Disclaimer: All characters, locations, concepts, dialogue, and story leading to this work of fiction belong to their respective copyright holders, no profit-making is intended.
Timeline and Spoilers: After Serenity, aka the BDM. AU in which Wash and Book are still alive. All is right in the 'verse.
Author's Note: I recently read a story that was so exceedingly dark, that I had to correct its outcome. So I jumbled the events of that story a bit. I will not give the name of that dark tale except upon request, and only through PM. Keep in mind throughout the coming story, this is the happier version. Please review, like it or hate it, I'll be happy with anything. Also, if you see any mistakes I made let me know so I can fix them.
Wrong Place, Wrong Time
Chapter 1: Aftermath and Horrifying Discoveries
The people who called the Eavesdown docks on Persephone home were a rough sort. They had seen it all. What they hadn't seen for themselves, usually they knew someone who had. There were rumors to fill in any gaps that remained.
But this day, something new appeared in the recesses of the shopping district. This was where the junk and parts dealers scraped by. Nobody needed parts more than ships headed off-world.
Later, people in the crowd who saw, would have a hard time describing what this was. Some said it was a person, how could it be otherwise? Others said it was a spirit of judgment, it's single eye seemed to look at each person that passed its field of vision. It would look, evaluate, and move on. As the years would pass the details would become blurred and exaggerated. Two things would remain constant, the piercing eye and the a blood covered hatchet held in one hand.
Some thought it was a Reaver, but it couldn't be, Reavers attacked without hesitation. They did not walk about a near core-world city in broad daylight.
The crowds gave this being a wide berth. Whatever or whoever it was seemed to be both predator and prey. It moved slowly and deliberately. The eye was looking for threats and targets. Thus came the judgment inherent in the gaze. It had learned a great deal this day. It began the day fearing pain. Now it welcomed pain as a dear friend. Pain meant life and that was preferable to the alternative. A few kind souls and Alliance cops had tried to approach, to offer some sort of help to the obviously distressed person. But they were all warned away by a sharp glance and the twitching of the hatchet.
The being had one desire, it was headed towards the docks, and it was going home.
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The crew of Serenity were having a weird day. When they were on Persephone, they most often dealt with slightly sleazy man named Badger. The jobs he had them perform and cargo he had them carry were on the illegal side of things. Today however; they were working with Sir Warrick Harrow, and their cargo was entirely legitimate.
Mal, Jayne, Shepherd Book, Wash and Zoe were loading said cargo. Simon was performing inventory control as each crate was loaded.
Inara was busy with a client in the city. Mal had tried and failed to convince her to change the services she offered to her clients. After Miranda they had come to an understanding of their feelings for each other. Inara knew Mal cared for her. If she wasn't sure before, he had come for her when an Operative of the Alliance had set an ambush for him and the ship. Mal found Inara exotic and worldly, by contrast he was rustic as you could get while still living in the Black. Inara let him see, for a moment, stuff he could only dream about if he was ever able to get a job big enough so that he could settle somewhere. It wasn't romance, but there was a new mutual respect and friendship. The hostility and tension they'd had before was gone. The battle on Mr. Universe's moon had brought everyone closer.
River had taken Kaylee's chair and umbrella. She looked for all the world like a girl relaxing and getting some sun. What she was really doing was acting as a sentry. Her abilities made her perfectly suited for this job. No one would know by looking at her, but across the Allied Planets she was part of the briefing for every new commander at any level, be that military or police. She was not to be engaged directly in any manner. Her ship and family shared the same privilege.
After the fiasco of the Miranda wave, Serenity and her crew became something akin to heroes. The Alliance could ill-afford to make martyrs of them. With River, it was more a concern of safety for anyone who tried to harm her. Her single-handed slaughter of scores of Reavers had reached the far corners of the 'verse.
The Alliance wanted her alive, for now. If they should ever change their minds, they would be forced to tip their hands and kill large numbers of people to kill her. Even her reading abilities wouldn't be able to save her from a massive orbital bombardment.
