Remember Me – Part One

After serving aboard the Firefly-class transport Serenity as Chief Engineer and Morale Officer – titles granted to the petite young woman not by Serenity’s master and commander but by the bubbly mechanic herself – for almost 4 years, Kaylee was quite aware of how things usually turned out when someone wished for some excitement to happen or when Mal stated he thought a job would go smoothly. This still didn’t stop her from wishing for a bit of the former while in the midst of completing her monthly maintenance check on her girl’s dorsal cargo hatches. Later, in hindsight, Kaylee wished Lady Luck hadn’t resembled her bao bei quite so much at that moment.

The young mechanic was just wrapping up her task inside the ship’s belly airlock when Serenity’s intercom crackled with static before Mal’s agitated voiced boomed over the speakers lodged in bay’s ceiling, causing her to quickly lift her head mere inches from the lip of the upper dorsal hatch and listens for the anticipated order for her to man the ship’s engine room.

Instead of hearing Mal’s usually brusque command for Wash to take off as soon as the Mule was aboard and for her to attend Serenity’s temperamental systems, the voice yelling for Book to open the main cargo doors and for Simon to get his skinny, Core-bred pigu to the bay yesterday. The rest of the message – presumably including the order for her to get her own pigu to the engine room – went unnoticed by Kaylee, as the sudden deafening rush of blood in her ears drowning out her captain’s voice.

The petite woman quickly shook off her fearful stupor, scrambling quickly to get herself and her tools out of the metal pit before the battered ground transport roared into the bay with her four crewmates aboard, the high-speed entrance a result of either being chased by the victims of a failed double-cross or because one of her friends was injured. Once out of the pit, Kaylee dashed over to the controls for the doors, jabbing the button to close the hatch and leaving the metal box merrily swinging in the now-empty cargo bay.

Kaylee pounded rapidly through the passenger section of the ship, grasping the rail of the stairs leading up to the crew deck and engine room as she arrived in front of Simon’s infirmary, before climbing the metal steps two at a time and rushing through the hallways toward her unofficial bunk. The young woman dumped the pile of tools she had swept up in her arms from the cargo bay floor on her workbench, only feeling a small twinge of grief for not properly storing her tools away – and for how hard her valuable equipment had struck the metal table’s surface – before racing to retrace her path to the cargo bay.

Heaving from a lack of breath as she raced through the open doorway to the upper floor of the cargo bay, Kaylee stopped dead to witness the Captain and Zoë carefully manhandling River off the Mule. It took the older woman a moment to notice that their albatross was completely unconscious, before drawing a quiet gasp as she noticed the left side of River’s face was already in the early stages of swelling regardless of how much blood leaked over the swollen portions of River’s face from an open gash at her hairline. A much louder gasp echoed through the cargo bay as Mal and Zoë turned with River’s limp body, allowing Kaylee to see that a massive chunk of flesh had been gouged from over the teenager’s ribs from a large bullet wound which had tarnished both the pale flesh of the young woman and the normally innocent-looking dress River had worn out on the job.

Kaylee had barely begun to deal with the violent injuries done to her close friend when she heard a loud noise behind her. Spinning quickly to see if the people that had harmed River were now storming the cargo bay, the mechanic watched mutely as Jayne hopped off the Mule quickly and stabbed the button to shut the cargo bay doors as if the piece of dirty plastic had been the party guilty of shooting the young psychic. When the merc eventually turned around from the door controls, Kaylee was visibly shocked at how pale and dazed the large man was; she watched as Jayne’s focus shifted to the grates at his feet at the same time the newly-arrived Shepherd Book traded places with Zoë and Mal launched himself through the doorway to the infirmary, yelling at the top of his lungs for the medic and leading his two burdened crewmembers as they carried River to her brother’s domain.

Kaylee paled at what she had just witnessed, the force of the imagery distracting her from noticing as Jayne slunk out of the cargo bay and from hearing the distant noise of the man’s bunk door slamming shut and locking. Color drained from Kaylee’s vision save for the blindingly bright red of the perfectly circular drops of blood spattering the cargo bay floor; Kaylee was in the middle of morbidly pondering how River could continue her streak of graceful elegance while bleeding heavily and unconscious when Inara touched the other woman’s shoulders, causing her to jump several feet in the air before looking over at the Companion without realizing that her face was wet with tears.

“Sweetie, what’s going on?”

