Khan and Reyne were all too aware of the stares they were getting in the midst of the hospital cafeteria. Yet they chose to focus on each other and the slice of chocolate cake on the table between them.

"So…what about your…" Reyne winced, feeling like they were back to square one. Khan waited for her to finish. She cleared her throat. "Your…space wife"

"Mira has been…terminated" Khan said slowly.

"Oh" Reyne did nothing to hide the relief on her face.

"She was rather abhorrent" Khan stabbed at a piece of cake. The mere memory of her set him on edge.

Reyne couldn't help but nod in agreement, taking a sip of milk. She didn't want to think about what Khan might've been responsible for.

"Theobroma cacao" Khan muttered, examining a forkful of cake. Reyne tilted her head.

"What?"

"It's the scientific nomenclature for chocolate"

"Oh" Sometimes it baffled Reyne at how much Khan knew. Even though Reyne had a wide vocabulary and knowledge, she occasionally debated having a dictionary on hand.

"Thankfully I won't be forced to regurgitate it" Khan murmured, suddenly wishing he hadn't said that.

"Well you do for family I suppose" Reyne winced. She hated herself for that. She knew Khan considered his crew to be his family. Yet having witnessed Mira, she couldn't possibly fathom what the rest of Khan's 'family' was like.

Khan almost immediately put his hand over Reyne's. He saw a flash of fear in her eyes but she didn't move. He was sifting through the words in his head, almost having a reply, when at that moment Kirk practically ran up to them. He stopped, trying to catch his breath.

Khan's gaze hardened. Clearly the Captain had a point to make, a message of some sort to relay.

"Reyne. You're being…summoned. Admiral Marcus. He's here and wants to talk to you…now" he breathed. The worry in Kirk's eyes was apparent.

It was only after a brief hug and watching Reyne get smaller and smaller from his line of vision that Khan finally found the words he wanted to say;

You are my family now.


Reyne had never been afraid of Admiral Marcus. Yet now as she was escorted back to her hospital room, she couldn't help but feel a slight tremor.

His gaze was such a stone fixture of displeasure that Reyne found she had just a hint of difficulty holding it. She crossed her arms as if to remind herself to stay calm.

"Admiral" she said calmly.

"I didn't want it to come to this, Lieutenant" Marcus replied, his voice like gravel. He nodded at a set of folded clothing on the bed. A black Star Fleet shirt and dark pants. McCoy must have gotten them. But judging by the size of the shirt and the disdainful look Marcus applied to it, Reyne had the strangest notion that it was one of Khan's.

"Which is what exactly?" Reyne asked, keeping her tone polite and respectful as she emerged from the bathroom.

"Arrest. If you come quietly, cuffing isn't necessary"

Reyne knew this would be a slightly different prison than the one she had just experienced. Single-cell holding, heightened security, etc. She now had a vague understanding of the shirt.


After a medical clearing, Khan found himself returned to his now-cleaned and sterilized cell. Yet they had made just one addition. There was a small screen on one side of the wall. Tapping it, Khan found he couldn't turn it off or on, no volume, nothing. It remained off.


Two days later, Reyne sat in a room, standard for interrogation and visitation. She was strangely at ease. Three meals a day, a shower attached to her cell, nothing malicious.

Kirk sat on the other side of the table.

"Are you alright?" he asked, after a somewhat tense silence.

"I'm…fine. A bit bored but again, it's far from the worst of my prison experience" Reyne shrugged. "I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop though" she sighed.

"Look I just…I just wanted to apologize" Kirk swallowed. "I've been an ass lately…and you deserve better"

"Don't worry about it" Reyne replied. "I'm as much to blame as you are"

"Do you love him?" Kirk asked, more out of curiosity than anything else.

Before Reyne could answer-not that she quite knew how to answer a question like that- the intercom crackled to life.

"Time's up"

It was a man's voice.

Reyne knew that voice. The voice that reduced her world to smithereens.

Fuck.

