DISCLAIMER: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and its characters are the propert of James Cameron and Fox. No infringement intended.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I have only read fanfiction about these two, so I apologize in advance if I don't get their personalities correct. And if you haven't read Time Loop yet, please do before reading this one. It sets up the premise of this ongoing AU. Please leave a comment, even if it's just one word. Comments tell authors their stories are being read and enjoyed. Big Thank You to demoka for betaing.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
Time Loop: Loop 4
By wkgreen
Sarah is stitching major cuts on Cameron's back. Which Cameron got when she was thrown through a wall during her latest fight with a T-888, "I hate it when you get hurt," Sarah murmurs to Cameron softly as she concentrates on making even stitches. She slides the needle through Cameron's skin as gently as possible.
Cameron stays absolutely still throughout the stitching process, as if nothing out of the ordinary is happening, "I received no significant damage. These cuts will heal."
Sarah sighs, "That isn't the point, Tin Miss. I don't like to see you hurt. When I see cuts this bad, I feel pain for you," Sarah finishes stitching one long cut and ties off the thread.
Cameron leans forward as Sarah stitches up her cuts, her long hair hanging down the front and out of the way. She tilts her head to the side so she can see Sarah out of the corner of her eye and through her silky hair asking, "Why?"
Sarah starts stitching up the last cut, "Why what? Why do I feel sympathetic pain?" At Cameron's nod, Sarah answers, "Because when I see cuts like this, I remember similar injuries I have had and how much it hurt, that remembered pain lets me share your pain. It is something humans are wired to do, to help us feel more connected with each other."
Cameron pauses as she analyzes Sarah's response, feeling the needle going in and out of her skin, admiring the tight pattern that Sarah is using, "That is highly inefficient for self survival or accomplishing the mission."
Sarah smirks as she yanks a bit harder on the thread as she ties it off, trying to get a reaction out of Cameron, but knows she won't, "Which is more then made up for by people being empathic with and helping each other out."
Cameron forehead crinkles in thought, "It is a group survival technique. If you can feel each others pain, then all work to ensure everyone's safety," Cameron makes the connection as she remembers how she reacts when she sees Sarah in danger.
"Close enough," Sarah nods her head not wanting to go deeper, "But the point is, I don't like to see you get hurt. I think I should teach you Push Hands."
Cameron turns to face Sarah, completely unconcerned with her partial nudity, her tank top held loosely in her hand while she was getting stitched up. "Push Hands." Cameron pauses as she accesses data on Push Hands, "It is a discipline of T'ai Chi where students learn to read a partner's chi while trying to push each other over." Cameron tilts her head, "Chi means life force, flow of energy, breath, air." Cameron pauses as she considers the information, "Push Hands teaches students to read their partner's flow of energy," her inflection making it both a statement and question.
Sarah rolls her eyes as she listens to Cameron recite her information on Push Hands, "You can think of flow of energy as intention and/or motion. Push Hands teaches you how to use your opponent's motions or intentions against themselves. Terminators use direct brute force, you learn this girlie, and you can use their own strength against them." Sarah gestures to Cameron to put her tank top back on. Although she is enjoying the view, it is distracting her from her goal of getting Cameron to agree to learn Push Hands.
Cameron puts her tank top on as she considers Sarah's clarification, "I have programs to anticipate my opponent's actions." Cameron looks into Sarah's eyes and notes where Sarah was staring before she put her top on, keeping her pleased smirk to herself, "Tai Chi is good for you. It has reduced your stress levels. I am glad you took my advice to practice it."
Sarah sighs, "Yes you have programs to anticipate, but you are still using brute force, no skill or subtly…" At Cameron's blank look, she decides to change tactics, "Cameron, I get… aroused watching you beat up triple 8s," Cameron's eyes light up, "but" Sarah holds up a hand to stop Cameron from making a comment, "I lose that arousal when fixing you up." Cameron pouts, "IF you learn Push Hands from me and you get through fights without any bad cuts or other damage to your skin that requires me to fix," Sarah leans forward to whisper into Cameron's ear seductively, "We can have hot sex."
Cameron's eyes light up as she processes Sarah's offer, turning her head to look into Sarah's eyes, "We can have hot, after-fighting-adrenaline fueled sex?" Sarah nods, maintaining eye contact as she bites her lip seductively, "Rip-each-others-clothes-off hot sex?" Sarah continues to nod, Cameron's face lights up with anticipation as she runs through several scenarios she has built up in her head, "Let's start now!"
