This is my first Firefly/Serenity fan fiction, so I hope you all enjoy it! Walking Alongside the Tams takes place right after the events of the end of the BDM, but there are some AU moments, as well as an extended scene from the film thrown in. Some elements of my take on the Operative were also inspired by another fanfic writer, Hawki, and his own own Serenity story which featured the same character as the protagonist. However, I do not expect I will be incorporating too many elements from the Serenity graphic novels or the movie novelization.

Disclaimer: I obviously do not own Firefly, Serenity, or any of their related characters or properties. Those all belong to their respective owners. Otherwise, Firefly would still be on the air and gearing up for it's third or fourth movie tie-in right about now. The point of my rant is, please don't sue me, Fox. I'm not writing this story to make money.

"If they take you down...I don't expect to grieve over much...I'm like to kill you myself, if I see you again..."

"You won't. There is nothing left to see..."

"Serenity...You lost everything in that battle. Everything you had, everything you were. How could you go on?"

The man with no name (he knew he had possessed one once, but his memory of his life before had been entirely erased, part of the initiation for every person in his profession), no title, and no designation other than "Operative", ruminated over this conversation several minutes. The Captain, nay, the Sergeant, had left Relay Station 2E with his crew and newly repaired vessel less than an hour ago, but his own question, the one Malcolm Reynolds wouldn't, or perhaps, couldn't, answer still haunted him. For this place, a celestial body too small to even be considered a moon, whose sole inhabitant, like many of its recent visitors, was now deceased, was the Operative's Serenity Valley.

His faith in the government which the Operative had given up his life, his freedom, and even his own memories for, had been forever shattered once he had seen the results of the Alliance's attempts to create a single world without sin. Millions dead (once of which the Operative was forced to watch die while she screamed), and thousands more suffering a fate far worse than their former kith and kin who still lied dead on the lifeless husk that had once been a bustling colony called Miranda. All caused by an attempt to create one of the perfect worlds that the Operative had hoped to achieve when he had killed so many innocent men, women, and children during his carrer. And only now, at this moment, did the Operative realize that his efforts had been in vain. Not just in vain, but abominable. And that was something that the formally loyal Alliance agent did not know how to live with.

The Operative had known he was a monster the first time he tortured a man to death for information many years ago. He had known, ever since that day, that his actions, however necessary, were evil. That even if he succeeded in his efforts to help the Alliance create a perfect 'Verse, he would never see that paradise. For one last evil person would have to pay for his crimes as he fell on the Operative's blade before that dream of perfection could be achieved:himself. However, up until several days ago, the Operative had believed that all of the actions he had taken to create a paradise, to create order out of the chaos that was the 'Verse, would be worth all of the suffering he had caused, and that one day, he would fall on his own blade with a smile on his face, knowing that he had helped the Alliance bring about a better future for all of humanity: a world without sin.

But now, after seeing firsthand what had happened to Miranda, the Operative knew that the perfection that the Alliance had promised him was not only a lie, it was completely unobtainable. Like the promises of the sirens of legend, whose voices had lured men to their deaths, the Alliance's dream of perfecting humanity was a pipe dream that the Operative now realized could only end one way, over and over again, in the ruination and destruction of human lives.

Every person the Operative had ever killed had died for nothing.

When he had first learned this hard truth, the Operative had wanted to take his own life. But by the time his arms had healed enough to move them, the (former) Alliance agent had realized that suicide, in his particular case, would be a coward's death. For the Operative now knew he had spent his entire remembered life killing for nothing, and if he killed himself now, he would die for nothing as well.

Since this realization had dawned on him, while he and the men under his command had helped to repair Serenity, the Operative had ruminated on the question of what he should do with his life now. But now, as he stood in the rain, staring at the position that Serenity had once occupied, the Operative knew that there was still one last thing that he needed to do with his life. He had to make the Alliance, who even now, refused to learn from their mistakes, pay for every Academy, Serenity Valley, Shadow, and Miranda they had ever created. For the Operative knew that, as evil as he, the Alliance's puppet, was, his former masters' efforts to force perfection on the 'Verse over and over again, despite possessing an orgy of evidence that their attempts were futile, made them a thousand times worse..

'Thankfully', the Operative thought while he smirked, even though there was not a single trace of joy in his eyes, 'I have the means to make them pay for all of the evil they have caused. All the evil I have done in their name.' The dark skinned man (for he knew that, after today, he would never be an Operative again) touched the personal data pad in his inside pocket, which was filled with data concerning virtually every one of the Alliance's dirty little secrets, just to insure himself the object that was so essential to this plan was still there. The man with no name allowed himself a half-smile. 'By the time the Alliance finds out what I'm up to, it will be to late, and their regime will be all but gone...'

Osiris, Two hours later..

