Wings Chapter Two By Tyloric Warnings: Mild Language, Suggestions of slash if you squint really really hard. Things to Note: Continuing to experiment with River as well as Jayne in this chapter. Some reinventions of Cid’s past to make his character work better with Firefly. Cid’s personality is a bit more serious compared to how laid back he is in FFVII. This chapter ended up being a bit shorter than I expected. Sorry.

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The entire crew stood at the cargo bay doors as they lowered. Kaylee was bouncing with excitement: here was an opportunity to shop after weeks away from a planet that had anything worth purchasing. She held tightly to Simon’s hand, who just stared at her while the ecstatic mechanic gripped his hand, ready to pull him along with her. There was love hidden deep within his eyes, an emotion he didn’t realize he was feeling. The love for another, love of the sensual variety, was completely foreign to the young doctor. Inara had just left to be with a client and would return in a few days time. Zoë, Mal and Jayne were sitting in the mule (a vehicle that was cunningly silent for its size) with three of the ten crates they were to deliver. In Mal’s experience, you never delivered the entire shipment at once. Bring a sample, get full payment, and bring the rest. He liked to consider himself a man of his word, but he was always wary of other people, especially Badger (who had double-crossed them in the past). Jayne was making sure his various weapons were loaded and operational, as well as making sure Betsy (his favorite knife) was strapped snuggly to his back. He only had two side arms this time around; Mal wouldn’t let him bring anymore. It made him feel a bit naked. He was used to feeling guns attahced to his calves and abdomen. He grunted, an indication that he was satisfied with his inspection. Zoë was sitting with her arms crossed, waiting. She was always cautious when going out on a job, more so when they were in highly populated areas like Persephone. This careful attitude was much more apparent after the happenings on Miranda, and she made no real effort to hide it. They were down to seven crew members;, and she’d rather that number not go down any lower as a result of people dying. River was lying down on the catwalk, however. She would be staying with the ship until the others returned. Someone had to watch the ship; she was just disappointed, albeit irritated, that she would have to put off the search for their wings. It was odd. His mind was like a beacon amidst all thoughts that surrounded her, and yet she could not hear his thoughts themselves. She could feel him, could feel the chaos. The disappointment radiating from his mind was not lost on her. Suppressed confusion and anger lay deep inside of him, but she could not hear it. She could only feel it. It was intriguing and new to her, and in a strange way… it was terrifying. It was as if this person wasn’t thinking at all, only feeling. “Alright,” Mal started as the doors opened fully, “I’m hopin’ that Badger doesn’t give us his normal go se and we can get back here in decent time. “I would take it as a kindness ifyou two,” looking directly at Kaylee and Simon, “you didn’t go and stay out the whole day.” Simon raised an eyebrow, but Kaylee recognized it as the Captain worrying about them. “No need to worry none, Cap’n.” She patted her pocket. “We got comm’s if anything goes wrong.” That fact didn’t make Mal feel as good as it should have, “Just try to get back before the sun sets, dong ma?” She smiled, “Oh, we will be. River asked us to come back a bit early so she could go out ‘fore it got dark.” Mal’s curiosity peaked. “She did, did she?” Though he was not glancing over his shoulder, he knew River was paying attention. “Sparrow grows tired of watching the nest,” River said, her voice devoid of emotion. “Wants to soar.” She lifted her arms from the catwalk, reaching out for the ceiling. “Gorram moon brain…” Jayne muttered. “You gonna be okay here on your own there, Albatross?” Mal ask, turning around in his seat to face her. Without dropping her arms, she gave him two thumbs up, still not looking at him. Mal, still not entirely convinced, turned to look out to the busy streets of Persephone. “You two set?” he asked, referring to Zoë and Jayne. “Yes, sir,” Zoë said almost immediately, while Jayne just let out another grunt of recognition. He sighed and just hoped that things would go smoothly. “Let’s get this over with,” he mumbled, willing the mule to move forward.

