Firefly

Chapter 7

"So Kate, huh?" Frankie was really interested in hearing this.

"It's not what you think," Rick answered quickly.

"Then you're not walking around with a slave that you've tagged?" Or had he somehow misjudged the situation?

"Okay, it is what you think, but she's not my slave," Rick argued.

"You tagged her, explain that one. You hate slaves as much as any Brown I know or have you changed that much?" Maybe that one shot he had taken really had been too much for him. He would never believe it but he'd been wrong before and as his wife would be only too willing to point out, he would be wrong again.

"I tagged her so I wouldn't lose her like her previous master lost her," Rick insisted.

"What are you doing, Rick? She's more slave than any of us ever were." Frankie wasn't getting it.

"I've been pumping her full of flibanserin."

That had Frankie thinking. "Sex drug. If memory serves it's supposed to flood her system with dopamine and serotonin. Increase motivation, appetite, and desire in women. Experimental, last I knew. Though I've been out of the loop for a while now. What do you need that stuff for? Is something wrong with her?" It was the only reason he could come up with.

"Really, Frankie?" Rick almost shouted. "Look at me. Strike that, don't look at me. Maybe I should have your wife look at me. No, strike that, too. I need an impartial woman to look at me. What do you think she sees?"

There was nothing wrong with Rick. Frankie saw a tall guy who maybe had a couple of extra pounds added to his frame since the war but that was all. "Sounds like you're going to have to explain it to me since I don't get it."

"I've got ghosts all over me, Frankie. Thousands of them. No woman worth her salt is going to want to have anything to do with me once she learns that. Most women can almost read your mind. I wouldn't put it past them to actually be able to see them. Kate doesn't, at least not yet."

"Christ, Rick, are we still on that? Okay, so the brass wanted him dead and I passed on that order to you. You were the best so I knew it would work. If it wasn't you they would've thought up something else. There was no way the war was going to end then. Thousands would have just kept on fighting even if they'd been ordered to stop. You know that. People didn't just not like the Alliance, they hated them. Hell, there are more than a few out there still that hate them just as much now as they did then.

"How many people does it take to get it through that thick head of yours? Those people are not dead because of you. And what does any of this have to do with pumping Kate full of a sex drug?" Frankie was still working on that one.

"I've been alone since that one day. Just me. Then I saw her whimpering on the floor surrounded by a broken something so I put 2 + 2 together and came up with slave. When I scanned her, she came up clean so I grabbed her, and took her to my ship. Yes, I tagged her. I tagged her to keep her from being someone's slave. Anyone's slave, including me. I fought the Alliance to prevent people from being slaves. Didn't work but I at least tried.

"Now look at us. We lost and planets are more slaves than they've ever been even before the start of the war. The only place to be free is way the hell out here," Rick argued.

"I know all that. Sex drug?" Frankie led him back to the topic.

"She's tall, she gorgeous, she's smart even without a lot of education, I'm guessing. Where else am I going to find a woman like that? You got lucky; I don't have your kind of luck." Rick's face flushed.

"Sex drug?" Frankie didn't hear a why in any of that.

Rick hung his head. "I didn't want to lose her so I took a risk." He knew it was bad of him but he was desperate.

"Okay, let's cut through the bullshit. What's the real reason and if you say anything about you being ugly I'm gonna shoot you. And this baby can easily blow a leg off in one shot. So let's hear it." Frankie still hadn't heard a reason why.

"You remember the last time I was here with that little cargo ship that even the pirates wouldn't attack because there was nothing on it?" Rick began.

"Like it was yesterday. You actually didn't look so bad then. You had a job and it didn't involve you touching a sniper rifle. You almost sounded happy." Frankie saw the look on his face. "What did you do?" He was thinking started a fight with his boss. Stole the cargo and sold it. No, that didn't work; he got paid for that load. Stole the cargo ship maybe and sold it.

"I tried to kill myself." Rick wasn't proud of himself. But his demons had gotten to him and it was the easiest way out.

"Jeez, Rick. For the last goddamn time, it wasn't your fucking fault." Frankie spun in place since he couldn't believe this. But that wasn't an answer.

"Sex drug?" Frankie was back to that.

"I got lucky and ran across this Firefly, then the P52, then the missiles that came with it."

"I'll grant you that's a really nice ship. You can do a lot with that baby." Frankie was impressed.

"Sex drug?" Frankie asked again.

"I had just loaded it up with food and I was going to fly it way out here somewhere, anywhere and just disappear."

"Try and kill yourself again." Frankie saw him nod. "What am I going to do with you? …Sex drug?" Frankie was just about ready to kill him himself.

"Then I found Kate and a new plan just hit me. If I pumped her full of flibanserin I could get her hooked on sex. Then when she figured out the truth it would be too late," Rick finally admitted. "She would already be in love with me since I wasn't going to treat her like a slave. I might even marry her."

