I very much apologize in advance for any possible grammar/spelling errors I may have missed. My beta reader hasn't had time to read over this yet, and I just read over this again, but as it's about 4 am here, I'm sure as heck not going to catch anything with one eye open! Don't hesitate to point anything out that I could fix. Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoy to keep coming back for more.

John sat on the back porch drinking a Coke. He had Dorothy and Snickers (he refused to call the poor creature Snickerdoodle) on his lap, purring away. He hadn't found anything on Danny Dyson, not that he really expected to. The computer company leads were also rather vague. He had John Henry still researching both though, since he could do it faster and without getting tired.

He turned to watch Savannah sneak out the sliding glass door. Her hair was damp from her bath, and she was wearing her pajamas. "Whatcha doin?" she asked.

"Just listening to the crickets I suppose. What are you up to? Isn't it past your bedtime?"

"Mommy's on the phone."

At that moment, Catherine walked out to the back porch. "John, I must go. Cameron called. They spotted a T triple 8 at the mall."

John quickly stood up. "What? Are they okay?"

"They're fine. They can't engage it there of course, so we'll have to monitor and follow it."

"Well what are we waiting for? We need to go now!"

"No, not we. You must stay here."

"What? Oh no, I don't think so. I don't know what my mother has said to you but I am not going to be left behind while…" John was almost shouting. He was slowly walking closer to Catherine with each word before she interrupted.

"You must stay to protect Savannah. While John Henry tried last time, he ultimately failed. We all know what would have happened if you hadn't shown up. I'm trusting her security with you."

John chewed on this for a moment, then walked into the kitchen, waiting for her to follow before shutting the door so Savannah couldn't hear. "Who is she in the future?"

"I don't understand."

"Why is she so important? Not that I don't think she's important. I mean in the future. You kept her alive, when you could just have easily killed her off with her parents. Why is she still here? What's her role in all of this?"

"It's more convincing for me to keep my role as Catherine Weaver if I take care of her daughter as my own."

"You're no longer Catherine Weaver."

"That is true. But she also serves a greater purpose. She teaches John Henry a lot about the value of human life."

"So you're saying she's only necessary for John Henry's sake."

"I did not say 'only'."

"Let's stop playing games here. She had a terminator come after her. Whether or not it was going to kidnap or kill her, they knew damn well you're a machine. They hacked John Henry, did they not? So why bother. You wouldn't give a damn if the girl died or went missing. It would have been no leverage on you."

"To say I wouldn't give a damn is a rather large assumption, John. But… you are correct, they would not get anything from me either way, so therefore, there was no point in the action."

John slammed his fist on the table. "So tell me! Why the hell is she so important?"

Catherine was getting quite upset herself. "I don't know, John! You know as much as I do. I can only assume that introducing her to you has intertwined her life somehow with yours in the future, giving Skynet one reason or another to hunt her."

"The future is that fickle? It can be changed so drastically by one person?"

Catherine looked at him as if he was a total idiot. "Of course, John. You saw that first hand when you accompanied me to 2027. The future is what we make, and as a result, it has never repeated itself the same way twice."

John was silent as he thought about that. The future was never the same. It always changed. He supposed that made sense in a way, with all the people and machines sent back in time. He briefly wondered how many futures went by in which humanity lost the battle.

"Your mother and cyborg are waiting. Please send Savannah to bed on time."

Catherine left John in the kitchen. Opening the door, she called for Savannah.

"I have to leave. You're to listen to John and behave."

Savannah nodded, and her "mom" kissed her on the forehead.

*************

"And I'm not going to leave here ever, ever again, because I love you all! And -- Oh, Auntie Em -- there's no place like home!"

John closed the book and looked at Savannah. "Alright. It's definitely time for you to get to sleep."

"Aw one more!"

"Oh no, I don't think so," John said, as he set The Wizard of Oz on the nightstand. "It's bed time for little redheads."

"Where's mommy?"

"Um, your mom had to go do something important. She'll be back later," he said as he pulled the light blanket over her.

"Where's Sarah and Cameron?"

"Cameron went with my mom to the store. They should be home soon." He hoped.

"Is Cameron your sister?"

John put the book away on a small shelf. "No, she's not my sister. She's just a friend."

"Oh. Where did you meet her?"

