Author: Tinadoll (aka Tina- That’s me!)

Setting: After BDM

Rating: PG-13 to NC-17.

This chapter is PG-13,adult content.

Spoilers: Yes.

Author’s note:New Beta: BlueEyedBrigadeer.Thanks Alun.

Disclaimer: Firefly is the brainchild of Joss Whedon-I'm just playing around with it.

Chapter 9: That ain’t the way to have fun. The next day, Serenity was still on course to the border world of New Nebraska, with Maria in tow. They had already dropped off the cargo of mint they had been carrying and had gotten paid. And they were fortunate to already have another job lined up. In her case,she was only hitching a ride. The city they were landing in was called Dodge. Dodge was a dusty backwater kind of place and a good place to do business. Its heart still belonged to the Independents. But first she had more pressing matters…. She stood in the shower and welcomed the bliss of hot water. It massaged her aching back and the steam awakened her lungs. She was so much engrossed in relaxation that she didn’t hear Mal’s approaching foot steps coming down the corridor.

He pounded on the door.

“Tzao-gao! (Damnit) You are using all my hot water!!!” he exclaimed. Heating water used up precious energy and precious water, and she was abusing the privilege.

She announced annoyingly but in a saccharin sweet voice. “Wuo dway-nee boo woon, boo jen” (I neither see nor hear you).

She heard the pounding again. “My ship, my rules!” he said as he stalked off. “Ok ok, I’ll come out” she rolled her eyes and she stepped out from the shower and wrapped a towel around her body. She did not want to make him mad, so she didn’t curse back…but she would have liked to stay in a little longer. However, he had been so kind to her considering the fact that she nearly killed River and that now she was a marked woman. She had nearly forgotten her place in the ‘Verse. She had just woken up from her nap/coma about three hours ago and all she wanted a nice shower to regain composure. It had worked very well.

When she emerged from the shower room, she looked out the corridor to see Jayne eying her hungrily from the hatchway of his bunk. He looked like a caged animal that was about to pounce on a potential meal. He had heard the commotion and was waiting to see if he could catch glimpse of her skin. He gave her a smirk and licked his lips and inhaled another chip from the bag he was consuming. She was familiar with such garish male behaviour, as she had seen it out on the Rim all the time. She, on the other hand, gave him a rude gesture and went into the room that the Captain had provided for her. He wasn’t a gentleman and at that moment, she wasn’t a lady. He looked after her and still didn’t see anything. He shrugged and went back to eating his chips and reading his “magazines.” In the room, she found many of the items from her shuttle, including all her clothes. There was a locked box containing her Independent uniform, which had been blasted open. Her tormenters had allowed her the privilege of keeping it as a reminder that she was a prisoner of war. It was brown with many ragged hole, with a large one on the right pant leg ringed by a big, red blotch from where she had been shot once. It still fit snug as a rug. She found all things in the box present and accounted for. Maria couldn’t say the same for her shuttle though. The crew of Serenity had gone back to it and stripped it of any usable parts. It was supposedly Jayne who had “saved” her stuff from scavengers.

She had a hard time getting her underthings from him though, since she had to trade a gun that was very high powered in order to get them back. But first, she had to ask Zoë who had confiscated all her weapons. Jayne was happy with the trade and she was happy to get her underthings back. Kaylee kindly offered to wash them first. She gave Kaylee a very expensive parasol as a return kindness.

“Shiny!” Kaylee had said as she twirled it and skipped back to the engine room.

The parasol was part of her bag of disguises she would use on jobs. From lady to whore. She had played it all.

The rest of the crew avoided her. Zoë still didn’t trust her and Simon just used his professional “doctor” persona. But she preferred him that way, since all things considered, she was uneasy around the older sibling of her last target.

She had put her underwear on (but not her bra) and was about to choose an outfit when Mal came knocking. He didn’t wait for her response and he just barged in the room to find her half nude. He quickly backtracked.

“Uh um…uh,” he said nervously. “Sorry I didn’t…”

“It’s ok. I am use to men barging in. Give me a moment or two and we will have that talk.”

“I was going to ask you how you liked…” he said as he regained his composure.

“…my tea?” she finished. She was a Reader, but she hadn’t read his mind, since she just knew that he was trying to be nice. He stood there and twiddled his thumbs. River was sitting on the stairs. She had been sitting there for about three seconds. She was usually very quiet and appeared at the appropriate times unannounced.

