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 Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2014 7:01 pm
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This wasn't happening, not again, not to them. The sirens were blaring across the ship and people were laying on the ground dead. There was damage to the ship, heavy damage, and their life support was shutting down but dammnit it all John couldn’t find him. He didn't know where that insufferable man was among all the mess and the bodies that he didn't have time to help. They would heal and then they would die when the life support shut off and there was nothing John could do about it because those that could move needed to get to the pods and they needed to get to them fast. This just wasn't how it was supposed to happen for them, they weren't supposed to end up like this, and John swore if he found that man pinned under some metal beam he would rightly kill him then and there all the trouble he had put him through all these years.
The ship rocked and John slammed into the side of the ship, feeling his leg tare open, the others where at the pods already and getting in but where was HE. Damn all the trouble he caused. John wouldn’t let his pardoning for them go to waste, not all that pleading and begging, he had done so much for them to be allowed to just LEAVE and even then they had been given a crippled ship that wouldn’t last long enough to get them anywhere beside out of earths general orbit and HIDDEN. John had tried so damn hard and he wasn't going to lose Sh-KHAN because the bloody fool was running around the ship and didn't realize that the oxygen had shut off!
John limped down the hallway and straight into the command room then there he was, standing there, like the fool he was plotting their course and trying to make sure things were perfect in a situation that couldn’t be more off from the fact. John limped over to him and grabbed him tight around the upper arm then pulled and shoved because they needed to go. "Stop! Just stop! We need to go! The others that could make it are in the pods and we need to go!" John pushed him forward and then joined the other at a jog, even as the sirens blared that life support would shut off and soon the power would shut off completely.
They had so little time and John didn't know when they would wake up, just like he didn't know when Moriarty would stop or when they would be free from the program, when they made it to the pods John slid into his which was right next to Khans but before Khan could slide down into his John looked up at him. "I'll see you on the other side Sherlock… this isn't like before. This isn't good bye. No one's going to die even if it's for pretend." John gave Sherlocks hand a squeeze, the lights flashing red and another warning screaming that they had one minute left. John snapped his head up then looked to Khan, no he knew him as Sherlock, and he smiled at him before sliding down into pod.
Going into cryo-stasis back then felt like falling into a cold river but with the unpleasantness of also forcing you to fall asleep. John felt the rush start at his toes then he looked to Sherlock as it rushed up, he always did because this damn thing terrified him, and his eyes closed to the glow on his pod from the last few signals the ship gave before all power shut off and it was left floating in space for no one knew how long.
When John woke next he could tell it had been a long time, longer than any time before, and it was unpleasant. He was somewhere he didn't know, not the ship he had been in that had died, and he certainly knew they were not on some unmarked planet somewhere. There was the muted sound of movement outside his pod but most notably there was no pod next to him and that… that was not pleasant to think about. He had fallen asleep with Khan next to him and yet there was nothing there. Just air and… ship parts, shiny ship part, new and bright and… oh that certainly looked very different. He knew instantly he had been asleep for a VERY long time. That was fine, he could figure it out, he was smart and he had spent years with Khan so that wasn’t a problem.
Apparently though he was supposed to still be asleep and from what he could see he was in a cargo bay, something didn't change no matter what time you were in. Find some people in pods? Yep? Put them in the cargo bay with- two…ten guards! That's all you need! Lazy guards too that just want to have a bit of a chat on duty. John would have scoffed if it wouldn’t have drawn attention to himself. He had to first figure out what year he was in and catch up a bit but hey… what better than some chatty guards? Maybe he could figure out what had happened to Khan in that time and figure out where he could go after he got out of his pod.
Though what he heard was NOT good news. Apparently where ever they were they had Khan, he was awake, and well he was being drugged to be kept asleep so that he would not cause any trouble. John didn't need to know much more past that and kept his ears closed about much more info about Khan beside where he was being kept and if he woke up often as he formulated him plan. Johns only problem was the wound he had sustained during the rush to get everyone in their pods, stasis doesn’t heal wounds, he wasn't like the others and while he laid there it was starting to fester a bit. John knew he had a short amount of time before he had to get out of his pod where he was still in optimal condition to try and help Khan, two days, so he waited and learned shift changes and times.
It was quick and dammnit he wasn't like Khan, he couldn’t get it down pat, but the moment the two jabber jaws known as Scotty and Leon finished up with their shift of watch duty/repairs John was popping the top on his pod and sliding over on edge between the other pods and closing the lid. He activated the hologram function, something John had installed into the pods after they had been forced onto their broken ship. John pulled himself up and over to a walll that was well hidden just as the next lone guard came in and knocked him out. John carefully stripped the man out of his clothes and pulled them on, thankful that the boots hid the height problem, before he started a quick limping march toward where he had heard Khan was being held.
John kept his head down, not being asked any questions thanks to all the new personnel coming on and off the ship, then he found his way to the med bay. Who ever decided that those two needed to be kept easily accessible John could kiss. After all the times he had problems relating to that he was glad it had been fixed…. Though right now was a good example why it shouldn’t be that way. John stopped off at a panel, looking over the display screen, then popped the display screen off and started looking over the wires. He needed to find a way to get all the medical staff out of the med bay…. One "explosion" in engineering coming up. Not big enough to rock the ship but enough to burn several and need all immediate attention with the current acting captain involved.
John fiddled with the wires, replaced the screen, then typed out the message and heard a siren go off instantly before watching all current staff run off while all stand bye staff was told to watch Khan who was currently… yup currently alone. John slid into the med bay and then promptly locked everyone out as he limped over to the bed, grabbing a few things on the way. He slid a hypo into place and then jammed it into Khans neck, expecting an immediate reaction as his blood reacted as John knew it would to the counteract morphine to the sedatives. John smiled at Khan on the bed, glad to see him even as he heard the pounding on the door, before he detached all the handcuffs. "What was it you said? A face from the past? At least this time neither of us came back with a mustache." John heard a loud thud against the door and then a voice Khan would know very well as Spock.
"Quick move. No time to chat. Yes I am the only one awake. Come on sleeping beauty lets go, ill fix my leg later." John dropped down and removed a panel he had heard that Scotty guy say was giving him a problem with opening. John rushed Khan into the vent then followed him in and closed it quickly behind them. He winced, pressing a hand to his bleeding leg, but pushed Khan to go on as the sound of the med bay doors screeching open reached him.
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Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2014 9:27 pm
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As Khan drifted in and out of half-consciousness, he got small snapshots of what was going on around him. Flawed, rather morphine-soaked snapshots, but snapshots none the less. He savored these glimpses, knowing they would likely be his last glimpses at the world around him for a long, long while ... if the last glimpses he would ever see, though he doubted the probability of the latter. If he had not been killed or disposed of yet (not that he could easily be disposed of) it was not likely to happen soon. Even drugged to the gills he could see that. The 'whys' and further deduction escaped him, leaving him to drift in old memories. During one foggy moment he was almost sure John was right there over him but the voice was wrong, decidedly female in fact, and soon enough he was deep in darkness once again. He almost wished he could just be fully asleep again ... frozen without dreams and phantoms of the past to taunt him with things he did not have ... the one man that meant the world to him; his one-man crew.
Of course he hadn't been too truthful on that front; not with Markus nor the idealistic tool who was the captain of the Enterprise. It was bad enough the lovely Admiral knew he had a weakness; it would've been worst tenfold if he'd let it be know out of all the pods there was truly only one in particular he could never sacrifice ... At the very least if the Admiral had decided to destroy the pods all the extra pawns laying around would give him more time to save John if it came to that in the end. But here, here was an end likely to have the lot of them stacked like tuna cans in some vacant cargo hold somewhere the would would likely lock them away and forget all about them. It was a good thing but also ... a rather unhappy answer to so long working and slaving and dreaming of being able to finally make an escape with John, and just hide themselves away somewhere nice. The memory of the last waking moments they'd had together had been what had kept him going through the blackmail and ... experiments, the good Admiral had subjected him to to test just how 'superior' he truly was. Marcus had paid that debt in full now, though the feeling of skull and brain mashing together beneath his hands was another sweet dream he had from time to time in his drugged state.