Inara frowned gently at her friend’s lack of response, her lack of knowledge about what had happened stemming from the fact she had just returned from a business trip on the same planet Mal’s job had occurred on at the same time Serenity’s Mule had presumably charged into the cargo bay like a bat out of Hell. She had heard the commotion that had followed the transport’s arrival, finally exiting her shuttle to see all the havoc going on below. Leading the stunned mechanic down the stairs near her shuttle’s airlock, the older woman softly gasped as she finally noticed the trail of spilt blood that had driven Kaylee to her state of dazed confusion, before steering the shivering young woman after the rest of the crew. Kaylee finally seemed to “wake up” from her shock, sobbing into Inara’s fancy silk dress and trying to speak.

“I-River, she’s...”

“It’s ok, mei-mei, calm down. Just take a deep breath.”

Inara struggled to try and sooth the distraught mechanic, stroking her hair with gentle hands though the Companion felt her own heart twist with worry as she watched as River was gently laid out on the infirmary’s diagnostic bed. At the same time, Simon – putting on what the crew had come to call his “doctorin’ face” – struggled to avoiding think of River as anything but a faceless patient, as he knew he would never be able to help his sister properly if his emotions got in the way of doing his job. The young man leant over the bed, cutting the blood-soaked dress off River’s battered body before ordering Zoë to press a sterile bandage to River’s head to slow the bleeding there. After a few moments of doing a cursory review of his sister’s injuries, Simon shifted faintly and began solely focusing on the gunshot wound to her side.

“She’s extremely lucky…the bullet missed her lung completely. However, the bullet did crack several ribs as it grazed her ribcage…”

Simon shifted again as he took a firm of his sister’s torso in order to lift her up to one side long enough to examine her back, tension melting away as he saw that the bullet had passed cleanly through River’s torso. Working quickly, the trauma surgeon mopped out the wound with antiseptics, before stitching the wounds shut carefully in order to limit scarring. Once done with repairing the wounds, he efficiently bandaged the younger Tam’s ribs and moved towards Zoë to deal with the gash on River’s forehead, cold fury evident in his voice as he spoke while examining the gash marring his sister’s pale skin.

“What…in the diyu…happened out there?!? You said this would be a simple pick-up job! If so, how did River get shot?!?

Simon looked up momentarily to emphasize his point, not even allowing Mal to answer before he turned back to stitching River’s forehead shut with tiny, precise moments of his hands. After tying up the ends of the sutures, the young doctor gestured to Zoë, who handed him a pad of sterile gauze edged with surgical tape; hands fluttering only slightly, Simon fastened the small bandage over the newly sealed wound and began a check for any bone fractures in River’s face that might be hidden by swollen tissue. Mal stood up straighter after Simon’s summary dismissal of him.

“Hey now, Doc….I don’t think I am likin’ the tone you’re taking at this juncture. Weren’t our fault what happened. Pick-up spot was attack by them that would steal our cargo. Ask Jayne if’n you’re questioning my truthfulness, as he was out with River when it happened.”

Simon’s expression darkened further, but he continued to work carefully at his continued diagnosis of River’s injuries, hands never betraying the rage in the young doctor’s eyes.

“You left her alone with that…ape?!? For all you know, he made up the attack and shot her himself!”

Simon’s voice tightened noticeably as he spoke towards the older man, provoking an answering growl from the ex-sergeant.

“Doc, I would be watching yourself right now. Now admittedly, Jayne was never blessed with an abundance of what anyone would call “smarts,” but he’s not stupid. He’s part of my crew, and I won’t be havin’ you talk like that about him in such a manner. You just see to yours, while I go tell Wash to get this boat in the air so we can get outta here. We got the ruttin’ cargo, so let’s make the drop and be done with this tyen sah job so your sister’s actions weren’t in vain.”

Mal shot one final glare at Simon, eyes dark with his own brand of fury, before heading out of the infirmary and up to the bridge. Wash looked up from the pilot’s console, watching as the captain quickly strode over to the co-pilot’s chair and flung his fairly significant bulk into chair’s padding.

“Wash, let’s get Serenity into the air and make a beeline for the drop off. I want to be outta here ‘fore the ‘Liance gets wind of us working this close to the Core.”

“Not a problem. I’ll have us in atmo in five.”

Wash turned back to the control console to engage Serenity’s engines, smiling like a proud father as the solid hum of the ship’s engine coursed through the flight stick and into his fingers; the hum slowly lessened as the Firefly raced through the air before settling to a barely-discernable tingling once the ship was in space.

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Down in the infirmary, Simon sighed as he removed his blood-stained surgical gloves, tossing both them and the bloodied apron he had donned after getting summoned to the infirmary into the trash. Looking back to the center of the room, he observed Kaylee sitting beside his sister, the transfusion kit adding another layer to the bond the two women had begun forming the moment that River had scrambled out of her cryobox in shock. His eyes followed the mechanic’s gaze, the doe eyes focused on her friend’s pale and swollen face.

