Time seemed to pass slowly in the holding cell, the longer Erica and Khan were left alone in there, the more irritated she felt. While she was doing her best to keep calm and patient, the more time that passed made her worry that Kirk might ignore Khan's suggestions altogether and was only intending to head back to Earth and have them face justice. And if that happened, then his crew would remain locked away in the torpedoes Khan had hidden them away in. She couldn't allow that to happen, not to all seventy-two of them, and she couldn't allow Khan to have to see that occur. She promised Khan that she would be by his side through this entire ordeal, and she would do anything to ensure their safety and that of his crew.

While they waited there was only silence between the two of them. She knew Khan had set his plan in motion by tempting Kirk's curiosity by telling him to open up one of the torpedoes, and to figure out what was situated at those coordinates by Jupiter. Both of them were playing the waiting game at that point, waiting to see if things would go as Khan wanted them to. It would take time for Kirk to finally make up his mind of course, and then time for his crew to open up a torpedo and discover one of Khan's crew members. And when they did, it would certainly bring the captain back to their cell wanting answers. Erica sat on her bench quietly, just waiting for the time when Kirk would come to them. Looking across from her at Khan from time to time, she noticed how relaxed but prepared he was. His mind had to be calculating their next moves, ready for anything which Kirk did as his move in this plan which had been initiated. Khan would remain one step ahead, he was far more brilliant.

Soon her ears detected the sound of running footsteps approaching. Her emerald eyes glanced through the glass to see Kirk and Spock rushing to the holding cell.

"Why is there a man in that torpedo?" Kirk demanded.

A small smile appeared on Erica's face, very faintly. So, his curiosity had indeed got the better of him and he did listen to Khan. Yes, the plan was indeed going as Khan wanted it to. Now she knew that Kirk and Spock would learn the truths behind everything, not just what they had done, but why and who was responsible for beginning this entire plan for revenge.

"There are men and women in all those torpedoes, Captain. I put them there," Khan replied.

Kirk exchanged a look with Spock for a quick moment. "Who the hell are you?"

"A remnant of a time long past. Genetically engineered to be superior so as to lead others to peace in a world at war. But we were condemned as criminals, forced into exile. For centuries we slept, hoping when we awoke things would be different. But as a result of the destruction of Vulcan, your Starfleet began to aggressively search distant quadrants of space. My ship was found adrift, I alone was revived."

"I looked up 'John Harrison'. Until a year ago, he didn't exist," Kirk countered.

"'John Harrison' was a fiction created the moment I was awoken by your Admiral Marcus to help him advance his cause," Khan replied as he stood and approached the glass. "A smokescreen to conceal my true identity. My name is Khan."

Erica simply sat and watched as these two conversed, but hearing the way her lover growled his name, it sent quite a shiver down her spine. Glancing back at Kirk she could see that he was not believing what Khan told him entirely, not buying that Marcus had any part in what Khan did.

"Why would a Starfleet Admiral ask a three-hundred year old frozen man for help?"

"Because I am better," he stated.

"At what?"

"Everything. Alexander Marcus needed to respond to an uncivilized threat in a civilized time and for that he needed a warrior's mind, my mind. To design weapons and warships."

Spock jumped in on this conversation. "You are suggesting the Admiral violated every regulation he vowed to uphold simply because he wanted to exploit your intellect."

"He wanted to exploit my savagery. Intellect alone is useless in a fight, Mr. Spock. You...you can't even break a rule, how would you be expected to break bone? Marcus used me to design weapons to help him realize his vision of a militarized Starfleet. He sent you to use those weapons, to fire my torpedoes on an unsuspecting planet. And then he purposely crippled your ship in enemy space, leading to one inevitable outcome. The Klingons would come searching for whomever was responsible, and you would have no chance of escape. Marcus would finally have the war he talked about, the war he always wanted."

Now it was evident, Kirk was absolutely unwilling to accept what he was hearing. He shook his head in response.

"No, no. I watched you open fire in a room full of unarmed Starfleet officers, you killed them in cold blood!"

