There is more humorous fluff in this chapter but the plot is about to thicken and get darker. Enjoy :)
Chapter 7
Little Wolf whimpering in her sleep wakes him from his drug induced slumber. Her frowns groggily and looks towards the easy chair as his vision blurred and the room tilted and spun wildly. His brain pounded and his limbs were weak and shaking.
What the hell had that old woman given me? He wondered tiredly.
Khan staggers to his feet and then stumbles over to her. Losing his balance, he fell to his knees and smacks his head on the arm of the chair. Zevi growls when he collapsed ontop of the him, but Khan managed to raise himself off of the canine with shaking arms; Zevi darts quickly from the room as another peal of thunder shakes the hut's walls.
Little Wolf gives a choked sob and jumps into Khan's warm embrace, nearly bowling him over. Her body is tensed and shivering with fear. He can almost see the fire glowing in her eyes; almost hear the screams of her people as the flames consumed them.
"It's alright." He murmurs quietly and she hides her face in his shirt, sobbing quietly as the memory of the destruction of her people rushes back at her because of the storm. "You're okay. Don't worry; you're okay…"
Standing back up, he carries her back to the couch just as another shriek of thunder rips through them. Silently, he places her on the couch before lying down next to her, putting himself between her and the storm raging furiously outside. The wind howls and moans as it shakes the trees. Blinding white flashes of lightning explodes over and over again only to be followed by equally terrifying screams of thunder. She wiggles closer to him and he wraps an arm around her trembling form before pulling his quilt over the both of them.
BANG!
The house shakes and she whimpers quietly. Khan pats her back reassuringly.
"Everything is going to be okay." He whispers. "It's just a storm; it will pass. I'm here...it's alright. It'll all be soon."
Outside, the rain falls harder as the storm roars out its defiance to Khan's prediction of its end. Hours pass by. Little by little, the girl relaxes into Khan's chest and her breathing deepens as she falls back asleep. Khan doesn't move. He stares at her for a while with calm, icy blue eyes.
He had killed thousands without feeling a shred of remorse and here he was, the great and terrible Khan, comforting a little girl.
How far the mighty had truly fallen.
Fate, thou truly art fickle!
…
"Come on! Up, John! Wake up!"
"Go away!" He pulls the pillow down over his face and tries to fall back asleep—he isn't so fortunate.
"But it's morning! Come on!" Little Wolf whines. "You gots to get up right now!"
"The sun isn't even up, yet!" He complains.
"The sun is lazy! We aren't! Come on! Jooohn!" She tugs on the pillow but can't slip it out of his iron like grip. "Pleaaaaaase, get up?"
"No!" Groaning, Khan peaks out at Little Wolf.
She's watching him expectantly. When he says nothing more pillow—her pillow—smack him lightly in the head. Briefly, Khan contemplates the idea of snapping her twig like arm before dismissing it: too savage, too messy, too loud.
"Go back to sleep," He hisses into the darkness.
"I'm not tired." She yawns widely.
"Lying," Khan narrows his eyes. "Is morally frowned upon by most people in my society."
"I'm not from your 'society' (whatever that is) and you don't care. You do it all the time. You told Sharp Quill that her cooking was really good and Hawk that he wasn't completely a weirdo, but you didn't believe your words. That made 'em a lie. Besides, I'm one of the People. The People don't never lie, John. It's in the rules."
He rolls his eyes.
Right, and he was saint, he thinks sarcastically.
"Why don't you go play with one of your harebrained friends?" Khan groans and considers throwing the pillow at her for a moment before reconsidering. With his strength, if he miscalculated, he'd wind up putting her in a hospital…or worse: her grave. It would not be wise to accidently slaughter his guide/translator.
"They'd throw me in the river if I woke them up, doofus." Little Wolf pouts.
"They may be onto something..."
"Hey! That's not fair!" She snaps and punches him lightly in the arm: Khan fights the urge to laugh.
"Shhh!" He looks up at her gives her an icy glare that would have made grown men howl in fear: Little Wolf merely stares back blankly at him in response.
"Why? It's time to get uuuup!" She stomps her little foot.
"I'll get up when it's daylight." He rolls his back to her and closes his eyes.
"John!" He rethinks the pillow idea and chucks it at her. A dull thunk follows as she hits the ground. Whining, she goes upstairs and leaves the exhausted Augment in peace.
Or…so he thinks.
Groaning, he lies back down and closes his eyes. His breathing grows deeper as a warm fuzziness invades his mind and lolls him back to sleep. A dream gently unfurls—and then Little Wolf returns.
With a water gun.
