A month went by fast. Much had changed. Not so much with their situation. After all Till was still recovering from injuries sustained from Khans wrath. He had only woken up once and the shock of doing such had put him in such a state. Galen was forced to induce a coma to keep him alive. Everyone was getting antsy. They wanted to find the rest of their crew, get their lives going again. Get their well laid out plans in motion.
What had changed though was Aria. She had doubled in size. A well rounded proud baby bump stood out. Khan couldn't be more pleased, but Aria was struggling daily with the changes to her body. He didn't blame her. After all they were happening so fast she barely had time to register all the changes. Khan was proud of her though. When most women would become depressed, or anxious, about such a high risk pregnancy. Aria took it in stride. Though he would catch moments. Moments where he would see her looking down at her stomach with a look of pure fear. He would ask her about it but she would just smile and reply that they needed to be calm. Right now though he saw no fear just complete excitement on her face.
"Are you ready?" Galen asked with a smile readying the ultrasound. Aria had been doing regular scans for health but she hadn't had an ultrasound since the first one Khan had missed.
"I don't know." Aria said with a smile sitting up on the medical table her hand on her stomach. "Are we sure we want to know?" She asked looking to Khan.
"It's up to you if you want to know if it's a daughter or son. Your body your choice." She took a deep breath.
"I don't know… Galen do you need to know the sex of the child to better prepare for the birth?"
"Well I'll know anyways so it doesn't really matter if you know or not." Galen said and she took a deep breath as she looked down at her stomach. She slowly looked to Khan.
"I don't think I want to know… I think I want to be surprised."
"That's absolutely fine by me." He said and she nodded with a bright smile.
"Well we can at least show you a picture of your baby, maybe even hear a heartbeat… You've seen it but haven't heard it before." Galen said.
"Okay…" She said with a smile. "Yeah, sounds good."
"Alright same routine lay back…" She nodded and Khan took her hand and helped her lay back. "Shirt up." She slowly lifted it up over her belly, and Khan smiled. He couldn't help it. After all that belly was evidence of his child. His hand smoothed over it as Galen readied some items.
"Are you ready?" Galen asked.
"Yes…" Aria said with a bright smile. "Let's do this…" Khan smiled as he watched the monitor. He had been waiting for this moment. To hold her hand during an ultrasound. He had asked for a good three weeks they do it. But Aria had her reservations. Nervous about how big the baby had grown, if anything was wrong. So he hadn't pushed her, instead he waited for her to ask Galen for the ultrasound herself.
"Alright here we go." Galen said. Aria watched as he spread some gel across her stomach before taking the ultrasound wand in hand and beginning to move it over her stomach slowly. Khan laughed instantly and Aria looked to him. He was ecstatic. She had never seen such an expression on his face before. She looked to the monitor and took a deep breath.
"Oh my god…" Aria said taking a deep breath as she looked over the scan which was clearly the image of a baby. "Khan look…"
"I'm looking… That's incredible." He said kissing the back of her hand.
"The baby has really grown…" Galen said and Khan looked to him. He didn't like the worried tone his voice took.
"How big?" Aria asked and Galen looked to her with a soft expression.
"It's fine…"
"How far along am I?" She asked.
"The baby is about… Twenty two weeks." Aria took a shaky breath.
"Twenty two?" Khan asked.
"Khan I'm only 61 days…" Aria said quietly and he looked to her. "The last time we checked the baby was only 14 weeks along."
"When was the last time you checked again?" Khan asked looking to Galen.
"4 days ago…" Galen said his jaw clenching for a moment.
"That's alright." Khan said looking to Aria and she slowly nodded. "Let's focus on the good… How about we listen to the heart beat?" She slowly nodded.
"Yes the heart beat that's perfect let's listen to the heart beat…" Galen said knowing that would make Aria feel better. He flipped on the sound and Khan tilted his head his jaw clenching. The heart beat wasn't an even beat. It was going so fast Khan couldn't hear the space between the beats.
"That heart beat is flying…" Khan said before looking to Aria. "Is that you?" She shook her head instantly.
"No that's… That's not her." Galen said and Khan could see his confusion.
"Is the baby in trouble?" Aria asked hearing how fast the heart beat was.
"It's possible we have an echo and it's bouncing the heart beat back twice, making it seem fast." Galen said lying right through his teeth. Aria slowly nodded taking a deep breath, his lie seeming to have calmed her. He started searching her womb and tilted his head. "Wait…"
"What?" Aria asked looking to him quickly. Galen laughed.
