Hello again!
Start of a fresh new story right here, hope it's a good 'un! :)
"Two sugars, right?"
"Yeah, thanks man." With a quick, appreciative nod, Tom took the steaming cup out of his colleague's hands.
Taking his place beside him, Aaron leaned forward with his arms resting on the railing separating them from the twenty foot drop over the edge of the walkway.
"Where is it?" He asked, peering down into the sparse warehouse, looking for any telltale signs.
"Behind that crate," He pointed towards a crate near the far wall while taking a sip of his coffee. It was surprisingly nice given their surroundings.
Who needs a Starbucks?
"What's it been doing?" Aaron asked, nursing his own brew in his hands. To look at them, you wouldn't think they had one of the most dangerous creations on the planet just below them. That was the air of confidence in knowing that either of them could reduce the machine into a pain ridden heap on the ground in a moment's notice. Pretty sound reasoning…
"Not much. It's moved around once or twice." Chuckling loudly, and almost spitting his coffee out of his mouth, Tom recovered with a smile, "It's been pretty funny watching it bounce off the walls a couple of times, I gotta say."
Frowning at his new colleague, Aaron peered down into the small room. "It doesn't bother you that it looks…well, like that?"
Rolling his eyes, Tom pushed himself up off the railings and turned around, resting his lower back on the rail. "Dude, you know what it is. You saw what happened when they turned the magnet off. It's not a little girl."
Still frowning, Aaron remained staring intently at the crate the gir…the machine was apparently behind. It was true that he had witnessed the frankly terrifying scenes when they first arrived, the pool of liquid shimmering, moving, reforming. It was the stuff of nightmares. But for whatever reason, he couldn't shake the image of his daughter out of his head.
She was about eight years old, blonde, favoured the pigtailed look. Naturally when he'd seen this thing writhing in agony looking for all intents and purposes like his little Lindsay, his stomach had churned a fair amount. Deep down he knew it wasn't human, wasn't his little girl, or one of her little friends, but some things were just tough to shake.
"Why do you think it looks like that?" He asked, not really bothering to turn and face Tom, asking the question more to himself than anything.
Looking down at the man leaning on the rails beside him, he gave a disinterested shrug as he sipped his coffee. "I dunno, man. Boss never said and I didn't ask. Either way, it's pretty sick, don't you think?"
"How do you mean?" Aaron asked, raising an eyebrow up at the other man.
"Well, it's impersonating a little kid." Scoffing, he turned around and peered at the crate too, "How would you feel if you had a kid, and that thing sat and played with it? I'd be weirded out by it, I know for sure."
Of course these men were no more familiar than colleagues on a first name basis, Tom knew nothing of Lindsay. But even so, it made Aaron think. Would he be able to accept the thing down in the room playing with his baby girl, having fun with her? Even if it committed no harm, done nothing out of the ordinary for any other kid to do, would the simple knowledge of what it was make him try and stop it?
This machine was from the future, he knew that much. How or why, he wasn't sure and he certainly didn't want to find out. That meant that at some point in the future these things would be around, they would become part of life, be it good or bad. Could he learn to accept or even like something that wasn't human, but pretended to be anyway?
As he pondered his admittedly philosophical issue, movement from below caught his eye. The two men separated, Aaron returning to his proper position as Mr. Quinn came into the room, holding his own cup of coffee, yawning loudly.
He looked like he had slept one, maybe two hours before coming in. But he had a look about him that told anybody who paid attention that he most likely enjoyed doing whatever it was that kept him up. As he sauntered in, he looked up at his boys on the catwalk for any hint on where Amy was hiding. Tom provided it with a nod in the general direction of the crate.
Taking a sip of his scalding hit brew, Quinn slowly approached the area that was pointed out to him. Gingerly rounding a corner, he found Amy sitting on the floor, back resting against the crate facing the wall.
Curiously tilting his head to get a better look, he couldn't help the remark that slipped out. "You'll catch a cold sitting down there."
After a moment, Amy slowly pivoted her head around to face the man. With more venom than a little girl, machine or human, should've been capable of, she answered how she saw fit, "Fuck off."
"Oooh, now that's not very nice is it?" Chuckling confidently, he sat down cross legged on the floor opposite her and stared for a few long minutes. Amy never met his eyes, his never left hers.
"I wouldn't sit there if I were you." Amy remarked darkly, her eyes slowly rising up to meet his, a very dangerous gleam behind them.
"Oh, and why not?" Quinn asked, not backing down in the slightest, keeping his eyes locked on hers, refusing to let her try and intimidate him. He was in control, he had the upper hand, he held all the cards.
"It's dangerous to be this close to me." Sticking with the intimidation attempt, Amy kept her body perfectly, and eerily still. Only her eyes seemed to carry any expression in them, despite the fact they too had never moved.
