Note:: Sorry, this was done weeks and weeks ago. And i thought i've uploaded it already. Gah.
River Tam watched the sand fall slowly through her fingers. It was her favorite time of the day. The beach was quiet now that the sun had set. Daylight was fading quickly-- just like the sand falling from her fingers. Just like time.
It has been six months since they came to 'Earth- that- was' as refugees. She had unintentionally seen glimpses of this world in the minds of the troopers so it surprised even her that she found tears in her eyes when they touched down on SICON HQ in San Francisco. Everything was different, even the air. Everything felt honest. Un-manufactured.
The Sky Marshall had told them they couldn't go back home. Home had become too dangerous for every one of them. She should never be weaponized, she heard the Sky Marshall's thoughts accidentally, No one should know. River understood. She was dangerous. The Alliance should never find her. Because of her, they could never go home. She had caused so many people so much trouble.
But the Captain wouldn't hear of her incoherent apologies nor Simon's more eloquent ones. Even Jayne. "Bout time we leave the black anyway," the Captain had answered and River knew he had meant it. They all thought everything was, literally and figuratively, shiny.
"Captain," she greeted without looking back at the man who she knew has been looking for her.
"Hey little albatross," Captain Malcom Reynolds replied, no longer surprised that she knew he was coming, "Zoe has a mean casserole waiting for us back in Serenity. Don't think Inara and Kaylee can use their womanly ways to keep Jayne away from it for very long. Nor do I think your da ge would mind if we eat without him."
"Coming," she said, dusting sand off her clothes as she stood. It only took several minutes to reach their new place of residence.
They lived on the floor above a club called Static and below Private Anderson's loft. It had five rooms of different sizes. It was where Sergeant Lavigne used to live until her married. It was where the Yellow Underground Project used to house people they were helping. Bands of the Y.U.P. Use the space when they were in town. Now, they lived there. "The lost are found," Citizen Lavigne had said handing them the security codes. In a few short weeks, they had turned the empty space into something familiar-- the living quarters of Serenity.
The door slid open and River couldn't help but smile seeing Kaylee swat Jayne's hand away from the casserole and hearing both Zoe and Inarra berate the large man. "Aw, c'mon, wo tu zi uh le," he moaned. "This ain't fair! I ain't the one who's late."
"Shut your pie hole or you ain't getting no pie, Jayne," the Captain answered back for the ladies.
"Captain," Zoe warned tilting her head towards the red head child staring at him with big wide eyes, "Language."
Captain Reynolds sighed taking his seat at the head of the table. "Little girl?" he prompted River to her seat.
Several moments later, dinner was fully on its way. River ate quietly in her seat as she usually did, listening to the others recount their day. Zoe was looking for a school for her adopted child. Kaylee found work in the mechanic shop where another trooper friend of Citizen Lavigne, worked. Somewhere in between those stories, Simon came in, giving her several affectionate pats on the shoulder before sitting down on the empty seat beside her. Jayne laughed out loud and teased Kaylee about her work while spooning seconds on his plate. And the Captain was about to reprimand him for his callous words when a several loud crashing noises from above interrupted their dinner. There was a momentary pause.
"What was that?" Mal asked, wide eyed and confused.
River raised her gaze off her food and smiled, "There's music."
– – - - -
The news broke overnight. 'The Lost are Found' was plastered on the San Francisco Chronicles and was broadcasted in every FedNet show. The Roughnecks were now known as the squad that managed to stay alive against seemingly unbeatable odds like Hawaii and getting lost in space not once but twice. Who would have thought we'd all be celebrities when we got back to Earth?
Good press was what SICON needed and we were the very definition of good press. However, every good reporter knows that behind the glossy pictures on the frontpage of the magazine there lies a hidden, sometimes darker story, in page 200. Everything that happened to the Roughnecks were to be kept top secret. SICON was investigating the Alliance was the last any of us heard about the matter. Captain Mal and his crew were never mentioned and never photographed. Private Ashley Anderson's condition was deemed to be a magnet for suspicion, a snag on the cover up. Much to everyone's disgust and protest, her whole military record concerning her involvement in Rico's Roughnecks was deleted. FedNet erased her from every strip of video submitted. Andy was never transferred to Rico's Roughnecks from Velasco's Vipers. Her record now reads that she was transferred to Intel's Virtual Command.
In the end, Andy was right. She was never a Roughneck. And when she woke up, she never spoke to or about Rico and Dizzy.
Citizens Lavigne, the McKenzie twins and Lee came to pick up take the unconscious Andy back home. One look at the downtrodden crew was all it took to offer them a place to stay. Apparently, that's what the Yellow Underground Project was all about-- bands helping lost people. That's when we found out that Andy was a runaway, disowned by her family and Sean Lavigne was from the orphanage across the street from where she used to take piano lessons. The rest was history. SICON agreed. It was perfect for them. They knew the truth and where else would SICON find four former infantry men and one fleet officer, Lavigne's wife, a stone's throw away from the crew?
Fame, the kind that had people following you around, lasted for a few months. Doc stayed in San Francisco practicing medicine less than an hour's commute from HQ. Jeffrey Gossard joined the engineering corps. Max Brutto and Carl Jenkins decided to stay in the military. Sgt. Zim married Sky Marshall Redwing.
Johnny Rico married Dizzy Flores-- before he left for officer's boot camp. :)