Chapter 6 can be found Here

Thanks to Tamsibling and Mal4Prez for the beta.

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Chapter 7

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Mal stuttered for a moment. “You keep in touch with –“

“Occasionally, Sir.”

“How come I didn’t know about this?”

River calmly kept her attention focused on the control panel in front of her, setting and tweaking the course until she was satisfied they would reach their destination as quickly as possible. The two engaged in a conversation behind her didn’t notice the small smile that crept onto her face as she eavesdropped.

“The amount of my business you don’t know about would astound you, sir.”

Mal huffed in annoyance. He liked to know everything that was going on on his boat, even the uncomfortable things. Made for fewer surprises. “An’ you think he’ll be able to help you locate the right people to take these plans off our hands?”

“He might.”

“Well get on the Cortex and make contact with –“

“Already done, sir.”

Mal stared dumfounded at her for a minute, knowing from past experience ranting and raving would get him nowhere with the battle hardened woman. “Were ya plannin’ on consultin’ me before you changed course?”

Zoe rolled her eyes at him. “River would have told you anyway.”

Mal sighed heavily. “Least one person on this boat respects my authority.”

Zoe put a comforting hand on his shoulder. “We all respect your authority.” She paused for effect and then continued, “Most of the time.”

Mal sighed and directed his attention to River as the chair she was sitting in swiveled slowly to face him. He knew she was simply waiting for him to speak. The girl was respectful of her captain, even if she knew what he was going to say.

“Anything I need to know?”

“Course is set, we’re a week out.”

“Can’t push the engines?”

“Kaylee still needs to make some adjustments. We’ve been pushing the boat pretty hard lately.”

Mal turned and flipped on the shipwide comm. “Kaylee, we need the engine capable of gettin’ us to a new destination quick-like. That possible?”

It took a few more moments than Mal liked, on account of her condition, for Kaylee to answer. “Workin’ on it, Cap. Gonna take some time. Really fried a few things gettin’ away last time.”

“Right then. Just get it done.”

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Maris sneered in disgust as she watched the prisoner interrogation through a large double-mirror. The relatively useless information that they’d managed to glean from multiple prisoners had started to grate on her nerves. The longer she was parted from her husband and daughter, the easier chance they had to slip away – for good.

“Ma’am, report coming in of a Firefly transport ship bearing the markings of the vessel responsible for leaking the Miranda information.”

“What of it?” Maris asked, still watching with hawk-like eyes through the two way window. The prisoner screamed and she simply smiled, barely giving her attention to the aide behind her.

“They say it launched from Athens.”

Maris turned slowly, her eyes widening. “Did they pick anyone up?”

“Unknown, ma’am.”

“Well then we’d better get down to the surface and question some people, hadn’t we?”

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

“She don’t wanna talk to me, Simon. I tried.” Her voice was muffled as she rested her cheek on his bare chest.

“She’s just scared.” Simon shifted in bed, trying to give her more room. The bunks were clearly not made for two, and as Kaylee grew heavier, they became even less accommodating.

Kaylee lifted her head and stared down at him. “We all are.” When she returned her head to his chest, she added, “‘Sides, she don’t even like me.”

He slipped his fingers through her hair and rubbed her head, knowing that this simple motion had done the trick in the past. “That’s not true.”

“Yeah, it is. Won’t talk to me or ‘Nara. Only wants to be around you, an’ even the Cap – cranky as he been lately.”

“Well, it could be worse. She could be spending all her time with Jayne.” Simon grinned at his own joke but the smile slid away when he noticed Kaylee didn’t share his amusement.

He could feel, rather than see, the tears leak out the corner of her eyes and Simon, as was usual in this case, didn’t really know what to do. He never knew what to do when Kaylee cried, except apologize. But – he hadn’t done anything – this time. His confusion was short-lived when she spoke again.

“What if I ain’t cut out to be a good momma?”

Simon tensed, and then said, as usual, the first thing that came into his head. “I don’t believe that for a moment.”

“You’re prejudiced.”

He didn’t like the way her mood fell. “No – well, yes, I’m sure I am. But that doesn’t make it any less true.”

“Then why –“

“Not all women are like her mother. Hateful and bent on annihilating enemies of the Alliance on a mass scale.”

Kaylee lifted her head, a smile tugging its way onto her lips.

Simon cocked his head and amended with a devilish grin, “well you’re not that way most of the time.”

Kaylee gasped in mock horror and slapped his arm.

Simon wrapped his hand around her waist and brought her closer. “Except when you’re mad.”

“Which is all the time lately,” she added with a slight frown.

“It’s been a stressful –“ Simon trailed off, thinking ‘week’ but really wanting to say ‘months’.

