I do not own Star Trek.
It was foolish to be so aggressive with Khan that morning. Risky. Khan could have hit him right there, there still could be a fight at some point he was obviously trying to warn him away from her. Honestly the guy might have been more subtle if he'd just pissed on her. It wouldn't help him, acting this way, pushing people away from Maya and demanding her attention. He'd only piss her off, and she would hate him, or hate herself.
It would probably be safer to tell Khan he had absolutely no interest in Maya, but then he might have to explain why. Why he cared about her but didn't want her himself, which would bring things to him and Gryn... and he didn't know how the others would react. He missed Gryn. He'd only been awake a day, goodness knows how Maya had felt, surrounded by humans with no one she knew in a world she could barely recognise. Then again, perhaps it might have been nice... being away from certain people. She had certainly seemed more confident, being around people who treated her differently all that time must have changed her, until Khan went and put his foot in his mouth.
The odd thing was, Jahl could almost believe Khan actually cared. How long it would last was anyone's guess, but he clearly wasn't only impressed by her body. That's the only thing that could have explained the overwhelming urge to tell him about Maya, about the things she did to herself to survive life as the runt, the scabs that attempted to cover the messy mental wounds. He couldn't stop feeling guilty about betraying her trust and exposing her weakness. Then again he'd never forgive himself if he knew he'd done nothing and he might have been able to get her to the happy ending he knew she really deserved. Speaking of happy endings...
"Jahl, could you come to Cargo Bay Three please?" There was a trace of happiness hidden in her tone and he suspected he knew who was next to be woken up, and just in time for lunch too, though it would be something of breakfast to Gryn. He had gained an assistant during that morning, as more and more of their family awoke, and he shook his head at the woman's attempt to follow him.
"I'll just head to lunch early. We've listed all the different types of seeds and confirmed that they're unharmed so they'll have a good chance of viability. We'll look over the information on the planet to see about discussing possible sites and the appropriate plants to start with then." Jahl said, giving her a polite nod of parting as he headed out.
"Guess who should be waking up in the next few minutes?" Maya smiled as he entered the room. She could be so resilient in some ways, putting things out of mind to focus on other people. He knew tonight would be eating at her, but other than a slight tension in how she held herself she was happy for him, about Gryn. "Khan decided that after yesterday that there needed to be someone with authority present to ensure people would understand their priorities." She swallowed and Jahl could tell she was thinking of Aldur, her hand absently patting the pocket he knew had the hypospray in it. She shook her head slightly before smiling again, clearly choosing to focus on the positive. "However he chose someone who already has a mate, I timed things so she just woke up quarter of an hour ago. I told him I'd be fine if he went for an early lunch to have private time with her. It took a little convincing but he knew Gryn was next and that we're friends so he wouldn't cause trouble. Here." She handed Jahl a cup with a straw in it and he headed to sit by the pod.
The gesture had been obvious, Khan wanted someone to protect her, and he didn't want her spending time around an unattached man. Attachments had a cost though. Jahl smirked before sitting by the pod just in time for the lid to begin to lift. Damn Maya was good at timing.
"I'm here sweetheart, take it easy. I missed you. I've been awake nearly a day, we haven't spent that long apart in months. Well you know, awake. We've been asleep for centuries... Oh how silly of me, here, drink some of this, it'll help." He was babbling, he knew he was babbling, he'd just been worried. Everyone had woken up fine so far, but he'd still worried. Gryn shot him an amused look as he obediently sipped the broth.
"I missed you too, even if I was asleep." Gryn said firmly and smoothly after a few swallows. Then he grabbed Jahl and kissed him the way that he could always feel right to his toes, as if his whole body was involved. When they finally broke the kiss his lips tingled.
"Funnily enough you're assigned to the kitchen. You'll be relieving Kati when you're up for it... goodness only knows what state the galley will be in when we get there... She made stew last night and left the pot on the stove still going. Hopefully she won't have done too much damage." Maya commented, having waited until after the kiss but politely reminding them she was there before things got any more heated. Not that he'd mind getting a bit more heated, but they were sharing a room now, he could wait. Probably. If he had to. He sent a hungry look over Gryn's body.
"Kati cooking?" Gryn's tone was, understandably, one of disbelief. He sighed. "That's going to be a lot of work..." He slowly climbed out of the pod and Jahl helped him, taking the opportunity to grope his ass a little. "I'm glad you're here Maya, I didn't see you when we were all getting in the pods. I was concerned." Gryn's voice was always such a soothing rumble. He made Jahl think of a Great Dane, so large and peaceful, so calm and unflappable, well until he got excited anyway... A grin slid onto his face and he could tell by the raised eyebrow that Gryn knew he'd thought of something dirty. Jahl kissed him just as deeply as before.
