tame this animal i have become, Chapter 3/10, Rated M, Kirk/Khan
Title: tame this animal I have become
Author: larienelengasse
Pairing: Kirk/Khan, Spock, Uhura, Bones, Scotty, Chekov
Universe: STID - Star Trek Reboot
Rating: NC-17 for violence and sex
Beta: alexcat
Artist: elladansgirl
Warnings: implied torture, violence, remembered canonical character death, & angst.
Author’s Note: Written for the oeam_bigbang. Takes place after the events in Star Trek: Into Darkness. Title from the song “Animal I Have Become” by Three Days Grace; the lyrics fit my vision of Khan and Kirk’s relationship.
Summary: Sometimes a man has to take a stand. Sometimes he has to choose to his enemies over his allegiances. And sometimes doing the right thing changes a person.
Chapter Three
It was simple, as plans went. Khan and his crew were being held at Hangar One, awaiting transport to an undisclosed medical research facility. They were primarily interested in Khan because he was the most successful result of the augment program; his genetics were the benchmark upon which all others were created. He was the first successful result, and the best of his kind.
Hangar One was a heavily guarded, shielded facility. They could not beam Khan and his people out without bringing the entire system down, and that was, for all intents and purposes, impossible given their current resources. So, the only other way to free them was to physically remove them from the facility and they couldn’t get them all out at once, not without Khan’s help. Spock surmised that once Khan was freed, Starfleet would likely move his people in order to prevent a further attempt to free them. At the very least they would double security. Breaking them all out would be near to impossible, but not quite, not with the right knowledge and resources.
A body swap would never work. Khan’s biology was unique and not replicable to them with their current resources and time. So the plan was to convince the Section 31 officials that Khan’s body was stolen - entirely plausible given its value - and subsequently destroyed in the explosion that would result as the “thieves” were pursued.
Mr. Scott found a large cargo shuttle and modified it to look like a Federation supplier then loaded it with enough explosives to leave nothing behind. Kirk, through some of the less than appropriate connections he had prior to joining Starfleet, procured false identification as civilians for them all except Spock. Due to his unique physiology and the fact that there were only a handful of Vulcans left, relatively speaking, disguising Spock was untenable. On the way into the facility, through security check, Spock would hide in a cargo container designed by Scotty that shielded any life signs within, and they would use that container to smuggle both Spock and Khan out.
The problem was getting Khan out of the holding bay before they got caught. In their zeal to begin capitalizing on the restorative properties of Khan’s blood, Section 31 officials had already brought him out of cryosleep and started siphoning some off. He was monitored night and day.
Bones “borrowed” the necessary drugs and equipment to keep Khan sedated after leaving the med bay, and Spock wrote a program that mimicked Khan’s vitals to keep those watching the monitors believing he was still connected to the equipment even after he was disconnected. Scotty built a device that overwrote the video signal from the camera in Khan’s room that would play the last image of him before they entered the room on a loop. They would not know Khan was missing until it was too late, if all went according to plan.
The medical staff physically checked on Khan every hour on the hour. This left Bones less than ten minutes to get him disconnected from the transfusion system and monitors and ensure he remained thoroughly sedated while Spock overwrote the systems to preserve continuity. They then had to smuggle him out in a cargo bin and depart Hangar One before someone realized Khan was gone.
They would rendezvous with a civilian shuttle that had transporter capability, and an automation program that Scotty designed would pilot the cargo vessel, steering it clear of civilized areas and blowing it up once the pursuit got intense enough. The Federation would believe the thieves and Khan were dead and there would be no evidence at the scene other than some of Khan’s blood, and DNA procured by Bones that would be identified as multiple John Does.
The plan was plausible enough, though risky. Once clear of the fray, Kirk, and Bones would beam to a secret location with an unconscious Khan, and Scotty and Spock would return via the shuttlecraft to Starfleet HQ, hopefully with no one noticing they had been gone. Scotty would wipe the coordinates from the shuttle’s transporter while Spock manipulated the navigation data to look as if they had been on a routine trip to resupply the Enterprise.
The first problem was the nosy guard they encountered once they were inside Hangar One, who insisted on inspecting the inside of the cargo container even after scanning it. Spock dealt with him quickly, and they secured him where he wouldn’t be found until he woke much later. Kirk lifted the man’s communicator so he could monitor security as they proceeded down the corridor and into the makeshift med bay.
