Disclaimer: Star Trek is not mine. TOS belongs to Roddenberry, NuTrek belongs to Abrams.

A/N: According to the new movie, Cupcake's last name is Hendorff. But according to fandom before the movie, we called him Giotto after a TOS character from security. I'm going to keep calling him Giotto for continuity's sake. Just to make that clear. He's the beefy security guy that Kirk calls Cupcake in the first movie.

A/N2: Here's a nice long chapter for you guys!

.~.

Chapter 19: Retribution

.~.

Kirk and Uhura glanced at each other, impressed by Scotty's ingenuity. Then they stepped out of the brig, with Sulu and Chekov close behind. Kirk couldn't believe they'd actually gotten out. Scotty really was a miracle-worker! Now they had a chance at re-taking the ship. Khan had underestimated them, just as Kirk had underestimated Khan. Now that he was free, Kirk would not be making that mistake twice.

Just then, the doors wooshed open to reveal…

"Alice?" Kirk asked, flabbergasted. The pretty blonde approached them slowly. Her weapon was not drawn. If anything, she looked mildly guilty. Could this day get any weirder? Understandablyh, Scotty and his group raised their phasers at her.

"Captain Kirk! I have to tell you something. I realized that I picked the wrong side," she confessed. "Once I realized that, I had to come to see if I could break you out, but I see they've already done that. Please! I will do everything I can to help you regain control of the ship."

"Why should we trust you?" Uhura asked, openly glaring at the woman who had thrown her lot in with Khan.

"Because of what I'm about to tell you," Alice said quickly. "Khan has decided to beam the entire Enterprise crew down to the class M planet he has discovered and take the ship for himself. In short, he's gone mad. I find that I can't support such a leader."

"That's good enough for me," said Kirk. He then ordered Scotty and his team to lower their phasers.

"There's something else," said Alice. "I hesitate to mention it because I don't have any proof, but I know myself, sir, and I'm a reasonable person. I wouldn't have gone along with Khan's plan even if you did lie to us about our former identities two hundred years ago. It was almost as if he made me do it."

"You mean like a telepathic suggestion?" Some the blood drained from Kirk's face at that. If Khan could telepathically control people, it was going to be a lot harder to free the ship from the tyrant's grasp.

Uhura and Scotty exchanged worried glances. It would be extremely difficult to retake the ship if Khan had the mental advantage.

"I think so, yes," said Alice. "I know humans usually don't have strong psi ratings, but with his genetic engineered brain, who knows?"

"Damn, if Spock were here he could meld with you and check to see if Khan really did make you want to follow him," said Kirk. "But Khan's holding him hostage to use as leverage against me. We'll just have to operate on the assumption that Khan can use telepathy against us."

"Mr. Spock could be anywhere," Scotty fretted. "It's up to us to stop Khan now."

"Computer, locate Mr. Spock," Kirk asked, even though he knew it would be a long shot.

"Unable to comply," came the cool, feminine response.

"We'll get him back, sir," Scotty tried to reassure Kirk. Then he turned to Alice. "How soon are we coming up on that class M planet?"

"We only have an hour, maybe two," Alice said grimly. "Then Khan will reveal his secret plan to the rest of us and start beaming down your crewmembers."

"Computer, locate crew Khan," Kirk asked.

"Unable to comply."

"Argh," Kirk swore under his breath. "Khan must have reprogrammed the computer not to give away his position." He hated being outmaneuvered by Khan. Why had Kirk ever given him access to his personal computer? If Kirk hadn't been so trusting, they wouldn't be in this mess.

"Let me try something," Uhura suggested.

"Be my guest," said Kirk, motioning for her to go ahead.

"Computer, locate crew member Cochrane."

The computer responded. "Crew member Cochrane is in Sickbay."

"Uhura, you're a genius!" Kirk crowed, raising his arm in preparation for a high five.

Uhura strongly returned it, along with a satisfied grin. "Khan forgot about telling the computer to deny whereabouts to his old name."

"But why would he be in Sickbay?" Kirk pressed. "I would've guessed he'd be on the bridge to revel in the power of controlling a starship."

"He's probably gone there to donate his blood to Giotto to fulfill his promise," said Alice. "Once he does that, Giotto will be one of us – his life will be prolonged, he will have super strength, everything."

"Giotto's probably felt like a small man all his life," Sulu predicted. "Now, with this new power, he has the opportunity to bully people who used to underestimate him."

