Happy Birthday Sister Dear! :)
This is a birthday fic for the lovely and fantasticalraapsteeltje.
Enjoy darlin'! :D
Beta'd by rocketgirl2 because she's awesome and makes my writing a million times better.
I.
He knows that he likes her when he first sees her. Or first really sees her, minus the gunfire.
Alliance scum or not, he likes the way that she dresses. Crisp and stylish, for intimidation, but also for convenience. She's useful in a fight, he can tell.
He also likes the way she keeps her voice sharp when they talk, not showing fear.
Too bad Detective Kate Beckett works for the Alliance, or she could have a place on his ship.
II.
"What you've done, Captain Reynolds, is leave a trail of bodies behind your little operation. Homicide is a crime and as removed as you seem to be from civilized society it is one you have to answer for," Kate says.
"I ain't ever killed unless I had to; self-defense, you know. I'm innocent of most of the more unsavoury crimes the Alliance has accused me of," the Captain insists.
"I doubt that you could deny killing a few men here and there. Do you have an alibi? Because without one you're guilty. Many of the people that you have killed were officers of the peace. You have a well known vendetta against such men. And your business isn't entirely legitimate."
The Captain shakes his knife back and forth as if scolding her. "Now now, Beckett, we ain't in your police station and you ain't questioning me. In fact, it seems as though it may be the other way around. If I were you I'd start detailing exactly why the Alliance is tracking me, exactly. And how many people they have on it."
III.
The cell they throw her in is tiny but clean. It's a smuggling hold, probably hidden from the outside. This ship has a lot of them. Kate did her research.
At first it takes everything for her to keep herself in check. Her stomach rebels at the thought of what they'll do to her, why they haven't killed her yet.
Her fear ebbs as the days pass, though, and it becomes increasingly clear that Captain Reynolds won't hurt her if he doesn't have to.
IV.
"I figure that the Alliance has ended far more people than I could ever hope to in a lifetime," the Captain says, "or are you forgetting what happened on Miranda?"
"Your type always go back to that. You especially, Captain. I heard that you had a hand in the exposure," Kate pauses, watching him nod. "You caused quite a mess. And the Alliance has explained the Miranda incident; it was an unauthorized experiment. And the crimes of those scientists do not in any way excuse yours."
Reynolds' fingers tighten around his blade. "Right, and you'd eat any of the le se that the Alliance shoves down your throat then?" He exhales quickly. "Any crimes I have committed have been in self-defense, and there's a difference, ain't there? Between guilty and wrong, between the law and what's right. But that don't matter much to you, do it?"
"It always matters," Kate answers firmly.
Mal sighs amiably and sits down. He puts his elbows on the table and folds his fingers together. Kate might consider the atmosphere friendly, except for the fact that she is tied to a chair.
"Of course it does," Mal replies as if he doesn't really believe her at all.
V.
She starts to wonder if he comes in just to argue. He doesn't get any more information out of her.
"I'm just trying to put criminals behind bars," Kate says through gritted teeth.
"And I'm just trying to stay alive," the Captain replies.
The stare at each other for a moment, and Kate searches for some sort of answer behind Reynolds' eyes.
"So I suppose we'll just have to keep going on the way we have been," the Captain concludes.
VI.
"Not big government. Little girl, all alone, wants to do her job," River tells him. "It's about the crime, not the punishment. It's about justice, not control."
Mal tries not to think about it.
VII.
"You're not a regular Alliance solider," Mal says, leaning backwards on the holding cell's bed.
Beckett shakes her head.
"I thought not. You don't speak army. I know Alliance soldiers, and they all speak army. You got a high class sort of talk to ya. More like the doc. And you ain't half as disciplined as they are. You get all fiery and worked up if I dare insult your intentions-"
Beckett stiffens.
"No worries, detective. I ain't here to rail on your motives. You ain't operative material, and all the other detectives I've had the pleasure to meet have been shady types, real dirty. Seems to me that the Alliance doesn't have use for such an honoured profession any more, not between their endless supply of assassins and bounty hunters. So what's your story? How'd you become one of the last homicide investigators?"
"Maybe I don't have a story, Captain," Beckett says.
"Nah, we've all got a past, hidden though it may be. Ain't got a crew member without some sort of bad history," Mal answers.
