Life Onboard Serenity: #42 - Of Jobs, Vaults and Things Gone Wrong by EnglishIvy

(OoC: I going to go ahead and start setting up the next job now, but don't feel rushed.)

John followed Zoe from the room. He really didn't want to be present for the tears and the kissing and the doting. Hopefully, Grayson would be gone soon. He made his way back to his bunk. Out of routine he checked his cortex pad and found, suprisingly, he had been waved. He was not suprised to see who it was from. Sighing he attempted to contact the man.

His brother's, Matthew who prefered his nickname, Knives, face appeared on the screen shortly. "I was half expectin you to completely ignore me," he chuckled with his characteristic grin. Looking and John and this man, one could easily tell they were brothers. They had similar faces, although Knives sported a small beard. Knives, the older of the two, was slightly stockier as well.

"You mentioned work, which the ship needs."

"Yes, I have some slightly sensitive cargo in need of transporting, and I figured I'd come to you first."

"How much does it pay?"

"More than it should. Would the infamous Captain Reynolds be interested?"

"That depends where are you?"

"Paquin"

"I'm sure we could do that. That is if we can get these gorram feds off our boat," John muttered

"Feds?"

"Yes, and guess who one of them is?"

"Doc is with you! Thank goodness."

"What does that mean?"

"Haven't you seen the cortex recently? They figured out what name she's using. They're after her."

"Bad luck for her."

"You have to keep her onboard. Kepp an eye on her." John couldn't help but laughing.

"What would possibly inspire me to do that?"

"I asked you to."

"I don't owe you any favors."

"Well I'm your brother." Knives paused, "And I love her."

John cringed at the phrase. "No you don't"

"Don't tell me how I feel."

"We'll be there when we can." John turned off the link before the conversation could continue.

johnttf

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Saturday, May 2, 2009 3:51 PM

OOC: We'll probably need a new thread too. This one's getting a little long and slow to load.

Infirmary

Quote:
Originally posted by GraysonCornwell:
"Love... you..." she hoarsely whispered.

"I know." Pain replied back to her, a relieved smile donning his face. He leaned down to kiss her again and repeated, "I know."

"I hate to be a thorn in everyone's side." Simon said as he put away the penlight he used to check Ivy's pupils. "But I need to start her on a blood transfusion and I can't do that with everyone standing in the way. So if you would please step out and give me some room, I'd like to get to work."

Pain still stood by Ivy's side, clutching her hand in his. He was unrelenting in leaving her here and he voiced that sentiment to Simon, "I'm stayin', doc. Nothin' you'll say or do will budge me from that."

"Alright fine." replied Simon as he went to get what he needed. "You can stay, but try not to get in the way of things." Simon turned to Mal and said, "I'll need you to stay as well, captain. You are her blood type after all."

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Monday, May 4, 2009 12:42 PM

Ivy watched the blood that Mal donated flow into her arm.

"Thank you, Captain," she said quietly. "I know you don't care for me much, but I am grateful."

"Can't have you dyin' on my boat," Mal said as he smiled slightly, but didn't look at her directly. "I'd have feds lined up from here to the Core looking for me if'n I did."

Mal had meant it as a joke, but it didn't come across that way.

"I know I have been a thorn in your side and I apologize," she continued. "I really wanted to prove myself useful with the job, but managed to get myself shot in the process. Hardly helps my cause."

"Your cause?" Mal asked.

"I want to stay here with Pain," she said as she turned her head to glance at Pain. "I... love him, but I've caused too much trouble.

"Pain loves this ship; it is his home. I don't want to change that, he has people here he cares for."

A tear slipped down Ivy's face, but she wiped it away quickly with her good arm.

"And I know you don't want me here," she resumed. "I just can't think of a way 'round it. A way that would be amicable for everyone."

Grayson stood to the doorway.

"I still think you need to come home," he told her. "I can get you your old job back and a new apartment. You would be safe and safety is my main concern. Safe is not here. You will never be safe here. This little escapade is a perfect example."

"Grayson..." Ivy started, but flinched when she moved the wrong way.

"YOU ALMOST DIED!" Grayson shouted. "This last time, they had given up because you didn't respond. In effect, You. Did. Die."

Grayson sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"You gave up, Toms," he said with definite concern in his voice. "The pilot? River Tam? She told us that you gave up."

Ivy shook her head in disbelief.

"Couldn't have given up," she said, shaking her head, tears falling freely. "I'm here. Couldn't have given up if I'm here."

"But you did..." Grayson said softly.

Ivy's head fell back to rest on the pillow. Then she raised it again and looked at him with renewed strength.

"She said she didn't. So just don't push her. She doesn't need any more guilt."

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Tuesday, May 5, 2009 1:17 PM

Infirmary

Quote:
Originally posted by EnglishIvy:
"She said she didn't. So just don't push her. She doesn't need any more guilt."

"What did Tommy mean by that?" Pain wondered as Tommy let Grayson have it, noticing that she was tugging at the stitches just like Ivy was doing. Pain got up and placed a hand on her shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze as he leaned down and whispered into Tommy's ear, "Baobei? Could you please not tug at your stitches? I love both you and Ivy very much and I want you to stay here with me, but I'm pretty sure the captain and the doc would be slightly annoyed if'n you reopened those wounds of yours."

