Since I found Serenity (3/8) - Immortal!Dean - SPN/FF/HL/SV
Title: Since I found Serenity (3/8)
Author: strangevisitor7
Beta: Pen37
Rated: PG
Prompt: #26 Teammates for crossovers100 my table is here
Fandom: Firefly, Highlander, SPN & SV The rest of the Immortal!Dean Universe can be found here.
Characters: From FF: Mal, Zoe, Wash, River, Jayne, Simon, Inara, Kaylee. From I!D 'Verse: Dean Winchester, Duncan MacLeod, Richie Ryan, Chloe Sullivan and Sam Winchester with a special cameo appearance by Methos later on.
Spoilers: The story begins in the middle of the Firefly Movie "Serenity". You will be spoiled if you haven't seen it.
Disclaimer: The characters you know and love all belong to their respective creators.
Summary: The crew of Serenity is in the middle of helping River, exposing the Alliance and evading the Reavers when they encounter a survivor on Miranda.
Chapter Summary: The action switches to Duncan and company. They are asked to take on a new hunt by the Hunter/Watcher council
A/N: This story takes place ~ 6 years after chapter 5 of 5 Times Immortal!Dean met Meta!Chloe.
A/N2: Joseph Winchester is one of Sam's many descendants that Dean has kept track of through the centuries.
Chapter List:
Chapter 1; Chapter 2; Chapter 3; Chapter 4; Chapter 5; Chapter 6; Chapter 7; Chapter 8
Chapter 3: Since I found Serenity
Duncan threw open the double doors to the conference room, his brown duster flapping behind him from the force of his entry. He was flanked by Dean, Richie and Chloe in a show of solidarity and strength against the Watcher's Council. The four of them wore stony expressions as they came to stand in front of the four men seated on the opposite side of the large mahogany conference table.
With its warm wood paneling and soft plushy furnishings, the conference room at Watcher’s headquarters seemed to be designed to put visitors at ease. But the designer had obviously not taken into account that most hunters lived rather modestly. So instead of putting them at ease, the rich, cushy furnishings only served to highlight the vast gulf between those who Watched and those who Hunted.
The Watchers were dressed in identical black suits; the kind favored by the people of the Alliance. This was in stark contrast to the casual shirts, brown pants and dusters worn by Duncan, Richie and Dean. Chloe favored long skirts and knee high boots. They looked like they’d stepped out of a painting from the old west, minus the cowboy hats; as if they had just ridden in from some small border town, mud still on their boots. They were obviously not intimidated by the power of the Hunter/Watcher's Council and refused to dress to impress.
“We don’t take kindly to being summoned, Joseph.” Duncan growled at the man who’d risen to greet them as they’d entered. They’d finished a horrific hunt a few days ago; the ghost of slaughtered children haunting one of the settlements on a nearby moon. It was never easy dealing with those tortured souls but having to burn the bodies of children hadn’t sat well with any one. That coupled with the summons from Joseph had put them all in a decidedly uncivilized mood.
“Well, that’s quite an entrance, Duncan,” observed the head of the council, Joseph Winchester. Joseph carried the classic Winchester traits of height and broad shoulders. His penchant for wearing a beard in an age of clean shaven officials had once caused Dean to remark on Joseph's likeness to John Winchester; that is if John had had a decent haircut and a well tailored suit.
Duncan ignored the remark. “Your lackeys were most insistent with their invitation. Why are we here?” he demanded.
“My sincerest apologies for the rudeness of the request but there was no time for niceties.”
Dean snickered. “You know, Duncan, I’m never gonna get used to my relatives sitting in the seat of power in the midst of Alliance country.”
“I’m sorry, Uncle Dean, but we did what we had to, to insure the survival of this institution.” Joseph said.
As Joseph spoke, Richie leaned over to Chloe and whispered, “Here we go again.”
Chloe shook her head and replied quietly, “Duncan may not be in the mood to let Dean mess with the council today.”
“Then I guess it’s my turn,” he quipped.
Dean was about to retort when Duncan placed a hand on his chest to silence him. Almost every hunter and Immortal had sided with the Browncoats during the war, but the council had chosen self preservation over the moral high ground. In the end, they had been right to stay on the government’s good side. The Alliance allowed the Historical Preservation Society, better known as the Hunter/Watcher’s council, to exist because they saw it as a useful organization dedicated to preserving historical records. Records which the Alliance believed it controlled.
Duncan sighed. As much as he loathed bowing to the whim of the council, they were the information network every hunter, including him, relied on.
