"Sir, he's coming round." A female voice spoke softly over the hum of machinery.

Khan carefully stretched his fingers and focused on his breathing as his vitals settled his body to its normal level of function. Even with his eyes closed, the light that seeped through his lids stung his overly sensitive retinas. Staring into darkness for so long had weakened them. He felt the surface on which he lay start to move beneath him, gradually changing his position to sitting up. Slowly, he opened his eyes.

For all Khan knew, he could be anywhere. His vision swam in and out of focus. Objects moved and changed shape, some were crystal clear and others just a coloured smudge. He blinked several times, each time his vision changed, but did not seem to get better.

"Here, this should help your vision." The female voice sounded again. He turned his head to the source to find a Starfleet doctor standing next to him. She jabbed him in the neck with an injector, and his sight began to clear.

He held a hand over his brow, still needing to shield his eyes from the bright ceiling lights, the doctor noticed and asked the computer to lower the rooms light levels. Removing his hand from his brow, he nodded to the doctor, acknowledging her action.

Khan had no clue regarding his location. The hum of medical machinery made it difficult to detect if there was any engine noise, and the lack of windows meant he couldn't see if they were in space or on Earth. The room was small and filled with only essential pieces of medical equipment. On the floor in a corner to his left was his empty cryotube, to the right, more instruments and a console, just beyond that was the door. Himself and the doctor were the only living inhabitants of the room. He was about to say something, when the door opened and a man walked in.

This man was not exceptionally tall, he had salt and pepper hair and a face aged with experience and knowledge. He wore basic Starfleet medical clothing and Khan recognised him immediately.

"General Wells…" Khan croaked with mild disbelief, eyes glued to a man he was certain to be dead.

The General had not heard him as he momentarily busied himself with the medical readouts and was brought up to speed on Khan's condition by the doctor.

Khan had regarded General Wells as his only ally when he was first awoken by Admiral Marcus in 2259. The General had been a superior in the workings of Section 31 and London's Starfleet Intelligence, and one of the few people Marcus had informed of his plans and utilisation of Khan.

Wells had been the only person to disapprove of Marcus' actions. He had been the only one to air his concerns of how Khan may react, and to challenge the late Admirals decision in an attempt to stop him before he started, but he was unsuccessful. When Khan was awoken, Wells had remained suspicious of how Marcus was really 'working' with Khan, only discovering the extent of his manipulation when walking in on an argument between Admiral and augment. The Admiral had no choice then but to tell Wells how he got Khan to cooperate on anything, how he had filled Khan's head with promises of his family that he never intended to keep. The General was shocked by the measures of his superior and felt sympathy for Khan. His further objections to the plans resulted in Admiral Marcus relieving him of his services and cutting him from the project.

Khan had felt certain that the Admiral had seen to it that Wells would be killed; disposed of in the necessary way so he would not be able to talk or leak information to the rest of Starfleet about what was really going on. The Admiral feared the General because he knew he was right all along.

Wells approached Khan's bedside and the augments mind raced. What had really happened when the Admiral had banished him from Section 31? Yet more importantly, why was he here before him now? What was going on? What did Starfleet need from him this time..?

Khan watched the General as he stood looking at him. His lips were pressed into a hard line and his forehead creased with thought, yet his eyes regarded him with sympathy and a strange air of comfort, almost as if he was pleased to see him.

"Your vitals are excellent as ever." Wells commented, briefly looking over the PADD in his hand. "I will give you an hour to adjust to consciousness, then come and meet me in my office."

He was already handing the PADD back to the doctor and heading back to the door he entered. He stopped at the door and turned to face Khan from across the room.

"The doctor here will tell you where to go."

Khan frowned at Wells and the odd atmosphere surrounding him.

"What is going on?"

The Generals lips pressed back into a line.

"All will be explained to you soon." He replied after a pause, "Fifty-nine minutes and counting!"

Wells left before Khan had a chance to open his mouth again.

Khan sighed and sunk back into the bed. Closing his eyes, he allowed himself some moments of reflection. The war, his ship, his family, his love… his love. The love he had allowed to be taken from him. He clenched his fists in his lap. How could he have been so idle? They should have run; decked out a craft from the Vengeance's hangar and taken off to an inhabitable planetoid, settled in a life together. How could he have let himself believe that Starfleet would ever trust him? Could ever be trusted? They never could, yet it had cost him the love of his life to realise this.

Reopening his eyes, he took a breath and let his eyes find the doctor.

"What year is it?" He asked.

If he couldn't know yet what was going on, he could surely be told a few basic details to help him get his head together.

"2263." She responded.

The war had ended in 2261; a two year sleep was far more preferable to a three-century one.

"Time?"

"15:47 hours."

"Where are we?"

"Earth. Starfleet Intelligence Base Two, San Francisco."

Khan carefully swung his legs off the edge of the bed and got to his feet. The doctor watched him cautiously, as if he were a large tree that had been felled and could fall in any direction. He steadied himself on the edge of the mattress, stretching himself up to his full height. He briefly studied his arms, hands, feet, and what he could see of his legs sticking out from the bottom of his medical gown. He did not like wearing these flimsy medical gowns. Too unstable and weak to provide any form of coverage or practicality. He tugged at a corner of the strange sterile material.

The doctor gestured to another small door on the left, past the head of the medical bed.

"There is a shower room with a locker of standard uniform through there." She pointed. "You can report back for some reflex tests after you've washed and stretched out a bit."

He nodded and wasted no time in heading for a chance to clean and change into better clothing.

Khan made a decision. Whatever was happening, whatever this was, he wanted nothing to do with it. He would have no involvement in whatever the General was going to ask of him, because he was obviously going to require something, why else would they awaken him? After all that had happened between himself and the Federation, even if he was about to receive a full pardon with restoration of a working position in Starfleet, and accepted as a citizen of Earth, it would mean nothing to him without Nyota. The only reason they had kept him alive, put him back into cryostasis, was so that he may go on living without her. His punishment was to be kept eternally drifting in and out of stasis, and to each time relive the pain of losing the woman he so adored.

He would not do it. Resigning himself to an ordinary life now, without Nyota, meant living the life of punishment Starfleet so wanted him to endure.