"It's impossible," said pride.
"It's risky," said experience.
"It's pointless," said reason.
"Give it a try," whispered the heart.
Tuesday Morning
She finally found the captain in the cargo bay, rummaging head first in a crate and periodically handing stuff out to Jayne.
"Mal, could I talk to you, please?" She looked between him and Jayne as he extracted himself, wishing one of them would take the hint.
"Sure," Mal turned to Jayne, "Go see if you can find that other part for Kaylee, it's not in that crate." He nodded and walked off, bits of machinery in his arms. "What can I do for you, Inara?" He put his hands on his hips and flashed her a smile that didn't reach his eyes. She'd been on the receiving end of more and more of those lately.
"I need to know how long we'll be docked in Persephone."
Mal nods brusquely, "Three days at most, hopefully two. You linin' up your suitors?"
"As you know, that's none of your business," she snapped. "And is it two or three days?" A cloud seemed to cover his face and he glanced at the cargo bay floor, looking chastened.
"Three," he muttered. Inara replied with her thanks and strode away, leaving him to stew with his thoughts.
Mal leaned his hands onto the crate, the heavy weight of words unspoken holding him down and propping him up. He tried not to think about it all too much, but if there was one thing he couldn't not think about it was Inara's work. He hated watching her come back from liaisons with rich, charming men he would never be, it ripped him apart and left him bereft inside, and now they were going back to the planet where he'd taken a stand for her, defended her honour, with nothing to show for it except some fading scars. His fingers gripped the metal edge of the crate, knuckles whitening under the pressure, and he sucked in a breath to try to clear his head, but it didn't work. He growled and pushed away from the crate, running towards the steps and along the gangway to her shuttle.
When he burst through the doorway of the shuttle, she was at the wave screen, deciding who to hail. She whipped around at the sudden disturbance and glared at him. "Mal! What do you want?" She was nearly shouting, but found she didn't care who heard.
"Who are you going to visit on Persephone?" He was a little breathless but recovered quickly as he continued, "It better not be Atherton Wing. This time I might be liable to kill the bastard."
She stood and met him in the middle of the space. "No, if you recall, he now has a black mark against his name and is unable to hire any companion." She forcefully held her ground, "And if you might also recall, who I do business with is none of yours."
Mal glanced over her shoulder at the faces on the screen, his frown deepening and his nostrils flaring. "Like the look of any of 'em? They all look slimy to me. And I've done business with a couple of 'em before." His gaze returned to meet hers, and his voice dropped in volume suddenly, "They ain't to be trusted, Inara."
Though she was surprised at his sincerity, nothing could douse the flames of her anger. She planted both her hands on his chest and shoved him back towards the door. "Get out. If that's how it is, I'll pack my things and stay in Persephone," she threatened. "Out!" Mal turned and stomped away, hearing the sound of the shuttle door clanging shut as if it were the door to his very soul.
Thursday Afternoon
"Hi Inara!" She smiled at the image of River that displayed on the screen at the console, so happy to see a friendly face.
"River, how are you? How's.." She hesitated, "..everyone?"
"I'm okay. Mal's still mad at you. But we're trying to make him not mad. What's happened to your face?"
Inara took a few seconds to digest what she'd just heard, before replying, "Oh, it's nothing serious. I'm sure Simon will be take a look when I get back. Could you send me the co-ordinates?"
River grinned, "Already did!" Inara smiled in return.
"See you soon then."
River turned as Mal walked onto the bridge, "That was Inara. She's on her way now, so we can go in an hour." He nodded and made to leave again. "She was hurt. She said it's not serious, but she was embarrassed about it."
Mal shifted his weight nervously, "You go ask Simon to be ready for when she arrives then." He flopped into the pilot chair, eyes darting around for something to focus on as River skipped away into the ship. Just this once the tables had turned; his deal had gone off just fine but hers hadn't and she was coming back hurt. He reached up to run his finger over the back of one of Wash's dinosaurs that they'd left on the console, and wondered what his friend would've advised him to do. The whole situation was beginning to wear him down and he knew something would happen soon that decided it one way or another.
He just had to make sure he was in control of his end of things.
A/N: A new story when I should've been writing ongoing stories... sorry. But at least this one is completely finished!