“Since we’re not here to debate politics, why don't you tell us why we are here.” Duncan knew that the council had summoned them to 'request' that they take on a job. And in the end, they’d probably take it. But that didn’t mean he had to be pleasant about it or even respectful. He knew his friends wouldn’t be either.
“Of course. You remember my associates,” Joseph said indicating the three stoic men seated at the table.
“Sure,” Dean replied with a mock salute. “Larry, Moe and Curly. Always great to see you guys.” Beside him, Chloe and Richie snickered. They’d met the men before but since Dean had dubbed them Joseph’s stooges, that’s how they’d always thought of the other three men who occupied the high council seats.
Joseph cleared his throat, ignored the barb and returned to the matter at hand. “I wouldn’t call you if it wasn’t important. I assure you. But we’ve uncovered some disturbing information that requires the special talents of your team.”
“Hey, we’re a team with special talents. Do we have uniforms and a cool name like ‘Immortals R Us’?” Richie laughed. Then he looked sideways at Chloe and asked “You still have your uniform from your JLA days don’t you?”
“Richie, a lady doesn’t like to be reminded of her age. Especially when she passes 500.” Chloe grinned. As far as they knew, Chloe was the only human who was immortal without being an Immortal. Her advanced age was due to a fluke of genetic mutation stemming from her upbringing in Smallville, Kansas.
Her Meta based immortality was a loosely guarded secret amongst her adopted Immortal family. And if the council made the assumption that she was just a regular Immortal, so what?
“You do, don’t you?” Richie pushed.
Chloe laughed. “No comment.”
Dean caught Richie’s eye and nodded. Mouthing Yeah, she does.
Richie hooted loudly and Chloe smacked Dean on the shoulder. “And you will never see it again.”
“Way to be subtle Rich.” Dean hissed at him before he turned to Chloe pleading, “Chloe, baby...”
“Don’t call me baby!” She tried to glare at him but kept remembering the last time she’d pulled the old leathers out of storage. It actually wasn’t her original costume but as a present she’d had it recreated for Dean because he’d begged. That had been a fun night.
Joseph struggled to interrupt the playful exchange. “As I was saying...”
“You need us. Yeah, we know. What ever it is, we’ll kill it.” Dean waved a hand dismissively in Joseph’s direction. “I’m a little busy here.” Indicating he was trying to make nice with Chloe.
“Gou huang tang,” Duncan snapped at his companions and they all trailed into silence. He winked at Chloe. The playful aside had accomplished just what they'd intended it to; throw the council off-balance and remind the suits who was really in charge of this meeting. When he was sure they were paying attention he continued, “Joseph?”
Chloe, Dean and Richie exchanged silent snickers. They had been hunting too long to have patience with the council’s formal ways and hated being treated like hired guns. While they all took their jobs very seriously, they also took great pleasure in yanking the chains of the boys in the monkey suits.
“Uncle Dean, please,” Joseph appealed to his distant relative. “I know that you still think of me your little nephew, but I think I’ve earned a modicum of respect, and if not me, then at least my position…” Joseph’s speech was interrupted by Dean’s laughter.
“Oh Joey. You know I like you, but please don’t play the family card. In this room, we are the Hunters and you are the Watchers. You want to catch up then let’s grab a beer later. You know how I feel about this institution so don’t expect me to come in here all contrite and submissive just because we’re family.”
“You may have a point but you still need to take all of this more seriously” Joseph demanded.
Dean slammed a fist down on the table making the water glasses shake. “Don’t you ever doubt our commitment to what we do. Ever.” Dean growled. “As family, you should know better.”
Joseph nodded slowly. “My apologies. You’re right of course. I spoke out of turn. Please take your seats and let me explain. The seriousness of the situation has us all on edge.”
The four exchanged glances waiting for Duncan’s response. When he moved to take a seat the others followed. Duncan was the undisputed leader of their group. Considering that he had mentored Dean and Richie into their Immortal rebirth it only made sense that even after all this time they still deferred to him. And while Chloe was a free agent, she had the sense to defer to someone with more age and experience in hunting.
Throughout the 500 years they’d known Chloe, she’d had an on-again-off-again relationship with Dean. It was very much on again since she’d bumped into them at the end of the battle for Serenity Valley. Duncan was very glad to have her back with them. Not only for her technical expertise but also because Dean was simply a happier guy when Chloe was around.
