-Chapter Nine-

Spock arched a brow at his captain when Kirk emerged from the Reliance. The human's face was red and swollen, the beginnings of bruising around the eye and cheekbone rivalling the ring forming around his neck.

"I'm only gonna say this once," Kirk muttered, "but I deserved it."

"Am I to assume that you ran afoul of the colony's leader?" Spock inquired. ". . . Again?"

Carol exclaimed in dismay when she saw him. "What happened?"

"Khan took exception to my, uh . . ." Kirk cleared his throat. His larynx was bruised, as well. "I sorta . . . slept with his wife last year."

"It is a wonder you are still breathing, as that was a spectacularly foolish thing to do," Spock observed.

"Anthea stopped him." Kirk avoided looking at Carol.

"And yet, he does not have issue with her actions?"

"Apparently not. Can we change the subject?"

He'd overheard quite a bit from Khan and Anthea-mostly Anthea-as he'd passed the medbay on his way out of the ship, and Kirk couldn't help feeling a little irritated. She hadn't sounded like that when he'd- Kirk stopped that thought in its tracks. Obviously, there was something wrong with the woman, that she'd let him treat her that way. But it was none of his business, as Khan had made painfully clear.

"Let's get that survey done," he croaked at Spock. "And get the hell off this rock."

"I was under the impression you wished to bring Khan and his people into custody, or Anthea Harrison at the very least."

Kirk gestured to the little village, where nearly everyone watched them. "We're outnumbered, Spock. Seriously. We'd have to blast them from orbit to get them into custody, and there's a kid over there I don't feel like hurting today."

Carol took his arm as they got back into the shuttle. "You need Dr. McCoy to look at you. I think your cheekbone is fractured."

"Yeah, well, considering the guy hits like a Mack truck . . ." Kirk touched his cheek, winced. "Uhura, contact Bones, get him to beam down. We shoulda brought him down the first time."

"You had no way of knowing Khan would-" Carol began, but Kirk interrupted.

"I suspected," he said. "When Sulu said there were seventy-five people down here? I suspected. Seventy-three Augments, including Khan, and his wife and kid."

"But you couldn't know," she insisted softly. "Don't beat yourself up about it."

Kirk laughed bitterly. "Ah! Ow! He did that enough for me. Jeez, that hurts."

Spock and Uhura moved into the cockpit, giving them a small amount of privacy.

"You never mentioned that you'd . . . slept with her," Carol said.

He looked down at his hands. "It was just once, a year ago, and it's not something I'm real proud of, Carol. I'm sorry. I'm saying that a lot today."

"If you think I'm hurt, or angry, I'm not," she whispered.

"No, no. For bringing you down here when I suspected it was Khan. I forgot for a minute that he . . . killed your dad."

The blonde woman sighed and shifted to sit in the seat beside him. "My father . . . brought his death on himself, Jim. Do I like being near the man who killed him? Heavens, no. And I'd likely kill him myself if I could. But you don't poke a tiger and then get offended when it bites your arm off. My father knew Khan was a tiger, and he put him in a cage and prodded him until he snapped. I loved my father, but . . . I cannot hold Khan entirely to blame."

"Really? After what Khan did, right in front of you?"

"Oh, I'm angry, unbelievably angry. I just recognise that Dad made himself a target. I'm angry at Khan, I'm angry at Dad . . ."

He turned caught her hand. "You're not angry at me for anything, are you?"

She smiled a little. "No. I'm not angry at you."

Uhura turned in her seat and called back, "Dr. McCoy is on his way, Captain. He said he'll get his medkit and beam down. He also said to tell you that you owe him."

"Of course I do," Kirk muttered. "Thank you, Lieutenant."

Just a few minutes passed before a knock sounded at the shuttle door, and Bones appeared with his medkit. He took one look at Kirk and did a double-take.

"Kid, you look like you went twelve rounds with Mohammed Ali."

"Who?" Kirk asked.

Bones opened his mouth, thought better of it, and closed his mouth. "What happened?"

