SN/FF Crossover: Hunter's Moon, Part 2/3
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 2 - 3,087 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, diamondback158, 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
( Part I )
Kaylee led Dean and Sam to Serenity, the only ship at the dock. It was impressive, and as long as it remained planet-bound, Dean was fine with that. However, he supposed he’d have to get over his fear of flying if he had any hope of getting off this damned moon.
Mal watched as they put their bags down on the cargo bay floor and pulled out a few gadgets and gizmos and boxes with antennas.
“EMF reader,” Dean explained at the captain’s puzzled expression.
Mal just nodded, to be polite. He made a note to ask Kaylee about that. “Feel free to go anywhere; just don’t touch anything if you don’t know what it is. Soon’s you find something, come get me. There’s a corridor up these stairs,” he pointed behind him, “that leads to my quarters. I’ll hear you coming,”
“Yes, Sir,” Dean and Sam said, but Mal noted it was only Sam’s voice he’d heard say “Sir.”
Mal raised his eyebrows at their response, but just nodded back in acceptance. He left the cargo bay, to go up the stairs he’d pointed out.
Dean picked up his weapons bag, shouldered it, and turned on one of his readers. In the few months they’d been in this place, they had upgraded and fine-tuned some of their old equipment, but had found that, while technology and science had changed, the ghosts, demons, and spirits all remained the same.
It took them about an hour to go through the ship. While it appeared impressive at first glance, it was massive on the inside. Especially when you went over it as carefully as Dean and Sam did that afternoon. The last place they scanned was the corridor where Mal said the crew’s quarters were, and the room at the end - the cockpit.
They’d seen a few faint readings, and nothing registered on the EMF reader, the digital cameras, or any of their other equipment. Serenity was not haunted. Least, probably not in the way the captain suspected. In fact, the oddest thing about the entire time they were aboard the ship was they hadn’t seen Mal, Kaylee, Zoe, Jayne, or even River or Simon.
They closed the cockpit door, and turned to back down the corridor. Mal was standing behind them, waiting for their report.
“Nothing, Sir,” Sam said, and Dean thought he heard defeat in his younger brother’s voice, which made him move his gaze from the captain to Sam. The older Winchester raised his eyebrows. As Dean had figured, Mal turned to him next.
“It may manifest itself only in space,” Dean offered. It had sounded bad as he was going over what he’d say in his mind, and now it sounded even wimpier when he said it out loud.
“So while we’re docked, we may never see this thing?” Mal asked for clarification.
“Yes, Sir,” Dean said.
“Well, I guess that’s it, then,” Mal said, turning to lead the brothers back to the cargo bay. “Maybe I really am insane after all,” he muttered.
“Or not, Sir,” Sam ventured to say, following the captain.
Still walking, Mal asked, “What makes you say that?”
“Everyone else saw weird things happening,” Sam pointed out. “Not just you.”
“Space does weird things to a man,” Mal answered cryptically.
“You can say that again,” Dean concurred.
In the cargo bay, Mal offered his hand as a gesture of no hard feelings. A deal was a deal. No ghost, no transport. This time. Bags slung over their shoulders, the Winchesters left Serenity by the cargo bay doors.
As they stepped out on to the surface of the moon, Dean could have sworn he heard what sounded like childish giggling coming from somewhere behind him.
~*~
Cargo safely delivered, there had been no more strange events to speak of en route to the planet. Well, unless you counted River and her trancelike chanting. She still spoke her “Fire on the ceiling; demons, spirits, revealing” premonitions, and succeeded in keeping to herself for most of the trip.
Mal and Wash were studying various routes they could travel which would allow their Companion, Inara Serra, to schedule clients at the next planet they would be on.
Course plotted, Wash took off, and left the planet and exited atmo. Once they were free from orbit, the engine spluttered, shut down, and the lights went off.
“Mal?” came Wash’s frantic voice over the intercom. Which was a miracle in itself, that there was power enough for the intercoms to work.
The dining room was the closest to where Mal was, so he answered Wash’s call there.
“What in the gorram ‘verse is wrong with my ship?” Mal practically yelled back.