Kirk looked up in confusion. He had only just arrived fifteen minutes ago but what puzzled him more was the sudden change in Reyne's expression. Her face was paler than it should have been, her eyes had gone wide. Her hands that were on the table had shrunk into tightly wound fists. Kirk put a hand over one of them;

"Reyne what's wrong?" he asked, concerned. He felt Reyne's hands were shaking, her lower lip trembled slightly. It was a vast sudden change from her usual calm demeanor.

Then the door opened. Kirk looked up but Reyne kept her eyes fixed on the table.

"Time's up. Don't touch the prisoner"

Reyne couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't breathe, couldn't think.

"Who are you?" Kirk asked.

"Her guard" Flint replied. His close cropped hair and eyes were the color of his namesake. Reyne knew he probably looked almost the same as when she first met him. She didn't want to turn her head. She wanted to scream and wake up from this nightmare.

As the man who made her life a living hell at just seventeen and over the course of three years, taking the time to administer it personally, Reyne had hoped never to see this man again.

"You're not Star Fleet regulation" Kirk's eyes took in Flint's uniform, finding nothing recognizable.

"Kirk" Reyne's voice was barely audible. Thankfully her voice didn't shake or crack but it was enough to get Kirk to leave faster. Though being alone in a room with Flint was the absolute last thing Reyne wanted.

Since Reyne wasn't technically considered a serious threat, handcuffs had not been administered, a fact she was now sincerely grateful for. But if Flint had his way, he could muzzle her.

She knew he was standing right behind her, closing her eyes as she felt him bend down, breath in her ear. Reyne could practically hear the smirk form on his lips when she inched slightly away.

"Well isn't this awkward?"

Reyne didn't answer. She still was trying to figure out how to properly function. Flint took his time, sitting leisurely in Kirk's chair on the opposite side. Reyne's fingers dug into the cold metal of the table.

"You can't imagine my surprise when the good Admiral gave me a call"

As much as Reyne didn't want to, she opened her eyes, hardly able to believe the presence of the man in front of her. She was strongly considering an attempt to curl under the table and die.

"You look like you've been busy. I sure am curious how Admiral Pike got Star Fleet to look past your homicidal tendencies"

"I don't have-" Reyne stopped, making the mistake of looking Flint in the eye. She swallowed.

Flint tilted his head, leaning forward, smirk remaining in place.

"So it was just all an accident? Butchering daddy on the kitchen floor in cold blood?" he sneered.

"No I-!"

"Did someone else do it? Or did you pass out and you can't remember?"

Reyne blinked rapidly. She remembered it, all too well. Tears pricked her eyes, hot and fast.

"That's not why you're here" she snapped.

"Well why don't you tell me why I'm here?" Flint grinned, clearly getting off on her frustration and fear.

Reyne, forgetting she was in a holding facility, abruptly stood up, turning to leave, her fingers barely skimming the knob when;

"Back in the chair, inmate"

She froze. Her fingers shook. She couldn't leave. There were no other prisoners that Flint had to deal with. It was just her.

Feeling as if she were waist deep in mud, Reyne forced herself to sit back in the chair. Her heart hammered in her ears.

"You're clearly upset now why don't we talk about something more pleasant. Your new boyfriend perhaps? Care to talk about him?"

Reyne felt her face turn a deep shade of red.

"From what I've heard, it's quite the classic. Beauty and her beast"

Slowly Reyne lifted a hand to her face, trying not to hyperventilate or do anything she might regret.

"Don't be shy. He's killed people, you've killed people. It's all very romantic only I can't see how either of you managed to get very far"

Reyne pressed her hand over her mouth, closing her eyes.

"Oh my God" Flint breathed.

Reyne's stomach roiled.

"Did it hurt?"

Reyne spotted a trash can, bolting so fast her chair tipped over. Whatever she'd eaten unloaded itself.

She cringed as Flint pulled her hair out of the way.

"You're not pregnant are you?"

Reyne shook her head rapidly. She'd taken pills.

Flint patted her roughly on the back, eliciting a whimper.

"Good. We have such catching up to do" he smirked.