He gave her shoulder another squeeze and added, "I love both of you, but I don't think I can handle you two bleedin' out again, so please stop tuggin' at the stitches. Please, baobei?"

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Thursday, May 7, 2009 5:27 PM

Mal leaned forward a bit.

“Am I correct in thinking that you are Tommy?” he asked as he regarded at her closely. He’d never met anyone who had a condition like hers and found himself looking for a sign that this all was a ruse. Something she had done to pull to wool over all of their eyes. Especially Pain’s. “I don’t think we’ve had the chance to formally meet-”

“Shut it, Captain. We all know you could care less about Ivy. Don’t sugar coat it and don’t act like it ain’t true,” Tommy snapped as she tried to sit up, but Pain gently held her in place.

“Bao bei…” Pain said softly. “Your stitches…”

Tommy looked up at Grayson.

“River’s right. She’s been stronger here than anywhere else that she’s been since being taken. Keeping her guarded, even if you thought it was for her own good, did nothing but cement her need to depend on me and on anyone else that was nearby,” Tommy fumed. “While she’s been here, she’s made her own decisions and as of late, I haven’t been needed as much. She’s had a couple of… bumps in the road, but overall she’s been doing well.”

Tommy looked over at Mal.

“I know that some absolutely unimaginable things have happened in your and your crews’ pasts, but not everyone is out to get you. Ivy certainly has no plans on doing anything to your crew except make some long overdue friends. There are no deep dark plans afoot by Ivy or anyone Ivy knows to cause any of you harm.

“However, there is evil in this ‘verse that don’t stem out of the bowels of the Alliance. Sometimes there are just monsters out there who live to prey on folks that can’t defend themselves, doling out their own brand of torture in their own special way,” Tommy said with conviction. “People deal with evil any way they can. Sometimes things are bad enough that a person needs to check out for a while, sort things through, put everything they can’t deal in one big pile and create some kind of failsafe whose primary function is to keep that pile contained.”

“So that failsafe is you?” Mal asked. “Your job is to keep the bad memories away from Ivy?”

“Yes.”

“Seems to me, getting things out in the open would be better than hidin’.”

Tommy shook her head.

“No. Not for Ivy.”

“You sure about that?”

“Of course I am. Everyone has a pile of stuff they’d rather not remember. Ivy’s is just a little bigger than most folk’s. There is no way you’ve come to terms with every painful event that has happened in your life. Would you feel just peachy keen having those memories sitting there in front of you every second of every day? You have your own things hidden away too and if you say that you don’t, I’d either have to call you the strongest person that has ever existed in this ‘verse or more appropriately, I think I’d just call you a liar,” Tommy told him as she lifted a hand to accentuate her position with the point of a finger.

One of the monitors started beeping as a bead of sweat broke across Tommy’s forehead. Pain’s attention swung to the monitor in question as Simon looked over too. Simon moved over to the counter to prepare something as Pain looked back down at Tommy.

“Tommy, you gotta calm down,” Pain said to her, stroking Ivy’s hair. “Just calm down, you’re gonna hurt your self.”

“Do you know what happened to Ivy then?” Grayson asked softly.

“I do,” Tommy confirmed. “But that girl has been through enough. She don’t need to know it. And I’m not going to be letting any of you folks know either. Not any of you. Not even Pain. It’s her story to tell and she’ll tell it if and when she wants to.”

Simon stealthily slid up beside her and injected her with something. Immediately, Tommy starting calming down, but she still had some things to say.

“It’s Ivy’s baggage and she can carry it how she needs to,” Tommy said as her eyes drooped a bit. She sagged back into the bed and looked tiredly up into Pain’s face.

“Bao bei?” she said softly, her demeanor changing and a sweet smile spanning her face.

“Yes, Ivy?” Pain smiled back at her.

“You said you loved us?”

“Yes,” he grinned. “Both of you.”

“I’m… glad…” she whispered as she fell asleep.

“I had to give her something to make her sleep,” Simon explained. “Her blood pressure was off the scale. It wasn’t good for her.”

Pain saw how angelic she looked and couldn’t help but smile wider and thank God that she was still among the livin’ and the breathin’. He looked up to see Grayson’s eyes boring through him.

“What you’re doing isn’t helping her at all either. You’re just enabling her.”

“No arguing here gentlemen,” Simon warned as he made a none-too-subtle gesture telling them all that they need to vacate. “She needs to sleep. Go hash this out elsewhere.”

“Pain, outside,” Grayson growled as he spun to leave the room. Pain looked down at Ivy and stroked her cheek before following him.

Mal sat very still while Simon disconnected the IV from him; his eyes never leaving Ivy’s face.

“You’re all done, Captain,” Simon told him. “You’re free to go.”

Mal started to get up, but then paused.

“Simon, can you read up on this condition she’s got?”

“Already done some reading.”

“I might have some questions later.”

Simon nodded as Mal left the infirmary, some thoughts weighing heavily on his shoulders.

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Saturday, May 9, 2009 5:44 PM

Outside the Infirmary

Pain had followed Grayson outside the infirmary. He kept his distance from the lawman as they wandered out, leaving Ivy in Simon's care. Pain had an inkling that Grayson wanted to talk to him about his and Ivy's relationship, tell him that he was no good for her, that he was only using her for sex and didn't really care for her. Pain knew better than Grayson. He truly loved both Ivy and Tommy with all his heart. All their fun time together was completely consensual. And it wasn't just about sex. The sex was great, but Pain also enjoyed spending time just hanging out with her and having fun. The Paint Tag place was an example of that. There surely would be more opportunities Pain also had a hunch that Grayson wanted to talk to him about something more than just Ivy.