"This explains everything, maybe not the rapid growth but everything else."
"What is it?" Khan asked and Galen smiled.
"You've got twins." Galen said with a laugh.
"What?" Aria asked looking to the monitor.
"No I just see one in there." Khan said.
"The second twin is hiding behind the first." Galen said. "It's very common." Aria took a deep breath. "Congratulations you two." He said clapping Khan on the back. "Are you sure you don't want to know the sexes?"
"I uhm… I have matters to attend to can we wrap this up?" Aria asked and Khan looked to her in confusion.
"Sure…" Galen said with a smile as he wiped off her belly.
"Thank you." She said as Khan helped her sit up her shirt dropping over her stomach once more. "Thank you Galen." She instantly walked away.
"I thought she'd be happy…" Khan said watching her walk onto the turbo lift.
"It's hormones… She can't help it… Especially with twins." Galen said. "Exciting isn't it?"
"Yes, two children at once… Very exciting indeed… One of them is really hiding from sight?"
"Very, very common… Many women go through a whole pregnancy thinking they only have one, and the delivery date comes and pop comes out two."
"Fascinating." Khan said with a smile. "Will this make the delivery harder-."
"No it doesn't change things much." He said. "We prepared for anything including multiples… I had a feeling…"
"Why?" Khan asked.
"Her levels are very clear, she's an extremely fertile woman… I should bump up her vitamin levels though now that I know there's two babies." Khan looked off. He had a nagging feeling. Instantly he was worried about Aria. "By the way I want permission to move Till to the holodeck?"
"Why?" Khan asked turning to look at him.
"It's my idea to break him down, actually Arias… She knows more about it then I do… All I know is that it involves holograms."
"Alright I'll talk to her about, find out what her idea is before we do such a thing."
"Sure thing Captain." Galen said as he watched Khan head to the turbo lift.
-o-
Khan had spent a good two hours looking for Aria. But he had never found her. He wasn't worried though. He knew that thanks to their connection nothing was wrong. At least not physically. He did get the sense though that something was wrong emotionally. So he waited on the bridge for her to finally head his way to their compartment to sleep. When he heard the doors to the turbo lift open he turned in the chair and smiled as Aria walked in.
"Ariadne…" he greeted and she smiled softly.
"You waited up?" she asked her hand resting on her stomach.
"Of course, I went looking for you but… I couldn't find you."
"Oh I was on the hollodeck checking some things out."
"For Till… Galen said you had ideas."
"Just some Audio visual tortures… It's an old technique but one that shouldn't be written off…" Khan looked her over, he could instantly tell something was wrong. "Also with such the fragile state Till is coming out of, it will make it easier to finally break him."
"What is it?" Khan asked and she tilted her head.
"The torture? I just said it, it's where we use-."
"No, what's wrong?" He asked and she just smiled.
"Nothing I'm… I'm just tired… I think I'll head in…" She kissed him on the cheek before heading towards their living compartment. He watched her disappear through the air locked doors.
"Just hormones…" he reminded himself with a smile before going back to some work. For the next few hours he tried to bury himself into some schematic work. But the nagging feeling he had towards Aria grew more and more.
So finally he gave up trying to ignore it and got up. He walked to their compartment and headed in. He had expected to find her in bed but when she wasn't there he looked to see Aria sitting in front of the mirror looking down at her baby bump. He smiled she did this almost every night. His face fell though, when he realized she wasn't looking at her baby bump with the usual smile but with an expression he could only describe as sorrowful.
"Ariadne?" he asked. She sat up instantly and smiled.
"Hey…" she greeted. He tilted his head. One second she had the most heart breaking expression on her face, and the next second she was smiling at him like nothing was wrong.
"Don't do that." He said walking to her.
"Do what?"
"Act like everything is all right when it's clearly not…" Aria watched as he knelt before her. "What is it love?" he asked taking her hands in his.
"Nothing." She said with a smile and he sighed heavily.
"Ever since the ultrasound today something has clearly been wrong, tell me what it is."
"No I'm fine…" She said. "Everything is just fine…" her voice broke for a moment. "It's just hormones." She said with a watery laugh.
"Why do I think it's more than that?" He asked.
"I can't talk about it…"
"Why not?"
"Because I can't. I have to constantly stay in a calm sense of being or I risk losing them… I just have to ignore what I'm feeling and focus on the good things."
"Can't do that though when you're feeling whatever it is that you're feeling."
