Fic: The Raggedy Edge (2/9)
Title: The Raggedy Edge
Author: Annerb
Summary: During a rescue mission gone awry, Sam and Jack end up stranded in another galaxy where they find themselves passengers on a ship called Serenity.
Wordcount: 40,000+
Rating/Warnings: Older teens for swearing in multiple languages, violence, torture, and such.
Categorization: SG-1/Firefly Crossover, AU, Action/Adventure, Drama
Pairings: BOB. Sam/Jack established relationship, hints of Daniel/Vala, Kaylee/Simon, Mal/Inara, and Jayne/Everyone (at least in his mind).
Season: Post-BDM for Firefly, early season 9 for SG-1
Welcome to Serenity
Mal and Jayne stood outside the infirmary watching Simon work on the man. Mal knew he was currently standing here to make sure nothing went south. Having two strangers on his ship didn’t sit particularly well with him, no matter what River had to say about them. Jayne’s motives were a bit murkier, though he seemed to have his mind otherwise occupied, his eyes glued to the woman. Mal had to admit, despite the mud and tangled hair, she was nice to look at, but he wasn’t stupid enough to be fooled by that.
Jayne on the other hand…
“You leave her be, Jayne,” Mal said. “That one’s got a look about her. You may find you’ve bitten off more than you can handle.”
‘Course, for Jayne the warning didn’t seem so much to deter as encourage him, the man’s lips curving into a lecherous smirk. Mal shook his head, deciding he wasn’t going to waste the time worrying. Instinct told him she could very well take care of her ownself, and if Jayne ended up with another hole in his backside, well, that was amusement Mal could use right about now. Plus, the Doc would surely patch him back up again before they had need of Jayne’s specialized talents.
For now, they just needed to get Serenity back to flying. He got the part Kaylee’d been demanding for ages, but she was still carrying on about it being a huge job and needing days to get it done. He didn’t like the thought of being still that long.
Mal crossed the room to the woman’s side where she intently watched Simon work. “What’s your name?” he asked.
Shoving her still sodden blond hair behind one ear, she glanced sideways at him, a moment of hesitation long enough to make Mal wonder if she was getting ready to lie.
“Sam,” she eventually said. He waited for a last name but she didn’t seem inclined to supply it.
“Well, Sam, I understand you’re a mechanic.”
Her eyes widened momentarily before her surprise disappeared under a forcibly bland façade. “Then you understand wrong,” she said, turning her attention back to the infirmary. “We’re homesteaders.”
She was lying, which didn’t bother him overly much. There were all kinds of reasons for people to hide the truth. In this particular case he just didn’t harbor patience for it.
“Sure you are,” he said. “Jayne. Why don’t you show Sam to the engine room?”
Jayne stepped forward eagerly, reaching for her arm. “Sure, Mal.”
She wrenched her arm free of the touch, pivoting around into a wary stance he recognized as a sign of one used to defending herself. Now he was almost wishing Jayne would try something.
“You want me to be here when he wakes up,” she said, her head canting back toward her man. “Trust me.”
Her accent was a bit queer, something he couldn’t quite place, but almost as if she had a bit of companion training somewhere in her past. Though any gentility of prose fell short of masking the fact that her words were more threat than question. She’d do well to learn her place in the scheme of things.
Mal stepped closer to her, one hand lowering to his gun, unsurprised when she didn’t give an inch of her ground. Yes, this woman certainly had gumption in spades. It was bound to get her killed.
“You’re new, so I’ll cut you some slack,” Mal said, his smile more feral than welcoming. “Keep in mind that as Captain, I’m the only one giving orders around here, and I don’t deal particularly well with disobedience. Dong ma?”
She looked confused a moment before her eyes traveled from his weapon to his face, her shoulders squaring and Mal had to rethink the companion background idea, there was something distinctly military about the way she held herself. Snapping her mouth shut on what was surely a mutinous response, she eventually nodded mutely, her eyes still glaring flinty shards at him.
Mal could say one thing for this woman, she would surely make things a mite interesting. He wasn’t overly fond of interesting, it usually led to people trying to blast holes in his ship. “River says you’ve an eye for engines. Serenity took a bit of a beating and Kaylee’d appreciate the help.”
Her eyes darted back towards the unconscious man being treated under Simon’s care before finally allowing herself to be drawn away.
“Suit yourself,” she mumbled as she left.
It wasn’t until hours later that Mal would understand he’d made a slight miscalculation.
+++
Sam followed the bulky man with the improbable name of Jayne through the small corridors of the ship, trying to take in as much of the layout as she could. He kept sneaking looks back at her that she dearly hoped he didn’t think were subtle. She got the distinct impression that he was one of those men where what you saw was exactly what you got. What she saw as she followed him was a slightly pervy gunhand who probably wouldn’t hesitate to shoot first and rob you second. Which pretty much answered the question of what he would do if he ever found out the Alliance currently had a rather hefty price on Jack and Sam’s heads. Hopefully they would get the hell off this ship long before that became an issue.
