Chapter 1: Many Happy Returns
Star-date: 2259.218
There was nothing quite like silence of the early morning. It was that one moment in the day when even the great big Space Station that orbited the planet Earth, was completely still and at peace.
It was these moments that Khan Noonien Singh liked to wake up.
Blinking sleepily he rose out of the dark sheets that covered him and the large bed he slept in. With a small yawn he ran a hand over his face, pushing back the dark fringe that was flopping over one side of his face.
As he did this something grunted softly.
Corners of the mouth twitching upwards ever so slightly, he glanced sidelong to a figure coiled in the sheets beside him.
It was a woman, petite with pale snow like skin and long strawberry blonde curls that were splayed everywhere over the pillow and her half covered naked body in a massive heap.
"Good morning" the woman's mouth twitched upwards in a small smile as he made to lean over her.
"Good morning Helene" Khan's voice was low and soft as two pinpricks of bright green, peeked sleepily through her hair as he pressed his lips against her brow. "How are you feeling?"
"Exhausted, I barely got a wink of sleep. No thanks to you" Helene snorted and Khan smirked with pride and amusement.
"And yet I recall you being the one begging me not to stop" he purred as his hand reached out to finger the golden ring sitting upon her left ring finger.
But before he could even graze his fingers over the band, Helene tugged her hand away, a grumpy pout gracing her features as she puffed.
"Excuse me? But I don't beg, least of all when we're together"
Had this not been his wife, Khan might've been almightily offended by such a statement. But considering the overwhelming proof of her gratification (i.e. the small but prominent bruise on the crook of her neck, and the still slightly sore scratches on his back) he instead chose to smile ever so slightly with satisfaction and lean back to sit against the bed headboard.
He stared around at the room before him, brow furrowing ever so slightly as he took in a small glimmer of blue in the corner where a couple of boxes wrapped in black paper with blue ribbons tied neatly were sitting.
Now it was Helene's turn to smirk up at him.
"You're worried" she murmured softly as she reached out to touch his arm.
"Aren't you?" he muttered avoiding her eye even as she made to curl up beside him, her smile widening.
"Not as much as I thought I'd be. Truth be told I'm surprised you're so fidgety. Usually you're more composed than I am, even on operations"
"Yes well…" Khan mumbled even more quietly "Giving out orders to troops in battle is one thing. Organising our daughter's birthday was not something I was never trained for."
"Oh I don't know" Helene quietly whispered as she pressed her lips against his shoulder. "You've done well raising her so far on your own…better than I had at any rate…" she added, her voice turning a little bit bitter.
But Khan just shook his head and sighed heavily into a hand.
"No Helene…I wasn't. By the time I had gotten my head around what to do, she had more or less raised herself, into someone far better than anything I could've made her."
There was silence in the room as both husband and wife sat side by side, their faces both stricken as they stared out into the space before the bed.
Occasionally their stillness was interrupted by Helene occasionally leaning over and kissing at the skin of Khan's shoulder, whilst he in turn ran his thumb over the skin of her knuckles, tracing invisible patterns over the snow white skin.
It was as he was beginning to trace a figure eight over her ring finger, their door hissed open.
The sound was so sudden, that Khan actually jumped a little and Helene squeaked as she made to pull up the sheets over them both to cover their nakedness.
However when they caught sight of the short shadowy figure walking towards them from the shutting door they both stiffened.
It was a young woman, short in height, only standing at about 5'4" at most. Her hair was as black as night and cut short in an a-symmetrical bob, some of which fell over her icy blue eyes which were blank and staring ahead as she began to walk towards them.
"Layla" Khan hissed, his eyes narrowing as she came closer.
On closer inspection he saw face was devoid of all emotion, in fact it appeared to be so slack it was almost frightening.
Even Helene was looking very alarmed as she glanced sidelong at Khan who gave her a very tiny shake of the head.
Carefully and as silently as a cat he made to slide his way over to the side of the bed, reaching down deftly to pick up his pants from the floor and slip them on.
But Layla didn't seem to care, she only continued to approach the bed until her foot caught something on the floor.
"Layla!" Helene cried out as the shadow of Layla suddenly dropped to the floor with a thud.
"Lights" Khan clipped as he quickly dashed over to where the fallen girl was stirring bleary eyed and groaning in pain.
"Ow…what the?"
She looked up as a pair of hands carefully but quickly rolled her over onto her back.
"Father?" Layla blinked as the face of her father came quickly into focus under the newly lit light.
Khan sighed heavily in relief as he gently helped his daughter to sit up.
"Where…how-" she shivered doing her best to contain herself as his fingers all but burned into her skin.
