Name: Flannery Chalke
Title: Serenity: Allegro
Rating: T for language (and maybe some sexuality later on if I can write it.)
Please please please review. It's like sugar and caffeine combined and shot straight into the bloodstream (I'm assuming). I will love you forever if you do!
Disclaimer: All characters (w/ the exception of Liz) come from the mind of Joss Whedon. They belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Fox, Universal, and anyone else with legal hold. I'm just along for the ride.
Thanks so much to the lovely reviewers of my first chapter: Donna Lynn, Buffycoo999, Deirdre Reivyn, and angelcat70, you all totally made not just my day but the entire week! Grazie grazie grazie!
On with the show!
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Chapter Two – The Arrival
Mal was drunk, confused, and feeling slightly giddy. Or maybe that was the alcohol, too. Ok, the alcohol and River, who had swung in and out of his life just long enough to throw him completely out of whack. He adopted a swagger and gave the concierge a nod on the way out the massive etched glass doors. He liked to mess with civilians as much as any vagabond, and this seemed as good a time as any. He stopped in the middle of the street with a start.
"Where the tyen shiao duh am I?"
River had probably dragged him halfway across Beaumont-Proper and he had no idea where that was. He swung around. The ornate street signs and hovering gas lamps were no help. They only affirmed what he already knew, that he could not stay here long.
He closed his eyes. "Gotta go with my gut. And my gut says… wuh de tyen." And suddenly, as sure as anything, he was walking forward. Mal looked around; there was nothing out of the ordinary, just his legs taking him for a walk. People were passing by and no one seemed to notice the man who was being pushed, not exactly pushed per say, but he wished someone would recognize the obvious disconnect between his legs and his brain. You see, his brain had no idea what was going on but his legs were moving with the assurance of a local.
"Don't fight it, stupid," resonated in his skull, and he whipped around looking for the source. Now he was starting to get some stares. Resigned, he clenched his fists and let his legs do the guiding.
As the roads become more crowded and dirty, Mal felt more at ease with the psychic push between his shoulder blades. He began to recognize vendors and signs he'd passed going the opposite direction with River. With River who is really back. For some reason, the thought didn't want to settle.
He turned a corner stopped when his boot made a loud crunch. He'd stepped on a discarded rattan umbrella, still soaking from the previous rain. It had a large hole in it etched with burn marks. So did some of the paving stones.
"Oh fuck." He took off running for the third time that night.
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Jayne Cobb, for all his talk, really wasn't that fond of being in charge. He'd waved Zoë who in turn promised to find everyone else and get back to Serenity as soon as possible. First priority was the safety of the ship and right now it was a sitting duck.
He pulled down the ramp and made a beeline for his arsenal. This was the hard part. He didn't like to get Vera wet, and Jane, for all her style, couldn't be caught dead in the drizzle.
"I'm sorry Doris, but you gotta understand it's for the greater good." Jayne grabbed the shiny rifle and took off for the cargo bay.
He skidded to a stop outside the door to the catwalks. Crap. He'd left the ramp down. Serenity had company, the worst kind. Six of Viper's thugs were attacking cargo bins with large knives. All were heavily armed. Jayne stepped back into the hallway and fished his com out of his pocket.
"Zoë, they're in the cargo bay. I'm in the 'walks and if you come from behind, we can trap 'em in the dock. They'll get caught in the crossfire."
"I can see the dock from here and I got everyone, and…Jayne, they've got three guys postin' watch outside. To get to the guys inside, we gotta start with these boys out front and that'll raise a commotion we're not like to want. It'll startle your boys right quick."
"Fine, you 'n Simon take out the boys in front. Hopefully that I'll draw some o' them out and I can deal with whoever's left. Keep Kaylee behind to deal with any complications. Just put Liz away, she couldn't hit the mule from forty feet and she'll just get in the way."
"Affirmative Jayne. We go on your mark."
"Right…"
Jayne peered out in the cargo bay again. The thugs had made their way through most of the boxes and were starting to probe at the floor. One set his gun down and reached out to catch a crowbar.
"Now!" Jayne opened fire just as the man made his catch. He went down first. Two others had their guns raised and fired, and the booms outside suggested Zoe was engaged as well.
Jayne sunk down lower behind his barricade. Somehow these idiots had lasers, really good ones, and they were cutting right through the metal paneling. Suddenly, he smacked his forehead and reached down to his belt. Seconds later his flash bomb exploded and Jayne rained down fire on his disoriented attackers.