Jayne stepped aside to ostensibly allow her to pass first into the next room, a show of gentility belied by the leer he gave her as she slid by, his eyes nowhere near her face. Knowledge that her still damp blouse no doubt gave him a lovely view did not help matters.
Sam took a deep breath and forced herself not to knock Jayne on his ass, carefully stepping clear of him and into the next room. Only one reason kept her from making it very clear that his attention was unwelcome: she might be able to take advantage of it at some point.
Logically, she knew there must have been a point in her life when she saw people as more than just advantages and disadvantages, but she’d been treating people as nothing more than angles to be manipulated for so damn long she couldn’t remember the last time she’d met a human gaze with anything close to sincerity. It began to ache a bit, this constant high alert tension she’d been living with.
So when the mechanic for Serenity turned out to be a young woman with a broad, honest face and easy joviality, Sam felt herself thrown a bit off kilter. She hadn’t thought she’d actually like anyone on this ship.
“Thanks, Jayne, we’re good here,” the girl said, shooing him off with her fingers. Once he’d gone, she turned conspiratorially to Sam. “I figure we get a lot more done without him drooling over your shoulder.”
Sam was surprised enough to laugh.
“I’m Kaylee,” she said, sticking out her hand.
Sam took her hand, felt the slick of oil on her warm skin. There was something familiar and comforting about her that instantly set Sam at ease. “Sam.”
“Welcome to Serenity.” Kaylee patted the hunk of metal next to her affectionately.
“Thanks,” Sam said. The ship was obviously well cared for, but Sam still got a rather cobbled together vibe from the engine room. Rather like Serenity’s crew.
Kaylee brushed a strand of hair out of her face, leaving a gritty smudge on her forehead. “Is your friend going to be okay?”
“Yes,” Sam said, her hands clenching in her muddy skirt. Somehow having someone sincerely ask made it worse. “Simon seems to think so.”
“Well, then he will be,” Kaylee said with total confidence. “There’s no better doc than Simon. Saved my own life more than once.”
The girl got a bit of a dreamy look on her face and Sam ducked her head to hide her smirk. So that was how it was. She filed that tidbit away with all the others.
Kaylee spent the next ten minutes naming various systems and proudly pointing out any personal modifications she'd undertaken. Most of the words went right over Sam's head. This ship was unlike anything she'd been on so far. Then again, they'd spent most of their time huddled in holds of large transports. Her knowledge of Earth technologies only got her so far.
Sam waited until Kaylee was back to tinkering with the engine to start digging for information.
“I was wondering,” Sam said as casually as she could manage.
“Yeah?”
“The girl…”
“River,” Kaylee supplied.
“Yeah, River. How does she…I mean, what exactly…” For the life of her, Sam couldn’t come up with a way to ask. The fighting, the creepy stares, the way she just seemed to know things.
Kaylee, however, got her gist, smiling and patting Sam on the shoulder. “She’s a reader,” she said as if that answered everything.
“A reader?”
“Yeah, you know, someone who can see into people’s thoughts.”
Sam didn’t know whether to laugh or go and make herself a hat out of tinfoil. “You can’t be serious.” Frankly, of all the weird shit she’d seen in her life, the idea of a mind reader was by far the most frightening.
“You’ve seen it,” Kaylee said with a shrug, wiping her hands on her overalls before diving headfirst back into the engine. “Could you hand me the kortan coupler?”
Sam looked down into the box of foreign looking implements and grabbed one at random, pressing it into Kaylee’s outstretched hand.
Kaylee popped back out, giving Sam a strange look. “I thought you were supposed to know engines.”
“I’m just a homesteader,” Sam replied with a shrug.
Kaylee eyed her for another moment, suspicion resting uneasily on her face.
Probably for the best, Sam thought. The last thing she needed was to actually like anyone on board.
Kaylee pointed. “The blue one with the fat handle.”
Sam picked it up.
+++
“We have a situation in the infirmary, sir,” Zoe’s calm voice informed Mal over the comm a few hours later.
The ‘situation’ turned out to be the no longer unconscious patient holding a knife to Simon’s throat. The guy had looked kinda soft when he’d been bleeding out in the mud, with his grey hair and pale face.
Wasn’t a soft edge left now.
“Tell me someone bothered to search him before he was brought on board,” Mal demanded, even though it was perfectly clear no one had.
Jayne mumbling, “Just let me shoot him,” was the only answer he got. Frankly, Mal didn’t know if he meant the stranger or the Doc.
“Where the hell is Carter?” the man demanded, apparently not for the first time.
Mal could only assume he meant Sam. “Would somebody get that damn woman in here?” Mal hollered.
