Chapter Eight: Angels & Demons

Rain.

The showers light up every sensor on her body like a Christmas tree, and she smiles, because she can feel the rain drops as she should. No more data, no more statistics and useless analysis of each impact; just the pure joy of knowing you exist. She places her hand on her chest and feels the steady rhythm of her human heart, the human blood pumping through her veins.

She turns to John and feels true love for the first time in her life. But he just stares at her without expression, his eyes briefly glowing blue. For this was the price for her humanity; she had to make a choice, one that would render the other lifeless, or at least, as far from alive as you could without being dead.

A shadow emerged from the rain and pointed its gun at her, poised to snatch away that which she desired above all else. But John was there to protect her, he was there to take the bullet, he was there for her.

John awoke with a start, calling her name. It took him a moment to realise that it had all been a dream, none of it was real. But he could still hear the sound of her heartbeat; he could still feel the bullet ricocheting off his endoskeleton. Instinctively, John placed his hand over the non-existent wound, and pressed down, feeling the human bone beneath.

He took a moment to steady his breathing, telling himself to get a grip and stop fretting over things that never happened. A small hand with slender fingers snaked its way up his chest, gently pulling him back onto the pillow. John turned over to see her lying there, as beautiful as the day she disappeared, more so even, as he never really appreciated just how gorgeous she was back then.

She gave him a comforting smile and began twirling his hair playfully.

"Bad dream?"

Her voice was softer than a whisper, but no less audible. Somehow he could always hear her when she spoke, no matter how quiet she made herself. John had once compared her to a mouse; impossible to hear through the floorboards, but when she did make a noise it was unmistakable as to who made it.

"Just the usual, nothing to worry about, but you do worry, don't you?"

She ceased toying with his hair and ran her fingers across his diagonal scar, performing a brief scan in the process.

"I do."

John took her hand in his and pulled her closer until they were lying less than a centimetre apart. She let out a small breath, expecting to be sent into that realm of rapture, but instead John just held her. After a few moments Cameron realised that he was looking for reassurance against whatever he dreamed, and so she wrapped her arm around him and drew closer, closing the very small gap between them.

"I'm here for you now. You don't have to be afraid of anything. I love you, John."

She nestled her head in his shoulder and closed her eyes, returning to standby mode, a smile on her lips. John stroked her hair and marvelled at the silkiness of her strands, before letting out a sigh.

"That's the problem."

--

"So, what's on the menu today?"

"The usual: a prisoner who refuses to talk."

John, Ethan, and Cameron were standing in a dark room, staring through one-way glass at a woman tied to a metal table in the next room.

"What do you want to know from this one?"

Cameron regarded Ethan closely. During their snuggling, she and John had talked about everything that happened since her disappearance, everything except the death of Sarah. John told Cameron that Ethan had developed an unwavering loyalty to him, in remembrance of her. This brought a tear to her eye, as it illustrated just how much her brother truly cared.

"She was in an elite group, the type that only answer to the big cheese. I want to know the name of that Mozzarella."

"Let me guess; so you can melt him?"

John smirked and caught Cameron's eye, seeing a glint of humour in her perfect features.

"You know me; I do love my pizza toppings."

Ethan chuckled and took a step towards the glass, examining the woman closely.

"She's a Delta, they're hard to crack."

"I'm sure you'll find a way to… persuade her."

Ethan smiled to himself, his eyes locked on his victim.

"I'm sure I will."

He opened the door and entered the room, removing the cloth covering the vast array of knives, syringes, and various related equipment. He cherry-picked his favourite knife and began twirling it between his fingers as he grinned down at the agent.

"Go on then, torture me already. I'm not afraid of you."

Ethan just laughed and leaned closer, locking eyes with his prey.

"You should be; I'm a psychopathic killer."

--

Ethan returned thirty minutes later, casually wiping the blood from his hands on a towel. Cameron gave John a poke to wake him up from his doze.

"Huh? What? Oh, you're done? What did you get out of her?"

"Screams, various fluids, and a name: James Ellison, sound familiar?"

John's face darkened at the mention of that name.

"Kinda hard to forget the name of the man who murdered my mother."

Cameron took his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, for which he was grateful. Ethan threw the towel on the floor and leaned against the wall, smiling slightly at the sight of John and Cameron together again; it was just like old times.

"Yeah, well he's apparently holed up in the Bureau headquarters three miles west of here. You know the one with the crap-load of guards and more guns than the military."

"Of course, he has to be in the most heavily fortified building in the whole of Los Angeles."

John ran a hand over his face and sighed as he beat his brain into coming up with a plan.

