A/N

Here's the next part, enjoy! Please leave reviews if you have a spare moment, I always love to get them :)

Chapter Thirty-Five

*~*~*~*TWO WEEKS LATER*~*~*~*

"Maaaammaaaaaa ooooooohhh, I don't wanna die, sometimes wish I'd never been born at aaaaaall!"

"Jesus laddie, that lady of yours know you've got such a set of lungs on ya'?"

Leo smirked and didn't answer as he enjoyed the blaring guitar solo. As soon as it got outside of regular hours Scotty often had his choice in classic rock blasting in the engineering bay.

"I see a little silouhetto of a man-"

"Hand me that wrench would ya?" Scotty interrupted.

Leo obliged. "Scaramoosh, scaramoosh, will you do the fandango?"

"You know you could'a offered to do this instead! I'm not as young as I once was," he grumbled from where he as laying on his back underneath a shuttle, just his legs sticking out.

"Ah but Scotty I can't hit the big notes when I'm laying down," Leo smirked.

"I didn't know until you started working here you could – bollocks! - could hit the big notes at all," he grumbled and Leo got a whiff of the distinctive smell of burning uniform.

"You alright under there?" Leo asked, leaning down to check on Scotty, unable to help himself from singing as he did so.

"Oh mama mia, mama mia, mama mia let me go."

"Could ya' jus' let Freddie sing Leo? Jeez. I cannae cope with how uncanny your damn impression is," he grumbled as he hauled himself out from underneath the shuttle, red in the face and smeared with grease.

"Done?" Leo offered, putting on his best innocent face.

"Done," Scotty nodded.

"I'll let ya' get home to that lovely wife o' yours now then lad, just help me put away all this mess," he said, gesturing to the numerous shuttle parts littering the floor.

"She's not my wife," he chuckled as he started to pick things up and return them to their various homes.

"As good as. And you've been happy the las' couple weeks an' all. She's a good egg. You'd best be lookin' after her properly," he said firmly and Leo rolled his eyes. Scotty was almost as protective over Emily, Joanna and Seren as he was over Molly. It was sweet, but also annoying, because if ever Emily and Leo had argued the Scotsman could immediately tell from Leo's mood and would then spend the whole shift explaining to him how he was (probably) in the wrong.

"Of course I am," he argued back half-heartedly as he carried an armful of tangled wiring back towards Scotty's office, the song finishing up in the background and him singing along to the last few lines.

"Nothing really matters, anyone can see, nothing really matters… nothing really matters-"

"To me?" a voice from the office cut in and Leo flailed wildly, dropping all the things he was carrying and almost landing flat on his back.

"Jesus Christ Molly!" he roared as Molly laughed hysterically. He clutched at his chest, his heart pounding rapidly against his ribs.

"I think… I think I actually shit myself," he sighed as she laughed only louder.

"You're not funny! It's dark in here!" he defended and she finally pulled herself together.

"Do I get a point for that?" she asked and he glared before nodding slowly. She punched the air triumphantly.

"So where are we now? Seventeen to… Twelve?" she asked and he nodded.

"I'm catching you up!" she sing-songed as she ran out into the main engineering bay to find her father.

"I'm letting you! And my revenge will be swift and without mercy!" he yelled after her, going to his tiny space in the office and picking up his wallet, keys and communicator from where they had been left during his shift.

He glanced at his comm. He had a couple of messages waiting. One from Chris, one from Emily. He ignored them for the time being, grabbing his casual clothes from his locker and heading for the showers.

Once washed up and re-dressed he bundled his grubby engineering-bay uniform into his locker before heading out.

It was an old friends birthday and he was meeting a group of guys at a bar for a few drinks. He arrived a little late and was instructed on arrival that he needed to catch up, and handed two double shots.

The next four hours passed in a blur, alcohol flowing freely, laughter and dancing, as well as flirting with women at the bar. Emily fell further and further from his mind the more he had to drink, until one of the girls he'd been talking to leant into his ear.

"My friend and I think you're really cute," she smiled, twirling her hair around her finger. She was a little taller than Emily, more athletically built and less curvaceous, blonde hair cut into a blunt, asymmetric style that hung above her shoulders. Her friend was equally distracting.

"I think your friend and you are really cute," he slurred, smirking as he sipped on another drink.

She giggled and trailed her fingers up his forearm.

"We were wondering if you'd like to come home with us."

He raised an eyebrow, his drink stopping between the bar and his mouth as a strong blurriness overcame him. Surely he hadn't had that much to drink? He tried to count backwards but found his mind too fogged to be able to remember how many drinks he'd actually had.

"We don't mind sharing," added the second girl, draping herself around Leo now from the other side.

"Problem is ladies, I'm kinda attached," he resisted, his logical mind screaming at him to stop this and go home, another part of him trying to make him walk out of the club with these two women.

"How attached can you be if you're out here and not home with her?" asked the blonde, her dark eyes very serious up close.

"She's working. I can do what I want in my own time," he answered quickly. Emily was playing a show in New York, she'd be home tomorrow afternoon and she knew he was going out to some bars, and had trusted him not to get into any trouble.

