AN: I'm sorry it took me a little longer to post this chapter, law school has started and it's a lot of reading, so please bear with me. Thank you to chacra, deathhides, TVlUvEr, Moody-Muse, LeaFairy124, Ookami Sakura, , and hideher for the amazing reviews =) I am so happy you all enjoyed my version of Our Mrs. Reynolds! But like I said, we aren't done with Saffron yet. So without further a due...
Change (In the House of Flies)
XXX
…Serenity's common room…
River's POV
She closes her eyes and takes a breath. Their thoughts and words buzz around her like little insects…but she can't listen to them now, she needs to calculate, to do the math, and to piece together what she can from the broken thoughts.
XXX
Riddick's POV
"She secure?" Mal asks me as I walk into the common area.
"Yeah, she won't be getting out of those ropes anytime soon." I say as I move to stand behind River. Her eyes are closed, but her fingers trace invisible patterns on the table in front of her…her mind is hard at work.
"So what are we going to do about her?" Wash asks cautiously.
"According to River she was planning on killin' us all." Zoe says.
"I vote we space her!" Jayne says as he raises his hand.
"Not a bad idea Cobb." I grumble out.
"We aren't spacing her…yet." Mal says rather loudly. He's holding a frozen protein pack against his head where she hit him and Inara keeps rubbing his back as a small form of comfort.
"We could just call the feds…I'm sure she must have tried this elsewhere, she probably has a warrant for her arrest," Inara supplies.
"Yeah…I'm not too keen on that one." Mal says from beside her. "Any other ideas? Bit you been awful quiet." He says as he looks towards River.
"Shh…" She says her eyes still closed but her fingers tracing the table faster now.
"Did she just tell me to …"
"Shh!" She says again as her hands continue to move about and then suddenly they stop. "Iacta alea est. (The die is cast)."
"Okay…what's that mean?" Mal asks.
Now I can't see her face, but the reaction Mal has to the look on her face now tells me plenty.
"She wants to play a game." She says in a rather ominous tone that makes me all kinds of happy.
XXX
Mal walks into the extra shuttle and close the door behind him. There sits Saffron tied to a chair and gagged. He moves over and removes the gag from her mouth.
"Sweetie…there's been some terrible mistake!" She says as she pulls against the ropes binding her arms.
"Can it. Last I remember you hit me over the head with a pipe."
"Marriage is hard work, Mal, I know it... That doesn't mean we should just give up... Sure, we've had our spats. Maybe I made some bad decisions along the way."
"Oh, you are a tweaked one, you are."
She stops fighting against the ropes now and settles back in the chair with a huff. "Alright so I misjudged you, you're not as stupid as I thought…you know I'm sure we could work something out." She tries to come off as seductive but Mal just finds is disgusting.
"Only thing I'm trying to work out is how to get you off my boat…and fast."
"No really! I have the perfect crime lined up."
"Sure you do." He says disbelievingly.
"Hoe-tze duh Pee-goo! A million-square job. The big time."
"Odd, but I don't think I'll be losing any sleep over it." He says as he turns to walk out of the shuttle.
She tries flailing again now, trying to get his attention. "I've got the layout, entrance codes, believe me, this practically robs itself. I'm handing you a fortune on a gold platter, sweetheart! Don't you even want to hear the details?"
Mal considers that for a moment as he stands in the doorway of the shuttle before he turns back around. "All right. Tell me more about this job a' yours."
XXX
Jayne, Zoe, Wash, Kaylee, River, and Riddick are all gathered at the dining room table. Presently they're staring open-mouthed at Mal and Saffron, as per River's plan, and Saffron's making her pitch.
"The mark's name is Durran Haymer. He may be one of the biggest collectors of Earth-That-Was artifacts in the 'verse. Guy's got warehouses full of stuff. But his prize piece is sitting in his parlor - an antiquity of unspeakable value: The Lassiter. The original hand-held laser pistol.
One of only two known to still exist. The forerunner of all modern laser technology. Haymer got lucky, picked it up during the war for nothing."
"But it wasn't just luck…Tell them." Mal prompts her.
"Haymer's Alliance. Bio-weapons expert during the war. He'd target neighborhoods with valuables, wipe out every living soul without ever damaging the goods. He's go in, take whatever he wanted."
"Now he's living fat on a private estate on Bellerophon."
