Firefly: "Wings"

Disclaimer: If I weren't just a poor college student and could finance the series myself, I would, but I can't. So all I can do is just play around in Joss Whedon's 'verse. Also, I don't know a lick of Chinese so I haven't bothered to put the translations because they're probably horribly wrong. If it were Japanese or Latin, well, that'd be another story...

Season premiere of my second season of Firefly: Three months after Serenity things aren't going so well for our Big Damn Heroes. Mal decides to take on old friend as a new crew member to change their luck around. Unfortunately, things never go as planned and an old enemy tries his hand at spoiling our Heroes' ray of sunshine.

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"How're we doin', little one?" asked Captain Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds on the bridge of his Firefly-class transport, Serenity. He stood, braced up against the upper bulkhead in his button down shirt and suspenders, and stared at the glimmering edge of a white planet called Persephone. He could easily recall a similar scenerio play out, but only it'd been Wash in his pilot's chair and Zoe cradled next to him. It wasn't Wash seated to his right any longer. River had taken up the temporary position of pilot, and it was Simon, her brother, who stood behind her. Kaylee, Zoe and Jayne were also crammed into the rather compact bridge, each eager for a peak at the closest damn thing to civilization they'd come to in the last three months.

Reavers had exploded out of their expanse of dead space ever since the broadwave. The Alliance, in a desperate effort to keep another civil war from exploding in the outer systems, had thrown a good bulk of their fleet into exterminating the Reaver menace. Instead of the rectifying the situation, it only seemed to be a band-aid on an amputated limb. The people of the outer systems never had much love for the Alliance, and they sure as hell never considered them angels on high. More than anything, the belated rescue aggrivated most folk and the Alliance found no safe haven to rest.

Naturally, that made the Alliance more than a mite ornery, which made for problems for any self-respecting smuggler who harbored two Alliance fugitives on board. That led to not a one solid job in three months time, which also drove Mal to the decision that a change was in order.

"Serenity's happy," smiled River absently as she coaxed the ship onto the pre-programmed angle of entry. Her eyes looked bugged out from those goggles she'd taken a fancy to wearing whenever she piloted. Coupled with her high brow, it was more than a little disturbing to look at. "She knows she's getting someone good; someone who'll take care of her well." With navigation set, River demurely rested her hands in her lap and reclined in the battered, brown chair.

"Uh, Cap? Why's she taken her hands off the stick?" said a very perplexed and fearful Jayne. "Shouldn't she be, y'know, pilotin'?"

"That'd be a very good point, Jayne. River, why aren't you guidin' my ship into port all properlike?" asked a slightly worried Mal, who was willing to rush into the co-pilot's chair if necessary.

"Serenity's happy," repeated River serenly with her childlike smile that made most of the crew worry. "She wants to fly down and meet her new flower."

"Right," coughed Mal uncomfortably, knowing better than to argue with River when she's in her moods. "We on time for the rendezvous, little one?"

"One can never be on time. Time is all around us, and always ahead of us. We can be behind time, or in time, but not on it," was River's reply. Kaylee looked to be suppressing a laugh under that grin, whereas Zoe at least had a little more training in being a repressed robotic solider; only the glitter in her eyes--which was rare these days--gave away her humor. Simon looked thoroughly apologetic, but also mildly resigned. Jayne...well, Jayne looked like Jayne in Mal's honest opinion.

"If it's all right with you, little one, I'll just take that as a yes," said Mal with as much good-humor as he could muster. In an effort to further compose himself, Mal took some time to shuffle on his feet before addressing his assembled crew. "Jayne, I want you to go prep the Mule. You and Kaylee'll go off and get just the supplies we need. We ain't got a lot of coin to be splurgin' this anchor, but I'm hopin' our luck to be changin' once we get that new crew man on board."

"Don't see the ruttin' need to be doin' this," growled Jayne in his mutinous fashion. "We ain't seen a hair's worth of decent work in the last three months, and now we're lookin' to add another mouth to feed? That just don't add up, Cap'n."

"It's not just another mouth to feed, Jayne; the man'll pull his weight," spoke up Zoe firmly, clearly meaning this discussion to be over. "Besides, he might have contacts we don't, and contacts mean jobs; jobs mean pay; pay means real food instead of protein packets and rations. Why, I daresay you might even get a chance to kill a man in the next few days, Jayne."

"That acceptable for you, Jayne?" Mal prompted challengingly, knowing full well Jayne would step into line, especially after Ariel.

"Money 'n' mayhem's what I'm here for, ain't it?" was Jayne's tetchy reply before he disappeared down the corridor. The man certainly didn't go quietly, as a flood of choice Chinese curses echoed back up to the bridge.

Mal looked around for a moment, expecting to hear an inappropriately cheery comment from Wash--something along the lines of "And I can just see why people worship him so!" or "Well, here I thought it was his charm and good looks!"--but those days were long gone. Reavers--no, the Alliance--had seen to that three months ago. A gaping ache formed in his chest that he rushed to put aside. Wasn't the first time he'd lost a man under a combat situation. Hell, he survived through Serenity Valley, he knew more than anyone what it was to loose people. Didn't make this loss any easier for Mal, and he imagined it was worse for Zoe.

Those thoughts earned a very aware and sympathetic look from River, which were magnified due to the goggles.

"I think it's shiny!" broke in Kaylee cheerfully, and Mal almost smiled at her timing. "I like meetin' new people. Oh, Cap'n, d'you think we can take passengers aboard again?"

"No!" was Mal's emphatic answer, now looking very seriously at the young engineer. "Passengers are a very bad idea when we happen to be keepin' two very wanted people aboard one bitty ship!"

"And you can trust this man not to turn us in at the first sign of authorities?" wondered Simon very sedately.

"Well, he ain't any love for the Alliance, I'll tell you that much," was Mal's confident reply, knowing that Simon was thinking back to Ariel and Jayne. While Mal was happy the two had seem to come to something of an understanding, he was still more than a bit steamed that it had to happen in the first place. "But I trust him." Mal gave a quick look to Zoe that didn't go unnoticed by Kaylee or Simon. "I trust him, and I hope you'll be trustin' my judgement on the matter."

"See? Shiny," said Kaylee, shifting her eyes uncomfortably from the staring match Mal and Simon had going on.

"Kaylee, why don't you check on Inara," said Mal, not breaking eye contact from Simon. "Haven't heard anythin' regardin' any jobs she might have lined up, which is somethin' we need to be knowin' on this visit. Zoe? Get strapped up, just in case."

"Yes, sir," said Zoe with an inquisitive quirk of her brow before exiting the bridge.

"Right, Cap'n," nodded Kaylee very hurriedly. "C'mon, Simon, I think you need to tell me anything you need from Persephone."

"Hmm?" said Simon distractedly, finally breaking his duel of wills with Mal to gaze down at Kaylee. "Ah no, Kaylee, but thank you for asking. The infirmary is all stocked up, and anything I'd like would either be too expensive, or too big to fit on Serenity." Simon's eyes drifted to the back of River's head at that last comment and both Mal and Kaylee knew the good doctor was thinking of equipment that might help heal the girl.

With a heavy sigh, Simon turned to leave the bridge. Kaylee gave a most despondent look at his retreating form. It was a clouded look that didn't belong on her bright, engine-greased face. If River picked up on palpable exchange of emotions--and Mal doubted she could've missed it--she didn't show it as she tapped a beat onto the armrests of her chair.

"Go on, Kaylee," prompted Mal, bringing his engineer back into the present. "I'll stay up and--uh--make sure Serenity flies herself down just fine."

"We won't crash, you know," said River with a sour pout. "Serenity loves us. Babies in a cradle, but not up in a tree. We're snug in the shade." Kaylee beamed a bright, encouraging smile at Mal's bland expression before running off to see to her duties. Mal gave a weary sigh before slipping into the co-pilot's chair, just as the flare of burning atmosphere flooded the screens. He'd welcome a chance at some semblance of normalcy coming soon.

*****

Kaylee loved Inara's shuttle. It sparkled with its red tapestries and curtains, and looked so much like an actual room instead of mismatched pieces of metal. She was so happy that Inara had decided to stay on with the crew instead of returning to teach at the Training House. Serenity was home, and everyone was family--even if they didn't all get along at times. She'd been so sad when it seemed like the Captain had pushed everyone away, and she was even sadder now that two of their family were forever lost, but things were looking better. She had Simon, and everyone else had each other. Despite their lack of jobs, everything really was shiny in her opinion.

"Cap'n wanted to know if there were any details he should be knowin' 'bout 'fore we touch down," said Kaylee cheerfully, but pointedly, as she sat down on Inara's luxurious couch.

"I'm sure he did," smiled Inara playfully at her screen. "Funny how the Captain didn't mention how long we'd be staying on Persephone. It's a little hard to confirm clients without a solid time-table."

"Imagine that," grinned Kaylee knowingly, who'd been long suspecting something going on between the Captain and Inara.

"It's not what you think," laughed Inara, shooting Kaylee a glance over her exposed shoulder. "This is just a quick resupply on Persephone as we pick up a new pilot. Mal's told me this himself. Neither of us believe it to be a good idea to linger on Persephone, though for our different reasons."

"Well I reckon the Cap'n doesn't want Alliance trouble, nor Badger's neither, but what's your reason?" wondered Kaylee.

"I'm sure you remember our problems the last time we docked at Persephone," replied Inara before shutting off her screen as atmo entry affected its performance. "Atherton's a petty type, though no where near Niska's caliber of obsessed. He has money, and his own private security force on his estate. I'm sure it's not out of his influence of power to have people on the look out for us."

"Didn't you threaten him with a black mark on the Guild registry or some such?" asked a bemused Kaylee.

"I did, and he's received his mark," said a thoroughly pleased Inara. "But the Guild's not the mob, mei-mei. We don't run around breaking people's legs, at least, not until they've done anything to violate that mark. At this juncture, however, it's better to be safe than sorry. You can assure the Captain that I will not be straying from Serenity when we touch down."

"Gosh, and I thought being a Companion was all glamorous like," sighed Kaylee, her naiveity of certain things making Inara smile fondly.

"Oh, have I a story for you then," declared Inara conspiratorally, instantly perking up Kaylee's interest, "but that'll have to wait until you come back from your shopping trip with Jayne."

Kaylee shot up from the couch and stuck her tongue out at Inara before saying, "Tease!" and stopping out of the shuttle in a playful huff.

*****

Mal breathed in deeply as he set foot onto the first piece of civlized dirt he'd been to in a long while. The docks were bustling with activity and the free exchange of money. Sadly, that experience was something Mal and would not be participating in this day. Just over his shoulder came the whine of the Mule's repulsion engines going online and he took a step to the right to give the hovercraft clearance.

"Remember, you're on frugality duty," Mal reminded them as Kaylee stopped the Mule so they could converse. "Tight budget and all 'til the next job. I just want to be seein' the bare necessities when y'all be comin' back."

"But Cap'n," whined Kaylee prettily. He knew she wanted some fruit--she always did like her strawberries. Jayne rolled his eyes, thinking that such a ploy would never work on him, but Mal knew better when it came to Kaylee. No one could resist her cute face for long.

"If--and only if--you can get them for cheap, y'hear?" said Mal with as much authority as he could muster; complete a with finger pointing, hand on hip, glare that could melt paint of steel--which was still no match for Kaylee's sunshine grin.

"Aye, sir! Yes, sir! Right away, sir!" giggled Kaylee with a mock salute before she steered the Mule away.

"Gettin' a little soft, sir," remarked Zoe as she strode up beside him. Mal cast her a look over his shoulder, glad to see a real smile on her face even if she happened to be well armed and prepared for a war.

"Hush up, you know I get all misty on account of old friends 'n' all," joked Mal in returned, resting his hand on the butt of his pistol just in case.

"We goin' far for this, sir?" asked Zoe, suddenly all business as she took a step down from the ramp. An Alliace crusier could be seen hovering over the air like an ominous storm cloud. Mal felt comforted in his decision to leave River at the helm with the ship ready to jump at a moment's notice. Much as it shamed him to admit it, he was also comforted in the knowledge that Inara wasn't drifting anywhere on this trip.

"Sent the man a wave and what dock we'd be landin' on. He should be...near...yi-ji bu-ke-neng. Zoe, is that what I think it is?""

"I think it is, sir," said an equally stunned Zoe.

A heavy loader had hovered by to reveal the ship sitting directly across from Serenity. Mal had never dreamed of seeing that ship again in all his life. A Wolfhound-class, fighter-dropship, used exclusively by the Independents during the war, sat gleaming on the dock in her gun-metal gray. She was well serviced and not at all spotty like Serenity. The Wolfhounds were so named because they were abstractly shaped like a wolf's head; the short, stout wings were like the cheekbones of a wolf; the nose was long and blunted with a hidden array of guns for fangs; two dorsel fins were fashioned like the upraised ears of a wolf; and the cockpit were the eyes of course. It ran on a tri-engine star drive, but was fat on the underside for the passenger compartment where Mal could still remember strapping into.

"But they'd been all scrapped," Mal whispered reverently, like the wrong movement might make it disappear in a puff of smoke. "I read the reports. Every gorram one of 'em. Searched high and low, 'n' I could never find..."

Mal stopped abruptly and put his hand almost apologetically on the hull of Serenity. The Wolfhound'd been his first love to be sure. His first combat experience had been thanks to a Wolfhound drop in a hostile environment. She and her pack'd saved his life more times than he'd care to count on those barren battlefields, but then they'd abadoned him on Serenity Valley, and now Serenity was all he had left.

