DISCLAIMER: This is a story using the characters seen in The Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles television show. All rights to said characters belong to whoever owns that show. No money was made in the writing or posting of this story (if I actually did post it). I only wrote it because I love the characters…speaking of which… there is a character missing from this piece, you will note the conspicuous absence of one Derek Reese. That is because, well… I hate him. I think he ruins the show and I will be glad when he's dead and out of the way. There I said it. Anyway, this story started with an idea I had of Cameron finding Sarah at the bar, and just grew from there.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
Twenty-Three
By Gin
"Mom." John held the dying woman's hand. "Mom, please don't go."
She tried to smile even as pain wracked her body. "Can't stop it now." A tear slipped from the corner of her eye and she managed to tangle her fingers in his hair. "You need a haircut."
He laughed through his tears at the familiar comment. "Yeah, I guess I do." He heard heavy footsteps approach the bed.
"You should rest." The girl held out her hand. "I have your medication."
Sarah turned to see the conundrum that had become her nurse. She knew that cherub face. She'd known it before when the girl was her friend, and it looked the same now even though there was a demon skeleton inside. The kicker was that she didn't care. Death can make you see things much clearer. "Give us a minute would ya, girlie?" There was sadness in the girl's simulated human eyes as she moved away. A sadness that Sarah doubted anyone but her could or would even try to see. Suddenly she felt everything dimming and knew she didn't have much time. Damning her pride and inability to ask out loud, she hoped John would get the message. Knew he would, because he had before…at least she thought he had…things were pretty jumbled up in her brain right now…but she thought maybe she still needed to ask.
"I love you Mom."
Sarah could feel her own tears sliding down her face as she looked at him. John's cheeks now streaked with tears made him look so much younger, not the battle hardened man he'd grown into, not the leader of the resistance movement against the machines, not the savior of mankind, right now he was just, John, her son, her baby. "I love you too."
"Is there anything I can do?" He sounded a bit desperate, more so than a man with his power ever should. He watched her jaw muscles bunch and knew there was something, something she wanted and wasn't going to ask for. "Mom… I mean it. If there is anything you want…" He saw her eyes slide sideways, to the girl, then close in pain. There is more than one kind of pain though and he knew it.
Opening her eyes to look at her son, probably for the last time she smiled a genuine smile. "I'm so proud of you." Their eyes met for a moment then distant thunder of bombs getting closer instinctively sent them scanning overhead. "You have to go."
"I don't want to leave you alone." It was a human need, to know a loved one didn't die alone.
Sarah closed her eyes and smiled. Here it is, her opportunity, her chance to ask, without asking. "I won't be alone." She managed to pat the hand in hers. "Send her back to me." She watched as he nodded and began to rise. Holding as tightly as she could to his hand she waited for his eyes to meet hers then spoke slowly, enunciating every word very clearly. "John, send her back to me."
"I will Mom." John nodded as he motioned the girl back to the bed. He walked to the doorway and looked back, his Mother lying there looking pretty much as she always had, strong and beautiful as she spoke to the young girl sitting on the edge of the bed holding her hand. He smiled as the stubborn patient knocked the meds out of her nurse's hand, then turned a look on the girl…a look he'd seen before. His breath caught in his throat and he heard his mother's words again.
Send her back to me.
He watched the girl, machine, slide off the edge of the bed sitting on her knees, resting her head on his Mother's hand and arm, eyes never wavering from the dying woman's face.
Send her back to me.
It would change everything. Nodding to himself, John continued out of the room. It would change everything, and he didn't care. Maybe it would change things for the better.
Send her back to me.
He heard the words and vowed to himself, to her. "I will Mom. I will."
Simulated eyes scanned the bar's interior, identifying and ignoring the patrons until they landed on a lone figure sitting at the bar. The figure was identified as Sarah Conner. With single-minded determination, the terminator walked in a straight line, directly to the woman's location. "I've found you."
