DEJA VU
Disclaimer: All characters and settings, 'ceptin' the ones I create are the property of Mutant Enemy and FOX. No infringement is intended, this is done out of pure love and respect for the genius of Firefly. Please read and review.
A/N: I would like to thank those committed readers who continue to read and review each time I post a new chapter. I want to welcome new readers also. Happy reading! INT- SERENITY - CARGO BAY
Mal is standing at the weapons locker loading his guns and checking the charges on the large load of explosives he is stuffing into a cloth bag. Jayne, Wash, Book, and Simon walk up behind him. Jayne begins to hand the men weapons from the locker. Mal turns around.
MAL: What the guay!
BOOK: We did this for you once. Thought we could return the favor by helping rescue Zoe.
WASH: Mal, she's my wife. I have to be there when you.
MAL: Not gonna happen. This is a covert mission. I'm taking the shuttle and going in alone. Dong ma?
SIMON: Alone! That's suicide. With the rest of us, at least you have a chance.
WASH: Yeah. A chance not to get yourself and Zoe killed. Mal I.
JAYNE: You heard what the man said.
Jayne starts taking the weapons from the men and putting them back in the locker. He takes Vera off his shoulder and begins to load her.
MAL: Jayne, What are you doing?
JAYNE: I didn't think you meant me.
MAL: What do think alone means?
Before Jayne can answer Mal slams the locker closed and walks away from the men loaded with his arsenal.
INT- NISKA'S MANSION - WOMEN'S QUARTERS
Zoe stands alone against the wall of the room she shares with Ayo. She is carefully trying to search the walls for any other hidden control panels without being discovered. At the other end of the room Ayo is surrounded by eight women. They flutter around her getting her ready. She is dressed in a short white beaded skirt and a thin strip of white silk barely covers her top. The women work furiously to attach what appears to be thick white feathers to her wrap. May comes back into the room with Jaha in tow. The little girl plops down at her mother's feet and plays with feathers that have dropped to the floor. May walks over and stands close to Zoe.
MAY: You need to be careful with that one.
Zoe turns around.
ZOE: What one?
May moves closer to Zoe.
MAY: Ayo. She's not to be trusted.
ZOE: Oh?
MAY: She's done this type of thing before. Pretends like she's protecting the new girl. Gets their trust and turns on them.
ZOE: Turn on them how?
MAY: She spies for him.
ZOE: Niska?
May nods.
MAY: She lets him know which ones lie, steal, plan to escape. Whatever she can use to her advantage. How do think she became lead so young?
Zoe looks at Ayo who is now fully dressed, but still surrounded by the other women.
ZOE: They seem to like her well enough.
MAY: Know better than to cross her. She can be worse than him, if she sets her mind to it.
Ayo looks over at Zoe and May. She dismisses the women. They all, except for May, leave promptly. Ayo walks over to them.
AYO: You are dismissed.
May bows slightly and leaves.
ZOE: I didn't have a chance to thank you for.
AYO: No need.
Ayo sits on a nearby chair and begins to lace up her slippers.
ZOE: I have a husband.
Ayo stops what she is doing and gives her full attention to Zoe.
AYO: I'm sorry. I can only protect you for two, maybe three nights. After then I cannot do any more. You'll have to go to him.
ZOE: I can handle Niska.
Zoe clinched fists betrays the soft smile on her face. Ayo rises and takes Zoe's hand.
AYO: You must not resist.
Zoe pulls her hand away and walks past Ayo. Ayo follows.
AYO: You don't understand. If you try to deny him, he'll beat you. If you continue to resist the guards beat you. By the time he's finished you wont be worth anything, just a piece of flesh to him.
Zoe faces Ayo.
ZOE: Isn't that what you are now?
Ayo looks down, shamed. Zoe realizes the harshness of her statement and steps closer to Ayo. Three eunuchs enter the room unannounced. They take their appropriate positions, two on either side of the door and one in the doorway. Ayo looks at the eunuchs and then to Jaha.
AYO: Will you keep an eye on her?
Zoe nods. Ayo walks to the door. The man in the doorway steps out of her way. The other two file in behind them. Zoe doesn't move until she is sure they have gone. She slowly moves to the door. Jaha jumps up and follows watching the curious behavior of the strange woman. Zoe walks through the door.
INT- HALLWAY
Zoe steps into the hallway cautiously. Two eunuchs to the right, three to the left, and an armed patrol circulating the halls. The two eunuchs to Zoe's right notice her and begin to walk her way. She quickly steps back in to the room.