Pain also had a feeling that Grayson wanted to talk about other things as well. He was a lawman after all. It was in his nature to grill people for information. Well Pain wasn't going to be such an easy person to grill, he'd be very difficult and stubborn. He would be very recalcitrant to give Grayson any information regarding his personal affairs and even moreso if Grayson tried to pry anything out of him about his occupation and his background.

Cargo Bay

"Alright, Grayson, we've walked far enough." replied Pain as he stopped by some crates in the cargo bay. He crossed his arms against his chest, wincing a little at the slight twinge of pain from his wounded arm. Standing his ground, he continued, "What do you want to talk about?"

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Sunday, May 10, 2009 1:11 PM

“What are you doing? You tell her that you love both of them?”

“I do. No sense denying that.”

“But they are the same person!” Grayson exclaimed. “All you are doing is allowing her to hide from what has happened!”

“Don’t you think she should be able to let things play out as she can handle them?” Pain asked him. “They are her memories and she should have the right to deal with them in her own way.”

“Yeah, her memories…”Grayson mumbled under his breath. “I mean, she’s got to let people in. She’s got to tell us what’s going on it her head so we can help her.”

Pain narrowed his eyes at Grayson as something dawned on him.

“You don’t know what happened to her while she was enslaved, do you?”

Grayson turned his back to Pain and rubbed his forehead with one hand.

“Oh my God. You don’t know!” Pain said quietly as he looked rather incredulously at Grayson.

It took a few seconds before Grayson turned back around.

“No, we don’t. She hasn’t said. Not ever,” Grayson said in a low voice. His concern for her was palpable. “She didn’t even tell Dr. Garner much. I tried to ask her once what Toms had told her, but she won’t say because of ‘patient confidentiality’ but did say that it was very, very little. I don’t know how I am supposed to help her if I don’t know.”

“Dr. Garner?” Pain asked. He wanted to know as much about Ivy as Grayson would tell him.

“Toms’ Reintegration Therapist,” Grayson told him. “There is a small medical and psychiatric group that deals with liberated slaves. Their goal is to help them to work out the events of their captivity as best they can and in time, reintegrate them back into society.”

“Well, Dr. Garner must have done an OK job. Ivy seems to be doing well,” Pain offered. “She’s trying to make a life here. She’s made a life with me for sure.”

“Doing WELL?” Grayson snorted. “She’s mentally damaged who knows how bad, she thinks she is two people and she is laying in there all shot to Hell!”

“Mentally damaged?” Pain started to say, his jaw clenching.

“And you aren’t helping,” Grayson continued while he pointed his finger at Pain. “You got her shot and you fill her head with these proclamations of love. You are just taking advantage of her and you know it!”

Now Pain was getting angry.

“Have you had sex with her?” Grayson demanded folding his arms over his chest. “Did you ply her with professions of love to get her into bed with you?”

“Back off Grayson!” Pain growled. “What Ivy and I do in our bunk is no one’s concern.”

“In our bunk? You’ve as far as moving her in with you?”

“It’s none of your concern,” Pain repeated. He really wanted to throttle the man, but didn’t think his body could take another fight today.

Then to make things worse, he caught movement above them and they both looked up.

“They’ve been joined at the hips lately,” 13 said, smirking. “Well, not at the hips, if you know what I mean.”

“It’s none of my business, but you tell your friends?” Grayson asked Pain as his face started turning red in anger. “It’s nice to know she’s brag worthy!”

“Not now, Bot Boy,” Pain said as he looked at 13, wishing he had a grenade launcher.

“Yeah, Pain,” 13 said while stared hard at Pain. 13’s anger was clear as day. “Why don’t you tell him which one is more fun in the sack? Ivy? Or Tommy?”

13 looked directly at Grayson.

“’Cause you know, he’s sexed both of them.”

Pain looked back at Grayson. They stared each other down, trying to size up what the other was going to do or say.

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Wednesday, May 13, 2009 7:50 PM

Cargo Bay

"Shut it, Bot boy." Pain exclaimed, not taking his eyes off the lawman in front of him, for fear that he'd do something like deck Pain or shoot him. "What me and Ivy do in our bunk is none of your gorramn concern, so I suggest you stow it or I'm goin' to weld your ruttin' trap shut, remove all your sensors, and have the mechanic rig you up as a pinball machine."

He focused his next set of words on Grayson, "Like I said before, Grayson. We're two consentin' adults, Ivy and I. What we do in our bunk is our business, not yours' or anyone else's. Bot Boy only knows because he's a gorramn robot with gorramn sensors that can hear a ruttin' cricket fart hundreds of miles away and see through most metallic objects, ship hulls notwithstandin'. Now I'm pretty sure Ivy or Tommy, like myself, don't want you stickin' your nose into our business. It's bad enough you're tryin' to take her back against her will and put her somewhere where she'd most likely be watched 24/7 without a lick of privacy." Pain took a breath and added in a tad calmer tone, "I get that you're tryin' to be a father figure to her, Grayson, and I respect that, but you need to let her live her own gorramn life, let her make her own decisions, and stop tryin' to control her. Not doin' that, makes you out to be just as bad as whoever the hun dan or hun dans were who took her and made her a slave in the first place."