"I'll be fine…"
"How about we go for a walk?" she looked him over. "We'll take a shuttle outside the ship. Check out the gardens… Maybe go to that waterfall you like so much." She smiled softly. He was trying to get her mind off of what was bothering her.
"Sure… Sounds lovely. Just one thing? Can you help me put on my boots I can't bend over to pick them up." She admitted with an embarrassed laugh.
"Of course love." He picked the studded boot up in hand and slipped her foot in before doing the next.
"Thank you." She said as he took her hands in his and started to help her up. "You know I was starting to worry I was getting too big for having just one baby…" She said as they walked out of their living quarters. "Now that I know I'm having twins I feel a lot better about my weight."
"You look beautiful."
"I look like a whale." She said with a laugh and he smiled.
"You're glowing."
"You have to say that…" She said as they walked onto the turbo lift. "I'm getting so big I'm starting to wonder if my body will bounce back."
"It will… Your augmentation will take over."
"I hope so…" She said leaning against the wall of the turbo lift. "In some ways I'm glad this pregnancy is moving fast, I'm starting to get uncomfortable…"
"Uncomfortable how?" he asked looking her over.
"Well I'm carrying the weight of two bowling balls around… My back hurts. My boobs hurt. Everything hurts actually…"
"Have you talked to Galen about this?"
"It's normal." She said with a soft expression.
"Is there anything I can do to relieve the burden?"
"You do a lot, helping me put on my shoes, fluffing my pillows for bed-."
"I could fluff them more." She laughed and he smiled. "What?" he asked.
"I would have never seen this side of you coming when we first met on Kronos." She said as he helped her out of the turbo lift.
"I think we've both surprised each other since that day."
"I guess so…" She said with a soft expression.
-o-
Aria smiled as Khan held onto her hand. He had been very protective lately. She didn't blame him though. Nor did she mind. Still he had gone as far as when they had gotten into the shuttle he had buckled her into her seat. Making sure the belt was snug but not to snug around her baby bump. Now he was holding her hand firmly as they navigated the forest. He kept checking up on her as they moved.
"Are you alright?" he asked and she smiled.
"For the fiftieth time yes, I'm quite safe with you leading the way and holding my hand…" He nodded.
"I just don't want you to trip or anything…"
"Never with you at my side." He smiled, glad she had so much faith in him. They broke through a line of trees and Aria smiled seeing the familiar body of water. They walked to the edge and with Khans help Aria slowly sat. She smiled as Khan took her feet in hand pulled her boots off for her. She unable to thanks to her baby bump.
"There you are." He said before placing her feet down in the water.
"Thank you." She said as her hands went to her stomach. She took a deep breath as she sighed heavily.
"Are you alright?" she smiled, it was a question she had been hearing a lot from him as of late.
"Fine just… uncomfortable."
"Can I help?"
"Can we induce labor already?" she asked with a smile and he laughed softly knowing she was joking.
"Here…" Khan took off his jacket and folded it. "Lay back…" She slowly did as he said and rested her head on his coat.
"You're too good to me…" she said her eyes drifting close. Khan reached for her stomach and stopped.
"Can I-."
"You don't have to ask…" she said with a soft expression. Khan slowly nodded and brought the shirt up over her baby bump. He smiled as he set his hand against it.
"Amazing…" he said.
"What's amazing?" She asked.
"That there's two perfect little augmented beings in there…" he said his hand smoothing over the bump. Aria smiled softly as she watched Khan bow his head towards it. "Can you hear me in there?" he asked. "Can you hear your father?" Aria smiled to herself as her eyes drifted close. "Those heart beats are near in sync…" She smiled softly.
"Khan?" she asked her eyes slowly opening to gaze up at the night sky.
"Yes love?" he inquired his hand smoothing over her skin.
"Think I'll be an okay mother?" he looked up at her and took on a soft expression.
"No." she looked to him quickly. "I think you'll be an amazing mother, not just an okay mother…" she smiled softly.
"What if they don't like me?" He laughed.
"You're going to be their mother, you are their mother right now in fact."
"They could still hate me."
"Impossible everyone loves you."
"Lie." She said and he laughed.
"They'll love you…" She took on a soft expression.
"I just hope I don't fail them." He looked her over for a long moment. There was something very profound in her words then. "I never had a mother…" she admitted. "I mean I did at one time but she died when I was so little… I've never had an example of what a mother should be or…" Her jaw clenched.
"I've seen the way you are with the augmented children growing in the tubes, and how you are with your own growing children-."
"But they aren't real children." Aria said. "They aren't interacting back or-."
"You'll do beautifully…" He said kissing her stomach and she smiled softly as she looked to him.
