Terminator: the Sarah Connor Chronicles

title: Let's Go Have Some Fun

author: River2027

Disclaimer: I do not own anything Terminator, just my DVD copy

setting: after "brothers of nablus"

genre: humor/romance

rating: T

warning: contains spoilers for "Allison from Palmdale", "goodbye to all that" and "brothers of nablus" but honestly, who hasn't seen them yet?

summary: While Sarah and Derek are doing recon in Ohio, John takes Cameron to King's Island Amusement Park for the day. John/Cameron

Author's note: This was just a short two-chapter story I wrote a while ago. I figured I'd post it while I'm still working on my next big project. So…enjoy!

A Connor Vacation

John Connor glanced around the little motel room, disgusted by the appearance. Not only was it a motel room, but it was halfway across the continental United States. "Ohio?" he complained for about the fifth time. "Why'd we have to come all the way to Ohio?"

His mother was busy cleaning and loading all the guns they had brought with them for the "vacation" as she had called it. John couldn't see how this was much of one.

"We're tracking down a name on the list," Sarah explained. "Doing reconnaissance."

The "list" was names written in blood on a wall of their basement. Maybe she really was searching for a name, but John knew the real reason they'd come so far from home. Home wasn't safe anymore. Not that anywhere was.

Their security had been compromised, thanks to his forgetful new friend Riley, and Sarah was still more than a little paranoid about the resulting break-in. John was actually glad to be far from home. He still hadn't told his mother that Cromartie had showed up at the front door searching for him. Sure, Riley had gone all 'spooky ninja' on him, and he wouldn't come back, but with a Terminator still in the area, John didn't want to take the chance of being spotted walking around town.

Derek loaded his gun as Sarah continued. "Derek and I will do some infiltrating…"

"Can I come?" John asked hopefully. Even though he was relieved to be far from LA County, he'd been expecting something a little more exciting than being stuck inside a dingy hotel room.

His mother shot down that idea quickly. "No. It's too dangerous."

John scowled, crossing his arms. It's war. War is dangerous. "But you said it was recon," he protested.

"Even reconnaissance missions can turn ugly," Sarah said rationally. "There could be a machine waiting for us."

Cameron stepped forward. "Does this mean you need me to come with you?"

Derek stiffened and glared at Cameron. "No, we don't. This is infiltration. You're too much of a klutz."

Cameron cocked her head as she usually did when confused or calculating. "Klutz?"

John rolled his eyes. "You don't know what a klutz is?"

"Klutz," Cameron repeated. "Uncoordinated. Clumsy. Awkward. Inept. Incompetent."

"Exactly," Derek muttered under his breath.

"I've been reading the dictionary," Cameron concluded.

Derek snorted in disgust. "Reading the dictionary?"

"I don't sleep," Cameron stated.

John ignored the exchange between his uncle and Cameron and looked back at his mother. "So you brought me along to sit in a hotel room, is that it? Then later tonight we have to drive home?"

"Yes," Sarah said. "If we accomplish our mission."

"It's a full day's ride," John said with a scowl. "The least you could have done was gotten us airplane tickets."

"No we couldn't have," Sarah countered, gesturing at Cameron. "She can't pass through a metal detector."

"I have a metal plate in my head," Cameron stated bluntly.

Derek scoffed in annoyance. "Your entire head is metal, tin can."

"…and we couldn't have smuggled the guns on," Sarah concluded.

Cameron's looked up. "We could have."

Sarah sighed, as if trying to be patient with their resident cyborg. "You can't annihilate the entire airport security staff."

"It wouldn't be difficult," Cameron replied emotionlessly. "Have you seen the security?"

Derek snickered and John hid a smile, though he knew she hadn't meant to be funny. Sarah simply shook her head and grabbed her flashlight.

John jumped up to block the door. They weren't getting away that easily. "Why can't we all go?" he insisted.

"Because," Sarah replied. "You can't go and someone needs to stay here and protect you. Who do you think is a better babysitter? Cameron or Derek?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Derek asked.

John didn't give an answer. Her question didn't warrant one.

"He does not have a choice," Cameron said reasonably. "I must remain with John at all times."

"Right," Sarah said, rolling her eyes.

"You told me to keep an eye on him," Cameron reminded her.

Sarah forced a smile. "Yes, I did."

John scowled at both of them. "What is she going to protect me from? No one will attack me in this hotel room!"

"John Connor, you're staying," Sarah said. "That's final."

*********

John lay on his hotel bed, arms crossed, still defiant. "I'm not a child anymore," he said aloud. "Why can't she see that?"

Across the room, Cameron stood guard at the door, looking intently out the peephole. "You are still a child," she pointed out. "Adulthood is reached at the age of eighteen. You're only sixteen."

