"Please God, let me live."
He remembered that blur of a memory as clear as sunlight.
Hot.
Yes. That was it. That was the word. The one that perfectly described his surroundings.
It was hot.
He recalled the numbness of his leg as it was pinned down hard, his face contorted against the desert sun, gunshots still echoing above him,
and the blood. He couldn't forget that. So much blood...
His...
The attacker's...
his comrade's...
"WATSON!"
Everything was shutting down.
"Hold on! Hold on! He's bleeding way too much!"
Everything was slipping.
"It's-shoulder-get him-loosing too mu- "
Everything but the pain.
His eyes snapped open as the wound on his shoulder began to blossom. He could feel that single bullet deep in his muscles as they contracted. It was like a small flame encased inside an armor coating, radiating so much heat that it stung like hot iron.
Hot.
Yes, it was hot, and it burned him...
"JOHN!"
"Mr. Harrison!"
"Harrison!"
"John!"
A single shot. That's what all it took to set fire on the air around them.
John Watson fell against the white tile floors, clutching his shoulder as he felt the projected impact. A small stream of blood slid down his arm and stained the ground, producing such a livid color contrast against the black uniforms and the white lab, it almost seemed surreal.
That single shot. That one bullet, had dug it's way right into the dark stain of a scar on the doctor's shoulder, recreating the wound the mark had healed years ago.
Physically, there was no pain; his augment body didn't allow it. But his amplified mind went berserk.
It was as if time began to mock John, thrusting him back into the dry, Afghanistan desert.
"John! John, look at me!"
His knees stayed planted on the ground. His eyes fixated on the drops of red splattering on the floor.
'No pain...' he assured himself. There was nothing. He could already feel his skin crawl around the wound, and he could already hear the gasps of amazement.
So why couldn't he move?
Suddenly, he saw flashes. Flashes of white, of the desert, of his soldiers...
'No-' In striking realization, John felt himself panicking. That replication of his bullet wound had triggered his PTSD, and his mind had added the fuel to the now raging fire in his memories.
He clutched his head. No, this couldn't be happening. John Watson hadn't had an anxiety attack in years, let alone a physical one! All his previous attacks were set into nightmares. He could always escape with the fluttering of open eyelids, waking himself up by gasping for breath and drowning in his own sweat. But now, he didn't know what to do.
He was awake. He could vividly feel the terror rising up inside him.
Gunshots, shouts, explosions.
"Captain!"
"JOHN!"
Blue eyes snapped back into reality, and he found himself breathing ruggedly, hyperventilating as if he was silently sobbing. His chest felt heavy and his mind was in pieces. He couldn't speak, nor move on his own will.
John Watson sat frozen in the middle of the lab as he had to relive that memory over and over again.
"Please God, let me live..."
Lestrade watched as John Watson fell.
He couldn't believe what he saw. He couldn't believe it as he heard the shot come from the direction of the professor's hands. The trembling gun in his grip.
The crude smile plastered on his face.
"Harrison!" he called out, slowly moving towards the frozen doctor. A gentle hand was placed on his back. "Harrison, look here,"
No response.
'What the hell is happening?'
The lab was in commotion. Confused and frightened Augments stuck close to the inspector, screaming at him for instructions. They had no other choice but to reestablish him as their superior, now that they feared for the admiral professor.
"SHUT UP!" Lestrade shouted back, still trying to bring John back to his senses but to no avail. Using his analyzing eyes, he began to deduce the doctor.
He pulled back the tear on the uniform, exposing the wound framed by the dark, wrinkled scar.
His eyes widened at the definite accuracy. It was frighteningly spot on the old wound.
"Trauma," he whispered.
'Hyperventilation, dilated pupils, unresponsiveness,'
"He's having an anxiety attack!" he uttered, calling a few calmed Augments for help, but instead came forth insensible humans, intrigued by the way skin healed around the bullet wound. He watched in disbelief as they edged closer.
"Fascinating!" one called out, even giving the slightest of a grin as he moved forward.
Lestrade fumed. "FUCK OFF!"
He felt enraged by the ignorance of some people, and in one sudden motion of his arm, threw the unwary representative back, snarling at him.
The others watched in fear.
He watched himself in fear. He rarely exploded, let alone let one idiot bother him. So why was he so angry?
Angry.
Lestrade lifted his head, eyes wide with remembrance. He whipped back at John, then frantically searched the entire room.
"Oh my god." he breathed.
In the center of chaos, a man trod his way to the cause. A deep, hateful aura came off him strongly, his eyes dead set on the trembling professor. Knuckles cracked in loud protest as his fist closed tighter.
Eugene looked up, dropping the weapon from his shaky hands and dared to stare at the man's darkening eyes.
"Khan..." he whispered in awe as he reunited with his best subject. He remembered him. The clever consulting detective.
Undauntedly, he took a small step forward and reached out.
A foolish action for a foolish man.
As the name 'Khan' rang in his head once again, the frail, extended arm of the professor was suddenly caught in the tight grip of the foreboding Augment. Old bones shattered in his wrists with the slightest movement. His face, contorted in pain, screamed a breathless gasp of agony. His stare was still locked, unable to break away; afraid.
The admiral professor was afraid.
And Khan sensed it. He felt it as he twisted every bone in the man's arm. Every time he opened his mouth, yet nothing came out. The way he pleaded with his eyes.
"P-please...sto-stop..."
It sickened him.
"How dare you even beg for your life?" a low whisper resonated.
"How dare you point your gun at John Watson? How dare you utter that name with a smile?