Jayne darted out of the room with a nod.
By the time Sam appeared, having apparently dawdled as much as humanly possible along the way, she sent Mal a dark look that fairly screamed, ‘I warned you.’ At least she had the presence of mind not to say so out loud.
The man still had Simon around the neck, even as he wobbled a bit. Sam edged cautiously into his line of sight.
“Jack,” she said, her hands held out in front of her as if approaching a spooked horse.
The man wobbled again, his eyes swinging wide before resting on her. “Carter,” he responded in a rough voice, his hands tightening to judge from the lack of color in Simon’s face. He looked her over from head to toe. Mal assumed he was checking her for injuries until he said, “What the hell are you wearing?”
Sweat dripped down his face, trailing past crazed eyes wide with something Mal recognized as dangerous. This was not a man to turn your back on.
“He’s cracked,” Jayne helpfully observed.
Sam ignored him, moving a little closer. “Jack, why don’t you let go of the nice doctor?”
The man glanced at Simon and then back at Sam. “Where’s Daniel and Teal’c?”
Who and what? Perhaps the man, Jack, had taken a knock to the head at some point as well. Sam didn’t seem thrown by it though, still cautiously covering the distance to him.
“You’ve been injured,” she said, her voice low and soothing. “The doctor is helping you.”
Jack didn’t look like he was inclined to believe her, his eyes narrowing. “I feel like I’ve been shot. Who the hell shot me?”
She sighed then, loudly and with irritation. Mal wondered for the first time if maybe she’d been the one to shoot him in the first place. “Don’t you think story time can wait until after you’ve stopped bleeding?” she demanded, gesturing at his wound.
He glanced down to his side where blood was seeping across the nice, wide bandage. “Shit.”
Sam smiled, taking a few more steps towards him, reaching out for the weapon. “Let me hold onto the knife for now, okay?”
He let her pull the weapon away, Simon slipping free as the grip on his throat loosened.
“Sam?” Jack asked uncertainly, something in his eyes finally seeming to come into focus.
“Yeah,” she replied, lowering the knife to the table as her other hand lifted to his arm. “Everything’s okay.”
The touch seemed to calm him, but then his whole body swayed.
“I think I’m going to pass out,” he announced and promptly lost his footing, Sam lunging forward to stop his fall. Simon stepped in to help her, apparently having already forgotten the man’s attempt to slit his throat. Together, they controlled Jack’s descent to the floor.
The guy did look deceptively soft when he was unconscious. Not a mistake Mal planned on making twice.
“I want him bound.” Simon’s mouth popped open in protest, but Mal just shook his head. “That ain’t a request.”
“Did you give him something?” Sam asked as they wrestled Jack back onto the table.
“Something for the pain,” Simon confirmed, pulling back the bandages to check the damage.
Sam watched him work. “It might be better if you didn’t.”
Simon paused in his motion, looking up at Sam in confusion. “Why?”
She pressed her lips together, not looking inclined to answer.
“You tryin’ to tell us that wasn’t normal behavior?” Mal asked.
“He was disoriented,” she said, “and he isn’t the kind of man you want to feel confused. Or threatened.”
That he had no problem believing. “Doc?”
Simon shrugged. “It’s not unheard of for people to have adverse reactions to certain drugs, but I’m only using the most common kinds.”
“Well, just assume Jack isn’t common,” Sam interjected.
Something in her tone made Mal suspicious again, but as her main goal at the moment seemed to be keeping her man from slaughtering anyone, he’d ignore it for now. “Do as she says, Doc, but I still want him bound.”
Simon nodded absently, leaving it to Jayne to take care of the restraints. “He’s just torn some of his stitches,” he said to Sam. “He’ll be fine.”
“Thank you, Doctor,” she replied with real relief, giving Simon a warm smile. It was sweetness Mal hadn’t expected. ‘Course that all leeched away when she turned back to him. “Permission to stay here?”
Mal flinched inwardly at the blunt edge of her sarcasm. He was beginning to think he should have taken his own damn advice and left her well enough alone.
He turned on his heel without responding, leaving Jayne to keep an eye on their guests.
The lunatic woman had better be worth it.
+++
Jack woke to find Sam sitting next to him and his wrists bound to his bed. A situation that might not have been quite so unappetizing if not for the lancet of pain in his side and the unfamiliar surroundings. Of course, he was getting pretty used to waking up in unfamiliar surroundings.
“Hey,” he managed to croak.
Sam’s head lifted from the edge of his bed. “Hey,” she echoed. Her eyes traveled across his face as if assessing him.
Shifting slightly, Jack tugged experimentally at the restraints on his wrists. He quirked an eyebrow at Sam in question.
“You feeling any less crazy?” she asked, and only then did flashes of the last day come back to him.
