A/N: So...this is just the prolouge, the actual beginnings of the whole story and stuff. I will update as often as I can write and the pace will pick up slightly after this one. Please read and enjoy, :)
Disclaimer: The original characters do not belong to me but to their inventor and mastermind Joss Whedon, damn...
After 17 years of being missing and presumed dead, SHE returns to Serenity to meet the new crew. Sporting a browncoat and an interesting hidden story to tell, life gets awkward and complicated onboard the boat.
Picking up the small delicate flower she took a whiff of its exotic scent and allowed it to fill her senses, her legs wondering freely with carefree wonder further into the crowds at the sight of a stand filled with the same purple flowers that held red and white speckles in the petals. Twirling the one in her hand reminded her of a kaleidoscope as the colours mixed and collided in various streams of rainbows, her eyes being tantalized by the sight as it took over her senses.
Arriving at the stand she gazed up with awe and joyful curiosity at the many flowers that lay decorating the wooden stall in fashions of colours and scents, all colliding and overwhelming her synapses with joy and excitement. Never, in all her seven years, had she seen such a beautiful sight or smelt anything as wondrous as this, the closest things being her mother's shuttle that was always smelling of a different incense stick every day, making it a new wonder.
Looking down at the tiny gatherings in her hand of small stemmed picked flowers, she stared longingly at the more beautiful and much better flowers that stood around her. "Hey there little girl," the nicely trimmed, slightly messy black haired stall man pronounced with his soft voice, his friendly and warm green eyes staring down at her.
'Don't talk to strangers 'less one of us or one of ya aunties or uncles are with ya,' that was rule number two and her mind failed to follow her fathers words as she squeaked out a small, "Hello."
"Well aren't those pretty," he nodded to her small bouquet of wild flowers she had picked along the docks in Persephone. She compared it to the clean cut flowers the vendor had and considered hers to be pathetic to his pretty flowers.
"They are," she squeezed out as she stared at the flowers longingly.
He looked at her again and turned his head around them, staring at the bustling crowd and the flashings of colour that swept by them, his eyes going back to the little and fragile girl in front of him, his mind rushing with thoughts of her parents and why such a little angel was all on her own. "Where are ya parents lil one?"
Her eyes widened and she stared around to see legs of strangers blocking her view, even when she strained her neck and stood on her toes the highest she could reach was the waists of the people mulling past her, not taking any notice of her as they bumped into her and nudged her this way and that, causing her to shrink back to the wooden stall for protection. "I can't see them," her voice cracked, as her eyes welled up with a few tears that she blinked back. Cornering herself as close to the strange but friendly man as possible she kept her eyes on the crowds, she scanned at the gaps between legs hoping to get a glimpse of her home.
Failing to do so a few salty and stray tears broke through their seal and trickled solemnly down her face in fear of being left behind, no matter how much she knew her parents loved her she still feared that they would leave her because they thought she was already on board Serenity. Small gasps escaped her lips as her bottom lip quivered with the threat of boiling over into a full blown break down at losing her family. She kept her eyes on the area she thought the docks were in and jumped when the purple bellied fed that she hadn't seen crouch down next to her spoke, interrupting her tears and causing her to clamp her mouth shut, "Hey there cutie, what's a little pretty thing like you doing all on your own?"
She stared at him, knowing full well that purple bellies can't be trusted she hugged her tiny bouquet closer to her chest as she took an instinctive step back. 'Never trust the feds,' that was another of the rules that the crew had on board the ship. It was one of a great many that they said keep them alive and out of trouble. His blues eyes that held speckles of green were warm to her, friendly and his soft face was anything but harsh as he held his arms to her, "How about I try and help you to find them okay? Come on, I'm not going to hurt you."
She eyed him up carefully, checking his face for any hints of a lie like she had been taught to by her Uncle Jayne and mother. Looking for the badge that sat on his belt she hesitated before shaking her head and taking another step back and away from the fed. "Come on little one, I only want to help you get home. Little angels like you don't belong on the streets." He paused and she thought over his words, wondering if for once she could break that rule and trust a fed, "How old are you?"
She hesitated again before deciding that telling him her age wouldn't be too bad and wouldn't certainly give her any trouble, "Seven."
"Seven, well your parents must be near by." He inched closer and picked her up underneath her arms and sat her on his hip, her head backing away before relaxing into friendly arms and resting on his shoulder as she stared at the flowers in her hand and the floor that seemed to fall beneath her. "Come on, they can't be too far can they?"
The vendor held out a flower as the fed was about to walk away with the little girl in his arms, "Hold on," coming around to face the little girl who had little ebony curls that framed her pale complexion, worried brown eyes wide with comfort and anxiety, he held it out to her, waiting for her to take it, "A pretty flower to add to the pretty collection for the pretty girl." He smiled and watched as her fear was replaced with wonder and awe at the gift.
