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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It was dinner time and the crew members of Serenity were sharing a delicious meal and a good laugh. Shepherd Book was relating an amusing tale of his time spent at a monastery.
The recently arrived Wash announced, "We should make it to Green Leaf without encountering any alliance patrols. Instead of eighteen hours this course will take us almost a week."
"We aren't in any hurry," Mal pointed out.
"It's your turn to tell a funny story Harry," Kaylee spoke up.
"Well I don't think it's exactly a funny tale but let me tell you a story of a boy wizard that was popular back on Earth that was," the highly educated immortal began while exchanging a knowing look with Mal.
As Kaylee's mate began his tale the young woman got up and walked into the pantry. Harry continued his story while keeping his senses in checking, suspecting his partner wanted to surprise him. A few moments later Kaylee walked in carrying a birthday cake with several lit candles.
"Would you like to make the first incision Doctor?" Kaylee teased the birthday boy.
"Twenty-eight years old, you're getting up there in years Harry," Mal teased while mentally adding, "Although it's nothing compared to your true 538 years."
Harry had almost forgotten that it was his birthday. Of course Kaylee knew her man's birthday date, having asked during one of the first weeks the couple had been together. Wishes of a happy birthday came from the crew all around.
"That looks delicious Kaylee," the sorcerer praised his lover as she set the cake on the table in front of him before the mechanic stole a chaste kiss and retook her seat beside the wizard.
"Blow out the candles Doc," Jayne encouraged, having been a lot nicer to the resident magician since the immortal had saved the mercenary's life.
"Yes, we'd like to try a piece of Kaylee's delicious cooking," Rose added from her seat next to Jayne.
Just before the enchanter was about to extinguish the candles the Firefly shuttered and the lights went out, causing the crew to go silent. A few moments later the sound of the engine restarting could be heard.
"That wasn't good," the ageless Potter declared.
"I'll go check it out," a worried Kaylee suggested as she headed towards the door.
Harry quickly blew out the candles before climbing to his feet.
"I'll go with you love," the green eyed mage informed his mate.
The vessel shuddered again and that's when the perceptive warlock sensed the explosion. Zoe was closer and was already moving towards Kaylee but the dark skinned beauty wouldn't be fast enough. Mal channeled a small amount of the enchanter's power to cause the other crew members to become confused while the immortal apparated in front of the pair of women closest to the hallway leading towards the engine. Harry's right hand tapped Zoe on the back of the head as the former soldier leapt to tackle Kaylee out of the way. The stunner knocked Zoe out but Kaylee was still conscious enough to watch a torrent of flame to rush towards her incredibly fast boyfriend's back. Kaylee locked eyes with her man and was sure he was about to die.
While the mechanic caught her would be rescuer's unconscious form and held the dark skinned woman she kept her eyes on her favorite male. Kaylee's eyes went wide in disbelief as a glowing energy shield surrounded her handsome partner and deflected the explosion back into the hallway the blast tried to escape from.
"What the hell was that?" Jayne demanded even as the mess door was slammed shut by the green eyed enchanter.
"Zoe," Wash shouted while rushing over to check on his wife.
"She'll be fine. I think she just got hit by a piece of projected debris," Kaylee suggested while gazing at her boyfriend intently, with new eyes.
"Seal off everything below decks," the Captain ordered his crew while rushing for the bridge to vent the atmosphere in sealed area.
The efficient crew quickly got the entrances to the rest of the ship sealed off. Mal was then able to extinguish the fire by venting the oxygen in the aft compartments. After Mal had closed the cargo bay doors and returned to the mess, the crew opened the doors into the rest of the ship. By this time the doctor had already examined Zoe who quickly awoke under his ministrations, thanks to the subtle enervate charm the enchanter cast.
"We'll go see what caused that," Kaylee informed her crew mates before following her suddenly mysterious man towards the engine room.
"What was that back there?" Kaylee demanded as soon as she was sure the others couldn't here.
The immortal thought about lying and saying it was a small shield generator piece of technology but decided he would rather come clean with his young partner.
"I'm a wizard love," the Potter male declared without preamble while wrapping his arm around the mechanic's waist and apparating the both of them to the engine room.
"You…you're a wizard? Like as in a magical wizard?" Kaylee stuttered out with surprise.
After her boyfriend nodded his confirmation the dirty blonde beauty was silent for several moments while her mind raced.
"Tell me more," Kaylee instructed while her partner began examining the engine.
