Archangel – Chapter Thirty Author owns no rights to Firefly, and no copyright infringement is intended. Fanfic only. -------------------- Sheydra had not completely ignored Inara’s warning. While she still couldn’t quite bring herself to believe that reavers were anything more than a fable to scare children with, she did know that several planets had been attacked, and that casualties were high. And, if it were revolutionaries, then the Guild would be a likely target, considering it’s connection to the Alliance, and it’s political power. Thus she had warned the students, and the practicing Companions in the house, to be prepared in case they had to flee. Now, as she heard the wail of the sirens, she was glad that she had, and thankful for Inara’s attempts to warn them. “Everyone!” she shouted over the uproar that the sirens had caused. “Everyone!” she yelled again, and the commotion calmed somewhat. “There is a ship behind the house. Inara and her Captain have come to take us out of here until whatever is happening has subsided. You are too take only your bag that I warned you to prepare, and proceed calmly to the rear entrance. Calmly!” she shouted again at the surge. “Captain Reynolds and his crew are waiting there. Do as they tell you, and do not panic! No go!” The younger girls were nearing that panic, and started at once for the rear door. Just as Sheydra was starting to believe that everything would be all right, the front door of the Companion House thudded with a heavy blow. Almost every woman still in the main room screamed.

------------------- Jayne didn’t wait for Mal’s order. He had heard the whine of a ship over the din of the sirens, and assumed the worst. He strode through the doorway, brushing past the man standing there. “Sir!” the startled man called out, trying to stop him. “Jayne, what are you doin’?” Mal called after him. “Time’s up, Mal,” Jayne replied, over the screeching. Mal heard the thud of a heavy impact, and paled. “Come on, ladies!” he urged the women as they streamed for the door. “We got to hurry, just a mite. Careful there,” he grabbed a young woman’s arm as she almost toppled over. “Let’s be careful.” “Zoe, lead’em off,” he ordered. She nodded, and started toward the ship, Companions and Companions-to-be in tow. She met River coming from the ship, and almost smiled at the sight of the Operative’s sword slung across her back. “Where’s Jayne?” River asked, never slowing. “Inside,” Zoe called back, also not slowing. “Party’s started.” “Couldn’t wait for me,” River almost grumped, and Zoe smiled again. River starting running. --------------------- Sheydra was frozen. For all her calm demeanor when dealing with those under her care, she was rooted to the floor as the heavy wooden doors began to splinter and crack. She had been a Companion all her life. Had entered the temple the very first day her age had allowed, and never looked back. She was accustomed to power, and to being, feeling, safe and secure. Sihnon was one of the core worlds. No one here dared attack a Companion, let alone the house itself. But whoever was outside didn’t follow those rules. For the first time in her life, Sheydra found herself in danger. And she didn’t know how to respond. The door gave way, and people. . .no, not people, things, began to pour inside. Hideous beings, covered in. . .skin? One looked at her, and screamed. Her feet finally coming unglued, Sheydra took a hesitant step backwards, and promptly fell over, landing in an undignified heap on her rear end. The one who had spotted her ran toward her, a sword held over hand. She watched in horrified fascination as the blade descended toward her, and screamed. The blade never reached her. Another sword stopped it cold, halfway to her. Startled, she glanced up to see a huge figure, in armor of all things, protecting her. “You should pick on someone your own size,” the man said calmly, and then decapitated her attacker. He looked down at her. “Might want to get up, and run,” he said, voice still calm. Then he was gone, amongst the attackers. --------------- Jayne moved away from the fallen Companion, blades slicing left, right, and forward. In this confined area, he had the advantage. Especially if he could drive back to the doorway, and block it. It might not occur to the reavers to circle the house, especially with him here, at the front, offering battle. Dimly through his mounting rage, he heard gunfire, and recognized the sounds of Gracie and Lux. So Mal and River had joined the battle. Good. Jayne struck again and again, whirling through the mass of reavers, once again performing his Danse Macabre, a shower of blood and severed body parts in accompaniment. He hadn’t lost himself, this time, though he knew he was on the edge. His