a/n: Again, sorry for the delay! Here's the finale! Thanks for sticking with it!

Time to Impact: 14 hours

"Ok, so the Titan missiles have been launched and should reach the comets within about 20 minutes. After they impact the comets will need to travel for awhile so they can be tracked and see if they will have been pushed to a safe trajectory to not hit the earth, we'll stay with you until we know all the details, so once more, we're going to have to wait."

Lindsey sat in the back of a truck, listening to the crackling voice on the radio, she had managed to get a ride heading west and was almost to the city, traffic was getting worse, and she thought if she got a bike she might actually be able to make it into San Francisco to get to the house. She looked up at the dark sky, the spots where the comets were bright as day. Lindsey held her knees to her chest and thought of John and nothing else.

The entire forensic department of the Western division, the ones that were left anyway, sat in the conference room watching the TV. The missiles had struck over an hour ago and they were waiting for word on what had happened. Greg sat at the head of the table. He glanced out through the glass walls where Karen paced on her cell phone, shaking her head and gesturing, she looked like she was about to cry. She saw Greg looking at her and moved off down the hall to her own office.

Wendy sat quietly next to Ray, staring at the TV with almost resigned sadness. Greg felt responsible. For all of this, he didn't know why, but it was all he could think. Then, the President came on, Greg couldn't help but think that this was the last time many people would even see him again. He looked incredibly haggard and worn down.

"Our missiles have failed," he stated bluntly, "The comets are still headed for Earth… and there is nothing we can do to stop them. If life does go on, it will not be for all of us. We have been able to calculate the comets final trajectories, and we have determined where they are going to strike. The smaller of the comets, Willows, will hit first, somewhere along the Pacific Seaboard, probably in the waters out from Northern California in just under 12 hours at 3:25 pm Western Time. The impact of the comet is going to be disastrous; there will be a very large tidal wave traveling through the Pacific Ocean. It'll be 100 feet high and moving at 1,100 miles an hour, faster than the speed of sound. As it reaches shallow waters the wave is going to slow down, but the wave height, depending on the depth of the shelf off the coast will be anywhere from 1,000 to 3,500 feet high. Where the land is flat it will wash inland as far as the Rocky Mountains. The wave will hit Los Angeles a half hour after impact. San Francisco, Seattle, Portland… all will be destroyed. If you have any means of getting away from this wave, leave now."

Lindsey stood beside the truck, holding a bike she had found on the side of the road, she felt the adrenaline course into her veins and she took off down the road towards what she hoped was her old neighborhood.

"The impact of the second comet will be nothing short of an extinction level event. It will strike land in Eastern China, about 4 hours after Willows. Within a week the skies will be dark with dust from the impact and they will stay dark for two years. All plant life will be dead within… 4 weeks, animal life within… a few months. So that's it… good luck to us all."

With that the President left the screen and the workers of the forensic department stared numbly as a newscaster came back on. That was it, life as they knew it, was going to be over in about 11 and a half hours.

Karen came back into the room; Greg could see she had used the time to compose herself. She held straws in her clutched right hand.

"We have one helicopter, it holds seven people, it can take you to high ground in Yosemite before taking myself and Greg on to the Ark, short stick goes."

The collected group of workers just nodded as Karen began circling the room, handing out straws. Greg stood, watching the faces of resignation and the very few of relief. He watched as Ray took his long straw, nodded and walked out of the room, silently patting Greg on the shoulder. Greg felt tears coming to his eyes… This wasn't fair.

It came down to Wendy and another young man Greg didn't know too well, there was one seat left. They drew at the same time. Wendy got the long one. Karen touched her arm.

"I'm so sorry Wendy"

Wendy just nodded and moved towards the door. Greg tearfully turned to her.

"Wendy…"

"I'll be ok," she said, giving him a sad smile, "There's always the road."

With that she left the room.

"Ok, that's it," Karen said, moving out of the room to pack up her office.

Time to Impact: 5 hours 22 minutes

Lindsey threw the bicycle down in street and ran towards John's old house, screaming his name. The streets were strewn with debris and half the homes were left open, John's being one of them. The garage door was up and the front door stood ajar. She ran through the house calling out to John, Grissom, and Sara before she ended up in the garage, looking into the empty driveway that should have held Grissom's large white Denali but only held Sara's Prius.

