My Serenity

WARNING: Rated M for some violence, language, and sexual situations. This fic contains (eventual) femmeslash and sexual situations between two female characters. Do not continue if this is not to your liking.

Xxx

Chapter 29 – How Hard Can It Be?

"You're the beautiful, brilliant, brave Captain that I love."

Jane's heart swelled with joy at Maura's whispered words. She gazed down into those gorgeous green eyes and saw truth there. Even if Jane couldn't feel it, she trusted Maura in that moment—she was still Jane, she was still Captain Rizzoli. Maura's adoring gaze made Jane believe—if only for a moment—that she was deserving of such affection. Besides, who was she to call Doctor Maura Isles a liar?

She was at a loss for words and overwhelmed with happiness, so, as Jane always did, she responded with her actions. She pressed a kiss to Maura's soft lips and for a moment she existed only here in that room, with Maura, loved by Maura.

And that's when the lights cut out.

Jane tensed, her heartrate skyrocketing. She felt dizzy. If she had not been holding onto Maura in that moment, she might have broken down completely.

"Jane?" Maura said, placing her hand on Jane's chest. "It's okay—"

"Alliance Cruiser," Korsak's announcement came over the intercom, "everyone hold on to your asses."

"What the?" Jane frowned. Without even thinking, Jane dashed off to the bridge. Climbing the ladder, speeding down the corridor, climbing up the stairs—she didn't even have to think about it. Even in the pitch blackness, Jane found she knew her ship better than ever before.

"Jane?" Maura called after her. She followed cautiously, only able to find her way because of the emergency lighting in the corridor.

"What's going on?" Jane said, suddenly appearing at Korsak's shoulder.

He jumped, "Damn, Rizzoli!"

"Where are they?" Jane said, scanning the darkness outside. She couldn't even figure out where she was. She tried to figure out their coordinates by the stars, but she had no point of reference. She didn't even know what system they were in.

"They're not in visual range," Frost said, pointing to the radar screen, "but they might have picked up our signal before we could cut the lights."

"Where are we?" Jane inquired.

"That's Lux right there," Frost said surprised.

Korsak punched him in the shoulder, giving him an angry look.

"Oh, yeah," Frost said awkwardly, "we're headed for the Red Star System."

"Lux …" Jane whispered. I know Lux … it has … two planets? She thought. She couldn't remember anything about it, but there was a sinking feeling in her gut.

"We're going to pass within range of Persephone," Korsak explained.

"Should we be doing that with the Alliance after us?" Maura interjected, finally catching up to Jane on the bridge.

"That's what I said!" Frost exclaimed.

"We don't have any choice," Korsak responded. The other option is to pass by Londonium and Osiris."

"But what is the plan?" Jane frowned.

Korsak and Frost were quiet for a moment. It had never been on them to make the plan. Korsak had simply determined that they needed to get as far from the Alliance as possible. The Red Star System was as close as they could get to nowhere as possible. That is unless they wanted to risk things worse than the Alliance.

When no one wanted to step in, Maura spoke up, "We'll be headed into the asteroid belt soon, yes?"

"You mean the Halo?" Frost asked. "Yeah, if we want to get to the Red Star System, we'll have to make it through there—unless we go millions of miles out of the way."

"I think for right now the Halo is our best bet." Maura said.

"What are you thinking?" Korsak said curiously.

"There's plenty of debris out there, right? Old freighters and starships?" Maura asked.

"Yeah," he nodded, "it's filled with space junk."

"Camouflage," Jane realized excitedly.

"Exactly." Maura smiled.

"Okay," Frost thought out loud, "so we hide in the Halo until it's safe. But we've got a ways to go, how do we lose this cruiser?"

"We need to pull a Jane." Korsak said breathlessly.

"Crash land on the planet?" Frankie laughed, stepping onto the bridge. He instinctively dived away from his sister, but she didn't respond to his jab.

"No," Korsak shook his head, "we head straight for 'em."

"What?" Everyone else said at once.

"Like Jane did …" Korsak said, as if it were obvious, "when she went after the shuttle."

"It's a miracle she didn't crash right into that ship—" Frost tried.

"No," Korsak said, "it wasn't a miracle. That's just was she does."

"I can't—" Jane started, grasping for Maura's hand to ground herself. She didn't need to break down in front of her crew a second time that day.

