Title: All Good Things Must Come to an End

Rating: NC-17

Synopsis: Mal, Zoe, River and Jayne are out on a job leaving Simon the only one that stands between four armed men and two unarmed women.

Timeline: Takes place 17 months after Miranda. 1 month after Simon and Kaylee’s wedding.

Notes: Next part of a series beginning with : And So It Begins, Kiss Me, Coming Together, Tell Me, What’s Proper?, Tears , Peekaboo, Impatient, Waking Up is Hard to Do, The Talk, I See You, Exhaustion .Moving Day, Celebration, Surprise , Vacation, Reunion, Manipulation, Baby Talk, A First Time for Everything, The Way It Is, A Special Day, Girl Talk, The Gift, Breaking It In, Making Plans, Friends and Enemies, Where I Belong , Private Time , The Games We Play, All Good Things Come to an End

Disclaimer: This story is not meant to infringe on the copyright of any person or company related to the trademarked characters and situations depicted in the Serenity movie or Firefly series. I make no money from this. Only done for fun - and a desperate craving to have more stories told about this wonderful ‘verse Joss Whedon created.

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I had this chapter done, and certain events in my life today made me reconsider my decision not to start posting this until I'd written the final 8 stories in this series.

Oddly, the ending is written, I just need to go fill in a bunch of things I've not completed in the middle.

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Notes: This story depicts implied non-consentual attacks. Do not read if you are squeamish about such things. It is not graphic.

The events as they truly happened in this chapter have been PURPOSLY left vague. More will be revealed in subsequent chapters and stories.

Please be patient and let the rest of the series play out to its end, you may be surprised (or not) where it leads.

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“Wonder what we’re gonna do with half the day to ourselves.” Kaylee sashayed around the cargo bay after closing the doors, batting her eyelashes at Simon, who stood leaning in the entryway that led toward the infirmary.

“Clean?” Simon suggested, a small grin playing across his mouth as Kaylee sauntered over to him, her hips swaying to their own imaginary beat. “Drape Inara’s frilly, silken things all over Mal’s bunk? Hide Jayne’s guns?”

Kaylee giggled and wrapped her arms around his waist. “You wanna go down into Jayne’s bunk to get to his guns?”

Simon wrinkled his nose at the thought. “No, never mind. Very bad idea.” He draped his hands atop her shoulders and kissed the tip of her nose. “No amount of hazardous material protection gear could make me go down there.”

“’Nara wouldn’t be too happy ‘either, drapin’ all her silks inside the Capn’s bunk when she didn’t get to do it herself.” Kaylee giggled as she leaned against his chest and ran her hands up and down his back. “Might find some of her things down there already.” She wiggled her eyebrows at him.

Simon laughed, not sure he wanted to imagine Inara having to climb into and out of Mal’s bunk. “I’m sure we don’t have that long before they get back. It’s just a simple delivery.” Simon backed into the common room and toward the passenger dorms, pulling Kaylee with him.

“When did you ever know one of the Cap’n’s deliveries to go smooth?” Kaylee asked, her eyes twinkling as she steered him toward their bunk. “I bet we got hours.”

“Which means I will be patching up scrapes and bullet holes when the job –“

Any further comment was silenced as her mouth covered his and she pushed him into their bunk.

~*~

Simon woke to the soft breathing of Kaylee sleeping soundly in his arms. After taking a few moments to simply admire his sleeping wife, he rolled her over and began to pebble her neck with short little kisses.

The feel of his soft, sure lips on her skin brought Kaylee back to consciousness. She squirmed when he reached her breasts, whimpering as he slowly, teasingly, pulled one firm nipple into his mouth. He sucked each of them in turn, alternating licking and blowing across them to harden them further.

Kaylee’s hands tangled in his hair and her hips shifted restlessly beneath him. She could feel the swell of his arousal against her thigh and whimpered at the soft, velvety feel. She exhaled a deep breath and closed her eyes, her hips twitching in anticipation as his hands slipped lower to probe her already slick folds.