"Well…" John sat back down in the chair, and propped his foot up on the lower bunk. "I met her on my first day at a new school. She was the first person to say 'hi' to me. She was very nice."

"She is nice," Savannah agreed. "Is she your girlfriend?"

"Uh, well…" John had honestly never thought about it that way. It just was what it was. "Yeah, I guess she is."

Savannah grinned, and began to sing. "John and Cameron sitting in a tree…"

"Savannah…" John warned.

"K-I-S-S-I-N-G."

"Alright, that's it!" John attacked her, tickling her mercilessly.

"Nooo! Stop! John!!!" Savannah was laughing hysterically, squirming under his grip, trying to get away.

John relented, and smiled. "That's what you get. Now, bed time. No more delaying here."

John made it to the door and reached for the light. "Goodnight Savannah."

He heard a light mumble in reply, and shut off the light, closing the door quietly.

****

Sarah pulled up with the car and jumped out. She tossed their bags in the trunk and turned to Cameron.

"What is it here for?"

"I don't know, but we need to find out."

Sarah rolled her eyes. "And how do you plan to do that? Walk up and ask?"

"No, that would be ineffective and dangerous," Cameron deadpanned. "I called Catherine. We're going to follow it."

"Of course we are."

Cameron watched as the terminator turned and began walking further into the mall.

"I have to go follow him. You should find somewhere to park on this side and wait for Catherine."

Sarah nodded, and got back in the car.

She only had to wait 15 minutes. Catherine spotted her car and parked next to her. Sarah switched vehicles, climbing into the passenger seat of Catherine's SUV.

Catherine was on the phone with Cameron. "Where? Five minutes."

Hanging up, she put the vehicle into reverse, and headed to the other side of the mall.

******

The triple eight had given up on the mall, and returned to his stolen vehicle. They followed him for nearly an hour before he pulled up to a small house.

Parking down the street in the shadows of some taller trees, they sat for another 3 ½ hours, watching the house. There didn't seem to be any activity inside. No lights ever turned on.

"We should enter and engage now while it's dark, and no one is around." Cameron said.

"Yes. There doesn't seem to be any activity in the neighboring houses either." Catherine agreed, and opened her door. Sarah moved to follow, but Cameron stopped her.

"You have to stay here. We can't use guns."

Sarah sighed, but acknowledged that she was right. Guns were loud, and not very conducive to covert missions at 2 am in residential neighborhoods. Instead, Sarah moved to the drivers seat, just in case.

Cameron and Catherine snuck around the back of the house. They couldn't risk being seen entering the front, regardless of the lack of activity in the neighborhood. As luck would have it, the owners had a cat door. Having no fear of what could be waiting on the other side, Catherine morphed into liquid and squeezed through the tiny door. It only took a few moments for her to make it inside and quietly open the back door for Cameron.

They found themselves in the empty living room. Splitting up, Cameron checked out the upstairs, while Catherine quickly headed to the basement.

Cameron opened the first door on the left, and never saw what hit her. She was thrown across the hall, and slammed through the thin wall.

The T-888 stepped out of the room and quickly scanned her.

TERMINATOR MODEL TOK 715

SECONDARY TARGET ACQUIRED: CAMERON CONNOR

DIRECTIVE: TERMINATE

The triple eight grabbed Cameron by her left arm, and threw her into another wall. Cameron managed to get her feet under her fast enough to attack back. She kicked him in the chest and watched as he stumbled back and fell as he ran into a bed.

Cameron quickly ran over to the other terminator and kicked it in the head. The T888 was struggling, but managed to grab her leg and pull. Cameron fell to the floor.

The larger machine had the upper hand as it rolled on top of her, effectively pinning her to the ground.

From his back pocket he pulled a switchblade. Quickly slicing open her scalp, he exposed Cameron's port. Flipping it open, he tossed the blade aside.

Cameron's HUD was flashing red. She knew there was nothing more she could do. She was struggling underneath the triple eight, but it was no use. In a matter of seconds, she'd be terminated. She thought about John, and how devastated he'd be, as a tear slid down her cheek. She wouldn't be able to apologize this time; wouldn't be able to tell him she loved him.

"Cameron Connor, you have been terminated."

She heard him say it, but nothing happened. Cameron was aware of movement behind him, but wasn't able to turn her head. She felt his weight lift off her body, and heard a crash across the room.

