I just discovered fanfic and have been thoroughly enjoying every second. This is the story that has been rolling around in my head since the movie. If you enjoy it, I am quite certain there are others bumping around in there as well.

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Sara looked up from her work when she heard the screaming. She recognized the voice of Tyson her ten year old son, but she had never heard him that frantic, that insistent.

“Mama, it’s time. It’s here. I heard them in the livery.” The door slammed open and in rushed Tyson uttering the flurry of words.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I was muckin out the end stall, when Mr. Shu ma nyaow came in talking to his men. He said these folks, from this spaceship had done a job for them. They aimed to get the goods, shoot them and keep the money. He said they were flying in on some sort of bug. I waited till they left and then ran as fast as I could. Was I right mama? Is it time?”

“It’s time. Go get your brother and gather your things, we leave in 15 minutes.” Sara dropped the dress she was mending and let it lay where it fell. It was here; she had waited for this moment for a long time. She had planned for just such an event. She knew one day her chance at escape would come. Tyson and Kaless had practiced what to do when that chance came, every week for a year. She did not have to watch the two boys, her precious jewels, stuffing their favorite items in their pillow cases and running to the barn to pull the hay off the mule and its trailer. Instead she dumped the cans out of a small wooden crate and filled it with the photographs and mementos from the mantelpiece. These pictures, those of her boys, and her husband, dead these three miserable years, were all she wanted from this place. Before she left she pried the loose brick from behind the stove and pulled out a small round leather sack. She lifted her skirt and tied it to her thigh before leaving, the door open behind her.

The mule would not go fast, pulling its trailer stacked high with boxes and crates, but it went fast enough. The ship was still there when they crested the hill. There were not many places a ship would land if you wanted to be close enough to town to do business but not close enough to be noticed. Tyson had heard where the ambush slash business meeting was to take place and Sara had picked the most logical spot for the ship to be. When she saw the ship she stifled a small chuckle at her eldest son. Flying in some bug, he’d said, before her stood the spaceship, a Firefly.

“Hold on” She shouted as she revved the motor. It had been a long time since she had driven anything with an engine, let alone done this. It felt good. Sara revved the motor as hard as it could go. The mule picked up speed as she maneuvered around the last of the trees and into the open field. She lined up with the open hatch of the firefly and went in at full speed. Her skills were a bit rusty but she braked just in time, stopping just inches from the end of the cargo bay. The lurch gave her heart a jolt, but nothing was spilled. Tyson and Kaless were in one piece and they were all aboard. They were going to escape.

Sara had about ten seconds to catch her breath before the young couple sitting on the cargo crate by the door regained their composure.

“That’s mighty fancy flying, I do say,” the cheerful young woman wearing greasy overalls began but she was immediately interrupted by the nicely dressed young man.

“Excuse me,” he said indignity,” What do you think you are doing parking in our cargo bay?”

Sara never got the chance to answer because just as she opened her mouth, two men and a woman came charging up to the ship at full gallop. The brown haired man clearly in charge was yelling at the top of his lungs. “Someone get this boat in the air, or bullets will be ricocheting though things they aughtn’t.” He closed the hatch just as the others were diving in carrying several large saddle bags. Then he turned around surveyed Sara, her two children, their mule full of goods, as well as Kaylee and Simon’s stunned looks.

“Could someone please tell me who these people are and what they are doing on my boat.” Mel purposely placed his hand on the gun at his hip. “Kaylee I thought I told you to watch the ship.”

“They just drove in cap’n, honest; not thirty seconds before you. You should have seen her handle that mule, it was shiny.” The sudden jolt of lift off interrupted Kaylee’s attempt at an explanation and Sara knew it was now or never.

“My name is Sara sir,” Sara extricated herself from the mule and climbed down toward the captain. “These are my son’s Tyson and Kaless. I apologize for our rather sudden arrival. But I, we need transport off this god forsaken moon. As payment, I brought the trailer and everything in the crates. The trunks and stuff on the mule are our personals, but the rest is food stuffs. It is all 100% natural fresh or canned by me and the boys. I think there is enough to feed a crew of ten for two or three months. I also will be willing to cook as long as we are on board, that is if you don’t already have someone who cooks.”

