Life Onboard Serenity: #42 - Of Jobs, Vaults and Things Gone Wrong

POSTED BY: EnglishIvy
UPDATED: Tuesday, June 23, 2009 22:19
VIEWED: 30582
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ENGLISHIVY

Monday, February 9, 2009 4:45 AM

ENGLISHIVY

Tuesday, February 10, 2009 5:53 PM

Ivy was still running her fingers through her hair when she and Pain sat down at the table. Jayne had gotten over the initial annoyance of catching Pain and Ivy in the pantry mid-making out. Now he just looked over at the both of them with a smirk. Ivy blushed and looked down at her hands.

"Don't let him bully you," Pain whispered into her ear. "He's just jealous."

A small smile crepted across her face.

People were starting to trickle in. John and a new woman came in. Ivy shot John a combination hurt and angry look before averting her gaze away from him. She gripped Pain's hand, gaining a calming sense from the action.

But that calm was quickly upset when 13 came into the room and sat down next to Ivy. He gave both her and Pain flashy smile. He drew in close enough to whisper in her ear.

"How are you two today?" he asked her. "Oh, wait... I don't want to leave Pain out. How are the three of you?"

Ivy stiffened visibly at his comment.

"Do you have a sister?" Jayne asked looking over at Ivy. "I'd like to meet her, if'n you did."

"If only you knew, Jayne," 13 spoke up. "You should ask Ivy about her twin some day. It's a very interesting story. Isn't it Pain?"

JOHNTHETHEATREFREAK

Wednesday, February 11, 2009 3:09 AM

"Lay off botboy she's been through a lot lately." John was suprised at his own forwardness. He still had nagging doubts about this girl, but he honestly hoped he was wrong. It was easier for him and the ship that way. He really hoped he could mend burnt bridges. "Everyone this is an old friend of mine Evelyn. Feel free to be suspicious and not trust her, I deserve it."

johnttf

DRPAIN

Thursday, February 12, 2009 7:51 AM

At the table in the Galley

Quote:
Originally posted by johnthetheatrefreak:
"Lay off botboy she's been through a lot lately." John was suprised at his own forwardness. He still had nagging doubts about this girl, but he honestly hoped he was wrong. It was easier for him and the ship that way. He really hoped he could mend burnt bridges. "Everyone this is an old friend of mine Evelyn. Feel free to be suspicious and not trust her, I deserve it."

"So." Jayne asked Ivy, giving her a grin and leering at her. "Can I meet this twin sister of yours? I'd be awful obliged to see her."

"Not a chance, Jayne." Pain interjected. Giving the other mercenary a smile, he added wistfully, "Besides she's way out of your league." Turning his attention to John and Evelyn, Pain asked both of them, "So where do you two know each other from?"

ENGLISHIVY

Thursday, February 12, 2009 7:17 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by johnthetheatrefreak:
"Lay off botboy she's been through a lot lately."

I wonder exactly who might have been the cause of that? she thought. Could it be that one of the few friends I thought I had made pretty much stabbed me in the back?

She looked from John to 13. Here is someone who held a definite hatred for her. He was outside in the cargo bay when Grayson was out there. He could have easily ratted her out. Why didn't he?

She then looked over at Zoe, who was basically staring her down. Zoe knew the truth now. She knew about Tommy and Grayson. That made her uncomfortable. One wrong move and Zoe would tell the Captain and she'd be off the ship.

And when the Captain came in, she would have four sets of eyes that now distrusted her.

Why am I putting myself through this?

That's when she felt a reassuring sqeeze of a hand on hers. She looked over and saw Pain smiling at her. He was the reason she was willing to endure this all. She was going to show them that she could be trusted. She just had to find a place here.

Quote:
Originally posted by DrPain:
"So where do you two know each other from?"

Good. Maybe someone else could sit in the hot seat for a while.

JOHNTHETHEATREFREAK

Friday, February 13, 2009 3:10 AM

John didn't hesitate at all to respond. "We met on Athens when we were both hired part time to help transport some marble." It worked, he had been to Athens so if anyone bothered to look the records were there. "We kept in touch waving each other the years, haven't been in contact for a while but that's how things go. People get caught up in this problem or that." He glared pointedly at Ivy. Here he was trying to fix things and she could only focus on being betrayed, At least he hadn't almost gotten her shot.

johnttf

YESMYNAMEISKALI

Friday, February 13, 2009 4:29 AM

Evelyn had followed John into the galley. As he'd said, it would be a good idea for her to help with the job, prove herself to them somewhat if she could. It would be that much easier to do her job then - both of them actually.

John introduced her, which was fine, she supposed, and the others started asking questions. That was only to be expected; though, she was relatively surprised by how quickly John came up with a story for them. She'd been to Athens once or twice, and she could easily have the higher-ups draw her up some papers if she needed them. She decided to go with it. There wasn't much she could do about it anyway.

"Yeah, I needed a place to go, and John was nice enough to offer me a spot here, cleared it with the captain and everything."

-------------------------------------------------

"See, I've secretly been kind of a fan of me for some time now. I've seen everything I've ever done. I'd love to meet me, but I'd probably just stare and not be able to say anything witty or anything." -- Joss Whedon

ISAHIAH

Saturday, February 14, 2009 5:11 AM

OOC: I'm sorry to announce you that I'm leaving Life Onboard Serenity because I can't find the time or will to contribute... various personal reasons... RL being what it is... you've heard that song before. I'm sorry. Ivy will be picking up the part until this chapter of your adventures is done.

Peace, love, and Rock & Roll

-Isahiah

------------------------------------------------

Mal finally entered the Galley. You could plainly see that Mal was on edge and angry.

“Where’s Isahiah?” he asked in a rather annoyed voice.

“Right here,” Isahiah answered as he came in, followed by Cate, who slid into an empty seat. Somewhere Isahiah had found a clean, dry, maroon shirt. He looked around. “Is everyone here?”

“Yes. Crew is all here,” Mal answered as he took inventory of his crew. While doing so, he noticed a bevy of emotion hanging over the group like a storm ready to rain down on them. Pain and Ivy were practically staring down John and 13; otherwise they were cozy. Was her hair a little mussed? Jayne was obviously think of something other than the upcoming job. 13, Zoe and John were looking a bit uneasy at Ivy. There was a bit of tension between John and his “friend,” Evelyn. All the others looked like there were no issues pending. At least that was good. He set his jaw. “Is there something I need to know about?”

He looked between John, Zoe, Pain, Ivy, 13 and Evelyn. No one was answering.

“Zoe? Did something happen while I was gone?”

“Just a misunderstanding,” River piped up. “Family and friends mix and blur, but all is well in the garden.”

Great, now I have to worry about River going fong luh, Mal thought as everyone turned and looked at River.

“You feeling alright, River?” Simon asked concerned.

River shot him a ‘why?-didn’t-you-understand-that?’ look. Mal closed his eyes and exhaled before moving on.

“Isahiah, explain the job,” he ground out as he stepped back to lean against the wall.

“Of course,” Isahiah smiled as he stood up. “We are going to an old, abandoned supply depot to liberate it from the goods that are still stored there.”

“All this for a depot?” Jayne asked. “Don’t see the percentage in some itty bitty depot.”

“This was more that a depot. It operated during the war,” Isahiah corrected him. “It was, shall we say, well concealed. It’s location known only to a few trusted individuals.”

“And you being one of them?” John asked.

Isahiah merely smirked at him then continued.

“The main locations of value are held in two vaults underground. We will put together three teams. Two will go to the vaults and be ready to empty them. One team will go to the command center. That team will be responsible for disarming any security systems that may still be in use and unlocking the vaults.”

“What kind of stuff will be located there?” Pain asked, as Ivy moved a little closer to him for support.

“Could be many things,” Isahiah explained. “Anything from foodstuffs, medicine, ordnance or weapons.”

“So it’s a crap shoot,” 13 said under his breath.

“There should be equipment located all throughout the complex to help haul the stuff back up to the ship, so don’t think you’ll be hauling things up by hand,” Mal said as he stepped away from the wall.

He had thought long and hard about who should be on each team. There were so many variables, trust being one of them. In order to keep an eye on things, he decided to make sure that anyone he didn’t know went on the job with someone he trusted. He didn’t want to leave the ship vulnerable to any kind of sabotage. If things went south for some reason, he wanted to make sure that escape was a viable option.

“River, Kaylee, Doc and Inara will stay on board. River, you make sure things are ready to fly, but I need you at the cargo bay doors to push back anything that might come your way. If things look even a bit out of place, you comm us and we’ll get off this rock as fast as possible. Kaylee, stay in the engine room, make sure the

JOHNTHETHEATREFREAK

Saturday, February 14, 2009 5:32 AM

John smirked a little too when he found out about Ivy, Pain, and 13. He was happy to work with Jayne and Evelyn though. Jayne was easy to work with if you knew him, which John did, and he needed to seem like he was friends with Evelyn. He was also happy to go to the vault. He'd be able to hotwire any machinery neccesary to carry the cargo, and the command center seemed too easy. He was ready for a challenge.

"Did you bring your own guns, or do you want some of mine," John said to Evelyn. He didn't share his guns easily, but for some reason he didn't feel this girl was after him. She was after something, of that he was sure, but he felt it wouldn't compromise the ship.

johnttf

ENGLISHIVY

Saturday, February 14, 2009 5:39 AM

OOC: Not just me... It's a collaborative effort with Pain.

-Ivy

ENGLISHIVY

Saturday, February 14, 2009 6:29 AM

Ivy followed Mal down into his bunk. It was a lot bigger than her and Pain's, but it was nice. And it totally fit the Captain's personality. He went over to the desk, opened up a drawer and pulled out a lock box. When he opened it, he pulled out her gun and handed it to her.

"Don't make me regret giving this back to you," he warned her.

"You won't," she promised. "I want to fit in here. Be useful here. I want you all to be able to trust me."

"It'll take more than one job to do that, Ivy," he told her.

"I know. But it's a start."

She turned, left his bunk and entered her own.

"I got my gun back," she announced.

She held it up to show Pain only to reveal a slightly shaking hand.

DRPAIN

Saturday, February 14, 2009 8:24 AM

Warning: PG-13++ Ahead.

Pain and Ivy's Bunk

While Ivy had gone off with the Captain, Pain went down into their bunk. She was a big girl and he knew she would be fine alone with Mal while he grabbed his gear, laying it out on the desk, and inspecting it. That was what he was doing right now. On the desk laid out in an orderly fashion were his two semi-auto Desert Eagle .44s, his hand cannon, his bullpup assault rifle with under mounted grenade launcher, and all the assorted gear for each gun.

His two primary sidearms both had four eight round magazines each. Two in magazine pouches on his gun belt, one in the mag pouch on their leg holsters, and one each resting near the guns themselves. The hand cannon had six rounds in it with twelve more in two speed loaders in the corresponding pouches opposite of the shoulder holster his big revolver resided in. The assault rifle had four spare thirty rounders stored in a mag pouch near the right front side of the gun belt and one magazine already loaded into the gun itself. Lastly there were three grenades in three grenade pouches located on the left front side of Pain's gun belt, a fourth loaded into the grenade launcher. A knife and its sheath made its home in the middle of the belt where it would be positioned behind Pain's back once he put the belt on.

At the moment Pain was checking the chamber of one of the black .44s, making sure it was clean when he heard the hatch open and footsteps coming down the ladder. Slowly releasing the slide of the gun, Pain put it down and turned to see who it was.

Quote:
Originally posted by EnglishIvy:
"I got my gun back," she announced.

She held it up to show Pain only to reveal a slightly shaking hand.

"That's good news, baobei." Pain said with a smile as he walked over to her. He noticed the shaking and gently put a hand over her wrist to stop it. Leaning down he gave her a kiss and his hand slid down to the gun. As they kissed, Ivy relaxed a little and released the gun into his hand. Breaking off the kiss, Pain asked, "Your hand was shakin', baobei. You nervous?"

"A little, yes." she replied, as Pain walked over to the desk and placed her gun down.

"I saw that, darlin'. Shakes like that ain't good when you're holdin' a gun." he told her as he approached. "Tends to make them go off which ain't too good when you're in a confined space such as a bunk."

"I'm.. I'm sorry." she said, looking up into his eyes.

Pain smiled and ran a hand through her hair as he said, "It's OK, darlin'. It's just the nerves. Everyone gets them from time to time." He leaned down and gave her another kiss before whispering into her ear, "And I think I know how to calm yours'."

Select to view spoiler:

Ivy let out a giggle as Pain pinned her to the ladder, giving her tender kisses up and down her neck. The giggles turned into soft moans as his hands caressed her body, glided over her breasts and started to unbutton her shirt. She returned the favor by gliding her own hands up his toned abs and over his chest before going down and unfastening his belt. Pain tilted his head back and let out a moan as he felt Ivy's hands down below, gently caressing him.

Bringing her lips to his with a bruising intensity, Pain let their tongues interact with each other as their hands continued to grope, fondle, and free the remaining clothing. Once the clothing had been discarded, Pain brought Ivy down onto him and worked in her, in and again with a slow burning, white hot intensity that made both the outside world and Ivy's nerves melt away.

She rested her head on his right shoulder, kissing it between moans as he continued to move within her. He kissed and suckled her neck before nibbling on her left earlobe and whispering sweet nothings into her ear. She whispered the same sweet nothings into his own ear before enclosing his mouth with hers, letting her tongue dance with his in a passionate tango. Bringing his hands down to her hips, Pain grabbed and held her tight as he picked up the pace. Ivy let out a moan as she wrapped her arms around his

ENGLISHIVY

Sunday, February 15, 2009 1:09 AM

WARNING: PG-13++++++++++++++++ ahead...

Ivy had been shaking when she returned to Pain and her bunk. The stress from earlier that day, the impending job and the warning that Mal gave her were enough to set her on edge. They only had 30 minutes before they were due to depart on the job and she couldn’t stop thinking about it. She’s never even done something like this before. She didn’t know how things like that were supposed to unfold. Should she be expecting trouble or was the assortment of firearms lying on the desk merely a cautionary tactic.

Then Pain made the comment that shaking wasn’t good when holding a gun, which she figured was a truthful statement, so she had apologized.

What am I thinking? she asked herself. I’m gonna get someone killed!

She was nervous. Well, that was an understatement. Her nervous quotient could set off a nuclear bomb if she got too close.

Quote:
Originally posted by DRPAIN:
"It's OK, darlin'. It's just the nerves. Everyone gets them from time to time. And I think I know how to calm yours."

Select to view spoiler:

And then he started. She giggled a bit as he pushed her up against the ladder. He was unconventional as to where they did it, that’s what made it so much fun with him. No monotony, always unpredictable.

The giggles quickly disappeared, being replaced by soft moans as he caressed her body, gliding over her breasts as he quickly unbuttoned her shirt. It didn’t take long before he had it off and discarded onto the floor. She reached and grabbed the bottom of his shirt, nearly tearing it from his body before tracing across every muscle on his torso. His hands returned to her breasts and fondled them as moan after moan escaped from her lips. She felt so alive right now. She didn’t know if it was because of the upcoming job or if it was because of his touch or a little of both, but she did know that she needed him, more than ever right now.

Quickly her hands were at his pants, unbuckling the belt to gain more access. She pushed them down so that both his trousers and his boxers fell to his ankles. Without breaking contact, he flipped them off with a mere shake of one ankle then the other. Her hands traced over his hip bones before taking him into her hands, caressing him with a gentle touch. She was pleased when his head leaned back as she heard his throaty moan.

His kiss came with an intensity that made her shiver, straight to her soul. Somehow, with a few gentle tugs, he had her pants off. The fact that she hadn’t bothered to put on any underwear of any kind earlier, just made his day. She could tell by feeling a slight smile form on his lips while their tongues battled a war more intense than any other they might have experienced before.

He lifted her a bit higher as he slid into her, which elicited a moan from both of them. Since Mal had only given them a half hour before they were to leave, she half expected an extended make out session without any cumbersome clothing getting in the way, but having full intercourse was far better at easing her nerves than any frenzied make out session could provide. Using the leverage of the ladder and the tender placing of his hands on her behind, allowed him to move inside her slowly, his strokes long and gentle.

She found herself calling his name, the name that everyone called him. Pain. But soon it wasn’t enough, she felt the need to be more intimate, she wanted to touch a place that perhaps no woman had ever gone. Softly, she called him by his given name, his real name, the one his parents had bestowed on him. As she did, she let him overtake her, body, mind and soul.

As the want grew within her, she laid her head on his shoulder, kissing him there whenever she could between panting and moaning he caused. His pace had not changed and it was extending the pleasure both of them were experiencing beyond their expectations. What had probably started as a quickie to ease her nerves had become so much more. They had melded together, moving as one and feeli

YESMYNAMEISKALI

Sunday, February 15, 2009 6:45 AM

Evelyn listened to what they were supposed to be doing on this job. It sounded simple enough; though, she was mildly disappointed with her team. Jayne was of no interest, and she hadn't been sent here for John.

Oh well. She needed to make herself a part of this group anyway, and working on this job was the way to do that.

Quote:
Originally posted by johnthetheatrefreak:
"Did you bring your own guns, or do you want some of mine,"

"I have my own," Evelyn replied. That was a little terse for friends, though. "But thanks anyway."

-------------------------------------------------

"See, I've secretly been kind of a fan of me for some time now. I've seen everything I've ever done. I'd love to meet me, but I'd probably just stare and not be able to say anything witty or anything." -- Joss Whedon

JOHNTHETHEATREFREAK

Sunday, February 15, 2009 10:11 PM

"Ok, well see you at the job." John moved to his room to get supplies for the job. He grabbed a flashlight and put it in his belt. He picked up his two favorite handguns for the holsters on his belf, and one more that he stored on his leg. After getting plenty of extra clips he went to the cargo bay, ready to land.

johnttf

DRPAIN

Monday, February 16, 2009 5:37 AM

Pain and Ivy's Bunk

Quote:
Originally posted by EnglishIvy:
“Mal’s gonna kill us,” Pain whispered.

"Did you say somethin', honey?" asked Ivy as she watched Pain put on his final piece of clothing.

"No, baobei. No I didn't." he replied as he put on his gun belt and slid his .44s into their holsters.

Ivy watched as Pain put on his shoulder holster and slung his assault rifle over his right shoulder. She was pretty sure he had said something, but she didn't have time to ask for sure as Pain put on his trench coat, closed up his weapons locker and put a rectangular box in her hand. She looked down at it and saw that it was a box of bullets.