Richie sat in the chair to Duncan's left. In a dramatic gesture, Dean plopped down into the chair on Duncan’s right and propped his booted feet onto the table. Joseph grimaced as Dean’s boots hit the table and flaked the dust of the road onto the shiny mahogany surface.
Chloe sat next to him and rolled her eyes at his display. He snickered. Dean felt Joey needed to be reminded again just who was the patriarch in the Winchester family.
“Well?” Duncan asked.
“You’re familiar with the Miranda incident from six months ago?” Joseph began.
The four nodded. “Sure,” Chloe responded. She was the one who handled the research and this type of Q&A was her bailiwick. “The Alliance may deny it but their PAX experiments killed those people on Miranda and created the Reavers.”
“That much at least appears true, but we’ve come into some Intel recently about the Miranda Incident that makes it our business.” Joseph leaned over to whisper to the suit they had dubbed Larry, who flicked a switch and brought up some images on the screen to their left.
“We received these images from one of our operatives in the region.”
Dean was on his feet in an instant and walked over to examine the projection. “Is that what I think it is?” He asked.
“It’s a devil’s trap,” Duncan answered before Joseph could reply. “Where was this image taken?”
“That planet was where the information about Miranda was transmitted to the rest of the ‘verse.”
“That was Mr. Universe’s center of operations before the Alliance killed him,” Chloe said sadly. When you did as much illegal hacking as Chloe did, you met up with all the big names in the network. She had considered Mr. Universe an odd sort of friend even though she’d never actually met him. “But it wasn’t him who sent the signal. No one seems to know who did.”
“You’re right, Chloe,” Joseph replied. “He wasn’t the one who sent the signal. We also finally have some idea who did.”
“Wait a minute,” Dean interrupted. “Why would they draw the trap? And why in that hallway?”
“From what we could uncover that location was where the people who pirated the transmission made their stand against the Reavers.” Joseph paused, waiting for the implication of his statement to sink in.
Duncan leaned forward to rest his elbows on the table. “Are you saying that those people thought that Reavers were demons?”
Joseph nodded slowly. “They’re not in our hunter network and therefore shouldn’t have had this type of knowledge,” he said gesturing to the trap.
“Reavers are just sick bastards infected by chemicals and your mystery team could simply be superstitious. That doesn’t make Reavers demons,” Duncan said.
“I gotta agree with Duncan,” Dean said. “They probably thought the symbols were some kind of good luck against their attackers.”
“I don’t think so guys,” Richie said as he stood to examine the image more carefully. “Doesn't this seem too perfect? I mean, if someone was painting this because they were superstitious, shouldn't it be kind of wrong or incomplete?”
“Richie's right,” Chloe said. “That drawing is perfect. Like the person who made it learned it right out of the Key of Solomon. If it was made by someone who heard it from a story passed through the generations, they maybe might have gotten the pentagram right, but they wouldn't have known to include all the correct sigils.”
Feeling empowered now that the main researcher of their group had backed up his theory, Richie continued. “Exactly. This was drawn by someone who was familiar with its power and knew there could be no mistakes in its execution.”
“So you think, maybe a hunter not in the network?” Dean asked
“That’s the only thing that makes sense.” Duncan responded and looked to Joseph for confirmation. “Did they survive the Reaver attack? Can we talk to them?”
He nodded. “As far as we know they all lived. We do suspect there may be an unregistared hunter among their crew and we have reason to believe that there may be a new Immortal with them, too.”
That got their attention. “A new Immortal? There hasn’t been a new one of us in decades,” Duncan said. “How can you be sure without one of our kind to confirm?”
Joseph gestured to Larry again and the picture shifted to show a grainy image of a red headed man with a spike through his chest. It changed again to show the same man up walking around.
“That doesn’t necessarily mean he’s Immortal. How did you get such detailed pictures?” Duncan asked.
“We have agents who were part of Mr. Universe’s information network. Most of the surveillance equipment was destroyed during the battle, but with a little time and effort we have been able to a pull few images. Unfortunately in addition to the physical damage much of the data appears to have been wiped by electrical interference.”
“Well that might be your evidence for demons. They tend to wreak havoc with electrical equipment,” Chloe said. “Can I get the raw data? I might be able to get more information from the logs.”
“Of course.” Joseph nodded at Moe who produced a data disk and walked around the table to hand it to her.
“Do you guys believe that Reavers could be demons?” Richie asked. "And what about the PAX? I thought that created the Reavers."
“Only one way to know for sure,” Dean smirked. “Time to go Reaver hunting.”
