SN/FF Crossover: Hunter's Moon, Part 1/3
x-posted
Title: Hunter’s Moon
Author: Trystan
Rating: Teen; language
Category: Crossover: Supernatural (Timeshifter AU Canon)/Firefly
Timeline: SN/Timeshifter: after “ A Detour in Time”/Firefly: before “Heart of Gold”
Spoilers: Timeshifter series, Firefly
Word Count: Pt 1 - 4,064 words
Notable Credits: thanks to a conversation I had with roguem, in which the plot bunny finally hopped on by. Title inspired by jediprincessdsv. Wonderful beta work, plot pieces and suggestions by acostilow, aphrodite33, diamondback158, iamthedirtgirl, jediprinessdsv, and lia_van_helsing. The crew of Serenity, Sam, and Dean are not mine, although goddess knows I wish Dean was.
Tagline: On a haunted moon, in a distant part of the ‘verse, two unlikely heroes are trying to make a living as best they can. Amid the spirited moon and a spaceship that might be haunted, will they ever make it home?
Take my love, take my land;
Take me where I cannot stand.
I don’t care, I’m still free -
You can’t take the sky from me .
Take me out to the black
Tell them I ain’t comin’ back..
Burn the land and boil the sea
You can’t take the sky from me.
There’s no place I can be
Since I found Serenity…
But you can’t take the sky from me…
~ Joss Whedon, ©2002
Since long before it was feasible, humans have longed to travel to the stars. Space stations and colonies on the moon were dreams of science fiction readers and writers. And as time and technology progressed, humanity has used up many of its precious resources the Earth needs to stay viable for life.
But what will happen when Earth is all “used up”? Writers again have stepped into fill this void, in a time far into the future, to find a new solar system, where hundreds of new “Earths” can be terraformed and colonized. These central planets will form “The Alliance,” and unite all the planets under their rule. To which there will be some disagreement, as every good story has. After a long war, many of these “Independents” who fight - and ultimately lose against the big government - will find their way to the edges of this system, far from control of this “Alliance.”
Out on these fringes, people will struggle to get by with the most basic technologies. A ship could bring you work; and a gun could help you keep it. This story started with such a ship, but it also started with much much more than was bargained for.
~*~
“Kaylee? What’s wrong with my boat?” Captain Malcolm Reynolds was in the Engine Room, with his mechanic, Kaylee Frye. The “boat” in question was Mal’s Firefly-class ship, Serenity. What was wrong was that while the engine kept spluttering and stalling, there didn’t seem to be anything amiss.
“She usually tells me when something’s wrong,” Kaylee told him, brushing a stubborn lock of hair out of her greasy and sweaty face.
“She just stops working, leavin’ us dead in space, and when I go to see what’s wrong, she just starts right up again.”
Mal nodded thoughtfully, and Kaylee continued.
“And my tools keep disappearing. I find them hours later in my hammock, or just lyin’ about,” she said, thumbing over her shoulder to her hanging cot in the corner of the engine room.
“Very odd,” Mal mused again. “And this started happening - ”
“When we first entered this system, with that moon.”
What she didn’t say was, the haunted moon.
~*~
As that moon came into range, four of the crew was in the dining area aboard Serenity when River Tam wandered though, at first seeming not to notice those seated at the table. Her mind was constantly abuzz with an overabundance of information, and as she was so absorbed in this knowledge, it seemed to someone who didn’t know her that she was, for lack of a better phrase, staring into space.
She stopped at the table, grabbed a piece of still-fresh fruit from a cargo payment from the center, and thoughtfully took a bite. As she chewed, she looked around blissfully. After she swallowed, she airily stated,
“Two by two, hands of blue.” This was nothing new for her to say. In fact, this cryptic line was usually followed by her cowering in a corner. But today, as she had been for a few days now, she continued.
“Fire on the ceiling; demons, spirits, revealing.”
She smiled at those who were there - Jayne Cobb, Zoe Washburn, Kaylee, and Mal. In the doorway, she saw her brother, Simon, waiting for her. She smiled at him, and repeated her new line.
“Fire on the ceiling; demons, spirits, revealing.” After a moment, she turned back to the table, smiled and said with a maniacal edge in her voice, “Winchesters.”
Then she disappeared through the doorway with her brother, to return to either her room, or the infirmary, where a very concerned Simon was still running tests to find a medication to reverse what the Alliance had done to his sister.
“What the hell is she rambling on about now?” Jayne grumped.
“Why Jayne, you do care,” Kaylee teased.
Overhead, the speaker crackled, and Wash’s voice came over the airwaves.
“We should be entering atmo soon enough, Captain,” the pilot’s voice came out crackly, but loud. Mal went over to the speaker and replied,
“Thanks, Wash. This’ll be a quickie job,” Mal said, certainty in his voice.
The speaker crackled again, and Wash added, “I’ve heard some… rumors about this place. Come on up and I’ll fill you in.”
“More rumors, or different rumors?” Mal mused.
“Are you thinking out loud, Sir?” Zoe asked, referring to Mal’s comment about the quickie, “Or hoping to dispel the rumors about this place?”
Mal raised an eyebrow at his first mate, but continued. “I want to get this cargo, then back to the ship. It’s a dusty rock that’s pretending to be a moon. The settlement out here is pretty established, and
our cargo is all ready to be picked up. Despite what you may have heard, this will be easy. Dong ma?”
“Yes, Sir,” Zoe smiled.
“You got it, Cap’n,” Kaylee smiled.
“Rumors?” Jayne asked. Apparently, he hadn’t heard. But at a sharp look from Mal, he said,
“Yeah, I got it Captain,” Jayne admitted, but then turned to Kaylee again. “What do you think River there was meaning, demons and spirits and all that?”
As if in answer, a mug slid across the table by its own accord. Jayne leapt to his feet, cursing.
“What in the gorram hell was that?”
“Gorram hell was what?”
