"I hate these clothes," said Esposito.
"Dude, just deal with it," said Ryan.
"You can't talk, at least your clothes are clean and don't smell like petrol," he snapped back.
"Hey just-"
"Guys!" said Beckett loudly, "Cut it out. Now."
The boys went quiet and Beckett sighed in relief. They had been talking for hours. First about whatever River had meant, then about how they were going to get home, then about this new Castle that robbed banks and got shot on a daily basis. Then when they had run out of new things to talk about they started getting annoyed with everything and they voiced their opinions.
Beckett looked at Alexis, who had found a book in her pile of clothes and was quietly reading it. Beckett wondered, not for the first time, how River had known whose clothes would fit them and to get Alexis a book to read so that she didn't go crazy with boredom. Then there were the things she had said, not just to them but when Castle was explaining how he had gotten into the past, how she had known things before Castle told them.
She hoped that someone explained soon, otherwise she could not be held accountable for her actions.
F_I_R_E_F_L_Y_C_A_S_T_L_EThe Serenity crew were gathered in what could only be called a meeting. They had these every now and then, in particular when something big was going on. This one was so that Mal could cover a few things he had refrained from telling them.
By the time Mal arrived everyone was sitting around the kitchen table, waiting. He sat and Inara knew that this was going to be painful for everyone.
"I'm finding a way to get them home," said Mal, loudly and clearly. Inara thought it strange to hear him speak without his accent.
"And I do not hold it to you to help," continued Mal, "But it would be greatly appreciated."
Inara looked at this half-Mal. She thought back to that time on Haven when he had asked roughly the same thing, but it such a different and harsh way.
"I'm in," said Zoe.
"As am I," Inara put in.
Eventually everyone around the table nodded their assent (even Jayne though he was the last to do so), and Mal looked around at them appreciatively.
"Thank you," he said and Inara saw a few people looking a Mal a bit strangely.
"I 'ave a question," said Jayne, "How the ruddy gorram hell are we gonna do that?"
"It'll be difficult, but I think with everyone's help we should be able to get a hold of another time machine," said Mal.
"Another one? What happened to the last one?" asked Kaylee.
"Back in the hands of the Alliance," said Mal.
"How did tha' happen?" asked Jayne.
"Back at the precinct, when I first put on the machine, I made it so that it would, well drop me off early and in a different place," said Mal.
"What do you mean? Couldn't you have just changed the place it would go back to?" asked Inara.
"No. It was programmed so that no one could change it but the creators."
"How do you know all this? Did you spent three days looking at it?" asked Simon.
"The one that was used to bring me to the past is still in my apartment, Simon. I've been studying it for years," explained Mal, "This new one was a bit different but still similar. I was able to figure out kinda how it worked."
"But where are we going to find one?" asked Inara.
"Well, we're going to need to break in to wherever they're built, that's obvious," said Zoe.
"But here's the thing," said Mal, "We need to get the key cards from the creators in order to use them."
"So we need to steal these key cards from high security people and storm a building that we don't even know the location of," summed up Zoe.
"That's about right," said Mal.
"You're insane, you are," said Jayne.
"You agreed to help," said Mal.
"I didn't know what that would entail, now did I?" said Jayne.
"If you want to back out-" began Mal.
"Back out? I'll be damned if I ever back out of anythin'! I was merely statin my opinion," said Jayne quickly.
"Okay good. 'Coz we're going to need all the help we can get," said Mal.
F_I_R_E_F_L_Y_C_A_S_T_L_EThe door to Beckett, Ryan, Esposito and Alexis' makeshift cell opened and they saw Kaylee and Inara standing there, with smiles on their faces.
"Hello, I'm Inara and this is Kaylee," Inara said, "Come with us, we're here to show you around."
"We're allowed to leave the room now?" asked Beckett.
"I'm sorry for the inconvenience but the crew are…suspicious of strangers. It's only thanks to Mal that you're even still alive," said Inara.
"Lovely," said Ryan.
"Harsh I know, but they are criminals."
"They're criminals? What and you're not?" asked Beckett.
"No. I try to stay out of their escapades," said Inara.
"Yeah, try being the operative word," said Kaylee.
"If you're not a criminal then why are you here?" asked Alexis.
"Why do I need a reason?" asked Inara.
"Everyone here has a job, at least, most of the people do. Kaylee's the mechanic, Simon's the doctor, I can't work out for the life of me what River does, um, Jayne? He's the muscle, Zoë's second in command and my dad's the captain-"
"You're dad?" asked Inara quickly.
"Yeah…didn't dad or Zoe tell you?" asked Alexis.
"Ah, no. You're his daughter?" said Inara, astonished.
"Yes," she answered, "I'm Alexis Castle."
There was an awkward silence, though why it was awkward Beckett couldn't figure out.
"Anyways," said Kaylee, "we still gotta give you the grand tour! So if you'll step this way please…"
They did as they were asked and Inara seemed to come out of the shock that she had gone into after this revelation.
"Where you've been for the last couple of hours is the guest quarters, though just over there is where Simon and River sleep," said Inara.
"Down here is the kitchen," said Kaylee, leading them down the corridor to a room that was as bright and colourful as the sun. It was obvious from the pulled out chairs and cups on the table that the room had been occupied recently.
"Then if you follow down here, we have the engine room," said Inara.
"And my room," said Kaylee, pointing to the solitary hammock that hung in a corner, surrounding by both engine parts, tools and clothes.
"It's kinda messy," said Kaylee.
Inara rolled her eyes and they went back out of the room and down a stairwell.
"Off to the sides are the entrances to the shuttles," said Inara, "If you ever need me, I live in that one over there. And to answer you're earlier question Alexis, I'm a Companion, which means that I have connections to the Alliance that they can use and I can use their shuttle to entertain clients. It is an understanding that we have."
"What's a companion?" whispered Esposito to Ryan.
"No idea," said Ryan.
They continued down the steps and saw a room they'd been in before, but was now empty of occupants.
"This is of course the infirmary," said Inara.
"Where's dad?" asked Alexis.
"He's wherever. Probably getting changed or something," said Kaylee.
They walked back up the stairs and through the kitchen to the very head of the ship.
"Hey River," greeted Kaylee, "This is the cockpit."
"Where are we going?" asked Beckett.
"To visit an old friend of mine," said Inara.
"An old Alliance friend," said a familiar voice behind them.
Alexis immediately ran up and gave her dad a hug, then she stepped back and looked at what he was wearing.
"Why are you wearing you're Halloween costume?" asked Alexis.
"I'm not. I'm wearing my old everyday clothes. Halloween was just an excuse for me to wear them once every year," explained Castle.
"Dude, tights? Seriously?" said Esposito.
"Have you looked at what you're wearing, Esposito? I wouldn't talk if I was you," said Castle.
"Yeah true," he replied sullenly.
"Have you filled them in on the plan?" Castle asked Inara and Kaylee.
"We were getting to that," said Kaylee.
"What plan?" asked Ryan.
"The plan to get you back home," said Castle.
"You have a plan? Since when?" asked Beckett.
"Since a couple of hours ago," said Castle.
"What is it?"
Castle explained to them the need to get the key cards, how they would need one for everyone who was leaving and they couldn't depend on that amount of cards to be in the building, how if they could they had to figure where the building was without the Alliance realizing they were after them.
Then he told them the plan and Beckett, Alexis and the boys were not very happy with him.