Disclaimer: Characters do not belong to me, they are the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and Fox.

Feedback is always welcome.

Takes place shortly after the series ended and about a month after the events in Delta Rain.

Thanks to CassieE, bugchicklv and jebbypal for the beta and everyone else for their patience. Also, I think this now counts as an AU, I won't be incorporating the BDM in so it's all series based.

Chinese translations:

Wuo de ma: Mother of Jesus

shénme?: what?

fèi huà: garbage

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Mal studied Monty while he tried to decide how much to tell the older man about his situation. He’d long suspected that Monty still had ties to the small pockets of Independents that had gone underground, refusing to admit they had been defeated.

If he was right then Monty may already know more about the program that River had been in, might even have ties to those that had gotten her out. Ever since Simon had first told them his story on getting River out Mal had suspected that the group that helped him was one of these surviving cells.

If he was wrong though, if he was wrong he might be turning River and Simon over to someone else that might betray them. Not that he didn’t trust Monty not too, but it wasn’t his decision to make. It should be Simon sitting here deciding if he could trust this man with his secret, not Mal.

“Spit it out Reynolds. Much as I love the hospitality, I know ya didn’t invite me over for tea.” Monty gestured at his neglected teacup for emphasis.

Mal pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep sigh before answering. “No Monty, I didn’t. Two of my crew are in danger and I was hoping you might be able to help me get them out.”

“Which two?” Monty asked, his eyes sharpening with interest.

“Jayne, who you’ve met, and my Doctor.”

“You got yourself a doctor?” The way Monty’s eyes widened in shock almost made letting that piece of information drop worth it.

“Picked him up a while back,” Mal continued, “the boy needed to avoid Alliance