Oops I did it again. I'm so sorry for the delay in these chapters. I suppose my focus is just on other things in my life at this point (aka. distractions like David Morrisey, and original fiction that I should have started writing 5 years ago). But don't worry, because I've finished writing the entire story (except for an epilogue) so you won't have to wait as long for the rest xD

Thanks so much as always to everyone who's left a review or a private message. Your feedback is highly coveted.

Now without further adieu, I give you chapter 45.

Chapter 45 - Peripeteia

A walk along the banks of the bay with a glass of iced green tea in her hand, condensation dripping down her fingers.

A chance to bask in Earth's sunshine one last time, before San Francisco's signature dense fog that had clouded the previous few days rolled in again.

Things were surprisingly good right now.

Children ran across the grass in front of her after their dog, their parents trailing after with a watchful eye. Madelyn slid a hand over her stomach, barely round enough to show beneath her light t-shirt. To think that in just a few years that could be her child, running across an open meadow on Ceti Alpha V, chasing after the local wildlife—if it wasn't chasing them. She imagined Khan would keep two watchful eyes on them. She imagined he'd become so overprotective, she'd have to step in and even things out.

She wanted to be the mother she'd never had, and since she wasn't sure what exactly that would entail, it both excited and terrified her. On Earth there was infrastructure and support systems, medical professionals and people who would listen to her if she paid them enough. There was civilization. She had no way of knowing what waited for them on Ceti Alpha V, only that at least Khan would be at her side. She couldn't afford to depend on anyone else in his crew, other than Kati for now. Based on prior experience, the others' trust would have to be proven and earned.

She'd been informed of Ceti Alpha V's existence merely three days ago. Now, she was told it'd be the end of September before they were getting off the ground. Starfleet continued to drag its feet, even with McCoy's prompting. She'd heard a rumor that James Kirk had even snuck a good word in for her with one of the Admirals, but the last time she'd seen the young captain's face he'd been gleefully arresting Khan on the crab boat in Alaska. She wouldn't have believed any rumor about him unless she could confirm it with him in person. She could hardly believe anything anyone said to her anymore. Her chest ached for demonstrable authenticity, for people who didn't have ulterior motives.

Just a few more weeks on this damned planet and she'd be free of them all, forever.

As the August afternoon sun beat down on her, she returned to the shade of a grove of oak trees beside the water, settling into the grass and propping one leg casually over the other. Setting her tea down, she watched kids playing and chasing each other for another few minutes before pulling a PADD from her bag. The entire reason she was out here alone in the first place was McCoy's doing. If only he hadn't shown her that damned report.

But she knew better.

The first time she'd scanned over its contents, she'd skipped over the technical jargon and military speak, picking out the key phrases that stood out to her the most: Classified, illegal explosive. Rogue agent.

Terrorist.

Coercion.

Body count—

Her stomach had coiled up and her pulse had throbbed in her head, until she thought she would legitimately throw up—and not from morning sickness. She would have broken something expensive had McCoy not put a firm hand on her arm and ordered her out of his lab. So shoving the PADD in her bag, she'd stormed outside, determined to make sense of what she'd read.

She'd known better than to think she could ignore this. What Khan had done to start the avalanche that would ultimately overwhelm her… it made her wish she was locked in that cell with him so she could let his face get to know the palm of her hand for a bit. A brisk, angry walk had been a sufficient substitute.

One dented boardwalk railing and a stubbed, bloody toe later, and she was finally able to reassure herself that this would be one of many topics of conversation to bring up with him once they were out of here. She wasn't angry about it anymore. She understood and would be willing to forgive, but that would never make it right.

