Chapter10: Occupational hazards

Carmen Ibanez sighed at the sight of her friend uncomfortably sleeping on a chair beside Rico's bed. She didn't want to wake Dizzy Flores up. The trooper insisted on staying behind to look after Rico and Jenkins while the rest took up Mr. Wing's offer of accommodations. For the first time in a long while, Carmen was able to sleep on an actual bed in a hotel room with a private washroom. And although she had thoroughly enjoyed it last night and this morning, it was making her feel guilty right now. Dizzy Flores had no such luxury.

She had a plastic chair

So it was understandable that she didn't want to rouse the girl from her sleep. The circles around Dizzy's eyes were just made even more obvious by her pale complexion. She was obviously tired but wasn't the type to leave the people she loved alone. "Dizzy?" She shook the sleeping girl lightly. "We're suppose to meet Mr. Wing in awhile." She reminded the sleepy trooper eying her doubtfully.

"I'm up. Let's go." She yawned stretching her arms upwards as if waking up in a hospital was the most normal thing in the wold.

Carmen Ibanez couldn't help but smile. Sometimes it could be a real pain when the other girl didn't know when to give up. It wasn't like that today. "How are they?" She handed her a paper bag with a sandwich inside.

The girl shrugged. "A bunch of sleepy heads." She gave the pilot a small smile. "I bet they'd wake up if Zim were here to yell." She added before taking a bite off her sandwich.

The pilot chuckled. "I can hear it now." She replied dryly. " Lots of yelling about washouts and maggots."

The girl snorted trying to fix her hair single handed as she watched her reflection on the small mirror. "All hail the power of Zim." She answered.

"All hair the power of Zim." Carmen echoed following the girl out of the hospital and heading towards city hall just a few buildings away. The sounds of the big city hussle enveloped them as they walked beneath the late afternoon sun. The pilot couldn't understand this place. It was noisy. People were constantly milling about talking in two different languages at once. There were big light fixtures for signs. Bamboo stilts overhead where people hung their laundry. It was like a hodge podge mix of cultures and different points in time merging into one place in the universe.

It was giving her a headache.

She felt relieved when they entered the building that cut off the noise outside. The sight of the other troopers waiting for them added to that feeling of security. Roughnecks banter was always a comforting thing to hear. She knew better than anyone that unless they were ordered to keep quiet, they wouldn't. A silent Alpha squad was a bad omen.

"Hey Dizzy!" Gossard smirked. "Rocking that bed head look I see."

Dizzy simply punched the man playfully on the shoulder. "You're just jealous." She replied. "It's not my fault you're obsessed about shaving your head."

Ibanez eyed the mechanic's frozen shocked expression and Doc's laughter with much amusement. There was a story here she didn't know. And by the looks of it, Higgins and Brutto didn't know what it was either. "It's an obsession?" She inquired as they walked towards the Atherton Wing's office.

"This happened back in OPC." Doc smirked. "The Sarge and I were helping him repair a marauder. We were welding. And this girl mechanic from another squad walked past the repair bay. Pretty boy here took a few steps our way and turned to look." He chuckled at the memory. "Well, a spark went off from the Sarge's torch and landed on his hair." The medic started to snicker.

Higgins' jaw dropped. "No. Way."

"And he was wearing hair gel--" The medic shrugged breaking into laughter before he could finished his sentence.

"Hair is an occupational hazard." He stated before the door to their intended room swooshed open.

The pilot's face fell at what lay before her. The neatly stacked papers from the day before were now littered on the ground. Bookshelves have toppled over spilling numerous handhelds broken on the floor. The wooden table was askew and the large leather chair was in pieces. "Apparently, so is having a balcony." She turned slowly pointing at the long and wide piece of cloth which would've been lost with the wind if it weren't tied to the railing.

Carmen bit her lower lip. Roughnecks stunned to silence was a bad omen indeed.

-- -- -

Simon Tam felt Kaylee lace her fingers with his underneath the table. He held her hand firmly before giving her a small smile. Across him, he could see his sister trying to look away by looking everywhere. It wasn't that she could see what the mechanic did. It was the thoughts that made her uncomfortable. And seeing that she had no escape, the doctor saw his sister take more dumplings and eye the performer currently encouraging the patrons of Koubuli to a sing along.

The doctor couldn't help wonder how much she would be bringing in today. The money the trooper had earned in tips the day before was enough for the cheap guitar she was playing, several pieces of clothing including, the pale blue Chinese- styled sleeveless dress and the black form fitting knee length pants she was wearing now and food. Sure, it was actually Kaylee's promptings that forced her to shop and the clothes she bought were bargain items. But it was enough to make him wonder how she decided to fight a war against over sized insects.

