Carefully, not wanting to alarm the animal, Natalie took small steps with her hand out and the plant in hand. She reached the dinosaur and started to place a hand on the side of his face, below his right eye when his tail whipped round hit her in the side, throwing her with great force against the cave wall.

She cried out in pain, letting out a gasp in the process, releasing the breath she hadn't realized she was holding. Her eyes were cracked opened, her body felt broken and while she'd been sick several times in her life, in this moment Natalie had ever felt more weak. Her body was shutting down, all that fight in her was gone, she couldn't feel her hands or feet anymore, her legs and arms were also becoming numb. Blood dripped out of the back of her head and down onto her hair and neck.

The last thing Natalie saw was Mike, her five-pound pet dinosaur getting outfaced by the undiscovered carnivore; the last thing she felt was immense pain in the back of her head. Then it was darkness.

~•~Flashback~•~

The nine-year-old was scared. She'd never traveled this far out before, the colony wasn't in sight, all she could see was trees and leaves and bushes. She had to keep moving, she had to find him, that was her secret mission. Natalie took more steps, each one making a loud crunching noise – she still hadn't gotten the hang of being quiet. Her steps came to a stop when she heard a twig snap. If it was just that she would've continued, but a voice had followed.

"Nat." Lucas called, softly not wanting to alarm her. Though, he did say it a little loud since he was happy since he finally got to see her.

She whipped around and it only took a second for Natalie to launch herself into his arms, "Lucas!"

"It's alright, Tal. It's me. I've got you." He hugged her tight, refusing to let go. He still didn't know if he believed it was real. He had been alone ever since his banishment, it was just him with the wildlife. Once you've been in solitude for about 500 days with just calculations and hope to guide you, it makes you question your sanity.

When Natalie pulled back, she looked at him with a serious, yet playful look, "You stink."

He laughed, a full laugh, something he hadn't done in a long time. "It's good to see you. I'm glad you finally got here and are better." Lucas told her, his voice sincere.

Kid time was over now. "Where have you been?!" Natalie shouted, demanding like an angry wife. "What happened to you? You went missing and-" Her voice was back to the soft, young girl and face marred sadness and confusion.

"So that's the story he's telling..." Lucas mused, not focused on the emotions the child was feeling. He was focused on his rage towards his father. "How is the great Commander? Apologize for leaving you behind? Or is that beneath him? Has your mother even apologized for leaving you behind, sick and helpless?"

Hurt marred on her face for the last comment, "Huh? You think I'm helpless? I was sick...I." She trailed off, her voice uneasy and unsure. "They didn't leave me." She didn't know if she believed it, it felt more like she was trying to convince herself. Confused, she asked, "Luke, what do you mean?"

~•~End of Flashback~•~

"Nat, wake up. Come on. Natalie, wake up. Please." Lucas begged, holding the bleeding, broken, limp body in his arms. He had attempted to stop the bleeding but there was only so much he could do. He had just left for a short time, gone to the falls, and she'd already gotten herself in trouble.

This wasn't the first time he'd found her unconscious, this was just the first time caused by the wildlife, before it was her illness, slowly working on killing her until she found that plant. Helped her function, didn't cure her, but she wasn't that sickly child she once was.

"Lucas?" Natalie groaned having woken up. She first smiled at him, then she coughed up some blood.

"Tally, you're alright." He breathed and brushed a strand from her face, uncovering her big brown eyes that started to shine with tears.

"No, I'm not." She shook her head as far as her stiff neck allowed her to. "I can't-I can't do it. I can't fight." Natalie wanted to bang her head on the grass it hurt so bad, but Lucas' hand was underneath her head and he secured her head in it's place (a replacement for a neck brace, something they obviously didn't have), it prevented her from doing that or sitting up.

"Tal, you can't give up, please..." He trailed off not knowing what else to say. He already looked at her head and while he wasn't a doctor, he knew her skull was fractured – the reason why he couldn't apply pressure to the wound to stop the bleeding – plus she had several cuts that needed to be tended to and that's just what he knew.

Her cheeks became red, as sadness and pain took over and tears started streaming down her cheeks, "I can't move. I can't feel my arms, my legs, my hips. I hurt! I'm in pain! I just-please, please make it stop!" Natalie exclaimed. "I want it to be over." She whispered. She had fought so long, experienced more pain then she wanted and while joy was apart of her life, she couldn't bare to do this anymore. She was in a battle and needed her battle armor, but she didn't have the fight in her to get it and continue on.