And then the haze was ripped off of him like a wooly blanket, mental gears suddenly speeding back to their normal speeds and Khan thinking though several things very quickly. The first was John; the second was verifying this was not a dream. The third was, of course, a witty comeback. "John, you're quite late to the party. You missed all of the fireworks." Okay, not that witty, but it was a shock to the system in more ways than one to have the old friend before him in the flesh after so long.
Khan moved quickly once his restraints were removed, knowing a certain long-ear half breed was none to far away (likely with many armed friends) was motive enough to move quickly though he hesitated as he saw John's limp that was nearly as fresh as the day the other had gotten the wound oh-so long ago. Being stuffed together one-by-one into a vent was not Khan's first preference of an exit, but it was far better than being stuck in full-sight in the med bay when the doors sounded to be ripped open. Handy Vulcan strength indeed. Without a sound, Khan moved forward through the vent, and was soon making his way along without need of John to guide him; Khan had quite a large mental map of the Enterprise already in his head, and quickly called from memory where he remembered the ship to have been damaged in the last firefight he'd had with it; it couldn't have been too long.
His hunch was correct; navigating the vent system was easy enough, though Khan paused when John slowed, eyes ever on the other's movements with a mix of worry and amusement at the irony of it. A real limp to match the mental symptom of so long ago. He wondered if in all the commotion there would be enough opportunity to offer John a cane, just for the hell of it.
"Here," Khan said simply, stopping and popping open another vent exit and glancing around the pitch-black room before pulling his body out of the rather small space, offering John a hand and helping the blond pull himself out. "Power's out in select portions of the ship," Khan said by way of explaining the darkness; the bad side was even with genetically improved vision it wasn't exactly easy to see. The plus side being with no power, there were also no working cameras, which bought them time to at least gather themselves before moving on. Sitting in one place when an entire ship's crew was looking for you ... and you were on their ship.
"I imagine you have quite a lot of questions," Khan said, unceremoniously pulling John's pants down to assess the wound with his hands with surprising gentleness for a man who was known to everyone else within the ship to be ruthless, savage, and a cold-blooded murderer. "The year is 2259, and we are currently aboard the USS Enterprise, to get you started. Full of people whom I'm sure you've noticed like me about as much as most normal people do." Having finished assessing the wound Khan frowned, glancing around the room. He could make out the outlines of objects in the darkness, though details were sketchy; at least he could see they were in a hall and knew this was one of the housing areas. "If you could limp yourself along a bit further, we can find you a couch to sit down on."
Khan could almost see what the crew was likely doing now; scanning for foreign ships, looking for any sign of him and his friend near the escape pods, looking over the security footage to see who had come in and gotten him. "Let me guess; your pod was in the cargo bay?" Khan chuckled, pulling a sliding door open easily and walking in with John before getting the other to sit down before looking around the room for something sharp. The simplest solution to helping John with his wound was more than simple enough; just a bit of his blood would do. The superhuman found a dresser and pulled open a few drawers, digging around until he found some simple scissors; good enough for his purposes.
Returning to the doctor's side Khan cut into the palm of his hand without a wince. "With the way technology's advanced, leeching really should've stopped centuries ago," Khan said sarcastically; a way of warning. This was not the most pleasant way to heal another, but he had no syringes and wasn't likely to be able to get any medical equipment anytime soon after his grand escape from the medical bay. So he lifted the hand up close to John's face, almost brushing it against John's lips while mentally trying to work out a way to get the pair of them off of the ship currently in orbit ... asap. |
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Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2014 10:10 pm
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John figured that Khan had better knowledge of the ship than he did once he started leading the way, and from the general assumption that he had been on the ship longer, he didn't know much about what had happened but just knowing the other like he did it didn't take very long before he had schematics memorized even in a jail cell. John followed behind as fast as he could, which wasn't admittedly as fast as he wanted to, but tried to ignore the snicker at the limp before suddenly they were immerging into complete black. John would have liked to say the situation wasn't familiar but he had found himself in rooms pitch black to many times before to not find it at least a little bit familiar.
At least this time he had Khan there with him, assessing his wound all be it, and he had a general idea of where they might be… maybe. He knew they were in space, orbiting earth, and that they were on a ship named the enterprise but currently what floor they were on? No clue. Though of course then Khan had to go off about why people were after him and John couldn’t help but roll his eyes before giving a small hiss and batting at his hands lightly because that stung. "You just attract all the wrong attention and I gathered the rest. I also heard you called yourself John Harrison for a while, nice to know you thought of me, and this is a new level of displeasure." John sighed heavily and limped his way with the other help down the halls to a couch where he sat down.
"This is 'I blew up your capitol building' kind of hate. I thought I told you that was not good?" John chuckled a bit because while he was serious they had this conversation so many times that it just seemed… funny now. Each time they were given a new reason for the trouble and John was the only reason it didn't turn into mass genocide. John closed his eyes as he heard the other rumaging around then waited till Khan cut himself before he said anything "It's already infected, that wont do me any good right now, and yes I waited. You’re a big idiot for getting in this much trouble… I need to clean the wound so if you can find me something to do that it would work better there superman." John started poking and prodding his own leg at those words.
The wound was bleeding but also dangerously warm, a clearly set in infection from not being taken care of right away, he knew he was going to regret laying in that pod for so long. "I had to wait around in that damn pod for a few days to figure out what was going on and where the hell you were. When we fell asleep you were right there in my line of sight, right there, you said you would be there when we woke up and then I woke up and guess who wasn't there!" John had a small amount of panic in his voice at that. Out of all the eugens he was the one that was the most human and unfortunately for him, and Khan, that was part of his design. He was made just different enough that he could take a serious beating and not die but be badly injured enough to almost die.
He also still felt emotion just as clearly as a human and that meant he had PTSD out the a** for all his years having to deal with being a control for Khan. Currently what set it off? The entire situation which he was not prepared for and the sudden drop in adrenalin that came with stopping to fix his leg. They were being chased, John was stuck in another dark room waiting to be found, and he was pretty sure he was going to be sick here soon from the thought of what was going on. John suddenly heard boots and his heart jumped into his throat, the panic instantly sucking in to make way for the soldier he was, then he pointed up to the paneling in the ceiling they could use to hide before having Khan give him a boost with his bum leg. |
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Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2014 10:38 am
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"Your name is quite good at drawing less attention. Had to do alter the 'Hamish' bit though; far too dreadful a name not to draw attention," Khan said simply, not even batting an eye at the capitol building comment. "Oh come now John; you know I'm far more original than that." This was a familiar kind of situation for the both of them; though Khan was sure he'd really managed to get the negative attention of most of the known world this time for his rather poor parking in San Fransisco (to be fair that was the ship's fault; he'd been aiming specifically for Starfleet Headquarters). And the explosion in the Kelvin Archive. Opening fire at all those gathered in the Daystrom Conference Room. All done while under the assumption John might've been harmed of killed ... how many times had he been shaken with the horrible possibility the Admiral had just decided to kill all those in cryogenic sleep? The worst moment and freshest in his mind was when the detonation of the torpedoes onboard the Vengeance; really could he be blamed when in such a state?
But John was here, and in one marginally-whole piece. The infection would have to be taken care of soon though; which made for quite the conundrum. Khan wiped his blood off onto his own shirt, wound having already closed. A med-kit; there had to be one around here somewhere for emergencies. Khan strode to the nearest bathroom in search for something useful as John poked at his own wound. Khan managed to find the med kit soon enough, finding it stashed away and hurrying back to the doctor's side as the other started to speak with a bit of panic. Khan put a strong hand on the other's shoulder, lightly squeezing. "Believe you me; if there had been any other option--" Khan began, when he heard the same footsteps John did.
In moments with military proficiency Khan had helped get John up and soon jumped up himself, quickly replacing the cieling panel behind them as they remained still and quiet; beams of light coming from the searching security personnel below. With the bit of extra light coming up through the cieling panels, Khan silently opened the medkit he'd found, looking through its contents with a frown forming on his face. It was full of useful stuff but ... nothing particularly strong against an already-present infection. It was full of preventative disinfectant and stuff to wash out the wound with, at least; with luck it would be enough for John's wound. Khan was not a man who put much stock in luck alone; he would need to make a return trip to the medical bay, that much was certain.
