Ongoing Path - Firefly Verse
By Stargatesg1fan1
Disclaimer: I own nothing of any recognized characters or universes within.
AN:
Harry's Mates-
Kaywinnit Lee "Kaylee" Frye is played by Jewel Staite
Inara Serra is played by Morena Baccarin
Saffron is played by Christina Hendricks
River Tam is played by Summer Glau
Zoe Alleyne Washburne is played by Gina Torres
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A week later saw Serenity on a small moon. It just happened to be Unification Day, the anniversary of the end of the Unification War. When the Captain called Wash for pickup Kaylee explained to the sorcerer that Mal liked to pick fights with Alliance supporters every year on this particular day.
"Everybody go back inside or we will blow a crater in this little moon," Wash's voice came over the ship's loud speaker so all of the bar fighters could hear it.
The Captain, Zoe, and Jayne quickly got inside the open cargo bay door.
"Damn yokos can't even tell a transport ship ain't got no guns on it," laughed Jayne.
"Actually Jayne Serenity is perfectly capable of doing just that with the ion canon I installed," Harry spoke up from the catwalk where he was leaning against the railing beside Kaylee.
"Well shiny," Jayne replied with a grin.
"Need me to take a look at that Captain, Zoe?" The dark haired Doctor queried as he noticed the injuries the pair had sustained during the bar fight.
"No Doc, it's just a scratch," Mal assured while Zoe shook her head.
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Lunch time…
"Alright Doc where are you getting the food…I know you said you brought it on with your stuff but that just doesn't sit right," Mal declared as he finished eating the very nice meal Harry had prepared for the crew. "You've been feeding us every meal for the last week. There just isn't enough room in your stuff for all this."
The others finished eating and looked at the mysterious and handsome doctor curiously.
"Follow me and I'll show you," the sorcerer instructed the well fed occupants of Serenity.
The entire crew got up and followed Harry to his quarters. The warlock opened the door and gestured for the group to go in.
"By the verse…where did all this come from?" Mal shouted in shock as he stared at the room full of all manner of food producing plants.
"I brought the seeds onboard with me. I have a secret to stimulate plant growth that I imagine the Alliance would be very eager to get their hands on," the immortal explained.
"You could be rich," exclaimed Wash. "This much fresh food…you would have a fortune!"
"No…I would be dead. The Alliance would attack immediately for this secret. Then they would hoard it and use it for control," the pragmatic and cautious genius argued calmly.
"He's right…that's exactly what they would do," agreed Mal.
"Where have you been sleeping? There's no room for you here," pointed out Book.
"With me," Kaylee spoke up with a happy grin.
"So you've been growing food here for us all week? That must be some very fast growing," observed Mal as he examined all the different types of plants. "How about we set up some of the spare rooms to grow more…that way we'll have a surplus," suggested the Captain.
"That would work Captain," Harry agreed.
"Damn boy you sure are handy to have around," Jayne commented with a smile at the thought of continued fresh food.
"And he can cook too," Inara whispered to Kaylee as the pair of beauties shared a conspiratorial grin.
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The Serenity stopped by a space station controlled by the modern day equivalent of a mob boss named Adelai Niska. The ship's crew was hired to steal something off a train on a mining planet. The Firefly class vessel was soon on the planet flying above the train that Zoe and Mal were on posing as newlyweds looking for work. The Captain and First Officer were using the cover to gain access to the train's cargo.
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Serenity's Cargo Bay…
"So who's going down to attach the cable?" Harry inquired of his new lover as he watched her open the inner door of the hatch in the bottom of the cargo bay.
"Jayne," Kaylee answered.
"Somebody say my name," the rather unintelligent man spoke up as he walked into the cargo bay.
"I was just explaining the plan to Simon," Kaylee explained.
"Well he doesn't need to know the details. With the Captain not around I'm in charge," Jayne declared.
"Since when," Kaylee demanded.
Ignoring the beautiful mechanic Jayne added, "And just cuz Mal said you're medic don't make you part of the crew. You just play at figuring out what's wrong with that moon brain sister of yours until we call for you. Doma?"
Doma basically meant are we clear in modern day grammar.
"You know Jayne…it isn't very intelligent to get on the bad side of the person who'll be fixing you up when you hurt yourself. Although I guess no one has ever credited you with possessing a surplus of intelligence," the wizard mused.
