A/N: Many thanks to stelesandwands for helping me solve my problem with this chapter.

"My name is Khan."

At the moment, it was just a name to her. That was to be expected if she really was out of contact with events concerning the Federation. While it was strange to not be recognized any more, he primarily saw the advantage in this. Unaware of who he was or even what he had done, Khan would be able to shape her perception of him.

"So, have you done anything that I should now about?" Lea said and added: "In the past ... decade?"

"Maybe I tell you more about it in due time", he replied and leaned back.

He sensed her disappointment at the answer. He wondered if she truly has been a decade out of touch or if that was just an act. Considering she was so young, a decade away from Federation space seemed like an awful long time. If she really faked all of this, then she was certainly the most brilliant actress he had ever seen. At this point, he was far more inclined to believe that she was indeed what she seemed to be.

"Well, the real question is anyway, what am I doing here?"

A surprisingly straightforward question, he smiled at her. A change of strategy on her part might indicate that she had arrived at her own conclusions. There was very little to read for either of them. He was sure that he hid his body language better than she was able to. What gave her more insight was the fact that he had played the active role so far.

Instead of saying anything, he stood up fetching his pad from the table. Realizing how nervous he made her by towering over her, he remained standing. Opening a specific file, he handed the pad over to her.

"Tell me what you think it is."

Looking up at him, she took the pad and studied it. As she studied the data and scrolled through it carefully, he saw the confusion. At first, he thought it was because she was not able to identify it.

"Red blood cells. There are more similarities than differences to human blood cells. The most notable probably that they store almost triple the amount of oxygen..."

As it turned out, her confusion stemmed from the fact how easy the task was for her. From her tone he might as well have put an orange in front of her and asked her what type of fruit it was. The amazing thing was, that what he had shown her was not the digitalized sample but the breakdown of components. Only someone with highly advanced medical knowledge would have been able to identify this so precisely. A test he had expected her to fail. At best he had hoped that she would be vaguely familiar with the analytical approach.

"Very accurate, those blood cells belong to me."

Khan relished the look she gave him now. She understood the implications.

"So, you are an augment?"

It was more a statement than a question. It also proved his theory that she had ties to Starfleet in her past. While she seemed to lack knowledge of the events of his time, she was certainly aware of the events only a hundred years back.

"One of the originals", he said. "I spend a long time in cryo-stasis before I was unfortunate enough to run across a Starfleet vessel."

"What happened?"

Khan took the pad from here and opened more files, but did not give them back right away. He liked where this was going.

"I was awoken by an Admiral whose ambition was far greater than his intellect. He thought he could use me to build him weapons. Weapons that would make him the hero in the coming war with the Klingons."

He left out the part where his crew was involved. It was better not to make her aware of the revenge he sought for their deaths.

"Now, you are doing the same for the Cardassians."

Unsure what exactly had revealed it, the doctor had seen through his current dilemma. Unless of course, she knew because she was working for Malek. He looked over to the table with the medical tricorder. It gave him an idea.

"This is a more recent blood sample."

While the doctor examined the new data files, this time with the complete analysis and digital scans, he retrieved the tricorder with two vials for taking blood samples.

"The amount of oxygen stored in your blood cells has gone down by almost 20%."

He nodded and she went on. "When was the other one taken?"

"About five weeks ago."

"That is unusual, any idea what caused this?"

"The more advanced scanners in the med-bay did reveal a virus. It's slow acting, specifically engineered to bypass my immune-system."

"Engineered by whom?"

That was indeed the question. The time needed to create a virus that was having such unique custom-tailored properties would be measured in month. The resources needed would also have to be substantial. It would also require access to his blood. Which made it unlikely that Malek was behind the virus.

While Khan doubted that the grumpy doctor from the enterprise was involved with the creation of the virus, McCoy had taken an interest in his blood. After Spock had beaten him unconscious he had taken even more. Khan had not regained full consciousness before being frozen once more. From bits and pieces, whenever he had come back to the surface of consciousness, it was obvious that they had kept him alive for that purpose. He had been awake long enough for his injuries to heal.

At any rate, Khan was convinced that enough of his blood had been available and that there had been sufficient time for someone else to get hold of it.