INT - WOMEN'S QUARTERS
Zoe stands to the side of the doorway ready to jump the guards if they come into the room. Jaha walks up to Zoe.
ZOE: Do you know a way out of here?
Jaha nods and takes Zoe by the hand and leads her out of the door.
INT - HALLWAY
Zoe and Jaha start down the hall. Two of the eunuchs come around the corner and block their passage. Jaha steps out in front of Zoe and the men part and let them pass. Zoe and Jaha continue down various corridors. At each turn the mere presence of the little girl assures cooperation from all the guards. Zoe makes a mental note of their path and the location of each guard. They come to a large door. Zoe tries to push it, but it is locked. Jaha walks over to the wall and opens a small door. She presses a button.
JAHA: Jaha Niska.
The door buzzes and opens. Jaha leads a very stunned Zoe outside and into the garden.
EXT- NISKA'S MANSION - GARDEN
Rose bushes line the perimeter of the estate. Zoe scans the area fro a break in the foliage. Jaha picks up a small rock and throws it past the rose bushes. The electric barrier activates and disintegrates the stone. Jaha squeals in delight. Zoe walks over to Jaha and covers her ears.
ZOE: Ta ma duh.
INT- SERENTITY - SHUTTLE TWO
Mal is sitting at the controls working on the ignition sequence. Inara comes in and sits in the co-pilot's chair. Mal sits back in his chair and turns towards Inara, waiting for her to speak.
INARA: Still planning to go in alone?
MAL: You have an objection too, huh?
INARA: I just think you would fare better with the rest of us backing you up.
MAL: Yes, 'cause there's nothing like making a big fuss and getting everyone killed.
Inara starts to speak again, but Mal cuts her off.
MAL: Since when did y'all become the master tacticians? I forgot, how many platoons did you lead in the war? That's right there was no whore brigade! Might want to look in to that though.
Inara abruptly gets up and walks out. Mal stands up and starts to go after her, but decides against it and sits back down.
INT - WOMEN'S QUARTERS - NEXT DAY
Ayo walks into the room unescorted. She is now wearing a simple, but elegant blue dress. She drops a bundle of clothes on the nearest chair. Ayo walks over to her vanity table and begins to remove her jewelry and untie her hair. Zoe comes in the room carrying a small tray. Zoe is wearing green pants and a floor length coat to match.
ZOE: Ni hao. They told me to bring this to you.
Ayo doesn't turn around and her voice is clearly cold.
AYO: Just put it there.
She motions to a nearby table. Zoe puts the tray down. She stoops down next to Ayo so her face is visible in the vanity mirror. Ayo studies Zoe's face in the mirror.
ZOE: Look, what I said last night, I didn't mean it the way it sounded.
Zoe waits for a response.
ZOE: You okay?
Ayo turns around as Zoe stands back up. Ayo smiles.
AYO: I see they found you something to wear.
ZOE: May was quite obsessive about it.
Ayo rolls her eyes at the thought of May being obsessive. She gets up slowly and walks over to the tray. She opens it and removes a small glass of juice. She takes a large pill from her pocket and painstakingly swallows it. Zoe observes her in silence.
AYO: Will you go out to the garden with me?
ZOE: Sure, Jaha took me there last night.
Ayo smiles.
AYO: Really? To throw stones at the fence no doubt.
Ayo grabs a blue jacket from the chair and they leave.
EXT - NISKA'S MANSION - GARDEN
Ayo leads Zoe out into the rose garden. In the bright sun Zoe can now see how frail Ayo appears. Ayo walks over to a rose bush and picks a fat blossom. She sits on a bench facing the house, Zoe joins her. Ayo smells the rose.
AYO: It really isn't that bad here. You just have to get used to way things work.
ZOE: I don't intend to stay.
AYO: Niska isn't that bad. If you just do as he asks life will be pretty easy for you. He's gentle and fair.
Zoe laughs and once again speaks very harshly. She stands up and faces Ayo.
ZOE: Do you even believe half of what you are saying? Gentle and fair! I've seen this man maim and kill people with pleasure. He tortured the two men I love most in the world then made me choose which one would live or die. All because we didn't finish a job we had already returned the money for. But if that's not enough, he steals women and forces them to become his whores! You call that gentle.
Zoe walks away from Ayo in disgust. She tries very hard to regain control of her emotions. Ayo speaks in almost a whisper.
AYO: This is all I know.
Zoe turns around.
ZOE: What?
Ayo stands.
