And so I now have all the episodes of Firefly and decided to write a fic about it. Here you are.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except Rose. She I made up myself. I don't even own the setting. I could tell you that I did, but the creator might have my computer rigged, so i won't take the chance.
They landed on Persephone in the afternoon. Captain Malcom Reynolds gave the crew their assignments and went to find a man about his job. He left Keylee behind to watch for passengers. He knew that he could count on her to get the job done. He cast her a last glance then walked away.
Keylee started to relax and wait. After a while a Shepard came up to her asking for passage. They immersed in conversation, not seeing the pretty nineteen year old girl sneak aboard Serenity. Rose looked around in wonderment. She had never seen the inside of a Firefly before. She wandered around and looked at every nook and cranny. She picked a remote spot and hid, hoping not to be discovered before the ship took off. She was going to really like it here. She curled up in a small ball and fell asleep.
A couple hours later Mal came back with Zoe and Jayne beside him. He looked up and spoke to Keylee. "Do we have any more passengers?" Keylee nodded.
"Yes sir. Shepard Book and Doctor Simon Tam." Keylee said smiling. She had really taken a liking to Simon. Perhaps in time he would come to think of her the same way. They boarded the ship and the Mal ordered Wash to take off. Zoe went up to see her husband with a small smile on her face. Mal looked around before telling Jayne to help him hide the cargo in a secret compartment. Mal nodded his approval and walked off. As he walked to the other side of the cargo hold something under the stairs caught his eye. He ducked beneath them and shouted.
"Hey! What are you doing under there?!" Mal wasn't happy that he had a stow-away. The stow-aways eyes popped open and Mal was taken aback. There sitting under the stairs looking up with frightened eyes was a beautiful woman. Mal was only surprised for a second. He grabbed her arm and pulled her up. Jayne looked up surprised and walked over.
"What's she doing here?" Jayne asked looking the girl up and down. His eyes met hers. He saw the fear in them as they stared at each other.
"I have no idea. Keylee!" Keylee rushed over and looked at the door.
"Who is she Captain?" Keylee asked. As usual she was smiling.
"I was hoping you could tell me Keylee. You didn't say anything about another passenger." Mal was confused although he didn't show it. He wondered why Keylee didn't tell him about the girl sooner.
"I didn't know we had another passenger sir. I didn't see her board." Keylee wasn't smiling now. She honestly didn't know that any one else had come on board.
"So, she is a stow-away." Mal dragged the girl behind him and pulled her up to the bridge. "Wash turn the boat around. We got a stow-away who needs to go back." For the first time, the girl spoke. She started to plead with Mal.
"No, please! I have nowhere to go back to on that planet. That's why I stowed away. Please don't make me go back there. Please." Mal looked at her without emotion. He sighed and told everyone to go to the galley. Jayne, Zoe, Wash, and the new passengers sat around the table with Mal and the girl standing at the head of the table. Mal still had a tight grip on the girl's arm.
"We have a situation. This girl here is a stow-away that doesn't want to go back to her planet. Any suggestions on what to do?" Mal spoke.
"Does she have any money? She could pay to stay on board with us." Keylee spoke up. She had always been the kind one.
"I- I don't have any cash. I was hoping that once we took off I could just stay as one of the crew members. You know, work to stay on the ship."
"Now hey Mal that's not a bad idea." Jayne put in. He was biased toward helping her. She was very pretty, so of course Jayne liked her.
"Any other suggestions?" Mal was reluctent to have another crew member. He didn't really need another mouth to feed. No one spoke. "So, we all want her to stay as a crew member?" Everyone said yes. Mal sighed and gave in. "Alright. What's your name?"
"Rose. My name is Rose." Rose was very glad to be able to stay aboard. She finally had a home now.
"How old are you Rose?" Mal needed to know at least her name and age. Everything else was too personal.
"Nineteen today." Rose said proudly. Mal nodded.
"Alright. Now listen up passengers. You're allowed to go anywhere on the ship except the bridge, and the hold. Got that?"
"But I have my things in the hold. I need to have acess to them." The doctor, Simon Tam protested. Mal sighed again. This was a day full of sighs.
"Fine, but only with an escort." Mal sighed. "Rose, your not allowed in the cargo hold yet either. Just temporarily until we can trust you fully." Rose nodded her understanding. "Good. Keylee please show the new people to their quaters."
Keylee nodded and led the new three away.