Ursa Major, Ursa Minor
folder
1 through F › Firefly
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
34
Views:
8,843
Reviews:
21
Recommended:
1
Currently Reading:
1
Category:
1 through F › Firefly
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
34
Views:
8,843
Reviews:
21
Recommended:
1
Currently Reading:
1
Disclaimer:
I do not own Firefly, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Taken
Chapter Twenty-Six:
Mal absolutely loved it when a plan came together. Jayne was keeping watch on the side of the roof as Zoë stowed the platinum and various other forms of cashy money in the shuttle. Security was hogtied (thanks to Jayne) in the vault and the one teller who hadn’t yet left for the night was grinning over the monetary slice of joy Mal had given her once they raided the vault.
The captain felt safe for once.
“Jayne!”
The big man turned with a scary military precision to face Mal. “You owe me five platinum, Cap. You said my name first this time ‘round.”
“Go se, Jayne! Get on the gorram shuttle.”
Jayne grinned.
The sounds of the city below dimmed as the thrum of helicopter rotors sliced through the night. Mal didn’t think much of the sound until the vehicle actually flew into view directly behind Jayne’s smiling face.
“Jayne!”
The merc turned once again—glancing briefly at the chopper and taking in every detail in that hair-split second that saved Mal’s life.
“Mal! Get outta here!”
Laser fire exploded on the rooftop. Zoë managed to drag the captain back inside the shuttle and he started the take off sequence. Jayne was left on the roof—returning fire as best he could with his terrible cover. But they weren’t shooting at him. He was so occupied in keeping the helicopter occupied that he didn’t notice the two men with stun rifles behind him.
*
River jerked awake in Jayne’s bunk and screamed in terror—the shrill cry echoing across the metal hull and resonating throughout Serenity.
Georgia—who’d been doing the same exercises Jayne had been forced to do so many weeks ago—started in her seat. “What was that?”
Kaylee tore out of the mess with Simon hot of her heels and paused before Jayne’s bunk. River was sobbing inside.
“Is it locked? Can you—”
Kaylee punched in a command override code and the door swung open. Simon didn’t bother with the ladder and dropped into the mercenary’s quarters to find his sister scrabbling into the furthest corner of Jayne’s surprisingly spotless room. River was covering her head and keening with wordless cries and punctuated bursts of sharp syllables
“Two by two, hands of blue… Sent to take the man of red, burn the insides of his head… Jayne?”
Simon wrapped his arms around his sister.
“River…”
She sobbed into her brother’s sweater and clung to his shoulders. “Can’t leave him, Simon. Can’t let them do it.”
*
“Sir!”
“I know, Zoë!”
“Sir, we can’t leave him! You saw them too, right? They were wearing blue gloves. Jayne—”
Mal jerked the shuttled out of atmo and turned sharply to his first mate. “Zoë, the best we can do is get back to Serenity and regroup.”
“He’s family Mal!”
Mal slammed an open palm against the console and turned two burning eyes on the woman who’d served beside him in the most horrific of times. “Zoë!”
For the first time in ages, Zoë lost her temper. “We can’t leave him! Those were Academy folk, Mal! They’re gonna do all sorts of unsavory go se to him and we’re just runnin’ away like scared prairie chickens when we could turn this shuttle around and do somethin’.”
Mal didn’t say a word.
“You ruttin’ coward.”
“Excuse me?!”
Zoë was breathing harshly and speaking through clenched teeth. “We’re gonna lose another member of this family ‘cause of your orders, sir. We get back to the ship, I’m takin’ River with me an’ we’re gettin’ him back. Don’t you go sayin’ nothin’ stupid now or I will break your big nose in a second.”
Mal hung his head—not used to the tongue-lashing from Zoë and genuinely feeling the responsibility of what she’d said. Finally docked on the port side of Serenity, Mal exited the shuttle and headed for the bridge.
*
He woke up to machine sounds and overly calm voices speaking in even tones.
“…is thirty-one years old, male, six-foot four, and 245 pounds. Subject shows recent sexual contact with subject number 2-359, River Tam…”
River… Jayne drifted out of consciousness again. An hour later he was forced awake by a drug injected into the IV they’d stuck in the back of his hand.
“Jayne Ulysses Cobb, subject 3-750.”
The chair he was strapped to jerked forward on hydraulics—bringing Jayne face to face with someone he thought he and River killed just a week or so ago. A clone.
The clone flicked his blue-gloved hand at the far wall, keying up the security feed from the Maidenhead fight.
“Subject 2-359 did not terminate you. This is against her programming.”
