THE PROM

Author: Nyrki

Chapter 1: The Promise

This is a little story in 6 chapters I wrote after I produced a nanofic and get enough encouragement from friends from FF dot net, the blue wiki and Summer-Glau dot net to extend it into a full story. This is my first fiction and I wrote it in English which is not my native language (I'm French) so everyone could read it. Please take this into account when reading. I was so happy to read all these excellent fanfics after the frustration of the cancellation of the show I wanted to reciprocate.

If you don't like the story, feel free to tell, but please, no flaming or rude comments.

Disclaimer: I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story and all characters and situations of my own creation.

Thanks to: my two prestigious reviewers, meanoldmoe and The1Russter, who not only corrected my grammar and vocabulary but also my story mistakes. Without their help and support, I wouldn't have finished this story. They pushed me to make this story thicker and better than I imagined it would be at first.

You might want to have a look on their excellent fictions:

"Cameron 1999: First Day Back in Time" and "Terminator:Quest For Humanity" by meanoldmoe. His vision of Cameron is among the best I've seen.

"REUNION Revised Edition" by The1Russter, only to mention his main fiction he's just finished to rewrite.

I also thank all the writers of fictions I read who gave me the desire to try and write my own.

The scene with Sarah was written by The1Russter for me which I adapted just a little. Thanks again, Russell.

Cameron calmly closed the trunk of the silvery Mercedes CLS 550 over the dead body of Sarkissian's henchman she'd stuffed inside. She walked towards the driver's door.

Morris ran towards her and called her name "Hey, Cameron. There you are. Your brother's been looking for you."

He stopped and looked at the luxurious car. "Oh wow. Is this your car?" Morris' mouth hung open.

"No, it belongs to the guy I killed and stuffed in the trunk," Cameron deadpanned.

Morris stared at her, mouth gaping, not knowing what to say or think until John arrived seconds later. "Hey! Where've you been? Mom says we gotta get home right now." He noticed the car too. "What's up with the car?"

In total confusion, Morris could just repeat what Cameron told him moments ago "Cameron stuffed a dead guy in the trunk." He smirked as he finished.

John stared at Cameron with a hint of annoyance in his eyes, but she pursued with her logic, unabashed. "He was following us."

Morris preferred to consider she was joking and he finally laughed. Cameron's really strange, he thought. She has a dry sense of humor and really knows how to play her part to its very end. "Your sister's dark, bro." he told John who chuckled at the remark. Then he turned to Cameron "You're gonna love the smiths."

Embarrassed, John strived to justify Cameron's off-limits dark humor. "Yeah, she's, uh, she's really goth," but the harm had already been done.

She's so different, Morris told himself. There's no other like her. Man, I love this girl. Perhaps it's the moment to…

But Cameron, unaware of Morris' train of thoughts and annoyed that they were losing time, swiftly turned to step in the car, ordering John, "Get in". This snapped Morris back to reality, as his eyes were previously lingering on Cameron's perfect ass.

He called out, "Wait, Cameron. Hey, um. There's something I... kind of need to ask you." He hesitated, unsure if she would accept.

"Um, you think maybe you might wanna go to the prom with me?" Morris looked at her with sad puppy dog eyes.

Cameron stared at him in utter lack of understanding of what he had just asked her. She froze a moment while searching her database but found nothing conclusive. John felt he had to do something if he wanted to go now, so he quickly advised her to accept. "Just say yes!"

Cameron decided to trust John's judgment if she wanted to go now, so without giving his advice much thought, she answered "Yes!"

Morris chuckled at the unexpected positive answer, he was excited and relieved she had accepted. I can't believe she said yes… she is so hot, Morris thought happily to himself.

Cameron drove back home in silence, unaware of the trouble she might be getting into.

# # #

Some weeks later, Tuesday afternoon (after Cameron had suffered a car bomb explosion, reverted to her original SkyNet directive, decided to track John down and kill him, been deactivated after telling him she loved him, been saved from being burnt down, suffered amnesia and a software form of schizophrenia. All things considered, a very peaceful period of time)

John and Cameron were driving from school back to home, both sitting silently in the truck cab, John brooding over Cameron while he drove and Cameron looking strangely absent.