“Damn mug moved,” he said suspiciously.
“You sure you ain’t seeing things, Jayne? Spooked by the ‘demons’?” Kaylee teased as left the kitchen.
Jayne shuddered and quickly followed.
~*~
“What’s up, Wash?” Mal asked, entering the cockpit. Wash was the best pilot in the ‘verse as far as Mal was concerned. Wash knew his way around the systems with ease. He would also know about these latest “rumors.”
“I’m sure you’ve heard what they’ve said about this moon?” Wash said.
“I’ve heard some,” Mal admitted. He’d heard it said the moon was haunted by ghosts and spirits. Others just said it was a cursed place.
“I’ve been in chatting with Mr. Universe over the past few months. He’s saying they’ve been saying different.”
“New to me,” Mal said after a moment.
“Me too. Apparently, Universe has heard there’s a pair of ‘ghost hunters’ who help out the locals. It’s been said they just appeared few months back, picked themselves up, dusted themselves off, and are in the process of killing - no, removing - what’s been haunting this place since then.”
“So you’re saying this rock isn’t as haunted down there anymore?”
“Yes, Sir, that’s exactly what I’m saying.”
“Wash, you notice any weird things happening on board since we entered this system?”
The pilot was quiet a moment.
“The engine for one,” he said, confirming Mal’s own observations. “Sometimes she doesn’t respond right away. And Zoe’s noticed things out of place lately. And heard giggling. I haven’t. Yet,” he added with a wry smile. Then a thought occurred to him.
“You think something might be haunting Serenity?”
“That might be what I’m thinking,” Mal didn’t directly answer. “I’m also thinking we have a pair of ‘ghost hunters’ to investigate?” he asked, “Just to see what they’re on about?”
Wash nodded, and turned back to his controls.
~*~
While Mal finished up the final paperwork and secured the cargo, the rest of his team of Zoe, Jayne and Kaylee, quenched their thirst on the desert planet before returning to the ship with their cargo.
The four stopped at an adobe-style pub to get their drinks. Planets on the edge of the system were quite primitive when compared to the Core worlds, but that was fine for Mal. And although he briefly noticed Kaylee talking with two men in dusty blue jeans sitting further down the counter from where he sat, one with a red overshirt, the other a hooded jacket, he initially paid them no heed. He ordered a glass of herbal wine.
Kaylee seemed to be in deep conversation with the man in the hooded jacket. His hair was long enough to cover his eyebrows, and it was shaggy in the back. He’d been looking into his mug most of the time. She was leaning against the counter, facing him.
“I’ve heard some of the people here mention Persephone. We need a way to get there,” he was saying, talking more to the mug than to her. He had such a serious look on his face, and seemed to be so deeply lost in thought, that Kaylee was quiet as well.
“I’m sorry, I’m Kaylee,” she said, finally introducing herself. The man glanced over at the person he was sitting next to.
“Whatever,” the second man grumbled, obviously displeased at something.
The first turned back to Kaylee. “I’m Sam,” he said, and smiled for a moment.
“Oh gosh…you’re cute,” she said, reacting to his contagious smile.
Sam chuckled nervously.
“Right, Persephone,” Kaylee said, returning to their discussion. “It’s about a three or four-day trip from here,” she answered, “if you can find a ship that would take you.”
“Whoa, what do you mean, ‘ship’?” the other man asked, leaning back behind Sam to address Kaylee.
“It’s off-world?” Kaylee asked, redundantly. “Where have you guys been hiding?”
“Not here, apparently,” the older man muttered.
“Oh,” Sam added, “This is my brother, Dean,” he said by way of introduction. Kaylee smiled at Dean, who grumped and returned to face his drink.
“Is he all right?” Kaylee asked, looked around Sam at Dean, with concern on her face.
“Yeah, we, uh, haven’t been home in a while, is all,” Sam started to explain, wondering how much he should tell her, if she asked.
And although Kaylee did have numerous questions going through her mind, in the end she just smiled and softly said “oh.”
Kaylee looked over at one of the tables. Jayne and Zoe sat across from each other, observant of the goings-on in the room, barely acknowledging the other. Near the front, Kaylee noticed Mal coming over to talk to her. She turned to Sam.
“My captain is coming over here. Do you want to ask him about a ride to Persephone? I’m sure he’ll take you, if you’re willin’ to pay fare,” she offered.
Sam raised his eyebrows at the mention of money, and turned to Dean.
“What do you think?” he asked his brother, who was in the middle of a swig of whatever it was he was drinking. Something to make him forget everything and where he was, Sam was sure. And something Dean would probably have a headache from in the morning. Since they’d been unceremoniously dumped on this rock a few months back, Dean had never let a day go by without reminding Sam it was all the fault of a meddling, playful Timeshifter.
Things got slightly better when they were able to find steady work and a place to stay for the duration of their time there. Neither had any idea when the Timeshifter would bring them back to their own time and place. If it even intended to do so.
Things went to hell when they’d heard the rumor the moon was haunted.
It was at the end of the their first week on this strange place in a strange time, during Dean’s night patrol shift, that he came face to face with one of the moon’s ethereal inhabitants. The ghostly figure watched as Dean went to the weapons shed, found an old shotgun, and loaded it up with a white crystalline substance in a bin along side the weapons, and a shotgun shell for good luck.
The figure tried to take the weapon away from Dean, to play with it, but Dean stared right at it, aimed the shotgun, and pulled the trigger.
Sam had heard what happened in the morning, and just groaned. They seemed to be magnets for this sort of thing.
“Dean?” Sam asked again, “What do you think? Can we scrounge up some passage fare to get outta this place?”
“I’m thinking,” Dean told his drink, but Sam heard him anyway.
When Sam looked back at Kaylee, he noticed another man now talking softly to her. Sam stood up, faced the newcomer, and held his hand out to him.
