Title: Tough

Rating: PG-13. For swearing (Firefly) and violence.

Characters: the whole crew, plus the Pirate Children and Alistair Caramia (the latter are mine, the rest are Joss's)

Pairings: Canon pairings. I will openly admit that I heavily, heavily favor Mal and Inara and the Reynolds Family. (Trying hard to rectify that without negatively affecting the storyline.)

Summary: Yet another Pirate Children story. Set twenty-eight years post-BDM. A not-so-fluffy (but still slightly fluffy) look at the future. Serenity's adjusting to her grown children.

Author's Note: The final chapter. Longer. Hopefully something by way of resolution. Enjoy. Earlier, fluffier stuff will probably be next. I miss Abey. :)

Part 5

“River, prep the infirmary,” Simon shouts orders as he slides to his knees next to Mal and Serra. “Lolly, bring me an IV.” He scans the room quickly to assess the threat level beyond the stomach wound oozing blood everywhere. This is a skill he’s picked up in his years on Serenity. He sees Zoe, Jayne, and Kacey crowded around the second gunshot victim, Vera trained on… Saffron?!... whose arms Zoe is tying behind her back and whose shoulder seems to have been hit by a shotgun bullet. Not a life-threatening wound, if she doesn’t bleed to death. “Zoe, put some pressure on that,” Simon calls over, before turning his attention to Serra. She’s fighting off the shock well, but she won’t be able to last much longer. They need to get her into the infirmary as soon as he starts the IV. Which will be harder than it sounds. Lolly skids to a halt beside him, handing him the needle and bag of blood replacement. “Oh God,” she whispers, viewing the blood surrounding Mei-Mei, and steps back. “Okay, Serra,” Simon says in his most soothing voice possible. “I’ve got to put this…” “No needles,” Serra groans, closing her eyes against the pain. Simon knows that was coming. The youngest crewmember on Serenity has an intense phobia of needles. “No. Needles.” “You know that’s not possible, Mei-Mei.” “C’mon, baby-mine,” Mal begs as Serra begins to thrash away from Simon. “We’ve gotta do this.” Simon closes his eyes, sighs, and wishes Abram were here. They’ll have to go for the next best thing. “Inara! We need you down here.” He and Mal scan the cargo bay for Serra’s mama, who has yet to make an appearance. They find her on the catwalk overhead, shotgun in hand, the one Mal taught her to shoot so many years ago for just such an occurrence as now. “Inara,” Simon tries again, louder, shaking the mother from her shocked daze, “I need to put an IV in. We need you down here.” Within moments, Inara joins them, withholding her tears. She sits on her knees by Serra’s head, holding it still and whispering soft assurances. “Stop it, Mei-Mei. Look at me. Everything’s going to be fine, just fine. You won’t feel a thing. Meet my eyes. There we go, baby…” Dazed brown eyes meet teary brown eyes. Serra’s thrashing stops. Simon lets out a soft sigh, slipping the IV in the arm Mal holds down for him with a bloody hand, the other hand keeping pressure on Serra’s stomach. He dopes her and then inserts the tube from the bag of blood replacement, handing the bag up to Lolly behind him. “She’ll be out in a second,” Simon informs Mal and Inara, and within a moment Serra’s eyes droop closed. Simon calls for Kacey to carry Serra. The young Washburn leaves Saffron to his mother and Jayne and scoops up his youngest “cousin”, trying his best to ignore the blood and the fear in Lolly’s eyes. He lays her limp form on the infirmary bed as Lolly hangs the blood bag on the IV stand. “Thanks, Kacey. We have it from here,” Simon tells him as Lolly gently pushes him out of the doors, closing them in his face. He meets her blue eyes, red and scared, through the glass before she turns to help her father. Inara, Kaylee, and Ally stand at the windows, watching as Simon and River work to remove the bullet, Lolly acting as assistant. Inara’s hand rests on the glass, eyes glued on the rise and fall of Serra’s chest. “Go clean up a little,” his Aunt Kaylee commands gently. Kacey glances down at his blood soaked shirt and nods numbly. “Aunt Kaylee… what happened?” Kaylee squeezes Inara’s arm and steps away from her. “I don’t know, Kacey,” she admits, guiding him away from the infirmary. “Did Aunt ‘Nara shoot…?” “Looks like it.” “And is that…?” “Yep. Other than that, I just don’ know what’s goin’ on, Kacey. Just change your shirt and then you can come on back down, okay?”

