Note: Due to mature content, the beginning of Chapter 8 has been edited out. It will appear on my site as well as at fireflyfans. net when I am done posting the story here.

Just an Epilogue left to go. . Hope you've all enjoyed the fun ride as much as I have.

Chapter 8

"But we have to do something, get this information out to the 'Verse that our homeland is -"

"Is what? A thriving, healthy planet filled with all the natural resources our people were led to believe had been used up?" Mal cocked an eyebrow at Simon. "We have no proof. Other than what's in that top three percent head of yours. Unlikely, the Alliance will 'preciate us meddlin' again."

"I'm with Mal, nothin' we need ta be gettin' involved in." Jayne leaned back in his chair, smiling triumphantly at Simon.

Irritated, Simon shot back with a quick, "Something else is going on there. Why would that man have projected images of Earth-That-Was into my head otherwise?"

"Oh, maybe 'cause you was there and you was convenient?" Jayne rolled his eyes.

Simon wouldn't give up. Something, some insistent nagging in the back of his mind wouldn't let him. "We got the truth out about what happened on Miranda."

"We were in the right place at the right time." Mal stared at Simon, daring him to counter. Boy was getting right bold since Miranda. "We are not in the right place now."

"I was." Simon answered, almost not of his own volition. "I was there. I was captured for a reason."

"Yeah, 'cause you was stupid." Jayne observed with a smirk. "Off findin' somethin' for yer girlfriend when ya shouldna left tha boat."

Kaylee's eyes widened. She'd thought he'd left the ship to get medical supplies. The guilt she felt creeping up her spine prompted her to ask, in a small voice, "for me?"

"No," Simon was quick to refute Jayne's statement, knowing how guilty Kaylee would feel knowing she was the cause of him being taken and tortured. But the hurt that slid across her face at his quick remark caused him to stutter. "Yes - No - I didn't mean -" he was going to pay for this later if the look on Kaylee's face was any indication. "Oh, it doesn't matter!" Simon threw his hands onto the table. "What matters is that man wanted me to see something. There was a reason."

"Then you kin work on just what that reason was on your own time," Mal scowled. "We need to get our extra passengers home. And get us another job."

Regan's eyes brightened. Finally, something she could contribute to the conversation. "I will pay you. You don't need - "

"I don' take handouts," Mal answered quickly. "Give whatever ya want ta yer kids. They've suffered more."

Simon glanced down at his hands entwined with Kaylee's and River stared at a spot on the wall, clearly uninterested in her mother's aid.

"How can I reach you? I will send you money." Regan asked Simon, nonplussed that he had turned away from her at the mention of giving him any help at all.

"We've survived this long. We'll be fine." Simon said slowly. Money would help them. But he wouldn't accept it.

"'l'll take what yer gonna give 'em."

"Jayne!" Inara stared at him, insulted on Simon's behalf.

Simon began to protest but Mal held up his hand. "Okay, enough. River git us back ta Paquin. Zoe, ready shuttle two. We'll stop at a nearby moon and you can return Mrs.Tam and the doctor back home. They've been gone long enough. Don't want no one worryin' 'bout where they are."

Regan sighed. She'd had an all too brief conversation with Simon earlier this morning and it had not gone they way she'd wanted. Simon wanted her to leave. River insisted she would be of more help to them at home. She'd reluctantly agreed.

Regan looked to Inara and took the Companion's hand, giving her a genuinely grateful smile. "Thank you for the use of your very extensive and beautiful wardrobe."

Inara smiled kindly as she walked away with Regan and Samantha. "It was no trouble. I'm sorry you arrived as you did. We - well, Simon means a lot of all of us. We were concerned."

"Rightly so," Samantha said as they walked toward the passenger bunks to gather Inara's borrowed clothes. "He was very lucky there was no permanent damage."

"Well I wouldn't say that," Inara glanced back at the dining area. "He's quite convinced there is another secret out there that needs telling."

"He's very gifted." Regan smiled sadly. "He is quite likely correct."

"That's what Mal is afraid of." Inara admitted with a sigh.

"Simon and River are very lucky to have found friends such as you out here." Regan said after a moment of sad reflection. "I don't think he would come home even if he wasn't afraid the government would send assassins after him."

"He does have a life here now." Inara smiled kindly as the women neatly folded the clothes. "It took him a while to adjust but I think he's done well."

"He - they - weren't raised to live a life on the run, a life without - whatever they wanted. It must have been difficult for them." Regan brushed a trembling hand through her hair. "But knowing they are alive and well - that will be enough for me. It will have to be."

