Since I found Serenity (7/8) - Immortal!Dean - SPN/FF/HL/SV
Title: Since I Found Serenity (7/8)
Author: strangevisitor7
Beta: Pen37
Rated: PG
Prompt: #26 Teammates for crossovers100 my table is here
Fandom: Firefly, Highlander, SPN & SV The rest of the Immortal!Dean Universe can be found here.
Characters: From FF: Mal, Zoe, Wash, River, Jayne, Simon, Inara, Kaylee. From I!D 'Verse: Dean Winchester, Duncan MacLeod, Richie Ryan, Methos, Chloe Sullivan and Sam Winchester.
Spoilers: The story begins in the middle of the Firefly Movie "Serenity". You will be spoiled if you haven't seen it.
Disclaimer: The characters you know and love all belong to their respective creators.
Summary: The crew of Serenity is in the middle of helping River, exposing the Alliance and evading the Reavers when they encounter a survivor on Miranda.
Chapter Summary: Richie is introduced to the other Immortal on serenity, Sam Winchester.
A/N: This story takes place ~ 6 years after chapter 5 of 5 Times Immortal!Dean met Meta!Chloe.
A/N2: Richie's capture and torture by the Alliance is told in The Rescue of Richie Ryan.
Chapter List:
Chapter 1; Chapter 2; Chapter 3; Chapter 4; Chapter 5; Chapter 6; Chapter 7; Chapter 8
Chapter 7: Since I Found Serenity
The others were gathered in the galley by the time Sam and his companions entered.
Sam’s eyes were immediately drawn to the new guy. The stranger was dressed in a similar fashion to the Captain. Sam snickered silently and wondered if there was the secret dress code among former browncoats. He missed jeans. As appropriate as the boots and brown pants were that Mal had given him, he would kill for a comfortable pair of jeans and his old shoes.
“You must be Richie.” Sam said as he walked toward their visitor; his hand stretched out in greeting. Sam paused as the newcomer stood staring at him.
“It can’t be.” Richie sputtered.
Mal noticed Richie’s reaction. “You two know each other, Sam?”
Sam shook is head and dropped his hand. “Nope. He definitely gives off a feeling like Wash but I’ve never seen him before.” The guy was starting to alarm him with his unrelenting glare. “Is there something wrong?” Sam asked.
Richie shook off his surprise. “I’m sorry. It’s just that you look exactly like someone I used to know on Earth-that-was. The resemblance is uncanny.” Richie said as he continued to study him “Wait, your name is Sam?”
“That’s right Sam Winchester.” He replied cautiously. Sam searched his memory for this guy. If he really was that old, it was possible that Richie was someone he and Dean had helped with a supernatural problem.
Richie’s eyes grew cold. “That’s not funny. I don’t know who you think you are but you’re not any Sam Winchester, I know. So, you can’t be one of his descendant and you look way too much like the original for my comfort level.” Without waiting for further explanation, he grabbed Sam’s arm and began reciting the chant for demon exorcism.
Sam was too startled by Richie’s declaration to do anything but stand there as the incantation washed over him to little effect. Descendants? What the hell was this guy talking about? Richie knew him and obviously this stranger felt that he knew him well. Sam was at a loss as to how that might be possible. Richie was behaving like a hunter and Sam respected that. He would have done the same if someone he thought was dead had suddenly appeared 500 years later. The connection was there and Sam had the patience to wait for the answers Richie would supply when he was satisfied that Sam was no supernatural creature.
Wash laughed. “He thinks you’re a demon.” The rest of the crew began to chuckle as well.
“He ain’t no demon,” Jayne barked.
“Why would he think Sam’s a Reaver?” Kaylee asked. The overlapping questions were growing as Simon, Inara and Zoe added their skepticism to the fray.
Mal shushed his crew indicating that they should stay out of this. They quieted down and waited. He was about to stop Richie’s chanting when River shook her head.
“You want to handle this, Mei-Mei?” Mal asked and when she nodded he moved away to stand by Zoe.
River stepped close to Richie and placed a hand on his heart. He was so startled by the gesture that he stopped the incantation and dropped Sam’s wrist. “What? Who?” He met her eyes and involuntarily placed his hand over hers.
“River?” Sam said. She turned her head and quieted him with a glance.
Addressing Richie, she smiled. “It’s okay. He’s your Sam but he just doesn’t know it yet.”
Richie couldn’t help but smile back. “I know he’s you friend but I have to be sure he isn’t something dangerous.” He said gently. “Shaggy there could still be a shapeshifter or some type of doppelganger. Maybe a Changeling.” Richie rattled off a few more supernatural beings with the capability of that level of impersonation.
“Shush, hunter. Nothing evil here to hunt; only agents for good.” She said placing a finger to his lips; then she whispered. “I know the men with the blue hands too.”
Startled, Richie moved away from River and found himself standing between to Mal and Zoe. He looked at his former sergeant for an explanation.
“River was a victim of Alliance hospitality too. Made her special.” Mal explained as he touched his head. “We tend ta' listen when she gets to predictin’ stuff because she’s usually right.”
Zoe laid a hand on Richie’s shoulder. “River’s the one who told us to trust Sam. He helped us fight the Reavers; helped save our lives.”
“He ain’t a demon, Rich.” Mal confirmed. “We trust him.”
Richie nodded as he listened to his former troop mates. Richie felt a sudden kinship with the damaged girl in front of him. She reached out her hand and he took it. Then she smiled up at him sympathetically. “They tried to take your heart.”
