Disclaimer: Property of Joss Whedon. The genius bastard

It felt right. Somehow, Inara made everything seem better. It might have been being out in the sky again, or it might have been that now they were together and they could laugh again. It might have been that none of them had to worry about freezing or starving anymore. They swapped stories, and Jayne by far had fared better than Mal and River. He always had a place to sleep, always had food in his stomach and someone to rely one. Granted, sometimes those reliables weren't quite so reliable, but he made do. Jayne was fit, tough and didn't have anyone to look after but himself. Mal wasn't the least bit surprised by Jayne's success- the man was as changing as the oceans. But he, Mal, had physical limits and a young girl he needed to consider. That and he wasn't willing to kill someone for hire.

As they drew nearer to River's home, she grew twitchier and a lot more difficult to sedate. She screamed at random, stabbed at people and ran around stomping as hard as she could. Mal once overheard her muttering to herself some nights, usually something about "He will not take her but they will want her they will want her she will go again for him." Jayne passed this all off as her usual craziness rearing its ugly head. Inara bit her lip in worry, but thought best not to comment. Mal was fairly certain that River was scared of something, but what she refused to tell him.

The night before they arrived River got out of bed, went into Jayne's room and sat on top of him. He opened his eyes, surprised but wary because he remembered she was a moon brained girl and she would kill him and think it was an accident. She feels everything, Simon had once said. And if she was scared, like Mal thought, then fear was a sure conductor of death.

"Need something?" he asked her.

"Sex," she told him. "Impregnate. Breed me. They will not take her if she is tainted."

Jayne furrowed his thick brow. "No," he said at last, having gone through his entire repertoire of responses. "Get off me."

"She can't go!" she pleaded. "But she can't stay. He can't keep her. Please, Jayne."

"I ain't gonna… not with you." He tried to gently lift her off him, but she threw herself down onto him. The top of her head nicked his chin, shaking him brain and giving him a small headache.

"He hides too well," she whispered, starting to cry. "She can't see into him. Inara couldn't either. She had to go. Now I will have to go." River sobbed pitifully, her fingernails digging into Jayne's bare chest like cat's claws. "I will go." Her voice was dull, as though accepting her fate at last.

Jayne shifted under her, not having a clue what this conversation was all about and not much caring to either. But it seemed the girl was real upset and she didn't plan on moving anytime soon. He sighed, wrapping his arms around her. "All right, little girl," he murmured. It pained him- that had been his little affection term for Kaylee. She seemed so far away now. He'd always liked Kaylee. She was so gentle, so sweet and needing so much protection. He'd never have admitted to it, but he would have done just about anything to keep Kaylee safe. Jayne glanced down at the pitiful girl on top of him. She needed someone to protect her, didn't she? Despite being able to take on a pack of Reavers alone, River was still a little girl who needed people to keep her safe. What would she have been like if the Alliance had never tampered with her? Would she sweet and small, like Kaylee? Would she need a protector?

It dawned on Jayne that it didn't matter at all. She needed someone- him- to protect her. And he would, as best he could. If only to make up for what he couldn't do for Kaylee anymore.

"Okay," Jayne said softly, getting comfortable. "Okay, beibei. I won't sex you, but you can stay if you like."

"Jayne loves River?"

"I wouldn't say that," he contested. "I mean, you're all right."

River sniffed. "Someone has to love me."

"Your parents, wouldn't they? Why else would you go there?"

"Mal can't keep her. She is his burden. He will never be happy with her weighing him down."

"That ain't true." But maybe it was. He didn't know for sure. Jayne had never been the "comforting" type because most times he told people what was true, not what they wanted or needed to hear. Now, though, he didn't want to upset her. She was a little girl who needed someone nice. He sure wasn't nice, but he'd have to do for now.

"What's life like with a limp and crazy?" she asked, mocking Jayne's unschooled accent. He frowned. "He can't help River," she informed Jayne. "He is too tired. He can't love anyone anymore."

"You'll be home tomorrow most likely," Jayne told her. "Then you don't gotta worry about it no more."

