DW/FF crossover fic: The Engineer's Gift (14/21)
Title: The Engineer’s Gift
Author: shan21non and inkhand , who are the best!
Warnings: Swearing in Mandarin!
Pairings: Ten/Rose, Mal/Inara, a bit of Simon/Kaylee
Disclaimer: I don’t own Doctor Who or Firefly. How is that fair?
Summary: When the Doctor takes a wrong turn, he and Rose find themselves aboard Serenity. Confusion, explosions, mystery, romance, and adventure ensue!
Chapter one Chapter two Chapter three Chapter four Chapter five Chapter six Chapter seven Chapter eight
Chapter nine Chapter Ten Chapter eleven Chapter twelve Chapter thirteen
A/N: Remember, for the Chinese phrases, all you have to do is hover your mouse over the Mandarin, and a translation will pop up.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Every head turned to see Mal entering the catwalk from the direction of Inara’s shuttle. He was wearing a cowboy hat and, more curiously, had an unconscious man slung over his shoulder.
Three Hours Earlier…
Mal left the engine room in a powerfully bad mood. He thought he’d found the one place he could be alone; no Book trying to feed him some sermon about life’s challenges, or Wash trying to distract him by making fun of Jayne, or even Zoe just sitting silently but knowing what was going through his mind. But then Rose had stirred awake and started asking him to talk about his feelings. He just wanted to sit and be, but that was out of the question now. If he hid in his room, it would only indicate to everyone how not okay he was, and that just wasn’t an option. So he headed downstairs instead.
He could hear Kaylee’s voice pouring out of Inara’s shuttle. She’d been following the Companion around like a lost puppy all afternoon, helping her pack. She’d even found a camera and started taking video, saying something about needing to document the presence of a bona fide Companion onboard.
He pushed ahead until he found himself alone in the lounge by the med bay. Having less than an hour to kill before they broke atmo in Persephone, he lay back on the couch and closed his eyes. With any luck, the crew would be smart enough to leave him be until it was time for the shuttle to take off.
He almost made it.
“Oh, hello!”
Mal kept his eyes shut, hoping that the far-too-energetic Doctor would move along.
No such luck.
“Feels like we’re getting quite close to the atmosphere. Lovely planet, Persephone. Named for the daughter of Zeus and Demeter.”
Mal released a longsuffering sigh. He’d rather sit through a sermon than history lesson. The Doctor continued, apparently oblivious to his less-than-enthusiastic audience.
“Persephone was abducted by her uncle Hades, who found her so lovely he had to have her all to himself. Don’t hold it against him, though. The gods had a very limited family tree so it was either incest or take the form of a swan or some-such and trick a human into-well, it’s all very distasteful.”
Mal opened his eyes now, just enough to see the Doctor ruffle his hair, as if he was trying to shake himself to get back on track. He inhaled deeply and continued his story.
“In any case, there’s poor Persephone, stuck in the Underworld, and her mother throws an absolute fit. Being Goddess of the Harvest, Demeter has a bit of pull and before long she gets Zeus to force Hades to let the girl go. Hades agrees, but not before he tricks his niece into eating a pomegranate. Have you ever had one?”
It took Mal a second to realize that he was expected to make a reply. He shook his head.
“They’re much better than pears, but then, that’s not saying much. But really, they’re heavenly. Which is quite ironic, considering the myth that they’re famous for.”
The Doctor grinned at him. Mal just stared.
“In any case, Persephone managed to swallow four or six seeds, depending on the version of the myth that you read, and for reasons that are a bit beyond logical comprehension, this means that she must return to the Underworld with Hades for four or six months out of every year, although she’d actually grown quite fond of him by then and didn’t mind so much. She did get to be a queen, even if it was Queen of the Underworld. And that’s how we get seasons.”
“Hmm?” Mal exhaled without realizing it. The Doctor took in the frown on the captain’s face and seemed to realize that more explanation was needed.