As John and he sat in wait for the security sweep to pass them by--Khan quickly figuring that if they hadn't been found by now the ships self-scanners had to be still partially disabled--the man began going over their options. When it came to John's well-being, Khan had the bad habit of looking for the most simple solution; and 'simple' usually meant the death of every other living sentient being within the immediate area. It would be quite simple to fiddle with the ship's systems and secure an oxygen unit for John before poisoning the rest on board with simple carbon monoxide. Khan knew he didn't need constant oxygen to function (a valuable fact learned through the experiments he went through) though he was unsure John had the same ability and wanted to play it on the safe side. So, secure oxygen for john, poison the entire crew, take escape pod and flee to earth. Simple and doable.
Of course Khan had the usual plotting look on his face as he thought it through and started devising other, just as fatal plans as well. After so long without John to reign him in Khan had been getting far too used to thinking in terms of simply plowing down those that opposed him.
*
Of course the Medical Bay was currently a mess of injured folks from the rash of knockouts, red-shirted security staff all over the security cam feeds, and one very, very disgruntled Bones in the thick of it all. It had been hard the hell enough keeping Khan down and more-or-less out while they were trying to properly get the homicidal maniac contained while rebuilding the ship. Bones had thought it a idiotic idea from the beginning, despite the fact there was really no better or secure place to keep the guy than a spaceship with extremely limited means of transportation on or off of it. And now they were on complete lockdown, no ships allowed on or off of the Enterprise despite the fact they had several shipments to be made of new construction parts which had Scotty yelling all over the ship about. And of course the captain wasn't exactly fighting-fit yet after being so freshly returned from the land of the dead, that meant Spock was the one that came running and broke the entire door getting into the now-Khanless med bay with groaning staff needed their own medical treatment on the floor.
Perfect. Just stupidly perfect. So now sirens were going off, security was running all over the ship looking for Khan and all docking bays and escape pods were being heavily guarder, along with the rest of Khan's flash-frozen friends. The million dollar question of the day being ... who the hell was stupid enough to wake up the homicidal, power-mad, despotic nut job? |
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Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2014 12:31 pm
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John watched tough a crack in the tiles as the men searched the room for them, un observant since they had grown so used to using scanners, it was a common flaw in those used to technology as he had been told so long ago. Take down the technology and those who had not trained themselves often got lost and confused, not knowing what to do with themselves. John looked over to Khan when he heard the rustling of him looking through the medkit and saw that there was really nothing for his wound but at least there was a flashlight in that medkit for when those men left. John looked down at his leg and realized it was bleeding quite badly after all the prodding and pressed a hand to it, looking down at the puddle it had formed on the boards, then silently cursed.
That piece of metal must have hit deeper than he thought when he was rushing to the pods, he didn't remember, John looked down to see if the B team search squad was leaving left and when they were gone he looked back to Khan and saw that look. "No dead bodies. I don't want to hear any excuses just no dead bodies. You know how to incapacitate people Khan, you have known to before… before all of this so please just no more dead bodies." John popped the pannel with his bloody hand, not really having a choice, then hoped down onto his good leg before taking the medkit so he could at least clean out the would and patch it up.
"We have a little time till we have the A team search squad coming after us, and I mean who ever broke that door down to get to you, so you better come up with a non lethal plan to at least get us somewhere we can hold out for a bit…" John pressed down at his leg again then winced and sighed "Because I hate to tell you this but there is metal in my leg and I have to get that out but I don't know what that's going to do. I didn't assess this situation quite right… I just thought this was like the russians all over again ya know? Good guys but once they had you they were not letting go and I had to pull you out." John chuckled a little and wrapped up his leg tightly, trying to stop the bleeding, before he nodded for them to get going. He decided it was best to hold onto the phaser, after he completely disabled the kill function on it, then he had Khan lead the way to somewhere safe.
When he heard footsteps he would stop Khan instead of letting him barrel into a fight that would resolve in peoples death so there was a lot of hiding that he was sure the other was non to happy about…until John started stumbling. Okay so escape plan wasn't working out to well, John could blame himself for that, but he hadn't thought this wasn't going to happen. Eventually they HAD to stop again and John ripped off the bandage with a huff. "Still better than the damn whips. Why did you have to anger the natives Sher….Sorry." John dropped his head back, closing his eyes and silently cursing the slip, he could tell at the moment that this was Khan and not Sherlock.
There were times, moment, when he could slip back and pretend that they hadn't been ruined like that but right now wasn't because this wasn't Sherlock. It was all Khan and maybe a little of this John Harrison that he had created because John hadn't been there and damn it all this was going to take so long to fix again. Before they had fallen asleep he had Sherlock back, he had that crazy brilliant man with that stupid smile, he had his best friend and now… now it was Khan again. "What happened this time Khan? Who did what and why do I get the feeling you thought you lost me to many times?" John looked to Khan, hoping to see that flash of his friend behind those steely eyes.
**
((Imma be a "should not be out of bed and still ill" Kirk because I can't see him staying away from his baby long enough to let the repairs go on and let himself heal up.))
Kirk had just got on the ship, literally just got on the ship, when it went into lock down. He would have liked to think it was everyone wanting to keep him on board but then he heard something about Khan and one of Khans merry crew and suddenly his visit seemed very ill timed. Jim groaned and instantly made his way for the med bay, because he had promised he would get checked out and also he needed to asses the situation. He didn't want to really get involved, he had enough of Khan to last a life time, but to be honest he didn't blame Khan for the destruction of his ship. That was all Marcus, all of the whole thing was Marcus, because Kirk didn't by for a moment that Khan cared that much about all of those people frozen but more like one of them specifically? Yeah… he could see that.
Kirk could understand the rage at Marcus, at everyone, and for someone like Khan? Jim had done some research into Eugenics, good research, and he knew quite a bit more than anyone had ever bothered to know. When you are forced to do that much bad for that long doing bad just becomes something you are used to, it's how you solve a problem, Jim knows that better than most. So yeah h doesn’t like the thought of Khan running around his ship unsupervised but he's not truly pissed at the guy. He's pretty sure he's already gotten his fair share of what was coming to him in Marcus's hands.
Jim stepped into the disarray of med bay and blinked "Who let Spock… Spock the door? I know he's holding a grudge against Khan but don't let Scotty know your letting him take that out on the ship." Jim chuckled, coughing a little on the end. He looked a little worse for wear but pretty good for a dead guy.
((I can see Jim knowing that Khan was trying to save one specific pod... just like "You guys dont get it... he's trying to save something precious." )) |
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Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2014 2:59 pm
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Khan turned his gaze back to John when the other seemed to notice his train of thought, forbidding casualties. It was almost a surprise, the firm reminder that John didn't approve of that sort of thing. Because left to his own devices, it was all to easy for Khan to forget ... What was one or one-hundred more or one-hundred-thousand more bodies, so long as none of them were John? It was sick, but it was the way he'd been molded to think; caring about all the little lives when one had to make machines of war and mass destruction. A quality Admiral Alexander Marcus had quite enjoyed, especially when applied to make weapons and ships built for warfare. But John didn't care for it so he'd restrain himself ... unless absolutely necessary. And accidents did happen.
"No more dead bodies," he agreed to appease the other, noting John's bloodloss with a frown before hopping down after the other. Their time was extremely limited with a wound bleeding that badly; and metal in it as well? An artery could already be cut and they'd have no way of knowing until it was out. Between that and the infection, John needed real medical care and he needed it sooner rather than later. "Unfortunately pulling out of here easily will be nigh impossible with you as you are," Khan sighed, reconfiguring his mental equation. No bodies, John in need of care. and an entire ship full of Starfleet goonies that wanted his head on a stick. Including one half-Vulcan that had already destroyed a door in his attempts to stop his escape; a half-Vulcan who's commanding officer he'd killed. This would be ... challenging.
