Torchwood/Firefly/Serenity - fic - Vinegar And Brown Paper, Part 1, 12/PG-13
I think this is going to be big, and I've got 1500 words, so let's post it as a WIP...
Fandoms - Torchwood and Firefly/Serenity
Title - Vinegar And Brown Paper, Part 1
Author - laurab1
Characters - Torchwood and Firefly/Serenity teams
Rating - 12/PG-13
Length - approx 1500 words
Spoilers - general for both shows
Story summary - Serenity falls through the Rift, from 2518 to 2007 Cardiff
Disclaimer - alas, none of these people are mine
Feedback is loved and appreciated :) Enjoy!
Note - this is a vague sequel to my pre-Who!Jack/Inara fic, A Dance to the Music of Time
Thanks to in_the_bottle for Chinese help, yet again :)
Vinegar And Brown Paper
by Laura
Part 1
They’re just flying through the black, like always, and all of a sudden, River gasps, as she feels something. A huge rip, in time and space. A rift, a crack. Serenity’s fallen into it.
“We’re falling through time, Simon,” she tells her brother, as they sit together in the medical bay, after today’s tests. “We might break.”
River’s already broken mind drifts, and she recites a few ancient children’s rhymes from Earth-that-was (-is)...
“Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water
Jack fell down and broke his crown
And Jill came tumbling after.
Up got Jack, and home did trot
As fast as he could caper
He went to bed and bound his head
With vinegar and brown paper.”
“Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the King's horses, And all the King's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again!”
“Chuang qian ming yue guang
Yi shi di shang shuang
Ju tou wang ming yue
Di tou shi go xiang.”
She comes back to herself, and takes Simon’s hand. “Bridge. Come on.”
***
They arrive at the bridge. Wash has regained control of the ship, and he’s flying her down to Earth. Grass, everywhere. Air... space, no, air traffic control come over the radio. River knows from their tones that the voices are Welsh, and she hears them ask for Torchwood.
"It’s 2007, and Torchwood will put Serenity back together again," she says, and Mal tells Simon to take her away.
***
In the Torchwood Three Hub, Toshiko is monitoring air traffic control, along with a dozen other things. "Jack, everyone’s reporting an unknown, strange plane appearing out of thin air. Sounds like it’s a ship that’s fallen through the Rift.”
“Patch me through to them,” Jack asks her. It takes just a few seconds. “This is Torchwood,” she hears him say. “Find an open space to land and we'll come and get you. Toshiko, stay here and track ‘em for us, please and -” he orders.
She cuts him off, smirking: “- Spin the press a line about crop circles?”
Jack grins back at her. “Oh, yeah. That faithful old stand-by will do just fine.” Heading to his office, he returns with the cloaking device they found last month. “Owen, Gwen, with me. Let’s go see what we’ve got this time, people.”
***
Inara is listening in, from her shuttle. What was Jack, of all people, doing here? “Mal,” she says, coming onto the bridge. “I know that voice.”
“How might that be, Inara?” he asks, as his finishes his argument with Wash. Then Zoe starts arguing with Wash.
“He was my client, on Persephone.”
There’s jealousy in Mal’s eyes. He says, “Doc’s crazy little sister’s been chanting nursery rhymes and shi, telling me we’re in 2007, on Earth-that-was. Or is, I figure. Says this Torchwood will put us back together again. Can he help me get my boat back to our own time?”
Inara sighs, exasperated at the man, yet again. “Her name is River, Mal, and I’ve no idea. Why don’t we let them in, when they arrive, and see? Then I can introduce you to Captain Jack Harkness.”
And, oh, won’t that be fun. She can already smell the testosterone, see the posturing.
***
A Firefly, that’s what they’ve got. Even more rickety than the TARDIS. She’s a little scorched from atmospheric entry, but Jack can still make out her name: Serenity.
Serenity. Where he had some absolutely amazing sex with Registered Companion, Inara Serra. “I know this ship,” he admits, running his hand over the hull. “I’ve seen her before.”
“Of course you bloody have,” Owen says, rolling his eyes. “Shagged her too, I bet.”
“Kinda difficult, Owen,” Jack replies, grinning. “But perfectly possible, with some ships.”
“I do not want to know, Harkness!”
Whereas Gwen asks, “When, Jack?”
He turns to the two of them. “Hundred and forty years ago. Or May 2517. It was in Athens, on Persephone. C’mon, let’s knock on the door. Then we’ll see what we can do to get them back to their own time.”
“Slingshot around the sun?” Owen suggests.
“Why the hell not?”
“Would that even work?”
He pulls half of the two part cloaking device from his pocket and slaps it on the ship. Magnets hold it in place. “You’d be surprised what works in a space ship, when you put your mind to it, Owen Harper.” With another smirk, Jack knocks.