The second problem was the effect Khan was having on Kirk now that the augment’s higher brain function had been restored and he was partially conscious. The closer they grew to Khan, the more disoriented Kirk felt. What had previously been a disembodied voice in his mind was now also emotion that flooded over him, nearly drowning his own feelings out. He needed to touch Khan; to speak to him, reassure him, soothe the pain and anguish that was rolling over him in waves. Kirk had seen Khan’s grief in the brig, but now he felt it too and that quelled any doubt that what he had seen back then was real.
In his mind, Kirk said: I’m coming for you. That seemed to dampen the anguish, but the urgent need for Khan to be free was not diminished.
“Jim, are you alright?” Bones asked quietly.
Kirk shook his head. “Yeah. Why?”
“You look like you’re about to pass out.”
Kirk suddenly realized that he was leaning heavily against the wall, though he still moved forward as if pulled. “It’s… I’m fine.” He gritted his teeth and stood up, moving forward, following the draw, his footsteps quickening. “Come on, time’s running out.”
Bones worked quickly upon reaching Khan. Spock’s focus was on the panel before him, his fingers moving so quickly that Kirk almost couldn’t follow them. Scotty watched the security monitors for the medical staff that would soon return.
“Ready,” Bones said, looking to Spock for the signal to disconnect Khan. He glanced sideways at Kirk, who stood by Khan’s side, staring down at the augment’s face. What he couldn’t see, because Kirk was on the other side of Khan’s body, was that Kirk was holding Khan’s hand.
I’m here; I’ve got you. We’re getting you out of here. Kirk thought, wondering if the augment could read his mind because he felt an almost imperceptible flexing of Khan’s fingers, as if the augment was trying to squeeze his hand.
Bones frowned at the monitors and Kirk caught the Doctor’s expression out of the corner of his eye.
“What is it?” Kirk asked.
“It’s . . . it’s as if he’s fighting,” Bones said. He looked up to Kirk. “It’s like he’s fighting to wake up.”
“Is that normal?” Kirk asked.
“Since when does normal apply to this one?” Bones asked. “They’ve pumped enough sedative into him to keep an Algorian Mammoth down and still he’s struggling.”
“Did you bring enough with you to keep him out?” Kirk asked.
“Yeah, that and then some, just in case. We’re going to have to step this up,” he said to Spock. “They’re going to see the change in his vitals and come sooner than we planned.”
Kirk nodded and looked down at Khan. He thought he saw a frown on the augment’s features.
“Ready to disconnect him, Doctor?” Spock asked.
Bones nodded and unplugged Khan as Spock activated the program. The monitors continued to beep and register Khan’s normal vitals without so much as a blip.
“We need to get out of here,” Scotty urged. “We’ve got less than twenty minutes left before the detail comes back around and then we’re done for.”
Kirk nodded to Bones and they lifted the augment’s body off the bed and gently folded him into the cargo locker. Kirk looked at Spock, who looked at Khan with suspicion.
“I calculate the chances of Mr. Singh waking before we reach the shuttle at 48.3 percent,” he said as he climbed into the locker with Khan and accepted the sedatives from the doctor. “If he does and I am unable to administer the sedative in time,” he looked up at Kirk, “I will have to kill him.”
Kirk nodded grimly. Spock would not survive another attack by Khan if he fully regained consciousness; he barely survived the last one. And as desperate as Kirk felt to get Khan out of there, he wouldn’t let the augment kill his friend.
“Give him the first dose in twenty minutes,” Bones said. “The second one another twenty minutes after that. By then, we should be at the shuttle.”
“Understood,” Spock said, then he nodded to Kirk as he closed the cargo locker.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Scotty piloted the cargo ship and Bones sat up front with him. Kirk stayed in the cargo area, one hand on the container that contained his best friend and the man that had driven him to risk everything he had. They successfully departed Hangar One and rendezvoused with the shuttlecraft. Scotty executed the autopilot program and they watched the cargo shuttle pull away and head away from the city at full speed.
Jim had retained the communicator belonging to the security officer, so he heard when they discovered that Khan was missing and gave chase to the cargo ship. He also heard when it exploded closer to civilization than he would have liked, but apparently there were no civilian casualties. Once they were far enough away from surveillance to stop, Scotty put the coordinates into the transporter and watched his friends and Khan dematerialize.