This family, the Harewoods, had been torn apart by him, just more collateral damage in his desperate fight to save his own family. He'd held them hostage in a manner of speaking. It didn't warrant what he'd been trying to save, what he'd been trying to accomplish. There could have been fifty other ways he might have acquired enough of an explosive to remotely detonate Section 31, but the fact that he had chosen to steal a father away from his wife and daughter…

She pulled the report up on her PADD and scanned over it again. She'd lost count of how many times she'd looked at it today. It was a reminder of the man she'd chosen to love, and a reminder of what he was capable of and what he'd been willing to do for his family before. She wasn't going to foolishly assume he would never resort to such tactics again, even if he'd admitted that some of the things he'd done to her had been wrong. Some of them, and only the things specifically related to her. She had to remind herself of that over and over again. If Khan was ever faced with a similar situation, and it was her life at stake, she didn't doubt that he would do just about anything.

Yes, this was going to make for a very interesting conversation in the future. One in which she would make doubly sure that her opinion was not only listened to, but respected and considered seriously. He had said he would reclaim his rightful position as ruler, one he seemed convinced belonged to no one else, at least among his crew. She was going to have her hands full.

The thought made the corner of her mouth twitch upwards. That surprised her. She would have thought the idea would repel her, or at least make her anxious. It did neither. She was ready. She wanted this. She'd wanted this for a long time if she was honest with herself. But she wouldn't have felt ready to be with him a few months ago. Now, she couldn't wait for those days to finally come. It seemed only fair after all they'd both been through.

Compounded on top of all of this, she was pregnant. In nine months—or less if McCoy's tests had been any indication the first time—she was going to have a newborn to take care of. Her heart told her they'd be fine. Her head presented only the most pessimistic scenarios. She tilted her head back against the tree trunk behind her, running her fingers aimlessly across blades of grass. She was lying to herself. She wasn't ready for this. She'd never be ready because there was no way to be. She didn't know what this planet was going to offer them. It could be a desert wasteland, parched and cracked with little water. It could be littered with dangerous carnivores. It could be anything.

She just needed Khan to reassure her that no matter what happened, he would be right beside her. He didn't even know she was pregnant yet. Just a few weeks and they would be on a ship to the outskirts of Federation space. Just a few weeks.

Lord knew those were going to be long weeks.

Those few weeks flew by surprisingly quickly.

She hadn't anticipated being as busy as she found herself. She'd volunteered to manage and administrate the collection of supplies she'd listed on a manifest the month before. With Starfleet taking the bulk of the financial load, she was free to order shipments of just about anything in large quantities. Construction supplies, solar powered medical equipment, every kind of outdoor survival gear imaginable, and crate upon crate of storable food— in case the planet proved to be scarce in the flora and fauna department. Given Starfleet's track record, she wasn't banking on anything at this point.

All of these things and more were beamed from a massive warehouse onto the Enterprise under the watchful eye of Commander Spock. More than once, she stopped and tried to start a conversation with him, but something in the way he looked down his nose at her told her she'd do better to spend her time elsewhere.

Kirk finally made an appearance. He was beamed down into the warehouse after a particularly large load was sent up, and strolled over to her, greeting her as if they were old friends. He was unusually friendly, smiling a lot, making boisterous gestures as he spoke, as though he was compensating for something. Suspicious of his motives, Madelyn steered their conversation towards Khan in an attempt to feel out what exactly was bothering him. He brushed it off, made a comment about a late night with Carol, and asked her if there was anything else she needed to accomplish, or needed help accomplishing. There wasn't.

Unless it was getting an answer to his strange behavior.

She mentioned it to Dr. McCoy that evening, after they'd completed what was now becoming a routine checkup. The baby was still too small to make out any features onscreen, but that didn't stop her from staring.

"Lookin' good. Too early to tell much of anything at this point. You ordered one o' these things for yourself didn't ya?"

She nodded, straightening on the med bed, her gaze lingering on the screen until McCoy turned it off and ran his scanner by her neck.

"We still haven't received an official date and time for departure," she said. "Would Kirk happen to know anything? He was acting a little weird this morning."

"Weird as in not trying anything potentially fatal, or weird as in being overtly friendly in order to reassure you that everything is fine?"

Madelyn blinked, holding him in her gaze. "The latter. What is it?"