"Heh, suckers."
Outside, Zoe wasn't having nearly as much luck. Simon wasn't that great a shot and Kaylee could barely hold a gun let alone pull the trigger. The three lookouts knew what they were doing, so Zoe and the others had taken behind a makeshift barricade. This type of fighting was pointless. It wasted amo because you were essentially you popped up and shot, aiming at nothing, and dove back down, all the while waiting for something to happen. Preferably something in your favor.
This came in the form of Jayne, who roared and gleefully jumped into the fray. He kicked an attacker from behind and shot at another. The third managed to jump behind a discarded engine cover. The fallen attacker picked himself up and dived for cover.
A scream broke through the chaos. Blood gushed from Kaylee's shoulder and she fell back with a shudder. The scene reached new frenzy – several more men fired from the entrance of the docking bay trapping Simon, Liz, and the fallen Kaylee. It was reinforcements, and not the good kind. Liz picked up a gun and started firing. Her shots were neither help nor hindrance. They aided the chaos that had escalated out of control.
Simon dragged Kaylee into a corner and tried to stop her bleeding. Liz was trying to make herself disappear. Jayne adopted a dance, punching one man, shooting another as effectively as possible. Blood ran seeped from a wound to the leg and a gash on his cheek.
Jayne plopped down next to Zoe, just missing a laser zap. The undead from inside Serenity had woken up.
"What's our position?" Zoe covered her head. A laser beam barely missed her elbow.
"There's four dead inside, means two with lasers. Four of those new ones are dead or wounded, means five total."
"Kaylee's down, Simon's with her. It sound like Liz has lost it. So you and me against five, including two lasers. Oh hell." Zoe looked defeated.
"Whoohooo, you thought you'd start the party without me?" Mal opened fired, followed by two thumps and a scream.
The rain still fell softly through the grating in the ceiling.
Mal's glorified entrance didn't last long. A well-aimed laser beam blew the nozzle off his pistol.
"What'd you do that to Jenny for? She didn't do anything to you, nothing that you didn't deserve anyway." Mal dropped the useless weapon and slowly raised his hands. One laser was trained on Jayne and Zoe, the other at Simon and Kaylee. The third and fourth thugs, both showing signs of injury, had guns pointed at Mal.
"Your crew caused me a lot more trouble than I'd liked. We were just gonna take the cargo and make the boat go boom, but now, now I'd like nothing more than to riddle you with so much lead the outriggers'll harvest you for scrap." A man with a metal plate for a cheek laughed.
"Zoe, what do you say to that?" Mal wiped the blood from his grazed brow.
"That doesn't sound like the best plan, Sir."
"I'll say. Why don't you take the cargo and burn the ship, but leave off with the killing part. It's the best of both worlds."
"I don't think so." Metal Cheek took aim.
"Me neither." Heads turned. River threw her leather bag to the ground.
She jumped into the fray and exploded with unfollowable movement. Zoe and Jayne opened fire and Mal ran to Simon and Kaylee.
"She's bleeding out. I need to get her to the infirmary now." Kaylee was pale and sweating and Simon looked terrified. He hadn't noticed River's return; his focus was entirely on the dying Kaylee. Mal lifted her arms and Simon grabbed her legs and followed the wall, trying to stay out of River's battle.
"Zoe, get this boat runnin'. Jayne, help us." Zoe took off for the bridge. Jayne took one last look at the blurred image of River. She was in complete control against the four thugs.
Jayne took Kaylee's arms from Mal and helped Simon to the medical bay. Mal reached for a discarded pistol aiming to rejoin the fight.
"Drop it." Metal Cheek aimed his laser at Mal's forehead. River was absorbed in a one-on-on battle with another thug. The rest lay dead on the floor.
"What's your grudge against me and a gun? They're pretty handy." Mal chuckled and raised his hands again.
"We're gonna do this nice and slow. I came here for the merch and I ain't leaving 'til I…"
The metal plate flew of his cheek mid-sentence along with the rest of his face. Bone splinters, blood, and brain matter splattered and Metal Cheek fell forward revealing the image of River and a laser gun. Gaze unmoving, she rotated her arm and shot her fallen assailant in the chest. Silence fell over the docking bay. River looked at her laser.
"I'm keeping this." She put it in the thigh holster under her dress and picked up her bag.
"I can't take my eye off you, can I?" River trudged up the ramp. Mal shook his head.
"Little darlin', that was impeccable timing."
"I thought I was an albatross," she smiled.
