Hello my lovely readers! Well here is the next chapter, lots of suspense in this one...yay! Ummmm...I honestly have nothing else to say. Alrighty then on with the chapter! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek...I only own Lara...

"...launching activation sequence in three...two...one..."

Lara barely had time to register the door opening before she saw the dark void of space surrounding her. All three figures shot out of the vessel, Lara in front of Khan and Jim. The digital readout on her heads-up-display showed her a lit up path that she was supposed to follow.

She didn't know how close the other men were behind her but she was grateful that they could communicate. "How fast are we moving?"

"Lara, I'm afraid that information is irrelevant at the moment," Spock's voice crackled over the speakers at her.

Again, the eye roll made an appearance, "I was just curious..."

They flew faster toward the other ship and Jim spoke into his built in speaker, "Scotty, you're gonna be ready with that door right?"

The engineer's voice crackled over their built in speakers, "If ye stop pesterin' me then maybe I will…Captain."

Lara huffed, "If I end up on the side of Marcus' ship, I will not be happy."

As the gained more speed, flying through the void of space they all heard Spock's voice, "Captain, you have debris directly ahead and immediately in your path."

"Copy that." Jim said as his eyes landed on the large chunk of metal he was speeding toward. He fired off his backpack and just managed to veer off the oncoming path of the debris. Drifting shards of glass, metal and plastic flew past him and Jim had to keep correcting himself in order to avoid being hit. He fought and fought and thankfully found a clearing in the debris field.

"Whoa Jim you're way off course." McCoy's voice echoed against his ears.

"I know, I know—I can see that!" The captain called out and corrected his course once again.

In the dimly lit hangar bay, Scotty continued his quick and desperate attempt at figuring out the controls in front of him. He checked the interior of the hangar for the hundredth time, making sure he was in fact standing at the right controls.

Thankfully he was in fact standing at the correct set of controls. More beads of sweat ran down his back as Scotty looked down again at his shaking hands. That damnable override had to exist. He just had to find it.

"Very close now Mr. Scott." Spock's voice nearly startled the engineer.

"Uh…" Scotty trailed off and then…there! He gave a tentative swipe of his hand over the screen and a number of readouts lit up. Finally he found what he was looking for. The release that would open up the door for the captain and his prisoners to fly through was right there in plain sight. Now all he needed was to secure his ass to the console so he didn't get pulled out into space.

Looking around Scotty found a loose length of binding strap and began to wrap one end of it around the base of the console and the other end around his left wrist. With the communicator sticking out of his mouth Scotty stood and double checked that he in fact pulled up the correct manual override. Perfect all he had to do was press the very large, very green button at the correct time.

That's when he heard a voice behind him and felt the muzzle of a phaser press gently to his back, "Don't move."

"Use your display, Captain," Sulu said anxiously to Jim, "You must correct precisely thirty-seven-point-two degrees to your right."

"Yup…got it," Kirk said easily dodging a large chunk of floating metal. "Scotty, you're gonna be ready with that door right?"

Lara glanced over at the form of the captain as he made minor adjustments to his course. "Miss…Harrison you are coming up on a large obstacle," Spock said over the comms to her.

"Obviously," Lara replied and moved to her left. She felt herself shoot out and she quickly activated the jets on her back, keeping herself from flying too far off course. Readjusting her flight path she saw on her visor's HUD that she was only half a degree off of the path they needed to be taking.

The engineer felt the phaser press against his back, communicator dropping out of his mouth and onto the floor.

"Turn around. Slowly."

Scotty complied with the cold, scary voice. He turned around and tried to keep his left hand out of view. The uniformed security officer that was currently holding a phaser to his chest glanced behind the engineer, narrowing his gaze as he returned it to the chief's eyes.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Scotty smiled eagerly at him, "Uh…wee bit o' maintenance on the airlock console—you're big…" Buy them time, the chief thought as he began to ramble on to the officer, buy everyone time.

"Mr. Scott, you are ready with the door correct?" Lara called over the speakers.

They were getting very close now, and they had yet to hear anything else from the chief.

"Scotty?" Kirk called

Uhura's voice sounded in their helmets, "Captain, he can't seem to hear you. I'm working on getting his signal back. Stand by."

Jim could almost make out the detailed edges of the door, they were so close. Where the hell was Scotty…

Ping.

He looked down, startled at the sudden high pitched noise he heard. There was a tiny crack crawling across the face of his helmet. Funny how the tiniest of particles, when hit at high velocity, can cause the heart to race and that sickening feeling of impending doom to crawl up your spine. The small crack began to grown and branch out until it covered the entire right side of Kirk's visor.

"Damnit…" Jim could hardly see anything now that the cracks were crawling up the side of his glass visor.

