"Are you sure you're alright back there?" Inara called. "Those sounds that you're making don't seem too natural."

Mal shook his head, silently wishing that he'd decided to walk further into the woods to take care of a call of nature - but he hadn't wanted to get out of easy earshot of Inara just in case something horrible happened to her while he was - occupied. (Not that he'd have been in the best shape to charge out and save her even if he knew that she was in trouble, in the middle of this situation, but...) So now something reasonably horrible was happening to *him*. Oh well. "Yeah, I'm fine, and nearly done with what I've gotta do. Just stand by."

"Yeah, well, I wasn't really planning on anything else, just try to keep it down, okay? That is simply *not* attractive stuff." Mal shook his head and got on with it.

After finishing his business, and cleaning up as scrupulously as he could under the circumstances, (which were pretty good actually,) Mal emerged from the stand of trees clustering around a small stream and re-evaluated the situation. "Okay, I don't guess that we can circle around to stay further away from those folks any longer - we'd be just heading along the edge of that clifftop, and there's no easy way down. If we head directly for Kazia's place from here - it's not too far, and the caravan is still a lot of miles off."

"But they'll see us," Inara pointed out. "And they'll be able to come and investigate pretty quickly, if they have a mind to."

"Yes, that's true," Mal pointed out. "Is there any alternative, though??"

"I'd better keep the communicator close," Inara muttered. "Just in case we have nothing to lose by sending out a message."

"Hmm." Mal considered that. "Yeah, good enough. And let's go." So they headed out onto a wide plain, covered with engineered grass whose leaves were dark purple. "Need anything to munch on?"

"No, I don't think so. Grabbed a biscuit while you were... busy," she said. "Maybe we should talk about something else."

"Hmm." Mal considered that. "Well, I can't really keep track what I've told and not yet revealed in the story of my sordid past, but..."

"Tell me about the war," Inara blurted out. "I... I mean, I think that I'm ready to hear, if you're ready to talk. Tell me - about Serenity Valley."

"I... I'm not sure," Mal muttered, and she looked over at him. So suddenly he was talking about the turning point of the battle, as he'd seen it, about the desperate last stand he, and Zoe and several others had made, waiting for the air support that might lead them on to a tide of victory, about the daring sortie that they had made to capture an Alliance anti-aircraft gun that might have shot down the Independent angels, had turned that mighty weapon against their creators.

But all of his bravery and success had made no difference, for the Angels that had arrived hadn't been flying his colors, hadn't been independents, but alliance, far too many to ever shoot down all of them, and shortly after that, the word had come that the Independents had sued for peace, that leaders of both sides were in negotiations. And while the talking was going on, both sides had remained stranded in Serenity Valley...

"Mal," Inara broke in, and he looked up to see two trucks from the caravan heading quickly towards them. There was no point in trying to hide, so he stopped and waited for them to arrive. "What... what do we..."

"Try and follow my lead, once I make one," Mal muttered under his breath to her, and then raised his voice. "Hello, gentlemen. I don't suppose any of you could give us a free ride over yonder??"

"What are you doing here??" a man with a grizzled beard demanded, jumping out of the shotgun seat of the first van - and if the gun he was carrying wasn't an actual shotgun, it was as long and dangerous looking as one.

"Umm, just passin' through, you might say," Mal said. "Were just meaning to fly over and meet with Miz Laurentis, but had a spot of trouble back there and got crash-landed. Been trekkin' this far for hours, nearly got frozen solid during the lunar-night and..."

"You gorram idjits," someone else from the same van growled - not the driver, he'd been riding in back. "Set the forests on fire and used up a province's worth of air. It'll take a long time to make that up, too."

"Unintentional, and I'm sorry for any inconvenience I've caused you folk," Mal muttered. Would the lack of air really have that much effect so far from the crash? "Maybe we'd just better keep going on our way, and then..."

"Did I *say* that you could go on your way?" Grizzled beard demanded. "Aside from the matter of the fire and the air, this is our range. Nobody passes through without paying our toll."

Mal's spirits sank. It was starting to become clear what sort of people he was dealing with... and they didn't have much of value to buy them off with in trade. "We don't have much that's worth anything - we didn't come here for commerce, and only rescued enough from the shuttle to make it where we need to go alive."