Saffron holds up some data disks now. "I've managed to get ahold of his schedule for the next 18 months - a layout of the estate grounds... and every security code for the place." She places the disks on the table, but no one moves to touch them.
"Saffron has a notion we can walk right in there, take The Lassiter right off his shelf." Mal says rather smugly.
However the crew is still unmoving, and continue with the staring. Finally Wash speaks.
"I'm confused..." He says.
However Saffron is quick to cut him off. "You're asking yourself if I've got the security codes, why don't I go in, grab it for myself?"
"No. Actually... I was wondering..." And now he turns his attention to Mal. "What's she still doing on this boat? Didn't she try to kill us? Sell us out to her cronies?"
Saffron merely rolls her eyes. "Please. Nobody died."
"Look. Point is, this ain't no cattle caper. This here's history."
XXX
Riddick's POV
Jayne has a look that could best be described as a mix of constipation and contemplation written across his face, and he finally raises his hand to ask his question. "Okay. I got a question. If she's got the security codes, why don't she just walk in and grab it herself?"
We all kind of stare at Jayne as if he just spontaneously grew another head. It takes a minute for people to come back to their senses, and before Saffron answers.
"Good point. Getting through the door and putting our hands on the Lassiter it's easy. Getting out with it...that's the tricky part."
"It's tagged and coded. Second it passes through the door - alarms, security, feds."
"This isn't a one-woman operation. To do this right, I'm going to need..."
She is cut off by Inara as she walks into the common area. "Idiots."
Everyone turns to look at Inara now, and I notice Saffron getting a might twitchier when she walks in.
"Partners." Saffron grits out.
"Dupes. That's what you'll all be if you trust her."
"Could be that's so. Lord knows ain't none of us here "criminal masterminds." So if you got something better, Inara well we'd sure be willing to hear it."
There is a moment between the two, each holding the other's gaze, refusing to back down but not saying anything. Saffron clearly doesn't hate the tension that's evident here. Finally Inara just turns and walks out the room, leaving a string of mandarin curses in her wake, much to Saffron's enjoyment.
"So. The question remains – how do we get the artifact out without setting off the alarms?"
River reaches for the disk now. "This the layout?"
"Full blueprints of the entire grounds."
"Could be we look hard enough, we'll find a way." Kaylee says as she and River both get up and leave the room.
Mal smiles, that's what he likes to hear. He turns his attention to his first mate now. "Zoe? You ain't said a word. Time to weigh in."
"Take sounds ripe enough. Assuming we can fence it."
"I know a guy on Persephone. Already has half dozen buyers on the bid." Saffron says to quell Zoe's doubt.
Zoe shoots her a glance now. "But Inara ain't wrong…she can't be trusted."
"I ain't asking you to trust her. I'll be with her on the inside the whole time." Mal remarks.
"See there? All you gotta do to be a rich woman, hon, is get over it." Saffron says with a sneer.
Zoe stands now and walks over to Saffron. Before Saffron realizes anything is amiss Zoe hauls off and slugs Saffron in the mouth. She goes down on her ass. Got to say Zoe has a nice right hook.
"I'm in." Zoe says.
XXX
River's POV
They have barricaded themselves on the bridge. The girl does not want the black widow overhearing what they have to say. As the girl and the sunshine begin looking over the blueprints, she can feel the sunshine grow weary.
"Your concern is unfounded." The girl says trying to be comforting.
"I dunno Riv. I mean, are you sure we can do this?"
"The black widow suspects nothing…she thinks she is taking us for a ride. But we have a dirty little secret…we know what she plans to do. Why not take advantage of it?"
"Just seems like a lot could go wrong is all."
"On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero. But not today." The girl says.
"If you say so Riv." Kaylee says as she turns back to the blueprints. It's then that the girl feels the sunshine brighten, and she watches as Kaylee zooms in on part of the blueprint.
"Here!" She said with mild excitement.
The girl looks to where she is pointing, and she feels the corners of her mouth form a smile.
XXX
Riddick's POV
I walk over to Inara's shuttle. I can make out the sounds of Saffron hiding at the other end of the cargo bay and it's time to dangle the bait.
I knock on Inara's shuttle and she promptly answers the door.
"Wash wanted me to tell you we should be on Bellerophon by oh- six. I figure the job should take…"
"Please. I really don't wanna know." She says quickly.
"Least it's your kind of world. Got appointments made?"
"Minute we hit atmo, I'm gone. I booked a few choice clients, should help me get my mind off Mal's descent into lunacy…"
I don't feel like listening to her though so I turn to leave, but she stops me before I get too far.
