"Spock!"

Jim's voice was hardly distinguishable as it was caught and thrown away by the buffeting, snarling wind that was whirling around him. Static buzzed within his ear and lightening crackled distinctively above his head, sending blue shards of light through the air and making his skin tingle uncomfortably. Spock reached out in the direction of the faint word, trying desperately to reconnect with the Captain through the now reeling sandstorm.

Sand?

There had been no sand before...

"Spock!"

His blindly groping hand connected with another and he grabbed it instinctively, pulling it towards him with the help of the entirety of strength his body contained. A feat which should have been easy turned into a battle of wills against the unnatural elements until a familiar weight finally jolted against him and blue eyes were staring into his, their features bloodshot and red rimed from the intensity of the storm. Tanned hands wove into his dusty science uniform, twisting there and holding on as Spock moved his own arms around the golden back to secure the human in place. They mustn't separate again or risk completely losing each other, a result which neither could afford. They needed to get back to the ship somehow, but the storm made beaming impossible. That was the last piece of information he was provided with before communication had completely cut out , shutting of Chekov's final frantic report. Spock bent his head forward, closing his eyes against the biting wind as the howling seemed to grow louder, sending black strands of his fringe jumping around erratically. What they needed was shelter.

He felt a hand creep upwards from its place on his shirt, until it was placed upon the exposed hollow of his neck, the touch sending a tremor through him despite the ferocity of the situation. Emotion flowed through him.

Fear.....desperation....worries.... worries for....the Enterprise and.... for him....and then...

Spock?

Spock's eyes flew open, widening at the sudden voice inside his head before being forced to clench shut once again. This was not possible. He had shields, multiple ones, erected within his mind. They were fortifications; phaser proof in all regards. They had been there since his younger years. According to his father, who had told him at a later date, even the healers on Vulcan had had trouble breaching them. The captain should not be able to enter his conscious in any form as a result. It was just not possible.

As if to annoyingly contradict him, the overly familiar voice came again.

Spock?

Spock paused, searching and then finding a slight golden presence at the corner of his mind. He contemplated it for a moment.

Captain?

Spock could almost feel the smile within him.

Hey there!

What are you doing? Spock asked plainly, his disbelief jarring within him. The Captain ignored it however, providing what acquainted to a mental eye roll instead and then replied.

Just finding a way to talk to you without eating buckets of sand in the process. A wince followed this statement. I've probably already swallowed enough to be a permanent sand castle by now.

Spock could not answer, his own mind still reeling as it tried to accommodate this unexpected addition to his thought stream. How had he...?

Spock?

Spock shook himself, tightening his hold on the human in front of him, making their bodies come into further contact as they were both buffeted sideways again. Spock took advantage of the connection despite its strange nature and replied to the inquiry.

It seems we are in a slight predicament captain.

A snort.

Tell me about it! Seriously, what is it with us two, fucking ion storms, and happening to run into them all the time?

Spock couldn't help the spike of amusement as it shot through him.

It is true that there seems to be a slight increase in their presence surrounding us than is logistically normal. However, I believe this is not an ion storm in essence, but more of a parable vortex phenomenon.

Vortex? What, like a time vortex?

Spock sighed internally. I do not believe the technology to recede into the past or project to the future has become known to us just yet Captain, so such a thing is unlikely....

Another eye roll.

...as such I am presently uncertain as to its full capacitates or nature.

And we can't get back to the ship either, yes?

Indeed.

And the possibilities of finding shelter are not promising?

Correct.

So...we're screwed?

Essentially.

Ah...I love it when you're so straight forward with me Spock. Those one word answers are a real turn on you know.

Captain-

It was then that the golden light which had started to become surprisingly comfortable was suddenly ripped from his mind. Spock gasped at the emptiness as he was aggressively jolted back to the reality outside his mind. He came externally conscious to find his arms empty. Horror shot through him.

"Captain?!"

It was impossible not to detect the fear within the word as he lost sight of the Captain, spinning sand covering wherever he might have been within seconds. He became aware of the scene surrounding him and quickly noticed something different.

Darkness was now swirling and withering, circling his prone figure. It whipped around him, snaking through his arms and across his throat, the tendrils icy cold against his skin. He tried to move forward but his legs couldn't comply with the action. He looked down and found them buried within a compacted mass of brown and yellow sand. He growled, frustrated, as lights and sparks began to dance across his skin. The sinister ribbons grabbed at him and he jerked away in response. Where was the Captain? He must find him...

Spock felt a jolt and it was all he could do to realise that his legs had fallen out beneath him and he himself was presently falling, plummeting into a dark unforgiving abyss before he hit something hard and instantly loss all sense of time, purpose and mind.

------

When next he woke Spock was hot, not just warm, but burning. He lay on his stomach on some form of stable surface, his eyes closed tightly; that much he could comprehend. Footsteps were moving toward him quickly as well apparently, running heavy and hard against the ground.

"Spock!"

Was that the Captain's voice? Disorientation had warped his senses to an astonishingly mute level and he couldn't...quite....

"Spock?" The voice came again and now hands were touching his back, rolling him over and then touching his face softly. "Darling, are you hurt?"

Darling?

While the Captain had multiple endearments he loved to friendly torment him with, darling had never been one. Neither did he touch him in such a way. Spock forced his eyes to open, the sand which presently gritted them shut making such an action particularly hard and painful. When he finally succeeded by wrenching them open, light assaulted his vision and he blinked, sun spots dancing within his sight.

The glare disappeared as a dark shadow moved in front of the harsh brightness and his vision cleared with its absence.

When he saw who knelt over him, he froze despite the aggressive heat, his blood running cold, and his head suddenly spinning. The face above him was openly stricken and what seem to be tears streaked down across cheeks, making paths in the red dust which had obviously settled there beforehand.

"Spock?"

Spock swallowed roughly, willing his throat to move, staring aghast at the women above him and couldn't help but gape. When his voice eventually came it was disbelieving and shocked, choked against the firmament of illogic which had decided to present itself to him.

"...Mother?"

I thought I would just throw in one of those lovely cliff hangers which everyone just adores so much right there. The point of view of this story will change depending upon who provides the best insight, so I'll juggle it between Jim and Spock respectively. I have a pretty basic outline to what I want to happen so hopefully we will all get their eventually!

One warning however is that I'm a sporadic writer. There is a method to my madness, but somewhere along the line it usually gets lost. So really, I can't predict when updates will occur.

Despite this however, I hope you enjoy it and please review because I would love to know your thoughts etcetera...

Kudos...