Bidding the vendor goodbye the Alliance Federal began to turn and walk away, bopping the little girl on his side up and down slightly in comfort as she called over his shoulder to the vendor, "Thank you." Looking down he found her staring at the red lily, peace and serene crossing her features. When she looked up at him it was replaced by concern and worry, her eyes soon turning away and scanning over the mulling crowds heads for sight of her family. Spotting the elegantly dressed woman sat on a fold up chair that must have been Aunt Kaylee's, who was stood there with a basket of freshly found engine parts in hand, her smile widened and her face expanded with a smile of pure bliss and utter joy at the discovery. "Mother," she cried out, trying to wriggle out of the fed's arms whose grip only tightened on the little bundle. "You can put me down now, I found them, look," she pointed and turned back to the Alliance's face to find the friendly warm face replaced by one of anger and punishment.
"I'm not allowed to do that," he uttered and her face fell as she was dumbstruck that she shouldn't have trusted the much trusted man. She opened her mouth to scream for her father or mother only to find it covered.
Panic. Panic swept through and took over her body as the white cotton fabric clamped over her small mouth, a strange odor filling her nostrils as her eyes began to feel heavy against her exertion to keep them open. When her head was tilted to rest on his shoulder her eyes fluttered close before opening one more time, her panicked and sleepy eyes catching the sight of her father's worried face, running past her with Uncle Jayne's own face of panic set across his features.
Thinking they must have just realised she had disappeared her heart tore in two and beat with hope that they'd turn around and see her being carried away. Lifting her heavy head up slightly, she rested her chin on his shoulder, her eyes dancing lazily across the heads of people and landing on the dock that Serenity was stationed at. All she saw was panic and grief, sadness in everybody's eyes as they swept along the crowds of people, looking high and low for her. "Dad, Mom," she choked out through her dreary throat as it closed up on her.
She was right here, high above the crowds as they searched in the wrong direction. Eyes flashed in her direction and she opened her mouth, intending for it to tell them 'Help', only her voice had been lost at that precise moment. Her heart skipped a beat as she faintly caught sight of her father and Uncle Jayne trying their hardest to squeeze past the busy crowds towards her with rage and anguish written across their faces. Feeling her head tugged to sit underneath his chin she yawned unwillingly, her heart beating slower and slower as they neared a black vehicle that was hidden at the end of the shopping street. Hearing the click of the door open she opened her eyes slightly to see hands of blue reaching out and pulling her body into a plush leather seat. "Good job Bailey," a harsh and cold voice cut through her ears and she mustered the last of her energy to look up at the man that was on her left.
Taking in every detail of him her eyes fluttered close as her head slumped forward, her body being pushed back and strapped in as the hum of the vehicle and vibrations of an engine filtered through her ears. "One loss for another," that crude voice spat again and she managed to utter the first set of words she could think of for her situation, causing the two grown men at either side of her to tut at her choice of words.
"Ta ma de, you go tsao de, liou coe shway duh biao-tze huh hoe-tze duh ur-tze."
"That isn't very nice language from such a little girl," the slicked back black haired man next to her said. Her mouth couldn't function a response as her senses and mind slowly shut down, the effect of the drug they had doped her with taking full effect on her.
Right before she blacked out and darkness consumed her, shame flooded through her at disobeying her father's rule that morning before he had left to secure a job deal. Her mind flashed with images of what he would say to her when he found her, her mind not conjuring much as it slowly left reality. The delicate red lily she had been given falling from her hand along with the other flowers, to the floor of the vehicle where they lay scattered and unattended for.
The blue hands that was on her left looked down at her sleeping form, seeing her finally sleeping he laughed, knowing that this action would cripple Malcolm Reynolds and their crew just as they had crippled the Alliance.
Since the Miranda broad wave people had been losing much well earned trust and respect in the Alliance, their people slowly slipping through their fingers right before their eyes. The crew of Serenity was responsible for this, and they were certainly going to pay.
Looking down at the little girl again he smiled and looked back to his fellow comrades, his mind relishing another reason to make them pay, because the Alliance were positive that there would a second uprising, another war and that was something they wanted to be ready for and have the advantage over. They would rather not have a war but if the people called for a war, it was a war they would get, and he was going to make sure that the little makeshift family on board the scrap heap firefly would be the first to pay the price.
What better way to send a message, and make them aware that they were not safe anywhere. What better way than to hurt them all. Who better to hurt them with than the captain's very own little daughter.
Chinese Translations
Ta ma de, you go tsao de, Liou coe shway duh biao-tze huh hoe-tze duh ur-tze - - - Dammit, you dog humping, son of a drooling whore and monkey.
A/N: That's the first chapter, and I hope you stay tuned for more :) I'll update as soon as I can.