A/N I don't know exactly where I got the idea to put this together but when it hit, it just felt like it was meant to be. Perhaps I've been staring at the edge of the Verse for too long and went bibbity over it, but hey, if this is crazy then I love it. ;D Joking aside, got to talking with a few friends here on and a whole gorram bunch of ideas came from it, so this is me, aiming to misbehave. I wonder how many Firefly quotes I can squeeze into this AN alone lol. Seriously though, this is the crew of the Serenity teaming up with the team of the SSV Normandy, and if everything goes well just as the turn of the Verse then I sure as Hell hope that this lasts through all three games. Wish me luck!

Ch 1; Was that the Primary Buffer Panel…Again?

It had been a year since the truth came out about what the Alliance had done on Miranda, about how they had created the Reavers out of innocent colonists who they had tried to make….better. Those were the exact words that Mal had used when he had rallied the crew of his ship, a Firefly class vessel lovingly called Serenity which was of course falling to pieces. Of course, that wasn't anything new given their history. She had been falling apart the day Mal had bought her but in his own words, love kept her together.

Love was what made a ship like Serenity home. Love. You can learn all the math in the 'Verse, but you take a boat in the air that you don't love, she'll shake you off just as sure as the turning of the worlds. Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down, tells you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens. Makes her a home.

Mal was standing behind the cockpit chairs, dressed in a simple red shirt and jean pants bought off of Persephone during their last little 'job' out that way. "Well that's just gorram great. Was that the primary buffer panel…again you two?"

Wash and River looked to each other before the 18 year old prodigy among them spoke first, her voice soft yet she was easily heard as the ship rattled and rolled through atmo as they made for the planet Serenity this trip. "Just as you were told by Kaylee the last time, those entry couplings were long overdue to be replaced. Six months ago they should have been replaced."

Mal had to shake his head at the sense of déjà vu that River had instilled just then even though she couldn't have heard Kaylee's words since she had been at the time laying out on the catwalks in the cargo hold when he had been having that conversation with Kaylee down in engineering. Looking at his 'little albatross' in her blue tunic slash dress, he could never decide which it was, Mal couldn't help but smile as he crossed his arms over his chest despite the fix they were in.

"She's got a point captain. I distinctly remember this happening the last time we hit atmo when we were heading for a job at the start of our little misadventure against the Alliance." Wash added; earning a scowl from Mal for their trouble as their fingers flew over their respective consoles, trying to keep from burning and potentially exploding before they even hit the dirt.

"Listen here my little albatross and Wash, my ship don't crash you two. If she crashes, you crashed her." Mal had said that once before and Wash and River both chuckled despite the dire situation they were in yet again. It was better than freaking out and with River in the pilot seat, having taken over after Wash had survived being impaled by Reaver spears back on Miranda, she made Serenity dance on the wind just slightly better than Wash himself who was considered the best damn pilot this side of the Verse.

"Adjusting angle of descent. Wash, can you adjust our entry at all from your end? Give me whatever you got." River said, making adjustments faster than even Wash had been capable of doing before his near death experience. She was still learning from the best though, and always deferred to Wash's opinion in situations like this on a regular basis.

"Giving you what I got River. This is gonna be interesting." He felt a moment of déjà vu at that but shrugged it off as the new cockpit crew did their gorram best to make sure they didn't hit the ground as nothing more than a scorch mark planetside.

"Don't answer; I already know how this is going." Mal replied, picking up the radio in front of him before making a ship wide announcement. "This is your captain speaking; we might suffer some slight turbulence and then explode. Make sure your tray tables and seats are in their upright position. And get yourselves strapped in, this is gonna get bumpy."

This was nothing new to the crew since they had survived similar landings before, and they were still able to tell the tales of their adventures so they weren't overly concerned they'd hit the ground as a mass of metal bits scattered over half of the planet Serenity.

Nope, this was old news for everyone and just like every other time, they survived the trip, except they never hit the planet; at least not the planet they were hoping for as some kind of energy disturbance enveloped them out of nowhere and spat them out in front of a world no one had ever seen before.

"What in the gorram Verse is going on now?!" Mal said as the ship rocked and rolled, sparks flying from the consoles in front of Wash and River. The wormhole, for that was all it could have been despite it being impossible from where the people in the cockpit were sitting save for the fact they had seen it for themselves, had put them somewhere entirely different since the moment they had exited, all contact with the Cortex and any other known network was cut off.