“While Persephone is stuck down below, her mother makes the earth barren out of grief. She brings winter to the land.” Here the Doctor paused, and a look of dismay crossed over his face. “Blimey, aren’t we all lucky that Jackie Tyler isn’t endowed with power over the harvest?”
“You lost me again, Doc,” Mal sighed, sitting up now.
“Rose’s mum,” the man supplied.
Mal let out a snort.
“Trouble with the in-laws?” he said.
The Doctor raised his eyebrows.
“The point of the myth, I think, is this,” he began, ignoring Mal’s question. “When you find someone worth holding on to, don’t let anyone or anything get in your way.”
Mal blinked. Gorram it if the Doctor’s Greek myths weren’t just as sanctimonious as the shepherd’s Bible stories.
“Or maybe it’s ‘Don’t eat fruit offered to you by your kidnappers,’ but in any case, the Greeks also thought it was a good idea to toss around javelins in the nude, so maybe we shouldn’t blindly follow their example.”
The captain frowned. Then again, maybe the Doctor wasn’t trying to preach. Maybe he was just a bit off his rocker. He had, after all, been through the same torture as River.
Before he could think too deeply on it, Serenity shook.
“We’ve broken atmo,” the Doctor announced, looking upwards.
“Thanks for the story,” Mal said, not really meaning it. He stood. “I should head up.”
The Doctor nodded.
“Say goodbye to Inara for me. Tell her she makes a lovely cup of tea.”
Mal didn’t reply. He headed straight for Inara’s shuttle, but redirected when he heard her voice coming from the kitchen.
There she stood, by the dining table, looking as lovely and stately as ever in her crimson dress. She was surrounded by the crew, giving out hugs and promises to keep in touch. Kaylee was beside herself, and Simon had to practically pry the girl’s arms from around Inara’s middle. Once removed, the arms found their way around Simon, and the mechanic buried her tearstained face in the doctor’s chest. When Mal had seen enough, he spoke up.
“We’re gonna be late.”
Inara turned, only just now noticing him in the doorway.
“Of course. I’ll be right there,” she said formally.
Mal gave a curt nod and turned. Fine. If she was going to be cold and formal, he could do the same. He wouldn’t give away an ounce of emotion. He could let her leave without giving her the satisfaction of seeing his anger.
Of course, those plans went straight out the air hatch the instant he stepped into Inara’s shuttle.
“What’s all this still doin’ up?” he demanded as soon as she entered the room.
The sumptuous fabrics that decorated the walls and ceiling were still hanging there. They didn’t hold the same glow in the absence of the candles that the Companion normally lit in every corner of the room, but all the same, they surely didn’t belong there anymore.
“They’ll have a room ready for me on Sihnon. You can sell it. It’s all real velvet and satin, hundreds of yards. It’ll fetch an excellent price, even used.”
“I don’t need your charity.”
Inara pulled back a bit, surprised by the vitriol in his response.
“It’s not charity. You’d be doing me a favor. It’ll be too much trouble to bring it all with me,” she said reasonably.
He gave a very Jayne-like grunt of disapproval, prompting her to roll her eyes and continued.
“Give it to Kaylee, then. Tell her it’s a parting gift from me. I’m sure she’d love to hang some of it in her room.”
“Because Serenity’s not good enough the way she is, right?” Mal grumbled.
Inara’s eyes widened, then narrowed in irritation.
“Mal, you know I didn’t mean-”
“I never know what you mean, Inara, because you never just say it,” he interrupted.
He knew that wasn’t fair at all. He did more than his fair share of tiptoeing around the truth in their relationship, whatever it was. But he was just so angry. He hadn’t really let himself feel anything about her leaving him-them. Leaving them. Now it was all just rushing out of him.
“Please don’t be like this,” she said quietly, taking her seat in the pilot’s chair. “You know this wasn’t an easy decision to make.”
He watched her start the shuttle’s engine and call up to Wash.
“Am I set, Wash?”
“You’re good to go, Ambassador.” There was a pause. Then, “We’re going to miss you, Inara.”