Richie frowned. “They did cut it out and more than once.” He found he could talk to this kindred spirit about what happened without the panic but that didn’t mean he liked remembering. He saw Mal and Zoe exchange a look over that admission.
“No” River insisted. “They never took you heart,” and placed a hand once again on his chest trying to make him understand. Then she hugged him. “You are an agent for good who fights the demons just like Sam. He’s a hunter too.” And with that pronouncement she released him and went to sit by her brother.”
“Wow” Richie felt renewed somehow. “Is she always like that?” He touched his chest where River had and understood. The Alliance never broken him and he was comforted by the fact that she’d seen that.
Mal laughed. “That’s our River. Always knowin’ what to say.”
Richie locked eyes with River and nodded. “I’ll say.” He turned his gaze to the familiar looking stranger still standing in the doorway. “It seems River has faith that you aren’t anything evil and somehow that has convinced me that I should trust you, too.”
“River is an excellent judge of character,” Sam laughed.
“You must be the hunter who drew the devil’s trap in the hallway on Mr. Universe’s moon.” Richie guessed. “But I just can’t get over the resemblance to the Sam I knew. It’s uncanny. Can you explain it?”
Mal waved Sam into silence. “Richie, how did you know about the trap?” the captain asked.
Richie wanted to find out more about this Immortal Sam but he owed Mal some answers after everything that had happened in the cargo bay. “Same way we knew about Wash and suspected you had a knowledgeable hunter on board. Information network also known as the Historical Preservation Society.”
“That’s an Alliance organization.” Simon called out. “I thought you didn’t work with them.”
“I promise you, it isn’t. They maintain the society as a front for the Hunter/Watcher council.” Richie explained. “The council is the one who protects Immortals, keeps a true recorded history of every Immortal stretching back thousands of years and watches for supernatural occurrences. The events surrounding Miranda and your broadcast sent up big red flags. That’s why I’m here.”
“Protects?” Mal snorted. “Then how…?” He left the question hanging.
“Then how did the Alliance get to me.” Richie finished. “That was 150 years ago when the council was rife with corruption and negligent in their duties. After I was rescued, my friend sent his relatives in to fix it. It’s been a better organization since the Winchesters took over and independent of any real Alliance influence.” Richie said as he locked eyes with Sam.
Sam was startled by what Richie had shared. Were they his and Dean’s descendants? Was that what Richie had meant by knowing other Sam Winchesters. He couldn’t resist asking. “These Winchesters. Are they are descended from John and Mary?” The answers he was looking for felt so close but he wasn’t ready to admit his time jump just yet. Not to this guy who claimed to know him when he still hadn’t figured out how that might be true.
“As a Winchester, I would think you would know your own history.” Richie said. “I thought I knew all the Winchesters. Which branch of the family are you connected to?”
“There are branches?” Sam asked; still trying to wrap him mind around the idea his legacy was still going strong in this future.”
River stood and laughed as she walked over to Sam. “Just tell him you are Dean’s brother. Richie is Dean’s brother, too.”
Richie and Sam were speechless at River’s pronouncement. She just shook her head. “Silly boys. Tell the truth and everyone is whole again.”
Richie moved to place a gentle hand on River’s shoulder. “That’s not possible,” he said. “The original Sam Winchester and I were close friends for decades. This guy doesn’t know me. I stood up at Sam’s wedding; was called uncle by his kids. I’ve been a friend to generations of his kin. But most importantly the original Sam Winchester was not an Immortal.”
Sam felt a flicker of hope at this brief glimpse of his life. Maybe he’d met Richie when he returned to his own time. Maybe this little trip to the future was just temporary. River was right; it was time for the truth. Sam took a deep breath and plunged into his story.
“I was born in 1983 in Lawrence, Kansas on Earth-that-was.” Sam began and when he saw he had Richie’s attention he continued. “Dean Winchester was my brother. I hunted with my family before I went of to Stanford for three years. When my dad disappeared, I came back to hunting and I’ve been at it ever since.” Sam paused before presenting his two competing theories.
“I think I may have traveled through time. Or maybe this is some big illusion.” He chuckled ruefully. “But I assure you; I am the original Sam Winchester you keep referring to.”
Richie stood quietly absorbing this information. The rest of Serenity’s crew erupted in over lapping questions. Mal waved them into silence once again.
“Time travel, really?” Mal asked. “Sam, you should have told me.”
“To what end, Mal?” Sam sighed. “I didn’t believe it myself. So I was hardly in a position to talk about it until I knew for sure.”
“Okay jokes over.” Richie growled. “I’ll admit that you look like the Sam I knew. You sound like him, too. But time travel; that’s a stretch even for me. Dean will not take kindly to you pretending to be his brother. He‘ll kill you the minute he sees you and I won’t mind helping if this turns out to be some sick game.” He finished; the truth of the threat very much evident in his eyes.
“I don’t take kindly to you threatening a member of my crew, Rich.” Mal interjected. “I won’t have it. Dong le ma?
“Sorry, Mal but none of this makes sense.” Richie said as realized he may have crossed a line. “I don’t believe him and I sure as Di yu don’t know what Dean is going to do.
Mal nodded and then noticed that all the color had drained from Sam’s face. “Hey you okay?”
Sam was staring at Richie. He spoke slowly. “You said 'is'. You said ‘Dean is’.” He paused to wet his lips and find his voice. “Is Dean alive in this time too?”