Her shoulder's slumped down slightly as the dark haired woman looked over, blinked, then turned back to take a swig out of her beer bottle. "So you have, girlie." She pointed to the stool next to her. "Now what?"
"I don't know." Cameron sat, understanding that continuing to stand would draw unwanted attention. "What?"
Sarah rolled her eyes. "What are you doing in here?"
"Looking for you." The terminator stated then moved her chin closer to her chest. "John was worried."
"John isn't home." Sarah reminded her, knowing full well Cameron didn't forget anything. Letting her son go on the school field trip was not as much risk as it sounded, at least that's what she told herself, over and over. "Try again."
"If John had been home, he would have been worried." Cameron lowered her eyes. "You left very suddenly."
I left because if I'd stayed there one more second I'd have attacked you like the sex crazed idiot I feel like every time I look at you. Intense green eyes turned to gaze at the machine. "Try again."
Brown doe-eyes returned the look. "I was worried."
Unlikely. Sarah thought but her expression softened somewhat and she let the topic drop. "How did you even get in here?"
"I have an ID. The guard is inefficient. He didn't look very closely at it." Cameron thought that should be obvious, and apparently it was from Sarah's next statement.
"Of course you do." The dark head shook, fake ID was a staple in their unstable lives, and forced her attention back to her beer. "And of course he didn't." No bouncer in his right mind would fail to pass the lithe, scantily clad girl into a place like this. Curiosity got the better of her. "How old does this ID say you are?"
"Twenty-three."
Sarah snorted. "No way." She allowed herself to turn and study the terminator's face and, giving in to temptation, body. The tight white shirt outlining the thin form's curving breasts was tucked into a very mini skirt. Knee length boots covered much of her legs, but the skin on her thighs looked so… Tearing her eyes away, focusing back on those wide brown eyes, Sarah shook her head, trying to rid herself of the image she'd just flashed on. "You do not look twenty-three."
"I have good genes."
The older woman clenched her teeth together, her hand tightened around the beer bottle, her voice rasped. "Is that supposed to be a joke?"
"Was it funny?"
Sarah's heart beat faster seeing the cute way Cameron tilted her head, waiting for the answer. Her grip on the beer bottle relaxed. "No, it wasn't."
Cameron blinked. "Then no, it wasn't supposed to be a joke."
Sarah grunted at that, she'd known what the response would be, it was programmed that way. She had almost finished her beer and motioned to the bartender for another one. "Get my… friend here a coke too."
Her eyes slid over the girl in question and she nodded.
Cameron spoke quietly. "I'm old enough for a beer."
Sarah's hand again tightened around the bottle in her hand. "Even if you were twenty-three I'd still be old enough to be your mother, so I'm not buying you a beer, you'll drink the coke and like it." The volume of her voice had risen with each word and she tried to get herself under control, realizing some of the women in the bar were now looking their direction.
Accepting the drink from the woman behind the bar, Cameron took a sip and nodded. "I like it."
"Stop it…" Sarah kept her volume to a minimum but slammed her hand down on the bar. "Just stop…" The voice at her elbow shocked her silent.
"Got a problem?"
Sarah turned to see a well meaning bar patron. The stocky woman with short cropped hair took an aggressive stance and looked, for all the world, like a bulldog ready to take on the 'problem'. It would have been sweet had it not been for the fact that the 'problem' the woman was ready to toss on her ass was a tiny slip of a girl that would have killed her without a second thought. Giving the woman a smile for her trouble, Sarah reached out and patted one sloped shoulder. "Thanks. I can handle it."
"Why did she do that?" Cameron watched the bystander walk across the room, back to a table of what were presumably, friends. "If she had attacked me she would have been hurt."
"She didn't know that." The muscles in Sarah's jaw jumped as she ground her teeth together, knowing the truth, knowing if Cameron was attacked she would kill the attacker. It was what she did. Kill. "She thought I was in trouble and she came to help." Her eyes found Cameron's. "It's a human thing to do."
"I understand." Cameron continued to look into Sarah's eyes. "Thank you for explaining."
