River blinked back the tears. Here she was again, back with the authorities. And she just knew – she could sense it – that they weren't far. The hands. They were coming...
She sat back in the tiny, white cell the Alliance men had placed her, and gazed up at the single bar of light that glowed brightly overhead. She was wearing only a white tunic they had supplied. Everything else had been taken.
When they came, it would be over, she knew. Not for her. There was a slower fate for her. But for all those that had already seen her, touched her. They would kill them.
The Fed special agent who had grabbed her probably thought he was due a reward, she thought, bitterly. If only he knew. He had kidnapped her, but did he deserve….
A shiver ran down her spine, as she wrapped her arms around her long, pale legs. She pressed her forehead against her knees, and started to rock. To and fro, gently.
Presently, her mind moved on to the others. Serenity.
She knew that they would follow. Her only fear was that they would get here fast enough. The Captain cared for her, of course. But he had others to think of. The good of the few versus the good of the many. Was she worth the risk?
Simon would come, somehow. But without Mal, she also knew he was poorly equipped for rescue.
Her only hope – she knew – was him.
River closed her eyes. It had been as much as shock to her when she had first touched him that way on that dusty planet. But as he stood over her, pressed against her in that burnt-out hull, she had felt such an urge to reach out for him it had been impossible to resist.
The adrenalin in her system had come from fear. But when they had moved away – she had acted like an animal. Grabbing for a comfort at a time of vulnerability.
She knew he wasn't her intellectual equal. No more than he – she knew – was really a good man. But as it turned out, she found him physically attractive. And when he had pushed inside her that first time, his strong arms clasping her to his hard body, she had found the experience so enthralling she could not deny the feelings it stirred. He allowed her to lose herself, to be desired. But also to desire, without complication. It was new, exciting.
She had also found it thrilling that such as powerful man could follow her around so slavishly, such was his addiction. A man so focused on satisfying his own need - to touch her - that he would put so much at risk. She felt such power. She was in control – not them. Not even Simon.
So she had allowed him to run his rough hands across her. Press his scarred skin against her own. Rest his weight on her. Leave himself inside her.
She knew he was little more than an animal - aselfish, murdering brute. But it both attracted and repulsed. He was a danger she couldn't resist, just as she was to him. She felt her breathing begin to quicken at the thought of his hard, tanned stomach - taut and damp with exertion.
She bit her lip and ran a hand to her abdomen. He had been inside her so many times – so now, when he wasn't – she felt a physical pain. It was strange. So it was with a slight twinge of sadness that she remembered.
Neither of them truly cared for each other.
She rolled her head back against the wall and gazed upward. But it was enough, she thought, that his own desires were now lending him to tear the verse apart looking for her, as she hoped he was.
It wasn't much- but it was something. She had to believe he would come. There had been a desperation in him, she had sensed, those last few times they had been together. He had to come.
The alternative was...too dreadful.. .to consider.
Back on Serenity, Mal had managed to prise the bridge doors apart. It had been a small victory however. When both he and Kaylee had seen the damage to the engine, they knew there was no question.
They were stuck.
They were both now standing in the engine room, their faces set in grim realisation.
Kaylee rubbed her hand along the rusted pipes of Serenity's heart, and wept. "I can't believe he'd do it. I thought – we was friends…" .
At the end of the engine, several substantial-looking wires had been shot straight through. Their remains now lay, melted, on floor.
Mal laid a hand on her shoulder. "C'mon. It ain't you he's hurt, Kaylee, it's River," he said, quietly. "We had a chance when it was all of us. That dumbass's already got 'em killed. But maybe not - if we can get her goin' quick. Get there before the men in charge. Can you do it?"
Kaylee wiped a grimy hand across her cheeks, wiping away the tears. She peered again at the wires.
"Well, Cap'n, he could'a done worse. But whatever we're lookin' at, it's a few hours work. And until then we're –"
"Dead in the water," interrupted Mal. " I know. Well, if it helps, its gonna take Wash just as much time to fix the gorram helm. It's now got a hole in it the size o' a fist, thanks to Jayne."
His eyes narrowed as he hissed out the name. Kaylee looked away from the engine, momentarily, and blinked.
"What'y gonna do about him?" she asked, hesitatingly.
"Well," Mal furrowed his brow and crossed his arms. "I'm –"
"Gonna do what you shoulda done months ago," interrupted a voice. Mal and Kaylee swung round to see Zoe, who was standing in the engine room entrance. Her face was dark, serious. She had a laser rifle in her hand.
"If we find him, if you ain't shootin' him sir, I am. He's left us here for dead. Without a gorram thought. He's a snake." She pressed her lips together.
Kaylee lowered her eyes. "Simon went too," she murmured.
"Yeah, but he wasn't thinking," continued Zoe. "He hates Jayne. He was just desperate to get going, in any means possible. I've no doubt he's now questioning that. Because likelihood is he'd have at least got to her with us. He may get there faster with Jayne. But I doubt they'll live to –"
"Zoe!" warned Mal. He flashed her a warning glare as Kaylee's face once again crumpled.
The soldier lowered her eyes. "What I meant was, he's been a fool. But at least he was thinkin' of his sister. God knows what Jayne was thinkin' of."
"Good question," replied Mal, walking towards Zoe with a determined look. "But when I do track that sommbitch down, I'm gonna find out. Right before.."
His voice wavered.
"Right before I gorram shoot that turncoat dead."
