Firefly: The Tenth Crewman

"Captain, I don't think this is the best idea. Our last deal with Patience ended in a gunfight," Zoe reminded Mal as they walked into the brig.

"And she shot you before that," Wash added from his seat.

Mal leaned over the comm.-screen. "Last time we won. She learned a lesson. I'm sure she'll make this a legitimate business deal." He arched his eyebrows. "But just in case, tell Jayne to suit up."

Zoe nodded and left.

"Wash, get me Patience."

The pilot hit a few buttons, and the old woman known as Patience appeared on the screen. "Well, Malcolm Reynolds, a man I thought I'd never see again."

"Well business is business Patience. And I've heard through the grapevine that you've been looking for the missing Lassiter."

Patience grinned. "The Lassiter? And you're saying you have it?"

"I'm saying I might can get it to you. But we're going to have to talk price."

"Why don't we have a little meeting Captain? I'm sure you remember the spot well."

"She's planning retaliation, sir." Zoe lifted her shotgun as her, Mal, and Jayne scanned the canyon of their previous showdown with Patience.

"Jayne, you know what to do."

"She won't be stupid enough to set up snipers…"

"Just do it Jayne."

Jayne ran off to the hills.

"Let's go." Mal walked forward, his hand hovering over his gun.

Jayne jumped onto the sniper below and knocked his head with the butt of his gun. "Can't believe the old woman did her same old pla…"

A cord fell around his neck as his assailant strangled him.

"So Captain, this time I want to see the goods before the money," Patience announced from her horse. Three others rode alongside her.

"You think we're just going to pull out the Lassiter after that last skirmish we've had?" Mal asked with a grin. "This ain't just any goods Patience. This is the Lassiter. We're talking 100,000 platinum…"

Patience laughed. "You think I'm going to take such a famous piece like that for such a high price?"

"I think if you'd have your way, you'd just happily take it from me for no price."

"That's how I make my money."

"Yeah, but I think after our last visit we have a better understanding of each other."

"Do we really Captain Reynolds?" Patience grinned. "Bring him out boys!"

Three men walked out of the brush with Jayne in front of them, gag and bound with three guns pointed at his head.

"Jayne…" Mal started.

"He may have gotten my sniper last time Captain, but I don't fall for the same trick twice."

Jayne frowned.

"How bout you produce that Lassiter now, or my men up on the hills will blow your brains out."

"Now Patience… let's not be rash…"

In a matter of seconds, a blur jumped behind Jayne's three captors. With his or her right foot firmly planted on the ground, the person had their left foot lifted behind them, a knife pointing out of the bott and into the neck of the left captor. IN each of his or her hands was a knife, in the necks of the other two captors. For the brief moment before the bodies fell, the figure appeared graceful, despite the dust cloud and trench coat that hid most of its features.

"Get down!" the figure shouted to Jayne, pushing him face forward on the ground.

"What the hell?" shouted Patience, pulling her gun to the commotion.

"(in Chinese) Haha bitch. I bet your horses don't like these!" The figure grabbed snakes from her trench pocket and threw them on the ground around the horses.

At the sight of the snakes, the horses ran amok, not listening to the riders. The distraction gave Zoe and Mal time to shoot the riders with Patience.

Using one of the knives that killed the captors, the figure cut Jayne free then leapt onto the back of the horse that held Patience.

The guns stopped firing as the figure held Patience in check. "Who are you?"

The mysterious person pulled off their hat, revealing a young woman. "A gal who is owed a great deal of money by you. And me who's not happy to stand by and see you screw other business folk."

"Alright Lizzy, don't do anything stupid…" Patience started.

"No no Patience. That's you who's done your last stupid thing."

"What you going to do? Kill me?"

"Your lieutenant would be a better match for the planet anyway." The woman thrust her knife into Patience's throat and shoved her off the horse, pulling a pouch of platinum form the falling body.

Mal, Zoe, and Jayne stared open-mouthed at the girl.

"What did she owe you folks?"

"We hadn't finished our transition yet," Mal answered.

"I don't think you were going to."

"Were you planning on this ambush?" Zoe asked.

"Not really. But you're coat…" she pointed her knife at Mal's brown coat "… made me spring to action."

The horse neighed at the sight of one of the snakes.

"Eh, it's just a garden snake," Lizzy told the horse as she steered it away.

"My coat?"

