A/N: Thank you for the reviews on the first chapter! It motivated me to wake up today and write some more. Honestly, out of all my stories, this one is the easiest by far for me to write. I know it's because of my passion for the subject matter, and I'm incredibly humbled that people enjoy my stories about climbing.

Unless stated otherwise, italics will always be flashbacks.

If you have any questions or comments about the climbing or outdoors aspects of this story, please leave a review or PM me.

Enjoy! Please read and review!

Katniss

I'm trying to get some sleep but it's just not working. It's probably because I'm in the sleeping bag alone. Peeta is sitting up next to me, just staring off into space. It's probably around three in the morning, and we decided to take shifts sleeping just to be safe.

We figure we have enough rations to last us a few days, a week at the most. The problem is water. We're well above the tree line. The only way for us to hydrate is to melt snow, which is time consuming, uses a lot of gas, and tastes absolutely terrible. Because we only have one pot, it makes the water taste metallic. It's better than nothing, obviously, but it's still quite unpleasant.

Our radio broke yesterday, right before the storm hit. It was a stupid, stupid mistake, and it was all my fault. I decided to play grab ass with my husband, tripped, and fell right onto the radio, effectively crushing it against the rocks. Peeta took a long, hard look at it and declared it dead. Now we have no way to communicate with the outside world, no way to let people know that we're in dire straights. We're not expected back for over another week, so if nobody hears from us, they will assume all is well. I lament the fact that we only brought one radio. It makes me feel like a rookie, like I don't know what I'm doing out here.

Peeta, bless his heart, is trying his hardest to keep up our spirits. As I look at him, however, I can see it's taking its toll.

"Peeta?"

He turns to me and tries to smile. It kinda works.

"Hey, I thought you were asleep."

"The wind's too loud," I nod to the walls of the tent, snapping in said wind. "C'mere." I shuffle a bit, unzipping the sleeping bag from the inside. I hold up the top, inviting him to come lie with me. He stretches out and joins me. I immediately turn into him and rest my head on his outstretched arm, our faces centimeters apart.

"Well this sucks," he attempts to lighten the mood. It works a bit, and I giggle.

"I don't know," I grin. "We're all alone for the first time in a long time." I use my right hand to gently tickle his side. "Kind of reminds me of the North Col."

I know it's unfair, but I really could care less. Bringing up the first time we made love always gets us both hot and bothered. Even though we've now been married for the better part of three years, I still want to jump his bones almost all the time. But that night was different, for obvious reasons. I knew before then I was in love with him. Yet I had no idea the depths of that love, how I could love someone more than myself. Until that night.

"Kat," he sighs.

"Peeta, shut up."

We both need this, if only to relax a little. Maybe having sex while stranded on a mountain is a bad idea. The way I see it, we're not going anywhere in the middle of the night. I can't sleep. Peeta is so worried I'm afraid he's going to age ten years.

I decide to say fuck it. Or, more appropriately, fuck me. I kiss him. Hard. It takes a moment, but he opens his mouth and I dive in. My hand drifts south, under the hem of his cargo pants. After another moment I feel his hand on my breast.

"Are you sure?" He manages to ask between kisses. I'm not letting him up for air that much.

"Yes," I emphasize by blatantly grabbing him under his pants. "It'll help us chill out. Plus, didn't we say it was about time we got around to making Cam a brother or sister?"

"Cam...," he trails off, and I'm losing him.

"Peeta," I stop my ministrations momentarily and am overjoyed when he whimpers a little. "I'm well aware of the situation. I don't see us being able to go anywhere until the sun comes up or the storm passes, right?" He just nods dutifully. "Then shut your mouth and let your wife help you relax. Please."

He opens his mouth to speak but I just kiss him.

Peeta

Katniss was right. As usual. She did help me relax, and at least now she's asleep. I'm lying on my side, spooned into my wife's back. She has a firm grip on my arm that's wrapped around her tightly.

I can't sleep. She made me promise to try after we had sex, but my mind simply won't stop. I'm terrified. A big part of my fear is the fact that Katniss is with me. I'm well aware she's a world class climber and an experienced survivalist. If you ask me, she's the best in the world. But she's my wife. She's the mother of my daughter. If it were only me out here, I wouldn't be so worried. At least I'd know Katniss was with Cam.