What the fuck am I supposed to say to that?
“She is programmed to kill.”
Fucker. “Yeah, well maybe she saw me helpin’ her out and decided to go easy on me.”
The clone shook his head and had a technician grab the sides of Jayne’s head. He could feel the cold brush of metal against his hair and swallowed the lump that was building up in his throat.
“This is simply not possible,” the clone keyed up a recording device in the center of the room. “Recording. Project '36-SC,’ subject 3-750—subject 2-359 is absent. Situation will be rectified soon enough.”
He nodded to the technician.
The cold metal that had been lightly touching the sides of Jayne’s head suddenly plunged through skin and bone and burrowed into his brain. Jayne screamed.
“He has some impressive mental blocks, sir,” the second technician, manning a control panel behind the large (nude) man in agony. “But I can dig deeper.”
“Just don’t kill him,” the Blue Hand warned. “Monitor his stress levels. If his heart stops, resuscitate him and give him an hour before starting work again.”
He left the room—the capture still ran.
The sound of drilling and a grown man sobbing in pain followed in his wake.
*
Zoë finished tossing out the boxes of money they’d just stolen from Bernadette and ran down to the crew quarters to find River. Inara and Georgia stood just outside Jayne’s bunk—both ignoring Mal as he tried to explain himself from the bridge.
Zoë found the younger woman surrounded by Simon and Kaylee—she was sobbing so hard that it had to be impossible to breathe.
“River!” she shouted.
Big whiskey wet eyes shot open and pinned Zoë to the ladder. “We’re going.”
Zoë nodded. “Tell me what to take, River,” she waved a hand at the guns adorning the walls.
River pried herself away from her brother and the mechanic and lifted Vera off the hooks that held her to the bulkhead. “Vera, Maggie, Tina, Laura, and Bertha.”
Zoë glanced at Bertha and winced. “Honey, how the hell am I supposed to shoot that gorram thing?”
“Carefully.”
Simon helped Kaylee off the floor and picked Tina and Laura off the wall behind Jayne’s bed. “I’m coming with you.”
Zoë lifted Bertha off the wall, winced at the weight, and set the doctor with a skeptical look.
“No offense, Doc, but you know how to shoot them guns?”
Simon grabbed the correct rounds for both guns and loaded them with an intense precision that startled nearly everyone in the room.
“Ma taught him a few things on Kerry,” River informed. “Let’s go.”
*
“Try position five. He’s weakening.”
Jayne was shaking as they removed the first apparatus from his head—blood draining out of the holes left from the large gauged needles they’d used. They put something else on his face to hold his jaw still.
“Readings are good. He’s a lot smarter than he looks. Probably would have been a good candidate for the Academy… I mean, you saw him fight on those security feeds, right?”
Technician Two sterilized a needle that looked exceptionally dangerous. “Sure did,” he said. “This guy is one scary mother fucker. Some reprogramming and he’d be the strongest thing the Academy ever released. I mean, all the others were just kids.”
“2-359 is pretty strong. You hear what she did to that one guy down in main medical?”
Technician One held Jayne’s head still and nodded to Two, telling him to go ahead with whatever he was supposed to do.
Tech Two ran a gloved hand against Jayne’s forehead, located the right spot, and punched the needle in.
Jayne clenched his teeth and groaned. The techs took readings and ignored the sounds of pain.
“Fuckin’ tore that guy’s diao off. With her bare hand,” said Tech Two. “All ‘cause he said somethin’ about likin’ how teenage girls smelled.”
Tech One whistled low as he read some of the readings. “This guy’s gotten pretty damn close to her.”
Tech Two pulled the plunger back on the needle and sucked out some grey matter. Jayne screamed again. Both technicians winced at the sound but continued their conversation.
“No kidding?”
“Yeah, Mr. Stevens said this guy and Tam had ‘recent sexual contact’ when they brought him in,” said Tech One.
Tech Two gawked. “Like, full on?”
“Tested this big guy myself. He’s got 2-359’s DNA all over him. And I mean all over.”
Tech Two yanked the needle out of Jayne’s forehead. “Wow. Lucky zhu. Hey, his blocks weakening?”
“Yep.”
“Position eight. Draw her out.”
Jayne closed his eyes.
“Shit,” said the first tech. “Stress levels increasing… His heart is giving out. Go get the pads.”
Better to die and keep her safe… thought Jayne. He concentrated on the sharp pain in his chest and laughed as it grew stronger. The monitors attached to him were going off in a symphony of errors and warnings. Jayne focused inward and willed himself to just… Stop.
