Once they had been to pick up Shepherd Book, Mal walked onboard and surveyed the stock. He shut the doors and wandered in to the common area to find the rest of the crew ready for dinner.
"All set," he said and patted Lou on the shoulder.
Lou gave him a warm smile back.
"All set for what?" Kaylee asked.
Mal smiled widely.
"Folks. We are going to Valhalla," he announced before sitting down.
"We're going home?" Brooke shrieked.
"Looks that way," Lou said receiving whoops from both her daughters and a warm smile from Book.
"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, uncle Mal. You are the best uncle ever," Brooke bounced over and threw her arms around Mal's neck in an unexpected hug.
He awkwardly patted Brooke on the back while giving Lou a panicked look. Lou smiled at him with a shrug. This one he had to handle on his own.
Lou looked around to see a mix of happiness and confusion on the faces around her untill she met the last scowling, angry set of blue eyes.
Jayne stood up and stomped off.
"So, Valhalla huh?" Kaylee asked.
"Yep. I was thinking we might even stay there a spell. Get some fresh air. Groom some horses. Maybe even see the sights. .. if there are any," Mal said lifting the little limpet from around his neck to sit on his knee. Brooke leaned into him with a very happy smile.
Lou and Mal had agreed to keep their treasure hunt a secret while they had worked out the details.
"That sounds... scenic?" Simon said sceptically.
"I can set you up in cabins or hunting lodges around the farm if you don't wanna stay on the actual farm. And there is a city. Thingwall is small but not entirely without entertainments," Lou smiled.
"What kind of entertainments?" Zoe asked.
"Bars, theatres, same as any other planet. There is even a temple on Valhalla, Inara. Up in the mountains," Lou smiled.
Inara nodded. She had mentioned to Lou that she was considering finding a temple to settle down with.
"Mama said I can go to school there if I want," Saphire said proudly.
"Really?" Inara asked.
"Seems it's the best school on the planet so why not," Lou shrugged. Education at an academy entailed more than the physical aspects of a companion's life and Lou's admiration for Inara had opened her mind to what possibilities her girls had for the future.
Inara sendt her a beaming smile.
"Even more reason for me to visit the academy," Inara smiled.
"And another reason for Serenity to visit on your way past in the future," Lou replied.
"And if we get a piece of land for ourselves..." Wash mused.
"Yeah... can't do much about that from here on Persephone, Wash. But if you want a homestead I'm sure I can sort something out for you," Lou smiled and receiving a confused look from Zoe.
"Husband? Wanna tell me what you are talking about?" Zoe asked Wash with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah. That's not important as long as we're not going anywhere is it... but Mal said good to go so I should probably be getting us up in the sky 'bout now," Wash babbled and hurried to the bridge.
"Thank you," Zoe said with a half smile at Lou.
Lou grinned back. Wash was not aware that Zoe had asked about options for building a life on Valhalla and she had almost forgotten that Wash had asked about the same.
"It will be good to go home," Shepherd Book smiled.
"Yes it will," Lou said and gave the old preacher a warm hug.
Lou turned to the kitchen and grabbed the food which she set on the table. A quick headcount showed that one was missing. Normally she would just leave him a plate on the side for when he wanted it, but something in the way he'd stormed off made her want to find him.
He was in the cargo bay beating the punching bag.
Remembering their first fight she sat down on the weight bench.
"I hope that's not my face you're trying to destroy there," she said.
He stopped and turned to look at her with an angry scowl.
"Why? Should it be?" He grumbled.
Lou studied him for a second.
"You know that Serenity will be parked on Valhalla for a while right?" She said.
"What do you mean?" He muttered.
"It means Mal is giving everybody a break," Lou said.
"I can't see the fun in going to a dump like Valhalla," he growled.
"Yeah... I can't see the meaning of raising my kids up in the sky," Lou replied.
"Well... I don't wanna go," he mumbled.
"Don't see how you have a choice being as we're allready on our way," Lou replied with a dry smile.
"Let's hope there are bars and whores then," he grinned darkly.
He went back to his beating the bag.
"Dinner is on the table if you want it you daft lump," Lou said, beating back an angry feeling growing in her chest.
After the rest of the crew had eaten, Lou was washing up and humming to herself when Jayne came sauntering in. He looked around the kitchen with an increasingly annoyed look on his face.
"Where's my grub?" He asked.
"Dinner was half an hour ago," Lou replied sourly.
"But... you always leave me a plate," he said.
"Looks like I forgot," Lou replied evenly.
Jayne lifted the lid of a freshly scrubbed pot before looking at Lou.
"And there was none left?" He asked.
"Nope. Should have been here when it was served," Lou smiled tightly.
"But I'm hungry," he whinged.
"You are such a spoiled brat! Get a protein bar you gorram child!" Lou spat.