"Is that one a colleague of Laurentis'?" the driver of van one asked, pointing directly at Inara. "She could pay the toll off in trade for both of you, easily enough."

"That's not going to happen," Mal snapped, before even thinking about it. "The first one to lay a hand on the lady will regret it." But he was feeling very bad about all of this. Nearly a dozen people were facing them now, including two women who hadn't tried to stop the 'taking out in trade' talk - in fact, one of those females was looking at Inara with nearly as much hunger as most of the men.

"Mal, come on," Inara said. "I... I appreciate the attempt to defend my honor, but remember how that worked out last time..."

"No," he insisted. "I... I may have to accept you practicing your trade when it's your own free choice, but I will not stand by and watch you be pressured into it under circumstances like this..."

"If you try to fight us, it'll just go the worse for you - and the more she'll have to pay us," Grizzled beard insisted. "We've got a lot more guns than you, wayfaring stranger, and plenty of sharp eyes."

"If you shoot or lay a hand on either of them," a new voice boomed out, amplified over speakers, "then there will shortly be none of you left."

Everybody looked up at the new arrival. A flying vehicle, larger than either of the vans, was hovering about ten feet above the plain, and several large weapons projected from it. "Everyone but Malcolm Reynolds or Inara Serra should leave the vicinity NOW," the aircar's loudspeakers said with an unmistakeable voice of command. The plains rangers didn't seem so certain that it could take them all down, but one of the drivers seemed to signal the opinion that the entire deal was now far more trouble than it was worth, and with a lot of grumbling and face-saving backtalk the vans were loaded up again and drove back towards the distance. Once they had made about a quarter-mile the aircar landed, and a door panel slid open, revealing a lovely woman with chestnut brown hair in an elegant robe. "Inara!"

"Kazia!" Inara exclaimed with relief, rushing forward to embrace her friend. "Kazia, umm, this is..."

"Captain Mal Reynolds, so glad to meet you," she said, stretching forward a hand towards Mal. "And that you're safe."

"Umm, likewise I'm sure, Miss Laurentis," Mal agreed, taking the offered handshake. "Somewhat convenient timing, though... you didn't send out a message after all, did you Inara?"

"No, I... I didn't realize that things were going wrong until too late, and you had the communicator," Inara pointed out.

"I didn't need a signal that obvious," Kazia answered. "Had spotted two backpackers heading towards the estate and was getting ready to investigate, offer you a lift if it was you. I've been VERY concerned since you didn't show up on time - that isn't like my 'Nara." She sighed. "And then, on our way, we saw the Pavee - the wandering people - giving you trouble. Come on." She urged them into the aircar at this point. Mal saw that it was fairly small but at least as spacious as the Serenity shuttles inside, and there was a man at the flight controls who didn't turn around as they came in. Mal wasn't at all sure if that guy and Kazia would have been able to fight off the Pavee, but at least her bluff had made good.

"So, are those 'travelling people' the reason you have an air car so solidly armed?" he asked conversationally.

"Yes, there have been a few unpleasant incidents," Kazia said offhandedly. "Home, Brent, and hand me the communicator so I can call back in."

-------------

"Okay, umm, yeah River, just lay him down there," Simon muttered. Some of the things about his sister's transformation still took him off guard - like the way a tiny little slip of a girl could carry a huge muscular man like Jayne Cobb without any apparent problems, while it was all that K and himself had been able to do to bring Zoe into the ship together. "Err... maybe you should take off, and bring us back to the city now. We can run someone over here to bring the shuttle back later."

"No, not yet," River insisted, shaking her head slightly at him. "Not until I know if I'm needed - for transfusions."

"Oh, right," Simon muttered, admitting that he should have thought of that much himself. Both patients were low on blood, there were very few potential donors, and he probably wouldn't be able to risk donating himself, since there was too much for him to do. (And should River be piloting the ship after she'd given blood herself? Well, he trusted her to be able to make that decision herself.) "Well, Jayne's in more need of it right now... and he's O neg. The hardest type of all to match."

"Really?" Kaylee put in. "Is O negative rare? I kind of thought..."

