A/N: I want to apologize for not updating sooner. There was an emergency involving a friend last Friday (Sept 14), and as a result I was unable to write or use the internet much at all. I know some of you loved it when I updated almost every other day, but shit happens right?

Anyway, here's another chapter (FINALLY), so please enjoy and don't forget to review!

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

Madelyn had two options.

She could let Khan go, possibly to never see him again, but in turn save herself and hopefully be safely beamed aboard the Enterprise or the Entente, whichever ship could be accessed quicker.

Or she could stop him.

A quick glance at the security console again told her she could catch up with him, if she left now. A hand on her arm made her flinch and step back. She knew McCoy could read everything on her face, and his own expression told her he didn't like what he saw.

"That's him," said Janeway, still watching the security feeds.

"Bones, you have to let me go," Madelyn said softly.

"You really wanna do this?" The doctor's enduring grimace matched his words.

"I need to do this. Of all people, I thought you'd understand."

"Yeah, but I don't want you going out there alone."

"I can catch up to him before he gets there."

"Gets where?" said McCoy and Janeway in unison.

"The guy who ordered my arrest. I think he's trying to capture Khan. This whole thing has been a trap."

They stared at her.

"Why the hell would anyone want to do that?" said McCoy after a moment.

Now Madelyn was the one to stare. "You're kidding me! You do realize what kind of an asset Khan could be to someone with a lot of money and power who just wants more power, right? I don't want to think about what could be done to him if…" She trailed off as realization dawned on McCoy's face. She made her way around the console and out of the security station. "If I go now, I can catch up with him and stop him. You two just get to the Enterprise, or the Entente, whichever."

McCoy caught her arm again before she could get away, and she paused, grateful his hand didn't linger.

"What sort of trap are you talking about? How do we know they won't just kill him, and you?"

She looked at the doctor firmly. "I don't. But I'm not about to just let them kill Khan if I can do something about it."

"Wait." Janeway straightened and put herself between the two of them. "I don't care what your excuse is. You're not going alone."

"But your arm—"

"I've had worse remember? Besides you need someone who knows their way around this station, and I'm sure Dr. McCoy would rather return to the Enterprise than run around this place while it gets blown to bits."

Inwardly grateful that she wasn't going to have to do this alone, Madelyn gave the captain a faint smile, then glanced at McCoy. Seeing that he was being given little choice, his expression fell but he nodded to them both.

"Don't you dare get shot again, Captain," said Bones. "And watch yourself, Madelyn."

She nodded and took off down the corridor with Janeway at her heels. As they ran, the captain quickly explained the fastest way for them to get to the station's hub. This corridor would lead them to a wider corridor where they could take a narrow maintenance ladder up to the top level. Then it would be a simple matter of running towards the hub until they found Khan.

The corridors were empty. People had been evacuated, and there weren't security guards anywhere. When they exited the maintenance tunnel, Janeway suggested they obtain phasers from a nearby storage room. Madelyn shook her head. She didn't have time for that. Janeway told her to keep going, to stop Khan. She'd catch up. Madelyn hesitated, her eyes lingering on the captain's injured arm.

"I don't want to leave you alone," she said. Janeway almost rolled her eyes.

"You'd be surprised what I can do with one phaser," the captain replied. "Now go."

Madelyn hesitated another step, then turned and continued towards the hub. As the station vibrated from the force of another blast, she hoped she wasn't too late.

After breaking into the main security office of Starbase One and dealing with its occupants, Khan discovered that Madelyn was indeed onboard and running at full speed towards the station's hub. He admired the determination on her face until he pinpointed her location. They were at exact opposite sides of the hub, and if she was looking for him, there was no chance she could reach him before being caught by the heavy security he was sure guarded the hub's central room. Furious at the scenario they were both about to be caught in, Khan sprinted from the room.

The last time he'd run this fast, Spock had been pursuing him through the streets of San Francisco. His goal then had been to escape capture, and he had failed. He couldn't afford to fail this time. As the starbase continued to be pummeled with interior blasts, he was becoming more and more convinced that someone had planned all of this on purpose, and that Owen Gallagher had somehow known.

