A/N: Now here is a longer chapter.

shadow - Thanks. :)

acer-sigma - Definitely, some other plans are going to crumble this chapter too. :)

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Reign of the Cameron: Chapter 16, by The Crusader

Originally posted on December 11th, 2009

The gun aimed at the man's head.

"Identify yourself." Lewis ordered.

"Max, ad astra per aspera."

Lewis recognized the code, the latin phrase meaning: "to the stars through difficulty." It was used to ensure the Resistance that they were speaking to one of their own, and not a Terminator impostor. It was changed frequently to keep Skynet from getting a hold of the code. Lewis lowered his plasma rifle and saluted as two Resistance Soldiers came up behind Max. They were carrying a fairly large metal box and placed it down on the ground.

"Max, where have I heard that name before?" Lewis asked, pushing his glasses back to keep them from slipping too far down his nose.

"You must've heard about me from the recent incident at the Skynet base?"

"Then you know Cameron?" Lewis was usually very hesitant in bringing up that name except to John Connor. If anyone else knew the whole story about the turncoat Terminator, they'd think Lewis was crazy. He couldn't blame them either. At one time, the idea of a Terminator, a machine, turning against Skynet, would've seemed ridiculous to Lewis. But now, he had voluntarily accompanied John Connor on this mission. General Reese had given him permission to go look for Cameron. Yet only John and Lewis knew the truth about Cameron. But rumor had it that this guy Max met her as well. A decision that puzzled everyone as the General was rarely so understanding.

Max spoke up. "We have a message from her. For John Connor."

--

He still had the nightmares. Even though John's future looked much more hopeful he still couldn't shake the memory of that day. Finding Cameron deactivated, her last words to him, not spoken but merely typed. And then his mother leaving him, abandoning him. Yet he abandoned her as much as she did him. He felt horrible about it, knowing that she eventually died of cancer. Not that John could've prevented it, but he should've been there for her. He should have stayed with her in the last moments before she died. Did she die alone, cursing her son for leaving her?

So many unanswered questions about his mother. Among them, what happened to her when he left? Did she burn Cameron's body? If she did, how could John explain meeting her at the library? Or was that her? Maybe the real Cameron was the emotional one who accidentally knocked John out cold? If that were the case, Cameron might have been destroyed. She was gone when he woke up. If it wasn't her, maybe it was the one with the underground hideout. That one with the sunglasses seemed all but devoid of whatever emotion Cameron once had. If she was the real Cameron, maybe it wasn't worth it to go through time. Not for a mere shadow of what Cameron used to be. The one who seemed most like Cameron was the endo he met at the library. Her personality seemed the same, but her appearance… He reassured himself that it didn't matter. Yet so many times with Cameron, he wanted to touch her, caress her, kiss her. How could he do those things now? The complete opposite of that Cameron was Allison. She had Cameron's appearance, one that was natural, not synthetically grown for the purposes of infiltration. Yet her personality was further from Cameron's than any of the machines he came across. Still there were similarities between the two of them, which made John wonder: "Why did Cameron originally choose Allison?"

Suddenly a noise outside the tent startled John. He sat up and began to reach for his M-4000 Assault Rifle, sitting close beside him. Then he thought maybe it was Allison, though he couldn't think of why she'd be awake this late at night. A male voice told him that it wasn't Allison. The person said his name was Max and he gave the correct password, so John opened the tent. He saw the man stand in a triangle formation with two other soldiers. They had a large black box behind them.

"I bring a message from Cameron." Max said.

"I'm listening." John replied.

"It's in the box. And it's for you alone."

John nodded to the other soldiers and they brought the box inside the tent. He nodded to them a second time, giving them the signal to leave. They did so, leaving the tent flap open. Luckily John's tent was fairly secluded from the others. John was quite surprised at his actions, considering how much he was taking on faith. Why would there be a box this big for a message? It seemed suspicious, but this person mentioned Cameron. A name that Skynet clearly did not know. And the code, another thing that Skynet clearly did not know. John ran his fingers along the top of the box, wondering how to open it. When suddenly the box opened on it's own, it seemed he triggered some kind of fingerprint code.

