Family Matters

4 months later

The sun was high over the port of Los Angeles. Its rays kicked off the polluted seawater, as a haze of smog blotted the sun into a strange shimmer high in the sky. On the deck of a ship called The Seahawk, a rugged young man with a scarred right eye and a stylish, yet messy, mane of raven curls stood on the portside deck, staring out at the metropolis's skyline with a hardened look, as if painful memories were flashing through his mind. Suddenly, a large roll of money was thrown at his head as it was fired out of cannon. With a trained snap, the young man snatched the roll of cash out of the air with skillful ease.

"Always the seeker." The playful voice of a woman with a thick Israeli accent called to him. The man smiled an empty smile, pocketing the roll into well-worn brown leather, button down coat, with a patch of a broadsword flanked by wings sown on the left sleeve.

The woman was tanned and toned with a smooth olive oil complexion and had long, sun-kissed hair. The hazel-eyed desert rose walked up next to her crewmen of three months. She looked out at the city, then to her handsome peer.

"Never been to L.A. before?" the young Captain asked.

"No, I've spent more than my fair share of time here." He said whimsically. The girl looked at him and frowned.

"What's the problem then?" she asked again. The man scoffed.

"It's just uh … different then when I left." He had a pained look in his gold-flecked brown eyes as he smiled at the irony she would never understand.

She smiled and turned back to the skyline. "It's L.A." she shrugged casually. There was an easy silence between the two before she spoke again, tracing his look.

"Look Phillips … whatever's bothering you … it's not going to be solved on a smuggler's ship." The commander said with sharp perceptive eyes. He nodded at the comment, lounging against the railing, picking at the paint. "I mean don't get me wrong, I would hate to lose my best knife fighter and marksman … but I'm not one to watch someone sink in their sorrow, so you need to look inside yourself." She advised with a spark in her eyes.

"Know thyself, because what else is there to know?" he quoted with a sigh, looking at the water.

"Huh" the young woman gave a pensive face, as if she liked what she heard. "Who told you that?" she tilted her head.

The young man turned to her with a grin. "Sarah Connor"

She turned her head to the side slightly and gave a coy grin. "Sarah Connor … the tech terrorist?" There was pause before she gave a belly laugh at the soldier who joined her and turned back to the city.

"Ah … the people you meet, huh?" she caught her breath with a sigh leaning over the railing.

"You have no idea." He laughed slightly. There a pause of finality between the two.

"You're good fighter and smuggler, Phillips." She turned and nodded at the time traveler.

"It's been fun." He stuck out his hand.

"Truly …" she shook it, and then she stood on her toes and traded a small kiss with him. "One for the road." She smiled. He gave her a detached glance and cupped her cheek before he picked up a duffle and walked down the ramp into the port.

"Why not … it's not like there's going to be a traffic problem getting there."

"I'm not that big on Halloween, Kacy."

"How about the Kiddos … I'm sure John and Cameron would love to go?"

"Kacy …"

"Who can it hurt?"

Sarah had been going back and forth with her neighbor/friend for the past hour about her Halloween party she was doing for the neighborhood. The pregnant lady had been pestering her to come for weeks, and Sarah hadn't budged yet. But when Kacy asked her to temporarily fill-in as a waitress at her father's diner, Sarah knew it was a trap to twist her arm.

The diner wasn't exactly the normal kind, it had a retro 50's theme that was currently covered in Halloween decorations. As if that weren't bad enough, Sarah was required to wear a shortened poodle skirt and white shirt of tight nylon. She hated the big pink bow in her hair as well. Over the years Sarah had worn all sorts of uniforms in jobs she had taken, however when she tried on this uniform at the house, she immediately became the punchline of many jokes. Now she could only imagine that she would be seeing members of her family through her eight-hour shift just to continue the joke.

"It'll only be for like an hour …" the blond pushed from her stool at the bar. Sarah set down a burger basket in front of a portly man in a tan vest and a trucker cap.

"Why are you pushing for us to go?" Sarah sighed, leaning on the counter. Kacy scratched her neck and looked away as if checking to see if anyone she knew was around.

"Look I didn't want to say anything, but some of the other people on our street, they're starting to whisper, you know?" she said quietly.

"I'm in suburban hell."

Sarah often chose homes in the city for this very reason. In the city, people kept to themselves and couldn't care less about what others did. But in the suburbs it was almost a hobby for the neighbors to keep tabs on each other in an Olympic style competition of paranoia and nosiness. It was like living under a microscope operated by old women who sneered if you let your "daughter" out in too short of a skirt, or if you live with your "Brother in-law", and oh how she hated the politics of suburbia.

"Ma'am …?" the trucker interrupted Sarah's angry musings. She glared and turned to the out-of-state trucker. "I didn't want tomatoes on the burger." He pointed to the red fruit on his hamburger.

He got a feeling like he had poked a bear, a very beautiful bear, but a bear none-the-less, as Sarah snatched the basket from in front of him and tossed the bun down. She picked the red slices off the burger, jamming the bun back; she slid it to the man.

"Thanks …" he frowned flatly.

Turning back, the raven-haired beauty sighed at the blond who was dipping a french fry in pickle juice. "You're not going to let this go are you?" she lowered her gaze.

