Disclaimer: Firefly and Serenity belong to Joss Whedon. Don't own a ruttin thing.

Chapter 1

Captain Malcolm Reynolds walked out of the cargo bay and down the ramp his feet touching earth relishing the feel of solid ground. He places his hands over his eyes to block the bright sun that threatens to blind him but basks in its warm rays. Adjusting his holster he calls behinds his shoulder "Jayne, Zoe get your ruttin asses down here I don't have all day to make this deal."

Mal's hired gun walked down the ramp "Geez Mal it ain't like Badger is goin anywhere."

Mal turns to smirk at his hired gun "He ain't going nowhere Jayne but he might likely give the job to someone else less we put some fire under our feet. That means we don't get paid which means no drinkin and no whorin for you for some time. How long has it been Jayne?"

Jayne makes a face and screams "Zoe hurry your ass up we ain't got all day!"

Mal laughs and turns to Kaylee "Ok mei mei I need you rustle us up some passengers. Let's try for some paying passengers this time shall we?"

Kaylee's face screws up "That wasn't my fault Captain. Jayne scared the crap out of them with his stupid guns and I'm going to kill you face when we touched down."

Jayne turns to Kaylee "Don't try to blame me for that one little Kaylee not my fault they were bound by law. I was just trying to collect the reward so the crew can eat."

Mal's face hardens "Listen to me Jayne do not think for one second that you can go around me again without a long visit with the airlock. Next time you come to me and I will make that decision not you. Zoe we ain't got all day!"

Zoe walks down the ramp "Sorry Captain just got occupied."

Kaylee elbows Zoe "Yeah a little Wash occupied."

Zoe's face turns red "KAYLEE!"

Mal rubs his forehead "I didn't need to hear that. Ok so here is the deal. Badger promised a job that will pay to keep us going for awhile it's supposed to be a simple pick up and drop off. The only thing catch is that it will take us at least 6 months to get to the drop off."

Jayne asks "Where is this drop off that it will take 6 months to get to."

Mal turns around "Well Jayne if you would just shut up for a gorram minute maybe I can get to that. The drop off is on Osris."

Kaylee interrupts "Geez Cap that's on the other side of the universe that'll take about 6 months to get to!"

Mal turns to his crew and screams "Would you all let me finish a ruttin sentence before you all interrupt. The next one to interrupt is going to be sorry they did. Dong ma? As I was saying before it will take us half a year to get there that's why I need you to fill all of our passenger rooms Kaylee they need to fund the trip to Osris. The take from Badger will be good enough while we rustle up some other work. Now is everyone clear or do we have anymore questions. No good let's saddle up."

Mal, Jayne, and Zoe make their way through the market while Kaylee sets up her chair in front of the ramp. "Ok Kaylee you can do this crew is depending on you to fill up those empty rooms with some paying customers."

A tall man appeared before Kaylee reading the statistics of the ship on the computerized panel "So do you make it a habit to talk to yourself?"

Kaylee chuckles "No just trying to motivate myself. Hi my name is Kaylee and this is Serenity. Your name?"

The man stretches his hand out to her "My apologizes my name is Shepard Book. A Firefly I see, I always loved to ride in one of those. How long till we reach the ultimate destination?"

Kaylee answers "Well the last stop is Osris it's a 6 month journey though we will be making stops planet side here and there for fuel, supplies, stretch the mind and stretch the body. Any particular place you looking to go?"

Shepard smiles "Not the destination that I am more concerned with but the journey. Well young miss I do believe that you have one of the passengers that you are looking for."

Kaylee squeals with delight "I do have to ask for payment up front though." Shepard opens his bag and hands her the fare. Kaylee pockets the credits and walks up the ramp to show him to his bunk.

A finely dressed young man steps forward "Are you sure this is what you want to do mei mei I mean we can take a passenger cruise instead."

