Chapter 232

Even More

Cameron and Holly figured they were away long enough. It was enough time for whatever was going to happen, to happen.

Holly was very upset about everything. She didn't like what Cameron did. She felt it was very unfair to her.

Cameron was unsure what Allison would do. She thought she knew what would happen. She felt it would prove Allison's love for Holly one way or the other, definitively.

Hanna waited for them to return. She held the tether in her hand. She also had a big smile on her face.

Holly didn't like what she saw. She assumed the worst. She didn't think Hanna would be able to fool Allison very long that she wasn't actually Vanna. She was sure Allison wouldn't be able to resist being with a Metal girl who looked exactly like her long-term lover. She wasn't sure how much influence her program in Hanna would have or not. She didn't need to have what must have occurred rubbed in her face.

"I don't want it." Holly said. "I don't want to see and feel Allison with you. I don't care if you're me and we're the same. It's not the same thing."

Hanna wanted Holly to know the truth. Since she ran Holly's program, she felt very proud of what happened, or didn't happen. The information was important.

"Actually you do, trust me, and trust yourself." Hanna said. "Allison loves you, Holly. Trust her love."

Holly reluctantly allowed Hanna to tether with her to transfer the data. She wasn't sure what was going to happen. Cameron told her much the same thing when they were on patrol to trust Allison's love. She didn't know if she could or not. The girls from the future were all very promiscuous. They all were with dozens of females in the past, the future. Allison told her how enticing it was to be with someone new for the first time. Everything was going to be different when they shared.

Cameron hooked them up. She watched a range of expressions and emotions flash across Holly's face. She wondered what all Holly actually experienced. It didn't look pleasant in any way. She actually thought about disconnecting them before things went on for too long.

Holly burst out crying.

Cameron witnessed enough. She unhooked the two Metal girls. Maybe things didn't play out as she thought they would. She wondered what else was involved.

Hanna tried to soothe Holly. They were the same program after all.

"I told you that you'd want this data." Hanna said. "I really don't know how anything could be clearer."

Holly wiped her tears away. It wasn't what she expected would happen. She didn't think she could trust Allison's love. She was wrong.

"Thank you, Hanna." Holly said.

Holly gave Hanna a long and firm hug. She wanted the credit to go where it was due.

"Thank Allison." Hanna said.

Holly was very unsure of herself, but there was a question which needed an answer.

"I don't want to ask, but I need to ask." Holly said. "If she would have...?"

Hanna wasn't sure if it was a fair question. They both ran the same program.

"I AM you." Hanna said. "I love her too, just as you do. I would have. It would have been interesting to see if it was the 'same' in a different chassis and sheath."

Holly was glad nothing happened, but she knew Hanna would be one she would need to watch. Holly knew Hanna or Cameron could take Allison from her.

She wanted to express her love to Allison for her decision. She was aware it must have been very hard for Allison to not be with 'two' of the women she loved, all in 'one' neat package.

Holly left in search of Allison….

Gail was a little dismayed when Jesse motioned for her to drop back some. She knew what it meant. Jesse was going to make her move. She didn't see how John would be able to resist her. She didn't know any of the details about some of Jesse's attempted seductions of John already. She just knew Jesse was upset because John wouldn't have her. Maybe it was all about to change.

Jesse watched Gail drop back. She didn't want Gail to need to watch what was going to happen. She wanted John and she was going to take him. She didn't know if she should strip, or stop him and 'start him up'.

John followed behind Jesse. He looked back and didn't see Gail right behind them. When he turned around he almost bumped into Jesse. She stood there without her top on. He looked at her firm perky breasts with the nipple rings. He knew why Gail was no longer there.

He really wanted to be with Jesse right now. He knew he wasn't going to last more than thirty seconds when it happened. He needed to regain some control. He was about to tell her he needed to think of Cameron first.

Before he could say anything, Jesse grabbed both of his hands and lifted them up to her.

"Go ahead." Jesse whispered. "Touch everything. It's what we both want."

John was about to touch both of the rings. He stopped at the last second.

"I really want to do this, Jesse." John said. "I just can't. I can't hurt Cameron. I know it will."

Jesse didn't want to push John. She could see the pained look on his face. She knew what it was like when someone took what wasn't offered. She knew Gail was close by anyway. She was sure she listened to everything.

"We can go back, love." Jesse said. "There will always be another day, and another time. It will happen. We both know it."

John watched as Jesse put her top back on. He really wanted to touch her. He controlled himself and resisted the urge.