Like a ghost from the past, the crowd seemed to part to reveal her pilot, standing proudly just under her nose. He hadn't seemed to age a day since the last time, but then he'd been no older than seventeen during the war. Hot-shot ace of a pilot, known for being more than a bit crazy, but in that brilliant way that got the job done; Kyo Nagiama with his dark hair, tanned, olive skin, sharp features and alert gray eyes. These days it seemed he wore a brown duster just like Mal's, but patched up some with black leather. A gunbelt was strapped across his hips with a Peacemaker reverse-holstered at his left hip. Mal had to smile. It was an old ploy of Kyo's to make an enemy think he had to draw cross his body, when really Kyo was left-handed and would flip his gun out.

"As I live and breathe!" exclaimed Mal, striding out towards the common area of the docks with something approximating blind mirth.

"Two things I hope you'll continue to do for some time, Sarge," remarked Kyo with an equally goofy grin upon his face. They met with clasped hands, which happened to be much more reserved than the crushing bear hug that Monty would apply.

"It ain't Sarge no more," remonstrated Mal kindly, looking down slightly into Kyo's eyes. Man seemed to have sprouted some in the last few years, easily reaching six feet on his two legs. "It's Captain, now, or haven't you heard?"

"Right, right," drawled Kyo with a good deal of silliness, while he pointedly peered around Mal's shoulder up the nose of Serenity. "War's over and you pick up the first bucket you find and consider yourself a captain. Who needs people like me who actually had to earn our wings? Y'know, if you were a real pilot, you wouldn't be needin' someone like me."

"Sure I would," said Mal defensively, giving a look to Zoe who was sporting a grin like the rest. "If I were a pilot, I'd still be smart enough to recognize I'd need the best out in the black, which I heard with these good ears, happens to be you."

"As if you didn't know first hand," remarked Kyo sarcastically before addressing Zoe. "And you, Zo! What're you still hangin' 'round, Sarge, for? I could use a pair of eyes to watch my back."

"Sorry, Kyo, you know my eyes stick firmly on the Captain's backside," apologized Zoe sweetly--well, as sweetly as she could manage.

"And that ain't hardly fair," whined Kyo. "Sarge keeps his eyes forward and you keep your eyes on his back, but I gotta keep my eyes on the both of you."

"That's what a pilot does," said Mal as if he knew all about a pilot's duties. They shared a fond chuckle before a contented silence settled over the trio. In fact, it was going so well that Mal had to give Zoe a look that said: See? All goin' to plan. No need to worry. To which Zoe answered with an arched brow and a pat of her sawn-off rifle.

"How'd you manage to get a hold of a Wolfhound?" Mal had to ask, turning to look up the nose of her before he brushed his fingers just against her hull. "Had to have sold your innards twice over just to get a salvagable hunk!"

"Nothin' as creepifying as that," laughed Kyo, likewise giving the Wolfhound a fond pat. Seeing the look in Kyo's face--the same look Mal had for Serenity--he wondered if it'd be so easy to get Kyo to leave her behind. "C'mon in and take a look. She hasn't changed much since you last seen her...what was it? On Leograve?"

A dumbfounded expression flickered over Mal's face as he did a double-take on both the ship and Kyo. "Y-you--you mean...?"

"C'mon, we'll catch up," invited Kyo before walking back around the ship to the aft airlock.

*****

Battle of Leograve: Three Months Prior to Serenity Valley

Rollers'd been pelting them something fierce with shells, and Mal wondered how much longer their trenches would hold. Lieutenant had radioed for a pick-up hours ago. It didn't take them fly-boys to come around for a pick-up. Leograve was a lost cause, what with the Alliance pouring in a fresh wave of soldiers and gear. At this rate they'd be pushed back to Hera. That wasn't any better in terms of a defensible position in Mal's estimation.

"Come on you niao huang chan-chu!" shouted Mal as he popped around cover from the rock face to unload his assault rifle at any purple-belly unlucky enough to be marching his way. "Come on! I'm right here! You hou-zi jing-xing-xing-jiao hundan!"

"Sir," said Zoe calmly before she yanked hard on the lapels of his coat. Mal stumbled back behind the large rock just as a mortar shell hit ground not three feet from his position. "Really, sir, stealth. It's a strategy you might want to look into."

"Oh, ain't found nothin' wrong with loud and obnoxious," grinned a very out of breath Mal. With a quick roll of his shoulder, he simultaneously wiped a spock of sweat-soaked dirt on his cheek; extract his empty clip, and slip another back in. "Confounds 'em, see?"

"Ain't the only ones, sir," remarked Zoe who checked the rounds in her own rifle. She peaked out over the rim of their rocky ridge, while Mal stared forward at a shaky little private across from him.

"Easy there, Private. Lieutenant's called for pick-up. Our angels on high should be soarin' in any minute to teach these purple-bellies a lesson," Mal preached with his easy, confident grin. "No one's gonna die here." Zoe fired off three rounds from her gun and Mal thought he heard a distinct grunt off in the distance, which shouldn't have been possible over the cacophany of explosions. "'Cept maybe that fella there."

The private nodded, still looking raring to hurl at a moment's notice, but at least he was holding onto his rifle tightly.

"Rollers're gettin' closer," said Zoe tightly, shifting her weight around on her haunches. "We ain't got enough firepower to stop 'em, Sarge."

"Won't be us to stop 'em, Zoe," Mal told her, that faithful smile swelling up his boyish features. He rolled around the rock again to fire off another short burst from his rifle. "Won't be us to stop 'em. Gotta have faith, Zoe."

"I do, sir," said Zoe her hard eyes staring pointedly at Mal.

The devotion and trust on her end of their strange friendship made him smile and his heart warm, even after five years of fighting. "Somethin' bigger'n me, Zoe. Gotta believe in that."

Zoe was about ready to reply with something pragmatic and practical, as was her fashion, when the whistles of shells dropping forced them all to tuck their heads down. Rollers wouldn't miss at the range they were at. Body parts were looking to paint the chalk-white face of Leograve's quarry, and Mal prayed it wouldn't be his nor Zoe's. The explosion hit, sending a jolt up through Mal's feet to thud right against his heart. It wasn't the jolt Mal'd been expecting, which should've been the teeth-quaking variety. An added sizzle of silicon frying made Mal whip his head up in alarm.

"Full-yield mag charges," said a confused Zoe. Mal could only grin and kiss the silver crucifix around his neck. The familiar whine of a tri-engine star drive roared right over them, kicking up a suffocating breath of hot air and debris. A few men let out cheers that echoed over the din of cannon fire.

"Angels on high," Mal reiterated to Zoe. Zoe rolled her eyes, but that rare smile of hers tugged at her lips. "What'd I tell you, hah? What'd I say?" Mal directed the question to the young private who managed a trembling smile of his own.

"BALLS AND BAYONETS? MOVE OUT!" ordered Mal.

The charge was frantic, but organized. No time to fire over their shoulders; no time to breathe; no time to think. There was just the ground under their ever moving heels, and the finish line of the inviting rear end of a Wolfhound. It wasn't until they hit the firm, solid hull of the fighter that people stopped to give cover fire. Mal didn't wait. He charged straight up the passenger hold, and up the short, steep incline of steps until he was in the flight deck. Only room enough for two people; pilot and co-pilot, and only one Wolfhound ran without a co-pilot.

"Ain't that my pretty angel wings?" grinned Mal before he took the co-pilot's seat. Gunfire peppered the hull like hail stones and Kyo Nagiama winced sympathetically.

The young pilot in the tan flightsuit and red vest turned a baleful look at Mal. "Call me pretty again, farm boy, and I'll leave you here to rot."

"Wouldn't do a thing like that. She loves me too much," said Mal, running his hand over ther console. The windows lit up as an anti-aircraft rocket flew over their heads and hit another Wolfhound that'd just taken off. Both Mal and Kyo's eyebrows rose at the sight before turning an alarmed look at each other.

"You didn't say anythin' 'bout anti-aircraft guns," Kyo hissed angrily; his hands a blur over his console and the Wolfhound's engines purred in response.

"Didn't know 'bout the anti-aircraft guns," shouted Mal heatedly, twisting around to look over at the crew compartment. Seeing a full load of weary, jumpy Browncoats in the back, some lying on the wide ground on stretchers, others just nursing wounds while they strapped in, Mal turned back around. His fingers pressed stiff, square buttons and twisted sticky knobs, as he assisted Kyo in the pre-flight check. The Wolfhound whined at Mal's ministrations.

"Zo? You back there? Get your man outta the cockpit 'fore he gets us stranded!" said Kyo, shooting a warning glare over at Mal.

"Sarge ain't my man, Kyo," said Zoe, leaning against the flight deck's bulkhead. "Thinkin' you can get us goin'?"

"Gonna be rough and it's gonna be hot," reported Kyo, flicking the rear door close against machine gun fire; his fingers on the other hand flies over the pad just behind the throttle.

"Just how I like it," Zoe deadpanned, eyes glued out the window. Mal and Kyo give each other another look, this time a disturbed one. Zoe was a woman, but at the same time, Zoe wasn't a woman to them. Hell, Zoe wasn't even a sister to them. They were all just...parts of a whole. Some things didn't need to be known.

Mal made to reach to the gray lever attached to the ceiling between Kyo and Mal. It was the V.T.O.L. throttle lever, but Kyo didn't need it. He slapped Mal's hand down and shot him a third look. "How many times I gotta tell you, Sarge? Flyin' a ship ain't like dustin' crops! Zo, hang on!"

Kyo couldn't wait for Zoe to get back to her chair, not when a shell struck home right in front of the Wolfhound's nose, spraying dirt all over the windows. There was no time for a clean, by-the-book, take-off; not when another Wolfhound just went down. It was time for crazy, genius flying. With a strong grip on the heavy throttle, Kyo issued something approximating a prayer to a deity he never believed in, and had no hand in his creation. He slung it back and a mule-kick struck his chest when the full roar of the Wolfhound's engines came to life.

The Wolfhound dragged her heavy rear end for a moment, tearing a large, ugly rut in the pot-marked features of the white lands of Leograve. Kyo yanked back hard on the diagonal, twin steering sticks attached to the heavy arms of his flight chair. Weight climbed onto his chest, pound by awful pound, as the nose of the Wolfhound tilted up and the engines roared. G-force might kill some of the more greviously injured in the back, but it was a small price compared to all of them dying in a ball of fire.

A full burn acceleration inside a planet was something short of insane. As if gravity so strong that the blood stopped flowing wasn't bad enough, the Wolfhound was shaking like there was a tornado going on inside. In the dim recess of Kyo's mind that wasn't being shaken into mush, he recalled his lessons back in his youth. Back on Earth-that-was, in the early days of space exploration, space faring vessels were actually launched like this; full burn from a dead stop.

Once they broke atmo, Kyo began to ease off on the throttle. His arms were shaking and he was soaked in sweat. Blood finally circulating through his body made him warm uncomfortably and he coughed painfully. Mal was doubled over in the restraints of his chair, all glassy eyed and sick looking. Even Zoe had sunk down to the stairs, leaning weakly against the bulkhead.

"Oh--oh--that was shiny..." coughed Kyo, unlatching his restraints so that he could breathe. Everything seemed too claustrophobic.

"Are--are we--spinnin'?" breathed Mal, but apparently talking was a bad idea as he gagged three times. That didn't stop a few others in the back from losing what little lunch they had.

"We're good," said Kyo, still trying to get his lungs to work at a normal rate. "Burned up most of our fuel, but we should have enough to reach Hera if we conserve."

An easy smile spread over Kyo's face, while Mal was still taking puffed breaths. They were all right, though Leograve was being pelted by Alliance frigates on the far side. The smile faded in an instant when alarm klaxons began to ring.

"What now?" asked a pained Zoe.

"Two Alliance frigates dead ahead," winced Kyo before wrapping his hands around the control sticks. His forearms trembled with just the slightest ounce of pressure, but there wasn't anything for it.

"You--you aren't goin' towards them, are you?" asked Mal incredulously.

"Ain't no way 'round it," replied Kyo, vision blurring slightly and his head felt abnormally hot. "We burned up most of the fuel. Goin' around or playin' tag'll eat up too much of what's left. Shortest distance 'tween two points is a straight line. I'm aimin' to plow through."

"Bu-ke-neng! After that fa-kuang stunt you just pulled? You do know which way you're supposed to go when you're runnin' away, right? Don't know what they taught you at that school, fly boy, but I know you ain't supposed to be runnin' towards the gorram Alliance!" complained Mal, checking his restraints worriedly.

"Who's the captain, Sarge?" said Kyo pointedly. "Just sit back and watch me fly. What'd I tell you 'bout flyin'?"

"Yeah," said Mal, reaching into his uniform to extract his cross. He gave it a kiss and sent a prayer to the good Lord. "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down."

"And I do love this ship," whispered Kyo as the Wolfhound's weapons activated and a targeting display filtered through the window.

*****

Kaylee drove the Mule back into Serenity with practiced ease. She wasn't a pilot, and still didn't feel completely comfortable around the controls of the Mule--hell, she didn't even like riding on their first Mule, let alone the fancy hovercraft they picked up for a cheap price on Whitefall--but the Captain needed Zoe along with him for the interview, and Wash had been the only other person qualified to drive. Jayne couldn't do it because he needed to be free to fire, and River as the designated pilot needed to be at Serenity's helm. Yes, she definetely looked forward to have a shiny new pilot so she could get back to her cozy engine room, or to amble freely around town as she liked.