Jayne made to advance on the doctor and use his size to intimidate. The over five hundred year old warrior mage waited until Jayne got within a certain distance before snapping up a high kick that hit the hulking brute perfectly on the side of the head. Jayne crumpled under the blow combined with the subtle stunner channeled through the warlock's foot.
"That was incredible," Kaylee gushed with a wide grin. "Although I don't imagine he'll be too agreeable when he wakes up."
"He won't remember anything about our recent conversation. The place I hit him will make sure his short term memory is a bit sketchy," Harry explained while wandlessly memory charming the unconscious brute.
"I'm so hot for you right now," Kaylee purred. "But our fun time will have to wait until the Captain and Zoe get back with the booty."
"I'll show you booty," the sorcerer husked into the beauty's ear as he came up behind her and embraced her from behind while grinding his groin against her delicious rear.
"Oh…baby," Kaylee moaned before sighing. "You'd better stop or I won't be able to help myself. Let's get Jayne hooked up to the cable. The best way to wake him up will be the cool air as we dangle him out the bottom of the ship."
Harry grinned at his mate's wicked sense of humor.
"I do love your style gorgeous," the warlock declared as he hefted Jayne's bulk over to the cable and attached the clip securely.
As Kaylee opened the outer door the wind rushed into the cargo hold. The speeding train was visible below as Wash pulled the Serenity into position with expert piloting. With a grin on his face the sorcerer tossed Jayne into the open air. The brute's screams as he awoke to find himself dangling were drowned out by the roar of the wind as the magnetically propelled train flew over the desert at incredible speeds beneath where the cabled man swung. Kaylee lengthened the slack on the cable and Jayne was lowered down to the cargo car.
The immortal and his mate watched as Jayne made it inside the car after Mal removed one of the roof panels. Zoe took the cable from Jayne and efficiently began to attach it to the net around the targeted cargo containers.
"Fifteen seconds," Mal's voice rang out over the radio ear piece in Kaylee's ear.
Just then trouble occurred as one of the Alliance soldiers onboard the train walked into the cargo compartment. The tear gas grenade Zoe used to booby trap the door went off causing the soldier to let loose with his automatic weapon as he jerked around from the gas. Kaylee triggered the winch at Jayne's signal while Mal took out the guard with several swift blows. Wash pulled the spaceship away even as Jayne atop the cargo containers was brought into the hold. Zoe and Mal expertly used another tear gas grenade in the compartment ahead to blend in during the confusion.
"Where are the others?" Kaylee demanded as Jayne fell onto the deck.
"They shot my damn leg," Jayne lamented.
Harry quickly put the in pain Jayne out of consciousness with a well placed touch stunner while playing it off as using a pressure point. No need to waste medical supplies.
"Aren't you going to take him to the med bay?" Kaylee questioned.
"No need," the skilled doctor replied as he located the bullet and started extracting it. "I'll have him fixed up quick."
Through the use of an incredibly controlled summoning charm the bullet practically jumped into the utensil the warlock was using to extract the round. Several stitches, a dressing, and a general antibiotic injection later and Jayne was good for the moment.
"You work fast," Kaylee observed.
"You of all people should know that my dear," Harry flirted with a grin.
"I do," the mechanic agreed.
"Hmm…let's see what all this fuss was over," the sorcerer mused as he approached the cargo and easily opened one of the crates. "Shit," the male cursed a moment later after examining one of the liquid containers within.
"What is it?" Kaylee queried with concern.
"This is Pascallin D. It's used to treat Bowden's Malady, a degenerative disorder that affects bone and the surrounding tissue. The disorder is common on terraformed worlds like this. We just stole what would save these people from a horrible death," the doctor explained to his partner.
"Well the Captain wouldn't have taken this had he known. We'd best go talk to the others about this," Kaylee suggested.
Wash parked the ship in one of the planet's many canyons and joined Book, Inara, Kaylee, Harry, and River to discuss the current situation.
"What happened to him and where's my wife?" Wash inquired as he noticed Jayne passed out cold nearby.
The two lovers quickly took turns bringing the others up to date on the situation.
"Kaylee's right…Mal would never have taken that medicine had he known. But first we need to focus on getting him and Zoe back before we discuss the medicine," Inara put forth.
