((NPCing Mal, Wash and Miriam Reynolds. And playing Zoe.))
Sure as Wash knew the skies, seven hours and fifty-two minutes from Greenleaf found Serenity landing on Shadow. The planet wasn't at all what you would expect with a name like Shadow. It was something like the country called "Greenland" on Earth-That-Was, which had actually been covered in snow. Shadow was a bright prairie land with the occasional red desert and brown dirt plains. The land Mal's mother worked was a good fifty acres of grassy hills and fields full of honey wheat. Purple flowers with yellow eyes dotted a hill and on a piece of flat land right near the creek that ran through the countryside sat a wooden house, not-so-recently white-washed and big enough to hold two bedrooms, a kitchen and a sitting room. Around back there was an outhouse, though it had plumbing. Miriam simply didn't like mixing her drinking water with the toilet water. A little farther from the white house was a ranch house, long and unpainted, which housed about forty hands. The stone cookhouse stood next to it, sweet smelling smoke billowing from its chimney.
Mal sighed deeply. Coming home was tough and the sight of everything exactly as he'd left it was more than a little disconcerting. It was like he'd never left, like there'd never been a war and he was still living with his mama on the ranch, helping brand cattle and break horses. His blue eyes stung as if he might cry, but he hardened himself, focusing instead on the situation at hand as he walked down the hill on the path that led to his mother's house.
Zoe fell int step behind Mal, the pretty surroundings doing nothing to quell her caution. They had been called to Mal's home planet for a reason, and it sure as hell wasn't a wedding. She did not let her guard down, though nothing seemed especially amiss. They had landed just between two ranches since there was plenty of space to park a ship on a planet like Shadow. A few children had run up to the ship after it landed and their more mature counterparts had come behind them, using their kids as an excuse to find out what business a cargo hauler had outside of town.
Of course, it wasn't uncommon for trucks to come out from time to time to take things to market, but never a spaceship. Then again, Miriam Reynolds ran a hard deal, it wasn't especially surprising to find a hauler near her ranch. Zoe had been able to clear a path through the gawkers with only a look and a hand held over her holster. She had even managed to keep a straight face as her husband waved excitedly at every one of them. When she'd turned her look to him, he'd only grinned. "It's fun being popular. Maybe I should do shadow puppets. I guess here they would just be puppets, huh?" he'd laughed. God love him. Zoe only shook her head and continued down the path.
It was already evening planetside. Most of the men had already turned in for the night, Mall remembered supper was served at seven on the dot every night, no excuses. Gorram, it was strange to be home. His mother stood by the door, her hands folded together in an anxious clasp. She jogged to the gate when she saw them, but didn't go any further. The walk seemed to get longer for Mal as they moved, but he was finally face to face (or at least close, he had a foot of height on his mother, 'all your daddy's fault,' she'd say). Before he could speak she began, looking past him to Zoe and Wash.
"Zoe, you haven't aged a day. It's so good to see you," Miriam exclaimed. Even Zoe's hard features softened when she saw the woman and she came forward, allowing Miriam to wrap her arms around her.
"You too, Miriam," Zoe murmered. It was hard not to be charmed. Miriam's blue eyes then turned to Wash, grinning.
"I see Zoe got at that hair of yours. You're still like a little boy," she laughed, embracing the awkward pilot. He smiled as she pinched his forearm in a motherly fashion. "I see you got some muscle here. My son ain't workin' you too hard, is he?" she asked playfully.
"No ma'am, he works me just right," Wash stumbled a bit on his words, bright blue eyes glancing to Mal. His brow furrowed a moment later when he realized how that phrase sounded and then he smiled. Finally Miriam turned to her son and for an uncomfortable minute there was silence. She reached out a hand to pat his arm.
"Spittin' image of your pa," she spoke softly, looking up into his eyes. Another moment and then she threw her arms around him, as if it had pained her not to be close. Mal closed his eyes, almost reluctantly wrapping his own arms around her. He felt how light she was, how frail. He had always seen his mother as a hard woman, one of the strongest women in the world. It hit him that she was getting older. And here he'd spent five years barely speaking to her. But no time for sentimentality now.
"What's this about a weddin'?" he asked when they parted. Miriam looked left and right and then led them inside the house quickly. She walked briskly up the stairs, explaining things as she went.
"You knew there ain't no weddin' afore you even set foot planetside, just needed you to get here," she said. "They got a man after you somethin' fierce, Alliance man. What'd you do now, boy?" she asked, turning to meet eyes with her son for a moment. "I dropped that fella Badger's name to get him offworld, but he'll be back if he don't get the information he's lookin' for," she opened the door to the guest room, the room that would have belonged to Mal if he'd stayed. It was cleaner than he ever would have had it, but when he'd turned sixteen he had wanted to move into the ranch house with the other hands, become a man. Miriam had let him and kept the other room open, just in case he ever wanted to come back. He hadn't. Now there was a pale girl laid across the bed, almost as white as the sheets.
