fandomtownies | The Junkyard, Early Saturday morning

It was just before sunrise when River arrived at the Junkyard. She placed the box of donuts and the bag of cookies on the ground and pulled the tarpaulin off the spacecraft. Watching the first sun rays hit the stained metal, she smiled. Kaylee had said she could fly. She just needed a name. River tilted her head to the side. ”Acorn,” she said to herself. It was a squirrel-built ship after all. She pulled out a marker pen and neatly typed the name on the side of the ship.

She pushed the button to open the cargo doors, which also seemed to be the most practical entrance on this ship. Kaylee had pointed out that the spacecraft had no fancy features, and with the fuel currently in the tank it wouldn't be particularly fast, but it should take them where they wanted. Also, no weapons included, River reminded herself, certain that someone would ask. She was lucky to have friends who knew about those things.

The day before she had handwavily dragged an old rug and a couple of armchairs into the main cargo hold, which was also the largest space inside the ship. Now she put the bakery goods on one of the chairs and stretched out on her back on the rug and waited, looking up at the ceiling.

Buffy was not far behind River. She'd stopped by her room to pack a bag of stakes, knives and Mr Gordo. She paused outside the ship to stare up at it. "Woah."

	River waved to Buffy to enter. She grinned happily. "I have cookies and donuts. And I've found some furniture." She hoped Buffy would approve.
	Buffy entered, looking around cautiously. She'd never been inside a space ship before, who knew what was around? She relaxed at the sight of furniture and cookies though. There was just something so normal about it. "I like cookies," she grinned back, then got an uh-oh expression on her face. "There's a bathroom here, right?"
	River suddenly looked nervous. "There is one. It's very small. And," she added, "has no mirror."
	Buffy frowned a little. "Well, I suppose you can fight evil without looking your best as well. Are we actually planning on any fighting? Are there space vampires?" She looked possibly a little hopeful. "Mel would be so pissed if I got to fight space vampires and she didn't."
	River thought for a moment. "Reavers eat people. That count? And I'm not sure about fighting, but I can't rule it out."

Blair blinked as he entered the junkyard and saw the ship. "Those are some impressive squirrels!"

He carried his backpack with him, which in addition to his laptop and first aid supplies also carried notebooks and pens. You know, just in case the reavers had time to answer a few anthropological questions.

	"Blair!" River waved frantically and gave him a hug when he was close enough. "I've brought cookies," she said after releasing him. "Not homemade ones." She didn't find it necessary to point out right now that there would be no questioning of reavers.
	"Hey, River!" Blair hugged her back and kissed her soundly, thinking about how the homemade cookies weren't so bad. Pulling back he looked at River carefully. "Are you ready for this?"
	"Ready." River looked up at him, suddenly very serious. "You?" She knew this wasn't safe, and she was also aware that Blair perhaps wasn't suited for this kind of potential danger. But his trust in goodness was something she didn't want to be without right now. Perhaps that was selfish.
	"Yes." Blair knew that what he was thinking was opposite of that and he tried to explain. "I mean, I'd prefer if the two of us could be hanging out this morning in my room. No traveling or nightmares or fighting. But that's not the way it worked out and I'm okay with that. I wanna be with you...even if that means flying into space in a nutty ship." "Get it? Nutty ship? Acorn? I crack myself up." Blair said in a quiet tone, hoping to make River smile. He knew full well that this wasn't his normal type of adventure but he had no intention of letting River go anywhere without him.

"Hi," Kaylee greeted. She had a few supplies with her, including spare engine parts. Just in case. She inspected the ship once more to make sure she wasn't imagining that a ship built by squirrel could fly.

	"Hello!" River waved. "I added some furniture, but I haven't touched the engine. Leaving that to you." She smiled, happy to have Kaylee along.
	"I'll try to take good care of it," Kaylee replied, smiling back at River.
	River nodded, being in no doubt that Kaylee would take care of the ship in a good way. "Have some donuts," she offered, "and find a seat."

Sam showed up in the junkyard carrying a thermos of coffee, four energy bars, and wearing a pair of slightly loose green BDU uniform, black t-shirt, and her boots. She'd left the boonie hat at home.