Finally able to move, Cameron sat up to see Catherine effectively pinning the T-888 to the wall, her right arm morphed into a blade that had made its way through its body. Knowing the T1001 would make short work of the triple eight, Cameron began looking for her port cap.

When she found it, she replaced it quickly. She did an analysis of her injuries, and watched the stats display on her HUD.

ANALYZING…

DAMAGE FOUND: LEFT ARM

COMBAT CHASSIS OPERATING 98%

ANALYZING CPU…

CPU OPERATING AT 100%

Cameron tested her left arm. It wasn't completely broken. The force of the throw disconnected her shoulder joint. She was unsure if any parts were seriously damaged inside. She'd have to wait until they got home to open it up.

Catherine held the triple eight chip in her hand. Turning, she saw Cameron slowly getting to her feet.

"He knew you."

Cameron nodded, but didn't add anything. "The chip is not destroyed?"

"No. It appears the future has once again changed, and Skynet has not started creating self destructing chips," she said, gazing at the chip. "John Henry will be able to analyze the information. Hopefully we'll get a primary mission." She looked at Cameron. "It would not make sense if it was you. He would not have known you were at the mall. No, there was someone else he was looking for."

Cameron had to agree. Taking the chip from Catherine, she called Sarah.

*****

John woke to the sound of muffled voices coming from downstairs. Glancing at the clock, he saw it was almost 4 am. What the hell.

Dressed in a tshirt and boxers, he didn't even bother getting dressed as he headed downstairs after stopping at the bathroom.

When he entered the kitchen, everyone went silent. John looked from one woman to the other. He was relieved to see that Sarah apparently didn't even have a scratch. Cameron, though, looked like she'd been hit by a train.

Watching his face change from annoyance, to relief, and finally settling on fear, Cameron spoke before John could panic. "I'm alright John."

"You sure as hell don't look alright." He walked over to her and touched her hair, where he could obviously see someone had butchered her scalp over her port. "What the hell happened?"

"I was apparently a target the T-888 recognized. He attempted to terminate me."

"He was after you? How did he find you at the mall?"

"No, John. It's unlikely I was the primary target."

"The chip was not destroyed," Catherine interrupted. "John Henry should be able to retrieve more information."

"John…" Sarah came out of the downstairs bathroom and handed her son the first aid kit. "You need to do something about Tin Miss before Savannah wakes up."

John was tired, and highly confused. He just took the first aid kit and followed Cameron to their room.

*********

"Alright, how's that?"

Cameron moved her left arm in a circular motion. "It's perfect. It's functioning at 100% now."

"Good." John had spent the last hour fixing Cameron's shoulder. It wasn't too difficult, as nothing major was actually disconnected, but it took a long time, as it was a delicate procedure. Not to mention the amount of skin he had to cut. He looked at it now, and sighed. It would take forever to sew back up.

"It would be easier to staple it, John," Cameron said, as if she had read his mind.

John gave her a look. "I'm not stapling you back together goober."

"Many surgeons staple incisions."

"Well we don't exactly have surgical staples lying around, and I doubt Swingline staples will do much good." John shook his head. Sometimes, she was just too much.

John threaded the needle and began to stitch. Luckily he didn't have to be too perfect with it, as she wouldn't scar either way.

Cameron watched as John concentrated on his stitching.

"I'm sorry, John."

John stopped and looked up from his task. "What? What are you sorry about?"

"I almost died. If it wasn't for Catherine, I would have."

John laid his hand against her cheek. "'Almost' doesn't count. If I dwelled on every time I 'almost' died, I'd never move on with my life. You're here, you're all right, you're pretty much all in one piece. Our lives are dangerous, this probably won't be the last time either of us comes close to dying."

Cameron nodded, and John noticed something sparkle between her hair.

He pushed her hair behind her ear, and was a little shocked. "You got your ears pierced?"

"Yes. Do you like them?"

John smiled. "Of course, I love them. They look beautiful on you. What made you do it?"

Cameron returned his smile. "Sarah."

John's jaw dropped. "My mother?"

"Yes. She said 'boys like when girls where them'" She had done an almost creepy imitation of his mother.

John just stared at her, wondering if his mother had a recent head injury. Shaking his head, he went back to his stitching.

When John finished with her arm, he moved to her head. It didn't take him long to finish stitching her scalp. He picked up the supplies and went into the bathroom to wash them off in the sink.

