"Didn't I tell you both not ta be gettin' inta trouble!" The captain yelled from the hold with a very disgruntled look on his face.
Zoe addressed his inquiry, "Don't look at us, he was like this when we found him. Rest of his crew was slaughtered when we got there."
As Zoe and Jayne brought him on board Mal replied, "I got the doc prepin' the infirmary, you two bring him in. You help him he needs helpin' Zo."
"Yes sir." She replied.
Mal closed the doors to the hold and followed them to the infirmary. As he entered the common room, he saw River on the couch with her head in her palms. Mal saw she was blaming herself for whatever had happened and knelt in front of her to try and comfort her.
"I didn't see this captain, I'm sorry."
Mal reached his arms around her and gave her a hug, "Ain't yer fault girl. Jus' cause you didn't see it doesn't mean it wasn't gonna happen, ya hear?"
Her voice began to tremble as she continued, "No Mal, its not that; this was Niska. He knew. He knew we were dealing with Badger, he tried to get to you through him."
Simon's head popped out of the infirmary. His voice was quiet as he spoke, "Mal, I need you in here."
Mal wiped the tears from River's eyes, and stood to make his way to the infirmary. A moment later, River's tears had subsided and her face was surprisingly clear. As she made her way to the stairs, Mal turned to her as she reached the first step, "River?"
As she ascended the stairs, she replied, "I know what we need to do."
With no orders or destination from the captain, River lifted Serenity off of Persephone a moment later. In the infirmary, Zoe and Simon were cleaning Badger's wounds in a hurry as Simon and Mal discussed his condition.
Badger had some sort of valve in the right side of his chest, and was breathing with a ventilator.
"How's he doin'?" Mal asked, realizing a moment later just how ridiculous that must've sounded.
"Well, do you want the bad news or the really bad news?"
"Why don't we start with the really bad news."
"He's bleeding into his right lung and we're going to need to keep draining it to keep him from drowning in his own blood."
"So what's the bad news?"
"He's got multiple punctures in his left lung but I can take care of them. He's also obviously unconscious and his pulse is weak."
"Can you fix him?"
"I'm going to do what I can but I've lost patients in better condition. I don't know how long it's been since this happened and I've got no record of the incident. It's going to take some time before I can give you more."
"Do what you can, quickly as you can. I gotta see where your sister is takin' us. You call me anythin' happens or you need another set'a hands."
Simon nodded and Mal left the infirmary to check on River. On the bridge, River was active at the controls.
"Where're you takin' us?"
"Back to the moon we dropped those 4 men on." She replied in a monotone voice.
"You think they're responsible for this?"
Her attention remained on her work as she replied, "I don't care. That man lied to me and I didn't see it when it could have mattered. They knew more; I just didn't get it all out of them. I was sympathetic to that man. I won't make the same mistake twice."
"Lets not be doin' anything rash River…"
River cut Mal off dozens of times per day, every day she'd been aboard Serenity; this was the first time she would do so in anger.
"…Rash?! This is my fault Mal! I am going back to that go-se moon to find them and I will find them. They are going to talk to me and and then they are going to die."
Mal's face drained of color and expression. These next few moments would be critical, if he pushed her to far, she might explode right here and now, "River…bao-bei I'm just as upset as you, but I don't want you doin' nothin' you're gonna regret."
"Everyday I'm consumed by my regrets Mal. I failed by not doing what had to be done before someone got hurt. The concentration it took to not kill that man when I could have, I felt like my head was going to explode. There is a man in our infirmary suffering because of me. If he dies, it is because of me. Shepherd Book, Hoban, how many people have to die because of me! I bring pain, and I bring death to everyone around me, to everyone I love. It stops now."
Mal was taken back at the mention of his friends who had passed. "River…" Mal searched for the right words, "You don't know it was them 4 hun-dans that did this."
"You're right, I don't know, but I need to try. If you want to stop me, I welcome you to try."
River's face was blank as it had been days ago when she shot that man. Mal swallowed and took a deep breath as she continued in a quieter more lucid tone.
"I love you like my father captain. I will listen to and obey any order you give me, as long as it doesn't involve me not doing this."
He knew there would be no stopping her. He turned and headed to the door to the crew's quarters. The sight of Mal walking away in apparent disapproval broke through River's rage. She called to the captain with a quiet tone like that of a daughter who'd disappointed her father, "Mal?"
Mal replied with the same tone, "I'm goin' ta get armed. I won't stop ya, but I am comin' with you." He gave her a wink and a slight smile before turning back to the door and heading to his bunk.
River turned and continued to modify the course. Nearly two hours later, she was still hard at work subtracting seconds from their course while Simon had stepped out of the infirmary to give Mal an update on Badger's condition.
"Well doc?" Mal asked.
"He's doing better. I was able to patch up his left lung, but I still need to periodically drain the other. All of his wounds are stitched and his pulse is improving."
"So he's doin' better?"
"He is doing better but he's got a way to go before I'd go so far as to call him unstable. I need the other lung to start fixing itself so I can remove the valve that's draining the blood. I can't take him off the ventilator till that happens."
"I see." Mal fidgeted a bit before continuing and Simon would've been blind to not notice.
"Captain?" Simon asked receiving a blink from Mal.
"I need ta talk to you 'bout somethin'." Mal replied.
Simon's stomach crept into his throat as he prepared for what Mal might have to tell him.
"River's takin' us back to the moon we dropped those 4 men on. She thinks they're responsible for this."
"How could that be, we left them with nothing."
"I don't know, River said she don't even know for sure it was them that did this. But somethin' tells me she ain't gonna stop until she does this. Even if she gets nothin' out of it, I been in her place before, she needs ta do this."
"Did you try to talk her out of it?"
"'Course I did and trust me doc, she wasn't in any mood to be dissuaded."
Simon's hands came over his face as he sighed, "Just promise me you won't let anything happen to her."
Mal sighed in relief, "You have my word."
Simon nodded, "I need to go check on him, how far out are we?"
"Probably not very. She was working like a crazy person trying to shave seconds off of our arrival."
"Be careful Mal."
Mal nodded and headed up to the bridge to check on River. When he reached the bridge, he would see the moon rapidly approaching.
"We'll be down in a few minutes Captain. I think I've found a small town not too far from where we left them. If they made it, that's probably where they'll be. Are you ready?"
"Goin' in like we are, plannin' on killin', there ain't no ready fer that."