"Captain what is it?" Spock called out to him.

"My helmet faceplate was struck. Uhura tell me you have Mr. Scott back!"

"Not yet—I'm still working on getting back his signal…"

"…his communicator's working—I don't know why he isn't responding." Scotty heard Uhura's voice come from the communicator he had dropped on the floor.

He glanced down at the discarded device which also brought the security officer's attention to it. "What the hell is that?"

"I'm in uh…g-general maintenance—are you Starfleet or private security…"

"Who the hell is that?" the officer gestured toward the communicator again.

"…because you look like private security."

"Imminent collision detected," Sulu called sharply over the comms.

"Khan use evasive action. There is debris directly ahead." Spock informed Kirk's companion.

"I see it," he answered quickly. Khan flew to his left and then down and around a large chunk of metal. "Lara move down a few degrees…you're close to—"

His signal cut off and Lara barely had time to register the static she heard before she had to duck down to avoid being hit. "Mr. Sulu did we lose Khan?" she heard Spock; he hadn't closed the channel so she could hear everything that was going on inside the Enterprise.

"I don't know Commander," Sulu replied to him in a frenzied and anxious tone.

Jim glanced over to his left and saw Lara flying a bit in front of him but Khan was nowhere to be seen. "Was Khan hit?" he called to his bridge crew.

"Khan? Talk to me, are you alright?" Lara's voice shook slightly as she felt the tiny wisps of fear crawl up her spine, "Khan…?"

"Stand by we're attempting to get his signal back," Spock reported to them both.

"Captain," Sulu abruptly interrupted the tension, "You need to adjust your course to target destination to one-eight-three by four-seven-three degrees."

Kirk complied and adjusted his course as he heard Lara's slightly panicked voice, "Sulu please, tell me you have something. Does anyone have anything?"

"We're working on it Lara," Uhura's voice crackled at them, "It's difficult tracking all three of you in that debris field."

Lara scoffed and moved herself to the right by a few degrees. She glanced over at Jim and was going to make a snarky comment but stopped when he said, "Mr. Spock, my faceplate display is down. I'm flying blind."

"Oh, great I—" Lara stopped and had to quickly move herself up and away from the rather large hunk of metal she was flying toward. She flipped around and tumbled for a second before she was finally able to steady herself. Looking forward she was about to move back on the correct path when her display sputtered and then died.

"Um…Mr. Spock, would it be bad if I and the Captain were both flying blind? Because we are."

"Judging by the fact that hitting your target destination is now mathematically impossible, yes that would not be a good thing Mrs. Harrison."

Jim sighed, "Spock when I get back we really need to talk about your bedside manner…"

Lara huffed, "Typical regulation Starfleet equipment always fails. Cheaply made for mass distribution…"

Sulu whirled around in his chair, "Commander they're not gonna make it."

The commander looked up at the display of both the Captain's and Lara's progress. One yellow readout out for the captain and a light blue for Lara. Both were significantly off course and both were heading towards their end.

Spock tried to think of something, someway that he could help them but he was, for the first time in a long while, drawing a blank.

That's when they heard another voice, one that had not been heard for a while, "I see you Kirk."

"My display is still functioning. You're two hundred meters ahead of me at my one o'clock. Come to your left at two degrees and follow me."

Jim glanced over and did as Khan instructed. He watched Khan who gave him a small grin then the man turned his attention to the figuring flying just in front of them. "Lara, darling move to your right a half degree and keep straight."

She did as he said and all three kept still as they arrived closer and closer to their destination. Jim then realized they hadn't heard from the engineer who was supposed to help them out in a while.

"Scotty," he exclaimed, "we're getting close now. We're gonna need a warm welcome. Scotty? Do you copy—Scotty?"

"If you can hear us Mr. Scott," Spock ordered anxiously, "open the door in ten…"

"Scotty!" Kirk yelled desperately over his comms.

"…nine…" Spock continued counting down; he felt his muscles begin to tense.

On board the admiral's warship, Spock's voice called out from the discarded communicator on the floor. Scott grinned pleasantly up at the large security officer and twisted his arm even tighter around the strap he was going to use for his life-line.

"That person counting down, what is that?"

"…eight…"

The engineer looked up at him innocently, "What? I don't hear anything."

"…seven…" Spock's voice came clearly up toward the two.

"Mr. Scott where are you?" Kirk's voice now sounded on the verge of panic.

"You sure?" the security officer asked him, the phaser still pointed to his chest.

Scott scrunched up his nose and feigned ignorance, "Yeah, I honestly don't know what you're talkin' about."

"…six…five…four…"

"Scotty! Get ready!"

"…three…two…one…Now Mr. Scott." Spock called out with a tight voice.

"Scotty open the door now!" Kirk yelled at him.