"But how do you propose we do that?" Book questioned.
"With Inara's reputation," Harry spoke up before quickly outlining his plan.
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Inara's shuttle some time later…
"That was a really good idea you had," Inara complimented as the dark haired genius piloted her shuttle in for a landing at the town of Paradiso. "Kaylee really seems to like you. Please don't hurt her."
"I have no intention of hurting that wonderful woman. You know…I think she also happens to like you in the same way," the warlock observed as he helped Inara out of the hatch after shutting down the craft.
"Hmm…I definitely could see myself acting upon similar tastes under the right circumstances," the bisexual Companion mused aloud.
The pair quickly made their way over to the complex where a lot of activity was occurring. Inara's status as a Companion quickly greased the wheels to get the pair inside the complex. As soon as she spotted Mal in the crowded room getting ready to open his mouth and blow their cover Inara strode up and slapped the Captain across the face.
"Don't you dare speak to me," Inara commanded before turning to the local Sheriff. "Sheriff I want this man bound by law at once. That's assuming he hasn't been already."
"No one's been bound, not yet," the official answered.
"Thank goodness you found them. Did you honestly think you could access my accounts and Harry wouldn't be able to track you down?" Inara demanded.
Harry was in his birth form via his metamorphmagus talents. When the Serenity occupants had asked how his disguise was so convincing the engineer explained that it was a holographic overlay device he had invented. Going by the alias Harry only made sense since less to tie the warlock to Simon Tam could only be a good thing.
"And Zoe…what would your husband say if he knew you were here?" Inara added.
Appearing startled but ever the professional Zoe quickly muttered, "I was weak."
"So I take it they ain't newlyweds," the Sheriff spoke up.
"Hardly…Malcolm's my indentured man with three years left on his debt. I imagine we'll have to add another six months after this incident. This is Harry, my bodyguard," Inara explained while gesturing towards the impressively intimidating warrior warlock. "Should I contact my ship or do you need to hold them longer?"
"It looks to me like we're done here. We had some unrelated problems and his story had kind of an odor to it," the Sheriff replied.
"Yes that's not the only thing about him that does," Inara got her shot in. "Thank you very much Sheriff. Come along," Inara added the last to the Captain and First Officer before leading the way out with the sorcerer taking up the rear.
Inara and Harry explained the events since the medicine was stolen on the flight back.
"You are just full of surprises Doctor or should I call you Harry," Malcolm observed as the mage still hadn't changed his form back.
"It might be best if you got used to calling me Harry. I think I'll stay looking like this for a while to get everyone used to this look. It'll throw the Alliance off my trail," Harry suggested.
"A mighty good idea," Mal agreed.
It was dark by the time the shuttle reconnected with Serenity.
"How'd it go?" Kaylee inquired as soon as the group entered the cargo bay.
"Great," Inara answered. "I think between my status and Simon…I mean Harry's intimidating look they just bought our story."
"Harry?" A confused Kaylee queried.
Harry quickly explained his change of appearance and name.
"Well I think you look gorgeous this way as well," Kaylee declared.
"We need to get this cargo back to Paradiso," Mal spoke up as Zoe triggered the main hangar door.
"It's on the mule ready to go," Harry announced. "But I think we have bigger problems," the sorcerer added as he noticed a group of four thugs walking up the open ramp.
The others turned to look.
"You didn't make the rendezvous," Crow, Niska's brutish Lieutenant, declared.
"We ran into a few complications. We're not going to be able to take this job. We'll return the money Niska paid us up front. We'll call it even," Mal explained.
"There is no even," Crow declared before whipping the curved throwing knife he was holding into Mal's body just below the shoulder.
As everyone began to draw guns the immortal wizard quickly covered Kaylee with his own form while Zoe took out the middle guy with her gun. Before anyone else could attack three projectiles flew from the warrior mage's hands in quick succession and hit their mark perfectly. Crow and the remaining two thugs fell to the deck clutching their ruined throats as the enchanted throwing stars imbedded in the thug's vital organs performed the task of disposing of trash admirably. The three men were quickly dead. The runically enchanted throwing stars never missed and always did immense damage to their creator's target.
"Well I guess we won't be returning Niska's money," Mal declared as the living people in the cargo bay gaped at the mysterious genius in their midst.
