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Title: Broken
Fandom: Firefly (Wash, Kaylee)
Characters: Kaylee, Mal, Zoe
Prompt: Green
Word Count: 904
Rating: G
Author's Notes: This is after the movie Serenity so spoilers ahoy for The Big Damn Movie.
It was so late out that it was nearly morning when Kaylee snuck off of Serenity as quiet as she could be. And she could be quiet, using the ship’s own noises to mask her movement, the noises she knew nearly as well as the beating off her own heart. The outside air was slightly chilly but she paid it no mind as she ran, keeping the bundle she was carrying close to her.
It didn’t take her long to reach the grave site, the spot they had picked had to be close enough to the ship for them to reach the safety of the walls…just in case, of course. The flat images on all three started up again as soon as she had passed the activator and she bit back a sob.
Dropping down next to Wash’s, Kaylee hesitated and stared at the smile. There was no thought of how they were going to get by without him because they had no choice but to get by. It was how their world worked; it was how they worked. But oh, how it hurt her inside.
Her hands were shaking as she shook out the shirt she had used to carry her cargo in and it took a second before something fell out with a small thump in the dirt. Cursing, she had meant to catch it before that happened, Kaylee picked it up and dusted it off, though she supposed that it would make no difference in a few minutes.
But it made a difference to her now.
Pausing, she stared at the green, broken dinosaur in her hands. After the Captain, Jayne and Simon had taken Wash out of the chair, she had crept in after them to help clean up. Through her tears she had spotted the toy on the ground, it had been the only one to be broken when it had happened. For some reason she didn’t know then she had taken it, not to fix because somethings just couldn’t be fixed.
Kaylee had taken it to bury because she figured that Wash would have liked that. But the funeral had come up so fast that she hadn’t time to ask Zoe so she decided to do it after, right next to his grave.
Making sure it was clean she laid it on the shirt gently and started to work. The ground was harder than expected and her shaking hands weren’t helping any as she fought to make a shallow grave. Rocks and stones that had been tossed up by the original burial were getting in her way; roots that were already starting to thread their way through the ground tangled up her hands.
Cursing and sobbing, getting out all of that grief that had stayed hidden through the first days because they all had just been in shock, Kaylee ignored the bleeding under her nails and just kept at it.
On the verge of screaming because gorram it couldn’t the ‘verse be fair and nice just once, she started in fright when another pair of hands joined hers, though the scared went away as soon as it came because she knew those hands.
Not saying anything, not looking up at Mal as they dug, between the two of them they finally got enough dirt and rocks loose so there was space enough for the broken pieces of the dinosaur. Deciding it would be better to wrap it in the shirt—the blood had come off but the smell might still be there—Kaylee wrapped it carefully and placed it in the earth.
Didn’t take them nearly as long to put everything back the way it was and soon she was staring at both of their hands, covered in dirt and her’s with blood. She let him put an arm around her and draw them both to their feet before she finally looked up at him.
Though his eyes were drier than hers she recognized the pain and the loss in there and buried her head in his shoulder.
"Had me worried, mei-mei," Mal said quietly, "sneakin’ off the ship like that. Lost enough people, don’t know what we’d go through if we lost you on top of that."
"I’m sorry, Cap’n, I just…I just had to." Kaylee didn’t ever think she would be able to explain it all, the need to give Wash something back just one last time. There would be no more long, quiet talks with just the two of them when folks were on a job and Simon and River were off doing their thing. No more of his inane humor that she just got. Just…no more.
"Ain’t sayin’ you did a bad thing, don’t go thinking that. In fact, you did real good, Kaylee."
"You think?"
Gently he turned her to turn around and look behind her, in the direction of the ship. Zoe, dressed only in a shirt and half done up pants because she’d probably run after Mal when he’d come after her, stood a few feet away, head bowed slightly. For a second, Kaylee thought that maybe the captain was wrong, that her actions had done more ill than good.
But she realized that though there were tears, there was a smile as well.
It was a start, she realized, a good one.
