Chapter Text
Leonard wasn’t prepared for this. Yes, it had been almost 300 years, but this wasn’t a scenario he had ever expected to happen. It was supposed to be over; that life. So standing there, with Khan Noonien Singh locked in the brig before him, he could admit to himself that he was panicking. As Jim and Spock walked right up to the trapped man, Leonard hung back with his head down, trying to control his breathing and keep unnoticed by the tall dark haired man from his past. This can’t be happening, he thought. He hadn’t wanted to run so badly in years but now he could feel his heart pounding in a way that it just didn’t any more. He could hear Jim getting antsy with Khan – and what was it with the guy calling himself John Harrison? It didn’t suit him and Leonard definitely wasn’t flattered – so he steeled himself and walked over, keeping his head down.
“Dr McCoy here is going to take a blood sample now. Do behave for him,” Jim was saying so Leonard knew he couldn’t hide any more. He looked up, meeting Khan’s eyes instantly…and got exactly the reaction he was hoping not to receive. Khan’s eyes widened in shock and horror (though for an instant Leonard was sure he also saw a tiny bit of relief which he couldn’t understand and so decided to ignore – he had bigger problems after all.) and he stepped back from the glass quickly, never looking away from Leonard. He was shaking his head, muttering ‘no’ over and over, and as he did so, his whole self got angrier. Leonard didn’t look away from him either, despite knowing that they weren’t alone and that Jim and Spock were sharing confused frowns. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do. Should he continue trying to hide his true identity, even though there would definitely be questions from the two men beside him? Or did he finally admit to his past and stop hiding? He was tired of constantly being alone, and he had found a good friend, a brother, in Jim, so perhaps it was time to be honest. This decided he gave Khan a grim smile and said “It’s been a while.”
Khan looked like he wasn’t going to answer but managed to say stiffly “It has.” Jim and Spock were now shooting looks between the two of them and Leonard knew that it wouldn’t be long before one of them interjected. He still wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say, or even what he wanted to say, but he was too worked up to keep quiet. “Sooooo….you’re back. On Earth.”
“Are we really doing this John?” Khan asked irritably. “Pretending that we did not spend years trying to permanently kill each other? Just ask your questions.”
“Fine,” Leonard replied just as angrily. “Why are you back on Earth? How even?” He knew that he was drawing even more interest and confusion from their audience but he had to know. Khan was supposed to be gone from his life, forever. They glared at each other but eventually Khan deigned to answer him.
“I was not planning to come back. I did not have much choice though.” His voice was filled with more malice than Leonard had ever heard in it so he didn’t envy whoever it was that had it directed at them.
“What do you mean? Who could have made the great Khan Noonien Singh act against his will,” Leonard said mockingly and suddenly Khan was right up against the glass in front of him, hands curled in fists as he glared with such hatred that Leonard would have flinched if he wasn’t used to the look, regardless of the fact he hadn’t seen it in centuries.
“We cannot all be as free as the Reaper,” Khan spat at him. “Just because you care for none but yourself-“
“Now you know that isn’t true!” Leonard shouted, anger making his blood boil. He hated that Khan had always been able to make him lose himself in rage with just a few words. It seemed that even now, after so long apart, they were stuck in the same cycle of angry words and harsh actions.
“Is it not?” Khan asked spitefully.
“No,” he replied firmly. Khan tutted, and finally turned his gaze from Leonard to glare off to the side but Leonard didn’t look away from him. He’d learnt that lesson the hard way.
“Bones…” was suddenly uttered quietly from beside him and he sighed, knowing he had to give answers to someone else soon but he needed to finish interrogating Khan first.
“Just tell me who brought you back to Earth. And why you’re here, on the Enterprise. I know you, you let yourself be caught.” Khan stared at him, obviously assessing whether to answer or not but he seemed to want to.
“You never seem to work for acceptable people Reaper. You should stick to the solo life.”
“What do you mean?” Leonard asked. “What has Starfleet got to do with this?”
“Why do you think I destroyed Section 31? And then went after the senior members of Starfleet?”
Leonard thought about it and suddenly it all clicked.
“Marcus. Admiral Marcus. He was head of Section 31, and he sent us after you. He found the S.S Botany Bay.” Khan grinned at him, seemingly impressed.
“Very good John. Still as clever as ever.”
“With age comes wisdom. And I don’t go by John anymore. Though it seems you do.”
“Are you flattered?” Khan was smirking now, done with the fear and settling back into his arrogant self.
Hardly,” Leonard replied easily, not giving an inch. Khan didn’t lose his smirk though.
“So what do you go by?”
“Leonard. Not that you have any reason to call me that. Now why did you let yourself get caught?” Khan’s expression became grim again, his mouth twisting up into a snarl.
“You remember my family, Leonard? How much they meant to me? How I would do anything for them?”
“Marcus has them doesn’t he?” Leonard guessed.
“He did. Now they are in your torpedoes.” Leonard raises both eyebrows at that. It was a Leonard McCoy gesture, and though every second he spent in Khan’s company he felt John Grimm/Reaper sliding into place, this persona was the closest to his original and was his favourite. Khan didn’t shrug at him but Leonard felt the action all the same in his eyes; they were saying that he had his reasons and he didn’t need to explain them to such lowly people. (The last part might have just been Leonard’s biased thoughts but he doubted he was far off.)