“You must be the Captain; I’m Sam. My brother and I were hoping we’d be able to get passage to this Persephone. Don’t quite know what we can pay you with, we don’t have that much money - ” Sam started.
“Cap’n? I think they need our help,” Kaylee interjected. “They haven’t been home in a while,” she explained.
“Oh?” Mal arched an eyebrow at her, then looked at Sam, sizing up the taller man, realizing there was probably more to him than met the eyes.
“How long a while?” he asked Sam.
“Depends on what you believe,” Dean said, turning around to face the captain, drink momentarily put aside. “Sir,” Dean felt he needed to add. Mal smiled at this stranger. He appeared to be only a few years younger than Mal age-wise, but his face and demeanor gave Mal a feeling he’d seen much more in his lifetime than one should. Like himself, Mal thought.
“Try me.” Mal offered.
“We’ve been here a few months. Working doing day labor, mostly. What my brother and I can find. Don’t know when we’ll be leaving, actually,” Dean felt like he needed to tell the captain what they did that earned them money.
“Day work,” Mal repeated. “Huh.” He mulled that over for a moment. “And how ‘bout when the day’s over?”
He looked at Sam, who was listening to the conversation, as was Kaylee, Dean noted. He turned back to the captain.
“Don’t know what you mean, sir,” Dean stated boldly.
“Tell you what I’m looking for,” Mal said, hooking his thumbs into his belt loops, and resting his hand on his gun, which was buckled to his hips. He felt comfortable with his hand resting there. “They say this moon is haunted,” Mal started, and Dean looked at Sam, who just shrugged. Dean did the same, and turned back to Mal, who was still talking.
“Seems over the past few months, people are saying it’s been, well, less haunted. You boys have been here for a few months. You wouldn’t know anything ‘bout that, would you?” Mal asked, curious more than anything. He had no way to know if these men were that reason not. He also realized he was leaving himself open for a lot of trouble.
“You asked us to try you, Sir,” came Sam’s voice. “From what we’ve learned in those few months, would you believe we’ve traveled over 510 years to be here?”
Mal now turned to face Sam. But before he could speak, the man at the front end of the counter called out to them.
“Hey! You there?” Mal, Sam, Kaylee, and Dean looked over at the him. “You boys the Winchesters?” he called.
The brothers looked at each other, wary, and Dean nodded to Sam. He slid off his stool with ease, and went over to the front counter to see what the man was looking for.
“Winchesters,” Mal whispered, looked at Dean, then looked at Kaylee.
“River,” she said. “River said that earlier.”
Mal turned back to Dean. “You’re Winchester. Like the rifle.”
Dean smiled for the first time. “Like the rifle.”
Sam came back to his stool.
“Got a job for us,” Sam told Dean quietly.
“Not - that kind of job. In the daylight?” Dean asked.
“Well, they found something that might require some ‘overtime’,” Sam said cryptically. Dean looked at Sam, looked back at the captain, and held up a finger to indicate he’d be back in a minute, and turned back to the counter, bringing Sam with him.
“What the hell are you on about?” Dean asked.
“They found a body,” Sam explained, “and it looks like it could be some sort of attack - wild animals, or - ”
“Weres or vamps,” Dean finished quietly. When he turned back to the captain and Kaylee, they were watching them expectantly.
“510 years, you said?” Mal asked, not sure if he believed Sam.
“Yes sir,” Sam replied.
“That’d be - ” Mal did a quick calculation, “2007,” he said quietly.
“2006, actually, Sir,” Sam returned, just as quiet.
Mal let out a low whistle, and turned to Kaylee. “Now, how do you reckon that happened?” he asked her.
“Sir, I don’t - ” Sam started to say, but Kaylee had already offered a suggestion,
“Rip in the space-time continuum would do it,” she said seriously.
“They have those around here?” Mal jested. Kaylee smiled back.
“’Course they do. We’re on a haunted moon. Could have been a spirit?” Kaylee mused.
“No spirit or ghost has that kind of power,” Sam said. Dean elbowed him, and Sam let out a squeak. Mal now turned to look at the brothers.
“What does have that kind of power?” Mal was serious, and based on what Sam had just said, confirmed these two men were who he was looking for. But what remained to be seen was if there really was a spirit of some sort on Serenity, and were these brothers real - or frauds?
“A Timeshifter,” Sam stated. Dean elbowed him again, and Sam turned to him. “Will you knock that off?” he hissed.
“How much do you want them to know?” Dean hissed back. “He doesn’t even believe this stuff.”
“I’ve heard of them, Cap’n,” Kaylee said loudly, over the brothers’ bickering. Mal, who’d been impressed to learn the brothers thought him a skeptic, turned to her in surprise.
“What’s that, Kaylee?”
“They’re entities that can fold, bend, shift and create time to their own whim. They’ve been around for thousands of years,” she said.
Sam looked at Dean when Kaylee was finished speaking, and they both breathed a sigh of relief, if only or a moment.
“You believe us?” Sam asked Kaylee.
“Yeah, I do,” she said. “The captain’s another story,” she smiled.
“Kaylee - ” Mal’s voice had a warning note to it.
“Sorry, Cap’n,” she said quietly.
“We’ve had some … experiences with a Timeshifter, Sir,” Sam told the captain.
“If it wasn’t for that damned Timeshifter, we wouldn’t be in this mess,” Dean growled.
“Yeah, that Timeshifter saved our asses from that demon who blasted us into the door,” Sam turned around and hissed back at his brother.
“Whoa, guys?” Kaylee interrupted the conversation, “Did you just say ‘demon’?”
“No,” Dean said, at the same time Sam said “Yes.”
“Well, which is it?”
“No,” Dean repeated, and Sam again said “Yes.”
“I’m thinking River knows a lot more than she’s letting on?” Mal asked Kaylee.
“Yeah, I am too,” she replied thoughtfully.
Sam looked at Mal and Kaylee. “Who’s River?” he asked.
