Disclaimer, Pairing, Rating & Spoilers: See Chap. 1

A/N: Again fair warning about the predictability of this...but I hope you enjoy none-the-less! ;)


"Well," said Grace brightly once the group was assembled around the flickering heat of their hastily constructed fire, their faces suffused with softly gleaming reflected light. "At least it's not raining."

At her side, Boyd groaned disapprovingly and shook his head, shifting uncomfortably atop the bitter chill of the soil which had begun to seep into his bones. "Right, Grace. All we need are a few bottles of wine and our Friday night is complete."

She tutted good-naturedly and nudged his arm with her shoulder. "It's called looking on the bright side."

"Well, don't. There is no bloody bright side."

"We've got a tent, haven't we?" Eve piped up from across the breadth of the fire, her dark eyes glimmering in the dusky orange glow, her arms wrapped tightly about her folded knees. "Quite a good one, if I do say so myself."

Boyd exhaled forcefully. "I think that's a contradiction in terms, Eve."

"What?"

"'Good tent'. They're the most pointless fucking things on the planet."

Grace chuckled softly. "Don't tell us you were never a Boy Scout, then?"

He gave her a warning sideways glare. "Are you taking the piss?"

"Building fires, climbing trees, all that male bonding stuff…."

He grinned roguishly, his expressive eyes twinkling in the semi-darkness. "I was more interested in the other, Grace."

The psychologist rolled her eyes and took a breath to reply but was interrupted by Spencer from his position at Eve's side, his wide smile one of indulgent reminiscence. "Too damn right," the younger man said rakishly. "I used to wonder why all those kids in the Scouts didn't have better things to be doing with their time."

"Ah, but you're grateful I was a Girl Guide now, aren't you?" Eve replied teasingly. "Otherwise you'd be facing the prospect of hypothermia in about six hours' time."

The DI gestured dismissively, his wolfish grin broadening. "Apples and oranges, Eve. I never had a problem with the Girl Guides."

"No, but I bet some of them had a problem with you."

The group laughed heartily, their joviality a marked contrast to the ominous stillness of the obsidian woods and it was several moments before they gradually sobered once more, the crackling of the fire as it consumed the dry wood within its ravenous belly the only sound beyond the chirp of insects, the occasional call of a prowling animal.

"So, I don't suppose you've got any blankets secreted away in your kit as well, Eve, do you?" Grace asked eventually, her tone edged with futile hope though her smile was one of grim, pre-emptive acceptance.

The scientist's expression was rueful. "Sorry."

"Don't be. We'd be in a lot more trouble if it wasn't for the tarpaulin, at any rate."

"We would," she agreed carefully. "But it still might not be enough."

Boyd narrowed his eyes, watching the contortion as it danced briefly across the younger woman's lithe features, the soft sigh emanating from her lips. "Eve?" he prompted gruffly, his voice dropping unbidden to a lower, huskier register.

Eve sighed once more before replying, one hand reaching to her neck to ease the acute tension pervading her muscles, painfully discomfited by the notion she felt compelled to bring forth. "The thing is," she enunciated slowly, "human physiology is very sensitive to temperature. Lose even a couple of degrees from your core and you're talking a massively increased risk of hypothermic shock."

"Which I'm assuming can be fatal?" Grace asked with an involuntary shiver, at once grateful for the warmth radiating from the solid body at her side, the reassurance of his thigh pressed flush against hers.

"In less time than you'd imagine," said Eve flatly. "Even healthy young individuals can die within a matter of hours…."

"Ah. So being the wrong side of sixty is most definitely a problem, then."

The scientist was unable to prevent a smile at the older woman's light-hearted tone, the brief sparkle of playfulness filtering through the expanse of her sapphire eyes. "Only in this particular case," Eve responded momentarily, feeling herself begin to temper once more as the severity of their situation reasserted itself. "We need to take the appropriate steps to reduce our overall risk."

Grace grimaced as she absorbed the hesitant embarrassment underwriting the other woman's tone. "Why do I have an awful feeling I know what you're about to say?"

Eve released a constricted breath and leant forward earnestly. "I'm not for a minute suggesting this is realistic in our particular scenario…but you've all seen the disaster films where people conserve body heat by…."

"Oh, for Christ's sake," Boyd interrupted irritably, consternation rippling hotly from his body in a wave. "It's not like we're in the middle of the bloody Arctic."

"No, but as I said; we're all of us hugely sensitive to even the most seemingly insignificant drop in temperature."

"Let me just get this straight," Spencer spoke up, disbelief colouring every word as each fell from his lips. "You're talking about the four of us….stripping naked and…."

Eve raised a swift palm to halt his advance. "It doesn't necessarily have to be naked. I mean, that's the ideal, the most efficient way for our bodies to regulate their temperature and conserve warmth, but even just some skin-to-skin contact would in all likelihood be beneficial."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, whatever we're each comfortable with, really. We take off as many layers as we feel able to and we use the clothing as blankets to hold in as much of our combined radiated heat as we can." She shrugged her slim shoulders. "It's basic thermodynamics, I'm afraid…and it may actually make all the difference to how well we fare tonight."

