Faith isn't Part of My Programming

by bigbew

Sequel to 'I Wouldn't Be Worth Much if I Couldn't Feel' - A new enemy emerges as Judgement Day looms, John and Cameron feel their way in to their new relationship and Sarah learns her new role in John's life.

10. Chapter 10

Hi,

Thanks to reviewers TCandBTVSluver, Ralmidaz, TK-MR, olischulu, EvilTheLast, Vintorez, XxDeathStarxX, morded, lee443, lje100smith, darkfinder, Nyrki, Lsquare, The1Russter, Jaing Li, uncommoner, JoeJoe and sumofme.

---

Despite still being mostly covered head to toe in mud, sweat and blood, John was in a surprisingly good mood as he entered the house. His conversation with Derek having raised his spirits, if only for a short time. It wasn't like he had any reason to criticise, after all, he was getting cosy with the cyborg sent from the future to protect him. But the thought of Derek seeing some wealthy heiress model was somewhat hilarious and quite frankly hard to believe for him.

Crossing the threshold with a shake of his head, John looked back at said uncle following closely behind him.

"Good day's work huh?"

Derek looked at him like he'd just said he wanted to dance the mamba naked in the street. "I left you digging a hole in the middle of nowhere. Not exactly a prime example of how to become Rambo."

John merely shrugged, too buoyed by the juicyness of what he'd just been told to be dragged down by a little thing like the truth. "Meh, if I ever need to dig a trench I will own that thing!" he said with a smirk and a triumphant expression.

Derek grinned and slapped the younger man on the shoulder, then winced as he remembered he might be a little sore. "You're as crazy as your mother you know that?"

"I like to think that by the time we're finished I'll be taking over the crazy mantle. That is if you do your job right of course!"

With a roll of his eyes, Derek trudged up the stairs, bound for the shower to remove all the evidence an amateur like John found earlier. He'd have no chance if Sarah got a whiff of him, and Cameron would make his life a nightmare, and Amy…his life sucked.

John, now alone, sauntered through the house towards the kitchen, drawn by the ravenous hunger that comes with digging a pit all day without stopping for lunch. Half way there he was stopped by an interesting sight. He wandered over to Amy, currently sprawled out on the living room floor surrounded by papers, her feet kicking around in the air. "Whatcha doin'?" he inquired.

"Drawing." she replied, not bothering to look up at him.

"Oookay, drawing what?"

"Pretty pictures."

Sometimes it was like dealing with a child…oh wait.

"Why are you drawing pretty pictures?"

Amy rolled over on to her back and looked up at him like he was an idiot. "Gotta do something to pass the time." She paused and looked him up and down. "Why are you covered in mud? Wouldn't you rather have been here drawing pretty pictures instead of doing whatever Derek set you doing today while he ran off and did…whatever?"

John narrowed his eyes at the strange machine. Not only was it an odd sight to see something that could kill you without even trying sprawled out on it's back, but something she said caught his attention, something about Derek. "Do you…know…about Derek?"

Amy shrugged and cocked her head playfully.

"How?" He couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. He knew she'd done a background check on the girl but he'd just assumed she didn't know who Jessica was.

"I know everything." She said with a mysterious smile while as rolled back over to resume her colouring. "Oh, you might wanna go see your future bride. She looked…" Amy stopped her pencil mid stroke while she tried to come up with the most appropriate word "…she looked…pissed. Yeah, pissed is a good word. She came storming through here a few minutes ago, didn't even say hello."

"Well that's nothing new." John said with a smile, Cameron never bothered with rudimentary pleasantries unless she needed to.

"But you didn't see her, she looked like she wanted to break something. If you don't want it to be you I suggest you get up there as soon as you can."

His stomach chose that moment to grumble in protest at it's lack of feeding. John however took charge and willed his stomach to butch up, he had more important things to take care of right now, namely his pissed off cyborg girlfriend. "Thanks Amy."

"No sweat Johnny Boy."

Johnny Boy? I thought it was only my monologue that called me that.

With a shake of his head, John left Amy to her drawings and made his way towards the stairs and started to climb, a laborious task in itself. While he was still young and supposedly energetic, the last couple of days were nothing if not taxing.

On his journey up the stairs, or as he was beginning to call them, Kilamanstaircase, he turned his mind to Cameron. Amy said she looked pissed, surely she was overstating things. Cameron was nothing if not good at hiding her emotional state around anyone but him. Her newfound emotions hadn't been overwhelming so far, aside from the odd crying session until she'd gotten the hang of them a little.

Yeah, Amy was definitely exaggerating. Cameron will be fine, hey, she may even be waiting for you to finish what you started this morning Johnny Boy.

At that thought, John picked up his pace. He now had it in his head that what Amy saw was in fact sexual frustration on Cameron's part, and he was all too ready to help relieve her of that burden. He jogged the last few steps and practically bounded over to his room and swung the door open, expecting to find Cameron stark naked and beckoning him with a seductive smile and a teasing flick of her hair.

Instead of finding that boy's wet dream, he discovered his girlfriend pacing the room with one hand, rather oddly with gloves, raised to her mouth in what looked sign a sign of worry. He watched as she reached one side of the room, pirouetted gracefully and started back in the reverse direction.

He stood and watched her for several trips across his room before shoving his disappointment down and forcing a smile. "Hi Princess…you know you're about to wear a hole in the floor?" He stepped just a little further in to the room and paused, deciding humour may be the best tact to use. "We're on the second floor, it wouldn't be very nice if you landed on Mom."

Cameron didn't bother to look up from her pacing and worried looking frown. Little did John know, she'd heard him the moment he pulled up in the truck with Derek, laughing and joking like nothing was amiss. That alone had worsened her mood, feeling an irrational dislike of anything cheerful at this particular moment. "She can't be trusted John, we need to be more careful around her."

John frowned, he was clearly confused and had no idea what was going on with her. "Um…Mom? She can be a little thick at times, but she's still my mother Cameron. She'd never hurt me, which includes hurting you."

Cameron stopped pacing and levelled her best 'are you an idiot?' look at him. "Not her, Weaver" she clarified before taking a few short steps and taking up a stance by the window. John knew something was really bothering her. For her to be reverting back to her sentry position, something she hadn't done around him for a while, things must be bad.

John seemed to remember it was Cameron who had to hold him back from punching the liquid metal pain in his ass known as Weaver, now however it appeared that she'd managed to get to his usually unflappable girlfriend. "Why? What happened at your meeting?"

"She…said some things." Cameron subconsciously hid her hand in front of her body where he couldn't see it.

John walked up behind her and hesitated just a moment before wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder, he thought the contact might help, it usually did. He thought back to their first meeting and remembered how Weaver seemed to have some sort of aversion to their relationship, to Cameron in particular, and he knew the more she developed the more those comments would affect her. "It bothered you?"

Without replying, Cameron shrugged out of his grasp and stalked off in to the bathroom. She immediately started busying herself by preparing the myriad of products she used in the shower, even going so far as to clash and bang cabinet doors.

John meanwhile was left dumbfounded and hurt by her not wanting contact with him. Cameron always talked to him when she had a problem, and he didn't like that she wasn't now. He drifted over to the bathroom and stood in the door frame. "Cameron? Hey…I'm not the one who did this okay?" He said it more in his defence than anything else.

She stopped what she was doing, setting down a bottle of shampoo carefully on the sink and turned to face him. "I don't like her John, we need her, but I don't like going there…she…irritates me." She looked quite frankly disgusted with herself for saying that, as if Weaver's words were striking her again. In Weaver's opinion she shouldn't be feeling those things, and Cameron felt a sudden urge to rid herself of these quite frankly troublesome emotions.

John meanwhile couldn't help but smile a little as he stepped in to the bathroom slowly. Making sure not to touch her again, he spoke in a gentle voice. "Cameron…it's alright not to like someone. Listen, if she bothers you, I'll start going to the meetings myself. I don't want to see you worked up like this. You look miserable."

Cameron shook her head, sending several bangs from her fringe over her face. "It's part of the deal, she only wants to meet with me, you know that." She slowly stepped forward, feeling some of the anger draining away "I'm sorry, you're right, this isn't your fault."

John nodded, brushing the hair out of her face and tucking it behind her ear, he fought the urge to lean in and kiss her…she just looked so sad, and he wanted to do anything he could to try and fix that. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

Cameron frowned. "Humans like to talk don't they…don't you?"

