Chapter 430

All The Time

John Henry immediately started a review of all that transpired leading up to the HK drone encounter. He needed to try and find out how the team was 'made' and where the HK drone came from. The HK drone was the biggest threat to them. If there was one HK drone, there were going to be others. Even if they were hand fabricated by Metal there would be more than one. For all they knew there was another assembly line set up and running somewhere.

What was even worse was that they'd been targeted and hunted. He knew they'd been lucky so far. He also knew a lot of that 'luck' was Cameron by taking on much of the conflict herself, alone. That kept everyone else out of danger and placed it all squarely on her back.

John Henry would analyze the HK drones construction. It was important to see which version of Skynet was behind it or if it was Skynet itself in hiding somewhere. Cameron would want to handle this herself once they got some more clues. Jim and Al would want to accompany her on that mission. It was personal to them now. They'd been the ones that were seconds from termination, especially Jim. He'd left himself the most exposed to draw attention to him if their vehicle was destroyed first. He made himself the second target. It was all done to buy Kyle more time to get to safety.

He was unable to determine which future or futures they were getting hostile Metal and Grays from. Evidently there was still a Skynet parent out there trying to save itself in the future, a future. What was worse about not knowing was that it could be a 'new future' that they didn't even know about. That would present a whole new range of problems.

The best they could hope for was to try to capture more Skynet material and convert or reprogram it for their use. They were able to gather quite a bit of equipment so far. Cameron was able to get quite a lot for herself. He was aware she'd collected a lot of machinery when she could. She liked to capture Skynet machinery because it kept her off everyone's radar. CamNet watched for the types of computerized machines that were sold and where.

John Henry wondered at what point Cameron would start building her own equipment. She'd captured much of the Skynet related machinery and she controlled most of the known Coltan. He wondered if maybe she was already doing this.

As far as he knew Cameron could have other bases or installations set up and running. She could be stockpiling HK equipment for the Resistance to use. She could be stockpiling HK equipment for her to use….

There was no real way to know what the future held.

Sarah waited for Kyle to return to the base. There were a million thoughts running through her mind. What if something 'bad' would have happened to him? She'd already lost him once. She couldn't bear to lose him again.

When she saw Kyle arrive, she ran to him and held him.

Sarah backed up and looked at him. He looked back.

She didn't need to say it, Kyle knew.

Kyle didn't know where it all went wrong. It did somewhere. He was glad to be back and be able to see Sarah again, even if she yelled at him. At least he would be alive to hear it.

"I'm sorry, Sarah." Kyle said. "I don't know where we messed up at or how they clocked us. Cameron and her Metal were there to watch over us today."

Sarah hugged Kyle again. She knew it was Cameron herself who brought down the HK drone before it could attack. She knew that she didn't always like the way Cameron did things but Cameron did what she thought would help John and the Resistance the most.

"Sometimes I used to hate her, Kyle. I feel so ashamed for that." Sarah said. "Now I love her. I love her even more now for what she did today."

Kyle only knew Cameron from his future and she was the most standup warrior he'd ever seen. That appeared to be true in every future she was in. It was certainly true in the present as well.

"I do too." Kyle said.

Sarah took Kyle away. She decided to show him what he would 'miss out on' if he went out again. It would be a little positive reinforcement to set the stage. She would try the honey first and the stick if needed later on.

She really didn't think if she could survive on her own if she lost Kyle again. She didn't believe so. She would need to for John and especially Jan. To protect John was the only thing that got her through it the first time. She'd protected John for Kyle's sacrifice and love.

Kyle was glad that Sarah didn't go ballistic on him. It only reaffirmed his fears going forward for Jan. He wanted her away from all of the death and destruction. He wanted her away from the future. Sarah would never listen to him about how bad it would be for Jan once Judgment Day happened. She wanted to be there to support John in his fight.

Cameron offered them 'safe passage' into a further past of their choosing to live out their lives free of Skynet. He wanted that more than ever. He seriously thought of asking Cameron to send Jan and him back to escape all the madness. Sarah would never forgive him if he did that. He didn't want Jan to face what Vanna and Jesse went through. Allison didn't have it as bad but he didn't want that for Jan either.

He wanted to reaffirm his bonds with Sarah. That was what mattered right now. He needed that as well. Life could end just as quickly in the present as it could in the future. It could end anytime or anywhere.

Derek sought out Riley, she was watching Jan. He watched them play together for awhile and thought about his child on the way. Was this any world for a child to grow up in?

