Beyond Wonderland: Chapter 4
Title: Beyond Wonderland
Author: Solarbaby
Rating: T
Disclaimer: All I own is the plot.
Words: 1354
Summary: The past has a way of returning. Rasey.
Spoilers: Series finale for Jungle Fury and (set after) Serenity for Firefly.
Note: Happy New Year! This is my first new chapter for 2009. Also, if you want more back story to Beyond Wonderland check out the chapter ‘Found’ for my fic Casey in 50. There will also be another pre-Beyond Wonderland fic in Casey in 50 called ‘Stars’ so what out for it!
Translations: luhn gohn- in the doghouse
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
Chapter 4: Second Chances
Casey woke with a disgruntled snort and a face full of dark hair. “Plth,” he spat as he sat up. Looking to find the source of this hair, he found it curled up beside him on the bunk. It was all he could do to blink. “River?”
There was a deep mumbled sound in reply. A frown came to him as he realized it couldn’t have come from the girl. He peered over River and the edge of his bed to find a pile of blankets on the floor. It took him a couple moments of staring to realize something.
They were moving.
Leaning over a little farther to try and poke at the moving pile, Casey jerked back when he gained an annoyed sound from the tiger cub beside him. He looked down to see a pair of brown eyes staring up at him.
“Hi,” she whispered.
The tiger raised an eyebrow at her. “Now, I know you have your own bunk.”
River gave a stretch and yawn. “Was afraid you’d have that nightmare.” She glanced to the floor. “I’m not the only one.”
Casey followed her eyes to see that the pile had shifted and now there was head of brown hair shown. He rolled his eyes as he identified the person. River shifted to the side and let the tiger master scoot past her. Reaching out with his foot, he poked at the man sleeping on his floor. “Mal.” Poke. “Mal.” Poke shove. “Maaaalll.” Harder poke. Frustrated sigh. “Mal!” Small kick.
Serenity’s captain jerked awake with a start. “Wha-?”
“Morning,” River piped at him, grinning down at him.
“What she said.” Casey had to bite back a laugh as the captain blinked blearily up at them.
Malcolm Reynolds groaned as he pulled himself to his feet. But trying to move proved to be a bit more of a challenge when taking a step forward ended with him crashing to the floor. Snickering caught his attention and he glared at the two as he kicked the blankets away. “It’s not funny.”
“No,” The pilot laughed. “’Course not.”
River slid off of the bed. “Let’s get breakfast.” She grabbed onto Casey’s wrist and pulled him toward the exit before turning back to Mal, who was still standing there. “Coming?”
“Hum? Yeah.” He shook his head, trying to get rid of the cobwebs, and joined them. Mal popped open the door.
“Wait.” Casey was ignored as the girl started up the ladder, still clutching at the tiger’s wrist. “River. River.” Her pulling was more insistent. “River!”
The young psychic finally turned to look at him, a quizzical expression on her face. “But… breakfast. You like food.”
“Yes,” he agreed. “But I also like pants. How about you let me go put some on?”
River blushed as she realized that Casey was, in fact, only wearing an extremely faded red shirt and a pair of black boxers.
“Sorry.”
oOoOoOoOoOo
Breakfast went by as uneventful as it ever had. RJ’s presence at the table was non-existent, which was pretty much the result of no one going to tell him it was time to eat. The conversation was quiet, nothing above a whisper. Casey had the vague feeling like the rest of the crew was afraid they were going to spook him and cause him to run like a baby deer. Even Jayne was sending him weary looks now and again.
Still, it was enough for Casey to head for the cockpit at the first chance. He slid into his pilot’s seat with a sigh of relief, immensely glad for some time alone.
Staring out the glass, the tiger allowed himself to be lulled into meditative state. This was the true reason he loved the black. Space out on the rim was quiet and peaceful, while core space tended to be more noisy and bustling with activity. His conscious reached out into the dark and found nothing but silence.
“I’m glad you haven’t forgotten everything I taught you.”
Casey jerked around in his seat to find the wolf master standing in the door way. His eyes narrowed. “How did you get in here?”
RJ stepped into the cockpit quietly, not making even the slightest of sounds. “Getting past the crew wasn’t that hard. Most of them were sitting in the cargo bay. They didn’t even notice me come by.” He moved to vacant pilot chair on the other side of the room, spinning it around to face the tiger. “I thought we should talk.”
For a long moment the pilot didn’t say anything, just stared at the wolf with an inscrutable expression. RJ never wavered as he stared back. Finally, Casey nodded. “I doubt there’s anything I’m going to say to change your mind so…” Casey turned back to the console, intent on ignoring the man.
He ran a hand through his short hair with a sigh, the movements not even budging the carefully jelled strands. “How long have you been having the nightmares?”