If Khan knew Madelyn well enough, and he knew her actions could often be predictably stubborn and foolhardy despite her good intentions, then she would be headed right for the center of the station as well, particularly the upper level. The upper level of the hub, as Khan had discovered from his brief but enlightening hack into the station's systems, housed a spacious, upscale office, most likely the center of command for someone important. This was the person Khan needed to see, and interrogate if necessary.

The problem lay in precisely what Khan had hoped Madelyn wouldn't do. If the station wasn't being blown to pieces, then he could have cared less about her location; he simply needed to know she was safe, and when she was on the Entente, she'd been safe. But the very fact that she was pursuing the same location as he was, and probably in a feeble attempt to stop him, made him all the more uneasy.

None of this was happening by coincidence. There were very clear signs of prior planning, and the orchestration and timing of it all was so glaringly obvious, Khan would have laughed out loud had it not been for the position he found himself in. Madelyn was pushing them both right into a trap that would only work if the two of them were together, and she didn't even know it. If he knew for certain he would be alone when he arrived, things would go differently. But he wasn't going to be alone, and for the first time in a long time, being alone would have been a serious advantage for him.

But he couldn't allow Madelyn to walk into this alone either. Whatever was coming next, he would be at her side even if it meant foregoing his original plan. Even if his crew was onboard Starbase One, that would mean little if the explosions continued at the rate they were. There wouldn't even be a Starbase One before long.

He slowed his pace as he came out into what appeared to be the central atrium at the top of the station's hub. Glancing up, he saw the wide glass dome that offered a sweeping view of space; large chunks of debris marred the view. He imagined over a third of Starbase One had been destroyed by now. He pulled his eyes down again when he heard light, swift footsteps, and strode across the catwalk towards the sound. Madelyn appeared through a door on the other side, running towards him. Confusion swept across her face when she saw him. When they met in the center of the catwalk, she reached out to grab his arm, attempting to pull him back the way she'd come.

"We need to get out of here right now," she said.

Khan heard the tremor in her voice, but didn't move to follow her as every door that could have allowed them to escape had been sealed shut. Madelyn heard the hiss and turned her head to confirm what caused fear to sharpen the soft angles of her face. Then she turned back to him.

"Khan…"

He pulled out his phaser, gaze flitting all around the atrium. "You should have stayed with the others," he replied.

"I was coming to stop you!"

Khan looked at her with a hint of appreciation. She'd wanted to be there with him, whether she was safe or not. He realized that every time she'd made a conscious decision to not be with him in the past, things had not gone in her favor, or had completely backfired. For all her tenacity and doggedness, completely set on remaining independent of him, she had brought herself right back to him because she knew.

She knew that, without him, someone would eventually come along to take advantage of her again. Without him, she had no way of protecting herself from the people he had made sure from the start could not harm her. And maybe, she'd decided that she finally felt something more for him than she was willing to admit out loud. Loving someone was a simple concept in Khan's own mind, but deducing it in the eyes and words of others was a far more complicated thing. It was her behavior, her one simple action of returning to him of her own free will that screamed at him what she felt. And he realized for one brief moment, even with his crew still missing, that maybe he wouldn't have to be alone forever.

The very fact that she was there with him now, her hand latched firmly around his forearm, proved to him that she truly did want him. She could easily have left him, escaped on one of various ships as Starbase One exploded around them. That would have been ideal and she would have been safe. But instead she'd chosen to come back, despite every obvious sign that in doing so she would put herself into further jeopardy.

"It's too late, Madelyn," he said quietly. He glanced down as her slender hand slid down his arm and wrapped around his palm. Her eyes jumped from his face to movement behind him, and he followed her gaze. Astonishment shook him to his core as he saw two men enter the room surrounded by guards. He didn't recognize the older one, but the younger one was completely unmistakable.

"Joaquin." The name slipped off his tongue in disbelief.

"Khan," was the chiseled young Augment's deep reply, dripping with implications that Khan immediately disliked.