"I don't know captain, all connections were cut the moment we exited the wormhole. I can't believe I just said that." Wash said, at an utter loss on how to explain it.

River wasn't so confused although she was just as shocked as everyone else. "I think our angle of descent, combine that with our speed going through Serenity's atmosphere at just the right trajectory and as well as the right amount of friction against our hull generated some kind of energy disturbance. It opened up a spatial anomaly or wormhole if you prefer. If that's the case then we could be anywhere."

"Great, just gorram great. How do I explain that to the rest of the crew?" Mal asked, obviously at a loss since this was beyond his experience. Hell, this was beyond all of their experience. Still, they had gotten through rougher scrapes than this; maybe it wouldn't be so bad, wherever they wound up?

Of course that was before a ship appeared out of nowhere. Wash and River barely had time to adjust course before they accidentally broadsided the frigate. They instead somehow managed to scrape the top as they passed by although the noise as their two ships collided was worse than nails on a gorram chalkboard.

Looking out the window in front of them, they were able to see a blue shimmer envelope the ship they had scraped up against, which meant they had some kind of shield tech. That was new. Was it something Alliance made? If that was the case they'd surely lose since no ship that wasn't flying Alliance colors could be armed in the slightest which made things…interesting in their line of work.

"SHEESH! I don't know who you psychotic dickheads are, but watch where you're flying!" A voice called out over their radio and Mal had to grin at his two pilots since they were still alive despite two close calls in so many minutes as he picked up the radio before him.

"Watch the tone there buddy. We just got here ourselves and the how we ain't too clear on. Let's get this started the right way shall we? Who are you and more importantly, where are we?" Mal asked, earning a scoff from the pilot of the frigate before them before a new voice took over the comms from the frigate's end. And boy did she sound like she was as cold as ice despite the near fatal crash of their two vessels.

Mal liked her already. Most people would have been a mite more upset over the little fact they had all nearly crashed and burned.

"This is Commander Shepard of the SSV Normandy of the System Alliance Navy. Crew of Serenity if the name painted on your hull is anything to go by, who is this that I'm talking to?"

"System Alliance, is that what you folks are calling yourselves now?" Mal asked, earning a strange glare from River since she didn't detect any of the usual things she felt when anywhere near an Alliance vessel, mainly fear of being caught and killed or worse, shipped back to the Academy for further testing and ripping apart of her psyche.

"They're not the Alliance as we know them Mal." River said, her voice sounding slightly…lost as she tuned into the other crew's thoughts. "I think the wormhole did more than send us to a new location. I think it sent us to a new reality."

Mal trusted her ability to read people even at a distance as both ships had since stopped, facing different directions and side by side to each other. What he didn't like was the fact they were in a reality that wasn't their own, but he'd trust River's judgment since she had yet to steer them wrong even when she had been crazy…well crazier than what she was these days. The trip to Miranda had set her straight for the most part.

"Look captain, I don't know what problem you had with the Alliance, but I can assure you we're not the bad guys here. Just give us a name and we'll see what we can do to help each other out. We're on an important mission at the moment but if you can hang tight for a couple hours we can discuss things in person afterward, sound reasonable to you?" Shepard asked, and River nodded that they should trust this Commander Shepard.

Mal nodded back before giving Shepard his answer. "Alright, say we trust you, what happens to us then?" He was not too keen on trusting anyone that had Alliance anywhere in the name but he'd give them a chance and one chance only.

"We'd need to take a tour of your ship and try to get to know each other without bloodshed preferably captain. If it helps we're prepared to return the favor to a limited degree. I will say I'm not used to having civilians aboard a warship though, Captain."

The crew in the cockpit detected a note of humor in Shepard's voice and Mal had to grin slightly at that. Yeah, despite his misgivings about having to endure an inspection of his boat, he was willing to play ball. Not like he had much of a choice but hey, out here in the Verse, you took what you can get, especially when you were living on the raggedy edge like they did everyday.