"Okay, first things first, Ethan; I want you to do a little reconnaissance."

"Sure."

"Take Cameron as well, two pairs of cybernetic eyes are better than one."

Cameron opened her mouth to protest, but he silenced her with a kiss. Ethan kept quiet for a few seconds until clearing his throat to get their attention.

"I hate to interrupt what would no doubt be an insufferable make-out session, but we do have business to take care of, don't we?"

John broke away from Cameron, who seemed more than a little reluctant to stop.

"We need to call in help for this little endeavour, and if they see you here, they might ask for certain… services in exchange. So I need you to go with Ethan and stay out of trouble, understand?"

Cameron stroked the side of his face and gazed at his eyes longingly before nodding silently. John gave her another kiss on her brow before turning to Ethan.

"Don't let her out of your sight, not for a second, you hear me?!"

"Loud and clear."

--

"Do you do this often, spying on government buildings?"

"Sometimes, but not as often as you might think, these places are very dangerous for people like John. You don't want to be caught within a mile of a Bureau HQ."

Cameron and Ethan were on a roof top opposite the Bureau building, pretending to be a couple in the midst of making out. Cameron looked over Ethan's shoulder and scanned the many windows, trying to locate Ellison's office.

"John never mentioned Ellison when he told me about the Bureau. Why is that exactly?"

Ethan leaned his head to his left, allowing Cameron to look over his right shoulder instead. To the casual observer, it would look like Ethan was kissing her neck, but he simply held her close.

"It's not a subject he likes to talk about."

"He said Ellison killed Sarah."

"Yeah, that was when everything went to hell."

They swapped positions again, and as she peered over his left shoulder, Cameron posed another question.

"What happened?"

Ethan sighed and kissed her lightly on the cheek.

"John tied up Ellison and had me torture him for information."

"What information?"

"He believed that Ellison had something to do with your disappearance. John was distraught, and wouldn't be convinced by Ellison's pleas of innocence. John almost killed him, but Sarah stopped him in time. That's when he came to the belief that you had purposely abandoned him, because there was no other explanation."

Cameron let out a shuddering breath.

"I would have come to the same conclusion. How did Ellison react?"

"He went public. Told the whole of the United States that the Connors were terrorists who were behind every Terminator-related event. He even had evidence; my neural implants. Somehow that bastard managed to get hold of them, and used it as a lightning rod to summon all the power he needed to 'bring justice and security to the world'. Fool, he made it all worse."

"And Sarah?"

"He led a raid on the house. Sarah was killed during the ensuing gunfight. That was too much for John to handle, he went crazy after that. Me, Derek, and Charley took him underground where we joined up with a powerful mob family, the rest you already know."

"John killed the boss and assumed control, very tyrannical of him."

Ethan laughed and looked at her quizzically.

"Found him yet?"

"Yep, top floor, office room six hundred and sixty-six."

"The guy likes his irony."

--

Never before had a raid gone quite so smoothly, but Ellison's men were, in truth, not as they seemed. They methodically swept each and every corridor and room, killing indiscriminately. Men, women, even children. One might say that they lacked a conscience, that they were soulless beings. They would not be so far from the truth.

Primary Target Identified: John Connor

Action: Terminate

Error! Programming clash!

Action: Detain primary target and return to base

They carted their hostage back to the secure vehicle waiting outside and drove him to their slave-master.

--

"It's never simple, is it?"

The doors that had remained secure for the past three years were now twisted and ripped off of their hinges. Cameron felt Ethan's joke to be in poor taste, especially considering what these destroyed doors indicated.

"John!"

--

The corridors were littered with bodies, each one executed with inhuman precision. Men, women, and children, all gunned down by faceless assassins. The air was thick with smoke, the hallmark of an intense gun fight.

"This must have been their last stand. John would've made them bottleneck. Thin them out."

Ethan crouched down to check a twitching corpse, quickly discovering that it had a bullet in the brain, hence the spasms. Cameron brushed past him, ignoring the bodies, desperate to get to John. Ethan got to his feet and followed, fearing the worst. The small room was heavily barricaded; the little man who stood guard now lay on the floor, a single bullet wound on his head.

Cameron quickly tore apart what remained of the barricade and forced her way through.

"Ethan?!"

Ethan burst his way through to see Cameron crouched next to a familiar friend, who was desperately trying to stay alive.

"Hey Penny, what have you gotten yourself into this time?"

Penny laughed between gasps, blood dripping from her mouth, as Ethan came to her side and held her hand. Cameron went further on to see if John was nearby.

"You… You won't f-find him here."

