As the barbell reached the top of its arc of motion, Jayne caught it with one hand and set it in its holder. The Shepherd sat up from where he had been lying on his back on the weight bench, working to keep his aging muscles in suitable strength and tone, and reached for the towel lying not far away. His breathing was heavy with exertion. “You gonna make it, old man?” Jayne asked, jokingly, as he added more weight to the bar for his own exercise. “Oh, I imagine I’ll live at least another day. Perhaps even until our next landfall,” Shepherd Book replied, smiling, as he stood and mopped at his face with the towel. “Cap’n better have somethin’ lined up on Persephone. Been near three gorram weeks since we left Malachi and we ain’t had nothin’ ‘cept that two-bit grain transport job. I didn’t sign on with this crew to see the verse. If we ain’t got no ruttin’ work, I ain’t getting’ no ruttin’ pay.” The frustration leaked into Jayne’s voice as he lay down on the weight bench and lined his shoulders up under the bar. “I’m sure the Captain has some kind of plan—he usually does. He’s most likely being more cautious now because of the sort of attention we’ve attracted lately,” the Shepherd replied soothingly. “Well, caution don’t keep me in whiskey ‘n ammo, Preacher. I’m increasin’ly missin’ the days when this boat weren’t a gorram floatin’ fugee camp.” “Jayne! You don’t mean that! He don’t mean that, Stephanie,” Kaylee’s voice carried down from the catwalk overhead. The girl walked slowly across the catwalk, her arm out to steady Stephanie as the older woman stepped out to lean on the railing. As the weeks on board Serenity passed, Stephanie was regaining the use of her lower extremities faster than even Simon had thought possible, to the point that she could now limp about the ship. She couldn’t go fast, or far without stopping to rest, but her bruises were fading as her body cleared the drugs that had been forced into it and she was allowed to rest and heal. Some of the damage her body had endured over the past eight years was no doubt permanent—her liver function had been affected, making her relient upon medication that she would probably need for the rest of her life, and she would bear the thin scar that ran from her temple to her upper lip to the grave. But just being able to get out of bed on her own and move around a little had done wonders for her spirit. Stephanie could hear Jayne grumbling something about not telling him what he meant and not as she eyed the stairs. Perhaps not today. As fast as her recovery was progressing, it was better not to push things too far. “Cap’n said to tell you we’re 15 hours out, Jayne—you’re s’posed to clean out the holds and make sure there’s no spilled grain down there. Cap’n don’t want no mice settin’ up housekeepin’ down there when we land,” Kaylee called down. Jayne grunted mid-rep in response as Kaylee turned back to Stephanie. “Can’t say I’d mind the cute little guys myself, but the cap’n ain’t much on furry critters runnin’ ‘round his boat. I gotta get back to work on that converter piston. You gonna be okay here?” Stephanie smiled at Kaylee, but it was plain to see her mind was elsewhere. “I’ll be fine. Don’t let me hold up your work. I’ll probably go back and take a nap in a little bit anyway.” As Kaylee disappeared down the corridor, Stephanie turned back to the cargo bay, staring off into space, absorbed in her own thoughts. She didn’t notice Shepherd Book standing in the cargo bay below, gazing up at her and pondering what could be taking her mind so far away from the tiny ship on which she currently resided. _________________________________________________ “Are you sure you’re going to be alright here by yourself?” Wash’s brow furrowed in concern as he pulled the mule over and stopped in front of a pagoda-like building. The hot Persephone sun was already burning a reddish tinge onto the skin of his face and neck. Stephanie carefully levered herself off the back of the machine and looked Wash in the eye. “I’ll be fine. Just pick me up on your way back to the ship—will an hour give you enough time?” she asked. “Plenty. You be careful, though. Mal’ll have my head if you hurt yourself, especially since he doesn’t know you’re planning to go off alone. Guess I can’t convince you to forget this. You know, we’ve got bathing facilities on Serenity.” “No, you can’t. This is important.” Wash scrutinized Stephanie’s face for another moment, and she could see that he didn’t really understand. But that was okay. He didn’t need to understand. He just needed to give her a little space. “I’ll see you here in an hour,” she said, turning away and walking toward the bath house’s entrance. The air inside the pagoda was warm and humid, smelling of the cleansing soaps and healthful herbs that were infused into the water of the many tubs. For Stephanie’s purposes, a completely private tub would have been ideal, but she was unwilling to part with such a large fraction of the little money she carried. She dropped a few coins into the attendant’s hand and was ushered into a room with bamboo flooring and a large pool of heated water sunk into the floor. Stephanie could smell the rhimannia and sage added to the water to cool the blood and relax the mind. At this time in the early afternoon, there were only 2 other people occupying the tub, and both were absorbed in their own relaxation and showing her no interest. She couldn’t have asked for better. Stephanie slipped into