"Aye Captain." Scotty answers.
In a flash of light, the five of us are standing on our own transporter pad.
"Hello Captains!" Scotty greets us. "Why are you here so early...?" He trails off when he sees Khan. "Wait...is that-?"
"No questions. Not right now Scotty." I say, stepping down from the trackpad, Khan right behind me. I turn and grab his arm. "I'll take him to the brig. I'll only be a few."
"We're coming with you." Jim says, stepping forward.
"With all due respect, I'd like to to do it myself. Sorry Jim."
"He could easily hurt you."
"No he won't. Remember the last time when I had to go inside his cell? He didn't hurt me then."
"Because there was a Lieutenant in there, you were never left alone."
"He won't hurt me." I repeat.
"I won't hurt her." Khan says. "Maybe." He mutters just loud enough for me to hear him. I look at him and he flashes me a cold look. I look back at Jim.
"Fine." Jim reluctantly agrees. "Take him, but don't be long."
"Yeah." I say, and lead Khan out of the room and down the hallway. Once we're sure we're alone, Khan quickly moves his arm out of my grasp and before I can do anything about it he grabs my neck and slams me against the wall. I grab his wrist with both hands.
"I thought you said you wouldn't tell anyone!" He snarls at me.
"I never said I wouldn't say anything." I manage.
His grip tightens. "So you decided to betray your own brother?" He tightens his grip even more on the word "brother".
"Khan..." I manage as his grip continues tightening around my neck. "Stop..."
His eyes are a steel gray, no warmth left inside them as there had been before when I saw him not long after he woke up again. If looks could kill, I would have been dead in less than a minute.
"Khan..." I stuggle to breathe. "Let...go..." I can't breathe anymore, my vision is starting to go weird now, nothing is really focusing anymore, but just enough for me to still see Khan's expression as his grip keeps tightening. My grip on his wrist slips and I know that if he doesn't let go soon, I'll pass out or worse.
After a few more long seconds, he seems to realize what he's doing and lets go, snapping his hand away. I slump against the wall and collapse towards the ground, gasping for air. I still feel the pressure of Khan's hand around my neck, and I slowly move my hand towards my neck.
"Did you tell anybody?" Khan demands me.
"Of course not!" I answer hoarsely, looking up at him. "Who do you think I am?"
His expression softens. "I thought you told."
"Of course not!" I pause for a few seconds, inhaling more oxygen. "But I thought I told you not to go outside!"
Khan crouches down in front of me as I continue to struggle to breathe. He looks me in the eye, the warmth back in his eyes, which are slowly returning back to a blue-green-gray mixture. His expression is mixed with concern and kindess, an expression rare for him these days.
"Let me see." He says quietly, gently moving my hand away from my neck and slightly bending his head down and looking at my neck. "Oh my God...I...I did this?"
"Is it that noticeable?" I ask.
"Well there're red marks on your neck that looks like somebody's hand, but it's not too noticeable."
"Great, thanks for nearly choking me to death." I say sarcastically, then take another deep breath. "How do you know I'm not lying?"
"You're my sister, I can just tell."
"You haven't seen me since you were around 11."
"And your point is?" He says to me, standing up straight and offering me a hand.
I struggle to stand up without taking his hand, and then Khan just bends down, grabs my shoulders, and helps me up.
"You're welcome." He says.
"Brig." I say. "Now before they come looking for me." I grab his arm, lead him to the brig and put him in a cell. "Sorry." I say to him. "About all of this."
I start to walk back to the others when I see them walking quickly down the hallway.
"I was just looking for you." I say to them. Jim stops and looks at me.
"What happened?" Jim says.
"'What happened'?" I echo.
"To your neck." He says, looking just below my chin.
"Oh, that's just..."
"Let me see." He says, and tilts my chin up with two fingers, his eyebrows knit together. "Did he do this?" He looks at the red marks on my neck.
I don't answer.
"Damn it Khan!" He says loudly.
"Wait, Jim!" I say, following his quick pace, Uhura and Spock following me.
When we enter the brig, Jim strides right up to the glass of Khan's cell.
"Jim." I say, and grab his shoulder, Jim glares at Khan, then looks at me.
"I was told that Captain Adams wouldn't be hurt." Jim says to Khan.
"It was my fault Jim-"
"No it wasn't." Jim says. "I came in here because you're going to be put back into cryosleep." Jim says to Khan. "And you won't wake up unless I allow it."
