Legacy-Betrayal Ch.9 - 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 Ch.5 Ch.6 Ch.7 Ch.8


CHAPTER NINE

Mal flipped off the comm screen on the bridge and stood to walk back through Serenity. They were close to Persephone and the meeting with Badger looked to be a promising one as far as coin went. He thoroughly disliked the man, but they needed work.

His hand ran along the cool wall of the corridor, feeling the slight hum of his ship moving beneath his fingers. Something made him pause just outside of the brig he'd locked River in, and he knew he couldn't put it off anymore. It wasn't fair to her or himself, not to mention the crew.

He unlocked the door and pushed it open. He stood in the frame of the doorway looking down to River, his features softening slightly at the sight of her. "So, lil one..." He started, and then squatted down so that he was eye level with her. "Sorry to keep you locked up in here... just can't have you puttin' bullets in my crew. You understand?"

"She understands. She doesn't comprehend," River said as she looked up at Mal. "Already hurting so much. Just don't want it to hurt anymore. Besides, she's not your crew. Night blooming jasmine."

"She's my crew now... you gotta understand that." Mal said quietly, trying to wrap his mind around everything she was saying. "I don't take kindly to people shootin' at you, and I don't want people shootin' at her either. You got an itch for a bullet to break skin, point it at me, dong ma?" I'm the most deserving of it.

He paused before adding. "Although no bullets would be the preferred choice here."

"No you don't," River told Mal, looking directly at him. She furrowed her brow then got to her feet. She tiptoed over to Mal and reached out. She touched her face and smiled almost saintly at him. "Just being protective. Do you know who Benedict Arnold was?"

"Earth that was... Revolution and he was plottin' against his own from the inside." Mal said, knowing that his knowledge of history and books was a surprise to most. "Now tell me what that's got to do with you shootin' 'Nara. You the Benedict Arnold?" He asked, watching River's reaction carefully.

River laughed and shook her head. "No, Silly. She's just a girl."

Mal stared blankly for a moment and then smirked, his head bowing and gaze lowering hidden beneath long lashes. "You gotta help me out here, River girl. Little more'n lost in the dark right now. Gotta help me understand." Tired of the dark... too much of it.

He looked back up to her, his eyes wide but filled with concern also. "Don't like keepin' you locked up in here. I been locked up before and..." He trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.

"It's okay," River smiled at Mal. "When you're not here, Serenity talks to me."

"What does she say?" Mal asked quietly.

"She tells me that Kaylee loves Simon. Sometimes she talks to Serenity in the engine room about him. She says she misses Book sometimes but she knows he's okay. She wishes you weren't so sad. It makes her sad when you're sad. She tells me that Zoe and Wash had a fight about kids last night. She wants them. He wants to wait until they've settled somewhere. That makes Serenity sad. She'd like little kids playing hopscotch in her cargo bay," River rambled with a sunshine smile on her face.

"Ain't sad..." Mal lied with a shake of his head. "Tells you all that, huh? What's she say about 'Nara?"

River closed her eyes and made a face, sticking her tongue out.

"Gotta be careful, your face'll freeze like that." Mal said calmly, not missing that she hadn't answered him about Inara. "You mean a ship this big is talkin' to you 'bout everyone but the one you shot three times in the back? Hard to believe."

"She's jealous. She says you love her more now," River answered, her face still set in an unhappy expression.

"Serenity's jealous of 'Nara? Love 'em both." Mal rambled, still not convinced he'd gotten everything out of River that he needed to make a decision about whether to keep her locked up or let her free. "No call for jealousy. Both got my attention."

River shrugged. "Tell Serenity that." She walked over and ran her hand along the wall of the brig.

"Serenity and 'Nara gotta get along. Both gonna be here so there's no call for not gettin' along." Mal watched River walk along the edge of the room, getting to his feet himself. "You shot 'Nara, River. Why?" He asked pointedly. "She almost died. Dyin' ain't the most fun thing to do."

"There's no context. Forward, backward, inside out. She doesn't have any context…Just words and memories and thoughts that aren't hers. Sometimes she doesn't know which ones are hers and which ones aren't," River's brow furrowed and the look she gave Mal was shattered.

