"Hey mom, we're probably going to head out to the park for a while. Why don't we take Savannah with us? I'm sure it'll be more fun than shopping for pancake mix."

Sarah considered the request. Her initial reaction was to immediately say no, but there wasn't a real good reason to. She'd be just as safe, if not safer, with John and Cameron. Savannah, who had been standing by the door, looked hopeful. "Alright. But don't let her out of your sight."

"Of course not."

Savannah smiled wide, and ran over to her buddy Cameron.

Sarah grabbed her keys and headed for the door.

"Hey, Reese!"

Derek instantly woke from his nap and leapt off the couch.

"Let's go. You're coming with me. We need to get you decent clothes."

"Yes, ma'am" Derek nodded, and grabbed his stolen shoes.

Sarah turned back to her son before opening the door. "Please take a shower before you go out in public."

Derek stood, nearly bouncing in eagerness. Following Sarah out the door, John stopped him.

"Derek!" John grabbed the gun from the back of Cameron's pants and tossed it to his uncle. "Keep an eye on her."

Derek nodded, accepting his orders. He was a man on a mission now.

***********

Savannah sat in the grass under the shade of a tree, eating her chocolate ice cream cone with rainbow sprinkles. John and Cameron sat beside her, sharing a banana split.

"How's your ice cream, Savannah?"

The girl grinned, chocolate covering her cheeks. "Good!"

John smiled. "Mom's gonna kill me when she sees your clothes."

She was absolutely filthy, and now she had chocolate dripping onto her yellow shirt. They had come to the park and let Savannah run around the playground. She had a blast, playing with other kids for the first time in ages. She even convinced Cameron to try the swings. John snapped a picture of her trying to figure out how to propel herself, before he gave in and pushed them both. He was keeping that one for later.

John held out another spoonful of ice cream for Cameron. He'd been feeding her bites on and off, thoroughly aware of how pukingly cute it was, and simply not caring.

Savannah reached her sticky hand into her pocket and pulled out the small cell phone her mom had given her when they moved. Sarah showed her how to use it, and instructed her to take lots of funny pictures of John and Cameron. Savannah didn't know why they were sharing their germs, when Cameron could have used her own spoon, but it was funny watching John feed her like a baby.

John's own cell phone rang. Pulling it out, he saw it was his mother's number. He dialed his secret code on the pin pad, and waited for a response. Instead, he heard his uncle's voice. "I'm going to kill you. How dare you let me go all alone with your mother without WARNING me? You're dead meat Con… " John heard his mother in the background "Derek what the hell… how did you get my phone? Give that to me damn it." He heard what sounded like a slap on the other line, and it went dead.

John stared at his phone thoughtfully. "We need to stop and buy a six pack of beer on the way home."

Cameron made a weird face. "Why?"

"Because it sounds like Derek is going to need it."

*********

John decided a whole case would be better, considering he could only imagine the torture Sarah was putting him through. He put them in the fridge, and grabbed a can of coke. Cameron was out somewhere checking the perimeter, and Savannah was in the back yard running around with kittens chasing her, wearing off a sugar high.

He turned around when he heard voices coming up the basement steps. The door opened to reveal Catherine and James Ellison.

"Hello, John."

"Hello Mr. Ellison."

"You look well."

"So do you."

"Thank you. Is your mother around?"

"No, she's out grocery shopping."

The former FBI agent nodded, and looked at Catherine. "I'll see you in a couple day's Ms. W… Taylor." He looked rather uncomfortable in her presence, and really didn't wait for a response. He showed himself out the door.

"So I take it he's agreed to continue working?" John asked Catherine.

"Yes. He made a very good decision."

John knew what a decision otherwise would have ended in.

"You've been very good with Savannah. I'd like to thank you. She's become quite attached to you, and especially your Cameron. I think that's a good thing. I haven't been the best mother to her, obviously. She needs someone to look up to."

John shrugged, a little uncomfortable. "She's a cute kid. Kinda stuck in a situation that's not really fair to her, I can relate." John looked at Catherine. "You're doing fine. She still prefers you to tuck her in at night. You must be doing something right."

"Perhaps. Regardless, I need to go a way for a few days."

"Where are you going?"

"Not far, but we need to find Danny Dyson."

Duh. "How do you plan to do that?"

Catherine almost looked offended. "Your cyborg isn't the only one built for infiltration."

John had to give her that one. "Where are you planning on 'infiltrating'?"

"Wherever young homeless men running from someone would be living."

"Ah," John nodded. "Bridges, dark alleys, all things dirty and dark?"

