AUTHOR'S NOTE: I know you guys are enjoying this story as much as I enjoy reading your reviews. Your reviews really motivate me to keep writing as quickly as I am, so I'm looking forward to more! Anyway I hope you enjoy this twentieth chapter of The Monster's Mask :D
CHAPTER TWENTY
Madelyn was shaking.
She was shaking with frustration at the court system; with rage that Khan hadn't gotten what she thought he deserved; with fear that he'd been given more freedom than anyone realized. She wanted nothing more than to be on a different planet than he was. Instead she was merely a building away, and she knew, she just knew, he would find a way to get to her.
Bones and Spock had come to her room that afternoon, after she'd been left alone to brood and rage over the jury's verdict and the judge's sentence. Now they were standing out of the way while she paced again, her voice reverberating off the walls and her gestures flying through the air. She demanded to see Kirk, to see the judges, even to see the jury, but no one was making any moves to make that happen.
Bones understood, and in a way agreed, with everything Madelyn was saying, and he made that quite clear. Spock however was vexed by her emotions, and stood by in silence, watching as she paced and yelled, while Bones made an attempt every now and then to calm her down. Even when she'd stopped yelling, it took all evening for her to stop shaking.
"All I know is this," she'd said to Spock before he left her alone that evening. "He cannot know that his crew is still alive, because if he finds out, he'll go on a rampage all over again."
Spock nodded. "I understand. I will do everything in my power to ensure that his crew is stowed safely away where he will never find them. There are only few who know of their continued existence. I will keep it that way."
She lay on her side in bed that night, staring out the window. Tiny lights moved slowly through the black harbor. Further away, the Golden Gate Bridge, a relic of the city, was lit brightly, its old orange paint glowing in the night.
She was going to leave San Francisco as soon as she could. She was going to move somewhere far away, where no one she knew could ever find her. Maybe she'd call Kelly and ask her to join her. The girl was young, but she'd always wanted to travel. Madelyn could pay for everything too. Her grandfather had left her with more than enough to live on. India was starting to sound nice. Or Costa Rica. Maybe even Russia. She didn't care. She wanted to be as far away from Khan as she could possibly get, both for her sake and her unborn child's.
There was a knock on her door early the next morning. She slowly pulled herself out of bed and answered it without checking the mirror, ignoring the wave of nausea that hit her as she came face to face with Bones. She felt him eyeing her hair and stared right back, dreary eyed.
"It's too early for you to be here without a reason," she muttered.
"Yeah, listen, I've got orders to clear this floor out today. You're gonna have to move out starting now."
She stared at him and wiped lack of sleep from her eyes. "You've got to be kidding me. I'm not ready to move out yet. I've got to buy a plane ticket and have my stuff in London shipped—"
"And you can do that, but right now you've just gotta find a place somewhere in the city. I can help you out if you want—"
"Whose orders are these, Bones?"
"They're from on high. I don't have say here. Starfleet is cleaning house and reorganizing everything."
She leaned on the doorjamb and rubbed her forehead. "This is great timing. Really great timing. Alright, well, thanks for the heads up I guess."
"I'll see you later. I've got a lot to do."
"Yeah." She watched him walk away, then turned to survey her room. There was maybe one bag's worth of stuff that belonged to her. Moving out wouldn't take long.
Bones did have a place in mind. It was small but it did the trick for now, an old but well-kept multi level flat in a historic district southwest of downtown. The top floor offered not only a great view of the city in general, but a spectacular view of the demolished remains of Starfleet Headquarters. Most of the USS Vengeance had been cleared out by now, but that entire section of the city was still a charred heap of twisted debris.
"It's got its charms," said Bones when he saw her staring out the window in the living room. "At least here you're out of the city."
She glanced at him, wondering if he was trying to be sarcastic. "I'm out of downtown. But my neighbors are on the other side of that wall."
"Look, this place is signed under my name, so you officially don't live here. No one knows you're here. You'll be fine."
She chewed on the inside of her lip and glanced back out the window. It would take a little getting used to, but hopefully she wouldn't be here long. "What if someone finds me anyway?" Three names flitted through her head. Khan. Dr. Dahl. Owen. When Bones didn't immediately answer, she shrugged. "Nevermind. You know what, thanks for putting up with me. I've been a real bitch lately."
"Haven't we all?"
They both chuckled.
"Besides, somebody had to make sure you were still alive and functioning properly through that damn trial."
She managed to smile. The man was persistent to a fault.
"Well, I should get back to work," he said cutting into the silence. "Call me if you have any problems."
She watched as he let himself out, then ran to the door and locked it. She made a mental note to pick up an extra lock the next time she was out. She wasn't taking any chances.
A week passed in which absolutely nothing happened.
Madelyn made one excursion through the neighborhood to pick up some food and a few items of clothing and rushed back home. She swore the only reason no one noticed her was because of her sunglasses and hat. She also called a few people, but no one wanted to talk for long. So she spent the majority of her time cleaning the apartment and making it livable. The windows needed to be scrubbed and the carpets replaced with modern flooring. She wanted to do something to the yard too but she was too nervous to spend much time outside for long so she called a local company and they came and beautified it for her.