Mal sighed. “We’re gonna be here for a while. Glad this client doesn’t want his delivery yesterday.” Mal turned to the table behind them and sat down in a chair, and offered Kaylee and the brothers to join him. From the other table, Zoe came over and joined them. After some moments, Jayne, with Vera in tow, brought his drink over and sat between the brothers.
Brief introductions were made, and the brothers finally knew the captain’s name. When Mal mentioned Dean and Sam’s last name, Jayne stood up so fast from the table, he knocked the chair over behind him.
“Gorram it!” he hissed, as all could see his shirt wet with his drink.
“What now, Jayne? Another mug move by itself?” Kaylee asked in a sing-songy voice.
That got Sam’s attention.
“Mugs moving by themselves?” he asked.
“And the engine stopping just like this. And my tools missing… and then turning up later when I’m not looking for them.”
Sam turned to Dean. “Poltergeist?” he asked, speculating.
“Could be,” Dean agreed, still not sure.
“Their last name, Kaylee,” Jayne growled, sitting back down and grousing over his spilled drink. “River was going about that, Winchesters and demons and fire and ...stuff.”
“What exactly was River saying earlier?” Sam prompted, leaning forward on the table. The hair on the back of his neck was starting to tingle. The Timeshifter had a reason for bringing them to this time.
This wasn’t just random. There was some connection here.
The four from Serenity were silent, as they looked at each other. Did they trust these newcomers? And with how much?
Zoe was the one who told the story, her voice soft. “River was always saying cryptic things, like ‘Two by two, hands of blue.’ We were never sure what it meant, until we found out that the men the Alliance has looking for her are always in pairs, and they wear blue surgical gloves.”
“Creepy stuff,” Jayne grunted.
“And just - two days ago, it was, she started saying something new. ‘Fire on the ceiling; demons, spirits, revealing.’ We have no idea what it means,” Zoe finished.
“We do.” It was Dean who spoke, but it was barely a whisper.
They listened as Dean, with interjection and parts told by Sam, related the story of when he was four, and Sam was jut six months old, something - they’d later learn was a Demon who targeted special, gifted children - pinned their mother to the ceiling and burned her, while their father looked on in horror.
And just for shits and giggles, Dean told them that recently the Timeshifter had sent them into the past to relive that awful night. They had tried to save their mother that time, but the Demon couldn’t have cared less about the adult Dean and Sam meddling in the time line. The unfortunate end result was they were unable to save Mary. But an interesting aside was that their father then had seen them as they were now. And they would have to talk to him about that, and soon.
Everyone at the table was silent, each absorbed in their own thoughts of all that was just learned. Finally, Mal cleared his throat, and spoke to Dean and Sam.
“Now, I know you know I’m a skeptic, I ain’t denying that. But I have seen the Reavers, and all kinds of other things ain’t always given me a logical explanation, so I do keep a pretty open mind. Now,. there seems to be this … issue … with my ship. I need to get my cargo delivered, and I know you boys have another job.”
Dean and Sam nodded in agreement. Mal continued.
“Here’s what I’m thinkin’. How ‘bout you check her out, see what you can find, and kill it. We’ll make our delivery, and if you really are who you say you are, and you really do what everyone says you do, we’ll come back in a few days to pick you up and take you to Persephone.”
Dean turned to Sam, and they spoke in hushed whispers for a moment.
“So how do we know you’ll come back for us in a few days?” Sam asked Mal.
Mal stood up and leaned over the table so that he was face to face with the brothers.
“I’m a man of my word, and there’s a few people right here who can vouch for that. I’d never leave anyone behind,” he said, conviction behind every word. “‘Specially on a haunted moon,” he winked.
“Ok, dude. Nothing personal there. That’s cool, we can work with that,” Dean said, backing off. The man could certainly be imposing when he wanted to be. Mal sat back down and leaned back against his chair. The others were watching the interplay with Dean and Mal, wondering on the outcome.
“What’s another few days on this goddamned rock anyway?” Dean said. “Think we got ourselves a deal.”
“All right then,” Mal said, standing up. “Zoe, Jayne, you’re with me. Kaylee, when they’re ready, bring these gentlemen to Serenity.”
Zoe and Jayne got up and followed Mal out. Kaylee waved at them on the way out, and turned back to the brothers.
“So you guys are from Earth-that-Was,” Kaylee said, starting another conversation before they left to get whatever equipment the brothers might need.
“It’s still there in our time,” Sam said softly.
“I know a little bit about some of the things from that time. Where is it you’re from?”
“Kansas,” Dean muttered.
“Oh! That’s adorable!” Kaylee said, “Just like that movie - The Wizard of Oz!”
Dean couldn’t believe he’d actually heard that, and not-so-gently slammed his head down on the table.
... on to Part II!!!
***
Supernatural Fan Fiction
For entertainment only
© 2006 by Caren Franco
Only the Timeshifter is original. Beta-read by Terra, Athena, JediPrincess, Lia Van Helsing and Diamondback. Terra and Diamondback offered suggestions, and wrote a few lines; Athena wrote a few lines as well. Backstory and connections suggested by Diamondback and Athena. Dean, Sam, John and Mary Winchester were created by Eric Kripke, Robert Singer, Kripke Enterprises Scrap Metal and Entertainment; Warner Brothers and the CW. The Alliance, Mr. Universe, Independents, Mal Reynolds, River Tam, Shepherd Book, Jayne Cobb, Kaylee Frye, Zoe (Alleyne) Washburn, Simon Tam, Hoban “Wash”burne, gorram, the Reavers, and Serenity were created by Joss Whedon, Tim Minear, Mutant Enemy, Inc., and Twentieth Century Fox. Main Title Theme written by Joss Whedon, performed by Sonny Rhodes, ©2002. Part of the Prologue paragraphs, and Serenity’s specs from Firefly Wiki. The Wizard of Oz, ©1910 by L. Frank Baum.
