A/N: Hey guys so basically I'm a failure at responding to reviews, probably because I've been working a lot but anyway I appreciate all of your feedback so much and I wish I could say I was doing better at finishing these chapters sooner and anyway saying all of this doesn't change the fact that I have major writer's block issues. That said, I hope you enjoy this chapter :)

Chapter 21 – Unmasked

The military rations Khan provided for Madelyn to eat were satisfactorily nutritional enough to aid in her body's healing process. With assistance from the blood transfusion he'd given her earlier, she could be back to her former self within a day.

She ate quickly and silently while he busied himself with an inventory of the other supplies available to them. Every now and then she would glance at him when she thought he wasn't paying her attention, but he noticed. He noticed everything, like the way her hand shook slightly when she raised a metal cup of coffee to her lips, and how pale her cheeks were. The color had yet to come back to them, and if she continued to carry such a pallid look, he considered giving her another transfusion. He reminded himself that she wasn't going to bounce back straight away like other Augments did from such traumatic experiences. Not only had she lost the baby, but Owen's attack had splintered her usual confidence. Coupled with her current situation, finding herself trapped underground and alone save for his company, Khan again felt a pang of guilt. He quickly shoved that feeling away when she finished her meal and leaned back against a stack of storage containers

"How big is this place?" she asked, seemingly out of the blue. The way she looked at him out of the corner of her eye and with her arms crossed made Khan suspicious that she would try and find a way out without him if he gave her a specific description.

"This bunker was once spread over several square kilometers underneath the mountains. Now most of it has probably been rendered unsafe due to its age. We're inside the fortified structure, meant to last for centuries."

She regarded him silently for a moment. "So, you knew about this place."

Her lingering silence grew frustrating. "Yes. It was used during the Eugenics Wars. One of several constructed to serve as protection for other Augments. Despite our superior minds and bodies, we were outnumbered." He wondered suddenly why he'd felt compelled to defend himself to her, especially since the conflict that was the Eugenics Wars held no basis in the present world anymore.

"So if Augments knew about this place, how did Madsen find out about it?"

Khan didn't have a response. He watched as a faint glimmer of satisfaction shone on her face and instantly he knew he should have already interrogated Madsen if only to hand the information he gained over to Madelyn in order to continue regaining her trust.

"You haven't killed him yet."

"You were my priority."

Madelyn carefully stood to her feet. "I'm not your anything until I find out what the hell Madsen wanted with me in the first place."

Khan met her gaze with detachment as he realized she was more interested in talking to Madsen than to him. He'd hoped she'd show as little interest in seeing the doctor again as she had in acknowledging Owen Gallagher's continued pathetic existence on this planet. Once again, Madelyn was making sure to put her own agenda in front of his, and Khan would be damned if he didn't give her the space to not only heal but to come to grips with what had been done to her, even by himself. He would get her back no matter what it took.

"Do you want to see him? You may not like what you find."

Madelyn took a few careful steps towards him, her eyes darting to the door behind him. "I really don't think anything would surprise me anymore."

She was right. Everything she'd believed about herself had been turned on its head in a matter of days, and Khan knew he'd done nothing to ease that process along. At this point, there was no reason to hide anything else from her. Not even what he'd begun to do to Dr. Madsen. He turned towards the door.

"He's this way."

Madelyn wasn't sure what she'd expected to see when she walked into the row of cells, but when she saw Dr. Hans Madsen's bloody and broken body, barely able to sit up against the wall, it took her a few seconds to compose herself and calmly walk into the room behind Khan. She could tell just by looking at the doctor's face that he'd sustained several brutal punches, and she imagined the rest of his body was just as bruised underneath his formerly white clothing, now stained with red and brown.

"Have you come to finish me off?" Madsen muttered. He flinched away instinctively when Khan took a step towards him.

Madelyn wanted to feel sorry for him, but she found no capacity within her for compassion towards this man who saw her as a commodity, and who thought that by testing substances on unstable men like Owen that he was contributing to science. "Where's Owen?" was the first thing out of her mouth.

Madsen raised a blood-crusted eyebrow at her. "How should I know? He left me as soon we knew Khan had found his way here. Gallagher really was a coward after all."

Madelyn didn't have enough time to protest as Khan knelt down and grabbed a fistful of the doctor's blond scalp, holding his face back and forcing him to stare back at him. "How did you know the location of this facility?" he growled.

Madsen's fear was more evident now, but Madelyn didn't see how they could get any information out of him this way.