Mal watched Inara struggle to swallow. She steadied herself before replying.
“I’m going to miss you too.”
She pulled back on the throttle and the shuttle gently eased away from the ship. Mal walked up to the cockpit and sat himself down in the passenger seat with a thump.
“It’s not a decision,” he said suddenly.
She turned to him, confused.
“Leaving Serenity,” he clarified.
She turned back to the shuttle’s controls.
“Of course it is.”
He gritted his teeth and stared out the windshield.
“There’s a decision to be made on my ship, and you’re runnin’ away from that decision.”
“Don’t,” she bit out.
“Don’t what?” he asked petulantly.
He could feel her eyes on him.
“I tried to talk to you about this. I told you I was confused two nights ago, and you didn’t want to discuss it. In fact, you accused me of trying to manipulate you. So don’t try to talk this out with me now, minutes before I leave.”
When he finally looked over at her, she was staring stonily ahead once again. How could she act like he was the one at fault here? She was the one leaving him. And for what reason? Because he was too strong? That’s what she’d said, wasn’t it? It made no sense.
He stared down at the landscape rapidly coming into focus. Persephone. The last time he was here, he’d almost been killed in a duel. He frowned. And, come to think of it, Inara almost left then too. To be with that chou wang ba dan Atherton Wing. His mouth was open before he could think to censor his speech.
“You’re right. This is good.” A quick sideways glance told him that he had Inara’s wary attention. “Now you can start over away from all this dirt and grime. You can entertain the girls back home with stories about that time you went slummin’ with a misfit crew of bandits. Or hey, don’t go back to whorin’ at all. I bet your pal Atherton Wing is still kickin’ around on this planet. Maybe you can look him up, ask him if the offer to be his permanent Companion still stands.”
When he turned to look at her, it wasn’t hurt that he saw in her eyes; it was anger.
“If you think this is about me settling down because of the dirt and grime of this life, then you know me even less than I thought.”
He laughed.
“How can anyone know you, Inara? You’re always puttin’ on a show.”
“And you’re not?” she retorted.
He pinned her with a glare.
“Excuse me?”
She met his level stare with one of her own.
“The stoic captain, the hardened criminal, the lonely soldier. You play your roles too. We all do.”
“None so well as you. You’re a professional.”
She blinked and forfeited their staring contest. Her hands tightened on the steering wheel.
“I guess I didn’t realize just how much you hate me now.”
He thought he might have seen her blink again to force back tears, but he couldn’t be sure. The ground was rushing ever closer into focus. They were minutes from landing, and what had he accomplished?
“Inara, I don’t-”
“Mal, we’re probably never going to meet again face-to-face. I’d like to part as friends.”
She gave him a plaintive look, and he found himself unable to meet her eyes. So instead he looked down at his hands when he spoke.
“So, Warrick’ll meet us in the landing bay?”
“Yes. He and his staff will meet us there and transfer my belongings to his home, and I’ll accompany him to Sihnon on his business trip next week.”
Her voice was cool and formal once more. Mal sighed.
“He’s a good man, Warrick,” he said, for lack of anything else to say.
“Yes, he is.”
Sir Warrick Harrow was a good man, even if he did deal in black market cattle. He was a man who valued common decency and detested pettiness, which was probably why he agreed to be Mal’s second against Atherton Wing in the duel.
Inara made a simple call down to ground control and was cleared for landing. She set the shuttle down into its designated spot with ease and turned off the engine. Mal felt as if his legs were frozen. He couldn’t move. Inara seemed to be feeling the same, because she hadn’t shifted an inch.
A knock at the shuttle door made them both jump.
“That’ll be Warrick,” Inara said shakily.
She stood and made her way out of the cockpit, Mal following behind her. When she opened the door, however, it wasn’t Warrick that they saw.
“Atherton?” Inara blurted out.
Chinese Translations:
Chou wang ba dan = lousy bastard
End Notes: Cliffhanger powers-Activate!!
Please review! I promise that starting with the next chapter and continuing right on to the end, your questions will start to be answered…
On to chapter fifteen!
