An Adventure Into Darkness

Blood Sweat and Lunch

I didn't sleep at all that night. Anytime I drifted off to sleep I woke up with vivid nightmares of Khan crushing my skull. I sit on the bed looking at the metal walls, wondering what was in store for me next, death? Adventure? Roma-

"Get up!" I hear Khan yell as he pounds on the door, interpreting my thoughts. 'Yup...Defiantly death." I swing my feet of the bed and walk to the door and open it up. Khan stood there in a black long sleeve shirt with matching pants. Similar to the outfit he wore when he was aired on the news when Marcus was killed.

"Its time to start training." Khan states as he walks down the hall, leaving me confused and speechless.

"Training?" I yell down the hall as I run after him, trying to keep up with his long strides. He didn't say anything, he just continued to walk down the hall. I continue to follow him, taking in my surroundings. We were surrounded by metal walls through out the ship, with an occasional window. There were a few windows but not enough for my liking. He suddenly stopped, once again causing me to run into his back. 'Oh God not again'

"How many more times do you plan on running into me before you get the idea that you need to PAY ATTENTION." He yells, clearly frustrated. I stumble back, tears forming in my eyes, some from embarrassment, some from fear. Khan's facial expression soften and he puts his hand on the small of my back, slightly guiding me through the door he was about to enter. 'Is this his way of apologizing? Leading me through a door?'

"I'm going to train you. Mostly because you are human. And it physically pains me to have to be around such a weak life form." He mumbles as he walks past me. "Also, in order to retrieve my family, we are going to have to break into the facility that they are held in. And you will need to be strong enough to fight-"

I nod my head in agreement as I look around the room, tuning out the rest of what he was telling me. It was a large room filled with treadmills, punching bags, and some large polls that are used for fighting. This was going to be a long day.

"River?" Khan says, raising his voice to get my attention, I snap my head in his direction.

"Ya?" I ask quietly, afraid of how he would react to me not playing attention again.

"Pay attention! I said, punch me." He says, no emotion on his face. He continues to stand there with his head tilted, watching my every move with his creepy little blue eyes. I walk towards him slowly, taking a fighting stance a couple feet away from him. I form a fist and aim for his chest.

THUD.

He doesn't even move, he actually doesn't even look fazed. And then I feel it. Pain shoots through my hand and through my arm. I let out a cry of pain as I bend over, cradling my hand, which currently feels like its on fire. I feel Khan kneel down beside me, I cant tell what he is doing because my vision is blurred from crying, but I feel him gently take my cradled hand, sending another wave of pain through out my arm, causing me to let out another yelp.

"Well. You broke your hand." He mumbles as he stands up, helping me up by holding on to my shoulder. I say nothing as he leads me down one of the many halls, I keep my head down, following him to wherever he was leading me. He opens a door and I cover my eyes with my good hand, the room was a bright white with some silver machinery and an examining table. Khan leads me to the table and stands back, waiting for me to jump up on to it. The table was way to tall for me, clearly made for someone Khans size, in order for me to get on I would need to pull myself up with both hands. I look at Khan and then back at the table.

"Oh, right." Khan mumbles as he walks towards me. He lifts me on to the table bridal style and then grabs some medical supplies and walks back to the table. He gently grabs my hand and examines it again.

"Well its shattered completely." He grabs a needle and an IV. I quickly inhale, I have always hated needles. He quickly stabbed it into his arm, and then one into mine. I see his blood rush down the tube towards my arm. "Now you are going to feel a very sharp pai-" I start to scream as soon as the blood enters my veins. I could see my bones moving in my hand, re-connecting, healing. The pain was horrible, worse than when I punched Khan.

"Almost done." Khan says as he places a hand on my shoulder, in attempt to comfort me. I continue to sob as the last few bones move and snap back together.

"Is-is that...what you feel- every time you get hurt?" I say between muffled sobs.

"At first, yes that is what it felt like. Now I feel nothing." He says quietly as he helps me off the table, removing the tubes from our arms. "I apologize, I did not take into consideration how much strong I was compared to one of your punches. We will find a new method of training." I nod as I look down at my hand, it looked completely normal, and I no longer felt any pain. This was crazy. I could move my hand without it hurting. I felt like I could punch through a wall.Or maybe Khan. I look at Khan and saw him smirk as if he knew what I was thinking.

"I wouldnt try that if I were you." He chuckled. "Your hand will break again, and I wont be so generous with my blood next time." I sigh as he walks out of the medical room and back to the training room.

"Are you hungry?" He asks. I nod in response. "Okay. Lets have lunch."