Never Runs Smooth - Chapter 1
Title: Never Runs Smooth
Series: Takes place in the Firefly Sushi-verse created by terimaru
Rating: PG-13 For Fluff and Violence
Pairing: Mal/Inara
Word Count: 5,836
Timeline: set between between Mis-Ceptions and Inara's Gift
Summary: First installment of my angst contribution to this delightful Sushi-verse. There's a reason why Mal doesn't believe in luck. Can Inara and the rest of the crew prove the Captain wrong? Or does Fate truly have a thing against him?
Disclaimer: Mr. Whedon and posse own all but the fish. Those are terimaru's.
Authors note: Written in response to terimaru's mention that a little angst might be in order. That I can deliver. ;-)
ETA: I made a couple of fixes. Thanks, terimaru for catching those! :-D
Previous Chapters: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8
Never Runs Smooth
Chapter 1
“Mal, are you ever going to tell me what’s bothering you?” Inara asked as he lay beside her, his head resting against her shoulder as he burrowed further into his pillow. They were finally heading back to Avery, but while the rest of the crew was delighted, Mal continued to look drawn and exhausted.
He’d been sleeping even less than usual, tossing and sighing heavily as he tried to drift off. While he frequently had bad dreams, the ones he’d had lately had evidently taken a turn for the grisly. More than once he’d woken on a strangled gasp, reaching out and caressing her face as if to reassure himself. He wore such vulnerable expressions in those first moments upon waking that she didn’t have the heart to ask what he’d dreamt. Besides, she suspected she already knew.
“’m I keeping you up?” Mal murmured into her neck.
“You haven’t stopped wiggling your leg for the last hour,” she replied, which made him immediately stop doing it. Truthfully, she found it endearing. Was it wrong to find so much of what he did unconsciously cute? She refused to explore that thought.
“Sorry, ‘Nara,” Mal said, and began to sit up.
“Hey, I didn’t mean for you to go,” she protested, reaching out and taking his arm before he could slip out of bed. It was the middle of the night, with the thermostat set low to conserve fuel. Well, that and the fact that she hated trying to sleep without him there.
“Come on, I didn’t mean for you to leave,” she said soothingly, pulling him gently back towards her. He didn’t resist, but did look guilty as he took in the look on her face.
“I don’t mean to be worrying you,” Mal said apologetically and sighed as Inara pulled him against her. She tucked the blanket back around him to warm skin already chilled and began to absently stroke the hair from his forehead as he faced her.
“What is it, Mal?” Inara asked, still as enchanted with this side of Malcolm Reynolds as the first time he’d revealed it. This was the part of him only she got to see for any length of time. Kaylee and River got to see glimpses on occasion, but this man…
It was horribly ironic that the more unguarded Mal was the more closely he kept things to himself. She’d hoped, as their relationship had blossomed, that she’d learn more about him *from* him, but even now, naked beside her, he was just as much a mystery to her as he’d always been.
He leaned forward, placing soft kisses against her neck, and she shivered even as she pushed him gently back so she could look into his eyes once more.
“No you don’t, mister,” she said, and delighted in the devilish grin that lit up his face and crinkled his eyes. “After,” she amended, smiling and shaking her head, and reached out to cup his cheek in her hand, gently tracing the skin under his eye with her thumb as she turned serious once more.
“You look so tired,” she said softly.
“Thanks,” he replied dryly. “I’ll have to give those veggies a try that you and Kaylee mentioned next time we’re planet side.”
“They’re not vegetables, they’re cucumber slices, and, you just shush,” she scolded him gently. “We’re talking, here. So what is it, Mal? What’s worrying you? Is there something wrong with the jobs Abel’s been giving us? Is that why you’re so determined to keep using other contacts?”
Mal shook his head and grimaced as he sat up, resting against the back of the shuttle wall as he continued to look at her. She sat up beside him, taking his hand in hers. She’d found these late night talks were the best time to catch him being ‘truthsome’, as he called it, when he was too tired to deflect her with his humor.
“There’s nothin’ wrong with the jobs, ‘Nara, and that’s the problem,” he finally admitted.
“What?” Inara asked, blinking as she tried to follow his statement. He shook his head ruefully and pulled his hand away to rub at his face roughly, as if to scrub away his fatigue and organize his thoughts.
“It’s… I… There’s a reason why I don’t believe in luck,” he finally settled on saying.
“I know that,” Inara agreed, frowning. He laughed a short bark, his bitter laugh.
“It’s because if I *did* believe in luck, then mine would have to be bad. Nothin’ runs smooth for me, ‘Nara, and it never has. Every time… Every single time I thought things might just work out my way, they didn’t,” he said, and she could feel the raw frustration in his confession.
“That’s not true, Mal. There’s us, and Serenity. There’s Zoë, and the rest of your crew... Even Jayne, some days,” she said with a quirk of her lips. He tried to smile in return, but it came out wrong, too fragile somehow, as if only for her could he even muster one up at all.
“I can’t help it. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. My life doesn’t get this good. Not ever. Which is why I keep making sure we’ve still got prospects, even if Abel gets pinched, or he finds someone else to use,” he admitted. “And it’s why I keep mother henning you all,” he confessed, raising a hand up to forestall her complaint. “Kaylee’s words, not yours, but I know you feel the same. You’ve said as much. Just give an old man some time to adjust,” he asked, and she could feel the depth of his plea.
She snuggled in next to him and wrapped her arms around his chest. He sighed, buried his nose in her hair and breathed deep, pulling her close.
“It’s been months,” she said wistfully. “You’re going to have to let go sometime.”
“Don’t I know it,” he agreed, and she could hear the irony in his voice. “I keep tryin’, darlin’” he said. “It’s all I can do.”
“Well, then I’ll just have to show you how fortunate you really are,” she teased and snaked her hand underneath the sheets, making him chuckle deeply.
“Does that mean I’m gettin’ lucky?” he asked in a husky voice.
“Oh yes,” she whispered in his ear before nibbling on the lobe, and spent the rest of the night trying to prove to him just how much things truly had changed.
*****************
“So they finally waved you,” a voice said from the front of the store, making Abel start in surprise. He hadn’t heard Molly come in. He’d been too busy working up a new schedule now that Serenity was due within the next few days.
Abel hated it when Malcolm Reynolds and his crew ran behind schedule. Not that their being late affected business in the least, but in the months since he first started working with Mal, he’d learned a few things about Serenity and their crew.
First, if they were running late, something had happened, and secondly, that somehow or another, Mal was always in the thick of it. The fact that they actively avoided anything involving the Alliance made him especially anxious when they insisted on taking business he couldn’t insure was safe.
“I need to put a bell on you,” Abel teased his neighbor. She looked tired but cheerful, much like she always did.
“Ed sent me to check on you. You’d been refusing Abigail’s dinner invites for nearly a week now, and she’d been fussin’ up a storm,” Molly replied, her hair still tucked underneath a wide brimmed hat to protect her from the brutal midday suns. While most of Paraiso’s residents napped or stayed indoors through the hottest part of the day, his neighbor was often out and about.
“How do you know they waved?” he asked curiously as Molly peeked her head back outside the door.
“Jen, you leave them chickens alone!” she yelled, prompting a faint, “Yes, momma,” in reply.