They hadn’t slept long, but it was enough for them to recover from their earlier activities. When Simon leaned over her and entered her already warm, wet body, Kaylee arched her hips against him with a soft moan. She wasn’t quite awake yet, which made the sensation even more intense. It always felt so good with him. He knew just what to do to coax every single moan, scream and whimper from her lips.

They moved together, slowly at first, then more frantic as the pressure built. Kaylee tightened her arms around his shoulders and Simon fastened his lips to her neck, sucking at the soft skin so hard there would no doubt be a mark.

As they reached their end, each crying out the other’s name, they collapsed against one another panting heavily. Simon tried to roll his weight off her but she kept her arms and legs wrapped tightly around him.

Kaylee nuzzled his mussed hair with her cheek. “Love when ya wake me up like that.” His only response was a muffled moan which brought a satisfied smile to her lips.

When the pounding outside the raised cargo bay doors began, Simon groaned and closed his eyes, swearing in a few languages Kaylee couldn’t understand. They waited for a few moments but the pounding continued and Simon lifted his head from Kaylee’s breast and swore yet again in a string of Chinese that made Kaylee beam with pride. Her man had definitely learned a thing or two during his time out in the Black. She tugged at his dark hair, letting the silky softness slip through her fingers.

Simon groaned and nuzzled his cheek against her breasts. “Didn’t they take a com?” His voice was muffled and Kaylee giggled.

“Sure did.” Kaylee tightened her arms around Simon’s shoulders and hugged him tightly, before attempting to sit.

“Jayne lost it in the middle of a gun battle most likely.” Simon groused as he rolled off Kaylee.

“I’ll go let ‘em in.” Kaylee quickly got out of bed, swaying on her feet a bit due to the well and thorough sexin’ she’d just received. She shook her head and slipped into Simon’s discarded sweatpants and shrugged into one of her flowery cotton tops. When she turned around, she giggled at Simon, lying naked on their bed. She leaned over and kissed him sucking deeply on his bottom lip. “I’ll tell ‘em they owe us.”

“I’ll say.” Simon agreed as he brushed his mouth against her cheek.

With a sparkle in her bright eyes, Kaylee reached down dragged her nails down his chest to his abdomen. “Stay awake until I get back and you’ll be a very happy man.”

Simon could only groan in response as she slipped out the door. He relaxed back into the mattress and closed his eyes. Fortunately, the cargo bay was right around the corner, she’d be back in no time.

~*~

Kaylee all but skipped into the cargo bay, her wide, infectious smile leading the way. “I’m comin’! Keep yer pants on!” Well, ‘cept Simon, she laughed at that thought and pressed the controls that would lower the doors. So distracted was she with thoughts of Simon all aroused and waiting for her to come back, she didn’t remember to check to make sure it was really Serenity’s crew returning from the job.

She instantly regretted that oversight when four armed men rushed up the ramp before Kaylee could reach the controls to raise it again.

Kaylee tried to scream as one man grabbed her around the waist, and pulled her against him, at once covering her mouth so she couldn’t alert anyone else to their presence.

“Well, lookie here. Didn’t tell us we’d have some pretties to play with. Gonna have to have me some a you.” He dragged her to the other side of the cargo bay and threw her roughly against a stack of crates.

Kaylee struggled but when another man grabbed her arms, there was nothing she could do as the two pushed her helplessly over an overturned crate. The one and only thing she accomplished was to bite the man’s hand covering her mouth hard enough that he pulled it away with a loud string of curses, giving Kaylee the opportunity to call for help.

The scream that echoed through the cargo bay was loud enough to wake the dead. But that was the last sound she made as she was struck across the face and fell against the crates, unconscious and helpless.

~*~

“That was too easy,” Jayne scowled as they boarded the mule and started back toward Serenity.

Zoe nodded. “Agreed.”

“I ain’t averse to makin’ a delivery without bein’ shot at once in a while.” Mal glanced around, wondering his own self why there had been no trouble. They’d been carrying highly valued supplies and they’d expected someone to try and pinch the product before reaching their destination.

“This is Badger, Sir. None of his jobs are ever this easy.”

