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After the events of earlier the mood was much more sombre.
The two had continued to head to their previous destination before nightfall, rather than risk being out in the open after dark. Considering the horrors this planet had thrown at them, even Jim (of all people!) saw the sense in erring on the side of caution.
Once more walking slightly behind his first officer, the young captain couldn't quite shake the paranoia that they were being watched.
Cracked, black skin flashed through his mind.
Jim shivered.
Judging by the tense set of blue shoulders ahead of him the young captain wasn't the only one rattled.
The sharp and impossibly loud crackle of the communicator made both of them jump, Jim scrambling to pull it from his back pocket.
"Enterprise to Captain Kirk, come in Kirk," Uhura's voice filtered through the small speaker, grainy and distant but there all the same.
Grinning broadly in relief Jim flipped open the communicator.
"Kirk here, you have no idea how good it is to hear your voice."
Laughter answered him, and dimly he realised they must have been worried.
"Dammit Jim we thought the worst had happened!" McCoy's gruff voice crackled out.
"The hobgoblin there with you?"
Spock stepped forward, fingers ghosting over the back of Jim's hand to press the button. The warmth of the Vulcans hand on Jims skin sent a shiver shooting up his spine.
"Affirmative. Were you able to beam up the remaining away team?"
"Yeah, theyre all here. Scratched and bruised but here," McCoy answered, and Jim let out a breath he hadn't realised hed been holding. Spock squeezed the captain's hand gently before falling back to his side, leaving Jim's hand oddly cold.
"Wait, so why are we still here is everyone was beamed out?" the captain asked, a furrow between his eyebrows. Bones sighed in a loud crackle of the speaker.
"Jim, your life signals both disappeared. We thought you were…well you gave us a hell of a scare," McCoy finished gruffly, and Jim smiled softly at the worry in his voice.
"Aw Bones you do care!" Jim cried happily and McCoy growled.
"Someone has to you infant," he drawled back, the familiar banter making Jim grin.
"So…no beam up then?" he ventured, already knowing the answer.
"We still have no lock on your signals, the fact we got through at all is nothing short of a miracle. Its like some kind of static storm," Uhura's voice crackled softly, before Chekov's heavy accent filtered through.
"Da, ze interference is too strong keptin and ze atmosphere is too unstable to risk deploying a shuttle. Ze welocity needed and turbulence experienced vould be too great until ze atmospheric conditions return to normal lewels," Chekov finished and Jim sighed.
"So no supplies or back up either? Awesome," Jim added drily.
"Just sit tight and hope that damn Kirk luck holds out," Bones added, his voice sounding more distant than before.
"Alright got it. Keep us posted guys," Jim responded, frowning slightly.
His only answer was static.
Sighing, the young captain stuffed the once more useless communicator into his back pocket. Well that had been enlightening.
"At least now we know what happened to the crew," Jim said, relief in his voice.
"Indeed. So it would appear our objective is now to survive," Spock said thoughtfully, clasping his hands behind his back.
Jim idly wondered if that was a comfort thing.
"Well I guess our first move is to find somewhere we can lay low for a while, we were already heading towards shelter anyway so might as well keep moving," he reasoned, and the Vulcan nodded.
"We are nearing a large rocky outcrop, perhaps there is a cave we could use," Spock suggested.
"Lead the way Mr Spock," Jim gestured, and the Vulcan stepped forward, raising an eyebrow.
Several hours (approximately two hours, 11 minutes) passed before the two came upon the outcrop. Massive boulders and a honeycombed cliff face towered above them, the sandstone like substance a pale blue.
The rock face in front of them stretched over the canopy, the soft blue littered all over with small caves and a mustard coloured moss.
Almost in line with the canopy, a good 15 meters above them looked like a decent sized cave so the two agreed to head for that one.
Though the rocky face was tall the honeycomb quality left no shortage of handholds and Jim rubbed his hands together briskly before gingerly before beginning his ascent. Spock hovered (there was no other word for it) beneath him as if to catch the young captain. Jim huffed.
"Its not the first time ive climbed something Spock," he threw over his shoulder.
"Indeed." Spock replied, and Jim could practically hear that eyebrow rise.
The Vucan could be such a mother hen at times.
Below, Spock suddenly stiffened.
"Jim, you must move faster," he called urgently, causing jim to pause. Glancing back over his shoulder, the young captain gave a start as the Vulcan was already level with him.
Gaping, Jim mumbled something about Spiderman before scrambling up the rock face. From their height looking back Jim could see the canopy shaking as something huge pushed its way through.
"Oh shit!" Jim exclaimed, redoubling his efforts.
Spock stayed just below his captain though Jim knew he was capable of moving much faster.
Stubborn Vulcan, Jim thought fondly, before a vicious roar ripped through the air. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end and a sharp burst of adrenaline shot through him.
Now was not the time to be daydreaming about his first officer!
The crunching of vegetation and thudding against the ground grew louder, and still they had a few meters to go from the cave ledge above them.
