Hello everyone, thank you some much for your interest in this story and only after one chapter.

For everyone who is hoping that Pike will be in the story, he will, BUT this will mostly follow what happened in Into Darkness.

As always the characters and worlds belong to their creators and owners.

Please Read and Review!

Commander Charlie Archer stood in the background as Admiral Marcus met with the heads of the Starfleet divisions, trying to track down John Harrison. She had been up all night first with assisting the Doctor in reviving and stabilizing Pike and then trying to gather intelligence about the incident and where the Khan might have slipped off to.

She wasn't stupid, she knew Kahn was long gone; he had accomplished what ever goal and was now waiting to see what they would do. She just hoped that Marcus and anyone in Starfleet for that matter wouldn't do something incredibly stupid. Many had lost friends and commanding officers in the Achieves' explosion and the attack. It was human nature to seek revenge against those who had wronged you and those you loved, Khan knew his enemy well, playing on emotions to get what he wanted. Charlie just hoped it would not escalate to all out war.

Just thinking about Admiral Marcus and what he had done, stirred her own need for vengeance. His planning and scheming, not to mention his cowardly retreat during the attack, made her sick to her stomach that he was in such a highly respected position of power.

Marcus had woken a dangerous predator from its sleep and when it slipped its cage, he allowed innocent men and women become causalities in the aftermath of his arrogance. She couldn't believe the smug look the man had on his face when she had returned to duty. She didn't have the patience or the restraint to deal with him, so she avoided him as much as possible. That is until she was dragged into the debriefing along with the next of Starfleet's commanding officers. Sometimes being the expert on 'John Harrison' was a real bitch.

Charlie rolled her eyes at the assembled Starfleet Admirals, there was nothing that the stuck up, ignorant, and for lack of a better description pricks would or could do to stop Khan. The truth was Khan didn't need his superior intelligence or even strength to outwit and beat Starfleet. It was unfortunate but Starfleet had been woefully unprepared for the Nero incident and it seems still hadn't learned its lesson. Starfleet as a whole thought itself invincible but the hard truth that was sinking in was Starfleet trained explorers not soldiers to face the ever circling enemy.

Charlie knew what was out there and she cringed at the thought of the unprepared and untrained Starfleet members coming face to face with the evil and darkness that laid in wait out in the universe. She would never admit to anyone but she did agree with Marcus that Starfleet needed to learn how defend itself, but not by starting a full scale war with a rival power in the quadrant like the Klingons. Sometimes she found herself agreeing with Khan's assessment of humans, in which humans strived for peace and prosperity but still craved chaos and strife.

Charlie shook herself; her mind had wandered and she needed to focus but it was hard with the two sides of her brain were warring with each other. She was struggling between her training and what her heart and head told her. There were enemies of Starfleet everywhere both inside and out. She fought to remain loyal to the ideals of Starfleet while it was rotting from the top down. She also struggled with fighting the outside enemy, she could sympathize with Khan's rage at being thrown into another time and losing your crew, but he had to be stopped. She had to choose to fight the lesser of two evils head on and undermine the power of the other. There was no doubt that Marcus and Khan were both monsters in their own unique ways. Charlie assessed each and had to choose to fight the visible and immediate threat of Khan while working in the shadows to stop Marcus. She had to save the Earth and Starfleet from Khan so she could stop Marcus before he destroyed them both from the inside.

Charlie heard a commotion at the door and two men came bursting through the door at a dead run. They were as opposite as night and day, and then she realized who had the balls to interrupt a high ranking, classified meeting. She hid a smirk; of course Kirk and Spock would be the first to figure out where Harrison had gone, with the help of their loyal crew no doubt.

"Sir, he's not on Earth."

Marcus seemed to stare at them trying to decide whether it was worth it to hear them out. Charlie was willing to bet that the calculating look on Marcus' face meant nothing good for the pair and the crew they represented.

"Give us a minute."

The room began to clear of personal, but Archer stayed where she was. There was no way in hell she was going to allow Marcus to send these men and their crew on a suicide mission just to satisfy his need for blood.

Marcus glared at her, Charlie could see that he wanted to dismiss her, but she also knew that he wouldn't. Not if the smug bastard valued his dark and dirty little secrets. She knew where his skeletons were buried and had enough evidence currently on her person to have him shot where he stood. She gave him an innocent smile, just to piss him off more. She had no love for a man who had no loyalty to those he served with and who would send innocents to die as payment for his sins.

She didn't approach the three men, but stayed back to observe the interaction, assessing her enemy and the potential allies that were now caught it his web.

She watched as Marcus spilled one of his secrets in half lies and twisted truths. She had known the man was a snake when she met him but she never believed he would go this far to cover his ass.

"You park yourself on the edge of the neutral zone and fire a torpedo and then get the hell out of there."

She could not believe her ears when she finally heard what Marcus was suggesting or the fact that Kirk seemed to agree to the orders.

"Sir, I request Commander Spock be reinstated as my first officer."

Marcus seemed to pause and eyed the Commander up and down; whatever he was planning seemed to fall into place. Charlie had a feeling of dread when he agreed so easily.

"Alright."

Charlie didn't know what Marcus had planned but she couldn't sit by and leave Kirk and the Enterprise to face Marcus and Khan alone. She quickly stepped forward placing herself between her newly chosen allies and Marcus. The two men behind her may not have known the significance of the move but Marcus did. Charlie had just firmly shown that she try to protect the crew of the Enterprise against whatever Marcus had planned.

"Sir, I request to be reassigned to the Enterprise."

Marcus made to object obviously not liking that Charlie was trying to hinder his plans. But Charlie knew how to manipulate circumstances to her benefit and she moved in for the kill.

"You said so yourself, Sir, I am the expert on the target. I would be of more use to Captain Kirk than stuck here on Earth."

She knew she had won when Marcus' left eye twitched, it was his tell. Marcus eyed Charlie with what she would almost call respect, for the maneuvering she had just accomplished. She nodded politely to Marcus a smirk firmly in place as she followed her new Captain and first officer out of the monster's cave.

Both men paused just outside the office and turned to look at their new crew member, Charlie could see them both trying to figure out what they had just witnessed. Charlie turned her smirk into what some might call an innocent smile; it wouldn't do for her new commanding officers to think she had just enjoyed pissing off the highest ranking Starfleet officer, and that she was planning the many ways she could inflict harm on him if he threatened her or her newly adopted crew.

Charlie decided she had had enough of being within 100 yards of Marcus for the day, she felt liked she needed to take a long hot shower to clean off the ugly feeling she always had around him. She turned to the two curious men and prompted them with, "Shall we begin, Captain?"

What did you think? Please Review!