“Much,” he said, glad his head no longer felt like the worst parts of the seventies. He’d had some insane dreams. “Didn’t maim anyone, did I?”
Her fingers ran gently through his hair, an incredibly soothing sensation that tempted his eyes back closed. “No. No maiming,” she said. “Though you did try to slit Simon’s throat.”
“Simon?” he asked, his eyes cracking open again.
“The doctor that patched you up,” she said, her eyes flicking behind him.
A dark-haired, clean-cut man stepped into his field of vision, looking slightly nervous. Not surprising if what Sam said was true. “Sorry about that, Doc.”
The man shrugged. “Happens more often than you would imagine.”
“Maybe it’s the company you keep,” Sam said.
Simon smiled wryly. “No doubt.”
Looking past the doctor, Jack noticed another man lounging near the door, obviously armed, though if he was here to watch Jack, he was doing a poor job of it.
Jack glanced at Sam. “Is it just me, or is that guy ogling you?”
Sam didn’t even bother to look in the direction he indicated, just sighed. “That’s Jayne,” she said, as if that explained it.
“Jayne?” he echoed. It seemed an improbable name for a guy with that many muscles and an obvious penchant for the ladies.
“How is the pain?” the doctor interjected, apparently trying to change the subject.
Jack’s lips pressed together. It hurt like hell if he was honest. “I’ll live,” he settled for saying.
Sam’s hand tightened on his arm. “Yes, you will.”
“Good,” yet another man said as he walked into the room with just enough swagger for Jack to suspect he was the leader of this little merry band. He was staring at Sam with an obvious mix of suspicion and annoyance. “That means it’s time for you to keep your end of the bargain.”
Jack did not like the sound of that. “Bargain?”
The leader turned to regard him, a humorless smile on his face. “You don’t think we patched you up out of the goodness of our hearts, do you?”
Jack shoved up on his elbow, really not caring for the man’s tone, but Sam’s arm across his chest kept him anchored.
“For God’s sake, Jack, you’re going to rip your stitches again,” she hissed in his ear.
“Mayhap he fears for your virtue,” the leader said and Jack felt the urge to maim rising again.
Sam looked up at him. “He knows I can take care of myself.”
Jack was about to protest that this had nothing to do with his faith in her abilities, but she not so subtly leaned against his wound and he bit back a groan. He didn’t need to see her face to know she was giving him her ‘don’t be an ass, Jack’ glare.
Some days he really missed being able to order her around. She was a lot less scary back then, he was certain of it.
“Let’s go discuss the particulars,” the leader said, stepping back out through the door.
Sam pushed to her feet to follow, but Jack stopped her, sitting up as much as he could between his wound and the restraints. “Sam.”
She relented, dropping back. “I’ll be fine. I don’t get the sense that these people are out to get us.”
“Yeah, real hearts of gold, I can already tell,” he said with a grimace. His side really burned like a son of a bitch.
Sam lingered a moment longer, her expression shifting as her hand brushed his cheek.
It was so rare these days to see a crack in her shields, or even a moment of softness. That more than anything told him exactly how exhausted she was. “Sam?” he asked.
She shook her head, her eyes dropping away. “It was just a bit too close this time,” she said, her voice lowered so as not to be overheard.
He remembered. He’d been fairly certain he wouldn’t make it off that mud planet. She’d made it happen though, somehow. She always did.
“Hey,” he said, catching her fingers with his. “There is no way I am leaving you alone out here, no matter how happy that might make Jayne.”
There was the briefest flash of amusement on her face, but then she leaned in closer, her forehead touching his. “I will hold you to that, Jack O’Neill,” she said fiercely. She brushed a quick kiss across his lips and stepped away, her all too familiar game face back in place.
“You done yet?” came the caustic voice of their leader.
Sam closed her eyes briefly as if gathering patience.
“Be careful,” Jack couldn’t help advising. If she was allowed to worry about him, he would damn well return the favor.
Sam nodded, plastered a neutral smile on her face, and followed the guy out of the infirmary.
Jack dropped back to the bed, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath against the fire of pain in his side. Not his best day ever, all things told.
His eyes snapped open when he heard the soft hush of someone moving nearby. A thin, graceful girl with long black hair stood at the foot of his bed, her head tilted to one side. She peered at him, not so much looking him in the eye as staring a hole into his forehead.
“You’re so quiet,” she said, “it’s like you’re not even here.”
Jack felt something trail across his skin, a sort of itch that never boded well. “If you say so, kid.”
She smiled, an empty gesture that didn’t reach her eyes, and for some reason he got the feeling she was just as freaked out by him as he was by her. She moved back across the room to the far corner, folding herself up small, but never taking her eyes off him.
And so Jack was left with Jayne, the doctor, and a strange girl staring at him from her perch in the corner.
Just when he thought this damn galaxy couldn’t get any weirder.