"Yeah?" Quinn asked, to Amy's eternal annoyance, unaffected by her efforts.
Sometimes looking this cute sucks!
Mentally shaking her head, she slowly tilted her head to the side, a tip she picked up from Cameron for intimidation. Something about being weighed up like a piece of meat didn't sit right with the human mindset, and she was banking on that to gain at least a small victory over the man in front of her.
A moment later, she slowly raised her hand, and extended her pointer finger. Still though, Quinn's eyes never wavered, he never even flinched. Even when her finger started to shimmer and revert to its liquid metal state and inch its way closer to him. If anything, his infuriating smile only grew.
When the finger was less than a foot away, and quite frankly, coming to a razor sharp point, Quinn let out a sharp bark of laughter and tossed his head up in the direction of one of his men.
Amy screeched in agony as she felt that pain lancing through her body again. Collapsing to the floor, her simulated voice remained, screaming at the top of her metaphorical lungs as pain tore through her body. Her metal finger solidified and flailed around helplessly as she clutched her hands to her hand in a futile attempt to try and lesson the agony she was in.
All the time, Quinn sat and watched, even going so far as to take a sip of coffee before finally tossing another nod at the man above him, sick of her incessant screeching. Tilting his head, he observed as Amy stopped her writhing and settled for several pathetic whimpers as her systems tried to right themselves now that Peyton had let up off the button in his hand.
He leaned forward, trying to catch the machines attention, "Hey, what have I told you? Don't do anything you're not supposed to, and you won't have to go through that again."
Taking a few moments to make sure she was okay, one of Amy's eyes slowly opened to glare up at the human taunting her.
Structural integrity compromised…
Source: Unknown…
Liquid metal matrix stability - 68%…
Recommend immediate shutdown and await Skynet repair…
Initiating retrieval signal…
Ignoring the warning she'd seen so many times before, Amy pushed herself up rather unsteadily onto her hands, and then to her knees. Finding movement difficult, she slumped back against the crate and glared some more, "Why are you doing this to me?"
Not that she wasn't worried about the warnings her diagnostic systems were presenting to her, but there was little she could do about it. What was worrying though, was that the integrity percentage had been dropping faster and more sudden since she'd been subjected to this torture.
On most other men, most humans in fact, those puppy dog eyes and her adorable pout would have a devastating effect. On Quinn, he merely narrowed his eyes and brought his coffee to his lips.
"Oh I'm not doing this. Mr. Vasquez is doing this, honey." Quinn's smile was sickly sweet, "I'm just here to keep you in check."
"So why are you in here talking to me?" Amy asked, taking careful note of who was behind this. She would get out of there one day after all. A machine was the wrong person to piss off, especially one as unstable as Amy.
"Oh, curiosity mostly." Giving Amy a moment to consider his answer, he continued, "If you and your kind are gonna be in my future, I wanna know what makes you things tick."
Sighing, he pushed himself up to his feet, leaving his coffee cup on the top of the crate. "So remember. If you behave, we won't have to keep disciplining you. If you don't, then maybe one time one of our fingers might end up stuck on the button just a little too long."
"Somebody will be in later to uh…obtain a few samples."
The corner of his lips quirked up in an infuriating smirk as he strode past her. Amy watched him go, speaking just as his hand made contact with the door handle, "When I get out of here…I'm going to kill you."
Smiling again, Quinn slowly twisted the door handle, "I'd be disappointed if you didn't try."
Five days earlier...
There's something to sleeping in the same bed with another person that one gets used to. The unconscious feeling of knowing that they're there. The way that on so many occasions people sense their lover is no longer with them, and the subconscious mind wakes them up to investigate why.
Fortunately, John Connor had never had to go through that process, what with his lover being a cyborg who never needed to get up to get a drink, to use the bathroom, or to get up simply because she couldn't sleep.
As she was constantly reminding him, she never slept.
He was used to waking up with that slightly cold body in his arms every morning, in exactly the same spot as he went to sleep in the night before. After all, it was pretty tough to move with said cyborg sprawled out on your chest weighing you down.
But for the past ten minutes he'd been rolling around in the bed, his mind trying to find the curiously absent Cameron Phillips he'd gotten so used to sleeping with. So when he did eventually wake up, he was surprised to say the least when he noticed her absence, his arm tightening around a non existent waist.
"Cameron?"
Getting no reply from the darkness, John tiredly rubbed his eyes. A moment later his body started screaming at him in protest to even the slightest movement. That was when the memories of a couple of hours ago all came flooding back. A goofy smile spread across his face when he remembered Cameron saying those three little words he'd been wanting to hear as long as he could remember.
"I love you."
Grinning, he rolled flat onto his back and stretched, again immediately regretting his decision when his entire midsection felt like it had gone ten rounds with one of the Klitschko brothers, or maybe both of them. Still though, he persisted and forced himself to sit up, calling out again into the blackness.