The icy spray hits him in the face. Gasping in surprise, he shoots up in his bed. Pale blue eyes instantly rest on his tormentor. Without a word, Khan pounces off of the bed and lunges for the child. Terrified, she drops the toy weapon and rushes up the stairs with a sharp yelp.
Khan catches her effortlessly before she reaches the trap door leading to the outside world and carries her kicking body into to the bathroom. Ignoring her indignant squeals, the Augment turns on the shower to COLD and then tosses her directly into the spray.
She screams and instantly tries to jump back out, but Khan holds her in place. Shivering, she glares at him and Khan smirks.
"You were sufficiently warned." He yawns before knocking her down.
She slips on the wet tiles and she tries to clamber to her feet. Yawning, Khan goes back downstairs and plops back onto his couch. He can hear the shower flip off and wet footsteps follow him back downstairs. Little Wolf grabs some dry clothes and pads back to the bathroom where is she met by a very angry Sharp Quill. Chuckling darkly, Khan crawls beneath the warm covers and sighs contently as Sharp Quill scolds the girl thoroughly.
Finally, peace at last.
…
The snow melts so gradually that they don't notice it until months later. A fine layer of white frost still coats the hard earth, but it won't be long until that too is gone. Soon, they'll be able to travel. Khan has to admit, he's going to miss his new little family and Little Wolf's funny—if not suicidal—pranks.
Now, the bugs sing outside. Sharp Quill pulls out an old television and sets it up in the kitchen. Khan raises an eyebrow at her but she merely shrugs.
"It be time to check in on the world again." She says.
The children crowd around the device with wide eyes as she plugs it in. It shows nothing but static. She fiddles with the dials and slaps it hard a few times before an image begins to take shape and a voice Khan knows only too well is spat from the dusty speakers.
His blood boils with hatred: Marcus.
Little Wolf freezes instantly. The glass she is holding drops from her hand and shatters by her bare feet. Khan's attention instantly narrows in on the child as he moves forward to carry her away from the broken shards. Her eyes are wide as Marcus comes on screen but this time, it is fear that takes control.
Khan moves her carefully like who one would handle a porcelain doll but her strong emotion is not lost on him…but what could possibly make her so afraid? She had never met that monster on the screen. Never had to endure his mind games or undergo torture.
"Those things should be killed!" Marcus screams from the television.
Khan sets Little Wolf back on the ground-far away from the glass-and tenses at Marcus' words. The hatred lacing them is clear and pronounced. He must be talking about Khan's family—what else would evoke such an emotion from that worm of a man?
"It's the Buzzard Man!" Hawk exclaims but the others quickly shush him. 'Buzzard Man'? Khan wonders. The name was certainly fitting.
"They should all be destroyed! Every last one of them!" He continues.
"You are talking about children!" Another voice—Captain Kirk's—argues. Wait… 'children'? Khan's crew is comprised of adults—only adults. What people are they talking about?
A heavy silence hangs over the hut. There is no more laughter, no more excitement. Only fear and dread remain. Bodies are tensed and expectant. Khan's eyes flicker over the faces of his new 'family'. They all look worried.
"I am talking about monsters!" The Admiral corrects with an enraged snarl. Spit flies from his mouth and anger burns brightly in his eyes. "They don't deserve to live!"
At this, Little Wolf flinches visibly, and Khan puts a comforting hand on her shoulder.
Kirk yells back: "Monsters? What could they have possibly done wrong besides surviving? Existing? These are kids, Admiral, not bloodthirsty animals. We should help them, not exterminate them!" Kirk counters.
Little Wolf pulls away from Khan and wanders to the door, her head is tilted to the side as she listens. The argument goes on and is only interrupted by brief attacks of static. The two go around and around, neither one gaining traction as they argue about whether or not Little Wolf and her people should be allowed to survive. The court is seeming to side with Marcus; this will not bode well for the surviving members of The People…but what happened to the others?
"Oh, no." Sharp Quill's whisper—barely more than a breath—is like a shot gun sounding in the silence.
The gavel cracks into the wood as the court motions for the already scarce numbers of The People to be cut down even more. Horror sweeps across the room. The children begin to cry immediately and look up to the ceiling as though expecting the roof to cave in at any moment...and who knew? Maybe it would.
"We got to go!" Little Wolf suddenly screams from the doorway. Terror ignites her pale eyes as she rushes back into the room. "They're coming! Hurry!"
No one questions it. Her dog, Zevi, rushes out the door and into the forest at break neck speed. The children rush to grab their already packed bags and Khan quickly scoops up the baby, Beaver, before throwing his own bag over his shoulder and following the others out into the cool of the night.