“Long time,” Kaylee answered and lay her head back down on his chest. After a few moments of silence, she continued. “You think that’s really what it is?”

Simon nodded, grateful to see the slow shift in Kaylee’s sullen mood. “I think her attitude toward you is a manifestation of her fear that all women are like her mother and –“ He trailed off when her eyes began to cross and said simply. “Yes.”

She lowered her head and pressed a kiss to his bare chest. “’K. I’ll talk to her tomorrow then.”

“I’ll help you in the engine room tomorrow as well. Mal seems to think that having you sit on the engine every moment of every day scares it into running at maximum efficiency.

“Ya don’t know the difference between a press regulator and a sonic wrench, Simon. Ya know ya ain’t gonna be any help.”

“I’ve helped you in there before.”

“Fixin’ what’s broke is real different from sexin’.” She lifted her head, eyes twinkling in the dim light of the room. . She always liked to see the look, and blush, on his face whenever she mentioned sex in the engine room. He had no doubt in his mind their baby had been conceived here.

“Nothing’s broken yet.”

“Will be if River keeps pushin’ the engine so hard. Get us stranded out here.” Silence fell for a moment before she continued. “But then we wouldn’t have to leave. We’d be together.”

Simon was loathe to open up this can of worms again, but he wanted to reassure her. “As soon as we deliver those plans, we’ll come back to you, you know that.” And when he felt her stiffen in his arms, he realized that had been a bad decision.

She didn’t say anything, and he wondered if he should keep speaking. It had never really done him a service in the past, so, against his better judgment, he remained silent.

It took him a very long time to fall asleep. And when he did, his dreams were plagued with nightmares.

“We need to fix us, Kaylee.”

She stopped and swiveled slowly to face him, the anger fading from her face to be replaced by a curiously blank look. “Are we broke?”

Simon took a step forward, swallowing nervously. “I don’t want us to be. But – Kaylee. This is so dangerous and I –“

“Don’t want me an’ the baby here.”

“Yes. No. Right. Yes. I don’t want you here.” Simon cursed his inability to speak to this woman without stumbling over his words. ”I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Kaylee’s nostrils flared and she took a step closer, hands clenched around a tool that looked much too large for her hand. “An’ what I want don’t matter?”

“Kaylee,” Simon didn’t know why she couldn’t understand what he was saying.

He knew if she hadn’t been so upset, she’d have laughed at the fear that flickered in his eyes as she took a step closer, wrench in hand. “You ever think that I don’t wanna go because I’m afraid I’ll never see you again? That our baby will grow up not knowin’ its daddy?”

Simon was in front of her in an instant, gentle hands resting on her shoulders. “I want you to be safe. If – if something happens to us, getting these plans into the right hands –“

“I don’t wanna leave you,” she shook her head stubbornly.

“Even to keep our baby safe?” He knew it was a low blow, but she’d left him with no other options. He wanted her off Serenity. Safe. And if the only way to do it was play on the innocence of their unborn child, then he would. He couldn’t go with her as much as he wanted to. He would be needed on the ship to treat injuries that could arise from this suicide mission.

She stepped away as tears formed in her eyes. “That’s low, Simon.”

When his eyes snapped open, he noticed Kaylee staring down at him, concern on her face, her cheeks wet. It was clear he’d been talking in his sleep and he tensed at what he could remember saying in his dream. He wasn’t up for a fight right now. He was exhausted. And the nightmare hadn’t helped.

But Kaylee just leaned down and pressed her lips to his and whispered, “We’ll go.” She rubbed her belly and repeated, “We’ll go.”

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

“You fei fei de pi yan, I’m not leaving.” Inara stood her ground, hands on her hips, eyes blazing.

Mal had been trying to convince her for hours. And in the absence of any break in her steely resolve, he finally went for his last resort. “I don’t want you an’ these kids on this ship. We ain’t flyin’ toward a recreational beach here.”

Inara’s demeanor changed not a bit as she regarded him with hurt eyes. “That’s low, Mal. Using Madeline and Kaylee’s baby to get me to leave.”

“It’s true!”

“It might be part of the reason, what’s the rest?”

Mal looked away for a moment so she wouldn’t see the longing in his eyes. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“It wouldn’t take a Reader to know you’re lying through your teeth.”

Mal scowled at her. Woman could read him far too easily for his liking. “Fancy lass like you don’t belong on a boat like this. We’ll destroy everything you’ve worked for. You don’t deserve that.”

Momentarily taken aback by his words, Inara could only say, “I made my choice, Mal.” As an afterthought, and when he couldn’t form a quick enough retort, she continued, “And since when do you care about my work? As I recall, you despise what I do for a living.”