John was once again irritated by Cameron's acts, a recurrent behavior since that fateful day. Today's incident was minor nonetheless, he agreed. She insisted to team up with him for the chemistry test, against both his and the professor's opinion. "That's for your safety John" she tried to justify to him. The icing on top of the cake was, she managed to prevent him from seeing this girl he met some days ago. What was her name? Ah yeah, Riley. John was starting to smother, feeling constantly watched, a prisoner of the unremitting presence of the cyborg. You just can't let me breathe a second, can you?

In the meantime, Cameron was looking through the passenger window at nothing in particular. She looked deeply engrossed in thought. She didn't understand why he didn't want to stay close to her for the test, as manipulating chemical compounds can be extremely dangerous. But there was something more important. She didn't understand why John was constantly pushing her away since he brought her back the day she reverted. That was illogical behavior, she thought, both during and after the events. He should have let me burn, that was the safest option to take. He has been reckless instead. This is why she explained he couldn't be trusted anymore. She hoped he would understand. But John was now unexpectedly rejecting her, often reminding her of her true nature. A very unpleasant impression flashed through her systems, as she didn't know what to do about this situation.

An alarm suddenly flashed on her HUD. A timeout set several weeks ago had just elapsed. Cameron commanded her systems to show on her HUD the record she created then. It stated that she promised to 'go to the prom' with Morris, along with a warning for incomplete information, meaning she might not be able to make the right decision about it. Her systems recorded that the prom was scheduled in exactly two weeks time, hence the alarm.

She had collected information on the prom since then, of course, so she knew what it was about, but she still didn't have any clue about what to do with it and the promise she made.

Cameron broke the heavy silence. "John?"

"Hmm, what?" John replied after a short moment, he didn't look like he wanted to start a discussion.

"The prom night takes place in two weeks time." Cameron stated flatly.

This surprised John. He wondered why she was suddenly stating a completely random fact. Is she going haywire again?

"Oookay. And what does that has to do with anything?" Being only human, he had instantly forgotten about this event, not to mention they had been instructed by Sarah to get back home immediately.

"I promised Morris to go to the prom with him," Cameron explained.

"You promised what?" He couldn't believe she could have done this.

"Actually, you told me to accept Morris' invitation." She corrected, emphasizing on 'you'.

"I did? And when was that? I can't remember." Curiosity was getting the better of him. Besides, he had no reason not to believe her.

"It was the day before your… birthday, at the museum." She felt uneasy at mentioning the day of his sixteenth birthday, causing the hesitation. They had seldom discussed it since then, none of them wanting to mention that day. She knew it was a difficult topic and Cameron didn't know what she could do to make amends besides strengthening her protection mission.

Cameron's hesitation didn't remain unnoticed by John. He briefly harbored a sad look on his face as the memories flowed back.

Cameron continued. "I just killed one of Sarkissian's henchmen and we were leaving in his car when…"

"Ah, yeah. Now I remember." he cut her off. So many things happened since then, he thought, including her trying to kill me among others. However, he forced himself to focus on their discussion. "So you accepted. You have to go."

"I can't!" she stated sharply.

"Why?"

"My prime mission is to protect you. How can I protect you if I'm away?" she said in a tone like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Well, that was expected, he thought. "Cameron, I don't require protection all the time. Look, mom and I are sometimes going to the mall without you. Nothing ever happened." John was trying to convince her to ease up on her surveillance. He was starting to think that, with Cameron gone, he could perhaps spend a nice evening with that girl Riley.

"No one is ever safe, Sarah and you keep repeating it," she retorted.

Caught by Cameron for the second time in very short period of time, John thought that her mind was getting ever sharper with each passing day, he had to be extremely cautious with what he could tell her. "Okay, but since Cromartie has been destroyed, the threat level lowered."

"You instructed me to stay in the house too," Cameron flatly added.

John remembered that Cameron had always asked to accompany them and the last time he refused, he could swear he saw a hint of sadness in her eyes. She wouldn't willingly let me go, but she wouldn't tell me either. It's more than protection. It looks like… devotion. But he dismissed this thought immediately at the idea of the date-to-be.