And probably for the tenth time since Andy had started playing, they watched her push up the sleeves of her black army jacket and tug on the Chinese collar. He felt Kaylee sigh disapprovingly. "I told her to just leave the jacket with us." She said.

River just gave her a face. "The collar." She pointed out. "It's uncomfortable."

Simon stifled a chuckle at the shocked expression Kaylee was giving his sister. The dress was the mechanic's idea after all. It was times like these he was happy none of them currently had the skill to do what the Captain requires in whatever exploit they were on now. Mal, he was sure, would've asked River to come along with them. However, due to recent events, River was once again deemed too unstable to go along. In reality, she's recovered from the incident and he chose not to tell the Captain about it. If his little sister was infront of him, he didn't have to worry as much

It was then that he watched River sit up as if she were looking for something in the crowd. "River, is something wrong?" He asked as she finally steadied her gaze at the twins, Fanty and Mingo, half hidden in their booth talking to someone.

"We have to go." She barely whispered wide eyed in fear. "Now." She stood up heading towards the stairs to the exit.

"What about Andy?" Kaylee protested.

"She's a soldier. She can take of herself." He reassured her and tugged her to follow his little sister out.

But just as they were half- way up, ten large men appeared with their weapons on hand. They were all surrounding one well dressed elderly man. The old man adjusted his glasses as he pointed to Fanty and Mingo's booth.

Simon watched his sister turn automatically to head down the stairs while hiding her face. "Kitchen." She instructed him. He led Kaylee down the stairs after her. By the side of his eye, he saw the group surround Fanty and Mingo. He couldn't hear what they were talking about but it didn't take long when he saw Fanty stand up and helplessly lifted a finger their way. "Why kill us when they're the ones you want!" He pleaded.

That's when the music stopped.

Doctor Tam watched as the restaurant owner ordered the trooper to stop playing quickly handing her the tips she had earned. The girl seemed to have questioned the gesture but the owner just pointed towards the direction of Fanty and Mingo shaking his head. The man mouthed out four words the doctor never wanted to hear. "Better get out fast."

It was like everything moved in slow motion.

Andy turned to him with a confused expression. He turned just in time to see a beer bottle nearly hit him. All hell had broken loose in the dumpling shop. He saw some of the diners were fighting the the old man's underlings just to be shot down or cut by their weapons. In fact, at that moment, he was frozen solid against one man with a sword swinging down at him.

Just before the blade could do any damage he was tackled off his feet. "River?" He asked stunned at his little sister going against a man thrice her size and winning.

"Simon are you ok?" Kaylee lowered herself to her knees in concern not knowing there was another underling behind her.

He quickly pushed her away. The bludgeon aimed for her embedded itself on the wooden floor. Anger and adrenaline rushed through his system as he rose to his feet and quickly kicked the man in the face. He doubled over before charging right for him. He steadied himself trying to remember what Dizzy Flores had taught him. And in less than a second, he had used his enemy's momentum against him. He was on the floor.

But instead of staying down, the man just rolled back up angrier than ever. Just then a flying plate hit him on his temples. The man fell unconscious. He turned to see where the plate had came from and saw the trooper by the bar give him a peace sign before dodging a right hook and swinging her guitar towards the man's head.

Just as that man fell, another one took his place against her. She fell to the ground in pain yet stood up once again for more punishment. And it was glaringly obvious to Simon that Andy wasn't nearly as good as Dizzy Flores or his sister who was currently disabling two men at the same time.

"Simon!" He heard Kaylee call out. He faced her just to see that she was being held with a gun pointed to her head.

"Tell them to stop." The man ordered him. "We just want the--"

But before he could even finish his demands, a knife embedded itself on his gun hand. The man unwittingly let go of the mechanic and his gun. The knife was thrown by his sister, but in doing so, she left herself open for attack.

He didn't know how he saw everything but he did. The man she had just toppled stood up behind her and swung a beer bottle against her head. "River!" He screamed just as he saw Andy at the corner of his eye sweep the leg of the man attacking Kaylee while reaching for the fallen gun. The man fell hard destroying the table he landed on. The girl, though, stayed on one knee raising the gun quickly to his sister's direction.

It was an automatic reaction on his part when he kicked the gun on her hand away before she could pull the trigger. "I had a shot!" Andy cried in disbelief. "What is your issue?!"

"You could've shot River." He yelled in reply.

"You're an idiot. I was going for old leader man who was ahead of the guy with little psychic first. And then the guy with your sister." She stood angrily. "But now that they're all gone, I'm sure you have a better plan. Because guess what?" She forcefully spun him to take in the mess that the Koubuli was in now. "They're all gone." She growled heading towards the bar. "I need a drink." She mumbled.

