It has been forever and for that, I am so, so sorry. I'd like to say it's because I've been so busy (it partly has) but it's also down to my terrible, terrible case of procrastination. Fortunately, I've remembered why I'm a Browncoat and season 6 of Castle has started so my muse is back. Once again, I apologise for the long wait, I'm already in the process of other chapters so hopefully we won't have to wait long for them. If anyone has any queries about anything e.g. plot not adding up, wanting to give creative input, I'd be happy to listen.
P.S It's set near the beginning events of Firefly (Patience and the Alliance) but Simon and River have been on board for a little bit longer already (say a month or two).
Hope you enjoy, I look forward to any reviews or criticisms :D
When Kate had awoken, she had naively thought it had all been a dream. Clearly she'd had too much wine after seeing Rick with another woman. Her sub-conscious couldn't help but think of Rick, only it clearly zoned in on his Halloween costume of being a Space-Cowboy. And yet, despite her hope/delusion, she couldn't hear the usual noises of the city. She was used to the repetitive buzz of the New York traffic; the constant rush of people crossing paths and intermingling. Her apartment was never silent, her neighbours loud and unrelenting. The station had the steady sounds of typing, chatting and phones constantly ringing. Or like that time Rick, Esposito and Ryan had decided to have that computer chair race down the corridor - their laughter and shouts echoing across the entire precinct; until they landed right in front of Gates. Then the office was filled with muffled laughter and snorts.
Here, she could only hear the slow steady hum of the space ship. Here, in space, which she was still struggling to come to terms with, it was cold and unfeeling. The vibrations of the 'ship' kept her awake at night. Or was it the day? Did time really apply in space?
The idea of floating around surrounded by nothingness and mere infinity made Kate shudder. She was out of her comfort zone. She was accustomed to hunting down bad guys and putting them away behind bars. Here she was without cause, without reason. Though, she suspected that Reynolds was hardly an example of a perfect law-abiding citizen. Clearly he and his crew were enshrined in some form of illegal business, judging by their suspicions when they had discovered her gun.
While thinking about the ragtag group, Kate couldn't quite decide if the Captain, Reynolds was insane or not - in that sense he was even more similar to Rick. She'd overheard his conversation with Zoe. They were approaching business with a woman of the name 'Patience'. Said woman apparently shot Reynolds - a fact he didn't seem perturbed by. If she didn't know any better, Kate would have assumed the Captain was insane - a man without common sense.
But the more she mulled over this subject, the more complex the man became. She'd seen the tender look he'd given Kaylee during the 'reaver' situation, which quickly turned to distrust when his eyes landed on her. They had a haunted look within them, a sea of despair and misery. Kate had seen that look before - in Esposito when he spoke of his experiences as a sniper (which was rare). She'd seen it in herself every time she looked in the mirror, her dead eyes staring back and darting at every loud noise.
She wondered how long she'd be allowed to stay aboard the spaceship under Captain Reynolds' hospitality. Were it not for the girl, River, Kate knew she'd have been thrown overboard in a heartbeat. Which begged the question, why did the girl vouch for her? Or more importantly, how did she get here? Castle would have come up with a billion ludicrous and impossible theories, yet Kate still yearned for a logical explanation.
'You've got to start somewhere Kate,' she murmured to herself.
She rose from the hard bed she'd been resting on. After the close encounter with the 'reavers', she'd been escorted to a 'bunk' as Kaylee had called it. Adrenaline had coursed through her veins, leading Kate to think she wouldn't ever find sleep in this unfamiliar world. The constant hum of the ship had left her tossing and turning for a while until inevitable exhaustion caught up with her.
She flattened her hands down her slept-in button-up shirt, smoothing out creases for all the good it did. Her heeled boots were definitely impractical in space, particularly when climbing up the ladder rungs.
The hum of the engine got louder as she made her way up one of the long twining corridors. She tried to stifle her annoyance at how similar every inch of the ship looked to her. The constant hum was slowly intruded upon by loud shouts and hysteric laughter. Kate followed the noise, feeling like Alice making her way through the unknown world of Wonderland.
The narrow corridor slowly blended into a huge hangar. Kate supposed it was intended to store cargo. She briefly recalled meeting Reynolds for the first time here. Glimpsing into those harsh eyes, and seeing his hardened face. Right now said face was lightened with laughter, as he and his crew played something alike to basketball. Only it seemed to have no clear rules - Kaylee was sat upon the pilot's shoulders giggling as she threw the ball into the net. Kate couldn't help but compare the crew to her own back at the precinct; the closeness, the shared secrets and humour. Did they even know she was missing?
Kate was knocked out of her thoughts by the heavy breathing lurking behind her. She turned, only to stumble back into the metallic railings beside her when the huge ape of a man purposely banged his meaty fist against the thick wall. Kate felt the heaviness settle on her chest, the increased movement of her heart and the shaky shuddering spasms her hands made. She hated feeling weak, feeling helpless against a past event. Yet the man, Jayne, seemed to revel in it.
