Persephone, June 2519
River's pronouncement had led to the captain quickly ushering everyone back to his ship. Serenity, Lacey noted. So the captain really was a Browncoat in every sense of the word. Everyone was gathered in the cargo bay, empty crates serving as seats. The group from the bar had been joined by an old Shepherd and a young Companion. Lacey eyed the Shepherd warily. Everyone else eyed Legacy warily. She observed River while she waited. There was something off about the girl.
Finally, the Captain spoke, "You Alliance?"
Lacey laughed, but River answered for her, "Browncoat."
The Captain's eyebrows went up, "Don't look old enough."
"Appearances are deceptive."
Lacey bit back another laugh, and kept her voice level, "I have no love for the Alliance, Captain. And River's right, my family is Independent through and through."
The Captain seemed to consider that for a moment before nodding and turning back to River, "You say she's here to help. Help with what, albatross?"
This time Lacey answered for River, "If I had to hazard a guess, Captain, I believe I overheard you mentioning the need for an extra gun."
Captain turned back to her, "Eavesdropping?"
Lacey shrugged, unapologetic.
River spoke again, "Curiosity killed the cat."
Lacey turned to River, "Good thing I ain't a cat. I'm a mite harder to kill than that."
River nodded solemnly and turned expectantly toward the captain, "Introductions are in order."
The Captain looked annoyed and amused at the same time, "Now, albatross, don't know if we're gonna be keepin' her yet. Don't reckon I want her knowin' all us if we don't."
River looked frustrated, "Fèihuà. Kěwù de lǎo bàojūn. She must stay."
"That so?"
River didn't answer, just stared him in the eye with a determined look.
Wonder if they realize that if I go the girl probably goes with me, Lacey thought idly.
River turned her gaze to Lacey, "She is correct."
"I didn't say…" Lacey started to answer, confused, then thought quickly back over the rest of the evening, "Oh. You're a reader. Interesting, that's never happened before."
River nodded and the determined look returned to her face as she looked back toward the Captain, who now had a shocked look on his face. Shock was quickly turning to something more dangerous.
Lacey help her hands up, placating, "I mean River no harm. I can help her. And I can help you."
The Captain's gaze turned to Zoe briefly, then back to Lacey, and he nodded, finally taking his hand off his gun and offering it to her, "Captain Malcolm Reynolds."
Lacey grasped his hand firmly, briefly debating her response, catching the Shepherd in her peripheral made up her mind, "Rachel Jenkins."
River gave her a funny look, but didn't say anything.
It took Lacey a minute for the Captain's name to register. Her thoughts cam rapid fire then: Mal, Browncoat. Miranda, Alliance coverup. River, reader.
"Miss Jenkins?" Malcolm asked.
Legacy realized she still gripped his hand, "Sorry." She turned her head toward River, who nodded, "I'll be damned."
"Sorry?"
"Nothing. Sorry. Actually, something. Ain't too keen on startin' off on the wrong foot with you lot. I've spent the last few months kinda lookin' about for whoever was responsible for Miranda. Didn't think I'd fall in with them by accident."
Hands went back to guns, but River moved firmly into place in front of Lacey, repeating, "She is here to help."
Mal looked at her funny, but continued with introductions. Zoe was first mate. Jayne was the resident mercenary. City dandy was Simon, a doctor and River's brother. The sweet looking girl was Kaylee, the mechanic. Inara was a Counselor, formerly a Companion. And the Shepherd was Book.
Legacy would avoid him until she knew if he could be trusted. She turned her attention back to Mal.
"Pay ain't great, but it ain't bad and you'll get a fair share, you'll get your own bunk, and everyone has free reign of the kitchen. River says you can be trusted, and I'm inclined to take her word for it. We're a mite tired of bein' short-handed around here," Legacy noticed the slight flinch from Zoe at that, "So the job's yours if you want it."
Legacy nodded, "Just have to get my things."
Georgia, 1 week later
Legacy understood why Mal and Zoe had been so uncomfortable taking a job. Serenity had 7 crew members, but only 3 gun hands, 4 counting Lacey. 5 if River was in a lucid period. It had only Lacey a couple days to figure out that what was wrong with River was that she wasn't all there. A polite inquiry to her brother had explained what the Alliance had done and had Lacey hiding in her bunk contacting Will via magic and demanding that the Academy be looked into immediately.
Currently, Mal, Zoe, Jayne, and Lacey were facing down their sellers, and Lacey was glad they'd had a bad feeling about this job in particular, because they'd been right. Meeting after dark was common enough with dealings like this, so that hadn't set off any alarms, but the moment the air lock doors slid open, Lacey breathed a prayer of thanks that the Scythe was in reach. She'd rather have her crossbow right now, though, truth be told, because the half a dozen men standing at the foot of the ramp, waiting to be invited up, were very clearly vampires. She picked up the Scythe and holstered her gun, ignoring the funny look from Jayne.