“I don’t know!” Wash was panicky.
As if in answer, the auxiliary power and lights came on, casting an orangey glow over the ship. Kaylee had been in her hammock in the engine room when the lights went out, but now was going down her checklist and starting to run diagnostics to see why the main power had gone down.
Most of the others were either in the cargo bay, or in their rooms, wondering the very same sentiment Mal had expressed.
And as quickly as the engines shut down, they hummed and came to life again, lights returning to normal, and the engine on full power again. And over the intercom, came the sounds of giggling. Throughout the ship, everyone heard the giggling, and wondered what it meant.
Mal fumed silently a moment, before calling Wash back on the intercom.
“We’re heading back,” he growled.
“Are you sure, sir?” Wash asked.
“No,” Mal replied. “But I need some answers, and I know where to get them.”
“Yes, sir,” Wash said, as he set a return course for the moon.
~*~
They were a half a day away from the moon. The crew was gathered at the dining room table, enjoying a meal which Kaylee spent most of the afternoon preparing from some of the payment for their cargo delivery.
“So, we’re headed back to this moon, huh?” Jayne grumbled around his dinner, then let out a string of Chinese to show his displeasure at that fact.
“We’re going back because whatever was playing with me before is playing with me again,” Mal said. Interestingly, his voice held none of the bitterness it could have easily had. For a brief moment, it crossed his mind the Winchesters lied to him, that they reported nothing where there was something, but then he remembered Dean’s words, It may manifest itself only in space.
“It burns people on the ceiling,” River suddenly said.
Mal, Kaylee, Zoe and Jayne paused in their dinner to look at each other.
“River, what are you talking about?” Simon asked, concerned, yet puzzled.
“I saw it, Simon. You saved me that day…the day of the fire.” She smiled at her big brother.
“River,” Simon started, “you were a baby - five, six, seven months old. How can you remember that?”
River continued. “The fire was in my room. They said later that,” here River paused, looking around at everyone, as if to tell a great secret, “the starting point of the fire was the ceiling of my nursery.”
Simon just offered a wry smile round the table, but knew what they were thinking. That River should be confined to her quarters, and her premonitions and chanting scared the crap out of the crew.
When dinner was over, Simon helped Kaylee clean up the dishes. Mal remained at the table, a mug in his hands, and watching Simon thoughtfully. As did Kaylee, Zoe, and Jayne, Mal remembered the Winchesters’ story about their mother. Was this Demon a kind of Timeshifter?
“Simon,” Mal said, looking up at the young doctor when he turned around from one of the cupboards. Mal motioned the younger man over to the table. Simon followed the silent order.
“I’m not going to bite you,” Mal smiled. “I just want to know about the fire.”
“River was right. She was about six months old; our parents were out, again. Sometime in the evening, the clocks stopped, and River, who went to bed early then, woke up screaming. I’d been reading one of my med books,” Simon looked up at Mal. “Yes, I was reading medical books even in kindergarten,” he said wryly before continuing.
“I rushed into River’s room, and the ceiling was ablaze. I grabbed River from her crib and rushed outside. The nanny came running after us, and all we could do was watch the flames consume the upper levels of the house. My dad had it rebuilt, of course.”
“Of course,” Mal nodded.
“It wasn’t her fault,” Simon added unnecessarily.
“No, it couldn’t have been. She was a baby,” Mal agreed.
“I wonder why she brought up that memory now? It was so long ago.”
“It was for her,” Mal agreed. “But we have some passengers to pick up who witnessed something very similar, just as if it happened yesterday,” he said. Mal left the dining room to check on their course, leaving Simon still sitting at the table, quite puzzled.
~*~
Dean fought the urge to be sick. He’d suspected the spirit would be active when the ship was in space, but it never occurred to him that he himself would have to go in space. He missed his Impala. And he hated flying.
Yet here they were, entering the cargo bay of Serenity. Again.
“Come on, Dean, it’s just a spaceship,” Sam said, although he had to admit he was nervous as well. Airplanes were one thing, but spaceships?
