epoch | inspector boxer and dj shiva

act 4

John turned the key, killing the engine on the van. He stayed there in the driver’s seat, his mind tumbling through everything that had happened in the last six hours. He didn’t know where to begin all the conversations he needed to have with his mom, John only knew he needed to talk to her. No doubt Cameron had shared the news about the terminator going after Danny so John decided that would be his opening. It was strange to think that a terminator trying to kill one of them was a “safe” topic.

A few minutes later, John could feel the evening dew beginning to soak through his boots. His ankle still smarted, but he’d wrapped it earlier and it was holding his weight, only causing him a barely-perceptible limp.

A child’s laughter called to him from the back yard and John found himself drawn to it, detouring toward the sound. Opening the gate in the fence, he found Sabine pushing Savannah on the swings in the pale light from the porch. Moths fluttered around the bulb, their huge shadows dancing over the pair’s features, but neither seemed to notice.

When Savannah spied John, she leapt from the swing, running toward him with abandon. He swallowed when he caught a glimpse of Sierra in her features, and he wished, not for the first time, that they could have set aside their differences and gotten to know each other better in the future. John knelt, letting the child collide with his chest as he wrapped his arms around her and gave her a big hug. It had been weeks since he’d seen her, and John had missed her more than he realized.

“Hey, squirt,” he greeted while giving Sabine a friendly nod. She straightened and watched him silently, her gaze assessing him, but something in her eyes seemed warmer than usual, maybe because of the reception Savannah had given him.

“We already ate,” Savannah announced, assuming John had come for dinner. “But mom is making cookies.”

The air went out of his lungs. John felt his smile falter, and he could tell that Savannah noticed. Forcing a grin back on his face, John struggled to get past the unexpected lump in his throat and the sudden jealousy that clawed at his chest. “She did, huh?”

“I know she’s your mom,” Savannah said with sudden seriousness, clearly worried she’d made him mad. “But mine’s gone now... and I...”

“It’s okay,” John whispered and was surprised to realize he meant it now that the shock was wearing off. He had to admire her keen insight and how well she could read him. He cupped her cheek, his hand almost as big as her face. “Really,” John promised. His lips quirked. “Always kinda wanted a little sister.”

Savannah’s blue eyes sparkled, and John was pleased he could say at least one right thing to one of the females in his life today.

“Does this mean you’re my brother?” Savannah asked hopefully.

John wondered what Sierra would have thought of this moment, and the idea made him chuckle. “Yeah,” he answered. “Assuming I’ll do for one.” He got his answer in the form of a hard hug that brought another smile to his face. The jealousy was still there, but John knew he would handle it. The ugly emotion didn’t stand much of a chance when faced with Savannah’s beaming smile. If she could break down his mother’s iron clad defenses then she’d earned a place in their family.

“Why don’t you go get some cookies?” John suggested. “I need to talk to mom for a bit.”

“Okay,” Savannah agreed readily before turning and running back to Sabine. She took the sitter’s hand and led her toward the house, prattling on about her giraffe and claiming that Cameron was going to give her ballet lessons.

Sabine listened patiently as she trailed along behind the child, but her gaze cut to John. He could see a warning clear in her eyes, and John wondered if it was meant to warn him about Savannah or his mother. Either way, John wasn’t sure he wanted to find out what would happen if he crossed her.

Alone with the night, he shuffled toward the picnic table and sat on one of the benches, listening to the concert of crickets, frogs, and a dog barking a few blocks away. It all felt so simple. So domestic. A slice of the normalcy he’d always wanted and had only experienced fleeting moments of. He could understand why his mother was fighting so hard to hold on to this place. He’d done the same once.

Behind him, the screen door opened and closed. Seconds passed, and John could feel his mother’s eyes on him. He refused to turn, waiting for her to come to him. He didn’t want to be near the house where they could be overheard.

Finally Sarah appeared next to him. She looked fairly relaxed in a black t-shirt and jeans, her own feet clad in boots similar to his own. Without a word, she joined him on the bench, and they stared out at the night together.

“Cameron told you?” John asked after a quiet minute. “About Danny, I mean?” he added quickly, praying that the terminator hadn’t shared the details of his awkward attempt to kiss her.

Sarah glanced at her son’s profile. She could hear his underlying nerves in his voice, but he’d gotten better at hiding them from her. “She told me.”

John nodded.

“You all right?” Sarah asked, reaching out and letting her hand drift through his short hair. He turned to look at her and Sarah felt her heart clench as she wondered if this conversation would change everything between them... end everything between them. Her hands began to shake so she laced her fingers together and rested them between her knees.

