Disclaimer: Joss, Fox, Universal Own em’. (Except for Allan. He's mine) I’m just playing. No money being made.

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This story takes place nearly four years after Serenity (BDM) and has the established couples of Simon/Kaylee, Mal/Inara, Zoë/Allan and Jayne/River. Follows three months after Big Blue.

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A/N: Here we go. A whole new Allanverse story arc. It won't be as long as some of my other stories (I hope) this takes place several months after Big Blue. To figure out who and what's what I suggest reading at least that first. However it's best to start with Out To the Black to learn who all my OC's are.

Thanks again Chris for the Beta.

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Birthday

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Chapter Two

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Allan awoke early. Capital City was fifteen hundred miles and two time zones East of New Edmonton. Set along the coastal mountains of the Northern Ocean.

Allan chuckled to himself. The original Terriformers didn't have much of an imagination two hundred odd years ago when they did their magic on Boros. The names for the major geographic features of the planet were sorely lacking.

Sipping his coffee while gazing out the bridge windows at the view of the Boros countryside, Allan felt a pair of arms encircle his neck.

“Mornin baby,” Allan said quietly.

“Mornin yourself,” Zoë replied before kissing her husband on the top of his head.

Reveling in each others presence, the couple stood in silence for a few moment before Zoë spoke again.

“You'll be careful today... Dong-ma?”

“Of course,” Allan replied, turning in the seat to face Zoë, “Is there something wrong Ai-ren?”

Zoë smiled. At least her husband was picking up some of the better Chinese phrases.

“Just got a feelin.”

“I'll have my gun,” Allan replied, “And my beacon.”

“Okay,” Zoë smiled in reply, “Good thing you gotta head out soon. You look so suai in that suit, I'm inclined ta' rip it offa you.”

“You can do that when I get back this afternoon.”

“Deal.”

XXXXXXXXXX

Allan smoothly landed the shuttle at the executive section of the sprawling port complex. After shutting the craft down, he pulled on his suit jacket, picked up the case that held his new portable computer and exited the shuttle.

Outside, the small shuttle was getting some disparaging looks from the ground crew. They were more used to the more luxurious executive shuttles and small transports more fitting to the wealthy than an old Firefly's cargo shuttle.

“Good morning sir,” said the lead ground crewman in greeting.

“Morning,” Allan replied, “I'd like the fuel topped off and if you could, please clean the windshield. Picked up a few bugs on the approach.”

The tech gave Allan a once over. Noting the very expensive tailored suit and nicely made briefcase, “Of course sir.”

Allan slipped the man a twenty credit tip, elicitating a marked increase in the techs demeanor, “I'll be back in about four hours at the outside. I should have a ground car waiting for me.”

“Your name sir?”

“Bryant.”

The man's eyes went wide, “Yes sir!” your car is waiting just outside the gate, you can pick up the key card at the reception desk. May I carry your luggage?”

“I've got it, thanks,” Allan chuckled as he headed for the small terminal building a few dozen yards away.

Upon entering, A very attractive young woman greeted him. She had dark hair and looked a bit Italian to Allan. She was young, maybe twenty or so, “Good morning sir.”

“Good morning. My name is Allan Bryant. I believe you have a ground car for me?”

“Right this way sir,” the young woman said as she led Allan outside to the small parking lot.

Allan pressed a small button on the card and heard the beep as the vehicle unlocked and began powering up.

“Have you ever been to Capital City before Mr. Bryant?”

“I'm afraid not. I'm in the process of building a home in New Edmonton.”

“That's a lovely area. I have relatives there. My mother's uncle is the Sheriff.”

Allan chuckled, “It's small 'Verse I guess. I know Jacob Buford quite well. I bought the property where I'm building from him.”

“Indeed, a small 'Verse.”

“What's your name? I'll mention I met you next time I bump into him.”

“Marion Vorrasi.”

“Nice to meet you Marion.”

“The same Mr. Bryant. The car's navigation system is voice activated, tell it your destination and it will guide you right to it.”