“It flies. Off the ground,” Dean said, his fear of flying quite apparent. “In space,” he added unnecessarily.
“Serenity’s not just a spaceship,” Kaylee interjected, coming out of the cargo bay to meet them and sounding like a proud mother. “She’s a midbulk transport, Class code 03-K64, with standard radion accelerator core. An Aught-Three Series Firefly.”
“Oh, that makes me feel so much better,” Dean said wryly, looking around for a corner, in which he could hide during take-off. This was just not his day.
Their belongings packed in a total of four dusty bags between them, Dean and Sam watched as the doors to the cargo bay closed, shutting off the view of the dry, dusty, desert, haunted moon. Hopefully, they would never see its surface again.
Mal came down the stairs that led to the upper part of the ship to greet them. He clapped his hands on each of their shoulders, and welcomed them aboard. But there was something in his eyes, a look that told Dean they’d better find a ghost on this ship between here and Persephone, or else they were headed for trouble. Dean just smiled back.
“Mal?” a voice said from on the stairs behind the captain. Mal let go of Dean and Sam’s shoulders to turn to the voice.
“Ahh, Inara,” he said warmly, walking up towards her. “What lures you out of your shuttle?”
“I just wanted to confirm our course with you, so that I may schedule clients this time?” She made it a question, when it was clear even to Dean, it was not. When Dean had looked up at the sound of the voice, he saw the most elegant woman he’d ever met. She was dressed in flowing robes, her hair was upswept with some loose curls framing her heart-shaped face, and her smile could have even charmed Marvin the Paranoid Android.
“Of course,” Mal said, smiling.
Dean could only stare, open-mouthed, until Sam jabbed him in the ribs.
Sam turned back to Kaylee when she spoke again.
“I’ll show you to your rooms,” she said, reaching for Sam’s bag.
“Yeah, we can do that, right Dean?” Sam asked, needing to elbow his brother again.
“What? Uhm, yeah. Rooms are good,” he said, turning his body to go towards the back of the ship, but still staring at Inara. Inara turned her gaze from Mal to Dean, even her eyes smiling. And when she did smile, Dean thought he’d fallen in love.
Sam had to drag Dean out of the cargo bay to the passenger quarters.
Once they were gone, Inara continued down the stairs she had left to walk, and met Mal face to face.
“We’re on our way to Persephone,” he told her. “we should be there in a few days, and will probably stay a day or two.”
“Who are our new passengers?” she asked then, although she’d wanted to ask that first.
“Pair of brothers. They can fix the stops and starts and fits Serenity’s been having,” he said.
“You mean stop the spirit on board. Oh Mal, you don’t have to invent lies for me. I’ve heard the giggling too. And I know what’s going on, so don’t look at me that way,” she chided him. He raised his eyebrow, but was silent.
She linked her arm in his, and guided him back up the stairs. “So,” she smiled sweetly. “Tell me a little more about these brothers.”
“Inara - ” Mal started, but she stopped walking and turned to face him. She put a finger over his lips and shushed him.
“I know what I’m doing,” she said. “Do you?”
“I certainly hope I damned do,” Mal replied. And they continued walking. And Mal told her about the brothers.
While Inara and Mal were discussing the brothers, Sam was still pushing Dean through the Common Area, towards their new quarters.
“She’s too much for you, Dean,” Sam said.
Dean stopped walking and turned to Sam. “How do you know, little brother?” he asked, trying to keep his tone neutral. He knew Sam wouldn’t know.
“I, uhm...” Sam faltered.
“Exactly.”
“She is too much for you, Dean,” Kaylee said, coming up between the brothers. “She’s a registered Companion. I’m sure she knows things even you wouldn’t have dreamt of,” she spoke softly, as if relating a secret.
Sam watched the interaction between his brother and Kaylee, Dean’s look which said he might like to try something new, and Kaylee’s giggle. He realized Kaylee was right. Inara might know things that would even make Dean blush. At that thought, Sam smiled. Then he laughed, as did Kaylee. Dean’s “I’m-up-for-anything” look turned sour, like he’d missed out on the joke.
