Some Kind of Heaven by Emmy

Author's Notes:

---

**Note: The header is a bit long winded. Why? This story is going to be massive. As such, I thought I'd explain as much as possible now so I wouldn't have to interrupt the story later to do so.**



Title: Some Kind of Heaven

Author: Emmy (emmy7792@aol.com)

Fandoms: BtVS/Firefly

Pairing: Buffy/Malcolm Reynolds (All others will be secondary. Zoe/Wash, of course is a given, plus Kaylee/Simon. Jayne may get some sort of action, too ... you never know.)

Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel the Series, and Firefly belong to Joss Whedon et. al.; I own nothing and seek no profit from this story. No copyright infringement intended.

Summary: Before the battle, Angel reminded them all once more that, no matter what, no one could allow themselves to fall through the portal and, if someone should, they would need to get back out before the demon was killed. Too bad, when it comes to the Scoobies, things never seem to go according to plan.

Distribution: Emerald Illusions (www.magical-worlds.us/emmy/), Twisting the Hellmouth (www.tthfanfic.com/), adultfanfiction.net. All others please ask first. I like to know where my stories live.

Warnings: Spoilers. Anything that happened during both series' is fair game. They are both off the air and available on DVD. Consider every episode open season as far as mentioning random events go. Also, for history's sake, I've included some of the events of the BtVS movie (with Kristy Swanson and Luke Perry), plus what was mentioned in the first episode of BtVS: Welcome to the Hellmouth, regarding Buffy's life in LA. Those bits of info are included in Chapter 2.

Feedback would be absolutely lovely. I'd love to know what you think. Constructive criticism welcome, but do not flame me. If you think the fic is that bad, simply stop reading it. (However, if you wanna tell me you love it, I'll love you forever.) *grin*

A/N: I wrote this, in a way, to satisfy my own curiosity as to how Buffy got to be in Mal's world in the drabble Moving Forward found here at Emerald Illusions. This story is separate from that drabble, but the situation in the drabble inspired this whole ... mess. (I'm in love with this story, don't get me wrong. I'm just a bit ... dismayed about how much of a life it's taken on.)

A/N 2: Moving on the subject of Chinese. This is a Firefly crossover, and as such, there will be Chinese phrases thrown in randomly. I don't like reading fics where the translations are right after the word, so all of the translations will be at the beginning of the chapter. (Or at the end of the chapter, however it works out...) I think that most of the time, reading the phrase will not interfere with understanding the point. As to how I'm going about writing out the Chinese, well ... here's an example.

Dong ma? That means "Understand?"

As for the translations, I got them off a couple of fansites and *have not* checked them with a translation site because the translations were the same on both fansites. I realize that both fansites could be wrong, and if you happen to speak Chinese and notice a mistake, please point it out ... politely ... and I'll fix the problem. :)

A/N 3: The flashbacks are in italics to set them apart from the rest of the story. I will not put a time/date in with them because time really isn't relevant, past that this fic is set post-Season 7 for Buffy. It's AU from there, as no Angel season 5 stuff will be mentioned. The flashbacks are merely meant to be a glimpse into the past. Also, all dreams will be in italics.

To my betas: I would like to say a very, very special thanks to my betas: Shannon and Shona. These two ladies go above and beyond the call of betaing duty as far as I'm concerned. I'll send them these *huge* chapters and they'll just take it all in stride, never complaining and always encouraging me. They keep me going throughout the writing process, and I would like to dedicate this fic to both of them. Ladies, you are the best. Thank you so, so, so much. Oh, and for the record, all remaining mistakes are mine. =)

There. I'm finally done.

Enjoy!

***




Chapter One: New Beginnings

They had thought it was a joke. All of them had; surprisingly enough, even Giles. They'd all looked at each other and grinned, then share a big laugh. Even now, Buffy could still remember why. It just seemed so stupid. A demon who could open portals in time with it's mind? It just seemed like a joke. Even if Angel, Spike and the Demon Compendium had all insisted otherwise.

The gang had taken it as seriously as they could, of course. But with the demon's name being Herbert, how could they have taken it too seriously? All of the Hellmouth survivors agreed they had seen too much in their lives to discount it entirely but, just because they agreed to fight the demon, and to attempt to stop it's evil plan, that didn't stop them all from making hideously bad sci-fi jokes all the while. It annoyed the vampires ... but even they?d had to crack a smile at some of Xander's. Some of his had been damn funny. Even now, Buffy couldn't help but giggle quietly as she remembered one of her favorite of Xander's quips. He'd been strumming an air guitar, his hair falling into his face, as he'd said, "Maybe it'll be a most excellent future. Do you think they'll finally be driving flying cars?"

Looking back now, Buffy realized they should have been more serious about the entire situation, but she could say that about a great many things in her life. She didn't suppose that particular situation should have been any different.

It had been easy to figure out where Herbert had been going and why. He had been bragging about it all over town in the local demon bars. His plan had been to open a portal into a universe 500 years in the future. It had no demons, had no vampires, and definitely no magick ... it was virtually supernatural free. And this overeager demon wanted to change that. He?d wanted to go in and shake things up, so to speak. What had been harder to figure out was whether or not Herbert was planning on opening a portal into their own future, or one into the future of a parallel universe. In the end, Giles had pointed out that it would be virtually impossible to wipe out the entire demon and vampire population, not to mention all the magick users of their world, so they had decided that it had to be another universe entirely.

Buffy could remember talking to Faith about it the night before the portal opened, about how weird it sounded that there could be a world where there was nothing for a Slayer to kill, where there would, in fact, be no Slayers at all. They both admitted quietly, to themselves, that it sounded kinda nice ... being there would be a complete release from duty. But, Faith had pointed out after they'd said it, being there would also be boring as hell, and Buffy had agreed wholeheartedly. In truth, neither one of them truly remembered what life had been like before they were Slayers, and neither one of them could honestly imagine life without their destiny.

Faith's voice could still be so fresh in her mind when she wanted it to be. Buffy smiled as her mind took her back to an overly girlish room, filled with pink and purple ... and lots of pop star posters. Buffy shuddered slightly at that part of the memory. She'd been sitting on the bed and, if she remembered correctly, it had been a 15 year old Slayer named Tamara's room.

"Hey," Faith said, walking into the room. "God, this is hellish. You sure you don't want to crash on a couch somewhere?"

