"McCoy to Enterprise," he tried once again in vain.

"Doctor, seeing as though we cannot contact the Enterprise and may be on the planet for an extended amount of time, it would be logical to seek shelter," pointed out Spock from where he sat on the ground with the captain leaning into him.

"We're in a goddamn frozen wasteland, Spock! There is no shelter!" the doctor exclaimed.

"Actually," he turned to his tricorder, "scans indicate that there is a rock face approximately 132 yards from here. It is possible that there might be a cave in which to take shelter."

McCoy looked in the direction that Spock had indicated the rock face was in. "Can't see a thing but snow, but if you say so. Lead the way, Mr. Spock."

As the half-Vulcan got up he held out a gloved hand to Jim to help him stand. "It's alright, Spock. I can get up on my own," he protested weakly, but he was shaking and as soon as he got on his feet his knees gave out and Spock had to catch him before he fell down in the cold snow.

"Are you alright, Jim?" Spock asked.

"I don't think I can walk all the way to wherever we're going," he admitted.

Without further hesitation, Spock easily picked up Jim bridal style and smirked playfully down at him. "I assume you will have no objections to being carried."

"Well, it looks like I don't have much of a choice now do I?" he smiled back, wrapping his arms around his first officer's neck and resting his head on his shoulder.

'Keep it together," McCoy told himself as jealousy boiled up inside of him. 'Someone has to carry him and it ain't gonna be you!'

They made their way to the rock face with the only sounds being the howling of the wind and the crunching of the snow beneath their boots. Jim snuggled in closer to Spock's warm body and was content to simply listen to the Vulcan's heartbeat. That was a sound he could listen to all day and all night and never tire of hearing. It was the beautiful sound of knowing that Spock was alive and near to him.

Sensing Jim trying to get closer, Spock held him tighter. It was only logical to try to keep his captain warm especially when he was ill.

And McCoy just stared at them, trying to think of what he wouldn't give to be in Jim's place.

"I believe this is it," said Spock when a wall of greyish dark came into view through the relentless white of the blizzard.

"I don't see a cave, Spock," said the doctor hopelessly.

"Over there," Jim meekly pointed.

They trudged over to the cave and gratefully ducked inside and out of the storm. It was quite roomy inside; they could stand and walk around but it didn't go so far back that they couldn't see the end of it, which was comforting. "This looks like as good of a place as any we're gonna find," sighed the doctor.

"Bones, do we have any emergency supplies?" asked Jim from the Vulcan's arms.

Nodding, Bones held up the small bag he had been carrying. "You know me, Jim." He opened the bag which held a small first aid kit, some hypos (always handy), a few days' worth of freeze-dried food, a water bottle, a couple blankets, and some flares for fires. "I say we start a fire first and get Jim warm."

"Agreed," said Spock.

"Spock makes a pretty good heater though," Jim remarked. Although he missed the green blush on Spock's face, he didn't miss the look that briefly crossed Bones's face. Was that jealousy? No, it couldn't be…

"I'm sure he does," Bones muttered as he started a fire on the cave floor. "There." He laid out one of the blankets on by the fire for them to sit on.

Gently, Spock set Jim down on the blanket and was reluctant to part with him. He almost wished that they had been unsuccessful in their search for a cave because he would have been perfectly content to carry Jim for the rest of the day.

Bones was already rummaging through the small collection of hypos he had with him to find all the ones he could us on Jim. "Oh come on, Bones, it's just the flu! I don't need those!" he protested.

"The hell you don't. I don't wanna get sick too so I'm gonna have to give you something to make you non-contagious and while I'm at it I figured you'd want me to give you a pain killer and an anti-nausea. Or would you rather me and Spock get sick too and you have a horrible stomach ache and muscle aches?"

"No," he sighed reluctantly, bracing himself as he was jabbed with three hypos.

"There, that wasn't too bad, was it?"

"Easy for you to say."

Spock sat down next to them and they all stared into the fire for a while. "You think they know we're stranded down here?" Jim finally broke the silence.

"They should have tried to contact us by now and have gathered that we are unable to respond. I presume Mr. Scott is doing everything in his power to fix the problem," said Spock in an attempt to comfort Jim.

The doctor placed a comforting arm on his captain's shoulder. "Don't worry, Jim. We'll be out of here in no time.

"Still no luck, Uhura?" Scotty asked nervously.

"None."

He sighed. "Well, I suppose I should assemble a security team and go down there looking for 'em. Can't let the captain, the first officer, and the CMO all freeze to death." He punched the comm button on the chair arm. "Scott to transporter room. Send a security team down to find the away team."

"Uh, sir?" replied the nervous ensign in the transporter room.

"Yes, laddy?"

"The transporter isn't working…"

Everyone on the bridge froze. "…I'll get right on it," said Scotty.

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