She thought back to when John had told her about his nightmares. Since they'd become intimate, John had opened up to her about the things which haunted his sleep. He'd informed her it was the normal thing for people to do when they're bothered by something. 'Talking makes everything better' were his words. While she couldn't see the logic then, she was starting to see his viewpoint now.

"Um…" was all John could muster, his confusion evident. He thought answering honestly may be the best policy, thinking this was just another 'Cameron tries to understand humanity' moment. "Sometimes. Sometimes you just want to be left alone so you can figure things out. That's why I asked if you wanted to talk about it…if you don't, then that's fine too."

"I…don't want to talk about it. What was said was against me, it's my problem…but I would prefer not to be alone." She said it with a tiny apologetic shrug and a pleading look.

John initially frowned, knowing first hand how unhealthy it was to hold crap like this in, but it would be a lesson Cameron would learn on her own in time. Surely even a highly advanced CPU wasn't immune to overthinking and overanalysing.

"Of course" his frown disappeared as he nodded, finally settling for dropping a kiss on her cheek. The sudden urge that made him bound up the last few steps starting to return. "Wait, she insulted you?"

"She…yes, she did. She doesn't approve of our relationship. She seems to gain some form of gratification from her derision of us." Cameron looked down, but not at her feet, at her hand as she felt her fingertip twitch. She put it down to her systems still adjusting, a fingertip isn't as bad as her whole hand moving against her will.

John frowned and stepped closer. He reached out and started rubbing Cameron's arms gently and reassuringly. "Hey, what have I told you? The only opinion about 'us' that matters are yours and mine."

"I know, you've made that clear, and I agree. It's just…" She paused, considering her next words very carefully. "She's a machine, one of my kind, and yet she looks down on me for consorting with a human, as if you're beneath me. I don't like her talking about you like that." She explained with a frown, her brow knitting together in a way that made John's heart melt.

"Does it bother YOU?" He smirked a bit at the terms she chose to use. He put on his best serious face. "Consorting with a human? Am I holding you back?"

"This isn't funny John. Why would you think it is?" Once again she shrugged out of his grasp, failing to comprehend why he wasn't taking this seriously, it was a very serious matter to her. She stalked back off in to the bedroom, leaving him on his own.

"I dunno." He quirked a brow at her behaviour but followed after her slowly. He settled for leaning against the door frame separating the bathroom and bedroom and watched her mill around the room. "Maybe because I'm John Connor and everyone thinks I'm one step short of walking on water? It's interesting to be on the other side for once."

Cameron turned around and glared at him. "Why aren't you taking this seriously John?" She heard her own voice raising, somewhat against her will, her emotions getting the better of her again.

"How seriously should I be taking this exactly?" He shrugged up against the wood of the frame. "It's not like it's the first time people have had a problem with us being together Cameron. It's kinda the default reaction actually, and it's something you'll have to get used to."

Cameron frowned, trying so hard to wrestle her emotions back under her control. She'd never had them flare up like this in a long time. Weaver really did get to her, and now she felt bad for yelling at her John, who was only trying to help her anyway. "I have something to show you."

John nodded, assuming it was some new intel from Weaver that she passed on to Cameron. "Can I shower first? I washed off with a cloth last night and I spent all day digging a firing trench." He said with a small chuckle.

"I…I'd rather do this sooner. It's…something you might not like."

Cameron's seeming nervousness transferred to John, he now felt uncomfortable as he stepped in to the room. "If it's that important."

"It is," she said with a nod. "Sit down John"

John couldn't help but look a little dubious as he sat down on the bed in front of her. He tried to reach out to take hold of her hand, sensing it was something she wanted…or rather, he needed. However she snatched her hand away abruptly and he huffed by way of reply. "Should I close my eyes or something?"

"No." She stood in front of him and started fiddling with the fingertip of the glove covering her endoskeleton arm. "Remember when you tried to fix my arm several months ago?"

"Of course." John frowned, he assumed he'd not done it right and tried to stand. "Are you still having problems? I'll go get the tool kit," he offered.

Cameron laid a gentle hand on his shoulder to stop him from standing. "I mentioned it to Weaver this morning after I…hurt you." She looked quite frankly on the verge of tears, her emotions hadn't been this messed up in a long time. Not since she asked John to wipe them out, a decision she quite frankly never would've forgiven herself for making had he been able to go through with it.

John covered her hand with his own, he hated seeing her like this. "That's what that was this morning?"

He looked a little crestfallen, he was so sure he was this close to achieving his goal. But now looking up at her, he forced a smile, his disappointment could wait. "You don't have any reason to feel bad about that. Accidents happen Cameron, and humans twitch sometimes too."

Cameron pulled her hand off his shoulder and shook her head vehemently. This was not okay, and not acceptable in any way. "No, this can't be allowed to happen again. I asked her to try and fix the damage." She stepped back, expecting a backlash for not going directly to John with this. She had a small suspicion he wouldn't like anyone else poking around her insides but him.

John for his part did look more than a little put out. "Wait, wait. You thought you had a problem with your hand and you went to WEAVER? You JUST said we couldn't trust her!"

"This was before she said those things." She paused and laid her hand back on his shoulder and continued on with a sigh. "I'm sorry I didn't come to you, but I needed this fixing…you aren't at Weaver's level of repair proficiency yet."

John nodded after a moments contemplation and a couple of calming breaths. However he still didn't like that fact that his girlfriend seemed to trust Weaver more than she did him. "Did she refuse to help? Is that what you're pissed about?"

"No, she…helped. Please…don't be alarmed." She pleaded. Pausing a moment to gauge his reaction, and carefully keeping her movements slow, she rolled up both sleeves, both her forearms still covered in the long gloves Weaver loaned her. She slowly peeled one glove off to reveal her undamaged arm, perfect right down to the manicure.

Then with noticeable hesitation, she gripped the top of the other glove and started to slowly peel it down her arm, revealing the metal beneath, caked in dried blood. Her eyes never left his while she removed the glove, gauging his reaction. She wasn't surprised in the least when his eyes almost bulged out of his head and he shuffled back away from her unconsciously.

She finished removing the glove and discarded it. Tearing her eyes away from John for the first time, she looked at her raised arm and flexed her fingers, the small sound of metal contacting metal filling the suddenly deathly silent room.

To John it felt like his heart was trying to pound it's way out of his chest. The object of so many nightmares now in full view in front of him. One particular nightmare came flashing through his memory, of Cameron in her endoskeleton form gripping him by his throat and squeezing until he couldn't suck in any more air. Taking a deep, unsteady breath, John tried desperately to compose himself. This is Cameron, his Cameron, his girlfriend.

"That is…" he paused and cleared his throat, suddenly feeling very parched. "What the fuck did she do to you?"

"She fixed me." Cameron kept her eyes on him, not moving an inch, fearful of any overt reaction from him.

John looked like he was fighting the urge to crawl backwards across the bed, his eyes totally focused on her arm. He'd seen this before with Uncle Bob, but he'd never had his sleep haunted by machines before that, now he had, and this forced them all to come racing back to the surface. "How…long? How, uh…until it's healed?"

She dropped her arm back down by her side and flexed her fingers, she thought it might ease his obvious tension if she obscured it from view slightly. "Two weeks before regeneration can begin, another two for total restoration." She reeled it off like it was straight from her diagnostic systems, because it was, and stood stock still, waiting for him to make the first move.

Two weeks, that's not so bad.

"Well…at least I understand your mood now." He shook his head, this morning he was making love to his beautiful girlfriend, and now he had this shoved in his face. He could hardly believe how his life had turned from awesome to…less awesome in the space of a few hours. "You know Mom won't let you out of the house until it's healed right?"

"I know. But I'm not concerned by her reaction. You said the only opinions that matter are ours…How do you feel about this?" She kept her tone neutral, not wanting to incite him either way.

"Well…" He wasn't an idiot, he could see the hesitation on her part ever since she announce she had something to show him. He wanted to reassure her, but he was having a pretty tough time of it. "It'll just take some getting used to I imagine. Can you still…feel things with it? Without the skin and nerve?"

Cameron brought her hand up next to her face again, she frowned when she saw the blood she missed. Maybe if she'd done a better job of cleaning it then he wouldn't have been so shocked. "I can tell when something comes in to contact with it and how firm the contact is. Beyond that I can't determine what it is or what it's made of simply by touch…why do you ask?"

