Alright people, this chapter's a little longer than the others, at 2,300 + words. I'm sorry I haven't gotten into the action just yet, but I wanted to set down a couple more plot devices first.

I can hear the screaming now: NO... NOT MORE PLOT TWISTS!

Don't worry though, hell starts breaking loose next chapter.

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"That man is infuriating, irritating, obnoxious, insanely noble... and hot as hell." She sighed.

She could never stop thinking about him, even though a large part of her wished he was good and buried. She thought back to the time he'd been stranded on Bellarophon, stark naked. The thought made her wet. She'd even fantasized about him while pleasuring herself.

It was a rare man indeed, who had that honor.

Inara Serra turned her mind back to the task at hand: putting on her makeup. They'd be landing on Persephone in a few hours, and she had to be ready. She hated lying to Serenity's crew, her family, but she wanted to keep appearances up for now, until she decided what to do.

Inara was no longer a Companion. The Alliance had rescinded the warrants on Simon and River, Inara herself had run into trouble at the guild. They had given her a choice: resign, or submit to investigation by the Feds.

She had resigned, not out of concern for her own safety, but for that of Serenity and her crew. She had plenty of savings, and had kept paying the Captain for the use of the shuttle. Whenever they reached a planet or moon of suitable size or wealth, she would take the shuttle out, and hide in the biggest urban center she could find. There, she would wait until it was time to leave.

She would sometimes meditate, and pray. Other times, she just slept. But more often than not, she would fret herself silly over the fact that she had no income, and curse herself for not being brave enough to tell Mal.

"Mal." She thought.

As if on cue, he burst into the shuttle.

"Nara?"

Out of habit, Inara put on her most irritated expression. "Really, *Captain*, I thought we were working on the whole concept of 'knocking'."

She had left an opening there, but he didn't rise to the bait.

"Just came to let ya know that we'll be dockin' on Persephone in about three hours. Best be all purtied up by then."

It was odd. In the past few days, they hadn't had a single fight. In the past few days, this was as close as he had come to mentioning her now former occupation. And he hadn't called her a whore since Miranda.

She put away her supposed irritation. "Very well, thank you Captain. How long will we be planetside?"

"Crew needs a rest. We'll be there about three days. We're takin' on cargo, an' maybe a couple of passengers."

"Passengers?"

Mal leaned against the door frame. "Yep, passengers. Cargo's from Badger. We might need to supplement our earnings."

Inara sighed. "I suppose I can understand that."

And she could. From past experience, Badger was not to be trusted on the best of days. With the Alliance coming down a little harder on operations like his since Miranda, it was not the best of days.

Mal stood there, as if waiting.

"Please.", thought Inara, "Don't say anything stupid." Although, whether she was begging to Mal or herself, she couldn't be certain.

Mal finally opened his mouth. "'Nara, somethin' ain't right with you. I dunno what it is, but you're hidin' somethin'."

"Mal..."

"Wait 'Nara. I don't much like hidden things on my boat, 'less it's cargo to be smuggled, but your business is your own, and I'm not askin' ya to spill any secrets... unless it would affect my boat or my crew. Tell me, is it somethin' I should be worryin' about?"

Inara sighed with relief. "No, Mal. It's personal."

Mal's face fell, as if he'd wanted to deal with her problem. "Well, if'n ya need anything, just let me know."

At that offer, Inara almost broke down and told him everything. But, at the last second, she breathed deep and pulled her resolve back together. "Thank you for the kind offer. Now, as you so eloquently put it, I have to get 'purtied up'."

"I'll leave you to it."

Inara watched him make his way through the cargo bay, towards his quarters. Then she nearly jumped out of her skin as River's upside-down head appeared at the top of the doorway.

"Liar."

"River!", Inara gasped, you scared me!"

"You lied."

"No I didn't. It *is* personal."

"It also affects the crew."

Inara sighed. "Please don't tell anyone, alright? I'll tell him when I'm ready."

"But the pretty bird will never be ready to fly."

