Author's Note:
Hey Everyone! It seems forever since I last updated and I just wanted to apologize for the delay and thank everyone who has stuck with the original story and this sequel... It means the world to me!
There was nothing as black as open space, she had decided. Even it's billions of glittering stars, blinking lazily from their resting places could do nothing to tame the very blackness that was space.
Josephine blinked slowly, mirroring the flaming balls of gas in the distance, and turned to face Serenity's bridge and the young pilot sitting at it's controls. For a few moments the blackness seemed to have seeped into her irises, and she had to blink again, clearing her vision.
"How long, would you say?"
"Not very, a few hours," was River's clipped reply.
Josephine reluctantly turned back to the blackness, her right hand coming up to rest on her stomach as she did. She still thought this plan was insane, partly because of where it was taking them and mostly because it's very fruition depended almost entirely on her.
She sighed deeply, remembering the purposeful way Mal and Simon had approached her yesterday morning.
She had awoken early, feeling slightly nauseous, and had crept out of Mal's small bed without waking him. Jo made her way to the ship's kitchen slowly, hoping to find some of Inara's old herbal tea packets stashed in one of the cupboards. After an hour long search of ever nook and cranny in the kitchen, Josephine settled for coffee instead.
She was just taking her first sip at the counter when Mal entered, followed closely by Simon. They wore identical grim expressions on their faces, as though they'd both come to the same decision, though neither of them seemed too happy about it.
They stopped halfway and stared at her, the mug still raised to her lips, before sitting at the table. Mal made no indication, but she got the immediate sensation that they were waiting for her to join them, so she took her mug and sat across from Mal hesitantly. He raised his dark eyes to her questioning ones and spoke softly.
"Persephone..." He let the word hang in the air and Josephine blinked in confusion.
"Yes," she began, "what about it?"
"They have a hospital there..." Mal continued slowly.
"A big hospital," Simon added quickly, "with everything I would need."
Josephine's mouth dropped open slightly as she began to comprehend what they were suggesting.
"Is this a joke or have you both gone mad?" She stared at each one in turn, waiting for an explanation.
The Doctor turned to Mal, but the Captain seemed either unable or unwilling to share his reasoning and continued to stare at Josephine. Simon turned back to the young woman seated across from him and cleared his throat.
"Look at it this way... what is our biggest concern in finding a hospital?"
Jo shook her head, not understanding.
"Questions," Simon continued, "forms... bureaucratic paperwork really. We don't want to be recognized..."
"But that may be impossible," Mal interrupted, "at least for you, Simon and River."
Josephine drew her bottom lip between her teeth in consternation. "Me? Why would I be recognized?"
"You had a warrant out for your arrest plastered all over the cortex," Mal answered, managing to sound only slightly exasperated.
"So, Inara said that had been taken care of," Josephine spoke, her voice rising slightly. "And those slavers didn't seem to know who I was."
"Those slavers," Mal responded, "weren't exactly interested in who you were and they sure as diyu weren't asking for identification."
Jo opened her mouth to protest but Mal continued.
"And the Guild may have taken care of the warrant, but it doesn't change the fact that hundreds of thousands of people probably saw it."
"But..."
"And," Simon began, "We already know we can't go to some backwater clinic on some desolate planet where we won't be recognized because they won't have what I need." Simon paused, losing momentum, and glanced at Mal.
"So," Mal spoke, taking his cue from the Doctor, "we go somewhere that you'll definitely be recognized but where we might be able to throw some weight around because of it."
"What do you mean?" Josephine asked.
"You told me once you were Rawley's public wife... and he was a very wealthy man with a lot of influence on Persephone."
Josephine stared at them both in surprise for a moment. "Mal... Bryce is dead!"
"But your not..."
"Zhe shi feng kuang de, wobu neng gou xiang xin ni shier!" Jo spoke in a huff. "Rawley hadn't been on Persephone for months before he died, I don't even know if the people there know he's dead..."