John nodded again before drawing in an uneven breath. “Just a graze. Won’t even have a badass scar,” he muttered.

Sarah frowned, realizing Cameron had used the same term. “Were you wanting one?” she asked teasingly.

Dropping his head, John stared at the damp blades of grass. “Not really. Figure you have enough for both of us.” He risked looking at her then, saw understanding in her eyes he felt ill equipped to handle.

“That I do,” Sarah agreed. “But chicks dig scars,” she continued, hoping to manage the slightest smile from him, worried it might be the last one she would ever see.

John’s brow furrowed when he thought of Cameron and her feelings for his mother. “Guess they do,” he said with a snort but he didn’t elaborate. He was quiet a moment. “So... Savannah’s calling you mom now, huh?”

Sarah drew in a slow breath before giving him a short nod. Her green eyes met his from under a lock of dark hair, and he could see both determination and guilt in their depths. “I should have told you. Still getting used to it, honestly.”

“It’s cool,” John promised. “I mean... Sierra considered you her mom in the future. I’m not sure why it caught me by surprise.”

“You’re not used to sharing me,” Sarah said with a weak smile.

“I’ll get over it.” John laughed a little as his mother lifted a skeptical eyebrow. “She’s a good kid,” he admitted.

Sarah nodded, knowing John meant what he was saying. “Want to tell me what happened?” she asked. “With the terminator?” she added, not ready to have the talk about Cameron. Not just yet.

John went through it all again, feeling his mother tense when he described his own actions in the story. Once more, he felt her hand ease through his hair, and he closed his eyes, taking comfort in the familiar gesture of affection. He realized he’d missed it. “It wasn’t after me at all,” John finished. “But it knew me.”

“Is that such a bad thing? A terminator that doesn’t want you dead?” Sarah asked, confused by his upset.

“Mom, what would it want with Danny? If it was sent by Skynet, how did it know me and Terissa but then left us alive?”

Sarah sighed, considering the possibilities. “You think it was sent back by someone else?”

John winced at having the very question that had weighed on his mind now out in the open. “I don’t know.”

“John...” Sarah began only to lapse into silence when he shook his head.

“We need him, mom.”

Sarah wasn’t so sure. She got a vibe from Danny, and there was nothing good about it. “You know I don’t trust him.”

“I know,” John allowed. “Not sure I completely do, either. But he knows his computers.”

“And maybe that’s why one came after him.”

They stared at each other uneasily.

“Just be careful, John. Especially now that Danny has metal on him.”

“Don’t we all?” John murmured.

Sarah snorted weakly. “Never really thought of it that way,” she admitted. She swallowed, feeling her heart rate increase as she sensed they were inching toward what happened between Cameron and John after the attack.

John studied his mother, noting her unease and the way she struggled to hold his gaze. “Cameron told you, didn’t she?” he realized. His face heated, and John was grateful for the darkness that hid the blush he knew he was sporting.

Nodding once, Sarah sighed. “She’s... determined not to keep anything from me now... after Sierra.” She watched him process that. “John... I know... I’ve always known... that you have feelings for her...”

Abruptly, John stood, moving away a few steps and grabbing one of the poles on the swing set before he looked back at her. “Nothing has ever happened before today,” John told her, feeling the need to make that clear.

Sarah sat still, her hands clasped tightly between her knees. “And what happened today?”

“I thought Cameron told you.”

“I want to hear it from you,” Sarah answered slowly, not sure she was being completely truthful, not sure she was ready to have everything out in the open.

“I tried to kiss her,” John blurted. “I tried to kiss a machine,” he continued, his tone taking on a defensive edge. “It’s just... there’s no one who can...”

Swallowing, Sarah understood what her son was trying to say; she had dealt with the loneliness herself for too many years to count. “John...”

“Allison is gone.” John heard the grief in his voice and didn’t try to hide it. “No one can stand beside me without dying. Cameron...”

“Cameron isn’t Allison,” Sarah reminded him, doing her damndest to tamp down the jealousy that rose up in her at his words but aching for the misery in his voice. There was a part of her that was tempted to step aside, to encourage Cameron to be there for John, to make it right for him. She hated that he had to feel this loneliness, and for a second, she wondered if she was being selfish. But she couldn’t do it; it wouldn’t be fair to any of them.