"Russians, at least, had plenty of bottle of 'cheer'," Khan commented as John bandaged himself up. Oh yes, getting out of a sticky situation was far more easily done when the opposing side was partially intoxicated most of the time ... Khan shook his head and didn't comment on John's fiddling with the phaser, knowing what the other probably did before they were on the move again. It was challenging when John had them completely avoid each passerby when a swift hit to the skull would've done well enough, but even when so far gone to 'Khan' he listened to John because John was the most important person to him. That, at least, was something never forgotten.
Khan had been trying to get them to the still-operating housing deck when John was stumbling, and Khan pulled the both of them into the vent system once more just to be sure they were safe from prying eyes while John treated his wound. "..." Khan looked away at the slip, listening for any sounds of people near by. There were none. The past was in the past; right now he was just focusing on getting the two of them out of harms way, with a long term goal of getting the pair of them off of the ship alive ... with the crew alive as well, he supposed. At the questioning though ... Khan turned his eyes back to Johns. "It's a long story. To put it simply, we were found. They woke me up, discovered what I was capable of--" the 'discovered' portion more like threw all they had at him and were surprised to see him not die, but that was an unimportant detail in his eyes, "--and decided to blackmail me under threat of destroying all the other pods. So I complied for a time. Until recently," he said simply, gesturing to the ship around them before looking down, almost pained just at the too-fresh memory of the torpedoes exploding; the sureness that all he'd held dear had been destroyed and the driving rage that had kept him moving after the pain; his life meaningless for anything but plotting the destruction of all of Starfleet, all of the world, because what world deserved to exist so long as John Watson did not?
He found his fists tightly clenched, not having noticed himself doing so. He willed himself to loosen his hands and looked back to John. His John who was alive, if not completely well. "To make it short I shot and killed several officials, blew up an archive, personally executed the Admiral that had initially dared to blackmail me, killed many people on this very ship in a fire fight, and crashed another vessel into quite a bit of San Fransisco after thinking you were ..." Khan let that trail of, but knew John was good enough at filling in blanks. "We need to get you to a working housing room. It will be simple enough to disable the cameras in one apartment space to feed a loop instead of recording new data. There we can regroup for at least a little while ... longer if I can hack into the ship's systems and record the room belonging to some false identities; there will be more than enough extra and missing people from the rosters that two extra names won't be noticed in the shuffle. Come on, John."
Khan took lead once John had rebanadged himself up, keeping hem moving.
*
Bones paused, slowly turning to face the familiar voice he had been hoping he wouldn't hear after the lockdown was initiated. But of course it was just their dumb luck that Jim Kirk just had to get on the ship right when a maniac was prowling around.
"God damn it Jim, I'm a doctor not a referee. You want order on this ship get yourself one." Never one to ask to do his job, McCoy grabbed a instrument and scanned Jim all over, though by the cough he was grabbing the captain's upper arm and dragging the man bodily over to a free examination table. "Now sit down and let me give you a look over before you fall over. Lucky, lucky. You're on board just in time for one hell of a cruise, capt. We don't just have Khan running around, but looks like one of his little Popsicle friends isn't on ice anymore either. Just a barrel of fun in this giant, half-blown-to-bits ship just sitting in orbit like a goose ready to be cooked." Ah Bones, ever the optimist.
Though of course not half-way through the examination word was out the Captain was on-deck, and Spock was sending a call in to Jim. To tell Kirk just how he should remain in a secure location, yadda yadda, and get the Captain properly up to speed besides just the rumors floating around. "--it's been confirmed his accomplice is injured, as odd as it may be. Dried blood was found within an empty pod when we were moving then all to a secure cargo hold, and just now we found another pool of blood; analysis showed both samples to belong to the same individual." Of course Spock was on the ball; A team having found the pool of blood when Spock saw a smear of blood on the roof paneling. |
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Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2014 5:44 pm
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John listened silently as he re-bandaged his leg, trying to stem the bleeding a bit, and he couldn’t help but sigh. He was used as another bargaining chip. Again he was used as the others weakness and this time they had fully unleashed a beast they could not control and left it's owner trapped in a deep sleep. It was like waking a dragon while the rider was away, or yet to be reborn if one was into those kind of stories, and John of all people knew what kind of horror that would bring. Khan was a dragon, a creature of fire and destruction, the worst of the worst but also the best of the best if he had his leash but people always seemed to forget his damn leash.
John sighed as Khan mention San Francisco and shook his head "Dear god. The trouble you get into when I am down for a nap." John tried to joke but his heart ached at the thought of what Khan had been through. He had a creative imagination, being put through his own share of the creative bits in other people's minds, he would not delude himself to think that curiosity didn't get the better of whoever had Khan. John nodded when the other said they needed to move but he had a sinking feeling in his stomach. He didn't want to tell Khan but he was leaving a trail behind them with all the blood, something he couldn’t stop, and if he didn't fix his leg soon they were going to get caught no matter what.
Again it was what humanity John had left that was going to get them caught, as it had on several other occasions, and John wasn't too sure what was going to happen this time with the beast to loosely chained. John had seen Khan like this before with him threatened, had seen what he would do, he had seen a whole village slaughtered for the insolence of one group of people and it had lead to one of the biggest melt downs the two had ever had. John worried it would happen again and he wasn't sure this Khan could take that at the moment without killing an entire planet. He wouldn't hurt John, not ever, but others would feel the wrath.
John wasn't paying much attention as Khan did what he needed to but he quite firmly reminded the other not to KILL anyone. When they finally made it into the room John was really concerned about his leg. He knew it was the irritation from all the movement and if he had stayed still then most like he would have just had to worry about the infection then the wound healing. John ripped off the bandages and threw them down, the wound looking worse, Khan was doing what he needed to and John was just debating how he was going to get the metal out of his leg and if he should.
"I am a bloody doctor but doing this to myself has never been fun." John took the first aid kit they had found and took out the water first, cleaned off the wound of the blood, the glared at all the new fangled technological stuff. He decided to use the mini scanner that would tell him what was going on and after the beeping sounded he cursed and tossed it across the room. Thankfully he could take more than humans, which meant he just kept bumping out blood when he should have bleed out and died hours ago, it just meant he was in agony longer. It didn't mean it lasted forever though just that he was lucky and had more time.
"I can't pull out the metal unless you have a way to stop some serious bleeding… Crap. This isn't any good. I didn't think this had happened…." John rubbed a hand over his face, no longer shy about getting blood places it wasn't supposed to be.
**
Jim silently thought about what Bones said and then Spocks explanation of what was going on. Jim stayed very quiet for a moment, letting it all sink in, because those two were not even trying to go back for the others. If they wanted to they could wake up the other pods and take over the ship, even with it battered, repair it without Starfleet really knowing what was going on and take off. They would have the time and means but instead they were running around the ship avoiding everyone. They were not making a mad dash for escape pods or for the other they were trying to patch up the injured one who had just woken up.
Khan had what he wanted. That was it, out of all the pods, he had the one that had mean the most to him. He didn't care about the others because they meant nothing to him now that he had the one he wanted. That's what this whole mess had been about, this whole entire mess, it had been about one person in particular being taken away from Khan. One who wasn't like the others and who was currently bleeding out if what spoke was saying was true. "I need to see the footage from when the break in happened." Jim jumped off the table and went over to a panel to watch the medbay footage to see who was coming in when others were going out.
All those blue shirts and then, there, there it was red and blond hair with a limp. "Right there. That’s him, that's who let Khan out, I know that one. I did research on them while I was down on earth. His name is John, John Watson, there are not any details about what he did but he was a DOCTOR. Most Eugens had their previous names erased from history or identities saying they died… not him." Jim spoke into his communicator so that Spock could hear him. "He's not like the others, he had the least alterations, he's stronger but he doesn’t heal like them just lasts longer. He'll bleed out if what your saying is true and if what I read is right… we do not want that to happen. Apparently when ever Khan was in rule and he lurked around there was peace and things were actually good but the moment John was gone was when he turned into a monster. It's all rumor and speculation since people didn't really SEE John but I don't want to find out what will happen if he doesn't make it Mr. Spock." Jim looked to Bones and then back to the camera as he watched the two work seamlessly.
"Be careful when you find them."
