Part six
Summary: They'll never stop. They'll just keep coming and coming until they get what you took…

****

Chapter 1- Triggered
Summary: Just when everything was shiny again…

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"I don't much like how you're keepin' this from me," he snapped, folding his arms and straightening up to his full height.

"Intimidation doesn't work with me," she muttered without looking up from her paperwork.

"I'm not tryin' to intimidate you. I'm just a mite angry that you have somethin' you won't tell me."

"I don't have to tell you everything."

"No, you don't. It's just a courtesy, 'specially if somethin' is about to go pear-shaped!"

"It was just a nightmare."

"You keep sayin' it's nothin' when you are obviously bothered by it. I have the right to know if there's trouble up ahead!"

"There isn't, so I don't have to say anything. You're just perturbed because for the first time I won't talk to you."

"…that ain't it…"

"Yes, it is."

He huffed. Sometimes he hated her mind reading abilities. "I just think that I should know."

She paused and looked up from her papers for the first time since he stormed into the kitchen. She saw it swirling in his gorgeous blue eyes. He was worried about her.

"Find somethin' interestin' about my face, little one?"

She reached out and put her hand on his folded forearm. "I'm fine, Captain."

His eyes shifted down to her hand, which she quickly withdrew and returned to sorting the various notes and papers spread out on the table.

"Enough of that," he said, gesturing to her frantic sorting and resorting.

"I have to organize these notes so that-"

He took the stack of papers from her. She reached for them and he easily maneuvered them out of her reach.

"Captain-"

"Nope. Get up and get a coat. We have things to do and places to go. There's no time for your freakish obsessive perfectionistism!"

"Simon doesn't want me leaving the ship."

"He won't mind."

"He will."

"I told Kaylee to twist his arm until he don't."

"The stores will still be there in thirty minutes."

"So will the gorram papers darlin'. Come on."

He purposely messed them up and ignored the little sound of protest she made. She glared with a pouty frown. He extended a hand to help her up, offering a truce. She accepted it and they left for the cargo bay.

****

Newhope was a bright place. Something about it reminded him of Kaylee. It probably had something to do with the optimistic name and the cheerfulness of the landscape. Vivid blue skies, big puffball clouds, crystalline waters, vibrant green grass. Usually it never failed to put him in a bad mood, but there was something about watching her reactions to it all that made him smile.

Her eyes flickered back and forth between the colorful and crowded streets and the ever brightening sky. Her little black jacket stood out against the reds, blues, greens, and yellows that everyone else seemed to be wearing. A breeze rushed by them as a street car zoomed down the road. She turned gracefully on her heel to watch it until it faded from her view with a wide smile.

"Happy to be out 'n about, sweetheart?" he asked amusedly.

"A bird in a cage forgets it has wings. They forget how to fly. Forget the sky and the fluffy clouds. Clouds like cotton balls…" she smirked at him and twirled around. "Sometimes it's more fun to talk in metaphors."

He grinned and quickly pulled her out of the path of kids on bikes. She smiled at him, enjoying the closeness.

"Break it up. We gotta keep movin'. Shops 'round here close early on Sundays," Jayne grunted as he passed them. They had completely forgotten that he and Zoe tagged along.

Mal motioned to River to go first. She nodded and followed Zoe and the merc towards the general store.

A rusty set of bells clanged sharply when Jayne pushed the heavy wooden door open. It wasn't a big store by any means. A few isles of things in the middle, a counter towards the back, and a few tables near the front. There were about five other people milling around with woven baskets buying the supplies they needed.

"I'll go talk to the man about gettin' some food for the ship," Mal sighed as he made his way to the stubby balding man behind the counter.

River walked down the center isle with Jayne, examining the various bottles that were set out on the shelves.

"Hey Zo, they got everything! Whiskey, wine, rice wine, sake, rum, brandy…what do you think I should get?" Jayne called.

"You get drunk no matter what," she deadpanned while looking at the assorted toys. A certain dinosaur had caught her attention, but Wash already had at least ten triceratopses.

River was peering inside a large glass bottle of apple juice trying to determine the number of apples used in its creation when a commercial on the screen in the corner caught her attention.

