Duet : Part One, Life In The Black
Disclaimer: not mine don't sue
Chapter 1
He had waited as long as he could, but Mal had decided it was time to find Serenity a new pilot. River was great, but she wasn't completely reliable, and he thought she would be more useful out on jobs than stuck back on the ship. He put out a few feelers with some friends and associates, borrowed Kaylee's barkerchair, parked himself just outside the cargo bay at the Eavesdown docks, and waited for a pilot to show up. River waited in the shadows. She was paying close attention, but she didn't want to be seen; even after Miranda, there was still a pretty high price on her head. Jayne leaned against the opening of the hatch, trimming his fingernails with a knife and menacing anyone who passed by. Mal wasn't sure if he was giving the wrong impression about the ship or the right one. Inara had gone to acquire a few supplies and Zoe had jumped at the chance to come with her. Shopping had never been her thing, but Mal understood that choosing her husband's replacement wasn't a duty she wanted to be part of. Simon and Kaylee seemed to be taking advantage of the privacy this opportunity offered, but Mal didn't really want to think on that so he turned his attention to the task at hand.
The first guy to show up was recommended by Badger. If that wasn't bad enough, he had shaky credentials. He certainly was not someone Mal would employ to scrub his floors let alone guide Serenity along her path. The next two were decent enough folks with good credentials but had such defects in the personality department that Mal couldn't see spending an hour with them let alone making them family. The fourth guy to show was actually an old colleague of Wash's, and Mal thought things were looking up until the slick, tall, dark man revealed he was only there to "see if that sweet assed wife of Hoban's needed some consoling".
After Mal had Jayne throw his ass halfway down the docks, he sighed and wondered if he might have better luck on Boros. It was then Mal saw them; he was tall, dark, and dark-haired. He was easily as big as Jayne. Mal noticed he wore an old, black, leather jacket with a even older pair of jeans, but it was the way he moved that caught Mal's notice. He was confident and had an ease about him even here, in what most would consider dangerous territory. He didn't stomp around challenging everything around him like Jayne did, but Mal suspected he wasn't someone to mess with. He only saw her once, they fully stepped out of the crowd. She swaggered and strode about like someone on a mission, tossing her shoulder length blond hair, calling back to him to hurry up. Her red t-shirt stood out as much as her battered khaki pants blended in. The man turned, and Mal noticed the large duffel strapped to his back. Mal realized they were heading his way and stood up, almost grinning. People who swaggered like that had to be pilots and good ones too, he'd bet.
She stopped dead in front of him and said "You the one looking for a pilot?"
"Yeah," Mal started.
"Good," the blond cut across him. "You want us, or at least you want me and get him as part of the bargain."
"Is that so?" Mal replied, raising his eyebrows, unsure if he was impressed or annoyed.
The man beside her seemed to pick up Mal's tone, stuck his hand out and smiled in a friendly manner. "I'm Sam Anders and this is my wife, Kara Thrace. We were hoping to join your crew," he said.
Mal shook the man's hand slowly, deciding. "I am still looking for a pilot, but I don't really need two, and I would like to some references and credentials before I decide who I want to employ."
The pair exchanged a look that Mal couldn't quite decode, and Kara spoke. "We don't have much in terms of official creds. but we were hoping the fact that we flew as part of Red squad with the independents might mean something to you."
Mal nodded and tried not give away the fact that, that info impressed the hell out of him. Red squad was the most elite wing of fighter pilots the Independents had. "And references?"
They exchanged another look, and this time, Mal understood it perfectly. They were desperate.
"We don't really have much of those either. We've spent most of the time since the war pretending to be farmers , and we had misunderstanding with out last employer," Kara responded.
Mal narrowed his eyes. "What kind of misunderstanding?"
Kara replied evenly, "He seemed to think that his pilots were his property as much as the ship was. I objected to that."
Mal realized he was starting to like this girl. "If I wave him, is he gonna give me a story about how you made off with any number of cash and valuables?"
Sam responded darkly. "He might have trouble with that. Apparently, he had a terrible accident after we left."
"But Bullard wouldn't have anything worth stealing even if we did pull that sort of thing," Kara added defensively.
Mal knew Bullard and figured the story was probably true. The girl was attractive, and he knew Bullard wasn't the type to care if she was married or even uninterested in him. Still, he felt these two might prove a little to good to be true. He wanted to be sure they were on the level before he hired them. He decided to push them a little. "I don't know. Bullard always seemed like a fair enough fellow to me, and I don't really need two pilots..." Mal trailed off, hoping their desperation might lead to a little more honesty.