"Even better," Mal interrupted, "we can use that to our advantage."
Josephine stared down at the now cool mug of coffee still held in her hands. She set it gently on the wooden table and stared into the cup, the coffee's blackness reminding her of the view from the bridge. She could hear both Mal and Simon's breathing as they waited for her to make a decision.
"Really, unless you have a better idea," Simon began, breaking the silence.
"Inara!" Josephine interrupted loudly, startling them both.
"What about her?" Mal asked after a moment.
"The Training House," Jo went on excitedly, "they can get their hands on anything!"
Mal frowned at her sadly. "We'd already thought of that. I talked to Inara last night... apparently there's some sort of Alliance celebration going on there and she doesn't know when it's going to end. She doesn't think it would be safe for me to land there."
Josephine's enthusiasm seemed to deflate all at once. She pushed the now cold coffee as far away as her hands would allow and slumped forward slightly.
"Fine," she spoke in quiet defeat, "tell me the plan."
Mal watched her give in with sadness in his eyes. "We land on Persephone. River stays on Serenity with Kaylee, Mira, and Wen... ready to get us off the planet if anything goes wrong. Me and Zoe and Jayne pretend to be some of Rawley's bodyguards... cause we know he had those..."
"Wait a minute," Josephine spoke quickly, "If the others are in on this they're going to have to know..."
"Tian xin," Mal spoke softly, "They're going to find out eventually and were going to need them on this."
Josephine gritted her teeth. "Alright... go on."
"Well, Simon goes in as your personal physician. Then you talk our way into the hospital."
"Talk?" She asked curiuosly.
Mal smiled slightly. "Talk... bully... what's the difference really? It's got to be a whole lot gorram easier than the last time we broke into a hospital."
Josephine arched her eyebrows at his optimism. "And what if I can't do that... can't pretend to be something I'm not?"
Mal smiled again, wider this time. "I think you can. All you have to do is pretend to be spoiled and used to getting your own way. You can do that right?" he teased.
Josephine gave him a sardonic half-smile worthy of River and cast her eyes back down to the table. They only remained there for a short moment however, as another thought flew into her head.
"Wait a second," she began, "what about Nash? What if he is related to Bryce? He already sent someone to kill me at the Training House and failed, who's to say he won't have someone waiting on Bryce's home planet?"
Mal looked slightly taken aback and Josephine felt a sudden surge of triumph in the fact that she was the first to think of a potential setback. The joy didn't last long, however, and she let her gaze fall to the table again.
Mal glanced at Simon briefly as he stood and moved to the other side of the table. Simon, taking the hint, stood up from his own chair and left the kitchen quietly. Mal placed a hand on Josephine's shoulder and she turned slightly to look up at him.
"I admit, I hadn't thought of that," Mal began slowly. "But I honestly don't think Nash would have anyone there. Given your history on Persephone, he has no reason to believe you'd go back there... I mean, why would you?"
Josephine snorted and brushed Mal's hand from her shoulder. "Why indeed?" She tore her suddenly angry eyes away from his own.
"You know what," Mal spoke softly, his voice suddenly weary, "hey..." he placed his hand under her chin coaxing her to turn back. "Look at me please..." he waited until she complied before continuing. "We don't have to do this... we don't have to know at all."
Josephine blinked slowly, shocked at the enormity of his words, before responding. "I do... or I'll always wonder. I don't think I could live my life, not knowing." She paused, taking a shaky breath. "Alright... I'm in."
Mal leaned down and placed a kiss on the top of her head before moving into the chair next to her, his hand seeking her own. He played with it absently for a moment, tracing his fingers over her palm, as the room descended into silence again.
Josephine shivered as his fingers continued their feather light touch over her hand and looked at the face of the man who had essentially just told her he didn't care if he wasn't the father, he would still treat the child like his own.
She shivered again and Mal raised his eyes to meet hers, a smile playing on his lips.
