Disclaimer: I don't own Firefly or any of it's characters, but I really wish I did.
Chapter 2
"Sir we have a hit on Reynolds' ship. One of the contacts we received from Miss Serra told us that…" The agent paused for a second to scan the paper in his hand. "That Serenity will be landing on Persephone in three days time." He finished after finding the name of the ship.
"Has the contact been taken care of?" His superior asked.
"Yes, a man by the name of Badger. He was eliminated this morning, he was a small time black market smuggler, his death won't be questioned."
"Good. Set a course for Persephone. I want word the second that Serenity docks." The man in charge ordered with a smile.
"Yes sir."
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"How far out are we from Persephone, love?" Mal asked as he leaned over River in the pilot's seat.
"Roughly fifty-two hours ai-ren." She answered.
"Good. You ready for lunch? Jayne's cookin." Mal asked as he offered her a hand to pull her up from the chair.
As soon as River was on her feet her face turned an alarming shade of green and then turned starkly white.
"Hey bao-bei Jayne's cooking ain't that bad." Mal quipped at seeing the look on her face.
Rive took a deep breath and tried to give Mal a smile. Before she could however her eyes rolled up into her head and she collapsed into Mal's arms.
"River? Hey love wake up!" Mal said in a panicky tone.
He picked River up when she showed no signs of responding and carried her to the infirmary.
"Doc somethins wrong with yer sis! Get in here!" He yelled out the door hoping Simon was close enough to hear him.
Simon ran in a second later and his eyes grew wide at the sight of his unconscious sister lying on the table.
"What happened?" He asked as he moved over and began to check her vitals.
"Don't know. She stood up, turned white, and then just passed out." Mal explained as he held onto River's hand.
Simon picked up a small flashlight and lifted one of River's eyelids to check her pupils. She groaned and moved her head away from the light as soon as he shone it in her eye.
"Hey mei-mei. Does anything hurt?" Simon asked as River struggled to focus her eyes.
"No just feel sick to my stomach and my head is spinning." She replied.
Simon continued his exam and then drew some blood.
"Can I go back to our room and lay down? I hate it in here." River complained after twenty minutes.
"As long as Mal walks you down there and you take it very slow." Simon allowed as he continued to look over her tests.
River excitedly sat up, but slumped back down almost immediately.
"Grab her!" Simon yelled as she began to slide off the table.
Mal quickly caught River in his arms and laid her back down on the table.
"Shit! What in the hell is wrong with my wife Simon?" Mal yelled angrily. He realized it wasn't the doctor's fault but he needed someone to yell at.
Instead of answering Simon began grabbing rubber tubing and needles from a drawer. He swabbed River's arm quickly and inserted a needle into the crook of her elbow. River moaned and woke up when he did this. Simon then repeated the actions on himself and in under a minute had begun giving River a transfusion.
"River have you been feeling weak and tired for a few days?" Simon asked.
Her eyes were large and scared looking as she focused on the needles in her and her brother.
"River. Focus on me alright. Have you been feeling tired and weak for a few days?" Simon asked again.
"Yes." She admitted.
"Bao-bei if you weren't feelin good how come ya didn't tell me?" Mal asked as he lovingly brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes.
"Didn't want you to worry, I thought it was just a flu bug." River answered.
"Well you're extremely anemic. I just don't know why yet. As soon as you've gotten enough blood I'll start scanning your blood tests, hopefully I can find what's causing the anemia." Simon explained.
He stopped the transfusion fifteen minutes later and was encouraged to see that River's color had improved greatly by the time it was finished.
"Feeling better now mei-mei?" He asked.
"Yes Simon much better. Thank you for the donation of your blood." She said and kissed him on the cheek.
"Hey you've given me blood before, just returning the favor." He replied.
Mal slid an arm around River's waist and helped her down from the table. She swayed a little at being up right and then smiled reassuringly and found her balance.
"Alright I'm gonna take her to our room so's she can lay down." Mal said.
The couple turned to leave the room but stopped when Simon called them back.
"I think I found the problem with River." He said as he read the scan results.
"What's wrong?" Mal asked instantly concerned.
"Well it looks like you two kids are gonna have a baby." Simon revealed with a bright wide smile on his face.
"I'm pregnant?" River asked sounding awed.
