Title: The Games We Play

Rating: R

Synopsis: The crew plays a game.

Timeline: Takes place 16 and a half months after Serenity, the movie.

Notes: Next part of a series beginning with : And So It Begins, Kiss Me, Coming Together, Tell Me, What’s Proper?, Tears , Peekaboo, Impatient, Waking Up is Hard to Do, The Talk, I See You, Exhaustion, Moving Day, Celebration, Surprise , Vacation, Reunion, Manipulation, Baby Talk, A First Time for Everything, The Way It Is, A Special Day, Girl Talk, The Gift, Breaking It In, Making Plans, Friends and Enemies, Where I Belong , Private Time, The Games We Play

Disclaimer: This story is not meant to infringe on the copyright of any person or company related to the trademarked characters and situations depicted in the Serenity movie or Firefly series. I make no money from this. Only done for fun - and a desperate craving to have more stories told about this wonderful ‘verse Joss Whedon created.

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This is effectively the end of the first part of my series. The second part begins with a tremendous amount of angst that continues through the rest of the stories in my series.

I don't know when I will start posting, I want to make sure I have all of the stories nearly completed before I do.

There will be content warnings wherever I can put them without giving away what is going to happen.

Thanks for reading thus far and don't be too upset when you read the first chapter of the next story. Let the rest of the series play out to its end, you may be surprised (or not) where it leads.

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Everyone was talking quietly when Mal finally entered the galley from the crew bunks, noting that everyone was already there. Even Simon and Kaylee, who had been notoriously late for the morning meal for weeks. They talked quietly, pausing only briefly to nod to the Captain as he spooned some flavored protein into a bowl.

Not more than a few minutes later, Inara arrived from the opposite direction, looking none too rested but muc