Virtual Firefly www.stillflying.net Season 2 Episode 8: Haven Written by Thomas Cohn and George W. Krubski Directed by George W. Krubski

Teaser from 2x08: Haven ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Previously on Firefly...

2x02 (Nu Du Shen) – INT. SERENITY – FOREDECK HALL ZOE and MAL are talking. ZOE: ...Just don't think it’s a good idea to work with them is all. Mingo and Fanty may be more civilized, but they're far more ruthless than Badger ever was. MAL (angry, but softly): You notice how thin everyone's getting of late? Engine parts flying every way which? We need the coin. You fixin' we go back to Badger on our hands and knees? He'll cut off our hands, shoot out our kneecaps... and then he'll stop laughing. ZOE: I understand, Sir, it's just... things've been getting a little too hairy round here what with the fugees and Feds flanking us... not to mention that bounty.

2x07 (In the Shadows) – INT. SMALL SHIP – COCKPIT Trystan Xun punches a button and the display glows brightly with the image of BADGER. TRYSTAN: Oh how poor are they who have not patience. What wound did ever heal but by degrees? BADGER: Ain’t the least interested in your fancy psychobabbled poetry, little girl. I was assured that Trystan Xun was the best of the best, and would do right where the Orion Recondos ‘ave failed.

2x07 (In the Shadows) – INT. SERENITY – MEDICAL BAY Mal stands over Trystan. MAL (angry): You wanna tell me who’s payin’ you to snatch River? TRYSTAN (smiling weakly): There is no vice so simple as an assumption. 1x13 (Heart of Gold) – EXT. BORDELLO - DAY Wash sweeps a pile of dry earth over a wood-and-rope contraption, securing and camouflaging the device. WASH: All I'm saying is we're living pretty deep in the rough and tumble, and I don't see that changing any time soon. Zoe rises up behind him, a large spool of wire in her hands. ZOE: Nor do I. She crouches, begins to wind the wire between one of two stakes buried deep in the ground, some fifteen feet apart. WASH: Well, I'm not sure now is the best time to bring a tiny little helpless person into our lives. Wash lies flat, secures the wire to the stake. Hetakes a pair of WIRE CUTTERS and cuts the wire. ZOE: That excuse is getting a little worn, honey. 2x02 (Nu Du Shen) – INT. SERENITY – WASH & ZOE’S ROOM Wash and Zoe are spooning on their bed. Wash is the little spoon. ZOE: Every day, life seems to get more dangerous around here.

WASH: Well, that is the nature of what we do as thieving brigands, honey. ZOE: …What if it wasn’t? I meant… what if we weren’t? 2x07 (In the Shadows) – EXT. HAVEN – DAY Serenity sits on the dusty ground, airlock doors open. Wash, Zoe, Hiroku and Book stand outside, next to a big pile of luggage. Jayne slaps Wash on the back. He heads up the ramp and into the cargo bay. Mal, stonefaced, salutes Zoe. Zoe returns the salute. Mal turns and heads into the cargo bay. The doors close, and Zoe continues to hold her salute.

And now...

INT. ALLIANCE PATROL BOAT – CHIEN’S OFFICE CAPTAIN CHIEN sits at his desk, speaking to an ALLIANCE COMMODORE via WAVE MONITOR. On the monitor, the commodore holds up a small stack of papers. COMMODORE:Iassume this is another report about your ‘Flying Dutchman'? (sigh) Captain Chien, the slavers in the Lan Ri Quadrant are becoming quite a problem. Your problem, according to MilCom’s last order. You do not have the luxury to persist in chasing phantoms. CHIEN: Sir, I investigated an open report of a Firefly-class vessel commandeered to assist during the crisis on Verbena last month. COMMODORE: Do you have any idea how many Fireflies are out there? The Happy Trader was destroyed. (beat)Captain Chien… The commodore removes his glasses and rubs the bridge of his nose. COMMODORE (cont’d): Louis, do you understand what this obsession of yours is doing to your reputation? Your service record to date is exemplary, but if you continue this delusional manhunt, I’ll have no option but to take disciplinary— CHIEN: Sir, take a look at the last page of the report. Please. On the monitor, the commodore puts his glasses back on and shuffles through the papers, glancing at them. He studies the last page for a beat, adjusting his glasses. COMMODORE: Louis… (puts the report down) I believe Parliament will be most interested in your findings, Captain. Please prepare a full report. CHIEN (smiling) Yes, sir. COMMODORE: There will be a commendation in this for you, Chien. Perhaps even a promotion. CHIEN: Yes, sir. The Wave monitor goes blank, as the commodore closes the link. On Chien’s desk is a FUTURE FAX, with a stack of pages – Chien’s report – in the output bin. The top page shows a GRAINY BLACK-AND-WHITE IMAGEof a half-dozen people in a chaotic hospital emergency room. RIVER TAM’s face is unmistakable among them. EXT. HAVEN – ESTABLISHING – EVENING Haven is a small mining community. The main mine sits near the dusty town, with dried-brown farm plots lying around it. EXT. HAVEN – EVENING WASH and BEN HICKS (late teens, gawky, awkward, last seen in “The Big Stick”) walk toward a small WHITE HOUSE with a newly-carved wooden plaque reading “WASHBURNE”. They laugh as Wash moves his hand around as though it was flying ship. Wash is well on his way to growing his moustache back. Ben is trying to follow his example, but it’s a sad effort thus far. BEN: Really? No. (beat) Really?!? WASH: I swear to you that is the ! Not only did they let us take off, but they helped us load the crates!

