(Flashback: One month after Miranda)

Serenity floated along as if space travel required no effort. And indeed, considerably less effort was required now that Serenity had been fixed up by some of the Alliance's finest. The Operative had done a lot for them, but Mal would be rather lose the war all over again than admit he was grateful. But, he wasn't even thinking of that now.

Mal was seated in the dark kitchen, trying to keep out the voices... Simon and Kaylee's voices, that is. He had told the entire crew to go to bed, and they had, but unfortunately for the rest of the crew, Simon and Kaylee had gone to the same bed.

"It's downright regretful," he mused aloud, "especially at these hours of the night."

"What is regretful?" came Inara's voice out of seemingly nowhere.

Mal jumped up skittishly, turned, and tripped over the chair he had just been sitting in. Both he and the chair hit the floor with a loud crashing noise. he groaned, then waited, listening. Kaylee's moans and screams continued on.

Inara giggled quietly, "With those two going on, I doubt anyone even heard your fall."

Mal looked at Inara's form silhouetted in the light coming from the hallway, and he swallowed. "Hell, she's beautiful." he thought.

She came over to him, and helped him get up. Then she righted his chair, and set him back down in it. She giggled again, "I didn't know you were so clumsy."

If Inara had expected him to get annoyed, then she was surprised, because Mal laughed quietly too. "I'm tired Inara... and ya startled me. Shouldn't do that to a man like me."

Inara nodded, "I guess we are all somewhat tense. It has been a difficult time for all of us."

Mal, looked at her, "Whatcha talkin' 'bout? I'm tired only 'cause a certain mechanic and her sophisticated boyfriend won't let me sleep."

"I see," said Inara, "I came in here to make some tea, would you like some? Maybe it will help you to relax, somewhat."

Mal nodded, and Inara went about preparing the various herbs she needed, and put the water on to boil. That being done, she pulled another chair away from the table, and placed herself in front of Mal.

Mal tried to think of something to say, only to come out with, "'Nara, do ya ever use contractions?"

Inara twitched, "What?"

Mal fidgeted, "Ya know, words like 'don't', 'can't'... 'ain't'?

Inara was truly puzzled, "Does my manner of speech bother you?"

"No, what I mean is... that I am a truly horrible conversationalist."

Inara giggled again, "What you mean to say, is that the silence between us bothered you, yet you could not think of something to say."

"Yeah."

"Then perhaps we do not have to talk, silence can be a blessing at times."

The tea was ready, and Inara got up, and poured some for them both. She handed Mal's cup to him, and sat down again. They sipped their tea in silence, or, in what silence could be had.

Mal grunted, "They must be on their fifth round by now."

Inara only smiled at him, though he could barely see it in the darkness. Finally, he dug up the courage to ask what he'd been wanting to ask.

"So, you've stuck 'round us pirates for a month already. Got any plans?"

Inara sighed, she had known this would come, "Mal, I cannot actually go back to civilised life, as some would call it. You see, I committed a crime when I helped you escape from the Operative at the Companion house on Sihnon. Then, my criminal record only improved when I flew away with you, went to Miranda and came back, bringing a whole fleet of Reavers with me. According to the law, I committed the same crimes as you."

Mal looked down, "But the warrants were rescinded."

"I know, Mal, but my record stays. My Companion license has been revoked, and I cannot get it back."

They were silent for a few minutes before Inara continued, "I was thinking of looking for work elsewhere. The Heart of Gold invited me... they said that I could takeNandi's place."

Mal grunted, "What does Petaline think o' that?"

"It was her idea."

Mal sighed, and he knew that it was now or never. "Inara, I've never been good with words, ya understand, so don't take this the wrong way, 'right?

Inara nodded, wondering what kind of insult was coming now, but Mal said nothing. Instead, he stood, pulling Inara up with him. He kissed her fiercely, and she squirmed at first, but then gave in, and began to kiss him back. Mal, began to slide his tongue into her mouth, but she pushed him away, breaking the kiss.

Mal began to step away, but Inara held him firmly. "Wait," she said, "I just wanted to say... you lied. You are an amazing conversationalist."

With that, they began their "conversation" all over again. Mal kissed her feverishly, but she took things to a whole new level. Inara pushed Mal back against the wall, while kissing him, and began to unbutton his shirt. Mal, put his hand on her shoulder, and began to slide one of her dress straps down.

"Sorry, but I had to interrupt this before it went too far." came River's voice out of nowhere.

Mal jerked backwards, and slammed his head into the wall. Inara did the same, but, not having a wall behind her, she fell backwards and landed on her behind.

Mal glared, "Gorrammit River, what are ya doin' here?"

River just gave him an annoyed look, "You're both clumsy. I was in the cockpit, keeping my brother and Kaylee out of my head with star charts. I had to stop this before it got too far."

