1x16 The Big Stick Chapter 1, a firefly fanfic

A/N: The following story can be read in its original format in script form at Virtual Firefly. I started turning these into little ficlets to practice my writing and because I was bored. I didn't write any of the dialogue I just set the scene, that was already there for me. Please, PLEASE google the site and read the original versions because they are AMAZING! These stories are the continuation of the series as if Fox (I spit on them) had never cut short the show! So enjoy as the crew keeps flying!

Here's how it could have been...

Firefly
1x16
The Big Stick

Town Hall

Weak, watery midday sunlight shines through the tall, slightly grimy windows of the Town Hall which looks as if it was hastily converted into an impromptu church. Mismatched chairs have been brought from the surrounding buildings, and homes to create makeshift pews for the citizens.

Shepherd Book, a tall man with a kindly weatherworn face, stands at the lectern reading from his bible before him. The bible is as weather beaten as its owner, has been repaired several times with a variety of different methods but its falling to pieces. It's good enough to carry the word of God so it's good enough to use, no matter what state its in.

"…When you give to someone, don't tell your left hand what your right hand is doing. Give your gifts in secret and your Father, who knows all secrets, will reward you. Word of the Lord. Amen." Book pauses, and looks up and into the townsfolk seated before him, some of whom cross themselves, and others just remain looking up at him.

In the front row - as if trying to make a point of being here - is the Lord Governor, dressed in Sunday finest of a sharp grey suit, and silken shirt. He looks towards the Shepherd as if enthralled by the sermon, however his eyes have the glazed vacant look of someone who would rather be doing something, or rather anything else right now. Around him the upper class also seem to be bored in their seats, turning out to save face rather than anything.

Behind them sit the less fortunate, the weak, the sick, the old, and the poor. Children sit with their mothers, wide eyed looking around them, and listening intently to the Shepherds words, smiles on the faces of every single one of them. The women look tired, ill worn by work. Several women are supporting their sick husbands or children, all of them hoping that the word of God, and a blessing from the kindly preacher man will cure their many varied ills. Book smiles a sad little smile to himself.

"And now let us consider our Lord's words as we sing the next hymn, and take collection for those less fortunate than ourselves." as he speaks, his eyes shift to a particular young lad in his fathers arms, pale and sickly with malnourishment, without enough strength to keep his head up.

The collection plate is passed around as the townsfolk begin to sing a hymn to the tune of a terribly out of tune piano, a little hunchbacked old man playing with his arthritic hands. The plate is passed to the front row, and the Lord Governor drops a single coin onto it disdainfully, not even touching it in case the smell of the poor gets onto his powdery skin.

As the hymn reaches the chorus the voices of the peasants rise joyfully high above the rich in front of them who are just mouthing along, their eyes turned down, and without any smiles. Book sings with them, his eyes still on the sickly lad whose father is making him smile by pulling silly faces while he sings. The preacher catches the fathers eye, and Book smiles widely at him and gives him a nod. The little boy smiles back at him. Book hides the sadness in his eyes by lowering them to his hymn book, his heart sinking at the desperation of the child's situation.

Serenity: Cargo Bay

Classical music, waltz music, fills the cargo bay emanating from the futuristic looking phonograph. This kind of music seems very out of place in a rough looking transport ship such as this, but the two people dancing don't seem to have a care in the 'Verse. Simon and Kaylee are dancing a little awkwardly in a tight circle in the middle of the cargo bay to the strains of violins and cellos.

Simon is trying to teach Kaylee how to dance, guiding her through each step carefully. River stands not far off from them dancing with an invisible partner, mimicking Kaylee and Simons movements, but much more smoothly, and with far much grace. Kaylee trips over her own foot, stumbles, and Simon steadies her.

"No, wait your-" he says a slight smile on his face, trailing off.

Kaylee looks embarrassed, her cheeks turning a delicate shade of pink.

"That was your foot wasn't it?" she asks blushing.

Simon nods, and the two of them laugh, leaning into each other helplessly. Kaylee attempts to apologize as the cargo bay door opens, and Mal, and Jayne rush in followed swiftly by Zoe.

The three of them are out of breath, each of them lugging large canvas bags slung low with goods over their shoulders. Mal and Jayne are grinning widely, a spring in their step, in fact Mal looks like he could skip - not that he ever would. Zoe hangs back watching their six, her hand on her mares leg shotgun.

Kaylee and Simon stop dancing, but the music continues on the background. River continues to spin on the spot, humming along with the music her eyes tightly closed in the moment. "How'd it go, Cap'n?" Kaylee asks with a smile.

Mal drops the bags he's carrying, and claps Simon hard on the shoulder with a wide grin. Simon frowns a little, buckling slightly as Jayne also pats him on the back.

"Your plan worked perfect." Mal says, a hint of surprise in his voice.

"It wasn't a plan, Captain. It was a joke." Simon replies uncomfortable with his part in the caper.

"Still, Doc… if I didn't know better, I'd think you was some sorta criminal genius rather'n dandified pretty-boy." Jayne says heaving his bags on top of Mal's.

Simon throws a look at Jayne, and his backhanded compliment. Jayne just smiles back at him, and shrugs. Wash, whistling to himself, practically bounces down the stairs from the kitchen as Kaylee gives Jayne a shove.

"Jayne!" she exclaims, a little annoyed on Simons part.

"What," Jayne chuckles, "Said he was pretty, didn't I?"

Zoe joins Wash, dumping her bags with the others, and watching the rest of the crew argue. Wash leans on her shoulder, and they grin at the unfolding scene.

"Captain, I really don't think Shepherd Book would be happy to know-"

"What Shepherd don't know won't hurt him." Mal replies, cutting the end of Simon's sentence.

"'Sides, good book says the Lord helps them as help 'emselves." Jayne shrugs.

River stops dancing, and tilts her head on one side looking at Jayne through slightly narrowed eyes a little puzzled look on her face.

"No, it doesn't. I checked." she replies.

Everyone ignores River, used to these little inputs, and continues with what they're doing. Zoe and Wash hug, smiles on their faces.

"Did we get the goods," he asks before Simon can continue to argue, "Will someone tell me we got the goods?"

"We certainly got the goods, sweetie." Zoe replies cheerfully.

Jayne starts digging through one of the bag of said goods.

"And then some!" he adds pulling out a massive bunch of succulent red grapes.

Kaylee and River are by his side before you can say 'fresh fruit', their eyes lit up by the sight of the plump grapes.

"Forbidden fruit!" River exclaims eagerly taking one and popping it into her mouth.

Wash joins the girls with a huge grin on his face.

"We have food! Fresh food! Lord does help those who help themselves!" he yells with a loud laugh, throwing a grape into the air and catching it in his open mouth, much to the wonderment of River.

River doesn't leave Jayne's side, standing uncomfortably close to him, ghosting every move. She's not going to move, not when there are grapes still hanging around asking to be eaten. Kaylee takes a few of the grapes and wanders back to Simon and Mal, savouring the taste of each grape she eats. Mal and Simon are still arguing about the job.

"Look, son, it's better this way. Don't have to draw guns. No risk o' hurt to nobody." Mal says with a careless shrug. Simon shakes his head in disapproval and Kaylee stops him from arguing back by shoving a grape into his mouth.

Behind them the music abruptly changes tempo and a cheery tune blasts out of the phonograph. Wash removes his hand from one of the dials and shrugs, trying to smile through a mouthful of grapes. He holds his hand out to Zoe who takes it and lets herself be moved into the middle of the cargo bay by her husband. They sway in a hug rather than dance, moving lazily from one foot to the other their eyes locked.

Kaylee excitedly grabs Simon and pulls him over to the dance floor that seems to have erupted from nowhere. Kaylee leads this dance and Simon joins in if a little awkwardly, but with plenty of enthusiasm. This is Kaylee's kind of music it belongs to her world, not his. Although, admittedly, her way of dancing was a lot more fun and a lot more exuberant than his.

River's eyes light up as she sees everyone around her moving in their own way to the music. She looks slightly disappointed as she realises she's the only one without a dance partner. She turns to Jayne, staring up at him with puppy dog eyes. Jayne scowls, then after a few beats of the music he shrugs and joins in with River's energetic wheeling jig. Kaylee laughs as she looks up at them, River small and slender like a willow tree and Jayne hulking and broad like an oak. They make a very interesting dance couple and soon all eyes are on them and their wild dance moves.

In the middle of the laughter and the now bordering on wild dancing, is Mal, arms folded but his foot tapping to the beat of the music. That's about as far as he'll go when it comes to dancing, unless it's a posh party. And he's wearing a suit. And he has a chance to annoy someone by dancing with the prettiest woman in the room. Then, dancing was completely valid. He looks at his crew and takes a deep breath, everything in the 'Verse is good and proper today.

"Dance it up while you can, folks," he yells over the music, "I wanna be off this rock as soon as Shepherd's back. Wouldn't do for his majesty the Lord Governor to wander home from a very fine sermon to find out what we done to his greenhouse… not to mention his safe."

He wanders across the cargo bay and to the stairs leading to the catwalk. Wash looks over to him, clicking his fingers, he's just remembered something.

