After she'd been shown around the large facility and eaten a decent breakfast, Marla was left to her own devices. Bennett had informed her that although her role had already commenced, she would not be working directly with her charge for the time being. They had yet to establish a true connection and as such, Khan could not be trusted around her. Marla wondered at that. Perhaps she was being naïve about his nature; it wasn't like she had spent all that much time around him and what she'd heard from the news painted a bleak image. Still, she knew enough about people to know that trust had to be given if it was received.

In the meantime, she had been handed a lot of material to go through. Most of it was the existing accounts of the Eugenics Wars that were available. Some of which she had read already, some of which was new. The workspace she'd found was as open as it would get in an underground facility. The open area was near the cafeteria, which meant there were enough people coming and going to make it feel companionable. She'd not met any of the other workers there and sitting in an office by herself was only going to make her feel more isolated.

Besides, this way, she could access as much coffee as she wanted without having to go very far. The materials she had been reading were fascinating. Humanity was so different back then to what it was now. Looking three hundred years into the past was like viewing a completely different world, even their scope on medicine, a basic essential, was different. Yet, the more she read, the more she was able to relate to those people living centuries before.

How and why they thought the advent of nuclear weaponry was a positive aspect of daily life was beyond her. The people lived day to day with the knowledge that somewhere, someone could just press a button and that would be it; game over. The very thought terrified her and she was glad she had been born in a more stable time. By some miracle, nuclear war had never come to pass and she had to wonder about that. Pulling out her PADD, she added the question to the ever growing list of questions.

That was if he decided he was going to work with her of course. She'd not heard anything from Khan since their first meeting and she was unsure whether she would. It had been awkward at best and uncomfortable at worst. She had to hope however, it would be a real shame if her methods proved useless and they had to resort to treating him like a caged lion. Dismissing the thought, she returned her attention to the papers she was reading.

At lunchtime, she was approached by a slender young woman in a blue dress. Her blonde hair was trimmed into a choppy bob and the smile on her face seemed as genuine as they came. "Do you mind if I sit here?" she asked. Her English accent was crisp but friendly and Marla shook her head.

"Of course not," she set aside her papers and looked up, realising how much time had already passed that morning.

"I'm Carol by the way, you're Marla?" she asked. Marla nodded her answer, wondering what it was this woman wanted. "You're new aren't you?"

"That's right." Carol flicked her blonde hair from her face and smiled warmly.

"I thought so, welcome to the section. If you need anything, just ask."

"Thanks." Marla said. "You could watch my things for a moment while I grab some lunch." It wasn't a big ask and Carol nodded readily enough. Moments later, Marla returned with a sandwich and a fresh cup of coffee.

"I couldn't help notice these papers… you're working with… with him aren't you." Carol said. There was a grimace on her face and her eyes had darkened a little.

"Do you mean Khan?" Marla asked. Carol nodded and she confirmed that she was.

"How can you bare it?" she asked as she bit into her sandwich.

"I don't know what you mean," Marla replied, chewing on her own lunch.

"I'm not trying to be rude," Carol said quickly. Marla realised that her response had been a little hasty and she shook her head.

"No, I honestly don't know. I've met him once and it was a little bit… awkward to say the least." Marla replied.

"Oh," Carol seemed a little perturbed by her answer and fell silent. Marla chewed her sandwich a little more.

"What do you do around here?" Marla asked, not wanting her first conversation on the base with a regular person to become awkward. Carol brightened at the change of subject, thankfully.

"I am a weapons specialist foremost but have been assigned here to catalogue and order the details of the Vengeance for the time being," she said. Now it was Marla's turn to nod, that was the ship that had crashed into San Francisco, the one Khan had built. "It's truly fascinating some of the articles that we've discovered will be revolutionary. Did you know that there's a component within the warp drive that is a quarter of the size on a standard star ship but allows for a much higher power output?"

"No…" Marla did her best not to let her eyes glaze over as Carol spoke. It wasn't that she found the subject boring per se, just that she didn't understand it. At all. Her enthusiasm as she spoke however was something else entirely. "I don't understand what you're saying but I can tell you're passionate about it. That's how I feel about learning new things about the past. That's why I am here." Her words struck a chord with Carol as she gave an understanding nod. "To learn all I can."

"Just be careful," Carol said. She'd finished her lunch now and gave Marla a warm smile, "I have to go back now, but it was really nice talking with you."

"You too," Marla replied as she stood. As soon as she had walked away, Marla returned her attention back to the pages she had yet to read. The rest of the day was spent doing just that, reading and making notes on some aspect or another that hadn't occurred to her before or questions that she wished to ask. Every so often, her mind would think back to the conversation she had shared with Khan and wonder whether he would take her up on the offer she had laid out. She hoped it would.

