Author's Note: Okay, some wise guy PM'ed me and said "Hey, Terminators can't feel emotions, so why is he in love with Jess?" You know who you are. And I have this to say to you. SCREW YOU!

Okay, kidding. But he did have a point. So I added this chapter to explain how he can love. Please read, and as you well know, I love reviews! They make my day! And I always PM you and say thank you.

Summary: Jess modifies her Terminator.

Disclaimer: Um…yeah. I don't own him. Unfortunately.

They drove for a few hours in relative silence, broken only by the muted sniffles of Jess in the backseat. The mothering part of Sarah told her that how she reacted had wounded Jess deeply, and that she should apologize-but the military part of her, the hardened part of her, told her that Jess was a world leader, and she couldn't risk herself in that way. Jess swiped at her eyes, staring out the cracked windows, willing the hot tears in her eyes to go away. She had risked everything, just like her mom had said, on getting her out of there. Jess had felt so guilty, not believing her mother for all those years, she felt obliged to break her out of the Maximum Security. But now, after flirting with death all those times, being rescued by the muscular machine on numerous occasions, she felt as though she'd done something wrong. She cuffed at her eyes again, and leaned her head against the cool glass, feeling it soothe her hot forehead. If only her troubles could be soothed away that easily.

When the car was driving on fumes and nothing else, the Terminator broke the silence. He didn't like doing this, mostly because while it was quiet, he stole the opportunity to rearrange his files in order of most importance. For a strange reason, he kept putting the "Jess" folder, (the file containing the little bit of information he knew about her) at the top, in front of all the other files. He put this off as a feeling of urgency to complete his mission, but his analytical brain told him it was bigger then that.

"The automobile is very low in gasoline," he grunted after a while. "We must find a safe location to reacquire some fuel and find a place to spend the night."

Jess said nothing, but she glanced at the Terminator in the mirror. He was so focused, so driven to protect her-it was creepy and strangely relieving at the same time. The T-1000 had scared Jess badly, but having the T-101 protect her made her feel as though she could take on the world, balance teetering at the brink of death. She knew if Death were a cliff, and she jumped off on a whim, the T-101 would pull her back safely. She just knew it.

They pulled into a machine shop-which was luckily closed this time of night-and found a scuffed old plastic jug containing gas, which the Terminator emptied into the car. It was enough for them to find a gas station the next morning, hopefully. Then came the problem of spending the night. The Terminator knew it was too dangerous to sleep outdoors, so he broke casually into the garage and had Sarah pull the car inside. Jess was reluctant to leave the slightly-warm interior of the car, but he yanked her roughly into the garage. She whacked him on the arm and christened him "lugnut".

Once the battered police cruiser was safely stashed in the garage, Sarah stepped out of the car, wincing. After the adrenaline rush had slowed down, then stopped altogether, she could feel the sharp throbs of pain in her shoulder where the T-1000 had sliced her. It was a deep, serious cut, but luckily it hadn't cut her to the bone. The T-101 sat her down firmly on one of the rickety bar stools in the garage and hunted around for a minute to find some surgical supplies. Jess, figuring that they couldn't find anything useful in a rusty garage, went to the police cruiser and found a first-aid kit, which contained alcohol swabs and some light aspirin, which wouldn't dull the pain any, but would make Jess feel better. She handed them to her mother with a glass of water.

The Terminator came back with some metal thread and a pair of needle nose pliers. Jess shuddered, feeling grateful that it wasn't her at the end of the metal thread. He steadied Sarah with one large hand and began stitching. Instantly, Sarah's back arched and her mouth opened in a wordless snarl, something that sounded like a mixture of a curse and a yelp of pain. The T-101 looked over at Jess.

"Calm her down," he ordered bluntly. "I cannot stitch her properly if she is moving."

Jess came over and held her mother's hand, which was worn with countless pull-ups, and squeezed it tightly. Sarah squeezed back, so hard Jess thought she felt her bones rubbing together. Jess gritted her teeth but said nothing, knowing that her mother was in way more pain then she was. Jess glanced at the Terminator.

"You do know what your doing, right?" Jess asked uncertainly. His face was impassive and calm, but he might have a "mission parameter" that forced him to be calm in the face of adversity. She had absolutely no idea.