“Madame Ming. Remember her?” Jayne grumbled. “Was gonna kill us ‘cause we didn’t speak her language.”

River suddenly jerked as if she’d been shot, startling Jayne. “Whoa, Crazy. What’s wrong with you?”

Mal and Zoe glanced at the girl as her eyes widened and tears snaked down her pale face.

“What’s the matter lil’ –“

“Simon!” River screamed and she clutched the seat in front of her. It was happening. Now. Everything that she had dreamed. She knew they wouldn’t make it back in time. She knew. But she had to warn them, or it would be too late for everyone. “Help him! Home! Must go! Now!”

“Ta ma dah!” Jayne covered his ears as the high-pitched screeching rattled his brain.

Mal let out a string of curses as long as his arm and kicked the mule into higher gear, hoping they would get back to Serenity before something terrible happened. No wonder the job had been so easy.

~*~

When Kaylee’s anguished scream registered in Simon’s head, he launched himself out of bed and pulled on a pair of pants that had been haphazardly tossed onto the floor in the middle of the night. He hurried into the cargo bay and was immediately met with a gun aimed at his chest. He clearly startled the man by the way his eyes darted around the room and the gun wavered in his hand.

Simon saw Kaylee being held down by two men at the opposite end of the bay and he didn’t stop to think. He had to get to her. He had to do something. He raised his arm and pushed the gun out of the way, startling the man who held it at his chest. It discharged into the wall, taking a bit of Simon’s shoulder with it, as the doctor’s elbow collided with the man’s temple, knocking him unconscious.

Inara, startled by the gunshot and Kaylee’s scream, flew out of her shuttle, silk dress sweeping soundlessly over the metal grating. She’d made it partially down the metal steps before she noticed what was happening down below. Her eyes widened as she saw Simon down the man closest to him and turn toward Kaylee.

But the one remaining intruder not occupied had slipped behind Simon while he was distracted with the man now lying at his feet, and cracked Simon over the head with his gun. Simon was unconscious before he hit the ground as the man raised his gun and prepared to shoot.

But the Inara’s cry above him distracted the man and he turned toward her, a predatory gleam in his eyes.

Inara’s heart sank as she saw Simon lying motionless on the deck but she ran toward her shuttle anyway, hoping to get at least one or more of the men to follow her. And if they didn’t, she would return with a little surprise of her own in the form of a small firearm she kept hidden there.

On her way into the shuttle, she flipped on the com and barked into it, hoping Mal could hear her. She heaved a sigh of relief when his voice crackled over the line but she was prevented from responding by a big man grabbing her around the waist and tossing her onto the bed.

She struggled, bucking against him as his weight pressed her into the mattress. She could hear Mal calling to her in the background but was unable to answer as her assailant’s hand covered her mouth.

The sound of silk tearing echoed loudly in the shuttle as Inara reached up toward the headboard, hoping to reach what she had concealed there before it was too late.

~*~

The first thing Mal saw as the mule approached Serenity was Simon lying on the deck in the middle of the cargo bay. He didn’t even question why the doors had been lowered. He somehow knew they would be. He launched himself off the mule as it skidded to a halt at the bottom of the ramp. Only then did he see two men approach him from the side, pistols drawn.

Zoe took out the first man as the second discharged his weapon, the bullet striking Jayne in the arm as he raised his own gun to return fire. Mal downed the second man and only when both were lying dead on the ground did he see Kaylee draped and barely conscious against the cargo crates, tears streaming down her cheeks. A small trickle of blood oozed from a cut on her temple but that was the least of Mal’s worries as he took in her disheveled appearance.

“Kaylee?” Mal could hear his voice echo in his ears but it didn’t sound like his voice. He moved in slow motion toward her but another sound from above caught his attention and he glanced up to see Inara stumble out of her shuttle and across the catwalk, her hair in such a disheveled disarray that Mal paused in mid-step. Her torn clothing was covered in blood and for a moment his heart skipped a beat.

The only sound that echoed through the instantly quiet room were the two blood covered hairpins that slipped out of Inara’s trembling hands striking the grating at her feet.

TBC

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