At that moment, Simon came rushing through, on his way to the medical bay, with an inspiration for yet another medication to help River. He saw the brothers, the taller one laughing, Kaylee laughing; and scowled at the taller man.
Flustered, he turned a few times before headed to the infirmary again.
Ironically, Sam’s quarters were in the same little corner as Simon and River’s. Dean’s was across from someone called Book. They’d meet him on Persephone, Dean remembered Kaylee saying. It was at that time, the engines roared to life, and Serenity finally started to lift off the surface.
The crew of Serenity didn’t even seem to notice the ship was gaining altitude and breaking free of the moon’s atmosphere. But Dean did. Every pocket of turbulence, every hiccup, every bump, even the firing of the engines, Dean could feel like the proverbial pea. He actually curled up on the cot, in the corner, and tried his damnedest to be brave and not cry like he did when he was four.
Sam fared much better. He too, felt the air bumps and currents, but, sitting on the cot, he’d managed to do a good job of convincing himself it was just like flying on a plane. Little bigger, went in space, but just like a 747. Convinced of that, he wasn’t ready for the ship to break free of atmo, lurch, and then stall. The lights went out for a moment, and came on dimly lit. Sam heard Simon outside the quarters, and thought he’d heard him say “here we go again.”
Within a few minutes, the lights were back on, and Sam first heard the giggling. Like the giggle of a child who was playing games. It reminded him of something… from a vision? He couldn’t place it. But when Serenity evened out its fight path, and it seemed things were as they should have been, Sam went to get his brother.
Dean was still huddling in the corner, this time rocking back and forth. Sam kneeled on the bed next to his brother, and tried to coax Dean out of the shell he’d retreated into.
“Hey, Dean, that was our spirit that did that,” Sam said softly.
Dean picked his head up from his knees.
“All that lurching and everything?” he asked in a small voice. At Sam’s nod, Dean seemed to visibly relax. He brought his knees down from his chest, and put on his game face. He reached to one of his bags and pulled out his EMF reader and some other equipment.
“Let’s go then,” Dean said, standing up from the cot. Sam was quite surprised at this sudden change in Dean.
“Did you hear the giggling?” Sam wanted to be sure he wasn’t the only one.
“Just like a little kid. Demons and imps do that. Sometimes faeiries and brownies too,” Dean said, leaving the room, and looking back at Sam, who just stood there, staring dumbfounded.
“What?” Dean asked.
“Just - two minutes ago, you…, uh… on the… bed,” he gestured to the corner.
“Sammy, no chick-flick moments. That hasn’t changed. Let’s go.”
Sam, flustered, didn’t even correct him with his name, but followed his brother, and picked up his equipment along the way.
After they rescanned the entire ship, this time getting a few looks from Jayne, who glared at them every time they passed by him; from Zoe, who watched them critically to make sure they were taking readings and actually working, not trying to pull a fast one on her captain; and from Kaylee, who was more than curious to watch them work.
However, her curiosity turned to concern when Sam’s meter spiked in the Engine Room. Dean’s equipment emitted all kinds of strange sounds and beeps.
“What is it?” she asked, trying to mask her concern.
“It’s, uhm, nothing,” Dean said.
“Don’t give me that,” she said, waving a wrench at him, which Dean eyed suspiciously. “She tells me what’s wrong, and I trust her,” Kaylee said, nodding at the engine and referring to Serenity. “Since she’s not, you’re gonna need to tell me.”
Dean thought briefly on what he wanted to say, flashed her a Winchester-charm smile, and said nonchalantly,
“She’s haunted.”
... on to Part III!!!
***
Supernatural Fan Fiction
For entertainment only
© 2006 by Caren Franco
Only the Timeshifter is original. Beta-read by Athena, Lia Van Helsing, JediPrincess, Aphrodite, Diamondback, and Terra. Terra and Diamondback offered suggestions, and wrote a few lines; Athena wrote a few lines as well. Lia and PhoenixRising69 offeredsuggestions. 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. Marvin the Paranoid Android” from TheHitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, ©1979 by Douglas Adams. “Traveller in Time” from “Demons & Wizards” by Uriah Heep, ©1972.