"Nope" Kacy ate the fry with a smile.

"Fine …" she relented.

"Yay!" Kacy clapped her hands lightly. Sarah gave her an amused grin.

"Look at it this way, there is going to be a bunch of hot guys dressed in costumes; I swear it's like a fantasy party." She winked.

"I'm good." Sarah scoffed a laugh.

"Oh, come on, you got the most smoking body I've ever seen, and I bet there's a wild woman in there just aching to get out. Plus … it's not like Derek is around that much anymore." Kacy shrugged. Sarah turned to the woman darkly as if she had treaded on dangerous ground.

"Kacy phone!" a cook in a chef's hat called from the kitchen.

"All over it!" She replied, seeing the need to get out alive of the situation.

Sarah clenched her jaw as she pulled her cell phone out of her apron pocket.

"Waitress!" the trucker called to Sarah, she put the phone to her ear and gave him a death glare. "Never mind …" he grunted, finding the sugar interesting all of the sudden.

She was there, tucked into his arms, safe and asleep. His hand traced the smooth skin of her bare back, stroking her scars tenderly. He kissed her head as she lay naked against him. She was at peace with the world for the moment, and as long as she was, so was he.

"Babe …"

"Babe …"

"DEREK!"

Derek Reese shot up from his reclined position on top of a hotel suite's bedcover, and looked around alertly.

"What, what …?" he asked the attractive Asian woman, clothed in her underwear, and under the sheets reading a magazine.

"Your phone is buzzing." Jesse didn't look up from her reading.

Sure enough, his pocket was vibrating. He reached into his blue jeans, and pulled out the phone.

"Hello?" he said shakily still recovering from sleep.

"29, October" a voice said into the phone

"October 29th" he responded

"Where the hell are you?" Sarah asked angrily from the other line.

"Where am I supposed to be?" he asked.

"Meet me at the diner, three hours."

The phone cut off, and was followed by dial tone. Derek sighed and laid back.

"Who was it?" Jesse flipped the page.

"Who do you think?" He yawned.

Jesse chuckled with scorn. "That woman needs to get laid." She waited for Derek to responded appropriately to her response.

He smiled faintly while a shot of guilt ran through him, as flashes of the woman in his arms somehow matched the woman who had just finished the chewing out he'd received.

"Reality is over rated."

He rubbed the sleep from his eyes, and looked at his mostly undressed girlfriend. "How long was I out?" he grunted sitting up again.

"Well … you ripped my shirt open and slipped off my jogging shorts and you were working your way to my panties … and then I got snores." There was an irritated inflection to the Australian accent.

Derek's face reddened in embarrassment. "Uh … sorry." Was all he said, clearing his throat.

"You were tired …" she shrugged casually, looking at him. He gave a grateful smile at her for sparing him. "I would be to if I had some annoying bitch running me around day and night." she sneered, going back to her magazine.

"Hey!" Derek snapped at her. Jesse slapped the periodical down and looked at him in confusion.

"Where the hell did that come from?"

There was a silence in the room as both seemed lost for words.

"Just uh … just watch it, okay." He finally spoke. The scantily clad female brought her knees to her chest and fixed him with a thoughtful look.

"Derek, just because Kyle was in love with her, doesn't mean you have to show undying loyalty." She tilted her head.

Her sentence struck a nerve in Derek that was the equivalent of a root canal. Sarah had, and always will be Kyle's girl, his love, his angel. So was he betraying his brother's memories, was he betraying Kyle by dreaming, by feeling this way about his princess?

"Why don't you come over here … and finish me off?" Jesse smiled seductively, reaching for Derek. Guilt overtook him, and he backed away from her.

"I uh, I need to go." He got up, and walked to the door.

"Really?" she said, getting to her knees.

"Sorry … I just got to go." He grabbed his jacket and exited the hotel room,

John Connor sat on a diner stool reading the newspaper.

"Garbage"

He hated the Los Angeles Times; everything was opinion and not so much news anymore. But either way it was a nice distraction from what had been playing in his head. He had just come from letting Cameron have it for, once again, shadowing him and Riley on their mall trip. He sighed in disappointment at himself, because he had called her names, and said things that earned the cyborg mocking laughter from all of the girls in the dress store she had been using as a stake out. The incident tainted the rest of his and Riley's hang out, and he had decided to go, leaving Riley to herself.

John touched his thumb and index finger to the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes. He felt so much like an abusive husband these days, publicly crucifying and belittling his protector. All he needed was a white tank top and to slap her around when she brought him dinner. Riley had encouraged his behavior, telling him that he needs to give her a firm hand when it came to his privacy.

However John was starting to feel like he was going way too far in this war of independence with his family. He missed his mother and thier talks; there was a time when they told each other everything. It seemed like a long time ago now, but it wasn't really. After killing Sarcissian, he didn't know what to say to her, he didn't know what to say to himself. He had killed a man, he knew it was for the right reasons, but he couldn't handle the guilt of knowing Sarah had guilt over the incident. He didn't like her knowing that there were no limits to what he would do for her.

That went double for Cameron. She knows he had more than just feelings for her, she knew that he was in love with her, and she had used that against him. Now, after he'd saved her life, she believes that he can't be trusted. He felt so exposed with both people he loved knowing the lengths and his limits. He felt like he was too close for comfort.

