Hey guys,

As always, thanks to all reviewers, they're very much appreciated.

As long as John Connor lived, he was pretty certain he'd never get used to waking up with Cameron Phillips' shoulder for a pillow. But there he was, dragging himself out of his slumber and picking his sweaty cheek up off her skin. As if that wasn't bad enough, upon closer inspection, he discovered a less than attractive patch of drunken drool on her otherwise flawless porcelain skin. Wiping it off with a groan, he allowed his head to slump back down where he dropped a couple of kisses on her chest, "Mmmm, morning Princess."

"Nice to see you, John." Smiling, Cameron lightly ran her fingertips up her lover's bare arm where it rested across her body, "Did you sleep well?"

"Like a baby." Closing his eyes again, John used the arm slung across her to snuggle in tighter, "I know it sounds silly…but I love waking up with you."

Tilting her head to the side curiously, Cameron slowly ran her hand through the short hair on the back of his head, "Why? Isn't sleep the goal when laying in bed at night?"

"I just feel…comfortable with you," No matter how hard he willed his blood vessels to comply, John couldn't keep the blush off his cheeks, "I feel safe."

"Good," For Cameron, no greater compliment could ever be payed, it was her job after all to keep him safe. While laying there idly playing with his hair, she marvelled at how the dynamics of a relationship could shift when physical intimacy was involved. Before they'd became a couple, she was pretty sure John had always loved her, but he'd never have paid her such a compliment without the added influence of a sexual relationship.

Sinking lower in the bed, she wrapped her strong arms around her man and tangled her legs with his, "It's my job to keep you safe."

John couldn't keep the goofy grin off his lips now that he was face to face with his girlfriend, not too discretely taking in her sweet scent, "You feel warmer than usual."

"You've been laying on me all night," Cameron pointed out in her usual deadpan tone, looking down at the drying patch of drool pointedly, "Your body heat has increased the ambient temperature, you kept me warm."

"I'm sorry," John stifled a yawn to the best of his abilities as he snuggled in tighter, "I hope I wasn't too uncomfortable. I didn't mean to pass out on you."

"You were exhausted," Cameron replied with a shrug, silently thrilled with how he thought she could actually be uncomfortable and apologising for it. "You've had a busy few weeks."

"It's your fault anyways," John tilted his head up and gently kissed her neck, "You're just too comfy."

Despite his words making no sense, Cameron smiled while squeezing his flank gently where her hand rested, "I'm made of coltan alloy…I'm not comfortable."

"Don't care what your skeleton is made of," John replied instantly with a shake of his head, playfully pinching the skin on her back, "You're comfy."

Laying her head flat on the pillow, hair fanning out beneath her, Cameron scanned every flicker of John's eyelids, his general demeanour and his physical state before coming to a conclusion she already knew, "You're happier than you were two days ago."

Smiling at the feeling of her thumb idly caressing his side, John leaned down and brushed some hair from her face, "Of course I am. You made me the happiest guy on Earth."

"But you're still in pain," Cameron answered carefully, running her fingers over a nasty looking bruise on his midsection with her usual feather light touch.

Doing his best to fight off a shiver at her touch, John closed his eyes again, content to lay with her a little while longer, "Not that much. It feels better now."

"Did I hurt you two nights ago?" Cameron asked, looking at him with eyes as wide as saucers, full of concern, tearing her gaze away from his ribs.

"Of course not," John answered as his eyes shot open, shaking his head at the same time. Deciding she needed a little reassurance, he leaned in and kissed her long and gently, just the way he knew she liked, "Are you okay? You seemed a bit…disturbed."

Returning his kiss, albeit a little more chaste than the one he initiated, Cameron gently lay her hand on his cheek, cold metal digits flattening out against his warm skin, "I've never felt anything like it before. It was…intense."

Surprising even himself, John leaned into her touch on instinct. He was amazed with himself how comfortable he'd grown with seeing her exposed endoskeleton when two days ago it would have sent him scrambling out of bed. Putting it down to the effect of having a mini breakdown and finally getting his head out of his ass, he cast any built in discomfort aside and focused on the woman he loved, "Is that a good thing? Did you like it?"

Slowly running her thumb across his cheek, Cameron couldn't put into words the delight that flooded through her chip when he didn't even flinch, much less pull away, "I did like it, very much. It surprised me, but it wasn't unpleasant."

