Gettin to Know Them - part one
Title: Gettin to Know Them
Author: Ru_salki99
Rating: NC 17
Pairings: Mal/Jayne, Wash/Zoe, Kaylee/Simon, River/OMC
Disclaimer: Firefly belongs to Joss.
Author's notes: Sequel to Gettin to Know You. It will be more of a gen fic, but there will be bits of smex here and there :D
Summary: Set 3 years after River went to live on Delta. The crew are on their way back there for her and Seth's wedding but pick up some unexpected passengers on the way.
“Tha e ro dhoar,” Niamh said to Bronte as they walked down the ramp. Mal had a meeting with Badger today and as such only needed Zoe and Jayne with him. He had given Bronte the afternoon off and he wanted to treat his new wife to a new tool box.
“Niamh, you deserve it,” Bronte tried to reason. His gaelic had become really good over the past three years, “Please let me treat you.”
“Bronte, I don’t need it. What we do need though is a new cot.”
The rest of the crew turned to look at her. Evan (who was now three) was on his Uncle Mal’s shoulders, Wash had both his sons Ross and Sean (two and a half) in a buggy next to him. It was the only way to make sure they both behaved. Simon was carrying his daughter Joanne (who was only six months and named after Kaylee’s mother). Jayne and Zoe were checking their weapons whilst Kaylee tampered with the mule that was broken… again. The thirteen year old Mattie was helping her, or at least trying to. She wasn’t that good at mechanics, but she was giving it a try.
“Why you need a new cot?” Mal asked curiously.
“Well, Joanne is still using Evan’s and I thought it might be nice for my new baby to have a bed of it’s own.”
“You’re pregnant?” Bronte asked.
“Yup, three months along,” she smiled.
Bronte stared at her stomach, gave a huge smile and promptly fainted.
“Congratulations mei mei,” Mal said as he set Evan back on his feet and kissed Niamh on the cheek, stepping over the unconscious Bronte as he did so.
“Is Daddy okay?” Evan asked Niamh. She had gotten together with Bronte about four months after he came on board, making Evan seven months. Bronte had always treated him like his own and so when trying to encourage him to speak Niamh called Bronte Daddy. And Evan’s first word had inevitably been Dada.
“Theid. He’s fine,” she said as Evan examined his Dad’s face.
He was quite an unusual little boy. He was fluent in both English and gaelic. Niamh would only speak to him in gaelic when they were in private and Bronte had been made to follow this rule too. This meant that he had the strangest accent, due to his influences from the rest of the crew. It was a mix between outer rim and celt. He was also starting to pick up some Chinese from his uncle Mal - and not the good kind neither. Not to mention that he was fascinated with electrics (understandably so) and had a bad habit of giving himself nasty shocks, although so far, nothing fatal.
“Well we’re off,” Mal said as he climbed into the mule, “We’ll be back in about a half hour. Try and get us some passengers please. Wash, ship is yours.”
“Aye, aye captain,” Wash mock saluted, his sons copying him as the mule flew out of the cargo bay.
“Come on, lets go get some sunshine,” Niamh said to Evan who stood back up and took her hand, “Mattie, you coming?”
“Uh…” Mattie looked down at her hands.
“We’ll be there in a minute Niamh. Ain’t gonna pass up the opportunity for fresh air and sunshine. Just gotta wash up first,”
Niamh smiled, stepped over her now groggy husband and sat down on a deck chair at the bottom of the ramp, Wash following her.
Ten minutes later and the six adults (Niamh, Bronte, Wash, Kaylee, Simon and Inara), Mattie and the four little ones were sitting at the base of the ramp, drinking lemonade and soaking up the sun… not really trying their hardest to get passengers.
“Ooh, look here comes someone,” Mattie said excitedly. But in reality there was no reason to be excited.
Niamh spotted the figure, grabbed Evan gave him to Bronte and ordered them inside.
“What’s goin’ on?” Bronte asked.
“Just get him out of here,” Niamh said. Bronte about turned and hurried up the ramp with his son. The rest of the crew followed him as they didn’t really want to be around for this confrontation, although they kept an ear open in case of any trouble.
“Halo Niamh. Ciamar a tha thu?” the tall figure asked her.
“Fine thank you Conor,” she replied curtly.
