I want to thank BEB for turning my attention to the Me-163 Komet micro-fighter as an inspiration for the Ares. While I had never heard of the Komet, last night I googled it and found myself liking the lines of it... soo... I sketched a 26th century mock up. Of course this is nothing what Stang looks like currently in the story, but, if Ru and Kaylee fix her up this is what she would look like. (Wings are supposed to fold up against the body for storage, didn't draw that though). Cut and paste the links to get them to work. http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a207/XxMzAsHxX/Stang.jpg http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a207/XxMzAsHxX/StangUpClose.jpg Dismclaimer: Although I am an art major, I don't think I've ever drawn a space ship and/or plane in my life. I'm more of an animal oriented artist. So if it sucks... that's my reason :) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mal had his hands on his hips to look intimidating.

However, he was up against much greater forces.

Hearing Kaylee recite the name of the ship was like hearing a small child announce the name of their new pet. To make things worse, Ru walked over, and he was suddenly pitted against his two xiao mei-meis. The mechanic was a natural at acting adorable, yet, as intimidating a Ru could be, she stood behind the smaller young woman and gave the most pathetic look she could conjure up. Suddenly, it was like looking at two children who had found some mangy stray that they wanted to keep. Only in hindsight it was a mangy junked up fighter. He set his jaw and narrowed his gaze, and they gave sheepish smiles with round green and brown eyes.

“No.” It was all he could say as his will was being tested.

“But Cap’n…” Kaylee’s voice squeaked into a whine as her face gave a sad expression that was like a puppy being yelled at. In other words, it made the captain’s façade crack a bit. “It’s our project.”

“It’s a piece’a gos se.” He told them firmly, finding his reason as he stared at the rusty old ship. The more he stared at it, the less weakened he was by their facial expressions. “Gonna take up space ‘n eat up time ‘n money…”

“It’s not your money, I bought ‘er.” Ru told him as she sensed pleading looks alone weren’t going to win him over.

“And what are you gonna do with it? It’s a gorram fighter ship, Ru, if you haven’t noticed we’re not in the war anymore. We’re thieves, not soldiers.” Mal said coldly. “It’s useless, it’s junk.”

Zoe looked at him in disbelief as she caught the pain in his voice from what he associated the ship with. “Sir…”

Kaylee dropped her head and mumbled. “Serenity wasn’t workin’ neither, but ya bought her ‘n fixed her up.”

“Furthermore, besides me waxin’ nostalgic, she’s a symbol of what we are. Just like Serenity’s a symbol.” Ru announced in frustration. “She’s mine, I bought her, and I’m gonna fix her up so she’ll fly again. An’ Kaylee wants to help me out.”

“What are ya gonna do with it when you’re done fixin?” He sounded somewhat rattled as everyone was silent as the thought of the tiny beat up ship being a symbol sank in. Because in all honesty, it was. It was a symbol of the browncoats, which was somewhat visible by the faded and scratched brown and green paint on the rusting panels. Furthermore, a mustang was a wild, free horse, and that happened to be its new namesake. There was a lot of meaning already in that sad looking piece of metal. Yet all Malcolm could see was a crashed Ares in the middle of Serenity Valley, with hundreds of good soldiers dying around.

“Use her, or sell her I s’pose.” The fighter pilot went over and touched the low cockpit glass. “She’d come in handy if we ever needed a gun in the black. Just needs some love.”

Kaylee nodded her head and went over to the ship, placing her palm on a wing in a gesture of affection. “Won’t hardly take up space, we’ll hang ‘er from the ceiling with some cables…”

“You know what the Alliance’ll do if they find a gorram Ares with browncoat colors on this boat?” He made up a poor excuse, grasping at straws to say no.

Zoe arched a brow. “With all do respect Sir, you wear a brown coat every day on this boat.”

He huffed and looked to Zoe who seemed to want the little fighter to stay as well. “Now you?”

“I guess I’m waxin’ nostalgic too, Sir.” She explained.

“Aiya.” He sighed, letting out a gruff. “Fine. But it’s a side project.” Seeing the two mei-meis heading over to him to bombard him with thankful hugs and possibly kisses, the captain put his hand out to stop them. TUrning into gruff Captain Reynolds to show he still had a say in things. “No thanks, I want you ta git ta work. EVERYONE. Wash, Kaylee, you two have to put in whatever you bought, Ru, you’re their go-fer. Simon, Zoe, River, decorations. Gam and I will put the food away, then Gam will help where he’s needed while I plan dinner.”

“Awww…” Everyone said.

“Sir, no offense but you cannot cook.” Wash piped.

“I’ll cook.” Kaylee offered.

“Yeah, Kaylee should cook.”

“I agree.”

“I second that.”

“Bizui.” He told his crew sternly. “What’s with all this fussin? If ya don’t jus do your chores I’ll cut this vacation short. Now go do them, so ya’ll can do whatever ya want after dinner. And don’t worry about dinner, I’ve gotta fool proof recipe.”

