Part 2

[walk_ins]

There's a stink of gunpowder in the air; too much for the Station's air recyclers to clear out. Blood, too. But things have gotten quiet, except for the rare moan from the blue-handed defenders. Whatever forces are left to protect the Academy have given up on breaking the seige and have fallen back, waiting for the attackers to come out.

Time's running out.

Comments

[aj_crawley]

This is how the end begins.

In the beginning, when God created the world, the Earth was formless and desolate. The raging ocean that covered everything was engulfed in total darkness. And then God commanded,

     Let there be light.

He separated the Light from the Darkness, and that was the first day. God looked upon it, and saw that it was good.

(Come-come-commala)

Crowley stands in a rubble-strewn corridor, crouched ready. In one hand, a tyre iron. In the other, a pair of socks with a lump of debris inside. In his ears, the blaring claxons - almost white noise, now - and the receding footsteps of Ace and Jayne, heading towards the all-important core.

Facing him is the Doctor.

[walk_ins]

He's very very tall---right now. His feet don't touch the ground. And his eyes are silver as freshly-minted nickels.

His nostrils flare--and by this I mean the flex, until the center of his face is two gapin dark holes--then pinch closed. "You're no din from the Ter, my fine cully. What sort of tah are you?"

[aj_crawley]

There's a horrid sense of... sucking; Crowley almost leans bodily towards the Doctor as he sniffs, though there's no physical force to pull him.

He doesn't know what the Doctor's saying. But he thinks he knows what the Doctor means.

"Whips in Hell, and chains in Sheol."

On the second day, God created the dome called the Sky, and on the third, he separated Land from Water, and called them Earth and Sea. The fourth day came, and God placed lights in the Sky, to rule over day and night. God looked upon his work, and saw that it was good. It was well, may it do ya, can I get an Amen?

What was that? Crowley forces his own question out through gritted teeth.

"The fuck are you?"

Crowley's hands are shaking.

(Commala-come-come)

[walk_ins]

"Foxes in foxholes, and rats down ratholes, they too are hurt," he recites the rejoinder; he can't not. There are rules. Even for things like him there are rules.

He shall rule them with a rod of iron;
They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels

He executes a mocking bow; his fingertips brush the wall, four feet away.

Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, “Come and see.” And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.

"Lord Sylngshun," he sneers, like a garbage disposal with a voice. "Duke of Discordia, and servant of the Crimson King, Abbalah-Doon.

[flybywash]

Serenity's cargo bay is empty now. Unless, of course, you count the bloodstains. Wash's hands, clothes, feels like everything reek of it, and his arms are stiff and sore from hauling the bodies of the can-toi.

Upstairs, the bridge is still coloured a washed-out red from the back-up lights. He sits in the pilot's chair, head in his hands, and watches the fuel gauge. It's been chirping out a steady warning every fifteen seconds on the dot.

Chirp.

LEAK SUSPECTED. CHECK FUEL LEVELS AT ONCE.

Chirp.

Thirty-one more minutes, give or take, and it won't matter who succeeded, who failed. They'll all be enjoying their nice new careers as pieces of space trash.

Chirp.

Wash shifts, presses the side of one hand to his mouth, and waits.

[nitro-is-ace.livejournal.com]

There are intruders all over the skyplex now, on various missions.

These two are bent on destruction.
All around the mulberry bush the monkey chased the weasel
Ace and Jayne race towards the core, Jayne on point, Ace on his heels, both praying that whatever Crowley's got cooked up for their friend ugly back there works, and works fast.

[swinging-cod.livejournal.com]

*Jayne knows the Skyplex by heart, and as they run, he forces his brain to calculate approximately how many guards they might hit, given how many they hit elsewhere.

Maybe-- ten? Fifteen? Eighteen tops, when everything else is going on in the other gorram corridor.

One guard turns a corner, his face pale with either fear or exertion, and he gets off a shot before Jayne blasts him with Vera.

To Ace--*

Oops. Duck next time and yer hair won't get all scorchified.

[nitro-is-ace.livejournal.com]

"Or, you know, you could not shoot a millimeter away from my head." She retorts drily, counting cross-corridors. There's a turn up here, if she's remembering right, and hopefully they haven't blocked it off with some other ugly thingyumbobber.

Of course, it's rather hard to be grim and worried when the joyful thought of 'gonna blow it up!' is revolving around in her head.

[swinging-cod.livejournal.com]

*Jayne sneers.*

Aint got time to aim 'round yer ponytail, girlie.

*Ace finds the corridor in question and--

That is one ugly thingyumbobber.*

Tamade.

*Jayne shoots at the

(can-toi, you know the word you just can't say it)

blue-handed lizard-thing, and misses.*

[simon_doctor]

The students are pouring down the corridor like --

Simon's mind gropes for comparisons, and lights for a moment on the old fairytale about the Piper of Hamelin, and then grasps with somewhat more confidence the old Bible tale about the Children of Israel and the Red Sea.

Mal's in the lead, about as unMoseslike as anyone could ask for, snapping off shot after shot at a last few blue-handed guards. Inara and Faith and Ted moving up and down the column like sheepdogs, coaxing and chivvying them along, as is Simon himself -- right now closest to Cuthbert, who's bringing up the rear.

[walk_ins]

A small hand grabs Simon's wrist for a moment, and he looks down to see a fairly young student staring up at him with enormous blue eyes. One of the few who'd seemed to understand why they were there, back in the cafeteria.

