Jayne glowered at him. "Gorramn it Mal, why do I got to be the one to go putting on airs for folks?"

Mal shrugged. "Because I'm the captain and it's my say so! Why ain't that never good enough for you Jayne?"

"You never ask is all. Besides, I think if you're sending someone out to meet potential customers, shouldn't it be someone who can talk all pretty like? How about Inara? She's full of them feminine charms."

Mal shook his head. "Ain't nobody else I can spare but you. Inara's got a paying job when we get to earth and I need Wash and Kaylee to work on repairs."

"What about Zoe?"

"I need Zoe with me for a side job."

"Let me do the job with you and send Zoe to meet these folks!"

"I don't think so. After the last job you did with me I'd just as soon take a chance on getting shot by the bad guy 'stead of someone from my own crew."

"I told you, Mal, it weren't my fault! Guy knocked my gun just as I was squeezing the trigger. 'Sides, the doc fixed you up like new."

"Well, it don't matter neither way since you're going to meet the client. You'll do fine. I heard they got some pretty ladies at this office."

"Really?" Jayne perked up at that. "Pretty ladies?"

"That is what I've been told by the customer."

"Shiny! I'm in."

"Okay then." Mal ran his hand through his hair as he watched him go.

Jayne was right, he probably wasn't the best man for the job. But Captain Malcolm Reynolds ran a spare operation with a small crew and no bodies to spare. Besides, he thought, this client didn't seem like the most refined fellow himself. He figured Jayne would do all right.

*****

Michael Scott was feeling pretty proud of himself.

The formation of the Alliance had led to virtual monopolies by those companies fortunate enough to be awarded fat government contracts. And Dunder Mifflin had no hope of competing with Staples. Instead, Michael found himself the head of a branch of a small company scrambling for scraps of the paper supply business.

The grasp of the Alliance was more tenuous out along the frontier and Michael had gotten it in his head to contact the outer planets directly. He had impressed Jan with his innovative ideas and signed contracts with several local commissioners. Now he just needed a way to get the supplies where they needed to go. As Darryl pointed out several times to Michael, Dunder Mifflin's delivery system was still restricted to earth and the Alliance didn't look too kindly on non-approved companies shipping their goods to government controlled planets.

Everyone knew there were smugglers out there who would take anything you had anywhere it needed to go, no questions asked. Unfortunately, Michael Scott wasn't the sort of person who knew the first thing about where to find them or how to get in touch with them. Fortunately, Creed Bratton was.

As it turned out, Creed had spent some time traveling among the outer planets. He was tight lipped about the whole experience but he had met Mal Reynolds in his travels. Michael talked him into arranging a meeting with Mal's people. He hoped this smuggling business was a real memory of Creed's and not a shadow of an idea picked at random from the mists of his substance-addled brain.

For the sake of all their jobs, this time he'd better have a firm grasp on reality.

*****

Jayne strolled through the door. Pam looked up, a little stunned by the large man standing before her, carrying an even bigger weapon.

"C-can I help you?"

He put on his most winning smile. "Yes little lady, you can. I'm looking for Michael Scott."

"Oh. You must be with Reynolds Shipping Company?"

"Huh? Yeah, Reynolds. That's the one." Damn Mal for not filling him in on the details.

"Let me tell him you're here. Just have a seat." she gestured to the sofa by her desk.

Jayne noticed a container of jelly beans on her desk. "Can I try these?"

"Please help yourself!" she said.

He reached in and started pawing through them with his greasy hands. He pulled out a green one and popped it in his mouth. Pam pushed the container towards him, "Yeah, why don't you just take them all."

"Much obliged, ma'am!" he dumped them into the pocket of his coat.

Pam hit the intercom button. "Michael, the gentleman from Reynolds Shipping is here to see you."

"Well don't make him wait, Pam. Send him in!"

She rolled her eyes. "You can go ahead. It's right in there." She gestured towards Michael's office.