Cameron stopped in her tracks and looked down at the dying woman, a small flicker of hope touching her features.

"Where is he?"

"He… He was taken… by the Bureau…"

Ethan grabbed a nearby pillow and placed it under her head.

"What happened here? How did the Bureau find this place?"

"They… They came… Don't know how they knew… We shot at them… but they didn't die… they just kept killing us all… They… They had your eyes…"

Ethan looked up at Cameron, and shared a nod of understanding.

"And John?"

"He led the final… fight… They hit us so fast… we didn't have time to… They killed Larry… then they shot through the barricade… I took one in the chest and John… he retreated… and they followed… thought I was dead… I heard more gunfire… then an explosion… and they dragged him away…"

"Was he alright?"

Cameron's voice was doused with concern and desperation, Ethan couldn't imagine how she must be feeling, having finally gotten John back, only to lose him again so soon. Penny's eyes started to flutter and her breathing became more erratic.

"No, no, no, Penny? C'mon, we need to know, was John alive?"

She opened her eyes and looked into his, a smile on her face.

"He didn't go quietly… Ethan?"

Cameron let out a sigh of relief and Ethan gave Penny's hand a gentle squeeze as her vision slowly failed her.

"I'm here… Just take it easy, we'll get you patched up in no time. Just don't move."

"I knew the risks… I'm just glad we got to have one final talk…"

Ethan hung his head and laughed.

"Please Penny, not another one of your three year-old gossip discussions. I can still survive this, but if you start on about Jolie's new… I'll just lay down right beside you."

She laughed and started coughing violently before giving one last rattled breath and then going still. Ethan let her hand drop to the floor and stood up, his fists clenched. Cameron approached from behind and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry."

Ethan's face darkened as he stared down at Penny's body.

"For years we've operated in the dark. Hidden within the shadows and never struck unless we had the element of surprise. We were so careful not to let anyone know this location. And now it seems the Bureau has machines working for them. Well that just changes all the rules from here on out."

He turned to face Cameron, a red glint in his eyes.

"It's time we visited an old friend."

--

"I must confess; I do enjoy the irony of the situation, Mr. Connor."

John just glared back at his captor; the man who murdered his mother, and the one who had him tied to a chair right now after having sent Terminators to destroy his home. John couldn't believe that Ellison would be working with machines. Maybe he doesn't know, he thought. But then, how can he not?

"You do understand my meaning. You do remember tying ME to a chair once, don't you?"

"Yeah, I remember."

Ellison drew up another chair and sat opposite him, just like John did in 2008.

"Then you should also remember torturing me."

"I remember not killing you when I had the chance. Imagine my regret after what you did."

Ellison glared back coldly, the memories of the past creeping back to the present.

"What I did was for the good of the world."

"Since when is depriving a boy of his mother for the good of the world?"

"Your dear sweet mother was a deranged terrorist. I guess it runs in the family. Your father wasn't mentally sound either."

John launched himself forward, trying desperately to break free from his restraints.

"You're the one who is insane Ellison! You think I didn't notice that your special Alpha team are, in fact, machines themselves?!"

Ellison leaned back and linked his fingers together, a faint smile on his lips.

"So you did notice."

"For someone who preaches about saving the world, you sure are ready to slit our own throats."

"No, John, you're the one who will destroy us all. I spent so much time under the belief that you were our guardian angel and that the machines were the demons. But then I met someone who changed all that, who put things into perspective."

"Who?"

Ellison pressed one of his cufflinks and a few seconds later a bright flash erupted behind him. The blue light dissipated within seconds, revealing a Terminator unlike any John had seen before.

"John, meet my partner and chief associate: Infinity."

The machine was 8ft tall and seemed to be made out of blue energy. Its endoskeleton had many gaps wherein a blue light shone through; its head seemed hollow and looked like it was hovering above its seemingly non-existent neck. Its right hand was solid metal, whereas its left was three times as big and made up entirely of that blue energy.

John was flabbergasted as the machine called Infinity stared at him with dark blue eyes, hauntingly similar to Cameron's.

"What… What are you?"

"You should know that, John. It's a Terminator."

"No, I mean; what model is it?"

The machine stalked towards him, every one of its movements created a ripple around it. Its voice was mechanically female and sent chills down John's spine.

"I am Series T-Infinity, a prototype created to restore order to the world and time itself."

"How? How can you do that?"

"I can travel anywhere in time, fixing the timeline where necessary. You have created quite a mess, John Connor."

"A mess which my good friend here has tried to fix, with limited success however, due to your meddlesome companion."

Ellison stood up and went over to his desk, leaving the T-Infinity to tower over John menacingly.