McCoy was silent for a moment as he put his scanner away and motioned for her to return to her feet.

"Bones—"

"There was a complication. Don't worry, there are people lookin' into it."

"Why am I always the last one to hear about these things?"

He gave her a pointed look. "Same reason they won't let you see Khan again, for the time bein'."

She chewed on the inside of her lip, worry creeping across her face like a shadow. "So, what is it?"

"I'll let you know if it becomes serious. You've got too much on your plate—"

"This is my future we're talking about, Bones. Don't leave me in the dark."

She could suddenly make out the real tension in his features, like he was holding something back. "Madelyn." He came over and put his hands on her shoulders, fingertips pressing in a reassuring fashion. "It may be nothin'. Can ya just trust me on this?"

She held his gaze, wishing she could read his mind and find out whatever it was that had suddenly happened to make everyone act so strangely. "Twenty-four hours," she decided.

He frowned.

"Twenty-four hours, and if… whatever it is is still a problem, you tell me. Otherwise, I guess I'll just have to trust you."

He nodded, cementing his point, and let her go. "Speakin' of your future, I ordered an extra crate of expensive prenatal supplements. You should make sure they get onboard."

She had to smile a little at his consideration. "I'll do that. And hey. Keep me posted."

"Yes ma'am."

Her smile dropped as she walked out of the lab and down the quiet corridor. She couldn't wait around for bad news, not when there was so much at stake now. She'd dropped everything to make this happen. If something was amiss and no one was telling her, she would have to find out for herself.

She pulled out her communicator and scrolled through her contacts. She still had Carol's number. It was worth a shot.

Carol met her at the door with surprising warmth, despite the fact that their last encounter had ended on less than ideal terms. Madelyn walked inside slowly, a rush of even less ideal memories flooding her visual cortex. The last time she'd been here, she'd been caught between a media storm and the trial of the century, and she'd hated Khan more than she'd ever hated anyone before. How things had changed.

"I'm sorry this was so last minute. I just needed someone to talk to who might have a different perspective on what's going on," she explained, settling carefully into the armchair across from Carol, who took a seat on the couch. To her left—Carol's right—wide windows offered a sweeping view of the city. Skyscrapers reaching up into the night glittered like multi-faceted gems.

"It's alright," Carol replied, tucking a strand of blond hair behind her ear. "What you had said to me before. I was just shocked. I hadn't realized that you had really come to that point."

Madelyn leaned forward a little, crossing her arms in her lap. "What point?"

"Wanting to be with someone who hurt you," Carol replied softly.

Madelyn worried on her bottom lip, thinking of ways to explain this to her, coming up with excuses for her feelings. Then she realized she didn't need to explain herself to anyone. Not anymore. "It's more complicated than that. I figured you wouldn't understand, but I hoped you would at least try. I know he hurt you just as much." A vague memory of Admiral Marcus flitted into her mind and she decided she wouldn't say anything more about it. The pain in Carol's eyes was enough.

"Well," Carol said, after a moment in which she collected herself. "We're both grown women. We can be adults about this, can't we?"

Madelyn let out a breath, finally feeling like she could relax a little. "I didn't want our last conversation to be—"

"I know," Carol nodded, trying to smile. "I felt the same. And to be honest, I've grown a bit tired of hearing about you from people who don't even know you. Jim, for example."

Madelyn straightened. "What has he been saying?"

"Oh, you know, bits and pieces here and there, about you, about Khan, about a planet… I probably shouldn't say."

"No, Carol. I need to know. There's something going on that everyone seems concerned about, but no one will tell me anything. Kirk, for example. I saw him this morning and he was weirdly talkative, but he wouldn't answer any of my questions. He just kept going on about things that I'm not worried about. And then I asked Bones later and he said straight out that he couldn't tell me. So I gave him twenty-four hours."

She watched Carol's face as she disseminated the information. It was the same restrained, sad look that McCoy had worn, and it made the tension return to her body.

"Carol, please tell me you know something."

