Xia shuo: don't be ridiculous with that crazy talk
It took only a few days to put everything together. Inara had the hardest part: convincing the feds to wait. She felt her nerves jangling as the deadline loomed closer. Inara was just getting ready to sleep when she heard the soft knock at her door. She greeted Mal with surprise, but invited him in. "I wasn't expecting to see you tonight," she murmured, feeling an unusual discomfort at being seen in her dressing gown.
He shrugged, pointedly not looking at the bare top-swell of her cleavage. "I needed to drop this off for tomorrow," he said, handing her a large metal box.
"It's smaller than I expected," she said.
"It's collapsible," he corrected, showing her how to unbundle it. "Kaylee's a miracle worker. Don't know how Jayne got all the parts for her. Thought it better not to ask, just told him to make sure it was stuff that wouldn't go missing until we were all long gone." He laughed, rather fakely. "Jayne can sure steal ... stuff," he trailed off lamely.
She smiled at him. Putting others at ease was comfortable, familiar territory for her. "Did you get the rest of it taken care of?"
"Lifted the poem, that oughta convince 'em for a day longer. I also dropped the gun off." He shook his head. "Biggest take I ever had, and I'll never get a penny from it." He threaded his fingers through his hair. Comfortable, familiar territory that she apparently wasn't very good at. At least, not when it came to Malcolm Reynolds. "I should probably go. Can't have a decent conversation with someone who won't talk to you," he muttered.
She stiffened and stuck her arm out, blocking his path. "I am the one who will not talk to you?" she hissed. "Me?" Her eyes were spitting fire. "I have sent several letters to Kaylee, one to Simon, several to the crew. Those ones, I might add, were addressed to the crew in care of yourself as the captain." She crossed her arms in front of her. "I have received several letters back--from Kaylee, from Simon, from Book. Wash wrote me once, and Zoe added a few lines. River sent me a couple of pictures--" she broke off as she remembered the drawings. One of Kaylee smiling, standing on the docking ramp, leaning against the entry way, obviously posed for, and one of Mal sitting on the catwalk moodily with his legs over the side, obviously not. She shook her head to clear it. "I even got a letter from Jayne's mother, Mal!"
He blinked. "What did she say?"
"Don't try to sidetrack me!" She stamped her foot. To hell with grace. "All of those letters, Mal, but not one, not one from you."
He tugged on his ear, and tried to smile disarmingly. "Well, as to that--the things I wanted to say to you aren't fit for a letter."
That sidetracked her. "What--what things?"
"Gorramit," he swore, stepping toward her. Mal swept Inara into his arms and carried her over to the bed.
"Mal, what are you doing?" she asked breathlessly.
"Hell if I know," he said, unhooking his suspenders.
This was a very bad idea, she thought. She should--mmph, Mal certainly was good with his hands.
Inara had had sex before, had experienced passion, tenderness. She had had it in more feelings and forms than the average person knew possible. But this--this single-minded assault on her senses was like unto nothing she had ever known. She tried to gather her wits. She needed to tell Mal that--ohhh, where had he learned that? She lost her train of thought as a tide of feeling swamped her.
In the end she was left open and gasping, clinging to the shelter of Mal's body and his trembling caresses, utterly destroyed.
When Mal awoke the next morning the bed was empty. He looked around the room for a moment in confusion. Inara was at the mirror, hastily getting dressed, putting her earrings on. He smiled broadly, but the good morning he'd been about to utter died on his lips. Her hands were trembling. "What's wrong?" he said, rising from the bed. As she turned to him her face was set and drawn.
"I have to ... leave," she replied. She took a deep breath and rested her hand against the dressing table as if for support. "I have an appointment."
He froze, the hand that had been reaching for her hanging in mid-air. "An appointment?" he asked through clenched teeth, trying to remain calm. Surely she didn't mean what he thought she meant.
"A client, Mal," she clarified.
His eyes narrowed sharply, and a muscle in his jaw twitched. "You're planning to go from my bed to someone else's?" he asked with deadly calm.
She looked away and stood. "Yes." She moved toward the door on jerky legs. She had barely touched the knob before he was on her, spinning her around roughly.
"Don't," he pleaded. "Inara, I--"
"Mal, I have to," she said.
"No," he said. "Tianna, no, you don't. Gorramit. Stay here with me. We'll figure something out, you can quit--"
"I don't want to quit," she cried. Her words shattered against him like glass. He stared at her helplessly, his hands falling away. "This isn't a job, Mal. It's who I am."
"A whore!"
She sucked in her breath, and closed her eyes in defeat. For a long moment, they both stood there breathing harshly into the silence. Then she opened her eyes as tears slipped down her cheeks. "Yes, Mal. I am a whore," she said tiredly, looking him in the eye with her chin raised.
"Why?"
A sudden sob racked her, before it was ruthlessly quelled. "I wish I could explain, but I have to go." There was a bitter edge to her voice. "I will not be late," she said. "In this, I am a lady." She turned back toward the door. With an air of finality, she brushed the tears from her cheeks and pasted a tremulous smile upon her face.
