Lee still couldn’t quite believe his eyes. He made it. Thank God, he thought, feeling a surge of relief and joy at the improvement in Mal’s condition. It was far from the first time he’d made a difficult decision about the fate of an inmate, and few had happy endings. But if there was going to be even one success story, he was grateful that it was this one.

Lee saw young Khiloh standing beside Mal, and smiled. “Why don’t you take those handcuffs off my prisoner for the time being and wait outside,” he said pleasantly. When the two men had left, Lee addressed Mal for the first time. “It’s good to see you on your feet, son. I’m impressed.”

Mal felt much of his anxiety ease as he saw the genuine, warm smile behind Lee’s eyes. Lee waved at the couch by the window. “Have a seat.”

Mal sat, feeling a trifle off-balance. He wanted to relax, but the fact that the head of an Alliance prison had just brought him to his personal office and turned him loose without so much as a guard in the room made the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

“You like this place, don’t you?” asked Lee pleasantly, gesturing around the room. Mal nodded, sinking into the comfortable couch. This office felt like a blessedly safe haven, refuge from a facility so clean and hard and coldly designed it made his eyes hurt. “So do I,” said Lee. “I thought perhaps you could use a break from it all.”

Mal looked thankfully if appraisingly at Lee, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Lee simply looked back at him steadily. His expression was neutral, but there was a kind look in his eyes. “Satisfied?” his expression seemed to ask. “I’m not going to bother reassuring you with words, figure it out for yourself if I’m going to hurt you.”

“Forgive my being blunt an’ all, sir,” said Mal respectfully, “but what would I be doing here?”

Lee shrugged dismissively. “The usual. Explain my plan to dominate the universe, then I’ll kill you.”

Mal’s eyes flew open wide in shock a second before he registered the amused twinkle in Lee’s eyes. “Uh-do I get to vote on that?”

Lee’s mouth twitched in amusement. “I apologize. A dry sense of humor can be a liability in my position.” He chuckled. “I don’t think your Corporal Alleyne’s ever going to forgive me for telling her I was going to chain you up in a dungeon.”

Mal’s eyebrow shot up. “Don’t imagine she’d take too kindly to that, sir. She can be dangerously protective of her old Sergeant.”

“Ahh, yes,” Lee replied, grinning. Mal realized it was the first time he’d seen the typically grave Lee actually smile. “Dangerous, unlike you. Because you’re so warm and fuzzy and harmless that you can take out three armed men without blinking?”

“Hey!” protested Mal. “I’m only dangerous when threatened. Or, if someone else is threatened. Or if I don’t like you. Or if I’m in a bad mood.” He grinned at Lee. “So, what’s this about a big and evil plan for universal domination?”

“Simple enough. You and I have some plotting to do,” replied Lee. “We’ve got a cover-up to discuss.”

Mal nodded, relieved. “Must say, you gave me a mild heart attack, bringing me here. But I’m grateful for the accommodations,” he said.

“Come on, Mal,” said Lee in a reproachful tone of voice. “Doctors tell me your heart’s perfectly healthy.”

“Haven’t they ever heard of patient confidentiality?” asked Mal in mock indignation.

Lee shrugged. “I just had them tortured until they told me.” He threw up his hands, a rueful expression on his face. “And that would be me, crossing the line again.”

“Mal,” Lee paused, standing and wandering over to the large window with a barely noticeable limp, “how badly do you want your revenge?”

Mal stared at Lee, unsure about how to respond, or even exactly what the question was. Revenge on his attackers, he supposed. Just what sort of a cover-up was this? Lee didn’t respond to Mal’s questioning look; he simply waited, expressionless, for Mal’s reply.

“Never been much for vengeance, sir,” said Mal carefully. He watched for Lee’s reaction, seeing none. Lee was pinning him with a non-threatening yet appraising gaze that seemed to read his every flicker of thought and emotion.

“Unless, of course, that ain’t what you wanted to hear. That bein’ the case, my primary goal in life would seem to be a creative and creepifyin’ revenge,” he added hurriedly.

Lee grinned again, releasing Mal from the grip of that unsettling gaze. “Your first answer will work just fine,” he replied. “Just the same, I don’t see this sitting quite right with you.” He walked back to his desk and sat.