Author: shan21non and inkhand , who are the best!
Warnings: Swearing in Mandarin!
Pairings: Ten/Rose, Mal/Inara, a bit of Simon/Kaylee
Disclaimer: I don’t own Doctor Who or Firefly. How is that fair?
Summary: When the Doctor takes a wrong turn, he and Rose find themselves aboard Serenity. Confusion, explosions, mystery, romance, and adventure ensue!
Chapter one Chapter two Chapter three Chapter four Chapter five Chapter six Chapter seven Chapter eight
Chapter nine Chapter Ten Chapter eleven Chapter twelve Chapter thirteen
A/N: Remember, for the Chinese phrases, all you have to do is hover your mouse over the Mandarin, and a translation will pop up.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Every head turned to see Mal entering the catwalk from the direction of Inara’s shuttle. He was wearing a cowboy hat and, more curiously, had an unconscious man slung over his shoulder.
Three Hours Earlier…
Mal left the engine room in a powerfully bad mood. He thought he’d found the one place he could be alone; no Book trying to feed him some sermon about life’s challenges, or Wash trying to distract him by making fun of Jayne, or even Zoe just sitting silently but knowing what was going through his mind. But then Rose had stirred awake and started asking him to talk about his feelings. He just wanted to sit and be, but that was out of the question now. If he hid in his room, it would only indicate to everyone how not okay he was, and that just wasn’t an option. So he headed downstairs instead.
He could hear Kaylee’s voice pouring out of Inara’s shuttle. She’d been following the Companion around like a lost puppy all afternoon, helping her pack. She’d even found a camera and started taking video, saying something about needing to document the presence of a bona fide Companion onboard.
He pushed ahead until he found himself alone in the lounge by the med bay. Having less than an hour to kill before they broke atmo in Persephone, he lay back on the couch and closed his eyes. With any luck, the crew would be smart enough to leave him be until it was time for the shuttle to take off.
He almost made it.
“Oh, hello!”
Mal kept his eyes shut, hoping that the far-too-energetic Doctor would move along.
No such luck.
“Feels like we’re getting quite close to the atmosphere. Lovely planet, Persephone. Named for the daughter of Zeus and Demeter.”
Mal released a longsuffering sigh. He’d rather sit through a sermon than history lesson. The Doctor continued, apparently oblivious to his less-than-enthusiastic audience.
“Persephone was abducted by her uncle Hades, who found her so lovely he had to have her all to himself. Don’t hold it against him, though. The gods had a very limited family tree so it was either incest or take the form of a swan or some-such and trick a human into-well, it’s all very distasteful.”
Mal opened his eyes now, just enough to see the Doctor ruffle his hair, as if he was trying to shake himself to get back on track. He inhaled deeply and continued his story.
“In any case, there’s poor Persephone, stuck in the Underworld, and her mother throws an absolute fit. Being Goddess of the Harvest, Demeter has a bit of pull and before long she gets Zeus to force Hades to let the girl go. Hades agrees, but not before he tricks his niece into eating a pomegranate. Have you ever had one?”
It took Mal a second to realize that he was expected to make a reply. He shook his head.
“They’re much better than pears, but then, that’s not saying much. But really, they’re heavenly. Which is quite ironic, considering the myth that they’re famous for.”
The Doctor grinned at him. Mal just stared.
“In any case, Persephone managed to swallow four or six seeds, depending on the version of the myth that you read, and for reasons that are a bit beyond logical comprehension, this means that she must return to the Underworld with Hades for four or six months out of every year, although she’d actually grown quite fond of him by then and didn’t mind so much. She did get to be a queen, even if it was Queen of the Underworld. And that’s how we get seasons.”
“Hmm?” Mal exhaled without realizing it. The Doctor took in the frown on the captain’s face and seemed to realize that more explanation was needed.