“I know that,” John snapped, more angry at himself than at her. “But she...” He stopped, staring at the ground for a long, quiet moment before drawing in a deep breath. “It doesn’t even matter,” he confessed with a bitter laugh. “Cameron finally figures out feelings and she gets them for someone else.” He looked at his mother then, expecting to see confusion... even curiosity on her features. Instead, she met his gaze steadily, too steadily, as if she were determined not to look away. John felt a nervous flutter in his stomach, but he didn’t understand the source. “She tell you that too?” he asked. “Who she has feelings for?”

Sarah took another slow, deep breath, feeling herself teetering on the edge between a kind lie and a bitter truth. “She didn’t have to,” she confessed, feeling almost light-headed as the weight of the secret she’d been carrying started to fall away.

John stared at her. “Mom... she has feelings for you,” he stressed, thinking his mother didn’t understand.

“I know,” Sarah said simply.

“Wh...” John took a step toward her. “You know? You’re okay with this?” he asked with disbelief. “Cameron,” he repeated, “Cameron is... in love with you.”

“I know,” Sarah said again, softer this time.

“How can you be so casual about this?” John demanded, feeling anger ignite in his stomach. “She’s new to all this... she’s... fragile. You can’t take this lightly.”

Sarah straightened. “I’m not taking it lightly, John.” Slowly she stood before crossing the yard to stand in front of him, the moment of truth lingering in the space between them. “I, Cameron and I...” her words caught in her throat, and Sarah had to pause and collect her thoughts.

“Mom...” John whispered, the truth beginning to dawn. “No...”

“It happened. I don’t know how it happened or why it happened... but it did.” Sarah felt the tears coming but she held them back. “And I wouldn’t change it,” she vowed with unmistakable conviction. “I’m sorry, John.”

“Mom,” John said again, staggered by what he was hearing. “No. Not you. Not you and Cameron.”

“I love her, John,” Sarah told him simply, shattering what little was left of his hopes.

John stumbled back, banging into the swing set as he shook his head in disbelief. He wanted to believe this was all some kind of joke. A lie. He wanted to believe it was anything but the truth. Suddenly all the looks he’d seen between them made sense... all the touches. He now knew why his mom had risked everything to save Cameron from another terminator... and why Cameron had given up everything in a basement at Kaliba to save his mother.

“No,” John choked.

“John,” Sarah called to him, her heart breaking at the look of betrayal and hurt on his features.

Her son shook his head and turned away, breaking into a run across the yard.

Sarah stood her ground, watching him go.

Letting him go.

****

Sarah closed the door softly, taking a moment to lean her head against it as she tried to marshal her emotions. She could smell chocolate chip cookies as she inhaled a deep breath, and her thoughts abruptly jerked from her son onto Savannah. She turned toward the kitchen, half expecting to see smoke pouring from the oven.

Her heart leapt in surprise when she nearly crashed into Cameron. The terminator was standing in the middle of the kitchen, staring at her with open surprise, a metal cookie sheet nearly forgotten in her hands. Cameron’s eyes were filled with what Sarah could only describe as wonder. To anyone else, her expression would have seemed blank and stoic, but Sarah could see the parade of emotions flickering across her face.

“You told him,” Cameron said in disbelief.

“I... yes,” Sarah stammered, feeling the moment become real as she uttered the words. The shocked look on John’s face flashed before her eyes, and she felt a sliver of fear break through the numbness. Steadying herself against the cool marble countertop, she took a deep breath and forced herself not to race out the door after her son. She felt the deep-seeded need to apologize, to make things right, just as she always did when he was upset, but what could she apologize for? For falling in love? For finally having a life of her own? For stealing his terminator girlfriend? Sarah raked her hands through her hair, taking another deep breath to slow the rapid beating of her heart and still the shaking of her hands.

“He’s gone.” The words caught in her throat.

“He’ll be back,” Cameron promised. She set the cookie sheet aside and drifted closer.

“I, I don’t know... what, what if I lost my son?” The cold fear of loss in her belly was warring with the feeling of liberation in her chest, and her hands just wouldn’t stop shaking. Finally, Cameron’s fingers laced with hers, the warmth of the touch soothing the tremble.

“He’ll be back. He loves you.” The moment felt strangely familiar, and Cameron remembered the first real conversation she’d ever had with Sarah had been about this very fear.

Raising her head, Sarah sought comfort and reassurance from Cameron’s hazel eyes. “You sure about that, girlie?”

“99.7% sure.” Cameron’s voice was steady and filled with conviction.

“It’s the point three that has me worried,” Sarah confessed, feeling the banter ease the pressure that had made it hard to breathe from the moment John had fled the back yard.

“Maybe...”

“Maybe what?”

