Firefly Fic: Turnabout is Fair Play - Ch.2/?

Mar 23, 2009 10:08

Title: Turnabout is Fair Play
Chapter: 2 / ?
Author: caffeinified
Fandom: Firefly/Serenity
Characters/Pairing: Crew, Mal/Inara (eventually)
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I don't own Firefly. It's just for fun.
Summary: A few years post Serenity the movie. Totally AU and made up from there.

Previous Chapters: 1

“Don’t see why you think we gotta follow ‘em into the core. This’s Mal’s mess.”

Zoe didn’t even grant Jayne the stern look she wanted to give him. There wasn’t time for her to argue with him. But she did state one simple fact that he couldn’t argue. “All three of us were in on that job, Jayne. And the way I remember it, the whole crew got coin off of it. We’re not leavin’ him with them.”

While Zoe turned to speak to River about what could be done to follow the massive Alliance vessel into the core, Inara stepped out of her shuttle onto the catwalk. She had heard voices and always liked to check that all bodies were accounted for. The lack of a certain presence caused her heart to skip a beat in her chest. Outwardly she looked calm and graceful as she descended the stairwell.

Jayne was closing the cargo door and River flounced off towards the cockpit. Inara stepped close to Zoe, watching her with wide expectant eyes. The question didn’t even need to be voiced.

“Was a trap. Your friend Atherton sold the Captain to the Alliance.” The irritation that Zoe had attempted to keep out of her voice seeped through anyway. Since Wash’s death she had been somewhat of a cynic where relationships were concerned. And truth be told, even since the Miranda debacle, even with the ever intensifying relationship between Mal and Inara, she had been waiting for Inara to get sick of this life and leave again.

“Atherton?” Inara asked quietly, still calm and statuesque even though she momentarily forgot to breathe. Once she regained her composure, she offered the only assistance she could in this situation. “I can speak with some of my old contacts on the Cortex.”

At one point she had been quite popular in the Core. It had been years since she had registered as a Companion or done any work with the Guild though. Her reputation had dimmed substantially in lieu of her relationship with a rogue sky pirate that she couldn’t make herself leave behind.

“You do that.” Zoe answered sharply as she turned on her heel to head for the bridge with River. “We’re goin’ to rescue the Captain.”

Grumbling, Jayne pushed past Inara to follow. “Still don’t like it.”

Inara stood still for only a heartbeat after she was left alone in the cargo bay. Then she lifted the skirts of her robe and hurried to the stairwell. The fact was that Mal was gone. He was in the hands of people who hated him, a hatred that had been simmering and building for years. And now she had to see if she had any clout left with the higher ups of the Alliance Control.

**

Mal hated this room. It was actually a cell. He couldn’t remember how long it had been since he had been somewhere that he couldn’t see the sky. This room had no windows and it drove him crazy, making him even more irritated than he already was. He paced the room back and forth like a caged animal whose only goal in life was to be free. There were four walls, a floor and a ceiling. Each surface looked the same. Even the door blended in with the walls and had no window to look out into the hallway. The light in the corner of the room had seen better days. It only cast a dim glow on the room, barely enough to see in.

A few minutes ago he had felt the hum and shift of the ship that only an experienced flyer could feel. They had left the docks and were on their way into wherever they were taking him. His hands were still cuffed behind his back leaving him with nothing that he could do but wait, not that he hadn’t tried to do more than that. With his back to the wall where the door was he had felt around for a chamber that might contain a way to override the lock. The search had left him empty handed and tired.

He heard the click of the lock and stopped his pacing to look over to the door. As a flood of light from the hallway filled the room, a man who looked like he might be in charge walked in flanked by several Alliance soldiers.

Mal squinted into the light. “Well… the gang’s all here. Can’t say I’m carin’ much for the décor though. Just doesn’t scream ‘party’ to me.”

The older man chuckled, glancing down to the floor and back up. “The infamous Captain Reynolds. I must say that when my men told me that the apprehension had been successful and without casualty, I was surprised and a bit disappointed. Bringing you in will be one of the highlights of my career, Captain.”

“Which doesn’t say much for your career, does it?” Mal smirked and watched the tension build in the officer before him. “Anyway I know when I’m outnumbered. You don’t think the number of men you sent for me was overkill?”

“Most definitely not. You’re here aren’t you?” The officer said. “You recently performed a job in the core that resulted in the death of many a good officer.”

“Don’t know what you’re talkin’ about.” But in all honesty, he knew exactly what job was being discussed. He had almost been killed in the process. Mal made it a point to remember times when he was almost killed. The job had gone wrong. The Alliance officers had opened fire and he had fired back. Mal had been the better shot and had still gotten away with the loot.

“We’ll be sure to make you remember.” The officer snapped his fingers and another soldier brought in a plate of some kind of food. He set it on the floor so haphazardly that some of the food spilled over onto the floor. “For now, we would like for you to keep your strength up.”

Mal arched a brow. “For what? The torturin’?”

“Captain Reynolds, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The officer tossed Mal’s words back at him although the look on the man’s face belied the truth. There would be plenty of torturing.

In the months after the war, Mal had experienced exactly the kind of torture that the Alliance was capable of. There was a long moment of understanding that passed between the men. There would be torture. And Mal wouldn’t easily be broken.

Mal turned halfway, indicating the cuffs at his back. “You gonna move these so I can eat? Seein’ as I need to keep my strength up and all…”

“No, no I believe we’ll keep them right where they are. I’m sure you can find a way to eat despite them. If there’s anything I’ve heard about you it’s that you’re resourceful.” The officer turned and walked out.

One of the soldiers grinned at him and then leaned in and whispered. “Get on your knees like the dog you are and eat… Captain.”

Mal watched the group leave, the door and the light once again disappearing from the room so that he was left with four walls, a ceiling and a floor. Eventually his eyes would adjust again but for the moment it felt like it was completely dark in the room. Mal knew there was food on the floor but at the moment he couldn’t see it. To eat he would have to get down on his knees and just use his mouth. It was something he refused to do… at least not until he felt he had to or was made to. And if there was anything else they should have heard about him aside from his resourcefulness, it was that he was a stubborn hundan.

|author / creator| caffeinified, |fandom| firefly/serenity, |entry| writing

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