The gunfire above had stopped, and Simon eyed Inara with an intense gaze. “What do you think happened?” he wondered. “Is it over?” Without responding, Inara moved to the comm switch on the wall and thumbed it. “Mal?” she spoke. “What’s going on up there?” There was no answer, and Inara glanced over her shoulder at Simon. Simon, for one, tightened his grip on the rifle and kept it trained on the ladder. “*Inara?*” came Mal’s voice from the speaker. “Mal!” Inara exclaimed, upon hitting the switch again. “What happened?” “*Place is cleared out,*” Mal replied. “*Where are you?*” “In your room,” Inara informed him. “We’re coming up.” “*I’m on the bridge,*” the speaker cackled. “*I’ll met you in a second.*” Simon watched Inara unlock the door and ascend the ladder, then he followed suit. The corridor’s grated flooring was decorated by a scattering of bullet casings, and there were several streaks of blood here and there on the walls and floor. “Gabriel took them out,” Mal explained, already standing in the hall’s center. “We found him and Kaylee, an’ when we brought ’em back here...” “Where’s Kaylee?” was Simon’s first question. “Is she all right?” “A lot better now that she sees you again,” came the woman’s voice from behind him, and Simon spun to see Kaylee stepping from the side corridor. Grinning from ear to ear, Simon enveloped her in his arms, careful not to bump the arm she was holding so carefully. Pulling away for a second, he pressed his mouth to hers, entirely oblivious and uncaring of the audience. The fingers of her good arm moved up his neck, drawing his hair between them. Forcing himself to break away, his heart still pounding, Simon said, “I’d better have a look at your arm.” “It’s broken,” Kaylee informed him, a sweet, lovely smile played just for him. “Already been set.” Simon didn’t bother just yet to ask how it had been set. “We’d better get you to the infirmary,” he announced, glancing at Mal. “Place is safe,” Mal assured him, although his intense, angry expression made Simon a bit nervous. “Go do your job.” “After you fix me up,” Kaylee ventured as Simon led her through the common room and toward the stairway that would take them down to the infirmary, “maybe you wouldn’t mind playing ‘Doctor’ for a little while longer?” Simon grinned. “Just a *little* while longer?” ****************************************************

“Ya done humped yerself up,” Jayne ventured, leaning against the doorway to the bridge. “Din’t’cha?” He still had blood on his hands and shirt from moving the bodies outside with Zoe and dumping them in a rusty truck bed. Gabriel and River were still standing, motionless and silent, in the center of the room. They stood separate from each other, River looking like a beaten puppy and Gabriel looking like he wasn’t yet finished killing for the day. “Yeah,” Jayne surmised, “ya surely did. I don’t know what happened, but from the look on Mal’s face, I’d say yer in a mess of deep fey-oo.” He crossed his arms before him. “Crossin’ the captain ain’t exactly had pleasant consequences in the past.” He traced a small, barely noticeable scar at his temple with two fingers, remembering the wrench that contacted his skull and the following fear that he was about to become very friendly with vacuum. “Trust me when I say I know what I’m talkin’ about.” “It was a necessary step,” Gabriel muttered, meeting Jayne’s gaze with fire. “Yeah?” Jayne took a step into the room. “About as necessary as conspirin’ with Feds to get what you want.” It was a statement, not a question. River suddenly tensed, although her gaze never left the floor, and Gabriel obviously made note of it before his expression turned to one of curiosity. “What?” “She knows I’m talkin’ from experience,” Jayne went on, nodding toward the crazy girl. “I ain’t quite as dumb as I may look.” He smirked. “Ain’t quite. You’ve been gettin’ fed intel from the Alliance. Tell me I’m wrong.” Gabriel glowered at the man. “Yer wrong.” “Huh.” Jayne turned to leave. “Hope yer more convincin’ than that when Mal finally decides to start the interrogatin’.” ***************************************************** “The cast will be on for a month or two,” Simon explained, studying the bruising on the side of Kaylee’s shirtless torso. “Everything else seems primarily superficial. I need to get Gabriel down