He looked at her, surprised by her sudden venom.
"What did I do?" He asked.
She shot him a cold look.
"Yeah. Valhalla," he said, realising her anger.
Lou focused extra on getting a fork clean.
"Seems you're the one wanting to get off this boat tho. Not me," he grumbled before grabbing a protein bar and leaving the room taking all of Lou's oxygen with him as he left.
A few days later, Lou had still not actually seen Jayne, which was quite a feat considering how they were clustered together onboard a smallish ship in the depths of nowhere. Lou was angry at him for being an idiot and upset with herself for allowing him to get so deep under her skin. Lou felt hollow when she thought about him, so she pushed him out of her mind. Ironically she had to admit she was getting good at that. Her girls were doing their own things and Lou, although happy to be going home, was frustrated. She spent increasing amounts beating the punchbag, telling herself she would need to prepare herself to fight for her farm and family in case Duggar decided to show his face again. His threats were not to be taken lightly.
The journey was set to take three weeks and Lou had waved her brother asking him to prep a landing site and get housing ready for the crew, five cows, ten sheep and a cage full of chickens. Mal and Lou were regularly looking at maps and trying to work out what Danny may have done with the loot he may or may not have taken from Duggar. The greatest worry on Lou's mind was how she was ever going to pay Mal back for all his kindness. He had even filled the cargo hold with stuff she had mentioned was hard to come by out by Valhalla.
"We'll work something out, Lou," he said when she mentioned it.
"But... I have put you through a series of risks with no gain. I can't see how I can ever pay you back," she said.
"Don't worry," Mal replied.
"Ok. The very least I can do is to have a homestead set up for you if you ever feel like settlin or taking a break. My mother had a small place she inherited from my grandfather. It's mine now, but I have my home built on Odinshelm, so if you want it, it is yours," Lou offered.
"I ain't the farmin type, Lou," he grinned.
"No. But it's there for when you need dirt underfoot. You can see it from my porch. Proper idyllic. Sat in a copse of trees," Lou smiled.
Mal smiled at her.
"How 'bout you keep that house and I borrow it when we have business your way. I seem to recall you committing me to a honey-trade," Mal replied.
Lou smiled back with a nod.
When River came in, she looked at the map and pointed to a rocky outcrop up in the mountains.
"Saphire thinks there is something up there," she said.
"Saphire said that?" Lou asked.
"No. That's what her dad said but she doesn't know what it is," River said.
Mal and Lou looked at eachother smiling before turning back to the map and zooming in on the outcrop and the small canyon inderneath it.
"I think we have a starting point," Lou grinned.
"It's not as much as the bad man said," River told them.
"What do you mean?" Lou asked.
"You'll find out," River said before leaving the dining area.
Mal packed up the maps and left to sit on the bridge for a while. Lou got on with cooking, grateful for the cargo of chickens providing fresh eggs.
Inara came into the common area one day when Lou was finishing the rather large jumper she had been knitting since Dorian.
"When are you going to tell him?" Inara asked.
"Tell who what?" Lou asked.
"I never thought I'd say this, but since you came onboard, Jayne has actually been likeable," Inara said.
"So what am I supposed to tell him? Hey, Jayne. Inara thinks you are human?" Lou asked dryly.
Inara laughed softly.
"It's not important what I think is it?" Inara smiled.
"Well... he made it fairly clear that we're done, so I'm not gonna push it," Lou replied trying to stay composed.
"I don't think he did," Inara said.
"He said..." Lou started.
"He said he didn't want to go to Valhalla, Lou. You're the one wanting to go home," Inara said.
Lou focused on getting the arms pinned to the jumper while thinking about it. She looked up at her ever patient friend.
"I screwed up didn't I?" She said.
"Not entirely," Inara smiled before leaving Lou to think things over.
Lou spent the rest of the journey trying to find an opportunity to talk things over with Jayne, but there were always people around.
The trip itself was fairly uneventful so the crew spent much time sleeping, eating, exercising or generally trying to waste time hambling or planning the perfect robbery.
Lou and Mal had let the others in on the treasure hunt without promising much, so Mal was on to the next plan.
Somehow Mal had got hold of information regarding cash stored at settlement banks and was itching to lay some detailed plans for what he called an honest, good old fashioned bankheist.
"We have stayed on the good-guy side of things for a long time. About time we do a heist for fun," he said with a gleam in his eyes.
Lou found his sudden interest in straight up crime fascinating.
"The plan is we drop Lou and the kids on Valhalla. Then we see if we can find ourselves some buried treasure. Inara has decided to stay at the temple on Valhalla for a while and Book wants to be set off at Haven when we pass that way. Once we have done that, I suggest we head over to Constance and play at being bad guys," Mal said looking like a child on christmas morning. This heist was less about the money and more about the challenge.
Lou figured, Mal was bored.