"You were sleepwalking" Khan steamrolled over her smoothly, his hands carefully making to cup her cheeks. Gently he angled her head from side to side, his eyes roving along with his fingers as they felt around for any unusual sign.
However all they were to find was a small bump on the side just above the top of her ear.
"Hurts like a bitch but otherwise I'm fine" Layla muttered in response to his unanswered question.
Gingerly he helped her stand up, only for her to sway ominously.
"Ok maybe not so fine" Layla grunted as she all but fell into her father who smirked softly and shook his head as he led her to sit on the foot of the bed.
As she was settled down, Helene sat down beside her and pulled her in for a hug.. Whilst her husband had tended to their daughter, she had quickly dressed herself in her underwear and his abandoned shirt.
Layla could not help but flush a little pink as she noticed the smell of her father mingling oddly with her mother's scent as her face was squashed against her mother's chest.
"Sorry" she muttered softly. "I didn't mean to interrupt"
"It was lucky you came when you did" Khan snorted as he stood up. "Or else that would have been very awkward"
"Khan" Helene gave him a small glare that only made his smirk widen and Layla's blush worsen.
"It's alright Layla. You didn't interrupt anything. We'd finished some time ago"
"So I heard"
Now it was Khan's turn to look uncomfortable as his daughter looked at him with raised eyebrows.
However he was quick to overcome his emotions and process her statement.
"You were up late again?"
"Just thinking that's all" Layla muttered.
"You seem to be doing a lot of that nowadays" Khan's eyes narrowed ever so slightly, in spite of his wife's now stern glower at him.
But Layla wasn't fazed much.
"I have a lot to think about." She shrugged but when Khan didn't look convinced she sighed.
"Alright…I was just thinking about…well…what's going to happen now about…"
"About the three us?" Helene finished quietly and she nodded.
"Yes…and the others…and the other ten-"
"No Layla" Khan said firmly his eyes hardening to ice "I've said it before and I'll say it again. You're not going to help us catch them"
"But father!" Layla groaned, in which exasperation and pent up frustration all rolled into one sound. "I was trained to do this kind of thing-"
"I do not doubt your skills Layla." Khan clipped doing his best to try and sound softer than he did at the moment, but it was difficult "But you have your own duties to follow. The Federation has made that deal"
"It's a stupid deal and we both know it! I could be more help on the ground with you two than attending goddamn school!" Layla snapped and she would've jumped to her feet had her mother not held her down firmly by her shoulders.
"Sweetheart, please understand. This part of the deal was not something your father or I had arranged, and Starfleet are refusing to let it drop."
"Why though?" Layla pinched her nose "Why do Hawke and I have to go to the Academy? Why not send him with Damian or Ronan or someone else? They'd have more of a chance at fitting in than I ever would."
"I am not sure" Khan frowned rubbing his temple "Ronan thinks it's because they might want to see how you and Hawke both fare living amongst other humans. So far, the two of you have been the most socially acceptable out of us. That and given the fact that the two of you are young, and that you especially have more of a grasp of modern technology and customs you might find it easier to adapt."
"In short, they want solid proof that us Augment's can and will survive and co-operate with other humans and the Federation" Helene finished for him.
Layla rolled her eyes. "Great! Once again I'm the Federation's guinea pig"
"yes for now you are…albeit a strong and intelligent superiorly augmented pint size guinea pig," the corners of Khan's lips curled upwards with amusement as Layla scowled up at him.
"Not funny-and I'm not pint sized!...just petite…" she added in a mumble, her cheeks flushing again as Khan gave a soft chuckle.
He reached out and stroked his hand over the top of her dark head of hair.
"Layla" he purred softly as he stroked back her bangs from her face. "The reason I don't want you to assist us in finding the Ten, isn't because I doubt your abilities. Far from it. You have raw skills and talent in many areas that even your mother and I, and even the missing ten have not. But the one thing the others do have over you is refinement. And that unfortunately is something that can only be achieved by training over time. The Missing Ten know this. And god forbid they refuse to co-operate with our new ways and -"
He stopped suddenly in his tracks. Layla frowned looking between Khan and Helene, who was now giving her husband the "stop talking look".
However the damage was done and Layla's eyes narrowed suspiciously at them both.
"What do you mean?"
Neither of them answered.
"Father" Layla growled feeling her mental barrier begin to be pushed by a familiar rather aggressive force, like it always did when she was being lied to. "What has happened?"
But before Khan could even open his mouth, the door to the room opened again with a hiss.
"Lord Khan! Khan! Layla's disappeared a…gain…" the voice of a young man trailed off as all the occupants of the room turned to look in his direction.
