Chapter 12: Chris Larabee and Crew

Three men strode purposefully through the saloon. They approached the table where Mal sat. One was about his age, dark-haired, with a mustache. The other two were a little older, a blond man dressed all in black except for a colorful serape and a tall man with light brown hair. All moved like men who knew how to handle themselves in a bad situation.

"You Mal Reynolds?"

"Might be. Who's asking?"

"Name's Larabee." The blond waited for a reaction or any sign of recognition. Getting none, he continued, "Buck Wilmington, Josiah Sanchez. I understand you're the man to see about Ezra Standish."

"What business do you have with my ship's cook?"

"Ship's cook?" sputtered the tall dark-haired man with the mustache. He burst out laughing. "Ezra is your ship's cook?"

"Ezra said he was in trouble." Larabee didn't look like a man who'd take kindly to a wild goose chase. He also didn't look like he entirely believed Mal.

"He'd think so, but it's more the uncomfortable sort of trouble than the deadly dangerous kind." Mal waved his hand in invitation. "Sit down."

"Care to explain that?" Larabee waved to get the waitress' attention as he sat.

"Standish and I served together in the war. Not friends, but he was in my unit. I found him at a Block, looking at five years hard labor. Couldn't very well leave him there, so I bought his papers. Can't afford to just let him go. You want to lend him the money, I'll let him buy his way out of the contract."

"We'd like to see him," Larabee said.

Mal looked the three over carefully, then nodded.

When they got back to Serenity, Mal took Zoe aside. "Get Standish. Tell him I want to see him, but don't tell him why. Let him think I'm angry; I want him rattled."

A few minutes later, Standish appeared. "Yes, sir?"

Buck Wilmington took one look at Standish wearing a white apron and burst out laughing. "You married, Ezra? You sure sound henpecked."

Standish looked up at his former colleagues. Relief shone in his emerald eyes. Then he glanced at his captain. Resuming a poker face, he asked, "You received my message?"

Larabee asked, "What happened, Ezra?"

"I got caught. Penal servitude, indenture contract, five years."

"Like I said, I can't afford to just let him go. You want to lend him the money so he can buy himself out, that's fine by me. You want to lend him enough money to shorten his contract, that's fine, too. Otherwise, you're welcome to visit a while, make sure he's all right, and he can work his contract out."

Chris' eyes held a wicked glint. "What about buying his contract?"

"Just what did you have in mind, Mr. Larabee?" Standish didn't quite hide the trepidation in his voice.

"Only if he agrees. I won't sell his contract out from under him without his consent," Mal said. "I know the law says it's just a piece of paper that's for sale, but it feels too much like what the Alliance did during the Unification Wars."

Chris' hazel-green eyes narrowed. He'd fought in the war on the Alliance side.

"Our company must be thirsty, Standish. Go get some refreshments," Mal ordered.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you, Captain Reynolds?" Standish asked.

Mal grinned maliciously, but said nothing.

In the galley, Standish made protein-spread sandwiches with processed cheese substitute. He thought a minute about Buck's appetite, then made three more sandwiches. He grabbed five bottles of beer and five mugs. He loaded all of it on to two trays.

"Unless you grow another hand, or develop telekinesis, you're going to have trouble managing that," Book said.

Standish hadn't heard the shepherd come in behind him. He managed – barely – not to jump or show any surprise. "Guess I'll just have to make two trips. The captain has company," he added, by way of explanation.

"Let me give you a hand."

Standish nodded, and placed bottled water and another mug on the tray. As an afterthought, he removed and hung up his apron.

Josiah took one look at Book and jumped to his feet. "Your Rev- "

The shepherd shook his head as he set the tray on the table. "I'm just a shepherd. No formalities, brother."

Mal glanced from the tall stranger to the older priest. He knew the brown-skinned clergyman hadn't told the whole truth about who and what he was. Of course, in the Black, no one did. He did notice, however, that Josiah Sanchez didn't sit down until the shepherd did.

Standish set the beers on the table. He'd brought one for himself, but he didn't touch it until Mal gestured he could.

Chris Larabee noted that. There was little his observant hazel-green eyes missed. "You whole and healthy, Ezra?"

"Well enough," Standish admitted cautiously.

"You need rescuing?"

Standish refused to beg, and didn't dare say too much in front of Mal Reynolds. "I wouldn't turn it down."

"Mr. Larabee and I want to talk in private. Why don't you take your friends to the galley; no reason they can't chat while you wash dishes," Mal suggested.

"Yes, sir," Standish submitted sullenly. He beckoned Josiah and Buck with his eyes. They followed him from the room, as did Book.

"Beer or coffee?" he asked when they reached the galley. Buck and Josiah each accepted a second bottle of beer. Standish poured coffee for himself and Book. "Don't mind Captain Reynolds. He's not usually that bad. He's just pushing because he has an audience, and he knows I can't push back."

"A form of petty malice," Book admitted. "I'll pray for his soul and his redemption. On the other hand, the captain doesn't take all the rights and privileges he could claim by law as your bondholder."

Standish nodded, reluctantly admitting the truth of what Book said.

"Are you okay, Ezra?" Josiah asked.

