Chapter Three: The Khan Before The Storm:

Kirk stood in the airlock, triple checking that his space jumper suit was fastened securely and correctly, before letting out a long breath against the glassy helmet; his eyes darted to the side where Khan was stood, looking imposing and yet elegant as he slowly crouched down, seemingly preparing for the coming space jump. He watched for a moment, before deciding it would be unwise to look like an inexperienced novice, he crouched as well, and to the best of his ability mimicked the war criminal's stance.

He tried to hide his flinch of surprise as Chekov's voice filled his helmet, somewhere among this thick Russian accent, he was being informed of the distance between the ships and the necessity of remaining as parallel with the airlock of the USS: Vengeance as possible.

"It's fine, Mister Chekov, I've done this before," he announced, steadying his breathing, he caught the slightly bemused expression Khan shot him, and spoke again, "It was a Romulan drill thing... They were making a hole into the core of Vulcan... We had to jump vertically down and land on it to disable the thing and it... Never mind... Not important..."

Khan looked away, shaking his head slightly at the jabbering of the other man, though a small tingle of curiosity melded with the secret feeling of being impressed by such a feat, he could easily calculate the odds of achieving such a clean landing and they were not particularly good. Unable to stop himself, he looked around again, "How many made the jump?"

"What?" Jim responded, surprised, "Oh, there were three of us: Olsen, Sulu and myself."

The dark haired man's face changed as he considered the answer, "I've met Mister Sulu, and you. But I don't recall meeting anyone named Olsen." he commented.

"Yes well... Olsen was an idiot... He decided to see how late he could leave it before opening his parachute, and ended up being pulled under the drill and incinerated." he sighed deeply, "He was an idiot."

"Yes, yes I would agree he was definitely an idiot." he agreed before refocusing on the task at hand, his curiosity stated for the time being.

It was only moments later that the airlock was opened and they were sucked out by the force of space, into the everlasting darkness beyond. Their bodies straightened as they aligned to the airlock of the Vengeance, and they plummeted through the open void towards it.

Kirk was forced to manoeuvre around the debris field between them and their goal, feeling pretty thankful at how well he had been doing, until a shard of metal smacked into his helmet and put a deep crack in the glass, leaving his eyes wide in shock as it continued to creep across his vision. In a heartbeat his heads up display was wiped and he was left flying blind, unable to tell the distance between himself and the Vengeance, and unable to rectify is course.

His head snapped around as he heard a crash and thud, losing sight of Khan as the debris swallowed him up, he swallowed deeply and hoped he wouldn't have to complete the final leg of the jump alone, and with no way to set himself back on track.

Blue eyes followed the crack in the glass as it grew steadily further across his visor, threatening to fracture completely. He had seen what happened to an exposed body in space: freezing; radioactive frying; exploding... He didn't want to be an unattractive corpse. Or a corpse at all for that matter.

"Kirk come towards me, my HUD is still intact, I can guide you." Khan's voice crackled over their communication device suddenly, and relief pounded through the Captain.

"You sure know how to worry a guy." he responded, using the pressurised thrusters in his suit to steer his way over to Khan's side.

They shared a long look, the darker haired man assessing his condition and making an easy assessment that Kirk could not afford to be struck again, a second blow would be fatal and that was not something he wanted to happen. He needed as much leverage against Marcus, and the Enterprise as was possible.

And it had nothing to do with the long forgotten feeling of someone being (almost) his equal.

A panicked few moments followed as Scotty failed to open the airlock hatch for them, and the pair rapidly found themselves getting uncomfortably close to becoming smears on the hull of the ship. Yet, with a gasp of relief, the hatch finally opened and they were sucked inside. A body flew out past them into space, and Kirk felt a churning in his stomach as he prayed it wasn't Scotty.

And yet, when the airlock slammed shut and the pair were dropped to the ground with a forceful crunch, Kirk found himself peering up at Scotty through his now shattered visor and panted softly as he let out a small groan, forcing himself to his knees, out of the corner of his eye seeing Khan already on his feet, still stunned that he was able to shake off such a fall.

