Hi,
Thanks to reviewers CloudyShadows, uncommoner, Vintorez, lje100smith, olischulu, kaotic, XxDeathStarxX, leexed, sasha starr, EvilTheLast, Jaing Li, darkfinder, sumofme, Lsquare, lionel Palmer, Nyrki, macgamer, Liz, Jordan33 and crazyhand.
Despite his aversion, at least the one he tried to portray in front of John, to anything even remotely normal, or even worse, 'domestic', Derek had to admit that there was something to be said for it.
It was rare he had stayed in one place, or with one person, long enough to grow comfortable, but it definitely had it's upsides. He wasn't even wearing his piece, which was nestled away under the bench in his recently 'borrowed' truck, and the strangest part was it didn't bother him a bit.
It was about that time he caught sight of the reason for his recent mood shift making her way out from the bedroom at a surprisingly early hour, at least for her, looking about as tired as he felt. Tossing the newspaper he'd been scanning down onto the bar, he quirked a brow in Jessica's direction, "You're up early."
Sliding up behind him with the grace that accompanied most of her movements, despite the early hour, Jessica snaked her arms around her man's waist and clasped them in over his stomach. Squeezing him tight, she settled for a tired sounding groan while allowing her head to come to rest between his shoulders and her eyes to close.
"Mmmmorning," she breathed.
Derek caught himself smiling like an idiot in the reflective surface of the fridge, and it didn't bother him in the slightest. It wasn't a crime to be happy, right? "I knew this was too good to be true."
The soldiers just shook his head, and craned his neck around to drop a kiss on Jessica's hair, "You've come to run me off, haven't you?"
Smiling at the affectionate greeting, she released her grip on his midsection and allowed her hands to glide around to his back where she started gently tracing the length of his spine, up and down slowly. "Well...I was gonna make you breakfast."
She leaned in to drop a teasing kiss on the back of his neck. "But I guess I could just kick you out now, your choice," she said with a smile and a shrug.
"Wow." He caught himself shuddering a little, not exactly used to slow and gentle. Jesse was alright, but that wasn't really her speed. "Well as long as I'm getting a choice, I think I'll choose breakfast."
It was about that time his still fuzzy brain decided to catch up with their conversation, causing his forehead to wrinkle in confusion, "Wait... you're gonna cook?"
Pulling away from him, she sauntered around to the other side of the counter. "Yeah, I've always liked to cook, I just like to eat out a lot too."
She carried on her path with a shrug, eventually stopping opposite him and resting her hands on the counter. "So, what would my Scruffy Puppy like to eat?"
Not that she was exactly a five star chef, but ever since she was a little girl she'd liked to cook. Every chance she got she'd sweet talk Daddy's chef in to letting her help. She'd maintained that passion for it ever since. Not that she ever got a chance to show off her talent, restaurants and takeaway's for one were her life to this point, but it was nice to be able to indulge for a change.
Derek thought about it for a long moment, his lack of tact bleeding through despite his best efforts as he eyed up the line of skin peeking out between the plackets of Jessica's robe. A quick glance at his watch snuffed that thought out just as quickly as it had arrived though, "Well, it looks like we don't have enough time for what I really want for breakfast."
Leaning across the counter with a smirk, he dropped a quick kiss on Jessica's lips before offering up a grin, "Bacon and eggs sounds good though."
"Comin' right up!" Her beaming smile and enthusiasm were infectious as she bounced over to the fridge to start pulling out ingredients. The fridge was surprisingly well stocked, something Daddy always put a little extra in to the maid, Consuela's pay packet to ensure.
"Any plans today?" She asked, her head mostly inside the fridge as she bent down to rummage around inside.
Unfortunately for Derek, he hadn't been planning on Sleeping Beauty waking up before he left that morning, something she'd never done before. That meant he had to pull a cover story out of his ass with no notice, something John was much better equipped for than he was, "Um... yeah. I'm taking the kids upstate. We're... camping."
"Camping?" She asked with a quirked brow as she emerged with an arm full of bacon and eggs and bumped the fridge door shut with her hip.
"Two if them are like, eighteen right? Haven't they grew out of camping by now? John and uh..." A frown replaced her confused expression, she really should've been able to remember what the girl was called.
"Cameron." Derek confirmed with a barely contained frown, remembering exactly the scene he'd left at home the night before. Then it occurred to him like a flash of lightning - the best stories always have a grain of truth, and he had a whole lot of family drama to dish up for his girlfriend, "She's been having a rough time lately. It's actually why Sarah asked me to take the kids for a while, get her mind off of it."
"Aww, poor girl."
Cameron, Cameron, Cameron.
She repeated the name several times in her head to make sure she remembered it when the time came to eventually meet her. With a deep breath and a forced smile, she cracked a couple of eggs in to the waiting pan when a thought occurred to her. "Wait, it's not boy troubles is it? I could help with that you know. IF, I ever get to meet her that is."
"Hey," Derek just tossed both hands in the air in surrender, "I keep telling you, soon. There's a lot of family shit going on right now and... it's just not a good time, alright?"
Suddenly, he looked like he'd just swallowed something that really didn't agree with him, "And yeah, I guess you could call it boy trouble. Cameron doesn't have a lot of experience with that kind of stuff. She's... special."
Turning around and leaning on the counter, but not before dropping some bacon in the pan and switching on the heat, Jessica looked at him slightly alarmed, ignoring the fact he dodged her question again. "Wait, she's not...pregnant is she?"
If he'd been drinking anything, it would have been splattered all over the counter-top. As it stands, he just had a three second coughing fit while shaking his head side to side faster than Jessica has ever seen it, "Hell no! Just... no."
"Her, uh... boyfriend." Derek shrugged, once again trying to be as honest as he could without revealing the wrong thing, "She had an accident, it marked her up pretty good. She's afraid he won't touch her until she heals. Cameron's appearance is... very important to her."
"Jeez..." She pushed herself up off the counter and scrunched up her face in disgust. "Her boyfriend must be an ass. Probably doesn't deserve her if that's the way he is." She folded her arms across her chest, in a somewhat defensive manner.
"It's..." Derek frowned, knowing he couldn't really elaborate in the slightest without risking exposing them, "Complicated."
This whole situation was having the unexpected side-effect of giving him a serious mind-fuck. After all the speeches to John, after all the 'keep your head in the game and out of your girlfriend's pussy', here he was, relaxing in a veritable mansion while his beautiful girlfriend made breakfast for him.
"Cameron's taking it really hard though," Forcing a shrug, Derek's smile came off a little sickly, "So, Uncle Derek to the rescue."
"Awww." Jessica's frown was replaced by a charming smile as she leaned over the counter to drop a soft kiss on his lips. "I knew you'd be their favourite Uncle Derek."
"That's me, nice, reliable, funny, Uncle Derek." Obviously uncomfortable, he exercised a strategic retreat and changed the subject to the other seemingly odd occurrence of the morning, "What about you? You didn't get up this early just to make a bum like me breakfast, did you?"
She grinned as she bounced back over to the stove to check on the bacon. Satisfied it was sizzling away nicely, she then made her way over to one of the cupboards and pulled out a glass. "I'm meeting Daddy today. He's flying in to town for 'Daddy Daughter Day'." She turned back to face him and her enthusiastic smile spread from ear to ear.