Besides, the Alliance had enough problems. Everyone knew about the Reavers now. The Allied Fleet had to keep a blockade up around the Reavers' territory. The blockade was constantly tested. There were steady losses in ships and troops. The Alliance couldn't risk an all-out assault on the Reavers. If they did that they would be open to attacks from other threats. However, the Alliance was worried about rumors and ghosts more than the reality of those dangers.
The Miranda wave had another effect. There was increasing hostility and dissent towards the Parliament and the Core worlds. A new Independence movement had started. But this time, they did not go for a direct military confrontation. Veterans of the war had seen the results of that first hand. In the new movement, lawyers and politicians had replaced generals and soldiers. They worked at the local and planetary level. There were concerted legal and legislative campaigns to loosen Alliance controls and regulations. The ultimate goal was a legal nullification and secession. That goal was going to be realized, the Alliance's credibility was shot.
The only member of the crew who was missing was Kaylee. She had gone off to buy a spare compression coil. Mal had objected to the cost, but Kaylee had just smiled big and reminded him of what happened when the last one blew out. River had helped with a pithy, on the nose comment about that same incident. Mal had caved in to the combined pressure of Kaylee's cheerful desire to keep Serenity flying and River's logic, even if it was strange and creepifying.
Mal wasn't overly worried about sending Kaylee off alone. They were in the clear from the Alliance, and River could see if something was coming their way. He had a rare moment of being distracted. He failed to notice River bolt upright and rigid in her chair, and the widening of her eyes. She breathed out a soft "No." Simon did see and hear this, but he thought that she was being hit with all that was going on around them on the docks. River could see all manner of stuff happening, and it wasn't as if she could filter or focus on what she saw.
River had seen something very specific though. And she made ready to move. She needed a gun, and a knife at least. She stood up, whirled around and ran into the ship. Zoe saw this and moved to intercept. She had seen River like this before, and the dead bodies had piled up quickly afterwards. Zoe got in front of River and asked "Where're you off to, little one?"
River didn't want to hurt Zoe, but she needed weapons and she needed them now "No time, trouble." River bobbed and weaved, trying to get past Zoe.
Zoe matched her movements, and Mal had taken notice of this little dance and joined in from behind River "What sorta trouble, Albatross?"
River stopped, slumped in defeat, and turned around to face Mal. She unnerved him with her words and tone, she quieted down and said softly "Doesn't matter now, she's gone."
Mal followed River back outside where she plopped down on the chair and he asked the obvious question "Who's gone?" It was then that he realized that Kaylee hadn't returned, and a feeling of dread hit him like a punch to the gut.
"Don't worry, she'll be here soon, then you'll see." River said slowly, almost like she was tired. River turned in the chair so she could watch all of the approaches to the back of the ship. They didn't understand, even after all that they had seen, they still didn't understand. The captain thought he knew her, so did Simon. It wasn't their fault, they didn't know what they couldn't know.
Of everyone, Wash and Kaylee understood her the best. Kaylee had seen what she was capable of and she hadn't recoiled like River thought she should. Neither of them wanted to fix or change her, they just accepted her.
River saw Kaylee as she parted the crowds like some story in the Shepherd's symbol book. She adopted Kaylee's distinctive accent with what she said next "Cap'n, you better call everyone out here, we're gonna have a visitor."
Mal turned and did just that. After he was done yelling and the rest of the crew had all exited Serenity, and Jayne had done his usual "Gorramit, Mal, what is it?" Mal turned to see that Kaylee had reached them.
The crew was mostly standing on the ramp, except for River and Mal, who were just beyond and on the sand covered concrete of the dock. Kaylee had stopped and faced them all, but she was standing a couple of feet away from Mal.
Mal had the first response, blunt and to the point "Go shi" the reason for the curse was Kaylee's overall appearance. Her coveralls were half way on, only reaching her waist, while her bright purple and floral summer jacket covered her top for the most part. Those were minor concerns compared to the rest of her.
The entire crew was doing their own examination, each from his or her own perspective. In each case it didn't take very long, a couple of seconds at most.