"It's what a Rizzoli does." Korsak added.

"What?" Jane frowned.

Korsak looked at Frankie expectantly. Even in the dim emergency lights, it was easy to tell that he was just as confused as the rest of them. He raised his hands in defense as everyone turned and looked at him inquiringly.

"What are you talking about?" Frankie replied.

"You can do it." Korsak insisted.

"M-me?" Frankie stuttered.

"Frankie?" Jane said in disbelief.

"He's not a bad pilot." Maura added.

"Korsak is the pilot!" Frankie maintained. "And Frost is certainly better."

"I don't have the reflexes I used to have." Korsak shrugged. "And Frost is a good co-pilot, but he's more of a tech guy."

"Hey!" Frost yelled, insulted.

"He's right," Jane admitted, patting Frost on the shoulder teasingly.

"Frankie did demonstrate remarkable piloting skills on Athens." Maura added.

"He nearly ran us over!" Frost yelled.

"Hey," Frankie countered, "you try landing a Firefly class starship at full speed while staying below the tree line!"

"You did that?" Jane said, shocked.

"Yeah," Frankie shrugged. Then, he shook his head, "No. I can't pull a stunt like Jane did. I'm not that good."

"Sure, you can!" Jane said, slapping him on the shoulder.

Frankie stared at his sister in disbelief. Her encouragement was not something he was used to. It wasn't that she wasn't supportive. It was just that it seemed like he always lived in her shadow. There was no need for Frankie because anything he could do, Jane could do better. For the first time, Jane was admitting—however indirectly—that he could do something better than she could. Temporary though it was, Jane was not the best pilot on the ship, and she was willing to entertain the idea that he could be.

"Whatever we do," Frost said, pointing to the approaching ship, "we better do it soon."

"I have an idea." Jane said suddenly.

Xxx

"Get ready to start 'em up quick, Vanni!" Korsak said into the microphone.

"I'm not sure how much she can handle … " came Giovanni's reply.

"We've just gotta hope she has enough." Korsak grumbled to himself.

"Get ready to bring up the grav drive on my signal," Jane said, staring at the Alliance cruiser slowly approaching.

"Are you sure we shouldn't just try to outrun them?" Frankie said nervously.

"I did the math," Frost said, "we won't have the fuel for a long-term pursuit."

"You 'did the math,'" Frankie mocked, "like you did with the dynamite?"

"That was you?!" Jane and Maura said together.

"How was I supposed to know the fence was already rigged with explosives?!" Frost shouted indignantly.

"It was rigged with explosives?" Jane frowned. She shook her head, "Never mind, we don't have the time." She turned to Frankie, "Let them think we're stranded. We'll surrender and comply with their orders. As soon as we get close to docking range, Giovanni will start the engines. You need to put her into full gear the moment he does."

"But that will—" Frankie started.

The radio transmission clicked on, "Unidentified starship, respond."

"We don't have time to argue, Frankie." Jane said, "Just trust me."

"I repeat, Unidentified starship, respond."

"This is Vince Korsak, Captain of … the ship." Korsak tried.

"Real smooth." Frankie groaned.

"By order of the Union of Allied Planets, you are ordered to identify yourselves."

"This is Vince Korsak, Captain of the Firefly."

There was a brief silence. Then, "A firefly-class starship named 'Firefly'?"

"Very original," Frost mocked. Korsak slapped him upside the head irritably.

"Yes," he responded to the cruiser, "we're dead in the water. Reserve power only. Awful happy to see ya. Could use with some help right about now."

Again silence. Meanwhile, the cruiser was getting ever closer. The crew on the bridge waited anxiously for a response, an order, anything.

Finally, "You are ordered to dock for immediate inspection."

A collective sigh sounded.

"Okay," Jane said, siding up to her brother, "it should take about 3 seconds for the grav-drive to power up enough to angle her correctly. You need to wait as long as possible before you kick in the drive. As soon as you arc over, you need to put her in full gear. Gun straight across and fly her like your ass is on fire."

Frankie gulped, "This really sounds like something you should be doing—"

"You can do this Frankie," Jane said, looking him dead in the eyes. "I know you can."

"But—how?" Frankie stuttered.