"I'm just happy you finally got to experience what I do when we make love." Turning slightly, John laid a string of gentle kisses across her metal knuckles, smirking the entire way as he watched her expression change with each kiss, "Pretty cool, huh?"

Cameron watched with rapt interest as she idly curled her finger around his, watching the pistons and servos move while he kissed, "That's what you've been experiencing since we became intimate? I didn't know, if I had, I would've tried harder to experience it."

"I tried to tell you how good it could be," Shifting his hand so he could entwine his fingers with hers, John shuffled his head so he could watch both her face and their hands, "But I kinda figured I would have to show you before you understood."

"I feel I should thank you for your patience with me," Giving his fingers a squeeze, Cameron smiled kindly at her lover, "It took almost twice the length of our usual lovemaking for the incident to occur."

"Totally worth it," John couldn't help but grin like an idiot as he thought back to the way her face looked as she moved on top of him, "I don't mind putting a little effort into it."

"I found a slower pace to be…enjoyable." Despite her words, a frown crept onto her face, "Did you enjoy it too?"

"I uh…" John just about managed to fight off a major blush, looking down, "I got mine."

Leaning forward slowly, Cameron gifted him with a soft, gentle kiss, squeezing his fingers and gently sucking his bottom lip between hers before pulling back. "It's good that you overcame your instincts," She glanced at their joined hands pointedly, "About this."

"You're still my Cameron." John couldn't help but frown, giving her cold fingers a squeeze by way of apology, "I'm so sorry I forgot that."

"I like that," Cameron replied rather oddly with a tilt of her head.

"Like what?" John asked, clearly confused by the non sequitur.

"'My Cameron', I like that."

Just from the way Cameron was smiling brought a wide grin to John's face as he dropped a kiss on the tip of her nose, "Well you are my Cameron."

Smiling in reply, Cameron shuffled her body closer, pressing herself flush against him, "And I'm sorry you had to suffer two cracked bones in your foot to realise that."

John couldn't help but look a little embarrassed when his body responded to having a very naked Cameron Phillips pressed against him like that. Glancing down, he certainly was glad he'd had the 'morning wood' talk with Cameron now that they were sleeping and living together. "Kicking the tub was a pretty stupid idea, but it worked out okay."

Smiling at the way she could cause a reaction in John's body, feeling the evidence of that against her leg, Cameron grazed the fingernails of her free hand down his chest, "Do you wish to see if you can replicate the results now?"

Smiling like a goofy kid, John couldn't help the giddy feeling at her words, "Eager for a repeat performance?"

"You did fall asleep on me last night," Ducking her head lower, she dropped a couple of teasing kisses on his chest, lazily drifting her way across the expanse of skin, "Do you feel you owe it to me?"

"I don't have to owe it to you," Closing his eyes, John could feel himself relaxing under her touch, "All you ever have to do is ask."

Pulling back, Cameron fixed him with a 'really?' look, "I have to ask?"

Smirking, John leaned forward and dropped a kiss on her forehead, "Nicely."

Never one to be beaten easily, Cameron pushed him flat on his back with relative ease before straddling his waist with a smile, the bed covers slipping 'accidentally' from her nude body. "How nicely?" She enquired while leaning down to nuzzle his neck while he considered his answer.

John let out a soft groan as his hands came to rest on her thighs, wondering just when and how she became so seductive, "Being polite…is important."

As much as John enjoyed games and teasing, Cameron was in no mood, "Please John…"

Kissing his neck one last time, she switched to the other side to lavish some attention on the skin just above his jugular, she mumbled against his skin, "Make me feel good."

"That might just be the sexiest thing I've ever heard."

Amy Baum had always had a short attention span, she blamed it on a trigger happy Skynet screwing with her systems. But that morning she found herself running really short of entertainment, just how Cameron managed to lay next to John while he slept for eight hours every night she'd never know.

It was Amy's job to patrol at night and keep the house, Sarah in particular, safe. She'd done that, got bored, wandered around the neighbourhood, got bored again and came back. She'd almost exhausted her supply of Disney movies too. She'd treated herself to one movie per night/morning when everyone was asleep and she only had three days worth of movies left.

Life sucks!

She hadn't even changed shape in two days because she didn't want to risk a reoccurrence of the incidents she'd been experiencing lately. The degradation rate had dropped considerably since she'd stopped shape shifting, but that integrity percentage was still slowly, and worryingly, dropping.