"Besides, I'm sure you ladies don't want to share, there's not enough of me to go around," he shrugged, finishing the rest of his drink. He'd enjoyed the attention but he needed to stop this before it went any further than flirting. He couldn't cheat on Emily, no matter how much part of him was trying to push him to do it.

"Looks to me like there's plenty of you to go around," she quipped in response, one hand groping at his crotch through his jeans. He was slow to react, his thoughts feeling like they had to crawl through tar before they were enacted by his limbs.

He backed away two steps, almost pushing over the second girl who was stood on his other side.

"By attached I kind of mean bonded. I uh… yeah," he said, pushing his hair back at one side so she could identify him by his distinctive Vulcan ears.

Her face changed completely.

"Oh my god I knew I recognised you! You're Chris Kirk!" she grinned, her friend squealing excitedly.

"No… no I'm not," he backtracked quickly.

"Then you're the other one, the quiet one."

"I'm not that quiet," he said, before he could stop himself. Her smirk was back now, almost daring him. He glanced around the bar, his friends were nowhere to be seen.

"It was a pleasure to meet you, but I gotta get home," he said, quickly backing away and leaving alone. The cool night air helped clear his head a little, and he mentally scolded himself for almost going home with those girls.

You're bonded now. For life. Show some respect and don't flirt with girls at a bar!

He rubbed his forehead with the heel of his hand before pulling his communicator from his pocket. Emily hadn't called, and he had no messages.

She'd been distant with him since the day after his Pon Farr ended. He had to admit he had also been distant with her, feeling guilty that he had injured her in his out of control state.

He sent her a text.

Hope the show was good, can't wait to see you tomorrow.

He walked over ten blocks towards home before she replied.

It was great. How was your night? You home? x

He considered lying to her, telling her he was home already but then he changed his mind.

On the way. You've been weird with me… since it happened. Are we ok? x

He walked a bit further, getting home in good time and letting himself into the house quietly. A flickering light from the lounge caught his attention and he followed it, finding Chris passed out in front of the TV, cuddled up to what he recognised as one of David's sweatshirts.

He'd recovered almost fully now from his pneumonia, but it had given David a huge scare and Leo knew he was desperate to get home. He'd been doing his best to keep an eye on his brother and help out wherever he could. He grabbed a blanket patterned with cartoon tribbles that was draped messily over the armchair in the corner of the room and carefully covered Chris over with it before shutting off the TV and tiptoeing from the room. Chris didn't stir apart from nuzzling his face into the fabric of the sweatshirt he was holding.

Leo crept quietly up the stairs and into the bedroom on the right, ditching his shoes, jacket, jeans and shirt and crashing into bed in his boxers.

He heard his comm. sound in his jeans pocket and groaned into the pillow, leaning down off the bed and fumbling for the device, wanting to read Emily's reply before he went to sleep.

Of course we're ok. I just have a few things I want to talk to you about, but we're ok. Night x

He frowned at the device as he re-read the message. What could she mean by a few things to talk about? He debated sending her a long message, demanding they have this conversation now.

Instead he fell asleep with his communicator clasped in his hand, face down in the pillow that smelled like Emily's strawberry shampoo.

*~*~*~*~*PAGE BREAK*~*~*~*~*

David was both excited and nervous when his shift ended. He and Chris had made plans to chat via video-link at the end of his shift. He was now on Beta shift, slightly better hours, meaning that when it was nearly bedtime for him on the ship, it was the start of Chris' day, meaning they found it easier to catch each other.

He'd been worried about Chris since he had been unwell. They had chatted via the video-comm. the day after Chris had been discharged from the hospital and he'd looked awful. Chris had assured him in recent messages that he was feeling much better now, if not slightly tired from moving house and studying for his impending finals at the academy, and had asked that they video chat again.

Reaching his quarters he noticed his comm. panel was already lit up with an incoming transmission request. He jabbed accept and sat on the edge of his bunk, waiting a few seconds for the connection to complete.

Chris was in their bedroom at the new house, the early morning weak sunlight lighting up the room in a pale tone. He was sitting on the bed, the communication running through the screen on the wall at the foot of the bed. His hair was a mess, two days of stubble on his face, wearing nothing but the white bedsheet pooled around his waist and a smirk.

"I feel overdressed," David opened with, feeling like the temperature in his quarters had suddenly risen by a considerable amount.

"Easily fixed," Chris shrugged. In the pale light of the bedroom his scarring was more pronounced, the sections of angry green skin punctuating much of his chest and upper arm.

David accepted the invitation and pulled his two shirts over his head in one movement, taking care to remove them slowly, flexing every muscle as he pulled the fabric over his head and discarded it to the floor.

"How's it going?" David asked and Chris smiled, a mischievous quality to it as he tilted his head slightly to the side and messed his hair up even more.

"Yeah, going ok. I mean… things are getting kind of… hard… with you having been away for so long now," Chris said, even throwing in a pout for good measure.

Jesus Chris, you are going to be the death of me David thought as his heart started to pound, sudden erection pressing uncomfortably against the zipper of his uniform pants.

"Oh yeah? I mean things have been hard here too. We can work on that when I get home. How are you health-wise?" David asked, wanting to at least ask the question that had been on his mind the most since they had last spoken.