“Fresh food is always good in the black, but why should I drag uninvited guests along for the ride. What’s to stop me from turning this boat around right now and dumping you on that rock you came from?”

“Sir, there are bad men in that town; men that will swindle you at every chance; men that will kill you without a second thought because you stand in their way. I need my boys to survive. They are all I have.”

Mal looked at Sara, suddenly she no longer looked like an angry mobster or potential villain. She looked desperate. He had to admit months worth of real food, a valuable commodity. Probably more valuable than she realized, definitely more valuable than three tickets off the planet. But who was he to stop her if she wanted to overpay. The boys looked like they were scarred but were trying there best to hide it. The younger one could not have been much older than six. And, she was right about the Niao se dub doo gway that ran that town.

“Well this should be interesting. We’ve never had young’ns on this boat before. Since we are already airborn, it seems you got your deal.” He turned towards the cheerful young woman, “Kaylee, how’s about you help them get settled in one of the guest dorms.” Looking straight at Sara, he said sternly “After your settled, we are going to sit down. I want the whole of it, you understand.” Sara nodded at the unyielding Captain, and let herself and her boys be led away by Kaylee.

“Best be putting those away.” Tyson watched the Captain hand the dark skinned woman the saddlebags As they left.

Tyson had just enough time to see the captain whisper something to the young man who had been with Kaylee when they arrived. He thought he heard the words “sister” and “lay low” but it was hard to tell.

“Your runnin ain’t ya?” Kaylee asked

“Ya, you could say that. Escaping would be more accurate though. There are some bad men down on that moon. You are lucky your friends survived.” Sara shook just a little as she remembered some of the things that had happened to her in the three years since her husband had died.

“Nah, not our cap’n. He can get himself out of almost anything. And Zoë and Jayne, their ain’t noone I would rather have with me in a fight. Here is your room. I’ll get some blankets and a pallet and we can make a bed for the boys on the floor.”

After Kaylee left to find the extra blankets, Sara gathered her boys to her and started to cry. “We’re safe,” she muttered over and over again. Later she untied the leather sack from around her thigh and hid it under the mattress.

******** “Ma’am, if that is the way you normally cook, you can storm our ship any day.” Jayne mumbled as he stuffed his third plate of food into his mouth.

Kaylee and Simon had helped Sara and the boys bring their three small trunks, the boys pillow cases filled with stuffed bears and blankets and Sara’s box of photo’s to their room. When Sara offered to cook dinner, Kaylee showed her the dining table, galley and common areas, then offered to show the boys the engine room.

At dinner, Sara learned that the Captains name was Malcolm Reynolds and she and stormed his ship, “Serenity.” The dark skinned woman who looked like she could kill you with her eyes was named Zoë. Sara sensed something sad about her, but she could not put her finger on it. The burly man who had galloped up to the ship with them, was Jayne Cobb.

Kaylee let it slip that it had been Jayne’s turn to cook that night, a night they all dreaded. “I mean offerin’ to cook on Jayne’s night. That could of gotten you on Serenity even without all the food stuffs.” She joked.

The nicely dressed man that Kaylee was obviously head over heals for was Simon, a doctor. Simon had offered to give the boys a look over the next day. Sara could not express her gratitude enough. Neither of the boys had seen a doctor in years. Kaylee it turned out was the ships mechanic. Tyson spent half of dinner retelling all the things Kaylee had told him about Serenity while Sara had been fixing dinner. The pilot, was apparently Simon’s little sister, although she was new to the job. The crew became strangely silent when this was brought up and Sara could not figure out if it was because of the girl, person who had been the pilot before her or both. The girl must have been some sort of recluse because Simon took her dinner to her. Sara wondered if she would ever meet her.

“Now how’s about you tell us why you felt you needed a dramatic entrance to get on this boat?” The captain laid down his chop sticks obviously ready to hear Sara’s expilantion.

Sara kissed both her boys gave them a big hug “Tyson please take your brother to bed. You can read him a story, there are three books in my trunk.” She watched them depart before she spoke.