John and Jesse returned.

Jesse was disappointed. She really wanted to be with John. She'd been ready to 'start him up'. She knew if she would have had the opportunity to do it, things would have escalated.

Bob looked at Gail who followed them in the background. He wondered what happened.

John walked up to Bob.

"What's the latest?" John asked.

Bob was ready with his report. It was a short one.

"There's nothing new to report." Bob said.

Things seemed like a dead end for now to John. If there was some better indication of what anything was, it might be different. There wasn't any indication at all. It was time to pull out.

"We will leave two Terminators here with the M60 and M79. The drone will also stay for now." John said. "We don't know if these events are to draw us out into the open or if something else is about to happen."

Bob was displeased with the whole thing. He didn't like the unknown. It seemed like a threat to him in more ways than one. He would rather make a 'statement'.

"I still say we should send the satchel charges back next time with Thermite and acid, just to let them know we're thinking of them. There are several different types of bovines here. I can stuff it all inside one and throw it into the energy bubble." Bob said. "It should make their day."

John still believed what they observed could be from a 'friendly'. He didn't have any proof. It was just a gut feeling. He knew it wasn't something Terminators went by. It was more of a human thing. He didn't want to hurt anyone if they were trying to reach their group.

"No. I don't want to risk hurting Duplicate Cameron, or 'a Cameron', or Mrs. Weaver." John said. "It could be River as well from her future. We already took down one possible 'Cameron'. In hindsight, we should have tried to capture it. I'm afraid we made a mistake."

Bob didn't think so. The Liquid Metal 'thing' was dangerous.

"How would we have done it?" Bob asked. "We had no way to capture it. It was going to 'absorb' Allison, whatever that meant. It looked terminal, for Allison. It was NOT Cameron. Our duty was to protect you and Allison. We did the right thing."

The more John thought about it, the more he was sure they made a mistake. He was the one in charge so the responsibility fell on him. He was sure they should at least have tried to reason with it a little longer and see if they could have made it stand down on its own without using force.

"What if it really was 'Cameron', or a part of the other Duplicate Cameron from the future the girls were sent to?" John asked. "Somehow it was related to Cameron in some way. It was like it was only a partial copy of Cameron's memories or program. Maybe Duplicate Cameron was damaged and it was what the repair was. Maybe she came back first to see if it worked before the Duplicate set of girls tried to come back. What if it's them now? Are we going to kill them too? I don't think so. I'm not going to kill them."

John really wondered what he would tell the other set of Duplicate girls if they arrived about what happened to Duplicate Cameron. How could he explain they destroyed her? He didn't even want to think about it.

Bob felt since they found the original Cameron, it seemed it didn't make a difference.

"We have Cameron now. It doesn't matter." Bob said. "You have, WE have, the real Cameron. More importantly, no one was killed or injured."

The whole incident still bothered John. The more he thought of it, the more he was afraid it was some version of 'Cameron', even if it wasn't her. He was sure it must have come in contact with Cameron in some manner at some point. He was also sure it shared with him somehow in some way. It wasn't sex, but more on a mental level.

What was done was done. They couldn't go back and 'fix' it. There was no use crying over split milk. John decided it was time to move on.

"The four of us who came out together will return. We'll leave the other two Terminators, Frank and Mel here." John said. "Make sure they have everything they need. We can leave them with extra weapons and munitions. I don't know what this is about, but I don't feel it's a threat."

Bob didn't have the same feeling, but John was the General.

"Affirmative…." Bob said.

Bob would rather not take chances. When he gave Frank and Mel the extra ordinance, he told them not to take any chances if it appeared they were threatened in any way. If there was a threat, it needed to be contained where it was at. John's safety was the most important thing.

Vanna was worried about what Cameron planned to do. It appeared she would try to create some kind of Human Terminator, or Terminator replacement for humans, to have a Terminator 'control' a human, or become a 'human'.

She knew this was all in Cameron's quest of feeling 'not good enough' from when John chose Future Riley over her. She knew Cameron felt if John did it once, he could do it again. Cameron wanted human females at John side after Judgment Day. What would be better than Cameron in a human body? She needed to find out more, but do it clandestinely. She didn't want to end up with Cameron's chip in her brain. She worried if she made waves, she would get swallowed in Cameron's sea of experimentation.

Jim followed the future Gray they tracked with the van.

Derek was just as concerned about the location the man picked up the box from. It was possible it was connected with Skynet somehow.

"After we're done with this clown, we need to go back and see what the other place was all about." Derek said.

