Life on this boat. A Firefly story. #fanfic

the Duck

Right then... Let's get on with some swashbuckling and brawling. I appologise in advance, but this chapter features a pissed off, vengeful and violent Lou, so brace yourself for some gratuitous violence. Our girl has been waiting for this for a looong time, so hopefully she gets some adrenaline out of her system.... Not sure where this story is going, but Lou's good mood and Mal's expert captaining will probably get us into some trouble... and then out again.
Also, I am loving this story more than I should and find myself giggling in public places at ideas that jump into my head. I hope you are enjoying reading it as much as I enjoy writing it.

Once Serenity touched down on Dorian, Mal, Zoe, Jayne and Lou headed into town to a bar called "the Duck". There in a dark corner a crowd of four or five unwashed, tattooed men with multiple scars visible were sat drinking.
"Are we sure this is a good idea?" Zoe asked.
"I'm pretty sure it ain't" Mal said.
Jayne held a hand on Lou's arm, letting Mal and Zoe go first.
"Drink up, yo-ho me' hearties. It's the pirate life for me," Mal hummed darkly as he spotted the man he needed to speak to. "Lou, I'll let you sort him out once we have negotiated a bit."
They approached and stood there a moment while the gang of pirates demonstratively ignored them. Lou felt both terrified and angry as she recognised a few of the men form the raid on her family farm. As if by an impulse, a stocky man with a dirty face and a jacket a size too small turned and looked them over.
"Well, well, well. What have we here?" He said looking at them one by one.
"Duggar," Mal said.
"You never let a man down do you, Mal? Always turning up where and when you're supposed to" Duggar taunted.
Mal stood still.
"See here. The good captain and his overly sexy second mate," Duggar eyed Zoe from top to toe with a lusty grin before turning to Jayne and Lou.
"And a new girlie on board! Hello there Lou. Ain't seen you since I put a bullet through your Danny's head," He grinned.
Lou felt the anger rising and went to make a move on pure instinct. Before she could answer or attack she felt Jayne's arm around her waist holding her back quite tightly.
"Easy. Let Mal sort this one out," Jayne whispered in her ear, surprisingly gently.
"And what have we here. Jayne himself. Still picking up Danny's sloppy seconds are you?" Duggar teased looking at the tight, protective hold Jayne had around Lou.
"You always enjoyed going after the girls Danny had warmed up first... although Danny has been dead a while so you might have to warm this one up yourself," Duggar teased. Lou felt Jayne tense up, but he didn't let go of her.
"Enough banter, Duggar. We're here for information," Mal said. Zoe kept her eyes on the pirates who were all turned towards them guns visible. Lou felt scared, even with Jayne's presence close on her back. The last time she had seen these men, she had lost both her daughters and her husband.
"What information might that be?" Duggar grinned.
"Seems you know the whereabouts of two little girls off Valhalla," Mal said.
"Oh, do I now?" Duggar taunted and sent an evil smile towards Lou. "What little girls may they be?"
Lou felt the hairs rise at her back. What if he had killed them? Or sold them to the underground paedophile market? She felt her adrenaline rising. Jayne's presence helped calm her down, but she felt from Jayne's breath on her neck that he was not as calm as he wanted to appear.
"Don't play dumb, Duggar," Zoe warned.
"Or what?" Duggar said innocently. He approached Zoe with a leering grin.
"I might know where they are, I might not remember.... but a testdrive of this engine might trig my memory," he said making a move as if to touch Zoe's backside. Lou felt Jayne flinch as Wash swore loud enough for Lou to hear him out of Jayne's comlink. Zoe moved catlike with lightening reflexes and suddenly had Duggar in a wristlock.
"I think this should do for a test drive," Zoe said giving the wrist an extra snap breaking some manner of bone without destroying the man. Jayne released his grip around Lou and stood ready to punch, shoot or in other ways spring into action. Lou positioned herself with her back to Jayne's back to make sure they could counter most angles.