The Captain slipped his broken helmet off, dropping it to the floor and shaking some remnants of glass from his hair, holding his ribs as he appraised the two men he was with.

"Who's this then?" Scotty asked the all important question, looking at Khan.

Kirk took a breath, "Scotty this is Khan, Khan this is Scotty... My Chief Engineer if he agrees to have his job back."

Khan looked the man over for a moment, taking in his weak stature and goofy expression, acknowledging that he would easily be broken if needed, "Yes well, this way." he said in melancholy as he stalked off, abandoning his helmet along the way.

Kirk rolled his eyes and clapped his friend on the back, with no idea what was to follow.

Jim sat up suddenly as the dream morphed into the image of Khan crushing Marcus' skull between his hands, sweat running down his face as a soft shudder ran through him. It was only as his mind slowed from the dream that he came to realise the crippling pain running through his arms and legs, his jaw clenching hard as he released a grunt and reached for the buzzer beside his bed, his fingers fumbled and he dropped it; in trying to catch it he tumbled from his bed and landed with a hard thud on the cold floor.

His face reddened slightly as his blood pressure skyrocketed and he slammed a fist on the floor, breath escaping in short sharp bursts as pain continued the wrack his body, curling slowly into a ball as he wrapped his arms around his middle and let out a strangled cry for help, inwardly hating that he sounded so pathetic and weak.

The door to his room burst open and he heard a familiar voice curse loudly, a call for more help followed and he looked up shakily as Bones came to crouch beside him, "It's okay Jim, I'm here. Can you try and tell me what hurts?"

He would have laughed had it not been for the intense burning through his limbs and he let out a croak, "Everything."

The doctor faltered momentarily but gave him a semi-reassuring nod, wheeling a trolley closer and loading a syringe up with pain relief, jabbing his friend firmly in the thigh he applied the drug, hoping it would help lessen the pain he was so clearly struggling with.

Over Bones's shoulder, Kirk saw Spock hurry into the room, and the Vulcan assisted in lifting him back up onto the bed and getting him under the covers as the pain relief swept around his system and made him go slightly limp.

"What the hell happened?" Bones muttered, more to himself than anyone else as he instantly began rerunning some of his earlier tests, checking Jim's heart and pulse as well to see how much strain the episode had put him under.

The Captain shivered slightly, teeth chattering as he allowed the tests to be run in silence, everything hurt, ached, felt heavy and didn't feel like it belonged to him. He let out a suddenly and loud moan, grabbing his head as pain shot through his skull.

Icy glass. Cold air. Darkness.

Ice melting. Warm air. Bright overhead lights.

Anger. Such deep thumbing anger. Loneliness. So alone. Where was everyone else?

Jim sat bolt upright and retched, feeling like his insides were turning outside, his vision blurring and clearing over and over again as his head span and and stilled.

Spock pushed the doctor aside hastily and reached out, pressing his fingers to Jim's head, closing his eyes and melding their minds quickly and carefully, flinching as he felt the pain coursing through his friend's body, he pushed it back, beads of sweat rolling down his face as he fought not to surrender to the same pain, instead cramming a sense of calm and peace into the other's mind, using his inner strength to sooth the pain.

Kirk slumped against the pillows unconscious, his heart rate monitor bleeping threateningly as it recorded how fast the organ was beating, Spock in turn staggered slightly, using the wall to steady himself, a few soft pants escaping him.

"Spock... What the hell was that?" Bones breathed shakily.

"I... I am afraid I cannot be certain," the Vulcan sounded shaken, "I have never before felt such physical pain contained in one person. It felt as thought his blood was on fire, bones were breaking and mending, muscles weakening and strengthening in seconds."

The doctor frowned deeply at his words, pulling over the portable x-ray and running a few swift scans of the unconscious blond, it took only seconds for the results to appear on his PADD but when they did he was left in almost no doubt as to what had caused the 'seizure'.