Her first husband had been killed in the war, and it had taken nearly six years for Ed to get her to say ‘yes’. Their first daughter, five-year-old Jenna, was a handful and a half, keeping Molly perpetually on the move. It also meant conversations with his neighbor were frequently interrupted.
“You stopped by to talk to Abigail, and she’s been cooking ever since, humming like a songbird. I’ll bet that’s the inventory list you’re working on right now,” she said shrewdly, taking one more peek outside before crossing the store to hold out her hand for the data pad he’d been working on. He handed it to her with a grin.
“Mmmm,” she said, looking it over and nodding approval.
Nearly everyone in Paraiso was involved with the orchards in one form or fashion, Ed and Molly being no exception. They were a tight knit community, everyone in each other’s pockets, but Abel liked it that way. It’d saved his sanity on more than one occasion when he’d lost his boys to the war and the years shortly thereafter.
They’d all grown fond of Serenity’s crew in the short time they’d gotten to know them, and were well aware of Abel’s penchant to worry about them. It hadn’t escaped their notice, either, how similar Malcolm was to the late Michael Stoddard, Abel’s youngest son.
“You actually got that skittish captain of yours to commit to more than two runs right after the other? How’d you do that?” she asked with a raised brow as she continued to read through the list.
“I think his crew bullied him into it, or at least Kaylee. She was right beside him when he waved, and you should have seen the grin on her face,” Abel replied, making Molly chuckle.
“Oh boy. She’s going to spoil Jen rotten again. That little mechanic’s a menace!” she said, but with obvious affection. Abel suppressed a snort of amusement. “Speaking of which,” Molly murmured, and left to poke her head back outside again.
“No, you know better than that! Put that rock down, Jenna Lee! You know I’ll tan your hide if you break another window!” she said in a sharp voice. Abel flinched.
“Sorry, momma!” a not so distant and completely unrepentant voice replied.
“Well, Kaylee’s a menace to my store credit, too. That girl is a born treasure hunter. Thankfully she’s got a streak of honesty a mile wide, or I’d be sunk. Every time she visits, she pulls me aside to point out parts I’m not charging enough for,” Abel marveled, making Molly laugh heartily aloud.
“Do you think he’ll bring that bride of his into town again?” she asked curiously.
Abel had practically had to gather his jaw from the floor the first time Malcolm Reynolds introduced the woman who just a few short months later became his wife.
When he’d first met Zoë and Jayne, he’d thought he’d gotten a pretty clear picture of what kind of ship Malcolm Reynolds ran. Former Browncoats, scraping by for a living, trying to forage out of sight of the mighty Alliance.
But then Mal Reynolds had brought the girls to his store that first day, and he’d seen someone else entirely. Underneath that prickly exterior, the captain was a deeply caring man, as evidenced by the way he responded to the teenage girl’s odd ramblings and Kaylee’s squeals of glee.
Since then, each time they’d come, Abel had learned a little bit more about the crew of Serenity, and the more he learned, the more intriguing they became. Their ship’s doctor (and wasn’t it an astonishing thing in its own right for Serenity to have an honest to goodness doctor?) had taken to setting up shop in Pete’s old office and seeing to injuries and inoculations and the like when planet side.
Considering it had been years since Pete passed, the new doctor had been dearly needed. Abel hated to think what would have happened to Molly if Simon hadn’t been in town when Ed got appendicitis. He’d saved the man’s life, that was certain.
It was clear the crew of Serenity was a tight knit bunch, more like a family, really, and he suspected they’d faced some heavy losses as well. Mal’s nearly desperate need to watch out for the girls, and his warm and careful regard for his first mate, Zoë, made Abel’s heart hurt to watch.
“I do believe Kaylee mentioned something about a ‘girl’s shopping trip’,” Abel replied after a pause.
“Last time Inara was here, she fixed the stitching in Abigail’s lace shawl,” Molly replied with a shake of her head. “Her detail work’s exquisite. You couldn’t see where her stitches ended and the original ones began,” she marveled.
“They certainly make an unusual pair,” Abel agreed with a grin.
“Well, I best get what I came for before Jen breaks another of your windows,” Molly said with a sigh and gathered a basket from beside the door. Abel smiled in combined mirth and sympathy. There was a reason why Molly always looked so worn out.
“I’ll be done with the pack slip in just a few minutes, if you want to wait?” he asked as she began to purposefully browse through the foodstuff aisles.
“Take your time,” she began to say, but the roar of a ship’s engines drowned out anything she said afterward.
Abel’s eyes widened as he stared at Molly, who’d gone to look out the window. “It’s too early for it to be Serenity,” he said with dread.
“I thought you took care of your last crew,” Molly said sharply, and instantly Abel knew who’d landed.
“They haven’t answered waves in nearly a year. The last one I sent told ‘em not to come back. I have no idea why they’re here now,” Abel replied. Molly put down the basket with a look of real concern in her eyes.
“I’ll get the list from you later. Ed’ll want to know who’s here,” she said firmly, then nodded as she left. The ‘be careful’ unspoken, but clear nonetheless. It appeared the captain of Caribe wanted to pay one more visit.
*************************************
Mal’s jaw clenched the moment River let him know that there was another ship already landed on Avery. Had Abel contracted someone else? Had his foolish paranoia driven the people of Paraiso to take other business as well? Had he forced this outcome from his own reluctance to trust?
“You think he’s using someone else in addition to us, sir?” Zoë asked calmly by his side.
“Don’t rightly know.”
“You think we could have averted this if he is?” she pressed, and Mal turned hard eyes on her.
“Until I know the answer to your first question, I certainly can’t answer the second,” he replied sharply.
“He doesn’t seem like the type,” she observed after a moment.
“That he doesn’t,” he agreed heavily. He’d been known to be wrong before.
“If you did manage to make this milk run go south, there’s always the Guild,” Zoë said with a pleased curl to her lips.
“Bì zuî, Zoë,” he growled and scrubbed at his face roughly. Just what he needed - a passel full of Companions calling the shots. He’d never live it down with his crew.
“He’s a carnivore, living off the flesh of others,” River murmured softly, silencing them both.
“That a warning, Albatross?” Mal asked as he stepped up behind his pilot.
Even now she sat in the co-pilot chair, but he knew it wouldn’t be too much longer until she moved over. He’d caught her more than once playing with Wash’s toy dinosaurs, and the look in Zoë’s eyes wasn’t nearly as piercing as it once had been whenever she saw him sitting in Wash’s chair. River shrugged.
“He’s fogged up, all cloudy and lost. Doesn’t know,” she replied.
“Mmmm,” Mal said, rolling her words around in his head a few times before he gave up trying to decipher them. Sometimes it just took a few tries to make sense of what she said. Not today, though, it seemed.
“Let’s keep everyone on the ship besides you, me, and Jayne till we sort this out,” he said as River smoothly touched down. “Fine flying, little swami,” he said and gave her shoulder a squeeze. The smile she gave him was nearly dazzling as he left to speak to Abel.
“Aw, Cap’n!” Kaylee protested when he broke the news. Simon frowned in consternation as well.
He’d been waiting by the bay doors with his doctor’s bag in hand. Mal knew how much the people of Paraiso adored River, which meant the world to Simon. He was glad to have found a place where the man could work his doctoring magic and his sister could be herself without fear of discovery.
