Hello again, thanks so much for the continued support and the lovely reviews! I hope you continue to enjoy what I have planned! We have a mini declaration of love this chapter, as well as a guest appearance from Winona Kirk (Jim's mum). Enjoy!

Chapter Nine: Winona Kirk:

Jim sighed and sat back in the car, watching as Spock drove them down the highway. Of course he shouldn't have been shocked to learn that the Vulcan knew how to drive, he was good at everything after all, yet he found to his later chagrin that he was surprised by that menial fact.

Not to mention that it annoyed him that he hadn't been allowed to drive himself. He had fond memories of this stretch of road, and the nearby cliff he had driven his step-dad's vintage car off; a giggle escaped him and he quickly looked out of the window as it attracted concerned gazes from Spock and Khan.

He had convinced them both to allow him to head back home to Iowa, though it had taken every ounce of his considerable persuasive ability to do so, and even then he had been forced to allow Spock to accompany him.

It wasn't that he was ungrateful for his First Officer's concern, but Spock was the biggest cock-stopper he had ever encountered and if there was one thing that he wanted after a death defying act, it was some private servicing in the bedroom. And he had so nearly had Khan all to himself.

He sighed inwardly and tousled his hair restlessly. Spock's car smelled funny. Like a mixture of space dust and woodchips.

He looked up as they left the highway behind them, and felt his stomach twist into a knot as they started down the familiar smaller roads in the direction of his mum's house. He probably could have and should have called to tell her that he was going to visit. But somehow he foresaw that conversation going one way and one way only.

Jim rested his head in one hand as they turned off and headed down the long and bumpy driveway, tension rolling off his hunched shoulders and he abruptly regretted his vacation option. What had he been thinking?

He inwardly groaned as the car came to a smooth stop, and he took a moment to gather himself, letting himself slip on his undefeated mask of control and competence.

Lifting his gaze and grinning at Khan, who had been watching him systematically fall apart and repair himself for the best part of an hour, and got out of the car before anyone could say a word.

He took a moment to breathe in the fresh air after being cooped up in Spock's car for so long, and then he moved around and opened the boot, pulling out his travel bag. Strange as it may seem, he kept a bag of his clothes and essentials at Spock's place in case of of emergency, and considering that the rest of his clothes had been blown up along with his apartment... It was a good job that they had that arrangement going.

He went to throw the bag over his shoulder but paused as the bag was taken off him; he turned and found himself looking at Khan with raised eyebrows.

"I'm not going to break, you know." He stated calmly.

"I know," Khan smirked, "But I want to make the right first impression with your mother."

"Was that... Sarcasm?" Jim asked exaggeratedly, "The broody superhuman cracked a joke! Let me mark it in my calendar!"

"Broody?" he repeated sceptically.

He opened his mouth to provide some witty answer by stopped when he heard a door open, followed by a gasp of surprise; he turned slowly, his smile wavering momentarily as he cast his gaze over the willowy woman who was stood on the porch.

Her hair had gone curly over time, her skin slightly aged by stress and her sky blue eyes were now assisted by rimless glasses. But there was no mistaking the elegant and intelligent face of Winona Kirk. She had retained her first husbands' surname despite her second marriage, a factor which invoked her son's respect and ire in equal measure.

"Hi Mum." He greeted with a casual wave of his hand.

"H-Hi?! That's all you have got to say to me after four years?!" she exclaimed as she swept down off the porch and strode over to him, "No phone calls, no emails, no contact whatsoever and then you turn up on my doorstep looking like you've been run over?!"

She had a valid point; of course, he had neglected to wash the blood off himself after his timely resurrection.

"Well... I wasn't quite run over, it was more 'thrown over a car from a speeding motorcycle while chasing the man who blew up my apartment' than actual running over..." he offered, sarcasm dripped from his voice.

Khan and Spock watched the exchange, the former believing that Jim's attitude was going to earn him a harsh slap. He was bewildered therefore, when instead; the woman laughed loudly and threw her arms around her son with nothing short of admiration and pride glowing in her eyes.

"Still a little shit then?" she asked with a smirk as they parted.

"Course! Captaincy has given me a longer leash to play with," he smirked right back at her.

Winona chuckled at him, "I was incredibly proud when I learned of your success... I am merely disappointed that I had to hear it second hand. I expected a phone call from my smug son telling me that he had beaten Christopher's gamble and reached the level of Captain so quickly."

He faltered momentarily before he shrugged it off, "Like has been a busy bitch. What can I say?" he cleared his throat, "Speaking of which, may I introduce my First Officer, Commander Spock... Hailing from proud Vulcan ancestry, he is also half human and one of my closest friends and confidants. As well as Khan Noonien Singh, former Captain of the... Well, let's just leave it at that for now." He trailed off, and stepped aside, gesturing to the two men behind him.

