= XVI =
Authors Notes: Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I fixed up all the other chapters, two big things I added in but nothing super huge to make you go back and read if you don't want to. Enjoy and sorry again, I will finish this story I swear!
Later that Night
Mira sat still, occasionally moving to take a sip of her brandy but other than that, nothing. Her eyes cast down; a frown sat upon her features as she thought of nothing but how stupid she had been. How much she hated Khan for what he had done, and the sad part she mauled over was that she knew just knew that she would find some stupid way to forgive him because despite all this she still desired him.
Mira blamed it on his looks; the man was basically sex on legs. Mira had been all consumed with her thoughts that she hadn't even noticed someone take the stool next to her until she saw a hand wave in front of her gaze. Turning her head slightly Mira appraised the man who smiled a coy smile at her and raised a brow at him. "Can I help you with something?" she asked simply and the man's smile just broadened. "I asked what a pretty girl like you is doing here and what's making you frown so much." the man repeated and Mira just rolled her eyes, turning her gaze back to her drink.
"Drowning my sorrows obviously, I don't need to ask what your doing here though." Mira announced but mumbled the last bit to herself, she didn't feel like getting into a verbal altercation with someone; though she contemplated a fist fight. Dabbling that maybe a good punch or two might help release some of her anger, but recalled the thought and locked it down. 'What's wrong with me… when have I ever wanted to punch someone to feel better. God I hate this.' Mira screamed mentally. The man let out a short chuckle and this served to only irk Mira more. "Well maybe I can help get your mind off of it?" he offered, she could practically hear the lust screaming from him. Mira turned her head to get a good look at him. Mira raised a brow, the man in front of her honestly was pretty handsome if she had to say so. Short dark brunette hair, tanned skin and some stubble. Mira couldn't make out the colour of his eyes though, she blamed it on either having too much to drink or the poor bar lighting. Mira turned fully to him, crossing her legs and leaning her cheek into her palm.
"Do you make a habit of picking up woman at bars?" she inquired and the man simply shook his head an embarrassed smile on his lips as he let out a small chuckle.
"Not really, actually, my friend ditched me to hit on that lady over there and well you looked lonely… so yeah… I'm Bennet by the way." he said, offering his hand to her. Mira judged for a moment before she smiled at him, taking his extended hand and shaking it. "Mira" 'Hmm payback' Mira thought as her smiled brightened at the man before her. Bennet's smile grew also. "Well Mira, I have an idea." Bennet smirked and Mira instantly knew where this was going and was rather pleased by it. 'Lovely, I don't have to do anything' she thought happily, thinking for a few moments that she would actually need to dangle the bait in front of him but nope, he was already on the hook and she didn't have to do a thing.
"Do go on." she said. Bennet smirked at her "How about we get out of here and go somewhere more private to talk… or whatever." Bennet shrugged his shoulder at the last word and Mira had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. I mean really he could just say he wanted to fuck her; that is what she wanted from him after all. "Why not." Mira responded after finishing off her drink, she was about to pull out her wallet and pay but Bennet stopped and paid her bill instead. "Who says chivalry's dead?" Mira laughed out quietly as Bennet again took her hand and they were out the door before Bennet turned quickly and gave Mira a passionate kiss.
He pulled back a bit and, for five seconds when Mira opened her eyes, all she saw was him. Khan and his eyes and instantly the smile faded from her face and she pulled back. "Hey are you okay?" Bennet asked and Mira shook her head. "No… I'm… I'm sorry I gotta go." she mumbled out pulling her hand from his grasp and stumbling slightly away from him. Even when he's nowhere near her, he's haunting her. God she hated him and yet she still felt the aching need to just screw him and have him take her in every which way he knew how.
"Fucking sexual attraction and tension, God I wish I could kill him." Mira screamed in her head, it was driving her insane. Mira had been so caught up in her head again that she hadn't even noticed Bennet come after her; not until she was dragged into an alley. way and smacked against a wall knocking the wind out of her. Mira coughed a couple of times "What the hell!" she exclaimed loudly when she felt hands on her.
"You really shouldn't be such a tease, you asked for this!" Bennet whispered darkly and Mira knew exactly what he was intending to do. Mira's reaction was instant, a shimmer of blue cascaded over her skin before Bennet was smacked into the other wall of the alley and dropped to the ground. Mira stared for a few moments and realized she had knocked him out.
Mira took in a shaky breath before she bolted out of the alley and down the street, stopping once she was far away and began to laugh; happy as hell no one was around to hear her or see the tears that were flowing down her cheeks. "Why the hell did I think that was good idea? Ugh" she said once she was done laughing and sniffled a little. 'God what is wrong with me? Why did I think sleeping with some random loser was going to make me feel better? Why did I think it was going to make Khan angry?' "Get a grip Mira, Khan getting angry would mean he cares. Lovely I was going to lose my virginity to some loser to try and make the world's most giant asshole, who doesn't even care, angry… ugh! God I have problems." Mira talked to herself and then looked around again and rubbed her cheeks.