"And now I instruct you… well hum, I allow you to go to the prom," he told her, taking advantage of Cameron's sense of obedience. "And remember, you promised."

"But…"

"Ah, ah. No buts. You gave your word, so you can't step back on this one," John said firmly, wagging his finger in the air.

Cameron tilted her head and frowned. She didn't know how to respond. There was an obvious quandary between John's assertion and her mission directives she wasn't able to solve. She was unsure why a promise would be so important in John's eyes. If the success of a mission would depend on breaking a promise, she would willingly and remorselessly do it. She made a mental note to ask him later, after which she turned her head and resumed looking through the window. The pair remained silent for the rest of the drive.

# # #

Sarah was in living room sitting on the couch, reading a book when John entered with Cameron in tow.

"Anything new happen at school today?" Sarah asked, expecting nothing in particular.

John looked at Cameron and grinned. "Cam got asked to the prom."

"What?" Sarah sat up straight, her face in utter shock.

Cameron explained. "Morris asked me. He's John's new best friend."

"John, is this a joke?" Sarah turned on her son, hoping this was just one of his pranks.

"You know Cameron doesn't joke," he said with a straight face, though he felt like he could burst out laughing at his mom's reaction.

"No she doesn't," Sarah realized. Still she couldn't imagine the terminator going out to dance and having fun, like any normal girl. This was something she thought for certain that the cyborg was unable to do. Yet, for a reason unknown to her, Cameron seemed to have accepted the challenge. Fearing for the entire crowd's safety on the dance floor, she decided John should go with her.

"Okay, if she's going, you are going too." Sarah looked into John's eyes, her gaze never flinching.

"Mom!" John felt his date plan miserably fail.

"Don't Mom me. You're going and that's final. I'm not having tin-miss going to that shindig on her own." Sarah gave John a menacing look to her point across.

John tried to recover. "But I don't have a date!"

"Then ask a girl. They do go to your school, you know," Sarah smiled as she teased John.

Cameron crushed the glass she was holding. Sarah and John both looked at her, but her face remained blank, as she immediately proceeded to pick up the fragments and throw them in the trash. Her hand was slightly bleeding.

"It was already cracked. I'm sorry," she lied.

John then gave Sarah a look.

"Either that, or you get to take your Mom to the prom," she said quite seriously, her arms crossed in front of her and that 'I mean it' look on her face.

John, in great fear of what the kids would think if he took his mom, readily agreed to ask a girl. Maybe Becky Taylor his chemistry class teammate would go. "Okay mom, you win."

Cameron just smirked at John's departing back and began to leave too. It would not look right for John to go to the prom with Sarah, she thought to herself.

"Hey tin-miss," Sarah called.

"Yes?" Cameron replied with her typical blank expression when talking with Sarah.

"Watch yourself at this prom. Don't do anything that..." Sarah stopped mid-sentence. She was just about to lecture Cameron like she was her daughter and not a cyborg. Coming to her senses she looked Cameron in the eye and simply said. "Just be careful."

Cameron looked at Sarah questioningly, and then joined John in the kitchen to do their schoolwork. The few steps she made to reach him let her plenty of time to consider a crucial issue. After personal research on the subject, she had found out that she would need a 'prom dress'. Always looking for the most accurate source of information, she decided she should ask Sarah for assistance. She also knew it wouldn't be an easy task, so she thought it would be preferable to wait until tomorrow before asking.

If she had been human, she would have thought, all this damn prom-thing is going to be a total mess. Instead, she had an uncomfortable feeling of not having full control of the events.

Later at night

John was sitting at the kitchen table, making some research on the Internet about the so-called meaning of these three dots when Cameron entered the room and silently sat at the table, just across him. She merely stared at him, silent and still.

John continued to work at his computer giving Cameron a sidelong glance from time to time, until her steady stare on him became unbearable.

He sighed heavily and let out, upset, "What?"

"Pardon me?"

He closed his laptop. "It's like you'd wanted to ask me something, but didn't know how to. Let's see… I bet you're bothered about this prom-stuff, aren't you?"

Surprised at how easily he could read her, Cameron decided to be frank. Anyway, there was much information she needed and only John could help her.

"Yes, I am."

"What's bothering you exactly then?" asked John with honest concern.

