Little Albatross

Spoilers- Series and movie. Disclaimer- not mine. Note- Poem quoted is ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, it’s the poem referred to in the movie and the one quoted in the novelisation of the film.

Translations: Ai ya- damn yu ben de- stupid, foolish, silly Qin aide wo de ma- dear mother of god sa gua- idiot feng kuag- crazy, insane. xxx

Mal cursed as Serenity pitched to the right, taking him with it. He scrambled to his feet and brushed the dirt off his shirt.

“River!”

The hatch to Jayne’s bunk opened. The man stomped up the ladder rungs.

“What, in the gorram, is that girl doin’?” he muttered to himself. “Mal was ruttin’ crazy to put her- Mal!” Jayne recovered quickly when he saw Mal. “What’s that girl think she’s doin’? She’s likely to get us all killed or somethin’. Wash never wouldn’ta had so much trouble with atmo re-entry.”

Mal glanced over at Zoë’s bunk, it was locked up tight, but with Zoë you never could quite tell. “Well, Wash ain’t here. And that’s still a mite touchy subject. Might be best for you to keep that mouth of yours shut about it. River’s doin’ fine.”

“Ha!”

Mal pushed past the human mountain that was Jayne. “I want you and Zoë to get the stuff ready. Those Alliance credit certificates are burning a hole in my cargo bay. Makin’ me a mite itchy. This is gonna be a tight drop off. In and out. Stay outta the way of any one who looks like a fed. Don’t want causalities. Not today. Should reach the village in five minutes.”

Mal kept walking. Quietly, out earshot of Jayne, he said, “if that feng kuag girl don’t shake us outta the air before then.”

Mal bounded up the stairs and into the bridge.

River was at the controls. Happily, she sung to herself.

“Take my love, take my land, Take me where I cannot stand. I don’t care cause I’m still free, You can’t take the sky from me.”

Bemused, Mal watched her for a moment. With a shake of his head he snapped out of it. “Not that I don’t appreciate fine music, specially since my momma used to sing it, but supposing you concentrate on where we’re goin’?”

River smiled in that mysterious and bemused way she had. “Don’t worry, Captain. Serenity knows the way. She won’t let us get lost.”

“Ain’t lost that worries me. It’s arriving in one piece.”

River took one hand off the controls and used it to pat the ship. “She’s like a leaf on the wind,” River said unknowing, or perhaps not, parroting Wash.

“Yeah? Feels less a leaf on the wind and more like a- something in a washing machine, one of them new fangled spinny ones.” Mal scowled. “We’re getting pitched from side to side out there. Best you do somethin’ bout that.”

River turned, her big dark eyes boring into Mal’s. “Trust me.”

Mal blinked. That girl could be so gorram intense sometimes.

River giggled. “Fairy penguins.”

“O-kay.” Mal laid a hand on her shoulder. “Bring her down good and easy.”

River saluted. “Aye aye, Captain.”

Mal smirked and turned on his heel. “Jayne!” he hollered, catching sight of the man. “You got that mule ready to go yet?”

“Doc did it.” Jayne looked at Mal’s set expression and sighed. “I’ll check it.”

“No. That’ll be fine. Ares is a peaceful planet. Shouldn’t have too much trouble.”

Jayne stared at Mal incredulously.

Mal paused. “Bring Vera.”

Jayne grinned in anticipation. “All right. Baby gets to play.” Eagerly he climbed into his bunk. Grunts of delighted emerged as Jayne riffled through his weapons.

“No grenades!” Mal called hastily.

The intercom crackled to life. “Coming in to land.”

Instantly Mal threw himself against the wall and held on with all his strength, wincing hard. Last time they let River land Serenity she damn never crashed the ship. It had taken a week before she flew right in atmo again, and the whole time River had laughed her pretty little head off.

Serenity leveled out. With the slightest of bumps she touched down.

Mal sighed. “Qin aide wo de ma.”

xxxxx

Mal strode into the cargo hold geared up and ready for the drop off. “All right. We ready to-“

He paused. The mule was packed and ready to go. Jayne was seated in the back, Vera clamped in both hands and a dark scowl on his face. A dark haired head sat behind the wheel. But instead of the wavy golden touched hair of his first mate it was the dark unrestrained hair of the resident reader/ Reaver exterminator/ occasionally mentally unstable teenage girl/ sister/ playmate/ pilot/ well… you get the picture.