"Cameron?"
Swinging his legs over the side of the bed when he again received no reply from the apparently empty room, he pushed himself to stand. On very unsteady legs, he padded over to the bathroom and flicked on the light, immediately screwing his eyes shut from the harsh glare.
"You in here?" He asked into the small room, eyes still closed.
Of course she's not in the bathroom, idiot. Why would she be in the bathroom?
Heeding the wisdom of his subconscious, it being faster than his sleep fuddled brain at that point, he slowly and experimentally opened his eyes. Trying to blink the sleep out of them, he decided he may as well take care of some business while he was in here, Cameron might have returned by the time he was done. If his brain had been operating on full capacity, he might have noticed his body in the mirror as he passed by.
It was not a good sight. Bruises already forming, scratches over his chest, teeth marks on his neck, blood still smeared over his chin and his chest. He was a mess. A happy mess, but a mess all the same. Whether intentionally or not, Cameron had done a number on him with her sheer strength alone.
One empty, blissfully ignorant bladder later, he re-emerged back into the room, using the light from the bathroom to confirm that Cameron hadn't in fact came back from wherever she was. Sighing, he turned off the bathroom light and started fumbling about for something to wear to launch his search and rescue op in. His hand landed at first on Cameron's rumpled panties, bringing a smile to his face as he thought back to removing them from her long legs earlier in the night.
Still grinning like an idiot, he set them down on the bed and eventually found his boxers. In hindsight, that damn bathroom light would've come in handy. Slipping them on, hopping about the room at the same time, he tried making his way to the door at the same time. If only Skynet could see him now, he was sure it'd be quaking in its metaphorical boots at the prospect of having to best him in the arena of war.
Eventually managing the simple task of dressing himself, John took a moment to compose himself before stepping out slowly into the hall outside his room, "Cameron?"
No reply again from the darkness. Blindly making his way along the hall, he came first to his mother's door.
Nah, she wouldn't have gone in there…I hope.
Derek's room…hell no.
Even if Jessica was in there, it was still out of bounds territory for Cameron.
Blinking a few times to try and adjust to the light, he carried on towards the stairs when a small noise caught his attention from down said stairs. He craned his neck to try and pick up more of the sounds. His curiosity getting the better of him. He slowly, warily made his way down the old, creaky stairs one at a time, the noise in his ears getting louder with each step.
By the time he reached the bottom, he recognised the noise clear as day. What confused him though was why it was coming from inside his house.
"Patty cake, patty cake, baker's man. Bake me a cake as fast as you can. Roll it up, roll it up. And throw it in a pan! Patty cake, patty cake, baker's man!"
Rounding the corner into the living room, John stared dumbstruck as he watched the game being played out. Amy sitting cross legged in the middle of the floor with her hands pushed out, clapping away happily and singing along in time with the claps with a huge grin on her face.
Nothing odd in that…relatively speaking. But what was odd was her choice of playing partner.
He could now officially call of the search for his missing lover, as she sat there, hands moving perfectly in time with Amy's in the middle of the living room floor. But that wasn't what took his breath away…it was her smile that did it.
The look of unadulterated joy on Cameron's face as she clapped and chanted in rhythm was a sight that would melt his heart every time he saw it. He'd always thought she had a beautiful smile, even from the first day they met. That little shy smile as she told him her name. But this was something special.
He liked it when his Cameron was happy, even if her choice of methods of gaining that happiness was a little suspect. His aching body would attest to that. Unsure if he should interrupt or not, he debated internally before stepping forward tiredly, "Um... hey there, guys. Am I interrupting?"
"John! You're here!" Turning around and flashing him that brilliant, beautiful smile, Cameron held her hand out, beckoning him closer. "Amy showed me how to do this!"
She held her hands out, palms facing away as she waited for the little girl opposite her to resume the game. If John didn't know better, he'd have thought she wanted to show off for him.
"Uh... that's great." Giving Amy a look, he walked over and kneeled down beside his girlfriend, dropping a kiss on her cheek, pushing aside his initial confusion, "I was worried, you don't usually leave the bed at night."
John couldn't help but notice the way Amy's head was tilted to the side, scanning some of the more obvious marks on his body. Cameron meanwhile was oblivious, too busy grinning like an idiot when he kissed her. "I wanted to come down here for a while, it's too warm in that bed."
Wishing he'd put a shirt on, John could've kicked himself. If Sarah or Derek had seen him looking like this they'd go for the thermite, "But I thought you liked how I kept you warm at night?"
Shrugging, Cameron sat for a split second before going off on an uncharacteristic new shiny object tangent, springing up to her knees to face him, "Oooh, John. Hold out your hands, I wanna play the game with you!"
"Um," Quirking his brow up a little higher, he slowly lifted his hands up and held them out, palms facing Cameron, "Since I'm up anyways, I was thinking of having a late night snack. You interested, Princess?"