“What a safe place to put them.” He turned up the sarcasm, the best defence he’d ever had. “Mind explaining why you thought torpedoes were a good hiding place?”
“I had to get them away from Marcus. However, before I could steal them away, he caught on to me and I had to run.” Khan looked slightly more composed now, though Leonard could see the moisture trapped in the corners of his eyes.
“You knew whoever he sent after you would be carrying the torpedoes. That he’d use them against you as punishment.”
“You know how humans are,” Khan said, his smile back and spiteful. “They are always looking to control and hurt you.”
“Not all of them,” Leonard answered reflexively. They’d had the argument on humanity so many times that they knew their lines perfectly. It was the topic they always circled back to, no matter what they started fighting about. Another thought made its way into Leonard’s head and he glared accusingly at Khan. “You wouldn’t also happen to know why the Enterprise is stuck in enemy space, would you?” Khan’s grin was answer enough but Leonard crossed his arms, waiting for an actual response.
“Marcus, like all humans, craves power. He wants a war with the Klingons, and if a Starfleet ship is caught having fired upon their home world? Then he will have it.”
“Just what I need, to be involved in another war because of you,” Leonard muttered, his voice annoyed and Khan obviously wasn’t pleased with either his tone or his words because he replied heatedly “I did not cause the first one.”
“Well you weren’t exactly innocent,” Leonard threw back and then they were glaring at each other again.
“He will not let me go. I have given him too much,” Khan said quietly, and Leonard’s glare softened into a frown.
“What do you mean?” Memories of Khan’s talents jumped quickly to mind. “What have you given him?”
“Something to win his war. A ship with capabilities that you cannot hope to win against.”
“Great.” He turned away from the glass separating the two of them now and found himself looking at Jim and Spock. The Vulcan wasn’t one for showing emotion, but Leonard could read the same emotions in his eyes that were clearly displayed across Jim’s face. He owed them a very long explanation but it appeared that it would have to wait. He turned back to Khan and said begrudgingly “I guess we can’t let him get his hands on you.” Khan let out a short, disbelieving laugh, and Leonard was back to glaring at him. “That doesn’t mean I won’t kick your ass.”
“I would expect nothing less,” Khan said, falsely sweet and Leonard couldn’t help the snort from escaping.
“Does someone want to explain to me what the hell is going on?” Jim’s voice suddenly burst out, and Leonard was silently impressed that he had managed to last so long without interrupting.
“Marcus is coming to kill us,” Leonard said bluntly. “Most likely anyway. He’ll probably try to convince you to give up Khan but that really isn’t an option.” Khan looked smug here so Leonard was quick to add “I’ll kill him if we have to make a choice between him and us.” The smugness was swiftly replaced with hatred and Leonard let himself grin at that.
“Why would the Admiral do such a thing?” Spock asked. “Are we really expected to trust this man? He is a killer.” Leonard was quick to answer before Khan could rattle of the usual “Because he’s human” answer.
“Marcus is a military man and a war would gain him a lot of prestige, especially if he’s the only one with the technology capable of handling it. As for trusting Khan? I’d advise against ever doing that but it’s not as if Marcus has been particularly honest. For god’s sake, he had us chasing a man that doesn’t exist. John Harrison is nothing more than a front. Starfleet runs background on all personnel; Marcus would’ve known that it was a fake identity, especially seeing as he was employing him for a secret section.”
“There’s still a lot of explaining that needs doing Bones,” Jim said, looking at him expectantly and Leonard hated the flicker of hurt he could see in those bright blue eyes.
“I know. But we can’t be caught here. We need to get Enterprise running and get back to Earth. I’ll explain everything there, I promise.” He looked at Jim pleadingly and luckily the younger man understood just how serious the situation was.
“Spock, go to the bridge, make sure there’s no other problems and be ready to leave on my word. I’ll head down to engineering and try and help Chekov. Bones…”
“I’ll stay here. Just in case we need to move Khan quickly.” At Jim’s worried looked Leonard hurried to reassure him. “Don’t worry, I can handle him.” Jim still looked sceptical but he left with Spock. Leonard let out a sigh then turned an exhausted glare on Khan. “Why do you always have to ruin things?” Khan looked insulted at that and quickly defended himself.
“I did not do this purposefully to ruin your little lie. It is not like you would have had long here anyway.”
“That is beside the point! Every time I think I can just be happy, suddenly you’re there causing trouble. You were supposed to leave Earth and I would never have to see you again!”
“Then why offer to watch me? Why not let Marcus take me?” Khan seemed unnervingly interested in his answers, watching him with narrowed but curious eyes. Leonard wasn’t really sure of the answer but he answered anyway.
“No one needs a war, and if Marcus has you then there will be no stopping him. Besides, only I’m allowed to kill you.” Khan actually laughed at that and Leonard found himself smiling humourously as well.
“So the fearsome Reaper, killer of augments, is to be my protector?” Khan asked, irony heavy in his voice.
“I guess so. Means you better be careful to do as I say.” They stared at each other neutrally now. They both realised that if they wanted to get through this then they were going to have to work together. They had never done it before but Leonard was sure that they knew each other better than anyone else ever could, despite the long gap between last seeing each other. Khan wouldn’t have changed much, what with being frozen, though he had probably become more ruthless, and Leonard knew that he himself had barely changed. Yes, he’d spent the last few decades living passively, but the Reaper was always just under the surface. They knew each other, so how hard could it really be? He wasn’t sure that he actually wanted that question answered though.