Confusion crossed Richie’s face as he looked at the hope flickering in Sam’s eyes. “Dean Winchester has been my best friend for 500 years. Yeah, he’s still alive.”
“Still! He’s Immortal?” Sam exclaimed. His smile was so big that it threatened to split his face wide open. “He’s alive!” Sam cried and grabbed a startled Richie into a crushing bear hug. “He’s alive.”
Richie pushed the big man away and stared at the jubilance on Sam’s face. His joy was so clearly genuine. “Shen sheng de gao wan. Is it really you? How is this even possible?” Richie demanded. “But why don’t you know me or that Dean’s Immortal? What about Chloe or Mac?”
“I promise you that there is nothing supernatural about me. I’m Sam Winchester, always have been.” Sam insisted. “I’m sorry Rich, but I don’t know you or those others you mentioned. Who are they?”
“We’re his family,” he said softly. “It broke Dean when Sam…you…died. We were all devastated.” Richie paused and realized that he had accepted that this man was really Sam without demanding any more proof or requiring that it even make sense. “Me and Mac, we were all he had; kept him sane through the grief. He’s always tried to treat me like his little brother.” Richie chuckled, “Even though I’m older. You know Dean: he needs someone to look after.”
“Yeah. I’ve missed that since I got here.” Sam said. “No one constantly asking me if I’m okay.”
“Or if you got lucky.” Richie grinned.
“He do that to you too?”
“Well, I do have really bad luck with woman.” Richie admitted. “He feels it’s his duty to screen them for me.”
“Seriously?” Sam hooted. “He is way too obsessed with other people sex lives. It’s unnatural really.”
“It’s been really bad since Chloe. Now he wants everyone hooked up and happy.”
“Wait my brother’s in a relationship? With a real girl? You’re not talking about his car right?”
“No the Impala bit the dust a long time ago.” Richie laughed. “You always did want him to hook up with Chloe. I think there’s something poetic in you finally getting to see them together.”
“I really have to meet this girl.” Sam said. The two stood smiling at each other and Sam could feel a real connection to this older Immortal.
“Hey guys.” Mal interrupted. “Know you havin’ fun but I think we have other things we need to discuss.”
Richie froze when he realized he’d admitted a few rather embarrassing things in front of a room full of strangers. “Sorry Mal.” he gulped. “Guess we got a little carried away.”
Mal laughed. “So I take it that you’re satisfied that Sam is not a demon.”
Richie nodded. He’d really enjoyed the banter with Sam. It felt so familiar to trade barbs about Dean. They’d done it a million times; he only wished Sam could remember. “I just don't understand why you don’t remember me.” He admitted to Sam.
“I can’t say but I can definitely see how we were friends.” Sam confirmed.
Wash had been watching the two Immortals work out their history but he still felt left in the dark. “Hey guys,” he said raising a hand tentatively to get their attention. “About this hunting stuff. Will I have to do it because I have to say, not really sure I want to go hunting monsters. I mean is that a requirement? Will they pull my Immortal club membership if I don’t?”
Richie went to sit in the empty chair next to Wash. “No Wash, you don’t but after a few years you may feel that you want to.” Richie had basically ignored the new Immortal and he felt bad that he hadn’t done more to reassure him. “Duncan MacLeod is a good friend of mine and he’s usually the one sent to make contact. He’s much better at this initiation stuff than I am but I already knew Mal and Zoe so I was given the assignment.”
“Initiation? Do I have to pass some test?”
“Not any more.” He laughed.
Wash blanched. “What’s that mean?”
“It’s a long story really. Maybe it can wait.”
“Richie,” Mal said. “I think it’s best you tell Wash and Sam what’s expected of them and I think we all need to be hearin’ this long story of yours.”
Richie looked around the table. Other than Jayne who appeared to be napping on the sofa across the way, the crew was watching him expectantly. As much as he wanted to continue talking to Sam and figure out the mystery behind his presence here, he’d promised Mac he’d fill in the entire boring back story. Richie was sure MacLeod was happy not to do it for once.
Richie settled into his chair and began with the history of the Game. It was a thing of the past but new Immortals still needed to know about it in case it somehow reared its ugly head again.
“But I don’t need to fight with a sword, right?” Wash asked when Richie had finished that part of the story. “Zoe, I can’t fight with a sword.” He said to his wife.
“It’s ok baby, I’ll shoot them first don’t worry.”
“See I knew it was a good idea to marry you.”
“No more swords, Wash.” Richie assured him. “I haven’t taken a head in decades. But you need to understand that a beheading is our only true death.”
“So why did it change?” Kaylee asked
“The Winchesters came along.” Richie replied smugly and waited for Sam’s reaction.
Sam had returned to leaning against the door and perked up at this revelation. “Dean?”
“You guys never did play by anyone’s rules but your own. Ellen was the one who figured it out. You remember her?” When Sam nodded, Richie went on to explain the idea that Immortals were agents for good and how that revelation had ushered in the age of the Immortal Hunter.
“Eventually the council evolved from just watching and recording the activities of Immortals to running the entire Hunter/Immortal network that’s in place today.” Richie finished. “So class, any questions?” he joked. It had been easier than he’d realized to lay it all out for them.
“It was me and Dean, our blood relationship that changed everything?” Sam asked.
“Pretty much.” Richie said. “That and learning that ghosts and demons were real.”
“But I wasn’t Immortal then.”
“Nope didn’t even have the premie buzz.”