Despite his usual reaction to enthusiasm - a low growl -, Derek just couldn't help but find this side of Jessica adorable as hell, "Daddy Daughter Day? What's that?"
Returning to her fridge to grab a carton of orange juice, she started pouring him out a glass as she spoke. "Well, since he's always so busy, he sets aside a day each month to be with me. We go out, have lunch together...It's nice."
She gave an unhappy looking shrug as she returned the carton to the fridge.
Derek frowned pointedly, suddenly feeling lower than dirt for all the times he'd had to run off on her without an explanation. This girl is obviously used to being let down, and that's something he was going to do his best to change.
He can be reliable, right? Right! Shaking his head, he glanced back as a curious thought slipped in, "That does bring up a good point though Jess."
She looked up at him with a quirked eyebrow as she slid the glass across the counter to him. "Oh? About what?"
"Well, you keep giving me shit about not meeting Sarah and the family," He shrugged, taking a long drag from the glass and offering her a grateful smile, "When do I get to meet Daddy?"
Jessica stiffened noticeably. She adored Derek, more than he knew, but she couldn't see her father agreeing with her opinion on that one. He was more used to high society rich boys, rather than the down to Earth guy he was. "Well, it's just that, I only get a day a month you know. I mean, I guess I could try to arrange something."
Derek surprised even himself when he caught himself frowning down at the table. Since when did ANYONE's fucking opinion matter to him, especially that of some stuck up his ass billionaire?
But because it was Jessica's father, he had to admit it bothered him that he apparently doesn't measure up. "Hey, I get it. Don't worry about it. He'd probably try to give me his wallet or something."
She frowned, that wasn't exactly what she was expecting to hear. "Is that what you think, that you're just some sort of charity case or something?" She shook her head vehemently, "I'm not like that."
He couldn't help but smirk, shaking his head, it's even worse than she thinks. Even when Jessica is thinking badly of him, she still sees him in a good light. "I uh... meant he'd think I was robbing him, Jess."
"Oh!" She blushed sheepishly, embarrassed by her naïvety showing through. "Well, you're not exactly what he'd be expecting. It might surprise him a little to know his Princess is dating a real man. He still thinks I'm under the impression you can get cooties from boys."
"Wait." Despite the somber mood to this point, Derek couldn't help but laugh, "Your dad still thinks you're a virgin? Babe, has he SEEN you?"
"DEREK!" Her head swivelled around faster than he'd ever seen her move before. It was almost as if she thought the room was bugged. "It's not like he doesn't know, he's not stupid."
Sighing and moving over to the stove to check on the food. "It's just that, he usually pre-approves my boyfriends. They tend to be rich boys, his business partner's sons." She turned back to face him, "Like I said, I've never dated a real man before."
Derek's smile was practically ear to ear. He loved it when she referred to him as a 'real man', it was definitely an improvement over 'scruffy puppy', which if John ever heard... well, how bad would it REALLY be to kill the saviour of all mankind? Maybe he could just wing him...
"Just sayin', I'd have imagined the whole 'pure princess' thing went out the window about the time the lingerie modelling started." Shrugging, he suddenly started shivering, "Oh, and please, for the love of God, don't refer to yourself as 'Princess'."
Her frown disappeared, replaced by an adorable pout. "But that's what Daddy calls me." She swayed from side to side, looking for all the world like a guilty kid, "Besides, he uh...doesn't really know about the modelling thing. Well, he knows I model...but he doesn't know I do the occasional underwear shoot."
"Oooohh," Hopping up from his seat, he made his way around the bar to Jessica, wrapping his arms around her from behind, "So I'm not your only dirty little secret? I think I'm jealous."
After leaning down and kissing her neck, he decided to clarify, "And uh... John calls his little girlfriend 'Princess', it's just a little creepy for me."
She looked up at him with a quirked eyebrow, his frisky behaviour and his reaction to 'Princess' really confusing her. "Why's that creepy? John's girlfriend doesn't really have much to do with you does she? Anyway, Daddy can NOT find out about my work, he'd probably have a heart attack. I'm serious Derek, you can't ever mention it to him."
"Why's it creepy? Probably because it involves the idea of my nephew having sex, Jess." He laid his chin on her shoulder thoughtfully, "And don't worry, I won't tell daddy. But just what in the hell are you going to tell him about me? I doubt he'll buy computer programmer any more than you did."
"Well..." She took a moment to nibble gently on his earlobe while it was right next to her face. "What do you actually do? We can start with that."
He frowned, his playful attitude disappearing as quickly as it came, Derek stepped back and pretended to be examining the skillets on top of the stove, shoving the bacon around aimlessly, "We already talked about that, didn't we? I collect disability from the Army... you've seen the scars, babe."
Despite her doubts, Jessica found herself nodding. "Alright...we'll go with that." She doubted it for the simple reason he had a habit of disappearing for hours and days at a time. No matter the problems, family issues wouldn't account for all that time.
"The truth is always the best policy." Leaning over to drop a kiss on her cheek, he finished off his juice and headed to the fridge for a refill, "So, how long until you're meeting Daddy?"
"I have a few hours to spare, I just wanted to get up to see you off first." With a smile, she turned back to the stove. "You'll meet him eventually, I promise."
"And you'll meet Sarah." Derek couldn't help but chuckle to himself while pouring his juice, "Just as soon as I can find a surgeon capable of getting that stick out of her ass."
"Just Sarah? I have to wait my turn to meet the kids do I?" She smirked over her shoulder at him while flipping the bacon over.
"You really wanna meet the kids, huh?" Shaking his head, he leaned over her shoulder to snatch a piece of bacon and gobbled it down, "Amy alone will eat you alive."
"Oh come on!" She chucked and turned to face him, "She's what, like eight? I'm sure I can handle one little girl, I'm great with kids."
He looked a little nervous, despite wrapping his hands around her waist and pulling her flush with him, suddenly he wasn't feeling all that hungry... well, for food. "Is that what this is about? You wanna meet the kids to prove to me you're mommy material? That's a little... scary."
"I'm only twenty four Derek, I'm not quite ready for that just yet." She rolled her eyes to emphasise her point and wiggled backwards just a little. "Besides, I just want to meet your whole family, you always talk so fondly about them, especially John."
"They're..." Derek zoned out a little, realising this himself for the first time, "Kind of all I have. I didn't think I had any family left after Kyle died."
"Sometimes, it's nice to be wrong." Dropping a quick kiss on her forehead, he hopped up onto the counter to let her finish up with the food.
"Sounds nice." She idly pushed the bacon around in the pan, kind of zoning out as she contemplated her own lonely upbringing. "Tell me more about them, please."
He knew they were on shaky ground here, and Derek wasn't exactly sure where to start, "Uh... what do you wanna know?"
"Well, just, details, what to expect. I mean, are they like, inseparable, really close?"
"You don't want to get between John and Sarah." Shaking his head, he smiled a little, "They're about as close as you can get without it being creepy."
"Amy is actually a lot like Sarah," His smile grew thinking about letting Sarah in on that little fact, if only to see her squirm, "Mouthy, opinionated, and smarter than hell."
"Little Amy sounds a lot like you too." Looking down, she was satisfied that his breakfast was cooked sufficiently. Sliding a plate over closer to the stove, she carefully lifted the contents of the pan out and transferred it to the plate.
Swivelling around and presenting it to him with a flourish, she set the plate down and sat on the stool opposite.