"Sounds fair enough. We'll get ourselves parked, get the place tidied up a bit, and see you in a few hours Commander. Oh and uh, the name's Malcolm Reynolds, former Sergeant in the Independence Army about seven years back now. Pleasure to meet you Shepard." Normally he wouldn't have thrown his name and rank out there but if they really were out in another version of reality and these guys were the only hope they had, then he was prepared to play nice until they stabbed him in the back.

If they did…well, the Alliance back home had paid for that mistake many times over now. He had aimed to misbehave then and if things turned south he was prepared to do the same here if he could and let the Verse try to stop him and his.

"Likewise Captain. You seem awfully quick to trust us despite your earlier animosity not too long ago when you heard that we were System Alliance. I'm guessing you had trouble with your authorities wherever you came from."

"You'd guess right Shepard, but that's for later discussion and I'm not sure I like you enough to get all cozy over the radio." Mal replied, earning a chuckle from the Commander.

"You got me there. Alright, we'll talk in person soon enough."

He was about to end the call but there was a problem; mainly it was Wash having a seizure. "Oh Hell. I'll have to get back to you on that." Switching channels on the radio, Mal put in a call to the med bay. "Simon, Wash is pitching a fit again. I thought you said he'd be fine?! Just get up here pronto!" Cursing in Chinese as River and Mal did their best to help their friend ride through the worst of it, they got their pilot unstrapped from his chair and on the floor.

"Hang in there Wash, you'll be fine. You still have a great deal to show me up here." River knew it was pointless to try to talk to him when he was seizing, but it made her feel better more than anything as Mal locked eyes with her, silently conveying the same thing that was on her mind.

He needed professional medical attention and he needed it fast.

Ever since the Reaver spears had almost gutted him, Wash had not been the same. A simple patch job hadn't helped and he was paying for it now. That was why River had taken on more of Wash's duties as their main pilot, and it killed them all a little more every time to see the man in the state he was in now.

Simon had since showed up and did what he could, giving Wash a quick injection to try to stem the worst of his symptoms, but the same thing was on everyone's mind, save as the doctor's. He needed a real clinic, not the small setup they had on the ship.

Wash calmed and eventually passed out as the veins that had been quite pronounced a moment ago returned to their natural state when the drugs started to kick in. "That was the worst he's had yet. We can't keep doing this Mal; he can't keep enduring them either."

"I know Simon. You've told me before when he had his first one when we were leaving Whitefall." What was left of it anyway. Another crime that was just the tip of the iceberg that the Alliance had committed in their pursuit of the Tams and the secret that River had been able to uncover. The same secret that had burned her brain until she had been able to get rid of that same secret last year around this time.

River looked to her brother and then looked to the ship next to them. "I think they can help us. They're not the Alliance we know. I…don't think I could go near the med bay myself, but I think they are much more capable than we are. The similarities between our two realities are just that Mal, coincidental at best.

Zoe had since came up and saw what was going on. "Another one sir?" Mal looked up and sighed as he nodded. Zoe's eyes misted over but she didn't let the tears fall. Simon and River both knew just what she was going through, River more so since they had all become a closely knit family of rogues and misfits. River though had a better idea given her psychic abilities.

"Get everyone together in the mess. We got a lot to talk about and some of it is gonna be hard to believe. Simon, River, get Wash squared away in the med bay for now, we'll fill him in when he wakes up." Mal said, standing as Zoe looked to the captain, wanting answers but she knew better than to demand them here. He put a hand on her shoulder as he passed by, silently letting her know that despite past troubles; he was there for her as he had been there for everyone on his crew in his own way.

The problem being that they didn't know IF Wash would wake up. The damage to his spine hadn't been repaired properly, and Mal was willing to put coin down on someone up in the Alliance who had sent down to the docs. That if they could do anything that wasn't easily detectable, they were to do it to slow down his crew. That's what Mal believed anyway as he walked through his ship and got himself what passed for coffee once he got to the dining hall.

He wouldn't put it past them.

A lot had happened in the year since Miranda's secret had been sent to the rest of the Verse back home. The Alliance had been weakened, just as the Operative had said, but they weren't finished. Another rebellion had started up but Mal hadn't put much stock in them doing any better than his own had when he had volunteered for the Browncoats that had been trying to fight for independence.

The Battle of Serenity Valley had been the end of the war back home, so in a way it seemed appropriate that they'd wind up in another Verse when going back to where it had essentially began for Mal seven years ago.

