Chapter 1: The Times are a changing
Mal still felt a bit dejected as he climbed up the boarding plank of his ship. He was only half listening to the bickering from Jayne and Zoe telling Jayne to can it. Things felt different lately and not because of the changes in his crew or the fact they traveled back in time. Everything was changing and wasn't sure if he liked it.
"I still can't believe our captain backed out of this fight," Jayne complained as headed straight for the nearest bathroom. "Never done that before on Unification Day." He held his hands up in a pose that was either frustration or defeat, Mal wasn't exactly certain. "Just doesn't seem right."
"I still can't believe you haven't stopped talking about the subject," James told him in a dry tone. "Cobb not keeping his mouth sealed even though people have asked him to stop talking doesn't seem to change."
"The only thing I wish would change," Mal said silently as he leaned back against one of the empty silver crates
"He only fights when he starts it," Zoe explained. "This year is different." She shrugged. "I'm actually happy for this change."
"I thought you like clobbering them pro Alliance folk," Mal said as he crossed his arms. "Don't tell me you been lying all these years."
"Never sir," Zoe told him. "I never get tired of knocking the Zhi shaizi out of idiots. I just didn't like how you always kept instigating it."
"I believe Mrs. Washburne and I are pleased that this year it is different," James said and looked up at the sound of footsteps on the scaffolding and smiled when he saw that Kaylee had emerged from the engine room and was on her way down.
"What is different?" Kaylee asked as she skipped from the bottom step into the cargo bay.
"Nothing," Mal told her as he handed her the tubs. "Here's your guac, make sure you get it stowed away before we take off."
"Come to mama," Kaylee said as she eyed the tubs. "They will be nice and safe and cool before I head back to the engine room." She looked back up at Mal. "Something wrong, Cap'n?"
"Are they back?" Simon asked as he walked up to them while holding his medical bag. "Who is injured the most?" He looked at everyone and glanced over his shoulder. "Where is Jayne."
"The head," Mal explained and heard more people entering the area. He only glanced up to see River step onto the catwalk and the door to Inara's shuttle open
"Jayne was the only one to land a punch," Zoe explained. "And it was only the one and he didn't receive any."
"Was there not a bar room brawl of some kind?" Simon asked as he looked Zoe over.
"A fight had broken out," James explained as he leaned back against the bottom of the stairs. "Between other patrons. Our captain did not start it and Mrs. Washburne and I dragged Cobb and our captain out before it could become truly heated."
"Really?" Simon asked and stared at Mal. "Are you feeling all right?" He placed a hand on Mal's forehead. "You don't seem warm."
"I'm fine, really," Mal said and pushed Simon back. "No-" He was cut off by the two voices from above.
"Mal," Inara gasped as she headed down the stairs of the catwalk. "What happened?" She walked straight up to him with a look of genuine worry in her eyes.
"Is James all right?" River asked as she followed behind. She paused right next to the former commodore who stretched out his arms and assured her he was fine.
"I'm fine," Mal said and held up his hands. "James is fine and everybody is fine so lets stop fussing and get back to work. Why are you all just staring around?"
"You didn't fight." River said as she studied everyone. "There was a fight but you didn't join in. The captain wanted to but he didn't. He grew up today."
"That is exactly what happened," Zoe said and nodded." Just curious why you asked about the commodore if you knew he didn't join in the fray."
"She wanted to voice her concern," James said and placed a hand on River's shoulder. "She knew this was my first Unification Day."
"What's going on?" Jayne walked back into the bay. "Why is everybody just standing around and staring at each other?" He adjusted his pants.
"That was what I want to know," Mal said and rubbed his head. "There was no fight, well there was but we wasn't involved and felt it best to just leave." He heard Zoe clear her throat. "Well Zoe and James had thought it was best to just clear out."
"You didn't start the fight this year?" Kaylee asked in a worried tone. "Are you sure your head aint all funny?"
"I said I was fine," Mal said and pointed at her. "I thought you were going to put that goop away and head to the engine room. We need to get back in the air. River you are at the helm." He held out his arms. "Everybody else do something."
"Do you need any ice or bandages for your hand?" Simone asked Jayne as the two walked away.
