CHAPTER EIGHT
"I could get used to this." Jayne threw his feet up on the table in the hotel room and grabbed a peach from the bowl.
"Best not. We'll be off this world tomorrow, and good riddance." Mal finished tying his boots just as a knock sounded on the door. He walked over and opened it, finding Zoe and Kaylee on the other side. "Jayne, let's go."
"Aw, what do I gotta meet their folks for?"
"It's called manners, Jayne," Kaylee told him. She looked at Mal. "Simon and River wanted a minute by their own selves. I guess—oh, never mind, they're comin'."
Simon and River walked out of Simon and Kaylee's room, River looking a fair sight calmer than Simon, who seemed terribly anxious. He kept fiddling with the buttons on his shirt.
Kaylee walked over and took his hands in hers. "It's gonna be fine, Simon. Just relax."
Simon looked at her incredulously, but she was already leading him away, down the stairs. Zoe followed, and after Mal motioned a grumbling Jayne to go, he headed after them. River fell into step next to him, and he glanced at her. "You ain't said much the last two days."
A wan smile lifted one corner of River's mouth. "I think I said enough the day before that to last a while."
As if to prove her point, the news story that had been the main story the past couple of days popped up on the screen they were passing in the hallway. Mal truly hated the amount of screens all over the Core planets—couldn't get away from the news even if you wanted to. The main headline on the screen read: CONTINUING CORRUPTION IN THE GOVERNMENT. It was followed by the details of the familiar story, images of River, Bennett, Iain, Hiro, the little girl that had been strapped in that chair, and all of the other Academy students. Gruesome details of what had been done to the Alliance test subjects had been released, along with the names of those who had approved the project. The information on Blue Sun was a bit more limited, given that not a lot of details were known about them, but it was enough to start some major boycotts and riots. In a population that had only just begun to sink into complacency after the broadwave about Miranda, the fire of insurgency was quick to burn again.
Of course, there was also the controversy about the Academy students—the ones still living. Psychologists and medical professionals spent hours debating the ramifications of allowing them back in society, argued over whether they would be sane enough to function, or if they would become murderers or worse.
The public had been screaming for the Parliament's forced retirement—again—and at least a quarter of the Parliament had already resigned. A spokesman for Parliament made a public apology on their behalf, and the message River had sent to several government organizations and various members of Parliament had somehow fallen into the hands of the press on some planet or another, because it ended up being broadcast, too. It was only audio, and Mal couldn't count the number of times he'd heard it playing the past two days. It played yet again as he and his crew made their way down to the lobby of the hotel where the government had put them, free of charge, after the press found them in the blackout zone.
"You never learn. People don't take kindly to being treated like property. I am not your property, and neither are the others. You turned me into what I am and then you tried to kill me to keep me quiet about Miranda. That didn't work, and now you want me dead so I can't tell about the Academy, but you're too late. If you would just leave things alone, you wouldn't have anything to bury.
"So here's what's going to happen. You are going to put the five students that are still alive and under your control somewhere safe, somewhere that doctors—good doctors, healing doctors—might be able to help them. You're going to leave the rest of us alone. I am going to go my way. I am going to live my life the way I want it, and if I ever, ever get even a hint that you are coming after me or any of the other Academy students, if I even suspect that you have a hand in anything unsavory concerning the Academy, I will make it my mission in life to dig up every dirty, buried secret you have. I will open the door on all of your closets so that everyone can see the skeletons. So it would be better for everyone if you just left it all alone."
With the added public threat Iain and Bennett had sent out, about hunting down and killing Parliament members, the Alliance had been moving quickly to make a big deal about helping clean up the mess. They had already brought one of the five missing students to a high-security psychiatric facility on Osiris—Mal was guessing they had chosen Osiris so that River could actually bear witness to the fact that the girl was truly there. The others, River had been told, were en route to the same hospital, where a team of psychologists and doctors would be faithfully working to try to reverse their conditioning, and River was told she was 'welcome to visit them anytime.' River had already taken them up on this and gone to visit the girl Rina at the hospital.