How DARE you!"
Holding a face of pure stoicness and ruthlessness, he snapped the professor's arm back, pulling until he heard the inevitable click of the joints popping off and threw him against the solid laboratory walls. Loyal scientists rushed towards their admiral, defending him with their blanching bodies. Khan just looked with malevolence.
He decided the fate of the poor professor. He decided that he would die by the hands of his own creation.
The slightest shuffle.
A haggard breath.
Khan turned around and found the plump representative shaking with the gun in his hands, aiming at his head.
He sneered in belittlement at the coward human.
Two shots were fired carelessly, hitting the walls behind the tempered Augment instead.
That's when dark eyes turned violent.
Within seconds, Khan had knocked the atrocious weapon out of grubby hands and placed his own against the man's head, trapping him between his fury.
"You were very bold handing your gun to that madman. You even had the nerve to shoot. You share as much responsibility as he does. You DESPISE me."
Khan began to unleash his strength on the unfortunate man. Like magnets, his hands began to move closer and closer, squeezing the skull that came in between them.
There was no more control.
No more sanity.
No more Sherlock Holmes.
A loud, tormenting cry echoed throughout bleach white walls.
Then a sickening sound of death stained the blanched color red with blood.
Lestrade saw everything.
He saw the gruesome act unfold right before his eyes and he refused to believe.
To believe the reality of the detective, covered in blood but this time, by his own doing.
Khan's eyes flickered towards the unconscious admiral professor being rushed out the door and started for him, stepping over the lurid body he had shattered.
His next victim.
Lestrade needed to stop him. He needed to bring back the Sherlock that John had so desperately tried to revive. But now he was unsure.
But he needed to try.
Pushing himself off his knees and leaving John in the care of one curly haired comrade, the detective inspector charged towards Khan.
Like boulders, two strong bodies collided against each other, Lestrade restraining Khan while he waited for every human to be rushed out of the laboratory.
"Snap out of it, man! Harrison's fine! John's fine! He's already healing!" he huffed, hoping to assure the exacerbated man, but found his restraints ineffective by Khan's power.
Twisting his body underneath and weakening the inspector's knees, Khan was able to switch their positions, his hands now clasped around Lestrade's neck like a vise, ignoring the clawing attempts made on his face and torso.
He sneered at the inspector, losing sight of who he was.
"Don't lie to me!" he snarled, gripping the neck tighter as Lestrade struggled harder. "Don't pretend I didn't hear you! You said it yourself, didn't you! His mind is in shambles isn't it?! That bastard triggered something! That's worst than a fucking bullet wound!"
Lestrade could feel cold fingers digging deeper into his skin, spots danced around his vision as the pain grew more prominent.
Any second longer and his neck would give out, shattering like the skull of the unfortunate representative.
"Kh-K...Khan..."
Right across from them, John's eyes began to lose it's haze. The desert sun began to dissipate, revealing a cold, chaotic whiteness around him. He could feel his body returning back to him, shifting himself away from his kneeling position. He could smell blood.
He could hear Lestrade's choking cry for help.
Lifting his head, he saw the empty space, a blood-soaked man, and a cruel battle between two Augments.
Lestrade met John's eyes.
He couldn't comprehend what he saw.
"Sherlock..." he whispered, gaping at his current form. The man he knew was lost in those clouded eyes. He was replaced by a savage.
"SHERLOCK!" For the tiniest second, Khan had recognized his voice; his name. Lestrade took this small window of opportunity to push the feral man off him before he suffered consequences.
John ran to him.
"Harri...John-no! Get away from him!" Lestrade choked out, calling the doctor away. But John ignored. He knew it was a wasted breath.
"Sherlock!" John repeated his name as if to hammer it into his corrupt mind. He was Sherlock Holmes. He is not a murderer.
Khan's flickered between savagery and intellect, watching John with befuddled eyes.
Anger and sentiment.
Malice and comprehension.
Khan and Sherlock.
"John?" Sherlock whispered, as his mind began to reel into darkness. His vision clouded and his body numbed as he fell deeper into the dark depths of unconsciousness.
The being named Khan began to swallow him whole.
United World Nations Conference Meeting
London, England
"This is entirely unforgivable!"
"Utterly barbaric!"
"This is a major threat to our nations-OUR world!"
"But-"
"The death of an esteemed representative is enough evidence to justify their brutality!"
"They will kill us all if they continued to live!
"Sir, if you just-"
"This project was nothing more than a demented man's creation!"
"We need to end this, before word reaches out."
"Agreed!"
"Those in favor?"
A thousand hands shot up in the air, all except for one.
A startled brother, guilty of the incident.
Mycroft Holmes watched in horror as his ignorant message about the Eugenics Project as an attempt to save his little brother became the death of him. His word's searched for a rebuttal; a reason to let the Augments live, but he found himself empty.
The holder of the conference stood up with stern strictness, eyeing the entire room. Mycroft had no choice but to back down.
"I issue, by the consent of all nations and by the death of an innocent man, the termination of Starfleet's Eugenics Project as a threat to mankind." Murmurs of approval rose in the room.
"And the fate of these 'Augments' will be received justly...
By execution."
A/N Sorry, I procrastinated-I mean pfft I meant for that six-day delay to happen. o_o
I was busying studying Khan(in an informative way for the sake of the fanfiction-ahem-)
So yeah, at this point everything's going downhill from here obviously, and I assure you I will not make it easy for the characters ^-^ Reviews are very much helpful and welcomed! :3