Chapter 4
Cameron walked slowly through the living room, taking care to avoid any parts of the wooden floor that creaked loudly in an effort not to wake Sarah, who was asleep on the sofa. Cameron was doing her usual rounds, looking and waiting for any sign of a threat to John. Sarah turned over and moaned with pain with out waking up. Cameron looked over and saw she was still asleep. Cameron held out her hand and placed it on Sarah's hand. Her scan found that the tumour on her spine had grown slightly and was the cause of her discomfort. Turning her gaze towards the ceiling as she heard some sounds form upstairs to where John's room was. Cameron moved towards the stairs as quietly as she could. Opening his bedroom door, she looked towards the bed and found John moving uncontrollable, muttering as he slept. Cameron quickly concluded her was having a nightmare. Walking slowly to his bed, she saw sweat on John's face. " Cameron, n…..no". Cameron froze. John was having a dream about her. She was part of his nightmare.
Cameron knew that dreams were random segments of a persons imagination. She could only guess that in the dream, she had died or she was hunting John. She tilted her head to the side as she raised her hand and felt his forehead. Pushing her hand down slightly, she began to rub from side to side. She leant this from Sarah. Sarah used to do this when John was having bad dreams. Cameron smiled as John's breathing began to slow down. This showed Cameron that she was doing the right thing. She continued to rub his forehead until he was completely calm and in a deep sleep. She removed her hand and walked out of the door. Turning to close it, she watched as John rolled over, a sign that he was alright now. Leaving the room, she continued to look for any threats.
Next morning, Sarah was lying awake on the sofa, her leg being tended to by Cameron." The bandages need changing, if I don't change them, you wound could become infected". Sarah wasn't very enthusiastic. "Thanks". Sarah picked up a glass of brown liquid that Cameron brought her from beside the sofa. "What's this?". Cameron noticed an even less enthusiastic look on her face." You won't want to know what's in it, just drink it and ignore the taste". "No thanks". Sarah made to put it back on the floor but Cameron stopped her, taking the glass from her, Cameron held it to her mouth." Drink it, it will help with the pain".
Sarah, having been in pain all night, took the glass from her. Frowning Sarah held the glass up and drank. Sarah nearly threw up when tasting the liquid, but continued never the less. Drinking it all in one go, She put the glass down, coughing loudly. Looking at Cameron." If you make me drink that again, I'll throw it in your face, and why didn't a feel any of this before I got shot?". " I think you did, when you threw up on the way back from Mexico, you were sick because the tumours began to take an affect on you". Sarah's anger at her began to disappear as the pain in her arms and leg began to fade, disappearing entirely after a few seconds. "What was in that stuff?". Cameron began to work on the bandages. "Your welcome".
John woke up to the sound of load coughs from downstairs. He rubbed his eyes and sat up, Looking towards the door, he noticed he could hear downstairs because the door was ajar. He was sure he closed it last night. Getting up, he picked up some spare clothes, left his room and went to the bathroom. He had one hell of a nightmare that night, a dream he didn't want to have again. Looking at himself in the mirror, he could she his shirt was full of sweat. He always sweated when having bad dreams. Most of them were of Judgement day, or machine's hunting him. As he got in to the shower and began to wash himself, he thought on last nights dream. It was different from the others, he didn't dream of Judgement day or any machines. He remembered in the dream walking through LA, which was completely deserted. He could hear a voice crying out for help in the distance.
As he got closer, he recognised the voice as Cameron's. Turning in to a dark alley, he found Cameron lying dead on the floor. Her blood was everywhere, and her metal body was visible through the holes in her skin. Standing over her, was someone he couldn't see, the darkness of the alley covered the persons face. The person rushed towards him. John couldn't remember anything after that. Cameron seemed so real and seeing her like that hurt him deeply. Even though it was a dream, John felt a little ill seeing Cameron like she was. He never wanted to see her like that, never.