Joaquin Weiss had once served Khan during his reign as his personal bodyguard. When the Eugenics Wars drew to a close with the Augments on the losing side, and Khan saw it necessary to help as many of his people escape from Earth as he could, Joaquin defected. He'd believed Khan to be too weak and unfit to rule. But just when they had been backed into a corner, Joaquin had turned up again, seeking forgiveness, realizing that he could not live among the humans who sought to destroy them all. Khan granted Joaquin's request, and so he was also placed into a cryotube aboard the Botany Bay, along with Khan and the others.

When Admiral Marcus had first woken Khan, the Augment had fought back, killing three doctors, seven guards, and two nurses. Marcus had in turn ordered twelve of Khan's people murdered in their sleep by shutting down their cryotubes, including Joaquin's. Khan had believed the man to be dead, and yet here he was standing in front of him and looking very unpleasant.

Still gripping Madelyn's hand, Khan immediately put himself between her and his former bodyguard, even as they were surrounded by security guards. He knew she was strong, but not strong enough to withstand an attack from an Augment like Joaquin. He remembered what Gallagher had done to her while he'd been drugged up on Dahl's synthetic augmentation serum. The bruises on her face were beginning to fade but there was still disquiet in her eyes.

"What is the meaning of this?" Khan asked carefully. He didn't want to provoke Joaquin, as he knew the younger Augment was potentially stronger than him.

Joaquin's mouth curled into a smirk. "I had wondered how long it would take to get you here."

"Why are you destroying this Starbase?"

"Fireworks, to celebrate your arrival. I've been looking forward to this for some time now. To be honest I didn't think you'd come. I needed your girlfriend here just to make sure you would."

Khan's brow tightened. There was an arrogant light in Joaquin's eyes that he didn't recognize.

"I never did understand what you saw in her. I'd hoped she'd turn out some interesting results, but after I received Hans Dahl's last report—before you killed him—I realized I had my hopes up too high. She might have Augment blood in her, but she's a mutt by our standards." The corner of Joaquin's mouth lifted as he raked his eyes over Madelyn. "She must be good to fuck or you wouldn't be keeping her."

Khan restrained his angry reaction to Joaquin's ignorant comment. The younger Augment was speaking as though he'd been instigating things for some time. Could he have been behind Dahl's work on Gallagher? Clenching his jaw, Khan knew this was not the time for an interrogation. He would focus on his original intent, and save his less pressing questions for later.

"Where are our people, Joaquin?"

"Oh, they're safe. Don't worry about them. But I can see I need to explain some things." Joaquin motioned to the older man standing quietly beside him. By the upset look on Madelyn's face, she'd seen him before. "Thomas here woke me up after our people were put back into storage. He told me all about your little escapade with the Vengeance, about the late Admiral Marcus, about Madelyn McGivers. We're working together, Thomas and I, but unlike your situation with Marcus, no one's life is being threatened—right now."

Khan saw Joaquin's eyes narrow slightly as he finished his sentence, and he knew immediately he couldn't trust this man that in another lifetime he'd once considered his closest friend. Joaquin was pulling all the strings here, and Thomas, standing silently, his gaze shifting between all three of them, quite obviously had lost his control over Joaquin. The moment Joaquin didn't need Thomas and his connections anymore, Thomas would be dead, and Khan knew without a doubt that it would be the same for him, and for Madelyn, should he decide to join Joaquin. Not surprisingly, this was Joaquin's next query and Khan only gave him a cold stare from under his eyelids.

"Is the idea of working with me too much for your ego to handle, Khan? Or is it because you'd rather settle down with your half-breed girlfriend and shut out the rest of the universe forever? It would be a pity for so much potential work to go to waste. We'd lose what you fought so hard to protect from Marcus."

Khan felt every muscle in his body tense, his fingers squeezing the handle of his phaser until they formed indentations. Set to kill, it could do enough damage to Joaquin to incapacitate him, leaving Khan and Madelyn enough time to escape. He knew Joaquin wouldn't destroy the entire Starbase without leaving himself with an escape ship.

"What would we lose, Joaquin?" Khan almost felt as though they were jesting.

Joaquin's smirk disappeared. "There are certain members of your crew I have no desire to see or speak to again. I'll have no issue pulling the plug on them if you force me to."

"You wouldn't dare. There are only seventy-three of us left."

