Not far from the Tree
Disclaimer: SM owns Twilight and Joss Whedon owns Firefly.
AN: This story is dedicated to Minako366 who suggested the crossover and the Rosalie/River pairing; and Angel JJK who suggested a "small town location like in Supernatural." I used a reference to Mal's ranch for that. Hope you enjoy.
IPOV
I flowed through the crowd at the ball in the Hall of Justice with a practiced ease. It had been eighteen years since I had last used my training as a registered Companion. A year after the Miranda incident, Mal and I got married then started a ranch on Jiangyin. Nine months later, our beautiful daughter, Isabella Marie Reynolds was born. Life was good, my husband and I mostly spent our time raising four herds of cattle then ran the occasional caper with the crew of Serenity on the side. This was one of those latter times.
Last week, we received a wave from Mal's former Commanding Officer from the war, Major Jasper Whitlock. Jasper and his vampire family crewed a Firefly named Eclipse. He told us that Jayne had been picked up by the Alliance after a botched payroll heist. The incompetent fool was being held in a staging cell for his trial which started tomorrow. Now the others were attempting to come up with a plan to spring him, while I'd been requested to meet Isa, the Eclipse's resident Companion, here.
The jealous stares that several of the women present sent toward the entrance made me turn my head just as the doorman spoke.
"Miss Isa Sarah," the older man proclaimed in a monotone voice.
Isa Sarah…Isa…Isabella…Bella, I thought then watched as the young woman just announced glided down the stairs and make her way to me. Her long brown locks were done up around a small tiara and the familiar chocolate eyes sparkled as she looked at me. Bella's alabaster skin was encased in a royal blue gown that hugged all the right places. She moved with elegant grace and I couldn't help but swell with pride as she proved with each step that she owned this room.
"You have some explaining to do, young lady," I whispered in her ear when she leaned in to kiss my cheek.
My daughter laughed as she pulled away from me slightly. She made an almost imperceptible tilt of her head to my right. A waiter passed by and the two of us each grabbed a glass of champagne.
"Why so shocked Mom, I'm your daughter after all," she commented which made me smile.
"Of course you are sweetheart, but your father won't be happy when he finds out that you went to the Temple instead of the University," I replied contemplatively.
"What Daddy doesn't know can't hurt me. Besides, he's the whole reason we're here. The gentleman over your right shoulder, surrounded by pretty young things, is Judge Ashton Danvers. The portable Cortex terminal in his pocket holds information about where Uncle Jayne is being held, as well as the guard schedule," Bella countered innocently and batted her eyes.
I laughed then asked, "What's the plan?"
"Work Danvers until we relieve him of his Cortex then go and get Jayne. We both know that Daddy, Jasper and the others will just plan the whole thing to death then just end up winging it. If left to our own devices, we'll be done with everything in less than an hour," she stated matter-of-factly.
My baby girl was right, in the end Mal and the others would just end up winging it and causing more problems. The two of us were better able to execute a non-violent solution. I nodded then the two of us split up to approach the Judge from different sides. I halted my progress when I noticed a familiar head of red hair. Safron was here and she was the one person in all the 'Verse that could put a kink in our plan. A quick glance showed that "Isa" was already working her Companion charm on the Judge, so I stalked off to deal with my former nemesis.
"Hello, Inara," Safron cooed when I reached her.
"Safron, I wish I could say this was a pleasant surprise but we both know differently," I replied a bit cattily.
"I thought you never made back to the Core. That you and Malcolm Reynolds were living the boring life of ranchers on that backwater planet, Jiangyin," the red headed harpy crowed in a condescending tone.
Bella bumped into her accidentally then kept on moving across the floor toward the refreshments. Half way there she stopped, held a hand to her throat and then started screaming that her necklace was stolen. After gaining everyone's attention, she proceeded to single out Safron and say the other woman had been following her around all evening. Safron's indignant protests intensified when her bag was searched and Bella's necklace, along with other pieces of jewelry were found.
My daughter reclaimed her property then acting as if she needed air, led me from the room. As soon as we rounded the corner of the building, she pulled me into an alley then handed me some lip rouge.
"What exactly is this," I asked with an eyebrow arched in admonishment.
"An improved version of the old Goodnight Kiss; before it knocks a victim out, it puts them into a suggestible state so that when they wake up they'll think they've had a really good time," the younger Companion explained with a sly smile.
