Disclaimer: Nothing's changed, I still don't own anything but this computer…
A/N: Yay, you guys are awesome to have actually stuck with this story, despite my terrible updating speed (and I use that term loosely!). I love you all, and send out many virtual hugs!
Here it is: the FINAL chapter of Genesis! This has been a long-time coming and is very exciting for me; it's my first completed multi-chapter story!
Mal was scared. No, not scared… He was– nervous, unsettled. Damned uncomfortable on his own gorram ship. All the women on Serenity, and there were an uncommonly large number of them now, were conspiring against him. He was sure of it. Even Zoe, which was just downright unsettling.
They were always whispering when he was about, doing his captain-y duties. Conversations stopped when he entered a room, or when one of the readers felt him about to enter a room. And they all kept watching him with this assessing, knowing look in their eyes. It was downright creepifying. And it went on for over a week before he decided he'd figured out what was going on.
"You're conspiring against me," Mal stated with self-righteous indignation (and minor terror). He crossed his arms over his chest, in an attempt to intimidate the women he was staring down.
"And how is it you came to this conclusion, captain?" River questioned, one eyebrow raised and her head tilted to one side as she looked at him in a way that made him feel like an insect under inspection. It was a sensation that disconcerted him somethin' fierce, no doubt her intention.
"Y'all been havin' conversations behind my back, all sneaky-like." He was the captain, secrets were not meant to be kept from the captain; it was his gorram ship!
"So naturally, you decided we must be talking about you?" It wasn't so much a question as a statement and Zoe was looking at him as though she thought his brain was missing again. Withering slightly under her dry, mildly scornful tone, Mal first tasted doubt. He tasted more as he took in the fact that he was being stared down by five women, all wearing similar expressions of scorn and amused disbelief. Taking into consideration that three of the women were psychic assassins, one was a warrior that could kill him with her pinky finger and one could blow up his ship or lock off the environmental controls in his bunk if she was of a mind to do so, and he was beginning to feel downright intimidated. The thought that an orderly, dignified retreat might be the smart thing to do entered his mind and he decided to go with it. Thankfully for the captain's ego, he was out of earshot before the aforementioned women burst into gales of laughter.
After the laughter died down, the women returned to the discussion they had been having before Mal's interruption.
"Were you able to get hold of her, River?" Serenity's second in command asked, noting as she did so, that the shadows that had lurked in River's eyes for a few days after the Reaver fight had finally disappeared completely; something she attributed, with some disbelief, to Jayne.
"Yes, she will meet us on Persephone in 4 days. I have already had Wash reroute us from our original course heading for Boros."
"Cap'n ain't gonna be happy that we changed course 'n whatnot behind his back." Kaylee pointed out, slightly worried about the Browncoat's volatile temper.
"You just leave the Captain and his temper to me," Zoe assured her, a wicked smile on her usually unreadable face.
GGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
Four days later, Mal had reason to know he'd been right to fear conspiracy among the increasing number of women aboard Serenity.
"What in an feifei de piyan is going on? Ain't my ship s'posed to be heading to Boros?" Furious, Mal looked away from the control panel long enough to punch the comm. "This is the captain speaking, Wash, I need you on the bridge, now." He tapped the comm unit again, ending the transmission and went back to cursing, as he stared disbelieving between what the controls were telling him, and the very hard-to-deny planetary bulk of Persephone looming outside the window.
Mal's eyes narrowed and he spun as he heard boots clomping up the stairs, and then promptly lost his composure as he realized that Wash was not alone in entering the bridge; part of the crew and half the passengers were right behind him.
"I said 'Wash,'" Mal stated weakly, eyeing the large group of women with trepidation and suddenly recalling his fears from earlier in the week. Looked like he'd been right, after all. Not that it was likely to do him much good.
"We decided it would be better if we were all here, sir." Zoe explained, the 'sir' an obvious afterthought in her statement. Mal frowned suspiciously at his second-in-command; there was something in her eyes that was beginning to set him even more on edge; it looked like a cross between mocking and triumph, an unusual combination for his normally stoic right-hand. Unsure if he should be going for his gun, Mal raised an eyebrow, hoping to convince one of his assembled crew to explain what in the gorram hell was going on on his ship. River was the first to start.
"I am afraid, Captain, that there are certain aspects as to how this ship is run that we thought should be fixed." Those large brown eyes stared fixedly at him, remindin' him of that creepifying stare she used to have.