Suddenly Duggar gave a signal and all the pirates sprung into action. Duggar  wiggled loose from Zoe's grip and went into a vicios attack. Lou found herself face to face with a man who had unsuccessfully tried to rape her two years earlier. She grinned maliciously.
"Hiya there Johnny. Grown back some balls latelly?" She said and hefted a knife in her hand towards his crotch indicating the damage she had inflicted. He looked at her hatefully before swinging a fist in her direction. She shifted away from Jayne, fully aware of opening her back to attack.
"You ruttin bitch!" He yelled and ran towards her. Quick as she could she crouched down as he lunged for her, making him trip and fall into the man behind her who was ready with a knife bowling both over.
The fight went on for some time keeping Lou busy swinging at whoever came at her and dodging the occasional bullet, while trying to look out for Mal, Zoe and Jayne. Her knife got the taste for blood and a few men would be leaving with a few fingers missing.
After getting some punches in and receiving some in return there was a screech of pain.
"Hold up. Quit! Now!" Duggar shouted. He was on the floor. Zoe had a foot on his back and held up one arm with an obviously dislocated shoulder that she kept tugging at, making the pirate captain scream. In addition Mal had a gun firmly aimed at his head.
Lou spotted Jayne and took a step in his direction. Jayne nodded and they stood up back to back protecting each other while the pirates scrambled to their feet or groaned as they lay.
"They are on Jianjin! With the God-squad." Duggar said into the dust.
"Holy hell on a stick," Jayne mumbled.
"Jianjin?" Mal asked.
"Yeah. Keepin 'em there for storage. Easier to sell 'em when they are older," Duggar coughed.
"Jianjin?" Mal asked again.
"Keep'em sweet and see if they turn out to look anything like their good old Mama. Blond and blue eyed girls fetch more on the whoremarket," Duggar laughed sending Lou a dirty smile before screaming in pain as Zoe twisted his arm again.
Zoe shrugged towards Lou, receiving a smile in return.
"Now... why don't I believe you?" Mal asked.
"Now, why don't you believe me? I wonder about that too," Duggar laughed making Zoe give his arm another twist.
Lou walked over and crouched down to face her husband's killer.
"What have you done to my children?" She hissed.
Duggar laughed and received a new shoulder twist.
"In case you need reminding of what I do when you boys have fun with my family, "no-balls-Johnny" sits right over there. Last time we met, he thought he had a right to touch me. This time I'm tempted to make one of your boys piss sitting down for the rest of his life," Lou told him.
"Johnny is a wuss," Duggar said.
"Bring that one to that chair," Lou told Jayne indicating a scarred fella she remembered from her daughter's kidnapping. Mal shrugged interested to see what plan Lou had.
As the pirate was forced to sit and was tied to the chair, Lou pulled his shirt open.
"Now then. I remember your face from when Danny was murdered. You held his right arm while that worm over there pulled the trigger," she said looking into a scarred and dirty face. His chest was on display and Lou pointed her knife towards him.
"Now. I suggest you tell me where your captain has hidden my daughters and I might be able to avoid the knife from slipping out of my grip," Lou told him twirling her knife in the air like a baton.
"She's a bit on the crazy side," Zoe said to Mal.
"Yeah... Let's hope she's the good kinda crazy," Mal replied.
"I think I like it," Jayne said giving Lou a wide grin.
Lou felt their support and stopped her knife a millimetre from the man's skin.
"What's it gonna be?" She asked menacingly letting the knife nick the skin. As the blood pooled, the man looked at her with fear.
Lou allowed for another small cut lower down on the abdomen.
"Don't cut off my junk, please, please," he mumbled.
"I won't if you tell me where my daughters are," Lou said cutting the button off hs jeans.
"Boss!" The man said throwing a look to Duggar.
"You can sit and piss. Ain't got no woman to complain anyhow so what is the worry," Duggar said.
Lou was impressed with the man's ability to stay sarcastic in the painful situation Zoe had put him in.