“Kindred” he asked, knowing that River and she were Readers. Also, he referred to what she had called her before when they were in the Mess.

She shook her head. “No, you’re just predictable.”

Mal gave a look and Maria, who had finished dressing, was listening at the door.

“Any kind you have is fine. I have no preference,” she said but added a simple “Thank you” after a moment’s pause.

He nodded an ok and went to the Mess to make the tea. He muttered something under his breathe about locking doors.

She had chosen a simple outfit. It was blue. She was sick of black. She was sick of white. She was sick of Death and every color that was associated with. So she stood there trying to choose a pair of shoes that would mach but she was having a hard time.

“I guess wearing black all the time is rather practical.” she said, chuckling.

River came in and sat on the bed “I have a blue outfit too.”

“I bet you look good in it.” Maria said, trying to comfort the girl.

“Jayne says it makes my legs all pretty.” She said mimicking his pattern of speech and added “But Jayne is a big dodo head.”

Maria nodded in agreement and wondered what she was getting at. She had already been warned by River not to approach him. And she had been very protective of the big lug, so perhaps her thoughts had changed. Maria looked at herself in the mirror. She felt nothing for Jayne. He was just your typical unrefined man.

The younger psychic moved back towards the door, parting with “He likes your legs too. And whatever is between them,” as she exited. Maria laughed and was about to respond when she saw that River had gone.

***

When she got to the mess, she saw Capt Reynolds sitting at the table. He held his standard-issue metal Army cup to his lips and was taking a sip of tea. She brought out hers and helped herself to some tea. It was a simple Oolong but it did the trick. It was warm and soothing. She sat down and started talking:

“I don’t know who I am or where I come from. Everything I told Jayne(she shuddered), except for my war experiences, were planted by Blue Sun. I have no recollection of what happened before I was captured.”

“What did they want with you?” he asked, taking another sip of his tea.

“I have a higher tolerance for pain then most people, so they thought I would be a good candidate. I was the first of what River was later supposed to become,” she answered thoughtfully. “A weapon. But I was only a prototype. The chairman something about a project “Hera.” She stopped and closed her eyes. Hera was the planet Serenity Valley was on. She continued on after a moment.

“I think they later modified their approach and experimented on River and several other girls. There were a couple more of her kind out there. I have already terminated some of them.” She sighed.

She knew that did not win brownie points with Mal because the look on his face soured. She tried to soften the blow. “But they were in it far deeper then she was. They had killed innocents. I was sent to contain or neutralize River. But I couldn’t do either. She is innocent.” She said reassuringly.

“I knew the Operative said there would be more coming but this is ridiculous!” he said. “Haven’t they given up yet?” he added. He was sick of running from them.

When he mentioned The Operative, her ears perked up. She knew him by reputation and by several brief (and final)encounters they had. And, of course, what she had read from the file.

“Oh, they haven’t given up just as yet. They are trying a different approach,” She said, meaning her and possibly others like her.

“Ever since that Wave was shown about Miranda, the whole ‘Verse has come apart. The Alliance and Parliament are on the defensive now. On one hand, they are taking on the Reaver “problem;” on the other, they are trying to calm the people. The people were talking of rebellion and “Big Brother” hated it. Amidst all the chaos, the big companies took advantage by buying support of Council members,” she added. “Most representatives on the high council and in the Parliament have always had an agenda and large egos to match…but now? They have the added bonus of having backers to be corrupted by.”

“‘Big Brother’ was always corrupt, darlin’. Just look at what they did on Miranda. Meddling in things they aught not to have meddled in,” he said as he sat back in his chair. She could see that the Alliance left a sour taste in his mouth. He never paid any attention to the goings on of politics because he had dealt with them plenty during the war. All he wanted to do was keep his nose relatively clean.

“As you probably know, the Blue Sun Corporation and its rival, the smaller Red Hawk Conglomerate, each competed for the position of the #1 company in the ‘Verse. I know that Blue Sun was winning, but I don’t know how long the economic boom will last. The Red Hawk group might be small but they are persistent and very deceptive. The Parliament and the Council wanted to clean up the mess they have both made with all its military details, including Miranda. But that whole mess, I kept out of. As per you and your crew, I don’t know if they will come for River again. But I am sure they will come for me. And you wouldn’t want to be in their way.”

They stared at each other for several moments. He was very guarded and she didn’t read his mind out of respect.