"You can be whatever the hell you want as long as you keep showin' up the way you've been doin'."
The two surveyed the damage to the cargo bay and dragged out the dead bodies and empty broken cargo containers. Jayne, having done his part, came out to do the same.
"Well I'll be god damned. Crazy's really back." Much to Mal's surprise, he swooped the girl into a tight hug.
"That was a nasty thing you did, leavin' us all without any sort'a warning. It messed with Simon, hell, it messed with all o' us real bad."
"I know. I'm sorry. But guess what? Not crazy anymore."
"Really, like really really? No more guns and crazy talk or becomin' a space ship or anythin'."
"Nope."
"Well how'd that work out?"
"River?" They turned. Simon stood dumbstruck unsure of what he saw.
"Yes." Her eyes filled with tears and she took a hesitant step forward. Simon also moved slowly, dumbstruck by what he was seeing. They continued this dance, compressing the space between them moving slowing toward each other. They pushed at the barrier of emotion formed in her absence. To reach her meant pushing through the doubt and betrayal and sheer inability to grasp the fact that his sister stood before him.
Simon reached forward tentatively. His fingertips lightly stroked her face with the precision of a blind man. He remapped the wide eyes, the small mouth with a larger lower lip, and the long nose. He reached behind soft ears, tangled his hands in the damp brown hair. River reached and pulled him forward and the two meshed in an inseparable hug. Mal nodded at Jayne and the two made their way to the bridge, leaving the brother and sister to rediscover each other.
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"How is she, sir?" Zoë lifted the boat out of its bay and they reached space a few seconds later.
"Kaylee or River?"
"Well, I guess both of 'em. Is River coming back or is this a one time deal?"
"Zoë, that's not fair."
"Sir, she left of her own volition and I'm just trying to deal with the damage."
"You can't blame her for what happened. So I don't wanna hear any more o' this kind of talk, you hear?"
"Yes, sir."
"Mal, what are we gonna do with all the soma?" Jayne leaned against the doorframe.
"For starters, we gotta find another buyer and get it out from under Liz's…oh no, where's Liz? Did she get on? Wu de ma, did we leave Liz?" Mal rushed down to the cargo bay, closely followed by Jayne, and knocked on a door of its adjoining guest rooms. There was no answer. Mal slid the door open. Liz was curled up on her bed hugging her knees in the fetal position.
"Liz, are you ok?"
"Just shiny Captain." He put a hand on her shoulder, and looked down alarmed. Her blanked had a large red wet spot.
"Liz, you're bleeding. You've, you've been shot!"
"Oh, is that what this is? I can't really feel anything, see, so I wasn't sure." Her voice was faint and she was shaking. Mal reached down and picked her up. Her entire stomach was bloody.
"Simon, Liz took one to the stomach and forgot to mention it. You've gotta tend this quick. Simon broke away from River hesitantly. She put a hand on his chest and pushed him back. This threw him back into doctor mode and he rushed with Mal back to the infirmary. Kaylee was still soaking in a blood bag in the main chair so Mal had to lay her on the sideboard. Simon put on his apron and cut open her bloody shirt.
"Oh god!" A gaping chest wound stared up at them oozing blood.
"Mal, get me more blood bags. Jayne, bring the tray over." They rushed away to perform their tasks.
"Liz, why didn't you say anything about this? It was a really really stupid thing to do." Simon probed the wound with a gloved finger trying to ascertain the extent of the damage.
"I've seen this kind of wound before. It never ended well. I figured I might as well make myself comfortable."
Simon shook his head with disbelief. He picked up the anesthesia and seconds later Liz was unconscious.
"She's going to need serious work, but I can take it from here." Simon looked back at River, torn between his want to never again part with his sister and his need to doctor.
"I'll stay in case you need a hand." Mal nodded at River and went out. She reached forward to stroke the sleeping Kaylee's hair.
"Jayne, can you scrap her sheets. There's no way that stuff'll clean out." Jayne took off for the guest compartment and Mal headed back up to the bridge.
He stopped in the mess to pour himself some water. His nerves were on fire from the action and his head was starting to throb from the absence of alcohol. Mal slumped on the couch and rubbed his forehead. This was certainly the most excitement they'd had in three years. The melancholic blah that held the ship in a headlock was already starting to release its hold. If Kaylee and Liz pulled through, Serenity might actually become…happy again.
River entered silently as always and poured a glass of water.
"For Simon," she motioned.
"So you're really better?"
"Yup."
"How?"