The group fell silent for a long moment as each absorbed the scientist's words and the implications behind them before Boyd spoke again, the rugged planes of his face half bathed in inky shadows. "So, what you're saying," he began determinedly, his jaw set in a rigid line, "is that we need to look at this from an entirely pragmatic perspective. Forget about the social constructs and…."

"Exactly. We can't really afford the luxury of embarrassment…."

"Or mortification," Grace added pointedly, closing her eyes briefly before opening them to meet Eve's kindly sympathetic gaze.

"I know it's weird…," she replied gently.

"It's way past weird," Spence intoned vehemently, his handsome features drawing into a fierce scowl. "It's the bloody Twilight Zone."

The scientist sighed. "If there was any other way, Spence…."

"There is: packing up now and making a run for it."

"Don't even think about it." Boyd's voice was laced with a dogged warning. "I don't want to have to tell your mother you died as a direct result of being an arrogant arsehole."

The DI raised his eyebrows in challenge. "That's a bit OTT, boss, even for you."

"It'd be the truth. Do you really think Eve would have recommended this if…?"

"The point is," Grace broke in gently to dampen the rising antagonism, "that we're not even going to go there because we're all staying put; alright?"

"The risks of doing anything else are astronomical," Eve added firmly with a sigh before Spencer could make a comeback. "I don't like this any more than the rest of you. But biology is biology, at the end of the day. We're simply not well adapted to cope with extremes in temperature."

"So it's literally the case that if we don't do this we freeze to death?" Spence enquired resignedly.

"It's a distinct possibility; yes."

"Do I need to repeat myself about being an arrogant arsehole?" Boyd demanded dryly.

Spencer coolly held his boss' gaze. "No."

"Good. So we're all agreed, then."

The younger man inclined his head. "If we are….we need to at least establish some ground rules."

"Such as?" Eve asked, frowning.

"Such as the fact that, hypothermia or not, there is absolutely no way I'm sleeping naked next to Boyd."

Grace chuckled throatily though she raised a palm, ignoring the subtle glare she could feel being directed towards her from the man in question. "I don't think any of us will actually be naked, Spence."

"Well, in any state of undress, then." Spence shrugged his broad shoulders unapologetically towards the older man across the expanse of the fire. "No offence."

Boyd gave a snort of contempt though his nebulous eyes were twinkling. "You know, Spence, the feeling is entirely mutual on that score."

The group laughed briefly, each grateful for the sudden and dramatic thaw in the atmosphere, before Eve spoke again, her tone one of wicked amusement as she suggested, "How about boy-girl-boy-girl, then?"

Spencer grinned widely. "As long as I get to be the boy in that girl sandwich, Eve, I'll be as happy as Larry."

Boyd laughed loudly in riposte, feeling Grace's corresponding mirth in the quivering of her shoulders. "I could just pull rank…."

"Rank's irrelevant," the younger man shot back smugly. "You snooze, you lose, buddy."

Eve gave a husky chuckle, watching in amusement as Grace's forehead dropped to her knees in barely contained hilarity, Boyd's deep laughter at her side echoing brazenly about the watchful trees. "And I don't suppose Grace or I get a say in any of this, do we?" she asked in weary resignation

"Nah," Spence replied mischievously, reclining back against his palms. "We're reverting to the laws of the wild where the men dominate and the women meekly obey."

"Hm." The scientist narrowed her eyes in mock irritation. "Interesting how this particular meek woman was the one who built both the tent and the fire."

Boyd gestured dismissively. "Though obviously we were then acting in a supervisory role."

"Oh, obviously."

The team laughed lightly before Grace spoke once more, trying and failing to supress a shiver as a blast of icy air rippled across the bare branches of the trees and engulfed the huddled figures seated about the slowly dwindling fire. "Well, far be it from me to break up this unconventional party," she began wryly, a crooked smile playing across the fullness of her lips, "but it's getting colder by the minute out here…."

"It's true," Eve replied, her sombre and business-like tone suddenly resurfacing. "All joking aside, we should probably get inside the tent before the fire dies completely."

Spencer grinned boyishly and rose slowly to his feet. "You see, Boyd?" he said triumphantly, as he brushed the remnants of soil from his clothes. "Neither of them can wait to get between the sheets with me."

"It's called 'desperation'," the older man countered swiftly. "I think they'd get into bed with the Elephant Man right about now if they thought he could stop them from freezing to death."

"What's all this 'they'?" Grace demanded shrewdly, sharing a look of solidarity with Eve. "Don't tell me you're taking this me-Tarzan-you-Jane thing seriously?"

"Why not? You don't want to die from exposure, do you?"

"Not particularly."

"Well, there you go, then. Let's all go and get our kit off."

The psychologist laughed despite herself and accepted Boyd's proffered hand, allowing him to haul her roughly to her feet and willing away the palpable increase in her heart rate as her palm fell instinctively against his chest, the result of a surge in forward momentum. She inhaled sharply, the cold air assaulting her lungs as their eyes locked briefly before she forced herself to pull away and head unenthusiastically towards the ramshackle structure that was to represent their night time abode.

TBC