"She didn't mean to. She likes Inara with her whispers and her jasmine. She likes all the layers, shifting through them trying to find the one that's real but she doesn't have any context. Sometimes she doesn't realize which one is supposed to be real. She made a mistake. She thought the mirror was glass but it was just a mirror. She's sorry."

Mal reached out and pulled River into a tight embrace. He bowed his head, closed his eyes, and lowered his voice. He hated the broken fragments that the Alliance had left River with. It grated him into anger and compassion both at the same time. Her conflict was his... somehow it always had been. "Quiet now, nianqing de. S'alright. Gonna fix everything, dong ma? Just gotta give me a bit of time." He knew that he couldn't release her into the ship just yet and that tore at his already wounded heart.

River was surprised for a moment at Mal's hug. Once she recovered from the surprise she put her arms around him and hugged him tightly. "Sometimes something's broken, can't be fixed," she half whispered. "It's okay. It's enough that she knows you want to fix her."

After a moment, Mal let go, stepping back. "I bring you food you gonna be okay in here?" His voice was tight and controlled, almost forced with the words. He always had to make the difficult decisions. Hate this. Hate leavin' her in here.

River smiled brightly and nodded. "Serenity will talk to her. Tell Simon to bring paper and my crayons." She wrinkled her nose. "He always brings books with mathmatical equations, physics and dynamics. He forgets that sometimes I am just a girl."

"I'll tell him." Mal hesitated and then turned to walk out of the brig, locking the door behind him. The click of the lock seemed a little more loud than usual, ringing in his ears. It brought about memories that he tried so hard to keep burried. With another glance to the lock, he walked away, attempting to leave those memories buried where they should be.

**

Inara woke up from her nap with a yawn. It seemed like all she did since she'd gotten hurt was sleep. Simon had assured her that was normal. It was her body's way of healing itself.

She sat up slowly and stretched a little, wincing slightly at the pain but it was still noticeably better. A sigh escaped her as she realized the mess that the shuttle was. Usually she walked around behind Mal and picked up the clothes he dropped as he dropped them. She hadn't felt like doing that lately so there were shirts all over the floor along with pants and socks. One of her nightgowns was hanging from a lampshade, courtesy of Mal tossing it there after he'd taken it off her at some point. Another was crumpled on the floor near the foot of the bed. Mal wasn't content with just dropping clothes. He enjoyed tossing them.

Inara got out of the bed and started picking up the various clothes despite the fact that she got winded and exhausted after a few moments. Bending over left her dizzy and she had to stop and lean against the couch every now and then. This mess was going to drive her insane though. She started itching just looking at all of it.

Mal walked into the shuttle to see Inara with her arms full of clothes. Concern laced his features as he made his way over to her. "What're you doin' up?" He asked, taking the clothes from her and tossing them onto the foot of the bed. He guided her towards the couch. "Shouldn't be up doin' things yet."

Inara closed her eyes and sighed. "Mal! I just spent a half an hour picking those up off the floor!" She pulled away from him and went back over to the pile of clothes and begin picking them up again. She attempted to take slow breaths. "The shuttle's a mess. It's driving me crazy."

"Crazy looks good on you, darlin'. Now sit down. You're workin' yourself into a frenzy." Mal helped her sit on the side of the bed. "Ain't s'pposed to be doin' this right now. 'Sides, shuttle ain't that messy... just... lived in."

"Lived in is a dress tossed over the back of a chair or a book left out on the couch. This classifies as a mess," Inara continued ranting a little breathlessly even as Mal sat her down on the side of the bed. "There are clothes hanging on the lamp!" she exclaimed pointing to the lamp in question.

Mal snatched the nightgown from the lamp and tossed it towards the clothes bin. It fell short by a foot, landing on the floor. "Well now there ain't." He said confidently, as if that should make everything better and he'd just fixed all of the problems in the verse.