"No," Jayne said as if the doctor had asked him a stupid question.
"Is it really that awful that you didn't start the fight this year?" James asked. He had removed his old blue naval coat and had it folded over one arm.
"I find it to be refreshing this year," Zoe said. "No unnecessary bruises, concussions, or scrapes."
"I agree," Inara said and turned back to Mal. "What exactly happened?"
"These two can fill you in," Mal said and pointed at Zoe and James before he headed straight for the galley and dining area. He needed something to drink and to think and he couldn't it when it was crowded with everyone flapping their yaps.
There was a bit of stale coffee left in the old pot and a bit of the gift whiskey; left just a few fingers. Mal poured the two together over a glass of ice. He didn't look up as River walked past him on her way to the cockpit and took a long sip from his glass. He sat down and stared at the wood grain of the table while the whole scenario of the fight happened in his head and nothing had made sense. He knew he wasn't alone when he detected the scent of jasmine.
"What do you want?" He didn't need to look up to see who it was. It wasn't just the jasmine fragrance from the scented oil she wore but also the sandalwood from the incense she used in her shuttle. There was also the light jingle of the thin golden bracelets striking against each other
"I'm proud of you," Inara said.
"I made you proud?" Mal asked after he opened his eyes and studied her. She had her hair down and wore a bejeweled headband her dress was not a new one. "Maybe there is something wrong with me after all if I did something that actually made you proud."
"And now you are back to being you." She shook her head and smiled. "You could have still participated in that petty bar room brawl, but you didn't. You walked away."
"Led away," Mal corrected and held up a finger
"Only because you were in a bit of a shock of not starting it," Inara said. She placed a hand on his shoulder. "The others explained. You are growing."
"I wanted to start it," Mal said. He picked up the glass. "As soon as I saw that sake commercial was when I chose to order Kaylee's guac, hoping that someone would take issue with my coat, but that didn't happen. I didn't start it and that's different, everything is different." He took a long pull from his glass
"In a way you did start it," Inara said as she sat down next to him. "You made sure everybody in the system knew about what happened on Miranda and now people are calling the motives of the Alliance into question because of it. You made a ripple through out the galaxy and everyone is now seeing and thinking differently."
"I wanted their voices to be heard. I didn't want to start a revolution." He set the glass down, not soft, but not too hard either and sighed.
"It's not a bad thing."
"No but it is different, everything is different now." He ran his finger around the rim of his cup.
"Different and new can be a good thing. Think of new and different jobs and new and different clients and speaking of clients it has been several days since I have been able to find one. I need something on the border or close to the core."
"And you know I hate flying near the core." That was one thing that wasn't going to change. Jobs that happened near the core were going to be rare ones and he would keep it to places like Persephone.
"You need to work and so do I and there have been several waves from several young hopefuls and prospective clients but I can't choose any of them if we don't fly close to and land near any of them. People would look past your shabby exterior if you let me find work."
"I'll let you know when I find the next job." What did she mean by shabby?
"And would it be somewhere more respectable for people like me?" She said in a haughty tone.
"For people like you and not the rest of us," Mal asked and knew what she was doing. "Sorry the work is the type you get your hands dirty with and not some common whoring job."
"Some common whoring job?" Inara repeated. She was a good actress trying to sound appalled. "I'm going to my shuttle." She strode past him with her nose in the air.
"Thank you," Mal said softly before he drained the rest of the cups contents and stood up. He was ready to Captain.
The first person he wanted to speak to was his copilot and she was not alone at the helm. James stood behind her. It was becoming a regular thing for him to stand behind her while she flew. Granted he was from the 18th century and being able to watch the scenery while sailing from planet to planet was still a big deal for him. Mal was beginning to think that James wanted to be near River.
"You skipped two grades?" James asked as he continued to hold onto the back of River's chair. "In the same year?"
"Needed to learn, wanted to learn everything," River explained. "I cleared the finish line before others started."
"I wanted to learn everything about sailing," James said. "As a boy I would walk to the docks and ask everyone who would pause to listen about everything from the kind of rope that was used to what was their idea for perfect weather for sailing."