"No," she said sadly, climbing down off Jayne's burly chest. She stood beside his bed, small and tired. "No, won't worry anymore. She will go."

It was unsettling how final those words of her had been. Jayne watched her go, pained by something deep and unknown. She looked like someone walking their last mile. He settled back in his bed, staring at the ceiling. She said she would go. But in the end, he wasn't too sure he could let her.

River climbed into Mal's bed. He moved for her, only half-waking. He'd become accustomed to it by now. "You okay?" he mumbled sleepily.

"Tomorrow," she whispered. "I love you, Mal."

"Mm," he mumbled. River closed her eyes and slept.

Mr. and Mrs. Tam received the group pretty much how Inara had expected them to- they were confused and very wary of them. Mrs. Tam scowled at Inara, who politely ignored her. Mr. Tam clearly did not like the scruffy way Mal and Jayne looked, and especially did not like that they were with his daughter. But they were all invited in because it was the polite thing to do. Mal explained to them what had happened to their children over tea. Simon, he regretfully informed them, was no longer with them. It had been a bad accident. He most assuredly felt no pain. Mrs. Tam wept bitterly for her son, but there was something to it Mal did not like. He couldn't tell if she cried because Simon was dead, or because he hadn't turned out the way she had hoped he would. Mr. Tam invited them to stay for dinner, which they did. Inara and River strolled through the backyard together while Mal and Jayne kept themselves hidden somewhere by the fishpond. The Tams were inside preparing the meal.

"Are you happy to be home?" Inara asked River kindly. The girl had been shy and recoiled all day.

"Not for long," she mumbled to herself. "Home will not be long."

"What do you mean, River?"

"She will go back to the hands of blue. They will give her to them."

"Your… your parents?" River did not answer, only nodded slightly. Inara stared at her, shocked. No, that couldn't be right. They were her parents, they loved her. Surely they wouldn't give her back to the Alliance to be used as a lab rat again? She thought back on what Simon had told them about when he'd discovered River was in danger, and not even his parents had wanted to help him. They didn't believe him. Didn't believe, or didn't care?

Inara approached Mal just before they were called in for dinner. He and Jayne were talking in hushed tones. "Mal," she said, her voice barely above a whisper, "I don't like this."

"The house? Thought you'd be used to-"

"No, not the house. I don't want to leave River here."

"Well, we don't have a choice. This is her family, she wanted to come here."

"But she said they were going to send her away again. Back to the Alliance."

Mal was at a loss for words. Jayne was not. "Then she ain't staying," he said simply. Mal looked at him, dumbstruck again. "What?" Jayne said defensively. "We risked all hell to keep her from the Alliance, and now you're just gonna hand her over to people who want to send her back?"

Mal chewed it over for a bit. "What are we gonna do, just run off with her? She don't belong to us."

"We should ask her," Inara said firmly. "Ask if she wants to stay. I don't want her here, Mal. Didn't you feel how weird it was with them? They won't know what to do with her."

"And we do?"

"We know better. We won't try to sweep her under the rug like a shameful secret. I know families like these, Mal. They'll keep her locked up in a back room so no one knows what a disgrace she is."

Mal was clearly torn. On the one hand, he didn't want River staying here if she was going to be miserable. On the other, Inara might be wrong. Mrs. Tam had hugged River pretty tight when she'd seen her. And now, River was their only child. Maybe that would be enough for them?

"Dinner is ready," Mrs. Tam called across the yard, scattering Mal's thoughts. He was startled, but not by her. By her daughter. River looked like she had been drugged. Her hair hung in her face, making her eyes dark and in shadow. She looked like walking death.

"River, honey," Mrs. Tam fussed, "stop slouching." She tucked her daughter's hair behind her ears. "Keep you chin up." River followed her mother inside listlessly.

Dinner was awkward, kept only on the lighter side of painful by Inara's special talents as an elite conversationalist. She knew just what to say, just what not to say, and when to kick Jayne under the table to keep him from speaking. Mal spoke briefly about Serenity when asked, keeping out small details like 'firefly' and 'pirates' and 'death trap'. The Tams seemed almost horrified by the whole concept, but they pretended to hide it well. By the time coffee came round, Mal had stopped talking altogether.