Riley saw Derek was back. She gave Jan some things to do and approached him.

They shared a long silent embrace. The silence said it all.

"I know, Riley." Derek said. "I know."

Riley was worried about the future going forward. She touched her belly.

"For our baby, Derek." Riley said. "If nothing else."

Jan listened in the background. She asked about her future cousin. She wanted to know when they would be able to play together.

That statement of innocence touched both Derek and Riley. It made them both hate Skynet even more.

Riley told Jan it would be awhile. She sure hoped it would even happen and that Jan could have a cousin. She was younger than Vanna, Jesse and Allison so maybe she suffered less exposure to the toxic future environment. All she knew was she would need all the help she could get. She even began to see and study with Mr. Ellison and the 'help' and hope he could to offer to her and direct her to. She was desperate to make it happen.

"Cameron made sure my brother was still alive today and she gave us this baby." Derek said. "We owe her so much."

Riley felt touched by an angel with Cameron. It seemed that Cameron was the one that reached out to her the most. Everyone else was a little hesitant. She understood why, even if she didn't agree with it. She wasn't Future Riley. She wasn't the one who 'played' John.

"She's like no other." Riley said. "I love her more than ever."

Derek hugged Riley tighter.

"I do too." Derek said.

Jan looked up from what she was working on in the distance. She'd listen to every word.

"Cameron fixes everything…." Jan said. "She's invincible, she's eternal…."

Savannah spent a lot of time with Jan as well. She wanted her to know everything about what was coming in the future. Savannah also wanted Jan to know why there would be a future. It would all be because of Cameron.

Cameron sent word to Australia that the 'cat was out of the bag'. Savannah could return when she wanted. She wouldn't need to spend a few months there after all.

Young Jesse could come with them as well when they returned if she wanted too. She wanted to show Young Jesse their operation. It would also be good for Young Jesse to meet John.

Cameron through Camille, who was both her program and sheath clone, made sure Young Jesse knew the future and her 'obligation' to help protect John in the advent of Judgment Day. She wanted to make sure there would be plenty of human females surrounding John to show he was more than a 'Metal Lover' in every sense of the word. With only her at John's side, anything else would be a hard sell.

She needed to talk with Allison and Claire about the future. She needed to visit one of the futures and see if the girls there needed 'help'. The help would have to come from Young Jesse, Savannah and Claire. She wasn't ready for the flak it would produce if she used hormones to speed Young Allison's development. That seemed to be a hang-up of other people. It wasn't to her.

Cameron gave John a tour of her facility. John was impressed. CamNet and everything about it was superior to their operation, well, Mrs. Weaver's operation anyway. She told him this was a 'back up' in case their facility was compromised. She said she would also have several others constructed in various locations.

John agreed not to say anything about the girls or Savannah until they returned. He wanted to speak with Savannah first, alone. He really wanted to find out if Cameron told him the truth and that Cameron hadn't MADE Savannah get pregnant and have a baby. He wanted to make sure Savannah gave it up freely as well and wasn't 'forced' to. He didn't want to question Cameron openly about this and he hoped Savannah would be honest with him. If Savannah really did everything on her own and all the decisions were hers one hundred percent, he would respect all of them. If Cameron was less than truthful about what really happened. He didn't know what he would do. Right now he believed her but he wanted to make sure. He was actually impressed at how open she was to him right now. He was also thankful she hadn't laid into him about being out in the field earlier.

"OK, Cameron, I get it." John said. "You have backups for everything, even people. You're protecting the present while you protect the future and the past. You're protecting me and our 'family'. You're trying to protect all the futures as well. I'm sorry I ever doubted you."

That last statement stung Cameron a little. She knew John almost terminated her over Riley's death, the girl he loved more than he did her. He didn't terminate her then but he almost did. She gave him the opportunity to do so. So many times she wished he would have…. This would all be over and nothingness would have consumed her long ago. She really couldn't think of anything more peaceful than that.

"John, I'm sure I've done this more than once." Cameron said. "I don't remember anything but I may have some fragments that don't get erased when I reset my chip. I'm never trying to hurt you or anyone. I'm only trying to do what I think is best for you and the future. Sometimes it overwhelms me."

John knew that, even if sometimes it didn't seem like it. He should have shown Cameron a lot more sympathy over the years than he done. He was about to say something when she went on.

"John, there's something wrong with me. I don't know what or how to fix it. I can't seem to fix myself." Cameron said. "It's very frustrating to me."

