Title: Shadow
Series: Crazy's rescue mission
Author: Sevangel
Disclaimer: Not mine
Rating: PG-13
-
"Monty?" Mal repeats. "What the hell is he wavin' us for?"
"Probably has a job for us." Zoe says.
Wash stands up and Mal takes the seat he vacated. He pushes a few buttons and a few seconds later, a familiar face come across the screen.
"Reynolds, how you doin'?" Monty says.
"Not too good right now." Mal answers honestly. "Not tryin' to be rude, but we're havin' some problems right now and ain't really got the time to socialize."
"That's fine." Monty replies. "Just need a question answered fore it drives me insane. I was hopin' either you or Zoe could help me out."
"Depends on what the question is." Mal says.
"You know if anybody we served with was from Shadow?" Monty asks.
Mal's jaw drops open as he stares at Monty in shock. "Yeah, ya dumbass, me."
"Hey!" Monty yells. "Wait one gorram second, you never told me you had a kid."
"Huh?" Mal mutters, completely lost.
"Your kid." Monty huffs. "Cute little brown-haired thing that just spent three days hidin' in a room, cryin' her eyes out."
Jayne had been intending to leave until that. He turns back around and moves behind Mal. "What'd she look like?"
"Little thing, skinny with long brown hair." Monty answers. "Who the hell are you?"
"Jayne."
"I knew I ruttin' heard that name before." Monty says. "You're Mal's merc."
"Monty, you're gonna have to explain this slowly." Mal says. "What the hell does Jayne gotta do with anythin'?"
"She kept cryin' out that name." Monty explains. "Every gorram time I went to check on her, I could hear her sobbin' and every once in a while, she'd cry out his name. Hell, she started screamin' it once and damn near gave me and my crew a heart attack. Girl can scream."
"You picked her up on Boros, didn't you?" Mal asks.
"Yeah." Monty answers. "How'd you know that?"
"Where is she?" Jayne barks. "She there? I wanna talk to her."
"She ain't here." Monty replies. "Just dropped her off on Shadow, where she said her daddy is from, her daddy that I served in the war with. You still ain't explained why you never told me you had a daughter."
"She ain't my daughter." Mal explains. "She's crew and took off cause she thinks somebody's out to get her and she's gotta protect us."
"Oh." Monty mutters.
"How long ago did you drop her off?" Mal asks.
"Bout 4 or 5 hours ago." Monty answers. "Somebody really after her?"
"Yeah." Mal replies. "And she ain't gonna go with em. She'll die first. You're 5 hours away from Shadow?"
"No, bout 3 ½ hours." Monty says. "We just dropped of some cargo a few moons away."
"Wash, how far are we?" Mal asks.
"Four hours, less if we push it." Wash answers as he turns the ship.
"Push it." Mal orders.
"Already am." Wash replies.
"Monty, I want you to head back to Shadow." Mal says. "She's headin' to a general named McGiggins. You get there and see any feds, kill em."
"On my way." Monty replies. "See you there."
"Why she going there?" Zoe asks Mal once he ends the transmission.
"I don't know." Mal replies. "But it's got somethin' to do with the job she refused to do." Mal hits buttons as he tries to send a wave. "Gorramit, why ain't he answerin'?"
"Who?" Zoe asks.
"McGiggins." Mal answers. "He ain't answerin'. Where the hell is he?"
-
Paul McGiggins looks at the woman beside him and can't help but smile. He's known her for a long gorram time and can't believe it took so gorram long to realize how much she means to him. She's so different than his deceased wife, Sara. Sara was a small, fragile woman who needed someone to take care of her. Thelma Reynolds, on the other hand, is so gorram independent and strong that it frustrates the hell out of him most of the time.
"You hear from that dead-beat son of yours in a while?" Paul asks.
"He wrote me a letter a couples months ago." Thelma answers. "And stop calling him dead-beat. He ain't dead-beat."
"Sorry, sweetheart." Paul replies. "It's just..he coulda done so gorram much with his life after the war and he choose to be a criminal."
"That's right." Thelma agrees. "He choose. It's his life and his choice. And I'm sorry if'n my son ain't a gorram doctor like yours but he is my son…"
"I'm sorry." Paul apologizes. "I didn't mean it that way. It's just, I rutting talked him in enlisting and look what it did to him. He's completely different than he was before going into the war. Hell, he doesn't even visit you anymore and I can't help but think it's partly my fault."
