"Shit!"

Capa woke with a start and drew in a gasping breath. He shot up in his bunk, a cold sweat pervading his body. Breathing heavily, he ran a hand over his sweaty face and closed his eyes tightly.

He wasn't aware of what had caused him to jump out of his seemingly restful sleep; he couldn't remember having just had the dream again, but, he could have been mistaken. He only remembered hearing a shrill scream fill his head moments before he darted awake.

Blinking hard, Capa threw his blankets off and bit his tongue between his lips. He rubbed his forehead several times, getting the feeling that he was forgetting something that was acutely important; he heaved a large sigh and clicked his tongue against the back of his upper teeth.

He needed to do something, to be somewhere, he knew it; he just couldn't seem to think of what or where. Something had happened… He'd done something wrong and needed to right it.

His head snapped up like it was on a spring. A wave of realization washed over him and his body became cold instantaneously; he convulsed as a shiver ran down his spine.

Standing up, he rubbed his eyes once more and walked out of the open door of his quarters.

How could he be so rude and insensitive towards Coty? She clearly hadn't been feeling well and needed some time to herself; plus, she'd always been impatient and had never been one to just sit around not doing anything. Naturally she would want to get off her ass and do something to help get her mind off not feeling well, screw what Searle had demanded.

Capa looked up and down the hallway; it was quiet, still. Like it usually was. He wasn't sure what time it was and he wasn't motivated enough to go back into his room to look at his watch. Who really knew what time it was anyway? Capa'd always wondered why anyone would want to calculate something as trivial as time.

He stepped toward Cassie and Coty's room, peeked his head around the corner to see if either were in there. He saw Cassie in her bed but no Coty. He looked around the hall again, across the way to Cory's room; he could just make out her slim, sleeping form through the frosted glass. His curiosity spiked, he went back into his room and grabbed his watch.

12:34 AM.

A little pang inside Capa's gut told him something wasn't quite right; he ignored the feeling and sat back on his bed. After a moment's contemplation, he stood back up, walked out of his room, and checked the other rooms; everyone was asleep except Searle, who was missing from his room.

Capa walked straight to the Observation deck, using long, quick strides. His breathing had become rapid again; he didn't know why exactly.

Searle was sitting on the small couch staring out at the fiery sun, per usual. He didn't even flinch when Capa burst in the room.

"Searle," he addressed him harshly. He took a breath before continuing, to calm his nerves; he became his introverted self again. "Sorry, but um… have you seen Coty?"

Searle turned to face him. "No," he replied, turned to face the window again. "Mace put her to bed a few hours ago."

"I know," Capa said, practically cutting his fellow doctor off mid-sentence. Searle turned back in surprise. "But she got back up after that; have you seen her since th—…"

Capa stopped suddenly; his eyes grew large. Searle looked at him quizzically, expecting him to continue.

"Robert?" he questioned, standing. "What's wrong?" His body tensed when the younger man didn't answer him; he continued to stare ahead, his mouth frozen. "Capa. What is it? Where is Coty?"

"She said she was going to clean the food locker…"

"All right, well; then that's where she is," Searle replied, visibly more at ease, though one could tell he wasn't quite happy with her decision by the way he furrowed his brows. He started to turn back towards the window.

"She said that an hour and a half ago," Capa snapped. Searle faced him again. The men exchanged worried glances; after an instant, they bolted from the room, practically tripping over their feet to get out the door.

"Icarus!" Searle shouted to the air. "Icarus, get everyone out of bed; do whatever you have to: activate the alarm system."

Yes, Dr. Searle. What should I tell them the emergency is?

"Coty," Capa interrupted; the doctors were sprinting toward the galley. "Tell them to search the entire ship; check everywhere!"

Yes, Capa.

The hallways became engulfed in red flashing lights, a loud, resonating buzz filling the once quiet emptiness. They could already hear the others sprinting from their beds; Icarus' voice echoed through the corridors, relaying the emergency information.

They whipped around corners, narrowly missing equipment and tables. Capa reached the door first and his heart sank: it was shut, locked.

Screaming her name and pounding on the door, neither of them could see any trace of her through the small glass window. She didn't respond.

Searle frantically jiggled the handle: no luck. The door was locked from the inside too, and the latch must have been thrown. They silently cursed the designers of the ship for making a freezer with locks on both sides of the door. Cursing his slow thinking, Capa finally realized to ask Icarus for a little more constructive help.

