Chapter 7:

"Harulf what have you done?"

The question hung in the air thickly like a dense suffocating smog as Khan handed over the datapad to his wife, who had come up beside him.

As soon as she saw the information she released a deep shuddering breath.

"I need to see her"

"She won't be awake for another few-" Leonard started to shake his head but Khan's eyes just narrowed as he snapped.

"It wasn't a request doctor"

Leonard sighed. Damn he hated crying women, he never really knew what to do with them. Especially if said distressed woman had a scathing husband breathing down his neck.

"Alright, alright. Fine follow me then. Jim stay with Hawkins; Joanna will be coming out soon so you can drop them both off to the dorms."

"of course" Jim nodded but already the two augments and the doctor were already striding on ahead through the doors, leaving Jim behind with Ronan and Hawke who slumped down into a chair, his head in his hands.

"Why? Why didn't I sense it sooner?" he groaned.

"Boy, it's not your fault. No one was expecting the attack from this kind of angle" Ronan sighed from where he leaned against the wall.

"Forget angle, we weren't expecting an attack at all. It seemed too soon." Jim agreed as he made to sit down beside the younger augment who shook his head.

"it doesn't matter I should have been prepared! First that guy stalking Lay in class and now this!"

Both Ronan and Jim exchanged nervous glances just as the door to the waiting room opened, and Joanna McCoy slouched through.

She was still wearing her clothes from the club, under a white doctor's coat which she quickly shed as she slumped onto Jim's other side.

"Well, she's crashed completely now. Dad and her ma and pa are all in there with her. From the looks of things she'll be out like a light for a while. Dad said to head back to the dorms and wait for news there." She added to Hawke who scowled softly.

"And if she wakes up-"

"Khan wants to speak to her first" Joanna cut across him with a shudder. "but given the stress her body has been under; she probably won't awaken till tomorrow afternoon anyway. And if we do meet her, it would probably be better if we were well rested first"

"…I'll be in the restroom" Hawke snarled and stormed out quickly. Ronan followed his thin pointed face grim.

Once both were out of the room, Joanna sighed heavily.

"Man…what a day…and I still have to go back and finish off an assignment!"

"And I've got to hand in a report" Jim snorted though his smile was quick to fade as she yawned widely.

"So she's really okay?"

Joanna nodded.

"The drug's out of her system and her body is accepting the cure and forming its own antibodies. All we can do now is wait and keep an eye on her condition."

But even as she said this Jim saw that she wasn't looking too overjoyed.

Not that he could blame her.

The house was dark. The furniture all turned over, the glass shards of a few broken windows only visible thanks to the reflections cast by the moon hovering low in the sky.

However, despite the chaotic setting, the air was chilled and quiet, the world holding its breath in anticipation, as a dark haired man struggled to his hands and knees.

"N-no Chim-" he wheezed his desperate streaming eyes looking up pleadingly into the face of the shadow that towered over him.

In its arms a baby boy was wailing furiously, eyes streaming with frightened tears.

It wailed still louder as it's carrier, jammed a phaser against his small blonde head of hair.

"No Stop!" the man on the floor begged "Stop! I did what you wanted! I gave you her blood! Now let my boy go! Please I beg of you!"

"You beg of me Weiss?" the shadow sneered. "you of all people beg. My goodness has this twenty-third century has made you go soft"

A boot suddenly kicked out and hit the man on the floor squarely in the jaw. He hit the ground with a thud that made his infant son whimper louder and struggle harder as he was dragged with the shadow into the darkness.

"Please pass on my regards to Lord Khan."

"No-wait-stop-Chim!"

The lights were flashing, a body writhing against her own and a voice hissing worriedly into her ears over the pounding of a deep base.

"Layla you okay? Can you hear me? Layla!"

Those were some of the last words she could clearly hear as she felt her legs buckle beneath her.

Then they were not on the ground and her head lolled loosely against a strong chest.

She could hear the frantic muffled voices calling out to her as the many coloured lights flashed overhead, a cacophony of colour so distorted she had to close her eyes to stop herself from feeling sick.

Then suddenly she felt her body be wrapped up securely, legs out stretched as if she were lying down.

All around her the voices lowered to deep unfamiliar tones, and as she opened her eyes she was vaguely aware of the roof of a car swaying slightly above where she lay.