Frowning for the first time since he'd came down, Cameron looked at him like he'd just kicked her favourite puppy, "You don't want to play?"
"I didn't say that, Honey." Smiling, he lifted his hands up a little more so she could reach them, "But when we're done, do you think I can get some of those famous Cameron hot fudge sundaes?"
Face lighting up like a kid on Christmas, Cameron quickly forgot about the game she wanted to play and pushed herself up to her feet. "I'll go make you one."
Sounding more eager to please than anything else, John watched as she made her way towards the kitchen on very unsteady legs before he even had a chance to stop her. Half way there, she bumped her shoulder into the door frame and giggled loudly before disappearing into the kitchen.
"What. The. Hell?" Leaning back against the front of the couch with a groan, John narrowed his eyes at the unusually quiet mini-metal across from him, "What are you smiling at?"
Uncrossing her legs, Amy sat up on her haunches and shuffled forward on her knees. Slowly, and without warning, she prodded at his hips, "Those are some…interesting marks you're gonna have there Johnny Boy."
Hissing in pain, John pulled away from her touch on instinct, quickly trying to cover, "What goes on in my training is really none of your business."
Scanning in a little closer using her God given, or rather, Skynet given abilities, she detected the early signs of some major bruising developing. He'd either had a two hundred pound cyborg bouncing around on top of him, or he'd been in a minor car accident. Whichever one it was, he was pretty certain to be walking funny for a while.
Chuckling, she sat back and eyed his chest, "Yeah, training…Derek have long nails these days does he?" She asked with a pointed nod towards the pretty obvious and deep scratches on his chest, detecting trace amounts of Cameron's clear nail polish spotted around the wounds.
Narrowing his eyes in a pretty good imitation of his future self's glare, he shook his head, "You talked with Cameron, didn't you?"
"I did. In like, 2029." Smiling a genuine smile, she knew something clicked in John's brain when she said it.
"Wait." John actually looked more than a little alarmed at that thought, "She was... she was still doing this in twenty years? This isn't just some... phase?"
Shrugging, Amy settled down onto her backside, curiously eyeing the deep contusions on his neck vaguely resembling teeth marks, "She still indulged occasionally. Everyone knew when it happened too. You'd be walking stiff for days, and she'd be an absolute delight!"
"I was wondering about that." Glancing towards the kitchen where Cameron had wandered a few minutes earlier, he actually chuckled, "What's wrong with her? She seemed fine before I fell asleep. A little quiet, but fine."
"So this is the first time you've done this?" Amy asked, glancing back at the kitchen when she heard the distinct sound of a cyborg body bouncing off the counter followed by several poorly stifled snorts of laughter.
"Yeah." John cringed a little at all the noise, deathly afraid his mom would hear the racket and come storming down the stairs, "I'm kinda lost here."
"Okay. She explained it to me in the future, or rather, you both did after I caught her wandering naked through the bunker." Grinning a little at the memory of the priceless looks on some of the soldier's faces as she marched General Connor's naked wife back to her quarters, Amy continued, "As far as you both knew, after you…you know. She'd go into some kind of recovery phase like this where she basically did whatever the hell she wanted to."
"Recovery?" If anything, John only looked more confused, "What does she need to recover from exactly? I'm the one who feels like he fell asleep in a pit full of dobermans."
Smiling, Amy shuffled her little body closer and slumped against the couch beside him, "You know, doing what you two just did, reeeeally messes with her head. It takes her a while to get back to normal. She's not really…her, in there." She tossed a thumb towards the kitchen.
"Really?" Despite what should probably have just rolled off his back, John looked devastated by that revelation, "She's not?"
Shaking her head slowly, Amy turned more serious, "No. She's somewhere in between her two layers of programming. Not quite Cameron, but not quite the TOK- 815 either. You have to understand, she's operating on a purely 'instinctual' level right now."
She paused to make sure he was taking all this in, and hopefully planning for future occurrences, "If she's warm, she'll take her clothes off. If she wants to go outside and look at the stars because they're pretty, she'll do it. If she wants to go talk to Derek at three in the morning, she'll do that too…no matter how unlikely on that last one."
That seemed to take some of the weight off John's shoulders as he tilted his head to the side to look at his little friend, "She told me she loves me tonight."
Shrugging, Amy idly played with one of her pigtails, a curious habit she'd developed ever since she first created them, "She meant it. She has no reason to lie when she's like this. It doesn't serve any purpose." Grinning, she nudged her friend in the ribs, then immediately regretted it when he winced, "So, she finally told you what we've all known for like three years?"
"It was... amazing." Grinning like an idiot, he laughed to himself, "I swear, I'm so happy right now I'd take her back upstairs for round two if she asked me."