"Don't let Mal trust her. Everything Saffron is…is a lie. She'll get the drop on him - which as far as I'm concerned is what he richly deserves."
"Please Inara, remember who you're talking to."
Inara just holds up her hands. "Just be careful."
"See you when we're wealthy..." I say as I turn and walk away.
My ears can pick up on the small scuffle of shoes against grating though, and I know that she's been listening….good…everything's going according to plan.
XXX
…Serenity's Bridge the next day…
Riddick's POV
"Bellerophon Estates... Home to the rich and paranoid... gracious living... ocean views..."
"... and state-of-the-art security, including local patrols, and multi- code-keys needed at all entrances and exits..." I say from behind him.
"I gotta say…I'm a little nervous about this one." Wash says as he pilots Serenity closer to the drop point.
"Girl knows what she's doing." I say.
River and I may have our disagreements, we may bitch and scream, but one thing I do know is that the girl knows what she's talking about when it comes to a heist. I mean how could she not with a brain like hers? I smile when I start to think about the whole thing…
…Flashback to the night before…
"The parlor with The Lassiter's on the ninth floor. You'll have to disable the display. Won't be any trouble." Kaylee says as she and River stand before us explaining their idea.
"Of course, once you get the goods, you can't take it out the front door, nor the back door, nor any door. Every piece of pretty is tagged for the scanners." River says.
Saffron's growing irritated now, as if she is bothered by having to listen to them. Woman's behavior just makes me want to gut her. "So what do we do?"
"You wanna tell them?" Kaylee ask River with a smile.
But River just waves her off. "It was your genius idea."
Kaylee turns to us once again, proud as ever. "You chuck it in the garbage!"
"Excuse me?" Saffron says questioningly.
"All the estates on Bellerophon use this automated garbage drone system. You hit one little button, and the drone collects the refuse." River says.
"Brilliant…Except for the fact that the drones take the disposal bins straight to reclamation. Thirty seconds after we hit the button, the booty'll be incinerated." Saffron says to disparage the girls.
River is undeterred though. "Not if we reprogram the bin. Give it new coordinates."
"Once I override the standard guidance protocol, I can tell that disposal bin to go wherever we want." Kaylee says.
…
"Riddick, it's time for some thrilling heroics." Jayne says as he pokes his head into bridge.
I walk out of the bridge with a smile on my face. "Showtime."
XXX
River's POV
She feels the shuttle decouple from Serenity and change trajectory for the opposite direction of Serenity. Part of the grand scheme was to have the girl with the painted flower, so that when the inevitable double cross took place, they would be able to locate Captain Daddy quickly.
But the job is not on her mind, she knows exactly how it will end; she has traced every foreseeable outcome…No, her mind is not on the job, it's on the tensions she feels but does not understand why.
"Something the matter?" Inara asks. The girl is not surprised, the painted flower sensed something, she's trained to pick up on the slightest change in behavior.
"No." She says as she concentrates on the landscape they are flying past. Another minute of silence passes between them.
"Yes." The girl finally says.
"Would you like to talk about it?"
"She does not know how to describe it…she has run the numbers, they all add up, the job is solid. She should feel at peace…but she feels something…and she does not know what it is."
XXX
Riddick's POV
"You ready for this?" I ask Jayne who looks more than a little nervous.
"Ah hell let's just get this over with. Jayne says as we pop the hatch to the exterior of Serenity.
We can feel the wind wiping around us as we poke our heads out of the hatch. Jayne pulls himself out of the hatch and crawls carefully up the hull and attaches the safety latch of his cable to a rung on the ship. I steady my feet and extend my hand back into the hatch for Kaylee.
Kaylee emerges, wearing goggles and protection from the wind and cold. She hands up the end of her safety harness to me and I clip it in. She then hands me a tool kit and we begin to crawl towards where Jayne now sits. The bin is just overhead.
"All right! We're planted!" Jayne yells into his comm as we make it to him. "Take her up."
Serenity rises up and we can now clearly see the control panel on the drone.
"That's good! That's good! Hold 'er steady. Hold 'er there." Jayne says as he hands me the comm.
Kaylee, pops open her mobile tool kit, and hands an electric screwdriver to Jayne. Jayne gets to his feet with great care…and reaches up to the control panel side of the trash bin. It's all very precarious now as he sets to work on the panel, removing the face of it...