"Its the blood. Again." he murmured, running a hand down his face wistfully, "Look at these results, Spock. His bone structure is... Completely different to what the x-rays showed last time around. Its as if... They literally broke themselves and repaired themselves to be stronger, more dense... To be better."

They shared a long look, silent understanding passing between them before the First Officer spoke, "Is he going to continue having these... Episodes?"

"I wouldn't want to speculate," Bones bit down on his lip hard, "But I think he will, yes. Spock we need to start making contingency plans..."

"No." the Vulcan interrupted sharply, "We focus on trying to find a way to bring that monster's DNA back under control."

"Spock, for God's sake man... Look at his heart rate during that episode," the medical officer hissed, hanging his head momentarily, "Do you think I want to be suggesting this? I'm the one who put that shit in him. But there is a real possibility his body won't cope with much more of this. There are people... Who need to be told."

Another long look, one filled with bitterness and dissatisfaction, before the First Officer nodded curtly and left his friend's bedside. Bones watched him go, only allowing himself to breathe normally when the door clicked shut again.

"Dammit Jim... I'm a doctor, not a bloody miracle worker." he muttered to himself.

Jim groaned deeply as he woke, his body ached from head to toe. Forcing himself to sit up, he grabbed some water from the side table and gulped it down desperately, his throat and mouth dry. A small furrow of his brows formed as he recalled that last time he had been awake, it was all a fuzzy mess but he remembered the pain. That God awful pain.

He turned on the bed, carefully setting bare feet to floor, he grabbed his intravenous drip pole and used it to help him stand, a soft groan of both relief and numbness escaped him, but he stretched carefully and felt some of that pain fade away.

A glance out of the window told him it was night, the sky was dark and roads illuminated only by street lights and twenty-four hour shop fronts. Even when it was so late in the day, the roads still seemed so crowded with cars. It made him pine for his motorbike.

The urge to wander rose and he decided not to deny himself the chance for a small walk around, needing to stretch his legs and see something other than the same monitors and the same four walls. He could feel the soft buzz of the morphine still in his system, and trusted it to keep the hurt at bay. He was merely glad to find his pants and pull them on under his gown before swapping out to a black shirt left by his bedside – the last thing he needed was any nurses seeing his bare ass hanging out of that horrid gown.

Door opening easily under his touch, he stuck his head out into the corridor and glanced around, he found himself to be in the room at the very end of the ward, well away from anyone who may have been admitted while he was asleep. And he let out a small sigh as he recalled his last two visits to the hospital.

The first time was post-Nero, along with Spock he had spent an entire week climbing the walls, having his various breaks and bruises treated and repaired. Despite his distaste for being prodded and poked in the name of medicine, Spock had been something of a lifesaver, and it was in that one week where he had finally learned a great deal more about his Vulcan friend.

They had spoken at length about all things Vulcan. Traditions; weather; culture; geographic structure; history; politics and education. Kirk had known his friend needed to talk about his home world, to remember and to help grieve for its destruction.

And in return, Kirk had told him about his youth. Growing up with the overbearing memory of how his father had saved eight hundred lives on the day he had died; growing up with a step-dad and step-siblings who hated him; life on the farm; learning to hot wire cars and meeting Christopher Pike.

That week had brought them closer together, just as Spock Senior had told him would happen. For once, he was glad to be proven wrong.

His second visit had, of course, been after he had been irradiated, and it was a memory he cared very little to recall at length.

Jim let out a quiet groan as his muscles protested under his weight and he used the wall to help him move further out of his room, not wanting to fall and draw attention to himself from nurses who would likely report back to Bones about his escape.

He then frowned slightly, taken aback as he realised there was no one else around. The hallways were empty, the nearby wards seemed empty. He could hear the distant sound of talking and bleeping machines but they were just that, distant. Why was he so far from the other patients?