Buffy grinned and shook her head. "Nah. It's one of the perks, you know? Being the oldest Slayer living allows me some leverage with the girls. I get to kick them out of their rooms so they have to sleep on the couch."

Faith laughed at that. "True enough, though sleeping with ... who the hell is that, anyway? On the posters."

Buffy shrugged. "The latest American Idol, maybe? I wouldn't know. I was in Rome."

"Ha ha, B. Rub it in, Miss-I-Got-A-Life-While-Faith-is-Stuck-on-the-Hellmouth."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Excuse me? And which one of us is married now? You have no idea how often I think that every time you call it's because you're going to tell me your pregnant and you need me to come take over Hellmouth duty."

The dark haired Slayer's eyes widened drastically. "Are you insane? Me? A mom? Summers, that's crazy. I'd be a horrible mother. Rob may have gotten this ring on my finger, but he ain't getting no kid. I'd so ruin them."

"You would not. You're doing fine with the baby-Slayers."

"That's different. They're ... half-grown already. And they have superpowers."

"True," Buffy giggled. "Have you ever thought about it?"

"Thought about what?"

"A world without demons. I mean ... no bruises all the time, no weekly apocalypse to deal with ... just normal life."

Faith was silent for a long moment. "Normal life? What the hell is that?"

"I'm serious."

She sighed. "Yeah, I thought about it ... for, like, two seconds. But then I figured if I wasn't fighting demons I might be fighting people and then I'd end up in jail. And we both know how well that turned out for me the first time around ... nearly got killed, broke out, was a wanted felon for awhile, 'til Willow worked that major mojo for me. Point is ... think about it, B, don't you think it would be kinda ... boring?"

Even Buffy herself, who had tasted freedom once, when Giles had stripped her of her powers on her eighteenth birthday, couldn't honestly say she'd want to live her life without the thrill of adventure. Even with all the active Slayers in the world, she and Faith had still been in the thick of things. They just couldn't give it up, couldn't let someone else save the world. Because when it came right down to it, they didn't trust anyone else to do it. Buffy didn't trust anyone else to do it. And so life in that world, five hundred years in the future really did sound ... boring.

She'd had time alone with all of them before the battle, and for that, Buffy was grateful. In her own little way, she'd gotten to say good-bye. It hadn't been enough, of course, but ... it had been something. She'd been able to tell them all she loved them. She'd been able to tell the vampires, tell Spike and Angel that she thought it was time they all moved on ... no matter how painful that thought was. And, most importantly, she'd been able to tell Dawn exactly how proud she was of her. Buffy could remember that particular conversation like it was yesterday. She'd walked in on Dawn showing a young Slayer how to use a crossbow and had just stood back and watched until the young girl had left the room. Dawn had looked up, held her sister's eyes for a second, and Buffy had been very surprised not to find any hostility in them at all.

"Hey" she said.

Buffy grinned. "You did very well at that, telling her how to handle that crossbow. I think I should be proud."

"Damn straight you should be."

Buffy walked across the room. "I am."

"Yeah?"

"Dawnie ... Dawn, believe me when I say that there have been times I've worried about the woman you would become, but now, standing here looking at that woman ... I am proud. Very proud. Mom would be, too."

"This sounds like goodbye."

The Slayer shrugged. "We're going into battle tomorrow. You're old enough to know that it could be. For either one of us. As much as we might hate that fact, it's true."

"Yeah," Dawn said. "Being a white hat sometimes sucks."

Laughter bubbled up inside of Buffy. "Yeah, it most defiantly does. Wanna hunt down some ice cream?"

"Sure," Dawn said. "If we can beat Andrew to it."

"Oh, we can beat him, that's for sure."

Giggling the entire way, she and her sister walked hand in hand to the kitchen, and Buffy was happy.

It had been little moments like that, too many of them happening too close together that should have been her first clue that something was going to go wrong. Even when, before the battle, Angel had reminded them all once more that, no matter what, no one could allow themselves to fall through the portal, she hadn't let it sink in how much danger they were putting themselves in. Even when he told them that, should someone fall in, they would need to get back out before the demon was killed, it didn't really register. Angel told them clearly that the portal would close as soon as the demon died and there would be no way to open it again. No magick spell, no other demon of the same species, no other way. It was a one way gig. That was just the way these creatures worked. So, of course they had all agreed to stay away from the portal.

Too bad it hadn't worked out that way. They should have known it wouldn't, Buffy should have known it wouldn't. Nothing ever worked out the way they planned them. Something always went wrong. And in this case, Buffy had made a choice that would change her life forever. Had it been the right one? She still didn't know. She knew she was glad she'd not let Giles get knocked into the portal. She never once regretted knocking him out of the way.

Falling into the portal herself? Breaking her ankle in the fall? Not being able to jump the measly seven feet back into the air to get through the portal before the others killed the demon and the portal closed?

That, she kinda regretted.

*****

Buffy was awake again, not that she was surprised by that fact. Years of patrolling had conditioned her to almost needing to be awake during the early hours of the morning. Midnight to three am, she used to say, was her peak time. But there were no vampires to slay, no demons to kill, no world to save. There was just a space ship to explore. Again. And short of breaking and entering, going into people's bedrooms, Buffy was sure she'd seen every nook and cranny of Serenity. Even all the nifty little hidey hole places where they stored all the stuff they stole on their "jobs." So, she got out of bed, slipped on her robe and slippers, and walked out of her room, heading to the galley. She'd find something else to occupy her time.

Her thoughts drifted as she walked and listened to the ship's quiet noises. Buffy had been on board Serenity for six months. And, she remembered fondly, she wouldn't be on board if she'd never met Kaylee. Initially, she was just trying to catch a ride Originally, after she'd met Kaylee, she had just been going to catch a ride to some place nicer than the dusty, godforsaken moon the portal had spit her out on, but two nights into the journey had changed that plan.

They'd landed on some patch of nowhere. She couldn't even remember now what it was called. The Captain and a couple of the crew members had gotten off, saying they had business to do on the small planet. Buffy hadn't said anything, but she had known something was up. It didn't take a seasoned Slayer or the nervous faces of the crew left behind to tell her that this visit was trouble. One look at the planet's natives as they?d boarded the ship ten minutes after the Captain and both of the so-called 'useful' crew members left would have told her everything she needed to know. The planet was dangerous.

