Reavers. Blood. Screaming. Yelling. Raping. Biting. Death…

Late, Wash's Shift
Inara came out of her room, slowly closing the door behind her like she did opening it. She forgot the time that Mal had his shift and didn't know who would be in the pilot room at this time. She slowly and silently walked towards the cockpit, hoping to see Mal sitting in the chair, to talk to him about the subjects on her mind. About her leaving.
As she came to the doorway, the site of Zoë and Wash pulling at each other's cloth's was the site she saw, not Mal.
"Ermm... Sorry to interrupt--"
"Jah-kine! Inara!" Wash and Zoë instantly started to shove their clothes back on. Wash's face was pale and Zoë had never felt so embarrassed. Well she had once, but that was another story and another time.

"No, no! I have seen... this before." Inara wasn't looking at them at this point, but she still wanted to laugh about this, yet she didn't because she didn't want them to be any more embarrassed than they were.
"I'm sorry, I am..." He looked at Zoë and she was trying to hold back a laugh as she put her shirt on. Zoë leaned forward and kissed Wash. "Meet you in bed hun." She walked past Inara, not looking at her, but a big grin on her face that Inara could see cleanly.
"Did you need something, Inara?" Wash was trying hard to not talk about what she had just seen. Inara played along with him.
"When is Mal's shift?"
Wash looked around, trying to find the paper with the shifts on it. He knew the time, since he memorized it and was never late to get to bed with Zoë and make Mal get up. He found Mal's name and looked up at Inara. "In about 15 minutes, why?"
Inara was the one trying not to look embarrassed. It was normally easy for her to hide the flushed look, but for a reason, it was hard this time. "No reason, just need to talk to him about my leave."
Wash looked at her suspiciously. "Wouldn't you rather talk to him in the morning? It's a bit late isn't it?"
Inara felt the pressure and she wanted him to get the picture across. "Can't you wait to zhe-shing Zoë when you get to bed, instead of doing it here?" It was unlike Inara to talk like this, and to Wash or anyone. He got her drift and decided to change the subject. "Aren't the stars pretty at this time of night? The big black making them stand out."
Inara nodded and smiled. "Yeah." She thought for a moment. "I'll take your shift, until Mal's, if you want?"
Wash looked back at her, the look of surprise on his face. "You would?"
Inara nodded. "You seem like you need some entertainment for awhile."

Wash got out of his seat and walked past Inara, stopping once he got back onto the catwalk, turning back around. "You won't…"
"No I won't tell Wash."
He nodded and then bounded over to his door, kicking it open and climbing down.

Mal's Room

Mal was flexing his muscles in his sleep, the dream making him create cold sweat. He shivered a couple of times, the blanket on the floor beside him. It had feel off after his hundredth time of tossing and turning.

Reavers. Blood. Screaming. Yelling. Raping. Biting.

It was a horrible dream, but the whole dream calmed down shortly, turning into a familiar memory, the conversation that he had with his son's fiancée.

Mal smiled as his son pulled his girlfriend from behind the door and said it again. "I'm getting married dad. Reenee Maxwell, the girl I used to hang out with down the street, her and I have been dating since we were 18 and we decided that we would get married. I asked her last month. We want to get married in May." Reenee gave a small smile as she looked down at the floor, slipping her hand into Edith's, poking him in the side at the same time. Mal didn't have a smile on his face this time until he felt a sharp poke in his side as Julie slipped her hand into his hand. He forced a smile, "Congratulations then."
Julie smiled and walked over to Reenee. "Welcome to the family, hun." She hugged Reenee, who shyly hugged her back. "Thank you Mrs. Reynolds." A wary smile came across her face.
Mal looked at Edith, a bit disturbed. "Can I talk to Reenee for a moment?" At that, both Reenee and Edith frowned. She looked like she would burst into tears. Julie scowled at Mal. He had caught Edith and Mal having sex once when Julie and Mal were out, hence the reason for Mal being so uptight. Reenee slowly came forth and walked with Mal into the kitchen. He got to the point. "You aren't…" He choked a bit to find the word that would complete the question. He found himself whispering it. "Pregnant?"
She shook her head a bit. "No. We're getting married because we want to, not because I'm pregnant."
"But you aren't... pregnant?"
"No!"
Mal smiled. "Then welcome to the family."

Reenee smiled, exhaling a breath she hadn't felt herself hold. She opened her arms and went into his chest, hugging Mal. He looked a bit uncomfortable; the only two girls he ever had hug him was Kayet and Julie, but even then, he was going to have to get used to hugging another girl, another daughter.