"For your gun." Pain said to her. "It's about half full, but hopefully it should do you." He ran a hand through her hair, smiled at her, then said, "Come on. We should get our pigus down to the cargo bay before we're anymore late."

YESMYNAMEISKALI

Monday, February 16, 2009 5:46 PM

John walked off, and Evelyn was left to her own devices. She double-checked her guns, made sure she had extra bullets, and found herself with some time to kill. She walked around the ship, familiarizing herself with the place she would be staying for the next however long amount of time, but made sure that she made it back to the cargo bay with plenty of time to spare. It wouldn't do to make a poor impression.

-------------------------------------------------

"See, I've secretly been kind of a fan of me for some time now. I've seen everything I've ever done. I'd love to meet me, but I'd probably just stare and not be able to say anything witty or anything." -- Joss Whedon

ENGLISHIVY

Monday, February 16, 2009 11:15 PM

Ivy bent down and rifled through her things.

"Whatcha lookin' for?" Pain asked.

"I have an extra magazine... somewhere..." she said pushing aside some things then others. "I know I brought it."

She went through her stuff again quickly and let out a sigh.

"I can't find it," she told him.

"Is it in your old room?" Pain asked. "Maybe you didn't get everything when you moved up here."

She stood up and smiled.

"I did! I left it downstairs! I know exactly where!"

She shoved her gun in the waistband of her pants, close to the middle of her back and climbed up the ladder as fast as she could go. Pain followed her, but she was definitely agile and fast. Plus he was carrying a little more weight than she was.

Luckily she went down to her old room via the corridor that would not make her go directly through the cargo bay. Pain didn't want to encounter Mal until they were totally ready to go. Getting a lashing for being late was one thing, but getting a lashing twice for not being ready would be worse...

But then again, Pain thought as he smiled, the sex they just had was well worth it. She had called him by his name...

When he finally caught up to her, she had found the magazine she was looking for as was quickly loading bullets into it.

"I'm almost done," she announced as she slid the last couple in. She looked down and found no place to store the extra magazine or the bullets that were left over.

"I should've gotten cargo pants," she said, frowning. She looked around until she found a small pouch she used to keep snacks in when she was home and in the fields. It wasn't huge, but it was big enough to put the mag and the extra bullets in. She didn't really know why she had brought it along when she left, except that her dad had made it for her and it reminded her of him. She tied it to her belt and stood up. "Now I am ready."

She started through the door getting ready to head to the cargo bay when he stopped her and leaned down to gently kiss her again. He didn't know why he felt the overwhelming urge to do so, but it didn't take much to entice him to kiss her. It caught her by surprise for a moment before her arms wrapped around his neck and her body formed to his. When they finally parted, she smiled at him.

"What was that for?" she asked.

"Just a preview," Pain answered as he kissed her again. "For later. After we get back."

Then he took her hand into his and led her out to the cargo bay. He grinned again when he thought of their time... reducing stress. He wanted to get back to their bunk as soon as they got back. There was no telling what they could do when they weren't pressed for time.

Anyway, he was certain that it was the highlight of the day and it would take something huge happening to change his mind.

DRPAIN

Tuesday, February 17, 2009 7:34 AM

Cargo Bay

Fifteen minutes. One fourth of a hour. Nine hundred seconds. That was how long Mal and everyone else assembled in the cargo bay, who were integral to the job, had been waiting for the two stragglers known as Pain and Ivy. Mal was getting very impatient with the waiting. They had a job to do and they could already be doing it, but instead they were two people short in the cargo bay. Mal had his arms crossed, the fingers on his left hand tapping his right bicep. He wanted to know what was keeping those two and he wanted to know now.

"Jayne?" he asked, rather annoyed. "Go find Pain and Ivy and see what's takin' them so long."

"Why do I have to do it?" protested the mercenary. "For all we know they're busy ruttin' each other like a couple of rabbits. Frankly I ain't too keen on seein' Pain nekkid. Ivy on the other hand..."

Jayne trailed off, grinning wide like the Cheshire cat as he pictured Ivy naked. 13 was in the background snickering himself shy of a circuit overload, stopping as he caught sight of Mal's glare. Jayne stopped grinning as he caught the same glare coming from the captain.

"Alright." he muttered. "I'll go find 'em."

Just as the mercenary stalked off to find the two lovebirds, Pain and Ivy made their entrance into the cargo bay. Turning to Mal, Jayne pointed to them and called out, "Found 'em!"

"Sorry we're late." replied Pain, giving those in the cargo bay an apologetic smile. "Had to find a spare magazine for Ivy's gun, which I didn't have. Found on in her room though, so uh sorry for the inconvenience."

"Alright." Mal breathed out. "Now that everyone is here." He gave Pain and Ivy a look before continuing, "We can get on with this job, but before we do I want to remind all of those here which team they're on, dong ma?"

After everyone signaled that they understood, Mal listed the teams once more, "Now like I said before, Isahiah, Zoe, Cate, and I are the Command Center team. John, Evelyn, and Jayne are Vault #1, and Pain, Ivy, and 13 are Vault #2. Kaylee, Inara, River, and Simon will be staying aboard in case there's any trouble. This job most likely won't be a cake walk, so I expect all of you to have you eyes and ears open for anythin' that might sound like trouble or is suspicious. An alert team is an alive team. Got that? Good. Now lets get a move on."

ENGLISHIVY

Tuesday, February 17, 2009 10:43 PM

Ivy thought back to the explanation that Pain gave for the reason they were late.

"Do you think Mal bought the excuse that we were looking for the magazine the whole time?" she asked Pain quietly. She was staying close to Pain and his presence had a calming effect.

13 snorted at the comment from his position about 10 feet back.

Pain shot a glare back at him.

"Not at all, bao bei. The man ain't stupid. He knew exactly what we were doing," Pain told her. She quickly blushed. "The excuse just let the others go about their way without knowing."

13 snorted again.

"Without knowing?" 13 exclaimed. "Hell, Jayne figured out what you two were doing and by the look on his face, I think he'd be more than happy to hook up with your twin. Maybe we could arrange it. Say... do you remember what happens when she's around?"

Pain's posture stiffened as he stood straight up and turned to face bot boy.

"There will be no arranging anything between Tommy and Jayne," Pain snarled.

13 snickered.

"Oh. My. God," he said as his eyes got wide. "You've had sex with both of them haven't you? No wonder you've been down in your bunk so much. She must be a hellcat in the sack."

Quicker than Pain had moved in a while, he cracked 13 across the face with the butt of his assault rifle. 13 stumbled backwards a couple of steps.

"Shut. up. 13," Pain ground out.

13 approached Pain with his fist clenched.

"Stop!" Ivy exclaimed. "We are on a job, remember? Perhaps a slightly dangerous one? I think we should keep our minds on one thing at a time."

Pain stared 13 down, clenching his jaw in anger as he did. The thought of pumping a grenade into the robot slipped through his mind.

"Ivy's right," he finally said. "Let's do the job."

Pain, Ivy and 13 walked in silence towards their assignment. Every few steps, Pain would tap his earpiece.

"Something wrong?" Ivy asked.

"I'm getting a lot of static," he said, stopping again. "You getting anything other than that 13?"

13 paused and listened.

"Just static. And a couple of words here and there," 13 reported. Ivy searched him for an ear piece, but couldn't see one. 13 smirked at her. "Built in comm. Plus I have very good hearing."

Pain tapped his earpiece again as they started walking again.

"Jen dao mei," he whispered. He was getting the feeling this wasn't going to be an easy job. He turned to Ivy. "You stay close to me."

translation:
*Jen dao mei = just our luck

JOHNTHETHEATREFREAK

Wednesday, February 18, 2009 3:32 AM

John, Jayne and Evelyn followed the directions to where they were supposed to go. The place seemed completely bare. Maybe this would be easier than John had anticipated. "We're all clear on this end," he said into the com. Inreply though, he heard only static.

"Gorram com!" Jayne muttered.

"I'm getting static as well," John replied, "I guess should just press on anyway." Jayne walked out front, and John stood back with Evelyn. "You were disappointed with your assignment," he whispered to the woman, "so were you after Pain Ivy, or 13? More likely though the captain or Zoe or Isahiah. Wait is it Cate." he kept his senses open trying to gage a reaction from each name.

johnttf

ISAHIAH

Wednesday, February 18, 2009 4:36 AM

On the way to the Command Center

Static. Nothing, but static and an occasional word came from Mal's ear piece before more static followed. He tapped it again and asked Zoe, "Zoe? Is your comm on the fritz or is it just mine?"

Zoe tapped hers' and looked at the captain before shaking her head and saying, "No, sir. Gettin' static on every channel. Somethin' don't seem right about it, sir."

"Yeah. Somethin'." replied Mal. Turning to Isahiah, he asked, "You know anythin' thing about this, Isahiah? Could there be some sort of shieldin' preventin' our comms from transmittin'?"

"Wish I knew, Captain." replied Isahiah as he shrugged. "Like I said it's been awhile since I've been here. I don't know what's been done to the place since I was here last."

The foursome of Mal, Isahiah, Zoe, and Cate continued on to the command center, their ability to communicate with the other teams cut off. An occasional hiss and ting came from the pipes overhead, but no sounds of machinery or those made by a human. They stopped once when they heard something that sounded like a scrapping noise, but after a few moments of pointing guns every which way, it turned out to be a lone brown rat scurrying across the floor. It paused to give the foursome a look before going on its merry way, disappearing behind some old oil drums.

The Command Team made their way over to a pair of steel double doors, the caution yellow paint on them having seen better days. Dents and rust had made their home on the doors, a sign that the place had seen some neglect. The light inside the room flickered intermittently through the two small rectangular windows. Above the doors was a white and equally neglected sign that said in black bold lettering, both in English and in Chinese: COMMAND CENTER

"Guess this is the place." Cate chimed in. "Boy what a dump."

Mal and Zoe instinctively slid over to the sides of the doors with their weapons in hand. They looked at each other and nodded. Slowly Mal opened one of the doors and followed his gun into the room. Seeing that it was clear, he gave the others the all clear and let them follow him inside. It was a mess inside the command center. To Mal and the other team members it looked like a tornado had hit. Papers and things were thrown everywhere on the floor. Several of the screens on the walls showed static although one or two were completely broken. Stepping over an overturned office chair, Mal made his way over to one of the control stations.

The light overhead continued to flicker, complicating the search somewhat as well as giving Mal a headache. At the control station that Mal was looking at, exposed wiring appeared out of an open panel, which itself appeared to have been ripped open. The wires sticking out were mangled although some of them were spliced together rather deliberately.

"What happened here?" a shocked Isahiah asked as he looked at the damaged done to the command center.

"Looks like someone was here before us, sir." came Zoe's voice from the near corner of the room. "And judgin' from the mess in here, they were lookin' for somethin'."

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————>>>
BigWolf18 "Way i remember it, you said you was leavin', dare say that saved us a whole peck o' trouble. now i gotta wonder what could spur on a fine disreputable man like yourself to show your fine disreputable face here again."

...Dust monkeys...

DRPAIN

Wednesday, February 18, 2009 8:07 AM

Upper Level Hallway

Quote:
Originally posted by EnglishIvy:
"Jen dao mei," he whispered. He was getting the feeling this wasn't going to be an easy job. He turned to Ivy. "You stay close to me."

"OK." Ivy replied, walking closer up to him as they walked further down the hallway.

It was dim in the hallway they were in as only the emergency lights were on. Pain turned on the weapons light on his assault rifle and used it for better visibility, although he knew 13 didn't need it. The only sounds in there were the echos of their footsteps on the floor and the hum of the lights.

"13?" Pain whispered. "How far until we reach the elevators?"

13 scanned the hallway with his sensors, taking into account where they were and how far they needed to go. As the final readout came up, 13 said, "We got 82.3 more yards to go. We should make it there in about 8 minutes at our current pace. Oh and you don't need to whisper, since the only life signs I'm picking up in this vicinity are yours' and Ivy's."

"Oh. OK then." Pain said in his normal tone of voice as his beam of light bobbed up and down from his walking. "So do the elevators have power?"

"I would think so if this place is on emergency power." replied 13. He grinned at the two of them and added, "Otherwise we're taking the stairs and you know how chatty I am when it comes to stairs."

ENGLISHIVY

Friday, February 20, 2009 7:12 AM

13, Pain and Ivy walked into the elevator and pushed the down button to the appropriate floor. It was dark in the elevator, only a single light burned above their heads and that light blinked off and on enough to serve as a strobe light.

They were only down a couple of levels when the elevator made a horrendous scraping and screeching sound and stopped. And it stopped while slanted a little to the right.

Ivy reached up and grabbed Pain's shoulder.

"It's OK, darlin'," he said to her calmly. He turned to 13. "Let's get these doors open and see where we are."

Together, Pain and 13 pried the interior doors open to find out they were stuck between floors. The bottom of the elevator was only about a foot to 18 inches into the next floor.

"I can't get through there," Pain said, stating the obvious. "Wouldn't know how to fix this once I did."

13 looked up at the ceiling at the service hatch. It looked a bit twisted and the hinge was visibly broken. There'd be no way to force that open and as they were standing there, the elevator structure groaned a bit and tilted a little more.

"It think it's safe to say that this elevator has been damaged at some point or another. Looks like the frame is twisted," 13 told them. "Maybe an explosion? In other words, we need to get out of here."

"Well we can't exactly wave a magic wand and poof ourselves out," Pain deadpanned. "We can't go out the top and can't get out through the door."

"I can," Ivy said softly.

"What'd you say bao bei?" Pain asked as 13 made a face at the sound of Pain's term of endearment.

"I can get through there," she said again. "We used to have a lift in our barn that got stuck all the time. Maybe I can help this one along enough to make room for the both of you to climb out."

Pain looked at her, then the gap by the floor.

"That's too small, babe," he said shaking his head. "And too dangerous."

"Like staying here isn't dangerous?" quipped 13.

The elevator groaned a little more.

"I can do this," Ivy reassured him. Then she put on a smile. "I am very agile, you know."

"I don't need to know that," 13 groaned.

Pain looked at Ivy, then the gap again. Reluctantly, he looked over at 13.

"Let's get those outer doors open for her to crawl out."

DRPAIN

Saturday, February 21, 2009 5:57 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by EnglishIvy:
"Let's get those outer doors open for her to crawl out."

"Alright, but if she falls and dies, I'm not going to be responsible for that." replied 13 as he tightened his grip on his door.

"I wasn't expecting any special treatment from you anyway." Ivy shot back to 13.

"That's fine with me." 13 replied back. "Since I wasn't giving you any special treatment anyways."

"Can we just do this without the bickerin'?" Pain asked, slightly annoyed as he held onto the other door. "My hands are gettin' tired over here."

Ivy looked at 13 once more and then turned her sights on Pain. She gave him a smile before kneeling down and squeezing out between the doors. Pain watched her and listened as both he and 13 held onto the doors. He heard and saw her move around and then drop down into the hallway below, letting out a soft grunt as she did so.

"You OK, babe?" Pain called down to her from the elevator. When he didn't hear from her right away, he got worried when she didn't immediately respond and asked again, "Babe? You OK?"

"Yeah." Ivy replied up to him. "Just had to dust myself off."

"OK that's good." Pain replied, mentally sighing his relief that she didn't fall down the shaft. "Now can you please get us down?"

"Oh what?" 13 asked Pain, raising an eyebrow at the man. "You don't like being stuck in an elevator with lil' ol' me?" Scoffing, 13 placed a hand on his hip and with a shocked look in his eyes, added, "Well I never!"

The elevator groaned once more and lurched downward, protesting the movement every inch of the way. It started slowly and then just like that it fell quickly, causing Pain to shout at the unexpected drop before the elevator came to a sudden stop halfway between the open hallway where Ivy was standing and the shaft. Up above Pain and 13 could hear more groaning coupled by metal lines snapping and falling down on the roof.

Pain looked at 13 with wide eyes and hastily said, "That didn't sound so good."

"I agree." said 13 as more lines snapped and the elevator lurched again.

They both looked at one another before leaping out of the elevator and landing near Ivy just as the elevator itself finally let go and fell down the shaft. There was a loud metallic shrieking as it fell, followed be a muffled boom as it hit the bottom. Pain turned over onto his back and stared at the rectangular opening that previously held the elevator car the three of them had been riding in.

After a few deep breaths, Pain got up, dusted himself off and said, "Lets take the stairs this time, shall we?"

YESMYNAMEISKALI

Sunday, February 22, 2009 7:03 AM

So, now they were on the job, and other than the fact that everyone's comms were only picking up static, it seemed to be working out just fine so far, at least Evelyn thought so. That was, until John stayed back and began talking to her.

Quote:
Originally posted by johnthetheatrefreak:
"You were disappointed with your assignment," he whispered to the woman, "so were you after Pain Ivy, or 13? More likely though the captain or Zoe or Isahiah. Wait is it Cate."

She'd been warned about him to an extent, at least in regards to his questions, and she wasn't to tell him anything unless absolutely necessary. "I'm supposed to be watching Ivy for you, and that's all that really concerns you," she replied, almost snarkily.

-------------------------------------------------

"See, I've secretly been kind of a fan of me for some time now. I've seen everything I've ever done. I'd love to meet me, but I'd probably just stare and not be able to say anything witty or anything." -- Joss Whedon

JOHNTHETHEATREFREAK

Tuesday, February 24, 2009 2:03 AM

"Ok, then we'll just go with that for now." They made their way trough to the vault using the stairs just in case. John couldn't help but wondering about the real people she was after. Doc was a very...multi-faceted woman. She could be after any one of them for any number of reasons. She could even be after him. Static continued to hiss through the com. He hoped the vault wouldn't be too hard to open.

johnttf

ENGLISHIVY

Tuesday, February 24, 2009 10:41 PM

As the trio walked down the remaining 4 floors down to their level, 13 paused for a moment.

"Somethin' wrong, Bot Boy?" Pain asked.

"Sensors getting a bit screwy," he said as he shook his head a little. "Worse by every step down we take."

"The static is making you sensors all wiggy?" Pain asked him for clarification.

13 glared at Pain as Ivy giggled a bit.

"No matter," 13 said. "I'll just have to do this the hard way... OH! I mean like the rest of you."

His comment dripped of sarcasm, but they pressed on. Pain was the first through the door, so he took the lead using the light on his assault rifle to move towards their assigned destination. Ivy was second and took a moment to glance up the stairwell as she crossed the threshold and was reminded that somehow they needed to find a new elevator to get the goods back, else they would be spending a good amount of time hauling the stuff up seven floors manually.

