I do not own nor profit from Star Trek or Gene Roddenberrys creations.
The ceremony they had was small, obviously only witnessed by the Augments she had revived. They exchanged short simple vows, and everyone dispersed to their own duties. Safiya looked down as Khan led her back to their chamber. Like a monster he took his bride, forceful and greedily. It felt amazing for her, but it was also empty. While he rested from his exertion, she laid on her side, not knowing how she would really feel about this life. She didin't have much of a choice at the moment. It was either marry him and try to find a way out, or be put into cryo until someone came along and woke her up. Even with that, she would have to hope they were able to wake her up properly lest she die.
Over the next year, Safiya explored her new world. She had found many caves and even a few crashes from previous ill-fated flights. There was one crash in particular that she was very interested in. It was an antique ship that the federation hadn't used in a couple generations. It didn't appear to have crash landed, luckily for Safiya. That perhaps is what made everything even more interesting. Getting back from that expedition into the wild earned her a tongue-lashing from the Prince of Exiles, as she liked to call themselves. Admittedly, she had been gone for five days. two to get to the site, one day exploring, and two to get home.
"Safi, you don't know what is out there!" He yelled at her. She was sitting by the window, her arms crossed in a huff. "You could have died out there, and how would we have found you?"
"What do you expect of me then? To stay here? Lay in bed all day for when you desire my body? No! I can't do that! If you insist on keeping me locked away on this planet, then the LEAST you can do is let me roam free here!" She cried angrily. Khan stalked to her, livid.
"You will stay where I tell you to stay. If I want you here for my taking then so be it." He sneered. He couldn't stand himself at the moment. Who was he to tell her that she couldn't be free? It was, in part, her fight and her adventurous side that had led him to love her to begin with. But now she was the only thing he had left that he cared so deeply for. Sure Khan loved his family, but they were a far cry from Safiya.
She stood up, just as glaring and dangerous. Before he could react, his cheek stung from where her hand hand made contact with it. He touched it gingerly with his fingertips. "How DARE you say that to me." She growled. He didn't think he had ever seen her so angry, and if it was, it was never at him.
"I am your WIFE, not some two bit whore. If you can not respect me, then you do not deserve me. If you can not learn to let me go, then you will not keep me." Her voice hit him in dangerous tones. Before he could garner a reply, she left. She didn't want to hear his excuses. There were none in her opinion, to treat her so. She wasn't a child. She was an agent of 8. She had been in dangerous situations with dangerous, and vile criminal minds. Why is it now, with Khan, she felt at her weakest?!
Safiya flopped herself down on a stone bench miserably, already knowing the answer. It was simply because she loved him. Because she thought that he would be, or could be a different person. Had she blindly misplaced her faith? It felt that way. She hoped she was wrong, for she would have never been so wrong in her life. The stars gleamed above her. She did not recognize these constellations like the ones back home. A distant swirl galaxy stood out on the horizon, guiding her towards the direction of the ship she found.
It was Ren who found her in the morning. She had been too livid to return willingly to lay in bed with Khan, and Khan was far too prideful to go chasing after her. He laid alone another night like he had the last few nights, just thinking about how to keep her happy here. He didn't like her going off alone like she was some warrior, but he couldn't always go wandering with her, and he hardly trusted any others to be with her overnight. Swaying his opinion was difficult. Hell, at the moment, he didn't even trust himself with her. He woke up to Ren carrying her into his chamber. She was curled up like a kitten in his arm, shivering from the cool night with little to warm her than her sweeping dress.
"Sir, you may want to keep her indoors." Ren smirked, as if talking to a child who had carelessly left his toys strewn about.
"It was her choice to sleep outside." He responded bemused. He got out of bed, and took her from his arms, a jealousy creeping up into his blood.
"Don't worry, nothing happened." Ren narrowed his eyes, sensing Khans emotions.
"And I never said it did." Khan was being curt with his responses, not wanting to really stay there and talk to him.
When Ren took his leave, he placed Safiya down in bed. She had been sleeping like a rock, and envied her ability to do so. Some nights, the slightest things would keep him awake. The scratching of a branch against the building, or even if Safiya lightly snored. She, however, could sleep through a nuclear holocaust, he imagined. There was, one thing, however, that would wake her up, tried and proven to work. He lowered his head between her thighs, and began to torment her with pleasure.
