8:05 A.M.
Saturday, July 21st, 2018
Disneyland
Anaheim, California
“Come on! Let’s go!” shouted little Chuck, straining against the hands holding his own hands and keeping him from dashing into the park like the over-excited little dervish that he’d suddenly turned into.
“Hold your horses, little man,” Chuck replied, keeping a firm grasp on little Chuck’s left hand with his right. “Space Mountain’s not going anywhere.”
“I KNOW, but the line’ll be huge by the time we get there!” whined little Chuck.
“Come on, Chuck, your mom’s never been here before,” Chuck explained. “She wants to see it all too.”
And seeing it all Kaylee was. Here eyes had gone wide upon entering the park – she looks like a kid in Santa’s workshop right before Christmas, Chuck thought.
A week earlier, Chuck, his sister and brother-in-law, Casey, Morgan, and the Serenity crew had returned to Los Angeles from Phoenix, late on the night of Friday the 13th. Mal had stayed behind in Phoenix to keep an eye on Sarah. “Sarah’s big damn hero,” Kaylee had called him.
After Devin and Ellie had gone to pick up little Chuck and their own two – Michael and Jordan – from Devin’s mother’s place, Zoe had approached Chuck and Casey with a request.
“The crew’s been through a lot the last couple of days,” she said. “And we were all kind of getting cabin fever being cooped up in that hotel in Santa Clarita anyway. Is there any way – any way at all that we can just take a few days to go do our own things?”
Chuck and Casey had ended up spending almost two hours on the phone with Bryce before they were able to talk him into it. Finally, Bryce had grudgingly agreed, but with the condition that each member of Serenity’s crew have an escort of some sort.
River and Jayne had decided they wanted to visit Las Vegas. Apparently, River had seen some commercials for the Mirage, and had come to the conclusion that she could figure out any game in any casino, just based on laws of probability, “and her enormous genius,” Simon had cracked. She had gotten to talking with Jayne about it, and they had come up with a plan to royally rip off some casinos – “Entirely legally, of course,” Jayne had said with a gigantic smile.
With the warning from Chuck that if they got into trouble, he wasn’t bailing them out, they had headed off for Vegas in the CIA Gulfstream, with Colonel Tweedum and Morgan going along to keep them out of trouble.
Simon had chosen to simply stay in Los Angeles for the time being. He said that he wanted to spend some time on the beach, maybe visit some of the more eclectic shopping areas in downtown, learn a little more about the city. Chuck had decided that if that was the case, Simon would be okay with just an agent tailing him rather than actually escorting him.
Zoe had decided she wanted to try her hand at big-game hunting, after reading in a magazine that there was an overabundance of elk in northern Arizona. Despite having grumbled about how much he hated Arizona while they were there, Casey agreed to escort her with surprising alacrity.
“Don’t you think it’s odd how quickly Casey said he’d go with Zoe?” Chuck had asked Kaylee.
“What I think is odd is how quickly my ship’s crew seems to be snapping up American intelligence agents,” Kaylee replied. “It’s like… well, it’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before.”
Chuck and Kaylee had ended up just staying in the south bay area. Chuck had some work he had to catch up on with the Nerd Herd, and Ellie insisted that he go back and see Dr. Russell for an EKG. He was fine – “Like I said,” he had grumped – but he was placed on two different medications – one for his heart, one for his blood pressure.
He had taken Kaylee and little Chuck to Long Beach to see the Queen Mary, and then on Friday, Ellie had had the day off, so she took Kaylee to South Coast Plaza – “If you liked the Beverly Center, this is gonna blow your mind,” Ellie had told Kaylee. Jordan and Mike had gone to Devin’s mother’s for the day again so that Chuck and little Chuck could “have a little father/son time,” Ellie had decided. Devin’s mother had asked if she could expect them to be picked up that day, or if there was going to be another “family emergency.” Ellie had pointedly ignored her.
So that Friday, after Ellie and Kaylee had left with Ellie’s two kids, Chuck and little Chuck were left sitting in the house. Little Chuck was engrossed in Sesame Street, but when it ended, he turned to his father and said, “I want to go ride the trains.”
And so they had. They had driven to the end of the L.A. County Metro Green Line, gotten on board, ridden it to South Central L.A., hopped on the Blue Line, and took that to downtown. At that point, they got on the Red Line subway, which fascinated little Chuck NO end. They ended up riding on that for a couple hours before heading back home.
When Ellie and Kaylee had come home that night, Ellie had suggested going to Disneyland the next day. “But weren’t you just there last week?” Chuck had asked.
“Yeah, but I’m sure the kids wouldn’t mind going again,” Ellie had replied, “and Kaylee’s obviously never been… so we should go!”
And so now, Chuck, Kaylee, little Chuck, Devin, Ellie, and Michael and Jordan were headed into the Happiest Place on Earth. “This is unbelievable,” Kaylee whispered.
