Alright, so I ended up getting this done a lot sooner than I thought. I didn't think you all would mind though. Thank you to all my loyal readers/reviewers, it really puts a smile on my face to see how many people are following this story. As always I do no own these worlds, I'm just playing with them for my own amusement. Anyways, on with the show!

Chapter 24 Cinderella or Femme Fatale?

XXX

…Persephone…

Wash had set them down on Persephone a little after 10 am planet time, and Inara had immediately left for her appointment, much to the chagrin of Mal.

Mal requested that River stay on Serenity due to her warrant. She did not think this to be unreasonable and complied with his request; however, she did remind him that he owed her chocolate, again much to his chagrin. Book had volunteered to stay behind as well and keep River company while the others went to procure supplies for Serenity.

XXX

…A few hours later…

Riddick's POV

If I have to carry around these gorram bags much longer, I'm going to shiv the Captain. I'm Richard B. fuckin' Riddick, not a pack animal. And this wool jacket and hood I'm using as a 'disguise' ain't comfortable in the heat of the day on Persephone.

"Oh, look at the pretties!" Kaylee calls from up ahead, and I groan. Girls and shopping are just so…annoying.

"What am I looking at, the girls or the clothes?" Wash says to Zoe who is beside him.

"There's girls?" Jayne says.

"The clothes, please husband."

We're all standing in front of the store window now. Kaylee and Zoe look at the dresses, while Jayne looks at the girls.

"Say, look at the fluffy one." Kaylee says pointing up to a pink monstrosity.

"Too much foofaraw. If I'm going to wear a dress, I'd want something with some slink."

Wash perks up at this. "You want a slinky dress? I can buy you a slinky dress. Captain, can I have money for a slinky dress?" He says as he turns towards the Captain.

"I'll chip in." Jayne says. His smirk betraying his thoughts.

Zoe turns to Jayne. "I can hurt you."

"The only place I seen somethin' so nice is some of the things Inara has."

Oh now she's done it. Captain was just coming out of his foul mood and she had to go and bring up the Companion.

"Well, we best be movin'." I say hoping to avoid the inevitable, but no one listens to me.

"I guess she needs all that stuff, the life she leads." Zoe says.

"Well, sure. Sometimes the customers buy her things. Some real rich men."

Oh now, they gone and done it. Gorram women never know when to shut up.

Mal's irritation is bubbling close to the surface now. "Come on! These ain't feathers I'm toting here, ya know?"

"I like the ruffles. Inara gets to wear whatever she wants."

"What are you going to do in that rig? Flounce around the engine room? Be like a sheep walking on its hind legs." Mal yells at her.

She turns and gives Mal a look like he just kicked a puppy. She walks over to where the mule is parked. Wash follows her and Zoe gives Mal a glare.

"See ya on the ship, Captain." Zoe says as she removes the sac from his arms and walks over to the mule.

"Is she mad or something?" Jayne asks me in a hushed voice.

"You really need to work on your people skills Cobb." I say.

And as the three of us are about to start walking back to the ship, we are surrounded by men, all of which have guns drawn. Who'd the Captain piss off this time? That's when a small man in a derby approaches from the side.

"Captain Reynolds. Heard you was in town. Thought we might have a bit of a sit-down."

"Badger, I'd prefer a bit of a piss-off."

"I'm very sorry. Did I give you the impression I was asking?"

XXX

…Meanwhile…

River's POV

After the others had left that morning, the girl suggested a friendly game of chess to keep them distracted while the others were gone. Hermes only agreed to play after she promised not to 'peak' and they had been enjoying the game for the last hour or so.

After much deliberation, Book moves one of his pieces on the chess board. She studies the chess board and makes her move, and settles further into the chair in the common area and sighs.

"Would you like to talk about whatever is troubling you?" He asks without looking up from the board.

"The girl is frustrated."

He moves a piece and looks up at her. "Should I assume it has something to do with Riddick or the Captain?"

She rolls her eyes. "Not everything has to do Orpheus or Captain Daddy." She studies the board and uses her rook to take his bishop. "Check."

He in turn takes her rook, voiding the check. "Those two do seem to cause you the most consternation, so it is not an unfounded assumption."

"Truth…but inaccurate in this particular instance… No, the girl feels as if there is something amiss with the painted flower, and all of her attempts to delve deeper have yielded nothing." She moves her queen forward on the board.

This catches his attention. "You mean Inara?" She shakes her head in the affirmative.

"The girl has observed things. There are things hidden beneath the petals. But what's most troubling to the girl is that there is something…familiar about her…and the girl cannot find what it is."

Book takes a moment to study the board and then takes one of her bishops. "What do you mean familiar?"

"The girl does not know how to explain it. She…" But the girl is silenced by the loud noise over the comm that indicates a wave.

"I better go check on this." Hermes says as rises from his seat and walks towards the bridge.

She leans forward in her chair and quickly moves her queen to take his. "Checkmate." She says to the empty room.

