AN: Thanks everyone for the reviews so far. And to Storm and Phoenix for supporting me and making me laugh through my writer's block. I also went back and added a couple of songs to the soundtrack.

Chapter 5

Eric looked on in shock as the avalanche finally came to a stop. "I can't believe it."

"Yeah. Neither can I." said Griffin. "It completely missed the resort."

"No. Cara."

"Who?" asked Jerry.

"Mr. Knight's daughter. The girl I went out with last night. Didn't you see it? She and her car got caught in the avalanche."

"Yeah, that she did, didn't she? Oh well," Jerry shrugged, "one less snoop to worry about. We better try somewhere closer, Griff."

Eric caught his father by the arm. "So we're just gonna leave her down there?"

"Don't worry, Eric. There'll be others. What's more important is getting your aunt to give up the resort."

"That's all you ever care about, isn't it? Money."

Jerry tugged his arm away. "Look, I ain't got time to argue. Time's a wastin'." He turned back to Griffin and they went over a map, looking for a place to set off another explosive.

Eric began to back away. 'I've got to go get help.' He quietly walked away in another direction, hoping he'd get away without his father or Griffin noticing.

Jerry continued to study the map. "Now, what we'll do is…Eric?" They looked around. "Eric? Where'd you go, son?"

"He's gone." said Griffin. "I'll bet he'll rat on us. That no good…"

"Naw. He's gone off to see about that girl. I'll take care of Knight and Higley. You find that boy and talk some sense into him."

Griffin nodded.

Michael slowly began to make his way back down to the bottom of the trail. He had tried to crawl to where he had seen the others buried, but there was just too much snow in the way. Every now and then, he'd talk into his comlink.

"Cara? Can you hear me? Come on, sweetie. Answer me. Kitt? Partner? I know you're there."

No answer came.

"Can either of you hear me?"

"I can hear you, Michael." came a female voice.

"Star? Star, where are you?"

"Down in the small parking area, Michael. At the bottom of the trail." It wasn't long until Michael was able to make it down and over to the silver Pontiac. "Michael, are you alright?"

"I'm alright. It's Cara and Kitt I'm worried about. Can you get in touch with them?"

"I'll do my best." She tried contacting Kitt over the private carrier frequency, then tried gaining access to Cara's comlink. Shaky wavelengths appeared on her monitor. "I can't seem to communicate with either of them. And they're too deep for me to locate."

Michael smacked the gullwing in frustration. "Great. What do we do now?"

It was quiet. Eerily quiet. Cara took her hands away from her head and looked up. "Kitt, is it over?"

"Yes, Cara. The avalanche seems to have stopped." He turned on his headlights. "The visibility in here is only a few feet."

"Where's Michael and Star? Are they alright?"

"They were still outside when we got trapped in here." Kitt did a quick scan. "There's too much interference. I've lost communication with Star. I doubt I can contact her or anyone else under all this debris."

"So a distress signal would be useless." She got up and looked around. It looked like they were in some kind of cavern. "Can't we turbo boost out of here?"

"We could, but it might cause another avalanche, possibly further endangering those at the resort…as well as Star and Michael."

"If they're still out there." Cara said to herself.

"Buck up. I'm sure they're fine. You have plenty of oxygen and provisions. Let's just wait patiently until help arrives."

She shrugged. "Guess you're right." She started to make her way over to him when another rumble was heard, and small rocks and dirt began to fall. "Whoa." Then, it was quiet again.

"On second thought…" Kitt said, "maybe we should look for another way out of here before we get crushed." He began to roll forward, inside the cavern. "Stay close to me."

"Right." she said, walking alongside him.

Michael was still trying to contact them from inside Star, when he heard the sound of someone approaching. "Need some help?" Michael looked up and saw it was Pete.

"Pete?" He got out of the car. "Yes! My daughter and my friend were caught in the avalanche."

"I saw. It was a dandy."

At that moment, they saw Jerry struggling to make it down the trail. "Can I get some help over here?" Pete and Michael ran over and helped him down the rest of the way. "Thanks. Can you believe it? I was up there with Griffin Thompson and my son when…"

"Wait." said Pete. "What were you doin' up there in the first place?" He looked at both of them. "What were any of ya doin' up there? This place is off limits."

Jerry stuttered. "Well…I…uh….Oh, never mind that, Pete. I lost my boy up there when the avalanche hit. Griffin's gone to look for 'im."

"And Cara's up there." Michael said. "We better go find them."

Jerry stopped him. "I wouldn't go back there if I were you."

"He's right, Mr. Knight. Look." Pete pointed towards the trail. "Those boulders are ready to give way. We try getting to 'em now, we'd be putting them and ourselves in a lot of danger. Better to go back and get a rescue team."

"But it's an emergency." Michael protested.

"Trust me. I saw where your girl and that car were buried and I know this mountain like the back of my hand. They'll be alright while we go for help."

Michael reluctantly gave in. "Okay. But let's hurry." They got into their vehicles and drove back to the resort.

Kitt and Cara continued to travel inside the cavern which was dark and wet. It was quiet, until there was a small squeak. Cara looked up and gasped.

"Bats." She leaned against Kitt, putting her hand on him.

"There's nothing to fear. They're hibernating. Harmless really, in that state."