He pulled another stitch through Sarah's skin and Sarah bit her lower lip. "I have detailed files on human anatomy," he said in a low, serious voice. His fierce brown eyes were completely focused on the task at hand, grisly though it was.

"I bet," Sarah growled, speaking for the first time. "It makes you a more efficient killer." Sarah was still livid that the savage killing machine that had mercilessly slaughtered her once-time lover, Kyle Reese, was tenderly caring for her daughter. It was as though he were rubbing her face in it, as if to say, Haha, I succeeded when you failed. Now I'm being nice to you because I fee like it. Call it childish, call it whatever you want, she was still angry.

"Correct." was all he said. This irked her as well. He didn't show the slightest remorse. A small, sensible part of her reasoned: He doesn't feel remorse, and he is reprogrammed. Her angry side promptly squashed her sensible part.

Then he finished, tying off the stitches neatly. Then he went over to the window, as if to assume his post. Jess stopped him on his way over. "Wait a sec, Lugnut. You have enough lead in you to build a small ship. Siddown on the stool, me 'n' mom'll stitch you up."

He shrugged and followed her orders, obediently sitting on the stool and shrugging off his jacket. Jess took it off his shoulders and he pulled off his tight gray muscle shirt, the kind body-builders wear. Jess held his jacket up to the light, inspecting the dozens of bullet holes in it. Sarah started poking around none-too-gently in the bullet holes that were scattered about on his back.

Jess looked over at him. He was still stoically sitting on the stool while Sarah began digging out the bullets lodged in his torso and arms. Each bullet had to be dug out, the hole had to be swabbed with disinfectant (a.k.a. alcohol, which burned like the dickens), and stitched carefully. Sarah was doing all of this, although not exactly mindful of his pain.

"Does it hurt when you get shot?" Jess inquired, tossing aside the jacket. He glanced at her.

"I sense injuries. The data could be called pain." he admitted, flexing his arm after Sarah finished with it.

Sarah saw the tentative bond being spun between the Terminator and her pretty daughter, and she would have none of it. She didn't want her daughter falling in love with a machine. She called Jess over, on the false pretense to hold the light, but Jess's questions didn't stop. Jess had long learned that the T-101 didn't mind answering questions.

"Can you learn stuff you haven't already been programmed with? So you can be, you know…more human? And not such a dork all the time?" Jess asked, touching his bandages gently. He turned his fierce stare on her, and his eyes softened slightly.

"I am a CPU, a learning computer. The more contact I have with humans, the more human I become. Although this is only activated when I am sent out into the field." he said after a moment.

Jess didn't want to know what "the field" meant. It probably meant sending him out to kill any humans who were stupid enough to be in broad daylight while a war was raging. "Is there any way we can switch it back?" she asked.

Sarah finished the stitches and set down the pliers resolutely. "If we're going to modify him in any way, you're going to have to do it. I'm not touching him."

Jess shot her mother a glare. "Mom, he can help us!" she pleaded. Sarah shook her head, then walked out. Jess sighed, then ran her hands through her short dark hair. The Terminator added a note to his "Jess" file: Runs her hands through her hair often; it is a sign of frustration.

She picked up the pliers. "Okay, how am I going to modify you?" she asked. She didn't want to be cutting open her only defender, but there wasn't anything to help it. Jess didn't want him to stick out so much. If he could interact with humans a little better, he could also defend them better. Also, a nagging little voice told her, He might be able to be taught how to love, too. She rejected this idea as soon as it entered her mind. He was a machine; she was the leader of the Resistance. They couldn't mingle. It had to be against some kind of law. If not now, then definitely in the future.

"Cut open my scalp at the base of my neck," he commanded, and Jess swallowed hard. She picked up a nearby X-Acto knife and slit a small gap on the nape of his neck. It felt so weird, doing this-it should be sending him through the roof or at least paralyzing him-but he didn't appear to have felt it at all.

"You will see a small motherboard. Take it out." he said. Again, she swallowed and set about widening the hole so she could see. Underneath was intricate, moving machinery that would take her days to process. Instead of trying to focus on all of the complex machinery, she saw one small microchip, lodged in the place where his spine should be. She plucked it out nervously. Instantly, the light faded from his hard brown eyes and he sat rigidly in the chair. Jess studied the microchip intently, noting the intricate circuitry. She found a tiny switch and flicked it, sending it from = position to + position.

