Beyond Wonderland: Chapter 2- Dinnertime

[solarbaby614]

Title: Beyond Wonderland

Author: Solarbaby

Rating: T

Disclaimer: All I own is the plot.

Words: 1059

Summary: The past has a way of returning. Rasey.

Spoilers: Series finale for Jungle Fury and (set after) Serenity for Firefly.



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Chapter 2: Dinnertime

RJ barely had time to settle in the guest bunk before they took off. There was no real warning. Just an unsteady shake where he almost went face first to the floor. Stumbling, he grabbed the edge of the rooms sink and caught himself. He growled underneath his breath.

This ship was a death trap.

The world around him seemed to steady, an obvious sign that they had broken atmo. Sighing, the wolf grabbed his bags and tossed them on the bed. He was already regretting get on this ship. It was a wonder as to how Inara managed to deal with hit. Why she lived on this ship was another question he couldn’t help but wonder.

There was no way he would have chosen to travel like this if not for Inara. She had to know something. RJ sat down on the bed, running a hand through his hair.

He had searched every database on New Melbourne he could think of along with several other core planets. There wasn’t a trace of Casey anywhere. That’s why he bought passage with the same ship Inara lived on. Casey had been her escort that night. She had to know something, at least. Anything that could help find him.

Hurt filled him when he remembered waking up alone. He wished he knew why the tiger had left. Had he pushed too hard? Been too insistent? What had he done so wrong that it would force his mate to leave him again?

A groan escaped him and he flopped back on the bed, flinching at the hard mattress. RJ had slept in worse placed, though it had been a while. He rubbed at his face. There was an echoing knock at the door.

Thinking it might be Inara he slid off of the bed, the wolf master righted his clothes, pressing out the few wrinkles that had managed to appear. By the time he reached the door there had been another, more insistent, knock. He opened the door and blinked.

It wasn’t Inara.

This woman was red headed, possibly shorter than the companion, dressed in a flowery shirt and overalls. She stared back at him. There was a few moments of silence before she snapped back to reality and sent him an embarrassed look. “Hi! I’m sorry with the staring, it’s just--. Nevermind. I’m Kaylee, Serenity’s engineer.”

He smiled, giving a slight bow. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Requiem Finn.”

“Oh, I know.” Kaylee flinched, realizing just how stalker-ish that sounded. “That came out creepier than I intended.”

RJ sent her a reassuring smile.

“Um,” She chewed on her bottom lip for a moment, “Oh, yeah. The captain sent me to ask if you were going to join us for dinner or not.”

“Will all of the crew be there?” He asked her.

“Most anyways.” Kaylee replied. “The captain and Zoe, definitely. Jayne, too. Um, Inara’s coming. I don’t know about the doc and his sister. And I think our pilot’s still sleeping.” A thoughtful look crossed her face before she blanched. Mentioning Simon and River was probably a bad idea. Even if their arrest warrant had been revoked.

“Inara?” RJ held out his arm to the engineer. “I think I will join you. Shall we?”

She smiled at him, taking his arm.

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Casey stumbled from his bunk, trying to blink the blurriness from his eyes. River’s little wake-up call was annoying. He muttered something about ‘insane geniuses’ under his breath. The last thing anyone wanted to wake up to was a loud shrieking coming from his portable, which had somehow left his desk while he was sleeping and made its way to his pillow. Thank god he had made sure his room was sound proof. At least no one else was bothered with the noise.

Making his way to the dining area, he tripped over the top step causing his head to bounce off the metal frame.

“Ow…”

He rubbed his forehead and trudged into the room. The tiger buried his head into his arms, giving a grunt as a greeting.

“Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey!”

Turning his head, Casey caught sight of a familiar head of brown hair. The same one that had forced him out of the pilot chair and into his room earlier. “You’re awfully chipper.” River just grinned at her.

“She should be,” Came from a voice from the other side of River. “She somehow managed to get into Mal’s coffee supply.” Simon rolled his eyes as his sister practically bounced in her chair.

Casey frowned at the girl. “You drink coffee?”

“No.” That voice wasn’t River or her doctor brother. This one came from across the table from him. “She does, however, seem to enjoy eating coffee beans.” Mal took another sip of his drink and eyed her.

“Gor’ram girl’s just as crazy as she ever was.”

He didn’t even have to look up to see who that was.

All Casey did was bury his face in his arms as Jayne’s comment started the normal bickering between Jayne and Simon, with a few comments from Mal and Zoe. This continued on for some time, Mal having made some off handed comment started an argument between him and Inara as well, when his hearing picked up the footsteps. He identified one as Kaylee (those boots made a strange squishy sound when she walked) but couldn’t place the other one. It must have been the passenger they had just taken on.

Mal told whoever it was to take a seat anywhere. The person walked behind him and he felt a strange sensation work its way down his spine. Blinking, he shook it off as lack of sleep. The captain was talking again, making introductions to those who hadn’t met the passenger.

“This is our doc, Simon and his sister. And the unconscious one over there is our pilot.”

Casey lifted his hand in greeting, never moving his head.

“Crew, this is Chancellor Finn. He’s our passenger til’ we reach New Melbourne.”

The tiger master’s head shot up, searching out the room until it landed on one person in particular. “RJ?”

“Casey?”

Silence descended on the dining area, the two figures not taking their eyes off of each other.

It was Jayne who broke the silence. “So, you two know each other then?”