"She probably will…" Pausing with a frown, she turned her body to face John properly, sitting up on her knees again, "But you have to understand something, okay?"
Looking more than a little intimidated at the idea of actually going for a second time, he nodded slowly, "Okay... what do I need to understand?"
"How vulnerable she is when she's like this." Brow cinching together, she tried to come up with the words to make him realise what was happening,
"She may be a lot of fun, she may be all giggly and stuff, but she'd be useless in a fight. If somebody yells at her, it'll spook her and…she'll needs you during this time. Luckily enough it won't always be like this."
Nodding along, John smiled a little at the thought that Cameron had such a dedicated friend, "It won't?"
"No. She won't always need to bust your lip open…" She paused and touched his still raw lip, "To get what she needs…just sometimes."
"There are... other ways?" Despite himself, John blushed. He'd never imagined discussing sex with Amy before.
"You saw how much of a bitch she was before tonight." Smiling, she stood up as she heard Cameron clashing and banging and finally approaching the living room, "You think she'd have to beat the hell out of you each time you have sex? You'd be a bloody pulp of a mess within a year!"
"So it's not really a problem then?" John asked, wanting to make sure, "This isn't a bad thing? Not something to…fix?"
Shaking her head, Amy glanced at an emerging and blissfully ignorant Cameron. "No. This is just the way she is, nothing either of you can do about it. I guess it's up to you how you handle it."
Thinking to himself for a moment, John decided that maybe it wasn't such a bad thing. He always did like seeing her happy. So long as it didn't turn dangerous or harmful, he was pretty sure he could live with it, even if his body wasn't so keen on that idea.
Smirking, he looked up at his little friend again, "So maybe I'll get away with a kindler, gentler round two?" Chucking to himself, he held a hand out to the machine, clearly not up to standing on his own.
Amy merely scoffed down at his hands, "Please…she can do it." She said with a nod towards Cameron, who emerged with two pop tarts instead of the sundaes she promised, half of hers already eaten.
Shaking his head a little at the sight greeting him, John paused after thinking for a second, "Wait... if you didn't make food, what was with all the noise in there? I thought I heard pots and pans."
"Oh…I thought that these would be tastier, so I made you one too." Offering it to him with a smile, she flopped down to her knees beside him. "It's raspberry, I've got chocolate."
"Um... thanks?" Taking the pop tart, he took a large bite before returning her smile, "How are you feeling, Princess?"
Taking a moment to consider it like it was the hardest question in the world, Cameron eventually looked up at him, brow cinched together in obvious deep thought, "Cold."
"Well, come here then." Pulling himself up and onto the couch with a groan, he opened his arms, pulling the blanket off the back of it.
Settling in beside him a moment later with a huge smile, Cameron wrapped her arms around him and buried her head in his chest, frowning when she saw the odd marks on his skin, "How did you get those?"
Just as she asked the question, Amy caught John's attention with a wave, "Remember, emotional maturity of a five year old." She pointed to Cameron with a quick grin before slipping out of the room.
Highly confused as to why she didn't remember she was the one who caused the damage, John debated how to react. Deciding that she'd probably freak out if he told her the truth, John just plastered on a smile and draped the blanket over both of them, hugging her to him, "Just a few training marks, Honey."
"Oh. Derek should be more careful with you." Her frown only lasted for a moment before she returned to her bright smile, dropping a few tender kisses over the scratches, "I love you."
Shivering a little under her delicate touch, he certainly was starting to appreciate this side of his girlfriend, "I love you too, Cameron. I'm glad you're happy."
"I'm always happy when I'm with you." Continuing her gentle kissing, her hands started slowly drifting up and down his spine. Despite her relatively unstable condition, her touch was feather light.
"Mmmm... feels good." Relaxing, he let his head fall back onto the couch and his eyes fall closed. It really had been a long night, and he had 'worked' pretty hard.
Smiling when she felt his heart rate settling, she hoisted herself up and buried her head in the crook of his neck, pressing her body flush against his, gently running the fingers of one hand through his hair. "When you wake up…can we have sex again?"
"You're sure everything will... work?" Yawning a little, he wrapped an arm over her shoulders and pulled her closer, "I don't want you to get frustrated again, Princess."
Shrugging, she pulled back a little and kissed his cheek, "I love you."
"I love you too." Not really caring if his mother did come down and see him at this point, he just sprawled back length-wise on the couch, trying to pull Cameron down with him, "And yeah... we can have sex if you want."
His body may have been aching, his mind may have taken a mental battering, but John was pretty sure he was okay with this new development…at least until his mom saw it, then he was pretty sure all hell would break loose.
Smiling, Cameron squeezed him tight, giggling softly, happy beyond words with who and what she was, where she was, just generally happy so long as she was with her John. Having no knowledge of how differently she was behaving, she closed her eyes and snuggled, unknowingly waiting for her chip to balance out, to return to being…well…her.