“Thank you,” Allan smiled as he opened the door and seated himself into the comfortable leather seat. With a small wave to Marion, Allan pulled out of the parking lot, headed for the restaurant where he was to meet his contact.

XXXXXXXXXX

Allan arrived outside the restaurant about five minutes early. Parking his rented car, he casually strolled to the entrance.

Inside it wasn't a bad place. The ambiance was more middle class than upscale but Allan had to admit, he preferred this type of restaurant.

The hostess brought Allan to a table near the rear of the establishment. Durin had told Allan the evening before that a Mr. Winslow would be meeting him at noon. It was five after and no one had shown yet.

Allan nursed a glass of iced tea while he waited. If no one showed in the next fifteen minutes, Allan decided he would just order lunch and then head for home. Flying back a bit lower and slower than the suborbital hop he took on the trip to Capital City.

Just before his deadline, A man entered the restaurant and began looking around. The man's eyes fell on Allan and narrowed a bit. Then with a firm smile, the man approached.

“Mr. Bryant?”

“Yes?”

“My name is Smith. I work for Mr. Winslow.”

Allan looked at the man. Despite the expensive suit, something about him screamed muscle.

“Where is Mr. Winslow?” Allan asked.

“He suddenly took ill. However he left instructions for me to escort you to Winslow electronics and conduct a tour.”

“I see,” Allan replied, “Would you mind if I ordered lunch? I'm afraid I skipped breakfast this morning.”

Allan's reply was the all to familiar click of the safety on a pistol being disengaged.

“That wouldn't advisable Mr. Bryant. And keep your hands where I can see them.”

Outwardly, Allan was cool as ice. Inside he was furious. He had gotten complacent over the last few months. He didn't even have his own gun where he could get to it easily.

“Well, you seem to have the winning hand here. What's next?”

You will stand up, leave money on the table for your drink and we will both walk outside to my car.”

“All right,” Allan said quietly as he rose to his feet. Slowly, he removed his wallet and left a ten on the table. More than enough for his drink and a significant enough tip to make him stand out in the waiters memory. Simultaneously, Allan tapped his wedding band against the edge of the table.

This was the first step in activating his emergency beacon.

Allan made a show of looking at his watch for a moment. This also hid the discrete twist he gave to the ring on his finger. Step two.

“Lets go,” Mr. Smith snarled quietly.

“After you...”

“Not likely.”

With a frown, Allan nodded and headed for the door, Smith at his back.

Any hopes of making a break for it were dashed as five men met them outside. One quickly found Allan's Glock 9mm in it's holster at the small of his back. With a shove, Allan found himself in the back seat of a large ground car.

'This ain't good,' he thought to himself.

“I take it, you gentlemen don't work for Mr. Winslow.”

“Correct Mr. Bryant,” Smith replied as the car pulled away from the curb, “We work for someone else.”

“And who might that be?”

“His name is Adeli Niska and he would like a few words with you.”

“Let's be off then,” Allan said flippantly. Inside a white hot jolt of fear ran through him.

Zoë and Mal had told him all about Niska.

Before he could say anything else, the prick and hiss of a hypo spray on his neck rendered Allan speechless.

As his awareness dimmed, he screamed two words in his mind with as much power as he could.

River and Niska.

When Allan slumped unconscious in the back seat, two things happened. First, the nearly microscopic circuitry embedded in his wedding band sensed the drop in his vital signs. This was the final trigger to fire the beacon built into his ring.

Second, a signal was sent out over the cortex. This signal lasted only a millisecond but contained Allan's current position. It would repeat this signal, updating it's position with data from the navsat system every thirty minutes for a week until the tiny power cell exhausted itself.

The signal was addressed to two places. Serenity's cortex address and the private cortex address belonging to one, Captain Ora 'Oso' Tangaroa.

XXXXXXXXXX

River and Jayne were sitting in the common area, looking over a furniture catalog, trying to decide what pieces they wanted for their new home.

River suddenly stiffened as her eyes went wide.

“What is it baby girl?” Jayne asked.

River shook her head once as if to clear it and jumped to her feet. At the same time an alarm sounded from the internal com system.

