Chapter Ten: Secrets And Lies:
Four days passed without incident, Starfleet had contacted Jim to give him the address of his new flat for when he returned to the city next, and to inform him that he would be compensated for the loss of his possessions, which he had declined, telling them to give the money to the relatives of the thirty-two murdered Starfleet officers who had not been saved from the apartment block.
The apartment block had been specifically for Starfleet officers, ones who had few options on where to live, low incomes, young families. It sickened him to think of how much death there had been, and yet there were so few answers.
Why had a Starfleet vessel fired on the city? What did the burned man have to do with it? How big had the ship been to cause such damage with a single photon beam? Where had it gone afterwards?
There were no answers, only an ever increasing number of questions. It was infuriating. But he had come to terms with the idea that everything would have a solution eventually, it was a case of allowing it to play out.
Strangely, Spock and Khan had been on their very best behaviour when around each other. Although they shared only the fewest of words, and remained in a room together for the briefest of moments, there was a definitive limitation to the death glares and snide remarks. He wasn't sure whether he should be impressed or concerned that they were hiding something.
On a more positive note, his mother had confirmed his beliefs about her marital status. She'd kicked his step-dad... Ex-step-dad out over a year and a half ago for being an unfaithful drunk, and she didn't regret it even a little bit. In fact, she seemed happier than he ever remembered her being.
There were things which had come to his attention, which to an extent, made him nervous. And as much as he wanted to ignore it, there came a point where he began to realise that having been revived for a second time by Khan's DNA, had changed something within him. His headaches were still persistent, but the spasms of pain which usually followed had come to an end. He felt different within himself, stronger and faster, and his mental awareness was at an all time high.
He had begun to wonder if he was near the end of his change, if he would indeed survive it after all. Jim had kept it all to himself for the time being, he didn't want to get anyone's hopes up, or in Spock's case, scare them more than they already had been. But he was silently confident that within a few weeks, he would have his answer. He was nearly done being average.
"Because I looked up your file while you were drooling on the floor. Your aptitude tests are off the charts. So, what is it? You like being the only genius-level repeat-offender in the Midwest?"
Pike's words came back to him and made him smile slightly. No, he had never been average. His nature was unpredictable at best, downright dangerous at its worst. But never average. He'd just never given himself the chance to see himself as being better. But now his eyes were wide open, and he could, at least to an extent, admire what he had been before.
Jim's gaze lifted as he heard a car rolling down the drive, and he slid from the tree branch he had been perched in, dropping down just as she pulled up. He offered her a smile and popped the boot open, grabbing the shopping bags for her.
"Get anything nice from the store?" he asked, walking with her.
"Depends what you could as nice," she answered with a coy smile, "Where are the boys?"
"No idea," he shrugged, "They were still asleep when I left the house this morning."
She chuckled in response and headed up into the house with her son, they both froze as soon as they crossed the threshold, not entirely sure what to make of the scene beyond. Khan was hoovering the carpet, while Spock dusted the shelves, both looking incredibly domesticated.
Jim's head tilted slightly as he watched Khan bend to grab something and hastily looked away as he saw Winona glance his way, smirking.
"What are you doing?" he asked, pushing down the blush on his cheeks.
"Captain, as ever you seem to have the need to question the obvious." Spock muttered from the corner.
"Winona is letting us stay here free of charge, it is only polite to do something towards the upkeep of the house while we are here," Khan, of course, gave a proper answer, "Oh, you'll find the tap in the bathroom doesn't leak any more, and the loose floorboards in your room don't squeak."
Jim stared, blinking once. Twice. Three times. He wasn't sure he liked his companions being so domesticated. It didn't suit them. All they were missing was a pair of frilly aprons.
"Aw, how sweet of you both!" his mother chimed happily, sweeping her way through to the kitchen, "I do wish you'd rub that attitude onto my dear son."