"You're a Brown Coat, an Independent.. So was my brother. A lieutenant actually." She emptied half the pouch into her trench pocket.

"Lieutenant?" asked Zoe.

"Yeah, Lieutenant Cagen. Myles Cagen."

Mal flashesback to Du-Khang Battle with Tracy talking about the Lieutenant mumbling about his arms and legs missing.

"Cagen survived?" Mal asked.

"You knew my brother?"

"I served under him at Du-Khang. Actually, both of us. What happened, with his mind?"

Lizzy frowned and tied up the pouch. "He never regained it. Woke up to the sound of a gunshot one night, four years back. He had killed himself." She threw the pouch to Mal. "Take it. Sell your goods elsewhere. Consider it a bonus."

"And what about you?" Mal asked.

"Captain…" Zoe began.

"She saved us Zoe."

Lizzy shrugged. "Run home, pack my stuff, run away. Lieutenant mayor will be after me soon enough. Can't stick around to see his jail."

"Come with us."

"Capta…"

Mal held up the pouch. "I'll consider this fare. Got a ship, can get you off this planet. For this amount, get you far."

Lizzy looked over the three. "I'll get my stuff." She threw her hat back on and raced up the canyon on horseback.

"Another passenger?" Jayne growled. "Remember what happened with our last passengers?"

"Yeah Jayne, we got a doctor out of it. Plus, this girl saved your ass." Mal turned to Zoe. "She's Cagen's sister. Anti-Alliance. Not gonna cause us trouble. Fighting like that might come in handy. You two, go get her quarters ready – get the Lassiter. We're heading out as soon as she gets back."

"I say it's a bad choice Captain," Zoe said as she walked away.

"I agree," Jayne added.

Lizzy walked on board Serenity with Mal, on overstuffed backpack and an even larger duffle as her only luggage.

"Alright, listen up. We got a new passenger for awhile," Mal announced. "This is Lizzy Cagen. Lizzy, this is our mechanic, Kaylee."

"Hey!" Kaylee greeted.

"The doctor, Simon. His sister River. Wash, our pilot. You met Zoe and Jayne already. And there's our good Shepherd, and our exclusive Ambassador, Inara."

"An Ambassador?" Lizzy glanced at Inara. "A Companion?"

"Yes, I am."

Lizzy bowed her head. "It's an honor to meet all of you."

"Jayne, show her to her quarters."

"Follow me."

The two walked through the ship to the passengers' quarters. "Pretty nice," she commented on the room once Jayne slid the door open.

He grunted in response. "I wouldn't bother the girl if I was you. She's a little crazy."

She dropped the large duffle next to her bed. A loud, metallic clank reverberated through the room.

Jayne eyed the bag. "What the hell ya got in there?"

"The tools of my trade." She unzipped the bag, allowing knives, katanas, a few shotguns, a chakram, and a dozen other weapons. "More like my babies, really."

"Holy crap." He knelt next to the bag, pulling out the chakram. "Chakram, used by the Sikhs on Earth-that-was. Used to carry them in their turbans."

Lizzy smiled and knelt next to him. "On Sihnon, there are still some Sikhs I trained with them for a few years after Myles… they gave me that and this Kirpan dagger." She pointed to a sheathed dagger on her belt. "Everytime it's unsheathed, it must draw blood."

He grinned maliciously. "I like the sound of that."

"Rare to see someone so interested in weapons."

"Heh, that's all I know, though I tend to stay away from all these blade weapons."

"You got a collection?"

Jayne smiled.

"Where the hell is Jayne and Lizzy?" Mal asked as the crew sat down to dinner.

"Do you honestly miss Jayne's company at the dinner table?" Simon asked.

"I'm more afraid of what he's going to do to her."

"He does tend to not like new people," Kaylee added.

Mal stood, throwing his napkin on his plate.

"Why is this Lizzy so important anyway?" Simon asked.

Mal was already at the inter-comm.

"She's the sister of a man who was very close to the Captain in the war," Zoe answered.

"Jayne!" Mal shouted over the comm.. "Where the hell are you and Lizzy?"

Jayne laughed as Lizzy handed him his flask of whiskey. He took the cigar out of his mouth and drank a swig of the whiskey. "So the Captain offered me a 10 piece of the cut… shot him in the leg…" Jayne recounted his story with the cigar hanging from his lips.

"Only in the leg?"

"I had to finish hearing Mal's proposal."