It was a bonus to see Simon get all flustered when the townspeople spoke plainly with him. Being raised all prissified hadn’t done him many favors, Mal thought. Better to say what you meant than play games all day and get nothin’ accomplished. Kaylee began giving Mal her puppy eyes, which made him scowl.
“Not till we suss out what they’re doing here, dong ma?” Mal said seriously. Kaylee nodded obediently yet rolled her eyes at the same time. He gave her a hard stare, which left her completely unaffected. Instead, she grinned.
“As soon as things look clear, I’ll unleash the lot of you on Abel’s Emporium,” he promised, noting when Zoë and Jayne joined him.
He looked up towards Inara’s shuttle to see her watching him from the catwalk above the cargo bay. When she caught his eye, she smiled and winked, making him wave in return before heading out into the blistering afternoon heat. Jayne looked over his shoulder at the two of them and sighed loudly.
“I think it’s sweet,” Zoë disagreed. Mal pretended not to hear her.
**********************************
Abel watched closely as Mal and his crew made their way towards his store. Caribe’s captain had retreated, alone, to Lizzie’s saloon and hadn’t set foot outside since. It’d been touch and go for a bit, but Daniel Schluter wasn’t the same arrogant, casually brutal man he’d been before. He was desperate now.
Even his crew had seemed leery of him as they’d watched them talk through the storefront windows, which hadn’t boded well, considering the hard looking men he traveled with. However, the armed townsfolk now loitering about the boardwalk outside had been making it abundantly clear Caribe’s crew were no longer welcome, and even Daniel hadn’t dared step over the line.
All save the captain had finally retreated to their ship a few hours ago and hadn’t come out since. Abel figured it wouldn’t be too much longer before Daniel joined them. Abel let his eyes slide to Lizzie’s darkened tavern windows and wished the man would leave already.
He’d originally been forced to use Daniel because there had been no one else, and it hadn’t taken long for the captain to begin skimming off a portion of the profits for himself. Not that Abel had complained - it had gotten their moonshine off planet, and ultimately had led him to Malcolm. He’d done what needed to be done. It had been a relief, however, when he’d finally been given the opportunity to be rid of the man.
On his visit today, Daniel had alternately begged and threatened in an effort to get his old job back, but Abel hadn’t budged. Business was business. He’d had his opportunity and he’d lost it. As far as he was concerned, the sooner Caribe and her crew left Avery’s orbit, the better, and it was clear the rest of the town felt the same.
“I see Avery’s become quite the tourist attraction,” Mal said as he shook Abel’s hand. Abel grimaced, frustrated.
“They’re just passing through,” he said with a shake of his head as he shook Zoë’s hand, too. Jayne stood by the door and kept an eye on the street after nodding briefly in greeting.
“Is this going to be a problem?” Mal asked, eyeing Abel carefully.
“They worked for me nearly a year back, but didn’t deal honestly. When they stopped returning waves, we started looking for better prospects, which led us to you.” Jayne snorted at this, causing Mal to glare.
“Boy, you must’a been desperate,” Jayne muttered.
“Huche,” Mal growled. Jayne grimaced in annoyance, pausing for a moment as if to argue, then stepped outside; the enormous gun he seemed inordinately fond of resting comfortably in his hands.
“Sorry, Malcolm. I have no idea why they even thought it a good idea to come here,” Abel admitted.
“Things are tight, especially lately. Could be they fell on hard times,” Mal conceded. Abel shrugged a shoulder and turned to lead them toward the back of the store.
“Which is why they should have tried harder to keep our business in the first place,” Abel replied, and nearly smirked at the sharp look Mal’s first mate shot in his direction. Oh yes, Captain Reynolds appeared to be alone in his reluctance to take up all the runs Abel had to offer. Maybe the Caribe’s abrupt arrival was a blessing in disguise.
“Sure is a lot of turnout for this time of day,” Zoë commented as she walked beside them. Mal’s eyes slid to watch as Abel replied.
“We don’t take kindly to intimidation tactics, and we take care of our own,” he said. Mal’s eyes burned with intensity for a moment, then his normal expression returned, leaving Abel a little startled with the force of it. He’d definitely struck a chord with the captain.
“The crew’s already gone back to their ship, and I don’t think it too much longer before they leave,” Abel continued.
“You think they might hold a grudge anyway?” Mal asked. Abel shook his head.
“They’re just as leery of Alliance as you are, and I think the Caribe’s crew’s not happy with their captain either.” Mal nodded, satisfied at the answer.
He handed Serenity’s captain the shipping inventory and watched as the man began to run though the calculations in his head as to what he could fit for each of the runs, picking up a stylus to cross out a few things in one column and add to the other.
“We’ll be able to take it like you listed except for a few things. How soon will it be ready?”
“It might take a day or two to finish the last of the bottling. Would that be acceptable?” Abel said with a steady voice, hoping dearly that the answer would be yes.
“My crew’d welcome the downtime. Truthfully, they’re practically itchin’ to come back within minutes of leaving,” Mal said with a faint smile and a rueful shake of the head.
“You’ve still got some store credit from your last visit,” Abel reminded him.
“And it’s been burnin’ a hole in Kaylee’s pocket,” Mal agreed, making him laugh.
“Think your crew might be up for some of Abigail’s fine cooking?” he asked, and noted even Zoë’s eyes lit up.
“It’d be mighty welcome. It’s been a while since we had a good meal,” Mal said.
“Since the last time we were here, to be specific, sir,” Zoë replied, and Abel watched, fascinated as always at the silent communication that passed between the captain and his first mate. After a moment, Mal handed the data pad back to Abel and nodded towards Jayne.
“Let’s make sure nobody walks around without an escort ‘till your unwelcome guests leave,” he said to Zoë as the two of them left the store, collecting their mercenary on the way. Abel couldn’t help but smile at the way things were turning out. Finally.
****************************************************
The moment the crew left Serenity, little Jenna was on Kaylee’s hip. Mal had to steel himself against the familiar grief; the guilt at how he’d let down the kind people of Haven. Ironically, although he missed the shepherd deeply, he secretly suspected the man’d be pleased, if he were still watching, over what had happened on Miranda. Mal had always known how to make a stand.
“Those are an awful lot of scowl lines for someone just beginning a few days of rest and relaxation,” Inara observed and slipped her hand in his. He shook himself from his thoughts and turned a grin on her.
“Yeah, Cap’n. Turn that frown upside down!” Kaylee agreed from beside him, making the little girl giggle.
“You think they’ll have a few bottles to spare?” Jayne asked Zoë, “Considering this planet ain’t nothin’ but trees and dirt.” Jayne loved Avery’s apple pie moonshine enough, he’d even sent a case home to his ma.
“I’d just appreciate it if you didn’t try so hard to get blood-alcohol poisoning this time,” Simon observed, making Kaylee snort.
River had stayed behind to gather up more supplies Simon might need at the little makeshift clinic. She’d been getting a little anxious when they’d left, but Mal wasn’t too concerned yet. She’d done it before, showing up in time with all the equipment and medication Simon had needed to save little Jenna’s father. He just hoped whatever she was sensing, that it wasn’t too serious. He was far more fond of the people of Paraiso than he probably should have been.
“But he sure do sing pretty!” Kaylee said brightly, bringing Mal back to the present. Jenna promptly burst into the first few lyrics of ‘A Man Called Jayne’, making the mercenary turn tomato red.