“Was that Evan?” he asked pointing up the ramp.
Niamh just stared at him.
“Come on Niamh. You said I could see him any time I wanted so long as we were on the same planet or moon,”
“I also said I wanted child support of which I’ve never seen a penny of Conor.”
“I have a right…”
“Sin sibh. Everything okay here?” Bronte asked as he walked down the ramp in a very intimidating manner, putting his arm around Niamh’s waist. As tall as Conor was, Bronte was a good three inches taller.
“Co thu?” Conor asked with a frown.
Bronte held out his hand, “Bronte Cobb. Niamh’s husband. And you?”
“Conor Fitzgerald, Evan’s father,” Conor said as he shook his hand.
Niamh knew this wasn’t heading anywhere good fast.
“I think you’re a mite mistaken,” Bronte said calmly, “I’m Evan’s father,”
Conor looked confused for a moment, “What the hell Niamh?”
Niamh rolled her eyes, “You fucked off three years ago Conor. Bronte, well he kind of swooped me off my feet. We got married a year and a half ago and Evan’s been calling him Dad since he learned to speak.”
“You weren’t there for his first word were you?” Bronte asked with a sneer, “Or his first step, or first tooth. You weren’t even there to change his dirty diapers during the night… how is it you think you can call yourself his father?”
Conor didn’t know what to say. He hadn’t been expecting this. He had thought he would be able to come see his son and perhaps take him away with him as he had wished he had done since the day he was born.
“I think it might be a good idea for you to leave now,” Niamh suggested.
“Or what?”
Conor never saw it coming. He didn’t know anyone could act that quick, but within milliseconds, the barrel of a gun was pressed to the side of his head.
“Or I pull the trigger and send you flyin’,” Bronte said.
“Fine,” Conor said, “But you can’t keep me from him forever Niamh. He’ll want to know the truth one day.”
Bronte cocked his gun, “Thalla is bheir ort! Or I swear I will shoot you where you stand.”
Conor gave one last sneer before disappearing into the crowds.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” Niamh said to Bronte.
Bronte scowled, “He’s bad news Niamh. Don’t need him comin round whenever he feels like it. Ain’t good for Evan and it ain’t good for you neither.”
Niamh sighed and put an arm round Bronte’s waist, resting her head on his shoulder, “What did I ever do without you?” she asked him with a small smile.
Bronte smiled back down at her before placing a kiss on her head, “I dread to think about the things you got up to.”
Just as Bronte was about to lead them back into the ship and collect Evan from a very stressed looking Wash, they were stopped by the sound of someone clearing his throat. Turning as one they saw a middle aged and rather smartly dressed couple standing at the bottom of the ramp.
“You lost?” Bronte asked.
“We’re looking for the firefly ship Serenity,” the man said, “Is this it?”
“Depends on who’s asking,” Niamh told them.
“I’m Gabriel Tam and this is my wife Regan. Our daughter told us to come here on this day to find you.”
Niamh and Bronte just stood staring at them for a second before Niamh finally turned her head and called into the cargo bay, “Doc, you might want to come out here for a minute.”
Seconds later and they were joined by Simon who was not only carrying his daughter still, but had his gun belt on as was usual for him now and his sleeves rolled up to show that both his forearms were covered in tattoos, one a laughing Buddha and the other a golden dragon. He stopped short when he recognised the couple at the bottom of the ramp.
“Mother? Father?” he asked in surprise, “What are you doing here?”
Regan ran up the ramp and pulled him into a hug, but Simon quickly pulled back from her.
“I believe I asked you a question,” he said as he handed Joanne to Kaylee who had come up to stand next to him, Wash and Inara at her back. Mattie was up the back by the weight bench watching the boys.
“Don’t talk to your mother like that,” Gabriel said.
Simon frowned at him, “What are you doing here?” he asked, completely ignoring his mother now.
Gabriel handed him over a letter, “We’ve been living here on Persephone for a while now. Don’t know how she knew though.”
“We received this last month,” Regan added as she pointed to the letter.
Simon opened it, his eyebrows shooting up slightly in surprise, “It’s from River,” he told everyone else, making them all stare in shock, “She’s invited them to the wedding. Told them to be here and now in order to get transport.”
“She told them where she was?” Kaylee asked in surprise.
