BLUE SUN ROOM FAN FICTION - DRAMA

SILLYLITTLEDUCK

Episode 15 - You Can't Go Home Again: Part 4 of 6
Thursday, June 15, 2006

Mal stumbles upon a new job and has to ask for Inara's help.


CATEGORY: FICTION    TIMES READ: 2614    RATING: 9    SERIES: FIREFLY

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, From Bad to Worse: by RiverIsMyGoddess <---companion piece to this

~

“Hey do you want to go into town?” Kaylee leaned into the infirmary where Simon was cleaning up after attending to Mal's 'not shot in the butt' wound. Mal had been released with little more than a good sterilization and a glorified band-aid. He'd be less than comfortable sitting for a while, but he was fine.

“Do you think it's safe?”

“Oh yeah, Shadow is where browncoats started. You ain't gonna find the Alliance here.” Simon smiled at the prospect of spending all afternoon with Kaylee. He had a pang of guilt for leaving River, her violent and uncontrollable condition had forced Simon to give her a smoother. He knew she'd be out until late that night.

“Let me make sure Book will be okay watching out for River if she happens to wake up.” They walked out of the infirmary and saw Book reading his bible in one of the passenger lounge chairs, Simon quickly asked Book and made a list of instructions for if she wakes up and need medications or another smoother. 5 minutes later they were walking down a dirt path leading from the ship into town.

“Let me guess, you ain't ever been to a junk shop before.” Kaylee speculated as they walked casually together, it was a warm day and she unzipped her jumpsuit and wrapped the arms around her waist. The whole time she noticed Simon's eyes on her, studying her every move. Her heart skipped a little and she couldn't keep a smile off her face. Simon blushed when she looked over at him, and he set his eyes back onto the path in front of them.

“You would be guessing right. I uhm...” Simon coughed unsure if he should admit to this. “I'd never really ever heard of one before my time on Serenity.” He glanced over at Kaylee again, her warm smile both relaxing him and tying his stomach in knots.

“Well you're in for a real treat today, hours and hours of rifling through possibilities.” Her eyes got a far away look as she talked about it.

“Possibilities?” Simon asked, confused by her excitement.

“Well yeah, you can make just about anything out of the stuff you find in a scrap yard. The pieces, they just speak to ya sometimes. Dying to be made into this or that.”

“Yes well, I don't have your gift. Mechanics don't 'speak' to me like they do you.”

Kaylee shrugged. “It's still shiny you came. Get you off the ship where you hide and into the fresh air.”

“It's not like I want to hide or anything. I just don't want to get caught for something as superficial as seeing the sights.”

“I know, but it don't mean you ain't gettin' pasty skinned because of it.” She smiled inwardly at her playful dig.

“I'll have you know I usually have a lovely complexion.” Kaylee stopped walking and stepped in front of Simon. She grabbed his chin and adopted a serious expression.

“Well, I'm looking for it, but all I'm seein' is pasty.” She broke into a smile as Simon caught onto her joke.

“Humorous, really I just might die from laughter.”

“Oh come on Simon, ain't gotta be serious all the time.” They started walking towards town again.

“I wasn't being serious, I was being facetious.” Simon insisted defensively.

“Ain't sure what that means, but you looked serious to me.” She face still bright with a glowing smile and her step light.

“It means to be playfully jocular,” He tried to explain.

“Ain't sure what that word means either.” Kaylee looked over at him and smiled playfully, enjoying their banter.

“Jocular means... it's characterized by joking. You know what characterizing means right?”

“What, it's not like I'm deficient! And yes I know what deficient means.” Kaylee kicked a rock in front of her. She hadn't been embarrassed by asking what his words meant, but he'd made her sound like some 6 year old by asking if she knew what it had meant.

“Kaylee, I didn't mean, I was justing trying to be playful. Ya know, like you said...” He put on the friendliest smile he could manage. Kaylee opened her mouth to respond but instead noticed a woman standing by a tree, it looked as if she'd been waiting for them. Kaylee reached her hand out to stop Simon.

“Wait a second...” She stepped closer to the women and asked. “Can we help you? Hold on you're Anna, right? From the bar earlier?”

“I'm so glad you remember me, I need to speak with Mal.”

~

“I'm so sorry to come to you like this Mal, I just didn't know what else to do.” Anna said after she took the seat across form Mal at the kitchen table.