“I’m in,” Richie said matching Dean’s enthusiasm.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, boys,” Chloe said as she slipped the disk in to the pocket of her coat. “Have you been able to capture a Reaver to test you theory?
“No,” Joseph replied ruefully. “And we lost a couple of good hunters trying. That’s why we believe that this requires the attention of Immortals.”
Duncan huffed and leaned back in his chair. “Can’t say I like the idea of going after Reavers, but you’ve got a point.” Duncan pointed to the picture of the Immortal. “But if this guy is one of us then he needs our help first. Any idea who he is or where to find him?”
“We don’t know his name, but we do know the name of his ship,” Joseph said. The image changed again to show a battered firefly class vessel with the moniker, Serenity, painted on the side. “We know the crew spent sometime rebuilding their ship on the planet. Unfortunately, by the time we pieced this all together they were gone.”
“Captain’s got good taste in names,” Dean remarked. “Must have been there.”
“Before we get into more details is there anything else about this you expect from us?” Duncan asked.
“This is a very complicated situation, Duncan. Your Mission should you choose to accept it would be to find out who our mysterious hunter is, if our friend there is an Immortal and why this crew believes that Reavers are demons,” Joseph explained. “We expect you to report your findings back to the council.”
“Where’s the tape about to go poof?” Dean laughed.
Joseph looked at him confusion clouding his face. “I don’t understand.”
“You know Mission:Impossible…Your mission should you choose to accept it…Which was a stupid question ‘cause they always accepted it…” Dean sputtered into silence as the stooges just stared at him. “Geez, no appreciation for 20th century pop culture,” Dean groused. He could hear Chloe snickering beside him.
“Oh Dean, you really need to update your references.”
“I was being funny. Rich, help me out here. It was funny right?”
Richie just shook his head. “I’m gonna have to go with Chloe. The reference, not funny, but you, very funny.”
“Not what I meant,” Dean said sullenly. “Sometimes I really hate the future,” he sighed.
“Zao gao,” Joseph said between clenched teeth. “Would it be possible for me to finish at least one sentence without interruption?”
Duncan laughed. He knew that Dean was enjoying Joseph’s discomfort, but it was time to wrap this up. “Guys we’re almost done. Let’s rein it in until we get back to the ship.”
His companions nodded and Duncan waved a hand for Joseph to continue.
“Where was I? Ah yes, the Captain’s name is Mal Reynolds and…”
“Mal Reynolds, really?” Richie interrupted.
“Richie, please.” Joseph begged.
“No, this is important. I served with him during the war; when I was assigned to the 57th Overlanders. Remember?”
“I thought that named sounded familiar,” Dean mused. “He was the big shot of the Balls and Bayonets brigade during the battle. That was a hell of a slaughter he survived.”
Serenity was supposed to have been the big turning point to legitimize the Browncoats political position; instead it was demoralizing defeat that spelled the end for the revolution.
“Yeah, it was,” Richie said quietly. The only good thing to have come out of Serenity had been their reunion with Chloe. Even when you can’t die that doesn’t mean war ain’t hell. “After we were cut off by the Alliance, he managed to get the survivors of our unit off the planet and to safety.”
“That’s what our investigation showed,” Joseph said. “Your connection to Captain Reynolds should help you to determine what’s going on with his crew.” Joseph rose to indicate that the meeting was over “Maybe it would be best if you reviewed the rest of our research on your own time. Everything is on the disk that Chloe has.”
“Had enough of us, Joseph?” she laughed.
He smiled in return. “Never enough of you, Chloe. But truthfully there isn’t much more to tell you. Understand, we feel this is the portent of a possible resurgence of demon activity the likes we haven’t seen since Earth-that-was.”
“You don’t have to be so dramatic, Joseph, you knew we’d take the job the minute we showed up,” Duncan said. “I’m sure this Reaver business is simply a new legend that’s grown out of the tragedy of Miranda.”
“I hope you’re right, Duncan.” Joseph circled the table to shake Duncan’s hand in farewell.
“You’ll be hearing from us,” Duncan acknowledged.
Joseph moved on to Richie and Chloe; finally coming to stand in front of Dean
Dean gave an elaborate salute, “See ya, nephew.”
“Goodbye, Uncle Dean.”
The four exit in a flourish and the door slammed shut behind them.
"Are they always like that? So frustrating?” asked Larry.
Joseph sighed and collapsed back into his chair. “Yes, but don’t let their casual demeanor fool you. They are a deadly group. If we are facing some kind of demon apocalypse, I wouldn’t want any one else on our side.”
