Disclaimer: I own nothing Star Trek-related…though I might consider the idea of beaming Kirk, Spock, Khan, and the actors who play them to my house, once I manage to construct my own transporter. Until then, nothing is mine except original characters.

AN: Here it is, the last part of my Star Trek stories. Thanks to everyone for sticking with me. Next up is Captain America, though it'll be a couple weeks before it's posted. Thanks again, and please don't forget to review!

Epilogue:

Looking out the window of my quarters, I smiled as the stars raced by. Between performing my duties, raising my son, and everything in between, it amazed me how time had gone by.

Then again, maybe it shouldn't have surprised me much.

"Thinking again, Mom?" a voice teased from behind me.

Turning, I smiled as Caleb's blue eyes twinkled in the dim light of the room. He might have his father's tall, strong frame, but his deep blue eyes were filled with warmth, good humor, and love. He was my son, through and through.

That didn't stop the past from popping into my head, though.

As the object hurled towards me with increasing speed, I had to brace myself. My feet spread and firmly planted on the ground, I lifted my arms and prepared for the inevitable.

"Mommy!" the high-pitched voice squealed as I caught the squirming bundle that was my son.

Grinning, I gave him a tight hug and a good half-dozen kisses before setting him down. "I missed you, too, sweetie. Were you good for Auntie Carol?"

Caleb gave me a bright smile as he replied, "Yes, Mommy." I smiled as Carol came to meet me.

"How'd the mission go?" she asked, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. "You look cleaner than usual."

I gave a meek smile. "Well, I showered before coming to get Caleb. That way, I didn't have two people to clean up." If there was one thing my son loved, it was getting dirty.

"Mommy, Uncle Bones took my blood again," Caleb said, holding up a pricked finger with a small bandage on it.

I winced. Even after four years, Starfleet still required a sample and report on my son's blood every few months. It was a bit much, and I was tempted to demand that they stop torturing my son for their own purposes. Bones always persuaded me otherwise, saying that if I didn't do it willingly, Starfleet might change their minds and ask me to hand over my son into their care. It was a choice I didn't like making, but I did, to keep Caleb with me.

"I still don't know what they hope to achieve," I told my friend, superior officer and doctor. "The tests are always the same: nothing unusual except for Caleb being brighter than kids his age, and a bit faster and stronger. He doesn't have any kind of violent tendencies, either."

That was all well and good, but Starfleet was still wary of what my son and I might be capable of. So, like a good girl, I let Caleb have his blood taken. He was used to it, and his little boo-boos healed quickly, so it didn't bother him much. In fact, nothing seemed to faze my boy –the only thing that came close was the fear that I might not come back from an away mission.

"Well, the Captain is having the weekly crew supper, and the others are waiting for us," Carol said as Caleb squirmed to be put down.

The three of us headed to Jim's quarters, and were greeted with warm welcomes and smiles as we took our seats. I firmly believed that this was the one and only Captain's Table in all Starfleet where a young child was accepted as part of the group.

"Mommy, tell me a story," Caleb demanded, looking up at me as I spooned some green beans onto his plate. He wrinkled his nose at the sight of the vegetables, but didn't argue or push them away. He knew better than that.

I smiled at his request –my away trips were always "stories" to him. "Well, Mommy had to save Uncle Jim when we were down on the planet's surface," I said, grinning as I looked over at the man in question. "I had to pick him up, throw him over a huge rock, and hope that he got the bad animals before they got him."

Caleb stared at me in awe. "You threw Uncle Jim?" he asked, forgetting about his food.

"Well, the gravity on the planet wasn't very strong, so it made things easier," I said, looking pointedly at his plate. "Plus, I think he liked being able to fly."

The others laughed as Jim rolled his eyes. "Very funny," he sarcastically remarked. "And those creatures were seriously bad news. I'm amazed they didn't eat me right then and there."

