Firefly fic: Landings (gen)
Mar. 4th, 2009 10:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
seriousficTitle: Landings
Fandom: Firefly
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1,203
Characters/Pairings: Ensemble, references to Mal/River.
Summary: The last flight of Serenity.
Zoë was the first to leave. Only fitting, I suppose. She’d never really left Miranda, and it was only a matter of time until she snapped back. When the call came in to be fitted for a snazzy new brown coat, bring your pappy’s rifle if he’s got one, she signed her name Zoë Washburne.
I tried to make her stay, told her I needed her even, but some loves pulled harder than others. She was with Wash, like she always had been. And me, I was sick of war and blood and lost causes. Jayne gave her some grenades, I gave her my six-shooter, which had never once jammed on me. It was fit time for an upgrade anyway.
My new handgun, a semi-auto manufactured on a right pretty Core world nano-conveyor, jammed up on me. I took a bullet from a hun dan that Jayne had to ventilate for me. Scraped the meat from a rib. Simon patched it up and I nulled the pain with a bottle of scotch until all I felt was old and worn out.
After the war, the new government got smart to Zoë’s many and various talents, gave her a command hunting down Reavers and rattlin’ sabers at the Alliance. Last I saw her was at her wedding to a stocky colonist from a heavy-G world. I didn’t ask her to come back and she didn’t want me to. One thing a boat was never short on was memories.
With the war over, the Tams were given pardons, ‘long with a million other ruffians and political prisoners. River stayed onboard, spouting something about molecules losing valence electrons and nuclear explosions. Simon and Kaylee laid roots on Royal, where the Browncoats were opening their new shipyards. He was the town bonesaw, she had a high-falutin’ title that amounted to it being frowned upon for her to roll up her sleeves and tinker with the engines she was churning out. Didn’t slow her none, and soon Royal was sitting pretty on a fat naval contract.
Never did take on new crew. Suppose that was my first mistake. But River was bedrock and she took as much weight as I put on her. Patched up our hurts til we could get to a local doctor, tuned up the engines when the real mechanics would’ve swindled us.
If I relied on the little albatross too much, I didn’t share near my burden with Inara. I think she loved me. I think she loved all of us, back when we were family. But the hand you want ain’t always the hand you’re dealt. I set her down to train more Companions and they were happy to have her back. I still remember River playing the controls like a fiddle, no, some sort of piano thing more like, while I rocked in the co-pilot’s chair.
I know it was broken, not really a rocking chair, but same principle.
She said “When you’re ready to let go, no point hanging on.” Sometimes I think she delights in playing the far-off sage type. I’ve seen her talk as normal as you or I. Kinda tingly-skinning, actually.
I nodded and hummed like I knew what she meant. This time I did, gorram. Sometimes the only way past a thing is through it.
Jayne died on a moon out past Ares. Took seven shots and a grenade to stop him. The hill where he died was a de facto mass grave. Just a deal gone bad, I thought. Wasn’t until weeks later that River mentioned it was purplebelly revengers who lost everything in the war. Girl had held his hand while he died. Said his last words were ‘Never thought it’d take this long.’
Serenity was dead after that, though neither of us wanted to admit it. Even my little oracle had nothing to say. We only had to heat the ship for two, so it was cold all the time. We bunked in the same room. She was a woman grown by then, but nothing happened. Wouldn’t have felt right with Serenity in the state she was in.
With no Alliance to stick a hand out for our green or a nose in our business, we’d had a run of luck. Good karma, Book might’ve said. But maybe it was that good karma that made the others think we’d be alright without ‘em. If there was a Lord, he gave and he took away, kěn ding.
Pirates caught up with us in the Black, Browncoats who couldn’t stop fighting a war they’d won. Even River’s fanciest flying only got us out by the skin of our pearly whites. Could’ve emptied the gold bars from the hold, could’ve maxed out my bank account (I actually had a bank account), could’ve done a lot of things. Could’ve kept flying for another ten, twenty years. But I didn’t. Soon as the lightbulb went off, River gave me a little nod and set our last course. We limped our way to Royal, which Providence had set nearby, and crashed as much as we landed.