Michael rose to greet him. "Good afternoon, sir! I am Michael Scott, Regional Sales Manager! And this is Dwight Schrute..."

"...Assistant Regional Sales Manager..." Dwight added.

"...to the," Michael muttered.

Dwight glanced sideways at his boss. Then he turned back towards the large man who was dressed roughly and not at all appropriately for a business meeting. He had an intimidating presence but Dwight was more intrigued by the rogue than he feared him and he greeted him in the only way he felt appropriate for someone who had traveled through space.

"Live long and prosper!" he said with great enthusiasm.

Jayne stared at Dwight's hand wondering how he should shake it with his fingers contorted like they were. Intead he shook Michael's hand robustly making him wince. "Pleased to make your acquaintance. Jayne Cobb," he hoisted an extrememly large gun. "And this here's Vera."

Michael jumped back. "Holy mother of..."

Jayne looked puzzled. "Somethin' wrong?"

"Well," Michael gasped, "We don't, uh, usually carry guns to meetings."

"That's not entirely true, Michael," Dwight interjected. "I've brought my potato gun on sales calls before."

"Shuuutt it..."

"Just trying to be cautious!" Jayne said brightly. "Can't be too careful in my line of work."

He couldn't believe he had let Mal talk him into this. He contemplated walking right out the door but the crew of Serenity hadn't had a paying gig in a while and Jayne was partial to getting paid.

"Let me just put this down over here." He lowered the gun to the floor and kicked it over to the corner.

"Th-thank you." Michael said. "So - would you like to meet our happy Dunder Mifflin family?"

"Uh, I was thinking we could just cut to the chase."

"well, I like new, uh, subcontractors to meet all my employees to see the team they'll be working with. Or for. And I'll want to meet all your coworkers as well."

Jayne was going to have to try to talk him out of it. Mal was not going to like strangers poking around his ship. Smugglers were a mite prickly about things like that.

He gave in to Michael's suggestion of the office tour - after all, there were supposed to be pretty ladies about - and followed him out of his office. Michael placed a hand on Jayne's shoulder to guide him towards Ryan's desk. Jayne turned and stared at Michael's hand. Then he stared at Michael who dropped his hand like he'd touched a hot stove.

"Ryan! This is Jayne Cobb." Ryan turned in his chair and was startled to see the big man looming over him. He shook hands as Michael babbled on in the background. "Hottest guy in the office, right there."

They walked towards Stanley's desk but he was talking on the phone and waved them off. Michael shrugged his shoulders apologetically as they continued on.

Jayne heard a voice and turned to head for Toby's desk but Michael stopped him. "Nobody sits back there," he said and steered Jayne towards Creed.

Creed was leaning back in his chair with his feet propped on the desk reading a newspaper. Michael peered at the text and snorted. "What?" Creed asked, lowering his paper slightly.

"You're reading that upside down," he said with disdain.

"Actually, Michael, this is Chinese." he muttered a curse under his breath. Jayne immediately laughed out loud.

"You speak Chinese?" Creed asked suspiciously, looking up at him.

"Not much," Jayne gasped, trying to regain his composure. "Just a few useful phrases! You worked with this boo-tai jung-tzahng-duh [not entirely sane] pair very long?"

"I don't remember," said Creed and abruptly went back to reading.

Jayne scratched his head. Michael shrugged and they moved away from his desk. But Creed peered over his paper and eyed them carefully as they walked off. He found the visitor's eyes strangely familiar. There had been some ladies while he traversed the outer planets - maybe some men too, although he never encountered a single species where the men bore the children - and it was possible, wasn't it? The thought slipped out of his head as easily as it had entered and he turned his attention back to the news in China.

"Where's Kevin?" Michael asked Dwight as they approached accounting.

"Allegedly, he's out sick," Dwight smirked.

"Angela? Phyllis? Oscar? Jeez, how are we supposed to make our guest feel welcome? And where the heck is Jim?"