She was right. The ten men that had accompanied the old man were gone. Fanty and Mingo were gone. All that remained were the broken pieces of furniture, diners sprawled on the floor and spilled dumplings.

"Those men." Kaylee finally broke the silence. "They ain't Alliance. And what did they want from Fanty and Mingo?" She frowned.

"I don't know." Simon crossed his arms. "But maybe the Captain does." He prayed.

-- -- - -

Atherton Wing tried to shake the blur from his eyes. The first things he noticed was his head pounding and his hands were bound behind him. It took a second for him to realize that he had just been kidnapped. He remembered it now. Someone hit him in the head just as he entered his temporary office at city hall. Then there was something that felt like a slide before he completely lost consciousness.

That didn't matter now. He saw the blurry images of his surroundings focus. As far as he could figure with the crates and the metal grill flooring, he was inside the cargo bay of a ship. By the looks of the wires sparking and the panels hanging loose, not a very well maintained one. It would be laughable if someone said this bird could fly.

There were muffled noises up above. People were talking. That was a good sign. They had to show their faces to him sometime. Then he'd know who to hunt down and kill for as long as he's alive. Yet he couldn't help but wonder which one of his enemies had planned this one out. How much money was involved?

Just as he decided that he would just hold all of them accountable, a robed figure started down the catwalk above him not noticing that he was right below watching. He smirked recognizing the perfectly coiffed hair and expensive garments that could only belong to a successful companion. He knew this one quite well. This one had him blacklisted despite his generosity. He cleared his throat to catch her attention.

And there it was. The beautifully confused face of Inara Serra looking down on him. "Atherton?"

"Where's that smile made out of sunshine?" He asked dryly before the companion rushed away and disappeared.

Atherton Wing couldn't help but smile. He knew who had him. He bowed his head so he could bite the small star pin on his mock collar. When he saw it flash for a second, his smile turned into a grin.

Kidnapping him was a bad idea. He was going to make them pay.

-- -- - -

"...I mean, not like they know how much the guy gave me right?" He heard a voice reason out to the darkness. "Bonus that this could probably help pay for... whatever it's enough for." Something was placed near his ears that made a clinking noise. There was something very familiar about this way this rant was structured. "Right." There was a pause. "Soooo." Another pause. "I better disappear before they come back and... kill me. See you on the bounce, L.T."

There was only one person who could talk like that. "Andy?" He managed to call out to the shadow that was starting to climb out the window.

It stopped and turned. "L.T?" She answered stepping back inside the room and turned on the lamp nearest to the window.

Johnny Rico groaned when the light hit his eyes. He raised a hand to block out the light instinctively. But that made him notice the medical tag on his wrist. "Andy, what the hell happened?" He demanded weakly. " Where are we?" He tried pulling himself up but pain shot from his ribs and spread.

He saw her take his medical file at the foot of the bed. She shook her head and sighed before taking a seat by his bed after placing the guitar she had on the floor. "Dude, you were shot pretty bad in Canton. We're in Beaumonde now. Different rock." She answered with a small shrug.

Rico groaned. He remembered now. It was that guy-- the magistrate's son who double crossed everyone. "Well, where's the rest of the squad? Where's Diz and Carl?" He demanded.

"C.J..." She pointed to the person on the next bed. Rico glanced at the bed seeing sensors all over his friend's body. "Psychic little sister kind of accidentally attacked his head." She cringed. "And I don't know where the rest of them are." She sighed guiltily.

"What do you mean?" Rico narrowed his eyes at her.

"Well, don't get mad L.T. But..." She started twiddling with her fingers. "See, we got attacked by Reavers. And the Captain and Dizzy got to each other. Diz took over command and left and took the rest of the squad. She was convinced that she could find another way back home that didn't involve being in Serenity. And I kinda stayed put in the ship. So I'm not exactly her favorite person right now and--"

Rico couldn't listen anymore. He was fairly sure listening to her explain things away was giving him a headache. "Andy," he interrupted, "Do you know what you're doing?"

"More or less." The girl nodded.

"Good." He smiled. "Nice outfit, rock star." He commented on the girl's appearance.

She shrugged and ran her hand through her hair. "Yeah, it's suppose to help me blend in." She stood up and adjusted the guitar strap. "Not that it's working. But, hey, I left some money for you guys. Just don't tell them it's from me." She grinned heading for the window again. "Hey, L.T, it's nice to see you up and all but I really need to go."

"Andy. That thing I asked you to do...." He called out just before she stepped out.

She brandished a small red box from her pocket. "A really big maybe." She shrugged before placing one foot out the window.