"No, it's not particularly rare," Simon explained tersely, "but in emergencies transfusions don't have to be from type to identical type. Generally blood without a particular antigen can be given to somebody who shows that antigen, but not the other way around. O negative has none of the most common antigens, so it's known as the universal donor - can be given away to just about anybody, but someone with O neg can only get a transfusion from another person of the same type."

"And both Simon and I got A plus factors from our parents," River said in disappointment. "Like the grades that they expected us to keep up."

"Then you should keep some of that universal donor blood here," Kaylee pointed out, and raised an eyebrow at Simon's shocked expression. "Hey, if you're entitled to make helpful suggestions about stocking my engine room, bud, then it goes both ways. I don't mind bleeding this time, but my own life may depend on this place being stocked with universal donor blood, if somethin' happens to me again, and neither Jayne nor another O neg donor are available..."

Simon couldn't help but smile slightly. "You're O neg? Now how could I have remembered Jayne's type, but not yours??"

"Dunno, but there's no time for more chatter," Kaylee pointed out, extending her arm, the inside of her elbow exposed. "Sterilize me and tap me... cause Jayne ain't getting any healthier by laying there and waiting for it." Simon hurried to comply.

It was nearly an hour before he was sure that both patients had stabilized, having done his usual surgeries to extract the one bullet that was still lodged inside Jayne and stich up the wounds as well as possible. River had returned Serenity from the mountains to her spot in the central spaceport, but Simon had declined to ask for emergency medical services, though he'd established a remote link with a hospital to get a quick consult on his patients.

"Okay, so one crisis is resolved?" River asked from the infirmary door. He looked up at her. All three of them now had little bandages on the inside of their elbows - both he and River had given blood for Zoe, who was an AB positive, in the hopes that neither of them would be too badly affected in anything they had to do by the lack of blood. Kaylee had eaten to keep her strength up after giving up quite a lot for Jayne, and was lying down.

"Umm, yeah, I guess so. Pretty sure that they'll both be okay, though neither Zoe or Jayne have woken up yet." Simon suddenly realized what was coming next. "The captain, and Inara - they'd gone missing, right??"

"I... I found something that looks like crash wreckage, scanning Ares moon along their flight planned course," River said in a small voice. "Don't think that any authorities have been there to investigate yet. Do we head up there??"

"Hmm." Simon wasn't sure that a hard burn up to the moon would be a great thing for his patients - though he would be willing to approve it if it was the only way to help Mal and Inara. "Umm, one thing first - have you tried calling Inara's companion friend? She might have news of them."

"Oh, right," River made a face. "Can't believe that I didn't think of that one myself. Maybe you'd better come and do the talking."

"Sure." It took a bit of doing to find the right path down the Cortex to reach Kazia Laurentis' estate, and even then Simon could only get as far as some young lady who was either a receptionist or a personal secretary. He said that he was interested in finding out about Mal Reynolds or Inara Serra.

"You're calling from their ship, Serenity, yes?" She pushed buttons, obviously verifying his own Cortex path. "Very well. Reynolds and Miz Serra are en route to the estate, and should arrive within twenty minutes or so. Would you like me to take a message for Mister Reynolds to contact you as soon as possible?"

"Umm..." Simon let out a breath of relief, though a tiny voice of doubt kept him from taking this woman's word entirely. Still, she worked for someone who Inara had trusted. "Not ASAP, but when convenient for him to call, yes," Simon said. "Do... do you know anything about what happened to him? Their current medical condition?"

"I... I do not have much information along those lines, Mister Tam. There was a... an unscheduled landing of some sort, and neither of them were able to communicate immediately. Miss Laurentis has not indicated that medical care should be standing by when her car returns, so I presume that their physical condition is satisfactory."

Simon wasn't sure that he would presume this far, but then he didn't know Miss Laurentis himself. "Alright. Have either of them call when they can."

"Certainly, sir." And the conversation ended at that point.

"It... it's been an eventful day and night," River put in - she'd been watching and listening just offscreen. "I... I can sleep up here, though, if you want me to be able to answer immediately when a call comes in. The pilot's chair is pretty comfy."

"I... you don't have to do that, but I guess I would appreciate it," Simon admitted. "Thanks, little sister."

