Legacy-Betrayal Ch.5 - Mal/Inara

[druinsanity.livejournal.com]

Title: Legacy - Betrayal
Authors: druinsanity and bashipforever
Summary: AU Takes place two and a half years after the end of the series. The movie never happened, but if you’ve read the comic book Those Left Behind, it did. Everything Inara has worked for in her life is finally happening but an old friend shows up, making her doubt everything she’s wanted.
Pairing: Mal/Inara
Rating: PG-13 - R
A/N: The title comes from an Emily Dickenson poem. This is a WIP but it is being updated daily so you shouldn’t have to wait for too long for updates.
A/N2: This is the sequel to a trilogy in this series. Please read Legacy before this to fill in any blanks. This second part is a month after the ending to the first.

You left me, sweet, two legacies,-
A legacy of love
A Heavenly Father would content,
Had He the offer of;

You left me boundaries of pain
Capacious as the sea,
Between eternity and time,
Your consciousness and me.

Ch.1 Ch.2 Ch.3 Ch.4


CHAPTER FIVE

Simon kept an arm around River's shoulders as they watched Serenity take sky until they couldn't see her anymore. "I don't understand." He shook his head, every bit of him full of confusion. He’d thought River had been doing better, and then this.

"Why don't you bring her in?" Book instructed, leading them to one of the small apartments.

Once Simon had River settled, he sat down next to her. "What happened meimei?" He asked, smoothing her hair back gently. "You hurt Inara."

River kept her head down but she glanced up at Simon through her hair. She shook her head and curled up tighter into herself. "Can't get it out. She tries and she tries but she can't get it out."

"Were you trying to help her get something out?" Simon asked, curiously, trying to push River to talk about it. "They're family, River. You hurt one of us all of us hurt." He was mainly talking about that Captain. He'd be surprised if they were allowed back on Serenity after this.

"No..." River shook her head. "Can't think. Can't reason. Forward, backward, sideways...they all lose their meaning." She looks up at Simon, her gaze clear and hard. "I was trying to kill her before she can hurt him."

"Inara would never hurt anyone. We all know that she wouldn't... not if she could help it." Simon shook his head again and looked down to the mattress they sat on. "I just don't understand, and I'm not sure that anyone else will either."

"Cull the herd, protect them. It has to be done. Not pretty but it has to be done," River answered. "It's not safe. He shouldn't have gone to the Gingerbread house. He'll get lost in the maze and Mommy won't be able to save him. Little bits of cookie laced with arsenic. Mommy doesn't know."

She twisted a strand of her hair around her finger as she rambled.

"Shhh, mei mei." Simon shushed River in a quiet whisper as he looked back up to her. He pulled her to him to cradle her in his arms. "It'll be okay. It has to be okay."

"We're not little kids anymore, Simon. Daddy can't take this away and he can't protect himself or us. There's a snake in the woodpile, Simon."

River curled up, letting Simon rock her as she fell silent.

**

It seemed like an eternity before Kaylee poked her head into the infirmary. Her eyes were red and puffy. She leaned against the doorframe and chewed on her lower lip. Inara looked too pale and small lying on the infirmary bed. Her hair was a dark blot against all the sterile whiteness and Mal stood next to her, both of his hands holding one of hers. Zoe sat on one of the shelves in the infirmary, watching quietly.

"Gonna be at the med facilities in a few minutes," Kaylee said in a hoarse voice. "'Nara gonna be okay?" she asked plaintively

"She'll be shiny" Mal said, going to a closet in the infirmary to get a stretcher. With Zoe's help they moved Inara’s limp form to the stretcher. "She'll be just shiny, lil' one." He repeated to Kaylee as Zoe and he walked past her with the stretcher towards the cargo bay. He sounded as if he were trying to convince himself as much as he was Kaylee.

Kaylee nodded and followed Zoe and Mal to the cargo bay. "I got shot that one time an' I was shiny...'Nara will be too." She took Mal’s lead and attempted to reassure herself more than anyone else. “More’n shiny…”

Wash requested docking at the med facility then prepared to be boarded by the Alliance. He silently hoped that Mal had kept all the papers and cargo in order. They didn't need any more complications right now.

Mal opened the door to the cargo bay and stood back, hands in the air as he offered papers to the entering officers. “Got wounded. Needs attention now.” His voice, while still commanding carried a hollow feel.

