~*~Okay I lied there's one more chapter. You really didn't think I'd end it right there did you? Happy endings were needed!
Warnings: few swear words
Musical Muse: None
Disclaimer: I am nobody of import that has anything to do with either Sherlock or Star Trek, in any interpretation of them.
Big Ass Thank You to my Lady Liaisons Ani and Kat, for persuading me to post this. And to everyone who read, faved, reviewed, and generally put up with this story. You all rock.

~*~Even Longer After~*~

The sensation of rising up through darkness, thick syrupy clawing stuff that tried its damnedest to hold him down...Khan knew the sensation, had felt it once before. He was being awoken from cryo, again. Once more, someone was trying to tear him from his rest, into a world that did not want him and he did not want. It didn't have his family, it didn't have his Jhon. He didn't want this.

Khan fought it, such as he could, but it was no use. Consciousness was pulling him close, and he could already feel his arms and legs, instead of a lack of any sensation from deep sleep. His eyelids were heavy as the greatest weights, and he felt the uneasy feeling that he felt the first time he had been awoken. That time, he decided it was some side effect of the waking. This time, Khan wondered if it was a warning, if his own body knew the years of loneliness that faced him, and tried to avoid it.

What would he find when he awoke? Strange men who didn't understand him? An unfeeling machine that refused to cooperate? More cold dark years where he was forced to suffer without his companionship? He wouldn't stand it, not again.

Not even fully awake, Khan began to struggle where he lay. The last time he awoke, he had been disorientated, hadn't known what would await him and so had been too passive. He allowed his future enemies to have an advantage over him, but not this time.

"He's coming to!" Someone was there, someone he didn't recognize. He struggled harder, trying to pry his eyes open. They wouldn't focus, only bright white light and dark shadows registering. Damn his body and damn whoever awoke him!

"Khan! Would you hold still for five minutes? Calm down!" Khan froze as though he'd been doused with ice water. That voice he knew. Oh, how he knew.

"Jhon..." He groaned, and was rewarded with the most delightful touch to his forehead. He knew that touch. It was really him.

"Yes, I'm here, you idiot. Give yourself a few more minutes to wake up, and you'll be on your feet in no time." The hand left, and Khan jerked against his restraints. A rather pathetic moan came from his throat, which perhaps prompted the hand that rested on his. Shamelessly, Khan turned his hand to hold it.

Any normal day, under normal circumstances, he would never behave like this, even after the events prior to their being frozen. But after years of dwelling only on memories of Jhon, reliving every conversation and slight touch (and especially the kiss), after being alone for so long, he could not stop himself. Things were different now.

"The crew..." he rasped, and felt the harshness of his throat. Jhon knew, of course he knew, and Khan felt a cup press to his lips. After several deep gulps, he moved away with a gasp. His eyesight was returning as well. He could make out the outline of his doctor, and he was never happier to see anyone in his life.

"The crew is all accounted for. No problems, all waking up properly. We're all together again." There was no mistaking the smile in Jhon's voice, and Khan badly wished to see it.

"They woke me before." Khan stopped, unsure as to how to proceed. It would take so long to explain...

"That's what they said." So Jhon already knew. He was quiet, but his hand tightened over Khan's and he returned the feeling. "You had quite a time of it, I heard. But, I'm glad you're all right." A very long pause, charged with emotion, passed before Jhon spoke haltingly again. "I suppose you've had time to - ahem - think about...things. Yes...um..."

Hearing Jhon stumble over his words again was making Khan's chest hurt. "I thought about what happened between us quite a bit, Jhon." He spoke evenly, not wishing Jhon to interpret anything bad from his words. "I believe it was the only thing that kept me mildly sane the entire time I was alone." Jhon went still beside him.

The words then came pouring out, everything he wanted to say but couldn't in his long unhappy years without everyone he knew. "I thought I lost you, and the crew, so many times. I tried so hard to make them open your tube, so I could have you with me, and they were using all of you against me and I couldn't-" he broke off with a gasp. There were tears leaking down his face, he was stunned to realize. The last time he cried, it had been in captivity. "I was so alone, and it was only until you weren't there that I realize how much I needed you."

Jhon was quiet, but his hand was still firm in Khan's. His other hand brushed away the tears. "And now that you aren't alone? That is, now that we're all together again, what now?" His voice was calm, reassuring, questioning: everything he valued about Jhon. His doctor.

What now, indeed. There would be the gathering of troops, reassurances that everyone was whole and well. There would be plotting, planning, revenge. There would be a time for talking to Jhon, for being with Jhon, for making up for lost years. But for now...

Khan opened his eyes. Jhon smiled down at him from next to his bed, just as he did before they went under, as though he never stopped smiling at him. Jhon's hand tugged on his, and Khan realized his restraints had been undone. Khan allowed himself to be pulled up, never taking his eyes from Jhon's.

"Now..." he leaned quite deliberately forward, and Jhon mirrored him. Their lips met as if they had never parted at all. Khan completely forgot about what he intended to say next, so lost in the utter rightness of being with Jhon again. It was as if the horrible years of darkness never happened at all.

Jhon pulled back to rest his forehead against Khan's. "Right," he whispered, and nodded, all business again, "now you better get off the bed and get your arse into gear," he muttered grumpily, but Khan knew that was just how he was. Khan nodded, and pulled back after one more quick kiss. There would be more, later. After he discovered who was so foolish as to let him out again, and who was even more foolish enough to release his family. With them behind him, and Jhon at his side...

He would be unstoppable.

~*~ Okay, now it's really done. Thanks for reading, much love to you all.