Khan knew, however, that there could quite possibly be more. Among the twelve Augment men and women Admiral Marcus claimed to have killed, Joaquin was one of them. How many more of them were awake and working in the shadows with Joaquin? Had Joaquin turned them all against him?

"Come on, Khan. You know that's not true."

Khan decided it would be better to egg him on, get as much information as he could. The more data he had, the easier it would be to take his system down.

Khan loosened his grip on Madelyn's hand and took a step forward so that he was face to face with his former bodyguard. "What sort of work is it?"

Joaquin's smirk returned. "The work we were doing before we were defeated. Anything it takes to bring the world peace, and in the process, prevent things like her from happening again." He glanced over Khan's shoulder at Madelyn. "You may recall Owen Gallagher. A failed trial run, but the first of many more to come, I assure you. That's why I need your help."

Khan almost scoffed at the idea of creating more of what had driven Gallagher to become a monster. Augments needed to be created as babies, raised through childhood, and even then some needed to be carefully looked after for a certain amount of time to ensure they did not find every excuse to snap the neck of someone who had mildly irritated them. It was every Augment's curse, and Khan had spent years cultivating his ability to control it. His control had allowed him to embrace it more fully when he needed it most. What Joaquin was proposing was to create an army of untamed animals, not highly trained superior beings like himself.

"That was another time," said Khan. "The only wars being fought now are between other species on other planets. They are not worth our time, and Earth is at peace."

"Only because you managed to stop Marcus. What if you hadn't? The Klingons would be at our door and you would have one measly ship to fight them with."

Khan dug his fingernails into the palm of his hand. "Marcus foolishly believed that war was inevitable, and as a result decided he should instigate it himself, if only to give himself a tactical advantage. His mistake lay in his belief that the Klingons could even defeat the Federation. The only reason he ever progressed with his plans was because of me. So tell me, Joaquin, would the Klingons even have a reason to attack Earth if Marcus had never woken any of us in the first place?"

Joaquin studied Khan for a moment. "I see. So you admit to colluding with a warmonger."

"You and I both know that was never the case. It is not 1996 anymore, Joaquin, and I will not pretend that circumstances haven't changed."

Khan stared at Joaquin with mere centimeters between them. The younger's gaze did not falter, but merely narrowed before he turned away and staunchly ran his fingers through his thick brown hair. Turning again, Joaquin breathed a heavy sigh.

"You really disappoint me, Khan. I've been looking forward to our reunion ever since I learned that you were alive and walking. Together again, we could accomplish so much."

Khan tilted his chin downwards, watching as Joaquin began to walk a circle around them. Khan put a hand on Madelyn's arm even as she sidled away from the younger Augment.

"I was hoping I wouldn't have to do this," said Joaquin.

The younger Augment lunged forward, taking Madelyn's neck in his hand. Khan reacted with lighting speed, bringing the butt of his phaser down on Joaquin's head. The force of Joaquin's pained reaction threw Madelyn to the catwalk floor. Out of the corner of his eye, Khan saw her legs sliding off the edge until her body half-dangled in midair, the floor some seven levels below. She grappled for a handhold and managed to catch the bottom of the catwalk's railing, stopping her descent. Joaquin whirled around, a hand on the back of his head, his eyes raging. Khan sent a phaser blast at him, set to kill. Joaquin was hurled backwards into the railing and crumpled to the floor, a smoking hole burned through his clothing revealing a seared spot on his chest.

For a moment, the young Augment didn't move, and it was enough time for Khan to deal with the handful of private security that had momentarily backed off when Joaquin attacked. Khan kept Madelyn in his sight, but she had managed to pull herself up, hooking her leg around another piece of railing, her other leg still dangling. She was watching Joaquin, and Khan knew the young Augment wouldn't stay down for long.

With the security guards taken care of, some tossed over the railing to the floor a hundred feet below, Khan quickly helped Madelyn to her feet, though she didn't really need his help. Visibly shaken, she glanced back at Joaquin who was regaining consciousness, then at the bodies of the guards strewn around them.

"Where's Thomas?" she said suddenly.