Kirk, Bones, and Khan were beamed to a remote location in the wilds of Alberta, Canada, deep in the woods.
“A little help here?” Kirk grunted as he lifted Khan from the bin.
Bones grabbed one arm and helped Kirk drag Khan into a rustic cabin that was very much off the grid. No electricity, no communication systems, and no government water source - it was completely independent. It did not exist on any official property records. They would be cut off with the exception of the data pad that Kirk carried that contained an encrypted signal that didn’t allow tracing. He could check in with the crew and assure them that Khan hadn’t murdered him, and he could keep tabs on the hunt for Khan, if the authorities didn’t believe their original scenario.
Kirk leaned against the wall, watching as Bones checked Khan’s vitals and administered the final drug to bring him out of his chemically induced coma.
“He’ll be awake in about fifteen minutes,” Bones said.
“How awake?”
“Hard to tell. A normal human would be very weak and groggy. With this freak, who knows?” Bones looked at Kirk. “I’d keep a phaser on him.”
“Duly noted, Doctor,” Kirk said. He stepped forward and put his hand on Bones’ shoulder as the doctor stood up. “I owe you.”
“You sure as hell do,” Bones grumbled.
“Now get out of here. You’re not on leave.”
“There’s no way in hell I’m leaving you here with him alone,” Bones said.
“Yes, you are,” Kirk said, then he tapped his communicator, placed it on Bones’ shirt, and watched as his old friend was transported back to San Francisco, bitching as he dematerialized.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Khan woke, taking a deep breath as his eyes opened. In the place of monitors and medical equipment, he heard birds singing. Instead of the bright white lights of the medical bay burning through his eyelids, he saw the golden brown tone of wood planks on the ceiling.
He realized he was no longer physically restrained, and he sat up slowly; the bed creaked as he moved. He was in the bedroom of a twenty-first century dwelling, and the only other being there was James T. Kirk.
“I am impressed, Captain,” Khan said. His voice felt odd, the words coming out slower than he intended. He had been drugged, which was no surprise.
“Are you?” Kirk asked, the sound of the augment’s voice in his ears rather than just his mind causing his heart to speed up and several emotions to war inside him at once.
“You managed to break me out of a secure medical facility.” Khan flexed his fingers and felt a numb tingling in his limbs.
“You knew where you were?”
“Of course. I was more awake than they realized. I heard everything.” He cocked his head and regarded the haggard Captain carefully. “I tried to kill you, once,” he said slowly sliding his legs over the side of the bed. He could barely feel his feet.
“You did, indirectly,” Kirk answered. He sat on a table near the window, his hand resting on a phaser.
“Yet, you are here.”
“Thanks to you. Well, thanks to your blood, to be more specific.”
That explained many things for Khan. He raised his chin and asked: “Where are we? This is not a secure Starfleet facility.”
“We’re at a fishing cabin.”
“And how many officers surround this cabin?”
“Enough to put you down, all armed.”
“That is unlikely. You could only use those most loyal to you. No others would risk their careers. And why are there none here in the room with us?”
“You have no idea how many loyal officers I have, Khan.” Kirk said, lifting the phaser off the table. “We’re alone because this conversation is for our ears only. Now, you are going to sit there and listen to me, and you’re going to behave yourself, or I will stun your ass into oblivion and drop you right back in that medical bay. You make one move on me, or any of my officers, and I will let those ghouls in Section 31 drain you for an eternity. You hear me?”
Khan smiled but it wasn’t a warm smile in the slightest. “I hear you.”
“I’ve done quite a bit of research on you, Khan.”
“I am flattered.”
“Don’t be. According to the records, augments believe that humans are weak and some believe we deserve to be destroyed.”
“My experiences with your kind have born your weaknesses out, Captain.”
“Is that so? Then why didn’t you destroy all those under your rule in the 20th Century?”
“They were no threat.”
“No, but they were inferior. Or maybe not. If they were truly inferior you wouldn’t have lost power.”
“I did not lose power. I abdicated-”
“But the others of your kind did lose power.”
“They were outnumbered-”
“They were fighting amongst themselves.”
“It is true that there were those among us who lacked wisdom,” Khan answered, staring coldly at Kirk.
“But you didn’t,” Kirk said. “You were the best of your kind - that’s what the record says. You never initiated a military conflict, but you defended your borders and the people within them. When it was all too far gone, you took your followers and abandoned the planet. You put their safety above your own ambition. Had you all banded together, you could have easily defeated the rebellion.”
