A/N:I meant to update this a few days ago, but this week got real crazy, real fast...very spontaneous.
There might be a sentence or two that sound odd...I'm tired. I tried my best to make them sound intelligible, but after re-reading the same sentence for ten minutes, I just went with it.

But anywho, here's another chapter. Enjoy!

Stardate 2259.55

It had been one year and ten days since Khan and Lash were awakened. Khan was still illusive to Lash, the woman always being one step behind him. While Lash was doing Admiral Marcus' dirty work, she was doing her own work secretly on the side; she was determined more than ever to find Khan. She knew what he was working on and knew where to find him, but in order to go after him, she would have to defy Marcus and in doing so could endanger Khan himself, so she had to stay put at Starfleet Headquarters and hope he came to her.

Lash was currently sitting on her bed in her apartment, tinkering with a remote controlled device, when one of her numerous monitors alerted her to something important. It was not, however, the monitor she had programmed to search for Khan, so she languidly unfolded her legs and set the device on the bed before getting up and wandering over to her desk to shut off the alarm. This particular monitor was set up to keep an eye on the USS Enterprise, Starfleet's newest ship, captained by Starfleet's youngest Captain, James T. Kirk. Marcus wanted her to keep an eye on the comings and goings of the vessel and ordered her to study it intensely, inside and out. She didn't know why, but it only took her less than a day to memorize every detail of the ship.

The monitor had pinged her a report that had just been filed. It had given her two contradicting reports of the last supposed 'observation' mission to Nibiru. Captain Kirk reported one thing, while his First Officer, a Commander Spock, reported another. The monitor pinged again with another alert: Captain Kirk was no longer Captain of the Enterprise. He was being demoted to First Officer and Admiral Christopher Pike (the original Captain) was given control of the ship again.

Lash frowned as she read through all of the reports. She leaned back in the desk chair when she finished and swiveled it to look out of the window towards HQ.

She was watching a bird, at some distance away, fly from one side of the sky to the other when her personal communicator dinged. Sighing, she reached towards the desk and, after lifting a few PADDs, she located the communicator and flipped it open.

"Lieutenant McGivers." She answered.

"Lash, get down to my office."

The communication shut off. With a growl, Lash closed her communicator and shoved it in her trouser pocket. Getting up from her chair, she made her way to the door. She slipped on her boots, then turned to grab the PADD sitting on the bookshelf.

There was only one person who could be so rude to her and get away with it. There was only one person who called her by her real name.

Admiral Alexander Marcus.

Grabbing her keycard and shoving it in her other trouser pocket, she left her apartment and made her way across Starfleet's campus to Marcus' spacious office. She was able to walk in without flashing any sort of identification. After a year of 'working' for him, everyone knew she was cleared to enter.

As she rounded the corner, she saw Marcus sitting at his impressive desk. He motioned her over.

"Sir?" She asked, keeping up appearances.

"Lieutenant." He stood from his desk to lean over it as she approached. Lash saw him take a look around, to note where his guards were before looking back at her and lowering his voice. "Have you gotten the most recent reports involving the Enterprise?" He asked her.

"Yes. Moments before you summoned me." She sneered.

He nodded, not bothered by her resentment. "I want you to keep an eye on Kirk. He's young and stupid at times. Let me know if he does anything incredibly stupid."

"I'm babysitting from a distance. Great." She muttered, barely moving her lips.

"You could see it that way, sure. He'll probably be hanging around a dive bar. Likes to drown his sorrows in whiskey." Marcus said, sitting back in his chair, signaling that the conversation was over.

"Is that all, sir?" Lash asked with false politeness.

"Yes, Lieutenant. That'll be all."

With a stiff nod, Lash spun on her heel and left Marcus' office. On her way out, she pretended to type something onto her PADD.

Lash speed walked back to her apartment to change. She'd stick out like a sore thumb in her Starfleet grays. She needed to blend in if she was going to be tailing Kirk. When she made it back to her apartment, she kicked off her boots and stripped down before opening her closet and pulling out a pair of dark jeans, a dark green v-neck T-shirt, a beat-up, brown leather jacket, and a dark blue cap. She threw the selected clothes onto her bed and closed the closet. Reaching up, Lash released her hair from its tight bun and let it tumble down her back. She ran her fingers through her long, chocolate-colored waves before reaching for her clothes and putting them on. She put the cap on last, leaving her hair down, but tucking it behind her ears. Grabbing her communicator out of her forgotten trouser pocket, she shoved it in her jeans pocket. She then grabbed a small PADD of her own design and crafting (smaller than the normal PADDs in use) and shoved it in an inner jacket pocket as she ran out of the door and towards the lift.

Once in the lift, she pulled out the PADD and searched for Kirk's location. Within seconds she found him. Marcus was right about one thing: Kirk was evidently fond of the drink. He was located in a bar not far from Starfleet Academy. Glancing briefly at the shortest route to the bar, Lash put the PADD back in her pocket. As soon as she did so, the lift doors hissed open and she walked as fast as she could to Kirk's location without seeming suspicious.

When she reached the dive, Lash casually walked in and took a seat at a table in a dark corner of the bar. With her back to the wall, she surveyed the scene. People were littered throughout the establishment; not many were at the bar, but plenty were roaming around the tables. It was still early in the evening, yet there were already a few drunkards trying to navigate their way to and from the bar. She found Kirk easily enough, sitting at the bar and kicking back drink after drink.

