(Untitled)

[keepurshirtonlt]

Trip was getting real tired of all this. They’d found the Xindi weapon and stopped the Spherebuilders from destroying Earth. He’d lost his sister and his best friend. Now, not only were they stuck in an alternate past, but he was trapped in a compound of time traveling alien Nazis thanks to the shapeshifter Silik tying him up in a closet to use

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[mademighty]

Not far from Serenity, Mal stops. He's been spending most of his time with Zoe; River's had the grace to leave them alone a couple of times and Mal's been workin' hard on knowing his daughter, as much as he can know a child that young who changes daily. So it's enough to give him pause to find a man on that stretch of sand with a gun in his hand.

And it doesn't take long for him to answer in kind.

"Easy there," he says, not pointing his gun at anything yet but, hell, way he sees it? It's just a matter of time.

[keepurshirtonlt]

The voice causes Trip's head to snap up and he immediately drops his grip on the handle of the gun, letting it spin on his finger until he's holding the barrel in his hand, with both hands held up in an innocent gesture. Malcolm would probably have berated him for surrendering so easily but he wasn't looking for a fight. He more wanted answers.

"Hey, wow! I promise, I don't want any trouble!" He used every bit of diplomacy training Starfleet had given him to keep his voice even after his initial surprise. "A moment ago, I was steppin' into a fire fight on the streets of Brooklyn. While I like the change, I wouldn't mind knowin' where the heck I am?"

[mademighty]

Mal's many things but he's not about to shoot a man who doesn't deserve it. He studies him for a moment. He shifts his grip on the gun.

Swearing colourfully in Chinese, he reholsters it and takes a step forward.

"It's some kinda magic island," he says. "And wherever you were before, friend, you are not there now."

[keepurshirtonlt]

As the man reholsters his gun, Trip breathes a sigh of relief and moves to do the same. Of course, he didn't have a holster for his stolen weapon so he made sure the safety was on and shoved it through his belt.

"Magic island?" Well...that one was new. "So, if I ain't on Earth in the 20th century, where am I then? 'cause really, this bouncin' back an' forth through time is startin' to wear on my nerves."

[mademighty]

"I've heard people say that we're on Earth-that-was, people who say they don't know," he says, shifting his weight. "All I know is that it's hot a lot of the time, that some people are dead when they wind up here, and that I have a daughter here that I didn't have before."

[keepurshirtonlt]

While Trip had to literally bite his tongue to not ask bitterly if the daughter was twice as old as the man and part Vulcan, he managed to not say anything. Lorian was still a touchy subject as was everything about the alternate Enterprise.

So he concentrated on the next disturbing part of that explanation, as being from Florida meant being hot was no big deal and coming back from the dead had happened before. "Wait...Earth-That-Was? What happened to it?" Hadn't they succeeded? Wasn't Earth safe from the Xinidi weapon now?

[mademighty]

"Planet got used up so we moved on," says Mal. Every babe in the verse hears that story, how the ships spread out and traveled, how the Alliance was formed and how it grew. He shifts his weight.

"We've been a long way from there for a long, long time, son."

[keepurshirtonlt]

Time travel. Only way to explain it. Since Daniels had said Earth was still around in his time, he didn't even want to know when this guy was from. "Well, I'm glad Earth-That-Was made it that long. Means me an' my ship succeeded so it wasn't destroyed." He said solemnly before shaking his head.

"But I guess none of that matters on a magical island, huh?"

[mademighty]

"You've got to adjust your priorities," says Mal, shifting his weight slightly. "Because you ain't going anywhere fast, friend. I keep being told that nobody leaves here that chooses it. People stay long as the island decide to keeps them."

[keepurshirtonlt]

"Huh." Adjust his priorities. Well, for so long his priorities had been to save Earth, but they'd done that. So really, he was due for a change in priorities anyway. "I think that's something I can handle. So, where would a guy find someplace to bunk, given these new priorities?"

[mademighty]

"C'mon," says Mal, with a roll of his shoulder that might be intended as a beckon. "I'll take you up to the compound and get you squared away."

He's due to collect Zoe, anyway. And something about this fella inclines him to be kind.

[keepurshirtonlt]

“Thanks, I appreciate it.” Trip said with a thankful nod of his head as he fell into step with the man. “My name’s Trip’s, by the way. Trip Tucker.”

[mademighty]

"Pleased to know you, Trip," says Mal, and he might even manage to make it sound genuine. "Name's Mal. Mal Reynolds."

[keepurshirtonlt]

"The pleasure's mutual, Mal." It was genuine enough for Trip. "So, how long ya been here?" If the man was going to talk about being stuck, Trip wanted to get a time frame here.