"I'm good, much better. I have a little bit of a vitamin deficiency going on, that's all," he said, dark eyes so very intently focused on David that it almost made him squirm.

"What vitamin? Are you taking a supplement?" he asked, wanting to be caring before this turned into what he now had no doubt it was going to.

"Vitamin D," Chris said with a growing smirk.

David snorted a laugh.

"Oh D huh? Well, don't worry you'll be getting plenty of the D soon enough," he rose to Chris' poor joke and the Vulcan positively grinned.

"God I can't wait to get you back here. This bed is huge, feels weird without you," Chris sighed, shifting a little.

"You've lost weight," David noticed aloud. Chris was usually slim, he had been since his injury, but his ribs seemed more visible.

"Maybe a little. Haven't had anyone here who cooks me delicious dinner," he hinted and David blushed a little.

"I'm not that good at cooking."

"You really are. And besides when I get back you'll need to feed me up enough that I can keep up with you in the gym. I want to bulk back up. More like you and Leo. I'm too scrawny."

"I don't think you're scrawny," David quickly interjected.

Chris raised an eyebrow.

"Next to you? I'm scrawny. I mean look at you," Chris said, voice lowering and that same almost predatory look seeping back into his dark eyes.

David blushed a little at the attention.

"Can't wait to get my hands on you when you get back, missed you so bad," Chris said, voice low and smooth.

"What are you going to do?" David asked, swallowing hard. He could feel his heart rate increasing, blood rushing in his ears, his uniform pants painfully restrictive.

"What am I going to do? Hmm. That's a good question," Chris murmured, shifting a little again so that it was now clear he definitely wasn't wearing anything under the sheet draped lazily across his lap, David could see his bare hip down to his thigh on one side.

"Well first I figure we'll be so excited to see each other that when we get home we'll probably just grind on each other right inside the damn hallway of the house until we both come in our pants like teenagers," Chris said matter-of-factly. David smirked and shrugged, knowing this was likely going to be the case.

"But once we're done with that I'm going to drag you upstairs to this bed, and I'm going to strip off every piece of clothing on your body, then I'm going to lick up all the mess we will have just made," he said, voice so low David could practically feel it vibrating through his chest. He barely stifled the moan that wanted to escape at just the thought of it.

"What are you thinking about?" Chris asked and David palmed himself through his uniform, unable to resist.

"You. Your hands, your mouth Chris… god your mouth," he breathed helplessly.

"Good. Take off your clothes, now," he said firmly and David obeyed without hesitation.

"Don't touch yourself yet," Chris warned and for a few seconds David strongly considered disobeying. The two men stared at each other intensely before Chris smirked dangerously and began to speak again, voice low and sensual.

"So once I've got you all cleaned up, I'm going to get you all messy again. Get you sloppy wet and open for me, and then I'm going to pin you to this bed and fuck you, but I'm not going to let you come. No. I'm going to fuck you until I come, then you're going to fuck me. That's it, touch yourself," Chris encouraged, pupils blown wide with his own arousal, sheet pushed aside and his left hand around his own erection pumping lazily.

"Chris, fuck," David whined, biting his lip. Watching each other through the video comm. was just too much for him to handle, having been apart so long and barely having time for anything other than very quickly jerking off in the shower, his endurance was drastically reduced.

"And… there's something else I want you to do to me David," Chris said, voice low and sensual.

"What is it?" David asked, fighting to keep his voice steady, his hand moving more rapidly.

"I want you to come all over me, on my face, in my mouth… I want it all over me. I feel so dirty even saying it… but I can't stop thinking about it," he admitted breathlessly. David knew his mouth must be hanging open in an expression somewhere between comedic shock and extreme arousal.

"Fuck, yes, yes I want to, so much."

"Do you have any lube there with you?" Chris asked and David shook his head, biting his lip as he neared the edge, fighting to keep back from it.

"Shame. I mean, I do, but it's too bad you don't too," Chris said conversationally, letting go of himself and fumbling in the sheets for a small bottle before pushing the sheets aside, letting his legs fall open, drawing one knee up and to the side. David's jaw went slack as Chris reached between his legs and lower, circling his own hole for a moment with two slick fingers before pressing one inside. He moaned quietly, head tipping back, exposing the long line of his neck to David's hungry gaze.

"Wish I was there to do that," he said awkwardly. Chris didn't seem fazed by talking dirty to him over the video link, but David felt uncomfortable and it showed.

Chris added a second finger and whimpered as he pressed them deeper.

"Not gonna last," he warned as he resumed stroking himself with the other hand.

David shook his head and bit his lip.

"Me either. Fuck you're so hot, can't wait to get home and ride you," he said, barely even believing the words had come out of his mouth, red blush rising in his neck. Chris looked surprised but enthused.

"Yeah? I can't wait either. I'm so close," he warned.

"Oh god, me too," David moaned, biting the back of his other hand to try and stay quiet.

Chris finished first by a few seconds. The sight of his bondmate going over the edge, blissed out expression, his release splattering his torso up to his chest was enough to send David over too with a loud groan half muffled by his hand.

They sat in silence for a few moments, both just breathing heavily and staring at each other before David laughed breathlessly.

"That was kind of intense," he giggled.

Chris grinned.

