“Yep,” Kaylee surmised, leaning away from the panel. She and River, standing outside at the rear of Serenity, exchanged knowing looks. “We’ll definitely need to take down the backfeed duct; I can’t bang it back into shape while it’s still connected.” She pushed her head back into the cavity that the removal of that particular panel exposed. “Give me... the three-inch drive.” River located the requested tool from one of the nearby tool bags and placed it in Kaylee’s outstretched hand. As soon as she felt the drive press against her palm, she pulled it in front of her, her eyes never leaving the deformed backfeed duct. “We’ll need more light in here, too, and the rest of the panels gotta go so we can drop the duct.” She pulled her head out and, planting her hands on her hips, faced River. She thought for a moment, her eyes darting back and forth across the ground, then she took a breath and made eye contact with the girl. “Vibe laser for the sealant, two speed handles, magnetic apex,” She listed. “Panels come off, we use the three-inch on the duct mounts, and down she goes.” She paused for another moment, surmising the situation. “We’ll probably need a third person; the duct’s pretty heavy, and we’ll be working five feet off the ground. I prob’ly shouldn’t’ve sent Simon away so quick...” They spent the next thirty minutes unpaneling the rear section of Serenity and removing the mounting bolts from the duct ends. Finding a firm grip on her end of the duct, Kaylee observed, “Should be able to get ‘er down by ourselves, just let me move...” She trailed off as the heavy duct began to move, and at first, Kaylee thought that it might be slipping, but then she realized that the duct was moving out, not down. Kaylee and River let go of the duct as Gabriel lifted it to head-level, turned, squatted, and set the duct on the ground, off to the side and out of the way. He straightened as Kaylee and River hopped down. “Thanks,” Kaylee told him, smiling and trying not to act surprised. “Sorry, I didn’t see you there.” “Just passin’ by,” Gabriel assured her. “Let me know if you need anythin’ else.” He kept walking, rounding the corner and moving back toward the front of the ship. “Wow,” Kaylee muttered, “he didn’t strain or nothin’. Just moved it.” She glanced over at River, who was staring after the man longingly. Kaylee smiled. “You really like him, don’t you?” As Gabriel was removed from view, River glanced back at Kaylee. “He’s one of the two most interesting men I’ve ever met,” she admitted. “It’s complicated. Farmer plants his seed, but his worst enemies aren’t hail and drought. They’re crop prices.” Kaylee didn’t even try to understand what that meant. “The other interestin’ man bein’ the captain, I’m assuming?” River picked up a wrench, turning it over her knuckles and under her palm in a slow spin that took more coordination than Kaylee had at her disposal. “They’re both buried under the past,” she provided. She looked as if she were an adult trying to explain a complicated endeavor in politics to a young child. “Can’t kill what kills them, but they’re determined to help it along. Only they don’t know.” She dropped the wrench back into the tool bag. “It would be worse if they did.”

“She’s your daughter, Jayne,” Breana intoned sadly, pulling the little girl close. “Four years ago, when you were here holdin’-“ ”I know when,” Jayne interrupted, pretending like Mal and Zoe weren’t standing right behind him. “But... My daughter?” He cocked his head to the side, trying to think through his confusion. “How is that...?” He looked from the girl to the mother and back again. Finally, he straightened and leaned back. “Well, huh,” he said. After a pause, Mal whispered, “*That’s it, then? Just, ‘huh?*” After another beat, Jayne grunted, “Well, ain’t that somethin’?” Breana swallowed thickly, looking at the counter. “I don’t ‘spect nothin’ from ya, just...” She looked back up. “I thought you should know.” Jayne could think of nothing to say. “Would you mind coming inside?” the woman offered, gesturing to the door. “I got some things to tell ya. Things you need to know.”