As he worked the warlock told Kaylee and abridged version of his life's story. It was easy enough task to locate the bad catalyzer for the perceptive mage. Kaylee was easily able to see her man place his hand on the part before the ruined piece of technology mended itself.
"That's so sad," Kaylee declared with unshed tears in her eyes as her favorite male finished his story some time later.
"It isn't all sad," assured the enchanter. "After all…I've got you now."
"Yes you do," agreed the beauty as she wrapped her arms around her boyfriend and hugged him tightly.
"I'll just tell the others we had a spare catalyzer in stores," the ship's repair woman whispered. "The Captain would be the only one that would know if we didn't and he knows about you so that won't be a problem."
"That's why I love you…because you are amazing," the Potter male announced before stealing a kiss from the shorter being.
The rest of the crew was glad the problem was fixed and that nothing was too badly damaged. The last Potter spent some time showing Kaylee exactly what he could do, including his true abilities in the bedroom. The couple grew stronger because of this sharing.
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"It's ready," Harry informed Kaylee as he popped back into their room from one of his labs aboard the Phoenix which was cloaked nearby.
"Good…I'll be very interested in getting to know River when she's whole once more," the mechanic declared with a grin. "Will it take long?"
"The actual transfer will be pretty quick once the soulstar is in place," the ageless enchanter responded.
"I'm sure River will be eager to get into her new body but first you'd best get into her old one," teased Miss Frye with a wink.
The dark haired Potter male shook his head in amusement before walking out of his room and into the quarters next door. River was lying on her bed starring at her ceiling with a faraway gaze.
"You've come to make me whole again," the somewhat precognitive young witch declared in one of her rare lucid moments.
"Yes I have River. Do you want that?" The wizard questioned.
The bastards who had experimented on River in the Alliance had removed a portion of her brain. There were several avenues Harry could use to repair the damage but the easiest method for the genius engineer to use involved transferring River's essence into a new cloned body. The clone was now matured to River's stage of development, its growth having been accelerated under a special time dilation field. All that was left was to transfer River's essence, her consciousness and soul, into her new vessel. But to complete the transfer without River passing on required advanced soul magic and an anchor to this plane of existence. The best anchor was a soulstar. Luckily the Potter warlock was able to create soulstars under the right conditions.
"Yes," River replied while holding out her arms for the handsome sorcerer, obviously aware of the method of creating a soulstar.
Smut Scene Here (See hpfanficarchive or ficsite for erotic version)
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With a further exertion of his incredible will the enchanter apparated himself and his new mate over to the Phoenix. The awaiting house elves got their master situated. The skilled immortal began chanting in a language forgotten by all but him. The powerful Potter gathered his internal energy and manipulated it for what seemed like hours but was only about twenty minutes. Finally when the enchantment was fully formed, the air throbbing with energy, a flash drove the eyes of any conscious being in the room closed. When Harry opened his eyes again he was able to see River's old form lying lifeless to his left with her new vessel animated and blinking to his right.
"Harry," River spoke hesitantly, reaching out slowly and running her right hand along his cheek.
"Do you understand what just happened, love?" The wizard queried.
With happy tears filling her eyes the witch nodded before replying, "Thank you so much. I love you for all you've done for me."
River's kiss was sweet, tender, and focused. The witch could now focus solely on her man instead of the world around her. With a fully intact brain the second sight gifted sorceress' abilities weren't going haywire.
"I love you too River," whispered Harry as the kiss ended.
"Make love to me again Harry in my new body," the nude and nubile teen urged.
"You don't have to twist my arm," assured the enchanter with a grin.
River smiled at her mate and welcomed him into her warm embrace, showing him how much she appreciated him. Harry thanked any deities listening for his magical stamina.
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The rest of the crew took the new and improved River in stride. Given the other surprises the genius engineer had revealed a cloning and consciousness transfer procedure wasn't that surprising.
Saffron brought the next big job to the Serenity crew and this task promised to bring in a huge amount to the crew of the firefly. Saffron knew the details from a job she had worked in the past but had recently asked the immortal genius doctor to help her acquire updated information on the security of the planned heist site. The enchanter was all too happy to help the redhead because the job in question would provide some more excitement and adventure.
"The target's name is Durran Haymer. Haymer is one of the largest collectors of artifacts from Earth-That-Was in the Alliance," Saffron explained to the assembled crew. "Durran's most valuable artifact is the Lassiter which is one of the first two original laser pistols. During the war Haymer was a bioweapons expert who would target neighborhood with valuables, wipe out every inhabitant, and sweep in to collect his ill gotten gains."
