Title: Finding the Sun

Author: SaturnRider2014

Rating: K

Summary: Spock and McCoy find a strange couple after beaming down to investigate a distress signal. No slash.

A/N: This was written as an English assignment after reading the short story Searching for Summer by Joan Aiken. I was handed a prediction of the ending of the story and told to write a creative short story about the prediction. The prediction itself was terrible, but my English teacher jokingly said that I should write a Star Trek inspired story which inspired me to write this, so I took one part from my prediction "…in the middle of the night they (Tom and Lily) hear this strange noise…" and made it into this. Enjoy. R&R.

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek or characters or setting from the story Searching for Summer.

Tom and Lily looked between each of other at the flare of light and the odd, mechanical noise that accompanied the light. Tom stood first from his place on the couch next to Lily as they read a book in the rented room in the abandoned building marked with a precariously hung sign, "Inn Carrillo."

Tom went slowly to the window peering out into the darkness curiously in the direction of the light and then ducked down and gestured to Lily with a hiss, "There's someone out there!"

The young woman slipped under his arm, terrified by the fear in her protector's voice and content to be held and comforted under his arm. She tucked a piece of brown hair out of her face and rose just a little from her crouch to look outside and then gasped and shrunk back down lower as the two shadows milling about just outside the building turned to look up at the window. There was a voice that came through the broken glass of the window, "Did you see something Doctor?" "No Spock. I didn't see anything it's impossible to see down here. There's no sun, no moonlight, nothing to see by."

The old southern doctor pointed at a lamp, "I'm going to see if I can get that to light maybe cast some light over these streets." The pointed ear Vulcan blinked at the lamp, "Why would you need to light that?" "Will you just calm down and let me shed some light on this place? I can't see a d- thing."

The doctor went over to the lamp, and raised his fingers and touched the lamp slightly and drew his fingers back covered in a slick liquid and sniffed it. The Vulcan went to the doctor's side and asked, "What is it?" McCoy took out his phaser with a smirk and wiped the fuel away onto his black pants, "A kind of primitive fuel."

McCoy put the phaser on a low stun and fired at the lamp, catching the fuel and illuminating the whole street, "That's better." Spock reluctantly nodded and then turned his attention to the screen of his tricorder and stated, "The inference Enterprise was receiving from the dense cloud cover seems to have misinterpreted where the people on this planet were." "What do you mean?"

"I am only reading two life signs besides our own in this town. The scanner on my tricorder is picking up many more farther away, but I am unable to pinpoint the exact location because of the scanner's limited range."

McCoy frowned, "Can you tell which direction that signal Uhura was picking up came from?" Spock waved the tricorder several times and then pointed directly ahead at the Inn Carrillo, "It appears to be coming from that building." "An Inn?" "It seems to be from pre-war times. I would hypothesize it was not a building for temporary residence before the bombs were dropped, but actually a military or government building."

The doctor sighed heavily and flicked on his flashlight before proceeding into the building, "This place doesn't exactly look friendly." "This is a culture built after atomic fallout. This is most likely as friendly as it gets, Doctor." Spock followed after him after flicking on his own flashlight and then noted nonchalantly, "And Doctor?" The Georgian turned a sarcastic grin on his face, "Yes, Mr. Spock?" "I would encourage caution as there is a 93.273% chance the two life signs I detected are in this building."

McCoy turned back to the stairs with a frown, "Now you tell me." "What was that Doctor?" "Oh don't pretend those pointy Vulcan ears of yours didn't catch that!" "I was actually referring to the shadow that passed across the beam of your flash light rather quickly before disappearing into the darkness. It appeared to be a living creature."

The Doctor frowned and then grunted, "Sorry." "It is illogical to apologize as there is no way you could have seen it as you were looking at me." "I meant my comment." "You have said it before and you will say it again. I have associated with the term most humans call, teasing. It is one of the ways you express not only friendship, but defend yourself when you are tense or fearful." "I'm not afraid!" "Your heart and breathing rate are increased, there is irrationality to your actions, and your stance is extremely tensed. You are frightened, Dr. McCoy."