Title: Hunter’s Moon
Author: Trystan
Rating: Teen; language
Category: Crossover: Supernatural (Timeshifter AU Canon)/Firefly
Timeline: SN/Timeshifter: after “ A Detour in Time”/Firefly: before “Heart of Gold”
Spoilers: Timeshifter series, Firefly
Word Count: Pt 1 - 4,064 words
Notable Credits: thanks to a conversation I had with roguem, in which the plot bunny finally hopped on by. Title inspired by jediprincessdsv. Wonderful beta work, plot pieces and suggestions by acostilow, aphrodite33, diamondback158, iamthedirtgirl, jediprinessdsv, and lia_van_helsing. The crew of Serenity, Sam, and Dean are not mine, although goddess knows I wish Dean was.
Tagline: On a haunted moon, in a distant part of the ‘verse, two unlikely heroes are trying to make a living as best they can. Amid the spirited moon and a spaceship that might be haunted, will they ever make it home?
Take my love, take my land;
Take me where I cannot stand.
I don’t care, I’m still free -
You can’t take the sky from me .
Take me out to the black
Tell them I ain’t comin’ back..
Burn the land and boil the sea
You can’t take the sky from me.
There’s no place I can be
Since I found Serenity…
But you can’t take the sky from me…
~ Joss Whedon, ©2002
Since long before it was feasible, humans have longed to travel to the stars. Space stations and colonies on the moon were dreams of science fiction readers and writers. And as time and technology progressed, humanity has used up many of its precious resources the Earth needs to stay viable for life.
But what will happen when Earth is all “used up”? Writers again have stepped into fill this void, in a time far into the future, to find a new solar system, where hundreds of new “Earths” can be terraformed and colonized. These central planets will form “The Alliance,” and unite all the planets under their rule. To which there will be some disagreement, as every good story has. After a long war, many of these “Independents” who fight - and ultimately lose against the big government - will find their way to the edges of this system, far from control of this “Alliance.”
Out on these fringes, people will struggle to get by with the most basic technologies. A ship could bring you work; and a gun could help you keep it. This story started with such a ship, but it also started with much much more than was bargained for.
~*~
“Kaylee? What’s wrong with my boat?” Captain Malcolm Reynolds was in the Engine Room, with his mechanic, Kaylee Frye. The “boat” in question was Mal’s Firefly-class ship, Serenity. What was wrong was that while the engine kept spluttering and stalling, there didn’t seem to be anything amiss.
“She usually tells me when something’s wrong,” Kaylee told him, brushing a stubborn lock of hair out of her greasy and sweaty face.
“She just stops working, leavin’ us dead in space, and when I go to see what’s wrong, she just starts right up again.”
Mal nodded thoughtfully, and Kaylee continued.
“And my tools keep disappearing. I find them hours later in my hammock, or just lyin’ about,” she said, thumbing over her shoulder to her hanging cot in the corner of the engine room.
“Very odd,” Mal mused again. “And this started happening - ”
“When we first entered this system, with that moon.”
What she didn’t say was, the haunted moon.
~*~
As that moon came into range, four of the crew was in the dining area aboard Serenity when River Tam wandered though, at first seeming not to notice those seated at the table. Her mind was constantly abuzz with an overabundance of information, and as she was so absorbed in this knowledge, it seemed to someone who didn’t know her that she was, for lack of a better phrase, staring into space.
She stopped at the table, grabbed a piece of still-fresh fruit from a cargo payment from the center, and thoughtfully took a bite. As she chewed, she looked around blissfully. After she swallowed, she airily stated,
“Two by two, hands of blue.” This was nothing new for her to say. In fact, this cryptic line was usually followed by her cowering in a corner. But today, as she had been for a few days now, she continued.
“Fire on the ceiling; demons, spirits, revealing.”
She smiled at those who were there - Jayne Cobb, Zoe Washburn, Kaylee, and Mal. In the doorway, she saw her brother, Simon, waiting for her. She smiled at him, and repeated her new line.
“Fire on the ceiling; demons, spirits, revealing.” After a moment, she turned back to the table, smiled and said with a maniacal edge in her voice, “Winchesters.”
Then she disappeared through the doorway with her brother, to return to either her room, or the infirmary, where a very concerned Simon was still running tests to find a medication to reverse what the Alliance had done to his sister.
“What the hell is she rambling on about now?” Jayne grumped.
“Why Jayne, you do care,” Kaylee teased.
Overhead, the speaker crackled, and Wash’s voice came over the airwaves.
“We should be entering atmo soon enough, Captain,” the pilot’s voice came out crackly, but loud. Mal went over to the speaker and replied,
“Thanks, Wash. This’ll be a quickie job,” Mal said, certainty in his voice.
The speaker crackled again, and Wash added, “I’ve heard some… rumors about this place. Come on up and I’ll fill you in.”
“More rumors, or different rumors?” Mal mused.
“Are you thinking out loud, Sir?” Zoe asked, referring to Mal’s comment about the quickie, “Or hoping to dispel the rumors about this place?”
Mal raised an eyebrow at his first mate, but continued. “I want to get this cargo, then back to the ship. It’s a dusty rock that’s pretending to be a moon. The settlement out here is pretty established, and
our cargo is all ready to be picked up. Despite what you may have heard, this will be easy. Dong ma?”
“Yes, Sir,” Zoe smiled.
“You got it, Cap’n,” Kaylee smiled.
“Rumors?” Jayne asked. Apparently, he hadn’t heard. But at a sharp look from Mal, he said,
“Yeah, I got it Captain,” Jayne admitted, but then turned to Kaylee again. “What do you think River there was meaning, demons and spirits and all that?”
As if in answer, a mug slid across the table by its own accord. Jayne leapt to his feet, cursing.
“What in the gorram hell was that?”
“Gorram hell was what?”
“Damn mug moved,” he said suspiciously.
