DISCLAIMER: I don´t own any of these Characters, they all belong to the brilliant Joss Whedon and different TV- Stations !
Please don´t sue me ……I don´t have anything worth suing for, believe me!!
Notes: The Character of Alice is my own creation, so here goes my inevitable Crossover, hope you enjoy it!
Strange Encounters
" Why can´t things ever go smooth?" Captain Malcolm Reynolds asked himself for what had to be the hundredth time in the past hour. And why ..if he indeed was the Captain of Serenity, did most crew members do as they pleased as soon as the ship sat down on a planet?
Kaylee was supposed to be back an hour ago …..he knew he shouldn´t have let her wander off alone, but the mechanic had insisted. He replayed the moment in his mind….little Kaylee stomping her foot.
" I´m not a little girl captain, I can buy the spare parts on my own! Don´t need anyone lookin´over my shoulder!"
Kaylee knew she was late. She hurried through the darkening streets towards the docks. The town they had landed in was still rough, ebven though it was theoretically alliance terretory.
Captain would be mightily pissed off, but once she showed him the new accelorator-bolts……once she told Mal what a grand bargain she had struck on some of the parts, all would be forgiven. He´d make a face, but Kaylee knew that Mal could never be really mad at her.
The Backpack that held the new parts was getting heavier with every step she took.
She grit her teeth, suddenly feeling very stupid for insisting to go alone. She should Have listened to Zoe and Mal and taken Jayne to do the heavy lifting. She had known that some of the parts she had bought for Serenity´s engine were very heavy, even if they were not too big. Now this weight slowed her down.
" Aw …no!" Kaylee whispered annoyed, looking around her. This was not the way back to the ship! She must have taken a wrong turn some way back and wandered off into this alley accidentally.
Kaylee heard footsteps behind her and turned around. Her eyes fell onto three burly figures, crowding the alley behind her.
" Uh…oh.." she breathed, an uncomfortable feeling creeping up her spine as they approached her.
" Such a pretty little girl…." One of them said with an unpleasant rasp in his voice.
Kaylee looked around, there was no other way out of the there, the alley was a dead end.
" Gosa!" she cursed.
This was exactly one of the scenarios Mal had warned her about……..one that she had shrugged off. Jayne would come in really handy now, apart from carrying the heavy load, Kaylee thought as she retreated further.
The hairs on the back of her neck started to tingle while the three men slowly started to move in on her. There was something wrong with them, Kaylee could feel it …….she let out a muffled shreak. They had started to encircle her and she could see that their eyes were bright yellow.
" Watcha´doin all alone out here?" One of them asked her maliciously " Didn´t your momma warn you not to run lose after dark?"
Kaylee stepped back as far as she could, then her backpack collided with the wall behind her. No way to run ….
In mute terror Kaylee stared into those glowing eyes………She could not move, there was nowhere to go .
One of her attackers was about to grab her face when a small hand caught a hold of his wrist out of nowhere, stopping him in mid-air. With an irritated grunt he turned away from Kaylee.
" Now let´s see …."
A clear, girly voice peeped up from somewhere Kaylee could not see.
" My momma always warned me about those dangerous, shady figures that lurk around in dark alleys, but then again…"
The three yellow- eyed men turned around to find a petite female standing directly behind them. Kaylee let out a surpised sigh when she saw that the girl still held her attacker´s wrist in a tight grip, pressing his arm down with a lot more strength than one would expect such a small person to posess.
The girl continued unpertubed " …..my mother also told stories about a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow and the toothfairy and all kinds of other things that were not true."
The three men stared at her, completely bewildered and perplexed.
" Actually.." another voice cut in from the shadow of a building to Kaylee´s right. " ….the tooth-fairy does exist!"
The voice was dark, rich and undoubtedly male, with a velvety undertone that betrayed the slightest hint of amusement. The sound made Kaylee shiver, despite her situation.
The girl didn´t seem to be too impressed though, she looked over her shoulder, quite obviously annoyed.
" Your point being?"
" Nothing , just that…"
" Oh for heaven´s sake! Will you just shut up and let her speak her piece? ", yet another voice interrupted.
All heads turned towards the entrance of the alley, where a tall, slim figure was busy lighting a cigarette.