“Perfect!” Inara complimented the little girl, who smiled widely and began again with the few words she knew, pleased with the results she’d gotten from the first round.
“The things I’m planning on aren’t restful, even if they are relaxin’,” Mal murmured in Inara’s ear and was pleased at how her ears turned just the faintest pink. He considered it the ultimate compliment that he could still make her blush.
“Don’t you think it’s time we included Zoë?” she murmured back, making him stop dead in the road with a pole axed expression on his face. His first mate, who’d clearly heard the comment, stood waiting for an answer expectantly, one eyebrow raised.
“What? What?! Zoë?!” Mal asked, turning, bewildered, to look between the two women who were staring at him with equally dangerous, bland expressions.
The rest of his crew stopped to watch, fascinated and intrigued. “What’d she say?” he heard Kaylee whisper to Simon, who shrugged. Mal’s jaw worked a few times, and knew he must have looked like a spooked horse as his headshot back and forth between the two of them. Long moments passed, and as the silence began to settle, Mal heard the best thing in months: Zoe’d begun to laugh, deep and throaty.
Mal blinked, and when he turned back to Inara, her face had lit up in delight. Zoë continued to laugh, hard, even as she fished in her vest for a bag full of coin.
“Twenty credits, fair and square. I should have known better than to bet with you,” she said, and Inara looked inordinately pleased with herself even as she took his elbow and steered him back towards the center of town.
“I knew it was a bad idea to get you two together,” he muttered, but knew his own smile gave him away as Zoë continued to chuckle, walking ahead to whisper in Kaylee’s ear what had happened. Her answering snorts of delight made him alternately want to blush and head back to the ship till they got it all out of their systems.
“Devil woman,” he murmured in Inara’s ear, and her eyes sparkled like diamonds as she smiled back. It looked to be a good day.
*****************************************
True to Abel’s prediction, the rest of Caribe’s crew had kept to their ship, which was a welcome thing. Mal had sent Jayne on with Simon, while he and Zoe’d stayed with the rest. The warm greetings the crew got as they traveled through town filled him with nostalgia for thing’s he’d long forgotten and a home long since turned to ash. He loved how Inara seemed to bask in everyone’s warm affection and acceptance of her. It mattered far more to her than he’d thought it would. He hated that he had probably made her feel otherwise at times, before they’d gotten together.
It was remarkable to see how well Inara managed to blend in and yet still be so extraordinary. It’d taken her a few days to get comfortable with the townsfolk initially. He’d watched carefully, but it was clear from the start that the people of Paraiso had liked her right away, and that she adored them as well. She was a constant source of amazement to him, at how well they were together, especially considering how polar opposite they were in so many ways.
Every day he wondered what he’d done good in his life to deserve such an extraordinary woman, and he’d yet to think up a reason. So he continued to do as he always did, and try to do right for his wife and his crew until he did figure out how he’d managed to get so lucky. Wash would have loved to know that he’d learned that from him.
Jen had tired of sitting on Kaylee’s hip and taken to following Zoë closely behind. She’d been fascinated with his first mate from the start, always asking constantly about her guns and what she did. Zoë answered patiently, and it hurt him to see the pain flash in her eyes and know what she was missing, and why.
Forcing his mind away from darker thoughts, Mal turned his attention back to Abel. The man drove a hard bargain, that was sure, but he’d begun to realize that each time they came back, the storekeeper sweetened the pot just a bit more. With his generous store credit, he sure knew how to incentivize the crew as well, especially considering just how well supplied his store was. But then, it wasn’t everyday when one store fulfilled the needs of an entire planet.
Inara had gone to stand by Kaylee, who was loitering a few feet nearby to find out how much additional store credit she’d get with their latest job and Zoë had squatted down to help Jen put the barrette back in her hair.
Mal noted how the figure of a man, mostly hidden in shadow, seemed unsteady for a moment as he exited the tavern before stopping abruptly to stare at Abel as he shook Mal’s hand to seal the deal.
Kaylee crowed in delight, gathering Inara in for a hug as she began to talk eagerly of all things they could get for Serenity. Zoë’s eyes had slid up from the little girl to Mal and then to the tavern door with lightening speed, and she’d already begun to stand when the man’s expression became visible and Mal realized he was drawing his gun.
“Zoë!” he instructed, and instantly she gathered the little girl in her arms and cleared the street. Mal turned to Abel and pushed him, hard, into Kaylee and Inara. All three fell to the ground, giving startled and angry squawks of protest as Mal felt the bullet tear through his midsection, throwing him back. Even as he fell, he leveled his own gun, his eyes glancing quickly to Inara and the others. All their faces held varying expressions of horror, but they appeared unhurt, and only one shot had gone off.
Mal shot instinctively, so focused on his target that he didn’t even try to catch himself as he fell. The man’s head whipped back, and he knew he was dead before he hit the ground. Zoë ran back into the street, her gun sweeping all around at potential targets as she scanned for additional shooters. Jayne came tearing out of the little clinic just seconds behind. The people who’d been standing on the boardwalk behind them had drawn their own guns now, looking a bit stunned, he guessed, at the speed in which the shootout had occurred.
“E… Everyone… Everyone clear?” Mal tried to ask. He couldn’t seem to catch his breath, but his gun was still in his hand as he, too, looked around to see if any more of Caribe’s crew wanted a fight.
“See to him, we’ll take care of the crew,” Abel said, his face hard and his eyes distraught as he took a gun from someone beyond Mal’s vision.
“’m fine,” Mal tried to say as he let Zoë pull his own gun from his fingers.
“Certainly you are, sir, just stay still,” she murmured in that too cool voice Zoë always used when things looked bad. .
Simon leaned over him, his eyes wide as he took in Mal’s injuries, and when had Simon come out onto the street anyway? He was slipping, he realized, and felt himself being lifted up. Jayne, he noted, marveling at how easily the man dead- lifted him. Huh, he thought, probably ought to choose a better word.
“You’re going to be fine, you stupid wan ba dan,” Inara said in a watery voice, gripping his hand hard as he was carried inside, out of the sweltering heat.
It smelled of antiseptic and bleach; Simon’s clinic. Mal idly wished he were back on Serenity. He still couldn’t seem to take a deep breath, and his efforts to keep himself from gasping, afraid he’d panic Inara, were beginning to make his vision dim.
“Set him here,” Simon instructed, and River came bursting in the room with a sack full of supplies as Jayne gently set Mal onto a padded table in the middle of the room.
“I saw it! I’m so sorry! I saw it! It was too fast, he didn’t think - just reacted!” River said even as she dumped the supplies she’d brought from the ship onto the table next to his.
“I’ll need those,” Simon approved distractedly after a quick glance at what she’d brought. Mal couldn’t catch his breath enough to protest as Simon cut off his shirt. He liked that shirt.
“Mal, look at me,” Inara demanded, and he realized he’d stopped focusing on what was going on around him. His stomach was beginning to burn something fierce, and he shivered in pain. A towel was wiped across his face, and he turned to meet her eyes.
“’Nara,” he whispered, wanting to say he’d be okay, not to be scared, that the doc would take care of him, but the urge to gasp for air was getting too strong. He tried to take a deep breath, and his chest felt like it was on fire. His body arched despite his efforts to stay still, and even as the noise faded around him, he could still hear the voices filled with panic as he drifted to black.