"What do you mean?" Inara asked slowly.

"I mean," said River, "that you were about to have sexual relations in a public place. Not wise... what if Jayne walked in?"

Mal and Inara cringed. "Good point?" was all Mal could say.

********

In Inara's shuttle, Inara instructed Mal to lay back. "I am going to make this special." was the only explanation she gave. She put on some music, and began to dance. The dance started slowly, but as the tempo of the music increased, Inara danced faster, slowly working off her clothing, and throwing it about the room. She came closer to Mal, stepping and writhing to the music, creating the most erotic scene Mal had ever been a part of.She got onto the bed, but the performance didn't stop. She swayed in all directions while she worked Mal's clothing off his body.

Mal gulped as she finished unbuttoning his shirt, and then began to kiss his chest. Inara worked her way southward, kissing licking, and biting softly, while Mal breathed heavily, almost unable to move. She unbuckled his belt, then unbuttoned his pants and pulled them down and off. Then, she moved back up, and kissed Mal on the lips with all her strength, while pressing her naked body to his.

Mal finally gathered up what little strength he still possessed, and let his hands roam all over her body, discovering the places he'd always wanted to see, and more. Inara moaned, and began to do the same. Then she pulled herself up farther and pressed Mal's head between her breasts. He began to lick and suck on them lightly, teasingly.

"Stop that Mal," she commanded, "don't hold back. It is maddening."

Of course, that was only reason enough for Mal to keep doing it. He rolled her over on the bed, and got on top of her, pinning her hands down with his. Then he began to explore her body with his lips, but still, ever so lightly. He moved over her breasts and nipples, and then down to her stomach. Finally, Inara could take it no longer.

"Mal!" she hissed.

He looked her in the eye and smirked, "What?"

Inara brought her knee up, and pushed it into his chest, sending him over the edge of the bed. She clambered down on top of him. "It's time." she whispered.

She reached downward, and guided him into her. She moaned as she slid down along the shaft.

********

River curled up in the cockpit and whimpered. Simon and Kaylee, now Mal and Inara. Jayne was imagining Inara, Kaylee, and Zoe together, and he was... ugh, she didn't want to think about what he was doing. She tried entering into Zoe's mind, but found only empty space. So much empty space, and Zoe in the middle of it, crying.

River walked over to her, and sat down beside the first mate. River put her arms around Zoe, and things began to calm. "Finally." River thought.

********

(Present time)

River busied herself with landing Serenity correctly, or "good an' proper" as the captain had said it. She actually kind of liked the way people talked so far away from the Core Planets, it was comforting. And she needed comforting, these days.

She mulled aloud, "How can she feel as if she's landed the bird a thousand times, though she knows it's only been thirty?"

Instead of looking for an answer that she would never likely find (the laws of probability said so), she concentrated on the task at hand. Serenity came down so smoothly, you could hardly tell she had stopped moving when the struts hit the ground. Her task completed, she headed down to the cargo hold. Mal, Zoe, and Jayne were there getting ready to leave.

Mal looked up, "Hey Albatross, any word from the contact?"

"There is," she replied, "they have agreed to meet where you want. Also, the word is out that we're hiring... we already have answers."

"Ah," replied Mal, "pretty fast. Could ya ask 'Nara if she wouldn't mind screenin' them? If she does, we'll do it when we get back."

Zoe raised an eyebrow and asked quietly, "'Ask Inara', Sir? She's considered crew now. She gets paid."

And it was true. Inara received a good percentage of each take

Mal looked at her, "Still, can't rightly give her orders..."

Zoe smiled slightly at the captain's dilemma, "I understand, Sir."

********

The captain, Zoe, and Jayne made their way past the Maidenhead, and onward.

Jayne was puzzled, "So tell me why we ain't meetin' them at the Maidenhead?"

Mal just rolled his eyes while Zoe explained, "Do you remember what happened the last time we met someone at the Maidenhead?"

Jayne thought for a moment, "Oh, yeah... Moonbrain went all feng le and killed some folk. Wait, you mean we can't go back there no more?"

Zoe nodded, and Jayne bemoaned their loss, "Damn fine bar."

Mal replied, "Don't worry, we're meetin' them at the Lotus. They got whores there."

Jayne brightened up considerably. And there it was, not too far away. It was as decent-looking as an establishment of its kind could look. The large sign inscribed with the word "Lotus" in both English and Chinese, clearly marked their destination.

In the dimly lit interior, Zoe and Jayne waited in the doorway, while Mal walked toward the bartender to inquire about his contact. He didn't get very far before a lady's hand shot out and blocked his path. He went to brush it aside, when he noticed that there were two women sitting at the table, and neither looked like whores.

"May I help you?" he inquired, mustering up as much politeness as possible.