"That seems like an awful lot of supplies," Simon couldn't help but remark as he lowered the winch from the ceiling to anchor the Mule.

"Don't like it? You don't gotta eat. Simple as that, Doc," said Jayne gruffly while he unstrapped himself. Kaylee suppressed her smile. Jayne just didn't seem all that imposing with his cute, orange pom-pom hat that his mother had made. Simon seemed to share similiar opinions because he turned his head to cough discreetly. It was then that Kaylee realized Simon would only assist if Zoe and the Captain weren't back yet.

"Cap'n and Zoe not back yet?" inquired Kaylee, looking around the cargo bay to confirm her suspicions.

"No," answered Inara from the scaffolding near her shuttle. Kaylee could clearly see the tense look in Inara's face, even framed by the bright lights that hung from the ceiling. Kaylee and Jayne had taken quite some time in their shopping, particularly in haggling over the particulars of prices. The Captain and Zoe should've beaten them back long before Kaylee and Jayne.

"We saw them enter that ship not long after you left," Simon told her, nodding over towards the ship that was smaller than Serenity, but looked a lot newer. It was a model she'd never heard of before, and she'd seen a whole mess of ships hanging around the docks on her home planet.

"Sheng tian-shang biao-zi! I ain't seen that class of a ship since thy war! Gorram antique it is," Jayne laughed incredulously. He handled the crates like empty baskets when he passed them to Simon, who looked like each one might crush him.

"You never said you fought in the war, Jayne," said Kaylee slyly.

"Didn't, girl," Jayne stared at her, pausing in his work to sneer slightly. "Don't mean I didn't see a whole mess of action spill onto my folk back home."

"We were waiting for you to return before we decided to investigate," declared Inara, now standing on the ground floor of Serenity's cargo bay.

"They're fine," said River. Her ghostlike qualities had the tendency to unnerve everyone, particularly when she appeared out of nowhere and spoke in that detatched, superior way. "Zoe's smiling. She's happy. Bright sun and warm sky, all hovering over fields of red. Trouble's not here. Not yet."

"Well you just be a good moon-brained girl and let us know, right?" sneered Jayne skeptically as he resumed working.

"Won't need to," smiled River enigmatically. "You'll know it when it happens."

With that ominous warning, River danced out of the cargo bay. Every person stared at each other warily for a moment before resuming the unpacking. It was just one of those things they'd learned to expect around Serenity, and Kaylee hoped their new crewman could handle things.

*****

"Well, who's that little slip of a girl, then?" said a very derisive Badger from behind his messy desk. He was dressed as horribly as ever in her eyes; his ratty coat and derby hat making him look more like a fool than a debonair business man. Despite his ludicrous posturing and clothing, he was the man to see about underhanded dealings in Persephone--not that there were many to begin with. She'd seen better rings on the other worlds, and better men than Badger running them.

Badger always thought himself as king, but he wasn't so deluded as to believe it to be true, which is why he took a strict avertion to anyone who looked down on him--especially when they were in the right. Hence, his very abrasive welcoming in her presence, coupled with the armed goons posturing with their rifles.

"Badger," she greeted coolly, carefully eyeing out the four muscles with the big guns. It'd be a trick to take them all out with the stilettos hidden in her sleeves, but she calculated it would be a better choice than a quick draw.

"Got some information for you," he told her smugly, before picking out the bulletin in question. "Information I 'spect you'll be payin' rather handsomely for."

"Is that so?" she asked with an arched brow, taking a wider stance with a hand on her hip. In this new position, she recalculated her odds and decided a quick draw was now marginally better than her stilettos.

"Yes, that is so," sneered Badger and he too assumed a more agressive posture. "Ain't a thing that goes on in my place of business that I don't know about. For instance, the wave that dandy Wing sent coded over the Cortex 'bout wantin' Mal and a Companion alive. Big coin could be found in a job like that, not to mention a new partner."

"He don't strike me the type to make this regular," she commented truthfully, but also baiting Badger to spill more of his plan.

"Naw, that he don't," agreed Badger cheerfully--definetely the measure of a man with a plan in her eyes. "But he'll learn how things're done my way. 'Specially when I threaten to alert the Guild to him bein' a marked man conspirin' to harm a Companion. Heard tell they do some nasty things to people like that."

"Ah, blackmail," she said blandly. Badger's style would never be hers.

"Now, now, lovely, don't be flashin' me that face," barked Badger with a sickening smile. "Like your line of works any more reputable than mine."

And there it was, Badger's way of trying to bring everyone down to his level. It almost made her want to shoot him dead on the spot.

Oblivious to her homicidal intentions, Badger continued on with a superior smile as he slipped around his desk, bulletin in hand. "I'm gonna tell you where you can find Mal and Serenity, and you're gonna pay me half the fee."

She bristled then and her finger twitched reflexively towards her silenced pistol strapped to her thigh. "You can-yu-wu chi shen-gou lao-shu slimeball! You're out of your gorram mind if you think I'm splitting this with you! 'Cause it surely seems to me like you're making the best out of this little agreement!"

"It's what good businessmen like me do, luv," smiled Badger in a skin-crawling way. It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him that he was, in fact, not a businessman, but she knew it'd be detrimental to their conversation. "Alliance's been pressurin' us pretty hard o' late. Must be hard for your likes to get any work done. You need this job, lovely, and I could make it very simple for you. Bit of easy coin to get you back off world and to more lucrative jobs."

"Half," she ground out angrily, expecting to make Badger pay sometime in the near future.

"There's a good girl," grinned Badger triumphantly, and her finger twitched again.

*****

"You're late," said Inara without removing her head from her bureau. There was only one person on the ship who dared to barge into her shuttle without permission, and that was always Mal.

"That I am," he declared very cheerfully, which put her on edge for some reason. Mal hadn't been so overtly happy in some time, and there was a certain quality to his voice she couldn't quite place.

"And drunk," she decided to hazard a guess, finally looking up to see Mal's reflection in the vanity. She could easily spy his rosy cheeks and glassy eyes. And if that weren't enough, he looked barely fit to stand. There was painful ease about his features that made him look almost boyishly giddy--painful for Inara to look at, because it spoke volumes to what Mal hid inside of himself.

"That too," slurred Mal cheerfully before collapsing onto her vividly red sofa. She'd have to get it cleaned if she wanted to get the stench of alcohol from it, and she couldn't resist a fond, long-suffering sigh; she'd just gotten everything back to how it'd been.

"We were worried," Inara told him pointedly, doing her best to seem angry. It was hard when he looked so positively charming with all his defenses down--not that she didn't find him charming most times.

"We or you?" he wondered almost to himself, his eyes not quite focused on the ceiling but through them.

"Me," she admitted, emboldened by the fact he was so drunk he wouldn't remember this conversation come tomorrow. That fact alone caused her a great deal of sadness, as all she ever wanted was to be herself around him, but they hadn't reached that stage of honesty just yet. "I was worried, Mal. I was about ready to enter that ship and bring you back myself."

"Now wouldn't that be a sight," laughed Mal, trying desperately to get his eyes to focus on Inara. "You bargin' in on me. Can't be so high 'n' mighty with me now, 'Nara."

Inara gave him a rare, honest smile because she didn't really object to him barging in on her. If it were Jayne, that'd be something else entirely, but Mal was a man of his own honor that followed no convention but his own mind, which intrigued Inara a great deal. "Do we have ourselves a new pilot?" Inara decided to ask.

"'Deed we do," yawned Mal sleepily, but a contented smile remained plastered on his face. "Jus's drunk as me 'n' Zoe."

"Zoe's drunk too?" wondered Inara in true amusement. Zoe always played the relatively serious foil to Mal because she was Mal's second, and needed to be there for him if he stumbled. Inara had to wrap her mind around the concept that someone could so thoroughly disarm Mal and Zoe into a drunken stupor. That instantly made her wary.

"Hammered," Mal cheerfully commented, as if the very fact was something of a victory to him.

"Was it wise to get your second-in-command drunk?" asked Inara. "What if Jayne feels particularly mutinous today?"

"River c'n handle him," chuckled Mal with the honest conviction of a man not double-checking what he was saying. Inara was now very curious about their new pilot.

"He's an old friend of yours, isn't he? Our new pilot. From the war. That's why you asked only Zoe to accompany you."

"Got 'imself court-marshalled 'cause o' me," whispered Mal, his eyes now closed like he was about to drift off. "D'you know that?" he repeated, now blinking and awake as if this were very important to him. Inara's training told her it wasn't so much important to Mal that she knew this, but that he knew it; made it real. "Got 'imself court-marshalled all 'cause o' me...'cause Serenity..."

"No," said Inara, softly padding towards the sofa and kneeling infront of it. She took his rough, large hand and laid it gingerly on her lap while she pushed some of his hair from his eyes. "Why did he get court-marshalled?"

"Serenity," Mal repeated, loosing a little of his smile. "We radio'd fer air support 'n' pick-up, but didn't get none. 'Too hot,' they'd said. Left us ta die. Kyo wouldn't have none o' that! We started, didja know that? In the war? Fer the In'apennents. First mission together: me a wet-behind-the ears private and him a lieutenant co-pilotin' a Wolfhound. Didn't take too long fer battefield promotions ta happen; I made sergeant and he made captain within the first coupla months."

The fond smile's back on his face, and Inara smooths his hair lovingly. She didn't need her Companion training to see how close the bond between this Kyo and Mal had been. Undoubtably, it was almost as close as Mal's friendship with Zoe rather than his comraderie with Monty.

"He got himself arrested fer us," murmured Mal sleepily again. "Wanted to rescue us like an angel on high. In'apennents locked 'im up 'cause they were gonna surren'er. Dish-dishonorabbubble dishcharge. Rubbubbish s'what I think." Inara watched as Mal found it harder to work his lips, and even with his eyes closed, she knew he'd just swallowed back a sob. "Blamed 'im, 'Nara. Blamed 'im a good part fer 'ban'onin' us there, 'cause he'd always came in the past. Blamed 'im an'...just don't seem right, 'Nara."

"No, not a bit," agreed Inara, understanding the concept of Mal's grief, but not totally. She'd heard the stories straight from Mal and Zoe, the ones they felt comfortable enough to share, and they all seemed so foreign to Inara. Mal's soldier life was as alien to her as her Companion training was to him; a weight they both bore equally, and were incessantly tired from it. They weren't looking to unload themselves on each other, because Mal had Zoe for that and Inara had Kaylee for venting purposes. Inara just wanted someone to lean on at times, just like Mal was doing with her.

"'S'always got our back," murmured Mal, referring to himself and Zoe. "Always 'n' I--"

"Hush," said Inara firmly, laying a finger onto his parched lips. Some men felt like drowning their sorrows in the pleasures of love and conversation around drink, and Inara had experienced enough to know when the confession had run dry and all was left was the raw emotion. Mal had reached that point, and now it was time for him to sleep because nothing more could be said. "Hush, Mal. Get some rest."

Mal complied without arguement, and Inara helped to settle him into a comfortable position. She wondered what he'd say come morning when he awoke like this, but better this than calling for Jayne to carry him back to his room. She removed his boots and threw a blanket on him, something she'd never done for anyone in all her years. With one final brush of his fringe, Inara left Mal tucked in on the couch with a bucket by his side. By the morning he'd be gone--in fact, the moment he'd wake up in the middle of the night to throw up, she knew he'd stumble away in a dazed stupor.

It's all right, thought Inara with a fond smile. I'll keep this a secret until we're ready to be honest with each other.

*****

Kyo came marching into Serenity the next morning, just as they had worked out the afternoon before. Mal was still feeling the affects of the drinking, and Zoe kept herself seated on the mesh stairs of the cargo bay, on account of her unsteady legs. Zoe'd never drunk herself that silly in ages, and though she appeared to be rueing that decision it was nice to have a spark of the old Zoe in action.

"She's...nice," remarked Kyo guardedly as he looked around the cargo hold and up towards the Mule. "You actually--ah--pay for this? Money, that is?"

Zoe gave a snort despite her head being in her hands and Mal felt his shoulders droop. Kyo looked over towards Mal and Zoe at the sound. From the look on his face, he clearly knew when he'd missed out on a private joke.

"Said the same thing to the Captain when he showed me her," said Zoe, her voice muffled through her hands.

"Why, Zo, no one told me you couldn't hold your liquor," chuckled Kyo, crossing over towards them. Not a lie so much as a testament; Zoe Alleyne of the Balls and Bayonets Brigade could hold her liquor better than any man.

"That there's the reason I need her to watch my back," remarked Mal cheerfully, knowing full well Zoe had to be scowling. "I get drunk, she handles the people that might be interested in takin' advantage of poor me."

"Oh, I don't know about that, sir," said Zoe dryly, finally lifting her head to gift him with a bleary stare. "I just might've taken myself a likin' to alcohol and such. Might make it a habit to drink myself into a stupor each port we hit."

"You be doin' that and I'm gonna have to leave Jayne in charge a lot more than I'd like," said Mal just as dryly.

"Jane?" asked Kyo somewhat hopefully and Mal just had to burst out laughing at the idea.

"Not the type of Jayne you'll be wanting a piece of," said Mal through his snickers and Zoe's. Noting the look on both their faces, Kyo thought it best to take them at face value.

"This here our new pilot?" came the perpetually cheerful voice of Kaylee. Three heads turned towards the portal that lead towards the infirmary and passenger lounge. Kaylee, Jayne, and Simon were all crowded near the door, looking at Kyo with varying degrees of emotions on their faces. Mal thought it amusing that both Simon and Jayne bore matching looks of suspicion on their faces. "Shiny!" Kaylee beamed in instant acceptance.