"I told you I was trained by the best," the sorcerer put forth as he casually threaded his way through the bodies to examine Mal's shoulder. "Kaylee could you hand me my kit?" The warlock requested while nodding towards the kit he had used earlier to treat Jayne.
"Remind me to never piss you off Doc," Mal quipped as the skilled surgeon stitched up the wound on the Captain's shoulder.
"As I've told Jayne it's never wise to piss off the person with the needles. The needle wielder that also knows how to kill efficiently is an even worse person to have on your bad side," the mage suggested with an easy grin.
"Thanks Doc," Mal spoke a moment later as he examined his patched up shoulder.
"Harry, Captain…call me Harry," the Potter male instructed.
"Then call me Mal," the Brown Coat former soldier replied, starting to like the unassuming genius. "Now we'd better get this medicine back where it belongs."
"I have a safer way to get that medicine where it belongs I think," the last Potter spoke up.
"What's that?" Mal inquired curiously, wondering what invention the young genius would pull out of his ass this time.
A few minutes later Mal's wonderings were sated as the Captain and Doctor pushed the cargo net containing the medicine out of the Serenity hatch as the ship flew over the town. Wash set a slow burn for orbit as the crew gathered around a portable computer the warlock had in the cargo bay.
"You're sure none of that precious cargo will be damaged," Book clarified worriedly.
"Yes Book I'm sure. The cargo containers were already designed to provide some protection against damage. But the devices I attached to the net will explode out into a shock absorbing material once they get close enough to the ground and will take the rest of the kinetic energy that the parachute doesn't negate. See," the engineer pointed out the display the sensors on his technology were transmitting back.
"I've said it before and I'll say it again…you're definitely handy to have around Harry," Mal declared while the rest of the crew nodded their heads in agreement once the medicine touched down safely. "By the way…when will Jayne wake up?"
"Oh he'll wake up in a few hours when the sedative I dosed him with wears off. I wanted him out longer than the pressure point I used would have allowed," explained the warlock.
"No complaints here," Wash declared as he walked into the cargo bay, having set Serenity on autopilot.
The assembled group laughed at Wash's statement. Things were definitely more exciting and possibly even happier on Serenity once the Firefly took on her latest passengers. The crew had reason to be optimistic that things would stay that way.
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Several days later…
Harry had been following River, studying her habits and mannerisms, when the dark haired young woman led the wizard into the cargo bay. From their position on the catwalk the two dark haired beings watched as the Serenity crew played what passed for basketball in modern times. The only real difference between the new sport and basketball was that traveling was not penalized in modern times, the hoop was suspended vertically from the center of the court (cargo bay), and it was not illegal for one player to get on top of another's shoulders to make a shot. This fact was emphasized when Kaylee climbed aboard Jayne's shoulders to make a score.
The sorcerer became aware of Inara approaching the cargo bay long before the attractive woman entered through the hatch leading onto the catwalk.
"Hello," Harry greeted the Companion.
"Who's winning?" Inara questioned with amusement gracing her features.
"I walked in partway through the game but I think Kaylee and Jane's team is dominating mostly due to their creative use of the double stack move you see," answered the immortal male as the discussed pair of players repeated the move where Kaylee rode on the tall mercenary's shoulders.
"How's your sister?" Inara queried.
"She's better…getting her away from those Alliance psychos has done her a world of good. I'm still trying to figure out what they did to her. I've determined it's not purely psychological, although there was certainly a component of that involved. My current problem is that I'm trying to become creative in finding out what they did to her brain without the conventional scanning equipment," explained the last Potter.
"How is that going?" Inara questioned.
"I'm redesigning the current scanning equipment and building my own model," the skilled and ancient engineer replied.
"Wow," Inara declared.
What Harry has explained was true, conventionally speaking. Conventionally the warlock would not have been able to tell what had been done to River but the warrior wizard was anything but conventional. In time the mage would reveal to the crew of Serenity his enhanced scanning equipment when it seemed like enough time had passed in which the green eyed scientist could have built the system. Through the use of advanced scanning systems aboard the Phoenix along with his own sorceress abilities Harry had already determined that the Alliance "scientists" had removed a portion of River's brain. The monsters within the Alliance were trying to make special people into weapons. What made these people special? The simple answer was that they were the remnants of the wizarding world.