***

“Give me a reason not ta kill her,” Jayne grumbles, finger itching on Vera’s trigger. She is an old gun, but he keeps her in prime condition. The children of Serenity are as much family to Jayne as Matty and his ma were, and he isn’t going to let this little po fu get away with hurting one of them. “’Cause I’m thinkin’ the captain wants the honor,” Zoe tells him, putting painful pressure on Saffron’s shoulder. Mal, gun in hand again, watches Kacey sweep Serra towards the infirmary, meets Inara’s eyes as she turns to follow. He understands the request in her gaze and nods his affirmation. “No, Zo’,” he says, coming over to crouch in front of a panting Saffron, her eyes glazed with the pain. “Her fate rests in my wife’s hands, an’ I’m thinkin’ that whether or not Mei-Mei makes it is gonna be pretty crucial to her decision.” “Your whore,” Saffron hisses, “Already shot me.” Zoe increases the pressure. “You really wanna start insulting the woman’s gonna decide whether you live or die?” “If you were still clingin’ to bygones, you should’ve come directly to me, dong ma?” Mal says roughly, ignoring the pain in his knees. Saffron laughs harshly. “This isn’t about you… I saw your daughter and immediately started thinking about why I’d lost everything. Your wife,” she says with contempt. “After my year in the penitentiary, my face was all over the ‘verse, a warning about being conned. My life was over. Serra was my ticket off this rock. Not a bad little thief, you know? It was just icing that I’d be able to throw it in the face of her mother.” “Why ain’t we killin’ her?” “Not yet, Jayne.” “I’m gonna go check on Serra. She moves a muscle, Jayne, shoot ‘er in the other shoulder.” “With pleasure, Mal.” Mal stands, only grimacing slightly at his creaking knees. When he enters the common area, Ally leaves Inara’s side and hands him a wet towel, gesturing to his hands. He nods his thanks, but hesitates in washing the blood off, instead leaning on the wall next to Inara, watching Simon suture the wound. Inara reaches for his sticky hand, threading her fingers through his. He gives a gentle squeeze in return, then tugs her over to him, lets her bury her face in his chest. She doesn’t cry, just slips her arms around him and continues to keep her eyes locked on Serra. He wants to reassure her that everything will be okay, but he saw all that blood on the cargo bay floor. “I’ve had worse,” he says lamely. She doesn’t say: “But she doesn’t have as much blood to spare…” Some things can go unstated. “So… ‘Liance pen’, huh?” “Mal… Not now…” Serra’s breathing continues evenly, steadily, giving Mal hope.

***

“Alright, darlin’. It’s your call, completely,” Mal says in a low voice. They’re in the doorway of the cargo bay, having just come from a sleeping Serra’s side in the infirmary. They’re looking at Saffron, who sits silently against a crate as Simon sutures her shoulder and Kacey keeps a gun trained on her. “Give the word, and she’ll be off the boat. Dead or alive, whichever you prefer.” His voice is deadly serious; he’s given the decision to Inara, because she made the shot, because Saffron’s here for revenge on her. “Killing her is too merciful. Have Simon finish, and leave her.” Inara turns her wide, tired eyes to Mal. “I know you and Serra have your issues, Mal, but I can’t do this anymore. I can’t be ripped apart by the two of you constantly hurting each other. Find some sort of common ground, please. For me.” “We’ll talk, ‘Nara, I promise.” “I’m going to go sit with Serra for little longer,” Inara nods with a gentle smile, reaching up to brush a kiss across his scruffy cheek. “Just get her off our home.” “Yes, ma’am,” Mal says softly as she leaves him with a squeeze on his arm. Some days, he still doesn’t understand how he ever got lucky enough to get her back a second time.