Inara sighed. "No, now it's on the floor." She got up and walked over to the nightgown, went over to the hamper and pointedly stuffed it in there. She did the same with two more shirts. "See. Not so difficult," she told him as she leaned against his desk.

Mal shook his head. "And what part of sit down are you findin' so difficult?" He asked agitatedly.

"The part where there are clothes all over the shuttle!" Inara snapped back, her eyes alight with anger. She walked over and picked up another shirt and put it in the hamper.

"People gotta change clothes 'Nara, 'less you want me smellin' somethin' fierce when I'm holdin' onto you at night." Mal shot back, his arms crossing over his chest.

"The changing clothes part is not what I'm objecting to!" Inara picked up a pair of pants and put them in the hamper. "You can shoot a mouse from a hundred yards away. You can take on an entire alliance, fly a ship and lead a platoon of men but for some reason you find it impossible to put your dirty clothes in the hamper! Why exactly is that?"

"Well now... I don't know." Mal said incredulously, reaching up to itch at the skin just below his eye as he glanced up at the ceiling. "Maybe cause I got more important things to be doin' than makin' sure my aim is right to the gorram hamper. Got other things on my mind, 'Nara. Things more important than that."

"Well apparently I don't because this is driving me insane," she snapped and stormed over to pick up a shirt, some socks and a pair of pants. All of which got stuffed into the hamper. "And it doesn't take aim if you walk over and put it in the hamper."

Mal just stood and watched her for a few moments. "Knew I wasn't one for neat and tidiness when you let me move in here, 'Nara." A sigh escaped him and he reached to the foot of the bed to pick up the pile he'd put there if just for something to do. "And when I'm comin' in here, it's to see you, be with you, or sleep with you and I ain't one for distractions." He stuffed the pile in the hamper and then started for the door of the shuttle. "A fight is one hell of a distraction though. One I wasn't lookin' for."

"Mal… Please stop," Inara sighed and sat down on the couch. "Yes I knew you were messy when you moved in here and you knew I was a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to neatness. It doesn't change the fact that I still want you in here. Besides I thought I was pretty when I was angry at you," she smirked.

Mal stopped and bowed his head, a small smile coming to his lips as the features of his face softened. He turned around and looked at Inara who had finally decided to sit on the couch where he'd wanted her to in the first place. " I did say that didn't I. Got truth to it." He nodded, hooking his thumbs in his suspenders.

Inara rolled her eyes. He knew the suspenders drove her crazy, hence the reason he was hooking his thumbs in them. She knew if she waited long enough he'd start stretching them in and out. "Come sit down with me and leave the suspenders alone so I can forget you're wearing them," she teased him.

"Actually... I ain't feelin' like sittin' right now. Think I got a few more things I could be doin' about the ship. Meetin' with Badger in a few hours." Mal began stretching the suspenders away from him and then back over and over again.

"Fine," Inara responded, her voice gone cold and icy. Without even thinking about it she slipped behind the companion mask that she could so easily take on and off.

Mal watched Inara close off and glanced at the bed. He'd only come in to rest for a few hours. He'd been so tired lately. His gaze went back to Inara and he nodded, stubbornly going out of the shuttle to find something to do. His old bunk was empty, but he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep without Inara by his side no matter how tired he was.

Inara wilted behind her companion facade once Mal had left the shuttle. She leaned back against the couch and closed her eyes. She hated fighting with Mal now. There was an insecurity there that hadn't been there before. She knew it was a product of everything that had happened on Sihnon but that didn't make it any easier to ignore.

She got up and starting picking up the clothes, putting them all in the hamper. She was going to have to do laundry soon or she and Mal would both run out of clothes. Tears sprang to her eyes as she sat down because she felt like gos se. She raked her fingers back through her hair trying to reassure herself that he would come back. She laid down on the bed, completely exhausted from having picked up the shuttle. She flipped on her comm screen and turned on a soap opera she'd downloaded off the cortex and had yet to watch.

It turned out the soap opera was a bad idea. It was all about people leaving their spouses or cheating on their spouses or significant others gone missing or dying or dead. She ended up in tears while the stupid thing continued to play on the screen.