Uhura smirked. "I told you not to go poking around that lake. You never know what's hiding under the water's surface. And of course, you didn't listen to me."

We all laughed as Jim maimed throwing a roll at his communications officer. I, meanwhile, had to rescue my son's glass of milk, and remind him that if he didn't eat his green beans, he would get no dessert.

Coming out of the memory, I smiled.

Caleb had always been spoiled by his aunts and uncles. My friends loved giving Caleb all sorts of toys, games, and any other kind of plaything they thought a child might want –so much so, that at times, I wondered if it was still possible to spoil a child rotten in this day and age. Since everyone had everything they wanted, it was sometimes a wonder that we didn't all turn out worse than we did.

Spock was the only exception to the gift giving. Always practical, Spock tended to deliver the discipline that none of the others would, and always restrained himself when it came to gifts (which also tended to be on the practical side). Amazingly, Caleb never developed a grudge against his Vulcan teacher for his strictness –instead, he seemed to respect him more than anyone else, and loved him as much as his other 'uncles'.

But even in spite of his being sometimes over-indulged, Caleb was a good boy. He didn't have any other children to play with onboard, but he did have constant love, attention, and a very good education, one that I felt rivaled the schools back on Earth.

On the Enterprise, Caleb had some of the best minds teaching him about starships, space exploration, and all sorts of different animals and species. And given all his visits to sickbay, he even had a teacher in Bones, who was more than willing to show Caleb diagrams of the inside of the human body. It was cute, watching my son sit curled up in one of his teacher's laps, trying to absorb what they were trying to teach him.

Besides my son, those happy memories were the most precious thing to me. I cherished each and every moment, because there was always the lingering fear that, someday, at any time, someone would try to take him away from me. It might be Starfleet, or Khan himself, and no matter how much time passed, that fear never left me.

Then, not long after Caleb's fifth birthday, everything came to a head.

It had been the normal day on the Enterprise. We were between missions, and simply scouting out a remote planet that looked like it could be colonized by the Federation.

In my quarters, Caleb and I were enjoying some quiet time together. Today, my son had wanted to learn more about starships, and Jim had provided a children's version of the Enterprise's layout for Caleb to look at and study. It was also interactive, so I struggled to hold onto Caleb as he bounced in my lap and pressed various applications on the data pad, which told him what a place was, and what sort of people worked there.

Not surprisingly, the things that caught my son's attention most had to do with the bridge. At age five, Caleb very much wanted to be the captain of a starship, just like his Uncle Jim –or, barring that, at least second-in-command, like Spock. So, anything that had to do with the bridge and its officers always drew his attention.

It also didn't help that most of my friends were bridge officers, which might have had something to do with Caleb's interest. Well, that and the fact that the bridge was one of several areas that my son was absolutely forbidden to go, per Jim's orders. Forbidding something of a child often leads them to become interested in it even more.

On this particular day, we were just finishing with the lesson when the entire ship shook. I immediately recognized it as weapon's fire, and told Caleb that it was time to hide and stay safe. This wasn't our first fire-fight, and my son knew what he was supposed to do: hide in the cubby hole built into the wall until either I or one of my friends came to get him.

As much as I wished that someone could come and keep him company, everyone would be rushing to their posts, preparing for a battle. The only thing I could do was lock my quarters behind me and hope for the best. But Caleb was smart for his age, and I'd taught him well when it came to times like this –he'd stay quiet and hide, because he knew bad things might happen if he didn't.

As for me, I armed myself with a phaser and raced for the bridge. All throughout the halls, other crewmembers were running to their stations, though few were in panic-mode. Thanks to the numerous missions we'd been on over the years, a majority of the crew was seasoned in battle and tense situations –it was only the new recruits, fresh from Starfleet Academy or transfers from other ships, who were fearful about the situation.

