Author's Note:

I mentioned in a comment I posted on chapter... eight, I think, that this was a fic set post series, going into AU rather than setting up for the movie. Sorry if it surprised a few people! I'm a Wash fangirl, so as much as I love Serenity.... Oh, and for those who are wondering about Inara... she will be appearing in this fic again, towards the end...

Thanks to everyone who's commented on this fic. I've never had such a response to my work, and I'm very grateful! =)

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Mal sits in the co-pilot’s seat of the shuttle, supremely uncomfortable as Bill pilots with serene confidence. Zone Two drops away beneath them, and silence reigns as they head from the city.

“You’re not stupid, Captain,” Bill says after a while, not looking at him.

Mal smiles thinly. “Clearly you ain’t been reading those letters from Inara closely,” he replies, “I don’t think she’d agree with your assessment.”

She laughs, compressing her lips together to dissolve her amused smile before speaking again. “You and I are both well aware that the crew of the Hugo weren’t killed by Reavers,” she continues, “It’s a shame you had to come across them at all, I was hoping you might already have passed by…”

Mal remains silent at her words, not quite sure how to react to what appears to be a casual confession to the brutal murder of an entire ship’s crew. Bill’s attention is apparently almost entirely focussed on her flying and it doesn’t feel like she’s about to kill him. He was forced to leave his gun in her office before boarding her shuttle, but he’s confident he can take her in a one-on-one fight if it comes to it. Fly the shuttle back to Serenity and…

And condemn his crew to death, too, with no fuel to get them off this moon. He sits tight, and waits for her to continue, choice less.

“They opened the boxes,” she continues, “And the people I represent don’t do complications. Lives don’t mean much to them. Not smuggler’s lives, anyway. I’m not saying what th