************************
Firefly Slang
Damn it: Zao gao
Enough of this nonsense: Gou huang tang
Author: strangevisitor7
Beta: Pen37
Rated: PG
Prompt: #26 Teammates for crossovers100 my table is here
Fandom: Firefly, Highlander, SPN & SV The rest of the Immortal!Dean Universe can be found here.
Characters: From FF: Mal, Zoe, Wash, River, Jayne, Simon, Inara, Kaylee. From I!D 'Verse: Dean Winchester, Duncan MacLeod, Richie Ryan, Chloe Sullivan and Sam Winchester with a special cameo appearance by Methos later on.
Spoilers: The story begins in the middle of the Firefly Movie "Serenity". You will be spoiled if you haven't seen it.
Disclaimer: The characters you know and love all belong to their respective creators.
Summary: The crew of Serenity is in the middle of helping River, exposing the Alliance and evading the Reavers when they encounter a survivor on Miranda.
Chapter Summary: The action switches to Duncan and company. They are asked to take on a new hunt by the Hunter/Watcher council
A/N: This story takes place ~ 6 years after chapter 5 of 5 Times Immortal!Dean met Meta!Chloe.
A/N2: Joseph Winchester is one of Sam's many descendants that Dean has kept track of through the centuries.
Chapter List:
Chapter 1; Chapter 2; Chapter 3; Chapter 4; Chapter 5; Chapter 6; Chapter 7; Chapter 8
Chapter 3: Since I found Serenity
Duncan threw open the double doors to the conference room, his brown duster flapping behind him from the force of his entry. He was flanked by Dean, Richie and Chloe in a show of solidarity and strength against the Watcher's Council. The four of them wore stony expressions as they came to stand in front of the four men seated on the opposite side of the large mahogany conference table.
With its warm wood paneling and soft plushy furnishings, the conference room at Watcher’s headquarters seemed to be designed to put visitors at ease. But the designer had obviously not taken into account that most hunters lived rather modestly. So instead of putting them at ease, the rich, cushy furnishings only served to highlight the vast gulf between those who Watched and those who Hunted.
The Watchers were dressed in identical black suits; the kind favored by the people of the Alliance. This was in stark contrast to the casual shirts, brown pants and dusters worn by Duncan, Richie and Dean. Chloe favored long skirts and knee high boots. They looked like they’d stepped out of a painting from the old west, minus the cowboy hats; as if they had just ridden in from some small border town, mud still on their boots. They were obviously not intimidated by the power of the Hunter/Watcher's Council and refused to dress to impress.
“We don’t take kindly to being summoned, Joseph.” Duncan growled at the man who’d risen to greet them as they’d entered. They’d finished a horrific hunt a few days ago; the ghost of slaughtered children haunting one of the settlements on a nearby moon. It was never easy dealing with those tortured souls but having to burn the bodies of children hadn’t sat well with any one. That coupled with the summons from Joseph had put them all in a decidedly uncivilized mood.
“Well, that’s quite an entrance, Duncan,” observed the head of the council, Joseph Winchester. Joseph carried the classic Winchester traits of height and broad shoulders. His penchant for wearing a beard in an age of clean shaven officials had once caused Dean to remark on Joseph's likeness to John Winchester; that is if John had had a decent haircut and a well tailored suit.
Duncan ignored the remark. “Your lackeys were most insistent with their invitation. Why are we here?” he demanded.
“My sincerest apologies for the rudeness of the request but there was no time for niceties.”
Dean snickered. “You know, Duncan, I’m never gonna get used to my relatives sitting in the seat of power in the midst of Alliance country.”
“I’m sorry, Uncle Dean, but we did what we had to, to insure the survival of this institution.” Joseph said.
As Joseph spoke, Richie leaned over to Chloe and whispered, “Here we go again.”
Chloe shook her head and replied quietly, “Duncan may not be in the mood to let Dean mess with the council today.”
“Then I guess it’s my turn,” he quipped.
Dean was about to retort when Duncan placed a hand on his chest to silence him. Almost every hunter and Immortal had sided with the Browncoats during the war, but the council had chosen self preservation over the moral high ground. In the end, they had been right to stay on the government’s good side. The Alliance allowed the Historical Preservation Society, better known as the Hunter/Watcher’s council, to exist because they saw it as a useful organization dedicated to preserving historical records. Records which the Alliance believed it controlled.
Duncan sighed. As much as he loathed bowing to the whim of the council, they were the information network every hunter, including him, relied on.