Derek could feel his stomach growling, but as always he tried to keep himself from shovelling food down in front of Jessica the way he usually did. "Thanks babe."
"John and Cameron are pretty close, but I already told you about that." He dug in to his eggs with a shrug, "Cameron is the one you'll have to be ready for."
"You mean cute little Cameron who's worried about a boy?" She shook her head and smirked as she swiped a piece of bacon off his plate. "How intimidating can she be?" She asked around a mouthful of bacon.
Pulling out his cellphone with a shake of his head, he remembered he'd snapped a few shots while no one was paying attention for this very purpose. "See for yourself. I think there's one of her and John on the couch in there."
Taking the phone from him, Jessica examined the picture he'd left on the screen. It was a snap of John and Cameron on the couch, looking like they were watching a movie or something. Her not having any siblings, she just assumed it was normal fro them to be cuddle together that close. "Aww, they look close."
She pressed the down button on the phone to scroll through his pictures, purely on instinct, not even stopping to consider that it was a blatant breach of his privacy. Eventually she arrived at a picture of what looked like...a room full of weapons. "What's that?" She asked as she handed the phone back to him.
"Oh..." He frowned, having absolutely no idea someone had taken a shot of him on the floor, shirtless, taking stock of one of Sarah's weapons caches. He was going to have a LONG talk with Amy about boundaries and personal property after this, "Must be an old shot I forgot to erase."
Frowning, she finished off chewing the bacon. She hated it when he closed off like he was now. Deciding it might be best to change the subject, she forced a smile. "Well, Cameron doesn't look all that intimidating to me. Pretty, yeah, but not intimidating."
"Well, she was happy in that picture." Smiling in relief, he quickly deleted the picture and returned to his breakfast, "Imagine a glare that says 'I'm going to swallow your soul'."
"Oh come on, now you're just messing with me." She chuckled a little, but then a thought occurred to her. "She's not like...I mean, I don't wanna sound rude, but is she...all there, in her head?"
He sighed, that was something he'd wondered himself more than once, "She loves John. She tolerates the rest of us. Does that make any sense?"
"Yeah, I guess it does. I hope John feels the same way, judging from that picture he does, but it's not fair to her if he doesn't love his sister just as much right back."
"Oh... he loves her back." He shook his head and tried to fight off a frown. After all, family love is a good thing, right?
Finishing off his breakfast with a smile, Derek leaned back in his chair, suddenly realising he'd be late at the Connor house in the next fifteen minutes. Which sucked, because the drive took more than thirty even if he was speeding. "Thanks babe, that was great."
Quickly whipping his phone back out, he started pounding out a text message to Cameron, figuring she was the least likely to hound him about it, or even reply.
Sensing that the conversation might be over, Jessica stood up from the stool and picked up his plate. "So, do you feel like giving me your opinion on the new dress I bought for today?" She turned and set the plate down near the washer before grinning devilishly in his direction.
Derek knew he should go. He knew John was probably itching to get out of the house. He knew Charley was in danger and that it was probably driving the kid, as well as his mother, off the reservation.
But when Jessica got that look in her eyes... It was REALLY hard to care. "Private modelling session?"
Jessica, knowing full well the simplest thing she did would always have the desired effect on him, sauntered around to his side of the counter and leaned in close to his ear.
"Just don't tell Daddy." She whispered before walking away towards her bedroom, pausing only to let the robe she'd donned earlier slip off her shoulders and pool around her feet.
Derek just smiled like an idiot, hopping up from his stool, he knocked it over without a backwards glance and jogged for the bedroom. After a half dozen steps though, he stopped and headed back in his tracks, "Ohhh... almost forgot."
"Wouldn't be a modelling session," sprinting back to the counter with a devilish grin of his own, he snatched his phone while simultaneously whipping his shirt over his head, "Without the camera!"
"Why is the cat trying to catch the mouse?" Cameron asked, leaning over towards Amy, almost bumping her shoulder.
"Because, that's Tom, it's his job to catch Jerry?" Amy answered, her attention mostly distracted by the cartoon in front of them both on the relatively small screen TV.
"From what I can see, he has repeatedly failed in every attempt. The mouse appears to be much too smart for him. Surely it would be more efficient for his owner to get a new cat…or simply lay down poison…or shoot the mouse."
Looking to her side and quirking a dubious eyebrow, Amy gave an amused little smirk. "You're kinda missing the point here Cameron."
"What then is the point? Why chase the mouse if he doesn't want to terminate it?" Sound logic on Cameron's part, or so she thought.
"Well, he probably does wanna kill the mouse, but this is a cartoon for kids, they'd never actually let Tom catch Jerry."
"I don't understand. The house cat is a descendant of predatory felines, it should be able to catch a simple mouse with ease." Cameron still hadn't tore her eyes away from the cartoon, her head remaining tilted to the side as she devoted almost her entire attention on it.
"Just…shut up and watch it would you. You're spoiling the fun."
"Oh, alright."
Amy looked over at her friend as she subconsciously tugged the sleeve of her hoodie down further and grabbed another handful of cereal out of the box, a frown present on her face. For the last half an hour, Cameron had been sitting cross legged on the floor with her watching cartoons and digging in to what used to be a full box of Cheerios. She hadn't said anything besides ask questions about Tom and Jerry, or about why the man under the influence of narcotics and his talking dog friend were chasing ghosts, that turned out to be the creepy owner of the mansion they were in covered with a sheet.
"How come you aren't going to see John this morning?" She asked out of sheer interest. She knew the reason of course, she just wanted to hear Cameron's answer.
Cameron looked down at her lap, away from the TV for the first time since she'd came in. "John is…tired. His training with Derek is leaving him exhausted. I don't want to be a burden."
Amy's face formed an expression that should've had a plaque underneath it reading 'yeah right'. Instead of pushing the issue, she turned back to her cartoons. She herself sat cross legged next to Cameron wearing bright pink PJ's, her hair flowing midway down her back as opposed to her usual pigtails. She looked for all the world like any normal little girl sitting in the living room watching Saturday morning cartoons with her big sister.
As Cameron dug her hand back in the box and claimed a handful of her prize, her cell phone buzzed. Setting the box down, she placed her hand in her hoodie pocket and fished the phone out. Flipping it open, and disregarding the oddness of receiving a text, she read the content of the message while still munching on a mouthful of now soggy Cheerios..
"Who's that?" Amy asked, leaning over to try and get a peek of the screen.
"It's…Derek." She replied with a tilt of her head and a bemused expression on her face. "He's asking me if I moved, or if I know where his claymores are."
As she started punching in a to the point reply, consisting of two characters, Amy scrunched up her face. "Derek's sending you text messages?"
"Yes…it is odd isn't it?" Cameron asked as she hit the send button and tucked her phone back in her pocket. She then picked the box back up and started eating again.
"It's not fair is what it is!" Amy folded her arms across her chest and looked back at the TV unhappily. "First Sarah makes you a packed lunch, and now you're getting messages from Derek. He probably put kisses on the end of the text didn't he?" She asked, clearly in a huff about the lack of attention she was receiving.
Cameron meanwhile tilted her head in a mixture of confusion and amusement. "Amy, first of all you don't eat, and second, you don't have a phone…and no, there were no kisses on the text. Only John is allowed to kiss me, even if it is just by phone."