“After the war, my husband and I wanted to settle someplace quiet, someplace where we would not have to deal with the alliance. We found a nice little backwater moon and bought a ranch. I thought we had found heaven. We had the two boys and I thought we were going to live happily ever after.

About four years ago things started to change. We noticed our neighbor’s being bought out by…” Sara paused, “Tysen calls him Mr. Shu ma nyaow. Those that would not sell met with sudden accidents and their ranches suddenly foreclosed. We owned our ranch free and clear, so my husband thought he could stand up to them. He thought he needed to defend his neighbors. Those Shiong-muh duh duang-ren killed him.

I would prefer not to talk about what they did to me, what they continued to do to me…….. but they took everything they saw. Everything that they thought was worth anything. The only reason I kept my mule was that I jury-rigged it to make it look broken and then hid it well. They controlled all the air traffic. I knew better than to get on any ship run by his friends. My and mine would have been tossed out the airlock as soon as possible with all that we had seen.

But I knew that someday someone would land that was not connected to their evil. I have been planning this escape for eighteen months. When Tyson overheard them planning to double cross and kill you all, I knew this was my time.

I could not negotiate with you for passage because I knew you would be ridding up and leaving as fast as you could, or they” she said pointing to Simon and Kaylee “would be leaving without you. Either way it would be quick, and if Mr Shu ma nyaow had caught us….” She stopped and shuddered.

“Well it sounds as if we came along at just the right time.” Zoë put her hand on top of Sara’s; her eyes were filled with understanding. Mal realized that it did not matter what else she said. Zoë had found someone she could commiserate with, that fact alone made him think he would put up with these new additions for quite some time.

“Where do you want to go?” Kaylee asked

“Truthfully, I never thought past getting out safe. Perhaps there is a place you could recommend? Someplace where a single mother could find work and it would be safe to raise the boys?”

“There are lots of worlds out there, some better than others.” Mal’s voice seemed lost in thought for a moment. “But you have some time to decide. We have a three day trip to the core to pick up Inara from the training house, that’s our next stop. After that there is that job on Boros, and I think Neela has something for us on Tritus.”

Later as Sara crawled into bed with her boys, she felt for the leather back carefully hidden under the mattress. It was still there, in it was every cent she had; with that and the sale of her mule she was going to start a new life somewhere. She snuggled her boys. Everything is going to be ok she thought as she drifted to sleep.

*********

Sara woke early the next morning. The newness of her surroundings gave her a start for a minute, until she realized where she was. She got up and got dressed, thinking that a cup of coffee and a bit of quiet would help her concentrate on thinking up a plan for the future. Kaless sighed and rolled over as she got out of bed. Being just barely five years old, she hoped he would not remember all the bad times. He would probably be ok. Tyson would remember though. She would have to talk to the doctor about how to help him before she got off the ship.

When she got to the dining room, Zoë was already there. She was staring into a well of black coffee, looking green and weepy. Both looks seemed to Sara to be quite out of place.

“Are you ok?” Sara said sitting down next to Zoë, “I know we just met, but you do not seem the type to start your days by crying.”

Zoë spoke without gazing up from her tea “Does it ever get easier? Waking up with out him beside you?”

“Eventually, and never. The good moments begin to stand out and the pain fades. I can remember him without feeling like my heart is being torn from my body. But at the same time, I always wish he was next to me. When did he die?”

“Wash died just less than two months ago. He was our pilot. He could fly through anything. Like a leaf soaring on the wind.” She paused collecting her thoughts. “We had an encounter with Reavers.”

“I didn’t think anyone survived Reavers?” Sara said in amazement. “Someday I’d like to hear about it.”

“Someday… ever since…. I wake up so sad I am literally sick to my stomach. It is all I can do to sneak up here and choke down some coffee, maybe some crackers. Then I throw up. After that I can manage the day, but it ain’t easy.”

“Zoë?” Sara looked at her new friend, perhaps the only person she had met in the last three years who could truly understand some of what she had been though. “Is there any possibility that you could be pregnant?”

