And finally, finally, the plot begins to unravel.

Honestly, it took me long enough!

Rachel :)

Chapter 41

"Khan Noonien Singh" Pike began, bringing up his photo on the large projector screen, "He is, for lack of a better word, a superhuman".

The mutants in the room all frowned, confused, and Jim sighed quietly from his place curled up in Spock's lap, legs tucked beneath him and both arms wrapped around the Vulcan's neck as the man's own arms kept a secure grip around his waist.

For the last hour, the school's most powerful members had been all sitting in the Headmaster's office, rather cramped given the amount of them, and Jim was honestly sick to death of Pike avoiding directly answering their questions and Winona shooting him furtive looks from her place in the corner.

From her place as far away from the disgusting mutants as possible.

Nyota raised her hand, "What, exactly, do you mean by a superhuman? What are his powers?"

Christopher let out a heavy breath, "He's... got a lot of them, as such. Intellectual genius, superhuman strength, durability, speed and resilience, highly skilled in close-range combat, marksmanship and knifes, and on top of all that, he's a master strategist... As I said. Superhuman".

"Can he be controlled?" came a voice from the back, and Jim felt himself sour at his mother's careless words.

Everyone else, as it turned out, did as well.

"What do you mean, 'control' him?"

"We're not some animals, lady!"

"Zat is net what we need zo do!"

Hell, even Chekov seemed pissed.

Pike immediately held up both hands to calm them down, "What she means, is that would it be possible to stop him from attacking us".

"And the answer?" Bones asked dryly, eyes never straying from Jim's face.

"... No" He finally replied, "Why do you think I froze him to begin with?"

"So he can't be... shall we say... manipulated?"

Next to him, Jim heard the doctor growl lowly.

Because of fucking course one Gary Mitchell happened to be included in the meeting.

Pike shook his head, as oblivious as ever, "No. His shields rival the world's strongest telepaths, so mental control won't work. Believe me. I've tried".

"Aye but surely there's somethin' that can stop him" Scotty continued, "What if I were to... I don' know... electrocute 'im?"

Jim snorted at that, before quickly burying his face in Spock's neck as everyone turned to stare at him, not catching the fond glances they sent his way.

"His body is able to regenerate fairly quickly" Pike replied, "I don't know if it'd work or not".

"What if I covered him with leaves?" Sulu shot back, "Suffocated him with trees, shrubs, flowers, that sort of thing? Oh, what if surrounded him with poison ivy?"

"Same result".

Jim sighed loudly, turning back around to face them, "How about I set him on fire?"

Winona scoffed, "Well, considering how you did-"

"Shut up!" He snapped, scrambling out of Spock's hold, "You have no say in this!"

"I brought you the information".

"And you're also the only reason he was defrosted to begin with!"

The Headmaster frowned, "Fire... That might work... How hot can you make it?"

"Hotter than the fucking sun" He glared, "So it's decided then. I march in there, wherever there is, and I burn the son of a bitch to the ground".

"You want to kill him?"

"Well how else do you propose we stop him from coming back for more?" Jim snapped, scowling at the headmaster who had the audacity to look shocked, "I waltz in there. And I kill him".

He was mildly irritated to find everyone staring at him in shock.

So he did what he did best.

He fought back.

"Oh please, don't give me those looks! It's not as difficult as it seems!"

From behind him, both Bones and Spock froze.

"It's not like the- the- the movies" the blonde continued, "There's no- no heart wrenching death scene, no long-lasting guilt! You don't even feel remorse once the bastard deserves it! And considering how many people this Khan guy has already killed? He sure as hell does".

They remained silent, staring at the young boy talking so easily about murder in mute horror.

"James, it is not as easy as-"

"Jim".

Pike frowned, "What-"

"My name is Jim" He snapped, sick to death of everything that was going on right now, "For fucks sake, Pike, how many times do I have to tell you?! James is what that bastard-"

He stopped as someone grabbed his arm.

Sharply turning, he found Bones's firm gaze looking back up at him.

Glancing down at the strong hand grasping his wrist, he stared at the flames that sparked from his clenched fist.

Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, forcing his hand to unclasp.

Once the fire was safely out, he tugged at his arm, "I'm good... I said I'm good, god dammit!"

Bones reluctantly let go, his cells already regenerating his burnt fingertips, but unable to heal the large crack that was slowly forming in his heart.

Turning back, Jim glared, "Someone needs to stop him before he kills anyone else. And if you won't do it, then I will".

"I will not let you use your powers to-

"Then I won't use them!" He yelled, "I'll use a fucking gun, if I have to! God knows I know how to use one".

Spock paled, immediately turning to Pike and broadcasting his thoughts loud enough for practically the entire room to hear.

'What does he mean by he knows how to use a gun?'

'This is not the-'

'No, this is the perfect time, Christopher, just what the hell does my t'hy'la mean he knows how to use a gun?!'

'... It is not my place to tell, Spock'

Ignoring all other responses, the professor turned back to the blonde, "Jim I will not allow you to kill anot-"

He abruptly stopped.

But it was already too late.

"Kill what, Pike? A man? Another man? Cause that's what you were going to say, wasn't it? I won't let you kill another man".

"Ja-" He stopped himself, and took a deep breath, "Jim. I can't... I can't ask this of you. Not when you're so young, not when... There are plenty of more experienced mutants in this school than you".

"But none of them know what it's like to kill someone!" He shot back, angrily turning towards the door.

Once there, however, he stopped, and then glanced back at the headmaster once more.

Silence.

Jim slowly shook his head, gazing sadly at the man.

"... I already have a ledger, Pike" He said quietly, "Don't add one to one of these guys lives just because you don't want to make mine any redder".