So until everybody else woke up, she had to make her own entertainment. Tying Derek's shoelaces together provided a small modicum of relief, but that soon wore off when she realised she'd still have to wait for him to wake up to provide any fun.

Then she considered screwing with Cameron, but couldn't come up with anything that didn't involve going into her room where she was obviously very alert and not sleeping. She'd never mess with Sarah like that, or Jessica for that matter who still slumbered upstairs. That left John.

She briefly considered swapping out all the crunchy cheese things for the puffy ones, but that whole thing just reeked of effort and planning…that made it a firm no no.

Huffing in annoyance, she decided she'd had enough of being on her own. After all, Sarah was usually awake to keep her company at this time in the morning. Hell, Sarah was usually awake as soon as a crack of daylight filtered through her window, but not that morning.

Based on the amount of alcohol Amy had seen her consume the day before, it didn't surprise her that Sarah had decided to make an exception to her early starts today. But that just wouldn't do, just because she was hungover didn't mean Amy should be deprived of the first face she usually saw in the morning.

Hopping down off the couch and pausing her Little Mermaid DVD, Amy set off towards the stairs, intent on waking Sarah up whether she wanted to be or not. When she reached the top of the stairs however, a noise caught her attention from down the hall.

Slowly and quietly making her way towards the final door on the left, Derek's room, she opened the door just a crack to peek in. She didn't know whether to find the sight incredibly heartwarming, or to burst out in a fit of giggles.

Jessica was laying on her side on Derek's bed, her nose bright red, sniffling and sneezing. While even cuter, Derek kneeled beside the bed gently getting the hair out of her face and whispering quietly to her. Oh how she would never let him live it down for seeing his sweet and tender side, caring for his obviously sick girlfriend like that.

Grinning to herself and filing the image away for later use, Amy slipped quietly back into the hallway, ignoring the quiet conversation coming from the future husband and wife's room and carrying on her path to Sarah's door.

Pushing it open quietly, Amy smiled to herself at the sight of Sarah face down on the bed, snoring, exactly where she'd left her the night before. Usually at the sound of anybody opening the door, Sarah would've been up and pointing the 9mm she kept under her pillow. But not today.

Quietly, the little machine made her way over to the window. Checking one last time over her shoulder, she proceeded to throw the drapes open wide, bathing the room in bright sunlight. That task completed, she literally skipped her way over to the bed, clambered up onto it and stood a moment before launching herself higher in the air, bouncing energetically on the springs, "Wakey, wakey Sarah!"

Frowning, Sarah tossed an arm over her eyes, and in a very un Sarah Connor like move, let out a low growl, "Fuck off."

"Sarah!" Amy whined with a pout for full effect as she carried on bouncing, "That's a naughty word!"

"You lived with soldiers!" Sarah replied groggily, opening her eyes experimentally and immediately slamming them shut again. "Go bug Derek!"

"But he's too busy taking care of Aunt Jessica," Flopping down on the bed with a less than ladylike grunt, Amy plastered on her best pout as she landed on her knees, "Whatsa matter?"

"Stop doing that!" Clutching simultaneously at her head and her stomach, Sarah was in no mood to be jostled by the little girl that weighted more than any normal little girl should have. However, she couldn't quite keep the smirk from creeping across her lips, "The model having trouble keeping up huh?"

"She's in a better state than you," Taking a moment to prod at Sarah's belly through the covers, seemingly blissfully unaware of the current unstable status of said belly. "She even manages to look good when she's sick."

"The bit…how would you know?" Sarah grumbled, swatting blindly at the tiny metal hand poking her hungover belly.

"I've been in for a looksy," Smirking knowingly when she had her hand swatted away, Amy shuffled her little body higher and began prodding her finger into Sarah's cheek, "You look prettttty today!"

"Thought you said I looked worse than the model?" Feeling a cold, stubby finger in her cheek, she again swatted at the offending digit, although she couldn't entirely suppress a smirk, Amy's childlike and cutesy voice getting to her like it usually did.

"You do, but you still look pretttty!" Unable to totally suppress a grin, Amy stopped prodding Sarah's cheek momentarily, only to latch her thumb and forefinger onto her eyelashes. Not giving Sarah a moment, she pulled, hard.

"Owwww!" Finally sitting up, her head swimming, Sarah glared at Amy. "What do you think you're…why the hell am I naked?"

Sitting back on her haunches, glad she'd gotten the reaction she wanted, Amy grinned proud and wide, "I helped you get undressed last night when you were half asleep."

