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.