AYO: This is it. Niska, this house, these women, this is my world. All I know is how to be Niska's, his whore. Let me tell you, I'm damn good at what I do. Not because I like it or because I love him. I do it because I have to. I live for my child to care for her and keep her alive. Do you know how many of these women would kill me and my child just to be the mother of Niska's heir? All of them.
Ayo doesn't hold on to her emotions. Tears well up in eyes and threaten to spill down her cheeks at any moment. Zoe goes over to her and uses her arm to support the frail young woman.
AYO: I've been here since I was fourteen. Niska bought me, treated me like his own child. Then one day he decided it was time to break me, to deliver me from my childhood. Now, he treats like his wife, better than his real wife. He cherishes me, trusts me and I hate him.
Ayo's tears are not longer a threat. They flow gracefully down her cheeks and meet beneath her chin. Zoe gently moves a strand of Ayo's hair out of the path of her tears.
AYO: I'm not his spy. I know May told you not to trust me, that I was like him.
ZOE: But, you're not.
AYO: How do you know?
ZOE: You're Eritrean.
AYO: I've been here so long, I don't think I know what that means anymore.
Ayo allows Zoe to guide her back to the bench and sit her down. Ayo wipes her face with her hands. The two women sit together in silence.
ZOE: If I can find a way out of here, will you come with me?
AYO: How?
Zoe smiles.
ZOE: Serenity. My ship, a firefly. It don't look like much, but its fast and can get you to the other side of the 'verse, far away from Niska. The crew's like family and I have a feeling they are already on their way here. The captain, my husband, all of them will probably come in here guns blazing.
AYO: They'd never even break atmo. An electric barrier surrounds the planet. It would turn them to dust.
ZOE: Damn it. Is there anything we can use to get around it.
AYO: Me.
Zoe looks at her curiously.
AYO: I know security codes, how to interrupt surveillance feeds and temporarily disable all electric fields.
ZOE: That'll do it. Why haven't you tried.
AYO: Never found someone crazy enough to take me off planet before.
ZOE: Believe me, on my ship we got plenty of crazy.
AYO: It would take some time to get it set up, maybe twenty-four hours. We would have to leave sometime after I come back from Niska.
ZOE: That's fine. I'll need to get word to Serenity.
AYO: I can get you into the comm. room.
Ayo wipes her face again and walks toward the door. Zoe follows.
Disclaimer: All characters and settings, 'ceptin' the ones I create are the property of Mutant Enemy and FOX. No infringement is intended, this is done out of pure love and respect for the genius of Firefly. Please read and review.
A/N: I would like to thank those committed readers who continue to read and review each time I post a new chapter. I want to welcome new readers also. Happy reading! INT- SERENITY - CARGO BAY
Mal is standing at the weapons locker loading his guns and checking the charges on the large load of explosives he is stuffing into a cloth bag. Jayne, Wash, Book, and Simon walk up behind him. Jayne begins to hand the men weapons from the locker. Mal turns around.
MAL: What the guay!
BOOK: We did this for you once. Thought we could return the favor by helping rescue Zoe.
WASH: Mal, she's my wife. I have to be there when you.
MAL: Not gonna happen. This is a covert mission. I'm taking the shuttle and going in alone. Dong ma?
SIMON: Alone! That's suicide. With the rest of us, at least you have a chance.
WASH: Yeah. A chance not to get yourself and Zoe killed. Mal I.
JAYNE: You heard what the man said.
Jayne starts taking the weapons from the men and putting them back in the locker. He takes Vera off his shoulder and begins to load her.
MAL: Jayne, What are you doing?
JAYNE: I didn't think you meant me.
MAL: What do think alone means?
Before Jayne can answer Mal slams the locker closed and walks away from the men loaded with his arsenal.
INT- NISKA'S MANSION - WOMEN'S QUARTERS
Zoe stands alone against the wall of the room she shares with Ayo. She is carefully trying to search the walls for any other hidden control panels without being discovered. At the other end of the room Ayo is surrounded by eight women. They flutter around her getting her ready. She is dressed in a short white beaded skirt and a thin strip of white silk barely covers her top. The women work furiously to attach what appears to be thick white feathers to her wrap. May comes back into the room with Jaha in tow. The little girl plops down at her mother's feet and plays with feathers that have dropped to the floor. May walks over and stands close to Zoe.
MAY: You need to be careful with that one.
Zoe turns around.
ZOE: What one?
May moves closer to Zoe.
MAY: Ayo. She's not to be trusted.
ZOE: Oh?
MAY: She's done this type of thing before. Pretends like she's protecting the new girl. Gets their trust and turns on them.
