Hi guys,
Thanks to reviewers, acer-sigma, TK-MR, kaotic2, Amaterasu-Black Flame, fullhans1, The1Russter, CloudyShadows and jojobevco.
(More in the footnotes)
John closed the door behind him very quietly. Or rather, he thought he did.
"Sssshhhhh" he held his index finger up to his lips, gesturing at the ludicrously noisy door.
He turned and bumped in to the inconveniently placed table near the door, cursing under his breath.
"Who in the name of...hic...put that there?" he said to no one in particular.
He managed to stumble in to the kitchen, feeling a sudden urge to eat anything as long as it was even remotely made of animal.
Mmmmmmm, hot dogs.
He hunted around in the fridge for a moment before finding the magical packet he was searching for. He pulled it out, all the while thanking the guy who invented the microwave oven.
"Genius, sheer...hic...genius"
He brought his treasure over to the counter and proceeded to try to rip the packet open. He failed miserably.
"Who in the name of...hic...thought it was a good...hic...idea to put these in plastic god damn...hic...wrap?"
He opened the cutlery drawer, fumbling in amongst the spoons, forks and guns before he acquired his target, a big damn knife!
"You should not be handling sharp objects while in your current inebriated state"
He whirled around so fast at the sudden voice that he almost fell flat on his back, only his hand on the counter prevented it.
"Dondoothat"
She tilted her head as her CPU processed the possible meanings of what he had just said to her.
"I don't understand"
"I said...hic...don, doo, that"
"Thank you for explaining"
He turned back to the counter and started slashing and stabbing at the increasingly annoying plastic packet. After a couple of seconds he felt the knife being snatched from his grasp.
"Hey"
"Sit down John"
"Dontchoo tell mee whaddadoo"
"Sit down. I will make your sandwich for you"
John did his best to look at her sceptically for a moment. He was greeted by a slight smile, a smile which would placate him no matter his state of mind. He moved over to the kitchen table and sat down facing her, silently watching as she worked on his sandwich. He felt exhaustion creeping over him and laid his head down on his crossed arms for just a moment.
Cameron knew from her brief scan while removing the knife from his grasp that sleep would overcome him soon. She made it look as if she was making him a sandwich when in actuality she was consciously keeping her back turned to him. She wasn't exactly 'flaunting it' as she had heard some girls say back in high school, but she had noticed that he had taken a liking to looking at her butt when she wore her new pyjama bottoms.
Having something to concentrate on will make him fall asleep faster.
Sure enough she heard a faint snore emanating from the vicinity of the table soon after he sat down. She turned and looked over at him thoughtfully for a moment. While she was immensely relieved that he was home safe, she felt what she assumed was guilt for not following and protecting him. She did not like this feeling, not one little bit.
With stealth only terminators are capable of she moved to the table. She stood for a moment, analysing the optimal method of moving John Connor without waking him. She gently slid one of her arms under his extended and crossed arms, using them to lever his head and neck back to her other waiting arm. His head gently lolled back and she caught it gracefully. From then on it was simply a matter of getting her other arm under his legs and effortlessly lifting him off the chair. Once he was secure she made her way up the stairs, trying not to disturb her charge. She entered his bedroom and laid his sleeping form down on his bed, John stirring slightly as she did. He grasped her hand when she was trying to remove it, tugging it down underneath his head and letting it take the strain off his neck. He shuffled about for a second before finding a comfortable spot and drifting back off in to a deep sleep.
She stood hunched over his bed with her hand trapped under his head. He looked so peaceful while sleeping that she didn't really want to risk disturbing him by moving.
If Sarah Connor finds you like this she will 'freak out'.
She smiled to herself for her use of a colloquial term. John stirred slightly and she seized the opportunity, pulling her hand free before he settled again. She left his room silently, returning a moment later with the blanket that he had covered her with earlier. She laid it over him and pulled it up to his chin, repeating his earlier actions. She then did what she felt was normal and bent down to place a soft kiss on his cheek.