The top lid slid right off and suddenly a metal hand reached out from inside and clutched the edge of the box. It made John nearly jump right out of the tent, but he kept his calm long enough to see the rest of the machine climb its way out. He was surprised to find out however, it wasn't the rest of the machine that climbed out, it was only the upper torso. She had only one arm and she crawled over towards John, her red eyes staring up at him.

"John." That soft voice called out. "Help me."

--

It turned out that the box also conveniently carried all the pieces and spare parts needed for Cameron's repairs. Which made John extremely curious as he lay what was left of Cameron's body on his sleeping bag, her metal head on the pillow. He wondered why Cameron would wait so long for these repairs. He felt bad for her, wandering around crippled like that for so long. He wanted her to be functional again as soon as possible.

"Max's troops saved you after the explosion?" John asked as he set to work, being thankful that he could do this without power tools that would be extremely noisy.

"Against my wishes, yes. They put themselves in danger." Cameron replied. "But I'm glad they did."

"Why didn't you have them repair you?"

"They don't know how."

"What about John Henry?"

"I like the way you do it better." This reminded John of what one of the other Camerons told him, that he was very gentle with her machinery. Perhaps Cameron truly was capable of feeling some kind of physical intimacy, though in a very strange way. And this reinforced what he wanted to believe, that Cameron really did appreciate his help and she wasn't trying to manipulate him.

Cameron lifted her head up towards John. "You know exactly what to do, don't you?" She asked.

"I had a good teacher." He said with a smile. He wanted to see her return it, but that was impossible. He looked to her face and felt very frustrated. It was always hard to know what was going through Cameron's mind, or CPU rather, but without a face it seemed even harder.

"Do you think I'm the real Cameron now?"

"I wanna believe you."

"Believe me." He couldn't help but recall the conversation he had with her once after Riley's death. She sounded exactly the same.

"What about the other two? Where did they come from?" John asked.

"Catherine Weaver believed that I was not good enough for the mission. She felt I needed improvements, but wasn't allowed to tamper with my CPU. So she created her own Cameron. The third Cameron was created by John Henry for the same reason. He hacked into a Skynet Factory and downloaded my personality into another machine."

"That's how she got her body? How did you get yours?"

"It's mine. The same one you once touched to check to make sure I wasn't leaking radiation." John looked to her chest, forgetting for a moment about the knee joint he was working on. He could not believe that this was the same body that she once used to protect him.

"I thought for sure my Mother would've burned you."

"We were wrong in that assumption. She kept my body stored away safely; knowing that one day someone would need it again. It seems that in her last moments, she understood that Judgement Day could not be stopped."

John forced himself not to tear up at the thought of his mother's last hours. He couldn't imagine how hard it must've been for her, to have her son leave her, and then not be able to keep her promise. Luckily John could choke those feelings back down, because he still had questions for this Cameron.

"If this the same body, what happened to your skin?"

An artificial sigh came from Cameron's mouth, signifying annoyance at John again asking about her skin.

"I looked at my reflection, and saw that damaged face. At first I thought I needed to hide it, somehow, keep others from getting scared. But then I thought that would be hypocritical to what I told you. That I am a machine. I should not try to make others think otherwise, least of all you. So I took a sharp blade and ripped the skin off piece by piece. Until finally I was my old self again. My real self."

John found it disturbing to visualize this story so he went back to work repairing Cameron's body, trying not to think about what she told him.

"You must understand John. I am not a girl, I am a machine. As Kahlan Amnell said: "We can be only what we are…""

""…nothing more, or less.""

"You HAVE been reading "Wizard's First Rule.""

"Not as often as the Wizard of Oz."

"The stories aren't that different. Both Kahlan and Richard find themselves in worlds that they don't understand, like Dorothy."

"Like me. Like us."

"Yes, this world is very different to me. Without you as the leader."

"What did you think was going to happen when you jumped across time?"