Everyone frowned, wary of the fool proof recipe.

“Well what are ya standin’ around for? GO TO WORK!” He barked.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zoe stepped back and surveyed her work.

They had picked up the largest tree they could purchase, and there as now all manners of lights, tinsel and ornaments on it, along with a star on the very top. It sat proudly in the cargo bay as the hovercraft and Stang crowded the area, some of the ornaments were homemade. Kaylee had taken old washers and nuts along with some wire and turned them into ornaments while Wash had tucked his dinosaurs into the branches. Finally, River had taken a sudden interest in origami, so she had been folding paper into little cranes. Simon had collected her legion of paper birds and had placed them on the branches as well. So as the doctor, first mate and blonde Alliance experiment stood there, they had before them a tree that had a lot of heart in it’s decorations. Besides the tree, they had wrapped tinsel around some of the railings, hung some lights in the kitchen, common area and bridge, plus Gambit hung some tinsel over the entrance to the infirmary and engine room, and as for the plastic Santa statue, he was standing in the common area next to the couch.

“I think it’s safe to say we’re done.” Zoe told Simon.

“Looks nice… I guess.” Gambit saw the look he was getting from them and rolled his shoulders. “My last Christmas I do believe I was ten, it’s been fifteen years.” Noticing the sympathetic smile he let out a sigh. “Glad we’re done putting it all up though.” He left them to go see what needed to be done.

“I agree, anymore lights and tinsel could lead to madness on my part.” Simon quipped. Going over to River who was seated on the stairs he placed his hand on the top of her head. “And what would you like for Christmas mei-mei?”

“Why should I say when Simon knows what he wants to get her?” She asked back, setting her chin on her knees as she gazed out into the middle distance.

“You little brat.” He furrowed his brows. “You read my mind, didn’t you.”

“That pen you’ve been looking for is in the third drawer to the right in the infirmary. And no, the teddy bear doesn’t know what to get the hamster either…. The dinosaur knows what to get its mate, regardless of the fact he wishes not to give it as he fears. The lion wishes to love his prey, but feels nothing in return…. Yet the hamster and teddy bear are troubled with the holiday ahead, for both wish for more… Incense is leaving Serenity, but does not wish to as it yearns for the coat….”

“What?”

“I want new drawing pencils.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was his mother’s recipe for homemade stew.

The recipe was easy, in fact, it was fool proof as Mal stirred the ingredients before setting the lid on to let it finish slow cooking. He left the kitchen to check up on everyone and their chores, his frustration gone as it had run its course. By the next morning, everyone would be duty free and vacationing to the fullest. A lot of his merry crew were going to stay onboard, however Zoe and Wash were going to take the other shuttle to a small resort town called Yosemite where they were going to have some romantic getaway. Still, before they headed off, he wanted to do something that night, which was why he had made stew and was beginning to think of whether or not they had explosives. Checking on the bridge, he found Wash working on some wiring.

“How goes it?” He probed.

“Shiny Cap’n, just patching some things up and running some tests.” The pilot explained. “We’ll be sailing smooth when we leave dock.”

“Good ta here. Chow’s in thirty, but dress warm cause we’re goin’ outside.”

“Huh?” Wash looked up from underneath his console.

“Dinner ‘n live entertainment, dress warm.” Mal left this crew member to mull that over as he found Zoe walking towards him. “Zoe.”

“Yes sir?”

“I need you ta take the old mule ’n hook it up to tow ta the back of the new one.” He explained. “Pack some explosives down to it too.”

She made a puzzled face. “May I ask why?”

“Dinner ‘n live entertainment.” Malcolm said with a devilish smile hinting on his lips. “There’s a clearing not but ten minutes away, we’re loading up on the new mule with our dinner ‘n thermoses, put the old mule out ‘n the middle of the clearing and give it a proper sendoff.”

“We’re going to blow up the old mule, Sir?”

“With a big ‘n pretty fireball.” He put his thumbs on his suspenders.

Zoe smiled. “You’re insane.”

“But you like it don’tcha?”

She gave a head nod “I gotta wait though, Gambit and Simon took the mule out to get some medical supplies since the infirmary needs to be restocked. Should be back soon though.”

“Alright, we’re leavin’ in thirty.” He walked away from her and headed to the engine room where he found the mei-meis in coveralls and engine grease. Kaylee was apparently putting all of the new parts in, while Ru was running diagnostic tests.

"Still angry at us?" the older and taller of the duo asked.

"Well I figure I'll be a might gruff whenever I lay eyes on that can yu wu in my cargo bay." He told them, watching the duel frowns form. "But, trying not ta think of that right now. How’s my boat?”

“She’s doin’ a lot better Cap’n.” Kaylee smiled cheerfully at her bounty of good parts as she screwed a new catalyzer in.

He looked to Ru, who was wearing a brand new pair of navy coveralls she had picked up to work on Stang in, and gave a sideways smile. “Is xaio mei-mei puttin’ you through your paces?”