***

Cid walked down the busy street without a real goal in mind. He was searching for something, he just wasn’t sure what. He simply felt a need to be here. His hand reached idly into his pocket, tracing the small green sphere with his index finger. Materia, if it could still be called that. He couldn’t use it, even though he could feel the energy pouring out of it. It made his palm tingle as he held it, sending small jolts up his arm: Bolt Materia. He could feel the energy that was there, but for some reason, he couldn’t access it. God dammit, he wasn’t cut out for this crap. He’d never been good at using Green Materia. In fact, he hated it. But this was the only connection he had to his home, his planet. So he would keep trying. Looking around at all the people going about their business, he had realized that it wasn’t that much different from Midgar--before a giant meteor had crashed into it, of course. He had spent some time at the main research facility when the space program had been active. People going on with their daily lives surrounded him, the only difference between those here and those in Midgar being that the citizens of Persephone, or this ‘verse in general, were very aware of their situation and environs. It was strange to him; everyone kept tabs of what was going on in the cities of the planet and on many of the adjacent planets and moons. Midgar had been so isolated, and no one cared about what happened outside their own lives. So when he heard that the test site would be a remote location behind Mt. Nibel, he couldn’t have been more upset; just another way to stay completely disconnected from society. A pang of longing shot across his chest; a longing to see Rocket Town, to smell the motor oil and the hickory scent that lingered in the air. He missed home, more than he thought he ever would, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t seem to find a home here. Wherever here was. Glancing around at the familiar surroundings, he eyed the jewel and rare gem shop that he had become a regular at. It was like any jewelry shop, lined with clear glass cases assorted with pieces that were arranged according to rarity, price and color. The shop owner, Biggs, had become a good acquaintance of Cid’s. Not quite a friend, but he was around often enough to not consider him just another business man. “Ah, Cid!” he heard the big man rumble as he stepped into the store. Biggs was a fairly heavyset man, who stood quite a few inches below Cid. He had a big, black, bushy beard and short hair that was graying. He wore brown overalls with a blue, short-sleeved shirt. He was beaming at Cid brightly. “Hey there, Biggsy. You’re looking mighty… happy today.” Cid eyed him with reserved curiosity. Biggs beamed. “I got somethin’ for ya.” He raised an eyebrow, “Do ya, now?” “I found some of those marbles you seem so fascinated with.” His voice had dropped to a near whisper as Cid approached him. The former airship captain’s face hardened and was immediately all business. “Let me see.” Amazingly, Biggs’ smile brightened. He bent down to reach for something under the counter, pulling out an ancient-looking box. The box itself was non-descript, red wood with a gold-plated trim that had seen better days. Biggs’ fingers expertly worked the old-style combination lock. With a click, it popped open. Lifting the lid of the case, he swirled it around to face Cid. Sitting in the middle of what looked like red velvet were two small orbs. One was a bright cherry red, looking almost like candy. The other was violet and shone to perfection. Cid lifted a hand and looked to Biggs. “May I?” When the older man nodded, he picked up the red sphere. It burned to the touch, a fire that spread to his shoulder. In a way, it was pleasant. There was no pain, only the sensation of heat. The stirring of life. A summon, a fire element. Ifirit. He had found another one, another Materia, and this one was very much alive. Even with all his inexperience using magic, he could tell just from the way it thrummed in his hand, as if it had a pulse of its own. He couldn’t help the childlike grin that spread across his face. He set it carefully back down into the case, as if he were afraid it might break, stifling a groan as the heat left his arm. Reaching over, he lifted the violet sphere. He let out an involuntary gasp as a sudden burst of strength invaded his body. He sudden seemed light; more alive. Alert, powerful. Materia of Vitality, and from the feel of it, quite far along in its evolutionary cycle. “How much?” Cid asked, setting the orb next to its crimson brother. Biggs was watching like a child would its favorite cartoon character, fascinated but confused by what he had just witnessed. Cid guessed that he had gotten caught up in the moment a little; he was just excited. A piece—two pieces, actually—of home were on a counter in front of him. Biggs watched for a few more moments before replying, “500 credits each.” Cid grimaced; that was just about all he had, but he didn’t miss a beat. “Fine.” He suddenly wished he had saved up a bit more money.

***

Jayne wasn’t very bright. Hell, he would be the first one to tell you. He was a killer; that was all he knew how to be. Killers were observant too, something Jayne hardly ever got credit for. He saw things a lot of other folk missed. Which is why he knew something was up the moment they set foot in Badger’s office. It all looked the same. Way too many guards for such a small place, strange tidbits of Earth-that-was scattered around. Badger was sitting as his ‘desk’ just like he always was. But he could feel something was wrong…his instincts were telling him something wasn’t right. He suddenly had that sinking feeling that usually meant that this was one of those moments when not everything was going to go according to plan. “Malcolm Reynolds!” Badger said in his usual over exuberance. “Been quite a while since you and I had the pleasure of doin’ business.” Mal forced a smile, if it could even be called that,.“Badger.” Badger either didn’t notice or didn’t care. “My boys say quite a bit of my… fish… is missing.” “Just a sample. You’ll get the rest when we get paid.” Mal stood at his full height, something Jayne recognized as him meaning business. Zoë stood tense at Mal’s other side, while Jayne’s eyes kept scanning from guard to guard, looking for the first sign that something might go down. “What’sa matter, Reynolds? Don’tcha trust me?” His eyes glimmered with humor. “What can I say? I actually learn from my mistakes,” Mal said. When Zoë raised an eyebrow at him, he added, “Sometimes.” “The goods are damaged,” the little man started, suddenly serious. And here we go, Jayne thought bitterly. Mal’s shoulders tightened, Jayne could see it even though he was wearing his brown coat. “Had a bit of trouble with the loading process.” “I ain’t paying ya to transport just for ya to get ‘em to me in poor condition. Four hundred a crate.” Jayne couldn’t stop himself from growling, but Mal raised a hand to silence him. “We’d settled on seven hundred just a few weeks ago, Badger. Now this may just be me, but I’m gettin’ the feeling there’s more than just fish in these here crates.” “Well you’d be wrong then, now wouldn’tcha?” Badger attempted a glare, but it was laughable. “Might be. Can always find out, can’t I? I’ve been played by you too many times to fall for it again. Seven hundred each or nothing at all.” Jayne’s hand was already resting on one of his side arms, ready for things to explode in their faces. That seemed to happen a lot. Badger seemed to consider. “Five-fifty.”

Mal didn’t hesitate. “Fine.” It occurred to Jayne that Mal had been expecting this. He was both relieved and irritated. Also disappointed: he was really itching to shoot someone. Badger finished counting the platinum, Mal watching him with hawk eyes. Something still didn’t feel right, though. When Badger handed him the coin purse Mal didn’t look nearly as satisfied as Jayne would have thought. As the trio turned to leave, Badger started speaking again. “Gotta ‘nother job, if you’re interested.” Downhill from here, he thought.

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Author’s Notes: Just a few quick notes: Yes, Biggs is a reference to the few Biggs that have in the Final Fantasy. Yes, I am avoiding writing about Inara because I’m not quite sure what to do with her yet. Yes, I will work Simon and Kaylee into the next chapter. And, yes, looking like this will become slash, if only a little. Sorry if that makes anyone uncomfortable. Oh well. ~Tyloric