*************************
Series: Takes place in the Firefly Sushi-verse created by terimaru
Rating: PG-13 For Fluff and Violence
Pairing: Mal/Inara
Word Count: 5,836
Timeline: set between between Mis-Ceptions and Inara's Gift
Summary: First installment of my angst contribution to this delightful Sushi-verse. There's a reason why Mal doesn't believe in luck. Can Inara and the rest of the crew prove the Captain wrong? Or does Fate truly have a thing against him?
Disclaimer: Mr. Whedon and posse own all but the fish. Those are terimaru's.
Authors note: Written in response to terimaru's mention that a little angst might be in order. That I can deliver. ;-)
ETA: I made a couple of fixes. Thanks, terimaru for catching those! :-D
Previous Chapters: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8
Never Runs Smooth
Chapter 1
“Mal, are you ever going to tell me what’s bothering you?” Inara asked as he lay beside her, his head resting against her shoulder as he burrowed further into his pillow. They were finally heading back to Avery, but while the rest of the crew was delighted, Mal continued to look drawn and exhausted.
He’d been sleeping even less than usual, tossing and sighing heavily as he tried to drift off. While he frequently had bad dreams, the ones he’d had lately had evidently taken a turn for the grisly. More than once he’d woken on a strangled gasp, reaching out and caressing her face as if to reassure himself. He wore such vulnerable expressions in those first moments upon waking that she didn’t have the heart to ask what he’d dreamt. Besides, she suspected she already knew.
“’m I keeping you up?” Mal murmured into her neck.
“You haven’t stopped wiggling your leg for the last hour,” she replied, which made him immediately stop doing it. Truthfully, she found it endearing. Was it wrong to find so much of what he did unconsciously cute? She refused to explore that thought.
“Sorry, ‘Nara,” Mal said, and began to sit up.
“Hey, I didn’t mean for you to go,” she protested, reaching out and taking his arm before he could slip out of bed. It was the middle of the night, with the thermostat set low to conserve fuel. Well, that and the fact that she hated trying to sleep without him there.
“Come on, I didn’t mean for you to leave,” she said soothingly, pulling him gently back towards her. He didn’t resist, but did look guilty as he took in the look on her face.
“I don’t mean to be worrying you,” Mal said apologetically and sighed as Inara pulled him against her. She tucked the blanket back around him to warm skin already chilled and began to absently stroke the hair from his forehead as he faced her.
“What is it, Mal?” Inara asked, still as enchanted with this side of Malcolm Reynolds as the first time he’d revealed it. This was the part of him only she got to see for any length of time. Kaylee and River got to see glimpses on occasion, but this man…
It was horribly ironic that the more unguarded Mal was the more closely he kept things to himself. She’d hoped, as their relationship had blossomed, that she’d learn more about him *from* him, but even now, naked beside her, he was just as much a mystery to her as he’d always been.
He leaned forward, placing soft kisses against her neck, and she shivered even as she pushed him gently back so she could look into his eyes once more.
“No you don’t, mister,” she said, and delighted in the devilish grin that lit up his face and crinkled his eyes. “After,” she amended, smiling and shaking her head, and reached out to cup his cheek in her hand, gently tracing the skin under his eye with her thumb as she turned serious once more.
“You look so tired,” she said softly.
“Thanks,” he replied dryly. “I’ll have to give those veggies a try that you and Kaylee mentioned next time we’re planet side.”
“They’re not vegetables, they’re cucumber slices, and, you just shush,” she scolded him gently. “We’re talking, here. So what is it, Mal? What’s worrying you? Is there something wrong with the jobs Abel’s been giving us? Is that why you’re so determined to keep using other contacts?”
Mal shook his head and grimaced as he sat up, resting against the back of the shuttle wall as he continued to look at her. She sat up beside him, taking his hand in hers. She’d found these late night talks were the best time to catch him being ‘truthsome’, as he called it, when he was too tired to deflect her with his humor.
“There’s nothin’ wrong with the jobs, ‘Nara, and that’s the problem,” he finally admitted.
“What?” Inara asked, blinking as she tried to follow his statement. He shook his head ruefully and pulled his hand away to rub at his face roughly, as if to scrub away his fatigue and organize his thoughts.
“It’s… I… There’s a reason why I don’t believe in luck,” he finally settled on saying.
“I know that,” Inara agreed, frowning. He laughed a short bark, his bitter laugh.
“It’s because if I *did* believe in luck, then mine would have to be bad. Nothin’ runs smooth for me, ‘Nara, and it never has. Every time… Every single time I thought things might just work out my way, they didn’t,” he said, and she could feel the raw frustration in his confession.
“That’s not true, Mal. There’s us, and Serenity. There’s Zoë, and the rest of your crew... Even Jayne, some days,” she said with a quirk of her lips. He tried to smile in return, but it came out wrong, too fragile somehow, as if only for her could he even muster one up at all.
“I can’t help it. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. My life doesn’t get this good. Not ever. Which is why I keep making sure we’ve still got prospects, even if Abel gets pinched, or he finds someone else to use,” he admitted. “And it’s why I keep mother henning you all,” he confessed, raising a hand up to forestall her complaint. “Kaylee’s words, not yours, but I know you feel the same. You’ve said as much. Just give an old man some time to adjust,” he asked, and she could feel the depth of his plea.
She snuggled in next to him and wrapped her arms around his chest. He sighed, buried his nose in her hair and breathed deep, pulling her close.
“It’s been months,” she said wistfully. “You’re going to have to let go sometime.”
“Don’t I know it,” he agreed, and she could hear the irony in his voice. “I keep tryin’, darlin’” he said. “It’s all I can do.”
“Well, then I’ll just have to show you how fortunate you really are,” she teased and snaked her hand underneath the sheets, making him chuckle deeply.
“Does that mean I’m gettin’ lucky?” he asked in a husky voice.
“Oh yes,” she whispered in his ear before nibbling on the lobe, and spent the rest of the night trying to prove to him just how much things truly had changed.
*****************
“So they finally waved you,” a voice said from the front of the store, making Abel start in surprise. He hadn’t heard Molly come in. He’d been too busy working up a new schedule now that Serenity was due within the next few days.
Abel hated it when Malcolm Reynolds and his crew ran behind schedule. Not that their being late affected business in the least, but in the months since he first started working with Mal, he’d learned a few things about Serenity and their crew.
First, if they were running late, something had happened, and secondly, that somehow or another, Mal was always in the thick of it. The fact that they actively avoided anything involving the Alliance made him especially anxious when they insisted on taking business he couldn’t insure was safe.
“I need to put a bell on you,” Abel teased his neighbor. She looked tired but cheerful, much like she always did.
“Ed sent me to check on you. You’d been refusing Abigail’s dinner invites for nearly a week now, and she’d been fussin’ up a storm,” Molly replied, her hair still tucked underneath a wide brimmed hat to protect her from the brutal midday suns. While most of Paraiso’s residents napped or stayed indoors through the hottest part of the day, his neighbor was often out and about.
“How do you know they waved?” he asked curiously as Molly peeked her head back outside the door.
“Jen, you leave them chickens alone!” she yelled, prompting a faint, “Yes, momma,” in reply.