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Friday, May 15, 2009 11:40 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by DRPAIN:
"I get that you're tryin' to be a father figure to her, Grayson, and I respect that, but you need to let her live her own gorramn life, let her make her own decisions, and stop tryin' to control her. Not doin' that, makes you out to be just as bad as whoever the hun dan or hun dans were who took her and made her a slave in the first place."

Grayson didn't know what he wanted to do most:

1) Throttle Pain within an inch of his life. But that would probably get him killed by the hulking man who reminded him to play nice earlier. He was standing at a respectable distance on a catwalk above them with a hand on his gun. Plus Toms would never forgive him.
2) Ignore Pain. This would only keep things atthe status quo; him professing his love for her and vice versa. Plus it wouldn't get him any closer to getting to the bottom of who this Pain person really is.
3) He could sit down and try to get to know Pain, figure out why Toms is drawn to him and decide if the relationship seems healthy or not.
4) Could go back to his ship and wait. This wouldn't let him keep constant watch over Toms though...

So he decided to talk. Grayson took a deep breath, forced a halfway acceptable smile onto his face and held up his hands in defeat. He looked up at the man who had been informing him of Toms' and Pain's bedroom habits and watched the smirk fade from the guy's face, then he turned and stomped away.

Bot boy. Pain had called him "bot boy."

"Wait..." Grayson asked in wonder. "That was a robot?"

"An unhappy and jealous one at that," Pain said with a slight smile as he watched 13 leave. Pain motioned over to the common area by the Infirmary. "Let's talk."

Grayson nodded and reluctantly walked over that way with Pain following behind him. When they sat down, Grayson too stock in Pain's appearance. The man looked a mess. His shoulder was all banged up and bandaged tightly. His face was bruised and his lip split. It looked like he had been on the receiving end of a beating... but then again he had thrown two of the punches himself.

"Besides me, who else have you been... sparring with?"

"The Captain and I had a disagreement," Pain stated without any emotion.

"Can I ask why?"

Pain merely motioned towards Ivy who was laying in the infirmary.

"He was less than understanding about me waving you," Pain told him. "But I knew it was the right thing to do... for her."

Pain has disobeyed his Captain to do what he thought was best for Ivy. That scored him a point in Grayson's book. It showed committment.

"And your shoulder?"

"Weren't the only one shot today," Pain answered. "Went right through - just muscle damage."

Grayson took another deep breath as a point was subtracted in Pain's account. He obviously dragged Ivy into something she shouldn't have.

"What exactly were you all doing?" Grayson asked.

Kaylee watched the exchange between 13, Grayson and Pain. Something wasn't right with 13. He would've never treated Pain like that.So she plotted an intercept course with the direction he was walking.

"13!" she called out. "13!"
He spun on her, looking at her with venom, but his gaze softened once he realized who was talking to him.

"Kaylee," 13 said flatly.

"I need your help," she said as she acted like her bubbly self. "There's a piece in the engine I need to look at, but it's way under, far back and heavy. I figured you might be able to get it out for me."

"OK," 13 said with a sigh as he went on up to the engine room while Kaylee followed behing him. Once there, she directed him to the problem.

"It's under the middle, really close to the floor. There are two big handles. Grab them and turn clockwise and it should pop right out,"
Kaylee told him as 13 lay down on his stomach with his hands extended forward. The height of the area made it hard to see, so it was a blind reach. "Can you reach it?"

"I can't seem to reach anything," 13 answered stretching forward as far as he could.

"Good," Kaylee said softly as she took a screwdriver from her pocket and plunged it into a port in his back, right between the shoulder blades.

"Kaylee! What are y..." 13 exclaimed, but his voice trailed off.

Kaylee held her breath until she was sure he was "out." Then she ripped his shirt around the screwdriver and saw that she indeed hit her mark. She turned the screwdriver a quarter to the right until she heard a single tone.

"Initiate full diagnostic scan," she said clearly and loudly.

The tone was heard twice more and she saw some lights around the port start to blink. She went over to the comm and called the bridge.

"River, you were right and I did it. Diagnostics are running now."

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Saturday, May 16, 2009 10:08 AM

John left his room in a huff. Dealing with his brother was always stressful. Even though he was three years older, Knives had always needed John more than vice versa. As he was walking, he saw Doc, just as angry as he was.

"What's wrong with you?" he said to her.

"I want off this gorram ship." she said turning to face him.

"Well when we get to a planet that you want to depart at, you can go."

"The planet doesn't matter. I want off this ship. Just drop me wherever you're headed next."

"I don't think you want that. See..."

"I don't care if you're dropping me on gorram Miranda. Let me off!"

"It's where my brother lives."

"I hate you." She stalked off.

Fantastic, someone just as angry about their next stop as he was. The ship needed work though, and, hopefully, Knives would pay.

johnttf

It is always darkest just before the dawn, unless the sun decides to quit, and then there will be no dawn, just darkest dark.

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Sunday, May 17, 2009 7:22 PM

Common Area outside the Infirmary

Quote:
Originally posted by GraysonCornwell:
"What exactly were you all doing?" Grayson asked.

"A job." Pain replied, looking across the way at Ivy sleeping in the infirmary. He listened to the monitors beep and watched her chest rise up and down before continuing, "One that we weren't the only one's on."

