Author's note: Geez, if all these people would just stay together I wouldn't have to jump around so much and be confusing. I wonder if I can do anything about that?

Nathan spun around and grabbed Lucas by the upper arm, pulling him to a tree. "Hold on to it, don't climb up, just hold on and try to keep a space in front of your mouth open to breath. Whatever you do, do not let go."

"But what about..."

"Don't argue!" Nathan snapped, turning to find his own tree.

Lucas sighed angrily and seized his collar before Nathan could sprint away. He pushed the Captain in front of him and quickly tied the blanket around the tree with him inside. "I'm not arguing, I'm trying to help." Lucas grumbled as he took position on the other side of the tree. "I don't have a broken shoulder."

Nathan looked at him, stunned. He was so accustom to protecting the teen, having the tables turned bewildered him. He smiled proudly as Lucas locked his arms into the blanket, "thank you, Kiddo."

The mass of snow hit moments later. It roared around them threatening to pull their grasps free. Lucas clung to the tree, keeping his face to one side. Small rocks and pieces of wood rained down on them as they held on for dear life. They could only stare into each other's eyes as the snow covered them until it blocked out the rising sun.

The crew didn't need to be told twice, they charged after Bishal. He led them through the thick trees up and away from the thundering that threatened to overcome them. They were gasping for air when the child finally stopped, looking back the way they came. Like a pure white tidal wave, the avalanche cascaded down the mountain below them, taking rocks and thick branches with it.

When it finally stopped, there was an eerie silence. "Katie, where's Probie?" Ford finally asked, causing them all to jerk around in surprise.

"I… I don't know for sure." She adjusted her glasses and started to gesture in the gloves. "Ok, got it. It's pretty low on the mountain. A bit torn up, but I think everything is working."

"Start searching from the bottom, we'll go from up here." Ford decided, "walk lightly, all the debris will be loose. Look for anything out of the ordinary. A glove, shoe, anything moving that shouldn't be."

Ben stared out at the suddenly changed landscape, "what are the chances…" he started to ask quietly.

"Enough." Ford snapped, walking away.

Leaning on Dr. Zellar for support, Kristin slowly made her way down the hallway. He chattered at her gleefully, but she turned a deaf ear towards him. After all this, she thought, they can't be gone. We survived this madness just for nature to finish the job. It's just too cruel.

Sam was leading them silently, keeping a wary eye out for any trouble. When Liz came running down the hallway out of breath, he stopped the procession. "Sir! A few of the staff were looking outside after that explosion. There are people coming up the path!"

Zellar nodded, "very well, I believe our time here is finished."

"But sir!" Sam argued, "we are so close, you're just going to abandon everything?"

"Liz, please alert everyone to evacuate, even the test subjects. The avalanche may have slowed them, but we cannot take the chance." Zellar announced calmly. She speed back down the hallway breathlessly. "Sam, if you would be so good as to escort us?"

"No," he responded coldly, planting his feet and crossing his arms. "You promised us power. You said the world would be at peace and we would bring it about. Now," Sam snarled as he looked at Kristin. "You are blinded by your infatuation for this woman. She killed Wendell, your second in command. She is destroying what we are trying to create. You don't need her. Get rid of her, fight the invaders and make your dream come true."

Kristin stepped backwards away from the threatening words, but was held in Zellar's tight grip. There was nowhere for her to run. "Rubin..." She murmured, pressing into him. "The decision is yours."

He sighed deeply, and pulled the gun from his waistband, holding it loosely in his hand. "And so it is."

"Can you move?" Lucas asked when sound of crashing finally stopped around them.

Nathan tried to pull back from the tree, "not much." He wrestled his good arm free from the blanket and started to push the snow away from their faces, and creating a hole above them. "At least we can breathe and see now."

"And the snow feels pretty good on all these bruises." Lucas added drolly. He started to shift his weight, he was able to move enough to back away from the tree a few inches, but it was too loose and soft to climb out of. He leaned back into it, and sighed in annoyance.

