Doors Closed - Please Knock

[Captain Malcolm Reynolds]

Mal wrapped his arms around Inara. "There is. She has my eyes though...." He was thinking and the thought crossed him. "Do you think....the Alliance did this?" Could they have liked cloned the two of them?

[zoe]

"You met River didn't you?" she asked him sarcastically.

It was Inara's way of telling Mal, that she wouldn't put it past them.

"But why us? What made our DNA so great for their little experiments?" she asked. "What makes this ship so great? I swear half the people on here are experiments." the rest of that sentence would never meet air, no matter how much she loved him.

[Captain Malcolm Reynolds]

Mal went, "Hey! I'm just saying, I thought with Miranda, we got the signal out there for people to stop it. But still, it is fishy."

He thought long and hard. "Well, I was in the military rose up him. And your one of the most successful companions who can fight. Between us, why not? We'd make beautiful babies."

[zoe]

"Well here, how about you think about this."

"That girl downstairs, is Alora Serra-Reynolds, our daughter we didn't even know we had, who spent her entire life in an Alliance academy so they could turn her into another River...How's that grab ya?" she asked, cocking her head to the side.

[Captain Malcolm Reynolds]

Mal closed his eyes. This was a lot for the first day. Rubbing his temple, he shook his head. "In one day I am bound and kidnapped by some girl and find out she's our daughter. Ours without every knowing." He couldn't say without doing anything, because they had. They were past that. "Will I make a good father?"

[zoe]

"I think thats a better question for Haven and Daniel." she said pointedly.

"oh my gods...I'm a mom..." Inara suddenly seemed completely distraught by this thought. Her hands came up to cover her face, her elbows resting on her knees.

[Captain Malcolm Reynolds]

He was confused. "What about them?" Mal had gotten lost in this all.

Mal pulled back, thinking the same thing. Well, he's a dad. "We're parents. We together are parents of one daughter."

[zoe]

"yeah, A daughter who's already a teenager and probably just as crazy as River." she said, looking up to him.

"Mal, how does this happen to us?"

[Captain Malcolm Reynolds]

"We never got to see her grow up. It's just amazing is all." Some days Mal wanted to be a real father-not just an uncle. But this was still all strange and new to him.

And he honestly didn't know the answer to her question. "Because we are the playthings of the dear and nifty Alliance."

[alora]

No nerves. She wasn't nervous just worried how they would react. Alora stood outside the closed door to Inara's shuttle. It hadn't been to hard to find she just followed the thoughts of Mal. For readers following thoughts of others was like following the voice to a non-reader. She listened to them speak through the door. Ear pressed hard against the cold metal.

After Mal spoke there was a bit of silence, opportunity to knock. 'Lora raised her hand and balled it into a fist and collided it against the door with just enough force to make a loud enough knock to jolt them. Would they accept her for what she is?

[zoe]

Inara was about to respond when a knock sounded on her door. she looked up and studied it a moment.

"It's Alora," she warned Mal as she stood up and moved to the door. She slid it open and greeted the girl with a warm smile.

"Hello Alora, Mal and I were just sitting down for tea, was there something you needed?" she asked.

[Captain Malcolm Reynolds]

Mal stood up. He learned to stand when a woman entered the room. It was common courtesy. Clearing his throat, he nodded. "Yes, please join us." He knew he was inviting her to Inara's shuttle, so he kind of shrugged. This was his daughter and they had to start somewhere after all.

[alora]

"Tea sounds nice." She flashed her own warm smile and entered the shuttle slash home of a companion. Slash that...ex-companion. She took a seat next to Mal. "There is something of the matter. Something I need to tell you two, because it concerns you two." She wasn't getting straight to the point and she needed to.

Alora knew that they had figured it out for themselves, but they needed to hear it from her. From their child. "I'm technically your daughter. I was a biological experiment the Alliance created in attempt to make a perfect weapon. Just like River, only I was never taken from a family. They took people's DNA with out people knowing. It was to be top secret, and it still is. But after I learned what I was there for, I ran. I ran away to find you two. It was the only thing I could think of doing." She fidgeted a bit.

[zoe]

"Well Malcolm? what should we do with our little test tube daughter? Throw her out the airlock?" Inara asked, completely joking of course.

She moved to Alora and wrappd an arm around her shoulders and kissed her on the forehead. "You are welcome here on Serenity, Though it will take some getting used to of course, so you may want to bare with us a bit, we're sort of new to the whole, parent thing."

[Captain Malcolm Reynolds]

Even though Mal and Inara had figured this out, his mouth gaped open a little bit. They were starting up the same things as Miranda. Shaking his head, he wasn't too happy with that. They would have a fit. River would have a fit. Sitting down, he fidgeted himself. He was bad at being a father really. New to this. It would be weird for him.

Laughing, he shook his head. "Well, I was thinking more along the lines locking her away forever. But I think having her stay on Serenity is a better idea." He jsut wished sooner he hadn't given away Kaylee's old room. Then she could stay there. But she could take over any guest room she wanted.