Tom slowly moved to the closet as the buildings' new guests came up the stairs - closer to finding them - and guided Lily into the dark crammed space and got in slowly after her and was gently closing the closet door when it creaked and groaned dangerously loud and in the air that was only filled with sound of the two men bickering at each other the noise stopped. Tom froze after wrapping his body around Lily protecting her and listened as the deeper voice that had a more precise English to it asked the other voice a voice with a slight drawl to it, "Did you hear that noise, Doctor?"

The silence and then slowly the Doctor nodded and looked at Tom and Lily's door, "It came from over there." Spock produced his tricorder, "The life signs are coming from that general direction."

McCoy crept into the room, but Spock quickly proceeded before him silently reminding the Doctor that as the First Officer and a higher ranked officer it was his duty to go first. The Vulcan waved his flash light across the room and when he saw no life in the general living space he directed it at the closet and asked with no emotion to his voice that could imply hostility or kindness, "If there are beings of sentient life behind that door I would request you exit and make yourself openly seen."

At first neither Tom nor Lily moved, but ever so slowly the young man pushed open the door and whispered with a shaking to his voice, "Don't hurt her." He stood first and held her cowering behind his back as he faced the two blue shirted figures. One with deep contours to his aged face and piercing blue eyes said quietly as not to frighten, "We're not here to hurt you." The Vulcan nodded and said, "We received a distress signal coming from this location. We were merely coming to look into it." Lily peeked over Tom's shoulder and whispered, "Who are you?"

The taller black haired man drew his hands behind his back, "I am Spock of Vulcan, First Officer and Commanding Science Officer aboard the USS Enterprise." McCoy smiled slightly, "And I'm Dr. Leonard McCoy, Commanding Medical Officer aboard the USS Enterprise." Tom bowed his head and rose a six fingered hand at the two men in greeting, "My given name is Tomyin, but many call me Tom." He gestured at the woman behind him, "This is my wife Zalillian, people call her Lily." McCoy nodded at each and asked, "Do you need any medical attention. I'm a very capable physician." "Are you aliens?"

Spock nodded and said, "I am a species called a Vulcan. Dr. McCoy is a Human or Terran." "You're both very strange men." McCoy chuckled and then asked, "Why are you the only people in town?" "Everyone's left…after we found the light and it was discovered by another…a kind of storm of movement encroached on the place where the light never goes away."

Spock raised a typical brow in question, "Is that a major part of your culture?" "What? Chasing sunlight?" "Yes." "Of course! People across the world flock to places that get sun for 20 minutes, but a place that got sun every hour of the day? It's unheard of!" "I would be very interested to continue this conversation about your culture post-fallout somewhere more safe and secure."

McCoy nodded and then whispered looking up from his medical tricorder, "And if your biology is close enough to species I've studied before I'd guess, that you Miss Lily are pregnant." Spock looked over at the human and then nodded as if it was decided in his mind, "If you wish I would be very open to recommending that you and your wife be kept aboard Enterprise." Tom blinked, "Would you need some kind of payment?" "No. It is only a matter of if you wish to go or not." "Where would we go?" McCoy smiled, "I can think of a pretty few federation colonies that would be interested in a couple of a new race."

Lily tucked herself under Tom's arm holding her stomach possessively, "Would it be safe for our child?" McCoy nodded, "The colony on Residua IV is a very diverse colony. I've been there myself. It's well protected and a very bright, warm planet. A good place to raise a family." "Bright?" She asked with a big grin settling on her features, "Like the sun?" "Their sun is up for a long while and it's just as pretty a planet when it sets and the stars come out."

Lily and Tom smiled at each and then nodded, "We'd like to go."

Spock nodded with his usual emotionless expression and produced his communicator, "Four to beam up, Mr. Scott." And in that same flash of light and humming sound the couple disappeared and were taken to Residua IV to live out their happy lives as farmers with a handful of kids milling about their little plot of land that had sun all year round.