"Look, we really need this. We thought you might understand. No one wants to go near former Browncoats unless it's to pick up scraps. We might as well have spent the war working in a brothel for all anyone cares about red squad. The guy who told us about this job said you fought with the Independents. We hoped you would respect what we did," Kara replied.
Mal thought on that for moment. He didn't really doubt that these two were lying about their flight skills, and it wasn't like the rest of the crew had completely unblemished pasts. He liked these two well enough, and truthfully, he knew he could never leave two fellow Browncoats behind. He looked back to River, trusting her instincts more than any kind of creds out there. When she simply smiled and nodded, he turned back to the two expectant pilots. "How about this: you can help us make this run to Boros, and if it doesn't work out, you can get off there."
They grinned. "Sure," Kara replied, before turning and stealing a kiss from her husband.
Jayne walked up right then and took a long, slow look at the newcomers, obviously sizing them up. Mal decided this would be a good time to start making introductions. "Jayne, this here is our new pilots, Kara Thrace and Sam Anders. Guys, this is Jayne. He's another member of our crew."
Jayne leered at Kara and shook her hand. "It's always nice to meet new people, especially if they're as easy on the eyes as you."
Sam moved out from behind Kara and shook Jayne's hand as well. "What are you, her bag boy?" Jayne sneered.
Sam just grinned and replied, "I'm her husband."
Jayne drew himself up to his full height and moved in just a little bit closer, but Sam stood his ground. Mal decided to intervene before Jayne decided to try pissing on him. "Why don't we go see the rest of the ship and crew?" he said, gesturing that they should step inside.
River floated over as they walked up the hatch door. Tilting her head slightly and
smiling in that way of hers, she said "I'm River. I'm the local albatross." It seemed like she knew all the secrets of the 'verse.
Kara smiled and looked slightly puzzled. Something passed over Sam's face that Mal didn't quite catch, but he smiled as well and said, "Nice to meet you," in a friendly enough manner.
Mal started to play tour guide. "This is the cargo hold. It's fairly self-explanatory." He walked over to the guest quarters and opened the door to an empty cabin. "You can put your stuff in there for now. We only got one open bunk in crew quarters right now."
Sam dropped the duffel, and Mal noticed a nasty scar on his neck. "This looks great," Kara said politely.
"We're a pretty small and informal crew," Mal continued, walking through the rec room to take the back stairs to the engine room. "You met Jayne and River already. Of course, we also have Zoe, the first mate, Simon the Doc, Kaylee our mechanic, and Inara who is currently a passenger." He rounded the corner and turned towards the engine room where he found a rather unexpected sight: Kaylee and Simon wrapped in each others arms, and decidedly unclothed. Mal felt the blood rush to his head. "Kaywinnet Leigh Frye, what in the Gorram hell did I tell you about doing this here?"
Kaylee and Simon both grabbed at whatever piece of clothing was nearest to them and scrambled to cover themselves. Simon stammered, "Ss-sorry Captain, we didn't hear you coming."
Mal was still severely annoyed. "Well, you shouldn't even be doing that here. You both have bunks. Use 'em!"
He then heard a snicker behind him and remembered why he was here. "Well, this isn't how I pictured doing this, but Kaylee and Simon, meet Kara and Sam, our new pilots."
"Hi," Kaylee chirped, not in the least bit embarrassed.
"Hello," Simon said shyly.
"Nice to meet you," Sam said, grinning.
"Yeah, its um, great," Kara said, clearly
trying not to laugh.
Mal led them out of the engine room and up into the kitchen, still shaking his head. "This is the kitchen. We all eat here at set meal times. We'll have dinner as soon as Inara and Zoe make it back with fresh supplies."
"And here we have the cockpit. I assume you'll want to familiarize yourself with this area pretty well soon enough. I have to wave someone about a job so why don't you go get settled in your bunk and I'll give you a shout when it's all settled," Mal said.
"Sure," Kara said, and she and Sam headed out.
Mal stood in the cockpit for a minute it felt like something was off about the place, before shaking off the feeling as superstitious and turning to the veiwscreen to wave Carrow.
--------------------------------------------------
Back in their quarters, Kara and Sam started to laugh about what they had seen in the engine room. "We might fit in here after all," Sam joked.
Kara opened their duffel and took out the idols, settling them on a nearby ledge. She smiled and turned to Sam.
"Remember the time Roslin found us back up in the woods on New Caprica?" She reached up and kissed him just thing were starting to get interesting they were interrupted.
"Hi," River said, sticking her head into their room. "I just wanted to tell you, you don't have to worry about your secret. Mal only thinks
he's mean."
River then left as quickly as she came, leaving the two pilots wondering precisely which secret she was talking about.
