theladyscribe: Etta Place and Butch Cassidy laughing. (ass)
a subtle sort of brilliance ([personal profile] theladyscribe) wrote in [community profile] avandell2009-01-13 10:31 pm

Spare Parts

Title: Spare Parts
Characters: Kaylee Frye, Dean Winchester, others (implied Dean/Kaylee)
Rating: PG
Word Count: 774
Summary: "He'll find you."
Notes: A Firefly/Supernatural crossover. An expanded version of the Christmas ficlet I wrote for [profile] blincolin. Also, part of the Bruce Springsteen Fic Project. Song is "Spare Parts."

Spare Parts

Simon and River leave eventually. Kaylee can't say that she's all that surprised; after all, River got so much better after Miranda, and Simon never did really want to be here. Still, that don't mean it doesn't hurt when they go.

They drop them on a moon just outside of the Core. It's not half so dangerous as it used to be, but Mal still ain't real comfortable near the center of things. There's promises of sending waves and making visits, but Kaylee's got no presumptions. She knows they won't stay in touch.

She kisses Simon anyway, lets it linger just a little too long. River gets a hug and Kaylee's jacks pressed into her hand.

"Take care of yourself, mei-mei," Kaylee whispers in her ear.

"He'll find you," she answers. "Soon." She draws away before Kaylee can ask what she means, and with that, Simon and River leave their lives.

Next time they stop is in a port called Quantrill's Raid on some moon called Deadwood. Kaylee's needing parts for the ship, a timing belt and an extra fuel cell if she can find it. Lucky for her, there's a junkyard here, and she heads for it armed with protein bars and some other tradeable items.

There's a big black dog in the front yard, looks like it's supposed to be a guard dog, but it barely notices her. Kaylee ain't sure whether she should knock on the door of the house or what, but then she notices the tinny music coming from the outbuilding. She walks toward the open door and finds a pair of legs sticking out from under the belly of a sleek black ship.

One foot's twitching in time with the music, and a voice is singing tunelessly along.

"Scuse me, are you the owner of this establishment?" Kaylee hollers over the song.

The singing abruptly stops, and the legs slide out to reveal a handsome boy looks like he's spent half his life digging 'round the bowels of a ship. There's a streak of grease down his jaw that Kaylee'd like to smudge some more and freckles dust his cheeks. An angry red scar cuts a line from his hair to the middle of an eyebrow – the only thing that mars his pretty features.

He grins up at her, but it don't quite reach his eyes.

"Nope, I'm not," he says in answer to her question. "Bobby ain't around today. But I can maybe help you." He stands and offers a hand. "I'm Dean."

"Kaylee." She grins. "Nice boat you got there," she says, nodding at the ship behind him.

He ducks his head, turns and rubs a loving hand along the ship's side. "She's my baby," and he says it like he means it.

"She's a Pegasus, right? I didn't know they still made Pegasus class."

"They don't. I inherited her from my father. The Impala's seen us through thick and thin." He's looking at the ship like a fool in love, eyes a little glassy, and Kaylee wonders what sort of thick and thin things he's been through. Dean shakes his head and turns back to her. "But you're looking for parts?"

"Yep. Need sparkers and a new-old flux capacitor for an 03-K64 Firefly."

"You've come to the right place." He leads her out of the giant garage, heading toward a fenced-in section of the yard. "I think Bobby's got almost enough parts to supply an entire fleet of Fireflies." He swings the gate wide open, holds it for her like a real gentleman.

Dean helps her sort through the piles of parts, finds a near-new capacitor for her. He's not got the polish Simon had, but what he lacks in grace he more than makes up for in charm. While she's looking for the sparkers, he quips, "You're looking at the best sparker this side of the Rim."

Kaylee blinks at him and laughs. "That so?"

To her surprise, his cheeks go pink and he ducks his head. "Maybe."

"Sorry, Sparky," she answers, "but Cap'n won't let me bring boys on the ship, no matter how much I ask." It's not strictly true - after all, it was her work that brough Simon aboard, but Dean don't need to know it.

He shrugs. "Couldn't go with you anyway. Gotta fix up my girl, and then my brother and me have work to do."

"Too bad. Could do with some extra sparking."

"Well, hold on just a bit, Miss Kaylee. Nobody said sparking wasn't an option. Just can't make it last. You know how it is."

And the thing of it is, she does.