Hi guys,

Thanks to reviewers Steel_Dragon_64, kaotic2, TCandBTVSluver, CloudyShadows, olischulu, TK-MR, lee443, sasha starr, Nyrki, darkfinder and XxDeathStarxX.

Despite his relatively crappy life so far and the prospect of each day bringing the end of the world just that much closer, John Connor had usually enjoyed waking up. It was the moment in the day he most enjoyed and almost always savoured it. There were of course exceptions, usually when his mother was hovering at the foot of his bed in that creepy way of hers. Recently his enjoyment of the moment when he first opened his eyes had been increased by the prospect of waking up to the sight of his girlfriend every morning. Today however, even Cameron's beautiful face wasn't enough to bring a smile to his.

Opening his eyes with an unusually loud groan and immediately screwing them shut, John buried his head further in to Cameron's chest. Well, he pulled himself closer with one arm, the other severely lacking feeling from her not insignificant weight lying on it all night. As a byproduct of him closing his eyes, he failed to notice the frown and look of concern on her face. Once again not quite knowing how to proceed, Cameron ventured speaking in a very soft voice.

"John?"

At barely above a whisper, most people however would have struggled to hear her clearly. John however groaned again and pulled back from her and did his best to roll away. Now lying flat on his back, he managed to extricate his now useless arm from beneath her torso. Using his still functional arm he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and took a few moments to compose himself before re-opening them. He looked sidelong and found Cameron still waiting patiently for a response from him. He gave it in the form of rolling back in to an embrace with her and forcing a tired looking smile up at her.

He'd had a lot to think about before she'd came in the night before and the conclusions he reached weren't exactly positive and inspiring. Having analysed the previous day, he'd created a bullet point list in his mind of his activities.

1, Shot at Derek.

2, Totally froze up in the heat of combat.

3, Shot at Derek.

4, Had to be bailed out by his girlfriend and his uncle.

5, SHOT AT DEREK.

All in all it was a less then impressive list for the future leader of mankind to be making for himself. He'd reached the conclusion that he was totally unprepared and probably a little disrespectful of the approaching apocalypse. He'd thought he was ready. He'd worn the big boy pants with his mother over his love for Cameron, that alone would have scared the living piss out of him a couple of years ago, standing up to Sarah like that. He felt he'd become a man, the man that would lead the human race to ultimate victory over the machines. Yesterdays events had laid those thoughts to rest as he'd SHOT AT HIS UNCLE.

If Derek was pissed at him then that paled in comparison to how he felt about himself. Some of the other conclusions he'd came to were no more encouraging than his list. He'd deemed himself unworthy of leadership, unworthy of the Connor fighting spirit and perhaps most worrying, he found himself to be unworthy of the love of a certain cyborg. Now as he looked up at her and saw the look of concern and adoration on her face, his guilt only deepened at the thought that he'd somehow let her down.

"You stayed?" he asked, his voice sounding as parched as his throat felt.

Her head tilting to the side, made all the more comical by her position on the pillow, she looked at him like he'd just asked her if her hair was brown.

"Of course…" still not quite understanding why he'd asked the question in the first place, she clarified her statement "…why would I leave you?"

Why would you stay?

Wrangling his own thoughts in to order, John couldn't help but shudder as her question hit awfully close to the root of his fears. Instead of replying coherently and intelligently, he settled for a mixture of an emo and self loathing response.

"I guess I just don't see any reason for you to stay with a loser like me" he said with a shrug by way of an apology.

Cameron's brow creased together tighter than it had done a few moments ago, his statement making no sense and surprisingly causing her quite a bit of annoyance. It seemed that her initial assessment of his mental wellbeing the night before was way off the mark.

"You're not a loser…" seeking to find a way to assure him, she searched her databanks for something appropriate "…you're John Connor"

That was just what he needed to hear at that moment, and to him it pretty much proved his point. He shuffled around in the small bed and laid a hand on her bare thigh and took a deep breath.

"Exactly. I'm John Connor by virtue of having the same name as him. I haven't done much else to earn that distinction so far. I mean, I suck at everything apart from apparently being able to woo you, and I'm not even sure how the hell I managed to do that. I froze up yesterday, I should've been the one to take charge and lead us out of there, instead it had to be Derek. Oh, and I shot at him by the way"

Pausing only to shake his head remorsefully, John continued on his self deprecating rant.

"You say I'm not a loser because I'm John Connor, well then I guess that the great John Connor isn't all he's cracked up to be. I'm not ready for this Cameron, I can't handle what's coming. I need to do something about it"

Cameron observed him for a moment before allowing her hand to come to rest on top of his where it currently had a death grip on her thigh. She gently massaged the back of his fingers until she felt his grip loosen and she took his hand in her own. She detected his erratic breathing start to even out and the panicked look in his eyes and on his face slowly start to leave, replaced by a look of sheer despondence and disappointment.