The silence lingering between them was almost too much to bear, but Carol finally tore into it.

"There's a chance…" She paused, staring at the floor, studying it like it was some kind of new, undiscovered lifeform.

"There's a chance what?"

Slowly, Carol raised her gaze again, her fingers pulling at each other. "There's a chance that Ceti Alpha Five isn't going to work out."

Madelyn stared at her, fixed on the softness of her brow. For a moment, she thought maybe Carol felt sorry for her. But why the hell would she do that?

"What do you mean Ceti Alpha Five isn't going to work out?" It came out louder than she intended. Carol didn't flinch.

"I mean there's a chance it has just recently been made uninhabitable. Recent scans showed an anomaly that wasn't there a few days ago. We sent out a probe that should retrieve more solid data within the next few hours, then we'll know for sure. Maddy, it could be nothing."

Madelyn tightened her hand around the arm of her chair, fingertips pressing into the solid wood. "But what if it isn't?"

Carol opened her mouth a bit, looking both bewildered and apologetic. At first she didn't respond and the room was silent again. Finally, she answered. "Nothing's set in stone anymore."

She was trying not to panic. She could feel it inside her, wriggling its way up her spine. Loss of control, loss of something tangible to hold onto, loss of trust. Symptoms she hadn't felt in a long time.

She took a long, steady breath and leaned back in her chair as she let it out. Nothing's set in stone, she repeated over and over in her head. At this point, that could mean anything.

"You said you'll know in a few hours?"

Carol nodded. "We'll have more data, which will allow Starfleet to make a decision."

"And they aren't thinking to consult me on this decision? I told Bones twenty-four hours and he didn't say anything to the contrary. Why hasn't he spoken up?"

"He has to hold onto his career somehow. He was dangerously close to losing it when he let Khan go the first time. No matter that it was because you were—"

"Are they paying him to stay silent?"

"Maddy, no. You know he cares for you. He doesn't want you to get hurt if there's still a chance—"

"Carol, I'm pregnant."

If silence were a blanket, Carol may as well have been strangled with it.

"I'm pregnant, and I'm engaged to a man that I love who happens to be a prisoner of the Federation. I gave up a solid job offer because I didn't think I was going to be around to accept it. My money—my family's money—is sitting in separate accounts now owned by several charitable organizations who have no reason to give any of it back to me, because I signed a legally binding contract. I have next to nothing, and I was okay with that right up until now, because I was told that Khan and his people were going to be given their own planet outside of Federation space. I was promised this, Carol. So I staked everything on it."

It took Carol's features a moment to register genuine surprise. "I-I'm sure I could help you out in any manner of ways…"

"Like finding another planet."

"Hopefully we won't have to."

"Hopefully," Madelyn scoffed. "And what happens to Khan if this doesn't work out?" When Carol failed to respond, she rose from her chair and reached for her bag. "Let me know when you get that probe data. I'd like to know how much I fucked up sooner rather than later."

She headed for the door, but Carol caught up to her. "Maddy, please don't do this."

She persisted and reached for the door handle. "If what you're telling me is true, then I need to get my act back together here. And find a way to get Khan out of here."

Carol grabbed her arm. "No! Maddy, they'll arrest you if you try anything. You already have a massive target on your back." She glanced downwards. "And you need to think about this."

Madelyn instantly slid a hand over her stomach, meeting her friend's firm gaze. "I have been, for several weeks."

"You can't go running out the door, expecting to be able to break him out. There's no way that will happen. And even if you could, I won't let you."

Madelyn glanced down at Carol's surprisingly firm hold. She could yank the door open and knock her in the head, long enough to get away without letting her know where she'd gone. Getting to Khan would be something else entirely, but with the right weapon, she could do it—

"Maddy, I promise you. We'll find a way through this." Carol's hand slid across hers and gently pried her fingers from the door handle. "I know you. You won't be able to break him out, no matter what you tried to do. I know what people have said, but you're not completely like him. You never were."

