Yes, I'll be putting smut in this story. It's a part of life, and I plan to incorporate as much of "regular life" (including but not limited to: violence, romance, mystery, humor, and smut) into this story as possible.

There're also two tributes in this story: one to Avatar: The Last Airbender, and to our own fireflyfans.net author "geekUSA". Ten points to whoever guesses them both.

P.S. I honestly, truly thought of a Saffron/Inara catfight. Woulda been hot. However, between Inara's Companion training and Saffron's desire to *not* get spaced, I decided that they would both be smarter and that, so I skipped right past what would have been a fairly tedious and repetitive scene.

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The messenger smoothed his already impeccably ironed suit down, and stepped through the door into the Coordinator's office.

The Coordinator never bothered to look up; he simply said, "Report."

The messenger took a deep breath. The Coordinator wasn't the type to kill a messenger for bringing bad news. Good messengers were hard to come by, and couldn't be blamed for the contents of their messages.

However, the Coordinator was still the most powerful man in the Blue Sun Corporation. Even the official CEO and the board were simply puppets, made to dance at a twitch of the Coordinator's fingers. His men were loyal, in fact, they loved him, and thus hated to bring him bad news.

"The Agent we sent died attempting to retrieve the Asset. The three students we sent with him were also terminated."

Now the Coordinator looked up. To the messenger's surprise, he almost seemed to be smiling. "I told that fool Hue to send more than one agent. I also told him that it would be unlikely that the Asset would still respond to the safe word. And what happens? He gets an agent killed."

The messenger squirmed.

"Don't get me wrong," the Coordinator continued, "Hue's a decent employee in most respects. He simply never properly understood some of our projects. Tell him that I'm going to give him one more chance, before I give this project to someone else. Tell him to err on the side of caution."

The messenger let out the breath he'd been holding. "Is there anything else, Sir?"

The Coordinator looked back down at his paperwork. "No, my boy. You may leave, if you have no other messages to deliver."

********

Saffron waited in the darkness of the hallway. Malcolm Reynolds would be passing by any moment now on his way to the cargo bay, and probably to Inara's shuttle. Jayne was with her, off to the side, holding in his snickers.

Saffron rolled her eyes and returned to her waiting. The confrontation with Inara the day before had ended quickly, with Zoe telling the Companion to stow her weapon. The first mate had explained the situation in her usual terse manner, and Inara had gone to her shuttle to sulk, as Saffron saw it.

It had only been then that Zoe had noticed the shallow cut on Saffron's shoulder. She was immediately taken to the infirmary, where a very wary Simon had put a weave on the cut. Since then, she had been Jayne's charge.

Saffron cursed the captain for finding such a surprisingly effective punishment for stowing away on his ship. Jayne was undoubtedly the most boorish, lewd, and irritating individual Saffron had ever met. He never stopped leering at her, or undressing her with his eyes.

And it was only worse when he opened his mouth.

The merc had been surprisingly helpful, though. Between boast after boast, he filled her in on everything that had happened since she had last been on Serenity, including the deaths of Wash and Book. That last bit of information had been especially helpful. A faux pas in that arena could have cost Saffron a lot of ground.

Also, Jayne had apparently believed her when she told him the simple truth: that she wanted to marry Malcolm Reynolds, again, and stay married this time.

Jayne had guffawed and pronounced, "Well mebbe you'll get'im sexed, an' he'll stop bein' such a pain in the pi gu. He an' 'Nara shoulda been ruttin' long ago, but no, the Cap'n's a right stick up."

And so the mercenary had gone along with this little plan.

Just then, Saffron's target came into view. Malcolm Reynolds had the look of a man going to war as he made his way through the corridor. Saffron stepped out of the shadows to face him with her most disarming smile.

"Wo de ma!" Mal let out with a small jump. Then he called out nervously, "Jayne?!"

Jayne snickered, "I'm here, Mal."