"Well…" John gulped a little at the prospect of his next question. He managed to cover it however and shifted his gaze to her face. That seemed to work, it allowed him to relax a little and remember who he was talking to. "I assume you're not going to want to put our relationship on hold while you heal up, so I need to know how to handle the…area."

Cameron allowed herself a tiny, surprised smile. She hadn't expected him to want anything to do with her intimately while she was like this. "You still wish to be…close to me? Despite this?" She asked with a nod towards her arm.

"Would I ignore my human girlfriend if she was in a car accident and banged up?" He paused and shrugged. "I'm not that big a tool Cameron."

Deciding to test his statement and intentions just a little, Cameron stepped forward and held her arm out towards him at his head height, hoping he'd take it. If all things worked out, a myriad of ideas passed through her head. Joining him in the shower primary amongst them. He needed a shower, she needed to wash the blood off properly. Efficiency is important, why waste the water?

John looked at her hand, poised precariously a few inches from his face. He forced down a shiver and reached out to take hold of it. He really, REALLY hoped she couldn't read his vitals like she usually could without her skin. The jump of his heartbeat alone would send her running a mile, he hadn't expected it to be so cold. "Are…are you gonna be alright?"

Cameron smiled, step one was accomplished, he'd took her hand and hadn't yet snatched it away. "I am…would you like that shower now?"

Her lips formed in to a sexy little smile that she'd perfected over the last few weeks that John loved so much. She closed her hand around his and gave it a light squeeze as a sign of gratitude.

"Yeah." He looked around the room at anything, hell, everything except Cameron's hand gripping his. A hand which could shred it in two if she flinched again. "It won't damage anything?"

"No." She smiled again, this time deciding humour may be the best course to take. "I don't rust."

She started idly running her thumb over the back of his knuckles, the faint sound of pistons whirring the only thing filling the void in the silence.

John's eyes slowly drifted to the source of the sound, and that shiver he manage to suppress came back in full force. He hopped up off the bed and at the same time snatched his hand out of her grasp, suddenly looking very nervous. "You know what? The shower can wait. I'm uh…I'm starving! Aren't you? It's been all day since I've had a bite…"

He walked briskly over to the door, dragging the hand she'd just been holding through his hair in agitation. "Of course you're hungry! You need to heal up right? I think we've got steak, lots of protein is what we need right? Right?"

"John? Calm down, what's wrong?" Cameron suddenly felt a sense of alarm building, her lover didn't seem to be able to form a coherent thought all of a sudden. This was the reaction she feared, the reaction that caused her to hesitate when doing this.

He doesn't want to be near me when I'm like this.

"Wrong?" He looked guilty but quickly covered it. "Nothing is wrong. Why do you think something's wrong? I'm just hungry, people get hungry."

John stepped back instinctively when Cameron took a step towards him. His brain didn't register the fact she might be trying to help him, instead all he could focus on was the vision of her chasing him through the streets with her beautiful face stapled together. He stopped his backwards movement when his back thudded off the door, trapping him.

"I'm fine, really. I just need to get something in my stomach. Derek left me out there all fucking day by myself…yeah, I just…yeah." He willed his mouth to stop it's spewing, he willed himself to calm down, he knew this was his girlfriend in front of him and she was hurt and upset. But he didn't seem to be able to do any of those things.

Realising what was happening to him, she withdrew and hid her arm behind her back. She was torn between being angry at his reaction and the desire to try to help him. "John? I'm sorry."

"Why?" He asked, shaking his head and opening the door with an equally shaky hand. "Nothing to be sorry about. Everything's fine."

Cameron was less than convinced. Recognising the signs of an oncoming panic attack, she stepped backwards quickly and did her best to sound as gentle and reassuring as she could. "Alright then…I'll see you at dinner."

"Yeah, great." He stepped out in the hall, took a deep breath and started to close the door behind him when a tiny voice pulled him back.

"Could you ask Sarah to prepare something for me to eat please John?"

It sounded so much like a plea that he couldn't help but feel like a total ass…but he couldn't face turning back to her, not right now, he needed to cool off and calm down.

"Yeah, sure thing Cameron." With that he closed the door and made his way down the stairs, hearing the faint sound of the bathroom door clicking closed back in his room.

John made his way down the stairs, each step more shaky than the last.

What the hell is wrong with me?

That was a good question. He knew who he was in the room with, he knew who he was talking to, and yet he couldn't get the nightmares out of his head whenever he looked at her arm. Visions of her squeezing the life out of him by his neck flooded his mind instead of thoughts about the woman he loved.

He stumbled down the last stair and caught his balance against the back of the couch. Taking a deep breath and running a hand through his hair in an attempt to calm himself, John paused to think about the situation. Why was he acting like that, why did his body insist on behaving like he was afraid. This was Cameron, he didn't fear her, he loved her. So why was this happening?

Releasing the breath he was holding, the smell of something cooking caught his attention, he found himself being drawn to it like a moth to a flame. The sight he found upon entering the kitchen was something he thought he'd never see again. Sarah Connor, cooking what looked like dinner, for about ten people.

Either she'd decided that he needed a more balanced diet or the takeaway place was closed, either way, it didn't bode well for anyone.

"Uh…mom?" He ventured, his face a mask of confusion.

"Yeah?" Sarah replied, not looking back at him as she jogged back and forth between the stove and the hot plate on the counter. It'd been a while since she'd had to cook for so many people and quite frankly she had no clue how much some of them were able to or willing to ingest, so she'd made enough to be sure either way, better safe than sorry. "Did you need something?"

"You uh…you're cooking?"

"No John, I'm building a church. Of course I'm cooking." She gifted him a cheeky smirk over her shoulder.

John smirked in reply, mostly through seeing his mother in a good mood. It hadn't happened too much lately. "What's the matter, phone broken?"

Sarah's smirk turned in to a frown at the not so subtle dig at her infamously bad cooking. "What? I can't cook for my family?"

"Wow." He said with a small chuckle as he sat down at the table. He picked up a fork and started idly playing with it, tossing it between his hands. "That reminds me, Cameron needs to eat for a while…" he frowned and put down the fork, suddenly remembering the reason he escaped downstairs in the first place. He gently and carefully placed the fork back down where it came from.

"I know she CAN…but 'needs to'?" She asked, quirking a brow.

"Yeah, um…you'll see why at dinner." He looked up and forced a smile. "So, what's the occasion? Not to be rude or anything but you don't usually cook for everyone, and is that steak I smell?"

Sarah shrugged and turned back to the stove. "I…don't have much else to do these days. And yeah, that's steak, it was getting freezer burned."

John chuckled, it was all too surreal for his taste. "Yeah, I guess we've all just kinda been a little busy lately, you know? I can't even remember the last time we all sat down together as a family. You, me, Derek, Amy, Cameron. It'll be nice."

"That's what I was thinking." Sarah smiled over her shoulder at her son. "You seem…happy. Everything alright between you and Cameron?"

Looking down at the hand that was just gripped by the object of his nightmares, John shuddered a little. "Yeah, fine. I just uh…Gimme a few minutes to shower and I'll go fetch everyone."

Sarah quirked a brow, it wasn't like him to be so evasive, not recently anyway. Pointing a knife in the direction of the ceiling, she deduced somebody had the same idea as him. "Looks like someone beat you to it."

"Good thing we have more than one shower right?" With a smile, John headed out of the kitchen and towards the stairs, intent on using the main bathroom's shower and not the en suite of his bedroom…Cameron was in there…

Sarah watched him leave and thought she saw him shudder. Something was definitely not right in John world. As he reached the stairs, he bumped, literally in to Amy who was coming down them, Barney Bear in hand. Sarah watched as Amy glared at a pretty much zoned out John. She held her glare until he was mostly out of view before bouncing in to the kitchen and plopping herself down in the same seat John vacated a few moments earlier. Putting Barney down, she picked up the very same fork John was playing with and carried on in much the same manner as he had.

Shaking her head at the ever so strange machine, Sarah glanced back over her shoulder. "You going to join us tonight Amy?"

Amy shrugged, she seemed far too occupied with the fork to be paying much attention to the question. "I might…watcha makin'?"

"What does it matter?" Taking her potatoes off the stove and setting them aside, Sarah returned to her steaks and began flipping them. "You can't eat it right?"