Her first husband had been killed in the war, and it had taken nearly six years for Ed to get her to say ‘yes’. Their first daughter, five-year-old Jenna, was a handful and a half, keeping Molly perpetually on the move. It also meant conversations with his neighbor were frequently interrupted.
“You stopped by to talk to Abigail, and she’s been cooking ever since, humming like a songbird. I’ll bet that’s the inventory list you’re working on right now,” she said shrewdly, taking one more peek outside before crossing the store to hold out her hand for the data pad he’d been working on. He handed it to her with a grin.
“Mmmm,” she said, looking it over and nodding approval.
Nearly everyone in Paraiso was involved with the orchards in one form or fashion, Ed and Molly being no exception. They were a tight knit community, everyone in each other’s pockets, but Abel liked it that way. It’d saved his sanity on more than one occasion when he’d lost his boys to the war and the years shortly thereafter.
They’d all grown fond of Serenity’s crew in the short time they’d gotten to know them, and were well aware of Abel’s penchant to worry about them. It hadn’t escaped their notice, either, how similar Malcolm was to the late Michael Stoddard, Abel’s youngest son.
“You actually got that skittish captain of yours to commit to more than two runs right after the other? How’d you do that?” she asked with a raised brow as she continued to read through the list.
“I think his crew bullied him into it, or at least Kaylee. She was right beside him when he waved, and you should have seen the grin on her face,” Abel replied, making Molly chuckle.
“Oh boy. She’s going to spoil Jen rotten again. That little mechanic’s a menace!” she said, but with obvious affection. Abel suppressed a snort of amusement. “Speaking of which,” Molly murmured, and left to poke her head back outside again.
“No, you know better than that! Put that rock down, Jenna Lee! You know I’ll tan your hide if you break another window!” she said in a sharp voice. Abel flinched.
“Sorry, momma!” a not so distant and completely unrepentant voice replied.
“Well, Kaylee’s a menace to my store credit, too. That girl is a born treasure hunter. Thankfully she’s got a streak of honesty a mile wide, or I’d be sunk. Every time she visits, she pulls me aside to point out parts I’m not charging enough for,” Abel marveled, making Molly laugh heartily aloud.
“Do you think he’ll bring that bride of his into town again?” she asked curiously.
Abel had practically had to gather his jaw from the floor the first time Malcolm Reynolds introduced the woman who just a few short months later became his wife.
When he’d first met Zoë and Jayne, he’d thought he’d gotten a pretty clear picture of what kind of ship Malcolm Reynolds ran. Former Browncoats, scraping by for a living, trying to forage out of sight of the mighty Alliance.
But then Mal Reynolds had brought the girls to his store that first day, and he’d seen someone else entirely. Underneath that prickly exterior, the captain was a deeply caring man, as evidenced by the way he responded to the teenage girl’s odd ramblings and Kaylee’s squeals of glee.
Since then, each time they’d come, Abel had learned a little bit more about the crew of Serenity, and the more he learned, the more intriguing they became. Their ship’s doctor (and wasn’t it an astonishing thing in its own right for Serenity to have an honest to goodness doctor?) had taken to setting up shop in Pete’s old office and seeing to injuries and inoculations and the like when planet side.
Considering it had been years since Pete passed, the new doctor had been dearly needed. Abel hated to think what would have happened to Molly if Simon hadn’t been in town when Ed got appendicitis. He’d saved the man’s life, that was certain.
It was clear the crew of Serenity was a tight knit bunch, more like a family, really, and he suspected they’d faced some heavy losses as well. Mal’s nearly desperate need to watch out for the girls, and his warm and careful regard for his first mate, Zoë, made Abel’s heart hurt to watch.
“I do believe Kaylee mentioned something about a ‘girl’s shopping trip’,” Abel replied after a pause.
“Last time Inara was here, she fixed the stitching in Abigail’s lace shawl,” Molly replied with a shake of her head. “Her detail work’s exquisite. You couldn’t see where her stitches ended and the original ones began,” she marveled.
“They certainly make an unusual pair,” Abel agreed with a grin.
“Well, I best get what I came for before Jen breaks another of your windows,” Molly said with a sigh and gathered a basket from beside the door. Abel smiled in combined mirth and sympathy. There was a reason why Molly always looked so worn out.
“I’ll be done with the pack slip in just a few minutes, if you want to wait?” he asked as she began to purposefully browse through the foodstuff aisles.
“Take your time,” she began to say, but the roar of a ship’s engines drowned out anything she said afterward.
Abel’s eyes widened as he stared at Molly, who’d gone to look out the window. “It’s too early for it to be Serenity,” he said with dread.
“I thought you took care of your last crew,” Molly said sharply, and instantly Abel knew who’d landed.
“They haven’t answered waves in nearly a year. The last one I sent told ‘em not to come back. I have no idea why they’re here now,” Abel replied. Molly put down the basket with a look of real concern in her eyes.
“I’ll get the list from you later. Ed’ll want to know who’s here,” she said firmly, then nodded as she left. The ‘be careful’ unspoken, but clear nonetheless. It appeared the captain of Caribe wanted to pay one more visit.
*************************************
Mal’s jaw clenched the moment River let him know that there was another ship already landed on Avery. Had Abel contracted someone else? Had his foolish paranoia driven the people of Paraiso to take other business as well? Had he forced this outcome from his own reluctance to trust?
“You think he’s using someone else in addition to us, sir?” Zoë asked calmly by his side.
“Don’t rightly know.”
“You think we could have averted this if he is?” she pressed, and Mal turned hard eyes on her.
“Until I know the answer to your first question, I certainly can’t answer the second,” he replied sharply.
“He doesn’t seem like the type,” she observed after a moment.
“That he doesn’t,” he agreed heavily. He’d been known to be wrong before.
“If you did manage to make this milk run go south, there’s always the Guild,” Zoë said with a pleased curl to her lips.
“Bì zuî, Zoë,” he growled and scrubbed at his face roughly. Just what he needed - a passel full of Companions calling the shots. He’d never live it down with his crew.
“He’s a carnivore, living off the flesh of others,” River murmured softly, silencing them both.
“That a warning, Albatross?” Mal asked as he stepped up behind his pilot.
Even now she sat in the co-pilot chair, but he knew it wouldn’t be too much longer until she moved over. He’d caught her more than once playing with Wash’s toy dinosaurs, and the look in Zoë’s eyes wasn’t nearly as piercing as it once had been whenever she saw him sitting in Wash’s chair. River shrugged.
“He’s fogged up, all cloudy and lost. Doesn’t know,” she replied.
“Mmmm,” Mal said, rolling her words around in his head a few times before he gave up trying to decipher them. Sometimes it just took a few tries to make sense of what she said. Not today, though, it seemed.
“Let’s keep everyone on the ship besides you, me, and Jayne till we sort this out,” he said as River smoothly touched down. “Fine flying, little swami,” he said and gave her shoulder a squeeze. The smile she gave him was nearly dazzling as he left to speak to Abel.
“Aw, Cap’n!” Kaylee protested when he broke the news. Simon frowned in consternation as well.
He’d been waiting by the bay doors with his doctor’s bag in hand. Mal knew how much the people of Paraiso adored River, which meant the world to Simon. He was glad to have found a place where the man could work his doctoring magic and his sister could be herself without fear of discovery.