Inara was pretty sure she knew what that meant. "I will. Just please, keep this to yourself, for the time being."

River frowned. "Very well. You are all so troublesome. Just remember that we will have some very unexpected guests, and it would be much easier to tell him now."

River's head disappeared from the doorway, leaving Inara to wonder what that last comment had meant.

********

Jayne was lifting weights in the cargo bay when Mal left Inara's shuttle. The captain stopped in front of him, but Jayne beat him to the punch.

"I get it, we're landin' soon. How long?"

Mal grunted, "Coupla hours. We'll be there for three days. First we load the cargo, and Kaylee books the passengers. Then, you get to go out and do whatever it is you do for fun."

Jayne put his dumbbell down and shrugged. The captain continued his trek through the cargo bay.

Jayne looked back over at the shuttle. There was river, hanging half of her body off the roof so she could stare in upside-down.

"Gorram Moonbrain.", he thought. He cared about her, though. Respected her too. Seeing a seventeen-year-old ninety pound girl tear apart a room full of Reavers tended to change a man's perspective. He saw her as a crazy little sister.

The thought of that room full of Reavers brought him back to the reason he was having an extra long workout today: Book. Jayne had spent the last day or so reading Agent Priest's file. Now and then, he'd had to look up a big word or two on the Cortex, but he understood most of it.

He almost wished he hadn't understood any of it. Book had been one mean-ass hun dan, and Jayne was incredibly glad to have met him *after* the man's apparent conversion.

It was ironic though. The Operative Mal had met was, according to Mal's story, given to preaching... especially regarding sin.

"Like Pa, like son." he thought.

He grunted as he continued his workout, and he struggled to think of something else, namely, trim he was gonna get on Persephone.

********

River mulled over the feelings she was getting. She was primarily a telepath, but now and then, she saw bits of the past and the future. Mal had not been wrong when he'd called her a reader.

She knew two things were going to happen. First, they wouldn't even get a full day on Persephone, trouble was coming, but in the end, Serenity would still be there for her.

Second, they would be leaving with some unexpected passengers. She didn't know who they were, but she knew they'd be there.

She thought of warning Mal. "But," she thought slyly, "that would ruin the surprise."

She was walking past the infirmary before Simon spotted her.

"Oh, River, you need to be inoculated before we hit atmo."

River made a face, and Simon made one right back. "Come on mei mei, you're pretty healthy and strong all around, but you're not invincible."

"Fine."

River walked into the infirmary and stuck out her arm. Simon pushed the needle in, injected the meds, and then threw the syringe away.

Simon studied her for a moment. "Are you alright?"

River's eyes had gone wide, just as she had picked up a thought from Simon's head. "Foreman."

Simon gaped. "Oh right, yes... Foreman. You knew him?"

Tears formed in her eyes and she threw herself against her brother.

"He's dead. Dead because of Farsight.", she wailed.

Simon hugged her close. "Ssshhh, mei mei. What do you mean?"

"He wouldn't hurt her, but they made her hurt him. And then when she broke free and flew away, they killed him."

Simon realized that she was reading the report right out of his head. He pulled back a little so he could see her face.

"You knew him?"

She nodded.

"You're the one person he refused to fight."

She nodded again.

"Okaaayy... it's alright mei mei. It's okay."

River looked up at Simon. "But I'm the reason he's dead. When you came for me, I felt him. He got out of his little room, and started killing them all, so you and I could get away."

Simon brought her closer. "I'm sorry, River. I wish I'd known about him. I wish I could have helped him too."

Just then, Mal came through the door. "I heard some weepin' and wailin'. Evrythin' alright in here?"

River backed away from her brother and turned to face the man who had become like a father to her.

"I'm alright Captain Daddy. I'd better get up to the cockpit."

"You do that li'l Albatross."

When she was gone, Mal arched an eyebrow at Simon. The doctor sighed. "I suppose I should tell you all about project Demolition."

"If you think it'll help."

