author's note: Okay, first of all I'm very sorry for the late update. We went camping for Labor Day (as in no technology) and just got back like an hour ago. I tried to post the chapter Friday morning before I left but for some reason it wouldn't let me log-on. Not sure what happened there, but here it is now!

Chapter Eighteen:

Treason Has Done Its Worst

John took a deep breath as he followed his mother out of the kitchen. Things seemed to have calmed down since the Triple 8 had been destroyed. Kyle was safe, their job was finished. There was no point in them sticking around to finish out the last few days of camp. And he especially didn't really want to deal with Riley anymore. She was already suspicious of him, so why hang around and make matters worse.

Unfortunately, his mother didn't seem quite ready to leave. Maybe she still felt that he needed some time to be normal.

"Our job is done here, right?" he protested. "We can go?"

Sarah sighed. "Why don't you participate in the last activity, okay? I hear it's a scavenger hunt."

"Scavenger hunt," he retorted. "Yeah, that's exactly what I came here to do."

Sarah gave him a look. "Why do you have to be so sarcastic? Just do it. Anyways, Derek and I need to pack up the supplies we brought, and you can say goodbye to your friends."

She started off as John scoffed and shook his head. "What friends?" he murmured.

He met Cameron outside and they headed to the main hall, where head counselor Dave was handing out the list for the scavenger hunt. Each team was given a copy while Dave briefly explained the rules.

"This is supposed to be a fun event, but it is also a challenge," he warned playfully. "This won't be a Sunday picnic, you know!"

"No," Cameron agreed. "It's definitely not a Sunday picnic. It's Friday." She glanced over at John. "Do you want me to let you win?"

"What? No, no," John replied with a grin. She may have beaten him at every other event this week, minus the canoe race she'd been grounded from, but it wouldn't be any fun if she let him win. "Go at your pace and we'll see who wins, okay?"

Cameron nodded her consent and headed off to join her team.

**********

Riley had managed to slip away from her scavenger hunt group when they were halfway through the list. No one even noticed her absence. She tracked down Cameron's group and tailed them for a while at a distance, trying to formulate a plan. Jesse had told her she needed to get Cameron into the warehouse - more specifically, the supply closet inside the warehouse.

Riley wasn't sure of the details of Jesse's plan but if the other soldier planned on trapping Cameron in the supply closet, it would definitely be poetic justice. Riley shuddered, remembering the time Cameron had locked her in the school's prop closet during the Romeo and Juliet play.

Finally, an idea formed in her head. She took a deep breath, mentally counted to three, and put on a distressed face before rushing up to Cameron.

"Cameron!" she cried, getting the girl cyborg's attention instantly. "John's in trouble."

Cameron instantly stopped, abandoning her group and walking towards Riley. "Where is he?"

"Some of Jason's friends locked him in the supply closet in the warehouse," Riley explained. "John's strong, but there were too many of them. I would have helped him out, but the door is locked and I can't get it open."

"What makes you think I can?"

Riley's breath caught in her throat. Had she just made a fatal mistake? Was Cameron testing her? "Because…you're stronger than me," she managed finally. "Isn't that what John said?"

Cameron continued to stare for a minute before finally nodding. "Yes. John did say that."

She must have concluded that Riley was telling the truth, or at least thought it best to check out the situation, because she took off towards the warehouse. Riley kept pace with her, purposely staying a few yards behind to make Cameron believe she was outrunning her.

But when Cameron yanked open the door to the warehouse, Riley skidded to a stop. An unexpected wave of guilt washed over her as Cameron entered the room and she hoped the cyborg would not pick up on it. Machine or not, in all essence, she was sending Cameron to her death. Jesse would rip out her chip and burn the body. She would be thorough. Nothing would be left. She wouldn't settle for merely stopping Cameron. She was dead set on destroying her.

Riley cursed herself. When had she started thinking of the machine as Cameron? John, obviously, thought of her as human, but Riley had always been fully aware of what lay underneath. Cameron had never liked her, that much was certain. Riley had very nearly given up in Canada because of what Cameron had done to her. But she couldn't pretend that the girl-machine didn't care about John.

Even Riley herself would never love John as much as Cameron did. Riley didn't risk life and limb on a daily basis just to keep John alive. Riley wasn't there for John during the hard times in his life when he had no one to lean on. Riley wasn't the one who always stood by him, no matter how she was treated.

She hadn't known John Connor that well in the future. She'd been a tunnel rat, living off garbage, hiding from the machines. But she heard things, stories, rumors. She knew all about John's terminator, how many soldiers believed Cameron was corrupting John. Then Jesse had found her, repeated these things, said that she was going to save John, to stop the machine. Riley was offered the opportunity of a lifetime, to travel back in time, away from the war, away from the machines and Skynet, to paradise. And all Riley had to do was get young John Connor to fall in love with her, and keep him from falling for Cameron.

It seemed simple, straight-forward enough. She'd never even considered the possibility that Jesse was misinformed, that maybe Cameron wasn't at all like she claimed, that Jesse was lying.

But why not? Riley asked herself. Jesse had lied to her already. She'd lied about her plans, betrayed Riley's trust. Her plan had called for Riley's death. What makes me think I can trust anything she says?

She glanced back towards the door, knowing exactly what lay behind it. Jesse was waiting. With a gun and a knife. Cameron was walking into a trap. A trap that she, Riley, had been a part of setting. A sudden panic seized her.

This would destroy John. Completely and utterly. He needed Cameron like he needed to breathe. Much as she hated to even think it, she didn't want Cameron to die. She didn't want John to die. She didn't want to be a murderer.