"You… I was right the first time. I am gonna to shoot you. That's the most stupidest fucking plan I've ever heard. Force her to love you so that you don't kill yourself because you can't get past killing one Alliance admiral who deserved to be killed. What am I going to do with you, Rick?" Frankie just didn't know what to do for him.

"So does your sex drug work?" Maybe it wasn't a total loss if his insanely stupid plan worked.

"Amazingly, yes," Rick said. "I'm betting that right this moment she's standing or sitting with your wife and is about ready to explode in a mind bending orgasm."

"I'd ask if you had any extra but I happen to like living and keeping my dick instead of having her cut it off. So what's your plan when she finds out she's been used? When she erupts like a volcano and finds the weapon you're currently wearing?" Had he thought of that? Or was he really that far gone?

Since Rick remained silent Frankie was betting the answer was no.

"I'd say you need some serious therapy but I'm sure you already know that and if you don't you're beyond help." Frankie just wasn't sure what to do. It was too late to stop the drug since he had talked about pumping her full of the stuff.

Though if somehow Kate gave him a reason to live maybe something good could come out of this fucked up mess. As if by magic he saw his wife and Kate headed his way.

"Okay Rick, here comes your chance to come clean. Or you'll get to stay here on this planet. …In a body bag six feet in the ground." Frankie poked him in the chest.

"Hi babe, dinner will be ready in a few," Liz told her husband.

"Well dinner's gonna to be late. These two have something they need to talk about," Frankie informed his wife who had a blank look on her face.

"Tell her or I will," Frankie warned Rick. He took his wife's hand and walked away.

"What are we doing?" Liz didn't understand. She'd learned a few things from Kate but wasn't sure they needed to talk right now.

Frankie took a deep breath. "Rick's gotten stupid on us. He tried to kill himself after he left us last time."

"OH, GOD! I'd kill that damn admiral myself if he wasn't already dead." Liz had known he was hurting but didn't know it was that bad.

"It gets worse. Rick has a plan to keep himself from trying to kill himself yet again. It involves him pumping Kate full of flibanserin." Frankie scrubbed his hands over his face. "She's probably one touch from an orgasm right now."

"Flibanserin? Where have I heard that name before?" It was on the tip of her mind.

"It's a sex drug meant to work on women. Pump her full of the stuff and she's a walking orgasm. He thinks that if he can get Kate to fall in love with him he'll have a reason to try and not kill himself again." Frankie huffed a worried sigh for his friend.

"IS HE OUT OF HIS FUCKING MIND?!"Liz stopped to turn around and look at those two who appeared to be talking.

"Rick sees all the people that died after he killed that admiral as being on his conscience. They haunt his soul. He really is broken, Liz. Seriously broken." Frankie joined his wife to watch both of them.

"What are you thinking?" His wife was being too silent.

"I think it just might work," Liz told him.

"Come again?" He would have bet she would blow up and at the very least thumped him a good one. And if she could get her hands on his weapon that she just might shoot him. Frankie was betting Rick would just let her.

"I think she already loves him," Liz insisted.

"What are you talking about?" Frankie didn't see it.

"We had our own little girl talk. Her previous master beat her, did nothing for her. Rick bought her clothes. That's where the coat and those boots came from not to mention what's under that coat. He tagged her so he could keep her. She's figured that part out pretty well.

"She may not know that she loves him but she does. He might just be the man she needs. She is certainly the woman he needs. Maybe he can give her a reason not to think of herself as being a slave. She just might give him a reason to live. Maybe even given him a reason to let go of his demons that haunt him," Liz explained.

Frankie pointed out a flaw in his plan. "He's still forcing sex on her."

"True, but right now she still sees herself as a slave. Meaning she has to allow him to do anything he wants. Maybe later when she has more ground under her and loves him, she may break his leg or something. But for right now, she'll let him live.

"And If I find any of that shit…" Her husband held up his hands in surrender and backed up a step. Liz smiled. She'd trained him well. Now Kate just needed to be more sure about herself and not see herself as a slave. When she did she could begin training Rick.

"Well at least she isn't yelling at him," Frankie commented as they still observed both of them.

Then suddenly they were kissing. That had both of them raising an eyebrow. "Dinner!" Liz ran for the dome to rescue what was left of their dinner.

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All four of them were loading Rick's cargo hold with all it could hold since Frankie had a whole lot. "Just be careful, my friend," Frankie said. "I think word's out that there are pirates in this area. It's why I have so much."

"I've got a few surprises for them." Rick smiled an evil grin.

"Now there's the Rick I remember: dedicated and sure of himself. Come back when you can, I've got enough for another load for you. Then we can talk about who else out here could use your help. It's been really good to see you, Rick. Just try and get it though that thick skull of yours. You didn't get them killed. For all we know it was a trap and even more of us would have been killed. It was the Alliance and it was Admiral Kona." There was no more hated man in the Alliance than Admiral Kona and they both knew it.

"No promises." Rick shook his hand and hugged him.

"So how are you and Rick?" Liz was curious as she was talking with Kate before they left.

