"Project M31 is not here... But she was."

The two suited men recognized her distinctive handiwork, noticing signs of a ship having landed nearby. The ground bore no signs of her bare footed tracks due to the ship's takeoff, aside from her original running path from the northern road.

"Seems that Project M31 made another friend aside from that Blue Jay of hers..." The other spoke with a sigh.


"So... Mel? Is that short for somethin'?" Jayne asked as the ship left the planet's atmosphere. Aside from Wash, Simon and River, everyone was gathered in the cargo hold to greet the scantily clad, long haired and lanky behemoth with her avian companion.

"Mel." As she first did down on the planet's surface with Malcolm, she first pointed a single claw at herself, then lifted the same one to indicate her bird. "Kitty."

"So, there any parts you're lookin' to go to? We can take you wherever you need to be." Malcolm had figured that she'd also be needing some better clothes, since it was plainly obvious that at first glance, she could almost be mistaken for a Reaver. He'd also need to do some quick thinking regarding her claws as well. Her body was covered in all sorts of scars, not just ones from her claws. More than a few were gunshots and knife stabs.

"Free." Mel replied, then a chirp from Kitty goaded her to elaborate. "I am free now. Anywhere I want... No more missions."

"Missions?" Zoe's eyes narrowed before she shared a glance with Malcolm, just as Simon and River came into the cargo hold and drew everyone's gazes when River and Mel made direct eye contact. "Hey, um... Mel?"

Simon somehow sensed it before it happened, stepping out of the way as River and Mel ran full sprint at each other, only to suddenly embrace each other, tears running down River's cheeks as Kitty flapped overhead for a moment to resume his place on Mel's head.

"Mel!"

"Sister!"

Everyone was rightfully confused by the display, until Kaylee broke the touching moment's awkward silence.

"I think I know what she meant by missions..."


"An Alliance assassin?" Wash was the first to show the group's mutually concerning confusion.

"Mel's short for her Alliance codename; Project M31." River explained, having been tapping into Mel's thoughts to explain things to the adults. "As we clearly saw by her grand entrance right after the deal, she's sent in to kill particular targets for the Alliance. We got lucky she didn't like the numbers of our two groups together."

"I'm still hung up on the assassin part..." Jayne was staring at Mel's surprisingly timid demeanor, hunched over, knees slightly bent, with her claw-tipped hands held close to herself, oddly like a pair of paws with her fingers close together. The posture reduced her towering eight foot height down to a more reasonable six feet or so.

"Kill for Alliance." Mel spoke up with a very slight tilt of her head, just like how Kitty did. "But Alliance bad, I want free for long time."

"So them there claws of yours... What's the story behind those?" Jayne pointed at her hands, but Kitty made a series of chirps and tweeks, an oddly annoyed tone to them.

"The first knuckle on all her fingers was removed, replaced with what you see. Titanium, all of them." River continued to sift through Mel's mind for the relevent memories. "Mel's scared, we should stop with the questions for now."

"One last one..." Malcolm raised one hand as he spoke. "Big girl like you could make some honest work, if you fix them hands of yours first. But I think we've got a spot for you and your feathery friend aboard Serenity, seeing as you're none too keen 'bout the Alliance no more. What'cha reckon there, Mel?"

"Yes." Mel didn't even hesitate. It was a good idea, except for the part about her hands. She wasn't keen on having them messed with... AGAIN.


"You reckon you got things all figured out by now?" Malcolm asked as he finished giving Mel the tour of Serenity, returning to their starting point in the cargo hold.

"Soon." Mel nodded as she peered through the narrow gap in her hair, scanning the hold as she put it to memory. "I will remember... Soon."

"Good to hear. So, go on and make yourself comfortable. We'll give you a holler when it comes chow time." Malcolm gave a nod as he went back to the bridge where Wash and Zoe were waiting, passing River on the catwalk. "River, darlin', I ain't gotta worry none 'bout her, do I?"

"Alliance changed her body... Not her brain." River replied without taking her gaze off Mel down below. "She just needs time to adjust to her new life."

"You been all up in her head, ain'tcha?" Malcolm asked a bit quieter, well aware of what River could extract from the minds of people around her.

"I've been in yours." River replied with a touch of sass, smirking at his slightly uncomfortable expression as he left the cargo hold.

With her usual chirps and whistling, Mel and Kitty seemed to chat back and forth as she wandered over to sit on the staircase just below where River was watching over her.

"Does anyone else understand Kitty like you do?" River could feel the instinctive understanding that Mel shared with Kitty. Although she herself couldn't translate it, she felt the connection for sure.

"No, just me." Mel peered up at River for a moment while Kitty preened himself on her shoulder. "Kitty thinks the ship is pretty."

"Serenity is beautiful, for sure." River descended the stairs and sat beside Mel. "So, do you... remember what they did to me?"

"Not really." Mel slightly shook her head.

"I can read minds." River decided to use simple terms to describe her abilities. "And I can... look into people's memories and feel what they feel... Including you." River turned her head to stare at Mel's eye through her hair, even from this close, it was hard to see anything through the curtain of white hair except for her eye. "I know what they did to you... Even if you can't remember it yourself."

"Two by two, hands of blue." Mel quoted the familiar little rhyme with a nod. "Serenity safe place... No more missions."

"No missions, just jobs now." River smiled as she too nodded. "You do know what we do, right?"

"Freelance transport, whatever jobs we get." Mel repeated the words that Malcolm himself said at the beginning of her tour. "Jobs better than missions. I like jobs too." Mel agreed with Kitty's series of tweets and a single chirp.