“While Persephone is stuck down below, her mother makes the earth barren out of grief. She brings winter to the land.” Here the Doctor paused, and a look of dismay crossed over his face. “Blimey, aren’t we all lucky that Jackie Tyler isn’t endowed with power over the harvest?”
“You lost me again, Doc,” Mal sighed, sitting up now.
“Rose’s mum,” the man supplied.
Mal let out a snort.
“Trouble with the in-laws?” he said.
The Doctor raised his eyebrows.
“The point of the myth, I think, is this,” he began, ignoring Mal’s question. “When you find someone worth holding on to, don’t let anyone or anything get in your way.”
Mal blinked. Gorram it if the Doctor’s Greek myths weren’t just as sanctimonious as the shepherd’s Bible stories.
“Or maybe it’s ‘Don’t eat fruit offered to you by your kidnappers,’ but in any case, the Greeks also thought it was a good idea to toss around javelins in the nude, so maybe we shouldn’t blindly follow their example.”
The captain frowned. Then again, maybe the Doctor wasn’t trying to preach. Maybe he was just a bit off his rocker. He had, after all, been through the same torture as River.
Before he could think too deeply on it, Serenity shook.
“We’ve broken atmo,” the Doctor announced, looking upwards.
“Thanks for the story,” Mal said, not really meaning it. He stood. “I should head up.”
The Doctor nodded.
“Say goodbye to Inara for me. Tell her she makes a lovely cup of tea.”
Mal didn’t reply. He headed straight for Inara’s shuttle, but redirected when he heard her voice coming from the kitchen.
There she stood, by the dining table, looking as lovely and stately as ever in her crimson dress. She was surrounded by the crew, giving out hugs and promises to keep in touch. Kaylee was beside herself, and Simon had to practically pry the girl’s arms from around Inara’s middle. Once removed, the arms found their way around Simon, and the mechanic buried her tearstained face in the doctor’s chest. When Mal had seen enough, he spoke up.
“We’re gonna be late.”
Inara turned, only just now noticing him in the doorway.
“Of course. I’ll be right there,” she said formally.
Mal gave a curt nod and turned. Fine. If she was going to be cold and formal, he could do the same. He wouldn’t give away an ounce of emotion. He could let her leave without giving her the satisfaction of seeing his anger.
Of course, those plans went straight out the air hatch the instant he stepped into Inara’s shuttle.
“What’s all this still doin’ up?” he demanded as soon as she entered the room.
The sumptuous fabrics that decorated the walls and ceiling were still hanging there. They didn’t hold the same glow in the absence of the candles that the Companion normally lit in every corner of the room, but all the same, they surely didn’t belong there anymore.
“They’ll have a room ready for me on Sihnon. You can sell it. It’s all real velvet and satin, hundreds of yards. It’ll fetch an excellent price, even used.”
“I don’t need your charity.”
Inara pulled back a bit, surprised by the vitriol in his response.
“It’s not charity. You’d be doing me a favor. It’ll be too much trouble to bring it all with me,” she said reasonably.
He gave a very Jayne-like grunt of disapproval, prompting her to roll her eyes and continued.
“Give it to Kaylee, then. Tell her it’s a parting gift from me. I’m sure she’d love to hang some of it in her room.”
“Because Serenity’s not good enough the way she is, right?” Mal grumbled.
Inara’s eyes widened, then narrowed in irritation.
“Mal, you know I didn’t mean-”
“I never know what you mean, Inara, because you never just say it,” he interrupted.
He knew that wasn’t fair at all. He did more than his fair share of tiptoeing around the truth in their relationship, whatever it was. But he was just so angry. He hadn’t really let himself feel anything about her leaving him-them. Leaving them. Now it was all just rushing out of him.
“Please don’t be like this,” she said quietly, taking her seat in the pilot’s chair. “You know this wasn’t an easy decision to make.”
He watched her start the shuttle’s engine and call up to Wash.
“Am I set, Wash?”
“You’re good to go, Ambassador.” There was a pause. Then, “We’re going to miss you, Inara.”
Mal watched Inara struggle to swallow. She steadied herself before replying.