"I don't understand why I should comply with my promise. It is of no help in my mission. It can even be dangerous for you if I'm not around. You said this afternoon that I couldn't step back, but I think my mission overrides any other consideration."

Uh oh! Cam, I know how important to you your mission is, but I need you to learn how important a promise is too.

"No Cam, you can't step back now. You have to understand that your promise commits you to do what Morris asked you. What do you think he would think if you don't?" John tried to challenge Cameron.

"I don't know," Cameron admitted.

"Well, he would be disappointed and think you can't be trusted. Is that what you want?"

"I don't care about his opinion on me," she declared matter-of-factly. Only yours matters.

"Okay, maybe not him in particular." John thought that if he generalizes, she would perhaps eventually get it. "I mean, in general wouldn't you care if anybody trusted you?"

"No, as long as you're still safe," Cameron said, pointedly following her logic.

John sighed. At this point, he considered that if Cameron wasn't put in the situation of the 'victim', she would never get it. Okay, let's make you the victim then. John couldn't help but grin at his own thought, making of a terminator the victim.

This made Cameron tilt her head in further confusion, but she was still expecting John to say something. So far, John's explanations had made no real sense to her.

John found the perfect example, as it included Morris into his demonstration. "Remember when you asked Morris to pretend he was John Baum when Cromartie investigated in the school?"

"Yes."

"He promised he would do what you asked him, right?"

"Yes."

"Did he comply?"

"Yes."

"So first, you owe him a favor. But my point is, how would you feel if he eventually didn't? Wouldn't you feel disappointed?" John asked.

"No. You said it yourself John. I'm just a machine, I can't be disappointed. I would just have to find an alternate strategy, including possibly engaging the T-888."

Shit. That wasn't convincing enough. Think, John!

"Okay, now imagine Cromartie could eventually find and chase me." A slight unpleasant feeling flashed through her systems. "You can stop him, but you need Morris' help and he promises he will. But he doesn't, and…"

"Your logic is flawed," Cameron interjected. "If Morris couldn't complete a simple acting mission, I highly doubt he could have successfully helped me in a battle against Cromartie."

You're pushing me Cam…

"Anything can happen, Cam" he snapped. "I've even heard about terminators who could go haywire and chase the person they were supposed to protect." Cameron instantly looked down, but just before she did, John could swear he saw a hint of shame in her eyes.

Ouch! Okay, that was a lousy trick. Sorry Cam, but I had to.

"What I mean, you can always find yourself in a desperate situation," John justified himself. He resumed. "So he doesn't, and Cromartie grabs me." The unpleasant feeling grew. "Snaps my neck, no more John Connor. My life is over." He tilted his head backwards for more drama effect.

Cameron looked frozen at the idea and remained silent, her eyes big with fear. I can't let anything happen to you.

"How would you feel, knowing that if he helped you, you could have saved me?" John sensed he was close to winning the battle.

Cameron hesitated, panicking at the idea she could fail her mission, "I… I don't know."

"Cam? Tell me how you would feel," John said in a louder voice, pressing the cyborg.

Cameron was totally lost for words. Upon John's insistence, she let out with deep worry in her voice "John, I… I would be lost. My life is useless without you." She was staring at him intensely.

Wow! You never told me that before. Not in that way. In front of this quite unexpected burst of emotion, John realized that Cameron's commitment to him had grown much farther than mere protection. Did she just tell me she's got feelings for me? John promised himself to think about that later, he had to deal the deathblow for now.

"See? From your present reaction, I can tell you would actually feel betrayed, disappointed and angry. This is what it means to be the victim of an unkept promise." He paused. "I'm sorry I had to take you that far to make you understand the real meaning of a promise, but your promise to Morris is conceptually very close."

He paused again.

"This is why you have to keep your promise, Cam" he said, a triumphant look on his face.

"Oh." Cameron realized that keeping a promise could be valuable, even invaluable in some special cases. She took a mental note to do so whenever possible, that is to say when her mission didn't absolutely require the contrary. This note wasn't processed by her infiltration systems, though. Pretending to keep a promise was something already part of her infiltration protocols. No, this time, she just learned for herself its importance and moral significance.