"Mr. Scott open the door now!" Even Spock sounded like he was panicking.

Scott eyed the security officer and shook his head, "Sorry about this mate."

The guard frowned at him, "Sorry about what?"

Spock's voice rose slightly, "Scott open the door!"

"Scotty the door! Open it now!"

The chief sucked in an air full of lungs and turned around sharply. He slammed his free hand down onto the large green button, putting all of his weight onto it. At the far back of the hangar, the small door whooshed open. As soon as it was open, all the air was sucked outward into the open void of space and pulling the security officer with it. With his left arm still strapped to the console, Scott grimaced and found himself being pulled and stretched out full length in the direction of the open door.

Lara barely noticed the lone figure shoot out of the open door. She had flipped herself around at the last minute, and assuming the others had done the same began firing off her jetpack. Entering the warship feet first, she used her jetpack to help slow down their high velocity and momentum. She felt the weight of the artificial gravity field and saw Scott flailing as he tried to reach out for the control panel.

The engineer flailed his right hand around for a second longer then quickly hit the large green button again. The hangar door shut and he instantly fell to the floor on his front side, breathing heavily and sucking in as much air as he could get. Thankfully the air pressure quickly regained its normality and Scott's spinning head came to a slow stop.

All three figures fell to the deck of the long hangar and rolled, skidded and tumbled down the entire length of the place, slowing down gradually but not as fast as Jim would have liked. Finally after spinning around for several seconds, all three came to a halt on their stomachs not far from a gasping and sweating Scott.

"Welcome aboard," Scotty wheezed at them.

Lara slowly regained her composure and leaned up on her knees, "Nice to see you again Mr. Scott."

He nodded at her, "Likewise lass…how was being dead?"

"Boring," she deadpanned and helped Khan lean up as well.

Scotty shrugged at her then glanced at the man she was currently assisting, "Who is that?"

Jim finally leaned up, "Ugghh…" he groaned as his back creaked and his body screamed at him, "Khan, Scotty. Scotty, Khan."

"Hello," the engineer offered with a tiny wave.

Khan however did not waste time on the pleasantries, he glanced around the hangar and turned back to the group, "They'll know we're here. Marcus will have all other approaches to the bridge secured if only as a precaution. I know another route."

Lara stood with help from Khan and both began removing their helmets and suits. Jim also began to take off his suit, at a much slower place then the other two. When they were all dressed down in their casuals, Jim and Khan in black shirts and Lara in her bright white shirt, Jim opened up his back pack to reveal four disassembled phasers.

Jim handed out the phasers and when all four had one he looked at both Lara and Khan pointedly, "They're locked to stun."

Lara rolled her eyes and Khan pursed his lips, "Theirs won't be."

The captain gave them both a cheeky grin, "Then try not to get shot."

Spock felt his shoulders relax now that it was confirmed that Kirk and his prisoners had successfully landed on the warship. Of course they weren't completely out of danger but for the moment the entire bridge crew relaxed.

He was about to begin analyzing the interior of the ship when he heard Uhura from behind him, "Commander, transmission with New Vulcan was successful."

Looking back at her Spock took a moment to admire her exceptional skill in achieving the near impossible, "On screen. Please."

All eyes on the bridge landed on the view screen where an old but incredibly wide face came to life through the muffled static of the transmission. Behind him, there could be seen many other figures moving around hurriedly. A new civilization was being built from the memory and in honor of an old one. The man gazing toward the commander was playing a huge part in the rebuild and resurrection of the lost planet.

"Mr. Spock," the wise old man declared in a gentle, but matter-of-fact voice.

"Mr. Spock," the commander responded as well.

Khan and Lara walked quickly down the dark corridors leading Jim and Scotty. Or they thought they were leading them. Jim was in fact keeping an eye on both of his prisoners. He watched how Lara followed directly behind Khan and to his right. She did it almost automatically without Khan having to tell her where he needed her or what he required.

They all turned a corner and walked down into a long, narrow room. It was dark and the only light sources were the consoles lining the place or the few back up lights scattered about the ceilings. Luckily the main power had yet to come back on.

"They're gonna have full power and we're walking," Scotty whispered harshly from behind Jim.

Khan came to a halt in front of a console and handed Lara his phaser. She took it silently and quickly stuffed it down the back waist of his pants. Lara then did the same with her weapon. Jim hesitated and glanced at Scotty, telling him silently to do as they had done, and put away his phaser as well.

Entering a quick series of commands Khan explained their movements to the engineer, "This path we're taking runs adjacent to the engine room. They know they won't be able to use their weapons here without destabilizing the warp core…"

"Which gives us the advantage," Lara finished for him, nodding at him as Khan stood and gently gripped her elbow and guided her off.