Buffy could still see that day clearly in her mind. Could still sense the fear in Kaylee as those men had come aboard. Simon, the doctor, and Wash, the pilot, had tried unsuccessfully to order the men off the ship. Buffy noticed that Shepherd Book had managed to hide River safely aboard one of the shuttles. He had followed her eyes as Buffy'd watched as one of the hijackers, a big man about the size of Jayne, said, "Boss said to kill one of them to make sure this ship don't do business on our planet without his say so no more. Which one of 'em we gonna take, Solaray?"

Buffy had met the preacher's eyes and known that they both knew things were not going to end well for at least some of the people on board. She stayed out of sight until one of the men grabbed Kaylee from behind and held a gun to her head. And after that, the Slayer just couldn't stay out of it anymore. She never did like seeing her friends threatened, and Kaylee was the closest thing she had to a friend in this whole entire universe.

"Let her go," Buffy said, holding her hands seemingly casually behind her back.

The man smirked in Buffy's direction. "You think I'm gonna listen to you, girl?"

I think you will, if you don't want to die painfully."

Laughter spread quickly through the "visiting" men and Buffy arched an eyebrow. It always amused her when people laughed at her. She ignored the way Wash and Simon were staring at her like she was insane and the way Shepherd Book was trying to get her to back down with none too discreet hand motions. She knew something they didn't. the Captain and the other two were on their way. They were discussing the best way to get the advantage once they were back onboard. Buffy could hear them whispering through the open door of the ship. Being a Slayer did have benefits, occasionally.

She smiled at the man holding Kaylee. "You know, I don't know too many people, and that girl you're holding a gun on has been really nice to me. I don't think I'm going to let you kill her today."

"I'm going to kill her, and then I'm going to kill you."

Buffy wanted to laugh then, but she didn't. "Kill me? Good luck."

He never got the chance to respond. Buffy heard the Captain, Zoe and Jayne begin to move in and she acted quickly, her instinct kicking in It had never once occurred to her that she had been about to take a human life. That didn't sink in until much later, when she was alone. At the time, the man holding Kaylee had just been another demon, another evil thing that needed to be Slayed. And she had risen to the job and gotten it done. As Mal, Jayne, and Zoe had charged on board, strategically firing their weapons and killing the men surrounding Kaylee and her captor, Buffy had pulled a small ax from behind her back and thrown it, her aim straight and true. Kaylee had screamed as the man behind her fell, the ax embedded in his forehead, and Buffy had rushed forward, grabbing the other woman and pulling her to safety before anyone else could grab her.

When the proverbial smoke had cleared, and the hijackers were all dead, Kaylee had stared at Buffy for a long moment with slight fear in her eyes before hugging her tight. Buffy, her eyes meeting the Captain's over Kaylee's shoulder, hugged her back and wondered what, exactly, she'd just gotten herself into.

After that, Buffy had been asked to stay onboard by Captain Reynolds. For extra help, he'd said. She thought his exact words had been something about an extra set of hands not being a bad thing, but she couldn't be sure. His appearance had still been a real big distraction then.

She paused, running her hand along the glass of Simon's little lab. The doctor would gripe in the morning about someone leaving fingerprints, but Buffy wasn't worried about it at the moment. She'd deal with Simon later ... in her usual way. She'd quickly discovered that a smile and a good, strong cup of coffee went a long way in mending any wrong done to Dr. Tam, not that she needed to resort to such tactics anymore. Most of the time he'd just glare at her and hand her a rag these days, telling her to clean up her own mess. For now though, Buffy was off in her own little world, lost in her thoughts. In truth, Mal's appearance still distracted her, but it was for a completely different reason now.

Malcolm Reynolds. He had almost sent Buffy running the second she set eyes on him. Literally. She hadn't wanted to fight him. She'd wanted to run. She had been so shocked at seeing Caleb in this new world, this world that was supposed to be free and clear in the 'no evil' department, that she'd just wanted to get away. In all honesty, her reaction had surprised even her. She was a Slayer. She was supposed to face her battles head on, but ... at that time, fight or flight? No contest, flight had won, hands down. Buffy'd been unable to do so though, what with Kaylee holding on to her hand so tight. Her desire to run had turned into shocked disbelief when the man, when Caleb, had held out his hand as Kaylee made introductions.

Her Slayer senses told her that he wasn't the right arm of the First, regardless of what her eyes were telling her, and Buffy didn't understand that at all. Confusion overwhelmed her, her mind -- her fear -- and her senses all fighting against each other, took her to her knees as she tried to work everything out. He had immediately knelt to help her, clearly concerned, and it was there, looking in his eyes, that Buffy found her answers. (Or the beginning of them, at least.) This man was not Caleb. There was no hate in his eyes, no evil, only concern for her, and her mind had quieted.

She still didn't think he believed her when she told him he'd reminded her of an old friend from home who'd died, and that he'd just taken her by surprise. Mal was a smart man. Buffy knew he probably realized there was more to the story than that, but he'd accepted it at face value and welcomed her aboard.

Six months she'd been with them on Serenity, and she'd been in this universe for almost a year and a half. It was after she'd been trapped in the here six months that it really sank in that Angel might have been right when he?d said that there would be no way to get to rescue anyone who fell through the portal. At eight months, it became painfully clear that he had been right. Buffy realized that there would be no way home for her and that she would be here for the rest of her life. She hadn't been sure what to make of things at first. She'd gone from shopping at malls and eating at fast food joints to browsing flea markets that housed real fleas and being served hot dogs that she suspected might actually use real dogs. Gradually, though, she'd accepted it. She'd had no choice.

She'd moved out of the hovel she'd been living in and into a nicer place out of sheer necessity. Winter had set in within a week and a half of her arrival and it got real cold, real fast on that little moon. That was the first step she'd really made toward accepting her situation. Second was getting to know the culture a bit more than learning how to avoid fights when looking for food. She learned how to barter and quickly picked up some new possessions, including some nifty new weapons. She quickly got a job working at a little shop, selling souvenirs to tourists, though Buffy never understood why they had so many tourists. She didn't like the life she led on the little moon ... she'd had to fight a lot, but she didn't know she had a choice at a better one. Not until she met Kaylee.