'And I'm talking to myself out loud, lovely… just freaking lovely.' Mira muttered internally as she finally arrived back at the facility and gave it a grim look 'Joy. Hell.', with that thought she took in a deep breath and released it.
Once back in her, their, quarters Mira was met with a working Khan and raised her brow at him. She hadn't expected him to be out in the living room when she had clearly heard him working on something in his room when she left. "You have been gone for hours, I was…. I decided to wait for you to return before I retired." Khan spoke softly, in a tone Mira wasn't use to and, if she had to be honest, it sounded like a tone that someone would use when speaking to a fragile person on the brink of breaking.
It made Mira laugh. 'You have got to be kidding me.' Mira narrowed her gaze on him, crossing her arm "What the hell is your game?" Mira asked bluntly and she watched Khan as she awaited his answer. "You know what it is, Miracle, I told you." Khan breathed out with a sigh and Mira snapped, catching Khan off guard and sending him into a wall and crumble to the floor once she had released him. "No you told me that you manipulated me, that you thought I was just like Marcus and figured you would screw with my emotions and break me when you were done.
I want to know what the fuck you are doing now, what the hell do you want from me?" Mira nearly screamed at him, in the back of her mind she had thought maybe she should have just gone to her room. Alcohol, pain and her abilities were not a good combination but she couldn't really bring herself to care, this was new for her. True, she had previous boyfriends before but when they left it hadn't hurt that much, more than likely because she kept them at arms length the entire time but this… this was new and it hurt a hell of a lot. Clearly it was making her do some pretty stupid shit.
Pain, being hurt by someone you thought really cared about you was hell; and as she stood there, looking at Khan who was getting to his feet, it only seemed to hurt more and with his words, it was screaming. "I need you to still pretend Miracle." Mira just let out a light laugh, nodding her head in disbelief. "You have got to be joking." she deadpanned looking Khan straight in the eye and she could tell he was dead serious, he was about to say something else but Mira walked away and to her room. Saying a quick "Fuck you!" over her shoulder as she entered and then locked the door.
Mira stared at her ceiling, her head hurt and she felt the overwhelming need to get a shower; but she didn't move deciding to just stay in bed all day, and so far, it seemed like a good idea. She had planned to get up, get something to eat and so forth; but her plans were ruined when she heard Khan in the living room, and right now if she listened close enough she could still hear him tinker away. She sighed aloud. He had knocked on her door earlier; but she had ignored him, and he hadn't tried to bug her since. She felt like an idiot, for what she felt, for believing him so easily, for acting like a child last night, and for...well it seemed everything; but she didn't want to say sorry. Not yet anyway. Mira laid there, staring at her ceiling and took in a deep breath, letting it out in another sigh before she sat up. Mira raised a brow as she looked at the desk in her room. It was littered with different pieces of tech and tools. Mira quickly got to her feet and walked over to the desk, glaring and thought to smash it all to pieces but then a flash of two faces appeared in her mind.
The beautiful woman who shared Khan's black hair but had striking green eyes, and the man, who seemed so out of place next to them; but was just as beautiful. With those two faces in her mind Mira sat down at her desk, and began to work; each move slow and calculated as she worked, only stopping when she needed to check something or make sure she had not screwed anything up so far.
And so it continued for hours, Mira was vaguely aware there had been another knock on her door; but she had ignored it as she was determined to stay focused. Once she had reached the halfway mark, Mira looked over what she had with a careful gaze before she stood, no longer able to fully ignore the need to use the bathroom or the grumble of her stomach that kept sounding. Mira quickly picked up her bathroom kit and unlocked her door before heading straight to the bathroom; not stopping to look at Khan who had only stopped working for a moment to look at her, and then his head was down again. Mira smiled internally 'Good.' she thought, and once she was inside the bathroom and the door was locked, Mira released the breath she hadn't realized she was holding and shook her head.
Mira hadn't wanted to linger in the shower more then she absolutely had to, wanting to just get some food and finish what she had been working on so that way she could put it all behind her and say that she had helped. Say that she hadn't ignored people in trouble, but every time she would repeat that this was all she could do, a small pang a guilt rang throughout her mind.