"Wave came from an old friend while you were out, Mal. Sounded urgent." he says, a little breathless from the dancing. Mal gives him a nod and continues up the stairs.

He's so busy watching his crew dance happily that he almost walks right into Inara who has emerged from her shuttle to investigate the cause for the loud music and raised voices.

"Mal." she says curtly, barely glancing at him.

"Inara." Mal replies, equally curt, his eyes settling on her face.

There is a world of awkward between the two of them that only Zoe below seems to notice. Mal holds up a bunch of the grapes, offering them to Inara.

"Um… grape?" he asks, almost shy.

Inara finally looks at him, right in the eye, studying him for a second. Then the moment passes and she drops her eyes again. She takes the grapes and walks past him without another word.

Serenity: Bridge

Mal enters the bridge and stands just inside the door, hands on hips. He sighs. Runs his hand through his hair. Folds his arms. His day isn't quite as good anymore. He makes a move to sit down.

"Sir?"

He turns his head towards the door. Zoe is a few steps behind him a look of mild concern on her face. Mal straightens up out of his hover over the chair, turns properly and leans on the door frame, folding his arms again.

"It's nothin'… it's just…." he trails off and Zoe waits patiently for him to continue his train of thought.

"Nothin'." he finally mutters with a shrug.

Zoe's not buying it and she raises an eyebrow at him. Mal looks to the floor, he's got to give her something, he can't just leave it at nothing otherwise she wouldn't stop bothering him.

"We been runnin' on too little coin and too much trouble for far too long." he adds with another sigh.

"We sell the Lassiter, that'll solve half the problem." Zoe suggests, trying to help.

"Way folks been shyin' away from us, that don't look to be happenin' any time soon. Truth is, we took more green than gold on this job. This keeps up, I'm like to call Badger to see what he's got."

"Sir, is that really a good idea?" Zoe asks, genuinely concerned now.

Mal gives her a bright smile, deflecting any of his concern. Zoe relaxes a little.

"Best I check that wave. Might be it's Blue Sun tellin' me I won their big lottery." he says cheerfully.

"Didn't think you gambled, sir." Zoe replies with a smile, which Mal returns.

Zoe leaves him to it to rejoin the dancing. Mal throws himself down into the pilots seat and fiddles with a few dials, bringing up a wave. One of the screens a little above the height of Mal's head comes alive with an image of a man named Bernabe. He is very similar in looks to Mal, maybe a little less world-weary and a little more shaggier of mane, but these two could pass for brothers. Or at the least cousins. Mal gives him a genuinely warm and friendly smile. There's no mistake these two are clearly very old, firm friends.

"Bernabe, how've you been?" Mal asks warmly.

"Mal! Been a dog's age since we've last seen you around here." Bernabe replies with a smile.

"Now, wait now. Dogs on your world have shortened life spans?" Mal jokes, leaning back in his chair.

"Maybe. Maybe so. Maybe we all do…" Bernabe's tone changes, "Could use your help, Mal. Have a job need's doing. Don't pay much at all, but I can promise three squares to you and yours as long as you like. Whenever you like."

"You know I'd love to help you out, but I go more'n just mouths to feed-"

"Haven's pretty far out in the black, Mal," Bernabe cuts in, "But it seems every day there's more trouble headed this way. Rumours of Reavers, pirates… now slavers. Word is they hit Caridad last week."

"Caridad," Mal mutters concern growing, "That ain't but a few moons away from you. Me and my crew, we ain't got but a few light arms…"

"Ain't lookin' for you to fight for us, Mal. We need pick-up and delivery of somethin' damned sight bigger'n a few pistols. A big stick to knock them birds right outta the sky." Bernabe looks at Mal pleadingly a hint of complete desperation on his face.

Mal thinks it over quickly weighing the job up.

"Where's the pick-up?" he finally asks tentatively.

"Fort Liberty." Bernabe replies.

Mal grimaces, completely torn between wanting to help Bernabe and the fact his fuel is running awfully low at the moment.

"Fort Liberty's more'n two days burn behind me. I don't know if I even have enough fuel-"

"We're on the way Mal. You make it here, we'll fuel you up free. Before and after." Bernabe says with a smile.

Mal smiles at his old friend a little tightly than he normally would. He begins to shake his head slowly.

"I don't know, Bernabe. I got a passenger with an awful urgent need to go in the opposite direction-"

As if she heard him talking about her, Inara breezes onto the bridge of Serenity, the sunlight that's coming through the windows catching the gold threads sewn into her pale pink sari making her twinkle and shimmer.

"Captain? Do you have a clearer idea of when we'll be arriving at New Melbourne? I need to-" she pauses as Mal turns in his chair and throws her a 'do-you-mind' look.

Inara looks at him, nonplussed at his reaction for a second. Then her eyes swivel to Bernabe's smiling face on the wave monitor and she hangs her head a little.

"Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were on a call." she says, a little embarrassed of interrupting.

Mal throws her a smile.

"No worries, Inara. Sorry to say we won't be at New Melbourne for a while yet. Just got a job going t'other way." he replies with an over cheery ring to his voice.

Inara settles him with her gaze and the small smile she was wearing drops. This was exactly how she thought he was going to react.

"Of course you did." she replies a little coldly.

"Business is business." Mal replies with a shrug.

He turns back to Barnabe, leaving Inara to glower at the back of his head in anger.

"Get that fuel ready. We'll be seein' you soon, Bernabe."

Haven

Haven is a mining community of no more than two hundred or so citizens. It's dusty and small, like most outer rim worlds. But its more than comfortable for a transport ship crew that call it a second home.

Haven's main street comes by its name as really, its Haven's only street. It's essentially a broad concourse lined by rows of low roofed, weather beaten buildings that have been stripped of their bright paint over the years. Large pieces of mining equipment define the boarder of the town. Some of the larger pieces of machinery are crowded around the many entrances to tunnels that suggest there's a fair amount of work going on under the surface of this dusty backwater moon. Serenity is parked up close to one of these tunnels in a clearing just outside of the limits of the town.

Serenity's airlock ramp is down and at the bottom of it stands Bernabe with half a dozen other townsfolk, ready to greet the crew as they disembark the ship.

"Zoe! Wash!" Bernabe yells.

He shakes Wash's hand roughly, which quickly turns into a brief and manly - but heartfelt - embrace and gives Zoe a big hug. The other members of the small crowd approach them to shake hands or exchange hugs with the rest of the crew.

"It's good to see you, Bernabe. Been far too long." Zoe says with a wide smile.

"You're more radiant than memory allows, Zoe." Bernabe replies, kissing her hand.

"Husband… standing right here!" Wash yells pretending to be offended, yet unable to wipe the grin off his face.

Bernabe laughs and gives Wash a friendly punch on the shoulder.

"What about your missus? Mildred about?" Zoe asks looking at the faces of the friends of the crew.

"Been gone near a week. Took a supply run and blew out her engine on Beaumonde. Otherwise we wouldn't have called on you folks. She's got the kids with her, and is probably just this side of crazy right now."

"Kids?" Zoe replies in shock.

"As in multiple?" Wash adds also shocked.

Bernabe give them a wide proud smile that only a father can really get away with.

"Got us a little girl now, Tess. I've got captures." he says enthusiastically.

He pulls out some holographic captures to show Wash and Zoe, proudly beaming at his daughters face. Jayne strolls down the ramp a heavy bag slung over one of shoulders and his beloved Vera slung over the other. He scowls at the crowd that has turned up to greet them. Mal and Simon follow him a few paces behind and as Jayne wanders off, Simon turns to Mal on the ramp.

"Captain, I understand River and me, but," he glances over at Jayne, who spits in the sand, "Why does he have to stay?"

"Like I told you, Doctor, fort Liberty's an Alliance military outpost. After Jayne's uncharacteristic heroics on you behalf on Arial, could be he's every bit as wanted. Folks her are afraid. Might make 'em happier to have an extra gun around. And folks come to Haven for lots of different reasons. Bernabe," Mal points him out to Simon, "He's a good man, fought on the right side in the war. But some here ain't hidin' on account of they're all sugar and nicety inside. Could be you'll be more'n happy to have Jayne along."

"And we can trust him now." River pipes up, staring at Jayne who keeps throwing her nervous looks.

Mal and Simon both jump as River approaches them from behind. Kaylee isn't all that far behind her either. River looks up at Simon, a serious look on her pale face.

"He cried wolf and the wolf came. Doesn't want to get bit again." she says with a far away look in her eye.

Mal just does as he always does when she starts her crazy rambling and completely ignores her, turning to Kaylee.

"You get us fuelled up quick, okay? We got us a schedule to keep." he says softly.

Behind him River is still rambling to her brother.

"He doesn't want to buy more apples." Kaylee gives Mal a nod and Mal walks down the ramp to join the greeting party.

River smiles and skips after him leaving Kaylee and Simon alone. There's a moment of awkwardness between them, where they glance at each other an then quickly look away.

"So…" Simon mutters

"So…" Kaylee replies.

"Have fun with the crime on Fort Liberty." Simon says making Kaylee laugh.