“It's alright, just tell me what's going on?”

“It's Frank. I need to run. I'm afraid he's going to kill me.”

“Frank?” Mal repeated in disbelief.

“You've been gone a long time Mal, things change.”

“But Frank?”

“The bar this morning, Frank and I bought that from Richardson's widow when he died about 5 years back. The pressures are different Mal, it's not like being one of your Ma's hands. He started hanging out with the bar regulars more and more. That meant drinkin' more an' more. The more he drank the less and less like the wonderful man I married he became.

“It shook me up hard the first time he lifted a hand to me. I was ready to leave him right then. But,” Anna's voice broke and she looked down at the kitchen table Mal and Anna were sitting at. It took her a moment to regain her composure. “I was scared Mal. Single woman with two young kids. Every things in Frank's name, I'd a had nothin' to start over with.”

“So what's changed now, why do you think he's going to kill you?”

“Because last week he almost did. The only thing that stopped him was my James running up and steppin' in the way screaming 'don't hurt my ma' and then.” Anna stopped again, sobbing hard now. She looked up from the table, straight into Mal's eyes. “Frank beat him. Beat him hard. Mal, James ain't even 5 yet! I told myself all these years, that it was my bed and I would lay in it. But it's my grave and I ain't letting my two kids be buried along with me.”

“You wanna run?” Anna nodded her head wordlessly. “How soon can you go?”

~

“So why ain't she just grabbin' the kids out of school and then we go?” Jayne asked. Mal was filling in the crew about Anna. “and how exactly we going to get coin from this little escapade?”

“Jayne!” Kaylee's shocked voice rang out before Mal had a chance to answer. “This woman needs our help. It ain't about the pay.”

“Just seems like we're doing a whole lot of 'for the good of it' lately.” He looked around the table, returning the contemptuous looks directed at him. “Hell, ya'll were thinin' it too.” Jayne looked down, unable to meet Kaylee's gaze. He didn't understand why he was feeling this way, but he couldn't shake the guilt for his first thought being about coin. He'd never been ashamed of being self serving before.

“We're going to want as much time as possible for a head start. Those posters all over town and us chattin' it up with her this morning is going to point straight to us.” Zoe said with a matter of fact tone that solicited no arguing. “Anna works at the bar too, so leaving in the morning with the kids won't work either. This things gotta be pulled tonight.”

“Agreed the sooner we get her out of there, the better. Last thing we want to keep her and those kids in the line of fire any longer then we need to.” Mal's face was firm and unshakable as he spoke. Kaylee was the first to break the silence that followed his defiant tirade.

“So what's the plan Cap'n.”

~

A soft knocking sounded on the metal door of her shuttle. “Come in please.” Mal slowly stepped into view. Inara cocked her head slightly attempting to keep the bitterness and jealously she was feeling out of her voice when as she said.

“What a welcome change to you barging in like a mad man.”

Mal shifted his weight and began looking around the shuttle, not enthusiastic about what he was about to do. He picked up a small ivory statue sitting on a stand. “What's this?”

“Don't touch anything Mal, I don't want to charge you for needing to replace them.” Inara had gotten up to take the statue out of his less then clean hands. Mal handed it over without a fight.

“So what is it?” Mal asked again.

“P'an chin-lien, she's the Chinese goddess of love.”

“Ain't P'an chin-lien the goddess of prostitution and whorin'?” Mal couldn't resist saying this, despite that he was here for a favor.

“In some, very narrow translations, yes.” Inara seemed slightly ruffled by what he'd said and it didn't go unnoticed by Mal he'd managed to get under her skin. And his smile deepened.

“How very fitting.”

“What do you want again?” She asked, clearly annoyed.

“Hopin' you'd help out on a job?”

“Really? And what would be the job be exactly. Must be a big enough take, soliciting my assistance?”

“No take, just a favor for an old friend in trouble.” Inara's forcefully hardened features softened slightly.

“I'm in, we'll consider it even for Nandi.”

“You owe me nothing for Nandi.”

“That's right, you already got paid didn't you.” Inara stopped at her own words knowing she'd gone to far. She looked at the statue she was still holding in her hands. “I'll help, whatever I can do. I'll help.”

~

Inara was sitting at the bar holding a small glass containing an expensive and exotic drink. It's contents a shimmery shade of pink. She was dressed up in her most sultry 'come and get me' outfit. Mal had shown her a capture of Frank that Anna had brought. She was sitting at the bar waiting for him to arrive.