She was trying to live normally. She really was. But all she could think about was anyone finding out where she was, because if just one person found out, it could end up in the tabloids or on the internet, and that would mean Khan could find her, or Dr. Dahl, or Owen. She didn't want any of them to find her. She wondered if Khan was even allowed out of certain sectors of the city, and if so, whether he was tracked or not. She hadn't yet been given the full details of his lifetime parole like she'd requested, so she was stuck with being paranoid.
When she thought about it though, it wasn't even paranoia. It was a fierce desire of forced separation. She needed to be away from him. His good looks and charisma had been deceiving, and she knew now what he was capable of. He was dangerous, and it was enough to make her wary, knowing that somewhere in San Francisco, he was marginally free.
After a while, the apartment didn't need to be cleaned anymore, and the news on television became a constant repeating cycle of rumors, lies and propaganda. She thought about getting a dog, until the landlord specifically forbade it in one phone call. She needed something to occupy her time. A job would be nice, she realized. Not for the money, which she didn't need, but for the structure it could provide to her life. She needed to move on. But who would even give her one now, given her status as a front page celebrity, famous for having a relationship with a convicted criminal, her face scattered amongst tabloids and news flashes, her reputation squashed in the mud. She knew the answer to this question almost immediately. Starfleet.
They'd probably hand her a job just out of guilt, as reparation for everything inflicted on her by the actions of a certain former Starfleet admiral. When she made a few phone calls, she found her suspicion of this to be confirmed, and was told she'd receive a follow up call in a few days. There was no need for an interview, because they already knew everything about her.
Satisfied that she was making appropriate steps towards life progress in some fashion, Madelyn let herself relax that evening by herself with a small glass of wine. She pulled out the stained paperback copy of Memoirs of a Geisha she'd acquired from an old bookstore down the street. Apparently it was the only bookstore left in San Francisco, now that most literature had been transferred to electronic versions, a long overdue process that was actually pushed by the Federation. She carefully opened the book and turned to the first chapter, reading the lines out loud. She loved the way words fell off her tongue from the pages of an old book.
"Suppose that you and I were sitting in a quiet room overlooking a garden, chatting and sipping at our cups of green tea while we talked about something that had happened a long while ago, and I said to you, "That afternoon when I met so-and-so… was the very best afternoon of my life, and also the very worst afternoon—"
The intercom at her front door rang. Her heart thudded in her chest. No one had come to her door since she'd moved in. She thought about not answering it. It could've been the post. She set her book and wine down quietly on the coffee table and went to the door. It was an old-fashioned door on hinges, with a peephole in the center. She flipped on the porch light, then stood on her toes to look outside. An angry breath escaped her lips.
She unlocked the door and opened it abruptly. "What are you doing here, Kirk?"
He gave her a closed smile, his blue eyes glittering in the yellow porch light. "I came to see how you were doing."
She stared at him. "Well I'm doing fine thank you."
She moved to shut the door but Kirk's hand on the doorjamb stopped her. "Madelyn, I came to apologize. My behavior at the trial was… inexcusable."
With one quick motion, Madelyn stepped onto the porch and slapped him. Then she raised her eyebrows at the surprise on his face. "I'm sorry. Did I just hear you say you're an asshole?"
"Wow," he muttered, holding a hand to his face. "They weren't kidding when they said you had a trace of augmented genes."
She glared at him. "You destroyed my reputation."
He tried to put a hand on her shoulder and she stepped back to avoid him. "I didn't realize the backlash or the media storm that was going to follow," he assured her. "If I'd known the Federation wasn't keeping tightlipped about the whole thing, I never would have—"
"Save it, Kirk. The damage is done."
He stood there in silence for a moment. Madelyn realized she was still standing outside and pulled herself back into the apartment. Kirk was still standing there, his hands shoved into his pockets.
"Do you want to come in?" she offered quietly.
"If you don't mind."
She let him inside and locked the door behind him. "At least you're not who I was expecting to show up."
Kirk turned from surveying the apartment. "Khan?" He scoffed. "That bastard's not going anywhere. He's got guards on his ass 24/7."
"You don't seriously think he's just going to put up with it. We both know he won't. Eventually you'll have to lock him up where he belongs."
"Cryosleep?"
"No, you idiot. Prison! God, what do I have to do to get people to realize he's dangerous?!"
"We know he's dangerous. I know, alright? He almost killed me."
"No, you almost killed you. Spock told me everything."
Kirk seemed surprised. His eyes lingered over the glass of wine.
"But I saw him kill Admiral Marcus. He crushed the Admiral's skull with his bare hands." She swallowed, reliving the memory suddenly. "I've never seen him so furious with anyone."
"He's a psychopathic murderer, Madelyn. We both know where he needs to be."