the adjacent changing room and quickly exchanged her clothes for one of the soft towels that were folded on a shelf. Then, after taking a moment to steady herself against the doorframe, she walked back across the bamboo floor, shed her towel, and sank neck-deep into the fragrant pool. An almost inaudible sigh escaped her lips as she leaned her head back against the side of the pool, her damaged muscles relaxing as the hot water supported her weight. As she soaked, she revelled in the simple feeling of cleanness that the bath gave her. Wash was right—there were bathing facilities as such on the ship, but they were extremely utilitarian in nature. The sheer weight of a water tank on board necessitated it being as small as possible to sustain the crew’s needs, not to mention the problems that additional plumbing and maintenance of water pressure presented. She’d sponge-bathed on board, and she’d been periodically hosed down while she was in prison, but she hadn’t had a real, hot, aromatic bath in nigh on a decade. She closed her eyes, concentrating on the way the water felt as it slowly circulated over her belly and around her legs. The cleansing of body, mind, and soul had become somewhat of a ritual for her, something she’d performed after each battle and every time she’d been captured. It was a way to let go of the things that had happened, to wash the stain of them off herself, and the sponge-bathing available to her on the ship was simply not sufficient. She needed immersion to feel purified. She’d spent the last few days on board Serenity fighting the urge to take her little ritual to the extreme that she had after her first stay in the camps, when she frightened her guardian by shaving all of the hair off her head, face, and body in an effort to get rid of the constant feeling of contamination she carried with her. Stephanie opened her eyes as she heard the soft splash and felt the shift in the water as someone sat down next to her in the tub. That was the only problem with these group tubs—there was always someone coming or going and disturbing the peaceful atmosphere. She glanced over briefly to see a familiar woman with olive skin and long, black curls sitting in the water a few feet away. The woman caught Stephanie’s gaze, but if she was shocked to see Stephanie in the bath house, she hid it flawlessly, as only recognition reached her eyes. Stephanie smiled a tight little smile. “Inara. Fancy meeting you here.” _________________________________________________ “Well, well, well. The great Malcolm Reynolds comes crawling back to my little operation, begging for work,” Badger tipped back in his chair, pressing his fingers together as his face twisted into a gloating sneer. “The likes of me don’t seem so far beneath you when you’ve got no cargo, now do they?” Mal’s lips tightened into a thin line as he kept his temper with difficulty. “You got work for me, or do we need to be lookin’ elsewhere?” he asked. He could hear Jayne shift his weight from one foot to the other behind him. Zoe stood to his left, at the ready as always. Badger set the front legs of his chair back down on the ground with a thump as he leaned forward to casually play with the handle of his apple peeler. “Well now, that depends.” “Depends on what?” “It depends on how desperate you are. Business is business, see, and sometimes a businessman has to… consider new investments. Move in new directions to turn a profit.” “You got a point you’ll be comin’ to any time soon?” Badger rose to his feet and came around to the front of his desk to stand in front of Mal, although doing so afforded him very little advantage, as it only served to accentuate how much shorter he was than Mal, Jayne, or Zoe—very fine hat and all. “I’ve got cargo. Very fine pay to the man that will take it to Ceruleus—or any of the water planets, I’m not particular. I don’t know if you’re the man to do it, though. Might offend your… delicate sensibilities. Your soldierly sense of honor. You see, Captain, my cargo happens to be of the human variety.” “You askin’ me to carry slaves in my boat?” “There’s a fine profit to be made, Captain. Somebody’s going to do very well off this little venture. Might as well be you.” “I ain’t a gorram slave trader. And I ain’t defilin’ my ship with your kinda ‘business.’” “Now, now, Captain, there’s that attitude again. Constantly causing trouble between us. Because what you don’t understand is that I’m going to profit off this meeting regardless of what you decide. You’ve drawn a lot of attention to your little ship lately. And I just know that the powers that be will pay handsomely to know where you are and what you’re about.” “You implyin’ you’re gonna blackmail me into takin’ this job? You’ve got transport of your own—why not have one of them take your… cargo?” Mal snarled, the word “cargo” dripping with derision and distaste. Merely talking about trading in human wares put a bad taste in his mouth. Badger stepped back chuckling. “Blackmail’s such an unsophisticated word. Yeah, I got transport. I just thought I’d offer you a little favor, seeing as you’re a bit hard up. But I intend to profit from this little meeting either way. You see, Captain, time is money.” _________________________________________________ Inara didn’t usually frequent the public bath houses—most of her clients had spas in their homes, and when she did choose to venture off ship alone in search of a bath, she almost always took a private