"Jim is on a sales call, Angela and Phyllis are having a party planning committee meeting in the break room with Pam. Oscar went to lunch with his roommate Gil. Kelly is in the warehouse verifying inventory numbers and I think Meredith ran out to the store. She mentioned something about it being a rough day for her - probably 'lady troubles'." He turned triumphantly to Jayne. "That is why I am Michael's number two man in the office. I see all and I know all."

Michael rolled his eyes as Jayne looked around impatiently.

They finally returned to Michael's office where Dwight again took up his vigil by his boss' side. Jayne shifted uncomfortably in his chair. This was taxing the limit of his social graces and he was good and ready to be on his way back to the ship but Michael Scott seemed unwilling to end the meeting.

"Soooo..." Michael said, smiling.

"Yeah?" Jayne responded.

"When can we meet your crew? As I told you, I think our employees, our families if you will, should meet before we do business."

Jayne had reached the end of his tether. "Gorramn it, we gonna do this deal or not? Way I see it, you need us way more than we need you and your little job."

Dwight stepped forward protectively and sputtered, "Now see here, Michael can find someone else to do this. So we don't need you after all!"

"Oh, really?" Jayne smiled coyly. "I heard talk that the Alliance had been cracking down on shipments out of earth and near every self-respecting smuggler in the 'verse had already passed on you. So if you don't mind, I think me and Vera will just be on our merry."

He leaned over and retrieved his weapon from the corner of the office and headed for the door. Dwight jumped in his way. Jayne sized him up coolly and cocked one eyebrow. "Well now. You sure you wanna be standing in my way?"

Dwight braced himself and stood his ground. Jayne shoved him easily to the floor and strode past him. He made it all the way to the door before Michael finally chased him down and clapped a hand on Jayne's shoulder. He was immediately sorry as Jayne turned slowly around, anger spreading across his face.

"Listen, Scott, things are apt to get ugly if you don't take your ruttin' hand off me right quick."

Michael drew his hand back. "Look, you're right we need to do this deal. So what's it gonna take?"

Jayne shook his head. "I ain't working with you people. 'Sides, he bugs me!" he added gesturing towards Dwight.

"I know! He's an idiot!" Michael shouted in frustration. "But come on! There must be some way we can make things right again?"

Dwight looked crestfallen when Michael insulted him but he knew it was only because his boss and mentor was such a shrewd negotiator. He decided to lend his assistance. "What about a challenge?"

"Wha-?" Michael yelped.

"Yes!" Dwight added. "A marksmanship contest! My potato gun against his overly elaborate weapon. If I win, they agree to take the job."

Jayne thought it might be amusing to put the strange little salesman in his place and readily agreed.

Dwight drove them out to his beet farm where he had a target range set up. It kept him sharp for his volunteer sheriff duties. Unfortunately, they hadn't been allowed to carry weapons yet but when they did, he was confident that he would be well prepared. Mose had come in from the fields to lend a hand and set up two paper targets on the hay bales at the far end of the range.

Dwight went first. He set up, took careful aim, and did his best. When he had taken his three shots, Mose ran back with the target. He had hit one shot in the ring outside the bullseye and two right dead center. He smirked, confident in his victory.

When Mose was clear and it was Jayne's turn, he hoisted his gun to his shoulder, fired once, then lowered the gun and grinned.

Dwight sniffed, "What about your other 2 shots?"

Jayne smirked back, "Have your cousin run on back here with the sheet."

Dwight motioned for Mose and he came running. His hands appeared empty. "Where's the target?" Dwight asked impatiently.

Mose shrugged and pulled his hands out of his pocket. A few shredded pieces of paper drifted slowly to the ground like snowflakes.

Jayne grinned as he stroked his gun. "See, Vera here only needs one shot. Now if it's all the same to you gentlemen, I think I'll be gettin' back to my ship." He turned and started striding back towards Dwight's car.