John finished in the shower, got dressed and returned to his room, he found his phone on the floor, next to the bed. Looking on the phone, he had two missed calls from Riley. Finding her number on the phone book, he called her. "About time John, I've been waiting for ages"." Hey, when did they let you out?". "You know hospitals, they wanted to keep me in for a few more days, see a shrink, the whole works, listen, I'm at the pier, will you come?". John stood up and looked for his shoes." Yeah, I can't stay long mind, my moms kind of sick at the minute". " No problem, see you in a flash". Putting his phone in his pocket, he found his shoes and put them on. He didn't want to stay in the house as he didn't want to look at his mother. Finishing with the laces, picked up his jacket and want downstairs, with out looking towards the sofa, he made for the door.
"John?". Stopping just before the door, he slowly turned and faced the sofa. Cameron was staring at him, her hands still on the bandages and so was Sarah. "John, are you alright"." Yeah, I'm fine, just didn't sleep so well". Cameron turned away quickly at this and got back to work on Sarah's leg. Sarah sat up, her eyes darted towards John's shoes and back to his eyes. "Going somewhere?". John reached out and opened the door, keeping his eyes on Sarah. "Riley called, I'm meeting her at the pier". Cameron's eyes darted quickly back to John's face. "I won't be long". John turned and left the house. Cameron stood up, leaving Sarah's bandages unfinished.
"Should I follow him, he's not safe out their alone?"." No, he'll be fine". Standing at the window, Cameron watched as John got in to the car and drive away. Sarah sat and watched as Cameron sat down again, and began to work on the bandages, she worked very fast and tied very tightly. Eventually, Cameron snapped the bandages and was forced to start again. Sarah kept her eyes on Cameron as she started again.
"Your jealous". Cameron stopped but didn't look up. "I don't know what you mean". Sarah grinned. Cameron was making it even more obvious. But terminators couldn't feel emotions. They didn't have a soul. Then she remembered the uncle Bob terminator, how she and John changed its settings, allowing it to feel and grow. "Cameron, how long have you felt like that?". Cameron stopped and looked up this time. "Felt like what?". "Felt like you want to kill John for saying Riley's name and killing Riley every time you see her with John". Cameron went red in the face, she also leant back slightly, as in fear that Sarah would attack her at any moment.
Cameron was finding it hard to answer Sarah's question. He face felt extremely hot for reasons she didn't know. She also found it strange that she had the urge to hide in the cupboard in her bedroom. "The Sarah Connor I know would not ask me questions about this sort of thing, you should be threatening me or something". Cameron leant back even more, almost falling off the chair." I didn't sleep last night, I watched you walking around the house and I saw your face when you came back from John's room, last night gave me the chance to think things over, about you mostly, so come on, tell me how long?".
" I don't know how long, I don't know how to control it, it's just….every time Riley is around, I want her gone, I want her away from John, I just want it to just be me and John". Sarah was taken aback by her words. Cameron just stared at her. She had just described a genuine emotion. The machine that had lived with them, fought with them and was patching up her leg, was feeling emotions. "Your actually feeling now, I've noticed changes in you for a while, but I just thought you were broken". Cameron's gaze fell to Sarah's leg, she finished without saying a word. She wanted more then anything to hide in her cupboard which confused her more.
Finishing the bandages with out breaking them. She stood up and backed away from Sarah. "I don't know what's happening to me, I find myself wanting to do things that aren't part of my mission.". She looked to the floor. Her face got hotter. "Its happening now, I want to hide in the cupboard upstairs". Cameron looked up at Sarah as she burst out laughing. Sarah stopped laughing as Cameron stared at her." Sorry, look, sit down and we can talk about this.". Cameron tilting her head to the side. "Talk about what, emotions?".
Sarah sat up fully, giving Cameron a nod to sit down. "If you want to put it like that then yes". Cameron walked slowly over and sat down. "Why do I want to hide in the cupboard?". Sarah thought for a few seconds before replying. Does she really want to help this machine understand emotions, after basically telling her she was jealous of Riley being with John. She decided she did want to help her, to help her better understand. "You wanted to hide upstairs because I embarrassed you, I made you admit to something you wanted to keep secret. When humans feel embarrassed, some just deal with it, other like me and I guess you as well, want to hide away, to be unseen, invisible to others". Cameron took this information. She held her hand to her face, it was cooling down now but still felt hotter then it normally did. "Why did my face feel hot when I talked about Jo….?".