"I am not sure, maybe a precaution by Starfleet in case someone woke me up again."

She did not believe that or maybe did not want to.

"You think, Starfleet is all about sticking to their rules," Khan taunted her. "But there are always those ready to break them at their own convenience."

That she seemed to accept. "You must know, that finding a cure for ..."

"I don't expect you to find a cure, just ways to treat the symptoms."

The doctor nodded, her body relaxed a bit more but the tension was still there. Normally, he expected some demands for keeping her safe in return but she was too smart for that. Aware of his position with the Cardassians she knew that he could not guarantee her safety. Once things changed she was still in no position to argue. He was not in the habit of making deals, he made demands. People either submitted to his rule or they got crushed if they stood in his way.

"There is something else, I need first."

He got one of the vials ready to draw blood.

"You want me to take another blood sample?" she asked.

"Not from me."

Up until now, the doctor had gotten herself under control. She had only given him the subtlest hint via her body language, what he know saw was open fear. The poker face evaporated and she was openly mortified. Lea suddenly reminded him of animal caught in a trap.

"What for?"

Khan felt disappointed. He had liked the notion that she was indeed a human more clever than average. It seemed his worries that Malek had sent him a spy were right after all. Whatever acting talent the doctor possessed, she was not clever but well briefed. If she really was a Cardassian, the work done by the surgeons was far more commendable than the instructions given to her. It would have been much smarter to have let her act in a more inconspicuous kind of way.

"I am just making sure you are human."

He sat down next to her, grabbing her wrist. He felt her pulse rushing, her body temperature seemed to indicate she was human.

"What if I am not?"

"Then, I will kill you and tell Malek, that his spies are inadequate and obvious."

Just as he wondered if he should even bother with a blood sample, her expression turned to genuine confusion. He jabbed the hypo-syringe in her arm. The vial filled with bright red blood.

"I am not a spy."

Her statement was made with a sincerity that seemed to belie her initial panic.

"Let's see what you are hiding."

Not letting go of her arm, he inserted the vial with the blood into the scanner. Then he simply leaned back as it ran the analysis. Lea was more tense than ever. While he waited, he began moving his hand along her arm. He wasn't really aware of it. Her skin was smooth and is hand glided over it and under her sleeve. He only stopped when he felt a scar beginning under her elbow. This was not the way to handle the situation. Khan removed his hand, the moment the scanner had finished the analysis. He needed to watch out, this had been convenient and pleasant. Khan knew acting as if he owned her was precisely what Malek expected from him.

What made it even more taxing was the fact that he had felt relaxing as his hand trailed over her warm skin. A nonsensical thought, considering the threat he'd given just a few moments before. Khan stood up to transfer the data to his pad. He remained standing as he started by looking at her blood. It did not look Cardassian at all. It appeared human at first glance. The irregularities caught his eye soon enough. Her blood was by all means closer to that of ordinary humans than his own, there was something about it. So Khan took a look at her genetic make-up.

At first he was not sure what to make of it. Her genetic code was slightly different from an ordinary human but it was not a product of genetic manipulation either. It was alien DNA, one that resembled human DNA on first glance. Studying what he saw for a moment, he began to realize not only was the DNA astoundingly similar, it was also only partially non-human.

"Seems, you are part alien."

This cast an entirely different light on the situation. The spy theory looked less likely again. Whatever her story was, something about finding out this secret bothered her. Even now, she sat there, arms by her side, hands wrung tightly on her lap and her eyes looking down. Was she embarrassed by her alien heritage?

"DNA does not lie", she stated flatly.

"What species?"

Shrugging Lea looked up. He realised it was desperation and not embarrassment that plagued her. She did not even need to hear her reply any more, it was obvious to him that she did not knew the answer.

"I wish I knew."

That explained what she was doing so far away from Federation space. She wanted to know who she was, where she came from. Khan smiled thinking about how perfect that was. As her search was obviously not successful so far, it might be just the right time to step in and give her a new purpose: one that aligned with his own.

Taking a deep breath, Lea rose and turned to him.

"So where does that leave us?"

A/N: Feel free to let me know if you liked it or not. I adore criticism, as it helps me improve.