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Firefly: Deleted Scenes
Ficlet 35: In A Family Way
By Gamera Obscura
"I always thought it was River who was lost without her big brother, but now I'm beginning to wonder if it isn't the other way around."
-Gabriel Tam - Episode 5, "Safe"
(The following takes place during Episode 6, "Our Mrs. Reynolds".)
There was a thief on board, River knew. A woman who had stowed away after tricking Mal into marrying her, and she intended to kill them all. Her innocence and subservience was all an act. A thief and a liar, and a skilled one at that. Eilish - or Saffron, as everyone insisted on calling her - had never pulled a trigger on anyone before, but she had killed hundreds, nonetheless.
Most of the crew seemed to think the predicament the Captain was in was funny. Inara however, most notably, was upset. Her feelings for the Captain were quite evident to River, but her reasons for keeping those feelings a secret remained a mystery to the girl.
River made her way through the common area, and could feel in her mind that Shepherd Book was making up a bed for Saffron, which made her angry. How could the crew be so foolish as to open their arms to someone who intended to murder them? She had a notion that she would kill two birds with one stone; she strode into the room just as Book was smoothing out the bed, a red throw pillow resting against the bed pillow. She grabbed the red throw and mussed up the bed, then marched out of the room, the throw hanging at her side.
Simon was just departing the infirmary; this was perfect timing. She grabbed him by the arm and pulled him toward the passenger dorm, where Book was emerging from Saffron's room. "Seh man uh?" Simon asked.
"River doesn't want me making up a bed for our young guest," Book said to Simon, who was still being led by the arm by River, "or else she's starting a pillow collection; I'm still collating data."
Simon smiled, ruefully, and started toward Saffron's dorm. "I'm sorry. I'll take care of the room."
River grabbed Simon tighter. "It's not important," she said, looking her brother in the eye with a huge grin on her face. "Tell him."
Simon was confused as he looked back at his sister. "Tell him what?"
River turned to Book. "We want you to marry us."
"What?" Simon exploded. "We- wha- uh, no!" He looked at Book, horrified, then back at River. "What?"
River cocked her head at him. "Two by two? Everyone a match, a mate, a dopple? I love you."
"No, River, meimei, of course, I love you, too, but… we can't be married." Simon was desperately trying to regain his composure. He turned his head to Book. "She's really crazy."
River scowled, and kicked Simon hard in the shin, causing him to almost double over as he cried out. "Ow! Uh, no, I don't mean…" he waved his hand at her, as if to wave the pejorative away. "Crazy… Uh, that's just not something brothers and sisters do. I mean, on some planets, but only pretty bad ones."
River looked at Simon petulantly. "The Captain took a wife."
Book jumped in, "Well, that's also complicated."
"I don't know where this is coming from," Simon said as he heard the distinct metal sound of people descending the stairs from the hallway just aft of the galley.
"We'll take care of each other," River said. "I'll knit!" She suddenly looked forlorn as the sound grew louder. "You don't love me."
Mal and Saffron stepped into view, down the stairs. "What's goin' on?" Mal asked.
"I… really couldn't say," Simon answered.
"I was gonna show Saffron to her quarters," Mal said. "They squared away?"
"Once upon a time," Book replied.
"I really don't need anything," Saffron said, smiling. "I'm just fine."
"You're a thief," River said. Best to get it all out into the open now, she figured.
"Whoa-ho-ho!" Mal said. "Let's play nice here." River looked from the Captain to her brother. "Your sister has some funny notions."
Simon was still off-kilter. "That's… not untrue."
"I'm sorry," Saffron said. All eyes turned to her as she reached into the belt of her dress. "I didn't know when I was to be fed." She pulled out a foil pouch. "And I was afraid."
"You made that fine meal and didn't eat nothin' yourself?" Mal asked as Saffron held out the pouch, which contained a protein bar.
"That was for you," Saffron said. "Weren't but pot lickin's left. I took this for later. I didn't know she saw me."
"I didn't see you," River said quietly, stuffing the pillow under her blouse and cradling it in her arms. Didn't anyone else see this woman for what she was? How their lives were all in danger?
"Well, there's certainly no harm done," Book said.
"And I say there is," Mal retorted, wheeling on Saffron. "A good deal o' harm, startin' to tick me off." He paused for a long moment, looked at the bar in his hands, and continued. "I got no use for people sneakin' around, takin' what ain't theirs."
"Yes," agreed Book. "We frown on that here."
"But what I got even less use for," said Mal, "is a woman who won't stand up for herself. Five days hence, we're puttin' you in the World, and you won't last a day by bowin' and sniffin' for hand-outs. You want something, you take it. Or you ask for it. You don't wait to be told when to breathe; you don't take orders from anyone. 'Cept me. And that's just 'cause I'm the Captain. People take orders from Captains, even in the World. But for the rest - damnit! - be like a woman is. Not some petrified child. There's more than seventy Earths spinnin' about the galaxy, and the meek have inherited not a one. You understand what I'm sayin' to you?"
Saffron was looking down at her hands, like a chastened puppy. She nodded slowly. "I do."
Mal handed her back the foil wrappage. "Shepherd, would you show Saffron her room, please?"
"Please," Book said, gesturing for Saffron to enter the dorm, which she did, but only after taking the protein bar from Mal.
