Disclaimer- Firelfy belongs to Joss Whedo and Mutant Enemy, but everything else belongs to me. Authors Note: Please make sure you read the Prologue before this chapter. Any comments or suggestions are welcome. Please note that I have little experience at writing a series, so expect this to be bad.

All By Myself *********************************************************************************** Chapter 1 Oh God- They’re all dead!! Help!! Help me!! No, Don't. Please, Please! I can't, I can't! "NO!!!!!" Kaylee woke up crying. The nightmares, they wouldn’t go away. No matter how much she wished. They wouldn’t stop. That was why she had requested a room in the passenger dorm- so no one would hear her scream at night. She had come to get away from the memories. It’s amazing how just a few minutes can change your life. Still, she couldn’t resist the prospect of taking a job on another old Firefly. They were her favourite kind of ship. It was where she had met…No. She couldn’t think about that anymore. This was who she was now, and this was who she would always be. To take her mind off of things, Kaylee decided to go tinker with the engine. She didn’t know who the old mechanic of this boat was, but they sure didn’t know the first thing about a Firefly. They appeared to have diverted the G line to the converter, which in turn was hooked up to the main atmo pump. It was as if they were trying to refine a newer style Raven, rather than an older, pre-loved ship. Anyway, when she entered the engine room she was surprised to find Cas standing there waiting for her. Cas was nice enough, but she didn’t seem to take charge like M- like a proper captain should. “Hey there Kaylee.” “Hi Cas. How’s Emma? We’re headed for medical help right?” “Yeh. We got friends on Greenleaf, be there in less than a day. I, um… I heard you screaming. Are you okay?” Kaylee wanted badly to cry out to Cas, to let go of all the things that haunted her at night. But she couldn’t. To lay all of her troubles on someone else, it wouldn’t be fair. It wouldn’t be right. “I’m fine!” She said, trying to soun as cheery as possible. “Just a bad dream is all.” Trying to avoid Cas, Kaylee passed her, and lay down beneath the engine. She was still heartily aware that Cas was still standing there. “You know Kaylee, you’ve been here nearly a month now. I was just wondering what you thought of everyone here. You don’t talk much.” Kaylee knew there was no way to avoid talking to her captain. “Well, um… What to say?? You’re all very nice, um, accommodating. Greggors is well, a little odd. He sure is a good fighter though. Emma is a sweetie. Rhee and Marco are very quiet, but I guess that’s why they make such a great couple. But it doesn’t really make much sense that their son should be so sweet. Cam is so loud and gorgeous. And well, you’re shiny too.” Kaylee looked at Cas, hoping that would be enough to deter any more questioning. “Well, I’m glad you’re happy here. Just one more question. Where’s your husband?” Kaylee was taken aback by this question, before she remembered that she still wore her wedding band. Once again, Kaylee really wanted to tell Cas about Simon, about her old life. But she wasn’t ready. Not ready to talk about it yet. “He’s out of the picture.” She lied “You know how it is.” This seemed to satisfy Cas’ sense of inquisition. She smiled at Kaylee, before heading out of the engine room. Kaylee breathed a sigh of relief. She had lasted through another conversation without indicating about her past. Her next task: Avoid anyone she knew on Greenleaf. ******************************************************************************************** Cas entered the kitchen from the engine room. As she made herself a cup of coffee, she thought about Kaylee. The mechanic was lying to her. It was fairly obvious through the way she hesitated in her answer. Cas didn’t like liars. Something had to be done about it. She wasn’t going to allow someone to wander her ship that could be a danger. Cas thought up a plan. She stood, walked down the hatch into her bunk and sat down at the cortex link. Her mind on the mission, she entered a name search. There was no general match for Kaylee, which wasn’t surprising, as she probably grew up on a border planet. Undeterred, Cas entered the name in a different database. She was shocked to find the results of the name ‘Tam’ “Kaywinnit Lee Tam, who are you?”

XOXOX-FREDIKAYLLOW-XOXOX