At breakfast the next morning, Khan got properly introduced to the team. Temujin Ghengis, who turned out to be the one responsible for the flash, apologized profusely. "Don't do again," said Khan.

"It won't happen again," Temujin said earnestly.

Khan nodded and smiled, and Temujin finally seemed to relax.

"Your name," said Khan. "As Ghengis Khan?"

"Oh yes, my mother studied central asian history in university, and then she met my dad. His last name's Ghengis and they couldn't resist."

"Parents," said Khan. Everyone laughed, though Khan was laughing for a slightly different reason. Between him and Temujin, they had the full set, and no one but him even knew.

"Hi, I'm Al Macgregor," the last team member said. "I've been working mainly on the subspace engines and the warp drive."

Khan nodded and smiled. "Warp drive... fun." said Khan. Not quite what he'd meant, but hopefully close enough.

Temujin laughed, as did Carol. "Don't let Al get started on warp equations. He can do them in his head and he'll go on about how beautiful they are for hours," she said. "Personally, I'm more interested in figuring out how to adapt the Narada's laser cannon so that the power required doesn't draw down the warp core too far and drain the available power for shielding ..."

Khan was glad he'd brought his PADD to breakfast. He had a feeling he was going to need it.

The next week was a steep learning curve even for Khan, but between his PADD, and a lot of hard work and extreme stubbornness he thought he was making enough progress to satisy Admiral Marcus. He'd even been useful, persuading Carol and Maria that a gun that jammed in muddy conditions, sandy conditions and very cold conditions while overheating and exploding when too hot was worse than useless to a force like Starfleet that might have to fight in any combination of these conditions without prior notice. That alone had probably saved a good many lives.

Khan shook his head. None of the others had any combat experience worth mentioning, and the lack of field experience showed. No wonder Admiral Marcus had wanted his input. He was trying to prepare for war in a time without true warriors. That, Khan could help with.

Gradually, the engine designs became more complete. He'd gotten to know the others a bit better by this point, and was beginning to feel more at home. Temujin with his photography obsession, Carol's ornery and ancient cat, Maria's dry sense of humor and Al's engines.

He had to remind himself that they were not his people and would turn on him instantly if they knew what he really was. There was no sense in getting too close to those he could never trust. It would only burn him in the end.

One day they were testing a new sublight engine prototype for small craft. Khan wondered if he should absent himself from this entirely or if standing in the doorway at the far end of the room would be enough. It was only a very small engine, after all. He hesitated, feeling ridiculous. Carol looked up from rummaging through her handbag and said "Catch", throwing him a pair of pink fuzzy ear protectors. Khan frowned at them. No way was he wearing them.

"Don't be silly, put them on," said Carol. "Or do you like being in agony?"

Khan put them on, wondering who had designed the hideous things in the first place. "Thanks," he said. "No photo!" he said, spotting Temujin bringing up his camera.

"But it's perfect," complained Temujin. "Just one. You know I don't use flash around you anymore."

"Boys, stop it," said Maria. "Temujin, no pictures, and Khan, you'll wear the extra ear protection and stand by the door. You should probably get your own if you don't like the color." Temujin mock-pouted and put the camera down. The test located a couple of bugs, but nothing that Al wouldn't have sorted out in the next couple of days. Sometimes it seemed the technical problems were less difficult than the people ones.

The next five months went relatively smoothly.

The base at London wasn't that big, and he soon found himself recognised and greeted by most of the people there. The Section 31 people tended to socialize together as well as work together.

This rapidly became awkward, because he wasn't allowed to leave the base even with Connor in tow, and he couldn't easily explain that to people. Most he could bow out of gracefully with reference to the eye and ear issues, much as he hated showing weakness. Honestly, did Al think before asking if he wanted to go to that rock concert? But other things were harder to say no to.

"John, do you want to go rollerblading in the park after dark tonight? Temujin, Alexa and I are going so far."

Khan winced internally. He'd like to go. He was sick and tired of the base and he'd love to get out, but he could see Connor glowering at him from the other end of the room. "I really need to do... work tonight."

"Ok," said Carol, looking a little confused, almost hurt. He couldn't blame her, since it wasn't as if he did much round here but work. She probably thought he didn't like her, or that he still carried a grudge against Temujin for the mishap the first day. That just wasn't right. He'd hand the problem to Connor and see how he handled it.

She turned to leave the room. "Not supposed leave," said Khan.

"What?" said Carol, turning back. ''You aren't allowed to leave the base? Why?"

Conner glared at Khan, abruptly striding up to join them. "John has PTSD from the Incident as well as a high level of combat training, and Command would rather he didn't cause any incidents with civilians. It's safer that he stays here."

"Why didn't you say something about that earlier?" Carol demanded.

Khan looked away as his jailors replaced one lie with a half-truth. He'd suspected that his captors would have several levels of explanations if needed, and this confirmed his guess. Now he had another infirmity paraded in front of the world - this time one that wasn't even his. Just wonderful. On the other hand he might be able to use that somehow later...

"I'm sorry. But there is nothing to be embarrassed about," Carol said. "Since you can't leave, is there anything I can get you from off base?"

After that the word went round his colleagues and people stopped asking. He couldn't help but feel a bit left out. The place had a gym but he couldn't stretch himself to anywhere near his actual limits or he'd blow his cover and Admiral Marcus would be furious.

On the bright side, his language issues were now a lot better than they had been, even if his grammar was highly... inventive. Khan spent a lot of time on the computers, trying to get a better handle on the society he'd landed in, and learning the ins and outs of their computer equipment while he was at it.

Admiral Marcus popped in and out at unexpected intervals, checking on their work and stopping to chat with Carol, who was indeed his daughter. Admiral Marcus seemed pleased, and actually complimented Khan on his work a couple of times. The second time this happened, Khan dared bring up his people. "Can I see family?" Khan asked.

"They won't look any different than they did the last time," said the Admiral.

"Still sleep?"

"Yes, John, they do that a lot."

Khan glared at him. While Admiral Marcus might find his insistance amusing, it wasn't funny for him. If he ever found out Marcus was lying to him the Admiral would find he was playing with deadly fire indeed.

"Still want see them."

"You know I can't let you do that."

"Why? I do what you want."

"They're safe. In a safe, hidden place that I do not let anyone know of. That includes you." The Admiral sighed.

Khan was almost certain that place was on the Jupiter base, but that certainly didn't match seeing them with his own eyes and knowing for certain where they were. Khan didn't like the situation. He was being forced to take an awful lot on trust, and Admiral Marcus was the one getting the benefit from their deal so far. What was to keep him from reneging on his word once he had what he wanted?

It was time for Khan to put some of those computer skills to use and see what he could discover for himself.

But before he had a chance to do more than disable his computer's logger and discern that a shipment far too large to contain only his cryopod had arrived at the Jupiter base at the correct time, it was time to move back to the Jupiter base, and actually build some of those projects they'd been working on.

Khan smiled despite himself. That dreadnought was going to be quite something to see when it was built. He'd already nicknamed it the Vengeance inside his head. Hopefully he wouldn't need to take vengeance of another kind.

A/N: Kudos to Cmdr's Monkey for figuring out that Temujin is Ghengis Khan's birth name. As for Shostakovich, Dmitri Shostakovich was a 20th century Russian composer.