Chapter Seven: Dark Days Ahead:
When Jim woke, from what was the best sleep he'd had in a long time, he was facing the reason. Khan had accepted the offer of sleeping in his bed, and they'd found themselves mature enough to keep their hands to themselves for the most part. Jim recalled waking in the early hours to feel Khan's arms tightly around him, pulling him close to his body as he slept; he was shy to admit he'd never felt quite as safe as he had in that moment.
Khan looked incredibly peaceful while asleep. Gentle and innocent. Long eyelashes brushing against his cheeks as his eyes moved restlessly in the midst of a dream. That practised neutral expression was gone, replaced by surprisingly sweet muscle twitches. That well maintained hair was tousled and ruffled by his restless shuffling.
Slowly and silently, Jim propped himself up on his elbow, leaning forwards slightly and exploring every indent of the other's face with his finger tips, brushing across his forehead, nose, and cheekbones, adding every contour to memory.
A hand gripped his wrist suddenly, it wasn't painful but it was tight enough to make him stop, and he smiled a little sheepishly as he saw Khan's eyes flutter open, "I guess I couldn't keep my hands off you entirely."
"I don't believe I said I minded." the other man murmured as he released his wrist, voice slightly husky from sleep.
Jim chuckled at that but pulled his hand away regardless, not entirely sure he could trust himself not to start a full scale exploration of the man. He pushed the covers back and got out of bed, stretching hugely and crackling his shoulders as he moved, striding confidently across the bedroom and into the en-suit bathroom.
Khan watched him go, still sleepy and more relaxed than he had been for a long time. He propped a hand behind his head and looked up at the ceiling, a small smirk tugging at his lips as he heard the shower flick on, a burning temptation to join him sparked into life.
He was halfway across the room to the bathroom when he let out a gasp of pain and staggered, hand flying to his head as a sharp spearing pain shot through his skull and left him dizzy. His breath caught in his throat as he dropped to his hands and knees. He silenced a choked whimper before it left his lips and closed his eyes against the pain, flinching as a snapshot of a memory sped through his mind so fast he could only make out the faintest details.
A vintage car.
The convertible roof blowing off under the pressure of the high speeds.
Skidding through the sand and gravel towards a cliff face.
The inevitable plunge.
Khan's eyes flew open and he half leapt to his feet, using the wall to steady himself. He knew that memory. And he knew it didn't belong to him. Glancing towards the bathroom, where thankfully the shower was still running, a thousand thoughts began to race through him, flexing his fingers in front of his face to make sure he was seeing things properly now, he took a steady; measured breath and pulled his shirt on over his head, fingers running through his hair to push it back off his face.
The silence of the room was broken as Jim's communicator went off, bleeping from its position on the bedside table. Hesitantly, he picked it up and answered it, being greeted by Spock's monotonous tones, he sucked in another breath as he was told that a meeting had been arranged by the Admiralty, and that both he and Jim were to attend it.
As much as it surprised him to have been included, he assumed the meeting was to discuss the terror threat, as such his presence would make sense seeing as he'd played his part in helping out. He only hoped the topic of conversation didn't slide towards his current freedom around the city.
Hanging up, Khan knocked on the bathroom door, water having stopped now. After receiving no response, he pushed the door open gently and peeked inside, eyes moving around the room until they came to rest on the blond who was completely naked and in the process of drying after his wash.
Feeling his throat go dry at the sight, Khan couldn't help but let his eyes wander, until his gaze met dark blue in the reflection of the mirror across the room and his face scorched.
"Like what you see huh?" Jim smirked, raising an eyebrow slightly as he made a slow and deliberate act of wrapping his towel around his waist.
"Uh," momentarily lost for words he forced himself to snap out of his revere, and side stepped the question entirely, "Spock called, the Admiralty Board want to see us both in an hour."
"I see." the blond let out a small sigh at the news, and almost as if he could feel the dark haired male's anxiety he flashed a smile, "I'll protect you from them."
"I can protect myself." he muttered.