"Good night John"
She lingered there for a moment longer before turning and leaving his room. She descended the stairs and took up her usual nightly position staring out of the living room window.
John awoke with the feeling that his head was about to explode. His tongue felt like sandpaper and he felt sick to his stomach.
Ugh, I am never drinking again.
He opened his eyes and immediately regretted it. He mustered up enough strength to stick his middle finger up at the window. Damn sun. He pulled the blanket up over his head with the intent of getting back to sleep. He took a deep breath through his nose and picked up the faint scent of strawberries.
What the hell?
He moved his head around a little and took a closer sniff of the blanket.
Yup, definitely strawberries. Sniff. Wait, where did this blanket come from anyway?
He risked opening his eyes again to inspect the blanket, careful to keep them away from the sun. He recognised the blanket as the one he laid over Cameron yesterday. He also recognised the smell.
It's her shampoo, I'd recognise it anywhere.
He took another deep lungful of air, inhaling her scent once again. He was enjoying it immensely until the memories of why he had gotten himself so drunk came flooding back to him. He had kissed her.
Ugh, John you jackass, what did you kiss her for?
With an annoyed grunt he rolled over and found himself in his bed fully clothed. Wow, even drunk I'm a true legend with awesome homing abilities.
SLAM
"Wakey wakey John. We've got a busy day, lots to do"
Sarah was greeted with an annoyed growl and the sight of her son pulling the blanket over his head.
"Come on, up. You can't spend all day in bed"
"Urgh, why not? What is so important that I can't sleep in?"
"A Skynet hunt of course"
"Skynet'll still be there when I sober up mom"
She casually strolled over to his bed, grabbed the corner of his blanket and pulled, hard.
"Mom, what the hell?"
"So that's why you're in such a foul mood, you were drinking? That means you went out. John you can't be so stupid. Was...Cameron...with you?"
Not wanting to admit that she was the reason he got drunk in the first place he fought to come up with a believable lie in his current mental state.
"No. I snuck out okay"
"Idiot"
She smacked his ass as hard as she could.
"Don't do it again"
John strained himself to look at her. The two shared a brief smile.
"Yeah okay, sorry mom"
"I understand, everyone needs to get away sometimes. Just make sure you're safe. I know Cromartie isn't out there anymore, but that doesn't mean there aren't still threats to you. Understand?"
Wow, she is in a good mood. Normally she would have spent an hour tearing me a new one about how stupid and reckless I've been.
"Yeah, thanks. So what is this Skynet hunt you were talking about?"
By this point John had struggled to pull himself up to sit with his back to the headboard. He looked and felt like crap, but going on the offensive for a change sounded like a great idea.
"We know where a Kaliba building is located, we're going to go scout it out"
"How'd you manage to find it?"
Sarah seemed to hesitate for a moment.
"Cameron found it. She used your computer to search for the logo she found. It gave her a list of possible locations"
John looked over to his desk and noticed for the first time that his laptop was gone.
"I said I'd do that" he looked at his mother quizzically.
"Yeah well, she doesn't sleep"
John felt himself smiling upon hearing another one of her more common phrases, something Sarah didn't fail to notice.
"Come on get up. I'll make you lunch"
"Don't you mean breakfast?"
Sarah pointed to his bedside alarm clock and gave him a look that told him he was being a total idiot.
"No. I mean lunch. It's past twelve"
John looked at his alarm clock.
Wow, what time did I roll in last night?
"You're putting too much mustard on"
Sarah had been listening to Cameron standing over her shoulder and criticising her hotdog making technique for close to five minutes and was close to snapping.
"You should..."
"ENOUGH..."
She picked up the plate with the sandwich she had prepared and dumped it in the bin. She put the plate back on the counter. She picked up the half empty hot dog packet and a couple of spare buns and placed them in Cameron's hands.