Spock introduced himself first, holding his hand up in the traditional Vulcan way, "Live long and prosper, it is a pleasure to finally meet you, Mrs Kirk."

"Please call me Winona," she corrected as she returned the Vulcan had sign, "I visited Vulcan in my early years aboard the Kelvin, I was most saddened to hear of its fate, I hope you will accept my condolences."

"Thank you," he bowed his head and stepped aside, appraising Jim with a look which clearly suggested that he was surprised that such an instinctual young man came from such a kindly woman. Kirk just ignored him and watched Khan carefully.

Khan could feel Jim's eyes on him, he wondered if the man was concerned about how he was going to act or if he was concerned about what his mother's response to him was going to be. It was then he realised why, Winona was a former Starfleet Officer, she would have been informed about the incident surrounding himself and Admiral Marcus, perhaps she would be angry or try to enact revenge for the sake of old friends and comrades.

"It is an honour to meet the mother of such a remarkable man as James," he greeted, inclining his head to her, "I am certain that you are just as remarkable as he is."

"You speak very well, as far as terrorists go." Winona answered, meeting his gaze and never once flinching, "My son certainly keeps strange company."

"Perhaps that is the case, however I can only assure you that I mean your son no harm, I would no rather hurt him than I would cut off my own hand." He answered honestly, "You son has... Come to mean a lot to me. If you would be willing, I would appreciate the opportunity to explain my former actions three months ago."

She appraised him for several moments, glancing at her son and seeing the almost adorable expression of concern on his face, "Very well. Come in, I will make some tea and you can tell me all about it. I am nothing if not a patient listener."

"Thank you." He smiled very faintly before he looked at Jim, seeing the gratitude in his eyes.

Khan was really started to hate tea. He thought Jim's tea in the apartment had been bad, but regrettably Winona's version was even worse than that of her son. It was bitter and milky, making his tongue want to shrivel up and hide. But he had better manners than to leave the tea or say something, so he continued to drink it in between explaining to the woman what had happened to make him take action against Starfleet. He wasn't alone either, Jim spoke in depth about what had happened, keeping no detail from her, it appeared that Winona was a woman who valued honesty above tact.

When it came to the section concerning the Warp core, Jim's voice quietened very slightly, he could see the shock in the woman's eyes as her son told her that he had sacrificed himself, but then to move on to how Khan's blood and DNA had saved his life.

Winona looked at Khan with an entirely new emotion on her face, relief with a hint of appreciation; Khan ventured to wonder if the woman would even survive losing her son.

"I think I understand," she said when they finally finished speaking, "If my son was used against me I would move heaven and Earth to protect him; no one should hate you for that."

"You and James are a rare kind of person indeed," he offered, "I have met few others who would agree with you for even a moment."

"Well, people can be fickle. My son and I are... Realistic. And I am hardly going to hate someone who saved his life, I owe you a great deal." She murmured before she cast her eyes over her son, "So tell me, did you really get flung off a motorcycle after chasing a car at high speed after someone blew up your apartment?"

"Yes." Jim answered, "There has been a lot of strange goings on, there was a bomb planted at Starfleet Head Quarters during a party, a mystery bomber with a fetish concerning the anniversary of the Kelvin's destruction... The bomb was only deactivated using the date of my birth and on top of that... The bomb was made of bits of the Kelvin's hull, along with the name plate."

Her eyes widened slightly as he spoke and her mouth dried, "That is... Strange indeed. But how did you... Are you not hurt?" she asked.

Kirk sighed heavily, rubbing his forehead momentarily, "I... Died." He answered, "Khan's blood... Saved me, brought me back. It healed my injuries and... I'm fine." He told her.

"Thank goodness..." she breathed, looking at Khan, "It seems I owe you twice over. You have my thanks Khan."

"It was nothing; I could not see him die... Not after everything..." the dark haired man trailed off and he looked at the blond haired Captain he was sat next to, they shared a long look before parting and glancing in opposite directions.

Winona smiled slightly as she watched them interact, she knew her son had a history of being a little frivolous with the female company that he kept, and she knew that he was a bit of a man whore at the best of times... But there was something in his eyes which she had not seen before, and when he looked at Khan it came to life. And she could see that Khan cared for him in return, there was some warmth in his expression when they looked at each other, warmth which was otherwise absent.

"Well, I can't have you sat there looking like death itself, go upstairs and have a shower boy, I'll see about arranging some accommodation. I assume you are here to stay for a while?" she said as she got to her feet.