"I see… Y'all just thought you'd start goin around and fixing things to yer liking on my gorram ship? What part o' 'Captain' were you havin' trouble with?" He was almost yelling by the end, hard as he was trying to control his temper with so many readers and assorted dangerous folk on the bridge.
Looking for all the worlds like the core-bred snob she shoulda grown up to be, River glanced around the bridge, making a face of feigned displeasure. "Well for one thing, if you had a crew member or passenger with a higher quality of connections than the ones presently aboard this vessel, you would likely have better luck in finding well-paying jobs." She ended her survey and gave him a pointed look.
"Well lil assassin, I sure hope you ain't volunteering yourself for that position. What with being wanted by the Alliance more'n any member of my crew." Mal countered cautiously, firmly pushing the unwanted memory of his previous 'Ambassador' out of his head.
River shook her head, dropped the faked look of snobbishness and brightly told him that they had all gotten together and already found him the perfect person, and wouldn't ya know it, but she was waiting on Persephone for them right now! Wash sat quietly in his flying chair and grinned at the scene, although he managed to wipe the look off his face just in time when Mal glared at him, silently asking if he had been a part of this mutiny. Wash just pointed at his gorgeous, could-kill-him-with-her-pinky wife. A bad feeling waltzed its way into Mal's body and planted itself down firmly in his gut. He was gonna get shot again, he just knew it.
GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
River, and Zoe and Kaylee below her, huffed out a long breath as she watched the scene playing out below her on hold floor. They were already yelling at each other. The two hours that they had had as Wash had safely landed them at the Eavesdown Docks and then prepared for the new arrival had been filled with yelling (from Mal) and calm, as well as not-so-calm, explaining from herself and her co-conspirators. The Captain had spent the last thirty minutes sulking on the bridge after being sent running when he managed to succeed in making Zoe almost lose her temper. No doubt he had called it a strategic retreat.
A small smile flickered over the dark haired reader's lips as she remembered what she had done with those thirty minutes of peace and her eyes moved to where Jayne was leaning against a crate, watching the excitement at the bay doors. Feeling her eyes, he looked up and sent her a smile, which changed to a leer as he caught the lingering heat in her eyes. River was surprised to feel heat rising in her cheeks and had to check the impulse to duck her head and try to hide behind her hair, impossibly anyway, as it was firmly pulled back in a braid.
"Are you… blushing?" Yuri asked incredulously, green eyes wide with disbelief. Sia, standing on the other side of him, saw the exchange and dutifully smacked Yuri on the back of the head.
"Mind your own business, ge ge." She said sternly, a small grin on her face at her 'brother's' affronted look.
GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
Inara paused on the busy docking station when she caught sight of the achingly familiar Firefly sitting in one of the bays. She took a deep breath, squared her shoulders and reminded herself not to rise to the Captain's bait, again. She also reminded herself to kill River for ever suggesting this. Again…
The neutral expression she had long ago perfected plastered firmly on her lovely face, Inara resumed her path towards the ship she had once left with no intentions of ever seeing again, the smooth sky-blue silk of her Counsellor's robes swirling gently around her legs.
Mal was pretty sure he stopped breathing when he saw the woman gliding up the ramp towards him. The sun was shining off the bright blue of her outfit, making it difficult to look at her, which felt mildly appropriate; as he'd been more than confident he never wanted to clap eyes on her again. Now though, he weren't too sure about that. He was pretty sure he was gonna kiss the lil assassin for arranging this, provided Inara didn't kill him first.
For one of the many times in her life, Inara was grateful for the rigorous training that allowed her to look confident and serene while, internally, she was shaking and near to panic as she caught sight of the tall brown-clad man waiting just inside the cargo bay. She fought the irrational urge to place a hand to her chest to make sure her heart didn't beat out of her breast.
"Think of it as a clean slate. A chance to start things over again, but better than last time." When she said it like that, sounding supremely confident, Inara had to admit she was almost convinced by River's argument. But then common sense, and a healthy dose of self-preservation, reasserted control.
"No. Mei-mei, I appreciate what you're trying to do, but we've already done this. And it failed rather spectacularly the first time. The results would still be the same, and – and I don't think I can go through this a second time." A very revealing omission from a profoundly private and self-contained woman, it showed River exactly how scared Inara was of what she was suggesting.
