MAJOR AU IS HAPPENING! Takes place during what would be STID AU means OOC ahead since situations have happened differently. Warning given, otherwise enjoy. The italics are memories for this chapter.
O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~
Anastasia came awake suddenly and painfully. It hurt when lungs, eyes, limbs, and organs that had been frozen in cryogenic stasis for an unspecified amount of time suddenly came alive again. She sat up and scanned the surrounding area. 71 other cryogenic units sat around her, all still in use. These were her crew, her family. Only one is missing if she is awake with no visible cause. Khan Noonien Singh had been awakened somewhere.
She had snuck a few extra things into her Unit when they first went to sleep however long ago. She had ensured she was the last to sleep so she could activate the protocols she snuck into her tube- which had not been easy with Khan being an overprotective fool- and considering her surrounding area seemed to be some sort of Lab she was glad she managed it.
She slid out of her tube and closed the lid to get to the controls. She typed in a code and waited. A second later a device at her side activated and 71 green colored squares lit up on the screen. As long as her crew remained unharmed in their Units, they would stay green. If something went wrong the Unit corresponding with the damaged Unit would turn red on her device. A second code activated a hologram of her inside the tube so anyone that looked would think she hadn't escaped.
She turned and sighed. Now she needed to figure out where she was, when she was, and where in the name of the Goddess Khan managed to get himself.
She had work to do.
O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~
Two months later Anastasia had hacked into some very classified files and ghost drives where she figured out that Khan was being forced to create weapons of mass destruction for an Admiral Alexander Marcus who was using their crew as leverage. Khan and she had fought against useless killing back when the wars started over 300 years ago. They had fought for the humans who hadn't been able to fight against the superhuman armies that had come to eradicate them. It was how the other 71 crewmembers gathered. All of them had revolted against the elimination of entire races simply because they were supposedly inferior.
She needed to get her crew out, get Khan out, or get someone who could help her. She looked for someone who wouldn't betray her, who wouldn't just pick up where Alexander Marcus left off. So Anastasia had lowered her shields around her mind and stretched her abilities as an Empath and her telepathy out to their limits. It was painful to brush through so many painful, negative emotions and thoughts again and again as she searched for someone who would be capable of helping her as well as good at their core so they would not force her crew into anything like Khan was being blackmailed into.
She didn't think it would work after a while. And then she ran into one James T. Kirk at a bar. The man had doubts, doubts upon doubts, but he was a good man. He had saved the Earth. He would help her, he would see what was being forced on Khan and her crew and he would fight for their sake. If she could convince him she spoke the truth. For that she would need to perform a mind meld.
She was capable of the Vulcan technique only because one of her crew- T'Montenena or Nena for short- was a Vulcan female they had saved who had joined them and upon discovering Anastasia was an Empath capable of telepathy she taught Anastasia how to shield herself from the constant barrage of information and how to perform the meld.
She went after him.
She managed to get his attention at the bar. "Hello."
"Name's Jim. What's yours?"
"Anastasia. Call me Ana Jim. I need your help. I'm sorry to ask you here, but you have been the only option I have so far. Please." She knew her eyes were desperate, but she couldn't help it. Two months were much too long to leave Khan and her crew in Marcus' grip.
He stared at her for a minute before he cursed. "Damn it." He stood up and paid for the drink he had been drinking before nodding once "Fine. Fine. What do you need?"
"Thank you." She whispered and began leading Jim out. They ran into Christopher Pike on the way and Anastasia reached for him mentally. He was also a good man. He had been the one to see Jim Kirk was more even when Jim hadn't believed it. He could help her as well. So Anastasia got him to come with her. "I have much to tell you. I am sorry this will probably cause you emotional distress to learn, but you both are the only hope I have of saving my family."
She led the men to her Apartment and sat them down on the couch. "First I must explain that I am much older then I look. I also must explain that I am...more…than an average human. I am…enhanced…in every way. One of the effects this had on me was to make me both an Empath and a Telepath. I have been trained with a member of my crew who is Vulcan and as such I am capable of a Mind Meld. Would you allow me to show you what you need to know?" she reached for Christopher Pike first and paused inches away from his face and upon receiving a nod she placed her hand in the correct place and pulled his mind into her memories.