"As well as can be expected," Standish hedged. "He doesn't beat me, and he usually doesn't overwork me. Like the shepherd said, it could be worse."

"So what do you do when you're not washing dishes?" Buck asked.

Ezra Standish thought about the chores Reynolds had set out for him: loading and unloading cargo, security when an extra gun helped to keep a client honest, con man, janitor, cook. "Whatever he says."

"Got a passel of questions. Who's Standish to you, and why do you want him?" Mal asked.

"We used to work together," Larabee allowed, rationing his words the way a thirsty man would ration water.

"You're friends?"

Larabee didn't confirm it, but he didn't deny it either. "Ezra doesn't have many friends."

"You mentioned buying his contract. What would you be wanting Standish to do?"

"What business is that of yours?"

"He's a member of my ship's crew. That makes me responsible for him." Mal sipped his beer. "Told you, won't sell his labor contract without his consent. But it ain't his decision. It's mine. Ain't sending a man I fought with during the war into Heaven knows what."

Larabee looked Mal over. He considered the matter a moment. "You know Hutchins' Moon?"

Mal nodded. "I been there."

Hutchins' Moon was one of Viracocha's eleven moons, and the only habitable one. The other moons were just airless hunks of rock, but some of them were ore-rich. Miners in pressure suits worked on four of the eleven moons, mining molybdenum, copper, iron, and other ores, and came down to Hutchins' Moon for supplies and R&R.

"Not much law there."

Mal smiled. That was why he liked it. "Pretty wild."

"The local magistrate, he hired seven of us to keep an eye on things in the town where his family lives. Ezra used to be one of the seven. We … had a disagreement, and he went off-world." The blond gunslinger hesitated, not liking to share his personal business with a stranger. "We're willing to let bygones be bygones, if he wants to come back."

"In that case, I'd expect you to lend him the money to buy himself out, not to buy his contract himself."

"Ezra ain't the sort of feller you lend money to," Larabee hedged.

"That's true enough," Mal agreed, "but I'm thinking maybe you're thinking he's safer kept on a short leash."

Larabee raised one blond eyebrow.

"Ezra Standish, he's the sort of man you trust … but not too much," Mal continued.

"We just might be able to do business," Larabee allowed.

Standish worried when Mal summoned him and the rest of the crew to the lounge. When Malcolm Reynolds smiled like that, it was a bad sign.

"Mr. Larabee and I have made a deal," Mal announced.

Standish bit his lip, wondering if things would be better or worse as Chris Larabee's bondservant instead of Malcolm Reynolds's. Mr. Larabee had been strict enough as leader of the unofficial peacekeepers of Four Corners.

"Wash, set a course for Hutchins' Moon. Gonna be our new homeport for a while," Mal said.

"Hutchins' Moon? Ain't that where we dropped off," Kaylee hesitated, unsure how trustworthy Larabee and his friends were. She changed what she was going to say, " – where we dropped off Jan[1] and her friends?"

Mal nodded. "Should be plenty of work, ferrying ore and mining equipment from Molly-Be-Damned and Red Rock to Hutchins' Moon and back. Mr. Larabee here says he's interested in hiring Standish for odd jobs now and again, provided Standish and I both agree to the jobs." He turned to the gambler. "Fees on those jobs be counted toward your debt. Should have that five year contract worked off in two-three years."

Josiah stared at his friend and leader. "You're not buying Ezra's freedom?"

"I wasn't willing to lend Ezra the money; Reynolds wasn't to sell his contract. This seemed the best compromise. Besides," Larabee added, "I think we'll all be a little happier to keep Ez … how did you put it, Captain Reynolds? Keep Ez on a short leash."

"And do I get a say in this?" Standish asked through clenched teeth.

"More than welcome to stay on as ship's cook for the next four and half years. Or you can hire out to Larabee to run his errands," Mal told him.

Simon Tam drew Mal aside and whispered, "What happened to your moving target theory?"

"Ain't much law in the Viracocha system," Mal whispered back, figuring the doctor didn't need to know Larabee was the law, at least in one town. "And we'll still be moving from one moon to another, and sometimes out of the system to other planets. Won't be parked."

Mal Reynolds looked at his ship and his crew. "Serenity won't never be parked permanent."

Author's Note: Why did Ezra Standish leave his six friends? What was he arrested for? What sort of odd jobs will Larabee try to hire Standish for, and which jobs won't Reynolds consent to? Would Nathan consult with Simon Tam on a difficult case? Is Buck's charm sufficient for him to find himself in Inara's bed, since he can't afford her fees? Or is it possible that his mother was a Registered Companion, instead of just an ordinary harlot, and that he knows Inara socially? Would JD court Kaylee or River? Was JD's mother the Tam family's upstairs maid? What is it that Josiah knows about Book's past? I haven't, by any means, shown all six months of the time Ezra Standish spent as a crewmember of Serenity before his old friends came to rescue him. If you'd like to help fill in the blanks, I hereby declare the Firefly/Mag 7 universe open to new stories and new writers. If interested, please contact me for further information on Hutchins' Moon.

PS This story was started before the movie came out, and is obviously in an AU from the theatrical film Serenity.

[1] In the story "The Slaves of Mephitis," in Of Dreams and Schemes #20, also posted on-line at AO3 and at .