“I don’t have a brilliant master plan, in fact I don’t even have a good plan. I just have a solution that might hold water, and justice plays no part in it. Will you cooperate, knowing that?” asked Lee directly.

“So long as I survive it-” Mal shrugged. “Justice ain’t a concept that’s applied to me in a good long while.”

Lee’s expression turned grave, and he didn’t respond immediately. When he spoke, his voice was flat and serious. “An electrical circuit shorted in a housing unit, started a fire. The door jammed, preventing the inmates from exiting. Our guards rushed to the rescue, but the first two men on the scene clashed under stress. One refused to enter until backup arrived, citing safety concerns. Fearing for the lives of the prisoners, the other insisted that they enter, and pulled his gun to back up his order. The other man drew his weapon to defend himself and tragically, both officers fired in the heat of the moment.”

Lee paused, gauging Mal’s reactions. “You were never there. You were never injured. The response team arrived and rescued the inmates, and I have the reports to prove it. End of story.”

Mal raised his eyebrows. “That’s – your plan?” he asked incredulously.

Lee nodded, smiling at Mal’s reaction. “Sometimes simple can be very effective. I never did say it was a good plan.” He sighed. “Cover-ups always fail, you know. Government agencies are too inept to keep secrets. But I had to file reports and explain two bullet-ridden bodies you were so kind as to present me with, and I didn’t have time to get too creative. If you cooperate, it could work.”

“I owe you my life, sir. Of course I’ll cooperate,” replied Mal.

“Even once you leave this facility?”

“Like I said, sir, I’m not one for revenge, especially not on those who’ve done me a good turn.” It was Mal’s turn to study Lee, to realize the vulnerable position this powerful man was placing himself in, trusting an unknown enemy soldier for no particular reason beyond it being the right thing to do.

“I’ll not betray you, sir,” he said solemnly and sincerely, looking straight into Lee’s eyes. Lee looked down, his expression softening. He nodded quietly. “Sir,” said Mal, his voice soft. “Thank you.”

Lee smiled at Mal. “So – questions?”

“Sir, the men who attacked me – am I gonna run into them in a dark corner one of these days?” Mal asked.

Lee walked to the front of his desk and leaned on it, crossing his legs and looking at Mal. “That’s unlikely,” he said mildly.

“After the month they spent chained up in solitary confinement convinced I was going to put them in front of our own firing squad, I think they might have actually been grateful to get their new assignment.”

“I’m fair certain I don’t want to know what that is,” said Mal, gulping and reminding himself never to wind up on Lee’s bad side. He leaned back in his seat, silent and sobered.

Lee shrugged. “They’ve been permanently reassigned to guard a hazardous waste disposal facility in the desert on Lilac.”

Lee met Mal’s stare without blinking, and Mal was suddenly very, very grateful that Lee had been watching out his window on that fateful day. It gave him chills to think of what Lee might have done to him otherwise. “I – don’t think I’m gonna ask you for a job referral when I get out, sir,” he said.

Lee’s expression softened. “My idea wasn’t to intimidate you. Your comment about justice just got to me a bit. I do my best to treat both my officers and my prisoners fairly, and I know your life lately hasn’t been a happy one. Just know that justice is something I’ve tried very hard to show you.”

Mal nodded, once more trying to balance his basic trust of Lee with his unease at the power he wielded so unblinkingly. Lee simply looked at Mal, his expression calm and gentle. Mal saw something of himself in those eyes; it was the look of a decent man faced with countless hard decisions and compromises. There was no malice there, just simple human understanding and a certain sadness.

Mal finally spoke, deftly changing the subject. “Sir, I want this to work, but I don’t get it. The prisoners from the fire know exactly what happened, doctors and nurses, and, uh, pretty much the whole entire prison.”

Lee shook his head with a smile. “I could have done a great job covering this up if I killed you. But I had the misfortune to be saddled with a conscience, so live with it,” he said, well aware of the double meaning of his words. “Rumors don’t concern me. Without proof, nobody who matters is going to dig into something that could embarrass the Alliance. I’m not the only one who wants to avoid a public scandal.”