"I really love you," Josephine spoke, sounding slightly surprised.
Mal's only response was to lean forward and capture her lips in a chaste kiss that held the promise of more.
Josephine spoke again when they parted.
"There is another problem with this plan..."
"What's that?"
"Bryce never let me out by myself. When I was out in public it was always with him. That might damage our charade."
"I still think we could make it work," Mal spoke softly.
She stared into his eyes for a short time before speaking again.
"I don't want to go back there," she whispered.
"I know," Mal responded gently, "but I really think it's our only choice." He closed the distance between them again, before she could protest...
Josephine opened her eyes to find herself once again staring into the vast blackness of space. She shivered involuntarily, remembering the way she and Mal had spent the rest of that morning. She sighed slightly, but turned away from the glass when she heard a slight "tsk"ing noise from behind her. River was still seated at Serenity's controls and the look she was giving Josephine made the older woman's cheeks flush with color.
"Tsk tsk," River repeated. "That all can't be good for the baby."
Josephine's cheeks flushed more red, if that was possible, but she nonetheless laughed at the young psychic's comment.
"Have you ever thought about having children River?" she asked teasingly.
River hesitated, seemingly giving serious thought to Josephine's question.
"Babies are an enigma," she answered finally. "They're like sticks of dynamite you can hold in your hand with the fuse lit..."
"What do you mean?" Josephine asked out of instinct though readily dreading her response.
"It is their very nature to explode."
Josephine was still perplexed as to whether she meant literally or figuratively when Mal poked his head into the bridge, eyes searching for Josephine.
"Hey," he called loudly, his gaze finally falling on Josephine, framed in the black window. You ready?"
Her face fell slightly, understanding immediately that Mal's "ready" meant "ready to face them." She had asked him to tell the others of their dilemma, afraid to be in the same room as the pity filled their eyes. She nodded wordlessly and joined Mal in the corridor.
The Captain paused to address River. "You all good Albatross?"
River's "right as rain" response followed them into the hallway.
Josephine let Mal take her hand and lead her down the corridor and into the kitchen. The rest of Serenity's crew were seated around the table, their heads turning towards Mal and Jo as they entered. The only ones absent seemed to be River, who they left on the bridge, and Mira and Wen whom she assumed were in their respective guest rooms.
Josephine took a seat between Mal and Simon, studiously avoiding eye contact with the others, until Mal cleared his throat and began to tell them the rest of the plan. She ventured a glance up then, knowing their full attention would be on the Captain. Zoe's expression was all business, her gaze never leaving Mal's face. Jo shifted her attention to Jayne, who's attention was also on Mal, though the mercenaries expression was slightly bewildered and his eyes seemed to bulge the tiniest bit out of his head.
Jo turned her head slightly to where Kaylee sat quietly next to Jayne. Hers was the reaction Josephine feared the most. She expected to see anger in her eyes... anger that she didn't tell her earlier, that she couldn't bring herself to confide in the young mechanic... but all she glimpsed was sadness and worry. Kaylee blinked suddenly, her gaze shifting from Mal to Josephine, and they stared at each other. After a short moment, a small, reassuring smile appeared on Kaylee's face and Josephine felt relief for the first time in days.
"So that's the gist of it really," Mal finished recounting the plan he and Simon had suggested the day before. "Any questions?"
Kaylee tore her gaze from Jo and focused on the Captain again as the room grew silently.
"No? Should be there soon, everyone knows what their doing?" Mal asked.
Serenity's crew nodded as the kitchen fell awkwardly silent again and Jayne allowed his dumbstruck gaze to fall on Josephine for the first time. After a few minutes of staring he spoke.
"A baby..." Jayne said gruffly in a dazed tone and Jo let her forehead hit the table with a small thump.
"You know," he spoke again, this time louder, "I've got this theory that babies are like dynamite..."
"Jayne please, I beg you," Josephine spoke with her head still against the table, voice slightly muffled, "don't finish that sentence."