Simon compartmentalized and detached the clinical part of his mind, something he had to do numerous times when treating the crew. He had feelings for Kaylee. But he couldn't allow that to affect his judgment. His preliminary analysis went from right to left. Her right arm was uninjured. It held a hatchet. She had a large bruise on the side of her abdomen. Her face held a litany of injuries. There was an increasing amount of new blood on the corners of her closed mouth. Her right eye was wide open and alert. Her left eye was seemingly missing, though it was hard to tell from the mass of burned tissue. It could just be closed, hopefully. Her left arm was where the most grievous damage was done. Her left hand was gone, severed at the wrist, and the remaining stump was cauterized. That probably saved her life. Simon would have to do a more comprehensive examination to figure out exactly what else was wrong.
Zoe looked at Kaylee with the eye of a veteran. She used to do this with new recruits or replacements who survived their first battle. Kaylee was showing the same signs as those who had seen too much far too quickly. Kaylee was fidgety and hyper-vigilant. If this were a war, she would be an excellent soldier until she cracked completely, then she would be useless and dangerous to those around her. From what she could see Kaylee had been in a fight. Zoe had to give Kaylee credit, the fact that she was still alive meant that she won.
Jayne focused on the hatchet. It wasn't made to be a weapon, but it had done just fine. It was caked in dried blood. The blade was notched from hitting something harder than skin and muscle. Jayne knew what would cause that kind of damage to a blade. It was swung with great force multiple times against bone. The body of the blade was slightly crumpled, seemed like the swinging didn't stop until it had hit something harder than bone. Usually, that meant that the blade had hit part of a building. Jayne wondered what Kaylee had gotten herself into, that she would need to abuse that hatchet so much.
Shepherd Book looked at her with eyes from his past. As an Operative, he had learned to judge intentions. It serve him well in combat. Of course it helped with his new calling. Now, with Kaylee, he saw the result of evil. Kaylee wasn't going to hurt them. She had already done that to them who had done this to her. More importantly though, Kaylee had yet to speak. Unless she was mad about something, she always graced them with her cheery voice asking questions, or saying how much she liked something. Book looked forward to that, she was possessed of an innocence in spite of what she had experienced. Even Reavers hadn't torn that away from her. Book feared that now, she would never fully return from the nightmare that had caused so much damage.
Finally, River was hit with the full force with Kaylee's ordeal. It was brutal, sadistic, and truly evil. Even Reavers weren't this bad. Their aggression and depravity was wild and unfocused. In contrast, this was deliberate. For Kaylee, it was a transformation. She was a passive cheerful mechanic, she stood before them now a decisive embodiment of vengeance. The only positive from the experience was that the two men who had done this to her would never harm another soul. She had suffered at their hands, it was evident. But Kaylee had turned every hurt around on her attackers. It was why they were dead and she was not.
Wash was simply horrified.
Kaylee dropped the hatchet, the sound of it hitting the ground seemed to be a signal. Mal, Simon, and River rushed forward. The captain came up on her left side. She turned to look at him, and he was taken aback by the look in her eye. He had seen it before, same as Zoe, only this wasn't some kid from the war who would be killed in the next battle. This was his genius mechanic who painted flowers everywhere, Serenity was freedom, it was Kaylee who made it feel like home. Mal said "Kaylee, Mei Mei, what the hell happened?"
Kaylee didn't respond, and it was Simon on her other side who offered a theory as to why not "Captain, unless I'm mistaken, she can't speak, somehow her jaw has been forcibly clamped shut." Simon had seen the set of her mouth and jaw, he knew from his textbooks and videos what the procedure was for setting a broken jaw. Kaylee looked the same, she could move her mouth a little, but it would be incredibly painful.
River chimed in eerily "They did it so she wouldn't be able to scream."
Mal turned to her "You know who did this?"
River nodded and beat Mal to his next question "And I know where it happened."
Mal turned back to Simon "Doc, whatever you need to fix her up, we'll get it. For now..."
But Simon was already steering Kaylee towards the ship and thus to the infirmary.
Mal approved, the doc had grown quite a bit since he first came on board. He turned to the rest of the crew, most of whom were watching Kaylee and Simon as they slowly made their way inside the ship. Kaylee seemed to have a limp they hadn't noticed before. Mal broke up the procession watching "Zoe, arm up and I want you to take River back to where it happened. Find out what you can."