Cameron entered behind him and began undressing.

Not again. I can't take this! "Cam… what are you doing?"

"I need to shower. I have bits of wall in my hair."

"Shouldn't you wait until I'm done?"

Cameron tilted her head. "Does my being naked bother you?"

"No, I mean, yes. I mean… that's the problem. It bothers me in a very inappropriate way."

Cameron stared blankly at him through the mirror. John's back was turned to her, as he was doing his best to pretend he didn't have a half naked gorgeous girl standing behind him.

Quietly, she unbuckled her pants and dropped them to the floor. "Then don't look."

John could feel his pulse speed up and closed his eyes. Oh, my God, she's evil. I was wrong. She's trying to kill me. He heard the shower turn on, and the curtain slide closed. He opened his eyes and quickly finished cleaning. Gathering everything up, he opened the door and ran into his mother who was just coming up the stairs.

Sarah stopped and stared at her son who was holding the dripping first aid supplies. She heard the shower running and glanced behind him. Raising an eyebrow, she looked back at John in question. John, for once, didn't even blush. He just shook his head and closed the bathroom door behind him.

Sarah just sighed and continued on to her room. It had been too long of a day to think about anything… especially that.

*******

John was already half asleep where he had collapsed on to the bed. The sun was already starting to come up, and he flipped it off through the window. He heard Cameron come in, but didn't bother moving.

Cameron slipped into the pajamas she wore the day before, and walked over to the bed. She crawled into bed behind John, and laid on her side watching him.

John decided it was worth the effort to turn his body around to look at her. Her hair was still damp form the shower, and it actually formed a few ringlets. He took one of them in his hand, and wrapped it around his finger. "How's the shoulder?"

"It's fine. It's working perfectly, and the stitches are holding."

John nodded. He realized he was going to have to get up, though. "We need to cover the wound."

"It's not necessary. I can't get an infection."

John shook his head. "It's gruesome looking. Not something anyone really needs to be looking at… especially an 8 year old in the morning."

Cameron realized he was right. She got back out of bed and retrieved the gauze and tape from the first aid kit John left on the dresser. She brought it back over to the bed, and John sat up.

"You're going to have to take off your shirt."

Even though he said it, his brain wasn't exactly thinking very far ahead. He wasn't really aware of what taking off her shirt would mean, until he was staring at her bare chest.

Trying not to stare at her naked breasts, he did his best to keep his eyes focused on the wound, deciding which would be the best way to wrap it up. It was essentially an "I" shaped incision, but a shoulder wasn't exactly easy to dress.

"Wrap it around my arm. When you get to the top, you can tape it up here," Cameron suggested, pointing to her shoulder.

John nodded and began to wrap. He was quickly regretting having her take off her shirt, as he now realized it wasn't exactly as necessary as he thought, and his hand kept bumping her left breast. He swallowed hard, and kept wrapping.

Cameron was well aware of the effect she was having on him, she didn't even need to look down to notice. His breathing was heavy, and he was grinding his teeth. It was the same way he had reacted when she had him check her nuclear power source.

Thinking back, Cameron wasn't quite sure why she did that. She was watching him sleep, and there was really no reason for it. Then, as she undressed, she did it with purpose to gauge his reaction. It was also not necessary to take off her bra, but she did.

Cameron had purposely tried to seduce him before… but that time, there was no reason. There was no Riley, no other woman to save him from. She had just wanted to do it. She knew what she was doing, and knew it was dangerous. Before it was too late though, she stopped him. She knew John was about to kiss her, but she also knew she wasn't sure if she'd make it till the end of the day. It wouldn't have been fair to John. But she wanted him to know. She wanted him to know that she was there. She wanted him to want her. She didn't know why; she just did.

John finished taping the bandage and sighed in relief. "Ok, check that."

Cameron moved her arm around and decided it was satisfactory. "It'll do."

John tossed the gauze and tape onto the floor, and laid back down on the bed. Cameron put her shirt back on and laid next to John, resting her head on his shoulder. She gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek, and laid her head back down.

"I wanted to tell you… when the triple eight almost took my chip… I was upset that I'd never get to tell you that I loved you again."

John pulled her closer and sighed. Kissing the top of her head above the sutures, he smiled. "I love you too."