"Icarus; requesting immediate location data for Sergeant Vasser. Repeat: immediate location data for Sergeant Vasser."

Sergeant Vasser's current location: galley freezer.

"Condition?" Searle questioned frantically as he looked around, helpless.

Current condition: unconscious. Vitals show significant blood loss and a severe drop in heart rate.

Capa started to panic again. Searle, on the other hand, regained control and when he spoke his voice was calm.

"All right. We gotta get this door open as quickly as possible. Capa, get me the emergency lock break in the—"

"On it."

Capa rushed to the other side of the kitchen, located the small box against the wall, and jammed his elbow through the glass. He grabbed the small silver master break. Dashing back over to the galley, he attached the box to the door as Searle stepped back, let him punch in the code. There was a loud popping noise and a metallic clang. Then Searle and Capa feverishly clawed at the door and swung it open. Searle asked Icarus to put him in contact with Harvey; told him to ready the medical bay immediately.

The latch had caught the handle of the pick in her shoulder when it detached from the door and snapped it off; now there was just a jagged piece of metal barely protruding through the rough hole in her skin. Her face and arms were the slightest shade of blue and the sweat on her forehead had crystallized into ice; her pale lips set in a thin line. Her shirt stuck to the large pool of blood that had formed beneath her and her hair was frozen and matted together. A large gash cut across her head but was now frozen over. As quickly as they could without causing any further damage to her arm, Capa and Searle carried her off to Medical.

They quickly heaved her up on the cot; Harvey's eyes roamed over her in disgusted astonishment briefly before quickening his pace in gathering the needed supplies. Blood covered her chest and portions of her face, frozen trickles running down her arm. Her hand hung limply over the side of the foam.

"Searle: check in. Have you found Coty?" Mace's voice came to them over the comm system; he was panting.

"Searle checking in; we have located Coty. Currently treating her in Medical"— after a moment's hesitation— "Doesn't look good, Mace."

"Christ. Should we—"

"No; she wouldn't want any of you to see her like this. You know how she is."

"Yeah. Yeah, OK. If you're sure. Let us know if anything changes."

"Will do."

Capa stood helplessly near the door, eyes blankly fixed on her face; Harvey and Searle rushed around the room, going through cabinets, locating bottles of pain killers, stitching equipment, strips of bandages, forceps.

She was so still.

"I need blankets, thermals, hot water, heat packets, anything that will provide her with some warmth!" Searle suddenly yelled. Capa forced his eyes away from her and numbly went to fetch the things he asked for.

When he returned, Searle was bent over her shoulder with the pair of forceps. Capa swiftly wrapped the blanket around her – as best he could with Searle in the way, broke heat packets in half and stuck them anywhere he could find room on and under her body; he noticed Harvey begin to prep a syringe with liquid painkiller. They moved with a frantic calm, Capa the only one seeming unsure of what to do. Searle eyed him.

"Capa, go stand by her. When Harvey sticks her with that needle, there's a great possibility she's gonna wake up and scream; she's petrified of 'em and it'll help her to see a friendly face."

Capa did as he was told and rounded the cot in two long strides; he took her cold hand in his and rubbed it fiercely. His face was devoid of any emotion; he wasn't really sure what to feel.

The wound in her arm had stopped bleeding out due to the fact that the surface blood had frozen over and created a sort of cork. Searle began to pick away at the ice-covered wound, scraping away chunks to reach the metal object inside. He winced when it refused to budge and splashed some warm water on the wound to melt it; it didn't help much.

"All right; Harvey give her the anesthesia. We need to get this out before it becomes infected. Hold on tight, Capa."

Memories whizzed past her in her unconscious state.

The last day of warm sunshine she'd ever known; she was seventeen and returning home from her last day of school before summer. She was looking forward to walking down to the beach with her friends. She'd just bought the cutest bikini; white with yellow polka dots. When she woke up the next morning, the ground was covered in ten inches of snow.

The day she received the news that the space station was finally giving up on ever hearing from Icarus I again. She'd fallen asleep on her couch; it was late and she was in the state between sleep and awake. Rolling over, she barely opened her eyes; heard the sudden mention of the Icarus mission. She sat up groggily, pushing hair out of her face. Vague details were given, they moved on to the next story. She stared at the screen for a long time, unseeing. Then she went back to sleep.

Daniel's funeral; the view from the farthest seat in the back. She didn't cry. The coffin was empty; she thought it odd how everyone cried for someone whose body wasn't even on Earth.

