Title: Fallout

Spoilers: BDM

Disclaimer: Firefly et al does not belong to me and I receive no coin from this.

A/N: This was originally posted under the userID Charlotte.

Fallout

“Stand Down.”

Nobody moved. For a full minute everyone just looked at each other in stunned silence.

The voice of the Operative came again. “See to the wounded, Lieutenant.”

See to the wounded? A minute ago Lieutenant Abral Manders was waiting for a Kill Order and now he’s supposed to tend to these people? The same people who are to blame for some major destruction and bloodshed. Two ships destroyed and who knows how many good soldiers died because these stupid people used Reavers to try to escape the Alliance. He exchanged some significant glances with the other members of his unit.

As if he new what Manders was thinking, the Operative calmly repeated the order.

Shaking his head in disbelief, Manders still couldn’t believe his ears - or eyes. He glanced around the room. What the hell happened here? There were dead Reavers all over the room with one petite young woman standing in the middle of it. Manders didn’t like confusion and at this moment he could hardly think straight. Well, one thing he wasn’t confused about was the consequences of disobeying a direct order from an Alliance Operative. He commed the medical unit requesting immediate assistance for the wounded. What the hell happened here?

“Uh…” he started to address the prisoners but stopped. What do you say to the people that the Operative was so recently consumed with pursuing and terminating? None of his training had prepared him for this scenario. “The Med Unit will be here soon. Lower your weapons and no one will be hurt.”

Manders looked down the hall as he heard a man’s voice speaking quietly. The woman kneeling on the floor looked up at the speaker, held his gaze for a bit, nodded, but didn’t reply. She stood and slowly approached the room. At first, she looked unsure about what to d