“No,” Simon said, “There’s no return address. She’s smarter than that,” he added as he handed the letter back, “You’ll need to speak with the captain. He’ll be back soon. You can wait here,” he told his parents before lifting Joanne out of Kaylee’s arms taking hold of her hand and walking away from them.
“Was that Simon’s child?” Regan asked Inara, ignoring the other three who frankly, unnerved her.
“Yes. And Kaylee is his wife,” she explained.
Regan made a face that said she was clearly disappointed that Simon would choose someone who looked so dirty to be his wife.
“He’s not the man you knew five years ago,” Wash said, “In fact, I would say he was a better man.”
Regan and Gabriel just looked at each other, neither really knowing what to do with themselves.
“You better stand out of the way,” Niamh said, putting out her arm to pull Regan out of the way of the oncoming mule. Regan jumped back out of her reach and scowled at her, clearly unsettled by the fact she was a celt, “Fine, but if you die don’t say I didn’t warn you,” she added as she pointed to the mule.
Gabriel quickly pulled Regan out of the way just in time as Mal steered the mule into the bay. As he turned the engine off a puff of black smoke came out of the back with a bang.
“Daxiang baozhashi de laduzi!” Jayne said as he tried to bat some of the smoke away, “I think it’s about time you just got rid of this damn thing. Don’t think Kaylee can fix it up anymore.”
“Until it actually stops working, I ain’t getting rid of it,” Mal said, “Can’t afford to and you know it.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Jayne said as he hopped down and grabbed Evan who had taken Mattie’s distraction to make a break for it.
“Unckie Jayne!” Evan protested as he tried to squirm free.
“You ain’t goin no where little man, so you might as well give up now,” he said as he tickled him.
“Who’s this?” Zoe asked as she noticed the couple in the corner spluttering as the smoke began to dissipate, “We got ourselves some passengers?”
“Sweetie,” Wash said as he took her hand, “Meet Mr and Mrs Tam.”
Zoe’s head snapped up to stare at them and both Mal and Jayne froze in their way over to see the new comers.
“River invited them to the wedding,” Inara said, “She told them to come to you and ask for transport,” she added to Mal.
“The Doc aware of what’s goin on?” he asked.
“Yeah. He disappeared with Kaylee and Joanne a couple of minutes ago,” Bronte said as Jayne handed him Evan who was squirming again.
“Mattie, go get your Uncle Simon,” Jayne said to her, crossing his arms over his chest and scowling down at the Tams.
“Sure thing Pa,” she said as she ran off towards the common area to find Simon.
“So, that’s your daughter?” Gabriel asked Jayne, who didn’t reply, just kept staring, “Is there a problem?”
“Is there a problem?” Jayne asked, making to step forward slightly, but Mal put out a hand and stopped him.
“Jayne’s just a might over protective of River and Simon. Seth, River’s fiancé, is Jayne and Bronte’s little brother. But then, we’re all rather over protective of them. You don’t need to be blood related or married to be family,” Mal explained.
Before Gabriel or Regan could reply to that, Mattie came back with Simon, Kaylee and Joanne.
“You wanted to see me?” Simon asked Mal, doing his best to ignore his parents.
“You okay with this?” Mal asked, “Cause if you ain’t we can throw them off ship. I’m sure River wouldn’t really mind that much.”
“It’s fine,” Simon said, “I’m sure River has her reasons. Just don’t expect me to be polite,” he added before once again walking off.
“Alright then,” Mal said as he watched Simon and Kaylee head upstairs towards their bunk, “Mei mei, why don’t you show Mr and Mrs Tam to their room.”
“Sure,” Niamh said as she stepped forward, “This way.”
The Tams quickly followed her, slightly relieved to get away from the scowling forms of Jayne and Bronte. Even baby Evan had started scowling at them, copying his Dad.
“This is going to be a problem ain’t it,” Mal said to no one in particular.
“I believe it might Sir,” Zoe agreed.
TBC
GAELIC
Tha e ro dhoar - It’s too expensive
Theid - yes
Halo - hello
Ciamar a tha thu - how are you?