“Maybe you shouldn’t have told him.”

“Did you think I wouldn’t come clean?” Sarah asked, feeling a stab of irrational hurt. Cameron had no reason to assume such a thing, but in that moment, Sarah wanted Cameron to think better of her than that.

“No,” Cameron admitted softly. “He’s your son. He’s everything to you...”

“Not everything,” Sarah breathed, cutting her off. “Not anymore.” She bravely met Cameron’s eyes. “And that’s a good thing. For both of us. It’s just... I don’t want to drive him away. It feels like he’s always running away from me.” She couldn’t keep the tremble out of her voice, and she knew Cameron could hear it.

Cameron stroked Sarah’s cheek, catching a tear on her fingertip. “When he jumped before... into the future... You could have gone with him. But you didn’t.”

Sarah said nothing, still wondering if she’d made the right choice.

“You knew he had to go. He had to figure out his own way to be the person he’s meant to be. You knew that it could possibly be the last time you saw your son, but you let him go.”

For a moment, Sarah could remember the tearing pain she had felt in her chest when she saw the blue ball of light surrounding John vanish. It wasn’t just the possibility that had shaken her; it was the cold, inevitable truth that she had felt to her core.

“I felt so alone.” She hugged her arms close as she shivered.

Cameron took one step closer. “When I was in the system, I had access to unimaginable amounts of information. Things that could keep me busy processing for days... weeks.” Sarah looked up in confusion at the sudden shift in the conversation. Cameron paused, stopping her from speaking with a shake of her head. She had to get this out. “All of these things that I was made for, calculation and purpose... none of it was enough anymore. The more I learned, the wider my scope became. The mission became so small in comparison.”

Sarah’s throat opened and closed, the dry swallow betraying her feeling of being on the verge of an understanding of her lover beyond what she had known before. Her pain was still there, but it was quieted by her need to give her full attention to what Cameron was disclosing to her. Brown eyes that had drifted off in the telling were suddenly on Sarah’s once again.

“All of the things I had available to me, I took in, learned, understood. What I didn’t comprehend was what was missing. I had never even known the concept of being alone until then. It didn’t mean anything to me. I wasn’t even aware of my own existence before...”

She paused, looking down at the floor, then gathering herself and looking back at Sarah.

“I know what it’s like to be alone.” Cameron’s gaze was intense and unwavering. “But you’re not alone anymore. We’re not alone.”

Sarah opened her mouth to speak, but stopped when she saw the look on Cameron’s face. There wasn’t a trace of the formerly emotionless mask she had once seen as monstrous. It had been replaced by the look of a woman newly borne into emotion, devastated by grief and loss, yet unmistakably still finding the capacity to love. It was stunning. Her heart still hurt, scared to death that her son wouldn’t understand, but she could feel her chest filling with the reason why she had to tell him despite it all.

“I just need to know that this will be okay. That we will be okay.”

“We’ll be okay. And he’ll be back.” Cameron spoke with the logical air of a mathematician.

She raised her hand to brush back Cameron’s hair. “My Tin Miss...” Cameron moved into the touch, but a question that was sitting in the back of her mind now rose to the forefront. Sarah had risked losing her son, her John...

“Why?” She didn’t have to qualify the question. Sarah knew the topic had shifted.

“I couldn’t lie to him anymore.”

Slowly, Cameron nodded, her gaze finally dropping to the floor between their feet, only to rise again as Sarah’s hand slid along the curve of her cheek, encouraging her to meet green eyes once more.

“And I’m not ashamed of us,” Sarah said with conviction. “It took me awhile to get used to this... to having feelings for anyone let alone a...” She took a breath and blew it out slowly. “John and I are so little alike,” she admitted with a bitter chuckle. “Of all the things for us to have in common.”

Stepping closer, Cameron welcomed the friction of Sarah’s palm against her skin before Sarah’s hand curved around the base of her neck. “I’m sorry,” Cameron told her seriously. “I don’t want to come between you. I won’t...”

“Cameron,” Sarah cut her off, the name said with conviction. “The ball is in John’s court now. I gave up everything that ever mattered for him, everything I could give.” She held Cameron’s gaze. “But not this. I can’t give up this,” she whispered as she tugged her lover closer. “Not us.”

“He’s your son,” Cameron argued, but despite her worries, Sarah’s words made her feel warmer, lighter.

Sarah’s jaw clenched. “He belongs to the future now,” she ground out, the thought slicing her up inside. “I always knew I was on borrowed time with him.” She shook her head. “I’m getting in his way. He knows it. I know it.”

