Disclaimer: Sadly I do not own any of these wonderful characters, or even the setting and world of Firefly. They all belong to Fox/Universal and Joss Whedon.

James Norrington and related belongs to Disney, Gore and Ted and Terry.

Setting: Takes place right after Down the Aisle

Pairings: Kaylee/Simon, Mal/Inara

Can’t Stop the Music

Chapter 16: Concerto

-

Two days had passed since Mal had dreamed of Shepherd Book, and he hadn’t told anyone about it, not that he wasn’t sure if anyone would listen without questioning his sanity. He just didn’t feel like telling anyone and if he did it would have boiled down to one of three choices and it would have been a female member of his crew. Inara was the first to spring to his mind, but he didn’t want to really explain his dream to her. Kaylee was the second choice, since she had the Shepherd had a good friendship, then again Kaylee has a good friendship with practically everyone, and then there was Zoë, he had shared secrets with her before making revelations to the whole crew.

He had nearly run into Zoë along with Jayne and James on his way down to the passenger bay to check in on Apollo. The three crewmembers were frowning as they stared at the screen.

“Rutting hell,” Zoë cursed under breath.

“I told ya,” Jayne stepped away from the screen. “We couldn’t get tickets at this time, maybe there will be some scalpings.”

“What is going on?” Mal asked. He was certain he had given the specific orders. He had told Jayne to mop the floor.

“We have some bad news,” Zoë told him. “The battle of the bands is sold out.”

“Who said we were going to get tickets?” Mal held out his arms. He did not remember saying they were going to actually attend the concert, just bring Apollo back to his sister.

“There are places that will have it on the cortex screens,” James did not remove his gaze from the screen. “There are several restaurants, bars, and coffee and tea houses.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Mal pointed at Jayne and then pointed towards where they stored the cleaning supplies. “Zoë I need you to monitor the in-calls, see if we are getting any more responses from the waves we sent. Commodore, I believe I gave you a small list of chores for you to do.”

“Should I make a reservation,” James asked.

“No,” Mal shook his head.

“I am certain Apollo would love to see his sister perform before we can bring them to her, although I am certain there will be security.”

“He does have a point, sir,” Zoë reminded him. “Even if we did get tickets it is going to be difficult to get backstage to conduct the family reunion.”

“I have thought of that. I am going to be looking for places that can create holo-recording and have Apollo share his story and then play it.”

“I doubt we will find a broadcast that would be strong enough as Mr. Universe’s.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Mal answered, earning a blink from Zoë and caused James to arch an eyebrow. Jayne could be heard grunting as he loaded the mopper with cleaning solution. “As long as it is played is what matters, we can get the girl to hack into something we can probably send a wave not only through out the whole city, but also the entire planet and any nearby passing ship.”

“Her name is River Tam,” James corrected.

“She has been a crew member longer than you have,” Mal fought to keep himself from smiling. James still sees himself as River’s protector in a way. If Mal were the girl’s father he would have approved of her choice of James and try to find someway to get the former commodore to spend more time with her; however he wasn’t and felt like it was none of his business.

“We all have our nicknames for each other,” Zoë added.

James nodded. “He does not have one for you.”

“I let corporal slip out from time to time,” Mal said, and right now he needed to speak with his corporal alone. “Kinda like how I keep calling you commodore.” He tapped the side of his head. “Military mind.”

“There is no escaping that.”

Mal nodded. “No there isn’t,” he pointed up. “You still have responsibilities.” He turned to Zoë. “Before you do your assignment I need to speak with you.”

“In private?” She asked.

“Pretty much, it is about this dream I had.”

-

Cyn could not believe how stubborn her bassist was being. She would have expected such behavior form a child, but not an adult. She continued to hold out her hand, the amber colored lozenge was in the center of her palm.

“I said I don’t need it,” Dustin kept his arms folded; nostrils were flaring as he glared down at the lozenge. “I am not the lead singer.”

“You still sing and everyone who does sing along even in background will take one of these,” Cyn held her hand out even further.

“I feel fine,” Dustin stepped away. “I can probably talk or even speak for hours. I am not going to loose my voice anytime soon.”

“Why don’t you just consider it as a preventative measure,” Ray cleaned his drum sticks. “They don’t taste bad either, have a nice minty aftertaste.”

“She is going to mother us,” Dustin said. “She is going to start of with menthol eucalyptus drops to keep our vocal chords healthy and strong, and then she is going to remind us to take our multi vitamins everyday, and then the second we start sneezing she is going to see to it that we take vitamin c drops and—gug.” His words were frozen on his tongue when Alfie grabbed him by the back of his neck.

“You are taking the lozenge.” Alfie ordered. “You are going to take it into your mouth, hold it in your mouth, and you are going to suck on it. If you want to chew on it when it gets paper thin then go ahead, but it will be in your mouth.”