Jayne, Mal, and Zoe sat at a well-used wooden table in the stucco building while Breana brewed some green tea. The little girl stood beside the table, eyeing Jayne with fascination, a fact with which Jayne was very uncomfortable. This end of the building served as a living area, while the majority of the space was occupied by long shelves of machine parts and tool boxes. A fenced back lot served as storage for more machinery, as well as wrecked cars and various small sections of dismantled spacecraft. “What’s her name?” Jayne inquired, looking back at the girl warily. Breana poured the freshly-brewed tea into mugs, setting one in front of each guest. “I wasn’t ‘spectin’ to ever see ya again, Jayne,” she explained defensively. “It was a one-night stand, and I never held no notions of bein’ anything more than another girl in a port for you...” She sighed, taking a seat at the fourth chair. She pulled the girl close and, lifting her, placed the girl on her lap. “Her name is Jane.” Mal couldn’t help it; he snorted, then choked. Jayne shot him a glare that should have melted the captain’s brains right out his ears. *Looks don’t kill, but guns sure do,* he thought vindictively. “You named her Jane?!?” Breana nodded slowly, avoiding Jayne’s gaze. The girl (Jayne refused to think of her yet as Jane) tugged at her mom’s shirt. “Momma, who’s the big man? Ya said...” Breana stroked her daughter’s hair soothingly. “Jane, Honey, this is...” She swallowed thickly, staring at the table. Jayne heaved a heavy sigh. *What the hell am I gettin’ into?* he thought, then finished her sentence before he could change his mind. “I’m yer pa, Jane.” The girl nodded. “An’ ya live in a starship? Momma said my pa lived in a starship.” Jayne nodded. “That’s right, a starship. Not the same one as when I met yer mother, though.” He glanced at Mal, then continued. “I moved to a new one right after I left here.” *Why am I runnin’ my mouth ‘bout this? Ain’t nothin’ that needs sayin’.* “My pa died about two years ago,” Breana informed, “an’ I’ve been on my own, runnin’ this shop an’ raisin’ Janie.” “If...” Jayne began, thinking for a moment. “If’n ya need me to send money, or somethin’, I could always...” “No, no,” Breana assured him. “That ain’t necessary. Like I said, I ain’t askin’ nothin’ of ya, but it was, well... It was jus’ right that you know of yer kin.” Jayne’s emotions were running a hover coaster ride through his brain at that moment, and he finally took a drink from his tea in an attempt to settle his stomach. “Well,” Mal began, cutting into the silence, “to finally introduce ourselves, I’m Malcolm Reynolds. I captain a Firefly-class ship out here on the fringe, an’ this here’s my first mate, Zoe.” He gestured to Zoe, then folded his hands around his cup. “Jayne’s been runnin’ with us for a good spell now.” He glanced to Jayne, who was still busy trying to decide how his life had gotten so complicated so quickly. *Complicated, hell,* Jayne thought. *Like the woman said, she ain’t askin’ nothin’ of ya. Jus’ get the ruttin’ part ya need an’ get movin’...* Somehow, something about that still itched at him, and he couldn’t figure out why. “You mentioned you had something to tell us?” Mal reminded Breana. “Yes,” Breana replied, pulling her daughter even closer. She made eye contact with Mal and Zoe, then settled her gaze firmly on Jayne. “Droyher’s around, an’ he’s been keepin’ an eye out for you to come back.” "Hwoon dahn," Jayne growled, and Mal and Zoe turned their heads to look at him for an explanation. Jayne ran a hand across his face, then turned to look at Mal. “I was here back when I was still workin’ fer Marco. This fella, Somethin’-or-Other Droyher... Lucius, I think it was... hired us as thugs to pick up some ransom money from a kidnappin’ he’d pulled’.” Jayne snickered. “We sabotaged his plane ‘forehand an’ took off with the coin.” He frowned. “Droyher was keen on movin’ around a lot; din’t like stayin’ on one world fer too long, case the Feds got sly. Why he’d still be ‘round here...” Mal raised his eyebrows, crossed his arms, and leaned back in his chair. “Jayne, there anybody in the ‘Verse you haven’t double-crossed or pissed off bad enough they’d want to off ya?” “Besides us, Sir?” Zoe suggested. “Well...” Mal wondered thoughtfully. “Times like these...” “Okay!” Jayne exclaimed. “I got it! It was easy money, low-risk...” At the last description, both of his crewmates raised their eyebrows in scepticism. “...Well, low-risk for the time,” he amended. “Point is, ain’t no changin’ it now, an’ we need to get that luh suh pile off this moon ‘fore Droyher catches wind of my returnin’ an’ plots my imminent demise.” “Point taken,” Mal conceded, turning to Breana. “Our ship’s broke down, an’ we need a specific part.” Breana nodded, setting Janie down and moving to her feet. “Of course. What can I help you with?” “Portside vapor compression accelerator for any four-gen, medium-class cargo transport,” Mal told her, standing. “We got coin; we just need the part to be on our way.” “I’m sure I can help you find what you need,” Breana assured them. She turned to the back of the building. “Please, this way.”