Sam brightened. “That’s what I felt from Wash. Why I knew there was something different about him before he died.”
“I buzzed before I died?” Wash asked.
“All potential Immortals have that feeling about them from the day they are chosen. If they die a violent death the Immortality kicks in; if not they just die a normal, peaceful, mortal death. Only another Immortal would ever know of their potential.” Richie confirmed.
“What causes that feeling?” Sam asked. “Does a person have it from birth.”
“No not from birth. But it can happen anytime. We’re not sure what flips that switch.” Richie said. “I will say that you’re the first person in my experience to have been clearly mortal and then turn up Immortal later.”
“Kind of like if you’ve been tagged by an Immortal as mortal, you can’t change teams.” Sam suggested.
Across the table Simon had been listening quietly to the history of Immortals. “I wondered about the differences between mortals and Immortals.” Simon said addressing Sam. “The tests I ran on your genetic material showed that you and Wash definitely have something different in your DNA than the rest of us.” Simon explained. “It would be interesting to have other samples to see if there’s a pattern or if there might be a way to isolate the gene that creates this phenomenon.”
Richie was out of his chair and around the table in a heartbeat. He dragged Simon to his feet by his starched white collar. “You ran tests on them? You Bastard!” he growled. “Doctors! You worthless Wang ba dan.” The blood was pounding in his ears and he could hear the rest of the crew in an uproar behind him.
“Richie! Let him go.” Mal shouted.
“Can I shoot him now?” Jayne asked. The possibility of a fight had him up off the couch and ready for action.
A chorus of 'Nos' resounded around the room.
Zoe and Mal dragged Richie off the doctor and sat him down. Kaylee ran over to Simon to check for damage.
“I’m okay.” He said waving her off. “It was my own fault.”
“He attacked you, Simon. Don’t see how you’re to blame.” Kaylee said.
“I didn’t follow my own advice.” Simon said as he met Richie’s eyes. “I am so sorry. It was stupid of me to say those things after what you’d been through.”
“It was completely voluntary,” Wash added. “We didn’t know what happened to us. Simon thought he could help. We asked him to.”
Richie sagged in the chair and dropped his head into his hands. “I can’t believe this is happening. I’m not usually like this.” He groaned. Looking up at Simon, he sighed. “I’m sorry. I really suck at the whole Immortal ambassador routine.”
Simon laughed. “That’s true. But then again you didn’t expect to run into a formally dead friend or this eclectic crew.”
“You sayin’ we’re crazy, Doc?” Mal said with mock seriousness.
“Well…” Simon let the rest of the thought go unspoken.
Kaylee began snickering and soon the whole crew was laughing.
“We are a unique bunch, Captain.” Zoe deadpanned.
“This mean I still don’t get to shoot him.” Jayne groused.
A collective, “Shut up, Jayne,” drove the laughter into high gear and Jayne back to his couch. Richie included. River came to stand next to him and took his hand.
“It’s all shiny now.” She whispered as she knelt down beside him.
He nodded and continued to enjoy the good humor that was all around. River had a way of reaching him that made him feel understood for the first time in a long time and he didn’t want to let go of her hand.
“I have some good news,” Sam shouted over the infectious mirth.
They settled down and waited for him to continue.
“I know why I don’t remember you.” He said.
“Really, why?”
“The last thing I remember about Earth was being in a ghost town in South Dakota in 2007. I was fighting with a guy named Jake…and then I woke up on Miranda.” Sam explained.
“Wait, I know that story; what happened in that town.” Richie said. “You’re right. We didn’t meet until 2008 after Dean became Immortal but you never mentioned traveling to this future.” Richie gestured at their surroundings and then gasped.
“What?” Sam asked. “You know something. What happened next?”
“Whoa there, Sammy.” Richie said. “What happened in South Dakota, that’s Dean’s story to tell. I don’t want to speculate.”
Sam looked at him with a strange smile on his face. “Sammy?”
“Hey, I had brother’s rights.” Richie smiled back as River laughed next to him.
“The three Musketeers.” She said.
“There were four,” Sam quipped. “And I’m guessing Dean encouraged you to use it.
“Mac made four and no you did.” Richie smirked. “Damn I’ve missed you.”
“See almost whole again.” River said as she looked from Richie to Sam. “Now get Dean.”
“Good idea, River.” Richie acknowledged and pulled a communication device out of his pocket. “I’ll just call Dean, Mac and Chloe. It’s time they joined this party anyway.
“Good. Do that.” Mal said.
“Wait Dean’s here, on Persephone?” Sam asked.
“Oh yeah. Didn’t I mention that?” He teased.
“No you didn’t” he said with mock frustration.
“I’ll make the call. And let’s hope Dean gives me time to explain who you are before he goes crazy.”
Sam nodded but assumed that in true Winchester fashion things would get worse before they got better.
**********************
Firefly slang used throughout this story
Damn it: Zao gao
Enough of this nonsense: Gou huang tang
I don't believe my eyes!: Wo bu shin wo dah yan jing
Long time no see: Hao joh bu jian
G**d*mn monsters: Tian sha de e mo
(exclamation): Shen sheng de gao wan
Awesome: Gao gan
Wonderful!: Pai an jiao jue
Alliance: Tong meng
Monkey's butt: Hou-zi de pi-gu
Are we clear?: Dong le ma
SOB: Wang ba dan
Filthy fornicators of livestock: He chu-sheng za-jiao de zang-huo!
