TITLE: Shadows Fall

AUTHOR: CCke (aka Aset)

E-MAIL: Eponine_Aset(at)hotmail(dot)com

FEEDBACK: Always welcome, always appreciated

DISTRIBUTION: want, ask, have J

RATING: Nc-17… like I can work my way around that, that’d just be cruel :p

CLASSIFICATION: drama all the way!

PAIRING: Kaylee/Simon, Mal/Inara

SUMMARY: The crew is forced to make an emergency stop on Shadow… much to Mal’s dislike…

SPOILERS: Set after the Big Damn Movie, so everything is game! (except for the RPG… Cause Shadow ain’t a ghost planet in this fic… *blush* )

DISCLAIMER: Fox, Universal, Joss Whedon… (the list goes on, but I’m not on it)

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Thank you, Guinevere, for being such a wonderful (and quick!) beta!

PROLOGUE

Six weeks after the devastating events on Miranda, the crew of Serenity was on their way to Persephone, looking for a job. A lot of things had changed, but not the fact that Serenity needed fuel to keep her running, not to mention some reparations, so any job was more than welcome.

River functioned as the ship’s pilot now that Wash was no more, although Mal helped her out most of the time. It wasn't that he thought the girl couldn't do it on her own, he just… Well, he was the captain, and it was the captainy thing to do! Besides, a female mechanic and a female pilot, both barely old enough to be wed… What would the people think?!

Everyone had reacted differently to the two losses, but whatever the way of grievance was, Shepherd Book and Hoban Washburne were missed dearly aboard the Firefly-class ship.

Kaylee and Simon had found comfort with each other, and Mal and Inara had also found a balance. It wasn’t exactly a relationship yet, but there was less bickering, and for them, that was a huge step forward!

The one who was taking this the least well was Zoë, which in a way was only natural. Wash was her husband after all! She had returned to her soldier-mode, building up a thick wall around her emotions. She'd had her revenge on the reavers but that hadn’t brought her beloved h