"If you walk out that door," Mal said desperately, "I don't want you to come back." She nodded once and pulled the door open. "Inara, I'm begging you. Don't--" The door closed. He stared stupidly at it until the cold began to touch him. He hadn't realized; he was naked.
Inara forced herself not to rush and tip her hand. She must not be too eager or nervous at this stage. "They're coming," she told them. "They've agreed to meet me in the solarium this evening. I've convinced them that it will be safe, because everyone will be in the auction room."
"What reason did you give for wanting to meet with them?"
Inara smiled. She'd been prepared for this question. "It is just so sad that poor River and Simon are confined so much of the time on that ship. Capital City is, after all, renowned as a center of horticulture. Of course, the solarium here cannot compare. However, so many of the rim planets are sadly lacking in distinctive vegetation, anything would seem rich in comparison. The poor dears do get so little chance to treat themselves anymore." She winked at the two men, though she had to choke on bile to do so. "They will be there; you just have to be ready."
The dark-haired man patted his pocket ominously. "We've got everything we need. Thank you for your service, Miss Serra."
"Be sure to stick around afterward," the red-haired man added. "We have a reward for you."
Inara managed to just barely to repress a shudder. Even a badly trained companion could have caught the double-meaning in that. Malevolence was no excuse for sloppiness.
By prior agreement, Simon and River were to take the maintenance access tunnels through the cruise ship to just outside the solarium in order to preserve the fiction that they were afraid of being seen. Inara waited impatiently outside where they were to emerge, all the while telling herself that just standing about without looking as if one was just standing about was surely good practice. For what, she was not sure. In any case, she was quite relieved when they did indeed finally emerge. "Are you ready?" she asked. Simon took a deep breath and nodded tightly. But River smiled brightly up at Inara.
"Gonna see the stars."
Inara pushed a button, and the door to the solarium slid open. For the rest of her life the memory of River's not-in-the-least-bit-feigned scream would come back to keep her awake at night.
Simon gasped in shock as the two men stepped forward and looked at Inara with hurt and betrayal. "You!" Inara looked away, her heart thumping wildly. It was too real. "River," Simon cried, grabbing his sister's hand and charging blindly down the hall away from the solarium. The two men tramped after them, and Inara trailed behind.
Simon and River burst through the only doorway in the hall and seemed to stop in confusion, belatedly realizing they had stormed into the auction.
The auctioneer stopped speaking as rows of people craned their necks to see what the commotion was. Simon's eyes darted wildly around the room. He hurtled up the center aisle, River in tow. Springing up onto the dais, he grabbed an antique Lassiter off the display table. His trembling fingers flicked a switch on its base and the gun roared to life. With shaking hands, he pointed it toward the blue-handed men. "Stay back," he ordered.
The two men looked around implacably. Inara wondered if a gun could even hurt them. Too many witnesses, she thought to herself, as if she could make the two men think it. Too many witnesses to display their invulnerability to. Too many rich and powerful people with rich and powerful relatives who could make inquiries were they to die.
For whatever reason, the blue-handed men did pause before taking hesitant steps forward. "There's no place to go," the dark-haired one said.
"Back, I said!" Simon yelled. River whimpered. He pushed her behind him and slowly began to back toward a door at the side of the room The two men took another step forward. Simon pulled the trigger. Instead of firing, a horrible, shrieking whine started.
"It's overloading," someone cried. With a look of desperation, Simon and River turned and ran through the door they'd been inching toward. The two men followed, but mere steps before they reached the door a boom tore from the room and flames appeared at the window. Automatically, a lead wall dropped down from the ceiling cutting off the room from view. "Tianna," the auctioneer said. "That's where we store the extra oxygen tanks. The gun must have overloaded."
The red-haired man paced over to him. "Open it," he ordered.
"Are you mad?" the auctioneer said. "That room is on fire."
"Open it, now," the dark-haired man said, joining his comrade to loom over the auctioneer.
"I can't. This ship is built to automatically seal off that room in case of fire and to open out into space until it's out. Once the temperature returns to normal it'll close back up and the lead curtain will retract."
"Those two are wanted criminals!"
The auctioneer shook his head. "You needn't worry about them. Even if they survived the explosion, they're dead now. Sucked into space. No one could survive that."
They'd be looking for someone to blame later, she knew, but she also knew they already wanted her dead. Nowhere to go from there but up. She'd sort it out later. Or rather Mal would. He could generally be counted on to survive impossible situations and bring one or two people along with him. My, she was in a mood. She was beginning to sound like Wash. Must be something to do with having watched Simon and River explode to death in a fiery ball.
While the blue-handed men marched off to search Serenity, followed helpfully by one or two hundred curious onlookers, she trudged back to her room.
She wanted to rush back to her stateroom, but of course, companions didn't rush, especially when trying to appear beyond suspicion. Her face was grim and drawn as she ambled back, not in the least bit hurried. Really.