Dwight gulped audibly. Michael's jaw hung open. Suddenly they saw Jayne throw his head back and laugh. He stopped, turned slowly back towards them and paused.

"You know what? I ain't had this much amusement on the last five, no wait, six planets we been on. So what say we do this deal."

Michael looked at Dwight, delighted surprise on his face. Dwight looked at Michael and jumped into his arms, whooping and laughing hysterically. Michael was knocked down onto the furrowed field.

"Get off me you idiot!"

"But Michael, we got it! Aren't you happy?" Dwight grabbed his hand and pulled him up.

"Yes..." he gazed at Jayne, striding to the car, Vera slung over his shoulder. Michael puffed up his chest, "But do you have to be such a ruttin' fool, gorramn it?"

Dwight's face scrunched up. "What?"

Michael's shoulders slumped. "Never mind..." he muttered.

Dwight could be so uncool.

The party planning committee was having a hard time deciding on a theme. They hadn't ever closed a deal with an interstellar shipping company. Phyllis thought it would be fun to serve moon pies and Tang. Angela, of course, overruled all suggestions insisting that their usual fare of chips and dip, brownies, and punch would be just fine for smugglers. She imagined them all to be as barbaric and uncouth as Jayne Cobb.

Mal and his crew arrived in a party bus Michael had sent out to pick them up at their ship. As they disembarked, Michael stood to greet them with Dwight in his customary position right at his side.

"Welcome to Dunder Mifflin!" he shouted jovially as they stepped off the bus. He tried to greet the women with a kiss but Kaylee slyly sidestepped him. Inara graciously offered him her hand but her beauty rendered him tongue-tied. After a moment, she withdrew her hand and continued on as Michael stared after her, slack-jawed and speechless. Zoe and Wash passed by without a blink from Michael.

Pam, Phyllis, Meredith and Kelly were standing in a little cluster by the building as rest of the men disembarked. Jayne was first. Meredith hadn't seen him when he first came to the office the previous day and she let out a low "Oh yeah!"  Simon stepped out next and Pam gave Meredith a little wink. The ship's young doctor wasn't hard on the eyes either.

"Oh my god! He is, like, so cute! He's like, Brad Pitt cute!" Kelly piped up.

When Captain Malcolm Reynolds disembarked, Phyllis let out a low whistle. Pam and Meredith glanced at each other in surprise and grinned.

"Phyllis!" Kelly teased. "What about Bob Vance?"

"I can look, can't I?" she grinned back. "Besides, engaged ain't married!"

River was last off the bus and was so busy looking around she wasn't particularly paying attention to Michael. When he tried to move in for his greeting kiss, he startled her and she immediately put him in a headlock. Simon intervened quickly to convince his sister that Michael Scott didn't work for the Alliance and meant her no harm.

Michael was still rubbing his sore arm as he asked for their attention.

"Welcome everyone! And greetings from the Dunder Mifflin family to the Reynolds Shipping Company!"

"What's the Reynolds Shipping Company?" Wash whispered to Zoë.

"That's us, dear," his wife replied dryly.

"Won't you please come inside? The party planning committee has been working very hard." Michael led the group upstairs.

Angela was waiting upstairs to show their guests in and was the first one to enter the conference room. She was greeted by the sight of Kevin snacking on a big wedge of cake.

"Kevin! You were supposed to wait until everyone else was here!" she marched over and grabbed the fork from his hand. He shrugged and continued to shovel cake into his mouth with his fingers. Angela was fuming.

Jayne leaned over and whispered to Mal, "She's a mite uptight, wouldn't you say?"

"She does have a certain schoolmarmish air about her," Mal replied.

Jim, standing behind them, let out a laugh at their observation. Mal turned around and smiled. Extended his hand. "Malcolm Reynolds. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Jim Halpert. Welcome to our dysfunctional little family! I'm think you'll find Angela isn't the only colorful character here."

"Really?" Mal chuckled. "Sounds kinda like my crew!"

"Have you had the pleasure of meeting Dwight?" Jim inquired.