Fandom: Firefly (Wash, Kaylee)
Characters: Kaylee, Mal, Zoe
Prompt: Green
Word Count: 904
Rating: G
Author's Notes: This is after the movie Serenity so spoilers ahoy for The Big Damn Movie.
It was so late out that it was nearly morning when Kaylee snuck off of Serenity as quiet as she could be. And she could be quiet, using the ship’s own noises to mask her movement, the noises she knew nearly as well as the beating off her own heart. The outside air was slightly chilly but she paid it no mind as she ran, keeping the bundle she was carrying close to her.
It didn’t take her long to reach the grave site, the spot they had picked had to be close enough to the ship for them to reach the safety of the walls…just in case, of course. The flat images on all three started up again as soon as she had passed the activator and she bit back a sob.
Dropping down next to Wash’s, Kaylee hesitated and stared at the smile. There was no thought of how they were going to get by without him because they had no choice but to get by. It was how their world worked; it was how they worked. But oh, how it hurt her inside.
Her hands were shaking as she shook out the shirt she had used to carry her cargo in and it took a second before something fell out with a small thump in the dirt. Cursing, she had meant to catch it before that happened, Kaylee picked it up and dusted it off, though she supposed that it would make no difference in a few minutes.
But it made a difference to her now.
Pausing, she stared at the green, broken dinosaur in her hands. After the Captain, Jayne and Simon had taken Wash out of the chair, she had crept in after them to help clean up. Through her tears she had spotted the toy on the ground, it had been the only one to be broken when it had happened. For some reason she didn’t know then she had taken it, not to fix because somethings just couldn’t be fixed.
Kaylee had taken it to bury because she figured that Wash would have liked that. But the funeral had come up so fast that she hadn’t time to ask Zoe so she decided to do it after, right next to his grave.
Making sure it was clean she laid it on the shirt gently and started to work. The ground was harder than expected and her shaking hands weren’t helping any as she fought to make a shallow grave. Rocks and stones that had been tossed up by the original burial were getting in her way; roots that were already starting to thread their way through the ground tangled up her hands.
Cursing and sobbing, getting out all of that grief that had stayed hidden through the first days because they all had just been in shock, Kaylee ignored the bleeding under her nails and just kept at it.
On the verge of screaming because gorram it couldn’t the ‘verse be fair and nice just once, she started in fright when another pair of hands joined hers, though the scared went away as soon as it came because she knew those hands.
Not saying anything, not looking up at Mal as they dug, between the two of them they finally got enough dirt and rocks loose so there was space enough for the broken pieces of the dinosaur. Deciding it would be better to wrap it in the shirt—the blood had come off but the smell might still be there—Kaylee wrapped it carefully and placed it in the earth.
Didn’t take them nearly as long to put everything back the way it was and soon she was staring at both of their hands, covered in dirt and her’s with blood. She let him put an arm around her and draw them both to their feet before she finally looked up at him.
Though his eyes were drier than hers she recognized the pain and the loss in there and buried her head in his shoulder.
"Had me worried, mei-mei," Mal said quietly, "sneakin’ off the ship like that. Lost enough people, don’t know what we’d go through if we lost you on top of that."
"I’m sorry, Cap’n, I just…I just had to." Kaylee didn’t ever think she would be able to explain it all, the need to give Wash something back just one last time. There would be no more long, quiet talks with just the two of them when folks were on a job and Simon and River were off doing their thing. No more of his inane humor that she just got. Just…no more.
"Ain’t sayin’ you did a bad thing, don’t go thinking that. In fact, you did real good, Kaylee."
"You think?"
Gently he turned her to turn around and look behind her, in the direction of the ship. Zoe, dressed only in a shirt and half done up pants because she’d probably run after Mal when he’d come after her, stood a few feet away, head bowed slightly. For a second, Kaylee thought that maybe the captain was wrong, that her actions had done more ill than good.
But she realized that though there were tears, there was a smile as well.
It was a start, she realized, a good one.