"Yeah, but going to be so much better when we can actually do it for real,"

"Agreed. Is this a secure channel?" he asked breathlessly, slumping back onto his bed and staring at the ceiling. He heard Chris's chuckle.

"Of course. We couldn't have the media get hold of something like this now could we?"

David lay still for a few moments until his breathing and heart rate had returned to normal before sitting up slowly. Chris was smirking at him, already cleaned up, and looking wide awake.

"You look kind of wrecked."

David glanced down at himself before lunging for his discarded uniform undershirt and using it to mop up the rapidly cooling mess on his torso.

"Won't somebody in laundry see that shirt?"

"Not if I throw it out of the airlock," David grinned, dropping it back to the floor and resuming staring at his bondmate.

They stared at each other for long enough that it should have been uncomfortable, but it wasn't, it felt perfectly right to just look at each other, memorise the details of the others face.

"So I was thinking when you get home, we could have a conversation," Chris said, tone not quite as relaxed now.

"Well, I was thinking that too… I mean sex is great but we'll have to talk to each other at some point eventually," David teased and Chris rolled his eyes.

"I'm being serious. I was hoping we could talk about getting-"

The door chime of David's quarters rang and he froze in sheer panic for a second, before scrambling for clothing.

Chris watched, slowly pulling on his own casual clothing as David quickly re-dressed in his uniform, now less the undershirt which he hastily kicked under his bunk before answering the door.

Chris watched as an attractive female entered his bondmates quarters.

"Hughes. I'm kinda busy, is this anything important?"

The woman, Hughes, looked at David, then at Chris on the screen, then back to David; who was still obviously flushed from their earlier activities.

"It is, actually. First of all you should introduce me to your friend there," she smirked, nodding at Chris. David rolled his eyes.

"Lieutenant Hughes, Christopher Kirk," he said very quickly and the Lieutenant grinned.

"Your boyfriend."

Chris opened his mouth to protest before David answered first.

"I prefer the term bondmate, or partner, or basically anything other than boyfriend… makes us sound about fourteen when you put it like that," he scrumpled up his face.

"She knows?" Chris asked and David nodded.

"Apparently my pining for you hasn't been at all subtle. But don't worry, she's cool," David assured and Hughes nodded.

"I can tell you guys the good news together then, even better! We're going home. Just got orders, we drop off one last batch of supplies from the Starbase to that new colony, and we're ready to go home. Should put us back planetside in about five days or so," she said, smiling as she looked between David and Chris who were both grinning like idiots.

"That was all gentlemen, nice to meet you Kirk. I'll leave you guys to it, it stinks like sex in here anyway," she said, turning on her heel and leaving David's quarters. The door swished closed behind her and he groaned as Chris began to roar with laughter.

"This-isnt-funny!" David protested as Chris only laughed harder.

"Your commanding officer just told you your quarters stink of sex, and found us on the video comm. I think that qualifies as pretty damn hilarious! She seems ok, I'm sure you could have been stuck working with worse people," he said, getting his giggles under control and David nodded.

"We started off pretty rocky. We're good now though, everyone on board is getting along really well. But holy shit five days?! That's almost a week earlier than I was expecting!"

"I'll just have to make sure the house is ready for you when you get back. You're going to love it," Chris smiled.

David had left before Chris had moved into the house they would be sharing with Emily and Leo.

"Hmm. I'm sure I'd love anywhere I get to live with you," he smiled, trying to stifle a yawn.

"What were you-" he had to stop and yawn widely, unable to stop himself any longer. The tiredness of the mission was building after barely having any time off for the past six weeks. "What were you saying before Hughes came in? A conversation?" David asked and Chris blushed a little.

"Oh… uh… it's ok, it can wait until we see each other, only a few more days now. Plus you seem pretty tired, I don't want to be keeping a man from his bed," Chris said and David slumped into the bunk, kicking his uniform pants back off again.

"You look wrecked," Chris commented and David found just enough energy to raise his middle finger in the direction of the comm screen.

"I didn't realise how tired I was until just now," he mumbled, nuzzling his face into the pillow.

"Would it be creepy for me to stay on the line just to watch you sleep?" Chris asked and David peeked one eye open to look at him on the screen.

"That would be just about the creepiest thing ever."

Chris laughed and David felt like his heart skipped a beat just at the sound of it and the expression on Chris' face. He looked so relaxed and content, and was looking at him in a way that almost made him want to hide.

"Do you mind though? Just for a little bit? I've missed watching you sleep. Just pretend like I'm not here," Chris asked softly and David snorted.

"Can I roll over and face away from you?"

"Can you ditch your boxers if you're going to so I can stare at your ass?" Chris smirked and David managed a tired chuckle.

"G'night Chris. Love you and all that," he said quietly, eyes closing. Chris was silent for a few seconds before he responded just as David was drifting off to sleep.

"I love you so much. Goodnight."

*~*~*~*PAGE BREAK*~*~*~*

"Where are we going?" Joanna asked with a giggle as she was pulled along by her hand through the crowded corridors.

"You'll find out when we get there," Quinn grinned, turning to give her a brief wink.

She recognised the route through HQ as heading towards one of the main shuttle bays.

