Mal stalked down to the passenger dorms after the noise quietened down; he needed to talk to Jamie now.
He knocked once on the door and slid it open, and immediately turned around in the doorway, blushing.
"Jamie? Needin' ta talk to ya. Get dressed and meet me on the bridge."
The tangle of limbs and sheets untangled themselves as Jamie detached himself from Inara, kissing her cheek once as she slept peacefully. He pulled on some clothes and followed Mal up to the bridge.
Mal closed the door and locked it behind Jamie as he came in and sat at the Navigator's station. Wash had taken off soon as Mal stalked onto the bridge, looking pissy.
"Jamie, we got some talkin to do."
"I'd imagine we do, Cap'n. This's about Badger, yea?"
"It sure as hell is, and it's how you seem to know a whole hell of a lot more than you ought."
Jamie nodded, seeming to come to some sort of decision.
"Alright. Now remember, everything I told you when I first came on board was the truth. What I'm going to tell you now fits into the holes I left.
"I did join the Marshals at 18, with a degree in Computer Science. Got pushed up into the Cortex Investigative Division right away, spent 5 years doing that. A lot of the knowledge we've been using came from the fact that we shared a bullpen with the Narc and Covert Ops Investigation guys; a lot of shop talk has come in handy.
"The year you picked up Simon and River Tam and led us on a wild goose chase, I was promoted to the rank of Operative."
Mal snarled, nearly slamming Jamie up against the bulkhead before remembering his shoulder and settled for punching him across the face once. The skinnier man took the punch better than he had any right to do so, waiting for Mal to settle down.
"I oughta put you out the airlock right now!"
"Settle down, Cap'n. I was the first one assigned to the case of Simon and River Tam. You may or may not recognize it, but we weren't able to come close until the other Operative got into the playing field. By the time he'd done that, I had developed a sense of respect for you and your crew, and I was guessing that the warrants out for Simon and River weren't quite on the level.
"With the other Operative on the move, I was sidelined. Parliament didn't quite trust me anymore. The Miranda Broadwave (of which I didn't know about until it went out), weakened their trust in me further, at the same time as it weakened my faith in them. All Operatives had their security clearance revoked for a while, as they sorted the pieces out.
"Out of curiousity, do you know anything about Shepherd Book's past?"
"No. He made it a point to be cryptic every chance he got." Mal muttered, cooling down now.
"Although I don't know for certain, based on the ID he used to get medical treatment on the Magellan, I'd say he was probably an Operative too. Long time ago."
"Yea, that was the theory I had."
"Well, after Miranda, the rest of my story from before pretty much jibes. I raised hell and got shunted out to the ass end of the 'Verse. I really did nearly kill the Operative, but let him have a chance to explain it."
"Ya coulda, and it might have improved this conversation."
"Doubt that would happen, Cap'n. 'Sides, I think he was changed in his own way as well. Said he had important work to do, redemption to seek, as he left."
"How much does Badger know about you?"
"Just that I've helped him out a few times already; tightened up his Cortex security, that sorta thing. I haven't told another soul in the 'Verse this story but you."
"Likely you'd better tell it to 'Nara, too. She deserves to know. I won't spread it around to the others though. River was right; you've changed, even since you came on board."
"I'll tell her right away."