"Don't worry, I will get him afterwards," Lou almost whispered to the man in front of her. She did not enjoy what she was in the middle of doing, but if she wanted her girls, she had to show some muscle.
"Please don't," he whimpered as she cut another small line making the jeans fall open at the front.
Lou put on her most evil grin and stared the man in the eye while she lowered the knife letting the edge rest on his skin right above his pubic area with the tip pointing downwards.
"I don't know," he continued. "We had them on Demeter, then we went to Briseis and they weren't with us back."
"The mines of Briseis?" Lou asked.
The man nodded.
"Thank you," Lou said sheething her knife. Kneeling in front of Duggar, she smiled sweetly.
"Who, how long ago and to what purpose?" She asked.
"I ain't tellin," Duggar laughed.
Lou looked around at the rest of the pirates.
"How many of you lot are here coz you want to?" she asked.
Jayne raised his hand in the air with a huge smile, making Lou want to laugh.
"Not you, Jayne... I know you are here for the blood," Lou said.
"and the violence, and maybe some shootin... or stabbin'," Jayne shrugged lowering his hand.
Mal shook his head and exchanged a look with Zoe. Lou turned back to Duggar.
"How many of these boys did you hire the same way you hired Danny?" she asked
"They all walk onboard on their own feet," Duggar teased.
"Fine," Lou sighed and lifted her gun from the holster aiming it for a random kneecap and fired, making the man she hit reel back in pain and the last man flinch.
"One kneecap for each stupid answer. Good luck making them walk onboard," Lou told him.
"You're cute when you're crazy," Duggar grinned, receiving a extra painful twist of the arm.
"You bet! I have been dreaming of the day when I can split your nose open down lengthways and make you face what you did to my family every time you look in the mirror!" Lou whispered menacingely flicking her knife in the drection of his face.
A shot was fired, a man clutched his knee and Mal shot Jayne a warning look.
"What? She said a kneecap for each stupid answer. I just thought I'd help out," Jayne grinned.
"It'll cost ya'," Duggar said, having to face the facts of his men going down.
Lou held up a hand to stop Jayne from shooting, eliciting a disappointed "Hot dang!" from the Serenity mercenary.
"What will cost and how much?" Mal asked, taking over negotiations and indicating to Lou that she should stand down. Lou nodded and stood up next to Jayne who had a silly smile on his face.
"Information for services," Duggar said.
"What services?" Mal asked
"You keep that crazy bitch away from my crew and I'll tell you where the girls were when I got rid of them. Damned children were just as insane as both their parents," He mumbled.
Mal lifted an eyebrow questioningly to Lou making her shrug back.
"Lou, get to the door, we'll be right there," Mal said.
Lou reluctantly took a stand by the door with a wall on her back and a gun at the ready. She was just outside hearing range and felt a wave of fear as she after a short while saw Zoe release Duggar. Mal gave him a swift kick to the injured shoulder before heading to the door followed by Jayne and Zoe. Keeping her eye on Duggar she saw him turn over and grab a gun with his good hand which he raised to aim for Mal's back.
"Watch out!" she shouted just before the gunshot was fired.
She threw herself at Mal to get him out of the bullet's path while at the same time firing a shot towards the pirate. Jayne turned as well to counter any attack from the rest of the pirate gang, but was hit in the hand by a shot from one of the men. Zoe grabbed Mal and helped him to his feet while Lou rolled over to get into a position facing the pirates. With her gun up, shifting her aim between the men in front and firing randomly, she felt a trickle of warm liquid run down her back. Jayne swore next to her and a few seconds later Mal hoisted her up and started running. With bullets ringing around their ears, they ran through the backalleys on their way back to Serenity.
"Wash, get the engines going and tell Simon to shift it to the infirmary!" Mal shouted into his comlink.
Lou felt dizzy from all the action and started lagging behind the others. She more or less stumbled onboard the ship.
"Now that was kinda fun!" Jayne laughed as Lou blacked out.