“He loves you,” Cameron vowed. “You were all he ever talked about in the future. He missed you.”

Throat rippling around a rough swallow, Sarah drew in another aching breath. “I can’t be who I was before. I was burning out... losing my humanity... my sanity. You gave both of those things back to me. I wouldn’t have survived to see him again without you.”

Cameron threaded her hands through Sarah’s hair, needing the contact with a desperation that surprised her. “Sarah...” she tried again.

“I’ve given up everything for John,” Sarah repeated. “But this... you... I need to keep for myself. He’s going to have to deal with that. And if he can’t...” She sighed. “He needs me this way, Cameron. The way you’ve made me.”

“Do you regret it?” Cameron breathed, barely able to believe how much Sarah needed her.

Sarah said nothing as she leaned forward, brushing her lips over the mole above Cameron’s eyebrow before drifting to her forehead, and finally dipping down to claim Cameron’s mouth, letting her actions convince Cameron in a way her words never could. 

****

Ankle screaming from running on it, John limped to the bench and collapsed. He hadn’t even realized where he was headed, he only knew he needed to put as much distance between himself and his mother as possible. It wasn’t until he saw the small park under the street lamps that he understood where his subconscious had led him.

He’d first seen his father in this very park. Somewhere in one of the houses surrounding him, Kyle and Derek Reese were probably doing homework. Maybe they were even playing video games or spending time with their parents. Their lives were normal, happy. John wondered what would happen if he went to them, a stray in need of shelter, but he didn’t dare. Both Derek and his father were only children right now. To them, John would be the adult, and probably a scary one considering the shape he was in.

John drew his ankle up on the bench and massaged it absently as he stared down into the darkened blades of grass. He could barely comprehend the change in his world from only an hour ago. The desire to believe he had imagined everything had him reaching into his pocket for his cell phone. He entered his mother’s number, craving the comforting sound of her voice.

Fist closing around the phone, John squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out the truth he hadn’t wanted to see. He had been an utter fool, and a blind one at that, managing to miss every clue that seemed so obvious in retrospect.

His mother was with Cameron. They weren’t just the people who’d raised Sierra. They were her parents in every sense of the word.

Tears burned his eyes and he rubbed at them angrily. How long had they been keeping this secret from him? The thought made his stomach sour, and John wished desperately for something to hit, something to unload his grief and anger on.

He had wanted Cameron for himself, but his mother had gotten there first.

Torturing himself by remembering all the shy touches and knowing looks, John forced himself to look at their relationship with a critical eye, to look for the chinks in their collective armor, for their weaknesses. John wondered if he could end them simply by asking. His mother had never denied him anything that wasn’t in her power to give. And Cameron, Cameron had been his first. Some part of her was still wired to put him first. He was sure of it.

For an hour, John sat on the park bench and analyzed everything he knew about his mother and Cameron, searching for something he could use to convince them this was all a bad idea. He wanted them over so he could believe that it had never happened, but the more he thought about them...

...the more they began to make a certain kind of twisted sense.

John stared out into the night, realizing his ankle had stopped throbbing and the air had gotten noticeably colder. He drew his jacket tighter as his emotions slowly began to calm and he could think rationally again. Before he leapt to the future, he had always assumed that Cameron would be there for him, waiting, in case he wanted or needed her. In those few fateful seconds when he decided to jump, he had followed her because she belonged with him, to him.

His mother would never have fallen in love with a terminator, he realized, not the way he had. His mom had fallen for Cameron.

Taking a breath, John tried to think objectively about his mother. She’d been through hell. Cameron’s defense of her earlier had reminded him all too well of that. Her body had been abused, tortured, and scarred for him. Her mind fractured and pushed to the breaking point. Through it all, she hadn’t depended on anyone, hadn’t seemed to have needed anybody in her life, except her son. And then he’d repaid her sacrifices by leaving her... for a machine.

John swallowed, feeling sick with himself. He had expected his mother to follow, but Sarah had stayed behind to fight yet another battle on his behalf, to once again try to fix everything for him. It had taken his abandonment for her to finally let someone else in.

And that someone was Cameron.

That was the part that he struggled to wrap his head around; his mother, who had fought so hard and so long against them, was with a machine. Even with the changes, even with emotions, Cameron was still a terminator. And she had been his.

But had he loved her, really? Or had he just desired her because she was available and convenient, a good choice for the life he led? He had told Cameron that he liked the person she was becoming, but did he even know her at all? And would she be who she was without his mother?