(I figured Jim would get it a bit... but not totally. No one has any idea exactly how violently Khan will get biggrin ) |
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Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2014 7:56 pm
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Khan was working with a load of exposed wiring and a control panel at the end of it, having gotten most things settled and was trying to hack into the broadcaster links to see what was being said across the Enterprise airwaves when he heard John curse and toss the medical scanner. Khan looked slowly from the discarded scanner to John, quickly realizing what it meant. Khan sat motionless, processing this information and coming to several important conclusions. He had no time to draw this out; no time for this game of hide-and-seek. John needed medical care; medical care the doctor couldn't give himself. They needed outside aide and technology ... aide only his enemies could provide. To request such aide would require him giving both himself and John up to their mercy ... and for a creature as merciless as Khan it was a hard thing to do.
He left the wiring mess to go to John's side, looking to the other's leg and then to his face, very conflicted. He did not trust the people on this ship to properly care for his John. But as much a genius as Khan was he was no surgeon for such a delicate task as keeping John alive would require. It was being between a rock and a hard place; to try to commandeer the med bay at this point would be suicidal. But to give themselves up when it would mean risking getting drugged and stuffed back into those cryo-stasis pods again for who knew how long. And he'd just gotten John back; he wasn't about to let him go without a fight.
"John ..." Khan lightly brushed his fingers over the other's cheek in the first real show of tenderness he'd given John since they'd reunited. Really, there wasn't even time for that, but he needed the reassuring feeling of warmth from the other, and steeling knowledge of John's drying blood beneath his fingers. "... We don't have many options, John." Khan did not sound happy about it in the slightest. Because the steps that needed to be taken to keep John alive were very quickly narrowing down to somehow ... complying with the crew of this ship to get use of their medical systems.
*
Spock took in the information without his expression changing an inch, but even through the screen it was easy to see his unease at this very odd situation was lessoned as Jim provided more and more pieces to put everything logically together. Khan was far too seemingly savage a being to run around hiding with an injured comrade; especially seeing as they currently had zero casualties. It didn't seem like the Khan ... but if this new element really was so monumental as to alter Khan's actions and reactions so dramatically as Jim's research reflected, things were very dangerous indeed. "Captain, Starfleet regulations always call for the utmost caution in such situations," Spock said crisply. "We will locate and apprehend them ... safely." Easier said than done.
"Now Jim" Bones was saying after cursing and following the Captain around as Kirk refused to stay stationary like a good patient, "we had one hell of a time with one defrosted maniac and you're saying after actually cracking a look at some archives for the first time in your life you want us to make sure this supposed doctor--who may or may not be keeping Khan on a leash or not, 'speculatively' speaking--doesn't die? Now I'm all for treating patients but ... who's to say Khan will peacefully even let us help him at all? We aren't exactly on good terms now, Jim. And I for one just want these two turned back into psycho-cicles and be done with it."
Spock, on the other hand, had been using a sample of John's blood to follow the blood-trail left, with most of the security officers on the ship backing him, and moving to evacuate the housing floor Khan and his rescuer was on once they located them. Once the floor was secure, Spock took over the emergency-announcement speakers for the floor and spoke directly to Khan without trying to bust his way in as he had at the med bay. This was highly dangerous, as a cornered animal was one most likely to bite, but if Kirk said the importance was getting this John medical help ... Negotiations had to be tried.
"Khan, we know your current position. It would be in both of our best interests for you and your companion to come quickly, and without resistance."
*
Khan moved fluidly, very suddenly between John and the door and tense; ready for anything. His fists flexed, clenching and unclenching with all the things he could be doing but did not because most of the first things that came to mind involved making anyone outside of the small apartment cubicle very, very dead. A small, unfriendly smirk was on his face as he stalked to the wiry mess and somehow spoke back through the very same floor-wide speakers. "Oh really. And I suppose you want to give us flowers, too?"
This was ... not likely to go well. Then again, the last time Spock and Khan had 'spoken' had been both thinking they'd lost quite precious things to themselves; everything. That was not animosity easily forgotten. |
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Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2014 8:47 pm
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John was a bit surprised when Khan came over to him, moving away from his task, and then he felt the fingers on his cheek and he couldn’t help the fear that statement brought. All the times John heard those words, those damn words, horrible things happened to the both of them for a good long while before they could escape. John hated those words so much because they stole his Sherlock from him for decades and turned him into someone else over and over again until he was sure there was no one but this Khan left until he heard those words again. John gripped Khans hand, seeing that flash of affection and just wanting to hold onto it for as long as it would last before it was gone again, he knew what this meant. He didn't want to be captured and put back to sleep, he was so tired of sleeping with his nightmares, he hoped that these men would just be kinder than the last.
Maybe they wouldn’t even put them to sleep, maybe they would finally make this endless chase stop, maybe they would let John bleed out and send Khan back to who he was and John would wake up in baker street with Mrs. Hudson yelling about not being their nanny. John pressed the hand over his aching heart as he let his head fall back with his eyes closed tightly, not wanting to think about all of that as his leg throbbed and bled, because he knew it wasn't that simple and that for it to be that way Khan would have to go first so that a whole world wouldn’t go with him. "I know… I know just… God let's hope it's not like last time. Lets hope they just… Let's just hope." John sighed and closed his eyes.
**
Jim looked to Bones, keeping the com to spock open, then shook his head. "Khan will… it will just take some persuading and actually it may be more John that let's us. He's the stabilizing factor in all of this Bones, if you couldn't tell already, and as long as we do nothing to him Khan will stay calm and passive because he will make sure of that." Jim turned off the com and sat back on one of the beds so he could be a good patient for once. "I know it sounds crazy but just think about it, really think about it, I would like to think I would do that for my whole crew but to be honest with all they went through? Khan lost value in life. It would have to be someone who meant more than that to him, someone who meant everything, and if he has that person he would have no need to fight back." Jim was sure, he was going with his gut on this one, and if he was wrong then well… Bones could be pissed with him later.
**
John was just sitting on the couch feeling light headed when the speakers sounded and he almost laughed. "Well he sounds like a bundle of joy and funness." John sighed then pressed at his leg before watching Khan jerk up. John could see the hostility instantly and he knew that whatever was between these two was going to bleed bad for them in any negotiations. John pushed himself and nudged Khan out of the way, repeating what he had done with a little grin, before giving a small "testing.. testing." John chuckled a bit then sighed.
"Hey there, my names John Watson, I am sorry about him he's a bit of a dragon but I have a problem. You see when we were going to sleep this last time I fell into metal, apparently there is some in my leg, I am bleeding out pretty bad down here and I need some help but if you come down here Khan will rip your arms, and most likely legs, off should you get close unless we strike up a deal." John sounded tired as he leaned against the wall and he gave Khan a firm look.
"I know he's done some bad things, I know they can't be forgiven, god I know all those things but I need you to not drug us up when you come down here yeah? He'll stay calm, well maybe a little growling, but it's all hard to explain and harder to understand. I can tell you about it… that's not important, Sorry, things are getting a bit fuzzy. Look the point is when you get down here who ever just spoke needs to stay out and just… don’t touch me until he's had a good look at you yeah? No drugs, don't put me to sleep, and we will come calmly. Call this escape attempt officially canceled with no casualties." John chuckled a bit but then slid down the wall as his head got dizzy.
"Think it best if you told them to hurry Khan." |
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Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2014 10:11 pm
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"Lets damn well you're right on this one Jim," McCoy said doubtfully, though it was a relief to have the Captain laying down like a good patient for once. How long that would last was anyone's guess. And truthfully the only reason Bones was still aboard and serving this crazy ship was because somehow Kirk's hunches tended to be right, against most common sense. "Now shut up and keep this in your mouth," the doctor commanded, pushing some sort of complex-looking thing into Kirk's mouth that looked like some unholy child of a thermometer and test tube making all sorts of noises while Bones took something else to listen to Kirk's breathing. "Now cough three times and then take a deep breath, hotshot."
*
A few of the officers around Spock shifted at the voice of Khan coming over the speakers, most nervously, others angrily, and a few blinking as they saw the half-Vulcan's face stiffen just the smallest bit; not much but a hell of a lot more than they were used to seeing Spock show. And then a new voice came over the speakers. Spock listened and came to the conclusion that Kirk's investigations had in fact found some truth, if Khan was really standing back and letting Mr Watson say all this.
