Stay With Me Tonight
Title: Stay With Me Tonight
Rating: PG
Summary: Sometimes strength is just a mask, but when it comes to Mal, Buffy isn't sure she can remove hers.
Prompt: "Blood" for 25crossovers, "big bang" for xoverland.
Disclaimer: Joss Whedon owns "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", "Firefly" and all related characters; I own nothing.
Note: Written as a Secret Santa present for akat24 at The Rooftop.
Buffy tiredly ran her hand across her face, ignoring the coppery taste of blood in her mouth. She was lucky--they were lucky that they had made it out of that ambush alive. Buffy made a resolution right then and there never to bug Jayne about bringing too many grenades again. The man might have a liking of them possibly bordering on an obsession, but she wasn’t going to complain about that when it just saved their gorram skins. Going to the sink, she carefully wet a cloth and began cleaning the blood from her face. The music from whatever the twenty-fifth century’s version of a radio drifted throughout her small room, and she hummed along slightly off-tune. In the bunk next to hers, she could faintly hear River muttering to herself about non-linear evolution, and Buffy wondered if she had gotten hold of Book’s bible again.
A knock on the door to her bunk snapped her back, and she looked up at the door.
“It’s open,” she called out. Old habits died hard, and even though that last portal had brought her five hundred years into the future, she still wasn’t one to invite people in willy-nilly.
“Tell me all that blood ain’t yours,” Mal’s voice filtered down. Buffy looked up and gave him a tired smile as he carefully climbed down the ladder to her room.
“Nah, you should see the other guy,” she answered, going back to cleaning the blood off of her. I’m going to have to trash these clothes, she thought, looking at her ruined shirt. She’d learned the hard way that blood was hard to get out, back in Sunnydale.
“Still didn’t answer my question, bao bay,” Mal replied, coming to stand behind her. He had a concerned look on his face, one that made Buffy both fluttery in her stomach and nervous in her brain. There was something between her and the captain, one that she couldn’t quite put her finger on, and it scared her more than a little. Love--hell, even attraction-- and Buffy had never been on the best of terms, and adding the man who might as well be her boss into the mix would probably be disastrous on way too many levels to count.
“It isn’t mostly mine,” Buffy answered, putting down the cloth and playfully glaring at him. “That work?”
“Aren’t you just the contrary one when you’re injured,” Mal commented, the worry never quite leaving his eyes although a smirk played at the corners of his mouth.
“Like you’re one to talk,” Buffy shot back. “So, any other reason you popped on down, or should I feel flattered that you came to check on me?”
“Just wanted to see how you were doing after that scuffle we had,” Mal answered after a pause. “It looked like you took a beating, and then with you refusing to see the doc...” He trailed off, giving her a pointed look.
“Like I said, Mal, I’m fine,” Buffy replied, her tone taking a slight edge. “It’s a flesh wound, that’s all.” Mal nodded, but made no move to leave her room, and Buffy had this odd feeling like she didn’t want him to leave, not right now. She wanted to say something, to ask him to stay with her tonight, but a part of her was holding her back. Before Buffy could open her mouth and untangle her thoughts, Mal gave her a nod and a smile.
“Well, if you’ve got this mess handled, I’ll be on my merry way,” he said, moving towards the ladder. Buffy watched him go, wondering what would have happened if she had asked him to stay.
~*~*~
Buffy lay on her bunk, her eyes staring blankly into the darkness. She had been laying here for most of the day, only moving to get the food she had stashed away. Above her, she could hear the gentle sounds of Serenity’s crew moving about their daily business, like nothing was out of the ordinary.
Her breath caught, and Buffy forced herself to breathe normally. Being in the dark probably didn’t help matters right now, but every time she inched towards the light switch, she froze and then retreated back into the darkness. She was lucky that her room was bigger than a small box, lucky that the air smelled like metal and not decaying wood and dirt.
The sound of a door opening echoed in the otherwise silent chamber, and Buffy closed her eyes against the shaft of light that invaded the darkness she had surrounded herself with.
“Go away,” she ordered hoarsely, turning her back to the ladder.
“Ain’t happening,” Mal’s voice answered her, floating down towards her. “You’ve been hiding out all gorram day, and I don’t aim to have that type of thing on my boat.”
“Too freaking bad,” Buffy muttered, turning around so she could glare at the captain. “I’m alive, now go away.”
“Not until you tell me what’s got a burr under your saddle,” he replied, leaning against a wall, his arms crossed and a concerned look on his face. “This ain’t like you, Buffy, and when one of my crew acts this unnatural like, I worry.”