rage was tearing at the leash, wanting to be free, but Jayne fought it, not wanting to risk being lost again. Mal watched from the corner of his eyes, while pouring fire into the doorway, trying to at least slow the tide. It occurred to him that Jayne probably didn’t even need his help, but he didn’t want the big man injured again. River’s fire was slower, and more deliberate, as the small automatic weapon danced in her hands. She literally itched to take the sword Jayne had presented her with and wade into the reavers, but Jayne was used to working alone. She had no desire to be on the receiving end of one of those massive blades, even by accident. Mal barely heard Zoe’s comm call that the Companions were almost loaded. Mal assumed that Sheydra would have been the last. “We’re nearly loaded!” he yelled to River over the noise. “Gotta find a way to disengage, and get back to the ship!” River nodded, and pulled three small grenades from a pouch on her belt. “Are those grenades?” Mal screeched, and River smirked at him, before lobbing the first one toward the door, and yelling a warning to Jayne. “Grenade, ge ge!” Jayne brought his arms up to cover his face as the first grenade went off. Reavers screeched in pain and fury, but the first was followed by another, and then another. When Jayne lowered his arms, the reavers were on the floor. “Let’s go!” Mal yelled, and was out the door, River at his heels. Jayne spun and followed without a backwards glance. The three of them erupted from the rear entrance of the house at a dead run, heading for Serenity. Zoe was standing at the ramp, covering the ship, and now them. Jayne heard gunfire from behind, and felt a small round plink off of his armor. It wouldn’t stop a heavy round, but smaller weight stuff couldn’t get through. Suddenly River stumbled, her leg grazed by a bullet. Jayne never slowed, scooping her up and holding her small frame against him. She turned in his grasp, and opened fire on their pursuers, even as Jayne continued running toward the ship. “Go, go, GO!” Mal yelled before they even made it to the ramp. Zoe was inside, taking shots where she could find them. She hit the comm, and ordered Inara to get them off the ground. Jayne thundered up the ramp behind Mal as the ship began to lift. He set River on the deck, and turned just as three reavers leaped onto the ramp. Jayne met them, on the ramp, killing one immediately. The other two, however, seemed to be smarter, and worked in tandem, closing from each side. Jayne smirked at them, and with a battle cry, lunged at the one on his right. The reaver never realized he’s lost his head. The other immediately struck at Jayne’s back, his axe finding a seam in the shoulder of Jayne’s armor. The big man grunted as the blow fell, and several of the Companions shrieked at the shower of blood that erupted. Mal yelled, trying to get a shot at the reaver without Jayne in the line of fire. Suddenly, two more reavers appeared on the ramp, having caught it as the ship eased away from the ground. Jayne had whirled on his attacker, and parried another blow from the axe with his right hand sword. His left arm was hanging at his side, nearly useless. River, meanwhile, from her spot on the deck, calmly lifted Lux in her hands, and dispatched the two new arrivals with well aimed head shots. Both catapulted back off of the ramp, falling back to the ground below. Jayne was still fighting with the last reaver, and they were locked so close in combat that even River dared not shoot. Jayne’s strength advantage was off set by his injured arm. The reaver, beyond even what passed for reason among his kind, struck relentlessly at the big man, axe hammering away. Jayne managed to parry each blow, but without the use of his left arm, couldn’t gain an advantage. “Help me up, Captain Daddy!” River cried, and Mal knelt to help the girl to her feet. She tested her weight on her injured leg, and nodded to herself. Drawing the sword from her back, she watched and waited for her chance. Suddenly the reaver was off balance, just for an instant. It was enough. River darted forward, and the point of her sword sank deep into the reaver’s side. As he jerked upright, as if wondering what had happened to him, Jayne’s sword whistled through the air in a mighty overhand blow, and reaver was cleaved nearly in two. Jayne staggered back with the effort. Blood loss was taking it’s toll on him, now, and even his great strength was not immune to that. “Jayne!” Mal called, running forward to help the big man, ignoring the still screaming trainees. “I just can’t seem to keep from gettin’ cut on,” Jayne shook his head, chuckling with dark humor. “Thanks, little bit,” he smiled at River. “Welcome,” she grinned through her pain. “Simon!” she yelled, and