CHAPTER THREE

For disclaimer etc, see part 1

As always, thank you Guinevere for the bèta.

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Things aren’t always what they seem. River knew this longer than today. Hell, she probably knows it better than others too. Girl... Weapon... But that wasn’t the point. Not anymore.

Take Jayne, grunting in the cargo bay as he places his weights back into their holders. He pretends he doesn’t care, doesn’t look, but he knows Zoë is there, doing the exact same thing. River knows better than to pretend.

Take her ghuh-ghuh Simon. All fancy and sophisticated, but in the dark when he’s naked he doesn’t care about the rules and thoughts of the rich society he grew up in. All that matters then is the young girl in his arms, and how to make her smile that special smile of hers, and how to make her moan.

Things aren’t what they seem. River sees a pretty planet, with cities that have luxurious things. Not like on the Coreplanets, but still nice. And besides the shiny cities there’s the beautiful countryside, once pure and unharmed. She sees a horse and its young foal, she sees children climbing trees, she sees her captain with a faraway look in his eyes as he guides the ship down. He smiles briefly when Inara comes up behind him, squeezing his shoulder lightly, but River can still sense the tension in the air. Something is off. She had felt it earlier too, even before they were descending

Mal isn’t what he seems...

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**Shadow – Maresh-harbor**

Every port is the same. They may be on different planets, have different people and buildings and ships, but in the end there’s the same hustle and bustle. The small marketplaces that sell ‘good dogs’, the little shops with rich and colourful fabrics… Yes, Maresh wasn’t any different from lets say the Eavesdown docks on Persephone. But they weren’t on Persephone. This was Shadow, and for once, Mal wished it was Badger’s piece of rock…

Kaylee danced past him towards a vegetable sta