Actually, Sarah had practically begged Amy not to leave, but that was something Amy decided was best left for another time to reveal.

"Just you?" Sarah asked with a slight smile, eyeing a particularly nice pattern on Amy's dress for a moment, "I had the weirdest dream that Cameron was in my room."

"Well you are kinda heavy," Amy remarked with a shrug, looking as innocent as she could, "I needed some help."

"Cameron saw me…like this?" Sarah asked, glancing down at her nude body and turning an odd shade of red-ish green.

"Oh come on, it's not the first time," Amy replied with a bright smile. Standing up again, her smile never faded as she started bouncing on Sarah's bed energetically, "How do you feel? A little tender?"

"Like a Terminator stomped on my skull," Sarah answered honestly, trying her best to ignore the smirk on Amy's face as she jumped, "That girl…she just drives me to drink. She's so…so…"

"Yeah, Cameron is annoying," Amy commented nonchalantly, grinning as she bounced in a circle, performing a full 360 degree spin.

Rolling her eyes, Sarah propped herself up on one hand, tugging the covers up to her chest with the other, "I meant Jessica. She's so damn bubbly! How the hell can someone like Derek deal with that?"

"I think she's nice." Amy commented as she flopped down again, this time with one leg either side of Sarah's. Idly playing with one of her pigtails, she huffed a little disappointedly, "You don't like her?"

"She's a distraction," Sarah answered with a nod, followed by a frown when the throbbing in her head started again, "And a dangerous one the way she makes Derek so…open."

"You kidding me?" Amy eyed Sarah skeptically, twirling a pigtail around her finger innocently, "She thinks Derek is a mercenary and that Cameron and John are siblings. Can't get more closed off than that."

Quirking a brow, Sarah tilted her head a fraction to the left, "I thought she thought he was retired?"

Amy shrugged, "She 'worked it out' last night," She paused to hook her fingers in the air, "Thinks she's caught him by surprise by knowing so much. Should keep her at bay until she realises she didn't hallucinate John and Cameron practically having sex by the fire."

Sarah couldn't fight off the scowl that flashed across her face, although it wasn't so much in revulsion, more like parental disappointment. Now that realisation did cause more than a little revulsion she had to swallow down, "Can't those two ever keep it in their pants?"

"Reminds me of the future," Amy shrugged nonchalantly, and a little mysteriously as she traced the outline of the flower pattern of the bedspread with her finger, right on top of Sarah's legs.

Normally, the idea of a machine quietly running it's finger in circles mere inches from her bare legs would've sent Sarah into a fit of panic. But oddly enough she paid it no mind as she looked decidedly conflicted about something else. "What…what are they like? In the future?"

Amy glanced up, trying to read Sarah's expression. She was surprised to say the least that she even wanted to know the answer to that, "Screw like bunnies, scream like banshees when they're pissed," She shrugged, "Just an average week."

"Wait…they fight?" Sarah asked with a confused quirk of her brow, "They're always so sweet together. Makes me wanna puke some days. I can't imagine them yelling."

"Um…she's…temperamental." Amy smiled, although it came off as a little creepy, "And he's never been the easiest to deal with."

Sarah ignored the odd look on Amy's face, "Well I know he can be an ass, but she doesn't get angry. She's a machine," Sarah reasoned with a shrug.

Amy felt her face twisting into a frown. She really thought her and Sarah were past that as she climbed off of her legs, folding her arms across her chest. "We're not all as primitive as Uncle Bob you know."

"But she doesn't get angry," Seemingly missing Amy's shift in mood, Sarah repeated it like it was a mantra, "If she did she could be dangerous."

Amy rolled her eyes as she shuffled around to face Sarah properly, not exactly thrilled with having to explain this for about the thousandth time, "She gets happy, she gets sad. She gets angry, she gets horny. Basically an average Sarah Connor day, she can go through it all."

"She does not get horny," Sarah resolutely shook her head in reply, "Please…tell me she doesn't."

"Why do you think she goes through the trouble of sleeping with your son?" Amy grinned knowingly, "She doesn't do it just to keep warm you know."

"Because John likes it…and John is everything to her." Sarah shrugged, assuming that was all there was to it, "She wasn't designed to feel pleasure, Amy. She may find it 'intriguing', or whatever the hell she calls it, but not the same way I do."

Amy stuck her bottom lip out adorably by way of response, "You don't think I feel happiness when I do something I like?"

