Disclaimer: I do not own any of Joss Whedon's characters.
Starts in Maidenhead Bar on Beaumonde when River is triggered by the advert.
Mal whipped his head around as he heard Jayne yelling. Getting up and joining the fray,
"What's all this ruckus?" He asked getting up from the booth where he'd been sitting with the Feldman brothers.
Stepping into the bar he was faced with River blurring across the room, taking out every person in her way like they weighed no more than a pillow. Jayne made for her and Mal almost went to intercept, worried what Jayne might do to River and in turn what Simon would do to him should his sister come to harm. Abruptly Mal was reminded it was River that had gone mad starting her own one woman war as she round-house kicked Jayne across the head and he made an almighty thump as he hit the floor.
Mal gave her a width birth and started trying to get round the back of her, though that kept changing as she went. She shot more and more men, making it worse and worse. She had a concentrated look on her face, River wasn't there anymore. At least he hoped not. Mal grabbed his gun as she came round to face him, both had their guns loaded, hers pointed straight at his chest.
She hesitated just a moment, her eyes flickered just a second. BANG.
Jayne woke with a start. He sat up looking around. "What the gorram, Jao Gao, where is that ruttin'..." he stopped as his eyes came upon Mal, he was crouched over a body. Jayne clutched the side of his head, scrunching his eyes.
"Cap'n, I told you that girl was nothin' but dangerous since they came on the ship," he grumbled, clambering to his feet. As he got closer he noticed River was the body Mal was hunched over. "What the hell happened?" Jayne asked suddenly confused.
"You tried to take on our River while she was spookin' and got knocked on the unconcious 'nd.."
Before Mal could finish they heard footsteps hurrying down the entrance stairs to the bar.
"Let's get out back now," Mal ordered gesturing his head behind Jayne. Mal lifted River hurrying the way he had indicated.
"Awww do we have to bring the dang moonbrained menance?!" Jayne griped. He took one last look around all the men River had shot and decided he wasn't sticking round to be blamed as the last man standing.
Two men in suits were coming down the last flight of stairs to the bar lookin' a mite unfriendly, raising their guns. Jayne shot first, they jumped to the side, one bullet grazing the right man's shoulder. Jayne flew after Mal. Coming out the back door he was in an alley, not seeing Mal he lunged left towards sunlight and hoped Mal or Serenity was at the other end waiting.
Skipping down the stairs into the bar she wandered around listening to all the conversations as Mal and Jayne went about their business. Simon wouldn't like her being here, but her big brother was with his lovely Kaylee and she didn't want to get in the way. The TV caught her attention, such wonderful colours and funny dancing dolls, she paused for a moment smiling at the advertisement as she mulled it around her senses...
It only took a moment, she didn't remember getting to this point, but as she focussed her eyes all she saw was Mal standing in front of her, not more than twenty feet away. He pointed a gun at her, she didn't understand why. Then her eyes refocussed and she saw the big black ugly gun in front of her, she wanted to drop it but something fought in her head to keep hold of it, then in that mere flash of a second a cacophony of sound filled her mind and she dropped the gun. Taking one look at Mal she saw the shocked look on his face, the mixture of determination and anguish.
She realised she wasn't breathing properly. She felt like she'd just been punched in the stomach and suddenly her dress began to stick to her stomach, she reached a hand down and brought her hand away red, red like the colour that she'd liked on Jayne, red like the sunset, red like the flowers she had gathered for Kaylee, red like...
"Augggh!" She couldn't stop the sound escaping her lips, it burst forth involuntarily. Just as this happened, her whole body seemed to leave her command. Her knees buckled, her eyes blacked out and she felt like the pain racking her body might burst at the seems and start flooding out of her. Her eyes flickered between on and off, all she could see was the floor, stretching out before her and a pair of out of focus boots coming towards her. Then black.
Tearing through the back streets of this lesser known planet he tried to forget the girl in his arms. She was sleeping, just sleeping. Taking the second right turn, then going under the bridge with the blue sheets hanging on it, he took a final left and found Gal's. Groaning as he lifted her higher and kicked the large wood door to get some attention he lowered her back to his chest level and looked at her for the first time since he'd run from the bar, sweat lined her brow, probably same as his. Looking further down he saw the red spreading from her to him.
"Tian Fan Di Fu, GAL!" Mal roared through the door. "GAL!" He yelled again, about to give up the door opened.
"What the heck is the.." A rasping voice started from behind the door, "Mal, what trouble have you been gettin' into now!" The woman scolded, pulling him by the arm inside. She took one look each way out of her door to check no one was watching and slammed it shut behind them.
Mal walked forward into the dimly lit house, looking for a place to put River. "She's got a bullet in her, needs takin' out now!" Mal asserted, giving Gal a wide-eyed warning of a look.
Gal swept her arm across her kitchen table and slapped a hand down "put her on here.. Quick!"
