River Tam lay on top of a large stack of crates staring off into space. None could see her face, but she looked like she was lost in her own world. The thought wouldn't concern any who knew her, as that was almost normal at this point. Below her, on Serenity's cargo bay floor, Snowball the Ferocious was currently engaged in a light wrestling match with Kaylee. Snowball, being a gentlemanly puppy, was letting her win. To the right of the wrestling match Zoe leaned against yet more cargo, keeping a close eye on Victor. She looked utterly calm and professional, but was ready to shoot him down with little to no notice. Victor had his weapons back and was standing with one foot propped up on a small, briefcase sized crate, in a ridiculous pose that made him look like he was under the delusion of being dashing. Granted, now that he was shaven and had his hair tied back in a ponytail, he looked much closer than he had before. Zoe never had Mal's gift for reading people, so she might not have been aware that Victor was doing it for her benefit (read: just to be annoying). Jayne was sitting on his weight bench, drinking a freshly rescued beer from a crate marked "FOODSTUFFS" with Inara and Simon on either side of him.
The fact that everyone was constantly shooting suspicious looks in his direction wasn't wasted on Victor.
Well, not everyone, Victor thought. At least the spooky girl has enough courtesy to continue with life as usual.
Mal took his time getting to the cargo bay. Auto pilot was great, but let it go for too long and you won't live to regret it. "Good: your all here," Mal said by way of introduction.
"You called us here," Jayne said, not happy to be kept waiting with no real explanation.
"And we were happy to answer the call and wait at your leisure, O Captain," Victor said, standing up straight and bowing. Bending at the waist, he realized he was using a martial artist's bow, not a theatrical one, but let it stand.
"Kiss ass," Jayne said.
"You wish," Victor said, grinning his goofy yet hungry grin.
"Zip it," Mal ordered. He pointed at Victor. "You. Tell them what you told me. About the revolution, not about your squabble with the vultures."
"Okay," Victor said, turning to address the whole room. "The broadcast about the Reavers and the Alliance's part in making them caused...a bit of a stir on the core planets."
There were murmurs of agreement and a few smirks at Victor's talent for understatement.
"A user by the name of Mr. Universe sent multiple copies of all relevant information, as well as several different levels of encryption, to basically all signal capable devices within broadcast range of Miranda."
Actually, Mal had done that, but no one corrected him.
"Here's where it gets really interesting: the stories didn't get swept under the rug fast enough. On the core planets, normal citizens began demanding release of information as well as government involvement and inquiry into the case. This led to peaceful protests, which led to lock down, which led to violent protests, which led to full on anti-government terrorist cells. These insurgents have been attacking everything from subsidized department stores and fast food restaurants to multiple attacks on Parliment members and their families."
"That's good for us, right?" Kaylee asked. "Now the Alliance has bigger problems than worrying about us."
"The Alliance are some mighty sore losers," Mal said. He informed his crew about the bounty on their heads. "We're all public enemies."
"We ain't even in public," Jayne said. The majority of his crew was used to Jayne's method of half paying attention until things directly concerned him. Victor's eyes went wide and his head turned slowly towards Jayne as Mal kept speaking.
"We're figureheads now," Mal said. "Celebrities. The Alliance needs us dead."
"We ain't the ones leading the attacks," Jayne protested. "Hell, I ain't done nothin but exercise and drink for goin on a month now."
"And you're just dandy at both," Mal assured him, "but we are the rallying cry. We may not be a direct threat, but the Alliance needs us dead just as sure as I plan to keep breathing."
"Is that the only reason you called us all out here?" Inara asked.
Mal took a deep breath to collect his thoughts. "No," he said. "I need you all to be aware of what's going on because it's going to come back to bite us." He looked at Inara directly. "I cost you your career, your life, and every last chance you had to go back to it. For that, I'm sorry."
"You didn't have a choice," Inara said. "If things were different-"
"I would have done the same thing," Mal snapped, stopping Inara short. He looked everyone else in the eye, one at a time before continuing. "I waited years, doing nothing about the Alliance. I let people I care about die. I even pulled the trigger on some of them. I've learned if there's one thing I've done wrong, it's hesitate."
