Fandom: Doctor Who/Firefly crossover.

Spoilers: Up to and including Objects in Space for Firefly. In Doctor Who terms this is Tenth Doctor and Martha.

Summary: The Doctor and Martha meet the crew of Serenity. Craziness and drama ensue.

Disclaimer: I don't own Firefly, Doctor Who, or any of their respective characters.

Finally, please drop me a review, as it will make me very happy if you do.

This story is also posted under the Firefly category, as "Fireflies in the Storm". I'm posting it here to try and get more people to read it (yes, I have no shame.)

Fire and Ice

Prologue

"Captain, there's a wave coming in." Wash's voice sounded over the intercom." Mal reached for the comm unit in his cabin, pressing the 'talk' button.

"Who from, Wash?"

"It's coming from Persephone. Looks like Badger wants something."

"Accept the wave, I'm on my way." He made his way to the bridge. "So, Badger, what can I do for you?"

"Captain Reynolds. I trust everything's going well on that ship of yours?"

"Well enough, but I do have things to be doing and you're using up my valuable time here."

"All right, I was just making conversation."

"Get to the point."

"I've got a job you might be interested in. I know someone who needs some goods transported, and who wants it done quiet-like, asked if I knew a reliable ship that could take the job. You were the first person I thought of. Interested?"

"Might be. I'd like to know some more details, though. Such as how much I'd be paid."

"You'll be fully compensated for your time. The client's based here on 'Sephone, if you want ta meet them."

"Seems like that would be satisfactory. I think we can do business."

"How soon can you be here? I'll sort out a meeting."

Mal looked over at Wash. "How soon can we get to Persephone?"

"A couple of days, if we go full burn. We'll need to refuel when we get there."

"Okay, Badger, we ought to be dirtside in three days. Set up a meeting with this client, and we'll see about taking the job."

"I certainly will, Captain. I'll be expecting you in three days."

As the wave ended, Mal headed back to his cabin.

"Captain?"

"What, Wash?"

"Are you sure we should be dealing with Badger? Things don't exactly go smooth when we do."

"Things never go as smooth as I'd like. We didn't agree to anything, and we need to refuel on 'Sephone anyway, so it can't do any harm to find out what this job is."

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"So, where do you want to go next?"

Martha shrugged. "I… don't know. Where's good?"

"Oh, I've got an idea. How would you like to see some of the first planets to be colonised after you lot leave Earth?"

"Yeah… that sounds good."

"Okay then." The Doctor bounded over to the Tardis' control panel. "Um… what year… if we say the middle of the third millennium…. And, ooh, that's a good planet." He pressed a few buttons to set the coordinates, and a few minutes later he was heading for the door.

"So… where are we?"

He opened the door with a flourish. "This, Martha, is the year 2520, on the planet Persephone. This here is one of the first planets that got settled in this galaxy."

"Wow…" She stepped out, looking around and finding herself in the middle of a bustling dock, with people selling things or carrying bags, and ships docking in the marked-out berths at the edges. "So, this is where we end up…"

"Oh, there are fancier places than this. Huge, beautiful cities. But this is so much better than that, there's so much… humanity here. Come on, let's explore."

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"It's coming."

River lay on the old, squishy sofa in the living area, watching Kaylee and Shepherd Book prepare dinner for the crew. Kaylee looked up. "What is, River?"

"The storm."

"River, we're still in space. There's no storms out here, don't be silly."

"But it is. I feel the storm coming. The oncoming storm. Should be careful, there are some would be afraid of the storm, but we don't need to fear."

"Uh… that's good, River." Kaylee and Book looked at each other. Book whispered "I think she should rest… it seems to help when she's like this."

"Yeah. I'll get her back to her room." She looked up. "River? Maybe you should have a little nap now. You look tired."

"Okay. I'll rest." When Kaylee moved to take her back to her room in the passenger dorm, she shook her head. "Kaylee. I can walk, you know. You stay, finish cooking." She walked away, leaving a confused Kaylee in the kitchen.