Her response wasn't immediate, but the more he went, the louder she got until she was awake and propped up on her elbows, shaking. She was still angry, and hated the fact that she was feeling so good from his touch, but damn, he had her wrapped around his finger at that moment. She cried in pleasure as she came, Khan lapping up her juices eagerly, missing her taste. He lifted her dress above her waist, as settled himself into her folds, taking her roughly. He growled, taking his anger out on her body. This had been building up for nearly a week, and he needed to let it out, as her velvety walls tightened around him. Her mouth fell open as she grabbed her nipples through her thin dress.
Khans thrusts slowed down, but became more forceful, slamming himself deep into her, eliciting cries of pleasure. She loathed, and loved his moods of fire and ice. This burst of fire seemed intensified after his bout of ice last night, as she gripped his hair, pulling his head down into her neck. Sweat slicked their bodies, as his orgasm built up, unleashing himself into her with a groan. He bit her shoulder roughly, trying to suppress yelling too loudly.
"Is that your way of saying sorry?" She panted, as he caught his breath. He lazily propped himself up over her on his elbows and looked into her eyes.
"I have no reason to say sorry." He spoke lowly.
"Besides moving to treat me like property instead of a person." She pouted. He leaned down and kissed her forehead.
"You've always been mine. But I never called you property." He rolled off of her, leaving her to push her dress back down. She propped herself up, scoffing.
"Oh please, Khan, you don't have to say it. The way you treat me sometimes!" She bit.
"I love when you get angry." He purred.
"And I love when I get my way." She sniffed, getting out of bed. Another long soak in the large marble tub soothed her battered emotions. Fire and Ice. She listlessly herded the bubbles in her bath back and forth as she let her mind slip away into oblivion. Thoughts of home were on her mind. The high desert, the tall dunes and rocky outcrops in the distance were a far cry from the lush surroundings she had seen here on Pollux thus far. Plus it wasn't where her mother was, it wasn't where her home was.
She let Khan stew for a few more days. He tried to appeal to her better nature, hoping to appease her, and make her happy, but she did not allow it to be easy. On the second morning, he had brought her breakfast, running his fingers through her hair as she ate silently. His eyes settled on her. In his mind, he had an entire speech on how much he loved her, and how much he wanted her, but not a single word could come out, and because of it, he kicked himself over and over. His lips would form the worst words instead of the kind ones he wished to settle upon her ears.
She was left to finish her breakfast alone, as Khan went to blow off some steam. He walked far down a path towards a wide river that ran swift and deep. On silent feet, he was followed. Ren stepped up beside Khan, and they both stood there for quite some time, looking out across the river, listening to the rapid waters.
"Khan, you are troubled more than usual today." Ren spoke finally.
"How astute an observation." Khan gritted.
Ren shook off Khans attitude. "And what would be troubling you today?" He inquired.
"It's that... DAMN woman!" Khan sharply turned around pointing angrily back towards the temple. "She is infuriating!" He growled.
"She is a woman. A human woman, my prince. What more did you want?" Ren chuckled.
"Yes, but, ugh, what happened?! She takes off, leaving for days, doesn't even THINK about how I would feel about that. She acts like she doesn't even care! Or as if I don't care about her being gone!" He clenched his fists, angrily trying not to punch the nearest thing to him.
"Do you care?" Ren cocked a brow, before brushing away a small bit of lint from his shoulder.
"Of course I care! But she doesn't see that!"
"But do you show her that?"
"Yes! Well, I have." Khan stiffened up.
"Recently?" Ren took a deep breath and furrowed his brow like a stern father.
"Well, I make love to her, is that not enough to show I care?" Khan defended. "What do you know of these matters anyways Ren?" Khan spat and turned back towards the river.
"I know more than you could ever imagine!" Ren shouted, snatching Khans shoulder. Ren was a good head taller than Khan, and could be quite intimidating when warranted. "Over 200 years ago, I fell in love with a human woman. But she was killed in the war, Khan. Everyday, I told her I loved her. Why?! Because that is what she needed. To know everyday when I woke up or went to bed, that I still loved her! And I STILL love her and her loss has not left my heart since that day." He roared out in a long breath.
"You think I know nothing of love, but I know TOO well of love. Vivienne, that was her name. And she was beautiful. A human woman is not like us, Khan. They can't be told once of your affections, and left to wonder for the rest of their lives whether your feelings have faded. This is not entirely their fault, and human men have driven them to this behavior. There is so much more to them that you don't know, and there is more to us that she doesn't know." Ren sighed, saddened suddenly by his mention of Vivienne. The love of his life.