Her fingers slid away from the door and she reached for Carol's shoulder, bunching up the fabric of her sleeve. Keep it together, just keep it the fuck together.

"I know the last thing you'd want is anyone else getting hurt because of you, right?"

She barely heard Carol's murmurings as she was guided back to the couch.

"I can always help you find a job if should come to it. The Academy could always use a new lecturer. Lord knows the history department could use a complete overhaul."

Madelyn's hands shook as she buried her face in them. Something about the way Carol spoke was like taking a knife to the gut, every word burying it further, twisting it, and then, with agonizing disinterest, slowly pulling it out.

She was finally allowed to see Khan a few days later.

Ceti Alpha V had been made uninhabitable, just as Carol had predicted. An asteroid had collided with a neighboring planet in the system, pushing them both out of orbit and sending Ceti Alpha V's climate careening out of control. Nothing could survive there now.

She was escorted onto a shuttle that would take her to the Enterprise, where Khan was apparently being held in preparation for his return to cryosleep. After that, they would make a brief journey to a station orbiting in an undisclosed system a handful of lightyears away, where Khan and his crew would be locked away in darkness, frozen forever—or at least until another ruthless leader in another century discovered them, and found out who they were, and then all the horrible things that had happened would probably happen all over again, and more people would die.

The atmosphere on the ship was tense. No one spoke to her and the glances she received were distant. She was led down vaguely familiar passages. She hardly noticed the redshirts hovering around the brig. He was standing in a cell behind a pane of glass, dressed in plain black. She remembered the last time they'd both been here, the thought sweeping over her like déjà vu. The first time she'd learned who he really was.

The irony that they were both here again, like this, was sickening.

She paused a few feet from the glass, her escort's presence suddenly constricting. He was in a heavily guarded cage. He couldn't do anything now. Even as much as she wanted him to. She wished he would pounce. Somehow break the glass. Strangle his guards. Get them both out of there. Take the ship and never look back.

It wouldn't be enough.

She wondered if he could see the desperation that she felt, that she was trying hard to keep anyone else from seeing. She glanced at the redshirt to her left. His hand was on his phaser. "Do you mind giving us a minute?"

Their captain murmured a command and they backed hesitantly away, collecting across the room by the door. She turned again so no one but Khan could see her face. She searched his piercing gaze out for a moment before she realized.

"They haven't told you anything, have they?"

"I've made some deductions," he replied. "Are you well?"

Something inside her crumbled. His first thought was of her, not of his people or their situation at large. Just her. He knew more than he was letting on. She glanced down at his hand, hanging open at his side. What she would have given to touch him. She reached up and quietly pressed her fingertips to the glass. The closest she could get.

"I don't know what I'm going to do," she whispered. "I was banking everything on—"

"You will be alright."

Her throat tightened at the confidence in his voice. Tears threatened her and she fought them. "I don't know."

"You have always been able to survive without me. This will be no different."

She didn't have a response to that at first. She stared at him, perplexed at his hard exterior. The glass beneath her hand was so cold.

"Where are the others?" he asked.

"They're all back in cryosleep."

"Where?" His palm hit the glass, skin turning white as it pressed against the glass. He looked like he wanted to devour her and she would have let him. She glanced over her shoulder at the security officers watching them, but they stayed where they were, hands ever present over their weapons. "Maddy, look at me. Where are they?"

She paused at the fervor in his voice. If she'd ever been more caught in the intensity of his gaze, it was now. "On this ship. We're on our way to a storage facility now." She watched him digest that information. He glanced behind her and pressed himself as close as he dared to the glass.

"We still have options," he said, his voice dropping to a whisper.

It barely took her a second to realize what he was insinuating. "No. No way."

"It is the only way—"

"Khan, no…" She paused, lowering her voice, glancing over her shoulder. "I'm pregnant."

His smoldering gaze began to melt just faintly.

"I can't afford to take any risks now. Even though I want to."

"How long have you known?"

"Almost a month."

"This is wonderful news."