"It must have been a good proposal since you're on his crew."

"Let's just say he's a pretty persuasive guy." He passed the whiskey back to Lizzy who removed her own cigar to drink a swig.

"Yeah, well, this crew is pretty lucky to have such a generous guy like you on board, sharing your whiskey and cigars with a total stranger and all."

Jayne grinned. "You know we don't have to be total strangers…"

"Jayne! Where the hell are you and Lizzy!" came Mal's voice over the intercom.

"Ah, son of a bitch knows how to ruin a good time."

Lizzy grinned. "Good times can't really be ruined. Besides, it does depend on what he wants."

He looked at his watch. "Hey yeah, it probably is about super time." He walked to his ladder. "Come on, ladies first."

She laughed. "Ah, you called me a lady." She nudged him with her shoulder as she crawled up the ladder.

Jayne stared at her as she walked away. That's one nice ass, he thought to himself.

"It's nice of you two to join us for dinner," Mal stated as Lizzy and Jayne walked into the dining hall.

"Even though the food's almost gone," Wash added.

"I'm sorry about missing dinner Captain, especially given your hospitality to me."

Mal and Inara exchanged a glance.

"Jayne and I were exchanging stories of the trade."

"Yeah what she said," Jayne added.

"He knows enough words to make stories?" Wash asked. "This amazes me! Wait… is that one of his cigars?"

Lizzy and Jayne sat down.

"It is! Jayne shares his cigars! My mind is completely blown!"

"Shut your mouth little man," Jayne spat out as he grabbed the bowl with 'rolls' on it.

"Well excuse me if I'm not used to the humane side of Jayne Cobb," Wash argued.

Jayne offered the rolls to Lizzy before getting any himself.

"I hope you like the rolls," Kaylee said to Lizzy. "We don't have much flour, so I have to be a little inventive."

Lizzy took a bite. "They're delicious Kaylee. I didn't know mechanics could be such great cooks."

Kaylee blushed. "Thank you."

"So, tell me child, how did a young lady like yourself end up on Whitefall?" asked Shepherd.

"A long chain of events, I suppose."

River stared intently at Lizzy; Lizzy noticed, glancing at River's direction.

"After the Siege of Du-Khang, my brother wasn't the same, messed up in the head. My parents just couldn't let him live openly at our house; he fought for the independents and our housed was surveyed by the Alliance. Everyone's house was. So I went, with Myles, to my oldest sister, Nandi…"

Inara stared at Lizzy at the mentioning of the name.

"At Sihnon. My sister had gone to the Academy, part of the Guild. She was a Companion, like you Inara. She made enough money for us, to help get medicine for Myles. But it didn't help. He got worse. I saw no future for myself, except taking care of Myles. I thought I could become a bounty hunter, or a mercenary, something to take me off that Alliance-planet. To make my own money, not have to rely on Nandi. That's where I trained with some of the Sikhs that live on Sihnon."

"Sikhs? They still exist?" asked Shepherd.

"In even smaller numbers."

"Those Sikhs are pretty badass," Jayne commented as he stuffed his mouth.

"You know who Sikhs are?" Shepherd asked quizzically.

"Well before we were rudely interrupted," Jayne turned to Mal, "Lizzy was educating me on them. Did you know…"

"That you can educate the stupid?" Wash asked. "I had no idea."

Jayne frowned at Wash, anger and humiliation both flashing on his face.

"Don't call him that. Dong ma?1," Lizzy lowered her voice to Wash.

Mal stared at her intent glare on Wash. Either that's what people called Myles after he lost it in the war, or she's got a thing for Jayne.

"It was just a joke…"

"Wash, just drop it," Mal ordered.

Wash nodded his head in agreement.

"So you trained with the Sikhs on Sihnon?" Kaylee asked. "Was it fascinating?"

A smile replaced Lizzy's stern face. "It truly was. I wish it had lasted longer. Something about killing being holy, it was pretty surreal."

Shepherd shook his head.

"But once I had finished my time, I knew I was ready to see the 'verse. Make my own money, but I couldn't leave Myles. Nandi was having problems with the Guild. I thought I would just move with her to her new home, and we were planning to do that. But then there was a run-in with some Alliance officers. It was under control, but that night, he uh, that's when Myles died."

"You had an argument," River added.

The entire table turned to her. "River…" whispered Simon.