"...you make them"
With that she left the room, bumping in to a dishevelled looking John on the way. She muttered something under her breath about machines and continued on her not very merry way.
John entered the kitchen slightly amused and curious to see what had pissed off his mother so much. He saw Cameron standing with hot dogs in one hand and two buns in the other.
"Wow, déjà vu"
She tilted her head and looked at him confused for a moment.
"Um, never mind. What did you say to my mom?"
"I merely pointed out the optimal method of making hot dogs to her. It seems that my advice was unwelcome"
John smirked at her before seating himself on the stool near the kitchen counter. He rested his chin on his hands and closed his eyes. He felt sleep creeping over him again when he was startled by a glass making contact with the counter. He opened his eyes to see Cameron's hand around said glass slowly sliding it towards him.
"You should drink this. It will replenish your electrolytes...and make you feel better"
He looked at her completely innocent expression and felt a wave of embarrassment sweep over him for some reason.
"Um, thanks"
He took the offered glass of water as she turned back to work on his food. He downed the glass in one and felt himself perk up slightly. He watched her very methodically fix his sandwich. Every movement was so precise, from slicing a bun open to applying just the correct pressure to the ketchup bottle to ensure a smooth flow. He marvelled at her motions, efficient and graceful. Movements that are inherently opposite, but she somehow managed to accomplish both. She turned around, placing in front of him a perfectly presented plate with two delicious looking hot dogs in buns on it. Both with just the right amount of mustard and ketchup that he liked.
How in the hell did she know how I like them?
John imagined there wasn't a great abundance of hot dogs and buns in the future.
"Um, thanks...again"
"You're welcome" she sat down on the stool opposite him on the other side of the counter.
She sat in silence watching him eat with what appeared to be a ravenous appetite.
"John?"
"Mmm?" he managed to get out with a mouthful of processed meat.
"Why do people crave unhealthy foods when they are intoxicated?"
"Ummm..."
He actually had to think for a moment. He hadn't been drunk so many times in his life that it was a regular occurrence, after all he was technically only seventeen years old. He swallowed before answering.
"...I don't know really. I think it's called 'the munchies'"
She tilted her head to regard him sceptically for a moment.
"I guess people just crave food, and they tend to like the ones that smell the best. Those ones are usually the unhealthiest"
"Thank you for explaining"
John smiled, he was enjoying this. He thought it would be incredibly awkward considering what had happened last night. But then again, why would it be awkward? She wasn't a normal teenage girl and he wasn't a normal teenage guy. He kissed her, so what?
Who are you trying to kid Johnny Boy?
His brain was right.
She watched him with a sense of fascination while he ate. He still took the time to explain things to her, despite what had happened last night. She had thought he would be angry with her, that's why he left her to go out drinking. Putting him to bed last night and pestering Sarah enough to get her to leave John's lunch to her to make had been her way of apologising to him. She looked at him struggling to swallow a particularly dry bit of bread. She took the empty glass from the counter, stood and filled it from the dispenser on the front of the fridge. She returned to her seat and handed him the refilled glass. He took it with a smile and accidentally brushed her hand as he did.
The slight touch brought another smile to his face. He put down his remaining hot dog and took a sip from the glass, determined to make this one last longer than the previous one.
"John..."
When she heard no reply from inside the glass she continued.
"...what happened between us last night?"
John almost choked on the mouthful of water he was holding. Instead he spit it out all down himself and started coughing and spluttering. It's not that he wasn't expecting a question like this, but it still caught him off guard.
She merely tilted her head and examined him as he tried to recover from inhaling the liquid. Having the oesophagus and the trachea so close is a design flaw in humans, it is potentially very dangerous. Despite her very mechanical analysis she still felt the need to help, so she stood and moved around behind him. She gently but firmly rubbed his back in a circular motion as she had seen parents perform on their choking children. She waited for the coughing to subside before returning to her seat. She resumed her previous position and patiently awaited an answer.
John took another sip to try and clear his throat. He looked over to her and noticed her expectant and innocent expression.