Lindsey looked at her watch then looked over at John's chained up dirt bike, she ran back into the house, going up to his room and taking the keys from his desk drawer and running back down to unchain the bike and slide on, grabbing a helmet and tearing off down the road.

Time to Impact: 3 hours 46 minutes

Karen appeared at Greg's office door, clutching her purse and a large satchel.

"Come on Greg, what are you doing?"

Greg looked up to see a lab tech and an assistant from the office with bags running past her to the roof stair. He threw his last few items in his bag and got up, looking quickly one last time out the window to the bay and then towards the mountains, where he could see the roads going out of the city packed with cars using both sides of the road too. They'll never make it he thought.

Karen was pulling him towards the door when he told her to hold on.

"What are you doing?" she screamed at him as he pulled open a drawer and grabbed a manila envelope before following her out.

"Come on," she said, "We have to go now"

The two were jogging down the hall when he saw Wendy sitting at the worktable in the DNA lab. He stopped suddenly, his bag dropping off his shoulder.

"Greg!" Karen shouted.

"Wendy?" he said, moving into the room, "What are you doing?"

Karen came running in behind him, stopping suddenly. Wendy looked up at him.

"The road was so crowded it was obvious that I wasn't going to make it so I thought I'd stay here because it's quiet here and I'm on the 18th floor so… so maybe I'll be ok"

Greg grabbed her hand and pulled her with him as he broke into a run towards the roof stair.

"What are you doing?" Karen was shouting behind them as they ran up the stairs.

The three burst onto the roof where the helicopter was already running and the pilot was helping people in.

"Get her in there!" Greg shouted, pushing Wendy in front of him towards the door; the wind from the rotors whipping all of their clothing.

"What?" Wendy said.

"You're taking my seat!"

"Oh Greg," she sobbed as she got in.

"Wait a minute!" the pilot shouted, "That's too many!"

"I'm not going!" Greg shouted, the pilot running to the door in the front.

"What do you mean you're not going?" Karen asked from beside him, her hair that had been pinned up now billowed about her face in the strong wind.

"I'm not going Karen… GO!" he shouted pushing her into her seat and shutting the door.

Wendy stared out at him with wide eyes as he backed away, waving the helicopter to leave as he ducked. Greg watched the chopper lift and bank away off the roof of the building, heading towards the mountains. It seemed dozens of choppers were doing the same thing, lifting off from different locations in the city and all heading east.

Greg pulled the clasp on the manila envelope and let it fall to the helipad and skitter away in the breeze. He stared down at the picture of Nick and himself on the beach, taken two long summers ago. Greg looked out towards the bay and the ocean beyond and turned to go downstairs.

Time to Impact: 46 minutes

Lindsey weaved through the cars that were going nowhere fast as she scanned all eight lanes moving in the same direction for Grissom's large white SUV. She had been riding for hours away from the city on the closest highway to their neighborhood that headed east and hadn't seen the massive vehicle yet. Another thing she hadn't seen was Greg Sander's car in the far median roaring in the other direction from traffic. Lindsey also couldn't have seen the crew of the Messiah, who far above her in space had decided what they were going to do about the larger comet.

She felt the despair growing as she began to fear she had taken the wrong highway when she heard a loud and close horn and someone screaming her name. She stopped the bike, skidding a little and almost falling. Lindsey turned to see the large white SUV with John climbing off the roof and running towards her. She got off the bike and ran to him while he shouted her name and took her up in his arms, passionately kissing her.

They were suddenly with Grissom and Sara, both looking extremely disheveled; Sara with the baby on her hip and Grissom holding a strap-on carrier.

"You don't have any time," Grissom said, undoing the straps on the carrier.

Sara grabbed Lindsey's arm "I need you to take the baby"

"What? No! I can't!"

"Yes you can," Grissom was already strapping the carrier on her, pulling the two teenagers towards the dirt bike.

"John, can you drive that?"

"Yeah… But… Uncle Gil… I…" John's voice broke.

"There's no time" Sara said as she put the crying baby into the carrier on Lindsey's front.

Gil hugged John as the teen climbed onto the bike.

"I love you!" John began to cry as he hugged his uncle.

"I love you too," Grissom said, "Put this on!" grabbing the helmet Lindsey had dropped on the ground. Sara grabbed the one off the back of the bike as Lindsey sat and put it on her head. Sara hugged Lindsey and kissed the baby on the head as the girl wept.