Serenity still made a good home, even if she only flew when a hard breeze caught her wings just right. Took us a good while to tie her down so things wouldn’t go zài yīn jīng de gāo wán every other Friday.
It was a good trade, the Black for blue skies and clodus like God’s own sheep had gotten loose. Chopping wood kept my joints on their swivel and River was happy as a pig in mud at the library. She had a gift for knowing the exact book for the exact person at the exact time. She became the town librarian, which was how she signed the essays she wrote on the Cortex. Heard a few people took some cues from those. Couldn’t have done ‘em nothing but right.
Me, they made constable. Zoë had a duō sè cǎi de dì yù of a good time over that. Kept nominating me for Lawman of the Year. I think I once stole the prize money for that. Ol’ wheel keeps turning.
It’s a good life. The general store has nice cigars, Doc and Kaylee have a passel of rugrats who think Reaver’s just another word for bogeyman. They call me uncle, as in ‘Uncle Mal, pass the taters.’ If Inara and I ever figured out a way to talk without it being hurtsome, I just know she’d make merry of how civilized I am. But I still turn a decently blind eye to the younger scoundrels and take a fair bribe from the smugglers I sniff out, long as they aren’t moving nothin’ harmful.
There are dreams I have where Serenity soars and the family’s a crew again. But though I was a young man then, I feel much younger now. It’s as if Unification happened to some other Reynolds, an angry man I can’t see from here. When I have those dreams, I wake up, roll over and see River. She’ll say something soothin’ as ever, but all I need is to hear her voice. I go back to sleep and wait with open arms for whatever tomorrow’s got for me.
Fandom: Firefly
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1,203
Characters/Pairings: Ensemble, references to Mal/River.
Summary: The last flight of Serenity.
Zoë was the first to leave. Only fitting, I suppose. She’d never really left Miranda, and it was only a matter of time until she snapped back. When the call came in to be fitted for a snazzy new brown coat, bring your pappy’s rifle if he’s got one, she signed her name Zoë Washburne.
I tried to make her stay, told her I needed her even, but some loves pulled harder than others. She was with Wash, like she always had been. And me, I was sick of war and blood and lost causes. Jayne gave her some grenades, I gave her my six-shooter, which had never once jammed on me. It was fit time for an upgrade anyway.
My new handgun, a semi-auto manufactured on a right pretty Core world nano-conveyor, jammed up on me. I took a bullet from a hun dan that Jayne had to ventilate for me. Scraped the meat from a rib. Simon patched it up and I nulled the pain with a bottle of scotch until all I felt was old and worn out.
After the war, the new government got smart to Zoë’s many and various talents, gave her a command hunting down Reavers and rattlin’ sabers at the Alliance. Last I saw her was at her wedding to a stocky colonist from a heavy-G world. I didn’t ask her to come back and she didn’t want me to. One thing a boat was never short on was memories.
With the war over, the Tams were given pardons, ‘long with a million other ruffians and political prisoners. River stayed onboard, spouting something about molecules losing valence electrons and nuclear explosions. Simon and Kaylee laid roots on Royal, where the Browncoats were opening their new shipyards. He was the town bonesaw, she had a high-falutin’ title that amounted to it being frowned upon for her to roll up her sleeves and tinker with the engines she was churning out. Didn’t slow her none, and soon Royal was sitting pretty on a fat naval contract.
Never did take on new crew. Suppose that was my first mistake. But River was bedrock and she took as much weight as I put on her. Patched up our hurts til we could get to a local doctor, tuned up the engines when the real mechanics would’ve swindled us.
If I relied on the little albatross too much, I didn’t share near my burden with Inara. I think she loved me. I think she loved all of us, back when we were family. But the hand you want ain’t always the hand you’re dealt. I set her down to train more Companions and they were happy to have her back. I still remember River playing the controls like a fiddle, no, some sort of piano thing more like, while I rocked in the co-pilot’s chair.