"Now Haymer is residing on a private floating estate on Bolarifon," Mal chimed in. "With Harry's help Saffron has managed to copy Durran's schedule, a layout for the grounds, and all of the security codes," the Captain informed his crew.
"What is the catch?" Wash inquired. "Obviously there has to be a catch or we'd already be on our way to Bolarifon without having this discussion."
"The Lassiter is tagged and each door has scanning equipment. The second we stepped through a door with the Lassiter an alarm would sound. Luckily the waste disposal units aren't equipped with scanners," Saffron explained. "The problem is that the units dispose of the waste very quickly with an automated drone retrieving anything put into the bin to take to the incinerators."
"I can reprogram that," Kaylee assured her friends.
"I was hoping you would say that," Saffron replied.
"I'll help Kaylee," River added.
Harry's two mates shared a secret smile. The task would go a lot easier with a witch involved. The green eyed immortal was slowly reawakening the dormant aspects of River's powers so that she was closer to her ancestors in abilities.
Harry would meanwhile be going along with Mal and Saffron to retrieve the Lassiter.
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Bolarifon Estates…
As soon as the shuttle touched down on the platform located south of the main house on the floating island owned by the wealthy Haymer, the trio inside slipped from their craft. Blending in wasn't a problem since Haymer was throwing a party that weekend and plenty of hired help was setting up for the coming event. Bypassing the security barriers wasn't an issue with the codes the sorcerer had acquired. The trio immediately headed for the ninth floor where the Lassiter was housed.
At the same time Serenity was hovering up under the floating estate. Kaylee and River climbed out one of the top hatches. Mentally controlled sticking charms on their shoes allowed the two beauties to stay standing without any problem. Harry had enchanted the shoes earlier for this task. River held a wand crafted for her by her new mate using some of the magical materials produced on Sanctuary. Both of the sorcerer's lovers were in the know about the magical moon and had visited there several times.
"We are in place Wash," Kaylee shouted into her communicator over the howl of the wind. "Take her up slowly."
"Right there," River spoke up a moment later to signal the correct height relative to the trash drone.
River's levitation spell made sure any discrepancy in distance was accounted for as the intelligent mechanic was able to reach the drone and begin the reprogramming process. Meanwhile back inside Mal, Saffron, and Harry were zeroing in on the location of the Lassiter. The guidance systems on the Phoenix were mentally leading the vessel's creator towards the target device.
"Here it is," Saffron declared a few moments later as she followed the doctor into the parlor where the laser pistol was housed.
The engineer immediately began bypassing the security protecting the artifact with a practiced ease. Many of these security technologies the immortal had helped develop at some point in his past. At the same time on the outside the sorcerer's mechanically inclined girlfriend had finished the reprogramming of the control board for the drone and proceeded to slip the circuit panel back into place. Kaylee was careful not to touch the portions of the device which she knew held live current.
"We're done River," Kaylee called. "Let's get back inside."
The witch and the dirty blonde beauty hurried back into Serenity and waited for their man to complete his task. Just as the ancient Potter finished disabling the security protecting the Lassiter Saffron signaled that she heard someone coming. Captain Reynolds stole over to the wall beside the door.
"What's going on here?" Durran Haymer demanded, not noticing the Captain behind him.
Malcolm stepped forward and stabbed a very sharp knife straight through the mass murderer's heart.
As Haymer dropped to the ground dead Reynolds declared, "That's what you get for murdering women and children scumbag."
Reynolds spit on the corpse.
"Let's get going," the green eyed enchanter suggested as he tucked the Lassiter into his bag.
Saffron wasn't sad at all to see her former husband's demise. Haymer had been a psychopath who masqueraded as a gentleman. The trio took off down the hall and quickly located the waste disposal chute. The warlock slipped the Lassiter down the chute and closed the hatchway before hitting the button. Slipping out of the compound proved to be just as easy as slipping in due to the fact that an alarm had yet to be raised. The trio made it back to their shuttle and flew off to rendezvous with Serenity at the point where the drone would drop the container with the Lassiter inside.
From there it was a simple matter of retrieving the Lassiter from the container and getting off that planet quickly. Selling the retrieved weapon proved quite easy for the Serenity crew. Harry was wealthy beyond imagining, likely the wealthiest being in the verse. Saffron simply informed the rest of the crew that a wealthy private collector wanted to purchase the Lassiter. When the redhead came back with over a million credits in untraceable cash the matter was settled. The sorcerer was that private collector. Saffron wouldn't say anything after Mal had asked her not to.