"Care to explain?" asked Grayson.

He didn't. At least not in great detail that would incriminate the crew. Pain thought it over in his mind on how he'd spin the tale of what happened and how Ivy got shot, without getting into too much detail about the cargo or where it happened.

"We weren't the only one's lookin' for the same thing." Pain replied, shifting his focus onto Grayson. "There was a shootout with the other crew there. They had gotten to what we were plannin' on gettin' first. Once they saw us, they started started shootin'. After most of them were taken care of, Ivy came down from the control room after havin' put the other ship on a land lock so it wouldn't get away. We were about to leave when some stragglers came about and opened fire. Ivy froze up behind the crates we were usin' for cover. Tommy came around after some cajolin' just as two of the stragglers came from where the control room was located. She managed to take one of the down, but not before she was wounded, which I didn't know about until later when I received no response from her. I too was shot, but you knew that. By the time I saw her layin' on the ground, she had lost a lot of blood."

He took a breath and finished, "It was 13 and I who took her back to the ship. Well I was the one who wanted to take her back and have the doc fix her. 13 wanted to leave her there, but I was havin' none of that. That's pretty much how it happened. After she was somewhat stabilized, I called you and I had it out with the captain because of that."

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Saturday, May 23, 2009 7:55 PM

Lost in thought, Mal walked back to his bunk. Once inside, he closed and locked the door then sat down. Pulling out Ivy's CorPad he had taken from Pain, he took a deep breath and watched the entire newsfeed.

"Today, a location that used human slavery was found on Greenleaf. The compound is believed to be a base for blackmarket drugs. A large building that may have been used to house the slaves was found burned to the ground. Three bodies were found in the rubble.

The rest of the compound was found vacant, apparently evacuated. Only one woman was found on site alive, we do not have her identity yet, but sources say that she had been a slave at this location for four months. She had been physically abused, including large scars on her back from a whip. Her psychological state is tenuous... Wait! Here they come..."

"Miss! Miss! What's your name? What was your role there? Do you know who kept you captive? Where did the scars come from?"

Throughout the shouts of questions, Grayson Cromwell could seen carrying her broken form past the reporters towards a law enforcement ship located on the dock.

"Leave her alone!" he was growling as the look on his face showed deep concern for her well being while at the same time the hatred of this new group who were assaulting Ivy. "Don't you think she's been through enough?"

Grayson fought through the crowd until her reached the ship and got himself and Ivy inside.

Mal was moved by two things. He could hear Ivy sobbing on the feed and he could see the look on Grayson's face as he carried her away from the press.

"You can't fake that," Mal whispered.

He played the feed in its entirety two more times before putting it down. Then he came to a decision. Pain was right the entire time. Ivy is exactly who she said she was; a plant and seed salesman. Grayson was exactly who he seemed; a concerned family friend.

Mal groaned.

"And here I was causing her more grief," he whispered.

Grief was not something a person who had gone through things like she did needed. A person like that deserved some peace and some happiness. And if you looked at the way Pain and her were when they were together, she was indeed happy.

Mal made a decision right there and then. He wasn't going to stand in the way. He hoped that Grayson would come to the realization that Ivy and Pain were happy too.

"Four months," Mal whispered. "A lot can happen in four months. and by the tell of it, it wasn't a picnic."

He thought for a couple more minutes, then grabbed the CorPad and left his bunk. He made his way to Inara's shuttle, actually knocked first then entered.

"Inara," he asked. "I wonder if you might give me your opinion on something..."

He turned on the news feed and handed it to Inara.

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Thursday, May 28, 2009 4:51 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by DRPAIN:
"It was 13 and I who took her back to the ship. Well I was the one who wanted to take her back and have the doc fix her. 13 wanted to leave her there, but I was havin' none of that. That's pretty much how it happened. After she was somewhat stabilized, I called you and I had it out with the captain because of that."

Again, Grayson noticed that Pain had mentioned "having it out" with the Captain.

"Do you "have it out" a lot with the Captain?" he asked.

Pain smiled a bit.

"Not usually."

"But it's been more often lately?"

Pain shrugged.

"Just a couple of times," Pain revealed. "But don't you worry none. Mal's a good man. He'd never want to see any harm come to her. Hell, he even gave her a blood transfusion."

Grayson thought about it. However abrasive the Captain had been when he first came on board, he was certainly loyal to his crew. Grayson shook his head a little, before his thoughts came back to 13. Pain had said 13 wanted to leave her there where she had gotten shot.

"But 13 didn't care that harm came to her?"

"13 wouldn't... He weren't gonna leave her there. He just..." Pain started. The fact is that he didn't know what to think about 13's behavior lately. "He's not usually like this. I don't understand why he's been acting the way he is. I guess he just figured bringing her back would've been pointless."

"Pointless? Why?"

Pain froze for a second. He took a deep breath.

"She was dead. Heart wasn't beating at all. And there was so much blood," Pain whispered as his head fell in his hands, remembering how close he had been to losing her. "But I wouldn't take no for an answer."

She was dead. Those words reverberated through Grayson's head. He looked at the distress written on Pain's face and for the first time since he arrived on Serenity, he began to believe the man. Pain really did love Ivy. 3 points to the positive for Pain's account with him.

"Even if she would've passed..." Pain said as he choked a little on the words. "I wouldn't've left her. I would've found a way to get her back to you. For a decent burial and all...

