Pirates and Companions
The Adventures of Jayne Cobb and Doc Nightshade
Category: Firefly
Title: 3
Chapter: Taking Her Home
Word count:3565
Genre: Adventure/ Romance/ Comedy /Violence
Rating: M for Mature themes / Language / Violence
Summary: Doc Nightshade AU/ Canon pairs / Wash & Book Live
Disclaimer: Not Mine, Just playing with their toys
Chapter Three
Taking Her Home
Set up Visual:
A Firefly crosses side on. 'Deadly Dancer' is readable on the hull. Lights and engines lit. Shedding more drive emissions than Serenity as she passes.
Interior: River, Jayne, Doc & Kaylee sit around the table.
"All I'm sayin' Doc is it should be you as Capt'n," Jayne explained. "River don't want it, and some wouldn't take her serious like. Lil Kaylee's got a job keepin us in the black and I'm not ruttin' smart enough." He finished.
Doc looked at Jayne and shook his head, "You're smart enough and would do good job. You got me and Wash squared away and that man is a real threat in a fight now. Might not have book smarts but you know more than I do on the streets." Doc finished.
Simon Tam would never have said that to Jayne but that part of Doc disappeared when he took on his new life.
"I don't want it Doc, you're top 3 you'd do us a fine job, don't make me sic ma wife on ya." Jayne laughed.
And with that, Doc Nightshade became the Captain.
"Come on Capt'n Hard Ass, got something ta show ya!" Kaylee excitedly pulled her husband to the engine room.
Inside, she had finished the 'important' work after they left Beylix. She had wired her secondary drive controller, welded a hook, ran a string of lights and laid down a couple sleep mats. It had the start of a nice little love nest and she smiled at him, looking proud.
"Well now lil darlin'," Doc smiled "What ya got in mind."
"Time ta christen tha ship Doc." She said, locking the door.
In the cargo bay, River finished tying her Pointe slippers and did her stretches, going through her movements gracefully. Jayne sat to the side and watched. He loved to see her dance. She was always so happy and she was so beautiful. He thought she moved like a butterfly, fluttering around. And his heart twisted in his chest lookin' at her bein' all bendy and flexible.
River went En Pointe and started her floor exercises. She moved all around the clear area. Soon she stood in front of her husband. "She wishes for him to dance with her." She said softly.
"Show me how." He said standing to join her.
"You must hold her here." she said as she placed his hands on her.
She opened her mind and he heard the music and knew what to do. He stood and held her from behind, his large hand going around most of her small waist. And she went into the classical form of pas de deux where the man holds the woman and she let her balance and grace flow as he assisted her. Her joy rolled over him like a wave as she shared it with him.
After a time it was just too much and he took her in his arms and leaned down and kissed her. Seeing her eyes, he kissed her again. Without words he carried her to his bed.
Fade out
Ok home viewers you know what time it is.
Let's all sing the song.
Take
my love, take my land
Take
me where I cannot stand
I
don't care, I'm still free
You
can't take the sky from me
Take
me out to the black
Tell
them I ain't comin' back
Burn
the land and boil the sea
You
can't take the sky from me
There's
no place I can be
Since
I found Serenity
But
you can't take the sky from me...
And a pause for station Identification
This is the Bao Bei Network, Don't touch that dial folks!
Later on the bridge:
River sat curled on his lap while Jayne sat in the pilot's seat.
"Not mad she asked Jayne to dance with her?" she asked tentatively.
"No Baby Girl, didn't have ta do any tippy toe dancing like you were. Jes hold on and lift ya around a bit. Sides you were so happy, I felt it inside." Her husband replied, happy that he could do something that gave her such joy. For all of his gruffness she knew the big man loved her enough to kill or die for her and she smiled.
Suddenly, there was a muted bang and the power and grav went out. Within seconds, the emergency lights and power returned and the gravity came back up to half. A main power failure alarm wailed on the console.
River flipped the switch and said, "Is all right husband, they's just breakin' tha ship in a bit." in her Dyton colony accent and both laughed.
Kaylee looked at Simon, then to the dial on the controller and said, "We're 42 under redline Doc, she needs a rebuild fore we try that again." sounding frustrated.
