Author's notes: Wow, I was surprised to see so many reviews for the last chapter! I'd like to say thanks to everyone who let me know you're enjoying the story so far. Your comments are very inspiring. So, I know this chapter is technically a day early but a couple reviewers asked for an earlier update and it was ready, so here it is!

Cptlatnok - Okay, more action. I can do that. Of course, there will be fighting action towards the end, but the action should be picking up as I progress with the story. Thanks for the input.

legionarylogan - Ha ha, actually there is a canoe scene with Riley later on. :)

acer-sigma - I agree, especially for Derek. I mean, he knows better than anyone that humans are evil too. After all, he's seen firsthand the actions of the Grays in the future. So how complicated is it to think that some machines are good?

Chapter Seven:

Just a Girl

Sarah pursed her lips, staring around the kitchen and wondering what kind of dinner she could make that didn't involve pancakes. After the pancake sandwich lunch, she'd heard several of the campers start to complain. Which meant that her superiors would soon start to complain. Which meant she had to step it up or get fired from her unpaid job as camp cook. Not that she would mind, except she would no longer have an excuse to be at the camp, and other-Kyle still needed to be protected.

She heard the door creak open and turned sharply to see Cameron enter. Sarah was instantly on edge, though nothing about Cameron seemed hostile. Right now, at least.

"What are you doing here?" Sarah asked. The last time she'd seen Cameron, the cyborg had revealed that she cooked pancakes for John in the future. Which only compounded Sarah's fear that she was being replaced by the machine.

Cameron gazed around the kitchen before her eyes stopped on Sarah. "John sent me to help you."

"Did he?" Sarah asked sarcastically. "That was sweet of him."

Those won't be as good as yours…John had said that in her dream. Was that coming true too? Had he sent Cameron to help because he preferred her cooking to Sarah's?

Sarah swallowed hard. "So what do you suggest?"

"John said spaghetti," Cameron replied. "It's easy to make and will feed a lot of people."

"Spaghetti, huh? You know how to make it?"

"Yes."

"Where'd you learn that?" Do you cook in the future as well as manipulate my son? Does Skynet have a Terminator cookbook?

"I've been watching Rachael Ray on the Food Network," Cameron replied calmly.

"What?"

"I don't sleep."

Sarah scowled, though she couldn't help feel a bit of envy towards the cyborg girl. You're lucky. Lucky you don't have to dream.

"You don't trust me," Cameron stated.

Understatement of the century. Sarah looked up sharply. "No. I don't."

"And that's why you don't trust John."

Somehow it sounded a lot harsher coming from her. "I don't like the way he responds to you."

"I know. You've told me before."

"Well, I'm telling you again," Sarah retorted. "Because it's gotten worse."

She pulled out a large spaghetti pot, slamming the cabinet door harder than necessary. Cameron tilted her head to the side, studying Sarah's behavior.

"You're jealous," the machine stated.

Sarah stopped, turning around to regard Cameron incredulously. "What?" Why on earth would I be jealous of you? You're a machine!

"You're jealous because John spends more time with me than he does with you."

Sarah clenched her fist, feeling an intense ball of fury rising from within. Any minute now, she felt she was going to explode. "Why are you here?" she asked through gritted teeth.

"John told me to help you."

"I don't need help," Sarah shot back. "Just…leave me alone."

"John requested--"

Sarah finally couldn't take anymore, hurling the spaghetti pot at Cameron's head. The cyborg caught it with one hand, staring at Sarah quizzically.

"Get out!" Sarah shouted. "And stay away from John! You stay away from my son, or I swear I will find a way to take you apart piece by piece." She took a deep breath, but none of the rage dissipated. "Get out of here," she growled.

Cameron let the pot drop to the floor with a loud, resonating clang before she stalked out the door. Sarah drew in another deep breath, still trying to calm herself down before she went over to pick up the spaghetti pot again, studying it.

Cameron had left a dent in the steel in the shape of a clenched fist. Sarah curled her lip. The cyborg was angrier then she'd let on. She was still a danger to John, a threat.

Sarah slammed the deformed pot into the trash can.

********

John sat down at the cafeteria table with Cameron, Jason, Riley, and Jessica. He was instantly suspicious of Riley, but so far she hadn't displayed any behavior at all that would suggest she had been the one outside the mechanics room window.

He'd talked with Cameron after the incident and she'd reluctantly admitted that she hadn't actually seen who it was outside the window. Any normal person would have freaked out immediately…or assumed Cameron had a prosthetic hand. But still…they would have freaked.

Riley's face was a mask. If she had seen, she wasn't showing. And if she had seen, she wouldn't be pretending like it hadn't happened right? At the very least, she probably would have showed guilt or embarrassment when he and Cameron walked in. Unless she was a very good liar.