"What are you saying, sir?" Zoe asked.
"I've been fine with running and hiding. I was fine with trying to live and let live, carving out what little freedom we could and enjoying it what little we could," Mal had begun pacing back and forth. "That's becoming impossible. Soon, we have to fight back. That's why I called you all out here. This time, it's all or nothing."
Simon spoke up. "You're saying you plan to take down the Alliance? The whole thing... just gone?" He looked around to the rest of the room. "You realize what that means? How unlikely it is you'll succeed? What you'll have to do to succeed?"
Victor interjected in a bright, cheerful voice, "Even victory would mean death to thousands, if not millions of people. Not all of them will even deserve it."
Inara gasped at the thought. "The Alliance will hold you up as the bad guy."
Mal listened to everything, nodding and pacing. "It's the right thing to do."
"And you think you can do it?" Jayne asked.
"Let's put it this way: my options are fight or die," Mal said. "I'm going to fight. My enemy may be a beloved thousand year old system of governments, but I'm going to fight.
"Just like that?" Jayne asked.
"Just like that," Mal said. "You all have a decision to make. You don't have to tell me right now, but remember: this time it's for keeps. We fight until we win or die. No giving up. No stopping. No retreating."
"Not to be negative, but can we just turn ourselves in?" Inara asked. "If we're such high value targets, the Alliance may let us live..." She didn't like the look in Mal's face. When he got that look, bad things happened.
"In a cage," Mal said softly. He stopped pacing. "No thank you."
"What about me?" Victor asked.
"What about you?" Mal asked. "I've been thinking about letting Jayne shoot you. He gets grumpy if he doesn't kill anyone for a while."
"Damn straight," Jayne said, finishing off his beer.
Mal had been trying to wipe that stupid grin off of Victor's face, but it didn't work. The man was too smug. "Okay," he began, "but if you didn't, I could go back home. I'm technically a licensed operative of the Alliance, even though I work freelance. I could go back home and/or back to work."
"Or turn us in," Zoe said. "Or go about your merry way, chopping people up like trees."
"Yeah," Victor agreed, showing no notice of Zoe's dry, fatalistic mood. "I got options, is all."
Mal stepped up to Victor and looked down at him. No mean feat, since Victor was almost five inches taller than him. "I've fought men like you before. I've fought along side men like you before. You carry a sword because you like it. You want to pit yourself against opponents and win. You're not happy with just long life or prosperity. The Alliance may not be the place for you in this upcoming fight."
Victor's face went blank. Too blank. One could use the word "fake" or "sarcastic" to describe the lack of expression on his face. "Whatever could you mean, Captain?"
"Would you like to come work for me?" A loaded question, and a life decision, if ever one existed.
"You know, I'm kinda' rich," Victor said. "I'm not sure being a member of Serenity will keep me in the lifestyle I'm accustomed to."
Mal sighed and tried to focus. He found this boy irritating. Victor had this way of talking that made him sound like he was always joking. Still... Jayne was irritating sometimes. Come to think of it, everyone on his ship had gotten under his skin at one time or another.
"Life is about to get really dangerous for us," Mal said quietly. He chose his next words very carefully. "Do what I say, and I will keep you in exactly the kind of life you're used to."
"Well okay," Victor said, almost instantly, "but but only for Snow."
At the sound of his name, Snowball cocked his head to the side.
"You'll never regret it," Mal said.
"Yes, sir Captain, sir!" Victor said in a crisp, clear voice. He snapped a perfect salute. Anyone who didn't know any better would think he was sincere.
Maybe he was.
"I want to fight," the girl out of sight said.
Everyone looked up. "River-" Simon started, but Mal held up his hand to silence him.
"I can do it," River protested, sensing her brother's general disagreement. "I was made to do it," she added softly.
"Like I said," Mal said. "Everyone has a choice to make. In the meantime, we need to set down, get ready, and make a long term plan."
"Where are we going?" Zoe asked.
"Gold City."