“Since we’re not here to debate politics, why don't you tell us why we are here.” Duncan knew that the council had summoned them to 'request' that they take on a job. And in the end, they’d probably take it. But that didn’t mean he had to be pleasant about it or even respectful. He knew his friends wouldn’t be either.
“Of course. You remember my associates,” Joseph said indicating the three stoic men seated at the table.
“Sure,” Dean replied with a mock salute. “Larry, Moe and Curly. Always great to see you guys.” Beside him, Chloe and Richie snickered. They’d met the men before but since Dean had dubbed them Joseph’s stooges, that’s how they’d always thought of the other three men who occupied the high council seats.
Joseph cleared his throat, ignored the barb and returned to the matter at hand. “I wouldn’t call you if it wasn’t important. I assure you. But we’ve uncovered some disturbing information that requires the special talents of your team.”
“Hey, we’re a team with special talents. Do we have uniforms and a cool name like ‘Immortals R Us’?” Richie laughed. Then he looked sideways at Chloe and asked “You still have your uniform from your JLA days don’t you?”
“Richie, a lady doesn’t like to be reminded of her age. Especially when she passes 500.” Chloe grinned. As far as they knew, Chloe was the only human who was immortal without being an Immortal. Her advanced age was due to a fluke of genetic mutation stemming from her upbringing in Smallville, Kansas.
Her Meta based immortality was a loosely guarded secret amongst her adopted Immortal family. And if the council made the assumption that she was just a regular Immortal, so what?
“You do, don’t you?” Richie pushed.
Chloe laughed. “No comment.”
Dean caught Richie’s eye and nodded. Mouthing Yeah, she does.
Richie hooted loudly and Chloe smacked Dean on the shoulder. “And you will never see it again.”
“Way to be subtle Rich.” Dean hissed at him before he turned to Chloe pleading, “Chloe, baby...”
“Don’t call me baby!” She tried to glare at him but kept remembering the last time she’d pulled the old leathers out of storage. It actually wasn’t her original costume but as a present she’d had it recreated for Dean because he’d begged. That had been a fun night.
Joseph struggled to interrupt the playful exchange. “As I was saying...”
“You need us. Yeah, we know. What ever it is, we’ll kill it.” Dean waved a hand dismissively in Joseph’s direction. “I’m a little busy here.” Indicating he was trying to make nice with Chloe.
“Gou huang tang,” Duncan snapped at his companions and they all trailed into silence. He winked at Chloe. The playful aside had accomplished just what they'd intended it to; throw the council off-balance and remind the suits who was really in charge of this meeting. When he was sure they were paying attention he continued, “Joseph?”
Chloe, Dean and Richie exchanged silent snickers. They had been hunting too long to have patience with the council’s formal ways and hated being treated like hired guns. While they all took their jobs very seriously, they also took great pleasure in yanking the chains of the boys in the monkey suits.
“Uncle Dean, please,” Joseph appealed to his distant relative. “I know that you still think of me your little nephew, but I think I’ve earned a modicum of respect, and if not me, then at least my position…” Joseph’s speech was interrupted by Dean’s laughter.
“Oh Joey. You know I like you, but please don’t play the family card. In this room, we are the Hunters and you are the Watchers. You want to catch up then let’s grab a beer later. You know how I feel about this institution so don’t expect me to come in here all contrite and submissive just because we’re family.”
“You may have a point but you still need to take all of this more seriously” Joseph demanded.
Dean slammed a fist down on the table making the water glasses shake. “Don’t you ever doubt our commitment to what we do. Ever.” Dean growled. “As family, you should know better.”
Joseph nodded slowly. “My apologies. You’re right of course. I spoke out of turn. Please take your seats and let me explain. The seriousness of the situation has us all on edge.”
The four exchanged glances waiting for Duncan’s response. When he moved to take a seat the others followed. Duncan was the undisputed leader of their group. Considering that he had mentored Dean and Richie into their Immortal rebirth it only made sense that even after all this time they still deferred to him. And while Chloe was a free agent, she had the sense to defer to someone with more age and experience in hunting.
Throughout the 500 years they’d known Chloe, she’d had an on-again-off-again relationship with Dean. It was very much on again since she’d bumped into them at the end of the battle for Serenity Valley. Duncan was very glad to have her back with them. Not only for her technical expertise but also because Dean was simply a happier guy when Chloe was around.
Richie sat in the chair to Duncan's left. In a dramatic gesture, Dean plopped down into the chair on Duncan’s right and propped his booted feet onto the table. Joseph grimaced as Dean’s boots hit the table and flaked the dust of the road onto the shiny mahogany surface.