Choosing one of two options she felt was best, she gave his hand a small squeeze to get his attention.

"What do you plan to do?"

John himself had two options. He could fight, he could lead and become the man he wanted to be. Or he could run away, hide and be just a man he wanted to be. As much as he wanted to choose the latter of those options, he knew he'd never forgive himself. More pointedly, he didn't want to lose Cameron. If he chose to run away he had no doubt that she'd eventually agree to come with him, but he had a feeling their relationship would be irrevocably ruined by his cowardice.

Taking a determined breath he raised his eyes to meet hers. This was one of the few times since she'd been sent back to the past to protect him that she'd seen the famous John Connor fire in her John's eyes.

"I'm going to become the man everyone needs me to be. I'm going to fight Skynet. I'm going to earn the name and legend of John Connor, not just have it bestowed on me…" he paused and ran his hand up on to her flank and if anything looked even more determined "…I'm going to earn your respect"

Stopping herself from reminding him that she didn't need any convincing and that she was in the process of slowly sorting through her newfound feelings she had for him, Cameron instead chose to encourage him on the path he'd chosen.

"How do you wish to proceed?"

Feeling suddenly embarrassed at having reeled off that speech without stopping to think and formulate a real plan, John frowned, not really knowing what he wanted to do.

"Well…first things first I guess. I need to learn how not to freeze up as soon as the shooting starts, that would be a nice start" he said somewhat sheepishly, the determination and little adrenaline rush from earlier having dissipated.

Cameron found herself nodding in agreement.

"Training, you need to condition not only your body but more importantly your mind to cope with what you'll need to do" she stated just a little too mechanically for even her own liking.

John couldn't help but agree with her logic as the wheels started turning in his mind. The possibility of turning himself in to some sort of Rambo was certainly appealing to him. Also, the thought of doing a little physical exercise with Cameron certainly got his blood pumping in his veins.

"Alright, so where do we start? I guess I need to do a little stamina training right? Yeah, of course I do, maybe if we…"

She silenced him very effectively by suddenly leaning forward and sealing his lips with her own. After a moment of contact, she pulled back and looked at his dumbstruck face with an amused expression.

"May I make a suggestion?" she asked through a smile.

John merely nodded, too caught off guard by her to do much else.

"Consider asking Derek to teach you"

Shaking his head to try and focus on something besides the way her lips formed in to a delicious pout almost automatically, John found himself becoming slightly confused.

"Derek, why?" he inquired, convinced learning from Cameron was a more appealing option.

"I could teach you how to aim and how to shoot, but you already know that. Sarah taught you well in that regard. What I can't teach you is how to fight machines in a manner other than throwing them through walls. Which unfortunately you can't do…" she paused as he chuckled "…Derek can teach you to fight the way you taught him in the future, how to fight like a resistance soldier. He can condition your mind to work the way it needs to in the heat of battle. I can't do that"

John put aside how mind boggling the complexities of time travel were, the thought of him being taught the same tactics by a man that learned from himself was just too much for any one mind to think about that early in the morning. Instead he settled for nodding in agreement with her sound suggestion.

"I'll talk to him. Actually I think he'd probably get a kick out of it…" John tossed aside how accurate that assessment was and smiled at Cameron "…Hey, I love you. I still don't know what I've done to deserve you"

Instead of replying verbally, Cameron simply leaned in and pressed her lips to his again. She pulled back, or rather tried to when she felt his hand snake around to the back of her head and tangle in her hair before he pulled himself closer and his lips found hers again. Before she felt the usual sensations that preceded her motor controls giving way to her desires, she forcefully pulled back and looked at him sternly.

"What's wrong?" he asked, worried that he'd somehow upset her.

"I promised Sarah we wouldn't have sex. That's a promise I intend to keep…" she paused and spoke again with a slight hint of mischief in her voice "…I won't let you corrupt me John Connor"

Feeling a familiar stirring rise within him, John merely let out a low throaty growl and practically pounced on her, his momentum, her relaxed state and the limited space on the single bed causing them both to tumble out and land on the floor in a tangled heap of arms and legs. Luckily for John she'd hit the floor first and absorbed most of the impact, leaving him clear headed enough to attack her tongue with his.