Just as Amy was about to reply with a less than polite retort, a noise from upstairs drew both their attention, their heads tilting up almost in unison. This particular noise was becoming a regular occurrence lately, something that all the house's occupants seemed happy to ignore until it became a real issue. Both Amy and Cameron's HUD's displayed the same thing, an analysis of the impact of footprints hitting the floorboards above them, followed by the noise of a door slamming, and then a vocal recognition match to Sarah Connor as she emptied the contents of her stomach in to the toilet and then swore about it afterwards.
Cameron peered out of the corner of her eye at Amy and watched as she lowered her gaze from the ceiling and settled it in her lap. She chanced turning around to get a better look, the only thing she found was the sight of her friend looking all manner of forlorn as she absently picked at the bunny slippers on her feet. Cameron examined her for a moment and thought about how she herself always felt whenever she saw her John in pain. It wasn't a pleasant feeling, one of the drawbacks of being able to feel the good things.
Cameron slowly, and as quietly as she could, lifted another handful of Cheerios to her mouth and chewed, staring intently at Amy as she did.
"What?" Amy asked, not bothering to look up from her feet.
"You're worried about her." Cameron observed.
"No I'm not!" She snapped, somewhat childishly, her eyes shifting quickly to Cameron.
"Yes you are," Cameron countered with a tilt of her head and a gentle smile, "You only ever look sad when Sarah isn't happy."
Despite looking like she wanted to argue some more, Amy knew full well she didn't really have a case. It was obvious when Amy was in a bad mood. Her usual exuberance gave way to the funk she was currently plummeting headlong in to.
With a long, sad sounding sigh, Amy looked towards Cameron, but still didn't make eye contact. "She's getting worse."
Cameron regarded her friend for a long few moments before setting the box down. "Has she mentioned it to you?"
"No," Amy replied with a shake of her head, "I doubt she'd even talk to John about this kind of thing…it makes her look weak."
"Falling ill is not a weakness." Cameron answered as gently as she could.
"She sees it as one." Amy replied sadly. "It's all my fault."
Cameron's brow cinched together in confusion, she failed to deduce any remote possibility of Sarah's condition being caused by Amy. "How is it your fault?"
"She's been sick since I've come back." She answered, slumping further down.
"That still doesn't make it your fault." Cameron countered.
"Well it feels like it does."
Both cyborgs suddenly looked up as the sound of loud, thudding footsteps came bounding down the stairs. Cameron set her Cheerio's box down and smiled with anticipation at Amy. Gracefully uncrossing her legs and standing, she hurried over to the foot of the staircase…just in time to see John breeze past her heading towards the door.
She turned her head and eyed his back quizzically. "John?"
"Huh?" He said as he hurriedly pulled on his boots, one foot at a time, hopping around. "Oh, morning Cameron." He raised his eyes momentarily before snapping them back down to his feet. He'd almost managed to forget about her damage, or rather, he'd managed to push it mostly to the back of his mind.
Not failing to notice his glance at her arm, Cameron quickly tucked it away behind her back. "Would you like some breakfast? I've found Cheerios particularly enjoyable."
John looked at her with a quirked eyebrow, and then past her to the box on the floor that Amy was currently digging through experimentally. He couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of his girlfriend munching on whatever tasted best in the kitchen.
"Yeah, I can see that." He glanced down quickly at his watch, "But I gotta get out to Derek, I'm surprised he didn't drag me out of the house. I told you your bed was comfy, I totally slept in."
Cameron frowned and double checked her internal chronometer, he was indeed late. "John, Derek isn't here yet."
John stopped, literally with his knee in mid air and his hand on his laces. "What do you mean, he's not here yet?"
"He isn't here. He sent me a message asking about equipment, I can only assume he's at one of the supply dumps." Cameron took a step closer with a bright smile on her face, "That means you have time for breakfast."
She reached out and took hold of his hand with her undamaged one and led him towards the couch. John allowed himself to be led and slumped down resignedly.
"I'll be back." Cameron said cryptically before heading off to the kitchen.
John sat there with a frown on his face. How could Derek be late? Of all the mornings that he actually wanted to get out of there. He knew if he was forced to stay, he'd only end up damaging the fragile accord he'd came to with himself about Cameron, and he didn't want that at all. He didn't trust himself not to react the way he was naturally prone to do.
The next thing he knew, Amy had climbed up next to him on the couch. Oddly for her, she hadn't bounced up happily, she'd just kinda crawled up next to him. Now he was forced to raise his arm as she quietly snuggled in to his side. Looking down, he allowed his arm to tentatively settle on her side where he started gingerly stroking her upper arm. This wasn't the first time he'd been so close to Amy, and he had gotten used to her a lot since she first arrived. Oddly though, he felt more comfortable being close to Amy than his own girlfriend at the minute.
"Hey, whats wrong with you?" He asked, genuine concern in his voice.
Amy shrugged against his side, "The cartoons aren't cheering me up," she answered sadly.
"You're sad? Why?" John asked, his easy rapport with Amy building all the time.
"I don't like my friends being sick." She said with another shrug.
"Oh…you mean Mom?"
John knew his mother was sick, he knew she'd lost weight…and it was eating him up inside to know there was nothing he could do about it. But he knew his mother. Despite what she may have thought, neither he nor everyone in the house was stupid enough to question her on it, well, besides Derek, but he'd never stoop to such emotional low's as showing concern for Sarah Connor.
He'd thought about asking her about it, but he dismissed that idea after remembering several incidents where his ear lobe burned from a sharp thump from Sarah whenever he crossed her. Despite the fact he now had almost a full foot of height on her, he still had that distinct desire not to be treated like a four year old again.
"Yeah, I mean Mom."
John looked down at Amy snuggled in beside him. Choosing not to draw attention to the fact she just referred to Sarah as 'Mom', John merely cuddled her in tighter.
"What do you do when something's bothering you?" Amy asked as she peered up at John.
He sucked in a deep breath, that was a good question. But he knew exactly how to answer it, after all, he was John Connor, he'd had a lifetime of worrying about stuff.
"Well, I have this bad habit of burying stuff deep down, and just kinda waiting for it to blow over I guess."
He shrugged and looked down. At Amy's quizzical look, he elaborated.
"What I mean is. Whenever I don't want to face a problem…I don't. I just sit back and hope it'll sort itself out. You know what I mean?" Feeling Amy nod against his side, he continued. "But I'm trying to get out of that habit. I mean, I asked Derek to train me, to get my head sorted out. For once I'm being proactive. Hell, I finally managed to get over my own hang ups and openly admit I love Cameron."
Smiling at the thought, he continued what he thought was the roll he was on, "Hell, I'm even learning to deal with Cameron's…you know. Her…." He frowned. He wanted to convince himself that he was in fact dealing with the damage exposing her endoskeleton, but he honestly couldn't. Quickly shutting up, he found himself thinking about her again, and the many reasons why he hated himself for what he was feeling around her at the minute.
Amy mulled over what he'd said for a few moments before coming to a decision. Smiling broadly up at him, she leaned up and pinched the fat on his cheek between her thumb and forefinger. "Thanks John!" She squealed happily as she hopped down off the couch.
John sat and watched, his jaw flapping around as she bounced out of the room. After a moment's effort, he managed to get his mouth to respond to his brain's commands. "Wait!"
Amy stopped and poked her head around the door frame and quirked an eyebrow by way of a question.
"You're okay now?"