Mal’s eyes lifted to her face and she was momentarily stunned by the warmth she saw there. But it quickly faded as he answered, “Just because I don’t like you whorin’ yourself out to the highest bidder –“

Inara’s arms dropped from her waist to hang loosely at her sides. “And you were doing so well the last few months. I was wondering when you’d finally slip and revert back to your old ways.”

Mal’s eyes narrowed as he tried a different tactic. Maybe if he angered her enough, she’d leave, take his shuttle, lil’ Kaylee and Madeline, and not look back. “Once a whore always a whore. Don’t matter if you dress up all fancy-like. Just means you can charge more, right?”

“Get out, Mal,” Inara snapped, hurt flickering in her eyes at his callous remark.

“That mean you’re leavin’?” He hoped he wouldn’t have to go on, that what had been said so far would anger her enough to want to get off his ship and to safety.

“This will be the last order you give that I obey, Malcolm Reynolds.” Mal could tell just by her stance that she wanted to hit him. He wasn’t sure when he’d become so overprotective; she’d accompanied them on dangerous jobs before. But something had changed, and examining those feelings too closely made his heart clench with irrational fear.

Her firm, unwavering voice broke through his internal reverie. “Now. Get out.”

He said nothing. Simply backed toward the door. He’d outworn his welcome, as was usually the case. He’d pick up the pieces later, once he knew Inara, Kaylee and the little one were safe. He’d mend those fences he just trampled because he cared. Mal turned away but then looked back over his shoulder.

Had Inara been looking at him just then, there would have been no mistaking the love shining in his eyes – as well as the regret.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Madeline watched him from the doorway, entranced by the confidence with which he moved. He was comfortable in this place, but she shivered from the cold, dull color and feeling the room gave her.

When he cursed and hurled a packet of weaves across the counter, Madeline’s eyes widened. She’d seen him exhibit nothing but a calm, cool, collectiveness since she’d met him, but something was wrong.

“Can I help?” she asked.

Simon whirled, surprised to be caught in the middle of a very uncharacteristic, however brief, tantrum. “Oh, ah, no, Maddy. I’m fine.”

“You don’t look fine to me,” she said with a blunt perceptiveness only a child – and Jayne – seemed to possess.

Simon tried to smile but it didn’t reach his eyes and he knew the girl could see it. “Well, I appreciate your offer but there’s really nothing you can do.”

“Do you have to stay?”

When Simon didn’t have a quick enough answer, she explained. “Here. When they all go to take those plans. Can’t you come with us on the shuttle? What if Kaylee and the baby need you?”

Simon swallowed hard and motioned Madeline into the room. When she looked up at him with big, curious eyes, he knelt in front of her and tried to explain. “Where you’re going – You will have access to medical facilities if you need them.” He lifted his eyes and glanced around the infirmary before dropping them once again to the girl’s face. “The crew, well, they only have me. If something goes wrong. If someone gets hurt, I’m the only one who can patch them up.”

“Oh.” The girl frowned and Simon felt his heart plummet into his shoes. He didn’t understand why, out of all of them, Madeline had clung to him so tightly, but he felt himself needing to reassure her, put a smile on her face again – or at least get rid of that frown.

“You can do something for me, though, while you’re gone.”

The girl’s eyes lit and a half smile returned to her face. “What?”

“Look after Kaylee for me? Try and keep her calm? Sit with her. Talk to her. Just – engage her; to keep her mind off Serenity.”

Madeline didn’t seem too enthusiastic about the idea and Simon noticed right away. “Is something wrong?”

Madeline shrugged. “I don’t want to go either.”

Simon embraced her gently and whispered, “Neither do I.”

For a long while Maddy wondered if he meant that he didn’t want her to go, or that he didn’t want to go and leave Kaylee. She was too comfortable in his arms to ask and risk upsetting him further.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

“We had to break off pursuit to follow up on reports of civil unrest further into the system,” the man answered, wondering why the look on this woman’s face put the fear of every known God into him.

Maris scowled deeply, the disgust on her face evident. “Send us all the information you have on Serenity’s last known whereabouts and we will continue the search. They are carrying some very important cargo and it is imperative that it be retrieved post haste.”

The man glanced down and nodded to the ensign sitting at a console. “Transferring now.” After a confirmation of receipt, the man added, “Will you be needing aid?”

“A Cortex-wide message has been sent out to keep an eye out for this ship. That is enough. We will pursue its last known location.”

“Good luck.”

The screen blinked out and Maris lifted her eyes to the window before her, staring out into the black. “They’re going to need it.”

TBC

Chinese Translation:

Fei fei de pi yan - babboon's butt crack -------------

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There are 12 total chapters and - maybe, a sequel.