“What is your point, Captain?”
“I suspect that there is more to you than you have led me to believe.”
“Oh, I assure you, Captain. You do not know me at all.”
Kirk smiled. “I’m banking on that.”
With the phaser, he motioned toward a glass that sat on the bedside table. “Drink that.”
Khan picked it up and drained the glass dry. He felt his limbs go heavy. He suspected it was a sedative, one designed to make him weak but not render him unconscious immediately. As his hand flopped to the bed beside him he smiled. “You do not have armed security officers to protect you.”
“Nope.”
“It is just you and I.”
“Yep. I thought it best that we were alone when I told you.”
Khan cocked his head and raised it to look at the Captain who now stood over him.
“Told me what?” he asked, still wearing that cold smile.
“That your crew is alive, and I know where they are.”
The smile faded from Khan’s face. “You lie.”
“Well, yes. I do from time to time, but I’m not lying about that.”
“I will require proof.”
“I thought you might,” Kirk said. He held up his data pad and showed Khan the security footage that Scotty had hacked into. There on the screen were sixty-three cryotubes and ten armed security officers guarding them.
Khan looked stunned. “They are alive,” he said softly. “The torpedoes…”
“Spock lies too, by omission anyway. He is half human, after all. He had their bodies removed before allowing you to beam the torpedoes off of the Enterprise. As they detonated, your crew was safe aboard my ship.”
“They are alive,” Khan repeated.
“Yes. And I intend to see they stay that way,” Kirk answered. “We are not murderers.”
“And in return?” Khan glared up at him.
“Once the dust has settled from our little prison break, we will figure out how to break them out and get you all out of here.”
“What do you ask for in return?”
“Nothing.”
Khan, for the first time in Kirk’s estimation, was confounded.
“Why would you do such a thing after everything I have done? You swore to make me answer for my crimes.”
Kirk sighed. “I understand now that you will never stand trial. If you are to stay here, then you will always be…”
“A slave?” Khan asked, his voice laden with hate.
“Yes.”
“So you are willing to set me free then, let me go after I have murdered thousands of innocent civilians?”
“I am. This has to end. Revenge never tastes sweet, no matter what they say.”
“How do you know I will not continue my crusade?”
“I guess I don’t. But you said that all you wanted was your people. I can give that to you. I can give you your freedom.” Khan frowned and Kirk smiled. For once, he had the upper hand. “You’re confused. You don’t understand why I would do this.”
Khan looked at Kirk with suspicion.
“I’m doing this because I believe you are better, as you said. Better than me, better than Starfleet, better than all of us. I believe that the rage and hatred you have shown us since you were woken was truly a response to your circumstances. And well, your genetics.”
“Meaning?”
“There is a defect in your DNA sequencing that causes the tendency for extreme violence.” Kirk bent over and placed his hands on his knees and looked deep into Khan’s eyes. “If someone held my crew captive, I would do anything to save them, and I’d get dammed violent if I had to. So in that way, you were right. You and I are not so different.” Kirk stood up again. “I believe that you can move past your impulse to kill. I believe you can truly be better than all of us, and my crew and I can help you.”
“And by helping me, you help yourself,” Khan said.
“What do you mean?” Kirk asked.
“Save me, save my people, prove you are a hero and regain your place amongst Starfleet command.”
“Hardly,” Kirk turned and looked out the window.
“Why?”
“I broke you out of that holding facility. Section 31 operates with impunity at the highest levels of Starfleet Command. I have stolen something that belongs to them. They won’t even bother to court martial me. They’ll just arrange for an accident.”
“Then why do it?”
“Because you love your crew and you have been dealt a shitty hand. You can love, Khan. That is a very human emotion. All this time your DNA has gotten in its way.” Kirk looked back at Khan. “That and I didn’t join Starfleet to cover up unethical and inhumane experimentation.”
“You do have a conscience.”
“Yeah, it appears I do.” He looked thoughtfully at Khan. “Admiral Marcus was batshit crazy, but he was right. War is coming. You told me that you were created to lead people to peace in a time of war. I’m betting that you could do just that, and we just might need your help, someday.”
Khan’s eyes slid closed at last as the drug permeated his system. Kirk cradled Khan’s head in his hand, guiding the augment to lie down on his side.
“Sweet dreams, Khan,” he said, and then he left Khan sleeping in his bed.