"But we don't have to think on that anymore. She's gonna be OK. She's gonna be just fine."

Pain said he would have made sure Ivy was returned to him if things had gone badly. Pain had a sense of what was right. A sense of following things to the very end to make sure everything was as it should be. 13 would have left her there and she would've died in obscurity without him ever knowing what happened. Pain said he would've made sure she got home. 5 points in the positive column for Pain.

"When I thought I lost her earlier, I just kept thinking about how I would have to spend more time at her family's grave site. I'm glad I don't have to," Grayson admitted. "It just seems like yesterday that I was burying her father."

Pain looked up at Grayson.

"She wouldn't say, but what happened to her father?" Pain asked.

Grayson sighed.

"The town they lived in was a small agricultural area. Slavers came and decimated everything," Grayson told him. "I was nearby, so I was one of the first responders. When I got there, dozens of bodies littered the town. They killed every male over the age of sixteen or anyone who armed themselves. Apparently went house to house and killed who they didn't want or who would take too much care. Elderly women, a handicapped man, anyone who was sick, even two pregnant..."

Grayson set his jaw and paused a moment.

"Even two pregnant ladies. One was due in a week. All in all, 63 were found dead and the rest were just gone. It was like 38 people just vanished. No trace except evidence of a ship landing," Grayson said softly. "I found her father in their house in a back room, shot four times in the chest. By the bloodtrail and the bloody handprint we found, it seems that Toms dragged him inside the back room and locked the door hoping that they would leave them alone. But they didn't. They busted the door down and took her anyway. I thought I lost her forever. Those four months afterwards were torture. The not knowing where she was or who might've bought her. Then I got the call that they found her. She was hurt physically and broken mentally, but at least I had her back.

"And I thanked God that she was still in one piece," Grayson continued. "I thank Him still every day. But she has yet to say anything about what happened for those four months and that's when split between Ivy and Tommy came out. I guess it is her way to cope.

"I just wish I could help her, get her back to normal and get her stabilized. Make her the way she was before.

"But she won't let anyone help. Whatever happened, she thinks she needs to shoulder it alone."

"But she ain't alone," Pain said reassuringly. "Tommy is there. And she has me. And you. Even some friends here too. I know she's close to River and Kaylee. She ain't alone no more. I can promise you that."

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Monday, June 1, 2009 2:25 PM

John entered the infirmary hoping Mal would still be there. Unfortunately, he saw only Ivy and Simon. He was about to leave when he realized he needed to talk to Ivy, clear the air a little bit.

"Simon," he called entering the room, "can I have a moment with Ivy?"

"She not in much condition to have it out with anyone, she needs rest..."

"I won't be long, and I'll be civil."

"Ok. Be quick. I need to go get some things from my bunk anyway."

John moved further into the room and sat on a chair near the operating table, where Ivy was in and out of sleep. He waited for a moment until she was awake.

"Ivy, I have something I need to say to you. We got off on the wrong foot. As much as I'd like to be able to just wave a magic wand and have it all disappear I can't just dismiss my problem here. Ivy, you've been through trauma, and as I said before, that doesn't make you special. You were a slave, and that's awful. But half the people..." John stopped suddenly as he felt Tommy emerge.

"Tommy," he said forcefully, but not loudly, "go away. I need to talk to her. I don't care how much you feel the need to protect her, it's her life and she has to live it." John waited to see if she would back off.

johnttf

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Tuesday, June 2, 2009 5:31 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by johnthetheatrefreak:
"Tommy," he said forcefully, but not loudly, "go away. I need to talk to her. I don't care how much you feel the need to protect her, it's her life and she has to live it." John waited to see if she would back off.

"No," Tommy calmly, but groggily told him. "Don't give me that 'you were a slave, it's awful but it doesn't make you special' crap. You don't know what it was like for her or what it was like to do what she..."

Tommy's eyes drooped, but she fought to keep conscious.

"Let's just say that it was infinitely worse than any mere worker slave experience. That would be a cake walk compared to what she went through," Tommy continued. "And I agree that it is her life and she should live it. But that's why I am here. To isolate the horrific memories and take her out of danger so she can live it. Else she'd still be in that hospital curled up in a corner wishing that someone would put her out of her misery.

"She's living now," Tommy said as her eyes drooped again. "I'm just helping her do that. Don't. Mess. With. Her."

The last part was definitely a thinly veiled warning. She faded back into unconsciousness only to come out a minute later, this time as Ivy.

"I'm sorry, John," she whispered. "I must have dropped off. What were you saying?"

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Tuesday, June 2, 2009 9:46 AM

John was tempted to yell at Tommy before she faded back. Tommy had absolutely no idea of what he had gone through not to mention the others on the ship.

"Ivy, I was trying to say that what happens to us isn't important, it's how we deal with what happens. Right now, you aren't doing to well in that regard. You can't stand on your own. You lean on Grayson or Pain, and when they're not available, you lean on Tommy. If you can't face what's happened to you, you haven't moved on, you aren't living. You're hiding. I can't tell you how to live your life, I'm no expert in that regard, but I can tell you as someone who hid from their tragedy, hiding doesn't work."

johnttf

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Tuesday, June 2, 2009 11:19 PM

"Hiding?" Ivy asked a little confused. "I'm not hiding from..."

Her voice trailed off as she got a far away look on her face. Her lips quivered and a tear slipped down her face.