I can't stop thinking about our daughter. Every time I look at her, it almost overwhelms me. I thought I could never love someone as much as I love Katniss. Boy was I wrong. While they are very different loves, I know for a fact Katniss and I would do anything for Cam, including laying down our own or each other's lives. I can't imagine how difficult this must be for Katniss. She's an absolutely wonderful mother. She and Cam have such a special bond. When Cam looks at her mother, with their matching grey eyes, I know I've never seen such love and devotion.

"Daddy, where's mommy?"

We're in the car, Cam in the back in her car seat. I needed to run a few errands, and Katniss is having lunch with her mom.

"She's with grandma," I explain again. "She'll probably be home before us."

Cam just folds her arms and pouts, reminding me as always of her mother.

"What's wrong kiddo?" I ask after a minute.

No luck. I glance at her in the mirror and she's staring out the window at the lake.

"I miss mommy."

My heart melts at her pronouncement. It's only been a couple of hours since we last saw Katniss. That doesn't matter to Cam.

"Me too," I assure her. "We'll see her soon. I promise. In the meantime, would anyone in this car like a popsicle?"

"Me!" Her voice is happy and she's grinning.

I know it's a cop out, but I'm flying solo. There are some things that only Katniss can fix.

Katniss rustles a bit but stays asleep. I'm grateful. She's tired. We both are.

I lightly kiss the nape of her neck. I don't want to wake her up. I need to figure this out. She's counting on me to get us out of here. Of course, we need both of us, but she has faith in me. I can't let her or Cam down.

Katniss

Cracking my eyes open, I can see that it's daylight. Or at least it would be if we could see five feet from our tent. I'm instantly cold, realizing Peeta has left me alone in the sleeping bag. I turn and see him sitting next to me, intently studying the map. He looks determined, but he's also exhausted.

"Did you get any sleep?" My voice comes out a bit accusatory.

He just shakes his head in the negative. I sigh.

"Peeta, you need to sleep. Come back to bed."

"In a minute," he answers without taking his eyes off the map. "I promise."

He knows that by saying he promises, I'll let up on him.

"Fine," I relent. "What are you doing anyways?"

"The west side of the mountain," he ignores my question. "Kat, I think I can get us out of here."

"What do you mean?" I sit up, scooting closer to him so I can look at the map too.

"Here," he points, "The slope is a lot steeper on the west side, but if we traverse down we can get below the snow line quicker. Then we just follow this river to the road."

He traces the route with his finger on the laminated map. I follow, and understand immediately.

"But honey, that means we'd almost have to summit this mountain just to get to the west side."

He nods sagely. He already knew that. Of course.

"I didn't say it was easier, I said it was quicker," he defends.

"Do you think we can do it?" I ask honestly. He just stares at me.

"Yes."

That's all I need to hear. I trust Peeta. He's my husband. He's my partner, in life and in climbing. If he thinks this can get us home to our daughter, then this is what we're going to do.

I look up from the map at him. Even though his face has relaxed a bit since we have the inklings of a plan, I can easily still see the tremendous worry written all over his usually peaceful face. His blue eyes, usually bright, are tinged with anxiety. I'd do anything to remedy it.

I take his hand in mine and notice his fingers are cold. Way colder than mine, and way colder than they should be.

"Peeta, how do your fingers and toes feel?"

He shrugs.

"Take off your boots," I order. He makes no move. "Fine, I'll do it."

I lean over and grab his right boot first. I unlace it and take off his two layers of socks, then repeat it with his left. I almost have a heart attack when I see the slightest blue tinge at the tips of his toes.

"Baby, you have frost nip. I'm going to need to heat up your toes and fingers."

I'm not looking forward to it. Reheating extremities is extremely painful. Both of us have had to do it before, but thankfully not on Everest. If left untreated, it can easily turn into frostbite, which can result in amputation. Obviously, that is unacceptable.

"Thank god we have a little soap left," I joke as I grab the pot. Since we only have the one, that's what I'm going to use to boil the water. Then I'll dunk his toes and fingers right into the pot. Needless to say, I'll be washing it thoroughly afterwards.