:: next::
Author: Annerb
Summary: During a rescue mission gone awry, Sam and Jack end up stranded in another galaxy where they find themselves passengers on a ship called Serenity.
Wordcount: 40,000+
Rating/Warnings: Older teens for swearing in multiple languages, violence, torture, and such.
Categorization: SG-1/Firefly Crossover, AU, Action/Adventure, Drama
Pairings: BOB. Sam/Jack established relationship, hints of Daniel/Vala, Kaylee/Simon, Mal/Inara, and Jayne/Everyone (at least in his mind).
Season: Post-BDM for Firefly, early season 9 for SG-1
Welcome to Serenity
Mal and Jayne stood outside the infirmary watching Simon work on the man. Mal knew he was currently standing here to make sure nothing went south. Having two strangers on his ship didn’t sit particularly well with him, no matter what River had to say about them. Jayne’s motives were a bit murkier, though he seemed to have his mind otherwise occupied, his eyes glued to the woman. Mal had to admit, despite the mud and tangled hair, she was nice to look at, but he wasn’t stupid enough to be fooled by that.
Jayne on the other hand…
“You leave her be, Jayne,” Mal said. “That one’s got a look about her. You may find you’ve bitten off more than you can handle.”
‘Course, for Jayne the warning didn’t seem so much to deter as encourage him, the man’s lips curving into a lecherous smirk. Mal shook his head, deciding he wasn’t going to waste the time worrying. Instinct told him she could very well take care of her ownself, and if Jayne ended up with another hole in his backside, well, that was amusement Mal could use right about now. Plus, the Doc would surely patch him back up again before they had need of Jayne’s specialized talents.
For now, they just needed to get Serenity back to flying. He got the part Kaylee’d been demanding for ages, but she was still carrying on about it being a huge job and needing days to get it done. He didn’t like the thought of being still that long.
Mal crossed the room to the woman’s side where she intently watched Simon work. “What’s your name?” he asked.
Shoving her still sodden blond hair behind one ear, she glanced sideways at him, a moment of hesitation long enough to make Mal wonder if she was getting ready to lie.
“Sam,” she eventually said. He waited for a last name but she didn’t seem inclined to supply it.
“Well, Sam, I understand you’re a mechanic.”
Her eyes widened momentarily before her surprise disappeared under a forcibly bland façade. “Then you understand wrong,” she said, turning her attention back to the infirmary. “We’re homesteaders.”
She was lying, which didn’t bother him overly much. There were all kinds of reasons for people to hide the truth. In this particular case he just didn’t harbor patience for it.
“Sure you are,” he said. “Jayne. Why don’t you show Sam to the engine room?”
Jayne stepped forward eagerly, reaching for her arm. “Sure, Mal.”
She wrenched her arm free of the touch, pivoting around into a wary stance he recognized as a sign of one used to defending herself. Now he was almost wishing Jayne would try something.
“You want me to be here when he wakes up,” she said, her head canting back toward her man. “Trust me.”
Her accent was a bit queer, something he couldn’t quite place, but almost as if she had a bit of companion training somewhere in her past. Though any gentility of prose fell short of masking the fact that her words were more threat than question. She’d do well to learn her place in the scheme of things.
Mal stepped closer to her, one hand lowering to his gun, unsurprised when she didn’t give an inch of her ground. Yes, this woman certainly had gumption in spades. It was bound to get her killed.
“You’re new, so I’ll cut you some slack,” Mal said, his smile more feral than welcoming. “Keep in mind that as Captain, I’m the only one giving orders around here, and I don’t deal particularly well with disobedience. Dong ma?”
She looked confused a moment before her eyes traveled from his weapon to his face, her shoulders squaring and Mal had to rethink the companion background idea, there was something distinctly military about the way she held herself. Snapping her mouth shut on what was surely a mutinous response, she eventually nodded mutely, her eyes still glaring flinty shards at him.
Mal could say one thing for this woman, she would surely make things a mite interesting. He wasn’t overly fond of interesting, it usually led to people trying to blast holes in his ship. “River says you’ve an eye for engines. Serenity took a bit of a beating and Kaylee’d appreciate the help.”
Her eyes darted back towards the unconscious man being treated under Simon’s care before finally allowing herself to be drawn away.
“Suit yourself,” she mumbled as she left.
It wasn’t until hours later that Mal would understand he’d made a slight miscalculation.
+++
Sam followed the bulky man with the improbable name of Jayne through the small corridors of the ship, trying to take in as much of the layout as she could. He kept sneaking looks back at her that she dearly hoped he didn’t think were subtle. She got the distinct impression that he was one of those men where what you saw was exactly what you got. What she saw as she followed him was a slightly pervy gunhand who probably wouldn’t hesitate to shoot first and rob you second. Which pretty much answered the question of what he would do if he ever found out the Alliance currently had a rather hefty price on Jack and Sam’s heads. Hopefully they would get the hell off this ship long before that became an issue.
