A/N: Just when I thought I'd lost all inspiration for Khanolly, this little ficlet slammed into me today. Rated K+, Khan is Sherlock, dystopian, angsty. Hope y'all like it!

"How dare you show your face to me!" Molly hissed as the man she'd once known as Sherlock Holmes entered the room to which she'd been so recently - and ignominiously - assigned. A room in the harem, where his concubines - whose beds, she knew, he'd never visited - resided. Janine, Sarah, Sally, Soo Lin - all had scattered at his appearance in their sumptuous (overdecorated, overstuffed) quarters.

Quarters she'd thought never to visit, let alone be assigned to.

"I was your wife!" she shouted while Khan, as Sherlock now styled himself, stared at her through hooded eyes. She'd known he'd changed during the Augmentation program he'd undergone at the hands of the radical militant group that had seized control of the UK - and a good half of the rest of the world - but never ever had she believed he would turn on her.

John Watson probably believed the same thing, a voice she recognized angrily as her own whispered at the back of her mind. And where is he now? With Mary, leading the rebellion against your husband. Former husband.

She blinked back angry tears of remembered humiliation: she'd been literally dragged from her throne, cast down at Sherlock's feet by his hulking bodyguard Joachim, and been pronounced "unfit" to rule by her husband's side as a mere Human.

Oh, how those words had stung; oh how betrayed she'd felt and still felt and always would feel, to be cast aside by the very man who'd sworn to love and protect her, to stand by her side in sickness and in health, til death–

"Molly!" That impatient tone snapped her attention back to the present; without conscious thought, she curled her fingers into claws, screamed and launched herself at him, aiming for his eyes, revenge the only thing on her mind.

He fended her off easily, of course; what could she, a mere Human woman with only the most basic of combat training - almost entirely defensive in nature - do against an Augmented member of the new Super Race?

Grasping her wrists tightly enough to hold her in place but, surprisingly, not so tightly as to actually hurt her, he waited patiently until her fit of rage had passed, and waited even more patiently as the angry tears that overtook her had slowed to a few hiccuping sobs. "Are you ready to listen to me now?"

She glared up at him through red-rimmed eyes. "I don't want to hear anything from you except 'I'm sorry Molly, it was all a mistake, do forgive me'," she muttered.

"For what it's worth, I am sorry, Molly," he said, the words so unexpected she ceased her half-hearted attempts to free herself from his grasp and stared up at him.

"I am sorry, but it wasn't a mistake," he continued, finally releasing her, allowing her to stumble back a few steps. "I had to do it. To save your life. If I hadn't," he stopped, swallowing hard, an expression of guilt/grief/sorrow flashing across his face so swiftly she might have missed it. "If I hadn't," he continued softly, "you would have been put to death by our dear emperor. Former flame or not, Moriarty would have no compunctions in sending Moran here to break your neck."

Molly stifled a gasp, eyes wide with shock and horror. Jim - Emperor Moriarty - had resided over her wedding to Khan only days after he'd been Augmented. "Why change his mind about me now?" she whispered, not understanding.

"Because he's decided the sentiment of any kind is a weakness we Augments can no longer afford," Khan said grimly. "A change of mind no doubt influenced by the Empress."

The Empress. Sherlock's sister Eurus, the mastermind behind the Augmentation process and rumored to be not only the true power behind the worldwide takeover by the Superhumans, but also the true power behind Emperor Moriarty.

Molly shivered. "So you had me downsized to Consort," she said. "To save my life. But why not just tell me what was going on?"

"Because I had to be sure they believed me," Khan - Sherlock - said gently, reaching out and clasping her shaking hands in his. "I'm so sorry, Molly, but no one could act well enough to fool my sister. You know that."

She did, and acknowledged the truth of his words with a despondent nod. "So what now?"

"Now I let Eurus marry me off to Irene Adler," he said grimly. "And I allow Sally to explain to you just how things work here - such as," he added with an unexpected grin, "how to contact John and Mary Watson with information I give you when I visit the harim."

Molly gasped. "What?! You mean…you're part of the rebellion?"

He nodded, once again smiling, that old Sherlockian smile, the one that crinkled the corners of his eyes and lit up his entire face. God she'd missed that smile! "Of course. This entire world takeover and creation of 'super humans' is bound to fail. And the sooner we can make that happen, the better. So, Molly Hooper, what do you say? Can you stand to be one of many instead of my one and only? Although," he added, his tone and expression both softening, "that only pertains to matters of the body. Here, where it counts," he released one hand in order to press his fingers over his heart, "you are still the one that matters most, and always will be."

She studied him for a moment, gauging his sincerity, well aware that this could be some kind of elaborate trap, an excuse to have her executed for treason as Mycroft and Anthea had been - but no. If Khan wanted her dead, he'd simply have had her executed. Or allowed Moriarty's hatchet man, Sebastion Moran, to do the honours.

Decision made, she took a deep breath and asked, "What do you need?

And Khan, her Sherlock, whispered, "You" as he leaned down to seal their clandestine bargain with a loving kiss.