Saffron stepped up to the captain, "What's wrong, Mal?"

Mal looked at her suspiciously, "What do you want?"

Saffron bit her bottom lip. She knew that everything she did at the moment would do nothing to allay his suspicions. Still, she would do what she could.

"I would like to discuss my being on this ship."

Mal's eyes darkened, "And I would like to avoid discussing that."

Saffron shook her head with a small smile. "Mal, Sweetie-pie, crime's my job, but a girl has her hobbies too. I'm on a pleasure trip right now. And I intend to pay my passage."

With that, Saffron handed a small, clinking bag of platinum to Mal.

Mal tossed the slightly heavy bag a bit. It was quite a bit to pay for passage. How long was this witch gonna be staying? He looked Saffron dead in the eye. "Dare I ask what kinda pleasure you're lookin' for?"

Saffron smiled broadly this time. "Why, Honey, you interested?" She stood on her toes and whispered into Mal's ear, "I wanna get married."

Then she danced around him, and off in the direction of the kitchen. Jayne followed her close behind.

Mal shuddered. "So what else is new?" he asked himself as he continued on his way to Inara's shuttle.

********

Inara sat in her shuttle, awaiting Mal. She had asked to speak with him earlier, under the pretext of wanting to talk about Saffron. Well, it wasn't entirely a pretext. Saffron had her worried. She had every confidence in the crew, of course, but the woman had gotten Mal into two separate tricky situations.

And then, there was River's now not-so-odd comment. "Just remember that we will have some very unexpected guests, and it would be much easier to tell him now.", was what the girl had said.

Inara shook her head just as her heart swelled with pride. Inara looked on River as her mei mei, just as with Kaylee, and in the last few months, had taken the girl under her wing. They had girl talk as she brushed River's hair, and Inara gave her plenty of advice about men, after which River would tease her about the captain.

She had grown increasingly insistent that Inara share her feelings for Mal, but Inara just wasn't ready yet. River had also nearly forced Inara into taking self-defense lessons from her. Inara's own Companion training in the subject was, to hear River tell it, woefully inadequate.

Inara's reverie was interrupted as she heard Mal knock on her door. He was doing it more often, but only when he felt that the subject matter to be discussed was of a sensitive nature.

"Come in."

Mal walked into the shuttle. "Ya asked to see me?"

Inara turned around, "It's Saffron... or whatever her name is."

Mal smirked, "She steal any of your naughty toys?"

Inara frowned. "No, Mal. I've been keeping my shuttle locked. But you have to admit, it seems dangerous to keep her aboard."

Mal sighed, "Yes, well the other shuttle's been secured, Kaylee's all but welded the engine room door shut, and River's kept herself locked in the cockpit that I'm surprised she ain't gone batty... well, more batty than usual."

"I'm glad to hear that, but still it all seems so..."

"Stupid?"

"That's not the word I was going to use."

Mal sat down on the couch. "I wouldn't blame ya if you did. It's not like I really had a choice, though."

Inara smiled at that, "I know. Kaylee told me about the small coup staged by River and herself. I don't like to say it, but I think I would have spaced her too."

"Well whaddaya know? We have something in common!" Mal joked.

Inara shook her head. "And it had to be Saffron. What do you think she wants?"

"Do we really want to know?"

"Some mysteries weren't meant to be solved."

Mal got up. "Too true. Although, I get the feelin' this one's gonna be solved for us sooner or later."

"I'm looking forward to it." Inara responded dryly.

Mal turned towards the door, and looked back over his shoulder. "Well, if that's all, I got captainy things to be doin'."

"Mal, I.." Just as Inara opened her mouth, a crushing fear enveloped her, just like every other time she opened her mouth to tell him the truth.

"Nothing." she finished lamely.

Mal looked down. "Well, if you're sure..."

With that, Mal walked out of the shuttle.

"Coward!" Inara cursed herself.