Chapter Four
Author: larienelengasse
Pairing: Kirk/Khan, Spock, Uhura, Bones, Scotty, Chekov
Universe: STID - Star Trek Reboot
Rating: NC-17 for violence and sex
Beta: alexcat
Artist: elladansgirl
Warnings: implied torture, violence, remembered canonical character death, & angst.
Author’s Note: Written for the oeam_bigbang. Takes place after the events in Star Trek: Into Darkness. Title from the song “Animal I Have Become” by Three Days Grace; the lyrics fit my vision of Khan and Kirk’s relationship.
Summary: Sometimes a man has to take a stand. Sometimes he has to choose to his enemies over his allegiances. And sometimes doing the right thing changes a person.
Chapter Three
It was simple, as plans went. Khan and his crew were being held at Hangar One, awaiting transport to an undisclosed medical research facility. They were primarily interested in Khan because he was the most successful result of the augment program; his genetics were the benchmark upon which all others were created. He was the first successful result, and the best of his kind.
Hangar One was a heavily guarded, shielded facility. They could not beam Khan and his people out without bringing the entire system down, and that was, for all intents and purposes, impossible given their current resources. So, the only other way to free them was to physically remove them from the facility and they couldn’t get them all out at once, not without Khan’s help. Spock surmised that once Khan was freed, Starfleet would likely move his people in order to prevent a further attempt to free them. At the very least they would double security. Breaking them all out would be near to impossible, but not quite, not with the right knowledge and resources.
A body swap would never work. Khan’s biology was unique and not replicable to them with their current resources and time. So the plan was to convince the Section 31 officials that Khan’s body was stolen - entirely plausible given its value - and subsequently destroyed in the explosion that would result as the “thieves” were pursued.
Mr. Scott found a large cargo shuttle and modified it to look like a Federation supplier then loaded it with enough explosives to leave nothing behind. Kirk, through some of the less than appropriate connections he had prior to joining Starfleet, procured false identification as civilians for them all except Spock. Due to his unique physiology and the fact that there were only a handful of Vulcans left, relatively speaking, disguising Spock was untenable. On the way into the facility, through security check, Spock would hide in a cargo container designed by Scotty that shielded any life signs within, and they would use that container to smuggle both Spock and Khan out.
The problem was getting Khan out of the holding bay before they got caught. In their zeal to begin capitalizing on the restorative properties of Khan’s blood, Section 31 officials had already brought him out of cryosleep and started siphoning some off. He was monitored night and day.
Bones “borrowed” the necessary drugs and equipment to keep Khan sedated after leaving the med bay, and Spock wrote a program that mimicked Khan’s vitals to keep those watching the monitors believing he was still connected to the equipment even after he was disconnected. Scotty built a device that overwrote the video signal from the camera in Khan’s room that would play the last image of him before they entered the room on a loop. They would not know Khan was missing until it was too late, if all went according to plan.
The medical staff physically checked on Khan every hour on the hour. This left Bones less than ten minutes to get him disconnected from the transfusion system and monitors and ensure he remained thoroughly sedated while Spock overwrote the systems to preserve continuity. They then had to smuggle him out in a cargo bin and depart Hangar One before someone realized Khan was gone.
They would rendezvous with a civilian shuttle that had transporter capability, and an automation program that Scotty designed would pilot the cargo vessel, steering it clear of civilized areas and blowing it up once the pursuit got intense enough. The Federation would believe the thieves and Khan were dead and there would be no evidence at the scene other than some of Khan’s blood, and DNA procured by Bones that would be identified as multiple John Does.
The plan was plausible enough, though risky. Once clear of the fray, Kirk, and Bones would beam to a secret location with an unconscious Khan, and Scotty and Spock would return via the shuttlecraft to Starfleet HQ, hopefully with no one noticing they had been gone. Scotty would wipe the coordinates from the shuttle’s transporter while Spock manipulated the navigation data to look as if they had been on a routine trip to resupply the Enterprise.
The first problem was the nosy guard they encountered once they were inside Hangar One, who insisted on inspecting the inside of the cargo container even after scanning it. Spock dealt with him quickly, and they secured him where he wouldn’t be found until he woke much later. Kirk lifted the man’s communicator so he could monitor security as they proceeded down the corridor and into the makeshift med bay.