His optimistic tone pissed her off. "No. It complicates everything. I wasn't planning—"

"Nonsense."

"Aren't you even going to ask me how?" she hissed. "I was on birth control! And had I known that Starfleet was going to change their mind like this—"

"Starfleet had nothing to do with this."

"How can you be so sure?"

He didn't respond. It hit her that he was trying to console her. Her eyes were probably swarming with panic. She felt it.

"I can't do this by myself," she whispered.

"You will."

"I don't want to," she bit back. "For the first time in my life, I want to actually be able to hold onto someone." Her voice cracked. "Why can't I just hold onto someone? I gave up my career for this!"

"Ma'am, you've got two minutes," an officer across the room called.

She caught her breath at the interruption and raked her fingers through her hair, unable to look Khan in the eye. "I'm sorry. I don't want our last conversation to consist of me sputtering like an idiot. And you're right. I did everything I could. I wish I could say I overlooked something, but it looks like Starfleet doesn't have a choice. The planet's a complete dead zone. Nothing can survive there. And it was the only one…"

"Are you sure?"

"I've talked to Carol and Bones and other science officers multiple times. It's final." She finally mustered the strength to meet his gaze again. It hurt. "There's nothing else I can do. Believe me, I've tried."

He didn't waver. He held her gaze for what felt like an eternity. "You've done more for me than I ever imagined you would."

"But it wasn't supposed to end like this."

"And as you've just said, there's nothing more you can do."

That fact hung in the air between them, heavier and colder than the glass. She took a slow breath, trying to steady herself. The weight in her chest only doubled.

"You're handling this so much better than I am," she said after a moment.

"So it appears."

Another look at him made her wonder if he'd just pulled on the mask again. The silence was unbearable.

"Are you certain you don't wish to consider other options?"

She ground her teeth. She had considered them. Several times. Every time she looked at him. "You know someone can probably hear everything we're saying?"

"Has that stopped you before?"

She put a purposeful hand on her stomach. "I'm not risking this a second time. Not if I don't have to."

If that was a faint smile tugging at his lips, it carried a hint of bitterness—or was that regret?

"Ma'am." A security officer approached her from the side. She barely glanced at him, noting the way Khan tensed and pulled his hand from the glass, curling it into a subtle fist at his side. "Captain Kirk wants to see you on the bridge."

She nodded, her gaze glued to Khan. "Give me another minute."

"He said he wants to see you now."

She looked down at the hand that had brushed the back of her arm, then up at the officer's smooth, young face. "Give me another minute," she repeated through her teeth.

She was surprised when the officer's hand wrapped around her arm and held firm. "Sorry, ma'am. Captain's orders."

She glared at him, but his other hand hovered over a phaser at his belt. She looked back up at Khan. His lips quivered in an expression of barely contained fury. It wouldn't help either of them now.

Slowly, she backed away from the cell and began to follow the officer. Once they were a few steps away from the glass, she shrugged out of his grip without breaking stride and promptly sent her fist into his face. He stumbled to the floor and three more officers took his place, phasers brandished. She put her hands in the air and raised an eyebrow, pressing her lips together in frustration. They wouldn't shoot her, but her association with Khan had obviously put them on edge. "Tell the Captain I'll see him in a minute," she said. She waited until one of them managed to raise Kirk on a communicator, and then returned to her position in front of Khan's cell. She could hear the officers behind her muttering.

"Impressive."

The look on Khan's face meant more to her than sending a witless redshirt to the floor. She might have actually smiled, a little.

"You mean a lot to me, you know that?" she said.

"The feeling is mutual, certainly."

She couldn't stand the lightness in his voice. She allowed a smile to formulate on her lips despite the conflicting emotions running beneath the surface. She would never be over him. For fuck's sake, she'd come this close to marrying him. She glanced down at the ring on her finger, noticing a hint of red. She must have caught the officer's face with it. She winced at the thought, but felt little remorse.

"I think I would have taken your last name," she said quietly.