"You always know what to say." She said with a soft expression as he climbed up over her body. She smiled as he kissed her deeply his hand smoothing over her stomach as he did.
-o-
Khan wrapped the towel around his waist as he came out of the shower. He smiled seeing Aria stirring in her sleep her hand moving over her stomach as she did. Morning sickness had seemed to calm down since Galen had been able to balance out her vitamin level intake. Still he couldn't notice that most mornings she seemed a bit green looking. She sighed heavily as she slowly propped herself up on the pillows before going to get up. She wavered on her feet and Khan instantly rushed over.
"Whoa… Whoa…" He said taking her arm in his hand and steadying her. "You alright-."
"I need to sit back down." She said instantly and he helped her sit back on the bed. "Lay down I need to lay down." He helped her lay back and her eyes fluttered closed as her hand set on her head.
"Are you alright love?" he asked worriedly.
"Yeah I think… I think I just got up a little too quick." A beep sounded and Khan looked her over.
"Stay still for a moment I'll get you some water."
"Check what Galen needs first." She said with a soft expression and he pulled his communicator as he walked over to a food and drink dispenser in the room.
"Galen what is it?" Khan asked.
"Is Aria aright there was a flutter in the readings…"
"She's fine, she just got up a little too quickly…" Khan said looking to her.
"Good now that she's alright I think you should know, Till has taken a turn for the worst." Arias eyes opened to look at Khan. "I think we've restrained-."
"I'll come to you and we'll speak of this privately." Khan said.
"Yes Cap." He put the communicator aside before walking to Aria with a glass of water.
"Thank you…" She said as she took a sip and scooted back on the bed. Khan reached forward and felt her temperature.
"You feel warm…" he said. She hadn't run a temperature since the very beginning of her pregnancy.
"I'm feeling a bit under the weather to be honest…"
"Maybe you should see Galen." She shook her head with a smile.
"No I've bothered him enough."
"He's the lead Medical officer, you're not bothering him."
"He's the only medical officer and from what he just said you two need to go focus on Till… Here I worked these out for you." She handed him her tablet and he looked over plans for the newly developed torture sequence in the hollodeck. "Use them and he'll break for sure…" He looked back to her to see circles under her eyes.
"I want Galen to look at you."
"After."
"Fine but you're not leaving this room… I want you to stay in that bed and rest."
"I will… Scouts honor." She said and he smiled as he looked her over. He didn't believe her for one minute. But he could only ask not tell. After all in the end Aria would do what she wanted to do.
"I'll see you later tonight, I don't know how long I'll be with Till. So don't wait up." He said as he moved forward and kissed her forehead. She smiled as she watched him push up her silk camisole and kiss her stomach twice.
"You're adorable."
"No I'm a fierce killer, one every man who's ever breathed should fear." He said as he got up and walked away and she laughed quietly.
"Well you're adorable to me…" He smiled to himself as he started to get dressed. When he finished he turned to see Aria had fallen back asleep. He tilted his head. She hadn't slept this much since the beginning of the pregnancy. After they dealt with Till he would make sure Galen would see to her. Something about the whole situation didn't feel right to him. Before he left he stopped at Aria and pushed a strand of her red hair behind her ear before kissing her cheek.
-o-
Khan went rigid as he walked onto the hollodeck. Galen had moved him the night before to prepare him for the tortures Aria had come up with. He didn't look well at all. He was pale. With dark circles under his eyes. Galen stood at Tills side while running diagnostics on him.
"So, what's wrong with him?" Khan asked walking over.
"Well he's got five abscesses forming on his legs from being immobile for so long... Fluid in his lungs from how he was hanging off the ground from his wrists…. He's anemic… A B12 anemic to be exact."
"Meaning?" he asked.
"It's an autoimmune disorder he's seem to have developed. He's not taking in enough b12…"
"That's not all that's wrong is it?"
"No nerve damage will result along with Peripheral Neuropathy which has seem to already set in. He's got nerve damage to his arms and legs… Which will heal of course if we give him enough time… But I am worried about his fingers and toes… They're turning black… If I don't treat them they'll fall off, and to be honest I don't know if they'll grow back or not…"
"I don't really care if they do or don't."
"Nor do I." He said with a shrug. "The man is also running one hell of a fever… he's just sickly all around."
"What do you want to do?"
"Well I was just going to do what we did before which was hook him up to some of our blood and let it do the work, the problem is he's rejecting our blood." Khan looked to Galen. "His' body refuses to take it…"
"You better not be suggesting what I think you're suggesting."
