I do not own Star Trek.
Khan paused in the corridor by her quarters... he had been so furious, and now he was worried. It felt wrong, this emotional tie, whatever it was, that kept drawing him back to Maya, yet natural as well. It was like the urge he felt to protect all his family, but stronger. Perhaps it was something to do with the resonance in feeling she would do the same. Feeling awkward he pressed the button by the side of the door. There was no answer.
"Maya, are you there?" The uncertainty in his tone sounded off. He decided to try again. "I want to talk to you." There was a little more authority in his tone this time. After a few long moments the door slid open. She just stood there, not even looking at him. Her gaze was on his shoes, and the ache in his chest grew along with a desperate urge for her to look at him, to meet his eyes as equals. When had he started to want an equal? It was puzzling but he set it aside for the moment. "Mahalia... Maya..." He wasn't quite sure what to say next. He reached out to grip her shoulder but she flinched and he pulled his hand back.
She was pale and her cheeks were damp, the bruises standing out accusingly against the white, wrapped in a thick blanket that covered her in soft shapeless curves. Despite the thick warmth that must be coming from it she was shivering. Her curls were falling forward into her face to form a curtain between her and the world, she almost seemed to shrink to hide behind it. "Has he ever done..." How could he put it, he almost didn't want to ask, didn't want to know but he pressed on. "Something like that before?" The small nod felt almost like a stab to his chest. She still wasn't looking at him.
It felt exposed discussing this in the corridor, where Kati or one of the others could come along at any moment. Khan had locked Aldur in his quarters but he doubted it would hold the other augment long if he really wanted to get out, the human security systems on the computers weren't that sophisticated. "Can I come in?" If anything her face grew paler at his question, her arms holding the blanket more tightly.
She shuffled back into the room, leaving the door open. It wasn't quite an invitation but he followed her in. She sat on the edge of her bed, still not having met his eyes, let alone spoken. It was eerie. He seated himself carefully on a chair by the table, turning it to face her as he did so. He swallowed. What was he supposed to say in this situation? Apologise for not having cared enough to notice until now? Tell her he'd protect her? That he cared now? "Did you tell anyone? Kati seemed to know..." She looked up, eyes bright, swirling with fierce emotion that dropped away before he could begin to read it. It left an emptiness in its wake.
"All the women know what Aldur is like. Augments are generally capable of figuring these things out if they want to. I think some of them deliberately chose not to realise..." She sighed heavily, her eyes dropping again. "Jahl and Gryn know too, they would try to help keep me from being alone with him. Neither of them were really strong enough to do much though." Her tone was hollow with acceptance. Dry and quiet it almost sounded broken. At least she was talking...
"You... seem to like Jahl." Khan asked with a careful casualness, the easy comfort between the pair had been a striking difference to how everyone else had treated her. He'd not known anything like it himself in a long time. It was close and personal, the male augment had seemed to return the feelings as well. While it sent an unexplained pain through him to think of it she would have a small measure of protection if they took each other as mates officially...
"He's a good friend, Gryn too." A slight smile came to the corner before dropping off with a wince as some other thought chased the first away. Khan frowned, he had no idea what was going on in her mind, and he wanted to know, more than he should. "Jahl would have been there when I woke Aldur if I asked, but he had work to do. I didn't want him getting into trouble and I hoped Aldur would be more interested in finding out what had happened as he slept than..." She trailed off, a shudder running through her. He tensed, hands gripping tightly in frustration. He didn't know how to deal with this... any of it, and he wasn't used to feeling so helpless.
"If you want me to excuse Jahl from duty... if you want him to be with you." The stabbing of jealousy was unimportant. He barely knew Mahalia and by the sound of it Jahl had been there to protect her while he'd been blissfully unaware of any problem. No, more than unaware, uncaring. He wondered if any of the other women had been dealing with similar issues. He had spent the last year working for their safety, stopping now seemed pointless and there were more dangers than mad starfleet admirals. He couldn't blame her if she wanted more familiar and reliable protection than he had offered. "He seems to care for you..."
"No... I'll be okay... I may be weak but I'm strong enough to handle sitting in my room by myself. It... it was good of you to check on me. Thank you." Her eyes shone as she glanced at him again, and while there were so many emotions it was hard to read them all he saw the self-loathing and disgust buried in there before the wall of acceptance closed over them again. It was almost painful watching her squash the emotions down, away, not trusting him to understand them. "You didn't have to. I appreciate the concern though."
She seemed to expect him to leave... though that might be down to the way he had suggested getting someone else, and the lack of compassion augments were known for. He supposed Aldur would have no idea where to look for her when he woke, which was presumably why she had located herself so far from the others. He still didn't like the idea of leaving her alone, she looked so fragile, swamped by the large folds of the blanket, and he didn't know when Aldur would wake up. He couldn't exactly wait outside her room, it would make it more likely that someone would find it, and waiting by Aldur's room would raise questions with Kati, but he wanted to be between them until he could have a little 'talk' with the other augment.
"May I stay a while?" She seemed to freeze, the tension that had been slowly ebbing flashing through her frame as her knuckles whitened against the cover. Her eyes hardened as they fell to glare poisonously at his feet. Why was a mystery. Every movement, every word seemed to hold volumes of meaning he wasn't prepared to deal with. He had made a mistake, but what?
"I am honoured to serve." The flaming red that spread across her pale cheeks, bright and almost feverish, worried him. The words held the same venom that seemed to have raised her chin almost aggressively as her gaze stayed passively low. There was hatred mixed with disgust in her as she stood stiffly, slipping the blanket from her shoulders to spread it out across the bed. Her back to him as she took a deep breath, seemingly trying to will the tightness from her shoulders before facing him. Confusion pulled his face into a frown.
"To serve..." The formal words stilted and forced sounded wrong. "I just... I don't know how long Aldur will be out, and what he'd do when he woke. I..." He hadn't wanted her alone if he found her, if he tried to hurt her. "I can leave if you want?" Her back seemed to crumple, her face dropping to her hands as a sob came out of her. She was crying... He hadn't meant for that to happen. Clearly he wasn't helping. Her knees gave out and she collapsed to lean against the bed, almost like the pictures of humans praying before they slept. He felt the urge to apologise, but he was their leader, he never apologised... Awkwardly he stood, patting her on the back before heading for the door.
"Khan." His name was a whisper, he almost missed it in the sound of the door opening. He wasn't entirely sure she had spoken until he looked back to see her looking at him. Despite the redness of her eyes, the tears still glistening on her bruised cheeks, the trembling of her hands, despite all of the little signs of weakness and damage, he could see the strength in her. It glowed from her, the strength to continue, to care while knowing it to be a weakness that could hurt her, quiet determination he doubted anyone else he had known could match. She was beautiful, all the more so because of her fragility, like a butterfly, braving the roughness of the winds to fly. "Do you want to play chess?" There was more to the question, he could tell that much, though what eluded him, much as most of this conversation had. Hesitating on the threshold of the room he paused a moment before nodding, hoping it was the right response.
"But no letting me win." He responded, his voice calm, confident and completely without a trace of the confusion he truly felt. The tightness in his chest eased a little at the watery smile she gave him, at least she'd stopped crying.