Chapter Text
“Wait, leave a note when?”
Goodbye, John.
“No. Don’t-“
“Hey, are you finally awake?” Someone spoke very far away from him. No, the voice was speaking to him. Where was he? His senses slowly started awakening and he figured himself on a bed, feeling the softness of pillows underneath his throbbing head. He heard a voice in his head repeating a plea to him over and over. Whose voice was that? Someone begging him to not do something. Not remembering what, his consciousness became more and more alive as he felt that memory slipping.
Opening his eyes he saw a blurry figure above him beside a bright light that forced his eyesight to focus. There was a man there, with a white lab coat staring at him whilst moving his lips. As his hearing caught up with the present he realized the man was talking to him.
“Wake up, now will you? You’ve been sleeping for the past three days. You’d think your blood would’ve fixed you up already. I am Doctor Baso, a medical technician here at the compound. What’s your name?” Looking at the patient with blank indifference, he waited for his answer.
“I don’t- I don’t remember. Where am I?” Feeling his headache lessen, he sat up on the bed, looking down at himself. He was a very pale man, with well-defined muscles and a white sheet laying over his unclothed form.
“You’re safe now, and having tests run on you still, so don’t fret.”
What was this place? It felt like a hospital, but he looked at his surroundings for the first time and noticed far more strange equipment then there should be in a hospital room. There were all sorts of monitors, which is to be expected, and a few IV stands, but there was an arsenal of surgical -grade implements lining the walls that were akin to something more like weapons than innocent tools for medical practice. There were all sorts of sizes of syringes and needles, various metal prodding tools, different things with which to cut, and a terrifying array of restraints.
“I asked you where I am, and you tell me I’m safe. Safe is not a place. Now I ask again, where am I?” Surprising himself with the quickness of which he spoke, and his rather deep voice, he tried to steady his gaze into something intimidating into the Doctors eyes. He noticed that the Doctor was bald and wearing an expensive looking watch that he kept glancing at impatiently. The man looked at him with a blank, almost bored face.
“You are at the Compound, Augment, where you will stay until we've finished your tests.” Glancing up, he noticed a look of complete confusion on the black-haired patients face. “Can you seriously not remember anything?” Confusion now gracing the medical practitioners face. “That’s rather rare in you people.”
“You said ‘augment’, what does that mean? It’s certainly not my name. I can’t remember my name, but I think-“. Steadying his breathing, he hadn't realized he’d become a bit frantic. “I think my name started with an ‘S’.”
“Well, that can’t be right, your mind must be playing tricks on you. You’re records here say you’re name is Khan Noonien Singh.” Holding up a clipboard with a stack of papers neatly placed under the clamp, he scribbled something down that he read off of a machine that Khan now noticed led a tube right into his collarbone. “You’re a genetically engineered human called an Augment. You’ve superior abilities in every way including intellectually.” He did not look the slightest bit enamored with what he was saying. As if he was reading off of a cue card.
“You’re joking with me, right?” Gasping out the words as he felt a coughing fit hit him.
Baso sighed, making a vague attempt to avoid being in the line of fire. “None of that, now. You just need to slow down. You just got over a nasty fall from a five story building.”
Reeling at that statement, the surprise showing in his eyes “A five story building? Why the hell- no, how the hell did I fall from a five story building?”
“I don’t have time for this now.” Dr. Baso glanced down at his watch one last time. “I’ve got other patients to deal with. I’ll send for someone to come and talk to you, see if we can’t get you to remember something.” The Doctor left the room.
Khan’s head was reeling with questions. Contemplating the word ‘augment’ he now registered that Dr. Baso had said ‘you people’. Does that mean there’s more? There had to be more, he couldn’t- no, he wouldn’t be the only one. His thoughts came to a quick halt when he tried to brush the soot colored hair out of his eyes and he found he couldn’t move his left arm- or his right arm. There were white bands of leather secured around the hospital bed he was in. Freaking out, never remembering being used to any kind of restraints, he deftly snapped the band by jerking his arm up. Why would they bother securing him with something weak enough to break through? He snapped the other one just to be sure he wasn’t imagining anything about this situation. Hearing a click followed by the door in front of him opening, a brown-skinned man in a professional navy blue suit walked in, the soft expression on his face quickly replaced with one of slight fear.
“Shit, how did you break those cuffs?” the man spoke, his voice cracking with a hint of fear. “Those are supposed to be strong enough to hold you!”
“Excuse me?” The suave voice was slightly offended and still very befuddled.
“Shit- I mean, hello. I am Lucha.” The man was young, in his early 20’s, had three cats, and a love of spicy food from what Khan could tell. “Your physician informed me you were experiencing some amnesia. Is there any specific questions you have, or should I just tell you everything you’re allowed to know?” he took a seat on the black stool on the opposite side of the room.
Postulating as to why he would not be ‘allowed’ to know information about himself, he answered back with more confidence then what he had in the presence of Dr. Baso. “Who am I? I know my name is Khan, although I am positive that somehow isn’t right. Also, what is the ‘Compound’ and when are we?”
“When are we what?” he replied calmly.
“No, as in ‘what is the date?’ I don’t remember anything.” Khans face remained stoic and his eye twitched.
“It’s January third, 2257. As per your previous questions, you are Khan Noonien Singh, an Augment, and the compound is the headquarters for studying and developing your kind.”
Suddenly feeling quite perturbed at the strangeness of all this and slightly pissed because of it, Khan snarled at the man. “Are you daft? I said I knew my name, and I know what I am, or else I would’ve asked. Now, if you please, refrain from exercising your stupid.” Punctuating the last word, he sighed with condescension as if he were lecturing a child. “What do I do for a living? What were the conditions surrounding how I fell?”
“I’m not allowed to tell you that, sir, I’m sorry.”
“Are you joking? My occupation and how I came to be injured is ‘classified’? And what did you mean ‘your kind’? I may be better than you, but I am still human.” He had no idea where his sudden anger came from. It felt foreign, like he was angry at someone else.
Gulping and growing ever more uncomfortable at the fact that there was an angry augment who had broken the cuffs designed to hold augments, Lucha didn’t think Khan realized yet the implications of his outburst when he first noticed that he’d broken them. “I’m sorry, sir. Honestly, I do not know what you did or how you fell.” He was now lying so Khan didn’t get angrier with him. He was only an intern, and he was now genuinely afraid. “I’m sure everything will work out fine though, and you have a few more tests running, so I’d better leave-“
“Where is Dr. Baso? He knows how I fell, I know it, where is he?” yelling feverishly now, he didn’t even realize he’d stood up and started towards the door. Jumping up and placing his hands on Khans forearms, he tried to gently encourage him back into bed. “Sir, you can’t stand up yet, it’s not authorized, and you have to calm down!”
“Don’t touch me! Where is Dr. Baso?” shoving Lucha out of the way, he leaned towards the door handle, then heard a crash behind him coupled with a yelp of anguish. Staring back he saw that he’d whipped Lucha farther than he thought he could, causing his head to smash into the sink. There was now blood pooling underneath his pressed suit coming from the back of his head. Startled at his own strength, he quickly left the room closing the door behind him gently, planning to just simply walk away unnoticed.
Only he was noticed. Very quickly, and by everyone in the hallway.
In his grogginess and anger, he had forgotten he was completely naked.