"Exactly."

"Good call. Have fun with that."

Catherine gave him a withering look and walked out to the back yard.

"Savannah, come here please."

She sat on the chair and helped Savannah climb up onto her lap. "I have to go away for a couple of days."

Savannah pouted. "Where are you going?"

"I have some business to take care of. I won't be far away. You're going to stay here with everyone else. I want you to behave, and listen to Sarah, John, and Cameron." She idly played with the child's hair, trying to put it in some semblance of order.

"Okay." Savannah gave her mother a hug, and Catherine hugged her back.

"Go on, now. I have to get going." Savannah climbed off her lap and watched her mother disappear into the house.

********

The front door opened and Derek walked in carrying an armful of grocery bags. He dropped them on the counter, and glared at John, who was cleaning a couple guns at the table. "You owe me… you owe me SO bad…"

John stood up and opened the fridge without a word, and pointed to the beer on the bottom shelf.

Derek's expression changed instantly. "You're a good man, Connor."

"Reese, there are still more bags in the trunk." Sarah walked in, carrying several bags from the shopping mall.

"I'll help," John said quickly.

"Oh, no you don't. The Tin Miss can help," she said, looking at Cameron who'd just walked through the door. She looked back to her son. "Start putting these groceries away before they get warm."

John groaned. He HATED puting groceries away.

"I'll put them away," Cameron said, and she started unpacking several cans from a bag.

John sighed in relief. He gave Cameron a quick peck on the cheek with a hurried "thanks" before heading for the door.

"WHOA… whoa… whoa… " John stopped to look at his mom, who was standing with her hand up in a 'stop' gesture, and her eyes closed. "Rule number one… none of that in front of me. I have enough nightmares to keep me awake. Got it?"

John blushed, as he hadn't really thought about what he did. "Yeah, sorry." He quickly turned and ran out of the house.

Sarah shook her head and began helping Cameron unload the groceries. "So, where did you guys go today?"

"We went to the park!" Savannah had come in and made a beeline for the fridge. She pulled out a juice box and set to work opening the straw.

Sarah looked at the girl's filthy clothes. There were grass stains on her jeans, and what looked like ice cream on the front of her shirt. It was the first time she ever looked like a real kid. While she cringed at the thought of stain removal on the inside, she smiled on the outside. "Did you have fun?"

"Yes. John pushed me and Cameron on the swings, and we ate ice cream!"

"Oh, did you?"

John and Derek walked in with another load of groceries. "That's all of them."

"Good, you can start unpacking them then."

John sighed. He should have brought one bag in at a time.

"Derek, John's closet still has a lot of space. You can go ahead and put your things in there for now."

Derek nodded; glad he didn't have to be on grocery duty anymore.

John emptied a bag of produce. "So what are we having for dinner?"

Sarah shrugged. "I don't know, what are you making?"

Derek laughed as he walked through the kitchen. "John Connor can't cook to save his life."

John turned and flipped his uncle off. "I can to cook!" He heard Cameron chuckle behind him.

Sarah had actually frozen in shock, hearing the sound. She'd heard it before, but she always assumed it was forced to fit in.

"It's true. You used to burn everything before it even cooked on the inside. You once got your entire scout camp sick."

"Hey I remember that!" Derek shouted from the steps. "You were banned from the cook pit after that. Cameron had to take over before we started losing soldiers to salmonella." He laughed the rest of the way up the stairs.

John looked at Cameron. "Well that's interesting. You guys share similar events, in different futures."

"Some things never change. I'm assuming your cooking skills are one of them."

He threw an apple at her, which she gracefully caught. "Then I guess you're on dinner duty."

"Fine," she said, tossing the apple back. "You're on T triple eight chip duty."

"After all this is put away first," Sarah added.

******

John sat at the desk in his room. John Henry had wired the video feed from the T888's chip to his laptop upstairs. There wasn't much to see so far, and it seemed it had been there for quite some time. John fervently hoped watching it all wasn't a total waste of time. He rubbed his eyes and yawned. He could have just let Cameron do it all, but he wanted to do something to make himself feel useful.

He heard Cameron come up the steps, and knock on the open door.

"Dinner is ready."

John stood up and stretched. "Great. I'm starving."

Cameron glanced at the computer screen. "You should not watch so much at once. The longer you watch, the more tired you become, and you run the chance of missing something important."

John shrugged. "I'll be fine. Not much else to do."

John followed Cameron down the steps. Was she purposely walking that sexy?

Cameron reached the bottom of the steps and tossed her hair over her shoulder. Glancing at John, she gave him a wink and a smile, before putting a straight face back on and heading into the kitchen.