When she finished and pulled away from Pike he got to his feet and cursed sharply and creatively before punching the wall closest to him. Anastasia turned and offered her hand to Jim next, waiting for his nod before initiating the contact needed for the meld.
Anastasia stood at the front of the line of soldiers staring up at the Scientists who had created them. "Today, we will have out war! Today the inferior species will be destroyed! Today…we emerge victorious!" Anastasia frowned up at the group of scientists. She didn't like where this was going, but they were her leaders, the people who had given her life, who had made her better.
The group of soldiers marched into their transport. When the transport stopped and everyone left it, they were in sight of a large town. The soldiers began to run forward. Anastasia cleared the buildings and broke away from the large group heading left. She came upon a playground with storage buildings around it. She slowed. Her empathy could feel the children's glee, their joy and wonder and she locked into place. "I cannot do this." The thought crossed her mind just seconds before a little girl, no more than six years old, ran up to her and asked her if she wanted to play.
"This is the beginning of what history calls the Eugenics Wars, or the Great Wars. The wars where 'Super Humans' attempted to wipe out all inferior life forms. You are aware of these wars Jim Kirk. What most don't know is a resistance emerged from some of the Super Soldiers that had been designed to destroy."
Anastasia looked at the six year old girl smiling up at her, unaware of her purpose and shook her head. She could not follow her orders. An explosion pulled everyone's attention back the way she came from and she cursed softly looking for a place she could protect these people. She eventually settled on the storage building with no windows and one entrance. "Everyone move it! Head for that storage building! Go!" she grabbed the little girl at her feet and ran, the other children and some adults following her instructions.
Anastasia herded as many as she could into the building and defended it viciously from attacks. She could not condone the killing of innocent men, woman and children. She refused. And if that meant going against orders, of being labeled a traitor so be it.
"I had thought I would be the only one to stand against the Scientists who had ordered the massacre. I was not alone however."
Anastasia tensed when Khan Noonien Singh dropped in front of her. He was the best of the best among them. She wasn't sure she could stop him if he tried to attack the people she shielded behind her. None the less she would die before she allowed the people behind her to be killed. Khan stared at her before he nodded once. "Go." He told her.
"What?"
"Go. Gather others. This is not the way. I will protect these people in your place."
Anastasia wouldn't have believed him, but he had reached up over his back and lifted two small boys- twins- and pushed them inside the building. Anastasia could not understand why he would save children only to kill them later so she nodded to him "Keep them safe Khan."
"You have my word."
"I traveled through the town and gathered as many as I could. I brought them back in small groups and left them with Khan. Along the way I found others like Khan and I. Others who disagreed and were working to protect the people. I gathered them too. These were the first of our crew, among them a female Vulcan who had gotten caught in the crossfire and who had risen to the occasion and was very viciously protecting a large group of children."
Anastasia had gathered a few injuries in the process of gathering the people of the town, but they healed even as they started to bleed. Anastasia shook it off and lead the large group of children who had followed the female Vulcan with her. This group ended up being a bit harder to protect due to its size but Anastasia managed, and even gathered two others who hadn't been killing the people in the town. She and the other turncoats gathered around the group and watched for threats. Anastasia was very glad to see Khan a short way away from them with the protection of the storage building. Khan had gathered a few injuries in her absence that had already healed and left only bloodstains and torn clothes behind as evidence.
"This continued throughout the war. We grew in number, but we were always outnumbered. No matter what, Khan and I and those who would become our crew fought for those the Scientists wanted to destroy. This continued until the end of the war where the people in charge feared those Super Humans who were left and ordered our capture for execution. Our group only avoided this because the people we saved hid us from those who would kill us."
"Khan we cannot continue like this. We will be caught if we remain here. We must leave. It grows more dangerous here."
"I know. You are all my family now. I know the danger grows for all of us the longer we stay here. I have a plan though. We can leave here. We can sleep until things are different."
"You mean…?"
"Yes."
"You managed to get 73?"
"Yes. The people we saved were willing to help me get the Cryogenic Units for all of us."
"Thank the Goddess."