Baboon's arse: Fei fei pi gu
Fool: Sha gua
Little Sister: Mei or Mei-Mei
Author: strangevisitor7
Beta: Pen37
Rated: PG
Prompt: #26 Teammates for crossovers100 my table is here
Fandom: Firefly, Highlander, SPN & SV The rest of the Immortal!Dean Universe can be found here.
Characters: From FF: Mal, Zoe, Wash, River, Jayne, Simon, Inara, Kaylee. From I!D 'Verse: Dean Winchester, Duncan MacLeod, Richie Ryan, Methos, Chloe Sullivan and Sam Winchester.
Spoilers: The story begins in the middle of the Firefly Movie "Serenity". You will be spoiled if you haven't seen it.
Disclaimer: The characters you know and love all belong to their respective creators.
Summary: The crew of Serenity is in the middle of helping River, exposing the Alliance and evading the Reavers when they encounter a survivor on Miranda.
Chapter Summary: Richie is introduced to the other Immortal on serenity, Sam Winchester.
A/N: This story takes place ~ 6 years after chapter 5 of 5 Times Immortal!Dean met Meta!Chloe.
A/N2: Richie's capture and torture by the Alliance is told in The Rescue of Richie Ryan.
Chapter List:
Chapter 1; Chapter 2; Chapter 3; Chapter 4; Chapter 5; Chapter 6; Chapter 7; Chapter 8
Chapter 7: Since I Found Serenity
The others were gathered in the galley by the time Sam and his companions entered.
Sam’s eyes were immediately drawn to the new guy. The stranger was dressed in a similar fashion to the Captain. Sam snickered silently and wondered if there was the secret dress code among former browncoats. He missed jeans. As appropriate as the boots and brown pants were that Mal had given him, he would kill for a comfortable pair of jeans and his old shoes.
“You must be Richie.” Sam said as he walked toward their visitor; his hand stretched out in greeting. Sam paused as the newcomer stood staring at him.
“It can’t be.” Richie sputtered.
Mal noticed Richie’s reaction. “You two know each other, Sam?”
Sam shook is head and dropped his hand. “Nope. He definitely gives off a feeling like Wash but I’ve never seen him before.” The guy was starting to alarm him with his unrelenting glare. “Is there something wrong?” Sam asked.
Richie shook off his surprise. “I’m sorry. It’s just that you look exactly like someone I used to know on Earth-that-was. The resemblance is uncanny.” Richie said as he continued to study him “Wait, your name is Sam?”
“That’s right Sam Winchester.” He replied cautiously. Sam searched his memory for this guy. If he really was that old, it was possible that Richie was someone he and Dean had helped with a supernatural problem.
Richie’s eyes grew cold. “That’s not funny. I don’t know who you think you are but you’re not any Sam Winchester, I know. So, you can’t be one of his descendant and you look way too much like the original for my comfort level.” Without waiting for further explanation, he grabbed Sam’s arm and began reciting the chant for demon exorcism.
Sam was too startled by Richie’s declaration to do anything but stand there as the incantation washed over him to little effect. Descendants? What the hell was this guy talking about? Richie knew him and obviously this stranger felt that he knew him well. Sam was at a loss as to how that might be possible. Richie was behaving like a hunter and Sam respected that. He would have done the same if someone he thought was dead had suddenly appeared 500 years later. The connection was there and Sam had the patience to wait for the answers Richie would supply when he was satisfied that Sam was no supernatural creature.
Wash laughed. “He thinks you’re a demon.” The rest of the crew began to chuckle as well.
“He ain’t no demon,” Jayne barked.
“Why would he think Sam’s a Reaver?” Kaylee asked. The overlapping questions were growing as Simon, Inara and Zoe added their skepticism to the fray.
Mal shushed his crew indicating that they should stay out of this. They quieted down and waited. He was about to stop Richie’s chanting when River shook her head.
“You want to handle this, Mei-Mei?” Mal asked and when she nodded he moved away to stand by Zoe.
River stepped close to Richie and placed a hand on his heart. He was so startled by the gesture that he stopped the incantation and dropped Sam’s wrist. “What? Who?” He met her eyes and involuntarily placed his hand over hers.
“River?” Sam said. She turned her head and quieted him with a glance.
Addressing Richie, she smiled. “It’s okay. He’s your Sam but he just doesn’t know it yet.”
Richie couldn’t help but smile back. “I know he’s you friend but I have to be sure he isn’t something dangerous.” He said gently. “Shaggy there could still be a shapeshifter or some type of doppelganger. Maybe a Changeling.” Richie rattled off a few more supernatural beings with the capability of that level of impersonation.
“Shush, hunter. Nothing evil here to hunt; only agents for good.” She said placing a finger to his lips; then she whispered. “I know the men with the blue hands too.”
Startled, Richie moved away from River and found himself standing between to Mal and Zoe. He looked at his former sergeant for an explanation.
“River was a victim of Alliance hospitality too. Made her special.” Mal explained as he touched his head. “We tend ta' listen when she gets to predictin’ stuff because she’s usually right.”
Zoe laid a hand on Richie’s shoulder. “River’s the one who told us to trust Sam. He helped us fight the Reavers; helped save our lives.”
“He ain’t a demon, Rich.” Mal confirmed. “We trust him.”
Richie nodded as he listened to his former troop mates. Richie felt a sudden kinship with the damaged girl in front of him. She reached out her hand and he took it. Then she smiled up at him sympathetically. “They tried to take your heart.”