"Hope that's not the only lift there was for this section," Ivy said to herself.

13 brushed by her, their shoulders connecting and knocking her back a little harder than he should.

"Ow!" she whispered, rubbing her shoulder. Bot boy was certainly well built. Like a brick.

"What's the matter, Ivy?" he asked, stopping to sneer at her. "You two not able to carry your weight if it comes to that? I mean, it's perfect. If you get tired, Tommy could take over, and vice versa. You'd be unstoppable."

After saying what he wanted, he smirked at her and went off to follow Pain.

"Like your mouth," she said under her breath as he followed Pain down the hall to their destiation.

"I heard that!" he yelled back at her.

"Bù rén dào guài wu," she mumbled again.

"I heard that too!" he yelled back at her.

"Come on darlin', stay close. I think it's close," Pain called back to her.

She started to go after them, but she heard something down the hallway behind them. Not much, just a single scuffle.

"What was that?" she asked. 13 had double tracked back to her location and was looking down the opposite end of the hall. "You heard that too?"

13 gave her the "duh" look.

"You go get by Pain," he said softly as he gently pushed her in Pain's direction. He spoke a little louder so Pain could hear him. "I'll go check it out. You two keep going to the vault."

Translation:
Bù rén dào guài wu = inhuman monster or freak

DRPAIN

Thursday, February 26, 2009 3:45 AM

On the Quest of the Second Vault

Quote:
Originally posted by EnglishIvy:
"You go get by Pain," he said softly as he gently pushed her in Pain's direction. He spoke a little louder so Pain could hear him. "I'll go check it out. You two keep going to the vault."

"Come on." Pain said to Ivy, cocking his head in the direction they were heading. "Lets keep movin'."

Pain and Ivy plodded onwards as 13 walked back in the direction they had come. He found it rather odd that his sensors were becoming less scrambled as he walked further and further, trying to find the source of the sound both him and Ivy had heard. He walked slowly in case the sound's source was biological, making sure his footsteps were as quiet as possible to insure that he didn't alert the sound maker to his presence. 13 was armed with two sub-machine guns located in a shoulder holster on both sides of his torso. He was rather skilled in using them and being a robot, suffered no effects from the recoil of full auto fire.

In addition to those two sidearms, 13 had the gun between his legs. It was a rather peculiar location for a gun, but with its retractable barrel, it had earned 13 the nickname of 'Pistol Pants'. He had received the name during a bout of electrical drunkenness to which he "whipped" it out and fired a round into one of the galley's cupboard doors. As he made his way through the dim hallway, 13's search continued.

Back to Ivy and Pain

"Do you think he'll be OK?" Ivy asked Pain as they continued on their trek towards their goal.

"I'm not too worried about him, babe." replied Pain, as he swept his weapons light through the dimness. "He's taken care of himself before and I'm confident that he'll be more than alright." He gave her a smile and continued, "Can't say the same for whatever he runs into though."

JOHNTHETHEATREFREAK

Thursday, February 26, 2009 1:09 PM

John, Evelyn, and Jayne had reached the vault. John began to look it over, hoping to find a way in. It actually didn't look like it would be too difficult. He tapped the com. "I doubt any of you can here this, but we're at the vault." Knowing that the captain may be unable to get the vault open, he began to hack the lock. It appeared to be an electronic seal, using a keypad, maybe a print scanner, to open. He pulled of the keypad and got to work. It was supringly eady and soon he had the door unlocked. "Wasn't there supposed to be some degree of difficulty involved here?" he asked

"Just be glad, easy payday," Jayne replied moving to the door. As he pulled it open John's heart sank. The vault was empty.

johnttf

ENGLISHIVY

Thursday, February 26, 2009 6:21 PM

13 stealthily kept moving down the hallway until he came across the problem. A pair of men standing inside of another lift with a hover cart carrying a couple of smallish crates between them. The doors had just closed, so although he had seen them, they hadn't seen him.

13 listened intently, hoping that he could catch a little of what they were up to.

"Is that the last of it?" the one said.

"Yeah," the other one said. "I think we found just about all the vaults. We have people combing this entire rutting facility for other valuables. This is a good take."

"More than a good take."

"Amen to that brother."

Then they were out of range for 13 to hear any more. He replayed what he heard.

We have people combing this entire rutting facility...

Not only did it sound like they lost the loot, but they had other problems as well. And they had people in just about every group that were not trained to deal with it. He knew Ivy and Cate weren't and he didn't know what kind of experience Evelyn had. Hopefully John would know, since she was his friend and all. He turned and hightailed it back to where Pain and Ivy were headed. The situation just went from iffy to bad. And with the communications issue it could easily get worse.

In the meantime...

Pain and Ivy walked closer to the vault the were assigned to go to.

"That was weird," Ivy whispered to Pain.

"What?" Pain asked as he used the light on his gun to carefully check out the path in front of them.

"13 was almost nice to me."

Pain snorted.

"Well, you did call him a freak," he chuckled. "Maybe that endeared you to him a little."

"No, I meant that when he went to go check out that sound," she explained. "When he told me to go back to where you were, he sounded almost... nice."

"He's not a bad guy, really," Pain replied to him. "He's been a little off his servos lately, a pain in the ass and he needs a good throttling, but he's not a bad guy."

"He has a weird way of showing it."

"He is a robot," Pain went on. "He may not like you, but I doubt he'd want to see you harmed."

Ivy looked around a bit as they were nearing the vault.

"That's odd..." Ivy started. "I haven't seen any hover carts or such that you would think would have to be around to haul things with. Not one at all."

Pain grunted a response and pushed Ivy behind him a little more. They turned the corner and got to the vault. The door was opened slightly. Pain and Ivy peeked in. The place was empty.

"Tzao gao!" Pain said under his breath.

"It's empty," Ivy said. "Something isn't right."

"Let's get back to the stairs," Pain said firmly. "We need to get out of here."

Ivy looked up into Pain's eyes. A feeling of alarm was starting to grow within her. Pain looked down at her.

"The vault being empty and that sound y'all heard... We ain't the only ones here."

"You sure?" she asked as her voice wavered a bit.

13 ran around the corner.

"Let's get out of here. We ain't alone and they got people throughout looking anything of monetary value," he reported. "Don't know where or how many."

Pain swore, grabbed Ivy's hand and led her quickly towards the stairwell.

ENGLISHIVY

Sunday, March 1, 2009 4:56 AM

/// There is nothing here. You are not reading this.///

JOHNTHETHEATREFREAK

Sunday, March 1, 2009 5:16 AM

John turned reaching out for anyone nearby, he felt no one but then a presence emerged. He turned to his people. "We have company." he said. The person was approaching their feelings getting stronger. John stopped for a moment. Why was this person alone. He pulled out one of his guns and waited. Suddenly a loud voice boomed from a corridor off to the side.

"YOU," the voice commanded, "OFF MY PLANET!"

'Gorramit,' John thought turning to see the person he wanted to see less than anyone else. Doc stood before him gun trained on his head.

"You can't just go around declaring every thing your planet," John replied keeping his gun raised.

"Same planet."

"I suppose you're right."

"You are all under arrest for theft and concealing a fugitive."
This was not going well

johnttf

YESMYNAMEISKALI

Monday, March 2, 2009 1:48 AM

John's questions had been avoided for now, but Evelyn felt it wasn't over. He was very persistent and seemed to know things. She'd have to keep an eye out for him, but that was the least of her worries. Right now, her focus was on the job, which seemed to be okay at first, but then everything started to go wrong.

First of all, the vault was empty, and Evelyn was pretty sure that wasn't supposed to happen. Then John said something about company, and she had no idea what to expect. She drew her gun, waiting for this mysterious presence to reveal itself when she heard a familiar voice.

Quote:
Originally posted by johnthetheatrefreak:
"YOU," the voice commanded, "OFF MY PLANET!"

And that seemed just a bit odd. What was her commanding officer doing here? Wasn't she supposed to be handling all of this herself? Then, she said something about arresting them all. That would look just great on her final report.

-------------------------------------------------

"See, I've secretly been kind of a fan of me for some time now. I've seen everything I've ever done. I'd love to meet me, but I'd probably just stare and not be able to say anything witty or anything." -- Joss Whedon

ISAHIAH

Monday, March 2, 2009 6:45 AM

Mal, Zoe and Cate watched Isahiah carefully as he pulled cluster after cluster of wires out of the main operations table. He spent time looking over the areas that were basically… mangled.

“Looks like the primary security system for the entire facility has been bypassed,” Isahiah announced.

“That’s not good, is it?” Mal asked.

“Nope,” Isahiah answered. “Would make the secondary stuff down by the vaults, or any other secured area of this place, rather simple to get around.”

“Someone’s definitely been here before us,” Zoe added.

“Looks like,” Isahiah comfirmed.

Mal swore and tried to use the comm again.

“John? Pain? 13? Anyone there?” he said into the comm. Again, all he got was static. “River? Can at least you hear me?”

Again, static. Mal swore again.

“Isahiah? What’s with the static? It’s making me all manner of uncomfortable,” he told him. “I got people in this place, some of them not entirely capable if things should go south, I need to be able to talk to them.”

Isahiah nodded, indicating that he understood what Mal meant, as he slid the wheeled chair across the floor to the sensor board. He opened that panel to find more wires twisted up. He pulled out a few clusters until he found a small device bypassing some of the standard functions.

“What’s that?” Cate asked.

“It’s a jamming device,” he said as he turned it slightly to see how exactly it worked. “Kinda rudimentary, but it was given a boost by hardwiring it straight into the control panel.”

“Well, can we get that gorram thing off?” Mal asked.

Isahiah nodded and it only took about two minutes for him to extract the device and shut it off.

The first thing Mal noticed was the sound of Serenity’s thrusters coming up over top the command center.

“What the…” Zoe remarked as all four of them leaned out the door to check out the situation.

“River!” Mal started to say. “What in the sphincter of Hell-”

“Not alone Captain…” she responded. “Ship on the far end. Couldn’t see it before, but I can now. Gonna set down closer.”

Mal, Zoe, Cate and Isahiah bolted from the Command Center and headed for the ship in general.

Now that communications were open, Mal started to get updates from the other two teams.

“First vault is empty, Mal,” John said. “We are headed your way.”

“Ours too,” Pain reported. “And we ain’t alone down here. They’ve got people combing the entire place looking for anything of money value.”

“So be careful as you wander, folks,” 13 added. “We’re headed your way too.”

“Juh jen sh guh kwai luh duh jean jan,” Mal mumbled. “Isahiah? When this is all said and done, we’re gonna have a sit down. You owe a couple of explanations.”

Isahiah didn’t answer him, but it was obvious he had heard Mal.

JOHNTHETHEATREFREAK

Tuesday, March 3, 2009 3:23 AM

"You're not going to arrest me." John was going to have to fight back in the only way that worked with Doc. "We're old friends, why would you arrest me?"

"I've tried to before."

"Not honestly. Besides," he decided to take a gamble that she didn't know about River, "what fugitive am I harboring."

"You're harboting yourself!"

"So are you."

"Don't go there."

"Don't arrest me." He was getting to her

johnttf

DRPAIN

Tuesday, March 3, 2009 6:28 AM

On the way to meet up with the rest of the crew

They had to find a way back up to the crew. They originally were going to take the stairs, but 13 had told them about the elevator he saw the other men use. Now came the important question. If the three of them took the elevator, would those other men be hanging around it, or would they have gone on their way? True they could just skip the ordeal and take the stairs, but the elevator was faster much faster than walking up God knew how many flights of stairs.

The trio made their way very cautiously over to where the elevator was. 13 lead the way with Ivy in the middle and Pain taking the rear. They did their best to be as quiet as possible so as not to alert anyone who might be loitering around the general area of the elevator. Pain kept the light from his assault rifle low to the ground, occasionally looking back over his shoulder to see if there was anyone behind them.

13 held up an arm and whispered, "Hold it. I hear someone up ahead."

Ivy and Pain stopped and tried to listen to see if they could hear what 13 did. 13 cocked his head slightly, holding up a finger, and for a short moment he said nothing as he adjusted his hearing. It took only a few seconds before he whispered what he was hearing in the exact same voice of the person he was eavesdropping on.

"This is Crane reporting, Captain." 13 whispered, mimicking Crane's exact wording and syntax. "Rojas and I are at the elevator in Sector 7. We found some stuff and are on our way up shortly. Gorramn lift is taking forever."

"So there's only two of them?" Pain whispered to 13, sliding closer to the robot and turning off his weapons light. "How far are they?"

13 nodded and whispered back, "About 30 feet ahead and to the right." He looked back at Pain and asked, "I'll go. You stay with her."

"Are you sure about that?" Pain whispered back.

"Yes." 13 whispered. "The area they're in opens up into a large open area. The elevator is across the way from the corridor's exit. There's some crates and metal containers around for cover should you feel the need to tag along, but I advise you to wait here." He gave Ivy a look and then said, "For her safety."

At that, 13 turned and headed for the elevator, walking 30 feet and then making a right. His sensors spotted the two men standing outside the elevator, waiting for it to come down. He made no actions to hide that he was there as he walked out into the open.

"HEY! YOU! STOP RIGHT THERE!" shouted Rojas, as he unholstered his pistol and aimed it at 13.

Rojas was a rather short and stalky man in his mid-40's with thinning black hair that was tied in a ponytail. He was of Hispanic origin and had a slightly heavy accent. Rojas was wearing a black leather jacket over a stained white T-shirt, a pair of worn blue jeans, and cracked leather boots. The pistol he had in his hands was a rather old revolver, but it still was functional.

Crane on the other hand was tall and skinny and in his early 30's. He was Caucasian with short spiky blond hair. He wore a long sleeved brown shirt and a pair of camouflaged cargo pants, finished off with a pair of black steel-toed boots. His sawed off lever action shotgun was also aimed at 13.

"STOP OR WE'LL SHOOT!" Crane added, loading a shell into the chamber of his shotgun.

When 13 ignored them, Rojas and Crane opened fire. Unfazed by their bullets and buckshot, 13 whipped out his two sub-machine guns and fired a three round burst at each of them. Casually, 13 holstered his guns as he walked up to their bodies. He looked at them and noticed a comm in Rojas' jacket it pocket.

"Rojas? Crane? What's taking you two so long?" came a voice over the comm.

13 picked it up and said in Crane's voice, "Had to take a leak, boss. We'll be up in a minute."

"Alright then." came the voice over the comm. "Get your pigus moving and no dicking around in there. Dong ma?"

"Got it." 13 replied, using Crane's voice once more.

13 dropped the comm to the ground and headed back over to where Pain and Ivy were. They

DOCRAGNAROCK

Tuesday, March 3, 2009 10:37 PM

I glared at the infuriating man across from me.
"I am going to arrest you!"
He glared right back.
"Fine, then maybe I'll just shot you!" 'Shoot me? Really?' I thought, 'He honestly believes that I believe he'll shoot me?'
"No, you won't"
"O.K, so I wouldn't."
"Maybe I'll shoot you." The other man in the vault,Jayne, spoke up, aiming at me. 'I know just how to deal with this' I thought.
"Not if you want to get laid." John looked at her in exasperation, and Jayne was obvously confused.
"Huh?"
"What? You are not going to sleep with him." John turned and repeated to Jayne,
"She's not going to sleep with you.", before turning back to me.
"He's not your type."
"How do you know?" I snarkly replied "My type could be...big, simple, and violent."
"That does sound like my brother."
Now this was like old times.

It is the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting

JOHNTHETHEATREFREAK

Wednesday, March 4, 2009 4:01 AM

John had managed to lighten the mood enough to move on. "Look, we sort of have places to be, so it was awful seeing you again. Stay away!"

"YOu can't just walk away like that!" Doc shouted after him.

"Really..." John was interupted by a gunshot. Reacting by instinct, he crouched. He looked around and saw a pair of gentlemen. He heard a shot from behind as Jayne expertly fired at the first, bringing him down. John was unsure as to whether or not the man was dead. "We already destroyed your ship, you have no where to go!" John was confused. "River, has the ship been destroyed." he whispered into the com.

"No." She replied curtly.

"I think you're mistaken," John began before it hit him. "OH! Bad luck Doc." She looked incredibly angry. An since it wasn't at him, this would be entertaining

johnttf

ENGLISHIVY

Wednesday, March 4, 2009 7:57 AM

Ivy and Pain heard the sound of distant gunfire in the direction 13 had gone.

The sound of a single gunshot reverberated inside Ivy's mind. She flinched, covered her ears, shut her eyes and slid down the wall. The shot was so familiar, so...

Pain was at her side in an instant, laying a hand on her shoulder, while his eyes were trained on the ruckus that 13 was probably responsible for.

The gunshot sound shot through her head again as a tear slid down her face.

"Don't look, Ivy," he said softly as his grip on his gun tightened as he heard footsteps coming their way. "Don't look. Now is not the time to look."

Ivy nodded her head slowly as Pain wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her up gently to a standing position.

"Ivy?" he asked her, eyes and gun still scanning the hallway in front of them. "Can I speak to Tommy for a minute."

Ivy nodded slowly again and Tommy slid forward.

"I'm here," she said, her gun switching from her right hand to her left.

Pain turned to look at her square in the eyes.

"I can't have her going to pieces now. You know that don't you?"

"I'm working on it."

"I need to know what is setting her off," Pain asked her, knowing that it was a good chance Tommy wouldn't tell him. When she didn't answer, he asked again. "Please Tommy, I need to know."

"It's the sound of guns firing," she whispered. "That's all I am going to say. And don't expect me to tell you anything else, so don't even ask."

He gave her a quick hug.

"I need to go back and do damage control," she told him. "You take care of her."

"I will. I promise."

Tommy faded back and Ivy slid back in control, her gun switching back into her right hand. She was relaxing a little.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"S'Ok. I just need you to focus. This is not going as planned. I need you to be able to help if needed."

Ivy nodded and took in a deep breath. Pain leaned down and kissed her softly.

"I'll protect you. I promise," he told her.

He kissed her again to show her that he meant it, just as 13 came around the corner.

"You guys can't keep your hands off each other even in a time like this?" 13 said, slightly disgusted. "Now is not the time to be sucking face."

Pain parted from her and walked up to 13.

"What did you do back there?" he asked in a slightly accusatory tone. "And how bad is it gonna bite us in the ass later?"