***
At the noise, Inara watches Mal stalk towards the ship’s door, and open it. The whole crew’s here, apart from Simon and River.
“Torchwood,” Jack announces, simply. She can’t see him, but she can certainly hear that big smile in his voice. “I believe you’ve been expecting us. Can we come in?”
“Yeah,” Mal replies, and lets Jack, another man and a woman onto Serenity.
“Inara,” Jack says, as he spots her. His voice is low, and there’s more than a little wonder in it. He strides up to her, takes her hand, and kisses the back of it. Still a gentleman, then.
“Captain Harkness,” she says, and smiles at him. “How lovely to see you again.”
“And you, Miss Serra.” Jack smiles back at her. It’s then that Inara sees more time on his face than has actually passed since they last met. What happened to you, Jack?
“Far too much to tell, Inara.” But before she has a chance to process that he spoke and she didn’t, Jack asks, “Whose ship is this, then?”
“Serenity’s mine,” Mal replies.
Jack turns his attention to him. “Captain Jack Harkness. And who are you?” he says, hand held out.
“Captain Mal Reynolds.”
“Nice to meet you, Captain Mal Reynolds. Love the coat.”
They shake hands. Inara notices Jack’s eyes rake over Mal, and she realises there’s yet another thing he didn’t tell her. Then Simon and River arrive in the hold, the brother trying to calm his broken, too smart sister, as usual. River lets go of Simon’s hand, and aims straight for Jack, who’s finished flirting with Mal, for the timebeing.
“Torchwood,” she says, looking up at him.
“Yeah, sweetheart. River, is it?” He’s looking at her like she’s a frightened animal.
“Come to put us together again. Even though you’re the King’s men.”
“Well, we’re the Queen’s men and women just now,” Jack says, but looks confused. He turns to his crew. They talk among themselves. Then he gets it, she sees, as his expression changes. “Sorry, River. Never had much cause to learn nursery rhymes from this era. But, yeah, we’re Torchwood. I’m Captain Jack Harkness; my team’s Gwen Cooper and Dr Owen Harper, and we’re gonna try to get you home.” Jack’s attention goes back to Mal. “Now, Captain Reynolds, you gonna introduce the rest of your crew?”
***
“Five hot guys and five very pretty ladies,” Jack says, looking around. Inara, Zoe, Kaylee, River and the ship. “I’m being spoilt, here! Kinda wishing I’d stuck around, now.” He pretends he doesn’t hear Gwen and Owen’s wishes.
Along similar lines.
“I’m only seeing four,” Mal says, looking puzzled.
“I think Jack’s counting Serenity, Cap’n,” Kaylee, the mechanic, loudly whispers.
“I knew that, mei-mei,” Mal says, too quickly.
Jack smiles. “Yeah. And your ship’s always the prettiest lady of all, Mal. Treat her like a woman, and she’ll see you right.”
“Don’t you go stealing my boat, Harkness.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” he replies, aiming for innocence. And failing.
“I ain’t mightily inclined to believe you about that.”
Jack laughs. “That’s probably wise. Is she in one piece?”
“Mostly,” Kaylee says. “She told me she’s kinda tore up, but I can’t see where, yet.”
“She told you? Literally?” Even Jack’s surprised at that.
Kaylee just shrugs. “Serenity’s my girl, Jack. She talks to me all the time. Ships just do, always have.”
“Amazing,” Jack breathes. “A machinavox. Doc’d love you. C’mon, then, Miss Kaylee,” he says, hand at her back, ushering her in the direction of the engines, “you show me your beautiful girl’s heart, and I’ll tell you about some friends of mine.” They leave the hold.
***
“A machina-what?” Jayne asks, when they’ve gone.
“A machinavox. Someone who can understand thoroughly what ships and machines say, and reply to them appropriately,” River explains.
“It ain’t always so technical as that,” Mal says. Harkness sounds like he’ll be a perfect gentleman with Kaylee, but... “Zoe?”
“Cap’n?” she replies.
“Go make sure Harkness stays appropriate.”
“Sir,” she says, cocking her gun, before stalking off in the same direction.
“Female mechanic and a warrior woman,” Dr Harper says to Miss Cooper, eyebrows raised. “Tenner says he’s charmed them into a threesome by the time they come back.”
“The warrior woman’s my wife!” Wash says, and then clearly has another thought. “Will that actually stop him?”
“Not really, mate. Sorry about that,” Dr Harper tells him. “But she could always threaten to shoot his balls off with that nice, big gun of hers, if he tries anything with either of them. What is that, anyway? A musket?”