First one eye, then the other.
Waking up slowly was a forte of Jessica Grey. As was waking up early and feeling as magnificent as if she'd slept a full twelve hours. Most of her fellow models didn't have that ability and hated her for it, especially the night after consuming one too many Cosmopolitans.
But this morning, as usual, she was awake early and feeling great. Even more so when she felt the strong arm wrapped around her waist from behind. Smiling, she glanced behind her at a dozing Derek Reese, memories of the night before flooding back, and despite the fact there was nobody nearby she still blushed a delightful shade of pink.
If only her father knew what his little angel got up to.
What started as a perfectly decent evening involving a movie and some cuddling, quickly devolved into an all over the apartment romp that kept the both of them up most of the night.
That maid is gonna be sooo pissed when she gets here!
Rolling over, she gingerly dropped a kiss on the corner of her sleeping lover's mouth before trying the arduous task of untangling herself from him. That feat accomplished, she dressed herself in no more than her robe and a pair of his comfy boxers, way too big for her slight frame. Still though, it brought a grin to her face as she slipped them on.
Tightening her robe, she leaned over and dropped another kiss on Derek's stubble before setting off for the kitchen, humming happily to herself on her way out, quietly closing the door behind her and descending the stairs.
Smoothing down the front of his tie, Donald made his way to the door in the very expensive apartment block he was paying for, after arguing with his security for a full five minutes that he didn't need an escort up the stairs. Fishing out his spare key, he didn't hesitate before letting himself in, "Bunny? You awake?"
Freezing on the second to last step, Jessica vaguely considered sprinting back up and pretending she wasn't home, or at least changing out of Derek's boxers and combing her hair. Unfortunately, her father rounded the corner before she had a chance to do either, "Um... hi daddy!"
"Well don't stand there looking like you're not happy to see me!" With a big grin, he held his arms wide, "Come here and give your old man a hug!"
Cringing just a little when she considered what she smelled like after the night before, she knew any hesitation would only make him suspicious. Striding over quickly, she hopped up and wrapped her arms around his neck, dropping a wet kiss on his cheek, "I wasn't expecting you."
Wrapping his daughter in a big bear hug as per usual, Donald smiled, "I have a meeting just around the corner. Thought I'd drop in and see my favourite daughter."
"Unless you're keeping a big secret from me, I'm still your ONLY daughter." Smirking, she swatted his shoulder and set off for the kitchen, "I was just about to make breakfast. You hungry?"
"You may be my only daughter, but you're still my favourite." Grinning, he slowly walked after her, rolling his eyes at the mess in her lounge. She hadn't changed a bit in her twenty three years…still a slob, "Breakfast sounds great. Coffee would be nice too."
Popping a few pieces of bread into the toaster, Jessica started shoving empty pizza boxes around on the counter looking for the coffee container, "I just wish you'd call, daddy. We had this talk... I can at least try to clean before you get here that way."
Shaking his head, he idly picked up a few items, mostly clothes and started folding and setting them neatly down on the couch. If only he knew they were the clothes that were hastily stripped off her the night before…and that he was a few precarious inches from discovering her panties that somehow got stuffed down the back of the couch cushions. "Baby, you haven't ever successfully cleaned anything in twenty three years. That's why I pay for a maid for you."
"I'm getting better." Lifting her chin a little in triumph as she finally found the coffee, she set about making a pot, "Derek kinda insists on it. I think it's that military stuff, 'everything has it's place' and all that."
"Oh, Derek?" Smiling as he finished his mini tidying spree and sat down on a stool at the kitchen counter, he slid a few magazines away from him too, "So that's his name. I was kinda wondering."
Blushing a little at just what had knocked those magazines all over the counter in the first place, she shook her head to clear it, "He's a great guy, daddy. He takes good care of me."
"I should hope so." Smiling as he watched her work, he paid attention to the way she seemed to have a spring in her step more than usual, "You look happy."
"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Pouring cereal into two bowls, she brushed some stray hair back over her ear, "I'm always happy."
"So long as he keeps you that way." Chuckling, he picked up one of those magazines and started leafing through it. Just what women found so interesting about purses and shoes he'd never know, "I pay a lot for my security. If he ever hurt you, I'm sure something could be arranged..." He carried on studiously flicking through the magazine, trying desperately not to let his smirk show.
It probably should have scared him a little that despite how she'd usually freak out over such a threat, even knowing it was a joke, she just returned his smirk, "Daddy, he'd never hurt me. And frankly... Marko and his goons wouldn't last five minutes with him."
"Oh?" Setting his magazine down with a smirk, he actually started paying a little more attention, "Tough guy is he? You don't usually go for that type. What was that guys name again? The last one you were with?"
