After changing out of their flight suits and making the proper introductions, Jim, Khan, Scotty, and Ana carefully navigated their way through the ship and towards the bridge. Ana had to admit, the ship was very impressive, they had hardly run into any crew members along the way despite the ship's massive size. It truly was a more efficient model than anything else in Starfleet. As the group neared closer and closer to the bridge, Ana felt a less than thrilling feeling overwhelm her system, causing her to stop dead in her tracks.
"Jim, wait."
"What, what's wrong?"
"Something doesn't feel right about this. I don't think we can trust Khan."
"Of course we can't trust Khan. Which is why as soon as we get on the bridge, you're going to drop him. Sound good?"
With still some slight hesitation, Anatalia nodded and the pair continued on and met Scotty and Khan already waiting at the bridge doors.
"Can we get in manually?"
"Already set to go on your order, captain."
"Alright. Khan and I will go in first. Ana, cover us."
With everyone in agreement on the plan, Jim gave the signal to Scotty and the group went charging in, phasers blasting from both sides of the bridge. Thanks to Khan and Ana's skills in particular, Admiral Marcus' crew went down with relative ease. Jim made his way right up to the admiral, phaser locked and loaded, keeping Marcus trapped in his captain's chair. Kirk looked to Anatalia in his peripheral and gave her an almost imperceptible nod which Ana returned in kind before shooting Khan unconscious on the deck of the ship.
"Admiral Marcus, you're under arrest."
"You're not actually going to do this, are you?"
"Why don't you ask Commander Tonks."
Before now, Marcus had barely even registered that anyone aside from Kirk was even in the room. But as his eyes turned slowly to Anatalia, who now also held her phaser pointed at the admiral, more recognition came onto his face.
"Tonks. Your reputation really does precede you. You should've been dead twice by now."
"I'm sure you'd have heard from my mother by now if that had been the case."
"Ah, so you're all caught up I see. It's a shame your mother was never able to see reason. She was one of our top admirals. Might have even taken my place if she weren't so damn short-sighted. But so long as I'm in charge, she'll never see a real Starfleet base ever again."
"Good thing you won't be in charge much longer, asshole." With no hesitation, Ana pulled the trigger on her phaser, sending a shot directly into Marcus' chest just beneath the right shoulder. Both he and Kirk looked back at her in shock.
"Ana! What do you think you're doing?"
"Don't worry. I'm not going to kill him. That's for Khan to do."
"What?"
Before Jim even had time to process it, Anatalia turned her phaser to him and sent a stun shot directly at him, sending her captain to the ground. As she did so, Khan stood from his position on the deck, formerly having pretended to be struck down by Anatalia as planned by the two before even ever leaving the Enterprise. The fear on Marcus' face as Khan made his way to the captain's chair brought an almost terrifying smile to Talia's face.
"Tonks. Tonks, you can't allow this. You are a Starfleet commander and I order you to stop this man. It goes against everything Starfleet believes in."
"So does starting a war with intergalactic species. Besides, if anyone asks, I didn't see a thing. Admiral Marcus's death was a tragic accident as a result of our attempts to stop him from starting an all-out war with the Klingons." With a curt nod of her head, Anatalia signaled for Khan to continue, which he did so gladly, firmly taking Admiral Marcus' face in his hands.
"You should have let me sleep."
Anatalia heard Carol Marcus scream from the side of the bridge as Khan caved in Marcus' skull with his bare hands. It should have repulsed Ana just as much, yet instead she felt an eerie calm overcome her at knowing that Marcus was dead. She relished in it. And part of that terrified her, but the other part enjoyed it. Seemingly pleased with his work, Khan turned back towards Ana with a terrifying grin on his face.
"Thank you, Commander. You've chosen the right side."
"Yeah, well unfortunately that side still isn't yours."
Anatalia sent a stun shot in Khan's direction which he dodged with relative ease. As he swung over the railing dividing the bridge in two, he kicked the phaser out of Anatalia's hand and sent her stumbling back. What followed was one of the most intense lessons in hand-to-hand combat that Anatalia had ever experienced. It brought her small sense of relief every time she was able to land a punch that sent Khan back a step or gave him the need to flex his jaw. But still, she was very clearly losing the fight. A few more punches and she was sure she wouldn't get up again. She saw Jim shift slightly on the opposite side of the bridge but knew he wouldn't be of any real help. It only took one more blow to send Ana to the ground where she would now be staying for as long as Khan would let her. She watched his feet race back to the con in front of the captain's chair and heard the tone of him hailing another ship. Making his way back to the front of the bridge Khan grabbed Ana by her hair and lifted her to lean uncomfortably next to him. Spock appeared on screen. Along with Leonard.
"Tali!"
"I'm going to make this very simple for you, Mister Spock. Your crew for my crew."
"You betrayed us."
"Oh, you are very smart, Mister Spock. Now as I said, give me my crew."
"Spock, don't you fucking dare! I can handle this prick." Khan sent a bone shattering blow into Anatalia's right shoulder, causing a heart wrenching scram to be elicited from her lips, and causing Leonard to tense up even more as well. Even in her newly weakened state, Khan still forced her on her feet as he continued with his demands.
"My crew, Mister Spock."
"And what will you do when you get them?"
"Continue the work we were doing before we were banished."
"Which as I understand it involves the mass genocide of any being you find to be less than superior."
"Shall I kill you, Mister Spock? Shall I kill Commander Tonks? Or will you give me what I want?"
Unable to hold back any longer, Leonard rushed to Spock's side to speak not so quietly into his ear.