TBC
Chinese translations
Chuang qian ming yue guang - By the bed the moon is shining
Yi shi di shang shuang - Stare at the frost all over the ground
Ju tou wang ming yue - Looking up you see the bright moon
Di tou shi go xiang - You look down, thinking of your old hometown/home
shi - poem
crosspost:
torch_wood
torchwood_fic
dwfiction
galactic_conman
crossoverfic
firefly_plus
Fandoms - Torchwood and Firefly/Serenity
Title - Vinegar And Brown Paper, Part 1
Author - laurab1
Characters - Torchwood and Firefly/Serenity teams
Rating - 12/PG-13
Length - approx 1500 words
Spoilers - general for both shows
Story summary - Serenity falls through the Rift, from 2518 to 2007 Cardiff
Disclaimer - alas, none of these people are mine
Feedback is loved and appreciated :) Enjoy!
Note - this is a vague sequel to my pre-Who!Jack/Inara fic, A Dance to the Music of Time
Thanks to in_the_bottle for Chinese help, yet again :)
Vinegar And Brown Paper
by Laura
Part 1
They’re just flying through the black, like always, and all of a sudden, River gasps, as she feels something. A huge rip, in time and space. A rift, a crack. Serenity’s fallen into it.
“We’re falling through time, Simon,” she tells her brother, as they sit together in the medical bay, after today’s tests. “We might break.”
River’s already broken mind drifts, and she recites a few ancient children’s rhymes from Earth-that-was (-is)...
“Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water
Jack fell down and broke his crown
And Jill came tumbling after.
Up got Jack, and home did trot
As fast as he could caper
He went to bed and bound his head
With vinegar and brown paper.”
“Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the King's horses, And all the King's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again!”
“Chuang qian ming yue guang
Yi shi di shang shuang
Ju tou wang ming yue
Di tou shi go xiang.”
She comes back to herself, and takes Simon’s hand. “Bridge. Come on.”
***
They arrive at the bridge. Wash has regained control of the ship, and he’s flying her down to Earth. Grass, everywhere. Air... space, no, air traffic control come over the radio. River knows from their tones that the voices are Welsh, and she hears them ask for Torchwood.
"It’s 2007, and Torchwood will put Serenity back together again," she says, and Mal tells Simon to take her away.
***
In the Torchwood Three Hub, Toshiko is monitoring air traffic control, along with a dozen other things. "Jack, everyone’s reporting an unknown, strange plane appearing out of thin air. Sounds like it’s a ship that’s fallen through the Rift.”
“Patch me through to them,” Jack asks her. It takes just a few seconds. “This is Torchwood,” she hears him say. “Find an open space to land and we'll come and get you. Toshiko, stay here and track ‘em for us, please and -” he orders.
She cuts him off, smirking: “- Spin the press a line about crop circles?”
Jack grins back at her. “Oh, yeah. That faithful old stand-by will do just fine.” Heading to his office, he returns with the cloaking device they found last month. “Owen, Gwen, with me. Let’s go see what we’ve got this time, people.”
***
Inara is listening in, from her shuttle. What was Jack, of all people, doing here? “Mal,” she says, coming onto the bridge. “I know that voice.”
“How might that be, Inara?” he asks, as his finishes his argument with Wash. Then Zoe starts arguing with Wash.
“He was my client, on Persephone.”
There’s jealousy in Mal’s eyes. He says, “Doc’s crazy little sister’s been chanting nursery rhymes and shi, telling me we’re in 2007, on Earth-that-was. Or is, I figure. Says this Torchwood will put us back together again. Can he help me get my boat back to our own time?”
Inara sighs, exasperated at the man, yet again. “Her name is River, Mal, and I’ve no idea. Why don’t we let them in, when they arrive, and see? Then I can introduce you to Captain Jack Harkness.”
And, oh, won’t that be fun. She can already smell the testosterone, see the posturing.
***
A Firefly, that’s what they’ve got. Even more rickety than the TARDIS. She’s a little scorched from atmospheric entry, but Jack can still make out her name: Serenity.
Serenity. Where he had some absolutely amazing sex with Registered Companion, Inara Serra. “I know this ship,” he admits, running his hand over the hull. “I’ve seen her before.”
“Of course you bloody have,” Owen says, rolling his eyes. “Shagged her too, I bet.”
“Kinda difficult, Owen,” Jack replies, grinning. “But perfectly possible, with some ships.”
“I do not want to know, Harkness!”
Whereas Gwen asks, “When, Jack?”
He turns to the two of them. “Hundred and forty years ago. Or May 2517. It was in Athens, on Persephone. C’mon, let’s knock on the door. Then we’ll see what we can do to get them back to their own time.”
“Slingshot around the sun?” Owen suggests.
“Why the hell not?”
“Would that even work?”
He pulls half of the two part cloaking device from his pocket and slaps it on the ship. Magnets hold it in place. “You’d be surprised what works in a space ship, when you put your mind to it, Owen Harper.” With another smirk, Jack knocks.
***
At the noise, Inara watches Mal stalk towards the ship’s door, and open it. The whole crew’s here, apart from Simon and River.
