Life on this boat. A Firefly story. #fanfic

Lou's story

Hey readers.
Thanx for reading my fanfic!
I don't feel any need to give you any background to the Serenity crew. As you are reading this I assume you know and love the crew allready. Therefore, I will spend this part establishing Lou's backstory before progressing the story itself.
Enjoy!

Lou looked at Kaylee and Inara. In her experience, giving people too much information usually gave them the upper hand. She rarely told her story other than the bit about the debt collectors taking her daughters. She was now facing the choice of trusting these two women or not.
"I understand if you don't want us to know too much," Kaylee said.
"We all carry our stories," Inara said.
"It's just... I told you my husband was a mercenary... he was on wanted posters all over the verse and I have just barely slipped out of some situations due to being his wife," Lou explained. "One ship gave me a lift thinking they could haul in the ransom if they handed me in instead of him."
Kaylee nodded in understanding.
"We are just curious about you," she said with a half-smile.
"Besides, we have travelled all over and may know someone who can help you find your girls," Inara said.
Lou smiled at the two women, grateful to be with friends. She sat down at the now empty and cleaned table. Kaylee and Inara sat down oposite her and looked at her expectantly.
"Ok. I will put my trust in you," Lou said and drew a deep breath before speaking.
"As I said, my husband was housebound on account of his calf-caper and I was on kitchen duty while the rest of the family were out herding. I had a row of beehives in a small forest near our farm and was busy curing the honeycomb for the winter. He was being rude and horrible and I was not greatly impressed by him. Sure, he was a handsome devil and part of my grumpiness was on account of being attracted to him against my better will.
By about day three he got fed up with my sulkiness and he had thought a bit about his own life as well so as I sat down to mend clothes that night he started talking. He told me about the homestead he grew up on, how mercenaries burned it down killing his family and taking him with them as they left. He was forced to leave his schooling and was put to work so fast he didn't get time to grieve his family. The ship he was on was a pirateship more than a smuggler ship and they used to board and rob other ships for profit. This was just before the war and as the war progressed, the pirates threatened that if he didn't listen they would hand him over to the alliance as a traitor. He lived the rest of his life frightened to death of the alliance. He was made to live as they did and quickly wisened up to how he was expected to behave. Any spare time was spent imagining how to avenge his family or fantasising about the new farm he wanted to have one day.
He told me about the life of a mercenary, how he was ashamed of some of the things he had done and how he after a decade of killing and running from bounty hunters and police had gotten tired of being rootless.
By the time he came to our rock, the war was nearing the end, he was wanted by inner planet police and had bounty hunters on his heels.
He told me he had laid awake one night feeling tired of being surrounded by lawlessness so he got into one of the shuttles and sped off as long as he had fuel. The nearest planet was Valhalla, and he landed in a forest a weeks walk from our farm. By the time my mother found him, he was too hungry and tired to talk. My mother always took in strays to work and decided to give him a chance. I think she knew he was a mercenary, but she said he was crying like a small child when she found him. By the time he was fed and washed, he was still a rude, obnoxious tough guy. But he worked hard and never complained about dirty jobs so we kept him.
He talked for hours, and I understood how his rough attitude was a front.
He told me he had forgotten that being nice to people was an option untill he found my family and saw how my brothers and I spoke to each other with love. My eldest brother was married then and their son was a baby so he had seen how tenderly my brother took care of them and told me he wanted to find that peace.
I was struck by his honesty and started treating him better as well after that.
The next evening he made me talk by asking lots of questions, and for the rest of his leg-rest we had lots of conversations that showed me his inner self. The tough-guy bit was something he had learnt as a way to survive.
He wasn't perfect in any ways. He never managed to throw off his mercenary attitude tho, so as long as we knew eachother we had regular face-offs. He tried to bully me and I had to show him how to stand down. It taught me to be tough tho and I learned exactly what buttons to push with a tough-guy to show them I don't let them have the upper hand.
We found common ground, became friends and when he started telling me he had feelings for me, he was so clumsy about it you'd think he'd asked me to go to hell. Once a mercenary, always a mercenary," Lou said smiling at the memory of her husband.
"We had Sapphire just before the end of the war and Brooke arrived two years later. Shepherd Book convinced us to get married, so we did.
He worshipped those two girls," Lou told her crewmates with a dreamy smile.