However, Mira pushed it down with the pain Khan had caused her, and with a quick breath, Mira walked out of the bathroom. Twenty minutes later, she was dressed in her casual clothes, hair pulled back in a pony tail, teeth brushed and smelling like blueberries. Mira quickly went to her room, dropping off her bathroom kit, and went to the small kitchen that they had. Searching for anything she could just grab and bring back to her room; but found nothing and sighed, hanging her head. "Check the oven." Khan spoke gently, in the same voice he had used last night, and Mira cringed, remembering her actions very clearly. Quickly she checked, only to frown. There in the oven was a plate, eggs, toast and bacon. Mira stared at it for a minute before taking it out and setting it on the counter. She stared at the thoughtful meal 'Asshole' Mira bitterly… sadly thought, 'This is great, really this is so helping me move on from on my pain. Ugh.' Mira internalized as she grabbed a fork and some ketchup from the fridge before turning to Khan and swallowing her pride for a moment.
"Thank you. I still hate you." she tacked on that last bit when he turned to her, and she spun back around, hastily grabbing the plate and going back into her room. Not wanting to be in anyone's company anymore. Once inside Mira looked at the plate again and examined it, just in case he had done anything to it. Mira figured he hadn't; but she apparently couldn't be too careful now. Once she was satisfied, Mira began to chow down, hungrier than she had felt.
Mira looked at the clock that was beside her bed and sighed out loud. She was nearly done; but she knew that she could have been done sooner if she hadn't of been moving at such a turtle speed. Khan was plaguing her mind and thus making her already careful and slow pace become even slower. Mira shook her head, trying to clear it of everything as she looked the machine over and smiled slightly at how perfect it was now that she was on the final stage. All she had to do was input Khan's scans and hook it up. Really any network would do, but Mira had one already in mind, and had the details already installed; though she knew what pressing connect would do, and the possibilities that followed. Sighing again Mira stood, picking up the machine after she stretched, and headed for the living room where Khan was still working.
This time, however, he was working solely on his PADD; no doubt making a new prototype weapon. Mira was about to say something; but her eye spotted what sat on the coffee table, and she quickly walked over to and picked up the item in question. "You had it?" she questioned quickly, Khan quickly looked up but then back down to his PADD and shook his head. "No, it was still in the testing room. I noticed it on the ground when I went to test a weapon." Mira nodded at his answer, carefully she placed the modified PADD in her hand on the table in front of him and slid the bracelet onto her wrist and then sat down.
"That's for you." she commented when nothing seemed to be happening for a few minutes. Khan looked up from his PADD again; but this time he placed it beside him and picked up the one she had placed on the table and gave her a questioning look. "I modified it to scan for Augmented DNA, I used the scans I took of you. I have the network set up and it will scan everything that's in this solar system. It can't be tested, it has only one use." Mira explained to him, a blank expression on her face as she judged his.
Khan looked at the device, giving it a once over, and checking the systems of it no doubt. So Mira waited patiently for him to comment or anything for that matter. "This is what you lied to Marcus about?" Khan asked, narrowing his eyes at the device in hand. Mira could feel the rage boiling inside of him, and simply nodded, not wanting to think back to the other day. "Yes." her answer came quickly and instantly Khan was on his feet, his glare set on her.
"You risked their lives! Are you out of your mind? He could have killed them!" Khan went on, volatile rage burning behind his eyes causing Mira to simply stand, giving him a hard look. "I wanted to help, I thought it was good idea. With that you can find them." she spoke calmly; but Khan didn't seem to care as he continued to rage. "You had no right!" He yelled at her, but Mira stood her ground. "The right to what? Give you a means to find them when you are ready? Despite what you put me through? You're totally right, I am such a horrible person!" she countered and Khan seemed to withdraw his anger a bit taking a breath before he nodded.
"I was careful, no one knows about it, and if you don't remember, I got shot three times keeping it a secret. So you are welcome that you now have a way to find them, something you clearly lacked before." Mira spat at him, after a moment Khan nodded his head again. "Thank you." he spoke quietly, almost to the point Mira had nearly missed it; but after a moment nodded her head before she herself took a breath. Readying herself for the next part of this conversation that she truly did not want to have.
"Also I will pretend. I don't want 72 lives, their blood, on my hands. For them I will pretend that we're still… whatever; but if you touch me without my consent...if you even think of pushing my limits...if you come to me trying to start anything! I will take off my bracelet and send you through each wall of this facility and then some. Do you understand?" Mira spoke sternly, eyeing Khan, watching for anything; but he simply nodded, she could see the anger, the pride, but he locked down his words.
"Taking recent events intro consideration I will do as you ask; but you will not make anymore demands of me." Khan spoke, Mira clearly seeing the Emperor he had once been standing before her, and gave a curt nod towards him in understanding. She remembered what happened in the first few months of their stay together and she didn't really doubt he could get close enough to crush her windpipe. "Are we done?" Khan asked and Mira nodded, getting ready to leave him alone in the living room and go back to her room but his voice stopped her.
"I need these materials." he held out the other Data PADD that had been on the couch beside him. Mira took it quickly and was out the door before he could say or do anything else. She didn't want to risk being near him anymore than she had to.