Chapter 2
Chapter 1
He had waited as long as he could, but Mal had decided it was time to find Serenity a new pilot. River was great, but she wasn't completely reliable, and he thought she would be more useful out on jobs than stuck back on the ship. He put out a few feelers with some friends and associates, borrowed Kaylee's barkerchair, parked himself just outside the cargo bay at the Eavesdown docks, and waited for a pilot to show up. River waited in the shadows. She was paying close attention, but she didn't want to be seen; even after Miranda, there was still a pretty high price on her head. Jayne leaned against the opening of the hatch, trimming his fingernails with a knife and menacing anyone who passed by. Mal wasn't sure if he was giving the wrong impression about the ship or the right one. Inara had gone to acquire a few supplies and Zoe had jumped at the chance to come with her. Shopping had never been her thing, but Mal understood that choosing her husband's replacement wasn't a duty she wanted to be part of. Simon and Kaylee seemed to be taking advantage of the privacy this opportunity offered, but Mal didn't really want to think on that so he turned his attention to the task at hand.
The first guy to show up was recommended by Badger. If that wasn't bad enough, he had shaky credentials. He certainly was not someone Mal would employ to scrub his floors let alone guide Serenity along her path. The next two were decent enough folks with good credentials but had such defects in the personality department that Mal couldn't see spending an hour with them let alone making them family. The fourth guy to show was actually an old colleague of Wash's, and Mal thought things were looking up until the slick, tall, dark man revealed he was only there to "see if that sweet assed wife of Hoban's needed some consoling".
After Mal had Jayne throw his ass halfway down the docks, he sighed and wondered if he might have better luck on Boros. It was then Mal saw them; he was tall, dark, and dark-haired. He was easily as big as Jayne. Mal noticed he wore an old, black, leather jacket with a even older pair of jeans, but it was the way he moved that caught Mal's notice. He was confident and had an ease about him even here, in what most would consider dangerous territory. He didn't stomp around challenging everything around him like Jayne did, but Mal suspected he wasn't someone to mess with. He only saw her once, they fully stepped out of the crowd. She swaggered and strode about like someone on a mission, tossing her shoulder length blond hair, calling back to him to hurry up. Her red t-shirt stood out as much as her battered khaki pants blended in. The man turned, and Mal noticed the large duffel strapped to his back. Mal realized they were heading his way and stood up, almost grinning. People who swaggered like that had to be pilots and good ones too, he'd bet.
She stopped dead in front of him and said "You the one looking for a pilot?"
"Yeah," Mal started.
"Good," the blond cut across him. "You want us, or at least you want me and get him as part of the bargain."
"Is that so?" Mal replied, raising his eyebrows, unsure if he was impressed or annoyed.
The man beside her seemed to pick up Mal's tone, stuck his hand out and smiled in a friendly manner. "I'm Sam Anders and this is my wife, Kara Thrace. We were hoping to join your crew," he said.
Mal shook the man's hand slowly, deciding. "I am still looking for a pilot, but I don't really need two, and I would like to some references and credentials before I decide who I want to employ."
The pair exchanged a look that Mal couldn't quite decode, and Kara spoke. "We don't have much in terms of official creds. but we were hoping the fact that we flew as part of Red squad with the independents might mean something to you."
Mal nodded and tried not give away the fact that, that info impressed the hell out of him. Red squad was the most elite wing of fighter pilots the Independents had. "And references?"
They exchanged another look, and this time, Mal understood it perfectly. They were desperate.
"We don't really have much of those either. We've spent most of the time since the war pretending to be farmers , and we had misunderstanding with out last employer," Kara responded.
Mal narrowed his eyes. "What kind of misunderstanding?"
Kara replied evenly, "He seemed to think that his pilots were his property as much as the ship was. I objected to that."
Mal realized he was starting to like this girl. "If I wave him, is he gonna give me a story about how you made off with any number of cash and valuables?"
Sam responded darkly. "He might have trouble with that. Apparently, he had a terrible accident after we left."
"But Bullard wouldn't have anything worth stealing even if we did pull that sort of thing," Kara added defensively.
Mal knew Bullard and figured the story was probably true. The girl was attractive, and he knew Bullard wasn't the type to care if she was married or even uninterested in him. Still, he felt these two might prove a little to good to be true. He wanted to be sure they were on the level before he hired them. He decided to push them a little. "I don't know. Bullard always seemed like a fair enough fellow to me, and I don't really need two pilots..." Mal trailed off, hoping their desperation might lead to a little more honesty.
