Author: Wiccanbotanist
Rating: PG-13 (up to R, possibly NC-17, we'll see)
Disclaimer: Joss owns it all.
Summary: At the world's most magical place the fairies hold their annual meeting.
Feedback: Yes please, I'm curious to see what response I'll get with this one. Please let me know what you think: wiccanbotanist@yahoo.com.
Spoilers: If you haven't seen Firefly you might be confused, and if you intend to see it you'll be finding out some things. Takes place between Ariel (Ep 8) and War Stories (Ep 9).
Note: My first crossover, I hope I do it justice. I've got the Willow and Tara down pretty well (or at least I think so), not sure about the others......
Footnotes: I like to put links at the end!

"Gorramit Buffy! I'm so going to kill you..." the frustrated voice called out for the umpteenth time within the hour.

Green eyes squinted, looking for the ship she was supposed to be on. Was that it or just another star, another planet? She really couldn't tell anymore and that was when it hit her that her previous threat that she left hanging could be finished with "...if I get out of here alive."

The redhead sighed, a deep resigning sigh. It would figure. It was always her friends getting her into trouble. What her life would be without them she often wondered. She wouldn't have any good stories, that is for sure. There would just be work...which she enjoyed but that would be all there was. Of course she was thinking in present tense and her one thought was 'I certainly wouldn't be in this situation right now.'

They were celebrating her recent graduation from the Medicad on Osiris, which was also where the girl had grown up. Willow was one of the youngest doctors in the 'Verse which was cause for celebration. Besides she was still waiting to find out where they were going to place her. So her friends planned a trip, a cruise through the galaxy, before it was back to life as normal.

Willow was the only one to ever leave Osiris, and it was only to nearby Central Planets, at which her Parents had a conference or party. She only went with them when they felt the need to show her off. So when Buffy and Xander told her about the trip, she jumped for joy as much as they did. They were mainly interested in the general idea, but Willow liked the specifics of the cruise. They'd see the most fantastic sights, including the asteroid belt formed from Earth That Was, the Ice Planet (which the tasty dessert was designed after), al ong with a few other of the first terra-formed planet disasters. Xander claimed that there was actually people living on a few of them.

It was also Buffy and Xander who decided it would be a good idea to check out the escape pod, the one that had the 'out of order' sign posted on its door. Buffy reasoned that since it wasn't working that they wouldn't get into any trouble. And now....well now Willow was in a heap of trouble. She had figured out a few of the reasons it had been deemed out of order. The communications were out, and the link to the ship was faulty as well. The pod didn't recognise itself as being launched, so Willow could only assume that the ship was unaware as well. And because of circumstances Buffy and Xander were also currently unaware. They had run off upon hearing voices nearby, and Willow had left her sweater. Upon going back to retrieve it later, something was tripped and she was launched.

And now she was alone, far away from anyone, out in the middle of space, with no comm-link. Luckily the pod was powered up, oxygen was being supplied, and the emergency kit was stocked, prepared for 5 people for up a week. Being alone it would be easy to survive up to a month for someone to retrieve her, physically anyways. It was mentally that might become the important issue.

Being alone, in the vastness of space would do a number on someone. But really it brought Willow back to her childhood. The part before she had met Buffy and Xander. She oft felt very alone then, and she managed to survive.

She took stock of her space. In any other situation the redhead would have set about messing with wires and tapping commands into the computer. Her first attempts at communicating with the ship were fruitless however. The simple commands were not adequate and she would have to do some rewiring. There was a risk in doing that however, she could lose the oxygen and power completely. Things looked pretty bad as it was.

Her best bet was to just wait it out. Buffy and Xander would eventually realise that they couldn't find her and alert the cruise ship of her absence. That would hopefully lead them to the missing pod and a search party could be sent. Her parents were rich, and she was a top doctor, they wouldn't just leave her there. There was also the other possibility that someone else would happen upon the pod and not mistake it for random space rubbish or a glitch on their scanner. But she thought of the absurdity of that scenario.

"Who in the world would be out here anyways?" She wondered aloud.

Captain Malcom Reynolds stood on the bridge while Wash in his pilots chair idly spun to the left and right.

"How soon are we to Ceres?" The captain asked turning towards Wash.

This was enough to startle the man, who had been staring at the ground and chewing his thumb. His feet hit the floor with a thud and the movement of his chair ceased. He looked at the console in front of him, turned a couple of knobs, hit a button before responding.

"We should arrive tomorrow evening at the latest, afternoon at the earliest." The redhead responded.

"Are we close enough for vid?"

"Not as of yet."

"Will you let me know when we are? I'd like to set up a meeting with...," the captain shook the piece of paper that was given to him at his last exchange. He sold the stolen medical supplies to an old friend, a buddy from the war. Along with a decent pay off Mal was given the name of a contact on Ceres. Mal hadn't set up a deal before hand, but proceeded anyways as it was slightly more prosperous than the last stop, therefore better to restock, and Inara was capable of finding some business of her own there.

"Captain?" Wash asked apprehensively.

Mal just nodded toward the man, waiting for him to continue.

"Are you sure the contact is trustworthy?"

"Yes, why you got a better idea?" The captain asked, his eyebrow raised.

"Well I'm just looking out for...."

Beep.

Wash turned to look at the screen.

"What do we got?" Mal asked.

"Not sure yet. Could be a glitch or just a broken piece from a ship." He turned a few more dials, waiting for a proper scan.

Zoe entered the bridge to see the two men peering at the scanner screen. She remained silent, awaiting to see what interesting thin they had found.

"Looks like an escape pod, it is a typical lifeboat, could be from any ship. It isn't sending out a distress signal. Looks like it just might have accidentally launched and the ship just decided to just leave it."

"Do you think they might come back to get it?"

"I doubt it. We aren't picking up anything else close by."

Both men turned to look at Zoe, knowing that she had arrived and were waiting for her input.

"We might find something useful on it sir, even if it is just a couple of generic supplies." Zoe said.

"Shiny." The Captain said. "Let's pick it up."

Serenity September 30, 2005