Wow, thank you so much for the support and love that you are already giving to this story. You are super fantastic and I am serious when I say that words cannot properly express my gratitude.

FYI, for those of you who are BBC Sherlock fans, I am currently in the process of writing a crossover between Star Trek: Into Darkness and Sherlock in which we will see what happens when Khan, Moriarty, and Sherlock all share DNA (hint: it is going to be dynamite!). The fanfic is called The Beast Within and can be found on my profile so be sure to check it out if you are a Sherlockian like me. I am hoping to update it in the next day or two. :)

Now, without further ado, let's continue with The Chemistry of Fire...enjoy! OOXX!

Carol was five, heart pure, eyes shining with innocence, golden hair in bouncing pigtails. There was warmth and brightness all around her - sunshine tickling at her cheeks and her arms, friendly and soothing.

She was running. Laughing and running towards a man, her arms outstretched. As she got closer, she realized it was her father, Alexander Marcus. And he was laughing too, arms reaching for the little girl, eyes sparkling with tenderness, face young and relaxed.

"Daddy!" Carol cried out between giggles. Then she was in the safety of his arms and he was lifting her in the air, twirling her like a princess, holding her as if he would never ever let go.

"I love you, sweetheart," he whispered gently before kissing her cheek. But as his lips pulled away from her, his skin was no longer smooth and his eyes were no longer sparkly. Nor was Carol five and innocent; now her stomach was throbbing with child, despite the fact that she was newly pregnant. Alexander Marcus' cold eyes examined the baby bump with caution before travelling up to his daughter's face.

There was a painful silence as the man opened and closed his mouth in hesitation. "I'm sorry, Carol. Your mother. She hurt me so badly and I couldn't forgive her," he finally said, his voice regretful.

Carol stared at him in silence, her face expressionless but gentle.

Then her father's hand was on her stomach. A small smile lit his face with warmth before he asked, "Are you happy?"

Carol returned his smile and said in a voice seeped with honesty, "Yes."

Her father rubbed her baby bump tenderly, as if wishing to reach out to the small creation within. "Does he love you? The father of your child?"

Carol's smile widened and she was about to nod when she noticed Khan watching from a distance. Her heart fluttered with delight and she called to the superhuman. But her stomach flipped sickeningly when she saw him turn away.

"Khan?!" Her voice was strong but stern.

Without hesitation, the dark-haired man began to walk in the wrong direction.

"KHAN?!" Carol's throat had gone uncomfortably dry and, when she saw the superhuman's pace quicken, she panicked. Pushing her father aside, she began to run towards the retreating figure. But her legs would not carry her forward. She was running hard, she was running fast, yet she remained in the same place. She screamed Khan's name one last time but, by now, he had disappeared from sight.

As Carol crumbled to her knees in desperation, the voice of Alexander Marcus came from behind her, cruel and mocking. "That's the father of your child? You fell in love with a villian! You stupid freak. You are worse than your mother! And that thing inside you is a monster!" He began to laugh. It was a taunting, unnerving sound.

Carol's face was in her hands. "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" she spat through gritted teeth, pulling at her hair in agony. "Shut up...I hate you...you're wrong...shut up!"

And then the laughter ceased and Marcus' voice became thin, ragged, childlike, and full of pity. "You're all alone, Carol."

At the sudden change in the man's tone, Carol turned to look at her father. He was young once again, his skin soft and free of wrinkles, his eyes gentle and loving. He was keeled over and there was blood leaking from his chest. A bullet wound. He was bleeding to death. She tried to crawl to his side, but once again found herself helplessly unable to move.

"Please….please don't leave me alone. Please…I can't take care of this baby on my own, " Carol begged, close to tears.

Marcus' breath came in rasps and his face was taut with pain. "Why did you shoot me, Carol? Can't you forgive me? Can't you absolve me of the hurt that I have caused you? I love you, darling. You're my little girl and I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I blamed you for your mother's wrongs. Please can we talk about the past? Please can you listen to my side of the story?"

At these words, tears began to tumble from Carol's eyes and she wrapped her arms around herself protectively. But before she could answer, the man writhed, stretched his arms wide, threw his head back, eyes lifted to the skies and mouth open grotesquely, before his innards exploded in an uproar of blood, bone, skin, muscle, and flesh. Then the world fell into blackness. There was nothing but dark, dank, cold air and Carol was falling down it, into it, suffocating until…

…with a breathless tremble, she shot up into the painful, blinding, welcome light of the escape pod. She was in bed, under the protection and comfort of a down quilt. With a sigh of relief, she realized that it had all been a dream - nothing more. Her stomach was small once again - tender to the touch but yet to show signs of a baby bump. And she was not alone. No, she was certainly not alone. Khan - her Khan - was sitting at the edge of the bed, his warmth radiating through her feet. Her powerful protector. She felt slightly guilty for doubting him in her dreams, and she was filled with the deepest desire to kiss him.

But when she came to rest next to him and looked into his face, she realized with horror that she was much more alone than she had first thought - for, though the man before her was present in body, his eyes were distant and murky, as if his thoughts were light years away from the golden-haired girl who had saved his life and who loved him with all her heart.