She stopped before she mentioned John, her face became hot again. "It happens when you are embarrassed, in humans, the blood rushes to your head faster when embarrassed, nervous, intimidated, it gives the face a red glow". Cameron remembered now that John's face turned red slightly when he was with her." John went red when taking the bullets out of my back last night? She said this before realising she had said it. Her face became even hotter now. Sarah didn't reply to that one, she just stared at Cameron as her face began to loose its redness again. "About John, what do you think of him and Riley". Cameron looked Sarah in the face at this question. "Riley's a security threat, she's a liar and her being with John puts him in danger.". Cameron seemed satisfied with her answer. "That's not what I asked, I don't want to know what I already know, I want to know what you think, what you feel?". Cameron was taken aback by this. She stared at the floor again, wishing more then ever to be in the cupboard."
Cameron, you can tell me, close your eyes just let in come out". Cameron closed her eyes. She thought of John being with Riley, how seeing them together made her want to be their, to keep her off him. She remembered how she watched Riley ride away on her bike and Cameron wanting to kill her before she got away. She also remembered how she seemed to be more cheerful around John, like when they returned to Mexico to find Cromartie and then watching Agent James Ellison's house. She and John had been able to talk without any thought of Riley. Cameron slowly opened her eyes again but still looked at the floor.
" I think its bad Riley's with John, I want her gone, I want John to forget her and treat me like he treated her. I want John to care for me like he cares for her". Cameron took her eyes away the floor, and looked at Sarah. "Your jealous, you want Riley out of the picture and for John to focus on you, it's a common emotion among humans, it leads to anger and hate, which you have by wanting Riley dead. But you are feeling more then the basic emotions, your feeling desire, maybe even love, and hell who wouldn't for John, he's a handsome one, bet tons of girls liked him at school". A wide smile formed on both their faces at this comment. Before long, they were both laughing. " Can you help me control these emotions?". Sarah took few deep breaths to help her to stop laughing. "I can try".
John parked the car about halfway down an alley near the pier. Getting out, he walked towards the crowded street at the end. Walking in to the crowd, he saw hundreds of people crowding around some new stalls. John hated being in large crowds. He could never tell if he was being followed by anyone with this many people about. He nearly had a heart attack when he felt someone grad him from behind. "Surprise!". came Riley's voice. Turing around, John looked at her. She was still pale white and her wrists were tightly bandaged. Riley followed John's eyes to her wrists. "You goanna tell me what happened then or what".
Riley didn't answer, she seemed more interested in the new stalls that were on the pier. "Look, I just got out of there and want to enjoy myself, if us to have fun okay, ill tell you about it later, alright". John stared as Riley made for the closest stall. All he wanted to do was turn around and go back home, but Cameron was there, he couldn't look at her with out his mind wondering. Shaking himself, he followed Riley. He tried to seem interested as Riley took him form stall to stall, begging him to buy her something from every one of them, John was growing tired of telling her every time he didn't bring much money with him.
Eventually, they sat down at one to the outdoor cafes. John bought two cold drinks and a plate of chips. They watched as a juggler entertained a group of children before John decided to press her for answers. " Riley, I need to know what happened , why did you hurt yourself like that". He pointed at her wrists. "I don't want to talk about it John". She took a few chips from the plate and ate them. "You can't keep saying that Riley, you were fine one minute, the next you did this". " I said I didn't want to talk about it". Riley said this loudly, causing several passer-by's to look in their direction. " Look, can we just start over, just forget abut the whole thing".