Three days later, Marla's suggestion paid off. She was presented with a list written in a neat, uniform script. As she unfolded it, another note fluttered to the floor, she bent down and scooped it from the floor. It was a little message, which she read hastily, than again slowly.

Ms McGivers,

Although I doubt this list is conclusive, I do believe it will be a good start. If you are able to get Star Fleet to agree to even some of these, than I will be willing to share some of the things I have seen with you. Your willingness to trust me will not go unrewarded.

K

She folded the note up and tucked it into a pocket. Unsure whether it had been read and scanned the security team, she filed away the message for future use. It felt rather personal and the idea that someone else had read it made her feel a bit… well a bit creeped out. Perhaps that was wrong. Perhaps not. Dismissing the thought as silly, she took her first look at the list. It ranged from the small to the impossible and included a note at the bottom insisting that he would keep the pen.

Marla read through the list; some of them were non-starters. Requests for 'unlimited access to the surface unsupervised' she knew would take a long time to acquire, if she could do so at all. Given his past history, it was highly unlikely that anyone would agree to that. It didn't mean that there couldn't be any compromises and if he truly wanted to visit the surface, than she was sure it could be arranged in some form. Some of the others however, were rather more acceptable;

· Access to a PADD,

· Some reading material,

· A structured project to work on,

· Unrestricted access to the outside world,

· A private room without windows for spying on, preferably with an outside view.

· Some decent coffee.

· The ability to choose my own food.

· Liquorice.

The last one on the list took her by surprise and she forced a smile from her face. At least that one was a simple request to fulfil. One she was sure she could organise relatively easily as well, seeing how the food replicators could just produce it. In fact, when she thought that bit more about it, she bet she could solve several of these issues at once.

She was convinced that there were several rooms that had replicators in… She pulled out her PADD and began jotting down the proposals before they could slip from her mind. Once she'd collected her thoughts, she arranged to meet David and discuss her options. The rest of the afternoon, she spent reading through the rest of the notes she'd been given.

"Absolutely out of the question," David said. Marla bit her tongue and swallowed back the ire that was rising in her blood. "There is no way we can give in to most of these demands, who does he think he is anyway?" David's face had turned a shocking shade of red and he was shaking his head in a rather dramatic fashion.

"We don't have to give him all of these; in fact I'm sure he's put them on here to make some of the others seem more reasonable." Marla said. "He knows damned well we're never going to give him access to the outside world unsupervised."

"Or ever!" David retorted. Marla didn't even want to think about that for the time being, it would he awful confined to this base for the rest of your life, never seeing the outside world. A pang of sympathy ran through her at the very idea but she dismissed it. Now was not the time.

"Exactly, so perhaps we can look at some of these other things instead," she said.

"Liquorice?"

"A room with a replicator perhaps." Marla said, "That way, we're meeting two of them at once." She knew the suggestion wasn't going to be met with all that much enthusiasm but she had to try and do something.

"Do you know how many of these rooms have replicators of their own?" David asked. She shook her head, "Three. It's not going to happen." Marla sighed and looked down at the list again.

"Why not get him to build his own then?" she said.

"Yes, that's a wise suggestion, giving a mass murderer the tools he needs for such a project is a good idea." David said. Marla ran a hand over her face and shook her head. David's sarcasm was not something that she wanted to deal with right now; she was trying really hard to get something here, couldn't he see that?

"Well, maybe while under my supervision then," she said finally. "I can work on my projects and he can work on that."

"I don't know," he shook his head slowly and sank back into his chair, "You didn't see the full scale of the damage he did." David said.

"No, I didn't," she said, "But that doesn't mean I'm not going to try now does it. You brought me here to learn and in order to do this; some concessions need to be made." She knew her pitch was rising and was unable to prevent it. When she finished, she forced herself to take a deep breath and relax a little, "Sorry," she muttered. David nodded.

"I'm glad you're passionate about what you're doing, I just hope it isn't misplaced," he said.

"That's the reason you hired me isn't it?" she said, "Let's make sure we can get some of these things done shall we?" she added in a much more amenable tone.

"Let me have another look," he said. She handed him the list and sat back for a moment as her looked over it. The thoughtful expression on his face gave her a glimmer of hope for at least some of them. "Reading materials won't be a problem and I'm sure we can supply a PADD with some information on it a well," he added.

Excellent, it would be a start at the very least! "I'm sure we can do something about the food situation as well."

"May I remind you that he is a prisoner and should remain as such," David said. Marla nodded at that, temporarily satisfied that she had something to take back to Khan. Rising she gave another nod.

"I don't think there is anything else at the moment," she said.

