I'm back! Life got in the way, and somehow two years have passed since I updated this. I DO have an ending planned for this. It's the only fic I've written that had a full story line.

I've decided that this story has gotten too long, chapter-wise. So I'm splitting it up. This story will conclude in a few chapters, and then I'll start a sequel along with a major cleanup and rewrite of this story. But more on that later. For now, enjoy!

There was nothing Leo hated more than waiting. She had never been a particularly patient person, something else the scientists blamed on faulty genetic work. And no matter how much she hated to wait, it seemed that lately, all she did was wait.

Thankfully, Wendy had lent the Augment her tablet loaded with several books—both fiction and nonfiction. The science officer had described it once as ancient, which Leo found funny, considering the technology was still far more advanced than she used before the cryosleep. She still preferred a physical book in her hands, no matter how less convenient it was.

She was sitting up in a sterile white hospital bed, perusing Wendy's extensive library, when Dr. McCoy approached her. He didn't bring any guards with him this time, but Leo could tell by his rigid back and long, quick strides that he was still very much on edge around her.

"I'm surprised that you're awake," he said, attempting to make small talk. To anyone else, the doctor would have seemed the perfect balance of professionalism and nonchalance. But Leo wasn't most people. She noticed his little tells. The slight hint of strain in his voice. The way he seemed to hesitate before coming to stand beside the bed—like he was afraid to be within her reach. Out of respect for Wendy, however, she chose to ignore it.

"On the other hand, I'm not really all that surprised," Dr. McCoy continued.

"Thank you for agreeing to do this, doctor," Leo said sincerely. "Even though it doesn't change anything, it's . . . it's one dream realized, at least."

Dr. McCoy eyed her warily, obviously weighing the truth of her words and suspicious of their intent.

"To be honest, the main reason I agreed to this is so that I could have a chance to open one of you Augments up."

Well, it wasn't completely a lie, Leo thought.

"And was everything in the right place?"

Dr. McCoy stared at her for a long moment, so taken aback by her obvious attempt at light-hearted conversation that it was almost insulting.

Almost.

The doctor recovered quickly, although he obviously didn't take the conversation at face value. Something Leo didn't hold against him in the slightest, given everything she and Khan had put him—and the entire crew of the Enterprise—though.

"Yes, everything was in the right place," Dr. McCoy confirmed with an irritation that lacked any real bite. He even attempted to continue the small talk. "Have you found anything interesting? To read, I mean. Wendy mentioned something about you reading through the ship's library already."

Leo opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted as a fully armed security squad came barreling through the med bay doors. A couple of nurses screamed in surprise. It definitely startled everyone, Leo included. Not that she would ever show it. She had grown too lax in the time she had spent on the starship, she thought with a scoff.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What the hell is going on?" Dr. McCoy stalked towards the armed men, clearly protective of the med bay and its staff. Leo suspected that this protection would extend to any of his patients, if his only patient, at the moment, wasn't a superhuman warrior built to kill.

The security team barely glanced at the head medical officer as their eyes scanned the room. Leo continued to watch the scene unfold with mild curiosity.

"There," one of the officers said when he made eye contact with her, tipping his head in her direction. Just in case there was any doubt.

Another officer unclipped his communicator from his belt, and barked into it, "I have eyes on Leo."

"And I have eyes on Khan," was the reply from the other end.

"Hey! Is anyone going to answer my question?" McCoy shouted, quite put out that he'd been ignored.

"Captain said to tell you that he would be by later to explain," the one holding the communicator answered.

McCoy sighed. It wasn't the answer he wanted, but it was better than nothing. He shooed the security team out of the med bay and promptly went back to checking Leo's vitals. She studied him for a moment. Deciding that he was now much too grumpy for conversation, she went back to browsing Wendy's e-library.

"You know, I've never heard of people attempting to use radiation to purposefully cause infertility. Until now, of course."

Leo raised an eyebrow at him. Was he attempting to continue the conversation out of pleasantry? Or was he trying to get her to explain the original process that made her sterile in the first place? Either way, there really was no harm in telling him.

"They wanted to make sure it couldn't be reversed," she explained.

"By 'they,' do you mean the scientists in charge of the eugenics program?"

Leo nodded. Any conversation was interrupted—again—by someone walking into the med bay. This time, it was Kirk himself.

"Sorry about that," the captain said as he walked over to them. Leo had a feeling that the apology was directed more to Dr. McCoy than to her. The doctor let his displeasure be known right away.

"What the hell gave you the brilliant idea to send a fully armed security team crashing into my med bay?"

"Engineering got a notification that one of the shuttles had left its dock," the captain explained.

"So you sent security teams to check and see if your two captives hadn't escaped," Leo finished for him. "It's perfectly logical."

"I had to ensure the safety of my crew. You understand, right?" It was more of a statement than a question, but Leo nodded anyway.

"What about the shuttle?" Dr. McCoy asked.

Kirk let out an exasperated sigh. "False alarm. Turns out there's some sort of problem with the communication between the dock and the main computer. A bug or something. The technicians are working on it."

Leo tuned out the conversation after that. After a brief time, Kirk gave an order for Leo to be transferred back to the brig, even though she'd had surgery less than two hours ago. McCoy only agreed because of her superior recovery speed. That being settled, the captain left.

And so, four hours since she'd arrived in the med bay and less than two hours after major surgery, Leo was back in her cell with Khan.