Or was it her swaying?

Everything was too blurry…save the feeling of someone's large hand grabbing at her wrist and the familiar jab and sting of something small against her skin.

Then a voice whispered, deep and gravelly and sad and something wet and salty fell onto her cheek from above.

"Please forgive me lord Khan. Please forgive me…please…"

Forgive you?

Layla thought as her eyelids drooped with exhaustion.

But who are you?

"ugh…"

"Layla?"

"Hold it stay back, just give her a second.

The her in the bio bed winced as a light suddenly flashed into being above her eyes.

"w-who" she rasped, her voice sounding as gravelly as if she'd never drunk a drop of water in her life.

She heard a rough male voice give a muffled sigh from somewhere above her.

"Pupils are responding normally. Hearing should be coming back soon"

"McCoy…" she breathed only to cringe as she began coughing hard.

"Whoa easy girl, easy." The older doctor murmured in his gruff but soft tones as he gently pushed her back into the pillows beneath her head.

"I'm na'a horse y'know" she slurred but Leonard only snorted.

"Yeah, you're more of a wild yearling."

"thaz-still an equine"

Leonard "Bones" McCoy sighed heavily as the young girl glowered blearily up at him. Usually when someone woke up from heavy sedation they wouldn't be so alert so quickly. But then again Layla Serena Singh was no ordinary girl.

Indeed, the longer he checked her for physical signs of impairment, the more he found less and less wrong with her. Yes, the drug had addled her body sufficiently enough to leave her exhausted and drained of all energy, but the rest of her organs and brain function appeared to be reverting quickly back to optimum levels.

He leaned back quietly allowing her to look past him as she gingerly turned her head to look past him and into the pale worried faces of both her parents.

Helene was the first by her side, tears trickling down her face as she wiped at her daughter's sweaty brow.

"Oh Layla. We-we're so sorry"

"Mom" Layla pouted as a searing kiss was planted on her forehead. "I'm fine. I'm okay. And it's not your fault so stop crying"

"Argh! Chip of the old block. So stubborn when you're sick" Helene hiccupped but she wiped her eyes as Khan reached forwards and put a hand on her shoulder.

Layla looked up to him and was alarmed to see that he too was looking shaken and pallid, though he held his fear in check behind a stiff jaw.

"How are you feeling?" he asked quietly, his hand reaching out to hold her smaller one carefully.

It would have looked like such a tender moment, but Layla could feel his fingers sliding around searching for her pulse, which was now, thankfully, steady.

"I could be worse" She managed a small smile up at him and was relieved to see his lips quirk upwards briefly. "What happened?"

There was an uncomfortable pause in which Khan glanced briefly at McCoy who after a small pause and a gulp, nodded quietly.

"You have just woken up from heavy sedation-" Khan began, but Layla just rolled her eyes.

"I know that. But why? What was wrong with me? Last I remember clearly I was with Hawke at The Growl and…and…" she trailed off her eyes widening to the size of saucepans.

"Layla" Khan's eyes narrowed suspiciously as she opened her mouth and sucked in a sharp breath.

"Harulf! That f-ing sunovabitch" she hissed, the sound as venomous and scathing as an angry cat. "he drugged me! Drugged me then took my blood-"

"Yes he did" Leonard nodded, releasing a huge breath of relief only to have it stripped from him in an instant "Wait take your blood?! When-"

"-In the ambulance" Layla grunted softly "or at least someone did."

"Did you see their face?" Khan's voice was quiet, but cold, as if made from sharpest ice. All who heard it shuddered, including his wife and Leonard.

Layla however was too caught up in her own thoughts to notice.

"No…" she said finally after a full minute. "No I didn't see a face…but I felt the hypo…and I heard a voice."

"male or female?" Khan asked, still in those same chilling tones.

"Male. Definitely male…but..." And at this her frown softened immensely. "But I don't think he wanted to hurt me."

There was a pause in which both Khan and Helene exchanged worried glances and Leonard's brow furrowed in confusion.

"What makes you say that?" he asked slowly, his anxiety mounting as he saw the young girl open her mouth to answer.

"Because he was begging for father to forgive him"

"What?" Khan blinked.

"Yeah. It was totally weird" Layla nodded "he just kept saying 'Please forgive me lord Khan. Please forgive me.' And then he was crying over me and then I blacked out."