"Mmhmm." She replied with a nod. The next thing John knew her head had disappeared and her usually light footfalls echoed on the staircase as she bounded up them.
John was still slightly stunned as Cameron silently made her way back in to the living room and settled in beside him on the couch. He jumped when she pushed a bowl of cereal under his nose. Turning back and tilting his head at the offering, Cameron took the opportunity to explain.
"Breakfast," she pointed out before pushing a spoon in to his hand, the cool stainless steel snapping him out of his daze. He accepted the spoon and slid a hand underneath the bowl before smiling gratefully.
"Thanks." Leaning over, he dropped a kiss on her cheek before tucking in to the first decent breakfast he'd had in days.
Cameron merely watched him with her head tilted. So far so good. Despite his apparent disinterest in her when he first came downstairs, he hadn't so far reacted to her metal hand coming in to contact with his own. This was good. These events coupled with the progress she'd managed to make on his mental state the night before made her feel much better about the current situation.
"Are you prepared for today?" She asked in a cheerful tone as he shovelled a spoonful of Corn Flakes in to his mouth. Observing him for a moment while he chewed and swallowed his food, she noted how his manners were impressive, even for one generally as unrefined as her John.
"Yeah, should be interesting." Digging out another spoonful, John looked over at Cameron. She looked…fascinated with hearing him talk about the most mundane things. "So, what do you have planned for today?"
Cameron shrugged, a very human gesture she'd perfected. "I have nothing planned. I could give the weapons a final visual examination ready for tomorrow."
"Uh, yeah, sounds good. Just don't tell Derek you touched his guns." John chuckled, Derek was notoriously protective of his guns and his truck.
As if on queue, Derek chose that exact moment to pull up outside in the truck and honk the horn obnoxiously.
"Time to go." John said with a grin as he stood. Palming the bowl off to Cameron, he quickly grabbed his jacket and made for the door.
As Cameron stood there holding the bowl, she fully expected John to at least acknowledge her presence before he left. Perhaps with a kiss, maybe a wave, or she would've accepted an 'I love you'. Hell, she'd have taken a goodbye. Instead all she received was the door slammed in her face as she walked over to try and take the initiative.
It wasn't like her John to do that, to fail to acknowledge her, recently anyway. For him to rush out like that couldn't have been for any good reason. In fact, she managed to formulate a short list of the possible reasons for his abrupt departure. It was a very short list, consisting of one thing.
She looked down at her arm, still mostly covered by her sleeve. Apparently John required a little more time to grow accustomed to her in her current state. Patience was the key, he'd promised he'd get over it and she had faith in him. He loved her, he'd come through for her.
She hoped.
—
Not that Derek was ever one for music, but he really wished he'd taken the time to program at least one station in his newly 'acquired', translated stolen, truck to something other than a spanish radio station. He didn't think he could handle that any more than the silence currently permeating the cabin of said truck. It was so unbearable in fact that it was even starting to bring his mood down from the obvious high he was on as little as an hour previous.
Peering over in John's direction, he couldn't really say he envied the kid. For the first time in his short life, he thought he'd found a small modicum of happiness. That was all thrown in to disarray when his little metal Princess showed him, pretty unsubtly, what she really was. Sure, she was pretty on the outside, but for the first time he was seeing her for what she truly was, and he was fairly sure it'd scared the living piss out of him.
Looking at him now, and the way he was clutching his ridiculously overpriced coffee he'd insisted they stop for, he could've sworn he was trying to bury himself deeper in to the seat. Something told him that his dear nephew didn't exactly have a deep sleep the night before, and he couldn't help but feel guilty that he'd slept like a baby wrapped up in Jessica's luxurious and overpriced Egyptian cotton bedsheets.
"You with me over there?"
He turned back to the road after getting no reply, "Would've thought that after all those speeches, you'd be happy you're getting a chance to fight."
John shook his head just a little as his brain caught up to what Derek was saying. "Hmm? Oh, yeah…thrilled."
Despite his good mood, Derek couldn't help but get a little pissed off at John's uninterested tone, he snapped a little more than he'd intended. "If you're not gonna take this seriously, I'll just turn around. Vasquez isn't fucking around John."
John shook his head and looked like he was awake for the first time that morning. "No, no, I'm alright. Just…I have a lot on my mind lately is all."
Tell me about it.
"The only thing you should have on your mind is how we're gonna handle this." Shaking his head and turning back to the road, Derek sometimes wished he could program John the way he programs metal, it'd be so much easier. "This is one of the things you need to learn. In battle, you can't let your mind wander. You wait until you're home before you start contemplating shit…get it?"
"Yeah, yeah, I get it!" Snapping more than he intended to, John felt he had a decent reason. He was cold, tired and afraid of his girlfriend. He had a right to be snappy given the circumstances, and Derek's voice was starting to get to him.
"Then get your head in the game." He frowned, uncomfortable with having to deal with John's issues at the moment…he had enough of his own. "Leave the domestic shit at home."
John's head meanwhile had slowly swivelled around to face him. It was eerily reminiscent of a scene from 'The Exorcist' the way he stared at his uncle. "How's Jessica?" He asked, his voice cool as ice.
Missing his tone, Derek simply replied as if nothing was out of the ordinary. "Having lunch with her dad…far, far away from this shit."
John scoffed, that sounded pretty idilic to him. "Lucky girl. How come you're not there with her? She ashamed of you or something?" John was tired, he honestly didn't intend that to sound as harsh and offensive as it inevitably did.
"No." Finally at their destination, Derek slammed on the brakes with an evil smirk, really hoping to spill some if not most of John's coffee in his lap for that remark. "I have work to do. Keeping you and your mother alive is a ful time fucking job John."
John growled as he wiped at his now soaked groin. Luckily the coffee was only lukewarm by now, otherwise he had a feeling he'd be putting his newly acquired shovel skills to use and Derek would mysteriously disappear. Looking up, he glared at the back of his uncle's head as he climbed out of the truck. Setting his empty cup on the dash, he himself climbed out of the truck and slammed the door harder than necessary. He trudged around to the front of the truck and leaned on the hood, trying to use some of the heat radiating off it to dry his pants.
Derek joined him a moment later. "So, what do we have planned for this dump?" John asked.
Derek smirked a little, "Take a good look around John. Cause this dump is gonna be levelled by the time we're finished."
Grinning like a kid on Christmas morning, Derek walked around to the back of the truck and whipped off the tarp covering the flatbed, revealing the 'supplies' he'd assembled. He popped open one of the three large cases and grabbed a long coil of electrical wire.
John followed him after a few seconds in the glorious warmth of the ticking engine and gave a low whistle at what his uncle had brought with him.. "What's that for?"
Derek quirked his head to the side in an odd attempt at an imitation of Cameron. "What the hell do you think it's for?"
Instead of stopping and thinking about it, John decided it would be a good idea to blurt out the first thing that popped in to his head. "Um…you stringing up Christmas lights?" He smirked, his mood having lightened for the first time since he woke up in Cameron's room that morning.
Shaking his head, Derek wasn't quite sure what to make of John's mood. He lifted a claymore and tossed it in his direction. "Stringing up death. Still fun, just less festive."
John turned the claymore over in his hands with a smirk. "How many guys are we expecting here Derek? Claymores? Overkill maybe?"