They sat in silence for several minutes, Sarah nursing her beer, Cameron sipping her coke. "Stop what?"
"What?" Sarah's turned her darkened eyes to the girl.
"Earlier, before we were interrupted, you told me to stop…" Cameron spoke in her usual monotone. "Stop what?"
Knowing there was no way to explain it, Sarah remained silent. She stared at the label on her beer and wondered how could she possibly explain how incredibly grating it was for the girl to just do everything she said. Tell her to sit, she sits… tell her to drink, she drinks… tell her to like the drink… Knowing she could tell the girl to do anything, anything, and she would do it, the temptation was maddening.
The one thing Sarah didn't want the machines to do for themselves was the one thing she most wanted Cameron to do. God help her, she wanted Cameron to think on her own. The thought of being able to tell Cameron to…Sarah closed her eyes at the thoughts seducing her imagination … She wanted Cameron to stop being a machine for one minute…one minute to look in those intense brown eyes and see a soul. One minute to lean over and touch the full inviting lips with her own and be lost in the softness of it….one minute, to bury her hands in the thick dark hair that surrounded the youthful face… and of course that will never happen. It will never happen. Sarah sighed and took another swig of her beer. She'll always be a machine.
Cameron was disappointed that Sarah hadn't answered her question. She looked around the bar and stated. "There are no men here."
Sarah clicked her tongue against her teeth. "Wow Sherlock… and how long did it take you to notice that??"
"I noticed the moment I arrived, but the other women here didn't interest me, I only wanted you." Cameron carefully observed the effect her words had on Sarah. Respiration and skin temperature increased, knuckles white around the bottle.
"They interest you now?" Sarah studiously avoided looking at the girl.
"Most of them do not. The two in the corner kissing are of some interest though." Cameron had watched the pair move into the shadowy corner. Mostly because she wanted to make sure they weren't going to pull guns and start firing at Sarah Conner. When they had begun to kiss, she watched for a different reason. "Why would that make my temperature rise?"
Startled, Sarah looked at Cameron seeing curiosity in the girl's eyes, and maybe something more. Wishful thinking. She chided herself. Another voice behind her made her jump.
"Buy you a drink?"
Turning Sarah saw another woman standing there, a thin blonde with startling blue eyes. "Um… Thank you, but…" She held up her bottle and waggled it a little. "I'm fine."
The blonde nodded, disappointed. "Yeah… okay." She went back to a table across the dance floor.
Sarah turned back to her young companion. "Don't ask why she did that."
"I don't have to." Cameron turned her attention from the couple in the corner and focused on Sarah alone. "You're smokin' hot and she wanted to kiss you like they are doing." She pointed to the couple in question.
Sarah ignored the words, for the moment, grabbing the pointing finger. "Don't point, it's rude."
"Okay." Cameron complied but she didn't pull her finger from Sarah's grasp, instead she tangled the rest of her fingers with the older woman's. She tilted her head, regarding the digits in contact with each other. "This makes my skin tingle."
Sarah pulled her hand away as if it had been burned. "Don't do that." She finished her beer and signaled for another one. She hoped her fingers would stop tingling before her drink arrived.
"I'm sorry, was that wrong?" Cameron looked into Sarah's eyes. "You don't want to appear involved with me. I understand, you want to keep your…" She searched for the word. "…options, open."
"I'm not involved with you." The rest of her response was a whisper, but Cameron heard it. "There are no options for me."
One of the women in the corner had now moved her hand under the other's shirt. The sight of it, the sounds they were making, sounds only the terminator's ears could hear, made Cameron warm all over, and started a strange feeling just below her navel. The thought of Sarah making those sounds, the thought of making Sarah make those sounds… She ran an internal diagnostic as her respiration increased for no apparent reason. "You're wrong."
Sarah sighed. "What do you think I'm wrong about girlie?"
