TITLE: "MOTIVATIONS"

AUTHOR: Alison M. DOBELL

FANDOM: "FIREFLY"

PAIRING: Zoe/Wash. Kaylee/Simon.

RATING: G.

STATUS: Sequel to "LAYERS".

ARCHIVE: Yes. Just let me know where.

FEEDBACK: Welcomed.

EMAIL: AlisonMDobell@aol.com

WEBSITE: None. All Firefly stories archived at Fireflyfans.net

SUMMARY: "Inara plays a careful game in search of the truth.

Paul Rinkman is subjected to several methods in an attempt to

extract what he knows and Simon contacts his father."

The usual disclaimers apply. The characters and 'Firefly'

are the property and gift of Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy.

No infringement of copyright is intended.

"MOTIVATIONS"

"Firefly" story

Written by Alison M. DOBELL

* * * * *

Margueritte Santana was no longer a Companion though she had remained with the Guild longer than Nandi, Carolina and Carlita. Her road, unlike Nandi's, had not involved staying in the same profession but outside the Guild. She was no whore, at least not in the sense of selling her body for money, position or favour. Some were the dedicated believers like her friend Inara but others used their Companion skills to gain access to information and power or to wield it through those they contracted to have sex with. Margueritte was used to all the permutations of her former craft and was not above using her skills when needs demanded.

For the last ten years she had been freelance, a term her friends assumed was a polite word for whoring without the backing or protection of the Guild. How wrong they were. How simple their lives were in comparrison to her own and yet Margueritte - the passionate, hot blooded and fiery tempered former jewel in the Guild crown - did not envy them. Neither did she pity them for clinging to the falsehoods of a system that pandered to the excesses of the Alliance. It was not their fault nor their blindness but the deep invasive teachings of the Guild, the genteel distractions of learni