“We work pretty well together.” Ru said while tapping the portable screen of the diagnostic equipment as she tested the hydraulics. “She had me go out ‘n fiddle with the new mule ‘fore Simon and Gambit took it out. Took out the accelerator block the manufactures put on it ta keep it from goin’ over a certain speed limit. Mule’ll hit eighty now with a group of four. More people though’ll slow it down.”

Mal shook his head and chuckled. “Wo de ma… Kaylee you had ‘er modify the mule?”

“She said she could do it Cap’n. Why?”

“Did she tell ya that’s what got ‘er shipped into the military ‘n the firstplace?” He quizzed, watching Kaylee’s wide eyed expression as Ru gave a sheepish smile. “Come on, tell ‘er your rascally ways.”

“I grew up playin’ around in my pa’s shop, he was a mechanic… and a fighter pilot for the Independents. He and my brother Turk went ta war… and I was left to my own devices... ‘n my teenage years.” She bit her lower lip as a mischievous gleam flickered in the brown eyes. “Kept tellin’ my ma I wanted ta go fly in the war and she said no, I had to be fifteen ta join the ranks and even then she thought womenfolk needed ta be at home ‘stead of fighten like men… so I started goin’ out at night ‘n boostin’ hovercrafts and modifyin’ ‘em and then racin’ ‘em out at this ol’ dirt track. Long story short, got caught three times, third time I crashed pretty bad and my ma looked at me, said I was my daddy’s spittin’ image and let me join on my fifteen birthday.”

Kaylee laughed. “You stole hovercrafts?!”

Ru nodded her head. “Fastest at hotwirin’ on Triumph.”

“That’s so jia." The mechanic was in a fit of laughter.

“When I’m drunk enough, we’ll haveta do a night of stupid Ru stories.” Malcolm told them in good humor.

“There’s a lot of those.” Ru giggled. “A lot of them I recall often involved you… some type'a transport… 'n copious amounts of Red Prairie…”

“Yes, cheap whiskey always made for stupid misadventures.” He composed himself while still pulling a smile. “Well now, chow’s ‘n thirty, we’re doin’ it outside though so dress warm and maybe bring a blanket.”

They gave puzzled looks as he left.

“Did he just say outside?” Kaylee asked her friend.

Mal made his way down to the first level where he found Simon meticulously putting new supplies away while Gambit brought the last box in. “Got enough?”

“Enough for either another galactic civil war or one of your plans gone awry, whichever comes first.” Simon explained sarcastically as he put some gauze away.

“Funny.” The captain muttered back.

“I did however happen to procure something that we have been needing.” He went over and opened the refrigeration system that was located under one of the counters. The doctor took out am IV bag of cloudy white liquid. Seeing the Malcolm didn’t know what the hell it was, he divulged. “Oxyguine, synthetic blood for transfusions. That way I don’t have to keep sticking someone whenever there’s blood loss. It’s hard to procure synthetic blood because you need a license from a hospital to obtain it.” The doctor put it back in the cooler and shut the door.

“How’d you git it?” he quizzed.

“I’m apparently scary when I look like I’m going to kill someone.” Gambit said as he opened a crate up and began to stack small boxes of medicine vials on the counter. “Simon found it to be a nice form of persuasion.”

“Really, playin’ dirty ta get supplies?” Malcolm arched a brow and smirked.

“Apparently you’re rubbing off on me.” Simon declared in a monotone as he went back to putting away his supplies. “But, I did get a few things I haven’t been able to get in the past.”

“Was all of this expensive?” he toned warily.

“More of Gambit’s persuasion led to a ten percent discount.” The doctor dug into his pocket and tossed the coin purse to Mal. “Even picked up a portable scanner so next time I have to find a tracking button inside of someone I won’t have to use a metal detector.”

“Well I’m glad you had fun on your shoppin’ trip and discovered the use of threats ta git discounts. Chow’s in about twenty minutes though, and it’s outside so dress warm.” He left them, heading over to the common area just in time as Simon uttered a ‘it’s what?’. There, the captain found the littlest of his crew, sitting on the floor and having a stare off with the fake Santa statue. He stopped, doubled back to look at River Tam and her serious scowl at the statue, and sidled up. Crouching next to River, Mal’s blue eyes went from her, to the plastic Santa, back to her again. “Um… whatcha doin’ little one? He offend ya?”

“She stole history.” River announced ominously. “History, dignity… now she steals Christmas… Knows the rat… unified with the rat… steal Christmas… make them pay… Suffer… blood… bang… didn’t shoot the bullet but knows they’ll get it…” She looked up at Mal with an eerily serious expression. “Saw the ape… knows they’re all here… told the rat…”

*****

*****

***** TRANSLATIONS *xiao mei-mei: Little sister

*gos se: Crap

*Aiya: damn

*can yu wu: trash

*Wo de ma: mother of god

*jia: excellent