Pausing in their places Scotty moved closer to Kirk and asked, "Where'd you find this guy? And what the bloody hell happened to Lara?"

"It's a long story Scott," Jim muttered as he hurried off to keep up with the other two.

"…I will be brief," Spock said to his older self, "in your travels did you ever come across a man named Khan?"

The wise savant's face remained passive but his body language showed how genuinely fearful he was as a shiver seemed to crawl up his spine. He paused for a long while, composing his thoughts and response. "As you know," he finally said slowly, "I have made a vow never to give you information that could potentially alter your destiny. Your path is yours and yours alone…"

Spock nodded at him, he understood why. They had both discussed this very matter several times and had both come to the exact agreement Mr. Spock was talking about right now.

"That being said," now the commander looked back up at him with a slight glimmer of hope in his eyes, "Khan Noonien Singh is the most dangerous adversary the enterprise and her crew ever faced. He is brilliant, ruthless and will not hesitate to kill every single one of you in the pursuit of whatever personal goal he has set for himself."

"And what of Lara Sheppard? Was she ever involved?"

Again the wise savant seemed to shiver but this time it was with regret, "Miss Sheppard was one of my dearest students. She followed in her father's footsteps, and became one of the most prized and sought out minds in biological research and applications," he paused and seemed to become very mournful, "She was killed by Khan and his crew during an attack on her station, Regula I while she was protecting a device from the very man."

Spock felt his brow crease, "You were close?"

"She was my student and dear friend…whatever else might have been is lost," he took a breath, "As for Khan…wherever he is, I urge you to stay as far from him as humanly possible. If you do not, I guarantee you—lives will be lost."

There was a long, cold silence that fell on the bridge. "Did you defeat him?" the younger Spock finally asked.

The older Spock's wise eyes crinkled and he nodded slowly, "At great cost, yes."

Commander Spock stared forward and uttered one small, hopeful word, "How?"

"I don't mean to tempt fate here," Scotty whispered harshly from behind the others. Khan again was leading with Lara one step behind him. "But where is everyone?"

Khan spoke to him and barely glanced over his shoulder, "This ship was designed to run by a minimal crew. One, if necessary."

"One!" Scotty exclaimed, "I don't see how—"

Khan stopped listening when he saw the lone security officer pounce around the corner and go to attack him. He blocked the oncoming punch and sent his enemy flying into the opposite wall. He shouted and flew another fist into the security officer's stomach.

He heard Lara shout and he glanced back to see another set of security officers coming at the others. Lara swung her fist around and sent it into her attacker's windpipe. The man stopped and grabbed hold of his throat, chocking and wheezing. The girl laughed and backed up a couple steps, then broke out into a sprint. She jumped up, used the wall and kicked off it.

Wrapping her arm around his neck she twirled around the man's body and pulled him over her shoulder, slamming him to the ground. She stopped and locked eyes with Khan and then stomped her foot down onto the man's neck…a loud crack echoing throughout the corridor.

Khan gave her a wicked grin then turned back around and kicked his assailant in the stomach, sending the man flying backwards. He had luckily timed it perfectly and as the first security officer flew through the air he landed into another officer that had come around the corner. Satisfied that all the officers who had been attacking himself and Lara were either unconscious or dead he looked back at the captain and his engineer.

Both were still in the midst of their fights so he quickly grabbed Lara's hand and pulled her away down a dark hallway. "If you really needed a moment alone then I'm all for it love." Lara said to him as he pulled her further and further away from the others.

Khan didn't say anything for a long while until he came to a full stop in a corner of the large console room they were in. He pulled Lara close to him then, hugging her to his chest. She reacted immediately and snaked her arms around his back and buried her face into his muscular chest. Lara took a deep breath through her nose and took in his scent…oh how she missed that scent.

"For a moment back there, I thought I really lost you," Lara whispered and looked up at him.

Khan watched her for a moment before resting his forehead against hers. He took in a deep breath through his own nose, "You shall never lose me, darling."

Lara smiled up at him and leaned up, placing her lips on his softly. Khan returned the kiss, wrapping a hand around the back of her neck and using to other to grasp her waist. He gripped her tight and kissed her deeper than he ever had before, Lara responded to the embrace and ran her fingers up his back. They pulled away from each other and Lara couldn't help but smile at him gently. She moved her hands to his face and stroked her fingers across his cheeks and said to him, "Promise me?"

"I promise Lara," he watched her and looked like he wanted to say something before he stopped himself. Shaking his head he cupped her face in his large hands, "Come on, let's go find the captain before he blows up this ship with us still on board."

"Knowing him, he might save us all and then blow up the ship…because he's just that good of a person," Lara snickered and removed her arms from around Khan. He nodded and, taking her hand in his once again, led her off to find their companions.

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