Chapter 4

Chinese Translations:

hun dan- bastard

ge ge- big brother

nao huo- annoying

baobei- sweetheart

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A year later, Conor knew why his mother and Mal had never wanted to talk about the war. He'd seen so much death, so much pain. The Independent's army had moved into the Core and the blood bath had begun, with both sides sustaining heavy losses. Each day the Independent's took more ground, but everyday Serenity was sent in to bring reinforcements and evacuate the wounded.

They'd been hearing rumors of meetings between the Independent's and Alliance leaders. Rumors of peace agreements. But no one really knew whether to believe that.

Sitting on the bridge Conor glanced over at Janey who was sitting in the co-pilot's seat. She looked much older than her twenty years. Though due to their upbringing none of them had really been innocent, a part of him wished she didn't look so old. His eyes passed over her right arm, bare by her tank top, forever horribly scarred by a serious burn she'd gotten from a seeker three weeks ago.

Conor turned back to stare into the black and let the stars calm him. There were on their way to Persephone. Bringing reinforcements. The cargo bay, passenger dorms, and mess were filled to capacity. Some 200 soldiers packed into Serenity's holds.

"What's our ETA?"

Conor turned and saw Amir walk onto the bridge. "Bout an hour," he responded.

Amir nodded and leaned against the consol next to Janey. "Are you in any pain?"

Janey, absently playing with one of Conor's dinosaurs, shook her head. Conor's chest ached a little. It seemed so long since he'd seen her smile.

"Well," Amir continued, "if it starts to hurt let me know."

At Janey's non-committal nod, Conor decided he had to try. "Janey girl, you sure your face ain't hurtin'?"

Janey looked at him, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"Cause it's sure killin' me," Conor finished.

Janey's mouth twitched slightly before finally breaking into a smile and then she laughed outright. Amir and Conor joined in her laughter and the three crew members basked in a rare moment of humor. Janey threw the dinosaur at Conor.

"Hun dan,"she said.

"Oh hey," Amir said, turning to Conor, "Someone in the cargo bay told me that you girlfriend might be on Persephone right now."

Conor felt his face get hot. This was ridiculous. He was far too old to blush.

"Megan's on Persephone?" Janey asked.

"Guy seemed to think so."

Janey threw a teasing look at Conor. "You might wanna wash your face ge ge."

Conor just rolled his eyes but inside his heart rate rose slightly at the thought of the field medic who they'd met several months ago on Dameon. They'd gone to evacuate a large group of wounded and Megan had come with to help Amir. In the 26 hours she was on the ship Conor had been smitten. They'd run into her a few more times and each time Conor found himself more and more drawn to her. And though he wasn't sure, he thought maybe she was drawn to him too.

The last time they had seen each other had been a month ago. She'd come aboard with a batch of wounded to get transport back to a Rim hospital. They'd sat looking over the cargo bay talking for two hours. When she'd finally had to go, neither wanted to leave. He'd told her that when the war ended, he'd take her to the Haven and they could spend a week just sitting around a fire listening to Jayne play guitar and Mal tell stories. She'd smiled at this, but it was a tired smile of one who didn't quite believe they'd live to see the end of the war. Then she'd leaned over and kissed him, her hands resting lightly against his chest as his came to cup the sides of her face.

When the finally pulled apart it was too soon but Conor had to land the ship and Megan needed to help get the wounded ready to move. When he'd helped her to her feet she'd kissed him again briefly.

"In case I don't get another chance," she'd whispered.

Amir slapped Conor on the shoulder, bringing him out of his memory. "I know you wanna see her but don't crash us trying to get there."

"We're crashing again?" Mia asked, coming onto the bridge.

"Nah we're shiny Cap," Janey said. "Just giving Conor a hard time."

Though he didn't enjoy being the subject of ridicule, Conor couldn't help but enjoy the teasing. If he tried really hard he could almost forget the war. He could pretend that they were on their way to a job rather than to a battle.

But when the sensors began to indicate the approaching planet Conor and the rest were pulled back into reality. They had a mission to complete.

"Janey go make sure everyone's ready," Mia said.

Janey nodded and hurried off the bridge.

"I'd better go too. I'm sure there'll be wounded when we land," Amir said.

Mia went to the vid screen. "Independent's base this is Serenity. Do you copy?"

After a moment of static a face appeared. "Serenity this is Colonel Jacob Thom of the 83rd battalion please relay access codes."

Conor hit a few buttons on the consol. In response Colonel Thom sent back his own code. "You have a landing site for us Colonel?" he asked once they'd both confirmed the other's identity.

"Uploading coordinates now."

"What's your situation?" Mia asked.

"We've got the Alliance forces surrounded and cut off but not enough firepower to take them."

"Well we're carrying plenty of firepower Sir," Mia said. "See you on the ground. Serenity out."

Once they were on the ground things happened very quickly. The four battalions they had been brought as back-up got off the ship as their commanders were given orders. Mia and Janey went with Thom to help evaluate the situation while Amir headed straight for the Aid Tent. Hobie and Conor went to work making sure the ship was ready to take off with any wounded that needed it.

Two hours later the Alliance troops consisted of thirty foot soldiers who had surrendered to the Independent's forces. Persephone was now under Independent's control. The prisoners were brought back to the Independent's base camp. Thom told Mia that another ship was on its way to transport them.

According to Amir and Megan, who had been there after all, twenty soldiers needed transport to a hospital but none of them were all that serious. Serenity would also be taking two of the five battalions.

"Are you coming with?" Mia asked Megan.

Megan smiled, "Not this time. There are some wounded in the city that I should see to."

"My pilot's gonna be awfully disappointed. He sulked for days after you left last time."

"Is that so?"

"Oh yeah," Janey put in, "he was so nao huo. Worse than the time he thought he lost his T-Rex."

"I should go say hi," Megan said.

"I'd be willin' to guess that he and Hobie are almost finished up. I'll call 'em out here." Mia spoke quickly into her comm. and in a moment Conor was climbing out of the ship. When he saw Megan he couldn't stop the smile that crept across his face.

There had been several times in Conor's life where time seemed to slow down and each moment felt like its own eternity swirling around his head. The day a four year old Mia fell down the cargo bay steps. The time he was shot in the stomach by Badger. The first time he'd almost crashed the ship.

When on of the Alliance prisoners grabbed his guard's gun and began shooting, Conor didn't know if a moment or an hour had passed. All he knew was when time went back to normal, he was pressing his hands against Megan's side and screaming for help. The blood began running through his fingers and he felt Mia at his side.

"Conor we've got to get her to the infirmary."

Conor nodded. Ripping off his outer shirt he tied the material around Megan's waist and then lifted her into his arms and headed for the infirmary.

"Is anyone else hurt?" Megan asked weakly, looking up at him with unfocused eyes.

"Colonel Thom has a graze but that's it."

"Is someone…looking at it?"

"Don't worry about it baobei."

"You didn't have to go to…so much trouble…just to show off for me," her breath was coming in spurts now.

"Well," he replied as he made his way up the stairs and through Serenity's corridors, "you know how much I like to impress."

"My hero," Megan whispered as he placed her on the infirmary table. Amir was working quickly, yelling to Janey to get him different instruments.

Before he was pushed out of the way Conor brushed Megan's hair out of her face. "That's me," he said, "big damn hero." He kissed her forehead and then moved so that Amir could work. Turning to Mia who was standing in the doorway he walked out of the infirmary. "Is everyone on?"

"We're loaded up."

"Permission to take off Captain?"

"Get us out of here ge ge."

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