He had a critically sick man who was possibly dying even now, one that had a direct line to everyone's thoughts although he trusted her a lot more than he trusted himself at times, a doctor who had sacrificed everything he had ever known to save his sister the prodigal psychic, a close friend in a fellow Browncoat fighter who's husband was possibly dying, an engineer that was far too cheery that some days he wanted to duct tape her mouth and push her out an airlock, a mercenary that had nearly killed them all when a bribe offer for the Tams had been sent his way, and a Companion that made things quite foggy for Mal since he couldn't decide if he loved her or wanted her gone, mainly because he didn't respect what she did for a living even if it was state sanctioned on most worlds, even those not controlled by the Alliance. And not to mention a ship that was falling apart around his ears.

Most people would have given up long ago with just half the issues Mal faced everyday, but he was too damn stubborn and his will was ironclad. The Alliance had been on their asses for far too long, maybe this new Verse would be the ticket they needed to finally settle down some without having to watch their every step. And Hell, maybe they'd get lucky and this version of the Alliance didn't try to screw them every which way.

It was just another day in the Verse.

Eden Prime, a colony world that was quite stable and the System Alliance hoped it stayed that way given what it represented to humanity and the Council races as well. To humanity, it meant a huge step forward in the right direction, being able to hold a colony and keep it stable was a huge undertaking, and so it was also heavily defended when the need arose. There were registered militia down there and a full company of Alliance trained marines as well. It should have been safe.

The transmission they got off the surface as Joker got them out of FTL after clearing the mass relay said otherwise, but that wasn't the only problem as those in the cockpit saw a ship appear out of nowhere without any warning of any kind. No emissions that they immediately recognized and they hadn't been in FTL as far as their sensors were concerned. Besides some kind of energy disturbance that they had detected moments before the strange ship had appeared out of 'thin air', there wasn't any trace of it at all to tell where it had come from.

"It's definitely not stealth since we can clearly see them on our sensors now Commander, but if I hadn't seen it for myself, I'd have said that they had simply appeared out of nowhere." Kaiden Alenko said, earning a nod from Shepard as Joker chewed out the captain of the other ship after the near crash they had both experienced.

"Joker, calm down, we're alive and we're safe, that's all that matters. Patch me through to the vessel; I want a word with them." Joker gave control over to Jessie Shepard, Commander and second to Captain David Anderson. The going theory, backed up by their own sensors and the voice of the so far friendly vessel seemed to coincide with each other since there was no other explanation, yet it defied all rational theories and rudimentary physics. The evidence suggested that somehow, they had done the impossible though and had wound up in another reality.

The ship staring at them seemed proof enough of that on its own since Joker hadn't seen a ship's ass light up as Serenity's did, giving credence to the class of vessel it was rightfully named after, that being a Firefly. After the talk Shepard shrugged and ran her hand through her shortly cropped brunette hair, having recently had it shaved since it had been getting beyond Alliance regs. Kaiden let his eyes wander briefly over the Commander, almost finding her comparable to Rahna back in his BaAT days.

Shepard was a good five seven, 146 pounds of lean muscle and sinew, and like Kaiden, she was a biotic that had gotten lucky and gotten an L3 for her first amp rather than the problematic L2 like the one Kaiden had. She was attractive enough; smooth cheeks, strong jaw, brown eyes that missed little, and she knew her business better than most soldiers that Kaiden had met over the course of his career so far. She was easy to get along with as well which helped despite being a survivor off of Mindoir.

Maybe it was the survivor part that made him a bit itchy since he had seen enough to know that those that had been lucky enough to die on Mindoir rather than being taken by the batarians were the more fortunate ones, and it said something about the state of the universe when you wished death over capture for those innocents that hadn't been lucky enough to get out in time.

Shepard had been one of the lucky ones, which Kaiden knew for sure. If what he overheard between Shepard and this Captain Reynolds was anything to go by, maybe she sensed a familiar spirit of being able to survive despite the odds in him? Guess they'd find out soon enough after the mission was completed.