"Marcus." Chuckling to herself, she pulled the butter out of the fridge and a knife to make their toast, "And Derek isn't just tough, he's... he's... real. He has calluses on his hands, daddy. And scars. Last week he fixed my car! He, he put that shelf up over there!"
Shaking his head at what seemed to impress a woman these days, he smiled and stood up to walk over to the fridge, pulling out a carton of orange juice, "I remember your mother. She was always impressed whenever I did anything macho. I guess you have more than just her eyes."
"He reminds me of you a lot, daddy." Buttering their toast, she set two plates down along with their bowls of cereal, grabbing the milk before he closed the fridge, "He's so confident it borders on cocky. Kind. Generous."
Filling two glasses with juice, he set them down on the counter and sat down. "Thank you, Bunny. So, when do I get to meet him then? After all this build up, he'd better be something special."
"Meet him?" As much as she loved Derek, she was a little afraid his 'rough edges' might put her father off, "Um, you want to meet him?"
"Of course I do." Quirking a brow at the look on her face as she sat down, he grabbed the milk and poured some over his cereal, "Why wouldn't I wanna meet the man who's making my little girl so happy?"
"I just..." Deciding to be honest, she took a bite out of her toast, "You haven't been interested in most of the guys I've been with. Except the ones that worked for you or was related to one of your friends."
"Well, those guys were asses, baby." Shaking his head, he took a spoonful of the low fat crap she called cereal with a grimace, "I didn't wanna say at the time. But they were, they all took after their dads."
"And I'm starting to agree with you." Smiling a little, she dug into her own cereal, "Just promise me you won't embarrass him. Don't offer him a job or anything, okay?"
Chuckling loudly, he gave up with the cereal/cardboard and picked up his toast, "Why? Does he give off some sort of bum vibe?"
"Oh, he has a job..." Jessica tried to come up with a legal-sounding version of 'mercenary', "He works for uh... an... international security firm."
"Really?" He suddenly sounded intrigued, talking around a mouthful of toast, "Which one?"
"I'm not sure right now." Glancing down at her bowl, she shrugged, "He's kind of... freelance. He goes where the money is. He's gone a lot, out of the country."
"Okay," He accepted it at face value with a nod, despite his concerns. He loved his daughter, and he trusted her, "So, when do I get to meet him?"
"You're so busy, when do you think you'll have time?"
"Hmm." As if on cue his Blackberry buzzed with an email by his side, though he ignored it while he thought. "Oh, I know! My assistant has organised a fun day next week. That's actually what I wanted to see you about."
"I haven't been to one of those since I was sixteen, daddy." Rolling her eyes, she continued to eat her breakfast, already knowing he was half out the door as soon as that damn phone went off.
Rolling his eyes, he tucked his Blackberry into his jacket pocket, intent on enjoying his breakfast in peace, "I'm not asking you to go play on the bouncy castle with the other kids, Baby. Apparently it'll help with my company's image if I'm seen to be a family man."
Sighing a little when his real reason for wanting her around came out, she nodded a little, staring at the table, "Um... sure. Anything I can do to help. I have someone else I'd like to bring if that's okay?"
"Hey," Nudging her chin up with his finger, he smiled, "You can bring anybody you want...and I'd love to spend the rest of the day with you and Derek as soon as I can get the fun day over with."
"Really?" A small smile breaking out, she didn't want to get her hopes up, "We can all spend the day together?"
"Not all of it, but the evening, yeah." Grinning, he returned to his toast, enjoying the sight of his baby girl's beautiful smile, "I can't wait to meet Derek. I'll probably see you two in the morning before the festivities start."
Smiling wide, Jessica nodded eagerly, "Okay. Oh! And Just so you know, the kid I'm bringing isn't Derek's, so don't freak out. It's his niece."
"Niece?" Smiling, he took a drink of his orange juice. "You her favourite Aunt Jessica these days?"
"Believe it or not, I am." Looking incredibly proud of herself, she finished off her toast, "They're a really tight family, daddy. It... it kinda makes me want something like that."
Frowning down at his toast, he hated it whenever the conversation turned this way, "I hope you will someday. I know you didn't exactly have a normal childhood, but..."
Smirking a little, she glanced up from her plate, her time with Derek apparently making her more ballsy these days, "You will be around for your grandkids. Or I swear, I'll make you regret it, Mr."
Grinning, he took another spoonful of that crappy cereal, "Grandkids? Wow, that serious?"
"I love him, daddy." Shrugging a little, she couldn't entirely fight off a blush, "But you don't have to worry now. I don't think he wants kids. I'll just have to work on him."
"Well you be careful, okay." Slipping back into 'dad mode', he subconsciously straightened his tie, "You've always gotten carried away with things, Jessica."
Rolling her eyes, she leaned across the counter and batted his hands away, taking care of his tie for him the way she always had growing up, "It's not like I need to work, daddy. I like what I do, but I think I'd like being a mom just as much."