"No, but Jayne filled me in on what happened last time. Does sound like the man is a bit - ornery."

"That's a nice way to put it! But really, the best thing about Dwight is what an easy target he is."

"How so?"

"Well, he's led a sheltered life, he's a little high strung, and has a dog-like obedience to authority. I've managed to keep myself busy - well, actually, Pam and I have - by pulling pranks on him."

"Pam's the cute receptionist with the big..." Jayne started to make a universally-known gesture with his hands but his captain diplomatically restrained him.

"...yeah, thanks! We get it, Jayne. Why don't you go get something to eat." Mal gestured to the refreshments.

"Are those brownies?" Jayne's eyes lit up like a kid at Christmas as he made a beeline for the plate. "Shiny!"

"So tell me about these pranks," Mal said after Jayne had scampered off.

"You bet. How much time do you have?" Jim gave him a grin.

Mal looked around at his crew. At first, he had been loathe to take the time to come here and meet these people. But they hadn't all been to a pleasant social gathering in a clean place with decent folk who weren't potentially looking to kill them in quite a long while.

A smile lifted the corners of his mouth. "I got some time."

*****
Nobody noticed the lithe young girl with the body of a dancer and the smooth graceful movements to match. She eased effortlessly around the room, eavesdropping on conversations to amuse herself. And even though she could have simply sat in the middle of the room and tuned into them telepathically, she enjoyed the challenge of remaining unseen.

That girl talks too much. And the other one is afraid.

"So you're, like, the mechanic?" Kelly asked.

"Sure am! I keep Serenity in the air." Kaylee smiled.

"How did you end up on a ship traveling through space?" Pam asked dreamily.

"Well, it was a accident, really. Machines they sorta just talk to me and they tell me how to fix 'em. I love that ship and I love my captain. Serenity's my home now and this is my family," she gestured towards her crewmates.

"Oh my god! That is so sweet. Kind of like our office!" Kelly squealed. Pam rolled her eyes. If this was her family, she'd run away to live on a spaceship in a second.

I know what's in the bottle. And I know there are two more in the bottom drawer and one under the seat of her car.

"What you got in there?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Come on. I saw you pour something in your punch. Is it liquor?"

"Why do you care?" Meredith said indignantly.

"Cuz I ain't exactly a cake and punch kinda guy and I could use something a mite stronger to wet my whistle!" Jayne retorted.

Meredith started to protest but she noticed how his t-shirt clung to his well formed pecs and his rippled abdomen. After a long moment she replied sweetly, "Gin or vodka?"

"Vodka, I guess, if you don't got whiskey."

"No, sorry," as she poured a healthy splash into his punch. "I've always wanted to see a real ship that's been to space. Sooooo....you bunk alone?"

Nice, but lonely. Very lonely. And that thing with his boss is defnitely a bad idea.

"So Zoë is your wife?" Michael was talking to Wash but his eyes drawn across the room to her body as she was talking with Phyllis and Stanley. "Wow! She's really exotic looking! Her and Stanley probably have a lot to talk about."

"Uh, why's that?" Wash peered at him.

"You know. From the 'hood' and all that...is there a 'hood' in space? I mean where's the bad part of the universe? And do they have fly-bys instead of drive-bys?" He chuckled.

Wash's look was making him uneasy and he quickly changed the subject. "Anyway, how is it working so closely with your wife? I mean, I work with my girlfriend and sometimes it can be just - aaargh! Well, you know!"

"Yeah, sometimes it gets really hard," he said.

"That's what she said!"

He's like a poor trapped animal. Too bad he doesn't know how escape.

"River is my sister. And I'm the ship's doctor," he replied in answer to Ryan's question.

"You're a doctor? But you're so young!"

"Yes, well I graduated college at an early age and then went to medical school. I was a surgeon at the largest hospital in the entire Alliance," Simon said proudly. "What do you do here?"