Sin sibh - there you are
Thalla is bheir ort - Get lost
CHINESE
Daxiang baozhashi de laduzi! - explosive diarrhoea of an elephant
Mei mei - little sister
Author: Ru_salki99
Rating: NC 17
Pairings: Mal/Jayne, Wash/Zoe, Kaylee/Simon, River/OMC
Disclaimer: Firefly belongs to Joss.
Author's notes: Sequel to Gettin to Know You. It will be more of a gen fic, but there will be bits of smex here and there :D
Summary: Set 3 years after River went to live on Delta. The crew are on their way back there for her and Seth's wedding but pick up some unexpected passengers on the way.
“Tha e ro dhoar,” Niamh said to Bronte as they walked down the ramp. Mal had a meeting with Badger today and as such only needed Zoe and Jayne with him. He had given Bronte the afternoon off and he wanted to treat his new wife to a new tool box.
“Niamh, you deserve it,” Bronte tried to reason. His gaelic had become really good over the past three years, “Please let me treat you.”
“Bronte, I don’t need it. What we do need though is a new cot.”
The rest of the crew turned to look at her. Evan (who was now three) was on his Uncle Mal’s shoulders, Wash had both his sons Ross and Sean (two and a half) in a buggy next to him. It was the only way to make sure they both behaved. Simon was carrying his daughter Joanne (who was only six months and named after Kaylee’s mother). Jayne and Zoe were checking their weapons whilst Kaylee tampered with the mule that was broken… again. The thirteen year old Mattie was helping her, or at least trying to. She wasn’t that good at mechanics, but she was giving it a try.
“Why you need a new cot?” Mal asked curiously.
“Well, Joanne is still using Evan’s and I thought it might be nice for my new baby to have a bed of it’s own.”
“You’re pregnant?” Bronte asked.
“Yup, three months along,” she smiled.
Bronte stared at her stomach, gave a huge smile and promptly fainted.
“Congratulations mei mei,” Mal said as he set Evan back on his feet and kissed Niamh on the cheek, stepping over the unconscious Bronte as he did so.
“Is Daddy okay?” Evan asked Niamh. She had gotten together with Bronte about four months after he came on board, making Evan seven months. Bronte had always treated him like his own and so when trying to encourage him to speak Niamh called Bronte Daddy. And Evan’s first word had inevitably been Dada.
“Theid. He’s fine,” she said as Evan examined his Dad’s face.
He was quite an unusual little boy. He was fluent in both English and gaelic. Niamh would only speak to him in gaelic when they were in private and Bronte had been made to follow this rule too. This meant that he had the strangest accent, due to his influences from the rest of the crew. It was a mix between outer rim and celt. He was also starting to pick up some Chinese from his uncle Mal - and not the good kind neither. Not to mention that he was fascinated with electrics (understandably so) and had a bad habit of giving himself nasty shocks, although so far, nothing fatal.
“Well we’re off,” Mal said as he climbed into the mule, “We’ll be back in about a half hour. Try and get us some passengers please. Wash, ship is yours.”
“Aye, aye captain,” Wash mock saluted, his sons copying him as the mule flew out of the cargo bay.
“Come on, lets go get some sunshine,” Niamh said to Evan who stood back up and took her hand, “Mattie, you coming?”
“Uh…” Mattie looked down at her hands.
“We’ll be there in a minute Niamh. Ain’t gonna pass up the opportunity for fresh air and sunshine. Just gotta wash up first,”
Niamh smiled, stepped over her now groggy husband and sat down on a deck chair at the bottom of the ramp, Wash following her.
Ten minutes later and the six adults (Niamh, Bronte, Wash, Kaylee, Simon and Inara), Mattie and the four little ones were sitting at the base of the ramp, drinking lemonade and soaking up the sun… not really trying their hardest to get passengers.
“Ooh, look here comes someone,” Mattie said excitedly. But in reality there was no reason to be excited.
Niamh spotted the figure, grabbed Evan gave him to Bronte and ordered them inside.
“What’s goin’ on?” Bronte asked.
“Just get him out of here,” Niamh said. Bronte about turned and hurried up the ramp with his son. The rest of the crew followed him as they didn’t really want to be around for this confrontation, although they kept an ear open in case of any trouble.
“Halo Niamh. Ciamar a tha thu?” the tall figure asked her.
“Fine thank you Conor,” she replied curtly.
“Was that Evan?” he asked pointing up the ramp.