“Allan's in trouble!” River yelled over her shoulder as she sprinted for the bridge. Jayne on her heels.

Zoë was standing outside Serenity at the foot of the ramp when she heard the whooping alarm sound from the speakers.

When she heard the alarm. Zoë felt a stab of fear. Her hands began to shake uncontrollably. Mal came running from where the construction crews were working on his new horse barn.

“Zoë! Is that...”

Snapping out of her momentary trance, Zoë replied, “Allan's emergency signal.”

“Wu-de-tyen-ah,” Mal swore, “Everyone on board?”

“No. 'Lisha and Reggie were out somewhere Sir.”

“You okay Zoë?”

“What do you think?” Zoë snapped.

“Easy, Zoë.” Mal said, trying to calm his first mate, “Might be nothin. Head on up to the bridge and make sure we're ready to fly. I'll round up Reggie and your Mei-mei.”

“Understood Sir,” Zoë said simply as she turned on her heel and strode towards the front of the ship.

Zoë entered the bridge to find River powering up systems with Inara's assistance. Despite her pregnancy, Inara was the third best pilot in the crew after River and Allan.

“Report.” Zoë said tersely.

“Kaylee is in the engine room, Jayne and Simon are with her. We'll be ready to lift as soon as the Captain, Alisha and Reggie are back aboard.”

Zoë nodded. She looked over River's shoulder at the data transmitted by Allan's beacon.

The pilot noticed her friends gaze and turned in her chair.

“Zoë?”

“What?”

“I felt Allan yell for help in my mind. The images are all jumbled but... he was outnumbered...”

“Is he alive?” Zoë asked quietly, virtually no emotion in her voice.

“I... I think so. But... there's something else.”

“What is it River?” Zoë asked, trying to remain calm.

“A name. The name of the man who wanted Allan.”

“What name?”

“Niska.”

Upon hearing that word, Zoë's legs turned to water. River shot out of her seat, grabbing Zoë to keep her from collapsing. Quickly, the psychic steered the first mate to the navigators chair.

Inara gasped when she heard Niska's name. She tried to rise so she could comfort her friend but Zoë waved her to stay put.

“Everyone's on!” came Mal's voice over the com.

“Get us in the air River,” Zoë ordered, her voice raspy with emotion.

River nodded and jumped back into the pilot's seat. Moment's later Serenity was off the ground and supersonic. Heading for Capital City, a trail of broken windows left in the Firefly's wake.

XXXXXXXXXX

Marion Vorrasi was bored. As a former Alliance soldier, mustered out due to an injury, working the reception desk at the spaceport's executive landing area wasn't the life of adventure she had planned on.

Joining up at seventeen, she made corporal by her eighteenth birthday and sargent in the special forces by the time she was twenty. Injured in a training exercise, Marion spent her twenty first birthday in a hospital recovering. Found medically unfit for further service, she was discharged with a measly five hundred credit a month medical pension and a ticket home to Boros.

Now twenty three, Her current job didn't provide a life of adventure but at least it paid the bills.

Movement outside the window caught her eye. A large ground car had pulled up to a fairly new Cumberland class ultra long range shuttle. Her curiosity peaked, Marion witnessed six men exit the vehicle.

Two seemed to be carrying something heavy between them. To Marion's trained eye, it looked like a body.

A moment later, one of the men moved the ground car away from the pad. Five minutes later, the sleek ship took off and headed for the black.

Marion debated weather she should call someone. She got off shift in forty five minutes and all she really wanted to do was go home to her small apartment and take a long hot bath. She did however write down the ships registration and flight plan information.

Fifteen minutes later, a message from the control tower informed her that there was a Firefly coming in to her section of the port.

That in itself was fairly unusual. Fireflys were transports and usually landed at the freight pads, nearly half a mile away across the sprawling port complex. Maybe some rich playboy converted one into a yacht. It wasn't totally unheard of.

The Firefly in question made a fast and steep approach. Someone was in a hurry, Marion thought.