DRPAIN

Thursday, March 5, 2009 11:44 PM

With Pain, 13, and Ivy

Quote:
Originally posted by EnglishIvy:
"What did you do back there?" he asked in a slightly accusatory tone. "And how bad is it gonna bite us in the ass later?"

"I believe I took care of our little problem with the elevator being guarded by two armed thugs, who by the by shot at me first." spat 13, a hint of blue white energy sparking through his eyes. "As for the ass biting, that depends on how long it takes the poor dupe that I talked to on the comm back there, to realize Mr. Rojas and Mr. Crane aren't where they're supposed to be and he sends someone to check up on them."

13 took his gaze off Pain, looked at Ivy. and then back at Pain. He straightened his posture and re-holstered his submachine guns, while adding, "It also depends on how long you're willing to stand here and give me a lecture about it while your girlfriend's standing there getting her panties in a twist. Oh that's right! SHE'S NOT WEARING ANY!!!"

13 stalked off towards where the elevator was and stopped a short distance away. Turning his head slightly, he said in a more somber tone, "You know, the next time I try to be nice and help, I think I'll just sit in the corner and twiddle my thumbs while you two get yourselves shot at. How's that for you?"

He moved again and didn't bother looking back this time as he disappeared though the dimly lit blackness. If they followed him back to the elevator that was fine by him. If they decided to go with the stairs, that was fine by him too.

Pain stood there, watching until 13's form disappeared around a corner. The heat from his anger still flowing through his veins and radiating off his body. It wasn't so much the hatred for the Bot Boy himself, but his actions and words. He turned back to Ivy and his gaze softened. He walked over to her and embraced her in his arms, careful not to poke her with his assault rifle.

"Come on, baobei. Lets get a move on." he said softly to her, one hand stroking her hair as he leaned down and kissed the top of her head.

The walk back to the elevator gave 13 time for his circuits to cool down somewhat. Not much mind you, but enough that they wouldn't overheat and send him into standby mode. As he got to the elevator, 13 moved the bodies of Rojas and Crane off into the shadows and behind some crates, so that no one would immediately see them and guess what happened. He hoped that the dim lighting would help camouflage the puddles of blood as well as the streaks of it that lead to Rojas and Crane's bodies. Back at the elevator, 13 opened the doors and stepped in, holding them open while waiting for Pain and Ivy in case they followed him.

ENGLISHIVY

Saturday, March 7, 2009 5:52 AM

Pain looked at 13 as he stepped into the elevator. His jaw flexed a bit as he thought for a bit, weighing his options. 13 had been quite rude to Ivy and he had already dispatched of two of the "bad guys." Who knows what else 13 might do, plus the constant berating of his relationship with Ivy was enough to distract him from the job at hand. Finally he came to a decision. He reached his hand down and grasped Ivy's.

"We'll take the stairs," he said between clenched teeth. "I don't think it's safe to go with you. Be a bit distracted with having you around."

13 got an incredulous look on his face and stepped into the doorway of the elevator.

"Distracted around me? It's her that's got you distracted! Wrapped around your finger she has you!" 13 exclaimed.

Ivy's head dropped a bit at the exchange.

"Maybe I like they way she makes me feel? Ever think about that?"

"It's not you, Pain. She's done something to you," 13 accused. "You were never like this with Ertia!"

13 has crossed the line. Pain closed his eyes and took in a deep breath.

"Yeah, well, neither were you," he answered evenly. He gave Ivy's hand a gentle squeeze. "Come on Ivy, let's take the stairs."

And they all went their separate ways.

DRPAIN

Sunday, March 8, 2009 6:50 AM

In the Stairwell

"Is he always like that?" Ivy asked Pain as she walked up the stairs with him. "Or is he just like that because of me?"

"I think he's just jealous, baobei." replied Pain, giving her hand a squeeze and showing her a smile.

"Jealous?" Ivy asked as they continued climbing the stairs ahead of them. "Why would something like him be jealous?"

"Don't rightly know, babe." replied Pain as they neared the corner up ahead. "But then again this is 13 we're talkin' about. The same 13 who likes to wear disguises and crash me dates." He shrugged and added, "Although I am glad he chose not to wear a dress last time."

He held up a arm as they passed the closed door to the floor they were on. He peered through the slim dusty rectangular window, trying to see if anyone was on the floor they were on. When he didn't see anyone through the window, he signaled Ivy that it was safe to continue up and onward.

Pain held Ivy's hand again as the ascended the next flight of stairs. While looking up ahead, he said to her, "Speaking of dates, I think we should figure out what to do for our second one. As much as I'd like a re-match at Paint Tag, I'm kind of leanin' towards packing a basket with food, grabbin' a blanket, and findin' someplace out of the way to have a picnic." He turned to her, giving her a smile, and asked, "Would you like that?"

ENGLISHIVY

Monday, March 9, 2009 4:30 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by DRPAIN:
"Would you like that?"

"I would," she said, smiling. "It's been a while since I've gone on a picnic."

"Then it's settled."

"Yes, I guess it's-" Ivy's foot slipped and her hand slipped out of Pain's as she fell to her knees. Her hands broke her fall and they got slightly skinned, but she whacked her knee hard. "Owww..."

Pain was at her side in an instant.

"Are you OK, bao bei?" he asked, concerned.

"Yeah..." she said as she stood up and brushed her hands off on her pants.

"You're bleeding," Pain whispered. as he went back down a couple of stairs to check out torn place in her pants just below her knee and the cut contained within.

Ivy looked down.

"Ah... It's just a little cut," Ivy remarked. "And these were my new pants!"

"We can always go shopping again," Pain told her. "It does seem to be stopping already."

"Pain, it would take a little more than some blood loss to slow me down."

"That concussion didn't, that's for sure," he teased her. She giggled a bit before he looked up at her with a devilish grin. "Want me to kiss it for you?"

"Eww... This place is filthy. I don't think that's neccessary."

Pain stood up to find himself face to face with Ivy. They froze for a moment, before Pain leaned in and kissed her. It was a short kiss, just a brief touch of their lips, before backing away.

"Maybe 13 was right. Maybe you have done something to me," he whispered. "Cause here we are on a job, where danger could literally be right around the corner and I am having the most inappropriate thoughts..."

He didn't finish his sentence. Instead, he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her hard and passionately.

DRPAIN

Monday, March 9, 2009 6:45 AM

In the Stairwell

Their tongues pirouetted like ballerinas inside each others mouths as they kissed. Ivy pressed herself tighter to Pain, her hands roaming his back as her eyes fluttered inside her head. She let out a moan in between kisses and when there was a momentary break in lip contact, Ivy panted and put her hands on Pain's chest.

Looking into his eyes, she said to him as her chest heaved up and down, "Babe, we can visit your inappropriate thoughts after awhile, but right now I honestly think we need to finish this job." She gave him another long kiss and after breaking it of, said with a sly smile, "Remember, baby. We work before we play."

Pain looked into her dazzling green eyes and sighed. Unwrapping her from his grasp, he nodded and said to her, "You're right. We need to focus on the job." He looked her over slowly before letting out a defeated sigh and saying, "I guess I can wait."

Ivy looked up at him, smiled and said, "Good boy. Your patience will certainly pay off in the end. I can guarantee you that."

ENGLISHIVY

Thursday, March 12, 2009 6:24 AM

Pain was holding a gun in one hand and holding Ivy’s hand in the other as he led her up the stairs. About a floor and a half up, something brushed Ivy’s ankle. She screamed and with freakish speed, she ran up a few stairs, passing Pain. Pain whirled around to see the problem, instinctively using his arm to push Ivy behind his back.

Then he laughed.

“It’s a mouse, darling,” he chuckled as he turned around to face her. Again, she ended up being eye level with him and she was still staring down at the stairs where she had been with a ridiculous ‘It’s-a-mouse’ look on her face. He laughed at her again. Finally she turned her focus on him, looking him straight in the face. She was slightly embarrassed and hot under the collar because he had laughed. Her green eyes sparkled with intensity. It sucked Pain’s breath away.

Select to view spoiler:

“It felt bigger,” she managed to get out before Pain reached around her with his free hand and pulled her flush against him. His mouth covered hers, his tongue seeking its mate. She stiffened for a split second, then melted against him, wrapping her arms around him while still holding her gun.

Pain picked her up and went up the next three stairs until he reached a landing. When he got there, he sat her on half-concrete wall that served as the railing for the stairwell, never stopping the intensity of his kissing. His lips left hers to travel down her neck before nipping on her shoulder.

“Pain…” she moaned as her eyes closed. She heard him place his rifle on the top of the rail as well and both of his hands started to roam over her body. His touch was electric, shooting sparks throughout her body. She tried to say something to him about it not being the right time for sex, but all she could get out was his name. “Pain…”

His hands unbuttoned her shirt quickly, but when he touched her chest, there was nothing fast about it. His touch was tender, it caressed over her stomach, her ribs and her breasts. She arched her back in response.

“Pain…” she panted as her hands reached for his chest only to come in contact with his body armor. Normally, she would have been disappointed that she couldn’t touch him, but right now, right there, in the midst of all the danger, it just turned her on more. She reached down and placed her gun on the ledge as well before running her hands through his hair. “Pain… We shouldn’t…”

“Screw ‘shouldn’t’ bao bei,” he growled as touched her. “Just relax and enjoy yourself.”

Ivy knew they shouldn’t have been doing what they were, but the added high of their current location and environment just made his every touch and glide over her skin so sensual.

“I’m relaxin’” she whispered as her hands unbuckled his cargo pants. The weight of the weaponry the pockets carried caused them to fall to his ankles without even a thought. She took him in her hands, slowly caressing his entire length.

“Ivy…” he moaned as his eyes rolled backwards into his head. “Oh God, Ivy…”

It didn’t take him long to remove her pants. He scooted her to the edge of the wall and slowly entered her. Both of them shuddered and Pain started with a quick pace, but after a minute, he slowed down into the languid pace, his strokes long and slow.

“I don’t want to rush…” he whispered into her ear between pants. “I know we should… oooh… but I… *moan* I can’t. I’m going… oh God…to get us… *grunt* both killed.”

“Then don’t rush,” Ivy said as her whole body shuddered in delight. “And if today is the day… *pant* we are meant… oh, Pain… to die… ooooohhh… I wouldn’t want… *moan* to be anywhere else… *breath hitches* right now… *God* but here.”

Pain groaned as he buried his face in her neck and the two of them continued their tryst in silence, except for the sound of each other in utter carnal bliss.

DRPAIN

Friday, March 13, 2009 4:52 AM

In the Stairwell

Select to view spoiler:

After they had finished making love in the stairwell, Pain and Ivy continued to kiss and touch each other. Pain whispered naughty things into Ivy's ear, causing her to giggle quietly and moan as Pain gave her a few slow teasing thrusts.

"I bet you'd like that wouldn't you babe?" Ivy whispered as she nibbled on his left earlobe, her hands gripping Pain's sides.

"Indeed I would." Pain whispered back, his own hands gliding up her ribs.

Ivy stifled a giggle as she wiggled her hips some and murmured, "That tickles, baby."

Pain ran his hands over her ribs again and caused her to stifle more giggling. She in turn slid one of her hands between Pain's legs while he was still inside her and caused him to jump back a little.

"You naughty girl." Pain whispered to her as he gave her devious a smile.

"Naughty boy." she whispered back, giving him her own devious smile.

Pain brought himself closer to her, kissing her passionately on the mouth before whispering in her right ear, "We should probably get dressed now, baobei. 13 and the other team are probably at the command center by now."

ISAHIAH

Saturday, March 14, 2009 4:15 AM

Mal, Zoe, Cate and Isahiah ran carefully towards the competing ship. Guns were drawn and eyes were peeled for any unfriendlies. When they got near the other ship, they slowed down per Mal’s hand signals and quietly moved forward, taking cover where they could.

As they creeped closer, they could see that the men from the other ship had two hand trucks with a couple of small crates on each one. They had also stacked some other things on the floor next to them.

“That’s it!” Isahiah said quietly to Mal, Zoe and Cate. “Those crates on the hand carts are what we came for.”

Mal looked at the size of the boxes and was less than convinced of their value.

“Those small things?” he asked. “We are risking everything for four small crates?”

“Four small and very VALUABLE crates,” Isahiah reassured the others.

“It’d better be,” Mal warned him.

It was then that bullets rang out from the other ship’s direction. Mal, Zoe, Cate and Isahiah dove for cover behind nearby crates. Mal swore and peeked out from behind a crate to see what was going on, but nearly got him head shot off for his troubles. He switched on the comm as a new barrage of gunfire swept over them.

“Where in the Hell are you guys?” he yelled.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————>>>
BigWolf18 "Way i remember it, you said you was leavin', dare say that saved us a whole peck o' trouble. now i gotta wonder what could spur on a fine disreputable man like yourself to show your fine disreputable face here again."

...Dust monkeys...

DRPAIN

Monday, March 16, 2009 11:09 PM

In the Stairwell

Quote:
Originally posted by DRPAIN:
"We should probably get dressed now, baobei. 13 and the other team are probably at the command center by now."

"I wish we had more time." Ivy replied, running her hands down his body armor covered back. She looked into his eyes, pouting a little as she added, "Things were just starting to get fun."

"I know, baby, I know." he replied, gazing into her beautiful green eyes before kissing her passionately on the lips. As Pain's lips departed Ivy's, he whispered to her, "But playtime is over now and we've got a job to do that doesn't involve sexin' each other up in an abandoned stairwell."

Pain and Ivy shared some more kisses between the two of them, as well as some intimate touching. They continued on this way until their earpieces crackled to life and caused them to pause.

Quote:
Originally posted by Isahiah:
“Where in the Hell are you guys?” he yelled.

They could hear the gunfire in the background and some of the crew swearing as the Captain wondered where they were. There was a brief swear from Jayne which was quickly followed by the staccato blasts from his gun as he returned fire. Pain looked at Ivy and pressed his earpiece. He could tell that she was getting nervous.

"We're here sir." Pain replied into his earpiece. "Got turned around takin' the stairs, but I believe we're headin' up in the right way now."

"Well hurry it the hell up, will you?" Mal replied, bullets whizzing by his head as he returned fire. "We don't got all day and we sure as hell don't have the ammo."

More gunfire was heard before the comm went dead. Pain looked at Ivy again and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Babe, you don't have to do this if'n you don't want to. I'll understand if you want Tommy to take over." he said to her.

"I.. I.. I can do.. this." Ivy replied, shaking a little.

Pain placed his forehead against hers' and looked into her eyes as he placed a hand on her cheek. She hesitated a little before locking her eyes onto his. She was trembling a little and obviously distraught.

"You sure?" Pain asked soothingly. "You don't look like it, baobei. Perhaps Tommy should come out and take over for now."

DRJACEYGARNER

Wednesday, March 18, 2009 2:36 AM

Never mind... There is nothing here to see...

ENGLISHIVY

Wednesday, March 18, 2009 2:38 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by DRPAIN:
"You sure?" Pain asked soothingly. "You don't look like it, baobei. Perhaps Tommy should come out and take over for now."

Ivy took in a deep breath and embraced Pain hard, pulling her body as close to his as possible.

"No," she said, sounding stronger than before. "I can do this. I have to do this. I can't run to Tommy every time something gets difficult.

She backed up just far enough that she could kiss him lightly.

"We should get dressed," she said, looking down at her very near nakedness. "We have friends to help."

"We do, bao bei," Pain said softly. "Are you completely sure? I wouldn't think any less of you if Tommy were to come out."

Ivy thought for a second before she answered.

"Yes. I'm sure."

Pain lifted her off the wall and then off of him before setting her on the floor. They both dressed quickly, then grabbed their guns.

"Are you ready?" Pain asked. She nodded. "Keep your eyes out. We don't know who is hiding where. OK?"

Ivy nodded again.

"You sure you are OK?" Pain asked her a last time.

"Yes," Ivy confirmed. "Anyways, I have you to protect me, right?"

JOHNTHETHEATREFREAK

Wednesday, March 18, 2009 11:00 PM

Doc let out a long stream of innapropriate Chinese slang before standing, shooting the other man in the knee caps and walking to his location. John, knowing Doc to be a vengeful woman, worried how long this might take.

She lowered herself by the first man and pulled out a knife. "I don't like it when people touch my stuff," she seethed before chopping off one of his fingers.

"Doc we don't have time for this!" John said. Too hurried to comment on her brutality.

She turned to the other man. "He appears to be already dead. Too bad. But now I have my full attention on you." She removed another finger, this time slowly drawing out the pain.

"Where are you guys?" the comm chattered. "We're on our way, captain." John replied.

"Doc, if you want to get off this planet you come with us now."

"HE TOUCHED MY THINGS!" she said not turning from the man. She puntuated the next comment with non fatal stabs to the man's body. "I get very angry. when people. touch my things!"

"Well I don't have time for your anger. Jayne shoot him" John said.

"Just leave her to her torture and let's go" he replied turning away.

"I owe her a favor, just do it."

"Fine" Jayne fired at the man's head, killing him.

Doc sttod an turned seething. She wiped her knife on the man's clothes before sheeting it. "You're no fun." she said walking past him. In silence the quartet rushed to the rest of the crew.

John, Jayne, and Doc began to fire on the unsespecting men as they approached. Many of them hit the floor before noticing them. Once they had been noticed they hid with the captain. "Why aren't we getting back to the ship? This job's a bust and someone is going to get hurt!" John whispered loudly.

johnttf

DRPAIN

Sunday, March 22, 2009 1:52 AM

In the Stairwell

Quote:
Originally posted by EnglishIvy:
"Yes," Ivy confirmed. "Anyways, I have you to protect me, right?"

"Of course." replied Pain as they started to head up the stairs double time.

Pain wasn't quite sure Ivy was up to the task at hand, but she wanted to help and she adamantly insisted to Pain exactly that. He would do his best to make sure she was safe and hoped that 13 would too, despite his recent behavior towards them. Failure at this point was no option. Pain would have to do his best and be on his toes to insure Ivy's safety, even though she'd be on the firing line with both him and 13. He knew he could do it or least try to.

"No." he thought. "I can and will protect her."

At the Shootout with Mal and Crew

Quote:
Originally posted by johnthetheatrefreak:
"Why aren't we getting back to the ship? This job's a bust and someone is going to get hurt!" John whispered loudly.

"You know, John, as much as I'd like to high tail it out of here with all my parts accounted for and non-perforated by lead, we're short a few people and crates if you haven't noticed." Mal replied over the gunfire, a hint of disdain in his voice. Mal exchanged some gunfire in return from behind his cover, and continued as he ducked back down, "We don't and can't leave until everyone's accounted for and those crates are sittin' pretty in our cargo bay, don..."