"No, but I thought I'd ask anyway." She put down the fork and looked up at Sarah, apparently she was bored with the utensil now. Sometimes it was like she had ADD or something. "Steak huh? Burned yet?"

"Very funny." Despite herself, she couldn't help but smile, the family atmosphere and the generally positive moods helping her feel at least semi productive. "You know I wouldn't have to burn everything if anyone else here bothered to learn how to cook." She tried to keep the grumble out of her voice, she had a feeling she wasn't all that successful.

"Cameron can cook, she cooks for John all the time." Standing up, she sauntered over to Sarah and stuck her head right above one of the pans on the stove. "I thought you knew that?"

Sarah frowned, she hadn't actually noticed that going on, in her own house. She idly wondered what else went on under her roof. "She cooks for him?"

"Yeah, apparently she has a talent for it." Amy took a sniff and immediately recoiled, slightly disgusted by the smell of burning dead animal. "Or so he says…So, what's the occasion for this? Somebody getting married or something? Phone broken?"

"Why the hell does everyone keep asking that?" Yanking the steak out from under Amy's nose, she slid the steaks off the pan and on to a plate, surprisingly not as charred as they usually were. "Can't I make a meal for my family without the entire world coming to a halt?"

"You including Cameron in that family?" Amy asked with an arched eyebrow. "She'll need food for the next few weeks."

Sarah's frown only deepened at that, when she saw Cameron earlier there weren't any signs of obvious battle damage to be healed. That left one, very uncomfortable and, according to the cyborg, impossible option. "Why? She seemed fine to me…she's not…is she?"

Standing with her hands on her hips and a lecturing expression and tone, Amy looked at Sarah like she was just a little slow, even for a human. "Sarah, there's no such thing as a robo-baby, relax!" She smirked just a little. "She just…you'll see why at dinner."

"That's exactly what John said!" She started carrying the dishes over to the table, motioning for Amy to help her. "Should I be prepared for something?"

Amy picked up a plate, and looked rather unhappy at being forced to do so. "No, just remember, she's your son's girlfriend…and maybe we won't have any incidents we'll regret."

With a sigh, Sarah glanced up at the clock while setting the table. "Where's Derek?"

"I think he's getting dressed, he's heading out tonight." She set the plate down on the table and immediately sat down in the hopes of avoiding any more labour.

"If he thinks he's skipping dinner he's fooling himself."

Sarah couldn't help but get a little worked up. She was tired of everyone running off with their own business without consulting her. John had his training, both he and Cameron had their relationship, Derek apparently had a new girlfriend. Hell, her only companion was a crazy liquid metal Terminator who was trying to deposit herself in her life as her adopted daughter. Oh yes, Sarah's life was just one big social event.

"We haven't said more than ten words to each other in a week. He's a member of this family…it's time he started acting like it."

Amy held up her hands in defence of Sarah's sudden outburst. "Hey, don't look at me. I'm here all the time." She sighed unhappily, once again being displaced, "I'll go get him." She shuffled off her chair and set out towards the stairs.

Sarah smiled. "Thanks Amy. Just makes sure you come back too…Like I said, family dinner."

Shuddering a little that she'd just said that, Sarah continued setting the table, even going so far as to grab a beer for her and Derek. She dropped in to her seat at the head of the table and waited for everyone to arrive before dishing everything else up with her chin propped up on her hands.

John was the first to arrive, rather oddly without Cameron attached to his hip, Sarah noticed. Amy came next, closely followed by Derek who was rubbing his side gingerly like he'd just been punched. Judging from the smirk on Amy's face that guess probably wasn't far from the truth. Last to arrive was Cameron, freshly showered, hair still damp, but other than that, she looked fine, no obvious damage. Just what were Amy and John worried about, she looked fine. Sarah watched as she settled in to her seat next to John, opposite Amy and Derek, rather oddly wearing long sleeves and gloves, she noted.

But what was far more noticeable and out of place than the gloves, was the fact that John hadn't acknowledged her arrival in the slightest. Usually by now he was going all gooey eyed over her, but no, nothing. If anything he shifted away from her a little as she sat down.

Standing and dishing up the food, Sarah smiled at the almost picturesque family image she'd managed to create. It wasn't like she asked for much, but one thing she always prided herself on was her family, specifically John. Now she found that her family included Derek, brother of her son's father. Amy, a psychotic liquid metal Terminator. And Cameron, a less psychotic Terminator who was also her son's girlfriend. No matter how messed up it sounded, as long as John had his way, that was what they were, family. Lately they hadn't been together all that often, that was unacceptable.

"Dig in guys. I'm pretty sure I made enough for two or three of these dinners."

Quirking a brow as she watched Cameron watching the food, she had to ask. "You cold Cameron? I can turn the thermostat up."

Raising an eyebrow of her own, Cameron regarded the older woman thoughtfully. While she had to admit it was surprising to hear Sarah asking if she was cold, and thinking enough of her in general to even consider that she could be cold, she also couldn't help but feel a little unhappy about the reasoning for the gloves.

"No thank you…I'm fine." She said, glancing down at her gloved hand.

Sarah shrugged. She definitely seemed okay. "Fair enough. John said you needed to eat…there's a steak for you."

"Thank you Sarah." Cameron managed a genuine smile at that. Picking up her knife and fork, she looked over at John, hoping to bring him out of his seeming funk with her unusually cheerful sounding tone. "Thank you for asking for me John."

The dysfunctional family settled down to their dinner. Sarah, clearly not hungry picked at her plate. John did much the same while trying not to look at Cameron. Amy sat and watched the humans eat with fascination, although she couldn't help but glare at John for acting the way he was towards Cameron. It wasn't her fault he had issues.

Cameron sat and ate the first dinner in her life that she actually needed to eat. She found the texture of the steak to be fascinating, that was after she'd chewed it thoroughly, several…tough, sections making their way on to her plate. Evidently Sarah was no better at cooking meat than she was at making pancakes.

Derek sat and watched as the metal…Cameron, he corrected himself, cut, chewed and swallowed her food like any human would. He shuddered a little at just how perfectly innocent she looked. If John wanted to fuck her, that was his business, but he didn't need this shoved in his face while he was trying to eat. Deciding he couldn't really stomach it for much longer, he broke the silence with something that was sure to deflect the attention.

"Alright, if nobody else is gonna ask, I will. What's with the gloves?"

Leave it to Derek to be direct.

Cameron glanced over at John who seemingly had zero reaction to the question as he carried on picking at his dinner, oblivious. Cameron set her knife and fork down carefully and finished off her mouthful before looking over at John. "I'm sorry, but they'd find out eventually."

At John's eventual and slow nod, Cameron rolled up her sleeve and shed her gloves in much the same manner she'd done earlier. Her hand now shone and glinted in contrast to earlier when it was still caked in dried blood. Flexing her fingers, she lay her palms down flat on the table and awaited a reaction from someone…anyone.

She got it in the rather surprising form of Sarah looking actually concerned.

"My God…what happened?" Clearly she'd remembered Amy's advice that this was John's girlfriend, not just 'the metal'.

"I…needed to inspect some damage in my arm."

"Is it…fixed?" Sarah wasn't nearly as concerned about Cameron's wellbeing as she was about the fact John had barely glanced her way the entire time. Was he her boyfriend or not?

"I believe so." She looked over at John. Wanting so much for him to turn and face her, she frowned when he simply carried on eating. Resigning herself to the fact he didn't want to look at her while he was eating, she picked up her own knife and fork, the sound of metal clanking against metal filling the room.

Meanwhile Derek had just been gawking ever since she'd taken the gloves off, in fact, he wished he'd never commented on the gloves. "Alright, I'm not all that comfortable about having to look at that while I'm trying to eat."

He put it out there trying to sound polite. In the end he just came across as an asshole.

"Derek!" Sarah said, snapping and raising her voice a little, surprising herself in the process.

"Look, John, I'm sorry, but I had to deal with the fear of seeing that thing wrapped around my throat every day for like seventeen years. I don't need to be reminded of it while I'm eating."

Sarah just sat and glared at Derek, then at John, surprised as much by John not defending his girlfriend just as much as she was by Cameron just sitting there and taking it, looking more and more upset by the second. "John! Say something!"

"Hmm, whassat?" He said looking up from his dinner for the first time, clearly trying to avoid the confrontation brewing around him. "Oh, leave her alone Derek, just don't look at it." He sighed, sounding as if he was truly sympathising with his uncle.