"We went to sleep on a ship and were left adrift for a little more than 300 years. I am only awake because someone opened Khan's Unit. I did some digging and discovered the man behind this is the head of Starfleet. A man you know as Admiral Alexander Marcus. I also discovered that he is blackmailing Khan with the lives of his crew, and is forcing him to develop war technology. War technology that he means to use on the Klingons."
Anastasia pulls away from Jim's mind after showing him the proof she had seen and gathered against the man. Jim had much the same reaction as Pike and after an initial few seconds of shock he begins to curse violently and creatively before pacing through her living room. Anastasia waits for a few minutes to allow the two men to vent before she speaks. "Can you help me save my family?"
Pike and Jim turn to look at her before looking at each other and nodding. Pike answers her "Yes. We will help you. Marcus is breaking every one of the vows he swore to uphold by doing this. I won't allow it to continue. Do you have copies of all the proof you gathered?"
"Yes. Thank you both."
"It's the right thing to do." Jim shrugs it off.
O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~
Anastasia is tense as they walk through the halls towards the room where Pike had managed to gather everyone except Alexander Marcus to present her information. She's nervous about presenting the information to everyone. She believes no one on the council is part of Marcus' plans but she is still nervous about revealing her information to them. Still…they are her only hope of saving her crew, of saving Khan from being forced to make weapons of mass destruction. She straightens herself out and takes a deep breath.
She could do this.
O~O~O~O~O~
Once inside the meeting room Pike brings the purpose of the meeting to the attention of the council. "We are here because proof has been gathered that one of our own is trying to start a war and betray everything we stand for."
The room breaks into tense whispers for only a moment before Pike continues. "We will now forward our proof before questions will be asked." He nods to Anastasia and she inserts a copy of her proof so that videos and paperwork pop up in front of the council detailing Alexander Marcus' betrayal.
They show that he is experimenting on Khan, that he is holding the 72 members of Khan's crew hostage to blackmail him into designing weapons. They show that he is trading some of the less destructive weapons under the table that he is trying to start a war with the Klingons. They detail how he tried to erase the proof she had found, and he was threating everything Starfleet had been created for.
The entire meeting room broke into angry murmurs when she got through all her proof. Eventually it calmed enough for Anastasia to come forward and explain that she was a member of Khan's crew who had been woken up when he had been thanks to a failsafe in her cryogenic unit. She explained that she managed to get out of the Labs they were held in and immediately began searching for ways to help her crew. She explained that she had gathered her proof and had then searched for a way to bring it to their attention without alerting Marcus who still had her crew.
The entire council breaks into a debate that ends with the decree that Marcus had to be stopped and would no longer be in charge of Starfleet effective immediately. It was also decided that they would meet again to decide the next head of Starfleet after the arrest of Marcus.
Anastasia couldn't argue with that. The faster Marcus was out of the way, the sooner she could get her crew.
O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~
Anastasia led the team of officers back to the place she had woken up. All 72 cryogenic units were there, including the one that contained a holographic version of her. She smiled as she supervised the move of her people to a completely different warehouse that only she had the codes for. She then led the officers to the buildings Khan was being forced to work out of. She slipped away from the group and headed straight for Khan leaving them to deal with everything else.
She entered the codes that would allow her down into Khan's work area and waited impatiently for her arrival. As soon as she was inside she flew through the hallways searching. She eventually found Khan sitting inside a cell with his eyes closed. She recognized his posture from the war. He was not asleep; rather he was meditating in a sense. She pressed a hand against the force field that stood between her and her mate.
"Khan."
She only whispers his name, but his eyes snap open in surprise and focus on her. She can see the shock followed by worry that flashes lightning quick through his eyes. "Ana?" he breathes.
"Khan, it's time to go. I have our family. They are all accounted for and unharmed. Only you remain." She turns and quickly enters the code to free him.
She doesn't even have time to turn back around. Khan is pressed against her back with his arms locked around her, and his face buried in her neck. She goes limp in his arms at the unexpected rush of feeling and thoughts that rush into her head. She hadn't really had time to fix her shields since she had spent the last two months with them down in an attempt to find someone who could help her, and had very recently performed two mind melds one after another. Her mind was wide open to him and she would have dropped had he not had his arms around her.
