Sorry for the delay. I've gotten shamefully behind on another Fanfic and have been trying to juggle my time between the two. Hope this chapter makes up for it.

Chapter 38

"So, what now?" Cassie looks and Ze'eva and she shrugs.

"We run; what else?" With that, she gabs Cassie's arm and drags her into a jog and Khan jogs easily beside the two. Once Ze'eva is satisfied that Cassie will run on her own, her releases the woman's arm and sprints quickly ahead before coming to an abrupt stop and looking back at them.

"Right…" She says softly. "We're working as team…well, this is going to take forever." She sighs.

"Good to know we have an optimist in the group," Khan says sarcastically and Ze'eva smirks.

"Well…I guess we can just run east. There's a huge canyon we can use to our advantage if they decide to follow us and it has a respectable amount of water and food resources."

"But how are we going to get through it?" Cassie complains. "Neither you nor I have ever traveled through this canyon of yours and I'm pretty sure that Khan didn't either."

"I've walked this canyon a thousand times and a thousand different ways. I've scaled up the cliffs, canoed down it's rivers, and never got myself killed a million different ways. Trust me, I have this place pretty mapped out. It'll be easy."

"And exactly when did you find the time to go through this thing?"

"Remember the Human Vulcan Wars? You know, when everyone wanted to kill the Vulcans and subsequently me? What else did you think I did? Exploration was both a necessity as well as a good pass time. I could entertain myself while spotting new places we could live if anything…bad happened."

"Well, lead the way, then." Cassie sighs. "If we die, I'm going to kill you."

"In that case, you're the first to go." Ze'eva says with a grin and she breaks into a sprint before Cassie can hit her. Khan smirks at the pair before quickly pulling the emotionless mask back on. Now was not the time to be amused.

Right now, they needed to run.

…

"Well, that took forever." Cassie whines and I have the sudden urge to tackle her to the ground.

"I never said the canyon was close."

"You never said it was this far away, either."

"What's done is done." Khan growls.

"Let's find some shelter for the night," Ze'eva proposes. "It's going to be dark soon."

…

Khan builds a fire and Ze'eva offers to take first watch. The fire cackles and sissles. Cassie rolls into a ball and falls asleep quickly. Ze'eva sits in the mouth of the cave, her elbows resting lightly on her knees. Her eyes are narrowed in concentration as she watches the stars flicker in the darkness above.

"How long until we are in civilization?" Khan whispers.

"At this pace? A week or two." She shrugs. "It would be so much faster if…" She stops talking and continues to study the stars.

"If what?" She shakes her head but he prompts her again. "Ze'eva?"

"If I were alone." She says finally. "I wouldn't have to show you guys what's good to eat or drink and just what could kill you. I wouldn't have to worry about finding a large shelter that we could all fit into or have to worry about leaving someone behind or someone getting injured because the route I took was dangerous." She sighs. "It's always got to be so complicated."

"You've done this before haven't you?" He lies on the ground, laying on his back with his head rest against his arm.

"Yeah." She nods. "Many times…not from this facility but…it is the same basic concept."

"And you were treated as an experiment?"

"I was treated like spare parts: me and the rest of my people."

…

He falls asleep with the fire warming his body from the roots of his dark hair to the very tips of his pale toes.

He remembers cold, and fear, and uncertainty. Pain shoots through his body and every nerve is simultaneously stinging with the sensation of burning and numbness. Dead silence greets his ears as he gasps for breathe as his body is reanimated bit by bit. A withered old man with a cold gleam in his eyes towers over him with a greedy smile on his lips.

"Hello, Mr. Singh," The man purrs, "I am Admiral Marcus; you work me now."

"I serve no man. I will die before I serve a worm such as you" Khan snarls; his lungs burn and his voice is scratchy from hundreds years of silence.

"That was an unwise choice of words, Khan." Marcus growls as he drops the pretense of polite formalities. "You will serve me or you will watch your people burn."

Armed guards march into the room and drag Khan's weak body out of the pod and drop him painfully to the ground on his stomach. His forehead slams into the hard floor and he's too weak to life his head to glare at the man who dares to threaten him. Khan's words were 'unwise'? He would make the Admiral pay dearly for this day and make the old man wish he was never born. One guard puts his boot onto Khan's back and pain explodes in the Augment's spine. He groans but refuses to scream. The guard's rough fingers curl angrily into his hair and drag his head up to force him to look up at the Admiral.

"I don't need your trust." The Admiral snarls. "I don't need your respect. But I will have your cooperation and don't think for a second that I will not kill your friends to get it. You are nothing more than a parasite—it's about time you did something for society to benefit from."

The Admiral nods to the guard and he releases his hold on Khan's head and steps off of his back. Him and another man drag Khan to his feet by his arms and force him to stand on trembling legs. Khan lifts his eyes to glare at Marcus and shame burns through him. He hates his current temporary physical weakness. If her were stronger, he would have snapped this man's neck without a second's hesitation before moving on the guards, saving the one who harmed him for last to make his death especially 'pleasant'.

"Take him to his cell." The Admiral snaps, some spit flying into Khan's gaze as the words shoot out of his mouth. "And if he tries to escape, drag one of the Augmented children out and kill them." His eyes harden. "Slowly.