"You have more options than you think." Cameron slid her small hand back into Sarah's. She realized there were things she could do here, in the darkened bar, that she wouldn't be able to do at home. In private, the older woman would never have allowed herself to be touched. Cameron knew. Trying this at the breakfast table would have gotten her backhanded across the face. But here, in this place, Sarah wouldn't be able to risk that kind of attention.
Looking down at the bar, Sarah saw her hand entwined with another, smaller, one. She knew what it was, fake, a doll's hand all metal on the inside, but on the outside it was nice, warm and soft, just as she'd always imagined it would be. Smoldering green eyes found the terminator's gaze. "You're treading on thin ice." You talking to her or yourself?
"You should always examine your options before you dismiss them." Cameron slid off the stool to move closer.
Using her free hand to pick up the new beer bottle in front of her, Sarah drained the contents down her throat. It was a mistake to do it, sipping it would have been okay, but chugging it pushed her over her limit and she could feel the world go slightly askew. It wasn't as dangerous as it sounded though, she felt safer here than she did in their home. Who would think to look for her in a lesbian bar for crying out loud, who except…? "How did you find me here anyway?"
"I followed you." Cameron admitted and moved closer. "I wouldn't have looked here for a long time using the normal, logical, elimination method."
"But I've been in here for…"
"One hour, twenty three minutes and nineteen seconds." Cameron told her, wrapping her free arm around Sarah's waist. "Before I decided to enter and approach you."
"Waiting for me to get drunk?" Sarah stiffened in the girl's embrace.
"No." Cameron instinctively began rubbing Sarah's back with her thumb. "Just giving you time to be alone." She spoke in low tones. "You seemed very upset when you left the house." She felt Sarah begin to relax.
The bartender saw the exchange. "You need me to call a taxi?"
"No." Cameron answered. "It's okay, I will take her home."
Now the bartender looked at Sarah. "You okay with that?" The earlier conversation didn't sound all that civil.
Sarah's head felt too heavy for her neck, it was so easy to place it against Cameron's soft hair. Mmmm… much better. She spoke almost dreamily. "Yeah, s'okay…we live together."
"Ah." The bartender raised her eyebrows. "Lucky you."
"Yes." Cameron replied softly. "Lucky me." She handed the woman a small bundle of bills to cover the tab.
Sarah just smiled, floating on the buzz she had going, and murmured. "Lucky, lucky, lucky." Her breath warming Cameron's ear and neck. She was leaning on the machine heavily, glad now for the reinforced frame knowing she wouldn't be able to walk normally on her own.
She was angry at herself for getting into this state, she had a job to do dammit… she wasn't a drunk. Not usually. She was aware of angry voices buzzing in her ears, then the hard ground under her and Cameron's reassuring tones telling her to wait here. Sounds of fighting reached her and the adrenaline rush cleared some of the fog from her brain. She saw three burly men with baseball bats coming at Cameron. Two in front of the girl and one circled around behind her, they were saying something… ah… they'd seen them exiting the bar together and assumed. They assumed right you fraud. You just haven't done anything about it, yet.
She hated this, helpless feeling, watching Cameron fight. Tears sprang to her eyes as one of the bats connected with the girl's shoulder. She saw the change come over the small frame as the hit drove her to one knee. Those men were dead, if she didn't do something. For a second she thought about it then yelled. "No! Don't kill them!"
Cameron's head snapped up and in half a second the terminator had changed her strategy. She quickly swept the men's legs dropping them all to the ground, retrieving two of the bats they'd dropped. Holding one bat in each hand, in a blur of graceful motion, knees were shattered and each man received a hit to the head rendering him at the least unconscious, at the most with a severe concussion. She dropped the weapons and stalked back to Sarah, helping her stand. "They'll live." They continued walking to the car, but she missed the weight of Sarah's head leaning on hers.
Sarah was able to get into the car on her own and now she sat in the passenger seat, staring out the window for a long time before turning to look at the driver. Her breath caught in her throat as she watched Cameron's profile illuminated by the dashboard lights. Such a beautiful, deadly package. Sarah sighed as she watched the protective girl driving.