Mal's instructions running through her head.

“We don't want Frank comin' home tonight. We want him passed out, if he comes home to Anna just to find her gone then we're busted before we ever leave atmo. Here, give him this,” Mal handed her a small green pill.

“What is it?” Inara asked as she took the pill and studied it.

“It's what's going to Keep Frank asleep until mid afternoon tomorrow. Don't give it to him until after his third drink. It's undetectable in a tox screen if enough alcohol is in the blood. Don't know what it is exactly but that doc sure does have a criminal mind.”

“Alright, easy enough.”

“Just make sure, whatever happens he has that pill. We need as much time as possible. Serenity can out run him but we don't want Frank to even know what direction to start lookin' for Anna in.”

Inara smiled to herself For a man with no moral compass he sure did insist on doing his best to do the right thing. 'For a man with no moral compass he sure did the right thing as often as he possible.' She thought to herself. A pang pulled at her chest and her smile quickly faded. 'Leaving won't solve anything. I should stay with him, be happy for as long as possible.' She looked around the bar as she took another drink, playing her part in this little game of theirs. 'It wouldn't be fair.' She instructed herself just as the tall man from the capture walked behind the bar from a back room.

“Cheap son's a bitch's shorted us two boxes of whiskey. I'm going to need to have a talk with them.” Frank's voice was deep and slightly hoarse as he spoke to the man who was tending the bar.

“What is this world coming to.” The bartender smiled as he cleaned out glasses with a rag that Inara didn't think would clean much of anything. She took another drink from her glass, but was careful to keep it a small sip. She turned to Frank keeping her body movements slow and cocked her head to the side slightly. Her smile was demure and sultry at the same time.

“It's simply criminal what people will try to get away with on these less than civilized planets.”

“So you don't have criminals where you're from?” Frank asked flirtatiously as he leaned on the bar a few feet away from Inara.

“I would never associate myself with criminals.”

“Well I wouldn't expect a woman of standing like yourself would ever need to.” Inara's smile widened as she continued the steps to a dance she knew all too well.

Part 5

COMMENTS

Thursday, June 15, 2006 12:16 PM

LEIASKY


Oh, a much longer chapter this time. very nice.

Loved the conversation with Simon and Kaylee at the beginning. I was certain kaylee was going to lay into him again. How nice of Anna to interrupt.

Ahh, I just love it when Inara and Mal sling insults.

Friday, June 16, 2006 6:56 AM

RIVERISMYGODDESS


RAWR, it deleted my post.

Very good chapter, with some scathing lines from Inara to Mal, including the one about already getting paid for the job with Nandi.

The Simon and Kaylee interactions were great too.

I liked the part where Jayne feels guilty about thinking about the money first and cannot meet Kaylee's gaze, hope there is more of that tension between Jayne and Kaylee (he does have a crush on her, after all).

Thursday, June 22, 2006 8:06 PM

BLUEEYEDBRIGADIER


Oh my...the angst and frustration here is simply divine, SLD!

Bumps in the Silee path....Mal and Inara sparring because of old pains....Jayne starting to already change for the better but not wanting to....magnificient

BEB


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Episode 15 - You Can't Go Home Again: Part 6 of 6
The crew get their "cargo" but where's Mal?

Episode 15 - You Can't Go Home Again: Part 5 of 6
Mal is a BDH, and it comes back to bite him in the butt.

Episode 15 - You Can't Go Home Again: Part 4 of 6
Mal stumbles upon a new job and has to ask for Inara's help.

Episode 15 - You Can't Go Home Again: Part 3 of 6
Mal gets drunk and hilarity ensues, crew enjoys Mal's misery. Inara doesn't.

Episode 15 - You Can't Go Home Again: Part 2 of 6
Mal loses the job and he's out for blood at who did it. Jayne's going a little crazy

Episode 15 - You Can't Go Home Again: Part 1 of 6
Mal goes back to Shadow and recieves a less then warm welcome. Simon/Kaylee at the end. Set after OiS, this whole episode is suppose to be like it was just the next episode in the series.

Zoe's Goodbye
Bewarned... a big damn hero dies

Wish Upon A Ship
Simon/Kaylee. Missing scene from Our Mrs. Reynolds.