"Oh, I don't know if it counts as crime this time. Sounds like a simple pick-up job."

"Still… be careful."

"You too."

Simon takes a step forward and it looks like he's moving closer to kiss her, but Kaylee leans in the rest of the way and gives him a near sisterly peck on the cheek. Before he can even hug her, she's pulled away from him and there is a slight distance between them once more. Simon wipes his hands on his vest, not having a clue what to do with them, so he shoves them in his pockets.

"You take care of your sister, Simon," she begins to back down the ramp, thumbing over her shoulder, "Gotta go. Fuel the ship up."

She hurries off leaving Simon standing on the ramp alone watching her go with a confused look on his face. What the hell just happened there? He walks sedately down the ramp and joins River who is stood next to Mal, who keeps glancing at her worried she's going to start talking crazy.

Mal shakes Bernabe's hand, all smiles. Bernabe looks over Mal's shoulder at Kaylee who is stood talking to some of the rest of the group, he waves at her.

"That the new mechanic? She's a damned sight prettier'n that 'mechanical genius' you had last time you set down on Haven. That boy mucked up our filtration system so bad we had to shut down operations for two days." he says still waving.

Mal smiles at Kaylee, watching her as she animatedly talks to one of the younger members of the townsfolk who is listening to her every word. She glances over to Mal and gives him a small wave and a big grin.

"Yeah," he sighs a twinkle of pride in his eye, "She's somethin' special, that girl. Keeps me sane."

"So who's the one drives you t'other way?" Bernabe asks giving Mal a serious look. Mal doesn't answer him.

He's too busy watching Inara and Shepherd Book join the rest of the crew, introducing themselves to the townsfolk who bow or curtsy to Inara who just shakes her head modestly. Mal's eyes especially follow Inara who is now wearing a modest dress of black with a small flowered pattern picked out in pale greens and yellows. Bernabe clears his throat and Mal looks back at him.

"So it's just a simple pick-up you need, right?" he says rubbing his neck in embarrassment.

Bernabe suddenly looks very uncomfortable and Mal narrows his eyes slightly.

"It's never simple." he sighs.

"Not that complicated." Bernabe says with a shrug.

"Fill me in."

"There's a man on Fort Liberty, Bennett Hicks, a thief by trade, wants to start over fresh. He's contacted us a few times before, but I've been reluctant to let him come in…"

"…Because he might bring Alliance attention."

"Exactly," Bernabe agrees snapping his fingers, "But it turns out he can give us what we need in exchange for a fresh start. Says he has an inside man with the Alliance."

"You trust him?"

"Remember the part where he's a thief?"

"So what do you want from me?" Mal asks directly.

Bernabe turns away from the crowd which he has been watching almost all the time he and Mal have been talking with a sigh. He fixes his friend with a serious look. Mal nods for him to continue.

"Your instincts, more'n anything. I didn't serve with you and Zoe, but I heard the stories," he places a hand on Mal's shoulder, "I trust you, Mal. What we need her at Haven's somethin' to keep us safe. If it ain't the slavers this week, it'll be Reavers the next. We need to be able to swat them bastards right down."

"You'll get your big stick, Bernabe. Now where's those three squares you promised me?" Mal replies with a big grin on his face.

Bernabe smiles too and, clapping his hand on Mal's shoulder, leads him into the town.

Serenity: Inara's Shuttle

Kaylee sits down, pulling at the plush cushions until she's made herself right at home and comfy on the long curved sofa. Inara is knelt at the table preparing tea for the two of them.

"Everything alright?" Inara asks as she pours hot water into the teapot.

"I have a problem, 'Nara," Kaylee sighs heavily, "A Simon problem. You might've noticed that Simon and me, we've been getting closer recently."

"I did. I've also noticed that planets seem to spin and gravity tends to hold things down." Inara replies with a coy smile.

Despite her glum mood, Kaylee can't help laughing at Inara.

"I don't want to speak for Simon - I never know what's going on in that boys head-"

"-That's because he's a boy-"

"-But I'm thinking that he want to move things in a more intimate direction." Kaylee finishes, taking the tea cup from Inara and blowing into it to cool the tea.

Inara pours her own tea and seats herself across from Kaylee and waits until she's stopped blowing on her tea to talk.

"Kaylee, I'm fairly certain you don't need my advice. But if you ask nicely, I might be swayed into parting with a Companions trade secrets or two that would make the Doctor's toes curl." Inara says with a smile.

"That's not it, Inara. I don't want to." Kaylee replies sounding deflated.

Inara blinks several times in total surprise and looks at Kaylee carefully as she sips her tea not making eye contact. How had she not seen this coming?

"But I thought-?" Inara starts, a little shell shocked.

"Yeah, I did too. But I just… after that bounty hunter, I don't feel right inside."

"He didn't…" Inara gasps her eyes wide.

"No, it's not like that. He didn't lay a hand on me, 'Nara. But he could've. He could've so easy. And I just haven't felt right since." Kaylee admits. Inara takes a sip of her tea needing a second to process everything Kaylee has just told her. She's just opened up to her and she had to choose her words very carefully. "Jubal Early might not have touched you physically, but he touched you mentally, emotionally. It's still assault. He made you feel unsafe in your home, here on Serenity." she says.

"Right. I just don't feel safe. And I don't know how open I can be with Simon. I feel stupid." Kaylee sighs.

"Honey, there's nothing to feel stupid about," Inara places her hand on Kaylee's shoulder, "What you're feeling is perfectly natural. Simon is a good man. He'll wait. And when the time is right, it will be, well, right."

Kaylee gives Inara a little smile and shrugs her shoulders.

"Thanks, 'Nara. I'm glad I have you here to talk to. I don't know what I'd do without you." she says smiling wider.

Inara tenses a little but chooses not to say anything to Kaylee. She takes a long drink of tea to calm her nerves.

"So what's going on with you and the captain these days? I've been sort of noticing a…vibe." Kaylee asks a twinkle in her eye.

"There's no vibe."

"Wash says he thinks there's more looks between the two of you."

"There are no looks! There's no vibe!" Inara exclaims, abruptly getting to her feet and masking her annoyance by pouring herself more tea.

With her composure a little more under control, she turns back to a slightly awkward looking Kaylee with a smile, holding the teapot forward.

"More tea?"

Fort Liberty

Fort Liberty is a small tight looking walled city that has been built against the side of a low mountain, purely built for practicality. The whole place is filled with sharp edged, institutional-looking buildings that make Fort Liberty look foreboding and plain right scary. It's no Persephone with bright lights and beautiful architecture, but it's much more 'civilized' than most places Serenity has set down in the past. It has the overall feel of an industrial complex that sprang up inside the military outpost to service and maintain it, which is exactly what happened.

Every so often along the tall grey walls, there is a cannon mount that protects the walls of the city from attack from above or below. Each of the cannons is manned by a grey uniformed soldier who trains the cannon on anything suspicious, and right now the most suspicious thing in their airspace is Serenity coming into land in the dry docks of the city and every cannon in range follows her, targeting her underbelly but holding fire.

Serenity: Bridge

Wash sets the ship down gently and there's not even a bump as her belly touches the ground. Mal and Zoe stand behind him studying the city around the docks in the failing light of day.

"Ah, yes. Scenic downtown Fort Liberty. Where you can get arrested for breathing." Wash jokes putting on a cheesy voice.

"Then maybe you should keep your mouth shut, honey." Zoe replies.

"Look, I'm just saying, Alliance military outpost, us… is this really the best plan ever?"

"I'll get our man Hicks," Mal says ignoring Wash, "He'll tell us where the package is, we'll get it and be out of the world again and back to Haven in time for dinner. Simple."

"Do like dinner at Haven. Mildred makes a great shepherd's pie-"

"I'm sure that's exactly how it'll work out, sir." Zoe replies also ignoring her husband.

"-Even though I don't think she uses real shepherd in it. Still, we better keep an eye on Book."

"In and out, Zoe. No problems." Mal replies already heading for the door.

"Want to pick up your lottery winnings while you're in town, too, sir?" Zoe asks with a smirk.

Mal smirks to himself and just keeps walking down the corridor away from the bridge.

Fort Liberty: Street

The thin street is fairly crowded and its mostly labourers and off-duty military personnel that are roaming around it either heading home or to the nearest bar. Mal, careful not to make eye contact with anyone, guides Inara through the rough crowd. For a change, they're in full blown, mid-argument as they walk.

"-am I gonna get you to New Melbourne? Oh, I don't know. Maybe the day after you finally 'fess up to the crew that you're leaving." Mal snaps.

"I'll tell them when I'm ready. When they're ready." she retorts.

"Seems to me you'll tell them about three weeks after I drop you off, rate you're going!"

"Which will be long after River is older and greyer than Shepherd Book at the rate YOU'RE going!"

Around them people begin to stare at their growing argument which is beginning to get inches away from throwing things and full blown screaming at each other. Some even stop to stare or listen at the companion and her consort arguing. Mal throws 'dare-you-interrupt' looks into the crowd and they disperse quickly, allowing the two of them to move easily through the street.