"So, here's what's going on folks." Mal began, hating to leave Wash unattended but he had wanted everyone in one place so that there was no confusion later on. Everyone was at the table that had become a kind of meeting place since he had put the crew together what felt like a lifetime ago now. "Whatever rumors you've been hearing since we settled down are true from what our little albatross, Wash, and myself have been able to put together. We seem to have landed in a whole other Verse."

River, Simon, Mal, and Zoe were the calmest ones of their merry bunch of misfits while Jayne and Kaylee were upset if not downright pissed in their respective ways. "Say what now? How's that even possible?!" Jayne growled, leaning forward fast to get a better look at Mal who was standing at the end of the table with River and Simon on his right, Zoe and normally where Wash would have been sitting on his left. Kaylee was across from Jayne, most likely the safest place to be since there was a door that led back to other parts of the ship behind her if she had to run if bullets started flying.

Violence was looking likely the way Jayne was glaring at Mal but Jayne calmed a moment later since he remembered his near exposure to an airlock not so long ago, at Mal's hands no less when he had nearly betrayed the crew of Serenity for the promise of money.

Out of everyone there, it was Inara that seemed the calmest and collected but Mal knew better, as did River although she made it a point to keep out of the crew's minds as much as possible. Both could see a slight tinge of fear behind the mask the beautiful Companion wore to hide her true emotions. The fear of the unknown was going to be a problem for a while, but he had a good crew. They'd make it through, somehow. They always did.

"Let the captain explain Jayne." Zoe said to further calm the big man although she was anything but calm considering the shape her Wash was in. As for the rest, she could handle it as long as Wash pulled through.

"As I was saying. We seem to be in another Verse where the Alliance doesn't exist as we know it folks. There is an Alliance ship outside our starboard but it doesn't match anything I've ever seen and River here hasn't picked up any hostile intent like she normally would if they were Alliance that we all know and love to hate. Long as we keep to our merry selves and play ball I think we have pretty good odds of making it through this. Which brings us to one of the problems we face. They want to get to know us and inspect the ship. The Commander agreed to let us have a limited view of theirs as well and I intend to play nice."

"Not like we have a choice." Jayne grumbled but he'd play ball as long as the captain was in charge. "So, what's the plan then?"

"I put this crew together with the promise of work, and if these folks are who they say they are, and I ain't saying we should trust blindly in them, but I'm willing to give them a chance to prove they ain't like the folks we left behind. Maybe things will be better this side of the Verse. In the meantime, I want you," Mal had let his gaze fall on River who looked up, knowing what was coming but she liked to hear him say it anyway, "to try to get any information together about how we got here to begin with. If things do turn south I want a way out."

"You got it Mal."

"Jayne, Zoe, Kaylee, get the ship tidy as best you can. And hide our illegal goods as well while you're at it. I'd say hide the armory but I doubt we have enough bolt holes that could hide all of our weapons. Doc, keep an eye on Wash and if you and Zoe trust our new neighbors, see what the doctor on their ship might be able to do for him. You got your chores, let's see em through." He hadn't given Inara anything since he was never sure what to do with her until her services were required, but after a little bit of thinking, this time he did have something she might be able to do for him and his.

Pulling her to the side so that no one else could see what was going on, plausible deniability worked wonders for the Alliance and it worked for Mal in some situations as well, he sighed as they stood across from each other in a currently empty hall of the ship. "I need you to try to get a read on everyone as much as possible Inara. And before you ask River does alright but I'd like to keep her out of the spotlight as much as possible."

Inara didn't have to be told why; they all knew the Tams' history and she nodded silently. "And what about you Mal? You're taking an awfully big chance out here. Are you still lost in the woods or have you found your way again as you always do?" She asked, seeming to read him like an open book as always, and while Mal usually didn't enjoy the experience, right now he was glad for the offered perspective he was lacking.

"I plan to play this the only way I know how, but I ain't about to risk my crew on a bad hunch. Do what you can to find out whatever you can Inara, and keep yourself safe as well." Mal replied, hoping he wasn't taking an unnecessary risk but things were pretty dire without adding further complications to the mix.

"You be careful too Mal. I wasn't sure when I stayed after the Miranda incident if I had made the right choice, but this past year has been…much better than I had anticipated." Mal smirked at that as Inara offered a small smile of her own.

"Yeah well don't get used to it darlin. We're still a merry band of misfits; just we have a silver lining now is all."