"That is so sweet," Inara said.
"You tamed a beast," Kaylee smiled.
"Not really," Lou replied. "He was never tamed. He just allowed me to see his soft side and I learnt to stand up for myself."
"But, if he was mean, why did you marry him?" Kaylee asked looking puzzled.
"He could be a bully sometimes, but if I just treated him like a wayward child he always gave in. I just had to show him some tough love and convince him that I wanted the best for him. Sometimes a smile and a kiss was enough to show him that he was safe and didn't need to defend himself. He always protected me as well and I knew he would never hurt me," Lou said. "It was just a case of looking him in the eye and telling him straight up that he was crossing a line. It works with most men."
"So with Jayne earlier? That was a trick you had used before?" Inara asked.
"Oh yeah... many times," Lou laughed.
"Really? You had so much sass and I have never seen anyone stand up to Jayne like that before," Kaylee nodded.
Lou giggled.
"Jayne ain't that bad... He just needs to be told to behave," Lou grinned.
"Like a child?" Kaylee asked.
"Just like a child," Lou grinned.
"Maybe I will have to try that on Simon," Kaylee pondered.
"He's inner-planet-raised," Lou said with a shrug.
"So?" Kaylee said.
"Different strategy applies to his lot," Lou said shaking her head and turning to Inara. "That goes for ex rebel soldiers too... too much baggage and honor to be mothered into submission."
"Inara knows enough to get Mal into her bunk," Kaylee smiled at her friend.
Inara shook her head in exaspeation without trying to defend her line of work. Lou recognised the companions dual dilemma of having to choose betwen her job and the man she so obviously loved. Lou could read the conflict in Inara's eyes as she looked up.
Lou smiled warmly at her.
"It will work out, I'm sure. I am in no position to judge or understand a companion's life choices, but I am sure that whichever man is brave enough to fight for your honor, will be worthy of your heart," Lou said before noticing Kaylee smirking.
"What now?" Lou asked.
"It's just that Mal has allready fought for Inara's honor....several times," Kaylee giggled.
Inara gave her a sharp look.
Lou raised an eyebrow.
"Sounds like someone just needs to get his heart and head aligned," she smiled at Inara.
Inara stayed quiet for a long while.
Realising she was on a sticky path, Lou decided to continue telling her own story to save Inara from further embarrassment.
"So, anyway my girls were 5 and 7 years old when they were taken. Dunno if you have heard of a Ted Duggar? That's the fellow that took'em," Lou explained.
The two women looked wide eyed behind Lou. She turned and saw an angry looking Mal.
"Ted Duggar?!?!?," he asked.
Lou nodded, wondering if she would have to repeat herself.
"I swear to high heavens that if you have terms with that slimy pirate, I will personally throw you out of the air-hatch," Mal said threateningly.
"He took her daughters Mal," Inara said softly.
He immediately softened, but stayed alert. Lou repeated that he had taken them.
"I only want my children, captain. Nothing more. And all I know is that he took them," she pleaded.
Mal studied her.
"I try to stay away from people like him on account of wanting to keep my crew alive," Mal said firmly.
"I understand, sir," Lou said dejected. "I will off-board at Dorian and find a different ride to Demeter." She felt the tears of disappointment burn as she thought she might have blown the chance of finding her children.
"Didn't Jayne have dealings with a man by that name??" Kaylee asked.
"Yeah, and it put us knee deep in pure shit," Mal said.
"So maybe Jayne knows something?" Kaylee continued.
"You can ask, I sure as hell won't," Mal said firmly before trudging up to the bridge with heavy footfalls.
Kaylee shook her head.
"He loves us all really," Kaylee smiled.
"I can see that," Lou said. "I don't want to put any of you in trouble or disrespect any of you. He is the captain and I'm only onboard for as long as he likes my cooking..."
"If today was anything to go by, I guess you have a permanent position on Serenity," Inara said smiling.
"That was the best food we have had for years," Kaylee nodded.
"Thank you," Lou smiled warmly at the two women.
"But you were saying about your daughters," Inara said, hinting for more information.
"I have a picture here," Lou said grabbing the canvas bag and digging in a pocket for a faded photo in a plastic wallet.
She laid the picture on the table. It showed two young girls.
"Here they are. Sapphire is the oldest. Brooke is two years younger. She is named after Shepherd Book. The photo was taken two and a half years ago, a couple of months before that asshole took them," Lou had to fight her tears as she spoke. Seeing the picture made her miss them even more and she felt the worry over their safety almost break her heart. She wondered what they looked like now.
"They look so beautiful," Inara said.
Flipping the picture over, Kaylee revealed a photo of Lou's husband.
"Whoa," Kaylee exclaimed.
Lou looked at her puzzled.
"What was his name?" Kaylee asked looking Lou straight in the eye looking very serious.
"Danny Karruthers," Lou said.
"But your name is Sepia?" Kaylee asked.
"Yeah... I had to use my maiden name because of the bounty on Danny," Lou explained.
"I'll be damned!" Kaylee said, studying the photo.