Kyo grinned at Kaylee's personality, and Mal thought it was hard not to. He watched as Kyo stepped back into the middle of ship and gave Serenity another appraising look. "Dunno if I'm the new pilot yet. Got a ship of my own, y'know? Real sentimental value on that one." Kyo's eyes drifted out the open doors of the hangar across to the Wolfhound. The look Kyo got right there reminded Mal so much of the look he'd gave Serenity each time he saw her. "Your ship's comfy and all, but it ain't--"

"You're staying," came the eeriely mercurial voice of River from the opposite catwalk. Kyo's face was one of obvious surprise as he looked up at her elvin shape.

"Am I, now?" said a very amused Kyo.

"You are," nodded River as she wandered along the grating in her barefeet. "Serenity's taken a liking to you because of what you feel you owe."

Mal was about to step in, fully recognizing she was tapping into her Reading abilities where they might not be wanted, but Kyo was quicker. "She's taken a likin' to me, has he?" he posed to her, the smile not fading from his face to Mal's surprise.

"Yes, silly boy, you know she has," lilted River, her feet making not a sound when she descended the stairs. "No point in playing coy when all cards are laid out on the table."

"I think that's called mixin' your metaphors," remarked a very amused Kyo. "And I don't think Serenity should be so forward with her wants."

"Not fair," pouted River sternly, now stepping right up to Kyo. Her nose could just brush against his chin given another hairwidth or so. "Can't do the same and take offense at the other."

Mal looked around at Zoe's interested gaze, Simon's look of distrust and suspicion, Kaylee's wonderment, and Jayne's...well, Jayne was Jayne. Inara, too, had desceneded from her shuttle to survey the growing situation with calculated interest. There was a reason behind it, and a foggy memory told Mal it had something to do with him stumbling into her shuttle yesterday, but damned if he could remember.

Most of all, Mal felt that now he was out of the loop on something. The air was heavy, like River and Kyo were dancing around each other somehow and speaking in code. He got that strange feeling he'd get when it'd be the three of them on an Independent frigate and one of Kyo's fly-boy buddies would have a chat so full of fly-speak it made Mal's head spin.

"Wasn't doing anythin', little bit," smirked Kyo, his eyes never removing themselves from River's and vice-versa. Mal's brow rose at that and so did Zoe's. Kyo reserved that little term of endearment for special people, and Zoe'd never been one of those special people in all their years of friendship. Mal reasoned part of that was why he'd been so dead set against Zoe and Wash having a relationship.

"Was doing; are doing," stated River pointedly with her own brow raised. Mal got the distinct impression she knew the meaning of that little phrase just like he and Zoe did, and the focus on the conversation became just a little clearer for him.

"Well, I'll be," Kyo whispered almost to himself, the smirk on his face turning into a smile that Mal'd never seen once on his friend's face. There was a flicker of something else behind that look however; one of suspicion and sadness.

"You are," curtsied River before striding back into the innards of Serenity. Mal watched as Simon laid a hand on his sister's shoulder out of concern. She just rolled her eyes at him before descending into the passenger lounge.

Mal turned his focus back on Kyo was already back to examining Serenity like nothing had gone on. "You got yourself a pilot," he told Mal absently, "but not without a little ground rules."

"Oh?" wondered Mal as he crossed his arms across his chest. "And them rules'd be?"

"Wolfhound's last ship of her kind," said Kyo tightly, dropping his head to look back down at the dusty toes of his boots. "Got a good store of parts on her that're good and full of use. Serenity might need 'em."

"Right," nodded Mal in complete agreement. He gave a look at Kaylee who looked ready to bolt out the door at the slightest indication of an order. Mal smiled slightly. She'd never been in a Wolfhound and was not likely to ever see one again. This might just make Kaylee's year if she got to take one apart herself, but then the thought struck Mal. "So we plot course to another planet to do the strip and salvage?" he said tensely, hating to refer to the Wolfhound like that, but if Kyo happend to be heading where he thought...

"No, Mal," said Kyo with a very apologetic smile. "I know all about the troubles with Atherton Wing. I'd say it's likely for you to run into some problems by the end of the day if we linger too long in Eavesdown. There's a garage not that far from here that I trust. I'll take the Wolfhound in and you follow behind."

"I don't see the need for this," said Simon cautiously. "Every moment we spend here means more trouble if Mr. Wing has some sort of contract out on us. We got what we came here for and we should go."

"Wouldn't speak of things you don't understand, boy," said Kyo sharply with a deadly edge behind his gray eyes.

"Kyo's right," said Mal calmly. "Wolfhound's got herself a good deal of parts Serenity might find herself needin'."

"Less we spend maintainin' this--uh--perdy ship," amended Jayne at seeing Kaylee's look, "means more coin for us, don't it? I'm all for stayin' planetside a spell."

"There's more to it, at any rate," sighed Kyo, now looking plainly at Mal. "Don't know how to pilot a Firefly, and I'm thinkin' if the console's compatible, it might be best to just switch 'em out; spent some time gettin' her just the way I like. 'Sides, a Firefly wasn't made to have weapons installed."

"Weapons?" frowned Kaylee visibly.

"Well, not weapons," amended Kyo with a nod in her direction. "O-Mechs would stick out like a sore thumb on a little Firefly, but D-Mechs, I figure, would be a welcomed sight on a ship like this. Especially with some of her passengers. Ain't that right, Doc?"

"Right," said Mal for Simon, eager to just get moving. "Kaylee? Go on and tell--"

"Already know," said River over the intercom. A loud whine echoed through Serenity's now vibrating hull, which Mal recognized at the engines idling in V.T.O.L. mode.

"Girl's gift is downright scary at times," said Mal to himself while Kyo walked off the ship with a smile on his face.

*****

Kyo leaned back in the pilot's chair of Serenity with an awkward feeling curling through his body. It was like being left on a bed while the girl of your dreams went to "freshen up" in the bathroom. Ain't nothing to do 'cause you're there, but you feel like you ought to do something. Disappointment for both parties could be looming on the horizon, but a lifetime of pleasure was there as well.

That's what Serenity had seemed like to Kyo when he saw her. The Wolfhound wasn't like that. The Wolfhound wasn't the future, the Wolfhound was the past and Kyo had to accept that. The Wolfhound was more like...a mother; the mother he never had. All nestlings had to leave, just like Kyo was forced to do at fourteen. The war was over, and that had be put to rest. Serenity was just a good a place as any, and he could understand Mal's choice for the name.

The controls were awkward. Not fluid or precise like that on his Wolfhound, but he'd get used to it. Zoe in particular had an aversion to him messing up the controls and he wanted to know why. Realizing what he was thinking, Kyo sighed and dug the heel of his palms into his eyes. Those powers hadn't leaked out unwantedly in years, but the girl had sparked it like a beacon. He'd felt her from orbit, and couldn't stop feeling her up until their conversation on Serenity itself. It shouldn't be possible, but weirder things had occurred to him in the black.

Choosing to focus his mind on the present, Kyo flipped open the sketch pad on his lap and began to sketch out notes. No matter what Kaylee the engineer said, some alterations would be necessary. Fireflies weren't built to handle D-Mechs, but they'd be invaluable in the face of Alliance troubles. Kyo knew that from first-hand experiences, and wondered why Mal had never bothered to install them. They weren't all that hard to find, even on the Rim. Kyo'd already welded a new hidden compartment onto the console, just under the steering stick. Always nice to have a pistol on hand in case things go south.

The dinosaurs were a bit perplexing, however.

"I tell you I ain't never seen Kaylee so happy before," said Zoe as she walked up the stairs. Kyo had to smile, not at the visual she presented, but the fact that she was so relaxed. Not relaxed like a normal person, but for Zoe this was something. "Lettin' her take apart a ship is like lettin' a kid in a candy store."

"Loves ships that much, huh?" asked Kyo absently, rearranging panels and switches on the sketch pad to fit in more devices.

"Ask Mal to tell you how she first got on board," smirked Zoe from her spot against the co-pilot's console. Intrigued, Kyo looked up from his work to ask her with his eyes, however Zoe's smirk just got wider, which told him he'd have to ask Mal himself. "Thought it would've been you to take her apart, though."

"I put her back together," sighed Kyo, pressing his knife-sharpened charcoal to the parchment, "I'm not about to take her apart. The girl can do it if she loves ships so much; be a good learnin' experience."

"Can't believe you've been livin' out on her all this time, though," said Zoe fondly. "I mean I know you loved her and all, and she was a good ship, but they weren't made for livin' in. Seem to remember a night spent in that little hidey-hole you call a bunk, restin' up 'fore a drop."

"'Restin' up,' is that what you're calling it these days?" said Kyo, chuckling as he sat back against the chair. "Seems to me that I remember you havin' a hang over of the brain that day. Couldn't handle your liquor on account of some new transfer to your unit wantin' to drink you under the table and get you into bed." Kyo was rewarded from a very rare blush on Zoe's cheeks and he grinned in triumph.

"Boy was cute, though," admitted Zoe, now with an unremorseful and stoic expression on her face.

"And Sarge was mad, if I'm recallin' correctly. Nothin' good comes from cheatin' your man."

"Sarge ain't my man," said Zoe quite seriously, but there was a sparkle of humor in her eyes. Kyo was glad to tell an old joke again; it was like coming back home. A new twist on the joke, however, was Zoe touching a black, twine necklace. Zoe was never one for much jewelry, even something as simple as that necklace, and Kyo's mind began to work over possibilities.

Zoe swallowed hard and moved around the primary controls to pick up the toy dinosaurs. It was a triceratops and she stroked it like it was her own child. Waves of barely restrained grief came rolling off her body and Kyo clamped his jaws down shut so tightly he thought his molars might crack. He'd never known Zoe to be so sad either, and over something as silly as a toy.

"That yours?" he asked neutrally.

"Are now," Zoe replied very softly, not looking up at all. "River likes to play with them when it's her shift to pilot. Drives the Captain all sorts of crazy when he comes up to relieve her, 'cause she don't stack them back up neatly." An echo of the words Not like he used to flashed through Kyo's mind in her voice, but she hadn't spoken them.

"And the necklace? Sorta fancy thing like that would get you killed, I believe I heard you say once," said Kyo pointedly. "Only girly thing you saved was your hair, just cause you didn't anyone to mistake you for a man. Not that Mal and I ever believed that was be possible."

Zoe set down the dinosaur on the console before sighing, "It's mine too, now."

"Are you gonna tell me straight-up what's the matter or is this another story for Mal to tell?" said Kyo a bit too tetchily than he'd have liked, but he really was getting thoroughly annoyed at the way Zoe seemed to have changed from yesterday.

"Ever hear of a pilot named Hogan Washburne?" asked Zoe, and Kyo scowled at the fact he'd have to play roundabout to get his answer.

Deciding to play along, though, Kyo shifted himself around in his chair and ran through the index of his mind. "Name rings a faint tingle in my belltower," remarked Kyo. "Wash, right? That's what everyone calls him?" Zoe gave a stoic nod. "Know him by reputation only. Graduated top of his class on his homeworld's flight school. Had every sort of chance to get good jobs haulin' freight out in the Core, but the allure of smugglin' was too much for him." Kyo arched an eyebrow as he felt something click in his head. "Guess it wasn't just the allure of smugglin'?"

"Know 'bout the broadwave three months back?" Kyo bit back the sigh as Zoe danced around his direct inquiries.

"Miranda and the Reavers? Yeah, who don't?" said Kyo with a snort. There was a short silence as Zoe just stared at him, waiting for him to come to the conclusion on his own. "Don't you dare tell me that was you lot!"

"Was," nodded Zoe. "Our girl River you met back there? She's a Reader, and a whole lot more. Dunno what the Alliance did to her, but they messed her up good. She carried that secret in her head for months before she ended up spotting a coded trigger on the Cortex. An Operative came lookin' for her like the wrath of God and we lost two of our own to that; a Shepherd who left to help Haven, and Wash...my husband. Reavers stole him from me, just when he landed Serenity after we got pulsed."

Kyo slumped back in his chair under the weight of information Zoe had just dumped onto him. He was glad she'd taken the roundabout way after all to let things sink on on their own, but still...Operative trouble, and the girl really was a Reader. Those were two facts he didn't feel like dwelling on at the moment, or even being near, but that was no fault of Mal's. Mal didn't know, and Kyo wasn't going to tell him. And then Zoe...married!...and now...

"You got married? You?"

"Me," said Zoe succinctly.

He wanted to ask if there were any little Zoes running around, but if he were wrong in his assumption then that would be a crushing thing to ask. Instinct told him no, especially since he'd hear the pitter-patter of little feet around Serenity. He settled for something safe and asked, "So you got married and you didn't invite me to the elopement? I assume there was an elopement 'cause Mal sure as brimfire wouldn't approve."

"No, we got married right in front of the Captain," grinned Zoe triumphantly. "Yes, he didn't approve, but the Captain was smart enough to know he needed a first-mate and a pilot at the time, so he didn't grumble--much; not loudly, anyway. I'm sorry, Kyo, we should've sent a wave. Seems to me a lot of old friends never got to hear the news, or meet him. Tracey was sure as surprised as you are."

"Tracey?" exclaimed Kyo in surprise, stretching out his legs comfortably. He remembered the private as being all liable to get himself killed with his easy-going, somewhat twitchy personality. "That boy been on this heap too? God, I'm surprised he surivived at all."

