A/N: Okay, so two months ago I started posting this, made one update like a week later and then abandoned it - for this I am sorry. I truly do appreciate the reviews I have received so far and I do hope I haven't lost all my readers by leaving you guys hanging so long. If you do read this, a review would be appreciated so I know the 'audience' is still there!
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)
Chapter 3
Wash loved when things ran smooth. It didn't happen a whole lot onboard Serenity, and he learnt to live with that. He made his peace with the fact of it on the day he first signed up to be the pilot of the little Firefly, abandoning the dream of flying a luxury liner or some such. That was a dream he had long since outgrown, in fact he let go of it quite happily the moment he met the Captains first mate, Zoe.
Love at first sight, it was a corny line that even his darling wife couldn't fully understand but Wash built a new dream around that woman and it had more than come true. It was times like this, sat alone on the bridge, coasting through the black, that he had time to reflect and smile at the happiness that was life.
No, he didn't get a lot of smooth running, none of them did, but it was worth the rough times to be here with a wife he adored, a child that he loved more than the 'verse itself, and a family of friends he'd never want to be without. Calm, happy, serene, ironically, but it never lasted, and Wash often ended these happy peaceful moments of quiet reflection with panic and mayhem as the latest disaster hit the happy band upon their Firefly ship. Today would be no different.
A beeping sound from the console caught his attention, and Wash dropped his foot down from its resting place on his opposite knee to sit straight and pay attention to what was going on.
"Inara?" he said to himself as he realised the alarm was letting him know her shuttle was detaching.
She wasn't scheduled to leave. Nobody told him, and either she or the Captain usually would. It made him worry and quickly Wash hit the comm.
"Inara?" he called to her, "Everything okay in there? I got a beeping that's telling me you're on the move. Anything I should worry about?" he checked.
No answer came and Wash frowned as he double checked the console, wondering if perhaps the flashing light and beeping sound was a fault, that perhaps Inara wasn't gong anywhere at all. Of course it could also mean one of the kids was about to fly solo or some kind of evil-doer had managed to get into the shuttle from the outside - it wouldn't be the first time, after all!
"Kaylee!" he tried calling through to the engine room next, "Do we got a gremlin gummin' up the works, or is someone taking off in Inara's shuttle?" he checked.
"I got no faults here, Wash" her voice came back fuzzy through the comm, "Maybe she has a Client to go see" she suggested, "Though she didn't say nothin' about it..."
"Affirmative, Kaylee, I'll try to get a hold of the, Cap'n" Wash told her, switching channels and doing just that, "Captain, we may have a problem" he said over the comm that broadcast everywhere, "Nothin' to panic on folks but maybe the Captain would like to come to the bridge... round about now would be good" he said, trying to keep the worry out of his tone for fear of causing a panic.
Something wasn't right here, he could just feel it. Something inside just screamed that things were going south, which was a feeling Wash ought to be used to after all this time.
"Mi Tian Gohn" he swore colourfully just as Mal appeared in the doorway, covering one ear against the high-pitched din that emanated from the console.
"Wash, what in the gorram hell is going on in here? Sounds like a bunch of crickets havin' a shindig on my bridge!" he complained.
"Oh, we're havin' a great time, Mal" chuckled Wash, though no humour was present in his tone as he flipped switches and had a mini-panic, "I got two shuttles trying to detach, gettin' no answer from Inara and just about to try the other"
"Give me that!" he commanded, Captainy as ever was Mal as he grabbed the comm from his Pilot and spoke loud and clear, "This is Captain Reynolds speaking. Whom-so-ever is stealing my shuttles, I wanna know about it right now!" he boomed, all in authority, though it did no good.
Indeed, there were no thieves aboard Serenity, nobody who wasn't part of the crew at least. Inara wished she could switch off the comms that boomed with her lovers voice as she set about flying away from here, but the ship was built as such that no matter what buttons were pushed inside her shuttle the controls at Serenity's bridge could and would override.
A pillow stuffed up by the main speaker muffled the sound of Mal asking what in the gorram hell was going on, and Inara fought tears and the urge to say anything but a whispered apology to him as she forced the shuttle free of its rightful place in Serenity's side and flew off into the black.
Inara was unaware that the second shuttle was about to detach and fly in the opposite direction just as fast. At its controls, a boy who had learnt long ago how to fly, a natural talent that had been nurtured by Wash and his parents both. Daniel Cobb was a fine pilot and today he would prove his smarts, though no-one would know it was him til he was long gone.
"Wash, you stay here, try to make contact with either shuttle" Mal told him after too long of yelling and cursing through various comm channels and checking all manner of controls, "Seems I got a roll call to get through" he muttered then, storming off the bridge and almost knocking Kaylee and Simon flying as they came hurrying to see what the problem was.
"Is everythin' okay, Cap'n?" the mechanic asked worriedly.
"Depends. Where are ya young 'uns?" he asked them quickly.
"They're fine" Simon explained, "I left Persephone and Nathanial with River..." he continued on, only to be cut off by an almost blood-curdling scream from his sister.
"Wuh de ma!" yelled Mal as he tore off down the corridor with the couple in quick pursuit, the only person travelling the other way was Zoe scarmbling to the bridge to check on her husband.