All of these things had led to Riley. He didn't know a thing about her, and her him. It was the perfect set up, no strings and no questions, just a running buddy who generally liked him for him. But lately there had been something off about her. He chalked it up to him being paranoid when it came to the women in his life; especially after the incidents on his birthday,. But for some reason he felt the more time he spent with Riley, the more he was drifting away from the people he loved.

"Why do I have to choose?"

He gave an exasperated sigh at the situation he was placed in.

"You okay?"

He looked up to see Sarah in her nylon, Mary Sue, fifties uniform. John nodded his head silently.

"Dodgers made a bad trade." He lied showing her the sports page. Sarah frowned, knowing he was lying to her. John lowered his head, pretending to read the paper, and attempted to avoid the hurt expression on her face; the one his five-year-old self had proclaimed his best friend. After a moment Sarah flipped a page on her pad and left, giving her son one last look. John breathed easily when she was gone.

"I wish there was some sort of sign from my future as to what to do about Cameron."

His thoughts were interrupted by man who dropped onto the stool next to him. He was tall, with an athletic build, with a designer scruff on a handsome face. He was dressed in blue jeans. A faded black t-shirt was covered by a well-worn, leather button-up jacket with its collar propped up in the back. John glanced at him, then went back to the account of a football game. Not knowing why, he thought fate was going to answer his prayer.

"Hey kid, you know where I am?" the man had a deep, yet youthful voice. John turned to stare into familiar, stoic brown eyes that made him pause. The man twitched an eyebrow at the reaction.

"Malt Shop Diner" he said after a moment.

The twenty -something frowned in small annoyance. "Yeah, thanks, I mean what district?" he growled tiredly.

"Van Nuys" John responded as if the man was clueless.

"Awesome" he said flatly, running his hand through thick, black curls. John observed him a moment, sensing an uneasy tension.

"Hey, you okay buddy?" John asked, though he wasn't sure why he cared.

"Yeah … fine." He said closing his eyes and touching the bridge of his nose with his index finger and thumb the way John usually did.

"Tough morning?" the boy asked, with a small curiosity, spotting a fierce, yet somewhat badass facial scar.

"Tough life" He breathed a scoff.

John let out a commiserating chuckle. "I know the feeling." He sighed.

The man threw a matching pirate grin at him. John felt a sudden kinship to the stranger who was digging in his coat pocket for something. Spotting his mom, John called out to her.

"Hey can I get a coffee?" John asked. Sarah nodded taking a cup and a pot. She placed the mug in front of her son, but he motioned to the man next to him. Sarah frowned and slid it over and poured the distracted man a cup. Smelling it he sipped it a moment.

"Thanks …" he took an almost startled paused, and locked a stare with Sarah, who nodded but seemed just as taken with the him as he was her.

John felt a little awkward sitting watching the stare down that was lasting past the social norm.

"Mom …" John cleared his throat, pulling out some money. Sarah snapped out of the trance and blinked; she smiled softly at the man, and turned to John who handed her two dollars. Then with a cheeky grin he handed the waitress a fifty dollar tip. The private joke the two engaged in suddenly made Sarah's day as she walked away with a happy grin; because after five months she finally saw her baby shine through all the angst and anger. Smiling to himself, John turned to the man who had a weirded out look on his face. He seemed to want to poke John to see if he was actually real. John wasn't sure why but the man looked so familiar.

"Those eyes, they look just like …"

"Umm … do we know each other?" John asked, interrupting his own thoughts. The man grunted and looked back at his coffee a bit too quickly.

"Don't think so." He said, avoiding the teens gaze. John frowned at the reaction.

There was a buzz in John's hoody pocket that took his attention. He pulled a cell phone out and flipped it open, reading a text.

Want to go to a movie?

-Riley

He sighed, looking up at Sarah who was pretending that she wasn't watching him check his phone. He turned back to the man who was drinking his coffee in silence. Those sober, brown eyes stung John's heart as he thought of Cameron.

"Take it easy." John said to the man.

"Yeah" he nodded.

As he left he felt eyes burning a hole in the back of his head. He gazed back at the man who was still slumped over sipping his coffee. Something about him woke an urge to go find Cameron.

A black sedan drove from the company town of Charm Acres, down a secluded gravel road to a forest with a large house hidden within. The columned, Victorian mansion was guarded by small, out of place woods that gave the location a fairy tale setting. The painted, white home was surrounded by a black, barred fence, softened with shrubs and hedges.

Passing through a gate, the car followed a paved road that ended in a circle in front of the house. In the middle on a small patch of grass, a statue of Aries, the Greek god of war, stood with his sword pointed towards the heavens When the vehicle stopped in front of the entrance, a deathly-pale woman with pin-curled, chocolate-brown hair, clothed in a maroon blazer and matching business skirt, stepped out of the back seat, on to the paved driveway . With purposeful clicks of her heels, Dr. Serena Kogen, walked up the stairs to her mansion. Without missing a beat, the door was opened for her by an elderly gentleman in a penguin style dress suit. The sickly looking woman removed shades that covered sallow, gold-flecked brown eyes and looked to the butler.

