Fan Fiction Name: Firesong.

Chapter Name: Revelation

Blurb: A year after the Miranda Wave, Jonah, Tomas, and rest of the crew of the Firesong makes their way of life through collecting bounty. Some spoilers ahead!

Disclaimer: Can you guess what will be said here? If you guessed "Firefly is not mine", you'd be right. OC's galore here! See Authors notes below.

Readers Challenge: The geeky reference is from a great movie that has only come out within the last year, is British, and is in and of itself a reference to the great horror movies of yesteryear. Think "Zombaid".

START

The dusty, dry surface of Haven rustled and burned as the Firesong rushed by, a blur of steel and exhaust. The low foliage rustled violently as the steel behemoth cruised by, unaware of its own affect of the landscape. Small creatures turned fearful eyes skyward as the large shadow loomed overhead. They kept their eye on the large skybound craft as they continued their routine, warily watching the ship to make sure it was not a predator out for their blood. Luckily for them, the prey of the Firesong was that of a nameless man who was supposed to be in his fourties.

So, Jonah decided to use his secret weapon. His twenty one year old sister: Grace.

Now if only she stopped stalling.

"Gorramit Grace! We've landed already!" Jonah yelled up the stairs to his sister, who seemed content to hold up in her room. However, he knew why she was stalling the way she was. She had to face the one thing she hated most before doing anything. The one thing that terrified Grace beyond all logic and comprehension.

She had to get an inoculation.

Grace had fought tooth and nail and nearly got knocked out twice as she struggled against the combined strength of Jonah, Tomas, and Mordecai as Duke carefully inserted the needle into her arm. After another couple of seconds fighting, she calmed down, then became cheery about the mission almost immediately. Jonah just shook his head as Grace headed down the ramp, almost as if they were going to go have fun at Persephone Falls like a little kid.

Sometimes, he really didn't understand his sister.

Sometimes, she really didn't understand men. Why were they always trying to be so protective of her? She knew how to take care of herself, damn it! She knew how dangerous this kind of work could get, but they still treated her like some horribly dainty little flower that was on the verge of breaking.

Then again, the fact she was deathly afraid of needles and acted like she was being buried alive when she needed a shot probably didn't help things.

Sometimes she wished she could be a bit more like Johansen, but immediately squashed that idea. Why be like that. It was like she was just another guy and would never get any sort of romantic attention from them. Hell, she'll probably be ogled a little bit in the off chance she forgets a shirt and then she back to being Johansen, the shim.

'Hee hee. Shim. That's a funny word. I'll have to copyright that,' Grace thought as she made her way to the now dusty town as the hot noonday sun pounded down on her. Jeez, even seven planets away and the heat was intense, as she looked up at the bright yellow-white star. She frowned at the broght ball in the sky and turned her attention back on the road.

'I wonder if the Sun that Earth-That-Was was around was like this,' she thought bitterly as she sauntered her way across the town, finding the one place she looked to start her digging. One thing she had learned to do in her early days of info-gathering with Jonah was that one proud, happy truth remained true on every planet: Bars and saloons were information goldmines.

The first bar she found was rather crowded for it being midday. However, the clientele was a bit…well…odd. It was a mixture of ages, but predominately it was a relatively young group. They seemed to be, well, working. Not drinking. Not flirting. They were putting up planks and well…not doing things that people did in bars.

"Excuse me, are you looking for work," asked a young boy, no older than sixteen. Grace inwardly frowned before turning to face the young man. "Actually, I'm just passing through. What's going on here?" Grace responded, her hand motioning to the room around her.

"Oh, we just had a big windstorm and the front parlor was blown in. I'm guessin' you want a drink?" The young boy said. Grace nodded in response and followed after him when he turned and walked towards a back room. The back room seemed far more like the style of bar she was used to, just a bit crowded. Grace gave a quick view, immediately categorizing the people. Normal drunkards. People stressed from the job. The young workers. And the last was the hostess, a rather stunning woman with a face that seemed almost like a mask of stone. Her skin, the color of light coffee, betrayed her to be of mixed heritage, much like Grace and Jonah. What struck Grace most about this woman was the fact that she carried herself lightly, carefully controlled. Much like a warrior.

Like Jonah and Tomas.

"You here for a drink?" came the hostess' voice as Grace took a seat at the bar.

"Yeah, I'll have some beer," came Graces response, backed by the patented Grace smile. Everyone trusted it.

Well, almost everyone.

"Alright. Who are you and who are you looking for?" came the hostesses cool voice as the beer got to her. Grace made no outward motion, but was being tossed about inside. 'How did she know? How could she have known? Wait, wait, Grace. Your jumping to conclusions,' Grace thought.