"he was crying?"

Again another round of glances between her visitors and physician.

Layla scowled.

"How long have I been out of it?" she grunted up at Leonard who coughed quickly to disguise his disquiet.

"Nearly a whole twenty-four hours. The amphetamine that you ingested took a while even for your regenerative abilities to repel from your system. Now it's just a case of physically expelling the last traces of it from your system"

"Okay… and how would I go about physically expelling it?" Layla gulped only to groan as the doctor reached down and took out a large bucket and a hypospray filled with a slightly blue translucent liquid.

This was just not her day.

"So…Ericsson has recruited one of the missing ten?"

"It would seem so sir" Jim Kirk nodded as he faced Admiral Christopher Pike, who frowned grimly as he gingerly took a seat behind his desk, motioning to Jim to follow suit.

"And Layla? How is she holding up?"

"Well according to Bones I-I mean Doctor McCoy" Jim coughed cursing himself and his tired brain as he slouched a little where he now sat. "She's awake and stable. She just needs to uh…throw up the rest of the crap in her system"

"poor kid. And on her first week too." Pike stroked his chin, his blue-grey eyes hardening slightly as he looked upon his younger charge "And Khan? What was his reaction to everything so far?"

"Hard to tell." Jim admitted softly. "He was pretty pissed at Hawkins for not being able to keep her out of trouble. But as for how he views Starfleet now…I don't really know. But if I had to guess I'd say he's just too worried about Layla to even think about firing off at us"

"Added to the fact that he's indebted to you as well." Pike murmured a small smirk playing on his lips as Jim looked up at him in confusion. "If I didn't know any better, I'd go so far as to say part of Khan might just be holding out on his anger not only because of his love for his daughter…but as a sign of trust towards you"

"Or his old friend Tiberius" Jim grunted but Pike shook his head.

"Tiberius Kirk is dead Jim. Has been dead for nearly three hundred years. You exist here in the present, and it is your actions now that have played a significant role in even opening up dialogue for a treaty that no one would have ever thought possible. Khan knows this. And even if he doesn't say it out loud I can tell he holds you in high respect as an ally. As does the kid. Jim, it doesn't take an augmented superior mind to see that you care for her. It doesn't even take a half intelligent mind to see that your actions in regards to her wellbeing have saved her life more than once and in more than one way."

Jim pursed his lips. Barely a few months ago he would have lapped up the praise like an excitable dog that had just fetched the moon for its master. He would have basked in his glory and cockily declared in mock modesty that his achievement was easily achieved.

Now however, he found himself feeling shame bubbling in his gut. Shame because it was his previous arrogance and ignorance that had caused the terrible events that in turn had made those achievements possible.

"With all due respect Chris." He gulped finally after a long pause "I believe it's more the other way around. If it weren't for Layla, neither I nor Khan would ever be able to even work together let alone stand in the same room at all. She's a good kid. She's got heart and spirit, and yeah she has a few issues, but with the right training and the right help from the right people, she could be something-something-"

"Something great?" Pike sighed heavily.

"Jim I am glad you have learned of the virtue of humility, but be careful you don't start confusing it with shame and under-confidence. Whether you see it or not, you are one of the right people Layla Singh needs, and it will be up to you to help her grow and mature. It won't be easy, and sometimes it will feel like she's drifting too far down the wrong path for you to reach. But if you are patient and never give up on her, the rewards will certainly be worth it and she'll make you proud…just as proud as I am of you."

Jim felt his ears go red as he looked into the eyes of his old mentor. The pride in those blue-grey orbs was so warm it could melt the polar ice caps, even though Pike kept it all schooled behind a small victorious smirk.

After-all it wasn't every day someone managed to make Jim Kirk speechless.

To say Layla was nervous to be going back to her Academy classes in the middle of the week was an understatement.

Truth be told she was more than terrified at how much muttering was going to happen now.

It had been bad enough last week, what with her new reputation as the young genius of her year group.

Now she would have the victim of drug spiking to add to that list.

I wonder just how much of a damsel in distress I'm gonna look?

She gulped as she quietly followed Joanna down to breakfast, letting the older girl fuss over her and all the work she had missed out on so far.

