This was a job just like any other. They sat in the back corner of a dingy bar, the glow of the lights fighting to filter though the smoke that curled around the ceiling and the dirt that coated every surface, including the light panels and some of the patrons. One of the panels near the bar seemed to be short circuiting, adding a flickering element to the establishment. Jayne was a little tetchier than usual, playing with a knife under the table and drinking his alcohol. Mal and Zoe were outwardly more tranquil, but their drinks remained untouched in front of them as they played a game of cards. It really was a job like any other, though, with one blinding exception. Said exception was sitting across from Jayne with his back to the room, looking like he would rather be back on Serenity. “Remind me again how I work into this… plan,” Simon said, hesitating a moment before the word plan as if doubting its existence. “Relax, Doctor,” Mal said, dropping a pear card onto the table next to his stack. “High card down,” he said to Zoe before continuing. “It would seem our contact here has smarts. You have smarts. Maybe you two will… you know…” Mal gestured around a moment before finishing. “… relate.” “Yes, I understand that,” Simon acknowledged, enunciating carefully and frowning. “I’m just having trouble seeing how this will be beneficial to you.” Zoe stepped in here. “We’re hoping you’ll make her more comfortable. Comfortable contacts make for more honest contacts. She may tell you more about this rebel sect than she might tell, say, Jayne.” The bigger man scoffed, but made no other comment on this slight to his character. Instead he said, “So we’re taking on another one of these purple-bellies?” Mal rolled his eyes. “If the sect isn’t on this moon then yes. We going to have a problem?” Jayne grunted as he brought his stained glass back to his lips. “Nope. Just so long as she stays in her part of the boat, and I’ll stay on mine.” It would seem that the captain was about to reply, but he was interrupted by the slight figure of the barmaid approaching their table. She wasn’t too tall, and definitely one of the occupants who wasn’t too liberal with the soap. From what they could tell, though, she had either brown or blonde hair, cut off at her chin. Pale blue, almost icy grey eyes danced out from underneath the fringe. Her hands shook as she took up Jayne’s now empty cup and replaced it with both a full one and a hastily scrawled note. She turned away quickly and retreated to behind the bar. Mal took the note and, after looking over it, passed it to Zoe, who gave it to Jayne, who (grudgingly) slid it over to Simon. It read: Captain Reynolds: I promised you information. I cannot give it here. I will meet you on your boat in an hour. I know where it is docked. ~KC PS Hello, Simon.

Simon paled, and swung his head around to observe their contact only to find that she was no longer behind the bar. “There something we should know, Doc?” Mal asked, looking from the note to Simon. Rather than voicing a reply, though, the latter merely shook his head in confusion. “I think it’s about time we ruttin’ git,” Jayne grumbled, emptying the new glass in front of him with one swig. “This place is startin’ to get creepy.” “Starting?” Zoe questioned, eyebrows raised. “Well, we’ve made contact,” Mal said. He, too, seemed uneasy. “I say it’s about time to be heading back to Serenity. We can wait for her there, get this sorted out.” He stood, followed closely by Jayne and Zoe. Simon, however, had only just stopped gaping at the note in shock. He stumbled to follow, grabbing the note and glancing around him for one last look at their informant. However, she was still absent. “Does she have a name?” Simon asked, hurrying to Mal’s side. “What was that?” Mal said, barely breaking in stride. “Her name. What is it?” “Only goes by KC, so far as we know.” Mal replied, then glanced over at Simon. “Why? Do you know her?” Simon frowned, shaking his head. “I don’t…” Suddenly, he stopped. He was frozen midword, midstride, gazing into the distance. “My God,” he whispered. Zoe stopped as well, looking back over her shoulder. “What is it?” When Simon didn’t speak, Mal moved towards him. “I ain’t exactly got a hankering to hang around here much longer, Doctor. So either speak your piece, or get back to Serenity.” “Back,” Simon said. “I’ll tell you when we get back.”

