Okay... yes, I'm back. It was one hell of a long semester. Now that student teaching is over and after three long years of grad school I finally got that damn Master's, I'm back to writing. Well, sort of. Job hunting and stuff like that is still taking up some of my time, but hey, whatever. Chapter 15 is here, right? Still a bit on the short side for Fate, however, I want to spend more quality time on the action in chapter 16. I've called upon DarkDanny to help me, so we're going to get some real Delusive quality work out as soon as we can. I got the mush down, he's got the action and guns and other manly things I'm no good at. So here you are, finally... chapter 15. It's a bit chopped and broken, but it's meant to be.

Cameron stood in the kitchen for seventeen minutes, silently watching John without him knowing. It wasn't difficult to do, since their "remodeling" job required the removal of the wall that separated the kitchen and the living room. She stood by the sink drying dishes… or rather, "drying" the same plate over and over.

She was really worried about John. He had been quiet the rest of the afternoon and evening, only speaking to people in short answers. She knew he was depressed, and understandably so. Depression was basically a permanent part of John Connor's life; it wasn't something easily escaped considering the life they led, and his role in the future of mankind. She was used to comforting him on particularly bad days, and had always taken it upon herself to help him pull out of his occasional melancholic stupors. But this time was different. Nothing she did seemed to help.

Slowly she turned away and put the dish back in the cupboard. She looked at the mostly empty dish rack and began putting the silverware away as quietly as possible.

The yellow boring pieces were on the left; the Crunch Berries were on the right separated by color. It took him all of five minutes to do it, but it was a frustrating five minutes. The stupid cereal pieces kept sticking to his spoon, and the yellow pieces didn't want to stay in place. He gave up on getting them situated all in the same direction.

Sighing, he set the bowl down on the coffee table and stood up. He stretched his arms over his head and yawned loudly before stalking off downstairs to his room, making sure to leave the door open behind him. He knew Cameron had been "secretly" watching him, and hoped she'd take the invitation to join him.

He exchanged his jeans for a pair of old sweats and fell onto the bed with a sigh. He looked around the room, and in his head, started planning.

They wouldn't move completely, at least not yet. Some clothes, weapons, the essentials. That's all they'd need for a few days at a time. Derek would stay behind, just in case…

Well, yeah. Just in case.

Thunder rolled in the distance, and John found himself looking forward to it. While some kids were frightened of storms, John always loved them. He'd lay next to his mom at night and they'd count the seconds between lightening and the crack of thunder until he finally fell asleep.

"What are you smiling at?"

John watched as Cameron crawled onto the bed with him. His smile widened when she laid her head on his chest, and his fingers immediately tangled themselves in her soft hair.

"I was just remembering a rainy day long ago."

Cameron tilted her head up and regarded the relaxed look on his face. She knew he must have been thinking of Sarah, but thought better about mentioning her name. Instead, she slid her hand under his shirt and traced the newly defined muscles she found.

"Tell me about it?" she asked.

John closed his eyes and simply enjoyed her touch. He took a deep breath and waited for the next flash of lightning.

"One Mississippi… two Mississippi… three Mississippi…. four Mississippi… five."

A loud clap of thunder rumbled the basement.

"Now we wait for the next flash of lightning," he said. "When it flashes, we start counting, and stop when we hear the thunder. If we count less, it means the storm is moving closer. If we count more, the storm is moving away.

Cameron knew this, of course, but she played along anyway. When the next bolt of lightning flashed, she counted along.

"One… two…. three… four…"

The thunder rolled again, and she looked back up at him.

"I think it's going to be a big storm."

John nodded. "That's what the TV said. It's gonna be huge… but I love storms. I find them relaxing. They remind me of…."

The sound of his cell phone ringing cut him off. He reached for it on the floor where he'd tossed it and blinked at the brightness of the screen.

There was a brief moment when time seemed to slow. He read the name over and over on the screen, and watched Cameron's hand snatch the phone right out of his. Her thumb hit the answer button and the phone traveled to her ear. He watched her mouth move, but what came out of it confused him.

"Mom? Mom? Are you there?"

It was his own voice. John blinked and opened his own mouth as if to respond, but Cameron's hand swiftly covered his lips.

There was silence on the other end, and with a confused tilt of her head, she put the phone on speaker.

"Mom?"

Finally, they heard a faint whimper. "John?"

John nearly tore Cameron's arm off grabbing for the phone.

"Mom? Mom! It's me! Where are you? Are you okay? "

There was a low chuckle and a male voice spoke. "Ah, there you are, Johnny. It's about time. I was beginning to think the metal bitch would never give you the phone."

John growled and jumped off the bed, holding the phone away from Cameron's reach.

"Where's my mother?"

"Not the sharpest knife in the drawer, are we? She's with me, obviously. Where do you think she is? What the hell kind of 'leader of mankind' are you, if you can't do any better than that?"

