Life on board Serenity had become very different since they had returned. Beckett didn't know why, but Zoe and Castle had suddenly stopped talking to one another.

Esposito and Ryan had spent most of their time in the database, trying to find out who the mystery man was. But so far, all they could come up with was a partial face recognition from 2034.

Alexis had taken to hanging out with Kaylee and River. They were the closest to her age, and it meant she didn't have to be alone so much.

Beckett, however, liked to be alone in the space shuttle that was currently not being used. It was peaceful, and from it she could watch the stars.

She was doing just that when she was joined by Inara.

"I hope you don't mind," she said. "But I saw you come in here and I thought maybe you'd like some company."

"I don't mind," lied Beckett.

Inara sat down in the co-pilot's seat and stared out into space with her.

"So how did you meet Mal?" asked Inara, breaking the silence.

"I was working a case," said Beckett. "The killer was copying scenes from his books."

Inara laughed softly, "Of course. Malcolm Reynolds. A writer. Never in all my years on board this ship would I ever think that Mal would become a writer."

"How did you two meet?" asked Beckett, giving up on the idea of silence.

"He put up an ad for someone who wanted to rent a space shuttle, I accepted."

"Really that simple huh?" asked Beckett.

"Surprisingly, yes," said Inara. "Of course, nothing was ever that simple again. Especially after River and Simon joined us."

"What's the deal with them?" asked Beckett.

"They're fugitives," said Inara. "They're running from the Alliance, so Mal took them in."

"River seems a bit…off," said Beckett, hoping not to offend.

"Well after everything that happened to her it's to be expected," said Inara, still gazing at the open void.

"What happened to her exactly?" asked Beckett cautiously.

Inara looked at Beckett, "Mal didn't tell you?"

"No."

"When River was a child she was experimented on by the Alliance. They performed surgery on her brain. Simon said that they had done something to this bit of your brain that allows you to push back emotions," said Inara, a disgusted tone in her voice.

"That's horrible," said Beckett. "Why would they do such a thing?"

"It made her psychic."

"Psychic!" exclaimed Beckett.

"Yes," said Inara. "It is a terrible burden that she carries."

"But psychic's aren't real," said Beckett. She thought back to that case they had had, Castle had been so adamant that it was possible they really were psychic's.

"Believe me, it's real. And from what we can tell, River's not the only one they experimented on," said Inara.

They lapsed into another silence. But this time, Beckett couldn't wait to break it. There were so many things she wanted to know, and she had a feeling the only person that would ever be willing to tell her anything would be Inara.

"Who's Alexis's mother?" asked Inara suddenly.

"Uh, his first ex-wife," said Beckett, wondering where all this was coming from.

"'First' ex-wife? How many has he had?" asked Inara.

"Two, Alexis's mother and his publisher, Gina," said Beckett.

"Well then, he's technically had three," said Inara.

"What? Was he married here?" asked Beckett, looking at Inara intently.

"Well, sort of," said Inara grinning. "It's quite funny actually. We were on this planet and Mal being Mal, got very drunk and accidently got married to this girl. Must of only just been twenty."

"What?" said Beckett, grinning.

"I know. As it turns out she was actually out to try to kill us all," said Inara.

"Oh," said Beckett at the sudden turn of events. "It's never a dull moment aboard Serenity is it?"

"Believe me," said Inara. "It never is."

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