When the wizards and witches of Earth had made their way out into the galaxy their magic had turned inwards. Like Harry these magicals were exceptionally good at mundane science when they applied themselves and in time other subjects as well. The major problem with River's conditioning was that her magic had rebelled against the process and the mundane scientists had not known about the witch's magical core. A long story made short…River could not access her magical core correctly while her mind was having trouble processing real world situations. Add to that the fact that River was naturally a skilled adept at legilimency and you had a very messed up young woman. The five century old mage was keeping the young witch's powers under control using his own abilities while he pondered a solution to River's dilemma.
At that moment the warlock was brought out of his ponderings by an alarm klaxon going off along with a flashing red light.
"Proximity alert," Zoe declared as the crew stopped playing. "We must be coming up on something."
"Oh my god," Wash began in a mock terrified voice. "What can it be? We're all doomed! Who's flying this thing? Oh right…that would be me. Back to work," the dramatic blonde declared as he tossed the silver ball to Mal and made for the bridge.
"I guess that makes us one man short," Kaylee spoke up.
"Yeah…little Kaylee's always one man short," Jayne quipped.
"Hey Harry…how about you come on down and play for our side…Inara won't mind," Kaylee suggested.
The mage had connected with the Phoenix and used the powerful ship's sensors to scan for what had set off Serenity's alert. A ship was drifting nearby along with several floating bodies. One of those bodies chose that moment to impact against the Firefly, rocking the vessel. Everybody headed towards the bridge.
"Wash…you have a stroke or something?" Mal inquired as he was the first one on the bridge.
"Near enough," answered the pilot while nodding towards the view port.
"Anybody home?" Mal queried.
"I've been hailing her but whoever's there is as healthy as the guy we just ran over," the blonde explained.
"Bring us in a little closer," Mal instructed.
"A converted cargo hauler, maybe a short range scout," Wash guessed.
"You can see she doesn't want to be parked like that. The port thrust is gone and that's what's making her spin the way she is," Kaylee added.
"Settlers," Harry surmised.
"You can cram fifteen, maybe twenty families on a boat that size if you pack them right and the ship is modified correctly," Wash agreed.
"I figure that fellow we run into did everyone onboard. Then he decided to take a swim and see how fast his blood would boil out of his ears," Jayne declared.
"You're a very up person," Wash informed Jayne sarcastically.
"Shouldn't we report this?" Book asked the Captain.
"To who…Alliance?" Mal replied in amusement. "Right…they're going to run right out here real quick to make sure these taxpayers are ok," the Captain's sarcasm was obvious to everyone.
"Then we'll have to," Book announced.
"Well there's no distress call so this could provide you folks with a valuable salvage opportunity," the sorcerer suggested, already knowing what the crew would find from his scans.
"That sounds like a bright idea," Mal agreed, which settled the situation.
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Later…
Soon after, the two ships were docked with each other. Zoe and Mal went over first in spacesuits to check out the foreign vessel. Meanwhile Harry stayed close to River, suppressing her legilimency for the time being due to the disturbing thoughts of the only being left alive on the other ship.
"Captain wants us over there on the double," Jayne lied as he popped his head into River's quarters.
"I'll be there soon," Harry answered, quickly picking up the lie via telepathy.
"Don't take too long…you still gotta get suited up," Jayne added before heading off.
"Prick," the mage muttered as he got River situated.
The powerful sorcerer didn't actually even need to be on the same vessel as River to suppress her legilimency. Harry could watch over River from anywhere within a few thousand kilometers. Once the mage entered the foreign ship he quickly and expediently weaved through the corridors to the bridge where he could detect the minds of the others. There was no need for a spacesuit by this point because Zoe and the Captain had vetted the vessel.
"Hi," Mal greeted. "What are you doing here?"
Jayne busting up laughing was all the answer the Captain needed.
"Well as long as you're here you can lend a hand. You can roll with Kaylee," Mal spoke while tossing the warlock a sack to put salvaged goods in. "We probably don't have a lot of time so let's be quick about this people. A few loads each…there's no need to be greedy."
As Harry led Kaylee to the engine room he sensed River step onto the vessel. The sorcerer guided the young witch's movements towards his location.