It didn't take much to wake Sarah Connor up on a morning, but the very loud thud from the room next door would have woken an animal in hibernation. Luckily for her though she'd been awake for the best part of an hour sipping on her coffee trying to make the best use of John's laptop from the limited knowledge she had. Using the touchpad with one finger and having to look down whenever she needed to click, she did her best to search for houses to rent that were big enough and met most of their stringent needs. She reached out and picked up a pen to add to her list of possibly suitable properties and tried her best to ignore what was inevitably happening next door.

As she'd predicted Cameron had kept her promise to the best of her knowledge the night before. That knowledge was owing to the paper thin walls and by the way she had pretty much been listening for any telltale noises until she'd fallen asleep long after John had. Now however her son had apparently worked his magic once again and the cyborg had chosen to indulge him.

Shivering slightly at the thought of what was going on next door, she couldn't help but feel sorry for poor Derek who currently lay sprawled out on the room's other bed, still mostly clothed. He'd came in the night before, mumbled something about machines before flopping face down on the bed and staying that way until now. Apparently he was as unhappy with the thought of his nephew and a machine getting it on as she was. Usually the older guy in the family was delighted that his younger male family was getting some. Evidently Cameron didn't class as 'some' in his eyes.

Just as Sarah drained the last of her coffee and set back to work on using the infernal machine in front of her, another more user friendly machine entered the room and slammed the door unnecessarily behind her. Derek stirred just slightly before slipping back in to a deep sleep. The next thing she knew Amy had climbed up on to her bed and had snuggled in to her side.

"Whatcha doooin'?" she asked in an annoyingly cutesy voice, made all the worse by the fact that she knew full well exactly what Sarah was doing.

Choosing to indulge her instead of questioning her question, Sarah concentrated on her nemesis, the touchpad and pulled up a picture of the house she'd just added to her list.

"I'm looking for houses…see anything you like?" she asked while shuffling the laptop over so Amy could see.

Amy merely scrunched up her face in a look reminiscent of a bored child.

"So long as it has a room for me then that's all I care about"

Forgetting herself for a second, Sarah replied without thinking.

"Of course there's a room for you…"

She's a machine, she's a machine, she's a machine.

"…I mean it'd be pretty weird if anyone came by and didn't find a room for a little girl right?" she quickly covered her slip by stammering out some on the spot logic.

"Uh, yeah, right…" Amy looked a little less than pleased at Sarah's attitude and hopped down off the bed "…When are we going?"

"Well I figure as soon as Derek over there manages to wake himself up…" as if on cue Derek stirred in his sleep "…and as soon as Cameron is finished with my son I'm sure they'll stop by to say hello or something"

Nodding slowly, Amy walked around to the other side of Derek's bed, crouched down behind it and reappeared a moment later. Sarah watched as Amy climbed up on the bed and crawled up so she was level with Derek's head. Tilting her head in curiosity, Sarah couldn't quite imagine what she was planning. Lately it seemed like Derek had become Amy's favourite new plaything, something he was decidedly unhappy about.

Amy produced something from her hand and dangled it on the very tip of Derek's nose. Squinting through the morning light, Sarah just about made out that it was a pair of Cameron's panties that had been flung out of the bag the night before. There they were, dangling from Amy's outstretched hand and tickling his nose.

Derek automatically reached out a hand to swat the offending item away with his eyes still closed. What neither Amy nor Sarah was expecting however was for him to mumble in his semi awake state.

"Not now babe…"

Either he was in the middle of a pleasant dream or he thought he was somewhere else, either way, Sarah didn't really feel very fond of either possibility. Amy meanwhile couldn't control her giggling and dangled the bright blue panties in front of him again. This time however he woke up instead of just swatting them away. His sleep fuddled brain was unable to put two and two together at first, which is why he rolled over expecting to find Jessica, only to find Amy kneeling next to his head dangling something stringy right in front of his eyes.

Wait…the only thing that's stringy in this place is…oh my god.

Leaping out of bed with speed a Terminator would be proud of, Derek instantly rounded on his assailant with nothing short of bewilderment in his eyes.

"What the fuck? Ewww, ewww, I so did not need that. Ugh…" he said as he headed in the bathroom, probably to scrub his face with bleach and or acid.

Sarah and Amy looked at each other, held each other's eyes for a moment before Sarah's shoulders started to shake. The corners of Amy's lips quirked up a tiny amount which only sent Sarah's downward spiral in to a laughing fit all the quicker. Pretty soon she was laughing harder than she had in years over her little friend's torture of Derek.

Amy sat back on her haunches and flashed Sarah a toothy grin. Sarah couldn't help but once again forget who or rather what it was that was sitting in the room with her and smiled back.

"So what's the plan for today?" Derek asked around a mouthful of toast.