River looked at the image in front of her, solemn and earnest. She spoke carefully. "I understand that you're uncertain that this is a wise course of action, but sometimes the only way to find out is to walk the path anyway." She paused briefly, looking for any sort of reaction to her words. "You told me once that you wanted to put the past fully behind you, to make a completely new start. Nara, I don't think that you'll ever be able to do that, unless you face everything that happened on Serenity, and unless you face Mal."
All River could do was watch and wait patiently as Inara stared at her lap and debated the younger woman's words. After an eternity of moments, she looked up and gave River the best smile she could muster. Neither woman acknowledged the fact that it trembled a bit. "Alright mei mei, you win."
Remembering that conversation and the endless support River had given her before and since, Inara squared her shoulders, raised her chin and met Mal's eye straight on as she glided into the cargo bay.
"Captain Reynolds, I was told that you were advertising an available position on your crew. One for a Guild-trained Counsellor, perhaps?"
Mal had to fight not to close his eyes and savour the sound of her melodic voice after so long without it. Finally understanding what the lil assassin and her co-conspirators had been up to, he forgave them almost immediately.
"I was indeed advertising such," he said with a sidelong glance up at the catwalks. He received a cheeky grin in return. "You qualified for that position then, are ya?"
"I am, although I am willing to show you my qualifications and a list of recommendations if they are needed." She replied, feeling a slight easing of the tightness in her chest.
"No no, that won't be necessary. I'm sure you got 'em, just as ye say." He paused, and then he allowed the smile he was fighting to show on his face, just a little, as he strode forward to meet her in the middle of the bay. "Welcome back, Inara. I know Kaylee's been missing you like crazy." He added, as he extended a hand.
She looked at his hand for a moment, before hesitantly reaching out and shaking it with her own. Mal found himself staring at their joined hands as well, a sudden feeling of disquiet welling up inside him. Her hand was soft, pampered and smooth; the hand of someone unused to hard, physical work. His own hand was calloused, rough and had dirt that seemed to be permanently ingrained in it. And that, right there, were all the differences between them, he thought. Why they had never worked before, 'n why they probably wouldn't work out this time. They were just too gorram different.
All three female readers sucked in a simultaneous breathe of dismay as that thought filtered across Mal's mind, accompanied by a wave of despair. "He's going to screw this up." River muttered, knowing that Kaen and Sia were attuned to her enough at the moment to hear her. Below her, on the bay floor, Zoe's eyes narrowed as she took in the scene. Attuned to him in her own way, after so many years and so many shared trials, she knew that he was about to do something that would shoot this whole thing straight to hell.
Mal pulled his hand from Inara's abruptly, his smile and the happiness he had just been feeling long gone. Inara frowned as she sensed a change come over the Captain and she felt the tightness in her chest return. Her hand dropped back to her side as she searched his face for some indication of what had just changed between them.
Trying to ignore the heavy feeling that had settled into the pit of his stomach, Mal turned away from the ex-Companion and gestured further into the ship.
"I suppose you'll be wantin' to see your quarters." He glanced back at her over his shoulder, his eyes flat and slightly hard. "Just how much room will you be needing anyways, for servicin' your clients?" The way he drawled the word left Inara, and everyone else watching, with absolutely no misconceptions as to what it was he was implying.
Her hand was up and across his cheek before she could even think to check the gesture.
"Ben tian shen de yi dui rou!" She cried. "How dare you!" Rubbing his sore cheek, the same on River had slapped some days ago, Mal noticed that her eyes, normally so serene, were bright with anger and, was that hurt? She didn't give him time to figure it out as she spun away from to grab the bag she had left near the entrance.
Inara could feel her already precarious control slipping, so without another word or even a glance at the obstinant, rude houzi de pigu, she sailed across the bay and up the stairs to where River was waiting for her, understanding in the younger woman's dark eyes. Without a word, the two women disappeared into River's shuttle, one that had once housed a Companion.
The slamming of the shuttle door broke the spell that had been holding everyone else captive. With near-identical looks of disgust at Mal, Kaylee and Wash left the bay, each heading for their favourite section of Serenity. With a long-suffering sigh, Zoe shook her head at her captain and oldest friend and followed after her husband. Jayne and Simon shared a look, glared at Mal in annoyance, and overt disapproval in Simon's case, and headed for the mess. The four readers simply went back to the passenger births, although there was a fair bit of eye-rolling and head-shaking from Sia and Kaen.
