Title: Mistletoe

Rating: PGish for some kissin'. Yup, see the title.

Characters: Kacey Washburn! lol... Actually, the whole crew, PCs, Ally, etc. But Kacey's the main person.

Pairings: Canon pairings apply, but there's really only Z/W... I think my world is falling apart.

Summary: Another PC fic, 17 years post-BDM AU. Christmas, Serenity-style, through her oldest child's eyes.

Disclaimer: Most of the characters (sans PCs and Ally) aren't mine, nor are the Christmas songs referenced.

For newbies: Brother, Shadow, Mei-Mei, Mischief, Pirate Children, Mistletoe, Hell-Raising, Tough, Echo (?)

Author's Note: Yes, I've finally done it: I'm not focusing on a Reynolds! (Well, trying really, really, really hard not to focus on Serra and Mal.... or Abe or Inara... dangit, this is harder than I thought.) Follows Killian Cobb Washburn through his seventeenth Christmas aboard Serenity, set about 8-9 months pre-Hell Raising. This was spurred by a combination of the holiday spirit and several comments/questions about Kacey in Tough.

Kacey Washburn, just turned 17 Lolly Tam, soon to be 16 Abe Reynolds, 14.5 Serra Reynolds, 9.5 Alistair Caramia, 30

Part 1

Never one to care for her father’s grumbles, Serra calls up a mix of Christmas music on the Cortex and has Lolly pipe it throughout the ship. She dances around cargo bay, the lights that Aunt Kaylee has hung on the catwalks reflecting in her dark eyes as her curls bounce in time with the music. “C’mon, Kacey,” she grins brightly, taking his hands and pulling him off the step to dance with her, making him spin her around. He laughs and joins in fairly willingly, laughing along with her as some Core World diva belts out about all she really wants for Christmas. As the song moves on to Jingle Bell Rock, the nine-year-old releases him and grabs her brother, who twirls her expertly across the floor. “Well, Leila Lee,” Kacey smiles to the almost sixteen year old. “Care for a dance?” “Well, of course, Killian,” she beams back at him, as much caught up in the Christmas spirit as little Mei-Mei. She raises herself off of the metal steps with all of her dancer’s grace. She curtsies grandly and takes his extended hand, the lights in her auburn waves and clear blue eyes. “Did you have a good day, birthday boy?” He grins and spins her. “Excellent. Dad let me take her up today.” “Really? Lucky you. And I didn’t feel any difference from usual.” “Thank you,” he dips her. She laughs at his grandiose gesture as he rights her. “Gorramit, Serra!” Kacey and Lolly meet each other’s eyes and laugh at their uncle. “Language, Daddy.” “I have at least four days ‘til Christmas, baby-mine. Can’t a man live in peace on his own boat?” Mal calls from the catwalk above. “Only four days, reindeer killer.” “That was four years ago. Get over it,” Mal sighs. “Come dance with us, Daddy?” Serra switches tactics, pouting a little and widening her eyes. The kid is wily. “Yeah, Daddy,” Abe teases. “Show us your moves.” Mal grumbles something under his breath and stomps away. “I’ll join ya!” Kaylee says, coming from the engine room, River in tow. “Me too!” River says excitedly. The Tam women join them as the song switches. “Kacey!” Serra cries, recognizing opening of the song. “That’s my cue,” Kacey smiles, releasing Lolly and bowing, teasing in his pale blue eyes. “My public calls.” Lolly laughs brightly as Abe sweeps her into a dance alongside her mother and aunt as Kacey and Serra begin their mostly on-key rendition of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”. Mal pounds back onto the catwalk. “Now singing?!” “Cap’n Scrooge, go bother someone else,” Kaylee calls back up to him, twirling with her sister-in-law. Kacey and Serra continue their traditional duet; they really are hams, attention seekers with no sense of embarrassment. That’s their bond. “I really can’t stay…” “Baby, it’s bad out there…” Serra laughs as the song ends and Kacey hauls her off of the step where she was performing and spins her around. “Thanks, Kacey.” “Always a pleasure, Mei-Mei,” he sets her down with a grin. “An excellent way to top off a birthday, huh?” “Not until we get everyone dancing,” Serra says mischievously. “Think we can?” “Oh, definitely…”

