Chapter Text
One day before the party.
Khan was on New Vulcan, he had just returned with Event Horizon. The twelve were brought to the same hospital where he had been brought back to life.
Then they had received a note from T’ris. It was of course about the rift between times-spaces that Alignment would cause in the future. Something had got through, and it was approaching Earth, fast. It looked like the Enterprise. It had the same personnel as the Enterprise, but it of course wasn’t the same one.
Mary Celeste had been hesitant on attacking, since the mirror-Enterprise looked really well armed. So T’ris had called for backup. Event Horizon was sent for the mission, of course. Lakashmi, Khan, several others and Carol were onboard. They formed a plan after T’ris’ raport. The plan was really easy on paper. Classic bait trap.
Arrival, the other Enterprise had flown shields up all the way. Event Horizon had forced it to stop several sectors before Earth. Yelling and screaming, they could listen to the line, the other Jim yelling for orders "people will start losing heads, unless you find the reason why we have stopped, now!” Alexander Marcus was onboard, too. He had taken over the ship, but was cautious about Jim, since that man was just waiting to taking his place. Jim was of course set his guards on him. They would not hesitant to kill him. They all had been sent out to take out Khan and Lakashmi and the rest of them that had escaped. The other Vengeance had been hijacked by another version of Carol.
Khan had prepared for this, of course. The possibility that something else would come through as well, had been there. Something else than the Armada, and now it was here.
Carol prepared for her job, she had special plating in her uniform, in case she had been shot. The other Enterprise very likely didn’t keep their guns on stun.
Carol and Khan switched places, now she appeared as the Captain, and no one else was in view. Even Horizon altered the image so that it looked like Carol was sitting in the Chair, onboard Vengeance. Khan had drawn the first draft, in detail, from memory.
”Hi, father. I received your note, I’m here to help,” she said.
”Carol! How did you get Vengeance?” Admiral Marcus was clearly shocked but also relieved. This insanity would end. Carol was here to help. And then Jim and the rest would die.
”I took it,” Carol said, keeping her voice somewhat arrogant.
”Of course. You’re my daughter,” Alexander said, sounding proud.
”I’ll tell you how this goes. I will get my father back, alive and unharmed. If I have to walk over your cold corpses to do so, I will. Give him to me and I will let you go, and you will all be rewarded,” Carol said, managing to get hints of Khan’s voice into her own.
”What can you give?” asked the other Jim, greedy.
”A new faster ship, girls, boys, penthouse with a view to the Bay, the rank of an Admiral.. for starters,” Carol said, smiling coldly.
”How can I trust you?”
”You’re looking at the most powerful person in the entire Federation, right now. We have almost won the war. The winners write history, and they take what they want. Then – we’ll share the loot,” said Carol.
”Deal. Of course nothing happened here. We’re still in relations,” said Jim, considering his new houses and whether or not his future toyboys would survive Spock when he got into the mood – the idea making him, rather interested.
”Of course. You have my word, and his,” said Carol. She stood up from the Chair and pretended to press some controls. The view on screen of Enterprise went dark and then to static.
Admiral Marcus was marched to the transporter room. Event Horizon picked him up from there, beamed him to the middle of the bridge. He looked around in confusion, this looked different. This whole place looked different.
”Hello, Alexander..” Khan said from his throne.
The tone of voice could have turned the previous Carol from three years ago, into a statue of stone by horror. The new Carol just waited what would happen.
”Khan – how is this possible?” Marcus demanded, silently begging for his life, keeping his voice down.
”I would be more worried about your daughter in this situation”, Khan said. It was hard to stay still. Every fiber in his body wanted to rip Alexander Marcus to pieces, as slowly as possible, this time.
”Carol – are you in danger?” genuine, true concern.
”Good night,” said Carol, and shot him in the chest. Alexander’s face turned into disbelief and then into dismay. It was all on stun, of course. Alexander collapsed and was dragged out by Lakashmi. Carol took her seat, on Khan’s left. Now the actual view from Even Horizon’s bridge was showing to the Enterprise’s screen.
