I do not own Firefly or anything belonging to the franchise. I do own most of this plot and Halo and my friend owns Nikita Shen. The fic is rated for language (in English), violence, blood, gore, drinking, smoking and sexual situations. Please enjoy responsibly.

Space Dementia.
Chapter One. Smugglers.

It was a bright and mild day, perfect for being outside. Many around the Eavesdown Docks on Persephone were spending it just like that, wandering through the busy district, examining newly imported merchandise, meeting new people and exploring possible opportunities. Some were just looking for food or work, but most people were smiling, probably because of the warmth and the sun. The docks were a busy place on any given day, but that day seemed to bring some extra draw to the area, as the streets and improvised alleyways were so tightly packed it was hard to move with any sort of speed, and there was a pervading smell of sweat and dirt everywhere. The crowds and the smells weren't enough to dampen the moods of those truly out for opportunity, but for some, it was only the last straw in a string of things leading to a dark, dark mood; one person in particular was surly and she wasn't afraid to let everyone around her know it.

"Why the hell did we come here? There's nothing worthwhile in this God-forsaken port."

Nikita Shen, Niki for short, looked over her shoulder at Halo, her churlish friend and traveling companion, and rolled her dark brown eyes. She chuckled and put a little extra bounce in her step for a few paces, knowing it would annoy Halo. "First of all, we didn't choose to come here; this is just where that freight ship was headed, and secondly, it's been a long time since we've looked for work on Persephone. Maybe there will be something here this time." Niki smiled brightly when Halo huffed and then continued to cut a path through the thick crowd. She had to stop skipping, but there was still a grin on her lips. Niki was undaunted by everything that day that deemed to leave Halo with a sour taste in her mouth; it was that way most days. "You've got to think a little more positively sometimes, Halo. We'll find work eventually."

"Like hell we will. Nik, there is nothing for us here, just like last time. Are you even listening to these offers? I am not sleeping my way to the next world, not again." She scowled loudly and crossed her arms under her chest as she walked, her right hand idly resting on the butt of her sidearm, tucked in its holster under her breast.

Niki suddenly stopped walking and turned to face her friend, her black ponytail swinging rather dramatically over her shoulder. Halo nearly bumped into the shorter woman, the scowl deepening as she regained her balance and straightened her black, knee-length coat with terse movements. "Stop fondling your gun," Niki snapped, batting Halo's hand away. She gestured over her shoulder with a flick of her head. "Badger is on his way over here and he'll have work for us; he always does, and it rarely involves sleeping with anybody." The last was meant as a joke, but Halo wasn't in the mood. Niki sighed heavily and wrapped her hands around Halo's upper arms, drawing her friend closer to her. "Would you please smile? Or something? You're depressing as hell lately and you're making it very hard to remain my usual sunny self."

Halo glared, her pale blue eyes narrowing sharply. "Then stop trying."

Niki opened her mouth to reply, her gloved fingers tightening on Halo's arms, but the argument that was on the tip of Niki's tongue died as Badger, the small, squirrely man, appeared at her side and gave them a deeply slimly grin. He was flanked by two of his ever-present hoard of bodyguards and other assorted muscle; the rest weren't fair behind, to be sure. Halo pulled herself out of Niki's grip and just rolled her eyes, scowling again as Niki gave a polite but meaningless smile in greeting.

"'Ello ladies. It's been a while since I saw your lovely faces on this rock."

"Fuck off Badger," Halo snapped, turning her ire on the hated man as she shouldered her way in front of Niki. Even when business relations were good, Halo and Badger had never gotten along. Something about the man just set Halo's teeth on edge and she tended to follow her gut. "We're not interested in whatever the job is."

The man spread his hands to either side, showing that he was unarmed and harmless; Halo didn't buy it for a second, nor should she have. Badger never went anywhere without his posse, nor without a weapon of some kind concealed on his person. "Come now Halo, you haven't yet heard what the offer is. It's nothing dangerous like last time," he said in his thickly accented voice. He gave a wide, unsettling grin. "Promise."

"We're. Not. Interested."

Niki shoved Halo out of the way and put herself between the bickering pair. She turned sideways so she could see both Halo and Badger at the same time. After levelling a look that said, "we need to think about this one, Halo, or we'll be without food and money again," she said loud enough for everyone involved to hear: "Hang on Halo. We should at least listen to what the job is."

"There's a smart girl." Niki gave Badger that same empty smile and gestured for him to continue as they both ignored Halo's curses. "I've got some cargo that needs to be moved off Persephone under the radar, if you know what I mean. It's bound for a small settlement on Three Hills. All you two needs to do is find passage to the colony and deliver the cargo to the buyer. Simple, yeah?"

"Nothing is that simple, you slimly little twerp," Halo sneered from over Niki's shoulder.

