You can't take the skies from me.

[SiaKlynn]

Zoe

Zoe knew the moment Badger came back with thirty percent that Mal would up it to thirty five. There are too many times she can guess Mal's next move. It's what made their partnership work.

“What sort of live cargo is this?” Mal asked.

Sliding her gaze to Mal just as he looks at her hint of a smile tugs at the corner of her lips followed by a slight acknowledging nod. Feeling restless and wanting to get on with the day Zoe shifts, folding her arms across her chest waiting for the final word. The next bit she did not expect, a familiar female voice speaks from the shadows.

"The delicate kind."

Zoe snaps her head in the direction Saffron her arms dropping to her side one hand on her gun, fingers already curling around the handle. "Ah ah," Saffron instructs her with a gesture of her finger that instantly gets under Zoe's skin. "Don't even try it or think it."

Lowering her hand straight to her side those dark eyes flash a warning of her own, she isn't afraid to meet this one in a fight and take her down, especially should she try to harm the captain. She tracks the woman as she moves behind Badger's desk.

"I need your help...as much as it pains me to say." she smirked,"But I can make it well worth your while. Even enough to put up with my sweet company. You willing to listen or do I have to keep the gun out?"

She doesn't bother to hide her lack of sympathy with a loud scoff and shoots a look a Mal waiting for him to tell her to go to hell, but instead he inquiries to what Saffron needs. "Captain."

She says sharply, but Mal has a way of ignoring her when he is getting set to make up his mind. Gritting her teeth she looks between Saffron and Mal though her eyes mostly keep on the woman. The next part of the conversation has Zoe floored what is Mal thinking - he can't possibly be serious. Disapproval is prevalent on her face, but she keeps her mouth shut, she wouldn't contradict Mal in front of this lot. The only time he asks her opinion is on the pay, “What do you think, that sounds fair don't it?”

Arching a single brow Zoe can't believe what has transpired she responds, "More than fair, but Sir--"

There was no room to finish the sentence Mal had made up his mind the deal is done. It appeared everyone was happy. Zoe hides the agitation well, but Mal knows it's there and he'll ignore it as usual. They can argue later, but they both know she'll ultimately follow his lead. Pressing her lips together she backpedals to the side waiting for the Captain to leave as Badger shoos them out of his office, one hand resting on the butt of her pistol, if Saffron was going to be around then she wouldn't be caught without a weapon in a moment's reach.

 

[Lilybean]

Saffron nodded,"Its a deal. Thanks Badger, I knew I could count on you."

Technically Saffron had told two lies in that little moment. Angel wasn't a nearby planet, it was actually quite a distance away. It was half the reason she'd picked it. With her ex-partner baying for her blood she wanted to put as much space between them as was physically possible. Once she has the credits in her own little place it was safe to buy her own ship and kill that bastard if he even came near. But right at this moment she needed them to draw the attention off her.

Gently she pulled a cap over her head and tucked her fiery red hair into it. Then she pulled a delicate black fabric over top and wrapped it around her neck. The red hair was a dead give away and they'd be looking for her.

"Now, let's get to that lovely bucket of rust you call a ship. If it can fly still." she grinned at Zoe and Mal,"Lovely to be working with you again," she moved closer to Mal,"Especially you. I think, given the chance,"she pushed up a little closer to him,"we could do some great things together."

 

[kircanos]

Mal frowned at her joke about his ship, she was his ship and he put everything he had into keeping it going. His skin crawled as she came close to him and touched him, her hand wrapped around his arm he shivered. “Look, Saff” Mal started out with a cold tone to his voice “this is business” he said as he pulled his arm away from her and looked down at her with his dark brown eyes “your paying for this ride” he said “lift off is in two hours”.

He turned his attention to Badger “I'll be back to pick up my percentage” he said as he nodded at the bag on the table. He squared his shoulders as he looked over at Zoe. “Lets go and get things ready to go” he said as he started to make his way to the door.

He felt Zoe close beside him as they made their way out of the small office. Once they were out out of there and back onto the street Mal looked over his shoulder, he gave her a small grin “Guess that went alright” he said, they had a solid job and were going to make some money on the jewelry they had swiped. “Lets get her ready to fly” he said as he started to go over the things they needed to have ready in his head.

 

[SiaKlynn]

Zoe

Meeting with Badger was never a pleasure and today’s meeting has turned into nothing short of a nightmare. The rest of the crew will not be happy, hell, she isn’t happy. Zoe downright hated the double crossing redhead. Taking a deep breath her chest rises and lowers with the exhale as dark brown eyes slide towards Mal, he meets her gaze and there’s no hint of apology though she knows he cannot be happy with the arrangement.

“Lets go and get things ready to go.”

Pursing her lips together Zoe nods once in response and without bothering to look at Badger she takes a step forward following Mal out of the man’s office. Her hand still resting on the butt of her gun she comes up beside Mal and his is ultra casual manner he glances at her with a smirk and says, “Guess that went alright.”

“Sir, making a deal with the devil is hardly what I would call going alright.” Holding up her hand to stop his argument she continues as they walk down the street, speaking under her breath, “I will back you up when you tell the rest of the crew, but I tell you right now, I have a bad feeling about this.”

“Let’s get her ready to fly.” Is his response and she knows better than to push the subject further, yes, they had solid work and much needed money coming their way, but at what cost? Making the mental decision to keep an extra eye on Saffron and make sure they all made it through this deal alive.