"I'm a temp," Ryan replied dejectedly. He decided at that moment he'd better double up on his night school classes if he ever wanted to own his own business.

Bad feeling. This won't end well.

"I'm a companion," Inara said to Angela.

"A what?"

"A companion. I've received extensive training in the art of giving pleasure to others."

Suddenly, Angela's jaw dropped.

"Oh my god!" she screeched. "You're a whore!"

The room grew silent as everyone turned just in time to see Inara slap her across the face. Angela gasped and clapped a hand to her mouth. Her eyes instinctively sought out Dwight but she couldn't risk revealing herself so she sent him a brief helpless glance and stomped off to the ladies room.

Inara felt someone behind her and turned around, fully expecting some sort of retaliation from one of Angela's coworkers. Instead, she was found herself face to face with a large man with a lecherous grin spreading across his face.

"Hi. I'm Kevin," he said, extending his hand. Inara hadn't even had time to return the handshake before Creed was also crowding around her.

*****
"Just what do you think you're doing, young lady?" Dwight finally noticed that River was slinking around the office, hiding behind potted plants and under desks and generally spying on people.

"What are you doing?" she replied, innocently.

"Are you mocking me?" Dwight asked.

"Are you mocking me?" she said sweetly.

"Cut that out!"

"No, you cut that out!"

"What do you even do on the ship anyway and why are you here?" he demanded to know.

"I'm a ghost," she whispered.

"You are not a ghost," he smirked, hands on his hips as he attempted to interrogate her.

"How do you know? Sometimes our eyes can deceive us!" she winked.

"Because I can see you. And I have perfect 20/20 vision - my eyes would never deceive me," he answered triumphantly.

"But you wear glasses," she pointed out.

Dwight stammered. He sputtered. He tried in vain to think up a scathing retaliatory comment. "Yeah, well you're just...you're...weird!" With that he turned on his heel and went back to his desk. River followed and slipped easily into his chair before he could sit.

"Don't sneak up on me like that!" he said, startled.

"How could I sneak up on you if I got here first?" she asked, eyes full of innocence.

"Fact. I have catlike reflexes and can fight like a ninja! I could have hurt you."

"No. You couldn't," she said, incredulously.

"Yes, I could!" he spat.

"You really couldn't!" Mal called over from where he stood with Jim, observing the absurdity of their exchange.

Dwight crouched into his defensive karate stance. River imitated him.

"This could turn out real ugly, " Mal said to Jim as he moved towards them to break it up.

Jim looked concerned. "Dwight's not that good a fighter but do you think she'll get hurt?"

Mal snickered, "It's not River you should be worried about!"

Jim considered what he was saying. "Well then, let's wait and see what happens! I'm sure it'll be okay."

Dwight faked a move toward River who promptly twisted his arm and held him in a head lock. He immediately started shouting, "I got you! I got you!"

River smiled. "If you got me, how come you're the one who's yelling? And how come I can do this?" She twisted his arm tighter making him howl.

"OW!" he yelped. Then softly, "Okay you win."

"What did you say?"

"You win! I'm sorry!" he cried just as Angela came out of the ladies room. She shook her head slowly. Dwight immediately pulled away and followed her into the break room. "Monkey, come back!" he whispered loudly.

Mal and Jim looked at each other. "Told you it'd be okay!" Jim said.

Mal laughed, "You weren't kidding about him being an easy target! Although to be fair, River does have a way about her."

"Now that's an understatement."

Mal's laughter faded as he saw Inara give him a look that clearly said "Help me!" as she was now surrounded by Kevin, Creed, and Darryl. He shrugged and gave her a small smile. Inara knew how to handle her own self.

Jim witnessed the exchange. "So how long have you and Inara been together?"

Mal shifted uncomfortably and Jim backpeddled, "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."

"It's okay," Mal broke in. "Something about our timing just ain't right. Hard when you work together."

"Yeah," Jim replied, almost managing to keep his voice from cracking.