“You sure you ain’t seeing things, Jayne? Spooked by the ‘demons’?” Kaylee teased as left the kitchen.
Jayne shuddered and quickly followed.
~*~
“What’s up, Wash?” Mal asked, entering the cockpit. Wash was the best pilot in the ‘verse as far as Mal was concerned. Wash knew his way around the systems with ease. He would also know about these latest “rumors.”
“I’m sure you’ve heard what they’ve said about this moon?” Wash said.
“I’ve heard some,” Mal admitted. He’d heard it said the moon was haunted by ghosts and spirits. Others just said it was a cursed place.
“I’ve been in chatting with Mr. Universe over the past few months. He’s saying they’ve been saying different.”
“New to me,” Mal said after a moment.
“Me too. Apparently, Universe has heard there’s a pair of ‘ghost hunters’ who help out the locals. It’s been said they just appeared few months back, picked themselves up, dusted themselves off, and are in the process of killing - no, removing - what’s been haunting this place since then.”
“So you’re saying this rock isn’t as haunted down there anymore?”
“Yes, Sir, that’s exactly what I’m saying.”
“Wash, you notice any weird things happening on board since we entered this system?”
The pilot was quiet a moment.
“The engine for one,” he said, confirming Mal’s own observations. “Sometimes she doesn’t respond right away. And Zoe’s noticed things out of place lately. And heard giggling. I haven’t. Yet,” he added with a wry smile. Then a thought occurred to him.
“You think something might be haunting Serenity?”
“That might be what I’m thinking,” Mal didn’t directly answer. “I’m also thinking we have a pair of ‘ghost hunters’ to investigate?” he asked, “Just to see what they’re on about?”
Wash nodded, and turned back to his controls.
~*~
While Mal finished up the final paperwork and secured the cargo, the rest of his team of Zoe, Jayne and Kaylee, quenched their thirst on the desert planet before returning to the ship with their cargo.
The four stopped at an adobe-style pub to get their drinks. Planets on the edge of the system were quite primitive when compared to the Core worlds, but that was fine for Mal. And although he briefly noticed Kaylee talking with two men in dusty blue jeans sitting further down the counter from where he sat, one with a red overshirt, the other a hooded jacket, he initially paid them no heed. He ordered a glass of herbal wine.
Kaylee seemed to be in deep conversation with the man in the hooded jacket. His hair was long enough to cover his eyebrows, and it was shaggy in the back. He’d been looking into his mug most of the time. She was leaning against the counter, facing him.
“I’ve heard some of the people here mention Persephone. We need a way to get there,” he was saying, talking more to the mug than to her. He had such a serious look on his face, and seemed to be so deeply lost in thought, that Kaylee was quiet as well.
“I’m sorry, I’m Kaylee,” she said, finally introducing herself. The man glanced over at the person he was sitting next to.
“Whatever,” the second man grumbled, obviously displeased at something.
The first turned back to Kaylee. “I’m Sam,” he said, and smiled for a moment.
“Oh gosh…you’re cute,” she said, reacting to his contagious smile.
Sam chuckled nervously.
“Right, Persephone,” Kaylee said, returning to their discussion. “It’s about a three or four-day trip from here,” she answered, “if you can find a ship that would take you.”
“Whoa, what do you mean, ‘ship’?” the other man asked, leaning back behind Sam to address Kaylee.
“It’s off-world?” Kaylee asked, redundantly. “Where have you guys been hiding?”
“Not here, apparently,” the older man muttered.
“Oh,” Sam added, “This is my brother, Dean,” he said by way of introduction. Kaylee smiled at Dean, who grumped and returned to face his drink.
“Is he all right?” Kaylee asked, looked around Sam at Dean, with concern on her face.
“Yeah, we, uh, haven’t been home in a while, is all,” Sam started to explain, wondering how much he should tell her, if she asked.
And although Kaylee did have numerous questions going through her mind, in the end she just smiled and softly said “oh.”
Kaylee looked over at one of the tables. Jayne and Zoe sat across from each other, observant of the goings-on in the room, barely acknowledging the other. Near the front, Kaylee noticed Mal coming over to talk to her. She turned to Sam.
“My captain is coming over here. Do you want to ask him about a ride to Persephone? I’m sure he’ll take you, if you’re willin’ to pay fare,” she offered.
Sam raised his eyebrows at the mention of money, and turned to Dean.
“What do you think?” he asked his brother, who was in the middle of a swig of whatever it was he was drinking. Something to make him forget everything and where he was, Sam was sure. And something Dean would probably have a headache from in the morning. Since they’d been unceremoniously dumped on this rock a few months back, Dean had never let a day go by without reminding Sam it was all the fault of a meddling, playful Timeshifter.
Things got slightly better when they were able to find steady work and a place to stay for the duration of their time there. Neither had any idea when the Timeshifter would bring them back to their own time and place. If it even intended to do so.
Things went to hell when they’d heard the rumor the moon was haunted.
It was at the end of the their first week on this strange place in a strange time, during Dean’s night patrol shift, that he came face to face with one of the moon’s ethereal inhabitants. The ghostly figure watched as Dean went to the weapons shed, found an old shotgun, and loaded it up with a white crystalline substance in a bin along side the weapons, and a shotgun shell for good luck.
The figure tried to take the weapon away from Dean, to play with it, but Dean stared right at it, aimed the shotgun, and pulled the trigger.
Sam had heard what happened in the morning, and just groaned. They seemed to be magnets for this sort of thing.
“Dean?” Sam asked again, “What do you think? Can we scrounge up some passage fare to get outta this place?”
“I’m thinking,” Dean told his drink, but Sam heard him anyway.
When Sam looked back at Kaylee, he noticed another man now talking softly to her. Sam stood up, faced the newcomer, and held his hand out to him.