They were talking about old lives, both her's and the commodore's. Mal felt a small pinch to his stomach. Here he was complaining to Inara about how his life was changing and these two had their lives turned upside down the most and it wasn't getting them down. They had adapted and seemed to be enjoying their lives on Serenity without a single complaint.
"Captain on the floor," River said without turning around
"Evening, Darlin, Commodore," Mal greeted.
"Captain," James greeted and turned around.
"What are you two plotting?" Mal asked and folded his arms.
"We were talking about our pasts," James said and blinked. "What were you implying by plotting? Because we the two of us were not planning on anything." There was no sign of any embarrassment.
"He came to see the stars," River explained. "He loves looking at the stars and sailing through, everywhere it is full of stars. No blue, or fish or undead pirates, just stars." She pointed at the sky. "He loves it out there. I want to walk out there and swim with nothing all around and soon he will be ready."
"He can look later. He needs to get with Zoe and look for jobs," Mal instructed. "And after that he can get back to his history lessons." The lessons involved reading everything about what had happened between the 18th and 26th centuries. It was James idea and Mal and the others felt it was the best for him to learn how everybody got from then to now. "How far you along there?"
"I have recently read about the invention of the Hula Hoop," James said as he walked back. "We will let you know if we find anything." He paused at the entrance. "If I don't see you before lights out then good night, Miss Tam."
"Good night," River said softly before she turned back to face the from
"Hula Hoop," Mal said and stared down at River. "Did you used to have one?" He could see her with a rainbow colored hoop.
"I did and still want but don't want. I want to be an adult. Can't let toys get in the way."
"Adults can use a hoop, heck I might want to get one for myself. Supposed to be good exercise." He held up his arms and moved his hips as if he was trying to balance the hoop.
"No destination."
"Not yet. We need to take her into her sea, let her drift a bit, maybe come into the middle of the border. We can find work from inside and by the time we get close to getting there we will get something." He placed his hands in his pockets. "You miss your old life."
"Sometimes." She glanced back at him. "I was different. I was a brat, a spoiled brat who knew too much and I thought I was better than everyone. They were all morons that how I was. I hated myself for that."
"Yeah we all are ashamed of how behaved in the past sometimes."
"Can't change history."
"No kidding. People go missing in the past and they are supposed to end up in the future with us."
"You miss your life, the one on Shadow. Things would be different if there were no war."
"I'd be a rancher," Mal said. He hadn't really thought about it much before until now. "Hell the main house I grew up in was not much different than yours. My mother inherited it from her daddy, my granddaddy and he inherited it from his daddy. We had money, so many ranch hands and they made sure I grew up proper."
"Not different from Simon."
"Well in that angle of viewing things you are right." That was a new view for him. "Now I aint no genius like you two kids are but I was educated and I received top marks."
"My sister is a genius."
"If you mean Kaylee then yes she is when it comes to machines. Speaking of which I need to go check in on her and make sure everybody is earning their keep."
"Sir we got a message," Zoe's voice came in through the com. "It's from Jonas." That was pretty fast, but they got something.
"Put him through," Mal ordered and was both surprised and a bit uneasy with the idea of a job from Jonas Hammond, granted most of the jobs in the past had been great and the dinners were always a nice bonus, but the last job they did resulted in a trip to Earth that Was back when she was still alive and had no idea if they would ever return home.
"Greetings captain," Jonas's face appeared on screen. The man seemed pleased and relieved to see them and that is a good sign. "How is everyone faring?"
"Shiny," Mal answered. "It's only been a few months since we had our last meal together and you already have job for us?"
"Not for me but a friend of mine," Jonas explained. "His name is Arlo Chapel. He owns an estate in Chevall county. He is a merchant, museum owner and businessman and has been having difficulty with his deliveries."
"What kind of difficulty?" Mal asked.
"A few of the shipments end up being bombarded and robbed before carts can get to them. The thing is the ones that are stolen had small cargo that isn't worth much. His more expensive shipments are untouched."
"He wants us to put a stop to it," Mal said. It wasn't the first time they got hired to protect the loot. "Sounds like our area of expertise. Tell him we will take the job."
"I'll be sending you the coordinates and eight invites to a ball I'm throwing next week."