Kirk knew that time was running out for them, and for Spock. It wouldn't be long before Khan realized that Alice was missing. Kirk had to come up with a plan, and soon. But what? Khan literally was better than Kirk at everything, which probably included strategy. And then there were his mysterious telepathic abilities. How was Kirk supposed to compete with that? How hadn't he realized Khan had psi abilities? What if Khan had been manipulating Kirk the entire time?

Jim was thinking so hard he barely heard his communicator beep.

"Kirk here," he answered, his voice strained.

"It's McCoy. I've got some good news. We were able to gas Khan's crewmembers into falling asleep. Then we placed each one back in the cryo-tubes. It worked on every person except for Khan, but we are holding him hostage with phasers."

"We'll be right there," said Kirk, thrilled at their good fortune. McCoy and his staff must have worn masks when they'd gassed the medical bay so they wouldn't fall prey to it. It was a simple yet ingenious plan. "Amazing job, Bones!"

Kirk then ordered Scotty and several of his team of security officers to re-take the bridge. If they could climb through the Jeffries tubes to reach their destination, they would have the element of surprise and could hopefully accomplish their goal without too much difficulty. Sulu and Chekov volunteered to go as well, and Kirk wholeheartedly approved their request.

"Now, Uhura, Alice and I will head to Sickbay." Kirk motioned for two security guards to accompany them, just in case they needed back up.

.~.

Five minutes later

Kirk's group burst into Sickbay, their phasers drawn just in case. What they saw their made their heart stop.

Khan was holding Doctor McCoy hostage at phaser point. In turn, McCoy was pointing his gun at Nurse Chapel, who was staring calmly back at him. The only indication she gave that she was scared was the faint trembling of her hands.

"It's over, Khan," said Kirk as everyone in his group targeted the madman. "Lower your phaser."

"Doctor, point the gun at Captain Kirk," Khan ordered.

McCoy struggled, frantically waving his gun all around the room.

"Bones, don't listen to him! You've got to fight it! He's telepathically influencing you," Kirk insisted. But McCoy finally trained his phaser on Kirk.

"I'll make him shoot," Khan threatened. "Do not test me."

"Where is Lt. Giotto?" Alice asked, trying to stall for time.

"Why should I tell you, traitor?" Khan spat.

"Look, there. He's on the bed furthest from us," Uhura said, pointing to the hospital bed at the opposite end of the room.

"Giotto was gassed," said Khan. "I didn't need his help. He isn't one of us. As if I were actually going to give him some of my precious blood. What a fool."

Kirk's heart sank. This meant that Khan wasn't in to keeping his word, not even to those that had allied themselves with him. He surely wasn't going to throw Kirk any bones, not when Kirk had hidden his past from him.

"Jim! I can't stop pointing at you!" McCoy sounded absolutely terrified. "He says he's going to make me pull the trigger!"

"If you shoot me, Khan, my crewmembers will just shoot you. Set to kill." Kirk tried to reason with him, knowing it was most likely all for not.

"Even set to kill, your phasers will barely slow me down," Khan replied.

Kirk tensed. He seriously doubted Khan was bluffing. Kirk also knew that if McCoy killed Jim, he'd never forgive himself, even if he wasn't in control of his actions. Kirk couldn't let that happen. Nor did he wish to die without confessing his true feelings to Spock. His life was just beginning as captain of the Enterprise, and he wasn't going down without a fight.

"If he doesn't make McCoy back down, everyone shoot at Khan's head on my count," Kirk ordered. "Ten. Nine. Eight."

Then, Nurse Chapel turned her weapon on Kirk. She screamed out "no, please!" but Khan clearly had her under his telepathic control as well.

"Seven, six, five, four…" Kirk counted down.

Uhura's weapon arm suddenly faced Kirk. She tried to put her hand down but cried out in pain instead. Apparently Khan could use his telepathy to cause physical pain in his victims if they didn't want to obey his orders. Kirk now had three phasers set to kill pointed directly at his head. The two members of security still trained their weapons on Khan. Kirk was grateful for small miracles – Khan may not know if he could handle giving five people telepathic suggestions all at once. Three was apparently a more manageable number.

"Khan, don't do this to them," Kirk begged, halting the countdown. "No one has to die."

But Khan didn't budge. The seconds crawled by. What could Kirk do but temporarily surrender, even if every part of his being rebelled at that notion? If only someone else could distract Khan, as his concentration was directed on keeping McCoy, Chapel, and Uhura under his control.