"You take care of him," Sara said.

"I can't do this," Lindsey repeated through the tears. Gil hugged her as Sara hugged John. The two backed away as Sara gave one last kiss to the baby.

"Go John, now!" Grissom shouted, "Get up into the mountains!"

John gunned the bike as Lindsey wrapped her arms around him and the two sped away between the cars.

Sara watched silently before dissolving into tears as Grissom held her.

Time to Impact: 17 minutes

Greg pulled his car to a stop in front of the old beach house. He ran up the steps across the wide front porch into the house and began to shout Nick's name. He had searched both floors and began to panic, had he been wrong? Had he come all this way for nothing?

He walked out onto the porch and looked across the street; on the wide beach a lone figure stood down by the water.

Greg made the slow jog across the street and out to the edge of the water, kicking off his shoes as he went, he slowed and stopped next to Nick who was momentarily startled before he smiled warmly and placed a hand on Greg's shoulder. Greg smiled looking out towards the water.

"Once, when you were asleep, I took a hundred dollars from your wallet to buy a new shirt," he said.

Nick smiled, looking over at Greg.

"I made a mistake and didn't marry the love of my life," Nick said.

Greg turned to Nick.

"When I said I didn't remember much about when we were here I lied. I remember everything. I remember we took that picture right over there and built the sand pile to hold the camera right over there. After that we laid on the beach all day, just the two of us… no one around. It was a perfect day… I came down here to tell you that."

"Thank you"

"I've missed us since then," Greg said, placing his hand on Nick's cheek.

"I've missed us too," Nick said, wrapping Greg up in his arms and kissing him deeply. Greg broke the kiss; smiling and crying as he leaned into Nick, placing his head on his shoulder and chest as Nick held him.

John threaded the dirt bike through the narrow openings in the traffic up the steepening terrain while Lindsey clutched John's waist and held the baby tightly.

A large roar distracted her; she looked into the west where a bright light was falling towards the earth, leaving a plume of smoke behind.

Greg and Nick stood holding each other tightly as they watched the object fall from the sky far out in the ocean. They saw it meet the horizon and there was a bright flash of light and a plume erupted in the distance. All was silent until a rippling and roaring wind came rushing across the water, almost causing the two men to fall as the wind whipped around them. The skies grew dark and had a strange orange tint, almost like sunset. Greg held onto Nick for support and Nick turned Greg's face to his.

"I love you"

Greg could see that Nick meant it with every fiber of his being.

"I love you!" Greg said, meaning it and kissing Nick fiercely one last time. He turned to the ocean where the water was rapidly receding from the coastline. Suddenly a dark wall of water blotted out the horizon. Greg burrowed his face into Nick's chest.

"Nick…"

Nick held him close and closed his eyes as the water met the beach.

20 minutes after Impact.

John and Lindsey had abandoned the road, careening up the steep hillsides, just trying to find the extra foot that would save them.

Sara and Grissom stood beside the SUV, watching the wave come inland, rushing up the interstate. People screamed and ran past them in a futile attempt to get away. Grissom pushed a stray hair behind Sara's ear as she looked up into his face.

I love you, she mouthed as he took her into his arms and the wave raced up the last mile to them.

"Come on!" John shouted to Lindsey, tugging her hand as they struggled up the hill that had been to steep for the bike. Other people were scrambling beside them, grabbing onto rocks and shrubs, trying to get purchase.

John finally pulled her up and over a rock, the two lying on their backs, Lindsey holding onto the baby. She sighed at sat up, looking towards the west, where everything had been covered by water, she could still hear the water slamming into the valleys and hillsides beneath them. From what she could see everything was gone, it looked like the ocean had just come up and risen a thousand feet, bringing the coast to the mountainside. Lindsey grabbed John's hand and the two looked out far into the distance where they could see the bright spot from the larger comet still coming. They had escaped the wave, but did it really even matter?

Then there was an incredible flash in the distance and second comet appeared to fall apart in the sky. Small pieces arced across the atmosphere, leaving tiny trails and lighting up the area. Everyone around them had stopped and were pointing into the sky. John smiled and looked into Lindsey's eyes and down at the baby. He then brought her in for a kiss. A kiss that wouldn't be their last.