Niamh just stared at him.
“Come on Niamh. You said I could see him any time I wanted so long as we were on the same planet or moon,”
“I also said I wanted child support of which I’ve never seen a penny of Conor.”
“I have a right…”
“Sin sibh. Everything okay here?” Bronte asked as he walked down the ramp in a very intimidating manner, putting his arm around Niamh’s waist. As tall as Conor was, Bronte was a good three inches taller.
“Co thu?” Conor asked with a frown.
Bronte held out his hand, “Bronte Cobb. Niamh’s husband. And you?”
“Conor Fitzgerald, Evan’s father,” Conor said as he shook his hand.
Niamh knew this wasn’t heading anywhere good fast.
“I think you’re a mite mistaken,” Bronte said calmly, “I’m Evan’s father,”
Conor looked confused for a moment, “What the hell Niamh?”
Niamh rolled her eyes, “You fucked off three years ago Conor. Bronte, well he kind of swooped me off my feet. We got married a year and a half ago and Evan’s been calling him Dad since he learned to speak.”
“You weren’t there for his first word were you?” Bronte asked with a sneer, “Or his first step, or first tooth. You weren’t even there to change his dirty diapers during the night… how is it you think you can call yourself his father?”
Conor didn’t know what to say. He hadn’t been expecting this. He had thought he would be able to come see his son and perhaps take him away with him as he had wished he had done since the day he was born.
“I think it might be a good idea for you to leave now,” Niamh suggested.
“Or what?”
Conor never saw it coming. He didn’t know anyone could act that quick, but within milliseconds, the barrel of a gun was pressed to the side of his head.
“Or I pull the trigger and send you flyin’,” Bronte said.
“Fine,” Conor said, “But you can’t keep me from him forever Niamh. He’ll want to know the truth one day.”
Bronte cocked his gun, “Thalla is bheir ort! Or I swear I will shoot you where you stand.”
Conor gave one last sneer before disappearing into the crowds.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” Niamh said to Bronte.
Bronte scowled, “He’s bad news Niamh. Don’t need him comin round whenever he feels like it. Ain’t good for Evan and it ain’t good for you neither.”
Niamh sighed and put an arm round Bronte’s waist, resting her head on his shoulder, “What did I ever do without you?” she asked him with a small smile.
Bronte smiled back down at her before placing a kiss on her head, “I dread to think about the things you got up to.”
Just as Bronte was about to lead them back into the ship and collect Evan from a very stressed looking Wash, they were stopped by the sound of someone clearing his throat. Turning as one they saw a middle aged and rather smartly dressed couple standing at the bottom of the ramp.
“You lost?” Bronte asked.
“We’re looking for the firefly ship Serenity,” the man said, “Is this it?”
“Depends on who’s asking,” Niamh told them.
“I’m Gabriel Tam and this is my wife Regan. Our daughter told us to come here on this day to find you.”
Niamh and Bronte just stood staring at them for a second before Niamh finally turned her head and called into the cargo bay, “Doc, you might want to come out here for a minute.”
Seconds later and they were joined by Simon who was not only carrying his daughter still, but had his gun belt on as was usual for him now and his sleeves rolled up to show that both his forearms were covered in tattoos, one a laughing Buddha and the other a golden dragon. He stopped short when he recognised the couple at the bottom of the ramp.
“Mother? Father?” he asked in surprise, “What are you doing here?”
Regan ran up the ramp and pulled him into a hug, but Simon quickly pulled back from her.
“I believe I asked you a question,” he said as he handed Joanne to Kaylee who had come up to stand next to him, Wash and Inara at her back. Mattie was up the back by the weight bench watching the boys.
“Don’t talk to your mother like that,” Gabriel said.
Simon frowned at him, “What are you doing here?” he asked, completely ignoring his mother now.
Gabriel handed him over a letter, “We’ve been living here on Persephone for a while now. Don’t know how she knew though.”
“We received this last month,” Regan added as she pointed to the letter.
Simon opened it, his eyebrows shooting up slightly in surprise, “It’s from River,” he told everyone else, making them all stare in shock, “She’s invited them to the wedding. Told them to be here and now in order to get transport.”
“She told them where she was?” Kaylee asked in surprise.