John tripped down the last two steps. Yeah… she was absolutely doing it on purpose.

*******

They ate in the dining room for the very first time, since the kitchen table wasn't big enough to fit everyone.

Cameron had made spaghetti and meatballs, complete with garlic toast. Sarah was actually quite impressed. She hadn't just used plain sauce from the jar; she actually spiced it up really nice.

Derek looked like he was in heaven. Torn between shoveling his food and savoring it, he was nearly moaning in pleasure with every bite.

"I'd go easy there if I were you," Sarah advised. "Your stomach's not used to eating this kind of stuff."

"I don't care," Derek said between bites. "I'll survive."

John was having a hard time concentrating on his food. His thoughts were on Cameron, who had purposely sat next to him, a little closer than necessary. It was obvious what she was doing, and John wasn't sure what had suddenly, well, turned her on.

He set his fork down and finished his glass of Kool-Aid. He hadn't had the stuff since he was a kid. Evidently Savannah was influencing their grocery list.

Cameron stood up, brushing against John as she walked by. He did his best not to react, but wasn't sure how well of a job he did. He scooped up some sauce with his garlic bread and took a bite.

Cameron returned with the pitcher of Kool-Aid. He almost choked when, instead of picking up his glass, she leaned over him and refilled it. He kept his eyes on his glass; not daring to glance to his right, knowing full well he'd only see inappropriate things. She was killing him.

He forced a smile when she stood up. "Thanks, Cam." He blushed when his voice cracked a little.

Cameron smiled back and returned to the kitchen. John heard a low chuckle come from his uncle beside him, which he stopped with a swift kick under the table. He snuck a peek at his mother, who seemed oddly fascinated by the texture of her bread. She's going to kill me if Cameron doesn't kill me first.

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

It was late, as John headed upstairs to his room. He was a little buzzed, as he sat downstairs for quite some time with his mom and uncle, listening to stories of the future, and laughing at stuff his mother divulged of his childhood. His uncle and mom were full out drunk. He lost count how many they had, but he left them in the living room, laughing and slurring. He'd never seen his mother drunk before, mostly because being inebriated would be dangerous if they were suddenly attacked. He supposed she felt at least a little safe, considering the current terminator security around the house.

Taking a detour, he stopped in the bathroom first. He brushed his teeth and washed his face, and headed to his room. He paused at Savannah's room, quietly shutting her door the rest of the way. They usually kept it open some, just in case… but the lushes downstairs were getting rather loud.

He found Cameron in his own room, and paused in the doorway. She was lounging on the bed again, with the laptop on her lap, watching more of the T888's memories.

That wasn't really what made him stop. What did it was the fact she was just in her underwear and white tank top.

Cameron looked up at him over the screen. "He's been here a long time. There's a lot to look at."

A lot to look at, indeed. John walked in the closet and kicked his jeans off. SpongeBob... He shook his head, and tossed his shirt on the dirty pile. He was getting lazy with that, and was going to have to take it downstairs tomorrow. Sarah had long ago yelled at Cameron for doing it for him.

Shutting off the closet light, he walked over to the bed and sat beside Cameron. He looked at the screen, but it didn't really look too important. "Have you found anything yet?"

"Yes. He was aware of Catherine Weaver, at least, from the perspective that she owned Zeira Corp. He saw her on the news a while back."

"Is he aware that she's a T1001?"

"I don't know."

John sighed and stretched out on the bed. Looking at Cameron, he realized it was the closest he'd ever been to her while she was that scantily dressed. It reminded him of dinner. "What was all that about earlier?"

"What was all what?" Cameron asked innocently, still focused on the computer screen.

"You know exactly what."

"I'm afraid I don't, John. Please explain." She finally looked at him, her straight "I'm a scary robot face" perfectly in place.

"Oh, yeah? What was that wink when we went downstairs?"

"I've winked at you before."

John sat up. "Ok, what about you leaning over me to refill my glass at dinner?"

"You were out of Kool-Aid."

John pointed to her attire, or rather, lack thereof. "And this?"

Cameron raised an eyebrow, and pointed back at John, who was once again clad in just his boxers. "Like that?"

John narrowed his eyes at her. "It's hot."

"Exactly."

John stared her down. She was good.

Unexpectedly, Cameron leaned in and kissed him. It was the first time since their very first kiss that she'd initiated it. John was pleasantly surprised.

Slowly pulling back, she finally answered him. "You just seemed like you needed a little help getting started."

"What? Where the hell did that come from?" John blinked, thoroughly confused.