"Just looking for someone is all," Grace responded, her eyes not leaving her drink. The older woman simply gave her a knowing look before turning away. Grace takes a swig of the beer and then turns her gaze to the woman, a look of awe on her face. "This is damn good beer!" Grace announces loudly, gaining a few annoyed looks and a curious glance from the bar hostess. "Well I'm glad you like it. I made it myself."

'Well, I must certainly try to bring this along when I leave,' grace thought before turning back to the woman. "You know, I didn't get you name."

"Zoe. Zoe Washburne."

"Shes late," Mordecai said as he carefully torqued a part of the hovers engine. Tomas and Jonah were beside him, Tomas testing the control system and Jonah sitting aside looking bored. Jonah scoffs and opens his mouth to answer when a small message appears on the nearest screen.

"I am at the Hoban Tavern. Met me there," was Graces not-to-serious voice as the message ended. Yep, her first transmission, usually to discuss where and when to find someone or to find other clues.

"Well, shall we get going," Tomas chirped as he got up and began climbing into…

"Get down from there!" came a terrified response from Mordecai as he gotten up in time to see the big man start to move into the seat. Tomas' death glare was only ceased by the cool look given to him by Jonah. Grumbling quietly to himself, Tomas slid over one. Getting a nod from the now greasy Mordecai, who shut the engine compartment with a loud "Snap!", Jonah powered up the hover and upon leaving the confines of the Firesong, turned and made a beeline into town.

The trip, which lasted no more than five minutes, ended with the Hover docking at a rather dilapidated building with lots of construction going on. Tomas was the first to jump out, his eyes scanning the building as his hands slowly reached for one of his rifles. Once he was sure of no danger, he motioned to Jonah who quickly jumped down and, upon making his own inspection, walked forward. He was greeted by the sawing of wood, the hammering of nails and (oddest of all) the laughter of women. Making their ways towards the back room, they saw something that they could not believe.

Zoe Alayne. The infamous Zoe Alayne, also known as the Ice Cold Amazon, was laughing.

"Well, I'll be damned! If it ain't the Amazon herself!" came Tomas' amused voice as the two of them walk forward. Zoes attention turned from Grace, with whom she was laughing with (and indulging in some spirits herself) to the two men who just walked in. After a couple of seconds, her eyes flashed with recognition. Her face going from happy to almost mischievous.

"Well well well, I haven't seen you two screw ups in years," came her cool reply, her voice hinting at amusement. Tomas instantly winced, remembering a rather embarrasing incident that happened on New Kashmir.

"Hey, now, we've been screw up free for, well, a month now!" Jonah answered back as he began to chuckle slightly. "So, is it true?"

"Is what true?" came Zoes response. Her voice held much confusion as the two men went to the bar. "Yeah, we heard you, the Ice Cold Amazon of all people, got married. Is…" Jonahs words instantly failed when a mixture of the original Zoe he knew came out, but there was one big difference.

Her eyes were watering. Was she…about to cry?

"Damn it, Jonah," Tomas muttered. "Well, I'm sorry about what happened. Well, think of it this way, the bastard must be knee…" Tomas was unable to finish as the strong womans fist instantly contacted with his nose. Tomas heard a distinctive "crack" and recoiled, fighting hard against his instinct to draw his guns.

Jonahs face went from horrified, to confused, to understanding within the second. He knew something was off. Her reaction was not like the woman they had managed to get to know all those years ago. She was little more than a shell of her former self.

Graces face went from confusion to shock. Somehow, they had known this woman. But from where? How? Then the impact came, and Graces face went to shock. Why did she just hit Tomas? Why?

In a low voice that echoed through the freakishly silent room, a voice that was little more than a whisper responded. "What is in a week?"

Tomas, his nose bloodied and most likely broken, looked up to the woman. His eyes, originally angry, subsided as two things happened. One, grace quickly jumped from her seat and immediately went to Tomas' side. Second, he knew what was in a week. Damn near everyone did.

"The signal…"

"There will be a gathering here. If you wish to come, you may," came Zoes voice as she walked towards a back room, her face stoic but her eyes nearly bursting. After a few seconds of dead silence, Jonah looked to his beaten companion and his sister, the concern for the bloodied man readily apparent. After a few seconds, they both nodded, with Tomas getting up with the help of Grace.

"Hey, Tomas. You got red on you," Jonah said, his voice a mixture of humor and shock. Tomas' brow furrowed before looking at his blood-stained shirt. Immediately he glared at his companion.

"Shut up," Tomas managed to grumble as the three made their way out of the quiet bar.

END

Authors Notes: God damn! After nearly a month of school work, personal problems, and much needed time with my girlfriend, Firesong is now back on track! As always, R and R!