Sarah glared at both of the men. She just wanted to smack them both on the back of the head. "I'm sorry Cameron."

She raised her voice pointedly. "I assumed I raised him better than that."

John dropped his knife and fork on his plate and forced a smile. "So anyway, this food is pretty good. Have you been practicing without telling us mom?"

"Don't try that shit on me John." She shook her head in disbelief. "I'm not stupid. It's pretty funny that you'll defend her if I so much breathe a word about you two rocking the headboard, but Derek flat out insults her and you just let it slide."

"Cameron's a big girl." He replied, "She can take care of herself…right Princess?" He purposefully dropped the pet name in there, hoping it would gain him some favour with her. He didn't mean to be an asshole, he just kinda, came across that way.

Just as she was about to launch in to a long rant about his manners, the phone rang in the living room and derailed her. "We're NOT done here."

With a frown, she stood and wiped her hands on a napkin before storming off towards the phone, glaring at her son the entire time, the disappointment in his attitude clear for all to see.

As Sarah left, the table's occupants each tried their best not to look at each other. Well, everyone apart from Amy, who seemed to examine each in turn. John and Derek stared intently at their dinners and Cameron looked down at her lap, sneaking the occasional glance over at her John. The room was, needless to say, pretty quiet.

Sarah returned a few minutes later looking far less pissed off and more worried as she sat down and started picking at her food. Apparently she'd totally forgotten about her rant.

John looked up from his plate and at the pensive look on his mother's face. "Uh, mom? What's wrong, who was that?"

Sarah couldn't hide how uncomfortable she was feeling. She knew John would worry far more about the news she'd just received then she ever would.

"Charley."

Frowning to herself at the sudden silence in the room and the worried look she was getting from her son, a thought struck her. "Did you call him John? To let him know where we were?"

"Um…no." John looked around, confused as to who would have called him.

Derek? No, he can't stand the guy.

Cameron? No, she wouldn't go that far.

Finally his eyes settled on Amy who seemed to be trying to burrow as far down in to her seat as possible.

Sarah missed the obvious glance in Amy's direction as she remained staring down at her plate. With a sigh, she finally set her fork down, she'd only been shoving the food around all evening anyway. "John, some men came by asking questions about you. South American accents. I think Vasquez knows about him."

John stopped chewing and looked suddenly nervous. "Is Charley alright?"

"Fine as far as I know. I told him he had the wrong number and hung up. Hopefully any goons listening in won't recognise my voice."

After a moments hesitation, she seemingly came to a decision. "I'm going out there to get him, bring him here, keep him safe."

All at once Sarah seemed bombarded by questioning looks and unasked questions. Derek was the first to speak. "No way Sarah, you know it's a trap."

"If it's a trap, then that's probably the only reason they haven't tortured him for information yet." Sarah shot a glare in Derek's direction, letting him know this was NOT up for discussion. "Hasn't he suffered enough for knowing us without him dying for it?"

"Come on Sarah, it's too dangerous. What if they follow you back here huh? Look, I know you like Charley but the guy isn't that important." He returned her glare, trying to make his point with equal weight behind it that she had. Finally, he looked around the room to find some form of support. He found it in the form of Cameron.

"He's right. It's too much of a risk." She said with an apologetic glance over towards John.

Turning to glare at the cyborg, Sarah wasn't happy about the fact that the person she'd been defending all night was taking a side other than hers. She calmed down a little when she remembered that security, specifically John's security was kinda her job.

Taking a deep, calming breath, Sarah spoke. "Which is why I didn't ask any of you to get involved. It's my fault they're after him…which make it my responsibility."

"How is it your fault? They're after me, not you." John countered.

"Because you didn't bring Charley in to our lives, did you John?"

With that, Sarah leaned back in her chair so she could look at the whole table. "I'm doing this, end of discussion."

Silence descended over the table. When Sarah made her mind up and gave everyone 'the glare', there was very little could be done to derail her. Apparently Amy never got that memo.

"I'll go." She said in a tiny voice.

Sarah snapped her gaze over to the mini metal and quirked a brow. "What do you mean, 'you'll go'?"

Amy looked up at Sarah as she simultaneously sat up in her seat. "I mean, I'll go, I'll go see Charley, drop off instructions on how to get him out of there. If you go, it'll end up in a gunfight with either you or Charley or both being killed…I don't want that to happen."

Was that true heartfelt emotion to be heard in Amy's voice? Sarah wasn't sure, but either way, she didn't like the idea of her friend being endangered like that, it wasn't right.

Instead of Sarah speaking, it was Derek who broke the deadlock. "But they know what you look like. What makes you think they won't just shoot you on sight?"

Amy looked to her left and had to fight the sudden compulsion to hurt her second favourite human. "Duh…liquid metal!" With a shake of her head she turned back to Sarah away from a pissed off looking Derek. Apparently he didn't appreciate being spoken to like that.

"Come on Sarah, this makes sense. I can get him a message to do…whatever we need him to."

She looked at Sarah pleadingly, she didn't want Sarah endangered, or Charley to die. After all, she was the one who made sure he had a way to get in touch. She had big plans for him, it would do no good for him to be dying on her.

Nodding slowly, not liking the idea but seeing the sense in it, Sarah smiled appreciatively. "Alright. We'll do it tomorrow, if it is a trap, then he'll be safe for a while."

Suddenly it was as if all the tension in the room had been lifted as John breathed a sigh of relief. He glanced over at Derek, who'd been checking his watch roughly every three minutes ever since he sat down. "So…how late are you?" He asked with a grin.

"Trying not to glare at his nephew, he suddenly regretted informing him of Jessica earlier that day. "I'm not late, yet."

"Really?" He asked with another impish grin. "From the way you're checking your watch I'm assuming it's something…important you're missing."

Derek, still smarting from the mini metal's comment was in no mood to be toyed with and snapped at John. Unfortunately his last nerve appeared to be connected to his tact filter. "Don't you have an arm to polish or something?"

Suddenly the mood in the rom changed back to being miserable. Connor family dinners just had a habit of doing this, even in the future. John's jaw flapped a little. Sarah glared at Derek, a glare shared by Amy. Eventually all eyes turned to Cameron who'd barely said three words since she sat down. Slowly, she put down her fork and stood. "Thank you for dinner Sarah…excuse me."

She looked the perfect picture of politeness and manners as she left the room. Amy hopped down off her chair and spared a glare at both Derek and John before quickly following after her friend. When she was mid way up the stairs she heard the door to Cameron's room gently click closed. With an exaggerated eye roll, Amy bounded up the last few steps and made her way to the door. Without bothering to knock, she swung it open, slammed it behind her just so that John could hear it, and turned to look in the room. There she found Cameron sitting on the edge of the bed examining her arm unhappily.

Cameron mustered up a glare as Amy bounded over and literally jumped on to the bed beside her. "Derek's a jerk. Don't let him bother you."

"It wasn't Derek that bothered me."

"John?"

"John." Cameron confirmed with a nod. "He was…" She paused, trying to come up with the right word. Her database told her that 'asshole' was an appropriate description, however she had too much decorum to resort to name calling. "…Insensitive. He preaches tolerance all the time, and yet he was offended by the sight of me in my real state…I don't understand."

Quirking a brow, Amy scooted a little closer to Cameron. "He didn't seem offended. A little quiet maybe, but not disgusted or anything."

"He is disgusted by me, I'm certain of it." Cameron replied with a frown. "He refused to be…close to me earlier."

"Humans seem to be pretty preoccupied with their appearance." Amy said with a shrug. "Then again, so do you." She observed with a shoulder bump.

"I like to keep my external appearance pleasing to the eye." She held up both her arms in front of her face. One hand pristine, even down to the manicure. The other had the evening sun reflecting off it. "However this is the first time John has seen my interior appearance…at least, the first time when I wasn't trying to kill him. He doesn't like looking at me when I'm like this." She concluded with a squeeze of her fist.

Slowly and hesitantly, Amy brought her hand up and rubbed Cameron's back in a manner she hoped was soothing. For a cyborg, Cameron certainly was a tactile creature. "John loves you, you know that. Maybe it just threw him a little." She shrugged, anything to try and help her friend out.

"I know, and I understand his reasoning. He's spent his whole life in fear of…this." She nodded towards her hand, a sad look on her face. "I only wanted to fix my arm, for him, and now he doesn't want to be close to me because of what I am."