XXX

Riddick's POV

A few minutes later we are seated at some shoddy little table. We had been relieved of our weapons at the door and I'm scanning the room for anything I could pick up and use as a weapon if the need arose. I doubt it would come to that, the little man, Badger, is nothing more than a petty thief who thinks he 'runs' things, but you never know with Mal.

Drinks and food are brought over to the table now. Mal just continues looking at Badger warily. "Seems the last time there was a chance for a little palaver we were all manner of unwelcome."

Jayne takes a sip from the drink. "This ain't bad."

"There's a trick to it: wood-alcohol." Badger says.

I scoff at him. "So we're guests being treated to beverages that make you blind." Mal sets his cup down after hearing the last bit.

Badger looks over at me. "Ahh, so he speaks after all. Nice to know Mal hasn't tamed the great Richard B. Riddick. I thought you were dead though."

"Yeah, you and everyone else." I suppress a growl in the back of my throat and begin eyeing the teacup in front of me. Death by teacup would fit this fucker.

"Am I missing something here?" Mal says clearly confused.

"Your boy here is very popular Mal, one of the verses' most wanted, or was. Surprised he didn't mention it."

"No he didn't." Mal says. "Are we going to have a problem here Badger?"

"No, no problem at all, if anything I'll send more business your way knowing you have capable crew now."

I chuckle. "Nice to know I won't have to kill you too."

Mal is quick to cut off any other threats and get things back to the matter at hand, why the fuck we are here. "So what is it you need Badger?"

"There's a local, but the name of Warrick Harrow. Got some property he wants to sell off-planet...fetch a high price."

Mal's interest peaks just a tad. "The local powers won't let him sell off-world."

"It's a conundrum. What my man Harrow needs himself is a smuggler. Willing to cut you in on it."

Mal looks at him suspiciously now. "Why me? You have access to ships. You could do it yourself."

"He won't deal with me direct. He's taken an irrational dislike."

"What happened? He see your face?" I ask.

Badger glares at me. "He's a quality gent. Nose in the air like he never wun gwo pee. Don't find me respectable. But you…Malcolm Reynolds, now I figure you got a chance."

"You backed out of a deal last time. Left us hanging."

"Hurt our…feelings." Jayne says between mouthfuls.

"Had a problem with your attitude is why. Felt you was...what's the word?" Badger says arrogantly.

"Pretentious?" Jayne supplies. Mal looks at Jayne as if he's surprised to learn Jayne knows a word with that many syllables.

"Exactly!" Badger says as he snaps his fingers together. "You think you're better than other people."

"Just the ones I'm better than. And that very quality is the one I think you're placing value on today."

"I'm placing value on the fact that stick up your pee goo is about as large as the one Harrow's got."

"How would you set up a meet, man that won't deal with you?" I ask.

"I know a place he'll be. Safe place. Using some new-tech gun scans. High-class too. Wouldn't let me in there. You might slip in. Course you couldn't buy an invite with a diamond the size of a grapefruit, but I got my hands on a couple."

There's a small chuckle around the table at the man's Freudian slip. He catches on quickly though.

"Of invites you wankers! You want this meetin' or not?"

"Well then it seems like we have ourselves an interesting business opportunity." Mal says.

XXX

…Back on Serenity…

Book sits down in the pilot's seat on the bridge and pulls up the message that had been received. It's a forwarded message from one of his old accounts, which could only mean one thing. He quickly enters his old codes and then connects to Mr. Universe's moon.

"I take it you found something Mr. Universe." He says as soon as the man's face appears on screen.

"Indeed…your little friend is…quite interesting Derrial, quite interesting. I have to say I haven't had so much fun since I manipulated the software in flight school."

Book chuckles at this comment. "I take it the security system was not too much of a challenge then?"

Mr. Universe smiles, "You know me Derrial, you can't stop a signal, everything goes somewhere and I go everywhere. Security feeds are a traipse to access, and firewalls bend at my magnificence. The Alliance keeps quite intricate records, your little friend was quite a prize to them, and her records were some of the best I have seen. Do you know what it is you're carrying?"

"I have some idea, but I'm sure these records will shed more light on that as well."

"They've already been uploaded to your account. Oh and by the by, if your ever around my parts…I would love to meet her. I bet the old vids they have on her do her no justice."

"I'll keep that in mind. Again, thank you old friend." He closes the wave feed and begins to download River's file. As he begins printing out the file, he hears River clear her throat behind him and he turns to look.

XXX

Riddick's POV

"How many tickets?" Mal asks.

"Four." Badger replies.

Now that's interesting. "Why so many?" I ask.

"Figured the Captain here might be tempted to do something to jeopardize the deal, thought if he had a few of his crew along with him they might be able to…hold him back as it were."

Jayne and I both chuckle a little… looks like he knows the Captain well enough. Mal just send both of us a glare.

"Now I take it this is a mighty fancy party, and since you need us so bad Badger, we'll be needin' some cashy money to look the part."