Flaring at the last moment, the ship gently touched down. The engines had hardly tucked under the wings when the ramp opened and a relatively new Hoverworks hover truck roared down the ramp, heading for the port exit. Blowing through the fifteen mile per hour ramp speed limit by a factor of at least four.

Marion grabbed her data pad and headed for the ramp area. The captain of that Firefly was going to catch an earful.

Striding across the concrete, Marion reached the bottom of the Firefly's ramp.

“Can I help you?” Asked a young black woman with long hair, pulled into a pony tail.

“Are you the captain?” Marion asked.

“Nope, just the cook,” Alisha said, “Captain just left.”

“Never seen a ships cook carrying hardware like that,” Marion commented, noting the pistol riding on Alisha's hip.

“Well, this is a special crew. Like I said, can I help you?”

“The ramp speed limit is fifteen miles an hour. The truck that left this ship was doing sixty at least. If you ever want to use this port again...”

“It was an emergency,” Said a new voice. Marion thought that it sounded familiar.

“I don't care what kind of emergency you had. The rules clearly state...”

“You always did go by the book Marion,” Said the new voice again.

“Huh?”

Suddenly the voice clicked in Marion's mind when a head of shocking red hair came into view. Her jaw dropped.

“You going to just stand there and catch flies Sargent?”

“Maj... Major Michaels?”

“That's what my retirement papers say.”

“Bao-bei... who is this woman?” Alisha asked.

“Oh, forgive me. Where are my manners?”

“Retired, just like you,” Alisha said under her breath, just loud enough for Marion to hear.

“Alisha Alleyne this is Marion Vorrasi. Marion was one of my platoon sargents back before I transferred to Executive Protection. If she hadn't gotten hurt, I would have brought her with me like I did Oso.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Alisha said icily.

“Don't worry 'Lisha. No need to get jealous. I'm not Marion's type... you on the other hand...”

“Huh?” Alisha grunted.

“I'm sly,” Marion said, smiling.

“Oh.”

Trying not to smirk, Marion turned to her old boss, “What's the emergency Major?”

“We think Alisha's Brother-in-law was just kidnapped.”

“Kidnapped?”

“Yes, he flew in earlier today in that shuttle over there,” Reggie finished, pointing across the ramp to where Serenity's port shuttle sat.

“Rutting hell! Is your Brother-in-law Allan Bryant?”

Alisha just nodded.

“Come on, I think I may have something for you.”

“Stay here Alisha. I'll be right back,” Reggie said.

“Make it quick.”

Reggie and Marion hurried across the ramp towards the office. Marion looked over at Reggie.

“Retired huh? I thought you were a lifer.”

“Got hurt, got retired.”

“Harrumph. Seems like theres a lot of that going around.”

“Well I got it a bit worse than losing a foot like you did.”

“What?”

Reggie held up his right hand, “This ain't original equipment.”

“Holy... the whole thing?”

“Just below my shoulder.”

“What happened?”

“Sniper with a seven mega-joule laser. Blew it right off.”

“Son of a bitch Maj. That sure one ups that grenade that got dropped on my foot.”

Reggie nodded, “What did you have for information?”

“About twenty minutes before you guys showed up, a Cumberland Class long range shuttle took off. I didn't think all that much about it, but a pair of fellas were carrying something that looked like a body.”

Marion reached over her desk and pulled a sheet of paper off the pad, “This is the ships registry, pulse beacon code and filed destination.”

“Marion, if I didn't know you liked girls, I'd kiss you.”

“I'll settle for planting one on your girlfriend. She's pretty hot.”

Reggie just stared at his former sargent.

“I'm kidding Maj... well about the kissing part. You lucky dog you.”

“Thanks Marion.”

“You need a hand? No pun intended.”

“Don't you have to work?”

“I'm off shift in five minutes and I have the next five days off. It's a two day hard burn to Ezra from here, if we make it quick, I won't have to call in sick on Monday.”

“Go get your gear. I'll convince the Captain. I think we're going to need all the help we can get on this one.”

“Thanks Maj.”

“Thank you, Sargent.”

TBC

AN 2: I know, I introduced Marion and then killed her off in Heritage. But I like her character so this is some back story on how she and Allan met.