Oh my gosh this chapter totally kicked my ass! Thanks so much guys for putting up with my sporadic updates I'm so grateful to every single one of you reading this chapter. Thanks for the wonderful input! Please keep it coming, I really want to know what you guys think.

Welcome to Serenity: Chapter Seven

Things Get Complicated

So far it wasn't a trap. He was led along with the others to a room with a large wooden table. There were different maps of the city posted on the walls, along with ship designs and cargo lists and lots of things that were written in the strange language he couldn't read.

The woman who could only be Jo was seated at the head of the table, boots propped up on the wood. She was probably around Mal or Zoe's age. When she looked up at them her gaze was frighteningly reminiscent of Teacher. This was not a woman to trifle with.

"Mal! Zoe! Kaylee! It has been far too long! I can't believe you've let that hag keep you from stopping by!" She stood to hug her friends one by one. She wore a long, brown leather coat with a patch on the back that said: Fuck the Alliance.

"Well if you'd off her we could pay visits more often," Mal chuckled.

"You'd be surprised how many times I've tried. Kalashnikov is one crafty witch." Jo's eyes swept past Ed and landed on Doctor Tamm. "Oh Mal, you lovely bastard. You brought me a present."

"I- I what?" Simon stammered.

"Just for you, Jo." Zoe winked, giving Simon a friendly shove towards the woman.

Her eyes were predatory. "Well it is just a pleasure to meet you Mr…?"

"Doctor. Doctor Tamm." He did look like a small, cornered animal so the analogy remained valid.

"A doctor. How delightful!" Jo dragged him over to the chair next to hers and forced him down before sitting in her own chair. Simon tried to scoot away from her a bit, but she simply grabbed the arm of the chair and pulled it back toward her with no effort. The rickety wooden legs squealed against the concrete floor in protest and Simon leaned as far away as he could from Jo without tipping his seat over.

Throw in some other shit here

"Yeah yeah yeah these pleasantries are all very nice but can we hurry it up? We aren't here for tea and crumpets."

His expression was met with odd glances, but Zoe sighed and pulled a strange firearm from the bag she'd hid from him earlier. Ed had no idea what the strange-looking weapon might be. Jo, though, clearly knew what it was because she whistled and slapped her knee.

"Mal you sneaky sonofabitch! Is that the real thing?"

"Would I really be here if it weren't?"

"Haha!" She guffawed and slapped the doctor's knee this time, leaving her hand there. He yelped and gave her an affronted look. "No wonder you came all the way out here. Ain't nobody gonna fence something this hot 'cept me!"

"So we reckoned." Zoe gave Jo a smile.

"Yay! That means you can do it!" Kaylee beamed.

"Oh I can get a beautiful bit of cash off this beauty here. The original Lassiter." Jo said it like it was still unbelievable.

"Great. You all get paid. Which is fine and dandy, but I kinda have some business with you too, lady, so if you could acknowledge my existence for just a minute that would be fantastic."

"Nope." She didn't even look at him.

There was a tense silence before Ed lost his last shred of patience. "Nope?" His fists slammed into the table as he stood.

"Don't do business with kids." The finality of her tone shocked Edward.

"I'm not asking for anything illegal! I just need to know the whereabouts of a person!"

"Ed-" Mal tried in vain before Jo cut in.

"And what are you gonna do when you find that person, huh? Play patty-cake? People don't come to 'cept'in when they are up to no good and I ain't gonna be responsible for putting children in danger. That's my final say on that."

"Oh no it isn't!" He didn't have time for this nonsense. There was a homunculus out there and he needed to know which one it was and where I was hiding before it knew he was here. The upper hand would be key in killing the thing and this stupid woman was trying to shield him from the dangers of drugs and gun violence. "If I don't find them before they find me a whole lot of people are going to die. A lot. You can't shield me, lady. That ship sailed years ago. What you can do is help me before it's too late."

"Mal, where did you find this one?"

"He ain't one of mine, Jo. But if I were you I'd help him out. Ed here is one stubborn guy. If he don't get help from you he'll just jump headfirst into it anyway."

Edward watched Jo try to come to a decision. He understood why she felt the way she did, but he needed her to make an exception. For the sake of everyone on this planet. Jo's calloused fingers rubbed at the tension in her forehead and then she sighed in defeat. "My weakness has always been handsome young men. Even if you're still a bit too young for my liking."

Shuddering, Ed tried to erase that last sentence from his mind. It wasn't very effective.

"You know I don't do nothing for free."

"I wouldn't let you. It wouldn't be-"

"Equivalent. We know. We all heard you the first seven times." Captain Reynolds griped. "But you don't got no money."

Oh. Right. His pocket watch didn't get him anything here.

"You could do something else, maybe." Kaylee: ever the optimist. "Gotta be something yer good at 'sides taking care a' your brother!"

He certainly did have something he was good at. He just didn't know how to explain that to them. "I'm uh… good at fixing things. Stuff that is broken beyond repair. Got anything like that?" Ed hoped that was vague enough.

"Pssh! What ain't broken round here? Oi Charlie! Go get Rita and tell her to bring that box of hers!" A man poked his head through the door and nodded. Jo turned back to them. "Rita likes to tinker with stuff. Even fixes some of it. You can give her a hand. Now, Ed was it? Who are you looking for?"

…

"Gorram it Wash I know yer cheatin!" Jayne threw his cards onto the table with a burst of frustration.

"You say that every time I win!"