Richie frowned. “They did cut it out and more than once.” He found he could talk to this kindred spirit about what happened without the panic but that didn’t mean he liked remembering. He saw Mal and Zoe exchange a look over that admission.
“No” River insisted. “They never took you heart,” and placed a hand once again on his chest trying to make him understand. Then she hugged him. “You are an agent for good who fights the demons just like Sam. He’s a hunter too.” And with that pronouncement she released him and went to sit by her brother.”
“Wow” Richie felt renewed somehow. “Is she always like that?” He touched his chest where River had and understood. The Alliance never broken him and he was comforted by the fact that she’d seen that.
Mal laughed. “That’s our River. Always knowin’ what to say.”
Richie locked eyes with River and nodded. “I’ll say.” He turned his gaze to the familiar looking stranger still standing in the doorway. “It seems River has faith that you aren’t anything evil and somehow that has convinced me that I should trust you, too.”
“River is an excellent judge of character,” Sam laughed.
“You must be the hunter who drew the devil’s trap in the hallway on Mr. Universe’s moon.” Richie guessed. “But I just can’t get over the resemblance to the Sam I knew. It’s uncanny. Can you explain it?”
Mal waved Sam into silence. “Richie, how did you know about the trap?” the captain asked.
Richie wanted to find out more about this Immortal Sam but he owed Mal some answers after everything that had happened in the cargo bay. “Same way we knew about Wash and suspected you had a knowledgeable hunter on board. Information network also known as the Historical Preservation Society.”
“That’s an Alliance organization.” Simon called out. “I thought you didn’t work with them.”
“I promise you, it isn’t. They maintain the society as a front for the Hunter/Watcher council.” Richie explained. “The council is the one who protects Immortals, keeps a true recorded history of every Immortal stretching back thousands of years and watches for supernatural occurrences. The events surrounding Miranda and your broadcast sent up big red flags. That’s why I’m here.”
“Protects?” Mal snorted. “Then how…?” He left the question hanging.
“Then how did the Alliance get to me.” Richie finished. “That was 150 years ago when the council was rife with corruption and negligent in their duties. After I was rescued, my friend sent his relatives in to fix it. It’s been a better organization since the Winchesters took over and independent of any real Alliance influence.” Richie said as he locked eyes with Sam.
Sam was startled by what Richie had shared. Were they his and Dean’s descendants? Was that what Richie had meant by knowing other Sam Winchesters. He couldn’t resist asking. “These Winchesters. Are they are descended from John and Mary?” The answers he was looking for felt so close but he wasn’t ready to admit his time jump just yet. Not to this guy who claimed to know him when he still hadn’t figured out how that might be true.
“As a Winchester, I would think you would know your own history.” Richie said. “I thought I knew all the Winchesters. Which branch of the family are you connected to?”
“There are branches?” Sam asked; still trying to wrap him mind around the idea his legacy was still going strong in this future.”
River stood and laughed as she walked over to Sam. “Just tell him you are Dean’s brother. Richie is Dean’s brother, too.”
Richie and Sam were speechless at River’s pronouncement. She just shook her head. “Silly boys. Tell the truth and everyone is whole again.”
Richie moved to place a gentle hand on River’s shoulder. “That’s not possible,” he said. “The original Sam Winchester and I were close friends for decades. This guy doesn’t know me. I stood up at Sam’s wedding; was called uncle by his kids. I’ve been a friend to generations of his kin. But most importantly the original Sam Winchester was not an Immortal.”
Sam felt a flicker of hope at this brief glimpse of his life. Maybe he’d met Richie when he returned to his own time. Maybe this little trip to the future was just temporary. River was right; it was time for the truth. Sam took a deep breath and plunged into his story.
“I was born in 1983 in Lawrence, Kansas on Earth-that-was.” Sam began and when he saw he had Richie’s attention he continued. “Dean Winchester was my brother. I hunted with my family before I went of to Stanford for three years. When my dad disappeared, I came back to hunting and I’ve been at it ever since.” Sam paused before presenting his two competing theories.
“I think I may have traveled through time. Or maybe this is some big illusion.” He chuckled ruefully. “But I assure you; I am the original Sam Winchester you keep referring to.”
Richie stood quietly absorbing this information. The rest of Serenity’s crew erupted in over lapping questions. Mal waved them into silence once again.
“Time travel, really?” Mal asked. “Sam, you should have told me.”
“To what end, Mal?” Sam sighed. “I didn’t believe it myself. So I was hardly in a position to talk about it until I knew for sure.”
“Okay jokes over.” Richie growled. “I’ll admit that you look like the Sam I knew. You sound like him, too. But time travel; that’s a stretch even for me. Dean will not take kindly to you pretending to be his brother. He‘ll kill you the minute he sees you and I won’t mind helping if this turns out to be some sick game.” He finished; the truth of the threat very much evident in his eyes.
“I don’t take kindly to you threatening a member of my crew, Rich.” Mal interjected. “I won’t have it. Dong le ma?
“Sorry, Mal but none of this makes sense.” Richie said as realized he may have crossed a line. “I don’t believe him and I sure as Di yu don’t know what Dean is going to do.
Mal nodded and then noticed that all the color had drained from Sam’s face. “Hey you okay?”
Sam was staring at Richie. He spoke slowly. “You said 'is'. You said ‘Dean is’.” He paused to wet his lips and find his voice. “Is Dean alive in this time too?”