“Go?” Mal stared at River dumbfounded. “Huh? I thought Zoë was gonna-“

“Stay here,” River told him. “Mind the ship. I’m coming.”

Mal winced. “River, I think Zoë should-“

“Stay here,” River repeated slowly. “You need me.”

Mal raised an eyebrow. “And does the good doctor know about this?”

River shrugged. “He’s with Kaylee.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

“You need me.”

Mal sighed and jumped into the mule. “Fine, but you’re tellin’ him when we get back.”

River grinned and pulled the goggles over her eyes. “Deal.”

Jayne pulled down his goggled. “Somethin’s gonna go wrong. I can feel it. Ai ya, this is yu ben de.”

Mal smirked as River started the engine. “That’s your problem, Jayne. You’re too damn paranoid.”

“Just cause you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you,” River tolled, her voice lilting.

“Well,” Mal said dryly. “Ain’t that a pleasant note to finish a job on.”

xxxxx

Several hours later the mule pulled into Serenity’s cargo hold. River jumped out, a large grin on her face.

"Everything okay, Captain?" Zoë leant over one of the steel railings. "We were about to launch a rescue mission."

Mal stepped out of the mule. "Everything's shiny. Ran into an old friend."

Zoë raised an eyebrow.

"Turns out them girls that hired us to steal the certificates originate from the Dayton Colony. And Badger's a good friend of theirs."

"Well, ain't that interestin'"

Jayne smirked as he pulled Vera out. “Took it upon himself to help out a friend.”

“He was gonna cheat us outta half of our money.” Mal explained.

River smiled and twirled daintily in a circle.

"You didn't hurt him did you, sir? He might be a sa gua but we do need him."

Mal smirked, incredibly pleased with himself. "We made a profit, double that we agreed. River bamboozled 'em. Seems Badger's taken quite a shine to our girl."

River grinned. "Serves him right it does.” Her voice changed, affecting an accent similar to that of Badger’s, just as she had done when last faced with him. “Anyone from Dayton Colony knows not to believe everything they're tole."

“All right, little one. Cheating Badger’s all good and fun but we need to get this bird in the air.” Mal smiled fondly at his petite pilot.

River twirled on her toes, her dress flowing around her; the goggles still firmly secured over her eyes adding a surreal element to the picture.

“ ‘And I have done an hellish thing, And it would work ‘em woe: For all averred, I had killed the bird-“

“That made the breeze to blow. Ah wretch! said they, the bird to slay That made the breeze to blow!’”

Mal completed and chuckled. “Ain’t gonna stand by any bad luck today.”

“Are you gonna stand around reciting poetry all day or are we gonna get going fore Badger realizes we pulled a fast one on him?” Jayne grumbled.

“Jealous?" Zoë asked smugly.

“No!” Jayne denied vehemently. “I know a poem. There one was a man from Nantucket-“

"Jayne!"

“Fine,” he grumbled. “’Sides that ain't no poem. Now the Boy From Nantucket... that there's a poem.”

xxxxx

It was late at night; at least what the crew of Serenity had collectively decided was night. Mal walked through his ship, taking in the quiet.

Slowly he made his way to the bridge. Unsurprisingly, River was there. However, the girl always found a way to surprise him. She lay draped over the co-pilot console, singing softly to herself again. Well, Mal thought, at least she was wearing all her clothes this time.

“Take me out to the black, Tell ‘em I ain’t comin’ back. Burn the land and boil the sea, You can’t take the sky from me.”

One of River's arms swung lazily down, the other gently caressing the console upon which she lay.

"Serenity's lonely," she told him without moving. "She misses the affection. She craves it just as we do. She cries for it. Cries for him. She misses him. Misses the affection between them, being home to it."

River turned to face Mal. "Wash loved Serenity and now she grieves."

Mal ran a hand over his face and sunk into the pilot’s chair. He ran a finger over one of the plastic dinosaurs. "Don’t we all."

River propped her chin up in the palm of her hand. “Albatross.”

Mal shifted in his seat, settling down for a few hours. “You keeping Serenity company? Makin' sure she feels loved?”

River nodded.

Mal smiled wearily and closed his eyes. "Knew there was a reason I kept you, little albatross."

xxx

End.