Inara nodded. "It did take a while but they have adjusted well."

The Companion was surprised when Regan gripped her hands. "Please let me send you some money for them. We have more than we can ever use. I -" She lowered her head in shame. "Simon gave up everything for River. He had so much; money, a career he loved, prestige. Now he has nothing -"

"I wouldn't let him hear you call Kaylee nothing." Inara's eyes twinkled.

Regan nodded, a small smile passing across her face. "She is another reason. If - if he asks her - if they marry. I want my daughter-in-law to have what should be rightfully hers."

"It sounds like Simon won't accept -"

"He will if it comes from you. I can see in his manner that he deeply respects you."

Inara acquiesced to make the woman happy. Whether Simon accepted anything she gave him on behalf of his mother, well, that would be something else entirely. "Send anything you wish to Shinon, to the Companion Training House. It will reach me. I will see to it that Simon and River get anything you send."

"Thank you."

Regan pulled her daughter into her arms and hugged her tight. "I will miss you, my little butterfly."

"Free to dance; to be me. Happy here." River glanced back at the crew standing behind them on the walkway. They'd all said their goodbyes. It was just Simon and River left now. "Flutter with the current. Wherever it may lead."

"I know." Regan flattened her hand against River's cheek and leaned forward to whisper into her ear. "Take care of your brother."

River nodded knowingly before stepping away. "He takes so much looking after."

Simon stepped forward then and embraced his mother tightly. He hadn't been good at telling her his feelings, but he was glad she had been here the last few days. It had given him hope and reassurance that his family had not abandoned him. He and River were loved, not despised because they'd ruined their parent's standing in the upper echelon of Osiris high society.

"Take care of her, Simon." Regan hugged her only son tightly.

He glanced back at River standing beside Kaylee. Their hands were folded together and he smiled at them.

"I will." Simon buried his face in his mother's hair, and inhaled a shaky breath. Somehow he knew, with absolute certainty, that he would never see her again. But at least he would have the memory of his mother's warm and loving embrace one last time. To know that she did love, and more importantly, believe what he did to get River out was right.

When they parted, Regan extended a hand toward Kaylee and beckoned to her. The mechanic took a hesitant step forward before River gave her a little push.

Regan embraced Kaylee with warm affection. "Take care of my son."

Kaylee's somber mood brightened at once and a smile even appeared on Simon's face. Regardless of her upbringing, he realized his mother had accepted Kaylee's place in his life.

River appeared behind them, smiling stupidly. "The boob will behave."

Simon scowled at his sister and opened his arms. River and Kaylee stepped into them, embracing him tightly. They stepped back and waved goodbye as Zoe led Regan and Samantha into the shuttle.

When Regan turned to look at her children one last time, tears welled in her eyes.

River's voice floated through her body, light and airy, sad and understanding. She stood beside Simon, two halves of her children making a whole. "Tell him – we forgive him and we understand."

The sob caught in Regan's throat and the tears finally slipped down her cheeks. If she never saw her children again, her daughter had just given her a grateful gift – the knowledge that they forgave both their parents for thinking only of themselves, of the social prestige given to them when they'd turned River over to the Academy.

"See you," River forced a smile to her lips as Zoe secured and locked the door. She wanted to make them happy, even if she knew the truth. As the shuttle disembarked, River turned sad eyes on her brother. "Never again."

"No, mei mei," Simon stared at the closed doors before he turned away, walking with his arms wrapped protectively around his ladies. He knew what River knew. "We will never see them again."

"It was a success?" the blue-gloved operative asked the doctor standing at a nearby terminal. Behind them, video footage of Simon Tam's transfer to the now missing transport cycled and repeated.

"According to the reports, the conditioning was not complete." The doctor tapped a series of commands into the keypad and glanced up at the operative staring at the empty chair that should contain his subject. "There might be a lingering desire to complete the mission, but we cannot be sure. Nothing was completed. We only had him for a few weeks."

"Then we will wait and watch." The blue-gloved man paused the footage of Simon screaming. "We will find Simon and River Tam, one way or the other."

THE END

Response to reader comments

Pokey – Me too:)

Neuralclone – I might, we'll see. I love the parents too though I seem to have a different opinion of them than most fans.

Jessclifton – not while they were both coherent and paying attention :)

The Scribe3 – You don't 'see' him. He is mentioned.

Aracaya Ruby – Thanks for commenting. Hope you like the end :) The epilogue will bring to light one more mystery...