I barely managed to catch and squeeze into a turbo lift, the others willingly making room for me. I barely hid a wince –some gave me room out of respect, but others did it out of fear, both of me and of what I might do, thanks to my advanced abilities. Thankfully, the ones who feared me were now far fewer, thanks to my years of hard work –there were those who would never trust me completely, but even a little trust goes a long way, especially aboard a starship.

Once on the bridge, I went to stand by Spock, who gave me a brisk nod before turning to give orders to another crewmember. I simply stood at my usual post, right behind Jim's chair, where I could keep an eye out for trouble. Being a bridge security guard was only a part-time thing, and had only come about because of my strength and weapon's fire accuracy. The rest of the time, I was in sickbay, helping Bones. It was a good balance, and one that I rather enjoyed, though not as much as Jim, who liked having a tough girl like me watching out for him.

"Sir?" I said, getting Jim's attention.

He looked over his shoulder at me, a serious look on his face. "You won't like it, Ria," he said. "We were scanning the surface of the planet, and found life signs. That's when they showed up."

Looking at the screen, I blanched at the sight. It was a ship I had thought to never see again in my life: the Star Explorer –Khan's ship.

It did make sense that we would run into it out here, on the edges of Federation space. This was unexplored, neutral territory, and was unclaimed by any Federation members or allies. It was no wonder Khan had ended up here.

"I'm afraid this is going to be an unwelcome reunion," Jim said as the helm beeped.

"Sir, we're being hailed," Uhura said, voice tense and coolly angry.

"Onscreen," Jim ordered as he sat straight in his chair, a vain attempt to hide me behind him.

I went ice cold and straight as a javelin the minute Khan's face filled the screen. His face was thinner than before, and clearly worn from what must be a rough life on the planet below. It was clear that particular world was habitable, but for the most part, was uninhabited. They must have been roughing it for a long time, for him to look like this.

Even the ship looked a bit worse-for-wear. From what I could see, there was severe damage, either from possible space battles, or from the ship malfunctioning due to a need of materials, or lack of maintenance.

"We meet again, Captain," Khan drawled in his smooth voice. "What brings you into my part of the galaxy?"

"Nothing more than coincidence," Jim replied, one hand gripping the armrest of his chair while the other lay palm up and in a deceptively relaxed position. I knew from experience that, if need be, Jim could reach the phaser hidden on the side of his chair and defend his bridge.

Khan gave a cool smile. "Perhaps, or perhaps not. As much as I would like to ask after the health of you and your crew, I'm afraid that there is only one particular person I'm interested in."

His attention shifted towards me as I stepped out from behind Jim. "Ah, Ria," he practically purred. "So wonderful to see you after so long."

My only response was to stand silent and glare at him. If looks could kill, he'd have been dead several times over, as would several of his crewmembers.

"As pleasant as it is to see you, I fear I must ask a very important question," Khan said, leaning forward in his chair. "Where is my son?"

"Sir, we're being scanned!" Sulu snapped from his station.

I held my breath, waiting. Caleb's hiding spot had been reinforced to trip up scans by other ships, and so far, the few times we'd been scanned, he'd escaped notice. However, it hadn't been tested against another Federation ship, and I had no idea what sort of readings they would get.

"Nothing, sir," reported one of Khan's crew off-screen. "No sign of the boy."

Khan's eyes hadn't once looked away from me. "Captain, I would very much like to speak privately with your Ensign."

"That's Lieutenant, now," Jim snapped. "She's been promoted in accordance with her fine work."

The other man simply smiled indulgently at us. "How nice for you, Ria." The smile melted away to form a scowl. "But niceties aside, I do so want to know what you did with my son."

Spock came up to whisper into Jim's ear. "Sir, scans indicate that they are targeting us with their weapons. While we may stand a chance against their phaser fire, their torpedoes are similar to those used by Admiral Marcus during his attack on us. It would not be wise to provoke him at this time."

"I would like to beam Lieutenant Drake aboard for her to answer my questions," Khan requested, his face a mask of cool collectiveness. "Will you permit that, Captain Kirk?"