Kirk left soon after. Madelyn was sure he'd only wanted to apologize. She saw something great in him, but he was barely older than her, and she knew if she were in Kirk's position, she would have pulled out all the stops until she got what she wanted.
Playing their brief conversation over in her mind as she returned to the couch, she realized she'd only ever seen Khan murder with intentionality. He didn't do it for fun, for a buzz, or for some sick tally in his head. He did it with purpose. Her grandfather's killer. Admiral Marcus, who'd used Khan as his tool for a year. And anyone who got in Khan's way. His methods were brutal, for sure, but maybe his reasons had some merit—
She shook her head at herself and took another sip of wine. Bones had said the antioxidants in a dry red were beneficial for both her and the baby, so one small glass a week was alright for now.
She reminded herself that Khan was dangerous, highly intelligent, and would do anything to get what he wanted, even if it meant destroying an entire city.
The next day she received the follow up call. It was from a Starfleet officer who wouldn't give his name. "I received a communication about a job request from a Madelyn McGivers. Am I speaking to her?"
She hesitated, almost wanting to hang up rather than reveal the name behind the phone number. "Yes, this is she."
The voice on the other end grew lighter. "Wonderful. I have an opening available with a Chief Medical Officer in Starfleet Medical if you're interested."
"Alright. What sort of job is it?"
"It will involve mostly organization skills. The doctor said he needed someone to help him get his new office in order, and possibly to help him with research. He said that according to your resume you are extremely intelligent and possess outstanding problem solving skills, as well as a unique genetic makeup, which he said may prove useful to some of his research."
Madelyn bit her lip. She almost yelled into the receiver. "How did you know about that? Who's offering me this job?" she replied, her tone biting.
"He said he couldn't give his name due to security reasons. I imagine your connection with Mr. Khan Noonien Singh gave him pause. Shall I let him know you've turned down his offer?"
An offer for her to be some scientist's lab rat? She didn't like the idea. But she needed something to keep her occupied before the baby inside her kept her from working, and this was an opportunity. Besides, she couldn't experience anything much worse than what Dr. Dahl had put her through.
"As long as this doctor lets me give full consent to whatever tests he wants to run, tell him I'll take the position."
"I will let him know Ms. McGivers. I'll call you again when I have more details on the time and place of work. Thank you for your time."
The call ended and Madelyn set the receiver down on the kitchen counter. At least it was something. The second call came later and she was instructed on when and where to arrive.
The following morning, she hired a taxi and headed into the city. On the way she noticed how the driver's eyes kept flitting across the rear view mirror to look at her, and when she looked back, his gaze returned to the road.
"Is there something you find interesting about me?" she said after finally having enough of it. The driver cleared his throat and shifted nervously in his seat.
"Nah, you just look familiar that's all. Probably just seen you around somewhere."
She didn't reply. He'd probably seen her face all over the news. When they arrived, she quickly paid him and exited the vehicle.
To her chagrin, the new location of Starfleet Medical was right back where she'd started after the events on the Vengeance. She entered the building with her head held high, ignoring the looks and comments thrown her way. The secretary rang up the doctor and told Madelyn to go on up.
She shared the elevator with one other person, an older woman with her arm in a cast. Madelyn glanced at her and smiled a little. The woman didn't look very pleased to see her. In fact, she was glaring at her. Madelyn shifted in her high heels, glancing nervously at the floor counter. She noticed the woman was facing her now.
"You're the slut who fucked that terrorist," she said bitterly.
Madelyn stared straight ahead.
"You could've stopped him you know. See my arm?" She waved her cast in Madelyn's face. "Crushed by falling debris when that ship fell on the city. I won't be able to use it again."
Madelyn clenched her jaw, forcing herself not to look at the woman who was now pressing herself into her face.
"Bitch! Look at me! Do you know how many people died? They're still finding bodies everyday. You should be in jail for what you let happen!"
The elevator doors hissed open on Madelyn's floor and she tried to step around the woman.
"Hey, you fucking slut! Where do you think you're going?"
Pissed at the woman's name-calling, Madelyn whirled to retort. Instead she was smacked across the face by the woman's rock-hard cast.
"You deserve a lot more than that, bitch," the woman growled. She tossed her hair over her shoulder and strode off.
Madelyn held her face in shock, ignoring the gawkers who stared as they walked by. Her cheek stung and when she pulled her hand away there was a trace of blood on her fingers. She took a breath and continued towards the doctor's office. She noticed strangely that two well-armed security officers guarded the door. They didn't acknowledge her when she asked if she could go in, so she hit the intercom and announced her presence to the room. The door slid open and a third officer escorted her inside, shutting and locking the door behind her with a keypad.
The extreme security measures bothered her a little. She followed the officer across the room and through another well-guarded door. Bones met her with a smile as they walked in, but she barely had time to register her surprise at the doctor's presence. Her eyes planted themselves on a figure sitting across the room. She sucked in a breath and her heart momentarily froze.
Khan lifted his eyes from the tablet in his hands and smiled softly. "It's good to see you again, Madelyn."
She took a step backwards but realized she had nowhere to go.