"MILLS!" spinning, her eyes searched for McCoy who had shouted her name. Seeing him stood alone she quickly made her way over.

"What is it?!" she asked scared. "Wait, where is everybody?" they were nowhere in sight. Spock, Uhura and Kirk were gone.

"They just, vanished?" McCoy whispered as he took out his tricorder. "They were here a minute ago, damnit!" Colleen pulled her own tricorder out and started scanning the area, her hand shaking.

"Mills to Captain Kirk," she said as she tapped her communicator. "Mills to Enterprise," she shouted as she commed the ship. "Mills to Enterprise?" there was no answer. As she looked to McCoy all she could wonder was what the hell had happened to the others.

Colleen watched as McCoy paced back and forth, which he had been doing for the past twenty minutes whilst she had stared at her tricorder and tried every trick in the book. Her mind was filled with all the protocols for this type of situation, which was none because this type of situation had never come up before!

"JIM!" Colleen jumped as McCoy yelled Kirk's name at the top of his voice, clearly coming to the end of his tether. He looked her way momentarily and then went back to pacing. "Anything?" he asked her.

"No, nothing…" she whispered as she continued to try and find anything that might tell them what had occurred. No strange readouts, no changes to their bodies or brains. No sign of anything.

"What the hell do we do?" McCoy finally asked her as he squeezed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his noise with thumb and forefinger.

"We stay put," Colleen answered instinctively as she looked around them. "We shouldn't move, they're either looking for us or the ship is looking for us all. If we move it may take longer?" even to her own ears she sounded ridiculous. McCoy simply nodded. "I think," she added quietly. "What do you think we should do?" she asked tentatively.

"Damned if I should know but we can't just stand in the open like this forever, it'll be dark soon and god knows what kinds of things roam this planet at night!" Seeing Colleen go pale McCoy regretted his words. Turning to a nearby rock formation he turned back to her. "We should go over there, it should provide some cover." Colleen simply nodded and followed McCoy to where one rock sidled up to another allowing their backs to be protected at least. "I'm sending a distress call, you should set up a beacon…"

"Yes!" Colleen answered nervously as she nodded and got to work on her own tricorder. Her hands were shaking and McCoy could see tears threatening to fall.

"Hey," he said as he squeezed her arm. "It'll be okay," he tried to reassure her.

"I know, I know. It's just…" Colleen shook her head. "I'm fine," smiling tightly she continued to try and open communications with the rest of the away crew and the ship. After half an hour McCoy told her to stop.

"I think we should build a fire," he said as he began picking up sticks.

"We should?" she asked nervously.

"Umhum, it'll keep us warm and the smoke might show the rest of them where we are, if they're still on the planet…" The thought hadn't even occurred to her that they may not even be on the planet.

"What about anybody else?" she interrupted.

"The planet isn't inhabited Mills," McCoy answered. "By people I mean," he added quietly.

"Right, right…" as she picked up sticks herself and handed them to McCoy Colleen was thankful she was with him and not on her own. She felt sick to her stomach wanting to know what had happened to the others, hoping they were okay and wondering why they had been left behind. Sitting in front of the still unlit fire Colleen closed her eyes and tried to go through different scenarios. When she felt warmth in front of her she looked up and saw McCoy blowing gently on the burning kindling. When he gave her a grin she couldn't help but grin back.

"At least we won't freeze to death…" McCoy muttered as he started to add the larger sticks. Colleen rubbed her hands together and knelt in front of the fire.

"At least," she replied. "What the hell has happened?" she said more to herself than anything. McCoy didn't reply either, knowing he didn't have an answer. Sitting opposite her McCoy stole a glance at her and then looked up at the sky, it was getting dark. "I don't know what to do?" she finally said to him. "I always know what to do," wiping a tear from her cheek she took a deep breath in through her nose and blew it out through her mouth.

"Nobody always knows what to do Mills, this isn't in one of your policy books I'm afraid." McCoy told her empathically.

"That's my job though, that's what I like…"

"I know, I know Mills." Sitting beside her he let his shoulder rest on hers. "But here we are and we'll make it work alright," Colleen laughed sadly but nodded. "Your secret is safe with me," he whispered.

"Thank you," she told him.

"You're welcome, now get some shuteye. I'll take first watch," Colleen looked around them.

"Can we talk for a while?" she asked.

"Sure, what do you want to talk about?" he asked her as he leant against the stone behind him, his voice quiet and husky.

"Earth," she answered.

"Yeah, feeling the dirt under your feet reminds you of…" McCoy trailed off and Colleen watched as he shook his head as if clearing his thoughts.

"I have a plant in my quarters, brought it back from some planet…"

"Mills! You know that's dangerous as hell! You could have…"

"Don't worry," she interrupted. "I asked hydroponics to check it first," she grinned, enjoying McCoy's concern. "I water it and talk to it and move it around the room," she told him quietly.

"Does it have a name?" McCoy asked and Colleen was stunned.

"A name?" she repeated. "Umm, well. No, should it have a name?" she asked.