Jim clearly didn't like this one bit, but what could he do? "Only if you promise to return her to us," he replied, looking at me out of the corner of his eye.

Khan shrugged. "Only if the answers I obtain are satisfactory."

I stepped forward, chin held high. I'd faced hostile creatures, and fought off races that would have had my head on a pike. Khan didn't scare me anymore. No, the only thing that scared me was losing my son, and there was no way I was going to let his father have him.

"I'll go," I said, my voice loud and steady. "With your permission, sir."

Jim didn't get a chance to protest before I was beamed off the ship, and straight onto Khan's.

Interrogation is a long, difficult, and messy affair. I had no idea how long I was locked in a small prison cell, being questioned by Khan and getting yelled at by his officers, but in the end, they decided to take me to sickbay and see whether or not I had safely delivered my son. Of course I had, but they didn't know that.

And thanks to my particularly odd means of delivery, their medical scans came up empty. When Dr. Richards read the results, that I had not given birth to a baby and that my chances of reproduction were ruined due to what was a complication or miscarriage, Khan had destroyed a good section of the room. I think he would have killed me, if it weren't for the fact that he wanted Richards to try and 'fix' me.

"We will try again," Khan growled, clearly wanting a son, and by any means necessary.

As I lay there, saying nothing as the doctor work, I lost myself in the comfort that I had made preparations for this sort of situation. Believing in the off-chance that Khan might manage to find and abduct me again, or that Starfleet decided that they wanted me to be their permanent lab rat, I'd created a list of final wishes and instructions in regards to Caleb's upbringing. In that document, I had written that Carol was to take over as Caleb's guardian, with Jim as having the final say in regards to my son's education.

In short, Carol would be my son's new mother, while Jim would see that Caleb would be whatever it was he wanted to be when he grew up. It hurt to think of my son growing up with me, but if Khan was determined to keep me, that was how things were going to turn out.

Those were the final thoughts I had as Khan ordered me to the transporters, so that we could go down to the surface.

Of course, I'd had no idea that Jim had made his own ideas when it came to my welfare.

Unbeknownst to me, Jim had gone and set up an emergency plan with the Starfleet Admirals, as well as a few select Captains.

The Council had been concerned that Khan might make another play, but it was also something they hoped for –if they found out where he and his crew had escaped to, they would be able to finally deal with him, once and for all.

The plan was a simple one. A coded message had been created and stored in the Enterprise's databanks, and when the time came, it would be sent out to a few select starships. Those vessels would then immediately drop whatever they were doing, and come to the rescue.

And thanks to the orders of the Council, the Enterprise was to be always tailed by at least one or two of those particular ships. They'd always keep a good distance, so as not to arouse suspicion, but it wasn't big deal –the Enterprise could hold her own in a fight, until reinforcements got there.

The minute I beamed over to Khan's ship, Jim gave Uhura a look, signaling for her to send out the coded distress signal. She nodded her understanding, and entered the required sequence into her console system as Chekov, Sulu, and Spock headed to their stations. Only they knew about his emergency plan.

Jim, meanwhile, prepared to deliver his own message to the crew. It was time to end this.

I honestly don't know who was more surprised by the attack: Khan or his people. I guess it never occurred to them that Jim and Starfleet would do their best to protect me and my son –but then, Khan had never really understood Starfleet or the new society he'd woken up in.

On the planet Khan's people had colonized, I was to be imprisoned there for the foreseeable future, locked in a room that was attached to Khan's personal living quarters. The future I pictured just from my living arrangements promised not to be a good one.

Just a few moments after I was imprisoned in what I thought would be my new permanent home and possible resting place, it happened.

I truly hadn't expected Jim to almost literally hold a gun to Khan's head and demand his surrender, but that's what he did. My friend and commander sent an ultimatum through Khan's communications system, demanding my return, or else.