"I'd think that being on your ship would be 'bad history'," Beckett replies.
Mal throws back his head and laughs. "Suppose so. Seen more than we ought. Been through enough. Mostly on account of your lovely Alliance."
Beckett's face hardens. "I'm sure that you didn't get anything you didn't deserve," Beckett says venomously.
Mal holds up his hands to signal peace. "Jus' sayin', we've been through a lot."
VIII.
"You've killed people. That has consequences," Beckett says, an edge in her voice.
"I know," Mal replies, "and believe me when I say that I've paid. You have no idea how many I've lost. We weren't all raised on the core, detective. Privleged person like yourself probably never lost no one."
Beckett flinches for a second, then she narrows her eyes. "You don't know me at all, Captain," she says, soft, low and dangerous. "Don't pretend that you do."
Mal looks at her closely and takes half a step back. She clenches her fists, tugging lightly on the ropes that fasten her arms in front of her.
"So you do know death, detective. Is that how you got where you are today?"
Beckett doesn't answer, she just meets his eyes, strong and angry.
IX.
"What do we do with her?" Kaylee asks at the dinner table.
"I don't see why this is an issue. She's out to get us. We just put a bullet to her. Shoot her out the airlock. Ain't no skin off my nose," Jayne says.
Mal and Zoe exchange a look.
"She's just doing her job," Simon replies.
"You weren't singin' that tune when they was after your sis," Jayne says, "yeah, she's a pretty one, but I ain't seeing no reason why we got to keep her with us, unless she serves some other purpose," he raises an eyebrow and Kaylee wrinkles her nose at the vulgarity. "That's food I'd like to be eating, we don't got much as it is."
"We're not going to kill someone for tryin' to make an honest livin'," Mal says firmly. "Wasn't her fault she got drafted by the Alliance to do their dirty work. She don't wish nobody harm."
"She wishes us plenty of harm!" Jayne says.
"The decision is made, Jayne," Zoe says with finality.
Jayne grumbles a little and digs into his proteinloaf.
X.
"Who was it?" Mal asks as he sits casually across from her.
"Who was what?" Beckett answers, feigning ignorance.
"Who was it who died?"
"My mother," she answers quickly, careful not to let her voice betray anything.
"Huh. My mother died. Killed by the Alliance during the war."
Kate looks at him but he doesn't meet her eyes, just stares defiantly down at his shoes.
XI.
The girl's blood spreads across the floor of the ship's hold, and the Alliance officer motions to her frantically.
"Let's go!" He says, "We're stalling the others!"
Kate looks at River, her mouth falling open. The girl is little, skinny, barely looks older than eighteen. Her hair is stringy and long, and with her eyes closed she looks like a sleeping child.
This is the rescue mission that she has been praying about for months. This is her chance. She could be free of this, free of the Captain, free of the danger.
Quickly she reaches for the gun at the girl's waist, aims, and shoots. The officer hits the ground with a thud.
"Esposito always said that uniforms were nothing but thugs with dental," she mutters as she kneels next to the body and checks for a pulse.
XII.
When River wakes up they let Kate out. She's free to explore the ship like she hadn't had a chance to before.
She can see what keeps people on Serenity. It feels like a home. She loves the soft hum of the engines and the cosy kitchen. She loves the stars out the windows. She loves the steel and the warmth.
Kaylee is friendly from the get go, constantly scolding the Captain for his ill treatment of her and offering to show her how the engine works.
Zoe is Kate's kind of woman, and they bond quickly and silently, exchanging nods and smiles at the appropriate moments. Kate recognizes the sorrowful hunch of Zoe's shoulders, recognizes the intense loss in her hesitant smile. She doesn't dare ask though. Not yet.
Jayne leers for a bit, says he likes how she handles a gun, offers to show her his. She just shudders inwardly and threatens to tear his arm out of its socket. He grins and leaves her alone after that.
River has a distinct lack of sanity but is impossibly grateful and eerily insightful. Her brother, Simon, seems as if he was ordinary at one point in his life, but he fits in here somehow, amongst the misfits.
Mal tells her that the pay will be scarce, but she decides to stay anyways.
XIII.
When Mal first kisses her she teaches him that she doesn't like being the one pinned down.