"At least I'm not living a lie!" he hisses in a lower voice.

"No, you just don't tell people what they need to know!"

"Right! Just like you!"

"Right!" Inara huffs.

"Right!" Mal mimics.

They pause and look around to see that a lot of people have stopped to see the pretty lady and the scruffy looking man squabble in the middle of the street like two school children fighting over a skipping rope. Mal gives Inara a tight smile.

"Maybe we should save this discussion until we're back on the ship." he says under his breath to her.

She nods once to him then looks around at the passers by who are staring at them. After a glance from her the crowd start moving freely again.

"You've certainly had worse ideas-" she mutters back.

But Mal isn't listening to her, instead he's looking past her.

"Hey. We're here." he says nodding up at the building behind her.

Inara turns. It's yet another blocky grey building built to last, that has a plain white lit up sign that says straightforwardly enough, 'BAR'.

Fort Liberty: Bar

Mal and Inara sand in the doorway of the crowded bar, no one looks up to see them walk in, not that you can see much in the smoky atmosphere. This is really the kind of place where you're probably much better off not knowing who just walked through the door, or indeed what you've just walked through on your way in. It's also a place where someone like Inara would normally never be seen dead in. Here inside the bar it's plain to see this is a working mans place, there are no men in military uniforms in contrast to outside this smoky den where they scurry between the buildings seeking out trouble like worker ants. Inara looks across the room, she catches Mal's attention and nods to a man near the bar.

"Is that your man over there?" she asks.

Mal gives a low, long-suffering sigh and nods his head.

"Seems about right." he muses as he starts to wind through the crowd to him.

The young man Inara pointed out is now hovering near the bar, quite literally. A brute of a man is holding the gawky, young man against the wall with a ham sized fist.

"Told you, boy, our business is done when I say it's done!" the brute spits angrily.

"Listen, I-"

"Excuse me?" Mal cuts across Bennett's pleading.

The two men turn to look at Mal, both a little puzzled by the interruption.

"Bennett Hicks?" Mal asks the geeky looking guy politely.

Bennett Hicks, still pinned against the wall nods frantically, his eyes screaming for help. Mal isn't happy to hear that the teenage, awkward kid is the guy he's looking for, but he's also not at all surprised at his own twisted brand of luck. With a shrug he punches the hulking brute square in the face. There's a sickening crunch and the brutes face explodes with blood. Mal has definitely broken this guys nose due to the amount of blood that's pouring out of his face. The guy stumbles, cursing loudly and dropping the Hicks kid to the floor in a heap. He straights himself and takes a threatening step towards Mal with his ham handed fist, but Mal just shakes his head and sweeps back his coat revealing his trusty pistol at his side.

"Don't." Mal warns the brute.

The guy seems to be not as stupid as he looks and he disappears into the crowd, his hand shielding his bleeding nose. Inara joins Mal at his side, watching the brutish man leave the bar. She glances sidelong at Mal.

"Never a dull moment, Captain Reynolds." she sighs.

Mal flatly ignores her and moves over to Bennett Hicks, straightening the shaking boys shirt.

"I know you?" the kid asks, shaken.

"Bernabe sent me. You have his package ready?" Mal asks casually.

"Not yet, I-"

"Well, get it ready, boy," Mal snaps not happy at the boys answer, "I want to be packed up and off this planet 'fore anyone even realizes I'm here."

"There might be a problem, sir."

"What kinda problem might that be? Bernabe told me you had a inside man could get you everything you needed."

"I did. Gleason."

"Did?" Mal winces, already seeing what's coming next.

"I think you just broke his nose." the kid replies.

His eyes widen a little and he looks past Mal, over his shoulder towards the door. Mal and Inara turn to see what he's gawping at. Gleason, the brute that Mal punched in the face has returned. And he's not alone. He's flanked by three of this Alliance Uniformed buddies who are a bagful of angry right now. There was that twisted luck again.

"And I think he's come back to repay the favour…" Hicks mutters.

"Of all the blasted space-sucking luck!" Mal curses in Chinese under his breath.

Gleason gives him a nasty - and with all the blood on his face - very ugly grin.

Haven: Main Street

A large dusty looking tent that has been patched in several places has been set up under the stars at the north end of the street, it's large enough to fit at least fifty people inside. At the south end of the street there is a bright, cheerful bonfire blazing away, kicking up sparks into the inky black sky.

Bernabe, Simon and Jayne walk out of the tent all of them feeling rather full and all the better for it. Behind them townsfolk clear up the plates and pots after dinner, though in truth the cleaning is likely to be done the following morning. Tonight was a cause for celebration and partying.

"I must say, Bernabe, that's one of the finest meals I've had in a long time." Simon says.

"Got a garden up in the hills. Sissy Temkin stays out there most days, claims she can grow anything." Barnabe replies with a laugh.

"I'm inclined to agree." Simon nods.

The three of them continue at a relaxed pace towards the bonfire, in no definite hurry to get there. People winding past them offering greetings to Bernabe, who nods or waves a cheery response.

"I'm sorry we didn't have any meat for our fine visitors." Barnabe says with a shrug.

Jayne looks at Bernabe suspicion on his face.

"No meat," he grunts, "What the gorramn hell was in the stew?"

"Mushrooms." Bernabe replies with a smile.

Jayne's eyebrows shoot up in surprise.

As they reach the bonfire, River rushes up to them, smiling and laughing, slightly breathless. She's holding a big shiny red apple which she presents to Jayne by almost shoving it right up his left nostril.

"You've been good. You can have this. Here." she says cheerfully.

Jayne looks at her suspiciously for a second then takes the apple, glaring at it with deep mistrust. Simon glances at his sister, but does his best to ignore their exchange.

"Mushrooms?" he asks Bernabe, trying to steer attention away from his sister who is still looking up at a creeped out Jayne.

"You'd be amazed what we can grow in spent mineshafts." Bernabe replies.

Beside them Jayne sniffs the apple suspiciously, checking to see if its edible. Well least it smells like an apple. He polishes it on his sleeve, keeping a wary eye on River. He unsheathes his knife and pierces the apples skin, apparently testing for a grenade. He's satisfied that there is no grenades embedded in the apple but he still doesn't eat it.

The group move closer to the bonfire where folk are lounging on deckchairs, relaxing and laughing loudly at each others jokes. They shout a cheery greeting to Bernabe and a few call to the newcomers from Serenity by name.

"And now that suppers over, it's time for the three D's." Bernabe says clapping his hands together.

"Three D's?" Simon asks puzzled.

"Drinking, dancing and dessert." Bernabe replies, beaming at the young doctor.

Jayne and River both get very excited at his words.

"Dancing?" River asks her eyes lighting up.

She gives a wild grin and claps her hands together.

"Drinking? And dessert," Jayne says smiling, "Gotta have me some words with Mal. We never get dessert. 'Cept on birthdays."

Bernabe addresses one of the men in the crowd, a scrappy looking man that wears a ludicrous looking miner's helmet that looks like at one time has doubled as a bowl.

"Doane," Bernabe calls, "A jaunty tune, if you please."

Doane pulls out a guitar and begins to play a very cheery tune, if a little out of tune. Some of the seated crowd get to their feet and begin to dance a jig, others begin to circulate bottles of alcohol and pieces of pie.

Jayne wanders of to join the crowd and claim his share of the pie. River looks to her brother pleading with her eyes. Simon gives her a smile and an approving nod. River grins and she's off in a flash, heading closer to Doane and the music. Bernabe and Simon are left to talk alone.

"So you're Mal's doctor, huh?" Bernabe asks.

"Yes." Simon replies remaining very guarded.

They pause for a minute watching Jayne who has got his hands on a bottle of something. Realising that with a slice of pie, a bottle and an apple on a knife, he's carrying way too much, he offers the apple to a nearby boy who pulls it off the knife carefully. Bernabe turns back Simon.

"And your sister…?" he asks.

"Is just my sister. And a passenger. Is there any reason you need to know?"

"Just trying to make conversation, friend," Bernabe says frowning, "Most folks here have things they don't care to talk about. But some come here to talk about those things 'cause they ain't got nowhere else to do it. No harm meant."

Simon nods realising he's been a little to harsh and lets himself relax. The two men stand in an easy, laid back silence watching the townsfolk mingle amongst eachother. A woman passes a bottle to Bernabe, who takes a swig then passes it to Simon.

"Oh, no, I couldn't." he says holding up a hand and shaking his head slightly.

"Sure?" Bernabe asks, eyebrows raised. Simon looks around.

Despite himself, the homey atmosphere of Haven and it's people is getting even him to loosen up. He looks back at the bottle and shrugs.

"Why not?" he says taking the bottle and downing a swig.

As he passes the bottle on, his eye is drawn to the dancing crowd around the bonfire, whose whoops and cheers fill the air. Most of the people have actually stopped dancing and are now clapping in time with Doane's guitar. River is dancing in front of them, alone, grace and beauty flowing through her as she moves. She's collecting quite the crowd of fans. Most of the fans are men and a few of them whistle as she dances past them.