"What was that?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. Of course he'd heard her. "I said I would have taken your last name, if we'd gotten married."

"Madelyn Marla Singh," he said slowly.

She shook her head. "I'd drop my middle name. You know I hate it."

"Madelyn Singh then."

She shrugged a little. "It sounds nice, doesn't it?"

"Khan McGivers sounds rather appropriate as well."

She snorted a little, enough to smile again, then shook her head. "This is so inappropriate."

That adorable crinkle formed between his brows. "What is?"

Her emotional dam breached and flooded over her face. "The fact that I was just smiling a second ago."

"Ma'am?" The voice behind her was much more timid this time. "The Captain really needs to see you now."

She had to eventually. She forced herself to step away from the glass, the smooth cold of it lingering on her fingers until she was too far to touch it. 'I love you,' she mouthed silently, then turned quickly away so she wouldn't see his response. She couldn't bear it anymore. Following her bleeding escort out of the brig, she felt like her entire world had just come crashing down.

The ship jumped into warp just as she arrived on the bridge, the room flooding with blue light from the wide viewscreen ahead. So they were already on their way.

"Madelyn, thank you for coming," said Kirk, turning and rising from the captain's chair in one swift motion. "I understand that this is probably hard for you to deal with right now, but I've been assured by a few people that we'll get things worked out for you."

"I'm grateful for your concern, Captain," she replied, as deadpan as possible. She really wasn't at all. She wanted to get off this ship as soon as possible before she did something she'd regret later. "I'm finding it really hard to believe that Starfleet feels the same."

Kirk nodded, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder. She shrugged it off. "Believe me, we've done everything we can." He glanced up and nodded to his blue-shirted first officer. "Mr. Spock, please accompany Ms. McGivers to the medbay."

The Vulcan nodded and started to turn towards the door, pausing when she refused to follow.

"Why do you need me in the medbay?"

"Everything will be explained in due time," said Spock. "Please, come with me."

She held Kirk in a hard gaze until he rolled his eyes and heaved a sigh. "Madelyn, I don't have the time to explain why right now. I've got a lot on my plate and a lot more coming. Just go with Spock."

"You called me to the bridge only to shoo me away?"

Kirk had already turned his back and was conversing quietly with one of his crew.

"Ms. McGivers."

She barely acknowledged Spock, glaring at Kirk's back for another moment that only succeeded in fanning the flames of her growing anger. Then she tore herself away and followed the Vulcan back out into the ship.

She was forced to halt in the door of the medbay by a troop of redshirts. Spock motioned for her to wait there and then disappeared inside. She eyed the officers, noticing their weapons, their insignia, the way a few of them stood tensely, eyeing her in return.

She knew if she hadn't been pregnant, all bets would have been off.

Khan's voice tore away her attention. He was somewhere inside. She strained on her toes to try and see around the blockade of men in front of her. No luck. A moment later, they parted to reveal Commander Spock again and she took this as an invitation to enter. The door shut the guards out behind her, but the scene that greeted her sent her mind reeling.

Dr. McCoy and a few other science officers stood around what appeared to be an open cryotube on which Khan was laying, looking barely cognizant. There were no restraints on him, only an intravenous tube running from his arm to a vial hanging nearby. And yet, there was a faint smile on his face. She found herself unwilling to get any closer. She knew everyone was still paranoid of what he could do. He was probably so drugged he had no clue what was going on.

"Why the hell did you bring me here?" She glanced at Spock, at McCoy. The latter looked infuriatingly relaxed as he glanced up from the PADD in his hand.

"We don't have much time to explain, Madelyn—"

"Why the hell did you bring me here?!" she exclaimed. "What makes you all think I'd want to see this?"

The subtle vibration in the ship's walls seemed to roar in her ears.

McCoy triggered something on his PADD and Khan was slowly inserted into the cryotube's casing. His eyes had fallen completely shut and the tube in his arm was removed manually before the casing hissed shut. She watched silently as the chamber's interior began to freeze over, encrusting his calm features in ice. He was gone.