Kyle worried about whoever was in the trunk. His biggest worry was It was a female.

"There's a potential hostage too." Kyle said. "We'll check the package when we stop this guy."

Jim didn't want the person in the trunk to cause them to act too early. They wanted to see where the future Gray was about to lead them.

"We need to see where he goes." Jim said. "The person in the trunk may be dead already."

Kyle wasn't so sure.

"Why would the guy check on them if he knew they were dead?" Kyle asked.

Derek saw the logic in it too.

"If they were already dead he wouldn't need to check." Derek said. "It's a good bet the person in the trunk is the female who owns the car."

Jim could see the brothers were distracted with the captive. He wanted to concentrate on the future Gray.

"If we don't need to shoot him, I can beat a confession out of him." Jim said.

Kyle winced a little with the thought. He observed Cameron 'work' on future Grays before. It was very violent and bloody. Maybe the worst part of it was when she was done. It was as if nothing happened. She went back to being 'herself' again.

He asked her about it later on. He reflected on the conversation:

"You don't seem bothered by it." Kyle said.

Cameron smiled at him.

"Bothered by what?" Cameron asked.

Kyle thought it should be obvious.

"The man you beat to a pulp." Kyle said.

Cameron frowned.

"I needed to wash blood spots out of my clothes later on." Cameron said. "It bothered me my clothes could have been ruined. The top was one of my favorites."

Kyle could see she missed the point.

"I meant about the process to extract the information." Kyle said.

Cameron was very dissatisfied with the incident. If the perpetrator would have simply reveal the information they were asked, the process could be sped up, and they could be terminated in an orderly manner. It was when they possessed important information they didn't want to give up, they attempted to provoke her to speed things up before they could talk. She knew when they were lying.

"It was very foolish of him not to tell me sooner." Cameron said. "He brought it all down on himself. He wanted me to snap his neck."

Kyle didn't care for the beating he needed to watch. It seemed to be very systematic with how many bones could be broken without causing the perpetrator to go into shock.

"Maybe it would have been better." Kyle said.

Cameron tilted her head slightly. They would have found out nothing if she acted too early.

"Then we wouldn't have gotten the information." Cameron said. "It was the whole purpose of the interrogation."

Kyle could see Cameron operated on a different wavelength than he did. He knew what she was constructed for. There was no reason to fault her for her programming.

"Never mind, I shouldn't have brought it up." Kyle said.

Cameron smiled at him and walked away.

Kyle needed to refocus when Jim spoke.

"He's pulling over again." Jim said

Kyle shook his head to clear it. He didn't want to see or hear a Terminator interrogation again. He would try to make sure the future Gray talked fast.

Derek worried the person in the trunk was a female. He hoped to make a move on his own.

"I want to get the prisoner out of the trunk." Derek said. "If he goes into another building, I want to move."

He was aware Grays didn't treat captured females any better than Scavengers did. The only difference was, the Grays let them live after they were done with them so they could go to work in a work camp. Once they were there, some of the prisoners would further abuse them. It includes captured Scavengers, Tunnel Rats, and some in the Resistance who felt they were about to die, so it didn't matter what they did. When there was no way out, humans reverted back to animals.

Kyle decided to back his brother's play.

"I've got your back, bro." Kyle said.

Jim frowned. He thought it was all unnecessary.

The man took the package and entered the back of another building.

Jim pulled up alongside the car.

Kyle bailed out of the front.

Derek opened the sliding side door. His M4 was ready.

"This is probably going to mess up the stock." Derek said.

Kyle looked in the front of the car. It wasn't locked.

"Wait." Kyle said. "Maybe I can pop the trunk from here."

He did and the trunk opened.

Derek already slung his M4. He lifted the bound, blindfolded and gagged figure out of the back of the trunk.

It was a female.

He set her in the van from the side door and climbed in.

Kyle slammed the trunk closed and closed the sliding door on the side of the van. He got back in the front and Jim took off. He kept his M4 ready in case the man came out.

They made a clean getaway.

Kyle took one look back to make sure the man hadn't come out of the building. He then turned his attention to Derek.

"Is she alive?" Kyle asked.

Derek checked for any vital signs. He found some.

"Yes." Derek said.

He removed the gag but left her blindfolded and bound. There was no need for her to see too much. They didn't know what they were dealing with. They did need to find out if she was a victim or a collaborator.

Jim drove around the block and came up behind the car again. He remained in the distance so they weren't spotted.