Jane smiled, "Because you're a Rizzoli, Frankie." Frankie still looked uncertain, so Jane added, "Besides, Maura says you're a decent pilot. You calling her a liar?"

Frankie didn't look very reassured, but he turned back to the helm anyway. "Alright, Giovanni," Frost said into the intercom, "fire her up."

"Firefly," the radio sounded, "Cut your engines immediately!"

"Jane, I can't do—" Frankie tried.

"You have to—"

"But—"

"Too late!" Jane shouted, shoving the engine into drive, "Pull up!"

"Hold on to something!" Korsak shouted as Frankie yanked the helm, the Serenity's bow coming within meters of the docking bay.

"Now!" Jane shouted the moment they cleared the top of the cruiser's bow.

There was a garbled shout over the intercom as Giovanni shifted the grave drive into full power. Simultaneously, Frankie shifted the gear to maximum, hollering excitedly as they shot across the horizonal surface of the Alliance flagship at top speed. They cleared it surface within seconds, hurtling towards the Halo with all they had.

The bridge erupted in cheers. Jane smacked her brother on the back, then shook him by the shoulders. "You did it!"

"I did it," Frankie said in awe.

"We're not out of the clear yet," Frost said. "As soon as we break past Lux's gravity, we have to cut the engines. We'll have to drift into the Halo. If we're lucky, we won't run into to any more Alliance cruisers on the way."

"Knock on wood," Korsak said, teasingly knocking on Frankie's head.

But they were lucky—Jane thought maybe too lucky—and they lost the cruiser. That in and of itself was not improbable, a firefly's grav-engine made it particularly fast. What Jane couldn't understand was why no reinforcements or assistance was called from Persephone. Even at top speed, the Serenity would not be able to outrun any forces already in the direction they were headed. For some reason, however, the Alliance forces there seemed to have something else to worry about.

Xxx

A couple hours later, after they had all but cut the engines and had started their drift into the Halo, the crew finally started to relax. Jane took her leave from the bridge, leaving the guys to talk over the logistics. In truth, all the excitement had taken the little energy Jane had been working with.

Maura found her standing in the canteen, staring at the kitchen. At first the doctor worried that Jane had become disoriented, but then Jane turned and asked with indignation, "What the hell happened to this kitchen?"

"We didn't have a lot of time to stock up," Maura explained shyly.

"And this table?" Jane pointed irritably. "This is not our table. And for that matter, where is the couch?"

Jane spun around, eyeing the living area with annoyance. "None of this is the same. Seriously, Maura, is my memory that bad? Have I gone completely—"

"No!" Maura said, stopping her. She held Jane at the shoulders, if only to stop her spinning. She looked up at her reassuringly, though a bit apologetically too, "You're not going mad. We had to replace a lot of things. Well, what we could replace in a couple days. There wasn't much left by the time I—by the time we found it."

"Her," Jane corrected. "Serenity is a she."

"Like I've said before, ships don't have gender—"

Jane stopped her with a finger to her lips, "Don't let her hear you say that!" She smirked brightly.

"Jane!" Maura complained.

Jane laughed lightly. She looked into those hazel eyes and for a moment she forgot about everything but that smile. I love you so much, Jane thought, 'I love you.' How hard can it be to just say it? But she lost her nerve.

"You hungry, Janey?" Angela said, spotting the two of them standing in the kitchen.

Jane blushed and stepped back. Why am I embarrassed? Jane thought. "No … um … Maura?"

"You should really eat, Jane. You need to keep your strength up." Maura said, her smile fading away as she slipped into doctor mode. "And we should really do a check-up."

"I don't have to go to the infirmary again, do I?" Jane said anxiously.

Maura shook her head, "No, I'll go get my medical bag." Jane nodded, but Maura lingered there.

"What?" Jane said.

Maura nodded in the direction of Jane's mother. Angela was standing off in the corner of the kitchen, fiddling with things awkwardly. Under her breath Maura said, "Go make nice."

"Really?" Jane whined.

"Yes!" Maura whispered harshly.

"What about you?" Jane complained. "You kicked her out."

"She's your mother." Maura said, pushing her in Angela's direction.

"Fine." Jane grumbled.

Jane awkwardly walked up to her mother. Not sure of what to say. She tried looking back at Maura for direction, but she had disappeared. When Jane turned back around, her mother was staring at her.