"It's a long story."
"One you're plannin' on tellin' anytime soon?"
She grinned ruefully. "Eventually."
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Floating in open space on autopilot bound for Virgo Minor and a dealer willing to pay asking price for pure soma, one by one the crew went to bed. Kaylee was deemed well enough to sleep in her own bunk and Liz was moved to the main infirmary bed. In the darkness, River quietly slid open her door and slung her bag over her shoulder. She tiptoed to the infirmary where Liz was sleeping fitfully. River placed her fingertips on the girl's temples and closed her eyes. Liz murmured and fell silent.
"A trick you picked up on your travels?" Mal stepped out of the shadows. River set her bag on the counter and pulled out a large plastic box.
"One of many." Mal moved over to her side to see what she was doing, curious. She pulled up her right sleeve. The crook of her elbow and the length of her forearm were full of syringe holes. She pulled a rubber tie out of the box and wrapped it around her upper arm, tightening it with her hand and teeth. A mult-loader followed the tie and she put in three small liquid cartridges.
"River, stop. What are you doing?"
"Do the crew know you've become an insomniac."
"Don't change the subject. You're about to shoot yourself full of who knows what…"
"I know what."
"And I need to understand. Do you understand? You owe me that at least."
River sighed. "You're going to need a drink. I'm going to need a drink." She untied the band and started towards the kitchen. He followed. Two shots of sake later, River sat back.
"You know the Academy messed with my brain. They cut parts out; they changed chemical ratios and made a royal mess of things. I knew I had to restore what was altered if I stood any chance of becoming permanently lucid. It turns out that was only part of the problem. That's why Simon failed.
"Everyone is intuitive to varying degrees. It's a sixth sense, the knowledge that you're being followed, or where something's hidden. It's why I was so good at everything as a child. It came naturally because I knew what to do before I started. Some people are gifted not only with intense intuition, but the ability to read thoughts and know things before they happen. They're Readers. This is why the Academy wanted me, because I had potential. They stripped my amygdale, where the brain processes emotion. The surgery heightened my reading abilities. Sure I still would have been able to read minds, but not to the same degree. They made me an unnaturally strong Reader and they took away my body's natural abilities to protect me.
"I found a Reader, Allegra, on the planet Sirius. She taught me what every trained Reader eventually learns, how to keep the ability in check. We take in every form of human stimuli available. Every thought, every memory, every emotion and action. It's enough to make anyone crazy. Readers have to learn to give it a psychic push to keep it away, out of our heads, and we have to learn to control it. If we push too hard, we can project our own will on others and can damage those we read. Though sometimes, as you saw with Liz, it isn't always a bad thing. It just requires control. Allegra helped me find it. It's not a cure, but it keeps me sane. It's a close to serenity as I'm ever going to get."
"What's with the drugs then?"
"I'm always pushing. As I sit here I'm pushing away your fear, your confusion, your…Inara." The image flashed before her eyes.
Mal looked down at his glass.
"When I sleep," she continued, "I can't push because I'm not conscious. It's what caused my nightmares. I'm flooded with everything I've held back which ups its intensity. I shoot up drugs and neurotransmitters every night; flood my brain with serotonin, among other things. It knocks me into a deeper sleep than the body is capable of achieving on it's own. It's dreamless and it's not ideal, but again, it's the best I can do considering the circumstances."
She stood up. "Speaking of which, I really need sleep and so do you."
He stood up as well. Mal put the sake bottle back in its locker and followed River towards the crew rooms. He opened his hatch. She turned back.
"Mal, I am so sorry for what I did to you, to Simon, to this ship. I can feel the gloom, the depression and sadness. I know what you had to do to honor my wishes, to keep them from looking for me, to force them to move on though I guess they never really did. Especially Simon."
"You're family albatross. You needed this. Who was I to say otherwise? You deserved some faith in you. I'm sorry we couldn't muster any. But things'll get better now that you're back."
She chuckled, "I'm also sorry about our absurd reuniting. I wasn't planning on kissing you, just keeping you from getting shot.
"And I appreciated that. As for the…other thing, you did what you had to do." Plus I haven't been kissed in a while.
River chose not to acknowledge this.
"Good night Capt'n." She faded back into the darkness.
Mal rested his head on a rung of the ladder. Things were going to get better. Things were whole again. The family was complete.
So why was he so apprehensive?
Inara. The image flashed again. The softly curling hair…the face he dreaded to read…her eyes pleading. Mal shook his head and lowered himself down.