Chapter 24

Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong. There were two figures in the cave. One was sobbing and hastily shaking the other who. Wasn't. Moving.

"Get up! Please get up!" The strange woman shrieks. "Come on, Meira! Don't die on me! Get up! You have to get up! Please!" She breaks down into tears.

Khan is in the chamber in seconds. The woman looks up at him and hastily picks up a large stick.

"Don't you dare touch her!" She shrieks angrily as she lifts the stick threateningly. It was admirably brave move, Khan knew, but an inconvenient one. There wasn't much he could do to her that wouldn't injure the baby that was sure to come soon. He settles for batting the stick away from her and dropping to his knees beside her as he lifts a gentle hand to Meira's cheek. She whimpers at the skin contact and tries to turn her face away from his cold, ice covered hand. Khan smiles sadly and quickly covers her with his jacket that was still warm from his body heat.

At least she was still responsive.

There was a chance of recovery.

But she was burning up from an intense fever. Her temperature was easily at 102 degrees Fahrenheit. Maybe more. She shivers harder until it seemed like her entire body seemed to be shaking. Her breathing becomes more labored.

The woman shoves him and, not seeing him budge, proceeds to pummel him with fists. Though he feels no pain at her blows, Khan finds himself getting increasingly irritated.

"Calm yourself," He growls, turning his glare upon her and she freezes mid-punch. "Before I break both your arms."

"If you hurt her—"

"I plan do nothing of the sort. Now. Move." Part of him wants to physically throw her across the room, but he restrains himself but just barely.

Carefully, he examines Meira. She had lost a lot of blood—far too much for the average human and she was still bleeding out. A large red puddle had already formed around her and it continued to grow larger and larger, transforming into a sea of scarlet. Her normally olive colored face was pale white and she was shivering violently, whimpering with pain as she struggled to drawl in air with quick, ragged gasps.

Spock enters the cave followed quickly by Kirk and the security officers.

"Oh, hell," Kirk says when he sees the pregnant woman. "You aren't going into labor are you?"

"No, are you?" She glares at Kirk and Khan continues to examine Meira's wounds. He wanted to go back to the compound, revive all the scientists, and rip their throats out all over again. Only this time, he wouldn't be so merciful.

"Is it possible for the Enterprise to beam us up?" Khan demands.

"Negative. We will need to leave the same way we had arrived," Spock answers calmly.

That was not good. Meira was already unstable and fading fast. The pod was at least two miles away, and the journey there would do far more harm than good. He rips some bandages from his pack and hastily begins to wrap her injuries in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

Part of him screams for him to give her a transfusion of his own blood, but he didn't have the right materials. He curses himself inwardly and does the best he can to help stabilize her condition—which isn't much. By the time Kirk speaks, Khan is pretty much at a loss as to what to do next.

"I'll go. Spock, you come with me. We'll bring the pod over—come on!" Kirk runs outside and sinks knee deep into the snow but that doesn't dampen his enthusiasm.

While those two run off, Khan orders the security officers to build a fire. The moment it starts to flicker, Khan carefully, supports Meira against his chest and shifts them closer to the flames. He uses his body to block her from the icy wind coming in from the cave entrance and covers them both with the jacket, using their combined body heat to warm her.

"What did they do to her?" Khan asks the woman and the lady shrugs. He looks at Meira at in the firelight. She was so small. So breakable. He never should have allowed her to leave his sight.

"I don't know. They injected her with foreign pathogens and took a lot of blood and maybe an organ or two. I wasn't in the room with her when it happened. They had moved her somewhere else."

"What is your name?" Khan's eyes flicker to the woman.

"Cassie…Sorry. Cassandra Hobbs." She wraps her arms around her knees and drops her head to rest on her forearms. Her eyes drift shut.

"Cassie." He thinks about the name. "You're her friend? She calls you 'Cas'?"

The security officers vanish into the background and talk quietly amongst themselves.

"You know about me?" She yawns and blinks tiredly at him from the other side of the chamber.

"Only that you two were close." He curls closer to Meira and she whines weakly.

One of his long fingers strokes her cheek lightly and his heart thuds sadly in his chest. This never should have happened. Those Section 31 mongrels should have taken him instead, not her.

"Close," she snorts. "She faked her death when she was fifteen and never bothered to tell me that she was alive. If I mattered to her, she would have let me know that she okay…not show up one day to be my new cellmate." She shakes her head and closes her eyes again. "It doesn't matter. We were just kids. Those friendships never last, anyway, right? You grow up and shed your past and move on…none of it mattered."

"You mattered more than you think," Khan murmurs before looking back at Meira. She snuggles tightly into her chest and sighs shakily. Slowly, he wraps a protective arm around her, careful not to hug her too tightly lest he cause her more damage.

"Will she die?" Cas asks in a small voice and Khan could see unshed tears burning into her eyes.

"No," he said as he tore his gaze away from Cas to look down at Meira. He wouldn't allow her die. He would make her fight and force her to live if need be. Those parasites would not win, not if he could help it. When they got back to the Enterprise, he would force the doctor to take so much of his blood, that he wouldn't be able see straight. They could use the precious liquid to speed up her recovery and stabilize her weakening condition.

They would not win.

They couldn't win.

Well, I'm tired now. Good night, fanfiction peoples.