The dark beauty steps forward "I know but this is something that I would like to do and I think that it would be good for you as well. Our whole lives we have been sheltered. We have never experienced any real life experiences only read about it in books and downloaded files off the cortex. Our adventures have lived only in our imaginations. I want to see everything before I….Anyway you heard her she said the journey will be about 6 months long and that's just what I need to think. Besides I saw your face when you saw here you think she's mei lei."

The young man elbows her "Hey none of that I just thought that she was very sweet. Look at this heap I don't think this ship will last even 6 hours mei mei."

The young woman rolls her eyes at him "The ship looks strong and sturdy history holds it together and I'm sure it will fly true." She step closer to the computer panel and strokes the ships logo and whispers to herself "Serenity."

She turns to him "The only reason that I allowed you to come on this journey was because you promised that you would not interfere with what I decided so please just do as I ask and no more arguments."

The young man laughed "Don't fool yourself mei mei the only reason you were allowed to make this life changing journey was because mother and father insisted that I come along. Now I turned down a good internship to follow you on this hare brained trip because I care about you and want you to be happy and if this is what you want before you…"

She cut him off "Irrelevant this is what I want and think of it this way we will be back home in Osris before you know it to bring you back to your boring research and cold labs. Please no more arguments."

He turns to the ship just as Kaylee is coming down the ramp. His young companion whispers in his ear "I will be in the market picking up some last minute items I will return in an hour ok." He nods his head and walks towards Kaylee.

Meanwhile……

Zoe and Mal were laughing hysterically at Jayne as they made their way back to Serenity. Jayne screams at Zoe and Mal "It's not ruttin funny."

Zoe continues to laugh as she wipes the tears from her eyes "Jayne I do believe that you will never live this one down."

Mal is still laughing at his hired gun "Ok Zoe let's cut the guy a break how was he supposed to know that the whore in the bar was a man." The look on Jayne's face compels Zoe and Mal to continue laughing.

Zoe responds "I don't now maybe the Adam's apple should have clued him in or that bulge that was…..." Jayne turns around and gives them both a look that could kill and abruptly turns around colliding with a girl knocking her into the ground. In his anger Jayne doesn't even stop and keeps walking towards the ship.

Mal runs forward "Jayne you ruttin idiot come back here and apologize." Jayne screams over his shoulder "Sorry!" Mal walks back to where the girl was on the floor. He stretches his hand out "Sorry miss but he can be a little…" Mal loses his train of thought when the girl looks up at him her dark eyes meeting his. His breath catches in his throat as this girl with her long dark hair, pale skin, and beautiful lips stares up at him. Images of her naked underneath him breathlessly screaming his name flash in his mind her dark hair spread on his pillow while that beautiful mouth licking his neck. Suddenly aware of her soft hand in his rough ones his thumb unconsciously strokes the inside of her palm.

The girl looks up at this man with the bluest eyes in the verse staring down at her. His hair fell around his eyes darkening his gaze, his chiseled features, and strong muscular body. She closed her eyes and imagined him naked above her kissing the inside of her neck whispering her name breathlessly in her ear. When he stroked the inside of her palm she shuddered at his touch.

The man tugged and brought her back to her feet. They continue to stare at each other until Zoe clears her throat. "You ok miss?"

The young girl shakes her head and looks at the attractive woman to the side "I'm sorry it's my fault too I wasn't really looking." She looks at both of them disappointed that he would be taken and taken by a woman who looked like she could kick her ass. She brushes the dirt off her clothes and continues on her way.

Mal couldn't believe the beauty that stood before him with an angelic voice that cut through him. He saw a flicker of disappointment in her eyes and much to his chagrin she walked away without so much of a glance back. Mal was going to run after her but Zoe pulled on his arm "Captain we got to get back to the ship if we want to make sure the cargo gets there in one piece 'fore Badger accuses us of damaging the goods."

Mal looks back in the direction the girl went and cursed himself for not saying anything to her and the odds were that he would never see her again. His heart sank at the thought but he had his ship and his crew to worry about. "Yeah let's go."