"Hey!" he exclaimed, hurrying after her, "I'm carrying your shopping!"
Spock and Khan both stopped their activities as soon as the two Kirk's disappeared into the kitchen, and they shared a dark glare. They had, of course, been hiding the tension from the other two members of the house. But it was still there, and it was worse than ever.
Khan was coming to the conclusion that he may well have to allow Spock to say his piece in order to move passed whatever had put the Vulcan back into such a violent state of distrust towards his entire being.
"I take it, Mister Spock, that you still desire that talk." he said in a low voice.
"I do indeed." the Vulcan's lips barely moved.
He dropped his gaze for a moment and let out a long breath, "Very well, let's take this outside."
"A sound suggestion."
The Vulcan called through to the kitchen, letting the two Kirk's know that they would be stepping outside for a few moments to do some external repairs. When he was certain they believed his word, he followed the augmented human.
The sun was warm, and the breeze was cool against Khan's skin as he allowed his arms to hang at his sides, not wishing to come across as too aggressive, in case it triggered some response from the other man. For his part, he genuinely wanted to resolve at least some of their aggravation, having believed things had changed after Jim's road accident.
Khan turned as he heard the front door swing shut and met Spock's gaze, taken aback by just how much fury there was on his face, anger he hadn't seen since their fight all those months ago. Whatever it was, which had been gnarling at Spock was clearly not good.
"What's the problem, Mister Spock? You've been like a dog with a bone for days."
The Vulcan steamed forwards, fingers curling in his black shirt before he found himself dragged out of the view of the house, among the trees, although even as they stopped moving his fingers didn't leave their clenched position, drawing Khan in closer until they were almost nose to nose.
"Spock, what is the problem?" Khan repeated again, keeping his temper in check.
"You... I honestly cannot believe I considered trusting you. I should have known better, even if the Captain doesn't." Spock hissed, eyes dark with a coil of emotions, "I figured it out, Khan, all of it. I knew from the start you would have an agenda for why you've been so placid since you woke and now I know what that reason is."
The super soldier tensed only slightly, eyes narrowing, there were only a handful of things he could think of which would enrage the Vulcan to this extent, and none of them were really things he wanted shared, "I would suggest you think very carefully before you say what is on your mind."
"Why, because you may not like it?" Spock sneered.
"Because you may not know of what you speak." he corrected sourly.
A tut escaped the Vulcan before he clenched his jaw, "I knew that arrogance was still in there, hiding under that facade of having changed for the better, of wanting to do the right thing. How much have you lied about, Khan? How big is the web you've woven?"
His fingers twitched in annoyance, "Do not test me, Spock."
"How long have you been able to see the Captain's memories? How long have you been experiencing headaches?" Spock breathed, voice shaking as he maintained a forced calm.
Khan's expression darkened, of anything which had angered the Vulcan he had wished so desperately for it to be something else, anything else, "My headaches began as soon as I was woken in the hospital. They have grown steadily worse, just as James's have."
"That long?" the Vulcan hissed, "And the memories? How long have you been able to see inside his head?"
He met his gaze slowly, "Well, it would be safe to say I had some very interesting dreams while I was asleep."
Spock released him suddenly, staring in disbelief, "Why didn't you tell anyone? Why keep it to yourself?"
"Why do you think?!" he spat, turning his back on the man and looking out over the fields, "Your blessed Doctor McCoy had already turned James into a pincushion with all his infernal tests and diagnostics, can you imagine what Starfleet would have ordered if I'd told the truth?"
"You kept quiet to protect Jim? I don't believe you for a second." Spock snarled in response, "You kept quiet for one reason, and one reason alone!"
"Oh do enlighten me!" he snorted.
"Lucille Harewood."
Khan's back stiffened at the name and he closed his eyes, letting out a long breath. Spock truly had worked everything out, "What about her?" he asked.