But she couldn't take on Jesse by herself. And she was too afraid to try. That left only one option. Riley turned and started running for the main cabin.

She had to find John.

***********

Jesse crouched in the shadows, hidden behind the boxes in the warehouse, far enough away from the closet so as not to attract the machine's attention. She had to give Riley credit; the story she'd told Cameron was perfect.

Telling her that John was in trouble brought concern for his safety at the front of the cyborg's mind, making her a bit careless, not noticing or sensing the danger from Jesse. Good…Jesse thought.

Cameron's quick, urgent steps brought her face to face with the supply closet, and she reached out and grabbed the handle to yank the door off the hinges.

The handle that Jesse had wired into the electricity.

The shock threw the cyborg's body backwards and she landed on the ground, completely motionless. Jesse stalked forward and flipped open her switchblade. One hundred twenty seconds. At long last, this would all be over.

John Connor would be saved.

Derek would be saved.

The entire resistance would be saved from the machine that had tried to take over and destroy them from the inside. Jesse knelt down beside the metal with an evil glint in her eye. One less of you to worry about.

As she cut a circle down to the endoskeleton where the chip was, she imagined what John Connor would do when he realized that his precious little pet had been terminated. Would he think Riley was to blame? Would he go off the deep end? Would he kill her?

Not that it made a difference. Riley had served her purpose. If John Connor let her live, that was up to him. Jesse was done dealing with Riley. The 120 second count was almost up when Jesse finally pulled the chip from the Terminator's head. She glanced down into "Cameron's" lifeless eyes.

"You've lost," she hissed. "You'll never manipulate him again." Her only regret was that the metal would never actually hear those words, never know she'd failed.

All she had to do was find something to smash the chip with. She heard the door slowly creak open behind her and smiled. Too late, John. Too late.

Before she could turn and look, something hard slammed into the back of her head. Jesse dropped to the floor, blackness closing in. The chip was still clenched in her hands as she lost consciousness.

***********

John hurried back into the meeting hall, fully expecting Cameron's team to be there already. He'd known going into this event that Cameron would win. He couldn't compete with a Terminator, not even in a scavenger hunt.

He was surprised when he entered, finding the room filled with other campers, but no Cameron. Had he really beaten her? It seemed unlikely.

Wait… he squinted, peering across the room. Wasn't that Cameron's team? So where was Cameron? John felt a sinking feeling slowly settle in his gut. He ran forward, grabbing Jason Reynolds by the collar. "Where is she?" he demanded through gritted teeth.

Jason held up his hands defensively. "Step off, Baum!"

John didn't loosen his grip. "Where is she?"

"Who?" Jason looked perplexed.

"Cameron!"

"Oh. She split off from the group about five minutes ago," Jason replied. "I don't know where she went."

John's mind was whirling when he released his classmate. Jason backed away, muttering something about all the Baums being crazy.

Why had Cameron split? Had she seen something? Was another Triple 8 after Kyle? Riley slowly came over to his side, but he ignored her until he saw the distraught look on her face.

She knew something.

"What?" he demanded.

"I'm sorry, John, I'm so sorry," Riley sputtered, finally breaking down. John stared at her in confusion. What had she done? What could she possibly have done?

Riley gazed up at him with pleading eyes. "I'm from the future."

John's eyes widened as shock settled in. He took an involuntary step backwards. Riley? From the future? "What?" he choked out. No… that wasn't possible. It was a trick, a joke. She wasn't serious…

"I was brought back to stop you from getting close to Cameron," Riley said, on the verge of hysterics. "I'm so sorry, John. I've lied to you…"

John wasn't listening to her apologies anymore, his mind spinning. How could this be happening? Cameron had been right all along: Riley was lying about something. About everything. She'd never been his true friend; she'd used him for her own ends. The shock had dissolved into white hot anger. Anger at himself, at Riley, at the future, at the whole entire world. Who had sent her? Why did no one trust him to make his own decisions? His mother, Derek, Riley, his future self even. It's my life! Why can't they just leave me alone?!

In fact, the only person who trusted him completely was the one person who had every right not to. Despite everything he'd done to her – lied to her, ran away from her, verbally abused her, abandoned her for Riley – despite everything she'd remained true to him, trusting in him.

She was everything to him. He couldn't trust anyone else, no one else believed in him or trusted him like she did. Not even his mother had faith in him anymore. It was ironic really.

The only person he could trust was the one no one else could.

Cameron. He felt a chill of fear. If Riley was the future, then Riley knew Cameron was a Terminator; she knew what could stop her. His eyes narrowed. "Where is she?"

Riley flinched. He wasn't sure if it was from the tone of his voice or just because she knew he wouldn't like the answer. Fear gripped him. What had she done to Cameron? Where was she?

"She's walked into a trap," Riley said, her voice heavy with guilt. "Set by me and Jesse, the soldier I came back with."

John felt his heart stop. A soldier from the future? One who knew how the machines worked? Knew about the chip? If this Jesse person had done anything to Cameron…I'll kill her. I swear to God I'll kill her.

"Where?" he demanded coldly.

"The warehouse--"

John didn't wait a second longer, sprinting faster than he ever had before, racing towards the warehouse, aware of Riley keeping pace behind him. He didn't even take the time to grab a weapon.

He didn't need one. He knew that. He hadn't needed anything but his bare hands when he killed Sarkissian. And he hadn't even been this angry.

Or scared.

But when he burst through the warehouse door, all the determined anger instantly faded into pure terror. A woman's motionless body - Jesse, he guessed - was lying on the ground a few feet away. And standing over Cameron's still form was Cromartie, a gun in one hand and her chip in the other.

"Riley," John breathed, his eyes widening with helpless shock. "What have you done?"