Phase One

A/N: The long awaited (heh) epilogue. I'd already written this before I began posting, but from the comments on the previous postings I feel it may be a bit of a let down... no smut, sorry! But later today I'll start posting Job Satisfaction, which may involve smut.... Enjoy!!!

The young man looked around him, a small smile on his face. As the agents watched, he turned to face a young woman who was approaching, his smile growing. The couple kissed, and then re-boarded the Firefly, holding hands.

Having seen quite enough, the agent turned to face his commander, trying to keep his face impassive. Panic would not help him now.

“Affirmative, sir.” He said, keeping his voice even. “It’s him.”

The commander also kept his face impassive, and he’d had a lot more practice than the trembling agent before him. “I see,” he said, and his voice was cold. “Tell me, Agent Sixteen-oh-four, why is Doctor Tam walking around?”

The agent couldn’t help it. He looked down at his feet.

“Why is Doctor Tam kissing young women?” the commander continued.

“I...” began the agent, bile rising in his throat.

“Why is Doctor Simon Tam still alive?”

The words rung in the air, and the agent raised his eyes to his commander, unable to look away as he pulled a small rod from his pocket.

A dull buzzing filled the air, and in moments, the agent had collapsed to the floor.

“Phase One,” the commander said above the buzzing, ignoring the twitching man on the floor. “Failure.”

You know the drill... comments?