And now there was a family reunion to deal with. Mal caught sight of River's mother sitting in the lobby, holding tightly to the hand of a man who had to be her father. Simon had come to a dead stop at the bottom of the stairs, his eyes locked on both of them. Kaylee squeezed his arm and whispered something to him.
Mal nudged River with his elbow. "Best go with your brother. He seems six ways of nervous."
"He is." River gave him the same forced smile she'd been plastering on her face the past couple of days. "I told you he takes so much looking after." She slipped past Zoe and Jayne, said something to Kaylee, and then took Simon's hand and walked toward the Tam parents, who were now standing.
Kaylee sighed happily as Gabriel Tam engulfed River in a hug and Regan put her hands on Simon's face. "Don't that just make such a pretty picture?"
Mal moved down to Kaylee and tugged on her hair. "That's your family, too, little Kaylee. We'd best get you over there so's they can have a chance to get over the shock of findin' out a little Tam's on the way."
"Oh, I—" Now Kaylee was the one who sounded nervous, which Mal found quite funny, since Kaylee was the most people-oriented person he knew, and he'd never seen her nervous about meeting anyone. She slowly followed Mal over to the Tams, Jayne and Zoe behind them.
Mal stopped, his arm around Kaylee's shoulder, close enough to hear the reunion. River's mother was crying and hugging her now. "We're so sorry, darling. We had no idea… How could we… We never would have…"
Simon and his father seemed unsure of what to do—Simon's face was a blank slate as he gazed at Gabriel Tam. It was a long moment before Gabriel spoke. "I'm sorry, son."
Simon's expression flickered for a moment, and Mal thought he saw anger and a bit of disbelief. "Yes. I suppose you are. Maybe you would have come for us if you'd really believed the truth."
"Simon," Regan whispered.
Gabriel Tam drew a deep breath and straightened. "I said what I did because I thought you were—"
"I know what you thought," Simon said.
"Simon, please don't." River stepped forward and put her hands on Simon's arms. "Don't you see? The lies were everywhere, but they're gone for now, and we can be free again."
Simon gazed at River for a long moment, and then nodded slightly. He looked back at his father and slowly held out his hand. Gabriel clasped it in his own, seeming relieved.
Regan had noticed Mal and the rest of the crew, and she stepped forward, a smile on her face. "Captain Reynolds. This is my husband, Gabriel."
Mal nodded at Gabriel Tam and shook his hand. "This is the rest of the crew. That's Jayne Cobb and Zoe Washburne, and this here's Kaylee." He gave poor nervous Kaylee's shoulder a squeeze.
Regan's eyes flickered down to Kaylee's bulging belly. "Oh! Is she your—"
"Oh, hell, no," Mal said, as Zoe chuckled behind him.
"Kaylee is my wife."
Both Tam parents turned to stare at Simon, who held out a hand to Kaylee. She moved away from Mal to stand with Simon and endure the incredulous and dubious gazes of his parents. They both seemed too shocked for words.
"Married?" Regan finally gasped. "Why that's…" She gathered herself together. "That's wonderful," she managed. "Isn't it wonderful, Gabriel?"
Gabriel Tam blinked, and his smile seemed a bit forced. "Of course. Wonderful."
"And the…baby? It is yours, Simon?"
Kaylee's eyebrows rose, a look of indignation replacing any anxiety that had been there, and Simon's eyes narrowed slightly. "Of course it is, Mother."
"I'm sorry, there's just still…so much I don't know. How long have you been on Captain Reynolds ship?"
"One year, eight months, fourteen days," River replied promptly. "Since Simon rescued me from the Academy."
"Captain Reynolds was good enough to keep us on board," Simon said, with a glance at Mal. "Despite the…trouble it brought."
"Well, that's over now," Gabriel said. "We'll have plenty of time to discuss it." There was a heavy silence as Simon and River exchanged glances. "You are staying, now that this is over? Simon, I'm sure the hospital would have no trouble hiring you back on, under the circumstances, and River—"
"I'm not staying, Daddy," River whispered. Both of her parents were staring at her now. "This isn't my home."