Jim hadn’t hesitated. He had screamed out ”FIRE!” the second Khan had appeared.
Event Horizon didn’t even bother to de-cloack. In the shadow’s safety it aligned the warp modules.
”Any last words?” Khan asked, smiling politely. He of course hadn’t planned for them to answer, and commanded the ship, in High Vulcan, to attack.
The pulse first destroyed the shields, and then cut every module off each other – life support disappeared in a blast. The other Jim had realized that he was a goner, and done what every Jim, in every universe, every timeline, would do: hoped that Spock would survive.
It was too late. The lovers from the darker side found each other though the chaos on the bridge, they could see Chekov screaming in horror, holding his hands in front of his head, Sulu looking like nothing was real, Nyota shooting Sulu in the head, not with stun– and then turning the gun at her own head, she would leave by her own terms, placed the phaser at her temple, pulled the trigger, but Jim and Spock didn’t notice anything else, it was indifferent, all that mattered – was the other – they embraced each other – the last hug – the last kiss – the last meld – the last ”Spock” – the last ”Jim”- and then the pulse had found something vital – the warp core – and set it off.
Event Horizon dimmed the view – and the dot of Enteprise disappeared from the map – disappeared in a blaze brighter than the sun.
Course was set to present day Earth, San Fransisco.
**
Admiral Marcus from the other side of the mirror regained consciousness a full day later, he had been drugged after Carol had shot him, and realized at once where he was. The torture chamber of his own design. He tried breaking out, he knew it was useless, and then he saw Carol in the other cylinder. She was sitting, leaning her head back against the glass. There was blood on her face.
”What have you done to my daughter, you son of a bitch?” Admiral Marcus screamed, in terror.
Khan walked to the room, dressed as Fleet Admiral.
”She’s here because she wanted to be,” said Khan, almost laughing.
”No! Do whatever you want with me, but leave her alone!” Marcus’ voice cracked, at the end of the sentence.
”Let me out! I did my part of the deal!” screamed Carol, sounding scared.
”You did, yes. However I need you – to know where the rest of my crew is, right now. Where are they.. Alexander?”
Alexander had grown pale. He looked around the room, looked at Carol.
”If you say that you killed them, I’ll power on her little ..compartment,” Khan threatened, smiling. This was divine, divine – divine, and intoxicating.
Marcus let out a cry and slammed his fist against the glass, likely breaking some bones in the process.
”I take that as a refusal to cooperate. You should know yourself, what happens next..” Khan said, playing the words. Divine, absolutely divine. I get to kill him again ..
”Please – no. I’m a very powerful man, everything you want – everything – I can give it to you, but please don’t harm her-” Marcus was actually crying, desperate.
”You killed them, didn’t you,” Khan said, acting.
– she was just following my orders – she-”
”Everything you could offer – I already have. I have taken over your little Starfleet.” Khan placed his words with caution. A second moment like this was god-given. It wasn’t a nice God, at all. Kali herself.
”Don’t.. please don’t harm my child. She-”
The sentence ended in a shriek when Khan pressed the button.
Instead of Carol screaming the following happened: the glass door of the agonizer opened. Admiral Marcus understood that he had been betrayed. That his own daughter had betrayed him. Carol stepped out, and went to the small table to pour herself a drink. Then she went to face her father; a grim meeting. All softness had disappeared from her.
”At first I thought I had nothing in common with you. You are a cruel, twisted, corrupted man, and I was ashamed of being your daughter, thought that I was all alone in the world,” Carol said.
Alexander took the hits, aim to the head, his world crumbling to dust around him.
”But then I found myself a new father, a leader, a teacher. I realized there’s more of your legacy in me than I thought,” Carol said, firing her words like weapons.
”When you think back of the chain of actions and people that led you here to die: I want you to know that the last link was me,” Carol said, staring her father to the eyes.
She turned around to meet Khan and Lakashmi.
”He’s all yours,” Carol said, and walked out of the door.