Kaylee had remounted the auxiliary pressure line with a very large amount of baling wire and some bolted steel brackets from the spare parts bin, a repair job that vexed River to a high degree. Kaylee had to assure her that it was perfectly safe, and that, in fact, the line was more secure this way than it ever had been with the factory mounts. “River, could you hand me the three-and-a-quarter drive, a backing wrench, an’ the dual-directional ratchet?” Kaylee requested, hefting the booster for the couple and inspecting it. “I’ll need ya to hold the booster in place while I mount it, an’ then we can reattach the couple to the pressure line.” She turned to see that River already held the requested tools, and smiled. “Yanno, you’re real handy to have around,” she commented, seizing the tools. She set the ratchet to the side, slid the backing wrench into a front pocket of her coveralls, and held the booster while River scampered up onto the maintenance stand. As they began the reinstallation of the booster, Kaylee let her mind stray from the task at hand for a moment. “Maybe if we’re lucky, you can sweet-talk Gabriel into helping us put that duct back in.” She grinned. Watching the booster in her hands, River muttered, “He’s stupid.” Kaylee’s playful expression turned to one of curiosity and slight confusion. “He’s stupid?” she repeated. “He’s stupid,” River confirmed. “Like my brother and the captain. He knows better.” She glanced up at Kaylee. “But he’ll help.” Kaylee turned her head back down to watch as she tightened the final bolt. “Why do you say he’s stupid?” she asked, putting a final half-turn on the nut and setting the wrench and drive behind her. River released her grip on the booster as Kaylee retrieved the ratchet and began reattaching the pressure line. “I know yer the smartest person any of us have ever met, but the rest of us...” She trailed off at the annoyed look River gave her. “You misunderstand,” River told her matter-of-factly. “He’s stupid; he’s not unintelligent. Jayne is simple; Zoe is single-minded, but she’s smart.” She leaned against the railing of the stand, drawing her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around her legs. “Inara is conflicted, and Mal, Simon, and Gabriel are just dummies. They always mix up what they need with what they want, and what they want with what they already have, but think they can never find.” She sighed, gazing off into the distance. Kaylee was trying as best she could to grasp the meaning behind River’s babble. “What about me?” she inquired, smiling, in an attempt to lighten the tone of the conversation. “Am I a dummy?” River smiled thoughtfully, but didn’t answer Kaylee’s question. Perhaps she hadn’t heard it. “You make Simon less of a dummy, now that he’s worrying less.” She picked at a string on her loose-fitted shirt, which was now smudged with grease. “Unfortunately, he worries more at the same time, only about different things.” Her smile disappeared, and she looked at Kaylee worriedly. Kaylee stopped her work for a moment to listen to what River had to say. “What’s the matter, Sweetie?” she asked. “Gabriel helps the captain,” River spoke distantly. “Not like the shepherd did, but he helps him from the other side.” Her lip began to tremble, and Kaylee moved to embrace the girl. “*He kissed me back.*” She met Kaylee’s gaze with watery eyes. “*On Persephone, he kissed me back...*” she whispered. “*I don’t want to be like Inara. I don’t want to get lost in it.*” “Shhh,” Kaylee soothed, stroking River’s hair. “What do you mean, ‘like Inara’?” River had stopped trembling just as suddenly as she had begun. She stared at nothing and everything all at once. “*Games with the heart*,” she whispered.

There were eight men standing in the street when Mal, Zoe, and Jayne exited the machine shop, all of them armed and looking unpleasant. "Tian xiz shou you de ren dou gai si!"Jayne growled, moving the rifle from his back to his hands. "Ai ya women wanle,” Mal agreed, drawing his gun and keeping it pointed carefully at the ground.” “Well, well,” one of the men called, taking a step forward. “If it ain’t Jayne Cobb.” Unlike the other rough-and-tumble gunfolk, this one sported a tacky, faded suit with more than one or two holes in it. No dress shirt was apparent beneath the jacket, which reminded Mal not a little of Badger. *No hat, but his hair must be slicked with enough gel to lube all of Serenity’s movin’ parts ten times over...* “Droyher,” Jayne replied, tightening his grip on the rifle he held. “Weren’t ‘spectin’ to see you on this moon.” Lucius Droyher shrugged, a stupid grin on his face. “We drop in from time to time.” He gestured around the street with his pistol. “I like to keep tabs on the dirty, spineless dogs who cheat me.” “Shiny,” Jayne responded. “Ya fixin’ ta settle this right here, or you wanna go someplace more private-like?” “Twenty grand is a long time to wait, Cobb,” Droyher reminded him. “Too bad Marco ain’t with y’all.” Apparently, Droyher didn’t know that Jayne had already betrayed Marco to work for Mal. “Anyhow, I think here should be just as good a place as any.” He raised his pistol, and Jayne popped a rifle round straight through his middle. Taking that as his cue to commit violence, Mal dove for the nearest cover. Unfortunately, the nearest cover turned out to be a large, ceramic pot. When a bullet shattered said pot, Mal opted for the next nearest cover, which was the wooden counter. A body landed heavily beside him, and Mal spun on his side to point the gun at the individual. “Wrong direction, Sir!” Zoe shouted over the din, racking another round with her lever-action. “Don’t know who’s gonna get me blasted first, you or Jayne!” “At least ya ain’t bored yet!” Mal called back, rolling to get a clear shot. *What I wouldn’t give for a healthy week of boredom...*