********

Simon didn't have much to do in the infirmary on the way to Whitefall, and so he found himself in the engine room, helping Kaylee with her work.

"So..." he began, as he passed her a wrench that she'd specifically requested, "I've been meaning to ask you why you stood up for *Saffron*, of all people. I mean, she disabled Serenity twice."

"I know. I just felt soemthin' in my gut that said, "Don't let the Cap'n space her."" said Kaylee as she twisted to reach something under the engine. "Anyways, that's why I put on all the extra locks."

Simon looked at the engine room door. He had been amazed, earlier, at the speed with which Kaylee had installed no less than four extra locks on the door, two on each side. Every time she wanted to get in or out, she would undo all the locks on one side, and set all the locks on the other.

"'Sides," Kaylee continued while she slid out from under the engine, "don't think I ain't fixin' to make her sorry for messin' with my girl."

Kaylee's impish smile made Simon feel all but sorry for Saffron. As his bao bei wiped grease off her nose with a clean cloth, Simon said, "Well, I just have to wonder how many locks you put on our bunk."

Kaylee grinned and sauntered over to Simon. "I'm thinkin' I couldn't possibly put enough locks on that door." She said as she leaned in to kiss him. He responded in kind, pressing his mouth to hers.

Their tongues interlocked until they had to come up for air. Kaylee pushed back, wide-eyed. "Well, if'n she messes with my swai doctor, I'll space her myself."

Kaylee pushed Simon up against the door, and pulled his head down for another kiss. Simon began to leave a trail of kisses across her cheek, and down her neck, talking all the while.

"I was thinking..."

"Uhuh?"

"Since you have the door so very well locked..."

Kaylee's eyes sparkled. "Ooooh, you wanna play dirty-minded mechanic gets seduced by swai doctor in the engine room?"

"Something like that..."

Kaylee lowered herself to the floor, pulling her doctor down on top of her at the same time. They lost themselves in a another kiss, and then Kaylee pushed up at Simon while working diligently on the buttons of his shirt.

Simon undid the hooks on her coveralls in the meantime, and pulled them down to her waist. He snaked his hands underneath her shirt, stroking her sides as he pressed his head down between her breasts.

Kaylee finally finished unbuttoning his shirt, but decided not to completely remove it. Instead, she reached her arms around his back, and pulled him in closer as she allowed her hands to explore all of her favorite places. Then she pushed him off of her as she kicked off her shoes.

Rolling Simon onto his back, she stood up, and dropped her coveralls to her ankles and stepped out of them. Simon gasped at her lack of underwear.

Kaylee gave him a naughty smile as she knelt down and straddled him.

"I love my swai doctor." She crooned as she stroked his chest through the front of his open shirt. Then she lifted her own shirt up and over her head, and tossed it off to the side.

Simon looked up at her full, round breasts and then up at Kaylee's expectant face. "I love my dirty-minded mechanic." Then he held on for dear life as Kaylee dove at him, and kissed him fiercely as she reached for his pants button.

He helped her by shoving his pants and boxers down his legs at the same time, and Kaylee dragged them all the way off him. She straddled him again, positioning herself on his legs. He groaned as she stroked him with one hand, and herself with the other.

He sat up, grabbed her shoulders, and pulled her back on top of him as he lay down. He bent his head so he could suck on her nipples as she rubbed herself against his manhood.

Then, it was his turn to take over. He pushed, and rolled over so that he was on top of her. She wrapped her legs around him, as he thrust into her slowly and deliberately, savoring each whimper and cry that came from her lips.

When Kaylee couldn't take any more, she bucked up against him, increasing the speed and force of their lovemaking. Soon, the pleasure began to build up, and roll over them both in waves. Before long, Kaylee cried out in ecstasy, and with a groan, Simon reached hi peak as well.

They lay there, reveling in the banquet of touch... until the captain came along two minutes later, demanding a report on the status of his engine.