After John said his bit, there was a short silence before: "You heard him. Send a medical officer quickly. If John expires, so do all of you." Khan's tone was cold and a-matter-of-fact, and went silent after that. Spock quickly turned and ordered officers to get moving and one of the medics that had been on stand by to come forward quickly.
*
Khan put the messy 'communicator' to the side and knelt near John, checking the other's pulse with a frown. Deep down there was the very real fear of loosing John; of having the other gone right in front of his eyes. If the other well and truly died ... a darkness deeper than ever before waited. The last shred of whatever humanity and restraint was left within him would die with John. No ... who was he kidding. John was his humanity in a way; it had been like that for a long time. The other filled in the bits of him that were missing, everything he lacked as a supposed recreated 'perfect' human being.
"Khan. We have complied with your demands," Spock's voice rang out, and Khan could almost feel the half-breeds unease in this situation. Deals had been complied with before ... with rather bad outcomes on both ends.
But Khan squeezed John's shoulder before grabbing hold of the phaser and going to the apartment room's door and sliding it open, glaring down the passage at the poor medic redshirt standing far back from the entrance, no one else in sight though Khan knew there were likely several guards just a bit further down the hall. Once good thing about being on a s**t was the hallways bottlenecked the crew's larger numbers and kept them from being able to easily overwhelm him. But right now his piercing gaze was on the medic, who swallowed thickly and was already sweating.
"Well you've got legs don't you?" Khan snapped, "Move it!" He was usually good at keeping calm but right now he didn't have time for taking things slow. So he glared the medic until they came in with their medical supplies. The medic moved to go towards John the moment they saw the rather bloody state the blond was in, only for Khan to (not so gently) grab them by the shoulder and grab their bag, quickly looking through the supplies for anything that could be deemed a threat. Once minimally satisfied, Khan shoved the kit back and the medic knelt and carefully got to work on John, eyes on the leg wound (as it was a bit less horrifying than the prospect of looking at Khan).
"Well damn, man," the medic said once he too had scanned the wound and gotten a good look at the metal bit's exact location. "Alright first off you're definitely going to need more blood than you've currently got, and this things infected three ways to Sunday. You were walking on this thing?" The medic was digging through his supplies and pulled out a small pill, trying to ignore the fact Khan was hovering right over him and Jon as he worked. "Eat this; it'll get your blood producing itself a bit faster while I work on the wound itself. But look; his best chance is in the med bay where we've got the best equipment for situations like this--"
"I hear a lot of talking, and don't see much effort in trying to assist Mr Watson," Khan growled, wound as tightly as a near-snapping violin string.
"Just saying doctor McCoy could likely do this far bett--" The medic had pulled out simple tools of the trade; a laser-bladed scalpel and a hypo when the tight string seemed to have gotten stretched a bit too far ... and the earlier grip on his shoulder was more like a friendly handshake compared to the vicious grip that literally wrenched his arm loose from his socket and quite possibly broke something as well as Khan unceremoniously grabbed and dragged the poor medic back to the door and bodily tossed him from the room.
It was too much; he was seeing red and slightly shaking with the knowledge of just how bad-off John was. And with John in such a weak state Khan was somewhere between panic and full-on beserking after hearing some second-rate nobody had been sent in to help John. Not that the medic was second-rate; he'd just been giving the facts of the situation. "This is not the situation to try my patience; now send a full doctor before your time runs out," he shouted.
*
And that was how Spock came to be at the med bay to rush a very, very unhappy McCoy to the proper floor.
"Damn it; from what the medic said the best situation would be for the patient to come to me, not me to him, bloody idiots," Bones was muttering to either nobody or everyone, wincing. If his 'bones' were really all he had left he sure as hell didn't want to get them broken by a madman gone over the edge working a patient in less than optimal conditions when there was a perfectly fine medical bay right. Bloody. Here. |
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Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2014 6:12 pm
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Jim pouted, just about to say how he was right, when something was stuck in his mouth and he couldn’t help but glare up at bone. Oh yeah, that was nice, stick something in his mouth just as he is about to make a smart come back, no bedside manner at all this man had. Jim smiled a little though, glad to be back on the ship and with his friends even with all the trouble going on, he at least got to be a little captainy already and that was GREAT because he had missed it while being sick. Glared at bones, noticing how old school he was going on this one, and knew he was doing it just to keep Jim in place so he didn't run after Khan himself. "I won't run after the space man Bones, trust me, he already beat the s**t out of me once and I don't need it again." Jim chuckled but did as he was told.
**
John sighed as he felt the other feel at his pulse, barely noticing his words, then he sighed. He wasn't doing well and if the person that came couldn’t fix him up right John didn't know what Khan would do, the anger was just barely boiling beneath the surface at this point, of course then the voice rang out above them and John didn't have much more time to think about that. John turned his head to watch as the rather scared looking medic came in and he gave the man a reassuring smile because he was just trying to do his job and John knew that. John had a feeling though, as the other looked him over and started TALKING, that the kid wasn't the brightest in his little group of medics. Maybe John should have made that a rule? No talking? Talking was irritating and all the things the kid was saying were bad.
John took the pill but the moment the kid reached to try and give him a drug John was about to jump himself to see what it was before Khan took care of it. John pressed his hand back over his wound firmly, feeling the pill doing it's job already, he wasn't feeling quite so light headed but his leg was starting to bleed again and that had him worried as Khan tossed the kid with the now broken arm out of the room. "You didn't need to break his arm. Don't hurt the doctors Khan, I know you don't like them but they don't do me much good if they cant use their arms yeah?" John chuckled but let his head thunk back against the wall.
His leg was starting to hurt really bad, past levels he was used to, and gritting his teeth was only doing so much, John didn't know how long he would last with the wound like this before he started showing actual signs of pain. That would set Khan of more and he didn't need that, it was the opposite of what he needed actually, but John had a plan to keep things calm when the main doctor calm. Or at least mostly calm… or keep the doctor alive. He could keep the doctor alive but not the situation calm. He didn't have the strength for calm right now.
**
Jim didn't like the idea of Bones going down there, he didn't like it at all, but at the same time he liked less what would happen should John expire. He wasn't going to leave Bones to go alone though, not alone, so instead Jim followed the doctor down to where Spock and the others were and stood beside the Vulcan looking ready to run in before he opened up the Com and said "I would like if you kept this open for me Khan, John, just so I know nothing is going to happen to my crew when the help you. Bones should be able to fix you but I can't promise it will be painless… there is metal in your leg."
John heard the noise and looked up to the comm before pushing up so he could stand and talk back. "I have dealt with much worse sir. But I will keep it open, and nothing will happen to your doctor, you are a new voice though… who are you?" John leaned against the wall as he waited for a reply and Jim thought about what to say before shrugging. "Captain James T. Kirk. My crew, my ship, I know you mean us no harm John I am more worried about Khan. I read your file… what I could find of it." Everyone heard the sigh over the speaker and then John huffed. "Not everything is as it seems in the file James… What you read was only the beginning. Get me patched up and I can explain it all to you, every last bit, because you may call him a mad man but Khan is… He wasn't… I can explain. Just let me explain." John sighed then fiddled with a few wires and sat back down before he had the change to fall down.
When Bones came in John shifted and placed himself between the Doctor and Khan so that there wouldn’t be any incident. John gave Leonard a tense smiled then tried not to wince or move while he looked at his leg. "I know it's badly infected, I figured there was metal in it, I don't need another diagnosis I diagnosed myself hours ago. What I need is for you to remove the metal and the infection. It's burning me up and bleeding me out… I can handle a lot like this but not much more." John jerked when Bones examined his leg then sighed and shook his head. "Sorry… sorry. My pain tolerance is running short. I would ask you for something but that doesn’t work for me. Don't try to give me anything either because it will make me worse, part of the engineering." John's hands were clenched into fists at that but he didn't sound overly upset.