Gabriel Tam and his wife, Regan, were unpacking the groceries they had just picked up from the local farmer's market while watching Regan's favorite reality show (in truth, Gabriel detested shows in that genre, but he occasionally indulged his wife by watching one of her programs with her on his rare days off). However, the husbands and wife were soon startled when the image of two equally anorexic, equally white women (one blonde, one brunette) arguing over a man they both desired was replaced by the image of a single African American man who began speaking as soon as his visage became visible to the millions of people in the Central Planets who had now become his unwitting audience. Even as the mysterious man spoke, Gabriel noticed that there were several dead men in Alliance soldier gear, lying dead behind the black man."People of the Core Worlds. This message is for you. You who believe you government is benevolent. That the Alliance has the best interest of the Entire 'Verse at heart in whatever they do. I once believed this as well. But I am here to show you that this belief is a lie..."

"Hwun dan!" Gabriel Tam cursed as he attempted to change the channel while simultaneously reaching for the Cortex pad on his desk to tell someone in authority that the local network, and perhaps, the entire Osiris communications network, had been hacked by yet another misguided terrorist. But shortly after Gabriel noticed that the mysterious black man was on every channel, he saw something that made him drop his Cortex pad back on the table, even as the Operative kept speaking as images of countless dead, but preserved, bodies were shown to his viewers, all while Regan started held her hand to her mouth in a silent sign of alarm."The images I am showing you now are shocking, I know. But they substantiate, not only my claims, but also a transmission that was sent from this same location only days ago. A transmission that I'm afraid, did not reach many of you in of you in the heart of Alliance space because the sender did not have the Cortex authorization codes I possess..."

The holographic image of a woman, clad in a uniform that was clearly Alliance government issue, appeared on the screen. The woman in question explained that the Alliance had, unintentionally, caused the death of an entire colony on a world near the edge of the Blue Sun planetary system, a world named Miranda. The Tams stared in shocked silence as the hologram's words and then the shocking manner of the original message sender's death, also made it clear that the Alliance had also been responsible for the creation of the much maligned Reavers, beings which, up until now, the older couple had only thought to be creatures of myth."

Regan looked nauseous as she attempted to reach for the power button on the remote when the transmission showed the Reavers starting to eat the woman on screen, only to have Gabriel. whose face was now a stoic mask, quickly steal the remote out of her hand. Regan glared at her husband. "Turn that gos se off this instant, Gabriel! We shouldn't be watching this tasteless transmission, which was clearly doctored up some radical Independent sympathizers..."

Gabriel firmly shook his head. "This transmission is most certainly more graphic than I would like, Regan, but I can assure you, it is not a fake. Growing up, my father was the Chief Security Specialist on Osiris, and he always hoped that I would follow in his his footsteps. That's why before he died, he spend almost a decade teaching me some of the tricks of his trade; going over declassified transmissions, security camera disks, and other electronic media, and I will stake my life on the fact that this pulse beacon message shows no signs of tampering or forgery. I hate to say it, but it all fits. We both heard about a planet called Miranda being settled years ago. About the colonization effort being scrapped without a single clear reason being given. Furthermore, the woman on the transmission uses the same kind of jargon, has the same older style of Alliance uniform, and is using the same outdated transmission technology that a government worker would have used at that time. I can't be absolutely sure, of course, but I truly believe this transmission may be authentic."

Regan shook her head. "That couldn't be true, Gabriel! Our government couldn't have done something like this! I mean, some of the members of Parliament that we have dinner with a couple of times every year were supervising the colonization of Miranda! Our friends, Gabriel! You don't seriously think our friends could have allowed something like this to happen!?"

Gabriel Tam shook his head. "I honestly don't know, Regan. But I suggest we keep watching this man's wave to find out." Regan just nodded, still holding back tears, and the older couple both ignored the alert signals on their Cortex pads while they continued to watch the former Operative's Transmission. By now, the picture had changed to another government facility that the Tams had seen before, but only in a few pictures on a spiffy looking brochure.

The Tams hearts fell to their stomach's in fear, even as the African American man kept talking. "Unfortunately, the Alliance government is responsible for a great many atrocities besides the destruction of one plan. You may even have heard whispers of some them. The destruction of an entire world of non-violent farmers on the planet Shadow, Dust Devils killed without a trial, and so on. But most of you have never even heard of the place I am showing you now., and an even smaller number know this facility's true purpose. The Alliance simply calls this place the Academy. But it is not an institution of learning, in the traditional sense."

Regan gasped and put her hand over her mouth, while Gabriel was paralyzed with fear and shock, as images of numerous children, most of them in their teens, but some as young as five years old, where shown. Each child had their arms and legs strapped firmly to a chair, and many of them had needles jabbed inside their sides, arms or heads. Although the children ran the gambit in terms of age, ethnicity, and general appearance, all of them were obviously scared out of their minds. Especially the ones who were screaming. Despite the unsettling imagery of children being tortured that was being shown to his audience, however, the mysterious man's voice was calm. "Rather, this is a place where they take Core-world children, yes, your children, away to be experimented on."