Zoe and River started to move and Wash went to follow, whoever had attacked Kaylee might have friends, and he didn't want his wife roaming around the city with just River for company. Mal stopped him short "Wash, I need you to detach the shuttle and land it. Then call Inara, tell her what's happened, that oughta get her back here in a hurry. Then prep the ship for launch, once everybody gets back, take off and put her in orbit." Mal was worried, whoever had attacked Kaylee might make a play for the rest of his crew. They'd be safer in the air. Wash moved to start his work. He wanted to stay by Zoe's side, but he knew Mal had his reasons.
On that note Mal turned to Jayne "Jayne, get any weapons you want." At Jayne's unasked but expected question he continued "yes, even grenades. Pick a good spot to cover the cargo bay door, anybody that ain't us tryin' to board, well, don't let'em get past you."
Jayne smiled, almost gleefully, and ran inside, he had some great weapons that were perfect for this situation, Jayne hoped some backbirth would try and take the ship, it would get messy real fast.
Shepherd Book asked "Where do you want me?"
Mal thought about it and decided "Stay with the ship, I still don't know all of what you can do. Help out where you can. Wash'll need help getting the ship ready to fly, and I'm sure Jayne would appreciate an extra set of hands. Obviously, if you can help the Doc with Kaylee, I'd be much obliged."
Book was disappointed with the decision, he knew he could help River and Zoe, but he'd never been forthcoming about his past so Mal didn't know. It was good though, he would definitely be able to lend a hand to them that were on the ship. He asked one more question before he headed in "What are you going to be doing captain?"
"I'll be going to see someone who might know, or better yet, be the one behind this. If it's the second one, puttin' him in the ground will be all kinds of satisfying." That's why Mal needed the shuttle, after Zoe and River came back with their report, Mal would pay a visit to Badger, see if he knew anything about what happened, then he would rejoin Serenity. Better him sticking his neck out there than risk the whole crew.
Mal saw Serenty's shuttle detach and land beside the ship. River and Zoe moved past him and out into the city. Wash came out quickly after and told him Inara would be cutting her appointment short and she would be back in about ten minutes.
Mal walked into the cargo bay and saw that Jayne was setting up on the catwalk near the common area, from there he could cover the cargo bay door from an elevated position. He was using what he could find as cover. Some crates, some of the ship's spare interior paneling, these were usually used to conceal clandestine storage on the ship.
Simon came into the cargo bay. He looked liked he had just come from a particularly tough surgery. He moved quickly to speak with Mal privately. Mal was eager for news about Kaylee. Simon was many things, but a bad doctor wasn't one of them, Mal was fully confident Kaylee was in good hands "How's she doing?"
"I doped her, she's not feeling any pain. I dealt with the burns on her arm and face. She shouldn't get any infections. Her injuries are quite severe though." Simon was still planning on future procedures. Kaylee was by no means healed.
Mal wanted it straight, no matter how horrible "Speak plainly Doc, what happened to her?"
"Okay, the severed hand is obvious. Her face suffered the most superficial damage. Her left eye is gone. And I was correct about her jaw, it was nailed shut. I haven't removed that yet, the nail passed through her tongue and into her sinus cavity. Mal, I don't know what else I can do. I need a full surgical unit to even begin to find out what else is wrong with her." Simon was remembering when he had examined Kaylee. When he had tilted her head back and saw the end of the nail sticking out from underneath her chin, he was almost sick.
Mal had seen worse, but to hear all that had happened to Kaylee, it staggered him "Wong Ba Duhn, alright where would we find one of them units?"
"They would be on any Alliance capital ship, even some larger patrol ships have them, but the closest one would be in the largest hospital in the city." Simon was hoping that Mal would see reason and let him take Kaylee to the hospital, the sooner she could be examined and treated, the better.
Mal didn't want to spend any more time on the surface than was necessary, and this certainly qualified as something that was necessary. But there was one other pressing concern. "Simon, we take her to that hospital, we'll have to sell the ship to pay for everything. I'd do it in a heartbeat for Kaylee. But there's also the unknown of who did this to her, the sooner we're in the air, the safer we'll be."
