Disclaimer: None of the characters from the movie belong to me. Everyone else does.

A/N: So, this is my first multi chapter Day fic, but I just felt the need to write one; it takes place about a year after the events of the first movie. Please enjoy and review to let me know how you feel about it.

Chapter One

The Butterflies

Sam Hall didn't think he'd ever get used to wearing a coat down in Mexico, it just wasn't natural; despite everything that happened, whenever he thought of Mexico, he still thought of sandy beaches and tropical weather. But all that had changed, and that was an understatement; the northern part of the world was still nothing more then a giant ice cube and the climate of the remaining world resembled that of an icebox. Sam didn't think he'd seen a day where the temperature had been above seventy degrees since everything had happened a year ago. Hence the need for the jacket.

With his pullover zipped snuggly, Sam debated grabbing mittens for a moment; he decided against them and left the kitchen, heading back through the hallway of the small abode he shared with his girlfriend, Laura Chapman, toward the bedroom. Silently, he eased the door open and peaked inside; Laura was still sound asleep on their king sized bed, her hands wrapped tightly around the rumpled covers, head tucked down. It was how she slept every night, holding tightly onto whatever she happened to grab onto, head always bowed as though she was protecting herself from something. Sam watched her for a moment, a slight smile turning up the corners of his lips; he had loved her ever since the first day he had seen her, and not much had changed.

Laura stirred, as though she sensed someone was watching her and her eyes fluttered open; she saw that the bed was empty aside from herself and her eyes trailed across the room until they rested on Sam. She smiled and yawned, releasing the covers and sitting up.

Sam pushed the door open the rest of the way and walked into the room. "Morning." He greeted, kissing her lightly on the cheek as he sat down on the mattress next to her.

Laura smiled but she had noted his attire and her eyes clouded over. "Where are you going?" She questioned. "You said you were coming to work with me today."

"I know." Sam said. "But I'm going to see my dad first, there's something I have to talk to him about." He added.

Laura rolled her eyes. "You're being secretive again." She pointed out and Sam smiled slightly. It was true, for the past few days, Sam had been acting like a completely different person, going out and not telling her where, spending a lot more time with his mother then he usually did and always giving her roundabout answers to her questions. If she didn't think it was so cute, Laura might have been suspicious; but, then again, she had known Sam for a little over a year and knew she didn't have anything to worry about.

"I know." Sam agreed, standing up again and giving her a kiss on the forehead. "I've got to go, I'll see you later."

Laura grabbed onto his hand and stopped him from leaving; Sam turned back to look at her. "Will you come to work later?" She questioned, pulling him down again so she could get another kiss before he left.

Sam nodded as he kissed her, squeezing her hand lightly. "I'll take you to lunch." He said when the kiss was broken. "There's something I want to ask you."

Secretive, Laura thought but said, "Ask me now."

"Later." Sam promised, standing up and heading for the door. He turned back to face her. "Love you."

Laura smiled. "Love you." She said and watched him disappear. With a sigh, she flopped back down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. She wondered what Sam was up to, she'd been wondering for the past few days.

Oh well, she would know soon enough. Right now, she had to get ready for work; with another sigh, she slipped out of bed and headed toward the bathroom for the shower that would officially begin her day.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A light snow was drifting from the clouds above but Sam didn't pay attention to the flakes as he stepped outside; snow was a common occurrence now, he didn't even get nervous anymore. His father, Jack Hall, had predicted that the storm had passed and they just had to live with the change of climate and the new Ice Age for the next thousand years. Not that I'll have to worry about it for that long, Sam thought to himself as he stuck his hands in his pockets. He should have brought the mittens.

The abode he and Laura were staying in was one of many clustered in a small space, a spur of the moment neighborhood that everyone had adapted to over the past months. There were dozens of the crowded neighborhoods all around the Mexican border now, taking the place of the tents that had once housed the U.S. refugees. From where Sam's house was located, it was a short walk to the border, which was no longer what it had been before the storm; the fence had been taken down, as had the checkpoints and a large bridge had been constructed across the Rio Grande, heading into Texas. No one used cars anymore, for fear of what the pollution would bring about, and everything was close to everything else.

The remainder of the state of Texas had become the actual city, since Mexico city had become a residential area; the towering office buildings that had survived the storm were now the places were most of the survivors were employed, several grocery and clothes stores.

But Sam wasn't heading for the border today; today he was bound for the American Embassy, which had become the center for weather and climate research, as well as the temporary housing for the president and other government officials. The top floor of the Embassy served as the hospital, where Sam's mother, Lucy, worked, just above her husband.

Sam had been spending a lot of time in the Embassy lately, asking his mother for advice whenever his father was too busy to talk. Monitoring the weather had become even more of a full time job for Jack Hall now then it had been before, with people more aware of what was happening, constantly needing reassurance that another super-storm wasn't on the way. But Sam needed to talk to his father, this was the sort of topic that required a father, son conversation.

The officer standing outside the double doors that led into the Embassy nodded at Sam as he arrived; they exchanged short hellos and soon Sam was inside the lobby of the embassy. The air conditioner had been disengaged long ago and the heater buzzed, emanating a little heat and he took his hands out of his pockets; slowly, everyone was adjusting to the new climate, their new lives.