"Depends." Derek paused and looked thoughtful. If he'd really thought it through, he'd have realised how absurd it would've seemed that he was standing in the middle of nowhere casually chatting with his nephew about the merits of claymore mines like they were discussing the NFL. "Would you rather have to kill them one by one while they're shooting at you, or thin the herd before they get within range?"
"Won't this attract a little attention?" John asked with a skeptical frown. "I know we're not exactly in the middle of downtown, but still, someone's gonna notice this going down."
"So what? We'll be gone by the time they can get up here." Shrugging, he gathered up the cases and threw the coil of wire over his arm and set off trudging up the hill in the direction of the run down house sitting atop it. "By the time they get here, the only thing left to arrest will be corpses."
Following a couple of steps behind, John was quite willing to admit, he was slightly in awe of his uncle, and how cool he was around all this, confident too. "What do you need me to do during all this? I mean, that's what the training's for right?"
"You mean right now, or during the fight?" He tossed the case down on to a thick carpet of dead leaves along with the wire. Fishing out a neon orange spray paint can, he marked an 'x' low on a tree stump to his left.
"Um…both I guess." He watched Derek slightly confused as to what he was doing.
Derek walked over to another tree about ten metres to his right, seemingly ignoring John's remark. Glancing down the hill, a smile grew on his face. He crouched down and put another 'x' on the trunk a few inches above the ground. "What are you waiting for? An invitation? Grab the claymores and set 'em up where I'm leaving marks."
"Oh, and make sure the side with the bold letters saying 'Front Towards Enemy' is facing down the hill." He remarked with a smirk.
"Well duh!" John said with a roll of his eyes.
Starting work on setting up the mines, he double and triple checked that they were indeed facing in the direction they were supposed to be. "So, how come you haven't brought Jessica over to meet everyone yet?" Despite his best attempts to sound casual, he was sure that just came off as nervous.
"Bad timing." Derek answered with a shrug, clearly not comfortable discussing this. "She doesn't need to see this shit."
"Besides," with a small smirk, he tried to steer the conversation in a direction more suited to him, meaning, away from him, "I'd think you'd be more worried about your girlfriend than mine."
Dammit, slippery son of a bitch.
John frowned, the exact reason he'd asked about Jessica was to try and divert the attention away from his own messed up love life. "Well, she wouldn't be seeing any of this stuff. I'm just talking, like, a dinner or something."
"She'd still be seeing sarah." Having finished the first line of claymores, Derek walked over to the pile of equipment and snagged the wire up off the ground. He then started the slow process of stringing it from mine to mine, burying each finished unit under dead leaves before moving on to the next.
"Cover the exposed line up…no traces."
Standing up from his crouching position, John plunged his hands deep in pockets and started lazily kicking leaves over the line he'd just ran. "You say that like it's a bad thing." He looked up and smirked at his uncle, "You sure they wouldn't get along like a house on fire?"
"Hey! Those mines are active. If you yank one of those wires out then it isn't gonna go boom when we want it to. That's bad." Growling just a little, he turned back to his work. "And Sarah has been a little…edgy, lately. I'm in no mood to push her."
Bending down with a sigh, John started pushing leaves over the lines with his hands properly. "You know, she has calmed down a lot lately…" He trailed off, unable to stop his mind wandering to just how much weight she'd been losing lately, and how his new relationship was only adding to the stress being put on her.
"First we make her happy by saving her little boyfriend." He grumbled a little bit about the plan he didn't want to be a part of in the first place. "Then I call in a favour, see how that works?"
John smirked, "Nice plan." He looked behind him at the now invisible wire, "You think this'll work? I mean, I've never doubted her before, but this does seem half baked, even for her."
Standing up, Derek brushed the leaves off his hands and surveyed the area, zoning out just a little as it all played out in his head. "You and me on the ridge to the right, Sarah inside the house, the me…Cameron providing sniper cover. Cake walk."
John frowned, something about that plan didn't add up. "What's Amy doing in all this?"
Snorting with a mixture of disgust and mocking, Derek turned to face John. "Cowering behind my truck? She's pretty useless in a firefight John, trust me."
"What are you talking about? Amy can handle herself fine." He said that, but then again he was unaware of her reaction, or lack thereof the last time she was put anywhere near a gun.
"She hates guns." He rolled his eyes, "Yeah, I know, metal hating guns. Who would've thought?"
"Well, yeah, there is that. But I guess she can still be some use. She wouldn't be much of a protector for Mom if she weren't." With that, John left Derek's side and wandered up to the ridge he pointed out earlier to try and get a better idea of what he'd be facing when the time came.
"What about you?" He didn't want to make John self conscious, but he also wanted to make sure that he understood what was going to go down, and what was going to be expected of him. "These aren't target dummies John, they're human beings. Human beings that want you dead, by the way."
"I can still shoot alright, Mom taught me well…I'll be okay. I just…I'll be alright, you can count on me." Looking down over the ridge again, his mind wandered to Charley, and how he couldn't shake the thought that they were placing the poor guy right in the firing line in all this.
"Good, because we can't handle this many guys without you." Joining John up on the ridge, Derek pointed down to their right. "Only one path in or out large enough for car, they'l be coming in right behind Dixon. We'll wait until the lead elements reach the second defence line before opening fire. The gun Cameron will be firing makes one hall of a dent. If we're lucky, we'll drop ten to twelve in the first volley."
"And if we're unlucky?" John asked with a sidelong glance.
"Then we'll have thirty very pissed off killers charging up the hill." He shrugged, "Still beats metal."
"Yeah, I guess it does. This is winnable right? We can do this?" He sounded less than thrilled at the prospect of the 'thirty pissed off killers' part of Derek's speech.
"Just remember, keep calm, keep focused, and don't settle for anything less than a clear A-box shot." Smiling, he slapped his nephew on the shoulder. "I'll be right beside you, so you don't even have to worry about shooting at me."
John let out a breath he didn't realise he'd been holding. "Yeah, alright…we need to do anything else here?"
Derek smiled a big, wide, shit eating grin, the type of grin that told John he shouldn't have asked that question. "Yeah, there's a shovel in my truck."
He pointed to a spot a few feet in front of them, "We're gonna need a firing trench. I hear you're good at those."
"Po, Po, Po, Pokerface, Po, Po, Pokerface!"
Oh God please kill me now!
"Po, Po, Po, Pokerface, Po, Po, Pokerface!"
Sarah tried her hardest not to reach over and yank the radio out of the dashboard. Not only had Amy insisted on turning it on to 'make you smile you moody bitch', but she'd picked what was possibly the most annoying song ever created. Well, all apart from that crazy frog thing.
With an exaggerated sigh, she reached over and pushed the power button on the radio harder than necessary. The next thing she knew she had Amy wailing like a banshee right in her ear.
"AWWWW! I was listening to that!"
Just as she was reaching over to turn it back on, Sarah reached out and gently caught her wrist. Amy looked up at Sarah who by now looked like she was about to either cry or scream, either way, it wasn't good.
"Amy, if you touch that radio, I swear I will find a way to end you." Her tone remained calm and neutral, but even Amy could sense the beginnings of a growl beneath her exterior.
Slumping back in her seat and withdrawing her hand, Amy folded her arms across her chest and pouted. "You're no fun."
"Yeah, that's me, no fun Sarah." She deadpanned in reply.