Trying to keep her friend from self pity that soooo didn't suit her, Amy bounced cheerfully on the bed. "He was pretty close to you this morning before Uncie Derek interrupted. I don't think even this will keep John away from you, as long as you don't let it bother you."

"He couldn't hold my hand. I doubt he'll want to be intimate with me until the damage is healed." She still had many doubts, despite Amy's encouraging words.

"Come on. You really think John will be able to last a month? You're giving him too much credit there." Amy kept up her soothing movement of her hand on her back. She frowned a little at just how much better at it that John seemed to be than her. "Even in the future he couldn't keep his hands off you for more than a few hours at a time."

Pausing for a few long moments to consider her words, Cameron turned to face her. "So you're saying that I should go on as normal? That John will just have to get used to it?"

"That's exactly what you should do." Amy sighed, she didn't want to dampen Cameron's seemingly improving mood, but she saw no other way to do this. "You'll suffer damage like this more than once…he needs to get used to it some time…And you need to help him get over his fears. You're the only one who can teach him to accept you…and us."

Cameron hadn't really considered that before. She could help shape the future, the way John reacted to machines. She could improve the lives of all machines like her. She glanced over at Amy's outstretched arm still rubbing her back, she wouldn't fail, John would learn to accept it. "Thank you Amy."

Just then, a soft, reluctant sounding knock on the door frame garnered both their attention. "Um…Cameron?" John said from the other side of the door, sounding very much like he'd just had a very stern talk with his mother.

Cameron looked down at Amy. At her slight nod, Cameron looked back up at the door. Making sure she kept her tone perfectly neutral, she replied. "Yes?"

"Can I come in?" John asked from the other side of the door while shuffling his feet nervously. He didn't really have a plan, all he knew was that he was kind of an ass at dinner and wanted to at least try to make it up to her. "I want to talk."

Hesitating for a moment, Cameron tucked her exposed arm behind her back out of view. With a huff and an exaggerated eye roll, Amy reached around and brought it back to settle in her lap. Then, with a small smile, she hopped down off the bed and bounced over to the door. Swinging the door open so wide that the handle cracked off the wall, she stood with her hands on her hips and glared up at John.

"Uh…" As if he didn't know he was in trouble, the look on Amy's face sure confirmed it for him. "Hi Amy. Can I talk to Cameron…alone?"

"I dunno. Can you go a full conversation without insulting her?"

"AMY!" Cameron glared at her from the bed while shaking her head. Although she was grateful for what she was trying to do, she didn't want her interfering to the extent she was. Even though in many ways she was much more mature in her development than Cameron was at this point.

John looked more than a little ashamed, he wasn't used to having anyone but his mother talking to him like Amy just had. "Yeah…I'm sorry." He said, trying to look sincere, "I just want to apologise. I promise, not even a raised voice."

Glancing back in the room, Amy looked for a sign of approval. Cameron fidgeted slightly but nodded all the same.

"Alright, but keep it civil, and polite." Amy cautioned, before speaking again in a lower voice, despite knowing full well Cameron could hear her anyway. "Remember, she's your girlfriend, she loves you."

"Thanks Amy." John replied, despite her last statement not exactly being true. Reaching down, he patted Amy's head, oblivious to the glare he received for it. She hated it when people did that. "Would you mind keeping an eye on mom? Make sure she doesn't run off and do something stupid?"

Flashing him a toothy grin, Amy snapped off a lazy salute. "Sure thing boss!" With that, she skipped off towards the stairs and disappeared down them.

Shaking his head a little, John stepped in to Cameron's room and closed the door behind him. "So…I was a bit of a jerk huh?"

Way to go Johnny boy, right to the point. Keep it up and she might never touch you again!

Oh how he hated thoughts like that.

"Yes, you were." Cameron replied with nothing more than a customary tilt of her head.

"I'm trying alright, I really am."

Glancing down at his feet, he once again found himself shuffling around. "I really don't know what happened earlier. I…I couldn't breathe. It felt like my heart was trying to pound its way out of my chest. I wanted to reach out and hold you…you looked so sad…but I just froze up."

Cameron stood up from the bed, expecting a reaction like this. He didn't like the situation any more than she did. "You can always hold me, you know that."

Nodding, John decided this might just have to be one of those things he'd have to learn in order to become John Connor, leader extraordinaire. After all, he saves the machines too right?

"I want to work on this…I don't want you to avoid me. I just need a little patience and help…"

He looked up at her with his best puppy dog eyes. "Please?"

Quirking an eyebrow, Cameron replied. "Help? How can I help you?"

Smiling in a way he hoped was reassuring, John walked over to the bed, her bed and slowly sat down before kicking off his boots and laying back on the pillows, spreading his arms out wide. "You can start by coming over here."

Eyeing him warily, unsure as to his motives, Cameron remembered what Amy said, the advice she gave. Stepping slowly over to the bed, she propped herself up on one knee and paused. Her metal hand would be in full view and probably laying on his chest if she continued.

"It's alright Cameron." Patting the bed beside him, John tried to use humour to cover the fact his heart was picking up speed again. He sincerely hoped that was due to the fact a beautiful girl was about to lay in bed with him. However deep down he knew it was his deep rooted fear taking hold again. "I won't bite."

Carefully, Cameron lowered herself down on to the bed, her head on his chest and one leg draped over his. However, she made sure to keep her arm out of view behind her back. "Now what?"

Starting to lazily stroke her soft hair the way he usually did whenever they were snuggled together, John looked down at her and realised what she was doing. "No Cameron…like we usually do. Nothing changes."

Looking up at him sceptically, Cameron complied with his wishes. Snuggling herself in tighter, she brought her hand up to lay on his chest. Keeping it perfectly still, she lay there waiting for his reaction.

She got it when he, slowly, lay his hand on top of hers. She heard and felt his heart hammering away in his chest and the perspiration was clear to see on his hand. "There…that's better." She heard him say.

"John, you can let go now if you wish. I won't get upset." The truth was she would, but, baby steps.

"I will!" John shook his head, getting more and more angry with himself by the minute. He KNEW he loved Cameron. Why the hell couldn't he get it across to the rest of his body and mind that was the case. "I've had a long day. I was hoping to spend the rest of it relaxing with my girlfriend."

Smiling, Cameron thought that he was being totally sincere about all this. It was difficult for him. He'd been trained almost from birth to fear Terminators. Breaking that compulsion to run wouldn't be easy. "Okay." She lay her head back down on her chest and started to rub in slow, gentle circles with her fingertips on his cotton covered chest.

John tried his best to ignore the soft whirring sound of pistons pumping and gears working, instead trying to focus on the pleasant sensations of his girlfriend's gentle ministrations. He wrapped his free arm around her and pulled her in closer to him. "At least you're better now, right? It's fixed?"

"I believe so. Weaver examined the damage." Cameron chose to indulge in her own little pleasurable experience and tried to burrow her head deeper in to his chest with a smile on her face, taking a great satisfaction from the closeness she was able to achieve.

"Good, I was afraid after…what happened, you'd be afraid to sleep with me again." He said, referring of course to the still sore mark she'd left on his side the day before.

Cameron frowned as she thought back to that moment. She did NOT like hurting her John.

John forced himself not to cringe as his eyes shot open, pain lancing across his chest where her hand had suddenly begun exerting an inordinate amount of pressure. He thought it might be best to continue the conversation. "Did we get any closer this morning?"

John instantly regretted asking that question. Her hand pressed down harder on to his chest, the skin under her fingertips turning white under the pressure. He was quickly beginning to realise that her problem wasn't physical at all, it was psychological. Any time he brought something up that she was uncomfortable with or was feeling guilty over, her hand twitched. In this case, the issue of sex…and his chest really hurt.

"It's alright…it's not your fault Cameron. I'm probably just doing something wrong…we'll figure it out eventually." He said through gritted teeth, his head pressing back in to the pillow.

Just as he felt the pressure increasing again, he sought to try and calm her down, evidently he'd said the wrong thing again. He was pretty sure a rib or two would be cracking soon if he didn't do something to ease her tension. "Amy said you…enjoyed yourself in the future…That means you're capable of it…I just need to figure out how."

Evidently she saw sense in his statement as she released the pressure on his chest and sat up to look at him. "If you're sure…" She said, as if nothing were out of place, clearly not realising what she'd just been doing to him, such was her focus on dark and unwanted thoughts.