"Captain Malcolm Reynolds... Firefly class, Serenity." The commander said as he walked aboard the ship with several Alliance officers. "Amazed that you would willingly come to us. We didn't even have to arrest you. I'm sure we can find something illegal if we look hard enough. I'm Commander Hyer."

"Ain't lookin' for no trouble. Got a hurt crewmember, like I said. Needs medical attention." Mal said curtly, nodding to the stretcher as the commander took the papers that were obviously forged.

Commander Hyer chuckled and shook his head as he looked over the papers. "You say these are authentic?"

"My crew member." Mal pointed to where Inara still lay on the stretcher. His voice carried a hint of worry and urgency to it that he was unable to hide.

Commander Hyer glanced to the body on the stretcher and drew a deep breath. "We are not a medical facility for just anyone."

"She ain't just anyone. The next High Priestess of the guild on Sihnon." He explained, desperation setting in. He was willing to use any tactics necessary to get Inara in to the doctors.

One of the officers nodded, looking up from a small cortex screen he'd been looking at. "Companion was traveling with them."

"Very well." The Commander nodded. "Take the captain into custody and the companion to the medical ward."

"Custody? What for?" Wash asked worriedly.

Zoe shook her head as she stepped forward. "Ain't no reason for you to take him into custody."

Mal shook his head at Zoe, the silent movement an order not to argue, as two officers took him by the arms and led him through the airlock and into the Alliance facilities. He didn’t want any trouble for his crew, and Inara needed this to go as smooth as possible.

The commander glanced at Zoe. "He has a reputation as an unsavory character for us. We'll just make sure he causes no trouble while you're docked at our station. Purely a precaution. And interrogation to be sure that he’s telling the truth about what happened to Mistress Serra." He shoved the papers for Serenity at Zoe and started into the station.

"But the Capt'n ain't done nothin' wrong." Kaylee said, her voice full of tears. "It ain't-"

"Kaylee..." Zoe reprimanded as two officers carried the stretcher into the space station. Mal had silently asked for no argument, and for now he’d get it.

Jayne watched the officers with his jaw clenched. "Ben tiansheng de yidui rou," he muttered under his breath. "Mal didn't do nothin' wrong. Gorram cowards...scared to death he's gonna-"

"Jayne," Zoe said with a look of warning. If the alliance decided to turn Inara away from the hospital they'd never make it back to Haven where Simon was before Inara died.

"Ain't ruttin' right," Jayne grumbled again. "How much coin it gonna cost us this time to get him out," he snarled at one of the remaining officers.

The officer shook his head at Jayne. "So far nothing. I mean they'll check his record from the last time he was in prison to make sure that there are no new offenses. I suspect they'll keep him locked up until you leave though. He's a risk we aren't willing to take." He strolled around the cargo bay, opening boxes and checking the cargo as three other guards stood at the cargo entrance.

Jayne tried to feel relieved that they weren't going to have to give up more coin, but couldn't quite muster up the feeling. He shook his head and chuckled.

"Why are you laughing?" The officer patrolling the crates looked to Jayne.

Jayne shrugged. "Just funny that you strong Alliance types is so scared of him is all..." It gave him an odd sense of respect for the captain... almost like pride.

The officer chose to ignore that and walked towards the cargo door. "I'm sure you'll all be kept informed of the situation." He said before leaving them to their own.

"Ain't right..." Kaylee said, wiping at her damp cheeks.

Zoe shook her head. "Captain knew what he was comin' to by bringin' Inara here."

"I'm still with Kaylee on the not rightness of it all." Wash added.

Zoe nodded. "Never said it was right. Can't help it anyway." She started pacing the cargo bay. They really didn't have much to do until the doctors came in to let them know what was going on with Inara.

**

Mal felt the cuffs clamped around his wrists even more than he heard the clink of them. He sat on a bench in the containment cell quietly. He hadn't fought the guards coming in here, hadn't even had a sarcastic remark. He hadn't fought when they put the cuffs on him and hadn't even said anything as the insults were hurled at him as the door had been locked shut.

Inara had been shot right in front of him. He kept playing the moment over and over in his head, trying to figure out how he could have stopped it. His guard had been down. He hadn't been alert enough. They always hit you hardest when your guard was down. And now he wasn't even sure who 'they' was anymore. He just knew that he'd been hit enough... from all sides.