"We need Arias blood to heal him."
"You suggested it." Khan muttered looking off.
"If we don't we'll never find out where the others are… He will die Khan."
"I'm starting to think we'll never find out anyways from him." Khan muttered looking over Till.
"He's our only shot." A small alarm went off and Galen looked to his tablet.
"Aria is running one hell of a fever it seems as well." Galen commented.
"She's not feeling very well that's for sure."
"Any morning sickness?"
"Not for the past two weeks."
"Well it could just be the strain the twins are causing on her. Nothing to worry about I'm sure." He said with a smile.
"Is there anything else we co do to heal him, I really don't feel like giving him a blood transfusion from my pregnant partner." Khan said.
"Stem cells."
"Stem cells?" Khan asked. "If you're thinking of taking stem cells from my unborn children-."
"No of course not." He said instantly. "I'm taking about Arias little brothers and sisters we have in the criocase… We could use one harvest the stem cells and place them into Till…"
"That would kill the embryo."
"I know." Galen said.
"You want me to allow you to kill a potential sibling of Ariadnes?" He asked.
"We need to find out where the others are Khan…" Galen said.
"She won't go for it."
"You haven't asked her."
"How about this, we run adrenaline through his veins until he wakes up, put him through the torture sequence Ariadne set up and find out what needs to be found out."
"He could slip into shock and die right after."
"Does it look like I give a damn?" Khan asked.
"Good point." Galen said. "Let me run some vitamins and some fluids through his IVS to prepare him for this… Also I want some medical equipment on standby just in case."
"How long will that take?" Khan asked.
"A week it also gives him time to heal."
"Fine… First check on Aria."
"Sure thing Cap." He said before walking off. Khans jaw clenched as he stared into Till.
"I can't believe I have to keep you alive…" he muttered.
-o-
Aria took a deep breath as she slowly walked over to the water dispenser. She felt like hell. This was worse than she felt at the beginning of her pregnancy. She hadn't known she was pregnant of course, but looking back she knew that's what had caused her achy body, and high fever. The room spun for a moment and she instantly leaned against a wall to keep herself from falling over.
"Come on Aria…" she said getting a level head before moving to the dispenser her glass in hand. She sat down her hand on her stomach as she let the cool water cascade into the cup instantly chilling it in her grasp. She heard the hiss of the doors and turned to see Galen walking in. "Hey Galen." She greeted.
"You look like hell." He said before rushing to her.
"Thanks just what every girl wants to hear." She said taking a long sip of water. It brought no comfort to her.
"How are you feeling?"
"The way I look." She said with a small smile.
"Tell me your symptoms."
"Pregnancy symptoms." She said. "Though I've got a splitting headache which is completely new…" she said her eyes shutting.
"Head ache?" he asked.
"Mhm… Also I can't keep anything down. I guarantee you I'll throw up this water in a few minutes."
"Khan said you weren't having morning sickness."
"It started right after he left."
"Alright I'm taking you to the medical bay." He said lifting her up in his arms easily. "We'll get you on some nice fluids which you won't throw up and bump up your vitamin intake to fight off that headache." As he carried her he looked down to see she had fallen asleep her head resting on his shoulder. Something wasn't right, he could feel that deep down. Then again though nothing was right about her pregnancy. It wasn't following the natural order of things in anyway. When Galen got to the medical bay he laid Aria down on a bed and instructed the bots to prepare her for IVs. As they did Aria shot up in bed and turned to throw up in a bed beside it.
"You weren't kidding." He said seeing only water coming up.
"Sorry…" She muttered.
"Not the first time you've thrown up in front of me and it won't be the last…" he said with a smile. She instantly laid back and took a deep breath as a bot patted her head with a swab to remove any perspiration. When she was all hooked up he walked over with the IV orbs. "Alright I'll hook these up and you should be feeling better in no time." As he put everything into place and the fluids and vitamins started flowing he looked over Aria. "Lass?" he asked. "Lass did you hear me?" he asked. When she didn't answer he looked to her vitals. She was dead asleep. Far far away. "Poor kid, must be exhausted…" he smiled as he looked to her baby bump. "Go easy on your mother you two…" he said with a smile.
For the next few hours Galen would move things from the medical bay to the hollodeck. Each time he did he checked on both his patients. Aria when he was on the medical bay. Till when he was on the hollodeck. He had informed Khan of Arias stats, and had told him not to worry. But now as he checked in on Aria he himself was beginning to worry. Her vitals were improving, but not as fast as he wished. Also she hadn't woken up yet. He just chalked it up to her pregnancy and the amount of stress her body was under. She wasn't the only one not improving though. In fact, Till was seeming to get worse.