"You can't…" Regan glanced at Mal, then back at River. "You can't mean to say that you're going to stay on Captain Reynolds's ship?"
"That's exactly what I mean to say."
Regan turned to Simon, who shrugged. His eyes met a beaming Kaylee's, and River smiled at him. "Sorry, Mother," he said. "I already have a job."
:-:-:
Mal couldn't get much sleeping done that night—his mind was racing over everything that he needed to do as soon as he got on Serenity the next morning. Round about the early morning hours, he gave up on sleep and decided a trip to the bar downstairs might be the ticket to helping him relax. He yanked on his shirt and trudged downstairs. The hotel was quiet, though a few people were still scattered here and there, and several patrons were sitting at the hotel's restaurant and bar. One of them, Mal noted, not really surprised, was River. He was a mite surprised to see her at the bar, though, and made his way over to her, sliding onto the stool beside hers.
"Hello," River said, without looking at him, twisting her glass around in circles.
Mal pulled it away from her and picked it up to sniff it. "Wine, hmm? Works in a pinch, but not really my thing." He ordered his own drink, something a bit stronger than wine, and took a gulp as soon as the bartender handed it to him.
"Not really mine, either," River admitted, reclaiming the glass and taking a sip. "I prefer Jayne's ale, actually."
Mal raised his eyebrows. "When did you ever have Jayne's ale?"
"He gave me some once."
"Gave it—to you?" Mal couldn't quite wrap his head around that.
River tilted her head and gazed at him. "He was very drunk." Then she turned back to her wine, her hair blocking Mal from seeing her face. She was quiet for a long moment, and then she finally said, "I saw Bennett."
Mal blinked and set down his drink. "Did you, now? When was this?"
"Right after we came to the hotel. She came to see me."
"You didn't say nothin'."
River shrugged. "Everyone has a lot on their minds. Simon was so tense about seeing Mother and Daddy again…he still doesn't forgive them. He tried. For me. But he's still angry. Maybe he'll always be, a little."
Mal, for his part, understood why Simon was angry, and thought in his place, he wouldn't be so forgiving, either.
"I know why Bennett and Iain did what they did. Why they killed Hiro—not just because he was trying to kill me; they were freeing him. They thought death would be preferable to the way he was living. I can even understand that. When I saw Rina at the psychiatric hospital, her mind was the same. Lost without a mission, a purpose." River's sniffle betrayed her calm voice, and Mal reached out to sweep her hair over her shoulder so he could see her face. Sure enough, there were tears on it. River rested her cheek on the back of Mal's hand before he could pull it back, and she said, "I don't know what's wrong with me."
"Why do you think something's wrong with you, sweetheart?"
"I've seen death before. I've killed before. More times than most people my age, more times than anyone should have to. They'll always be in my head, in my memory. But these deaths, in the Academy…I can't sleep, Mal. Every time I close my eyes I see them. Every time I sleep I dream I'm one of them. I could have been one of them. Or I could have been one of the ones locked in a psychiatric ward."
"But you weren't," Mal said quietly.
River lifted her head off of his hand and stared into his eyes. "I should have been."
Mal finally thought he understood, and he put his thumb under her chin so she couldn't look away. "Don't you ever feel guilty 'cause you got a better life'n the rest. I saw what they done to that little girl in that place. I figure I got a glimpse at some of what you might've gone through, and it's more'n most can begin to imagine. You don't gotta feel shame 'cause you survived, River, dong ma? You got every right to find some sliver of happiness in this le-se 'verse, if you can. You got anyone says different, you send 'em my way."
That got the first real smile that Mal had seen on River's face in several days. "You're a good man, Mal."
Mal moved his hand back to his drink. "No, I ain't. That's why you got anyone says different, you send 'em my way."
River laughed—a small laugh, but it was definite progress. "I can't wait to be back on Serenity."
"You and me both, darlin'." Mal finished off his drink and set his glass down with a heavy thunk. "You and me both."