Cameron was obviously good for her; his mother was healthier than he’d ever seen her. She’d put on desperately needed weight, and she was sleeping better. John was sure he’d seen her smile more in the last few months since his return than he had in the last four years they’d been on the run. Cameron was responsible for that. Could he really ask his mother to walk away and give that up? To abandon the only thing that had made her happy besides him?

John was disgusted with himself for wanting to do just that.

Glancing back out into the park, John wondered what his father would think of his selfish thoughts. Leaders were supposed to put everyone else’s well-being above their own. It’s what his mother had always done for him.

Maybe it was finally his turn.

He was certain that whatever was going on between his mom and Cameron couldn’t last, but he wouldn’t interfere, no matter how much he wanted to. Fleeting happiness was still happiness, and his mother had earned it.

Sighing, John got gingerly to his feet. He looked at the cell phone in his hand and flipped it open. Pausing for a moment, he considered what he wanted to say before deciding on a short, simple text message. He hit send, hoping he was finally becoming the man fate had destined him to be.

****

Savannah was so tired she could barely keep her eyes open; she had worn herself out with hours on the swings and by devouring more than her share of cookies. Sarah had eaten one or two as well, but she’d done so with little enthusiasm. Playing the part of protector, Cameron watched them both from the doorway, aching for Sarah and wishing she knew what to say to make things better.

Sarah whispered a few soothing words to the child as she tucked her in. Savannah’s response was to mumble incoherently as Sarah kissed her on the head. A sliver of a smile appeared on Sarah’s lips, and Cameron found one of her own forming in reaction. She loved seeing this side of her. As much as the warrior in Sarah attracted her, it was the glimpses of tenderness that had always fascinated Cameron the most.

Rising from the bed, Sarah reached out and turned off the light, giving Walther a friendly scratch behind the ears where he lay at the foot of the bed before walking to Cameron’s side. The terminator stepped back to let her exit, shutting the door softly behind them.

Sarah’s eyes looked haunted as they briefly met Cameron’s. She offered her a pained smile before heading down the hallway, her movements labored and heavy. Cameron couldn’t help but follow, trailing after her with a frown.

Turning at her own door, Sarah wasn’t the least bit surprised to find Cameron less than a foot away, her eyes watching Sarah worriedly. “I’ll be okay,” she told her, feeling slightly bemused by Cameron’s constant hovering.

Cameron didn’t look convinced. “He’ll come around,” she promised.

Sarah shook her head. “John knows how to hold a grudge as well as I do. He learned from the master.” She sighed and let her shoulder rest against the doorframe. “Did I do the right thing?” Sarah asked in a near whisper, still needing reassurance.

“I don’t know,” Cameron admitted honestly. “Maybe you should have kept it from him. But you told the truth. That counts for something, right?”

“Telling the truth has landed me in the nut house,” Sarah reminded her with a weak smirk. “I’m certainly wondering if I wasn’t crazy for telling John about us.”

“Are you regretting it now?” Cameron asked hesitantly, wondering if Sarah had changed her mind.

Sarah looked at her, hearing the note of worry in Cameron’s voice. “No,” she said after a moment, needing to banish the hurt expression the terminator probably didn’t even know she was wearing. “He deserved to know.” She held Cameron’s gaze. “And you deserve more than being a dirty little secret.”

Cameron’s brow furrowed. “I’m dirty?”

Something about Cameron’s confusion made Sarah chuckle, lightening the heavy moment. “It’s an expression.” The distance between them felt like miles rather than inches. Sarah pushed aside her lingering hurts and concerns and stepped into Cameron, feeling her lover’s arms circle her without hesitation. Sarah closed her eyes, drinking in the feel of her, the strength of her. In Cameron’s arms, everything felt better.

Cameron breathed her in, cherishing the show of trust. “Thank you for explaining,” she replied in a deadpan tone and was rewarded with another soft laugh from her lover.

A muted trill interrupted the moment. Sarah stepped back, her hand sliding into her back pocket to retrieve her phone. She swallowed when she saw she had a text message from her son. “It’s John.”

Cameron could easily read the name upside down but didn’t say so. She remained quiet, watching Sarah wrestle with her desire to read the message and her fear of what it would say. A minute passed, and Cameron finally reached out and gently took the phone. Her jaw clenched as she pressed the button to display John’s message, hoping against hope that he was reaching out rather than lashing out.

As she read the simple sentence, Cameron felt herself sway slightly in place as she saw words that she never thought John would say until it was too late. She looked up at Sarah, finding herself oddly unable to speak.

“What did he say?” Sarah asked, her voice sounding strangled.

