Disclaimer: Star Trek is not mine. TOS belongs to Roddenberry, NuTrek belongs to Abrams.

A/N: Thanks for the positive reviews – I know Kirk/Khan is a little strange. Thanks to the person that said it was hot, because while I ship K/S, objectively that is some hot shit right there! I really appreciate your honestly! Now Spock is going to let Kirk have it.

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Chapter 14: Deceptions Revealed

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The next morning, Spock had requested a private meeting with his captain in Briefing Room A. Kirk cursed his bad luck – Spock must have found out about him and Cochrane somehow. He really didn't want to have that conversation, where Spock would tell him how irresponsible he was being and list all the regs that he was breaking to have such a relationship with Khan. The Vulcan would probably glare at him and the disappointment would be evident in his deep brown eyes.

Kirk hated disappointing Spock, but he wouldn't have changed admitting his strong attraction to Khan for anything. He wanted to help the young man explore his sexuality before they reached the Starbase. So they had became friends with benefits… so what? Jim had always listened to his intuition, his hunches if you will, and his intuition was telling him that it would be beneficial to further a relationship with Cochrane. And, if he was really honest with himself, he wanted to make Spock jealous. Cochrane was intelligent, good-looking, and well-read. If he couldn't have Spock, he'd take the next best thing. He was tired of being so lonely all the time and waiting for Spock to come around…

Kirk arrived to find Spock already waiting for him, seated at the head of the table.

"Hey, Spock." Kirk grinned at him, but the smile came out as more of a grimace. He took a seat next to him, and settled in for what could turn into a very long discussion.

"Jim, it has come to my attention that you and Cochrane have admitted your attraction to each other." That was pure Spock – he didn't waste time with small talk, but instead got straight to the heart of the matter.

"How did you find out? We were careful," said Kirk. "I never told anyone, and Cochrane wouldn't tell either."

"I have ears," Spock said primly.

Kirk winced, imagining Spock eavesdropping on them last night from his bedroom opposite the captain's quarters. "How much did you hear?"

"Enough," said Spock. There came the disappointed look.

Kirk's insides squirmed as he stared Spock straight in the eye. Why did he feel so guilty about this? Kirk didn't know.

"Have you forgotten that this man is Khan?" Spock reminded him.

"No, of course not!" Kirk exclaimed.

"Are you aware that you are breaking at least five Starfleet regulations?" Spock asked.

"Gee, Spock, I hadn't considered that," Kirk said sarcastically.

"Khan is manipulating you, using Machiavellian methods. He will not stop until he gets whatever it is that he wants," the Vulcan warned. "He is acting like an innocent, but he is anything but."

"I disagree – I've spent a lot of time with the man, and I believe he really is that innocent," Kirk insisted. "When it comes to liking guys, at least. I care about him, Spock, and he cares about me. It's that simple."

"How can you trust him?" Spock accused, placing his arms over his chest.

"I don't trust him!" Kirk threw up his hands. "God, Spock. I can't explain what happened or why it did. It just felt like the right thing to do at the time. It's complicated."

"If you aren't careful, he could hack into your personal computer, organize a mutiny, and kill us all. Why do you wish to pursue a sexual relationship with this man? As Khan, he was power-hungry, vindictive and cruel. It is an illogical, not to mention selfish decision."

Furious at being treated like a child by his First, Kirk snarled, "Here's something you probably never considered, Spock – maybe I like the attention."

The Vulcan recoiled, as if struck. "Jim, how could you enjoy-"

"I shouldn't have to explain my personal life to you. We're done here."

Kirk stormed out of the briefing room, leaving a dejected Spock behind.

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Meanwhile

While Kirk and Spock were having their "intense discussion", Cochrane had indeed hacked into Kirk's personal computer. It hadn't been hard to guess the password – it was SilverLady. He figured it would be a reference to the ship that Kirk loved more than anything.

Cochrane began to pull up Jim's personal files, but there wasn't anything interesting that he could find – just some Starfleet reports and letters to families of security officers that had died in the line of duty. The personal logs were encrypted, so he left them alone. Then Cochrane decided to research himself, just out of curiosity. He searched the Botany Bay, which came up as an Australian penal colony in the 1990s. He scrolled down a bit and found another article about the Eugenics Wars and supermen. Intrigued, Cochrane read on. There supermen were said to have superior strength, like him. They also boasted considerable intelligence, especially for battle strategy. Perhaps he was one of them? But if he was, wouldn't Kirk have told him? Unless Kirk didn't want him to find out about his past… But that didn't tally with Jim's open and caring personality.

Just then, Cochrane remembered something Kirk had told him, about having the chance to start over with a new life and no memories of the past. He finally realized that Kirk must have erased his real name from the Enterprise computer library, perhaps wanting to protect Cochrane from the truth. Well, fuck that, Cochrane thought. Kirk had lied to him. Perhaps he was lying to him about their growing attraction as well. Cochrane was almost 100% certain that Kirk wanted to sleep with the Vulcan but for whatever reason, that it wasn't an option so he settled for second best - him. He realized that he was but a pawn in the game that Kirk was playing to win over the Vulcan.

Cochrane decided that he would not to be used by Kirk any longer. Feeling hurt, angry, and betrayed, he scrolled through the names of the supermen, expecting the name at the top of the list to be the most ruthless of all the dictators. He was right. He clicked on it, and found a picture of himself. Then he clicked on the article. Cochrane was amazed and thrilled by what he read.

His name in the past had been Khan Noonien Singh, and he had almost single-handedly ruled Earth.

End Chapter 14

A/N: What did you think? Questions, comments, concerns?