The second problem was the effect Khan was having on Kirk now that the augment’s higher brain function had been restored and he was partially conscious. The closer they grew to Khan, the more disoriented Kirk felt. What had previously been a disembodied voice in his mind was now also emotion that flooded over him, nearly drowning his own feelings out. He needed to touch Khan; to speak to him, reassure him, soothe the pain and anguish that was rolling over him in waves. Kirk had seen Khan’s grief in the brig, but now he felt it too and that quelled any doubt that what he had seen back then was real.
In his mind, Kirk said: I’m coming for you. That seemed to dampen the anguish, but the urgent need for Khan to be free was not diminished.
“Jim, are you alright?” Bones asked quietly.
Kirk shook his head. “Yeah. Why?”
“You look like you’re about to pass out.”
Kirk suddenly realized that he was leaning heavily against the wall, though he still moved forward as if pulled. “It’s… I’m fine.” He gritted his teeth and stood up, moving forward, following the draw, his footsteps quickening. “Come on, time’s running out.”
Bones worked quickly upon reaching Khan. Spock’s focus was on the panel before him, his fingers moving so quickly that Kirk almost couldn’t follow them. Scotty watched the security monitors for the medical staff that would soon return.
“Ready,” Bones said, looking to Spock for the signal to disconnect Khan. He glanced sideways at Kirk, who stood by Khan’s side, staring down at the augment’s face. What he couldn’t see, because Kirk was on the other side of Khan’s body, was that Kirk was holding Khan’s hand.
I’m here; I’ve got you. We’re getting you out of here. Kirk thought, wondering if the augment could read his mind because he felt an almost imperceptible flexing of Khan’s fingers, as if the augment was trying to squeeze his hand.
Bones frowned at the monitors and Kirk caught the Doctor’s expression out of the corner of his eye.
“What is it?” Kirk asked.
“It’s . . . it’s as if he’s fighting,” Bones said. He looked up to Kirk. “It’s like he’s fighting to wake up.”
“Is that normal?” Kirk asked.
“Since when does normal apply to this one?” Bones asked. “They’ve pumped enough sedative into him to keep an Algorian Mammoth down and still he’s struggling.”
“Did you bring enough with you to keep him out?” Kirk asked.
“Yeah, that and then some, just in case. We’re going to have to step this up,” he said to Spock. “They’re going to see the change in his vitals and come sooner than we planned.”
Kirk nodded and looked down at Khan. He thought he saw a frown on the augment’s features.
“Ready to disconnect him, Doctor?” Spock asked.
Bones nodded and unplugged Khan as Spock activated the program. The monitors continued to beep and register Khan’s normal vitals without so much as a blip.
“We need to get out of here,” Scotty urged. “We’ve got less than twenty minutes left before the detail comes back around and then we’re done for.”
Kirk nodded to Bones and they lifted the augment’s body off the bed and gently folded him into the cargo locker. Kirk looked at Spock, who looked at Khan with suspicion.
“I calculate the chances of Mr. Singh waking before we reach the shuttle at 48.3 percent,” he said as he climbed into the locker with Khan and accepted the sedatives from the doctor. “If he does and I am unable to administer the sedative in time,” he looked up at Kirk, “I will have to kill him.”
Kirk nodded grimly. Spock would not survive another attack by Khan if he fully regained consciousness; he barely survived the last one. And as desperate as Kirk felt to get Khan out of there, he wouldn’t let the augment kill his friend.
“Give him the first dose in twenty minutes,” Bones said. “The second one another twenty minutes after that. By then, we should be at the shuttle.”
“Understood,” Spock said, then he nodded to Kirk as he closed the cargo locker.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Scotty piloted the cargo ship and Bones sat up front with him. Kirk stayed in the cargo area, one hand on the container that contained his best friend and the man that had driven him to risk everything he had. They successfully departed Hangar One and rendezvoused with the shuttlecraft. Scotty executed the autopilot program and they watched the cargo shuttle pull away and head away from the city at full speed.
Jim had retained the communicator belonging to the security officer, so he heard when they discovered that Khan was missing and gave chase to the cargo ship. He also heard when it exploded closer to civilization than he would have liked, but apparently there were no civilian casualties. Once they were far enough away from surveillance to stop, Scotty put the coordinates into the transporter and watched his friends and Khan dematerialize.
Kirk, Bones, and Khan were beamed to a remote location in the wilds of Alberta, Canada, deep in the woods.