**

Mal walked through the main street of Persephone with Zoe and Jayne flanking his sides. His hand hid a yawn as they walked away from Badger’s place of business. Badger had spun them around a little bit as usual but they’d still gotten a job and for that, Mal was thankful.

“We really gonna do this, Sir?” Zoe asked.

“Like we ain’t done it before.” Jayne smirked lightly.

“One of the best jobs we ever pulled.” Mal said, matter of factly. “Guess word gettin’ out about it was likely to happen. Badger wants medicines; we’ll get ‘em for him and some for us too. Come out right nice on the deal.”

Zoe cast a sideways look to Mal as they walked. “Don’t think they’ll be expectin’ it this time?”

“Why would they? Alliance ain’t knowin’ we did it last time. Won’t know it this time either.” Mal said. “Same job, different hospital.”

Zoe was quiet for a moment. She didn’t like opposing Mal on a rule, but she would when she felt strongly about something. “Just wonderin’ if we should steer clear of jobs havin’ to do with Alliance, Sir. They seem a little too fond of you.”

Mal stopped and turned to Zoe. “Zoe, Alliance took all my credits when they patched up ‘Nara. We gotta fuel the ship and I’m already dippin’ into crew’s pay for that.”

“You are? Well that ain’t…” Jayne started then decided better of talking about the fairness of it all.

“Gotta eat sometime soon too…” Mal continued. “And that fancy cookin’ Preacher left us with won’t be lastin’ forever. I ain’t lookin’ to argue the fact that the pay we’ll get on this job is needed. Crew’s gotta get paid.”

“I’d like gettin’ paid.” Jayne nodded, glancing between Zoe and Mal.

Zoe gave Jayne a killer look and then nodded at Mal. “We’ll do the job. Money we get should tide us over so we can get a few jobs on the rim here and there.”

Mal nodded and then started walking towards the docs again with Jayne and Zoe in tow. “’Sides, we still got all the supplies we’re needin’ for the job ‘cept the ambulance. Gonna need a new one of those.”

“Guessin’ Kaylee and Wash can make a new one.” Zoe nodded.

“I still remember that gorram stupid line the doc taught me that I never got to use.” Jayne said.

“Way I remember it, you used it.” Mal smirked lightly, a grin spreading on his lips.

Zoe couldn’t help but laugh at that comment as they walked into the cargo bay on Serenity.

“What’s so funny?” Wash asked, meeting her in the middle of the room. “Don’t remember Badger being a very funny sort of guy.”

“He ain’t.” Mal said, “Just laughin’ about the last hospital job we pulled.”

“That was funny… except for the River and Simon almost getting taken into the authorities and many other things I won’t list now.” Wash joked.

“Well we’re pullin’ another one. Get with Kaylee and see how you two can be makin’ another Ambulance.” Mal said. “Gotta go talk with the doc to see where we can find what Badgers’ wantin’ and what we’re needin’ so we can get coin.”

“Another?” Wash asked, surprised. “You don’t think we’ll get caught?”

Mal looked to Wash as he started across the cargo bay. “Why’s everyone always thinkin’ we’ll get caught. Y’know I’ve done many a job where there was no gettin’ caught.”

“Aye, Captain.” Wash nodded as Mal’s back disappeared down the corridor. “This is so not a democracy.”

Jayne smirked. “Ain’t ever been. I’ll be in my bunk.”

Zoe smiled at Wash and leaned over to give him a light kiss. “Just figurin’ that out?”

Wash wrapped his arms around Zoe, pulling her close. “Well I’m a little slow sometimes.” He held onto her for a moment then kissed her again before heading off to look for Kaylee.

Comments

[paiger1218.livejournal.com]

HMMM....memories that she doesn't know are hers or real or whatever... is Inara a cylon? Did she go to the same place River did?? IS SHE GONNA BE BAD???? WAAAAAH. This is KILLING me. Point me to the support group...

[druinsanity.livejournal.com]

*cue dramatic music* Dun Dun Duuunnnnnnn

Mal/Inara crack to keep the itch off in between chapters is at ifs_and_maybes! *cackle*