What awesome reviews.
I will strive to keep it as true to the show as possible.
I'll probably have one more chapter before the new episode. I will fix the story to fit accordingly.
Enjoy...
John's short sleep was interrupted by the aggressive pounding on his door. Whoever was breaking down his door had better have a hell of a good reason, John thought as he stumbled to answer. He was swearing that it better be news that Judgement Day had arrived early or that Cameron had gotten loose in the head and gone on a rampage or he'd for sure shoot somebody.
Either way he was not in the mood to deal with anybody's shit. Especially if it related to Cameron. He was still pissed at her for lying about her whereabouts.
Following their encounter at the bottom of the stairs, Cameron had disappeared into her room and John had laid in his bed for hours on end fruitlessly making up excuse after excuse why he shouldn't give a damm as to where or who she was dedicating so much time to.
A Few Hours Earlier
He had egged himself off his sorry ass and dragged it downstairs to veg out in front of the tube since sleep was refusing to be near him. Maybe there was a cheesy western on which he would watch with some seriously buttered popcorn.
He was so enthused with his imaginary snack that much to his embarrassment he had come face to face or at least face to leg with the terminator torturing his dreams. His face and Cameron's leg to be exact.
He had a vague idea that it was extended in something he was sure was from her ballet practices. Unfortunately that message had been waylaid as the blood to his brain had rushed elsewhere due to the pajamas she wasn't wearing.
"What the hell are you doing?" John shouted at her, once his voice had returned from the ceiling where his eyes were no doubt still glued.
She immediately dropped her stance once again glaring balefully at him. It was the same look she had thrown him back at the library.
"Ballet, John. It keeps me limber." she said and demonstrated unaware of the glazed rapture of the teen before her. "Why are you up? You need at least 7 to 8 hours to be at maximum capacity."
"That is not a problem right now, Cam. Believe me," he muttered under his breath.
Figuring that discretion was the better part of valor, John practically ran into the kitchen intent of finding his popcorn and rushing back to his room.
"What do you need? Do you require assistance?"
You know that little voice that tells you not to do things. The one that lives to pull your butt out of trouble. John had been ignoring said voice for the past few months. Actually he had been ignoring it since he had met Riley to be precise but that was neither here nor there.
At that precise moment when the voice was screaming into his ear not to look up he did. He had knelt down on his sock clad feet to better search the pantry. Cameron had as usual ignored his rule about personal space and had squeezed herself in the tiny space between him and the door. It would not have been all bad if at that moment Derek had not returned roaring drunk and mumbling about Pizza.
John had been giving a clear shot of Cam's tight toned belly from her oversized shirt, a shirt that looked like it was his. By the time he stopped thinking of Cameron sleeping in nothing but his shirt, Derek had spotted Cameron and pushed her into the pantry. Laughing in the way that only happens when you're totally thrashed.
"Ha, Ha, Get out of that metal." Derek cackled from the other side of the now locked door.
Now Cameron could have easily ripped the door off the hinges and let them both out but given the fact that;
a) Derek was passed out in front of said door.
b) John was in boxers and socks while Cameron was clearly wearing one of his shirts and what he hoped were really short shorts.
c) He had just gotten caught not more than a few hours ago by his own mother with Cameron in tow.
d) Cameron's very slim but heavy coltan frame was now laying completely sprawled over him.
well thinking and acting were not really his forte at the moment. He was pondering wether he was either really lucky or really cursed.
"John, why are you attempting to grab me?" Cameron whispered into his ear.
"I need you to move a bit so I can scoot out from underneath you." John hissed back. 'Cursed! He was cursed! She was wearing ruffled underwear, for pete's sake who wears ruffled underwear? Maybe it was a preference of his in the future, Oh God. He was a pervert in the future. How else would Cameron know to pick stuff like this out.'
Fearing he might pass out if he continued in that vein of thinking he focused instead on keeping his body as flat to the ground as possible.
"Oh, thank you for explaining." she replied and attempted to leverage herself into a more convenient position to allow John to maneuver around her.
He wiggled out sorta off but his legs were going to be pinned under her regardless of what position he tried. "Don't worry I wasn't trying to cope a feel." John mumbled.
"I know. I know what a feel feels like." Cameron replied. Her back was pressed against the door and her legs were bent at the knee and over John's.