Relaxing as the though occurred to him that the lack of medical presence would make it easier for him to stretch his legs, he hobbled forward, a wince fixing itself in place as he took one step after another, taking it very slow and very careful.

Shaking his head at his condition he almost turned around and went back to bed, but stopped suddenly as ice cold fingers ran down his spine, arm hairs standing on end as a cold mist descended through him; his fingers twitched towards where his phaser would normally sit on his hip, but sadly Bones had confiscated it to prevent him shooting holes in the walls.

Turning very slowly, his breath caught in his throat as his gaze fell through the glass panel of the door to his left and he saw a familiar face. A face he never thought he'd see again.

Slicked back black hair; high cheekbones; pale snow like skin; and tight, powerful muscles concealed under dark clothing. That aura of death and destruction was as visible and noticeable as the nose on his own face. Jim's stomach churned and he felt his legs turn to jelly, mouth sealing in a tight line as his emotions scattered to the wind and went haywire.

Khan.

Khan stared at him through the barrier of his cell, piercing eyes never moving from his face, "A remnant of a time long past. Genetically engineered to be superior. So as to lead others to peace in a world at war. But we were condemned as criminals. Forced into exile. For centuries we slept. Hoping that when we awoke things would be... Different. But as a result of the destruction of Vulcan, your Starfleet began to aggressively search distant quadrants of space; my ship was found adrift. I alone was revived."

Jim flinched and sucked in a breath as the memory played through his head, eyes blurring for a moment as he staggered, throwing both hands against the wall to stop himself falling flat on his face.

When Khan had been sat in that brig, calmly; politely; patiently, he had been so enraged with his very presence. The pain of Pike's death had been to fresh, to close to the surface of his mind and he had behaved in a way unbefitting of a Captain towards a prisoner. Looking back, while the hurt and ache of loss was still there, he wished he had been different.

Khan was like him. Lost. Alone. Manipulated. Damaged.

His head was pounding, he squeezed his eyes shut for a few passing seconds, trying to ignore the dull ache he was becoming too accustomed to. Finally opening them again, he stared once more into Khan's room, the man hadn't moved, he looked like he was sleeping sat up but something told Jim that wasn't accurate.

His tongue darted across his dry lips before he sucked in a breath, resting a hand on the door and pushing gently, hesitation and a tingle of fear slowing his movements as he carefully stepped into the sterile room.

The door hissed shut behind him and he stood, frozen in the doorway, staring at the dark haired man who had caused so much pain to so many people.

"Have you come to inflict further medicinal torture upon me, Doctor?" Khan asked, eyes never opening.

Jim's breath hitched slightly in his throat, the man's voice was the same a he remembered. There was a coldness to his tone, a calculating consideration which ran deep, and yet hiding under that was a velvet tone designed to make people reluctantly relax, to trust. He swallowed hard, beginning to think it was a mistake to have left his own room.

"Doctor?" Khan asked again, lifting his head slowly, those cold eyed opening lazily before suddenly they were wide, clearly startled to see that it was not Bones who had come to see him at all.

A long, heavy silence filled the room, eyes fixed on each other as neither moved a muscle. Jim felt a well of anxiety in his chest, he hadn't seen those eyes since being aboard the Vengeance. By the time he had woken from being revived Khan had already been imprisoned in his cryotube again.

"Khan." he said finally, voice cracking.

"James Kirk." the other replied, "I was under the impression you were confined to your room."

"I was under the impression you were still on ice. But I guess we're both disappointed." his voice was quiet, uncertain and uncomfortable.

Khan's head tilted very slightly at the remark, "Doctor McCoy hid my presence from you?"

"I knew you were here but... Not that you were awake."

"I see." came a simple answer.

"How long have you been awake?" he asked, not moving from his position by the door.

The genetically engineered solider mused for a moment, "I was woken not long after the Enterprise docked over Earth."

Jim took a long breath and looked down, "So... Bones lied big time." he shook his head and exhaled slowly, "Great. Some friend."