"Cosmopolitan."

John snorted. "You read Cosmo?"

"Yes. There are very informative articles."

John did his best to keep a straight face. "Oh? What kind of articles?"

"'How to Tell When He Wants You Bad', "Thirty Sure-fire Ways to Turn Him On", and "Top 10 Sex Tricks That Drive Him Wild."**

John wasn't quite sure how to react to that. "I take it you learned a lot from these, um, articles?"

Cameron smiled mischievously.

********

"Hey, where did John go?" Sarah looked around the living room, wondering if her son was hiding.

"Probably upstairs getting laid." Derek was in 'the zone', things were feeling rather good… until something hit him in the head.

"Hey what the hell was that for?" He whined, rubbing the back of his head.

"Stop talking like that."

"What? It's the truth! Geez… ya didn't haff to hit me so damn hard."

"I don' care if it's the truff… I don' wanna know"

"What's your problem?"

"What do you mean 'what's my problem'? She's a freaking machine!"

"And?"

Sarah really couldn't answer, so she took another long sip of her beer.

"You know what, I think you're predge… presh… prejudished."

Sarah glared at him. "What are you talking about?"

"I've seen people fu…"

"DEREK!"

"Okay I've seen people… " Derek had to think real hard. "Haff close perthonal relations with worse." Yeah, that sounded right. He thought. "Cameron just has different insides. But it's okay though. She works, or so John says."

Sarah smacked him in the face with a couch pillow. "Ow! Jesus woman!"

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

John wasn't quite sure how it happened. One minute, they were… what were they doing? Oh, yeah. Watching the triple eight memories. The next minute… they were both out of breath and panting. He briefly wondered why SHE was panting, since she never actually had to breathe. You know what? Actually, he didn't really give a damn.

Cameron was clutching him in a death grip. Her eyes were faintly glowing blue, and she almost looked like she was panicking. Her HUD was flashing all sorts of displays, and she was experiencing sensations she never felt before. What was going on?

"John?"

"Yeah?"

"I think I'm malfunctioning."

John chuckled. "No, you're not. From what I can tell, you're reacting normally."

Cameron was doubtful. According to her HUD, if her body kept up the 'malfunction' she'd experience another surge. But it wasn't warning her to stop, as it did in the factory.

"Are you sure? "

John grinned. "I promise. You'll be fine. You're not malfunctioning."

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

Sarah was weeping. "What did I do wrong?"

Derek wasn't sure what the hell to do. She was abusing him one minute, and the next, she was bawling her eyes out.

"I raised him the best I could! He didn't have a father, but I hoped that didn't matter! I tried to give him the best life possible." Another wave hit, and Sarah folded herself onto the couch.

"Machines killed his father! Machines try to kill him every day! How can he possibly be in love with one???"

Derek opened another beer. This was so not his area.

"He's only seventeen! I don't care where he's gone, I don't care what he's going to do. He still needs me!"

And there it was: the truth, wailing like a banshee. Was it a metal thing, or a mother thing?

"You know, if you don't stop that, you're bound to throw up. And that'd be a damn waste of good beer."

"You insensitive bastard!" Derek caught the pillow this time.

"Enough! Seriously. You raised a fine young man. That man," Derek pointed to the ceiling, "is going to be a freaking messiah to people. He's what keeps us going, he's what leads us to ultimate salvation. And he didn't just learn it all from a book. He learned it from you. You taught him everything he knows. You're a freaking legend in the future. The great Sarah Connor, the woman who raised John Connor, the leader of the Resistance. He talked about you every freaking day. You meant the world to him, and it killed him when you died. He kept a damn picture of you in his pocket for years." Derek sighed, and rubbed his temples.

"After all he's been through, are you seriously saying you would condemn the poor kid for finding some small piece of happiness and love in a shithole world where there's barely anything worth fighting for, simply because SHE'S not your ideal 'girl'?"

Sarah had stopped crying, and was just sitting there, staring at her hands. He had a point, but she didn't want to admit it.

They both looked when they heard Cameron scream John's name in panic upstairs.

Sarah jumped up, and reached under the coffee table for the gun that was hidden there.

"Sarah, I don't think…"

Sarah was already on her way to the stairs. Derek jumped up, almost stumbling, and followed her. "Sarah, really… you're drunk… you shouldn't be handling firearms… Sarah… It's probably just… Sarah I wouldn't open… Oh God."

Sarah opened John's bedroom door, to find her son, naked as the day he was born, shaking an equally naked… unconscious… Cameron.

She just stood there, slowly lowering her gun. Oh…my…God.