It was a bonus to see Simon get all flustered when the townspeople spoke plainly with him. Being raised all prissified hadn’t done him many favors, Mal thought. Better to say what you meant than play games all day and get nothin’ accomplished. Kaylee began giving Mal her puppy eyes, which made him scowl.
“Not till we suss out what they’re doing here, dong ma?” Mal said seriously. Kaylee nodded obediently yet rolled her eyes at the same time. He gave her a hard stare, which left her completely unaffected. Instead, she grinned.
“As soon as things look clear, I’ll unleash the lot of you on Abel’s Emporium,” he promised, noting when Zoë and Jayne joined him.
He looked up towards Inara’s shuttle to see her watching him from the catwalk above the cargo bay. When she caught his eye, she smiled and winked, making him wave in return before heading out into the blistering afternoon heat. Jayne looked over his shoulder at the two of them and sighed loudly.
“I think it’s sweet,” Zoë disagreed. Mal pretended not to hear her.
**********************************
Abel watched closely as Mal and his crew made their way towards his store. Caribe’s captain had retreated, alone, to Lizzie’s saloon and hadn’t set foot outside since. It’d been touch and go for a bit, but Daniel Schluter wasn’t the same arrogant, casually brutal man he’d been before. He was desperate now.
Even his crew had seemed leery of him as they’d watched them talk through the storefront windows, which hadn’t boded well, considering the hard looking men he traveled with. However, the armed townsfolk now loitering about the boardwalk outside had been making it abundantly clear Caribe’s crew were no longer welcome, and even Daniel hadn’t dared step over the line.
All save the captain had finally retreated to their ship a few hours ago and hadn’t come out since. Abel figured it wouldn’t be too much longer before Daniel joined them. Abel let his eyes slide to Lizzie’s darkened tavern windows and wished the man would leave already.
He’d originally been forced to use Daniel because there had been no one else, and it hadn’t taken long for the captain to begin skimming off a portion of the profits for himself. Not that Abel had complained - it had gotten their moonshine off planet, and ultimately had led him to Malcolm. He’d done what needed to be done. It had been a relief, however, when he’d finally been given the opportunity to be rid of the man.
On his visit today, Daniel had alternately begged and threatened in an effort to get his old job back, but Abel hadn’t budged. Business was business. He’d had his opportunity and he’d lost it. As far as he was concerned, the sooner Caribe and her crew left Avery’s orbit, the better, and it was clear the rest of the town felt the same.
“I see Avery’s become quite the tourist attraction,” Mal said as he shook Abel’s hand. Abel grimaced, frustrated.
“They’re just passing through,” he said with a shake of his head as he shook Zoë’s hand, too. Jayne stood by the door and kept an eye on the street after nodding briefly in greeting.
“Is this going to be a problem?” Mal asked, eyeing Abel carefully.
“They worked for me nearly a year back, but didn’t deal honestly. When they stopped returning waves, we started looking for better prospects, which led us to you.” Jayne snorted at this, causing Mal to glare.
“Boy, you must’a been desperate,” Jayne muttered.
“Huche,” Mal growled. Jayne grimaced in annoyance, pausing for a moment as if to argue, then stepped outside; the enormous gun he seemed inordinately fond of resting comfortably in his hands.
“Sorry, Malcolm. I have no idea why they even thought it a good idea to come here,” Abel admitted.
“Things are tight, especially lately. Could be they fell on hard times,” Mal conceded. Abel shrugged a shoulder and turned to lead them toward the back of the store.
“Which is why they should have tried harder to keep our business in the first place,” Abel replied, and nearly smirked at the sharp look Mal’s first mate shot in his direction. Oh yes, Captain Reynolds appeared to be alone in his reluctance to take up all the runs Abel had to offer. Maybe the Caribe’s abrupt arrival was a blessing in disguise.
“Sure is a lot of turnout for this time of day,” Zoë commented as she walked beside them. Mal’s eyes slid to watch as Abel replied.
“We don’t take kindly to intimidation tactics, and we take care of our own,” he said. Mal’s eyes burned with intensity for a moment, then his normal expression returned, leaving Abel a little startled with the force of it. He’d definitely struck a chord with the captain.
“The crew’s already gone back to their ship, and I don’t think it too much longer before they leave,” Abel continued.
“You think they might hold a grudge anyway?” Mal asked. Abel shook his head.
“They’re just as leery of Alliance as you are, and I think the Caribe’s crew’s not happy with their captain either.” Mal nodded, satisfied at the answer.
He handed Serenity’s captain the shipping inventory and watched as the man began to run though the calculations in his head as to what he could fit for each of the runs, picking up a stylus to cross out a few things in one column and add to the other.
“We’ll be able to take it like you listed except for a few things. How soon will it be ready?”
“It might take a day or two to finish the last of the bottling. Would that be acceptable?” Abel said with a steady voice, hoping dearly that the answer would be yes.
“My crew’d welcome the downtime. Truthfully, they’re practically itchin’ to come back within minutes of leaving,” Mal said with a faint smile and a rueful shake of the head.
“You’ve still got some store credit from your last visit,” Abel reminded him.
“And it’s been burnin’ a hole in Kaylee’s pocket,” Mal agreed, making him laugh.
“Think your crew might be up for some of Abigail’s fine cooking?” he asked, and noted even Zoë’s eyes lit up.
“It’d be mighty welcome. It’s been a while since we had a good meal,” Mal said.
“Since the last time we were here, to be specific, sir,” Zoë replied, and Abel watched, fascinated as always at the silent communication that passed between the captain and his first mate. After a moment, Mal handed the data pad back to Abel and nodded towards Jayne.
“Let’s make sure nobody walks around without an escort ‘till your unwelcome guests leave,” he said to Zoë as the two of them left the store, collecting their mercenary on the way. Abel couldn’t help but smile at the way things were turning out. Finally.
****************************************************
The moment the crew left Serenity, little Jenna was on Kaylee’s hip. Mal had to steel himself against the familiar grief; the guilt at how he’d let down the kind people of Haven. Ironically, although he missed the shepherd deeply, he secretly suspected the man’d be pleased, if he were still watching, over what had happened on Miranda. Mal had always known how to make a stand.
“Those are an awful lot of scowl lines for someone just beginning a few days of rest and relaxation,” Inara observed and slipped her hand in his. He shook himself from his thoughts and turned a grin on her.
“Yeah, Cap’n. Turn that frown upside down!” Kaylee agreed from beside him, making the little girl giggle.
“You think they’ll have a few bottles to spare?” Jayne asked Zoë, “Considering this planet ain’t nothin’ but trees and dirt.” Jayne loved Avery’s apple pie moonshine enough, he’d even sent a case home to his ma.
“I’d just appreciate it if you didn’t try so hard to get blood-alcohol poisoning this time,” Simon observed, making Kaylee snort.
River had stayed behind to gather up more supplies Simon might need at the little makeshift clinic. She’d been getting a little anxious when they’d left, but Mal wasn’t too concerned yet. She’d done it before, showing up in time with all the equipment and medication Simon had needed to save little Jenna’s father. He just hoped whatever she was sensing, that it wasn’t too serious. He was far more fond of the people of Paraiso than he probably should have been.
“But he sure do sing pretty!” Kaylee said brightly, bringing Mal back to the present. Jenna promptly burst into the first few lyrics of ‘A Man Called Jayne’, making the mercenary turn tomato red.