"Thank you for explaining." She greeted John with one of those shy but genuine smiles John didn't remain unmoved by.

However, in the meantime, her not-so-dormant strategic systems recorded the information too. Cleverly getting someone into making a promise to you could be an advantage, Cameron thought to herself.

Cameron knew at that moment she would eventually go to the prom, with Morris. That didn't please her much however. Okay, Sarah told John to go too, but she felt like she would have preferred to go with him instead.

John yawned and then replied to Cameron before she could even say anything. "Yes, I know. I need to rest. Got it, I'll finish tomorrow." He took his laptop, stood up and headed toward his bedroom

"G'night, Cam," he called out before disappearing inside his room.

"Good night John."

Cameron remained alone in the kitchen during the seventeen minutes and forty-nine seconds separating her from her next patrol, pondering what John had just said. Yet, there was something else she would need information on, but doubted she could find it on the Internet. She would give it a try tonight anyway. She never sleeps.

Wednesday, lunch break

Like every day at that time, the school main hall was noisy and bustling with students. Cameron unhurriedly went to her locker and opened it to get the required books for her next class. She didn't need them however, this was part of her school infiltration protocol. She was considered as a very good student, but it would be suspicious if she never brought any book with her.

Cameron was about to close the locker's door when she noticed two girls some meters away, discreetly looking at her, or at least attempting to. Cameron was constantly making efforts to draw minimum attention to herself, with quite some difficulties sometimes, so she wondered what they could be chatting about her. She pushed her audio sensors up to listen to their conversation, while she pretended to tidy up her already neatly presented locker.

"…can't believe what you're telling me, Sandra," one of the girls said.

"I swear it's true, Becky. Morris Villanova asked Cameron Baum for the prom," the other girl responded.

Cameron wondered how the girl named Sandra could have learned about this information. Either Morris somehow gave it away or she spied on him. She felt a pang of anger, she would have preferred that nobody knew. She knew mocking against her would intensify until then. Her left hand twitched and the book she was holding fell on the ground, which she hastily picked up.

"Do you think she will come dressed like that?" Becky asked. The two girls noisily burst out laughing, suddenly saturating Cameron's audio sensors, for which she winced.

"She's got the looks, but what a mess! She definitely doesn't know how to dress. Now I'm curious to see what she'll show up in," Sandra wondered.

"Nothing good for sure. She's hopeless," Becky responded, shaking her head.

"I have to admit she's got an ass to die for. It's a shame," Becky continued after a pause.

I've never thought my ass could be a weapon, Cameron thought.

"Maybe, but she doesn't quite have the main assets a girl needs to make it with the boys. The ones they're all crazy about," Sandra remarked.

What are these assets? Cameron wondered in genuine curiosity, immediately knowing for what she would use them.

"Yeah," Becky assented, putting her hands on her boobs and slightly lifting them up, after making sure that nobody was looking at her. Both girls burst out laughing again.

Oh!

Cameron remembered the time she had no name yet. TOK-715 had just been modeled at the image of a human female resistance fighter, as Future-John did not remove every memory from her 'former' life. She'd considered then that her small feminine size and the useless meaty bulges on her chest were heavy liabilities, limiting her combat skills. Their only advantage was lying in her infiltration protocols. She'd posthumously thanked Allison Young that they were small enough.

And now she was there, wishing on the contrary that they were bigger. John seemed to like them big enough, she'd never failed to notice the more Riley exposed hers and the redder he was turning. John never talked about this topic with her, so she deduced that her breasts probably did not deserve any attention.

The bell rang, calling all the students to their respective classes. The hall emptied rapidly, soon leaving Cameron almost alone in the hall, perplexed. She looked down at her breasts, wondering in confusion about their size.

The two girls' comments were nasty but Cameron considered that they were probably right. She brusquely measured all the distance separating her from being a decent date to the prom. Even my ass is lethal, she thought to herself sadly. To her surprise, she felt hurt by the girls' comments. Beside John's, she had always ignored comments about her. She realized she had to make every endeavor to have John looking at her the way she wanted him to. She discovered that her strongest desire was to prove the two girls wrong… for John.

She hurried to her next class, she didn't want to be late.

END OF CHAPTER