here so I can examine him, as well.” Kaylee had been flirty and sensuously joking during the entire examination, but at the mention of Gabriel’s name, she quickly became somber. “Um... Simon?” Simon suddenly hated the tone he detected in her voice. He straightened, meeting her gaze. “What is it?” “Um...” Kaylee’s gaze dropped for a moment. “There’s a chance... Gabriel may have known these folk were comin’... ‘fore they did.” Simon studied her features intently. “Go on.” “Well...” Kaylee forced herself to look up at him again. “It looks like... he’s been lyin’ about a bunch of stuff, an’...” She took a breath. “He’s been gettin’ River to help him.” Simon held her gaze for a moment in silence. Then, he turned and strolled from the room. “Simon!” Kaylee exclaimed, rushing to catch up. She grabbed his arm. “Simon, don’t-” “Kaylee,” Simon growled, pulling his arm away. “Stay out of this.” Kaylee yanked him to a sudden halt. “Don’t tell me what to do,” she protested. Simon closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. “Kaylee,” he repeated, his voice softer, “please stay out of this. I’m only going to talk to him.” He pulled away again, stepping up the stairs into the cargo bay. He looked around until he spotted Mal leaving the shuttle overhead. Rushing to the stairs, Simon ascended and intercepted the captain on the upper catwalk. “Where is he?” he demanded. Mal sized the doctor up for a moment, then calmly answered with, “In his room.” Simon began to turn back toward the stairs, but Mal stopped him with a hand. “We’re both full aware we have a history with you keepin’ secrets from me,” he continued, “but I’d wager that ain’t what this is about.” Simon faced Mal again, setting his jaw determinedly. “You do what you got to,” Mal told him, “an’ I don’t ask no questions after.” It was a bit of a shock to Simon that Mal would ever do anything like this for him. “Thanks...” he returned hesitantly. Mal pushed past him and headed for the upper deck. “Yeah, well you ain’t welcome.” When Simon returned to the lower deck and proceeded back into the lounge, he caught Kaylee standing against the wall. She eyed him worriedly, but said nothing. Simon marched right past her and into the passenger area. ***************************************************** Gabriel was sitting on his bed, cross-legged, when Simon barged through the door. At his entrance, the meditative man came to his feet slowly. Simon stopped directly in front of him. There was silence between them for at least a full minute. Finally, Simon spoke. “Do I need to tell you to stay away from my sister?” Gabriel waited a moment before answering. “Do ya think it would do any good?” Without hesitation, Simon asked, “Why is River helping you?” Gabriel stared deeply into the other’s eyes for a moment, attempting to study all aspects of his being. Then, he replied with, “Do you wanna hear the truth, or would’ja have me say what ya’d like ta hear?” Simon pondered for a few seconds. “Tell me what I want to hear.” Gabriel nodded in understanding. “I seduced yer sister, maliciously, into performing my seditious bidding. I took advantage of her psychological faults and emotional fragility and, therefore, remove any and all blame *of* her in my unorthodox and self-indulgent agenda.” Simon processed the answer, then nodded back. “That’s what I wanted to hear,” he admitted. “Through such, I now know the truth of the matter.” He extended his hand for Gabriel to shake. “I give you my understanding in regards to my sister, but I must warn you.” He took no steps closer, but his presence seemed to draw nearer, nevertheless. “I may appear, in your eyes, a prissy, spoiled gentleman who was raised in the Core, and I may be that, but I am a very protective individual when it comes to things I love. If you lead River astray and, in doing so, end up hurting her, I promise you, you will hurt. More than anything you have ever experienced before, you will hurt.” Gabriel considered. “You may have begun as a priss.” With that, he flashed a toothy grin. “But you ain’t no more, an’ I know that as a fact.” Simon tightened his mouth to the point where his teeth very well may have burst. Then, the grimace exploded into a grin. “How do you do that?” Gabriel shrugged. “Natural charm.” **************************************************** With a hand signal, Hayze directed Damian’s attention to the skeletal remains of a rusted pickup truck’s bed. She waved her hand in a particular fashion, then held up two fingers, swept them forward, and made a slicing motion across her throat. Even from eight meters away, Damian did not need to see the inside of the bed to know that Vance and Bridger had failed. *They were the most recent additions to the team...