Shepherd Book was listening after helping Wash get the engine to idle. Wash could rev up and launch with minimal warning. "Captain, I can help with that. Let me take the mule, Simon and Kaylee to the hospital. Kaylee needs this. You can still put the ship in orbit, I can give you my word that we'll rejoin you when Kaylee has been examined and treated."
"How're you gonna do all that Shepherd?" Mal was skeptical that Book could do all of that.
His response didn't help any "You told me once that you didn't need any religiousity on this ship, so I won't, but I will say have some faith in me and leave it at that."
Mal nodded and Simon and Book moved to get Kaylee transferred to the mule. It would be a tough job, as they didn't have a proper gurney and Kaylee was fitted with an I.V., Jayne took a moment from preparing defenses to assist them. Soon, Kaylee was secured in the back of the Mule with Simon hovering over her unconscious form.
The hovercraft pulled out of the cargo bay. Mal was impressed by Book's driving, the Shepherd was always surprising him. The mule moved slowly so as not to jostle Kaylee. It's anti-gravity drive would keep the ride smooth all the way to the hospital. They weren't gone but a few minutes before Mal heard and felt Inara's shuttle attach.
Inara was out of the shuttle before the docking even finished. She saw Mal and closed on him. She was concerned and frantic "Wash said Kaylee was hurt, where is she?" She was fairly certain that Kaylee would be in the infirmary, so she didn't wait for an answer.
Of course, when Inara brushed past Mal and reached said infirmary, she saw that it was empty. All sorts of scenarios ran through her head. She rounded on Mal "Okay, where is she?" and she waited.
"The Shepherd and the Doc took her to the hospital. It's real bad 'Nara." Mal didn't yet know how to describe what happened, partially because he didn't know much for certain, but also because he was still in shock.
Inara gasped, Mal hated anything to do with the Alliance. Even after the big fight on Mr. Universe's moon, he still griped about the help the Alliance had given his crew and his ship. There were many wounds among the former, and the latter needed a massive rebuild. If he was sending Kaylee to them, the situation really must be dire "What happened to her?"
"Near as we can tell, she was attacked. She lost a hand and an eye. The bastards that did this, they did more than that, so much we don't even really know." Mal decided to omit some of the more gruesome injuries Kaylee had suffered, he didn't mention her change in personality either. Kaylee's mutilation was bad enough, the prospect that the sweet and shiny mechanic was gone was far more horrible.
Inara shook off her own shock and tackled something closer to home "What are you doing here?"
"Waitin' on Zoe and River to get back, so they can fill in the blanks. Then, I'm going to pay a visit to Badger, see if he knows anything." Mal was hoping he could get moving soon, that was worst about a battle or a job, the waiting beforehand.
Inara narrowed her eyes "You're a chwen joo Mal, after Zoe and River return, we're all going to the hospital. Kaylee is going to need all of us."
"Nara..." Mal didn't like where this was going, but then he thought, and Inara had a point. His previous plan was in tatters, half of his crew was deep in the city already. And she made sense. Mal's first concern was the safety of the rest of his crew. If they were all at the hospital watching over Kaylee, there was safety there as well.
That was part of what Inara was thinking, though she was more concerned with Kaylee at this point. She cut Mal off "Don't...I know you want to do something, but this is far more important. When Kaylee gets out of that hospital she'll need to have somewhere to go, and you're the only one who can decide if she comes back here."
"You're right, I am being a backbirth. All's we need to do is wait for Zoe and River, I gotta see what they find out." Mal hadn't even considered the 'after' in any of this. Kaylee wouldn't be much use as a mechanic, unless she got some of those fancy Alliance technologies that Simon was always gushing about, but he knew that was a long shot. Even if she was only healed and not brought back to full capability, she still knew Serenity better than anyone. Worse came to worse, she could stay on to teach someone about all of the ship's inner workings. Basically she would have someone to be her eyes and hands. With all that she knew, that teaching could years before she was through, if she ever finished.
Inara smiled, it was a rare thing, Mal admitting he was wrong about something. He'd never do it in front of certain people, he had his pride after all "No you weren't, you were doing what you always do, thinking of all us first. That's why you sent Kaylee to the hospital, and I think that's why Jayne is busy building a wall with an arsenal behind it, and I saw that the ship is ready to launch, just how many plans and hunches are you running with here?"