River hugged them all goodbye- Inara first, who cried a little. Then Jayne, who reluctantly hugged back. "Be good, moonbrain," he told her. "No stabbing papa in his sleep." That joke didn't go over well with Mr. Tam, who scowled fiercely. Last she hugged Mal, seeming never to want to let go.

"You'll be okay?" he whispered in her ear.

"River will live," she told him, although not very persuasively. He wanted to ask what her parents would do to her, but couldn't find the heart to. River already knew what he wanted. "They will see her unstable," she told him sullenly. "They will not know what to do with her. She is not the same. They will send her away."

"Why are you staying?"

River pulled from the hug. "She will be okay," she told Mal simply. "This is her family."

Mal accepted that answer, although he couldn't quite figure out why he still felt so guilty. "We'll stay for a while," he told her. "Ten days. If you decide to… If you change your mind, you find us." Inara, standing beside Mal, nodded.

River looked at the floor. "She will go for him," she murmured.

Mal, Inara and Jayne left the Tam house and found an inn in the city nearby. No one spoke the entire three hour ride there.

"What will you do now, Mal?" Inara asked kindly. They were all at lunch, dining on a meager meal that was cheap and unfulfilling. Not one of them felt much like eating.

"Why?" Mal asked her, stirring his mashed potatoes but not eating them.

"You said you would bring River home, and you have. So what happens now?"

"I don't know," he said miserably. "I move on like I always do."

"Get a ship?" Jayne asked, chewing on a stale biscuit.

"Suppose."

"Am I crew?"

"Suppose."

"First mate?"

"Doubt it."

Jayne sulked. "Should be," he said testily. "Saved your ass a time or two."

"I need someone with a level head to be second in command," Mal told him. "You're too… what's the word?"

"Trigger happy?" Inara offered.

"That's the one!" Mal declared.

Jayne sulked harder. "Shoulda let you freeze," he grumbled, getting up and heading out into the street.

"I'm cuttin' your pay for that!" Mal yelled to him.

"You gotta have pay to cut it!" Jayne retorted over his shoulder. The door closed behind him with an unsatisfying 'swish'.

Inara smiled at Mal, who smiled back. Ah, she thought to herself, there's the smile I miss. "So what now, Captain Reynolds?"

"We still got eight days," he told her. "After that maybe I'll have an answer."

On day ten, Mal was impatient as anything. He was pacing all over the place paying no attention to his limp. "I guess that's that," Mal said to Inara and Jayne. "I guess she didn't want to go."

"Of course she does," Jayne said, flipping through a magazine. "But she ain't coming."

"Why not?"

"Because," he said, exasperated, "she thinks you don't want her."

"Me? I never said that. When did she say that?"

"Day before we got here. She said she didn't want to go but that you didn't want her no more so she was gonna leave you so you could do what you wanted. Didn't want to be a burden to ya."

"A burden? Where in the gorram hell'd she get an idea like that?"

"Who knows? She came to me one night trying to get me to take her to bed."

"What?" That was Inara.

"Told me to knock her up. That way she'd be tainted and they wouldn't want her."

"The Alliance," Inara said, slowly piecing it together. "They wouldn't want her if she was pregnant, she'd be of no use to them. She would have to stay home."

Mal threw his hands up. "This is a fine time to be telling me this!" he yelled.

Jayne shrugged. "I didn't know what she was talking about. Maybe you told her you didn't want her no more, I dunno."

"Well of course I… I mean, she don't gotta stay if she don't want to."

"Then why don't you tell her that?" Inara said, her tone very direct.

"I will!" Mal declared. "Get your things, we're going right now."

When Mrs. Tam opened the door, she looked both shocked and a bit angry. "Can I help you?' she said tersely.

"Yes ma'am," Mal said respectfully. "We'd like to speak to River."

"She's… indisposed at the moment. She's asleep."

"You mean drugged," Jayne mumbled.

Mrs. Tam ignored him, but shot him a nasty look. "You can't speak to her now. Please leave."