"Go and find out what reading material he wants and I'll sort out a PADD," David said. Marla nodded again, she seemed to be doing that a lot lately, and left the room. Turning down the corridor, she prepared herself mentally for the next person she was going to see. The man himself… She just hoped that he was as receptive to the responses as she was. She did make sure to stop off at the replicator on the way!

It saddened her greatly as she approached his room. Guarded heavily by numerous security personnel, she had to identify herself three times before they would let her even get close and then again at the door. When they finally worked out whom she was and that she had been granted unlimited access to their prisoner, they were going to open the door for her but she stopped them. Instead, she knocked on the door like a respectful person was and waited for an answer. What if he'd been on the loo? Or getting changed or something like that? Had these people got no respect?

She waited for a murmur before she gently pushed the door open and stepped inside. The room was perhaps the barest she had ever seen. There was a chair that was bolted to the floor next to a table, it was also bolted down. The bed was a simple uncomfortable looking affair and a small door led to the bathroom at the back. There was no window; the only light was from the artificial strip light on the ceiling, giving the place a clinical look. There was a white glass panel on one side of the room and she knew that for what it was: a viewing panel. No wonder he felt like such a lab rat, he would be watched all the time. She shuddered at the thought.

"Is my presence so bad?" he asked. She jerked her head up and blood flushed her cheeks.

"Not at all!" she replied. She looked up into his cool blue eyes and shifted her weight a little. He was occupying the only chair in the room and as she stood under his scrutiny, she could only feel uncomfortable. "Thank you for seeing me," she said.

"That's a bit of a moot point really Ms McGivers, I don't really have much choice in the matter so there's no option to refuse," he said.

His words caught her off guard and she tilted her head to the side a little, "I got your list," she said deciding that a change of tactic would be a better option that dwelling on his lack of power in anything. "One of them I can give you straight away." She held out the liquorice she had picked up from the replicator and placed it on the table in front of him. If she expected any form of gratitude, she was sadly mistaken. He just sort of looked at it for a moment before turning his gaze to her again.

It made her feel like some sort of bug under a microscope. She met his gaze however, not backing down under the intensity of his stare, "And the rest?" he said.

"You know some of them are not going to happen," she replied. "And before you tell me to make them happen, some of them are a straight up no." The look he gave her was somewhat scathing but she kept her eyes locked on his.

"So what are you proposing?"

Marla crossed the room and kneeled down at the table. She wanted to seem on the same level as him and even if he didn't believe that, she did. Steeling herself against his reaction, she began to answer his question, "I came here to ask what books you wanted to read and to inform you that they are locating a PADD for you to use, that's the good news." He nodded at that, "I can also let you know that you're going to be able to decide what you want to eat on a day to day basis and that I shall arrange for some half decent coffee to be brought to you but trust me when I say that it isn't all that great."

"That's a start," he said.

"The rest is going to take a little more time," she said as she leaned on the table. Somehow, he'd sat up a little and he was now looking down at her. His vivid eyes still regarded her intently but she wasn't mistaken when she noticed that his expression had softened a little. "But, I think you know as well as I do that there is no way they're going to let you walk about unattended for a very long time."

Slowly, he nodded his head again, "I'm not hearing a never," he said. Despite herself, she smiled.

"Love the optimism Khan but it's not going to happen." She shook her head to emphasise her point, "The room with a window is going to take a bit of working out with the officials, as is the project."

"Not keen on giving me tools then?"

"No. It could be that to start with, you work on something while I'm with you," she let out a little sigh, "I'm still working on that," she added.

"That would be acceptable," he said after a pause. His answer took her by surprise a little and a smile crept onto her face despite herself. Perhaps it was a small victory but it was one that she was going to take regardless.

"Now, about that reading material?" she asked.

"I wanted some fiction, classical fiction; Paradise Lost would be a good start."

"Marlowe?" she said

"Is that so hard to believe?"

"No, just a little surprising," Marla said. "I've not read any Marlowe for a long time but I know we've got some around here somewhere." A bang on the door brought her out of her surprise and she rose from her crouch, "Looks like my time is up, was there anything else before I go?"

"My main problem is boredom Ms McGivers, anything to do would be welcome," he said.

"I'll see what I can do," she said as she turned, "I'll come back with the books when I can." She caught his nod out of the corner of her eye before she strode back towards the door.

"Thank you," he said as she approached the door, "For the liquorice."

"You're welcome," she replied. As soon as she was out, she gave the guard a scathing look. He had no right to hoist her out of there but she had no way of telling him that without bothering David again and she felt she should leave him be for a while. Instead, she returned to her own room to retrieve a couple of things before heading to the library. She was sure she'd find some classics there for him to read while his PADD was arranged. It was a little something at least!