“And you haven’t even been on any of the rides yet,” Chuck replied with a laugh.
Little Chuck insisted on going on Space Mountain first. Chuck was not exactly excited about standing in that line first thing in the morning. “PLEASE, Dad?” little Chuck begged.
“Come on, Big Chuck!” Kaylee joked. “Little Chuck wants to go!”
Chuck gave her a look. “I am not Big Chuck,” he deadpanned. “My old boss at Buy More was Big Mike. I do not plan to EVER take on the ‘Big’ moniker.”
“I could call you Old Chuck instead…”
And with that, Chuck turned and faced forward, pretending to ignore Kaylee. “Look, Chuck, Daddy thinks he can be all big and bad and not talk to Mommy,” Kaylee said with a laugh.
Chuck was doing his best to keep a smile from breaking out on his face. That effort came to a screeching halt when he found himself on the receiving end of a tickle attack from Kaylee and little Chuck.
Breaking away from them, he whirled and faced them with a look of mock rage. “How DARE you, you monsters!” he gasped. “I am appalled!”
“Oh, shut up,” Kaylee laughed, stepping up to Chuck and quieting him by kissing him.
“Ewww!” little Chuck objected.
As they got closer to the head of the line, little Chuck was surprised by both Mickey Mouse and Buzz Lightyear coming through the line. Kaylee was equally surprised by Mickey Mouse. “My God,” she whispered, “I remember seeing him in a really, really old video when I was a little girl.”
“Really?” Chuck asked. “What was it?”
“I think… it was called Fantasy, or something like that…”
“Fantasia,” Chuck corrected her. “Wow, I can’t believe that survives till the 26th century.”
Eventually, they got to the front of the line. Kaylee and little Chuck sat together in the front of a car; Chuck sat behind them. As they climbed the ramp, little Chuck was getting visibly excited – and then, he turned and saw his mother.
“Mommy,” he asked with concern, “why do you look bored? Aren’t you excited?”
Kaylee shrugged. “I’ve been in space,” she said as the cars reached the top of the first ramp and started up the second. “I guess a ride set in space just doesn’t do anything for me.”
As the announcer started counting down to “liftoff”, she continued, “And that, that’s just cheesy. You know, there’s got to be something they can do to make it more- GAH!”
Chuck grinned as the roller coaster took a dive off the climb, completely catching Kaylee off guard. He heard her scream with each dive and swoop the roller coaster took. When it ended, she just sat there in shock as the car coasted into the boarding area.
“Did you like it, Mommy?” little Chuck asked excitedly.
She didn’t reply for a moment. When she finally spoke, it was very quiet, and she simply said, “Shiny.”
They stayed at the park for the rest of the day. Little Chuck dragged his parents all over, taking them to Splash Mountain, Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean (twice), the Matterhorn, and Big Thunder Mountain before Devin and Ellie finally intervened at 3:00, offering to take little Chuck off their hands and take him over to California Adventure for a few hours.
Chuck and Kaylee, needing a slightly slower pace, readily agreed. They didn’t stop going on rides, though – they just went on rides that it was easy to make out on. Haunted Mansion and Small World both fell victim to them.
However, they got a little out of control on the Teacups, trying to see how fast they could make their teacup turn. Kaylee ended up getting so dizzy that she threw up after exiting the ride, and Chuck had to crack open his heart medication and take one of the pills he had been prescribed.
“But, that’s what Disneyland’s all about,” Chuck said as they sat on a bench, Kaylee drinking a bottle of water, Chuck waiting till his lightheadedness passed. “Adults acting like kids and just being generally stupid.”
Just after 8:00, Ellie called Chuck to tell him that little Chuck and Jordan had both fallen asleep, and Michael was well on his way. Reluctantly, Chuck and Kaylee headed out of the park to meet Ellie and Devin back at their car.
The drive back to RPV was fairly quiet, with the three kids asleep in the back seat and Kaylee drifting in and out of consciousness on Chuck’s shoulder. When they arrived pulled up in the driveway of the mansion, the house was dark, although, “It looks like somebody’s watching a movie or something,” Chuck said, noticing the flickering blue glow coming through the front window.
As they entered the front door, there were a few beeps, as whoever was watching the movie used the remote control to pause the movie and turn on the lights. As the lights came up, Chuck looked at the couch to see Simon sitting there, with his arm around –
Chuck couldn’t believe his eyes. “Lou?!” he said.
She looked equally astonished. “Chuck?!”
Simon looked at Lou, and then at Chuck. “Wait a second,” he said. “You two know each other?”
“Yeah, we dated briefly back in 2007,” Chuck said distractedly, “but what the hell?”