Chloe sat next to him and rolled her eyes at his display. He snickered. Dean felt Joey needed to be reminded again just who was the patriarch in the Winchester family.
“Well?” Duncan asked.
“You’re familiar with the Miranda incident from six months ago?” Joseph began.
The four nodded. “Sure,” Chloe responded. She was the one who handled the research and this type of Q&A was her bailiwick. “The Alliance may deny it but their PAX experiments killed those people on Miranda and created the Reavers.”
“That much at least appears true, but we’ve come into some Intel recently about the Miranda Incident that makes it our business.” Joseph leaned over to whisper to the suit they had dubbed Larry, who flicked a switch and brought up some images on the screen to their left.
“We received these images from one of our operatives in the region.”
Dean was on his feet in an instant and walked over to examine the projection. “Is that what I think it is?” He asked.
“It’s a devil’s trap,” Duncan answered before Joseph could reply. “Where was this image taken?”
“That planet was where the information about Miranda was transmitted to the rest of the ‘verse.”
“That was Mr. Universe’s center of operations before the Alliance killed him,” Chloe said sadly. When you did as much illegal hacking as Chloe did, you met up with all the big names in the network. She had considered Mr. Universe an odd sort of friend even though she’d never actually met him. “But it wasn’t him who sent the signal. No one seems to know who did.”
“You’re right, Chloe,” Joseph replied. “He wasn’t the one who sent the signal. We also finally have some idea who did.”
“Wait a minute,” Dean interrupted. “Why would they draw the trap? And why in that hallway?”
“From what we could uncover that location was where the people who pirated the transmission made their stand against the Reavers.” Joseph paused, waiting for the implication of his statement to sink in.
Duncan leaned forward to rest his elbows on the table. “Are you saying that those people thought that Reavers were demons?”
Joseph nodded slowly. “They’re not in our hunter network and therefore shouldn’t have had this type of knowledge,” he said gesturing to the trap.
“Reavers are just sick bastards infected by chemicals and your mystery team could simply be superstitious. That doesn’t make Reavers demons,” Duncan said.
“I gotta agree with Duncan,” Dean said. “They probably thought the symbols were some kind of good luck against their attackers.”
“I don’t think so guys,” Richie said as he stood to examine the image more carefully. “Doesn't this seem too perfect? I mean, if someone was painting this because they were superstitious, shouldn't it be kind of wrong or incomplete?”
“Richie's right,” Chloe said. “That drawing is perfect. Like the person who made it learned it right out of the Key of Solomon. If it was made by someone who heard it from a story passed through the generations, they maybe might have gotten the pentagram right, but they wouldn't have known to include all the correct sigils.”
Feeling empowered now that the main researcher of their group had backed up his theory, Richie continued. “Exactly. This was drawn by someone who was familiar with its power and knew there could be no mistakes in its execution.”
“So you think, maybe a hunter not in the network?” Dean asked
“That’s the only thing that makes sense.” Duncan responded and looked to Joseph for confirmation. “Did they survive the Reaver attack? Can we talk to them?”
He nodded. “As far as we know they all lived. We do suspect there may be an unregistared hunter among their crew and we have reason to believe that there may be a new Immortal with them, too.”
That got their attention. “A new Immortal? There hasn’t been a new one of us in decades,” Duncan said. “How can you be sure without one of our kind to confirm?”
Joseph gestured to Larry again and the picture shifted to show a grainy image of a red headed man with a spike through his chest. It changed again to show the same man up walking around.
“That doesn’t necessarily mean he’s Immortal. How did you get such detailed pictures?” Duncan asked.
“We have agents who were part of Mr. Universe’s information network. Most of the surveillance equipment was destroyed during the battle, but with a little time and effort we have been able to a pull few images. Unfortunately in addition to the physical damage much of the data appears to have been wiped by electrical interference.”
“Well that might be your evidence for demons. They tend to wreak havoc with electrical equipment,” Chloe said. “Can I get the raw data? I might be able to get more information from the logs.”
“Of course.” Joseph nodded at Moe who produced a data disk and walked around the table to hand it to her.
“Do you guys believe that Reavers could be demons?” Richie asked. "And what about the PAX? I thought that created the Reavers."
“Only one way to know for sure,” Dean smirked. “Time to go Reaver hunting.”
“I’m in,” Richie said matching Dean’s enthusiasm.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, boys,” Chloe said as she slipped the disk in to the pocket of her coat. “Have you been able to capture a Reaver to test you theory?
