riley needed to check. Cameron was quite clear on the rules. Cameron informed her that Riley might have a mental breakdown. Since Riley was confused about the rules and rude to her earlier, she wondered if it already happened. She wanted to know how Riley wanted her to deal with the infant.

"What about Precious?" Samantha asked. "How do you want to handle things?"

Riley understood that Samantha was there to assist her. She wasn't there to replace her. She understood Cameron wanted her to improve herself and not rely on a Terminator to do everything. It made her love Cameron even more. Cameron wanted her to make herself better and provided her with the means to be able to do that.

"You can watch me and correct me afterwards when I mess up." Riley said. "I want to try it on my own first. Then you can tell me how to improve or do better."

Samantha wanted Riley to know there were many things that she could assist her with. It didn't make much sense for her to be in standby ninety percent of the time.

"I can assist you with housework, like cleaning and cooking. I can help you with your studies." Samantha said. "I can help you with your physical training and combat training."

Riley thought those all sounded like good things. She'd learned some 'cooking' skills from Sarah and wasn't very good at it. None of the girls from the future were either. Claire was good at it though, she'd offered to help her. Claire was a hot ticket. She hoped there were a few 'things' Claire could help her with….

She needed to stick with the current issue. She was actually worried she was a burden to Samantha.

"Do you actually want to do these things?" Riley asked.

It was Samantha's mission to assist the Derek Reese family. She planned to do that in any way possible. She wasn't about to fail her mission. It was the only reason she currently existed.

"I want to help you, Derek and Precious." Samantha said. "Cameron cares about all three of you and wants to make you feel comfortable and happy."

Riley heard them discuss where Samantha's programming originated from earlier.

"Are you part 'Cameron'?" Riley asked.

Samantha knew this was a touchy subject. Her original programming consisted of files from Cameron. After her interaction with Cam, Holly and Gail, Cameron wanted the files from her to be firewalled and not accessed. She decided to keep things simple.

"I have programming from Cam, Holly and Gail." Samantha said.

Riley thought Cameron was there in a more direct way. Evidently it was in an indirect way.

"Cam is 'Cameron'." Riley said.

Samantha knew there were a lot of blocked files in Cameron's clones.

"She is with a few minor changes." Samantha said.

Riley thought maybe it was time to try something out. She'd always been a failure at baking. She wasn't sure why, the instructions were right on the box. She followed Sarah's advice.

"Will you help me bake?" Riley asked.

Samantha tilted her head slightly. She was actually surprised at the request. It was something that she'd never done before herself.

"I'll try." Samantha said. "It will be my first time."

Precious started to stir.

Samantha looked over.

Riley saw this was her cue. She could either play or fold.

"Watch me and then tell me how to improve myself." Riley said.

Samantha smiled to give Riley some positive reinforcement.

"I will, Riley." Samantha said. "I want to help you. You can do this. I'm right here. I know everything that's necessary. Nothing will go wrong."

Riley already felt more confident about herself and her ability.

John thought he was with Jesse but now he was back in his room with Cameron.

What the Hell?

"Cameron?" John asked.

Cameron called out to John.

"Hi, John." Cameron said. "I'm sorry if I woke you. I was trying to be quiet and not use any light."

John was more than a little confused at this point.

"Did you go out?" John asked.

Cameron tilted her head slightly in the shower.

"No." Cameron said. "I've been here with you."

John wondered what was real and what was part of a dream at this point. He figured if he asked it would cause a problem.

"Did I do any sleep walking?" John asked.

Cameron wondered what that was all about.

"What?" Cameron asked. "No."

John wanted to know more. No. He needed to know more.

"Did I talk in my sleep?" John asked.

Cameron wanted to make it sound like she was very pleased with what she'd heard.

"You only mentioned your love for Savannah twice." Cameron said. "For Young Allison it was three times."

John didn't say anything. He wondered what he'd done. He was sure it was going to cause a problem.

He thought he must have a 'funny look' on his face at this point.

Cameron laughed a little.

"Chill out." Cameron said. "You were asleep. I'm just kidding."

The shower door opened.

"Will you join me?" Cameron asked.

John hesitated.

Cameron tried to figure out what he was doing. The better question might have been why?

"What are you doing?" Cameron asked. "That looks kinky."

John was pinching himself. His head snapped up with her choice of words.

"Did you tell me that earlier?" John asked.

Cameron was very pleased with his earlier action.

"You were trying to nurse." Cameron said.

John wanted to make sure what happened.

"Do you mean with you?" John asked.

Cameron started to worry a little about John.

"I was the only one here." Cameron said. "I can't lactate."

Cameron stepped out of the shower dripping wet.

She pulled John in with her and started washing him. She wasn't sure why he seemed confused. He seemed to be up to something.

"OK, I get it." Cameron said. "Is this an 'April Fool's Day' prank?"

John wasn't sure of anything at this point. He wasn't even sure what day it was.

"I hope so." John said. "I really do."

He started to pinch himself again.

You Can Do This

Few things in life are easy
What's good is hard
Everything in between
Is easy to discard

What comes easy
Goes just as easy
How it's done
Can leave one queasy

Is there's a point
To doing what's right
More often than not
It will lead to a fight

There are those
Who do the right thing
They may come up short
They may feel life's sting

Don't follow the crowd
Don't slip into the abyss
Do what's right
You can do this

Nobody