His palms hurt as he scraped his hands, favouring speed over care.
The creature roared again, closer this time.
Three meters to go.
Jims lungs burned and his hands shook.
Two meters.
Spock came up alongside him.
One.
Jim cried out as the world became a blur of colour, just catching a glimpse of a massive black snout as Spock threw him up and over the lip of the cave.
Jim landed with a thud as Spock slid beside him, the pair shuffling quickly away from the edge.
An ear splitting screech echoed loudly through the cave. Jim fought the urge to cover his ears as whatever it was snarled and shrieked just outside, the cacophony making him want to curl up into a ball.
Instead he grit his teeth and stayed low, edging toward the lip of the cave. Belatedly, he realised this must be whatever had chased them last time.
The rock scraped against his already sore hands as he slowly inched forward, ignoring Spock's warning hand on his arm as he peeked over the edge.
Cold fear washed through his body.
A giant bipedal lizard stood below, shrieking and snapping with its two heads. Neither possessed any eyes but instead had two slits (Which Jim assumed were nostrils) and wickedly curved teeth. Each tooth was razor sharp and meters in length, overlapping one another and taking up the majority of the creature's face.
Dark, almost black glossy scales glinted as its impossibly long tail swished from side to side, the razor spines along the appendage looking lethal.
Both heads gnashed their teeth together before snapping up, directly facing Jim.
"Fuck that!" the captain exclaimed, scrambling back from the edge quickly.
There was no freaking way he was ever leaving this cave. Ever.
The rock shook softly and he realised the monster was throwing itself bodily at the cliff.
Nope. Never leaving.
Spock raised an eyebrow at him before glancing over himself. Moments later the Vulcan's face was ashen.
"No 'fascinating'?" Jim whispered softly. Spock stared at him incredulously, both eyebrows raised.
Covering his mouth to stifle a snicker, Jim glanced around the small cave.
The ceiling wasn't high enough for either of them to stand properly, but what it lacked in height it more than made up for in beauty.
All across the walls large crystals glowed in brilliant colours; soft yellows, pinks and purples against the pale blue of the rock.
Jim had to admit, despite all the crazy shit the planet threw at them (one of which still snarled outside), it would have to be one of the most beautiful worlds he had ever had the misfortune of marooning on.
And there had been a few.
The growling and screeching outside finally stopped, and Spock risked a glance outside.
"The creature is gone," he said softly, shuffling back to his captain. Jim shivered.
"Ive had nightmares that were preferable to that thing," he muttered, bringing his knees to his chest and leaning back against the cave wall.
To his surprise, the rock was actually warm to the touch, and Jim found himself relaxing into it.
Spock crossed his legs opposite, back still ramrod straight but clearly more at ease now that the danger had finally passed.
"Indeed," the Vulcan murmured at length. Jim raised an eyebrow (or attempted to; each time he tried both stubbornly rose) and stared at his first officer.
"Just 'indeed'?" he asked incredulously. Spock did the Vulcan equivalent of a shrug.
"I would not know, Vulcans do not dream."
"That must suck; dreams can be awesome," Jim mumbled without thinking, and Spock smirked.
"So I have heard."
Jim flushed bright red at the implications of that particular comeback before laughing softly.
"You sneaky Vulcan! You totally just turned that dirty!" Jim accused. Though his face was once more impassive, Spock's eyes shone with amusement.
"Dirty, captain?" Jim shook his head with a smile.
"You always know more than you let on," he said fondly. Blue eyes danced in humour and Spock fought a smile.
"Perhaps," he murmured, gaze flicking down to Jim's lips.
And just like that the atmosphere became charged as the pair became almost hyper aware of eachother.
Jim's mouth dried and Spock's heart hammered in his side.
Swallowing thickly, the young captain couldn't seem to break away from the chocolate gaze in front of him.
Hypnotic, he thought vaguely.
This time Spock moved first, slowly and hesitantly leaning forward.
Jim's hands shook and his heart leapt to his throat. Was Spock…? Did Spock want this too? The Vulcans hot breath whispered over his lips and all Jim had to do was lean forward.
A sudden torrent of thoughts like a cold bucket of water crashed over him, chilling him to the bone.
Did Spock understand what they were doing? Or maybe he trying to copy what had almost occurred earlier- an experiment of sorts? Was Jim's affection for the Vulcan blinding him?
Eyes wide, Jim stumbled backwards, face once more an impressive red.
"I-I need some…air," he threw over his shoulder weakly, scrambling to the mouth of the cave.
Spock allowed himself a gentle huff of frustration. He had come so close that time.
A/N Hey guys happy valentines day! I actually really liked this chapter, let me know how you felt about it and flick me a review :) thanks as usual go to all those fabulous readers who already do- your feedback and assurance is what keeps this fic going! Apologies for probably destroying Chekov's accent and for any spelling errors, this is unbeta'd :P
Anyway share the valentine's love and hit the review button :)