Riley seemed hopeful that this would get John to drop it. John wasn't fooled and knew she was trying to get him to change the subject. He wasn't going to put up with this, if she wasn't going to tell the truth, he was going home. Getting up, he turned in the direction of the alley. "Where are you going?". Turing his head to Riley, he took out his phone and held it up for her to see. "When you want to tell me the truth about what happened, then call me, if not, don't bother". He saw the look of surprise and shock on her face as he tuned away, putting the phone back in his pocket. "John, wait!". John ignored her pleas and disappeared in to the crowd. Finding his way through to the alley, he headed for the car. Looking back towards the pier, he saw that Riley hadn't followed him. He opened the car door and got in, giving the bin next to it a good kick beforehand. He turned the ignition and headed home.
Cameron stood absolutely still staring out of the window, waiting for John to return. She regretted the fact the Sarah made her stay in the house,. John was exposed to attack from terminators all of the time, but even more so with out her around. Despite this, Cameron was grateful she did stay in the house. Sarah had helped her better understand what she was feeling and how to control them better. Sarah was upstairs in the bath, having not slept at all last night, Cameron had suggested it to help her relax. Cameron was having trouble to understand one of the things Sarah had told her. " Emotions can be controlled and need to be controlled at times, but at other times, its better for someone to embrace their emotions and let them control you". Cameron thought that letting something else other then yourself control you was unwise. But then again, John had told her that Humans did stupid things sometimes.
Hearing the sound of a gun loading behind her nearly made her jump. Cameron turned and was faced by Derek. He was holding a shotgun, aiming it for her face. Cameron stared right at him, not daring to reach for the pistol on the table near the door. One shot to her face could destroy her eyes and her chip, she would die. Derek took a step towards Cameron, keeping her eyes fixed on hers. " I heard everything you said and ill be god dammed if a let you and Sarah become best buddies". Cameron raised her hands from her side and folded them. "What did you hear?". " I head everything, I was in the kitchen, you were to busy talking about emotions and all that crap, you didn't even notice.". Derek took another step forward and stumbled slightly. Cameron looked towards the floor and saw that their was nothing on the floor for him to stumble on. Looking behind him and in the kitchen, she saw several empty bottles on the counter.
Looking quickly to the left, she saw John pulling up outside, he was safe and Riley wasn't with him. She quickly decided to buy some time for John to see what his uncle was doing. "Your drunk, your not seeing things clearly, or thinking clearly, I don't actually remembering you thinking about anything clearly lately". Smirking as a furious look came across Derek's face. She slowly backed herself towards the door. "You fucking machines destroyed everything I had, my home, my parents, my brother and I hate that you're here, close to John all the time, he's supposed to kill you and stop the bombs, but he keeps you around like a pet and now, Sarah likes having you around. He moved forward quickly and held the gun aright in her face. She now didn't dare say a word or move, on shot now would destroy her chip. " I'm going to tear you apart you metal bitch".
"What the hell are you doing". John had finally entered the house. Derek looked from John and back to Cameron several times before backing off to the middle of the room. He kept his gun aimed at Cameron. "I said what are you doing". John was expecting to come back home and relax for a but, not to find Derek pointing a gun at Cameron. "I'm doing this for your own good John, that metal bitch is goanna kill you on day and I'll be god dammed if I'm goanna let this one kill you when hundreds have died protecting you from them". John picked up the pistol from the table next to the door. Cameron was blocking the view so Derek didn't see this. "That metal bitch, Cameron, is not going to kill me, I've told you before". Derek looked like he was having a heart attack by John's words. John took this moment to walk around Cameron and stand in front of her, protecting her from Derek. Derek lowered his weapon at once. Cameron stared at the back of John's head. She couldn't believe what he had done, it was usually her who would stand in front on him, not this way. "Fine, have it your way, go on, shoot, take us both out, I'm not moving from this spot". Derek didn't move, he Kept his gun lowered. "What the hell?". John looked towards the stairs, Sarah was sanding at the bottom, in a dressing gown." What's going on?".