“Perfect!” Inara complimented the little girl, who smiled widely and began again with the few words she knew, pleased with the results she’d gotten from the first round.
“The things I’m planning on aren’t restful, even if they are relaxin’,” Mal murmured in Inara’s ear and was pleased at how her ears turned just the faintest pink. He considered it the ultimate compliment that he could still make her blush.
“Don’t you think it’s time we included Zoë?” she murmured back, making him stop dead in the road with a pole axed expression on his face. His first mate, who’d clearly heard the comment, stood waiting for an answer expectantly, one eyebrow raised.
“What? What?! Zoë?!” Mal asked, turning, bewildered, to look between the two women who were staring at him with equally dangerous, bland expressions.
The rest of his crew stopped to watch, fascinated and intrigued. “What’d she say?” he heard Kaylee whisper to Simon, who shrugged. Mal’s jaw worked a few times, and knew he must have looked like a spooked horse as his headshot back and forth between the two of them. Long moments passed, and as the silence began to settle, Mal heard the best thing in months: Zoe’d begun to laugh, deep and throaty.
Mal blinked, and when he turned back to Inara, her face had lit up in delight. Zoë continued to laugh, hard, even as she fished in her vest for a bag full of coin.
“Twenty credits, fair and square. I should have known better than to bet with you,” she said, and Inara looked inordinately pleased with herself even as she took his elbow and steered him back towards the center of town.
“I knew it was a bad idea to get you two together,” he muttered, but knew his own smile gave him away as Zoë continued to chuckle, walking ahead to whisper in Kaylee’s ear what had happened. Her answering snorts of delight made him alternately want to blush and head back to the ship till they got it all out of their systems.
“Devil woman,” he murmured in Inara’s ear, and her eyes sparkled like diamonds as she smiled back. It looked to be a good day.
*****************************************
True to Abel’s prediction, the rest of Caribe’s crew had kept to their ship, which was a welcome thing. Mal had sent Jayne on with Simon, while he and Zoe’d stayed with the rest. The warm greetings the crew got as they traveled through town filled him with nostalgia for thing’s he’d long forgotten and a home long since turned to ash. He loved how Inara seemed to bask in everyone’s warm affection and acceptance of her. It mattered far more to her than he’d thought it would. He hated that he had probably made her feel otherwise at times, before they’d gotten together.
It was remarkable to see how well Inara managed to blend in and yet still be so extraordinary. It’d taken her a few days to get comfortable with the townsfolk initially. He’d watched carefully, but it was clear from the start that the people of Paraiso had liked her right away, and that she adored them as well. She was a constant source of amazement to him, at how well they were together, especially considering how polar opposite they were in so many ways.
Every day he wondered what he’d done good in his life to deserve such an extraordinary woman, and he’d yet to think up a reason. So he continued to do as he always did, and try to do right for his wife and his crew until he did figure out how he’d managed to get so lucky. Wash would have loved to know that he’d learned that from him.
Jen had tired of sitting on Kaylee’s hip and taken to following Zoë closely behind. She’d been fascinated with his first mate from the start, always asking constantly about her guns and what she did. Zoë answered patiently, and it hurt him to see the pain flash in her eyes and know what she was missing, and why.
Forcing his mind away from darker thoughts, Mal turned his attention back to Abel. The man drove a hard bargain, that was sure, but he’d begun to realize that each time they came back, the storekeeper sweetened the pot just a bit more. With his generous store credit, he sure knew how to incentivize the crew as well, especially considering just how well supplied his store was. But then, it wasn’t everyday when one store fulfilled the needs of an entire planet.
Inara had gone to stand by Kaylee, who was loitering a few feet nearby to find out how much additional store credit she’d get with their latest job and Zoë had squatted down to help Jen put the barrette back in her hair.
Mal noted how the figure of a man, mostly hidden in shadow, seemed unsteady for a moment as he exited the tavern before stopping abruptly to stare at Abel as he shook Mal’s hand to seal the deal.
Kaylee crowed in delight, gathering Inara in for a hug as she began to talk eagerly of all things they could get for Serenity. Zoë’s eyes had slid up from the little girl to Mal and then to the tavern door with lightening speed, and she’d already begun to stand when the man’s expression became visible and Mal realized he was drawing his gun.
“Zoë!” he instructed, and instantly she gathered the little girl in her arms and cleared the street. Mal turned to Abel and pushed him, hard, into Kaylee and Inara. All three fell to the ground, giving startled and angry squawks of protest as Mal felt the bullet tear through his midsection, throwing him back. Even as he fell, he leveled his own gun, his eyes glancing quickly to Inara and the others. All their faces held varying expressions of horror, but they appeared unhurt, and only one shot had gone off.
Mal shot instinctively, so focused on his target that he didn’t even try to catch himself as he fell. The man’s head whipped back, and he knew he was dead before he hit the ground. Zoë ran back into the street, her gun sweeping all around at potential targets as she scanned for additional shooters. Jayne came tearing out of the little clinic just seconds behind. The people who’d been standing on the boardwalk behind them had drawn their own guns now, looking a bit stunned, he guessed, at the speed in which the shootout had occurred.
“E… Everyone… Everyone clear?” Mal tried to ask. He couldn’t seem to catch his breath, but his gun was still in his hand as he, too, looked around to see if any more of Caribe’s crew wanted a fight.
“See to him, we’ll take care of the crew,” Abel said, his face hard and his eyes distraught as he took a gun from someone beyond Mal’s vision.
“’m fine,” Mal tried to say as he let Zoë pull his own gun from his fingers.
“Certainly you are, sir, just stay still,” she murmured in that too cool voice Zoë always used when things looked bad. .
Simon leaned over him, his eyes wide as he took in Mal’s injuries, and when had Simon come out onto the street anyway? He was slipping, he realized, and felt himself being lifted up. Jayne, he noted, marveling at how easily the man dead- lifted him. Huh, he thought, probably ought to choose a better word.
“You’re going to be fine, you stupid wan ba dan,” Inara said in a watery voice, gripping his hand hard as he was carried inside, out of the sweltering heat.
It smelled of antiseptic and bleach; Simon’s clinic. Mal idly wished he were back on Serenity. He still couldn’t seem to take a deep breath, and his efforts to keep himself from gasping, afraid he’d panic Inara, were beginning to make his vision dim.
“Set him here,” Simon instructed, and River came bursting in the room with a sack full of supplies as Jayne gently set Mal onto a padded table in the middle of the room.
“I saw it! I’m so sorry! I saw it! It was too fast, he didn’t think - just reacted!” River said even as she dumped the supplies she’d brought from the ship onto the table next to his.
“I’ll need those,” Simon approved distractedly after a quick glance at what she’d brought. Mal couldn’t catch his breath enough to protest as Simon cut off his shirt. He liked that shirt.
“Mal, look at me,” Inara demanded, and he realized he’d stopped focusing on what was going on around him. His stomach was beginning to burn something fierce, and he shivered in pain. A towel was wiped across his face, and he turned to meet her eyes.
“’Nara,” he whispered, wanting to say he’d be okay, not to be scared, that the doc would take care of him, but the urge to gasp for air was getting too strong. He tried to take a deep breath, and his chest felt like it was on fire. His body arched despite his efforts to stay still, and even as the noise faded around him, he could still hear the voices filled with panic as he drifted to black.
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