"He's trying to find his way, Paul." Thelma says. "There's nothin' can be done till he does."
"Yeah, I know." Paul replies. "Just ready for him to come home is all."
"He ain't gonna stay and you know it." Thelma smiles at the thought of her independent and stubborn son. "How much longer till we're home?"
"Not that much longer." Paul replies. "I had a good time."
"Me too." Thelma agrees. "Been least 20 years since I took a vacation. Bill bout pissed himself when I told I was goin' too."
"You're staying tonight, right?" Paul asks. "The kids are coming over for brunch in the morning and they'd love it if you were there."
"Brunch?" Thelma repeats. "How the gorram hell did if fall for a rich fancy man?"
"Just lucky, I guess." Paul replies. "So, are you going to stay?"
"I should go home and see how the ranch is doin' without me." Thelma replies. "But I guess it can wait one more day."
"Good." Paul pulls her back until she's lying on beside him on the bed. He rolls over on top of her just as there's a knock on the door. He stands up with a sigh and opens the door to see his pilot standing outside the door.
"We'll be landing in 10 minutes."
"Thank you, Heath." Paul replies.
Paul sits down next to Thelma and arches an eyebrow at her. "We still got 10 minutes."
"Anything you can do in 10 minutes, I ain't gonna enjoy." Thelma replies, jumping off the bed with a laugh when he grabs at her. "I'm goin' to the bathroom; I'll meet you in the other room."
Paul grabs their bags and walks out into the main room of his private transport. He sits down beside his pilot just as their waved. "I got it." Paul hits the receive button and is a little surprised at who he sees.
"Son, what are you waving for?" Paul questions.
"I've been waving the house all day but you never answered." Cole McGiggins answers "We're coming out tonight instead of in the morning. The kids don't want to wait any longer to see grandpa. Connie and John are with us."
"When will you be there?" Paul questions.
"Twenty minutes or so." Cole answers.
"Alright, we'll meet you at the house." Paul replies. "Bye son."
"Bye dad."
"Was that Cole?" Thelma asks from behind him.
"Yeah." Paul answers. "They're coming tonight. They'll actually arrive a few minutes after us."
"That'll be nice." Thelma replies. "Just a quiet night at home."
-
River stakes out McGiggins property, playing close attention to the house and the private landing strip. She never realized how wealthy he must be; that was never in the files she was showed. He's not home right now and she honestly has no idea where he'd be. This is so different then the assignments the blue hands sent her on. Everything was planned out completely and all she actually had to do then was eliminate whomever they deemed necessary. She's never had to do her own fieldwork and finds it to be harder than she thought it would be. She knows Jayne would have no problems checking out the property and finding it's weak points. She has to bite her lip to keep from focusing on him, the brief pain clearing her mind.
It's been almost 8 hours since Monty dropped her off and it's almost dark outside. She decides that she did the best job that she could and that there's nothing more she can do outside.
This is the easy part for her; breaking through security systems. It's just finding a pattern in the numbers and there's nothing she excels more at than numbers. She's through his security system in a matter of moments. His house is large; the first floor containing a kitchen, living room, den, and a large, open family room. The upstairs contains all the bedrooms, 10 to be exact. It's smaller than the mansion her parents own but not by much. There are pictures everywhere, mostly of little children with adults that must be their parents. She didn't know he had children, in fact she didn't really know anything about him besides the fact that he had been a general for the independents and that he was born and raised on Shadow but hadn't always lived there. During the time he was in service and the few years after the war, he lived on Boros.
The best room is the family room and it's also the room he will have to enter to get into the house. Dimming the lights, she sits down on the couch as she waits for his arrival.
-
"Thirty minutes, Jayne." Mal says, not having to turn around to know who's behind him. "We're pushin' as fast as we can go."
"Monty?" Jayne replies quietly.
"Bout the same." Mal says.
"You get a hold of him yet?"
"No."