"Didn't," said Zoe softly. "We--we took his body home." Blood drained from Kyo's face along with any traces of mirth. This was too much talk of death now, and it was time to either be funny or just end the conversation. As Kyo had no mirth left in his body at the moment, he thought ending the conversation would be best.

"Next time we get the chance, I wanna hear all the stories you and Mal got to share 'bout that husband of yours," said Kyo while he resumed his work. "Still got a few bottles left in the Wolfhound."

Zoe nodded with a sad smile before striding out the room. "You two woulda gotten along just fine."

"Kinda wish we had now," admitted Kyo, running his hand along the console of Serenity. His eyes drifted up to the dinosaurs and he said, "You can leave 'em here if you like."

"No. No, it's time to put the toys away in my room, I think. Time to move on. Y'know, if it were anyone but you, I'd have argued the Captain down somethin' fierce 'bout needin' a new pilot, but..."

"Missed you too," smirked Kyo and Zoe slapped him lightly on the head on the way out.

*****

Mal sat back pleasantly that night for dinner. Overall, the moral had been better on Serenity than it had been the past three months. Kyo'd done lots to lift up Mal and Zoe's spirit, just by being an old friend and passing stories. Kaylee had taken her typical shine to any new blood, but dismantling the Wolfhound had been icing on the cake. She had tons of new toys to fiddle with, and a great bulk of spare parts for Serenity. Simon just had a natural dislike to anyone new, out of concern for his sister's safety. Man still hadn't learned to trust Mal's judgement of things, but he got the distinct feeling Simon's dislike had more to do with River's liking towards Kyo. Jayne...well...as always, Jayne was Jayne.

"Kyo?" said Kaylee cheerfully, still lathered in engine grease from the Wolfhound.

"Hmm?" Kyo voiced absently as he walked through the mess hall. He set down his plate full of food on the table in the small corner where the crew lounge was located.

"Whyn't you ever take off your gun?" asked Kaylee, nodding towards the small cannon of a piece strapped at Kyo's hip.

Mal saw Kyo's brows raise in surprise as he looked down. The man looked like he never even noticed.

"Old habits," he shrugged, as River settled behind the curved wall that seperated the little booth from the rest of the mess. They were almost seated back-to-back and Mal resisted the urge to smile as Simon's jaw clenched. "Trainin' from the Independent's flight school: Any pilot on duty while caring for a ship is to remain armed at all times."

"Why's that?" frowned Kaylee. "Got folk like the Cap'n and Zoe to do the fightin', right?"

"Not always," said Kyo and he unholstered the large, old black and brass pistol to wave around. "We pilots're trained for takeovers; how to instigate them and how to defend against them. We're highly trained in CQC, and make sure we're always armed 'cause we got folks like you to pick up; can't afford to be losin' the ships to hostiles."

"Is that a Peacemaker?" said Jayne, who'd finally gotten a good eye on the gun Kyo always carried with him. "Hot damn that is a Peacemaker!"

"An odd name for a weapon," commented Simon to himself.

"Well, you can think it as a pun if you like, Doc," smirked Kyo as he holstered the pistol. "She's a Peacemaker in the sense that she makes pieces of things."

"Clever," said Simon drolly, but Kyo paid him little attention.

"In the face of regretting my asking, but why does your gun have Jayne so very intrigued?" wondered Inara--the person that Mal couldn't read in terms of reacting to Kyo. Inara treated him the exact same way she treated everyone else, which he figured was part of her Companion training.

"That there's the pistol equivalent to my Vera," said Jayne with all the air of an accomplished scholar, which Mal had to concede that Jayne probably was in terms of firearms.

"Vera?" interrupted Kyo with a bemused expression.

"She's my very favorite gun. I can show her if you like!" declared Jayne, so damn near giddy as a schoolgirl that Mal had to laugh.

"Thanks, but maybe some other time," said Kyo. He reached down again to remove the Peacemaker, popped her open and dumped seven, brass colored, high-caliber bullets into his palm before snapping her shut again. With ease, he tossed the gun over to Jayne who caught it and cradled it like was a baby. "What d'you think you're ruttin' doin'?" he snapped, not tearing his eyes from the shining gun. "Man don't go throwin' 'round his guns like that! Man that carries a piece like this 'round oughta know how to treat her better! You even name her?"

"Don't see no sense in namin' a gun," said Kyo after he swallowed a bite of real food from Virgo's own stores. Not only did Kyo lead them to a fully stocked garage, but a fully stocked kitchen as well, and a man all too eager to share some.

"See!" scoffed Jayne. Mal swore that if Jayne started cooing at the thing he was going to lose some of that precious dinner.

"Weapons are tools," said River, earning Kyo's attention along with the rest of the crew. "Gun, knife, even a metal pipe, are all just extensions of what we want our body to do. People don't name limbs, so they shouldn't name weapons. Take care of a weapon like you'd take care of an arm or leg and it'll take care of you."

"That'd be it," nodded Kyo as he returned to his meal. To Mal, that sounded like something a teacher might say as he instructed his students, but that weren't anything taught by the Independents. He'd known lots of pilots who'd name their guns. Just a mystery to chalk up, after all none of them knew much about each other before the war. One of those things you didn't talk about, because that wasn't who you were the minute you put on that uniform.

Simon's look got even dirtier at River and Kyo's exchange, seemingly on a mental level that Kyo was oddly all right with. Jayne, however, made a childish face at both River and Kyo as he continued to coddle the Peacemaker.

"He ain't gonna trade you for her," Zoe told Jayne to break the silence. Jayne made a different face this time, one more akin to a kid being told he'd have to give back a stray he picked up.

"Well why'n the hell not?" growled Jayne, mostly to himself.

Mal caught Inara giving a look to Kaylee; neither girl had any idea what the big deal was about some gun, so he decided to enlighten them some.

"Peacemakers were specially designed guns for Independent pilots," Mal told them. "They're powerful enough to puncture full-body armor, and can almost put a hole through a hull. They don't make guns like that anymore. Ain't no need without a war going on, but bullets are easy to come by 'cause they make rifles in those calibers."

"Why not just use a rifle?" asked Kaylee; to which Mal, Zoe and Kyo all smiled politely and Jayne grunted in a very amused, but scathing way.

"Rifle's a bit bulky for the Wolfhound's cockpit if you hadn't noticed," said Kyo, not looking up from his plate. "Rifles also give the false impression of unlimited ammo with each squeeze of the trigger. Pistols need precision and patience, which is what you also happen to need when starin' down a platoon of Alliance stormin' up the way."

"Sounds like you've had experience," Inara pointed out.

"Sounds like," agreed Kyo with a nod.

"B-but--but there ain't much cover in the Wolfhound..." stammered Kaylee.

"There ain't a whole lot of room neither," said Kyo, now looking up from his half-finished plate. "It's a choke point, see? You pile it up with the bodies of Alliance soldiers and prevent them from passin' through. 'Course, this is assumin' they want the ship in one piece. If they want to keep her grounded, well, ain't no force in the 'verse gonna let you escape a grenade lobbed up there."

Kaylee blanched visibly, and Mal wasn't entirely sure if part of that had to do with their experience back on Mr. Universe's planet. Kaylee had definetely learned the finer things of a choke point then.

Deciding to settle things for the night, Mal shifted into his captain mode. "All right. Kaylee, Kyo, you two just about done tinkerin' with my ship?"

"Just 'bout," nodded Kyo unconcernedly, while Kaylee gave a great big smile and nodded in agreement.

"Good," said Mal, clapping his hands together in emphasis. "Now it's been mighty nice to have your pal, Virgo put up with us for a spell, but we oughta be makin' our own fare. 'Sides, we don't want to be havin' any unnecessary folks droppin' by. Week's long enough for anyone to find us, no matter how incompetent."

"Shiny, Cap'n," Kaylee told him with an exaggerated wink. "I can have Serenity all set to fly by the afternoon."

Mal hadn't bothered to ask Kyo whether or not he was up to piloting the ship yet. He'd seen Kyo meditating over the slightly different bridge at odd hours of the day to know that the boy'd gone over every bump and ridge of Serenity and compared her to the Wolfhound for reference. Kyo'd fly her, and fly her true; Mal knew that much.

"I can take her anywhere you need her," Kyo reassured him. "Got some contacts myself that might be useful."

"Whitefall first," said Mal shortly. "Hear tell Patience done and got herself killed. Might be good to stay on the new rule's good side."

"And hopefully they won't shoot you, sir," deadpanned Zoe.

"Well, there's that," conceded Mal.

*****

She grimaced as she dropped down through the top hatch on Serenity. Overriding it had been shiny. It was her job to do this, after all. Girl her size didn't just knock on someone's place of address and declare herself as a bounty hunter. She didn't have the brawn, nor the intimidating stature, so she needed to be as quiet as her namesake.

It had pissed her off to no end, after badgering with Badger, to find Captain Reynolds and Serenity had up and left Eavesdown. Her money had flown proverbially out the window in her eyes, until she sneaked a look at the dock records. Serenity, or the ridiculous call sign Captain Reynolds had forged, hadn't left orbit according to the nav sat readouts. She was about to let it go when another ship registry stuck out like a giant neon sign. The Wolfhound was an Independent ship, and Kyo was a Browncoat, and both ships had left dock simultaneously. She didn't believe in coincidences in her line of work.

Virgo'd been her third try, after ferreting out two other locations Kyo might've gone to. What she'd seen had surprised her. Kyo'd loved the Wolfhound with all his heart, so much that he'd refused to take her on board as perminent crew. The ship was his and his alone, but she was only good enough for temporary company. Now it was practically a shell, like a head decomposed by a whole mess of maggots. It wasn't pretty at all and it made her heart ache some, mostly because she really had no quarrel with Kyo at the moment.

Because she didn't have a quarrel with him, she ignored the Wolfhound, lest he be in his chair as always. Instead, she made her way over towards Serenity and trickled down through the top hatch with practiced ease. The Companion rented the shuttle, she knew that much because Mr. Wing had produced that much information, so the Companion would be the last one taken. First would be Captain Reynolds, then she'd make her way back to the shuttle, incapacitate the Companion, and steal it to make her escape. Simple.

Simple except she didn't know which quarters were the captain's.

There were four cabins to choose from--well, three as the one clearly marked "Kaylee's room" obviously told her what she needed to know--but a one-in-three chance didn't make her feel safe. It was statistically sound in her mind, and the odds for keeping quiet went down drastically. That'd be two other people she'd have to tussel with--potentially kill--and it wasn't worth the grief.

A movement at her back; a shift on air on the nape of her neck, and she moved like lightning for her gun. Problem was, whoever was behind her happened to be much faster. The attack came from almost the moment she realized she wasn't alone. Her leg buckled before her fingers brushed against the handle of her gun. Then a hand with a steel grip snatched up both her wrists and pinned them behind her back so she couldn't call out her stilettos. Meanwhile, the person's other hand had stole her pistol out the holster and twirled it majestically around a finger before wrapping a thin arm around her neck like an iron bar.

Weight, width of the forearm, and the skin color told her it had to be a girl who'd restrained her.

"Tried to be quiet," the girl said eerily, "quiet like your name, but it wasn't quiet enough. Whispers can be loud in complete silence."

Whisper tried to get some play in her hips to buck the girl off of her shoulders, or maybe trip her at the ankles, but it was no good. The girl had to have an ungodly sense of flexibility to pin her down with her legs as far back as they must be. Whisper gave off a whine of frustration before she settled back down.

"Shhh, company," whispered the girl, and Whisper instantly settled down. New person meant new variable, and a recalculation for her escape. Soft footfalls came up through mess hall and Whisper tensed. A figure, hidden by the overhead light of the mess, stalked forward in complete shadow. When his face was thrown into relief from the more even lights in the cooridor, Whisper couldn't help but give a slight whimper of an indefinable emotion.

"Whisper," he said with a tint of amusement on his smirk. Whisper saw Kyo holster his Peacemaker and looked over her head to whoever was holding her. His face and brow contorted in varying degrees, as if he were passing through some sort nonverbal communication with the person above him. "Let her go, River."

The girl--River--complied and Whisper fell to the ground in an undignified heap. She spun around and looked at the little reed of a girl, no taller or bigger than Whisper herself. Whisper recognized the face and the name, because that was her job.

"River Tam," said Whisper softly as the girl in question tossed her silenced pistol over to Kyo, who caught it deftly. "I take it her brother's also on board?"

"And I take it you're smart enough to know not to cash in on this one," said Kyo, kneeling down infront of her and passing her back the pistol.

"Of course," she said scathingly, and snatched back her prized gun with betrayal written plainly across her features. "The price on her head's much too big for a girl like that. If it were the brother, that'd be something else, but not her. Feds're likely to kill anyone stupid enough to bring her head for payment instead of credits."

"That's my girl," smiled Kyo, which only made the hurt more intense. He stood up smoothly and walked back to the bulkhead. "Bet the plan was to take Mal out first, then head on back and snatch Inara with the shuttle? Maybe disable Serenity just in case?"

Whisper nodded once, thinking she might be able to shoot quicker than Kyo could draw, but the girl at her back was a gigantic variable. Her speed and strength went beyond someone her age or size, and Whisper got an inkling as to what the Alliance wanted her for.

"You're not here for the same," Whisper said, unless Kyo had suddenly taken up to harboring fugitives.

"Nope," said Kyo, sticking his hands in his pockets. She really wanted to shoot him now if he was going to act so relaxed, but then that only further exemplified the trust he held in River to watch his back, as it were. "Been hired on by Mal. He and I go way back. I'll be pilotin' Serenity from here on out, and these here're folk I'll be watchin' out for. Puts us at odds, but it's only business."