"Blue Sun presents the Tetra-Terrain Thunder! Lan Taiyang chengsong Si-Dixing Leisheng! This new craft can travel across land, water, the sky, and venture into the Black! Zhe xin hang keyi luyou heng lu, shui, tiankong, yu chuyu zaizhinei Heise!"

She watched the animation of the craft flying around and something inside snapped. The world around her grew quiet and in a flash, images of her time at the Academy and her return to them played out before her eyes in quick snippets. The two men in blue gloves half smiled at her whispering the words, "We have your mission" and just like that, she was theirs again.

"I think I'm gonna go with the Black Bush whiskey…" Jayne decided as he picked up the heavy bottle. He turned around and looked at River.

"Two by two…hands of blue…" she whispered hoarsely.

"What are you moonbrainin' 'bout now?" he grumbled.

She slipped her black coat off and it pooled in a neat puddle around her combat boots and in a single fluid motion, her foot connected harshly with Jayne's face. The whiskey hit the ground, shattering into a billion little pieces. Zoe looked up from across the store with everyone else.

"What the hell?" Jayne roared. He was about to hit her, but she caught his wrist twisting it about until she heard a satisfying snap and a scream.

He brought his other fist up, but she caught it once again. She slammed her head into his. He staggered back from the sudden powerful attack. He slipped on the slick vinyl floor and hit his head on the bottom lip of the shelving unit.

By that time Zoe had crept closer to the fight, gun drawn. She didn't want to shoot River, but if it came to that she would have to. River sensed her and gracefully whipped around, kicking Zoe's hand. Zoe yelped and the gun flew two isles over. River dodged a punch with catlike reflexes and kicked her right below the knee hard enough to bring her to the ground with Jayne.

Zoe saw crimson liquid mixing with the amber alcohol and decided to make her way to the incapacitated mercenary instead of pursuing the girl.

River moved to the nearest customer, taking them out with ease. A male bystander pulled his six-shooter out prepared to end the violence, but she did a cartwheel towards him, took the gun, and shot him in the chest instead.

Mal had been in the back room looking over the food choices haggling for a lower price. When he heard the gunshot echo through the tiny establishment, he took off for the main room with the owner in tow.

When he first saw River sparring with a boy about her age, he assumed that the boy had started it. Then he saw River attack an innocent woman and he realized that it was the other way around.

The store owner pulled a gun out from behind the counter and trained it on River. Mal quickly ran over to him and grabbed his hand, slamming it into the wall and forcing him to drop the gun. He punched his lights out for even attempting to shoot her.

River finally knocked out—or killed, she didn't bother taking their pulse—the last person in the joint. She felt him and desperately tried to stop. Her mission was to eliminate all targets, including him. She grabbed a gun off of the floor and spun around, pointing it his chest.

He saw it in her eyes. She was terrified and out of control. He put his hands up in a defensive stance. There was no way that he would shoot her, so he went for the talk-her-down approach.

"River, it's me. Put the gun down."

She didn't move an inch.

"I need you to put that gun down nice 'n easy on the floor. Can you do that for me?"

Again she stayed in place, but he could tell that he was getting to her. He maintained eye contact and took a baby step in her direction.

"It's okay, sweetheart. Take it one step at a time. I'm gonna start walkin' towards you-"

She started to shake and he heard the hammer click into place. He hesitated.

"You gotta stop, darlin'. Please just lower the gun."

He saw her arm drop just a little bit and a tear escape her eyes. He knew that he had to get over to her eventually. Maybe he could grab the gun.

"I'm just gonna try to get to you," he took his gun out and set it on the counter. He started slowly walking towards her and her arm dropped a little more. Just a little bit longer and-

-Smash-

River's eyes shut and she dropped to the floor. He rushed towards her, pulling her into his arms. "River? River? Can you hear me?" his voice was on the edge of panic. Her hair was sopping wet, but he couldn't tell if it was blood or not. She smelled like…rum?

Zoe towered over them with a smashed bottle of Meyers Dark Rum in her hand.

"We should get goin', Sir."

(Lan Taiyang chengsong Si-Dixing Leisheng- Blue Sun presents the four-terrain thunder

Zhe xin hang keyi luyou heng lu, shui, tiankong, yu chuyu zaizhinei Heise- this new craft can travel across land, water, the sky, and venture in the Black)