"Lets go have lunch." Jahl suggested, heading for the door, they moved aside slightly so Maya could slip between the pair of them to stroll down the hallway companionably. It was comfortable, friendly and familiar, at least until they reached the galley. The place was... well Kati was not handling things well. She looked furious and the kitchen was a mess, the smell of burning hung in the air.
"Kati, do you mind if I take over in here? I did handle most of the cooking before." Gryn asked. He always had the perfect way of dealing with the prickly little bitch, neither subservient enough to encourage her nor authoritative enough to provoke her. Phrase it as a question so she feels she has the ability to say no but ensure she knows better than to do so.
The kitchen was Gryn's undisputed domain before they were frozen, even Khan hadn't contradicted Gryn there. He didn't have a great deal of status in the group but everyone knew when he asked something in a certain tone of voice it was a bad idea to refuse. It wasn't a threat so much as an unspoken agreement that Gryn knew what he was doing and contradicting him on anything kitchen based was the kind of thing that would have him asking every detail of your food orders for the next week, at length. 'Should I peel the potatoes before or after I cook them? How much sugar do you want in the cake mix? Do I grill the tomatoes or fry them?' Every detail until the foolish person cracked and said, publicly, 'Do what you think is best, you're the cook, I just eat here.' Which was actually what Tieven had said when he was on the receiving end.
"Finally!" Kati responded. "You." She spotted Maya... which was not good judging by the look on her face. "Why is it that Khan told me he wanted Gryn to deliver dinner for two to his quarters?" Kati had stalked over and spoken in a venomous whisper but the handful of augments already in the room, having been brave enough to enter and then too afraid of Kati's temper to leave when they saw the food, could surely hear everything. They had fallen silent. Jahl could see Maya's chin drop, her posture respond to Kati's tone, but also to the topic.
"Khan is our leader. When he commands it is our duty to obey." The words were almost automatic, the hint of apology they held only angered Kati more, like blood in the water.
"Don't think he wants you, a pathetic little mouse of a thing like you. He's only interested in you because he's spent so long among the humans and you're practically one of them. He'll get over it. You on the other hand will be just as worthless and weak as you ever were, honestly I'm surprised anyone has any interest in you, even Aldur." Kati was such a vicious little snake and Maya just stood there with her eyes down, not arguing. Though her breath caught at that piece of refuse's name. At least he wasn't here for this. "I clearly have to remind you that you are nothing compared to us, compared to me. You are the scrapings at the bottom of the genetic vat."
"Kati." Jahl hadn't even realised he was going to say anything until it came out. He hated the way she was clearly making Maya feel, but interfering ran he risk of making things worse. And now he had spoken but he had nothing. No idea what to say next. Not that he was given the chance, Kati swung at him, striking him across the face, Jahl didn't even see it coming. It knocked him back a step, there had been a lot of anger in that punch.
"Kati Stop!" Maya shouted and Jahl winced. She should have said please, should have made it a request, but she hadn't. Anything that could be interpreted as an attempt to tell her what to do would give Kati an opening, and there would be nothing anyone could do to protect her.
"What did you say? Was that an order? Are you challenging my authority?" Kati's voice was gloating ice and an ugly smile lit her face. The mood in the room shifted, and Jahl expected to see Maya collapse into herself, give way before Kati's fury, instead her jaw tightened and she lifted her head.
"If I have to." You could hear the silence of a dozen augments holding their breath at Maya's response. "If it is the only way to get you to stop taking your anger out on us. Jahl has done nothing to you, I've done nothing to you. It is not my fault what Khan wants, he is the only one in control of that." Her voice was steady, quiet and determined, as though the fear had grown too much and simply disappeared leaving the eerie calm of a cornered animal, waiting for the right moment, the one which everything hung on.
"You think you're better than me?" The incredulity was harsh in her tone. "I could tear you apart."
"Perhaps, perhaps not, but I do know one thing. I could have killed you. I could have rigged your pod to malfunction, I could have left you behind, I could still program the computer to lock you in your quarters tonight and cut off life support. I could have killed Aldur yesterday, I could have given him poison instead of sedative. Killing people is not hard, it is not impressive. If you kill me, I will be dead and you will still be a deeply unhappy person whose only joy in life is making sure other people are even more unhappy than you are." Why was Maya provoking her more? Making her more angry? It made no sense, yet while the tension in Kati's body spoke of fury, Maya's was full of anticipation, wire tight and poised on the knife edge of a moment, waiting for something. Time seemed to stretch as the two faced each other and then... Kati swung at Maya and he could have sworn he saw a small triumphant smile on Maya's face.
A/N - I know... it's evil to stop there, but I will get right onto writing the next chapter and this is honestly where I think it's the best place to switch back to Khan's point of view... please don't be too upset with me in the reviews... *winces and hides from flying stones*