"Heck, it's better than having to go all the way back aft," she quipped. "Say hi to Kaylee for me."

Simon shook his head as he headed back towards the infirmary. Zoe was stirring again when he looked in, asking about her baby again, and Simon was hit by a wave of dizzyness. He'd managed to avoid thinking about this part while working to make sure that Zoe and Jayne would both be alright, but now...

"How - how did you know that you were pregnant?" he finally managed to ask her.

"I... I just knew. There was... was a certainty inside me," she managed to mutter.

"You didn't take a personal test kit or any such thing?" She shook her head. "Well... this may be hard to hear, but I've run blood tests, and I've even tried to do an ultrasounding. Zoe, you're not pregnant, and... and though I can't be sure, it doesn't seem too likely that you were pregnant this morning when you headed out with Jayne."

Zoe's face instantly became very cold and hard. "Your... your tests are wrong." That sentence hung in the air threateningly. "I... I don't mean - if I've lost the baby then I've lost him, and I don't blame you for that. Might've happened before you could even get to us. But - but I had him with me, inside me. I *know* that."

Simon decided not to argue the point. As Zoe closed her eyes again, he blurted out, "You know, if you wanted to... to mother Wash's child, then - then this wasn't your last chance."

That made her eyes pop open. "And just what do you mean by that??"

Simon almost wished that he hadn't spoken, realizing that he'd committed himself to breaking doctor patient confidentiality for a dead man. But then - this was his widow, and didn't she have a right to know? Wash couldn't tell her himself any more. "After we left, umm, Nandi's house on that little moon that I can't remember the name of, Wash came to me and asked - well, basically, he wanted me to do tests to make sure that he could father a child well enough."

Zoe's brow knitted as she tried to figure out the meaning of this. "And... and so he gave you a - a sample?" She shook her head slightly. "We - we had a fight about having kids while we were there on Ita." Simon nodded, silently thanking her for filling in the place name that he hadn't been able to remember. "He didn't want to."

"Well, maybe he was just checking to be sure," Simon pointed out. "In case he lost the argument."

"Hmm." Zoe sighed. "And I didn't keep pressing the point after we left. Well, movin' back to the point, what's left of the sample that you didn't need for the tests? Has it been in here the whole time?"

"No, and that's probably a good thing, what with all that Serenity's been through in the meantime," Simon pointed out. "Wash insisted on letting it out into space - reflective coating, so it would stay nice and frozen inside. I... I don't know exactly where it'd be by now, but if we go over the navagation logs of the ship, maybe there'd be a way to figure that out."

"Well, thank you for letting me know," Zoe said. It wasn't quite a dismissal, but Simon didn't want to extend this conversation too much himself.

"Goodnight, and get any sleep you can," he said, moving across the room to check Jayne, who seemed to be deep in REM, (what that man might dream of Simon didn't want to think on,) and left the infirmary. Kaylee was lying curled up on a couch in the lounge, still without any pants on, though the shirt was long enough to cover her well past the waist. He let his fingers caress her face and brush through her hair a few seconds, and she stirred, smiling up at him.

"Everything shiny?" she asked hopefully.

"I think so. Jayne and Zoe are going to be okay, and Mal and Inara have turned up on Ares. I reckon that they'll have some adventures to tell us about when they get back, but they're all right." He paused, something occuring to him. "The shuttle, on the other hand, may have had a lot of bad luck."

"Oh, no," K groaned, almost comically intense in her dismay. "What've they gone and done to it? Shuttle one was always the nicest... and Inara usually took good care of it? I wonder if the captain insisted on trying to fly her."

"Couldn't say," Simon admitted, sitting down next to her as Kaylee shifted to a more upright position. "But what do you say we head back to our bunk now, darling mine?"

"M-maybe," she admitted. "There's something that we're still forgetting - ooh, the other shuttle! It's just asking for trouble to leave it parked up in the mountains there... we should fly up and dock it into its berth."

"That - that can wait until morning," Simon insisted, helping Kaylee up and walking with her towards the stairs. "Or - well, I can remind River, and she can do it if she feels up to it. You and I, though, K - we need to actually get some rest."

"Yeah, I guess that we do at that," she admitted, caressing his shoulder and leaning into him.

