Summary: When a mission goes horribly wrong, Jim and Spock are stranded on Delta Vega with little supplies and even less hope. But Spock is freezing and Jim won't sit back and do nothing. Cue the exchange of body heat and so much more. Spirk.
Rated: T
Probably not 100% true to canon, I'm sorry if that bugs any canon nazis out there.
"C-Captain, I must implore you to-"
"Down, Spock!"
It was the third time Jim had to tell his Commanding officer the same words. He tried to be patient, knowing that Spock only wanted to help, but he was doing the opposite of helping. Jim was trying to keep them both alive and safe, and Spock was hindering the attempt.
"B-but-"
"Spock, you can't even speak without shuddering. It is illogical for you to continue standing when we both know you can't handle these temperatures. Do the logical thing and get under the blanket."
Spock seemed to contemplate Jim's words for a few seconds before he slid to the ground. He grasped at the thick wool blanket laying at his knees and pulled it over him, slumping into a ball on the floor. For all his arguments, these actions took a total of about three seconds to complete. Which was not a very good sign.
Jim poked at the fire, trying to keep it going as long as possible. The cave they had taken refuge in was very big and most of the heat seemed to be pulled out of the tiny entrance and back into the blizzard. He wanted to shift Spock over to the direction in which the heat was traveling, but that would only put him closer to the entrance. He was better off staying put.
It was actually a very simple mission gone horribly wrong. Starfleet received a signal from the Starfleet outpost on Delta Vega and the Enterprise was ordered to retrieve the individual. Jim went because he knew the location of the outpost, whereas most of his crew had no idea. Spock joined him because he felt it was his duty to ensure his Captain's safety. There should have been no complications, and the weather on Delta Vega was fairly tame. They were assured that it would stay that way.
Naturally, they had been traveling through the snow for thirty minutes when a wretched storm hit. Within seconds the two men were unable to see even a foot in front of them. They decided to continue on, seeing as they both had supplies in case anything went wrong and they needed to camp out.
But they belonged to the Enterprise, so of course everything that could have gone wrong did. One of the vicious native mammals sprung up from the ground, simultaneously hurling Spock about thirty feet away, tossing his pack off his back. In their hurry to get to safety they left it behind. When they thought they were at a safe distance from the animal it leaped forward, landed on the ice that Jim was standing on, and cracked it open. Jim fell backwards, heading for the freezing water, but Spock managed to reach him in time to grab his hand and pull him up. He watched for a split second as his pack sunk to the bottom of the black water and then they were running again.
They tried to contact the ship to beam them back up, but the connection was lost. Naturally.
They were lucky to find this cave, even luckier to find that it had recently been inhabited. Whoever was here left a wool blanket, pillow, and logs behind. Jim had the sneaking suspicion that this was the very same cave he had met Spock Prime in, only from the opposite entrance. The cave definitely had another exit, but it would do them no good. With no supplies and a freezing Vulcan, going out there would be suicide.
"Spock," Jim called out. The man hadn't moved in a few minutes and Jim couldn't figure out if he was asleep or frozen. He crawled over to the man and peered over his hunched shoulder. Spock's eyes were wide open, alert, but his lips were shaking uncontrollably and his mouth was covered with the blanket.
"Damnit!" He could hear the storm getting louder and felt the gentle gusts of frigid wind as it swept through their hideout. He knew Spock wouldn't last much longer if he didn't intervene.
He grabbed the edge of the blanket, pulled it out from under Spock's frame, and slid in next to him.
"C-Cap-"
"Hush, save your energy." Jim wrapped his arms around Spock's shoulders and turned him around. Without argument, Spock buried him face in Jim's chest, wrapped their legs together, and shuddered. Jim rubbed his hand quickly against the Vulcan's back to heat the skin up, but it didn't seem to be doing much good.
Minutes passed. The storm grew louder and angrier, whipping through the cave to finish what it had started. Jim was beginning to think that Mother Nature had it out for them.
Spock was shaking, his body jerking forward every few seconds, little gasps emitted once in a while. Tiny ice crystals clung to his eyelashes. And Jim pushed him back quickly and stood up.
"Jim, d-do not g-go." Spock looked so small, so vulnerable. He had never been particularly afraid of death, but this was not death. This was slow, agonizing, painful torture, and he was not ashamed to admit that it scared him, Vulcan upbringing be damned.