"Ana!" he called as he slowly lowered her to the ground. "Ana! Anastasia! What is it? Are you injured?"
"Sorry. Sorry. Shields are down Khan. Wasn't expecting it."
He stills "Why are your shields down?"
"I have been searching for someone who could help me. My shields have been down for two months and I have performed two mind melds seconds apart earlier today."
"Two…? Ana! Have you been awake this whole time?"
"I programed a failsafe into my cryogenic unit. If you were awakened I would awaken sixty seconds later. When they woke you, I woke as well and looked for you. I found out what Marcus was doing and set out to bring him to justice and save our family. I succeeded today and as we speak this entire place is being swept and dealt with." Anastasia began to get up as she got used to Khan's emotions and thoughts and adjusted.
Khan helped her to stand with a proud smirk. "You clever minx." He pulled Anastasia in close and kissed her long and hard-almost desperate. He had missed her in the two months he had been awake, and he had worried that she would be hurt in Marcus' attempts to control him. Anastasia melted against him before pulling away.
"Let's go Khan." She led the way out of the building and into the sunshine where Jim and Pike stood. "Khan. This is Jim Kirk and Christopher Pike. They are the reason our family is safe and I managed to get to you. Pike, Jim…this is my husband Khan."
Khan extended a hand in greeting "Hello. Thank you for helping Ana find her way back to me."
Pike shook his hand first "I'm glad we managed to stop Marcus before more people were hurt. She helped us first."
Jim was next "It's the right thing to do. No one deserves to be blackmailed with their crew, with their family."
Khan nodded at both of them as he pulled his hand back to Anastasia's waist.
O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~
Anastasia led Khan back to her apartment where she collapsed into the bed as soon as she was wearing sleeping pants and a tank top. She tossed Khan a pair of sleep pants in his size only seconds before collapsing.
Khan crawled up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist with his face buried into her long auburn hair. "Thank you." He whispered.
"You are mine and I am yours Khan. I will always come for you."
"I am yours and you are mine. Always and a breath."
Anastasia smiled at the familiar phrase. "I missed you."
"I have missed you as well. I was a day away from trying to smuggle the crew out inside torpedoes I designed you know."
Ana grinned a bit as she started to drift off "It's a good thing I got there first then. God knows what would have happened if you managed that."
"Indeed." Was the last thing Anastasia heard before she fell into the first peaceful rest she had had in two months.
O~O~O~O~O~O~O~
Anastasia came up fighting the next morning. She twisted sharply out of the hold she could feel on her waist- registering the emotions of shock and worry from another person- and dropping into a defensive crouch with an instinctive snarl on her lips. It was only after she was there for a second that Anastasia registered that the other presence in the room with her was that of her husband who was looking worried. She straightened up slowly, her leaf green eyes focusing on worried blue. "I am sorry Khan."
"Are you alright Ana?"
"…yes. I did not expect reliving the wars twice in a day to have such an effect on me, though I should have."
Khan stood to stare at her silently before he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.
He didn't say a word, just offering silent comfort, his emotions wrapping Anastasia's mind in relief and happiness and love. Any remaining tension bled out of her body as she relished in her mate's feelings. They sat there in silence for a short while before she moved murmuring "We need to go back to Starfleet Headquarters. I want it made clear that we will not be working directly for them. Not after this."
She turned to face Khan and watched his ice blue eyes harden into crystal steel as he purred in a low dangerous tone "Indeed." She smirked dangerously at him in agreement.
Anastasia and Khan did not like meaningless death, had fought against it…this did not mean that the two of them would not use the skills they learned in war to protect their family, their crew. They were capable of walking over the cold corpses of Starfleet to protect their own. They were survivors of war. This meant that while they would try to avoid the meaningless death they so hated they would and could kill all who stood in the way of their freedom and safety.