Within minutes they are in the forest and yelping as they watch fire rain down from the sky and engulf the hut. The ship's engines roar as they rocket away from the destruction they had so mercilessly wrought. The children wail and sob. Sharp Quill stares at her home in disbelief and falls to her knees in shock. Little Wolf hangs her head low and draws in slow, shuddering breaths.
"It's time to go." She says after a minute.
The others quiet and a flame of admiration sparks in Khan's chest. She reminds of him of himself when he liberated his people from Sector 31 and built their empires on Earth.
She continues to speak: "Come on. The faster we move the better. They'll only be back, and we don't want to be here when they are, alright?"
Sharp Quill rises slowly and nods. Her ancient voice breaks as more tears flow down her wrinkled face: "Lead on, then."
Little Wolf leads them to a cave some three or four miles away. They don't make a fire. That night, the baby, Beaver, curls tightly into Khan's chest and Little Wolf sits alone by the entrance. Her pale blue eyes stare up at the uncaring sky above as her mind scrambles to figure out what they'll do tomorrow.
…
The frost is melted by the time they wake up. The time has come to once again head towards Riverweed. They walk in silence. Sharp Quill travels slowly at the back and they stop constantly to allow the older woman time to rest. Sighing, Little Wolf stops them again—the 7th time that day—and whistles sharply.
"Alma!" She calls. "Come on, where are you?"
The sehlat that attacked Khan before lumbers up and Little Wolf pulls a wagon out from behind some bushes. She leads Sharp Quill over to the device and both she and Khan help the woman into it. Quickly, the girl darts ahead to fasten it to the bear-like creature.
Now, they race along. The sehlat and Zevi run ahead and Sharp Quill squeals half in fright and half in glee as her wagon pulls ahead of the other; her gnarled hands clutch the wagon's sides tightly for support. Everyone laughs and runs after her.
Khan finds himself racing Little Wolf but she matches him stride for stride with her tiny, little legs. Sunlight dances through the trees drunkenly and the birds offer up a cheerful melod despite their somber predicament.
Panting, they find their new cave home for the night. Hawk and Little Wolf go off in search of food while Khan gathers up wood for their fire. Hours later, fed and warm, they go to sleep. Beaver rests once more upon Khan's broad chest and Little Wolf curls comfortably into the Augments left side. His arm wraps around her to keep her safe from the cruel world she was forced into. Alma and Zevi scuffle over in the far corner as Sharp Quill tells the children a story in their strange, foreign language.
Khan's icy heart is filled with dread for these people. If he leaves, they will all die. Kirk can argue all he wants. In the end, the Admiral is his superior. Kirk may be a good man, but he was still just a soldier, and soldiers had to follow their orders, morals be damned— of this Khan knew only too well.
Not too long ago, he would have been the one giving the kill order. Now, now the sees the faces of the ones he so mercifully slaughtered. How many of those had been innocent? How many of them had been like Little Wolf?
His fingers play with her dark brown hair as he thinks.
Honestly, he didn't know what was going to happen to them. He couldn't take them with him: they'd die for sure on his hell-bound mission. Their only hope was Kirk and who knew how long or how hard he'd fight to save them before the Enterprise was thrown onto a mission that forced his focus elsewhere?
Khan's gaze goes over the kids as they yawn widely. One by one, he watches as they all fall asleep. They were so trusting, so kind. Not even knowing him, they offered him a place to stay and food to put in his belly and asked for nothing in return.
Little Wolf exhales loudly next to him and Khan looks down at her. She could have easily left him to die in that batch of quicksand. Instead, she took on the challenge of leading a possibly dangerous stranger to his destination. She steered him clear of poisons and traps. The only thing she asked of him was not to harm her. That was all.
"John?" She murmurs sleepily into his side.
"Hm?" He looks down at her and waits patiently for a response.
"Goodnight." She yawns and he holds her closer to himself
He watches as she breathes in and out.
Inhale.
Exhale.
In.
and Out.
The warm air ghosts over his stomach and seems to burn the skin beneath his black shirt.
The child was kind.
Curious.
Mischievous.
Why would Marcus want her destroyed? What threat could such a delicate and naïve creature possibly pose to Starfleet?
To Earth?
She was five years old and nothing like Khan. She helped people: Khan slaughtered them. He was savage; she was compassionate. He was merciless—she had mercy in abundance! She brought light to a world drowning in the darkness that Khan had strived to create.
But she was now a target for Marcus's cruelty, and Khan was determined to find out why.
"Goodnight, Little Wolf," He whispers back finally but she never hears him. She had already fallen asleep.