"What….why would you know that?" John asked momentarily forgetting that he and his protector were in a very compromising situation which could lead to dismemberment for her and a possible throw down with his warrior mother for him.
"Eric, explained it. He told me I should be careful when I walk home from the library. That there are men who would try to take advantage of a pretty girl like me." Cameron said.
"He told you that you were pretty?" John asked completely passed the point of caring if they were caught.
"No, he did not." John breathed a sigh of relief , "he said I was beautiful."
John stared at Cameron in disbelief. She looked pleased. 'How could she look so pleased. What had happened to the terminator that had sworn that he, John Connor was her life?'
"Break down the door, Cameron." John commanded coldly.
"Your uncle is sitting on the other side, I could hurt him. I can remove the hinges and turn the door…"
"I don't give a crap what you do to the freaking door. Just do it." John snapped.
Cameron complied with the request and John escaped as soon as his legs could carry him. He hadn't looked behind him at Cameron's hurt expression or Derek's bewildered one. He just had to get away.
That had been several hours ago and while he had beat himself up for being an asshole to Cameron he had not let go of the anger that she was apparently learning things from other people, from another guy.
'Could it be that she was truly only seeing him as asset to protect. A human weapon to care for at all cost. Was there any part of her that cared for him at all?'
John allowed the person to bang on the door once more before he finally opened it, "What? What the hell do you want? I'm up aren't I?" John bellowed satisfied to have an outlet for the famous Connor temper.
"What were you and the machine doing all holed up in that room?" Derek asked pining John to the far left wall so as not to be seen by either Sarah or Cameron.
"Why do you care, Reese?"
"Jeez, John are you outta of your skull. She is a not a she. It is a metal machine that has tried to kill you once and you're trying to play doctor with it? Has your mother not told you enough times what those things can be capable of ?"
"You know so far, "she" has saved all of our skins more times than I can count. Yours included." John ground out delivering a hard right to his uncle's stomach. "I'm not playing anything. I got stuck in there with her because you came home drunk and locked her in there with me. Not that I have to explain it to you since last I checked I'm still John Connor and I don't answer to you."
"You're not that Connor yet. You're still a snot nosed kid that doesn't know shit." Derek said grabbing John's arm and twisting it behind his back. He ground John into the wall and growled into his ear, "I'm not your dad or your mom so I will kick you ass if you pull another stunt like that. That thing will kill you if it goes bad and it won't bother to think that you've been playing with it. Got me!"
With his free hand John pinched the skin between Derek's thumb and pointer finger until Derek let go. He then delivered a strong knee jab into the older man's stomach. "Don't ever attempt to hit me again. If I decide to make Cameron my own personal screwing machine, there's nothing you can do about it, got me!"
John stalked past the hunched over form and slammed back into his room. He dressed quickly but by the time he had gotten down the stair the older Reese was now sitting at the breakfast table stabbing at his food. John didn't acknowledge the questioning looks from his mother or Cameron as he took the keys and hightailed it to the truck.
Had he stayed he would have heard a very interesting story.
"What did you do?" Sarah asked Derek, the sound of the tires spinning highlighting her question. Derek sat at the table grumpily holding his still semi cracked rib. Trust John to know right where to hit him. He should had have never agreed to spar with Jessie, especially after her spat with Riley.
"Nothing, just asked it about last night." Derek pointed at machine still standing by the door.
"What happened last night?" Sarah directed at Cameron.
Cameron shook her head and shrugged into her jacket. She slammed out of the house and proceeded to walk in the same direction that John had gone.
"What the hell is going on with those two?" Sarah said placing a plate heavy with pancakes on the table. "They're acting like actual teenagers."
"Sarah, I need to tell you something about Riley. Something that you won't like." Derek began pushing the plate of Sarah's chocolate chip pancakes away, "it concerns the metal."
Sarah gripped her recently wounded leg lightly and settled into the chair, "I have something to tell you too."
"Hi, big brother."
Derek spun in his seat and stared at the doorway. Looking not much older than his own son, Kyle Reese smiled at his big brother. He made himself comfortable and Derek hid the twinge of anger that followed as Kyle sat much closer to Sarah than what was necessary.
"What's this about our son?"
Derek sighed, 'this was not gonna be a good day. He could tell.'