Hands froze over the console. “They’ve been coming on and off for… a long time.” Casey’s voice was empty and controlled. One of his hands came up to play with the long sleeve of the maroon shirt. “Every once in a while it’ll get really bad, other times they’ll disappear for months on end.” He gave a shrug, sparing him a quick glance. “You get used to it.”
RJ shivered at the blank look in his mate’s eyes. “You shouldn’t have to.” He watched the tiger shrug again before pressing some of the buttons on the console. The cortex popped up on the screen in front of his mate.
Casey messed with a screen until a certain planet popped up. “You can’t change the past, RJ. No matter how much you want to.”
“I know,” RJ muttered. He got up from his chair and let his hand come up to rest on Casey’s arm as he knelt down beside him. “Just give me a chance, Case. Please. All I want is one chance to make it up to you.”
“I don’t know.” Casey turned to look at the wolf. He barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes as RJ perched his chin on the pilot’s arm, trying to look as pitiful as possible. As far as manipulation went it was weak and probably for more amusement purposes than anything.
“Please? I just want another try.” He blinked up at the tiger. “Or we can awkwardly avoid each other until the captain drops me off on New Melbourne.”
“I don’t know. I could probably talk Mal into dumping you off on some backwater planet if I tried hard enough.” There were traces of amusement in the tiger’s voice. “Fine,” he said, sighing.
“We still gotta two day ride to Whittier and then a little over a week until we reach New Melbourne. That gives you about a week and a half.”
“Thank you.” RJ moved forward and pressed a kiss to Casey’s cheek. “You won’t regret it, I promise. I’ll make it up to you.” He watched his mate eye him uncomfortable. “I guess I’ll just leave you alone now.” With that RJ turned and headed for the door, looking a great deal happier and more like the RJ that Casey had known than the Chancellor that he seemed to have become.
“Just remember,” Casey’s voice stopped RJ in his tracks and he turned from the doorway to look back at him, “for all intents and purposes you’re still luhn gohn.”
RJ just nodded, disappearing out the door as quietly as he came. Casey turned back to the cortex and frowned when he realized that they weren’t close enough to Whittier. To ma duh, they were still about a few hours too far out to send a wave. Sighing, he grabbed a databook from his pile on top of the console.
He had RJ on Serenity, apparently planning on getting Casey back. To what end, the tiger wasn’t sure. Plus, the nightmares were back and the doc’s meds weren’t going to hold them at bay for very long.
“And people wonder why I drank.”
Author: Solarbaby
Rating: T
Disclaimer: All I own is the plot.
Words: 1354
Summary: The past has a way of returning. Rasey.
Spoilers: Series finale for Jungle Fury and (set after) Serenity for Firefly.
Note: Happy New Year! This is my first new chapter for 2009. Also, if you want more back story to Beyond Wonderland check out the chapter ‘Found’ for my fic Casey in 50. There will also be another pre-Beyond Wonderland fic in Casey in 50 called ‘Stars’ so what out for it!
Translations: luhn gohn- in the doghouse
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
Chapter 4: Second Chances
Casey woke with a disgruntled snort and a face full of dark hair. “Plth,” he spat as he sat up. Looking to find the source of this hair, he found it curled up beside him on the bunk. It was all he could do to blink. “River?”
There was a deep mumbled sound in reply. A frown came to him as he realized it couldn’t have come from the girl. He peered over River and the edge of his bed to find a pile of blankets on the floor. It took him a couple moments of staring to realize something.
They were moving.
Leaning over a little farther to try and poke at the moving pile, Casey jerked back when he gained an annoyed sound from the tiger cub beside him. He looked down to see a pair of brown eyes staring up at him.
“Hi,” she whispered.
The tiger raised an eyebrow at her. “Now, I know you have your own bunk.”
River gave a stretch and yawn. “Was afraid you’d have that nightmare.” She glanced to the floor. “I’m not the only one.”
Casey followed her eyes to see that the pile had shifted and now there was head of brown hair shown. He rolled his eyes as he identified the person. River shifted to the side and let the tiger master scoot past her. Reaching out with his foot, he poked at the man sleeping on his floor. “Mal.” Poke. “Mal.” Poke shove. “Maaaalll.” Harder poke. Frustrated sigh. “Mal!” Small kick.
Serenity’s captain jerked awake with a start. “Wha-?”
“Morning,” River piped at him, grinning down at him.
“What she said.” Casey had to bite back a laugh as the captain blinked blearily up at them.
Malcolm Reynolds groaned as he pulled himself to his feet. But trying to move proved to be a bit more of a challenge when taking a step forward ended with him crashing to the floor. Snickering caught his attention and he glared at the two as he kicked the blankets away. “It’s not funny.”
“No,” The pilot laughed. “’Course not.”
