Y/N's P.O.V.
"Back for another visit?" Khan asked as I stepped into the brig.
"I'm head of security. It my job." He nodded his head, sitting on the edge of the bed in the cell.
"Yesterday you implied that you're a killer. Judging my the way you handled yourself on Kronos I'd like to say you have a military history, but that's not all, is it? There's something else..." He looked at me carefully.
"You're a very skilled fighter, where did you learn?"
"You're correct about the military, I served for more than a few years. My father was a military man. He taught me how to fight from a young age, he insisted I lean a range of fighting styles." I smiled a little at the memories.
"He was a good man. My hero."
"I'm sure he would be proud of all you've achieved." Khan spoke sincerely and my chest tightened. He barely even knew me, but his words held a genuine kindness, which I had not experienced in a long time. The doors opened quite suddenly and Kirk stormed in, Spock following close behind.
"Why is there a man in that torpedo?" He asked Khan, who's face became void of emotion as soon as he saw the Captain.
"There are men and women in all of those torpedoes, Captain. I am the one that put them there." Khan spoke calmly and I furrowed my brow in confusion.
"Who the Hell are you?" Kirk asked and Khan looked at me, a sad look in his eyes.
"A remnant of a time long past. Genetically engineered to be superior, to lead others to peace in a world at war. We were condemned as criminals, forced into exile. For centuries we slept, hoping that when we awoke things would be different." He turned his head to look at Spock. There was a hint of anger in his eyes.
"But as a result of the destruction of Vulcan, your Starfleet began to aggressively search distance quadrants of space. My ship was found adrift. I, alone, was revived."
"I looked up John Harrison, until a year ago, he didn't exist." Kirk interrupted and I gave him a stern look.
"John Harrison was a fiction created, the moment I was awoken, by your Admiral Marcus to help him advance his cause. A smokescreen to conceal my true identity. My name is Khan." He stood up, looking at the Captain, who seemed confused.
"Why would a Starfleet admiral ask a 300 year old frozen man for help?" Kirk asked and I had to admit, it was a good question. Could have been worded better, but it was a good question.
"Because I am... better." Khan stated.
"At what?"
"Everything." Khan deadpanned.
"Alexander Marcus needed to respond to an uncivilised threat in a civilised time and for that, he needed a warrior's mind. My mind. To design weapons and warships."
"You are suggesting the admiral violated every regulation he vowed to uphold, simply because he wanted to exploit your intellect?" Spock questioned.
"He wanted to exploit my savagery." Khan glared at the Vulcan slightly.
"Intellect alone is useless in a fight. Mr Spock, you... you can't even break a rule, how would you be expected to break bone?" Spock fell silent and Khan's eyes landed on me again.
"Marcus used me to design weapons, to help him realise his vision of a militarised Starfleet. He sent you to use those weapons. To fire my torpedoes on an unsuspecting planet and then he purposely crippled your ship in enemy space, leading to one inevitable outcome. The Klingons would come searching for whoever was responsible and you would have no chance of escape. Marcus would finally have the war he talked about. The war he always wanted."
"No." Kirk shook his head.
"No, I watched you open fire in a room full of unarmed Starfleet officers. You killed them in cold blood!"
"Marcus took my crew from me!" Khan shouted back and for a second, my heart broke for him. He told me his crew was his family. I knew what it was like to have your family taken from you and suddenly I understood his anger.
"You are a murderer!" Kirk yelled and Khan turned his back on us.
"He used my friends to control me." Khan took deep breaths.
"I tried to smuggle them to safety by concealing them in the very weapons I had designed... but I was discovered. I had no choice, but to escape alone. And when I did, I had every reason to suspect that Marcus had killed every single one of the people I hold most dear. So I responded in kind." Khan turned to face us again, a single year falling down his face.
"My crew is my family, Kirk. Is there anything you would not do for your family?" The brig fell silent for a moment and Kirk and Spock were called up to the bridge.
"Lieutenant, a word?" Kirk asked and I followed the pair out of the brig, except Kirk nodded to Spock and he headed for the brig.
"I want eyes on him at all times and don't believe a word he says. He's clearly trying to turn us on Starfleet."
"Captain, I don't think that's what he's trying to do at all." I shook my head and Kirk's eyes widened.
"I'm very good at telling when someone is lying, you know that. Khan was not lying-"
"That's an order, Lieutenant." Kirk cut me off, a cold look in his eyes. I reluctantly nodded my head and he walked away.
