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.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
Time Loop: Loop 50
By wkgreen
The AI troopship Rex, it liked to call itself Rex after it was reprogrammed by the Resistance to help them in their fight against Skynet, flew as low to the ground and with minimum power as physics allowed. Its goal was to land as close to the target as possible and insert a strike unit inside of Skynet communication center's perimeter. Rex was employing all its stealth capabilities and skill at flying to remain unnoticed.
Inside of Rex, the soldiers were getting ready. Captain Harrison is the leader of this mission with a squadron of soldiers assigned to him. Their mission is to escort a strike unit to the drop off zone and provide cover for the strike unit's retreat. Captain Harrison looked over his troops, sighing as he took in the new recruits, not happy to have them on this sensitive mission, but needs must. Captain Harrison chuckles as he takes in their awe, fear and disbelief running across their faces as they steal glances at the Strike unit.
Captain Harrison turns his head to take in the strike unit, a two person team with the reputation of surviving suicide mission after suicide mission, Sarah Connor and Cameron Phillips. Sarah Connor, the mother of John Conner, the leader of the Resistance, is sleeping with her long athletic body stretched out, her head using Cameron's lap as a pillow. Sarah is showing her age, grey hairs winning the battle in her raven locks, battle scars crisscrossing her arms and probably the rest of her body. But she was a very fit woman, a dead shot with a mind for tactics and a battle instinct unmatched by anyone.
Cameron, the only teenage female cybernetic organism to ever be made by Skynet and sent to assassinate John Connor, the leader of the Resistance, was applying pink nail polish to her fingernails as her arms lazily encased the older woman's upper body. Cameron had turned sideways on the bench with her legs crossed to form Sarah's pillow. For a human, the position would have been uncomfortable, but Cameron didn't show any discomfort in her still face, as she applied her nail polish with complete, single-minded focus, not making one mistake as the Troopship rose and weaved erratically, at the same time holding Sarah still in her lap.
Captain Harrison took time to wonder at the unlikely story those two represented. A cyborg sent to kill John Connor, captured and reprogrammed to help mankind. A woman who fought with inadequate weapons to defeat Terminator after Terminator. A cyborg sent back in time by John Connor to protect himself and his mother. The woman who over comes her hatred of Terminators to accept ones help. A cyborg that developed emotions, that fell in love with Sarah Connor and won the love of the focused, dedicated and irritable woman. A cyborg and human, the most effective strike unit in human history. Captain Harrison's musings are suddenly interrupted by Rex.
"Captain Harrison, we are approaching the landing zone." Rex's mechanical voice reports, "We appear to be undetected. So far the main attack has drawn all the attention of Skynet."
"Very good Rex, thanks for the smooth ride." Captain Harrison replies as the Troopship comes to rest, the rear doors smoothly opening as Captain Harrison's squadron rushes out to secure the landing zone, operating as the well trained soldiers he expects. Captain Harrison turns to speak to Cameron as he is exiting, but is interrupted before he can say anything.
"I will wake her." Cameron's impassive voice carries to Captain Harrison softly, anticipating his request as she finishes applying her pink nail polish. Cameron replaces the brush in the pink bottle of polish, which is supported by Sarah's cupped hands on her chest, and nudges Sarah with the heel of one hand gently, waking the older woman, "Blow please." Cameron is holding her painted nails in front of Sarah's mouth.
Sarah blows across Cameron's nails automatically as she opens her battle weary eyes, squinting them suspiciously, "Where did you get Pink.. "
"Passion Pink," Cameron interrupts with the barest hint of smile on her impassive face, "with glitter."
".. Passion Pink with Glitter….rightt." Sarah rolls her eyes as she blows across the wet nails, "the important thing is where did you get it." Sarah reflexively closes the bottle of nail polish cupped in her hands, storing it in their pack.
Cameron shrugs her shoulders as she single mindedly watches Sarah blow her fingernails dry, "At the base camp."
Sarah eyes narrow more at Cameron's evasive answer, "And even more importantly, what did you trade for it?"
Cameron impassive face takes on an innocent quality, "Nothing important, just some food rations that are unhealthy for you."
Sarah looks up at Cameron with an irritated expression, "You traded my coffee for Pink.. "
"Passion Pink with Glitter," Cameron corrects with the seriousness of a teenager stressing the importance and uniqueness of said polish, "and caffeine is bad for you. Would you like me to list the negative effects? Again? I got you yogurt. It is healthy."
Sarah rolls her eyes in exasperation, "Listen Tin Miss, I don't need a nursemaid, you hear me." Sarah restarts the long lost argument, as Cameron ignores the long stated complaint, "Never mind, time to focus on the mission, but we will talk about this latter."