“No,” Simon said, “There’s no return address. She’s smarter than that,” he added as he handed the letter back, “You’ll need to speak with the captain. He’ll be back soon. You can wait here,” he told his parents before lifting Joanne out of Kaylee’s arms taking hold of her hand and walking away from them.
“Was that Simon’s child?” Regan asked Inara, ignoring the other three who frankly, unnerved her.
“Yes. And Kaylee is his wife,” she explained.
Regan made a face that said she was clearly disappointed that Simon would choose someone who looked so dirty to be his wife.
“He’s not the man you knew five years ago,” Wash said, “In fact, I would say he was a better man.”
Regan and Gabriel just looked at each other, neither really knowing what to do with themselves.
“You better stand out of the way,” Niamh said, putting out her arm to pull Regan out of the way of the oncoming mule. Regan jumped back out of her reach and scowled at her, clearly unsettled by the fact she was a celt, “Fine, but if you die don’t say I didn’t warn you,” she added as she pointed to the mule.
Gabriel quickly pulled Regan out of the way just in time as Mal steered the mule into the bay. As he turned the engine off a puff of black smoke came out of the back with a bang.
“Daxiang baozhashi de laduzi!” Jayne said as he tried to bat some of the smoke away, “I think it’s about time you just got rid of this damn thing. Don’t think Kaylee can fix it up anymore.”
“Until it actually stops working, I ain’t getting rid of it,” Mal said, “Can’t afford to and you know it.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Jayne said as he hopped down and grabbed Evan who had taken Mattie’s distraction to make a break for it.
“Unckie Jayne!” Evan protested as he tried to squirm free.
“You ain’t goin no where little man, so you might as well give up now,” he said as he tickled him.
“Who’s this?” Zoe asked as she noticed the couple in the corner spluttering as the smoke began to dissipate, “We got ourselves some passengers?”
“Sweetie,” Wash said as he took her hand, “Meet Mr and Mrs Tam.”
Zoe’s head snapped up to stare at them and both Mal and Jayne froze in their way over to see the new comers.
“River invited them to the wedding,” Inara said, “She told them to come to you and ask for transport,” she added to Mal.
“The Doc aware of what’s goin on?” he asked.
“Yeah. He disappeared with Kaylee and Joanne a couple of minutes ago,” Bronte said as Jayne handed him Evan who was squirming again.
“Mattie, go get your Uncle Simon,” Jayne said to her, crossing his arms over his chest and scowling down at the Tams.
“Sure thing Pa,” she said as she ran off towards the common area to find Simon.
“So, that’s your daughter?” Gabriel asked Jayne, who didn’t reply, just kept staring, “Is there a problem?”
“Is there a problem?” Jayne asked, making to step forward slightly, but Mal put out a hand and stopped him.
“Jayne’s just a might over protective of River and Simon. Seth, River’s fiancé, is Jayne and Bronte’s little brother. But then, we’re all rather over protective of them. You don’t need to be blood related or married to be family,” Mal explained.
Before Gabriel or Regan could reply to that, Mattie came back with Simon, Kaylee and Joanne.
“You wanted to see me?” Simon asked Mal, doing his best to ignore his parents.
“You okay with this?” Mal asked, “Cause if you ain’t we can throw them off ship. I’m sure River wouldn’t really mind that much.”
“It’s fine,” Simon said, “I’m sure River has her reasons. Just don’t expect me to be polite,” he added before once again walking off.
“Alright then,” Mal said as he watched Simon and Kaylee head upstairs towards their bunk, “Mei mei, why don’t you show Mr and Mrs Tam to their room.”
“Sure,” Niamh said as she stepped forward, “This way.”
The Tams quickly followed her, slightly relieved to get away from the scowling forms of Jayne and Bronte. Even baby Evan had started scowling at them, copying his Dad.
“This is going to be a problem ain’t it,” Mal said to no one in particular.
“I believe it might Sir,” Zoe agreed.
TBC
GAELIC
Tha e ro dhoar - It’s too expensive
Theid - yes
Halo - hello
Ciamar a tha thu - how are you?
Sin sibh - there you are
Thalla is bheir ort - Get lost
CHINESE
Daxiang baozhashi de laduzi! - explosive diarrhoea of an elephant
Mei mei - little sister