Jayne stepped aside to ostensibly allow her to pass first into the next room, a show of gentility belied by the leer he gave her as she slid by, his eyes nowhere near her face. Knowledge that her still damp blouse no doubt gave him a lovely view did not help matters.
Sam took a deep breath and forced herself not to knock Jayne on his ass, carefully stepping clear of him and into the next room. Only one reason kept her from making it very clear that his attention was unwelcome: she might be able to take advantage of it at some point.
Logically, she knew there must have been a point in her life when she saw people as more than just advantages and disadvantages, but she’d been treating people as nothing more than angles to be manipulated for so damn long she couldn’t remember the last time she’d met a human gaze with anything close to sincerity. It began to ache a bit, this constant high alert tension she’d been living with.
So when the mechanic for Serenity turned out to be a young woman with a broad, honest face and easy joviality, Sam felt herself thrown a bit off kilter. She hadn’t thought she’d actually like anyone on this ship.
“Thanks, Jayne, we’re good here,” the girl said, shooing him off with her fingers. Once he’d gone, she turned conspiratorially to Sam. “I figure we get a lot more done without him drooling over your shoulder.”
Sam was surprised enough to laugh.
“I’m Kaylee,” she said, sticking out her hand.
Sam took her hand, felt the slick of oil on her warm skin. There was something familiar and comforting about her that instantly set Sam at ease. “Sam.”
“Welcome to Serenity.” Kaylee patted the hunk of metal next to her affectionately.
“Thanks,” Sam said. The ship was obviously well cared for, but Sam still got a rather cobbled together vibe from the engine room. Rather like Serenity’s crew.
Kaylee brushed a strand of hair out of her face, leaving a gritty smudge on her forehead. “Is your friend going to be okay?”
“Yes,” Sam said, her hands clenching in her muddy skirt. Somehow having someone sincerely ask made it worse. “Simon seems to think so.”
“Well, then he will be,” Kaylee said with total confidence. “There’s no better doc than Simon. Saved my own life more than once.”
The girl got a bit of a dreamy look on her face and Sam ducked her head to hide her smirk. So that was how it was. She filed that tidbit away with all the others.
Kaylee spent the next ten minutes naming various systems and proudly pointing out any personal modifications she'd undertaken. Most of the words went right over Sam's head. This ship was unlike anything she'd been on so far. Then again, they'd spent most of their time huddled in holds of large transports. Her knowledge of Earth technologies only got her so far.
Sam waited until Kaylee was back to tinkering with the engine to start digging for information.
“I was wondering,” Sam said as casually as she could manage.
“Yeah?”
“The girl…”
“River,” Kaylee supplied.
“Yeah, River. How does she…I mean, what exactly…” For the life of her, Sam couldn’t come up with a way to ask. The fighting, the creepy stares, the way she just seemed to know things.
Kaylee, however, got her gist, smiling and patting Sam on the shoulder. “She’s a reader,” she said as if that answered everything.
“A reader?”
“Yeah, you know, someone who can see into people’s thoughts.”
Sam didn’t know whether to laugh or go and make herself a hat out of tinfoil. “You can’t be serious.” Frankly, of all the weird shit she’d seen in her life, the idea of a mind reader was by far the most frightening.
“You’ve seen it,” Kaylee said with a shrug, wiping her hands on her overalls before diving headfirst back into the engine. “Could you hand me the kortan coupler?”
Sam looked down into the box of foreign looking implements and grabbed one at random, pressing it into Kaylee’s outstretched hand.
Kaylee popped back out, giving Sam a strange look. “I thought you were supposed to know engines.”
“I’m just a homesteader,” Sam replied with a shrug.
Kaylee eyed her for another moment, suspicion resting uneasily on her face.
Probably for the best, Sam thought. The last thing she needed was to actually like anyone on board.
Kaylee pointed. “The blue one with the fat handle.”
Sam picked it up.
+++
“We have a situation in the infirmary, sir,” Zoe’s calm voice informed Mal over the comm a few hours later.
The ‘situation’ turned out to be the no longer unconscious patient holding a knife to Simon’s throat. The guy had looked kinda soft when he’d been bleeding out in the mud, with his grey hair and pale face.
Wasn’t a soft edge left now.
“Tell me someone bothered to search him before he was brought on board,” Mal demanded, even though it was perfectly clear no one had.
Jayne mumbling, “Just let me shoot him,” was the only answer he got. Frankly, Mal didn’t know if he meant the stranger or the Doc.
“Where the hell is Carter?” the man demanded, apparently not for the first time.
Mal could only assume he meant Sam. “Would somebody get that damn woman in here?” Mal hollered.