"Hear the loud alarum bells," she says, clearly and distinctly, "brazen bells! What a tale of terror now their turbulency tells!"

[simon_doctor]

"It's all right," Simon tells her, almost automatically. "That's good; keep moving. We're almost there."

[faithful-slayer.livejournal.com]

Faith's hands are covered in blood.

None of it's hers. None of it's human.

There's been human blood spilled - students killed, injured - but she's unharmed, as she and the others from the main dining hall lead the students to Serenity. Most can walk on their own, and those that can't are being carried.

Faith doesn't see Simon slip away - she, like the others, is too busy watching for more blue-gloves to kill.

[walk_ins]

An older girl near Faith suddenly stops moving, her hands flying up before her in a defensive gesture against the air.

"No," she says flatly. "Waiting. Circle the canyon. Waiting for us, don't let them --"

[key-youth-bert.livejournal.com]

As with River, a lot of the things that these kids are saying is flying straight over Cuthbert's head.

This, though--

Circle the canyon. Waiting for us.

His hands fly to his guns even as a nearby classroom door opens, spilling a knot of blue-handed can-toi into the hallway.

"Fuck--get the kids out! Go!"

And then there's no more talk, only gunfire.

[walk_ins]

In the confusion of the ambush, one student pushes her way out of the chaos, screaming and covering her head as bullets fly. Head ducked, she runs, picking her corridors at random.

[badinlatin]

Mal immediately launches himself after her, cursing out loud as he runs faster than his legs have ever allowed him to run.

Gorramit why is she this fast?

[walk_ins]

Inadvertantly, she leads Mal through a maze of close corridors and rooms, not getting far; sometimes doubling back. Panic is riding her.

Finally she stumbles and falls near a T-junction of two corridors, sobbing.

[sai_delgado]

"Shhh -- it's all right, dear, it's going to be all right now--"

She comforts the traumatized students as best she can as she helps them find places to settle in. Some are unresponsive, some crying; all of them remind her of River, in a way.

Nearby Alain is doing the same, and oh, but his calm reassurance is helpful, while Cuthbert and Zoe stand guard. They've not had the chance to speak yet, she and 'Bert-- a moment only, and a look between them.

It's not done, for they're not all back yet, but she's daring to hope now, as she guides another student to sit huddled and clinging to a friend.

"It's all right--"

[key-youth-bert.livejournal.com]

Jayne. Simon. Crowley. Ace. Faith. Anthy. Tom. River. Roland.

Too many people not back yet for them to relax.

Still, it's almost over. The students are all on board--either in the cargo bay, or, in the case of the more agitated ones, being shepherded to rooms in the passenger dorm by Ted and Kitty.

Behind themselves, Cuthbert and Zoe can hear Susannah's voice as she moves about the cargo bay along with Alain and Susan and the students, and Shepherd Book's footsteps as he heads to the engine room to check on Kaylee.

They've sustained some casualties, and some injuries--Mal is in the infirmary, Inara with him, and some of the students are wounded--but things could be going far, far worse.

Cuthbert steals glances at Susan when he can, wishing he could go to her--and then catches Zoe glancing at him. For a moment, her expression is hard to read, and then she smiles slightly, and Bert understands--she wants to go find Wash on the bridge just as badly.

He returns the smile, and they both turn back to the corridor, waiting.

[simon_doctor]

The sound of running footfalls approaching, and Simon rounds the corner and heads for Serenity's open cargo bay at a dead run. He's carrying his gun in one hand, and a large datareader in the other.

He slows and stops by Cuthbert, running a quick glance around the cargo bay. "Anyone hurt?"

[faithful-slayer.livejournal.com]

The bombers haven't returned.

Faith, unable to do much good as medic and feeling like she has to do something or she'll go nuts, is picking her way through the halls, retracing their trail as best as she can remember it from the plans.

Pity the blue-glove that runs into her while she's worrying about her friends.

[aj_crawley]

There aren't many left, of the can-toi. And those that are, for the most part, are fleeing the growing rumble that's echoing through the walls and corridors of the skyplex.

One or two have even managed to trip over Crowley, not even noticing his occasional, painstaking attempts to climb to his feet. Their low moans of horror are reserved for the sight of what remains of the Doctor. The demon doesn't even register, really, as a cause for concern.

After all, nothing with that much blood outside of them could possibly be alive.

[faithful-slayer.livejournal.com]

This is true of humans, of course, and possibly even of can-toi.

But not, necessarily of Slayers - and certainly not of demons.

Which is why, when Faith feels the familiar presence, she rushes up to him, cursing softly at the sight of him.

"...damnit, Breck Girl...you get yourself into more trouble..."

She kneels next to him, looking for an undamaged place to touch. "Can you walk, or am I carrying you?"

[walk_ins]

Slowly, they all return, all of them that are coming back.

Ace and Jayne last.

Nothing moves in the skyplex, but rumbling thuds are beginning to come from behind them. Book punches the button to close the airlock, while Zoe gets on the intercom to Wash:

"WASH, EVERYBODY'S ON THAT'S COMIN'! GET US OUT OF HERE!"

The cargo bay is as crammed as it was with cattle on the trip to Jiangyin, but these aren't cargo at all; they're passengers. River-type passengers. Fearful muttering and mumbles pass among them; some are weeping. But on many faces, clear hope is visible, maybe for the first time in a long while.

And then their hope is fulfilled.