Not that any of it really mattered much to her. During her two days of rest (after throwing up the rest of that vile drug from her system) she had received a message from Commander Spock, detailing all the homework she had and would miss out on, in addition to notes made by Joanna, Hawke and even a couple of sympathetic classmates.

Layla had been surprised, but glad at the gesture, as now she was not sitting bored out of her mind in a bio bed with nothing more than her father's followers for company.

It wasn't as if their conversations weren't engaging, but Khan and McCoy had both been adamant about letting her physically excite her body so soon.

Even now as she took her seat next to Hawke in the mess hall for breakfast, she was being forced to sit down quietly as Joanna hopped up to get food, people staring unabashedly at her from other tables, murmuring and pointing as surreptitiously as they could.

"You okay?" Hawke murmured in her ear as he granted her his usual morning peck on the forehead.

"Fine. Just excited to eat actual food" she smiled softly as she leaned into his side.

"How are you? I heard father's been grilling you badly since Friday"

"As he should" Hawke bristled uncomfortably, his grip tightening around her shoulder slightly "I screwed up in my duties. I was supposed to keep on the look out to keep you safe. Instead I let myself get distracted."

"What can I say, I'm quite the distraction"

Layla didn't know what had made her say it. All she knew was that she couldn't bear to see his face looking so forlorn and guilty and that she didn't want to see him looking like that again.

Needless to say she was glad to see her boyfriend actually gawk a little down at her in surprise as she leaned up to kiss a point just under his ear. But the moment of victory was short lived as with a swift move, he cupped her cheek and brought her mouth to his in a searing kiss.

"Seriously Hawkins, if you wanted to snog your girlfriend, couldn't you wait till after breakfast!" a voice called and both Layla and Hawke jumped round to see a dark human male and a Caitian male with a long ginger mane, both smirking as they sat themselves down on the opposite end of the table.

"Oh come now Louis," the Caitian chuckled in a deep throaty but soothing voice. "Let them enjoy the morning while it lasts. Rumour has it that the higher ups are arranging an assembly for this afternoon."

"An assembly? For what?" Layla frowned curiously, but the Caitian only shrugged.

"I do not know. I only heard there was an assembly. The name's Sharoo. And you I take it are the famous Layla McGivers" He added extending a furry hand to Layla who shook it, vaguely reminded of the feel of her pet cat Hubble's paws. Damn she missed that critter, but she squashed her wistfulness down swiftly as she let go of Sharoo's hand and snorted sardonically.

"Famous? You make me blush"

"Don't worry we only heard the good things" Louis grinned as he too extended a hand. "Louis Strongarm. Helm/Navigations major. My friend Sharoo here is in Communications. And you McGivers"

"Not yet gotten there but I hope to start an Intelligence major next semester" Layla stated, only to feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

She turned to face the source, only to see a table of nervous seniors quickly turn away to murmur in a huddle.

With a sigh she turned back, only to see Sharoo's sympathetic stare.

"It does take some getting used to doesn't it?" He rumbled in his purring feline voice.

"Sure does" Layla grumbled "Will it ever stop?"

"Doubtful, I have been here for a semester and people still stare at us when we walk together to class" Sharoo murmured but Louis grinned.

"Only because they are in awe of my handsome face"

"Sure they are Louis sure" Hawke smirked as with a roguish wink to Layla he reclined back in his chair and ran a hand through his short white blonde locks.

"Woah hold up on the supermodel poses birdbrain before you poke someone's eye out" A new voice piped in and everyone looked up to see Joanna standing there with two trays in her hands.

"My dad told me you'd need to take it easy on the food so I got you some soup."

"And here I thought I'd actually get to eat something" Layla scowled, even as she took the plate.

"Keep that down and maybe I'll let you have some bread with it next time" Joanna grinned wickedly as she received a scathing glower in return.

All three of the men around them chuckled as they sat down to eat, not noticing the lone figure in the table behind them slip away like a shadow.

"So…one of our own did this"

"Yes. They did"

"But who-"

"I don't know! But rest assured I will make them pay for this crime."

Ronan sighed heavily as his leader and brother in law turned his back and stalked off to stand over the kitchen countertop.

He had been like this all morning ever since his daughter had returned back to Starfleet last night. Raging around in a foul temper, shouting in impatience, murmuring darkly about revenge and payment under his breath. Even Helene hadn't been able to soothe his mind as he worriedly paced the apartment for hours at a time like a tiger prowling around it's cage.