suddenly the doctor was there. “He’s hurt,” River told him unnecessarily. “Again,” she almost scolded. “I can see that, mei mei, thank you,” Simon replied drily. Jayne gave them a mock glare. “Think you two can do that after I ain’t bleedin’?” he demanded, and even Mal laughed at that. “I gotta get to the bridge,” he said suddenly. “‘Tross, you up to that?” “Yes,” she nodded. “It is a graze. Simon can come and check on me when he has seen to Jayne.” “Let’s got then. We gotta figure out what we’re gonna do.” As the two of them headed for the bridge, Simon clucked over Jayne. “I asked you, nicely, not to let this happen again,” he sighed, working to staunch the flow of blood. “Well, it ain’t like I went and did it just to get at you, Doc,” Jayne snorted. “There’s less painful ways to do that.” “Well, let’s get you to the infirmary,” Simon nodded. “That’s pretty deep, but I can’t see any serious damage.” “Oh, no,” Jayne groaned as he tried to stand. “Not serious, it’s just Jayne, after all.” “Exactly,” Simon smirked. “Zoe, can you help me get our large friend to the infirmary?” “Yep,” she nodded. “Let me use Vera. Tote him if I have too.” Together the two of them managed to get him on his feet, and steer Jayne toward the infirmary. As they neared the stairs, Sheydra stepped up to them, though not in the way. “Mister. . .Cobb, isn’t it?” she said quietly. “Ma’am,” Jayne nodded, on his best behavior for Inara’s friend. “I. . .I just wanted to thank you,” she said quietly. “If not for you. . .” “S’all right, ma’am,” Jayne told her. “Glad I was there.” “We really need to get him to the infirmary,” Simon said, bordering on short. “Of course,” Sheydra nodded, and stepped back. “C’mon, Jayne,” Zoe grunted. “You can flirt later.” “Don’t say that too loud!” Jayne hissed. ------------------------- “I’ll take it, Inara, if you like,” River said, sitting down in the pilot’s seat. “I like,” Inara nodded grimly, releasing the controls. “Good job, ai ren,” Mal said softly, a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Thanks,” Inara smiled weakly. “What are we doing, Captain Daddy?” River asked, keeping the ship low. “Can we get out?” Mal asked. “Out of atmo, and gone from here?” “Possibly,” River mused, studying the sensor array. “Yes,” she declared after a moment. “There is a sizable gap in their ship coverage. It’s very sporadic actually.” “Well, find us a spory whatsit hole, and get us away from here, then,” Mal ordered. “Anywhere for now.” “Aye, Captain,” River smirked, and the ship shot upward with a jolt. And Mal hit the floor. “You did that on purpose!” he screeched from the floor. “Did not,” River said smugly. “Had to avoid oncoming obstacle.” “What obstacle?” Mal demanded, climbing to his feet. “Tree,” River stated firmly. “Very tall tree, right in the flight path.” “I didn’t see no tree!” “I’m going to check on Sheydra and the others,” Inara rolled her eyes. “There was an extremely tall tree, Captain,” Inara heard River’s voice fading as she walked down the passage way. “Right in the way.” -------------------- Jasmine walked down into the cargo bay, looking at the huddled Companion trainees. They were still frightened. She didn’t blame them. She had witnessed Cobb’s battle from the catwalk, and had to admit, she was impressed. “Where’s Jayne?” she heard Kaylee’s voice from the stairs. “In the infirmary,” Jazz told her. “He’s all right, Simon is taking care of him,” she added at Kaylee’s startled expression. The mechanic shot off to the infirmary like a bolt of lightning. “Are you part of the Captain’s crew?” an elegantly dressed woman asked her. “Well, sort of,” Jazz smiled. “I’m about half-passenger, and half-cook, and half. . .well, I haven’t worked that out, yet.” “I see,” the woman nodded. “I’m a reporter,” Jazz told her, lest she get the wrong idea. “I pay for the privilege of following the Captain and his crew around, and I lend a hand in the kitchen, and wherever else I can be useful.” “Ahh,” the woman smiled. “Do you work for Inter Planetary, then?” “No,” Jazz chuckled. “I’m a real reporter. I work for the Independent News Service.” “I see,” the woman said again, her voice cooling. “You don’t have to pretend,” Jazz smirked. “I’m sure a Companion has an unfavorable opinion of us, not that it bothers me. However, I would point out that we’re trying to get word about the reavers out to everyone, and IPN hasn’t said a word about them.” The woman seemed caught off guard by that. Before she could frame a reply, Inara’s voice interrupted them. “Sheydra, are you all right? Is everyone all right?” “Thanks to you, my dear,” Sheydra told her, embracing Inara warmly. “If not for you and your Pirate, we would all be dead.” “Or worse,” Inara nodded. “I. . .I wish we could have. . .” “Hush, now,” Sheydra