An explosion coming from the other side of the facility cut Mal's words off and echoed off the walls. It caused both sides of the firefight to cease fire and wonder who or what had caused it. Where there once was a door on the east side of the facility leading to the stairwell, a gaping, smoldering hole two times the size of said door replaced it. Black smoke and a trickle of flame obscured the entrance. Bits and pieces of flaming door and wall lay scattered over the place haphazardly.

As the confusion and smoke started to wane, a tall, heavily armed man emerged. His bullpup configured assault rifle aimed at chest level spat fire and lead at those he didn't know before he fired a flashbang from the grenade launcher. The man took cover back inside the entrance to the stairwell and looked away as the flashbang exploded in deafening sound and blinding white light. At the sounds of the dazed and confused, he stepped back out and fired, ushering his female companion to some stacked crates for cover. Once his magazine was empty, he too followed her right as the gunfire erupted again.

"Nice of you and Ivy to join us, Pain." came Mal's voice from Pain's earpiece.

"Thought I'd make a grand entrance, sir." replied Pain. "That and I was too lazy to bother openin' the door with my hands."

ENGLISHIVY

Monday, March 23, 2009 4:43 AM

OOC: Here is a really bad rendition of what the tarmac where the crates, other ship and gunplay is happening. My graphics prowess is less than good.

Pain and Ivy has come out of what was left of the northeast stairwell and hid behind some crates. Bullets flew all around them. She looked to her left at Pain, who seemed very much in his element. Across the way to her right were the rest of the crew. Mal's group had come from the command center and John's group from the northwest stairwell/elevator.

She cocked her head a little when she saw John's group. Who was that extra woman with them? She wasn't onboard the ship before. Ivy pushed it out of her mind and concentrated at the task at hand.

The crew all seemed to embody the idea of military and efficient. Well, everyone but her and maybe Cate. It was all very surreal. The only thing that made it quite realistic were the bullets that threaten to make them into swiss cheese.

"You OK, bao bei?" Pain asked as he paused to duck down behind his crate.

"Just dandy," Ivy called back to him, trying to make light of their circumstance, but her wavering voice betrayed her confidence.

"Just stay where you are, darlin' and let me take care of the rest."

"O-ok."

Ivy surveyed the area around her. She could see the other ship and Serenity. There were other entrances to the underground facility nearby and the Command Center was about 50 yards behind them. Crates and such littered the entire tarmac. That was everything and there she was too. Right in the middle of it all.

Breathe, she thought. In and out... In and out...

She saw some muzzle fire erupt from Serenity's cargo bay. She squinted and saw River standing there. One of their competitors fell to the ground. River ducked back inside the bay as her actions drew attention and fire away from the rest of them. She heard the footsteps of Mal's and John's groups seeking better positions.

The other ship started rumbling as their engines were coming online.

"They're gonna bolt!" she heard Pain yell.

Ivy peeked over the crate to see the crew of the other ship retreating back towards their ship.

"We need that cargo!" she heard Isahiah exclaim.

What can I do? she asked herself.

Ivy looked around again and an idea was born.

"I'll be right back," she shouted over to Pain as she sprinted away from her position.

"Ivy! Get back - " yelled Pain. He tried to follow her, but bullets rained down on his position and he was forced to focus on that instead. "IVY!"

She ran towards the Command Center. That was the place where a land lock might be able to be done. She was going to make herself useful. She would show them all that she could be a part of the crew. Then they would let her stay.

JOHNTHETHEATREFREAK

Tuesday, March 24, 2009 2:15 AM

John flinched as he felt the pain of each shot. The crew was suprisingly together, even Doc. He managed to catch part of the conversation she and Jayne were having. Something about how now he'll never get any. He continued to shoot at the men. They were beginning to retreat.

John began to dive from crate to crate shooting in between. They had to get the cargo to leave and maybe a direct approach was called for.

johnttf

DRPAIN

Tuesday, March 24, 2009 6:41 AM

"Gorrammit!" Pain spat as he returned fire.

What the hell was that girl thinking? Running off like that without using any cover. Did she think they were firing magical bullets or something? Was she trying to get herself killed and make him go through one serious guilt trip?

A bullet whizzed past Pain's head and brought him out of his mental conniption fit about Ivy. He saw the culprit and returned fire with a three round burst to the man's chest. Another person took a shot at Pain and missed. Pain fired back, but missed as well. He swore as he ducked behind his cover and listened to bullets hit the crates, sending a shower of splinters every which way. Pain waited for a moment and then brought his assault rifle up and fired another burst, catching the man in the right shoulder and clavicle.

As the man fell screaming and cursing to his comrades, Pain caught movement from out of the corner of his right eye. He turned his head to see John diving from crate to crate and let out a long string of Chinese swear words just as another couple of rounds went Pain's way.

"John, you crazy ruttin' fool, you're goin' to get yourself killed." Pain muttered to himself as he ducked down and loaded another grenade into the launcher mounted underneath his assault rifle.

"But not if'n I can do anythin' about that." Pain said to himself as he knelt on one knee, aimed for the ceiling above where he spotted a couple of baddies hiding and watching John.

As one was about to aim and fire at the crate diving man, Pain fired and watched as the ceiling above the men exploded and rained debris down on them. Seeing one of the men still alive, but crawling, Pain carefully aimed and fired a single shot at the man's head. He then gave John a nod and a smile before getting up and following the man's lead, providing cover fire along the way.

"This is probably not the smartest thing you've done, John" Pain said between shooting and moving. "Most likely wind up gettin' shot and whatnot, but I'll help nonetheless because you're crew and well.."

Pain shot another guy and continued, "I miss doin' stupid go-se like this." Pain fired another burst at few more of the rival ship's crew and asked, "How about I shoot while you grab the loot. Sound like a hoot to you?"

ENGLISHIVY

Tuesday, March 24, 2009 8:27 PM

Ivy dodged behind crates and such as she made her way back to the Command Center. She let out a small scream each time a bullet hit near her, but she was resolute about getting to her intended goal.

Finally she was inside. She looked out the window and saw that the ship was very close to being able to take off. The air around the dock area was swirling, whipping the hair and clothing of her fellow crewmembers around.

"Land lock... Land lock..." she whispered as she searched the consoles looking for something that resembled what she was looking for.

She had a boyfriend on her home planet who had worked part time at the local dockyard. She had been in there many times visiting him while he was at work and he had gotten so excited the one day he got to put a land lock on a ship. He talked about it for weeks, showing her every time she came which buttons he pushed as though it was the first time she had heard the story.

"Aha!" she exclaimed as she found the panel she needed. Looking at it she tried to remember what he had done. "Where's that switch? Where's..."

She located the land lock initiation sequence switch. She flipped it on and then looked at the screen to determine which spot the other ship was currently situated. She looked from the screen to the outside and back to the screen, trying to orient herself. She finally stood up completely by the window to see if there was a designation marked anywhere. She saw it just as a bullet crashed through the glass. She screamed and ducked to the floor.

Staying low, she crawled over to the screen, entered in the designation she saw and pressed the button marked "ACTIVATE."

Immediately, the ship's engines began to power down and a red flashing light pulsed around the ship's depiction on the screen.

"So there!" she whispered as if Mal was in the room with her. "I CAN be helpful."

She stood up to try to return to her original spot out by Pain, but another bullet richocheted off the window frame changed her mind. She sat down on the floor in a spot where she could watch for passers by, clutched her gun tight and made herself ready for anything.

"I think I'll stay right here."

JOHNTHETHEATREFREAK

Wednesday, March 25, 2009 2:29 AM

"It wasn't that stupid," John said in defense, "I knew someone would back me up, and they did. Sounds like a plan." John continued his journey toward the cargo, diving and twisting to make a difficult target. He was very good at this, despite how it seemed. He shot at the men in front of him when neccessary, but never to kill. He reached the crates, suprinsingly small. "Is this all of them!?!" he shouted over the fire fight.

"Yes," said River suddenly at his side.

Together they gathered the crates and attempted to return to the ship.

johnttf

DRPAIN

Thursday, March 26, 2009 12:15 AM

"Shouldn't you be back on the ship?" Pain asked River, as he ejected the empty magazine from his assault rifle and slapped in a fresh one.

"Ship's fine." she replied as she helped John with the crates. "Needed here more."

The rest of the crew was now joining in on helping to get the crates back to Serenity and shooting those who tried to shoot back. Pain noticed that the other ship's engines no longer were on, which must have meant that someone, probably Ivy or someone else, activated the land lock. Pain was sure that whoever was aboard that ship was sure having a heck of a time trying to override that land lock. That was if they weren't part of the dead or injured in the facility.

Pain along with Jayne and 13, stayed behind while the others headed back to Serenity with the crates. They did it to make sure no one from the other ship either tried to follow or shoot them. There were only a few of the crew from the other ship left. Pain, Jayne, and 13 traded lead with them, which only lasted for about two minutes until those from the other crew were subdued.

Jayne pressed his hand to his ear and then looked to Pain and 13 and said, "Cap says to pack it up and head on back."

"Alright." replied Pain. "I'll go find Ivy while you two head back."

"You sure?" asked Jayne, his brow furrowed.

"Yeah." Pain replied, slinging his assault rifle across his shoulder. "Probably shouldn't take more than a few minutes. I think she's in the Command Center."

"Probably take longer than that." muttered 13 loud enough for both Pain and Jayne to hear.

"What was that?" Pain asked, raising an eyebrow as he turned to 13.

"I SAID IT'LL PROBABLY TAKE LONGER THAN A FEW MINUTES!" 13 shouted.

Jayne let out a chuckle and said to 13, "Good one." Patting Pain on the back, Jayne said with a grin on his face, "Just remember to comm us when you two are done, so we can tell the Captain not to leave you behind."

Both Jayne and 13 shared a laugh as they headed back to the ship while Pain stood there fuming. He took a breath and let out a sigh as he headed up to the Command Center. While Pain did that, 13 stopped and cocked his head. With his hearing he could hear footsteps come from elsewhere in the facility. They didn't match those from Serenity's crew, which told 13 that they belonged to those from the other ship. They were stragglers most likely. Late to the party as always.

Jayne stopped and saw that 13 was standing there. Tilting his head slightly, he asked, "Hey, Bot Boy, somethin' gettin' yer gears in a bind?"

"No." 13 replied. He turned around and started to head back to where Pain was before stopping once more and adding, "Get back to the ship, Jayne. It's nothing I can't handle."

Command Center

Pain approached the door to the Command Center. He stood there for a bit before knocking and asking, "Baobei? You in here? We've got the crates and are ready to head back to the ship."

ENGLISHIVY

Thursday, March 26, 2009 12:59 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by DRPAIN:
Command Center

Pain approached the door to the Command Center. He stood there for a bit before knocking and asking, "Baobei? You in here? We've got the crates and are ready to head back to the ship."

Ivy jumped up and into Pain's arms.

"Did you see it? Did you see me put the land lock on that ship?" she exclaimed. "Mal and the others will have to see that I can be useful now. After all, I was very useful."

"Well, let's go, while the getting is good," Pain said as he grabbed her hand and led her out of the Command Center.

The kept to the crated area, just in case they needed any cover. Ivy looked over at the door that Pain had blown up making their entrance.

"That was a little overkill, wasn't it?" she stated, giggling a bit.

"But you have to admit, bao bei," Pain chuckled back as he turned to look at her. "It was fun-"

Pain was interrupted by the sound of gunfire. He shoved Ivy behind a crate and took up behind another one himself. The gunfire was coming out of the other ship's cargo bay. Reinforcements had arrived.

"Gorrammit!" he swore as he dropped the gun that he was holding in his right hand. He started to assess the damage from the bullet that ripped through the muscle between his shoulder and elbow. It didn't look bad, but moving his hand and shooting with it would now be problematic and also painful.

From behind the other crate, Ivy tried to look over at Pain. Pain was crouched down too, but something was wrong.

His gun.

His gun lay on the ground and he was holding his arm. A grimace played over his face.

“Pain?” Ivy asked shakily.

“I’m fine, bao bei,” he called out to her. “Just a slight graze.”

She looked over again as more bullets flew over her head. She cringed. Pain ripped his shirt, wrapped it around the wound and using his teeth, he tied it off.

She closed her eyes and pulled the gun up between her knees to stop her hands from shaking.

Pain picked up his gun in his left hand and got a few shots off, killing one of baddies in the cargo bay.

“Ivy?” he yelled over to her. “I’m gonna need you to help.”

Ivy shook her head slightly, the shaking spreading to her whole body.

“Ivy?” Pain gently called out to her again.

Bullets from a slightly different angle rained down on their location. A couple of stragglers had come on the scene from the Southwest entryway.

“Ivy!” he yelled at her. “We got more visitors from the stairwell! They’re gonna move around to our right to get a better shot at us! They get there, we’re goners!”

She didn’t move.

“TOMMY!”

The shaking stilled and Tommy looked over at Pain.

“Watch the right! I’ll watch their cargo bay!”

She nodded as they both rose up to take aim of their perspective targets. Tommy shot, cutting down one of the two stragglers. But then she felt it, bullets piercing her body. One... Two... Three... It knocked her backwards and onto her side, her gun skidding a few feet away from her.

It was surreal. Too surreal. She was thinking that when she felt herself slip away and her heart stop.

Meanwhile...

River was running at full speed up to the bridge when she fell. She couldn't get her breath and was trying to get up but couldn't.

John had been behind her, wanting to get up to the engine room in case Kaylee needed him.

"River!" he exclaimed. "What's wrong?"

River clutched her chest, but was finally able to stand partially straight.

"Ivy..." she ground out. "Get Simon."

Slowly she started back on her trek to the bridge. She had to get them off this rock before things got worse.

JOHNTHETHEATREFREAK

Thursday, March 26, 2009 2:37 AM

John had learned long ago not to ask questions when getting Simon was involved. He rushed to the infirmary and found the man standing there.

"Simon," he said

"Oh," Simon said turning, "I guess we're lucky no one got shot out there. Are we leaving now?"

"Not quite so lucky, someone's hurt." Without replying Simon grabbed his bag and went up to the cargo bay. John followed but stopped when they entered and he noticed Doc standing still in a corner. As Simon made his way to the hatch, John approached her.

"Guess we're on the same boat again."

"I don't like it."

"Soesn't change the facts."

johnttf

DRPAIN

Thursday, March 26, 2009 5:11 AM

"Kao!" shouted Pain as another hail of lead rained in his and Tommy's direction. "We certainly could use some backup right about now, don't you think?"

He fired again at the guys from ship, sending them ducking behind cover. Another round from the remaining gunman on the stairs whizzed past Pain's head. He turned and fired in the man's direction, hitting him in the gut and causing him to stagger. Pain aimed lower and shot the man in the groin, causing him to fall down the stairs.

He wondered why Tommy wasn't firing back and asked, "Babe? How come I ain't hearin' anythin' comin' from your end?" When he didn't get a response from her, he made his way over to her crate, firing his gun behind him. When he got to her all the color drained from his face. The next words that came out of his mouth were just barely above a whisper, "Lao tyen boo."

Tommy laid on the ground motionless. He saw three bullet wounds and quite an amount of blood pouring out of them and starting to pool around her. Bullet #1 had punctured her lower right lung. Bullet #2 had nicked her aorta, which was where most of the blood was coming from. It wasn't major, but it looked that way to Pain. Finally bullet #3 had drilled its way through her left shoulder. His heart sank lower into his body as he dropped his gun and went to work on trying to stop the bleeding. He checked for a pulse and found one, albeit very weak.

Bullets struck the crates around Pain, distracting him from what he was doing. He growled and picked up his gun, aiming it in the direction the bullets had come from and emptied the magazine in a fury of rage and anger. Ejecting the spent magazine, Pain dropped down beside Tommy and loaded another into the gun as best he could. He wished he had some help right now. Either to stop Tommy's bleeding, shoot those shooting at him, or both.

"Wuh de tyen ah." he whispered, as he jackeded a round into the chamber. "Please don't let my baobei die."

There were more gunshots now, but coming from the other direction. Pain looked up and saw 13 wielding his dual submachine guns. He acknowledged Pain and made his way over after spraying a full auto burst in the direction of the other ship.

"She's hurt, man. She's badly hurt. I.. I don't know how long she's got. We need to stop the blood loss and get her to Serenity's infirmary quick." replied Pain as he talked about Tommy.

"I see that." replied 13 in almost a deadpan tone. He looked down at her and raised an eyebrow at Pain as he asked, "And I suppose she wants a medal for that?" 13 checked his pockets and shrugged as he said, "Drat. I'm out of medals."

Pain looked up at 13, his eyes filled with anger, rage, and sadness. He pointed his gun at him and seethed, "She needs medical attention now. Get her to the infirmary. Now!"

"No." 13 simply said, looking straight into the mercenary's eyes. There was another hail of gunfire and 13 fired a burst in its direction, hitting the person who fired it in the arm.

"No?" Pain repeated though clenched teeth, anger in his breath as his blood started to boil. He tightened his grip on his pistol and continued, "She could die any second and you're refusin' to help save her life? What the rutt is wrong with you, Bot Boy?"

"Nothing that can't be repaired with a little self diagnostic work." 13 calmly said. "And yes, I'm not taking her to the infirmary right now because there's still the threat comin' from the other ship."

"Well do somethin' about it and THEN help me or so help me God, I'll blow your ruttin' circuit board to motherruttin' pieces with a grenade!" shouted a furious Pain.

13 rolled his eyes and feigned a sigh as he said, "Fine, you big bawling baby. I'll go take care of the big scary bad men." As he headed in the direction of the other ship's cargo bay, 13 muttered, "Whiner."

13 moved towards the other ship as the last of the other crew opened fire on him. The bullets punctured his clothing, but did nothing to harm him. As they kept firing on 13, he ejected the spent magazines from his SMGs and slapped in new ones. As the

ENGLISHIVY

Thursday, March 26, 2009 4:16 PM

Pain got up to follow 13 as he carried Tommy back to the ship. He looked down at the pool of blood where Tommy had been laying. There was a lot of blood there. A lot. He picked up her gun and sprinted to the cargo bay door where Mal was standing guard, as Pain ran by, he slammed the door shut.

"River! We're all on!" Mal yelled into the comm. "Get us into the black!"