"We're good. He told me about the drug he put inside me. It does explain a lot of things." She had never been this hot and on fire in her life. Even now she needed him to give her another orgasm, or two, or three, or more.

"He was afraid. As strong as he may look on the outside he really is scared on the inside. Now that you know what he's done he'll add being afraid that you'll reject him to that list," Liz cautioned her.

"I want to help him. I do. He's been kinder to me than anyone and I'm pretty sure I started all the sex," Kate commented.

"Because of all that drug he's pumped into you. Good luck, honey, and I hope to see you again soon." Liz was hoping her husband had invited him back for another load. They had a lot to sell and could use the money.

Liz hugged her and was hugged in return. Kate walked away and then stopped before walking again. Liz grinned and shook her head, amused. That tag location was going to have her all worked up almost constantly and add that drug to that and she was a walking sex goddess.

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They were watching the Firefly flying away with a full cargo hold. It was a lot of money and a lot of hard work in that hold.

"Did you invite them back?" Liz asked her husband.

"I did. If they make it past the pirates and they should with that ship, they'll be back. Might be a few weeks but they'll be back." Frankie was betting on it.

"How's Kate?" Rick left her walking so it must not be that bad.

"I'm pretty sure she already loves him. Just like he wanted his insanely stupid plan to happen. Pretty sure he already loves her, too. Now they just need to find the strength to tell the other," Liz commented.

"Think we'll get wedding invitations?" Frankie queried and watched them disappear from sight.

"We do and I'm going to need a new dress," Liz warned him.

"Rick makes it with both loads and we'll have the money for that dress and then some." Frankie kissed her cheek.

"Come on, babe. All this talk of sex has made me horny." Liz took his hand and led him to their bedroom.

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Rick had already powered up both of the twin railguns. He'd also swung out all four missile wings and had activated the targeting systems. "Now comes the question, do we get out of here without a problem?" Rick tried to keep one eye on where he was going and his scanner that would show him any pirates in the area.

"Can you do me a favor if you think that you're up to it?" Rick asked Kate.

"If I can." Kate would help but she just didn't know how.

"Right now I want you to watch this screen." Rick twisted as much as his restraints would allow him and made sure one of Kate's screens was the scanner. "If you see so much as any red dot let me know. Red is bad and that means pirates."

"Got it." She could watch for red dots.

The belt could be a difficult place to be. Not all of the planets were big and there was the occasional asteroid. He couldn't go into FTL until he was clear of all obstacles. If he didn't he would surge forward right into one of them, rip his ship open, and kill both of them.

They hadn't gotten very far. "I've got one red dot. It just suddenly showed up," Kate said.

"Yeah, that's what I was afraid of. They saw us come in and sent out a lone fighter to sit there and watch and wait for us to come out. If there's one there'll be more," Rick warned her. He wasn't too worried about one little fighter though if it got a lucky hit that would be a problem. A quick look told him that it was out of range anyway.

Rick was about halfway out. "Five more red dots!" Kate yelled because she was excited. But not a good kind of excited.

"I thought as much. Let's see if they're expecting us." Rick had a couple of surprises for them.

Rick watched as two went to join the single while the other three tried to work at coming right up behind him. The engines of an ordinary cargo ship were its most vulnerable spot. Take out the engines and they would just sit there. Then in comes a bigger ship to dock and board the ship and take its cargo as well as perhaps take the ship itself.

They were close in fighters like his lone fighter. However, his twin railguns were bigger than theirs. "Let's see how they handle a surprise." Rick grinned a little.

He rotated his engines a little. It meant he didn't change course and just kept going straight. Though it meant his ship was now almost at broadsides to those three. It also meant both of his twin railguns could find targets.

Rick took the farthest one out so that if the other two broke off they would break farther into his firing arc. "Firing." Rick pressed a panel for a round of three out of each barrel and returned to watching where he was going.

"One red dot is gone!" Kate was smiling wider now.

That had Rick looking and the other two didn't break away. That was the thing about fighting in the blackness of space. If he didn't use a tracer round no one saw his railgun rounds. Rick lined up on the one next to him. He gave him three rounds from each barrel and went back to watching where his foe was going.

"One more red dot's gone!" Kate crowed enthusiastically.

Rick watched as the last of that three broke hard into his firing arc and sent three from each barrel toward his as well.

He either missed or did minor damage. His scanner showed him that he was running away back the way he had come. The other three, though, were still coming. Except they were all at a higher Z-axis than he was so that meant only one of his railguns could track them.

He wasn't really interested in killing them. Partly because he was betting they were ex-Browns and he hated the idea of killing his own. While he didn't have a lock he fired three of his missiles in their direction and watched them scatter. He didn't kill any of them but he also watched as they left the area. He was betting they were expecting an ordinary cargo ship, not someone who could fight back and kill them.

"Ready for FTL?" Rick asked her.

"No more red dots." Kate was still watching and soon saw the now familiar tunnel in front of her.

They were now out of any pirate's range and couldn't be followed. Though they likely knew where they were going but that would be suicide for pirates.