"Are we taking a shuttle?" she asked as they took a sharp left, further confirming her theory.

"Maybe," he answered shortly.

"Is this for my birthday?" she asked excitedly and he smiled knowingly.

"It's for me to know and you to find out, ok?" he said mock-firmly and she pouted.

He led them through the busy shuttle bay towards a corner she was not familiar with. She noticed Chekov standing nearby and waved and smiled. He waved back, in conversation with another crewman standing with him.

Tucker gave him a questioning look and Sulu tilted his head towards the left, hinting at one of two small shuttles in the area. After a hasty thumbs up to Chekov, Tucker was talking Joanna into boarding the shuttle.

"Where are we going?" she tried again.

"Somewhere nice. You'll like it, I promise," he said and she looked at him suspiciously.

"There'll be snow," he admitted and she squealed excitedly, bounding into the shuttle. Growing up in Georgia, then in space, had meant that as a young girl Joanna McCoy had rarely got to see snow. Now in the second half of her twenties it still brought out a childlike excitement in her.

Boarding the small shuttle she noticed a suitcase as well as a pillow and blanket folded neatly in one of the seating areas.

"Long flight?" she asked and he shrugged.

"Long enough I thought you might want to get some rest. We're going somewhere on Earth, but it'll take us a few hours to get there," he said, smiling as she moved in close and wrapped her arms around him. He closed his around her in return, resting his chin on top of her head and breathing deeply.

"I won't ask any more questions then. But I will tell you I'm really excited!" she said, skipping like a child towards the rear of the small shuttle and getting comfortable for the flight.

She managed to take a short nap before deciding to sit up front next to Quinn.

"Not too much further," he grinned. They were soaring over water still, impossibly high in the atmosphere as Joanna looked down as best she could through the cockpit window and tried to make sense of it.

"We're at about eighty-thousand feet," he responded without her needing to ask.

"What are we doing when we get to… wherever we're going?" she asked and he smirked.

"I can't tell you sorry. We get there, we have a few hours after we check in, then we're going somewhere to try and spot something special, then we're sleeping, then I gotta get Chekov this shuttle back before anybody notices it's missing," he said and she smiled; excitement and nervousness twisting her stomach.

It felt like it took hardly any time at all and they were landing softly on fresh, brilliant white snow.

"Get changed, can't have you freezin' up on me," Quinn instructed, unzipping the suitcase that had been sitting inconspicuously at the back of the shuttle and handing her a warm coat, extra woolly jumper, her winter boots, hat, scarf and mittens.

"You remembered everything," she grinned and he shrugged.

"Not quite. I realised on the way over that I think I forgot my toothbrush," he admitted, scratching the back of his head.

She giggled and proceeded to pull on all the extra clothing he had packed for her, him adding layers of his own before he released the hatch and the door opened.

They clambered outside into a perfect winter landscape. Rolling hills covered in dark evergreen trees stretched as far as the eye could see, everything covered in a thick helping of snow and looking something like a freshly iced Christmas cake.

He looked around for a moment, getting his bearings.

"Ok, we need to walk that way," he instructed vaguely and she looked at him suspiciously before taking his offered hand, the two of them beginning their walk through the thick snow, struggling as it came up almost to their knees.

They made easy conversation as they walked, until they rounded a corner and Joanna couldn't find any words other than-

"Is that where we're staying?" she asked as the structure came into view.

"It might be," he grinned knowingly and she squealed with excitement, almost knocking him over with the force of her hug.

"How did you know I've always wanted to stay in one of these?!" she asked, not remembering ever telling him this particular dream of hers.

"Oh… you know, a little bird told me," he said vaguely, face pink with the exertion of walking through the snow and carrying the suitcase.

"David?" she asked, cutting straight to the point.

"Yeah. Maybe. In my defence, he knows a lot about you!" he said and Joanna laughed. David had a memory for odd, seemingly useless pieces of conversation that others would often forget.

They were staying in a building that was half log-cabin, half generated shield. The wooden structure ended at around waist height and the high domed ceiling was a perfectly clear energy shield generated by a small unit built into the cabin. The shield could also be set at varying levels of transparency, and also to be clear from the inside but opaque from the outside, allowing total privacy, not that they had yet seen another soul since arriving.

"This is too much," she said quickly and she took her hands.

"Darlin' nothin' is too much for you, ok? Now get used to it because there's more," he said softly and she swallowed nervously.

"More now or more later?" she asked and he laughed.

"Always with the questions. More later, come on, let's get in before one of us starts losing toes or fingers, damn cold out here," he said, holding her hand tightly as they approached the small building. He entered a code and the shield acting as a door dropped, allowing them entry.

It was blissfully warm inside the cabin, and somehow seemingly larger on the inside than it looked from the outside. The cabin was mostly one large room, with one door leading off which Joanna presumed was the bathroom. The floor was wooden and felt warm underfoot, with plush rugs scattered around. A large bed was at one end of the room, a fireplace near to it with a chimney going upwards and out through the shield ceiling. There was a small kitchen in one corner, a small table for two, a comfortable looking couch with piles of cushions and blankets.

"Quinn!" she scolded, knowing this must have cost him a lot of money to rent for the night.