***

Serra’s eyes flicker a few times and open. Mal’s head snaps up. “’Morning, baby-mine,” Mal says, voice thick, brushing hair up off her forehead. “How’re you feelin’?” Serra’s tongue feels sluggish, and she works it against the roof of her mouth to take away the numbness. “Like go se.” “Nice to know you’ve not lost your sense of humor.” “Mama,” Serra sleepily half-smiles. Inara squeezes her hand with a watery grin. “Simon says you’re going to be fine, baby. But you’ll be recovering for a while.” Serra makes a face. “Saffron?” “Locked up tight for now. Your mama pulled off a nice bit o’ sharp-shooting.” Serra coughs a little, and Inara lifts a cup of water to her dry lips, letting her drink some. The coughing subsides. “You shot her?” Serra asks, pride in her eyes. Inara looks away from her momentarily, putting on a weak smile. “Yes, Mei-Mei.” “How long’ve I been out?” “A day or so,” Mal answers. The girl scrunches her face up, shifting uncomfortably. “Do you need something for the pain, Serra? I’ll get Simon.” “Thanks, Mama,” Serra grimaces, settling against the infirmary bed. Inara breezes out of the room. “I got shot, huh?” Mal smiles tightly. “Again. Worse this time.” “Wasn’t my fault, though. This time.” “You could make that claim.” “Hey, there was no provoking. Bitch shot me out of no where.” Mal lets out a dry laugh. “Yeah. Guess that was the way of it. Ready to talk about your jail time?” “Nope, but I probably don’t have a choice,” she grimaces again. “How ‘bout we start with the charges?” “Theft,” Serra chuckles painfully. “Funny thing, though. I didn’t do it.” “That time.” Serra concedes with a nod. “That time. Uncle Fahmy booked me and Sue Ling passage on a commercial liner back to Sihnon from Londinium. Met Aunt Noor, you know? Interesting lady. Doesn’t look a thing like Mama.” “Huh. Really?” “Nope. Much more like lao lao.” “Gonna get back to the point?” Serra shoots him an annoyed glare, which brings a little thrill to the father. She’s getting back to herself quickly. “Anyway… some fancy lady’s jewelry went missing. Feds weren’t so happy that I didn’t have a Core ident card. I was the only Rimmer on the boat. Guess who got charged and arrested?” “Never mind that you’re a Serra, and were sittin’ right next to your Core-born, aristocrat cousin,” Mal sighs, chest hurting. “That shouldn’t matter,” Serra bites back. “Seventy-five percent of my fellow inmates were Rim folk coming Coreward to find work. Only half of them had been tried already. If Fahmy weren’t a Core lawyer, I would’ve rotted in that hellish cell for years before they bothered to get me before a judge. It’s not right.” “No, baby-mine, it ain’t.” He understands her hurt, her frustration. He’s felt it all before. “But Serra, you weren’t raised to think this ‘verse is fair…” “If the Alliance feels it is necessary to extend its hold on the Rim planets, the least they could do is afford them equal rights.” “You’re too gorramn smart for your own good,” he says, heartbroken for her. “I’ve thought of that before. Don’t worry,” she coughs, wincing, “I don’t blame it on you.”

***

“Mei-Mei, why must you always go off and get shot?” “Watch the attitude, Bubba,” Serra shoots back, her grin almost returned to normal as Simon begins to slowly wean her off the drugs. “If I don’t keep getting shot, you won’t have anything to do when you get back to Serenity.” Abe’s eyes widen over the Cortex screen. “That’s not even funny, Serra.” “It is, a little. You have to admit.” “Mei-Mei…” “Kacey’s leaving for six months,” Serra says suddenly, eyes darkening. “Lolly said something about that.” “And Zoe and Wash will be settling, dirt-side, as soon as he’s back. Kaylee and Simon are talking about going along. If not this year, then next year.” She pauses, looks down and swallows, then looks up again. There’s a world of hurt in her eyes as she continues, “Ally’s settling on Regina as soon as we get close enough for the trip to be feasible.” “Mei-Mei… Change happens. We’re outgrowing Serenity. She’ll be all yours soon.” “I don’t want her if it means everyone has to leave.” “Well, our dad’s almost as resistant to change as you are, so it’ll be a while,” Abe grins, lightening the mood. “We’re all still a family, Mei. Distance doesn’t change that. I’m still your brother, right? Sue Ling’s still our cousin? And Shadow? Not living in the same place doesn’t change the fact that you’re with Ari, does it?” Serra makes a face. “Actually, we’re not exclusive when we’re not in the same location.” “Ah. No more details, please. Is that how kids do it these days?” “You better be glad there are weeks of space separating us, Abram Reynolds,” she warns, raising her pillow with her right arm. “Okay, okay. Sorry. Eila says get better soon.” “So how is the girlfriend?” “Still the girlfriend. Funny how that monogamy thing works.” Serra sticks her tongue out at him. “I’m going to keep a tab of how many times I have to hit you next time I see you.” “How about you just focus on healing properly, dong ma?” “Fine. When are you coming home next?” There’s only a hint of desperation. “Autumn term is over in a month, so I’ll be meeting y’all wherever you are then.” “Okay. I miss you, Bubba. Don’t tell anyone I said that.” “I think they all know.” “Yeah, well, reputation and all that.” “Stay safe, okay? And try to get along with Dad. You two are going to kill Mama with all your fighting. And do you want to make it any harder for the two of them?” “Stop worrying. They’re going to be shiny.” “I’m going now. Love you. Get better.” “Love you.” The connection cuts out on his end, and Serra puts the handheld screen on the table beside the couch in her parents’ shuttle that currently serves as her bed. “Tea, Mei-Mei?” “Yes, please,” she sighs sleepily, settling back against her pillows. “Mama’s got you serving tea now, huh?” Her father rolls his eyes, putting a tray with a teacup and pot on the table and pouring her a cup. “What’s our next stop?” “I was thinking, after we drop this load on Beylix, we’d head out to Shadow, take a break quick. But, uh, no boys, dong ma?” “Daddy…” “Well, okay. Your cousins can come visit.” Serra pats her father’s cheek as he sits on the edge of the couch next to her legs. “You like Ari. Try to remember that.” Mal sighs. “Look, you might be mostly grown, but I don’t gotta like it. So just… don’t flaunt it. Or talk about it. Ever.” “Alright, old man.” “Brat.”

El fin