Sarah scowled at his less than gentlemanly table manners. But then again he was probably the best of a bad bunch sitting at that particular table in the diner that morning. When John and Cameron had finally wrapped up their morning escapades, they'd came next door and John had declared he was hungry. She could hardly blame him, that much physical activity was sure to tax even a young body.

So there she sat with her own little dysfunctional family. Derek tying to scarf his breakfast down as if it would be snatched away at any moment, John with his plate of bacon and eggs he was picking at, being too busy making eyes at Cameron next to him to make any major inroads in to it. The cyborg had her own plate in front of her that was totally untouched, apparently she was content to nibble at bits of bacon from John's plate.

But the really odd thing was that Amy had her own plate in front of her. While she wasn't designed to eat and digest the food, she'd assured Sarah she could make it look like she was for infiltration purposes. However boiled eggs and toasty soldiers may have been a bad choice as she seemed to get more egg on her cheeks than she got in her mouth. Sarah frowned, still not quite able to fathom out Amy, even in the slightest.

Turning to address Derek, who vaguely resembled Popeye with his full cheeks, Sarah slipped in to leader mode.

"Well first off we need to find somewhere to live. I've drawn up a list. I think they all match your security needs Cameron…" at the cyborg's nod, Sarah continued "…Then we need to regroup, find out who this guy is and what he's up to"

John nodded in agreement while idly picking at his eggs.

"Tell me more about him. What did he want, what did he say?"

Sarah nodded as she recalled the details of their meeting. Amy seemed far too occupied with tackling her eggs to explain all this with her perfect memory.

"He seemed…devoted. He has a cause and he believes in it, no matter how much of a lunatic that makes him. He actually believes Skynet is some sort of god and that Judgement Day is some sort of biblical thing"

"Sounds like a grade A religious nutbar" Derek contributed helpfully.

Sarah glared pointedly at his unhelpful comment and frankly still pig like table manners.

"We can't ignore this guy. He's cool, he's calm, he's organised and he believes. That makes him dangerous, it makes him a threat"

"I agree…" Cameron said with a nod "…In the future, the humans loyal to Skynet are deemed by John to be a bigger threat than what remains of Skynet's forces"

"How so?" John asked, genuinely curious as to how his future self came to that conclusion.

"Humans can't be programmed, they can't be turned to another side as easily as machines. If they believe in something, that makes them dangerous" she said somewhat ominously.

"Greys…" Derek once again contributed "…That's what these guys are. They're Greys, traitors. Doesn't matter what they believe, they need to be dealt with" he said resolutely, obviously having no tolerance for humans who desert their own species for the easy way out.

The mood at the table dropped like a stone. For the human at least, Amy still seemed highly amused with her breakfast while she watched the diner's other occupants.

"What did he say?" John asked, trying not to get bogged down.

"He wants us, or rather you, to give up, to not fight Skynet. He called it repentance for the sin of opposing Skynet"

"Is that all?" he asked after a moment's contemplation.

"Well, he knows about machines, about Amy, about Cameron…" Sarah hesitated, unsure how he might take the next part.

"What?" he asked, not liking at all the way she stopped mid sentence.

"He knows about you and Cameron. Apparently he's been watching you two lately"

The sinking feeling John felt deep down in his gut had returned full force. The new found determination and will seemed to desert him all of a sudden. Not only was this guy now gunning for him, but his relationship with Cameron wasn't a secret any more. While he was sure she could take care of herself, he didn't feel any better about the possibility of someone using her to get to him. Suddenly his previous idea of running away seemed all the more appealing as long as he could take her with him.

This man, this Alejandro Vasquez was offering him a way out of the war, a way to live in peace. It was an incredibly tempting offer. But John took one look at Derek and saw the look of sheer disgust on his face when he was talking about the Greys. These people were the scum of the Earth according to him and were nothing more than something to be scraped off your boot after you've dealt with them.

John took a deep breath and let out a sigh. Almost as if she could read his mind and knew exactly what to do in that moment, John felt Cameron's hand slide its way on to his knee and give it a gentle squeeze. Smiling above the table in her direction and snaking his hand in to hers underneath the table, John pushed aside all thoughts of the man's offer and felt that sense of determination return.

He looked at Derek just as he finished mopping up the last of his eggs with his fork.

"Okay, here's what we do. We find out who this guy is and how he's so connected. We find out what he's planning to do and when he's gonna do it. Until we know all that, we carry on. We prep for Judgment Day, that means weapons, supplies, locations and allies. Derek…" he paused to make sure he had his uncle's full attention "…I messed up the other day. That needs to stop happening. You're going to help me stop it from happening, you're going to teach me everything you know about being a soldier in the resistance. If I'm gonna do this, if we're gonna do this then we need to be prepared"

Derek nodded with a determination rarely seen from him. When he was given an order, you could be sure he'd carry it out to the best of his abilities. The whole table had ground to a halt. Even Amy had stopped and seemed to listen and watch on in awe as John Connor gave his orders.

