You Have Got To Be Kidding Me

Chapter Four: The REAL Fun Begins
Xanya-Forever: Thank you for the review. Sorry, though, this chapter is really short.
Butterflydragon: Thank you. Yeah, complicated is a gross understatement.
Erishkigalgirl: Thank you for reviewing.
LK: Haven't really decided yet.
Piper: Thanks. I finally update this, even though this chapter is short. Sorry about that. I hate when that happens, but I really did post the chapter.

Well, here goes:

'Well, what are my options here?' thought Inara grimly as she attempted to assess the situation with a cool and even head, in a way which was becoming to her companion training.

If she was going to be honest with herself (not likely), falling in love with someone who was undesirable as a client and something beyond that as a husband was hardly fitting behavior. Well, neither was taking up with a smuggling ship, actively assisting in a crime and so on.

Not that she WAS in love with Mal or anything. She most certainly was not; she viewed him as a business partner and occasional friend.

Who was she kidding, anyway? She'd been in love with him within weeks of their meeting. She wasn't even doing a very good job of hiding it.

Back to where she was originally, her options. Now, she could:
A. Chuck him out the airlock and pretend this never happened.

Alas, murder wouldn't look too good on her Guild record.

B. Lay here for the rest of her life.

She'd have to eat eventually.

C. Scream her head off.

What would that accomplish?

D. Pull away and find a nice hole to live in for the rest of her life.

Such holes were rare in the middle of outer space.

E. Pull away, pretend it never happened, avoid Mal as long as humanly possible and retain a tiny shred of her dignity intact.

While E was doubtless the most appealing option at that moment, Inara was unaware of two things:

1. She was, in fact being held captive in her own shuttle with the person she really preferred not thinking about most of the time, much less spending time either. Not that she didn't enjoy the company (unless he was behaving a certain way.) Not that she didn't enjoy the company, either, Not that she ever thought about him at all. DAMN THIS!

2. The authoress is far too evil/ mentally unstable/ bored to allow her to get off that easily.

So, when Inara rolled off the bed and headed towards the door with all due speed, what she expected was to open the door, hunt down the miserable beings that had put her in such a confusing situation and make them pay. What she did not expect was to bruise her wrist trying to open the firmly sealed door then run right into it out of pure clumsiness.

Nor did she expect for someone to swear when she ran into the door and inquire, oddly enough, "Ya a'right?"

"Yes," her voice came out, as clear and even as she could make it. And so she was brought face-to-face (well, not quite, but he was looking at her and was fully awake) with the subject of her recent pondering, And so she turned beet red as she realized that he too must have been awake for ten or more minutes and hadn't moved.

This brought up another question, one much more interesting than previous inquiries, but much, much more terrifying. It was not the first time she had asked herself such a question, and she doubted there would ever truly be a last time.

Does he love me too?

There was no question as to who he was, not that Inara was over denying it.

The answer was quite obvious to the majority of us, but it being her relationship she wasn't nearly so sure.

The Companion was violently snapped out of her ponderings as Mal tried the door unsuccessfully and said, sounding slightly irritated, "So we're trapped?"

Inara only nodded.

A/N- Yeah, I think Inara probably knows but you know how people get.