"There ain't nothing wrong with this…nothing that I can see anyhow," Kaylee announced just before she ripped a part out of one of the consoles, causing sparks to fly. "Well there's a good one."
Harry held the bag open for his lover as she set the part inside. River chose that moment to join the couple.
"Hello there honey…what are you doing here?" Kaylee greeted the young witch.
"Exploring," River answered with a grin which Kaylee matched.
"Well why don't you just stick close to Harry and I and you'll be able to explore just fine," Kaylee suggested.
River agreed with a quick nod and sat in a nearby seat just as the sound of gunfire rang out. The trio made their way towards the sound of weapons fire and ran into the Captain and Zoe.
"What's she doing here?" Mal demanded, indicating River.
"She was exploring a bit Captain," Kaylee defended. "We'll keep an eye on her."
"What the Chin Sha is going on in there," Wash's voice came over the radio.
"Not now dear," Zoe radioed back, silencing her husband.
The group made their way to the galley where they found a startled Jayne with his gun drawn.
"What'd you see?" Mal questioned.
"Didn't…it came at me from behind," Jayne summarized. "Big though…strong…I think I might of hit him."
"You did," Harry agreed as he pointed to the blood droplet trail leading into a nearby air duct.
Mal holstered his pistol when he saw what was inside the vent and started to remove the grate.
"No, no, no," a male voice issued from inside.
"Shhh…easy now," Mal cautioned. "No one's going to hurt you."
"No, no mercy," muttered the twenty something year old man inside the air passage.
"Anymore than we already did," added the Captain when he thought about Jayne shooting the man. "Lots of mercy…we got lots and lots of Mercy," Mal chanted just before punching the younger man unconscious with one quick blow.
When the Captain had pulled the youth out and turned him over Harry couldn't help resist commenting, "Oh yes…he's a real beast Jayne. I see now why you had trouble with him."
The sorcerer's sarcastic comment had the others grinning except for a glowering Jayne.
"He looked bigger when I couldn't see him," Jayne defended himself.
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Infirmary onboard Serenity, a short while later…
"Well this one's fucked up," Harry declared after examining a sample of the sole survivor's blood in some of the infirmary's new custom built testing equipment.
"What is it?" Mal inquired.
"There's a compound in his blood. I'm not sure what it is but it was delivered by the blood of something else, ingested…that much I can tell," explained the skilled doctor.
"So he drank someone else's blood," Mal clarified.
"Someone or something…yes," Harry agreed. "I've never seen blood quite like this before."
That wasn't true…Harry had encountered similar blood over five centuries previous, on Earth. The blood was similar to goblin blood but diluted by interbreeding.
"Cattle," the man muttered. "Cattle for the slaughter," the man spoke while looking at the crew of Serenity.
"Dope him," Mal ordered.
"One step ahead of you," the green eyed wizard announced while whipping out an already prepared syringe and injecting the delusional man.
"So…how's our patient?" Kaylee asked when the Doctor and Captain stepped out of the infirmary.
"He's a nut job and a half," Harry declared before quickly summarizing what was found within the unconscious being's blood.
"No one goes in here," Mal ordered while closing and locking the infirmary door. "There's nothing more we can do for him now…not after what he's seen. His ship was hit by Reavers."
"Reavers," Jayne whispered while Wash cursed.
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The mess…
"Mal, how can you know?" Inara demanded as she led the group into the galley where the Captain was getting himself a drink.
"He don't…there's no way," Jayne spoke up. "It was that other fella…the one we run into like I said before. He went stir crazy, killed the rest, and then took a walk in space. Reavers don't leave any survivors."
"Strictly speaking I wouldn't exactly say the Reavers did leave any survivors," Mal pointed out before taking a drink from his mug.
"What are you suggesting?" Sheppard Book questioned.
"In the manner we took him off that boat Sheppard, that's the place he's going to live from now on," Mal replied.
"I don't accept that," Book argued. "Whatever horror or acts of barbarism he witnessed were performed by men."
"Reavers appear to be suffering from some kind of disease that drives them to insanity," Harry spoke up. "I'm still investigating what exactly this disease does to these people. Whatever the case…our 'guest' has been infected. Don't worry though…it isn't contagious by air in its current stage."