"Ready Cap?" He asked when the day finally ended.
"Let's go check in on Ariadne…" Khan said waking past two medical bots they had posted on Till. They walked out of the hollodeck and instantly Khan locked it down. When they got to the turbo lift they rode up the whole way before walking onto the medical bay. Khan tilted his head as he looked over Aria. She looked worse. He walked over and took her hand as Galen looked over her vitals.
"She's not as far along as I hoped she would be…" Galen commented. "I was expecting a full recovery by now… Aria…" He said going to wake her up. Her head lolled to the side. "Aria wake up…" She took a deep breath as her eyes slowly opened. "There you are… How you are feeling?" She only shook her head. "What's wrong?"
"My head…" she said quietly her eyes fluttering closed. "It's too bright…" She commented and instantly Galen lowered the lights.
"You my dear have a migraine." He said. "Very common for pregnant women. It explains all your sleeping…"
"Which I think I'm going to go back to doing…"
"Are you still achy?" she nodded.
"The room is spinning."
"That's the migraine." Galen said as Khan held her hand in his. He felt it go limp and looked her over. "She passed out." He said. "Your kids are really taking a toll on her… I've been waiting for this to be honest."
"You have?" Khan asked.
"Her body hasn't had the correct time to take in all the changes happening to her body… She's hitting the wall now because of it…" He looked to Khan. "I think it's time we put her on permanent bed rest."
"I'm fine with that, she won't be, but let me deal with her…"
"I will." Galen said with a smile. "We should start getting the delivery stuff set up…"
"Already?" Khan asked looking to him quickly.
"Her pregnancy is moving fast. She's only fourteen weeks in and she's 22 weeks along…" She could hit 38 weeks in a months' time, and then if she has an earlier delivery then that it could come sooner. We should be prepared."
"Right…" Khan said nodding as he kissed the back of her hand. "Let's start tonight."
-o-
"This is a strange list of items they took." Kirk said looking over an inventory tablet. They had finally made it to the Federation Medical Center Khan, Aria, and Galen had robbed from and killed so many of the workers inside.
"All prenatal and delivery equipment." McCoy said.
"Makes sense with the things they stole from the other medical facility." Kirk said.
"They're growing Augments, and by this equipment they're getting ready to birth them." McCoy said.
"No I don't think so." Spock said walking over. "I think all the equipment stolen in this case is for Aria Adne."
"She is pregnant Jim." McCoy said.
"But already, ready to deliver?" Kirk asked.
"We know nothing of their reproductive systems." Spock said.
"It may not be a 9 month wait for them." McCoy added.
"Sir we have the archive footage here for you to view." A red shirt said.
"Bring it to screen." Kirk said walking over to it. For the next few hours he and Spock watched it over and over again.
"At some point here Khan seems to get panicked." Kirk said watching him run through the hallways and "Leaving his partner Galen behind to use the beaming pad."
"Perhaps something happening back on their ship." Spock offered.
"Very possible." Kirk stated. "Spock is there anyway to track where they beamed too?"
"There is but I don't doubt Khan found a way to erase it."
"Get Checkolv on it, it's our only lead."
"Already have Captain."
"Oh…" Kirk said before smiling. "Well done."
"Thank you Captain."
"You can just call me Jim you know." He said clapping him on the back as he walked past him.
"Yes… Well Ji-Capta-Jim." Spock said quickly following him.
"Yes Spock?" He asked with an amused tone of voice.
"If we find Khan and his new crew how will we handle them?"
"You mean handle Aria."
"Yes." Jim came to a stop he hadn't thought of that. The original plan was to just face off ship to ship and destroy Khan and everyone out right. But now that he knew Aria was pregnant it changed things.
"I have some ideas."
"We should talk about them." Kirk said and Spock nodded with a smile glad they were going to discuss rather than just act as Kirk usually did.
-o-
Khan rode up the Turbo lift. Straining his neck as he did. He hadn't slept the night before which wasn't out of the ordinary because, well, Augments weren't known for sleeping. Still it had been his night to sleep, and he hadn't. He had been far too worried about Aria up in the Medical Bay. He had wanted to stay with her but Galen had kicked him out, telling him that if he didn't rest he too would drop. The door slid open to the Medical Bay and Khan stopped seeing Aria being looked after closely by Galen. Khan could instantly tell something was wrong.