ZOE: Turn on them how?
MAY: She spies for him.
ZOE: Niska?
May nods.
MAY: She lets him know which ones lie, steal, plan to escape. Whatever she can use to her advantage. How do think she became lead so young?
Zoe looks at Ayo who is now fully dressed, but still surrounded by the other women.
ZOE: They seem to like her well enough.
MAY: Know better than to cross her. She can be worse than him, if she sets her mind to it.
Ayo looks over at Zoe and May. She dismisses the women. They all, except for May, leave promptly. Ayo walks over to them.
AYO: You are dismissed.
May bows slightly and leaves.
ZOE: I didn't have a chance to thank you for.
AYO: No need.
Ayo sits on a nearby chair and begins to lace up her slippers.
ZOE: I have a husband.
Ayo stops what she is doing and gives her full attention to Zoe.
AYO: I'm sorry. I can only protect you for two, maybe three nights. After then I cannot do any more. You'll have to go to him.
ZOE: I can handle Niska.
Zoe clinched fists betrays the soft smile on her face. Ayo rises and takes Zoe's hand.
AYO: You must not resist.
Zoe pulls her hand away and walks past Ayo. Ayo follows.
AYO: You don't understand. If you try to deny him, he'll beat you. If you continue to resist the guards beat you. By the time he's finished you wont be worth anything, just a piece of flesh to him.
Zoe faces Ayo.
ZOE: Isn't that what you are now?
Ayo looks down, shamed. Zoe realizes the harshness of her statement and steps closer to Ayo. Three eunuchs enter the room unannounced. They take their appropriate positions, two on either side of the door and one in the doorway. Ayo looks at the eunuchs and then to Jaha.
AYO: Will you keep an eye on her?
Zoe nods. Ayo walks to the door. The man in the doorway steps out of her way. The other two file in behind them. Zoe doesn't move until she is sure they have gone. She slowly moves to the door. Jaha jumps up and follows watching the curious behavior of the strange woman. Zoe walks through the door.
INT- HALLWAY
Zoe steps into the hallway cautiously. Two eunuchs to the right, three to the left, and an armed patrol circulating the halls. The two eunuchs to Zoe's right notice her and begin to walk her way. She quickly steps back in to the room.
INT - WOMEN'S QUARTERS
Zoe stands to the side of the doorway ready to jump the guards if they come into the room. Jaha walks up to Zoe.
ZOE: Do you know a way out of here?
Jaha nods and takes Zoe by the hand and leads her out of the door.
INT - HALLWAY
Zoe and Jaha start down the hall. Two of the eunuchs come around the corner and block their passage. Jaha steps out in front of Zoe and the men part and let them pass. Zoe and Jaha continue down various corridors. At each turn the mere presence of the little girl assures cooperation from all the guards. Zoe makes a mental note of their path and the location of each guard. They come to a large door. Zoe tries to push it, but it is locked. Jaha walks over to the wall and opens a small door. She presses a button.
JAHA: Jaha Niska.
The door buzzes and opens. Jaha leads a very stunned Zoe outside and into the garden.
EXT- NISKA'S MANSION - GARDEN
Rose bushes line the perimeter of the estate. Zoe scans the area fro a break in the foliage. Jaha picks up a small rock and throws it past the rose bushes. The electric barrier activates and disintegrates the stone. Jaha squeals in delight. Zoe walks over to Jaha and covers her ears.
ZOE: Ta ma duh.
INT- SERENTITY - SHUTTLE TWO
Mal is sitting at the controls working on the ignition sequence. Inara comes in and sits in the co-pilot's chair. Mal sits back in his chair and turns towards Inara, waiting for her to speak.
INARA: Still planning to go in alone?
MAL: You have an objection too, huh?
INARA: I just think you would fare better with the rest of us backing you up.
MAL: Yes, 'cause there's nothing like making a big fuss and getting everyone killed.
Inara starts to speak again, but Mal cuts her off.
MAL: Since when did y'all become the master tacticians? I forgot, how many platoons did you lead in the war? That's right there was no whore brigade! Might want to look in to that though.
Inara abruptly gets up and walks out. Mal stands up and starts to go after her, but decides against it and sits back down.
INT - WOMEN'S QUARTERS - NEXT DAY
Ayo walks into the room unescorted. She is now wearing a simple, but elegant blue dress. She drops a bundle of clothes on the nearest chair. Ayo walks over to her vanity table and begins to remove her jewelry and untie her hair. Zoe comes in the room carrying a small tray. Zoe is wearing green pants and a floor length coat to match.