A waitress in a jeans mini-skirt and a quite revealing white tank top approached Lash.

"What can I get ya, hun?" She asked around a mouthful of pink bubble gum.

Lash rose an eyebrow at the walking cliché of a waitress. "Water." She replied, gruffing her voice a bit, then seeing the confused look on the waitress' face she added: "For now."

The waitress nodded, then walked away.

Lash rolled her eyes before slouching in her chair and adjusting the brim of her cap. She observed Kirk, mentally keeping track of how many drinks he knocked back.

After a few minutes of watching the man steadily drink himself into oblivion, Lash saw the door to the dive bar open. Admiral Pike stood tall in the doorway and glanced around before heading straight towards Kirk with a determined, hobbling gait.

Lash hunched her shoulders and brought her cap down lower, trying to avoid being seen by the Admiral and the inevitable confrontation that would follow.

The two were engaged in conversation, with Lash keeping her eyes on them, when her PADD pinged. She was just about to reach into her pocket when the waitress returned and placed a dirty glass with some not-so-clear water in it on the table in front of her. Trying not to look too disgusted, Lash thanked her and the girl left.

Sure took a while to get some damn dirty water. Lash thought as she took her PADD out of her pocket and held it under the table, out of eye sight. She glanced around to make sure no one was watching before tilting her head down slightly to read the report. It was an emergency message delivered to Starfleet's Admirals: Bombing at the Kelvin Archives in London, England.

Lash sat up straighter. She knew that the building wasn't just Starfleet archives. Down bellow were levels of some of the highest clearances and top secret weapons projects: Section 31.

Lash had a feeling in her gut. She had to know for sure.

Looking up, she glanced at Kirk and Pike once more and, seeing Kirk knock back yet another drink and Pike check his communicator, she figured she could get out of the bar before they even moved. She got up from her chair, surreptitiously sliding her PADD back into her pocket as she made her way to the door...not even bothering to tip for the disgusting glass of water.

Once she hit the street, Lash took off at a run back towards Starfleet HQ and Marcus' office. She glanced behind herself once or twice to make sure she wasn't seen fleeing by Pike or Kirk.

She reached Marcus in record time, bursting into his office, not caring if there were others inside or not. Recovering her wits, she looked around before slowing and approaching the man standing behind his desk, looking thoroughly put out by her intrusion.

"Was it him?" She asked, leaning on the edge of his desk. She knew she didn't have to specify who.

"Not sure." Marcus grumbled through gritted teeth.

"Bullshit." Lash snapped, very tempted to bang her fist on his desk, knowing it would leave a dent.

Marcus' PADD pinged at the same moment Lash's did. Lash ignored hers as she glared at Marcus, waiting for him to read whatever he received. She could read it later. When he did, Lash stood up straight and folded her arms over her chest. After Marcus completed his reading, he rubbed the bridge of his nose before looking up at Lash.

"It was him." He eventually said, quietly.

Lash dropped her arms to her side and turned to start leaving the office. Marcus stopped her.

"If you go after him, you know his life is in jeopardy." He paused. "Yours could be too, if you're not careful."

Lash spun back to face Marcus. "I'm fully aware of the repercussions, Admiral." She spat his title at him. "You just love to be oh-so-helpful in reminding me every time I manage to track him." She turned and left the office, fuming.

Feeling acrimonious, Lash stomped back to her apartment. Upon entering her rooms, she ripped the cap off of her head and flung it as hard as she could at the wall. She then tore off her jacket and swung it down onto the bed. Taking off her boots, she threw them at the closet door, putting holes through it. Looking for something else to destroy, she turned to her bookshelf and took books down, throwing them across the room, trying to create as much damage as possible. She knew it wouldn't help, but she would be placed under arrest on murder charges if she took her anger out on Marcus...or any other life form.

She turned to her desk, ready to destroy her year's worth of work, but stopped herself just as she was reaching for the closest monitor.

Stop, Lash! You break ANYTHING on this desk, you will forever be stuck behind him! She thought. You need this stuff to keep looking for him.

Taking a few steps back and raising her hands as if placating the equipment, Lash sat heavily on the edge of her bed, breathing raggedly. Running a hand through her hair, she reached over to her jacket and pulled out the PADD. She read the message Marcus had received. It was from a Starfleet Officer named Thomas Harewood saying that John Harrison had bribed him to blow up the archives. He offered the Officer a way to cure his terminally ill daughter if he did something for Harrison in return...the explosion.

Lash set the PADD on the bed and scrubbed her hands over her face with a growl. She needed to throw herself into her work or she was going to do something she would regret. Shucking her green shirt and jeans, she pulled her black Starfleet crew neck and trousers back on; the long sleeves kept her warm in her slightly cool apartment and she was more comfortable in the trousers. She then moved over to her desk chair and plopped down in it. Tying her hair up into a low ponytail, she stared at the monitors, ready to dig through anything she could get her hands on to figure out a reason for Khan's obviously planned explosion.

A/N:Welp...what'd ya think? Please review?

Thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, alerted, and favored! I get all warm and fuzzy inside when I get those e-mails :-P