"I would have thought so," McCoy answered plainly.

"Huh? Well, what do you suggest?" McCoy thought for a moment.

"Thomas?" Watching Colleen scrunch up her nose in response made him laugh. "Peter?"

"I like Peter," Colleen said as she looked at him. "You surprise me, you don't strike me as the type." McCoy shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, you keep it to yourself alright?" he told her.

"You're secret is safe with me," she answered with a small grin. "Seemingly we have a number of those now."

"Seemingly," he repeated. "I told you why I'm out here, why are you Mills?" Colleen took a long breath.

"Seemed like a good idea at the time," she started.

"I'm not buying that," McCoy replied.

"I didn't think I had much to stay for, and now I'm here. I don't feel like I have much out here either. At least on earth, I have dirt under my feet." Colleen paused for a moment. "When we had that drink together, it felt like for the first time I had a friend." McCoy let her words sink in and realised she was most probably right. The way Jim had treated her, the Ensign in the cafeteria. It must have been difficult to be the one that everybody distrusted.

"I can be a lousy friend," he whispered.

"I doubt that, and I'm not asking to be friends, but I appreciate your civility."

"Mills, you don't need to worry. We can be friends," giving her hand a squeeze McCoy watched as Colleen took her hand back and held it in her other as if trying to keep the feeling there for as long as possible. "I could do with somebody who can drink as much as I can anyway, Jim doesn't have the stomach for it!" Colleen laughed and nodded her head as she lay down by the fire and tucking her hands under her head tentatively closed her eyes. Looking out into the darkness McCoy realised he'd never been more scared in his life.

At some point McCoy had woken Colleen and taken her place by the fire, she had sat bolt upright and stared into the darkness until dawn broke over the horizon. No animals, no noises had been heard yet still Colleen's neck and back hurt from the tension. She could see McCoy now, his eyes closed and lips slightly parted as he slept soundly. She really needed to go to the toilet! Quietly making her way passed McCoy Colleen ventured over to some bushes and quickly took care of business, running back to their camp as quickly as she could.

"Where the hell have you been?" McCoy asked her as soon as she came into sight.

"I needed to go!" she told him defensively. "Sorry," she automatically added when she could see concern on his face. McCoy's shoulders slumped immediately.

"Speaking of, probably a good idea." He told her as he walked by her and Colleen couldn't help but smirk.

They had kept the fire going during the day and neither one of them had stopped trying to make contact with the ship or the rest of the crew. When finally McCoy had sat himself down in front of the fire and told Colleen to do the same each one of them didn't know what to say. Small talk seemed ridiculous and neither or them knew what else they could do.

"Perhaps we should look around, hike out but come back here?" McCoy suggested.

"How far could we get before we would have to come back?" Colleen asked him, she was beginning to feel hungry.

"Not sure, worth a try though right?" McCoy answered.

"Right," Colleen stood up just as massive droplets of rain started to pounce against her and the ground. "Well that's bloody fantastic!" she exclaimed.

"Come on, the fires going to go out anyway." Picking one direction for no particular reason the pair squinted against the now heavy rain. At one point McCoy held his hand out and then tentatively sipping the rain that had pooled in his palm looked at Colleen and nodded. Colleen looked up to the sky and opened her mouth as wide as she could, when she heard McCoy gruffly laugh she looked at him and smiled. A moment of calm for the pair of them. "Watch where you're walking Mills!" McCoy shouted over to her as she continued to walk with her head facing up to the sky. Not noticing the branch under her foot Colleen went tumbling forward, planting herself in the now muddy ground. Letting McCoy pull her to her feet Colleen looked down at herself and grimaced. "What did I say?" McCoy grumbled as Colleen blushed with embarrassment. As they both stopped to catch their breath the pair looked around them, there was nothing for miles.

"This is damned lunacy!" McCoy shouted. "There's nothing out here!"

"I think we should go back," Colleen told him solemnly.

"To what?! There's no fire to keep us warm, we're marooned!" Colleen couldn't help but grin.

"Marooned?! Doctor you need to get a hold of yourself!" Colleen straightened her back and stretched out her neck. "Right, we're heading back to the site. Let's go!" Not waiting for him to follow her she started off back in the direction they had come.

"Now wait a goddamn minute!" she heard him say from behind her but she carried on. It was her turn to be strong and for both their sakes she needed to now more than ever. Ignoring him she battled against the wind and rain until finally they stood where the fire once was. As she shivered she looked to McCoy who was doing the same.

That night was the longest, hardest, most terrifying thing either of them had ever experienced. Wrapping their arms around one another for warmth the rain didn't let up until the early hours, neither one of them spoke and at one point Colleen was glad of the rain, it had masked the tears running down her cheeks.

"I think we have to start walking, nothings here and nobody is coming. We have to see if there's anything out there." She said as she trembled, the rain had stopped but they were both still soaking wet.