River seems to drink in the attention people are giving her. It fuels her to dance with even more exuberance and joy. She steps it up a notch, beginning to dance with increasing abandon. The clapping continues and she begins to reach out a hand to the edges of the crowd, finally taking the hands of one of the men. She pulls him out of the crowd and dances with him for a few seconds then passes to a new partner. She's in a frenzy of laughter and energy, she dances with a dozen men in the span of no more than half a minute. She switches partners again and finds herself with Simon who grabs her by the shoulder, stopping her dance suddenly. River looks up at him reproachfully.

"You made the world stop spinning, Simon." she mutters sadly.

Simon just puts a protective arm around her and pulls her away from the crowd of men who yell and hoot at him for spoiling the fun.

"That's enough for tonight. Lets go." he whispers to his sister steering her away.

River looks back over her shoulder and smiles to her fans, one of which is actually Jayne. She frowns at him.

"He didn't like the apple." she mumbles.

Serenity: Cargo Bay

Mal limps up the open ramp, Inara and the Hicks boy helping him. He's bruised and battered, one of his eyes beginning to swell shut. Zoe and Wash, who were in the middle of a discussion, maybe about the cargo, look up as they approach.

"Pack up! We're leavin'!" Mal yells, his voice slightly muffled by his thick lip.

"What happened, sir?" Zoe asks.

"I don't see any cargo. Should there be cargo?" Wash asks looking around.

"Ain't no cargo. Just a whole lotta hurt." Mal replies shrugging free of Inara.

"Captain-" the Hicks boy ventures.

Mal flatly ignores the boy and looks directly at his pilot.

"Wash, I want us out of this world. Now." he snaps.

"Captain Reynolds-" Hicks tries again.

"What about the job?"

"We ain't got one," Mal snaps, "Boy don't have the goods ready and I ain't about to sit around waitin' to get nabbed by the local authorities. Who are awfully unfriendly, I might add."

"Captain, this don't change nothing'." Hicks pleads.

"Other'n my urgent need to get to my personal doctor to see to it that my nose grows back at a more appealin' angle, I got a passenger needs to get to New Melbour-"

"Mal!" Inara exclaims, more than a hint of warning in her voice.

"We're going to New Melbourne," Wash looks to his wife, "Did you know we were going to New Melbourne?"

Zoe replies with a share that just plainly says, shut the hell up. Wash frowns at her, he isn't going to let this go, not when he is downright confused. Mal and Inara glower at each other, Inara's cheeks flushing with colour.

"We're not going to New Melbourne!" Inara says waspishly, glaring angrily at Mal who glares right back at her.

There's an awkward moment where no one knows what to say next, everyone pointedly looking away from each other. It's Hicks that breaks the silence, not really getting the tension between the members of the crew.

"I swear, Captain. You still have a job. If you want it." he says timidly.

Haven: Bernabe's House

Bernabe's living room is very small but more than comfortable. There are four very old, very large overstuffed patterned chairs crammed into the small space. Jayne occupies one of them eating a manly sized slice of pie. Vera is not too far from his reach.

Simon walks in from the hallway giving a disgusted look at Jayne who is chewing the pie nosily, smacking his mouth and slurping up each mouthful.

"Awful nice of Bernabe to put us up for the night. 'Specially after the way you pissed all prissy-like on the town bonfire." Jayne says, mouth full of pie.

"She was drawing too much attention." Simon mutters.

"Is that it, Doc? Or was she just drawing a kind of attention you don't like? She's your sister and all, and sure, she's crazy as a moon-faced wolf pup in heat-"

Simon silences Jayne with an angry glare.

"Is this supposed to be helping in some way?" he snaps.

Jayne sighs and leans back in the chair, balancing the plate on the arm carefully. He glares right on back at the young doctor.

"Look Doc, you and me, we know she's crazy, but to lots of other folks, she's just a girl." he says with a shrug.

Simon blinks in shock, surprised at the little bit of wisdom that Jayne has just shown him. But Jayne being Jayne, he pushes it right back over that precarious knife edge again.

"An' she certainly ain't ill-formed, if you know what I'm sayin'." Jayne says with a smirk and a lecherous leer.

If looks could kill the one that Simon throws Jayne could kill him five times over.

"That's my sister you're talking about." he growls.

"Should make sure more folks know she's your sister. That's a reason an' a half for a man to stay away." Jayne replies with a grin on his face.

Simon ignores him seating himself in one of the chairs, folding his arms and scowling.

Serenity: Dining Area

The remainder of the crew - bar Mal who had skulked off to the infirmary for pain killers - aboard Serenity and the new comer sit at the table. Hicks looks down right depressed at the whole situation.

"How exactly did this all happen, son?" asks Book kindly.

"Mal." Inara replies flatly.

"No. Was my fault. Captain Reynolds was just tryin' to help." Hicks replies in a quiet voice.

Kaylee, who is sat beside him, places a comforting hand on his shoulder and gives him a reassuring smile.

"That's our captain all right. He ain't one to ask questions." she says.

"Hey! I'm standing right here!" Mal replies in a nasal voice.

He's in the doorway having appeared in it sometime after the conversation started. His nose is braced poorly by a bandage that he has had to apply himself and shoved cotton wool up his nose for good measure. Wash smirks, hiding his grin behind his hand eyes watering in silent mirth at the sight of Mal's attempt to fix himself up. He opens his mouth to make some sort of quip, but thinks better of it after a glance from Mal, and he shuts it again quickly.

"Look, boy, I'll take you to Haven. Bernabe, he's a reasonable sort…"

"He won't turn you away." Zoe agrees giving a slow nod.

"Might not turn me away, but he certainly ain't gonna pay me I show up empty-handed." Hicks replies glumly.

"Pay you," Mal exclaims, "He's gonna pay you?!"

"Just room and board. For a few weeks. 'Til I find my place."

"There's another issue here beyond the boy, Captain." Book pipes up.

"What might that be, Shepherd?" Mal asks in an aspirated tone.

"Seems to me you promised your friend Bernabe a package. Seems to me it's something he needs."

"He's the one can't deliver."

"Haven's a place we've always been welcome, sir. Not sure I like the idea of breaking with Bernabe over something like this." Zoe says, choosing her words carefully.

"Bernabe's a friend, Mal." Wash says with a shrug.

Mal still looks unconvinced. He stares at Wash again frowning deeply. He points to his swollen nose, bruised eyes and pulls a face.

"Captain, even without Gleason's help, we can make this work." Hicks ventures.

Mal glares around the table and motions Zoe to follow him to the corner of the room for a private chat. She follows him and they put their heads together.

"Conjure Bernabe had an inkling somethin' like this might happen." Mal whispers.

"Really? Bernabe must not like you much." Replies Zoe, gesturing at Mal's nose.

"No, not my face. Told me to trust my instincts. Mine and yours. What do yours say?"

"I think the boy's earnest, Mal."

"I agree. Much as I mightn't want to," he raises his voice so the whole crew can hear him, "Settle in folks. Looks like we'll be at Fort Liberty at least a while longer."

Hicks sighs in relief, his whole demeanour relaxed. Wash gives the kid a smile and Book offers a small nod of approval to Mal. Mal approaches the table slowly, looming over Hicks, looking cold and hard as steel. His face, what you can see of it under the bandage, is a frightening mask of controlled anger.

"Now, you're the thief, boy, this is your show. I ain't comin' up with no plan myself and if you tell me something sounds like it's gonna get me and mine pinched, you're off this boat," Hicks nods at Mal's words nervously, "An' if you're playin' some game you're gonna lose. Dohn-lu-ma?"

"Perfect. I don't want to cross you, sir. Never much wanted to be a thief, but it seemed preferable to bein' starved . Got a second chance and I don't see no reason to waste it. Plus, I have to admit I am elephant penis sized faeces scared'a you right now." Hicks replies with a waver in his voice.

Bernabe's House: Bedroom

Simon wakes with a start, his eyes snapping open. It takes him a moment to realise where he is. He's sleeping on a cot and the bed next to him is empty, it's covers rumpled.

"River?" Simon whispers.

Simon looks around in the near dark and gets out of bed, tripping over the covers in his hurry to find his sister. He can hear voices, urgent but unclear and muffled coming from the front of the house.

Bernabe's House: Living Room

Bernabe and Doane are near the door, which is open, talking.

"You sure?" Bernabe asks, worry in his voice.

Jayne is in the same chair as earlier, pie gone, fully dressed and fully awake. He polishes his gun absent minded as he watches Bernabe and Doane's exchange. River is stood in the door of the room, leaning on the frame, watching Jayne with a modicum of interest.

"Pretty gorramn sure, Bern." Doane answers.

Simon wanders into the room, spots River watching Jayne and glares at him. He gently takes her by the shoulder and with a little force, makes her walk with him back in the direction of the bedroom. She's resilient to it but she allows her brother to get her back into bed.

"What's going on?" he asks curiosity getting the better of him.

Everyone looks up at him, their faces grave and pale.

"Just got word that slavers hit Archon Point." Bernabe says pulling a face.

"Good bet that we're next on the list." Doane adds.