She was also heavily armed, having taken Jack at his word when he told her about space pirates and cannibals. She had a combat knife at her waist, a swiss army knife in her boot, her 9 mm at her waist and her P-90 over her shoulder and ammunition was in the pockets of the black bulletproof vest she was wearing, as well as in the pack on her back. The zat was in the pocket of her pants, as were plastic hand ties.

She walked around the ship, investigating, and hoping it wouldn't fall apart once they were airborne.

River peeked out and waved when she noticed Sam examining the ship. She grinned. "It's safe. Kaylee checked it." On the other hand it was good to know that people where thorough. "I'm River," she added. "I've brought donuts."

	Sam smiled at her. "Hey, River," she offered her hand, "I'm Sam. Jack invited me." Which made this trip sound like it was much more fun than it was probably going to be. "And I have coffee. Squirrels built this ship? Really?"
	"Coffee." River's smile widened into a grin. She took Sam's hand. "And yes, they did. I've named it Acorn." She tilted her head. "Thank you for coming." She frowned for a second as she looked into Sam's mind. There was too much there. Keeping quiet about that she shook her head and smiled again.
	"I couldn't not come," Sam said, taking River's hand and trying not to think about all the reasons, starting with Jack and ending with making sure everyone made it back alive and in mostly one piece.
	Trying not to think of things usually equalled thinking about them. River nodded, now having a reasonably clear picture of Sam's motivations for helping. Sam was obviously in the category of good people.

Blair almost dropped the cookie he was eating when he saw Sam. "Whoa, Sam! Don't you think you went a little overboard on the G.I. Jane theme, man?"

	"Hey, Blair," Sam shook her head, realizing she should have expected this. "I was told there would be cannibals, and I don't know about you, but I don't want to be eaten."
	"So the outfit is so the cannibals can't see you?" Blair arched an eyebrow. "I don't want to be eaten either, but I plan to achieve that with a lot less firepower."
	"Damn it, I forgot the grenades," she pouted, wondering if she had time to run back to the weapons locker, "and the outfit is comfortable and serviceable. The firepower's just in case."
	"Grenades?" Blair facepalmed and shook his head. "Me and you should talk on the flight out. Discuss peaceful alternatives for conflict resolution...why grenades are bad and stuff."
	Sam facepalmed. Oh, good. She got to revisit Daniel Jackson, the early years. "In and of themselves, weapons aren't bad, Blair. It's all in how, why, and when they're used that is the issue."
	"Words are a good weapon." Blair nodded. "We could try talking to the cannibals and explain that we're just passing through."
	"Did you remember to bring the barbeque sauce?" Sam asked, more than a little sarcastically. "And yes, words are a good weapon. But they shouldn't be the only weapon, because that's a good way to get killed."
	"BBQ sauce? Like for a gift for the..." Blair trailed off as he understood and he smirked at Sam. "Oh, ha ha, very funny. But don't you think that it's unfair to go in with guns? It's not like cannibals are going to have sophisticated weaponry." Yeah, Blair was imagining tribesman clad in loincloths and spears.
	"What do you think they're packing in their slingshots that you need that?" Blair pointed to the P90 and rolled his eyes. "Really, really big rocks?"
	"Small explosives, bullets, biological weapons, arrows, knives, poisons, burning sticks, rocks, trees, dirty diapers..." Sam rattled off weapons from the top of her head. She could be at this for a while.
	Blair blinked and muttered under his breath. "Man, talk about issues." "Okay, okay. I got it. These people could fight and we need people who can fight back. With really big guns. Doesn't make me happy, but I got it."
	"It's a last resort," Sam said, reaching out to pat Blair on the arm, "but I'd rather have it and not use it than not have it and need it."
	Blair turned to watch River for a moment and then nodded at Sam. "Makes sense."
	"So we're okay?" Sam asked, trying to figure out if she'd have to zat Blair if there was fighting. "You trust me not to use a gun unless I think it's necessary?"
	"Uh..." Blair shrugged. "Barring the fact that your idea of necessary and my idea of necessary probably vary wildly, yeah, I trust you. I'm not going to stop you or any of the others from defending us." "I also promise not to hide or sabotage the weapons on the trip out."
	Sam stared at him. "That was a concern?" Holy Hannah, he was worse than Daniel.
	"My mom's a hippie." Blair stated with a grin. "Protesting wasn't the only way she taught me how to stop The Man."