The bubbly woman had rescued her from that horrible place, bringing her to Serenity, giving her a home. And then ... then Buffy had actually made some friends. It had taken her a while, of course, but she'd eventually opened up a bit. Shepherd Book reminded her of Giles and she had easily fallen into a routine of talking to him about random things, mainly just to discover things about their world as discreetly as possible while seeming like she wanted to discuss the past. Jayne was someone she could work out with, someone she could spar with and not worry about hurting ... and he was funny. Wash and Zoe were slow to trust her but they were beginning to come around. And Simon ... he was one of her best friends, Buffy admitted silently, with a smile. It was River, though, with whom Buffy had the strongest connection.

River, with her mind reading ability, discovered Buffy's secret early on but promised the Slayer that she wouldn't tell anyone as long as she told her about the world she came from. She asked Buffy a ton of questions about monsters, about demons, and gradually Buffy realized River had been trying to figure out if the people who'd done the experiments on her had been demonic. Buffy had told River that she didn't know, but had promised the girl that, as long as she lived, those men would never get their hands on her again, and that was a promise the Slayer intended to keep.

Since then, River had been more relaxed, had fewer of what the crew referred to as her 'spells', and everyone seemed to associate the change to Buffy. The friendship she and River shared wasn't a private one, after all. The two of them made no secret of the time they spent together, and that was the real reason why Simon had begun to trust her in the first place. Buffy had wanted Simon to believe her when she told him that River would be okay, and he had eventually. Buffy only hoped that the promise she made to her young confidant, promising to keep her safe, was one she could keep. Time would tell, but Buffy knew that she'd yet to come across something she couldn't beat, and men with hands of blue didn't sound so tough.

The ship moved slowly through space and Buffy paused again on her way to the galley, leaning against a rail for a moment, enjoying the small vibrations as they moved through her body. Being on a space ship was like nothing else she'd ever experienced. It was wonderful. It was life. It was ... freedom. She could see why everyone loved it so much. Especially Mal.

Mal.

Buffy's thoughts often drifted to Mal these days. She wasn't sure when she'd developed such a crush on him, or why she sometimes found it so difficult to admit it, but he was the source of much frustration as the days wore on. Being around him on a daily basis was becoming more and more difficult because, in truth, Buffy knew it was more than a crush.

She was falling in love with his stubborn, proud, strong ways. He led his crew with a fierceness and a loyalty that she could only dream of possessing. It was the kind of leadership she had longed to achieve back in Sunnydale. Mal was ... a true leader. He got the job done and he protected his people.

He was a crook, sure, but that didn't mean he was a bad man. (Even if he refused to call himself anything different.) He was handsome, and she had long stopped seeing Caleb when she looked at him. He was just Mal. Every so often, Buffy would catch him looking at her, just for a second, and her heart would skip a beat. And no one ... no one had ever made her feel like that before, difficult as that little tidbit was to admit. He gave her things to do, trusted her with jobs, with his life, and did so without hesitation. But it was more than that.

He made her feel like she was something besides a Slayer, and he didn't even know she was the Slayer. He made her wonder if a life, a normal life, with kids and a dog or whatever, wasn't as out of the question as she'd always made herself believe it was.

Even now, so far away from the destiny that had always denied her those very things, she felt a pang of guilt for allowing herself even a moment to fantasize about them. She could still hear herself, sitting up in her bedroom talking to Faith the night before the damned battle that had sent her here, the two of them discussing how boring this world would have been. Buffy leaned her head against the wall of the ship, feeling the vibrations move through her body, and wished they could shake the memory out of her forever. She had agreed with Faith. They had laughed about it. This world would be horrible, they said. No demons. No vampires. Boring, right?

'God,' Buffy thought, 'if only that had been the case, maybe I wouldn't feel so guilty right now.'

In truth, though, Buffy knew she hadn't been happier in years. The life she lived now was just as dangerous, maybe even more so in some ways, than the one she lived before, but ... the world here did not rest on her shoulders. There was no time-stopping, world-ending, 'you must do this or else' time table she had to keep to. She had no one to please but Mal and the crew, and Buffy knew she could walk away at any time. Any of them could. They were all onboard by choice. And she loved it. Every minute of it. Even if she was kinda a crook now. It didn't matter, because she was happy.

But that didn't stop the guilt. She knew, she just knew that her friends back ... home ... hadn't given up on bringing her back, and if they had, they felt horrible about it. Buffy wished there was some way to let them know that she was all right, that she was happy, and safe. She wished she could figure out if there was a way to do that, but in truth, she was afraid to look, afraid to find out if there was a way. Because, if there was a way to contact them, wouldn't there also be a way back?

And if there was a way back, how in the hell would she be able to choose between the life she had there and the life she'd made here? How could she pick between a forced destiny and the closest thing to heaven she'd found since Willow pulled her out of actual heaven?

She was in love with her Captain, in love with his world, in love with her new life, and that, in a nutshell, was why Buffy felt guilty. She started walking again, moving swiftly to the galley, trying to push all thoughts of her life before she came to this world, and of Mal, from her head. She had no way of knowing if she could ever contact her friends and she was afraid to find out, and likewise, she'd no idea if Mal could ever feel the same way about her, and she wasn't going to risk ruining their friendship to find out. Besides, she had too many secrets she wouldn't be able to tell him. She refused to build a relationship on lies. She just couldn't do it.

Stepping into the galley, Buffy stopped abruptly, her very confused and jumbled thoughts fleeing her brain at the sight before her. "Oh!"

"And here I thought I could just sneak in and out without runnin' into no one."

Buffy grinned. "Looks like you were wrong. But why in the heck would you walk around like that anyway? It's freaking freezing in here!"

Mal grinned back. "I've felt colder, believe me. 'Sides, it's my ship. I could walk around naked if I wanted to."

Buffy blinked, trying not to let it show that she thought the idea of seeing Malcolm Reynolds walking around naked was a pretty good idea. "Yeah, I suppose you could," she tried not to blush. "But then you wouldn't get to show off those pretty boxers you've got on. Nice and glittery ... what are those? Little stars?"

"They are nice, aren't they? Won 'em playing poker."

Buffy giggled. "Must have been one hell of a game."

"Oh, it was, let me tell ya," Mal said. "Now just what, Miss Summers, are you doing in the galley in the middle of the night?"

"Tea," Buffy answered automatically. "Reminds me of home."

Mal gestured to the table and Buffy sat down, watching with interest as he moved around the room preparing tea for them both, acting like him being almost naked was the most normal thing in the world. She watched his muscles move and silently admiring his predatory grace. 'He moves like a panther,' she decided.