"I—I was given the coordinates a few days ago," the doctor sputtered. "I don't ask questions. He doesn't like—"

Khan yanked Madsen's head back so he could wrap his other hand around the doctor's neck, where he began to squeeze tightly.

"Give me a name," Khan replied smoothly.

"Khan, don't do this—"

Madelyn's protest was ignored.

"If you don't give me a name, I will crush your windpipe slowly until you choke to death."

Madelyn couldn't believe what she was hearing. She could feel her heart pounding harder as flashbacks from the Vengeance flitted into the back of her mind, only Madsen hadn't come close to Admiral Marcus' coldhearted resolve. "Khan, this isn't going to accomplish anything." She knew her voice was shaking.

"If he tells me what I want to know, I will make his death swift," Khan continued without letting up the pressure on Madsen's throat. "He knows what I'm capable of. He was assigned to work with me when I was first awoken from cryosleep."

Madelyn suddenly recognized the light of familiarity in Madsen's eyes, which only illuminated his fear further. Madsen had been following someone's orders, not handing them out. She wanted to believe he didn't deserve this.

"You think that means he'll trust you?! How does he know you won't kill him slowly anyway?! I can't believe I'm having this conversation right now!"

Khan turned his head slightly so he could look at her out of the corner of his eye, as Madsen struggled for air. Whether it was exasperation or just frustration on his face, she couldn't be sure, but his features tightened along with his hand around the doctor's neck.

"His name—" Madsen gasped. "It's Joaquin."

Khan's gaze snapped back to the doctor. "His full name, doctor," he demanded quietly.

"Weiss," Madsen croaked. "Joaquin Weiss."

Khan shoved him to the floor and rose to his feet, his hands flexing at his sides, fingers curling into fists. Madelyn held her ground despite the silent rage she saw building in his eyes, causing tension in his jaw and neck. "Do you know who that is?" she asked quietly. Khan barely glanced at her, his attention centered on Madsen, who lay curled on the floor.

"Joaquin Weiss was my closest friend and ally before I was driven from power in India. I trusted him with everything." The words were spat from between his teeth like a cobra shoots venom. It took him barely a second before he moved towards Madsen again, and without thinking, Madelyn stepped in front of him.

"Don't do this. He's not the one responsible—"

"Dr. Madsen is as complicit in our son's death as Owen Gallagher. Madsen knew exactly what he was doing bringing you here, and by Joaquin's orders no doubt."

"You shouldn't take your anger out on someone who was just following orders! Is this how you treated your subjects?!"

She wished she could inhale those last words like a puff of smoke exhaled from a cigarette. Khan's burning gaze tore into her, the same look he'd worn the moment he'd crushed Admiral Marcus' skull between his bare hands. Madelyn forced herself to keep looking up at him anyway, despite the sirens going off in her head. "I didn't mean that," she said, barely above a breath.

Khan's eyes shifted to look over her shoulder and down at Madsen. "If I allow him to live, he will run back to Joaquin and he will report everything. I can't give Joaquin the upper hand."

His voice was softer now, like he was purposefully holding back his anger for someone he felt deserved it. For a moment, Madelyn wasn't sure she was looking at the same man.

"He has always craved my power, whether he'd admit or not. Allowing Madsen to live would be like handing Joaquin his victory." Khan wrapped a hand tightly around her shoulder in a way that kept her from shirking back. "Please, get out of my way."

Had he just politely asked her to move? She still didn't know what to make of this. She knew she didn't want anymore of his bloodshed and violence, especially not because of her. His fingers tightened around her shoulder. He'd force her out of his way if she didn't move.

With a sinking feeling in her stomach, she tore herself from his grasp and brushed past him. She hated the feeling of submitting to his will, but she wanted to make it clear that she was disgusted with this situation. Before she shut the door that would separate her from Khan and Madsen, she paused and stole a glance back at them both.

"You promised him a quick death."

Not waiting to see Khan's reply register on his face, she hurried away. She didn't want to remember the way the doctor looked now, before Khan completely destroyed him. She heard the door slide shut, and then a muffled cry from behind it spurred her more quickly down the corridor.

She knew that if she looked at herself in a mirror, she'd see nothing but a curled lip and a tense jaw and hot anger roiling in her own eyes. There had been a few moments while she ate that she considered what Khan had done for her so far, and played with the idea that maybe she could accept him to a certain degree. Now that idea had been dashed to tiny pieces.