"Galen what is it?"
"She's not responding to stimuli." Galen said not even looking to him but instead continuing to work over Aria.
"What?" Khan asked instantly walking over.
"She's out. Completely out." He said. "Vitals are not as good as they should be, but in the survival rate range, but she isn't waking up and she isn't responding to Stimuli even pain."
"Pain, you hurt her?" Khan asked his anger instantly flying.
"It had to be done." He said instantly.
"What's wrong with her?"
"I-I-I don't know." He said quickly. "I'm running all the tests and nothing is coming up. She's fine. Except for being slightly anemic but that's normal in pregnancies but let's face it this pregnancy isn't normal!" He snapped.
"Relax Galen… You'll figure it out…" Khan said.
"Nothing is wrong with her other then she's pregnant." Galen said.
"Pregnant women don't just fall asleep one night and then not wake up Galen…" Khan said with a dangerous tone. "Re run the tests…"
"I have…" He said. "Has she ever slept this much before?"
"Not like this, even after I rescued her from being tortured she still responded to stimuli…" Khan said taking her hand in his and feeling for the first time ever her not respond. Even when she was asleep and he took her hand there would be some sort response. "The children, how are my children?" he asked his jaw clenching as he looked over her pale features.
"They're fine… They've grown despite the stress on their mother…"
"How much?"
"22 weeks to 23 weeks…"
"A week in a day…" Khan said before looking to Galen. "It really must be the stress of the growing twins…"
"Yeah… Must be…"
"We just need to stay calm…" Khan said and Galen slowly looked to him.
"I'm sorry for losing my composure… It's just… It's driving me mad. This pregnancy. It's testing me in every way."
"I know Galen."
"We're supposed to have our expertise, it's in our DNA, it's a part of our augmentation. You, you're a leader great at everything. Aria an expert in battle strategies and weapons. Me a natural in medicine… I used to be able to heal anyone. Help anyone. Now there's someone who needs my help more than anyone before and I can't… I'm… Failing." Khan looked over his old friend for a long moment.
"You're doing the best you can… That's all anyone can ask Galen." He slowly looked to Khan. "You'll heal her in the end, like you said it's in your DNA. It's what you do. You can't fail at something you are down deep…" He slowly nodded and looked off. "You'll find the answer."
"Yeah I'll… I'll keep running the tests maybe our equipment is missing something…" He said before walking off to re check her blood panels.
"Come on Love…" Khan said kissing the back of her hand.
-o-
Five days passed by very slowly for the two Augments left awake aboard the Dreadnaught Resurrection. The days dragged in the worst of ways. Galen split his time unequally between Till and Aria. Spending most of his time with Aria and letting the medical bots handle Till. There had been no change in either. Aria had yet to wake up. Had yet to do anything but just breathe deeply in her slumber.
In five days much hadn't changed with Galen and Khan, but a lot had changed with Aria. Her stomach had grown thanks to the twins jumping from 23 weeks to 26. Galen was more then worried, but he tried to keep Khan from seeing that. Galen would steal peeks at his Captain as he studied her vitals. He didn't like how calm and quiet his old friend was being. You never wanted Khan to be calm and quiet it always meant the truth of his emotions were the exact opposite of that.
Galen took a deep breath as he walked to the turbo lift from the hollodeck. Till had taken a turn for the worse. They had held off on taking stem cells from he and Arias Augmented sibling Embroys because Aria wasn't awake to give the go ahead. Now that Till was very close to death, he didn't see any other option. Also Galen was wondering if he shouldn't use some stem cells on Aria to get her to wake up. He took a deep breath as he rode up the turbo lift before walking out onto the medical bay.
"Till's taken a turn for the worst." He said to Khan as he walked to Arias scanners.
Khan hadn't heard Galen though. He was far too busy looking at Aria closely. So much had changed with her in five days, except for the most important thing. Her slumber. She had stayed sleeping. He hated it. He wanted her to wake up. He wanted her to open her eyes so he could gaze into their emerald color once more. He held her hand tightly as his jaw clenched. He couldn't forget the last words he said to her, and what she said to him.
"You feel warm…" he said. She hadn't run a temperature since the very beginning of her pregnancy.
"I'm feeling a bit under the weather to be honest…"
"Maybe you should see Galen." She shook her head with a smile.
"No I've bothered him enough."
"He's the lead Medical officer, you're not bothering him."
"He's the only medical officer and from what he just said you two need to go focus on Till… Here I worked these out for you." She handed him her tablet and he looked over plans for the newly developed torture sequence in the hollodeck. "Use them and he'll break for sure…" He looked back to her to see circles under her eyes.