"It's hard to remember what I was thinking."

"Memory gap?"

"Perhaps this is what you would call selective memory?"

"I wish I had some of that." John looked at Cameron and only then realized that he had fully rebuilt her. He must've lost track of time in this conversation. He felt like he had been working on her longer than he thought, that was the only way to make sense of it. He did this so absentmindedly, that it was almost scary to him.

"Thank you, John."

"You're welcome."

The next couple of minutes passed by in an awkward silence. John not knowing what to say to her. She continued to lie there even though the repairs were finished. John didn't understand why she didn't want to get up and make sure that the repairs were successful. She looked at him intently; those red eyes still frightening John. Though he was starting to adjust to the sight.

"You must become the leader of the Resistance."

"How? I'm only a Private?"

"You're John Connor. You'll find a way."

"John Connor doesn't exist. Not the way he did in your time."

"I have an army ready to fight along side of the Resistance. But only if the rightful leader assumes power."

John shook his head. He tried not to show any regret or self-pity in his next statement:

"Derek Reese is that rightful leader."

"He is leading you all to death. Skynet is closing in on the location of his base."

"What? How?"

"We don't know. All we know is that when John Henry hacked Skynet, he made himself vulnerable. Skynet hacked him and we don't know what information he extracted."

"I need to meet John Henry. Now." He was about to stand up when suddenly her newly repaired hand held his arm.

"We have time still." She told him.

"Can we stay here for now?" John thought for a moment, and then nodded.

Cameron let go and another uncomfortable silence passed between them. Once again Cameron broke it.
"In Wizard's First Rule, I find it interesting just how much Kahlan's position defines her. Her long hair. No one can cut it and no one can have hair longer than her's. People see that hair, and are terrified, angry. It's a symbol of the authority she has over all people. But Richard isn't afraid."

"Yeah. He accepts her the way she is. When he looks at her hair, he doesn't see the power that it represents. He isn't afraid, in fact he finds her hair beautiful."

"Could it ever be like that between you and me John?"

"It already is. I accept you-I mean-I accept Cameron for what she is. I love Cameron just like Richard loves Kahlan."

"Do you mean that in every way? People see this metal body, and are terrified, angry. But you, do you find it beautiful? Do you find me beautiful?"

John couldn't believe he was hearing this question. It seemed so strange as Cameron never seemed to want John to think she was beautiful. But then again, she had never shown him her endo before. To her, he was seeing the real Cameron for the first time. But no, of course John did not find the endo attractive. Not at all, and he never would.

"What does it matter?" He asked. "My feelings won't change no matter what you look like."

"I know. But I want you to look at me the way you used to. At me, not a human disguise."

"It's just a body. The skin might not have been you, but this isn't either."

"Then what is?"

"Your mind…your soul." She tilted her head at this.

"But you once said that I don't have a soul."

"I've said a lot of things that aren't true."

"Then is it true that your feelings are for me, not for my old appearance?"

"Yes."

"Prove it. Kiss me."

John swallowed a big lump in his throat. Suddenly he was more afraid than any time he found himself staring at the barrel of a gun.

"You don't have any lips."

"And I never will again."

"So…how are we supposed to…"

"If you are uncomfortable with kissing my mouth, kiss my face. When I see that, I will know that you mean what you say."

"What does this have to do with our mission?"

"Nothing. Does that mean you won't do it?" A tone of sadness filled her voice.

John felt bad but he didn't know if he could bring himself to do this. He closed his eyes and tried to picture Cameron with skin. But then he shook the image from his mind, knowing that he had to be true to Cameron. He had to prove to her and to himself that he loved her, that he loved a machine.

He leaned down and tenderly kissed her the side of her metal face. The kiss was sincere, but came to an abrupt stop. John could feel another pair of eyes watching him. He turned towards the opening of the tent.

There he saw Allison Young standing completely still, looking confused, hurt, and utterly disgusted.

--

A/N: And the plot thickens!

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Leave a review if you have the time, I understand if you don't (well sorta). One word is all I ask.