Zoë never go the chance to answer her because just then an alarm rang out throughout the ship. Zoë got up and raced toward the bridge. Sara followed. They were soon joined by everyone else on the ship in various states of undress. Kaless was sniveling and obviously scared, but he settled down once Sara picked him up. The young girl who must be Simon’s sister the pilot was in the control seat before Sara blinked. She could not have been more than seventeen.

“What we got?” Mal said as he walked into the room.

“Space yacht, sir” Zoë answered “She is spinning uncontrollably. I doubt there’s life.”

“Jen dao mei . It’s times like this I miss Wash the Wonder Pilot. I bet there is good stuff on that boat; ripe for the picking.” Everyone stared briefly at Jayne’s insensitivity.

Mal was the one who broke the tension. “Jayne’s right but we’ll have to let this one go. None of us here could dock with something spinning like that.”

“She could” The young pilot pointed at Sara. “She thinks she gave it up, but it is inside her flowing like lava trying to get out.”

Somehow what the girl had said made sense to Sara. She had given that life up, she’d hidden from the alliance for a reason.

“My mommy is the best pilot ever, she flew spaceships in the war” Kaless beamed with pride at this statement. Sara tried in vein to shush him but it was too late.

Mal looked at Sara. Would wonders never cease? “Well River’s usually got the right of it. The young’n says you know how to handle a boat. So what do you think? Is it possible to dock with that spinner” All the eyes in the room turned to Sara.

Nervously she set Kaless down on the floor. “Yeah, pretty sure. I am rusty though and that is quite a spin.” Sara maneuvered her way to the control seat and fiddled with some buttons. With a flick of her wrist Serenity was approaching the Space yacht spinning perfectly in sink. There were a few bumps but within five minutes they were docked.

“Well I’ll be,” Mal said as he stared at the stars spinning by out the window. “Jayne, Zoe your with me. Kaylee, Simon your wave two. We can probably skip the Galley with all Sara’s food stuffs on board.” Quickly they filed out of the bridge, Kaylee mumbling something about fusion compensators and double clips.

“So your name is River?” Sara asked the young pilot.

“Names are just words, sometimes they mean things and sometimes they don’t. You still got the touch, and the longing. You can fly her if ya want. She likes those that love her. You would love her. No one else can hear her cry. She misses him. That’s why I fly, so we can cry together. But I don’t like crashing. Bang, Bang Boom. Have to be careful if you want kiss a ship. Not to soft not to hard.”

Sara just stared at River. She seemed perfectly off her rocker. Kaless picked up a plastic dinosaur from the consol and began to pretend it was attacking River. River got down on the floor and was soon engrossed in childish play. Tyson sat just looking out the window.

After a while the ship quieted down. Most likely everyone was on the other ship salvaging all they could. It was time to go. Things might be alright sooner than she had thought. River was right about many things she thought she had given up, still being inside her. Sara stood up “Tyson, Kaless come here I have something I need you to do. River, do you mind if we leave you for a while.”

River shook her head as the three of them left.

“Ok guys, I have a job that only you can do, do you understand. And it’s a secret. I don’t want you to tell anybody ever ok.” They both nodded, wondering what the mysterious job could possibly be. “Tyson run and grab an empty pillow case and meet us at the airlock.”

After crossing to the space yacht Sara lead then straight through to the upper deck. She went in a stateroom and into a closet. The boys were dumbfounded as to what she might be doing. In four places she pounded on the panel. She then lifted it up and off the wall, exposing a rectangular tube one foot square running the length of the panel.

Sara pointed at the length of metal. “In the bottom of this tube, is the owners safe. See how it is open at the top, that’s for ventilation. We are lucky because Kaless is small enough to make ventilation a breach of security. Tyson sit on my shoulders. Kaless we are going to lower you into that tube head first. Tyson will hold onto your feet. Just like we do when things fall into the well back home. I want you to fill this pillowcase with whatever you find in that safe do you understand.” She handed Kaless the bag and hoisted Tyson on her shoulders.

*********

After they had pulled away from the space yacht the entire crew celebrated in the dining room. Sara fixed everyone omelets

“On my ranch, when ever there was something to celebrate we always had a big fancy breakfast,” Sara said when they asked her why she made omelets for dinner. “The eggs would have had to be used in the next day or two anyway.”