“Torchwood,” Jack announces, simply. She can’t see him, but she can certainly hear that big smile in his voice. “I believe you’ve been expecting us. Can we come in?”
“Yeah,” Mal replies, and lets Jack, another man and a woman onto Serenity.
“Inara,” Jack says, as he spots her. His voice is low, and there’s more than a little wonder in it. He strides up to her, takes her hand, and kisses the back of it. Still a gentleman, then.
“Captain Harkness,” she says, and smiles at him. “How lovely to see you again.”
“And you, Miss Serra.” Jack smiles back at her. It’s then that Inara sees more time on his face than has actually passed since they last met. What happened to you, Jack?
“Far too much to tell, Inara.” But before she has a chance to process that he spoke and she didn’t, Jack asks, “Whose ship is this, then?”
“Serenity’s mine,” Mal replies.
Jack turns his attention to him. “Captain Jack Harkness. And who are you?” he says, hand held out.
“Captain Mal Reynolds.”
“Nice to meet you, Captain Mal Reynolds. Love the coat.”
They shake hands. Inara notices Jack’s eyes rake over Mal, and she realises there’s yet another thing he didn’t tell her. Then Simon and River arrive in the hold, the brother trying to calm his broken, too smart sister, as usual. River lets go of Simon’s hand, and aims straight for Jack, who’s finished flirting with Mal, for the timebeing.
“Torchwood,” she says, looking up at him.
“Yeah, sweetheart. River, is it?” He’s looking at her like she’s a frightened animal.
“Come to put us together again. Even though you’re the King’s men.”
“Well, we’re the Queen’s men and women just now,” Jack says, but looks confused. He turns to his crew. They talk among themselves. Then he gets it, she sees, as his expression changes. “Sorry, River. Never had much cause to learn nursery rhymes from this era. But, yeah, we’re Torchwood. I’m Captain Jack Harkness; my team’s Gwen Cooper and Dr Owen Harper, and we’re gonna try to get you home.” Jack’s attention goes back to Mal. “Now, Captain Reynolds, you gonna introduce the rest of your crew?”
***
“Five hot guys and five very pretty ladies,” Jack says, looking around. Inara, Zoe, Kaylee, River and the ship. “I’m being spoilt, here! Kinda wishing I’d stuck around, now.” He pretends he doesn’t hear Gwen and Owen’s wishes.
Along similar lines.
“I’m only seeing four,” Mal says, looking puzzled.
“I think Jack’s counting Serenity, Cap’n,” Kaylee, the mechanic, loudly whispers.
“I knew that, mei-mei,” Mal says, too quickly.
Jack smiles. “Yeah. And your ship’s always the prettiest lady of all, Mal. Treat her like a woman, and she’ll see you right.”
“Don’t you go stealing my boat, Harkness.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” he replies, aiming for innocence. And failing.
“I ain’t mightily inclined to believe you about that.”
Jack laughs. “That’s probably wise. Is she in one piece?”
“Mostly,” Kaylee says. “She told me she’s kinda tore up, but I can’t see where, yet.”
“She told you? Literally?” Even Jack’s surprised at that.
Kaylee just shrugs. “Serenity’s my girl, Jack. She talks to me all the time. Ships just do, always have.”
“Amazing,” Jack breathes. “A machinavox. Doc’d love you. C’mon, then, Miss Kaylee,” he says, hand at her back, ushering her in the direction of the engines, “you show me your beautiful girl’s heart, and I’ll tell you about some friends of mine.” They leave the hold.
***
“A machina-what?” Jayne asks, when they’ve gone.
“A machinavox. Someone who can understand thoroughly what ships and machines say, and reply to them appropriately,” River explains.
“It ain’t always so technical as that,” Mal says. Harkness sounds like he’ll be a perfect gentleman with Kaylee, but... “Zoe?”
“Cap’n?” she replies.
“Go make sure Harkness stays appropriate.”
“Sir,” she says, cocking her gun, before stalking off in the same direction.
“Female mechanic and a warrior woman,” Dr Harper says to Miss Cooper, eyebrows raised. “Tenner says he’s charmed them into a threesome by the time they come back.”
“The warrior woman’s my wife!” Wash says, and then clearly has another thought. “Will that actually stop him?”
“Not really, mate. Sorry about that,” Dr Harper tells him. “But she could always threaten to shoot his balls off with that nice, big gun of hers, if he tries anything with either of them. What is that, anyway? A musket?”
TBC
Chinese translations
Chuang qian ming yue guang - By the bed the moon is shining
Yi shi di shang shuang - Stare at the frost all over the ground
Ju tou wang ming yue - Looking up you see the bright moon
Di tou shi go xiang - You look down, thinking of your old hometown/home
shi - poem
crosspost:
torch_wood
torchwood_fic
dwfiction
galactic_conman
crossoverfic
firefly_plus