ACT VII

FADE IN:

INT. AMGINE – CORRIDOR – FLASHBACK

Jess emerges from a sliding door, stands military straight, head high, hands behind her back as the door closes behind her…cutting off a violent SCREAM.

Moving her eyes only, she scans the area. No one around.

Lightning quick her left fist lashes out and hits a glass panel on the left wall, smashing the panel and depressing the red ball/button inside.

An ALARM blares and RED EMERGENCY LIGHTS flash.

Jess looks down at her hand, her knuckles are bloody. No pain registers on her face. She stares at her fist, transfixed (why did she do that?)

The cut knuckles ooze blood.

INT. SERENITY – INFIRMARY – BLOOD SLIDE

Red cells on the screen.

INT. SERENITY – INFIRMARY – SIMON

Pulling away. Simon's eyes focus' on the blood cells, maneuvering the computer to zoom in.

Behind him, River leans against the door, but doesn't come inside.

RIVER: You're in the middle.

SIMON: (turns; startled) Too zai zi! River. Yes…I'm busy. Do you need something?

RIVER: Years before us…she came. Big sister.

SIMON: She's not related to us.

RIVER: Not by blood. Circumstance. Family…like Kaylee and Wash.

SIMON: (returns attention to screen) No.

River considers Simon for a beat, then:

RIVER: It's hard for you.

Simon's concern – and annoyance – is evident as he looks over his shoulder at her.

RIVER: (cont.) Knowing they knew.

SIMON: Don't believe her, River. She's telling you lies.

RIVER: She doesn't lie. She never lies. She can't. (beat) She didn't tell me. You did.

SIMON: What? I never said–

RIVER: He came for you. You were trying to find me. Got in trouble. He came to rescue you.

But there was a price. (imitating father Tam) I won't come for you again. (She smiles lovingly) You'd never pay.

Simon's at a loss.

RIVER: Can't go home…don't have one.

INT. SERENITY – COMMON AREA – CONTINUING

River turns from the infirmary door and glides away. Her hand caresses the walls as she disappears from view.

RIVER: (cont.) All gone.

INT. ALLIANCE VESSEL – CORRIDOR – FLASHBACK

PANDAMONIUM – Alarm blaring. Red lights flashing. Could be a night club if there wasn't so much panic among the people; a rushing CREW mingles with DOCTORS/SCIENTISTS in lab coats, racing up and down corridors.

A computer voice repeats the same message in both English and Mandarin.

COMPUTER (VO; repeating) Containment breach, all personnel, base evacuation in process.

MOVING down the corridor at a calm, leisurely pace is JESS, wearing the red thermal suit, boots and gloves. No one pays her any attention.

CREW #1: What's going on?

CREW #2: I heard some virus got out.

CREW #3: Made! Juéduì bù! Isn't it already too late then?

Jess knows #3 has it right. Jess turns a corner and sees RIVER standing in her way. Jess stops, takes a step back (this isn't possible!)

RIVER: How many died?

JESS: I don't know.

RIVER: Do you care?

Jess raises a brow and gives a vicious smirk.

INT. SERENITY – MAL'S BUNK – CONTINUING

Jess' sitting on the bunk, hands cradling her head, eyes shut tight, not looking at Mal, who's leaning against the ladder, arms crossed over his chest – manly pose.

Suffering memory flashes, Jess can't grab her hair hard enough to pull the images from her skull. Her mind isn't her own…or is it? What the hell's happening to her now? Is she really going insane?

MAL: One of us better start talkin'. And in my mind, it should be you.

Jess takes a deep breath and smoothes her hands over her face. She doesn't look at him. She drops her hands into her lap and with her right thumb, rubs the recent scar over her left knuckles.

JESS: D'you remember what we had for supper that night?

MAL: Pheasant with gravy and cobbler. Your ma's recipe.

Jess closes her eyes and smiles at the memory…Mal's memory.

JESS: I couldn't remember. Not the taste…or the smell. Just…smoke…fire. And that horrible screaming from the horse. (beat) What happened to my father?

MAL: He disappeared into the dust…like the rest of the hands. I figure the Alliance got him.

JESS: No. (beat) If they had him, they would have used him against me…as they would have with you. (looks at him) As they did with you.

MAL: How?

JESS: Took you from me. (taps her head) From here.

Mal moves to the chair. Jess' red suit is draped over the chair, he sits on it, across from Jess…less captainy…more comforting…while still keeping a safe distance.

JESS (cont.): Pushed me…pulled, twisted it all up, taking my life away as if it never existed… making me into something…different. They did kill me, Mal. The Jess you knew died. What came back wasn't… isn't what you see now. You wouldn't have recognized me. I didn't recognize me.

Moving fast, Jess kneels before him. He sits up straight and leans back slightly but he can't go far. She rests her hands on his knees and gazes up at him like a lost little girl.

JESS (cont.): Can you ever forgive me?

MAL: Nothin' to forgive.

JESS: There is.

MAL: It wasn't your fault…what those gôushî bùrú did to you. Doc says it started way back…before you were born. Now, I'm not all that knowledgeable on such things, but I got the notion even you couldn't control that.

Jess drops her gaze from his, hiding again. She can't bring herself to tell him about Serenity Valley and her part in it…in the downfall of the Browncoats.

Mal pats her hands.

MAL (cont.): What were you doin' in Reaver space? More to the point – how'd you get out?