"I'd venture to say it is due to your friendship that he did lie. No one exactly wants me here, let alone for us to come face to face." Khan hesitated before he moved his legs aside and gestured to the bed, "You look ready to collapse, Captain, perhaps you should sit for a moment."

He wanted to deny it, and he certainly didn't want to accept his assistance, but as his head gave a particularly painful thump, he lurched over and sat heavy near his feet, one hand still on his IV; he rubbed his face with the other and let out another breath.

"You look terrible." the other man stated.

"Thanks. You look pretty rubbish yourself." he muttered in response.

"Doctor McCoy informed me that I was woken to provide assistance to you, as your health had taken a decline." Khan looked at him straight, "I was sceptical at first, especially with how many examinations he subjected me to, however now I see you with my own two eyes... You are definitely not doing well."

"You really know how to make a guy feel good about himself." a grunt of a reply, before another sigh escaped, "Something is happening to me. I don't know what. But... I was hit with a radioactive flare while evacuating a planet and... It started something, something big and painful and uncontrollable. Ever since I've felt drained, tired, aching... My head is pounding. Though the headaches started before the radiation."

A hand snaked out and grasped Kirk's wrist, he flinched away from the contact but Khan's grip was far stronger than he was currently, and he clenched his jaw as the dark haired man pressed carefully along his forearm, feeling beneath the skin, examining muscle and bone with surprisingly soft fingertips. It took him a moment, but Jim relaxed as it seemed the other was not planning to do anything untoward.

"I must confess, I didn't expect to see you again." Khan stated as he worked, brows furrowed with concentration.

"Nor I you." the blond swallowed hard, his stomach churning with a feeling he wasn't too keen on, "I had toyed with the idea, but I didn't anticipate for it to actually happen."

"No? Is that not why you put in a request for me to be removed from cryogenic sleep and put on trial for my... Crimes?" the dark haired male glanced up at him momentarily, "Your doctor has a loose tongue."

Kirk cursed under his breath and tipped his head back, staring at the ceiling, "I can't forget what you did, but over time... Your reasons for doing it made more and more sense. You were right, Khan, about one thing at least... I would do anything for my family. Once I realised that I also realised that... You were a desperate man trying to save the people you care for. Surely that motive cannot be all bad... If it comes from a pure place."

Fingers paused movement near his elbow, he momentarily wondered if he had said the wrong thing, but as Khan lifted his gaze again and fixed him with those steely eyes he saw something in the,m that he hadn't expected to. Gratitude.

"I... Did not believe anyone would ever to try to understand me. Or my actions." he paused and his jaw clenched hesitantly, "You surprise me Kirk, in more ways than one. I... Thank you."

Jim stared at him blankly, uncertainty creeping in before he looked down, unable to hold eye contact for a second longer, "You don't need to thank me. Though I have to ask, you practically have your freedom, couldn't you break out of here if you wanted to? Restart your campaign?"

"Yes." a simple answer for a simple question.

Lifting one eyebrow, the blond looked him over, he wasn't restrained, he wasn't chained down, there didn't even seem to be a tracker on him, "Then why are you still here?"

A small chuckle escaped Khan, something which took Jim by surprise, as he was unaware the man even knew how to laugh, "As you so aptly put it 'if I wanted to' and I do not. Doctor McCoy has been most professional and polite to me considering the circumstances, except for his peculiar name calling, as I do not believe I am a hobgoblin with green blood. However, he has shown me respect, despite everything which happened before... I will show him that in return."

"So you're staying because of your honour?"

"No." Khan let out a breath, "I am staying because I want to. If you really are as sick as he thinks, I need to be here to be of assistance. There is no one else like me around to offer advice on what you're experiencing."

Kirk blinked and glanced at his feet, "You're staying for my sake. Bit weird considering everything that we did to each other before."

An uneasy silence fell between them, Khan continued his examination of Jim's arm before he released him from his grasp and slid off the bed, walking over to the floor to ceiling window in the corner of the room and peering out over the city below. Jim watched him cautiously, flexing his fingers as he sat a little more comfortably on the bed.