tub. Today, however, she felt a bit frazzled. Persephone was one of the few worlds Serenity visited where she could screen respectable clients, but Mal had expressed the intention of staying only the one afternoon, finding work, and moving on. All said while gazing fondly at that jian huo he had brought on board. No time for Inara to do business of her own. Feeling the need to be away from Malcolm Reynolds and everything that reminded her of him, she had left the ship for the afternoon and come in here for a soothing bath. The bath house had not been busy and she had chosen a public spa in hopes of meeting someone interesting who might provide distraction in the form of pleasant conversation, if only for the few hours they were planetside. Instead, she found Stephanie. Something to take her mind off Mal, indeed. Disobeying her instincts, she elected to stay and have her bath rather than turning around and leaving the moment she saw Stephanie reclining in the water. Despite the scars she saw snaking across the woman’s neck and face, despite the yellowish tinge of still-healing bruises on her arms, Inara felt an inexplicable clench of jealousy in her stomach. It hurt inside in a way she’d never thought possible when she saw Mal wrap his arms around this woman, kiss her hair, hold her hand. Malcolm Reynolds caused her nothing but irritation and hardship. Didn’t he? The man was a brigand, a petty criminal, so far from her social level that she ought not even pause to consider him. Wasn’t he? Then why did the word “whore” carry so much more sting coming from his lips than it would from any others? And why did the sight of him showing tenderness to another woman cause her heart to ignite with envy so strong she thought it would consume her from the inside out? Inara eased down into the water as quietly as she could, hoping that Stephanie would not notice her presence or would see that Inara was absorbed in her own bath and not welcoming of company. “Inara. Fancy meeting you here.” No such luck. “Stephanie. How are you feeling?” Inara slipped behind her Companion’s mask of control and sociability. Forced herself to exude calm and joy and welcome and a hundred other things that she did not feel even in the slightest. “Good. Much better, for the bath,” Stephanie replied. Inara’s collected exterior would fool almost anyone, but not Stephanie. They’d spoken only briefly—small talk at dinner amongst the rest of the crew, a passing hello in the hallway—but Stephanie had a talent for seeing through masks. And never in her life had she been anything but bluntly direct. “Inara, I’m not here to take what you wanted to have.” “Shen me?” Inara was surprised at Stephanie’s words, but she feigned ignorance. “I don’t know what you mean.” “I can see the way you look at him. The way you look at me when I’m with him.” She was silent for a moment. “You have to understand, whatever Mal and I had during the war… well, people change. You’ve spent years studying human behavior, you of all people should know that.” Inara made no reply. “I can’t change the things he says to you—and I wouldn’t if I could. I don’t play with other people’s lives. I think you know, though, that if he didn’t care about you, your career wouldn’t make one bit of difference to him.” “What are you saying? I assure you that my relationship with Captain Reynolds is nothing more than…” “Time and space matter in relationships. You don’t need my advice. You need to listen to your heart—all that control and training has muffled it, but it’s still there.” Stephanie levered herself out of the tub and wrapped her towel around her body. “I’ll leave you to enjoy your bath.” Shocked and confused, torn between offense and gratitude, Inara watched in silence as Stephanie limped toward the changing stall. The woman was no longer a known quantity, and Inara found that as disturbing as anything else about the whole situation. _________________________________________________ “Shoulda taken that job. Now on toppa no coin we’re gonna have Alliance chasin’ us all over the ruttin’ verse. Fine trade for somebody’s high ‘n’ mighty…” “That’s enough, Jayne. It’s like the Captain said, we ain’t slave traders,” Zoe snapped. “If we’da killed that little hun dan like we shoulda the first time he screwed us over, we wouldn’t be…” Jayne continued to grumble as they walked down the dusty street toward the Eavesdown Docks and back to the ship. “Bi zui. The way it is, is the way it is. There’s work elsewhere don’t involve tradin’ in human bodies. Might oughta lay low for a while though—Badger’s sold us out before. Wouldn’t doubt he’s at it again as we speak,” Mal cut in. “Haven ain’t to far from here, sir. And the crew always enjoy the visit. Farmers there’ll be ready to sell in a few weeks—might be able to pick up the transport job,” Zoe suggested. “I said that Jian Ying was the last time with cows!” Mal retorted. “Still, some time planetside would be good for everyone. Might be some work to be had there before harvest. And a nice, legal job to keep us off the Alliance radar for a while.” “Nice and legal don’t pay gou shi…” Jayne started in again. Mal just looked at Zoe, who rolled her eyes. “I’m sure that little blonde’ll be happy to see you again, Jayne. You know, the one who was so taken with Vera…” Zoe added. “You think so?” Zoe nodded in response. “I’m in.” At that, Jayne shut his mouth quite suddenly and walked faster toward the ship, a decidedly more contented look on his face.