“Alfie, man how could ya?” Dustin struggled to get out of his cousin’s grasp. “We are family.”

Alfie nodded. “And since I am your cousin I should be the one to force it down your throat.”

“Come one,” the red head finally slipped away from Alfie’s grasp. “You wouldn’t try to take one of them if she told you too.”

“Yes I would,” the sax player grabbed him by the arm. “Do not make me try to pin you down because I would.”

“You are just saying it. She aint making ya cause you don’t sing.”

“That is cause I can’t sing and blow at the same time.”

Cyn shook her head at the display and ignored Ray’s immature laugh at Alfie’s response. “Dustin, could you just please take it. We’ll make Alfie do something embarrassing if you do, we will throw a pie at his face.”

“And waste a perfectly good pie?” Dustin relaxed.

“We don’t have to throw a pie; you come up with the idea.”

“Really, anything I want?” the bassist smiled.

“Wait a second,” Alfie stepped back. “I didn’t agree to this.”

“Yes,” Cyn sighed. She was willing to do whatever it would take for him to swallow the lozenge. “Whatever you want.”

“Hand it over,” Dustin held his hand out.

“I ain’t wearing a dress,” Alfie said.

“I am not going to make you wear a dress,” Dustin took the lozenge from Cyn’s hand and placed it in his mouth.

“Now I am frightened,” Alfie turned to Cyn. “Why did you tell him that?”

“I’ll also do something embarrassing,” Cyn said. “I’ll let Dustin come up with the idea and we will do it.”

“This is what frightens me,” Alfie said weakly.

“They really need to clean that bathroom more than once a day,” Amistance entered the room. “Did he take his lozenge?”

Dustin replied with a simple nod of his head.

“Does that mean we can start practice again?” Amistance asked.

“Can’t really start singing until he finishes sucking,” Ray pointed at the bassist with one of his drumsticks.

“What about an instrumental?” Amistance asked.

“That we can do,” Cyn picked up her guitar.

“Which song are we going to play?” Alfie was no longer shocked. He sat down at the end of the bed and hefted up his saxophone.

“Both the song we are going to win with, and the message.”

-

“Gorram rain,” Mal pulled his leather coat over his head as he and the rest of his crew ran towards the club. Mal wasn’t sure if it was a club or a bar, he was just going by the loud and flashy music and the ad for a drink special.

“Hyper-Hyperio-Hyperion,” Jane struggled to read the name of the place. “We are going for a drink here?”

“We are taking Apollo to see his sis,” Mal explained. “Let’s just hope the cover charge won’t be too big.”

“There are no lines,” Inara noted. “It might not be too popular.”

“In that case it means it isn’t too crowded,” Mal smiled. “Just the way I like em. Zoë, I need you to see how much is going to cost us. Kaylee, I want you and the doc to find out where the nearest place to make a holo-recording.”

“We are going to miss the show?” Kaylee asked in a disappointed tone.

“You won’t miss much if you find it fast enough,” Mal pointed down the busy streets. “I need you to just find it, get the address down and return here. Once the show is over we are going to have Apollo record his message and then broadcast it.”

“I thought we are going to bring him back to Cyn,” Simon said.

“The place is going to be packed with fans and security; this might be the only way she will know that he is here,”

“Then what?” Jayne asked. “They get reunited and more folk’ll know what happened.”

“We will broadcast too even more,” Mal said. “We will keep hopping from planet to planet until everyone will see and everyone will know. I know it aint much.”

“It is more than enough,” Apollo could not stop gaping at everything. It reminded Mal of James when the commodore first came back with them. “I do not know how to thank you.”

“Your words are enough son,” Mal said he had noticed that both his doctor and his mechanic had yet to leave and Inara was speaking with them. “What are you doing?”

“I’m making sure they will be able to come back to us,” Inara explained. She had handed the two of them a handful of something before she turned to face him. “If there is a cover charge they are going to need money to get in.”

“Fine, just give them money and come along,” Mal stepped back to the fake glass doors, thankful for the awning that provided him with decent coverage from the rain. “You two get a move on and then hurry back here so you don’t miss this show.” He had no idea what he was about to see himself, and he hoped it would be at least somewhat enjoyable.

-

Inara had long since ignored the stares from several of the male patrons to the bar since she had entered. They were focused more on women they were sure they could impress. She had to admit she stood out like a sore thumb.

The lights had switched from various colors, but were mostly a bluish purple color. When she had first entered she had dreaded the place was a popular dance club, modeled after those from the 20^th and 21^st centuries, but the smoke she had inhaled came from cigarettes and pipes and not a machine.