She remembered what he had said about not holding her down here, but she was suddenly struck with the familiar sting of his deception. He probably intended to hold her hostage down here until she caved to his wiles. Maybe he was still playing her, still planning to use her for some agenda he had up his sleeve. She couldn't deny that she still found him attractive, but the line between sexual attraction and romantic attachment wasn't a line at all. It was the Great Wall of China. He had all but destroyed her entire life with his lies and she currently had no way of escaping him. How long before he thought he could start using her again? She knew she wouldn't be able to fight him off.

Shaking herself out of the dark abyss her train of thought had fallen into, Madelyn forced herself to look at her present situation. Khan had just revealed to her that someone he'd trusted during his years as ruler of a quarter of the Earth was probably the one causing all sorts of trouble for them now. Whatever that entailed still remained to be seen. He was probably getting that information out of Madsen now, and then he would kill him.

How Joaquin Weiss was even walking free was a problem she wanted to know the answer to, among other things, and she would be sure to dig as much information out of Khan as she could, especially if that meant postponing his inevitable advances on her. The more she could keep him focused on someone who appeared to have betrayed him, the less he would focus on her.

At the same time, if Joaquin was the one behind Dr. Madsen's actions, then that only gave Khan more reason to keep her close to him. She would continue to keep herself emotionally distant from him. She'd refuse to acknowledge that the child she lost had also been his. She'd insist on making it clear that what he had done to her had brought her to this point, and if he continued to ignore her clear messages that she was done with him, she'd have to find another way to get out of there. It would be hard. Khan saw everything. She would have to do everything possible to convince him she didn't want him anymore, and if he still didn't relent, if worse came to worse… no, she would never consider that. There were still opportunities for a new life, even if they were on other worlds.

The difficulties wouldn't end once she was out of Khan's clutches. If Madsen had known what she was, then chances were that this Joaquin Weiss also somehow knew. Then there was the matter of Owen and his unknown whereabouts. No matter where she turned, there were men who thought they knew what was best for her, and worse, thought they could control her.

What she did and what she said over the next few days would be absolutely pivotal.

The information Khan gleaned from Madsen had been at best illuminating, and at worst, worthy of sending a nuclear device into the nearest city. Not only did he understand how Madsen could have known about the bunker's location, but what had been done to Owen to cause him to attack Madelyn, if that was the case, was beginning to make a lot more sense as well. It would take confronting Joaquin personally to understand his motivation. The grab for power was obvious, but the means and the reasoning behind them, not so much. And then there was the obvious problem of how Joaquin was walking free in the first place. Perhaps he had been one that Admiral Marcus had secretly awoken under quarantined circumstances, but that would only be speculation on his part as Madsen had refused to reveal more information than this.

Armed with enough knowledge to be satisfied for now, Khan channeled his anger into giving the doctor what Madelyn had hoped he would: a quick death. He snapped the man's neck with a single tug and dragged the body to a waste incinerator in a dilapidated section of the facility, all the while carefully compartmentalizing his emotions so that Madelyn would no longer have to take the brunt of anything he was dealing with. What he had done in front of her regarding Dr. Madsen had quickly turned her against him a second time. It wouldn't take much to completely lose her.

He quickly showered and then pulled on some fresh clothes not stained with blood and bits of flesh before he sought her out. In the hour he had spent interrogating Madsen, she had managed to find the small room that had once served as a gym to the facility, if it could be called a gym. There was a large mat on the floor and some barbells in the corner. Madelyn was on the mat, wearing a tank top and shorts, pushing herself through a series of sit-ups that were probably causing her a great deal of discomfort.

He crossed his arms and leaned silently against the doorway, watching her for a minute. Her back was to him as she finished her round, and then she slowly sat up and adjusted her ponytail, pushing dark tendrils of hair from her sweaty neck.

Her vigor didn't surprise him. It was the result of the blood he had given her, and once she had slept it off tonight, the next twenty-four hours would be physically harder on her than the previous twelve. Had she been only human, she probably wouldn't have survived the miscarriage at all, but he would never mention that. He could see that she was doing everything she could to be strong, and not just physically.

"Did you kill him?" she asked without turning to face him, her voice deadpan as she stretched, forcing her fingers to reach her toes.

Khan straightened, wondering how long she'd known he was there. She hadn't shown any signs of even caring that he'd been watching her.

"Did I give you any reason to believe I wouldn't?"

She finished stretching and slowly stood up, turning around with her hands propped on her hips, her shoulders still rising and falling steadily as she collected herself. Khan exhaled at the way her neck and chest were covered with a sheen of sweat, but focused his gaze on her neutral expression to avoid a confrontation. The last thing he wanted was to give her the impression that all he wanted was her body. He would never make that mistake again and it wasn't true anyway. He wanted everything she could give, but only if she willingly gave it.