Cameron lets a hint of a smile tease her lips as she lifts her hands up, inspecting her nails as Sarah smoothly rolls to her feet. Cameron unwinds herself from her knot-legged position and follows Sarah down the ramp, blowing on her nails, making sure her hands don't touch anything until her nail polish is dry, admiring the Passion Pink on her perfect nails and how the sun sparkles on the glitter.
Sarah walks up to Captain Harrison as she scans the surroundings with tired professional eyes, "Are we secure, Captain?"
Captain Harrison turns to Sarah, "Yes Ma'am. Perimeter is setup and secure, lookouts are out gathering local intel."
Sarah nods her head as she shades her eyes, "Good. Looks like things are going to plan so far. The main force is heading for this communications bunker from the north, drawing the security forces off; we sneak in from the south."
Captain Harrison nods his head, "Yes, we have been launching attacks all across the state to spread Skynet's local security forces thin to create this chance. Although we are still taking a chance, the main force is in a precarious situation if this sneak attack doesn't work. And admit it, even with your reputation; the chances are slim that this is going to work."
Sarah looks at Capt Harrison with her battle weary eyes, but as he looks deeper into her eyes, he sees a core of strength that won't stop until the mission is done, "We will succeed," Sarah states with a finality that sets Capt Harrison back on his heels.
A young man jogs up to Capt Harrison, "Sir, we have the bunker in site, there are too many Hunter/killer bots still guarding it. No way anyone can get in."
Capt Harrison turns to Lt Derek Reese, "What? Are you sure about that?"
Sarah arches a long eyebrow at Lt Resse's declaration, "What you mean is there is no way you could get in. You have no idea what we are capable of." Sarah turns her head to look down at Cameron who is taking in the conversation with an expressionless face, "We better have a look Cameron." Cameron nods as she stands behind Sarah admiring her Passion Pink nail polish with Glitter, letting Sarah handle talking to the other humans. Sarah turns to Lt Reese, "Okay Lt, show me."
Capt Harrison looks at Sarah and Cameron then turns to Lt Reese and nods his head. "Let's have a look, it's their mission, they are the only ones who can pull the plug on it." Lt Reese looks like he wants to argue, but the Captain has spoken and Lt Reese keeps quiet, turning around and leading them up the hill that provides them cover from the security forces protecting the bunker. Sarah, Cameron, Capt Harrison, and Lt Reese get down on their stomachs as they get to the apex of the hill and look down on the flat plain leading to the entrance of the bunker, 500 yards of open plain with at least a dozen hunter/killer bots standing guard. Hunter/Killer bots are made to kill; they make no pretense of looking human and take after wolf packs in their fighting tactics. The bunker itself is an ugly, 2 stories of reinforced concrete with an unknown number of stories underground, bomb proof from anything the Resistance has access to anymore, unless you can get the bomb inside the bunker.
Sarah narrows her eyes as she considers the field, looking over her shoulder at Cameron. Cameron seems to be admiring her nails as she responds, "20 hunter/killers and one gunship on the roof idling." Sarah gestures with her head for Cameron to move aside from the two soldiers, "Be right back, Capt, need to discuss this with the Tin Miss."
Sarah rolls over to where Cameron is blowing her nails clean of dirt, "Okay, Tin Miss. What are our chances?"
Cameron looks at Sarah, "If you consider all data gathered, John's advisors guesses on what is inside the bunker, we have a 25% chance of success."
Sarah rolls her eyes at Cameron's deliberate obtuseness. Sarah sees the subtle smirk across Cameron's face, "Give it up Tin Grandma. What are our Real chances?"
Cameron pouts cutely, "I am never telling you my age again," then her face goes still, "Experiential data shows that we have never failed a mission at these odd levels." Cameron gestures out at the field of hunter/killer bots. "What we do is not quantifiable, only experiential data is reliable for predicting our chance of success."
Sarah nods, "And what are our odds of coming out alive?" Her long salt and pepper locks frame her battle weary eyes as what she is really asking is what her chances of survival are.
Cameron's face grows stiller if at all possible and her voice emotionless, "Against these odds, 50%"
Sarah nods her head thoughtfully, "I can live with those odds. We promised John a long time ago to destroy Skynet. This brings us one step closer to fulfilling that promise." Sarah sighs tiredly, every fight for the last two decades weighing on her soul.
Cameron lays a hand softly on Sarah's back and rubs gently, "We can rest after this."
"Not until Skynet is destroyed." Sarah turns to look deeply into Cameron's eyes, "If I fall, you will return to me in the past?"