She was about to load the modified chip back in when a though struck her. If she could change this, why not change something else? A reckless demon surged through her, and she examined the small hole she had made carefully. There was something else turned off, something that made her heart go wild and her mouth go dry.

LOVE FACTOR: =

Her mind went blank, and her hands automatically moved towards the switch, then she withdrew as if burned. If she switched it on, would something bad happen? Would he ever turn on again? And another terrifying thought struck her. If she turned it on, would he suddenly remember some old flame of his, some other robot that he desired? Her throat choked up at this thought, and for a moment she couldn't move. But she weighed her options, running through a mental list of all the things she liked about him. If he truly liked her, would she be able to like him back?

She flicked the switch to the + position.

Then she loaded the motherboard and the light came back into the T-101's eyes. His eyes jittered for a moment, running a systems check, then turned to her curiously.

"You activated the love factor?" he asked. She blushed deeply. She had been hoping he wouldn't find out, but how stupid was that? It was part of his "brain" of sorts, he'd be able to tell if a new thing was added.

"Did I? I must have flicked it by mistake," she lied, turning away from him. She began stitching up the gap on the nape of his neck.

The Terminator knew she was lying. Her pupils dilated, she averted her gaze, her pulse increased, and a bead of almost invisible sweat formed on her brow. Telltale signs that she was lying. But why would she lie about turning on the love factor? Then it hit him like a truck.

His charge was in love with him.

She probably didn't know it yet, but her mind was slowly realizing her affection for him. He cursed mentally, but showed no outward signs of disapproval. He turned to her, nudging her towards the smashed police car.

"You should sleep." he said. Jess nodded, still blushing, and went over to the backseat. She opened the door so she could stretch her feet out, and curled up, wishing the backseat were bigger.

Sarah came in, shivering. She saw her daughter dozing in the backseat and the T-101 standing by the window in Guard Mode. His vision was hard, focused, intelligent. The same kind of gaze Kyle had when he was protecting Sarah…she bit back the bitter lump that threatened to overcome her throat. Instead, she went over to the machine.

"She fixed you then, right?" she asked. It was all she could say. It took a minute before he answered.

"Yes." he said simply, but Sarah could sense he was holding something back. Something he didn't want to tell her. Sarah folded her arms and stood next to him.

"What else did she do?" she asked sternly.

"She activated the love factor," he said after a beat. Sarah felt her jaw make a 'thump' noise as it hit the floor.

"She what?" Sarah said, forgetting to keep her voice down. Over in the police cruiser, Jess stirred, then snuggled back down. Sarah spared her a glance, then turned back to the Terminator.

"I don't know why," he admitted. "But she had some reason to."

Sarah reached for him. "Well, how do we turn it off?" she asked. He turned his angry gaze on her.

"You are not permitted to modify my motherboard in any way, Sarah Connor." he snarled. She saw the glint of his natural personality, what he had been designed to do: kill people. Sarah snorted, unafraid. She had smashed one of these bastards to smithereens once, she could do it again.

"So what? You let her screw with your mind, why not me?" Sarah demanded. He turned away from her, as if bored.

"You are not one of my original mission parameters," he snapped. "I obey Jessica's orders; nobody else's."

Sarah threw her hands in the air. "So now what? She's in love with you?" she asked. He blinked, then sighed.

"My sensors indicate that she is indeed feeling a strong, unexplainable emotion towards me." he said after a moment. Sarah gritted her teeth.

"That's just peachy." she sighed, then went over to the barstool. "Don't you dare fuck with her mind, you got that?" she said, sounding for a moment like a mother bear protecting her cub.

"Why is it," the Terminator asked harshly, "That you feel a need to protect her only when I am involved?"

Sarah sputtered uselessly. What could she say? "You killed Kyle, you mother fucker," she growled.

"That was a different T-101," he said in a low, dangerous voice. "If I remember correctly, you destroyed him in a compressor. I am alive and fully functional."

If it were different circumstances, Sarah would have laughed. The Terminator was developing a keen sense of sarcastic, cutting humor that matched Jess's. The similarities between the two of them were growing by the day.