Cameron glanced over at her passenger when she heard the sigh. "Something wrong?"
"No." Sarah rested her head against the seat. "Yes."
"Which?" Cameron parked the car in the driveway. "I don't understand."
"I know you don't." Sarah reached out, running her fingers through the amazingly soft hair. "I don't really understand it myself." Liar. Chills ran down her spine as she watched Cameron's eyes slide shut and the girl leaned into the touch. Then the previous comment came back to her. She whispered. "You think I'm hot?"
Brown eyes flew open, gazing at Sarah with a mix of adoration and lust. "Smokin' hot."
It was Sarah's turn to close her eyes, waiting for a long moment for her heart to settle into a normal rhythm. Her voice cracked. "Let's go inside." She exited the vehicle quickly. Cameron was at her side almost immediately. "I think can walk now…"
"I know." Cameron put her arm around the older woman's waist anyway.
"I should be the one helping you." Sarah winced in memory and hesitantly curled her arm around the slip of a girl. "That bat to the shoulder must've hurt."
"Yes, it hurt." The terminator sounded resigned. "It will hurt for…" She paused, checking her internal sensors no doubt. "…two days." She smiled down at Sarah. "No permanent damage." The arm around her was doing curious things to her senses. "No need for concern."
Sarah opened the door and Cameron dropped her embrace, walking out of the arm around her to enter the dwelling first. She carefully looked around the living room then tuned her sensors toward the rest of the house. After a moment she turned back to Sarah, offering her hand. "All clear."
Sarah took the hand, then gave the girl a little tug, pulling her, them, willingly, back together. I'm in trouble. Sarah thought as a delicious ache spread through her chest. She allowed it for a moment then moved away from the girl, to lean back against the inside of the closed door. "Make me some coffee would ya?"
"No." Cameron remained where she was.
A cold chill passed through Sarah. "What?" There was no way the machine just refused to do something she was told to do.
"You don't like the coffee when I make it." Cameron stated and sounded almost like a pouting teenager. "You never show me how to do it right."
Sarah blinked. "I have no idea what you are talking about. You're coffee is fine."
"No." Cameron now closed the distance Sarah had managed to put between them. "When you, or John, make the coffee you drink three or more cups. When I make it, you rarely finish one cup."
Sarah swallowed, feeling the unyielding door behind her and the small space between them become heated. She wondered how much was coming from her and how much was coming from Cameron. Her voice came out as a whisper. "Since when do you keep tabs on what I drink?"
"I…" Cameron suddenly realized they were in a very similar position as the women in the shadowy corner of the bar had been. She could so easily just lean down and… her breath hitched as she realized what she was thinking. "I'm sorry." Cameron hastily backed off. "I'm sorry… I'll go make the coffee…"
"Wait." Sarah reached out, impossibly stopping the machine with a touch. "What are you sorry about?"
"I…" Brown eyes downcast, Cameron admitted. "I wanted to kiss you." She focused on the contact Sarah's hand had with her arm. Pulling away from the grip, she avoided the older woman's gaze. "I'll just make the coffee."
Sarah followed her into the kitchen and stood, leaning against the doorway, arms crossed against her chest, watching the process. She spoke quietly as Cameron flipped the switch on the coffee machine. "You don't use enough coffee." Dropping her arms to her sides, Sarah walked across the room moving up behind the girl. She put her chin on Cameron's shoulder and reached around her to open the can of grounds, measuring four more scoops into the filter holder before placing it in its slot in the coffee machine. Finished with her task Sarah should have stepped back, instead she wrapped her arms around the girl and held her for a long moment, resting her head against the thin shoulder. She smiled at the girl's predictable response.
"Thank you for explaining."
"Now I have a question for you." Sarah turned the girl in her arms. "Why didn't you kiss me when you wanted to?"
"It didn't seem right." Cameron shook her head. "I mean, it did seem…right… but then it didn't…" The terminator shut her eyes tightly. "I'm so confused." Her eyes opened and angled down at Sarah's. "I remember things… but they are all jumbled up."
