Savannah raced towards Ellison. She was giggling as she held her hands out in front of her, seeking the protection of his arms. Ellison waited for the child to reach him before he dropped down onto the couch. His young charge jumped into his lap and giggled loudly.
"Savannah, what are you running from?"
"Ms. Fields." Savannah squealed as she pointed to the young woman who had come charging out of the bathroom in a set of wet clothes.
"Oh, no." Ellison muttered. he wasn't sure what was going on, but he could tell right away that he didn't want to be in the middle of this. "Ms. Fields, what did Savannah do?"
"Let her go, Mr. Ellison. She and I are going for a little swim." Her face was serious, but there was a sense of humor that Ellison could pick up. Maybe this wasn't as bad of a situation as he feared it would be.
"Now, Ms. Fields, I am sure Savannah didn't mean any harm. Surely we can spare her any retribution you might have in mind."
"I am warning you. If you don't let her go now, I'll not hold back on your account."
"Please don't let her take me, Mr. Ellison." Savannah squeaked. She buried her face into his chest.
"I don't think you will be getting her off my lap without a fight."
"Fine." Lauren folder her arms across her chest and walked back to the bathroom.
"Now then, Savannah. What was that about?" Ellison looked down at the child.
"I was playing. I guess Ms. Fields didn't—"
Ellison jumped as cold water poured over his head and all over his lap. Little Savannah give a scream and rolled out of Ellison's lap causing the man to receive the majority of the water alone. Once the onslaught of cold had ended, Ellison looked up to see a laughing Lauren. She dropped the bucket she had been using and picked up Savannah as she tried to run.
"I told you!" She laughed. "I told you I would get you back. You shouldn't have dragged Mr. Ellison into this and just taken the punishment."
The two girls continued to laugh and giggle. Ellison stood up and stripped his suit coat off. He stood there for a second, water dripping off his head. Finally he flicked his hand towards Lauren but had little effect against her.
"Next time," Ellison said as he looked down at both of them, "don't come running to me. I'll just give you up."
Little Savannah looked down. She was obviously feeling guilty for what had happened. Ellison just shook his head an laughed. In reality, his suit was probably ruined by the sheer amount of water that he just received, but it was funny. He needed the laugh as well. Things had been very stressful as of late and it felt good to just laugh.
"Don't worry yourself. I haven't found myself part of a water fight in a long time." His laughter died down slightly before continuing. "Savannah, run along and change out of your wet clothes."
As Savannah jumped to obey, the sound of a child crying started. Lauren gave a sigh and headed for the back bedroom. Ellison shook his head at the dysfunctional family he had found himself a part of. They all came from broken backgrounds and yet here they were, all brought together by Sarah Connor. Ellison picked up his jacket and headed to his bedroom.
He draped his jacket across the back of a chair before pulling his shoes and socks off. After removing his sidearm and laying it on the bed, he stripped out of the wet shirt and trouser. After drying himself off, he found a pair of jeans and a polo shirt that he put on. He had just finished tying his sneakers when his phone rang.
"Hello?"
The code rang from the other end. Ellison responded in a like manner. Then he waited for someone to speak to him.
"Ellison, it is Sarah. Martin and I have a problem. A terminator is looking for us. We've locked ourselves into a hotel. We won't be around tonight. I won't lead it back to our home. Listen, there's something else. Something I need you to know just in case…"