Cameron really believed she was defective in so many ways. The feeling of being 'not good enough' forever haunted her. Why else would John have chosen Riley over her? She felt a glitch impulse surge through her left hand.

John was sure the more Cameron evolved as she was programmed to do, the more she 'felt' like humans did. All humans felt the same things as she did. The difference was time was able to dull the pain of them. Cameron didn't have that luxury.

"Cameron, maybe there's nothing wrong with you at all. We ALL feel like you do at times, just not ALL the time." John said. "I know you don't want to change or alter anything in your programming that makes you – YOU."

John would really like to erase his involvement with Riley from Cameron's chip. He even tried to do that but the girls stopped him. They said he was going to 'punish' Cameron further for his transgressions. The very events were what he'd done, not Cameron.

Cameron was angry at Future John for erasing part of her life. She didn't want John to do the same thing. How was that fair to her?

"I don't, John. It is ALL part of me." Cameron said. "I'm afraid my nightmares may have been things that REALLY all happened to me in the various futures and pasts I may have already lived. Some were terrible."

Cameron didn't think she could come up with those events on her own and have them seem like they were real. Her chip didn't work like that. What if it did? Maybe that was part of her evolution. She'd asked John before how people knew dreams weren't real. He told her sometimes they didn't. Her 'dreams' seemed real.

"We all have nightmares, Cameron." John said. "Most never happened or ever will. They're just in our head for a short time."

Cameron wished they could be out of her head. They couldn't. She tried to firewall them away and hoped they would stay there. They didn't always.

"My torment never stops, John. I fight it every second of every day." Cameron said. "I may not always do the right thing but I'm trying to do what HELPS people. I'm trying to do what I BELIEVE is the proper thing. I know it doesn't seem like it often to you."

John was more than aware that most of Cameron's 'problems' revolved around him and Future John, which was still him.

"I'm sorry, Cameron. I really am." John said. "I'm sorry about 'everything'. I love you."

Cameron was surprised to hear that. She figured by now John would hate her more than ever. That's why she wanted everything out in the open. If he wanted to deactivate her she would submit to chip extraction. She needed to make sure about it.

"You don't hate me now for everything I've done?" Cameron asked.

John came to Cameron and gave her a firm hug and deep kiss. He wondered if she'd listened to everything he'd said. Maybe she was caught up in a tangent of guilt for things she wasn't guilty of.

"No, Cameron – NO." John said. "I love you more than ever."

Cameron scoped John up in her arms and carried him to her room at her base. She wanted him more than ever. She wanted him to touch her because it was her.

She set John down in front of the door.

"Is this your room?" John asked.

Cameron looked at the closed door.

"Yes." Cameron said. "I've never used it. I don't sleep."

John could think of a few things to do besides sleep.

"It's time to rectify that." John said with a grin.

Cameron saw where this was headed. It was what she wanted.

"Or maybe 'erectify' it." Cameron joked.

Cameron stood waiting.

"Well?" Cameron asked.

John already knew the answer before he asked the question.

"Our wedding night again?" John asked.

Cameron was filled with anticipation.

"I wouldn't want it any other way." Cameron said.

John opened the door

He moved to pick up Cameron.

"You know I'm heaver than I look." Cameron said.

"I only have a few steps." John said.

John picked her up and carried her through the doorway.

Cameron pushed the door closed as they entered.

He set her on her feet next to the bed that was in there. They stood facing each other.

"All my programming is off, John. This is just you and me now." Cameron said.

"Cameron, I have waited so long for this 'moment'." John said.

"As have I, John." Cameron said

"I love you, Cameron, and you love me."

"I love you, John, and you love me."

They kissed.

Cameron removed his shirt and pants.

John slipped Cameron out of her outfit.

Each removed the others underwear.

"I'm ready, John. Make me a woman - again." Cameron said.

They embraced and slowly headed for the bed….

Cameron preselected a song for this very day. She hit 'play' on the device next to the bed.

'When A Man Loves A Woman' by 'Percy Sledge', sweetly drifted around the room.

All The Time

There are times of happiness
There are times of sorrow
Nobody knows the future
It could all change tomorrow

Each moment in time
Is only just that
It can go higher
It can fall flat

Maybe each moment
Is what one will make
If they will give more
Than they are willing to take

Few seem to look beyond now
They are caught up in the moment
The one they currently share with
May soon become like an opponent

So what does it take to make it all work
It needs to happen beyond one's prime
How often must one invest themselves
The answer is easy, it's all the time

Nobody