She looked from Derek, to John and Cameron. Why was Cameron standing behind John. "I'll make this simply for you John, me or her, your uncle of a fucking murdering machine". John wasn't expecting this, but he was surprised at himself as he already had the answer." Her". Sarah, Cameron and Derek all stared at him. John kept his eyes on Derek. Cameron backed away form him and stood next to Sarah. Sarah looked from one to the other as they didn't say a word for well over a minute. "John, I….". Derek began to speak. John cut him off. "Her, end of story, I choose her, you might be my uncle but I don't trust you, never have done, my dad would be ashamed to see you now". Sarah looked at Cameron, who had her eyes fixed on John with great admiration. Sarah could easily tell that Cameron had a very small smile on her face. Derek aimed the shotgun at his head. John raised his pistol and aimed at his. "You don't know what Kyle would think, you never knew him, I swear to you now, ill never stop until that metal bitch is nothing but scrap". Cameron's small smile vanished. Derek lowered his gun, walked quickly passed John and out the door." Derek, don't come back". John watched as Derek went around to the side of the house. He disappeared for a few seconds, before the sound of a car engine started up. Derek drove as fast as the car would go, away from the house.
John placed the gun back on the table and closed the door as Derek never closed it. He turned to face both Cameron and Sarah. Both were staring at him. "Why was I just forced to tell my uncle to never come back to the house". John looked at Cameron as he said this. He found Derek pointing the gun at her so she must have done something wrong. "Derek overheard me and Sarah talking this mourning, he didn't like what was said or what happened". Sarah walked forward towards John, limping in pain. John automatically held her up as to take the pressure off her leg." What did you talk about?". "We talked about emotions and how to control them, I guess he overheard the part where I said I haven't wanted Cameron destroyed for a while now". John was shocked, the only other time she accepted a terminator was just before uncle Bob was destroyed, they had shaken hands beforehand. " You talked about emotion, what emotions?".
He looked over his mothers shoulder at Cameron." A few, I'm going to destroy what's left of the terminator that attacked Elizabeth and William Anderson ". With that, she turned and walked towards the kitchen and left out the back door. John shook his head. "I'm going to bed, I didn't sleep well last night". John helped her to the bottom of the stairs. "Aren't you going to lecture me about Cameron and Derek, do you want to know why chose her?". Sarah walked upstairs while John waited at the bottom. Half way up, she stopped and turned around. "I already know why you chose her John, your not very good at hiding it". She smiled before heading upstairs to bed.
John spend the rest of the day surfing the internet for anything out of the ordinary in the computer industry, military and even chess tournaments. Cameron was upstairs, John could hear the music Chopin from her room. John shut down the computer, not finding anything that would be classified as out of the ordinary, except being redirected to weight watches every five minutes. John turned out the lights and went up stairs. Opening his mothers door, he saw her fast asleep on her bed. John, satisfied that she was okay for the night, closed the door and walked passed his room to Cameron's. The door was ajar, he looked inside and saw Cameron standing still, staring out of the window." Cameron?". John entered the room, Cameron turned and looked at him, she moved to the CD player and turned it off. "Sorry if it was to loud". John took a step in to the room. "How's your back holding up".
Cameron held her hand towards her back, feeling her own skin where the bandages she removed two hours ago used to be. "Its okay, fully healed, thanks to you". She smiled slightly, as did John. "I'm heading to bed, see you tomorrow". John backed out of the room. "John, why to people dream?". John stopped, staring in to her brown eyes made him feel at ease. "I don't know why really, it just happens. You fall asleep and your mind wonders things, sometimes you don't dream at all". He took another step backwards. "You should try it". Cameron tilted her head to the side. She didn't know the first thing about sleeping, let alone dreaming. She didn't sleep, she went to stand by mode instead. John caught on quickly that she was confused." Just try it, don't think about it, just do it".
Cameron looked towards her bed, she had never slept in it before. Looking back towards John. "John, before you go, why did you choose me over Derek, he was your uncle, your family". John looked at her. "I guess, … I dunno, I just did it on instinct, he might be my uncle but, I dunno, I just made a choice". Cameron smiled as John left her room and entered his. Before closing his door, he called down the hall. "Remember , try to dream". He closed his door. Cameron, closing her own door, began to undress. Standing in her underwear and bra, she pulled back the sheets and got in to bed. Lying back, she felt strangely comfortable. She slowly closed her eyes and without realising it , she drifted off to sleep.