"I am." He nodded and dropped a relieved kiss on her lips, just happy the pressure had abated. "And you need to stop worrying about it so much. It's not like I'm not enjoying myself trying to figure it out."

She leaned down to reply with a kiss of her own before sitting back up, her hand resting gently on his chest. "I need to patrol tonight. Are you okay with that?"

"Only if I can crash here for a while." He let out a long yawn as he snuggled deeper down in to the mattress. His loooong day with Derek catching up with him. "Your bed is comfy."

Smiling down at her cuddly little human, Cameron planted a long, tender kiss on his forehead. It looked like she was successful in her efforts to get him used to her true form. "Our new bed arrives in less than two weeks. It is very comfortable."

He merely mumbled something unintelligible in reply as he quickly drifted off to sleep.

Stepping out of her room, Cameron walked down the hallway and down the stairs, only the creak of the odd floorboard giving her position away. She hadn't had a chance to fully map out all the sounds in this new house yet, it was something she always prioritised whenever taking up residence in a new property. She'd done it when they first jumped to the future, then again when they moved. Frowning at her lax attitude to her duties of late, she trudged down the last few steps, consciously making as much noise as possible, may as well start now, she reasoned.

On her way past the kitchen towards the back door, she stopped and looked at the fridge. She wasn't overly fond of eating. She could do it obviously, she even found some tastes to be intriguing. Ice cream and chocolate were examples of things she would classify as 'enjoyable'. However the steak she had earlier, while admittedly not a pristine example of how to cook and prepare meat, bearing in mind it was Sarah who prepared and cooked it, was not something she would classify as pleasant. But, her meal had been cut short by her 'family's' foul mood that night, and she needed to eat to aid regeneration.

She pulled open the door, the light illuminating the room. Scanning the pretty bare contents, she searched for most protein rich items, the whole process taking a fraction of a second. Grabbing the item topping the list, she frowned when she considered that it wasn't particularly the best item she could choose to eat while out on patrol. First of all, her pockets weren't big enough to fit a jar of peanut butter, she'd have to carry it until the optimal time to consume it.

Closing the fridge a little more firmly than she'd intended, she turned around to find Sarah entering the kitchen with her arms folded across her chest. She looked, dare she say it…sympathetic.

"What are you doing?" She asked, leaning against the door frame.

Cameron looked down at the jar in her hands and back up to Sarah. "I'm going out to patrol the block. I need to eat while I'm out."

"Why peanut butter?"

"Protein. It will help the regeneration of the removed tissue."

Did she look…sad? Sarah couldn't quit tell. All she did know was that her son needed a good solid smack on the back of his head. Sarah was never one to coddle John, or anyone for that matter. But all she wanted to do at that minute was wrap Cameron in a blanket and protect her from the world. Which made no sense, but neither did anything in her life these days.

She was nervous about Charley, about Vasquez, about Cameron, about her own health. But mostly about John. He looked quite frankly exhausted during dinner, he'd only been training with Derek for two days. He was intent on becoming the super soldier he was painted as in the legends and stories Kyle had told her about her son. But he was only seventeen years old, he wasn't the man, the General that Kyle knew, not yet anyway, and he'd never get there if he was broken by his efforts before he hit twenty.

Now he was going through some sort of realisation, finally, that his girlfriend wasn't in fact the dream girl she was sure he thought she was. He'd always preached about equality, that she was a person first and a machine second. While she had to admit, it gave her a small sense of satisfaction to see him eat his words just a little, she couldn't help but feel sorry for both him and Cameron.

Cameron had once told her that he suffered from nightmares. If they were anything like the visions that haunted her own nights, then she did sympathise just a little with what he was having to endure. The most vivid symbol he was likely to have of Terminators would be an endoskeleton arm, that being the only part he'd ever seen in person through Uncle Bob. Now it was being thrust upon him in the form of the person he claimed to love. Somebody he was as close to as any two people could be. They were intimate, and that wasn't helping him in the slightest.

Shaking her head just a little, she picked up her eyes from the downward direction they'd drifted to and looked back up at Cameron. She was still stood awaiting a response, and her delay probably didn't help matters.

"Why aren't you with John?" She asked in the gentlest tone she could, for once not wanting to hurt the cyborg.

Frowning, Cameron looked down at the non existent object Sarah had been staring at a moment ago. "John is sleeping. On my bed if that's alright with you?"

With a quick nod, Sarah shifted her weight off the door frame and stepped over towards Cameron, holding out her hand. "Give it here."

Looking somewhat reluctant, Cameron slowly extended her arm and handed over the jar. She watched as Sarah took it with a blank expression and headed over to the opposite side of the kitchen. Cameron craned her neck to try and see what she was doing, not daring to move closer.

Reaching in to the breadbox, carefully avoiding the grenades stored at the back, Sarah pulled out a loaf of bread in it's wrapper. Grabbing a knife out of the cutlery drawer, and digging through the 9mm clips, she pulled out a knife, shoved the drawer closed with her hip and brought everything back over to the counter next to Cameron.

Tilting her head, Cameron took a tentative step forward. "What are you doing?"

With an exaggerated eye roll, Sarah looked up at her companion. "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm making a sandwich."

Not that she wasn't grateful, and once again surprised at Sarah's attitude, but she had a small gripe with that. "But, that will reduce the amount of protein available for consumption."

Quirking a brow, Sarah looked up from unscrewing the jar, something she was so far unsuccessful with. "So, what, you were just gonna eat it straight from the jar?"

"It seemed like the most efficient method of garnering the required nutrients." She said with a small shrug.

"You're not Winnie the Pooh, Cameron." She finally gave up on trying to unscrew the jar and handed it to Cameron to do. She took it and popped the top off before handing it back. Sarah accepted it with a small appreciative smile. "Not to sound insulting or anything, but your infiltration skills are lacking lately. We have neighbours now remember, what would they think if they seen you wandering around with your hand in a jar of peanut butter?"

"Regenerating takes priority over the neighbours opinion. They don't matter to me, John does." She looked down at her now gloved hand. "If it means I have to do nothing but consume food until it's healed, then so be it."

Sarah could've sworn she almost sounded resolute about that. Pausing and putting the jar down, she laid her hands flat on the counter and examined the girl standing in front of her closely. After several long moments, she asked the question that came foremost in to her mind. "What are you doing?"

Tilting her head slightly to the side in her customary fashion, Cameron decided the question was more direct than it probably sounded. "Discussing the merits of a sandwich versus eating only the filling."

Sighing tiredly, despite it still being relatively early in the evening, Sarah shifted her weight back and crossed her arms across her chest and regarded the cyborg with a surprisingly patient look. "No, I mean, what are you doing in general? With John, I mean."

"What do you mean?" The cyborg asked warily, suddenly wishing John was by her side.

"Well, I just can't get my head around why. Why are you engaging in a relationship with my son?" The question was asked with no malice, no intent, just a genuine curiosity. She'd never had the chance to corner Cameron on her own since John came home and announced they were now a couple.

Cameron hesitated. Usually she could come up with the answer to any question in a split second, even if the answer was a lie. Now however, she found herself not wanting to lie, and not knowing the accurate answer. "I don't understand." She answered honestly.

"You were sent back to protect him, I get that. Whether it was by programming alone, something I'm beginning to doubt, or whether it was through some form of choice, you continued to protect him despite the fact he treat you like crap for the best part of a year. Now all of a sudden you two are head over heels in love? Come on."

She may have been understanding, she may have been tolerant, but Cameron sensed that Sarah wanted a reason, perhaps some assurance over her intentions. It was unprecedented, it could be considered unnatural, Sarah had a right to question the relationship.

"John…had a change of attitude a while ago." She said quietly.

"Yeah, I can see that."

"He has always considered me as something more than his protector, something more than a simple Terminator." She paused, trying to come up with the correct words for what she was trying to say. "I believe he has only recently gained the confidence in himself to act on the desires he has long held."

Despite her impassive tone, Sarah could tell there was a lot of meaning behind her words. Something told her that Cameron didn't want to be having this conversation any more than she herself wanted to even be considering the subject of the conversation.

"Desires?"