John squeezed his eyes shut and grinded his teeth together. He felt a cool hand on his lower back and was surprised when it calmed him slightly.

"What is it that you want?"

"Now, you see? That wasn't too hard was it? It's all about the right questions, and what I want is simple…"

"Absofuckinglutely not!"

Cameron calmly stood at the other end of the room while John paced back and forth, occasionally kicking things in his path.

"We'll take Seth, we'll call Weaver, but I'm not just handing you over to those bastards!"

Cameron folded her arms, much like any human girl would do. "We can't call Weaver, I've tried. The number is no longer available."

John turned on his heels. "What? She… are you sure? Did you try John Henry?"

"Yes, and yes. They have their own mission and goals, John. They've helped us as much as they felt they could. We're on our own now." She looked down at the floor as he began pacing back and forth again. "I can take care of myself, and you. Nothing would…"

"No! You're not doing it!"

John stopped, turned and actually glared at her. They'd been arguing for well over half an hour. Actually, Cameron had barely said a word. John had been venting his frustration, and she let him go. Eventually he'd tire out enough to listen to reason. Meanwhile, Cameron played the phone conversation over in her head, trying to find an easy out, a loophole of some kind that might make the situation easier.

"What I want is simple. I want her. Well, no let me rephrase that. You can keep the sex toy part, I just want her chip."

"Fuck you," John spat.

"Okay, fine. I'll just kill mommy."

They heard the undeniable click and John screamed.

"No! Stop! Please…"

"What will it be, Connor? Are you going to choose metal over human? Your own mother?"

"Please…"

A shot was fired, and a woman Cameron immediately recognized as Sarah Connor screamed.

"Stop!" John screamed as well, and Cameron wrapped her arms around him tight.

"What's it going to be?"

"Okay! Please don't hurt her. I'll do what you want."

There wasn't really much of an option. They would meet at a designated area and make the exchange tomorrow.

Sarah for Cameron.

At least, that's what the "agreement" was.

"We'll find another way," John gritted through his teeth.

Lightning struck, and thunder immediately rumbled loudly, shaking the house around them.

"We'll find another way," Cameron agreed, and crawled back onto the bed.

John's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "I've heard that tone before."

"What tone?" Cameron looked up innocently.

"Oh, now you're playing the 'I don't know what you're talking about, John' card."

Cameron tilted her head and regarded him with a straight face. "I don't know what you're talking about, John."

John wasn't sure if he should laugh or growl in frustration. He was saved from making that decision by a tiny voice.

Savannah hugged her stuffed bunny close as she stood at the bottom of the stairs. "Cameron?"

Cameron looked just as surprised as John to see that the girl had managed to sneak all the way downstairs undetected. Savannah didn't really need any invitation, however. As soon as they both looked up, the girl scrambled into the bed and huddled close to Cameron.

"I'm scared," she whispered.

Cameron smiled for her. "It's just a storm. It will pass." She looked up at John. "They always do."

John took the hint and lay down beside them, dropping the argument for the moment.

"Do you know how to tell if a storm is moving away, Savannah?"

Cameron waited an extra forty-five minutes to make sure John was fast asleep. He'd counted with Savannah for nearly an hour before they both finally fell asleep. Cameron had meanwhile spent the time coming up with "another way" to handle the situation.

She slowly untangled herself from the blankets and snuck quietly upstairs. Seth was staring out the living room window, just as still as she would always stand when on watch. It didn't take her long to explain.

"John Connor is not aware of this plan," he stated matter-of-factly.

"No… and he shouldn't be."

"Understood."

Derek felt something poke his arm, and jumping slightly, opened his eyes to two cyborgs staring at him.

"What the…."

He immediately reached for his gun that was no longer under his pillow.

"You won't be needing this," Cameron stated, holding up his Glock. "However, we require your assistance.

Derek looked back and forth between the two before glancing at his watch.

"You require my assistance at four in the morning?" he grumbled.

Cameron tilted her head. "Yes."

He glanced behind her. "Where's John?"

"Sleeping."

Derek stared blankly. "Are you about to ask me to do something that the general is going to have my balls for?"

Cameron stared back at him, a faint smile on her lips. "Not if you don't have the balls to do it."

John could feel his eyes on him, but he refused to look. He'd already looked five times and every time, his eyes would be focused elsewhere. He knew Seth was staring at him though.

He'd been staring at him all morning. It was starting to freak him out. He didn't say a word, just… watched him out of the corner of his eye.

Whatever. Stupid metal. He climbed into the passenger seat of the SUV and watched Cameron walk back from the neighbor's house.

She'd been acting strange too. He had woken up alone, and then all morning it seemed she did everything she could to avoid him. No warm smiles, gentle touches, or stolen kisses. She was in full machine-mode, as if her softer side never existed.