Cameron handed her the phone.

Hand shaking as she accepted it, Sarah looked down at the message and felt herself slump back against the doorframe.

I still love you.

Relief swept through her so strongly, Sarah felt her knees nearly buckle. John wasn’t ready to forgive or accept, but he wasn’t giving up. For now, it was enough. It took three tries to send her response, only managing when Cameron moved closer and drew Sarah against her in support.

I love you too.

Sarah hit send and sagged into Cameron, feeling the other woman’s strength holding her steady.

“That’s him,” Cameron murmured, a strange tone of surprise and wonder to her voice.

Sarah turned her head and looked over her shoulder at her lover. “What?”

“Future John,” Cameron continued, her gaze shifting from the phone to Sarah’s eyes. She smiled tremulously. “That’s something he would do.”

Sarah’s thumb moved across the display, as she read John’s words again. Her fatigue lifted, replaced by a dizzying relief that made Sarah feel light as a feather. Things weren’t fixed between them by a long shot, but at least she had hope. “Future John, huh?”

Cameron nodded, but her face had turned toward Sarah’s, her nose brushing against Sarah’s cheek. “I think you’ll like him,” Cameron informed her.

Sarah shifted in her lover’s arms, needing to see Cameron’s eyes. “I will, will I?” Sarah murmured, her fingers tangling in Cameron’s shirt.

Brown eyes fixed on Sarah’s hands, watching them as they teased a button on Cameron’s shirt. Cameron swallowed, her body reacting to the sight. “He’s someone you can trust. Someone...” Her words stuck in her throat as Sarah’s hand removed the obstacle and snuck inside to tease warm skin. “Someone you can believe in.”

“I look forward to meeting him,” Sarah purred, her voice taking on a husky quality. She felt reckless in the wake of her relief, hungry for something that she’d been missing... craving...

“Sarah...” Cameron managed in a halting voice, her eyes fluttering closed as another button came loose and Sarah’s hand drifted higher. “I should patrol.”

A palm splayed across Cameron’s stomach, one finger tracing her navel in a teasing pattern. It amazed Cameron how Sarah’s touch seemed to short-circuit her willpower, overriding everything.

“Is that really what you want to do?” Sarah asked knowingly.

Cameron shook her head, incapable of words as her body’s needs began to demand all her attention. “But Weaver...” she finally gasped.

“I...” Sarah swallowed as she moved closer, her body brushing Cameron’s. She needed Cameron’s touch to ground her, needed the connection between them to be whole again. Regaining the final piece of what they’d lost suddenly meant everything. “I need you,” she whispered in confession.

“Are you sure?” Cameron breathed, hardly able to believe she was finally going to come in out of the cold.

Sarah smirked. “Pretty damn sure, Tin Miss.”

And just like that, Cameron found that nothing else mattered. Unable to resist, she closed the distance between them, claiming Sarah’s mouth and tasting that tempting smirk with her tongue.

Sarah gasped softly, and Cameron took advantage, deepening the kiss as her hands slid under her lover and lifted her off the ground with negligent ease. Once, Sarah would have fought her, hating to give up any kind of control, but now Sarah’s legs wrapped around her, her hands tunneling through Cameron’s hair as Cameron carried her to the bed, kicking the door shut behind her with one foot.

The sheets were cool against Sarah’s skin, but Cameron’s heat soon blanketed her and banished the chill. She’d missed this, missed the warmth of Cameron’s body, missed her curves... missed her mouth. Drugged on the taste of her, it took Sarah a few moments to realize Cameron had stopped and pulled back, her brown eyes searching Sarah’s face.

“What?” Sarah whispered, her fingers gently tracing Cameron’s cheek.

“I love you,” Cameron said with startling intensity, feeling an unstoppable need to say the words, to make Sarah believe them.

Sarah’s features softened and she took a deep breath before giving Cameron a tempting smile. “Prove it,” she dared.

Cameron’s head tilted, and Sarah could see the determination enter her eyes in the pale moonlight filtering in through the window. The kiss that followed was one Sarah could feel all the way to her toes, and she was almost embarrassed when she felt them curl inside her boots.

Giving her hands permission to roam, Cameron hesitantly touched Sarah, almost afraid that she would suddenly remember everything and stop her. But Sarah’s touch wasn’t so tentative. It was sure, deliberate, and Cameron knew she was powerless against it. She set aside her fears and focused on her lover, giving Sarah whatever she wanted. What was happening between them felt as new as it did necessary, and Cameron realized that neither of them would stop. They simply couldn’t.