"I want Galen to look at you."
"After."
"Fine but you're not leaving this room… I want you to stay in that bed and rest."
"I will… Scouts honor." She said and he smiled as he looked her over. He didn't believe her for one minute. But he could only ask not tell. After all in the end Aria would do what she wanted to do.
"I'll see you later tonight, I don't know how long I'll be with Till. So don't wait up." He said as he moved forward and kissed her forehead. She smiled as she watched him push up her silk camisole and kiss her stomach twice.
"You're adorable."
"No I'm a fierce killer one every man whose ever breathed should fear." He said as he got up and walked away and she laughed quietly.
"Well you're adorable to me…"
It wasn't a terrible last exchange to have with someone. It had been pleasant. But he wished he could change on thing. He wished he had told her he loved her. That thought scared him more than anything. If something were to happen to her. If she were to never wake up ever again. Would she have known how he felt? Despite the connection and having said it to her so many times. Would she have known he loved her as deeply as he did? Arias body suddenly lurched up off the table as a medical alarm went off. Khan stood up quickly as Arias body began to shake violently.
"Let go of her hand!" Galen ordered pulling Khan away from her. "She's having a seizure if you touch her you could injure her." He said rushing to her side to prepare what he needed for the after affects.
"Do something!" Khan yelled.
"I can't she has to ride it out!" Galen said, and just as the words left his mouth Arias body dropped back down to the table where she lay still her hand draping off the side of it.
"What the hell was that?" Khan asked rushing over to Aria and taking her hand.
"I have a theory but I don't know how it's possible… It hasn't been heard of in hundreds of years-."
"What is it?" Khan asked.
"Eclampsia…" He said.
"That sounds familiar…"
"It's a pregnancy related seizure…" He said checking over the fetuses'. "We're lucky your children are augments or that could have killed them…" He said seeing the children were healing themselves. He rushed over to his supply and ran back before hooking an orb up to her IV.
"What is that?" Khan asked.
"Magnesium Sulfate… It should keep another seizure from happening…" He said taking a deep breath. "I think this explains why she fell asleep on us…"
"How?"
"I think it was her bodies way of calming her down. Trying to keep her blood pressure low and her overall state calm…"
"You're telling me her body could sense this coming and it shut down in a way to protect its self?" Khan asked.
"She's… More advanced." He said looking to him.
"It still didn't stop it, why?" Galen looked off.
"I… I don't know if that's the case it should have stopped it… Her Augmentation should have stopped it… Nothing makes sense about this…" his eyes drifted down to her hand and he blinked as he stared down at it. He slowly took her hand in his and looked over her finger pads. They were turning purple. A light purple. He put her hand down and walked to her feet slipping them out of the medical slippers. Her toes also had a light purple color to them.
"Wait…" He said as he looked up in thought. A small alarm went off and Galen ran to his medical tablet which was linked to Till.
"What is it?" Khan asked.
"The medical bots just informed me… Till just had a seizure…" Galen laughed to himself. "No… No that can't be right…" he said to himself. He slowly turned and looked to Aria.
"You have a theory?" Khan asked.
"I have a theory, but I don't think you're going to like it… I don't even like it." He said walking back to Aria where he did another scan of her body. He tilted his head seeing the state of her liver. He pulled open her eyes and shined a light in them before allowing them to close.
"Galen you really need to fill me in." Khan said his jaw clenching.
"Aria she… She didn't take a turn for the worst in her pregnancy until Till took a turn for the worse in his torture…" Khan looked to him. "Tills fingers and toes are purple… her fingers and toes are turning purple… He has a seizure… She has a seizure… Till has Jaundice… Aria is developing Jaundice…" Galens jaw clenched. "They're brother and sister, and Till has said that they were linked… I'm thinking back on all the times Aria hasn't been feeling her best, and it correlates directly with Till… She heals slowly when Till is injured and likewise…" Khans jaw clenched.
"You said Till is close to death…" Galen looked to him. "If Till dies-."
"Aria might as well…"
"Save him."
"I don't know how." Khan rushed forward and gripped onto Galens shirt. "Khan-."
"Save him!" Khan yelled shoving him up against a wall. "You save him you save her now save him!"
"Stem cells." Galen instantly said.
"Do it." Khan said shoving him to the criocase where Till and Arias siblings waited to be grown.
AN: That took forever! My writers block is gone now though! I hope people are still reading this! It took soooo long to update sorry guys!