"Too many, this rattled me." Mal relaxed a little, the first he had done so since Kaylee returned.
Mal walked down the hallway, he yelled at Jayne to quit building a fortress. Jayne groused that he just finished putting up a mount for one of his machine guns that covered the cargo bay ramp just perfect. Mal punched the intercom and told Wash to power down and secure the ship. He pretended not to hear Wash's complaining about why he couldn't make up his mind. He turned to Inara, who was watching all of this with a bemused expression "Oh quit it, we'll take one of the shuttles to the hospital. We can use yours or not."
"Of course." Inara turned to go talk to Wash, she would see if she could find out any more about what happened.
Mal went to the cargo bay, he was tempted to have Jayne find any weapons that could get past scanners, but then he thought about where he was going. An Alliance hospital would be well guarded, and he and Jayne being armed lightly wouldn't make much of difference if things went bad.
Zoe and River came back. They were carrying a small bag with something in it. Mal almost ran down to meet them. When he got close enough for a somewhat private talk he asked "Zoe?" It was a habit they fell into during the war. That question was his way of asking for a report.
"We went to the shop, River knew the way, we found three dead, the shopkeeper and two men, sir." For now Zoe left out what else she found, Mal would ask about everything in time. The key to a good intel report was brevity and focus.
Mal knew that Kaylee had been in a fight, but two or three on one were long odds for anyone. "Of the three, who do you think hurt Kaylee?"
"I'd say it was the two men, sir. That hatchet Kaylee brought back, she used it on them." Zoe didn't go into the details. Kaylee had killed one with a single swing right between the eyes. That one had seemed surprised to be dead. The other one wasn't surprised. It seemed he and Kaylee had fought. His face was covered in her blood and he was blinded by it, and his head wasn't exactly attached to his body. A hatchet couldn't do that with one swing.
Mal didn't know what to say. The only time he'd heard of Kaylee using a weapon was against the Reavers. And even then it was a desperate last resort. "Can you guess at why this happened, River, we could use your help here." The unsaid question was one of intentions, was the attack on Kaylee targeted and deliberate or not?
River piped up, and Mal was still unsettled by the way she seemed to look through her immediate surroundings, as if she were somewhere else "Captain, what happened to Kaylee was a random convergence of events. They were there for the shopkeeper, Kaylee just stumbled on them. Once they saw her, their plans changed." River didn't need to say that If Kaylee had arrived at the shop earlier or later than she did, she would likely be dead.
"What were their plans?" Mal figured that he knew, given Kaylee's wounds. But he wanted Zoe's assessment, she had a way of distilling things down to the most basic level. She always talked straight and to the point with him.
Zoe still remembered the scene, the back of the shop was a place of horrors. The shopkeeper, hanged and beaten to death. Kaylee's hand, nailed to the workbench, they didn't want her to move too much. The furnace still on "Torture, sir."
"Want to run that by me again?" It was a good thing that Kaylee had already killed those men, Mal would've taken some great pleasure in hunting them down and repaying them in full for what they had done.
Zoe paused, and River answered for her "They had no intention of letting her live, and they wanted her to hurt first." River had seen the fight, how Kaylee had freed herself, how she had dispatched her attackers, even going so far as use her arm without a hand as a weapon. How she had rolled with a punch sent her way and used the momentum to score the first hit on the second guy. River was trained to do things like that, Kaylee had done it on adrenaline and rage.
Mal shook a little bit. He was pretty sure he had seen most of the evil the 'verse had to offer. This wasn't new by any means. "Good job, Zoe, River, we'll be joining up with Simon, Book, and Kaylee."
"Where'd they go sir?" Zoe was rather shocked that Mal had sent Kaylee off anywhere. One piece of intel she would mention later was that she had the two attackers I-dent cards. She knew their names and with the Cortex, they'd be able find who had them kill the shopkeeper, and possibly even why.
Mal allowed himself a small smile, things seemed to be looking less upside down "Shepherd took them to the hospital in the city."
Shortly afterwards, the balance of the crew piled into the shuttle. They left Serenity empty and locked-down. The shuttle headed for the hospital, to friends who needed support, but most importantly, to Kaylee.