Right now he didn't even care if he was stuck here. If Inara was alive and taken away from him where she could be safe... this would be worth it.

**

Inara was numb everywhere. She literally felt like she was floating inches above the bed. Her eyes were grainy and dry, too heavy to open for a moment. She remembered everything. She and Mal had been happy. He'd asked her to marry him again and she'd said yes. And then there'd been a fire...she furrowed her brow, eyes still closed. No, a fire wasn't right. There'd been gunshots...someone had shot her. Her fingers twitched a little, her hand twisted as if she were searching for something or someone. When she didn't find it, she forced her eyes open. The room wavered uncertainly before her eyes. It was empty and too bright. She closed her eyes against the light. "Mal," she croaked through lips too dry. The words had to be forced through a burning, raw throat. Until a few hours ago, she'd had a ventilator to help her breath. She found the nurses call button and pushed it. After a few moments, a nurse entered the room.

"Oh my goodness, Mistress Serra...we weren't sure you were going to wake up. Let me go get the doctor." The nurse rushed out before Inara could stop her. She returned several minutes later with a doctor in tow.

The doctor checked all her vitals and made many notes in his file. "You're a very lucky woman, Mistress Serra. I'm sure the guild house will be thrilled to know that you should make a full recovery after a certain amount of rest."

Inara shook her head, not certain why they kept referring to her as Mistress Serra or why the doctor mentioned the guild house. "Mal," she croaked again. "I want to see Mal."

The nurse stared at her and shook her head. "Sweetie, I don't know what you're talking about. You’ve been unconscious for four days. It’s possible the drugs are causing you to hallucinate."

”Four days?” She was so tired already and her chest was beginning to burn. For a moment, she was tempted to give up and try later but she knew Mal wouldn't have. "Malcolm Reynolds...brought me here."

The doctor exchanged looks with the nurse and shook his head almost imperceptibly. Inara caught it though.

“She mentioned his name a couple of times in her sleep,” the nurse whispered to the doctor. “We all thought she was delirious.”

"Know he's here. Wouldn't leave me." Inara tried again. Her words came in short, shallow bursts of breath. "Mal."

"Miss, we're going to have to sedate you if you don't settle down," the doctor warned her.

Inara shook her head and started struggling without much success to sit up. "Mal," she said again. This time it was weaker. "Please?" The word was almost mouthed rather than actually said.

The doctor watched her for a moment then sighed. "If I manage to get him up here will you settle down and rest?"

"Thank you," Inara barely whispered and stopped struggling. She was so tired already and out of breath. She just needed to catch her breath.

The doctor stepped out of the room and gestured to one of the regular security guards.

"There's a man in the holding cells. Malcolm Reynolds. My patient is asking for him. If you'd have him brought here on my orders."

The guard nodded and lifted a portable comm to his mouth. He repeated the doctor's instructions, nodded and then turned to the doctor. "They'll have him up in a moment, Doctor."

**

Mal had been in the holding cell for almost four days. They hadn't brought him food, just water that he'd drank as if it were sweet nectar he'd craved. Each time an officer came into his cell, he'd received a sharp blow or more and an insult. His mind had gone to a time when he’d been under Alliance thumb for three months. By the end of that time, the insults had been easy to believe. He’d never dealt with what they’d done to him in prison the last time. And now he was paying for it… easily believing every name they called him, every slap to his face, and judgment of character.

They were trying to provoke him. The problem was that there was nothing to provoke. Until he knew how Inara was, he was a shell.

The lock on the door sounded and he looked up through the one eye he could fully open. An officer walked in and landed a backhand to his already bruised cheek.

"Mistress Serra is asking for you. I suppose you're lucky... it’s been a laugh seeing who could get the most hits in." He got Mal to his feet and started him down the hallway, thankful that his hands were still cuffed behind his back. As they walked into the medical ward, he grabbed the captain's neck and pushed him against the wall. "If I were you I'd hope that your luck holds." He let go and ushered Mal into the wing that held the beautiful companion.

The moment Mal saw Inara he felt the first wave of emotion race across his features since he'd been put in the holding cell. He walked to the side of her bed and tugged at the cuffs at his wrists behind his back. He itched to touch her but couldn't. "'Nara..." He said quietly. He looked back at the officers. "Uncuff me."