"Well then…why the hell are we still here? If it was Reavers then shouldn't we get the hell out of here?" Jayne questioned.
"The work isn't done. There's still substantial value sitting over there," the Captain replied.
"I ain't going over there with those bodies if Reavers have touched them," Jayne protested.
"Jayne, you'll scare the women," Zoe mocked the mercenary.
"I'll go. I'm not worried about the bodies," the green eyed warlock volunteered.
"I'd also like to go and see if I can put those folks to rest," Book added.
"Those folks are already resting pretty good Sheppard, the Reavers saw to that," pointed out Mal.
"How we treat our dead is part of what makes us different than those that did the killing," Book argued.
After the pleading looks from Inara and Kaylee the Captain instructed, "You go say your words. Jayne you can help the Doctor cut down those people and then you'll load up the cargo."
"Jayne can just work on the cargo. I'll deal with the people," Harry declared.
"If you're sure," Mal agreed. "If those people can get any peace from what we can do well then we're going to do it."
Just before leaving the mess the dark haired sorcerer overheard Inara say to Mal, "Just when I think I have you figured out you surprise me."
The Captain caught up with the ageless wizard out of earshot of the others.
"Doc, I suspect we now have an explosive attached to our ship. Reavers sometimes leave them on ships they've attacked," explained Mal. "If we try to leave it will blow."
"I can take a look and if it's there I can probably disable it," volunteered the skilled engineer.
"I'd appreciate it," Malcolm agreed. "I don't want to alarm the others."
When Harry and Book reached the cargo bay where the victims of the Reavers were strung up the warlock hit the Sheppard with a confounding charm before simply using his powers to get the corpses down. After that while Book attended to the burial rites of the deceased the magician examined the explosive from outside of Serenity using one of his spacesuits from the Phoenix which were far more advanced than anything that was considered cutting edge in the Alliance territories.
The skilled warlock first enclosed the explosive compound in a strong energy shield before he disabled the remainder of the device with his telekinesis. Soon Serenity was free to leave. By that time Book had finished up the funeral rites while Jane was finishing loading up the most valuable of the cargo. The Firefly class vessel had just detached from the settler ship when the alarms started going off.
"It's the Reavers…the gorram Reavers have come back," a panicking Jayne called.
The enchanter peered through the Serenity's side and spotted the Alliance cruiser closing in on their position.
"I don't think it's Reavers. We need to get this stuff stored," Harry urged.
"Do it," Mal agreed as Zoe and the Captain ran for the bridge.
They returned a few minutes later and Mal immediately ordered, "Pull out the stash. In about two minute's time this boat is going to be crawling with Alliance. Immediately the ageless engineer pulled watched looked like a bracelet from his pocket and slipped it on River's wrist. The disturbed young woman immediately looked like a different person. Harry was already in his birth form just like he had been since the train job. River's bracelet was a runically enchanted illusion device.
"Nifty," Mal praised as he recalled the hologram device the genius Doctor had used during the train job.
"I have an even niftier trick. Leave the goods in your hidey hole. I've taken the liberty of installing some technology that will make it impossible for our guests to detect that there's even a space there let alone find anything inside," explained the Potter male.
"I do so like your surprises Doctor," the Captain declared with a grin. "You don't happen to have more of those holographic devices do you?"
In response the sorcerer walked over to his belongings present in the cargo hold and drew out enough of the runic arm bands for the rest of the crew. Soon the two spacecraft were linked and the Alliance goons came on in force wearing their armor and toting their guns.
"Quite a lot of fuss for little old us," Mal declared as one goon took his pistol.
"Is this your vessel?" A blonde haired officer demanded.
"It is," Malcolm agreed. "I'm Captain John Stevens," the former Brown Coat added while concentrating on the cover identities the genius Doctor had quickly instructed the crew to use.
The identities were solidified in Alliance computer systems thanks to the warlock's back door into said systems.
"Is this everyone Captain Stevens?" The Alliance officer questioned.
"This is all of our crew. We rescued a man off of that derelict vessel. He's in our infirmary. He appeared to be out of his mind but that's not surprising given how we found his people," Mal declared.
The officer gestured to several of his men to go retrieve the rescued Reaver victim.
"And these items in your cargo hold. Did you rescue those as well?" The officer inquired.