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 2 - 3,087 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, diamondback158, 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
( Part I )
Kaylee led Dean and Sam to Serenity, the only ship at the dock. It was impressive, and as long as it remained planet-bound, Dean was fine with that. However, he supposed he’d have to get over his fear of flying if he had any hope of getting off this damned moon.
Mal watched as they put their bags down on the cargo bay floor and pulled out a few gadgets and gizmos and boxes with antennas.
“EMF reader,” Dean explained at the captain’s puzzled expression.
Mal just nodded, to be polite. He made a note to ask Kaylee about that. “Feel free to go anywhere; just don’t touch anything if you don’t know what it is. Soon’s you find something, come get me. There’s a corridor up these stairs,” he pointed behind him, “that leads to my quarters. I’ll hear you coming,”
“Yes, Sir,” Dean and Sam said, but Mal noted it was only Sam’s voice he’d heard say “Sir.”
Mal raised his eyebrows at their response, but just nodded back in acceptance. He left the cargo bay, to go up the stairs he’d pointed out.
Dean picked up his weapons bag, shouldered it, and turned on one of his readers. In the few months they’d been in this place, they had upgraded and fine-tuned some of their old equipment, but had found that, while technology and science had changed, the ghosts, demons, and spirits all remained the same.
It took them about an hour to go through the ship. While it appeared impressive at first glance, it was massive on the inside. Especially when you went over it as carefully as Dean and Sam did that afternoon. The last place they scanned was the corridor where Mal said the crew’s quarters were, and the room at the end - the cockpit.
They’d seen a few faint readings, and nothing registered on the EMF reader, the digital cameras, or any of their other equipment. Serenity was not haunted. Least, probably not in the way the captain suspected. In fact, the oddest thing about the entire time they were aboard the ship was they hadn’t seen Mal, Kaylee, Zoe, Jayne, or even River or Simon.
They closed the cockpit door, and turned to back down the corridor. Mal was standing behind them, waiting for their report.
“Nothing, Sir,” Sam said, and Dean thought he heard defeat in his younger brother’s voice, which made him move his gaze from the captain to Sam. The older Winchester raised his eyebrows. As Dean had figured, Mal turned to him next.
“It may manifest itself only in space,” Dean offered. It had sounded bad as he was going over what he’d say in his mind, and now it sounded even wimpier when he said it out loud.
“So while we’re docked, we may never see this thing?” Mal asked for clarification.
“Yes, Sir,” Dean said.
“Well, I guess that’s it, then,” Mal said, turning to lead the brothers back to the cargo bay. “Maybe I really am insane after all,” he muttered.
“Or not, Sir,” Sam ventured to say, following the captain.
Still walking, Mal asked, “What makes you say that?”
“Everyone else saw weird things happening,” Sam pointed out. “Not just you.”
“Space does weird things to a man,” Mal answered cryptically.
“You can say that again,” Dean concurred.
In the cargo bay, Mal offered his hand as a gesture of no hard feelings. A deal was a deal. No ghost, no transport. This time. Bags slung over their shoulders, the Winchesters left Serenity by the cargo bay doors.
As they stepped out on to the surface of the moon, Dean could have sworn he heard what sounded like childish giggling coming from somewhere behind him.
~*~
Cargo safely delivered, there had been no more strange events to speak of en route to the planet. Well, unless you counted River and her trancelike chanting. She still spoke her “Fire on the ceiling; demons, spirits, revealing” premonitions, and succeeded in keeping to herself for most of the trip.
Mal and Wash were studying various routes they could travel which would allow their Companion, Inara Serra, to schedule clients at the next planet they would be on.
Course plotted, Wash took off, and left the planet and exited atmo. Once they were free from orbit, the engine spluttered, shut down, and the lights went off.
“Mal?” came Wash’s frantic voice over the intercom. Which was a miracle in itself, that there was power enough for the intercoms to work.
The dining room was the closest to where Mal was, so he answered Wash’s call there.
“What in the gorram ‘verse is wrong with my ship?” Mal practically yelled back.