Mal stood alone in the middle of the cargo bay, his head down, not entirely sure what had just happened, but knowing with the kind of certainty that could only come at such a time, that he had just screwed things up rather fantastically. With a deep sigh of his own, and still rubbing his reddened cheek, he trudged off to his bunk. Only place on the whole gorram ship that wasn't likely to be occupied.
GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
Inara flopped gracelessly onto River's bed and put her head in her hands. The bed dipped slightly as the reader herself sat down beside her.
"I don't know what I was expecting of him, really." She sighed. "Mal is far too set in his ways to learn how to yield on something now. Especially anything that makes him feel even remotely out of his depth." River was silent for a minute, before heaving a sigh of her own. It ended suddenly on a giggle.
"Do you want me to have another 'talk' with him?" She asked, grinning. It widened when she got the answering smile and half-hearted snort of amusement she had been hoping for. They both sat silently for a moment, imagining all the things they would like to do to the stubborn ox masquerading as a ship captain.
"I doubt that would do any good, although it might make me feel better, however briefly. But thank you, mei mei." Inara slapped her thighs lightly, before straightening her back and recomposing herself, the mask of a Companion falling automatically across her face. "I'll talk to him myself this evening, try and sort this mess out. I imagine Zoe would be a little upset with me, if I killed him out of annoyance, so soon after coming back."
River smirked at that thought. "She might be," she agreed. "Then again, she might just hold him down for you."
GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
True to her word, Inara sought out and cornered Mal as he was entering the bridge. Wash glanced up from the controls, took in the sight of Mal with an angry ex-Companion right on his heels and immediately decided he could be more useful elsewhere.
"Yeah, um— I think Kaylee might need— I'm just gonna…" Gesturing vaguely, Wash slipped quickly past the pair and headed for his bunk. He knew Zoe was down there right now, he should probably warn her about the possibility of Captain-y bloodshed up on the bridge.
As soon as Wash was gone, Mal took over his chair, speaking over his shoulder so he didn't have to look at the woman who'd cornered him while he pretended to be doing something very important. Steering or whatnot. "Don't know what ya need, but I got Captain-y things to be doin'."
"Oh no doubt," Inara replied sarcastically. "However, I'm going to talk and you're going to listen."
At that, Mal came up out of the chair and spun to face her, his face dark and closed. "I don't take orders on my own ship." He started. She didn't let him finish.
"Yes, yes, you're the Captain and you give the orders, and the rest of us must do as we are told. I've heard it before."
"Good, so then—"
"Bi zui. I'm talking now." She paused for a minute, but when Mal simply glared at her, she continued. "We've had a conversation similar to this before, but it seems we need to have it again.
"I was a Companion, yes. However, I have not been one for months now. I am a Counsellor, registered with the Guild, and I provide my services as you called them to anyone in need of someone to turn to for advice or a friendly ear. My clients have included any who can pay, and I assure you that, as my rates are far lower now than as a Companion, that list includes a much wider variety of people. It might interest you to know that I've even had some former Browncoats come speak to me." That last earned her a look from Mal, but she ignored it. "I was, and am, a respected professional in all social circles I have encountered, your self-righteous company excluded of course, and I like to pride myself on self-control and a certain level of decorum. So please listen carefully to my next words." She paused again to make sure he was listening. He was, although that sardonic expression she loathed was back on his face. Her voice hardened and became ice cold.
"Malcolm Reynolds, I am not a whore, nor have I ever been. And if you ever call me one again, I will take one of River's guns and shoot you between the eyes. Am I perfectly clear on that?" Mal just stared at her, eyes wide. She took that as confirmation and nodded. Her professional smile appeared again, and her voice took on its usual even tone. "Have a pleasant evening, Captain." Then she turned on her heel and walked away, leaving Mal to collapse back into the pilot chair, dumbfounded.
She'd actually just threatened to kill him.
Huh.
GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
Wash looked away from the ceiling of the bunk and grinned at his wife. "So, no gunshots. Think Mal's still alive, then?" Zoe smiled at her husband, happy once again that they had sorted out their own issues ages ago. Instead of answering him, she just took his hand and pulled him to their bed. Wash's smiled got larger. Afternoon sex with his warrior woman. Shiny!
GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
River smiled into Jayne's shoulder as they lay curled on his bunk. The waves of happiness emanating from Zoe and Wash's bunk twined nicely with the ones she could feel from Simon and Kaylee's quarters. The harmony that now existed between the 2 couples made her glad. She wasn't sure Simon and Kaylee ever would have gotten together if she had stayed. Simon would have focused all his attention and energy on her, and shut out Kaylee and the rest of the world out of misdirected guilt.
