I don't own Firefly characters, just Ayme, Gavon, Ted, Roy. Oh and thanx for reading! PLEASE REVIEW! REVIEWS ARE EVER SO NICE! THANK YOU TO LEAMARIE, Irresistibly desired, avaleighfitzgerald, mistymixwolf aka Perch, Skychaser, me (whomever you might be:)), eli/Zandora now, charlotte temples, PseudonymA1, miss jasadinand angw for giving me reviews! I LOVE YOU PPL! If you didn't review then I would've thrown this story out the window lol. I didn't wrote the song in this chapter either, it's a modified version of the song "24" by SWITCHFOOT, its all them baby! And thanx to them for letting me borrow it!
What Is Human?
Chapter 14-----Not A Serious Problem
Only four more days until Newhall was in Serenity's sights. Gavon had done what he said he was going to do, with Shepherd's help he made a breakfast that took up most of the table and everyone had some including Froggy/Butch. Ayme had eaten more that morning than she knew she could, almost a normal amount for any other person. It felt wonderful just being there, just living on somewhat her own, her body felt stronger and more able, her lungs didn't suffer as much, her body could regulate and keep its own temperature and she didn't feel like a misfit, or a stranger.
Mal had been…dodgy of Inara that morning but her usual short and professional attitude had come out again, Mal realizing then that she had forgiven him, or just forgotten. Either way it was to his advantage and his health.
Simon and Kaylee, well, kept their mouths shut for the time being. Something about the whole ordeal of them finally being together still a little early to inform the crew, and if one of the others knew then Mal would know and Simon did not want to be shot again. However things seemed different between them at the table, the air seemed calmer and they seemed closer. There was a small amount of suspicion spoiling around the crew as Simon seemed to be more vocal and Kaylee had became less chatty. There were spats between Simon and Jayne as usual, and Kaylee trying to defend someone or another or the kitten from Mal even though Froggy had grown accustom to sitting on laps rather than the table itself.
Gavon seemed cheerful enough but something about his countenance made Ayme nervous, the sight of his guns giving her the small push towards the suspicion. It could have been the reaver attack that made him feel the need to carry his guns at his side again, but something didn't add up there.
However Gavon wanted to talk to Mal about his visitation with Roy. If Roy was really talking about the frequency…then he might be more troublesome than Gavon had first suspected. It was true, it had been a few years since he and Gavon had crossed paths, and back then Gavon had no problem taking him to the so called cleaners, but if the Alliance had contacted him directly with this…they had either become very stupid and their standards had gotten lower or somehow Roy had gotten some reminisce of a brain.
Down in the cargo hold Gavon had taken his new guitar and tried to tune it to the best of his ability, not having picked up anything bigger than his small harp piece in a very long time. He sat with his legs dangling down on the flat metal path, picking at the strings and adjusting them above, twisting them tighter or looser.
River on the next level sat staring up at the ceiling listening to the humming inside her head, the songs of many playing over and over again in her mind as the small kitten had curled and fallen asleep on her stomach, rising and falling with her breathing. She set her hand on the soft orange fur, feeling how warm he was and how strong he had become. Within eating for two days and the help of many he had the stomach of a small baseball, his fur had begun to grow back in places it had been burned bald or ceased to grow, and his mind was surely better, no longer scared, cold, frozen and fearful of death.
She pet him lightly, humming louder as he began to purr and rolled his head up side down for her to pet his chin during his afternoon nap. Surely he was growing.
"There's a story about you," River stated to the cat who wasn't really listening. "A wolf raises you, and you raise him, did you know that?"
The cat still did not answer, only purred as she continued to rub his chin.
"I want to be raised by a wolf too," River replied, turning her head towards new footsteps clanking on the metallic walk way. Mal made his way for Gavon after Gavon had requested to talk to him in a somewhat private place.
"Hi there kid," Mal said with a small smile on his face, sitting down next to Gavon as he set the guitar aside. "Somethin' the matter?"
"D'you remember me telling you about a guy named Roy?" Gavon stated.