 

[kircanos]

Mal nodded at Zoe's words, she was right they were playing with fire. Mal knew how Saff had treated them in the past, and normally he would have given her a second look, but they were in need of the money. Damn, he hated to be in this desperate of a situation, he shook his head “Your right Zoe, but we got a job, we will see it through” he said as they made their way towards the docking bay.

He didn't like the feeling that he had either, a pit was starting to build in the pit of his stomach “We will need to be on our toes to make sure everything goes smoothly” he said as they reached the ship. “Make the call and get everyone back” he said as he walked up the docking bay and into the hanger.

“Once everyone is here we will tell them what we're doing” he said as he looked back at Zoe “and I know you will be keeping tabs on our guest” he said with a smile.

He made his way to find out how they were doing on fuel, and to see if any of the rest of the crew was already on board.

 

[Millsy]

Wash

I sat on the deckchair in the dirt of Eavesdown docks, a parasol slung nonchalantly over my shoulder shielding me from the burning heat of the sun now that it's arc of travel had moved Serenity's shadow beyond the loading bay doors. My work was done. Fuel was at 97%, which is not too damn bad for free, as the yellow lit fuel cells had only been skimmed, not even drained of a fifth of their energy. We had enough fuel to get us to the edge of the 'verse and back again. Easy. Unless we had to go evasive in atmo somewheres because Mal got the law or some irate land baron on our tails. That ate fuel like nobodies business. Ships like Serenity ain't built for flying around planetside - not enough fuel capacity. They carry just enough to break atmo, do a short burn for the interplanetary run, then get the bird down. Twice. That's all you get out of a Firefly class. If it's a short hop then you might have some fuel to spare, but a long haul leaves you seriously exposed. You don't mess around doing airshows out on the fringe.

I wondered who would get back first, as I sipped on a light beer and nodded with a smile at sundry individuals who paused to read the sign inviting them to take a trip through space to the destination of their choice. So long as it didn't take us too far out of the way. Perhaps they were bemused by Steggy and Rex stood in the dirt studying the sign. They didn't get out very often. Cabin fever's a bitch. Rex especially gets frisky if he's kept stuck inside so long.

That's how we took on Shepherd Book, who still hadn't settled on a final destination and Simon Tam, who just wanted to get the hermetically sealed life support crate containing his little sister off Persephone. For some reason they just stuck around, unable to tear themselves away from life on the solar winds. A bit like me, I thought as I thought about the shiny silver card in my pocket.

I had wandered onto Serenity the first time, fascinated by what seemed to me a relic, an antique, and I stayed. Like an earth-that-was pilot of jet planes walking through a museum, spotting an ancient biplane, and being told he could take it for a spin if he liked. And get paid for it. Sometimes. What kept me here, though, was not so much Serenity though she did have her wiles, but Zoe, who had wilier wiles.

I hoped she'd be back first. With the whole ship to ourselves we could be as loud as we liked. The old saying that in space nobody can hear you scream didn't strictly apply within the confines of a ship built of metal that had minimal soundproofing in the bedrooms. The faint buzzing noise coming from the bulkhead that separated our quarters from Kaylee's was proof of that. But the chances of Zoe coming back alone before anybody else so we could make some noise without the embarrassment over the breakfast table next morn were remote at best. Normally she'd come back at Mal's side, so I wouldn't get a chance to talk to her about Steffy's offer until later. At least that would give me some more time to ponder how I was going to present things to her. Honey, I've got a new job. Pack our stuff.

Nope, that wouldn't work.

Book? No. He tended to go walkabout for hours. Perhaps he'd gone to visit his old buddies at Southdown Abbey, if that's where he'd actually come from when we picked him up from this very spot all those months ago. Never met a preacher who could shoot like that, or disable armed lawmen so effortlessly, or get the Alliance to do their yes-sir-no-sir-three-bags-full-sir routine when he pulled out his ID card.

Jayne? No chance. You wouldn't get him out of the nearest brothel for a good 24 hours. Same went for Inara, after a fashion. Kaylee? Probably not. Simon would say something dumb and Kaylee would strop off and spend the rest of the day staring dreamily into dress shop windows. Hope she remembered to order up the turbine blades to fix the burble in the port thruster that had been there since Mal fed Crow into it after the train job went bad. Burbling thrusters have a habit of letting you down and shedding blades just when you needed them most and pushed them the hardest. The vibration at full throttle had been getting worse, though not by much, and a good ship always warns you when she's hurting, provided you know what to listen for. Serenity was just grumbling right now.

Which left Simon and River. I had no idea why they left the ship with wanted signs showing their faces on every world from the core to the edge of the black where the reavers went bibbledy. Yep. Them two would be back first.

Maybe none of them would come back. Maybe I would be left alone for a while longer. Perhaps Badger had gunned down Mal and Zoe, Book had returned to the fold, Simon and River had been arrested, Inara had been tied up in a dungeon and turned into a sex slave, Jayne had been hospitalised with acute syphilis or, equally likely gunshot wounds, and Kaylee had been whisked off her feet by a handsome engine designer. No, she'd have come back for her toys. No, if that had happened she wouldn't need her toys.....

Ah well, at least I hadn't been abandoned. I'd always have Rex and Steggy. Rex and Steggy looked at each other, thinking me mad. The mind wanders when you're bored. And nothing was going on around here. Preflight checks were already done and Serenity was ready to fly. I glanced at my watch. What the hell was taking so long? Where was everybody?