"My meddlesome…"

And then it clicked.

"You… You were the one who took Cameron from me. You were behind her disappearance all along!"

Ellison chuckled and turned around to face his captive.

"I knew the best chance of getting rid of you would be to relocate your machine. So I sent Infinity to take care of that little problem."

"But why? Why are you helping them? Jesus Christ, they're the enemy! They're gonna blow up the world!"

"No, John, you are the one responsible for that."

John was incredulous; he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"You think I'm the one who brings about Judgment Day?"

"It is because of you that Judgment Day occurs in the first place. Skynet deemed you as a threat. A threat so great that, out of sheer panic, it destroyed the whole of humanity in an effort to eliminate you. But that wasn't enough, was it? You survived, and instead of brokering a peace treaty with Skynet, you started a war. Skynet was then forced to send assassins back in time to kill you and prevent Judgment Day from ever happening."

John just shook his head in disbelief.

"You're crazy!"

"Infinity came to me and explained everything; told me that she needed my help to put everything right. Who was I to refuse?"

"You are… just crazy. You honestly believed that machine?"

"I did. Because she made more sense than you or your mother ever did. Things are going according to plan; soon you'll be executed for your crimes and Skynet will have no reason to fear us. The world will be forever changed; only this time for the better."

Ellison injected John with a drug and then sat opposite him again.

"Now, let's start with the other organizations to which you are associated. I imagine you have a lot to tell me."

--

"For the last time; I don't have any."

"Don't lie to me Charley; I know for a fact you have exactly what we need, so quit stalling."

Charley closed his door halfway, ready to slam it in Ethan's face.

"I told you and I told John; I won't be your personal gun runner, not after last time."

Charley swung the door shut; only to have it slam open again, sending him flying backwards. Ethan stepped onto the threshold and offered his hand to Charley, who grudgingly accepted and was pulled back to his feet.

"Thank you; now get the hell out of my house!"

Cameron saw this as her cue, and entered the house, her mere presence freaking out the former EMT.

"What? That's impossible, you… you disappeared years ago."

"Didn't you know? Scary robots always come back."

Ethan smirked and cocked his head at the basement door.

"I take it they're down there."

"I don't have any guns."

Cameron approached Charley's side and put on her most heart-melting pout…

"The Bureau has John."

…which worked like a charm as Charley slowly nodded and removed the basement key that was on a chain around his neck. He unlocked the door and led them downstairs. He flicked on the light, revealing wall-to-wall stacks of guns. Cameron let out a gasp of surprise as she ogled the vast array of weaponry.

"How does a retired EMT get into gun-running?"

Charley looked at her warily, his arms crossed.

"By promising to protect a mobster. Take whatever you want, hell; take it all, I don't care."

"Much obliged. See now, don't you feel all warm and fuzzy by helping your friends?"

Charley answered Ethan's question with a dark look.

"I'll take that as a 'no' then."

--

Alan the security guard took another sip of his coffee, once again bored out of his skull. Like his previous job, Alan sat at a desk reading a newspaper, wondering why he ever got into this line of work. Why am I needed anyway? he thought. No one is dumb enough to trespass in this building, especially as we have half the military on call. But there were some who were stupid enough to try their luck, the only difference was; they had more than a little advantage.

A man in a black trench-coat came through the front doors and was immediately met with the security's scrutiny. Four guards approached, guns raised, and demanded that he identify himself.

"I work for James Ellison; he needs to see me, right now."

"Do you have an appointment?"

"No, can't I just go up and see him."

"I don't think so, pal. You just wait here while we confirm your story."

The guard raised his radio to his mouth, about to call in Ethan's identity, but never got a chance, as Ethan delivered a single punch to his chest, shattering the bone beneath. The other three guards cried out in surprise as Ethan then drew two sub-machine guns and proceeded to pepper them with bullets. Alan fumbled with his gun, trying desperately to draw it before Ethan closed the distance.

He finally managed to get it free from the holster, but dropped it and accidently kicked it across the marble floor, right into Ethan's path. Ethan stopped and pointed both guns at Alan, poised to shoot. Then Cameron appeared and paused as she took in the scene before her. Cameron's face lit up as she scanned Alan's face.

"Don't I know you?"

Ethan looked back at her, a slightly puzzled expression on his face. Alan also stared at her, his jaw dropping in disbelief. He had seen that girl once before, back when he worked security in CRS three years ago. She had lured him into the lavatory and then knocked him unconscious; he thought at the time that it was his lucky day. But today was his lucky day; as Cameron told Ethan to let Alan go, allowing the bumbling security guard to run home.