"You told me that he'd be no problem, yes," Mal muttered, nodding his head.
"I had a recent encounter with him," Gavon said without hesitation. "Down on the fueling station market place, I think he might be followin' us, I think he might've been hired to."
"He told you all this? Just blurt it all out?" Mal asked his nerves on end and his temper beginning to breach his surface.
"Well, no, not exactly," Gavon said quietly. "See, I used to run circles around this guy—"
"That'd be that wanderin' the verse job?" Mal questioned.
"Before that one," Gavon replied. "I just know this guy's words, and why he chooses them and all…and what he said to me made me think he knows too much."
"What'd he say?" Mal questioned in a low, demanding tone.
"Plain and simple? He basically said that Ted isn't gonna see Ayme, ever, and something about the Alliance ships exploding," Gavon sighed out the long amount of words. Mal's face turned pale and his mouth tightened.
"You said no Alliance," Mal said still quieter.
"Roy ain't exactly Alliance," Gavon answered. "He'd be hired by them, but he won't do their methods."
"Why would they then? Alliance wouldn't really trust anyone but their own," Mal said.
"If he knows about Ayme, and the Alliance somehow got a hold of records of the A.E. project, they'd want to keep it as minimal and hidden as possible, they'd hire someone that they would be able to knock off afterwards incase they get smart and threaten them outright," Gavon replied. "Besides, Roy used to be Alliance."
"That makes me think you were," Mal said calmly.
"I never said I wasn't," Gavon sighed again.
"That makes me more than a bit nervous," Mal replied, "And needs some explanation."
"I used to be one of their…associates," Gavon stated. "My father was a rich man, Alliance allied, sent my brother and I to good schools, I didn't fit in. Why I don't know, I just didn't become some rich doctor like my brother did, I had…different talents."
"The kinda talents that your brother'd know about if you could get into an Alliance covered secret cruiser," Mal responded quietly.
"Trained by them, but they and I didn't see eye to eye about my jobs," Gavon stated.
"He killed them, shot them dead," River said loudly from above, both men glancing at the voice. "One in the knee, then one through the head."
Mal turned his head slowly back to Gavon who gave him a half smile.
"She's right," Gavon stated.
"What do you do! Kill for Alliance!" Mal almost yelled, his temper reaching his maximum.
"Used to, now I kill for wealthy parties, well, not right now but that's my wandering the 'verse job," Gavon responded in a normal, strange tone.
"Wha—I mean—who—and—what!" Mal stuttered. "I've killed my fair share, I know that, but you kill people for money!"
"Well, not all my jobs, gotta have a good reason to kill someone, and might as well give people a chance who can't kill to get rid of them," Gavon responded.
"You're an Alliance trained Mercenary?" Mal asked. "And I'm guessin' Roy, is too."
"Bingo," Gavon answered.
"Don't you think you coulda said somethin' about this a little bit earlier?" Mal asked in a darker tone, his face tight and held into one mood.
"Honestly, I didn't think it'd come up," Gavon responded, smiling slightly. Mal stared at him, blinked once as Gavon sighed heavily.
"You're pullin' my leg, and I don't like bein' made fun of," Mal stated.
"No, no, I do kill people for money," Gavon answered seriously. "This is no joke-"
"Zo, where are you? Come out right now!" Mal yelled into the cargo bay. Gavon set his forehead against his hand and shook it.
"Captain," Gavon stated, opening his coat and revealing the pair of guns placed in his holster. "These aren't for show."
Mal breathed in slowly, temper getting the better of his mind but his face showing differently.
"He's not the big problem, just…something he might know," Gavon replied. "The guy's pretty much a show off, but if he knows as much as he seems to…then he'll use it to his advantage."
Gavon shifted his stance on the edge of the plank, glancing around to see if anyone else was coming or nearby besides River who would have known what he was about to say anyway.
"You know how sometimes dogs are sensitive to really high frequencies?"
"What about it?" Mal asked his mouth tight but the words clear.