Lacey gently laid a hand on Mal's arm and spoke very quietly, "You ever worked with these guys before?"
Mal looked at her curiously, "No. You?"
Lacey decided lying was the safest bet, "Yeah. You don't want to."
"How 'bout I let you take point? You know the deal."
Lacey shook her head, "You do it, but no matter what you do, don't invite them onto the ship."
Jayne seemed to be losing his patience, "You fellas comin' up to deal or not?"
Thank God he phrased that as a question, Lacey thought.
Mal stepped forward, "No, Jayne, I think we can deal with them right where they're at."
Lacey stayed right with Mal as he moved onto the ramp. The vamps stepped up and met them halfway. They realized their mistake the second they caught wind of Lacey.
One of them snarled, "You!" seconds before all six were vamped out.
She spun, grabbing Mal by his coat and throwing him bodily back into the safety of the cargo bay. She continued her spin until she was facing the vamps once more, and raised the Scythe. The first one lunged, and she ducked, driving the stake into its chest. She somersaulted past the legs of the others and popped back up behind them, beheading two more before they could even turn around. She choked on the dust as she staked the fourth. The fifth managed to get behind her and lock her arms to her sides, causing her to drop the Scythe, as the sixth advanced on her, only to be drawn up short by an arrow embedding itself in his chest from behind. She used the loosening of the last vamp's arms, thanks to the distraction of the other getting dusted, to break loose and flip over him, simultaneously driving the vamp to his knees and pulling the spare stake out of her waistband, driving it into the vamp's chest as soon as she landed solidly on her feet.
Legacy drew herself up straight and glanced around, making sure there were no more lurking in the shadows before walking back into the bay. Mal was still sitting on the floor, staring at her slack-jawed. She reached a hand down to help him and he took it absentmindedly.
"Sorry about that." she told him as she pulled him up.
"What the hell was that?" he asked incredulously.
"That, Captain, was vampires." Book answered, walking up behind Mal, Lacey's crossbow in hand.
Mal opened and closed his mouth three times before finally speaking, "Everyone in the mess. Now."
Lacey made sure the cargo bay was locked up tight before turning toward the stairs. The Shepherd was waiting for her.
"Guess I owe you thanks, Preacher."
"Not at all," he seemed to remember the crossbow in his hands, "Oh, I hope you don't mind. I saw the commotion from the vidscreen on the bridge and this was sitting there."
Legacy took it, "Xièxie."
"It's old." The statement sounded like a question.
"Yes."
Legacy was saved from the conversation continuing by their arrival to the mess, where everyone but River was now seated. River wasn't seated, because she was hanging upside down from the beam above the table, one of Legacy's books in hand. The bittersweet nostalgia of the sight hit Lacey so hard she had to drop into her chair to maintain the strength not to pass out. River looked at her worriedly and dropped to the table with a small flip. She kneeled in front of Legacy, setting the book aside and taking the other woman's face in her hands.
"Duìbùqǐ. She didn't know the pain. Only saw the competition." River babbled nervously.
Lacey took a deep breath and looked up at the other girl, willing the tears away as she did, "It's alright mèimei, you couldn't have known. He's a memory I guard so closely even you would have to dig deeply for it."
River nodded, understanding, before dropping gracefully into the chair next to Lacey. Coming back to reality, Lacey realized all eyes were on her. She was assuming someone had explained what had happened to Kaylee and Simon.
"She is correct." River offered from next to her.
Mal looked between River and Legacy, before speaking to Lacey, disbelief dripping from the word, "Vampires?"
Lacey took a deep breath and stood, "Yes Captain, vampires."
Mal got an indiscernible look on his face before looking defeated and dropping hard into his chair.
Lacey smiled a bit, she understood acceptance when she saw it.
Mal finally asked, "There a lot of these things? Vampires. A lot of vampires? Are there other such creatures?"
"Yes, there are a lot of vampires. Yes, there are other monsters."
"Huh."
Lacey laughed, "That's one way to put it."
"Are they all bad?" That was a normal question, but she hadn't expected it to come from Zoe. And based on the look on the woman's face, maybe it wasn't so normal.
"Why do you ask?" Lacey asked instead of answering. Then she thought of something, "Have you come across them before?"
"Just two, before the War. One attacked me. Another one saved me."
Lacey nodded, "Vampires, as a general rule, are evil. They have no soul, nothing that makes them human anymore."
"Why would one save a human?"
