See Part 1 for super duper disclaimer action. If you haven't, read the first 7 parts first, or this won't make a whole lot of sense. _________________________________________________ “Lakai? As in, here, Lakai?” Wash asked incredulously. Zoe nodded. “She was part of the Lakaian resistance before the Independents ever united into an army,” she replied. “She was telling me about it earlier.” “Why’d she do that? I don’t mean to sound harsh, dear, but she hasn’t exactly known you a long time…” “You know, I really don’t know.” Zoe leaned against the console next to Wash, looking down at him as he sat back in the pilot’s chair. “I just went in to talk to her, kinda get a feel for what she’s lookin’ for. Then all of a sudden, we’re laughing back and forth and tellin’ those stories you hate so much.” She reached out to take her husband’s hand. “Wash, it’s been years since I had a friend like that. I love you. I love you more than anything. But sometimes it’s nice to- to have another female to talk to. And the war and everything… those just aren’t experiences Inara or Kaylee can really understand.” “And River is River,” Wash filled in. “It’s just…. It’s nice, is all.” “Having someone around who’s more like you.” “Yeah.” “Have you seen Mal around lately?” Wash asked. “I caught him in the hallway and told him what Simon said about Stephanie. He was gonna stop in and see her before he went to bed. You need him for something?” “No, I was just wondering how he’s holding up. Man needs sleep. I hated to wake him up earlier, but it couldn’t be helped.” Wash yawned expansively. “Come to think of it, I could use some sleep myself. Soon as I get this baby on the ground, I’m headed to bed. Couple of days, at least.” Zoe leaned in to kiss him on the corner of his mouth, still holding his hand, as she left the bridge. “You can wake me up when you get there, bao bei.” _________________________________________________ “Well, look who’s good and awake. How’re you doin’?” Mal asked Stephanie, smiling as he walked into the infirmary. “Feeling better. The doc says if I behave myself and stop ripping my IV lines out, he might move me to guest quarters in a few days.” Her cocky grin slipped a little. “Sitting up or moving or anything isn’t so much working for me yet though.” “Doc says you might have some problems for a long time.” “His exact words were, ‘I can’t promise how soon you’ll walk again.’ Don’t exactly know what I should think of that.” She shrugged, a half-smile that didn’t extend to her eyes playing on her face. She stared up at the ceiling for short while, forcing the concern out of her mind, before changing the subject. She turned back to Mal. “Captain Malcolm Reynolds. I guess it kind of has a ring to it.” “I’d say it does, at that.” “You’ve got quite a crew on this ship. Very generous people. What your people have done for me… I’m very grateful.” “Simon patchin’ you up wasn’t nothin’.” “Well, Kaylee said I can keep the pants, and Jayne’s letting me borrow the shirt for as long as I need it as long as I don’t bleed on it, too…” “You got that shirt from Jayne? Here, you can borrow mine,” Mal fumbled at his top buttons. “You don’t know where that’s been.” Stephanie’s quiet laugh stopped him. “What’s on your mind, Mal? You didn’t come in here for a little chat, not tonight.” Mal sat down in the chair next to the bed, sighing. “You know, word was everybody as got captured was released a long time ago. Gives a man questions ‘bout what you were doin’ in that prison.” Silence. “Ain’t neither one of us ever wanted to talk about what’s past. Stephanie, I know there’s things you never told me, and I never was fool enough to ask. But I’ve got a crew here that I’m responsible for, people trustin’ me to keep ‘em safe. I need you to be truthful with me, here. I gotta know what’s goin’ on.” Seconds ticked away in more silence. Finally, Stephanie spoke. “Look, if you want to understand why I was in prison, you have to know the whole story. From the beginning. And it’s a long one.” “Scott told me some of it while I was in the hospital after St. Lucia.” “I figured he probably did. For a doctor, he never was too good at that whole confidentiality thing. Did he tell you I’m from Lakai?” “No.” “I was nine when the government refused to join the Alliance. Didn’t take long for the feds to take over in the formal sense, either. But the people fought back. They fought back hard. It was disorganized, but resistance cells popped up all over the planet. The Alliance couldn’t just move in and crush the government and the standing army and be done with it like they did on other worlds because people were fighting back everywhere—there wasn’t any pattern. Buildings blown up here, supplies stolen there. Lakai was one of the first rim worlds they took over, and the Alliance was desperate to make it look easy—they wanted to intimidate other worlds into thinking that resistance was pointless. They moved into towns where they suspected resistance activity, and they would just level the whole place. Kill all the adults and those who were too young to work. Put those of us who were old enough to be useful and too young to resist to work in internment camps. I was nine when my parents and my younger brother were shot.” She paused, tears in her eyes. Mal reached for her hand—he had no words that would be of help. The only thing he knew to do was to just let her talk. “I was in the camps until I was fifteen. Worked underground, in the mines. I spent six years getting angry. These people took my family away from me. They took my life away from me. They put me in a hole and took the sunlight away. One of the guards liked to tell the others about his daughter, about how smart she was, about how well she did in school. He looked at me and he didn’t