"Went half a round with Khan. Meaning I opened my big mouth and he attempted to kill me."

The doctor snorted. "And here I thought your near-death experience had tempered some of that stupidity," he snarked. "Wait a minute. Khan?"

"Yes," Carol said. "It seems we've stumbled across the missing dictator and his people."

"Huh." Bones pulled out some equipment and set about dealing with Kirk's injuries. He injected Kirk with something just behind his jaw. "Did you know your face is broken?"

"No, I dithn't," Kirk said sarcastically. "Dathe it, Boneth!"

"Had to numb you, you wouldn't like this one if I didn't." Bones injected him with something else.

Kirk shrieked.

". . . Okay, you'd like it even less if I hadn't numbed you."

The captain batted at his face. "Boneth! Whad'd you do?! Ahhh!"

Carol gave the doctor a worried look.

"It's a new serum for bone repair," Bones explained. "Haven't had the chance to test it 'til now. I suppose I could have asked Khan for some of his blood, but under the circumstances, probably don't have a very good chance of that, right?"

"Dabbit!" Kirk gasped. "I gonna kill you!"

"Don't be such a baby. It's the fastest way to fix your face."

The searing pain subsided finally and Kirk sagged against the bulkhead, glaring at Bones with tears streaming from his eyes, an involuntary reaction from the pain. "Theriouthly, Boneth, I gonna kill you an' make you inna thoeth."

"Pardon?" Carol murmured.

"Shoes," Bones said, translating for Kirk. "He's gonna make me into shoes. Good luck with that, by the way."

Kirk shot him a rude gesture, and McCoy laughed.

Anthea was still straightening her long skirt when she emerged from the Reliance and went to retrieve Nolan from Kati.

"I am surprised there was not bloodshed," Kati remarked as Anthea took the toddler.

"There was, actually, but it's settled for the moment." Anthea checked her son, but he seemed to be unperturbed by the goings-on.

Kati frowned, looking a lot like her brother when she did. "What was that about? Who are these people?"

"They're from Starfleet," Anthea told her. "Captain James Kirk and his crew, of the USS Enterprise. Remember, I told you about them going after Khan?"

"Oh, yes. The blonde man is the captain? He is not how I pictured him." Kati looked over at the closed-up shuttle. "A man arrived a few minutes ago. He appeared in a light."

Nolan reached up and grabbed Anthea's nose. She laughed and kissed his small hand. "That would be transporter technology. It means we can teleport from ship to surface. The Reliance has a two transporter pads, but we haven't used them."

"Oh. That is so interesting. I think I would like to experience it someday."

"Maybe we can do that sometimes. Some people don't like the sensation. Who was the man that beamed down?"

"Beamed? Oh, teleported? I do not know. He had a black case with him."

"Likely their doctor," Anthea said. "Given the beating Khan gave Kirk."

Kati arched a raven brow. "Why did he do that?"

"Let's just say that there are . . . tensions between them. They've tried to kill each other several times in the past."

"And yet, they both defer to you?"

Anthea pressed her cheek to the top of her son's head. "I was . . . very briefly involved with Kirk, a long time ago. And they're both aware of it."

Her sister-in-law snorted. "Male posturing over a female?"

She thought of Khan strangling the life out of Kirk, and why. "Something like that."

When the shuttle left to conduct its surveys, Dr. McCoy opted to stay in the village and observe "the locals". He was the only one of the Enterprise crew Anthea could actually say she liked, mostly because he took his oath to help others seriously, and he had been so good with Nolan the first time they'd met.

As soon as Yves discovered there was a twenty-third century doctor on-planet, he sought out McCoy and the two men immediately hit it off.

"Irritated as I am that they are here, I think Yves's new friendship with Dr. McCoy could be advantageous," Khan remarked in an undertone to Anthea. "He is, after all, the man who derived the serum from my blood, and could give us insights into how to help Kati."

"And Yves learning some modern medicine might be useful later, what with the baby and all. I know women have been doing it for millenia, but I'm still scared."