She also noticed that he had a lot of scars. Quite possibly as many as she did and she wondered if he'd tell her how he got them if she asked nicely.

"I might," Mal sat a cup of tea in front of her. "If you tell me how you got that one on your neck."

Buffy's mouth fell open slightly. "I said that out loud?"

"You did."

She did blush then. "I'm sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry about."

Buffy picked up the tea and sipped it, wishing that it tasted like Giles' for once instead of rice. "I would tell you, I think, but I don't think you'd believe me."

"You could always try."

Buffy sighed. "I'm not from that moon ... Thaliah or whatever it was called, where Kaylee found me."

Mal sipped his own tea and nodded. "Taihalla, and I know."

"You know?"

"River told me."

Buffy closed her eyes. "She told me she wouldn't tell anyone anything."

"Ah, now, don't you go gettin' mad at River," Mal insisted. "She didn't want to tell me a thing. I sorta forced her into it."

"You what?" Buffy asked, opening her eyes.

"Well, to be honest, I've known for quite a while. Back right after I asked you to stay on board, but before I started letting you in on jobs."

Buffy couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Do huh?"

Mal chuckled. "Have I ever mentioned that I like the way you talk?"

Buffy tried not to giggle. "You do?"

"It's right interesting. Different."

She grinned. "I could say the same thing about all of you guys. You were saying? About grilling River for information about me?"

Mal's bemused expression kept the conversation's tone light even though Buffy knew it was a serious thing they were discussing. He continued easily, saying, "I knew you'd been exploring the ship, finding things you shouldn't have been able to, so I started watching you a bit closer. One night I happened by your room and I heard you dreaming, talking out loud in your sleep."

"Oh hell," Buffy muttered quietly.

Mal held up his hand. "Now hold on a second. River was there with her head pressed up against your door mumbling about monsters and about how she wished she could help you the way you promised to help her. And some of the things I heard you saying ... well, they sounded crazy. Do you always dream that loudly?"

Buffy shrugged. "Depends on the dream. Some are worse than others."

"This must have been a bad one then."

"Do you still think the dreams are crazy? That I'm crazy?" Buffy's voice was soft.

"River is one amazing girl. She knows things about people she shouldn't."

"I know she does. Do you think I'm crazy?"

Mal leaned across the table and brushed Buffy's hair off her neck, touching her scar. "How'd that happen?"

Buffy weighed her options carefully. She knew exactly how much River knew, how much she'd told her since they'd become friends, but she had no idea how much Mal had gotten out of the girl over the months. She didn't blame River, of course. Didn't blame Mal, either, really. He was just doing his job, being a leader. She would have done the same thing if their positions had been reversed. And, knowing how she would react, in Mal's position, if the person she was confronting shut down completely, no matter how light and optional the "interrogation" was made to seem, Buffy did the only thing she could do without running the risk of losing everything she'd grown to love about this world. She started talking ... even if talking would mean losing everything she'd grown to love in their world.

"It's a threefold scar," she said softly.

"What?" Mal asked, confused.

Buffy sighed. "I was bitten three times in the same place. I was sixteen when the Master bit me, eighteen when Angel almost drained me, and almost twenty when Dracula ... uh, tasted me."

"Dracula. The vampire from that old storybook."

"Wasn't just a book where I'm from."

Mal was silent for a full minute and Buffy had to bite the inside of her lip to keep from babbling on about how she wasn't crazy, no matter how it sounded. She knew it wouldn't help. Finally, she heard him take a breath.

"I shouldn't believe you," he said firmly. "I mean, it's completely insane, dong ma?"

Buffy laid her head down on the table. "I know."

It wasn't until she felt Mal's hands on her shoulders that she looked up. He was standing behind her and Buffy knew what he wanted. Tilting her head to the side and moving her hair, she allowed him to examine the mark on her neck as closely as he wanted. His voice was very soft when he finally spoke. "River says you're from California. From Earth."

"Not from your Earth-That-Was."

Mal began to pace. "I find this all very hard to believe. Almost impossible."

"I know."

"But I am trying."

Buffy got up and walked over to him, stopping right in front of him, forcing him to stop moving. "You are?"

Mal looked down and met her eyes. "Yes."

"Why?"

Mal licked his lips. "I think you know."

She refused to hope he meant what she thought he did. It was too much to ask ... for him not only to try to accept her story but to care for her, possibly even growing to love her someday, as well ... that was entirely too much to ask for in Buffy's opinion. Shaking her head, she said, "I don't. I really, really don't know why."

"I'm not good at this," he warned. "Talking about things, 'bout feelings."

"Neither am I," she admitted softly.

Mal sighed openly, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Gorram it, woman! Give me something to work with here!"

Buffy's eyes widened as the frustration in his eyes finally became something she recognized. The tiniest bit of hope flared up in her belly and she let it, and silently wondered if that little bit of hope would get the chance to grow into something more or if she'd be shot down. Either way, she was pretty sure she was about to find out. Gathering as much emotional courage as she could muster, she tilted her head slightly to the side and smiled a little.

"You know, Mal," she said. "The thought of you walking around the ship naked is a very nice one. I would not be opposed to it in the slightest ... but, I think you should wait until Jayne is otherwise occupied. Possibly even make sure he's off the ship entirely, because well, I wouldn't want him to get the idea that public naked time is a good idea."

Mal blinked. "You've been storing that up for a while, haven't you?"

"Since we were talking about your pretty boxers."

He grinned. "Shiny."

Buffy looked up at him expectantly. "Mal?"

"Yeah?"

"You gonna kiss me now?"

"Uh huh."

Buffy smiled. "Oh goody."

As he leaned down, smiling, and brushed his lips against hers first once, then twice, then a third time, deepening the kiss, Buffy decided that opening up to Mal might not be such a bad idea. Because if letting him in, letting him get to know the real her, meant he started to trust her more and led him to open up to her more in turn, she was pretty sure she would like that a lot. A whole lot. Because damn was Mal a good kisser. A really, really good kisser.

Her heart felt like it was going to pound out of her chest. Buffy wrapped her arms around him and pulled him closer, deepening the kiss even further. She moaned softly into his mouth when one of his hands slipped into her hair as the other bunched up a bit of the smooth material of her robe. His taste, the way his mouth felt on hers, was better than she had ever imagined, and Buffy was a little overwhelmed by the strength of the emotions she was feeling. It was all ... so much. It was almost like something inside of her was about to explode.