I know it was broken, not really a rocking chair, but same principle.
She said “When you’re ready to let go, no point hanging on.” Sometimes I think she delights in playing the far-off sage type. I’ve seen her talk as normal as you or I. Kinda tingly-skinning, actually.
I nodded and hummed like I knew what she meant. This time I did, gorram. Sometimes the only way past a thing is through it.
Jayne died on a moon out past Ares. Took seven shots and a grenade to stop him. The hill where he died was a de facto mass grave. Just a deal gone bad, I thought. Wasn’t until weeks later that River mentioned it was purplebelly revengers who lost everything in the war. Girl had held his hand while he died. Said his last words were ‘Never thought it’d take this long.’
Serenity was dead after that, though neither of us wanted to admit it. Even my little oracle had nothing to say. We only had to heat the ship for two, so it was cold all the time. We bunked in the same room. She was a woman grown by then, but nothing happened. Wouldn’t have felt right with Serenity in the state she was in.
With no Alliance to stick a hand out for our green or a nose in our business, we’d had a run of luck. Good karma, Book might’ve said. But maybe it was that good karma that made the others think we’d be alright without ‘em. If there was a Lord, he gave and he took away, kěn ding.
Pirates caught up with us in the Black, Browncoats who couldn’t stop fighting a war they’d won. Even River’s fanciest flying only got us out by the skin of our pearly whites. Could’ve emptied the gold bars from the hold, could’ve maxed out my bank account (I actually had a bank account), could’ve done a lot of things. Could’ve kept flying for another ten, twenty years. But I didn’t. Soon as the lightbulb went off, River gave me a little nod and set our last course. We limped our way to Royal, which Providence had set nearby, and crashed as much as we landed.
Serenity still made a good home, even if she only flew when a hard breeze caught her wings just right. Took us a good while to tie her down so things wouldn’t go zài yīn jīng de gāo wán every other Friday.
It was a good trade, the Black for blue skies and clodus like God’s own sheep had gotten loose. Chopping wood kept my joints on their swivel and River was happy as a pig in mud at the library. She had a gift for knowing the exact book for the exact person at the exact time. She became the town librarian, which was how she signed the essays she wrote on the Cortex. Heard a few people took some cues from those. Couldn’t have done ‘em nothing but right.
Me, they made constable. Zoë had a duō sè cǎi de dì yù of a good time over that. Kept nominating me for Lawman of the Year. I think I once stole the prize money for that. Ol’ wheel keeps turning.
It’s a good life. The general store has nice cigars, Doc and Kaylee have a passel of rugrats who think Reaver’s just another word for bogeyman. They call me uncle, as in ‘Uncle Mal, pass the taters.’ If Inara and I ever figured out a way to talk without it being hurtsome, I just know she’d make merry of how civilized I am. But I still turn a decently blind eye to the younger scoundrels and take a fair bribe from the smugglers I sniff out, long as they aren’t moving nothin’ harmful.
There are dreams I have where Serenity soars and the family’s a crew again. But though I was a young man then, I feel much younger now. It’s as if Unification happened to some other Reynolds, an angry man I can’t see from here. When I have those dreams, I wake up, roll over and see River. She’ll say something soothin’ as ever, but all I need is to hear her voice. I go back to sleep and wait with open arms for whatever tomorrow’s got for me.
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no subject
Date: 2009-03-04 05:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-04 05:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-04 06:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-04 07:20 pm (UTC)I've always wanted a happy ending for Serenity and her crew but I feel like this is the ending they'll get.
no subject
Date: 2009-03-04 07:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-04 10:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-05 12:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-05 03:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-05 04:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-06 11:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-07 04:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-10 03:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-24 09:28 am (UTC)And I'm another sappy romantic, and the only thing I'd change would be Mal and Inara working out in the end.
Damn, I miss Serenity and here family-shaped crew.
no subject
Date: 2009-04-21 06:16 am (UTC)