"I know. But having someone on your side can never be a bad thing." Jim walked over slowly, little trails of steam still rolling off his bare skin, tinged pink by the heat of the shower water, the Starfleet Captain tilted his head slightly, reaching up and running his fingers down Khan's cheek, "Was it wrong of me to think you might have joined me?" he nodded his head to the shower.
Swallowing hard, the other let out a slightly shaky breath, "I would have, were it not for the call."
There was no need for him to mention that memory, nor the pain in his head which had now disappeared without a trace, he couldn't help but quirk and eyebrow, inhaling deeply as he searched the other's face, finding himself leaning in slowly until their lips were barely touching.
"And what would you have done, exactly, if you had joined me?" the blond asked, breath puffing softly against Khan's face.
Khan turned them slowly, pressing Jim back up against the wall, his heart thundering in his chest, "I would have improvised."
Lips finally crushed together, feeling both necessary and right, ever since that teasing moment at the party, there had been an unspoken desire to finish the best kiss they'd never had. And it showed. Lips and teeth crashing together with a flurry of need. Tangling together in brisk, urgent gestures.
Jim pulled back for breath, as shaky as it was, looking up into icy blue pools, a soft yet cocky grin etched onto his face. Khan, for his part, was also smiling, and Jim found it simply breathtaking to see, for the first time, a true and honest smile from the man. Incomparable to any smirk or lip twitch he'd seen from him previously, this was a beam full of teeth and genuine joy. It was as if they'd both finally broken that layer of ice separating them, and both finally jumped in feet first to something which they knew they couldn't stop.
"We should prepare for that meeting." Khan whispered, his voice hoarse.
"We should." he agreed, tongue flicking across his lips as he slowly pushed Khan back, for his own peace of mind, "It wouldn't do to be late."
Jim stood awkwardly in the Admiralty office, between Khan and Spock, his hands clasped behind his back as he watched the Admirals watch them. It was uncomfortable, and he could feel reels of tension rolling off Khan, who clearly felt the greatest scrutiny out of the three of them.
"We have asked the three of you here this morning to discuss the events of yesterday's terror threat," one of the male Admirals announced suddenly, "I have a report here from Commander Spock, with his details of what happened, and I must say on behalf of all of us in this room, thank you for your actions, Captain Kirk. Had you not been as calm and determined as you were I have no doubt we would all be dead now. I expected no less of one of our finest Captains."
Kirk was surprised by the praise, starting to wonder just how much detail Spock had put in that report, he cleared his throat, "Thank you, sir, for your kind words. I just did what was necessary to prevent loss of life. As you said yourself, any member of Starfleet would do the same. But I cannot take all the credit for it, had it not been for my First Officer, and Khan, I would have failed."
"Noted. Our gratitude extends to the both of them." the same man nodded slightly, though his eyes lingered on the ex-terrorist, "I must ask, however, on the subject of John Harris- I apologise, on the subject of Khan Noonien Singh: what was he doing out of the care of Doctor Leonard McCoy?"
Jim hesitated momentarily, his back straightening slightly, "I had Doctor McCoy release him into my custody three weeks ago. He was taking up a valuable bed, which could have been required for a patient at any given moment."
"You decided that you'd be enough to control this man?" a woman on the board spoke up, seeming disbelieving, "And in so doing, put at risk the entire city? Not to mention your own personal safety?"
He felt Khan move slightly beside him and spoke quickly to prevent things getting any worse, "Ma'am, I can't take it back. But in three weeks he hasn't lifted a finger to hurt anyone, except the guys helping whoever planted that bomb. Khan isn't a monster. He was driven to what he did and has expressed regret for that ever since."
"Do you think yourself above the Board, Captain Kirk? That you can start making decisions on how terrorists are treated without authority to do so?" she sneered.
Jim bristled at her attitude and he had to work incredibly hard to prevent his voice raising, "Do you believe yourself above the humility of knowing it was one of the Board who forced him to behave how he did? Don't talk to me about acting without authority Ma'am when it was-"
"Enough!" the first man said loudly, giving a sharp look to the female Admiral, "I am disinterested in Khan's movements as of now, as dangerous as he may well be, our current concern lies solely with whoever caused such havoc last night. Commander Spock, in your report you stated that the bomb had the name plaque of the USS Kelvin, I must confess I found it hard to believe until I examined it myself this morning."