"It's ok Darlin. " Activating the capture, he started singing the pirate king song to her.
"Come ere, Doc." She said, as she jumped on him.
- - - - -
Wash sat at the controls as they sailed through the black.
"You've been ghosting me some time now." He said with an evil voice.
"Yes, but you're going to be the ghost. Die!" Roaring, he made the two dinosaurs attack each other.
Zoe looked at Mal while Inara shook her head, and asked, "It just don't get old does it sir?" as she laughed at her man.
Mal laughed and said, "Dead Eye, how long to Persephone?"
"We'll be landing within the hour, sir." Wash replied as he continued practicing intimidating words with his toys. They all had to admit some of those dinosaurs were making points with their tough talk.
Next day:
Two firefly ships sit on the landing area of Reynolds Shipping.
"'Nara, she needs to be rebuilt bad but I'm gonna need help." The little mechanic told her.
"Kaylee, we can hire some help and you can do whatever you need, it's not like we don't have the money." Inara tried to comfort the worried woman.
"Just don't want some land bound bolt strippers on my boat." Kaylee grumbled. "They got to be good, 'Nara."
"Well, we'll put out a call and you can talk to each of them when they get here." Inara soothed. "We'll refit the whole boat. Get your ideas together."
Kaylee walked away with a smile. 'Refit the whole boat' was all she could think about.
The next day, Inara's call had born fruit and seventeen men and three women showed up for Kaylee to interview.
She was ruthless. One unkind word about her boat got them tossed from the list. She made up parts to throw off the ones that didn't know their business, like where the 'Catalytic Clamp' or the 'Omni Navigator' was, and weeded out a few more.
When she asked for the 'Tool Relocation-Transporter', only the two women and two of the men understood she wanted her tool box. She hired all four and sent the others home.
They worked for two weeks solid before she was happy. But Deadly Dancer was a fit ship. Jayne had a part in the refit and all the new hull blisters on the ship made it look different than a normal Firefly 03. There was a rather large blister under the chin of the cockpit. After anti radar coating, the Dancer was a dull black.
- - - - - -
The ship crept in on thrusters, its running lights dark. White Horse Station was an orbital platform that monitored the terraforming below. Quickly activating the docking clamps, they overrode the airlock controls, the station was under attack.
Within the hour it was under their control. They killed everyone who fought back against them, they were the lucky ones.
- - - - -
Cut to the recorded face of a very frightened woman coming from a cortex screen.
"Vince, they are aboard us now. They are the same group as last time. We tracked them to New Hope. And they're only taking strong men and most of the women. I don't think I have much time." The woman said clearly terrified in the recorded cortex message.
No sooner had the man watching the message heard these words, he saw armed men breakthrough the door behind the woman. He saw her captured before the screen went dead.
He needed a ship and some help fast so he called the only man he knew would not let him down.
Master Sgt. Antonnelli and Sir Warrick Harrow arrived at Reynolds Shipping, looking grim. They found the staff in the canteen at the main building.
"Mal, as you know ever since Miranda, the Alliance has been focusing on eliminating the reavers. Pirate and slaving operations have increased in this quadrant as a result." Sir Warrick informed the crew. "Vince has a problem. I'll let him explain it to you."
"Folks, White Horse Station has been raided by slavers. My sister and her family lived there. They were attacked by slavers before and they tracked them to New Hope. I want to get a team out there ASAP and try to get them back. I've got some men but I need transport and frankly, a few more gun hands." The former drill instructor turned hairdresser said.
"I've got some money put aside and could pay you something. I really need your help." He finished saying, knowing the small amount he had might not be enough.
"You can keep your money." Mal said to the man. "I'm in."
Doc looked at his crew and nodded, "Us too, money's not a problem."
"What's your plan?" Mal asked.
Smiling at the thought of the hell he was going to bring to those pirates, Vince told them his plan.
- - - - -
Serenity and Deadly Dancer flew together to New Hope. At full burn, Serenity led the pace with her lights and engine aglow but Dancer, following behind, was not lit as brightly
Vince and Mal stood on the bridge. Mal was happy Inara and Zoe were sitting this one out. He knew people would die today. They didn't need to be there for it.