Sarah chuckles and shakes her head at Cameron's eagerness to start learning, "You are nothing but a horny teenager at heart."
Cameron arches an eyebrow, "I am a horny cybernetic organism." Cameron reaches out to help Sarah to her feet so they can start the lessons.
One Month later:
Sarah and Cameron are practicing in the backyard, the sun barely breaking the horizon. Sarah, with her body slick with sweat, faces Cameron's pristine body as their arms snake and slide around each others arms, their hands slide over each others bodies seeking places to push or pull, shifting their weight back and forth in time with their attempts to unbalance each other or to evade attacks, twisting and turning to hide their centers and redirect the others attacks. Moving in a continuous connected togetherness as their breaths match up, almost looking like they are dancing with each other, except for when one stumbles off balanced from a push or pull. Suddenly they start walking, adding in-stepping to their attacks and evasions. They interact in an intricate dance, each looking for an advantage over the other, seeking to unbalance the other while maintaining perfect balance themselves.
Two Months later:
John and Riley enter the house after seeing a movie together, walking into the kitchen and dropping their school books on the kitchen table, John calls out, "I'm home Mom! Riley is with me!" John and Riley are sitting down at the table when they hear a body falling against a wall. Riley freezes and her head snaps up as she looks in the direction of the sound. John keeps sitting down as he grabs a book, "That's just Mom and Cameron practicing Push Hands." He says dismissively, starting on homework that is due Monday, "They practice constantly nowadays. They probably haven't taken a break from when they started this morning."
From one of the air vents, John and Riley can clearly hear Cameron tell Sarah, "John is home. Riley is with him." And there is another THUD against a wall, "Nice timing Sarah."
Riley sits down at the table, "Isn't that part of T'ai Chi? That real soft, slow and healthy martial art that Sarah has been practicing," Riley looks a little skeptical as she glances up at the ceiling as she gets out the same book as John has out.
"Yeah, Push Hands is the martial side of it. Teaches students to use opponents force against them," John nonchalantly starts his homework. "In its beginning stages, it is very soft with students just trying to get their partners off balance with gentle pushes or pulls."
Thud, "Ooofffff… nice one." Sarah's voice floats down from the vent.
"But Mom and Cameron having been stepping it up to more realistic levels recently," John responds already bored with what his Mom and Cameron are doing. Looking up at Riley, who is still staring up where the falling sounds are coming from worriedly, "You want something to drink?"
Riley nods her blonde head, "Umm… shouldn't Cameron be able to just push Sarah around at will?? She is a terminator."
Thud, "Tricky, Cameron," Sarah's voice floats down.
John shrugs as he gets two glasses of orange juice, "The idea is to use only 4 ounces of strength while practicing. They having been stepping things up, so they are using more then 4 ounces, but Cameron limits herself to about half of a percent of her strength, so she can't push any harder then Mom. When you have a brute force advantage, you tend to rely on it. By taking away Cameron's advantage; it will help her learn the skills faster."
The next hour passes with John and Riley sitting close together, helping each other with homework as they share the occasion innocent touch. The occasional thud of Cameron or Sarah falling off balance and either hitting a wall, the floor or a piece of furniture causes Riley to start and look up towards the ceiling, while John pays no attention to the thudding, it being a common occurrence for him. Cameron and Sarah's voices float down, comparing notes on techniques and how they got each other. Riley is beginning to not notice the thudding anymore, getting lost in being with John. When Sarah's voice floats down, "Ooo… your fingernails are pretty today, what color is that?" Cameron's voice perks up, "Aphrodite's Pink Nightieeeee," THUD, "That is cheating!"
Riley's eyes widen as she overhears what just happened and looks to John, "Whuh… did your mom just?"
John doesn't look up from his homework, "That is a tactic called Distraction, kinda like telling someone their shoe laces are untied." John says with more animation as he describes the tactic, "You compliment someone and guess what, it causes them to stand up straighter, shifting their balance backward and making it easy to push them backwards, Pride before the Fall." John cocks his head to the side, "Mom has gotten really good at finding Cameron's pride points, which irritates Cameron to no end." John goes back to his homework, "So Mom didn't cheat."
Riley nods, her eyes indicating she is feeling out of her depth as she tries to focus on her homework without glancing upwards, "Who knew a terminator could have pride?"