"Alliance put a fail-safe on Ayme, a frequency that literally makes her feel nothing but pain, and makes it so she can't use her trait…its like…somehow they programmed her brain to read it as "pain" and "more pain", like everything, even the air around her is stabbing her from the outside in.
"If Roy knows it…he'll use it, no question," Gavon stated.
"If he uses it, then we could loose Ayme," Mal responded.
Gavon nodded and replied,
"This is why I wanted to say somethin' before Roy makes an appearance."
"This little journey is gettin' far too interestin', and fast," Mal answered. "We'll stay low, get to Newhall as fast as we can, and keep our eyes in front as well as in back of us."
"I know what you mean," Gavon said in a tired voice and rubbing his eyes with his fore finger and thumb.
"I'll go and tell Wash to keep an eye out for anythin' abnormal, for now, I'd like to punch you but I know that ain't gonna get us anywhere," Mal stated. "You get someone hurt on my ship, I shoot you."
"Seems like a fair trade," Gavon stated. "But I don't think you'd shoot me until we got off ship."
Mal stood up and walked away slowly for the front, Gavon watching carefully as his steps were heavy. Gavon picked up his guitar again, humming to himself, before beginning to sing slightly, he had been writing a song ever since he had picked up music again, ever since Ayme had come.
"Twenty four oceans
Twenty four skies
Twenty four failures
Twenty four tries
Twenty four finds me
In twenty-fourth place
Twenty four drop outs
At the end of the day
Life is not what I thought it was
Twenty four hours ago…"
River had begun humming with him, and from below the grate and the ship Ayme crawled up the ladder, peering up and listening quietly as not to disturb Gavon as he continued unknowing Ayme was just below him.
"Still I'm singing take me up in arms with you
And I'm not who I thought I was twenty four hours ago
Still I'm singing take me up in arms with you
Twenty four reasons to admit that I'm wrong
With all my excuses still twenty four strong
You're raising the dead in me
Oh, oh I am the second man
Oh, oh I am the second man now
Oh, oh I am the second man now…"
Ayme wandered far back in the darker shadows, smiling lightly.
"And you're raising these twenty four voices
With twenty four hearts
With all of my symphonies
In twenty four parts
But I wan to be one today
Centered and true
I'm singing take me up in arms with you
You're raising the dead in me
Oh, oh I am the second man
Oh, oh I am the second man now
Oh, oh I am the second man now—"
Ayme wandered up the stairs, scaring Gavon into stopping his song and causing his hand to stop strumming the strings.
"Please continue," Ayme requested quietly.
"I—ahaha…" Gavon stuttered.
"Sorry if I've disturbed you," Ayme answered. "I can go if you—"
"No, don't," Gavon said in an eager voice. His nerves danced on the edge, not expecting to be caught here by anyone, especially not Ayme. "I mean…if you wanna go do something—on your way to…somethin' then go on—"
"Are you alright?" Ayme laughed, sitting down carefully next to him on the grate and dangling her feet down. "You're acting jumpy…"
"Just—nothing," Gavon muttered, setting his guitar down. Ayme tilted her head at him, her eyes shifting from a ghostly grey to a bright blue, like the atmosphere and sky.
She doubled over, her body beginning to cough loudly and deeply within her throat. Gavon caught her shoulders as she tried to cover her mouth, making sure that she wasn't going to fall off of the grating.
Inara was brushing her hair in her shuttle, reading up on the many suitors that had sent her profiles the last few days and wondering when she would be near civilization again to continue on. Kaylee had wandered across the railing with a smile on her face and a spring in her step.
"Good afternoon, 'Nara," Kaylee greeted with a wide grin.
"Good afternoon, Sunshine," Inara stated sitting up off of the floor and motioning for Kaylee to enter the shuttle.
"Isn't today just shiny?" Kaylee replied in a dream-like state, her mind so far gone that Inara could have said anything in response and Kaylee wouldn't have absorbed a word.
"It must be for you," Inara laughed, reading her glowing mood like a book. "You're practically a light source."