Breathless, she broke the kiss, but held tight to Mal, refusing to let him move away from her. She didn't seem to have to worry about that, though as he pulled her to him, as well. Resting her head on his chest, Buffy kept her arms around him listened to the sound of his heart pounding as she struggled to calm her own.

"Buffy..."

They had been standing in silence for what she knew had to have been ten minutes, just clinging to each other. She did not want to move. She knew though that, should someone else walk in to find them in the galley, he in nothing but a pair of boxers and she in her robe, there would be hell to pay. Not that she thought anyone would mind, really, but the joking and the all around shit that they would have to put up with, not to mention Shepherd Book's lectures ... Buffy knew they'd have to move eventually.

"You're skin is freezing," she said, answering him.

Mal kissed the top of her head. "Yeah, well ... these pretty boxers don't cover much."

"I've noticed, believe me," her voice was soft.

He was silent for a long time and had actually started to shiver a little when he spoke again. Buffy ran her hands over his back, trying to warm him up a bit as he said, "I have tried, so many times, to get you to open up to me."

Buffy closed her eyes. She knew it was true. He'd ask her questions, just simple, innocent questions about where she was from, or what her family had been like, and she'd always shut down. Every time. "I know," she said quietly.

"Now that ... well, I don't wanna let you go now that I feel like I've gotten somewhere."

She smiled, opened her eyes, and looked up at him. Leaning forward, she brushed her lips against his once, twice, three times. The exact same sparks that had coursed through her before began to burn again, and Buffy had to force herself not to lose herself in kissing him once more. Pulling back, she found him staring at her, the same almost uncontrollable need she was feeling mirrored in his own eyes. "Do you feel that?"

He blinked. "What? Feel what?"

She smiled. "When we kissed just then ... did it feel almost electric?"

Mal held her eyes. "We need to talk more, about where you come from. About everything."

Buffy nodded. "I know. And we will. But, you should know now, right now, it's a long story, and a lot of it is really, really unbelievable ... even to me, and I lived it."

"My story's a long one, too."

Relief flooded through her as she realized that she would not be the only one talking. Somehow, knowing that Mal would be telling her his story as well, that made having to talk about home easier. It still wouldn't be easy, but it wouldn't be as hard if she wasn't the only one telling long kept secrets. And she had a feeling that Mal's past was just as guarded as hers was. Nodding slowly, Buffy said, "I'm sure it is."

"If you'll let me stop by my room, pick up something more decent, and warmer, to wear, I'll walk you back to your room."

She smiled, but shook her head. "You don't have-"

"I want to."

Hearing the truth in his voice, she said, "Okay."

***

Buffy had not seen the inside of Mal's room before, having never had the opportunity. She wasn't surprised to find it very neat and all squared away ... and very sparsely decorated. Tilting her head to the side, looking at one bare wall after another, she pointedly looked everywhere but at the man dressing near by.

"What?" he asked suddenly.

"What what?" she countered.

"You're looking around like something's missin', or like you're not seeing somethin' you expected to."

Buffy giggled. "Not at all. It's just ... have you ever seen one of our rooms? Even Jayne's got his wall of guns to show off his personality a little. You know, decorations?"

Mal walked up beside her, looked down, and Buffy could tell he was trying to intimidate her with his height. She squared her shoulders and looked up at him, batting her eyelashes innocently. It took about thirty seconds before Mal gave up and sighed. "Every time I decorate, something happens."

She grinned. "What'dya mean?"

"Well," Mal said, taking hold of her shoulder and steering her to the bed and backing her into it. "Last time I decorated, ship got robbed. Time 'fore that, there was a problem with a fire."

Buffy sat down on the bed. "Fire?"

Mal sat down beside her and nodded. "Yeah. It was bad. There was this part that stopped working, and one thing led to another and the ship ended up on fire. We got it put out ... sealed off the galley, opened the hatch doors, sent the fire out into space, one problem solved."

Buffy nodded. "But there's always more than one problem."

Mal looked over. "Yeah. The part wasn't fixable. Engine was dead. Serenity was dead ... not moving. No heat, no oxygen, nothing. Zoe was hurt bad, too. She, Doc, River, and Wash took a shuttle off in one direction. We were out in the middle of nowhere. Jayne, Shepherd Book, Kaylee, and Inara ... she was a Companion who traveled with us a while back, they took the other one off in the opposite direction."

Buffy closed her eyes. "And you stayed here."

"Had to get my ship working."

"But the part..."

Mal was silent for a long time. Buffy didn't push him. She knew he'd tell her in his own time. Eventually, he continued, "There was a ship near by after all. Or close enough. Criminals, just like us. Struck up a bargain or so I thought ... they had the part I needed, they'd bring it aboard so long as my story checked out. I was almost out of oxygen, over half frozen, and didn't have any other choice but to believe 'em."

Buffy could hear the strain in Mal's voice and recognized the sound of old emotions, long stored, long undealt with, coming to the surface. Slowly, she reached out and touched his shoulder, forcing him to look at her, forcing him out of his memories. Once he met her eyes, she reached up and stroked his face gently, reminding him silently that he wasn't there, in that place, he was in the present with her instead. She watched as his eyes softened and was rewarded for her efforts when he leaned into her hand ever so slightly. She felt the light, slightly scratchy stubble under her hand and wondered idly when the last time he shaved was. He reached up and took her wrist, moving her hand to his lips and placed a gentle kiss on her palm. "How'd you know?"

"How'd I know what?" she asked softly.

"That I was getting lost in that memory."

"Oh," Buffy said. "I have plenty of memories that suck me in like that. You'll have to return the favor, Mal."

He nodded and moved back, leaning against one of the walls. "Understood."

Buffy scooted back, smiling softly as Mal put his arm around her. "So ... what happened? When they brought the replacement part to you?"

He sighed. "They tried to take Serenity from me. That ship's captain, I should have known. Under different circumstances, I would never have done business of any kind with him."

Mal reached over and took Buffy's hand, and she let him. She watched as he lifted her hand to his stomach, just above his hip on his left side. "In the galley, did you see the scar here?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

"Got it then."

Buffy shut her eyes. She had recognized the scar as a well treated, and well healed, bullet wound. "They shot you?"

"The captain did. Ordered his people to take my ship. Luckily for me, Jayne has that bad habit of leaving his guns laying around."