"How was he today?" she asked in an elegant, somewhat lisped, English accent. The man turned to his mistress.

"Our guest has taken to the basement cellar as usual, only accepting the company of the beautiful young woman you sent to him." The man also spoke with a refined English accent.

"That will be all Mr. Hammond." She said dismissively.

"Very good, ma'am." He disappeared up a large staircase.

She walked through a large, expensively furnished, sterile white living room . She liked the color white; it was pure, clean and emotionless. It reminded her of her home in Skynet's Eugenics lab. Crossing through an all-white kitchen, she walked to a door between the pantry and the start of a hallway. Opening it, the smell of body odor and decay hit the doctor's nose with force. She had become use to it by now, and without hesitation she walked down the steps into the gloomy darkness of the basement.

Upon hitting the last step, she nearly tripped over the naked body of a beautiful, milky-skinned dead woman with long, smooth raven curls. Serena gave the broken body a curious tilt of her head.

"What was wrong with this one?" Serena sighed with a slight irritation. She turned her gaze to an enormous shadow of a figure sitting in a chair facing a desk. A chrome opera mask sat surrounded by scattered surveillance photos of Sarah Connor.

"She was too frail." The voice was growled as if he'd swallowed several peppers, and held a hint of a mechanical echo. Serena shrugged and continued toward him.

"Darling … you shouldn't spend so much time down here, it's bad for you." She said in a motherly tone. He spun his chair to face her; his head shadowed in the blackness of the basement.

"My father raised me in darkness, so darkness is where I shall remain." He said powerfully. Serena took a visible step back, as if she was being threatened. He said nothing else, simply stared at the sickly woman with crazed, blood-shot bluish-purple eyes that glow in the dark.

After a moment she continued forward, walking beside him and stared at the photos of the beautiful green-eyed woman that littered the entire dank dungeon like subterranean sanctuary. She gave a contemplative sigh, picking up a particular picture of Sarah embracing a young child in front of a bus stop.

"What?" the shadow asked at the sound of her thoughtful breath.

"It's almost been a year, and yet you haven't made a move to take her… why?" She asked. The man tightened his muscles at the questioning of his tactics.

"You simpering fool." He accused the woman darkly. "You're blinded by your arrogance. My father has launched many frontal attacks against the Connors, and yet they remain and the attackers are no more." He chastised in a controlled rage that was deep and murderous. "I will not make the same mistake of my metal brethren. I will wait and study my enemy's strengths and weaknesses, and when their precious family is scattered and decayed, that's when I'll take what's mine." His voice had a dark determination.

"How are you supposed to scatter them if you don't act?" the doctor asked, putting the picture down on the desk.

"I won't have too." He replied.

Serena frowned, puzzled at the monster of a man's line of thought. Samson continued as if sensing her confusion.

"With my father's hunter out of the way, the Connors will feel safe, knowing that there is no one here that knows them. But with safety breeds confidence and with confidence comes recklessness. Soon the seeds of their personal problems will bloom, splitting them apart, spreading them thin." He explained as if it were simple math.

"When will this separation start to happen?" the brunette asked, not seeing what her ward did.

"It already has." He answered with a voice of gratification. "John Connor is slipping from my beloved's grasp. He's rebellious, pressured; little by little he's drifting from his family, with the help of a blond whore, trained by a human traitor. But, more importantly, he's drifting from his protector." There was smugness to his voice.

"It's elementary knowledge that where ever John Connor is, Cameron Connor is not far behind." She protested.

"Yes, but Cameron Phillips is very much isolated right now, alone with her demons … with no one to reassure her. Soon she'll start dreaming up fearful scenarios in her broken little chip, with a very traumatizing human fear of hurting a man she doesn't even realize she loves … she'll do our job for us." There was sound of wet sloshing of exposed flesh moving as Samson smiled.

"And what of Derek Reese?" She asked.

"He's all lion and no fox, a minor annoyance; that is about to be taken care of as we speak." He growled in pain all of the sudden. There was a sound of a small popping of meat; a rancid liquid began to leak from his face down to his chest. Serena winced and began to search a bag on the desk.

"There're whispers from our international sources that a Tech-Com officer is on his way." She spoke to distract him from the pain, until she could extract from her bag a syringe filled with green liquid.

"Maybe there is, but …" he paused while she injected him, the sudden relief from the pain that came over him made him sigh in pleasure, clearing his head. "He would be ignorant of our plans." He finished.

Serena began tracing the hardened, yet soft, fleshy shoulders of the man.

"Now who's being arrogant?" she teased playfully, massaging him.

"What is there to fear? John Connor is dead and his metal witchate a plasma rifle rather than spend eternity without him." He said dismissively.

"Yet you're forgetting the man who did this to you in the first place … or do you dismiss Ryan Connor as well?" she asked. Serena felt all the enormous muscles under her palms tighten in anger at the mention of the name.

"The Detective is not a problem." He breathed in restraint.

"He's a prodigal martial artist, and he defeated you in combat, if you don't remember." She chastised, touching the man's face which caused him to suck in air of intense pain.

"Only through trickery and deceit, which he inherited from his witch mother." His words cut through the stale air like a knife.