Simon paced the cargo bay grating, feeling quite bored. River and Kaylee had requested Gabriel’s help in reinstalling some heavy duct outside, and so Simon was pretending to keep an eye on the ship for ten minutes. *Of course,* he observed, *if the captain, or Jayne, or Zoe manage to find themselves another bullet or knife wound, it will be back to the thrilling life.* It was sad, he decided, how the most exciting moments in his life had become keeping the crew members’ bodies in their respectful wholeness. *That’s not true,* he corrected. *I have Kaylee now.* Simon loved the girl. Neither had ever said it to the other, but Simon was sure that this was the best description of how he felt about her. They’d been together for months now. *Five months now,* he thought. *Five months since Miranda, three and a half weeks since picking up Gabriel on Persephone, thirteen months since I first brought River on the ship... Wow...* Had it been thirteen months already? It didn’t seem nearly so long to Simon. Whole atmosphere of the ship has changed since then... True, there was a noticeable difference in life onboard Serenity in the past year. Just as Simon thought that he and River were truly finding a place aboard the ship, there was the bank job on Lilac that, because of a well-placed punch, took Simon out of the captain’s good graces. Then there was the aftermath of the Maidenhead muck-up on Beaumonde, which didn’t help matters any, but which got Simon and River back on Serenity. The departure of Inara Serra and Shepherd Book certainly caused some change, as well. Mal had become less excitable and more decisive in the absence of the Companion, but at the same time, Book’s absence seemed to pull all the plugs for the captain. Mal’s plans and orders seemed to get more and more disjointed, as if Book had been the only thing keeping him in touch with what was sensible or morally correct. Surprisingly, Inara’s return seemed to pull Mal back to a safer place in the noble ranks of humanity, although the two still argued constantly. Unarguably, the biggest blow to the ship’s integrity was the deaths of Hoban Washburne and Derrial Book. There was a huge, gaping hole in the atmosphere of the ship where Wash and Book used to live. Although Book had been off the ship for some time, having settled on Haven before his passing, his death still echoed just as strongly in the halls and chambers of the Firefly ship. Everyone was affected by the deaths, particularly Zoe for losing her husband. Even Jayne seemed very bothered by the death of the shepherd, who had probably been the closest thing Jayne had ever had to a friend. Simon’s thoughts again settled on the new recruit. Gabriel promised to help at least partially fill the hole that Wash and Book left when they died. Obviously, he could never replace either of them, but at least there’d be *somebody* to fill the role of another family member. *Because that’s what this ship is,* Simon thought. *This is our family, and maybe, just maybe, Gabriel will become part of it.* Simon was still pacing, and the charging of a weapon at the cargo ramp froze him in his tracks. “Hands up, an’ turn real slow,” someone growled from behind him. Raising his hands to brow-level, Simon turned very slowly. His eyes focused on a pair of good-sized men who appeared to be armed thugs. Both had rifles trained on him. “We come to deliver a message,” the one who had already spoken explained. “A message in hot lead from Lucius Droyher.” He grinned, exposing yellowed teeth. “Ain’t nobody should be dumb enough to run with Marco or Jayne Cobb.” *Message in hot lead...* Simon repeated in his head. *Kwin-gwe-je deh, I’m about to die!* Gabriel appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, behind the two men. He palmed each head, slamming the skulls together with enough force to crack bone. The collision of the heads was so powerful, the sound of it made Simon’s ears ring. Both men dropped to the ground instantly, bloody, fragmented messes where their heads had been. Trembling, Simon stared at Gabriel, who was still looking down at the men he had just killed. He had a spray of blood across his face, chest, and arms, but he was not breathing heavily, nor was he sweating. Finally looking up to meet Simon’s gaze, Gabriel did the last thing on Earth that Simon wanted him to do. He grinned. “Shiny. Knew I got out of bed this morning for a reason.” Simon could do nothing but stare at the grinning man for a moment. *I think that translates to, ‘I’m a rutting badass, and that was fun,’.* Suddenly, Kaylee and River appeared from around the side of the ship. “What’s goin’-” She was cut off in mid-sentence as she noticed the abused bodies laying at a bloody Gabriel’s feet, as well as the spreading pools of blood. "Wu de tyen ah!” Gabriel was still smiling, but when he noticed River’s expression and felt her emotion, the smile quickly faded. At that moment, Simon realized that, contrary to what he said, Gabriel cared very much what River thought of him. “The others are in trouble,” River informed everyone.