"I can't wait until we get somewhere to land," Kaylee replied, falling onto Inara's bed and holding her head in her hands.
"And why's that?" Inara laughed, sitting on the edge of the bed next to Kaylee and beginning to brush her hair down her back.
"I dunno, go somewhere, do something special," Kaylee responded.
"Something special with Simon?" Inara inquired.
"Maybe," Kaylee said with a large smile on her face. "Maybe not."
"You're not a very good liar," Inara stated.
"Aww, C'mon, can't I have one secret of my own for a lil' while?" Kaylee questioned.
"I haven't said a word," Inara laughed.
"Yeah, but it don't mean you don't know what's going on," Kaylee laughed.
"I don't like it, Sir," Zoe stated as Mal had made his way into the head of Serenity, Zoe and Wash present. "Why would he wait this long to tell you?"
"He's got his secrets well as us," Mal answered. "I'm sure that's why he didn't want to say anythin' until he had to."
"Still don't like it," Zoe answered.
"Don't have to like it, just have to make sure we get what we have to done," Mal stated. "You keep an eye out all around, Wash, anythin' out of balance around us and you alert me. Any little blip."
"Yeah, sure," Wash responded. "I don't want to get killed as much as the next guy."
"We should keep an eye on him," Zoe stated. "She's no threat, but there was always somethin' funny about that kid."
"If he steps outta line again I'll make sure he gets what he deserves," Mal stated. "No worries."
"So we're going to try and make sure that a former Alliance assassin doesn't take our payday and return her to use her to blow up ships, is that about right?" Wash questioned.
"Yeah, that sums it up," Mal stated.
"And you still think no worries?" Wash questioned.
"Well, we've had a lot worse," Mal stated. "We've got another Alliance wanted pair on board, we've been fine through that."
"Just making sure we know what this situation has turned into," Wash said calmly.
"What happens if this guy does hurt Ayme with this frequency?" Zoe questioned.
"Well, if that happens we do what we do best," Mal stated. "We think of somethin' then."
"Winging it again, Sir?" Zoe said with a fake smile on her face.
"Not winging it, just relying on our fast thinkin' minds," Mal replied. "We're not always unprepared."
"I'd take out the word 'not' and then you've got us nailed," Wash said. Mal turned his chair around to face the black ahead of him beyond the glass. "Right, no one asked me."
"You really think this kid's bad news?" Mal asked Zoe.
"I don't think he's bad news, Sir," Zoe answered. "I just don't like him bringin' this up after so long."
"Look, we get money from this kid, not just a regular how ya doin' pat on the back payment either, I trust the kid enough, is that enough for you?" Mal asked in a stricter tone.
"That's enough for me, Sir," Zoe answered in a disgruntled tone.
"You keep at it," Mal ordered Wash.
"Keeping at it," Wash answered, reading the radar screen carefully and looking for any fluctuations as well as keeping an eye on the darkness in front of him. Zoe had crossed her arms and was giving him a standard look of disappointment, or she was having a mood swing and wanted to take some of it out on Mal.
"Don't give me that look, just keep an eye on your husband and the black," Mal ordered, stepping out.
A few hours had passed, another meal gone by, and the crew that were available as well as the guests decided to play a game. They lowered the hoop from the chains on the ceiling, splitting into two teams. Kaylee chose Simon and Gavon for her team, Jayne having Shepherd Book and Zoe on his. River joined in on Kaylee's side when it was convenient while Inara and Ayme sat on the sidelines so to speak watching, Ayme clapping excitedly about the game and keeping score. She sat down below in the action so to speak while Inara partook above the dangers. Mal and Wash both sat in the cockpit watching what they could even though Wash wanted to go and play.
Gavon was surprisingly agile, or so the rest thought of him. Zoe of that group was the only one who realized who he really was and knew his training must have been hard, this wasn't even considered a work out for the boy. He was giving Jayne and Zoe a run for their money on his own.
He bounced over to Ayme after letting Simon score another point, his coat downstairs in their room and just wearing his shirt and pants.
