Yay, it's Summer! Ok, there's only two more chapters left :( This is by far the most successful story I've ever had and I'm really thankful to all of you for helping me with that! I only own the things that are mine, and I hope you enjoy! In honor of Summer, the rest of this story should be posted by tonight. Love you! ~A Keeper


Khan's eyes snapped open when he was violently pulled away from Verloren, er, Makena, and fell to the floor in surprise. Makena promptly collapsed, into the arms of her brother while the Captain and the Doctor that had been with them earlier attempted (vainly) to hold him back.

She was muttering incoherently and Spock was whispering in whatever dialect she had been speaking in as if to sooth her, but she was quivering as though she was in a strong English winter with no shelter.

"Spock, get her to Med." Kirk ordered, finally getting a good grip on Khan to at least feel some amount of control.

Just as the First Commander lifted the unconscious woman, Sulu's voice came in, "Captain, we need you on the bridge."

The Captain and the Doctor looked at each other for a moment before Kirk said, "Get him contained, we might need him."


Khan should have seen it before. There was a reason he hadn't felt the movement of the ship—Kirk had listened to him. He had actually gone to the location; they were at the location of The Vengeance. He had been so wrapped up in Makena's stupid game that he had forgotten the very people he was trying to save. Being with her hadn't made him see like she had suggested, it was all a trick to make him blind as to his real desires!

Thoughts of killing her slowly, painfully, using every method of torture their meld had shown him brought a dark smile to his lips and his devious mind already began to work what the Captain and the Admiral would do and how he could make it work in his favor.

So it was no surprise when Kirk came to him and asked for his assistance (as well as presented his rather iffy solution to the problem) to which he seemingly reluctantly agreed. Kirk was so desperate, he even dared to use her to try and win him onto their side.

"He's already planning on killing us, don't you want to protect her?"

Oh, my dear Captain, if looks could kill...

"I am only concerned with the well-being of my family. As I've said before, she is nothing but the dirt beneath my feet. Entertainment that has long since lost its purpose." Even as he spoke the words, he could see her biting her lip so hard, she drew blood in an attempt not to scream while the whip was brought upon her back. Why was she haunting him so?

He didn't make their little expedition easy on the Captain; it was quite amusing making him feel inferior, though he did agree to go with him, and currently, they were aboard The Vengeance. To his knowledge, Makena was still unconscious, but his thoughts of her were ever eruptive.

His own body ached with a pain that he had not experienced and whenever he closed his eyes, he could see only what she went through, what she sacrificed...and what she didn't do.

He could feel her pain and her anger and her sadness, but not once did she draw a weapon with the intentions to kill and not once did she bring about the death of another for the sake of her family.

So unlike him.

Thoughts of her followed him through out the entire expedition. From when they had dodged the floating rocks in the middle of space, to his successful assassination of the Admiral. Especially when he and the Vulcan Commander were negotiating and he no longer saw the strong, emotionless First Commander to Captain Kirk. Now, it was the little boy who had been brought to tears because of bullies and had sought the comfort of his sister—protection from a dark storm.

Now, he finally had his family and the damaged and dying ship in front of him had their Captain, though they would likely not last long. In spite of this, he felt empty.

His own body ached with a pain from the inside, a pain that he had never felt before, a pain that should not have been his to bare. It seemed as though half of him were still fighting for his family with brutal strength and anger deciding his actions, and the other half was fighting against himself in an attempt to remind him of all that Makena stood for...all that he could stand for...

For a second, his brutish side won.

Just a second...

A second that cost thousands of lives.


Makena gasped awake just as the ships fired upon each other. She couldn't hear anything over the screams of metal and the explosions that echoed from outside.

She shoved aside an overwhelming headache and climbed out of the bed to find that the floor was not flat and she found that she could not find her feet. "Spock!" She called, but was rewarded with no human sounds. Great. Leave the blind woman alone while the ship is getting blown up.

"Verloren?" She felt someone come to her and pull her up. "It's Uhura, Spock sent me to help you."

"What's happening to the ship?"

"We're stuck like this while Khan's ship is heading towards San Francisco. We're trying everything we can, but we're not sure we'll be able to stop him in time."

"Where's the Captain?" She asked, an idea coming to her mind.

"With Scotty, down in the engine room."

"Take me there!"

During the meld, Khan had unintentionally let her into his thoughts, as well. He designed the nuclear core that lay inside The Enterprise and she knew, somehow, that Kirk had the same crazy idea she did.


"Captain!" Makena could tell he was flustered and frustrated that they had showed up, but she honestly didn't care about that at the moment. "What did you do to Scotty?!"

"Uhura, we don't have that kind of time," Makena said calmly. "Kirk, what did you think-"

An explosion went off somewhere relatively close, but far enough for the impact to be a lot less bloody than it could have been.

With a groan, the ship tilted forward and began tumbling towards the Earth.

There was the click of a belt and someone, Kirk, she wagered, grabbed her arm and held her steady. "I have to get the power back on!" He called as the entire ship cried in resistance. "The center's been disconnected, I have to manually put it back."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I can't let you do that."

"What are talking about?" With no small amount of strength, she brought her fist to him and felt him slump into unconsciousness.

"Uhura," She called as she began to use the wall to get herself into the nuclear room. "Tell Spock I love him; and tell Kirk I recommend ice for his swollen lip."

Uhura protested furiously and attempted to unbuckle herself, but it was bent and stuck. Makena gave a weak smile and pulled herself into the room.

It felt like the very air around her wanted to crush her and it became increasingly difficult to breath. She relied on her fading memory to navigate her through the room, clinging to the ground (or the wall, she knew not which) and pulled herself into the fray until she finally struck the core.

She used each strained breath to its advantage and pushed her back against the broken piece, shoving it back into position until a pulse that through her back towards the door told her she had completed her task.

With the last reservoir of her strength, she dragged herself back to the door and pressed her forehead against it, awaiting her death as though she was going to welcome an old friend.