It's not the wisest decision that she's ever made, but hey, tequila will do that to you.
Enjoy darlin'! :D
Beta'd by rocketgirl2 because she's awesome and makes my writing a million times better.
I.
He knows that he likes her when he first sees her. Or first really sees her, minus the gunfire.
Alliance scum or not, he likes the way that she dresses. Crisp and stylish, for intimidation, but also for convenience. She's useful in a fight, he can tell.
He also likes the way she keeps her voice sharp when they talk, not showing fear.
Too bad Detective Kate Beckett works for the Alliance, or she could have a place on his ship.
II.
"What you've done, Captain Reynolds, is leave a trail of bodies behind your little operation. Homicide is a crime and as removed as you seem to be from civilized society it is one you have to answer for," Kate says.
"I ain't ever killed unless I had to; self-defense, you know. I'm innocent of most of the more unsavoury crimes the Alliance has accused me of," the Captain insists.
"I doubt that you could deny killing a few men here and there. Do you have an alibi? Because without one you're guilty. Many of the people that you have killed were officers of the peace. You have a well known vendetta against such men. And your business isn't entirely legitimate."
The Captain shakes his knife back and forth as if scolding her. "Now now, Beckett, we ain't in your police station and you ain't questioning me. In fact, it seems as though it may be the other way around. If I were you I'd start detailing exactly why the Alliance is tracking me, exactly. And how many people they have on it."
III.
The cell they throw her in is tiny but clean. It's a smuggling hold, probably hidden from the outside. This ship has a lot of them. Kate did her research.
At first it takes everything for her to keep herself in check. Her stomach rebels at the thought of what they'll do to her, why they haven't killed her yet.
Her fear ebbs as the days pass, though, and it becomes increasingly clear that Captain Reynolds won't hurt her if he doesn't have to.
IV.
"I figure that the Alliance has ended far more people than I could ever hope to in a lifetime," the Captain says, "or are you forgetting what happened on Miranda?"
"Your type always go back to that. You especially, Captain. I heard that you had a hand in the exposure," Kate pauses, watching him nod. "You caused quite a mess. And the Alliance has explained the Miranda incident; it was an unauthorized experiment. And the crimes of those scientists do not in any way excuse yours."
Reynolds' fingers tighten around his blade. "Right, and you'd eat any of the le se that the Alliance shoves down your throat then?" He exhales quickly. "Any crimes I have committed have been in self-defense, and there's a difference, ain't there? Between guilty and wrong, between the law and what's right. But that don't matter much to you, do it?"
"It always matters," Kate answers firmly.
Mal sighs amiably and sits down. He puts his elbows on the table and folds his fingers together. Kate might consider the atmosphere friendly, except for the fact that she is tied to a chair.
"Of course it does," Mal replies as if he doesn't really believe her at all.
V.
She starts to wonder if he comes in just to argue. He doesn't get any more information out of her.
"I'm just trying to put criminals behind bars," Kate says through gritted teeth.
"And I'm just trying to stay alive," the Captain replies.
The stare at each other for a moment, and Kate searches for some sort of answer behind Reynolds' eyes.
"So I suppose we'll just have to keep going on the way we have been," the Captain concludes.
VI.
"Not big government. Little girl, all alone, wants to do her job," River tells him. "It's about the crime, not the punishment. It's about justice, not control."
Mal tries not to think about it.
VII.
"You're not a regular Alliance solider," Mal says, leaning backwards on the holding cell's bed.
Beckett shakes her head.
"I thought not. You don't speak army. I know Alliance soldiers, and they all speak army. You got a high class sort of talk to ya. More like the doc. And you ain't half as disciplined as they are. You get all fiery and worked up if I dare insult your intentions-"
Beckett stiffens.
"No worries, detective. I ain't here to rail on your motives. You ain't operative material, and all the other detectives I've had the pleasure to meet have been shady types, real dirty. Seems to me that the Alliance doesn't have use for such an honoured profession any more, not between their endless supply of assassins and bounty hunters. So what's your story? How'd you become one of the last homicide investigators?"
"Maybe I don't have a story, Captain," Beckett says.
"Nah, we've all got a past, hidden though it may be. Ain't got a crew member without some sort of bad history," Mal answers.
"I'd think that being on your ship would be 'bad history'," Beckett replies.