"No Sir, those would belong to me," announced the ageless sorcerer stepped forward. "I'm a merchant from the core and Captain Stevens here was hired by me to transport my goods. The name is Harry Granger. Here is a receipt that shows I own this merchandise, well the goods that don't belong to the passengers that is," the green eyed Potter explained while handing authentic looking documents that were easily enough conjured and enchanted with charms to make sure the officials accepted the story.
"These appear to be in order," the Alliance thug agreed while handling the papers back to the quite wealthy businessman judging from the man's dress, demeanor, and cargo manifest.
Harry really didn't like these Alliances goons so decided to deal with them efficiently. The telepath gave the officer before him some mental instructions which were immediately carried out.
"We'll be taking that survivor onto our ship for medical treatment but don't go anywhere. We need to investigate what really happened here," the officer explained as medics carried a stretcher passed the group and not long after came back with the Reaver attack survivor.
"They're all going to die, aren't they," Mal observed after the hatch sealed.
"Yes, and if we don't want to be with them then I suggest we're defend this hatch until it's time to blow this joint," answered the green eyed genius.
"Jane, go get the big guns. Doctor, can you help me seal the hatch so that nothing gets through that door without blowing it?" The Captain requested.
"Of course," agreed the magician while Jane went to get the guns.
It wasn't long until the attack survivor fully turned into a Reaver. The house elves living in Sanctuary were tasked with the job of rescuing any who were deemed worthy of saving from the Alliance cruiser crew. In the centuries since the downfall of Earth the house elf population on Sanctuary had flourished under Harry's observation. The elves had developed empathic abilities that helped them to sense the integrity of beings they met. The highly magical servants had grown taller and more attractive to humans eyes as time wore on. The last Potter suspected that in a few more centuries the elves living on Sanctuary would resemble the race of High Elves from legend.
The elves rescued mostly women and children but there were a few Alliance officers who weren't corrupt or drunk on power and who actually believed in preserving the peace in an honorable way. All of these rescued individuals were placed in an enchanted sleep so that they had no knowledge of Sanctuary. The survivors would be transported back to the core worlds with the next food shipment from Sanctuary.
"I don't hear anything," Jayne declared as he stood watch with the rest of the Serenity's crew at the cargo hold hatch after the gunfire had stopped a few minutes previous.
"We don't know what that means," Zoe pointed out.
"It likely means they're all dead," Harry announced. "I'm going to go over and check it out."
"Simon…are you sure that's such a good idea?" Kaylee questioned her lover worriedly.
"Trust me…I can handle whatever is on that cruiser," promised the ageless sorcerer.
Malcolm Reynolds examined the resident genius carefully and noticed the resolve in the green eyed man's look. In the short time the mysterious Doctor had been onboard Serenity Mal had come to believe the man was capable of quite a bit. It was for this reason that Reynolds didn't protest Simon from going onto the cruiser.
Once out of sight of the human crew it was child's play for the mage to track down the sole Reaver onboard the cruiser. Due to the lack of sufficient numbers of reinforcements to torture his victims as was the usual Reaver way the mutilated goblin descendant had quickly and efficiently killed the remaining crew of the cruiser. Harry wasn't at all surprised at the insane being's capabilities. The goblins were a fierce race after all. A killing curse from a cloaked warlock served to end the threat of further deaths. The magician returned to Serenity and retrieved his new friends.
"How could one man do all this?" Sheppard Book demanded in disbelief as he surveyed the carnage.
"I'm still studying it…but I believe the infected individual wasn't exactly ordinary. Whatever infected him was driving him to above human heights," explained the Potter male.
"What do we do about this cruiser?" Inara asked the question most of the crew had been wondering about.
"Well I can disable the tracking equipment and make sure the Alliance can't find it easily," put forth the immortal scientist.
"Then I'd say we have ourselves a new base for our operations provided we move it quite a distance away from the Core worlds," Mal suggested.
"I think I know a great place Captain," declared the mage.
Harry had a moon in mind that was habitable for humans but hadn't actually been terraformed by the Alliance. Such astral bodies were sparse in the galaxy but the well explored sorcerer had located quite a few in his travels over the centuries.
OP – Firefly – OP – Firefly – OP – Firefly – OP – Firefly – OP – Firefly – OP – Firefly – OP