"Yes, I agree." Khan rubbed his hand over her back.

Anthea smiled to herself. Ever since she'd told him she was pregnant, he'd become more publically affectionate. It might also have had some influence from the subtle hostility towards her from certain quarters, but Anthea thought the baby had more to do with it. He was happy and less defensive against the world at large, secure in their relationship, and it spilled out.

She leaned her head against his shoulder. "What will we do if Kirk won't leave?"

"I'm not sure. I need to find leverage with the man. Something he needs enough to make him compromise his overdeveloped sense of right and wrong."

His wife chuckled.

"What is it you find so amusing?"

"Just that we're so casually discussing coersion and extortion, as if we were discussing the weather."

He smiled faintly. "Kirk has gone to survey, but I'm certain he's thinking of a way to capture me, our people, and imprison us again."

"We dismantled all but two of the cryotubes, recycled them into refrigerators," she pointed out. "That's the only way he could possibly keep you locked down. And if he tries, I'll kill him."

Khan laughed and kissed her temple. "I adore you."

She ducked her head. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you the whole truth, about Kirk. I felt so . . . stupid and used, and I didn't want to admit that I'd . . ."

"Anthea." Khan turned her, gripped her arms. "I am not angry with you. Desperate times make us do desperate things. I hate the thought of you in another man's arms, but I understand why. It was a single indiscretion, and it worked in our favour in the end. What enrages me is that he lied to you, and that he thinks he has some sway over you."

"He doesn't hold anything over me," she assured him softly. "Since I met you, I've never wanted anyone else. That night with Kirk was . . . because I was so lonely, and he acted as if he cared."

Her husband drew her close. "I know your reasons, Thea. You don't need to explain."

She sighed. "I tried so hard to find someplace Starfleet wouldn't come, at least for a long time. And yet . . . How did they find us so quickly?"

"As you said, Kirk possesses an unnatural amount of luck."

Nolan, his leash pinned under Khan's foot, toddled over from inspecting a stick and grabbed his father's pantleg in grubby hands, trying to haul himself up. Khan stooped to lift his son into his arms. Nolan thunked his head against Khan's chest, a blissful smile on his little face.

Khan looked down at his son, a little bemused. "Is there anything in particular you wanted, Nolan?"

"Hug Dada," the seventeen-month-old said. "Love Dada."

His father's face went through a wide array of emotions in the space of a few seconds. Watching the visible struggle, Anthea could barely contain a grin. Khan tried so hard to be the invincible and stoic leader, and then Nolan went and did something that turned the former dictator to mush.

Khan brushed his lips against the top of his son's head. He caught the look on his wife's face, and flashed her a grin. "My weakness," he told her softly. "You and Nolan are my Achilles' heel."

"It's okay to have one. You and No are mine."

"I can't imagine you having one."

Anthea reached over, ran a fingertip over the curve of Nolan's ear. "You didn't see me at my worst. I could barely hold it together after I lost you."

"But you managed," he whispered.

"Only because I had our baby to live for. I really don't know what would have happened if . . ." She trailed off, nodded her head. "Incoming. Doctor McCoy."

Khan stiffened. Feeling his father's tension, Nolan turned his head to see what was going on.

"Doctor McCoy," Khan said, greeting the Starfleet officer.

McCoy's brown eyes flicked over to Anthea. "I've been talking to your doctor," he told Khan. "You've got some interesting theories, but I think I found the flaw in your work."

Arching a black brow, Khan handed Nolan to Anthea. "There was a flaw?" he drawled.

"A very tiny one. We were thinking you'd like to come have a look." McCoy turned to Nolan. "Would it be possible to bring the kid, and your sister?"

"Go ahead," Anthea said. "I'll go find Kati and bring her and Nolan along."

Khan gave her a nod, and he followed the doctor to the the Reliance. Nolan reached up and caught a handful of Anthea's hair.

"No, sweetie," she said. "Don't grab Mummy's hair. Let's go find Auntie Kati, hmm? Daddy needs her."