Mal eyed him. "Sounds like you know full well what I mean?"

"Yep."

Mal followed his gaze over to the reception desk. "You ever tell her?"

"Nope." Jim shook his head, his eyes glued to Pam. She and Kelly were getting a demonstration from River as to how she took down Dwight. "You?"

"Nope," Mal replied. He took a swig of the punch he was holding, then drained the cup. "Guess it's time for my crew to be on our way," he said turning to offer his hand to Jim, "Been nice meetin' you folks. Reckon we won't cross paths again for some time. Long trip to the outer planets." He hesitated, "You ever think about gettin' away?"

Jim sighed. "Every single day."

Mal looked back. Pam had moved into Inara's crowd of admirers. "We don't shove off for another 2 days. Could always use an extra hand."

"Thanks, Mal," he smiled but he was thinking that it might be the perfect time to tell her. If she rejected him, at least he would finally know for sure and then he could lose himself in the lonely depths of space. It sounded pretty tempting.

"Yeah, crazy, I know. 'Sides, there ain't no runnin' from a man's own ills."

"I guess," Jim murmured.

They watched as Pam walked over and put her arm on Inara and guided her gently away from the throng of men. Inara looked incredibly grateful. Then Pam looked over at Jim. Gave him a quick smile and a shrug.

He felt a tightening in his chest and somehow, fell in love with her all over again.

"Seriously man, thanks. I appreciate it but I just can't tear myself away from the glamour of the world of paper products." His gaze then turned to Michael who was attempting to impress Kaylee with his ability to stick pencils in his mouth and perform his walrus impression.

"Yes. I see what you mean!" Mal looked at Jim and they both chuckled. "Well, good luck to you, Jim."

"You too, Mal."

The whole crew of Serenity was aboard the bus and ready to go. But one person was still missing. And so was Pam. She had tried to leave but River was blocking the door of the conference room. Seems she had some things she needed to say.

"Why won't you let me out? Your crew is going back to the ship!" Pam said nervously.

"Don't be afraid, Pam. There's nothing to be afraid of," River replied soothingly, eyes closed.

"I'm not afraid, exactly, but you're making me a little uncomfortable."

River's eyes popped opened. "Not afraid of me, silly. Afraid of being happy!"

"What do you mean? I'm happy!" Pam protested.

"Really?" River eyed her suspiciously. "You're afraid of what you really feel. But you shouldn't be."

River abruptly turned and went out the door. Pam sank down shakily into a chair. She was relieved that situation was over. But then curiosity got the best of her. She ran outside and reached River just before she got to the bus.

"River, I have to know what you're talking about. It doesn't make any sense."

"Doesn't it?" River said gently, her soul wise beyond her years. "Maybe you should talk to Jim about it." And with that she leapt onto the bus and they pulled away.

Pam was still considering what River had said to her when Jim walked over, hands shoved in his pockets. "Hey."

"Hi," she replied, distracted.

"You okay?" he asked, his usual concern for her displayed clearly on his face.

"D-did that girl River say anything to you?"

Jim nodded slowly. "Yeah. She did. She told me 'no matter how far you run, you'll end up right where you started'. Sounds like a fortune cookie I got once!" He grinned but there was no reaction from Pam. "Hey, did she say anything to you?"

Pam stared at the bus pulling away. Then she stared at Jim. He was just about to ask her what she was thinking when she blurted out, "Have dinner with me? Tonight? I think we really need to talk."

Jim grinned. "No power in the 'verse could keep me from being there! What time?"

"Seven. At my place. Okay?"

Jim nodded, hope in his eyes. "You comin' back inside?"

"In a minute," she said. "You go ahead." He walked away.

Pam raised her eyes up to the sky. She used to dream about flying when she was a little girl. She used to be brave and have hopes and dreams but she'd been living in fear for too long. Suddenly, for the first time in forever, she was ready to get reacquainted with that fearless little girl.

Nobody was going to take the sky from her again.