BLUE SUN ROOM FAN FICTION - ADVENTURE

SLAYERCHICK

Loyalties - Chapter 6
Friday, August 18, 2006

(post-BDM) Still considered "armed and dangerous" by the Alliance, the crew is hunted by a ghost from Mal's past, who leaves Simon Tam no choice but to decide who he would rather save; his sister, or the love of his life...


CATEGORY: FICTION    TIMES READ: 1842    RATING: 9    SERIES: FIREFLY

The traditional obligatory offering to Boss Joss. Love the work, got bored, and decided to to run with it!

This is a story co-written with a very good friend of mine. Action, adventure, drama, sweet Kaylee/Simon stuff, and BIG DAMN hints of Mal/Inara.

..................................

As the screen flickered off, Draedon threw Kaylee away from him, and the girl was sent flying to the ground, slamming her shoulder into a console with a pained gasp. She scooted to her knees, her chest heaving as she fought back the pain and terror from the last few minutes.

“Why are you doing this?” She asked with a sob.

Draedon studied his blade with consideration for a moment, wiping the edge off on his black fatigues. He moved slowly and deliberately toward Kaylee, kneeling down in front of her with a calm smile. “Miss Frye, please do not take this personally; you’re merely a means to an end.”

Kaylee glared at him hard, still wincing at the fresh slice across her neck. “You’re a monster,” she spat out, unconsciously backing away as if he would strike at her again.

Draedon chuckled. “Me? I’m just doing my job. We’ll see who the real monster is when Dr. Tam is forced to make a choice. You or the girl.” He met the girl’s gaze with resolve. “I wonder who he’d rather save.”

With a final smirk, Draedon rose to his feet, and two soldiers rushed to Kaylee’s side, grabbing her arms and forcibly leading her off the bridge. “Show the young lady to her room.” He chided, turning away from her as she cried out for them to release her. Draedon watched the view-screen’s image of Serenity leaving the atmosphere.

------------------------

Slamming the hatch shut behind Inara, River couldn’t even look at her brother, making her way over to the copilot’s seat. Standing over the empty chair, she closed her eyes to regain some semblance of composure. “I’m sorry,” she said quietly, sitting down and starting up the engine sequence to get Serenity out of atmo. That was all she could think of to say. But those two words would carry more weight in them than Simon could ever realize. Right now, River was just glad to be of some use.

Serenity left atmo, and in moments, the crew was orbiting the planet aimlessly. River sat quietly at the pilot’s chair, studying the view-screens intently. Searching for the man in black. But she knew it would be pointless. The ship was no doubt cloaked and well hidden somewhere.

Simon, who hadn't moved from the monitor, wasn't handling this all that well. He could barely breathe as this moment. He reached out, touching the monitor when he finally heard River’s voice. He wanted to respond, but he couldn't even move. After moments, he felt the ship move and he turned to face her.

"You don't have to be sorry, River. It's not your fault. You didn't ask for any of this."

She wanted to feel better when Simon insisted that she didn’t have to apologize, but the girl’s self-guilt was only worsened by his good intentions. River shook her head quietly, chewing her lower lip. “Jayne was right,” she muttered, “I didn’t say anything. I…I was afraid.” It was odd actually admitting it. River had never felt frightened of her own brother. “I was afraid of who you’d choose.” After what she’d done, maybe River deserved to be left behind and handed over to Draedon.

Simon looked directly at his sister. He moved out of his chair and over to her. Getting on his knees next to her chair, he lifted his hand up, pressing it to his little sister’s cheek. "None of this is your doing, River. I know those visions are hard for you to figure out. It's ok.” River turned to meet his gaze intently as he pressed harder with his tone. “No matter what, I’d choose the both of you. I love Kaylee so much, but you're still my sister. I pick both of you. You're both parts of my life. You mean so much to me I'm not about give you up…you do understand that, don't you?" He asked nodding.

Standing, he bowed over and kissed his sister’s forehead, giving her a short hug. River watched Simon without a word, a small smile forming as her brother reassured her that he wouldn’t choose. Something that, subconsciously, she should have already known. The girl nodded, hugging him back gently.

He moved to sit again and put his hands on the console. "It'll be alright, mei mei." He said turning and giving her a short smile.