*****

It was after 9, and the house was oddly quiet. Savannah had been watching TV in the living room for over an hour, and had not seen anyone. She was getting hungry, but the cereal was too high for her to reach. She wasn't allowed to climb on the chairs. She'd gotten a spanking for that once at the old house when her daddy caught her standing on the counter trying to get Poptarts. Her mom had always made sure they were low enough for her to reach after that. They must have been out of them now.

She went back upstairs and quietly opened her mother's bedroom door. The bed was made, and nobody was in there. She wasn't quite sure what to do.

She thought about going down to the basement to ask John Henry, but her mom had told her she shouldn't go down there by herself. John Henry always came upstairs to play.

She was left with 2 other choices, Sarah or John. She wasn't sure why, but she felt Sarah was the safer choice.

She quietly knocked and opened Sarah's bedroom door. The bed wasn't made yet, but she didn't find Sarah either.

Savannah started to panic. Did everyone leave and forget her? She ran to the other side and knocked on John's door. Opening it up, she was relieved to find both John and Cameron still sleeping.

Cameron sat up as John opened his eyes.

"Savannah, what's wrong?" John asked.

"I can't find anyone."

"What do you mean?"

"I can't find mommy or Sarah. They left me."

John sighed and sat up. "I'm sure they didn't leave you. They probably just went to the store or something. I'm sure they'll be back soon. Did you need help?"

Savannah nodded. "I can't reach the cereal."

John glanced at the clock. Yeah, she's probably starving. She was usually an early riser like his mom. "Ok, let's go downstairs then. I think we got some Lucky Charms this time."

********

The three sat on the couch eating dry Lucky Charms out of a large bowl, watching Finding Nemo. John would have just settled for eating out of the box, but if his mom saw him she'd probably crack him across the head for being such a bad influence on Savannah.

"Stop eating all the marshmallows, John."

John stopped, a rainbow halfway to his mouth. "What's wrong with marshmallows?"

"They're not healthy. The brown pieces are better for you."

He looked at Cameron and threw shamrock at her. "You eat the boring pieces."

Cameron rolled her eyes and turned, detecting Sarah entering from the garage. She was carrying the bags they bought at the mall the day before, and Cameron realized they must have went back to pick up the car they left in the parking lot.

Sarah saw the three of them and smiled, until she saw Savannah sitting between Cameron and John, holding a massive bowl of cereal. She set the bags on the floor and walked over to the couch.

Without any warning, she biffed her son across the head. "What are you doing?"

Innocently, John looked up at his mom. "Eating breakfast."

"You couldn't eat it like a normal human being?"

"What? We're drinking milk!" He pointed to the glasses on the coffee table.

Sarah sighed, and grabbed a handful of the cereal.

"Hypocrite."

"Don't make me hit you again."

*******

"I've been able to retrieve a lot of information from the chip, including a list of names and targets. I think you'll be surprised at some of the names."

Catherine was in the basement with John Henry. She watched the large screen as he put up the list of targets on the left, and random names he found on the right.

His primary target and mission was Danny Dyson. She didn't know what Danny Dyson had to do with either the resistance or Skynet, but it still told her a lot. If the terminator was at the mall searching for him, then it must have suspected he was nearby. She filed that information away and continued on to the rest of the list.

"There's a Cameron Connor, and a Savannah Connor, but no John Connor," John Henry noted. "He's usually a primary target."

"Not unless he's already dead."

"I'm afraid I don't understand."

"Those secondary target names are from the future. They're simply left there from a previous mission. If they were meant for this time period, they'd be Cameron Phillips and Savannah Weaver."

John Henry now understood. "So John Connor is no longer a target because at the time the triple eight bubbled back in time, he was dead."

"Yes, I assume so."

John Henry stood beside Catherine, gazing at the names.

"It also partially explains why a T triple eight was sent after Savannah."

"Yes it does, John Henry." Catherine turned to look at him. "I'm not sure we should leave those names on the list when we show it to them."

"You may be right. I'll prepare a ghost image and remove them, until they're ready to know."

Catherine nodded, and looked back at the list. She didn't recognize any of the other names, but she wasn't part of the resistance. Cameron would probably recognize more of them.

"Excellent job John Henry. When you're finished with the list, would you join us upstairs? Savannah has asked about you."

John Henry smiled. "Yes, I would. There is a new game I would like to play, too."