----------

"Welcome to my home," Kazia said, as she led Mal and Inara from the aircar's garage down a richly furnished hallway. "Mister Reynolds, I believe that Serenity would like to hear from you as soon as possible. A Mister Simon Tam called when we were en route in..."

"Doctor Simon Tam," Mal corrected absently, not entirely sure why he was insisting on giving Simon his full honors. Maybe because, in an odd way, they reflected on him. "The ship's medic - a good man."

"Undoubtedly," Kazia agreed. "I realize that both of you would probably appreciate food and rest, but there are a few matters that must be..."

"Surely the business that I have come for is already almost complete, Kazia my sister," Inara interrupted. "I have come, and you have obviously recognized me. You can send a message to the Guild confirming that I am alive, and here in the Boros system..."

"I'm afraid that the business you have come for is not what you thought it was, dear Inara," Kazia said solemnly, and Inara blinked in surprise. "The report of your death was not in good faith, I am afraid - it was lodged simply for the purpose of constructing a credible rationale to draw you here without anyone suspecting - and they hoped that Reynolds or others of his crew would accompany you. Nobody anticipated the actions of Jesse Sanchez or the other events that you have told me of - but you are here, and they are eager to here your testimony about Miranda, among other things."

"What?" Mal exclaimed, his own mind reeling now. "THEY? Who are they?"

They had arrived in a large sitting room, and for answer a door opened and five very lovely women of different ages and descriptions emerged, wearing glittering white dresses. Inara's jaw dropped, though she seemed to be trying to mouth words. "What's going on?" Mal asked her in a stage whisper.

"A... a full Guild Curia?" Inara managed to breathe, the words a question more than an answer to Mal's. "The Supreme priestesses of.. of the five inner worlds - Londinium, Sihnon, Osiris, Ariel, and Liann Jiun - come here to one of the moons of Boros? But why??"

"Because great events have begun, which require us to abandon our usual focus on our own planets," one of the priestesses said, a blonde girl who seemed no older than Kaylee. Could the Companion's Guild leader of one of the core worlds really be so young - or did the Guild have the medical technology to make its leaders look young again even after they had grown old? Certainly they would have reasons to be interested in such things.

"It is our way to hear witness testimony seperately, even under such circumstances," one of the other ladies said - she was older, maybe even a few years older than Inara, and had hair even darker than she. "I believe that we will speak with Companion Serra first, and Captain Reynolds may use the Cortex screen to reassure those on his vessel."

"Yes, but one thing to settle first," a third of the Curia put in. "Mister Reynolds, we have no direct authority of sub poena over you, since you have no formal affiliation with the Guild. Will you speak of your experiences with us, especially on the matter of what you discovered on the planet Miranda? We have the welfare of all the Companions all over the 'verse to weigh in the balance."

Mal hesitated only a moment, but the second supreme priestess put in again, "Is there anything that we can offer as a compensation for your honest witness?"

Inara was looking daggers at him now. "I'll tell you what you want to know, I think, and we need not speak of rewards - yet."

"Very well," a fourth Curia member said with an authoritative tone. "Companion Serra, come with us." And Inara was led away through the door that the Curia had come from.

"The Cortex interface is available over there," Kazia said to mal, pointing to a painting on the wall of the sitting room - a painting with a few knobs and buttons underneath it - obviously, it was just a default image for when the interface wasn't in active use. Mal went over to use the screen, his mind still reeling from the notion that they had been maneuvered here because of the damn Miranda broadcast - would he ever live that down?

"Oh, hi Mal," River said to him over the Cortex a moment later. "No, Simon and Kaylee have gone to bed, and - well, there's something you need to know about Jayne and Zoe. Kinduv got themselves shot, but they're much better now. I'm just heading off to collect shuttle two now..."

----------

Getting on for dawn, Amarra time, River headed down to the Infirmary from the bridge. Zoe was sleeping peacefully, but Jayne was awake this time. "What the heck happened? Am I alright?"

River sighed slightly. "There was a shooter - left you for dead up in the mountains, except that Zoe pushed the panic button, and we got to you before you bled to death. My brother and Kaylee saved your life - again."

"Hmm." Jayne thought about that. "And the shooter took the guy, and the goods?"

