Life’s Too Short- Part Six

These characters do not belong to me, though I love them as much as if they did.

Sorry this one is the shortest- I was going to put another battle scene in here, but I didn't want to take away from Mal/Inara near the end.

* * * * * “So… I’ll be sending you a wave in a day or two. If you’re blown up, please don’t bother to respond.” Mal raised a hand and gave Patience a mirthless smile. “Thanks. Boy, that’s a relief. Wouldn’t want you thinkin’ we was rude.” She smiled, and turned her horse. Mal sighed and walked onto Serenity, punching the button to close the door with an angry fist. “That went well,” Simon said. Mal glanced up to the stairs where he stood. Simon looked extremely pissed off. Mal rolled his eyes. “No one got shot.” “Zoe did!” “Just a scratch.” “If River hadn’t knocked that man out, you would be dead!” “You don’t know that,” Mal argued, though he knew it was probably true. Just as the Alliance commander had fired, River had done… something… and the man had crumpled to the ground. His arm had swung up as he fell, sending the bullet off over Mal’s left shoulder in a skewed shot that blew past the shuttle’s cockpit and into empty air. “I do know that! You brought her down there into a mess of soldiers. With guns!” “We got ‘em all, doc. Don’t see what you’re so upset about.” Mal started up the stairs towards Simon, who didn’t move. “And now Zoe says they have a fleet waiting for us in orbit! A fleet that will undoubtedly send more ships down here in about an hour when that commander doesn’t check in! That, Captain, is what I’m so upset about!” Mal gave Simon a crooked smile. “We’ve been in worse situations.” “The last time we were in a situation this bad, people died, Mal!” Simon stopped, as if realizing he’d gone too far. Mal’s smile faded and he stared the younger man down. “Bad things happen to good people, doctor. We got through that. We’re still flying. Ain’t much, but it’s enough. And we’ll keep flying. You can be sure of that.” “How,” Simon asked softly, almost plaintively. He hadn’t meant for it to happen, but somehow, between the hill folk fiasco and the Miranda disaster, he’d truly become a part of Mal’s crew. He trusted his captain in spite of himself, though he hated to admit it. Now, Simon sacrificed his pride and asked what he really wanted to know. “How can we do this?” Mal’s face softened a little. He clapped the doctor on the shoulder. “Let’s go find everyone else. Come up with somethin’ to do when I’ve heard what everyone has to say.” * * * * * Mal stood at the head of the kitchen table, hands flat on the surface as he met the eyes of each member of his crew, with the exception of Kaylee and Inara. “Here is the situation. There’s us, on Whitefall. Patience has withdrawn her people, so there’s nothing to worry about there. Alliance has us staked out from orbit, so there’s no way safely off the planet. Only good thing is that Kaylee and ‘Nara are offworld.” Simon breathed a sigh of relief, even though he’d known already that they were shopping on Orion. He still felt relieved every time he though about Kaylee, and her safety. His love for her had grown far and beyond anything he’d ever expected, and even now he could barely entertain the thought that she might be hurt. “River? How fast can you fly?” Zoe ignored the hard pain in her gut that speaking of flight brought. No one was as good as her Baby, but River came close, and Zoe knew it. Stupid to shove away an advantage out of self-pity. River’s eyes were sorrowful on hers, and warm. “I can fly as fast as we need to fly. He’ll be with me,” she said, and for once, everyone at the table understood exactly what River meant. “Any way we can get around the fleet?” “Depends. We don’t know how spread out they are, or how many.” “We ain’t got many weapons against ships. Vera’ll help, but not enough.” Jayne spat on his hunting knife and wiped it on his sleeve. Simon’s lip curled in disgust, but he said nothing. River put a hand on Jayne’s forearm, and Jayne stared at her. “Not at the kitchen table, dear,” River said in such a good mother-impression that everyone had to laugh despite everything. Without Wash to lighten the mood, the crew was grasping at whatever humor they could find. Simon glared at Jayne when he didn’t pull away from River’s hand, and then glared at River when she didn’t remove it. “People. Listen up,” Mal said, shooting his own dagger-glance at the mercenary. Jayne gave a little jump and jerked his arm away. Just then, a loud