"I wasn't talking about emotions. I was talking about pleasure."

"Fine." Amy sat up properly, deciding to put Sarah straight with something only she knew, in this timeline anyway. "Cameron has more nerve receptors in her body than you do, okay? She's designed and built to feel everything, it's just that most of her nerves aren't really awake yet. But they will be." Aiming a gentle punch at Sarah's legs through the covers, Amy grinned, "So yeah, she can feel pleasure…lots of it."

"Yet?" Sarah couldn't help but look alarmed at that one little word, "As in, some day she'll be even more sensitive than a human?"

Amy nodded slowly, "Mmhmm. But she doesn't know it yet, and neither does John. So you gotta keep it a secret, okay?"

Sarah frowned pointedly, ignoring the requested promise, "My God…that means she did break the headboard!"

"You really thought John could do that to an inch thick piece of wood?" Amy tilted her head a fraction and sat up a little higher, "He's not that strong yet!"

"You keep using that word, 'yet'." Sarah shook her head, "Kyle…he wasn't that big."

"He wasn't sleeping with a cyborg!" Amy answered with an impish grin as she stood up, "John will be huge!"

"You never met him?" Sarah asked curiously, although tinged with a sad smile, "Did you? John's father."

Amy shook her head slowly, stretching her arms above her head, trying in vain to see if she could reach the ceiling, "Nope, he was gone before I was created. Why?"

"He was…" Sarah shook her head, reminding herself of who she was talking to, feeling the covers pull when the little metal girl took a step to steady herself, her bare feet digging into the comforter. "Are the lovebirds up yet?"

"In a manner of speaking," Amy replied with a smile, letting her arms swing down to her sides, faintly picking up the noise of John groaning and Cameron yelping in surprise. Now that was odd. "Come on, we gotta get up. I'm so bored downstairs by myself!"

Sighing, Sarah rubbed her face tiredly, swinging her legs over the side of the bed and remembering an important fact, "Well I need clothes before I can do anything."

"Ooooh, wear those cute new jeans and that top I picked out for you!" Amy squealed happily as she hopped down off the bed, clapping her hands together in glee, already halfway to Sarah's underwear drawer.

"Those jeans are too tight," Sarah replied with a smirk, trying to sound serious, and yet Amy's exuberance was getting the better of her, "And the top doesn't cover my stomach!"

Pulling open the drawer she knew Sarah kept her underwear in, Amy started rummaging around, "Well it'll cover up the fact you look like crap today."

Pulling out something small, black and lacy with a wicked grin, Amy knew full well they were more than likely a Cameron choice from their last shopping trip. "Ooooh, these are nice!"

Sarah frowned, so set in her ways that she didn't even want to consider anything other than what she knew. "There is no reason for me to wear something like that, Amy. Bring me something comfy."

The absurdity of sitting on the edge of her bed, totally naked whilst debating the finer points of underwear choices with a machine was not lost on Sarah at all. But if she was honest with herself, she didn't really care…either that or she was just too hungover to really consider it.

"Those are comfy, you just have to put the damn things on first and see for yourself." Grinning, she deftly flicked the underwear at Sarah's head, satisfied beyond measure when they found their target squarely, "Come on, I'm sure you feel the need to look good today, especially after yesterday."

"What the hell are you up to Amy?" Sarah asked with narrowed eyes and a sigh, pulling the garment from her face. However, she still stood and slipped on the underwear, quirking a brow when she realised they fit her perfectly. Cameron certainly had a talent for judging size. "I know you."

Amy turned around, looking incensed at the accusation. That was until she grinned and flicked a similarly lacy black bra towards Sarah. "Nothing, I just wanna help you feel good about yourself for a change. Besides, how often will you have the chance to put a fashion model to shame?"

"I thought you said she was sick?" Sarah asked with a roll of her eyes as she deftly caught the bra in mid air, not exactly thrilled by being dressed up by a machine.

"She is, and she looks like crap, her nose is bright red, like Rudolph!" Turning away from the drawers with a giggle, Amy was immeasurably pleased when she found Sarah had donned the underwear she'd picked out. "By the time I'm finished with you, you could even put Cameron to shame!"

"But why bother?" Sarah asked sceptically, leaning forward to check her face in the mirror, "They need to look good. They have…reasons."

Sighing, Amy pushed the drawer closed and shuffled up behind Sarah. "Is it so wrong in the book of Sarah Connor badassness to want to look good on occasion, sexy even?"