"Spock, please. I know there are protocols to follow here, but I am begging you, for once please choose this crew over logic. Do not make me watch the love of my life die, please. Spock, just give him what he wants, consequences be damned. Please." Spock remained silent for a moment as he contemplated Leonard's words, but he knew that Khan wouldn't wait for his answer forever.
"I'm sorry, doctor. But the risk is too great." Turning back to Khan on screen, Spock stood a little taller to show his resolve.
"We have no transporter capabilities."
"Fortunately, mine are perfectly functional. Drop your shields."
Leonard had stopped listening to the conversation from that point on. Panic consumed his entire being as his eyes met Talia's from on screen and he watched as slow tears made their way down her face. She was frightened. There was a more than likely chance that she was about to die, and they both knew it. Leonard shook his head almost imperceptibly to Ana, his own silent way of saying he was sorry. How he could sit by and allow this to happen was beyond him. Talia noticed his pain and gave a sad smile in response, willing herself to be brave and strong for the two of them, her own way of telling him it would be okay. Before either of them knew it, Talia was thrown harshly onto the ground where she let out another pained scream, but was no longer in the eye line of Leonard. Khan made his way to the ship panel of Marcus' bridge and confirmed the transfer of the torpedoes onto his ship.
"Thank you, Mister Spock."
"I have fulfilled your terms. Now fulfill mine."
"Well, Kirk, it seems apt to return you to your crew. After all, no ship should go down without her captain."
Already knowing what would come next, Leonard wasted no time in running to the transporter room to be able to hold Talia in his arms once again. He alerted Evans on his way out to send for more medical staff, as Jim and Carol would also be needing immediate attention, but Tali was the only real person on his mind right now. Jim had been carefully tending to Talia until Bones arrived, trying to reassure her that they were back on the Enterprise, alive for the time being.
"I'm sorry, Jim. I know I shouldn't have let him kill Marcus, but I was just so angry. Everything with my mom, and hell, he tried to get me killed too."
"I know, I know. Don't worry. I won't put it in my report." Anatalia chuckled as much as she could without sending herself into excruciating pain.
"Thank you, Jim. I know we always say that you're Leonard's best friend, but I hope you know that you're mine too."
"Oh, come on. Don't be going soft on me now. We've got a lot of work to do. I need badass Tonks right now, okay?"
"Aye, aye, captain." Jim rolled his eyes at Ana's mocking response but was cut off by the sound of Bones racing in before he was able to respond himself.
"Tali! Tali, darlin, talk to me! How bad is it? Where does it hurt?"
"The question should be where doesn't it hurt. My right shoulder is shattered, I'm sure I have a couple of broken ribs, and I wouldn't be shocked if my face was the size of a cantaloupe."
"But you're alive. Thank God you're alive. I was almost afraid he wouldn't beam you all back in time."
"What do you mean?"
"You were never going to die. Not as long as you got back on this ship. It was all part of the plan, darlin."
"What plan?" As Leonard carried Talia back to med bay on his arm, the sound of Spock's voice suddenly rang out on the ship wide channel.
"Crew of the Enterprise. Prepare for imminent proximity detonation."
"Leonard, what the hell is Spock talking about?!" From her other side where Scotty was carrying Jim, Kirk responded first, suddenly realizing what it was Spock had done.
"The torpedoes. He armed the damn torpedoes."
Upon entering the med bay, the group was immediately surrounded by nurses and doctors from all corners of the space. Leonard started shouting orders to see that Carol and Jim were being attended to while he walked Talia over to one of the open exam beds himself, calling on Nurse Chapel for the impending assistance.
"Just lay back and relax, darlin. I'll try to make this as painless as possible."
"Did you help Spock detonate those torpedoes?"
"Damn right I did."
"Wow. I can't believe he killed Khan's crew."
"Spock may be cold darlin, but he's not that cold. I've got Khan's crew. Seventy-two human popsicles safe in their cryotubes."
"Damn. I am so hot for you right now." Leonard laughed out loud at Ana's sudden statement and Talia admired the way that she could still make him blush even with silly little insinuations.
"Yeah, well unfortunately we won't be engaging in any of that behavior anytime soon. It's a miracle you have no internal bleeding. Still, there's only so much I can do. You'll need at least 4-6 weeks of recovery time anyways."
"Buzzkill." Again, Leonard chuckled lightly at Ana's pouty behavior, but it didn't last long as the Enterprise suddenly tilted nearly 180 degrees, sending anything not tied down in the med bay flying to the other side of the room. Talia would have rolled off the bed had Leonard not acted quickly and stretched himself across the side of the exam bed, causing Ana to jolt into his body instead. She let out an agonizing scream as she rolled back into normal laying position and Leonard was quick to activate the tie downs and assess her for any further potential damage.
"Sorry darlin. Not going to be as painless as I thought."
"I just need something for my shoulder, Len. I can feel the fragments shifting in there. It hurts too much."
"I know, baby. I'll try to get you something for the pain. I promise." Placing a quick kiss to Ana's forehead, Leonard raced away in search of morphine or anything else that could help ease Tali's pain, or at the very least could put her to sleep. He tried not to worry about how the Enterprise was hurtling out of space and closer to the Earth's surface. Finding something that would do the trick for Ana in the chaos of the med bay, Leonard returned to Talia's side and administered the shot without fuss, something she normally wouldn't have allowed had she not been in such pain.
"This might put you to sleep darlin. We'll be safe and sound when you wake up, okay?"
"Promise Len?"
"I promise. I'll see you in few hours. Rest." Not needing any further permission, Talia gratefully closed her eyes and welcomed the sleep that quickly overcame her.