"Cause you cheat every time you win!"

Al watched the two men bicker. Without Ed or the doctor there to make him stay in the medical room, he'd wandered out to find Wash and Jayne playing cards in the kitchen. He didn't join in, but it was fun to watch them play.

"So every time you win its cause I let you."

"Yeah. Wait. Why you-"

"I have a question." Al jumped in before the two could throttle each other.

"Oh?"

"Actually I have a lot of questions. But I don't want to bother you." The boy rubbed the material of his shirt between his fingers.

"Ask away and I shall impart a portion of my vast knowledge and experience onto you." Wash announced with a gesture and a grin. Whatever he and Jayne were drinking was taking effect.

"Well, if we are on a whole planet then why are you so scared of one lady? Surely you could just avoid her."

Jayne guffawed. "You sure don't know nothin bout nothin do ya?"

"Topos 6 is a tiny planet. They sucked all the minerals out of here a long time ago and left it a barren husk floating around in space. This city is the only habitable place left."

Well that made more sense. Until they left, the crew of the Serenity was hiding right under the nose of their enemy.

"Ain't habitable." Jayne scoffed. "Just profitable."

"It is pretty dirty here," Al agreed.

"Let's hear the next one then."

"Okay. Who is Kalashnikov and why is everyone so scared of her?"

"She's only the nastiest bitch in the galaxy!" Jayne waved his mug of alcohol around in the air for emphasis.

Wash finished for him when it was clear Jayne thought his statement was all the explanation required. "Vladimira Kalashnikov is a power-hungry tyrant. She'll crush anyone and anything in her way, including her own men. Even the Alliance is scared to go after her. The last lieutenant they sent was shipped back to his superiors in thirteen different bags."

"Hell, that's nothin! I heard that even Reavers run when they see her emblem on a ship!"

"Now that's a load of s-heeeeeeey Inara!" Wash cut himself off to greet Inara as she swept into the kitchen.

"You two are going to scare the poor boy if you keep talking like that." Her tone was teasing.

"Don't worry, I don't scare easily."

She laughed at that, a warm sound. "I bet you don't." Her dress was different from the one she'd worn earlier, this one flowing and purple. She reached into a cabinet and pulled out a loaf of bread. A delicate hand reached for a knife and began slicing.

Al had always been an excellent judge of character, and came to the conclusion that Inara was a true lady: kind and strong of spirit.

"Whatcha lookin' at there Al?" Wash grinned.

"Oh!" Al had been staring. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stare." He looked at his lap in embarrassment. "I've just never seen a dress like that before. Not that I'm saying that it looks strange though. You look pretty in it!"

Oh boy. Smooth.

"Think she's purty, do ya?" Jayne ribbed.

"Well yes! But you also seem like a very kind person which is what really makes a person beautiful I think."

Her smile was stunning. "You are too sweet."

Wash cackled. "Guess that makes you dog-ugly, huh Jayne?"

"I don't gotta take that from card cheatin scum like you! Sides, Vera needs cleanin." With that Jayne got up, shoved two whole pieces of bread into his mouth, and left.

"Don't mind him," Inara offered Al a piece of bread. "None of us do."

He bit in and chewed with gusto. Besides actually being able to feel again, eating was the best part of having his body back. Wash and Inara watched him eat and Al realized that they probably thought he was malnourished by the way he inhaled his food. They weren't exactly wrong, but they would get the wrong idea.

"Very tasty." He tried to chew with a little less gusto.

"Have as much as you like." Inara's soft smile made it clear that he wasn't fooling anyone.

"I want bread too."

River stood in the doorway. Al gave her a smile. "Oh hi!" The look she gave him was strange, like she knew all of his secrets. This girl had also seen the Gate. Or at least she'd told Ed that. She seemed frail, shattered. Did people see that same fragility in his eyes when they looked at him?

"Hi." River managed a half-smile.

"River, I thought you were keeping Shepard Book company." Inara looked at the girl with motherly concern.

She averted her eyes and mumbled, "He fell asleep so I came here."

"Well all right. Why don't you come sit with us then?"

Wash made a face but was quick to hide it. It was clear he was wary of River.

Before she could take a step the entire ship groaned and shook. There were banging noises from outside the ship, like someone was trying to get in. Horrible images flashed through Al's head. Could it be Sloth? Or Pride? Both options were equally horrifying.

A long stream of something Al couldn't understand left Wash's mouth and followed him down the hall as he ran for the cockpit. Alphonse stood, ready to fight, but Inara grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the kitchen. She had a hold of River in her other hand and led them to a part of the ship Al hadn't seen before.

A door opened when Inara pushed a button, and they rushed inside. On the far side of the ship he heard the sound of sheet metal groaning and being torn asunder. The compartment before them was draped in silks and pillows. A canopied bed stood in the corner. The Companion pulled open her wardrobe and slid aside a secret panel full off strange items. Al was about to voice an objection when Inara pulled a hairpin from her hair and used it to pry open a second hidden panel. River climbed in as if she'd hidden there before.

"I'm not going to-"

Inara grabbed him by the shoulders. "Alphonse I need you to listen to me. They cannot, under any circumstance, find or capture River. Please. Stay here and protect her. I'm counting on you. She's counting on you."

There wasn't any time, and he couldn't say no to her. "I'll do it." He climbed past Inara and into the wardrobe with River.

"Thank you." There was a crashing sound nearby and Inara's face went pale as she slid the panel back into place. With a click the world plunged into darkness.