It was a young man, fairly tall and lean, with white blonde hair and stormy grey eyes that were currently turning from panic to surprise as his gaze found the family of three.
"Oh…she's here…" he gulped eyes darting between Khan and Layla, the former of whom clipped tersely.
"Yes Hawke, Layla is quite safe now."
Hawke felt his cheeks flush a little red with embarrassment as his leader as quirked an eyebrow coolly at him.
"Oh father stop it would you" Layla rolled her eyes only to pause as she caught sight of something small in the other teenager's hands. It looked oddly enough like a box.
"What's that?"
"What's what?" Hawke's cheeks went even redder as he hid the box behind his back.
"That present for her which you are trying to hide" Khan smirked ignoring Helene's exasperated groan and shaking of the head, as he quickly snatched behind the younger male's back.
"Hey!" Hawke cried out but too late, Khan had already opened it and looked inside.
His face turned stony.
"What? What is it?" Layla asked confusedly but Khan shoved the box back into Hawke's face with a scowl before tossing it to her.
Layla caught it, looking utterly befuddled as she examined it. It was small, only just big enough to fit into the palm of her hand, and made of black leather with a silver crescent moon embossed on the top.
She quietly looked up at Hawke her icy blue eyes strangely lost as she mumbled.
"Uh thanks…what is it?"
"Open it and find out" Helene smiled gently beside her.
Layla frowned, but nonetheless did as she was told, albeit quite apprehensively. It didn't help that her father was watching her expression very closely as she made to prize the box open.
The inside was lined with silver silk, in which a small white cushion seemed to have been placed. On this cushion rested something silvery and shiny.
As delicately as if she were going to diffuse a bomb, she lifted the trinket.
It was a thin long chain, on which at the end was looped a small silver pendant in the shape of a crescent moon, almost exactly like the one printed on the box. It glinted prettily even in the dim artificial light above.
"happybirthdayLay" Hawke cursed himself the moment the words tumbled out of his mouth.
"Huh?" Layla's eyebrows rose in astonishment.
Hawke mumbled something under his breath so softly that no one caught a word.
Even Khan looked confused, though his expression was laced with amusement, rather like his wife, though she had more tact to keep calm and composed as she translated:
"I think what dear Andy is trying to say, is Happy Birthday"
There was a very pregnant pause as Layla blinked blankly around at the room.
"uh…Happy what?"
She sounded so astonished that even Hawke forgot to feel so embarrassed.
"Well…birthday y'know, the day you were born…like today… the sixth of August."
He looked to Layla who just shrugged nonchalantly.
"Yeah? What's so important about that? I was born on this date so what? why do I have to be happy about it?"
Quietly Hawke exchanged a small glance with Helene who likewise was looking slightly perturbed by the question.
Neither of them had ever expected this reaction.
Khan however was quick to put a hand on his daughter's shoulder.
"A birthday is the anniversary of the day on which a person is born. Often it is treated as a cause for celebration. On such occasions it is often traditional that others give gift's to the one whose birth is being celebrated"
"And mine is worthy of being celebrated?" Layla didn't say it with any bitterness. Rather her voice had taken on the irritability of one very sane who had just been asked to do something ridiculous and insane, for no particular reason.
"Of course, why shouldn't it be" Khan said, and he did it so offhandedly too, as if it were the most obvious answer in the world.
And yet in spite of his casualness, Layla could not have felt happier, though she hid it behind a fairly calm composed mask. Though even that was quick to crack slightly as she caught sight of the small pile of wrapped gift boxes on her father's bedside table.
Are all those for me
Her eyes seemed to speak far louder than whatever words died in her throat.
Khan gave her a small nod that looked as calm as a cucumber though his icy eyes were wells of anxiety and slight pity as his daughter timidly approached the pile of presents of which there were three.
Her hands almost shook as she took the top most one which was strangely cylindrically shaped and felt surprisingly heavy for its size.
With careful precision she made to open the wrapping barely tearing the paper a fraction with her sharp slender nails.
She looked down inside.
And smiled wide…
The atmosphere was surprisingly calm as they all sat on grass in the middle of a forest. Actually it wasn't really a forest. They were still on the star-base, in a section of one of the private sector's that was both park and greenhouse.
But even so it was a good change of scenery considering the sterile hell they had all just been through.
Khan couldn't help but smirk softly to himself as he looked around at his wife and his four followers all of whom were actually sleeping on the grass enjoying whatever warm artificial light that substituted for sunlight that streamed through the greenhouse roof.
It had been a long time since he'd had even the freedom to just sit and be like this and he wasn't going to waste a second of it.