He died with a grin on his face.
It took the technicians four minutes to bring him back.
They jammed three needles into his head once his heart rate was back in a safe range.
TBC
Translations:
Diao: penis
Zhu: pig
Mal absolutely loved it when a plan came together. Jayne was keeping watch on the side of the roof as Zoë stowed the platinum and various other forms of cashy money in the shuttle. Security was hogtied (thanks to Jayne) in the vault and the one teller who hadn’t yet left for the night was grinning over the monetary slice of joy Mal had given her once they raided the vault.
The captain felt safe for once.
“Jayne!”
The big man turned with a scary military precision to face Mal. “You owe me five platinum, Cap. You said my name first this time ‘round.”
“Go se, Jayne! Get on the gorram shuttle.”
Jayne grinned.
The sounds of the city below dimmed as the thrum of helicopter rotors sliced through the night. Mal didn’t think much of the sound until the vehicle actually flew into view directly behind Jayne’s smiling face.
“Jayne!”
The merc turned once again—glancing briefly at the chopper and taking in every detail in that hair-split second that saved Mal’s life.
“Mal! Get outta here!”
Laser fire exploded on the rooftop. Zoë managed to drag the captain back inside the shuttle and he started the take off sequence. Jayne was left on the roof—returning fire as best he could with his terrible cover. But they weren’t shooting at him. He was so occupied in keeping the helicopter occupied that he didn’t notice the two men with stun rifles behind him.
*
River jerked awake in Jayne’s bunk and screamed in terror—the shrill cry echoing across the metal hull and resonating throughout Serenity.
Georgia—who’d been doing the same exercises Jayne had been forced to do so many weeks ago—started in her seat. “What was that?”
Kaylee tore out of the mess with Simon hot of her heels and paused before Jayne’s bunk. River was sobbing inside.
“Is it locked? Can you—”
Kaylee punched in a command override code and the door swung open. Simon didn’t bother with the ladder and dropped into the mercenary’s quarters to find his sister scrabbling into the furthest corner of Jayne’s surprisingly spotless room. River was covering her head and keening with wordless cries and punctuated bursts of sharp syllables
“Two by two, hands of blue… Sent to take the man of red, burn the insides of his head… Jayne?”
Simon wrapped his arms around his sister.
“River…”
She sobbed into her brother’s sweater and clung to his shoulders. “Can’t leave him, Simon. Can’t let them do it.”
*
“Sir!”
“I know, Zoë!”
“Sir, we can’t leave him! You saw them too, right? They were wearing blue gloves. Jayne—”
Mal jerked the shuttled out of atmo and turned sharply to his first mate. “Zoë, the best we can do is get back to Serenity and regroup.”
“He’s family Mal!”
Mal slammed an open palm against the console and turned two burning eyes on the woman who’d served beside him in the most horrific of times. “Zoë!”
For the first time in ages, Zoë lost her temper. “We can’t leave him! Those were Academy folk, Mal! They’re gonna do all sorts of unsavory go se to him and we’re just runnin’ away like scared prairie chickens when we could turn this shuttle around and do somethin’.”
Mal didn’t say a word.
“You ruttin’ coward.”
“Excuse me?!”
Zoë was breathing harshly and speaking through clenched teeth. “We’re gonna lose another member of this family ‘cause of your orders, sir. We get back to the ship, I’m takin’ River with me an’ we’re gettin’ him back. Don’t you go sayin’ nothin’ stupid now or I will break your big nose in a second.”
Mal hung his head—not used to the tongue-lashing from Zoë and genuinely feeling the responsibility of what she’d said. Finally docked on the port side of Serenity, Mal exited the shuttle and headed for the bridge.
*
He woke up to machine sounds and overly calm voices speaking in even tones.
“…is thirty-one years old, male, six-foot four, and 245 pounds. Subject shows recent sexual contact with subject number 2-359, River Tam…”
River… Jayne drifted out of consciousness again. An hour later he was forced awake by a drug injected into the IV they’d stuck in the back of his hand.
“Jayne Ulysses Cobb, subject 3-750.”
The chair he was strapped to jerked forward on hydraulics—bringing Jayne face to face with someone he thought he and River killed just a week or so ago. A clone.
The clone flicked his blue-gloved hand at the far wall, keying up the security feed from the Maidenhead fight.
“Subject 2-359 did not terminate you. This is against her programming.”
What the fuck am I supposed to say to that?
“She is programmed to kill.”
Fucker. “Yeah, well maybe she saw me helpin’ her out and decided to go easy on me.”