One of the officers grinned and shook his head. "I don't think so Captain Reynolds. You're lucky you have this much for now. This isn't your ship where you can give orders."

Mal scowled and looked back to Inara, his features softening when he saw her. "You're alive."

Inara's brow furrowed when she looked up at Mal. She tried to raise one hand to touch his bruised face but was too weak. She looked at the officer and attempted to give him the sternest expression she could manage, asserting all of her companion 'authority'. "Uncuff him. Vouch for him. Not going to do anything."

The officer shook his head again. "I'm sorry Mistress Serra. We can't do that."

"Can't or won't?" Mal snapped in their direction.

The officer smiled a sadistic smile. "And now he fights back. Are we going to have to arrest you for misconduct to an officer?"

Mal looked back to Inara and just shook his head. He just had to make it through this and they could get out of here. "They say how long 'til you can get out of here?"

"Reporting this to Priestess Dria," Inara glared rather unconvincingly at the officer then she looked at Mal and shook her head. "Doctor...ask. So tired. Sit," she said, patting the bed beside her. She pushed the call button for the nurse again.

Mal sat at the side of the bed rather awkwardly with the cuffs. "Bound to be a little tired after takin' three bullets." The words came out almost blankly as he tried to make conversation and not loose anymore control in front of any Alliance. "Soon as you're able we'll be gettin' you back to Serenity." and maybe away from Serenity too... to where there's safety.

Inara nodded, slipping her hand back to awkwardly twine her fingers with his despite the fact that he was still handcuffed. "Wanna go home," she whispered breathily. "Miss you." It was said quietly in hopes the officers still in the room wouldn't hear.

The doctor came back in the room, pleased to see that Inara had settled down. He frowned at the presence of the military in the room but had no jurisdiction to send them out. "Mistress Serra, Captain Reynolds," he nodded at the both of them. "You had some questions?"

"Home," Inara said as loudly as she could, just a little above a whisper. Her chest hurt and she wanted to go back to sleep but she wanted Mal to stay with her a little longer.

"Home? Oh...I don't know. I wouldn't even consider it for a couple of more days...possibly three. You've had some fairly major surgery. You punctured a lung. We had to re-inflate it. We removed your spleen and repaired some internal bleeding. The other bullet was dangerously close to your heart."

Inara furrowed her brow, knowing she couldn't tell them that Simon would take care of her. "Want to go home. Now."

The doctor sighed, made some more notes in his file and nodded then left the room to order her release. The last thing they needed was to anger the guild. They were a surprisingly powerful group of women with friends in all the right places.

Mal was surprised with how quickly the papers were drawn and Inara was moved to a stretcher with instructions printed out to keep her alive. The companion title held a lot of weight in an Alliance facility. He followed and watched as the stretcher was taken into Serenity. He stopped short when his cuffs were pulled on from behind.

"Now I'm not so sure that we're letting you go." The officer hissed in Mal's ear.

Zoe came to the cargo door with Kaylee and Jayne. She found Inara on their stretcher and Mal still in the air lock with some officers. His face was bruised and his hands were cuffed. "Ain't done nothin' warrants keepin' him."

"Sure you'll get 'nother chance." Mal said calmly, looking at where Inara laid on the stretcher inside the cargo bay. He felt a hard punch to the gut and then one to his face before he doubled over with the impact. He stood back upright. "Sure I'll be gettin' my chance too..."

The officer unlocked the cuffs and pushed Mal towards Serenity. Mal walked the rest of the way on his own his hands rubbing at his wrists. "Zoe, close the cargo door." He punched the button for the comm that went throughout the ship. "Wash... we're takin' off." He needed to get away from this place now, or they would have a reason to keep him.

"Capt'n they hurt you." Kaylee said.

"M'Alright. Jayne, help me get her to the infirmary." He lifted one end of the stretcher and started for the infirmary with Jayne.

"Why'd you let 'em beat on ya?" Jayne asked.

"Seemed like the thing to do..." Mal said.

Inara was mostly asleep through the activity. All of the talking and signing papers had exhausted her. She opened her eyes half way when Mal lifted up the stretcher, a half smile slipped across her face for a moment before she closed her eyes again, falling into a restless half sleep..