And neither was Layla it seemed.
She was laying down on her front just a few feet away from them, resting on her elbows as she looked down on a blank page of a blank sketch book. Actually she was glaring at it with frustration, as she chewed on the end of a pencil.
She had been doing that for a while now. Staring down at the page like she were trying to decipher an annoyingly cryptic code.
His smirk widened ever so slightly as Layla huffed in a horse like manner, blowing up strands of her short black hair up from her forehead.
When it fell back in the way of her eyes she growled softly under her breath and at once began to run her hands through her hair, slicking it back away from her face.
And whether because it was just so short or it was just textured like that, the black locks miraculously stayed slicked back in place with only a couple of tiny short wisps falling on her forehead.
Adorable was a word that Khan had once thought to be revolting. It was in his opinion an adjective that only a lesser person would ever succumbed to using to endear something. And Khan very rarely endeared things or people, save those very, very close.
It wasn't that he was unsociable and cold (though that was usually everyone's first impression of him), but for him attachments were a very sacred.
Forming true bonds took time, effort, patience and trust, all of which were valuable resources when it came to survival amongst a race of people with a genetic predisposition to thinking like warriors and spies.
And yet for some reason when it came to his own child (of whom he still barely knew for a couple of months) he had not hesitated to endear her so swiftly and selfishly to himself. And now as he sat here, the word adoration, though still revolting as a word, was perhaps the only phrase he could use at this moment to describe how she looked to him now, an almost carbon copy of his image.
Fatherhood is a strange thing…
He could not help but think quietly to himself as he continued to watch Layla mull over what to draw.
Strange…but satisfying all the same…the next events are almost always unpredicta-
There was the thumping of footsteps on the ground and both Khan and Layla looked up as a shadow began to fall over the grass.
"Well…you guys look comfortable" the voice of a man smirked though it was jovial and teasing, at least it was to Layla who smiled widely up at the newcomer.
"and you look very official. Jim"
James Tiberius "Jim" Kirk, gave a crooked grin, revealing a set of straight white teeth that flashed just as brightly as his sandy blonde hair. In short it was the grin that made normal girl's swoon…but not Layla, who was quick to check out a large strange case in his arms with holes at the top.
"What's in the box?" she frowned curiously as she audibly sniffed the air. It smelt faintly of scented soap mixed with something musky.
"Someone who's very excited to see you again" Jim's glanced at Khan, who stiffened ever so slightly.
He had a bad feeling about this.
Indeed as Jim Kirk made to squat to the ground and open the perforated lid of the box his blue eyes twinkled with derisive mischief.
"Happy birthday"
There was a loud mewling sound as something furry and grey shot out of the box and straight to Layla her face splitting into a smile of wondrous delight as she squealed.
"Hubble!"
That damned critter!
It took Khan all his willpower not to groan out loud in frustrated despair as the small silver grey cat purred loudly, rubbing himself against Layla's face as she held him close and kissed his small nose.
"Yeah, yeah I know I missed you too buddy" she laughed before looking back up at Jim "I thought he was going to be released from quarantine next week"
"He was…but from yesterday Bones and the other scientists studying him had found out all they could from him so there was no point in waiting. They only have one condition. He has to wear this." the Starfleet captain added with a playful sternness as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue collar. On it had a small round silver tag where the name "Hubble" had been engraved in a classic all caps font.
"The little guy's hard to catch hold of when he makes a run for it. That's why he spent so long in quarantine, he wouldn't allow Bones to even touch him. Though that might have been Bone's fault for giving him a hypospray at their first meeting" Jim added and was pleased to get a small giggle from Layla who took the collar from him and began to clip it around the feline's neck.
It didn't oppose her, though it did look rather grumpy at the prospect of wearing its new accessory.
"Oh don't give me that look." Layla chided the small animal gently as she straightened the collar "there, now you look handsome."
"Thanks"
"Not talking to you"
Khan snorted as the young Starfleet captain actually pouted as Layla smirked up at him.
"Should've seen that one coming." He muttered and reached out quickly, his hand affectionately ruffling Layla's short dark head of hair, much to her irritation. "Happy Birthday Tiger."
"Hey! I just brushed that!" she growled. But Jim only chuckled as he stood up once more.
"I'll be coming round with Spock to pick you up tomorrow o'nine hundred."
"Huh? Pick me up?" Layla blinked as she tried to right her now black birdsnest that sat atop of her head.
"For your meeting with Admiral Barnett tomorrow."
"oh right" Layla's face fell quickly "the Academy"
"Yeah…" Jim frowned, crouching down again as the younger girl turned her eyes back down to Hubble's grey fur. "Hey…what's up? I thought you said you wanted to go?"