ZOE: Ni hao. They told me to bring this to you.
Ayo doesn't turn around and her voice is clearly cold.
AYO: Just put it there.
She motions to a nearby table. Zoe puts the tray down. She stoops down next to Ayo so her face is visible in the vanity mirror. Ayo studies Zoe's face in the mirror.
ZOE: Look, what I said last night, I didn't mean it the way it sounded.
Zoe waits for a response.
ZOE: You okay?
Ayo turns around as Zoe stands back up. Ayo smiles.
AYO: I see they found you something to wear.
ZOE: May was quite obsessive about it.
Ayo rolls her eyes at the thought of May being obsessive. She gets up slowly and walks over to the tray. She opens it and removes a small glass of juice. She takes a large pill from her pocket and painstakingly swallows it. Zoe observes her in silence.
AYO: Will you go out to the garden with me?
ZOE: Sure, Jaha took me there last night.
Ayo smiles.
AYO: Really? To throw stones at the fence no doubt.
Ayo grabs a blue jacket from the chair and they leave.
EXT - NISKA'S MANSION - GARDEN
Ayo leads Zoe out into the rose garden. In the bright sun Zoe can now see how frail Ayo appears. Ayo walks over to a rose bush and picks a fat blossom. She sits on a bench facing the house, Zoe joins her. Ayo smells the rose.
AYO: It really isn't that bad here. You just have to get used to way things work.
ZOE: I don't intend to stay.
AYO: Niska isn't that bad. If you just do as he asks life will be pretty easy for you. He's gentle and fair.
Zoe laughs and once again speaks very harshly. She stands up and faces Ayo.
ZOE: Do you even believe half of what you are saying? Gentle and fair! I've seen this man maim and kill people with pleasure. He tortured the two men I love most in the world then made me choose which one would live or die. All because we didn't finish a job we had already returned the money for. But if that's not enough, he steals women and forces them to become his whores! You call that gentle.
Zoe walks away from Ayo in disgust. She tries very hard to regain control of her emotions. Ayo speaks in almost a whisper.
AYO: This is all I know.
Zoe turns around.
ZOE: What?
Ayo stands.
AYO: This is it. Niska, this house, these women, this is my world. All I know is how to be Niska's, his whore. Let me tell you, I'm damn good at what I do. Not because I like it or because I love him. I do it because I have to. I live for my child to care for her and keep her alive. Do you know how many of these women would kill me and my child just to be the mother of Niska's heir? All of them.
Ayo doesn't hold on to her emotions. Tears well up in eyes and threaten to spill down her cheeks at any moment. Zoe goes over to her and uses her arm to support the frail young woman.
AYO: I've been here since I was fourteen. Niska bought me, treated me like his own child. Then one day he decided it was time to break me, to deliver me from my childhood. Now, he treats like his wife, better than his real wife. He cherishes me, trusts me and I hate him.
Ayo's tears are not longer a threat. They flow gracefully down her cheeks and meet beneath her chin. Zoe gently moves a strand of Ayo's hair out of the path of her tears.
AYO: I'm not his spy. I know May told you not to trust me, that I was like him.
ZOE: But, you're not.
AYO: How do you know?
ZOE: You're Eritrean.
AYO: I've been here so long, I don't think I know what that means anymore.
Ayo allows Zoe to guide her back to the bench and sit her down. Ayo wipes her face with her hands. The two women sit together in silence.
ZOE: If I can find a way out of here, will you come with me?
AYO: How?
Zoe smiles.
ZOE: Serenity. My ship, a firefly. It don't look like much, but its fast and can get you to the other side of the 'verse, far away from Niska. The crew's like family and I have a feeling they are already on their way here. The captain, my husband, all of them will probably come in here guns blazing.
AYO: They'd never even break atmo. An electric barrier surrounds the planet. It would turn them to dust.
ZOE: Damn it. Is there anything we can use to get around it.
AYO: Me.
Zoe looks at her curiously.
AYO: I know security codes, how to interrupt surveillance feeds and temporarily disable all electric fields.
ZOE: That'll do it. Why haven't you tried.
AYO: Never found someone crazy enough to take me off planet before.
ZOE: Believe me, on my ship we got plenty of crazy.
AYO: It would take some time to get it set up, maybe twenty-four hours. We would have to leave sometime after I come back from Niska.
ZOE: That's fine. I'll need to get word to Serenity.
AYO: I can get you into the comm. room.
Ayo wipes her face again and walks toward the door. Zoe follows.