Parker arrived fairly late, and looked around. "Okay. You said the squirrels built it. You didn't say they crocheted it."

River might have looked a little disappointed. "It works. Kaylee made sure of that." She gestured for Parker to have a look inside the ship.

Parker bit back further comments before she saw the inside. The coziness was a nice surprise-- she'd half-expected un-finished walls and barbed bits sticking out. The pastries were a nice touch too. She tapped a hand on the wall, and eyed everything around her. "How far can she go? And how much does fuel cost? I brought a few things for trade, if we need it."

Precious stones were always good trade items, right?

	River shrugged. "Kaylee knows. But yes, we'll need fuel. And precious stones are still precious." She looked at Parker and gave her half a smile, appreciating Parker's concern.
	Parker rolled her eyes, then smiled back. "I'll check with Kaylee on that, then. Where's our first destination?"
	"First planet we arrive at," River replied. "Need to find location of Miranda and refuel." Parker was comforting that way, asking questions that needed to be cleared out.
	"Good. If this isn't possible in one trip, we figure out the next part of the plan. If it is possible, we figure out a route, and how to get past any barriers then." She smiled. "Or, you tell me if there's a better plan? Forgive me if I'm being bossy."
	"You're Parker. You're bossy. I like that." She did. River had little talent for bossiness.
	Parker grinned. "Okay, then. The good ship-- Acorn? Okay.-- the good ship Acorn sets off to deep space as soon as everyone's aboard. I brought extra guns, too."

When Blair saw Parker come inside the ship he moved quickly to give her a hug. "Parker! I'm so sorry about last week and stuff! I'm totally never going to fight you!"

"Blair?!" Parker blinked and stood still, wondering what the hell was up with him. "Do you want me to shoot you? No hugging! We've talked about this!"

"No shooting, Parker." Blair frowned and squeezed her harder. "I'm just really glad you're okay and that I didn't beat you up!"

"Like that was even possible?" Parker refrained from killing Blair, but did pull back to peer at his expression. "Okay, what the hell is up with you?"

"Dude, it's not like everyone has to disparage my masculinity." Blair muttered. "I was possessed last week and I was going to beat you up but Sam and Dean found and exorcised me before that happened and do you know how much that hurts but it's okay because I didn't hurt you so I didn't mind."

"Oh my God." Parker's confusion melted into concern, and she squeezed his arm, checking him for any visible bleeding, bruising, bones broken, burns or scars. "Are you okay? Damnit! When did this happen? He disappeared and I thought he was back in the Underworld until--" She cut off mentioning anything about Anders. "How the hell did they figure it out?"

"I'm okay." Blair wiggled his fingers to prove the point. "Bel called me on Tuesday and said he needed help. It was a trap and I was just..." He stopped, not really wanting to describe again the feeling of being possessed.

"Anyways, Sam had a vision or something, don't tell his Dad about that by the way, about me and you fighting and realized I was not me."

Parker put her hands to her face, muttering, "Blair, Blair, Blair...." Some people just can't be warned. She took a huge breath, and then looked at him soberly. "I'm so, so sorry you had to go through that. And wow, do I owe Sam and Dean, I guess." She frowned. "I won't mention the vision thing to anyone, but that's-- fairly damn frightening." Her lips twitched. "You're off the hook for the hug."

"I second the fairly damn frightening part." Blair nodded and figured if he was off the hook for one hug, he might as well sneak another in. "I'm just glad you didn't get hurt, Parker."

Parker sighed and tolerated the hug thing. Weiss had raised her endurance for this kind of thing anyway. "Yeah, yeah." She patted Blair on the back. "I'm pretty damn glad as well. I had enough close calls with that bastard last week. I just wish we could stick him in a bottle in a mountain under a volcano forever, at this point."

"Well, I'm not fond of the Source." Blair shuddered a little at the name and shook his head. "But hopefully there's a way to save Bel and bring him back."

"I hope so too," Parker said, thinking of what Isabel had described of Bel's condition. "But no one else hurt would make me very damn happy." She sighed, and pulled away. "And that goes for *this* weekend, too. You ready for what's out there, Blair?"

"I'd love to get through this weekend with nobody getting hurt on either side." Blair looked over his shoulder to watch River for a long moment.

"I love her, Parker. I'm willing to do what I need to do to keep her safe."