Sarah found her voice and asked in a whisper. "What kind of things?"
"Different things, flashing scenes that don't make any sort of order or sense." She rested her head on Sarah's shoulder.
"C'mere." Sarah led the girl to the living room and settled them on the couch. "Now tell me an example of these scenes that don't make sense."
"I told you… you died, two years ago." Cameron swallowed hard. "I still have that memory, that knowledge, but now I see scenes of you, dying… after Skynet comes online, we're in a resistance stronghold, you're on a bed, talking to John, saying goodbye because you know you are going to die. You told him to… I heard you."
"Told him to what?"
"You told him to send me back to you."
Shocked, Sarah went very still for a long moment. She finally found her voice. "Why would I tell him that?"
"You loved me." Cameron blinked. "I can feel it when I play that memory. But, you died… two years ago!" She ran her fingers through her hair. "I don't understand."
She can feel it? Sarah licked her lips and asked. "When did the conflicting scenes start?"
"When we jumped forward in time."
Dark eyebrows rose significantly. "That's a long time to be confused, girlie."
Cameron nodded. "Yes." She sighed. "It's beginning to have an effect on my efficiency."
"You certainly efficiently kicked those guy's asses tonight." Sarah held her breath and wrapped her arm around Cameron's shoulders. "Thank you for that. I'm so used to running from Skynet that I forget sometimes that there are regular bad guys out there too."
"I'll always protect you, Sarah." Cameron said and she curled up in the embrace, laying her head on Sarah's muscular shoulder. She felt the form under her stiffen and looked up. "What?"
The older woman asked. "Are you running an infiltration program, now?"
"No." Cameron shook her head. "I don't need to here, you already know who, what, I am." She focused on Sarah's lips. "I would only need those programs to gain access to an enemy camp."
You are so weak. Sarah chastised herself just before giving in to the temptation, just before speaking quietly to the woman in her arms. "Show me."
"But you already know me…" Cameron tilted her head, needing clarification.
"Pretend." Sarah wanted to cry. When did I become so pathetic? "Pretend the whole thing worked perfectly and I totally trust you. What would your program tell you to do in the situation we are in now?" She indicated them, on the couch, with their arms around each other. She watched as Cameron's eyes closed and reopened, slowly. Oh god. Was all she had time to think before the young woman's soft lips were pressed against hers. The ache in her chest exploded and she found herself responding to the kiss, opening her mouth slightly was all it took and the girl shifted, sliding one leg between hers, pushing her back onto the couch. Sarah imagined her bones turning to liquid as the heat from their contact burned through her. She had no clue how long they'd been there it felt like a second had passed, but it could have been hours. A sudden thought filled her with dread and she broke their contact to voice it. "John will be home..."
Nodding, Cameron rejoined their lips and scooped Sarah off the couch, carrying her through the house with negligent ease and lowering her, gently, onto the bed in the older woman's room. Now with their full lengths in contact, Cameron was able to explore the woman's body, questing lips finding every sensitive spot on her neck, suckling the earlobe, kissing the small depression just below and behind the gasping woman's ear. She was driven on by similar explorations on Sarah's part, then stopped cold at her words.
"Good program." The older woman couldn't imagine how she'd lived without this for so long and suddenly, it stopped. Cameron was standing next to the bed, her head hung in shame.
"I'm sorry." The girl seemed genuinely upset about her actions.
It took a moment for Sarah to calm her pounding heart, then she lay back on the bed with her hands tangled in her hair. "Sorry about what?"
"I tried to do what you asked." Sad brown eyes looked at her. "I tried."
"You were doing a damn good job." Sarah laughed and shook her head. "Why did you stop?"
"I…" Cameron started. "That wasn't…" She wasn't sure how to explain. "I tried to initiate the infiltration program, like you asked, but when I identified you as the target, it… stopped."
Sarah rolled to her side and propped her head up on her hand. "Stopped?" She patted the bed next to her.