"We're a couple of hours out." Wash said. "We should do an orbit and see what's up before we land" Wash suggested.
"Good idea there, Dead Eye." Mal answered.
"Time for us to all gear up, Mal." Vince growled as he left the bridge.
Gina and Rick Walker sat in the galley. Two of the mechanics hired for Dancer's refit. Rick had been an Independent med tech during the war and he was a fine wrench spinner, so was his wife. She loved machines almost as much as Kaylee did and was a fair pilot besides. Mal could see why they got along so well and they filled the empty places in the crew well.
"I want you both to stay with the ship once we hit planet side." He ordered.
Both nodded and said, "Yes sir."
"We hope to get all the surviving people on both boats. I'll need you two to keep anyone from taking the ship. If it gets too bad, dust off and come back again." Mal informed them.
"Yes sir." they both acknowledged.
Mal and Vince headed for the cargo bay.
- - - - - -
Onboard Dancer, Kaylee was at the controls with Simon. Everyone had tried to learn new skills with such a small crew. River had been teaching Kaylee and Doc to pilot. Doc had taught Jayne some simple emergency med tech. The sight of blood didn't bother the big man. Kaylee worked with Doc on learning repairs to ship systems. River could already read what she needed to do from any of them in an emergency.
"Doc, River's been teaching me and all, but I don't think I'm ready for this." She said nervously. "I'll mess something up, I know it." Panic clearly in her voice.
"No little darlin' you'll do just fine, Let me go check everything before we hit atmo, then I'll help you land. We'll just stay buttoned up and I'll shoot anybody that tries to board us." Doc soothed.
"Ok. But I do not like it at all, Doc." The little mechanic grumbled. "You're gonna owe me a big one later."
"I'll be happy to let you collect later, Darlin'." He said, as he left to prep the infirmary for casualties and get back to the bridge to help Kaylee land Dancer.
In the bay, Team Two was getting ready with Jayne and River. The five man fire team donned body armor and conducted weapons checks. River helped Jayne checking his armor and then he checked hers. Nothing was going to happen to her on his watch if he could prevent it.
"Jayne, are you sure you want me to use her?" Doc said as he carried Vera into the bay.
Jayne grunted, "A pistol is what you use to fight you way back to the rifle you shoulda took in the first place Doc. Besides, this is gonna to be a close in fight, won't need her. You need to be able to keep them as far away from our ship as possible."
He started checking his weapons.
Doc prepped the infirmary quickly, left the big rifle near where he would need it when he came back down to guard the ship. And quickly went back to the bridge to help Kaylee land the ship.
- - - - - - -
New Hope was a rock better named No Hope. Dusty, cold and dry as a bone, if not for valuable minerals and ores, it would be deserted. The slavers ran a mine there with their slaves, working them to death, raping the women and taking more prisoners. There was no escape off the moon.
"That's the main building and those steel cargo containers look like where the prisoners are being held." Wash said looking at the scan. "If we land here and here," he pointed, "We can hold them in crossfire and protect the cargo cans with the ships."
Vince said, "Good thinking and by giving them a way to run, they might take it. Then we can mop them up in this open space beyond."
Following tactics developed extensively centuries ago, the attack started in the early hours of the day between the midnight and daybreak.
When they touched down both teams were ready.
Team One with Master Sgt Antonnelli, Mal, Wash and five former Independent Marines breached the loading dock doors with a shaped charge and started to leapfrog two by two into the building, clearing rooms of targets or targets immediately.
Team Two, with River and Jayne, took up positions and watched for pirates trying to escape out the front and sides, leaving them a way to escape out the back.
The pirates weren't caught totally unaware. The sound of the ships landing had alerted them and they put up a swift resistance.
Wash was the last man in. He followed Mal into the building, keeping his eyes moving for trouble. The former Marines were shooting pirates wholesale and already had a casualty, down but not dead yet.
Then he and Mal got pinned down by shooters on a catwalk above. Wash shoulder rolled to the cover of a nearby crate to get an angle on the shooters while Mal drew their fire.
"I got shot!" He heard Mal say like he was surprised.
As the shooters moved into his line of fire, Wash took them both clean.
