A/N: For anyone who read the original ficlet on tumblr, here is where I start to veer off a bit from what I originally wrote. Thanks for all the lovely reviews, I appreciate them!

As he led Molly and Jamie to their quarters, Khan quietly damned himself for giving too much away too quickly. The last thing he wanted to do was frighten Molly off, and yet he'd just declared his feelings for her. Foolish, but then, the heart was a foolish organ, too often overriding the logic of the brain. He'd let his heart guide him far too often in the past year, but this once he thought it might lead to something good rather than something destructive.

As they reached the door to the quarters Khan had set aside for Molly and Jamie (named after her deceased father, a good name, he approved), their son let out a long yawn and sleepily rubbed his eyes. Molly pressed a soft kiss to his forehead and asked for the tinted lenses. Jamie whined and clutched them tighter, but once they were inside the spacious room and he saw the bunk that was now crowded with his own collection of stuffed animals, the toddler willingly surrendered the new in exchange for the familiar. Khan watched as Molly helped Jamie settle into bed, his arms tightly holding onto a bright blue octopus. Then Molly dimmed the lights and settled into a chair, placing the lenses on the low table near the head of the bed. She was humming a lullabye and it took Khan far longer than it should have to tear himself away, entranced as he found himself by the domestic scene playing out in front of him.

He would have expected Jamie to be overstimulated by the events of the day, too wound up for a nap, but within five minutes he'd drifted off to sleep, the tip of his left thumb hovering over his pink lips. Lips that were shaped exactly like those of his father, missing only the scar Khan bore on the lower right side to make them complete duplicates of one another. Since he'd gained that scar in a fight to the death with a rival Augment, he rather hoped Jamie would never have one to match.

Molly rose to her feet, leaned down to press another kiss to her sleeping son's head, and only then seemed to realize Khan was still there. "Is there…something you wanted?" she asked, the tension in her posture and strain in her voice causing his forehead to wrinkle in confusion until she darted her eyes toward the suite's other doors. One of which lead to the bathing chamber, and the other to her own bedroom.

"Our son," he said keeping his voice pitched low so as not to disturb Jamie's sleep. "Now that I've met him, I find myself reluctant to leave him, even though I should be on the bridge at the moment." The confession came easily to him; he'd already admitted his love for his son and his son's mother, so there was no weakness in honesty.

Molly gave him a wry smile as she walked over to join him near the door. "Well, I can promise we're not going anywhere without you," she said, her voice lightly teasing. Then she did something that utterly confounded him; she stood up on her toes and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. "Go," she said when she'd released her light hold on his neck and stepped back. "Do what you have to do to keep us safe." She glanced over at Jamie, then back at Khan. "We'll both be here when you come back."

"The layout of the ship is available on the computer, so you can find your way to the mess and anywhere else you want to go – nothing's off limits to you," Khan responded, feeling uncustomarily off balance by Molly's words and actions. Yes, he'd saved her from an intolerable situation, but surely there should be more anger and hostility in her towards him for his actions after he'd stolen the Vengeance? Why wasn't she demanding explanations, warning him off, keeping him at arm's length?

He carried his puzzlement with him the entire walk to the turbolift, where he finally shucked his hat, dropping it carelessly to the floor, and from there to the bridge. Once he'd seated himself and began searching for any signs of pursuit, however, he put his personal concerns aside and focused on the question of their safety.

oOo

Two hours later, confident that they'd successfully slipped out of Earth's orbit and exited the solar system, with the ship running steadily at an enhanced warp seven and the Romulan cloaking device working at maximum ability (and tweaked into an even higher rate of efficiency thanks to his own modifications), he checked on Molly and Jamie's whereabouts. As expected, they were in the officer's mess; with one last glance at the controls, he left the bridge, confident he would be instantly notified if any threats emerged.

Jamie was eating something dinosaur-shaped, and grinned happily as soon as the doors slid open to allow Khan entry. "Khan!" the little boy crowed, waving his fork and nearly sending his – chicken? – flying.

Molly caught his little hand and gently scolded him about being careful, then gave Khan a small smile of her own. "Everything all right?" she asked.