"Mom, the last time we tried to buy weapons we ended up embroiled in a fight which didn't end too well. I'll contact our new friend Ms. Weaver and ask her about obtaining weapons. Her company must have some big government contracts. Getting the type of weapons we'll need shouldn't be too difficult for her…" just as it looked like Sarah was about to protest, John cut her off with a wave of his hand "…What I would like you to do is to recruit our army. Use your contacts, find trustworthy people, believers to help us when the time comes"

Sarah nodded, wondering where her son had found this sense of leadership from all of a sudden. She had a sneaking suspicion it had to do with the threat to Cameron more than anything else. But he was still her baby boy, she still had a job to do.

"And Amy…" he made sure he had her full attention, which he took as a sign he did when she put her toast down and looked right at him "…Keep mom safe" he said with a smirk aimed squarely at his mother. Amy didn't help Sarah's sudden embarrassment by flashing John a grin and a salute.

"Alright everyone, let's watch our backs. We don't need these people finding us again"

With that, every one nodded and assumed the meeting was over.

"Derek, you up for training me?" he asked, still with an air of authority about him.

"Yeah, what I have in mind is…" he never got a chance to finish that answer as John cut him off.

"Great, we'll start in the morning…thanks"

Derek nodded and stood. He intended to leave and prepare for what was about to come, that meant supplies and equipment. Sarah also stood and followed him out of earshot, well, John's earshot anyway.

"Derek, um, listen. I think it'd be better if you move in to the new house with us, properly I mean…for security"

Derek wasn't an idiot, he knew there was more to her request than security reasons. Sarah Connor does not stammer out requests, she barks out orders. If she was rattled enough to be asking him like this, something else must be bothering her. Probably the fact that this guy was a real threat to John and had deeply got to her. Finding himself nodding in agreement, Derek laid a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Alright, no problem…" he removed his hand from her shoulder and stood back to his full height "…For security. I'll be in the truck when you people are ready to go look for this house"

"Uh, yeah, of course…" she replied, just as business like "…Thanks"

With a nod, Derek turned and left the diner bound for his truck still parked in the motel parking lot. Sarah returned to the table to find John and Cameron in quiet conversation. Almost on autopilot, she picked up a napkin off the table and bent down to clean up Amy's cheeks. It seemed like the right thing to do, after all, in public Sarah was the girl's 'mother'. If anyone noticed the behaviour they didn't say anything. Instead, everyone stood pretty much in unison and wordlessly made their way out of the diner, intent on finding their new home and starting their new mission.

"Yes"

"No"

"Yes"

"No"

"Yes" Amy reinforced her argument this time with her hands on her hips.

"I said no, is your hearing broken?" Derek asked in disbelief, obviously pissed off he was having this argument in the first place.

"And I said yes, is your brain broken?"

"Hey, Short Round, my brain is just fine, but you're even crazier than I thought if you think I'm gonna let you take the big room" he said with a resolute shake of his head.

Amy had a foolproof argument to come back with, using her knowledge of his new relationship.

"Why shouldn't I have the big room? You're never here anyway" she said, raising her voice slightly more than usual.

"Well, let's see…" he paused to count on his fingers "…One, I actually need a room, you know, to sleep. Two, The other room has two windows facing the street, I'm not playing sniper bait every night before bed…" he stopped and that infuriating Reese smirk grew on his face "…Oh, and I deserve the big room because I'm not two feet tall"

Amy had to stop herself from kicking him in the shins in frustration. Sometimes this man was impossible to deal with.

"Three feet"

"Whatever" he said with a roll of his eyes.

"Anyway, I need all the room for my stuff" she argued as she tried to step closer to the door to the room in question. However Derek blocked her path in the hallway.

"What stuff? I'm pretty sure you and Bernie could fit in to a mailbox if you tried hard enough" he wasn't sure even how he'd gotten himself in to this argument in the first place. It was actually quite comical. Both he and Amy had tried to enter the door at the same time and had bumped in to each other. Then followed a polite discussion about what the other was doing. Just how that devolved in to a 'yes' 'no' argument he wasn't quite sure.

"Hey, his name is Barney…are you sure your brain isn't broken?"

The pair squared up to each other, Amy looking up, Derek looking down. While he knew it would be no contest, he was reasonably sure she wouldn't try anything, and while she was confident it would be no contest, she didn't want to harm her plaything.