Up until this point, Gabriel Tam had been able to keep his emotional guard up, as he told himself repeatedly that the dark man who was airing this transmission could not possibly be talking about the facility that the Tams were thinking of right now. That surely his family were good people that had nothing to fear from the Alliance...But the man's denial was quickly swept away when Gabriel and his wife saw the image of a familiar, screaming girl appear on the screen. The young woman was slightly older than the elder Tams had ever seen her, and her hair and clothes were unusually unkempt for the formerly tidy person they remembered. But the brunette hair, hazel eyes, and striking facial features left no doubt in the parents' minds that they were now witnessing a recording of their daughter being tortured while she shouted something about monsters, all while the voice of the man with no name droned on. "This is where the Alliance turns your children into weapons!"

"Wuh de tyen, ah!" Gabriel softly whispered as he suddenly slipped into a deep state of dread, shock, and sadness even as he was finally able to bring himself to turn off the television.. "That's her. That's our River!"

Then for the first time in his entire life, Gabriel Tam's emotional walls came down entirely, and as the Tam patriarch collapsed onto a nearby couch, the man began to cry. Gabriel Tam barely registered Regan's presence for several seconds, even though his wife was just as distraught as he was, and apart from lifting his arm to let the woman who was balling her eyes out put her head on his chest when she sat down beside her husband, the man did not even acknowledge her existence during that moment in time as he thought out loud. "My fault. My daughter was going through hell in that place, for who knows how long before Simon found her, because I sent her to the Academy! This is all my fault!"

Regan tried to wipe the tears away from her eyes, even though they were still falling, as she lifted her head to speak to her husband. "That is not true! River wanted to go the Academy, so you sent her their to further her education! Their is no way that you or I could have known..."

The sadness in Gabriel Tam's eyes only deepened then, and he moved his face away from Regan's hand as she attempted to console him. The Tam patriarch shook his head. "Simon knew. He figured it out almost a year ago, remember!? He told us that River was sending us messages in code, telling us she was in trouble, but I just brushed it off as just another one of River's games!"

Regan sighed. "We both thought that was all that was happening, bao bay! You can't blame yourself!"

Gabriel shook his head. "That's easy for you to say! You weren't the one that practically disowned our son!"

Regan's eyes widened. "What do you mean?!"

Gabriel hung his head down in shame. "It was the last time I saw Simon. The night I had to leave that dinner party early in order to bail him out after he went to a blackout zone. I was so angry...I thought he was throwing away his future, our family's good name, based on some childish game gone too far! I never dreamed that our daughter was actually endangered! So, when Simon told me he was going back to the blackout zone to look for River, I...I lost my temper. Horribly. And I told him that if he got in trouble looking for River again, I wouldn't bail him out a second time. And I'm pretty sure that is why Simon and River didn't come home after the two of them became fugitives. Simon must have thought that I wouldn't help him or Rever evade the authorities, that I wouldn't take his word over our government's. Maybe he even thought I would turn him and River in to the Alliance!"

The tears returned like a flood on Gabriel's face, and the angry look that had been on Regan's countenance just moments ago melted away into one of sympathy as her husband resumed his verbal self-flagellation. "Like I said, this is all my fault. I failed both of our children in the worst way possible and now I don't know what to do to fix that!"

Regan waited several more seconds for Gabriel to cease crying; then, after drying his tears, the normally image-conscious woman ignored the mascara running down her own face as she spoke. "We do the only thing we can do, Gabriel. What we should have done a long time ago. We are going to find our children and bring them home!"

And so ends the prologue of this story! I hope you liked it, because I am hoping to put the next chapter up soon! But please leave me a review or PM to let me know what you really think of the beginning of my humble little tale about friends, love, reconciliation, and just what it means to be part of a family! I know this depiction of the elder Tams is already different than is often shown in fan fiction, but after watching Safe for the Nth time, depictions of the Tams as cold, heartless parents who only care about their wealth and family name just didn't sit right with me. Even in the flashbacks that occurred just before Simon went to save River, it seemed to me that there was genuine concern for his son's welfare underneath Gabriel's harsh words towards Simon. But that's just my opinion, albeit an opinion that is the driving force behind this fan fiction.

Parings for this story will include Gabriel/ Regan, Simon/Kaylee and eventual Malcolm/Inara .River and Jayne will also eventually develop relationships over the course of the story, but those parings are yet to be determined. I know that River/Jayne is a popular pairing, but I have some problems with that potential paring due to the number of times Jayne has attempted to betray the Tams on the show and even once during the film ("We're going for a nice shuttle ride!). However, I could perhaps be persuaded to write such a paring if my concerns on this matter were put to rest.

I would like to thank Browncoats dot Com for the Chinese phrases from the show that I will be using for this story. I would also like to thank my beta reader, without whom, my writing would be as unintelligible as River's words on one of her bad days. Your help is greatly appreciated!

Until next time, I am...

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