John shrugs, "Obviously it wouldn't work versus a Triple 8, they don't have emotions," John pauses in thought, "so maybe it is cheating, since they are training to fight Triple 8s, well Cameron is training to fight Triple 8s more efficiently, but they could try a Distraction type tactic, so no, Mom still wasn't cheating." John goes back to his homework.
"AAAEEKK," thud, "YOU PINCHED MY NIPPLE!" Sarah's indignant voice floats down.
John and Riley's eyes pop wide open comically as they stare at each other, neither expecting that.
"It was poking out, begging to be pinched." Cameron's smug voice floats down.
John and Riley in unison nearly shout, "LIBRARY," together as they start quickly gathering up their books, both of their faces getting red from embarrassment.
"Ooooo… I am going to get you for that!" Sarah's voice floats down.
"Bring it!" Cameron's smug voice follows.
As John and Riley head out of the kitchen they hear a RRIIIPPPPPP. Sarah's voice floats down as they reach the door, "Hey! That was more than 4 ounces!" And the sound of a body landing on a bed echoes through the house as the door shuts.
Four Months later.
Cameron side steps the spray of bullets the Triple 8 is sending her way as Sarah takes aim and sends a spray of bullets back at the Triple 8, slamming into it's hand, arm and the AK-47, causing the rifle to fly out of it's hand. The Triple 8's head snaps around to look at Sarah. Cameron steps in and slams a palm into the Triple 8's stomach sending it flying into a concrete pillar. The Triple 8 pries itself off of the pillar, turning and charging at Cameron. Cameron processes the Triple 8's fast and powerful, but clumsy attack, side steps, spins and slams her elbow into its back, sending it flying and skidding across the ground as it lands roughly.
Cameron notes Sarah wetting her lip as she watches Cameron handle the Triple 8, getting a mischievous smile. Cameron turns to face the clumsy attack of the Triple 8, and spends a couple of moments trading punches with the Triple 8, as they stand face to face. The Triple 8's blows glance off of Cameron as she twists and turns while its body is knocked around by Cameron's blows.
Sarah smirks and crosses her arms as she watches Cameron showing off for her, "What is taking so long girlie?" Sarah calls out.
Cameron lets a punch speed past her face. She grabs the extended arm, spinning and uses the Triple 8's momentum, plus hers to flip the Triple 8 over her back and land face first into the ground. The Triple 8's body jackknifes at its neck, snapping its neck and cutting its control circuits as its back smashes into the ground. "Nothing," Cameron responds back in a factual and slightly smug voice. She reaches down, grabs the nonfunctioning Triple 8's ankle and drags it towards Sarah, walking toward Sarah with the air of a predator coming to present a gift to its mate.
They hear a car speeding towards them; both turn to face it and they identify their Jeep with John behind the wheel, skidding to a stop close to them, "Hurry up! Someone heard the gunfire and called the police!" Cameron immediately switches direction towards the jeep and crams the Triple 8 into the back cargo area as Sarah climbs into the passenger side seat. Cameron climbs into the jeep, "Go," she commands John as she smoothly slides into the back seat.
Several anxious moments pass as they scan for police cars chasing them while John navigates through back streets. None of them relaxing until they are clear of the area and the only sirens they hear are fading into the background.
Cameron faces Sarah, "I am undamaged."
Sarah smirks as she turns in her seat to face Cameron, "So you are."
"You promised me hot, adrenaline-fueled-ripping-off-clothes sex," Cameron reminds Sarah in a factual manner, with arousal underscoring her voice, completely focused on Sarah.
Sarah arches an eyebrow, grabs the back of Cameron's neck and pulls. Cameron allows herself to be pulled into a searing hot kiss with Sarah. She braces Sarah as the jeep's tires squeal through a tight turn into a parking lot of an overnight motel, continuing their kiss throughout the sudden maneuver.
"OUT! GET A ROOM!" John snaps as he skids to a stop, resolutely facing away from his Mom kissing Cameron.
Sarah cocks an eyebrow at Cameron as she breaks the kiss and nods at Cameron, who climbs out and grabs the travel bag that is always in the jeep. "Okay, John. We will be a couple…"
"I don't wanna hear it!" John covers his ears with his hands, his face bright red from embarrassment, "Call me when you need a ride."
Sarah smirks as she climbs out of the Jeep; John immediately sends the jeep squealing out of the parking lot, to Sarah's amusement. Strutting towards the registration office, Sarah can feel Cameron's eyes traveling over her body as she follows.
The End