"Um, guess so - they weren't still around. Left the shuttle."

"Gorram it, so much for the sweet payday."

"Well, we'll see," River said, cocking her head slightly. "And you're not the only ones who ran into trouble - Jesse Sanchez ambushed Mal's shuttle, crashlanded him and Inara on Ares, though Mal turned things around so that he died in the landing and they survived. Had a hard trek to make it to safety."

"Hmm." Jayne considered that. "So are we down a shuttle?"

"Leave it to you to ask about that, but probably yeah. Mal wasn't too sure, but it may have to get sold into scrap - along wth Sanchez's ride."

"Hmm, that leaves us without nearly enough escape seats in case of another mechanical emergency, deep space," Jayne commented, "but I guess we'll work that one out later. Anything else interesting - those guys you were meeting with this morning?"

"Yesterday morning," River corrected. "Um, actually yeah - clues about other people who escaped the Academy, like me. We're not sure what they were being trained in, but... I want to try and find them. Have another meeting with the guy today at noon."

"Hmm." Jayne thought. "Can I tag along, if I'm feeling up to it?"

"Sure." River laughed softly. "Oh, and I met a guy in the city - pretty cute. We spent some time out in the country, near a cabin."

"Hmm?" Jayne's reaction sounded almost disappointed. River giggled to herself.

----------

"Very well, Mister Reynolds, I think that that's all we need from you." Mal sighed and relaxed. After waiting nearly three hours for Inara to finish her own testimony, he'd been in here for about two himself.

"Alright, I hope it's been helpful."

"Very much so," the young blonde, who he'd learned was Amina Relonn, the Supreme priestess of Ariel, said. "Mister Reynolds, you indicated that we would be speaking of rewards later. Is now the time?"

"Uh, I suppose so," Mal muttered, realizing that he might not get a better one to make his pitch. "This isn't something material for myself that I'm asking for, but on Inara's behalf, since you represent the ultimate authority in the Guild, as I understand it..."

"You need say no more," The Sihnon priestess told him.

"Are - are you sure? I'd hate to get misunderstood at a time like this..."

"No, a wink is as good as a nod," she assured him. "The fact that you wanted to ask while she was not in the room clinches it. Companion leaders must be well trained in reading secrets, and I think we know what you desire more clearly than you yourself do." She touched a small control. "Could you send Companion Serra back in, please?"

Soon Inara was standing next to Mal, a curious look on her face. "This part of our inquiry is at an end," the Londinium priestess declared. "First, an outstanding debt must be paid. The number one shuttle of Serenity has been investigated, and determined to be beyond repair. Since the damage occured while the two of you were travelling here to meet with us, it is our obligation to replace the vehicle. We weren't able to duplicate the exact model year, but a 2513 Thunderhawk shuttle is equally reliable and will fit in the Firefly oh-three's shuttle docks. It will be landing at the estate within the hour, and you can use it to travel back to Amarra city on the planet below. Is that suitable?"

"Umm... yes, definitely," Mal blurted out, stunned by the grace with which they had offered him a remarkably expensive upgrade as 'replacement.' Even Kaylee, who didn't have much good to say about recent alliance ships, had been impressed with the Thunderhawk's design he remembered.

"Well enough," the Liann Jium priestess put in. "Are you interested in the findings of our council, so far?"

"Of course," Inara said quickly.

"We have grave reasons to fear that the perfect political stability of the inner worlds will soon fail," she said somberly. "Preparations are already underway to move as much of the membership as practical to more distant worlds."

"You - you're going to pull the Guild out of the core?" Mal repeated, struck again by the enormity of it. "That might hasten the collapse that you're worried about."

"Even so, it must be done for reasons of safety," the Sihnon priestess said. "Companion Serra, the dispatches of your travels through the more distant planets have been immensely valuable in coming to this decision, and having the best possible information on such worlds will become even more valuable. For this reason, it pleases this council to offer you work as a paid scout and informant on our behalf."

That nearly floored Inara, Mal could tell. "So I wouldn't be taking appointments directly any more?"

"That would be at your discretion, however you would not need to rely on clients as a source of income and to meet your membership requirements, as long as you were travelling and sending us news. Investigating into specific situations as directed by your liason would lead to additional credit."