Simon explained as Devin and Ellie herded the three kids upstairs to bed. “I went down to Santa Monica for the day,” he started. “I went to the beach, went to the pier, visited the little veterans memorial they have down there. I got onboard the 704 bus back toward downtown so I could get the light rail back down here, when I saw the Buy More store that Chuck always used to talk about working at.
“I got off the bus to see what was so special about the store, wandered around there for a while – I had the manager, some guy named Lester, all over me for something like half an hour trying to get me to buy a laser-scan widescreen TV –“
“Why does that not surprise me,” Chuck muttered.
“And then, I ended up going next door to that LargeMart place, and then I realized I hadn’t eaten all day and I was starving,” Simon continued, “and I saw this place called Lou’s Deli, which sounded good. I went in there, Lou was working the counter, we got to talking – and here we are.”
“Unbelievable,” Chuck said, shaking his head as the doorbell rang.
Devin came bounding downstairs and answered the door. “Howdy, folks, welcome back!” he boomed.
Chuck turned around. “The hell?” he said, seeing eight people on the front porch. “Did you get a group rate?”
“What, are you Elliott Gould now?” Morgan snarked back.
Morgan, Tweedum, River, Jayne, Casey, Zoe, Mal, and Sarah all poured into the house. “It’s like a gigantic awesome party!” Devin said happily.
Chuck looked at his brother-in-law and shook his head in despair. “It’s a gigantic something, alright.”
Everybody had found a seat on one couch or another, and started talking all at once about their adventures. Morgan noticed Lou, gave her a strange look, and then said hello to her. Pretty soon, the babbling din got to be too much. Chuck looked at Kaylee, who just shrugged. All the people who had just arrived were trying to tell their story above everybody else – everybody, that is, except for Mal and Sarah, who were sitting quietly on the loveseat –
Sarah snuggled up to Mal, with his arm around her? Chuck’s eyes widened for a moment, and then turning his attention back to the ever-rising noise level, he stuck his fingers in his mouth and whistled. The ear-splitting noise immediately silenced everybody in the room.
“O-KAY,” he boomed. “If y’all want to tell your stories, that is just spiffy, but ONE. AT. A. TIME.”
Zoe spoke first. “I downed a gigantic elk,” she said proudly.
“Biggest one I’ve ever seen,” Casey added admiringly. “It had a massive rack.”
“Johnny arranged to have it cleaned up and shipped to me,” Zoe said with a smile.
Chuck looked at her with furrowed brow, then turned his gaze to Casey. “Johnny?” he said, his eyebrows crawling up his forehead.
Casey blushed – yes, indeed, John Casey turned bright red. “No comment,” he growled through pursed lips.
River spoke up. “Vegas was pretty good,” she said. “I figured out what Jayne would have to bet and where he would have to play to win every time. We walked out of there with a few dollars.”
“Really?” Sarah asked, speaking for the first time. “How’d you do?”
“We won about five hundred million dollars, give or take,” River said nonchalantly.
The room went silent. One could’ve heard a pin drop. Finally, Casey spoke.
“Did you say five hundred MILLION?” he croaked.
“You betcha, Gramps!” Jayne replied happily. “River’s still got about seventy million, I’ve got sixty million.”
“Wait a second,” Chuck said, raising his hand. “Where’d the other three hundred seventy million go?”
“We bought Playboy,” Jayne announced.
Chuck looked at him like he’d lost his mind. “There is no way you paid that much money for a girlie magazine,” he said.
At that point, Morgan looked at Chuck like HE’d lost his mind. “No, Chuck,” Morgan interrupted. “You don’t understand. They bought Playboy Enterprises from the Hefner estate.”
Chuck’s jaw dropped. “Ho-ly shit,” he whispered.
“I shelled out an additional ten million for the Playboy Mansion,” Jayne beamed, looking like a giddy teenage boy.
“That’s not the craziest part of the whole Vegas trip, though,” Morgan said. “Tell them about it, Mike.”
Colonel Tweedum had been strangely quiet up to that point. “Uh…” he started. “Well, you see, thing is… umm…”
“Tweedum and River got drunk and got hitched by Elvis,” Jayne burst out.
Simon’s face went pale, and then went dark red. “What?” he asked in a dangerous tone.
“We… well, we kind of like each other a whole lot,” Tweedum said weakly, backing away.
“Sit down, Simon,” River ordered her brother. “Mike and I really connected… and maybe we didn’t make the wisest choice… but we’re not gonna back out on it!”
Chuck threw his hands up in despair. “I have stepped into an episode of the Jerry Springer show,” he moaned. “Did anything NOT insane happen this week?”
“I got a clean bill of health,” Sarah said quietly.
Every head in the room turned to look at her. “Thank God,” Ellie breathed.
“I do have some damage to my nervous system,” she continued. “I have to do a little bit of vocal therapy, and I’m going to have to do some physical therapy to be able to run again, but otherwise, I’m fine.”
“I’m surprised Barrow’s released you after just a week,” Devin said.