"Stop!" A familiar voice commanded. It was Spock! He had freed himself from the closet Khan had locked him in. All at once, McCoy, Chapel, and Uhura moved their weapons from pointing at Jim to pointing directly at Khan. The superhuman was apparently no match for Spock, who had much more experience when dealing with telepathy and mind shielding.

"Fire!" Kirk shouted. They did. But even with the shots to the head, Khan was slowly advancing towards Kirk, his phaser trained on the captain. Spock jumped in front of Kirk and ripped the weapon from Khan's tight grasp.

They fought it out hand to hand. The phaser shots continued to rain down on Khan, while he also expended much energy on fighting the Vulcan. Although they both seemed to be evenly matched strength-wise, Spock was the more practiced of the two. Khan had to go on the defensive, the Vulcan was so quick.

"You can't kill him, Spock!" Kirk yelled as the Vulcan boxed Khan into a corner. "It's physically impossible. Just knock him out!"

Timing it perfectly, Spock took out the superhuman with one clean punch.

"Quick! Help me get him into a cryotube!" McCoy cried. Uhura and his staff were more than willing to comply. They sealed Khan in, closing the tube with a snap-hiss. Khan looked eerily peaceful, at rest in the tube.

"Spock, you were magnificent!" Kirk exclaimed as he watched the Vulcan catch his breath. "How did you get free in time?"

"Jim, before anything else happens, I must tell you something," Spock said in a nervous rush.

"Anything," said Kirk. He placed his hands on Spock's arms, wanting the physical contact. "What is it?"

"I…" Spock's knees began to buckle. Jim was right there to catch him. The Vulcan raised two fingers on his right hand and pressed them to the back of Kirk's hand.

"Does that mean what I think it does?" Kirk was afraid to hope. It was a Vulcan kiss, wasn't it? Did Spock feel for him, as Kirk secretly felt for Spock?

Unfortunately, Spock chose that moment to go unresponsive.

"Spock? Spock, are you alright?" Kirk gently shook him.

But the Vulcan had exhausted much of his energy fighting against Khan's. Spock's eyes rolled back into his head and he fainted into Jim's arms.

"Help me get him on to this bed!" Kirk cried as he dragged Spock towards the nearest available bed. Uhura immediately helped him drape the Vulcan on to the vacant hospital bed and straighten him out. McCoy, Chapel, and the medical staff bustled about, trying to raise the Vulcan's vitals.

As he stepped out of the way, Kirk went out of his mind with worry. What if Spock had expended too much mental energy when he blocked McCoy, Chapel, and Uhura from Khan's demand to shoot Kirk? Spock had to recover. He had to! Didn't he understand that Kirk had no wish to captain the Enterprise if he didn't have the Vulcan at his side? That if Spock died, Kirk wouldn't be fulfilled by anyone else?

Suddenly, the ship wide communication system whistled, jolting Kirk out of his thoughts. As McCoy was busy, Kirk decided to answer it. Scotty reported that he'd been successful in taking over the bridge. Kirk told him to stay there and send Khan's helpers down to Sickbay one by one, to be frozen. Scotty promised that he would look after things on the bridge, once Kirk explained what had transpired in the medical bay.

.~.

Fifteen minutes later

"He's in a healing trance." McCoy finally approached Kirk to update him on the welfare of their Vulcan patient. "Whatever telepathic damage Khan did to him, his mind should be able to heal over time."

"Are you sure?" Kirk asked.

"Pretty sure. Don't worry, Jim. I've seen Spock recover from worse injuries than this." McCoy bracingly placed an arm on Kirk's shoulder. "He'll be alright. We transferred him to a private room so he wouldn't have to deal with the noise. His room is right over there."

"Thanks, Bones," Kirk said softly.

"I'm sure Spock would appreciate it if you stayed with him until he wakes up," said McCoy. He gave Kirk a knowing look, and Kirk gave him a slight smile.

The captain suddenly remembered that his enemy, while sleeping, was still present. "I don't want Khan in the same place as Spock. Transport his cryotube to the brig."

One of the nurses got to work on that. It didn't take long for Khan's tube to disappear from Sickbay, presumably reappearing in the brig. Good riddance, Kirk thought.

"I wish to stay with Spock as well." Uhura approached Kirk with a rather determined look on her face.