Cameron lay down face to face with Sarah. She couldn't keep herself from reaching out to brush Sarah's hair away from her face. "Your hair is very soft."
Sarah smiled. "So is yours." She urged the girl to continue her explanation.
"I cannot initiate any kind of intimate program with you as the target. I didn't realize it because I've never tried before." She shrugged. "When I'm with you I have to be… me, no programs. I'm a cybernetic organism, when I'm with you I have to be, have to let, the part of me that's alive, direct my actions."
"So then what was all that with the kissing and the…" Sarah blinked, realizing what the girl was saying but needing confirmation. "You kissed me because…"
"Because I wanted to." Cameron nodded. "I've wanted to for a long time."
"How long?" Sarah focused on the soft lips so close to hers.
"Since we made the time jump."
"You told me you'd always protect me…me… what about John?" Sarah lost herself in deep brown eyes. "I thought you were here for him."
"No." Cameron was certain on this point. "I'm here for you."
"This so can't be happening." Sarah closed her eyes and rolled onto her back. She took a deep breath trying to calm herself and think about the situation. That deep breath reminded her of something though. "Coffee's done." She started to get up when Cameron stopped her.
"I'll get it." The metal girl's heavy steps thudded through the house.
"What am I gonna do?" Sarah asked herself and knew she was in deep, deep trouble. The memory of that kiss alone was enough to nearly bring her to tears. I can't live without that. Not anymore.
Cameron returned with the coffee.
"Thank you." Sarah accepted the cup from the younger girl and sipped it appreciatively. "Mmmmm…" She smiled at Cameron. "It's good, just like I like it." She sat the drink aside and motioned for the girl to sit next to her on the bed. "C'mere."
Cameron quickly moved and sat next to the woman, mere inches separating them.
"So…" Sarah ran her tongue across her teeth. "You're here for me huh?"
Cameron nodded. "Yes. My mission parameters are very clear. Help Sarah Conner with anything she needs."
Sarah took a deep breath. "Anything…" She reached out running her hand down the outside of the girl's thigh. "Are you sure you aren't running a… I mean… someone didn't, program, you to… feel this way… about me."
"No. No programs." Cameron moved closer. "I've always, been fascinated by you, John's mother. You are so smart, and beautiful. Your strength is intriguing… not physical strength you are human after all, but you, you keep going no matter what… when there is a task to do you do it, you don't stop, you don't quit."
A chill went through Sarah as she remembered Reese saying some very similar words… It can`t be bargained with. It can`t be reasoned with. It doesn`t feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, until you are dead! She closed her eyes against the thought. Am I so much like a terminator, a machine? A tear escaped her eye.
"Was that wrong to say?" Cameron looked concerned. She reached up and caught the tear rolling down Sarah's perfect cheek, wiping the residual dampness away with her thumb.
"No." Catching the hand, Sarah stilled it next to her cheek. "You didn't say anything wrong." She sighed. "It's just me, being..."
"Human." Cameron supplied as her thumb lightly traced the older woman's prominent cheekbone. Her voice was tender. "So very human."
Sarah let out a strangled sob and buried her face in Cameron's soft hair. "Oh god…" She felt Cameron's arms around her, arms that could crush her so easily but instead were holding her gently, and it was too much. "Cameron?"
"Yes?"
She could feel the heat from Cameron's neck heating the minimal space in front of her lips. "I'm tired." She admitted. "I'm so tired."
"Get some rest." She shifted slightly, inadvertently pressing her neck against Sarah's lips. Swallowing hard at the sensation she tried to pull away, only to find herself unable to do so, Sarah's hand held her in place as her soft lips continued to explore the dips and curves of her neck. "Sarah…" She swallowed again. "What are you…doing?"
"Probably making a huge mistake." Her voice whispered in Cameron's ear. "And right now, I don't care. I'm tired, tired of running, tired of pain, tired of violence at every turn." She ran her tongue around the outside of Cameron's ear, taking the lobe in her teeth gently. "I want this… need this…" She moved slightly back to see Cameron's face. "Need you."