"Mal an' them don't get back soon, won't be anyone for 'em to come back to." Bernabe says with a sigh.

Serenity: Dining Area

Mal and Zoe sit at one end of the table. Kaylee and the Hicks boy sit way down at the other, glancing between each other.

"You had the night to think on it, Hicks. Dazzle me." Mal says tonelessly.

"Well see…" Hicks trails off.

He glances at Kaylee for a little support and she gives him an approving nod, suggesting he should carry on with what he was going to say.

"I ain't a thief who's good at taking things."

"Boy, that is not a confidence inspiring beginnin'." Mal replies throwing Hicks a look.

Hicks clams up, flustered by Mal's words, losing tack of what he was about to say next. Zoe throws Mal a reproachful look that says 'let the boy talk', so Mal eases up and leans back in his chair, waving a hand for Hicks to carry on. Hicks gathers his thoughts and starts again.

"I'm good with computers… systems and such. I ain't no Mister Universe-"

"Who?"

"-But I ain't half bad. So, see, I don't take things so much as I make 'em disappear. Livin' on Fort Liberty, so many supplies floating this way and that, it's always easy to make things be where you want 'em to be rather'n where they're supposed to be." Hicks finishes and looks up at Mal, who crosses his arms, waiting for more.

Hicks raises his eyebrows and continues.

"Secondary targets're easy. I just hit a button and they'll be delivered right here to us." he adds with a shrug.

"Well ain't that fancy?" Mal finally mutters.

"Could be we want 'em delivered somewhere else. Draw less attention." Zoe advises.

Hicks nods at her enthusiastically.

"I can do that too." he says with a smile.

"How 'bout the, you know, big target?" Mal asks.

"Even that wouldn't be bad under the right circumstances."

"Which I'm gessin' these ain't."

"Target's protected by a security network. We want to take the target, get away clean, network's gotta come down."

"And to take the network down, we need an inside man." Kaylee adds.

"Which we ain't got," Mal sighs and looks at Zoe, "I love this plan already."

"Doesn't sound any worse than most of yours so far, sir." she replies.

"Me and Ben, we figured this part out last night." Kaylee says a cheerful smile growing on her lips.

Hicks brightens and his ears turn a little pink at Kaylee's mention of his first name. Clearly the boy has a bit of a crush on Kaylee.

"We do have an inside man." Hicks says with a smile.

"We do? Who?" Mal asks surprised.

"You."

"Still no worse than mine?" Mal asks Zoe.

"No, sir. Not yet." she replies with a smirk.

"Do you see my face," he point's at his nose, glaring at Hicks, "You lookin' right at me! How am I-"

Wash rushes in cutting Mal's words short and drawing the attention of the whole room.

"Got a complication, Mal." he says a little breathlessly.

"Don't we always?" asks Mal with a careless shrug.

"Just got a wave from Bernabe. They're pretty sure the slavers are on their way to Haven. We don't leave Fort Liberty tonight, we might as well not make the trip back there. Hell, the slavers make best speed, they might beat us back even if we leave now."

"What do we need to do to get this done?" Mal asks Hicks, with a hint of urgency.

"Timetable you're talking about, you'd need a miracle." Hicks replies, he'd been uncomfortable by the question.

Unknown to anyone, Book has been standing in the doorway from the engine room hall, listening for a good long time. He clears his throat and everyone turns.

"Would you settle for a preacher?" he asks with a friendly smile.

He nods to Mal and Mal gives Hicks a look of challenge.

"Best you plan on that miracle." Mal says with a wide smile.

Serenity: Cargo Bay

Hicks has made the exercise corner of the cargo bay is own little workspace. The leather backpack he has brought with him is open and the contents are strewn around him in a half circle. He has all manner of cobbled together gizmos and gadgets, most of them of his own design and all of them have loose wires sticking out of them. They're the Serenity version of high-tech gadgetry.

Hicks sits on the exercise bench, looking more comfortable amongst all his equipment than he does when talking to people, especially Mal. The crew are stood around him, including Book and Inara. He holds up a Datacard.

"This will get you inside." he informs Book.

Book takes it and scrutinizes it close to his face. Mal looks at it over his shoulder.

"How's this gonna work?" Mal asks with a frown.

"Datacard contains the itinerary for Commodore Jeremiah Peck, weapons inspector for the Alliance. He's to pay a visit to Fort Liberty tonight." Hicks explains.

"Great. Another complication. Don't we have enough o' them?"

"No, Captain. If I understand the boy correctly, I believe I'm to be Commodore Peck." Book says a hint of aspiration in his voice.

Mal's face lights up as he gets it and he nods.

"You and your aide," Hicks continues to Book, pointing at Zoe, "Will pay a visit to Fort Liberty Central Security."

"Not dressed like this we won't." Book replies.

"Won't have to. Fella named Feng, runs the laundry where the uniforms get cleaned, id dirtier'n the clothes that come in. For a few coin, he'll loan two out to us," Hicks glances up at Inara, "Heck, if a pretty enough lady smiles at him right, he might not even charge."

"What about the guards? Even with the security network down, won't there be a guard at the target?" Zoe asks frowning.

"Ben here's a genius, I think. There's a program on the card, when they plug in to check the good Commodore's creds, it'll gum up the Fort's roster." Kaylee says smiling.

"You go in right before shift change, no one'll be set to spell the guard when he leaves. Target's wide open." Hicks smiles back up at Kaylee.

"Soon as the security network's down, Wash flies us in right over the target, I'll shore up the winch before we go and we'll be in an' out quicker'n a greased cat." Kaylee says clapping her hands together.

Wash frowns and throws Zoe an amused look. 'Greased cat?' he mouths to her pulling a confused face. Zoe just shakes her head and ignores him, but still letting a smile play over her lips.

"Which is good, because I give it twenty minutes, half hour tops, 'fore some tech spots what we done to the roster'n does somethin' to fix it." Hicks continues, not noticing Wash's look.

"So once Preacher and I're in, how do we shut down the security network? Might be your noticing we're not technical wizards like yourself and Kaylee." Zoe replies.

Hicks looks away from her and busies himself with a palm sized gadget into which he slots another Datacard.

"You get within a yard of the primary core, flip this switch right here, this little piece of sweetness' do the rest." he replies, holding up the small gadget.

"There's no need to plug anything in? This will just interface with the core?" Book asks surprised, taking it from Hicks and giving it the once over.

Hicks just nods, a little smug smile forming on his face.

"Clever." Book says, handing it back.

"Thank you, sir. Light goes red when you turn it on, yellow when it's running, green when it's done. Simple." Hicks replies placing it beside him gently.

"Just don't let 'em catch you usin' it. 'Cause they'll probably be sore. And have guns." Kaylee advises.

Wash grimaces, looking at the gadget with some displeasure at the fact it could get his wife in to a whole heap of trouble.

"Sore and guns. Never a good combination." he mutters to mainly himself.

Mal, who has been quiet for a long time nods to the crew and they disperse to begin their parts in the operation. The captain and Book are left alone in the suddenly empty cargo bay.

"You okay with your part in this?" Mal asks the preacher.

"It's a solid plan, Captain. Should work." Book replies.

"Not what I asked, Shepherd." Mal glances at Book whose face is unreadable.

"The job needs doing, son."

The cargo bay is dark now, night has fallen over Fort Liberty. Wash and Kaylee have just finished shoring up the winch. They tug the line hard, making sure nothing is going to come loose. Kaylee has tools scattered all around the cargo bay doors and across the room Hicks is fiddling with some of the gadgets he's brought along. Occasionally he casts his eyes towards Kaylee, his features becoming soft as he watches her. She glances at him and he looks away quickly, his ears turning a pale shade of pink again. Mal walks up the ramp, sweating and breathing heavily, pulling behind him a hover palette laden with crates.

"Everything was there, boy. Just like you said." he yells over to Hicks.

Wash hurries over to help Mal who nods to him in appreciation and leans against the wall to catch his breath. Kaylee joins the two of them, already smiling from ear to ear.

"Everything go okay?" she asks.

"Would've gone a damned site better if the mule were in functionin' order." Mal admits, waving a hand towards the burnt out husk that used to be the mule.

Kaylee pulls a sad little face as she looks at it, it's little skull and crossbones front plate hanging from a cable tie that had survived the fire that had consumed it. Zoe and Inara wander down the stairs from above casting an eye over them all.

"Everything alright?" she asks, echoing Kaylee.

She is already dressed in her 'borrowed' Alliance uniform. She looks suitably uncomfortable, but definitely fierce, all military and power like some sort of Fascist Military Princess. Wash is staring at her, his eyes almost on stalks and his mouth hanging open.

"Wha-huh." is about the only thing he can manage to say he's so shocked.

Zoe gives him a puzzled look. He clears his throat, lets his eyes relax back into his head and looks slightly sheepishly at his wife. He holds her for a second and lowers his voice.

"Can we keep it? The uniform I mean?" he asks, his voice sounding like a little schoolchild.

"What?" Zoe asks, still a little confused.

"For one night?" he asks, holding up a finger and looking at her in a different way now.