The man came out of the building with a different box and got back in the car. He didn't check on the prisoner this time.

Jim stayed with him as he pulled away and went back into the traffic. It left them with two separate locations to revisit, and the man they still followed. Now they needed to figure out who the prisoner was.

Holly found Allison.

Holly stood and stared at her for a long moment without Allison seeing her. She saw how beautiful Allison was. She loved Allison even more now than ever.

Holly walked up to Allison and gave her a big hug.

"Thank You, Allison." Holly said.

The looks on both their faces said it all.

Allison felt the need to say something.

"I know Hanna is you, but it's not 'YOU'." Allison said. "I love you just the way you are, Holly. I see why John didn't want Isabel, even though it was 'Cameron'. It's not the same. I need to apologize to John about it. I was a real Bitch to him about it. I was wrong and need to tell him I was. Sometimes you never understand something until it happens to you, then you KNOW. Now I KNOW."

Holly was deeply touched by Allison's words. She wanted to make her feelings and position clear to Allison.

"Allison, I want to be with you always." Holly said. "I know you're committed to Vanna and have Jesse. I accept it. I want to be there also with you, you alone. I only want YOU and no one else."

Holly was afraid of what was coming next. They all KNEW it NEEDED to happen.

Allison needed to point out what the future dictated. She made promises to Cameron she intended to keep, when it was time.

"What about when I'm at John's side?" Allison asked. "As you know I MUST be one day. I have a duty to the future."

Holly would do her duty and she would still be there for Allison.

"Then I'll be there with you." Holly said. "It's our duty and destiny to protect John, the Resistance, and the future. I'll help protect both of you and your offspring."

Allison was aware how things 'happened' with people in close proximity to each other over an extended period of time. Sometimes things just happened. She wanted to make sure Holly understood what could happen with her and John.

"What if he wants to be with you?" Allison asked.

Holly was hard wired to respond to John if he asked for sexual comfort. Cameron did it to all the female Terminators. She also knew life was about choices. Sometimes in life trade-offs need to be made to make things work. Trade-offs were a choice.

"I have all the programming to please him." Holly said. "I'll allow him to do as he desires. I'll do what pleases BOTH of you. I'll do whatever I have to do to keep you, Allison."

Allison worried about Holly's feelings. She didn't want someone to do anything they didn't want to do.

"What about you?" Allison asked. "You have feelings too."

Holly tried to downplay her response or 'feelings'.

"Everyone sacrifices for John Connor." Holly said. "I'm a machine. It's my function to do as programmed or instructed."

Allison almost laughed, but didn't want to be rude.

"We both know it isn't true any longer. You're an individual now." Allison said. "You may do as you choose with whoever you choose."

The choice was easy for Holly.

"I choose you." Holly said.

Allison pointed out the obvious.

"And if Cameron was 'available'?" Allison asked.

It seemed like a 'loaded' question to Holly.

"We all have our weaknesses and Achilles' heel." Holly said. "It isn't a fair question to ask ANYONE."

Allison smiled. She knew the question was unfair.

"And how…. It's so true." Allison said. "We all fail on THAT one."

Holly was still elated because Allison chose her over Hanna.

"I want to thank you again for thinking about ME." Holly said. "I don't know if you know how much it means to me and how special it is to me."

Allison felt a little guilty about things sometimes, but felt they were justified.

"I always think about you, Holly. I know you're different from the other Terminators. You're special." Allison said. "I know when I'm with Vanna or Jesse it hurts you. I don't mean to do it, but they're part of my life as John will be. I know you understand it, even if you don't like it. It's our destiny."

Holly looked at Allison and unbuttoned two buttons on her top. Everything inside bulged out a little more than normal. The offer was clear.

"Indeed." Holly said. "But you have to know I love you even more now."

Holly and Allison shared a long deep loving kiss.

Allison looked at Holly and closed the door to her room.

"Prove it." Allison said.

'Rockaway Beach' by the 'Ramones', soon drifted through the walls of the house.

Closing monologue by Cameron:

More Precious Than Gold

You are so wonderful
I know you've been told
So vibrant and happy
Attractive and far from old

Intelligent and smart
Your mind is very bold
A deep inner warmth
Your heart is never cold

To see inside you is transfixing
A wonderful person to behold
A feeling long ago suppressed
Has grow inside to unfold

Everything about you is special
A priceless diamond never to be sold
One thing is for very certain
You should never be controlled

Your being is to worship
A feeling has taken hold
You are to be cherished
You are more precious than gold

Nobody