I'm gonna be gone for a few days and I'll be away from my pc. So here's a short one to tide you over.
Enjoy...
Thanks again for the fab. suggestions and critiques. It makes me write a better story.
(Language...I'm warning you now!!)
2027 - Quarters of General John Connor - Union City
"Cameron!"
He'd been close enough to the blast to be thrown to the ground but thankfully no lasting damage was done. He grabbed the plasma rifle from its hook and squinted into the smoke engulfing the hallway.
"Cameron! Cameron!" Huge pieces of the tunnel pockmarked the floor obscuring any trace of the female, not that he could really see.
"John! Connor, are you alright?" A hand came out of the smoke grabbing hold of his forearm. John saw the alarm on her face and the gun pointed at her dropped a bit then fell and she was suddenly pulled into his room.
"Kate? What the hell where you doing out there?" John motioned to the chaos currently centered outside his room.
"I heard the blast. We all did. We thought we would have metal raining down on us any moment. You're the first one we go to, are you ok?"
"A little loss of hearing but nothing that will detract from my job." he assured battling his way through the layers of soldiers now crowding his door.
"What exactly happened?" Kate asked but instead of answering, John yanked Kate from the doorway just in time to avoid a riffle butt to the face.
"Stand down." He ordered still holding the arm of the idiot that had swung the gun.
About twenty soldiers instantly lowered their weapons and the smoke began to clear. Seeing the reclusive Connor out of his office they all shuffled and lined up straigh backed on both sides of the walls. "Name, soldier." Connor growled.
"Flores."
"Flores, next time you go swing a gun near my doorway make sure it's not my doorway." He dug his fingers into the uniform until he heard a tiny cry. "I may not be so lenient next time, got it?"
"Yes, sir." Connor let her go and she merged herself into the ranks. Her fellow comrades didn't even blink.
"Status, report. Any injured?"
"No, sir. Just a few bumps and scrapes." Derek Reese materialized to the side of him.
"Clear the rubble and get back to your posts. Make sure that sound was only heard by us. Full report in twenty minutes. I leave you in charge, Lt. Reese."
Reese nodded and four men were sent to the east tunnels, three to the west and six to the south. The rest broke into two groups. Reese led one group to check that the machines had not heard their little problem.
"Flores, get this place clean and clear." Reese ordered leaving the rest of the men to her. Flores was being punished, that's why it was now her job to clear the hallway.
"Connor," Kate began but was interrupted by a scream of "Metal!"
A hail of gunfire was heard in the hallway and John instinctively shoved Kate behind him. "Stay down."
He crawled on his belly and caught sight of the twitching black boot. "Oh no." he muttered.
"Cease fire." he yelled but the adrenaline had gotten to inexperienced group. "CEASE FIRE!" Connor yelled.
All but one had stopped. She stopped to reload and only then did she hear the gunshots directed at her feet. Surprised Flores looked up and caught a full riffle butt to the side of her head. "I said cease fire. What part don't you fucking understand?" He picked her up and threw her hard against the wall searching her until he was sure he had taken all her guns.
He gave them to nearby soldier named, Adams. Adams held the guns gingerly trying to keep them from clacking against each other but it was impossible with him shaking so badly. Exhilirated and petrified to be this close to Connor, the General that led and risked everything for them. Adams would give him full obedience.
The silence reigned in the tunnel as they all just stood there, Connor's voice echoing around them. Seeing the General drop a soldier for failing to follow orders was rare. He was always cold and matter of fact. It took a lot to make him angry and when it happened it was something to behold. "Think for one fucking second, if you kill someone accidentally that means we are down one good fighter and the metal wins that much faster."
John knew he was going overboard but the idea that his Cameron was gone because of this stupid woman was too painful for him to act logically, "And all that cause you're too goddamm trigger happy. Pull this shit again and I will put a bullet through your stinking skull myself. You understand that, Flores?" he shouted shoving her with the tip of his gun. "Rat catching duty until you learn to take orders. Get the fuck out of my sight."
Flores tried to salute but she was absolutely terrified at what he would do to her if she screwed up. She scrambled to her feet and ran. She'd be lucky if she was given a gun again in three months. It was her own fault, she'd been around long enough to know not to piss off Connor. She might not believe he was some sort of messiah but the man had wickedly good ideas and knew how to lead a team plus he wasn't afraid to get dirty. She admired that even if he had just scared her half to death.
"Where's the metal?" Connor snarled, he was using rage to mask the fear that was sloshing in his veins. 'Cameron, be ok.'
"It's here." a soldier named Van Allen gestured to the Resistance Leader. John calmed his racing heart, it wouldn't do him any good to lose it again. He saw the familiar uniform on the slender frame that had been in his arms no more than a few minutes ago.
He kneeled moving the graceful head and dark brown hair to the left. That side of her head had been covered by the rubble and therefore safe from the abrupt gunfire. His green eyes searched the damage letting out a invisible sigh of relief at the superficial wounds on her body.