Zoe suddenly blushes and laughs. Inara has joined Hicks and she's watching him work on the gadget in his hand.

"I have a question, Ben. Once the realise what we've taken, won't they come after us? Hard?" she asks.

Hicks looks up, surprised at the use of his first name for the second time by a good looking woman and also pondering her question carefully.

"Once we're in the air, I'll send a wave or two, make them think Gleason's at fault. I'm fair sure his superiors're suspicious of him as is." he replies.

"Are we okay with that? Framing him?" Wash asks.

"Gleason's a bad man."

"No. I believe we've found our bad man…" Mal says, gesturing towards the catwalk above them.

Backlit and sinister looking, Book stands above them dressed in an Alliance uniform, cap and all, managing to look both completely comfortable and totally ill-at-ease at the same time. He looks like he was born to wear the uniform, but would much rather die than admit the fact.

"How do I look?" he asks, holding out his arms.

Haven: Main Street

People are running in every direction in semi-organized chaos, grabbing personal items and shepherding children. There is some sort of evacuation plan in progress. Jayne is walking against the tide of people, checking Vera and not really looking where he's headed. The crowd parts to let him through without so much as a glance or a word of complaint. Simon wanders within the crowd and he finds himself face to face with Jayne who finally looks up.

"Any word from the captain?" Simon asks, hopeful.

The reply is a shake of the head from Jayne, who is not looking at Simon, but who is looking around at the crowd instead.

"These folks really think they can hide in them mines?" he sighs.

"It's their best chance, I suppose."

"Heard they's got a few shuttles hidden somewhere. We should 'borrow' one. Could be off-planet when things turn red. Captain'd pick us up in a few days."

"You're not suggesting we abandon-"

"Didn't say it was what I's gonna do, Doc. Said it was what we SHOULD do. If we was smart."

They both turn when they realise that River has joined them. She stands there, just behind them, barefoot. She's watching, it seems, both the crowd and Jayne very carefully. She looks to her brother.

"Like I said. We can trust him now." she says with a smile.

Fort Liberty: Security Central

Security Central is a grey concrete bunker built into the side of one of the small mountains that Fort Liberty is built up against. It's a fenced in military installation and the front blast doors are protected by two of the large guns that surround the cities perimeters.

The front office of Security Central is small and utilitarian, all shiny and new and clean. An Alliance Officer sits at a shiny steel desk which is in front of a heavy looking door which are flanked by two heavies with guns. The man behind the desk is fiddling with something on his computer.

Book and Zoe are stood in front of the desk looking the part in their uniforms. Book is doing a fantastic job of selling his commodore act. He has a sneer of bored distain on his face and he looks like he'd kill the Officer soon as shake hands with him. The Officer looks up and gives Book a fixed smile.

"Everything seems to be in order for your visit, sir… If you'll just give me your Datacard, I can pass you right through." he says.

Book hands over the card with an annoyed sigh.

Serenity: Dining Area

Mal and Inara are sat in silence at the table. Mal has his eyes on the table top, Inara has her eyes on him. "They'll be fine, Mal." she reassures him.

"Should be there my own self."

"Mal, you can't always-" Inara doesn't get to finish her sentence as Hicks runs in.

"They should be in by now." he says, a little breathless.

"Tell Wash to prep." Mal replies standing up from the table. Hicks rushes off to the bridge.

Security Central: Hallway

A guard is leading Book down the brightly lit grey hallway, Zoe trailing behind them. Book has a deep frown on his face.

"-am quite sure the level of incompetence I've already seen will continue when I review your records. Your man kept me waiting for nearly four minutes. FOUR MINUTES! I understand that Fort Liberty is a useless peasant drop-off point in the middle of nowhere, but I'd think that you would have a little more respect when you wear that uniform. Don't you know who I am? I should not be kept waiting for a single minute, much less than four!" Book yells at the guard.

Zoe looks like she's beginning to feel really bad for the guard who looks like he could quite happily burst into tears if Book started yelling at him again.

The three of them arrive at a large door with 'Computer Room' stencilled on the white door in thick black letters. The guard looks very relieved at their arrival.

"We're here, sir." he says, saluting Book.

The guards sigh of relief is plain to hear but Book doesn't bring him up on it.

Fort Liberty: Computer Room

The computer room is a large room, roughly the size of Serenity's cargo hold, but it's filled with banks and rows of machines and decorated in cold grey which seems to be the colour scheme for everything in Fort Liberty. Many of the workstations are unmanned and there are six techs on duty generally milling around the room, as well as two sentry guards by the door, who snap to attention as Book storms in like he owns the place.

The Primary Security Core, which is a tower of cables and spinning reel-to-reels, a hodgepodge of machinery, is in the centre of the far wall. Book storms through the room at a lick, stopping periodically to look at this console or that console, more than once running his finger over a screen or a keyboard as if testing for a layer of dust. He appears to become increasingly annoyed and highly disapproving, his frown periodically deepening.

Behind him Zoe follows him like a loyal puppy, her eyes scanning the room, keeping a careful eye on the two guards. Book stops in front of the Primary Security Core and gives Zoe the smallest of nods. She sidles up to the Core and stays there acting the obedient officer. Book struts back towards the middle of the room.

"Who's in charge here?" he booms.

One of the techs nervously stands and sloppily salutes Book.

"Watch-Commander Baggett, sir." he says dropping his arm back to his side.

With all attention now on Book, Zoe slides her hand to her belt and pushes the button on the gadget Hicks explained earlier, which is clipped to her belt like some sort of utility item. The red light on the device flares up as Book continues on his rant.

"Where were you raised?" he asks Baggett.

"Sir?" Baggett replies confused by the question.

"Where-were-you-raised?"

"Sinhon, sir. Shendao Province."

"I find that quite surprising, Mister Baggett," Book says with a sigh, "Based on the way you manage your watch, my assumption is that you were raised in a barn. Or a cave. Or perhaps in the den of wolves, sucking the hind tit of a bitch?"

Baggett flinches as Book tirades at him, he drops his eyes to the floor. If all eyes were not quite on Book before they sure as hell are now. Zoe risks a glance at the gadget on her belt. The light is now yellow.

"This dust is well beyond the acceptable level for an Alliance computer facility. Are you aware of how much damage one mote of dust can cause to such delicate machinery?" Book continues rubbing his fingers together in front of the Watch Commanders face as if making a point of the dust.

Baggett looks from Books fingers to his angry face, his eye twitching a little nervously.

"No, sir. Er, I mean, yes, sir." Baggett fumbles.

"Imagine a grain of sand in your eye. A single grain. Imagine you cannot remove it and no tears will come. How much damage will that single grain do to you in the span of a blinking week? A blinking day?" Book is now right in Baggett's face.

Baggett blinks several times and looks down unable to answer Book. Book begins to circle Baggett like a vulture and glances at Zoe who shakes her head 'no', the light is still yellow.

"Just because you've been assigned to the ass-end of the 'Verse does not give you the right to behave like a savage, Mister Baggett. You are an Alliance officer." Book says, still circling.

"Yes, sir."

"Shall I list the protocols you've broken in my brief visit here? There are seventeen. I fear by the time I reach the fourth, your pathetic excuse for a little mind will have shut down." Book looks back at Zoe who glances back down at the device on her belt.

It's green.

Zoe reaches urgently for the future looking cell phone on her belt, pretending to have received a call.

"Six-oh-five-oh-one. Failure to properly address a superior officer. Three-three-two-one-two-two. Improper use of-"

"Sir," Zoe says, breaking Books flow, "Priority call from the port. Seems some locals tried to break into the shuttle. I can look into it myself if you-"

"No," Book circles Baggett until they are eye to eye again, "I believe I have seen enough here."

Serenity: Cargo Bay

The lower cargo hatch doors are open and a cold wind is rushing up into the bay, making the big long chains that hang from the ceiling clink and rattle. If the cargo bay wasn't so brightly light, the sound of the chains would seem sinister. Mal, who is near the edge of the access hatch, is strapped into a harness connected to the winch. As Inara stands near watching him wringing her hands nervously, Kaylee makes last minute adjustments to his harness and hands him a pair of welding goggles.

"Are you sure this is safe?" he asks his face full of doubt.

"We strap Jayne in all the time," Kaylee replies, "Maybe you should have a hat. Jayne always has a hat."

"Mal, be careful. You can barely stand." Inara says, worry on her face.

"Nothin' to be careful about. If Hicks did everything right, there shouldn't be no guard anyway." Mal replies.

"Still-"

Again Inara's words are cut short as Hicks rushes in and onto the upper catwalk.

"Zoe sent the signal. Security network's down. We're headed in!" he yells above the noise of the wind.

Fort Liberty: Gleason's Cannon

Gleason sits at one of the giant cannons, looking completely bored and chewing on an Alliance power bar shoving it into his maw under his poorly bandaged nose. Serenity whooshes over his head and he snaps his head up to watch it fly along the wall to the next gun down the line.

"What the-? That little mouse turd is still going through with it!" he exclaims, dropping his half eaten power bar.

Gleason struggles out of the cannons seat practically falling out of it, abandoning his post to chase after Serenity on foot, running as fast as he can along the top of the city wall to get to the next cannon mount.