Mal throws back his head and laughs. "Suppose so. Seen more than we ought. Been through enough. Mostly on account of your lovely Alliance."
Beckett's face hardens. "I'm sure that you didn't get anything you didn't deserve," Beckett says venomously.
Mal holds up his hands to signal peace. "Jus' sayin', we've been through a lot."
VIII.
"You've killed people. That has consequences," Beckett says, an edge in her voice.
"I know," Mal replies, "and believe me when I say that I've paid. You have no idea how many I've lost. We weren't all raised on the core, detective. Privleged person like yourself probably never lost no one."
Beckett flinches for a second, then she narrows her eyes. "You don't know me at all, Captain," she says, soft, low and dangerous. "Don't pretend that you do."
Mal looks at her closely and takes half a step back. She clenches her fists, tugging lightly on the ropes that fasten her arms in front of her.
"So you do know death, detective. Is that how you got where you are today?"
Beckett doesn't answer, she just meets his eyes, strong and angry.
IX.
"What do we do with her?" Kaylee asks at the dinner table.
"I don't see why this is an issue. She's out to get us. We just put a bullet to her. Shoot her out the airlock. Ain't no skin off my nose," Jayne says.
Mal and Zoe exchange a look.
"She's just doing her job," Simon replies.
"You weren't singin' that tune when they was after your sis," Jayne says, "yeah, she's a pretty one, but I ain't seeing no reason why we got to keep her with us, unless she serves some other purpose," he raises an eyebrow and Kaylee wrinkles her nose at the vulgarity. "That's food I'd like to be eating, we don't got much as it is."
"We're not going to kill someone for tryin' to make an honest livin'," Mal says firmly. "Wasn't her fault she got drafted by the Alliance to do their dirty work. She don't wish nobody harm."
"She wishes us plenty of harm!" Jayne says.
"The decision is made, Jayne," Zoe says with finality.
Jayne grumbles a little and digs into his proteinloaf.
X.
"Who was it?" Mal asks as he sits casually across from her.
"Who was what?" Beckett answers, feigning ignorance.
"Who was it who died?"
"My mother," she answers quickly, careful not to let her voice betray anything.
"Huh. My mother died. Killed by the Alliance during the war."
Kate looks at him but he doesn't meet her eyes, just stares defiantly down at his shoes.
XI.
The girl's blood spreads across the floor of the ship's hold, and the Alliance officer motions to her frantically.
"Let's go!" He says, "We're stalling the others!"
Kate looks at River, her mouth falling open. The girl is little, skinny, barely looks older than eighteen. Her hair is stringy and long, and with her eyes closed she looks like a sleeping child.
This is the rescue mission that she has been praying about for months. This is her chance. She could be free of this, free of the Captain, free of the danger.
Quickly she reaches for the gun at the girl's waist, aims, and shoots. The officer hits the ground with a thud.
"Esposito always said that uniforms were nothing but thugs with dental," she mutters as she kneels next to the body and checks for a pulse.
XII.
When River wakes up they let Kate out. She's free to explore the ship like she hadn't had a chance to before.
She can see what keeps people on Serenity. It feels like a home. She loves the soft hum of the engines and the cosy kitchen. She loves the stars out the windows. She loves the steel and the warmth.
Kaylee is friendly from the get go, constantly scolding the Captain for his ill treatment of her and offering to show her how the engine works.
Zoe is Kate's kind of woman, and they bond quickly and silently, exchanging nods and smiles at the appropriate moments. Kate recognizes the sorrowful hunch of Zoe's shoulders, recognizes the intense loss in her hesitant smile. She doesn't dare ask though. Not yet.
Jayne leers for a bit, says he likes how she handles a gun, offers to show her his. She just shudders inwardly and threatens to tear his arm out of its socket. He grins and leaves her alone after that.
River has a distinct lack of sanity but is impossibly grateful and eerily insightful. Her brother, Simon, seems as if he was ordinary at one point in his life, but he fits in here somehow, amongst the misfits.
Mal tells her that the pay will be scarce, but she decides to stay anyways.
XIII.
When Mal first kisses her she teaches him that she doesn't like being the one pinned down.
It's not the wisest decision that she's ever made, but hey, tequila will do that to you.