I unzip the door and reach my gloved hand outside, grabbing as much snow as I can. I toss it into the pot and wait.

Peeta knows not to lie down in the tent while the gas is on. Instead, I move so that I'm facing him with his feet in my lap.

"I'm sorry Peeta, but this is going to hurt," I tell him with as much compassion as I can muster as we wait for the snow to boil.

"I know Kat," he nods. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me," I scoff. "I love you Peeta, but really?" I'm actually a little mad at him now that I think about it. "Frostbite is the last thing we need right now. I need you to take care of yourself so you can get us the hell out of here. Now, are you dehydrated? Hungry?"

"I'm sorry," he whispers. I can barely hear him over the wind.

"Now we have to sit here and put you through pain just so you can fucking walk," I rant. "If you end up having to get some of your toes chopped off, so be it. Get your dry pair of socks out of your bag, or do I have to do that too?"

He just stays silent. After three years, he knows to let me get it out. He reaches into his bag and grabs his last dry set of socks. He takes his wet ones I just removed and shoves them down the front of his pants to dry them.

"I'm sorry," I blurt out when I can't stand the silence between us any longer. "I'm not mad, baby, I promise." I look up at him and our eyes meet. I don't see hurt or anger in him, just love. "I'm just scared."

"I'm sorry too," he says, lowering his head a bit. "It was stupid of me. I got caught up in trying to figure this out that I didn't take care of myself. Now it's up to you to fix me."

"You know I don't mind being your nurse," I smile, getting one in return. "But can we keep it to cuts and bruises from now on?"

"I'll try," he nods solemnly. We both chuckle.

The snow finally melts and boils. I turn the gas off and let the water sit for a few moments. I don't want to replace frost nip with third degree burns.

"Okay baby, here we go," I warn as I lift his right foot up, ready to dunk it in the hot water.

"Ahhh!" He yells when the pain registers.

"I'm so sorry," I try to soothe him. "It's only for a little while."

I remember back to the first time I had frost nip. The expedition doctor had distracted me while she reheated my limbs. Maybe that can help.

"How many more kids do you want?" I ask. His eyes are closed, his face scrunched up in pain, his hands balled into fists at his sides. "Peeta! Look at me." He opens his eyes. "I said, how many kids do you want?"

"That's not really up to me, is it?"

I roll my eyes.

"I can't make a baby by myself, Peeta Mellark."

"Doesn't it also depend on how many Nan and Alice have?"

He's got a good point. Much to our husbands' chagrin, Alice and I were not joking about our 'battle of the babies'. Right now, we're tired at 1-1, Alice giving birth to a baby boy just five months ago.

"Well, yeah," I admit with a grin. He hasn't even noticed I took his right foot out of the pot, put a new sock on it, and stuck his left foot in. "But I'm honestly curious. How many?"

"I don't know," he shrugs. "Two more? Maybe three?"

"That's it!?" I'm only half-joking. "Am I really that unattractive to you?"

"Oh you're plenty attractive to me," he almost purrs. "It's just, well, you can get kind of mean when you're pregnant."

"Peeta Mellark!" I smirk. "In case you forgot, you're the one that got me pregnant in the first place, so it's really your fault."

"Kat, that makes no sense."

"No shit. I don't have to make sense. I'm the wife."

"Fair enough."

"I want at least three more," I defiantly state. "I want to have a full house."

"Then that's what you shall get, m'lady."

The distraction works. After awhile, I finish warming up his toes and fingers. He's still in a ton of pain, that's clear to see, but he's being so brave about it.

"Get in the sleeping bag," I tell him once I'm completely finished. He complies immediately. I crawl in with him. I sandwich his feet between mine, and take his hands and shove them down my pants.

"Whoa, Kat, I don't think I'm up for this right now."

"Shut up, I'm just keeping you warm."

He grins and kisses me before nuzzling his head into my neck.

"Don't worry though," I assure him, "you'll get your due reward for being a brave boy."

A/N 2: I used my own experiences of getting frost nip (multiple times) and frostbite (twice) for this chapter. I can't begin to explain how painful it is. First, your fingers and toes go numb. Then when you reheat them, all the blood rushes back and it makes you want to chop them off. Miserable. Anyhoo, I hope you enjoyed!