A/N: I'm going to reference more Christmas movies! More than ever before!

Jim was kicking himself. Not literally, as his legs were bound at the ankle, but he wished he could do more than beat himself up inside.

He and Spock were tied back-to-back in the middle of the warehouse floor. All around them were boxes filled to bursting with contraband. They'd stumbled onto the smugglers' operation by accident, but these folks weren't about to chance being discovered by Starfleet.

So here they were. Spock had taken a disruptor rifle to the face before he went down, and Jim was quick to follow when every other person in the gang dog piled him. The pair sported a colorful array of bruises and scrapes. Sure, they'd put up a good fight, but what had that gotten them?

At least he was pretty sure Bones had escaped. Against his orders, the Doctor had tried to stay and fight, but at some point during the brawl McCoy had vanished. Neither of them knew where he'd gone. That was probably for the best.

The smugglers' leader, a rough customer called Bautis, was working Spock over again. Jim couldn't see what was happening no matter how he craned his neck, so he resigned himself to staring ahead. Maybe if he didn't react, Bautis would let up and come for him instead.

Spock jerked to one side. It didn't take a Vulcan to formulate the cause. Bautis was pretty loose with his club or bat or whatever it was. The thug circled around to Jim's side, swinging the wooden implement like it wasn't lightly sprinkled green.

"Still nothing outta you two?" Bautis leaned on his bat. "I don't do this for fun, gents. This is a message. You know somethin' I wanna know, and I'm not playin' around. Where's that little friend of yours?"

Jim did nothing but glare. He saw the hit coming but he couldn't move an inch to dodge it. Bautis wasn't playing around, but he wasn't swinging with everything he had. The man knew the force needed to really injure, and he hadn't crossed that threshold. Yet.

Still scowling, Jim spat at the boots in front of him. He wouldn't talk, even if he did know where Bones had gone.

Bautis scowled, and it seemed that he had finally lost his patience. Jim glowered at him. At least the guy wasn't about to lose his temper with Spock. Small mercies.

There was a shout from the main entryway. Something other than the sorry pair was drawing the gang's attention. Jim's heart fluttered back to a racing pace. If that was the rest of the search party dragging Bones in… He understood the expression 'cold sweat' as the scene played itself out in his mind's eye. He saw Bones struggling as the guards dragged him forward. He saw Bautis smacking the bat against his palm. Jim swallowed the lump in his throat and tried to come up with a plan. What kind of distraction was he, hogtied like this?

Another shout. This one… This sounded like a cry of pain. And another. Surprise. Another. Jim's eyes widened. This wasn't a victorious search party.

Part of the warehouse plunged into darkness. Bautis clutched at his bat. Any smuggler in that area was a goner. Bones must've called the ship, gotten reinforcements. Jim imagined it was Chief Freeman leading the charge. Sulu, maybe Scotty, was helping pick them off quickly.

Another section of lights blinked out. Bautis was feeling the heat now. He retreated a couple of steps and shot Jim a sideways glance. The warehouse fell silent. There were no more shouts, only a soft moan or two off in the darkness.

Jim grimaced as he was hauled a ways off the floor by his collar. He could feel Spock's weight tugging him downwards. Bautis had his bat raised over Jim's head. He was scanning the darkness, looking for all the world like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Stay back! I'm warning you…" He adjusted his grip on the bat. "One more move and I pound him. Come out with your hands up!"

Jim couldn't help holding his breath. The shadows were still for a moment. Bautis tensed, and the Jim saw it. A single outline melted from the darkness. It was eerie, even sending a chill down Jim's spine. That silhouette didn't look like it was wearing a Starfleet uniform. The arms were too bulky.

His collar seemed to be slipping. Bautis tightened his grip. They'd seen it at the same time. The light washed over the approaching figure like a yellowed waterfall. Jim spotted the two, maybe three bruises on his friend's face. There were a couple of tears in the 'borrowed' jacket, too. He could more readily pick out that set of determination in Bones' shoulders as the Doctor stopped at the edge of the light.

"Don't move, or I brain him!" Bautis sounded a little squeaky. Jim supposed he would too, if he was on the receiving end of the Doctor's patented glare. He watched Bones' eyes as they roved over Jim and Spock. They paused on every bruise, scrape, and cut before flicking back to Bautis. A cold smile played over the Doctor's lips.

"What can I do?" Bones said, raising his hands behind his head. "You have me."

Bautis lowered Jim back to the ground. He jerked the bat to one side. "Move it. To the chair. Nice and easy."

As soon as that bat was out of range, Bones sprang a trap of his own. Whipping a phaser from goodness knows where, the Doctor took out Bautis with a single shot. He stowed the weapon in his jacket before racing over to Jim.

McCoy looked frantic, but he was trying to hold it in. "Don't you worry 'bout a thing, Jim, I'll have you both out in a jiffy." He tore at the knots keeping them both in place before the main set of ropes fell away.

"Check Spock. Maybe you could use that sleight-of-hand to get us a communicator."

McCoy snorted. "Sleight-of-hand? Ain't you ever seen Die Hard? They've got enough packing tape in here to hide a shuttle behind you." He checked Spock's pulse with one hand while ripping tape out of his hair with the other. Jim got to work on the rest of the ropes. "He's barely conscious, and I'd say it's for the better since I doubt he can walk. Spock took quite a few more hits than you."

"Don't I know it." Jim growled. "Come on. Let's get out of here."

Between the two of them, they were able to carry Spock out of the warehouse. Soon, the Enterprise locked onto them and got the whole party to Sickbay. Jim let Chapel fuss over him. He was too distracted by the conversation Bones and Spock were having.

"So you have seen it! That just proves my point- you can't go wrong with the classics."

"Doctor, that is hardly an 'appropriate Christmas movie'."

"Oh, stop bein' such a stick-in-the-mud. We watched it on public broadcast. TV censors out all the real juicy stuff, anyhow."

"Your father has an… interesting taste in films."

"It was that and 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town'. We watched that every year until I was seventeen. And 'White Christmas'. Either way, I'm glad there was a roll of tape on hand, or you two would've been in even worse shape."

"…Fascinating. And how are you, Doctor?" Spock raised an eyebrow at the Doctor's bruises.

A worrisome smirk broke out on Bones' face. "Mutual, I'm sure."

Chapel thought he'd lost it when Jim skipped laughter and went straight to breathless tears.