The two stared at each other for what seemed like minutes, when in reality it was closer to thirty seconds. Derek stared at Amy, Amy stared at Derek. Simultaneously both let out a loud cry and looked down the hallway.

"Sarah!"

The pair turned back to each other with a glare, obviously both expecting the person in charge to side with them. They maintained their staring contest as Sarah came out of the room she'd chosen, Cameron rounded the corner from her patrol and John emerged from his new room, all drawn by the commotion.

The family had been lucky enough to stumble upon their ideal property at the first try. It met all of Cameron's strict security needs, all of Sarah's preferences, most notably five rooms and it met Derek's need of having a basement big enough for a pool table. Plus Amy liked the white picket fence, so it was an all round winner.

Derek and Amy both broke off their staring contest to look at the new arrivals, Derek focusing on John in particular, suddenly miffed they had an audience for their little spat.

"Oh, so now your reflexes work? I guess you don't need my help at all huh?" he asked, staring squarely at John, unsure why he was lashing out and why Amy had the ability to get under his skin so easily.

Before John or even Cameron had a chance to reply, Amy took a step forward and slapped Derek across his thighs.

"Hey, leave him alone…" she turned towards Sarah, ignoring Derek's glare "…Sarah, I want the big room, but Grizzly Adams here wants it for himself. Tell him it's mine" she asked with a pout and big puppy dog eyes.

"Oh no, no no no no…" he shoved Amy aside and stepped in front of her, blocking her from Sarah's view "…You are not pulling that cute little girl act now. You wanted me to move back in with the family, and I need the room. The other one is a death trap"

Almost as quickly as Derek had pushed himself in front of Amy, he found she'd slipped herself around in front of him.

"I need the space to play. What does he need it for?"

"Hey!" Derek yelled, losing his grip on this ludicrous situation "Is everyone missing the fact that she's less than half my size?" he asked, looking around for some form of support.

Cameron chose that moment to contribute to the discussion.

"Fifty one percent" she added helpfully.

Derek merely glared at her. "My point is still valid"

Cameron saw his glare and raised him a scary robot face. "This room is closest to John's, that means having Amy here will make it more secure"

"Are you saying I can't protect my nephew?" he countered "…Besides, the little metal was sent back to protect Sarah right? The other room is closer to hers" he turned to Sarah and gave her his own version of the pleading eyes Amy seemed to have perfected.

Sarah however seemed distracted by something else, something her future daughter in law had just said.

"Cameron, in that case you should be taking this room, to be closer to John for his protection"

Derek's eyes flew wide. He suddenly remembered the deal he'd made with Cameron, something she would surely hold him to. He looked at her, silently hoping and praying that she'd somehow forgotten about it.

"It would be even safer if I were in the same room"

Damn, apparently she hadn't forgotten about it as she looked at Derek after putting that one out there to be heard. With a frown and a scratch of his five o'clock shadow, Derek couldn't believe he was about to take a metal's side. But a deal is a deal, even one with Cameron.

"Well, she kinda has a point" he said in a quiet voice.

Sarah stared incredulously at them both. Cameron for suggesting it and Derek for agreeing with her. Finally her eyes settled on John who looked like he was trying to inch his way behind his girlfriend, despite his height advantage. John Connor the man they'd witnessed only a couple of hours earlier had now disappeared as soon as it looked like he was abut to be told off. It pleased Sarah to know she could still scold him like she'd always been able to.

"What?" Sarah asked, to no one in particular.

Derek shrugged, clearly uncomfortable at having to do this.

"I'm just saying, they attacked the house right? It might be a good idea for John to stick close to…Cameron for a while"

Sarah couldn't quite believe what she was hearing. "No, not now, not ever" she said resolutely.

Despite his initial reluctance, Derek was never one to quit on an argument as he glowered at Sarah.

"Yeah, because what you're doing now is really stopping them from having sex, huh Sarah?" he paused a moment and chuckled, more in disgust than anything "I guess all that noise this morning was just John's new workout routine right?"

Sarah had that look in her eyes all of a sudden that told Derek she was just about ready to rip one of his arms off and beat him to death with it. Her glare changed it's direction to John who was now almost entirely obscured by Cameron. Then they shifted to the obstruction herself.

"I though we had an agreement?" she asked, looking directly at Cameron.

John chanced sticking his head out from behind cover for a moment.

"Agreement? We weren't at home" he reasoned, clearly not taking in to account Sarah's volatile mood.

Not even pausing to draw a breath, Sarah glared at her smartass son.