"Hi…" Jane said uncomfortably, scratching the back of her head.

"Yes …" Angela said, seeming just as uncomfortable.

"I'm—" they both said at once. They both laughed nervously.

Jane didn't like interactions like these. She'd much rather act like nothing happened and move on, but Maura seemed very determined for her to smooth things over with her mother. Probably because she's too scared to herself, Jane thought.

"Look, Ma…" Jane started, she almost chickened out, but then it occurred to her that she hadn't really thought about what it was like for her mother to be waiting around, wondering if she would ever come back. Maura had been devastated, surely her mother had been miserable too.

Suddenly, Angela leapt forward, pulling her into a bear hug. "I'm sorry, Janey!" she cried, squeezing her even harder.

"Ma," Jane coughed, barely able to breathe, "it's okay."

Jane stood stock still as her mother held her. Angela was not one to apologize. She usually insisted she was right, or, if that wouldn't work, she would passively-aggressively torment her until Jane gave in. Her mother apologizing was not what Jane expected at all.

"I was so worried about you," Angela said, in tears. "All this time I didn't know if I would ever see you again—"

Jane patted her mother's hair, letting out a sigh as the older woman finally released her. Angela looked up at her daughter teary-eyed. For a moment, Jane expected her to suddenly grow angry again. Sometimes she did that. Jane would think she was done being angry and then she'd just explode.

When she didn't, and Jane started to feel awkward under her gaze, Jane sighed, "I'm sorry too, Ma."

"Oh, Janey!" Angela sobbed again, pulling her into another bear hug.

At that moment Maura returned with her medical bag. She seemed just as shocked as Jane did about the current situation.

"Help me!" Jane mouthed to her desperately.

"Angela?" Maura said softly.

"Maura?" Angela said, finally releasing her daughter completely. Jane could finally breathe again. Then she leapt at Maura instead. The honey blond dropped her bag as she was practically tackled by the eldest Rizzoli. Angela cried as she squeezed Maura tightly, "I'm sorry."

Maura looked at Jane, expectantly. Jane just shrugged. She had no idea what was going on either.

"It's okay, Angela," Maura said, rubbing her shoulder sympathetically.

Finally, Angela stepped back. Maura took the opportunity to say, "I'm sorry too. About the way I spoke to you earlier."

"No," Angela insisted, "I'm sorry I barged in."

Angela sighed, wiping her tears away. After a deep breath, she smiled at the two of them. A look of pure joy took over her face and she looked like she was going to cry again.

Oh no, Jane thought.

"I'm just so happy for you two." Angela said excitedly, grabbing them both and pulling them into a hug. "So in love!"

"Ma!" Jane complained, escaping her mother's grasp. She was blushing profusely. She was suddenly transported back to her school days when her mother would get so excited any time a boy paid her any attention. Her mother always seemed to make such a big deal about things and then they would fall apart, breaking her mother's heart on top of her own.

But Maura's different, Jane thought.

Maura was looking at her inquisitively, almost anxiously. Jane had complained, almost instinctively. She wondered if Maura read too much into that. First, Maura had told her she loved her, and she hadn't said it back. Then, when Jane had the moment, she had chickened out. Still, Jane thought, she has to know, right?

Jane wasn't good with words. She never had been. She'd done decently in school—probably would have done a lot better if she actually tried—but she never felt comfortable putting her feelings into words. They never came out right—they just got all jumbled up.

So, when Jane couldn't think of what to say, she went with what she hoped was the next best thing: she grabbed Maura's hand, right there in front of her mother. She interlaced her fingers with Maura's and smiled up at her expectant mother, "Thanks, Ma."

She watched Maura's face for her reaction. The look of utter contentment on Maura's face was worth all the embarrassment Jane's mother could bestow upon her.

"My two little love birds!" Angela cried, pulling them in for another hug.

"Ma!" Jane protested.

Angela stepped back to look between them both again. "And I promise," Angela nodded, "I'll give you guys your space from now on. You know … so you two can be alone."

"Oh my god, Ma!" Jane groaned, turning beet red.

Even Maura blushed a little, "That's very nice of you, Angela."

And just like that, Angela turned on her heel saying, "Alright, who's hungry?"

[To be continued]