Her feet remained planted in the middle of the room, keeping a healthy distance between them. "Did you get anymore information out of him before you killed him?"

"Yes."

Madelyn nodded and wiped sweat from her face with her shirt, revealing a sliver of her stomach to him. The remnants of her pregnancy were hardly visible now. He forced his eyes back to her face.

"I want to know everything," she said. "Don't leave anything out."

Khan leaned back against the doorway. "There's not a lot I can tell you. Joaquin was backing Madsen as well as another scientist. He ordered Madsen to experiment on Mr. Gallagher. Madsen wouldn't tell me why. In fact, he refused to talk anymore after he told me what he'd done to your friend."

"He's not my friend."

Khan regarded her silently for a moment. She'd put up with Owen for so long, he'd always thought she had a soft spot for him. He supposed with the developments of her miscarriage and its cause, he should have known. If this was good for anyone, it was definitely good for him.

"What else?" she asked.

"After he stopped talking, I snapped his neck. He died instantly."

She inhaled long and slow, crossing her arms as the knowledge crossed her face. Whether she was uncomfortable with the truth, or merely with the fact that he hadn't lied to her, he would never know.

"Do you think you'll go after Joaquin then?"

He let out a faint sigh. "It won't concern you. I'll make sure to keep you out of his way."

Her eyebrows rose a fraction, but it was enough to make him see he'd just made another mistake. Why was she being so damn sensitive about this?

"Everything you do from now on is going to concern me, Khan. How long are you going to keep me down here, and what do you think you're going to gain by it? If I asked you to let me go, how do I know you won't just come after me again? I don't know if I can still trust you, and that's despite the fact that you might have saved my life, although I feel really uncomfortable saying that out loud."

He prepared to reply that he'd saved her life more than once already, but she wasn't finished. He could feel the anger leeching out of her and it made him want her even more.

"Maybe I recognize the fact that you wouldn't have ever found me if it weren't for that necklace, but that doesn't ignore the fact that you made that necklace to track me in the first place, like I was cattle to you. A broodmare to carry your progeny. I know that's all I am to you." She was approaching him slowly, with more confidence than he'd seen in her all day. "Let me make myself clear. I have no intention of submitting to you or doing whatever the hell it is you want from me, and I will fight you if you try anything. Do we have an understanding?"

Khan stared at her, confusion mixing with fascination. She really had no idea, or rather he hadn't done enough to make his true intentions known. The man she had fallen for was John Harrison, not Khan Noonien Singh. To her, he was just an idea, a figment of history she'd given a lecture about once, known by his actions and little else. What little she'd witnessed of those actions had been unsavory at best.

"I don't believe we have an understanding at all," he said bluntly.

She blanched and pulled back, her hands dropping from her hips.

He softened his voice. "I never intended to force you to do anything."

Her expression shifted, like she was surprised to hear this coming from him. If he was honest with himself, he was just as surprised.

"So this isn't you holding me down here, like I'm your prisoner? Because that's what it feels like."

"Your body needs to heal."

"Then why do I have the feeling that as soon as I try to leave, you'll stop me?"

"That would be my first inclination, but as I have said, I won't force you to do anything you don't want to do. You are not my prisoner."

"So if I wanted to leave right now, what would you say?"

"It's too dangerous right now, because you're not strong enough."

She scoffed. "Weren't you just standing there watching me work out? Unless I've been dreaming, I survived a miscarriage less than twelve hours ago and now I feel fine. Great, actually, much better than I did when I first woke up. I'm pretty sure I'm strong enough."

"This is the result of my blood. The effects will wear off."

"And when they do, I'll be weaker and easier to control, and you're just waiting for the right moment?"

Khan ground his teeth at her insistence that he was some sort of psychopath. She was so far from the truth. "You must rest before you can leave this place. There are still people out there who wouldn't hesitate to harm you."

"Right. Joaquin, Owen. If you knew better, you'd include yourself in that little group of nice guys. For once in your life, Khan, just tell me the damn truth!"

"As I have said, when you're stronger you may go!" he exclaimed. "How many times must I repeat myself? You will not be safe until you've regained your strength!"

"And how long do you think that will take? Days? Weeks? I think we both know that as long as I'm with you, I'll never be safe."

"Then go!" he roared. "Go now, if you wish! Or stay, but stay because it is what you wish to do!"

She backed off at his response but he didn't care so he followed her until she'd bumped up against the wall.