She would need a new uniform. Cameron's head twitched and she looked around curiously. "The blast was big, I'm ok."
"I'm glad. You scared me for a second." he said softly under his breath
This whole interaction played in a total of a few moments. Not long enough for anybody to suspect anything about them or their relationship.
Flores also known as Jesse was just around the corner. A busted lip and blinding headache her reward for trying to save the General. She didn't miss how his hand brushed over the machine's fingers and she didn't miss how the machine's fingers curled just enough to make contact.
'So the rumors had been true. Connor was involved with the Terminator Bitch. She was the reason he'd gone ballistic.'
"Get her to the tech's station and have them check and clean her up."
Cameron rose without any assistance and began to walk past the soldiers. Van Allen, the soldier who had originally found her handed her his pack to cover her exposed front. She took the pack tilted her head straight and continued her march to the tech station.
Van Allen looked back at their leader and he was sure that the General had just nodded at him in appreciation. Van Allen smiled tentatively and Connor disappeared back into his room.
Jesse had not missed any of this. She even saw how Kate sat Connor on his cot. He dropped his head to his hands and she shut the door before Jesse could see more.
'What the hell is going on around here?'
"She's fine, John. Don't worry." Kate said sitting beside John. She rubbed his back comfortingly and he looked up grateful to have someone else to confide in. "That was quite a display, back there."
"I almost gave it away, Kate. I shouted her name and would have gone tearing through there like a madman if you hadn't caught me. I was so close to just killing that stupid woman. What if..."
Kate was at loss for words so she just sat there rubbing in slow soothing circles.
"Did anybody hear me?" he asked self consciously looking at the floor.
Kate Brewster was one of two people that got to see this side of John. The other being Cameron. "I don't think so, in the commotion it was really hard to hear. I heard you but you were practically on top of me. Though I'm sure everybody heard that rant."
She placed a hand on his shoulder and he squeezed it. "Let me check you, make sure you're not injured."
"I'm fine. I wasn't close enough for anything but a short fall. Don't worry." He said overlooking some of the debris on the table. He had to be better, he had to be able to calm down. Reacting like that would bring his world crashing back on top of his and Cameron's heads. He eyed the table and its lack of paperwork, which had been scattered when he had been busy with Cam.
"Must be some great rubble." Kate joked while doing a general perusal of his person. He need time to unwind and shouting at his officers would not ender them to him."Next time you go rushing to play the hero, you might want to check your clothes are on properly first." She cracked the joke in hope of livening up the somber mood that had descended on him.
He had been so scared for Cameron that he hadn't even remembered that he had dressed angrily and without paying attention. Now with some time before he could see Cameron and talk to his men, he took the oppurtunity to really look at himself. He had dressed rather quickly missing several buttons and his zipper was down.
"I was preoccupied," he said with as much dignity as he could as he zipped up his fly.
Kate took note of the rumpled blankets and his clothes and came up with one conclusion, "I bet you were but you said you and Cammi were gonna lie low." She poked him in the stomach, "when will you learn you can't hide things from me. You're a terrible liar... " Kate pondered back to the hallway and how he had acted as if she was just another injured soldier except when he held her hand for that split second. "...well to me anyways." She was happy to get a embarrased response after what had happened in the hallway.
"I try not to be obvious, Kate but it's hard. I know if they could only see her for who she is they could learn to accept her. They could learn to coexist."
She took his jaw in hand, "no, they wouldn't. They fear them and no matter how they are dressed up or presented they will always hate them."
"Why don't I? I couldn't hate her anymore than I could hate myself." John asked, he was hoping for a true answer.
"Because to you they are salvation from a lonely existence. The family that has never abandoned you. The companion that can defend itself. The lover that will never leave you and die. That is why." Kate paused and John knew she was thinking of her fiancée who had died at one of the many rescue missions launched to get Connor out of Century.
"I'm sorry about Jerrod. He was a good man. A great soldier and the only man worthy of you, Katie." He brushed at the stray tears that had escaped her eyes.
"Go get your reports and try to be nonchalant when you see the Techs. You scare them. Also don't let your temper get the better of you. Hitting that soldier even if the little bitch deserved it, was wrong."
"Anything else…"
"Tell Cameron that you love her everyday. You never know when she will not be here for you to do so." Kate said following then leaving him as he made his way to the Tech station and she to the medical bay. "Connor, make sure you come see me and get her wounds looked at."
He walked down the corridor, his face a mask of seriousness. He entered the Tech station and the timid scientists jumped to attention. "At ease." The men nervously watched as the fearsome man with the mysterious scars entered the main bay and disappeared between H/K blast proof doors.
"How she doing?" he asked the bearded man. Here he was all business.