"That could have gone a lot smoother."

"When does anything go smoothly? C'mon, we still need to reach the top."

Before they could take another step, however, a dozen or so heavily armed guards arrived, their weapons trained on the duo.

"Freeze!"

Ethan just smirked at them.

"I'm a Terminator not a refrigerator."

He and Cameron then split up, heading for opposite sides of the lobby, spraying the guards with bullets. They returned fire, hitting nothing but air and bricks as Ethan and Cameron took cover behind their respective pillars. Ethan cast aside his empty weapons and drew two Desert Eagles. He then moved out of cover and started gunning down several guards with pin-point accuracy, achieving more than his share of headshots.

Cameron was equally successful on her side, blasting numerous skulls with her shotgun. The guards fell in short order, Cameron and Ethan taking them out from both sides until meeting in the middle and both blasted the remaining guard to pieces.

"For humans in their prime, they do seem rather inefficient."

Ethan examined the bodies for a second before summoning the elevator.

"Yes, they were a bit lacking. Oh well, never look a gift horse in the mouth."

Cameron looked at him quizzically.

"I don't understand."

"It's an expression Cameron, just nod and smile."

Cameron did as she was told and joined him in the elevator, which groaned slightly under the combined weight, but nevertheless carried them to the top floor where they were met with even heavier resistance. Ethan and Cameron once again split up and followed opposite corridors, shooting dozens of security guards in the process.

Having run out of ammo, Ethan discarded his weapons and tore a shotgun from an advancing guard, who then turned tail and ran, receiving a back full of lead for his trouble. As he continued down the corridor, Ethan was confronted by an agent, who carried no guns. He just charged Ethan, who blasted the agent several times, with little effect.

The agent grabbed Ethan and threw him through an office wall, which would be impossible for any human. But it was obvious to Ethan as he extricated himself from a coffee machine, that this was no human, but a Terminator. So Ellison does have machines working with him, thought Ethan as he charged the Terminator, ploughing it back into the corridor.

Disabling a Terminator is a tricky process, but Ethan was able to quickly pin the machine to the floor, cut a path to its CPU port, and remove its chip. Ethan crushed the chip in his hand before hurtling down the corridor, desperate to reach Cameron before something else did.

He found Cameron in time to see her knock an agent out of the window. She spotted Ethan and rushed to his side.

"We have to be careful; Ellison has machines working for him."

"Yes, Cameron, I noticed. C'mon, Ellison's office is through here."

They approached room 666 and kicked the door open, immediately receiving heavy gun fire from numerous guards who had fallen back to protect their leader. Ethan and Cameron entered and began beating and snapping the necks of every single guard until none were left standing. Ellison retrieved a spare gun from his desk but was quickly incapacitated by Ethan.

Cameron quickly freed John from his restraints and helped him to his feet, though he was still a bit groggy from the drugs he was injected with, making him unsteady on his feet. One of the guards stirred and slowly reached for his gun, but Ethan immolated him with a blast from his ChemTech, causing the fire sprinklers to activate.

John's vision began to regain focus, but his head was still a little fuzzy and he could swear he heard the sound of a heartbeat as he swayed into Cameron's arms. She lifted his head to look in his eyes, which were dilated.

"John? John, can you hear me? Do you know where you are?"

John blinked rapidly and shook his head, spraying Cameron with water.

"Uh, yes to the first, no to the second, though I'd take a wild guess and say I'm in the worst kind of place."

Cameron smiled and placed a wet kiss on his brow.

"You're not wrong there."

John's eyes travelled down to her tank top, which was plastered to her body due to the sprinklers. He raised his eyebrows and a mischievous grin appeared on his face.

"I think things are starting to get better already."

She returned his look with one of her own and pulled him into a passionate kiss, before hugging him tightly.

"I almost lost you again, didn't I?"

She sobbed and buried her face into his shoulder, squeezing him tightly so as not to let anything happen to him. John closed his eyes and tried to clear his mind, to get himself thinking straight. He gently pulled himself free of her embrace and brushed her soaking hair out her face. She smiled at him and, maybe as a side-effect of the drugs, she seemed to glow.

John stroked the side of her face and cupped her cheek in his hand. She closed her eyes and sighed as he caressed her cheek with his thumb.

"You always find your way back to me, don't you?"

She kept her eyes closed and smiled again, absorbing the feel of his touch.

"I love you, Cam."

Cameron opened her eyes and blinked the water drops out of her eyes, or were they tears? John couldn't tell, and didn't have time to find out as he spotted Ellison raising his gun, aiming for the back of Cameron's head.

"No!"

To be continued…