But he manages to pull off the front panel of the control mechanism, and sets about removing the innards. He hands the motherboard down to Kaylee, who begins to work on it.
Kaylee hands the jerry-rigged motherboard to me while she looks for another tool. She finds it and I hand her the motherboard back so she can finish her work.
"Okay! She's set!" She says as she hands it to Jayne. It's hard to hear her though over the roar of the wind. "Careful! It's hot!"
Jayne nods, starts to replace the innards. Serenity rises up a few inches, closing the distance between the bottom of the drone and Jayne's head.
"Gorram it, Wash! Hold her steady!" I bark into the comm.
I relax a little when Serenity dips ever so slightly, and Jayne gets a bit more "head room." He continues to work but his hands are getting awful close to the damn live wires Kaylee warned him about.
Kaylee sees it too. "Jayne! The dyna-ram's live!"
But he can't hear what she's saying over the wind. And the next thing we know Jayne's hand lands on one of the live wires and he gets shocked, knocking him out. He falls and lands hard on the top of Serenity and starts sliding. I instinctively grab him and hold him steady. Gorram hun dan should have listened.
XXX
River's POV
They had set down in the desert not that long ago. By her estimates they should just be reaching the Lassiter now. They are sitting in the back portion of the shuttle now; Inara had suggested tea as a way to calm River's nerves. They are enjoying tea in companionable silence…when it hits her…her hand starts to shake and she hears the tea cup shatter on the floor.
"River…what's wrong?"
…Reality shifts…
Her hands are still shaking…except instead of Inara's shuttle she's back…back in her worst nightmare. It look different from the last time she was here…the lights hang precariously from the ceiling…the dirt and grime has built up.
…I watched you change, into a fly
I looked away, you were on fire…
She can hear it in the distance…faint, and barely noticeable, but she hears it and starts walking down the hallway. It grows louder with every step that she takes and now she's running down the hallway.
..I took you home
Set you on the glass…
She's frantic now…like Alice trying to find her way…she's lost…but this isn't Wonderland.
…I pulled off your wings
Then I laughed…
She rounds the corner and she sees it…sees the door she's looking for. She goes to it and her hand trembles as she hesitantly turns the knob.
…I look at the cross then I look away
Give you the gun blow me away…
That's when she sees him, her beloved brother…Simon…he's bound, bloodied, and kneeling before a man who is turned away from her. The man does not turn around as he speaks. "We've been expecting you River."
…You changed
You changed
You changed
I'm home...
…Reality shifts again…
She feels someone holding her, rocking her back and forth. She hears someone crying…and it takes her a minute to realize it's her.
"Shhh, shhh, it'll be okay." Inara says as she tries to comfort the girl.
XXX
Mal and Saffron have made it to the parlor now and open the door to the room as quickly as possible. They duck in and Mal is amazed at what he sees. The room defines opulence. Beautiful furnishings, expensive art on the walls. Memorabilia of Earth-That-Was fills the room. This room alone cost millions to decorate
"Shun-sheng duh gao-wahn."
And on the mantel, in the proper place of honor: sits the Lassiter.
"Let's get to work..." Saffron says as she steps forward.
"Yeah." Is all Mal gets out as he is that dumbstruck by the room.
Mal and Saffron set down their flower displays, and approach the Lassiter. Mal takes a small aerosol can from the flowers and sprays in front of the Lassiter; a force field becomes visible for a moment. He reaches into his flowers again and pulls out a mini- tool kit. He pulls out an allen-wrench to open panel under the Lassiter.
"Where's the trash chute?" He asks over his shoulder as he works.
"We passed it in the vestibule." Saffron says as she keeps watch. Her eyes widen slightly now. "Wait! Shh! Someone's coming..." She says as she runs toward Mal.
Mal quickly shuts the panel, and moves away just as Duran Haymer, the master of the house, enters the room, freezing both Mal and Saffron. He looks from one to the other, in shock.
He turns to Mal now. "You..."
And Mal holds his breath and waits.
"You found her...!" He says as he moves to take Saffron in his arms. "You brought back my wife!"
Now Mal was expecting a lot of things…but he wasn't expecting this.
XXX
AN: Okay so please don't shiv me for the cliffy (hides behinds something solid to avoid the knives being thrown at her). Many of you had been asking about Simon and I couldn't think of a more perfect way to bring him into the story. Anyways, hope you guys enjoy the twist…till next time ;)