"Page one, paragraph two," Sarah replied without missing a beat, smirking the whole time, "Right after the section on pipe bombs."

Grinning, Amy wrapped her small arms around Sarah's waist from behind and gave her a squeeze, "Can we do something fun today?"

Quirking a brow dubiously, Sarah shrugged, the feeling of Amy's cold arms wrapped around her oddly not bothering her in the way it should have. "Define fun."

"There's a carnival in town. I've always wanted to go on a rollercoaster!" Amy grinned into Sarah's back, giving her what she hoped was an encouraging squeeze.

Sarah couldn't help but chuckle to herself, tentatively laying a hand on top of Amy's, "You are such a child sometimes."

Shrugging, Amy smiled again, "It's what I do! So…is that a yes?"

Giving Amy a long, hard look in the mirror, Sarah couldn't hold it any longer without cracking a tiny smile, "I did need to go and pick up some clothes for John today."

"Awesome!" Taking that as a definite yes, Amy gave Sarah a tight hug before releasing her, "Oooh, we can go on rides, you can show off your outfit, maybe you'll even have a little fun!"

"Fine," Sarah answered with a roll of her eyes, trying to sound casual and parentally annoyed, "But you're the one who has to tell Cameron she's cooking dinner tonight because I won't have time."

Grinning like an idiot, Amy could barely contain her glee, bouncing excitedly on the balls of her feet, "We are gonna have soooo much fun!"

Running his hands over his cheeks and letting out a weary sigh, Quinn took a moment to admire the view out of his office wall. Made entirely of glass in a high rise office building, it gave him an unspoiled view of the majority of Los Angeles. There were some benefits to working for a lunatic who liked to pretend he was a businessman after all.

Dropping his hands to his sides, they came to rest on his desk where he was currently leaning on the edge, facing out to the skyline. Deciding he may as well get some work done, he plucked his cellphone off the desk and fished a small scrap of paper out of his pocket.

Scribbled on it was a phone number. He punched the number in the cell phone with one hand and discarded the paper back on to his desk and rested his free hand on his lap.

A dial tone, that was a start. Patience was never one of his virtues, but it felt like forever before somebody answered. Eventually though he heard a click followed by deafening noise coming rom the other end of the line, so much so he had to pull the phone away from his ear with a grimace.

Gingerly returning it to his ear, he had to yell down the receiver just to make sure he'd be heard, "HELLO! CLAYTON, YOU THERE?"

Pausing for a moment while yet another thunderous noise travelled down the line, "ALFIE! HELLO! IT'S QUINN!"

Smiling when he heard a familiar, albeit yelling and muffled voice from down the phone, Quinn folded one arm across his chest while he held the phone to his ear with the other, "YEAH, LONG TIME!"

Straining his ears to pick up the muffled voice, he could barely make out anything going on, "ALFIE, WHERE ARE YOU? YOU SOUND LIKE YOU'RE IN A DAMN WARZONE…OH, YOU ARE?"

As if his timing couldn't get any worse, Vasquez chose that moment to enter the office he'd given to his hired mercenary under the guise of security. Actually, he was just passing the office when he heard raised voices and noticed the distinct lack of an assistant outside the office waiting to greet visitors. Pushing open the door, he found Quinn yelling down the phone, leaning on his desk facing out towards the window and away from the door.

Casually entering the room, he wasn't surprised when Quinn swivelled his neck around almost 180 degrees and he held up a finger to indicate he'd only be a minute. With a nod, Vasquez let his eyes roam around the room, quirking a brow when they landed on the rather surprising homely touches the mercenary had added, like the potted plant on his desk, and a novelty complaints ticket dispenser modelled on a grenade.

He couldn't help but chuckle at the man's gruff exterior, and yet either he done it on purpose to improve his image around the office, or he had the genuine desire to blow people up if they dare question him. Either way, Vasquez found the oddity entertaining.

"WHAT? WELL I'VE GOT A JOB FOR YOU," Quinn yelled into his phone, turning away from his boss and adjusting his angle to keep his back to the man.

"NO, IT'S ALRIGHT, YOU'RE BUSY…WELL YOU ARE BEING SHOT AT…LOS ANGELES," Quinn glanced back over his shoulder before sticking a finger in his other ear.

