A/N: Okie dokie, artichokies! You should consider yourselves lucky...I'm staying up late to post this early because it's gonna be a busy weekend for me. I have a hockey tournament this weekend and we're looking to keep our undefeated streak from last year and win again. I also have to make cupcakes per a teammate's request. So therefore, I will have no time once I wake up on this loverly Friday.

And here we have the long awaited (?) chapter where Lash and Khan finally reunite and how they know each other is revealed!

Enjoy!

A little more than two hours had passed by the time Lash got tired of sitting around. They had to have spoken to Khan by now...and she was starting to lose feeling in her legs, the pins and needles stage had passed a while ago.

Unfolding her legs, she slowly got up from her squashed position. Not needing the red operations shirt any longer, Lash pulled the shirt over her head, leaving her in the black, long-sleeved, crew neck. She tossed the red shirt back into her hiding spot. She reached up to check on the progress of the cut above her eyebrow and smirked when she didn't even feel a scab. Straightening out the black Starfleet shirt, she wandered to a far set of stairs and climbed them. As she climbed, she reached up and pulled her hair out of it's tight bun. She liked having her hair loose; she only had it in the bun to appease Marcus. She fluffed the chocolate waves as she reached the top of the first set of stairs.

The next step in her plan was to be 'caught' by security and taken to Kirk, where she would attempt to get him to let her see Khan. She did not, however, want to be caught so close to the coolant leaks, so she took two flights of stairs and walked into remote parts of engineering.

Lash had been walking catwalks with her hands held behind her back for a good fifteen minutes, before she spotted a small team of red-shirted security coming towards her. With a smile smirk, she continued to walk steadily towards them.

"Stop right there!" The leader of team yelled to her, his phaser (set to stun) pointed at her. Lash stopped, smirk still firmly in place. "Put your hands where we can see 'em."

"I need to speak with Captain Kirk." She said calmly as she slowly raised her hands in the air.

"Yeah? And why's that?" He asked, turning to one of the Officers behind him. "Cuff her."

"I have information that he might want to be privy to." Lash bluffed. She did have information...that didn't mean she was going to hand it over right away.

The Officer with the handcuffs approached her and took first her left hand, then her right and cuffed them in front of her. He stepped behind her and put a hand in between her shoulder blades. He gave her a generous shove towards the leader. A bit of Lash's hair fell in front of her eyes, but she turned her head to glare over her shoulder at the Officer.

"What kind of information?" The leader asked, lowering his phaser as Lash stopped a few feet in front of him.

"Information only the Captain needs to know right now." She answered, lowering her head to glare at him slightly.

The leader looked at her for a few moments more before he turned to look at one of the other Officers still behind him. "Call the Captain." He instructed before looking back at her.

Lash gave the leader a slight nod of thanks. She then turned her attention to the Officer who pulled out his communicator.

"Captain Kirk." He called, then waited a few seconds for a response.

"Yeah." Kirk replied.

"Sir, we have a Code 39 in engineering."

"On my way."

The communicator cut out and the Officer folded his and put it back in a pocket on his belt.

The leader nodded to the Officer still behind Lash and he pushed her forward again in a non-verbal, yet rude, gesture for her to start walking. The leader and the one who called Kirk were in front of her, while the pushy one and the other Officer in the team were behind her.

They led her down flights of stairs to the main deck of engineering. They formed a box around her to make sure she didn't go anywhere while they waited for Kirk. A few minutes later, Kirk and (Lash could only assume) Commander Spock walked up to them. They looked her over before Kirk turned to the leader.

"She is the problem?" He asked as he pointed to her.

Lash rolled her eyes as the leader nodded.

"Where'd you come from?" He asked, stepping inside the makeshift box, directly in front of Lash.

"Captain. I need to see the man calling himself John Harrison." Lash insisted, looking directly at Kirk and standing up to her full height of five foot six.

"Why?" Kirk looked confused. "Who are you?"

Lash mentally grinned. Two can play this 'twenty questions' game. "I need to see him first, then I'll tell you anything you want."

"What's he to you?" Kirk attempted another line of questioning.

Seeing that she wasn't getting very far in her demands, she decided to give a little more information. With a sigh, she relaxed her shoulders and continued. "Captain, it's been a very long time since I've seen my husband and I know he's on board. Now, please let me see him." She paused for a second. "I'll tell you everything, but after. I. See. Him." She almost snarled the last sentence at the Captain.

Kirk went to say something more, then paused as he looked back at her in shock. Spock, who was observing silently behind Kirk, stepped forward.

"Excuse me. Did you say 'husband'?" He asked Lash.

"Yes."

