Whedon is the master; I own nothing. Set post-BDM.
"Inara?" Kaylee asked. The handsome woman seated at the shuttle's controls was too quiet. Her expression was smooth, but those dark eyes lacked the expected sparkle. "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing," Inara said, looking up from her readouts. "Just a message from Sheydra. They've been having a little trouble."
"What sort of trouble? Everyone all right?" The mechanic moved closer to her friend, but Inara switched off the wavescreen - rather guiltily, Kaylee thought.
"A bit of Alliance trouble," Inara replied, turning to face Kaylee. "They'll be fine, though - it just means a few complications when I unload."
"Well, as long as no one got hurt," the brown-haired woman offered with a shaky smile. "Hate to see you go, so soon after you just got back, but never expected we'd hold a fancy Companion too long."
Inara shook her head, offering her friend a light smile. "I never expected that I'd have the honor of living with you this long." Inara offered Kaylee a quick hug, pretending not to notice the tears in the little mechanic's eyes. "But right now, I need to leave in order to protect the rest of you. We'll be safer, scattered out as much as we can. They won't know where to look for us."
"As long as you do," Kaylee said, squeezing her back. "You gotta come back and tell me about all those fancy parties they take you to."
"I'll tell you what I can," Inara promised.
The mechanic glanced at the darkened, half-hidden wavescreen. She hadn't liked the little she'd heard about "outraged," "raiding party" and "membership revoked." She wasn't sure she wanted Inara to tell her about that yet.
"I know this is hard, but I cannot go against the Guild completely." Mal barely glanced at the blonde woman Inara had embraced. They didn't have time for this. "They saw what happened to those that have sheltered your friends… what happened here… They can't afford the risk, Inara. Oh, if we were all as brave as you!" The women hugged again, ignoring Mal as he desperately cleared his throat, trying to bring Inara back to the present.
"We would all be Rim pirates, and the Core-worlds would be missing out on some of the loveliest people I've ever come across." The sable-haired Companion pulled away, her dark eyes moist. Well, technically, Mal supposed, she wasn't a Companion anymore, but nobody else that he had met managed to be that damn dignified, even in defeat.
"I sent Jayne to start loadin' the Mule," Mal said awkwardly. "If you want your stuff to end up on your shuttle, guess you'd better go help him." That finally got Inara to turn away. Rim pirate! Who was she kidding?
"How do you know that I'm coming with you?" Inara asked, raising an eyebrow. "It seems like our arrangement has brought little but trouble for the both of us."
"'Cause Jayne's loadin' up the Mule," Mal said, slowly and clearly. Gorramit, he hated having to repeat himself. "Trouble ain't anything I ain't prepared to handle."
"I see why you like this one," the blonde teased, looking between the two of them.
Inara just smiled deprecatingly. "What am I going to do with you, Malcolm Reynolds?"
"Run away," Mal said, turning his back on the pair. Inara would be along. She usually was.
The sound of softly shod running feet came from behind. Mal let out the breath he'd been holding. "Excuse me?"
"Said you'd run away with me," Mal said, not looking back. "From the feds." He walked a little faster, not particularly wanting the other woman to hear his next words. "Offer to take you away from it all, but me and my crew have this powerful need to eat on occasion."
She laughed. He wasn't sure it was a good sign, but he was glad to hear it. "I wouldn't have taken you up on it anyway."
"Who said anything about taking me up on it? Way I hear it, you're outta the Companion business, and unless you plan to take up whorin', that rather leaves you without next month's rent."
"So throw me off the ship," she recommended.
He finally allowed himself to face her. "What? A Rim pirate give up a lady like you? Bet I could make a pretty good profit when I do decide to cut you loose."
Inara's eyes dropped. "Mal, I didn't mean it like that."
He stopped where he was, considering her. Jayne probably wouldn't be any further than the next corner, now, and none of them knew if any feds would show up. "I bet I could make a killing on some of your outfits alone…"
"Mal," Inara cut him off. "Really, the best thing for us right now might be to spread out. The Alliance won't know who's going where."
"Yeah, but I need somebody to keep Serenity in the air, somebody to fly her, and the doc won't leave those two alone." Mal ticked them off on his fingers. "I need a couple o' people to help with the jobs, and a diplomat to get me those jobs. Ain't leavin' here without my ambassador."
"I don't think I'll be of much use in that regard." The disgraced Companion shook her head.
"Now don't be like that. My 'wanted' profile ain't nearly so pretty as yours." Mal reached for her shoulder. "You're on my crew, Inara. Long as you need be."
"And what if I need not be?" she asked softly.
"I'll be the judge of that," Mal said, not yet willing to release her. He did so anyway, trying to mask his reluctance.
"And what would my position on your crew be?"
"Already told you: ambassador. You use your class and those feminine wiles to help get us jobs," Mal shrugged.
"As I recall, part of our original agreement was that I would not be offering services to you or your crew."
"Didn't I ever show you the sign?" He started walking again. They had spent too long here.
"That could make joining your crew a bit awkward." She stepped around him, entering the doorway of the half-demolished room. Mal wasn't sure how much of the mess was from Jayne moving her out and how much was from the Alliance patrols.
"Guess we'd better go over the contract again. The original had you payin' rent, too," Mal said, accepting an armfull of small, feminine boxes.
"So what do we do now, Captain Reynolds?" Inara asked, gathering up a second armload.
"Looks like right now, we run." Under the weight of his load, Mal's pace could not truly be considered a run so much as a stagger, but shortly enough he heard the tread of lighter feet hurrying to catch up with him. Mal wouldn't have given up that sound for all the universe.
As expected, most of the supplies were not even unloaded from the Mule when they hurried up the ramp, the doors sliding shut behind Inara. River took off nearly as soon as they were aboard, rising as rapidly from this place as Wash might have wished to. Serenity was still just a tad too quiet for Mal's liking, but Kaylee's greeting was as warm as anyone could have wished. "It's good to have you back, Inara."