“I don’t know!” Wash was panicky.
As if in answer, the auxiliary power and lights came on, casting an orangey glow over the ship. Kaylee had been in her hammock in the engine room when the lights went out, but now was going down her checklist and starting to run diagnostics to see why the main power had gone down.
Most of the others were either in the cargo bay, or in their rooms, wondering the very same sentiment Mal had expressed.
And as quickly as the engines shut down, they hummed and came to life again, lights returning to normal, and the engine on full power again. And over the intercom, came the sounds of giggling. Throughout the ship, everyone heard the giggling, and wondered what it meant.
Mal fumed silently a moment, before calling Wash back on the intercom.
“We’re heading back,” he growled.
“Are you sure, sir?” Wash asked.
“No,” Mal replied. “But I need some answers, and I know where to get them.”
“Yes, sir,” Wash said, as he set a return course for the moon.
~*~
They were a half a day away from the moon. The crew was gathered at the dining room table, enjoying a meal which Kaylee spent most of the afternoon preparing from some of the payment for their cargo delivery.
“So, we’re headed back to this moon, huh?” Jayne grumbled around his dinner, then let out a string of Chinese to show his displeasure at that fact.
“We’re going back because whatever was playing with me before is playing with me again,” Mal said. Interestingly, his voice held none of the bitterness it could have easily had. For a brief moment, it crossed his mind the Winchesters lied to him, that they reported nothing where there was something, but then he remembered Dean’s words, It may manifest itself only in space.
“It burns people on the ceiling,” River suddenly said.
Mal, Kaylee, Zoe and Jayne paused in their dinner to look at each other.
“River, what are you talking about?” Simon asked, concerned, yet puzzled.
“I saw it, Simon. You saved me that day…the day of the fire.” She smiled at her big brother.
“River,” Simon started, “you were a baby - five, six, seven months old. How can you remember that?”
River continued. “The fire was in my room. They said later that,” here River paused, looking around at everyone, as if to tell a great secret, “the starting point of the fire was the ceiling of my nursery.”
Simon just offered a wry smile round the table, but knew what they were thinking. That River should be confined to her quarters, and her premonitions and chanting scared the crap out of the crew.
When dinner was over, Simon helped Kaylee clean up the dishes. Mal remained at the table, a mug in his hands, and watching Simon thoughtfully. As did Kaylee, Zoe, and Jayne, Mal remembered the Winchesters’ story about their mother. Was this Demon a kind of Timeshifter?
“Simon,” Mal said, looking up at the young doctor when he turned around from one of the cupboards. Mal motioned the younger man over to the table. Simon followed the silent order.
“I’m not going to bite you,” Mal smiled. “I just want to know about the fire.”
“River was right. She was about six months old; our parents were out, again. Sometime in the evening, the clocks stopped, and River, who went to bed early then, woke up screaming. I’d been reading one of my med books,” Simon looked up at Mal. “Yes, I was reading medical books even in kindergarten,” he said wryly before continuing.
“I rushed into River’s room, and the ceiling was ablaze. I grabbed River from her crib and rushed outside. The nanny came running after us, and all we could do was watch the flames consume the upper levels of the house. My dad had it rebuilt, of course.”
“Of course,” Mal nodded.
“It wasn’t her fault,” Simon added unnecessarily.
“No, it couldn’t have been. She was a baby,” Mal agreed.
“I wonder why she brought up that memory now? It was so long ago.”
“It was for her,” Mal agreed. “But we have some passengers to pick up who witnessed something very similar, just as if it happened yesterday,” he said. Mal left the dining room to check on their course, leaving Simon still sitting at the table, quite puzzled.
~*~
Dean fought the urge to be sick. He’d suspected the spirit would be active when the ship was in space, but it never occurred to him that he himself would have to go in space. He missed his Impala. And he hated flying.
Yet here they were, entering the cargo bay of Serenity. Again.
“Come on, Dean, it’s just a spaceship,” Sam said, although he had to admit he was nervous as well. Airplanes were one thing, but spaceships?
“It flies. Off the ground,” Dean said, his fear of flying quite apparent. “In space,” he added unnecessarily.