"Look, we really need this. We thought you might understand. No one wants to go near former Browncoats unless it's to pick up scraps. We might as well have spent the war working in a brothel for all anyone cares about red squad. The guy who told us about this job said you fought with the Independents. We hoped you would respect what we did," Kara replied.
Mal thought on that for moment. He didn't really doubt that these two were lying about their flight skills, and it wasn't like the rest of the crew had completely unblemished pasts. He liked these two well enough, and truthfully, he knew he could never leave two fellow Browncoats behind. He looked back to River, trusting her instincts more than any kind of creds out there. When she simply smiled and nodded, he turned back to the two expectant pilots. "How about this: you can help us make this run to Boros, and if it doesn't work out, you can get off there."
They grinned. "Sure," Kara replied, before turning and stealing a kiss from her husband.
Jayne walked up right then and took a long, slow look at the newcomers, obviously sizing them up. Mal decided this would be a good time to start making introductions. "Jayne, this here is our new pilots, Kara Thrace and Sam Anders. Guys, this is Jayne. He's another member of our crew."
Jayne leered at Kara and shook her hand. "It's always nice to meet new people, especially if they're as easy on the eyes as you."
Sam moved out from behind Kara and shook Jayne's hand as well. "What are you, her bag boy?" Jayne sneered.
Sam just grinned and replied, "I'm her husband."
Jayne drew himself up to his full height and moved in just a little bit closer, but Sam stood his ground. Mal decided to intervene before Jayne decided to try pissing on him. "Why don't we go see the rest of the ship and crew?" he said, gesturing that they should step inside.
River floated over as they walked up the hatch door. Tilting her head slightly and
smiling in that way of hers, she said "I'm River. I'm the local albatross." It seemed like she knew all the secrets of the 'verse.
Kara smiled and looked slightly puzzled. Something passed over Sam's face that Mal didn't quite catch, but he smiled as well and said, "Nice to meet you," in a friendly enough manner.
Mal started to play tour guide. "This is the cargo hold. It's fairly self-explanatory." He walked over to the guest quarters and opened the door to an empty cabin. "You can put your stuff in there for now. We only got one open bunk in crew quarters right now."
Sam dropped the duffel, and Mal noticed a nasty scar on his neck. "This looks great," Kara said politely.
"We're a pretty small and informal crew," Mal continued, walking through the rec room to take the back stairs to the engine room. "You met Jayne and River already. Of course, we also have Zoe, the first mate, Simon the Doc, Kaylee our mechanic, and Inara who is currently a passenger." He rounded the corner and turned towards the engine room where he found a rather unexpected sight: Kaylee and Simon wrapped in each others arms, and decidedly unclothed. Mal felt the blood rush to his head. "Kaywinnet Leigh Frye, what in the Gorram hell did I tell you about doing this here?"
Kaylee and Simon both grabbed at whatever piece of clothing was nearest to them and scrambled to cover themselves. Simon stammered, "Ss-sorry Captain, we didn't hear you coming."
Mal was still severely annoyed. "Well, you shouldn't even be doing that here. You both have bunks. Use 'em!"
He then heard a snicker behind him and remembered why he was here. "Well, this isn't how I pictured doing this, but Kaylee and Simon, meet Kara and Sam, our new pilots."
"Hi," Kaylee chirped, not in the least bit embarrassed.
"Hello," Simon said shyly.
"Nice to meet you," Sam said, grinning.
"Yeah, its um, great," Kara said, clearly
trying not to laugh.
Mal led them out of the engine room and up into the kitchen, still shaking his head. "This is the kitchen. We all eat here at set meal times. We'll have dinner as soon as Inara and Zoe make it back with fresh supplies."
"And here we have the cockpit. I assume you'll want to familiarize yourself with this area pretty well soon enough. I have to wave someone about a job so why don't you go get settled in your bunk and I'll give you a shout when it's all settled," Mal said.
"Sure," Kara said, and she and Sam headed out.
Mal stood in the cockpit for a minute it felt like something was off about the place, before shaking off the feeling as superstitious and turning to the veiwscreen to wave Carrow.
--------------------------------------------------
Back in their quarters, Kara and Sam started to laugh about what they had seen in the engine room. "We might fit in here after all," Sam joked.
Kara opened their duffel and took out the idols, settling them on a nearby ledge. She smiled and turned to Sam.
"Remember the time Roslin found us back up in the woods on New Caprica?" She reached up and kissed him just thing were starting to get interesting they were interrupted.
"Hi," River said, sticking her head into their room. "I just wanted to tell you, you don't have to worry about your secret. Mal only thinks
he's mean."
River then left as quickly as she came, leaving the two pilots wondering precisely which secret she was talking about.
Chapter 2