He said it almost flippantly, but Buffy knew how bad the situation had been. Without heat, without oxygen, Mal had to have been in a bad state already when those people boarded. To be shot on top of that, an involuntary shudder when through her at the thought. Mal pulled her closer. "Hey, now, I'm still here."

"I know," she said. "And I have the feeling you and I are going to be doing a lot of that over the whole telling of our life stories thing."

Mal rested his head on top of hers. "Thinking of what might have been? What could have happened?"

"And not liking it."

"You are probably right. Hell, ain't no probably about it, bao bei, I know you're right."

Buffy bit her bottom lip at the sound of the endearment as it passed over Mal's lips. She still wasn't sure what it meant, but she'd heard Wash call Zoe that. Whatever bao bei was, it was something good. "So I guess we'll just have to agree to remember we're both still here, both still alive, right?"

"We can try," Mal said, and Buffy heard the grin in his voice.

She snuggled up against him just a little bit more and smiled to herself as his other arm came around to hold her. Buffy could scarcely believe that barely two hours ago she was trying to convince herself that Mal would never return her feelings. "So, what happened? I mean, how'd that wound end up healing so nicely? "Cause I know Simon had to have something to do with it ... or at least some other doctor. Did you call the shuttles back, or did some other doctor get to you first?"

Mal chuckled. "Oh, it was Simon all right. He and River had just been with the crew a few months at that point. And what happened ... well, on the Doc's shuttle, what happened was Zoe woke up. Ordered them back to the ship. And on Inara's shuttle ... well, I think their conscious' got the best of 'em."

"Weaklings."

Mal out and out laughed at that. "Exactly what I said when I was well enough to make much sense. Doc kept me pretty doped up for 'bout a week. I'm pretty sure I told everyone to go on vacation at one point. And gave 'em all raises at another. I'm still a might surprised they let him take me off the drugs."

Buffy giggled. "A vacation might be nice every once in a while ... there's gotta be a planet with a beach around here somewhere."

"One or two," Mal said. "You like the beach?"

Buffy grinned. "I'm a California girl, Malcolm, I love the beach. Put me in a bikini, give me a towel, a stretch of sand and some sun block and I'm set for hours."

Mal didn't say a word and Buffy's eyes widened as she began to grow nervous imagining what she'd said to render him silent. Wondering if it was something about the beaches here that was so different from the ones she'd known at home, she bit her lip. "What," she asked. "You don't have sand? Sun? Sun block? Bikinis? What's different?"

She squeaked in surprise as he suddenly flipped her onto her back and pinned her beneath him. Cursing her lack of noticing, and wondering where the hell her Slayer senses had been while he'd been preparing for that move, Buffy tried not to blush over the squeaking thing. Mal grinned down at her. "What was that?"

"Shut up. Just be glad I didn't scream and wake up the rest of the crew."

"Ah, you wouldn't have woken up everyone. It's gorram impossible to wake Jayne up."

"I've noticed. I'm pretty sure I could do cartwheels on his head and he wouldn't wake up."

Mal chuckled. "So ... this bikini you'd be wearing ... what color would it be, I wonder?"

Buffy licked her lips. "Well, I don't know. I look good in pink."

"I just bet you do."

"You do realize you're practically drooling on me, don't you?"

Mal leaned down and nibbled on her ear before whispering, "Just trying to suss out when we can work in a little vacation time, and how I can manage to swing us by one of them beach-side planets without raising suspicions within the crew."

"And why would they be suspicious?" Buffy asked, running her hands over his back. She was more than a little disappointed he was wearing a shirt now.

"Well," Mal said. "It is a well known fact that I don't generally like the beach. The tourists tend to give me a headache."

"You don't like the beach?" Buffy gasped playfully.

He grinned. "I think I can make an exception, for you."

She smiled. "For the bikini?"

Buffy watched, amused, as Mal's eyes glazed over slightly. He leaned down and kissed her gently, if a bit too quickly for her taste. She smiled at him as he pulled back and was rewarded when he smiled in return. "The idea of seeing more of your skin than I've already seen... The idea of seein' your bare back, bare stomach, bare legs ... I cannot tell you how appealin' that is."

She licked her lips. "I think that's one of the nicest compliments anyone's ever given me."

"If that is true then you have not received half the compliments you deserve." Mal was silent for a long moment. "You are a beautiful woman, Buffy. I-"

She silenced him with a kiss, pulling him closer to her, closing the short distance between them. Mal groaned as she slipped her tongue into his mouth, deepening the kiss, and ran his hand up her side. The sparks were back, burning their way through Buffy's body, as if trying to set her on fire. She was well aware that, despite the fact that she loved the way he kissed, loved the way he felt, she could not let things go too far. It was just too soon. That didn't stop her from moaning into his mouth as his hand traveled down her leg. She bent her knee and rested her foot flat on the bed. Mal deepened the kiss once more as his hand traveled over her leg once more and brushed the material of her robe aside to reveal the skin beneath.

Buffy shivered as his fingertips brushed across her knee, and her arms tightened around him as he trailed his hand up her thigh. Their lower bodies pressed together, Buffy could feel his erection building, pressing against the side of her inner thigh, and moaned once more. Mal's hand was on her hip, a mere inch or two away from the knot of robe's sash when they finally broke the kiss, breathing harshly. Their eyes met and slowly, oh so slowly, Mal rolled off of her, taking Buffy with him. He lay on his back, she on her side with her head on her chest, and for the second time that night, they forced themselves to calm down. Buffy traced slow circles over his chest and admitted to herself that it had been much harder to stop this time than it had been in the galley.

"It feels like nothing's ever felt before," Mal said suddenly, softly.

"What?" Buffy asked, confused.

"You asked me, earlier, if kissing you felt electric. And it does, in a way, but ... it feels ... it just feels right."

Buffy closed her eyes. The fact that he said that at all, the fact that she agreed with him, sent a thrill through her. That couldn't stop Caleb's face flashing through her mind, though, as much as she tried to stop it. She could tell the difference between the two of them - Malcolm Reynolds and Caleb the demented preacher from hell - at first glance now, just from the face. She didn't have to see the outfit to know. It was all in the eyes, the attitude. Caleb was all hate. Mal was not. Mal was not at all. The problem would be in convincing Mal of that, and she knew it. Hiding it would be out of the question ... it would be revealed eventually anyway, no matter how hard she tried to hide it. Buffy sighed. "There are parts of my past that you are really, really not going to like."