"I figured you'd say that," he says as he tosses over a small bag. "There's enough in there for some decent threads."

"Shiny, well if we're done here." Mal says as he gets up to leave.

XXX

River's POV

"She did not want to intrude on his conversation." She says from the doorway. "You lost by the way."

He smirks a little at this. "Mr. Universe probably would have liked it if you did, he mentioned wanting to meet you…I think he has a bit of crush on you after seeing your files...And I figured it was inevitable. After all, chess, like mathematics and music, is a nursery for child prodigies."

"Strange little man." She says as she walks over to the papers that are being printed. "But quite capable she sees."

"One of the best I ever came across in my work." He says as he watches her skim over the first few pages.

Without looking up she sits in the other chair. "How did you meet him?"

"Don't you already know the answer to that?" He asks mildly amused.

Again without looking up she answers. "You gain perspective from listening…that and I like to hear your stories instead of plucking them from your head."

He smiles. "I had been called in to investigate a breach in one of the Alliance's top flight schools. While there was nothing obviously wrong with the system, a security measure had been tripped. I traced it back to a student, who apparently manipulated the school's software to make himself the best student. I have to say it was some of the best hacking work I had ever seen, so instead of reporting the wrong doing, we established a working relationship if you will."

The girl chuckles a little. "Wash would not be happy to know he was cheated out of that honor."

"They went to the same school?"

"Affirmative." She turns and grabs a few more of the pages that have been printed. "They knew each other, but not well."

"It really is a small universe after all." Book says with a sly smile.

The censors for the cargo bay light up now, and book quickly pulls up the back vids to see what it could be.

"Looks like the others are back." He says.

"The sunshine has a cloud hanging over her." The girl remarks.

"Something happen?"

She shakes her head, not surprised at the waves of anger that she can feel radiate off Kaylee. "Captain Daddy was rude."

"I'll just go see if they need a hand with unloading things." Book says as he gets up and walks off the bridge, leaving the girl to her reading.

XXX

…Serenity's Cargo Bay…

"Stupid mean Captain." Kaylee says as she pulls one of the bags off the mule.

Wash sighs. "Kaylee I'm sure he didn't really…"

"Yes he did!" She says as she stalks off to the engine room and past Book who is descending the stairs.

"I take it things didn't go so well." Book says as he approaches the mule.

Zoe supplies the answer. "Captain put his foot in his mouth…she'll get over it though. Kaylee never could carry a grudge."

"Ain't that the truth." Wash says.

"What's the truth." Mal ask from behind the trio, Jayne and Riddick not far behind him.

"Nothing sir." Zoe replies quickly, hoping he didn't over hear too much.

"Where's Kaylee and River? Got a job for them, you too preacher." Mal says as he walks further into the cargo bay.

"River is on the bridge and Kaylee just went up to the engine room, but why me?"

"You'll hear soon enough, I'm just gonna go get the girls." Mal says as he walks by leaving three stunned faces and two indifferent ones in his wake.

"Do I want to know?" Book asks.

XXX

…A while later in the Persephone Markets…

River's POV

"No…Closer…Never…No…" She says as she looks through the racks upon racks of clothing in front of her.

"Come on Riv, Capn' wanted us back soon." Kaylee says from a seat behind her.

"It's not my fault that none of these dresses meet her standards…or that you found your dress so quickly."

"How could I not? It's so pretty!"

"And that it is…but the girl wishes to find something…different."

"What do you mean by different?"

She shrugs her shoulders. "She will know when she finds it."

She continues her search as a little man comes over from behind the counter. "Can I help you find something Miss?"

The girl turns to the man. "Cinderella requires a dress."

The man is clearly confused. "Pardon?"

"She means she's looking for a dress for the party tonight." Kaylee says as she gets up from her seat and walks over to them.

"Well we have many fine dresses here to choose from."

"Yes, they are lovely, but the girl is looking for something…different."

This piques the man's interest, and the girl catches a glint in his eye. "How so?"

"She wishes to look ethereal, but…lethal."

"Ahh a femme fatale, are we." The man says with a smile.

"In a manner of speaking." She replies, while Kaylee stifles a laugh at his accurate statement.

"Come with me, I may have just the dress for you." He says as he walks towards the back of the store and through a door.

She exchanges a look with Kaylee, and then both of them follow the man into the back of the store. They walk past a few sewing machines and people working on dresses to where the man waits outside another door.

"Most of the girls here, they want big poufy dresses, they do not want one of my creations…but I can see you are different," he says as he opens the door.

She can feel the edges of her mouth turn up into a smile as she lays eyes on the dress.

"Perfect."

XXX

AN: Oh this is all kinds of exciting, they are going to a ball! I know some of you will be wondering what River is going to wear, don't worry I will be posting a link to a picture of the dress I envision River wearing in the next update. It took me a good long while to find the right dress, so I hope you guys approve. Till next time. =)