Title: Barriers

Rating: PG-13

Characters: Serra, Inara, Mal. Brief appearances by Abe, the rest of the crew, and the Sihnon Serras.

Pairings: Canon pairings apply, but I've run back to heavy M/I

Summary: Another PC fic, 6 months before Tough, definitely a prequel. Context hard to understand without Tough, but still readable.

Disclaimer: Most of the characters (sans PCs and Ally) aren't mine, but the situation is.

For newbies: Brother, Shadow, Mei-Mei, Mischief, Pirate Children, Mistletoe, Hell-Raising, Barriers,Tough, Echo (?)

Author's Note: I've gone back to the Reynolds family for this one, which had to be done as a prequel to Tough. It's mostly Serra and Inara, with Mal thrown in. It's not... fluffy. Nor very pretty.

Kacey Washburn, 26

Lolly Tam, 25

Abe Reynolds, 23.5

Serra Reynolds, 18.5

Alistair Caramia

Part 1

She’s drowned out the droning prison bureaucrat, holding fast to her brother’s arm, probably leaving bruises. She’s too lost in the horror to care, though age old training keeps her revulsion off her face until…

Until, until, until.

Until they round the corner and see her, huddled next to a cot, knees drawn up to her chest. Eyes vacant. That hollow look Inara’s only ever seen in Mal’s eyes, briefly, before. A strangled sob leaves Inara’s chest. Fahmy’s voice gets angry, booming, like their father’s when the office would call during dinner with a break in a case, when he would hold meetings in his home office with opposing counsel. His lawyer voice.

Serra’s obviously been poorly treated: mal-nourished, sleep-deprived, and filthy, bruises sprinkled across her arms, bare despite the constant chill of the steel penitentiary.

“You hold this innocent child...” Fahmy bellows.

“She’s of age, sir,” the bored manager interrupts to correct, inciting further shouting from Fahmy.

“No trial in sight… thwarting all legal attempts to…”

Her brother’s voice slides in and out of focus, Inara’s eyes remaining trained on her daughter through the two-way mirror. T