"I'm not sayin' I think this'll be easy."

Buffy had no idea what she was doing. Mal, the man she could now admit to herself that she loved, was offering her what she wanted ... a chance, and she was about to ruin it, or potentially ruin it, by talking too much. But even knowing that couldn't keep her from doing it. "Mal, all I've ever been is hurt. The first man I ever loved tried to kill me. Then I was used. Then I fell in love with a really nice guy and he left me because I couldn't love him enough. Then I used someone who really, really loved me in his own way, and we had one sick and twisted relationship. After that I didn't trust myself to get involved with anyone else, and once I got over that phase and was ready to move on, well ... I ended up here."

Mal looked over at her. "So you haven't had much luck with love. Neither have I. I once ended up with a wife at a party after we finished up a job. She knocked me out with a kiss and tried to steal my ship. Later, I found out she was married to two different men in the course of two days. The women around me, the ones I let myself care about, usually end up hating me or dead, and most of the time it's the latter. I'm scared to death that you'll end up that way, like the other women I've loved, and I absolutely hate to admit that. But-"

"Are you saying that you lo- uh, care about me?"

Mal sighed heavily. "Buffy."

She sat up and turned, swinging her feet over the edge of the bed. "I'm sorry, Mal. I know you care about me. I wouldn't be here, we wouldn't be here if you didn't."

Buffy felt him sit up but didn't look back. Even when he moved behind her, swinging his legs around on either side of her, she refused to acknowledge him. She was entirely too embarrassed by what she'd almost asked, by what she'd almost admitted about herself. She'd not intended to ask him that. It had honestly just slipped out. She cursed herself silently as tears welled up in her eyes when he put his arms around her, pulling her body back, pressing her into him. Her emotions running too high to stop it, however, a single tear slipped down her cheek.

Mal reached around and took both of her hands with his and pressed her even further into him. "Buffy."

"Mal, I'm ... I'm just sorry, okay?"

"Don't be," he whispered. "Please, don't be."

She sniffed, trying to get her tears under control, and wished she knew what to say that could salvage the situation. In truth, to say that she took it back would hurt them both. They were both adults. They knew she had been about to ask him if he loved her. And for her to bring up love meant that she had been thinking about love. And for her to be thinking about love...

"You're right, you know," he said softy. "You wouldn't be here, in my bed, in my arms, if I didn't care about you. What's more, if I didn't trust you, I would have confronted you about what River told me a long time ago."

"I know," she whispered.

"Buffy," he began, "I don't know where this is leading, honestly. I know where I hope it's leading. I know what I feel when I kiss you, when I touch you, and I know I don't want that to stop."

"It felt like you were setting my entire body on fire," she rested her head on his chest. "In a really good way."

"I know," he murmured against her hair. "I felt it."

Buffy wanted to turn around, wanted to see his face, but he held her tight where she was. His heart was pounding, and Buffy realized suddenly how rare it was for her to hear that ... a beating heart, when a man held her. Combined with the warmth of his skin and the way she could almost feel the life flowing through him, she was suddenly very glad that vampires did not exist in this world. For, whist death could take Mal away from her, a demon could never come back wearing his face, and somehow that comforted her. She relaxed slowly in his arms and closed her eyes.

Her tears had completely stopped when Mal spoke again. His voice still soft and slow, he said, "No matter what else we feel, no matter how strong an emotion it seems, we can't ... not yet."

Buffy looked up and turned her head. It was an awkward angle, but she met his eyes. "We can't say it out loud until we know. Until we know everything."

"Exactly."

She bit her lip. "But what if..."

Mal shook his head. "We'll get there when we get there."

It didn't matter that she didn't like that answer, Buffy knew he was right. There was no way to know whether they would have a future with each other once they both knew the absolute truth about each other's past. What did matter was that they were going to see. And maybe, just maybe, they'd be together in the end. They were going to try. They both yawned at the same time and laughed at each other afterward. Mal grinned at her. "I think I better walk you to your room now."

"You really don't have to."

"I said I would quite a while back, and besides, I really do want to."

She smiled. "Okay, but you can't come in. Something tells me you wouldn't be coming back here..."

He was slow to answer. "You're probably right. Kissin' you is right fun, and stopping is getting harder each and every time."

"Uh huh," Buffy agreed, standing up.

Mal held out his hand and pulled her to him when she took it. Looking up at her, he said, "All right. No coming into your room tonight, but ... you have to promise to invite me in next time. I have to come in and inspect your decorating skills, after all."

Buffy leaned down and kissed his nose. "Well, I guess that's only fair. I mean, I did give your room such a judgmental critique and all."

"My point exactly," Mal grinned.

Buffy could tell from the look in his eyes that he was about to haul her back down on the bed. It was the same look he'd had just before he'd kissed her when he was grinning down at her before ... when he'd had her pinned down. She also knew that she wouldn't be able to resist him for a third time in one night. There would just be no way. Squeezing his hands once, she hauled him up into a standing position and grinned. "And next time maybe we should talk about having a chaperone or something. Shepherd Book, maybe. Or Simon. No, not Simon. We'd just embarrass the hell out of him, and probably on purpose. And Jayne'd just want popcorn. I think Book's our only option."

"I'll think about it," Mal said with a smirk. "Maybe next time you can also explain how you got to be so strong, dong ma?"

Buffy nodded as they walked to the ladder. "Sure. That was actually first on my list of thing to tell you. You're the one who wanted to start with the scar."

"That I did," Mal said.

Buffy had no doubt he was watching her climb the ladder. He was probably getting quite the show, and she was very glad she'd decided to wear matching underthings to bed. She tightened her robe as he climbed up himself, and tried her best not to blush as he joined her. She didn't quite manage it, though, and he grinned at her. Backing her into the nearest wall, Mal leaned down and placed a quick kiss on her lips. "Have I mentioned that you're beautiful?"

"Not in the last ten minutes or so."

"Well, you are, bao bei, you are."

She smiled. "One of these days someone is gonna have to teach me that language."

He nodded as they moved away from the wall and toward her room. "Yes, one day someone should."


~~End Part One~~

Translations:

Dong ma: Understand?

Bao bei: Sweetheart/Darling

Gorram: I have not found a translation for this word. However, listening to the way it was used on the show, I believe it means g**-damn.

*note: the manip above was made by the incredible claudia6913, but I know her as Missy. Thanks so much!!!*


tbc

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.

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