told her. “It can be rebuilt.” “We saw them in space,” Inara told her. “Once we’d worked out their course, we tried to call, but the cortex was jammed.” “We’re indebted to you, Inara,” Sheydra told her. “And we’ll compensate you for it, too,” she added. “We didn’t do it for the money, Sheydra,” Inara replied flatly. “I know that,” the other woman smiled. “You did it because you cared for us. Which makes rewarding you that much more pleasant.” ------------------- Kaylee burst into the infirmary just as Simon and Zoe were taking the last of Jayne’s armor off. “Jayne!” Kaylee squeaked, seeing the amount of blood. “I’m okay, baby doll,” Jayne said at once. “He’ll be fine, Kaylee,” Simon agreed. “The cut is fairly deep, but not substantially so. There’s not much tissue damage. His exertion made the blood flow worse, that’s all.” “You can fix him, Simon?” Kaylee asked. “I can,” Simon smiled. “And I will.” “Good,” Kaylee said firmly, arms crossing under her breasts, and a scowl fixing itself firmly on her beautiful face. “Cause once you do, I’m gonna hurt him.” “He got hurt defending the ship, Kaylee,” Zoe told her. “Not runnin’ off after reavers.” “Oh,” Kaylee’s face softened at that. But not much. “Still,” she added, huffing again. “Kaylee, it weren’t my fault,” Jayne groaned as Simon probed the wound. “You promised me, Jayne,” Kaylee said stubbornly. “Well, I didn’t die, now, did I?” he asked, wincing again at Simon’s examination. “Doc, are you really workin’ on that, or just seein’ how much of a reaction you can get?” “Well, actually,” Simon grinned, still working, “I am testing your reaction. The fact that you can feel the pain indicates there’s no nerve damage. Like I said,” he started cleaning the wound, “it’s bloody, but otherwise not serious.” “Yeah, Jayne,” Zoe grinned, preparing a suture for Simon. “It’s just a little ole cut. Prob’ly done worse, shavin’.” “I let you use Vera, Zoe,” Jayne whined. “Oughta be nice ta me.” “True,” Zoe smiled. “Simon, stop hurting Jayne,” she scolded, and everyone shared a laugh over that. “I’ma wait in the lounge,” Kaylee declared. “Once Simon’s done it’ll be my turn, Jayne Cobb.” “Might take him a while, baby girl,” Jayne told her sadly. “No, I’ll be done in a few minutes,” Simon grinned evilly. “I’ll be waitin’,” Kaylee warned, and stomped out. Jayne glared at Simon. “Can’t help me just a bit, can you?” Jayne growled. “Not my job,” Simon smirked. “And you know she doesn’t mean it,” he added, with a genuine smile. “Yeah.” ---------------- “We’re clear of the planet, Captain,” River informed Mal as the ship settled into the black. “There is no sign of pursuit.” “Set a course for. . . .” Mal trailed off. Where to go?” “Yes?” River asked, looking at him. “That way, for now,” Mal just pointed out the window. “I don’t rightly know where to go,” he admitted. “Need to talk to ‘Nara and Sheydra, I guess. See where we can dum. . .uh, off load, the Companions.” “Very well,” River smiled at Mal’s discomfiture. “Thataway it is.” Mal walked back to the galley, finding Inara and Sheydra at the table. “Ah, Captain Reynolds,” Sheydra smiled. “Thank you so very much for saving us.” “You’re welcome,” Mal smiled, sitting next to Inara. “Glad we made it. Any idea where you want to go?” “I suppose staying with you all is out of the question?” Sheydra smiled. “After seeing the infamous Mister Cobb in all his glory, I don’t know that I’ll ever feel safe anywhere else again. Not to mention yourself and that rather. . .unique, young lady pilot of yours.” “Wouldn’t go mentionin’ any o’ that to Jayne,” Mal grinned. “Especially around Kaylee,” Inara agreed with a giggle. “Ahh, taken then,” Sheydra feigned a show of disappointment. “I’m afraid he’s made rather an impression upon the younger women,” she added, smiling mischievously. “Especially the ones enamored with the stories of you and your pirate, Inara.” “I am not a pirate,” Mal frowned, though his eyes were smiling. “Oh, of course not,” Sheydra smirked. “In fact Inara told me that more than once, herself. ‘Petty thief’, I believe, were the words she used.” Inara turned beet red as Mal looked at her, aghast. “Thanks, Sheydra,” Inara muttered, and the other woman cackled. “Take your ease, Captain,” Sheydra told Mal, her smile warm. “Inara could have had her pick of men, you know. That she chose you speaks well of you. Not to mention of her love for you.” Mal’s eyes crinkled a bit at that. “Thanks,” he murmured. “As to where we can go,” Sheydra continued. “The only place nearby that could provide us with safety is Londinium. Is that possible?” “Don’t see why not,” Mal shrugged. “Long as they’ll let us land, anyway.” “I can assure you that won’t be a problem,” Sheydra promised.

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