He was barely holding onto his control at this point, he wasn’t sure how much more he could take, so instead of letting Khan prowl like he wanted to John grabbed him and pulled him down to sit so he could lay back with his head in Khan's lap and covered his eyes with the others hands like a child playing hide and seek. "Stay here. Your pacing is making me feel worse." A lie but it would work for now.. John hoped. John had learned over the years with Khan that if he wanted something now he had to just take it from the man, to make it obvious, because his head was so many other places it just didn't work if he hinted. |
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Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2014 7:38 pm
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"Well Jim, whatever mr 'Watson' says, if that maniac offs me, do me a favor and send my ashes to my ex, will ya? Just toss 'em in through the window and run like hell," Bones said voice thick with his usual pessimistic glow coming through before sighing. "Lets get this over with." He marched down to the designated room, though once let inside he had the air of a guy who was used to working with a metaphorical gun to his head ... because Khan sure as hell was a lethal weapon if he ever saw one. But Bones knelt down--glad to have the patient between him and the guy who could crush skulls like they were rotten melons-- and looked at what he had to work with. "Mm-hm," he said, grabbing his tools and moving quickly and proficiently. Damn; the metal was in there good; he couldn't even see it. Bones quickly figured--rightly--that the wound had been left to sit long enough for the body to try vainly to heal itself. This created a layer of fresh, puss-covered tissue between the outside world and the metal that was imbedded within. First things first: remove the foreign matter. This was going to sting quite a lot.
Khan was in a very unhappy state of mind; not enjoying hearing Kirk had dug up some actual info on him and John, and liked it even less how obvious how much John meant to him to all these others; his most precious person had been exposed and there was no turning back from that fact. That being one of the many, many reasons he was nearing going over the edge as the next doctor came in and, thankfully, got to work without a word as John explained things. What wasn't alright was John getting between him and the potentially-dangerous doctor, which made him start to pace but that didn't last long before John took his hand and pulled him down. Khan was silent and still wound-up but just sighed. "Alright ... alright."
Khan was indeed thick to small hints; then again as Sherlock he often wasn't much better. For a man who at one time could identify the smallest of details, it was surprising what rather large hints could sail right past his buzzing mind.
Bones let out a relived mental curse to himself seeing the two interact, Jim's words more-or-less looking to be true. But hell it was unnerving to see the tall, dark, and dangerous man who'd been so self-asserting and apparently independent suddenly so ... not. It was like seeing a tiger that had just mauled a man get collared and leashed and only tug a little on the silken lead without complaint, blood still fresh on its whiskers. With that shiver down his spine, the doctor focused on his work while ignoring that predator glare on him; used to such glares after so long with his ex-wife down on earth.
Bones tore what little cloth was around the wound away, completely tearing away most of John's pants leg so none of the foreign matter got in the way. He didn't half-a** it; if he was going to die in here he was going to ******** die being the best doctor on this damned stupid half-blown ship. By the way John had been speaking so calmly despite being so pail and in pain, Bones could see there was reason behind it so he was crisp and to the point. "Brace yourself."
He used his tools to cut away at the infected flesh and quickly moved to pull the metal piece out, wincing. It was clear the metal had frozen hard into this poor guy's leg, and then expanded far too quickly when he'd become defrosted in the cryo-tube, probably causing more damage than had initially been there to begin with prior to John turning into a popsicle. There was a rush of blood, but Bones had known that would happen. He already had one hand holding the wound open while he used another small med-grade tool to stop the bleeding from the damaged vein. Then he reached to his kit and pulled a spray-type of tool to spray the open wound with something that instantly started foaming. The foam would fill into the crevice left by the metal shard and assist the tissues in repairing themselves. It was also good because it would dissolve on its own into the body harmlessly as new tissue grew in its place, making for both a nifty 'bandage' that did not need changing. Though the would would still hurt like any other wound until the body had fully patched itself up.
"Now all I've got for infection is this," Bones said with a relived sigh, pulling out his injector and looking from John to Khan. "Permission to stick you with it and get the hell out of here?" he asked John, unable to keep the bit of usual bite out of his words.
Khan had been keeping his eyes on the doctor, a sudden adrenaline rush having gone through him at seeing the other tear into (more like neatly cut into but Khan was in a bit of a bad state and wasn't exactly thinking in the most logical of terms) his John but it appeared to be as the doctor said, just something for the infection. Khan wanted to toss this man out just like he had the other one, especially for being so close and drawing John's blood; even if it was to help the blond Khan still wanted retribution. But his hands were 'tied'. "Help him and get out," Khan said lowly, ice-blue eyes on Bones. The medical officer did as he was told, giving John his 'shot' and got his a** out of there before Khan decided to hand it to him.
Bones let out a big breath of relief as he walked down the hall, grinning at Jim and Spock and the rest of the gaggle of security officers standing back. "A deal with Khan that ended up with nothing exploding and nobody dying. That's a hell of a first."
*
Khan lightly rubbed his thumbs against John's skin, pulling his hands away and looking own at the other with the tense expression he'd had since their options had run short. "... Better?" So long as John showed no signs of pain or passing out, Khan would be content to just keep his end of the bargain. Meaning no deaths, coming quietly, yada yada.
Khan was content to sit there and just hold John as long as the other wanted right now, much calmer now that John had been seen to medically and there was no longer a timer going on in the back of his brain trying to count the litters of blood left in the blond's body.
*
"Captain, now would be an opportune time to move the two to a less ... obtrusive location," Spock noted, seeing as having a wanted criminal and his friend smack-dab on a housing floor would be less than ideal placement. "It would be logical to keep Khan and John Watson as isolated as possible to prevent ... incidents. And to not tell the chief engineer where they are," Spock added; most of the ship had heard Scotty's multiple thickly-Scottish-accented curses in Khan's name for all the damage done to his 'lovely lady' Enterprise. |
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Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2014 9:49 pm
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John was thankful for bones, really honestly thankful, because the man knew how to keep his mouth shut. He didn't say anything at Johns attempt to keep Khan calm and he said as little as he had to. It was the best that John could have asked for and to be honest it was a huge relief that John didn't know he had been needing. John of course wasn't too still though when Bones began his digging, able to keep his injured leg still but gripping Khans wrists just a little tighter as he tried not to shout. He should have known better than to let the wound sit, he really should have, but when given options you need to go with what you have. To be honest if John would have just popped out he wasn't too sure that he wouldn’t have been met with fatal blasts thanks to their assumptions.
When bones finished what he was doing John was breathing just a little heavier, trying not to fade out from the pain, he had always hated waking surgery the most. John heard about the injection and he nodded his head under Khans hands, not wanting to honestly move much more than that, he knew that he needed it. He couldn’t help but chuckle though at the doctors tone and when Bones went to leave he did bid him thank you. John had manners unlike others… though he did swipe the others comm. He had learned a few things from Sherlock in his day and petty theft was one of them. Not the proudest thing but hey, it worked, John sighed as they were left alone and felt content to just lay on the floor where he was.
"Yes I am feeling better but I think I may be needing to drift back off for a nap." John sighed heavily but after a moment he just shook his head. He wouldn’t be getting any sleep like this, on the ship surrounded by enemies, so instead he just laid there pretending to sleep for a while so that Khan wouldn’t move. It felt nice, to lay there with the ship blocked out by him and the universe muted, nice and calm. It felt safe.
**
Jim grinned when Bones came back unharmed, mentally high fiving himself, then he nodded to bones before looking to Spock and motioning for the other to follow him. "We'll post people around this level of the ship to keep people out and Khan in should they so choose to run. They most likely won't but we will keep them here but let's not tell Scotty where exactly they are and if he asks and starts looking we may have to detain him." Jim looked to a few security personnel and told them where they were supposed to be going and what they were supposed to be doing.
Jim watched them run off them looked to Spock. "I don't know how long we will be keeping them there but for now we won't do anything. I would prefer to negotiate with John, he is more rational, but should we need to speak with Khan leave that to me. The animosity between you two may hinder this. For now no one is to go near that room, for any reason, not for Khans safety but for their own and because despite what you all think I would rather NOT have to hurt John." Jim motioned to some other personnel and told them to locate Mr. Scott since the scanners were down.