McCoy nodded. "I'm sure the two of you have things to discuss," said the doctor. "I'll leave you to it." He ushered his staff out of Spock's private room so that Kirk and Uhura could get finally get things out in the open. The door closed behind McCoy, leaving Kirk and Uhura in the room with the sleeping Spock.

"I'm not sure how to begin…" Kirk said, blushing a tad as he looked down at Spock and then looked over at Uhura.

"Jim, Spock was about to tell you before he fainted that he loves you," Uhura blurted out.

"How do you know that?" Kirk asked, in spite of himself. He was pretty sure that was what Spock was going to say, but it always helped to have a second opinion. Even though it was the opinion of Spock's ex-girlfriend. Awkward…

"Women's intuition," said Uhura with a hint of a smile. "Also, there was the way that he was looking at you, like you were the most amazing thing he'd ever seen. Even when we were going out, he never looked at me like that."

"I'm sorry," said Kirk. He wasn't really, but it seemed like the right thing to say.

Uhura shrugged. "It's not your fault. In fact, you tried to help us with our relationship problems, even when you were in love with Spock."

"I just wanted him to be happy, even if he wasn't with me," Kirk confessed.

"I know," Uhura said softly. "That's also how I know that you deserve him."

"Thank you," said Kirk. "I know this must be hard on you."

Uhura sighed. "I think on some level I knew Spock loved you romantically before he knew himself. I just didn't want to believe that. Not right away."

"That's understandable," said Kirk. He gave her a wry smile. "If I'd been you, I wouldn't have wanted to let Spock go."

"But I have let him go. It's been difficult, but I've moved on. Jim, I want you to be happy with him. Truly," Uhura pleaded. "I just need some time to adjust to the fact that you two will be the ship's new power couple."

"I don't know, you and Scotty could give us some real competition," Kirk said.

Uhura frowned. "Me and Scotty?"

That was when Kirk realized what he'd done. "Oh, shit." He winced. "You weren't supposed to know about that."

"Scotty likes me? Really?" In spite of herself, Uhura was smiling. "You were behind that, Jim. Changing his reputation."

"Yeah," Jim admitted. "He's a really good guy, Nyota. He wants you just how you are."

"I would appreciate that," Uhura said with a little laugh. "At least with Scotty I wouldn't have to act so Vulcan all the time, like I did to impress Spock. I hope you don't fall into that trap, Jim."

"I don't think that will be a problem. I doubt I could act Vulcan if I tried," Kirk admitted.

"You're right," Uhura agreed. "You two are going to be so good for each other. But you have to call him on his Vulcan bullshit. That was something I never felt comfortable with."

"I will," said Jim, warmed by her words. "Thank you."

"Well, I'd better get going. It's your responsibility to watch over him now, not mine."

"You'll always be his dear friend, Nyota," Kirk insisted.

She nodded. "I think I'll go find Mr. Scott. I don't have a date for McGivers and Palmer's wedding. Now that we have the ship back, I think I'll remedy that. Good night, Jim."

McGivers and Palmer's wedding! In all the excitement, Kirk had forgotten all about it. "Good night," he echoed.

Kirk then used the bedside computer to send a message to Starfleet command explaining what had happened with the mutiny with Khan and his crew. He would be sending Khan and company to the rehabilitation colony as planned, as soon as they reached the nearest Starbase. Kirk wished he didn't have to send Alice, but he would put in a good word for her, as she had never truly gone against him when she was in her right mind.

At least whether Starfleet would want Khan re-awakened or not was not up to him. They would have a trial and let the jury decide. Privately, Kirk hoped that Khan would just stay in his cryotube, untouched while the centuries passed. He had done enough damage already to last several lifetimes, as far as Kirk was concerned. If Spock had been permanently hurt, Kirk knew that he wouldn't have hesitated to retaliate against Khan. However, since Spock would be fine, the man was safe from Kirk. Still, Kirk would feel much better once the man was removed from his ship.

.~.

Kirk kept his vigil at Spock's bedside for several hours. He was just about to get up to go find a cot when he heard something wonderful.

"Jim?"

The whisper had come from Spock. When he looked over at the bed, he found that the Vulcan's brown eyes were open and they were focused on him.

Kirk took a deep breath. "Hey, Spock." He reached for Spock's hand and Spock held it with both hands. But hand gestures weren't enough. Kirk had to tell Spock how he truly felt about him. They had waited much too long. It was now or never…

.~.

End Chapter 19

A/N: Sorry it's been so long. One more chapter until it's done!