"Uh, yeah. Sure. I knew that." she said, trying to be unafraid. "If we find another opening can we turbo out that way?"

"It's a possibility. I don't recall there being any civilization on any other side. We should be getting close."

They traveled some more and then came to a stop. "Kitt, look!"

Before them was some kind of catacomb. Ice covered the cave floor, while stalactites and stalagmites protruded from up above and down below.

"It's some kind of water reserve." He rolled forward a couple of feet. "The ice appears to be thick enough. I should be able to make it across."

"Are you sure?"

"It's the only way to get to the other side of the mountain." Kitt opened his door. "Here. Get in."

Cara stepped back. "But what if the extra weight causes something to happen and you…"

"Your weight won't make any difference, I assure you. In."

She reluctantly got in and carefully closed the door behind her. "Have you ever done this before?" she asked him.

"Well, no." Kitt answered. "Michael and I have been on thin ice before…just not literally." She remained quiet, still not believing he was going through with it. "Everything will be fine. I promise, we'll go very slowly."

"Okay. But, Kitt? Just in case?"

"Yes?"

Cara leaned forward, wrapping her arms around the gullwing. "I'm glad you're with me."

She heard him smile. "The feeling's mutual." He readied himself. "Let's get this over with, alright?" She nodded.

Kitt began made his way across, inch by carefully plotted inch. If he dared to go any faster, the frozen stalactites could fall. He would have no time to get out of the way, and they could possibly break the ice, endangering himself and Cara in some way.

Cara remained as still as could be. She didn't want to do anything to shift Kitt's weight, or cause any more of the mountain to come crashing down on him. She did her best not to breathe.

They didn't notice the small crack starting on the other side of the ice floor.

Soon, Kitt was only a few feet from the other end. "We're almost there."

"Finally." Cara said, relieved. Then, they heard it.

Snap.

"What was that?" Cara asked.

Suddenly, the ice shifted underneath the car. They began to slide sideways. Cara shrieked. "Kitt! What's going on?"

"The ice on this end isn't strong enough to hold my weight." Kitt felt part of his systems beginning to get submerged in the water. "I'm sinking!"

Cara pressed several buttons. "Come on. We can still make it!"

"I'm trying! There's no traction on this ice." He was using all tools available to him, but nothing was working. Soon, the water would seep into his C.P.U. The door wouldn't open. He rolled down the window. "You'll have to make a break for it."

She looked at him. "Not without you."

"Cara, don't argue with me! Do as I say. Get out now!" Kitt hated to yell at her, but he had to get her to safety.

She grimaced, then turned and crawled out of the window. She was able to find her footing on the ice and made it the last few feet to the cave floor.

She looked back at Kitt. The front half of the car was still above water. He was so close. She slid back over to him, grabbing onto his prow with her bare hands.

"No! You'll hurt yourself! Go on without me."

"No. I won't leave you!" Cara held on desperately as the car sank further. All Kitt needed was some kind of push.

"That's it!" She got up and jumped into the cold water. She swam to the back of the Trans Am.

"What are you doing?"

"Trust me." She pushed him a little. Good, she could move him, but they still needed some kind of force pulling from the other end.

They heard another snapping noise. The largest stalactite was directly above them, and it was coming loose.

"Kitt, try your grappling hook. See if you can latch onto anything!" It took Kitt twice, put he was able to grab onto a rock.

"I've got something."

"Good. Pull!" She pushed him, making sure he didn't sink any more. Soon enough Kitt was able to roll to solid ground. Cara swam behind him. The large stalactite then came crashing down, exactly where she had been moments before, barely missing her body.

She swam the last couple feet and pulled herself up on the ground, near the car's front fender, exhausted.

"I thought I told you to go on without me."

Cara panted, trying to catch her breath. "I couldn't just leave you there, could I?" She coughed. "Well, you were right. We did make it across."

But he wouldn't be discouraged from giving her a stern lecture. "Cara Angelia Knight, of all the dangerous, foolhardy things to do. If I were human right now, I'd…I'd…"

She cocked an eyebrow at him. "Yes?"

Kitt then went silent, regarding her. Cara was as stubborn and aggravating as her father. But she was also very determined and loyal like him as well. /Two very outstanding qualities in a female./ he thought to himself.

"What would you do, Kitt?"

"I believe…I would…" Frustration then set in. /I'd kiss you./ "I'd thank you for saving me." was what he ended up saying.

"Don't mention it." She laughed as well as coughed again, then shivered.

"Most of my systems are waterlogged for the moment, Cara. So I can't run a medical analysis."

"How the rest of you?"

He performed a quick diagnostic. "Everything should be in perfect order once I dry out. And speaking of getting dry…" He opened his door. "I can't have you getting sick on my account. Best to get in, quickly." Cara got inside and Kitt immediately turned on his heater. Despite his best efforts, he feared she would still get sick from the freezing water.

Cara fell back against the seat, removing some of her wet clothes, and letting the air warm her. She wrapped the blanket from the back around herself. "Are we still going ahead with this?"

Just then, more stalactites came crashing down, splashing into the catacomb behind them.

"Well, we can't very well go back the way we came." Kitt rolled forwards, slowly, keeping his scanner on full alert.

They both hoped there weren't anymore surprises up ahead.