see a little girl like his daughter. He saw an object. Something to be used and tossed aside. I was sick of always being tired, always being cold, always watching for the bad guards. The ones who liked to hurt us. “One night I picked the wrong corner to fall asleep in. I woke up with one of the guards on top of me—one of the guards I worked very hard to avoid, you understand. I tried to get away… he was just so much bigger than me…” He could hear the click in her throat as she closed her eyes and swallowed hard. “When he was… finished… he told me to scram and be quiet about it. He turned a little and looked down to zip up his pants, and that’s when I broke his neck. One of the other guards came looking for him and happened to come around the corner just then and see me standing there next to a dead federal officer. I ran. Got out through the ventilation system. Made it to the city and lived on the streets for a few months, eating out of the trash bins, picking pockets, dodging the law. Was arrested twice but I got away. Learned to be invisible. But I was sick. That guard, he made me sick. It got steadily worse, and the weather was getting colder. I finally found a warm spot in the entryway of an apartment building and huddled up there. I was too sick to care what happened to me. That’s when Scott found me. “He was working at the city hospital then, and living in that apartment building. He found me when he left for work, and he gave me the medical care I needed. When he found out that I had run away from the mines, he took me in. Gave me a place to live. Treated me like a sister. He was doing some work for the Lakaian resistance then… I got involved. I thought killing Alliance would pay for the life they took away from me. Or maybe I was just angry. I ran with people who had a flair for explosives. Blew a lot of gou shi up, killed some feds. When the Independents formed a full-scale army and the Lakaian resistance merged with them, I joined up. “When the order for general amnesty for Independent personnel came down from the Alliance, I was extradited back to Lakai and sentenced for twelve counts of murder—including the guard I killed in the mine—as well as vandalism, property damage, and a few other charges I’ve lost track of by now. Since I committed all those offenses before I joined the Independents, they said that the amnesty law didn’t apply. I was never allowed to go my trial, of course. Too much risk that I would just…walk out. They put me in a biomedical research program—made me a lab rat.” She paused. “You know, when the prison blew up, I never thought I’d make it very far. I just wanted to end it. When I passed out in the woods, I was actually glad… my sentence was never going to end, Mal. Not till I did.” Mal remained seated in the infirmary, silent and pensive, fingers wrapped around her hand, as the minutes ticked slowly by. His mind was full of questions that he feared to ask—she seemed so broken already, and the last thing he wanted was to hurt her more. He half-felt, half-heard the change in Serenity’s motion as she entered atmo, then settled herself on the ground. Finally, he spoke. “Stephanie, why didn’t you tell me before?” She didn’t need to ask him what he meant. “When I fought and killed during the war, you saw me as a soldier. I didn’t want you to look at me and see a victim. Or a murderer.” _________________________________________________ It was midmorning when Inara piloted her shuttle to the docks to rejoin Serenity. She had attended the ball with Ameri the previous evening, and could have easily extended her stay another day, but when Wash notified her of their landing, she chose to return to the ship in hopes of doing some shopping near the docks in the afternoon before they left Lakai. Maybe Kaylee would have time to join her. The mechanic’s sunshiney spirit never failed to lighten Inara’s mood, and Kaylee would no doubt love a little time for “girl talk” before returning to the black. Inara couldn’t help the feeling that returning to Serenity was coming home, even though she couldn’t completely ignore the twinge in the pit of her stomach at the thought of the discussion she would have to have with Mal later. She’d invite him to her shuttle with the intention of having a professional conversation, he’d accuse her of using “wiles,” name calling would ensue, and they would both storm off, stung and bitter. But as difficult as their relationship was, as complicated as he sometimes made her life, she had to admit, if only to herself, that she couldn’t imagine her life without him in it anymore. Which only made it hurt more when she considered leaving. “Good morning, Inara,” the Shepherd remarked as he passed her in the hall. “You had a safe trip, I hope?” “Yes, Shepherd, thank you. Do you know where I can find Kaylee?” “I believe she’s in the cargo bay. She wanted to do some work on the mule while she has the time.” Inara made her way toward the cargo bay, just enjoying the feel of the ship and the closeness of the people she now considered her family as she walked. As she passed the infirmary, she glanced in, hoping to say hello to Simon or River. What she saw brought a cold pang to her chest. Mal slumped, sound asleep, half in a chair and half on the medbed, next to an unfamiliar woman. His arm was around her shoulders, and his temple rested on the top of her head. She, too, was sleeping, with her head on his shoulder, her hand in his. Concern for the obviously-injured stranger battled with jealousy and hurt in Inara’s mind as tears welled up in her eyes. As if sensing her presence, Mal blinked awake to see her standing frozen in the doorway. “Inara…” he called. Inara quickly turned and hurried back to her shuttle. She couldn’t stand to let him see her cry.