“You must be the Captain; I’m Sam. My brother and I were hoping we’d be able to get passage to this Persephone. Don’t quite know what we can pay you with, we don’t have that much money - ” Sam started.
“Cap’n? I think they need our help,” Kaylee interjected. “They haven’t been home in a while,” she explained.
“Oh?” Mal arched an eyebrow at her, then looked at Sam, sizing up the taller man, realizing there was probably more to him than met the eyes.
“How long a while?” he asked Sam.
“Depends on what you believe,” Dean said, turning around to face the captain, drink momentarily put aside. “Sir,” Dean felt he needed to add. Mal smiled at this stranger. He appeared to be only a few years younger than Mal age-wise, but his face and demeanor gave Mal a feeling he’d seen much more in his lifetime than one should. Like himself, Mal thought.
“Try me.” Mal offered.
“We’ve been here a few months. Working doing day labor, mostly. What my brother and I can find. Don’t know when we’ll be leaving, actually,” Dean felt like he needed to tell the captain what they did that earned them money.
“Day work,” Mal repeated. “Huh.” He mulled that over for a moment. “And how ‘bout when the day’s over?”
He looked at Sam, who was listening to the conversation, as was Kaylee, Dean noted. He turned back to the captain.
“Don’t know what you mean, sir,” Dean stated boldly.
“Tell you what I’m looking for,” Mal said, hooking his thumbs into his belt loops, and resting his hand on his gun, which was buckled to his hips. He felt comfortable with his hand resting there. “They say this moon is haunted,” Mal started, and Dean looked at Sam, who just shrugged. Dean did the same, and turned back to Mal, who was still talking.
“Seems over the past few months, people are saying it’s been, well, less haunted. You boys have been here for a few months. You wouldn’t know anything ‘bout that, would you?” Mal asked, curious more than anything. He had no way to know if these men were that reason not. He also realized he was leaving himself open for a lot of trouble.
“You asked us to try you, Sir,” came Sam’s voice. “From what we’ve learned in those few months, would you believe we’ve traveled over 510 years to be here?”
Mal now turned to face Sam. But before he could speak, the man at the front end of the counter called out to them.
“Hey! You there?” Mal, Sam, Kaylee, and Dean looked over at the him. “You boys the Winchesters?” he called.
The brothers looked at each other, wary, and Dean nodded to Sam. He slid off his stool with ease, and went over to the front counter to see what the man was looking for.
“Winchesters,” Mal whispered, looked at Dean, then looked at Kaylee.
“River,” she said. “River said that earlier.”
Mal turned back to Dean. “You’re Winchester. Like the rifle.”
Dean smiled for the first time. “Like the rifle.”
Sam came back to his stool.
“Got a job for us,” Sam told Dean quietly.
“Not - that kind of job. In the daylight?” Dean asked.
“Well, they found something that might require some ‘overtime’,” Sam said cryptically. Dean looked at Sam, looked back at the captain, and held up a finger to indicate he’d be back in a minute, and turned back to the counter, bringing Sam with him.
“What the hell are you on about?” Dean asked.
“They found a body,” Sam explained, “and it looks like it could be some sort of attack - wild animals, or - ”
“Weres or vamps,” Dean finished quietly. When he turned back to the captain and Kaylee, they were watching them expectantly.
“510 years, you said?” Mal asked, not sure if he believed Sam.
“Yes sir,” Sam replied.
“That’d be - ” Mal did a quick calculation, “2007,” he said quietly.
“2006, actually, Sir,” Sam returned, just as quiet.
Mal let out a low whistle, and turned to Kaylee. “Now, how do you reckon that happened?” he asked her.
“Sir, I don’t - ” Sam started to say, but Kaylee had already offered a suggestion,
“Rip in the space-time continuum would do it,” she said seriously.
“They have those around here?” Mal jested. Kaylee smiled back.
“’Course they do. We’re on a haunted moon. Could have been a spirit?” Kaylee mused.
“No spirit or ghost has that kind of power,” Sam said. Dean elbowed him, and Sam let out a squeak. Mal now turned to look at the brothers.
“What does have that kind of power?” Mal was serious, and based on what Sam had just said, confirmed these two men were who he was looking for. But what remained to be seen was if there really was a spirit of some sort on Serenity, and were these brothers real - or frauds?
“A Timeshifter,” Sam stated. Dean elbowed him again, and Sam turned to him. “Will you knock that off?” he hissed.
“How much do you want them to know?” Dean hissed back. “He doesn’t even believe this stuff.”
“I’ve heard of them, Cap’n,” Kaylee said loudly, over the brothers’ bickering. Mal, who’d been impressed to learn the brothers thought him a skeptic, turned to her in surprise.
“What’s that, Kaylee?”
“They’re entities that can fold, bend, shift and create time to their own whim. They’ve been around for thousands of years,” she said.
Sam looked at Dean when Kaylee was finished speaking, and they both breathed a sigh of relief, if only or a moment.
“You believe us?” Sam asked Kaylee.
“Yeah, I do,” she said. “The captain’s another story,” she smiled.
“Kaylee - ” Mal’s voice had a warning note to it.
“Sorry, Cap’n,” she said quietly.
“We’ve had some … experiences with a Timeshifter, Sir,” Sam told the captain.
“If it wasn’t for that damned Timeshifter, we wouldn’t be in this mess,” Dean growled.
“Yeah, that Timeshifter saved our asses from that demon who blasted us into the door,” Sam turned around and hissed back at his brother.
“Whoa, guys?” Kaylee interrupted the conversation, “Did you just say ‘demon’?”
“No,” Dean said, at the same time Sam said “Yes.”
“Well, which is it?”
“No,” Dean repeated, and Sam again said “Yes.”
“I’m thinking River knows a lot more than she’s letting on?” Mal asked Kaylee.
“Yeah, I am too,” she replied thoughtfully.
Sam looked at Mal and Kaylee. “Who’s River?” he asked.