The others all ran down the stairs from the catwalk, in tandem with Jayne who doubtless had heard the yellin' just the same. All four of the crew landed in the cargo bay at the same second to find the kids gathered around River. Poor woman was laid out on the floor, screaming still as if her world were ending, clutching at her head as if a war had broke out 'tween her ears.
"River!" it was as if Jayne were a man possessed as he leapt into action, his yelling splitting the kids just as fast as Moses parted the Red Sea, and he was on his knees, gathering his wife up into his arms in a moment, "Bao-bei, talk to me!" he urged her.
It had been a good long while since she'd flipped out in quite this fashion, and even Simon who most understood the science of all his sister had been put through was shocked to see such a reaction from her after all this time.
She would never be normal, not in the real sense of the word, not after all she had suffered and endured, but for years now her periods of calmness and sanity had been lengthening. This kind of fit, for want of a better term, had not been experienced in such a long time.
River wailed and writhed in her husbands arms, refusing to be calm in seemed, though he doubted she could help it. Jayne held her body close, his hands firm on her arms, ensuring she would not do herself harm as she lashed around as if in a nightmare.
"Get these kids outta here" he urged Kaylee who did just that, encouraging Simon to go with her.
He wasn't keen, but the Doctor did know that if anyone could help River be calm it would be Jayne. She clearly suffered no injury, her suffering was contained within her mind and she would not be calm when surrounded by so many faces that would doubtless be unfamiliar within her state of confusion.
"Listen to me, River, ain't nothin' to be afraid of, I'm here" said Jayne, the same words over and over until her screamin' broke down some, became just tears and anguish written on her features, "C'mon, bao-bei, ain't nothin' to fear" he promised her, rocking her body with his as he held her tight, bringing any comfort he could to his beloved wife who had suffered far too much in her young life.
Mal was pleased to have the banshee-type wailin' over with, but he still wanted to know why it had all begun, what River mighta seen in her head as the crisis broke out. If anyone was to know what was happenin' here, it would be his Reader, though right now she looked in no fit state to explain. At the very least, Mal had the assurance none of the little ones had been playin' in the shuttles and got into trouble, they'd all been here til a moment ago.
"Baby flew away" said River then, her words obscured by emotion and muffled against Jayne's shoulder as he held her tight still, "Grew wings when our backs were turned, beaks like needles in his heart, and mice would steal his home, no home, home is where the heart is til it forgot how to beat when broken"
"You follow any o' that?" Mal asked Jayne hopefully, knowing if anyone could unscramble such a code it might just be the man who knew River best and loved her most.
"Lao-tyen, boo!" the mercenary cursed, "Where's Danny?" he asked Mal who shook his head in the negative and moved towards the comm.
"Daniel Cobb, you hear this message you damn well answer me!" he yelled through the system, "I swear you on this ship Danny and you ain't answerin' me..."
"Can't" River shook her head sadly, "Lost forever to the black. Blacker than the darkest hour. She was not his guide or safety, the swan flies alone, solo" she fought to explain through a scramble of mixed thoughts and emotions, struggling as she sometimes did to gain a grip on reality and memories that filled her head still but did not belong to her.
When calm, she could usually distinguish the two, remind herself that she was safe here with family and friends, love and warmth. She could not forget, but she could keep up a few barriers if she tried, block a little of what she feared, the things that did not belong. In a fit of panic as she had been just now, too many strong emotions flowing in from those she loved dear, it too easily overpowered the poor woman and it had taken a combination of quiet and her husband's arms around her to make her calm again. Still, she knew she must try to make more sense, for the Captain's sake if nothing else.
"They are gone" she said clearly, "Both flown away, all full of dark"
"Danny's gone?" checked Jayne, such a look on his face as River had not seen in years, a terrible mixture of pain and anger and fear that she so hated to see.
"Rejection, pain... he feels too much" she explained as best she could, "Ran away"
"And Inara?" Mal cut in without a thought, "She gone too?"
"Secrets and lies" nodded River in response, sniffing hard and wiping her face with the back of her hand, still able to look surprinsgingly childlike despite the fact she was all woman these days, "Couldn't stay, couldn't risk the loss"
Mal didn't understand, couldn't take in what he was being told. Sure, River didn't exactly make a boatload of sense for the most part anyhow, but he'd learnt to unravel her simpler riddles. From what she as sayin' it would seem as if Inara had bolted for fear of what might happen if she stayed. Fear of things going wrong maybe, but Mal couldn't figure how she'd gotten so worked up about it. They'd got along well enough these past few years. He'd learned to deal with the nature of her work as she'd made her peace with his. Last night she'd slept in his arms like so many times before, promises of love passing between them, no mention of anythin' bein' wrong that Mal could recall.
"Er, Captain?" a voice called from the catwalk above, and three pair of eyes looked up to see the Shepherd leant on the railing, "I believe our runaways meant to explain their reasons for fleeing" he explained, showing he had at least two pieces of paper in his hands.
Mal came bolting up the steps, with Jayne not far behind, his hand holding on tightly to River's own as the worried parents ascended the stairs just as fast as the Captain. Book sadly looked between the three and held out the papers he had found.
"This was in the galley" he told Mal as he handed him a fine envelope that stated his name in flowing hand, "and this was tacked to the door of your bunk" he said to River and Jayne as he passed her a folded piece of paper that simply read 'Ma & Pa'.
And so River's words were proven to be true: Daniel and Inara were both gone.
To Be Continued...