* He thought. *Rookies. Never shouldn’t sent ‘em in spot.* The mercenary cursed silently in Chinese before sending a coded, pre-programmed link wave from his wristband to Coleman and Sera for backup. Giving the motion for the team to head in, the soldiers fanned their way out of the junkyard and approached the Firefly. ***************************************************** “How ya doin’?” Kaylee inquired softly, slipping into the engine room and sitting beside River. Why the poor girl was hanging out in the engine room was a bit of a mystery to Kaylee, since River had been prone to slinking about almost every part of the ship *but* this room. “Worried,” River replied honestly. Kaylee wrapped an arm comfortingly around River’s shoulders. “I wouldn’t worry too much about it. And just so you know-” “Gabriel hinted about this to you in the caves,” River finished for her, “but he didn’t inform you of anything substantially concrete.” Kaylee nodded. “In so many words, yeah.” She brought River’s head gently to her shoulder and stared absently through the wall before her. “Did you mean what you said about Gabriel?” She knew that River would know she was referring to Mal’s interrogation on the bridge, so she didn’t bother going into specifics. “I said it,” River answered matter-of-factly. “That means I meant it.” Kaylee squeezed River’s opposite shoulder affectionately. “I’m happy for ya,” she informed. “An’ worried for ya, too.” She sighed. “Does he love ya back?” Against her shoulder, Kaylee could feel River smile. “Of course he does. He just doesn’t know about it yet.” There was a pause. “We’re leaving.” “*This is the captain,*” Mal’s voice boomed over every intercom speaker. “*Hope everyone’s onboard, ‘cuz we’re leavin’ *now*. *Kaylee in the engine room; River to the bridge. Now.*” ***************************************************** “We’re lucky you decided to gaze at the lovely scenery outside the window,” Mal commented as he lifted his finger from the cargo ramp’s close switch. He turned, glancing at Zoe, to whom he was speaking, as he waited for his pilot. “Our young friend seems to have drawn even more suspicious attention to this little boat.” “What’re you going to do, Sir?” Mal sighed, glancing back out the window. River suddenly appeared, sliding into the pilot seat without questions. “Get us out of atmo,” Mal ordered. “ We got enough fuel to make St. Albans.” “Sir,” Zoe cut, “St. Albans is the prime example of ‘backwater’. You really think us goin’ there and not ever leavin’ again isn’t a distinct possibility?” There was a sudden lurch as River pulled Serenity from the planet’s surface. “It most certainly is,” Mal replied. “But whoever was just on my boat, meant to harm us, they were quite obviously in over their heads. I have the distinct impression those folk below us wouldn’t make the same mistakes if they were fried to the gills on Lava.” “If I may make a request,” River suddenly spoke, “please don’t mention the drug Lavatose Ryobicin in satire or personification format when Gabriel is around.” Mal and Zoe both eyed River questioningly, but it was apparent that she would not provide any more information on the subject. “What’re you going to do about him, Sir?” Zoe restated. They didn’t even bother to leave the room; after all, there was no sense in even trying to keep secrets from River. Mal leaned an arm against the nearby wall lockers. “I’m gonna sit him down and get every single answer I want out of him. After that...” He remained in thoughtful silence for a moment. “I guess we roll with the punches, see where the ‘Verse takes us.” Zoe frowned. “So you’re *not* kicking him off the ship?” Mal sighed, staring off into space. “Depends on what he tells me, I suppose,” he replied. “I doubt it. ‘Least I can do is let this one slip, considerin’ what I owe him.” In an uncharacteristic move, Zoe put a hand on her captain’s shoulder and squeezed. “Mal,” she