She grinned in relief once she had the door to her room firmly shut. Simon's helmeted face peered anxiously into her window. Of course it was. It was supposed to be, but really it had been quite an impressive fireball. She spared him a comforting smile before fetching the portable airlock Kaylee had designed from under her bed. There was a whirring and a pop, then a clanging as Simon emerged from the small tube. There was another clanging, then a pause. Inara heard the whirring sound again, and then River emerged. The airlock fell away, and it was as if the view port had never been moved. Mal clearly did not pay Kaylee nearly what she was worth. Simon was paler than usual as he climbed out of his suit.
"I am so sorry," Inara began. "I wanted to hurry, but--"
Simon waved her apology away. "No, no, we don't want to raise their suspicions." He made a deprecating moue. "It's just that I don't always get these things on right even when I have more than thirty seconds to do so."
River rolled her eyes in the way of little sisters. "He worries about everything," she said disgustedly.
Inara laughed. "They're searching Serenity now. After they don't find you--" she bit her lip. "Well, hopefully--;"
"Is the crew in any danger? These people--on Ariel--"
She put a comforting hand on his arm. "They cannot make an entire cruise ship disappear," she said. "And, thus, there are too many witnesses were something to happen to the crew. We were lucky in that respect."
Simon snorted.
Inara smiled ruefully. "Under the circumstances."
"What about you? An accident of some sort to a single individual is a lot easier to explain."
She sighed. "I don't expect any visitors, but I suppose they'll want to stop by and 'debrief' me. Beyond that—well, there's still Mother Jin-Mei. She knows why I am here, and she's thoroughly connected in the Guild. She's old and sick, but she never leaves the House."
"They can't get to her."
Inara nodded. "They'll wait until nature takes its course."
"You mean they'll wait until there's no one to remember that you were here."
"If they show up to talk, we can hide in the bathroom, I suppose." Simon looked at his sister. "That'll work?"
River bit her lip and grasped her arm, shivering. "No special senses," she said. "They won't 'see' us." Another change, Inara thought. Whatever gifts River had, it seemed Simon was comfortable enough with them to ask her to use them.
"We should get some sleep," Inara said finally. "Make sure we are ready for whatever tomorrow brings."
"River, why don't you go ahead and wash up first?" Simon suggested.
Inara was puzzled as she saw the girl wink at her brother as she left the room.
"Inara," Simon said, hesitating. Whatever he felt he needed to say, it clearly made him uncomfortable. "The captain seemed a bit upset when he came in this morning."
"Mmmm?" Inara said politely.
"Quite. Despite having returned, as I mentioned, this morning."
"Would you like some tea?"
"Yes, thank you." There was an awkward pause. It seemed that since she had left Serenity, Simon had finally learned when to let things go. He opened his mouth. On the other hand, as bad as Simon had been at knowing when to be quiet, she remembered that he was even worse at actually doing so.
"Is there a point to all this or are you merely trying to make conversation?" she asked, before he could continue.
"I am trying to be your friend. Serenity's been a different place without you. It's obvious that--look, you said you were going away to find out what you are. I had hoped by now you would know."
"I am a companion," she stated firmly. She held his gaze for all of ten seconds before crumpling. "I am a companion, and Mal thinks I am a whore."
Simon took her hand. "He doesn't really. He's just trying to protect himself. He loves you."
Inara scoffed. "He has an odd way of showing it."
Simon grinned mischievously. "Mal has an odd way of doing, well, everything, I have noticed."
"He does indeed," she laughed. She took her hand away. "I'm sorry, I know you're trying to be helpful. Simon, I--." Inara looked away, the tightening of her lips the only sign of inner distress. "Didn't you ever wonder why they chose me to work for them? I was an informer for the Alliance," she said. "In a way."
Simon rocked back as if he'd been slapped. His face turned starkly pale under the lamp light. "River," he gasped.
"No," Inara assured. "Simon, I would never, will never tell anyone about her, but I can't--I can't stay. Mal wouldn't even want me to."
Simon sighed. "I don't know what happened between the two of you." He raised a hand to quell her when she started to speak. "It's none of my business." He tugged at his lip. "But you are wrong if you don't think that Mal wants you to come back. When I said that Serenity was a different place without you, well, the truth is that Mal has been a different man. Whatever he says, he needs you." Simon held out his arm to reveal the long scratch running down it. "River didn't feel like taking any tests the other day. She wasn't really trying to hurt me; she was just--"
"Protecting herself."
"Mal finds it easier to fight than admit that he doesn't think he has anything you want." She didn't answer. "Just promise me that if he comes to see you, you will hear him out."
"Simon, I can't--"
"Then you're a fool, Inara, and I know you are not. You know I'm not here just because I'm worried about Mal. If I thought you were happy--" River came out of the bathroom then, ending the discussion. Simon spared one last hard glance at Inara, and then went in himself.