********

When Mal finally reached his bunk, he went straight to the sink and splashed water on his face.

"Ta ma de." he said to no one in particular as he thought about this latest bit of information. River was a marvel on her own, but these sorry hun dan were making monsters out of kids. According to the report, this Foreman would have been just over eighteen himself by this time.

He sat down on the bed.

"Holy, sweet Buddha and..."

"I wouldn't add the good Lord's name to that sentence, if I were you." Shepherd Book's voice came from the speakers beside the cortex screen.

Mal's head shot up, promptly colliding with the compartment above his bead. He briefly regretted having the damn thing installed.

"Aw holy Hell. Ain't I supposed to hit my head *before* I hear the voices?" whined Mal.

"Hell ain't such a holy place Captain."

Mal turned and looked at his cortex screen. Book was there smiling good-naturedly.

The Shepherd continued, "I've seen it. They gave me a tour of... well, pretty much everything around here. Turns out the Lake of Fire's only for the worst people. Most folk just get to see the damage caused by the sins they committed, over and over, until they learn their lesson."

Mal sat there, jaw hanging open, mind at a loss for words.

Book smiled, "Well aren't you going to say hello?"

"Hello." Mal breathed deeply. That had taken more out of him than he could have thought. Finally, he shook himself.

"Alright, go away Preacher! This is just the stress, just the stress of captaining..."

Book outright laughed. "Mal, Mal...", he laughed some more, "Mal, this isn't the stress making you see things. If it were stress, it would most likely be either Serenity Valley or Miranda. And if I were the result of fanciful imaginings, I would be Inara, and I would be in your bunk, not on the Coretex screen."

Mal's jaw dropped further. "I have to concede on that point Shepherd... or whoever you are."

Book kept smiling. "Mal, I believe one of the last things I said to you when I was alive was that you had to believe, and not necessarily in God."

Mal swallowed. "Okay, you've done convinced me. Come to tell me what kinda special hell I'm headed to in about two minutes time?"

Book laughed again. "No, Mal. No. You have a lot more time than that, and you're not necessarily going to any kind of hell. But that's beside the point, because I don't have too much time."

"I'm here to deliver a very specific message, so less talking, and more listening on your part would be greatly appreciated. The Almighty has by no means forgotten about you. Never did. Miranda was only a stepping stone, as was Serenity Valley. A landmark.

"You have more to achieve. Soon, survival won't be the main issue. But not yet, you still have some time."

Mal's blood temperature started to rise. "If the Almighty is still lookin' out for me, then why..."

"Why Serenity? Why Miranda? River? Mal, the greatest gift we were ever given was our freedom to choose whatever we wanted. God has to allow men to choose hate, so the rest of us can know and appreciate what love is.

"It's all about love Mal. Love is what keeps your boat in the air. Love is life, breath, and meaning. Love is the point of living.

"Now I don't condone many of the things you do. But you have love, and that is what counts in the end. When the Big Scorebook is opened, love is what gets you the most points.

"I learned a few things since coming up here, Mal. Living a good life is not about keeping all the rules, and committing no sins. Which reminds me: celibacy is overrated. Love everyone you can, while you can, Mal."

Mal smiled. "Might follow *that* advice, Preacher."

"Indeed. I'm surprised at how well you've been listening."

Mal's smile changed to a smirk. "Figure I owe that much, at least. I did get ya killed an' all."

"And I haven't forgotten it." said Book with mock severity. "But seriously, take the time to think about what I've said. Oh, and Mal? My time's almost up but I've got one last thing to say."

"Shoot."

"Don't space anyone you don't have to."

"What's that s'posed to...?"

But the screen had already gone black.

"Well I'll be damned. Or... uh... I hope not."

Mal laid back on his bed. "'S'gotta be the stress."

********

On Persephone, Saffron waited for Malcolm Reynolds.

********

On Persephone, Foreman waited for River.

********

On Persephone, the hands of blue and three Spartans waited for River.

********

Serenity landed gracefully on the Eavesdown docks.