"He fought with his intelligence … a lesson that you seem to have learned." Serena commented in a tone of maternal pride. There was a pause as his muscles contracted in a bottomless pit of rage. There was the sound of more pops, and little rivers of foul smelling ooze ran down his neck.

"If Ryan Connor is here, in this time, in an attempt to once again stand between me and my love …" he sucked in air as if the very thought challenged his existence.

"I'LL BREAK HIM!"

Outside a strip mall Cameron stood at a window, staring at a passel of little girls in tutus. They wobbled and stumbled as a pretty blond teen in a leotard smiled, helping the kindergarten aged girls form the right ballet positions. Cameron tilted her head at the sight, and observed that the girls would not achieve optimal balance for another several years due to their age and height. A pretty, little brunette girl, who wasn't paying attention, turned her wondering gaze to Cameron. The girl waved at her with a big smile. The older girl mimicked the motion, which only brightened the little ballerina's smile. Their moment was ruined by the blond who came up to the girl and chastised her for not paying attention. Looking up the girl gave a friendly smile to Cameron, followed by a "See what I have to work with?" look. Cameron returned the smile softly before the blond went on her way.

"Hey, what are you doing?" The voice of John Connor called to her. She turned her head to meet his gaze. His eyes weren't focused on her, and he was shifting his weight a little.

"He's guilty"

"I was simply watching toddlers attempt to learn the intricacies of the hidden language of the soul." She explained. John gave confused smile at her explanation; he walked up next to her sharing her view of the studio.

"Getting any good?" he asked.

"They all have potential, but I believe the little brunette has the right body type for such a profession as dancing, but she lacks the focus." She gave a human-like sigh of disappointment. John chuckled shaking his head at her. Cameron turned and looked him in the eye.

"I thought you didn't want to see my stupid look of puppy-dog-affection as long as you lived?" She asked in an emotionless voice despite the fact that there was something hurt in her eyes. John bit his lip at his hot words being repeated to him. He looked down in shame and cleared his throat.

"About that …" he spoke up.

"I'm sorry" Cameron said suddenly.

"For what?" John looked up at her in confusion.

"I once again tread on your personal life after I said that I wouldn't … you're right to be angry." She spoke in a sad voice, and then she held out a bag to him. He took it, shell shocked at her sentence.

"What's this?" he asked.

"When you have hurt someone, it's customary to purchase a tight present for them." She replied.

John suddenly got images of a small apartment where Cameron brings him dinner while he's sitting on a couch, he tastes it, and then with a look of disgust he slaps her.

"Cam, I can't take this …" he shook his head in guilt.

"Why not?" She seemed slightly offended.

"Because …" he shifted again. "Because, I'm the one who did the hurting." He spoke with shame in his voice, it was a tone she didn't like to hear from him.

"John …" she said in protest but he held his hand out to stop her.

"I shouldn't have said those thing to you … it was wrong and there is no excuse." He said with the lowering of his head. Then he pulled something out of his hoody pocket.

"I'm sorry" he handed her an object wrapped in purple paper. She tilted her head, and looked at the present.

"What is it?" she asked weighing it in her hands.

John smiled playfully and gave a shrug that made him look like Sarah Connor's son.

"Open it and find out."

Cameron tore open the paper to reveal a pair of brand-new ballet slippers.

"I know you lost your old ones in the house fire, and when I saw you standing out here I thought you might want some new ones." He responded with his hands in his pockets.

"Thank you" she grinned the same grin he received in Red Valley before Cromartie's assault on them. He shrugged humbly. She then turned to the brown bag in his hand. He looked at her, then the package in his hand. Cameron motioned him to open it. With a guilty press of his lips he opened the brown paper bag and extracted a large, sleek-looking, chromed .45 pistol with a rubber grip.

"Wow, this is …" John couldn't find the words to expresses how he was feeling.

"I know you wanted a weapon that was your own, and when I saw it, it reminded me of you." Cameron added with a hopeful look in her normally stoic eyes. John nodded feeling a strange attachment to the weapon already.

"Thanks …" he smiled his trade mark pirate grin. The couple got lost in each other's eyes. Time seemed to stand still as their gazes absorbed every fiber of their beings.

"Hey, Cat Fancy!" A blond in a low-cut tank top and jeans walked toward them. John broke eye contact, and quickly hid Cameron's present. Though she understood the action, it stung her a bit.

"Hey Riley …" he half sighed.

"Way to flatter a girl." She grinned, giving him a playful push. Turning, Riley found Cameron still staring at John. "What's wrong with her?" she whispered loudly.

"Nothing is wrong. John and I were just making conversation." Cameron glared at the girl.

"Sorry, but when John didn't text back, I thought he died or something." She said with nudge John's way.

"You expect every person you text to text back?" Cameron challenged passively.

"If they're smart." The girl tossed an arm around John's shoulder. Cameron balled her fist at the action. She immediately unclenched her fist and feared that she just experienced a glitch.

"I should go." Cameron said quickly. Riley looked pleased at the statement, but John looked stunned with whiplash.

"Hey … you don't have to." John said catching her hand.