Gal had first become acquainted with the crew of Serenity and Mal when she had accidentally got caught up in one of their raids that went south planetside. She was a plain sort of a woman, messy blonde curls pulled up round her head framing a cracked face, scars lined her grey eyes. It was only after she learned they were brown coats that she had helped 'em first time. She had fought Independence side in the war, but on a different planet to Mal. She'd deserted when she saw it going south and found safe haven on this planet, minding herself and not making anyone else's business her own either. Mal watched her from the corner as she bent over River, staunching the blood and glowering hard.
"You gonna help me or what gumpot?" She growled from the table. That was her way of calling Mal crazy and he didn't much care for it. He hurried over with the cloth and other things she'd asked him to get from her med kit. She'd been a medic in the war, not one for fighting, but the war had given her reason to get a bit of fight in her. Now she wore it like a cold hard shield. Mal looked down at the frail body he'd punctured, trying not to look up to her face. The doc was a small sort of a man but even he could be deadly if Mal had turned up at Serenity with his sister, having shot her himself. Mal pushed the confrontation to the back of his mind, not wanting to consider what the crew of Serenity would think of him after this. It was his ship after all. He needed to focus. WHACK.
"Ow!" Mal yelled "what was that for?!" Gal had back handed him across the face.
"You looked like you needed bringing back to this 'verse, now give me a ruttin' hand gettin' this bullet out and fixin' this." THUD. THUD. "Who else you been trailin' to my door now Reynolds?" Gal growled from the other side of the table. THUD. THUD. "Take this," She ground out, heading for the door as Mal took her tools from her.
"This ain't what I was hopin' to find on my doorstep any time soon," Mal heard her grumble from the door, "If your gettin' in, do it quickly you great hulkin' oaf."
Ah. Mal thought, Jayne.
"Hold this torch up!" Gal ordered Jayne as they entered the room, thrusting a torch into his hands.
Jayne hung his head grumbling obscenities, but came round to hold up the light non-the-less.
River woke to a harsh light in her eyes. Screwing her eyes shut again she drew a deep breath and nearly choked gasping for breath, pain shot through her head and hands and right down to her legs. Voices, so many voices.
"All she's done is gettin' us in all kinds of gorram trouble," Jayne grumbled from above her head. The pain racked her body and she tried to curl up in a ball and make it stop, but some force pinned her down, she kicked her legs trying to break free. Taking another deep breath her lips quivered and a tears fell down her face, hitting the surface beneath, each with a deafening thud.
"We need to get off this rock," Jayne warned, "the feds are gonna be on us soon!"
"Quit your grippin' or take it elsewhere, we need to get a plan together before we go anywhere or how out that door,"
Mal! Suddenly it all flooded back to her, she'd been looking round the bar, the gorgeous colours, the umbrellas, the leather boots, the moment of panic, the gun.. The gun! She'd shot Mal!
"Mal!.. Mal!" She shouted, trying to find him again.
"Hush now mei-mei," Mal was standing next to her, she could feel his hand on her arm, "we're gonna get you better now, but you need to be strong for us, stay still now."
Her lip quivered again uncontrollable and tears still fell as she gasped against the pain of someone pulling a thread through her skin. She could feel ever pinch, feel every puncture with every fibre of her body, her brain made sure of that.
She cursed with barely a breath to spare.
River was asleep, or unconscious again, he wasn't really sure. He paced the kitchen slowly, staring at the tiled floor, tracing the cracks with his boot. The problem of what to do next glaring him in the face. Going back to Serenity was gonna be a problem. If the feds had found out from anyone that Mal had been there doing business with the Feldman boys they wouldn't stop for one second before they started the man-hunt for him, starting with a search of Serenity. In which case Simon would definitely then find out he'd gotten his sister in some sort of trouble.
Wait a minute, it was River that had been the one with guns blazin', runnin' down every mugshot and nobody in there.
"Reynolds," Mal looked up, dazed, Gal was standing in front of him with two steaming cups in her hand, she handed one to him.
"Thanks," Mal grunted, sighing deeply and running a worn hard across his face.
"What happened out there Reynolds?" Gal asked pointedly, she wasn't one for treading lightly around subjects.
Mal tipped his head from side to side, considering her question. "I couldn't tell you," he resigned himself to saying.
"Well you ain't looked at that girl once since I finished pullin' her back together, did a job go south?" She asked, her brow furrowed. When Mal didn't answered and stared glumly into his cup she asked another question, "What's her name?"
Mal sighed again, glanced over his shoulder at the small bundle on Gal's couch, they'd moved her there after they'd gotten the bullet out and finished sewing her up. She was submerged in old blankets, her hair strewn across her face, Jayne sat in a chair staring at her, keepin' an eye that she didn't start any more funny business as Jayne had put it. Mal knew that was done for now.
"River," he said rubbing his eyes, as if that would erase the image from his head of that moment he'd stuck a piece of metal in her. He thumped his cup down on the side and headed out Gal's backdoor.