spoke, using his real name for perhaps the first time ever, “you’ve been holding onto that guilt for seven years now. You’ve got to let it go.” “He knows,” River spoke again, her gaze still fixed on the gauges above the control yoke, “and he doesn’t blame you, either.” Zoe’s eyes widened, and she stared at Mal. “Gabriel... doesn’t... I thought you said he didn’t know.” Mal flared his nostrils, running a finger through his collar to remove excess sweat. “Of course he knows; he wasn’t stupid back then, and he sure as hell ain’t stupid now.” He licked his lips. “He blames the Alliance for his parents, anyway.” “Mistaken identity and misunderstandings happen all the time, Sir,” Zoe assured him. “Gabriel, of all people, would understand that. And if you recall correctly, the Davins would still be alive today if not for the Alliance soldiers ransacking most of the neighboring homesteads. Sir, I’m just sayin’- ” “Hey!” Jayne exclaimed, appearing in the doorway. “What in ruttin’ hell’s goin’ on, Mal?” *Not now...* Mal thought. “We had to make an emergency takeoff,” he explained. “Things were about to get real ugly, real quick.” “My ma is onboard, Mal!” Jayne protested. “She can’t be here; we gotta go back an’-” “Couldn’t be helped,” Mal interrupted. “We’ll get yer mother back home as soon as we can, but right now, our primary worry is not gettin’ killed.” “Oh, now, Mal,” Jayne began, “I don’t think yer seein’ this from-” “Jayne,” Mal spoke, rather tersely, “this conversation was over before it began.” Glancing past River and through the windshield, which was just now showing the stars fazing into clarity, he moved past Jayne and down the steps. “We’ll set your mother up in one of the passenger quarters for time bein’. Meantime, some of us been on a rescue mission all day, an’ I got bathroomy things to attend to.” ****************************************************** Almost a year later, Mal was relaxing in a bar on Boros, waiting for his next employer’s contact to arrive. He tossed back the remnants of his drink and informed the bartender that he wanted another. “Sure ya don’t wanna slow down a mite, Mal?” Jayne suggested. “Never woulda guessed *I’d* be tellin *you* that, but we do happen to be waitin’ for a job.” Mal smirked, staring into his new glass. “What’s yer issue, Jayne? Afraid I’ll meet another prairie harpy an’ get married again?” In all truthfulness, he could use an evening of not being in his right mind. Inara’s last words, before she said she was leaving him again, rang over and over through his mind, and he was willing to do just about anything to get rid of them. *You know what I did. You know what I am. Yet you don’t care.* Mal studied his glass, wanting to drink from it and yet, at the same time, wanting to get lost staring into it. *I’m in love with you. That’s why I have to leave.*" “Mal,” Jayne edged, “whatever yer thinkin’ about, I reckon ya might wanna *stop* thinkin’ ‘bout it.” Mal glanced over at Jayne curiously. “What makes ya think I’m thinkin’ about anything?” Jayne nodded toward Mal’s right hand, and Mal followed the gaze down to his pistol. His hand was closed on the weapon, squeezing so tightly that his knuckles were white. He immediately released the grip. “Yeah, maybe yer right,” he conceded. “I just-” It was then that he took notice of the news report that the Cortex was broadcasting. “...and with riots in several major cities. On the interplanetary scale, insurgents from numerous worlds are popping up in organized force. There are reports of Independent veterans from the last war now joining the disgruntled youth of these campaigns, and the popular idea is that we are on the brink of another war. Here, with his professional analysis of the growing situation, is political science professor and author of...” “What’s goin’ on, Captain?” Kaylee inquired, walking up behind them with Zoe at her side. “Zoe,” Mal murmured, his voice straining, “sit down. Kaylee... where’s Gabriel?” Kaylee frowned. “Um... I know he booked a room in the Botsch Hotel. Why, do ya need him? Cuz I think him ‘n’ River are...” “Kaylee,” Mal repeated, his voice very hoarse and dangerous, “go get him. Pound on his door, break in and pull him out of bed if you have to.” He turned back to the screen, and Zoe, having taken notice of the broadcast, gasped. “He needs to see this.”