River slid off of the bed. “Let’s get breakfast.” She grabbed onto Casey’s wrist and pulled him toward the exit before turning back to Mal, who was still standing there. “Coming?”
“Hum? Yeah.” He shook his head, trying to get rid of the cobwebs, and joined them. Mal popped open the door.
“Wait.” Casey was ignored as the girl started up the ladder, still clutching at the tiger’s wrist. “River. River.” Her pulling was more insistent. “River!”
The young psychic finally turned to look at him, a quizzical expression on her face. “But… breakfast. You like food.”
“Yes,” he agreed. “But I also like pants. How about you let me go put some on?”
River blushed as she realized that Casey was, in fact, only wearing an extremely faded red shirt and a pair of black boxers.
“Sorry.”
oOoOoOoOoOo
Breakfast went by as uneventful as it ever had. RJ’s presence at the table was non-existent, which was pretty much the result of no one going to tell him it was time to eat. The conversation was quiet, nothing above a whisper. Casey had the vague feeling like the rest of the crew was afraid they were going to spook him and cause him to run like a baby deer. Even Jayne was sending him weary looks now and again.
Still, it was enough for Casey to head for the cockpit at the first chance. He slid into his pilot’s seat with a sigh of relief, immensely glad for some time alone.
Staring out the glass, the tiger allowed himself to be lulled into meditative state. This was the true reason he loved the black. Space out on the rim was quiet and peaceful, while core space tended to be more noisy and bustling with activity. His conscious reached out into the dark and found nothing but silence.
“I’m glad you haven’t forgotten everything I taught you.”
Casey jerked around in his seat to find the wolf master standing in the door way. His eyes narrowed. “How did you get in here?”
RJ stepped into the cockpit quietly, not making even the slightest of sounds. “Getting past the crew wasn’t that hard. Most of them were sitting in the cargo bay. They didn’t even notice me come by.” He moved to vacant pilot chair on the other side of the room, spinning it around to face the tiger. “I thought we should talk.”
For a long moment the pilot didn’t say anything, just stared at the wolf with an inscrutable expression. RJ never wavered as he stared back. Finally, Casey nodded. “I doubt there’s anything I’m going to say to change your mind so…” Casey turned back to the console, intent on ignoring the man.
He ran a hand through his short hair with a sigh, the movements not even budging the carefully jelled strands. “How long have you been having the nightmares?”
Hands froze over the console. “They’ve been coming on and off for… a long time.” Casey’s voice was empty and controlled. One of his hands came up to play with the long sleeve of the maroon shirt. “Every once in a while it’ll get really bad, other times they’ll disappear for months on end.” He gave a shrug, sparing him a quick glance. “You get used to it.”
RJ shivered at the blank look in his mate’s eyes. “You shouldn’t have to.” He watched the tiger shrug again before pressing some of the buttons on the console. The cortex popped up on the screen in front of his mate.
Casey messed with a screen until a certain planet popped up. “You can’t change the past, RJ. No matter how much you want to.”
“I know,” RJ muttered. He got up from his chair and let his hand come up to rest on Casey’s arm as he knelt down beside him. “Just give me a chance, Case. Please. All I want is one chance to make it up to you.”
“I don’t know.” Casey turned to look at the wolf. He barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes as RJ perched his chin on the pilot’s arm, trying to look as pitiful as possible. As far as manipulation went it was weak and probably for more amusement purposes than anything.
“Please? I just want another try.” He blinked up at the tiger. “Or we can awkwardly avoid each other until the captain drops me off on New Melbourne.”
“I don’t know. I could probably talk Mal into dumping you off on some backwater planet if I tried hard enough.” There were traces of amusement in the tiger’s voice. “Fine,” he said, sighing.
“We still gotta two day ride to Whittier and then a little over a week until we reach New Melbourne. That gives you about a week and a half.”
“Thank you.” RJ moved forward and pressed a kiss to Casey’s cheek. “You won’t regret it, I promise. I’ll make it up to you.” He watched his mate eye him uncomfortable. “I guess I’ll just leave you alone now.” With that RJ turned and headed for the door, looking a great deal happier and more like the RJ that Casey had known than the Chancellor that he seemed to have become.
“Just remember,” Casey’s voice stopped RJ in his tracks and he turned from the doorway to look back at him, “for all intents and purposes you’re still luhn gohn.”
RJ just nodded, disappearing out the door as quietly as he came. Casey turned back to the cortex and frowned when he realized that they weren’t close enough to Whittier. To ma duh, they were still about a few hours too far out to send a wave. Sighing, he grabbed a databook from his pile on top of the console.
He had RJ on Serenity, apparently planning on getting Casey back. To what end, the tiger wasn’t sure. Plus, the nightmares were back and the doc’s meds weren’t going to hold them at bay for very long.
“And people wonder why I drank.”