Parker gave him a serious look. "We want River to have a life to go back to there, Blair. So we're going to try to avoid hurting people as much as possible. I promise." She made sure he was looking at her, then very carefully said, "But I am very much in favor of them not getting to hurt River again. Or hurt anyone else." She smiled at his declaration, then said, "Are you willing to let us defend you guys? It might come to that. Space cannibals, not so much with the diplomatic talks."

"I'm not going to hide all the weapons on the trip out." Blair nodded with a slight roll of his eyes. "Doesn't mean that I'm just going to sit down and shut up if I think there's a chance at a diplomatic solution."

"Good to know," Parker said dryly, and made a mental note to hide the radio receiver from him. "And we're all strangers out there, so... I'm following River and Kaylee's lead on what's safe, and what isn't. Hopefully this will be just a little exploratory cruise." Hopefully. Parker shot River a glance. And hopefully we all come back in the same shape we left in.

Jack arrived, carrying a small backpack with his lockpicks, a first aid kit, a few bottles of water, some spare clothes, and a pile of clips for the 9mm. Parker had been good enough to loan him two, and a dual shoulder holster, which he was wearing under his swoopy coat. There were more spare clips in his pockets, along with the mini-comp, just in case.

The rifle Rose had given him was balanced over one shoulder, and he kept glancing at it and grinning.

Not that he wasn't taking this seriously, but it was a really big gun.

Sam burst out laughing when she saw the look on Jack's face. "Y'know, if I didn't know better, I'd swear you were compensating for something."

	Jack grinned even wider. "Isn't it beautiful?" Yeah, he was patting it as he said that. "Rose gave it to me."
	"It's very...something," Sam said, trying to fight back both a serious case of weapons envy and the urge to take it apart to see how it worked. "What does it do?"
	"Mass destruction, based on what she told me. It's an energy weapon, and it'll stop just about anything in its tracks." Jack held it a little bit closer, not cuddling it, not quite, before sighing and offering it to her. "Want to take a look? I was thinking we might be able to mount it on the outside of the ship."
	"See, now if I'd known about this ahead of time, I could have rigged a triggering system, or at least brought brackets and a screwdriver," Sam said, taking the gun from him. "Ooof. Heavier than it looks."
	"Think we could scrounge something before we go?" he asked, watching Sam play with his new gun, torn between enjoying it and being ever so slightly jealous. "And it is, but it's got firepower to match the weight, according to Rose."
	"Maybe?" Sam was already hunting around for something that might be able to work. "I'm not sure anything here would withstand the rigors of interstellar travel. And ooh, firepower. Good. Know how it works? Did you practice with it?"
	Jack grimaced. "I didn't think of that. The rifle will, but it won't do us a lot of good if it floats away," he said, sounding heartbroken at the prospect. "I know how to use it, Rose showed me, but I was afraid I'd demolish the range if I tried it out."
	Sam hugged him. "I'm sorry, Jack. It would be fun to use it that way, not to mention helpful." Maybe she could design a portable weapons mount...
	He hugged her back, and also took the opportunity to steal a quick kiss, figuring it might be his last chance for awhile. "It'll still be helpful," he said. "And I'd rather it not drift off before I get to use it."
	"Oh, I see," she teased, "You just want to play with the shiny new phallic symbol."
	"Oh, like you don't," Jack teased, holding out his hands for his rifle. "And if you ever needed proof that I love you," he muttered under his breath, then added in a normal tone, "If we get into a serious fire fight, I'll pass it to you."

"Jack!" River leaned out of the ship. "Come in! I have cookies and donuts." She tilted her head and eyed the gun. Potentially useful of course, although Jack's enthusiasm about it amused her. "New toy?"