Not that Ronan could blame him.

After all his daughter had almost died a few days ago and no one had spotted hide nor hair of the perpetrator.

And speaking of the culprit…

"Lord Khan…perhaps we should consider your daughter's account of what happened before we jump to any conclusion. If what she says is true then it may be possible that the culprit might just be as much a victim as she is, if not more so."

The murderous gleam in Khan's eyes softened slightly at the mention of his child and it was with a slightly gentler tone that he addressed his loyal follower.

"I have already taken that into consideration Ronan. Believe me I have, but can you not see just how much worse that makes the situation. Can you not see how despicable it is that someone has coerced one of our own people into destroying ourselves?"

"Yes but raging on without proof is going to get us nowhere" Ronan sighed heavily before turning to face the lounge behind him "and neither is sitting and sulking going to do the trick either sister"

"I am not sulking. I'm analysing. And I would be able to concentrate better if you both stopped bickering like two old women" the feminine voice of Helene snapped waspishly from one of the chairs where she sat with a datapad in her hands.

"What are you analyzing?" Khan strode over to his wife only to frown as he caught sight of the information on the page.

"Personal data files?"

"Of the missing ten" Helene drawled as she clicked backwards through the folders. "Of all of them only two would most likely have reason to be coerced by Harulf to join his fold."

She clicked on two of the folders with a finger each and opened them.

Khan's eyes widened, though with fury or shock it was hard to tell anymore.

"Good god what a day" Layla groaned softly as she sat herself down on her bed.

It was the end of the academy day, and she was alone. Apparently Leonard McCoy had demanded her hand to hand fighting instructor, Lieutenant Commander Giotto, to not let her participate in any strenuous physical exercise for at least a week.

This included being locked out of pretty much every gym on campus too.

Hence why she was now trying to kill time alone and secured in her dorm while Joanna went to quickly pick up some snacks from the vending machine downstairs, her mind mulling over what she had just heard at the assembly held straight after lunch.

The whole academy board had been present and had stared the student body down as Admiral Barnett addressed them all with some very grim news.

A Starfleet Cadet reported missing a few days ago had just recently turned up dead, his body lying in the San Francisco bay, just barely a kilometre away from the club Layla had just visited last Friday.

The victim was, in the most morbidly curious form of fate, the very Caitian cadet Joanna had once told her about when trying to warn her about her stalker Schmidt.

Schmidt…

Layla shuddered as she remembered the man's keen stare on the back of her head during the assembly.

She still wasn't quite sure of what to make of him.

A jackass maybe, but a murderer…

Could be more than one person.

She reasoned in her head as she rested her head on her pillow and shut her eyes.

He does hang out with a rather rough crowd. One of them could be responsible…

But who?

Something cold wrapped around her mouth and her eyes flew open.

"What the-" she squeaked, her arms thrashing out and flailing about her.

But whoever was holding her mouth was fast to grab her arms…but not fast enough to grab her legs.

With a sharp flick her foot struck backwards into her captor's stomach, sending them flying back off of her and onto the floor where they struggled to all fours.

In the instant they released her, Layla was on her feet, the pocket knife she had taken to hiding under her pillow held out ready to strike as she lunged for her opponent straddling them and pinning them to the floor.

"Wait stop! Stop milady! I can explain"

There was a pause as Layla looked down upon her attacker, her eyes finally seeing his face.

He appeared to be in his mid to late thirties, dark haired and browed, and tanned skin. His dark eyes were pinpricks of surprise as he looked up at her in shock.

But his surprise was nothing compared to Layla's.

For as his face came into view, her hand stilled against the point she had been prepared to slice at his neck and her hands let go of the ones she had pinned up above his head.

She knew that face.

She knew it from the countless times she had spent studying the list of her father's followers.

One of the missing ten.

And, if the records were to be believed, one of her father's most trusted men.

"Joaquin Weiss?"

TADAA! I'm back! with a vengeance! LOLZ

but seriously i am glad to get back into the swing of this fandom, especially since ST:Beyond came out. I just saw it last weekend and i'm still super stoked and pumped with new inspiration for where i want this fic to go X)

anyways hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and keep reviewing if you want more 3