Confusion crossed Richie’s face as he looked at the hope flickering in Sam’s eyes. “Dean Winchester has been my best friend for 500 years. Yeah, he’s still alive.”
“Still! He’s Immortal?” Sam exclaimed. His smile was so big that it threatened to split his face wide open. “He’s alive!” Sam cried and grabbed a startled Richie into a crushing bear hug. “He’s alive.”
Richie pushed the big man away and stared at the jubilance on Sam’s face. His joy was so clearly genuine. “Shen sheng de gao wan. Is it really you? How is this even possible?” Richie demanded. “But why don’t you know me or that Dean’s Immortal? What about Chloe or Mac?”
“I promise you that there is nothing supernatural about me. I’m Sam Winchester, always have been.” Sam insisted. “I’m sorry Rich, but I don’t know you or those others you mentioned. Who are they?”
“We’re his family,” he said softly. “It broke Dean when Sam…you…died. We were all devastated.” Richie paused and realized that he had accepted that this man was really Sam without demanding any more proof or requiring that it even make sense. “Me and Mac, we were all he had; kept him sane through the grief. He’s always tried to treat me like his little brother.” Richie chuckled, “Even though I’m older. You know Dean: he needs someone to look after.”
“Yeah. I’ve missed that since I got here.” Sam said. “No one constantly asking me if I’m okay.”
“Or if you got lucky.” Richie grinned.
“He do that to you too?”
“Well, I do have really bad luck with woman.” Richie admitted. “He feels it’s his duty to screen them for me.”
“Seriously?” Sam hooted. “He is way too obsessed with other people sex lives. It’s unnatural really.”
“It’s been really bad since Chloe. Now he wants everyone hooked up and happy.”
“Wait my brother’s in a relationship? With a real girl? You’re not talking about his car right?”
“No the Impala bit the dust a long time ago.” Richie laughed. “You always did want him to hook up with Chloe. I think there’s something poetic in you finally getting to see them together.”
“I really have to meet this girl.” Sam said. The two stood smiling at each other and Sam could feel a real connection to this older Immortal.
“Hey guys.” Mal interrupted. “Know you havin’ fun but I think we have other things we need to discuss.”
Richie froze when he realized he’d admitted a few rather embarrassing things in front of a room full of strangers. “Sorry Mal.” he gulped. “Guess we got a little carried away.”
Mal laughed. “So I take it that you’re satisfied that Sam is not a demon.”
Richie nodded. He’d really enjoyed the banter with Sam. It felt so familiar to trade barbs about Dean. They’d done it a million times; he only wished Sam could remember. “I just don't understand why you don’t remember me.” He admitted to Sam.
“I can’t say but I can definitely see how we were friends.” Sam confirmed.
Wash had been watching the two Immortals work out their history but he still felt left in the dark. “Hey guys,” he said raising a hand tentatively to get their attention. “About this hunting stuff. Will I have to do it because I have to say, not really sure I want to go hunting monsters. I mean is that a requirement? Will they pull my Immortal club membership if I don’t?”
Richie went to sit in the empty chair next to Wash. “No Wash, you don’t but after a few years you may feel that you want to.” Richie had basically ignored the new Immortal and he felt bad that he hadn’t done more to reassure him. “Duncan MacLeod is a good friend of mine and he’s usually the one sent to make contact. He’s much better at this initiation stuff than I am but I already knew Mal and Zoe so I was given the assignment.”
“Initiation? Do I have to pass some test?”
“Not any more.” He laughed.
Wash blanched. “What’s that mean?”
“It’s a long story really. Maybe it can wait.”
“Richie,” Mal said. “I think it’s best you tell Wash and Sam what’s expected of them and I think we all need to be hearin’ this long story of yours.”
Richie looked around the table. Other than Jayne who appeared to be napping on the sofa across the way, the crew was watching him expectantly. As much as he wanted to continue talking to Sam and figure out the mystery behind his presence here, he’d promised Mac he’d fill in the entire boring back story. Richie was sure MacLeod was happy not to do it for once.
Richie settled into his chair and began with the history of the Game. It was a thing of the past but new Immortals still needed to know about it in case it somehow reared its ugly head again.
“But I don’t need to fight with a sword, right?” Wash asked when Richie had finished that part of the story. “Zoe, I can’t fight with a sword.” He said to his wife.
“It’s ok baby, I’ll shoot them first don’t worry.”
“See I knew it was a good idea to marry you.”
“No more swords, Wash.” Richie assured him. “I haven’t taken a head in decades. But you need to understand that a beheading is our only true death.”
“So why did it change?” Kaylee asked
“The Winchesters came along.” Richie replied smugly and waited for Sam’s reaction.
Sam had returned to leaning against the door and perked up at this revelation. “Dean?”
“You guys never did play by anyone’s rules but your own. Ellen was the one who figured it out. You remember her?” When Sam nodded, Richie went on to explain the idea that Immortals were agents for good and how that revelation had ushered in the age of the Immortal Hunter.
“Eventually the council evolved from just watching and recording the activities of Immortals to running the entire Hunter/Immortal network that’s in place today.” Richie finished. “So class, any questions?” he joked. It had been easier than he’d realized to lay it all out for them.
“It was me and Dean, our blood relationship that changed everything?” Sam asked.
“Pretty much.” Richie said. “That and learning that ghosts and demons were real.”
“But I wasn’t Immortal then.”
“Nope didn’t even have the premie buzz.”
Sam brightened. “That’s what I felt from Wash. Why I knew there was something different about him before he died.”