"Don't try to be funny with me John. And you…" she stopped and looked at Cameron, who still held her impassive stare "…You broke your promise to me"

With a frown, Cameron looked down at her feet guiltily.

"John needed me…" she reasoned.

Feeling a pang of guilt herself, Sarah clammed up, unsure how best to respond to that one. Amy however saw her opportunity.

"Awesome, they can share and I can take the room next door, beat that for security!" she said with a confident smile.

Everyone turned and faced Derek simultaneously as as a low growl could be heard emanating from his throat.

"You're here to protect Sarah!" he pointed out.

Amy however was unfazed.

"Well this room is right across the hall, what's two doors to me right? They may as well be made of paper"

"This is bullshit!" he yelled, his mouth running overtime before his brain had a chance to intervene "You can't possibly expect me to bring a woman back to…" he took a couple of steps down the hall to the smaller room in question and kicked the door open "…that!" he said with a wave of his arm towards the interior of the admittedly pokey room.

Everyone besides Derek noticed his slip up at mentioning a woman. Cameron however covered for her newfound buddy by quickly moving the conversation on. Trying to play on his sense of pride, she thought she would be able to convince him to take the small room and leave Amy the big room next to John's, or rather, if things went well, her room too.

"Derek, from this room you are in prime position to oversee the entire upper floor. You can protect all of us"

Admittedly, upon hearing those words Derek's inner primate raced to the surface. The mentality of 'I am man, I protect woman' almost won over until he stopped and engaged his higher brain functions. He walked in to the room and waved his arms in the general direction of the windows.

"Hey, everyone out there on the street, clear headshot right here!" slapping two fingers against his forehead, he turned back to face Cameron "…I'm not bulletproof, she is"

Apparently having enough of this, Amy calmly walked over to Derek. She stood in front of him and cocked her head backwards a little, beckoning him down to her level. He warily crouched down and she cupped both hands around his ear, knowing her liquid metal matrix would dampen Cameron's ability to hear what was being said.

"Give me the room, or I'll tell everyone about your little sweetheart" she whispered before pulling back and plastering a sweet smile on her face.

Derek looked like he'd seen a ghost. He backed away, his face suddenly pale. He took one look at Amy's expression and suddenly regretted asking her about Jessica in the first place.

"Um, yeah, whatever. Just uh, take the room"

With that he left without another word. Amy meanwhile bounded past him squealing like a banshee, headed to her new room and muttering about what colour paint she wanted on the walls leaving only a stoic Cameron, a fuming Sarah and a nervous looking John in her wake.

"It's strategically sound for us to share this room. I can protect John more efficiently this way" Cameron argued, not missing a beat from the little interlude in their discussion.

Sarah stood there unmoving and glared at both of them, primarily at Cameron. The cyborg seemed determined to take the inch she'd given them and turn it in to a mile.

"You mean you can sleep with him more efficiently? You realise your girlfriend has you on a sex schedule right?" she asked John who's eyes, for some reason lit up at the mention of that. He failed to suppress a smirk and looked sidelong at Cameron.

"Really?"

Instead of Cameron replying, Sarah interjected with a false cheerfulness in her voice.

"Yeah, apparently she has to screw your brains out before you can sleep"

"Has to?" again John had that shit eating smirk, somewhat forgetting Sarah was present as his mind drifted off to think about the merits of Cameron's new 'schedule'.

Sarah coughed pointedly to tear her son's attention and his eyes away from Cameron. She stared at both of the 'kids' in turn, letting them know exactly how serious she was being at this moment.

"I'm really trying John…but this is just strange, even you have to admit that"

John sighed. His mind wandered back to his thoughts from that morning, about how he'd stood up to his mother about Cameron, about how it was terrifying to do so. Now he had to go through it all again. Digging deep, he summoned up some of this new found determination and looked his mother in the eye just as seriously as she was staring back at him.

"Why is it strange mom? You've accepted that we're in a relationship and that we're…you know. So why can't we share a room?"

Sarah wasn't backing down however despite her nod at his sound point.

"John, think for two minutes. I agreed because you're happy, she makes you happy and I get that. But sex for love and sex because you need a nap are two very different things" she argued in her best motherly tone.

Feeling somewhat embarrassed that he was once again having a sex conversation with his mother, John ploughed on with making his point.

"It's not like that mom. Anyway, I didn't even know about her 'schedule' until now. I wanna spend the nights with my girlfriend, is that so hard to accept?"

Sarah frowned. Despite what is seemed she really was just trying to help, protect and guide her son. She was willing to admit she'd never been the best mother to him while he was growing up, but she of course still cared for and loved him deeply. She wanted what was best for him, and she was convinced she was right this time.