She reached out to feel Inara, and the smile faded slightly. While the older woman was pleased with how her confrontation with Mal on the bridge had gone, underneath that was a miasma of hurt and uncertainty that had welled up after he distanced himself from her in the cargo bay. Sighing, River nudged Jayne out of the doze he was in.
"I must go to Inara, the Captain has wounded her and she shouldn't be alone." Jayne nodded sleepily.
"'Mazes me that some woman hasn't killed him yet. Ruttin' idiot." He mumbled into the pillow. River smiled fondly down at him.
"Well Saffron and Patience did give it their best shot." She pointed out, though she privately agreed with Jayne. She slipped her clothes back on, planted a kiss on the already slumbering merc's head and climbed out of the bunk to go soothe Inara.
GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
The next few weeks proved to be something of a trial for the crew and passengers of Serenity. The tension and regular emotional flare-ups between Mal and Inara, and Mal and nearly everyone else began to wear on everyone, especially the resident readers. Indeed, just less than 2 weeks after they left Persephone, River's friends took their leave from the ship. They had never meant to stay forever, and the emotions on the ship were taking a toll on them.
River was sad to see her friends go, they were so much a part of the history that had made her who she was now, and it was hard to let them go. The night after they made the decision to leave, she invited all four of them into her shuttle, and they spent the entire night reminiscing and just enjoying each other's company. Kaen told her that they had decided to stay together for now, see if they could make it work. River had nodded, thinking to herself that it probably wouldn't last long. She and Kaen had quietly laid odds with Kaylee and Inara about how long it would take Sia and Yuri to realize their feelings for each other. She knew that once they did, they would likely head off on their own path. Nicos had always been more of a loner than the other three, and would probably disappear off on his own sooner rather than later. River caught Kaen's eyes across her bed and silently told her that she was welcome back on Serenity if she ended up on her own and wanted company. The other girl nodded her thanks with a small smile.
It was a good night. Kaylee had donated a jug of her inter-engine moonshine to the group and they were all feeling quite happy and relaxed as they just enjoyed each other's company. Late into the night, just as they all began to bed down, Nicos drew River aside. Noting her tense and slightly defensive posture, he sighed and cursed himself, not for the first time. He blushed slightly; feeling like the awkward teenager he never had the chance to be under her hard, even stare.
"Look," he started, a hand coming up to rub the back of his neck. "I really am sorry for what I did here, and how I acted before, after we – well, you know. I wasn't thinking, was a stupid thing to do, I know it. Ya can hit me, if yeh still want to, although I gotta say, yer boyfriend has a hell of a right hook." He grinned ruefully, rubbing his jaw in recollection. River smirked at him.
"Thank you for the apology, Nicos. And I won't hit you, I think Jayne did a good enough job of that for the both of us." She grinned suddenly, looking impish. "I'll never forget the way you went flying across the room and landed on your pigu."
To his credit, Nicos laughed at the memory, and when he stuck out his hand with a tentative "friends?", she smiled and shook it without hesitation.
The next morning, the five of them stumbled out of the shuttle and into the mess, slightly hungover but content. They left four days later, when the Serenity made a supply stop on Persephone.
The goodbyes were briefer than some might have expected, but the readers all felt that they had said their true goodbyes that night in River's shuttle. All that was left were hugs and good-natured farewells with the rest of the crew.
The four travellers stood on the open ramp, bags over their shoulders, and smiled one last time at River and the crew behind her. Yuri was the first to speak.
"Be safe, mei mei."
"You too, all of you. And try to keep in touch this time." River admonished, with a specific glance at Sia. They all nodded, and with one last round of hugs, turned and headed down the ramp, disappearing into the crowd like wraiths. River stared after them, strange feelings battling for dominance inside her. She felt come move up behind her and slip a brawny arm about her waist.
"You alright, bao bei?" She could hear the concern in his quiet voice and a rush of affection for the large man surged through her, quieting the other emotions. She leaned her head against his arm and sighed.
"I am now."
A/N: Aaannddd, it turns out I'm not done. One or 2 more plot bunnies to tie up, then I swear it's over! Hope you all enjoyed it, let me know what you think! Provided, of course, that anyone is still reading...
-Druid