Khan had clearly decided to fight, and clearly had me to be held as leverage. He might even harm me in some way, to show how serious he was about his cause.

But when Jim informed him that the Explorer was literally falling to pieces due to his attack, and that there were going to be three other starships hovering above the planet, along with the Enterprise, it made Khan pause.

Apparently, just after I was beamed to the surface, the Enterprise had gone after Khan's starship. In the surprise attack, they'd fired relentlessly on the Explorer's engines, until their shields went down and the vessel could not move faster than minimum impulse speed. The only reason Jim hadn't completely obliterated the engines was to give those onboard the chance to either flee, or surrender.

But rather than do either one, those aboard the Explorer chose to beam down to the planet, where they hoped to help put together some sort of defense.

It was a futile hope for them. They might have weapons, even a few planet-to-space torpedoes, and a weak sort of shielding system in place to protect their colony, but against four Federation ships, they knew they didn't stand a chance.

Within an hour, the three other ships had arrived, and Khan had agreed to meet with Jim. An hour after that, the two of them, surrounded by their top officers, as well as myself, were seated in the staff meeting room aboard the Enterprise, glaring at each other across the table.

It wasn't much of a meeting. Starfleet and the Federation were very severe when it came to this particular matter, and delivered an ultimatum: Khan and his people were going to be allowed to continue to exist outside of cryogenic hibernation on their new planet, but their access to technology was going to be limited to what they already had; nothing more.

"A Starfleet ship will pass by occasionally, to beam down food and medical supplies," Jim said, sliding a data pad over to Khan. "If you come under attack, you may count on us for protection, but other than that, you're on your own."

"If you are willing to become a Federation planet, you will be afforded other benefits for your people," Spock put in. "If or when you decide this, you may inform the visiting Starfleet vessel."

The look on Khan's face spoke volumes: he'd take their charity, if only for the survival of his people, but joining the Federation was out of the question. His people obviously felt the same way –they were from another time, and knew they would never really fit in. They'd be much happier on their own.

Throughout the talks, Khan's eyes lingered on me. I knew he wanted to bring me along for his exile to the planet, but Jim, my friends, and Starfleet weren't going to give me up for anything. I was able to watch him leave the Enterprise with a huge burden off my shoulders, and hope lighting my heart.

I was finally free.

"Mom?" Caleb asked, getting my attention again. "Are you ready?"

Turning, I smiled. "Yes, sweetie. Come let me straighten you up a bit."

At thirteen, my son was nearly at eye-level with me. Warm blue eyes sparkled as I straightened his tie and ran my fingers through his dark hair. He might have Khan's coloring, but his face was mostly mine, and his personality was a mix of all his aunts and uncles. Jim's recklessness was starting to show a bit, and I was very much praying that Spock's sensibilities were going to take hold sometime soon –preferably before my son enrolled in the Academy in a few years. Scotty's sense of humor was evident all the time, since Caleb loved making me laugh, and Uhura's stubbornness was there whenever Caleb felt like arguing with anyone (which was starting to occur more and more often, darn those teenage hormones).

"You look beautiful, Mom," my son whispered. "I'm glad you finally agreed to this. I think he is, too."

"Hmm, I'll bet he is," I muttered. "Took him long enough to ask me out. Besides, we've known each other long enough, and I do love the guy, quirky as he is."

He laughed and hugged me. "Come on. We'd better get going, before he gets cold feet."

Yes, we'd better go. I'd hate to think of how Jim might be torture-teasing my poor fiancé, and there really was only so much Bones could take from his friend and Captain.

Linking arms with my son, I let him lead me out to my wedding ceremony, a smile on both of our faces.

AN: Well, that's the end of that! I suppose I could have made an entire story with this one chapter, but my interest in Star Trek is fading fast, so I thought it best to wrap it up ASAP. So, with this category I will be moving on to another story featuring Captain Rogers and Adena.