"I was under the impression you were not to leave your room." Khan mused again after several long moments, "I should have expected you would escape at some point."

"You don't know me." Jim snorted, "Don't try to act like you do."

The dark haired male turned slightly, raising an eyebrow, "On the contrary I have done my research, I have so little else to entertain myself with while I am here, so I looked you up in great detail."

"Oh is that so? Do tell me what you found, I'm curious to know how much of my life is in the public eye." he folded his arms.

"Jim, or 'James' was the name of your grandfather on your mother's side, while Tiberius was the name of your grandfather on your father's side. Kirk being the family name inherited from your father, George Kirk, who died on the-"

"On the USS Kelvin during a lightening storm in space, which actually turned out to be a massive black hole which allowed a Romulan ship from the future to enter our timeline and change our lives forever. Yeah, that sounds about right." he ground his teeth together.

"You are uncomfortable with the achievements of you father, and feel overshadowed, fearing you will never live up to his name, you will never be good enough. All your life you have been reminded of what a brilliant and brave man he was, how much he sacrificed so you and eight hundred others could live. But why should you care? You didn't know him, you will never know him. So why bother taunting you with the merits of a man you can never hope to meet and live up to?" Khan continued despite his interruption.

Kirk blinked a couple of times and scoffed slightly, "Damn."

"What's wrong Kirk? Has no one ever tried to understand you before?"

He looked down, slightly disbelieving, "Spock gets it to a degree, but that is only thanks to mind-melding. But regardless, you researched my grandparents, my mum, my dad and you have a minute understanding for why I'm disrespectful to the memory of my father. That's not all that much, not really. I'm disappointed."

"I'm not finished," Khan's lips twitched slightly threatening to break into a smirk, "You are highly intelligent for a human, I hacked into the Iowa database and you have an extensive criminal record, any one of the items on that list should have blacklisted you from Starfleet but somehow you were still accepted-"

"Pike," he said as calmly as he could, "Christopher Pike got me in."

"I see," he fell silent for a moment, hesitant, "I killed him didn't I?"

"Yes you did." Jim nodded slightly, looking momentarily downcast as he remembered the man, "He died when you opened fire on the Starfleet Officers after blowing up the Archives. A lot of good men and women died that night."

"For what its worth, and I have no doubt it is worth very little, I am sorry for taking him from you."

Khan's voice took him by surprise, there was genuine regret in those velvet tones, and it made him swallow hard, "I hated you so much at the time, I thought I'd never feel calm again. But Pike was a family man too, he dedicated his life to Starfleet, to his crew. If anyone would understand the need to try and protect their family it would have been him. He would have been disgusted at Marcus." he said softly, raising his gaze to meet Khan's.

"You truly believe that, don't you? That Marcus was the symptom of the disease." Khan frowned faintly, "I wish I could believe that."

"You told me in the brig, that you and your crew went to sleep hoping that when you woke things would be different. They should have been. You shouldn't have been taken from them and you shouldn't have been forced to use your intellect to benefit a man who was holding your family hostage. If it hadn't been him... If it had been someone else, anyone else... Maybe it would have been the difference you hoped for." Kirk murmured, finally giving life to the way he had felt ever since learning Khan had been put back to sleep.

The two men stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, Khan walked back over and sat beside him carefully, and a more comfortable silence fell between them. An understanding finally coming to life in the wake of their words.

"My research into your background... Confirmed something I think I realised about you when we met. You come across as an arrogant player, someone who uses people for sex to make you feel better about yourself and your life, but I don't think that is entirely true. I don't believe you want to use people at all, you want someone strong enough to stand at your side, accept your faults and stay with you despite them. You're afraid of being hurt." his voice was quiet.

"Are you saying that I am emotionally damaged?" Kirk chuckled.

"You know you are." there was a seriousness there now, "We both are, really."