"Only business," Whisper agreed, but still found herself stupified by Kyo's decision. It didn't seem like him at all, from what she knew. "I'm not alone, you know; know a whole bunch of others that want a piece of this deal. Badger seems eager to garner Wing's favor, just so he can blackmail him."

"Sure sounds like Badger," Kyo nodded casually.

"Trouble's here," stated River in alarm. Whisper rolled her eyes considering they both had the trouble well contained, but stopped when a hiss of static came through Kyo's shirt pocket.

"Kyo? Had me a coupla uniforms visit the gate," said the gruff, somewhat slurred voice of Virgo through the combox. Keeping his eyes locked on River, Kyo picked out the black box with his thumb and middle finger before palming it to click the shoulder button.

"Feds?"

"Nah, t'weren't no purple-bellies," Virgo told him with a trace of relief. "Official lookin' t'be sure, but no law. Private security, mebbe."

"Wing," said Kyo simply, dropping his gaze down to Whisper. "You got followed, girl."

"I don't--"

"They gone?" asked Kyo into the com, cutting off Whisper's heated denial.

"Fer now," was Virgo's worried reply. "Think they got it in their minds t'be comin' back soon. Reckon ya oughta check the ship out and then fly on outta here."

"Will do, Vir. Thanks," said Kyo before dropping the combox into his pocket. Keeping his eyes locked on River again, Kyo reached out to the panel on his right and pressed a button. "Mal? Get up! We've ourselves a situation that needs attendin'." He let go of the button and gave a nod towards River, which the girl reciprocated, and left them standing in the small hallway just as Captain Reynold's door pulled open.

Whisper could've cursed herself at her luck. She'd been standing right outside the door! All she needed to do was just turn right into it and make her way back, and River Tam would've never been able to ambush her! That, coupled with Kyo's businesslike manner of dealing with her, made her practically boil over with anger.

"Huh," was all Reynolds said as he looked down at Whisper before up at River.

*****

Mal stared down the girl from across the table after rousing up the rest of the crew. Zoe and Jayne were on guard duty with Inara; Jayne patroling outside while Zoe hung around the outside of Inara's shuttle. Kaylee and Kyo were hustling around Serenity to get her air worthy. At Kaylee's last estimation, that should happen just short of dawn, which still happened to be some hours off. Simon and River were hanging around the mess hall with himself, and they were all staring down the bounty hunter across from them.

Whisper, River had introduced her as--and it took Kyo to vouch for that name to make sure she weren't making it up all crazy like--looked harmless as far as bounty hunters went, but Saffron had definetely taught him that looks can be deceiving. She was a thin slip of a girl with auburn hair buzzed like a boy's. Kyo'd confirmed Whisper did things by stealth to offset her physical shortcomings. The silenced pistol and blades strapped to her person likewise confirmed that story.

Mal was honestly getting mighty tired of having folk drop through Serenity from the top hatch, but unfortunately the security system being taken from the Wolfhound hadn't been properly installed yet. They'd have to wait on that 'til they were up, away, and in the black. Engines were the main priority.

"Now just what am I gonna do with you, little lady?" sighed Mal, looking at Whisper over his cup of coffee.

"Let me go?" snapped Whisper feistily. "Better yet, let me take you and the Companion to Wing 'fore his men come marching back to steal the purse from under me!"

"Can't say I'll be doin' either just yet," said Mal with a false smile.

True fear shone in her eyes as she pushed back some from the table. "Ain't gonna kill me, are you?"

"Wha...? No, we ain't gonna kill you!" exclaimed Mal indignantly. River stiffled a giggle and Mal decided to round on her. "Not 'less you give me fair reason to."

"Monster," said River, looking at him gleefully.

Mal's jaw clenched with shame as he remembered Saffron and Kaylee's attempts at consoling the backstabber. "For the last time, I am not a monster!" Mal declared loudly, and now even Simon had to duck his head to hide a laugh.

"Cap'n's no monster," said Kaylee in total agreement, which put Mal on alert as it was Kaylee who'd called him that in the first place. "He's just a mean, ol' man, is all!"

Mal groaned as River, Simon, and even Whisper began to laugh a little at that. "Is my ship fixed? Tell me you got my ship fixed. My ship'd better be fixed, little one, or I'll be signin' up Virgo an' leavin' you here on Persephone."

"Tuh," said Kaylee to Whisper, as if what Mal said had just proved her point. By this juncture Kyo had emerged as well, looking every bit as greasy as Kaylee, with Inara, Jayne and Zoe trailing behind.

"Ship's all set to break atmo," Kyo reported calmly, wiping off his hands on a rag. "Called back the rest of the crew."

"It's not enough," said River firmly with a shake of her head. Kyo looked up from the rag towards River before meeting Mal's own eyes. In a flash, both men dashed towards the bridge.

"Mal?" asked Inara in alarm.

"Keep an eye on our guest!" was all Mal shouted back as he beat Kyo by a full three seconds. Both of them worked through the pre-flight check simultaneously, hoping the one thing left to keep them grounded wouldn't be true.

"Ni tamade," hissed Mal as the screens flashed red. A diagram of a Firefly was shown on every screens with a large, blaring black font telling them the ship was still landlocked. Kyo pounded his fists on the console with equal frustration. "Any chance of overridin' it from here?"

"Sure," snorted Kyo with a shake of his head, "but before that Wing's men'll be back, and you know how I'm distracted by a good firefight, Mal."

"Reckon we'll be needin' a Plan B," groaned Mal.

"And a C, D, E..." trailed off Kyo with an antagonizing smirk.

"Yeah, yeah, keep talkin'," grumbled Mal affectionately as he walked back to the mess. Everyone's eyes were plastered on him with varying degrees of inquisition and worry. Kyo slipped around Mal so that he could stand akimbo and address the crew. "Seems we have ourselves wee problem on our hands."

"What else is new," grumbled Jayne from the back and Mal took to ignorning him for the time being.

"We got ourselves a landlock for the time bein', and I'm guessin' our friend Ath had somethin' to do with this," continued Mal, his eyes looking straight at Inara. "Probably bribed control to keep us sittin' pretty 'til his boys could come back in a larger number to take us."

"So we just take 'em, ain't no big deal," growled Jayne before unholstering a whopper of a pistol. He gave Kyo a quick look and Mal resisted rolling his eyes at Jayne's need to have the better guns.

"It is a big deal when a firefight in the middle of Persephone might get the notice of the Alliance," Simon protested heatedly. The doctor caught himself and looked warily towards Whisper who rolled her eyes.

"She won't do anything anymore," said River consolingly to Simon. "She's a smart one."

"Thanks," Whisper drolled dryly.

"Doc's got himself a point," said Mal, now looking back at Jayne. "Ath might be loaded, but it don't mean his credits ain't gonna keep the Alliance from buttin' their noses in. Might be we even got ourselves an honest lawman 'round these parts, who feels it's his actual duty to come and investigate."

"Inara?" Zoe asked the Companion. "You put a mark on him in the registry, didn't you? Can't we somehow use that to our advantage?"

"Won't work," said Whisper into the conversation, much to Mal's surprise. "Wave was anonymous, and Wing can always say his men were acting without his orders. You won't have anything to pin on him. Besides, that'd require an investigation and you wouldn't want the Feds poking 'round your ship."

"See? Told you she was a smart one!" River beamed proudly and Mal watched with hidden amusement as the bounty hunter hid her face in her hands.

"She is right," Inara admitted reluctantly. "Going for help would bring unwanted attention from the Alliance through the Guild."

"So what's the plan?" wondered Kaylee.

"Simple," said Mal as he exhaled angrily through his nose. All eyes turned expectantly towards him and he flashed them his most charming smile, "We're gonna pay Ath a little visit and persuade him nice like to let us go."

A stunned silence met him along with some very incredulous looks. Mal felt himself rankle at the blatant distrust of his crew. "What?" he growled tetchily.

"You sure you ain't got whatever she got?" said Jayne as he pointed towards River.

"It ain't a bad plan," Mal defended, striding right up towards the table. "I'm bettin' 'Nara here's got herself the layout to Ath's place." He saw Inara stiffen greatly, and steamed-rolled right over an impending arguement, "Serenity's landlocked, but our shuttles ain't. We got ourselves a whole mess of guns here, and I reckon if you stormed Niska's skyplex, Ath's house ain't gonna be much more trouble. We get there, why we got a right scary individual to make him talk if he don't wannna be civilized 'bout this." Mal looked pointedly at Jayne as he said the last part. "Or we got ourselves our own Reader to get the override code out of his brain."

"No!" said Simon forcefully, now rising from his chair. "I'm not letting you take River into this one! You can't let her face be seen by someone like this Atherton Wing."

"It's all right, Doc," said Kyo from his corner. "Won't be needin' River for this. Figure Atherton's got to have himself a right, nice vault in his home. He don't wanna send for the override himself, we simply take his money and use it to bribe control ourselves."

"But he could just report the money as stolen, which again, brings the Alliance into the picture," cried out Simon, thinking himself to be the lone voice of reason.

"Right," smirked Kyo patronizingly as he reclined in his chair. "He'll report the money stolen all right, but he won't go no further. Man with a mark gets his money stolen, while an illegal landlock's issued on a Firefly-class transport? Same transport that currently has a bulletin goin' 'cross Persephone with a bounty attached for the Companion who put the mark in the first place?"

Simon backed down warily, not at all pleased with this scheme. Mal thought the boy still had a lot to learn about criminal dealings, Ariel job not-with-standing, and that he needed to quit being so narrow minded when it came to his sister.

"Can we keep the money even if he gives us the code?" asked Jayne, eyes alight with greed.

"Depends," Mal said after a short pause, now definetely ignoring Inara's glare at his profile, though feeling very uncomfortable by it. "Now Inara, why don't you run along and grab them plans we'll be needin'. Jayne? Arm up and get shuttle two prepped. Zoe, Kyo and I'll need to figure out what to do with our little bounty hunter here. Meanwhile, I want River preppin' Inara's shuttle. Kaylee, Doc, y'all'll be goin' with River and Inara. They'll be comin' back and you'll need to make yourself scarce right quick."

Having said all he could possibly say, he was about to groan as Inara gave no sign of letting up when Zoe moved first.

"You heard the Captain," she said, voicing her doubts about the plan by her tone while picking Whisper up by the arm. Everyone ran about to fulfill their duties as Mal motioned towards the bridge. Inara was the last to leave and he knew there'd be hell to pay for this later on, but there weren't no other alternative that Mal could see. Jayne wasn't entirely in the wrong neither. They'd been strapped for coin for sometime, and there was bound to be some things that Ath wouldn't miss.

Mal gave a sigh as he lead the way to the flight deck. Things were going on so well between he and Inara.

*****

"So," said Kyo pleasantly, taking the pilot's seat that was now his, "long time no see, Whisper."

"Likewise," said Whisper scathingly, and Kyo could tell she was angry by her frigid reception of him. Couldn't really be helped, he knew; business was business.

"Take it y'all know each other?" said Mal, standing between the two consoles and thus seperating Kyo from Whisper, who sat in the co-pilot's chair. Zoe stood behind Whisper as guard, with her hand on her sawn-off rifle.

"Not all the jobs I did were smuggling jobs," said Kyo while stretching his legs under the console. "Mostly worked as a freelance transporter; no questions asked. Whisper here's a bounty hunter without a ship; she'd usually take her mark's own ship or rent out transport. The rentin' is where I come in."

"We had a few good jobs together," nodded Whisper with a fond rememberance. "Almost became partners."

"No," said Kyo with finality, looking directly into her chesnut eyes. "Partners split the take. That we never did. You rented out my services as dictacted in our contract. We were employee and employer, not partners."

Whisper's eyes thinned dangerously. It really was true, from Kyo's point-of-view. Yes, they'd got along nicelike in a friendly manner, but Kyo always kept to the Wolfhound and Whisper always slept in some inn or hotel when they hit port. He never asked for anything more than the fee of his duty, which, admittedly, shifted depending on the degree of danger Whisper would be putting him in, but certainly not a straight fifty-fifty split. Then there'd been the business on Angel where Kyo had to firmly put his foot down on the matter.

"What're you doin' here, Whisper?" sighed Kyo, staring out the viewscreens and up over the ridge of Virgo's circular garage. Dawn was coming up on Persephone with a purplish sky. Traffic was so light, it looked to be simple bugs flittering about their business. "Last we parted ways, you had a pretty big stash growin' for yourself."

"And whole lot of unsavory folk wantin' to cheat me out of it," snapped Whisper angrily. "I'd used up what little left I had just to make it to Persephone! And Persephone ain't your run-of-the-mill Rim world, y'know! They got law of the punctual sort that don't need anyone hunted down or captured!"

"Hence the workin' for Badger," finished Kyo simply.

"Yes," huffed Whisper. Her anger deflated and was replaced by real despondency that nearly made Kyo ache. All the girl ever wanted was to visit every star in the sky, and now she was trapped on a planet that barely needed her. He watched Whisper stare down at her lap, clenching and unclenching her fists, and took the opportunity to look at Mal with pleading eyes; part of this was his fault and he needed to make amends. Mal gave a nod.

"Things go well on this trip, we'll be makin' for Whitefall," Mal told her straight up, but there was a gentleness to his voice that only Kyo and Zoe could rightfully hear.

"I been there," said Whisper staring at Mal warily.

"Reckon it's the sorta place a bounty hunter like you might find appealin'," he told her simply; no smile but for that in his eyes. "Could find some use for you on this job, if you're up to it. Cut you in on the take if we feel the need to be takin' it, but either way you'll get your second chance off Persephone."