Khan turned away from them. "Marcus took my crew from me."

"You are a murderer!" Kirk yelled.

Erica's blood began to simmer a little, wanting to scream that Kirk's accusation was beside the point. Everything Khan was saying was the truth and Marcus was the one who had started this entire game by what he had done to Khan and his crew. All Kirk was doing was releasing his anger at Khan in another way than he had on Kronos when he had continued to punch him until Uhura and Erica had intervened. While he had gotten what he wanted, an explanation for why there was a man held within the torpedo that had been opened and one regarding who Khan was, he was refusing to believe the truth.

"He used my friends to control me," he replied with his back still turned, his voice suddenly changing. "I tried to smuggle them to safety by concealing them in the very weapons I had designed, but I was discovered. I had no choice but to escape alone. And when I did, I had every reason to suspect that Marcus had killed every single one of the people I hold most dear. So I responded in kind."

Seeing how hurt, how devastated Khan looked when he said those words...it made her heart shatter. Never before had she heard him sound like this. Her eyes caught the single, evident tear which had fallen from his eye down his cheek. Erica's breath caught in her throat for a moment when she saw this.

Khan never showed this much emotion before.

Her instinct told her to embrace him, but that moment was not the right time, not with Kirk and Spock present. However, she could not blame him for showing any emotion when it came to speaking about his crew. They meant everything to him.

Kirk's eyes, filled with surprise as everything Khan told him seemed to begin to sink in, turned to the other being inside the cell. Erica's emerald eyes met with his, she had a feeling that he would want to know why she got involved with this deadly plot. And she would tell him why.

"I already know you were assigned to work with this man, but what reason did you have for attacking as well? Did you sympathize with him?"

Erica stood up and advanced a few steps toward the glass. "Yes, I did. But that was not my main reason. What you said is true, Marcus assigned me to work with Khan on advanced weapons and starships because I am one of the best specialists Starfleet had. Everything went as it should, however I learned the truth behind Marcus' intentions for these weapons, intentions which I had no knowledge of. Only my father found out, and for his knowledge of this truth...he was killed."

Kirk's eyebrows drew closer together. "Captain Robert Ravencroft? But he died due to a weapons malfunction."

Hearing this claim made Erica's anger flash through her bloodstream, wanting to lash out violently in response to that awful lie. She reeled her anger in, maintaining her seemingly calm exterior, inside she was screaming.

"No doubt that is what Marcus told you to cover up his lie. My father was killed right before my eyes, Captain. After working one evening with Khan I went to meet with my father, I found him in Marcus' office where he was yelling at the Admiral. He spoke of the fact that Marcus had assigned me to work on weapons for a war which wasn't necessary, a war which only Marcus himself wanted. He threatened to reveal this truth to Starfleet, but in response Marcus shot him with a phaser, killing him instantly to keep him silent forever."

Her mouth opened again to say something, but her throat tightened up painfully as she remembered that horrible memory of her father dying and her bearing witness to it. Swallowing hard, she continued.

"I tried to intervene, but I was too late," her voice almost went to a whisper. "I lashed out at Marcus, in response he told me I was no longer needed, that I would soon join my father. Knowing what that meant I escaped the room as he fired at me, only he managed to shoot me in the side. Injured, I ran as fast as I could to escape him before he could shoot me again. There was only one place where I could run knowing I would be safe. I ran back to the room where Khan and I worked together as he was still there. He saved me, brought me to a place where I was far away from Marcus and he treated my wounds. Without him, I would have been dead."

Kirk shook his head, unwilling to accept what he was hearing. "No, you're telling me that Marcus murdered a Starfleet captain in cold blood and attempted murder with another member of Starfleet."

Erica could see that Kirk was refusing to accept this. She had to convince him. If not, he might refuse to listen to her and Khan. Stepping up to the glass she looked at him with seriousness in her eyes.