"Having fun keeping score?" Gavon asked as Jayne had gotten the ball from Kaylee.
"Having fun showing off?" Ayme said smugly.
"What're you talking about? I'm just getting exercise," Gavon stated, before getting back into the action and sneaking the ball out of Jayne's hands, dodging under him and throwing it back to Kaylee.
Ayme shook her head.
"Why don't you try taking a shot once in a while?" Ayme provoked. Gavon stopped his dancing around, giving her a warning look.
"Why don't you?" he called back. The game stopped abruptly, Jayne was the only one still wanting to play as he threw the ball through the hoop.
Ayme stood up on her feet carefully, picking up the ball once it had fallen at her feet, handling it timidly and looking up at the high hoop.
She turned her head slightly, looking at the ball, before looking at the hoop swinging back and forth, the chains rattling.
"Come on girl, make your shot or give us back the ball," Jayne growled, sick of waiting.
"Yeah," Gavon responded.
Ayme gave Gavon a clever look, throwing the ball up and making the shot easily as she still stared at him and the ball bounced near Gavon's feet.
"Trajectory was correct, speed, velocity," River muttered to the rest. "She beat you."
"Alright," Simon stated, picking up the ball and standing a few feet farther back. "Make it from here."
Ayme walked over slowly, the shot indeed more difficult because of the spinning of the hoop as well as the distance from it. Ayme glanced towards the hoop again, throwing the ball, it traveling through the hoop and not even making the hoop shake. Kaylee caught the ball and smiled.
"Well I guess she's got some skill," Kaylee stated.
"She's doin' that math thing River does," Jayne stated. "It ain't about skill at all."
"Oh yeah," Kaylee said with a smile, throwing the ball and Jayne's chest hard and making him catch it. "You do it with your 'skills' then."
"Well I'm tired, I've been playin' all afternoon," Jayne complained.
Ayme felt something inside her suddenly, something piercing her stomach, her lungs, her mind. Her head fell forward almost from fatigue more than pain and her eyes blinked slowly and widened in confusion. Gavon perked up, beginning to walk over to her when the feeling subsided and she stood straight again. What was that…? It couldn't have been…no…not here…
"Ayme…" Gavon said as his voice trailed off.
"I…just over exerted myself," Ayme lied, not wanting to tell Gavon about the feeling, not wanting to worry him. "That's all."
"From throwin' the ball twice? What kinda wimp are you?" Jayne grumbled.
The piercing came again, more painful this time…tearing into her body like every single cell on her was exploding in spikes. Her mouth fell open as her body fell forward, Zoe catching her around the middle as something made her ears rattle and vibrate.
"Not…not…" Ayme stuttered as she clenched her head in her hands, tightening her fingers in her hair, Zoe still holding onto her as she leaned hard into Zoe's body, her legs beginning to give way from under her.
She screamed out once, then twice, before the pain erupted inside her, around her.
Gavon hurried over as Zoe picked Ayme up under her knees, her body fidgeting as the pain increased inside her brain and her eyes cried out tears. He covered her ears as best he could, glancing around as Simon came over as well, questioning what was happening. River backed away from the crowd now forming as if a bright light had been shining on her.
"Make it stop…make it stop…" she whined quietly.
The pain began to drift off suddenly, before it stopped abruptly and Ayme relaxed in Zoe's arms, breathing hard with sweat trickling down her temples.
"Someone knows the frequency," she whispered to Gavon. His eyes focused on hers, before he darted away, his eyes watering. Ayme felt more tears stream down her cheeks as Zoe glanced up at Gavon and Simon began to examine Ayme's condition.
"We better get her back downstairs," Simon stated. "To make sure everything's alright."
"I won't be alright," Ayme stated, looking still to Gavon with green doe eyes. "Not ever again…they're coming back for me…and you knew…"
Gavon stood back up but still didn't meet Ayme's eyes.
"We gotta keep her secluded, hidden, and have to find something that can block out anything," Gavon stated. "Roy's finally gotta brain, he's warning us he's coming."
End Chapter 14