" Let her get to the bloody punchline, so we can dust these blokes and save the damsel in distress!" he chided impatiently.
The newcomer spoke with an accent that reminded Kaylee of Badger. By now the pretty mechanic was more confused than scared…..who were all these people? She couldn´t really see any of them very clearly due to the darkness of the tiny side-street.
" I´m assuming there was a punchline?" the first man said, sighing.
The girl shot Kaylee an exasperrated look, rolling her eyes apologetically.
" Never mind! Y ou guys ruined it, as usual…!"
" Good…."
Kaylee could see the other man walking towards them.
" Can we get to the killin´then?"
While the three of them were squabbling, the yellow eyed thugs had stood by….. ignored and obviously confused. Now Kaylee´s attackers suddenly snapped back to life. One of them throwing an enourmous punch at the girl´s face.
" Watch out! Kaylee yelled, but it was already too late. The man moved with a speed that Kaylee had never seen before, not even in Zoe or Jayne. His fist connected with the girl´s jawline in a sickening sound, but to her surprise the girl did not topple over from the impact. Her head snapped back in one smooth motion, her eyes ablaze as they fixed on her assailant. She wiped the blood off her split lip with the back of her hand.
" Now …." She said coldly.." That was not very nice of you. Didn´t you momma teach you not to hit little girls?"
" Shouldn´t have done that mate, made her real angry!"
" She´s right, you know. "
For the first time Kaylee was able to get a glimpse of the third man, who had been standing in the shadow of the tall building opposite to them. He had been shrouded in darkness due to the fact that his clothing was all black.
" That´s no way to treat a lady!"
One of the attackers looked up, than stared at the girl.
" Oh no …" Kaylee heard him whisper, his head jerking around as though he was suddely the one to look for a way out.
" You ….You are her, aren´t ya?"
His two companions stared at the girl, mouths agape.
" In the flesh, dustboy!" she answered mockingly.
What then followed was so surreal that Kaylee could have sworn it was a dream. The whole fight took about two minutes. In front of Kaylee´s unbelieving eyes her attackers exploded in clouds of dust.
The girl coughed, padding herself in order to get the dust off her clothes. She walked up to Kaylee, extending a hand.
" Hi….my name´s Alice. Are you ok?"
As she stepped closer Kaylee´s eyes fell on her face. She gasped in utter amazement. The girl had the most beautiful face Kaylee had ever seen. She could not rival Inara´s exquisite beauty of course. It was not that kind of beauty…not well groomed and cared for, it was more wild and effortless. A mass of unruly auburn curles framed a face that Kaylee had so far only seen on the statues of angels or saints.
A pair of dark, brown eyes, shadowed by thick black lashes, met hers. There was a fire in those eyes that Kaylee had seen in Jayne and Zoe before a fight, but also sadness and grief that she sometimes spied in the captain´s eyes, when he thought that noone was paying attention.
" Hey ..you ok?" the man with the funny accent repeated the girl´s question, lighting another cigarette. His hair was platinum blond, almost white and his bright blue eyes fixed on Kaylee in mild interest.
" Fine …I think." Kaylee finally answered.
" That …that was amazing, how´d you do that?"
" Oh, years of practice.." the girl giggled. " Glad we could lend a hand!"
" Practice? That must be really sumthin´. I ´ve never seen anything like that! I don´t even think Zoe or the captain could pull off such a fight and where did these yellow- eyed fellas come from?"
The girl ´s brow creased up. Behind her Kaylee could see the third man shouldering what seemed to be a heavy chest and a big, old leatherpouch before he walked over to them. He was taller than the blond men, with broader shoulders and a broader chest. Despite his heavy load he moved gracefully, nodding a silent greeting to Kaylee, before his eyes focused on Alice. The blond man stood a few yards away, smoking his cigaretty. His whole demeanor reminded the mechanic of a dangerous yet playful wildcat.
" Captain? " the girl asked " You work on a ship?"
Kaylee tore her eyes away from the two men.
" A mighty fine one! Serenity, I´m the mechanic!" she answered, unable to surpress the pride and exitement in her voice.
" Take on passengers?"
I know, I know ………sigh. Give me some time, this IS going somewhere I promise!!!