"Yep I'd say from the blood tests you're about two months along. I need you get back on the table for me River there are some tests I need to run." Simon instructed.
"Why is something wrong with the baby?" She asked immediately concerned.
"No, I mean not that I know of, but anemia in pregnancy is a warning sign of problems. We need to figure out why River's blood count is so low." Simon explained and helped River back up onto the table.
He spent the next half hour taking more blood and running all sorts of various tests that made River edgy and uncomfortable. It was while he was sitting and muttering to himself that Mal finally lost his patience.
"So? You figure out what's wrong?" He asked.
"I think so. Its nothing really wrong just a few changes we need to make. First off I'll have to take River off of the meds that she's currently taking. But since we've been gradually reducing your meds anyway that shouldn't be a problem. I also want you to start taking prenatal vitamins and iron supplements. Sometimes when a woman is as petite as River her body has a hard time making enough hemoglobin for herself and the baby. That's why you're so anemic most of the iron in your blood has been going to the baby. We should also stock up on red meat while we're on Persephone." Simon instructed.
Both of the parents-to-be sighed with relief when Simon explained how simply the problem could be fixed.
"Would you like to see the first scan of your baby?" Simon asked as he lifted River's shirt and placed the scanner against her belly.
Both of them nodded excitedly and turned to the screen hooked up to the scanner. It was fuzzy and confusing for a few minutes as Simon tried to bring the fetus into focus.
"Zhen ta ma jue!" Simon exclaimed suddenly.
"What? What's incredible?" Mal asked anxiously.
"See that little moving part right there? That's the baby's heart beat." Simon explained as he pointed out a tiny pulsing blip.
"Well if that thing is the heart beat how come there's another one right there?" Mal asked and pointed at a second beating blip.
It was about two seconds later that Mal got what River and Simon already knew.
"There's two of em? Like twins?" Mal asked and realized that he was babbling stupidly.
River was smiling widely and positively glowing at the news. Mal made a slight squeaky sound and then leaned over to kiss his wife excitedly.
"Can you tell if they're boys or girls?" He asked once he had regained the use of his brain.
"Its still too early for that, we'll be able to tell in another two months or so. But I can tell you that they are identical twins, there's only one amniotic sac. So you'll definitely have either two boys or two girls. You won't get one of each."
"Wow identical twins. You think we can handle that bao-bei?" Mal asked River.
"I hope so because it looks like we'll have to handle it." River replied sounding somewhat worried herself.
"River it should be fine for you to go back to your bunk now, but I want you taking it very easy for at the next four or five days. At least until those iron supplements have a chance to take effect. You can still pilot, but no going on jobs where you might be fighting or even just on your feet a lot. I want you sitting or lying down as much as possible." Simon instructed sternly.
River sighed and then stuck her tongue out at her brother. "Alright doctor I will take it easy." She promised.
"Hey you're going to be a mother soon, don't you think its time to stop sticking your tongue out at me?" Simon whined.
River leaned on Mal's arm as they left the infirmary. She looked over her shoulder at Simon and stuck her tongue out at him.
"No I don't think there will ever be a time for me to stop doing that." She giggled.
That night while River rested in their bunk Mal proceeded to tell the rest of the crew the good news and then get amazingly drunk when Jayne insisted that they celebrate.
Two days later Mal's hang over had finally disappeared completely and they landed on Persephone.
"I still hate the idea of leaving you on the ship alone." Mal protested.
"I'll be fine ai-ren. You go meet with Badger, Kaylee and Simon can get the supplies and you'll all be back soon." River assured him.
"Still what if somethin happens with the babies while no one is here to help you?" He asked.
River sighed. It was going to be a very long seven months if Mal continued to worry and fret over her like this for the entire pregnancy.
"Mal I'll have the comm. I can easily get in touch with you or Simon if I need to. Plus I really feel fine, I'd go on the job with you today if you and Simon would let me." River said only whining slightly.
"Yeah ain't no way that's happening. I don't want you goin on any jobs till after the babies are born."
River rolled her eyes, but knew that it was useless to bring up this argument again.
"Go, get the info from Badger, and hurry home to me. I promise I'll be fine." River comforted and gave him a warm kiss.
"We'll be back soon I swear." Mal assured her and climbed out of their bunk.
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"Sir Reynolds and his crew have left the ship. The only one who didn't leave was River Tam."