The clone shook his head and had a technician grab the sides of Jayne’s head. He could feel the cold brush of metal against his hair and swallowed the lump that was building up in his throat.
“This is simply not possible,” the clone keyed up a recording device in the center of the room. “Recording. Project '36-SC,’ subject 3-750—subject 2-359 is absent. Situation will be rectified soon enough.”
He nodded to the technician.
The cold metal that had been lightly touching the sides of Jayne’s head suddenly plunged through skin and bone and burrowed into his brain. Jayne screamed.
“He has some impressive mental blocks, sir,” the second technician, manning a control panel behind the large (nude) man in agony. “But I can dig deeper.”
“Just don’t kill him,” the Blue Hand warned. “Monitor his stress levels. If his heart stops, resuscitate him and give him an hour before starting work again.”
He left the room—the capture still ran.
The sound of drilling and a grown man sobbing in pain followed in his wake.
*
Zoë finished tossing out the boxes of money they’d just stolen from Bernadette and ran down to the crew quarters to find River. Inara and Georgia stood just outside Jayne’s bunk—both ignoring Mal as he tried to explain himself from the bridge.
Zoë found the younger woman surrounded by Simon and Kaylee—she was sobbing so hard that it had to be impossible to breathe.
“River!” she shouted.
Big whiskey wet eyes shot open and pinned Zoë to the ladder. “We’re going.”
Zoë nodded. “Tell me what to take, River,” she waved a hand at the guns adorning the walls.
River pried herself away from her brother and the mechanic and lifted Vera off the hooks that held her to the bulkhead. “Vera, Maggie, Tina, Laura, and Bertha.”
Zoë glanced at Bertha and winced. “Honey, how the hell am I supposed to shoot that gorram thing?”
“Carefully.”
Simon helped Kaylee off the floor and picked Tina and Laura off the wall behind Jayne’s bed. “I’m coming with you.”
Zoë lifted Bertha off the wall, winced at the weight, and set the doctor with a skeptical look.
“No offense, Doc, but you know how to shoot them guns?”
Simon grabbed the correct rounds for both guns and loaded them with an intense precision that startled nearly everyone in the room.
“Ma taught him a few things on Kerry,” River informed. “Let’s go.”
*
“Try position five. He’s weakening.”
Jayne was shaking as they removed the first apparatus from his head—blood draining out of the holes left from the large gauged needles they’d used. They put something else on his face to hold his jaw still.
“Readings are good. He’s a lot smarter than he looks. Probably would have been a good candidate for the Academy… I mean, you saw him fight on those security feeds, right?”
Technician Two sterilized a needle that looked exceptionally dangerous. “Sure did,” he said. “This guy is one scary mother fucker. Some reprogramming and he’d be the strongest thing the Academy ever released. I mean, all the others were just kids.”
“2-359 is pretty strong. You hear what she did to that one guy down in main medical?”
Technician One held Jayne’s head still and nodded to Two, telling him to go ahead with whatever he was supposed to do.
Tech Two ran a gloved hand against Jayne’s forehead, located the right spot, and punched the needle in.
Jayne clenched his teeth and groaned. The techs took readings and ignored the sounds of pain.
“Fuckin’ tore that guy’s diao off. With her bare hand,” said Tech Two. “All ‘cause he said somethin’ about likin’ how teenage girls smelled.”
Tech One whistled low as he read some of the readings. “This guy’s gotten pretty damn close to her.”
Tech Two pulled the plunger back on the needle and sucked out some grey matter. Jayne screamed again. Both technicians winced at the sound but continued their conversation.
“No kidding?”
“Yeah, Mr. Stevens said this guy and Tam had ‘recent sexual contact’ when they brought him in,” said Tech One.
Tech Two gawked. “Like, full on?”
“Tested this big guy myself. He’s got 2-359’s DNA all over him. And I mean all over.”
Tech Two yanked the needle out of Jayne’s forehead. “Wow. Lucky zhu. Hey, his blocks weakening?”
“Yep.”
“Position eight. Draw her out.”
Jayne closed his eyes.
“Shit,” said the first tech. “Stress levels increasing… His heart is giving out. Go get the pads.”
Better to die and keep her safe… thought Jayne. He concentrated on the sharp pain in his chest and laughed as it grew stronger. The monitors attached to him were going off in a symphony of errors and warnings. Jayne focused inward and willed himself to just… Stop.
He died with a grin on his face.
It took the technicians four minutes to bring him back.
They jammed three needles into his head once his heart rate was back in a safe range.
TBC
Translations:
Diao: penis
Zhu: pig