"Meet me in conference room 3, we'll go over what we need to, then maybe we should have a talk with John to get our explanation." Jim sighed and walked away as the people he had talked to seemed to buzz about. They had orders not to go near any of the adjacent halls or the hall where the room was but to be close. When Jim sat down in the conference room he set his com down on the table and pinged it. "Well John I know you have this so, if you are alright, how about a bit of a talk while I am still alone?" Jim ran a hand through his hair.
John was drifting a bit when the com pinged and he heard the captains voice ring out over it. John sighed and lifted the comm up. "Yeah… I warn you now James it is not going to be a pretty story." John sighed heavily and pushed himself up so he was out of Khans lap but he was already feeling much better than he was before. "First off I want you to know that my full name is John, John Watson, and for a long while I lived at 221b Baker street." John leaned against the wall, not giving away anything about Khan, and he sighed. "I lost a game and wound up in the eugenics wars with Khan. Unfortunately I became his weakness, I say that willingly though he won't want me to because at this point I am tired James… I am very tired of the way we have had to live." John sighed heavily.
Jim ran a hand through his hair and sighed "I can tell… but I don't think you are a weakness John. I think you make him much, much, stronger and that is honestly quite terrifying." Jim chuckled along with John and John just sighed. "…. They made me to be hurt." Jim figured as much and John sounded tired. "They used me as a leash for Khan, to reign him in when need be and let him loose when they saw fit. When have spent many, many, years dealing with being separated and brought back together Jim." Jim sighed and didn't look up at more people entered the room.
"Khans only search was for me, at least I like to think that, because eugenics isn't fair Jim. We didn't get a say in what we became. The strongest among us were just like you and anyone else before they changed and then suddenly they were and they were asked to do things their minds couldn’t handle. Do you know what they did to failed experiments? They had me put them down. How many times I thought I would see them wheel S- Khan in because he decided he wasn't going to do it anymore. Then again they had me… They could make him destroy cities by handing me over to the right people." John was leaning against the wall, his whole body shaking, images danced behind his closed eyes as tears trailed down his cheeks.
"We didn't ask for any of this… but it can't be stopped with a bullet in the brain because we tried that. God we tried a lot when left alone and it's just so damn hard to kill something like us. We tried to run too but that didn't work before then finally, finally, after a long while I was able to bargain my way out of it all. They hoped we would all die but I didn't care about the others in the end. Don't think it was all Khan who needed me either because I needed him… before all this he was, is, the greatest man I have ever known and ever will know. The most human human being and dear god all of this was like watching him die all over again while he got to watch me burn." John wasn't too sure where he was anymore, talking about all of this was never something easy, and he could hear Jim saying something along the lines of if he was alright but John was a bit gone. |
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Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2014 2:42 pm
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“Right away, Captain,” Spock said as he followed Kirk and watched the blond speak to the security staff, mentally already gathering up a list of which officials he would give the commands to; the ones in charge of housing certainly, and a ship-wide message to bring everyone down from high-alert. Not lifting the ship's lock-down from incoming and outcoming traffic just yet; Khan was stationary and John had announced the escape attempt ended, but that was no reason to be completely lax until things calmed down and the situation was fully stabilized.
Though as Jim turned to him and spoke, Spock raised one eyebrow. “Are you implying I would allow my feelings to interfere with the diplomacy necessary to properly negotiate?” The half-Vulcan was of course as calm as ever; but anyone who'd seen the tapes of the fight between the super-human and half-human could easily see when Spock had good reason to go off the deep end he could pack one hell of a punch. Though Kirk also had first-hand experience of this as well, having been the object of Spock's unleashed ire once before. Luckily for everyone Spock was very well-practiced at controlling his emotions and far less likely to use the brute strength he had on other people … unlike Khan who used his brute strength (and quite a bit more than was necessary) to get from point A to point B along with cold impersonal, calculated attacks. Or, so Khan had before John had become an active part of the equation.
Spock shook his head. “Never mind; Khan has already made it clear he has no wish to open in civil communications with myself. Just remember to be cautious Kirk; I understand you have learned enough to feel sympathetic to their circumstances, but that does not change the fact that Khan is a wanted criminal, known terrorist, and threat not only to the people on this ship but also to those one earth. Our superiors will want to know this situation was properly handled,” the Vulcan reminded Jim as he often did. Kirk was very good at going with his gut and pulling off what most logic would dictate to be impossible, and Spock had grown to admire that if still shake his head at it often. Plus with their ranks in a current state of shifting and upheaval, this situation was more than just dealing with Khan.
One of the new Admirals newly risen in rank could easily want to use this event as a way to solidify their new political status by arguing for the harshest treatment possible for so 'vile a criminal', especially considering Khan had escaped containment and was currently largely left to his own devices. Kirk was no creature of politics and that 'nonsense' but Spock made it a point to try to look out for Kirk on that front where the other didn't pay much attention to the posturings of those in power.
With his two-cents said, Spock nodded went to talk to some personal of his own while Jim went to the conference room.
*
Khan still wasn't too happy with what John had had to go through, but was content with sitting and staying still while John rested where he was. His eyes were scanning the room they were in and mentally noting things to improve once John 'woke up' from his 'nap', mind set on fortifying this space now that it was clear that would be remaining in it for the near future. Deal or no deal Khan wasn't about to let his guard down when stuck in a hostile environment, and above all he needed to keep John safe.
So when the quiet was broken by the beeping of the stolen comm caught his attention. Khan frowned as John sat up despite the fact the other could clearly use some more rest instead of giving out painful explanations that could hurt the doctor in ways Khan could not heal with blood alone, though he'd tried often enough. But he couldn't just stand there and try in likely vain to make sure John stayed together either; after a moment of hesitation and giving the doctor a firm look Khan went to the mess of wires and began configuring things into a less-troublesome way of communicating by more fully reprogramming the wall panel touch-screen with commands that would be useful to him and Watson in the future. Liking hacking into the cameras into the outer hallways to show live feed to them, and easy hook-up into the audio broadcast system. Along with a few other little 'assurances' that were likely to come in handy.
Khan sighed, hearing John start to falter into dark territory and turning only to see the other in tears, and eyes far away, reliving horrors that were hard enough to live through once. He strode over, lightly taking the communicator away and putting one secure arm around the doctor, as if to bodily block the bout of PTSD swamping the other.
"Captain Kirk I'm afraid John will have to continue his little talk with you later. Now, onto business. John and I will require water and food brought to us at the usual intervals." Bio enhancement did have its perks, like less required to continue functioning; but just for Khan. Khan could eat one hearty meal with a drink once every two to three days or so and be just fine, but John had a more normalized metabolism and requirements, especially after getting injured. Otherwise for demands ... Khan figured they could raid the dresser for fresh clothing and share the small shower in the housing space they were currently secured in. There was not much to be needed, really, and Khan really, really did not care for any company more than was necessary. Inferior normal creatures, the lot of them; not a single decent conversation to be had.
As for John's condition, there was naught to be done for it. The other was one far too tied up in the past and what was; not only that the past rose up and frowned him from time to time ... but John was still John. Which was more than what could be said for himself. Right now though, he was Khan, and perhaps a little bit of Harrison as he made his demands. A terrorist and a superior being; both who cared little for those in his way. But which way to go now? He had John, and his options were limited if he could neither fight his way off of the ship properly or leave it of his own free will either. So, there they were at an impasse. The best thing to do was to find a way to safely sit and wait until more options became available.
"So Captain," the way Khan said the word almost made it into a back-handed compliment, "what exactly is it you intend to do with me and Watson, hm?" Might as well ask, even with the likelihood of a pleasing answer to be low.
*
In the conference room Spock had arrived with Pavel Chekov, Hikaru Sulu, Nyota Uhura, Carol Marcus, and Leonard McCoy, along with a particularly-unhappy Montgomery Scott walking into flop into a chair, sweaty and looking like he'd come right from working on the ship, though Chekov also looked like he'd been putting himself to some hard work; likely at Scotty's side. As unenthusiastic as the Russian had been to take the Scotsman's place, the young man did seem to enjoy the work when there was no navigation or pin-point teleportation jumps he could assist with. And with a ship getting repaired in orbit, there really wasn't much navigating to be done at all. |
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