When she was back in her room, River lay on her bed and smiled. She knew why they didn't have to fear the storm. She knew who the storm was, and she knew he wouldn't be a threat to them.

She'd be seeing him soon, just as soon as they got to Persephone. She was looking forward to it.

Chapter One

River dreamed.

She lay on top of the thin blanket of her bed, tossing and turning in her sleep. She dreamt of fire, and ice, and rage, and a man who embodied them all.

She suddenly sat bolt upright, eyes wide and looking even paler than usual. She whispered to herself "He's close".

She left her room in Serenity's passenger dorm, walking barefoot through the ship, looking for the captain. She found him sitting alone on the bridge, watching over the ship. She stood still in the doorway, and without turning around he spoke to her.

"What d'you want, mei mei?"

"I need to tell you something."

"You see something?"

"Yes. There's a storm coming, a fierce storm, and we're going to be caught up in it. It's going to catch up to us soon, when we get to Persephone."

"This bad news, River?"

"No."

"So why tell me now?"

"Because the storm is a man. Need to know that, so y'can watch out for him. Mustn't miss him, it's very important that we meet him."

"Shi…"

"He's fire, and ice, and rage, and the storm in the heart of the sun. He's ancient, and forever. He burns at the centre of time and he can see the turn of the universe. He's wonderful."

"Uh… that's very poetical, but it doesn't tell me what he looks like."

River sighed. "He looks young. Younger'n you, captain, but his eyes are old. And he never quite fits in anywhere, but he walks like he owns the place."

"Thanks. I'll keep an eye out for him."

"Oh, don't worry, you'll find him or he'll find you, either way you will meet, and soon." River started to leave, but turned back briefly. "Oh, and he wears a brown coat." She said with a smile.

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Martha and the Doctor were walking through the market at Eavesdown dock. The Doctor was smiling for the first time in a long time, the mass of humanity around them apparently cheered him up. Martha meanwhile had so much to take in – the ships of varying sizes docked, the market stalls arranged haphazardly and selling everything imaginable.

"This place is amazing…" A large sign, with some kind of chinese lettering, caught her eye. "Doctor, what does that mean?"

"Uh, it's Mandarin, it means "Blue Sun". Must be a company of some kind."

"There's an awful lot of signs with chinese writing around here." They passed a terminal outside a docking space, and she saw the buttons on the terminal all had chinese symbols on them. "Does everyone speak chinese now?"
"Well, not really. See, all the countries on Earth sort of unified when your lot started settling other planets. The two most powerful countries at the time were America and China, so the culture now is a sort of mixture of the two."

"Doctor… does that include eating dogs?"

"What?"

Martha pointed at a sign over a stall that appeared to be selling cooked dog meat.

"Oh, well, it's customary in some Asian countries…"

"Uh, right."

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Once Serenity had landed, everyone on board was preparing to go planetside. Wash took the mule to pick up some parts, and Mal left Zoe to keep an eye on the ship while he and Jayne went to meet with Badger and find out what this job was. As they were about to leave, River ran up to the captain.

"Captain?"

"Yes, River?"

"Could I go with you? I'd like to help out. Don't want to feel useless."

"Your brother okay with this?"

"Yes."

"Fine, you can come along. Suppose it can't do any harm."

River smiled, and pulled on a long coat over her dress and followed the men out.

When they arrived at the rather run-down building that Badger used as a base, and were shown in.

"Captain Reynolds. Just in time."

"What's this job, Badger?"

"A client – someone with standing in the community – contacted me, said they was looking to sell some rather valuable property off-world. They've got a buyer, all they wanted me to do is find someone to transport it."

"How much do I get paid?"
"The client is offering 40 of the sale price, of which I get ten. You'd get a thousand square for your time and effort."

"What's the property?"

"I don't know. The client refuses to tell me, he's a very private man."

"Where am I taking it?"

"The buyer has an estate on Osiris, you're to take it there."

