Author's Note: Oh snap. A new chapter after many many months away. It's a really short chapter to be fair, but I just wanted to test the waters and see what interest I might stir up if I continue this story. Well, I'm back - perhaps momentarily, or perhaps to stay. I hope you all enjoy this newest installment of Through the Mirror Darkly! As always, reviews, favorites, and follows are greatly appreciated.

Special thanks to all of the devoted readers, and also to my new readers. Thank you for your patience - please enjoy!

Chapter 9: Tired of New Beginnings

"Are you done yet?"

Jim Kirk sighed into his oxygen mask, his breath rolling into steam against the glass visor. He pulled a strange rose-like flower from the sandy orange soil with his gloved hands and placed it into a sterile containment bag.

"Hold your horses, Bones. We're just getting a few more samples," Jim huffed.

Sulu glanced up from where he was gathering a sizeable pile of rocks a few meters away and grinned at his captain.

"Ever-impatient, isn't he?" Sulu chuckled over the comms. The unmistakable snort of indignation from Leonard followed, yet Sulu continued, "Terra-typing is an art form – this could save the Antarans years of research for their first off-planet colony."

Bones replied with some snappy comeback, but Jim tuned their banter out. His mind was elsewhere, thinking instead about the newest crewmember of the Enterprise. Khan Noonien Singh. Even thinking his name was difficult. For so long it had filled Jim Kirk with an inexplicable rage – Christopher Pike's face flashed like a light bulb in his mind's eye briefly – and yet this Khan, this new Khan, inspired something entirely different, something entirely opposite. Jim glanced up at the clear purple sky and the three moons hovering closely overhead. Would Pike have agreed with him? Would he have supported Jim's decision to let Khan aboard?

Kirk frowned to himself and kicked a pebble over the nearby cliff, sending it sailing down the churning rapids several hundred feet below.

Khan's frightened face suddenly filled his mind too. How terrified the man had seemed of him, and all of those damn scars! Jim kicked another, bigger rock over the ledge, sailing through the air in a perfect arc before also falling to its demise.

After a couple weeks of being with the Enterprise, Khan was still hesitant, watching every shadow, cautiously crossing every corner. He kept his distance still from Leonard, which thankfully the doctor hadn't taken personally, and outright avoided Spock. Even with Jim, he was still reticent to talk, especially when it came to the other James Kirk.

"Are you settling in okay?" Jim had asked Khan only days prior, nearly having to hunt the elusive man down to his own bedchambers just before the start of the on-board night cycle.

Khan had looked mildly surprised before smoothing his features into a placid mask of indifference. He nodded stiffly, "Yes, I'm fine. Captain."

He had tried to step into his room, but Jim followed, pretending to not get the hint.

"I saw that you had lunch with Scotty today – I hope he's not being too much of an ass," Jim smiled invitingly and leaned against the doorframe, effectively blocking Khan from disappearing behind his sliding doors to continue his hermitting. If Khan had noticed the deliberate action, he didn't show it.

Khan's steely eyes darted around the hallway before finally settling on meeting Jim's expectant stare.

"Engineer Scott is a kind man – despite his asinine commentary," a slow smile broke across Khan's face.

It's still strange, Jim remembered thinking guiltily, he wasn't sure that he would ever get used to seeing the same face of his most hated enemy smiling serenely back at him. What's more, he would have never thought that his smile itself might actually bring relief.

"That's good," Jim replied belatedly, awkwardly. He cleared his throat, "I mean, you're adjusting to crew life – excellent. I'm glad to see that you're making friends."

The dark haired man learned forward slightly, so deftly that Jim could have just imagined it surely. Pale scars peeked out from under Khan's typical black shirt, and Jim found himself tracing their shape, and then the curve of his neck, the strong angle of his jaw. Then finally meeting that icy stare again. Those eyes burned with something unknown.

"Aren't we friends?" Khan's voice had dropped to a lower timbre as he quirked his brows.

Jim felt dangerously close to spontaneously stumbling suddenly, like he might just fall over, without any reason or warning. The captain drew himself up straight and met Khan's gaze evenly, as he said, "Of course we are."

The statement hung in the air between the two men, and Jim mentally tested this new qualifier. Friends. It wasn't entirely accurate, yet Jim couldn't place exactly why he felt that way.

Khan's face had softened minutely, "Goodnight, James."

The door slid shut.

"Can you hurry up?" Bones' harsh voice brought Jim back to the present."Sulu's ready to be beamed back, and if you're not done, you'll be left in the dust. Literally."

"Easy doc, we're almost done here," Jim snatched up a few more samples of the sparse foliage and packed them safely away – hell, for all he knew he was just grabbing weeds to study. What an art form, he thought sarcastically. Nearby, Sulu disintegrated into light as he returned aboard the ship.

"Captain –," Spock's voice briefly came over the coms before erupting into static.

Jim not-so-gently tapped the main interface of his suit on his chest, listening for the signal to clear, yet with no such luck. Just as the captain was about to try opening the comm channel again, the ground under his boot groaned loudly.

Deep, powerful vibrations traveled up through the rock, making seemingly the entire planet shudder as the world moaned. Jim dropped to his knees, letting the tremors rock his flaccid body.

Overhead, the moons themselves seemed to be shaking in the sky.

. . . . .

"It's an earthquake, so to speak," Khan's voice was too close behind Spock.

The monitor the FO was staring at displayed both Jim's live camera feed, albeit very grainy feed, and the thermal readings from the Enterprises atmospheric scans, red and yellow swirls shifting between the passing minutes. In the bottom left corner of the hologram, Jim's heartbeat spiked abruptly.

"So it would seem," the Vulcan said measuredly. "Uhura, prepare for a single landing crew. I will retrieve the Captain."

The tanned woman met Spock's stare with even understanding before Khan stepped between the two, still within arm's reach. Spock resisted every urge in his body to step away from the man, and forced back any hint of annoyance that threatened to surface.

"Perhaps it would be best to not go alone," Khan lifted his chin. "In the worst case scenario, perhaps another person of extrahuman abilities would be helpful."

"You are not permitted to be a member of a landing party," Spock bit out in response.

"The data, and Jame's life, could both be at risk. Why take that chance?"

"When instead break regulation and bring you planet-side? Illogical. This is a standard quake, expected when dealing with this planet as recorded in the orbital surveys. A one-man party is all that is required."

James, the name rang in Spock's head as he studied Khan's face, his razor cheekbones and cool gaze. How had the Captain placed exorbitant faith in this man? Had he already forgotten so easily everything they had faced with the other Khan? Was this man truly any different?

Spock felt his hand twitch, remembering the feel of Khan's cheekbones breaking under his fists no so long ago, the feel of the hot slick blood of his enemy, of the man who Spock had believed murdered Jim Kirk. He remembered the boiling rage, the futility in his actions.

All of his anguish, his surge of emotions – and with what results? Khan Noonien Singh yet lived, standing before the Vulcan in a different skin, with different eyes.

Without a word, Spock strode toward the transport deck, crossing the conn in a few long strides. When he reached the sliding doors, he paused and glanced back.

"Prepare another set of gear, Uhura."

Spock's eyes never left Khan's.