This was an aspect of their sibling relationship that she cherished. The unconditional trust that she should have had for Simon from the beginning of this whole mess. Mentally, River swore that she would do whatever she could to help get Kaylee back from Draedon. Simon deserved that much. He’d sacrificed his whole life for his sister, and River never wanted him to lose his newfound life as well.

“An hour goes by fast,” she reminded him softly, spinning her chair back around to face the view screen, the area diagnostic still running as it searched for the cloaked Alliance flagship. “We need to find the ship to find the man in black. Find the man in black, find Kaylee.”

Simon was vaguely aware of what she was saying. It was true they had to find him. "Can you find him, River?" He asked tilting his head some. Simon would be no damn good here with all the other stuff he could be doing, but Mal had said to stay.

“Hope so,” River answered her brother softly. She needed to find Kaylee; it was the only way to make it up to Simon.

Simon thought for a moment. If Zoe came to help River maybe that would be of some use. She was just as good as Wash was with flying things. He turned in his seat seeing the door had been shut. Funny how sometimes when you’re in a grieving moment you barely notice things. He had barely noticed anything at all. Couldn't feel. Couldn't even think. "If you need some help I could go ask Zoe to help."

“Not now,” she insisted sharply as Simon suggested calling for Zoe. “We’ll need her later, though.”

Simon jerked at her insisting. Kinda made him smile. Typical little sister. Bossy and a sharp tongue to match. "Right…later." He said scratching the top of his head.

Her eyes darted across the screen distractedly as the area was scanned. River had already recalibrated the sensors to detect the slight fluctuations that would occur in subspace from a cloaking device. It was still a very experimental technology. Granted the most common incarnations of a cloak simply shielding a ship from sensor detection, but it was just as good as actually being invisible to the naked eye in many cases. River entered several commands into the console, watching as each sector of space in their view was cleared. So far, no catch.

“He’s hiding,” she mused, staring out into the black. “Flexing his muscles like he’s got an army, but he’s all alone out there.” Her stare slowly faded into a smirk. “He wants us scared. It’s the only thing he has.”

Listening to River was a whole nother thing entirely. It was amazing really. "He's alone?” Simon asked, almost excitedly. “Does that mean he doesn't have many men on his craft? Or he's under-armed…is that what your saying?" He leaned a bit closer to understand his little sister. "So if terror is the only thing he has then that must mean we can take him right?" He quietly nodded. He was curious as to how they would take this man down.

River stared at the screen, bewildered. She paid little mind to Simon’s questions, too caught up in her own investigation. There were no Alliance registered ships in the entire quadrant. Not even a trace of one from an ID signature. They had to have traveled through hyperspace to get here, and no ship had the capability to travel that way while remaining cloaked. There had to be some trace of their arrival, but the newly calibrated sensors pick up nothing at all.

“Says he’s Alliance. But where are the ships?” River was clearly hinting at the obvious knowledge that the Alliance never did anything on a small scale. If anyone related to Alliance intelligence knew that River and Simon were in the area, there would be a swarm of cruisers blockading the planet. They never would have even touched soil to begin with. “Unless it’s just one ship…”

She turned around to face Simon with a musing smile. “Captain’s gotta know…he’s a fake.”

His little sisters reasoning skills still amazed Simon to some degree. She was amazing really. She had this way of knowing things before Simon had processed them. Simon was a genius by most standards and his sister made him look elementary if not lower than that. She was a gift among many and he was happy to have her here with him. A slow smirk formed, watching his sister’s proud grin.

"We should tell Mal."

------------------------

Mal was like a lost kid at this moment. He didn't even know how to function right now. Who was gonna tell him everything would be shiny? Who was gonna make Jayne grin despite himself? Who was going to give Mal kisses on the cheek, forehead and temple and call him the best captain? Who was gonna call him Cap'n Tight Pants, despite desperately hating the name? Who was going to make River smile more than Mal had ever seen her? Who was gonna play jacks with the girl? Who was going to make Simon turn redder than a strawberry?