"We did. I had built up frustration, yelled at him. You can only look after someone so long –" She stared at River. "I gave up everything to be with him, to protect him. It's not that I didn't love him. You just get tired."

Simon looked down at the table.

Lizzy's eyes narrowed on River. Don't do that again, she thought.

River gasped.

"What's the matter?" asked Simon. "River?"

"They come in two with hands of blue…"

"Come on River," he wrestled to get her away to her room.

"She's an amazing child," Lizzy whispered.

"She's crazy," Jayne added.

"That's what they said about my brother."

"Your sister, Nandi…" Inara began.

"Did you know her?" Lizzy asked anxiously. "You're a Companion. Did you train in the House of Madrassa?"

"Yes. I knew your sister."

"Inara…" Jayne growled.

Inara ignored him. "Lizzy, your sister died. Not too long ago."

"What?" she asked, dropping her roll.

"She started a brothel, died defending her girls," Mal informed her.

Lizzy stood abruptly. "Excuse me." She ran down to her room, passing River and Simon.

"Why'd you have to go and do that, whore?" shouted Jayne as he stood from the table.

"Don't call me a whore."

"Don't be such a bitch then."

"Jayne!" shouted Mal.

Jayne stormed down to the passengers' rooms.

Lizzy pulled a small ukulele from her pack and began to play, tears flowing onto the instrument. "Blackbird singing in the dead of night. Take these broken wings and learn to fly. All your life. You were only waiting for this moment to arise. Blackbird singing in the dead of night. Take these sunken eyes and learn to see. All your life. You were only waiting for this moment to be free. Blackbird fly…"

Jayne paused outside her door.

"Into the light of the dark black night." She stopped singing, but quietly continued to strum the instrument.

"Hey, uh, Lizzy…"

"You can come in Jayne."

He quickly slid the door open, closing it behind him. "I didn't know you was a musician as well."

She smiled. "My sister, Mariska, was. She'd play. Nandi would sing."

"Pretty song."

"It's a McCartney-Lennon. Timeless." She put the ukulele down next to a picture of her family.

"Hey. I'm sorry about your sister. I was there… uh…"

"Thanks Jayne." She walked up to him and lightly hugged him. "It's nice, knowing that there were decent folks around her. She went down in a fight. That's how I want to go."

"Me too. Or while having sex."

"Your priorities are so nice Jayne."

"Well… man gets lonely on a ship. Makes things…"

"I understand." She rubbed his cheek with her thumb. "You're a good guy Jayne."

He grinned.

"The only problem is… I'm just… Not today."

"Oh yeah. Yeah. I understand." He stepped back. "You should probably rest."

"Thanks Jayne."

He scooted out of her room.

"She's a trained killer," Wash stated, "doesn't that scare anyone?"

"Jayne's a trained killer…" Kaylee reminded him.

"And that scares me."

"She's a sister of Nandi and Myles. Anti-Alliance. Respectful. Gave us about 10,000 platinum."

"As fare," Wash argued.

"As nothing. I suggested it be fare. Either way, I think she'd be good as a crew member.'

"I think who her siblings are is clouding your judgment, sir," Zoe stated.

"You saw her fight Zoe,"

"And I also saw her show no mercy to an old woman."

"Patience!"

"I just don't like her."

"Did anyone else see how she glared at River before she became upset? What if, what if she's actually a plant to get Simon and River?" asked Kaylee.

"How do we even know she's really Myles and Nandi's sister?"

"Was Nandi's last name Cagen?" Mal asked Inara.

"You slept with her, shouldn't you know?" she asked.

"Just tell me."

"It was. And I knew her brother suffered from a mental ailment. The details of her story fit."

"But it could be there is a real Lizzy Cagen out there, and the one we have here is an Alliance-planted imposter," Zoe stated.

"Or you can go look at the picture of her and her family that's in her room." Jayne pulled out a chair and sat at the table. "But I guess I have no say in the matter."

Mal folded his arms and stared at Jayne. "So you like her?"

"You never like new people," Kaylee said.

"Of course our last set of new passengers weren't the kind that Jayne could get drunk and have his way with," Wash joked.

"Don't talk about her like that," Jayne growled.

"Woahoho. Mercenary has a soft spot?" the pilot laughed. A knife landed between his hands on the table. "Whoa."

"It's a spot you shouldn't push."

"Everyone go to bed. We'll discuss it tomorrow," Mal ordered.

1 "Understand?"