From the outside, Serenity seemed to indeed be docked peacefully. She gleamed cheerily, neither standing out nor looking shabby around the other ships. Inside, she seemed just as tranquil. The cargo bay was devoid of people. The passenger rooms were also empty, though two of them showed obvious signs of occupation. The crew quarters were as of that moment unoccupied as was the only shuttle still with the ship. It seemed that the other had been launched for the moment. The only two people on the ship were huddled together in Serenity’s engine room. Kaylee’s feet were sticking out from under the now still mechanism, and the sounds of her clanking about drifted around the room and out into the hall. With a sigh, she pulled herself out of her position and sat up. “River,” she called as she moved. “Do you have--,” Kaylee was cut off as a teenage girl flipped back and hung upside down by her knees from one of the many pipes that criss-crossed the ceiling. Her long hair just brushed the metal grating of the floor. She held out a slightly rusting tool. “Monkey pliers,” she said, beaming. Kaylee just shook her head, also smiling, and took them from River’s outstretched hand. “Better not let Simon see you like that,” she said, averting her eyes. “You know how he is. So…” Kaylee was blushing now, thinking about her lover. River rolled her eyes but flipped around until her bare feet were pressed against the cold metal floor. She couldn’t keep up the frown for long, though, and was soon grinning once more. “What’ve you got in your mind?” Kaylee asked as she stood. She was finding River’s mood infectious and couldn’t stop grinning herself. Thought, that may have been because the others were due back soon… “She’s coming back,” River said, all matter of fact and cheerful. “Simon will tell you. She’s coming home.” “Who? Who she?” Kaylee asked, but River already had her back to the young engineer, dancing to the door. “River,” she called, hurrying forward. “Is it Inara?” “No,” River called sing-song over her shoulder, then added, “Race you to cargo! We can meet them there!” Before Kaylee could protest, the younger girl was off and running. Laughing, Kaylee began to chase after her.

The others were hurrying to the ship, and before long they were met by River and Kaylee in the cargo bay. As soon as River saw her older brother, her face seemed to light up. “Krystal’s here!” River crooned, grinning from ear to ear. Simon paled. “What?” he sputtered. “I… already? She said--,” “Krystal who?” Kaylee interrupted, looking a touch worried. Simon looked back and forth between the two girls while everyone else looked flummoxed. “She’s… she’s a…” Simon looked to his sister here, questions all over his face. River rolled her eyes good naturedly. “She’s not here yet, silly. But you saw her.” “So, Krystal,” Mal said. He seemed to be grasping for some part of this interaction that made sense. “That’s our contact?” “Krys,” Simon corrected automatically, speaking in that slow, deliberate way of his. “Yes, that’s who met us in the bar.” Before he could get any further, though, the second shuttle began approaching Serenity. “Oh, that’s Inara,” River chimed, still sounding overly cheered. “I’ll go set it up for her to get in.” With that, the bright teen dashed towards the cockpit, leaving a group of speechless adults in her wake. Without taking her eyes from River’s retreating back, Zoe said to Simon, “Your sister is still getting stranger.” Jayne was the first to break from the revere River had left them in. “Don’t we all know it,” he snorted. Mal shook his head a bit, and then turned to Simon. “It would seem you’ve got a story to be tellin’ us, Doctor.”

The crew of Serenity was sitting around the dining table. Simon couldn’t help but be reminded of the first time he had told a story from this vantage point, standing at the head of the table. There were a couple of differences, though. Book and Wash were both gone, and now River sat with the rest of the crew, looking more like herself than she had been in three years. Kaylee sat next to her, though Simon seemed to be deliberately avoiding her gaze, and then Inara. Mal stood behind the three girls, the only one on his feet other than Simon. Zoe and Jayne were on the other side of the table; the latter was snacking on something dehydrated that looked vaguely like fruit while the former merely stared tersely at Simon. With an enraptured audience, he began to speak. “Her name is Krystal Raine. Krys. She grew up with River and I… she was our best friend.” Simon’s voice had begun to fade. He paused for a moment, but when he began speaking again, his volume had returned to normal. “With any other company, Krys would have been considered intelligent. She wasn’t gifted, but she caught on quickly. The Raine’s were influential, though, and the three of us were thrown together often. It wasn’t surprising that we grew so close.” Another pause. Simon seemed to be collecting his thoughts. “Krys was always more rebellious. She was destined to go into law, like I was to be a doctor. She had only been studying it for a few months when she ran away. River had just started at the Academy.” He nodded to his sister, giving her a chance to speak. However, she seemed content to merely listen, so Simon continued. “I never found out why, and I didn’t hear from her after that. Until now.” The room was dead silent after he had concluded, and it took Simon a moment to realize that everyone was looking at a point directly behind him. He glanced over his shoulder just as a new voice began to speak. “Aw, come on, Simon,” Krystal Raine said from the doorway behind him, allowing a faded duffel to fall from her hand to the floor. “You didn’t even tell them the best part.”