"I got a better idea," Jayne said, pulling out a small pistol and aiming it at the woman's forehead. "How about you let us in like a good little housewife and offer us some tea?"

Mal looked at the gun, looked at the terrified Mrs. Tam, then looked at Jayne. "See what I mean?" he said calmly. "You're too impulsive. I wanted to handle this in a calm, civil way."

"Yeah," Jayne reasoned, "but sometimes my way's more effective faster."

"That's true," Mal credited him. "But you don't pull a gun on an innocent civilian."

"You do if she gives you trouble."

Mr. Tam came up behind his wife. "Don't you dare point that at her!" he yelled at Jayne.

Jayne moved his aim from the wife's forehead to the husband's. "This more to your liking?" he asked. Mr. Tam gulped. Apparently the first wave of bravado was all he had in him.

"May we come in?" Inara asked politely, trying to salvage this before it turned into a matter for the authorities. The Tams stepped aside.

"River!" Mal bellowed through the house. She came running down the stairs seconds later. She hadn't been drugged, but she did look worse for the wear. "Hi," Mal said simply.

"No Jayne!" she screeched. "No!" Mal motioned to Jayne for him to lower his weapon, which he did. Unhappily.

Mal approached River slowly. "We're heading off today," he told her, like she didn't know.

"Yes."

"You, uh… You gonna be okay?"

"Yes." This time he knew she was lying.

"You can come with us of you want."

River shook her head. "He will be happier without her."

"Now I never said that," he told her. "Do you really want to stay here?"

"I'll tell you tomorrow," she said wryly. Her voice was scathingly sad and her eyes even worse. She turned to go back to her room.

Mal fidgeted a few seconds, trying to make a decision. "Okay," he said finally. "Yes, I do, beibei. I love you." River looked back over her shoulder, her eyes scrutinizing. "I do," he reassured her. "Now get down here and get your ass on my ship."

"Yessir!" she cried happily, running toward him. He scooped her up into a hug. She just about knocked him over, but Jayne was there to catch them both.

"Easy there, little crazy," Jayne said. "He's gimpy now, remember?"

"You're not taking her," Mr. Tam said bravely. "You can't kill my son and then expect to steal away my daughter!"

"Oh, I reckon I can," Mal said confidently. "Especially since you're just going to send her back to that ruttin school that messed her up to begin with." He smiled proudly at the Tam's shocked, paled faces. "Oh, did I forget to mention River's a reader? Almost got burned as a witch because of it. Funny story, actually." With an arm still around River, Mal walked to the door, guiding his crew along. Jayne flipped the Tam's off, grinning like the devil himself.

"Bye now," she said pleasantly.

They were in the sky again in less than five hours. Mal took the controls this time. It felt good, almost natural, to be behind the wheel again. It felt like tings were back in balance and they could all breathe normally. River came up behind him and hugged him tight. "Mal loves me?" she asked.

"Absolutely."

"Inara loves me?" she called over her shoulder as the companion swished into the cockpit.

"Of course," Inara said kindly, hugging the skinny girl. "You're like a little sister to me. I love you very much."

"Jayne loves me?" River bellowed.

His heavy footsteps echoed in the hall until he appeared in the doorway, looking tall and menacing. "We on this again?" he grunted.

"Jayne loves me?" she asked again sweetly.

Jayne looked thoughtfully at the girl. He thought of Kaylee, and how he never got to tell her how fond of her he really was. He thought of the day Kaylee died. Of how he'd spent all night thinking about her while holding River on his lap. He thought of when River had cut him with the knife, of when he'd turned her and Simon in to the feds, of the way she's looked after she'd taken on all them Reavers. He thought of holding River on the night life had changed forever to keep her warm, how she'd clung to him and when she'd asked of him 'Don't let me go' he had said to her 'Okay, beibei. I'm here.'

"Yeah," he said honestly, and for the first time there was no cynicism in his voice at all. "Yeah, I do."

River hugged him, purring contentedly. The four of them looked out into the starfield and watched the small white dots pass by. "Family," River said softly, her head rested on Jayne's chest.

They all agreed.

THE END.