13 came out of the infirmary and started up the stairs. Bright red covered his shirt. God, that was a lot of blood. Pain fought the urge to rip 13’s circuitry from his robotic body with his bare hands, but it was the blood on 13’s shirt that jerked him back into reality.

“You owe me a shirt, Pain,” 13 yelled down to him.

Again, the want to blow 13 to bits with a grenade entered into his mind. Instead, Pain rushed into the infirmary, where Simon was working frantically on her. The monitor showed no heartbeat.

“Simon?” Pain asked hopefully. He hoped that what he was seeing on the monitor was wrong.

Please, don’t let her die. Please, don’t let her die. Please, don’t let her die. he prayed to himself.

“Her heart’s stopped,” Simon simply said and he kept working.

“Fix her then!” Pain urged him.

“Pain, I might not be able to.”

The stress of the past few moments caught up with Pain: Ivy getting shot, his not being able to help her and 13’s refusal to help. He snapped.

“FIX HER!” he demanded forcefully. Simon glanced up at Pain only to find himself looking down the business end of Pain’s gun. Pain’s voice got eerily calm. “Or I will end you.”

JOHNTHETHEATREFREAK

Friday, March 27, 2009 1:36 AM

He was interuptted by Tommy, Pain, and 13's sudden enterance. The fact that he hadn't felt her coming worried him. She wasn't feeling anything. He pushed in to her consciousness and managed to feel her there, clinging to life. He hoped she would live.

"She'll be fine, get over it." Doc said from behind him.

"See this is the problem with you! You have no feeling toward others. SHE GOT SHOT! and you just stand there all put out. Get over yourself."

"Whoa, we got a problem here," the captain said approaching.

"No, captain, we'll be fine." John shook as the ship took off.

johnttf

DRPAIN

Friday, March 27, 2009 3:51 AM

Infirmary

Quote:
Originally posted by EnglishIvy:
“Or I will end you.”

"Ending me won't reverse her condition, Pain." replied Simon. "In fact it would make it quite worse."

"Well do somethin' then!" Pain demanded, his gun still trained on the doctor, finger hovering over the trigger. "Anythin' to get her breathin' again!"

His eyes began to tear up at the sight of seeing her near lifeless body laying in the tilted back exam chair. She wasn't that far off from fading completely away. He had failed at protecting her. Broken his promise that she would be safe with him nearby. One minute she was helping him dispatch some people shooting at them and the next she was lying in a pool of her own blood with three bullet holes in her body. It was his fault she was this way. He should've done a better job of making sure she was safe. He should've let her stay back on the ship instead of tag along with him.

Pain's emotions got the best of him and he felt his gun start to shake in his hand. He quickly took his finger off the trigger and lowered the gun. He walked over to Tommy's right side and collapsed to his knees. He dropped his gun on the floor and took her hand in his. He gave it a squeeze and a kiss before nuzzling it with his cheek. Her skin felt like ice next to his.

He looked at her as a tear rolled down his cheek and splashed on her hand. His voice wavered as he whispered to her, "I love you, baobei. With all my heart." He sniffled and placed another kiss on her hand. Turning his head to look up at Simon, Pain pleaded, "Please, doc. Save her. For me."

Seeing the big mercenary go from dangerous to a pleading crying mess in mere seconds must've touched a nerve in Simon as he walked over to the man, placed a hand on his left shoulder and said, "I'll see what I can do, but I've got to get her heart beating first before I can assess the damage."

"Thank you." Pain managed to eke out, as he continued to hold onto Tommy's hand.

"It's what I do, Pain. I'm a doctor." replied Simon as he took out a pair of cardiac infusers.

He proceeded to hook her up to the machines in the infirmary and then moved onto unbuttoning her shirt. He noticed that she didn't wear a bra, but that didn't matter to him none as he was in doctor mode now. He placed the infusers on her chest and felt her body arch as the electrical charge ran through her body in an attempt to get her heart beating again. When the line and tone on the heart rate monitor stayed flat, Simon charged up the infusers again and shocked her once more. He did it over and over again until he got a heartbeat. It was faint and erratic, but it was a heartbeat and that was a start.

He gave her some drugs to stabilize it and then went to work on getting her patched up. However Pain was in the way and Simon calmly asked, "Pain? I need you to move so I can get to her wounds. You can have a seat on the counter."

"OK." Pain replied as he gave Tommy's hand a kiss once more and got up to move to the counter. As he sat up on it, he asked, "How is she?"

"She lost quite a lot of blood." replied Simon as he cleaned her wounds and started to fix the damage the bullets caused. As he removed bullet fragments from Tommy, he continued, "I've got a little bit of the artificial blood I used on you. I can start her off on that, but she's going to need a transfusion of the real stuff after. I'll run a scan through the crew records for a match to her blood type, but only after I get both her and you patched up."

"That's fine, doc." replied Pain, feeling a bit better now that there was some hope for Tommy, but still guilty for her getting shot. He winced as he tried to move his right arm and said, "Thanks again, doc. For everything."

"You're welcome." replied Simon, not looking up as he continued on with his work.

ENGLISHIVY

Friday, March 27, 2009 10:42 PM

The Infirmary

Ivy felt the jerking and the electricity course through her body, not once, not twice but many many times. But she wasn't feeling ay pain. It was odd.

She felt someone holding her hand. They were saying somethig, but she wasn't sure what it was. She could tell by the inflection in their voice that it was Pain.

Pain.

Her heart skipped a second, then she felt it start to beat again.

Huh, she thought.

She got up from the table only to look back and still see herself lying there. She looked into the cargo bay and where the doors should be was a bright light. She took a couple of steps forward, but stopped. She looked back at Pain, who was distraught and clinging to her hand, before moving back to the counter to let Simon work. He looked so sad...

"Tommy?" she asked, but she got no response. "Tommy?"

Again nothing. She got alarmed for a bit, but then she noticed something else. The pain from her experiences during the last couple of years was gone. She was whole again. She felt... good. She didn't need Tommy anymore.

She looked back at the bright light, only to see her Daddy standing there.

"Daddy?" she exclaimed as she went closer the light.

But then there was Pain. She looked at him again. He seemed broken and so sad. The big man had tears in his eyes.

As she stood in the middle of the cargo bay, she looked back and forth between the light and Pain. She didn't know where to go. So she ran. Ran so she might be able to think without distraction. Ran without even thinking where she was going.

She didn't even see John as she ran through him, but she felt him shudder because of it. She only stopped when she got to the bridge. Looking out into the black, she tried to think.

"You shouldn't be up here," she heard someone say to her.

"I know, River," Ivy said back to her. "But I don't know what I should do."

Ivy looked at River who stood next to her and River looked her back in the eye.

"You know you need to pick."

Ivy's eyes refocused onto the view outside the ship.

"I know," Ivy admitted. "But I can't. Not quite yet."

YESMYNAMEISKALI

Wednesday, April 1, 2009 2:12 AM

Once John and the captain left the cargo bay, Evelyn glanced surreptitiously around for anyone else. Finding no one, she approached the only person around - her commanding officer.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, trying hard to make it sound like a simple question and not accusatory or anything.

-------------------------------------------------

"See, I've secretly been kind of a fan of me for some time now. I've seen everything I've ever done. I'd love to meet me, but I'd probably just stare and not be able to say anything witty or anything." -- Joss Whedon

DRPAIN

Wednesday, April 1, 2009 6:45 AM

Infirmary

Simon took out the last of the bullet fragments of the bullet that had struck her shoulder and started to patch it up. Pain had insisted that he do the best he could in order to make the scaring minimal. He told Simon that the four scars on her back were all that he could handle at the moment. Simon assured Pain that he would do his best, but there would be a possibility of some slight and rather faint scaring.

As Simon closed up the wound and sanitized the tools, he looked at the bag of synthetic blood hooked up above Ivy. It was about a third of the way gone. Luckily the records indicated that Mal was a match for her blood type, so he would have to call him in for a transfusion. But right now that could wait as Pain's wound needed his attention right now. He removed the blood soaked piece of shirt Pain had used to bandage it and discarded it into the trash can.

He looked at it thoroughly from both sides and said to Pain, "Looks like it just went through the muscle and didn't hit bone. I should be able to patch it up with no problem, but you're going to be a little weak due to the blood loss. I suggest you stay here for a while for observation."

"That's fine by me, doc." replied Pain as he looked over at Ivy, a blanket covering her up to her neck. "I've got nowhere more important to be other than here."

His eyes looked over her covered body. She was hooked up to various machines, all keeping stats on her vitals. Simon even had her hooked up to a ventilator. Pain watched as it moved up and down in tune to her breathing.

Turning his attention to Simon, Pain winced as Simon worked on him and asked, "Ho..OW! How is she, doc?"

"Stable for now." replied Simon, deeply involved in his work. There weren't any bullet fragments to remove which was good. That meant it was just a straight patch and mend job.

As Simon resumed his work, he continued, "She'll be unconscious for some time and I'll need to monitor her." Putting his instruments aside, he examined his work and said, "There finished. Let me put a covering over that. Just take it easy for a few days and it should be fine."

"Thanks." replied Pain as Simon wrapped a dressing over Pain's wound.

"It's my job." replied Simon, giving the bandage a once over, before checking on Ivy again.

Once he saw that she was doing OK, Simon left the infirmary to go tell Mal that his blood type matched Ivy's. Pain looked at her and walked over to her, taking a seat next to her. His right hand found hers' and gave it a squeeze. He winced at the pain that emanated from his patched up wound. He should've asked for something to numb it, but he refused, seeing that the pain would remind him of what he got Ivy into. Pain looked at her laying there until he heard footsteps enter the infirmary. Looking up, he saw that it was River.

"You need to call him." she said to him from the doorway.

"Call who?" Pain asked.

"Grayson." River replied back, stepping closer to Pain. Sticking out her hand she held Ivy's CorPad. "You can reach him on this. He needs to know."

"But won't Mal be a little on the fence about me callin' a Fed? Especially if'n it's to come aboard his ship?" Pain asked, an eyebrow raised at the mind reader. "He ain't exactly keen on havin' Feds traipsin' about on his boat."

"He'll get over it." she replied, placing the device next to Pain and Ivy's hand. Looking into Pain's eyes, River tilted her head a little and said, "You should call him now. Not much time before Captain Daddy comes in."

She started to leave before pausing in the doorway and saying to the big mercenary, "She loves you too."

After Pain watched River leave, he turned his attention to the CorPad next to Ivy. Picking it up in his left hand, Pain turned it on and searched for Grayson's contact info. Finding it, he took a few breaths and cleared his throat.

Gnawing at his lower lip, Pain pressed a button and said as the screen lit up and Grayson's face appeared, "Hello, Grayson, I need to talk to you."

http://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr360/shan_i_a

GRAYSONCORNWELL

Wednesday, April 1, 2009 8:14 PM

"What's wrong?" Grayson asked. He knew there was no other reason that this man. This man named Pain would be calling. "Did she have an episode because you convinced her that she'd be OK where she wasn't professionally monitored?"

The disdain for Pain dripped from Grayson's words. He hated Pain. He knew Ivy wasn't safe with Pain. He had no idea.

Pain closed his eyes ad took a deep breath before opening them. This was going to be hard.

"I just want you to know I love her. With all my being," Pain started.

"It's more than that isn't it?" Grayson asked, guessing that Ivy's situation was worse than he expected.

"She's been hurt... badly," Pain whispered.

"How bad?" Grayson asked as his eyes narrowed.

Pain felt a lump form in his throat. He couldn't quite form the words.

"HOW bad?" Grayson asked very firmly.

"Her heart had stopped, but we have a good doc here. It took a while, but he got her back. She seems stable now, but it's not good. She could still... she could still..." he couldn't finish it.

The color drained from Grayson's face as he sat there silent for a bit.

"How?" Grayson finally asked.

Pain swallowed again and closed his eyes. It was all his fault. She was this way because he couldn't protect her. She was in his world and she shouldn't have been. She didn't belong there with the guns, grenades and people shooting at her. It was all his fault.

"She was... shot," Pain told him, wiping unshed tears from his eyes. "Three times. I'm sorry-"

Grayson's features changed from shock to utter rage. He flipped a couple of switches on his console.

"I've tagged your current position and pulse beacon," he stated flatly. "I'll be there in... *caculating distance* 6 hours."

Pain nodded. Grayson looked at him like he wanted to reach through the screen and throttle him.

"She dies and I will end you, dong ma?"

"Dang ran," Pain answered as the wave was cut off on Grayson's end.

JOHNTHETHEATREFREAK

Wednesday, April 1, 2009 11:03 PM

"Really?" John had walked to the infirmary to make sure everything was ok, and had found
Pain waving Grayson. "Of all the things to do while waiting for your lady love to wake up, you call him? In what twisted reality was that a good idea?" John was furious. The last time he had seen this man he had almost been shot. And now, if John had heard correctly, he was coming here. "Also, I hope your ready to say goodbye to her, because he'll ask the captain for her, and he'll give her to him."

johnttf

DRPAIN

Thursday, April 2, 2009 3:55 AM

Infirmary

Quote:
Originally posted by johnthetheatrefreak:
"Really?" John had walked to the infirmary to make sure everything was ok, and had found
Pain waving Grayson. "Of all the things to do while waiting for your lady love to wake up, you call him? In what twisted reality was that a good idea?" John was furious. The last time he had seen this man he had almost been shot. And now, if John had heard correctly, he was coming here. "Also, I hope your ready to say goodbye to her, because he'll ask the captain for her, and he'll give her to him."

"You certain the captain would do that?" Pain asked, shooting the empath a glare as he pocketed Ivy's CorPad. He stood up and winced as he let go of Ivy's hand. Taking a step closer to John, Pain continued, "After all it was Ivy who risked her life to head back to the Command Center and established the landlock on the other ship. If she hadn't done that, the other ship would've gotten away with the goods."

Pain bared down on the other man, waves of anger emanating from him as he managed to seethe out, "And for your information, it was River who suggested I call him. You got beef with that, you take it up with her. Hell, take it up with the captain too. I'll gladly repeat to him what I just told you about what she did. And believe me, I hate Grayson as much as the next man and I sure as Hell ain't goin' to let him take her back with him, but both River and I think he needs to be here.." His eyes drifted back to Ivy and the anger left his voice, being replaced with guilt and sadness, as he finished what he was saying, "..for her."

JOHNTHETHEATREFREAK

Thursday, April 2, 2009 9:51 PM

John felt the anger from the man, but it had been a long time since anger intimidated him. "Firstly, it takes more than one show of heroism to convince the captain to trust someone. Secondly, River and I will have a chat later because I can't seem to find a reason he needs to be here except to cause trouble."

John was getting a little sick of Ivy and her secrets, Pain's seemingly blind trust, and River treating the crew like a bunch of marrionettes she could just manipulate as she deemed neccesary. He was already angry enough to have to deal with Doc again.

johnttf

DRPAIN

Saturday, April 4, 2009 11:43 PM

Infirmary

Quote:
Originally posted by johnthetheatrefreak:
John felt the anger from the man, but it had been a long time since anger intimidated him. "Firstly, it takes more than one show of heroism to convince the captain to trust someone. Secondly, River and I will have a chat later because I can't seem to find a reason he needs to be here except to cause trouble."

"I'm sure there's plenty of people on his boat here to hold him back should that happen, although I'm pretty sure I deserve whatever punches or bullets he may throw my way." replied Pain, walking back over to Ivy and sitting down at her side. He took her hand in his and gave it a squeeze as he looked at her and continued, "I'll take total responsibility for this. For gettin' her shot up and bringin' a Fed onboard, and I'll fully understand if'n Mal wants me off this boat afterwards. Speakin' of Mal, the doc says he's a match for her blood type. Needs him to come in to participate in a blood transfusion. So just in case the doctor hasn't told him that yet, you might want to if'n you run into him."

His eyes drifted from her face and traveled down to the tattoo on her wrist. It was an intricate pattern with flowers and ivy leaves about an inch wide encircling her wrist. She told him about it on their date at the restaurant with the holo-minstrel and he had seen it many times after that as they made love to one another. He never got a very close look at it before. Peering closer at it, Pain could vaguely make out some numbers hidden beneath it. The more her looked at them, the more he could see them. He was able to make out the last four digits.

"3459. Wonder what they mean" he mused to himself as he looked at them. "Hmmmm. Does Grayson know about these and would he tell me if'n I asked?"

ENGLISHIVY

Monday, April 6, 2009 8:26 AM

Ivy looked out of the cockpit window for a while until she realized she had to go back down to the cargo bay area to make her decision.

When she stepped onto the highest catwalk, she saw the light again. The light where the cargo bay doors should be. And her father standing there waiting for her, welcoming her. It would be so easy to run into his arms. He always made her feel safe, after all, she was his little girl.

She walked slowly down until she could look into the infirmary. John and Pain were fighting although she couldn't make out what. Something about a fed.

Could they still think she was a fed?

Then she heard Pain say how he was responsible for what happened to her. Her heart broke and she went to stand next to him.

"It wasn't your fault, bao bei," she told him, even though she knew he couldn't hear her. "Don't ever think it was your fault cause it wasn't."

As she stood there, she felt such sadness. Pain looked so distraught and full of grief.

If she chose the light, would he be OK?

She looked down at herself and it was like looking at a mannequin. This body on the table didn't feel like her own. It didn't look like her. Was that because she was standing next to it instead being in it?

She looked over at Pain again, who was intently looking at the tattoo on her wrist.

Quote:
Originally posted by DRPAIN:
"3459. Wonder what they mean"

"No. no. no. no. no. no!" she said over and over as she started to panic. "He can't find out, he can't know!"

DOCRAGNAROCK

Thursday, April 9, 2009 12:15 PM

'Where do I go? What do I do?' My mind awhirl I stood in the cargo bay not noticing as I was soon left on my own.
'Alright Doc. Let's get it together now. First things first. Where is this boat headed?' I tried to think logically and plan, but the shocks from before, like seeing John again, were just building up.
"I can't believe they murdered my ship. No! Concentrate. What is most important? Can I still be Elizabeth Reaser? Or will I have to run again, and how far?" I muttered to myself. I wasn't however so absorbed in my thoughts that it escaped my notice when someone walked up to me.
"What are you doing here?"she asked. I could think of only one thing to say.
"They killed my ship." I could here the tremmer as my voice shook.
"No what are you doing here?" John choose that moment to walk up.
"Yes. What were you doing in that building?" Turning to face him I managed to pull myself together enough for my usual snarky tone.
"You were on my planet. It is on my planet. Which you were still on."
"So...you were following us." Evelyn choose that moment to ask what was really on her mind.
"Then what am I doing here?" I replyed with the absolute truth.
"Your job. Because as soon as this piece of shit hits land I'm getting off of it."