"Whatever," she said finally, resting her chin on her arms. Within minutes she was asleep.

*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*

Jess woke early, stiff and sore. It was very uncomfortable to sleep in the back of a battered police car-there were still shards of glass everywhere-but her only other option would be to sleep on the floor, and she didn't want that. She looked up and saw her mother asleep at the table, her head resting on her arms. The Terminator was still standing guard by the window. Just looking at him made her stomach flip-flop with shame and a strange emotion she couldn't place. She wondered if he still remembered what she had changed, then she chided herself. He was a computer; they remember everything.

She got out of the car and went over to him. He turned around quickly, then saw who it was and relaxed, if only marginally. "Hey," she said, rubbing her eyes. He scanned her with that piercing gaze.

"You're up early." he said bluntly. She shrugged and shivered. It was very early, and the cool morning dawn that would later give way to the blistering heat had not yet dissolved.

"Yeah, well, it may had something to do with being chased by futuristic robots. I'm not sure, but it might have a bad effect on me." she said sarcastically.

"That is correct." he stated. She stared at him, then laughed softly.

"Jeez, Lugnut, that's called sarcasm. It means when I say something in that sort of tone, it means I don't really mean it." Jess tried to explain.

He shook his head. "Humans are very confusing." he said. She smiled.

"Yeah, but that's what makes us so great. C'mon, let's find something to eat." she said. The Terminator didn't even bother to glance at Sarah, who was still asleep at the table. Jess didn't either. Her heart still burned with shame and anger against her mother for what she said.

They went out into the parking lot and found a green Volkswagen that was in good shape. The Terminator promptly smashed out the window and unlocked the door for Jess. She hopped in and was delighted to find a stale bag of chips, which she munched. The T-101 slammed his fist into the steering column and hotwired the car in a matter of seconds. Jess sighed, then flipped the sun visor down. A pair of keys fell out, sparkling in the feeble rays of sunlight. She dangled them in front of the Terminator.

"Are we learning yet?" she asked sarcastically, chewing on the chips. The Terminator rolled his eyes and drove the car around to the front of the garage.

*%*%*%*%*%*%*

Sarah woke up completely and thoroughly, as if someone had shaken her roughly. She turned around and saw a very empty garage. The first thought that entered her head was They left me. Then she decided it was ridiculous, because she heard the rumbling gurgle of a car outside, idling in the parking lot. Sarah stood up and stretched, then winced, gritting her teeth. The cut was neatly stitched, but her sudden movement was sending shivers of pain up her arm. She found an old denim jacket and tugged it on slowly, trying to ease herself into the creased blue cloth.

She went outside, squinting in the morning sunlight; the fiery ball of reddish light was creeping over the horizon, and she shielded her eyes. Then she saw the middle-aged Volkswagen idling in front of the garage, and saw a very strange sight.

Jess was sitting in the front seat, her feet propped up on the dashboard, her dark brown hair slanting across her cheek. Her hard blue eyes were glittering brightly with happiness and contentment, and she was laughing. And the Terminator, the machine, the killing robot that had mercilessly gunned down Kyle, was smiling.

Actually smiling.

A Terminator.

It suited his face well, made him look more human. Then he glanced up and saw her, and the smile disappeared as quickly as a fox down a hole. Sarah gave him her best sneer, and opened the back door. It rubbed her the wrong way to be seated in back-she was so used to be sitting in front-but she sat anyway, and listened to the conversation.

The Terminator zipped around a truck, blaring his horn angrily, and Sarah slapped his shoulder roughly. "Keep it under sixty-five. The last thing we want is to get pulled over."

"Affirmative." The Terminator said stoically.

"No, no, no, no." Jess said at once. "You gotta listen to the way people talk. You don't say 'affirmative'. You say 'no problemo'. And if you wanna shine 'em on, you say 'Hasta La Vista, baby'."

"Hasta La Vista, baby," tried the T-101. He liked the sound of it. Jess sighed.

"Yeah, but later, dickwad. And if someone's giving you a hard time, you say 'Chill out'. Or you can do combinations." Jess said.

"Chill out…Dickwad."

"Yeah, that's right!" Jess encouraged. Sarah sighed. It was going to be a long ride.