John rubbed the bridge of his nose tiredly. He was done worrying about it. If no one was going to incriminate him and Cameron, that was fine by him. In fact, it may have only been a raccoon or some other woodland animal that had been making the noise outside the window. That would explain why they hadn't seen anyone running away.

Riley gestured at Cameron's plate. "You aren't hungry?"

Cameron kept her eyes on Riley as she scooped up some spaghetti and took a bite.

Jason Reynolds took a bite of his own, chewing on it thoughtfully. "You know, this spaghetti really isn't that great."

"It's cafeteria food," Jessica replied, as if it were obvious. "What did you expect?"

John looked over at Cameron, brow furrowed. "Weren't you supposed to help cook?" He could hardly imagine Cameron's spaghetti coming out this…well, chewy.

"Sarah did not require my assistance," Cameron said, tone vague. John noticed the difference in her voice, the look in her eye that was too subtle for anyone else to perceive.

Something had happened in the kitchen.

Jason took another bite of his food, exaggerating the chewy-ness. He smirked. "Hey, Riley, do you think this pasta special is better or worse than the one in Canada?"

Riley paused in the middle of a bite, her lips twisting in disgust. Finally, she swallowed hard and put on a sickly sweet smile that she sent in Cameron's direction. "Oh, you mean the one that turned out to be a plate of frog legs?"

"Ms. Darbus said I made a human mistake," Cameron replied easily.

Riley curled her lip. "Right. Mistake."

Jason rushed to Cameron's defense before John could. "You don't believe her?" he accused.

"All I know is she's been trying to sabotage me ever since she started coming to school," Riley shot back. "I've been locked in the supply closet during the school play, got tripped into a pool, and attacked by a shooter on the Ambassador Bridge."

"Hey, the school shooter wasn't Cameron's fault," John pointed out. It was my fault. Not that Riley would know that anyway.

She scowled nonetheless.

Jason's eyes grew distant. "Ah, I remember you falling into the pool," he said fondly, as if he were talking about a wonderful childhood memory. "That was my favorite part of the trip."

"Really?" Riley retorted. "My favorite was when Cameron nearly broke your hand."

"Hey, I learned a valuable lesson from that," Jason replied calmly. "Don't play with guns. I've forgiven her."

"You would," Riley muttered. "That's not all either. She also smashed the glass in the chocolate shop."

John held up a hand, resisting the urge to slam it onto the table in anger. "Alright," he ordered. "Enough talk about what Cameron did on the trip."

Everyone went momentarily silent.

John Connor has spoken, he thought to himself. Weird. Even now, he had a commanding presence.

"Aw, we're not making fun of you, Cam," Jessica spoke up, smiling kindly. "I just want to hear what happened on the trip. What was your favorite part?"

Cameron smiled. "Flushing Riley's hairbrush down the toilet."

"What?!" Riley squeaked. "That was you? You stole my hairbrush?"

"It fell in the toilet. I accidentally flushed it down."

"It just magically fell in?"

"Well, I helped it."

Jason burst out laughing. "So that's why you had that major bed-head! Awesome! Nice job, Cam!" He held his hand out for a high-five. Cameron shot a quick glance at John.

"Hit it," he hissed under his breath.

Cameron smacked Jason's hand. Hard. Jason quickly shook his hand, trying to stop the tingling. "Wow, nice five…"

Riley looked incensed by the exchange, but before anyone else could comment, they were interrupted by an all-too-familiar voice.

"Hey, Cameron," Kyle Reese said with a broad smile. "Can I sit with you?"

Cameron gave John the most pleading look he'd ever seen her use, but he could hardly refuse Kyle. After all, they still needed to protect him. Kyle plopped his tray down next to Cameron.

All table talk seemed to die down with his presence, but Kyle didn't seem to take a hint that he was unwelcome.

"So, what are you guys talking about?" he asked pleasantly.

"Canada," Jason said stiffly, apparently not liking how Kyle was drawn to Cameron.

"Cool," Kyle agreed. "Canadians rock. You know they recycle."

He looked over at Cameron and she must have felt the need to respond. "Yes. Go green."

John rolled his eyes.

"So, John," Riley began. "Do you know what tomorrow's activities are?"

John frowned, cocking an eyebrow. How the heck would I know? I'm the team leader, not the grand master of the camp. "Um, no."

He was aware that Riley had scooted her chair slightly closer to his. He cast a sideways glance at Cameron, finding her glaring at Riley as well, completely ignoring Kyle Reese, who was rattling on and on about how recycling was good for the environment.

Jason was leaning on his hands, trying to subtly plug his ears, and Jessica kept stuffing food into her mouth as an excuse not to talk to Kyle.