Wordlessly, Jim pulled his clothes off quickly, placing them in a pile in front of the entrance. It was so small that the clothes blocked most of the entrance. Spock stared with wide eyes at the naked man in front of him, who seemed more concerned about blocking the entrance than anything else. Jim then came to kneel in front of Spock and reached for the hem of his shirt.
"We need to get these off you immediately. May I?" Spock nodded, a tiny jerk of his head, and suddenly his shirt was off and tossed into the pile. Jim helped him with the rest of his clothes, then piled them up strategically. The entrance was completely blocked and the heat from the fire started to float over to Spock. He was balled up under the blanket again, more cold than before.
"Move over," Jim whispered, nudging at Spock's knee. The older man lifted the blanket slowly, eyebrows pulled together, and Jim pulled it over himself and pulled Spock against his body once more.
The heat was sensational. Spock could feel it rolling off Jim's body in waves, caressing his ice cold skin and warming it slowly. He felt strong arms wrap around his waist and pull him closer, and he was momentarily shocked to feel a certain part of Jim's anatomy laying soft against his thigh. But he only had time to press his face to the crook of Jim's neck and shiver as his warm hands stroked along the length of his back. Their legs were wrapped up in each other again, their feet swallowed by the thick blanket.
A few minutes in, Spock's breathing started to slow down and his muscles relaxed. Twenty minutes in, he lay slack in Jim's arms, breath even and eyes closed.
Jim traced his hand along Spock's sides and relief washed over him as he felt the strong, steady beat of Spock's heart.
"Thank you, Captain." Spock muttered against Jim's neck. His lips brushed against the warm skin and now it was Jim's turn to shudder.
"Spock, please, you're laying naked in my arms. Call me Jim." The absurdity of it all had Jim chuckling and, to his delight, Spock's body shook slightly in the way Jim had come to know as the closest thing Spock would ever do to laughing.
Jim had dreamed for months now about having Spock in his arms, their naked skin pressed together, his fingers tracing over Spock's heart. He never thought it'd be like this.
It wasn't the first time they had done something remotely intimate. After one of their missions months ago, Spock had a rare moment of human irrationality and had pulled Jim aside, behind a wall, and kissed him. No one saw; everyone was too focused on helping those who had been harmed during the mission. Jim was reminded of that kiss now, of the look in Spock's eyes when he pulled away. It was the most human he had ever seen the man.
But that was months ago, and Spock never brought the kiss up. It appeared to Jim as if it was a spur of the moment thing, nothing more. But it meant so much more to Jim.
"It was more for myself as well, Jim." The young man stiffened in Spock's arms and mentally slapped himself. How could he forget that Spock would hear him? Especially with so much skin touching! "I did not think we wished for the same thing; as such, I let it go. I did not wish to make you uncomfortable or to ruin our recently established friendship."
Jim listened to the hushed words of his First Officer, overwhelmed with joy. He looked on that kiss now with new eyes, knowing it meant something to both of them.
"Spock...Can I-" He was cut off by soft lips capturing his own, moving slowly as Spock pushed Jim closer to his body. Jim gasped and reached for Spock's hands, twining their fingering together before pressing their fingers together slowly, just as intimate and passionate as their lips. Spock moaned softly, pulling at Jim's hair. Their limps only got more tangled as they continued, the storm and lack of heat forgotten as the fire died out and they rolled around in passion.
Hours later, Jim left Spock's sleeping form to relight the fire and place their clothing around it. Some twenty minutes later he woke Spock. They dressed in silence, bundling up in their thick coats and leaving the cave behind. They wanted to take the blanket with them, as it held so many memories now, memories that they would relive with their minds and bodies, but they had to leave it. Someone else would need it someday.
They walked out into the open air as tiny flakes of snow glided by them slowly. Now that the storm had calmed down, they could easily see the outpost from where they stood. Their eyes connected, both lit with happiness, and Jim grabbed Spock's hand tight before they set out to complete their mission.
OOO
Two months later, Jim finally had a chance to discuss the mission with Spock Prime. After filling him in, skimming over the more personal details, Jim made an observation:
"So...You're telling me that you had five blankets on you, but you only left one?"
"Indeed." Spock Prime turned away with the tiniest quirk of a smile and Jim shook his head. He always knew the Vulcan was a sneaky bastard.
Wewt, that was longer than I intended it to be! Funny story; my brother is sick so we have to keep the heat on for him. It's about 80 degrees in my house right now and I'm sitting by a heater. I think I wrote this because a part of me desperately wishes to stick my head in the freezer right now. Anywho, PLEASE REVIEW! *puppy eyes* Pretty please?