“I’ve done all I can for her…but it’s up to River now. I am going to unhook the transfusion kit, Kaylee, since it won’t do anyone any good if you’re laid out cold on the deck somewhere. Go get some rest…River’s strong. She’ll be fine.

Simon’s voice had gentled from his angry tone earlier, matching his tender movements as he removed the needle from Kaylee’s arm and bandaged the small puncture wound. Once Simon had finished, Kaylee shook her head, indicating her refusal to leave River.

“Naw…I’m alright, Simon. I’m gonna stay here with River till she wakes up.”

“It could be a while, Kaylee. I gave her a smoother…and coupled with…the bump on her head was quite severe. It’s quite possible she won’t wake up…”

Simon spoke softly to mechanic, his own voice cracking faintly at the thought of his sister remaining comatose, but unable to ignore the truth of the matter: his sister had sustained a violent blow to her temporal lobes. Kaylee bit her lip as she looked from one Tam to the other, taking hold of River’s hand gently in her own; Simon sighed sadly at the gesture but nodded, deciding to let Kaylee watch over his sister.

“If she does happen to wake up, come get me immediately. I’ll need to examine her right away to properly determine if any…lasting damage had been done.”

Kaylee nodded again faintly, her eyes not leaving River’s face for an instant as Simon left the infirmary though she was completely aware of Inara’s watchful presence in the infirmary’s doorway. Recognizing the look in her mei-mei’s eyes as she gazed at the younger member of Serenity’s crew, Inara sighed softly to herself before turning around and returning to her shuttle. Once inside, Inara moved over to her Cortex terminal and logged onto to her Guild account, checking for possible clients on the planet they were destined for. From her own research on the planet, it was small but not completely backwater like some of the locales Inara had visited while living aboard Serenity; Inara had faith that she would be able to find some sort of respectable clientele during the week-long period the ship was to remain on-planet. The terminal had just finished shutting itself off as Inara closed the decorative curtains shielding the computer from view and the shuttle’s hatch swung open.

“Captain, what have I told you about bursting into my shuttle unannounced?”

Inara turned to face Mal as he stepped into her home without her explicit permission for what seemed the thousandth time. At seeing her tightly controlled gaze, Mal’s weary expression appeared to lighten as he raised an eyebrow at her tone and crossed his arms over his chest.

“I do believe the exact phrase you used was “Don’t.”

“Exactly. So should I take this as a sign of your inability to follow simple instructions? Surprising for a man of your…experience.”

“Yeah well, I’m a bad, bad boy.”

Mal flashed a grin at here, causing Inara to roll her eyes at him. She opened her mouth to tell him to leave, but the former solider beat her to the punch.

“Now wait a minute, Ambassador. Lemme explain myself before you go banishing me from your chambers. Now…I figure you’re about to go meet some nice, strapping, young rich boys on our drop-off spot, right? Small problem: we ain’t got the time. Change in plans, since after we make the drop and get our pay, we’re takin’ off. Badger’s got a job for us after this; we need the money, so no arguing. But…we will be on Persephone for about four days due said work. That enough time?”

Inara was only able to blink at that moment, faintly surprised at Mal’s consideration for her work obligations.

“Um…well…yes, that’s fine. I have a number of regular clients on Persephone. It shouldn’t be a problem to find one or two for a couple of days…”

“Great! ‘Cause, you know, I’d hate for your devoted love slaves to go without their mistress for too long. Goodness knows what’d happen if you had to go with whoring for any length of time.”

Mal’s responded to Inara’s oddly flustered answer without so much as batting an eye, causing her to sigh and shake her head. But of course. What else should I expect from him?

“The term is “Companion,” Captain…and I see no need to be rude concerning my clients just because they can afford Guild rates and you cannot.”

She smiled sweetly at him, batting her eyes in supposed innocence. Mal, blinking rapidly in confusion, moved his hands to hips before responding.

“Hey now…”

“Please leave, Mal. I have appointments re-schedule and set up for.”

Mal made a face at her back as she turned back towards the hidden terminal, but turned and left after a moment. Heading across the section of catwalk joining the access ways to Serenity’s shuttles, he forced himself to stop and lean against the railing. Sighing heavily, he spoke to the empty cargo bay.

“Gorram it, Jayne…what’ve you done now…?”

Sighing once again, he shook his head and headed towards his quarters.

TBC