"… I couldn't say." It was a lie of omission of sorts, but Lacey wasn't ready to explain everything.
Zoe nodded, satisfied for now.
Simon finally seemed to catch up, "You're really trying to tell us Dracula is real?"
"Yes. And he's a pain in the ass." Lacey snapped and River giggled at Lacey's annoyed memories of legendary vampire.
Simon was speechless.
"What other monsters are there?" Kaylee asked shyly.
"Werewolves. Demons of all sorts. Hell gods."
"Are all the monsters bad?"
"There are exceptions to every rule, but for the most part, they're bad."
Jayne spoke up, "If all these critters are really out there, how come folks don't know about them?"
"Humans still outnumber monsters greatly. Exposure would put the monsters in danger." Lacey explained.
"How come you know 'bout 'em then?"
Lacey shrugged, not yet ready to bring them too far into this, "Bad luck."
None of the crew looked happy with her answer, but no one called her on it just then.
Zoe, per usual, was the voice of logic, "We come across these things again, how do we kill them?"
Lacey knew better than to not tell them. They knew the vamps were real, they should know how to defend themselves, "Most of the old myths hold some truth. Wooden stake through the heart. Decapitation. Holy water and crosses burn them, as does s-daylight." Lacey cursed silently, 500 years and she still had to remind herself to say daylight instead of sunlight.
Mal interrupted then, a thought clearly just dawning, "How the hell'd you throw me back inta the ship like you did?"
"Adrenaline," Lacey deadpanned.
"What about garlic?" Jayne inquired seriously, oblivious of the tense exchange.
Lacey laughed, finally relaxing a bit, "Gǒushǐ."
The crew dispersed until Legacy and the preacher were the last two. Noticing the expression on his face, Lacey bolted unceremoniously before he could start in on her.
Lacey managed to avoid the Shepherd, with some help from River, for two whole days before managed to corner her in the kitchen one morning before the rest of the crew was awake.
"You've been avoiding me." he cut to the chase.
Lacey sat at the table and eyed him warily, "And what makes you think you're so special?"
Book raised his eyebrows, "Surely you can do better than that."
Lacey shrugged in answer.
He decided to take a very direct approach, "People don't just know about vampires. And the ones that do are often bound by laws and covenants to not share that information. Someone with your knowledge and skill in relation to them, and the implications of your knowledge of other creatures, paired with the freedom to share that information at will, leaves very few possibilities as to your identity."
"And what's your theory, Preacher man?" Lacey asked, casually sipping her coffee as Book joined her at the table.
"You're the Slayer." It wasn't a question.
Lacey was silent as she debated her response. River trusted the Shepherd. And he had saved her life. Besides, if he proved untrustworthy, she could always throw him out the airlock.
Comes to that, I'll help. River's voice drifted across her mind and she cursed under her breath, drawing a disapproving look from Book.
She ignored it, thinking hard at River, You let him find me, traitor.
She swore she felt River laugh inside her head.
Lacey turned her attention back to Book, "Yes."
He nodded, clearly surprised by her directness.
"You abuse that knowledge; I'll put you out the airlock. I've no tolerance for religious fanatics, dǒng ma?"
"Understood."
"You can ask your questions, but there's no guarantee I'll answer them."
"Fair enough… I only know the legends. My order hasn't had direct contact with a Slayer in over 300 years."
"There's a reason that." Lacey informed him flatly.
"I suppose that's as good a place as any to start my questions."
"Slayer and Watchers worked in peace with the Shepherds from the exodus of Earth-that-Was 'til 'bout 300 years ago when one of the leading men of the cloth got it in his head to use dark magic to try and bind a Slayer to his will, force her to serve his order. Didn't end well for him, or our alliance with the Shepherds."
Book looked sad, "I see… to be honest, I'd hoped those whispers were false."
"They weren't." Lacey's hand unconsciously drifted to the scar at the base of her neck.
"I'm sorry."
Lacey realized where her hand was and made a show of running her fingers through her hair before shrugging dismissively, "Wasn't your doing."
"But it was the doing of my order."
"Yes."
"Your Watcher?" Book asked curiously.
Lacey forced herself not to tense, technically, Dawn was her Watcher, but every time it came up (which wasn't often) she couldn't help but think of Xander. She cleared her throat and forced her mind back to the present conversation, "At home. Don't need them looking over my shoulder all the time."
"And home is?"
"Don't trust you that much yet, Preacher man."
Translations:
Fèihuà – Nonsense
Kěwù de lǎo bàojūn – Horrible old tyrant
Xièxie – Thank you
Duìbùqǐ – I'm sorry
mèimei – little sister
Gǒushǐ – dog shit
dǒng ma – understand