Whisper looked shocked at Mal's declaration before looking suspiciously at Kyo.

"Man's right," Kyo shrugged neutrally. "Another gun wouldn't hurt, and it can't be me 'cause I'm pick-up and drop-off, just like old times."

"All right," said Whisper. "You get me off this rock, and I'll help you get Serenity flying, but I'm not signing up permanently."

Mal, Zoe and Kyo all gave a nod with the verbal contract settled.

*****

"Don't like the idea of the wei-xiao zhong-zi taggin' along on this venture," growled Jayne from the back of the shuttle. Whisper lashed out before Mal had half a mind to stop her, and quite suddenly the large merc found a stiletto knife pressed tightly against his Adam's apple. One swallow would be bound to draw blood judging from the glint of the thing.

"Don't like the idea of an pi-hua gei da-nao yuan-ren being a part of this neither," Whisper told him all quiet and deadlylike.

"Knock it off, you two!" shouted Mal as he pulled the slide back on his rifle to arm the chamber. It'd been a good, long while since he'd had to use this sort of equipment, but he was glad Kyo'd kept them. Inara had reluctantly surrendered the blueprints to Zoe, but Mal knew an earfull'd be awaiting him if he made it back. Atherton's private complex was modeled into something called Colonial; a style from the Earth-that-was full of white columns and geometric shapes. Not a whole lot of cover for a charge across the premise, and a good deal of guards.

It didn't help that radio silence was being kept between shuttle one and shuttle two. Ath's boys hadn't yet returned to Serenity, but there was no telling if they'd seen the shuttles take off. Worry for Inara's safety, right along with the rest of his crew, ate a hole into his gut.

"Save it for Ath's men, and if you get the chance, don't spare none for Ath himself," growled Mal, feeling more and more like the sergeant he used to be in these situations--moreso after Miranada and the Operative--and that scared him some. Zoe looked up from checking the unobtrustive body armor she'd been strapping to herself, and Mal saw his own thoughts being mirrored back in her dark pools.

Great, all's I need my cross and I'll be doin' Book's job as well, he thought to himself darkly. He'd found things to believe in all right--his crew; Serenity; a hope with Inara--didn't mean he'd be quite as ready to accept the good Lord back into his life after something like Serenity Valley.

"Might be gettin' that chance sooner than you think," said Kyo up from the cockpit. Mal set his rifle down against the shuttle door and hurried up to stand behind Kyo. Kyo tapped on a screen to his right which was tied into the rear-view camera.

"Got ourselves a tail?" said Mal, unable to distinguish much through the early morning traffic of Persephone.

"Give it a minute," Kyo told him focusing his attention on weaving around the skyscrapers of the city. Mal squinted through the low-res screen, but he didn't have to look too closely. Coming out from behind a building was a sight that made Mal's blood ran cold: two skiffs glided around below the traffic; using the buildings for cover. Mal swallowed down some shivers of fear as those flat, arrowhead ships brought back a whole wealth of unpleasant memories.

"Feds?" Mal asked quietly.

"No markings and a different paintscheme," Kyo told him with one shake. "Ran the registration on the Cortex; they belong to Atherton in a roundabout way. Boy's packin' himself a serious arsenal."

"We abortin'?"

"C'mon, Mal, I've outrun worse," said Kyo confidently, but there was a good deal of trepidation in Kyo's eyes. "Never in an unarmed shuttle, but there's a first time for everythin', ain't there?"

"Also a last time too."

Mal gave Kyo a pat on the shoulder before returning to the rear of the shuttle. He snatched up his rifle, slung the strap around his shoulder, and braced himself up by a piping on the ceiling. "Folks, things're gonna get shaky real quick, but we're stickin' to the plan. 'Nara's given us Ath's routine so he should be doin' somethin' gentlemanly-like this early in the morn. We crash through the ceilin' and take things level-by-level. We clear?"

"Crystal," said Whisper when it appeared that no one else would say anything.

"I'm thinkin' you all might like to grab hold of somethin'!" shouted Kyo over his shoulder. "We're breakin' cover from the city and those skiffs are lettin' up none."

"Skiffs?" choked Jayne in alarm, craddling Vera tightly to his chest. "Are you out of your ruttin' mind, Mal? A shuttle up against skiffs? Suicide!"

Mal simply sent Jayne a glare that shut up the merc before making his way towards the hatch. "You take point," he told Zoe in a whisper. "I'll bring up the rear."

"Think we can pull this off, sir?" asked Zoe as she cocked her rifle.

"He's a dandy," exclaimed Mal with the utmost of confidence.

"A dandy who nearly killed you, sir. And he has skiffs."

"Dandy's a dandy, what my momma always said," smirked Mal as he tightened his grip on a pipe on the ceiling. It was full of false bravado and Mal knew it.

*****

The skiffs had opened fire the moment the shuttle broke from the city, which caught Kyo by surprise. He thought they'd wait to break from the city themselves, not actually shoot through buildings. Whatever Mal'd done to upset Atherton Wing would be a story Kyo would love to hear--assuming he made it through this himself.

A shining piece of good news was that the skiffs weren't anything like the ones in the war. The pilots'd probably never taken them out of the hangar before, and the gunners'd never handled such heavy artillery either. The shots wizzed wide and they took an awful long time in readjusting their aim. Of course, with the firepower the skiffs were packing, it wouldn't take much more than a graze to force the shuttle down. A direct hit would likely result in a collective of ashes being spread to the four winds.

Persephone's capital city gave way to a very large river and rolling green hills. Kyo'd be tempted to say it was all a hologram, but they were real. Not native to the planet, of course, as terraforming took particularly well to Persephone, but they were real green hills and trees and flower beds. Just once, Kyo thought he'd like to visit an alien world--a real one that'd never been touched by terraforming, but could still support life.

Kyo pushed those thoughts out of his mind as a rocket whizzed alarmingly close to the hull of the shuttle, bucking with some turbulence in the wake of the buzzing stick of doom. It made a lovely black crater with all the green, and Kyo couldn't help but think he was bringing a little more realism to the planetscape.

"Hey!" barked Jayne from the back of the shuttle. "I think they're shootin' at us! Wouldn't that be requirin' some fancy flyin' from our new pilot?"

A very devious grin passed over Kyo's face, and he was very grateful that Jayne couldn't see his face. If Jayne wanted some fancy flying, who was Kyo to prevent it?

Keeping a steady hand on the wheel, Kyo reached out with his left hand to switch off the port stabilizers and then pull the throttle back to full. Kyo gritted his teeth when he returned both hands to the wheel and inclined the nose of the shuttle down towards the hills. The sudden loss of the stabilizers, coupled with the burst of speed, sent the shuttle into a ridiculously fast barrel roll while it dropped down and too the left. A ghost of a smile passed over Kyo's face as Jayne let out a groan of disapproval at the maneuver.

Beeps and blips told Kyo he was coming dangerously close to having himself become nothing more than a bug splatter on Persephone's viewscreen, but Kyo held out on his suicidal course. When the altimeter ventured dangerously close to zero, Kyo wrenched back on the stick and switched the port stabilizers back on. The little shuttle popped out of the barrel roll, a piece of its starboard wing digging into the dirt. Pressure gauges began to buzz and whine as the stabilizer had to fight off a particularly high amount of Gs to level them off. A short worried Kyo greatly, but repairs could hopefully wait.

"Oh, I ain't feelin' too good," Kyo heard Jayne burp.

"Not in my shuttle, Jayne!" barked Mal angrily, and somewhat fearfully.

"Not on me neither!" added Whisper hastily.

Kyo hadn't time to crack a smile as the gauges were still flashing that annoying light in his eyes. He'd thrown off the skiffs somewhat; they'd need to cut throttle and then steer themselves behind the shuttle all over again. Right here would be the opportunity Kyo would take; he'd bring up the Wolfhound right behind the skiffs and unload hell onto their engines. Unfortunately, this was a shuttle devoid of any sort of offensive or defensive capabilities, which left Kyo's options limited.

Praying the stabilizer didn't blow on him, Kyo yanked back on the stick to keep them climbing. Skiffs were nothing more than glorified hovercrafts; they weren't meant for high-atmo flight, and therein lied their chance for a clean break. Well, clean in the relative sense. The shuttled trembled violently under a weakened stabilizer going at full burn, but it was paying off. Gunfire was growing softer below them as the black was drawing nearer.

"Can we stop, now, please?" groaned Jayne. Kyo felt it too, like a boulder was growing in the very pit of his stomach and hips. A solid wall seemed to have formed over his chest and it was getting hard to breathe, but they had to keep it up. Besides, he'd done crazier stunts. In addition to the red warning light of the port stabilizer, a green light began to blink over the altimeter display. STALL winked clearly across the screen, but the shuttle was still flying--for now. The skiffs, however, were doing precisely just that.

Kyo smiled--or tried too, given the pull of gravity against the skin on his face. Skiffs were never meant to fly like a regular shuttle, so they weren't even equipped with that particular warning. In the aft camera, Kyo could see them float gently back to the rolling hills for a very painful landing. So were they, Sho knew, if he couldn't correct the approaching stall quickly.

Reaching overhead, Kyo cycled down the power to the engines instead of pulling back on the throttle. The warning klaxons fell silent as a grave while they continued to drift on momentum for a few more seconds. The black spread through the blue like a flower blooming rapidly before Kyo's eyes, and then came that heart-stopping, spine-shivering moment where gravity ceased to exist.

"Whoa! Whoa! WHOOAA!" shouted Jayne, which was punctuated by the occassional gag.

"Kyo," said Mal worriedly. "I've a notion as to what you're thinkin', but I couldn't help seein' all them flashin' lights 'fore you cut the power. She gonna hold?"

"Oh yeah, she'll hold," nodded Kyo confidently before leaning in to whisper at the console. "Hear me, baby? Hold together."

The shuttle did a lazy somersault in the atmosphere and Jayne protested again very loudly while Whisper issued more harsh threats if Jayne actually emptied the contents of his stomach. Kyo didn't need to check against the altimeter or the nav com to know when to stop the flip, but he did anyway. The angle of descent Kyo had locked them onto would take them straight towards Atherton Wing's complex like a dart.

Kyo flipped on a series of switches above him to power back up the engines. The shuttle was already rocking herself to pieces under the turbulence of no stabilizers or thrust. He expected the flashing light of the port stabilizer, but not the system failure sign blinking on the diagnostics screen. Stabilizers were good; that meant he could at least glide her in, but without the main engines stopping would be a problem.

"Uh...this ain't good," Kyo muttered under his breath, trying for another quick system reboot. Engines still showed no response and the port stabilizer seemed to be even further on the fritz. Meanwhile, the bucking and shaking grew worse as the ground rapidly magnified before Kyo's eyes. Addressing the crew, Kyo decided to be somewhat forthcoming, "Uh--"

"'Uh?' 'Uh' is not a good word to be sayin' while we're fallin' all deadlike, dong ma?" said Mal tightly as the shuttle gave a particularly bad bump.

"Drop's gonna be hot," said Kyo over his shoulder, still working on the getting the engines back online. He didn't have to look at the altimeter to know their height; 1,500 feet and dropping.

"How hot?" asked Mal.

"So hot we should've considered doin' a H.A.L.O. jump," was Kyo's clipped reply. 800 feet and falling. Kyo's right hand trembled as he struggled to keep the yoke steady with his right hand, while yanking open an access port. There wasn't much time to think things through as he pulled out wires, seemingly at random. Both stabilizers cut out and he was forced to grit his teeth; staying steady became ten times more difficult with nothing to offset physics, but there was still no stopping to think.

400 feet and falling. Atherton's complex was visible to all and growing clearer. Its tranquility as a Colonial-style mansion was about to shattered by an out of control shuttle unless Kyo could get the engines back online. His fingers did the seeing as he searched for the wires necessary for a dangerously risky bypass. Kyo sucked in a steely breath, knowing full well what to expect when the small green wire connected with the finger-thick blue one.

There was a flash of a million, white hot needles jabbing into every square-inch of skin and nerve from his fingertips to his elbow, and then there was nothing but numbness. Kyo hadn't even time to cry out because after the sparks and explosion, the stabilizers cut out but the main drive kicked back on at full throttle.

"Hot! Hot! HOT!" shouted Kyo as the altimeter kept descending, and the glass dome of Atherton Wing's roof kept approaching. Even with the engines going, it was hard to pull back with only one arm at this speed. His smoldering left arm was tucked closely to his gut, so he resorted to standing as much as he could while strapped in; his thighs and calves strained as he yanked back so hard he thought the stick might break under the pressure.

They hit the glass dome--hard. There was an ugly sound of glass shattering and metal scraping against faux marble in the crash. Fortunately, Kyo had slowed them down enough that the impact hadn't done too much damage to the ship--at least, it was still flying. The indicators on all screens were going crazy, however.

Gunfire exploded in the confined space of the shuttle and Kyo winced. It'd been a long time since he found himself in these situations and his ears had been grateful for that. This time, however, they seemed poised to walk out in protest. He could barely hear Mal scream out "GO!" and actually had to turn for visual confirmation that the shuttle was empty.

What he saw made him choke down his laughter: Jayne was on all fours and looking greener than the hillside, and about to spew out the door, firefight be damned. Mal stood like Kyo'd seen him many times during the war, crouched low with the rifle tucked tight against his body as he continued to provide cover for the ailing Jayne. What pushed Kyo's mirth over the edge was literally, Mal pushing Jayne out the shuttle with a swift kick in the rear. Mal followed right after, keeping up the suppressive fire and Kyo took it as his cue to leave.