"Nuh-uh," he protested, beginning to strip off layers of winter clothing. "This is a gift, no complainin', no arguin', just enoying, alright?" he said, and she got the feeling this would be the final time he would argue this with her so she nodded, trying to stop her eyes brimming with tears.

"Ok, thank you. I think this is the nicest thing anybody has ever done for me," she said honestly. Sure she'd had great trips away in the past with the family, and growing up had never wanted for much, but never had a previous boyfriend done something so thoughtful for her birthday.

"So, we have a couple hours until the sun goes down. I figure we can-" Quinn was cut off by Joanna pressing her lips to his, pulling at his shirt as she did so and pushing him back in the cabin towards the huge four-poster bed sitting right in the middle of the main room.

"We can probably do this for a while," he smirked as they broke apart for air, him now on his back on the bed, Joanna straddling him on all fours.

"Yeah, this is good," she answered breathlessly as he pulled her final shirt over her head and threw it aside.

"Computer, set shield transparency level," Tucker called out hopefully. A bleep confirmed the computer acknowledged him.

Request level.

They smirked at each other for a moment before Joanna answered for them.

"Transparent one-hundred percent from the inside; and opaque one hundred percent from the outside."

Tucker raised an eyebrow, his smirk growing.

Confirmed.

The shield around them briefly changed colour as their request was actioned before becoming clear once again to their eyes.

"Think it's worked?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't care," she answered with a grin.

*~*~*~*Four hours later*~*~*~*

They hadn't moved from the bed since they arrived aside from Tucker getting up to fetch a bottle of Champagne in the fridge, as well as some strawberries and melted chocolate.

"It's so beautiful," Joanna whispered as they watched the swirling of the Aurora Borealis over them, warm and secure in their bed, their planned night-time hike forgotten as there was no need to leave the cabin to see the lights. Quinn leant down to set his glass of champagne on the floor for a moment and pick something up from the floor that he had hidden just under the bed earlier; Joanna didn't take her eyes from the colours above her.

"Not as beautiful as you," Quinn responded and she turned to protest and froze before she could say a word as he turned onto his side facing her, head propped up with one arm, the other hand outstretched towards her with a small, sparking object clasped between his forefinger and thumb.

"I'm sure you probably had a feelin' this was coming… so here goes," he cleared his throat and glanced down for a moment before meeting her eyes again. The shimmering of the green aurora above them was reflected in them and he had to take a moment to stare.

"You're everything to me… Jo… I really can't believe it's only been a couple of years because I feel like I've known you forever. You're so funny and kind and beautiful and you just make every day so much brighter… I want to give you the rest of my life, and I want to spend it trying to make you as happy as you make me every single day. Joanna McCoy, will you marry me?" he asked softly and her eyes filled with tears as she clasped both hands over her mouth in disbelief.

She started nodding a few seconds later, taking her trembling hands away from her face and wrapping her arms around him, pulling him close.

"I'm gonna need an answer darlin'," he chuckled as she nearly crushed him with the force of her embrace.

"Yes. Charles Tucker the fifth, I will marry you," she grinned, tears of joy spilling onto her cheeks as she moved back slightly so he could slip the ring onto her finger.

"It's-"she started before stuttering over her words.

"It's an Opal. I uhh… I talked to you dad, to get his blessing to ask you… and I asked him and he said they were your favourites since you were little," he admitted sheepishly, feeling immediately guilty when two more large tears rolled down Joanna's face.

"My mom used to wear a necklace of them, all different sizes," she said and he nodded.

"I know. One of them is the one in your ring," he said and she sniffled, looking at the stone set in the ring on her finger.

"H-how?"

"Your dad had a few small things he saved from her house. The necklace was one of them. I had the stone replaced in it… I just wanted the one in your ring to be from it," he said, cheeks now bright pink with embarrassment.

"Thank you," she whispered and he smiled, holding her close and planting a gentle kiss on her forehead.

They were silent for a few long minutes, alternately looking at each other and the mesmerizing patterns that swirled above them in the night sky.

"So you asked my dad for his blessing? How'd that go?" she sniggered after a few minutes and he let out a heavy sigh.

"He's still the most terrifying man in the world, but it seemed to go pretty well. He said he was grateful something good had come of that day on the ship, in us meeting, and then he said some nice things about me being a decent guy but that he'd kill me if I hurt you, and then your brother said he'd find a way to raise me from the dead to kill me again if I ever hurt you… so… yeah, it went about as well as expected," he said and she giggled, linking their hands together.

"You asked David too?" she questioned and he nodded.

"I wanted to… just to make sure your family were ok with this. Your dad and your brother are very protective of you, it only seemed right to ask them both," he said and she grinned.

"You're so adorable with all your old-fashioned gentlemanly charm."

He leant down and closed the gap between their lips once again, kissing her tenderly.

"I love you so much," he said softly when they broke apart, their lips barely an inch apart.

"I love you too, forever."

*~*~*~*~*PAGE BREAK*~*~*~*~*

"He asked her then?" David asked excitedly and his father nodded, a smile creeping onto his face.

"How did he ask?" he pressed, feeling a little bit like he was just asking for gossip but at the same time just so happy for his sister.