Jayne darted out of the room with a nod.
By the time Sam appeared, having apparently dawdled as much as humanly possible along the way, she sent Mal a dark look that fairly screamed, ‘I warned you.’ At least she had the presence of mind not to say so out loud.
The man still had Simon around the neck, even as he wobbled a bit. Sam edged cautiously into his line of sight.
“Jack,” she said, her hands held out in front of her as if approaching a spooked horse.
The man wobbled again, his eyes swinging wide before resting on her. “Carter,” he responded in a rough voice, his hands tightening to judge from the lack of color in Simon’s face. He looked her over from head to toe. Mal assumed he was checking her for injuries until he said, “What the hell are you wearing?”
Sweat dripped down his face, trailing past crazed eyes wide with something Mal recognized as dangerous. This was not a man to turn your back on.
“He’s cracked,” Jayne helpfully observed.
Sam ignored him, moving a little closer. “Jack, why don’t you let go of the nice doctor?”
The man glanced at Simon and then back at Sam. “Where’s Daniel and Teal’c?”
Who and what? Perhaps the man, Jack, had taken a knock to the head at some point as well. Sam didn’t seem thrown by it though, still cautiously covering the distance to him.
“You’ve been injured,” she said, her voice low and soothing. “The doctor is helping you.”
Jack didn’t look like he was inclined to believe her, his eyes narrowing. “I feel like I’ve been shot. Who the hell shot me?”
She sighed then, loudly and with irritation. Mal wondered for the first time if maybe she’d been the one to shoot him in the first place. “Don’t you think story time can wait until after you’ve stopped bleeding?” she demanded, gesturing at his wound.
He glanced down to his side where blood was seeping across the nice, wide bandage. “Shit.”
Sam smiled, taking a few more steps towards him, reaching out for the weapon. “Let me hold onto the knife for now, okay?”
He let her pull the weapon away, Simon slipping free as the grip on his throat loosened.
“Sam?” Jack asked uncertainly, something in his eyes finally seeming to come into focus.
“Yeah,” she replied, lowering the knife to the table as her other hand lifted to his arm. “Everything’s okay.”
The touch seemed to calm him, but then his whole body swayed.
“I think I’m going to pass out,” he announced and promptly lost his footing, Sam lunging forward to stop his fall. Simon stepped in to help her, apparently having already forgotten the man’s attempt to slit his throat. Together, they controlled Jack’s descent to the floor.
The guy did look deceptively soft when he was unconscious. Not a mistake Mal planned on making twice.
“I want him bound.” Simon’s mouth popped open in protest, but Mal just shook his head. “That ain’t a request.”
“Did you give him something?” Sam asked as they wrestled Jack back onto the table.
“Something for the pain,” Simon confirmed, pulling back the bandages to check the damage.
Sam watched him work. “It might be better if you didn’t.”
Simon paused in his motion, looking up at Sam in confusion. “Why?”
She pressed her lips together, not looking inclined to answer.
“You tryin’ to tell us that wasn’t normal behavior?” Mal asked.
“He was disoriented,” she said, “and he isn’t the kind of man you want to feel confused. Or threatened.”
That he had no problem believing. “Doc?”
Simon shrugged. “It’s not unheard of for people to have adverse reactions to certain drugs, but I’m only using the most common kinds.”
“Well, just assume Jack isn’t common,” Sam interjected.
Something in her tone made Mal suspicious again, but as her main goal at the moment seemed to be keeping her man from slaughtering anyone, he’d ignore it for now. “Do as she says, Doc, but I still want him bound.”
Simon nodded absently, leaving it to Jayne to take care of the restraints. “He’s just torn some of his stitches,” he said to Sam. “He’ll be fine.”
“Thank you, Doctor,” she replied with real relief, giving Simon a warm smile. It was sweetness Mal hadn’t expected. ‘Course that all leeched away when she turned back to him. “Permission to stay here?”
Mal flinched inwardly at the blunt edge of her sarcasm. He was beginning to think he should have taken his own damn advice and left her well enough alone.
He turned on his heel without responding, leaving Jayne to keep an eye on their guests.
The lunatic woman had better be worth it.
+++
Jack woke to find Sam sitting next to him and his wrists bound to his bed. A situation that might not have been quite so unappetizing if not for the lancet of pain in his side and the unfamiliar surroundings. Of course, he was getting pretty used to waking up in unfamiliar surroundings.
“Hey,” he managed to croak.
Sam’s head lifted from the edge of his bed. “Hey,” she echoed. Her eyes traveled across his face as if assessing him.
Shifting slightly, Jack tugged experimentally at the restraints on his wrists. He quirked an eyebrow at Sam in question.
“You feeling any less crazy?” she asked, and only then did flashes of the last day come back to him.