“I’m going to miss you too.”
She pulled back on the throttle and the shuttle gently eased away from the ship. Mal walked up to the cockpit and sat himself down in the passenger seat with a thump.
“It’s not a decision,” he said suddenly.
She turned to him, confused.
“Leaving Serenity,” he clarified.
She turned back to the shuttle’s controls.
“Of course it is.”
He gritted his teeth and stared out the windshield.
“There’s a decision to be made on my ship, and you’re runnin’ away from that decision.”
“Don’t,” she bit out.
“Don’t what?” he asked petulantly.
He could feel her eyes on him.
“I tried to talk to you about this. I told you I was confused two nights ago, and you didn’t want to discuss it. In fact, you accused me of trying to manipulate you. So don’t try to talk this out with me now, minutes before I leave.”
When he finally looked over at her, she was staring stonily ahead once again. How could she act like he was the one at fault here? She was the one leaving him. And for what reason? Because he was too strong? That’s what she’d said, wasn’t it? It made no sense.
He stared down at the landscape rapidly coming into focus. Persephone. The last time he was here, he’d almost been killed in a duel. He frowned. And, come to think of it, Inara almost left then too. To be with that chou wang ba dan Atherton Wing. His mouth was open before he could think to censor his speech.
“You’re right. This is good.” A quick sideways glance told him that he had Inara’s wary attention. “Now you can start over away from all this dirt and grime. You can entertain the girls back home with stories about that time you went slummin’ with a misfit crew of bandits. Or hey, don’t go back to whorin’ at all. I bet your pal Atherton Wing is still kickin’ around on this planet. Maybe you can look him up, ask him if the offer to be his permanent Companion still stands.”
When he turned to look at her, it wasn’t hurt that he saw in her eyes; it was anger.
“If you think this is about me settling down because of the dirt and grime of this life, then you know me even less than I thought.”
He laughed.
“How can anyone know you, Inara? You’re always puttin’ on a show.”
“And you’re not?” she retorted.
He pinned her with a glare.
“Excuse me?”
She met his level stare with one of her own.
“The stoic captain, the hardened criminal, the lonely soldier. You play your roles too. We all do.”
“None so well as you. You’re a professional.”
She blinked and forfeited their staring contest. Her hands tightened on the steering wheel.
“I guess I didn’t realize just how much you hate me now.”
He thought he might have seen her blink again to force back tears, but he couldn’t be sure. The ground was rushing ever closer into focus. They were minutes from landing, and what had he accomplished?
“Inara, I don’t-”
“Mal, we’re probably never going to meet again face-to-face. I’d like to part as friends.”
She gave him a plaintive look, and he found himself unable to meet her eyes. So instead he looked down at his hands when he spoke.
“So, Warrick’ll meet us in the landing bay?”
“Yes. He and his staff will meet us there and transfer my belongings to his home, and I’ll accompany him to Sihnon on his business trip next week.”
Her voice was cool and formal once more. Mal sighed.
“He’s a good man, Warrick,” he said, for lack of anything else to say.
“Yes, he is.”
Sir Warrick Harrow was a good man, even if he did deal in black market cattle. He was a man who valued common decency and detested pettiness, which was probably why he agreed to be Mal’s second against Atherton Wing in the duel.
Inara made a simple call down to ground control and was cleared for landing. She set the shuttle down into its designated spot with ease and turned off the engine. Mal felt as if his legs were frozen. He couldn’t move. Inara seemed to be feeling the same, because she hadn’t shifted an inch.
A knock at the shuttle door made them both jump.
“That’ll be Warrick,” Inara said shakily.
She stood and made her way out of the cockpit, Mal following behind her. When she opened the door, however, it wasn’t Warrick that they saw.
“Atherton?” Inara blurted out.
Chinese Translations:
Chou wang ba dan = lousy bastard
End Notes: Cliffhanger powers-Activate!!
Please review! I promise that starting with the next chapter and continuing right on to the end, your questions will start to be answered…
On to chapter fifteen!