As usual, the lobby was bustling with people, shouting into radios or at each other, rushing around, flipping through folders and trying to balance cups of steaming coffee. Sam noticed the Chinese woman his father worked with, Janet Tokada, standing near the main desk, arguing with the man standing behind it, and headed over. If anyone knew where to find his father, it would be Janet.

"Can you not argue this time?" The woman was asking the man behind the desk. "And just do it? For once?" She narrowed her eyes and the man nodded and Sam could see why; Janet was intimidating when she needed to be, which was often. Despite the changes that had taken place over the past year, she still wasn't a respected member of the newly assembled team and wasn't afraid to twist a few wrists and throw her weight around to make sure that that didn't last for long.

Janet turned away from the desk and noticed Sam; the stony look on her face disappeared and was replaced with a smile. "Sam, how are you?" She greeted, heading over to him.

"All right." Sam told her. "Have you seen my father? There's something I need to talk to him about."

Janet nodded, a knowing smile turning up her lips. "Your mother told me what you were planning to do." She told him as they headed way from the desk and down a hallway. "It's a big step." She pointed out.

Sam nodded in agreement. "I know, believe me, I know." He'd had butterflies fluttering around in his stomach like crazy for the past few days. But not even the ever present butterflies could persuade him that he wasn't ready to ask Laura to marry him.

"Well," Janet continued. "When you propose, go for the big romantic scene; that's how Jason asked me to marry him." She flashed Sam her engagement ring as though he hadn't seen it a hundred times before. "In front of everyone, down on one knee, the whole thing. It was cheesy, but we girls love cheesy." She beamed.

Sam nodded; he hadn't put a lot of thought into how he was actually going to ask Laura to marry him, he'd been too busy picking out the perfect ring, asking his mother for advice and convincing his friends Brian and J.D. that they could both be his best men. He didn't care how he proposed, he just hoped that Laura said yes.

They stopped in front of Jack's office. "Well, good luck, Sam." Janet said with a smile before heading off the way they had come, no doubt to yell at a few more hapless employees. Sam knocked lightly on the door that led into Jack's office but didn't wait to be invited in; his father knew he was coming.

Jack Hall sat at his desk with his partner, Jason Evans, looking over his shoulder; they were staring intently at something on the computer screen in front of them and Sam shut the door as quietly as he could, so not to disturb him.

"These numbers don't make any sense." Jack mumbled to himself, chewing on the cap of the pen he held in his hand. "I've never gotten a read like this before."

Sam took a step closer, interested, the butterflies flapping ten times harder; any time his father looked worried or concerned, it wasn't a good thing. Despite the fact that Jack insisted the super-storms were over, Sam couldn't help but get nervous every time something new occurred in the weather patterns.

"I don't think it has any thing to do with the weather." Jason remarked, his tone as low and concentrated as Jack's.

Jack sighed. "What else could it be?" He questioned, once again, seeming to speak more to himself then to his partner.

Sam cleared his throat and both men looked up. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt." He apologized. "What's going on?"

Jack's gaze flickered from his son to the computer screen and then back again. "Just some interesting readings. They don't have anything to do with climate or anything related to the weather but I can't figure out why the computer is receiving them." He answered.

Sam walked around the desk and stood on his father's other side, peering down at the computer screen and reading the numbers that were flashing. "Maybe from the ground?" He suggested, since the air and water had already been ruled out.

"You mean like an earthquake?" Jason questioned. This was something they hadn't thought of before.

Jack studied the screen for a moment longer. "Jason, see if you can find a rictor scale, I want to try and measure the data that way." Jason nodded and hurried off to do what his boss had commanded.

Sam looked over at his father. "Dad, there's something I've been meaning to talk to you about." He started, the butterflies beating away again.

Jack turned away from his computer and gave his son his complete attention. "Your mother mentioned something about that. What's on your mind?" He questioned. Sam hadn't come to him with a problem since he had been a little boy but their relationship had improved a lot since then. Sam finally knew that he could trust and rely on his father and that his father would always make time for him.

"Well," Sam sighed, nervous once again. If he was too nervous to bring the subject up to his own father, how was he supposed to bring it up to Laura? "I was thinking about asking Laura to marry me."

Jack looked surprised for a moment. "Marry you? Son, you're only eighteen years old." He pointed out.

"I know." Sam agreed. "But you were only nineteen when you married Mom, she told me." He pointed out and Jack nodded in agreement. "I know that I love her and that I want to be with her, so why wait?"

Jack sighed. "But this is a big step." He reminded his son. "Something you shouldn't take lightly."

"Trust me, Dad, I'm not taking this lightly." Sam assured his father. He stuck his hands in his pockets again and fingered the small, velvet box that held Laura's engagement ring; he had been carrying it with him everywhere. He never got tired to taking the box out and studying the ring, imaging how it was going to look on Laura's finger. "But this is something I want, something I'm ready for."

Jack sighed for the second time in so many minutes. "I know Laura's very special to you." He said. Sam nodded; how important Laura was to him was something he could never express in words. "Well," he paused and look at Sam. "I hope she says us. What am I saying, I know she'll say yes." Sam smiled.

"Thanks, Dad." He said, the butterflies in his stomach not relenting in their flight. Sure he was nervous, but he was always nervous when it came to Laura, she just had the effect on him and he was convinced that it often wasn't a bad feeling. "Got any pointers?"

Jack thought for a moment and then smiled. "Go with cheesy, girls love cheesy."