Without warning Cameron moved, sliding down, capturing Sarah's lips with her own.
Sarah moaned and mumbled. "How can your lips be so soft?"
Cameron pulled back. "I'm a cybernetic organism… living tissue…" She traced the older woman's lips with her fingertips. "My lips are just as soft as yours."
"Impossible." Sarah wasn't able to believe it. "You are so much younger…almost too young…"
Rolling her eyes, Cameron chuckled. "Oh no.. don't start all that.. 'I'm old enough to be your mother' stuff again…" She smiled, a genuine smile, at Sarah. "You, are one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen and I don't care what age you are." Cameron now gazed at the woman in her arms, almost as if she was amazed to find her there. "Besides, I'm twenty-three, remember?"
Sarah opened her mouth to respond when the phone rang. It rang three times before she decided to vacate her comfy spot in Cameron's arms and answer it. "Hello?" She listened and nodded. "Okay, if you're sure…" She nodded again. "Yeah, bye." She hung up the phone and took a moment to memorize the sight of Cameron lying in her bed, waiting for her. "That was John. Their bus broke down. The school is sending another one, but it will be a few hours before it gets there… and then it's another few hours before they'll be home."
Cameron nodded and opened her arms, inviting Sarah back to the position they'd been in before the phone interrupted. She smiled as the woman accepted the offer, sliding back into her arms, sighing as she did so.
Joining lips briefly then moving on to explore the soft skin on each other's necks, Sarah wondered how much of this Cameron really felt. She was rapidly approaching the point where she wasn't going to be capable of coherent thought so she took the opportunity to whisper. "Get me out of these clothes."
There were immediate buttons popping and tearing sounds as Cameron took the request to heart. In a few moments her own tattered clothes joined Sarah's on the floor.
Then there was only what Sarah could describe as animal instinct between them. There was no Skynet, no war, no Judgement Day, there was only Cameron. The world didn't exist beyond the edge of the bed they were in. Her body was fire, molding and merging with Cameron's in mind-blanking ecstasy.
The bus rolled to a stop in the school parking lot.
John and the others filed off the bus and he looked around for the Jeep. It was one of his classmates that saw it first though. "Dude, is that your sister? She's freakin' hot!"
He swallowed hard as he saw the figure leaning up against the Jeep. She was wearing jeans so tight he had no clue how she got into them, and a form fitting tank top showed through the open front of her leather jacket. "Yeah…" He took a deep breath. "My sister." He headed toward the vehicle as Cameron approached them.
"C'mon John." She hurried him into the Jeep. "Mom is home alone."
Once they were inside and headed back to their current house, John spoke. "Mom could have come with you to get me." He wasn't sure he liked the idea of her being home alone.
"She was tired." Cameron said. "She's sleeping." She glanced over at the boy. "I'll check on her when we get back."
He nodded. It was very late and his Mom did need her rest. He studied the girl driving and frowned. "Is that a hickey?"
It took every ounce of self-control Cameron had not to raise her hand to her neck. "No." Nothing more was said until they got home.
"I made coffee." Cameron offered and tried not to be hurt at John's wince. "I learned how to make it right."
"I'm glad for that, but no thank you." He held up his hands to decline the offer. "I'm beat… gotta get some sleep."
Cameron nodded. "Okay. I'll check on S…your Mom, then continue my patrols."
John nodded. "You do that. G'night."
She watched as he entered his room and closed the door then she went to Sarah's room. Sliding into bed, she smiled as Sarah wrapped around her. "John's home."
"Mmmm… good." Sarah squeezed the form under her. "Thank you for going to get him."
"Of course." Cameron absently played with Sarah's hair, running her fingers through the softness. "Anything you need."
Nodding, Sarah smiled against the warmth under her cheek. "All I need is you." She mumbled just before she drifted off to sleep, safe and warm in Cameron's arms.
The End