“Serenity’s not just a spaceship,” Kaylee interjected, coming out of the cargo bay to meet them and sounding like a proud mother. “She’s a midbulk transport, Class code 03-K64, with standard radion accelerator core. An Aught-Three Series Firefly.”
“Oh, that makes me feel so much better,” Dean said wryly, looking around for a corner, in which he could hide during take-off. This was just not his day.
Their belongings packed in a total of four dusty bags between them, Dean and Sam watched as the doors to the cargo bay closed, shutting off the view of the dry, dusty, desert, haunted moon. Hopefully, they would never see its surface again.
Mal came down the stairs that led to the upper part of the ship to greet them. He clapped his hands on each of their shoulders, and welcomed them aboard. But there was something in his eyes, a look that told Dean they’d better find a ghost on this ship between here and Persephone, or else they were headed for trouble. Dean just smiled back.
“Mal?” a voice said from on the stairs behind the captain. Mal let go of Dean and Sam’s shoulders to turn to the voice.
“Ahh, Inara,” he said warmly, walking up towards her. “What lures you out of your shuttle?”
“I just wanted to confirm our course with you, so that I may schedule clients this time?” She made it a question, when it was clear even to Dean, it was not. When Dean had looked up at the sound of the voice, he saw the most elegant woman he’d ever met. She was dressed in flowing robes, her hair was upswept with some loose curls framing her heart-shaped face, and her smile could have even charmed Marvin the Paranoid Android.
“Of course,” Mal said, smiling.
Dean could only stare, open-mouthed, until Sam jabbed him in the ribs.
Sam turned back to Kaylee when she spoke again.
“I’ll show you to your rooms,” she said, reaching for Sam’s bag.
“Yeah, we can do that, right Dean?” Sam asked, needing to elbow his brother again.
“What? Uhm, yeah. Rooms are good,” he said, turning his body to go towards the back of the ship, but still staring at Inara. Inara turned her gaze from Mal to Dean, even her eyes smiling. And when she did smile, Dean thought he’d fallen in love.
Sam had to drag Dean out of the cargo bay to the passenger quarters.
Once they were gone, Inara continued down the stairs she had left to walk, and met Mal face to face.
“We’re on our way to Persephone,” he told her. “we should be there in a few days, and will probably stay a day or two.”
“Who are our new passengers?” she asked then, although she’d wanted to ask that first.
“Pair of brothers. They can fix the stops and starts and fits Serenity’s been having,” he said.
“You mean stop the spirit on board. Oh Mal, you don’t have to invent lies for me. I’ve heard the giggling too. And I know what’s going on, so don’t look at me that way,” she chided him. He raised his eyebrow, but was silent.
She linked her arm in his, and guided him back up the stairs. “So,” she smiled sweetly. “Tell me a little more about these brothers.”
“Inara - ” Mal started, but she stopped walking and turned to face him. She put a finger over his lips and shushed him.
“I know what I’m doing,” she said. “Do you?”
“I certainly hope I damned do,” Mal replied. And they continued walking. And Mal told her about the brothers.
While Inara and Mal were discussing the brothers, Sam was still pushing Dean through the Common Area, towards their new quarters.
“She’s too much for you, Dean,” Sam said.
Dean stopped walking and turned to Sam. “How do you know, little brother?” he asked, trying to keep his tone neutral. He knew Sam wouldn’t know.
“I, uhm...” Sam faltered.
“Exactly.”
“She is too much for you, Dean,” Kaylee said, coming up between the brothers. “She’s a registered Companion. I’m sure she knows things even you wouldn’t have dreamt of,” she spoke softly, as if relating a secret.
Sam watched the interaction between his brother and Kaylee, Dean’s look which said he might like to try something new, and Kaylee’s giggle. He realized Kaylee was right. Inara might know things that would even make Dean blush. At that thought, Sam smiled. Then he laughed, as did Kaylee. Dean’s “I’m-up-for-anything” look turned sour, like he’d missed out on the joke.