The first time she met her new crewmates; tripping uncharacteristically over her own feet when she saw the engineer. Shaking hands with the shy, withdrawn physicist and flashing him a bold and encouraging smile; watching his face blush and giggling girlishly at his funny behavior.

The huge and final press conference that was held in their honor. She fixed Capa's tie for him, stood on her toes to tame his unruly mass of hair; it didn't do any good. Cassie hadn't been feeling well and she rubbed her back when she bent over, her head between her knees, claiming she felt nauseous.

She and Searle had taken charge for the rest of the crew; they were the most talkative anyhow and many of the reporters wanted to talk to her because she had been there the first time around.

They stood in a line, arms around each other's shoulders and waists, posing for pictures; laughing and trying to lighten the mood with private jokes whispered in ears. A few well-placed touches or gestures that suggested friendliness where friendliness did not exist for some.

The bright lights from the cameras flashed as she shared a private smile with Capa.

Then everything got black and the memories ceased to exist.

Notes

A/N: Ah, hi! I know, I know; before any of you bite off my fingers for not posting for such an extended period of time, I have a few stories for you! Mind you, I'm not trying to make excuses, but... OK, maybe I am. No matter! Onward with the explanations!

1) I had to significantly change the course of the story; I didn't like it and I wanted more time to play around with until I got to the movie/really interesting parts.
2) I went on vacation! I left August 2 for Bermuda (that's right! a whole 'nother country, kiddies!) and stayed until the 9th. I swore off use of my cell phone and my laptop in favor of spending some quality time with my family (I got to hang out with my 28 year-old cousin and his best friend; it was "so choice" another name that movie quote!) and taking in the epic beauty that is Bermuda. Here's some fantastical Bermuda tidbits for ya!
a) They have houses of all different colors there! I'm talkin' yellow, pink, green, lime green, bright blue, aqua, and purple! Plus they have amazingly cool architecture for their houses, too.
b) There is no fresh water sources on the island; they get all their drinking/bathing/cooking water from those especially fantastic cumulous nebulous clouds. (Please, feel free to correct my cloud knowledge there; I highly doubt I know what I'm talking about.)
c) The country was just finishing up their cricket championship the week before we flew in. People had been camping out in tents on random patches of grass; think Harry Potter/Quidditch World Cup, only a little less magic-filled.
d) Um, there's more, but I'll just stop now.
3) While on said vacation to Bermuda, I was involved in a little accident. Long story short, the mo-ped bike that my cousin's friend and I were on tipped over; he fell underneath the bike (unharmed, thank God) while I managed to slip off, standing on my left leg. Unfortunately, my right leg swung back and touched the muffler of the bike (a lot less hot than it could have been, another thank God moment) and I received two second degree burns on my calf; one of them is approximately 13 x 4 inches while the other is about 3 x 4. I've been to the doctor, I have a prescription ointment (I hate that word! Let me know if you concur. I rather do like that word), and my mildly maimed leg is healing quickly. I might have a scar, which is sort of cool. All the locals called it a "Bermuda tattoo." :)
4) I'm just plain lazy and haven't felt like writing. I suck, I KNOW!

OK! There's all of my lame excuses/stories! Hope some of you actually read them.

AbigailBlack: Poor Coty indeed! Sometimes I feel really bad about doing mean thing to my characters, but in this case, it had to be done. A million times THANK YOU to the Coty/Mace! I was really hoping you'd like that; and I wholeheartedly agree: life stops for no one - not even Cupid! And yeah, Mace is a much more "I'm macho, I like to act on instinct and bodily desires more than I like to think things through, grr!" kind of guy; Capa definitely needs his "alone time" to think every action through. Hooray for the Cassie hint! It was a success! :)
SexySadie88: Aloha! I know, that last chap was pretty hardcore. But, when you're in Sunshine territory, dramatic and unexpected things are bound to happen! I'm so glad you like the story, and I'll do my best to keep chapters coming for y'all!
PlugInBabyx: I wasn't aware there was a cuss word with only two letters. But, thanks. And you totally don't suck compared to my writing; mine is nothing fantastic, yours is like poetry that blows your mind when you read it. So... shut up. Oh and, for God's sake: POST SOMETHING!!
killtheenviousmoon: We shall see, we shall see... :) Glad you're taking interest.

P.S.- This was a ridiculously, unnecessarily long author's notes. My sincere apologies. Oh, and sorry this chap was so short!
P.S.S.- I'm posting a pic of what Coty looks like on my author page; check it out!