She pulls away from him and returns to the edge of the bed.

JESS: Better if you don't know.

MAL: Strange, don't feel that way myself. Better or not…your arrival kinda swung a wrench in our workin's making things a bit too interestin 'round here.

JESS: If she'd told me…if I'd known it was you…I wouldn't have–

MAL: Who and huh?

JESS: River hid it from me. She was so desperate to…to feel connected.

MAL: River's got her own ways.

JESS: I could have so easily been her. Clinging to a moment's clarity…she might have gotten the better deal in the end.

MAL: I'm sure she thinks so…when she's not spoutin' crazy talk. That doesn't give me the answers I need about what might be comin' that I have to protect my crew from. And you.

JESS: You don't need to protect me, Mal.

MAL: Yeah, I've seen your moves. That don't mean I won't be lookin' out for you from here on.

Jess gives him a questioning look.

MAL (cont.): I mean you're stayin'…on Serenity.

JESS: I can't.

MAL: Not a topic I'm willin' to argue on. You're stayin'. The end.

JESS: Really? And I've got no say in that?

MAL: From where I'm sitting, you've got all but nothin' in this 'verse to call your own. 'Cept for that bitty shuttle…which has Kaylee all kinds of spooked by the by. You ain't getting nowhere far enough in that thing–

JESS: (under breath) You'd be surprised.

MAL: –means you need a ride. On my boat. So you're under my command.

JESS: In what alternate reality do you see me taking orders from you, Captain Reynolds? I'm no grunt. Not a doctor or a mercenary. You got a pilot and mechanic…where do you see me sitting at this table? Local Shen jing bing? You got one of those already, too.

MAL: (standing) But you're stayin'…with me.

JESS: As what? Am I supposed to sit idly by as you go about your business. Ring my hands together over whatever you've gotten yourself into. Or do I go along on the jobs and bring my special talents into the mix, causing even more interesting things to occur? (beat) Or d'you got a notion of picking up where we left off?

MAL: (turns his back to her) Uh…no…I–

Jess stands behind him, rubbing a hand over his back, up his neck, fingers through his hair. Mal stiffens, then relaxes. She's so familiar…she was his home for so long…

Jess misses touching him…being touched. She's been without human contact, familiarity for a long time. She wraps her arms around his waist and hugs him, pressing the side of her face into his back.

Mal bows his head, accepting the contact.

JESS: I have seen the future and it is you. My love is eternal, my passion true. Forever and a day, we were meant to be. No other shall come between us…there is only you for me. I declare my love and devotion in honor of our pairing. I promise to cherish you from this day forth, in sickness and in health, for as long as I shall live.

MAL: You finished your vows.

JESS: (releases him) Had some time on my hands…you know…being two people and all. (over her shoulder) Didja notice…no obey.

MAL: (faces her) As I recall, we were still in negotiations over that part when hell broke loose.

JESS: And had I been given the chance, I would have fought you on that up-to and into the wedding.

MAL: (grins) I know.

Mal wraps his arms around her and pulls her close.

MAL (cont.): I've missed our tussles.

INT. SERENITY – BOOK'S ROOM – SAME TIME

Book's reading his bible. The door is open so River looks in as she passes.

RIVER: It speaks of suffering.

BOOK: What?

RIVER: (nods at book) How much is enough?

BOOK: Suffering is not God's way.

RIVER: But it is. Suffer for enlightenment…for acceptance in the holy light. One must pass through hell as payment for sins.

BOOK: Well–

RIVER: And what of sins not performed until after passing through …or because of it?

BOOK: That's a narrow–

RIVER: Hell is no place for a visit. Too bright.

River moves on, leaving Book wondering.

INT. SERENITY – INFIRMARY – SIMON

Comparing two samples of chromosomes Jess' and Simon's own. There's a blue dot on the same chrome in each example.

SIMON: Pi hua.

KAYLEE (coming in): Is that cussin' I hear?

Simon jumps and looks back.

SIMON: Dd…don't sneak.

KAYLEE: Sorry. You find something more about Jess?

SIMON: Not about her.

KAYLEE: What do ya think's happening with her and the captain?

SIMON: I'm sure the captain's fine.

KAYLEE: Oh, no…(smiles) I'm sure of that too. I've never seen him happier than when he's lookin' at her. It's sad they lost so much time…I wonder how different everything…all of us would be…if they'd had the chance to be together.

SIMON: It's possible none of us would even be here. That we'd ever have met.

KAYLEE: So them being apart was good for something…right?

SIMON: Depends on how you look at it.

KAYLEE: How do you look at it?

Simon glances at the computer…thinking. Wishing he'd never met Jess.

KAYLEE (cont.): What was River saying before?

SIMON: River says a lot–

KAYLEE: In the bay…about you doubting something. What don't you want to know?

Simon can't admit what he now knows…about River…about their parents…about himself. How would Kaylee look at him if she knew the truth?

SIMON: River's an enigma.

Kaylee moves in. She gets up close and personal, slowly smiling, catching his eyes with hers.

KAYLEE: I've got a notion about it.

SIMON: Which would be?

Kaylee kisses him slow and sweet.

KAYLEE: (after the kissin') You don't have to doubt me, Simon. And there's no one keepin' us apart…except you. I don't want to wonder what could have been…I wanna live it. How 'bout you?

Simon's stunned silent.

BLACK OUT

END ACT VII