"She was dying, wasn't she? She had maybe weeks to live, when you arrived at the London hospital and introduced yourself to Thomas Harewood. You made a bargain. The destruction of the Kelvin Memorial Archives in exchange for your life saving blood." The Vulcan stared at the back of his head, expression never more serious, "I made a phone call a few days ago, Khan. She is still human. So, it occurred to me, why isn't Jim?"
A long sigh escaped his lips, "What you didn't consider that the amount of blood given was very different? Lucille was given only a vial, according to McCoy, Jim was given 3 pints."
"Don't take me for a fool. The volume of blood doesn't change what it is capable of." Spock bit back, "You did something to Jim, something which caused this... Mutation."
Khan looked over his shoulder at the Vulcan, grinding his teeth for a moment before he huffed through his nose, "It was an accident."
"So you did do something!"
"Not exactly," Khan scratched his neck and sat down against the trunk of one of the trees and looked over at Spock, "It was a defence mechanism, hidden inside all the cryotube my crew were stored in. A program I created while Marcus exploited me for my knowledge. It was meant to protect them, I had no way of knowing McCoy would put James inside one of them!"
Spock frowned slightly, "What was the program designed to do?"
Hands clasped, Khan took a breath, "The program was made up of everything me. My personality, my memories, my life. Its' original purpose was to ensure my crew would wake up remembering who and what they are, it was never meant to..." he looked down, "I believe, when James was placed inside the cryotube the program triggered a defence mechanism which attacked him."
"Attacked?"
"Not physically. The program works through neural link with whoever is in the tube, sending the information directly into the brain. So, when it triggered, he received the full force of everything I have ever done, everything I have ever been. It created a type of neural entanglement between his mind and mine. When my blood was administered to bring him back, it could sense my presence already and so it... Did to him what it did to me. And began changing him." he leaned back and bit his lip lightly.
"So... It wasn't something you intended to do?"
"Of course not!" he barked, "But when McCoy woke me and informed me of what was happening I... I knew what had caused it. But I couldn't tell him... I couldn't tell him that I had essentially weaponised my crew's cryotubes, because that would have made them a threat and... I was afraid of what might happen to them. So, I offered guidance where I could, enough to see James safely treated for the symptoms without revealing the true cause."
"You have lied to everyone who gave you a second chance." Spock shook his head, "You've betrayed Jim."
"That isn't true!" he pushed himself back onto his feet and approached Spock, "Even if I had told Bones about the neural link, there wouldn't have been anything he could do. The link can only be broken by death, and even if that were to happen, James wouldn't go back to being human, he would still be... Better."
"He could have died because of what his body has been doing!"
"I know! But there was nothing I could have done to change it! All I could do, all I have done, is try to guide him through it as best I can." he looked at the floor, "Once his evolution is complete, he won't have the headaches any more, neither of us will. But I don't know if we will stop seeing inside each other's heads, I've never encountered this type of neural entanglement before."
The Vulcan seemed to take a few minutes to consider what he had been told, though Khan could feel there was still something on the other's mind, something still fuelling his anger towards him. He was almost afraid to find out what it was, considering just how much Spock had already worked out.
"I believe you did not intend for this to happen." Spock said after what felt like eternity, "But you should have told someone, you should have told Jim at least. He deserves to know why he's been going through this."
Khan swallowed slightly, "I'll talk to him. He isn't stupid so I suspect he has already wondered why the girl didn't change when he did."
"I suspect so as well." Spock glanced towards the house and then back at Khan, "The fact that you hid this... Changes everything. You are still more concerned with your own safety than anyone else's and if Jim forgives you for this... Rest assured I will be keeping a very close eye on you."
He wanted to argue, wanted to tell him otherwise, but as he opened his mouth to speak he heard the front door open and his gaze snapped towards the house, a small frown forming on his face as he considered the ramifications of James knowing the truth.
Khan glanced at Spock and started walking back towards the house without another word, for now opting to accept the other's terms, he was merely grateful that something had stopped their conversation before Spock could reveal whatever else it was that he thought he knew.
