Wendy opened the door to her quarters, peeking inside curiously. It was small, but not small enough to be cramped. She had her own bathroom and a small desk nestled in its own little nook. Heading straight for the bed, Wendy tossed her duffle bag onto the mattress. Not bothering to properly unpack, or even put anything away, she started pulling out the contents of the bag one at a time, and tossing them on the bed. About halfway down, she found what she was looking for.

"Bingo," she muttered, pulling out her tablet. She kept all of her research on the cryo people on this dinosaur of a tablet. She silently praised herself for never getting rid of anything.

Kicking off her shoes, Wendy relaxed on the bed. She powered up her tablet and started looking in her files for any reference to a 'Leo.' She was surprised to find a file tucked away in an obscure corner of the hard drive. And it was labeled with the name of the woman that was currently sitting in a cell on the starship. She opened it and started reading. As she skimmed the article, her eyes grew wider and wider.

Wendy didn't even bother reading the whole thing. Sitting up, she tossed the tablet onto a pile of clothes. She had never been more excited in her life. She knew who this woman was. Of all of the people trapped in those cryogenic pods, this was the one person she had always wanted to talk to.

Without hesitating, Wendy hurried out of her room and headed for Leo's cell. She found the young woman pacing and slightly agitated.

"Leo," Wendy said as she approached the glass. "Of course. I don't know why I didn't recognize it before."

Upon hearing her name, Leo turned to look at the science officer. She raised an eyebrow. She had no idea what this woman was talking about. There was no way she had made it into any history books. At least, she hoped she hadn't. She walked slowly up to the glass, looking at the doctor cautiously.

"I'm sorry," Wendy apologized. "I haven't properly introduced myself. I'm Dr. Wendy Cole. I've been studying you and your people for years. I've been looking after you guys. Making sure you're alright and your cryo pods don't malfunction and stuff."

Leo nodded. "I read about you on this tiny little computer thing they gave me. Your biography is impressive. Very progressive work. Well, at least it would've been for my time. You've dedicated your career to helping us, and I thank you for that."

Wendy smiled and Leo smiled back. There was a now a silent understanding between the two women. Wendy had found the link to the past that she'd always wished she'd had; and Leo found an ally. Suddenly, Wendy turned on her heel and hurried out of the room, throwing a quick "I'll be back" over her shoulder. Leo stared after her like the doctor was crazy. Wendy hurried to the bridge, hoping to find the captain there and not have to go on a great Kirk hunt. She was so excited that she almost forgot to ask permission to go on the bridge.

The captain saw her and smiled flirtatiously, apparently forgiving the slight indiscretion.

"Dr. Cole, I didn't expect to see you here so soon."

Wendy rolled her eyes. Was he seriously flirting with her? When they were both working? Did he even know how to talk to a woman without flirting? Probably not.

"You have to let her out," she blurted.

"Let who out?" Kirk was confused, although Spock looked over like he had an idea of who the doctor was talking about.

"Leo. Well, you don't have to, but I'm pretty certain that she's harmless."

Kirk scoffed, "None of those people are harmless."

"You don't know that," Wendy glared back at him. "But I know for a fact that she's harmless."

"You can't be sure. If we let her out, we run the risk of –"

"I know for sure!" she snapped at him. "She told me her name was Leo, but that's just a nickname. Her full name is Leokadia Aristov."

Kirk just stared at her blankly. Spock, who had been listening in, came over to join the conversation.

"She was a very outspoken activist." Wendy continued. "Born in Russia, but moved to the U.S. sometime in her early childhood. She pushed for peace and civil rights. Specifically the rights of genetically altered people. Her people. She organized marches, gave speeches, even met with political leaders around the world. There are two assassination attempts that we know of. After the first one, she disappeared for about two and a half years, but came back with a renewed sense of purpose."

"And you are sure that the woman is our custody is the same person?" Spock asked.

Wendy nodded. "I'm sure. I came across an old photo of Leokadia. The only confirmed picture of her we have. I know it's her."

"That's an impressive biography," Kirk admitted, still not entirely convinced.

"Don't you see? There's no way she could be a threat. Not if she dedicated her whole life to peace!"

Kirk frowned and shook his head. He still didn't like the idea of letting a genetically altered superhuman loose on his ship. Wendy was about to protest when Spock stepped in to offer a solution.

"While I understand the Captain's concern, I agree that we should not condemn Leo to sit in a cell until her cryo pod is operational if she proves to not be a threat."

"What do you propose?" Kirk sighed, giving into the logic of his First Officer.

"She has only been awake for a few hours. So, keep her locked up for a couple of weeks. If she does not cause any problems, then move her to an empty room with an armed guard."

"Alright," the captain agreed. "That sounds fair enough."

"Thank you, Captain!" Wendy was almost beaming.

Kirk smiled back and nodded. He liked her smile, it was genuine and bright, and it only made her more beautiful. He liked her, and he knew she liked him. Maybe this journey wasn't going to be so boring after all.

There was a commotion in the hallway. Leo sat up, alert and ready to meet any potential threat if need be. She heard the soft squelch of a fist connecting with a face, then the thump as a body hit the floor. Leo stood up and moved to get a better vantage point, because whoever was out there had to come through that door.

Sure enough, a figure rushed into the brig. He was tall, with slightly broad shoulders, wearing loose pants and a shirt, both black. Leo's heart skipped a beat. She knew who it was.

"Khan," she breathed, unable to say anything else. "But how. . . ."

He looked relieved as the rushed over to her cell, talking as he went, and immediately started to look for something.

"The cryogenic sequence apparently didn't shut down all the way. I was revived, and when I saw that your pod was empty . . . I had to find you."

Leo watched him as he found a hidden panel, punched some buttons, and opened the cell door. She stepped out, about to ask him how he knew, but he answered her before she could even open her mouth.

"This is the exact same cell they kept me in. I memorized the code when they locked me up. And took me out."

He finally turned to look at her. Leo gazed into his stormy grey-blue eyes as he reached up and cupped her cheek in his hand. They didn't stay like that for long; there was still work to do. Khan gave her a knowing smile and held out his hand. Leo reached for it.

And woke up.

This story is co-written with the lovely TheWooze19. Who I didn't know had an account here. Oops.

We hope you enjoyed and please don't forget to review!

Also, there will probably be some sort of Christmas/holiday story coming along soon. I can't say it'll be a Start Trek fic, but it'll be full of fluff and crazyness. That much I can promise.