***

Two hours of dancing and laughing later, Kacey scrubs his face off and then hauls himself up into his top bunk. Abe is on his bed underneath, reading as usual. “I’m worn out,” Kacey groans, settling back onto the pillows. “Your sister…” “Practically endless supply of energy. She’s kinda like a fusion generator that way.” “Did you just compare Mei-Mei to a nuclear power source?” Kacey asks, hanging his head over the side. “It fits,” Abe shrugs, grinning at Kacey. “Barely containable, possibly destructive.” “Guess you’re right. Still can’t believe your dad danced.” “He was triple-teamed. Mei-Mei, Mama, and Aunt River asked him all at the same time. And he was the only one not down there already. Even Jayne was dancing.” “Excellent point, Mr. Reynolds.” “Thank you, Mr. Washburn. Happy seventeenth.” “Thanks, Bubba. G’night.” “’Night, Kacey.”

***

“You seen Abe?” Kacey yawns, slumping into the chair next to Leila Lee the next morning. “No. Try the shuttle,” Lolly answers, working on her breakfast of leftover birthday dinner. “Not important,” Kacey shrugs, face hitting the table. Lolly laughs, covering her smile with a forkful of potato-flavored protein. “You look exhausted. Too much dancing? Or was it the performing that really took it out of you?” “The visual of Jayne doing the limbo kept me up all night,” Kacey snarks back. Lolly snorts, grabbing the large bowl of leftovers and handing it to Kacey. He grabs a spoon from the center of the table and digs in. “That’s disgusting.” “What? I’m gonna eat it all.” “Only 3 days ‘til Christmas Eve!” Serra cries, skipping through the galley, on her way from one place to another. Kacey’s head hits the table again. “I thought she liked to sleep in. Hated getting up in the morning.” “She’s getting ready for Christmas,” Lolly grins, a little facetiously. “We used to be that excited, too, remember?” She pokes his ribs. “And there were three of us.” “Louder. We should apologize to our parents for that.” “I think, at times like these, Mei-Mei is punishment enough for all past childhood transgressions.” “Amen.” “Do you think we should break it to her that Christmas was originally a Christian holiday?” Lolly asks. “Nah,” Kacey answers. “Mei-Mei, people are tryin’ to, you know, wake up peaceful like,” the captain’s voice booms down the hall. Moments later, he and Serra arrive back in the kitchen, the daughter dragging the father by the hand. The captain is trying not to smile. “Where’s your brother?” “Shuttle. Meditating. I’m bored,” Serra whines, pulling him over to the cabinets. “You have class in an hour,” Mal reminds her, reaching for the package she is pointing to on the top shelf of one of the cabinets. “What’s in this?” “Mistletoe. Aunt River and Aunt Kaylee are going to help put it up,” she says, plucking the package from his fingers and skipping off. Mal shakes his head and pours himself a cup of coffee. “How are you two this mornin’?” “Shiny, Uncle Mal,” Lolly answers. “And you?” “’Sides from contemplatin’ puttin’ Serra out the airlock, just fine...” “I’m pretty sure Aunt ‘Nara would have a problem with that.” “Right you are. Well, Captainy things to do.” He wanders off. “You know, I’ve lived on this boat all of my nearly sixteen years…” “And you still have no idea what Captainy things are?” Kacey finishes for her. “Neither do I. Only Uncle Mal and Serra know.” “Does that worry you?” “Always.”

