On the bridge, hell was breaking loose. As Jayne strode in, his face set in a grim determination, the first thing he heard was Simon's urgent voice. "For god's sake Mal, we can't hang around. We have to get her back – now. Once they come for her .."

Jayne felt his body tense at the mere thought of them. The blue hands. Last time they had been so close – on that burnt out hulk of a ship. Moments later she had had her thighs around him. Now it was only a matter of time before the Feds handed her over to 'em. He felt a surge of rage go though his body. He needed her…

Mal stood, leaning on the helm. Zoe and Wash were looking up expectantly – Wash from his seat, his wife behind him. Kaylee was standing in the corner, her mouth around her fist. Book was ever, quietly considering, and Inara stood elegantly beside him.

But they all started and turned, as Jayne again slammed his hand into the wall. For a moment he said nothing, but as he felt their questioning eyes on him, he turned like a coiled spring. "What?" he bellowed: "What he says makes sense. We're wastin' ruttin' time." But he was aware of the slight edge of desperation in his voice.

"For gorram's sake," he added, slightly more quietly, by way of explanation, "I ain't that dark. I don't want her head cut no more than anyone." He wasn't sure why he did, other that if she died, he wouldn't have her sliding underneath him anymore. It was too much to even think about. She had got into his veins…

He gripped his hand into a fist and shook Vera threateningly. River had only been gone a few hours, snatched by some Fed special agent as she had simply strayed a few feet from the boat, but already his body was feeling the withdrawal. His head was thumping. He had only been inside her that morning, but now it seemed like days….

Mal looked curiously at Jayne: "Well that's as may be, Jayne, but I ain't about to start riskin' us without knowing where the hell they've taken her and how long we got."

"I'll tell you," snarled the merc, "They'll have taken her back to the main HQ. But, she won't be there more than a few hours. Last time, on Ariel, they came within hours. Hours. So that's all we got. We ain't got time to screw around."

Simon looked at the big merc with confusion. But he then turned to Mal and spoke. "Much as I hate admitting it, but he is right. He was there last time, afterall. They want her, and as the Feds have already got her, that call will have already gone out. We've got very little time. We have to just go, if we're going."

But Jayne was no longer listening. He knew already that this was something he would have to do on his own. Mal had the others to think of, of course. But Jayne only had one thing on his mind. Getting that body, and those gleaming eyes, back.

Within seconds, he had made up his mind.

"You know what?" he growled. And he raised his gun and pointed it directly at Mal. "I'm goin' after her, and I'm takin' the shuttle. And none of yous is gonna stop me.'

"Jayne!" cautioned Book, "That's suicide, as you well know. That's not your style.."

Mal said nothing. Zoe moved her hand toward her gun.

"I don't ruttin' care," muttered the merc, shifting his barrels slightly to focus on Zoe, who now stopped moving. And he knew, with all certainty, that he didn't. He didn't care about the crew, about the ship, even himself. He only cared about getting her back - at all costs. It was madness, he knew. But his whole body demanded her.

Serenity wasn't far from HQ – he could do that distance even is a short-distance boat.

For a moment there was silence. But then Simon spoke: "Then take me with you." Jayne grunted and swung his head to look at the doctor.

"No," he said, firmly. And, slowly, the big merc began backing away through the door.

Simon stepped forward. "Jayne," he said, "What if she's sick when you find her? Are you going to fix her?"

Jayne cocked his head and considered. At the end of the day, he realised, his guns would only get her free. If she was damaged, or hurt in anyway, he would be powerless. He felt the panic rise in his chest. She mustn't be damaged.

"Okay," he said, and then tipped his head back into the corridor. "Go get your stuff now though. I ain't hanging around. We're goin' now."

Simon turned, gave Mal a slightly guilty, apologetic look, but then fled. Mal meanwhile just continued to glower at Jayne.

The Captain then started to talk, with raw warning in his voice. "You take that gorram ship," he said, "and I'll come for you. I'll kill you, you untrustworthy piece of gosa. I should've known you'da done this again. Stuck the knife in my back."

Jayne sneered.

Mal continued: "But what I can't figure out is, why? There ain't no money in this for you, you're outmanned and outgunned, and you ain't got thesmarts to get into that HQ let alone dodge the blue hands. There's something botherin' you about that girl. Enough for you to ruttin' lose the few brains you had anyway."

Jayne shook his head; "I don't care about your theories, and I ain't explainin' nuthin' to you."

"Look," continued Mal: "Just give me a while to figure out a plan. We can all go in there and get her…"

"No," said Jayne. And as he said it, he thought to himself - she knew this would happen. She knew they'd be no gorram time to waste. She also knew that Mal'd feel torn between her and the rest. Take too much time.

It was why she fucked me up, he thought. The clever little bitch. The clever, hot little bitch. He felt the demand in his body rise at the thought.

Then, with a speed that caught even Zoe by surprise, he pointed Vera at the helm and fired. The crew dived for cover as a huge, sparking hold appeared in it, just as Jayne quickly stepped back and fell out of the door. He then slammed the door shut, blasted the lock so that it melted shut, and ran to the engine room.

It was with a slight tinge of guilt that he aimed Vera at Serenity's heart and fired. Enough damage to slow her. Not enough to kill.But once done, he grabbed his backpack and rushed to the shuttle, where Simon was already waiting, his head bowed.

"What?" barked the merc, and his heavy hands slammed urgently down on the shuttle lock, and twisted the steering wheel to the dot in the distance he knew to be the Alliance military HQ. Both men jolted in their seats as the small ship powered away.

"I feel…bad," said Simon, as his eyes turned to gaze at the retreating shape of the old ship. "He's done so much for us. And now we've left him."

"We had to," said Jayne, " You know as well as I do he'd be too late. He don't know what we do. He ain't seen – or heard it. Heard them gorram screams."

"But – maybe we are rushing…" added the Doctor, uncertainly.

Jayne looked down at Vera, who was lying across his lap. He snorted: "Yep, we are, but we gotta go, gotta do it, whatever the danger."

And then, as he peered out into the black, he repeated her words. "Afterall, the moth don't care when he sees the flame…."