That right there broke the captain’s back. Picking up a crate he tossed it clear across the cargo bay and watched it bounce against the wall with a crash and land on the ground. He picked up another one and tossed it right after it. Mal didn't function like a normal person…say Simon, for instance. Mal got angry. And then he acted like nothing had happened. Finally, after the outburst, he stalked right back up and headed for his room. Just till they got out of atmo and then he would talk to Simon. Pushing the hatch open with his foot he climbed down and went across the room to his bed.

Jayne could hear the crashing from his bunk, but that didn't stop him from cleaning his weapons. Finally when he couldn't hold out any longer he put them back on the rack and left his bunk. His intention was to find that gorram little killer and make good with her. He climbed out and was stopped by Zoe had an extremely large gun in her arms. "You go near the cockpit and I'll have to put you down, Jayne." She said, cocking the weapon and narrowing her eyes. Jayne grumbled and climbed back down.

------------------------

Inara’s sobs were stifled for a moment as the sounds of Mal’s tantrum echoed through the main hold. She lifted her face from her hands, gazing out the door as she slowly stood. She barely caught the glimpse of Mal marching off to his own quarters as she looked down the balcony. Silently, and slowly regaining her composure, Inara followed Mal back to the crew dorms.

She stepped down the hallway, eyes just catching the elaborately decorated sign above the far hatch labeled “Kaylee’s Room”. Her heart sank at the sight of her friend’s handwriting, but she continued walking. Mal was just as angry and upset as the rest of the crew, but like he had said before, he needed her to pull it together and be the voice of reason in all this.

Mal had left the hatch to his room open. For a split second, she considered knocking and asking for permission, but soon recalled how many times Mal had barged into her own private shuttle without asking over the years; turnabout was fair play. She smoothly climbed down the ladder, looking down at the Captain seated on his bed. Her sandals hit the metal floor with a clunk, and she stood there for a long moment in silence.

“If there’s anything I can do, please tell me,” she pleaded softly, her hand still gripping a rung of the ladder.

Mal wasn't one for confrontations about his feelings. When Nandi had been killed, the first he thing he did was chase lowlife baron down and make sure he got what was coming to him. When Mal had been tortured to near death, first thing he had done was have that bastard Niska killed. Mal couldn't take much, but he did handle it the best he could. He kept flashing back to those memories during his processing after the battle of Serenity.

Before Draedon’s flagship had taken off, Draedon had told Mal that they were leaving his wounded men on the planet to die and rot. Mal had fought and cursed so loudly, but in the end he lost to a severe beating. The bastard. His head picked up hearing Inara's voice. He glanced back so she could only see half of his face and he sighed. Standing up, he pieced himself back together and smoothed his shirt out. Then his suspenders. He faced her with a stern look.

"River..." He trailed off clearing his voice finally. "River and Simon are in the cockpit. I'd like for you to come with me and watch River in there while I talk with Simon. I think I know how to get little Kaylee back without giving River up." He said moving over to her.

Inara nodded, relieved to see Mal back in plan-mode. She stopped him from moving any closer to the ladder, reaching out with her arm in front of the captain. “Mal, who is he?” she asked nervously, not liking the fact that Mal was so violently bothered by his presence. “This isn’t just about Kaylee, is it?” Inara found it disturbing that she could read him so easily right now. Normally, the man kept himself so closely guarded that she could never truly be sure of his emotional state, but right now, she knew that he had been wounded by this ‘man in black’.

She searched his eyes, though Mal was avoiding her gaze. “It’s much more than that.” There was history between them, that much was certain. The Alliance commander’s eyes had revealed far too much enjoyment in Kaylee’s pain for this to be a mere espionage mission. “What did he do to you?” Inara asked cautiously, unknown what Mal’s reaction would be.

Mal wasn't sure how to cloak whatever he was feeling. He was way far out there right now. Draedon had little Kaylee. Little itty bitty Kaylee who he had vowed the moment she joined his crew to protect. Hell, even Jayne was all bent out of shape about it. The only calm and rational one was Zoe but she had already been dealing with loss so she was a pro he figured. Mal fiddled some with his suspenders as he looked down. Purposely avoiding the companions gaze. He didn't want her to see him. No one saw Captain Malcolm Reynolds. Not even Mal saw himself. He cleared his throat and looked up.

