Khan's cryotube was loaded onto a relatively small cruiser, minimal crew assigned. The Augment's equivalent of a frozen tomb was sleek and cold to the touch; the glass window over his face was already sporting a fine layer of frost.

The sleek ship sailed smoothly through the pale blue sky, passing with ease through the slate grey clouds. Admiral Marcus looked out through the glass cockpit with indifference. It was the sky, nothing more nothing less. He had found Khan on the roof many a time, when he should have been working, staring up at the smattering of night sky and stars with an inane childlike gaze. He should've woken Mira instead. She wouldn't have caused such a mess.

A single day had passed, the ship now passing over an expanse of dark water, halfway to their destination.

A guard was positioned in the chamber where the bastard's cryotube was being held. Soon he would not be a problem anymore.

Once this tedious chore was ended, Marcus would observe Reyne and debate whether it was worth the trouble of arranging an end to her misery, the tying of loose ends so to speak.

Pressing a silver intercom button, opening a line of communication between himself and the guard;

"Lieutenant Rawlins, how are we doing down there?" he asked.

Silence…

Marcus pressed the button again;

"Rawlins?" he asked again, his tone colored with a slight shade of impatience. He still received nothing…yet this was anything but nothing. Sighing, Marcus rubbed his eyes "Shit"

Vacating the chair, down the bridge, making the short distance, Marcus was greeted by a most unpleasant if annoying sight. Rawlins was nowhere in the room. And a flashing green light on Khan's cryotube snagged his attention.

"Son of a-"

A thud on the back of the Admiral's head cut his words and his consciousness, his vision going to black.

Reyne kept the helmet on, her face concealed by a black visor, as she pushed the conveyor of Khan's cryotube out onto the bridge. To say she felt sick was an understatement. She had not an inkling of what she was supposed to do now.

With a sigh, she pulled the helmet off. She hadn't anticipated to make it this far as she sat before the panel of blinking controls. She could dump Marcus and the other two members in an escape pod on Alaska and just keep going. She took several shaking breaths, running her fingers nervously through her hair. She had just wanted to say goodbye. That was all she had wanted. Perhaps even to walk Khan's tube to the facility.

You stupid little bitch.

Reyne whimpered slightly, pressing her hands to her forehead.

"Please stop" she said quietly. "God please not now"

You never listen.

"I said stop it" she growled, her eyes burning. Her thoughts turned instead to the twenty minute wait time she had before the de-frosting/revival process completed itself. The thought of Khan awake again soothed her tortured nerves and allowed her to quietly study the control panel in front of her, safely making out what did what but making no move to touch anything. A quiet stream of classical music flowed throughout the ship…Reyne wondered if Khan could hear it.

Normality. The thought of life returning to such a state was impossible. Yes Reyne had discovered a family and was indeed grateful for it…yet they had gone for several years without her and given recent events, she felt she would only bring unwanted scrutiny and attention upon them. In time they might even come to resent her…

The Admiral's head throbbed as he lifted it from the floor.

It took him a few minutes to remember where he was and why. Two other officers were there as well, out cold, snugly strapped in the escape pod seats. He quickly shook off the stupor as he reached into the holster of an unconscious fellow crew member and yanked out the gun. This ridiculous triviality had gone on long enough.

In a bit of a daze, he overrode the lock mechanism and made for the bridge.

Reyne figured a walk of sorts might make her feel better. She felt like she was about to throw up and there was a sharp pain in her abdomen.

She leaned against the cryotube.

"I'm just going t-"A loud bang shattered Reyne's words, followed by a burst of blood from her leg, waves of pain shooting through her. An agonized groan escaped her mouth as Reyne dropped to the floor, the hard surface slamming into her spine, the back of her head as everything spun.

"Persistent little fucker aren't you?" Marcus growled, his face grim.

Reyne's mouth opened in a wordless cry of pain until Marcus pressed his boot down on her wound which was already starting to bleed heavily. Her fingers stretched forth to the side, if only to place her fingertips to the cold metal of Khan's cryotube.

Unwilling to allow even that connection, Reyne let out another agonized cry as Marcus' other foot slammed down on it. Her eyes widened with rage. He knelt down. Reyne felt a surge of hot bile in her throat, closing her eyes, focused on keeping it down, ignoring the pain and not showing weakness all at once.

"W…Waiting for something?" Reyne groaned until Marcus…oddly enough put a hand to her stomach. He could have sworn that he felt just the barest hint of movement before Reyne slammed her free hand to his face, jarring him away from her. Marcus was one to recover quickly as he stood, yet unaware of the familiar hiss behind him as he raised the weapon.

"Let's make this quick" he said gravely.

He shot a bullet to the control panel, setting off smoke as well as an alarm coupled with an automated voice-warning of sixty seconds to get to the nearest escape pod. Then Reyne found herself staring down at the barrel of the gun Marcus pressed to her forehead.

I love you Khan. Forgive me.

Yet engulfed in another wave of pain, Reyne already sank into unconsciousness.

Despite the serious stupor muffling most of his senses, Khan's fingers closed around the Admiral's skull, yanking him backwards before he could deliver the final shot. Blood, bone, muscle, and cerebral matter were crushed between his hands like a watermelon, the Admiral's screams like the finest music to his ears. Not pausing to savor the accomplishment, Khan threw the Admiral's corpse aside, immediately staggering over to Reyne's unconscious steadily bleeding form. Even now he could see she was ill and had already lost a lot of blood.

His bloodstained fingers had just barely reached for her face as the both of them were careened into the side of the ship as the impact plunged them all into darkness.