The Vulcan may not have shown much shock in his facial features, but Lash did notice that his left eyebrow rose.

"You—" Lash turned her attention back to Kirk as he tried to form a coherent thought. "How—You—What—" He eventually huffed and gave up. He just stared at her, waiting for her to explain.

"For the third time, Captain, I will explain AFTER I see Harrison." Lash repeated, balling her hands into fists as she became frustrated.

With another huff, Kirk finally agreed. "Alright. Fine." Lash smiled as he turned to the security team. "You and you," he pointed to the leader and the one with the communicator, "come with us. You two can go…wherever."

The four nodded and the pushy one and the quiet one walked off. The two security personnel stepped to either side of Lash, while Kirk and Spock led the way. When the five reached the turbo lift, Lash was placed beside Kirk with one red shirt behind, the other on her other side. Spock stood slightly in front of the red shirt and pressed the button for the brig. Once they started moving, Kirk glanced at Lash.

"So...you and Kh—" He stopped himself, making Lash raise an eyebrow.

"He's told you who he really is, then." She stated the question.

"Yeah...who are you?" It annoyed Kirk that he didn't know this woman, but her face seemed vaguely familiar to him.

Lash smirked. "My name is Lash." She paused. "And that's all you get before I speak to Khan."

"Why?" Kirk sounded like a petulant child and Lash had to restrain herself from rolling her eyes.

"Because there are some things even he doesn't know yet." She answered, turning her head to look at him. "After I speak to him, I'll tell you whatever you want."

"Will you submit to a blood test?" Spock spoke up from the other side of the lift, making Lash swing her head in his direction.

"Sure." She said with a shrug.

They were silent on the rest of the ride to the brig. After the lift stopped, they all stepped out. Lash paused.

"Can these be removed?" She asked, raising her hands to indicate the handcuffs.

The four men looked at each other. Spock opened his mouth to say something, but Lash beat him to it, knowing he was going to suggest not to.

"Look. I am not my husband. I'm not about to attack, as I am unarmed and unskilled in hand to hand combat." She said, but they still looked unsure. She sighed. "It may be a shock to you, but I'm just a woman looking for her husband, Captain. I have no ulterior motive. I promise you."

Kirk eventually nodded to the security leader. He looked fairly unsure about this decision, but wasn't about to go against the Captain's orders. The leader took a key out of his belt and unlocked the handcuffs from around Lash's wrists. She nodded at the Officer in thanks, then turned to Kirk as she rubbed her wrists.

"Thank you." She said softly, giving Kirk a genuine look. She was finally able to push her hair behind her ears and out of her way.

Kirk nodded, then motioned with his hand for her to walk ahead of them and around the next left-hand turn. Lash nodded her head and took slow steps towards the corner. Behind her, she heard Kirk telling the security that they were no longer needed, then the sound of the turbo lift doors as security left, leaving her with Kirk and Spock.

Lash paused at the corner. Taking a deep breath, she put her hand on the wall, then stepped slowly around the corner. Her first glance of Khan was him standing in the middle of an oblong cell, arms crossed over his chest, and glaring at the wall, thinking. His back was straight and his broad shoulders were pulled back (as usual). He was wearing black trousers and boots and the same black, Starfleet crew-neck that Lash was wearing.

Lash's breath caught in her throat; her husband was still as handsome as the day they met...as clichéd as it was, it was true.

Brining her hand up to her chest, where her heart squeezed emotionally, she felt the tell-tale pressure behind her eyes and the lump in her throat, her body wanting her to cry.

"Khan..." She breathed, taking tentative steps towards him.

Somehow, the man in the cell heard her. His head snapped up and a look of extreme surprise fell across his features.

"Lash?" He questioned in disbelief, his arms falling to his sides.

Lash ran across the brig and over to Khan's cell, her long hair flying in chocolate waves behind her as she went. She placed her right hand on the glass as soon as she reached him. Khan stepped down and placed his hand on the glass over hers.

"Lash, how...?" Khan started to ask her softly, his facial features softening for the wife he hadn't seen in over two hundred years.

"Marcus." Lash replied quietly in explanation. She saw Khan's eyes widen as he understood; she was the other member of his crew that had been woken up to ensure his cooperation.

Lash grinned faintly, before turning to look at Kirk, who was standing with Spock halfway across the room. "Captain, will you let me in with him?" She asked almost shyly.

Kirk could see the tears starting to form in her eyes. He always hated to see a woman cry.

"Captain, this does not seem like a good idea." Spock threw in his two cents. "Not to mention the protocol violations…"

"Noted, Spock." Kirk replied, not taking his eyes off of Lash.

