Tales of the Verse
a Firefly/Castle fanfiction

Six-year-old Alexis bounced on her knees on top of the covers on her bed, pajamas on and teeth brushed. She was waiting for her daddy to take his shoes off so he could climb on her bed to tell her a story.

He settled against the headboard and Alexis cuddled into his arm, legs slipping under the blankets.

"What story do you want today?" he asked.

Alexis thought for a minute. She had already heard everything on her shelves like a bajillion times. So, something new.

"Make one up," she demanded, "but no princesses. Adventure!" She threw her hands up in the air.

Her dad chuckled. "I think I can do adventure. A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away—"

"No!" Alexis shouted, giggling, "That's Star Wars."

He smiled at her. "You caught me. Okay, for real this time." Alexis settled back down against her dad. "In the future, the Earth got used up, so humans moved out and terraformed a whole new galaxy of Earths, some rich and flush with the new technologies, some not so much. The central planets formed the Alliance and decided all the planets had to join under their rule. A few idiots tried to fight it, among them a man named Malcolm Reynolds. After the war, he became captain of Serenity. She's a transport ship, Firefly class. Had a good crew: fighters, pilot, mechanic. After the War, many of the Independents who had fought and lost drifted to the edges of the system, far from Alliance control. Out there, people struggled to get by with the most basic technologies. A captain's goal was simple: find a crew, find a job, keep flying."

Alexis drifted off to the sound of Malcolm Reynolds and his crew fighting bad guys to get the job done, and from that moment on, she would always ask for another story about Mal and his crew.

For Halloween that year, she was a space cowboy. No one really understood her costume, but she and her dad did, so it didn't matter.

As she grew older, the stories got darker. Her dad retold the tales, but less censored than before.

When she was eleven, she asked if Inara and Mal ever get together.

"No, they never had the chance," he said with a hint of sadness.

"Why not? It seems like they both really like each other. You're making the story; make them get together."

Her dad sighed and ran his hand through her hair. "It doesn't work like that, sweetie."

"Is it because they're based off of real people?" she asked.

He sputtered. "W-what gave you that idea?"

She shrugged. "You always mention weird little things they'd do that don't really have to do with the story."

"You're really too smart for your own good, you know that?"

"And that doesn't answer my question," she insisted.

Her dad sighed. "Of a sort. Time for sleep."

Alexis pouted but allowed her dad to crawl out of her bed and turn off the light. "Night, dad."

"G'night."

"Why don't you publish all those stories?" Alexis asked out of the blue while doing her sophomore English homework. She had to write a short fiction piece, so she chose to use the Verse as a starting point and work her way from there.

"Which stories?" he asked from his position on the couch, laptop in hand.

"The space cowboy ones. I'm sure they'd make a lot."

Her dad stopped typing and just stared at the screen on his lap. "It's not a happy story."

"Neither are your current novels. What's any different about those?"

"It…it's just a bit too personal."

Alexis looked at him weird, but dropped the subject, sensing he didn't want to talk. "What's for dinner?" she asked instead.

He didn't reply for a minute. "How about Thai?"

She nodded. "Sounds good. I'll go get the menu."

Alexis was finally moving out of her dad's place for good and moving into her own apartment with her current long-term boyfriend of four-years. She had just come home to get the last of her things. Her dad and Kate had been married almost six years now and their four-year-old son, George, was the splitting image of her dad, but he had Kate's temperament and eyes.

She watched her dad type a few more sentences into a word document. About a year ago, she managed to convince him to publish the Verse. Recently, she noticed that every time he would tell her a story from the Verse, he would get an almost wistful look on his face, like he was remembering something he missed very much.

"Did you ever manage to find a way back?" she asked.

He jumped, startled. Obviously, he didn't hear her come in.

"Back? Back where?" he asked, shutting the laptop after saving.

She came in and sat in the chair across from his desk. "To the Verse. I figured out that you were Mal a few years ago."

He sighed and deflated in his chair. "Why didn't you say anything?" he asked.

Alexis shrugged. "I figured you would tell me if you wanted and when you were ready, but the look on your face just now." She paused. "I'm sorry I insisted that you write the books. I thought it would help you."

Her dad smiled and moved chairs to sit next to her, pulling her into an awkward two-chair hug. "Oh, Alexis, you have helped me. More than you'll ever know." He pulled back. "Yes, writing about my old life is hard, but the legend of Serenity lives on through you and my books. And I know, even without me in her, she's still flying high with the greatest and most loyal crew a captain could want."

"You haven't found a way back, have you?" Alexis asked again.

Her dad looked away for a second than back at her. "No. I haven't. Even if I did, I don't know if I would go. I have a life here. You, George, Kate, mother, everyone at the precinct."

Alexis nodded and wiped away the tears on her face. "I wouldn't blame you, you know. If you wanted to go back. You could take Kate and George. He loves your stories. Mal's his hero." She smiled.

Her dad swallowed thickly. "It's a moot point anyway. I don't have a way back."

Alexis just smiled at him and dropped the subject.

Ten years later, her six-year-old daughter, Emily, was eating lunch at the kitchen table when the phone rang.

"Hello?" she answered.

"I love you, Alexis," her dad replied.

Her brow furrowed. "Is everything alright, dad?"

She heard him take a deep breath. "I just wanted to hear your voice one last time."

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Oh, give me that," Kate said. The phone changed hands. "Alexis, your dad is fine. Apparently, he's had a way to get back to his own time since he got here."

"What?"

"We just wanted to call and tell you that we were leaving. We'll try to stop by for Emily's milestones, but just in case we don't…"

"We'll miss you," Alexis said, starting to cry.

"Here's your dad, again."

"Are you absolutely sure you're okay with me leaving?" he asked.

Alexis nodded even though he couldn't see. "Go home, dad. Prove to your crew you can handle being married. I love you, too."

"Give Emily our love."

Alexis sniffled. "I will. Give 'em hell."

"We will. Keep the Verse alive." She could hear tears in his voice, as well.

"I will," she choked out. "Bye, dad."

"Stay shiny, Alexis." The line clicked off.

She put the phone back in its charging station and stared at the counter. Even though she said it was fine, her dad was still gone. She didn't hold out hope for him visiting in the short-term. He had his wife and son, not to mention an entire crew, he would be fine. She wasn't sure that she would be, though.

"Mommy?" Emily questioned, pulling on Alexis' pants. "Why are you sad?"

Alexis smiled and kneeled down to look her daughter in the eye. "Your grandpa and grandma went to visit some old friends for a while, and I'm going to miss them a lot."

"George, too?"

She smiled. "Yes, honey, George went too." She took her daughter's hand and led her to the couch. "Have I ever told you about a spaceship named Serenity?"

The End.

Instead of writing a much longer Firefly/Castle story, I got this spark of inspiration and I had to write it. Sorry for the tears.

~Lord Rebecca-sama