“A little help here?” Kirk grunted as he lifted Khan from the bin.
Bones grabbed one arm and helped Kirk drag Khan into a rustic cabin that was very much off the grid. No electricity, no communication systems, and no government water source - it was completely independent. It did not exist on any official property records. They would be cut off with the exception of the data pad that Kirk carried that contained an encrypted signal that didn’t allow tracing. He could check in with the crew and assure them that Khan hadn’t murdered him, and he could keep tabs on the hunt for Khan, if the authorities didn’t believe their original scenario.
Kirk leaned against the wall, watching as Bones checked Khan’s vitals and administered the final drug to bring him out of his chemically induced coma.
“He’ll be awake in about fifteen minutes,” Bones said.
“How awake?”
“Hard to tell. A normal human would be very weak and groggy. With this freak, who knows?” Bones looked at Kirk. “I’d keep a phaser on him.”
“Duly noted, Doctor,” Kirk said. He stepped forward and put his hand on Bones’ shoulder as the doctor stood up. “I owe you.”
“You sure as hell do,” Bones grumbled.
“Now get out of here. You’re not on leave.”
“There’s no way in hell I’m leaving you here with him alone,” Bones said.
“Yes, you are,” Kirk said, then he tapped his communicator, placed it on Bones’ shirt, and watched as his old friend was transported back to San Francisco, bitching as he dematerialized.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Khan woke, taking a deep breath as his eyes opened. In the place of monitors and medical equipment, he heard birds singing. Instead of the bright white lights of the medical bay burning through his eyelids, he saw the golden brown tone of wood planks on the ceiling.
He realized he was no longer physically restrained, and he sat up slowly; the bed creaked as he moved. He was in the bedroom of a twenty-first century dwelling, and the only other being there was James T. Kirk.
“I am impressed, Captain,” Khan said. His voice felt odd, the words coming out slower than he intended. He had been drugged, which was no surprise.
“Are you?” Kirk asked, the sound of the augment’s voice in his ears rather than just his mind causing his heart to speed up and several emotions to war inside him at once.
“You managed to break me out of a secure medical facility.” Khan flexed his fingers and felt a numb tingling in his limbs.
“You knew where you were?”
“Of course. I was more awake than they realized. I heard everything.” He cocked his head and regarded the haggard Captain carefully. “I tried to kill you, once,” he said slowly sliding his legs over the side of the bed. He could barely feel his feet.
“You did, indirectly,” Kirk answered. He sat on a table near the window, his hand resting on a phaser.
“Yet, you are here.”
“Thanks to you. Well, thanks to your blood, to be more specific.”
That explained many things for Khan. He raised his chin and asked: “Where are we? This is not a secure Starfleet facility.”
“We’re at a fishing cabin.”
“And how many officers surround this cabin?”
“Enough to put you down, all armed.”
“That is unlikely. You could only use those most loyal to you. No others would risk their careers. And why are there none here in the room with us?”
“You have no idea how many loyal officers I have, Khan.” Kirk said, lifting the phaser off the table. “We’re alone because this conversation is for our ears only. Now, you are going to sit there and listen to me, and you’re going to behave yourself, or I will stun your ass into oblivion and drop you right back in that medical bay. You make one move on me, or any of my officers, and I will let those ghouls in Section 31 drain you for an eternity. You hear me?”
Khan smiled but it wasn’t a warm smile in the slightest. “I hear you.”
“I’ve done quite a bit of research on you, Khan.”
“I am flattered.”
“Don’t be. According to the records, augments believe that humans are weak and some believe we deserve to be destroyed.”
“My experiences with your kind have born your weaknesses out, Captain.”
“Is that so? Then why didn’t you destroy all those under your rule in the 20th Century?”
“They were no threat.”
“No, but they were inferior. Or maybe not. If they were truly inferior you wouldn’t have lost power.”
“I did not lose power. I abdicated-”
“But the others of your kind did lose power.”
“They were outnumbered-”
“They were fighting amongst themselves.”
“It is true that there were those among us who lacked wisdom,” Khan answered, staring coldly at Kirk.
“But you didn’t,” Kirk said. “You were the best of your kind - that’s what the record says. You never initiated a military conflict, but you defended your borders and the people within them. When it was all too far gone, you took your followers and abandoned the planet. You put their safety above your own ambition. Had you all banded together, you could have easily defeated the rebellion.”