He forced a smile as he saw Winona walking towards them, Jim just behind her, both of them carrying trays of what looked like sandwiches and drinks.
"I thought we could eat out here, seeing as the weather is so fine!" Winona said happily, heading towards the table and chairs around the side of the house, "Did you boys manage to get anything else fixed out here?"
"Oh uh, not exactly," Khan swallowed hard, "We just had a look at some things that might need attention."
"You're so sweet to be doing all this work for me, I'm so grateful." she beamed.
"It's nothing." he croaked out, his smile wavering slightly as he watched Jim grin at him.
He struggled to return it as he watched Spock walk over to the table and take a seat, seemingly completely unaffected by their conversation, while his own heart was thundering with so many mixed feelings and thoughts. He wasn't used to feeling guilt. But as he watched Jim eagerly tuck into a sandwich while his mother's back was turned, he felt a sickening amount of it pumping through his veins, at the thought of exactly what he had put the man through.
Khan walked over slowly and sat at the table, deciding that there would be a time to talk to Jim, but that it wasn't now.
Jim passed him a plate of sandwiches and grinned as he sat back and took a long sip of drink, "You two been behaving?"
Spock answered first, "Of course, Captain. I think we've come to something of an understanding."
Khan wanted to punch the pointy-eared bastard in the face but forced a smile, "We most certainly have." he agreed.
"Well, can't say I'm not pleased. Seeing you two trying to kill each other with your eyes alone got kind of boring after a while." he chuckled, pausing as his communicator started buzzing, "Sorry I have to take this."
Jim got up and answered the call, wandering just a short distance from the table and leaning against the bannister around the porch. Khan watched his expression and saw it switch very quickly from happy to furious.
"What do you mean someone tried to sabotage the Enterprise?!" he exclaimed suddenly, drawing all of their attention to him, "How much did they manage to do?"
"I cannae tell you everything at the moment Captain, I'm still running diagnostics. But from what I've found so far they were interrupted while tampering with the Warp Core. The damage is very wee, very small... I can fix it easily but we were lucky they didn't get more done than they did." Scotty's voice was a welcome one, but his news couldn't have been more worrying.
"Alright, thanks Scotty. Finish the diagnostics, if anything else shows up let me know. I'll call Starfleet, report the damage to them." he muttered, rubbing his forehead.
"Understood, Captain."
He snapped the communicator shut and took a breath, opening it again and making another quick call, which lasted only a few minutes before he trudged back over and flopped down in his chair.
"Captain what happened?" Spock asked.
"Scotty's been sent up to the Enterprise to repair some damage. Apparently someone was trying to sabotage the ship, they tampered with the Warp Core." he grabbed a sandwich and munched on it moodily, "This is getting ridiculous."
"What do you mean, dear?" Winona asked, patting her son's leg gently.
The blond took a moment and shrugged, "It's gonna sound self-centred but, first a bomb was planted in Starfleet Head Quarters, at a party I was attending, on my birthday. Then, my apartment block was... Well, decimated by a still unidentified Starfleet ship. When I had that road accident the guy I was chasing... He knew me, he sounded like he cared about me, and that he was sorry that I had followed him. Now, the Enterprise has been attacked. It's the latest thing in a long line of shit that... Seems to have one connecting factor."
"You." Khan murmured, frowning deeply, it made sense in the end, the dots all connected, "But why would someone target you, with such a complete disregard for the safety of those around you? He clearly doesn't care much for Starfleet at all. He was willing to kill hundreds of cadets and officers with his actions."
Jim seemed unsettled by Khan agreeing and took a breath, "So it doesn't sound completely insane then."
"If you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the solution." Spock agreed, toying with his glass of drink, "I believe it is a logical deduction of the known facts."