The shuttle broke out from Atherton Wing's complex with relative ease and Kyo had just began to plot a safe place to park, when the warning klaxons began to blare again. Engine failure. His impromptu rewiring had undoubtably caused a short somewhere in the primaries.

Well, he thought as the shuttle began to plummet rapidly again, least it's not from orbit this time...

*****

Mal had lost count of how many insertions he'd had to make like this. Kyo'd flown them through worse--much, much worse--in the war, and while he was surely going to tease Jayne something fierce for this, he'd seen a lot more men loose their lunch. True, most of that had to do with nerves, but still... He'd never imagined having to do one on Ath's place, however. Honestly, he'd hope to never do another one again. He was a smuggler now; a thief. War was over and long gone, and skills like this should've been laid to rest a long time ago.

Like always, Mal kept his head down, his feet moving, and his finger ready on the trigger. Short bursts; kill if you can, but priority is to suppress 'til you can find cover. From the racket going on over his shoulder, Mal reasoned that Jayne had recovered enough to unleash the private armory he'd been lugging around. Whisper had some good sense to keep behind some fancy, sparkly pillar and snipe people with her pistol, while Zoe kept herself pressing forward.

Inara's schematic of the place told him they were on the third floor landing that happened to have a one-way ticket all the way to the ground floor, and the little garden atrium Ath kept there. That'd be where they needed to go, and happened to be why taking little Miss Bounty Hunter had been a good idea.

"Jayne!" Mal roared without looking behind. He'd taken cover behind the railings on his half of the landing and kept fire going through the main doors on the opposite. Zoe, realizing that he and Jayne were in position, twisted herself around to take care of the creeps coming out from behind Mal and Jayne. "Keep up the fire! Whisper! You and me are goin' to the second phase, y'hear?"

The bounty hunter nodded and pressed her back against the the pillar. They both fumbled with brown pouches strapped to their belts for lengths of black nylon rope. Mal fed himself a nice, long line before tossing the coiled rest over the edge. He fastened the end of the rope against the railing, then clipped a portable harness to the gunbelt he wore. Through a pause in the gunfire, he looked over the edge with some trepidation. He hadn't done a rappel drop since basic, and even then it'd been pretty spotty. Whisper seemed to look like she made it a business to do one every day as she flipped effortlessly over the railing and began her descent.

Well, hell if I'm gonna be out done by that, thought Mal as he rose swiftly to give a quick burst of fire towards both doors. Taking a sharp exhale, he hurled himself none-too-gracefully over the railing, and honestly prayed to the good Lord that Zoe--or worse Jayne--hadn't seen that. The descent itself was no less graceful as Mal found himself a flail of limbs, unable to properly stop himself until gravity and the grassy atrium did it for him.

Mal undid himself from the rope with a sharp tug of the harness's pin before slamming it into the chest of an approaching guard. He barely had time to step aside before Jayne's bulk came crashing down next. Mal was immensely satisfied it was the dead pincushion and not himself that broke Jayne's fall.

"Shiny," grinned Jayne maliciously, looking down at the body he'd landed on.

"Yes, shiny, as you might put it," declared the very familiar, and quite irritating, drawl of one Atherton Wing. Mal turned around and saw Atherton standing quite bravely in the midst of his garden atrium. A small circle of gray trees towered behind him, while he himself stood on a cobbled path that lead towards a stone fountain in the middle of the circle. Flowers of all varieties, and Mal assumed they'd be rare ones, dotted the bushes and ground. Quite the fancy place, and one he was sure Inara had visited quite frequently. That thought didn't help to cap his anger any.

"Drop your gun, Captain Reynolds," threatened Atherton with his chin tilted proudly, almost victoriously. Mal took a quick look around to see there weren't nothing but a pile of corpses surrounding them.

"Seems to me, Ath, you ain't in much of a position to be makin' demands," Mal told him with a disarming chuckle.

"Yeah," added Jayne with a feral grin. "Can't say I'm much of a math wizard myself, but we got ourselves four to your one." With a quick flash, Jayne fired off a warning shot at Atherton's feet that made the dandy jump about ten feet in the air. "Then there's the whole arsenal we seem t'be carryin' with us. Personally, I think Vera's a little too good for you, but my knife's a whole different story. Say, Mal, y'know I never got me an ear from the fed, way back when."

"D'you mind not talkin' 'bout cuttin' off people's ears no more?" Mal told Jayne sharply. Jayne's face was all furrows and glassy eyes so Mal tried to help him out by twitching his head some.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Zoe tug on her own ear while nodding towards Mal.

"Oh!" said Jayne, reeling like a hammer had been struck against his head. "Aw hell, Mal, I've been tortured myself lots of times. Don't mean nothin', just gives me more ideas."

"I shudder to think," said Whisper sarcastically. Jayne made a very petulant face at her, which she returned in kind. Atherton had recovered from Jayne's warning shot, and looked to be thoroughly irritated at being ignored. Mal could sympathize with the man, but that thought just made him feel all the more grateful for Jayne's immaturity.

"Then maybe you oughta shut up," retorted Jayne with an ugly sneer of triumph. Mal gave a little laugh, not because it was actually funny, but because it was so awful he couldn't believe Jayne had said it. On the other hand, it was Jayne...

"Drop your weapons!" said Atherton testily, bringing everyone's attention back onto him. This time around, he had a thin pad in his hand with a video display going. "Do it, or so help me I'll blow the rest of your crew to hell!"

Mal's stomach dropped to the very soles of his feet as he saw the inside of Inara's shuttle reflected back on the screen. Simon, River and Kaylee were all huddled together on the sofa but Inara was no where in sight. River looked completely unconcerned back through the screen, while Simon had encircled his arms protectively around the girls.

"Gorramit!" swore Jayne loudly.

"Do it!" insisted Atherton, his voice pitching up a notch before he flashed Mal a devilish grin. "I might even spare that piece of go-se you call a ship and let them all go on it, if you surrender."

"Sir?" asked Zoe softly. Mal's jaw clenched tightly as he worked the variables around in his head. River'd taken down a whole pack of Reavers, so that meant the shuttle was damaged and forced down. As good as she was, there weren't no defense against a squad of armed and armored men. He had little doubt that the Alliance would've gunned her down cleanly if the Operative hadn't issued the cease fire.

Kyo was still out there, but they had no way to reach him if things went sour. Mal had just left him a reasonable window of time to sit tight, and then there was the damage with that shuttle coming in on the landing. Things were beginning to look a mighty bit more desperate than he would've liked to imagine.

The camera that fed the images to Ath's pad jostled slightly. It was only briefly, but he saw Inara pressed up against some of her fine tapestries. He'd known because he could pick her out from a room full of beautiful women without a second guess. She was just her, after all, and there weren't anything else he could say about it. What really caught his attention was the way her head had been tilted downward. He knew he saw a trickle of blood on her lip and the beginnings of it swelling, and pretty soon red was all he saw; her shuttle; her blood; her dress.

Not unlike the day Mal stepped on board Serenity after dealing with Patience, he snapped up his pistol and shot Atherton dead.

"Huh," said Jayne into the stunned silence of gunsmoke, "this mean we're takin' his money?"

*****

Mal steeled himself outside of Inara's shuttle. Given everything that'd happen the past few days, this was one conversation he hadn't been happy to be having, but it was one that needed to be done. Thinking it wouldn't hurt, he raised his hand to knock on the bulkhead of the shuttle when the door slid open. Inara stood there with a very knowing smirk on her face and an amused arch of her brow. The illusion of it was marred by the swollen lip of hers and slight bruising around her chin that made Mal's jaw clench in anger.

Her finely tuned Companion senses picked up on that, however, and so she dropped her amusement and stepped back to let him inside.

"So, what'd you want to see me about?" he said as he walked past her. He took in the new tapestries and fabrics that hung over the shuttle's walls. Mal had to wonder how many spools of fabric she had lying in those trunks. Not that he ever looked...

"You know exactly why I wanted to see you, Mal," said Inara sweetly as she shut the door.

"This where I get naked?" he asked her with a false smile over his shoulder. Too far and he knew it the moment they left his lips, but even if he didn't he could tell from the way her back stiffened and her lips pursed. She gave him the most briefest of glances out from the corner of her eyes, but it cut him quick.

"Are things well?" said Inara politely--too politely for Mal.

"Serenity's flyin'," he told her evenly. "Doc patched up Kyo's hand, which was smokin' somethin' fierce I'll tell you, and Kaylee's got both shuttles runnin' again. Jayne's pleased we made out with Ath's fortune, even if we did have to spend some of it to release the landlock. Should hit Whitefall in a day or so, if there're any plans you need to be makin'."

"Quite the gamble you played," Inara commented from her sofa and Mal turned around so that he could look her square in the eye. "How did you know his men wouldn't kill us the moment you killed him?"

"Didn't," Mal smirked as he folded his arms across his chest. "Just one of them hunches I find myself havin'. Seen myself all sorts of measures of men in the war and how they handle their own. Didn't get the sense Ath was the sort of folk to inspire loyalty out of the goodness of his heart. Reckon his employees might like an early retirement bonus. 'Sides, Harrow seems like the sorta guy to treat 'em fine."

Inara nodded to concede the point. "You could've handled it differently, Mal. Even if Atherton did earn himself a mark on the Registry, it didn't mean it was any less right for me to break confidence."

"Right?" balked Mal incredulously. "Right? Oh I'm sorry, were you hopin' to be tortured by Ath? Sorry for spoilin' your fun then, lemme call up Niska! Believe you me, that man knows his torture!"

"That's not what I meant, Mal!" Inara glared at him angrily. "There were a lot of other options available! I'm a Companion; I could've had the control tower override the landlock!"

"And bring about some feds lookin' to investigate why a landlock was in place to begin with!" retorted Mal. "Could you've done it before the skiffs showed up? That would've been a trick."

"You couldn't hold them off?" questioned Inara.

"You weren't in the war," said Mal with dead seriousness, all emotion draining out of his face, "and so I'm lettin' you slid by with that. Skiffs're meant for strafin' runs. They take out platoons with guns that can cut a man in half, and blow up rollers with bombs that don't leave much of men. We ain't got that sort of firepower on Serenity. Hell, we barely had that sort of firepower in the gorram war!

"I made the choice, and it might not've been the perfect one, but it was the right one. We're flyin', the Doc and his sister are still on board, and neither you nor me are beginnin' for our lives at the moment. Two damaged shuttles and a pilot with singed fingers? Seems to me this's been one of my smarter ideas, and if that came at a compromise to your creed, then I ain't sorry."

Mal hated to say it, but it needed to be said. He knew those weren't the right words, or the right way to say things, but what's true is true. Very likely he could push Inara away again and back to Sihnon or the Training House they'd "rescued" her from if he weren't careful, and that'd be the last thing he needed again. Something raw must've shown clearly in his eyes, because Inara didn't challenge him, but she didn't look away neither.

"You're right, Mal," she nodded evenly. "I wasn't in the war, and I really don't know much about it; not like you do. But, allow me to remind you, Mal, that you never trained to be a Companion, and have very little understanding of how the Guild actually operates."

"Well that may be so," conceded Mal, not quite knowing where things were heading.

"I think it's time we enlightened each other about these aspects of our lives, Mal," said Inara gently and Mal felt his knees buckle under a rough patch of turbulence--or so he'd like to believe. "That way we save ourselves from these misunderstandings, wouldn't you agree?"

It was--Mal dared to hope--as blatant as Inara would get to declaring her intention of staying. Mal couldn't resist the very tiny curve of the corners of his lips upturning at the thought.

"Does this mean I get to be a Companion now? I can be very graceful when I need to," said Mal with a sly smile as he sat down on the couch next to Inara.

"I'm not sure you can be that graceful, Mal, but we'll see," Inara replied with a real, amused smile. "Perhaps you might take me on another one of your jobs. I did well with the Lassiter, and I do have a wide variety of training."

Mal thought back to her skill at fencing, and later again on Mr. Universe's world while facing down the Reavers. He was quite certain she might have a point, but that was one he didn't want to see tested.

"Well now I'm not so sure I'd like to see any of your fancy gun-handlin'," Mal rejoined. "But we'll see how things go."

"Yes, we will," promised Inara with a smile.

------

Author's Notes, Justifications, and...well...Excuses:

All right, so River's a Reader, so why did her shuttle...well, Inara's shuttle...crash? Like Kyo said, just a graze from the skiff's artillery would be enough to ground the shuttle. The actual point gets address later in the series that I've envisioned. River's got the knowledge, but she doesn't necessarily have the experience to apply them; which is where Kyo's crazy and wild ideas come into play.

Star Wars references abound! Well, just two, but "Hear me, baby? Hold together," is one of my more favorite lines. Believe me, I say it to my car a lot. Also, the justification about the "Love keeps her in the air..." line being passed from Kyo to Mal. Well, Mal's infantry, right? How'd he learn to fly? Figured he had to have a certain fly-boy teach him in the war.

Yes, Badger is still alive, along with Fanty and Mingo. My interpretation from hearing Mal and Zoe after finding Haven destroyed, was that only people kind enough to help them on jobs were killed; not the middle men who set up the jobs. The Operative would certainly know that men like Badger wouldn't help Mal out of a bind for nothing.

The damage's been done with Miranda, so the Alliance is no longer pursuing River and Simon Tam. Of course, as we all know, there is another force behind the Alliance. One with hands of blue. They would still, very much like River alive.