"I don't want to..." she whispered, eyes pleading with John. "John, it was... it was... Something bad happened..."

A gunshot resounded in her head. Her eyes grew as big as saucers as a strangled sob escaped her lips. A single gunshot resounded in her head again. And again.

"NOOOOOOOOOO..." she screamed, but in her weakened state, it sounding more like a wail.

Tommy tried sliding forward, but she was weakened and couldn't get a firm foothold and slid back. Ivy screamed out again as she tried to get up.

"I can't... I can't..." she whispered, her eyes darting every which way as her arms tried to support her escape. "Don't... Don't... I..."

Ivy managed to knock off one of the cardiac leads and the monitors went wild.

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Thursday, June 4, 2009 12:08 PM

On the Common Area Couch

Grayson and Pain sat there for a spell. The lawman and the mercenary, both a hair's breadth away from the other. They each had one thing in common. Their love for Ivy and need to keep her safe. Grayson's love for her was more of the fatherly type, while Pain's was more intimate like a lover's. Pain had gathered a great deal of information about her past from the lawman, and he was deeply grateful for that.

Both of them perked up when they heard the scream coming from the infirmary, they both looked at each other with a concerned look in their eyes as a wail of frantic beeping sounded. Only one thing on both of their minds at that time.

Ivy.

Pain was the first to get off the couch. Grayson was close enough at his heels that Pain could smell his aftershave. Their hearts were pounding and their blood racing as they rounded the corner in what seemed like slow motion. As Pain saw her in the exam chair thrashing about and John the room with her, he immediately knew what was happening. She was having another meltdown.

"She's having another episode! Someone get the doctor! She needs to be drugged!" demanded Grayson as he looked at Ivy from inside the doorway.

Pain, shot the lawman a look and told him, "We don't need him or the drugs. I can handle this." Turning to Ivy, he wrapped his arms gently around her, careful not to touch any of the bandaged areas, and calmy said to her, "It's alright, baobei, I'm here. Don't look, sweetie, just don't look. You got that, darlin'? Don't look."

He wasn't going to get into a fight with John over this, yell, or get angry at the man and fellow crew mate. Too much of that had already happened over Ivy and they didn't need anymore. The only thing Pain wanted to do was get Ivy calmed back down and that's what he intended on doing.

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Saturday, June 6, 2009 5:14 AM

John was amazed. Ivy couldn't handle what had happened to her even a little bit. As she started having and attack, he stood in disbelief. When Pain and Grayson walked in and began calming her, John couldn't take it anymore. Maybe it was the influence of the tense emotion in the room, but John couldn't hold it in.

"See! This is exactly what I mean! At the slightest mention of your past you freak out and they come running. Do you realize how lucky you are? Scream once and you have not one, but two people who drop whatever they're doing and come straight to your side. Most people don't have that luxury. Despite what happened before, you are so blessed to have what you have now. So get over the past. This endless cycle of freaking out and needing saving is pathetic. Stand on your own feet for a change."

With that he turned and began to walk out.

johnttf

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Sunday, June 7, 2009 5:31 PM

ABBEYGIRL

Oops! There is nothing to see here... Move along...

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Sunday, June 7, 2009 5:39 PM

In amazement, Grayson watched Pain verbally calm Ivy down enough that she fell back asleep. That had never happened before... ever. Before, If she got worked up, it took sedation to calm her down.

Simon had flew in there as fast as the wind, checking over her vitals before declaring that it was indeed a loose lead.

Then John launched into a tirade. Grayson wasn't sure why he was so angry, but he laid his hand on John's shoulder as he started to leave.

"Did she say anything?" he asked, hoping that he could have some kind of insight. "About what happened to her? Anything at all? Believe me, I want to help her, I have to help her. But I need something to go on."

Grayson looked from Pain to John.

"Do either of you, or anyone on this ship, know anything more?"

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Wednesday, June 10, 2009 5:42 AM

"No," John replied to Grayson's question, "unless she told Pain something none of us know anything. So, as you can see, being here is useless to you. I very much appreciate it if you would leave so we can get on with our lives."

This was taking too long. The ship had needs, which requires cash, which requires not floating aimlessly because a fed won't leave us alone.

johnttf

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Thursday, June 11, 2009 5:44 PM

With tears nearly falling from her eyes, Ivy calmed down and looked up at Pain.

"Something... Something bad happened," she said to him softly. "There was a fire and something really bad happened."

Tears started streaming down her face.

"I think I did something very wrong," she continued. "And my head... my head hurt. It hurt a lot."

She reached for his hand and held it very tight.

"What could I have done?" she asked him. "What could I have done?"

Her eyes drooped a little.

"I'm so tired..."

"She does need to get some rest," Simon told them all.

With that, Ivy slipped back asleep, her face taking on an angelic quality.

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Sunday, June 14, 2009 7:36 PM

Infirmary

Pain watched as Ivy went back into the Land of Nod. He brushed away an errant strand of her golden locks from her forehead, as well as wipe away the remains of the tears that she had shed. She looked so beautiful and peaceful sleeping in the exam chair. He smiled at her and bent down, placing a kiss on her forehead right above her eyebrows. As the doctor went about monitoring her, Pain thought back on what she had said before nodding off.

Quote:
Originally posted by EnglishIvy:
"Something... Something bad happened," she said to him softly. "There was a fire and something really bad happened."