He watched her slide in behind the wheel and buckle herself in, without even a single glance in his direction.

"What did I do?" he asked.

She finally turned to look at him. "What did you do?"

"Yeah, what did I do for you to ignore me all morning?"

She tilted her head. "I was busy making sure all of the weapons were packed and prepared. Then I secured Savannah with the neighbors. "

John just stared at her and shook his head. He turned to look at the window as they pulled out of the driveway, Seth and Derek following behind at a safe distance in the mini-van.

"Do we even have a plan for this?" He asked, sounding thoroughly irritated.

"No," she stated simply. "I ran several possible scenarios through my processor, arriving at the most desirable outcome. However, we don't know what to expect."

"You could have just left it at 'No, John, we're fucked'," he mumbled.

A faint smile crossed her face. "We're not completely fucked, John."

They pulled up to an old warehouse, and John briefly wondered if Skynet cronies would ever tire of the old cliché. He unbuckled his seatbelt and checked that his gun was tucked in before stepping out of the vehicle. Cameron scanned the area for threats as she walked around the SUV to stand at his side.

"Remember, your safety is of primary importance. Anything that happens to me beyond this point is irrelevant."

"Bullshit." John spun her around to face him. "If you expect me to…"

"I do expect you to behave accordingly," she interrupted. Then, seemingly hesitantly, she smiled and caressed his cheek.

It felt weird, almost… wrong. Maybe it was because she was in full terminator mode, John wasn't sure. He pulled her close and leaned in.

"For luck," he whispered, before brushing his lips across hers.

She seemed to nearly freeze in his arms, and took several seconds to return the kiss.

John pulled away, feeling slightly rejected. Still, he chalked it up to her being so focused on everything else. He gave her a faint smile and opened his mouth, but she was already looking away.

He followed her gaze and saw two men walking out of the building.

Derek checked his weapons over, feeling more than awkward as they hid amongst some trees and bushes, watching over the SUV. The triple eight beside him constantly scanned the area, always falling back on the couple now standing outside the SUV.

Derek looked up in time to see the kiss. "Come on, Connor, get your head in the game…"

He glanced over at Seth, who was now extremely focused on… tying his shoe?

Shaking his head, he looked back up and saw two men walking out of the building. Lifting his rifle, he shifted his weight and caught the attention of the cyborg beside him. "They're here."

"Well if it isn't John Connor and his cyborg whore. Right on time, too."

John stared the man down. He did his best not to show any reaction. "Let's just get this over with. Where's my mother?"

The man who spoke laughed. "Oh… you're so dumb. Come on, we'll show you around the place…"

"They're taking them in," Seth stated, standing up slowly.

"I know the one on the left," Derek said. "Walker. He was one of Connor's best men. He came back with me. I would have never… " He shook his head and shouldered his Rifle. "I'm going to enjoy this way too much."

John followed Cameron in the door to be faced with five guns.

"Drop your weapons. All of them."

Cameron pulled her gun from her waistband and tossed it on the floor. When John didn't move, she pulled his out as well.

John was too busy staring at the men holding the guns, looking for… there. The man on the right. Slightly larger than the other men, standing a little too still, a little too focused. The one who immediately grabbed Cameron while two of the other men grabbed him.

It was as if everything was in slow motion as he struggled against their clutches. He watched as the terminator jabbed her with something in his hand. She jerked unnaturally before going limp in its arms.

He screamed for her, but she couldn't hear him. The last thing he saw was her body being dragged away.

He heard people talking around him and opened his eyes. His head was killing him, but he didn't have time to pay any attention to it. He tried moving his arms, but found he was bound tightly to a chair.

"John?"

He looked up to find Cameron chained to a table, looking at him with a pained expression.

"Ah, the savior is awake," the man who was obviously in charge said, as he turned around holding a sharp looking blade. "I thought I'd let you watch this part. It's going to be great fun. Her chip is the perfect size to house our AI… " He slowly smiled. "We watched her do it before. What do you call yours? John Henry?"

John struggled against the rope tying him to the chair. "Don't touch her!"

"I'm sorry, John" Cameron whispered. "I'm sorry."

"No!" He screamed, feeling blood start to drip down his hands where the rope was cutting open his wrists.

"I love you, John."

The man's lip curled up in a scowl. "Isn't that just… disgusting. I'm going to enjoy watching her kill you slowly."

John watched helplessly as he cut into Cameron's scalp.

I know, I know... where's Sarah? And that annoying Dani girl? She's around. Trust me. She'll be here next chapter. And she's quite pissed. I didn't originally plan to end this here, however, I wanted to get this out so we had more time for Danny to help me with my action sequences. Everything that I left you confused with in this chapter is on purpose. It's going to all come together. I promise.