O~O~O~O~O~O~O~
Khan and Anastasia stood silently as the Starfleet Council argued back and forth over their crew and themselves. They allowed them to voice their opinions, and argue for a few minutes. Some wanted Khan to stay because of the weapons he was capable of making. Some wanted the crew to work for them. Some wanted to use all of the crew for personal things. Jim, Pine and one other wanted to let the crew go out on their own- stating they owned Starfleet nothing. When someone mentioned splitting the crew into separate ships so everyone had an enhanced human on it Anastasia had enough.
"Enough." Her voice was soft and calm but everyone in the room stilled under the influence of her voice. "In answer to Starfleet- Khan is Captain of his own ship. A ship that he owns himself. We have no need of ships from you. We will not be working for Starfleet either." She waved a hand sharply to cut off any objections. "We owe you nothing. Especially since one of your own held the crew of our Captain hostage and forced said Captain to create weapons of mass destruction for you to cause a war. We went to sleep to avoid war. You have now been discussing what to do with us as if we are not people with opinions. You have plotted to separate the crew so that you may benefit from our abilities, you have plotted to have us work for you- once again without asking us what we want to do. Everyone else has the choice to join Starfleet. Why are we so different? Starfleet has not given us a reason to trust them with our lives. So we will not. The only people here to treat us with respect and as people are James Kirk, Christopher Pine and this gentleman." Anastasia nodded at the three men who had been trying to get Starfleet to let Khan and herself along with their crew go.
"You cannot deprive Starfleet of the resources you can offer us!" one of the men who had tried to separate the crew snapped.
Anastasia straightened sharply her face closing off and her leaf green eyes hardening and going cold and dangerous as she stared at the man. When she spoke her voice was sharp with warning "We can and we will. We will defend ourselves if you try to force this issue."
"Is that a threat?" the man swelled up with indignation.
Anastasia leaned in close to his face her voice coming out a half purr half hiss as she answered him "No, but this is: what do you think all the different aliens and species you want to ally with would think when word spread that Starfleet was forcing a crew with enhanced abilities to not only work with them for the 'resources' we could offer but then forcing them to separate so Starfleet could use us in all of their ships? Do you think your alliances would stick? Or that you could form any more if word were to leak out?"
The room stilled and tension swelled as everyone who had suggested separating and using the crew paled as the implications settled into their minds.
The man went limp in his chair. "You would cause war."
"No. We would fight to remain free. Starfleet would cause the war if you forced our hands. I will do anything I need to for my family. My crew is my family, and if I have to go to war again for them I will do it will no hesitation. So do not force our hands. We will not work for you, we will not take orders from you." Anastasia paused. "This does not, however, mean that we will not share important information with Starfleet via Christopher Pike and James Kirk. They helped to free my crew and husband. If I find important information that will be a benefit I will share it with them, what they chose to do with that information is of no consequence to me. Good Day."
Anastasia turned and glided out of the room with Khan behind her. Once out of sight she felt Khan's arm slip around her waist along with his amused pride. "That's my girl. That went much better than it would have had you allowed me to speak."
Anastasia grinned "You are a man of action Khan. I am the one with the silver-tongue."
"Indeed." He pulled her close and kissed her hard, only breaking away when a throat cleared.
They turned to see Jim smirking behind them. "Starfleet had decided to let you do what you'd like."
They smirked back at him "Wonder why?"
Jim snorted "Can't imagine why."
O~O~O~O~O~O~
Anastasia stood under the USS Freedom. All 71 members of her crew still sleeping were inside waiting to be woken up inside their home. Khan was also inside on the Bridge doing last minute checks before she went inside and woke up the crew. She had gotten the contact information for Starfleet-just in case- as well as Jim and Christopher Pike-who was now Head of Starfleet- and put it inside the ship. All that was left for her to do was step inside Freedom and awaken her crew.
She smiled up at her home. She had missed the stars. She had missed the thrill of meeting a new species and learning new things. Now she had almost 300 years' worth of exploring to make up for.
She couldn't wait.
She smiled wider and stepped forward into her future.
O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~
This is my one shot contribution to the newer Star Trek fandom. Again: HUGELY AU. Obviously. So please don't complain to me about it. If anyone wants to Expand on this story, I'm All for it but PLEASE tell me if you do so I can read it and post links for anyone interested. I am also willing to answer questions for anyone that wants to expand and needs more information, so if you need it let me know.