Looking up from the counter, Cameron locked eyes with the older woman. "Yes. John has always held an attraction to my appearance…it's part of the reason this template was chosen." She paused, the memory of Allison still regrettable in her mind. She didn't have to die, but she was too 'young' in her development to realise that at the time and blindly followed her underdeveloped emotions at the time and acted on her annoyance at being lied to.

"I knew that. I always knew he was attracted to me. When it appeared that I was…that he was heading in the wrong direction, I considered using that attraction to…bring him back in to line." She frowned at her own words, but that was the truth. When he was spending time with Riley, he was making mistakes, he was wasting time that could be better spent preparing for Judgement day, instead of chasing a 'normal' life.

Through all that time, she'd follow him, keep him safe. On the rare occasion he was able to elude her, she'd stay at home. She often considered using what she had, she often had her dresser drawer open and the lingerie out on top, seriously considering donning it, if only to end his relationship with the walking security risk known as Riley Dawson. She contemplated waiting for him in his room with a sexy pout and a teasing trail of her fingers over her body. But ultimately she'd never followed through with it.

"In to line? Your line you mean?" Sarah didn't like what she was hearing, but she was at least willing to hear her out. After all, Cameron appeared honest and was answering her questions.

"No, not 'my' line, the line he is supposed to walk. John is important to us all, I couldn't let him continue believing he was capable of being 'normal', because he isn't. John Connor isn't normal, he's extraordinary."

"You say that like you read it in a book." Sarah challenged with a snort of derision.

"I did…"

She paused, this was difficult for her too. Her newfound and still developing emotions playing havoc with her ability to remain calm and collected the way she wanted to. Her ability to remain impassive had been her defence mechanism over the past few years, it prevented any undue attention being focused on her when she didn't seek it out.

"Yeah? Which book?" Sarah was still trying her level best to keep her tone non confrontational.

"When I was first created, it was for the express purpose of gaining access to John. I was built to kill him." She looked down at the counter top, a guilty expression on her face. "This template was chosen because Skynet believed the girl I was modelled after was…important to John."

Suddenly finding herself intrigued, Sarah leaned a little closer, the sandwich all but forgotten about. She'd never known about any of this before now.

"When she was captured, she was in the process of relocating from one base to another. We believed she was moving to the new Connor camp, an almost impenetrable bunker. Among what little possessions she had was a diary. As part of my infiltration, I read it, processed its data and discarded it."

Sarah felt she could cut the tension in the room with a knife. Cameron seemed totally enveloped in the story, retelling it as if she were reliving it. She had a feeling she probably was in that CPU of hers.

"She was…infatuated with John." She didn't say any more, wanting to respect her and John's privacy. "In one of the later pages, she wrote about him. She described him as extraordinary, an inspiration."

She loved him…

Sensing that Cameron was finished, Sarah let out the breath she'd been subconsciously holding. "So, that's why you're doing all this? To keep John doing what he's meant to be doing?"

"No." Cameron shook her head. "If that was all I wanted, I simply would've killed Riley and forced him to acknowledge his responsibilities."

"So why didn't you?" Sarah asked with a shake of her head.

After what felt like an eternity, Cameron answered. "I wanted to, but I couldn't, my mission priorities were overridden. I found myself torn."

She looked up at Sarah and took a step closer to the counter, laying her hands on top of it. "Remember when Child Services came to the old house asking about her? I took her out to the shed with the full intention of terminating her."

Sarah had no idea about this. She remembered asking the Terminator to get Riley out of there until they fobbed the woman from Child Services off, but she had no clue any of this happened. Just another example of John not telling her everything.

"What happened?" She now found herself gripped by the story and the inner thoughts of the machine, no, the woman John had deemed fit to fall in love with.

"I knew that John would be upset with me if I were to kill her. I didn't want that. The priority to kill her battled with the side of me that wished not to. In the end, John arrived before I had a chance to come to a decision."

"So what changed your mind about John?" Sarah asked after a long delay.

"John did." Cameron answered with a small smile.

"After Riley died, he seemed to mature, he grew to accept me like the way he used to. Then…he saved me."

"Saved you?" This was starting to get too much for Sarah to handle. She'd never known Cameron was as deep as this.

"I asked him to…alter my programming." Cameron looked down at the counter again as she thought back to the time she asked him to wipe her emotions clean. Back then she had no idea what was possible and simply wanted rid of the annoyances that had lead to John being directly endangered.

"He couldn't do it. He refused…he kissed me that day…I liked it, knowing that someone cared for me as much as he does…or did."

"Cameron, just because he's being an ass about…this," she said with a wave in the direction of her arm "Doesn't mean he's suddenly stopped caring for you."

Sarah chuckled at how absurd this all was, giving life advice to a Terminator. "You think I suddenly stopped caring for Charley just because we were forced to leave him, me and John back in ninety nine?"

Cameron shook her head and Sarah continued. "He's just scared. He's never really had to deal with…what you are before, and when he has, it's usually been bad…like on his birthday." Sarah was almost reluctant to say that, but she needed to make her point properly.

"Just give him time…and don't be afraid to smack him if he really bothers you. He's still seventeen and stupid after all."

Cameron looked at Sarah with a tilted head as she set to work on finishing off her sandwich. She had no clue what had gotten in to the woman. Never before had she been so understanding towards her, perhaps she was taking John's advice to treat her like a normal girl seriously. Or she'd flipped, one of the two. Either way, Cameron was thankful to have at least one person on her side.

As Sarah pulled out some foil wrap and set to work wrapping up her supper, Cameron dug a tentative finger in the still open jar of peanut butter and popped it in to her mouth.

Hmm, the texture is interesting. Perhaps this being forced to eat may not be so bad.

Sarah handed the sandwiches over with a smile as Cameron sucked on her finger. "Nice?"

"It is…interesting." Cameron replied, removing her finger from her mouth. She picked up the foil packet and turned on her heel towards the back door. "Thank you Sarah."

"You're welcome…listen, don't go too far. We can't risk you being exposed like that."

"I know, I'll be careful…Sarah?"

Sarah turned around from wiping her hands on a cloth when she heard the almost tentative way her name was called. "Yeah?"

"Do you…do you ever wish John had…chosen someone else?"

Sarah sighed, she thought she'd managed to escape without getting too deep. "Look Cameron…"

"Please? I'd like an honest answer."

Sarah nodded, she of all people had always preached honesty in her house. "Honestly, yes I do."

"Oh…thank you for…"

Cameron never got the chance to finish off her trademark statement as Sarah pre-empted her. "But that doesn't mean I'm not happy that he has chosen…someone, even if it is you."

"I don't understand." Cameron said honestly as she stepped forward just a little.

Taking a deep breath, Sarah forced her voice to remain neutral, well, as neutral as possible considering who she was talking to. "I was always worried that with the lives we've been forced to live, John and I, that he'd never have the opportunity to have a family, to find love. If he's managed to find at least some form of that with you, then…who am I to begrudge him a little happiness?"

After a long few moments, Sarah left the kitchen without another word.

Pausing for only a few seconds, Cameron glanced down at the package in her hand before stepping out through the back door, letting it gently close behind her…she didn't want to wake John after all. As she rounded the front of the house, she ran in to Amy, evidently the mini metal had chosen to play outside that night.

Amy looked over her shoulder at Cameron, still effortlessly skipping over her rope out on the front lawn. She didn't bother stopping when she spoke. "How'd it go?"

"Sarah…made me a packed lunch." Cameron answered, confusion evident in her voice. She appreciated the gesture, she just couldn't quite get her head around Sarah's new found attitude.

"Um…I meant with John. You patch things up?"

"Oh." Cameron thought back to the moment where John looked up at her and smiled while holding her hand. "I believe we're making progress."

"Cool…Sarah made you a packed lunch?" She asked, stopping her skipping. At Cameron's nod, her mouth formed in to a pout. "She never makes me a packed lunch."

With that, she stomped of unhappily towards the house, leaving a bewildered Cameron behind her.

---

First of all, apologies for the delay of over a month. I've never gone that long without releasing before and I'll try to make sure it won't happen again.

Second, I tried something new with this chapter, in that it's all just one long scene. I know it might not be to some people's taste, but trust me, it's a one off. The content of the chapter meant I could try something new and hopefully interesting.

As always, huge thanks to Dekardkain for breaking out the cattle prod on a consistent basis, otherwise this might've taken longer than it already has.

The story will be picking up speed soon with a couple of obvious plots introduced in this chapter. Stick with it, I promise it'll get interesting soon! :)