"Fine." Jayne leaves the bridge and goes back down to the bay where he was waitin' before. Vera is clenched tightly in one hand and a pistol held in the other. He doesn't talk to anybody, just paces the bay. His stomach is all knotted up and his body is completely tense. This right here is the decidin' moment of his life; if she's there and safe and he can hold her again, everything will be okay. If she ain't, if them blue-handed guys got her again, then it looks like he'll be writin' his ma a goodbye letter cause he's goin' after her, even if he dies tryin' to get her back.
-
"After you put the boat away, you can go home, Heath." Paul says.
"You don't need me to carry your things into the house?" Heath questions.
Thelma laughs.
"I can get them, Heath." Paul says, glaring at Thelma.
"Sure ya don't need somebody to carry them bags for you?" Thelma asks. "And maybe turn the sheets down for ya?"
"Brat." Paul mutters.
"I'm 56 years old." Thelma replies. "Way too old to be a brat."
"True, but that don't change the fact that you are." Paul says, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
"We headin' up to the house?" Thelma asks.
"I figured we wait on the kids." Paul replies. "They'll be here in a few minutes or so."
Thelma leans against his side as they wait on his kids and grandkids. She's still shocked at the feelings he brings out in her. Not even Mal's father made her feel like he does; like an attractive woman and not some ranch hand. She's known Paul damn near all her life but it wasn't until he moved back a few years ago that she started to develop feeling for him. Even then, she denied them; she's seen pictures of his wife, a small, dainty, beautiful blonde whose hands weren't all rough from workin' on a ranch her entire life. But Paul doesn't see her that way; all he sees is her. He pursued her for months and she only gave in just to get him off her back. But after a while, she found herself carin' about him more than she's ever cared bout anybody. Next to Mal, he's the most important thing in her life. She still ain't told Mal, not cause she's ashamed or nothin' but because she knows her son and he will throw a fit and come home just to threaten Paul. She still ain't sure where this is goin' and there ain't no reason for all the drama Mal would bring. She looks up at the private transport landin' and smiles at the excited look on Paul's face.
"Grandpa!" Three little excited voice scream.
Paul squats down to catch the little girl and two little boys launching themselves at him. "Shelly, Mikey, and Johnny, how are my babies?"
"We not babies, grandpa." Johnny says stubbornly. "We big kids."
Paul puts Mikey on his shoulders and swings Shelly into his arms. "Well, big boy, why don't you go take Thelma's hand and we'll head to the house."
Thelma holds her hand out and the 4-year-old slips his into it. "Cole, Connie, your dad's been missin' you two somethin' fierce."
"Naw." Cole replies. "He's been missing the rugrats something fierce."
Thelma laughs. "Yeah."
Amber, Cole's wife, waddles over to them, her hand resting on her pregnant belly. "I have to go to the bathroom." Amber says. "Can we go now?"
Cole wraps an arm around her waist and leads her towards the house.
"So, how long are you staying?" Paul asks.
"John and I closed the practice for the next week." Cole answers. "So we're here for the week."
"That's wonderful." Paul replies. "Now if we can just talk Thelma into taking the week off…"
"I just took a week off." Thelma interrupts. "Round-ups in a few days and you know I gotta be there."
"But that still leaves us a few days." Paul replies, grinning at her.
Thelma rolls her eyes.
"Alright, pumpkin, grandpa has to put you down now." Paul tells Shelly. He hands Shelly to John and punches in the security code. The red alarm lights flash off and the door unlocks.
"Down, grandpa." Mikey says.
Paul puts Mikey onto his feet, smiling at their obvious excitement. He opens the front door and reaches over to flip on the light. As the lights lighten the large family room, his jaw drops open at the girl sitting on his couch.
-
River opens her eyes and looks up when she hears the door unlocking. Her small bit of meditation has cleared her mind and she feels as ready as she's ever going to get. She looks towards the door with panic; he's not alone and now all her plans have gone down the drain.
"Dad, who the hell is she?" Cole questions
"Paul, what…how did she get it?" John asks.
"I don't know." Paul replies.
"McGiggins." River says as she stands up. "You are not alone."
"Yes, I know that." He replies. "Who the hell are you?"
"That's not important." River replies. She looks at the older lady holding hands with a little boy and tilts her head as she examines her. A loud gasp leaves her mouth when she realizes who it is. "Grandma Reynolds."
"What?" Thelma replies. "I ain't a grandma, not really, and how the gorram hell do you know who I am?"