Cameron locks eyes with Sarah and nods her head, "Always."
Sarah smiles softly, "Then we will always be together." She leans forward and softly kisses Cameron's lips. Cameron moans softly into Sarah's kiss.
Sarah rolls back to the soldiers as Cameron moves down the hill. Sarah gestures down the hill towards the base camp. Once they get to the camp, Sarah turns to Capt Harrison," We are going in. Remember, you are to stay hidden here. Your mission is to help us escape, not to get in. Don't draw attention to yourself and power down all electrical devices until the EMP bomb goes off."
Lt Reese glances at Cameron as she walks into Rex, "Are you sure you can trust her, you are going into the reach of Skynet and she is metal. Skynet could…." Lt Reese trails off as Sarah snorts dismissively with a steely stare that sends a shiver down Lt Reese's spine.
"You have no idea what you are talking about Lt Reese." Sarah turns away from the young Reese, who is as clueless and biased as his future hardened self. "I am going to get ready Capt, I will see you after the mission." Sarah shakes hand with the man who is responsible for covering her and Cameron's escape and then walks several steps away.
She stops in the middle of the camp, takes a deep breath, closing her eyes and releases the breath slowly. Releasing all the tension in her body, all her expectations, all her desires and wants, allowing herself to sink into the moment, feeling herself pare everything away but her core self.
Cameron comes out of Rex carrying their heavy pack neglectfully in one hand, her eyes immediately lock on Sarah's tall, athletic body as she allows her desire, her attraction to rise and fill her body with sensation, her want, her passion, making her hyper aware of every sensation traveling across her body and surrounding her.
Sarah feels Cameron's eyes on her, turning she opens her eyes and lets Cameron fill her vision, letting everything else fade away, feeling her love come out of her core to fill her body, center and calm her, entering the moment more and more where she calmly observers everything.
Cameron takes in how the sun plays across Sarah's skin, the wind plays with Sarah's hair, hearing Sarah's breath slow down, hearing Sarah's heart slow down and calm as her breath and heart beat move to become in sync, her love filling her and reaching out for Sarah's calm core.
Sarah lets everything go but the moment, the mission and Cameron.
Cameron pulls the feeling of Sarah, every sensation inwards to sustain and drive the mission.
Each step closer Cameron takes, their breathing comes more in sync, their heart beat comes more in sync, their eyes shine as their inner selves pull them to each other, communicating on a level higher then words or thought as they become more then human, more then machine. Cameron stops in arms reach of Sarah as their breath and hearts lock into sync and what was two suddenly becomes one.
The soldiers around them get uncomfortable at the level of rapport they are seeing between the older human woman and the young appearing female cyborg, feeling like they are witnessing something greater then themselves, Two combining to become greater then the parts.
Cameron lifts the EMP bomb as Sarah turns around, they work in complete unison to secure it to Sarah's back, cinching straps to make sure it doesn't unbalance Sarah as she runs. Sarah turns to face Cameron reaching into the pack as Cameron lifts bandoliers of grenades and slings them over her shoulders and accepts several shaped charges that Sarah is handing to her. Cameron turns around and passes back the shaped charges as Sarah secures them to her back, making sure they will not fall off accidentally but easy for her to grab and pull off when needed. Cameron turns back to face Sarah, reaches down, grasps Sarah's pulse rife and presents it to Sarah, letting it lay across her hands ceremonially. With deep acceptance of Cameron's gift, Sarah ceremonially accepts the pulse rifle, clicking the safety off.
"Shall we Dance, love?" Sarah asks too softly for anyone but Cameron to hear. Cameron steps up to Sarah as the two lovers embrace, molding their bodies together and kiss deeply, seemingly trying to get their bodies as close as their souls are. The soldiers setting up the camp feel really uncomfortable, witnessing a love so profound and deep it wipes out any other concern. The kiss goes on for long minutes until Sarah has to pull back, gasping for air.
"Let's Dance, my love." Cameron answers as she sweeps Sarah off her foot, who is laying into Cameron's strong arms at the same time. Cameron snaps into a full out sprint, hitting full speed within steps, leaning so far forward that she looks like she is about to fall off balance, using gravity to increase her acceleration and top speed, cradling the older woman to her chest protectively. Sarah settles into Cameron's arms, completely relaxed and focused as she holds her pulse rifle aimed outward, ready to fire, completely trusting Cameron to keep her safe. Cameron tops the hill; her speed sends her flying thru the air in a graceful leap, the sun catching their profile for a second before they move out of sight of Capt Harrison and his men. The sounds of fighting soon come over the hill as they wait to see if Cameron and Sarah return from another suicide mission.
The End