"The man who came for you shot her. This is the De Nalu's girl, Kaimana," Miriam explained, pulling the gingham blanket from over the girl to show the three well-cleaned bullet wounds she'd suffered. "A few of the other hands helped me get her up here, but she ain't said two words. Only grazed the one leg, and we was able to get the bullet out her thigh, but the other's still in her shoulder," her voice was worried, a tone Mal had rarely, if ever, heard from his mother. Zoe kneeled and studied the wounds to see if there was anything she could do, but Miriam was a capable woman.
"Runnin' a fever," Zoe spoke, holding the back of her hand against the girl's forehead. "We need to get Simon, sir," She was used to bullet wounds and her face remained thankfully blank, though it was difficult for her to see such a young girl in such a state. It was like Kaylee all over again. Wash put his hand on her shoulder as she stood again.
"You said this man is on his way to Persephone?" Mal said finally, his eyes on his mother. He hated the sight of a hurt child just as much as the next man, but now was the time for business.
"Should be," Miriam spoke confidently, though there was an air of worry in her voice. Kaimana was almost a daughter to her. Mal took a COM from the pocket of his brown coat and pressed the button.
"Simon, you got a patient. Fast'd be better n' slow," he spoke into the square black intercom, allowing himself a terse look at the girl on the bed. He knew what a bullet did to the body if left in for too long and when you're shot, even a second can feel like days. That girl was a trooper.
He had left Simon, River and Kaylee in the care of the Shepherd with Jayne for some firepower in case anything went wrong. If someone was after him, he didn't want Simon and River planetside until he knew it was safe. "Wash, you go back and show them the way," he knew the doctor wouldn't want to leave the ship without his sister in tow, especially not with a potentially dangerous man on the loose. Kaylee would want to come along too, to meet his mother, and Jayne would feel left out if he didn't get to leave the ship, too. "Then send a WAV to Badger, warn him what's comin'. I'll contact you, let you know if we need to get outta here in a hurry," were his orders.
Wash squeezed his wife's shoulder again before he moved out of the room and down the stairs. Mal turned back to his mother, sitting in one of the three chairs gathered in the room.
"Now... tell me about this man,"
Sure as Wash knew the skies, seven hours and fifty-two minutes from Greenleaf found Serenity landing on Shadow. The planet wasn't at all what you would expect with a name like Shadow. It was something like the country called "Greenland" on Earth-That-Was, which had actually been covered in snow. Shadow was a bright prairie land with the occasional red desert and brown dirt plains. The land Mal's mother worked was a good fifty acres of grassy hills and fields full of honey wheat. Purple flowers with yellow eyes dotted a hill and on a piece of flat land right near the creek that ran through the countryside sat a wooden house, not-so-recently white-washed and big enough to hold two bedrooms, a kitchen and a sitting room. Around back there was an outhouse, though it had plumbing. Miriam simply didn't like mixing her drinking water with the toilet water. A little farther from the white house was a ranch house, long and unpainted, which housed about forty hands. The stone cookhouse stood next to it, sweet smelling smoke billowing from its chimney.
Mal sighed deeply. Coming home was tough and the sight of everything exactly as he'd left it was more than a little disconcerting. It was like he'd never left, like there'd never been a war and he was still living with his mama on the ranch, helping brand cattle and break horses. His blue eyes stung as if he might cry, but he hardened himself, focusing instead on the situation at hand as he walked down the hill on the path that led to his mother's house.
Zoe fell int step behind Mal, the pretty surroundings doing nothing to quell her caution. They had been called to Mal's home planet for a reason, and it sure as hell wasn't a wedding. She did not let her guard down, though nothing seemed especially amiss. They had landed just between two ranches since there was plenty of space to park a ship on a planet like Shadow. A few children had run up to the ship after it landed and their more mature counterparts had come behind them, using their kids as an excuse to find out what business a cargo hauler had outside of town.
Of course, it wasn't uncommon for trucks to come out from time to time to take things to market, but never a spaceship. Then again, Miriam Reynolds ran a hard deal, it wasn't especially surprising to find a hauler near her ranch. Zoe had been able to clear a path through the gawkers with only a look and a hand held over her holster. She had even managed to keep a straight face as her husband waved excitedly at every one of them. When she'd turned her look to him, he'd only grinned. "It's fun being popular. Maybe I should do shadow puppets. I guess here they would just be puppets, huh?" he'd laughed. God love him. Zoe only shook her head and continued down the path.
It was already evening planetside. Most of the men had already turned in for the night, Mall remembered supper was served at seven on the dot every night, no excuses. Gorram, it was strange to be home. His mother stood by the door, her hands folded together in an anxious clasp. She jogged to the gate when she saw them, but didn't go any further. The walk seemed to get longer for Mal as they moved, but he was finally face to face (or at least close, he had a foot of height on his mother, 'all your daddy's fault,' she'd say). Before he could speak she began, looking past him to Zoe and Wash.
"Zoe, you haven't aged a day. It's so good to see you," Miriam exclaimed. Even Zoe's hard features softened when she saw the woman and she came forward, allowing Miriam to wrap her arms around her.
"You too, Miriam," Zoe murmered. It was hard not to be charmed. Miriam's blue eyes then turned to Wash, grinning.