"Not supposed to be here." River mumbles. "Numbers all added up and conclusion was solid but now all is lost. Too many variables; too many lives."
Paul pushes his grandchildren behind him when he finally notices the guns she's holding. "I don't know how you got in here." Paul says. "Or why you're here but I'm giving you one chance to leave. You better take it."
River laughs.
"Dad?" Connie whispers, entirely freaked out by the girl's laugh.
Paul looks towards the fake panel where he keeps weapons, wondering if he can get there without noticing.
"They're not there anymore." River says. "Took them outside to hide. You should not have guns in your home when there are going to be children; it is dangerous."
Paul takes a deep breath and examines the girl. She can't be more than 19 and is skinny as a rail. He might not be young anymore but he knows he can take her down.
"Don't." River advises. "You would be unconscious before you could take a swing."
"Look, just let them go." Paul says. "You must have came here for me; they don't have anything to do with anything."
"Of course they do." River replies. "They are leverage; I can't allow them to leave." She waves her hand, the gun held tightly in it, towards the couch. "Move over there."
Cole glances at John and nods his head. John nods in understand and hangs back towards the end of the group. The girl is standing sideways as they approach and both men start to rush her.
River's hand comes up and the gun cocks. "I don't want to hurt them." River says, staring directly into Paul's eyes. "But then again, they were never part of the assignment."
Cole swallows heavily as he stares down the barrel of the gun being held by a mad woman.
River hears the children crying softly and swallows heavily. She turns her head to look at the men who tried to rush her. "Please, just go over there." River whispers.
John is a little shocked by the look in her eyes; he thought she was crazy but she's not; he's been a psychologist long enough to know that. He walks over to where she's indicating and notices that Cole does the same.
River closes her eyes and breathes deep. She can hear their fear, rushing over her, screaming inside her, ripping her up inside. "STOP!" River screeches. "Just stop. It's too much and it hurts."
"Stop what?" Paul asks. "We've done what you've told us to do."
"Stop screaming." River replies as she tries to push the voices out. She needs Jayne; needs him to keep her safe but he's not here and she's going to have to do it herself. "Just stop."
"Nobody's screamin'." Thelma says.
"Yes, you're all screaming." River argues. "And it's so loud and I can't push it out. This isn't the end, you're not going to die but you have to stop screaming."
Cole looks at John, trying to see if he knows what's going on with the girl.
"Do you have a name?" John asks softly.
River's eyes snap open. "Name's don't matter." River replies. "417362; that's all you need to know."
"417632?" John repeats. "What does that mean?"
"That's who I am." River replies. She stares at Thelma again, her head cocked to the side. "You're the reason I couldn't do it; I always thought it was him and in a way it is, it's his connection to you that kept me from doing it."
"Do what?" Thelma asks. "And who? My connection to who?"
"Kill McGiggins." River replies. "That's what the assignment is. That's what I'm here for."
Cole and John step in front of Paul. "You're not going to kill him."
"If I wanted him dead, he would be." River states matter-of-factly. "And there wouldn't be a thing you could do to stop me."
Cole starts to respond when the girl screeches and covers her ears with her hands, the guns still held tightly in them.
"They're here." River whispers, dropping her arms. "Nobody moves and nobody does anything, no matter what." She walks over to Paul and Thelma and hands them the guns she's holding. "This is Amber and Sally; take good care of them for Jayne. He will be here to get them soon."
Paul watches as she walks towards the middle of the room, unable to raise the gun. He's killed people but he's not a killer and he can't bring himself to shoot an unarmed girl, no matter what she's done. The door opens and he looks towards it in shock; that's twice that somebody's gotten passed his security system. He's a little started to see another girl walking through the door, dressed in all black, her dark hair cut short.
"417632."
"815920." River replies evenly. "Tracey."
"River." Tracey replies. "This is my assignment now; I don't need your help to do it."
"I'm not here to help." River says. "I'm here to stop you."
Tracey's head cocks to the side. "That is so like you." She replies. "The famous 'River Tam'. There's nothing she can't do perfectly. Do you know what it's like trying to live up to a legend?"
"Being a killer does not make me a legend." River says. "It just makes me a killer. And you always were jealous."