"I am not playing games with you and I am certainly not seeking to use you the way I did in London. I made mistakes of which I am not proud and I am sorry!" He was practically spitting in her face but desperation had taken hold and he could no longer restrain himself. "If you cannot accept that, then I don't want anything to do with you, and perhaps you are better off without me as well."

There. He'd said it and there was nothing else for him to say but that. He wanted Madelyn for who she was, not who she thought she needed to pretend to be for her own safety. If she truly didn't want him, then forcing her to stay with him was no longer an attractive option. It would only serve to reinforce the barriers she'd already built between them, barriers he'd decided could be better dismantled by her.

She was still staring at him wordlessly, her anger gone and replaced with a bewildered gaze. Maybe she'd never believed him capable of showing himself to be human, if this was what being human looked like. She was the only person he could think of to whom he'd revealed this part of himself, but he was prepared to lose this part of himself forever if she refused his offer to share it with him.

She exhaled a short, quivering breath, her mouth falling open slightly before she promptly shut it and pressed her lips together. Despite how close they were to each other, her gaze flitted around the room, landing on everything but him as though she felt guilty. The silence that permeated the space around them grew thicker, taking on everything he hoped for and everything he dreaded all at once. When she finally spoke, her murmured response cracked the silence apart.

"I honestly don't know what to say." She swallowed and finally looked up at him again, her gaze gradually tightening into a frown. "I took you for a monster, but not this."

There it was, finally. Something genuine in her glance. Khan didn't even care that it was still distant.

"I guess I really never knew you, even in London," she murmured, maybe thinking out loud to herself. She cleared her throat and raised her chin to meet his gaze head on. "This will never change what you did, but I'll accept your apology if you agree to never lie to me again."

The steel in her expression could have held back a supernova, but Khan would have gladly broken every bone in his body to soften it.

"I will never lie to you again," he said. He meant every word and he wanted each one to permeate her until she couldn't breathe. Instead, she slid away from him before he could brush his fingers across her hand. He watched her cross the room, her features betraying how fazed she felt, and when she'd escaped out the door, he fought the compulsion to go after her. Now that she had seen a part of himself he'd never let see daylight, there was no going back, and it hurt like hell.

Madelyn hurried down the corridor towards the living quarters where she knew she could hide in the shower from Khan for as long as she wanted. Everything that had just happened, the conversation, the apology, she didn't know what to make of any of it. She could still feel his breaths on her face. She'd gotten away as quickly as she could before he thought he could kiss her. At least he hadn't had the balls to try and touch her, but damn he'd been close.

She locked herself into the bathroom and let the hot shower water beat onto her face as she tried to reason with herself. He'd acted reasonably enough considering he'd also displayed his usual disregard for personal space. He'd displayed an unusual amount of desperation when he'd explained his position, and she was starting to believe he hadn't made his promise in vain. Maybe he really did care about her in his own way, but she couldn't bring herself to accept him when she knew his capability to lie and manipulate. What if that entire thing in the gym had been a show? What if he really was the psychopath so many historians had painted him to be, like so many of his fellow Augments? She knew he had the capability of pretending, but to that extent?

When she was trapped between him and the wall, there had been half a moment she'd seen something she recognized. It had triggered memories that she'd tried hard to forget, but at the same time she couldn't help but ask herself 'what if?'

What if he was being genuine? What if he was really giving her a choice? If so, then the outcome of his ultimatum was relying solely on her choice.

A man who trusted her to make such a pivotal decision like this had her respect forever.

The only man she'd ever known who had trusted her this way had been Mark, a man she'd married and loved for two years until he'd passed away.

If it weren't for the hot water pounding against her, she knew she would have tried to blink away the tears pricking her eyes. She couldn't afford to be comparing Khan to Mark. She couldn't afford to even be considering this, whatever this was. She pressed her palms to the cold concrete wall, as though she could ground her thoughts outside of her steaming shower daze. The only thing that popped into her head was 'maybe.'

Maybe she could give him a chance. Maybe she wanted to know who he really was. It seemed far preferable to a life on the run from both Owen and Joaquin. She didn't know if it was a good idea, but then she had nothing to compare it to. Khan was far more complicated than she had ever believed he could be. He'd already appeared to have shed his mask of egotism and snide superiority, so maybe, just maybe, if she was careful, he could breach her expectations.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, it was a wild ride for me to write but anyway, please review! I'm hoping to complete the writing of this story within a couple weeks so be looking for the next chapter sometime next week. xoxo