“No,” Joseph replied ruefully. “And we lost a couple of good hunters trying. That’s why we believe that this requires the attention of Immortals.”
Duncan huffed and leaned back in his chair. “Can’t say I like the idea of going after Reavers, but you’ve got a point.” Duncan pointed to the picture of the Immortal. “But if this guy is one of us then he needs our help first. Any idea who he is or where to find him?”
“We don’t know his name, but we do know the name of his ship,” Joseph said. The image changed again to show a battered firefly class vessel with the moniker, Serenity, painted on the side. “We know the crew spent sometime rebuilding their ship on the planet. Unfortunately, by the time we pieced this all together they were gone.”
“Captain’s got good taste in names,” Dean remarked. “Must have been there.”
“Before we get into more details is there anything else about this you expect from us?” Duncan asked.
“This is a very complicated situation, Duncan. Your Mission should you choose to accept it would be to find out who our mysterious hunter is, if our friend there is an Immortal and why this crew believes that Reavers are demons,” Joseph explained. “We expect you to report your findings back to the council.”
“Where’s the tape about to go poof?” Dean laughed.
Joseph looked at him confusion clouding his face. “I don’t understand.”
“You know Mission:Impossible…Your mission should you choose to accept it…Which was a stupid question ‘cause they always accepted it…” Dean sputtered into silence as the stooges just stared at him. “Geez, no appreciation for 20th century pop culture,” Dean groused. He could hear Chloe snickering beside him.
“Oh Dean, you really need to update your references.”
“I was being funny. Rich, help me out here. It was funny right?”
Richie just shook his head. “I’m gonna have to go with Chloe. The reference, not funny, but you, very funny.”
“Not what I meant,” Dean said sullenly. “Sometimes I really hate the future,” he sighed.
“Zao gao,” Joseph said between clenched teeth. “Would it be possible for me to finish at least one sentence without interruption?”
Duncan laughed. He knew that Dean was enjoying Joseph’s discomfort, but it was time to wrap this up. “Guys we’re almost done. Let’s rein it in until we get back to the ship.”
His companions nodded and Duncan waved a hand for Joseph to continue.
“Where was I? Ah yes, the Captain’s name is Mal Reynolds and…”
“Mal Reynolds, really?” Richie interrupted.
“Richie, please.” Joseph begged.
“No, this is important. I served with him during the war; when I was assigned to the 57th Overlanders. Remember?”
“I thought that named sounded familiar,” Dean mused. “He was the big shot of the Balls and Bayonets brigade during the battle. That was a hell of a slaughter he survived.”
Serenity was supposed to have been the big turning point to legitimize the Browncoats political position; instead it was demoralizing defeat that spelled the end for the revolution.
“Yeah, it was,” Richie said quietly. The only good thing to have come out of Serenity had been their reunion with Chloe. Even when you can’t die that doesn’t mean war ain’t hell. “After we were cut off by the Alliance, he managed to get the survivors of our unit off the planet and to safety.”
“That’s what our investigation showed,” Joseph said. “Your connection to Captain Reynolds should help you to determine what’s going on with his crew.” Joseph rose to indicate that the meeting was over “Maybe it would be best if you reviewed the rest of our research on your own time. Everything is on the disk that Chloe has.”
“Had enough of us, Joseph?” she laughed.
He smiled in return. “Never enough of you, Chloe. But truthfully there isn’t much more to tell you. Understand, we feel this is the portent of a possible resurgence of demon activity the likes we haven’t seen since Earth-that-was.”
“You don’t have to be so dramatic, Joseph, you knew we’d take the job the minute we showed up,” Duncan said. “I’m sure this Reaver business is simply a new legend that’s grown out of the tragedy of Miranda.”
“I hope you’re right, Duncan.” Joseph circled the table to shake Duncan’s hand in farewell.
“You’ll be hearing from us,” Duncan acknowledged.
Joseph moved on to Richie and Chloe; finally coming to stand in front of Dean
Dean gave an elaborate salute, “See ya, nephew.”
“Goodbye, Uncle Dean.”
The four exit in a flourish and the door slammed shut behind them.
"Are they always like that? So frustrating?” asked Larry.
Joseph sighed and collapsed back into his chair. “Yes, but don’t let their casual demeanor fool you. They are a deadly group. If we are facing some kind of demon apocalypse, I wouldn’t want any one else on our side.”
************************
Firefly Slang
Damn it: Zao gao
Enough of this nonsense: Gou huang tang