“Well,” Sarah said, “I promised them I’d take a leave of absence, and that I’d make sure I was under the supervision of a neurologist at all times.”
She looked up at Devin. “I was hoping that you and Ellie could do that, because I know and trust the two of you. I’m also going to have to do a lot of counseling, so being around people I know as well as you will help a lot.
“The CIA will compensate you –“
Ellie stopped her. “Not necessary,” she said. “You’re family. You have been for years. We wouldn’t dream of saying no to you.”
Sarah began to tear up. “Thank you,” she replied softly.
At that, Ellie stood up, crossed the room to Sarah, and drew her into a hug. When they broke off, Sarah sat down on the couch, wiping her eyes. At that point, Mal spoke for the first time.
“It seems to me we have a bit of a situation here,” he started.
“To start with,Serenity is toast. It would take more money and more time than we could dream of to fix her, and I don’t know if the technology is available here and now to get her flying again. It breaks my heart to see her like that… but I don’t know what else to do.
“Secondly, it seems like we’ve all become invested a little bit here in the 21st century. Simon seems to have connected with somebody, as has Zoe – don’t even tell me you haven’t,” he said with a smile as she raised her hand to object. “I very much doubt anybody else could get away with calling John Casey ‘Johnny’.
“Jayne and River now own a huge company, and River has apparently gotten herself married,” he continued, shaking his head. “Even I seem to… well… seem to have fallen for a fairly special person.” Sarah smiled as her cheeks turned a little pink.
“Of course, Kaylee has – whether by chance or by fate – been reunited with the person she fell in love with years ago, who also happens to be the father of a little boy who we have all come to love over the last few years.
“So,” Mal said, leaning forward. “We are at a juncture. Sarah has told me that the United States has the technology, the ability to send us back to our own time, which we’ve seen before – when they came to rescue Chuck seven years ago.”
Ten, Chuck thought, but didn’t say anything.
“However, if we go back, we go back without a ship, and we go back to the not-so-welcoming arms of an Alliance that has kept us on the run for eight years. To me, that doesn’t exactly sound like a real fun time.”
He paused, collecting his thoughts. “I guess what I’m saying here is… do we want to go back?”
Mal looked around the room at his crew. None of them said anything, they just matched his gaze as he looked at them. Zoe, Jayne, Kaylee, Simon, River – all of their eyes saying the same thing.
“Alright,” Mal said with a nod. Standing up, he turned to face Sarah.
“Deputy Director Walker,” he spoke formally, “on behalf of the crew of the Firefly-class transport Serenity, I hereby request that the United States government grant us asylum from the persecution of the Alliance.”
Sarah stood and took Mal’s hand. “Captain Reynolds,” she said, “on behalf of the government of the United States of America, I hereby grant you and your crew asylum. Welcome to America.”
And with that, Mal wrapped his arms around Sarah and kissed her. It was no short kiss, either. Jayne let out a wolf whistle, and there was a spattering of applause.
Finally, Casey spoke up with, “Get a room!”
“Guest room upstairs is all ready to go,” Ellie said jokingly.
However, Mal and Sarah decided to take her seriously, and headed upstairs to a chorus of whistles and laughter. Chuck and Casey looked at each other in open-mouthed astonishment. “Unbelievable,” Casey muttered as Chuck shook his head in shock.
After that, the group dispersed. Casey, Jayne, Morgan, Tweedum, and Devin headed downstairs to Devin’s “Insane Game Room,” as Morgan called it. Ellie sequestered Zoe and River to grill them about their newfound relationships. Simon and Lou settled back in to go back to watching their movie, and Chuck and Kaylee headed outside.
Crossing the street, they stood on the bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean and looked out across the waves. Kaylee cuddled up to Chuck, and they just stood there for a while, gazing at the reflection of the moon on the ocean’s rippled surface.
Finally, Kaylee broke the silence. “You know,” she said softly.
Then she stopped. “Yes?” Chuck asked.
“I was in one of those girlie magazines once, when I was nineteen,” she continued.
Chuck’s eyes widened, and he looked down at her. “You’re kidding,” he said in shock.
“Nope,” she replied with a giggle. “I was young and stupid… but it was fun!”
Chuck didn’t know what to say for a moment. When he spoke, it was not exactly what he intended to say.
“Do you have a copy?” he blurted. “I mean… no, I didn’t want to say that…”
Kaylee looked up at him, and her little smile turned into an evil grin. “Why, Charles Bartowski, you dirty, dirty old man.”
“That’s not what I meant… I didn’t mean…”
“Of course I still have a copy!”
Chuck looked down at her, then turned and strode across the street, heading back for the property.
“Where are you going?!” Kaylee called after him.
“I’ll be in my bunk!” he shouted back over his shoulder.
She started running to catch up with him. “Not without me you won’t!”