Security Central: Hallway

Book and Zoe follow a tall guard, a different one than last time, the other guard had no doubt gone to have a lie down in a darkened room. They are lead back down the gray hall, back to the entrance. The guard is far enough ahead of them that they can speak freely, albeit in low tones. Book can barely keep himself together, a grim look on his face. He looks very queasy, sick to his very stomach, tears brimming in his eyes.

"Preacher…" Zoe starts, catching the look on his face.

Book looks at her, guilt on his face. He's expecting the inevitable comment along the lines of 'funny how a preacher knows such things…'. Zoe smiles at him.

"I'm not even gonna ask." she reassures him in a soft tone.

Book relaxes a little and gives her a small smile in return, returning his eyes to the floor.

Fort Liberty: Unmanned Cannon

Mal is lowered down from Serenity above. At first it looks like he's just going to smash into the top of the wall, then the winch slows and he finds his feet near the empty cannon and attaches the cables he brought down with him to the gun. He slips black tinted welding goggles over his eyes and lights a cutting torch, working away at cutting the gun away from its mount quickly.

He's almost finished when he hears the thud of heavy boots approaching him. He pulls off the goggles and sees that it's Gleason, his nose bandaged up too, if a little more untidy. At first Mal looks surprised to see him, then his face falls into a frown.

"Like lookin' in a mirror," Mal mutters to himself, "You again! Haven't we tussled enough?" he adds loudly so Gleason can hear him over the pitch of Serenity's engine.

"Me stopping you - that's the kind of heroics that'll get me off this wall!" Gleason yells cracking his knuckles.

Gleason roars and barrels at Mal, who lowers his goggles and raises the flaming torch once again. The brute charging him screams, blinded by the light and Mal follows up with a swift kick to the chest. Gleason flies back and tumbles over the low edge of the wall. The fight is over before it even began. The guy may have been a good brawler back in the bar, but it seemed that he really wasn't the type for smarts. Mal raises his eyebrows and climbs up onto the gun, removing his goggles again. He looks up into Serenity's cargo hold.

"Kaylee! We're clear!" he yells.

The cables around him go taught and there are several groans as they take the weight of the gun. There is a scream of protesting metal as the gun tears free of its mount. As Serenity lifts off, it's new cargo being hoisted aboard, Mal, still sitting on the gently swinging cannon, looks down to where Gleason lies in a broken heap at the bottom of the wall. Mal winces at the state of his body and looks away quickly.

"Ouch! Not like lookin' in a mirror no more…" he surmises.

Haven: Main Street

Half a dozen armed townsfolk, mostly men and mostly hard looking, wait nervously. Jayne, Simon, River and Bernabe have stayed with them. The rest of the settlement around them is completely devoid of life, the citizens having bunked themselves in the mines below the town.

"Soon as they set down, we'll start shootin'. Fall back and drawn 'em to the snipers and traps. 'Course, they decide to strafe the street, might as well just shoot yourself." Jayne informs Bernabe, who doesn't take kindly to the merc's idea of a rousing speech.

In fact the remaining townsfolk look kind of queasy now, each of them gripping their firearms, knuckles turning white.

"I wish you'd gone to hide with the others, River." Simon says nervously.

"The fruit wasn't really forbidden, Simon. No need to hide." she replies.

Doane approaches the group, running up the street, one hand on his miners helmet keeping it in place.

"One of the signal buoys just detected multiple incoming vessels." he says breathlessly.

Everyone looks up to the sky, several of them mouthing silent prayers and fiddling with rosary beads.

Space

Five huge slaver ships cut their way through space, looking sinister and gothic in their black paint jobs. The Dungeon Ship is five times Serenity's size and it's slow, laden, as if weighed down by the many slaves picked up from raids on it's way to Haven that its carrying.

Surrounding the Dungeon Ship are four Outriders of varying shapes and sizes, all of them are smaller than Serenity and much faster. They weave about in front of the larger ship like a pack of wolves protecting the Dungeon Ship from attack and ready to strike at any moment.

They approach Haven slowly, the light of the systems sun shining dully off their darkly painted hulls. Out of the bright sun's glare, Serenity appears in Haven's orbit, placing herself as the last stand between Haven and the slavers. She's in the path of the slavers now and her nose is dipped low. Two of the Outriders surge forward, ready to engage.

Serenity: Bridge

Wash is at the controls, staring right ahead at the oncoming Outriders as if he can make them back down by staring at them hard and not blinking. Mal is stood calmly behind him, watching the Outriders approach at speed, calculating their distance to Serenity.

"Now." Mal says clearly.

"No," Wash hesitates, "Now."

Space

The Outriders are fast gaining on Serenity and as they get closer she flips up, showing them her belly. The cargo doors are wide open and the cannon is winched in so it points straight at one of the Outriders. Zoe is manning the cannon in a space suit. She fires the cannon with barely a squeeze of the trigger. One of the Outriders silently explodes, not all that far away sending wreckage flying in all directions, including into the pathway of the following Outrider. It dodges it easily and continues on its course towards Serenity.

With no mounted base, Zoe doesn't have much control over the cannon, it's just point and shoot really. She has to wait for Wash to aim the ship for her to get a clear shot. She fires again as the second Outrider approaches. The Outrider arcs, the cannon's shot passing wide of the hull and it retreats to the Dungeon Ship, which is already moving away from Haven. They peel away from Haven's orbit and sail off into the black as fast as their thrusters will let them.

Haven

Kaylee and some of the citizens of Haven are finishing the mounting of the cannon on the outskirts of the town, tools spread in a wide arc around it's base. Mal, Bernabe and Hicks watch them work at a safe distance, their help not needed, all three of them smiling.

"You done okay di-di. You wanna fly on my boat again, I think I'd be okay with that." Mal says to Hicks warmly.

"Sorry about your face." Hicks replies sheepishly.

"Faces heal. Broken promises don't." Mal reminds him.

Hicks returns his warm smile. Bernabe claps Mal on the shoulder.

"Can't thank you enough, Mal. Don't think we'll have to worry about slavers or Reavers any time soon. Reckon it'd take a full scale Alliance warship to get past this thing." he says, gripping Mal's shoulder.

Haven: Giant Tent

The crew of Serenity and the folks of Haven share a lavish, yet rustic meal together. There's food aplenty and more than enough smiles, good words and laughter to go around the huge tent. Everyone in the town is squashed in there, eating and laughing, all except Shepherd Book. His absence has been noted by several members of the town.

Mal and Inara, who are sat together share a laugh, as do Hicks and Kaylee who are sat opposite them. Kaylee says something to Simon, but he barely responds, he's to busy keeping an eye on Jayne who is sat down the table from him, getting a little too close to River than he would like. Wash and Bernabe laugh loudly with Zoe, clearly mocking him about something. She laughs with them then looks serious for a moment as she scans the crowd, in search of the missing Shepherd.

Serenity: Passenger Dorm Hall

Zoe approaches Shepherd Book's closed door quietly and knocks softly but doesn't enter.

"Preacher? You in there?" she asks softly.

"Yes."

"Folk're asking after you, Shepherd. Want to thank you for the part you played. Couldn't have done it without you."

"Be there straight away, Zoe. Just finishing a short prayer." Book replies, his voice strained, quiet through the panelling of the door.

Zoe places a hand on the closed door and looks at it sadly. She doesn't necessarily accept that's why he's locked himself away, but what else can she do for him, especially through a locked door? She sighs and leaves, her hand sliding down the door as she goes.

Haven: Giant Tent

The laughter has grown and the fun is building. Doane is playing his poorly tuned guitar again, strumming a tune that is not all that dissimilar to the one he played the previous evening.

Inara and Mal dance together, Inara a little awkwardly as this isn't her normal style of dance, but she's enjoying herself immensely. River and Jayne are locked in a whirling, wild jig not far away from them, Rivers dress billowing out around her a happy smile on her face.

Kaylee is pulling on Simon's arm pleading him to dance, trying to pull him into the crowd of dancers, but when he refuses, Ben is more than happy to step in and she heads off to dance with him instead. Simon at first watches Kaylee laugh and dance with Ben, a hint of jealousy on his face, then his attention switches back to River who is dancing with no sign of fatigue, Jayne however is turning red in the face trying to keep up with the young girl's pace.

Wash is dancing badly with Bernabe, getting laughs from the crowd around them with their increasingly mad and exuberant dancing. Zoe rejoins the group, laughing slightly at the sight of her husband and their friend cavorting with each other like morons, but the smile on her face doesn't quite reach her eyes. Wash waves to her to join him and gives her a wide smile. She joins him, if a little reluctantly, her mind on Book locked away in his room.

Serenity: Book's Room

Book is sat on the bed alone in the semi-darkness. His shoulders are hunched forward, his elbows leaning on his knees his watering eyes to the ceiling. He's dressed in his usual attire of his simple, grey preachers garb. The cap of the Alliance uniform is clutched tightly in his hands, his fingers running along the brim. He looks so very tired and very old at that moment and he drops his head, sobbing gently.