“Much,” he said, glad his head no longer felt like the worst parts of the seventies. He’d had some insane dreams. “Didn’t maim anyone, did I?”
Her fingers ran gently through his hair, an incredibly soothing sensation that tempted his eyes back closed. “No. No maiming,” she said. “Though you did try to slit Simon’s throat.”
“Simon?” he asked, his eyes cracking open again.
“The doctor that patched you up,” she said, her eyes flicking behind him.
A dark-haired, clean-cut man stepped into his field of vision, looking slightly nervous. Not surprising if what Sam said was true. “Sorry about that, Doc.”
The man shrugged. “Happens more often than you would imagine.”
“Maybe it’s the company you keep,” Sam said.
Simon smiled wryly. “No doubt.”
Looking past the doctor, Jack noticed another man lounging near the door, obviously armed, though if he was here to watch Jack, he was doing a poor job of it.
Jack glanced at Sam. “Is it just me, or is that guy ogling you?”
Sam didn’t even bother to look in the direction he indicated, just sighed. “That’s Jayne,” she said, as if that explained it.
“Jayne?” he echoed. It seemed an improbable name for a guy with that many muscles and an obvious penchant for the ladies.
“How is the pain?” the doctor interjected, apparently trying to change the subject.
Jack’s lips pressed together. It hurt like hell if he was honest. “I’ll live,” he settled for saying.
Sam’s hand tightened on his arm. “Yes, you will.”
“Good,” yet another man said as he walked into the room with just enough swagger for Jack to suspect he was the leader of this little merry band. He was staring at Sam with an obvious mix of suspicion and annoyance. “That means it’s time for you to keep your end of the bargain.”
Jack did not like the sound of that. “Bargain?”
The leader turned to regard him, a humorless smile on his face. “You don’t think we patched you up out of the goodness of our hearts, do you?”
Jack shoved up on his elbow, really not caring for the man’s tone, but Sam’s arm across his chest kept him anchored.
“For God’s sake, Jack, you’re going to rip your stitches again,” she hissed in his ear.
“Mayhap he fears for your virtue,” the leader said and Jack felt the urge to maim rising again.
Sam looked up at him. “He knows I can take care of myself.”
Jack was about to protest that this had nothing to do with his faith in her abilities, but she not so subtly leaned against his wound and he bit back a groan. He didn’t need to see her face to know she was giving him her ‘don’t be an ass, Jack’ glare.
Some days he really missed being able to order her around. She was a lot less scary back then, he was certain of it.
“Let’s go discuss the particulars,” the leader said, stepping back out through the door.
Sam pushed to her feet to follow, but Jack stopped her, sitting up as much as he could between his wound and the restraints. “Sam.”
She relented, dropping back. “I’ll be fine. I don’t get the sense that these people are out to get us.”
“Yeah, real hearts of gold, I can already tell,” he said with a grimace. His side really burned like a son of a bitch.
Sam lingered a moment longer, her expression shifting as her hand brushed his cheek.
It was so rare these days to see a crack in her shields, or even a moment of softness. That more than anything told him exactly how exhausted she was. “Sam?” he asked.
She shook her head, her eyes dropping away. “It was just a bit too close this time,” she said, her voice lowered so as not to be overheard.
He remembered. He’d been fairly certain he wouldn’t make it off that mud planet. She’d made it happen though, somehow. She always did.
“Hey,” he said, catching her fingers with his. “There is no way I am leaving you alone out here, no matter how happy that might make Jayne.”
There was the briefest flash of amusement on her face, but then she leaned in closer, her forehead touching his. “I will hold you to that, Jack O’Neill,” she said fiercely. She brushed a quick kiss across his lips and stepped away, her all too familiar game face back in place.
“You done yet?” came the caustic voice of their leader.
Sam closed her eyes briefly as if gathering patience.
“Be careful,” Jack couldn’t help advising. If she was allowed to worry about him, he would damn well return the favor.
Sam nodded, plastered a neutral smile on her face, and followed the guy out of the infirmary.
Jack dropped back to the bed, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath against the fire of pain in his side. Not his best day ever, all things told.
His eyes snapped open when he heard the soft hush of someone moving nearby. A thin, graceful girl with long black hair stood at the foot of his bed, her head tilted to one side. She peered at him, not so much looking him in the eye as staring a hole into his forehead.
“You’re so quiet,” she said, “it’s like you’re not even here.”
Jack felt something trail across his skin, a sort of itch that never boded well. “If you say so, kid.”
She smiled, an empty gesture that didn’t reach her eyes, and for some reason he got the feeling she was just as freaked out by him as he was by her. She moved back across the room to the far corner, folding herself up small, but never taking her eyes off him.
And so Jack was left with Jayne, the doctor, and a strange girl staring at him from her perch in the corner.
Just when he thought this damn galaxy couldn’t get any weirder.
:: next::