***

“Good evening, ladies,” Kacey smiles as he hops off the stairs to find Serra and Inara in the common area, curled on a couch, Serra’s head in her mama’s lap, face pressed into her stomach. Inara is gently stroking Serra’s curls. Serra groans pathetically. “Everything okay, Mei-Mei?” Kacey asks, sitting down beside the ladies. “She’s fine,” Inara smiles at him. “She just ate too many peppermints.” Serra groans again. Kacey laughs lightly, putting a reassuring hand on Serra’s shoulder. “How’d you get into those, Mei-Mei? Whatever happened to just a few a day?” Serra shifts her face to stick her tongue out at him before pouting and snuggling back into Inara’s lap. Kacey grins, likes the impetuous ways of his youngest “cousin”. “Well, I’ll leave you to your recovery.” He stands and pats his cousin affectionately, nodding to Abe and Simon in the infirmary. He weaves his way into the passenger dorms, knocking twice on Ally’s door. “Ching jin,” Ally calls. Kacey slides the door open and enters the room, whose only decorations and only signs of the owner’s affluent background are the walls filled with bookcases filled with real paper books. Ally is currently organizing said books, adding the newest batch she traded for on their last planet-fall. Only a handful of the books on these shelves came aboard with Ally; the rest she trades in bookstores from one side of the ‘verse to the other. “Hi Kacey,” Ally smiles, rising from her squatting position. “What brings you down here?” “You, of course,” Kacey grins, dropping into the one chair in the room. “Wanted to talk about my exams.” Ally sits on her bed. “What about them?” “When do you think I’ll be ready for them?” Her brow wrinkles and she pushes light brown hair behind her ear, meeting his blue eyes. “You should, all three of you, be ready within about a year, maybe a little over, why?” “Well, I don’t have to study after I take them, right? If I pass, I’m done.” “If that’s your choice, yes, Kacey. But you don’t have to stop. Both Lolly and Abe…” “I’m not Lolly and Abe, Ally,” Kacey sighs. “I don’t like it like they do.” “That’s certainly your prerogative, Kacey. Why all this talk all of a sudden?” Kacey shrugs. “Somethin’ to work towards, I guess. I’d like to, I dunno, get off the ship a little. Do some flying elsewhere? I don’t know, Ally. Just thinking.” “Well, I can’t argue against thinking, now can I?” “Thanks, Al,” Kacey smiles, standing up. “Could you not mention this? To anyone?” “Not a problem. You know that. Don’t forget your trig test tomorrow.” Kacey exits the passenger dorm, heading back up to the cockpit to hang out with his dad for a bit. As he passes through the kitchen, he witnesses Aunt Kaylee and Uncle Mal bickering about the engine. And something about Christmas lights. His mom and dad are in the cockpit, talking, sharing the pilot’s chair. “Oh, gross,” Kacey teases as he slumps in the co-pilot’s seat. “There are two chairs.” “Not anymore,” Wash points out, earning a grin from his son. Kacey leans forward and looks over the coordinates and read-outs. “Everything looks normal.” “I have been doing this for awhile, you know?” “Yeah, yeah, I know. Just commenting. Hey, Bernard’s on the ground,” Kacey stoops to scoop the triceratops off of the deck, replacing him on his father’s console. “Aren’t you a little too old to play with dinosaurs, young man?” Wash asks, mock-serious. “Husband,” Zoe chuckles, eyebrow raised. “You really wanna go there?” “Aren’t you a little too old to be havin’ all this PDA with my mother?” Kacey shoots back, light in his blue eyes. “Never!” Wash objects, moving to kiss his wife. “Stop, honey,” Zoe laughs, fighting him off. “You’ll scar the poor boy for life.” “Like he hasn’t seen us kiss before,” Wash puhshaws. “Fine, I’ll find us some mistletoe.” “Shouldn’t be hard,” Zoe says, “Kaylee, River, and Mei-Mei hung it in almost every doorway and cranny they could find.” “Oh, the holiday spirit. Kaylee decorating, carols playing, the captain yelling.” As if on cue, the captain sticks his head in. “Y’all seen my family?” “Infirmary and couch outside the infirmary,” Kacey answers, putting his feet up. “Abe’s studying and Mei-Mei ate too many peppermints.” Mal nods. “Feet off my console, lil’ Washburn, ‘less you’re of a mind to clean it.” Grinning, Kacey removes his feet. “Alright, carry on.” And Mal disappears. “’Kay, I’ve got a math test in the morning, so I better go study a little.” “Look at our boy,” Wash smiles playfully, “All studious-like… Does a father proud.” “Knock it off,” Kacey groans, “I just don’t want to look stupid next to the dynamic genius duo.” “You’re not stupid,” Wash says, serious this time. “Relax, it’s just a joke,” Kacey assures them. “I know I’m plenty smart; it’s just hard when you’ve got competition like mine.” “Pushes you harder,” Zoe reminds him. They’re rehashing an old discussion, and he ends it quickly by bidding them goodnight, a kiss for his mother and a playful punch for his father, who faux-whines about the bruise his taller, stronger son supposedly left on him.

TBC