Cameron became conflicted with what to do, on one hand she didn't want to leave John alone for his own protection, but on the other, his safety depended on her keeping her distance. She was also letting her judgment be influenced by the strange feeling of euphoria that was coursing through her at John's touch. She ran a diagnostic to find that her systems didn't record any glitches in her chip since she had masqueraded as Allison Young. The incident was a reminder from Skynet's sentient consciousness trapped in her chip that she was a killer and nothing more. Yet, the more moments like this with John, the more she felt like the risk was worth it.

"Okay John." She smiled and nodded. He grinned back at her and returned the nodded.

"Movie then?" Riley snatched John's hand off Cameron's and took it in hers.

"Umm yeah …" he responded.

Not one to be one upped, Cameron locked her arm in Johns earning her a private glare from Riley. As the three teens walked down a yellowed sidewalk, John asked a question.

"Anyone want to see the wizard?"

"You think he likes his women baking buns?"

Sarah gave Kacy a strange look as the pregnant woman leaned over the counter watching the rugged stranger like a horny teenager.

"Was that weird to say?" she asked Sarah, who made a small gesture with her thumb and index finger. "Uh … if I get a call from his teacher one day, because he's saying strange things in class, I don't think I can punish him." Kacy patted her baby bump with a sigh. Sarah smiled and shook her head.

"Ah … he did it again!" the blond said with an alarmed, happy voice.

"Did what?" Sarah counted her tip money.

"He so looked at you." She said with a smug grin. Sarah looked up at the man who seemed to be absorbed in writing in a weathered, leather bound journal while munching on his third burger basket and going through his fourth soda.

Sarah had to admit that when she poured him his coffee that John had bought him, there was something very familiar about him. There was also something between them that could only be described as a connection of some sort.

"You should ask him to the party." Kacy smiled.

"I'm okay." Sarah frowned.

"Oh come on, he's clearly into you, why not buy a sexy costume and let him defile you?" Kacy gave a raunchy smile and bumped Sarah. She once again gave her friend a weird look.

"Did I say something weird again?" Kacy asked with a frown like she was replaying the sentence in her head.

"I don't think you know how to use defile with the right context." Sarah stated.

"Really …?" Kacy's frown grew. "Jeez, I have been using that word since junior year." She shrugged.

This time Sarah caught the look he gave her. It was passing, but it was defiantly directed at her. Paranoia got the better of her with thoughts of him being a cop or even a machine.

"There's only one way to find out."

Seeing that he was low on his soda, Sarah found her opening and approached him, ignoring Kacy's encouraging swat to Sarah's ass. He didn't seem to notice or didn't care that she was looming over him.

"Can I get you anything?" she asked with a charming smile. He stopped writing and looked up at her. There was an uneasy look in his eyes.

"Yeah maybe directions to a … restroom." He grunted like he was going to be sick. She pointed to the back of the restaurant. He nodded and got up walked quickly out of sight.

"Dude got sick stuffing himself with my hamburger recipe … Sarah you got to marry this guy!" Kacy whooped loudly across half the restaurant. She glared at her with and shook her head, suddenly looking at the brown leather book he was writing in. She gave a guilty sigh and read the black ink inside, biting her lip.

29th October, 2008

Personal Entry # 32

Had a Cup of coffee just before dawn this morning, on the Seahawk.

Now I'm sitting in a diner in Van Nuys thumbing through the old man's journal trying to figure out where to go from here. But reading it seems to be like the empty miles of ocean I've traveled. The memories on the page and in my head … they just seem to linger on and on. And it hurts more than I care to admit.

Not to mention that I just saw her again, she looks different, still one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen. She's a tad bit older than I'm use to, but there's no one like her on the planet. Every time I look into those eyes all I see is my ignorance and failure to stop what was coming.

If I had known that it would cost mom and dad, I would have done it different. But I've promised myself it will be different this time. As long as I can protect her and keep her safe, there's a happy ending to this lost highway.

Sarah could feel the sorrow and regret leaking off the ink and into her heart. She wasn't sure what he was talking about, but she could tell that whoever "She" was, he loved her a great deal. Suddenly a hand reached across her torso and the book slammed shut. With a startle she looked into dark eyes in her personal space.

"You angling for a tip?" the man asked flippantly motioning to the journal. A sense of embarrassment reddened Sarah's cheeks at being caught being nosy and how close he had gotten without her noticing it.

"Sorry … didn't mean to eaves drop." She apologized to him. Before he could respond she walked away, wanting to scurry under a rock to hide her embarrassment. He watched her go, eyes lightening with her back to him.

"You know … I could have distracted him if you wanted to go through his stuff." Kacy grinned. Sarah scowled at her, making sure to keep out of sight of the man who went back to flipping through the book.

"He's some sort of Detective …but not a cop."

Sarah leaned against the counter in relief at the notion that he wasn't someone out there to get her and her family. He was just genuinely interested in her because he thinks she was beautiful, or she hoped that was the case. There was a small smile that graced her lips, despite her warrioress exterior; it was nice to know she was still one who could turn heads in the room.

Her smile was wiped off her face when Charlie Dixon entered the diner.

"That was damn close." Ryan thought as he gave a cautious flick of his eyes to Sarah, who was trying to avoid his gaze.