Nathan watched the flicker of pain followed by a scowl. "You keep making that face. I saw it before we jumped too. You only do that when you don't want to admit something hurts. What is it?"

"What? Oh… I guess I don't even I notice it anymore." He admitted with a shrug. "Most of the time anyhow."

"What is it?"

Lucas rolled his eyes, "it's a long story, but basically, my brain is pissed at me so it's electrocuting me."

"Ok, you'll have to explain that after we get out." Nathan replied with a raised eyebrow, but not pushing the issue.

"Yeah, about that." Lucas looked straight up, "I can't get any leverage. How can something be so soft that I can't climb on it but too hard to push through? That's gotta be breaking some law of physics. I hate snow," He grumbled.

Nathan lowered himself as far as he could against the tree. "Stand on my knee, then my shoulders. I'll boost you up into the tree."

"No, it'll hurt you too much."

"So will freezing to death." Nathan said softly.

Lucas stared at him, and nodded. "If it's too much, I'll stop."

"Just go fast, and if you think the snow will hold you, jump. You can dig me out."

He propped himself against the tree, then put one foot on Nathan's knee. Pushing himself up, Lucas was able to reach a low branch. After he transferred his weight onto that, he felt Nathan move his feet to his shoulders. There was hiss of pain, and Lucas scrambled the rest of the way up as quickly as he could. He heard a whine behind him, and twisted around in the tree expecting to see an animal.

"Holy shit!" He nearly let go, endangering himself and Nathan below him.

"What is it?"

Lucas tried to make sense of what he was looking at, then simply waved at it. He pushed away from the tree, landing several feet away. "Either Nepal has a lot higher tech than I gave them credit for, or we're being saved by a Transformer."

Katie screamed suddenly, and stopped in her tracks. Ben, who was directing her from behind again, stumbled into her. "What is it? Did you find their bo…" he stopped himself from finishing the word when he saw her triumphant grin.

"No, it's Lucas." She laughed as she looked through the glasses. "He just popped up out of the snow, and … and he waving, he's alive."

"Is he alone?" Commander Ford asked after jogging back to them. The rest of the crew stopped searching to watch and listen.

Katie shook her head, "I don't think so, he's looking down into a pile of snow and talking to someone."

"I see Probie!" Miguel called, shielding his eyes to look down the mountain. "Not far from here."

They raced as one to the area he pointed. As they got closer, it was easy to see Lucas waving at them. Tim and Ben reached him first, both picking him up in a hug at the same time. Lucas gasped, "wait, ow, geez guys, chill."

They set him down, laughing. "We thought you were dead." Ben said shaking his head.

"I wish people would stop saying that." Lucas muttered, rolling his eyes.

Ford took the time to pat him on the back. "Good to see you're ok, Lucas. Where's the Captain?"

A voice called from where Katie saw Lucas emerge. "Oh you know me, I'm just hanging out, chilling."

There was more laughter, and the crew, now again complete with their young genius, started digging him out. "Watch his shoulder, it's pretty messed up. Oh, and don't freak about his face, I think it's mostly superficial wounds. Do you have any survival gear in your packs? We need to get him warmed up."

Miguel smirked, "when did you get so grown up? There wasn't one sarcastic comment in any of that."

"He's right," Katie raised an eyebrow.

Lucas shrugged, "I was thrown out of a window down a cliff, I'm pretty sure that aged me pretty fast." He grinned, "do I have any grey hairs?"

Working together they had Nathan free in a matter of minutes. Chief Crocker and Ford worked together to push his shoulder back into joint, while Tim tried to distract Lucas by introducing him to Bishal. After the horrible crunch that signaled completion sounded, they gave both Nathan and Lucas warm coats.

Although they didn't have extra shoes, Ben pulled thick wool socks out. "They aren't self-heating, but it'll help."

Katie started to open a first aid pack out and administer to their wounds. "That can wait, we need to find Kristin." Nathan pushed away, and looked up to the building they were held in.