Winona looked at her son, face etched with deep concern, "Jim, my darling... I think you need to go back to San Francisco... You need to be with your crew. As much as I have loved you being here, I can't keep you safe from whoever this monster is."
He faltered and swallowed hard, "I don't want to go." he said softly, "I left home in such a dumb way... Not contacting you is one of my biggest regrets. I want to be able to catch up properly."
"And we will, once this is over." she smiled sweetly, "But we can't catch up if you're dead."
Jim nodded reluctantly and threw his communicator to Spock, "Make the call, we'll head back in the morning. I want clearance to board the Enterprise."
"Of course, Captain." the Vulcan sprang to his feet and left the table, hastening to act on his orders.
Khan watched tensely, his eyes fixed on Jim and his mother. With Spock now aware of at least one of his secrets, he wasn't sure he'd be able to join them on the Enterprise, if it had ever been possible to begin with. The augmented human twitched slightly, the hairs at the nape of his neck standing on end; he stood slowly and turned, casting an eye out over the surrounding land. He couldn't see anything, but something didn't feel quite right.
Then he saw a reflective glare and his eyes narrowed, squinting into the distance, towards a small hill about sixty meters away from the homestead. He tilted his head slightly and took a step forwards, eyes widening as there was a flash of red.
He whipped around and grabbed Jim, throwing him out of the way as the blast soared towards them, letting out a grunt as he felt heat against his back and he was thrown forwards, hitting the ground hard.
Jim yelped as he was thrown so suddenly, confused as he looked around, seeing a streak of scarlet energy hitting Khan in the back, tossing him like a rag doll to the sandy floor. He scrambled to his feet, overturning the table they had been sitting at and dragging Khan behind it for safety, looking around frantically.
His mouth went dry as he saw the sprawled body of his mother on the floor, scorching burn marks against her chest. The blond rolled Khan over and swore as he saw the energy from the gun fired had gone straight through him, the same shot having hit Winona as well.
"Oh God." he whispered, swallowing hard as he saw Khan's injury was already beginning to heal, he poked his head over the table and glanced around, he could see someone running in the distance, fleeing the scene.
"Captain?!" Spock exclaimed, running back from inside the house and freezing at the sight of both Khan and Winona spread out on the floor.
Jim left Khan's side, knowing he would heal, and instead rushed towards his mother, falling to his knees beside her and checking her vital signs.
Her blouse had mostly burned away, revealing an ugly scorch mark in the centre of her chest, she was out cold, a dribble of blood running from her nose; her pulse was strong but erratic. He swore repeatedly, hands shaking.
"Call an ambulance Spock!" he shouted, "Tell them to fucking hurry!"
"Y-Yes of course." the Vulcan sounded unusually rattled.
The blond shook slightly, his own heart racing as a dull ache rumbled in the back of his head. He ignored it, glancing around as Khan suddenly sat bolt up right, gasping for breath and looking about in a mild panic.
"James, thank the Gods you are alright." the dark haired man hissed, crawling over quickly before his mouth fell open, "Winona..."
"It was him." Jim growled, his jaw clenched in a tight line, furious tears in his eyes, "He followed us all the way here, followed me all the way here. When I find this son-of-a-bitch I am going to make him wish he had never been born."
Khan swallowed slightly, "I'll do whatever I can to help."
It didn't take long for the ambulance to arrive, a brief explanation of what had happened was given to the paramedics before Winona was loaded into the back of the vehicle, Jim accompanied her while Spock and Khan made an uneasy car trip to follow them.
Jim tapped his foot agitatedly in the back of the ambulance, watching as one of the paramedics worked on giving Winona pain relief and cleaned the wound. Apparently, she had hit her head when she'd collapsed which had resulted in her unconsciousness.
He closed his eyes for the remainder of the journey to the hospital, imagining all the ways he would murder the bastard who was responsible for this, before he felt a touch of melancholy and sadness, reaching out and carefully taking her hand, letting her know she wasn't alone.