She tried to change the subject and break the silence: “How are you faring out here now, after all that has transpired?” she chuckled and added “Not that I blame you. I think it’s kinda cool takin a stand and all.”

He smirked. “We get by.” He sighed and then looked sombre. “Most of my contacts were dead, thanks to the Alliance; we have been taking jobs as soon as they come. Some people are scared of us, but most just need jobs to get done. And they know that we would do it, so the payoff is better.”

Quality was the name of the game rather then quantity.

“Yea, I understand. It’s hard out in the black,” she said with wisdom in her eyes. “But that’s all you can do, is just try to survive.” “Yes that’s all we can do,” he said fiddling with his cup. “How do you know all this?” referring to what she was saying before about politics.

She looked down to her cup and then looked up at him with her deep penetrating eyes. “I listened. My master talked too much and he loved to boast,” she said as she sipped her tea.

“What happened to him?” he asked, already having a pretty good idea about what happened to him.

“I killed him,” she said bluntly and to the point, making eye contact.

“As much as I surmised, he deserved what he got,” he said, his penetrating blue eyes shone in the subdued lighting.

“Captain, I thank you for the kindness that I don’t deserve,” she said, before adding “Let me put this bluntly: your crew is very uncomfortable with me being here. Yes, you are in danger with River on board but you are even in worse danger with both of us in the same place. Once we reach our destination, I am going to part ways with you and your crew. I am going to save your lives as you did mine.”

“Well some of them are worried,” he said, meaning Zoë, Jayne and Simon. “Others like a new face,” he added meaning Kaylee, Inara and River.

“And what do you think?” she said finally, she wanted his opinion. After all, he was the Captain.

He went silent and gave her a dark penetrating look. She knew he was trying to read her.

“Life hasn’t been easy since I took River and Simon aboard but ever since they became family, it’s gotten better,” he said silently. “You did what you needed to do. And even so, you gave River her life. You stood up for a stranger. That takes guts. I haven’t seen guts like that for a long time,” he said, his voice trailing off.

“I am not perfect. I never said I was invincible and I never said I couldn’t feel pain. I feel things in here,” she said as she motioned to her chest. “I just thought that they needed to receive a little payback for her and for me. Hey, if Michael can do it, so can I.” she said.

“Michael?” Mal asked.

“Michael. You may know him as the Operative. Actually, there are several hundred “Operatives” under the control of Parliament, all with different functions. Michael was the name of the one you encountered…like the Archangel,” she chucked then added. “I encountered him briefly, before and after you left him alive. What a difference.Blue Sun has had real loyalty issues the last couple of years.”

“Yeah, I know. But their loss is our gain, kinda,” he said, smirking.

“What’s going to happen now?” she said, quietly.

“I leave that up to you,” he said but added with great concern in his voice. “But killin’, that ain’t no way to have fun.” He added kindly, “Do you have any where else to go?”

“No,” she said. “All my friends died in the war.” She meant all her war comrades. She had hoped they were real and not figments of her imagination as well.

His eyes grew darker. He was probably thinking about the war as well. She knew that she got that way too. That was proof enough of that the memories of the war were real.

“I’m sure you will get by,” he assured her.

“Yea, with my skills – shootin’, cookin’, takin’ care of horses, trackin’, and of course, pilotin’ – I’m sure I can get a job somewhere,” she said, reassuring herself that this wasn’t the end but only the beginning. She smiled as she realized she couldn’t wait to escape into the Black as a part of a real crew.

“Piloting?” he asked, she had peaked his interest. “Cookin??” he added bewildered.

“Yeah…pilotin’. I piloted everything I could get my paws on back in the war. I was a Browncoat. We did what we had to do and went where and when they needed us,” she said as she finished her tea. It was cold but it was still good. “And last time, I checked I still knew how to cook. Although, that memory may have been planted.” He shifted in his seat. He looked at her for a couple of moments, pondering what to say next. Suddenly, an idea formed in his head.

“Well…I could use a good pilot. River already almost crash-landed us twice now.” Mal quickly backtracked as he realized he had to be careful with his words. “Not sayin’ she ain’t a bad pilot…but she needs teaching somethin’ fierce. And my captain-y duties mean I can’t give Lil’ Albatross the time she needs to get some proficiency behind the stick.”

She stopped in her tracks and did a spit take. You can say that she was taken aback

Did he just offer her a job??