"Just flesh wounds. No compromise of any of her circuitry or her endoskeleton. She needs a new uniform." The man said leaving to get a new set of chips that were pulled from a batch of T-888's
Connor nodded and approached the platform, "Hey, sweetheart."
"Hi, John. I'm almost all better. I am missing some of my skin." she said lifting the thin blanket and revealing her top. Her collarbone and her right shoulder caught the light where the Coltan shinned through but the rest was in its usual perfect smooth condition.
"Not where it counts." He said with a suggestive little wink. The bearded man re-entered handing one of the chips to John. He raised it to the light scanning it thoughtfully. "Wipe the memories. No blanket jobs. Full wiped slates, if they don't function afterwards then break the chip and thermite bath the bodies."
"Cameron should be fine and in full form in a few days," Eric said gently helping down the cyborg off the table. She thanked him forgetting to keep together the edges of her mangled uniform. Eric's eyes drifted down for a tiny millisecond before running right smack into the Connor Stare.
"I mean, she is fine in a strictly cybernatic way. She is at full capabilities." Eric finished quietly, slipping a jacket over her shoulders.
"Get on those chips right away." John said staring at the man balefully.
Cameron and John left the Tech Station and headed to the Medical Bay. "You scared them again, didn't you?" Kate replied in greeting. She was alone and putting her supplies on the table.
"Especially Eric." Cameron supplied.
"John," Kate said in a near perfect imitation of his mother. "He means no harm."
"He was looking at my uniform." Cameron said standing guard as John was cleaned and stitched up.
Kate looked between the two of them. She was wondering why this statement was amusing to Cameron and annoying to John. Cameron turned and faced Kate, shoving off Eric's coat. The redhead unsuccessfully muffled her laughter, "I see."
A tick in John's jaw jumped wildly at the women's amusement. Kate resolved to help John out of his misery and handed Cameron a new uniform. She stripped off the old one and donned the new one. "Not shy is she?" Kate asked the now content John.
"You have no idea." John replied his demeanor much calmer.
"I can't believe you still don't like Eric Michaels. I mean the guy is in a wheelchair." Kate said motioning to Cameron and shooing John away. Cameron sat as slugs were pulled from her chassis.
"His brain isn't it." John announced and was met with laughter, again.
Connor Household - Present Time
Cameron jolted from her sleep cycle startling John.
"What's wrong?" His sleepy voice asked. His arm automatically tightening around her middle.
"I had a dream," she said.
John instantly let go and sat up behind her. "You had a dream? I thought you didn't sleep?"
She turned on her back and looked at him. "I don't need sleep, I never said I couldn't sleep." She was sure that his face looked even more surprised than it had before.
"Can you dream?" he asked laying his head across an outstretched arm. His other hand was busy making patterns on the sheets that covered them both.
"It seemed more a recollection than a dream. I remember details. I saw Future John and Eric…"
"Eric?" John thought a second. Cameron turned the light on illuminating her heavily draped room. "Is that the guy from the library?"
"Yes, he is one of your Techs. He knows everything about my chip. He was there when you reprogrammed me." Cameron explained snuggling into his side. He was obviously thinking about what she had just told him.
"Is that why you were seeing him? Because you knew him in the future?" John asked stupefied.
"Of course, but he is not as savvy in this time. Perhaps you need to teach him or I need to let him check me out. He is instrumental in reprogramming your army and he is one of two people that know about us."
"Whoa," he held his hand up. "One huge revelation at a time. He knows you and is able to fix you. He also knows about us?"
"Correct."
"You only saw him because of these things? You never wanted to be with him?" John asked her studying her face in the lamplight.
"No, I did not wish to be with him. I love you, not him." Cameron knew why he was asking. She was sure it had to do with the bullet necklace he had been so ready to yank off her neck. He was still jealous of Eric. Cameron hugged her John reassuringly, " he is a friend. I kissed him cause you made me mad. I hate Riley. I explained that in the truck."
He exhaled the breath he had been holding and huddled further into the warmth of their bed. "So you have recollections but they are presented in dream form, that's handy." John remarked his hand stroking her hair, "Cam, you said there was two people who knew about us. Who's the second."
"Katherine Brewster-Connor, Your wife."
John's shocked yell still made its way past Cameron's hand and she was sure it was heard down the street past the neighbor's annoying yapping dog and over several car alarms
He pulled her hand from his mouth, eyes wide and unbelieving he shouted again, "MY WHAT!!"
"Your wife. John, she knows about us."
"But…but…I…umm…I…don't understand." he finally managed to blurt out.
"You said you wanted to know about Allison Young, right?" he nodded mutely still stuck on the wife and Cameron train of thought. Cameron sat up curling her knees up to her chest and resting her head on them. "I was modeled after a human named Allison Young."
John swallowed and she continued, "Allison Young was John Connor's mistress and she was murdered in order for me to take her place."
"Who…who murdered her?" he asked shakily.
Cameron looked at him regret and sadness equally mixed in her eyes. "I did."