Mal woke up to a light knock on his door. "Wha'?" He asked groggily and almost absent-mindedly. His head was in the air, his hair mashed on one side of his head. A voice, soft and elegant answered. "Mal, I need to talk to you. And it's your shift."
Inara. Mal felt his heart jump. "M'kay. Be out in a minute." He got up as fast as he could, throwing his shirt on, pants, boots, and suspenders. He dragged his fingers throw his hair, least worried about it. His breath... it smelled like shit. He brushed his teeth and was quickly out of his hole, in front of Inara. She gave him a small and short smile. "Hey."
"Hey." Mal started to walk towards the kitchen, not knowing what she wanted. Inara followed him, sitting down at the table once in the room. Mal took out two cups, putting tea bags in each and turning the heat on the stove.
Inara watched him. "Can you put sugar in that please?" Mal nodded, not looking up as he grabbed the sugar jar and added the amount needed. She wanted to talk to him about some other things, and needed to ask him a question, plus ask him about her leave if all went wrong. She felt her jaw open and close many times, wanting to say something, nothing coming out. She looked down at her hands, but soon looked up at Mal. He was looking into space, his arms crossed firmly across his chest.
She opened her mouth again and this time she found the words that she had lost its way out of her mouth, "Mal, do you want me to leave?" She wanted to ask him something else, but she had chosen the "needed" question. His look at her was surprise, as his mouth opened but nothing came out. "I mean do you really want me to leave?"
Mal felt the heat in his face rise. He looked at the cups, his arms coming down off his chest, resting on the counter. His mouth opened again, words spilling out, "No. I want you to stay, but the question is, do you want to go? It is your decision. It's like you said before, do you want to stay here and we continue the fighting, or would you rather leave?"
Inara looked up. She didn't want to leave, but she knew that the fighting between them would increase if she did stay. "Mal, I do want to stay, but the fighting... we would have to work something out to stop us from fighting." She and Mal smiled or laughed at the same time, knowing that it would have been impossible for the fighting to stop, no matter the agreement.

"Inara, you are always welcome to stay, I wouldn't want you to leave if you didn't want too."
"Thank you Malcolm. I'll think on it." Inara got up just as the water whistled. Mal turned off the stove fast, not wanting to wake anyone. "Do you want to stay and drink your tea?" Inara turned around. "Oh, yes please. Sorry, I had forgotten about it." She started towards her tea. The space from the oven and the table where the two cups were at was tight. Mal was leaning against the counter, sipping the tea from his mug, making faces once in a while. Inara squeezed past him to get her cup, but as she started to try and get past him, she got stuck. Her nightdress had gotten caught on a piece of metal sticking out of the floor. She tried to pull it out but it was wedged pretty good. "Mal, do you mind getting that loose for me?" Mal stood with the mug in one hand, the other one tucked under his arm. He was comfortable, but as Inara gave him a more demanding look, he put the mug down and went on his knee, starting to play with the fabric rather than trying to get it out.
The whole while, Inara was feeling rather heated. She was thinking about the other burning questions that were running in her head. Why did you kiss me? The other one was less of value to her, but it was if something went wrong when she asked him the fist question: When would you like me to leave in the morning?

She turned her head and looked down at him, still fumbling with the fabric. "Mal?"
He didn't look up as he answered her, "Hmmm?"
"Why did you kiss me?"
Mal stopped playing with the fabric for a moment as the question set him off guard. He kept his eyes on the fabric as he began playing with it again. He didn't answer her for a long while, and just as Inara opened her mouth to ask him again, a bit louder, he answered her. "Because... I have my reasons for kissing you." The heat was rising in the room or was it just Mal?
She inhaled a small breath. "Was one of the reasons because you like me or was it because it was nighttime and I had come in, felt a bit upset and you decided to calm me down with a kiss?"
Mal hadn't noticed that she was upset until he had turned her around to look at him before he kissed her that night. The fabric came loose from the metal, but he kept playing with the hem of the nightgown, trying to make the small hole disappear from it. "I did it because I... like you." He felt weird telling her this. An empty feeling was left along with being ashamed.
Inara turned around, the dress getting out of Mal's hands. She kneeled down in front of him, lifting his chin up. She looked him in the eyes before kissing him, gently, gracefully on the lips. They weren't as chapped as before, but they still felt nice, to be meeting her lips once again. As she pulled back, Mal had a look of shock at first. Inara smiled a bit at him. "That's all I wanted to hear." She turned and got up, all at the same time, but she felt a slight tug on her hand as Mal pulled her back, kissing her harder this time, making them breath harder with each kiss. As they pulled back, Inara took a step back, slipping her hand into his. She looked at him a bit. "Mal?"
He didn't feel the heat rise as much, but he felt it come. "Yes?"
"I'm not going to leave."
"I'm happy for that."