"And this property is here, on Persephone?"

"That's right."

Mal looked at River.

"River?" She knew what he was asking, frowned briefly and then nodded.

"He's telling the truth."

"You sure there's nothing dodgy about this?"

Badger interrupted. "Captain, please. Would I do that?"

"Jobs I take from you don't exactly go smooth, Badger. I just need to be sure this ain't a set-up."

"It isn't. You should take it, Captain."

"That right, River?"

"Yes. It'll be important."

"Well, I guess we'll take the job. Where can I find this client of yours?"

"I'll contact the client, and have the property delivered to your ship by the end of the day. He doesn't want contact with anyone but me on this matter. The buyer is one Harlem Saxon, I'll get you the details for his estate."

"And payment?"

"Half now, half on delivery. Mr Saxon knows about the arrangement, he'll keep to it."

"Okay. We'll do it."

"Good." Reaching into a drawer, Badger pulled out a piece of paper and a smallish, but heavy, bag. He passed both to Mal. "There you go. The address of Mr Saxon's estate, the authorisation code you need to get through the gates, and 500 square as a down payment."

"Good. I think we'll be going now."

Mal, River and Jayne left, feeling rather more relaxed now that they knew they had a job. They had to walk down a street with a few pubs and bars to get back to the ship, and they had plenty of cash and weren't in a hurry, so they decided to stop for a drink.

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The Doctor and Martha had wandered into a bar, which seemed to be a friendly place with an interesting variety of people standing or sitting around, enjoying a drink on the hot afternoon and chatting.

"So… do you want a drink?"

"What do they serve?" Martha eyed the bar cautiously.

"Oh, they should have familiar drinks, don't worry… ooh, they have sake! Ever tried that?"

"Uh, no. It's Japanese, isn't it?"
"That's right. Let's get some." The Doctor rifled through the many pockets of his coat, eventually pulling out a small bag of coins. "Aha! I knew I had some of the right currency somewhere."

He walked up to the bar, and started to order when the bartender interrupted.

"We don't serve no hwoon dahn browncoats here."

"Excuse me?"

"We… don't… serve… your… sort… here. Dong ma?"

"Why, because I'm wearing a brown coat?"

"Yeah. This here's not some go tsao de independents' bar."

"What are you… wait, what did you call me?"

At this point, the other patrons of the bar realised what was going on, and gathered closer. Martha realised what was about to happen. "Uh, Doctor… I think we should just go, these people don't look too happy."

"I'm trying to understand what the problem is, that's all…" The Doctor trailed off mid-sentence as the bartender pulled out a length of metal pipe from underneath the bar.

"Out. Now."

"I'm sorry, why exactly are you throwing us out?"

At this point, one of the more drunk (and excitable) patrons of this particular bar got impatient, and attempted to swing a punch at the Doctor. Actually, the punch hit another patron, who was standing next to Martha and minding his own business. As a result, the bar erupted into a full-blown brawl.

Martha rolled her eyes, thinking that people in the future weren't so different from people at home after all, and wondering what was so bad about brown coats, and struggled her way towards the door. She made it outside, and leant against a wall to get her breath back, when suddenly the window of the bar (which she had assumed was glass) disappeared as the Doctor came flying, headfirst, out of it. She ran over to him, and when she looked back the window had reappeared.

"Weird." She helped the Doctor into a sitting position. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah… terrible headache, but I'll be fine."

She was about to help him stand up and get him back to the TARDIS when she looked up and saw three people in front of her. One, a large, burly man with a scowl on his face and carrying a large gun, was standing just behind the other two, and clearly didn't want to be there. The second man wore an old, dark-brown coat, and was looking at them as if he didn't know quite what to make of them.

The third person, standing close to the man in the brown coat, was a girl with long dark hair, wearing a dress, combat boots and a long embroidered coat. She was staring at the Doctor and pointing at him. Martha was about to ask what the three were looking at, when the girl looked up at the man next to her and said simply. "It's him."