"Agreed," McCoy pulled them both up and looked to the sky to see where the sun was rising. "This way," he told Colleen as she slowly began walking beside her. Her lips had started to take on a blueish tint and her eyes were red and sore. If McCoy wasn't already concerned he absolutely was now. Knowing how he felt himself he knew Colleen must have been feeling it too, they were running out of time. There was only so long you could survive on a bit of rainwater. "We need to find food," he said.

"How will we know it's safe?" Colleen asked him.

"Do we have a choice?" Shaking her head Colleen focussed on putting one foot in front of the other, rolling the sleeves of her uniform up her arms she pulled her hair off of her neck and tried to regulate her breathing. "So now we have the sun to contend with!" McCoy squinted against the now scorching sun.

"Why not? Throw some hail in and we can call bingo!" McCoy smiled at her comment, whether or not the smile actually reached his eyes or not he didn't know.

The barren land they had been walking through slowly turned into lush green foliage and large, tropical trees. Colleen was thankful for the shade and McCoy was thankful for the opportunity of perhaps finding something to eat.

"These look like they have potential…" he muttered as he walked towards one of the trees and plucked a mango shaped fruit from it. Colleen came to his side and eyed the fruit suspiciously before looking around and picking up a rock, smashing it against another she handed the now sharp edged stone to McCoy. "Well look at you!" he said impressed, cutting into the fruit he slowly smelt, examined and then licked the fleshy inside. "I'm going to give it an hour and then we'll see," he told her.

"We'll see if you're still alive?" she asked him tentatively.

"Well… yes." McCoy answered as Colleen slowly nodded as she collected more of the fruit. "Do you hear that?" he asked as he looked over her head.

"No," she replied looking in the same direction as he was.

"Sounds like running water," McCoy began walking in the direction of the sound, silently praying he was right. Making their way through the thick foliage McCoy almost choked on a sob when he saw the crystal clear pool and waterfall. "My God!" he whispered as Colleen came to stand by him.

"I think perhaps we should…"

"Damnit Mills this is no time for you to be cautious!" McCoy snapped.

"This is the exact time! There could be anything in there! It could be acid for all you know!" she shouted back at him. McCoy creased his brow in frustration but knew she was right, picking up a stick he threw it into the water. Nothing. Cupping his palm he brought the water to his nose and then tentatively took a sip. Looking up at her he smiled slowly.

"Seems alright," he told her as he started taking off his boots.

"I think we should wait…"

"You can do what you want, I'm going for a swim." Removing his other boot Colleen watched as he dove into the water and calmly came to the surface and floated on his back. Letting out a low, slow sigh McCoy closed his eyes and allowed the water to calm around him. "This, I must say is damned well perfect." Colleen stood on the edge watching him closely. "Mills! Get in the damned water!"

"I'll keep a look out, let me know if you start feeling…"

"Mills! Get in the damned water! We're way past protocols here!" McCoy gave her a hard stare as he treaded water.

"If we both fall ill…"

"Mills,"

"And who knows what is in there…"

"Mills," McCoy swam towards her and stood in the shallow part of the pool. "Get in the water Mills," he repeated as she shook her head. Storming from the pool McCoy scooped Colleen up into his arms and made his way back into the water.

"Doctor McCoy!" she shouted in shock as he flung her in the air and watched as she disappeared under the surface. He watched as the bubbles raced to the top and then a mop of hair appeared with a spluttering Colleen underneath. Staring daggers at him Colleen couldn't believe what he'd just done. Spinning she checked her surroundings, staring into the water to see if she could see any creatures swimming around her.

"Now I bet that feels better? It's fresh water seemingly, have a drink." McCoy told her as he cupped his hands together.

"Have you lost your mind!" she shouted at him, slapping his hands down from his mouth.

"How long do you think we can last without water and food Mills?! This is our only option!"

"What about viruses and…" she was cut off by a splash of water to her face and McCoy diving passed her and towards the waterfall. She watched as he lazily swung his arms over his head and lay back once more to tread water. If she hadn't of been so scared Colleen would have said the surroundings she found herself in were one of the most beautiful places she'd ever been. Tugging her boots off she threw them onto the shore. "Turn around!" she shouted at McCoy.

"Why?" he asked her as he lay on his back.

"Because I'm taking my uniform off to dry," she told him as she stepped out of the water and undid her uniform. Throwing it over a tree branch she quickly ran back into the water. "Alright, done." McCoy looked her way, smirking when only her head was visible.

"You feel better?" he asked her and she nodded silently.

"What do think happened to the others?" she could help but question.

"I don't know Mills, I honestly don't know." Swimming towards her McCoy stopped and simply stared at her. "We have water, food, we can make a fire. We can survive," Colleen nodded silently once more. "Come on, it's going to get dark soon, we should make a shelter." Swimming passed her McCoy climbed out of the water and went about collecting fire wood as Colleen watched on.

"Thank you," she whispered as he looked her way.

"For what?"

"For being the one who knows what to do, what to say. I don't know what I would have done if you weren't here, with me." McCoy gave her a sympathetic smile.

"We'll get through this Mills, together." Colleen turned away from him and watched as the water cascaded down the rock.

"I hope you're right," she whispered to herself.