"That is correct, Admiral. I too was unable to believe it until I looked at it myself, you will note of course that the casing of the bomb was made from the carbon fibre of the Kelvin's hull." the Vulcan spoke confidently, having no issues with relaying the information from memory.
"Indeed, I did notice that." the man sighed deeply, "Now, the recording in the conference room, the attitude of whoever this terrorist is... I find it all most disturbing. We are already looking into several lines of enquiry, not least the link to the date, as you suggested in your own report, Captain Kirk. We will keep you up to date on our findings, and for now my only advice is to watch your backs, if this terrorists knows you were the ones to thwart his plans he may seek you out."
Jim nodded at that, "Understood sir. Has the family of the murdered cadet been spoken to yet?" he asked.
"We have contacted them and offered them any and all assistance that we can. They are of course heartbroken but... They are grateful that she was found, above all else." one of the other Admirals commented.
"What is to be done about me?" Khan asked suddenly, taking Jim by surprise by his sudden boldness.
The first Admiral observed him for a long moment, "For the time being... As long as you remain with Captain Kirk we will allow you to wander. Make no mistake, we have not forgotten your crimes, no the need for punishment. However, we have approved Kirk's request for a trial. Once the new terrorist is dealt with, we shall turn our attention back to you."
"I understand," he murmured, "You have my gratitude."
"Your gratitude should fall on the man beside you. He made a most impassioned plea." the woman who had earlier scolded Jim spoke up, "Were it not for our respect for him, and the way in which he expressed his feelings, and his current medical... Hiccups, we would not have been so willing to listen."
Khan glanced at Jim as she spoke, wondering just what his request had detailed to make such an impression, he looked back at the Board and nodded, "Thank you."
"You are dismissed, for now."
The three left the room in silence, once outside Jim released a long pent up breath and ran a hand through his hair, "Well, that went better than I expected it to. It is good they are looking into so many possible motives."
"Indeed, Captain, with any luck they will find what they need." Spock agreed from beside him as they headed towards the foyer of the building.
"I thought they were going to eat me for breakfast." Khan muttered without really thinking about it.
Jim looked at him and snorted, "You really have been spending too much time with me, that's the sort of thing I would come out with. Though, I can understand the feeling. I'm glad they've agreed to a trial. It gives us time to prepare."
"I'll be in need of a very good defence if I am to escape with anything less than cryosleep."
"You have a good defence. You have me." the blond smiling confidently, "I'll help you all I can."
"I know you will." he mused, resisting the urge to reach out and touch him in some way, incredibly aware of Spock's eyes on him.
The three crossed the courtyard together, heading back towards the apartment block, speaking very little and whatever was said related to their adventure the night before. Khan and Spock were strained at best, but maintained some form of civil discussion for the sake of the blond between them. Where possible they chose to answer his questions and not each others. Though the short work forced them to share at least a handful of words.
A explosive, unexpected, thunderous boom suddenly roared overhead, stopping them in their tracks as the clouds above them seemed to glow, before a roaring green light blinded them, shooting through the sky like a bullet before it lanced the block of flats they had been heading towards.
There were was a split second of silence, before a shock wave rippled through the surrounding streets and the building imploded in a shattering hail storm of debris and rubble, pelting down onto the roads below.
Jim grabbed his two companions and pulled them into cover, almost instinctively, covering his head as a particularly large mound of rock fell and hit only meters from them. Screaming and car alarms billowed around them, as fire raged at the centre of the scene and ash began to flutter down like grey snow.
"What the fuck was that?!" he roared over the noise, looking around slowly at what used to be his home.
Khan was pale beside him, eyes fixed on the sky above them, a lump forming in his throat as the familiar hum of engines whirred overhead. A starship. A big starship.
Sirens wailed their way into life, that explosion was had most likely been visible right across the city, emergency services not requiring calls to come to the rescue. Jim slowly moved out of cover and stood, looking around with wide eyes at the scene of devastation, the tattered remnants of his apartment piled high; ash was still falling all around them, dusting the scene like snow, the blond could see flames spewing out through the crumpled masonry and he swallowed hard, hoping no one had been inside.