“Bully for you,” Buffy said, slowly sitting up. She had first hand knowledge about how damn stubborn Mal could be when he put his mind to it, and he had that look in his eyes right now. Unfortunately, how would she be able to explain, “Oh, over 500 years ago, my best friends pulled me from heaven and then I had to go through the worst year of my life” to him without him thinking she was crazy? Yeah, not so much.
“You know how you deal with Unification Day, going to a pro-Alliance bar and picking whichever fight you can?” Buffy began slowly, wondering if she was making the right comparison. She had only been around for one of those so far, but Kaylee and Wash did like to talk and Buffy heard things. Mal nodded slowly, his face not giving much away. “Well, this is me dealing with my own personal Unification Day,” she explained, clenching her hands together, but not taking her eyes away from Mal’s face. “We each have our own methods of coping.”
Mal was silent for a moment before nodding sharply. “‘Splains more than it doesn’t,” he said. “Course, these are things I’d like to know about before they happen, so I don’t go needlessly worrying that there’s something else going on.” Buffy shrugged, and looked down at her hands.
“Guess it’s never been particularly bad other times,” she replied with a certain amount of truth. Other times, she had just distanced herself from the Scoobies and they had understood. Here, though, with it being the first time she was going through this day in this time, it was different and she didn’t really know why.
“I best be leaving you then,” Mal said, moving towards the ladder and starting to climb up it. Buffy closed her eyes, and summoned up the will to ask what she had been to afraid to ask last time he had come to check up on her.
“Stay with me, Mal? Please?” she added, opening her eyes and looking at him. He didn’t say anything at first, and Buffy felt a pit forming in her stomach, that maybe she had overstepped her bounds and that they really didn’t have this thing that she thought they did, and...
“Thought you’d never ask.” Mal’s soft voice cut through Buffy’s mental babble and he gave her a soft smile as he climbed back down the ladder’s rungs. Buffy scooted over and made room on her bed for Mal to sit down next to her. He sat down and hesitantly put his arm around her, as if not sure how she would respond. Buffy responded by moving closer to him and laying her head on his shoulder, feeling for the first time that maybe things would turn out alright between the pair of them.
~*~*~
bao bay - sweetheart
Rating: PG
Summary: Sometimes strength is just a mask, but when it comes to Mal, Buffy isn't sure she can remove hers.
Prompt: "Blood" for 25crossovers, "big bang" for xoverland.
Disclaimer: Joss Whedon owns "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", "Firefly" and all related characters; I own nothing.
Note: Written as a Secret Santa present for akat24 at The Rooftop.
Buffy tiredly ran her hand across her face, ignoring the coppery taste of blood in her mouth. She was lucky--they were lucky that they had made it out of that ambush alive. Buffy made a resolution right then and there never to bug Jayne about bringing too many grenades again. The man might have a liking of them possibly bordering on an obsession, but she wasn’t going to complain about that when it just saved their gorram skins. Going to the sink, she carefully wet a cloth and began cleaning the blood from her face. The music from whatever the twenty-fifth century’s version of a radio drifted throughout her small room, and she hummed along slightly off-tune. In the bunk next to hers, she could faintly hear River muttering to herself about non-linear evolution, and Buffy wondered if she had gotten hold of Book’s bible again.
A knock on the door to her bunk snapped her back, and she looked up at the door.
“It’s open,” she called out. Old habits died hard, and even though that last portal had brought her five hundred years into the future, she still wasn’t one to invite people in willy-nilly.
“Tell me all that blood ain’t yours,” Mal’s voice filtered down. Buffy looked up and gave him a tired smile as he carefully climbed down the ladder to her room.
“Nah, you should see the other guy,” she answered, going back to cleaning the blood off of her. I’m going to have to trash these clothes, she thought, looking at her ruined shirt. She’d learned the hard way that blood was hard to get out, back in Sunnydale.
“Still didn’t answer my question, bao bay,” Mal replied, coming to stand behind her. He had a concerned look on his face, one that made Buffy both fluttery in her stomach and nervous in her brain. There was something between her and the captain, one that she couldn’t quite put her finger on, and it scared her more than a little. Love--hell, even attraction-- and Buffy had never been on the best of terms, and adding the man who might as well be her boss into the mix would probably be disastrous on way too many levels to count.
“It isn’t mostly mine,” Buffy answered, putting down the cloth and playfully glaring at him. “That work?”
