Angst Bingo 3.12

[telaryn]

Title: Into the Black
Author: telaryn
Word Count: 723
Fandom: Firefly
Characters: Mal Reynolds
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None.
Disclaimer: No ownership implied, no profit obtained.
Summary: Captain Reynolds' luck runs out.
Author's Note: Written for angst_bingo, for the prompt "execution". And now for something completely different!



He’d never given much thought to the manner of his dying. He supposed none of them who’d survived the Battle of Serenity Valley did – coming through that firestorm with mind and body even relatively intact made every day a gift. He knew Zoe saw things that way. Even losing the love of her life wasn’t enough to make her consider dishonoring what God had seen fit to give them.

And as long as they’d been together, he liked to think they’d made a good run of things. They’d never been rich, but they’d always been free. He’d never once felt the Alliance’s boot on his neck, and he’d made sure that them who flew with him knew the same luxury.

It hadn’t been enough in the end to keep them all alive, but he had to believe that freedom counted for something. Anything paid for with that much blood had to be worth something.

Book had been the first to fall; man of God cut down by the Alliance’s sword before they ever realized who he was and the secrets he held. With his last breath he’d held true to his self-appointed mission as Mal’s conscience – cursing and exhorting him to be the man he was trying to be before Serenity Valley turned the ‘verse on its ear.

Wash had gone next, victim of the Alliance’s dirtiest secret. One heartbeat had passed between his living and dying. The worst part about it was that he’d taken a large part of Zoe’s fire with him when he died. She lived each day proper, but the joy that had lived in her eyes as long as Wash was in the world had gone forever.

The others had stayed by his side as long as they had the Alliance running. River’s mind and soul restored – the truth of the Reavers on every broadwave and subwave in the ‘verse. It had been a high old time, and for the first time in a decade he could believe in something beyond his next meal, his next job, and his next lay.

But the oldest truth of all is that power and safety trump freedom every day, and eventually folks craved the security the Alliance promised. They stopped fighting, stopped questioning, and slowly their outrage died. The puppet theater was back in force, and the only thing folks did was debate the quality of the popcorn.

And once the status quo had been restored, the black-suited men went marching. The target of their hunt was Serenity’s crew – the ones who’d brought a universe to its knees, and who couldn’t be allowed to run free anymore, no matter what the price.

Jayne had gone down fighting. River and Simon too – victims of gunfire so heavy and sustained Mal had rarely seen its like. The Alliance had made a mistake once with River; they wouldn’t do so again.

Inara had fled in the aftermath of the battle, Kaylee tucked into the safety of her shuttle. Even though she hadn’t asked for it, he’d sent them off with his blessing. In spite of her proximity to him, Inara still had power in the ‘verse – and if the edges of that power could cover Kaylee and keep her safe, it was worth his being left to stand alone.

Or kneel, such as the case may be; the feel of the deck pressing into his shins as he tried to pretend he wasn’t surrounded by soldiers and guns, with the end of his life staring him in the eyes.

They weren’t going to risk a trial for him, even a sham trial for the masses. A man with Captain’s bars informed him that he’d already been convicted in absentia, and by the authority of the Alliance government was condemned to death.

Sentence to be carried out immediately.

He watched as the guns were raised, and someone he couldn’t see called the order. And he knew as thirty fingers tightened down on thirty triggers, that he would cross into the next world with no regrets. He hadn’t always made the right moves, but he’d made the best moves he could.

And even though the ‘verse would likely forget him as soon as he was gone, he’d done his best to always live free. Way he figured it, you couldn’t ask for anything more than that.

Comments

[raincitygirl.livejournal.com]

Sniffle.

Now I need chocolate, and I don't have any. Thanks for writing something that really sounds like Mal.

[telaryn.livejournal.com]

You're so welcome! It was nice getting into his speech cadences - definitely kept things fresh.

[whiskyinmind.livejournal.com]

You're trying to kill me dead aren't you?

[telaryn.livejournal.com]

I'm really not - I swear! Although with the end in sight now, I have to admit it's starting to wear on me too. Definitely tempting to go the "rocks fall, everybody dies" route at this point.