"I'm not anymore." Tracey replies, snickering at River. "You're a waste now; you could have been so much, done some much for the Alliance and you just threw it all away. You might have been the best before but you've been gone for a long time; things change. I will take you down and then I will kill McGiggins and anyone else who gets in the way."
"No, you won't." River says sadly. "You won't be killing anyone and you won't be leaving here alive."
Tracey punches lightly at River's head, knowing she'll block it. She's right and blocks the punch River throws back. This is her, the legend, the very best. And once she takes her down, she'll be the very best. She grits her teeth and escapes into her training.
River knows the moment Tracey lets her training take over and does the same. It's not like before; she's actually completely in control of her body and everything it does. The training no longer controls her; she controls it now. She has to wonder when it happened but doesn't have the time to look back; she's fighting for her life.
Paul watches as the two girls fight in complete shock. He's never seen fighting like this; they both move as if they can read the other's mind. Every punch, every kick, every block, every move they make is exact and precise, not a movement wasted.
Cole winces at every blow; they are hitting for maximum pain and for maximum damage. Within a few minutes, both of them are bleeding profusely and he knows they must have broken bones.
River hits the fireplace with a groan and rolls off it before Tracey can kick her. She pops up to her feet, trying to ignore the pain rolling through her body. She's wearing out; besides the occasional bout of 'sparing' she's done with Jayne and the 2nd time she rescued the crew, she hasn't done much fighting. Tracey, on the other hand, has been training every single day. Added in with the sleep she hasn't gotten in the past 3 days and the pain of leaving Jayne and Serenity, she's losing this fight. In a move she's seen Jayne do a dozen times, she head butts Tracey and smirks when she feels the girl's nose break. She unprepared for Tracey tackling her, and before she knows it, she's under the girl, the life being strangled out of her. She manages to get her hands up and sticks her thumbs into Tracey's eyes, another thing she's learned from Jayne. Tracey screams and loosens her grip enough for River to work her legs around the other girl's neck. And with just a twist of her dancer thighs, she wins the fight. She falls back to the ground, panting heavily and Tracey's dead body falls on top of her.
Paul flinches at the sound of the girl's neck breaking but doesn't move and doesn't even remember he still has a gun held in his hand.
Cole's mouth drops open and he looks over to see that John's has to. It takes a certain amount of pressure to break somebody's neck and that girl just did it with her thighs.
River pushes Tracey's body off her and climbs unsteadily to her feet. The last time she felt like this was after she was beaten. And even then, she doesn't remember being in this much pain. The damage isn't as bad as it was then but it is more painful. She spins around at the sound of clapping.
"River Tam." Blue hand one says.
"We knew you would be here." Blue hand two says.
"And we knew you would win." One adds.
Two walks over to push Tracey's body over with his foot. "Such a waste." He says. "But this was not a pointless death."
"We have our number one agent back." One says.
"It's time to finish the job you refused to do." Two orders.
"And then it's time to come home." One replies.
River's body is shaking with fear but she looks up defiantly. "No."
"No?" Two repeats.
"You know the punishment for saying no." One adds. "Or do you not remember to sessions you received before?"
"Yes, I remember how you tortured me for weeks." River replies. "But like I told you before, I won't kill him; I refuse to kill him."
Two looks over River's shoulder to stare directly into Paul's eyes. "You don't even know him." He says. "And yet you're willing to be tortured again to protect him?"
"Yes." River replies.
"Ain't gonna happen."
The blue hands turn around to see a large man holding a large gun standing in the doorway next to a smaller man holding a smaller gun.
"Jayne." River whispers.
Their heads spin back around to stare down at River.
"You've taken a lover." One comments.
"We will have to kill him." Two adds.
"NO!" River screams. "I'll go back and I won't fight you. I'll do anything you say but don't kill him."
"River." Jayne growls.
River ignores him and holds her hands out. "Take me back." River pleads. "Just don't hurt him."
The blue hands smile down at her.
"I'm happy to see you've finally realized your place." One says.
"It's good to have you back, River." Two adds.
River opens her mouth to speak when she's splattered with blood and two bodies drop to the ground beside her. She looks to the doorway to see Jayne and Mal both holding smoking guns. "Jayne." He takes a step towards and that's the last thing she sees before her world goes black.
-