Khan remembered the older man who had stood so silently by while Joaquin talked and talked, and he turned to see him running away towards a door at the opposite end of the catwalk. Madelyn followed his gaze, then bent down and gingerly pulled a phaser from one of the downed security guards' fingers. Eyeing it to see if it was active, she looked up at Khan, her jaw set.

"We can't let him get away," she said.

Khan nodded and watched her sprint off just as Joaquin rose to his feet. He turned and faced his former bodyguard, bracing himself for the onslaught of pain he was about to receive.

Madelyn caught up with Thomas quickly. He may have appeared healthy and viril at first, but he was not a good runner. She managed to catch him in the doorway of a corridor that had previously been locked, slamming him against the wall with adrenaline coursing through her veins. She pressed one hand to his throat and held her phaser to his temple. She could tell he was genuinely scared and she wasn't sure she could actually bring herself to hurt him. Clearly holding a phaser to his head was enough of a threat to get him to talk.

"I—I can get you out of here!"

Madelyn didn't care. "Where is Khan's crew? You woke up Joaquin so obviously you know where they are."

"Yo-you don't want to do that. If he gets his crew back, he won't want you anymore."

"You don't know him." Madelyn pressed her phaser into Thomas' forehead. "Now tell me where his crew is."

Thomas was quiet, his eyes wide, his wiry body shaking. But he didn't answer her.

Madelyn clenched her jaw. "Tell me or I swear I'll…" She suddenly didn't know what she'd do. She couldn't just shoot him. She wouldn't. He was defenseless. Training the phaser on his face, she let his throat go and backed off, giving him room to breathe. "Just tell me where they are and I'll let you go."

He eyed her at first, but slowly and carefully relaxed, pushing himself away from the wall slightly. "You'll let me go if I tell you?"

Madelyn frowned. He sounded terrified. More terrified than a man of his age should be while being held at gunpoint by someone like her. Slowly, she nodded, not hesitating with the phaser.

"There's a small ship in the hanger through that door," said Thomas. His voice was shaking. "It needs repairs that Khan should be able to manage."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"This entire station is rigged to explode. Joaquin can set it off any time he wants. He's already destroyed most of it. He planned all of this."

"Why?"

Thomas' voice was shaking. "How should I know? He manipulated me and I didn't even see it coming until it was too late."

"Just tell me where Khan's people are!"

Thomas' face fell suddenly and Madelyn turned to see Khan coming towards them, limping and holding an arm to his side. The phaser was wrenched from her hand and she turned in time to see Thomas' face explode in a cloud of light and blood. She could hardly contain her cry of surprise as his body collapsed to the floor in front of her. She felt Khan's hand on her shoulder as she tried to breathe normally, unable to take her eyes from the body.

"I didn't—that wasn't me—I—"

She turned back to Khan just as he leaned on her with a quiet groan. Something warm and sticky soaked through her shirt. She pushed him up by his shoulder, barely able to hold him up, then she felt panic well up inside her. His face was bloodied and his lips were cut. Blood seeped onto his shirt from a gash in his chest, and bone protruded from his forearm.

"Oh my god, Khan. Where's Joaquin?"

"I slowed him down, but he'll be back," Khan answered back through gritted teeth. "We must leave."

She stared at him for a second, in shock at his injuries. She'd never seen him like this before and it scared her. Quickly she took his good arm and pulled it around her shoulders, groaning under his weight. She put her arm around his waist for support. He smelled of blood and sweat and metal.

"Thomas said there was a ship through here, but it needs repairs." Her voice was strained as she fought to hold him up, making her way towards the door Thomas had motioned to.

"We don't have time," he replied hoarsely. "Joaquin is going to destroy this entire starbase."

She was breathing hard, trying to pull him towards the door even as she was barely able to hold him up.

"Madelyn."

She didn't look at him when the doors hissed open. There was no ship. As the lights in the room flickered on, they illuminated rows and rows of active cryotubes lining the floor.

She felt Khan's breathing hitch against her, his fingers bunching the fabric of her shirt on her shoulder.

"No," he breathed. "No, it's too late."

They were thrown to the floor as a massive fireball roared through the atrium behind them. As a wave of heat washed over them through the doorway, Madelyn felt Khan pressing her against the cold floor, shielding her from the blast, even as her vision was filled with white hot light.