Mal sighed. “We’re gonna be here for a while. Glad this client doesn’t want his delivery yesterday.” Mal turned to the table behind them and sat down in a chair, and offered Kaylee and the brothers to join him. From the other table, Zoe came over and joined them. After some moments, Jayne, with Vera in tow, brought his drink over and sat between the brothers.
Brief introductions were made, and the brothers finally knew the captain’s name. When Mal mentioned Dean and Sam’s last name, Jayne stood up so fast from the table, he knocked the chair over behind him.
“Gorram it!” he hissed, as all could see his shirt wet with his drink.
“What now, Jayne? Another mug move by itself?” Kaylee asked in a sing-songy voice.
That got Sam’s attention.
“Mugs moving by themselves?” he asked.
“And the engine stopping just like this. And my tools missing… and then turning up later when I’m not looking for them.”
Sam turned to Dean. “Poltergeist?” he asked, speculating.
“Could be,” Dean agreed, still not sure.
“Their last name, Kaylee,” Jayne growled, sitting back down and grousing over his spilled drink. “River was going about that, Winchesters and demons and fire and ...stuff.”
“What exactly was River saying earlier?” Sam prompted, leaning forward on the table. The hair on the back of his neck was starting to tingle. The Timeshifter had a reason for bringing them to this time.
This wasn’t just random. There was some connection here.
The four from Serenity were silent, as they looked at each other. Did they trust these newcomers? And with how much?
Zoe was the one who told the story, her voice soft. “River was always saying cryptic things, like ‘Two by two, hands of blue.’ We were never sure what it meant, until we found out that the men the Alliance has looking for her are always in pairs, and they wear blue surgical gloves.”
“Creepy stuff,” Jayne grunted.
“And just - two days ago, it was, she started saying something new. ‘Fire on the ceiling; demons, spirits, revealing.’ We have no idea what it means,” Zoe finished.
“We do.” It was Dean who spoke, but it was barely a whisper.
They listened as Dean, with interjection and parts told by Sam, related the story of when he was four, and Sam was jut six months old, something - they’d later learn was a Demon who targeted special, gifted children - pinned their mother to the ceiling and burned her, while their father looked on in horror.
And just for shits and giggles, Dean told them that recently the Timeshifter had sent them into the past to relive that awful night. They had tried to save their mother that time, but the Demon couldn’t have cared less about the adult Dean and Sam meddling in the time line. The unfortunate end result was they were unable to save Mary. But an interesting aside was that their father then had seen them as they were now. And they would have to talk to him about that, and soon.
Everyone at the table was silent, each absorbed in their own thoughts of all that was just learned. Finally, Mal cleared his throat, and spoke to Dean and Sam.
“Now, I know you know I’m a skeptic, I ain’t denying that. But I have seen the Reavers, and all kinds of other things ain’t always given me a logical explanation, so I do keep a pretty open mind. Now,. there seems to be this … issue … with my ship. I need to get my cargo delivered, and I know you boys have another job.”
Dean and Sam nodded in agreement. Mal continued.
“Here’s what I’m thinkin’. How ‘bout you check her out, see what you can find, and kill it. We’ll make our delivery, and if you really are who you say you are, and you really do what everyone says you do, we’ll come back in a few days to pick you up and take you to Persephone.”
Dean turned to Sam, and they spoke in hushed whispers for a moment.
“So how do we know you’ll come back for us in a few days?” Sam asked Mal.
Mal stood up and leaned over the table so that he was face to face with the brothers.
“I’m a man of my word, and there’s a few people right here who can vouch for that. I’d never leave anyone behind,” he said, conviction behind every word. “‘Specially on a haunted moon,” he winked.
“Ok, dude. Nothing personal there. That’s cool, we can work with that,” Dean said, backing off. The man could certainly be imposing when he wanted to be. Mal sat back down and leaned back against his chair. The others were watching the interplay with Dean and Mal, wondering on the outcome.
“What’s another few days on this goddamned rock anyway?” Dean said. “Think we got ourselves a deal.”
“All right then,” Mal said, standing up. “Zoe, Jayne, you’re with me. Kaylee, when they’re ready, bring these gentlemen to Serenity.”
Zoe and Jayne got up and followed Mal out. Kaylee waved at them on the way out, and turned back to the brothers.
“So you guys are from Earth-that-Was,” Kaylee said, starting another conversation before they left to get whatever equipment the brothers might need.
“It’s still there in our time,” Sam said softly.
“I know a little bit about some of the things from that time. Where is it you’re from?”
“Kansas,” Dean muttered.
“Oh! That’s adorable!” Kaylee said, “Just like that movie - The Wizard of Oz!”
Dean couldn’t believe he’d actually heard that, and not-so-gently slammed his head down on the table.
... on to Part II!!!
***
Supernatural Fan Fiction
For entertainment only
© 2006 by Caren Franco
Only the Timeshifter is original. Beta-read by Terra, Athena, JediPrincess, Lia Van Helsing and Diamondback. Terra and Diamondback offered suggestions, and wrote a few lines; Athena wrote a few lines as well. Backstory and connections suggested by Diamondback and Athena. Dean, Sam, John and Mary Winchester were created by Eric Kripke, Robert Singer, Kripke Enterprises Scrap Metal and Entertainment; Warner Brothers and the CW. The Alliance, Mr. Universe, Independents, Mal Reynolds, River Tam, Shepherd Book, Jayne Cobb, Kaylee Frye, Zoe (Alleyne) Washburn, Simon Tam, Hoban “Wash”burne, gorram, the Reavers, and Serenity were created by Joss Whedon, Tim Minear, Mutant Enemy, Inc., and Twentieth Century Fox. Main Title Theme written by Joss Whedon, performed by Sonny Rhodes, ©2002. Part of the Prologue paragraphs, and Serenity’s specs from Firefly Wiki. The Wizard of Oz, ©1910 by L. Frank Baum.