"War things, is all. He's a bad guy. I don't want Kaylee with him for too long. I just wanna get her out of there as fast as I can." Before he starts with the torture. Or he feeds her to his men. Mal would never be able to live with himself after that. “Simple as that.”

“Nothing with you and that war is simple,” Inara said quietly. And then he shut her out. Damn that man, he could never let her in to…not that she always wanted to see that darkness in him. But after all these years in Mal’s company, it sure as hell beat the vagueness she was always greeted with when she questioned him.

"It's war, 'Nara." He said rubbing his forehead simply. And the pushing. The shoving. The interrogating. The talking. All this talking was getting him nowhere and meanwhile he was losing Kaylee.

“Mal, I know you don’t like to share, but you have to realize that leaving your past with this man a mystery is a danger to everyone, including Kaylee. I’d prefer to know who we’re dealing with here.” She knew there was a good chance of setting Mal off with the interrogation, but Inara could sit idly by, and in the dark, while Kaylee was this man’s captive.

“Hell, I’d settle for a name,” she offered after a moment. She looked up the ladder towards the hallway above. Inara barely found her voice as the thought of losing the young mechanic occurred to her. “If anything happens to Kaylee, I don’t think I’ll ever forgive myself.” Her voice choked up suddenly, she doing her damndest to not look Mal in the eye. The pangs of guilt were still there, fresh wounds in her memory as she thought back to Kaylee’s abduction.

"Look here, you keep asking me all these questions, you’re gonna venture into a dark place you can't be comin' out of the same. You keep talkin' askin' about Draedon and such you gonna be too scared to function for little Kaylee." He slammed his hand into his thigh turning his back onto her and walking back to his bunk.

"You can't be askin' these things about my past now, Inara. Because all it does is work me up. But if you wanna know you'll know. He's a bad guy. He was the man who processed me and Zoe after we surrendered at Serenity.”

There was a silence between them for a long time. That had been the first time that Mal had actually spoken of the war specifically around her. Inara had never heard him so sad before.

Mal stopped in his tracks, staring down at the corner of the room as he forced himself to recall. “He made me leave my wounded men on that blasted rock so they could bleed to death. He's a cold sonofabitch. I fought that bastard on the issue till I was blue in the face from his men’s hits. He took good men away from their families and he ain't gonna take Kaylee away," he growled under his breath. He hadn't scratched the surface of that mans evil, but he couldn't tell her everything. She'd be too frazzled too function.

So that was their story. Inara listened, unnerved by Mal’s blunt attitude about Draedon. She could hear the pain in his voice, the memories getting dredged up out of some dark corner of his soul. She regretted forcing him to face the thoughts, but her need for information was satisfied.

“And every person on this ship is behind you in wanting to make him pay,” she assured Mal, an unusually vicious tone peaking through her voice, “Myself in particular.” Draedon had crossed her on a personal level, taking away a dear friend and also making her the fool for abducting Kaylee on her watch.

“I’m not on the sidelines on this one, Mal. Whatever you do, I’m standing by you.” There was a determination in her words, something that clearly spoke of her unwillingness to back down on that point. Whether Mal liked it or not, she was going to help with the rescue somehow.

Mal’s back was still facing her. Tensed up and ready to crack. He ran a hand through his hair and glanced backwards at her. She was willing to stand by his opinion on this one. She wouldn't be saying he was too barbaric or too crazy. He wouldn't be getting the Inara "morale code" talk. Then again, Mal never listened. He usually said 'this coming from a whore,' and then she'd hit him and leave. But that was in the past. Most days. He turned completely to face the woman.

"Anything?" He asked raising an eyebrow. He had some vague form of a plan, but it wasn't pretty for what Mal had to do. In fact it was kind of weird, but it would be good to see that sick bastards face when Mal surprised him. He let out a steady breath and gave her a hint of a grin.

He stepped toward her curiously. "You got a dress and a wig I can borrow?"

..................................

Please R&R!

COMMENTS

Thursday, October 12, 2006 6:09 PM

BLUEEYEDBRIGADIER


Oh...he's got something crafty going on in that noggin of his, I know it!

;)

And strangely enough...while Mal might underestimating Inara's ability to cope with unpleasant things...I think he's on the money here. I doubt her knowing about what was done during time of war will help her focus properly on saving Kaylee:(

BEB


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