It is the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting

DRPAIN

Sunday, April 12, 2009 6:31 AM

Infirmary

"3459." Pain repeated mentally to himself.

He tried to see if there were anymore numbers he could spot underneath the tattoo, but they were obscured by the tattoo's patterns. Pain let out a sigh and looked at Ivy's CorPad. The more he looked at the device and ran the number in his head, the more he thought about seeing if there was anything on the Cortex about it. Grabbing the device, Pain turned it on and went to work.

He first typed in the number into the search field and pressed 'Enter'. Much to Pain's disappointment, the first attempt brought up lots of stuff, but nothing of use to him. There were literally millions upon millions of hits for 3459, ranging from addresses to Cortex protocols to even a couple of pornographic sites. Pain muttered something and reset the search terms.

He thought about it and remembered the scars on Ivy's back. On a whim he typed in the number and scars in the search field and hit 'Enter' once more. He scrolled down through the results and flipped through the pages. It wasn't until he got to the tenth page or so that the color drained from his face and his jaw slackened. He clicked on that one result and was shocked to read what he saw.

Pain swallowed the lump in his throat and felt a wave of nauseousness hit him like a brick. He set the CorPad down next to Ivy's side looked over at her face.

Brushing a strand of hair from her face, he choked back the tears starting to form and whispered to her, "Why didn't you tell me about this, baobei? Why didn't you tell me that you were once a slave? Was that why you didn't want to talk about your scars on your back?" He grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. Giving it a kiss, he continued, "I wish you were awake to tell me, baobei."

JOHNTHETHEATREFREAK

Sunday, April 12, 2009 1:59 PM

John was furious. Everything was just being so stupid. Here he was stuck on a ship with all of these...'Calm down John,' he thought to himself as Doc stood angry. "I'd appreciate if you didn't call my home, which probably saved your life, a piece of go se." he was so sick of all this.

BEFORE:

River sat in the pilot's chair staring into the black. "She's not here" she said as John entered.

"Well the she I'm looking for sure is," he said standing in the doorway.

"Is she?"

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Seeing."

"Don't give me any of your cryptic crap right now. We're beyond that. You can just control people like this."

"Can you see?"

"River, please. You need to stop this. You're better than this. We're not your little play things. And just because you no the ending doesn't mean you should spoil it for the rest of us. You know things people shouldn't know, and that's a burden, but I honestly thought you knew where the line was."

"Lines were made to cross. You have"

"River stop!" River still did not turn to face him. "Congratulations River Tam. You're exactly what they wanted you to be."

johnttf

DOCRAGNAROCK

Sunday, April 12, 2009 9:50 PM

I tried to ignore John's precence, and his comments, but he was determined to not let me.
"I don't want you here." His cold tone made me turn back.
"Then why didn't you leave me to my revenge?" He seemed suprised by my resonce, and his words reflected that.
"I couldn't leave you to die." Now that suprised me. 'He couldn't leave me to die? Bull, that's absolutle bull.' I desided to call him on it.
"Why not? You've done it before." Now he seemed to get mad.
"Fine." He retorted, he voice agrivated. "Maybe next time I will. It's not like I actually care if you live. It's not as if anyone in my family actually cares if you live."
His words felt like a blow to my gut. I resested the desire to physically fold over at the force of his words. The cargo bay disolved into a shadowland. Pushing back the oncoming chaos, my suroundings begain to emerge from the shadows. 'I have to say somthing. John can't know what his words can, have, done to me.' I willed my vocal cords to work, my voice to be steady, and my tone to be snarky.
"Maybe next time you should." My voice came out pale and weak. If John made a reply it was lost and distorted in the haze converging in my mind. John's words circled and pierced me again and again their jagged teeth leaving gapping wounds. 'not as if anyone in my family actually cares if you live' I knew of only one way to stop the words from attacking. I stumbled to where the door, and the engine room, should be.

It is the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting

ENGLISHIVY

Monday, April 13, 2009 2:48 AM

The Infirmary

Tears ran down her face. Pain now knew.

He knew.

Quote:
Originally posted by DRPAIN:
"Why didn't you tell me that you were once a slave?"

"I didn't want you to know," Ivy said through the tears and pain. She looked down at her body which was barely hanging on to life. Even though she spoke, Pain couldn't hear her in any physical sense, but it was like he was in tune with her emotionally.

"Did you think I wouldn't want to know?" he asked her softly.

"You'd know that I was even more broken than you thought," ghostly Ivy spoke. Pain was so in tune with what she felt that she almost thought he could hear her.

"I told you that I didn't care why you are the way you are," he said softly, tenderly touching her face. "I love you... both of you... and everything that comes with it."

"You'd think I was weak. That I should've fought harder to keep them from taking me."

"You're strong, Ivy," Pain assured her, hoping and praying that she could hear him. "And those people... slavers... they're ruthless. I don't think any less of you."

"But there is more..." she said slinking back away from Pain and her body that lay on the table. "There is so much more... Much worse than you can imagine..."

Ivy retreated into the shadows, glancing at the light at the cargo bay doors then back at Pain, confusion creeping into her mind.

"Just come back to me, Ivy," Pain whispered into her ear. "I will help you through everything. When you don't feel strong enough, I will be there to pick up the slack. Just come back, bao bei."

GRAYSONCORNWELL

Tuesday, April 14, 2009 4:36 AM

Simon found Mal on the bridge, looking out into the black. Mal had just came up, missing John and River's argument.

"How is she?" Mal asked Simon.

"Barely hanging on. She needs some blood and you're her type."

Mal nodded.

"I'll be down in a moment."

"I'm gonna grab some protein bars and a drink for Pain. After that, I'll be down there."

Simon left to handle his tasks.

"River? What were John and you fighting about?" Mal asked.

"He doesn't feel. His emotions are getting in the away."

"Hmm..." Mal said as started to leave. He didn't quite understand what she meant, but John did seem a little on edge. He'd have to ask him about it later.

"He's early," River said quietly.

"What'd you say, River?" Mal asked stopping by the door.

Over the comm, a man's voice was heard.

"This is Grayson Cornwell of the Law Enforcement Vessel 7767A. I will be docking in five minutes."

"What in the rutting Hell?" Mal exclaimed, returning to the console. "The feds found out about the cargo already? Can we outrun him?"

"We could, but Pain needs him."

"Pain needs..." Mal echoed. Then he remembered where he had heard the name before. "Ivy's Fed friend. Did Pain call him?"

"Yes."

Mal clenched his fists and left, making a direct path to the infirmary, passing Simon in the galley as he did. When he arrived at the infirmary, he found Pain sitting next to Ivy, whispering into her ear. He grabbed Pain by the shirt and pushed his chair away from Ivy's side, the wheels squeeking as he did.

"Would you care to tell me why you invited a lawman on board this ship without permission, especially since we have questionable cargo on board?"

DRPAIN

Tuesday, April 14, 2009 6:04 AM

Infirmary

Quote:
Originally posted by GraysonCornwell:
"Would you care to tell me why you invited a lawman on board this ship without permission, especially since we have questionable cargo on board?"

"Because he needed to know about her condition and how she got that way, sir." replied Pain as he locked eyes with Mal.

"What did you tell him exactly?" Mal asked, pinning Pain against the wall.

"Just that she got shot." spat Pain. "I didn't tell him about the job or the ruttin' cargo. Do you think I'm that gorramn stupid?"

"Well in case of current events, yes I do." replied Mal, his hands still clenching Pain's shirt. "Give me one good gorramn reason not to space you and let Grayson take her with him."

"You wouldn't dare." growled Pain, his nostrils flaring and his eyes squinting at Mal in a menacing stare.

"Try me." Mal replied, still not letting go of Pain.

"She was the one who put up the land lock on the other ship." Pain pointed out to Mal. "If'n she hadn't done that, the other crew would've gotten away with the cargo."

"That may be true, but that ain't exactly good enough for me to consider lettin' her stay aboard." replied Mal. "Not after her little stunt got her filled with lead."

"She wanted to help." Pain spat back. "She wanted to show you she could be useful and be part of the team."

"Yeah? Well she has a funny way of showin' it." retorted Mal.

Pain was angry now. He grabbed Mal's arms and forced them off of him. He clenched his left fist and took a swing at the man, his fist connecting with Mal's cheek. It wasn't hard enough to lay the captain out cold on the floor, but it was powerful enough to make him stagger back from Pain, clenching his jaw with one hand.

"That's how you wanna play then, Pain?" Mal asked, rubbing his jaw. "Fine. We'll play it like that."

The two men closed the distance between each other in mere seconds. Blows landed here and there as they fought. There was a struggle as they both grabbed each others' hands, trying to prevent the other from using them. In an odd sense, Pain and Mal looked as if they were dancing while trying to gain control over one another. Mal let out a grunt and kicked Pain in the shin. Pain let out a pained grunt through clenched teeth and returned the favor. Mal howled and kneed Pain in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him and causing him to fall to the floor on him hands in knees.

"So, Pain?" Mal asked as he picked up Pain by the collar of his shirt. Ducking a swing from the mercenary, Mal continued as they traded blows, "You got a good reason for me to let her stay aboard or do you just want to keep this up until Grayson arrives in a few minutes?"

Pain was at the foot of the exam chair that Ivy was laying in. He was battered, bruised, and bloody from the scuffle. Every part of him hurt from head to toe. He looked at the CorPad still at Ivy's side as he rasped for breath and grabbed it. He hefted it in his hand before turning to look at the captain.

"Yeah." replied Pain as he wiped some blood from the side of his mouth with the back of a hand. "There is." He tossed the CorPad to Mal and as the other man caught it, Pain continued, "She used to be a slave. Got the whip marks on her back and the number on her wrist underneath her tattoo to prove it."

ENGLISHIVY

Saturday, April 18, 2009 11:17 PM

Ivy stood in the corner of the room as Pain and Mal's confrontation came to blows. Tears ran down her face as she sobbed.

"Stop!" she pleaded, but they couldn't hear her. "Please stop!"

She slid to the floor as the melee continued. It finally ended with Pain tossing her CorPad at Mal and announcing what he had found. Now someone else knew what she was. A slave.

Dumbfounded, Mal gaped at the screen.

"Are you sure of this?" he asked Pain.

"Gorram it, Mal! Look at the screen!" Pain yelled at him. "She is who she says she is. She's no fed. She ain't trying to sell us out. She's just looking to gain her life back."

"And Grayson?"

"He's who he says he is too. Yes, he is a lawman. But he loves Ivy like his own kid. He's just wanting to look after her."

Mal touched the screen and a newsfeed played.

"Today, a location that used human slavery was found on Greenleaf. The compound is believed to be a base for blackmarket drugs. A large building that may have been used to house the slaves was found burned to the ground. Three bodies were found in the rubble.

The rest of the compound was found vacant, apparently evacuated. Only one woman was found on site alive, we do not have her identity yet, but sources say that she had been a slave at this location for four months. She had been physically abused, including large scars on her back from a whip. Her psychological state is tenuous... Wait! Here they come..."

"Miss! Miss! What's your name? What was your role there? Do you know who kept you captive? Where did the scars come from?"

Throughout the shouts of questions, Grayson Cromwell could seen carrying her broken form past the reporters towards a law enforcement ship located on the dock.

"Leave her alone!" he was growling as the look on his face showed deep concern for her well being while at the same time the hatred of this new group who were assaulting Ivy.

The one thing that Pain could hear plainly were the sounds of Ivy's tortured sobs.

"Turn it off!" he said, plainly disturbed by the feed. "Gorram it Mal, turn it off!"

Mal turned it off and looked onto Ivy's still form with this new knowledge and softened.

It was then that they noticed John standing in the doorway, nearly frozen with empathy, he looked straight at where Ivy's spirit was sitting, feeling like something was there.

Upstairs in the cockpit, tears ran down Rivers face.

Ivy thought about the physical abuse alone that Pain had endured on her behalf since she'd arrived. 13 and he got into a fight and now there was Mal. He had taken beatings both times and because of her presence on the job, she probably played a large role in his getting shot. It wasn't good. She wasn't good for him. She looked at the light in the cargo bay and the form of her father beckoning her. And it was looking like a much better decision. Everyone, including Pain, would be better off without her.

But she couldn't leave. Not quite yet. So she just sat there, crying.

JOHNTHETHEATREFREAK

Monday, April 20, 2009 11:31 PM

John broke the silence. He felt sorry for the girl. Slavery was a bad card to draw.

"Look, it sucks to be her, sure. But if anything, that's just more of a reason to get her off our boat."

"How can you possibly say that!" Pain said getting angry.

"She's branded people could be after her."

"John, do you really think that?" the captain asked.

"Yes."

"Are you really that heartless! She was a slave!" Pain yelled.

John turned to leave stopping in the doorway. "So she was a slave. So she's been through go se. Doesn't make her special. Just makes her human. Captain if you want her to stay I'll respect that."

John left the room and returned to the cargo bay. He pulled a gun from his belt and sat with a clear view of the door. When Grayson got here, John planned to make him leave as soon as possible.

johnttf

DRPAIN

Tuesday, April 21, 2009 5:28 AM

Infirmary

Pain wanted to punch the man's lights out, but the fight with him and Mal plus the guilt of putting Ivy in a situation which had gotten her shot, not to mention the recent revelation that she was a slave, proved too much for Pain's mind to handle. The room started to spin a little and he had to sit down. Taking Ivy's hand in his, he rubbed it gently as he looked at her face, a tear slowly falling from his eye and weaving a trail down his cheek.

"I'm sorry, baobei." he whispered to her, planting a kiss on her cheek. He didn't know if she could hear him or not, but he hoped she did. "I'm sorry for gettin' you shot. I'm sorry for gettin' into a fight with the captain over whether to keep you onboard or not. Please forgive me."

Pain leaned down and touched her forehead with his just as there was a soft jolt outside the ship, indicating that a ship had just coupled with Serenity's airlock. Over the blare of the klaxons, River said over the comm, "He's here."

Mal stood in the doorway and looked back at Pain. He stood there for a short moment before asking, "Pain, you comin'?"

Pain shook his head, his sights not leaving Ivy's face as he solemnly answered, "No. I'm stayin' here by Ivy's side."

"Alright then." replied Mal before leaving for the cargo bay to join the others already in there.

GRAYSONCORNWELL

Tuesday, April 21, 2009 6:10 AM

Mal had left to stand guard at the airlock after he learned of Ivy's past. He still didn't trust Grayson, nor was he past being angry with Pain, but he understood. So he was letting the lawman board Serenity.

Pain sat in the infirmary, his hand wrapped around Ivy's. He kissed the back of her hand and sighed.

"I'm sorry, bao bei,” he whispered. “This is all my fault. I shoulda never let you come. Now you’re…”

He looked down at her. She was all bandaged up, her hand was cool to his touch and she was hooked up to a machine that was breathing for her. Most of all, she looked so small. What he wouldn’t do just to hear her voice and see her smile just one more time.

“I’m sorry,” he said again.

After Grayson docked, he came charging through the airlock. He took one look at Mal, then at John and at Jayne, who was also standing nearby.

“Where is she?” he asked gruffly, not at all intimidated by the crew.

“Before I let you completely on board, I need to set some ground rules-” Mal started.

Quicker than quick, Grayson had stepped into Mal’s personal space and was literally standing toe to toe with the man.

“You listen to me, Captain,” he snarled, his hand resting on his sidearm, but not drawing it. “I could care less if you had stolen the King of Londinium’s shiny crown and had a boat load of oompa loompas building a chocolate river in here, WHERE. IS. SHE?”

JOHNTHETHEATREFREAK

Tuesday, April 21, 2009 9:02 PM

"Back of buddy," John said from behind the captain, "Your rescued slave girl is safe and sound in the arms of her doting and pathetic lover." He was so sick of them. Even now John could feel Pain's remorse flooding from the engine room. Blaming himself. She was a big girl, a big girl who needed to grow up and realize that if she continued to rely upon Tommy, Grayson, or Pain for the rest of her life, she would never be anyone.
John felt bad for feeling this way but it was true in his mind.

"Captain, is Ivy staying or going?"

johnttf

GRAYSONCORNWELL

Wednesday, April 22, 2009 12:25 AM

Mal pointed to the infirmary as Grayson backed off and stalked off that way.

Quote:
Originally posted by johnthetheatrefreak:
"Captain, is Ivy staying or going?"

“She’ll stay… for now,” Mal told John. “Not like we can move her right now anyhow.”

Mal motioned John and Jayne closer as they started to follow him.

“That man’s gonna kill Pain,” he whispered. “Let’s make sure he don’t.”

Pain heard the footsteps coming and he knew who it was. Slowly, he stood up and turned towards the man.

“YOU GORRAM SON OF A BITCH!” Grayson yelled as his fist connected with Pain’s jaw.

Pain just took it. Grayson threw another punch that connected with his cheek and again Pain just took it.

Mal and Jayne grabbed Grayson from behind and pulled him backwards out of the infirmary, while John stayed back, ready with his gun. They pinned him on the floor and Mal leaned in really close.

“Now, lawman,” he sneered. “That’s ground rule #1. Don’t. Hurt. My. Crew. We have an understanding? Cause the way I see it? You might be able to hurt one of us, but I have some pretty capable folk on this boat.”

The sound of Zoe’s gun cocking from above was heard, plus John stepped into view, gun in hand too. Grayson stilled and looked up to see Zoe standing a few steps up on the stairway.

“Yep, and she’d be one of them. Ground rule #2 is no guns.,” Mal continued as he relieved Grayson of his sidearm and started patting him down to make sure he didn’t have any more. “And lastly, Rule #3 is that you mind while you are on my ship.”

“Yeah, he ain’t to happy ‘bout you being here anyways,” Jayne added.

“That I ain’t,” Mal agreed. He let Grayson up. “Now that little girl is in there fighting for her life and that man with her loves her. Play. Nice. Dong ma?”

Grayson grunted and walked back into the infirmary, where Pain had taken up vigil at her side again. He looked down at Ivy. His face softened considerably. He came up to her side and took the hand Pain wasn’t holding.

“I’m sorry,” Pain said softly.

“She dies and I will end you,” Grayson told him with definite hatred in his voice.

“S’not playin’ nice, law man,” Jayne said from the doorway.

“I want to speak with your doctor.”