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Harry was walking through the market on one of the many space stations that littered colonized space with Kaylee on his right arm and River on his left. Nearby a man was shouting out the virtues of visiting his exhibit which contained proof of alien life.
"What is it really?" Kaylee questioned her handsome partner.
The wizard peered through the wall dividing the exhibit from the market and answered, "It's nothing more than an upside down mutated cow fetus."
"Yummy," River sarcastically commented.
"Have you ever tried an ice planet River?" Kaylee asked the brunette sorceress.
"No," River replied. "Buy me one Harry?" The hazel eyed young woman requested while batting her eye lashes.
"There is no need to break out the eye lashes honey," assured the warlock as he purchased two of the treats which were basically the modern day version of snow cones dangling from a string with the exception that the globes were more solidly frozen. "Let's go see what the Captain and the others are up to."
The trio found the rest of their crew mates at the station's post office.
"This one is addressed to you and Zoe, Mal," the post office manager informed the Captain while wheeling out a long crate.
"I don't remember ordering any parts," Mal replied while signing for the deliveries.
"The little package is for Cobb," added the manager.
Harry used his enchanted vision to check the packages for anything dangerous. The long and large package contained a human body.
"Mal…I would suggest we wait to open this one until we get back on Serenity," spoke up the cautious mage while mentally informing Captain of the contents of the package via the link that connected the two men.
"I think Harry is right," Mal agreed.
"Jayne you can probably open yours now. Unless you think your mother would send you anything dangerous," Harry added while suppressing a smirk at the contents of Jayne's package.
Jayne stumbled through the letter from his mother before placing a bright orange hat with ear flaps on his head.
"What a thoughtful gift from your mother," Saffron told Jayne with a straight face.
"You're damn right it is," Jayne agreed, causing the rest of the crew to snicker when the former mercenary wasn't looking.
"I like it," Rose informed her man.
"Jayne quit showing off your head gear and get that ammo you purchased onto the ship. We won't be staying long," Mal instructed while pushing the crate containing the body towards his ship.
Harry stayed behind long enough to plant a few bugs in concealed areas at the post office so he would know if anyone came looking for the body. Judging from the fact that the perceptive mage could sense that the man within the chilled coffin was still alive something shady was going on. It was best to be paranoid than to be caught unawares.
As soon as the crew reached the cargo hold of their vessel Mal opened the coffin.
"Well you don't get that in the mail every day," Wash declared.
"Sir, that's Tracey," a surprised Zoe pointed out the obvious.
Private Jonathan Tracey was a soldier Zoe and Wash had practically carried through the war.
"Who would send you a dead guy in the mail?" Jayne questioned the two former soldiers.
"He isn't dead," the resident wizard declared. "He has been given a drug to make him look that way. Post mortem hasn't set in."
"Can you wake him up?" Mal queried.
"Yes, just let me run and get a drug from the infirmary," replied Harry.
"It might be best if he wakes up in the infirmary," suggested Zoe.
"I've got him," Captain Reynolds announced as he picked the former Private out of the shipping container and hoisted the smaller male over his shoulder.
Thanks to being linked with the magical immortal and receiving regular doses of the Elixir of Life himself the Captain was growing stronger physically. Tracey wasn't as hard to carry now as he had been back during the war when the Private had been injured.
"Just like old times," Zoe commented with a glance at her commanding officer.
"What's that in his hands?" Rose inquired as she pointed to a small device hanging loosely from Tracey's grasp.
"It's an audio recorder," River declared as she took the device from the man in a coma like state.
"There aren't many reasons to fake your death, male yourself to old war buddies, and leave an audio recording for them to find," Mal pointed out.
"You think Tracey is trying to play us Sir?" Zoe probed.
"He might be but at least we will be onto him this time. Wake him up please Harry," requested Mal.
"Before I do that I would like to run a quick scan with this," the sorcerer announced while indicating a hand held bio scanner he had created to deflect attention away from the more impressive scanners on the Phoenix when looking to explain his treatment of River.
"That is the scanner you made when you were trying to figure out was wrong with River," said Inara which earned a nod of confirmation from the warlock as he ran the scanner over Tracey's form.
"Well this is definitely interesting," the Potter male declared. "It would appear Mr. Tracey had his organs replaced with illegal bioengineered organs. The organs are illegal because the technology is unproven but theoretically the way they do the engineering a person could live a lot longer. It's clever in a way…using a human as a smuggler for the body parts if not a little sickening."