He continued, “Legally, the medical staff who treated you can’t disclose anything without your permission, so as long as you don’t give it-“

“We don’t have a problem,” finished Mal.

“Exactly. Now so far as the prisoners who witnessed this, you’re going to take care of that yourself.”

“I….am?” Mal questioned.

“You’re going to visit them tomorrow. They’ll be glad to see you, they’ve been stuck in their housing unit since this happened, and I’m certain they’re lonely and worried. Once you explain this situation to them, I’ll put them on normal status.”

Mal thought for a minute about how those men must feel, surviving a brutal murder attempt only to be isolated for months. Lee caught his expression. “I didn’t have many options,” he said. “They’ve had each other, and I’m quite certain if this is the price of sparing your life, they’d do it again willingly.”

Mal nodded. “What about Zoe? You explain all this to her?”

“No. Come to think of it, maybe someone should do that.” Lee raised his eyebrows and looked keenly at Mal. I’m giving you your opening, his expression seemed to say.

“Wouldn’t hurt if I was to fill her in, sir,” Mal replied hopefully.

Lee nodded. “Very well then. I’ll have her brought over tomorrow.” Mal’s heart leapt with sudden joy at the prospect of seeing Zoe. In a single moment, this had become the happiest day he’d had in a good while. He wasn’t being separated from the new friend he’d so reluctantly acquired, the head of the prison was treating him with genuine kindness, and he was going to see Zoe again. Didn't have to come close to dying to do it, either. He breathed a genuinely contented sigh and relaxed back into the cushions of the couch.

Lee saw the joy on his face and smiled. “You take your time when you talk to her, okay?”

“Complicated plan, sir. Gonna take quite some time to explain the details just right,” replied Mal, grinning.

“That young man out there been taking good care of you?” asked Lee, nodding in the direction of the door. Mal nodded, and Lee walked to the door, opened it, and waved Khiloh inside. He entered hesitantly and saluted.

“At ease,” said Lee. “Imagine it made the both of you uneasy, running into each other. I didn’t plan for this. Is it working?”

Khiloh nodded, and Lee glanced between him and Mal. “Either one of you need a change of assignment?”

“No,” said Khiloh and Mal almost simultaneously.

Lee’s eyes sparkled in amusement. “Guess that’s plain enough,” he said. “Mal, unless you have any more questions, I think we’re finished here.”

Mal shook his head and stood. He placed his wrists behind his back and closed his eyes while he was cuffed, opening them in surprise and embarrassment when he felt a gentle hand rest on his shoulder. Lee was standing in front of him, looking at him with compassion. “We all have our demons, son,” he said quietly, stepping back and nodding to Khiloh. “Take him home.”

*

Wash looked up anxiously when he heard approaching footsteps in the gravel, and watched as Mal was released back into the compound. To his surprise, Mal was grinning and looking happier than Wash had ever seen. The hesitancy in his stride was gone, and the tension that usually marked his face was nowhere to be seen.

“Hey, you lazy pilot,” Mal greeted him with affection in his voice, stooping down and grabbing a worn basketball at his feet and lobbing it energetically at Wash. “How 'bout a game?”

Wash caught it. “Sure, just as soon as you explain what happened to that miserable, broody sorta fellow I used to know. He get kidnapped or something?”

“Nope,” replied Mal, lunging sideways to catch the ball Wash had hurled back in his direction. “I’m gonna see Zoe tomorrow.”

“Zoe? Who – or what – might that be?” Wash asked, dodging the ball that flew wildly past his head, crashing into the fence behind him. “Hey!” he howled. “Easy on the noggin!”

“Wimp!” joked Mal with a grin, chasing down the ball and smacking the pilot lightly on the back of the head with it. Wash snatched it away indignantly and backed up, hurling it back at Mal.

“Zoe,” gasped Mal, “is my best friend in the verse. Fought together, and we kinda been taking turns savin’ each other’s lives for a good while now. Only other soldier in my unit insane enough to make it out of Serenity Valley alive.” He tossed the ball back in Wash’s direction. “Remind me to tell ya’ about her sometime."