Prologue

[This is what I brought you this you can keep,

This is what I brought you may forget me.

I promise to depart just promise one thing,

Kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep].

Prelude 12/21 – AFI

2259, London

Commander Phil Coulson watched his little girl in the hospital bed struggling with every inhale. He wanted to reach out and stroke her brown curls, but he is afraid to touch her these days. She looks fragile on those white sheets. More fragile than this eight year old girl should look. Just like her mother she is a lively spirit. When she gets interested in things her enthusiasm knows no boundaries, just like her optimism. And she's a fighter, this one. When she was diagnosed with this terminal sickness she smiled at him and told him not to believe a word the doctors said. She wouldn't die, she had promised, two days before falling in that coma.

He remembered that her mother had made the same promise. Doctor Deborah Hampton-Carter had been with him, serving on the USS Vanguard under Admiral Furry's command for ten years. She's always been a loyal soul, a free spirit. He remembers when she had died in his arms in the hospital after a mission one years ago. Her final words had come from smiling lips, apologizing that she had been unable to keep her promise to stay by his side. Asking him to take care of her daughter. And now he had failed her. Darcy would die, and with her a part of him would die. Coulson burries his face in his hands for a moment, unsure of what to do.

Admiral Furry had given him time off-duty so he could be with her, but every passing day she grew weaker, and it became more unbearable by the minute to watch her lie there, dying a slow and painful death. Coulson feels a hand softly touching his right shoulder and he looks up. Maria is standing behind him, looking at Darcy's frail form. He, too, returns his gaze to her. The many tubes look so wrong on her. They seem to suck the life from her, instead of helping. And the worse she gets the more tubes get added. The only thing that still looks like her is the chain wrapped thrice around her left wrist. The pendant used to be her mothers, and she insisted to not be separated from it.

Maria walks over to Darcy's other side, carefully touching her hand, slipping her fingers into it and caressing the palm with her thumb. She always does that when she comes over, first thing, as if she needs to feel the pulse herself, not trusting the many machines. Commander Maria Hill was a friend of Deborah's from Star Fleet Academy. They lost touch as they grew older, but at her memorial Maria showed up again, looking for Darcy. She cares for the little girl, maybe as much as he does.

"Her condition is unchanged, I take it." Coulson nods, taking in Maria's appearance. She has dark circles under her eyes, she is pale and looks drained. It's a bit like looking in a mirror. It's the same way he looks these days. "You should go home tonight. Get some rest. The doctor's don't think that tonight will be her … tonight won't be the night." Maria's stare is cold, and he almost expects her to scowl at him. "If I need rest so do you. Don't protect me, Coulson. I can handle this. I need to be here, just as much as you. And you need to go. I know you want to."

It feels wrong to admit to wanting anything but sitting at Darcy's side, but it would be an insult to both their intelligences to deny that Maria is right with what she says. Furry had given him off, but Admiral Marcus wasn't an understanding person. Their work at the Kelvin Memorial was … delicate. They could not afford even slight changes in their security. For a moment Coulson merely rubs the bride of his nose, before he nodds. "You're right. I apologize. I should get going." He gets up from his chair, pausing at Darcy's side. Carefully he reaches out for her face. He is almost surprised to find his hand shaking slightly, as he brushes away one of her dark locks. For a second he imagines to see her eyelids flutter at the contact. He wishes it would be so, wishes to look into her blue-green eyes and see the bright, happy sparkle in them that always lit them up. But there was no flutter, and he puts both of his hands in his pockets. Maria acts like she had not seen it. She just keeps standing where she is, holding unto Darcy's small hand. "I'll see you tomorrow, then."

Coulson nods, and makes haste to leave the room. A part of him feels like screaming at the injustice, a part of him feels like breaking down. He has done both, and neither has helped, not even just his own tension. So he keeps it on, nods a greeting at the doctors and nurses of the Royal Children's Hospital that know him by now. He pretends not to see the pity in their eyes as he passes by them, leaving the hospital.

He is too much in a hurry to notice the dark-cloaked man before he steps up behind him. "I can save her." Coulson turns, impatiently and confused, looking at the unfamiliar, pale face. The words of the man cut through the fog of pain, worry and weariness in his mind. "Excuse me, what did you say?" He tries to remember if that man is of the hospital staff, if he has seen him anywhere before. "The girl. Darcy Lewis. I can save her." The words stop every thinking, and Coulson has to fight to not give in to even the remotest spark of hope. "Who are you?" A small, humourless smile plays on the mans pale lips. "You should know." And then he makes a step forward, lowering his voice marginally. There is a hard edge to his voice. "Her mother was the one who gave me this face."

And Coulson remembers. He remembers that mission of the Vanguard where they found it. The Botany Bay. He remembers the man they found, remembers that Deborah had been among the Doctors who had been in the lab when they had taken his own face, voice and memories away from the criminal and turned him into this. She had talked about it with him, frustrated by the choices of the Admiral, but always so loyal. And he remembers the name they gave him. "John Harrison," he all but whispers, but what he thinks is this mans true name. Khan..

AN: Hi there people!So, it only took me like a month to get to the point where I feel confident that I'll finish it. And thus, it get's published. Chapter 1 will be right up after this one, Chapter 2 is pretty much done already as well. So, let me get a few things out, before you get into this.

1) It is un-beta-ed. I don't have the time at the moment to send things back and forth between me and a beta. Sorry for all errors.

2) This should meddle with the 'Into Darkness'!Plot and Timeline in the smallest way possible. I'll just try and add a bit of MCU to it - again, in the least meddlesome way possible. However, I might have to stray from the established Alternative Universe Timeline that has been set up for the two new movies. But we'll come to that bridge when we cross it.

3) Yes, it'll be DarcyxKhan. I don't know about any side-pairings yet. I also don't know how 'romantic' it'll all turn. The first two chapters won't have much of either character in it. They're basically there to establish the setting - because there's a remarkable lot of potential plot points for a Star Trek and MCU Crossover. I can, however, assure you: there won't be any romance between child!Darcy and grown-up!Khan. Just nope. So don't worry about that.

4) In the future, there will be brainwashing and character-death. Any other Warnings will be added as I go along.

5) I'm basing my knowledge of pre-movie Events in the Star Trek fandom purely on my research in various wikis and forums that have gathered everything they found on what the produceres or comics explained to have happened. I am, among other things, refering to how they explained the white-washing of the characters.

6) And now for the fun things: This was first published in parts on tumblr, based on the prompt the wonderful 'barnebucky' send me after we simultaneously fangasmed over the equally wonderfull 'usedkarma' posted a fanart on this pairing, that shall be henceforth called 'AugmentTaser'. And the wonderful 'usedkarma' also gave me the cover for this story as a gift. I would strongly suggest you run over to tumblr and fill both of those amazing people's inboxes with love.

7) Yes, the title is a bit uncreative. I'm sorry.