“Eggs crack, insides spill. Everybody gets their fill. Open up and spill the yoke, tell the lot or miss the joke.” Sara smiled at River’s nonsense. Obviously the girl was enjoying the celebration. Not everyone was overly happy however. Mal was fidgeting. It seemed obvious something did not quite go as he had wanted.

“Well Sara. It seems that you have met our little secret, it also seems as if you did not give us the whole story last night either. How’s about we trade the stories we would like kept under wraps.”

Sara nodded and Simon spoke up. “River and I are wanted by the Alliance. They messed with her brain while she was at school. They tried to turn her into some sort of super weapon. She is wanted because they want her back, and I am wanted because I stole her away. That is why she sounds crazy. But she is a reader. Its hard on her, she cannot filter anything out. The good or the bad and sometimes she can’t tell what is in her mind and what is in others.” River stuck her tongue out at her brother. And everyone laughed.

It was Sara’s turn. She had thought she had left her old life behind. But it seemed she was returning to it. “My husband and I were pilots in the war. We met flying for the Alliance. But as we flew we talked to people. We started to understand what the alliance was doing and we didn’t like it. We left after two years, thinking we could get back at the Alliance in small ways. We started this con game. One of us would get a job as a pilot on a small alliance ship, we would sneak the other onboard by docking to our small skiff, rob them blind and go hide in an asteroid belt or something for a while. It took them years to catch on to us. That is how we were able to buy our ranch free and clear.”

“That answers a few of my questions. What I don’t know yet is what you intend to do with the secrets you’ve acquired while aboard this ship.” Mal put his hand on his gun. Kaless sensing the tension began to snivel. And Tyson looked as if he was about to fight for his mother till the bitter end. “You might have noticed” The captain continued. “We could use a professional pilot. River here is good but lacks experience with some of the trickier maneuvers. You seem like someone who would fit well with the kind of work we do. The young’ns seem well behaved and all. And you mentioned you wanted work. What would you say to staying on?”

The tension in the room evaporated immediately as Sara smiled. This did seem like they type of place where she could make a home and a family. She whispered quickly with her boys, both nodded their head and Tyson ran off to their room.

“The boys think they would like it here, I would need to set aside some time everyday for the boys schooling. And if they could learn from you all - workin’ with the engine, flying, docterin, how to shoot straight, you know, it’s a deal.”

Everyone nodded, “Sounds like a plan then” Mal said diving into his breakfast.

“I think that’s a good idea, I could use another mother about to give me advice.” Zoë said matter a factly. .

“It’s about time you told, I wanted to tell, weeks and weeks of knowing, trying to hold it inside. But I didn’t, not my news, not my body. Maybe someday” River was so pleased with herself for holding Zoë’s secret that she didn’t even see Jayne spit his drink across the room or Mal’s jaw drop at least six inches. His fork slowly clattering to the floor

“River,” Simon took his most fatherly tone. “I just confirmed Zoë’s pregnancy a couple hours ago. You could not have known for weeks.”

“She laughs like Wash. Hard to keep her quiet. Can’t help but listen.” River replied as if her brother was the biggest dolt in the ‘verse.

“I didn’t spill your secret either Sara. Your future is your own business.”

“Thank you River, but we are going to share it with everyone.” Sara said as Tyson returned with a lumpy pillowcase and handed it to Sara. “The boys and I also made a trip over to the yacht this morning. I was going to save it to start my new life. I am glad that life will be here. I can share without wondering if I was cheating my way out of a house and home somewhere.

“I hear home school supplies and registration are pricy so I would like to save the cash.” She pulled out a large roll of cash and set it on the table. Everyone stared at her so awestruck by the money they were not really listening. “The school stuff we buy would of course be able to be passed down.” She winked at Zoë. “The rest shouldn’t be sold all together anyway, and it will hold more value as is until we need the money. Captain would you like to divide or should we just all take turns picking our favorites.” Sara dumped the pillowcase full of gems and jewelry onto the table.

“Shiny” slipped from Kaylee’s mouth.

“Well I’ll be” Mal sat dumbfounded “Woman, I think you stormed your way onto the right ship.”

The End