The Captain ascended the stairs again, and suddenly River was alone with her brother. "Now we have to be married," she said, still cradling the pillow against her stomach as Simon turned to face her. "I'm in the family way." She gestured to her distended pillow-belly.
Simon placed his palm firmly over his face and sighed heavily.
O-O-O
Hours later, River could feel the consciousnesses of several people on the ship winking out, and not from sleep. It was all starting to happen, what she had seen in Eilish's – Saffron's mind. They were all going to die if something wasn't done. Mal and Wash were out cold, Zoe Simon, Jayne and Kaylee were all asleep, and Inara was in danger as well. She woke with a start and stole out of her dorm, then pushed the comm button for Zoe and Wash's bunk.
"Zoe, are you there?"
Nothing for a long moment. "Zoe, are you there?"
A groggy response at last. "What is it, River?"
"You need to talk to your husband. It's important."
"River, what do you want?" Zoe was irritated to have been awakened.
"You need to talk to Wash. Right now," she said.
"Fine," Zoe said, and there were sounds of rustling as Zoe got out of bed.
Thirty seconds later, the shipwide alarm began to blare, and River smiled to herself. Nobody knew it, or would ever know, but she had saved the ship.
Possibly. If they were lucky.
O-O-O
River left her dorm and joined the crew near the Bridge, watching events unfold all around her as she scanned the minds of the others. Inara had kissed the Captain in his unconsciousness and had passed out herself, another victim to the narcotic lipstick Saffron had used on the Mal, but once everyone save for Jayne and Kaylee had congregated in the Captain's quarters, Inara and the Captain were awake again. So was Wash, who had been kicked in the head, which in turn had slammed into a bulkhead door, and that was how Zoe had found him, bleeding and unconscious, lying on the deck outside of the Bridge, which had been sealed off.
Eventually, everyone was back on the Bridge, and as River watched from the catwalk outside, they had worked to regain partial control of the ship, but she knew that they wouldn't get full control back in time, based on what she had gleaned from Saffron. The tendrils of her thoughts reached out to the Captain's mind, planting an idea that would get them out of this. Mal ordered Zoe to get their suits ready.
"What do I do?" Jayne asked Mal.
"You go get Vera," he said to Jayne.
Minutes later, Mal and Jayne were suited up and in the airlock, which was depressurized. Vera, Jayne's beloved rifle, was encased in Zoe's suit, which would provide the oxygen they needed to fire her. They had once chance at this. Mal opened the forecouple door and exposed the airlock to space, and an artificial structure in the distance, getting closer by the second as Serenity moved inexorably forward even as Wash and Kaylee worked feverishly on the Bridge to regain control of the navigation and helm systems.
River, back in her dorm and laying on her bed, shuddered as she clutched her pillow. In Jayne's mind, she could see the ring of the Scrap Shop floating in space, and the electricity arcing throughout the ring the ship was about to pass through, which would kill them all. He had to hit one of the breakers, which was hard enough from this distance, but normally for Jayne it would be easy. He was shooting from the hip, which would still not be too difficult for him, but there was one important factor he was not taking into account.
He had one shot, but he wasn't allowing for the forward momentum of the ship in his aim.
River quickly did the math, and reached out to Jayne's thoughts again and guided his hand. He lined up the shot and pulled the trigger.
The breaker exploded, sending blue energy arcing up to the top of the structure, which electrified the control room.
Next, she did the math again and helped Jayne line up his aim for the control room window, and he fired again, repeatedly; once again, thanks to River, his aim was true. Aboard the station, she could feel the fear in the minds of the two technicians as they watch the glass spiderweb and crackle before it gave way. She heard their silent screams in her mind as they floated into the hard vacuum of space and expired in a matter of seconds. The rest of the crew of the Scrap Shop died over the next few minutes as all the air escaped through the shattered window.
Serenity passed through the net, unscathed, and River could feel the level of tension on the ship ease considerably. She closed her eyes and went back to sleep, a gentle smile upon her face.
(Author's Note: Finally, a solid River story, courtesy of a wonderful deleted scene, which makes up the first half of this ficlet. The second half sprang from my imagination as I tried to envision the remainder of the episode through River's eyes, despite the fact that she is barely seen, let alone heard from. I thought it would be a rather novel idea for her to touch the minds of the crew and save the entire ship. I hope you do, too. We are nearing the halfway mark in the Firefly series, with 35 chapters down. There are eight episodes remaining, and then the film, which I estimate I will be able to write six chapters for (I'm pulling this number completely out of my rear, mind you), so all in all, I'm still hoping for around 60 chapters before we reach our end, which will bring Firefly: Deleted Scenes to approximately 300 pages long, and over 120,000 words, based on my average to date. I currently have chapter titles and one-line synopses planned out to chapter 45, but when I sit down at my keyboard to write every day, I only have that one-line synopsis and title to go on, and just let the writing take me where it will. The only thing I am really planning ahead is the epilogue, for which I have several threads I want to tie up that I've been mulling over, some due in part to several of my fans who have written in with feedback and suggestions. So if you have anything you'd like to see, a deleted scene of your own you'd like to see brought to life, now is the time to let me know, so I can make it happen while there's still time. And as always, reviews and feedback are welcome. I'd love to hear from my readers!)
(Next Time: Let's Go Visiting - Mal and Zoe take Shuttle 1 to St. Albans to recover Shuttle 2 following its theft by "Saffron".)