"Well...um...Cameron...I..."
He was saved from having to continue his 'sentence' as Derek entered the kitchen.
"Hey John, jeez you look like shit"
Glad for the reprieve, John gladly answered his Uncle in good humour.
"Yeah well, I wish I felt that good"
Derek just chuckled while sticking his head in the fridge looking for something tasty. Evidently not finding anything he closed the door and turned to look at his nephew.
"That's what you get for getting so drunk that you can't even stay conscious long enough to get undressed"
John looked down as if noticing his appearance for the first time that day.
"Uh yeah, serves me right I guess"
Derek shifted his gaze to Cameron who was staring intently at John.
"So, what's up with the metal?"
Before John could pull his uncle up on calling Cameron 'metal', she answered for him.
"I am waiting for John to answer my question"
Oh jeez Cameron, I thought you were smarter than this.
"Oh yeah, and what would that question be?"
Just as she opened her mouth to respond, John cut her off.
"Uh, she was just asking me why people eat crap when they are drunk"
John shot Cameron a look she couldn't quite decipher, but his obvious side stepping of her question didn't go unnoticed. She slowly stood and made to leave the room.
"Where are you going?" John asked her back.
"I'm going to prepare for today's mission. You should do the same"
She didn't turn to answer him and her mechanical tone stung him slightly.
"You should probably do the same" Derek said to him as he patted his nephew on the back on his way out of the room.
I hate my life.
John felt orders of magnitude better after a hot shower. Ah, the wonders of being clean. He threw on a pair of jeans, a t-shirt and a hooded jacket and left his bedroom. He made a quick pit stop to the kitchen to swill down another glass of water before heading out the front door. He almost ran in to Cameron standing on the front porch on sentry duty. She didn't say anything or make any indication that she knew he was there. He moved around in front of her.
"Listen Cameron, I..."
A loud obnoxious sounding car horn interrupted him mid sentence.
"Come on John, get your ass moving, and bring the metal with you" John closed his eyes before mumbling under his breath.
"Dammit Derek if I have to tell you again to call her Cameron..."
She turned her head to face him and thanked him with a smile.
"Come on"
She moved past him and headed toward the truck with John close behind. John trotted ahead of her and opened the door to the empty back seat, motioning for her to enter before him. She did and he closed the door behind her. The gesture was noticed by both Derek in the driver's seat and Sarah in the front passenger seat. They watched John like a hawk as he walked around the front of the truck and climbed in the back next to Cameron and behind Derek. He looked at their expressions with a hint of amusement while he buckled his seat belt.
"When you're ready"
Three bored humans and one very alert cyborg had been sitting in the truck opposite a somewhat isolated and dilapidated building for nearly three hours. The building itself wasn't much to look at, not much more than a rundown office building. Plenty of windows, this worried Cameron greatly. While she had near perfect visual acuity, even her advanced processor couldn't track potential targets in so many different locations. Several scenarios ran through her CPU about the possibility of a sniper round penetrating the windshield and harming John. She almost petulantly issued an order to cancel the simulations and refocused on the windows.
Derek tried to stretch his body out in the front seat but couldn't quite get to his full reach, even in the very roomy Dodge Ram.
"I'm starving, anybody else hungry?"
He turned in his seat to look at Sarah alongside and John behind him. Finding them both nodding vigorously and Cameron looking at him with a curious expression on her face, he turned and nodded towards the nearby McDonalds.
"McDonalds okay with everyone?"
Finding them both nodding again, Derek reached in to the glove box and pulled out a small pad of paper and a pen.
"Alright, who wants what? Sarah?"
"I'd like a McChicken sandwich please" Derek scribbled down her order.
"John?"
"I'll have a large double cheeseburger meal with fries and a coke..."
Sarah turned in her seat to look disapprovingly at her son. John caught the look and amended his order.
"...fine. Make that a diet coke"
His smirk placated her for the moment as she turned back to her surveillance with a smile on her face.