'Yeah, definitely got the look of an Alliance whore 'bout you. Got that same scared look in your eyes,' he said raucously.
The others below them stared upwards, Reynolds placed his hands on his belt in a cautionary manner. Jayne, and Kate hadn't noticed.
Kate stilled her shaking hands, knowing better than to show further weakness to this animal. She straightened her back and gave him her 'interrogation stare'. The one Castle said could scare any man into confessing his innermost secrets and sins. It seemed to work, Jayne took a step back, his Adam's apple moving ever-so-slightly.
'Look, I already told you that I'm not Alliance. Actually I don't have a clue in Hell where I am or how I got here,' she took a deep breath 'If you don't believe that, that's fine by me. But just leave me the Hell alone and we won't have an issue,' Kate let out a breath, her eyebrows furrowing in anger.
'Oh yeah? what if we got an issue then, huh?' the brute questioned her, his wide hand reaching for her.
Kate acted on mere instinct and reflex, her smaller yet strong hands gripping onto his wrist, twisting on it until they could both almost hear his bones groaning in agony.
'Go tsao de woman, let go of my gorram wrist,' he roared, his other hand curling into a wrecking-ball fist aiming to break her jaw or inflict other serious damage. It was stopped by none other than Captain Reynolds.
'Enough,' he spoke, and just that one word made Kate drop Jayne's hand - he spoke with the same authority as Gates did.
'She needs to be tossed off this boat right now Mal,' Jayne exploded, his hands flailing wildly.
'Last I checked, this wasn't your boat to give orders on,' Mal warned, his dark eyes narrowing dangerously.
'C'mon Mal, she's crazy - probably as crazy as that other she-devil we got on board. She needs to leave. God only knows why you've kept her 'round for this long,' he ranted.
Mal placed his hands dangerously close to the gun hanging from his slanted belt.
'Jayne, your mouth is talking. You might wanna look to that,' he warned.
Jayne had the sense to stalk out of the room, grumbling loudly as he disappeared from their sights.
Kate self-consciously tucked a stray curl behind her ear, glancing into Reynolds' eyes shyly. His eyes were boring into hers, making a slow journey up and down - from her auburn head to her leather-clad feet.
She felt her cheeks heat up, Kate had to remind herself that this wasn't Rick. That she didn't know this dangerous man, whose eyes were glancing precariously low.
'Pretty sure I told you not to make trouble,' he said, the slightest hint of an amused smirk flashing across his lined face.
'And I'm pretty sure you know that I wasn't the one making the trouble,' she answered back, hands placed on her hips.
Mal shrugged, leaning against the railing 'Needed to talk anyhow,' he drawled. 'Takin' you with me and Zoe when we land on Whitefall.'
Kate's eyes widened, her throat tightening. Was he planning on leaving her there, with no way of getting off the planet? Did he plan on disposing of her?
'Why?' she voiced her worry and suspicion, that one sentence making her perceptions of him complicate further.
'Need another set of eyes, need to know if you can be trusted,' he answered truthfully.
Kate figured it would be in order to test her, she just didn't know why.
'Why not just kill me? You think I'm Alliance,' she spoke with hidden fury.
Mal's lips upturned 'You don't know me. But if I ever intend on killing you darlin' you'll be awake and you'll be armed with that pretty lil gun of your's,' he finished.
Kate couldn't help but shake her head at this man's odd honour code. 'So different from Rick,' she thought, her eyes wandering over Reynolds. He was lean compared to Rick's comfortable physique, hardened by rations, war and the brutality of living on the edge for so long. His shirt was of coarse wool a comparison to Rick's soft, expensive work shirts. His cream pants were held up by braces of which he gripped the tops of carelessly. He held a similar playful look to Rick's at points,
Kate had no doubt that Reynolds could have any woman he wanted.
'Where is Whitefall?' she asked, wanting the awkward tension to disappear.
'Fourth moon of Athens, owned mostly by a woman of the name Patience. Not that you'd have a clue - seeing as you're from the past,' his voice had risen by the end, showing his lack of belief for her situation. Something Kate considered laughable considering he lived in a reality where spaceships and high-tech equipment existed.
Kate rolled her eyes 'The woman who shot you?' she asked, knowing it would aggravate him ever so slightly.
As she had hoped, Reynolds frowned spouting some form of Chinese.
'Does everyone on my gorram boat have a problem? It was one time,' he sighed, running hands through his messy hair. 'No matter, gotta go tell Wash to change course - Beaumonde can wait.'
'Be ready, and see Zoe for some clothes,' he added, eyeing her clothes critically.
'Make sure you're ready Reynolds. Don't want to be getting shot at again,' she warned, walking past him to head back to her bunk.
Mal chuckled 'Back at you darlin',' he murmured.
Kate was glad he didn't say her name, she didn't think she could handle it coming from the doppelgänger.
Despite the joking between the two, Kate knew Reynolds was nowhere near trusting her. Only time would tell if she would ever earn his trust. 'Or maybe I'll be back home before that happened' she mused.
Well, hope you liked it. I'd love to hear any feedback :)