"Listen to me," she begged. "What I am telling you is the truth! Do you honestly believe that I would lie about my own father? He was everything to me! He raised me by himself when my mother was murdered when I was only five! How could I ever lie about the man who raised me and was the only family I had left? And do you really think that such a well respected, brilliant captain would be careless and perish because of a weapon malfunction?When Marcus killed him, I was left with nothing. Khan was the only person I trusted, and when he told me how Marcus had wronged him as well leaving him alone in this world, yes I did sympathize with him. We were exactly alike in that moment, which was why I joined him and vowed revenge on this man who hurt us both."

Erica then looked to Spock who stood there quietly. "Mister Spock, I know very well that Vulcans cannot lie. Please, if you mind meld with me, I will show you that everything I have said is the truth and it will further show that Khan himself was not lying. Will you?"

Spock looked back at her when she asked this of him. He seemed to consider this for a few moments, as if he was reading her at the same time and trying to calculate how sincere she was being.

Kirk turned to his friend. "Spock, you don't really think this is true."

"Captain, I believe that Miss Ravencroft might be truthful. If she wasn't she would not have asked me to mind meld with her," Spock replied.

With a sigh, Kirk stood by and quietly watched. Spock moved the small separation within the glass which McCoy had used before to obtain blood samples, opening it enough to slip his arm through. Erica looked back once towards Khan, who had turned and kept his ever watchful eyes upon her. He wasn't upset by her offer, instead he seemed stunned and pleased that she would do this in order to show the disbelieving captain that their words were true and that Marcus was not really who he seemed.

Erica bowed her head slightly, allowing Spock to place his fingers upon her face. And the memories came back. She allowed Spock to see everything. Her working on the weapons and designs with Khan, the moments leading up to her father's death and everything he and Marcus had said, the anger and shock she felt when her father had been killed, the moment when Marcus tried to kill her as well, her escape, the moments when she had been with Khan after he had revived her. All that she had claimed just moments before she allowed him to see, proving that she was not lying.

Soon Spock drew his hand away from Erica breaking the meld. Spock slipped his arm out once more as Erica reeled a little bit. A stray tear flowed down her cheek, all of her body's energy was fighting to keep her from breaking down, from lashing out after reliving that memory of her father's murder again. Her head remained bowed slightly as she retreated a few steps, only stopping her movements when she felt Khan's hand gently set upon her back. That gesture soothed all of her tensed muscles and her anger. She wiped her tear away and raised her head finally to look at Kirk and Spock.

Spock turned to Kirk, a look of surprise evident in his eyes. "Captain, she is indeed telling the truth."

Kirk's look of surprise intensified. "There must be some mistake."

"Vulcans do not lie," Spock stated firmly. "Miss Ravencroft is telling the truth."

Relief swept over Erica when he vocalized this. Now someone else was aware of the truth behind all of the deception and lies which Marcus had spun so well like the evil, devious spider he was.

"Now you understand," Khan told them. "My crew is my family, Kirk. A family which now includes Erica as well. Is there anything you would not do for your family?"

Kirk looked back at the two of them, but before he could say anything in response they were interrupted.

"Proximity alert, Sir! There's a ship at warp heading right for us," Mr. Sulu radioed to him.

"Klingons?"

Khan left Erica's side and approached the glass once more. "At warp? No Kirk, we both know who it is."

"I don't think so. It's not coming at us from Kronos," Sulu replied.

Kirk suddenly seemed to understand exactly what was going on. He turned and began running out of the room.

"Lieutenant, move Khan and Erica to Med Bay, post six security officers on them," he called.

"Yes, Captain," the lieutenant replied.

Erica looked to Khan as their eyes met once more. They both knew who would be approaching at such a great speed as warp in order to arrive in such a dangerous place as a close proximity to Kronos. Moreover they knew what was coming at that speed. Something they both knew very well. Now the game had really begun.

Hey everyone! Here's the next chapter, I hope it was a good one and that you all enjoyed reading it! Thank you to those who commented, I always appreciate your feedback, please keep reviewing! And thank you to everyone who favorited and followed this story! :)