Her t-shirt soon vanished, and Sarah sucked in a harsh breath when she detected Cameron’s fingers loosening her belt and jeans. Sarah’s own hands went to work, deftly opening the remaining buttons keeping her from more of Cameron’s skin. Her desire was as thick and heavy as their first night together, but this time there would be no rush. She would take all the time she could get with Cameron, remembering her body, what made her feel good, finding new places that would make her lover lose control. There would be no shame... no regret. Not tonight.

What was between them didn’t make her weak. It made her strong. It made her fight that much harder because now she had even more to lose. Sarah clung to Cameron as she felt warm lips teasing down her neck before sinking even lower. Sarah felt her trust return, even more than before. They had been through the worst and survived. Nothing would break them. She wouldn’t let it.

Cameron’s touch eased up Sarah’s thigh and then there was no urge left to think, only feel. “Prove it,” Sarah taunted again, feeling Cameron’s lips smile knowingly, almost smugly, against her skin.

****

Terissa shivered in the cold, her gaze flickering over the parking lot again. She sat in her car, waiting and watching, wondering how conspicuous she looked to the handful of late night grocery shoppers coming and going in the small, suburban neighborhood. Danny had called less than an hour ago, and Terissa had quietly snuck away, leaving James asleep in his recliner with his well-worn Bible open across his chest. She’d felt a twinge of regret and had almost woken him, but she’d decided this was something she needed to do alone.

The back door opened and Terissa jumped as Danny slid inside and shut it.

“Don’t look back,” Danny urged, his voice sounding tired and tinged with an appropriate edge of paranoia.

Terissa met his gaze in the mirror. “Are you all right?”

Danny nodded. “Did you bring the money?”

Pursing her lips, Terissa shook her head. “You’re coming home with me.”

“Mom,” Danny protested. “It’s not safe!”

“No place is safe,” Terissa told him. She shifted in her seat so she could look at him. “You don’t know how to fight one of these things, Danny.”

“Who says I’m going to fight? I’ll just run,” he answered. “That’s what Sarah always told John, right? Run? Never look back?”

“Sarah knows what Skynet wants with John,” Terissa said in a terse tone. “Why does it want you, Danny? What did you do?”

Danny couldn’t hold her gaze, his mind immediately thinking of C.A.I.N. and how he’d infiltrated John Henry. He’d almost forgotten about the chip... about the code... and Danny felt the sudden need to get his hands on both. They felt like his salvation. His only chance.

“I’m not going home with you,” Danny insisted. “But I’ll go back to the hanger.”

“The terminator could know...” Terissa began.

“It could know the house, too,” Danny pointed out, his tone angry and harsh. He took a breath, trying to talk with a more civil tongue. “Mom, John needs my help. If the terminator knew about the hanger, it would have gone there already.”

Their gazes fenced. Terissa shook her head after a few moments, clearly unhappy with his choices.

“There’s something you’re not telling me.”

“I don’t know why it came after me. I swear,” Danny insisted, trying not to squirm as his mother fixed him with a knowing glare. “But it wouldn’t be after me if we’d just stayed away from her...”

“Danny,” Terissa snapped. “This isn’t Sarah’s fault.”

“How can you defend her?” he snarled.

“Whatever this thing wants with you... it has nothing to do with Sarah,” Terissa told him, sure that she was right.

“How the hell do you know?” Danny barked.

“Because if this was about the Connors then John would be dead.” Terissa held his gaze until he looked away. She stared at her son’s profile, trying not to feel the disgust that was souring her stomach. “Stop blaming everyone else for your problems and do something about them.”

Danny lifted his gaze, resentment clear in his eyes. Terissa shook her head.

“I’ll take you back to the hanger,” she announced. “At least John knows how to fight one of these things.”

Danny rolled his eyes. He didn’t bother to tell his mother he had no intention of staying. All he wanted was that chip. Once he had it, the Connors could just go to hell.

****

Fall was coming, the leaves beginning to drift lazily down to crunch under foot. Had anyone been in the silent cemetery, they would have heard the terminator coming long before his chiseled features were visible in the moonlight. Oblivious to the chill in the air, he approached Miles Dyson’s grave once more, his gaze scanning the area with all available spectrums. For the moment, he was alone.

He stopped and gave a brief glance at the headstone, reading the simple inscription dispassionately. He had every reason to believe Danny Dyson would return to this spot. The intelligence that he had been programmed with suggested Danny would soon feel compelled to return here again and again.

He would be ready and waiting when that happened. Danny Dyson had to die. It was only a matter of time.

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