"I think I did something very wrong," she continued. "And my head... my head hurt. It hurt a lot."

"What could I have done?" she asked him. "What could I have done?"

Seeing Grayson with John, he headed over to the lawman and asked as he placed a hand on the older man's shoulder, "Do you know anythin' about a fire?" He looked into Grayson's eyes and continued, "She says there was a fire and somethin' really bad happened. She said her head hurt and thinks she did somethin' wrong, but doesn't know what it was. Do you know anythin' about what it might be that has her wonderin' that?"

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Monday, June 15, 2009 5:22 AM

"Yes. We know about the fire. A building that was said to have housed the slaves there was found burned to the ground near where she was found. There were three bodies inside. Two men and a woman. One of the men and the woman had been killed by gunshot wounds. The other man died of smoke inhalation."

Grayson looked at Pain and then back to John.

"It's good that she actually said something to you about it though," he offered with a slight smile. "It gives me hope."

"Who were these three individuals?" Pain asked him.

"We think at least one of the men was a guard, probably both. They found both of them in a type of uniform. The woman though, we don't have a clue where she was from, but it is thought that she could have been a slave."

"And her head?" Pain asked. But it only took a second before he made the connection there. "Is that when her skull was fractured?"

"You know about that?" Grayson asked him, wide eyed. "Did she tell you that?"

"No," Simon said from across the room. "I found it in a scan done a while back when she was injured in the cargo bay when she and Jayne collided during the Hoop Ball game."

Pain looked at Grayson who seemed mildly excited about the progress that Ivy had made, but Pain was less optimistic.

Then he remembered something that Tommy had told him.

"What does that have to do with guns?" he asked as he looked at Grayson.

"Guns?" Grayson asked him, trying to process his question. "Did she tell you something about guns?"

"While we were on the job, I made Tommy tell me that Ivy was sensitive to the sounds of guns firing," Pain said. A faint flicker of a memory popped forward. Pain turned to John. "That gun. My gun that she flipped out about. Do you still have that John? Can you go get it?"

Inara handed the CorPad back to Mal. She had watched it several times as well.

"That poor girl," she said.

"Do you agree with me, though?" Mal asked.

Inara nodded slowly.

"I'd say it was very possible," she told him as he turned around and rubbed his face in frustration.

"And they sometimes trained them for stuff like this?"

"Yes," Inara answered softly. "Let me make some calls. See what I can find out."

Mal nodded.

"Keep me updated," he told her. He started to walk out the door, but paused at the threshold. "Don't tell the others... especially Pain."

"Of course," Inara agreed. "We'll hold off until we can get a better idea of what they did to her."

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Wednesday, June 17, 2009 6:50 PM

John had almost forgetten about the gun.

"I still have it, one moment." He left the room, calm slowly returning. As he entered his bunk, he wondered how this would all end. Secrets around here tended to lead to bad things. River's secrets had led them to Miranda. Where would Ivy's lead them? Where would his?

He handed the gun to Pain. "I need to go find the captain. We need to get back to work."

johnttf

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Wednesday, June 17, 2009 7:26 PM

Common Area Outside of the Infirmary

Quote:
Originally posted by johnthetheatrefreak:
"I still have it, one moment."

As both men watched John leave to retrieve the gun that had caused Ivy to freak out earlier in the day, Pain couldn't help but look over at her sleeping in the infirmary.

"She's so very pretty when she sleeps." he whispered out loud, a smile creeping up on his face.

He watched her chest rise slowly up and down as she breathed. He was almost lost in its hypnotic rhythm, before the sounds of approaching footsteps grabbed his attention away from the sleeping beauty.

Quote:
He handed the gun to Pain. "I need to go find the captain. We need to get back to work."

"Work is good." Pain replied, looking at the gun. He turned to John and gave the man a smile as he said, "Thanks for keepin' the gun. I appreciate it."

He turned back to Grayson, holding the gun out for the lawman to take and said, "That's the gun she freaked out about when she saw it earlier today right before the job. Don't know what about it that set her off, but it caused Tommy to tell me to get it out of her sight."

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Friday, June 19, 2009 2:00 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by DRPAIN:
"That's the gun she freaked out about when she saw it earlier today right before the job. Don't know what about it that set her off, but it caused Tommy to tell me to get it out of her sight."

"Tommy was even a little agitated as well?" Grayson asked in surprise. "I didn't think anything got past her."

Grayson looked over the firearm.

"That looks just like the one we recovered where we found Toms," he said. "It had some fingerprints, but they were too smudged and then with the fire damage, they were unusable."

He looked up at Pain.

"Do you suppose..." Grayson started. "Do you suppose that she knows and probably saw who shot those people?"

"Maybe," Pain said.

Or shooting them herself, he thought, keeping that idea to himself.

He looked down at her while she was sleeping and tried to calculate if she was able to carry out something like that. He didn't think she could, so then he started to wonder what could have happened in order for her to think there was no other way.

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Saturday, June 20, 2009 8:56 AM

BIGWOLF18

you guys really need that archive thread don't you

-------------------------------------------------
Shaman.
98% of teens have smoked pot, if you are one of the 2% that haven't, copy this into your signature.
"of course i've gone mad with power, ya ever tried going mad without power? its no fun, nobody listens to you!" The Simpsons Movie

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Tuesday, June 23, 2009 12:19 PM