He nodded, crossing the room to join them at the table where, he saw, Molly had also served herself a plate. Some sort of pasta dish with a rather tantalizing aroma. Now that he was in the presence of food, he was reminded that it had been several days since he'd last eaten, and that even his superior metabolism had its limits.

Seeing his interest, Molly pushed the plate over to him. "I'm full," she said, although less than half of it appeared to be gone. She shrugged at his skeptical look. "My appetite hasn't been very good for several years now," she murmured, glancing over at Jamie. Who had returned to enthusiastically – and rather messily – eating his supper.

"I imagine you don't sleep very well, either," Khan replied, accepting the plate and methodically ingesting the pasta. It had a red sauce and some meat he couldn't identify, possibly Deltan zharghana sausage but a bit less spicy.

"No," was all Molly said. They spent the next several minutes in comfortable silence, broken only by Jamie's occasional comments about his food and requests for a biscuit, which Molly agreed he could have once he'd finished his chicken and green beans.

Both items rapidly vanished from Jamie's plate; chocolate biscuits and a cup of milk were duly produced, while Khan carried the now-empty dishes over to the recycler and dumped them in. It was all very domestic, something his followers would be astounded to see him so comfortable with – but then, they'd never had the opportunity to see him during peacetime, and certainly never with a child of his own blood. Nor with that child's mother; yes, he'd had many women with which he'd shared his bed and his body, but none of them had held his interest for very long, even the Augments.

Not like Lt. Molly Elizabeth Hooper of London did. She'd originally trained as a xenopathologist but had accepted a lateral transfer into administration working for Admiral Marcus ten years ago. A mystifying change in specialties unless one knew she had at that time been co-opted into Section 31, Starfleet's best-kept secret. At least, it had been; after Admiral Marcus had been exposed for his many crimes, including and most importantly to the Federation, his plans to start a preventive war with the Klingon Empire, Captain Kirk had done his level best to expose that secret organization to the light of day.

None of which was any of his concern, not now. The Federation and the Klingons could go to war or become allies; it mattered not the slightest bit to him. He and his family – Molly and Jamie most definitely included – would leave them far, far behind and find another world to colonize and make their own.

Once Jamie had been cleaned up and the table wiped down, Molly allowed Khan to escort them on a tour of the important parts of the commandeered ship. They ambled along at Jamie's pace, but he soon tired and demanded to be picked up – by Khan, rather than Molly, much to his father's pleased surprise. He glanced at Molly before so much as stooping down, and she nodded her permission, a small smile playing about her lips as she watched them interacting.

As soon as Jamie was settled on his hip, Khan felt a bliss unlike any other he'd ever experienced. Nothing could possibly compare to holding his child in his arms, feeling the small head resting so trustingly against his shoulder. His eyes closed briefly as he fought to control the surge of protectiveness that threatened to overwhelm him, but opened them as soon as he felt Molly's small hand on his shoulder. He looked down to see her smiling up at him understandingly. "Jamie," she said, catching her son's attention. He lifted his head and peered down at her.

"Mummy!" he crowed, reaching down to pat her cheek. They'd stopped outside the entrance to Engineering, and Khan watched the interaction between mother and son, absolutely entranced at the obvious love between them.

"Jamie, sweetie, do you know who our new friend is?" she said, keeping her eyes fixed on her son.

The toddler gave a vigorous nod before grinning up at Khan. "He Khan," he said, patting him on the cheek the way he'd just done to his mother. "My Khan!"

"Yes," Molly agreed. Then she took a deep breath and added, "But he's also your daddy, sweetheart."

Khan felt his heart skip more than a few beats at Molly's words. He stared at her, stunned and humbled at the trust she was placing in him, then felt Jamie's hands on his cheeks again. "Daddy?" Jamie repeated, looking puzzled. His tiny brow wrinkled and his lips were pursed, as if he was mulling over the concept. Then his face lit up with another one of those dazzling smile as he met Khan's gaze. "My daddy!" he crowed and planted a smacking kiss on the tip of his father's nose.

Khan hugged him close, his eyes closing again, choked with emotion and feeling entirely on the back foot. Molly's hand was warm on his shoulder, rubbing comforting circles against his flesh, and he once again resolved never to allow any harm to come to either one of them.

His crew was his family and always would be, but his son and his son's mother had just become his number one priority.