Lash felt her heart rate increase, becoming distressed the more Kirk prolonged his answer. After watching her for what felt like hours, Kirk finally agreed.

"Alright." He turned to the Officer currently on security detail for Khan. "Open the cell." He then turned back to Khan. "You. Back up three steps." Khan obeyed. "Now don't move. She will come to you. Got it?"

"Of course, Captain." Khan acknowledged, keeping his eyes on Lash.

Lash took a few backwards steps away from the glass as well, her eyes never leaving Khan's. She waited impatiently for the glass to fall away. When it did, she launched herself towards Khan, throwing one arm around his neck and the other around his waist. Khan wrapped his arms around her the same way. Both held onto the other tightly and didn't move for several minutes.

Neither noticed the glass being replaced, locking them both in the cell.

Lash felt a few tears slowly make tracks down her cheeks and onto Khan's shirt. She didn't care. She shifted her hand to hold onto the back of his neck as she slowly moved her head back to look at him. When her moss-colored eyes met his stormy sea eyes, she smiled at him. He grinned back.

"I have missed you so much." He whispered to her as he brought his hand around to wipe a tear off of her cheek.

Lash choked back her sobs. "I have missed you, too."

Khan then leaned his head towards hers and gave her a much needed kiss. Lash answered immediately, kissing him just as passionately.

As their kissing continued, Kirk started to become uncomfortable. He cleared his throat to at least get them to stop for a moment. Khan broke their kiss and looked up at him. "I'll give you ten minutes to be reacquainted." Kirk demanded. "When we come back, I want answers."

Khan nodded in answer for both him and Lash, then watched as Kirk and Spock left them. When they were gone, he rested his head on Lash's shoulder and she combed her fingers through his hair.

"It's been two hundred sixty-three years since I last had you in my arms." Lash managed to whisper in his ear. She felt a chuckle rumble through him.

"It could have been longer." He replied.

The thought made Lash hold onto him tighter.

Another few minutes passed before Lash felt like she could loosen her grip on him enough to talk of a few things before Kirk came back. She moved her arms to hold him around his waist.

"Where's your ring?" Khan asked. It was one of the first things he noticed missing when he saw her.

Lash grinned as she reached up with one hand and pulled the chain out of her shirt, her wedding ring dangling securely from it.

"I didn't want to risk losing it or cause suspicion." She explained.

"As long as Marcus didn't take it from you." He said, placing a kiss on her forehead.

Lash tucked the chain back into her shirt, then sighed as she rested her head on her husband's chest.

"How did you manage to escape Marcus' grip?" She eventually asked.

"It wasn't easy. I knew I had to get away from him in order to find a way to get the crew to safety." He paused. "I had hoped to call his bluff when he threatened me with the life of the crew member he also awoke. If I would have known it was you, I would have found you and taken you with me." He explained.

Lash shook her head. "Marcus had be kept away when you were on Starfleet property." She said sadly. "He provided me with equipment to keep my eyes on the comings and goings of select people, but he never knew that I kept a close watch on you, too." She smiled. "I've always been one step behind you, my love. When you showed up at HQ, I saw you in the ship right before you transported to Kronos. It was the closest I had been to you in the year since Marcus woke us."

Khan pulled her into another tight embrace, placing his hand on the back of her head to keep her close. Lash turned her face towards Khan's neck and inhaled his scent; he smelled like rain, like he normally did, not like sweat like she was expecting.

"How did Marcus get you agree to help him?" Khan eventually asked.

"I'll explain everything when Kirk comes back, but he blackmailed me with your life." She replied, gently kissing his neck.

"Same with me." He said on a sigh.

They stood keeping each other in an embrace for the few minutes they had left before Kirk and Spock returned. When they did, another man in a blue shirt was with them.

A/N: So? Did I surprise anyone with the reveal of their marriage or did you have that figured out by now? Meh, if you weren't paying much attention maybe it sneaked up on you. But what'd you think? I had a tough time trying to figure out how I could get Lash to Khan in the brig and keep her in her character...I feel like she'd use her brain more than brawn and considering she doesn't have brawn (like she says to Kirk up there), I felt having her be 'caught' was a descent solution.

Oh. I actually looked up the security code...some of 'em are actually a bit vague, so I found the one that was closest (Code 39) to the situation. Just so I don't get any flack from the die-hard Trekkies out there, the actual Code 39 is "An attack by unknown agents on Federation personnel or civilian installations or residence". Seriously. That was the closest I could get...I didn't find one for 'random person running around where she shouldn't be'. :-P

And sorry about the kind of obvious cliffhanger...it was getting long and this was about the best place to stop before things picked up again.

Thanks to all who have read, reviewed, alerted, and/or favored!