	"It's not a toy, it's a potentially very useful bit of equipment," he protested as he headed over to join her in the ship. "It's practical, it's functional, it's--" he shook his head, "okay, it's a new toy. But it's a nice one!"
	"Practical, functional, fun. Hence good toy." She chuckled.
	"Thank you." Jack dropped his backpack on the floor, and looked around. "This is surprisingly nice, for something built by squirrels. Comfy, even. And it'll fly?"
	River sank down in one of the armchairs. "Kaylee thinks so. I trust her." She stuck her hand into the box, grabbed a donut and handed it to Jack, her eyes fixed on him.
	Jack sat down on the floor in front of River, rifle balanced across his knees. "Okay." He didn't trust her. The only people on this trip he trusted were Sam, Parker, himself and, oddly enough, River. "If you trust her," he said as he accepted the doughnut. "Then I'm okay with it. You doing all right?"
	River assumed that trustworthy wasn't how most people would describe her. Not in a deceitful way, of course, but in the sense of being unreliable. It did make her happy that Jack trusted her. "Yes. Know where to go. That's a difference."
	"I bet it is." Jack smiled up at her and took a big bite of doughnut and, seeing as his mouth was full, tried to think reassuring thoughts: that they would make it there safely, they would find out what had happened.

Bridge arrives with a backpack stuffed with lockpicks, his laptop and several granola bars. He's also got his SPD-issue sidearm strapped in to his holster and his handcuffs are dangling from their usual spot on his belt.

	When she judged that everyone or as near as had gathered, Emma showed up, dressed in fully X-Men regalia, cape and all, just in case that made an impression. She stood outside the spaceship and pointed at the ground beneath her. "You can all climb out of that space ship and head back to your beds because that's the only traveling you'll be doing today, children."
	River stuck her head out of the door and smiled at Emma. "Yes, we are. Going. Have to."
	Children? Who the hell is she kidding? Parker folded her arms. "I wasn't aware we'd acquired strippers as den mothers. Or that a small outing with adult supervision--" Or whatever Jane is. "-- would be a problem for the school."
	"A small outing to outer space? You bet your pretty little ass it's a problem!" Emma folded her arms right back at the girl. "And I do not like that kind of prejudice against strippers, thank you."
	"Oh?" Sam stood her ground and met Emma square in the eyes, not wavering. Or snickering at the outfit. Personally, she thought it was a little more dominatrix and a little less prostitute. "And why is it a problem?"
	Emma awarded the girl mental points for being on the correct track regarding Emma's outfit. "How many of you are of age? And what do you think it will say of the school if we let students go off to be murdered by..." She frowned and focused. "..Reavers? In the weekend after a school board visit, at that."
	Jack leaned out of the ship, blinked, and grinned in appreciation of Emma's outfit before dragging his brain back to the topic at hand. "Better after than during," he pointed out. "And no one's going to get murdered." Deliberately casual, he glanced at the others, then back at Emma. "No one here's going to let that happen."
	Buffy held up a stake and nodded in agreement.
	River raised her gaze and looked at Emma, saying nothing. But her mind was very clear on why they were going and why it was important. "Need to know this," she added quietly.
	Emma winced at the images, and wondered just how much trouble she would be in if she mind whammied them all and dragged them back to school. Then there were dead people screaming in her head, and she was back in Genosha, and she blinked and looked at River. "All right. If I can't stop you, I'm coming with you." She was not letting the children fly right into that nightmare without protection.
	Parker gave Emma an incredulous look. "Excuse, Uninvited Teacher-type. Exactly how are you going to be helpful on our small, discreet investigation into circumstances we'd like to fly under the radar of the local authorities?" Parker gave Emma's outfit a glance. "Do you even know the meaning of the word subtle?"
	"I do, it comes right after 'distracting people by having them look at my breasts while I take them to the cleaners'." Emma smiled. "Besides, I have some other talents that might come in handy, wouldn't you say, River?" If that sounded suggestive it was probably just because it was Emma saying the words.
	River's face went blank, and she didn't reply to Emma's question. Emma's trying to stop them, and now her joining them... River put her hands over her ears and closed her eyes.
	"River?" Blair came over to River and put his arm around her shoulders, trying to make his thoughts soothing and calm. He wasn't sure what the problem was but he frowned at Emma. "I'm fine with you coming, but can we try and think happy thoughts, at least for a while?"
	Buffy came to stand behind River, and hearing a keyword 'happy thoughts' began to babble about the upcoming cheerleader competition. "River, the competition is going to be awesome, and we're so going to win! I mean, have you seen our squad? It rocks! We're going to cheer everyone's pants off!"
	Cheerleading, dead people and Emma all mingled together in River's mind. Her eyes widened and she looked at the people around her. "Leave now?"
	"If we must," said Emma, and made her way past them and into the space ship.