"Andy." He called out again.

"Yeah?" She looked back curiously.

"Get us out of here." He said.

She nodded and gave him a thumbs up sign. "I'm working on it, boss." She replied. "That's all I ever do" He heard her mutter before disappearing.

Rico sighed. Sgt. Zim once told him that Andy would've been better in strategic planning than in infantry. Right now, he sure hoped the sergeant was right because by the sounds of it, they were pretty much R triple D.

Really. Deep. Doo Doo.

-- -- - -

"I wonder how SICON would take to requisitioning a new game console..." Ashley Anderson took a bite of one of the octopus balls on the stick she bought as she made her way back to the pier. She took the small shiny red rectangular box out of her dress pocket and sighed in lament. She was tired. She hasn't had any sleep in the past day and a half. It didn't show of course. Being a trooper meant very little sleep after all. But shooting bugs and following orders took less brain cells than scrapping parts of Higgins' camera and joining it with her game console to make something that would hopefully get them out of here without going to Ariel while everybody was sleeping.

Hope. There was a lot of hope going around. Hope that she put it together properly. Hope that the insides won't fry when she plugs it in. Hope that the she programmed it correctly. Hope that someone in SICON hears it. Hope that they find little psychic sister. Hope that the Roughnecks aren't too terribly angry at her.

She liked this place, she did. But it was making her terribly homesick. At least on the Valley Forge, everything looked so vanilla she was sure she wasn't home. Beaumonde for her, looked like a crazy version of the East side where dimsum, night markets, hoisin sauce and roasted meats reside. Playing alone in a bar instead of being part of an actual band was making her feel worse. The money was good but she was increasingly starting to feel lonely.

She saw Serenity's lights in the distance and shrugged deciding to just let everything, including the urge to smack the good doctor silly, go. She knew her lack of sleep and stress was messing with her temper. Straight to her room. That's the plan.

But a few steps towards Serenity, a hover passed and its light gave away a man with his back pressed on on the hull of the ship. "Snoop!" She realized eating the rest of the octopus balls in a hurry so that he could catch this guy while he thought he was still hidden in the shadows.

Slowly she took the long way around several boxes and containers while making sure her gun was on hand and ready. She could hear the shouting from inside the ship. "The question is simple Captain. Did you sell us out to Fanty and Mingo?" The doctor demanded.

"No!" The Captain yelled in disbelief. "I ain't got time for this."

"Doctor," She heard Zoe try to talk some sense into the older Tam. "We ain't the kind to sell our own people out. Now, maybe you want to be helpful and tell us the whole story." She prompted.

Andy always thought that lady was the only sane one in the ship. Too bad things were about to get a bit more insane. She raised the gun aimed at the stalking man's head. "Hello. Lovely weather we're having today." She smirked.

The man turned and she took a step back making sure there was distance between them. "Hands where I can see them please. Try anything remotely unexpected and I will shoot." She warned watching the man raise his hands to his head. "Cool." She smiled surprised at how compliant her prisoner was. "Now, who are you?"

"Will you believe me when I say that I have no name?" The man answered. "Michael Jordan."

"Oooookay." The girl nodded slightly confused. "You're not that tall and I'm not sure if you can play ball but sure-- I'll bite." She replied. "So, Michael, here's what we're going to do. You're going to keep your hands up and we're both going in the ship so the Captain can deal with you."

"Deal with who kid?" Captain Reynolds suddenly stepped out of the ship with Zoe right behind him.

Andy motioned for Michael Jordan to step out of the shadows he's been hiding in. "Caught a curious Michael Jordan." She pointed at the man.

Surprisingly, the Captain simply sighed. The trooper was expecting more hysterics than a one word reply. "You." He frowned.

"We meet again Captain Reynolds." Michael Jordan replied with a small smile.

The girl decided to stow her gun away. "Great. Looks like you know each other."

But her gun was only replaced by Zoe raising hers. Andy's eyes grew wide when the Captain raised his as well as she moved to stand slightly behind the older woman.

"I reckon I'd never see the likes of you any time soon, Operative." Mal eyed the man. The contempt he held for this man was clearly visible.

The Operative merely smiled. "Well, Captain. Kidnapping Atherton Wing?" He shook his head in disapproval. "Once again you have found yourself in something bigger." He informed them yet Andy felt his eyes land on her when he said those words.

"You here to get him back?" Zoe raised an eyebrow at the man.

"No no." Michael Jordan replied. "I couldn't be bothered with him."

The trooper folded her arms against her chest. It was in the air again-- the feeling that was eating away inside of her. This familiar sentiment was not something she was comfortable with. Everything was about to get even more complicated.

-- -- - - -