Chapter I
Title: Red & Blue -- Chapter I
Series Title: Red & Blue
Author: stolenfairytale
Disclaimer: They all belong to Joss. Don't sue or kill.
Rating: PG/PG-13 this chapter, probably R later.
Author's Note: Three years after the BDM
Previous: Prologue
The plan was simple, in theory. It was an old con from Earth-That-Was, and one that was supposed to end up with plenty of Alliance-grade colony rations in their hold. There was only one problem. That problem was it was a Malcolm Reynolds Plan. And as everyone in the 'verse knew -- or at least those who knew Captain Malcolm Reynolds -- any Malcolm Reynolds Plan was bound to go the way of mice and men, even if it was just to have a nice cup of coffee substitute.
A Zoe plan meant River could stay in the ship, long legs tucked under her as she sat at the controls, trusting the crew to carry it off, and only briefly checking on them over a distance when necessary. A Mal Reynolds plan, on the other hand, well that required her on the ground and put Inara in Wash's cockpit. An Inara who couldn't hear the whispers of Wash to help her.
Of course, a Jayne Plan always put her on the ground too, but a Jayne plan rarely required some complicated, fancy piloting. The plan always reflected the person who made them, after all, and Captain was always getting into things sideways and dangerously. Zoe plans were calm and collected, restrained -- and Jayne plans were blitz attacks, brute force and violence with just enough risk to make it fun.
River didn't plan. She could, but it took too long, because there were always too many variables. She couldn't slow her mind down enough to suss out the exact plan when she couldn't read the situation well enough. Even after Miranda, while the silent dead had stopped, she wasn't perfect, wasn't whole, wasn't completely sane. But she was better, and she had control over her Academy training. She was useful.
Especially when she saw the double-cross coming. For a moment she can't decide who to knock out of the way and chooses Zoe. It's not like the Captain hasn't been shot enough times, after all, and the wound will not be fatal. The shot from a very well-hidden sniper seemed to signal the rest, and while Zoe takes him out, and Mal curses i Chinese about his seemingly cursed luck and affinity for bullet wounds, River joins the fight next to the hard ass mercenary.
"Time to dance." She remarks, as they stand back to back, smiling at the answering grunt, though she knows her expression is "creepifying," and then, as they move, she doesn't even need to Read to know where he'll be. The fight is all laid out like a chess board, and sometimes she wonders if he can read as well, how he can tell without looking where she will move, when not to fire Lux or Phoebe.
And when the dance is done and there are wounded and dead around them, Jayne hauls Mal into the Mule, and Zoe clambers in as well. River climbs into the cramped, straining vehicle, giggling. "It was a Mal Reynolds plan." She remarks, answering everyone's thoughts about how it could have possibly gone wrong. "And it was a lovely dance."
Series Title: Red & Blue
Author: stolenfairytale
Disclaimer: They all belong to Joss. Don't sue or kill.
Rating: PG/PG-13 this chapter, probably R later.
Author's Note: Three years after the BDM
Previous: Prologue
The plan was simple, in theory. It was an old con from Earth-That-Was, and one that was supposed to end up with plenty of Alliance-grade colony rations in their hold. There was only one problem. That problem was it was a Malcolm Reynolds Plan. And as everyone in the 'verse knew -- or at least those who knew Captain Malcolm Reynolds -- any Malcolm Reynolds Plan was bound to go the way of mice and men, even if it was just to have a nice cup of coffee substitute.
A Zoe plan meant River could stay in the ship, long legs tucked under her as she sat at the controls, trusting the crew to carry it off, and only briefly checking on them over a distance when necessary. A Mal Reynolds plan, on the other hand, well that required her on the ground and put Inara in Wash's cockpit. An Inara who couldn't hear the whispers of Wash to help her.
Of course, a Jayne Plan always put her on the ground too, but a Jayne plan rarely required some complicated, fancy piloting. The plan always reflected the person who made them, after all, and Captain was always getting into things sideways and dangerously. Zoe plans were calm and collected, restrained -- and Jayne plans were blitz attacks, brute force and violence with just enough risk to make it fun.
River didn't plan. She could, but it took too long, because there were always too many variables. She couldn't slow her mind down enough to suss out the exact plan when she couldn't read the situation well enough. Even after Miranda, while the silent dead had stopped, she wasn't perfect, wasn't whole, wasn't completely sane. But she was better, and she had control over her Academy training. She was useful.
Especially when she saw the double-cross coming. For a moment she can't decide who to knock out of the way and chooses Zoe. It's not like the Captain hasn't been shot enough times, after all, and the wound will not be fatal. The shot from a very well-hidden sniper seemed to signal the rest, and while Zoe takes him out, and Mal curses i Chinese about his seemingly cursed luck and affinity for bullet wounds, River joins the fight next to the hard ass mercenary.
"Time to dance." She remarks, as they stand back to back, smiling at the answering grunt, though she knows her expression is "creepifying," and then, as they move, she doesn't even need to Read to know where he'll be. The fight is all laid out like a chess board, and sometimes she wonders if he can read as well, how he can tell without looking where she will move, when not to fire Lux or Phoebe.
And when the dance is done and there are wounded and dead around them, Jayne hauls Mal into the Mule, and Zoe clambers in as well. River climbs into the cramped, straining vehicle, giggling. "It was a Mal Reynolds plan." She remarks, answering everyone's thoughts about how it could have possibly gone wrong. "And it was a lovely dance."