When he got back to his captain, he saw Mal was hurt but his body armor had taken the hit and he was still breathing.
With the occasional whump of a grenade and a lot of small arms automatic weapons fire, the threat soon diminished.
A group of slavers tried to make a break for their ship and after taking some losses, got aboard. They quickly fired the engines and were headed away as fast as they could move, clawing the air to get to the Black.
Wash was pulling Mal out of the building by his web gear as the slavers lifted ship.
"Tah ma de." he swore, knowing if they got away, their crimes would start all over again.
"Doc, don't let them get away!" Wash yelled into his transceiver.
But Doc had been too busy to respond as a second group of slavers was headed to their grounded ships from the mine head. Between Jayne and Team Two, Rick Walker and the Doc, the slavers were getting shot up in the crossfire.
Doc fired and shifted targets, Vera booming and jumping in his grip. His targets were dropping like puppets with their strings cut until there were no more coming.
Rick Walker fired from Serenity at a calm, steady pace. He took all the pirates crossing into in his line of fire to avoid being flanked and overrun.
Gina sat nervously in the cockpit with the engines hot, waiting word to spin them up and dust-off but the order never came and the shooting soon died down.
"Building Clear." a voice came over the radio. "Take out the ones getting away." was the order that came next.
Doc heard that order. "Kaylee get ready to lift the ship, I'm on my way!" he said into the com as he buttoned up the ramp.
He sat down at the co-pilot's station as soon as he hit the bridge.
"Sweep across there, slow Lil' Darlin'." He drawled and started flipping the new weapons activation switches installed during the refit.
A pair of chain guns spit fire from under Dancer's chin, tearing up the ground and grinding the surviving pirates to bloody pieces. The look on Doc's face as his hands danced over the targeting controls for the gun was intense as he destroyed them.
"Now we need to go after their ship, Darlin'." he laughed, as Kaylee hit the throttles and shot after them. She knew that piece of gou se they were flying couldn't get away from the Deadly Dancer. She hit full burn in atmo knowing there would be no blowout on her girl.
Seeing they were being chased, the pirates went evasive. But they never stood a chance and Dancer tore them apart like shooting an old can. They went down with a trail of black smoke and exploded on impact in the mountains.
They headed back to the others feeling satisfied and happy with their girl.
The former Independent troops made their way to the containers housing the pirate slaves and opened the doors just as dawn was breaking. The sight they beheld made them glad they had killed them to a man. Men and women dirty and beaten, some on the verge of death from malnutrition greeted them. The average time of imprisonment was three months before death took them.
Deadly Dancer returned to the pad and the triage of the prisoners began.
River helped Simon during the time and the worst cases were taken to the Dancer. The less injured were taken to Serenity, leaving only the dead and dying. Doc was filled with rage at the treatment these people had undergone. He over sedated the cases he couldn't save to give them release and went to help the ones that he still could.
Jayne stood by River, watching Doc bring peace to the hopeless victims. She looked Jayne in the eye and sent, 'These men deserve this.' with her knife in her hand.
He nodded at her once and she slipped away to gather her trophies with a grim look. Then he helped move the injured to the ships.
There was an occasional scream from a not quite dead pirate but soon these all fell silent. Still she continued her gristly work.
Later, on the way back to Persephone, Doc had a chance to use his skills saving lives enough to last for some time.
Vince found his sister on Serenity, but her husband had been killed in the attack on White Horse Station.
"What will we do now, Vince?" she asked with tears in her eyes, knowing her former life was gone.
"Don't worry, Julie. You're going home with us. We'll work it out, sis." He comforted her, hugging her gently.
Mal and Wash sat at the cortex screen talking to their wives. They assured them that they were all right. They also let them know they had company on board that they needed to find some shelter and supplies for. The men expressed to them both they loved them.
As the Dancer went full burn to get the seriously wounded help, they left Serenity like she was standing still. As Mal and Wash watched open mouthed, they both said "We've got to get Kaylee to get us to run like that".
Fade
End Credits.
To my usual cohort of rouges this is dedicated.
To my Readers: Write something if you feel inspiration I'd love to hear from you.
And as always to my dancer, who still I love.