"What was that?" he asked, looking into the sky, he too could hear the engines but he couldn't imagine any starship firing on its own planet, and then the sound was gone, the rumble of engines disappeared, like a storm blowing over.
"I do not know." Spock replied, carefully climbing out from under the shelter Jim had found them, his face was smudged with black soot and he looked emotional, it only took Jim a moment to realise it was because the shattering of the ground reminded the Vulcan of the destruction of his own planet.
Khan followed suit and straightened carefully, glancing around at the gathering onlookers, surprised when he saw regular men and women running towards the wreckage to begin the search for survivors, and he was once again reminded that not all humans were like Marcus, some had incredible depths of humility and kindness. He felt his legs moving without him telling them to, and within minutes he had joined several Starfleet cadets in shifting piles of rubble. Adrenaline was pulsing through him as Spock and Jim joined him, both apparently just as surprised by his actions as he was.
Jim was grateful for his recent changes, the sharpness of the rubble slicing his fingers but Khan's DNA healing the cuts so fast he didn't feel them. Together the two not quite regular humans sped through the rubble faster than most of the probably regular humans present. Spock wasn't far behind though, for once using his deeply set emotions to force himself to act harder and faster, assisting in the rescue efforts as best he could.
They worked relentlessly, at first only finding the dead, however, there was a moment of joyous relief when Khan pulled out the first living survivor, a young adult, probably no older the seventeen, with cuts and bruises all over their body. The dark haired man ran them over to the arriving ambulances and handed them over before rejoining the rescue efforts, receiving a warm but short round of applause, it had made his stomach knot happily, not that he would ever tell anyone that.
Being joined by the fire department, who reluctantly where unable to get any of the volunteers to stop working or put on safety gear, they began to find more people. The survivor count going up to eight, while the death toll continued to creep up to the twenties.
Jim stopped suddenly, large brick in hand, and frowned as he was sure he heard something from within the debris. His scowl deepened and he bent down, putting an ear to the rock. His eyes met Khan and the man followed suit, apparently also hearing something faint.
Eyes widening suddenly, the blond sprang to his feet and yelled out as loudly as he could, "NO BODY MOVE!"
Silence seemed to fall across the rescue mission, everyone staring at the Captain with confusion and concern in equal measure.
"I can hear gas, coming from under the rubble!" he explained, holding his hands up slightly, "We need to be really careful, put down anything you're holding, very gently, a single spark could ignite the entire thing."
There was a flurry of motion, people hastily putting down whatever they were holding, be it rocks or infrastructure, hastily dismounting the heap of building they were searching and heading for safety. Jim made sure everyone else was off before he moved to join them, being incredibly soft footed as he went.
The fire department cordoned off an area where they designated it safe to stand while they contacted the city gas board to get the sector closed off. Jim rubbed the dirt from his hands and face on his tattered jumper and shook his head at the detestation around them.
"That was well spotted, James." Khan murmured softly as he joined him, leaning against the wall beside him.
"Your influence, I am assuming?" the blond mused.
"Most likely. My hearing is better than most." he chuckled weakly before he looked around, "I'm sorry... About your apartment."
Jim shrugged softly, "It was just a building, buildings can be rebuilt. The people who died in there... They can't be replaced." he paused and looked at him, "I... I'm really proud of you, you know? You got stuck straight in there to help people. That's not something you would have done once upon a time."
Khan met his gaze, it was his turn to shrug, though it was more of a twitch of the shoulder, "It is... It is what you would have done." his answer not entirely making sense even in his own mind.
"Yeah... I guess it is." Jim scoffed slightly and took a deep breath, "I guess we bring out the best of each other."
"Perhaps."
Kirk looked around the crowd slowly, there were so many faces he didn't recognise, they were all complete strangers and yet they'd come together to do their best. It was what made him proud of this city, of San Francisco, in a moment of horror everyone pulled together and worked along side one and other to make the best of things. He'd always wanted to instil that same sense of teamwork in his crew, sure he was the Captain but they all lifted equally when the luck was down. They'd all lift together.