Niki elbowed Halo hard enough to get her to shut up and turned her pleasant face back to Badger. "What's the cargo? Who's the buyer?"

Badger made a disapproving clucking noise in the back of his throat and scratched at his forehead underneath the rim of his old bowler hat. "Now now Niki, I can't just go telling you what sort of goods I be moving or who wants 'em; people'll think they can't trust ol' Badger to keep their secrets." He turned his dark eyes up at her. "That'd be bad for business, love, and though I am many things, a bad businessman is not one of them."

"There's no deal if you don't tell us what the cargo is, Badger," Niki informed him in her most diplomatic voice.

"Maybe if you was to agree we could work out some sort of arrangement."

"To hell with this," Halo barked from her position behind the negotiating party. She slapped Niki's hands away from her arm and stomped away from the group, right hand resting firmly on her sawed-off shotgun—read security blanket—secured in the thigh holster that was nearly always strapped to her right leg. Her coat flapped dramatically in a stray breeze; the same breeze carried several rather colourful but unsurprising, curses back to Niki's ears. She stopped a few steps away and looked over her shoulder. "You know how we work Badger. Either deal with it or you don't get our services and you know we're two of the best. We work fast and cheaper than most and we don't have a history of drawing attention to ourselves." She turned around and started walking again, cursing loudly as someone bumped into her.

Badger raised his eyebrows at Halo's vanishing back as he nodded absently, indicating that he'd heard everything she had said. "Your friend has quite the mouth," he observed.

"Yeah, she does, but she's right Badger. You know we don't work under mysterious circumstances, so why do you keep trying?"

"Hoping that you two will come to your senses is all."

"Well no dice. Find someone else to carry your cargo."

"You two are never going to eat if you keep turning down honest jobs."

Niki gave Badger the full weight of her disbelief and crossed her arms to enhance her displeasure. "Honest my ass," she said before turning on the heel of her boot and striding after Halo, who had all but disappeared into the crowd.

Halo was not, in fact, that far ahead of her friend, but Niki was looking for the signature black leather jacket and Halo had removed it, looking for some relief from the heat and claustrophobia that had set it. Coat draped over her arm, Halo had turned towards where the various ships were actually docked, crewmembers shouting the price for passage in hopes there would be a reasonable fare among them, or someone who would let them work for passage. If they couldn't find work, the least she could look for was a way off Persephone. Also, being around ships always made her feel calm; something to do with the thought of being out in the black, among the stars, was peaceful for her and she needed peace after dealing with Badger. Another plus would be if the dark clouds on the horizon amounted to some rain. It had been so long since she'd felt rain. The older of the traveling companions made it to a more open area of Eavesdown and settled herself on a crate to watch the people and the clouds before Niki caught up with her, her dark brown eyes bright with frustration.

"Don't get mad at me," Halo said before Niki even had a chance to organize her thoughts. "The last time we worked without knowing what the cargo was, we ended up transporting children and nearly got our asses handed to us by the Alliance. We had to up our rules. I'm not getting caught in that situation again."

Niki agreed with everything Halo was saying. "I might have been able to make Badger tell us what the cargo was."

Halo pushed herself off the crate and started walking again, heading closer to the ships and away from the more business-centred area. "Then why aren't you back there talking to him?"

Niki sighed and something in the noise told Halo she wasn't really going to like the answer, but she was going to hear it anyway. "Because," Niki started, "Even though we haven't had a decent meal in several months, nor a secure place to sleep for more than a few nights at a time, I know you wouldn't have helped me with that job, even if I could get Badger to give me all the information, and we know how well I do by myself." Niki gave Halo a small smile, one she didn't return. Niki groaned loudly and threw her head back so she was looking up at the sky. "We agreed we would find a way to re-establish our life together. We can't do that if one of us takes jobs the other one won't work on." Niki settled herself against the crate and ran the fingers of one hand through her bangs. "Why don't you trust I can handle some things?"

"Because I had to teach you how to shoot a gun properly."

"And shooting a gun is everything—right, I forgot."

Halo stood up quickly and started through the crowd again, heading towards the end of the dock they were on. "We're not having this fight again, Nikita."

"You weren't the only one who taught me to take care of myself."

Since they both knew how the fight was going to go, Halo wasn't playing. She would say she knew that, and then Niki would bring her older brothers who had taught her to hunt and track—both of whom had died in the Reaver attack that had left Niki an orphan—into the conversation and Halo wouldn't have anything to counter with except that she had lost her entire family to the Reavers as well, including her four brothers who had pretty much raised her. Then, it would inevitably devolve into the argument of whose past had been more traumatic and who was worse off. It was an argument they'd had many times since their lives had crossed paths seven years ago. They'd met after spending years trying to make it in the Verse on their own, when they'd joined the same settlement effort bound for one of the outer border planets.

