Disclaimer: Characters do not belong to me, they are the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and Fox.

Feedback is always welcome.

Takes place shortly after the series ended. Part 3 includes chapters 11-15. Another short chapter, sorry, it just wrote that way.

To Kryptonite, yes, I do indeed love torturing Mal. But take comfort that I am almost done with this story and in the sequel I will have a new victim for my torturious inclinations...LOL

This chapter is a bit of an olive branch for Mal fans, plus I wanted to explain a bit of the why he has problems with the pairing of River and Jayne...and a little Inara and Mal fluff was needed. :-)

Many thanks to William Topley and The Blessing for their song "Delta Rain", it helped inspire this piece. River sings bits and pieces of it to Jayne.

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Mal sat in the pilots chair, gazing out at the black. He always did his best thinkin' here. If the engine room was Serenity's heart then up here was her brain. An' right now he needed Serenity's help to figure out what had gone so horribly wrong this past month.

He'd been expecting Kaylee and Simon to happen, so that one wasn't so much an issue. He smiled, recallin' how happy Kaylee'd been when it'd happened. Past week had gotten a mite strained but he could hardly fault the Doc for that, he had more then a few issues with River sensing things she had no business sensin' his own self. Only thing he could fault the Doc on was not realizing it'd been going on. But he should'a figured that for himself, Simon never had gotten so's he accepted she was a reader an' he had. Though, judgin' by Kaylee's shiney disposition all day, he'd gotten over some of his troubles on his sister's abilities.

Now this whole Jayne an' River thing, on the other hand, had come outta the blue. Still not sure what all he made of that pairing. On the one hand it seemed like it'd turn into a real good thing. Seemed to bring both of his loose cannons a bit more into the fold. River gentled Jayne, which had both good and bad sides to it. He needed Jayne to have an edge, he also needed him loyal. He'd prefer it if that loyalty was to him. An' he just wasn't sure this thing with River was going to go that way, seemed more like to just make him loyal to her.

An' Jayne seemed to help keep River sane. Zoë had the right of that. Girl was more focused and articulate, question was, what would she do with that. 'Specially with Jayne at her side. He'd felt fair certain of River's loyalty to Serenity after the Jubal incident, but it had never been tested 'cept the once. If River felt Jayne was in danger, how would she react. If Jayne felt River was threatened how would that play out. Weren't even a matter of if he was the one causin' the threat, would they follow his orders if they felt the orders put the other in danger?

He needed Zoë at his back till these things were figured out. Only now it seemed even that was in question.

An' havin' little ones underfoot was gonna bring all manor of changes. Even the way she'd chosen to tell him her an' Wash were planning a family was a sign things were changin'. She hadn't found a private moment, she'd come right out in the middle of breakfast with near the whole crew there. When they'd talked, argued, 'bout it later she had told him she intended to stay, keep on doin' what she'd always done. An' might be that would be possible; but, during the pregnancy at least, she would have to take things easy.

Sure, Book had proved mighty handy in a pinch. But that wasn't as a replacement, that was as an addition. Lately they'd been needing more muscle then they had before an' that was not lookin' to change anytime soon. So he was still gonna be short a gun, even if it was just for a couple months.

He heard the light footsteps behind him, recognizing Inara's perfume. An' that was another thing he had some thinkin' to do on. She still hadn't said what she planned to do about her Companion status. Most of the week after their one night of weakness had been spent arguing about that, and the week since they left Liberty's moon had been spent dealing with River's unnatural insights on what they'd done that night. He forced his body to still as her hands moved to rest on his shoulders.

"It's beautiful out there." she said softly, "I never really paid it much attention the few times I've been up here. Normally I just gaze out from the shuttle window, but it is more open from this one. In the shuttle you can still see the side of Serenity so you know you are not alone. Up here it feels like you really are."

He'd never thought of her gazing out at the stars like he did, he'd always just assumed she was in there doin' companiony things. Like prettyin' herself or practicin' a musical instrument like Nandi said they did. Her fingers started massaging the knot in his neck.

"I heard back from the House Priestess earlier, they have accepted my request for a leave of absence." he turned to look at her in shock.

"Shumma?" he asked.

"You heard me, Mal," she replied with a smile, "we need time to figure out what is between us and where it will lead. I need to learn if I can find a place here that doesn't involve my acting as your Ambassador. I told you before that I don't know what I can offer the crew if I am not a Companion, and I won't stay just to be your girlfriend. I need a place of my own, a job, something I can contribute. This way we have time to figure these things out. Maybe it is weak of me to hold onto my Companion status while we are working on things, but I am not sure I am ready to cut that cord just yet. And right now it is all I have to offer Serenity."

"So, if you can find something else to contribute, you'd be willin' to give it up?" he asked, he had to be sure this is what she meant.

"If I can find something useful and things look...promising...to work out between us, then yes." she moved around in front of him, looking down into his eyes. "I would be willing to give it up."

He was awed, he knew he had no call to ask this much from her. It was more compromise then he had any right to hope for. She'd spent near her whole life training for this, yet she was willing to give it up on a chance of bein' with him.

"In the meantime," she continued, "we still have my "respectability" if we need it. I am hopeful we can learn to do without it."

"You could'a told me you were plannin' on doin' this." he knew he shouldn't be gettin' testy 'bout this, but if she'd told him they could'a avoided a whole lot of arguing.

"It wasn't your choice to make." she said firmly, "It was mine. And I only made it a few days ago. You had better be worth it Malcolm Reynolds."

"Is that a threat, Miss Serra?" he asked with a lopsided grin.

"They do say hell hath no fury like a woman scorned," she smiled back at him, "or in this case, a woman disappointed."

"Nothin' like a little pressure." he mumbled, startin' to think maybe he wasn't gettin' the good end of this deal after all.

"I have faith you will rise to the challenge." her voice dropped to a husky whisper as she slid onto his lap. "Now, since I will be unable to pull in my normal income I believe a renegotiating of my rental contract is in order."

"You're usin' those wiles on me again." he tried to keep his voice stern.

"Yes," she murmured between nibbles on his ear, "want me to stop?"

"No," his fingers tangling in her silky hair as he pulled back to look into her warm eyes, "not ever."