"Yeah, things have been so busy I figured a week or two out of Starfleet would do me some good. You don't mind?" he said as he stood as well.

"Not at all, if you remember where it is you can take your bag to your room, save your poor friend lugging it around for you." She added as she gestured to the bag at Khan's feet.

Kirk shot a playful glare at Khan before he grabbed his bag from him, "Yes Mum." He said obediently before he turned and disappeared up the stairs.

Khan chuckled under his breath as he watched a more compliant Jim slip into the place of the usually bossy arrogant one and he looked at Winona, seeing that she was watching him he felt his muscles tense before he relaxed slightly as she nodded once at him and disappeared from the room as well.

It seemed he had been accepted, at least for the time being. That was good enough for him.

Jim sighed after his shower, sitting on his double bed restlessly and casting a wandering eye around his old bedroom. It hadn't changed at all; it was good that some things were the same it would keep him grounded and peaceful to an extent. He was almost paranoid enough to do a run of the house and make sure that there were no bombs present... But he managed to stave off that particular activity for the time being.

He did, however, find himself curious as to where his step-dad was and he considered it for a moment. He hadn't seen his car in the driveway, he hadn't seen any of his possessions around the house and he... Oh, he hadn't seen the wedding ring on his mother's finger either. Had they broke up? Divorced? Had she killed him and pushed him off a cliff? That last one was mainly in his dreams but there was a definite chance that they had divorced. Suddenly, staying there didn't seem like a bad idea.

He dried himself off and got dressed, sitting back down on the bed before he flopped back, and stared up at the ceiling, there were small cracks that hadn't been there when he had left, but they weren't serious enough to warrant his full attention.

"James?"

He sat up as he heard Khan's voice and smiled slightly, "Yeah?"

"Are you alright?" the dark haired male asked as he walked in and sat on the end of the bed.

"Yeah... It's not as bad as I had myself thinking it would be. And I am pretty sure that she's split up with my step-dad so it is even better!" he chuckled; Khan smiled but it seemed to die on his lips as he looked at his hands.

They sat in silence for a moment before Kirk decided he couldn't take the pressure, "What's wrong? Is there... Something on your mind?"

"I am merely..." he paused and sighed, "... I find myself concerned for your safety, and after the crash I... I could not bear to lose you James."

He looked away stiffly as he spoke and shuffled on the bed, "I'm nothing special Khan; I'm an asshole half the time."

"Well... No that wouldn't come out right-" he said and frowned.

"What were you going to say?" Kirk asked.

"I was going to say 'well you are my asshole' but then I realised what that sounded like." He flushed slightly as Jim burst out laughing in response.

"Oh my God! Haha! Oh no... No it hurts..." he laughed hard and held his side, gasping as he found himself suddenly pinned down on the bed by the other man.

Khan looked down at him as he pinned him in place, "Are you laughing at me Mr Kirk?"

"Yes, Mr Singh, I am laughing at you." He grinned.

"I wouldn't advise it." He murmured.

Jim just smirked at him, "Oh? What are you going to do about it?"

"Mm... This."

Khan leaned down and claimed his mouth heatedly; crushing their lips together and groaning softly as Jim responded, winding his arms around him tightly and holding him close as he slipped his tongue into the other's mouth and pressed it against his.

Entwining with him, Jim laced his fingers into Khan's perfect locks inwardly thinking that Scotty would have to rethink who he nicknamed 'Mr Perfect-Hair' before his mind went blank as their hips pressed together and he let out a weak whimper against him. He slipped one of his legs around Khan's and yanked him closer still, gasping into his mouth and arching his back at the contact they shared.

Pulling back with a satisfied smirk on his face, Khan looked down at him and leaned in, kissing the corner of his mouth thoughtfully, "I'm never letting you go James, you're mine from now until the end of time. Can you live with that?"

Looking up at him with a heated gaze, he nodded once, "I can live with that, if you can live with me and my faults."

"I think that applies to both of us." He murmured before he kissed him again and moved to sit back.

Jim stopped him from moving and turned them so that they were laying down on their sides together; he looked at him for a moment as though debating whether or not it was truly safe to bear his soul to this man or not. Making up his mind he leaned in and rested his head under Khan's chin, closing his eyes tightly and gripping a handful of the other's shirt, holding onto him as though he might disappear.

"You don't have to say those words James; I know that you said that when you say them people leave you... So don't say it," Khan breathed, "But know that I feel that way for you. And I am not going to leave you or disappear. You are stuck with me. For good."

"Khan you don't know that..."

"Shh." He interrupted, "Trust in me, and know that it would take an army to rip me from your side."

Jim looked up at him slowly, brushing their lips together, "I feel... I feel that way for you as well."