"BUT YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT IT IS YET…YEAH THE PAY IS GOOD…BUT YOU CAN'T JUST…ALRIGHT, SEE YOU IN A FEW DAYS," He could've sworn he heard a grenade exploding right before he hung up, but he dismissed it, Alfie would probably just shoot the guy who threw it between the eyes anyway.

"How are things progressing?" Vasquez enquired, hands clasped behind his back as he admired some of the fine art he'd decorated all his offices with. It was better than staring at the back of the Australian's head.

"Not bad," Quinn remarked, shuffling on his desk and setting the phone down in favour of gripping the edge of his desk and looking over his shoulder, "Just doing some recruiting, we should be good to go soon."

"Excellent," Vasquez replied with a firm nod, still keeping his attention on a particularly nice print above the door, "Where is Erin?"

"Oh, uh…" Quinn couldn't fight off the smirk on his face as he glanced down at his lap, "She's taking care of a problem for me."

"Very well," Vasquez turned around, finding it a little odd that Quinn hadn't even bothered to stand up properly yet, despite the presence of his employer. Putting it down to the mercenary lacking basic manners, he scoffed gruffly, "Keep me updated."

With that he left the office, the door swishing shut behind him. Quinn breathed a sigh of relief as he looked down at his lap. That man was a giant pain in his ass, but unfortunately he was the one signing the cheques, so he'd have to keep him sweet.

Allowing his eyes to roll back in his head, he tossed his head back and gripped the edge of the desk tighter, his knuckles turning white. The timing of his entry couldn't have been worse either, barging in in the middle of a phone call was rude enough, but he could've at least knocked first. As it was, he'd just had to carry on and push through it regardless.

With a grunt and a shudder, Quinn slammed his hand down onto another spot on the desk while biting his cheek to keep the noise down. Finally allowing his eyes to crack open and his head to return to level, he was greeted by the delightful sight of Erin raising back up to her feet in front of him, gently dabbing at the corners of her mouth with a grin that told him just how much she knew exactly what she was doing to him by carrying on with her 'job' when Vasquez had entered the room.

Fortunately enough the man couldn't see her kneeling down behind the desk, otherwise she'd have been searching for a new job in the morning. Carefully setting Quinn's boxers back in place and buttoning him up with a coy smile, Erin looked up at her boss. "Will that be all, Mr. Quinn?"

Breaking out into a wide grin and a chuckle, Quinn settled his hands on her hips, "That will be all Miss Wilkes. Thank you for taking care of that problem for me."

Smiling wickedly, she slipped out of his grasp and started making her way towards the office door, heels clicking on the tile floor, she couldn't wait to get her phone and tell her best girlfriend what she'd just done, so out of character as it was, but this man just seemed to have some strange effect on her. Quinn meanwhile settled down into his chair and watched her as she left, shaking his head in disbelief at how easy he'd managed to get that one 'onboard'.

Picking his phone up with a smirk, he dialled the next number on his list. Including Clayton, that made three with Stewart and himself. A few more phone calls, a little prep work and they'd be ready to earn their money and take care of Mr. Vasquez's little liquid metal problem.

Taking a seat on the edge of her bed, Cameron idly wondered just when, where and how her nesting instinct had started to develop.

Since losing the sanctuary of the shed at the bottom of the driveway of their old house, she'd lost what she considered to be her own private space to perform whatever activities she decided the others might deem 'weird'. Sure, she'd had a room at the old house, but she never really considered that as anything more than a place to store her possessions, mostly her abundance of wardrobe choices.

But since the family had moved into this new house, she'd curiously found herself taking root in the bedroom she shared with her boyfriend, John. That thought brought a smile to the cyborg's face as she set the items in her hands down by her side.

Admittedly she hadn't really thought about it that way until she'd made a few 'personal' touches to the room. John had questioned the choice of drapes, the full size dresser and the fact he was only allowed a quarter of the wardrobe space, but she'd effectively silenced him mid argument when she pressed herself close to him and dropped a soft, lingering kiss on his lips. After that, he broke out into a goofy grin and forgot what the hell he was arguing about in the first place.

It was a remarkable trait among mated humans of how easy they were to manipulate by their partners, something Cameron vowed she wouldn't use to her advantage…too often. But by her calculations, everything she'd added was necessary. John wouldn't ever need more wardrobe space, she'd argued that she could look her best with a bigger dresser…and the drapes were nice. Alright, she was willing to concede that last one may have been something of a luxury.