Derek noted down John's corrected order and put his hand on the door handle.
"Uh, Derek"
"Yeah"
"Aren't you forgetting something?"
Derek looked at his nephew confused for a moment.
"Uh, no"
John rolled his eyes. Yeah he is, and he knows exactly what I'm talking about.
"Don't you think that maybe Cameron might want something?"
Derek didn't even try to keep the look of disgust off his face.
"No. It's a machine, it doesn't want anything. Especially not fast food"
John leaned forward in his seat until he was right in his uncle's face. He looked at him with what he was hopeful would become the 'General Connor Stare'.
"How do you know if you don't ask?" John growled in his gravelly voice.
The tone in John's question left Derek with no room to manoeuvre. He looked at the metal that still had an inquisitive look on its face.
"Do you want anything?" he said through gritted teeth.
She tilted her head and looked away while considering for a moment before returning her gaze to Derek.
"Could I have a Chocolate McFlurry please?"
The sweet and innocent way she replied made Derek feel sick to his stomach, but one look at the still glaring John Connor forced him in to writing down her order too. He stepped out of the truck and trudged toward the restaurant muttering something about metal and whores under his breath.
The young, pretty, but bored looking employee resting her chin on her hands behind the counter of the McDonalds was filled with two entirely different feelings as she saw Derek approaching the entrance. On one hand here comes a large, dangerous looking man dressed in dark clothing with a pissed off look on his face storming towards her. On the other hand, well...he is cute. She decided not to push the silent alarm and perked up to take his order when he reached her.
"Welcome to McDonalds, what can I get you?" she said it in an annoyingly chirpy tone.
"Uh, yeah, hi. Could I have a McChicken sandwich, two large double cheeseburger meals, both with full fat coke and a..."
He couldn't believe he was actually going to order something for the metal.
"...chocolate McFlurry please"
He watched the girl behind the counter enter the order in to the touch screen register. He looked at her nametag which read 'Lucy'.
"Okay, will that be all sir?"
Derek noticed that she was pushing her chest out towards him and twirling a few strands of her hair rather playfully around her finger. Some other day Derek, remember you're on a mission. He decided to give her a little thrill anyway, desperately wanting to take his mind off the metal.
"Yes. Thank you Lucy"
He was greeted with a bright smile and blushing cheeks from the pretty young blonde as she turned and shuffled off to prepare his order. She returned a few moments later with a large paper bag and a separate ice cream. She put the order down on the counter and looked at the register.
"That'll be fourteen dollars twenty five cents please sir"
She placed both her hands on the counter, the posture pressed her breasts together rather provocatively. Damn Derek, you've certainly still got it. He got his wallet out of his pocket and pulled out a twenty dollar bill. He handed it to over to her.
"Keep the change" he said with a wink.
He turned and left the restaurant, not looking back as he did. When he reached the parking lot he opened the bag to check his order. Sitting on top of the food was a small piece of paper. He pulled it out and looked at it.
555 4672
Call me
Lucy
X
He smiled all the way back to the truck, pocketing the number. You never know.
"What are you smiling about?" Sarah asked as Derek re-entered the truck.
"Oh nothing, here, eat"
He handed Sarah her sandwich, pulled his own food out and handed the bag to John. He hesitated before handing the ice cream to Cameron, still simmering over being forced to buy her it in the first place.
"Thank you Derek" she kept up her sweet and innocent tone from before, annoying Derek no end. Annoying Derek was quickly becoming one of her favourite things to do.
As she expected she didn't receive a reply, he simply turned away and started digging in to his fries.
The four ate in an uncomfortable silence. A disgusted grunt emerged from Derek when he caught sight of John offering Cameron his fries in the rear view mirror. Cameron was about to refuse until she heard the grunt. She kept her eyes locked on Derek in the mirror as she reached over and took two fries from the carton.
