Author's Note: First I want to thank everyone for all the reviews. They are very much appreciated. Okay so this is a short chapter too, but it needed to end where it did. And yes, it is semi action packed. Please enjoy :)

Chapter Thirteen: Following The Leader

"You are late, Lieutenant."

Marla had zero time to address her coconspirator before he was looking her over with contempt. He was packing the tubes into the torpedoes with little effort. It had been several weeks since she had planted the device within the room. She had heard from Harrison while she worked cataloguing weapons on her computer stating how he needed to take his time to make sure they weren't discovered.

"Haven't you heard, John?" She crossed her legs slowly as she moved toward the towering superman. Marla watched the augment's face carefully as he tucked his hands behind his back. He was watching her as well. Despite being apart for months now, they still held that same strange dynamic to them. "I've been demoted." Her smile was smug.

She could see his eyes stretch across her collar bone edged with red in patches. He made a quick roll of quieted laughter when he saw edges of peeled back skin. She could smell him again. The air of this man was something Marla missed. He smelt like life, unlike those she worked with who remained dull in their ambition. It appeared as though he was living in his small chamber, but the young woman knew his eyes were riddled with a keen kind of anticipation. He was a caged animal who smelt of sweat and iron.

"Marcus has erased your records. It appears as though Doctor Marla McGivers was never a member of Starfleet." She knew that was to happen. "You are close to the fate he intends for you."

"Death awaits me John." She tucked her head to one side looking at the cryotubes. They had almost all disappeared into the torpedoes. "You work fast, Harrison."

"One needs to work fast while escaping." He wasn't moving. He was staring at her as she moved to the last tube without a home, the woman who she had observed before. She stared at her face scratching a softened fingernail across the surface. "Do you find disdain for the females?" Marla's head snapped to stare at him. She liked the way her hair was growing out, long enough for the soft red strands to flutter against her lashes.

"Females are needed in order for your race to continue." Marla stated though she could not hold herself back from looking at the lovely healthy features. Her head spun for a moment as those features seemed to double. She blinked hard. Her breath was beginning to get heavy and warm. "Not now." Those two words remained a whisper.

"Then you would not mind helping me place, Katya in the last tube." His voice was the same in tone, however Marla knew it was a test. She turned to him with narrow eyes swallowing.

"Do not mistake longing for anything more, but historical interest, Mr. Harrison." Her eyes were beginning to water. Not for tears or emotions. There was pain against her shoulder.

Her skin was blotched around the edges of her collar bone. The peeled back layers stung enough for Marla to swallow hard each time her neck twisted. Her face was flushed red. She knew Harrison had to see her, yet he remained curious of her appearance and the reasoning behind it. Marla knew why her body was suddenly beginning to feel heavy.

"I long to survive. This truce is survival."

"No." The reply from the man was deep with a constricted smile. He stepped forward moving toward the pixie haired woman. "You are more than that Dr. McGivers. More than you give yourself credit for." She could feel his heat. His chest was pressed gently against hers enough for Marla to suck in a breath before he slowly bent down to pick up the hidden communicator. "You know I heard you're command. Your demand to be my equal."

"Not our?" Marla asked staring into his piercing eyes.

"What?"

"You said my equal. That I demanded to be your equal. Indicating that there is a difference between you and your people. That there is a difference between me and your people." She watched, waiting for a response. His eyes were wide. She wondered why he was surprised, but decided to speak for herself before she lost her balance. "I am your equal, John. Like I said I earned my place and I believe I have earned your trust. You do trust me, right, John?" There was no nod. He only let his eyes fall to one side of the room. "Do not mistake me for a woman who will fall to her knees and beg you to save them. I do not beg and I do not plead. If I am worthy that is your decision, if I am not then I will die, but do not tell me or bother to ask me if I am jealous of these women." She swept her hand toward the room filled with tubes.

"These women," Her brow rose slightly. "They were born to be warriors. Born to be superior like you were. They did not struggle with death because they were weak. They were better than that. I struggled. I fell. And I became strong at my weakest. They became ants under you when they could have been gods." Marla felt her eyes fill with wetness from the pain pooling in her shoulder. She clenched her teeth together holding in the sufferable pain. "Despite that," She let out a breath. "I don't hold jealousy. I pity them. They could have been better yet they fell under you."

"Did you not do the same?" The smug smile told Marla he was not speaking those words in a military sense.

"I only fall under men who I know can handle me." She pressed herself to him staring him in the eyes with confrontation in her heart. "Not a single female augment rose to be anything more than second. There is no second in this partnership, Special Agent Harrison. We lead together."

"You are so sure you are my equal. A simple human female." He reached out with his hand suddenly. She watched his fingers touch her hair softly. "Those are merely words, Dr. McGivers." His lips were whispering in her ear. "Your actions are very much required."

"Get down!" Verma's voice echoed the room.

Both of the potential fugitives' heads turned. Marla felt her heart begin to rapidly beat. Harrison remained calm though his eyes spoke volumes. Verma shot him. Marla held her hands up when she felt the augment collapse against the tube beside her. The officer still held up his gun looking at Harrison. Marla closed her eyes thinking they'd been caught. She then felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Verma's.

"Are you alright, Marla?" She tried to breath and nod. She wasn't sure which came first. Things started to fold together once she saw Verma's hand move from her shoulder to his belt where his communicator laid.

Blood pumped strongly throughout her body allowing her to both think and act together. The augments' had given knowledge to the world in many ways. Their bones and the images in paintings proved very useful in this moment. Under the reddened patch of skin against her collarbone Marla pulled a surgical blade with a sharp end. She had cut the piece hollowing it out close to the surface of her skin that morning. Part of Marla wanted to see if it could be done while another part wanted to know how much more pain she could endure. Pulling the weapon from under her sensitive skin told her she still had yet to reach the level of pain she could handle.

She struck the officer quickly in the neck feeling blood against her fingers. Her other hand snapped against his mouth in an effort to silence him. She pounded both fist and blade against the skin creating a hole that bleed. She took a breath before making the only decision she had to consciously make. The blade raked across Verma's throat waiting until she couldn't feel him struggle before she dropped him. She threw the weapon down feeling her body begin to tremble. It was hard to keep her eyes focused however she could still hear.

"Extraordinary." She turned. Harrison was sitting up looking to her. He must not have been out for long. Verma must have stunned him. She looked down at her shaking hand seeing the blood pruning her fingertips. He slowly stood up as Marla attempted to regain herself. She held her hands together feeling herself shaking some more. Her nails clattered against her father's ring. She wondered with a small smile if he would be proud of her. If he would ever know what she had done. "You shake, though. I would have believed you could have kept yourself together."

"No," Suddenly she felt her faculties begin to give out on her. "Khan," She vaguely remembered her fingertips scrap against her open wound. "This is infected."

With that Marla McGivers collapsed beside the man she killed, the man she had killed without mercy or fear.