Chapter 5:

Mal walked through his front door. He was immediately struck by the sight of Martha and Alexis, dressed in wigs and robes, standing over by the sofa, reciting lines from scripts.

When they noticed him, both stopped. Alexis gave him a big smile and said, "Hi, Dad." Then she looked at him. "You okay?"

"Yeah," he said. "I'm fine."

"Then why the expression that reads 'someone just gave my latest novel a god-awful review?'" said Martha.

"Can we just drop it?" said Mal, irritated. He then went straight to his bedroom and slammed the door.

Alexis and Martha exchanged glances. "Do you think something happened with the case?" said Alexis. "Maybe we should call Detective Beckett?" Martha went to grab the phone. "Should I go talk to him?" Alexis asked.

That's when Mal opened his door and walked calmly back into the room. Martha put the phone back down. "Look," Mal said. "I'm sorry about before. I just had a really rough day, but I'm good now."

"You sure?" asked Alexis.

"Yeah," he said.

Alexis gave her father a hug. "Good. Because I don't like seeing you like that."

"I know," said Mal. He paused for a moment. "So what's for dinner?"

Alexis smiled and went to the fridge to take out the plate she had saved for him.

–

Later, after Alexis had retreated to her room, Mal sat alone with Martha in the living room.

"They found me," Mal suddenly said.

"What?" asked Martha, confused.

"My crew," he explained. "They tracked me down, and now they want me to come back with them."

"Back to our own time?" said Martha, beginning to understand.

"Yup," he said.

"What did you tell them?" she asked.

"I told them I couldn't."

"Why?" asked Martha.

Mal was silent.

"Richard..." she said, grabbing hold of his arm.

"That's not my name!" he said, shoving her away.

"Mal," she corrected herself. It seemed strange on her tongue; she hadn't used it in years. "Isn't this what you wanted? To go home?"

"I am home," he said.

"But it's not real," she said. "You're not Richard Castle, and I'm not your mother."

"I know that," he said. "But Alexis is my daughter; I can't just... I can't let her know that I've been lying to her all these years."

"She's a big girl," said Martha. "Maybe it's time she knew the truth."

"She wouldn't believe me," he said. "And if she did, would she forgive me?"

Martha was about to answer, but their conversation was suddenly interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Who in the world...?" muttered Martha as she arose from her seat.

She opened the door to a pale, dark-haired, nervous-looking man. "I'm sorry," he said. "I'm looking for-"

"Doc?" Mal interrupted, suddenly standing.

"Captain!" said Simon, shocked to actually see Mal after all this time.

Mal became speechless at seeing the good doctor standing at his doorstep. They stared at each other in silence for a few moments. It was finally Martha who spoke up. "I take it you two know each other," she said. "Please, come in."

"Thank you," Simon nodded as he walked through the threshold.

The two men just stared at each other silently. Martha watched them, cleared her throat, and suddenly said, "Well, I think I'll just leave you two boys alone."

Once Martha was gone, the room was completely silent. After a pause, Mal sighed, and said, "Have a seat."

Simon gave a silent nod and went over to a chair. Mal sat across from him, and Simon felt all the same uneasiness that he used to get when around the man. Mal stared at him, and could instantly see the tension running through the doctor's mind.

"I gotta admit, doctor," Mal began. "You're the last person I thought to see."

"I'm full of surprises," Simon said in a steady voice.

"I hate to tell you, though," Mal said. "But you wasted a trip. I'm not comin' back."

"That's a shame," said Simon. "Because everyone was kind of hoping that you would." He paused and let out a sigh. "But I never really thought that I would be able to convince you. It's just that Kaylee wanted me to."

"How is little Kaylee?"

"She's good," said Simon. "We got married, and have three children: two boys and a girl."

"Kaylee's a mother?" Mal said, incredulous. He let out a small chuckle.

"She misses you. She wishes you had been at our wedding."

"I'm sorry I wasn't there. Believe me, I am."

"So why won't you come back?" Simon asked. "Zoe mentioned something about a family...?"

"I have a daughter," he said. "Alexis is her name. She doesn't know, and I don't want her to know. I don't want Alexis to be a witness to my follies, to all the unforgivable things I've done."

"What about all the people you've helped?" said Simon.

"Tell that to Book," Mal said, bitterly. "Or Wash."

"But if it wasn't for you, for Serenity," said Simon. "Wash and Zoe would never have met. They never would have shared all those happy memories. And what about me and Kaylee? And then there's Jayne and Inara."

"What?" Mal said, somewhere between a yell and a gasp.

"I'm just kidding," said Simon, the slightest smile on his lips.

"I see you've finally developed a sense of humor," Mal muttered.

Just then, they both turned as they heard footsteps. Alexis was walking to the kitchen, but stopped when she saw the unfamiliar company.

"Oh, sorry," she said.

"No," said Mal. "Alexis, come here. There's an old friend I'd like you to meet." She came to join the small party, and shook the man's hand.

"Hi, I'm Alexis."

"Simon."

"So... you know my dad?" she asked.

"Yeah," said Simon. "We go way back."

"Well, you should come by more often then," she said, and gave a pretty smile.

"We'll see."

"It was nice to meet you, Simon," she said.

"You, too." Alexis then disappeared back into her room.

"She seems very nice," Simon said, once Alexis was gone.

"Yeah. She's a good girl. Has a lot of potential."

They were both quiet for a moment before Simon spoke again. "I know what's it's like to give up everything you thought you wanted for the sake of someone you love."

"Then you understand why I won't come back," Mal said.

"I do," said Simon. "But at the same time, I think you're wrong."

"Why should I go back?" he said, in a way that almost sounded like he wanted a good answer.

"Because we're still flying," Simon answered.

"That ain't much."

"It's enough."

"Not anymore," Mal said, his eyes glancing towards a nearby photo of Alexis.

Simon slowly shook his head and rose from his seat. "I'm sorry I couldn't convince you."

Me, too, thought Mal, but he didn't say so out loud. Instead, he just showed Simon to the door.

"Goodbye, then," said Simon.

"Wait," Mal said suddenly, and for a moment Simon thought the captain had changed his mind. Instead, though, he watched as Mal ran to his fridge and came back holding a container of strawberries. "For Kaylee," he explained. "We got them plentiful over here."

"Thanks," said Simon. "I know she'll love these."

"I do miss all of you," Mal confessed. "But I just can't."

"Then I guess this is goodbye."

"Guess so," said Mal. He then watched as Simon rolled up the cuff on his left sleeve and revealed a small device. He punched a few buttons and vanished before Mal's eyes, like a hologram... or like a ghost from the past.

A/N: Hey. I know there's a lot of dialogue and angst, but very little action. I don't think anyone's brought this point up yet, but I wanted to let anyone who is interested know that I will be introducing a case for Beckett and Mal/Castle to work on soon, maybe in a chapter or two.