Folding her arms tighter across her chest, Amy glared over at her travelling companion. Although obviously not a Lady Gaga fan, she certainly looked none the worse for wear from her exploits that morning. In fact, she looked all around to be pretty healthy, despite them both knowing better. Although she'd tried to palm it off as nothing more than a stomach bug, Amy really was concerned that her inevitable fate was coming to pass.
John had told her stories about his mother in the future. He always remembered her fondly, despite the odd run in with her, mostly about Cameron. The way he began to tear up almost every time he talked about her death would always stick with Amy, and was the primary motivation for her volunteering to come back through time. She wanted to meet the great woman who reared the great man, she never imagined that the two would grow as close as they had, despite one of her mission priorities requiring such a closeness.
"Hey, you okay?"
Turning her head to the side, my realised she'd been zoned out for a moment. "Hmm?"
"Um, nothing," Sarah turned her gaze back to the road. "You just looked…distant, for a second there."
Shrugging, Amy slumped back in her seat. With an exaggerated eye roll, Sarah reached over and pulled the hem of the little girl's dress back down to her knees. Casting a sidelong quizzical glance at Sarah, Amy couldn't help but wonder what she thought she was covering up.
"Um…thanks…I think."
"No problem," Sarah said, nodding. "So…you think this'll work?" She asked, waving a hand in Amy's general direction.
"Of course it'll work. What, you're doubting me?" She asked while straightening the hat on her head.
"No, not doubt…just, dubious." Sarah looked away from the road and once again examined her little friend. "Come on, where'd you get this idea from? He didn't even order anything!"
"I know he didn't. But they don't know that. Anyway, they're not gonna suspect me are they?" Amy idly fiddled with a button on the front of her dress. She didn't like anybody poking holes in her plan. It was a good plan…as far as she was concerned.
"Um…they know what you look like. They might get a little suspicious when you show up on Charley's doorstep the day after he calls me."
Amy looked over at Sarah like she was as dumb as Derek. "Duh! I'm not gonna look like this when I knock on his door am I?"
At that moment, Amy shimmered just a little, reverting to her metallic state. Or rather, her face, arms and legs did, her clothes remained the same. By the time she'd finished her shift and Sarah had looked over, amy looked like a completely different person. Long brown hair flowing down her back, piercing green eyes and a slightly darker skin tone. Truth be told, she looked remarkably similar to Cameron, only a younger version.
Quickly snapping her attention back to the road and doing her level best to avoid the oncoming sports car, Sarah closed her mouth, never quite being able to get used to how capable Amy was of reminding her of her true existence. Glancing over again, after she'd stuck her finger out the window at the asshole in the sports car yelling obscenities at her, Sarah examined Amy for a moment.
"So who are you supposed to be?"
"Well…" Amy had a feeling if she told the truth, Sarah might actually crash the truck this time. "It's uh…someone I knew."
Leaving it at that, she turned back to the road. In fact what she'd done was use her imaging systems to extrapolate what John and Cameron's daughter from the future, Abigail, would look like as an eight year old. Amy loved that kid, despite her developing a distinct petulant streak by the time she was sent back in time. But, what would you expect, being the daughter of the Connor's, a Princess complex was inevitable really.
"Uh huh…" Sarah turned back to the road with suspicion written all over her face. "We're here."
Amy sat up in the front seat and tried to peer out of the window, they were indeed at their destination, parked around the corner away from the lighthouse where Charley currently resided. Her attention was torn away from the street as Sarah released a sigh.
"You ready?" She sounded more than a little reluctant to send Amy out there, just why, she wasn't really sure.
Amy looked up at Sarah, and after a moment, a beaming smile spread across her face. "Of course."
"Alright," Sarah said with a small nod. "Just remember the plan, and good luck."
Rolling her eyes dramatically, Amy couldn't help but be a little touched at Sarah's concern for her wellbeing. Pulling the door handle and pushing the heavy door open, Amy slid out of the truck and hopped down on to the sidewalk, following it up with her customary door slam. Just as she started walking in the direction of the lighthouse, she heard Sarah's voice from behind her.
"Be careful, alright." Amy looked back to see Sarah's head poking out from the driver's side window. With another roll of her eyes, a grateful smile and a wave of her arm, Amy ushered Sarah back inside the truck. While she was delighted at her reactions, it wouldn't do anybody any good to spot Sarah Connor hovering around.
As Sarah sank back in to her seat, she watched Amy skip away happily and round the corner out of her sight. Releasing a breath that ended up coming out as a sigh, she huddled herself lower down in to the seat, hoping to avoid any curious passers by, and or Vasquez's men that might have been hanging around.
She didn't really know what had gotten in to her lately. She was treating Cameron like a human, a regular girl that her son loved. She was tolerating Derek's suspicious behaviour, and the woman he thought she knew nothing about. But now she was seeing Amy off like she really was an eight year old girl, the only thing missing was a 'sweetheart' comment and a kiss on her cheek. She put it down to the sickness she'd been going through lately.
She was well aware that everyone in her life knew she was ill, it was pretty tough to miss her losing her guts every morning and not eating during the day. John was worried about her, but fortunately he took after her in the 'dealing with your feelings' category. He wouldn't say anything, in fact, she had a feeling the only ones who'd eventually say something wouldn't even be human at all, and that thought sucked.
She had no desire to see Amy and particularly Cameron trying to play nursemaid when she inevitable got worse. Sarah Connor does not get waited on by anybody, least of all by a couple of machines. Besides, she had no intention of ever allowing herself to get that bad, she'd literally have to be on death's doorstep before she became bedridden. She had too much to do. Charley was in danger, John was under threat from Vasquez, plus the looming spectre of Judgement Day on the horizon meant she still had a lot of work to do, and she wouldn't stop until she'd done all she could for John.
That was why she felt guilty about the mission she was on now. She cared for Charley, she really did, but John always came first, always took priority. If that meant Charley became expendable, then that was something she'd just have to accept. She wouldn't like it, she'd mourn and weep for Charley. But everybody dies for John, it was all for John.
Amy meanwhile had happily skipped her way towards the lighthouse, not weighed down by the deep thought Sarah had. Instead, she had only her mission to focus on. Or rather, she should have. The damage to her chip unfortunately affected her ability to focus on one task and she found her mind wandering to Sarah.
She didn't like her friend being sick. She didn't like any of her friends suffering, however in her line of work it was something that tended to happen often. The first experience she ever had of having a friend ended badly, with her friend Jenny being murdered by Skynet controlled machines. She didn't want to see anything bad happen to Sarah, she was after all sent back to protect her.
But, how could she protect her from something she couldn't prevent? It was out of her control what was happening to Sarah, her slow decline in health. However, she couldn't help but feel guilty. Sarah had only started getting sick since she arrived in the past. Amy's messed up chip, and as a result her unstable emotions held her somehow accountable for what was happening.
But, taking John's admittedly shaky advice from their earlier conversation, she plastered on her smile and made out like nothing was amiss. If John had been doing it for seventeen years, she could manage it for a little while.
Shrugging it off and picking up her pace, she arrived at the door to the home at the bottom of the lighthouse. Taking a moment to ensure she looked presentable, and tucking a few errant strands of dark brown hair behind her ear, She reached up and knocked on the door. She wasn't used to dark hair, and brought a couple of strands in front of her face to examine it closer.
"Hmm…"
Filing it away for later use to experiment with changing her hair colour permanently, Amy tucked it back behind her ear and plastered on a bright smile as she heard somebody approaching the door.