So she'd subconsciously taken root in their room, this was her new sanctuary, and she had an experiment to conduct that might not be considered 'normal'.

That morning's activities had given her much to consider, most notably the fact she felt pain, she'd actually hurt when John had bit her ear. She'd never felt pain before, her systems had always filtered out the electrical impulses that would register as pain, but for whatever reason, they hadn't that morning, causing her to yelp and pull back in surprise.

John of course had panicked and apologised profusely in that adorable, overprotective way of his. After managing to calm him down, he and Cameron discussed the development. Surprisingly it was John who'd came up with the most logical reasoning behind it.

He'd theorised that her chip was 'subconsciously' activating all her nerve impulses and receptors to their maximum when she was, for want of a better word, aroused. Apparently that also meant her nerve impulse filtering systems were either toned down or just plain shut off, allowing her to feel everything, including pain.

She didn't blame John for it, although it did take her by surprise, so now she had to find out if this new development would impede her ability to protect John. If she could feel pain, then she could become a liability, not a good protector, which is what she still was no matter how much she developed.

But what surprised her the most was when John performed another little experiment to test his hypothesis. During the peak of their intimacy, John licked his way up her neck, gently, slowly…and then he bit down on the skin of her favourite spot. The intensity of her reaction surprised both of them. She let out a piercing shriek and clamped her thighs around his waist, her eyes burned bright blue for a long moment. She'd never felt anything so intense before, even during her first experience of sexual release a few days ago.

It seemed the pain had helped her along, as it were. In fact it had all been too much for John. Her reaction coupled with his own pitiful human stamina had resulted in him being unable to continue, given away by the fact he slumped on top of her afterward, exhausted. She shouldn't have blamed him, sex for over an hour with a cyborg would tax even the fittest of humans,, but she did blame him, she actually resented him because she didn't achieve her release.

A small discussion had ensued, mostly with Cameron throwing what could only be considered as a childish strop at John's inability to keep up with her.

Later she'd realised how petty she was being and apologised for overreacting, but she couldn't shake off the odd feelings and thoughts ever since. She found several things that had never bothered her before irritating her for reasons she couldn't understand. She'd even snapped at Amy when the small machine wouldn't stop yammering about how her and Sarah had argued with a midget carny when he'd tried to stop Amy from going on a ride because of her height.

Apparently they'd won the argument.

Casting the doubts about herself aside, she decided her own experiment was in order to determine the full extent of her…changes.

Gripping the hem of her shirt, Cameron whipped it off over her head without any hesitation. It was one of her favourites, it wouldn't do for it to be potentially ruined by what she was about to do. Setting the garment off to the side of the bed, she picked up the razor blade she'd removed from Sarah's LadyShave and held it to her undamaged arm. With a noticeable pause while she braced herself for potential pain, Cameron eventually dug the blade in to her arm and quickly cut a two inch slice into her synthetic flesh.

She felt nothing.

Relief flooded her systems as she removed the blade from her skin. She broke out into a definite, genuine smile as she set the blade aside and picked up several sheets of kitchen roll and pushed it to the wound to soak up the blood.

She felt absolutely nothing besides her systems telling her she was receiving damage, no pain, no emotional feeling at all. She wasn't sure what she would do if this development changed her sufficiently enough to stop her doing her job, but fortunately it seemed her chip was advanced enough to remove that dilemma from her altogether.

Removing the tissue thirty seconds later, Cameron inspected the already sealed wound and dabbed around at what remaining blood there was. She'd hoped her chip would behave in this manner, but she still wasn't quite sure why it was behaving this way in the first place. What point could there be to allowing her to feel pain in certain situations, what advantage could be gained from that?

Unless her chip had decided that sexual release was a good thing. If that was the case, Cameron certainly didn't mind, she had no idea it could feel so good, no matter how much John had tried to convince her of that fact. But now she could see the logic in the changes to her system, in fact, she was excited about them.

With a smile, she picked up her supplies and stood from the bed. Depositing the blade and the tissues in the trash bin in the corner…another new addition since she'd moved in, she felt a feeling of contentment that her experiment was a success. She didn't feel pain in her day to day life, but her body and her mind were evolving in ways she never could've predicted.

This could only be a good thing…right?

I'm trying to make an effort to keep these chapters shorter so I can post more often, hope you all don't mind.

Also, if you don't have 'Becoming John Connor' by Dekardkain in your alerts or favourites list, add it now, because it's about to get soooo good! :)