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AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is a response to ralst's "How _____ Found Out" challenge.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
How John Found Out
By carpesomediem
John Connor wasn't oblivious to the tension between his mother and Cameron. It'd been present from the start but it wasn't mutual. Granted, Cameron was a Terminator. She wasn't created to have feelings or to care about the people she was sworn to protect. On the contrary, she was supposed to be detached from them so she could make the decisions a human couldn't – or wouldn't – make.
However, what John had seen since the start was that Sarah didn't want anything to do with Cameron if she could help it but the Terminator was quite different. She was fascinated – almost enthralled – with Sarah, asking John simply questions here or there about her. When John asked her what she was doing, Cameron's response was simple: "My mission is to protect you. My mission is to protect John Connor."
Then, she'd be gone.
Cameron would go off, she'd tend to the matters of the day as if Sarah wasn't on her mind. But she was and John could see it in the stolen glances and the lingering touches. Sarah was oblivious, because she was focused on the day at hand. On the mission. She simply assumed Cameron was focused on the same mission. Perhaps, she was, John often thought. Perhaps, Cameron's mission was so much more that simply to protect him. Maybe his future self sent Cameron back for more?
It wasn't until he saw them kiss that John truly believed that. It was short, it was simple. Sarah initiated it, something John didn't see coming but Cameron went with it as if they'd done it before. They probably had, John thought momentarily with a smile. His mom deserved some happiness considering the end of the world had planted itself firmly on her shoulders. He may be John Connor; he may be the future of the Resistance, but without his mom, he would be nothing. And she deserved everything for that. Cameron could be her everything.
The End