INT. HAVEN - THE WASHBURNE HOUSE – KITCHEN – EVENING ZOE chops up some vegetables and stirs a simple pot of soup. She pauses at the sound of a DOOR OPENING AND CLOSING, then continues. Wash and Ben walk in. BEN (shaking his head, in awe of Wash): Unbelievable! WASH (to Zoe): Hey there, Lambie-toes. Wash walks up to Zoe and she stops chopping. He kisses her on her cheek, and leans over the pot to smell it. WASH (cont’d): . Wife soup. Zoe turns to kiss Wash. Ben looks uncomfortable. BEN: I’ll see you tomorrow then, Captain. WASH: Eight o’clock sharp… (shrugs) …ish. Wash offers Ben a jaunty, if sloppy, salute, which Ben returns, before heading out. Zoe watches the interchange with a slight smile. ZOE: “Captain?” WASH: Oh, we have a whole chain-of-command thing worked out. A quiet smile from Zoe before she busies herself around the kitchen. WASH (cont’d): I love that kid! (moves to help her) So, how was your day? ZOE: Another day in the mine. Literally. And now… (indicates stove top) Wife soup. And yours? WASH (excited, close to babbling): Probably the best I’ve ever had. Flying more or less to my own schedule. No one to order me around—not that I don’t enjoy a few of your late night commands, sweetie, but it’s really nice to be captain for a change, even if it’s just a battered old crate and a kid who’s barely old enough to— He looks over the fresh VEGETABLES laid out in the chopping board. WASH (cont’d): Hey, where’d you get all this? ZOE: Sissy Temkin. WASH: She the one just married Derek? ZOE (nods): Girl damn near talked my ear off, she’s so excited to be married. Can’t wait to have a whole gaggle of little ones. She’s already got the first four names picked out. WASH (touching her arm): Maybe we should get to picking ourselves, soon. Zoe looks at him and gives him a peaceful smile. ZOE: Sure you don’t miss the getting shot at? WASH: You know, I thought I might, but then I considered all the pros of a lead-free life. You know, little things, like getting to live long enough to see my kids grow up. Plus… (jaunty salute) I’m a captain, now! Wash sits down at the kitchen table chair closest to the chopping board.

WASH (cont’d): So, other than free food from your co-workers’ spouses, how was the mine? Wash picks up a piece of carrot and pops it in his mouth. ZOE (deadpan, impersonating Wash): It was great. Probably the bestest day ever. Wash stops chewing, raises an eyebrow. ZOE (cont’d): What do you want me to say, Wash? It’s mining. It’s not a whole lot of fun or excitement. They look at each other for a beat, then Zoe looks away. That pot of soup is VERY interesting. WASH: You do want to be here, don’t you? ZOE (false smile): ‘Course. (beat) Just takes some getting used to is all. Silence. Zoe quietly ladles some soup into Wash’s bowl. WASH: Ben was telling me some of the miners’re getting pretty sick from the dust down there? ZOE (ladling her own soup): It’s the loose ore dust getting into lungs. Book thinks it might turn infectious. WASH: The things you learn at shepherding school… (beat, then suddenly concerned) You’re going to be okay down there, though, right? Can’t be starting our family if you’re coughing your lungs up. ZOE: It’s mostly the old timers who’re getting ill.

WASH: Still… ZOE: It’ll be fine. Book asked Simon to examine everybody, next time the crew comes this way. WASH: If Mal hasn’t gotten everyone’s arms hacked off before then. Wash takes a spoonful of soup. ZOE: What do you mean? WASH: Nothing. I was joking. But, judging by your lack of laughter, I’m thinking not very well. (beat) You really that worried about Mal? ZOE: You saw how he was when we left. WASH: I know he’s not exactly as friendly as the Fruity-Oaty-Pus at the moment, but he’ll keep the crew alive and flying. He got you through the war didn’t he? Zoe gives him a sceptical look as she sits at the table. INT. TAVERN – SAME TIME CLOSE-IN on the face of MALCOLM REYNOLDS. NOISES OF A BOISTEROUS BAR in the background. WASH (VO): I’m sure he’s doing just fine, hon. A meaty fist SLAMS into Mal’s face. As Mal stumbles back a step, we pull back to REVEAL— Mal stands in the middle of a bar. We do not see who he faces – in fact, we watch the entire scene from the POV of Mal’s antagonists. MAL (rubbing his jaw): Now that surely doesn’t seem like a reasonable response to my assessment of the Alliance’s policy on the relocation of refugees. JANYE comes up behind Mal, carrying two MASSIVE TANKARDS of ale, sipping from one of them. He eyes Mal’s opponents. JAYNE (handing Mal one of the tankards): You waxing all political again? MAL: Never do seem to learn. A CHAIR is thrown at the two of them. They dodge out of the way and it crashes somewhere behind them. MAL (cont’d): ‘Course they’re a lovely bunch, very well spoken. Know how to get a point across. JAYNE: You take the three on the left, I’ll take the three on the right? MAL: Was thinkin’ more that you’d take the five on the left. Jayne shrugs: seems fair. Mal grins and throws his tankard toward his opponents (and the CAMERA), splashing them with ale. Our view of the scene is blurry and wet as Mal and Jayne, both laughing, charge. Then Jayne throws his tankard directly at us and— BAM!—we BLACKOUT

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