He smiled as he watched her concentrate on his tie, "If you take after your mom, and we already know you do, you'll be great." Chuckling, he pulled back when she finished with his tie, "Just remember, make your man share the workload."
"My man is more the 'protect and fix stuff' guy than the snotty nose-wiper type." Pausing long enough to drain her juice, she had to fight off a laughing fit of her own, "And just how many diapers did you change?"
"Hey! I did it at least, oh, five times. Then you peed on me, so I didn't do it again. It's your fault really."
"Babies pee, daddy." Patting his shoulder, she started gathering up the dishes, "Trust me though, when you see Amy, you'll get why I'm so excited. This family seems to have super-genes. All the girls are gorgeous."
"All of them?" Standing up, he gathered his own plate and bowl to help her out, "How many are there?"
"Well, there's Sarah, the mom." Smiling wide as she talked about her new 'family', she set everything in the sink for the maid to take care of when she came by later, "She's kinda uptight, but nice when she wants to be."
"Then there's the oldest daughter, Cameron. Daddy, she's the sweetest, most innocent thing you've ever met, and drop-dead gorgeous. Then little Amy, who you'll meet at the fun day. She's... well, you'll just have to meet her, because no matter how I try to describe her, I wouldn't do her justice."
"Sounds good." Looking sidelong at his daughter while he turned the tap on to start the sink filling, he resolved that one day he'd finally drill some domestic skills besides cooking into her. "Anybody else I should know about?"
"Derek has a nephew he's pretty close to. His name is John, but I don't know much about him." Chuckling to herself, she leaned back against the counter, "Except that he likes staring at my chest, and is reeeally protective of his sister."
"Sounds like a charmer." He chuckled as he rolled his sleeves up and turned the tap off, "I guess some things run in their family too. Well, on the male side I mean."
"He's a teenager, daddy." Shrugging a little, she couldn't help but feel a little guilty on that count herself, "And I was kinda wearing that dress I wore to the Christmas party at your office last year."
"I thought I told you never to wear that thing again?" Actually looking stern for a change, he started washing up the dishes, "I don't care how much it cost, at no time do I want every man in the room ogling my little girl."
"It was the first time I was meeting his family, and I wanted to make a good impression." Frowning at how her dad could still make her feel like a scolded little girl, she actually pouted a little, "And I'll have you know that most red-carpet dresses cover far less. At least that skirt is floor-length."
"On you it may as well be a string bikini." After a moment of watching her stare at her shuffling feet, he sighed, "Sorry. I guess I'm still just a little overprotective."
She couldn't help but cringe at the bikini line. If he ever caught sight of one of her lingerie ads... not good. "I know, daddy. But you don't have to be. I swear, you can trust Derek to take care of that now. Someone makes a problem, he'll just go all Jason Statham on their asses."
"Jason who?" He frowned, washing the dishes on autopilot, "Is he on my security team?"
"Um... Chuck Norris?"
He shook his head with a blank look, pulling the last bowl out of the sink and flicking his fingers to dry them, not much time for movies when one is micromanaging a business empire, "Ex boyfriend?"
Barely able to keep herself from a full-blown giggle fit, she tried to remember any movie she'd ever watched with her dad, "Um... oh! Stallone!"
"The guy who I could never understand?" Tossing his head up in triumphant recognition, it was like a lightbulb was turned on. "Oh, I know who you mean…who are those other guys?"
"Ass-kickers, daddy." Smirking, she patted him on the back, "Actors who always play tough, military types who beat everyone up."
"Ohhh. Well then, I definitely can't wait to meet him now!" Rolling down his sleeves, he set about fixing his cuffs, "Could you help me out a little here, baby?"
"Of course, daddy." Quickly smoothing his sleeves out, she buttoned his cufflinks, pulling his tie down off his shoulder and straightening it out again before giving him a big hug, "Thanks for coming by. It was great surprise!"
"I enjoyed it too. Nobody makes toast like you, honey. Ever since you were five you've loved to cook." Slipping his jacket over his shoulders, he held his arms out for a hug, "I wish I could drop by more often, I really do."
Nodding against his shoulder, she squeezed as tight as she could, just like she always did, "Please be nice to him, daddy. I... I really do think he's the one."
Squeezing her back, he pulled away a moment later, resting his hands on her arms, "Okay, I promise. I'll have Victoria call you and give you the details about the fun day."
"Sounds great, daddy!" Dropping a kiss on his cheek, she stepped back, quickly readjusting her robe to hide Derek's boxers poking out, "I love you."
"I love you too, Bunny." Making his way to the door, he turned around as he let himself out, "I'll see you later, okay. Oh! Go and wake him up already would you? He's had enough sleep for one night!"
He didn't look back…but he could just picture his baby's jaw hitting the ground.
As usual, many thanks to Dekardkain for being a dedicated and helpful little man! :)