Gen: Shadow: Chapter 1
Fic Title: Shadow
Setting: Post-Series/Pre-BDM
Rating: PG
Warnings: A note to self that may benefit others: Do not... I repeat do NOT try to write under extreme stress. It sometimes backfires in the worst way. I apologize to all for my error. A special thank you to grapho_spasm for making everything right and having a wonderful brain. Also, special thanks to our newcomer sagey1899 for keeping us abiding to our own guidelines as I have a tendency to get carried away. Heh - I think I'll go stick my head in the sand again. You all will be much better off, I think.
NOTE: CHAPTER 2 HAS ALREADY BEEN CLAIMED (previously). It'll be posted soon. Thanks.
***Chapter 1***
“You sure about this, Sir?”
“Don’t see as I have a choice in the matter, Zoë. We go where the work takes us, and the work brought us here.”
“How long has it been?”
“A good long while, Zo…” Mal turned away from her, his shoulders stiff, but his head slightly bent, as he watched their approach of the planet. “How much longer, Wash?” His voice was low, resigned.
“Should break atmo in a coupla hours.”
“Then I better go prep the crew, fill them in.”
He grabbed the com and called everyone to the mess, leaving without saying a word or waiting for Zoë to follow him. The fact that he hadn’t told the rest of the crew about the job after finding out the location led her to believe there was more he wasn’t saying. More he was holding from her… and she didn’t like it. When he’d asked her and Wash to keep a lid on the job details she’d been disturbed. Last time he had kept something from her, they’d found themselves surveying the outer rim until they met up with Patience. While Zoë trusted Mal implicitly, she didn’t like it when he kept things from her. There was definitely something here he wasn’t sharing, and that made her a deep-in-the-belly kind of nervous.
******
“We’ll be landing here shortly.” Mal stood at the head of the table lookin' down on them all. “We’re just pickin up and then takin off.”
“Landing where exactly? Just what’s so gorram special about this job that you couldn’t even tell us where we we’re goin’?” Jayne’s mouth was full of snack-sized protein chips as he spoke, and a speck flew out and landed on the table.
“Because I had some things to figure out before we land, is why. And this job is on a need to know basis… you don’t need to know anything ‘cept what I choose to reveal.”
“But, Mal…” He could sense Jayne’s schoolboy opposition starting up. “ I gotta know where we’re goin’. Need to be prepared to find myself a little fun, ya know what I mean?”
“Yeah, I know what you mean, but you’re not gonna find any fun here. I can tell you that now. This here’s a dead planet, uninhabitable, and anyway we won’t be stayin' long enough.”
“But, Mal…”
“Hush up, Jayne,” Kaylee hissed, as she noticed the slump of Mal’s shoulders, and the artificial stoic he was wearin on his face. “Cap’n told you once, he don’t need to explain it to you.”
Jayne stared at her, then took in Mal’s look, and closed his mouth.
“We’re going to Shadow,” Mal said.
Kaylee gasped, and Book’s fingers tightened on his Bible.
“Mal…” Inara whispered.
Jayne glanced around. “What’s so special about Shadow?”
Of course it would be Jayne that asked, but Mal didn’t feel like talking anymore. Any details they needed to know could be worked out later. He turned to leave the mess. Stopping in the doorway, briefly, he glanced back over his shoulder. He owed ‘em something, after all.
“I’m going home,” he said under his breath.
Setting: Post-Series/Pre-BDM
Rating: PG
Warnings: A note to self that may benefit others: Do not... I repeat do NOT try to write under extreme stress. It sometimes backfires in the worst way. I apologize to all for my error. A special thank you to grapho_spasm for making everything right and having a wonderful brain. Also, special thanks to our newcomer sagey1899 for keeping us abiding to our own guidelines as I have a tendency to get carried away. Heh - I think I'll go stick my head in the sand again. You all will be much better off, I think.
NOTE: CHAPTER 2 HAS ALREADY BEEN CLAIMED (previously). It'll be posted soon. Thanks.
***Chapter 1***
“You sure about this, Sir?”
“Don’t see as I have a choice in the matter, Zoë. We go where the work takes us, and the work brought us here.”
“How long has it been?”
“A good long while, Zo…” Mal turned away from her, his shoulders stiff, but his head slightly bent, as he watched their approach of the planet. “How much longer, Wash?” His voice was low, resigned.
“Should break atmo in a coupla hours.”
“Then I better go prep the crew, fill them in.”
He grabbed the com and called everyone to the mess, leaving without saying a word or waiting for Zoë to follow him. The fact that he hadn’t told the rest of the crew about the job after finding out the location led her to believe there was more he wasn’t saying. More he was holding from her… and she didn’t like it. When he’d asked her and Wash to keep a lid on the job details she’d been disturbed. Last time he had kept something from her, they’d found themselves surveying the outer rim until they met up with Patience. While Zoë trusted Mal implicitly, she didn’t like it when he kept things from her. There was definitely something here he wasn’t sharing, and that made her a deep-in-the-belly kind of nervous.
******
“We’ll be landing here shortly.” Mal stood at the head of the table lookin' down on them all. “We’re just pickin up and then takin off.”
“Landing where exactly? Just what’s so gorram special about this job that you couldn’t even tell us where we we’re goin’?” Jayne’s mouth was full of snack-sized protein chips as he spoke, and a speck flew out and landed on the table.
“Because I had some things to figure out before we land, is why. And this job is on a need to know basis… you don’t need to know anything ‘cept what I choose to reveal.”
“But, Mal…” He could sense Jayne’s schoolboy opposition starting up. “ I gotta know where we’re goin’. Need to be prepared to find myself a little fun, ya know what I mean?”
“Yeah, I know what you mean, but you’re not gonna find any fun here. I can tell you that now. This here’s a dead planet, uninhabitable, and anyway we won’t be stayin' long enough.”
“But, Mal…”
“Hush up, Jayne,” Kaylee hissed, as she noticed the slump of Mal’s shoulders, and the artificial stoic he was wearin on his face. “Cap’n told you once, he don’t need to explain it to you.”
Jayne stared at her, then took in Mal’s look, and closed his mouth.
“We’re going to Shadow,” Mal said.
Kaylee gasped, and Book’s fingers tightened on his Bible.
“Mal…” Inara whispered.
Jayne glanced around. “What’s so special about Shadow?”
Of course it would be Jayne that asked, but Mal didn’t feel like talking anymore. Any details they needed to know could be worked out later. He turned to leave the mess. Stopping in the doorway, briefly, he glanced back over his shoulder. He owed ‘em something, after all.
“I’m going home,” he said under his breath.