"Umm, thank you," Inara managed to get out. "It is a remarkably generous offer, and I accept of course."

"Excellent. We stand now in recess, and go now to confer with Companion Laurentis," the Osiris priestess, by far the quietest one, announced.

"I... I need to speak with Captain Reynolds alone," Inara suddenly blurted out.

"If you ask one of Companion Laurentis' staff, I imagine they will be able to oblige you in that," the Sihnon priestess pointed out, and Inara blushed prettily. "And let them know whether or not you want to be notified when the shuttle has arrived."

And with that, Inara swept out of the chamber through the door to the sitting room that they had both used. Mal followed a bit uncertainly, only just catching her demand to be shown into a private room, and hearing that she didn't want to be disturbed for anything, especially not the shuttle arriving. The butler showed them to a richly furnished room on the second floor with a big bed in it. Mal raised his eyebrows at that.

"Did - did you ask for this?" Inara asked him. "For me to get this scouting position so that I wouldn't have to take clients?"

"Umm... no," Mal muttered. "But I honestly do have some notion that they did it because they thought it would suit my wishes better than whatever I *was* about to ask for." He sighed and sat down on a sort of backless cushioned chair. "Pretty savvy at that, come to think of it."

"Oh." Inara sat opposite him, at the edge of the bed. "Guess I should have expected that they'd pull something like that." She sighed. "And... and I guess I appreciate the opportunity, and will tone it down while we're sorting things out, but I won't quit the usual line of work entirely. I'm not built like that."

"Fair enough," Mal agreed. "Wonder where we'll be heading next, so that you can file your first official scouting report."

"Don't know, unless somebody's found more work down on Boros."

"I don't think so," Mal put in. Quickly he brought her up to speed on what River had told him of the attack on Zoe and Jayne, and that they were both recovering well.

"That's good I guess, though it's too bad if they lose the bounty," she said awkwardly. "I'm glad of the guild replacing the shuttle at least - maybe I should move into it - it'll be my working space when I take on clients, as the old shuttle used to be, and our secret passion nest the rest of the time. That is - if you can deal with such an arrangement."

Mal smiled. "I think that I'm capable of making the necessary adjustments. And it does occur to me that we've got a workable passion nest right here, for a few hours at least."

"Well, obviously," Inara agreed, her face spreading into an inviting grin. "Hurry up and take me, my pirate lover."

"Pirate lover??" Mal repeated dubiously, stopped halfway to his feet.

"It, umm, it's -- that's one story from the training house I didn't tell you about I suppose," Inara said. "Sheydra said that stories had been circulating among the girls about me and the pirate lover I'd had before coming to the school - especially one particularly torrid escapade involving making love in an ancient temple that was burning all around us." She sighed. "Almost seemed to be adding insult to the fact that I was feeling sorry that you'd never even wrapped me into your arms."

"So is that your fantasy about me now?" Mal stood up, grinning, and sat down on the bed, not quite next to her. "A pirate? Am I brutal and savage??"

"Not brutal." Inara smiled, playing along. "Determined and a little bit forceful."

"I have to posess you now," Mal said, reaching for Inara and no longer sure if he was acting out a role play or simply admitting to his own desires. "This has been much too long in coming."

"Far too long," Inara admitted, bringing her lips to his for a kiss that hit him like a concussion grenade. Without pulling apart, he realized that each of them were forcibly tearing off the other's clothes. Mal held her as firmly as he could and bore that lovely body down onto the clean sheets, underneath his own. As much as Inara had probably been trained in artfully passive responses, he didn't want her to have to use any of her training on him, this one time, if she didn't want to. The idea came into his head that after subtly pulling the reins of her amorous encounters with so many paying clients, once she had learned enough to do so, (if she hadn't known how from the very first time she'd seen a client as a teenaged girl,) something deep inside Inara Serra might be crying out for a man who could, very considerately, control her. Who could truly have his way with her in bed, and in the process give her something that she had never been able to receive from a john, because she was too busy giving of herself to receive.

Mal hoped that he were up to that challenge, as he began to run his lips over her so-smooth and slightly fragrant skin.

TO BE CONTINUED...