"So first you tell a guy his looks like death, and then you tell him he's emotionally damaged. I don't think you quite get how this communication lark works." Jim mused, feeling strangely relaxed with Khan now, he wanted to trust him.

"Yes, well, I've never been very good at making friends." the other glanced him over, "McCoy seemed worried earlier tonight. He and Spock came out of your room looking like the world was collapsing. I heard... Screams. What happened?"

Jim tensed and looked away, a twinge of embarrassment touching his gut as he realised how loudly he must have screamed, and wondered just how many people had heard him, "I...I woke up from a dream and... my body was on fire. Everything hurt, and I don't mean like hitting your head on the table kind of pain... I mean it was excruciating. For a moment I wished I was dead."

Khan watched him carefully, "Did it start in your arms and legs? A feeling of hot aching, heaviness... Which spread through the rest of your body, a headache, racing heart rate?"

"Yes it did," he snapped his head around, "How did you... How did you know?"

"I have experienced similar." he murmured softly, holding his hand in front of himself slowly and flexing his fist, "Long ago, so long the pain is just a memory, a fleeting memory amidst a reservoir of others. Pain is an old friend."

Jim watched him curiously, "You experienced this when you became what you are." he realised, "What's happening to me?"

Khan looked at him slowly, his eyes boring into his own relentlessly, "My DNA is changing you. It is trying to improve what you are. It is trying to fix you, fix everything about you, but there is so much to fix at once... It sees you and it sees your weaknesses and it is trying to repair them, trying to make you better. In every way."

"Your DNA is trying to make me like you?" he breathed.

"I think so, yes."

"Does Bones know?" he swallowed.

"At this point, I would expect he has made a good guess." he nodded once, "I'm sorry James."

He jerked slightly as the man used his name for what he believed might have been the first time, properly, and for some reason it made his legs turn to jelly, he glanced away, "Its fine. Bones will find a way to help, he's never let me down before. It will just take some time I expect."

"I hope he can." the other whispered, looking away, "I will also assist in any way I can. When I went through this I had seventy two brothers and sisters to help me and guide me, you deserve at least someone who will be able to make sense of things."

Jim was once again genuinely surprised, he could hardly believe this was the same man he'd once wanted to kill, "What sort of things should I be expecting? Beyond the pain?"

"Well," Khan took a breath as he considered his answer, "Your bones are already stronger than they were, and your healing capabilities are vastly more superior already, you wouldn't have survived the radiation blast otherwise. But there are smaller things, physiological things, a desire for confrontation; a darkness which lowers the inhibitions and creates the desire to do terrible things. Its those you will need the most help with, anything can trigger it, but few things can stop it. I'll do everything I can to make sure you stay in control."

The blond let out a puff and looked around the room slowly, "So, I could turn into a bigger asshole than I already am, don't tell Bones he'll freak out." he chuckled.

The augmented human let out something resembling a chuckle and tilted his head, "Speaking of which, I believe you only have a few minutes before Doctor McCoy makes his rounds, you should return to your own room, lest he catch you in here with me and punish us both."

"Yeah... Yeah I should go." he stood up carefully, grateful at least for the time being that his headache had subsided, "Do you know if they are planning to put you back into cryogenic sleep after this?" he asked suddenly as he reached the door.

"I would expect so. Unless they care to give me that trial you wanted." he mused, sitting back on the bed and putting his feet up.

Jim hesitated, door half open in front of him, he glanced over at the man, "I'll visit you again tomorrow. I don't plan on letting them put you back on ice."

Khan seemed surprised for a split second before he let out the smallest smile Kirk had ever seen, "I will look forward to it."

The blond turned and left, making it back to his room without too much trouble, he took a seat near the window and stared out as the sun began to break across the horizon of the city, his heart was still thundering and he glanced down at his arm where the other man had inspected him, shaking his head as he had to hide a small smile.

Khan was dangerous, Jim was under no illusions as to that fact, but at that exact moment he couldn't find the willpower to care.