"If she would have flipped the page …"

He shuddered at the thought of years of combat and training and he would meet his death at the hands of a Mary Sue waitress. The last sounds he would have heard being golden oldies, at least he thought that's what the really old music was called. After a moment he went back to John's old journal, seeking anything he might find useful in the binder-like diary.

"Derek's safe house location might be a nice find." He huffed, going over old campaign notes and one really disturbing entry about how much his old man loved to stroke Cameron's bare stomach. "Being in Dad's head is a double-edged sword."

While hunting for names and dates, he would keep an eye on Sarah, who seemed to be irritated beyond belief at some guy in a blue uniform shirt and black pants. He looked like he was in his mid-forties, buzz cut.

"Looks like an asshole."

He turned his gaze down when the two caught him looking, Sarah's face turning red again. Ryan decided to take a break from surveillance as he flipped through the book, wondering were french fries had been his entire life, popping a few in his mouth despite already throwing up.

15th December, 2022

Personal Entry # 7

Where could Weaver have taken Cameron?

It's coming up on two years since I took Cowboy on the search with me. I probably should have left him with Lauren and Martin, but Cameron's his mother and if I didn't take him with me, then he probably would have gone to look for her on his own.

Genetics are a bitch.

But the further I chase their trail into the fringes and frontiers, the more I feel I'm losing myself. I can't give up on my love, yet if I'm not there to lead humanity, then Skynet wins.

At night when Cowboy's asleep, Mom comes to me like an angel out of the dark jungle, she tells me it's time to let Cameron go and move on.

"People matter, they're all that matter, and Cameron isn't people, John."

Maybe Mom's spirit is right, but then she isn't real, a figment of imagination. Yet her touch is real and her warmth is human when I hold her in my arms.

God …

If it wasn't for Cowboy's million questions and banter I think I might lose my mind.

"Huh" Ryan popped another fry in his mouth, contemplating that time of his life.

Chasing cold trail after cold trail in the rainforests of Central America, hoping the next track, next clue would lead to his mother. He went rigid as he remembered watching each busted lead slowly break his father mentally. "No Child should watch their parent slowly lose their mind." He ate another fry bitterly mulling over the memories swirling in his head.

A figure dropped in the stool next to him. Ryan ignored it and flipped a page scanning over the content; he could feel someone staring at him. He turned to find the man who had been talking to Sarah sizing him up from a stool over.

"Can I help you?" he asked dismissively.

"Couldn't help but notice that you seemed to be very keen on watching Sarah." The man didn't seem appreciate the soldier's tone.

"Why, you fishing for a date sun beam?" Ryan replied arrogantly, taking as much of an immediate dislike to the man as he had him.

Charlie clenched his jaw at the punk youth. "You know … she's not much for arrogant jerks." Dixon responded to him. Ryan scoffed at the older man.

"Well, looks like we have more in common then you thought." He slapped the paramedic's chest in a mock friendly motion. There was a fire in the weekend biker's eyes as the younger man returned to his book.

"You're a real piece of work you know that, kid." He said with an angry huff.

"I'll pass the sentiments to mom and dad." He said without looking up. Another presence made itself known from behind the counter.

"What's going on?" Sarah asked forcefully. Charlie shifted uncomfortably, while Ryan just seemed amused.

"Well either Fuzzy's in love or he's trying to play matchmaker." Ryan replied easily with a shrug. Sarah turned an angry glare at Charlie, who seemed very unhappy with the officer's new nickname for him. There was a silent moment before she unceremoniously dumped a brown to-go bag on the counter.

"You know where the door is." She addressed the EMS coldly. Charlie took the bag and, with one last sour look at the young man, he left. There was a beat of silence as Sarah paused with a conflicted hurt expression on her face. Ryan looked at her with a wince of sympathy at her pained eyes.

"I miss him already." he sighed sarcastically.

"Oh …" Sarah ran a hand thru her hair. "I'm sorry about that." She apologized.

"So … what was that about?" Ryan asked, stopping his mimicking of the same inherited personal tick. Sarah shot him a look that said it was none of his business.

"Huh, I seem to remember a certain waitress nosing through my journal …" he gave her a poignant look. Sarah frowned at him, but relented.

"He's my ex-fiancé … his wife left him three months ago, so now he thinks he's seen the light when it comes to us." She shook her head at the explanation, as if the thought of the situation was stressful to her heart.

"Don't feel the same?" Ryan lifted in eyebrow.

"It's not that …" Sarah shifted. "It's sort of like I have two paths in front of me, each from different parts of my life and now I'm forced to choose." She shrugged playing with a sugar packet container.

"You got a preference?' Ryan asked.

"I'm not sure … Charlie is the safe bet, he loves me, loves my son, but he's not suitable for the life we lead …" Sarah paused, stuck her hands out and looked up in confusion. Ryan chuckled at her goofy gesture.

"Sounds to me like you're holding Sun Beam at arm's length, but you're waiting on someone else." He gave her a Cheshire grin. Sarah gave him a look that said he hit the nail on the head.

"Maybe …" Sarah sighed giving another conflicted face into space.

"In the end … it's whoever is willing to go the extra mile for you and your boy. That's who deserves you." He toasted her with a small smile, and downed the last of his soda.