“Aren’t you just the contrary one when you’re injured,” Mal commented, the worry never quite leaving his eyes although a smirk played at the corners of his mouth.
“Like you’re one to talk,” Buffy shot back. “So, any other reason you popped on down, or should I feel flattered that you came to check on me?”
“Just wanted to see how you were doing after that scuffle we had,” Mal answered after a pause. “It looked like you took a beating, and then with you refusing to see the doc...” He trailed off, giving her a pointed look.
“Like I said, Mal, I’m fine,” Buffy replied, her tone taking a slight edge. “It’s a flesh wound, that’s all.” Mal nodded, but made no move to leave her room, and Buffy had this odd feeling like she didn’t want him to leave, not right now. She wanted to say something, to ask him to stay with her tonight, but a part of her was holding her back. Before Buffy could open her mouth and untangle her thoughts, Mal gave her a nod and a smile.
“Well, if you’ve got this mess handled, I’ll be on my merry way,” he said, moving towards the ladder. Buffy watched him go, wondering what would have happened if she had asked him to stay.
~*~*~
Buffy lay on her bunk, her eyes staring blankly into the darkness. She had been laying here for most of the day, only moving to get the food she had stashed away. Above her, she could hear the gentle sounds of Serenity’s crew moving about their daily business, like nothing was out of the ordinary.
Her breath caught, and Buffy forced herself to breathe normally. Being in the dark probably didn’t help matters right now, but every time she inched towards the light switch, she froze and then retreated back into the darkness. She was lucky that her room was bigger than a small box, lucky that the air smelled like metal and not decaying wood and dirt.
The sound of a door opening echoed in the otherwise silent chamber, and Buffy closed her eyes against the shaft of light that invaded the darkness she had surrounded herself with.
“Go away,” she ordered hoarsely, turning her back to the ladder.
“Ain’t happening,” Mal’s voice answered her, floating down towards her. “You’ve been hiding out all gorram day, and I don’t aim to have that type of thing on my boat.”
“Too freaking bad,” Buffy muttered, turning around so she could glare at the captain. “I’m alive, now go away.”
“Not until you tell me what’s got a burr under your saddle,” he replied, leaning against a wall, his arms crossed and a concerned look on his face. “This ain’t like you, Buffy, and when one of my crew acts this unnatural like, I worry.”
“Bully for you,” Buffy said, slowly sitting up. She had first hand knowledge about how damn stubborn Mal could be when he put his mind to it, and he had that look in his eyes right now. Unfortunately, how would she be able to explain, “Oh, over 500 years ago, my best friends pulled me from heaven and then I had to go through the worst year of my life” to him without him thinking she was crazy? Yeah, not so much.
“You know how you deal with Unification Day, going to a pro-Alliance bar and picking whichever fight you can?” Buffy began slowly, wondering if she was making the right comparison. She had only been around for one of those so far, but Kaylee and Wash did like to talk and Buffy heard things. Mal nodded slowly, his face not giving much away. “Well, this is me dealing with my own personal Unification Day,” she explained, clenching her hands together, but not taking her eyes away from Mal’s face. “We each have our own methods of coping.”
Mal was silent for a moment before nodding sharply. “‘Splains more than it doesn’t,” he said. “Course, these are things I’d like to know about before they happen, so I don’t go needlessly worrying that there’s something else going on.” Buffy shrugged, and looked down at her hands.
“Guess it’s never been particularly bad other times,” she replied with a certain amount of truth. Other times, she had just distanced herself from the Scoobies and they had understood. Here, though, with it being the first time she was going through this day in this time, it was different and she didn’t really know why.
“I best be leaving you then,” Mal said, moving towards the ladder and starting to climb up it. Buffy closed her eyes, and summoned up the will to ask what she had been to afraid to ask last time he had come to check up on her.
“Stay with me, Mal? Please?” she added, opening her eyes and looking at him. He didn’t say anything at first, and Buffy felt a pit forming in her stomach, that maybe she had overstepped her bounds and that they really didn’t have this thing that she thought they did, and...
“Thought you’d never ask.” Mal’s soft voice cut through Buffy’s mental babble and he gave her a soft smile as he climbed back down the ladder’s rungs. Buffy scooted over and made room on her bed for Mal to sit down next to her. He sat down and hesitantly put his arm around her, as if not sure how she would respond. Buffy responded by moving closer to him and laying her head on his shoulder, feeling for the first time that maybe things would turn out alright between the pair of them.
~*~*~
bao bay - sweetheart