John snorted. Stating the obvious again. "I didn't know that, really," he said sarcastically.

Cameron turned away from her door vigil. "Your mother is only trying to protect you."

He laughed humorlessly. "Protect me? How am I supposed to turn into the leader of mankind if I can't even do reconnaissance missions?"

Cameron cocked her head. "How are you supposed to turn into the leader of mankind if you die before Judgment Day?" she countered. She had a point, he realized reluctantly.

He sighed and sat up on his bed. "This is pointless sitting around in here. We might as well go do something."

"Sarah said…"

"How many times do I have to tell you, just because my mother said it doesn't make it so," John snapped. When will she get that through her coltan skull?

John stood up and grabbed his jacket. "Come on," he said. "Let's go have some fun."

Her eyes seemed to light up. "We're going to play foosball?"

John paused, confused. Foosball? What the heck was that about? "No," he said slowly. What kind of person associates "fun" with foosball?

He shook his head. "Something much better. We're going to King's Island."

***********

"I don't understand," Cameron repeated as John drove toward the amusement park. "This is unwise and shows poor judgment. An island is not a tactical location. Surrounded by water. No exits."

John sighed at her analysis. "It's not a real island."

"Then why do they call it one?"

John shrugged. "Uh…I don't really know. You can look it up later."

"Okay." She was silent for a moment before adding, "Then what is it?"

"It's an amusement park," John supplied. "Have you ever been to one?"

"No," came the reply. He nodded. Stupid question. She's a machine, you moron.

Cameron remained silent as John walked up to the ticket booth and paid for both of their tickets.

"Let's go," he said with a smile.

When they entered, Cameron looked a little leery of all the crowds, but seemed to be fascinated by the roller coasters.

"It's freaking big," she stated.

John cocked an eyebrow. "Uh, yeah, I guess it is."

They walked forward towards a statue in the middle of the park. "That's the guy who founded King's Island," John explained.

Cameron stared at it. "It's not a guy. It's a sculpture."

John blinked. "Uh, I meant this is a statue of him."

"Oh. Thank you for explaining."

Clockwork.

"So," John said, clapping his hands together. "Which do you want to go on first?"

Cameron looked around, locking in on a tall red one. "That one," she said. John quickly checked the location on the map.

"Face/Off," he read. "Good choice."

******

John and Cameron sat down across from another young couple. Cameron studied at them as they were strapped in and the coaster was pulled up the track. John noticed that she continued staring when they were released. By the time they arrived back into the station, Cameron still seemed to have the same expression on her face. The two people across from her looked a little anxious and got out of their seats quickly.

John stopped Cameron before they disembarked. "Were you staring at them the entire time?" he asked.

"Yes," Cameron said simply.

"Why?"

"I was making sure they were not a threat."

"How can do anything to me if they're strapped in?" John demanded. Cameron didn't answer and John let out a deep breath before he grabbed her arm and led her down the exit ramp. He spotted their two riding buddies talking to their parents.

They sneaked a glance over at Cameron and starting whispering and pointing. John quickly steered Cameron away.

"Look," he said. "You have to blend in more. Normal people actually have facial expressions. Especially when on roller coasters. They have fun."

"I was having fun," Cameron replied.

"Then show it," John insisted. "Show it like you did when you played foosball with that Jody girl. Be Allison again."

"I'm not Allison," Cameron stated emotionlessly. "That's what you said."

"Okay, so I phrased it wrong," John corrected. "Don't be Allison. Be like Allison. 'kay?"

Cameron nodded slowly, which only served to show John that she still did not completely understand. No, it was different than that, he realized. She understood him, she just didn't comprehend.

He shook his head.

Making excuses for a machine. Boy am I stupid…

******

"This is the Son of Beast," John said, gesturing to the huge coaster track looming before them. "It's the only wooden roller coaster with a loop. This should be fun."

"Hey!"

John turned to see a college-aged guy walk up to Cameron. He had a leather jacket, spiked hair, and an altogether "bad boy" look. John instantly didn't like him. "I hear this coaster's a little rough. You wanna ride with me?" the guy asked Cameron.

John scowled, but before he could answer, Cameron simply replied, in what sounded like a disgusted tone, "No."

The guy's eyes widened, and John deduced that he obviously wasn't used to being rejected. "Hey, come on, pretty girl…" he grabbed her wrist and Cameron turned her head to regard the young man's hand, probably contemplating the best way to remove it. John half-hoped she'd go for literal dismemberment.

Of course, she was probably remembering her promise not to kill anyone who wasn't trying to kill John.

John suddenly lost control of his movements and slammed his fist into the guy's jaw. The punk released Cameron and fell to the ground, holding his jaw and groaning in pain.