"They went up to one of those cabins with the clear shields as roofs way up North and he asked her under the northern lights and the milky way… all sounds very romantic," said Leonard, David could tell he was half fighting the urge to roll his eyes, and half actually genuinely impressed with Quinn's romantic gesture.

"Well that's adorable, she loves the snow."

"She always did. I think I gave him the idea. I also gave him a necklace of Jocelyn's; he had one of the stones taken from it and set in the ring he asked her with."

David swallowed dryly. He knew Joanna missed her mother, she rarely talked about her but losing her at a young age hadn't been easy. She had a very good relationship with Carol, but David knew it would never be the same.

"That's really thoughtful," David sighed wistfully, sitting on his bunk.

"Oh he'll ask you soon enough, don't sweat it," Leonard chuckled at his son's obvious hint of jealousy.

"Pssh. As if. I'll still be waitin' on him when I'm old and grey. It's ok though, things are good as they are," he said, genuinely meaning it despite the sceptical look from his father.

He glanced at the time, his shift was due to start again in only half an hour. It felt like days since he and Chris had spoken, but in reality it had only been about nine hours. The time difference caused David no-end of confusion.

"You on beta shift?" his father asked and David nodded.

"Guess I'd better let you go then. It was good to talk to you. It'll be good to have you home kid," he said, fidgeting with the buttons on his shirt and not making eye-contact.

"Yeah; you too Dad. Tell Mom I said hi, I'll try and catch her at home next time, but I should be home in a few days now, and tell Joanna I left her a message," he said and his father nodded.

"Will do. Be safe out there. I'll see you soon," he said, looking up at the screen again with a small smile.

"I will. See you a couple of days!" he said cheerily, cutting off the comm. link and slumping back into his bunk for a few minutes before hauling himself into his tiny bathroom for a sonic shower.

He dragged himself to the bridge a few minutes before the start of his shift to relieve Hughes who smirked as she passed him over the chair, still amused by earlier when she had caught David and Chris on the video comm.

Fighting to keep himself awake already, David began his eight-hour stint in the Captain's chair of the small ship, no idea that his very boring time on the ship was about to change entirely.

~*~*~*~*PAGE BREAK*~*~*~*~

Chris couldn't deny that finals week was absolutely killing him. He had exam after gruelling exam, and he was grateful David was away because even if he had been home he would have struggled to get two words out of him with how busy he was with all of his exams.

When he'd received a comm. from Carol sounding terrified he'd dropped what he was doing and rushed across campus, barging his way into the room to be met with something that made a lead weight fall into the pit of his stomach.

The ship David had been on had been attacked and heavily damaged.

There was no visual comm. link, only audio, and Carol as well as two other senior members of staff were trying to keep the link open. She locked her eyes on him the second he entered the room and pulled him to one side. Her face was white and scared and she all of a sudden looked awfully small and vulnerable, nothing like the strong woman Chris knew her to be.

"Who-"

"We don't know. Not Klingons, that's all we have for sure yet. A bulkhead was breached and several cadets were sucked out but somebody got it sealed and there's someone still alive out there, we just can't get a response but the signal is verified going through. David's bio signs are still active but the system is so screwed up its flicking life signs for all of them and-" she drew a sharp intake of breath and closed her eyes. Chris took her hand and although he knew he shouldn't, forced waves of calm into her mind through the physical contact.

"So what are we doing about it?" he asked as calmly as he could.

She swallowed hard and took a second to compose herself.

"There's a ship on the way, I think it's Sulu… he… he said he's going to go and take a look and rescue anyone left," she said, voice finishing in almost a whisper.

"You call Bones?" Chris asked quietly and she nodded.

"He's in surgery, didn't get through. I left a message but he could be hours," she said, a single tear falling and slowly beginning to trail down her face.

"Shh, it's ok, I'm sure he's ok. Where are the bio sensors for the ship?" Chris asked and she pointed him to the left. He approached the panel, taking a second to establish himself with the readings.

David's heart rate was registering as 194bpm, blood pressure high, body temperature high, breathing rate rapid.

There were two people's monitors showing nothing at all, and the other three were showing life signs that would flicker in and out, dropping into dead before coming back to life.

"His is the only stable reading," Chris pointed out.

"We commed for engineering to come check the panel over, but if the ship broadcasting the information is damaged the information can't be trusted," Carol said slowly.

The door slid open and for a few seconds nobody reacted. It wasn't until Chris noticed Admiral Mitchell standing in the door way and immediately stood to attention that everyone else followed suit.

"At ease. What's the situation? Something on the graduate training mission?" he asked and Carol gave him the shortest explanation she could muster. Chris could see fresh tears glinting in her eyes as he slowly made his way towards the comm. panel and the two officers sitting there trying to make contact with the ship.

"Your son is aboard?" Mitchell asked and Carol nodded.

"I think it's better if you leave, Admiral," he said and Chris glared at the back of his head, biting his tongue.

Carol clenched her jaw and stood her ground.

The comm. panel crackled with a terrified voice Chris knew all too well.

HELLO? ANYBODY?

"You've got the command centre here, who are we speaking to?" the officer at the comm. desk responded.

Help us! Something… I don't know what they were. They blind-sided us. We've got injuries, and the bulkhead breached and I think… I think two were sucked out. I think they're dead.