The blond lady holding him back smiled sweetly and replied, "We're waiting for one Captain Reynolds. Would you, perhaps, know him?"

Mal tried to hide his shock, "I might." He signalled to Zoe, and she half-dragged Jayne over to the table. Both of the ladies stood up, and theblond one (who seemed to be in the lead) addressed Jayne, "Captain Reynolds?"

Jayne's mouth fell open, while Zoe snickered. Mal cleared his throat, "I'm Malcolm Reynolds."

The woman looked back at him, "Oh, my mistake."

Mal smiled benevolently, "Not really. And you are...?"

"Stacy Flen. This, is Kally Flen." She replied, pointing to the other woman. Stacy was tall and busty, with long blond hair and brown eyes. Kally was shorter, with red hair, green eyes, and a figure that was more petite. Both looked relatively young, were dressed to show just enough skin to provoke the imagination, and both had the look of dangerous intelligence in their eyes.

Jayne raised his eyebrows, "Sisters?"

"Not quite." replied Kally, speaking for the first time. The two ladies invited their guests to sit, and as soon as the food arrived, Kally continued where she had left off.

"No, we're not quite sisters in the normal sense. We married brothers, twins actually."

"Fanty and Mingo." Mal murmured.

Stacy graced them all with a smile, "Yes, that is correct."

Zoe glared hard, wondering how much they knew. "I was sorry to hear 'bout how your husbands died. But then, I wasn't aware the Fanty and Mingo were married." she probed.

The normally serious ladies both coughed, and then giggled slightly. Stacy replied, "Oh, they hardly knew it themselves. They regarded us as trophy wives, mostly." She grinned, and said to Mal, "We should thank you, actually. We heard that a member of your crew was the one that killed our late husbands. While it was sad to lose such faithful caregivers, they did leave us the business."

Mal grunted, and resolved not to piss these ladies off, if he could avoid it. Jayne went back to his food, and resolved not to stare at them so much. Zoe showed no reaction.

"Speaking of business?" asked Kally.

"Of course," Stacy replied, "you'll want to know about the job. It's quite simple, just a smuggling run."

Mal looked up from his food, "What're we smugglin'?"

Stacy smiled, "I've heard that you have a code, of sorts, Captain. it's nothing objectionable I asuure you."

Stacy looked at Kally for her confirmation, and Kally nodded, Stacy explained, "Well, we see no harm in telling you this time. It's a new species of rice, recently stolen from a laboratory here on Beaumonde. It is far more resilient than any other species known, it can grow almost anywhere. There is only one sample of it so far... the one that we aquired. It will take some weeks for the laboratory here on Beaumonde to produce another."

Zoe nodded, "Which explains why you want to sell it off planet. The company that gets the selling rights will make a fortune. Being the middle man in such a case would make you considerably rich."

Stacy grinned with satisfaction, "And you as well, so long as you deliver it safely. We would like to save the discussion of prices for later, but there is one more thing you should know. The rice plant is in a custom built terrarium environment, and will require regular care. We have a paid specialist who will go with you to ensure that the plant makes it to Persephone alive. We will pay you extra, for his fare to Persephone and back."

Mal, Zoe, and Jayne conferred in whispers for a moment. Mal looked back at their new "friends". "The specialist don't sound like too much trouble. If the money is good, we'll take the job."

********

Simon was very, very puzzled. He had heard that the specialist was a Core Planet bred professional, but the man standing before him and the rest of the crew didn't look the part. He was tall, with black hair, green eyes and well-etched features. But the most noticeable thing about him was the amount of scars all over his body, or at least, all over the visible skin, which comprised of his arms, head and face. Simon was sure there were more though.

The crew introduced themselves, and Mal went over the basic rules, as he did with every passenger. The newcomer simply listened, not speaking a word, not until Kaylee finally bubbled her way over to him and asked for his name.

"Angus Reilly." was all he said.

Kaylee recoiled a bit. The man had spoken his own name with such a disturbing lack of emotion that it scared her. River, Simon, and even Jayne took a step back, at the sound of his voice. Simon couldn't help thinking that it sounded like a dead man had spoken.

Mal took command. "Jayne, take our guest to his room. Help him carry his things."

Angus only had one bag, and he carried it himself on the way to his room on Serenity. Jayne looked over, and noticed all of Angus' scars.

"What happened to ya?" he jibed, "Gorram Reaver cut ya up?"

Angus didn't even look at Jayne, but left him behind as he entered his assigned room. As he closed the door, he replied, "Three Reavers."

It took Jayne longer than usual to pick his jaw up off the floor.

********

River lifted Serenity off of Beaumonde, with some trepidation. She knew Angus was going to become Serenity's new crewmember, and she knew that it would be good for all of them. What bothered her is that she could sense, but not see, all the hell that Angus would raise before that happened.

"Things always have to get worse before they get better." she mused.