DRPAIN

Wednesday, April 22, 2009 5:16 AM

Infirmary

Quote:
Originally posted by GraysonCornwell:
“I want to speak with your doctor.”

"That would be me." replied Simon, stepping into the infirmary after seeing the ruckus that had been caused. He looked at Pain and then back at Grayson and added as he walked over to Ivy and checked her vitals, "If you're done assaulting the crew members aboard this ship, what may I ask do you want to speak about?"

ENGLISHIVY

Monday, April 27, 2009 4:03 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by GraysonCornwell:
“YOU GORRAM SON OF A BITCH!” Grayson yelled as his fist connected with Pain’s jaw.

Ivy jumped at the sound of Grayson's voice.

Grayson was there. Why was Grayson there? Grayson will blame Pain. Grayson would hurt Pain and the punch just confirmed it.

"Stop it, Stop it!" she cried out, but no one could hear her.

Quote:
Originally posted by GraysonCornwell:
Pain just took it. Grayson threw another punch that connected with his cheek and again Pain just took it.

Luckily, Mal and the others stepped in. She guessed the Captain did look after his own and it drove home the point even more - she wasn't one of his own.

She looked out at the light... and her father.

Quote:
Originally posted by GraysonCornwell:
“I’m sorry,” Pain said softly.

“She dies and I will end you,” Grayson told him with definite hatred in his voice.

"I've messed things up..." she whispered to herself. "I should have stayed at my old job with my old life. Should have let Grayson handle things. I should have stayed numb.

"But he made me feel... wanted and alive. And now it just... hurts."

She looked out at the light again and smiled.

And Ivy's heart skipped a few beats.

GRAYSONCORNWELL

Wednesday, April 29, 2009 11:59 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by DRPAIN:
"If you're done assaulting the crew members aboard this ship, what may I ask do you want to speak about?"

"I want to talk to you about Toms' condition. Er... I mean Ivy's condition. It been a while since I called her anything but Toms."

"She was shot three times," Simon said as he checked her pupils with a pen light. He stood up and pointed out each wound. "First one went in here and collapsed a lung. Second one nicked her aorta. We were lucky that it was a small nick. If the bullet had hit anywhere closer, she would have bled out in a matter of minutes."

Simon pointed out the last wound.

"This one was a shoulder wound. The lesser of the three."

Pain had gotten quiet and was just resting his forehead on her hand. Grayson turned around to face Mal.

"When will we be docking with the nearest ship with medical facilities? I can get us clearance wherever we need it."

"Not going to happen," Mal informed him. "Not real fond of any big government boats."

"Well, I can't exactly leave her here under the care of your... medic," Grayson said, his concern for Ivy palpable. He turned to Simon. "Are you even a doctor?"

Simon smirked a little at the comment as he went about checking Ivy over some more.

"I can assure you, Grayson, that she is in more than capable hands," Mal told him. "If he wasn't a skilled surgeon, you'd be taking a body back with you right now."

Grayson turned back to regard Simon.

"I'm sorry if I don't quite believe you," Grayson said. "Why would a skilled surgeon be on a ship like this?"

Grayson thought a little more.

"Unless you're hiding something..." he followed up. Grayson studied him for a moment. Simon seemed to tense up a bit. This doctor suddenly looked... familiar.

But his thoughts were quickly pushed aside when Ivy's heart rate became erratic. Pain looked up at Ivy's face, his expression fearful.

"Get back!" Simon ordered as he pushed everyone aside and started working on Ivy.

"What's wrong?" Grayson asked as he watched Simon move about with the definite confidence of a professional. "What's WRONG?"

"Captain, I need to work..." Simon calmly stated. He scanned her heart and went to a drawer. He pulled out some medication, loaded it into a jet injector and administered it straight into her neck. Almost immediately, her heart rate resumed a normal rhythm. "She needs to rest. All this activity has been taxing on her."

"Let's go upto the galley and let her rest. Maybe get something to eat or drink," Mal said as he pulled Grayson out of the infirmary. "We all need to calm down a bit. He'll come get us when there's anything to report."

Mal noticed that Pain had yet to move.

"That means you too, Pain," Mal ordered softly as he stepped back inside the infirmary and laid a hand on the big man's shoulder. "Simon'll watch her for you."

DRPAIN

Thursday, April 30, 2009 5:29 AM

Infirmary

Quote:
Originally posted by GraysonCornwell:
"That means you too, Pain," Mal ordered softly as he stepped back inside the infirmary and laid a hand on the big man's shoulder. "Simon'll watch her for you."

Pain stood up, picking up her gun and placed a kiss on Ivy's forehead. He stood there looking at her for a minute before putting her gun in his waistband and leaving the infirmary. He didn't want to go and leave her side, but the captain had insisted and right now Pain wasn't in the mood to argue. He decided to go to his bunk and put away his guns while Simon worked on keeping Ivy alive. Pain watched Simon as he made his way up the stairs and then focused his eyes on the metal grating of the stairs once they were out of his sight. As he rounded the corner, he made a bee line to his bunk, not stopping to chat to those in the galley.

Pain and Ivy's Bunk

Pain climbed down the ladder and closed the hatch behind him. He slowly walked over to the weapons locker and opened the doors, slowly putting his guns and gear away as well as Ivy's gun. He didn't care that he didn't put them in their respectful places. As long as they were inside the locker was just fine to him. However he did take special care in placing her gun inside the locker. As he took the last piece of gear off, he closed the door and sat on the bed, burying his face in the palms of his hands. He sat there for who knew how long, sobbing and letting his emotions out.

Finally Pain stopped and got up off the bed. He walked over to the sink and pulled it out. Turning it on, he let the warm water flow through his fingers before dousing his face with the warm water. Sliding the sink back into the wall, Pain stood there looking into the mirror. He took a few breaths and grabbed a towel, drying his eyes and face on it. Putting the towel back on the hook, Pain headed for the ladder and climbed up it.

Galley

Once he left the confines of his bunk, Pain took the farthest seat in the galley and sat down. He didn't want to talk to anybody. He just wanted to sit there by himself and hope Ivy pulled through.

DOCRAGNAROCK

Friday, May 1, 2009 1:57 AM

I felt my head clear as the pain in my arm flared. As I walked to the door, my arm was tilted to keep the blood running down my it from dripping on the floor. As I made my way to the infirmary, I luckly didn't run into anyone.
'Good' I thought. 'I don't want anyone to see me like this. To know.' The door to the infirmary was infront of me.
'Crap, John's here. Just get in, get it, and leave. No contact.' I told myself. I strided into the infirmary, determinatly ignoring whatever John said to me. I found the gauze I had come for, grabed it and exited the room in haste.

Wrapping my wrist I made my way to the galley. I was thirsty. I entered and got myself a glass of water. As I turned, I noticed Pain looking depressed. I hadn't paid enough attention in the infirmary. "So," I announced to the room, "is the idiot chick dead yet?"

It is the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting

GRAYSONCORNWELL

Friday, May 1, 2009 6:26 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by DocRagnarock:
"So, is the idiot chick dead yet?"

Before Doc could even get the glass of water to her lips, someone had grabbed her by the shirt and swung her against the wall.

"That idiot chick is still alive, which will be more than you will be if you don't shut up," Grayson snarled. He regarded her a little. "Hey! I know you!"

Grayson released her and backed away a couple of feet.

"You were the pō pó niáng who stopped me from searching this hunk of junk when we were dirtside! But you had to go and play games," Grayson continued. He clenched his teeth. "And I've never wanted to hit a woman before, but I am really close to wanting..."

Mal and Zoe pull Grayson back out of reach.

"Now let's just calm down," Mal said getting more than annoyed with the folk on his boat. As the words sunk in, he did a double take. "What do you mean by searching the ship when you were dirtside? You've been here before?"

DOCRAGNAROCK

Friday, May 1, 2009 8:52 AM

Dull pain radiated in my back complimenting the awnsering ache in my wrist and expounding my mental unbalance.
"Are you threatening me Cornwell? Because if you are, then I have to tell you that is one of the stupider things you have done. And that includes blowing me off and disobeying my orders planetside. And I never play games." The distain was clear in my voice.
I pushed myself off the wall that Cornwell had slamed me up against feeling the control that had been so carefuly regained wavering. It would hold. But I wasn't sure for how much longer, and I wasn't sure, when it fell, how much I would care.

Through the smiles and the tears, through the anger, and the laughter that follows...I know I will keep changing. This is my story.It'll be a good one.

JOHNTHETHEATREFREAK

Friday, May 1, 2009 6:07 PM

As the others left, John remained in the infirmary watching Simon work. He paid little attention to Doc as she entered and left, they would need to talk later however.

He watched as Ivy held to life. He could feel her presence, slightly seperate from her body. He was no River, but he had some psychic abilities. Calling upon these and expecting no answer, he reached out to Ivy.

"Look, Ivy. We've had our differences, but it's time to wake up now. I respect what you tried to do, helping during the job, but if you don't come back, all that will be for nothing. I'd like to help you become whole again. I can feel how fractured you are, but I can't do that if I'm worried abou a fed hurting the crew. I can't do that if you're asleep." He meant what he said. He had been too hard on her, and everyone deserved second chances.

johnttf

GRAYSONCORNWELL

Friday, May 1, 2009 6:46 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by DocRagnarock:
"Are you threatening me Cornwell? Because if you are, then I have to tell you that is one of the stupider things you have done. And that includes blowing me off and disobeying my orders planetside. And I never play games."

"Hell, yes, I'm threatening you!" Grayson retorted as he lunged forward towards her again, managing to land a hand on her shoulder to push her backwards again. He snorted at her assertian that she outranked him. "Regarding disobeying your orders, you have no dominion over me and you know that."

And if it was possible, Grayson's face filled with even more disdain than before.

"And we all know you are a master at games, don't we?"

Mal swore under his breath and worked harder to keep the two Alliance people on his boat apart. Finally, tired of the whole thing, he pulled his sidearm and leveled at both of them.

"You!" he said looking at Grayson and motioning towards the end of the room where Pain was occupying. "Sit down there."

He turned to Doc.

"And you sit down here," he ordered. Neither Grayson nor Doc made any moves to comply. "NOW!"

It took the sound of Zoe's sidearm to get their attention and get them into their assigned places.

"Rule #3, people," Mal said through clenched teeth. "Is that you behave. You do something like this again and I'll have to revisit whether or not you'll be getting off my ship early."

Mal sat down across the table, but between the two of them. His gun still on the table as a warning.

"Would someone like to tell me why you all were even doing near my ship earlier?" Mal asked only to be answered by the silent glares Grayson and Doc were exchanging. "Now, I am about to lose all patience, so I am gonna say this really slow. What. Were. You. Doing?"

"I got a lead that Toms... er, Ivy... had boarded a Firefly," Grayson told Mal. "I knew she was in danger, I just didn't know how much.

"I tracked your merc back here. I'd seen him with a girl that was Toms' height and build. When asked, your people were less than helpful, so I called in a land lock and got the personell ready to search the place from top to bottom."

Mal shot an annoyed look at Zoe, knowing that she had to have been aware of what went on.

"You see I knew she was here. But then 'little-miss-self-absorbed' came along and recalled the soldiers I had planned on using, even though she had no right to do so. She was just posturing herself, trying to play top dog when she wasn't."

Grayson took a deep breath and softened a bit.

"And look where it got Toms. She'd be OK if I would have gotten her off then," Grayson told them. "Instead, she told me to go away because she wanted to choose her own path and move on with her life. Stand on her own two feet. She was so sure that her man would protect her. Well we saw where that got her. I should have made her tell me where she was and took her back where it was safe. Back to where I could watch her and make sure she got the care she needed."

River silently walked into the room.

"And back to where she could trade one type of slavery for another. Not being able to make her own decisions and having someone else run her life still made her a slave. She just changed geography."

Grayson whirled around to look at the person who suggested that he was in effect keeping Ivy a slave. He was about to open his mouth when seeing River made him snap his mouth shut. Now he was certain where he had seen the doctor who patched Ivy up was.

They were Simon and River Tam.

http://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr360/sha

ENGLISHIVY

Friday, May 1, 2009 9:21 PM

Ivy stood in the galley, witnessing the things around her.

Pain sat in the corner, lost in his own world. He seemed so sad and lost. She had done that to him. She was making him hurt and in turn, she hurt for him. Pain was replaying the job in his mind over and over again, looking for the point where he screwed up. If she lived, he would never let that mistake happen again.

Grayson and the other Alliance woman had come to blows over her. Mal and Zoe had to draw guns to break them up.

Then she heard Grayson's speech. He really thought she shouldn't have tried to be on her own. He didn't think she was ready to stand on her own two feet. Maybe he was right. Maybe he knew better than she did. But she couldn't go back. She had known freedom while on Serenity. She had Pain who made her feel welcome. But the others... If it wasn't for River and Kaylee, it would have been unbearable.

This was all wrong. There was too much pain and she had caused it all. She walked over to Pain and stroked his cheek. It caused him to shudder a little, then look around.

"I love you, Pain," she whispered in his ear and she left for the cargo bay.
*****
While Ivy was saying her goodbyes, River stiffened and whirled around to face Pain. Looking at the space around him, her hand came up to her chest.

"Ivy?" she asked softly.

At hearing her speak, Pain lifted his head sharply.

"What?" he asked sharply. "Did you feel something?"

"Just caught a glimpse," River said softly as she kept looking. "Haven't seen her since she came back. Just that once on the bridge."

"You've seen her since we got back?" Pain asked, not entirely sure he heard her right.

"She's confused. Been trying to decide."

Pain felt his heart quicken.

"Trying to decide what?" he asked, his heart in his throat.

"Whether or not to take the red pill or the blue," River murmured, her speech taking on a rather pre-Miranda tone. "Whether or not to go down the rabbit hole to where it is light."

"What?" came a voice from the other side of the room. It was Zoe. "She's trying to decide if she wants to live or die?"

Zoe was angry.

"Some people get the choice?" she asked. "And she has to think about it?"

Zoe scoffed and left the room, headed for her bunk. On the way, one more comment could be heard.

"Stupid rutting girl. Stupid."

Pain looked at Zoe's retreating form and back at River who had cocked her head to the side as if listening.

"You've known she's been wandering around the ship trying to decide and you didn't think we'd want to know?" Pain asked as he motioned slightly in Grayson's direction. He was getting a bit angry. "Why didn't you say anything?"

The rest of the room had changed their focus on the conversation that was developing.

"River?" Pain asked again, wanting an answer. "Why'd didn't you say anything?"

"She's decided..." River said, not much above a whisper.

Pain grabbed her arms and made her look at him, hoping she had good news. All it took was one look at her face to know that it wasn't good. Pain turned and sprinted for the infirmary, with Grayson not far behind him.
*****
In the infirmary, the monitors beeped, sounding the alarm that Ivy's heart rate was plummeting.

"No. no. no," whispered Simon as he started working on her faster. She flatlined as he worked trying to revive her, using the paddles several times. "Come on Ivy, stay with us..."

JOHNTHETHEATREFREAK

Saturday, May 2, 2009 3:25 AM

Ivy seemed to have not heard him. 'Whatever,' he thought, 'she's not worth it.' He could feel the fight from down in the infirmary. Doc causing problems, the fed getting defensive, Pain feeling guilty, and then Ivy flatlined. John knew the hell that would reign down if she died and was not ready to deal with it.

He reached out to her again, this time unitentionally speaking out loud. "No, No little girl. You don't get to do that." He walked closer to the table. "You have too men up there crazy over what's going to happen to you and I Know you're strong enough to hang on. So gorram wake up. Now."

Simon prepared the paddles. "I've never heard of ranting to patients as an effective technique," he said not looking up, "Clear." He pressed her paddles to her chest and she spasmed as the jolt coursed through her. Her heartbeat, however, did not react.

"She's giving up, Simon. She's stronger than this, I can feel it."

"Well I'm not giving up on her." Simon increased the voltage again. "But there's not much more I can do for her. Clear"

johnttf

DOCRAGNAROCK

Saturday, May 2, 2009 3:29 AM

I sat, all the while fumming internally,
'Little-miss-self-absorbed? He doesn't know me, none of them know the first thing about me!'
As Cornwell contiued his explination my anger was building and building untill I just couldn't keep it in any longer.
" Well, now that we've all heard you're nice little speach I think it's time I set somethings straight. One. I don't posture. Two. I am 'top dog', you can't even comprehend just how top dog I am. And third. You don't know me. None of you know me. Well, except John, but even he doesn't really know me. I am not 'little-miss' anything, even if I am a little self absorbed. Cornwell, don't you even dare try to blame what happens to the idiot girl on me. If she didn't know how to not get shot, then she never should have been on that job. And even if you have never wanted to hit a girl before now what's stoping you? Your lack of balls?"
I had stood up somting during my rate, and now strided twards the door. Reaching it, I nearly turned back, but I managed to pull together my control, and leave without shoting the man.

Through the smiles and the tears, through the anger, and the laughter that follows… I know I will keep changing. This is my story. It’ll be a good one.

DRPAIN

Saturday, May 2, 2009 5:14 AM

Infirmary

Quote:
Originally posted by johnthetheatrefreak:
"Well I'm not giving up on her." Simon increased the voltage again. "But there's not much more I can do for her. Clear"

Pain came into the infirmary just in time to see Simon apply the charge to the paddles he placed on Ivy's chest. Pain watched as Ivy's body reacted to the electrical charge that ran through it. As she collapsed back into the exam chair, Simon looked at her vitals on the monitor.

"Still nothing. Increasing the charge." replied Simon, oblivious to Pain's presence inside the infirmary.

There was an electronic whir as Simon increased the voltage on the defibrillators once more. Again Simon placed the paddles onto Ivy's chest and once more Ivy's body danced to the electrical beat that pulse through it. And yet again Ivy's heart refused to beat.

"Come on, baobei." Pain whispered, as he made his way to her side. Grabbing her hand in his, Pain pleaded, "Don't die on me. Please?"

Simon looked at Pain and shook his head in resignation as he told him, "I'm sorry, Pain. There's nothing more that I can do."

The color from Pain's face drained as Simon's words sunk in. The mercenary collapsed to his knees at Ivy's side as Simon began to take her off the ventilator. He couldn't and wouldn't believe that she'd give up like that and leave him. He didn't want to believe that she was gone forever and it was all his fault. Pain pressed her hand against his cheek, feeling tears run down them as his world came to a complete stop.

As he knelt there at Ivy's side with her hand against his face, Pain managed to bring himself to the grim reality that faced him and muttered, "She's gone and it's all my fault."

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