"You're lucky," John said, standing over him, fuming. "You're lucky I was the one who hit you. She could have killed you. Really killed you. Or ripped your arm off. Without exerting herself."

The punk obviously didn't believe him, or was too enraged to care. He lurched to his feet and swung a fist forward. John tried to duck, expecting a blow, but Cameron caught the punk's hand in her death grip, causing the young man to cry out in pain. Then she flung him…flung him across the pathway to land in the flower bed. Several startled people gathered around the injured man, and looked around, trying to figure out where he had come from.

John quickly escorted Cameron away from the scene. "What was that?" he demanded through gritted teeth.

"He was a threat."

"Yes, but you can't just…hurl people in the air!" he protested. "You'll get us kicked out! Or thrown in jail."

"I was trying to protect you," Cameron replied.

John's face softened. "Thanks, but next time just shove him in a trash can or something."

"I doubt there will be a next time," Cameron said pointedly. "He appears to have lost movement in his legs."

Great. "I know," John said patiently. "I meant if anyone else does."

"Oh," Cameron agreed. "Right."

******

"Racer," John explained as they reached the next ride. "They are launched from the platform at the same time, following an identical track."

Cameron watched the twin coasters curiously as they were launched from the platform. John smiled at the way she seemed to be concentrating on it.

"Which one do you think will win?" he asked.

"The red one," she concluded. "It was launched one point two seconds before the blue, and the blue coaster contains approximately twenty two pounds more weight. Unless the two tracks have slight variation, it will arrive back here first in…" she quickly scanned the track, deducing an estimated arrival time. "…approximately fifty two seconds…" She glanced over at him. "But that's just a guess."

John raised an eyebrow. "O-kay." Just a guess, huh? "So you would like the front?"

"Yes, the front," Cameron repeated. John shook his head, grinning as he led Cameron to the front cart. Before they could step on, a tall, well-built biker dude stepped in front of John.

"I get the front, punk," he said.

John shrugged. What was it with all the freaks today? "So get in line."

The biker scowled. "Listen you little…." He was cut off when Cameron suddenly grabbed him and shoved him headfirst into the nearby trashcan, its contents muffling his protests.

"What was that?" John hissed, quickly stepping into the roller coaster before anyone noticed the new addition to the garbage bin.

"You told me to throw anyone who bothers us in a trash can," Cameron replied as if it were obvious.

John found he couldn't complain.

"What is it with all the jerks here today?"

"We are here during a normal school day," Cameron observed. "It is likely that all of the 'good kids' are in class while all of the others – 'jerks' as you call them - are here."

John sighed. "High school dropout day at King's Island. Great."

*******

Next they came to the Vortex, the king of all looping roller coasters in the park. John felt his stomach knot up in anticipation at the sight of it. It looked incredibly fun.

"Are you sure this is safe?" Cameron asked, as he took her hand and pulled her into the line.

"Yeah," John replied. "It's a roller coaster. Just like all the others, it's tested for safety. Multiple times. No one has ever died on this ride."

"Not yet," Cameron said ominously. John felt a chill. Wouldn't that be a story? The first person to ever die on this roller coaster was supposed to be the future leader of mankind.

He tried to laugh it off. "Do you have to be so gloom and doom?"

Cameron cocked her head. "'Gloom and doom'?"

"Yeah, always pessimistic," John explained.

"There's a lot of 'gloom and doom' in 2027," Cameron stated.

John looked away. "Yeah, I bet." Enough of the future, he told himself. No more thinking about the future today. This was supposed to be fun.

He strapped himself in and looked over at Cameron. "Hang on."

The coaster shot forward and John felt a burst of excitement as they began the slow climb to the top of the hill. He looked down, spotting the parking lot. "You can probably see the jeep from here," he pointed out.

Cameron turned her head slightly to look. It was quiet for a moment before she agreed, "Yes, we're in the thirteenth row."

John shook his head, smiling. Leave it to Cameron to make things more complex. They finally reached the summit and shot down into three barrel rolls.

John felt a little dizzy as they went through yet another loop and he briefly wondered if Terminators could get motion sickness. When the ride finally came to a stop, he looked over at Cameron, a big grin on his face.

"How was that?" he asked, eyes twinkling with excitement. Cameron had her "confused" look on again when she met his gaze.

"I swallowed a bug."

_________________________________________________________________________

Author's note: The next chapter has a little more John/Cameron action as the two ride some more coasters, get lunch, and enjoy a nice little moonlit moment at the top of the mini Eifle Tower. :) Of course, I won't be posting till after tomorrow's big welcome back episode! Yay! We've waited too long for this moment!