John turned to find his mom and Derek standing in the doorway, but it didn't quite register. He was too worried about Cameron. In fact, he was terrified.

He didn't know what happened. She had been perfectly… perfect one moment, and the next… she wasn't responding. Maybe she was malfunctioning? And it was his fault! He didn't listen to her. He promised her she was okay…

"Cameron! Wake up!" Tears started flowing down his cheeks. He turned to his mother and uncle in the doorway. "I killed her! It's my fault! Cameron!!"

Derek couldn't help it. He began laughing. He laughed, and laughed, and couldn't stop. He ended up bent over, clutching his stomach. Tears were rolling down his own cheeks. Sarah just stared at him like he was mad.

"Oh God… You didn't kill her… " He was having a hard time breathing. "You… Didn't I tell you… " Derek made an attempt to stop laughing, and cleared his throat. "Ahem…. " He was mostly successful, but he couldn't keep the grin off his face. "They were good days… good happy days… when the Connors managed to reach 'shut down point'…" He cracked himself up again.

"What?"

Sarah couldn't take anymore. She walked out of the room and headed to the bathroom.

Derek toasted John with his beer. "Congratulations man. 120 seconds… " He turned around, still laughing, and shut the door behind him.

Sarah slammed the bathroom door and vomited.

Cameron came back online and found John sitting over her, looking ill.

"John? Are you okay?"

"Kill me… please."

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

John woke early, listening to his family downstairs. He could feel Cameron's arm across his waist, and was reminded of the previous night.

Eff my life. I can't go downstairs. I'll never live to see lunchtime, cause I'll die of embarrassment. Maybe it was just a dream…

John took a quick look down. Nope. Definitely not a dream.

"You're awake early."

"Yeah… " He almost asked her what she was doing up herself.

"I'm sorry about last night."

John sighed. Back to this again. "Cam… we already went over this… if you apologize one more time…"

"You'll do what?"

John rubbed his eyes. "Duct tape your mouth shut."

Cameron tilted her head in thought. "That could be kinky. I might like it."

John slowly turned his head to look at Cameron. "Did you download a nymphomaniac subroutine while I wasn't looking?"

Cameron laughed. "No, I'm just teasing you."

John shook his head. "How about we climb out the window and sneak to McDonald's for breakfast?"

"Why would we do that? We can just use the door."

"That would defeat the purpose of avoiding the dragon and the jackass."

Cameron rolled her eyes and stood up, dragging John with her. "The sooner you deal with it the better."

"That's easy for you to say Miss Hyper-Alloy Combat Chassis. If mom beats YOU with a broomstick, you'll be just fine."

"Your mother never beat you."

"There's always a first for everything."

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

John felt like he was walking down death row as he entered the kitchen. Derek was sitting at the table drinking coffee. He looked up as John entered, and grinned.

"Morning stud muffin."

"Derek stop shouting!" Sarah leaned against the counter, her head in her hands. There was a half empty glass of water by her elbow.

"Shh… the Queen Mother is hung-over."

"I'm not hung-over."

Derek laughed silently.

John sat down at the table next to his uncle, careful not to make any noise with the chair.

Cameron was mixing what looked like several random ingredients in a glass. She pulled a spoon out of the drawer and started stirring.

Sarah jumped up and pulled the gun out of her waistband and aimed it at Cameron. "Don't…make me…kill you."

Cameron stopped and glanced at the men at the table, who had both froze. She pulled the spoon out of the glass and handed it to Sarah. "Drink it. You'll feel better."

Sarah hesitantly took the glass and sniffed it. "Ugh. It smells awful."

"I could have made it worse."

Sarah glared at her. "If this kills me…"

"It won't."

Sarah tilted the glass back and chugged, trying not to taste it. She followed up with the rest of her water. Gagging, she set the glasses down on the counter and walked over to the table. Standing between Derek and John, she glared at both of them. Her right hand shot out and found its target on the back of Derek's head. "That's for getting me drunk last night." Her left hand found John's head. "That's for not locking the goddamn door."

She turned and headed upstairs. "If anyone bothers me, you die."

John looked at Derek, who just grinned again.

"Good days indeed…"

"Shut up Derek."

His uncle just laughed. "Nah, for real. I used to win a lot of money…"

"DEREK"

Cameron walked over and hit Derek in the back of the head, in a perfect imitation of Sarah. It almost knocked him out cold. "Would you like me to make you some pancakes, John?"

** I haven't read Cosmo in years. I made up these titles, even though there's probably titles very similar... it's Cosmo after all.