Wash got the ship in the air, not pushing it as hard as he had on the way out here. There was no need. Inara was stabilized for the moment.

"You okay, Sir?" Zoe asked as she followed Mal and Jayne into the infirmary

Mal nodded absentmindedly to Zoe. "M'Alright..." He hooked Inara up to the monitors in the infirmary and pulled a chair close to the bed so that he could have a seat. “Just a few scratches. Ain't nothin'."

"Why don't you let me take care of those cuts an' scrapes then?" Zoe said as she rummaged through the infirmary and came up with antiseptic, weaves, tape and gauze. She walked over to Mal and started dabbing antiseptic on the cut beneath Mal's eye. She didn't ask if having Inara treated at the hospital was worth what Mal had gone through. She knew at least to him it was. She'd do the same thing without a second thought if it'd been Wash or even the captain himself.

"Goin' to be alright now. They wouldn't have released her if she hadn't been out of the woods."

"Four days... we got a shiny doc of our own who can be takin' care of her from here on in." Mal said as he tilted his bruised and cut face up while Zoe mended the scrapes.

Jayne grunted from where he sat on the counter. "You could've taken any of those officers, ya know Mal? Ain't understandin' why you let 'em beat on you... or cuff you for that matter. Once you're cuffed the fightin' gets a mite bit harder. Just ain't-"

"Jayne." Zoe said. "Captain had his reasons."

Mal looked to where Inara laid on the bed. "Weren't no promise that they would take care of 'Nara. Needed to cause as little trouble as possible. Guess they searched the ship for the doc and his sister?"

Jayne nodded. "Yeah, weren't no coin for them to take this time though."

"Good thing 'bout bein' broke," Zoe said as she finished up patching Mal's face.

Jayne looked at Inara then Mal. He understood why Mal had done it but he didn't quite comprehend it. He had no problem rescuing someone, fighting his way out of a situation but to stand there and take the blows...that wasn't something Jayne could wrap his head around. He grunted and nodded. "I'll be in my bunk iffin' you need somethin'," he said as he got up from the counter and walked out of the infirmary. He stopped by the door and looked at Mal a moment again. "Glad I-Nara is alright," he nodded before taking off again.

Mal looked to Zoe. "They didn't hurt any of you?" He asked. He'd known also that if he hadn't complied with what the Alliance had wanted, it could have been harder on his crew. "Didn't give you any trouble?"

"Just made a nuisance of themselves, pokin' about," Zoe answered. "Ain't nothin' to worry 'bout," she assured him and she leaned against the cabinet.

"River girl shot 'Nara... Heard from Simon?" Mal shook his head. "Ain't understandin' it."

"Talked to him a couple of times since we been here," Zoe answered. "Says River's havin' a bad time of it right now. He's had her sedated since it happened. Says she keeps talking about traitors an' tattletells. Sharin' secrets but she don't say which secrets. Lots of screamin' 'bout can't get somethin' out. He don't have a clue what's goin' on with her. She won't answer him straight when he asks why she shot Inara, just goes back into a catatonic state muttering about all those things." She looked at Inara for a moment then back at Mal. She took a deep breath, knowing Mal really wasn't going to like what she was about to say. "Don't suppose maybe she's thinkin' Inara is a traitor...maybe she was responsible for gettin' you thrown in jail?"

"Ain't likin' your train of thought Zoe. 'Nara would never do such a thing as that. She was surprised as any when she learned on Sihnon I was in jail." Mal said dryly. "Be on the lookout for somethin' amiss though... somethin' that has nothin' to do with 'Nara."

Zoe nodded, biting back words she'd never say to Mal. She still had issues with Inara, with the way she'd jerked Mal around on Sihnon. It'd been an easy subject to avoid with the companion herself as she and Mal had pretty much kept to the shuttle. "Will do, Sir," she responded. She still didn't like the way Mal blindly trusted the companion.

Mal nodded and turned away from Zoe. Out of everyone on the crew, he could always trust her. She would quit that line of thinking right now. Still, with the things, River had said and done, and his and Inara’s relationship, some uncertainty clouded his mind. "Just gonna sit here for awhile." He looked to where Inara rested on the bed.

Zoe nodded. "I'll leave you to it, Sir. Be near by if you need anything though," she said as she pushed away from the counter. She squeezed Mal's shoulder as she walked by and out of the infirmary.