At that moment, Simon came rushing through, on his way to the medical bay, with an inspiration for yet another medication to help River. He saw the brothers, the taller one laughing, Kaylee laughing; and scowled at the taller man.
Flustered, he turned a few times before headed to the infirmary again.
Ironically, Sam’s quarters were in the same little corner as Simon and River’s. Dean’s was across from someone called Book. They’d meet him on Persephone, Dean remembered Kaylee saying. It was at that time, the engines roared to life, and Serenity finally started to lift off the surface.
The crew of Serenity didn’t even seem to notice the ship was gaining altitude and breaking free of the moon’s atmosphere. But Dean did. Every pocket of turbulence, every hiccup, every bump, even the firing of the engines, Dean could feel like the proverbial pea. He actually curled up on the cot, in the corner, and tried his damnedest to be brave and not cry like he did when he was four.
Sam fared much better. He too, felt the air bumps and currents, but, sitting on the cot, he’d managed to do a good job of convincing himself it was just like flying on a plane. Little bigger, went in space, but just like a 747. Convinced of that, he wasn’t ready for the ship to break free of atmo, lurch, and then stall. The lights went out for a moment, and came on dimly lit. Sam heard Simon outside the quarters, and thought he’d heard him say “here we go again.”
Within a few minutes, the lights were back on, and Sam first heard the giggling. Like the giggle of a child who was playing games. It reminded him of something… from a vision? He couldn’t place it. But when Serenity evened out its fight path, and it seemed things were as they should have been, Sam went to get his brother.
Dean was still huddling in the corner, this time rocking back and forth. Sam kneeled on the bed next to his brother, and tried to coax Dean out of the shell he’d retreated into.
“Hey, Dean, that was our spirit that did that,” Sam said softly.
Dean picked his head up from his knees.
“All that lurching and everything?” he asked in a small voice. At Sam’s nod, Dean seemed to visibly relax. He brought his knees down from his chest, and put on his game face. He reached to one of his bags and pulled out his EMF reader and some other equipment.
“Let’s go then,” Dean said, standing up from the cot. Sam was quite surprised at this sudden change in Dean.
“Did you hear the giggling?” Sam wanted to be sure he wasn’t the only one.
“Just like a little kid. Demons and imps do that. Sometimes faeiries and brownies too,” Dean said, leaving the room, and looking back at Sam, who just stood there, staring dumbfounded.
“What?” Dean asked.
“Just - two minutes ago, you…, uh… on the… bed,” he gestured to the corner.
“Sammy, no chick-flick moments. That hasn’t changed. Let’s go.”
Sam, flustered, didn’t even correct him with his name, but followed his brother, and picked up his equipment along the way.
After they rescanned the entire ship, this time getting a few looks from Jayne, who glared at them every time they passed by him; from Zoe, who watched them critically to make sure they were taking readings and actually working, not trying to pull a fast one on her captain; and from Kaylee, who was more than curious to watch them work.
However, her curiosity turned to concern when Sam’s meter spiked in the Engine Room. Dean’s equipment emitted all kinds of strange sounds and beeps.
“What is it?” she asked, trying to mask her concern.
“It’s, uhm, nothing,” Dean said.
“Don’t give me that,” she said, waving a wrench at him, which Dean eyed suspiciously. “She tells me what’s wrong, and I trust her,” Kaylee said, nodding at the engine and referring to Serenity. “Since she’s not, you’re gonna need to tell me.”
Dean thought briefly on what he wanted to say, flashed her a Winchester-charm smile, and said nonchalantly,
“She’s haunted.”
... on to Part III!!!
***
Supernatural Fan Fiction
For entertainment only
© 2006 by Caren Franco
Only the Timeshifter is original. Beta-read by Athena, Lia Van Helsing, JediPrincess, Aphrodite, Diamondback, and Terra. Terra and Diamondback offered suggestions, and wrote a few lines; Athena wrote a few lines as well. Lia and PhoenixRising69 offeredsuggestions. 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. Marvin the Paranoid Android” from TheHitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, ©1979 by Douglas Adams. “Traveller in Time” from “Demons & Wizards” by Uriah Heep, ©1972.