“I buzzed before I died?” Wash asked.
“All potential Immortals have that feeling about them from the day they are chosen. If they die a violent death the Immortality kicks in; if not they just die a normal, peaceful, mortal death. Only another Immortal would ever know of their potential.” Richie confirmed.
“What causes that feeling?” Sam asked. “Does a person have it from birth.”
“No not from birth. But it can happen anytime. We’re not sure what flips that switch.” Richie said. “I will say that you’re the first person in my experience to have been clearly mortal and then turn up Immortal later.”
“Kind of like if you’ve been tagged by an Immortal as mortal, you can’t change teams.” Sam suggested.
Across the table Simon had been listening quietly to the history of Immortals. “I wondered about the differences between mortals and Immortals.” Simon said addressing Sam. “The tests I ran on your genetic material showed that you and Wash definitely have something different in your DNA than the rest of us.” Simon explained. “It would be interesting to have other samples to see if there’s a pattern or if there might be a way to isolate the gene that creates this phenomenon.”
Richie was out of his chair and around the table in a heartbeat. He dragged Simon to his feet by his starched white collar. “You ran tests on them? You Bastard!” he growled. “Doctors! You worthless Wang ba dan.” The blood was pounding in his ears and he could hear the rest of the crew in an uproar behind him.
“Richie! Let him go.” Mal shouted.
“Can I shoot him now?” Jayne asked. The possibility of a fight had him up off the couch and ready for action.
A chorus of 'Nos' resounded around the room.
Zoe and Mal dragged Richie off the doctor and sat him down. Kaylee ran over to Simon to check for damage.
“I’m okay.” He said waving her off. “It was my own fault.”
“He attacked you, Simon. Don’t see how you’re to blame.” Kaylee said.
“I didn’t follow my own advice.” Simon said as he met Richie’s eyes. “I am so sorry. It was stupid of me to say those things after what you’d been through.”
“It was completely voluntary,” Wash added. “We didn’t know what happened to us. Simon thought he could help. We asked him to.”
Richie sagged in the chair and dropped his head into his hands. “I can’t believe this is happening. I’m not usually like this.” He groaned. Looking up at Simon, he sighed. “I’m sorry. I really suck at the whole Immortal ambassador routine.”
Simon laughed. “That’s true. But then again you didn’t expect to run into a formally dead friend or this eclectic crew.”
“You sayin’ we’re crazy, Doc?” Mal said with mock seriousness.
“Well…” Simon let the rest of the thought go unspoken.
Kaylee began snickering and soon the whole crew was laughing.
“We are a unique bunch, Captain.” Zoe deadpanned.
“This mean I still don’t get to shoot him.” Jayne groused.
A collective, “Shut up, Jayne,” drove the laughter into high gear and Jayne back to his couch. Richie included. River came to stand next to him and took his hand.
“It’s all shiny now.” She whispered as she knelt down beside him.
He nodded and continued to enjoy the good humor that was all around. River had a way of reaching him that made him feel understood for the first time in a long time and he didn’t want to let go of her hand.
“I have some good news,” Sam shouted over the infectious mirth.
They settled down and waited for him to continue.
“I know why I don’t remember you.” He said.
“Really, why?”
“The last thing I remember about Earth was being in a ghost town in South Dakota in 2007. I was fighting with a guy named Jake…and then I woke up on Miranda.” Sam explained.
“Wait, I know that story; what happened in that town.” Richie said. “You’re right. We didn’t meet until 2008 after Dean became Immortal but you never mentioned traveling to this future.” Richie gestured at their surroundings and then gasped.
“What?” Sam asked. “You know something. What happened next?”
“Whoa there, Sammy.” Richie said. “What happened in South Dakota, that’s Dean’s story to tell. I don’t want to speculate.”
Sam looked at him with a strange smile on his face. “Sammy?”
“Hey, I had brother’s rights.” Richie smiled back as River laughed next to him.
“The three Musketeers.” She said.
“There were four,” Sam quipped. “And I’m guessing Dean encouraged you to use it.
“Mac made four and no you did.” Richie smirked. “Damn I’ve missed you.”
“See almost whole again.” River said as she looked from Richie to Sam. “Now get Dean.”
“Good idea, River.” Richie acknowledged and pulled a communication device out of his pocket. “I’ll just call Dean, Mac and Chloe. It’s time they joined this party anyway.
“Good. Do that.” Mal said.
“Wait Dean’s here, on Persephone?” Sam asked.
“Oh yeah. Didn’t I mention that?” He teased.
“No you didn’t” he said with mock frustration.
“I’ll make the call. And let’s hope Dean gives me time to explain who you are before he goes crazy.”
Sam nodded but assumed that in true Winchester fashion things would get worse before they got better.
**********************
Firefly slang used throughout this story
Damn it: Zao gao
Enough of this nonsense: Gou huang tang
I don't believe my eyes!: Wo bu shin wo dah yan jing
Long time no see: Hao joh bu jian
G**d*mn monsters: Tian sha de e mo
(exclamation): Shen sheng de gao wan
Awesome: Gao gan
Wonderful!: Pai an jiao jue
Alliance: Tong meng
Monkey's butt: Hou-zi de pi-gu
Are we clear?: Dong le ma
SOB: Wang ba dan
Filthy fornicators of livestock: He chu-sheng za-jiao de zang-huo!
Baboon's arse: Fei fei pi gu
Fool: Sha gua
Little Sister: Mei or Mei-Mei