“What is your point, Captain?”
“I suspect that there is more to you than you have led me to believe.”
“Oh, I assure you, Captain. You do not know me at all.”
Kirk smiled. “I’m banking on that.”
With the phaser, he motioned toward a glass that sat on the bedside table. “Drink that.”
Khan picked it up and drained the glass dry. He felt his limbs go heavy. He suspected it was a sedative, one designed to make him weak but not render him unconscious immediately. As his hand flopped to the bed beside him he smiled. “You do not have armed security officers to protect you.”
“Nope.”
“It is just you and I.”
“Yep. I thought it best that we were alone when I told you.”
Khan cocked his head and raised it to look at the Captain who now stood over him.
“Told me what?” he asked, still wearing that cold smile.
“That your crew is alive, and I know where they are.”
The smile faded from Khan’s face. “You lie.”
“Well, yes. I do from time to time, but I’m not lying about that.”
“I will require proof.”
“I thought you might,” Kirk said. He held up his data pad and showed Khan the security footage that Scotty had hacked into. There on the screen were sixty-three cryotubes and ten armed security officers guarding them.
Khan looked stunned. “They are alive,” he said softly. “The torpedoes…”
“Spock lies too, by omission anyway. He is half human, after all. He had their bodies removed before allowing you to beam the torpedoes off of the Enterprise. As they detonated, your crew was safe aboard my ship.”
“They are alive,” Khan repeated.
“Yes. And I intend to see they stay that way,” Kirk answered. “We are not murderers.”
“And in return?” Khan glared up at him.
“Once the dust has settled from our little prison break, we will figure out how to break them out and get you all out of here.”
“What do you ask for in return?”
“Nothing.”
Khan, for the first time in Kirk’s estimation, was confounded.
“Why would you do such a thing after everything I have done? You swore to make me answer for my crimes.”
Kirk sighed. “I understand now that you will never stand trial. If you are to stay here, then you will always be…”
“A slave?” Khan asked, his voice laden with hate.
“Yes.”
“So you are willing to set me free then, let me go after I have murdered thousands of innocent civilians?”
“I am. This has to end. Revenge never tastes sweet, no matter what they say.”
“How do you know I will not continue my crusade?”
“I guess I don’t. But you said that all you wanted was your people. I can give that to you. I can give you your freedom.” Khan frowned and Kirk smiled. For once, he had the upper hand. “You’re confused. You don’t understand why I would do this.”
Khan looked at Kirk with suspicion.
“I’m doing this because I believe you are better, as you said. Better than me, better than Starfleet, better than all of us. I believe that the rage and hatred you have shown us since you were woken was truly a response to your circumstances. And well, your genetics.”
“Meaning?”
“There is a defect in your DNA sequencing that causes the tendency for extreme violence.” Kirk bent over and placed his hands on his knees and looked deep into Khan’s eyes. “If someone held my crew captive, I would do anything to save them, and I’d get dammed violent if I had to. So in that way, you were right. You and I are not so different.” Kirk stood up again. “I believe that you can move past your impulse to kill. I believe you can truly be better than all of us, and my crew and I can help you.”
“And by helping me, you help yourself,” Khan said.
“What do you mean?” Kirk asked.
“Save me, save my people, prove you are a hero and regain your place amongst Starfleet command.”
“Hardly,” Kirk turned and looked out the window.
“Why?”
“I broke you out of that holding facility. Section 31 operates with impunity at the highest levels of Starfleet Command. I have stolen something that belongs to them. They won’t even bother to court martial me. They’ll just arrange for an accident.”
“Then why do it?”
“Because you love your crew and you have been dealt a shitty hand. You can love, Khan. That is a very human emotion. All this time your DNA has gotten in its way.” Kirk looked back at Khan. “That and I didn’t join Starfleet to cover up unethical and inhumane experimentation.”
“You do have a conscience.”
“Yeah, it appears I do.” He looked thoughtfully at Khan. “Admiral Marcus was batshit crazy, but he was right. War is coming. You told me that you were created to lead people to peace in a time of war. I’m betting that you could do just that, and we just might need your help, someday.”
Khan’s eyes slid closed at last as the drug permeated his system. Kirk cradled Khan’s head in his hand, guiding the augment to lie down on his side.
“Sweet dreams, Khan,” he said, and then he left Khan sleeping in his bed.
Chapter Four