"Verify your identity," the officer prompted.

Ensign David McCoy. Will you help me now? Or is this part of your training too?

Chris could hear David losing his patience rapidly.

"Can you give us any more information? Are the hostiles still in the area?"

I think they boarded the ship. We're hiding in engineering, the door has been locked down from our side so we should be safe for a while.

"Captain Hikaru Sulu of the USS Intrepid is near to your position and they will be with you within the next thirty minutes," the officer relayed.

There was only silence from David's end of the communication.

"Can you confirm the identity of the others who are with you in the engineering deck?"

A crackle of static.

Uh… yeah. I've got Hughes but she's knocked out, Riley… Paul Riley is here, and uh… Louisa Russo and Javi-, and… uh… fuck. Wait.

There was screaming in the background and Carol closed her eyes. Chris could see her shaking from across the room. He glanced to the admiral to find his eyes firmly on him and he moved forwards towards the comm. panel.

"McCoy? It's Kirk. Are you hurt?" he asked carefully.

There wasn't any response but the sounds of weapons fire now came through the comm. panel.

"David?" he pressed. Then he heard it. Screaming. David screaming, the other cadets screaming. He felt sick.

"David? Please tell me you can hear me ok? Please respond."

He practically barged the officer at the comm. post aside to get their monitor, whole body tense as he listened to the battle on the ship.

Bursts of weapons fire, a cry of pain, more weapons fire followed by what sounded like a door closing and then silence.

"David?" Chris tried again.

Chris. They're here. Fuck they're here. I'm going to die. I don't want to die, please

He was panicking, whispering as they were obviously hiding from whoever they were fighting.

"You aren't going to die. Who is it that's aboard the ship?" he asked, wanting to be able to get the information to Sulu so he'd know what he was going into.

They… They look like Orions. Slavers maybe. They got into engineering through the door, it's like they were looking for us. Riley's been shot, don't know how long he's got without medical attention. I'm hit too but it isn't so bad. We managed to take a few of them down but we had to pull back. We're hiding in a ventilation shaft above the main deck, I've re-routed this to my personal comm. and we can't get back to the panel.

There was a collective sigh in the command room. Admiral Mitchell ran a hand through his hair, ordered one of the officers to update him and then left the room at a brisk walk, the second he was gone Carol rushed to the panel.

"David?" she asked.

Mom?

"Are you okay?" she breathed and there was a choked sob from the communications line.

People are dead.

"I know sweetheart. I know. You need to stay strong now and work together and you'll be okay. Sulu is close, they'll help you," she assured.

I'm going to die. They're going to destroy the ship and I'm going to die.

"You aren't going to die," Chris interrupted sharply.

No? And how do you know that?

"Because-" Chris paused. Then he blurted out his next sentence without a moment's thought for the consequences. "Because we're going to get married. And you can't be dead. You have to get home so I can make an honest man out of you. Just say yes," he said, fighting back tears.

There was a long pause then a sound that could have either been the beginning of laughter or tears.

Are you serious? Is now a good time to be having this conversation?

"Good a time as any. What do you say? David McCoy, will you survive today and get back here safely and marry me?" he asked. Carol had one hand over her face, the other now resting on Chris' forearm, gripping tightly.

God damn it Chris! There's a time and a place. I'm… fucking shot! And hiding in a fucking vent about to get abducted and sold into slavery!

"Should I take that as a yes?" Chris asked.

Yeah… Yeah I guess. If you're serious.

"I'm very serious. Now get home safe and we will, okay? Now it's been ten minutes, Sulu is closer to you now, he's so close. You'll be safe soon. Any sign of any hostiles?" Chris asked and David exhaled heavily.

I can't believe you fucking proposed to me.

"Slavers, David, are there any?"

None that I can see.

"And the rest of the crew, are they in the vent with you? Safe?"

There's five of us. Two I think went out the breach, two unaccounted for, but five here. One is making a bloody mess of the place though.

Chris could hear a small chuckle in the background, presumably from the injured cadet.

"That's good. Just stay where you are, stay quiet and keep safe. I'm going to get off the comm. now, you guys should probably stay quiet and-"

Chris was cut off as the incoming sound became nothing more than a mess of screaming. There was a loud metallic slamming sound and more screaming before a burst of static and then silence.

Chris closed his eyes and took a steadying breath, his heart pounding against his ribcage as he did everything he could to try and reach out to David's mind through the bond.

It wasn't working, he was just too far away and they had been apart too long. He punched the nearest panel in frustration, heart pounding in his chest. Beside him Carol was trembling as she gave orders to the officers sat at the monitors.

It felt like an age before they received a comm. from Sulu.

They had reached the ship, three cadets had been found hidden above the engineering deck. Ensign David McCoy and Lieutenant Hughes were not amongst them, and the Orion ship was nowhere to be found, but that they had a trace on their warp signature and they were prepared to pursue.

Carol managed to get Chris a seat on a shuttle going up to space-dock to join a ship heading out the following day which could rendez-vous with the Intrepid, meaning he could join the search. He focused all his spare energy into funnelling one thought through the bond, hoping against hope it was getting through.

Hang on David, I'm coming to get you back.