"No, it's not that hard to accept, but sex should mean something John. You can't have a healthy relationship this way"

John felt his mouth moving before his brain had a chance to catch up. He pushed her button that he rarely ever pushed for fear of a backlash.

"You think it doesn't mean something to me, to us? I would've thought you of all people would understand you can't help who you fall in love with"

Sarah for once looked actually hurt. She also looked uncomfortable discussing this very private matter in front of Cameron. She buried down the hurt and covered it by snapping.

"There's a difference John, your father loved me back"

Cameron felt a pang of guilt and hurt run through her cybernetic brain. Until now she'd remained mostly impassive, now however she found herself frowning and looking down at her feet. Sarah didn't know, but Cameron desperately wanted to be able to return John's love for her, but until that day came all she had as a symbol of her affection was physical love. That was why she was pushing Sarah to allow them to be closer. Until she sorted through her new feelings and emotions and could truly tell John she loved him and mean it and know what it meant, all she had was sex.

John noticed the forlorn look on Cameron's face and rounded on his mother in her defence.

"Mom! We've had this discussion…and that's none of your business" he practically growled at her invasion of Cameron's privacy.

"It's my business when you want to share a room in my house, otherwise we wouldn't be having this discussion…" she growled back before slipping her 'mom' mask in to place "…Cameron lied to me"

John looked between Sarah and Cameron and then back to Sarah, this was news to him.

"What?" he asked both of them.

"When I agreed to let her share a room with you at the motel she promised you two wouldn't have sex…" she nodded pointedly in the direction Derek was last seen leaving from "…In case you didn't notice we got the surround sound version of your new 'morning routine'"

Cameron remained quiet, suddenly feeling bad about knowingly allowing the rules to be broken. John spoke in her place.

"And what if I was the one who started it huh? What, you think it's always her who seduces me?"

Sarah couldn't help but be a little disturbed at the thought of her little baby boy being sexually aggressive.

"You're telling me Cameron couldn't stop you?" she turned her skeptical look towards said cyborg "…Did you forget our deal or what?"

Looking more than a little upset by her slip and the berating she was now receiving, Cameron raised her eyes and looked at Sarah.

"No, I didn't forget…I'm sorry Sarah"

Well at least she sounds sincere.

Sarah pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head.

"I don't give two shits if you two have sex John. But all this…" she motioned between the pair with her hand "…you never used to lie to me before all this started"

John sighed, finally realising his mother's point and her main gripe. While he wanted to spend his nights with Cameron, he was willing to wait if only for Sarah's sanity.

"Mom, I could be like a big kid and argue that technically we didn't break any rules, you know, seeing as we weren't even in your house. But if it'll make you happy, and prove that we can be trusted then I guess we can have separate rooms…for now. Happy?" he asked, not leaving much wiggle room in his voice.

Sarah looked at him skeptically, but had to admit she was proud of her son for seeing what her gripe was and willing to compromise with her over it, no matter how much he may not like it.

"I'll be happy when I know you're telling the truth…" she frowned and looked at Cameron "…If she wants to be a…a Connor, then she needs to learn rule number one, no secrets"

John nodded in agreement.

"Alright. That okay with you Cameron?"

Cameron merely nodded, still feeling guilty at having caused this entire conflict in the first place.

Sarah nodded and smirked at her son. She couldn't help but feel proud of the way he handled that situation.

"Two weeks…" she stepped over to him and laid a hand on his shoulder "…it'll give us time to pick out furniture for…you two"

John's eyes lit up, partially in delight, partially in disbelief.

"You're serious?"

"Yes, I'm serious…" her smirk grew back to full size "…maybe some soundproofing supplies while we're at it"

"Ugh, mom" he did not need to hear that.

"Seriously John? You're going to complain to me because I had to listen to you having sex with your girlfriend and it's making YOU uncomfortable? That's the road you wanna go down with me right now?"

"No…" he said with a smirk, feeling suddenly brave he laid a hand on Cameron's lower back "…thanks mom"

Sarah shrugged, suddenly feeling uncomfortable.

"We needed a room to store the weapons in anyways"

John chuckled and suddenly stepped over to hug his mother. It was so unexpected that Sarah barely had time to wrap her arms around him before he pulled back and guided Cameron out of the room without a word.

"Remember, the rules still apply for the next two weeks, that includes bedtimes" she hollered after them. She was not looking forward to having to tuck Cameron in for the first time.

As always a big shoutout to Dekardkain for helping me out with this chapter. Please check out his story Becoming John Connor. Seriously, it's just about to get reeeeeeally good!

On a sidenote, coooooome on Carolina!