"Khan, tell her. Everyday. If you don't, you will lose her to a man who will love her and tell her of that every day." Ren set a reassuring hand on Khans shoulder. His mind was racing, and his heart pounded angrily at the simple thought of her smiling and laughing happily with another man, as he holds her hips closely, and tells her his feelings for her before setting his lips on hers tenderly.
Ren turned away back up towards the communal area, leaving Khan to digest his words. With luck, he would realize his mistake, and swallow his pride again, and soften his interior before she left him. He sighed again, and stopped, needing time to collect himself. Vivienne was beautiful. She was tall, lean and yet hardy. She was able to take care of her own in a scrap, which is what initially drew Ren to her. The way her long blonde ponytail whipped around when she came across a man who had been trying to be inappropriate with her. She had taught him an effective lesson, having castrated him on the spot. Her golden eyes bored into Rens when she finally noticed his presence. That was the moment he knew she was the one. But for all the strength of a lioness she showed, she was still a purring kitten wanting to be loved behind closed doors. This, Ren happily gave to her. That was, until he came back to her home to find it destroyed. He had been on a brief mission, but returned to ashes of a burned out cabin, with a well charred body face down where the now burned bed was.
The neck was twisted in a sick way. She had been killed before the fire was set. He knew it was her, seeing the star necklace he had given her on their one year anniversary, still hanging around her neck. It was a grief and anger he had never felt before. As he buried her body in her flower garden, a neighbor came by, crying. She was an older woman, well into her 70's, widowed many years. She told him of the horrible things a group of men had done to her. The assault they carried out on her body. She heard the screaming, and had called the police, but none ever arrived. None would, not when the police chief and his son were in the group of men involved. After a couple of hours, but screaming finally stopped abruptly, and as the men trickled out, a fire was set. This was the downside of living so far from busy cities, or even moderate suburbs.
From that day, until the moment he was frozen, Ren spent his time fighting. Anybody, anything, especially humans, he would fight. Hand to hand combat to the death was usually his favorite. It meant that the person he was fighting would suffer just as much as his beloved Vivienne would. He at least had the peace of knowing that she knew he loved her when she passed. And he knew she loved him until her dying breath. Those memories that he tried to hard to suppress sometimes would creep up on him, disabling him. It took many minutes before he recovered enough to continue towards the rest of the Augments.
He walked around the complex where the Augments had all been set up, looking for Safiya. She was not in the bath houses, nor was she in the temple, or her room. She was with none of the others, and none of the others had seen her since that morning. He scrambled around, running, trying to think of where she would be, if not in the town. She was not even in the garden, which she loved so much. He turned back towards the temple to see Essex stepping out, straightening his shirt.
"Essex, have you seen Safiya?" Ren breathed out grabbing him by the shoulder. Essex held him at the shoulders, looking worried at the man.
"No, I haven't seen her for a while." Essex spoke concerned.
"You know her probably better than anyone besides Khan, do you know where she would go?" He looked into Essex' eyes for answers.
"I can't think of any particular place she goes. I-I'm sorry." He shook his head.
"Shit!" Ren hissed. A thought dawned on him, before he took off down the western path from the town. Essex shook his head in confusion as he watched his strange reaction. He grew worried as the day grew on and neither Ren or Safiya had come back. The worry tripled seeing Khan come back towards his home, no doubt, expecting to see Safiya there somewhere. He sat quietly in the garden, as he heard Khan call for her in their room, searching the temple. The quick glance he stole at Khans face told him that he was livid, and worried.
"You, Essex, where is Safiya?" Khan caught sight of Safiyas good friend sitting not far from the temple, where she usually liked to sit, and think.
He acted as though he was startled by such a question. "Ren came by earlier and asked the same thing. None have seen her, not since this morning." Essex swallowed, hoping not to incur any wrath.
"And where is Ren?" Khan snapped. What business did he have with Safiya?
"Gone, Khan. He took off the western path this afternoon." Essex sighed. He had hoped he didn't sign someones death sentence. Instead of reaming him, he slammed his fist angrily into the ivy laced pillar, and went back inside.
That night, Khan slipped from the temple and up the western path, but with Essex close in tow.