"No I do it's just…" she trailed off glancing at the Augments' around her, including Khan whose eyes narrowed.
"We've discussed this already Layla. You're not going to be involved in the search" he said with such a steely edge to his voice that made Jim even shudder.
However the younger man was quick to pull himself together and gave what he hoped was his most encouraging smile.
"Hey…its not gonna be that bad. Besides if what Admiral Barnett has planned about your education, the Academy is gonna keep your hands full"
"What do you mean planned?" Layla frowned suspiciously as did Khan though his expression was more dangerous than curious.
"It's nothing bad" Jim rolled his eyes "at least it's going to be nowhere near the level of Marcus and Lance were setting for you, but it will be tough enough to be getting on with if you start to develop a big social life. trust me"
"If I even get any social life" Layla muttered more to herself than to anyone else.
"Ah you're gonna be fine!" Jim waved her off with a grin "It's your birdbrain boyfriend I'm more worried about"
To say that Khan had gone tense was a great massive universal understatement. At the word "boyfriend" his entire back went rigid, right down from the tailbone to the top of his head, and his eyes narrowed dangerously.
When he spoke it was with such gritted teeth that his voice was even muffled ever so slightly.
"Aren't you supposed to be meeting your superiors soon about your ship?"
"Father" Layla pinched her nose as Jim's friendly smile vanished clean off his face.
"That meeting isn't for another few hours." He said just as tersely, "but if you have a problem with that and want me to leave, just say it outright and I will"
"Oh really?" Khan sneered in a mocking intrigue as he slowly stood up "You'll just drop everything and go at my beck and call. Wouldn't you much rather trample everywhere at your own leisure like you always do so childishly?"
"Father stop it!" Layla tried but too late Jim had risen up to the bait and had snapped at it angrily.
"Listen I'm trying to be considerate. But oh wait I forgot, you Augments think kindness is a fault for the weak minded inferiors"
"Jim no-" Layla groaned as her father's face contorted, his fury now lighting his eyes so that they were icy blizzards as he stormed over to Jim and snarled in his face.
"Do not lecture me on the merits of compassion Kirk. Do I need to remind you of the many times your own precious Starfleet preached about the need for civil equality, only to throw it away at the first sign of something new just because it's different? You yourself sought to end me when we first met without a thought as to why my actions ever took place because of what I was?"
"Oh don't play the family card Khan" Jim roared "You slaughtered a room full of innocent people in cold blood when you only really needed to kill one. Oh and whilst we're on the subject of remembering things, let's not forget it was you who crashed a ship into a city with a starship and killed hundreds of people in one go!"
"Whereas you were ready to commit genocide in order to uphold the values those supposed innocent senior officers ha-"
"SHUT UP! Just both of you shut up!"
There was silence as both Khan and Jim wheeled around to see Layla standing to her feet, clutching a very quiet Hubble tight to her chest. Her eyes were very bright and when she made to speak again, her voice cracked and choked.
"How-How can the two of you keep going on like this? After all those times you two have worked together to make this opportunity for a treaty come together, you'll just chuck it away to assault and snap each other like a pair of-of savages! And for what?! For WHAT?! your own pride! Hasn't all the mess of the past years taught either of you anything about civility and humanity?!"
Both Khan and Jim's eyes widened as she shook her head and a tear accidently escaped her fragile barrier of control.
But worse still, was the sentence that she spat out at them with all the bitterness and disappointment life had to offer.
"I thought both of you were better than that…I really did…"
Scrubbing her wet eyes furiously she turned on her heel, leaving both men to stare after her as she stalked off into the nearby trees.
Khan lurched forwards as she began to dwindle into the distance without sign of stopping, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him.
He turned ready to snarl, only to stop short when he caught sight of his wife.
"I think you and Mr Kirk have both done enough damage for one day, dearest" She glowered angrily at both him and Jim who had the decency to look down at his toes like an ashamed schoolboy.
"I…I guess I'll be off then" he nodded before quickly dashing away from the spot.
Khan however ignored him and continued to stare hard into the trees where a dark head of hair had just vanished from sight.
TADAA! *slams a set of golden double doors door open* BOOM BABY!
Sorry guys just excited to be back to writing once more for this sequel.
finally got rid of a couple of the horrible writers blocks in my head for this fandom, and then i had to start doing some more research for the next chapter. So yeah...the Light of liberty is finally setting off. so sit back, grab some popcorn and prepare yourself to be warped or beamed into more drama and adventure because this is going to be one long ride.
hope you guys enjoyed and keep r&Ring for more