"I see Zoe got at that hair of yours. You're still like a little boy," she laughed, embracing the awkward pilot. He smiled as she pinched his forearm in a motherly fashion. "I see you got some muscle here. My son ain't workin' you too hard, is he?" she asked playfully.
"No ma'am, he works me just right," Wash stumbled a bit on his words, bright blue eyes glancing to Mal. His brow furrowed a moment later when he realized how that phrase sounded and then he smiled. Finally Miriam turned to her son and for an uncomfortable minute there was silence. She reached out a hand to pat his arm.
"Spittin' image of your pa," she spoke softly, looking up into his eyes. Another moment and then she threw her arms around him, as if it had pained her not to be close. Mal closed his eyes, almost reluctantly wrapping his own arms around her. He felt how light she was, how frail. He had always seen his mother as a hard woman, one of the strongest women in the world. It hit him that she was getting older. And here he'd spent five years barely speaking to her. But no time for sentimentality now.
"What's this about a weddin'?" he asked when they parted. Miriam looked left and right and then led them inside the house quickly. She walked briskly up the stairs, explaining things as she went.
"You knew there ain't no weddin' afore you even set foot planetside, just needed you to get here," she said. "They got a man after you somethin' fierce, Alliance man. What'd you do now, boy?" she asked, turning to meet eyes with her son for a moment. "I dropped that fella Badger's name to get him offworld, but he'll be back if he don't get the information he's lookin' for," she opened the door to the guest room, the room that would have belonged to Mal if he'd stayed. It was cleaner than he ever would have had it, but when he'd turned sixteen he had wanted to move into the ranch house with the other hands, become a man. Miriam had let him and kept the other room open, just in case he ever wanted to come back. He hadn't. Now there was a pale girl laid across the bed, almost as white as the sheets.
"The man who came for you shot her. This is the De Nalu's girl, Kaimana," Miriam explained, pulling the gingham blanket from over the girl to show the three well-cleaned bullet wounds she'd suffered. "A few of the other hands helped me get her up here, but she ain't said two words. Only grazed the one leg, and we was able to get the bullet out her thigh, but the other's still in her shoulder," her voice was worried, a tone Mal had rarely, if ever, heard from his mother. Zoe kneeled and studied the wounds to see if there was anything she could do, but Miriam was a capable woman.
"Runnin' a fever," Zoe spoke, holding the back of her hand against the girl's forehead. "We need to get Simon, sir," She was used to bullet wounds and her face remained thankfully blank, though it was difficult for her to see such a young girl in such a state. It was like Kaylee all over again. Wash put his hand on her shoulder as she stood again.
"You said this man is on his way to Persephone?" Mal said finally, his eyes on his mother. He hated the sight of a hurt child just as much as the next man, but now was the time for business.
"Should be," Miriam spoke confidently, though there was an air of worry in her voice. Kaimana was almost a daughter to her. Mal took a COM from the pocket of his brown coat and pressed the button.
"Simon, you got a patient. Fast'd be better n' slow," he spoke into the square black intercom, allowing himself a terse look at the girl on the bed. He knew what a bullet did to the body if left in for too long and when you're shot, even a second can feel like days. That girl was a trooper.
He had left Simon, River and Kaylee in the care of the Shepherd with Jayne for some firepower in case anything went wrong. If someone was after him, he didn't want Simon and River planetside until he knew it was safe. "Wash, you go back and show them the way," he knew the doctor wouldn't want to leave the ship without his sister in tow, especially not with a potentially dangerous man on the loose. Kaylee would want to come along too, to meet his mother, and Jayne would feel left out if he didn't get to leave the ship, too. "Then send a WAV to Badger, warn him what's comin'. I'll contact you, let you know if we need to get outta here in a hurry," were his orders.
Wash squeezed his wife's shoulder again before he moved out of the room and down the stairs. Mal turned back to his mother, sitting in one of the three chairs gathered in the room.
"Now... tell me about this man,"
Jayne pushed the button that lifted the ramp up, closing the ship from the outside world. He chewed loudly on an apple picketed on his knife and making it clear that no one else was leave unless told otherwise by the higher rankings. Simon Tam had no objection, neither words to say, so, he turned back towards the infirmary in order to return to his work, leaving his sister and the rest of the crew to ponder on their own thoughts. To be quite honest, Simon was fine with not having to leave the ship when they landed on Shadow, despite the fact that it was Mal's home planet or that he might have had the chance to meet his mother. Parents in particular weren't much of an interest to him since his own abandoned, not only their son, but daughter as well, their shallowness of keeping up with society had caused a rift, and Simon knew that they'd never be able to close the rift...no matter what today, tomorrow, a year or ten years from now brought. The somewhat bitter feelings were left over and usually waved to other people and he didn't want to put himself in a position where he'd attack someone else for something they didn't do. He was aware that Mal's mother could have been a different...better parent, but he was not so much in the mood to find out. Besides that, Simon didn't think he'd been interested in coming anyway, after the incident of finding out that Jayne had a town that wrote folk songs about him and plastered a statue of him...Simon was pretty sure he wasn't much in the mood for anymore surprises. Next he'd find Mal actually giving him credit for what he deserved and the Shepard would stop preaching from his bible.