John sighed, putting his head on his hands, trying to tune out Kyle's obnoxiously loud voice. It was going to be a long night.

**********

Even with Cameron occupied with lovestruck Kyle Reese, Riley still hadn't been able to coax anything out of John. In fact, he'd seemed uncomfortable with her, his gaze constantly being drawn over to Cameron.

This was going to be harder than she thought.

Becoming John's friend had been easy enough. All it took was a few fake tears. Because John Connor hated to see anyone hurt or alone. He cared about people. Unfortunately, he apparently cared about machines too.

When dinner ended, Riley headed out of the cafeteria on the path to her cabin. It only took a few steps for her to realize someone was following her.

She spun around quickly, seeing Cameron standing there, staring... waiting. Riley felt a spike of fear. Did Cameron know that she'd been spying on them in the mechanics lab? Back at dinner, neither she nor John seemed to suspect anything. Was Cameron about to terminate her?

The cyborg made no move to attack, but Riley knew that could change in a heartbeat. If Cameron was going to kill her, there would be nothing Riley could do about it. Might as well make a stand.

"I know what you're doing," Cameron stated, her voice cold and monotone.

Riley tried not to seem intimidated by the unwavering stare of the killer cyborg. "What?"

"You're trying to get John," Cameron replied. "It won't work. You can't have him."

Riley wondered where the possessiveness had come from. Had Cameron picked up on Riley's motives? If so, maybe Riley could use that against the cyborg.

"Maybe you're wrong," Riley countered. "Maybe he still loves me."

"He doesn't," came the quick, adamant reply. "A while ago John told me to stay away from you. But you're becoming a threat. You should have finished your self-termination."

The words cut deep, and Riley's hands instantly went to her wrists, where the razor's marks had been just as deep. She swallowed hard, feeling sick and disgusted with herself for that stupid maneuver, but she forced a smile. "You know what I think? I think you're brainwashing him."

"Brainwashing?" Cameron smiled slowly, which only infuriated Riley even more. "I'm just a girl."

The way she said it almost dared Riley to contradict it, to give Cameron a reason - an excuse - to kill her.

"Yeah," Riley mumbled. "Just a girl." Yeah right.

Cameron took a slow, meaningful step forward and Riley felt her heartbeat quicken. The machine cocked her head. "What am I going to do with you?"

Riley tried to keep the fear off her face, starting to panic before logic finally took hold of her thoughts. Cameron wasn't going to do anything to her. Not with John so close by. "You can't do anything to me," she replied boldly. "Because you're John's sister. Adopted or not, get it through your head! You're just his sister, nothing more!"

Cameron didn't seem fazed at all by Riley's ranting, but Riley knew she was right. Cameron made no move to attack. The door opened and John walked out of the cafeteria. As soon as he saw them, his face was instantly suspicious. "What's going on?"

Riley shook her head, plastering a fake smile on her face, ignoring the unseeing eyes that were still trained on her. "Nothing, John. Hi."

"Hi..." John was still hesitant, sensing the hostility radiating from both her and Cameron.

"Cameron and I were just talking," Riley replied.

John glanced at Cameron, studying her face closely before looking back at Riley. His eyes were angry now and Riley grimaced. This was the John Connor everyone knew in the future. The one able to read almost any situation.

Almost.

Because she knew his judgment was clouded on this one. She knew he was biased.

"What are you trying to do?" he hissed at Riley.

It hurt to hear him speak so angrily to her, and part of her façade faded. "Nothing," she repeated, allowing a touch of genuine fear and sadness into her voice. "I just want to be your friend, but she…she hates me."

John snorted. "Yeah, well I don't think you're crazy about her either. But she's stronger than you are."

Riley scowled. "What are you saying, John?" That your brave spooky ninja can't take on the cyborg? Are you about to tell me what she really is?

John took a step forward, eyes blazing with intensity. "Stay away from her."

He turned around and stalked off toward his cabin. Cameron gave Riley a cool stare before turning to follow him. Riley kept her face impassive until both of them were long gone.

Only then did she sink to the ground, her emotions a mixture of relief and anger. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying not to think about the fear that had raced through her at seeing Cameron standing there. She could have killed me. She probably would have killed me if not for John.

And John... poor, misguided John hadn't leaped to Riley's rescue like a knight in shining armor. No, he'd come to the machine's defense, yelling at Riley for trying to get at Cameron, not caring that Cameron could have been and, in reality, was the one to start it all, not caring that Cameron would have killed Riley without a second thought.

Jesse was right, Riley realized. Cameron was corrupting John, completely and utterly. And Riley had let both Jesse and John down by surrendering to the terminator in Canada. John had fallen further and further down the dark path and now Riley wasn't sure she could pull him out.

But she had to try.

For John's sake, as well as her own, she would have to succeed.