"Wake him up," Mal urged.
Harry retrieved an injection and woke the man up. Tracey sat up with a gasp. Wash had gone to take the Firefly vessel away from the space station soon after it was revealed that the shipping container had contained a body. The perceptive mage could sense the spacecraft moving away at high speed despite the inertial dampeners.
"Jayne could you get that pan," the doctor requested of the former mercenary while nodding towards a bedpan.
"What's going on Serg?" Tracey asked Mal as he sat up.
"You tell us Private? We know you have bioengineered organs and that you faked your own death. The question is why?" The Captain probed.
Tracey was saved from answering for a time due to his throwing up in the pan Jayne was holding. Tracey caught sight of Kaylee after he gazed up from his bedpan and the perceptive Potter could sense the former Private's attraction for the mechanic. Unfortunately for Tracey, Kaylee was already spoken for even if she wasn't exactly seeing the Private at his best.
"They smuggle the parts in me to the drop spot on Ariel. I was supposed to be there two weeks ago. They'd swap my own organs for the bio engineered parts. I got an offer from another buyer for three times what I was originally offered. That money would have allowed me to get my parents off that godforsaken moon they are stuck on," Tracey explained.
"Let me guess…the better offer fell through," Mal suggested.
"Yes, somehow my original bosses found out and killed the new buyer. Some men were waiting for me when I arrived to make the better deal," the Private replied. "I barely got away. I figured they wouldn't be looking for me anymore if I was dead."
"Well that explains that," Mal declared just before alarms started going off.
"That means there is a ship approaching," the immortal engineer informed his crewmates.
The vessel approaching was piloted by a renegade Alliance soldier, a Lieutenant Womack. Womack worked for Tracey's old bosses and had already stopped at the space station where Serenity picked the private up. Womack had threatened to light the post master on fire.
As the crew in the infirmary took off for the bridge the sound of one of Serenity's new systems powering up was heard followed by the discharge of weapons fire.
"That was the ion cannon," the engineer who had designed the mentioned weapon informed his companions. "The new arrival must have armed his weapons and fired on us."
"This tub has an ion cannon?" Tracey exclaimed in surprise.
"Serenity is a lot tougher than she looks," Mal pointed out while entering the bridge. "What happened Wash?"
"A military craft showed up and armed its weapons. It fired a missile but our ion cannon destroyed the oncoming shot before destroying the Alliance fighter. There's nothing left of that bastard," Wash explained.
"Well damn…there goes the people who were chasing me. Now what happens?" Tracey queried.
"Now we go pick up your folks. I have a job offer for you Tracey," Mal proposed before going into detail about the work required.
Tracey readily agreed to the proposal. The Serenity crew could always use more farm hands for the crops they were growing. Tracey and his family would work out well provided the former Private stayed out of trouble. Even though they really didn't have to work as hard due to their recently acquired wealth from the Lassiter proceeds the Firefly crew didn't want to sit around and be bored. The money the adventurers had acquired could go towards their retirement. It was a simple matter to retrieve Tracey's family and take them to the crop growing former Alliance cruiser. The outcome of Tracey's little problem was a decent end to a potentially tricky situation.
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Inara received a distress call from an old friend from the brunette's days when she was a Companion in the core worlds. Mal overheard the later part of Inara's conversation with this old friend, Nandi.
"I heard you were in the area. I hate to impose but there is nobody else I can ask," the redheaded woman explained.
"I think I can speak for Mal when I say we'll do all we can," the Captain's lover assured her friend.
"Paying won't be an issue…we just are not prepared for something like this," Nandi explained. "I know the house told you to shun me when I left."
"Nandi…I'm only a Companion in title now. I've quit the life," Inara announced.
"This Malcolm Reynolds must be one special guy," the fire haired beauty suggested with the first true grin she had been able to manage since finding out Rance Burgess, the most ruthless piece of scum on the rock Nandi lived on, was coming for the unborn child of one of the prostitutes Nandi looked after.
"I might just let you experience how truly special he is when we clear this mess up," Inara spoke suggestively with a sultry smile before bidding her old friend goodbye. "So was I right in agreeing for you?" The former Companion inquired, able to tell her lover was standing at the entrance to their room without looking.
"Of course you were Inara. A friend of yours is a friend of mine. I'll tell Wash to set a course immediately," Mal assured.
"I do so love you," Inara whispered with a warm smile. "After you give Wash his orders hurry back. I want to reward you for being you," Inara purred.
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