That was not an option in Lucas' opinion, so he started to think of ideas but of course his options were limited. Outside here, they had limited amount of supplies, their medical supplies was gone – Natalie had decided to help injured dinosaurs with it, Lucas disagreed. His opinion would've mattered if she thought about times like this, but at the time she just ignored him and rattled on and on about how they were useless to her. She also hastened to add that she brought the med-kit, not him, making them her supplies, for her to use, at her will and hers only. They argued a lot at that, but she was stubborn. And right now, that may be the only thing going for her.

Except...an idea formed in his head and he stood up quickly.

"Stay awake. I'll be right back."

"Where-Aw!" Natalie cut herself off with a cry of pain. "Ok, I'll-I'll try." She said, her voice stuttering slightly.

Concerned at the change, Lucas ran across the forest searching for the plant. He forget where it grew, it was Natalie who picked it, unless she became too bad then he did it but she told him the locations. It was hard to find though, while it was distinctive, it blended in with the greenery easily, at least the ones that aren't edible, which are mixed in. The plant was close and after four minutes he found it after he remembered the location. he avoided the green pea pod-shaped ones and plucked the black one; it already had the small almost clear-colored, light blue beads peeping through the seems like it was supposed to, or at least that's what was thought.

It only took a minute for Lucas to arrive where he left Natalie since he actually knew where he was going and he could run since he wasn't going to miss anything, unless you count tree roots, something he was more than happy to miss. When he got there though, while Natalie was there she was unconscious and her condition had worsened.

Lucas cursed; there was blood coming out her nose and settling on her slightly parted lips, painting them red. The herb would be useless to her now. Even if he could get to her, the bleeding, the skull fracture...he knew what had to be done.

Without anymore thought, Lucas scooped her up, securing one arm under her neck to keep it steady and another under her knees. It was difficult to carry her, not just physically because he wasn't that strong, but because he had to avoid bumps since her head shouldn't be jiggled in her condition. In the silence, he started to think about his plan, he couldn't enter Terra Nova, so that meant dropping her off by the gates. Would she be found? Would she get medical attention in time? Would she be locked in the brig? Would he ever get to see her again? He knew the answer to that, no, at least not until he finishes his calculations then he'll make sure she is taken out before the fighting. Or he'll have Mira's people finally be useful and get her out.

He would get her out. After they saved her, if his father or her mother by any means did any wrong by her, he'll burn them with Terra Nova along with anyone who ever hurt her.

They were over halfway there when Lucas noticed blood drip from her ears and he panicked. He called her name twice and no response. He shook her slightly, holding tighter onto her neck to keep it steady. With no response he hurried up his pace trying to get to Terra Nova in time, it made it more bumpy. The bumpiness caused her pain and after a severe bump causing a severe jolt of pain to her back, she woke up.

The moan caught Lucas' attention and he looked at her, relief his features, "Tally?"

The most coherent response she could form in that moment was, "Mm-hm." It was somewhere between a confirmation and a cry of concealed pain.

"I thought you were- you're alive, that's all that matters." Lucas stated.

Feeling something in her ear, something that felt familiar, she looked at Lucas, "I'm bleeding. My ear." He nodded. "I'm dead."

"What? No! You're going to survive."

"I'm dying." She corrected her earlier statement. She knew it, she may be confused, her skull having been damaged, but she spent a lot of time in the hospital, she knew what death was.

Not knowing what to say, Lucas continued to carry her to Terra Nova. The soft moan she made when he jiggled her made him look at her only for him to look back ahead. Terra Nova was nearing and he would get her there before she passed out.

When her eyes started to close Lucas ordered, "Natalie, stay awake."

"Mm-hm." She murmured, her eyes opening but closing again.

"We're almost there." Lucas told her as he prayed that he got there in time.

It took four minutes of walking as fast as possible before his destination came into view through the foliage.

He knew he couldn't stay, but that didn't mean he didn't regret not being able to say goodbye, at least not while she was conscious and would remember.

"Nat, Tal. Natalie! Wake up." Lucas commanded. "We're here, you need to wake up."

After a moment and no response, Lucas heard distance sounds of rovers. Gently, he leaned over and placed a soft kiss on her forehead, "I love you. Bye, Tally." Then Lucas disappeared into the forest without a trace.

Lt. Washington ran through the forest with her gun raised and a team of soldiers around her. They were searching for the two heat signatures the guard tower had spotted OTG. They assumed sixers 'cause who else would be OTG just after night had fallen? There was Curren, but he knew better then to come back to the colony.

She was combing through the forest when she heard, "I got something!" It was from a distant soldier.

She nodded at Miller, the soldier beside her to follow and they went over to the calling soldier. He wasn't alarmed which made her curious what he found. It wouldn't be an alive sixer...so who or what was it?

When she got to the area where a few soldiers were gathered, Reilly, a medic, was kneeling next to the girl and it was only when Wash took a step over to where the gap was she saw the face. Lying there was her daughter, Natalie Marie Washington.