"It looks as though you're your father's daughter as well," I sighed with a smile.
RPOV
I ran my eyes over River Tam's naked body as she lay in my bunk. While my family and the crew of Serenity were hip dip in planning Jayne's breakout, the emotionally traumatized human and I decided to go to my birth to have some fun. Just like her twin sister, Alice, the human had been experimented on by the Alliance and turned into the perfect weapon.
Alice had been fortunate that a vampire had taken interest in her and changed her. Unfortunately, everyone had thought she died in a freak accident so her brother hadn't saved her like he had River. The human was just one more tie my family had to Mal and the Serenity. Jasper, Zoe, Mal, Carlisle and I had all fought with the Independents during the war. Carlisle had already been a vampire and like the Volturi, he had been born on Earth That Was.
I lowered myself onto my bunk then kissed River softly on the lips then along he and down her neck as my hands explored her satin soft flesh. I kissed my way down to her nipples then nipped and licked them as my fingers worked along her wet slit and thrust them into her dripping core. The human screamed for me to thrust harder and then begged for me to make her cum. Curling the fingers I had inside her, I brushed them along her G-spot. River's inner muscles clenched around my finger as she screamed my name, her orgasm lasted eight minutes.
MPOV
Jasper and I sat at the table in the Galley pouring over the schematics for the holding area Jayne had been put in. We'd been at it for hours and each plan, though more detailed than the last, seemed to bring more complications with it. With a weary sigh, I got up from the table and pulled the bottle of bourbon from a cabinet along with two glasses. My former Major eyed me curiously as I poured amber liquid into both glasses then handed him one.
"Mal, you do realize that I'm a vampire, right," he commented.
"I ain't forgotten, it's just that I've learned over the years that vamps can enjoy the taste liquor without the nasty side effects," I shot back with a smile.
We downed the contents but before I could pour us another round, we heard one of the Eclipse's shuttles return. Jasper smiled ruefully at the sound.
"I can't believe that you finally rented out a shuttle to a Companion. What's she like," I asked animatedly.
"I really can't tell you because all of our interactions have been through text waves," Jasper replied sheepishly.
I just stared at my friend and former CO in shock. Heavy footsteps snapped me out of my daze. A hulking figure poked their head into the Galley and smiled at us. Jayne gave a half-hearted salute before he spoke.
"Those Gorram jail cots were awful uncomfortable, I'm goin' ta catch some shut eye," the brute said then headed to his room.
"How the Hell," I started to say but was interrupted by two very feminine sets of giggles.
My lovely wife came into the room with the Eclipse's mystery Companion. The two women had had a productive evening. I was about to demand an explanation when I finally recognized the younger woman.
"ISABELLA MARIE REYNOLDS, YOU GO CHANGE OUT OF THAT GORRAM OUTFIT RIGHT NOW," I demanded.
As soon as the words were shouted, both crews descended on us like a swarm of locusts. Everyone was shocked because they'd all watched my little girl grow up. Inara glared at me while Bella just smiled shyly. My little girl skipped over to me, her expression filled with innocence then hugged me and kissed my cheek.
"Silly Daddy, did you think you could plan a caper in the Core without me. Especially since I was the one that alerted the Alliance that Uncle Jayne was attempting that heist," Bella commented sweetly.
"WHAT," Inara and I demanded in unison. Jayne had come back into the room at her admission.
"Badger tried to snake that heist from the Tongs, so he hired Jayne to do the job. What he didn't know was that his chief Syndicate rival, Ivan Gregor, had hired me to get there first. Ivan had already tipped off the local Alliance patrol about the Tongs, so they increased security. I knew Uncle Jayne would attempt to nab the payroll while it was in transit from the bank to the courier ship. I tipped them off, and then nabbed the payroll after it had reached its destination. The Eclipse was going to be doing a legit job on Hera, so I knew Jasper would get word of Jayne's arrest and relay it to you. Then both crews would over plan a jailbreak. Since I'd done the prep work weeks ago, I figured Mom and I could have a little fun and spring the jailbird while you boys twiddled your thumbs. Honestly, Daddy, how did you ever pull a successful caper without Mom," Bella replied and all trace of the little girl I'd bounced on my knee was gone not just in her voice, but the way she cocked her hip and looked at me expectantly.
"I guess its true what they say, the apple never falls far from the tree," Jasper drawled and the others laughed while I gazed at my daughter with a new found respect.