"A ball?" Mal asked. That wasn't something he expected to hear. A nice sit down dinner, yes but not a huge rutting shindig. "You are throwing a big fancy get together and you are inviting us?"
"How could I think of not inviting you?" Jonas said with a smile. "You have done so much for us and this is the first gala I am throwing since I have met your crew .The only thing you need to remember about the ball is that everyone must arrive in costume. I plan on dressing as Dracula."
"I'm going to be Tony Stark," Melchior's voice was from off screen. "The first Iron Man." He leaned into view and waved. "Hey, Mal."
"I'll inform the crew," Mal said and grinned. Work and a party was the best thing he heard all day.
"Count me out," Jayne said as he set his bottle down and placed his hands behind his head. "Of the fancy ass party not the job of course. I loves me a good protection job. Gettn to shooting a bunch of dumbass thieves is my kind of fun. Heck I'd practically do it for free." His face grew serious. "cept I still wanna get paid."
"It's a costume party," Mal added. He had told everyone about the job and the celebration during dinner. He received smiles from everyone and Kaylee lit up the most. He knew Jayne would not want to attend and he wondered why he added the costume part.
"Costume?" Jayne repeated and furrowed his brows. "Why didn't you tell me that first? I'm in."
"You like costumes?" Simon asked in disbelief before he wiped his mouth with his napkin.
"Everybody loves dressing up as something they never been before," Jayne and chuckled. I once dressed as ragdoll." He took another bite of his meat which was molded to look like chicken.
"You were in a dress?" James asked in a voice that was a mix of disbelief and disgust.
"Not that kind of ragdoll. I was dressed as a fluffy white cat with brown ears and tail."
"I bet it was adorable," Kaylee said.
"So cute widdle kitty Jayne," Zoe teased and pointed her chopsticks at him.
"Too bad he didn't have a certain trip to the vet," Simon said and earned few chuckles from around the table.
"Hey," Jayne said and pointed at him. "You don't threaten little Jayne and his friends."
"Bi zui," Mal ordered. "You are all dismissed. After dinner you can all go and relax now, make plans for this shindig and be in bed at the proper hours."
"Sir?" Zoe asked as she stood up with her empty plate in hands.
"You go and plan with them," Mal told her. "I want to be surprised with your ideas. That means no wearing your old threads, Commodore. Zoe can help you with an idea if you can't think of any."
"Me sir?" Zoe asked. "I'm pretty sure the others might be a bit more helpful with costume ideas."
"Ask everyone," Mal said and waved his hand.
"I want something really sparkly," Kaylee said as she and Simon walked off together.
"Something special and different," James said as he and Zoe headed towards the common room.
"We'll come up with something while working on your lessons," Zoe told him. "If not then ask River, or Kaylee."
"Do my thinking in my bunk," Jayne said as he took a last swig from his bottle. He set his dishes in the sink and walked off.
Mal walked over to the sink and grabbed at the scrubber and a plate. He still had to work on the plan for stopping the thieves and he needed to think of his own costume. He would probably hammer out the last details when he meets with this Arlo Chapel feller.
"Thinking of the job or ball?" Inara asked as she rinsed off the freshly scrubbed plate and dried it with a towel.
"What are you still doing here?" Mal asked as he cleaned another plate. "Figured you was going to set up some dates seeing as we are nearing Persephone."
"There are plenty of dishes," Inara said. "And I am curious on who you will be. Are you going to dress up in your naval uniform?"
"I did say I was gonna." He shrugged. He had joked that he was going to save the old royal naval frippery he used as a disguise for a costume if the need should arise. "I don't really want to make a mockery out of James's old life, besides all those layers are heavy and it was broiling in that Caribbean sea. What about you?"
"I have a few ideas. I am thinking of someone classic."
"Sounds like you. Is it real or fictional?"
"A real person," Inara said as she dried the last dish.
"A real person from the past," Mal said. He and the rest of the crew did come across several people in past, perhaps he could dress as one of them. Mal blinked as the idea came into his head. He knew of just the person. It was a person that was almost his opposite.
"Are you all right?" Inara asked.
"Just thought of the perfect costume."