Spoiler warning: I'm operating under the assumption that the refit Serenity undergoes at the end of the BDM takes, at minimum, one month. This story takes place during that layover.

This is the sixth story in the Tales series. The rest can be found here:

River, Wash, Mal, Kaylee, Zoë, Inara, Jayne, Book

Rated PG for some mild language.

Thanks go out to my much appreciated beta-ers.

Ba Wong=Tyrant

Go-se=Crap

Mei-mei=Little Sister

*****

Simon Tam found himself wandering lost on Persephone.

For one thing, he hadn’t the slightest clue as to where he was. He had the two-way he’d taken from Serenity in his pocket, so calling the ship for direction was certainly an option. However, he had chosen to only use it as a last resort.

Primarily because neither Jayne nor the captain would ever let him live it down if he did.

The streets all began to look the same rather quickly to him. He had managed to stay to the better neighborhoods, but there was still what he considered a huge amount of litter cluttering up the walkways. There were some people moving about between their homes and their workplaces, and Simon was fairly sure that he’d be able to stay lost in the crowd. The Parliamentary Operative had managed to get the bounty removed from his official record, but he was still justifiably cautious. He’d done far too much keeping River from the Alliance’s hands to lower his guard.

Simon looked around, trying to get his bearings. He saw a building to his left that he was fairly certain he recognized. Using that landmark to determine where he’d been, he turned in the direction of the docks and walked towards where Serenity should be berthed.

He hoped.

*****

An hour later, Simon found himself still wand