Captain Syler grinned widely at the news. He'd been assigned to the Tam case only four months ago and already he'd gotten so much closer to them than anyone else had since they'd nearly been apprehended on Ariel years before.
"Excellent. Apprehending River will be much easier if she is alone. Send a squad to Serenity immediately to apprehend her. Remember I want her tranquilized on sight and I want at least six men on lookout to warn if the crew returns before we have Miss Tam in custody." Syler instructed.
"What about the rest of the crew Sir?" The underling asked.
"Take them once they're back on board Serenity. Take as many as you can alive, they could be put to good use in other projects. If you have to kill them to apprehend the Tams then do it, but remember River and Simon are not to be harmed. Their mother has very important plans for both of them. Getting them is the most important aspect of this mission, the rest of them are expendable." Syler replied.
"Very good Sir. I'll radio when we have the Tams in custody." The Alliance soldier answered and then left after quickly saluting the Captain.
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River woke up when she heard the sound of the cargo bay doors opening. She was surprised that the crew would have returned so quickly, but then thought that maybe Mal had changed his mind and sent someone back to sit with her.
She sighed in frustration with her husband and quickly climbed out of the bunk leaving the comm unit lying on the bed when she went.
It wasn't until she was fully out of her bunk that she realized how wrong things had gone. She knew that the presence she felt on board was not her husband or any of the crew. The thought had just entered her mind when she heard a whistling sound and felt a sharp pain in her leg. River looked down to find a tranquilizer dart sticking out of her calf. She could feel the effects of the drug almost instantly but forced herself to run towards the cargo bay. She glanced behind her to see three Alliance soldiers running towards her and she sensed that there were more ahead of her.
Her head was swimming from the effects of the tranquilizer, but all she could think about was the fact that now if the Alliance captured her not only would she be taken back to the Academy but her unborn children would be taken as well. It was this thought that forced her body to keep running. She entered the cargo bay and saw that there were seven soldiers standing between her and the exit. Normally ten men even armed would be no problem for River to take down. But being weakened from the anemia and the tranquilizer on top of that made River realize that this was going to be a struggle.
She ran straight at the seven men in front of her and managed to take two of them down right away with a few well placed kicks. Each spin of her body made her head swim dangerously and she felt the edges of unconsciousness trying to grab her. She once again forced the effects of the drugs aside and turned to face the men she could sense coming up behind her. The three of them hit the floor before they were able to even get a hand on her.
Having taken out half the men River made a break for the door. She was halfway out when another tranquilizer dart caught her in the other leg. Feeling panic overwhelm her she knew now that she wouldn't make it without help from someone. She stumbled down Serenity's ramp and used the very last of her strength to scream out loud, desperately hoping that someone on the docks would play the good Samaritan and become involved.
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Mal, Zoe, and Jayne were only two blocks away from the docks when Mal suddenly stopped. His eyes glazed over and his head was cocked to the side as he seemed to stare at nothing.
Zoe turned when the Captain stopped and was instantly stuck by how much he looked like River when she was reading something.
"Sir?" She asked and moved towards him.
She reached an arm out to touch the Captain, but he turned and began running back the way they had come.
"Mal!" Jayne shouted.
Mal didn't turn around but shouted back, "River's in trouble we gotta get back." Then continued to dash back towards Serenity.
Mal's chest felt like it had turned to stone as he ran as fast as he could back to his ship. He wasn't sure how he'd heard her, but River's scream was reverberating through his head with startling clarity. He could also feel her fear as if it were his own.
Serenity came into view and Mal saw that the cargo bay doors were open. He dashed to the ramp and felt a moment's relief when he saw River run out of the ship. The relief was dashed a moment later when River stumbled and started to fall. Mal was able to reach her before she hit the ground and pulled her into his arms.
Off in the distance he heard a pop and a split second later felt something hit his back. He didn't feel the pain until River suddenly stiffened in his arms. He glanced down and saw that River had a bullet hole through her shoulder. He was confused for a second until he realized that the bullet had hit him in the back and passed clean through his chest to go into her.
His legs buckled a moment later and both of them fell to the ground. The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was River's limp body being pulled away from him by three men wearing Alliance uniforms.
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A/N- I know I said I wouldn't update often and now I'm doing two in one day, but this story is screaming to get out of my head.