Charley opened the door wide open, something Sarah would probably have kittens over, and looked around. Eventually his eyes landed on the little girl standing on his doorstep gently swaying from side to side and smiling up at him. Confused wasn't the word to describe what he was feeling…baffled was more accurate.
"Um…hi, can I help you?" He asked, clearly not knowing what else to say. Was she lost? Where were her parents?
"Here are your cookies." Amy extended her hand from behind her back and held out a box of cookies towards him.
Now Charley was an intelligent man. He knew for a fact he hadn't ordered any cookies, at least not from the girl scout currently standing on his doorstep. He looked down as she held out the box towards him with one hand and fiddled with her sash with the other. But he just couldn't force himself to follow Sarah's rules and slam the door on anybody he didn't recognise trying to give him something. Apparently bombs were getting quite small these days.
"Um…I didn't order any cookies, sweetheart." He knelt down to the little girl's height and forced a smile himself, a warm smile that nobody could deny was that of a gentle man. No wonder Sarah liked this guy.
"Oh. But I have the order right here." She tucked the box under her arm and fished in one of her pockets and pulled out a piece of paper and read from it. "One box of double chocolate chip for this address."
She tucked the paper back in her pocket and re-offered the box out to him. "These are yours."
Now his resistance totally crumbled. He was confused, wary, but totally charmed off his feet by the little girl in front of him. Nobody could be so cruel as to use this little angel to deliver a bomb. Deciding it was probably just a mistake at the Girl Scout HQ or something, he reached out and accepted the box.
"Uh, thanks sweetie. Um, how much do I owe you?"
"Four dollars and seventy cents please." Amy reached out and rather impolitely stuck her hand out flat, palm facing up, waiting for him to deposit some cash in her hand.
Charley smiled and chuckled at her impatience. Anybody else does that and they get a scowl for having terrible manners, but this little girl did it and she just looked cute as hell. He stood up and started heading back in to his home.
"Just hold on a second sweetie, I'l go grab my wallet." Before he'd even gotten the words out of his mouth, the little girl was wailing like a banshee and had squeezed past him.
"What a cute little doggy!" She squealed as she knelt down to cuddle the labrador's neck. The dog responded in kind and licked Amy's cheek as if it was covered in chocolate.
"What's his name?" Amy shrieked excitedly, switching sides so he could lick her other cheek.
"Um, his name's Indiana. He seems to like you." Charley said through a chuckle as he picked up his wallet and fished out a five dollar note.
Amy cuddled the dog in closer and giggled as he licked her nose. She screwed her eyes shut as the dog carried on licking higher.
"Here you go sweetie." Charley said as he offered the money out to the girl scout currently falling in love with his dog.
Amy reluctantly pulled away from the dog and stood, having to push him down to the floor, such was his eagerness to be friendly. "Thanks!" She said with a broad smile on her face as she took the cash and pocketed it. "Oh, I'll get your change. Let's see, um…"
She held up her hands and started counting on her fingers. "Five, take away, four…" Her face scrunched up in to a frown as she tried to work out the maths of giving him his change.
Charley chuckled and kneeled down again. "Hey, it's alright honey, you just keep the change alright."
A massive smile found it's way to Amy's face again and she bobbed up and down with delight. "Thanks!"
With that, she leaned down and petted the dog again. "Bye Indiana!"
Charley watched as she walked away towards the door. He actually had to bend down to grab the dog's collar to stop it chasing after her. Just as he looked up, Amy had spun around and was waving at him from the doorway. "Bye Mr. Francies."
Amy finished of waving and turned around to leave, but not before noticing Charley's wide smile turning in to a frown.
Mission accomplished.
As she bounced back towards Sarah's position, a smug grin formed on her face. For once her advanced make up had been to her advantage. Thanks to Skynet, she could just as easily blend in amongst dogs and other animals as easily as a human could.
She skipped her way to the corner where the jeep was located. It was at that point that, after a quick check around, Amy allowed her form to shimmer again and revert back to her 'natural' form. The blonde pigtails returned, as did her skin tone and facial features. She also decided to ditch the dress, but kept the sash, it complimented her new dress nicely, plus, it as a sash, why not keep it?
As she rounded the corner, she noticed Sarah sitting up in the truck, eagerly awaiting her arrival. She made her way to the passenger side where the door swung open, Sarah having pushed it open from the inside. As Amy hopped up in to the truck with her smile still in place, Sarah felt the corner of her own lips rising almost of their own accord, such was Amy's infectious demeanour.
"It went well I take it?" She asked while turning the key in the ignition.
"Hell yeah! Three bugs in the living room, audio only. Two from what I could see in the kitchen and one on the phone. They're definitely watching your boyfriend. Nice guy by the way, he gave me the change!"
"Hey, he's not my boyfriend." Despite herself, Sarah smirked just a little bit more. "Nice job Amy, proud of you."
Amy shuffled over in the seat and flung her arms around Sarah's waist in a gesture she didn't really process before doing. She simply had an impulse to do it. "And you doubted me!"
Sarah looked down as Amy flashed her a grin. With a shake of her head, she put the car in drive and pulled away, but not before ruffling the top of her head…then catching herself lingering just a moment too long with her hand on her hair.
"Good girl."
"Hey, boss." Pablo gave the man sitting next to him a quick nudge.
Peeking out from under the brim of his hat, not exactly thrilled at being woken up, the boss looked over to his subordinate with a barely contained glare.
"Look!"
Sincerely hoping this was worth the effort, he craned his neck up to look out of the window…just in time to see a little Girl Scout with dark hair reflecting the sunlight, then the next moment she was gone, replaced by a little blonde girl.
He reached forward and plucked his cell phone off the dashboard. Flipping it open, he punched in the speed dial for his boss and held the phone to his ear. Pable sat waiting nervously, the boss meanwhile looked as cool, calm and collected as he was when he was dozing a moment ago.
"Yeah, it's me…Looks like we've got Connor's pet metal over here…No, not that one, the little one…Yeah, I wish it was the other one…Alright…You got it Mr. Vasquez."
With that he hung up and carefully placed the phone down on the dash. "Follow that thing."
Pablo watched as the Australian sank back down in to his seat and pulled his hat back down to shield his eyes. Starting the van, Pablo performed a U-Turn and headed down the street Amy had gone down, he could only hope the little girl would be easy to follow. Everyone knew the reputation of this, Mr. Quinn sitting beside him, and he didn't want to be the poor sap who disappointed him.
Slowly crawling down the street, he kept his eyes peeled for any signs of the little girl he saw a moment ago. He looked left, he looked right, hell, he even looked up, but there was no sign of the girl. He slowed down even further, taking extra care to peer down every side street and back alley.
With his palms starting to become sweaty despite the air conditioning, Pablo carried on his path. The little girl couldn't have gotten very far. If only he'd looked in his rear view mirror, he'd have seen something glimmering as it seemed to melt away from a storefront window and take the form of a small child. If he'd looked a little harder in his mirror, he might have even seen her giving a cheeky wave in the direction of the departing van before happily skipping away to rendezvous with Sarah.
Apologies for the lengthy delay again, but at least it wasn't a month this time! :)
Also please note that Dekardkain's story 'Becoming John Connor' will be delayed for a while. The author has suffered a HDD failure and the almost completed chapter was lost and will take a while to re-write.
Thank you for reading this public service broadcast!