“I have never seen you drink anything that wasn’t tea,” James had approached her with his own glass in hand. “Although I do feel that fine wine does suit you.”

Inara stared at her glass. She had ordered a drink, a combination of white wine and the juice from a peach. “It isn’t just wine, also has some juice in it.”

“That would make it a bit more expensive,” James held up his own glass. “They call this a commodore. I couldn’t really resist in trying it.”

“How does it taste?” She sought out the rest of the crew. Mal and Zoë were leaning against the wall, staring at the screen, the first band in the competition had just finished and Inara wasn’t that impressed, neither was the rest of the crew. Mal and Zoë were talking to each other and Jayne was trying to chat up a few ladies. Apollo was seated at the bar with River; both were drinking concoctions involving fruit juices and sodas.

“It is both sweet and sour. I am not quite sure what they are implying.”

“Speaking of something sweet,” Inara pointed at both River and Apollo. “Although he is a bit young for her.”

“Are you implying they are becoming a couple?” James raised his eyebrows in concern. “They have only recently met.”

“There is love at first sight,” Inara took another sip from her drink. She knew River wasn’t flirting with the boy; her eyes were only for James and a part of her felt that James was starting to see River in a similar way. “Kaylee fell for Simon when they had first met.”

“I don’t think he is ready for a relationship,” James frowned. “He had spent most of his life in slavery; he had just been freed and was given the promise of seeing his sister. He is clearly not ready for a relationship.”

“But River is?” Inara approached the bar where the two teenagers were sitting.

“She is an adult and while yes she has been through a lot of trying times she has adjusted to the point where she can be in a relationship.”

“With an older man?”

“I do not believe age should be a factor,” James stiffened.

“Neither do I,” Inara’s smile grew. “Are you both comfortable?” She addressed both River and Apollo.

“He wants to know when Cynthia’s band is about to play,” River explained before she sipped her drink through her straw.

“Is it true she doesn’t have a name for her band?” Apollo asked.

“They were still unnamed when they left the ship,” Inara stared at the screen, the band that was performing was clearly not Cyn’s group; they were not near the skill level as Cyn and the others. “We just have to keep our eyes on the screen until the step onto the stage.”

“How long do you think it will be?” Apollo asked.

“There are 29 bands that are playing this year,” River said. “Five others had performed before them. They are the sixth, the next will be the seventh that is an important number, but unnamed.” She pointed at the empty stool s next to her.

“Why don’t you take a seat,” Inara urged. “I need to keep an eye out for Kaylee and Simon.

“They are here,” River said.

Inara didn’t need to ask. She heard feet thunder against the ground and turned around to see Kaylee race up to her with Simon in tow.

“Did we miss it?” Kaylee asked once she had caught her breath.

“I don’t think you have missed much,” Inara told her. “The performances have been a little lackluster so far.”

“Like most bands that are featured here-“ the emcee on the screen had said while the stagehands were setting up for the next performance.

“Gulp!” Someone shouted out, earning several equally immature responses.

“Different parts of the universe,” Inara heard the emcee said once the commotion had settled down. “They have met at the Skyplex Lady Washington and have hopped from planet to moon, performing in small bars and clubs.”

“This could be them,” Kaylee said in an excited tone.

“Ladies and gentlemen, give a hand to the Royal Navy of the Caribbean.”

James shouldn’t have been sipping his drink, once he heard the name he nearly choked.

“It is them,” River handed him a few handfuls of napkins.

“Cynthia,” Apollo breathed when one of the cameras focused in on the lead singer. “She grew up beautiful.”

Inara felt like she couldn’t move the second Amistance’s fingers pressed down on the keys and Cynthia started to sing. The song was a haunting melody, a song perfect to sit back and listen to and also to dance, in fact it was one of the songs the band had performed while on Serenity.

“Royal Navy of the Caribbean,” Mal repeated the name of the band when he and Zoë approached them. “Commodore, you might wanna be shedding a light on why they have that name.”

James had a sheepish grin. “I may have told one band member about my past.”

Mal nodded. “What have I warned?”

“If I hadn’t told her, she may not have told me about Miss Driscoll’s past.”

“She is good,” Apollo couldn’t remove his eyes from the concert. Inara was certain he hadn’t blinked.

“Good,” a passing bar tender paused by them. “They are not good, they are amazing.”

The song had ended and both the audience at the concert and in the bar were silent. Inara could loose a single bead from her ground and everyone would have been able to hear it once it had landed on the floor. It had only lasted for a second before everyone brought their hands together and several people shouted.

“Unless something better plays they have it in the bag,” the bartender said.

“Twenty two more to go,” River said.

“And the ratio is one out of seven are actually good,” Inara added. Cynthia and her band had done their part, now she, Mal and the others were going to have to do their part.

-