"Thank you John" she said through a sweet smile directed squarely at the mirror. She kept her gaze on the mirror as she ate the fries, chewing and swallowing just as a human would. John just watched the whole exchange with great interest, trying not to laugh out loud at the absurdity of it all. He of course knew that offering Cameron his fries would drive Derek nuts.
"You finished?"
His mother's voice brought him back to reality. She was nodding at the empty burger box on the seat.
"Uhh yeah"
John looked at Cameron and gestured to her now empty ice cream container. She handed it to him and he placed it in the bag along with his own trash.
"Here"
He reached over to hand Sarah the bag. She turned around and leaned toward the back seat with her right arm.
At that moment the front windshield shattered and Sarah felt a searing pain in her right shoulder. A split second later and everyone heard the loud boom of a gunshot.
Sarah regained her senses and tried to lunge in to the back seat to protect John, but it was too late, Cameron had already spread her body over his in an attempt to cover every square inch. Several more rounds penetrated the windshield and slammed in to Cameron's back, shredding her clothes.
Low calibre rounds, threat minimal, damage none.
Protect John Connor.
"DRIVE" Cameron shouted over the sound of flying bullets.
Derek did as he was told without hesitation and started the car engine. He slammed his foot on the accelerator and swung the truck around in a 180, trying to put as much distance between the building and the truck as possible.
Sarah frantically loosened her seat belt while trying to keep pressure on her wound. The bullet went right through her shoulder, she felt blood escaping down her back under her shirt.
Once they were a safe distance away from the building, Cameron pulled back from John slightly. He smiled at her with a goofy look on his face.
"Hey..."
She looked down and saw a patch of blood on his shirt. The first round had gone through Sarah's shoulder and hit John in the stomach.
"...has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are?"
His eyes started to close and Cameron became frantic.
"JOHN, please no, JOHN" Cameron wailed while trying to wake him up.
Sarah turned around to see what was going on. Upon seeing the blood she too began to panic.
"JOHN. DEREK, GET US TO A HOSPITAL"
Derek meanwhile somehow managed to keep his cool. He knew that taking John to a hospital was a bad move and would only end up involving the police.
"Hey metal, can you fix him?"
"WHO THE HELL CARES, GET US TO A HOSPITAL, HE'S BEEN SHOT" Sarah was frantic and trying to climb in to the back seat.
Cameron didn't respond and seemed to be in an even worse state than Sarah. She was cuddling his head to her chest and appeared to be shushing him and gently rocking him back and forth.
Derek yelled as loud as he could.
"CAMERON"
She slowly turned her tear streaked face around to him.
"Can you fix him?"
She was in such a blind panic that she hadn't even thought to check how bad his injury was. She did a detailed scan of the wound and realised the bullet hadn't struck any major organs.
"Yes, I think so" she managed to choke out between sobs
"Good"
Derek picked up the pace, weaving between traffic as he headed towards their home.
Both Sarah and Cameron were now in the back seat. They had managed to lay John down and Sarah was doing her best to apply pressure to his wound while Cameron was talking to him and trying to keep him awake.
His eyes opened to see Cameron's red and glistening ones staring back at him.
"Has someone upset you? I'll kick their ass?"
She couldn't help but smile at his delirious talk and kept him engaged in the conversation, trying to keep him conscious.
"Yes they have, but don't worry. We can kick their asses together when you get better"
John chuckled slightly.
"You used a bad word"
"I know lots of bad words"
"Tell me some of them"
She proceeded to reel off a dictionary like list of insults and curse words that she had picked up during her existence. John laughed a little and brought his hand up to cup her cheek.
"That is so sexy"
With that his world went dark.
Well I hope you all enjoyed it! Not a lot of Jameron and something of a cliffhanger!
I tried to inject a little more humour in to this chapter, I hope it came across that way.
If you don't believe that Sarah would fail to notice John sneaking out and getting drunk then check out Mr Ferguson and Self made man. She didn't seem to notice when he snuck out in both those episodes.