beeping drew attention through the open doors to the bridge. “Okay, pause,” Mal called, jogging to the bridge. The crew followed, crowding around the wave screen. Mal switched it on. Inara’s face filled the screen. She looked scared. “Mal, there’s an Alliance barricade surrounding Whitefall.” “I know. Wait, how do-” “Are you all right?” “I’m fine,” he said, oblivious to the rest of the people gathered around him. “If’n you two can use some RE-straint,” Jayne said in irritation. Mal twisted his head around and mouthed ‘bi zui’ with a sharp head shake. Jayne shut up. “I can get help. How much time do you have?” “Less than an hour.” Inara turned her head and called, “An hour,” to someone off-screen. “Exactly what kind of help are you talkin’?” “Micah Hughes is a friend of mine.” “THE Micah Hughes? On Orion.” “Yes. He’ll help you. Just keep the Alliance occupied for… two hours at the most, hopefully only one, and don’t get killed!” “Keep the- What, you mean fly around in circles like a mosquito?” Mal was speaking sarcastically, but Inara nodded. “Mal… can I talk to you alone?” Mal raised a brow, and jerked his head towards the door. The others filed out, Zoe last. “Yeah?” He held his breath. Was this it? Was she going to tell him how she felt? “How could you be so stupid! I cannot believe you’d get yourself into another insane plot of death and capture!” Or maybe not. “’Nara, it’s not like I planned it!” She through up her hands in exasperation. “This always happens. When was the last time a job was completely successful? When?!” “I- It- Look, all’s well that ends well! We’ve had plenty of successful jobs!” Nope, definitely not the warm, loving moment he’d been hopin’ for. “What is it about you? Is it some sort of gift? A special talent for getting into scrapes? When was the last job where you didn’t get shot or stabbed? Mal, even when you aren’t on a job, you get hurt!” “I do not- Wait, since when are we talking about my getting hurt? I thought we were on the subject of my unfortunate luck in jobs.” Her mouth was open for a retort, but nothing came. Inara looked as surprised as he was. Good point, she thought. Mal felt a slow smile spread across his face. It had taken him a moment to work through the insults, but the core was as he’d hoped: she was worried about him. “You worrying about me, ‘Nara?” “No,” she said, as if it was the last thing she’d have thought about doing. But she wasn’t meeting his eyes. “Could this mean you care,” he asked, a broad smile on his face. “Of course I care. The crew could all be killed.” “Thought we were talkin’ ‘bout yours truly.” Oh, how he loved catching her off guard! “I- Kaylee wants to talk to Simon for a moment.” “No, hey, now, don’t be like that.” Inara paused, closing her eyes. Then, she opened them again and met Mal’s gaze. There was something… old… in her eyes, something terribly familiar. Mal finally recognized it as a fainter echo of what he saw in his own eyes sometimes. A heavy burden of worry and responsibility that always weighted him down. And now, seeing it in hers, he felt pain. “Be careful, Mal,” she told him. “Don’t you dare get killed.” “Wasn’t plannin’ on it.” “You never are.” She sounded resigned, and reached up to turn off the screen. Mal raised his own hand and waved it around in front of his face. Where were all his nice sharp captainy motions when he needed them? But she stopped. “Listen, Inara… When we get out of this mess…” He wasn’t sure what he was trying to say, only that he couldn’t let her go without something. Anything. “Would you want to go to dinner with a humble ship’s captain?” Well. That wasn’t what he was expecting to come out of his own mouth, and apparently it wasn’t what Inara was expecting, either. She opened her mouth, closed it, and then gave a little smile. “The day you’re humble, Malcolm Reynolds, is the day I join the Guns and Ammo club on Persephone. But,” she added quickly as he frowned, “yes.” She was still smiling that little smile, the one he loved the best, the one that was so shy and gentle it nearly broke his heart. “I would love to go to dinner with you.” And Mal suddenly felt that he could beat TEN Alliance fleets, all by himself.

TBC: Next: Mal and Inara's thoughts, Kaylee and Simon have a risque chat by Wave Screen, Jayne and River have a quiet moment, Mal and Zoe have a quiet moment. Sort of the calm before the storm. Angst all around, a few laughs, and fluff from all quarters. For all you M/I, S/K and R/J shippers, this next one is for you guys! :P