Discalimer: I still do not own these charactars! Don't sue me, I've just found inspiring muses! :)

Chapter 2

"Gorramit, Simon!" River barked as she stormed through the cargo hold, "You of all people know not to pick at a wound dressing. Kaylee, make him stop. Jayne, Mal needs you outside. Inara, you look so beautiful. Do you need any help with your shuttle?"

"River," Inara tilted her head "It's not my shuttle anymore…"

"Yes it is. You're going to fly with us again."

River turned and headed up to the bridge. It had been a full week since they crashed into Mr. Universe's facility, 5 days since they buried their friends in the highlands to the east. The last few days had brought great progress; the Alliance cruiser fulfilled all its promises. The crew was on the mend, they'd even towed Serenity out of the hangar so repairs could be completed more easily. All the big jobs had been completed; all the big pieces that were ripped off had been bolted and welded back on and the engine had no missing parts. Now it was just the little work that had to been done. River had been working on the wiring with Kaylee, Simon was rearranging and organizing all the compartments and rooms that had been disheveled, Zoe was pulling together alright as well and was in charge of all the hydraulic systems. Mal and Jayne resorted to helping with all the heavy lifting and grunt work. Even being the most busted member of the crew Mal was the most beneficial to Jayne when it came to the tough work. Inara had even worked until the late hours of the night scrubbing the abominable red paint from Serenity's skin. It had been a busy few days, but it was just what the crew needed after everything that had happened.

The Companion watched the miracle girl skirt off to the bridge and then silently retreated to what used to be her own shuttle. The warm, rich, red fabric had been stripped out and a cold metal shell of a transport shuttle remained. Inara slowly ran her hand over the metal and recounted the days, weeks, months spent here; the clients, the fights with Mal, the conversations with the rest of the crew. Oh dear Kaylee. Inara remembered fondly when the mechanic and the doctor flirted themselves in circles and Kaylee would bring all her dreams to Inara. She smiled for the young woman; in the last week it was rare to find those two separated. Amazing, how much she cared for the soft mechanic, how much circumstance and tragedy can make those who were once strangers feel like family.

"Inara," Mal had actually knocked and was waiting a reply on the other side of the door.

"Once I'm NOT renting it from you and you have all rights to access, NOW you knock," she actually laughed at the irony of the moment.

"Yeah," the Captain strutted in "Heard tell you're not too fond of people just bargin' in on ya." Mal winked quickly at the Companion.

"Yeah? And heard tell that you're not one to worry what people are too fond of."

"Reckon so," Mal had seemed defeated. His anger and wrath of the last few months had dissipated, this was a new melancholy that Inara couldn't quite place yet. "We need to talk. Now, I don't want an answer at this moment, but I definitely wanna speak my bit, do you have a minute?"

So this was the moment, the conversation-never-to-be would actually be spoken. She can't say she didn't see it coming, didn't make her any more comfortable with it though. "You have my undivided attention, I would offer you tea but…" she smiled sheepishly at him.

"Yeah, leave your ship to petty thieves it goes all to hell," he smiled back "'Nara, I'm not a man of words so you have to forgive that, I've come too close to dying too many gorram times in the last couple weeks to not speak my peace. I wasn't kiddin' when I say you spin me 'bout. I confuse my words and I can't think straight when you're near. I ain't got much for ya, no shiny diamonds, no fancy balls to take you to, no promises of what exactly tomorrow holds; but I got a heart. I think that's yours whether you take it or not, so I got that and I have a ship. A ship that can house you and a heart that will protect you as long as my lungs still draw air." As he spoke, the air left Inara. She'd had poets for clients, and rich, well schooled men and women who had spoken verses and lines of romance and whimsy; and not one of them left her knees as weak as these simple words spoken by this simple Captain. "Now," Mal continued "I don't want an answer right now…"

His words were cut off when her lips pressed firmly against his. The Companion kept all senses of propriety about her, and the kiss was clinically perfect, but her lingering hands told Mal another story. Even when she'd so abruptly pulled her kiss from him, her hands still rested on his waist, her fingers languidly tracing over the dressings over his wounds. Intoxicated, he nodded and exited the shuttle. Outside the door he paused and leaned against wall. What in the hell did that just mean?

The Operative sat in the Alliance cruiser and occasionally looked out the window at the progress coming along with Serenity. They'd rigged the crane and helped with a lot of the rebuilding of the ship. Serenity was a lot like her crew, broken to bits but undoubtedly stronger than anything the 'Verse could throw at it.

"Sir you have a WAVE from Ariel," a lackey popped his head into the conference room the Operative had occupied.

"Please patch it through." Within seconds the monitor on the wall brightened to life and Senator Biddick stood in front of him.

"Senator Biddick," the Operative bowed.

The man on the screen looked disheveled and worn. The grey crescents under his eyes gave claim to a few sleepless nights and a few taxing days, the unkempt hair gave away that more pressing things were at hand, and the half-hearted timbre his voice carried told the rest of the story, "I hear you gave a no kill order on River Tam."

"Correct. The signal had already been sent. No reason for more bloodshed."

"No reason? That girl caused countless Alliance deaths. That alone is eno…"

"That girl," the Operative raised his voice and charged toward the WAVE screen "was another one of your experiments."

"It was not your call to make."

"I stand behind my every decision. I would tell them to stand down again if given the chance. Do you know how many innocent people I killed to get to River Tam, to find that she ISN'T the biggest threat society has? That YOU are? That the very government that swears to protect its citizens sometimes knowingly puts them at great risk. Sickening."

"Do you know why that Sheppard on Haven was able to take down the Alliance ship that attacked it? When none of the other bases could?" the Senator charged "Because, he was an Operative once too. He was on hiatus, very much like you will be soon. By a simple oversight he still held his Alliance ident card even. Are you willing to suffer his fate? To wander the Rim planets trying to deny the government that made you everything you are?"

"Ah, that's right. Operative Book. I've studied his work. He was able to get information without harming one single person who wasn't on the target list. What turned him from you?"

"A sect of the Companion guild was housing some Browncoats. We, of course, wanted it terminated. He couldn't do it. Irony, the Companion that travels with Serenity was part of that guild. I'm beginning to believe she keeps questionable company."

"Why did you WAVE me?' The Operative grew tired of the conversation. "To tell me about an old dead Sheppard and warn me about my fate? Do you not think I already know all these things?"

"I sent this WAVE so you know that no matter what you see on the Coretex, about the Alliance weakening, and thanks to you it most definitely IS weakening, we will not stop until you are a corpse. "

"Well," The Operative smiled "I hope I see it through until your complete downfall."

"You won't. Good day." The Senator killed the WAVE signal and turned to the Commander At Large of the Alliance Patrols, "Send the signal to activate Subject River Tam. Set objective: our dear Operative."