Instead of reciting her lines, Halo just remained quiet and let Niki natter on about how they had to work together and communicate better if they wanted to find a stable life again. She listened to Niki as she remembered the last time they had a decent meal, a comfortable bed, fresh water, everything considered basic, and she listened when Niki began to reminisce about the home they'd set up on Deadwood. Halo just let her go on and let her own eyes wander from ship to ship, taking in the different makes and models and the different modifications people had made to keep their boats flying. Some were very unorthodox, but seemed functional; someone had even affixed a strange little statue to the front of their ship to create an impromptu hood ornament. Halo smiled to herself at that, and the gesture was apparently inappropriate because Niki launched into an entirely new tirade.

"Niki, shut up for a minute," Halo finally said.

The abruptness of Halo's voice brought Niki to silence. "What?" she asked, her face betraying how angry she still was.

"Maybe I should have let you talk to Badger, Nik, but you don't need to rub it into my face. I know we need a job and I know we need money. You don't have to keep telling me." Halo scratched the back of her neck, under the complicated knot she wore her hair in most of the time, before using the hand to gesture at the ships around them. "Badger isn't the only person we've worked with on Persephone before, Nik. Let's go find some of the others."

Niki sighed. "You're right. But damn it, Halo, we need food. Not that protein shit."

Halo gave Niki a rare, wide smile. "I know, but I'm not ready to settle for the bottom of the barrel yet. Let's finish listening to the prices for passage and see if we can't find someone who will let us work for it." She started walking again and Niki fell in stride beside her. "I want to be out in the black again."

"What is it with you and space? It's like you're allergic to solid ground."

Halo shrugged.

Eventually, the girls ran out of dock to tread and were forced to stop as they rounded the last corner on the C-shaped dock. There were no empty spaces, but the far end of the dock was less crowded. Halo settled herself on another crate and folded her legs underneath her. Niki started talking again, but Halo didn't hear what she was saying, nor was she likely to.

Her pale blue eyes had found a firefly-class vessel nestled in the second-to-last spot on the outer side of the docks. It was big, but not overly so, not like some of the other ships they'd passed, and though the ship was worn, there was an unmistakable air of care about it; someone had obviously put time and effort into keeping the ship in one piece; someone cared about the old girl. The ship and its undeniable character brought a small smile to Halo's face. The desire to see inside the ship welled inside Halo and she dropped her eyes to the open loading dock and the people milling about in front of it, hoping to see some sign that they were talking on passengers. She saw an older man who looked like he might have been a Sheppard, judging by his attire, and a younger woman talking to random passers-by; it looked promising.

"Let's go check out that boat," Halo said, sliding off the crate.

"What? That old thing?"

"Fireflys are great ships. My oldest brother wanted to get his hands on one if he could."

"What for?"

Halo shrugged as she stopped to let a man carrying a large crate pass. "I don't know. He never said what he wanted it for. Let's just go see how much they want for passage... wherever they're headed." Halo made it a few more steps toward the firefly before she stopped again, this time because someone else had appeared by the Sheppard. The man with the crate had ascended the ramp and placed the box in the cargo hold before turning to say something to the pair looking for passengers. "He looks familiar..." Halo said to herself.

"Who?" Before Halo could answer, Niki followed her gaze to the big man and her jaw fell open. "No way! Jayne!"

Halo blinked. She didn't know Jayne, but evidently, Niki did.

Author's Note.

Yeah, I know. I don't need another fandom, but I found one in Firefly. Well, actually, my first exposure was through the movie Serenity, but for the life of me, I'm not sure why it took me so damn long to get around to the TV show. I love it though. So, so much. And the fic just kind of popped into my head on the heels of Halo, who came barrelling in, screaming at me to write about her.

For your reference, the fic starts after the episode "The Message" and covers time from there into the space between the movie and the show, and then the end of the movie. I may write more that takes place after the movie, but that'll be another fic and won't be for a while.

I decided to try some different things with this fic, so hopefully it goes well, and clearly, I took some liberties with the Verse because I couldn't find a concrete map—just a list of names. So apologizes if I messed up. Correct me, and I will fix it. Just correct me politely, please. Also, the rating may change, but I'm not sure about that right now and I won't be until later on. I can always change it later. And I apologize in advance if someone gets mad that I eliminated the random Chinese phrases. I didn't want to attempt those and screw them up as I know I would. So you get English curses instead.

Okay, I've said this before, but this is a teaser chapter and something I had to get out of my system before I could finish up some of my other fics. This rotating pattern isn't working. It didn't work last time, so I'm not sure why I thought it would work this time... However, I'm still going to try and at least update all of the fics fairly regularly. I'm going to try and finish up a couple of the shorter planned fics so I can move onto this fic (which I'm super excited to write) and some others that I can't wait to get started on.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy the insanity.

Next Chapter: Unexpected Reunion.