Her face lightened with and a grateful smile graced her lips as she watched him. It made her feel good to every once in a while to talk to someone about her problems and receive advice. It took less than a couple of seconds before she realized that she had just opened up to a complete stranger about a very private problem. There was something about the brown eyed man that projected a sense of deep caring for her that made her feel something warm inside, but also suspicion at why he cared so much.

The diner door opened followed by a familiar voice that announced the arrival of a three people.

"I'm not a soccer mom and I'm sure as hell not you two's limo driver!" Derek chastised the two teens he was opening the door for.

"Whatever" John scoffed in irritation at his uncle's ranting.

Sarah moved off her musing and went to her family.

"What is it?" She sighed at the soldier.

"Derek is angered because we needed a ride from the movie theaters; I believe he shares a stereotypical male fear of domestication." Cameron responded with a small shared irritation at the ranting.

"And how." John joined in , teasing the older man with a smug grin at his reddening face. Derek looked back and forth between the teens and scoffed.

"Shut up" he growled, and slinked away to talk to Sarah.

John went back to the spot he'd been sitting an hour ago to find Ryan still there.

"You still here?" John asked with a friendly chuckle. Ryan nodded at him as John sat on the stool next him.

"Just trying to get some bearings here." he replied closing the journal.

"Yeah, you seemed a little rough around the edges earlier." John shrugged.

"More than a little." Ryan breathed, looking at him in the same sort of weird look that he had when John left. There was an awkward pause between the two before each looked the other way.

"Oh shit!" Ryan cursed inwardly when he saw an extremely beautiful girl in a blue jean mini-skirt and a black tank top walk purposefully toward the Connor males. Unlike John and Sarah, Ryan knew it wouldn't take his future mom long to not only identify his similarities to John, but match his cybernetic arm and eye with her own. When the angelic beauty strayed toward them, Ryan turned his head down avoiding eye contact with her.

"You have a friend?" Cameron asked John turning toward the slumped figure. John felt weird at the way she asked the question but decided to answer anyway.

"Uh … sort of, we kind of had several conversations." He offered, hoping Ryan would jump in. He didn't.

Cameron tilted her head at the man, unable to get a threat assessment of him. She shifted closer to him. He responded by getting lower. Cameron scowled in curiosity at the action. There was something familiar about the man that interested her, yet when she tried to scan him, her identification software became jammed. She tried over and over again only to meet error after error. Cameron failed to notice the small blue glow from Ryan's right eye as he jammed his mother's scanners. Though this tactic generally didn't work on other machines, because the two shared the same cybernetics and neural networks, it created a great interference between them.

"Cameron …" John hissed, as she stared with determination at the man who was trying hard to ignore her. She turned from her internal battle towards John who was giving her his trade mark "Quit acting like a freak." look. With a troubled press of her lips she broke the conflict and gave a very human sigh.

"I'm not going!" Derek announced out loud, trying to walk away from Sarah from behind the counter. Then with an avenging force she slammed Derek's retreating form down on the counter.

"You are not making me go to this alone … you hear me! You are coming with me and that's final!" she growled dangerously, pinning him to the malt shop bar.

"What's going on?" John gave an embarrassed sigh at his parental figures who seemed to treat all thier spats like high school dramas.

"We're, going to Kacy's Halloween party!" Sarah announced to her son, putting more pressure on her roommates head. Derek shifted his gaze to John with a look of vengeance.

"If I have to come so do they." Derek demanded motioning to the two teens.

"Oh … no, I'm not going to that thing." John shook his head at the woman who raised him.

"I'm sorry, I don't believe there was a choice in this." Sarah flicked commanding eyes to her family.

There was a sad resignation from all of them when they realized that there was no getting out of this. That was, except for Cameron, who was under the impression from their reaction that this "Halloween" was a suicide mission. And that meant that John's safety was now more important than ever.

Their bickering was interrupted by Kacy, who had arrived with Sarah's pay for her one day of service.

"Thanks a lot for your help today Sarah, it's too bad you were only a one day temp …" Kacy sighed slipping the check into Sarah's tip pouch while the woman still had her roomy pinned to the bar with her forearm..

Seeing that she once again gotten her way, Sarah released Derek and straightened her skirt. She motioned all of her family out of the restaurant. Everyone got up and left with goodbyes to an amused Kacy, who always loved to watch her favorite reality show "Sarah and Derek: The Real life odd couple"

Derek lingered behind, rubbing the side of his face. He however paused at the young man on the stool. There were no words, just a cocky grin and a small salute toward the lieutenant, but before he could respond Sarah tugged Derek out the door.

There was an affectionate smile on the pregnant woman's face, turning to the officer on the stool she sighed.

"I love those guys." She grinned.

"Nothing is ever dull it seems." Ryan chuckled with relief that they were gone.

"So …" the blond gave a sly grin as a plan formulated in her head to help her friend out.

"You want to come to a party?"

A bald man in a silk suit sat on the hood of a black sedan. His black shades glared in the sun as he flipped a knife in skillful play. His eyes narrowed and a sadistic smile spread over his lips as he watched a seemingly close knit family. Watching Derek Reese slip into the driver's seat of a Ram pickup, he caught his knife in a ready position