A tingle in the back of his head made him do another sweep of the onlookers until he saw, again, that scarred face. Now certain he was no longer imagining it, he left Khan's side and began prowling his way through the throngs of people.
He froze mid-step as their eyes met and there was a moment of time slowing recognition before everything seemed to move so much faster. The scarred man turned and sprinted away, running towards a car parked not far away; Jim took off after him, shoving people out of the way in an effort to keep up.
The car's ignition rumbled into life and began speeding off down the road, Jim, unwilling to simply let his quarry evade him again, jumped onto a parked motorbike, thankfully the keys were still in it and he put his foot down, so to speak, and raced after the car. Wind rushing through his ears, deafening out the sound of Khan and Spock shouting after him.
He knew that face. Burn scars and greying hair, of course he'd be present at the sight of this... Whatever this had been. It was pure chance he'd noticed him, but there was no way he'd be letting him escape.
Kirk was careful though, there were so many civilians around, he couldn't push the bike to its full speed just in case he hit someone, not that the same concern was being shown by the car he was tailing, mounting curbs and crashing through tables and chairs outside of a cafe.
In the back of his mind, he noticed that he was being led out of the city, onto the back roads and dirt paths leading to the countryside, rural and deserted. With the risk to by-passers now eliminated, he twisted the throttle hard and sped up considerably, beginning to catch up and weave ever closer.
A small part of him was amused, considering what a twist this was on his police chase as a kid, him driving the stolen car and being pursued by a cop on a bike. It made him only slightly uncomfortable to consider how much he had changed. Though, upon considering that he was actually riding a stolen motorbike, he felt a smidgeon better.
Continuing to lessen the gap between the other vehicle and the bike, he began to consider how he would bring the car to a stop, he considered shooting the tires with his phaser, but there was a massive risk of the driver being killed if the car rolled. He moved closer, there was scarcely room to fit another bike between the front wheel and the boot now.
What Jim didn't expect, however, was for the car to break suddenly.
The front wheel made contact and the entire bike flipped, flinging him forward and over the top of the car. He hardly had time to let out a cry of pain before he hit the road and skidded, feeling the tarmac eating through his clothes and biting into his skin. He rolled a couple of times and finally came to a stop, cuts to his knuckles and knees were welling with blood while a large gash on his forehead began to pour profusely and quickly spilled down his face and onto the road where he was still face down.
He gasped weakly, feeling several broken bones as they began burning and spiking with pain, most noticeably was the shard of bone sticking out of his forearm, having broken the skin. He half expected them to heal as fast as they had the other night, but when they didn't a sickening feeling that perhaps he was in more trouble than he'd first believed. Maybe even Khan's DNA had limits.
A silent scream escaped as he was kicked hard in the ribs, forced onto his back and he stared up blearily at the burned face of the man he had been chasing.
"I didn't expect you to follow so hard, I almost thought I could lose you in the suburbs, but your reputation precedes you, Captain Kirk."
That voice, it was definitely the man who'd planted the bomb under Starfleet HQ, the man from the video recording. He had been sceptical, at least a little, but now there was no room for doubt. It was him.
"W-What... The fuck is wrong with you..." Jim rasped out, spluttering as blood welled in the back of his throat.
"Don't try to talk, you'll only speed up the process." the terrorist crouched slowly, his voice weirdly tender all of a suddenly, "I didn't believe it was you at first, but the resemblance is... Shocking. I'm sorry it had to be you to recognise me. Anyone else, anyone, would have been preferable."
Jim started inhaling faster through his nose, struggling to catch his breath as his vision grew clouded, turning his head slightly and trying to force some of the blood from his mouth before he choked on it.
"I have to go now." the burned man stood slowly, looking at him with an almost apologetic look, "It would have been a privilege to go up against you, I hear you are quite the hero. But Fate, it would seem, has a different path for me. Goodbye, Jim."
Kirk gargled in response, losing his fight with the blood in his throat, he tried to roll, tried to grab at the man's leg, to do anything, but his fingers weakened and hit the floor with a soft thud, coughing hard and letting out a wail as pain blossomed over his chest. Everything went dark, and the last thing he remembered hearing was the sound of an explosion, and heat washing over him.
And then, he died.