Mal looked blank as if waiting for more. When the newcomer said nothing, he prodded, "And you are?
"I thought she was gone. We all did." The man continued, ignoring Mal.
"She's not dead." Simon said, hoping this would cheer the melancholy stranger.
"She's not?" Came the question from both Mal and the man.
"I can't be sure, until I do some testing, but she's warm. If she died, it was within the last hour." He looked to the man, "If you thought she was dead, she's been gone for weeks, right?" He continued guessing that's what was going through the man's mind.
The man's mouth was hanging, parted slightly. "Bit longer." He said blankly, clutching Buffy ever tighter.
"My guess is, someone put her under, and had her boxed up in Persephone." As Simon spoke, Book entered the cargo bay cautiously, and stood beside the crew, listening to figure out what was going on rather than interrupt.
Mal nodded, confirming Simon's hypothesis, "Said it was from Persephone.
"It's impossible. Even if she wasn't dead then, she's dead now. I mean..." The man's forehead furrowed. "She hasn't aged.
He looked over at Book, Bible clutched in his hands. Then to Mal and Zo', who had lowered their weapons, but still had them ready. Finally his eyes rested on Jayne, who had his gun held loosely but still aimed at him. He seemed to be avoiding Simon's gaze. The whole crew looked back at the man.
Simon broke the few minutes silence. "I can do a proper analysis in the infirmary." His thumb thrown over his shoulder toward the stairs. The stranger's eyes fleeted between Simon and Buffy. Reluctantly he nodded.
Malcolm put his gun in its holster and held his arms out toward the man, ready to help carry the girl, Buffy. The man just looked at him and kept walking, following Simon, "I've got her.
The group settled into the small infirmary. Bringing along Kaylee and River as they were in the lounge at the time the group passed. Kaylee's usual cheeriness was absent in her confusion. River was as always, there, but not. Book showed far more interest in the stranger than anybody else. His eyes never wavered. The rest of the crew seemed more intent on finding out who the not-so-dead girl was.
Simon motioned for the man to lie Buffy on the table, as the man did so, Simon walked to a drawer and pulled out a long syringe. As he neared the girl on the table, the man stepped in front of him. "What's that for?" He asked protectively.
Simon answered, not looking at the man, but focusing on the amount of liquid in the syringe, "Adrenaline. If the girl is alive. She'll wake up.
"If she isn't?" The man asked, still firmly in place.
"If she isn't, that means we've wasted adrenaline that probably would have come in handy." Simon countered trying to calm the guy down. Something worked because the man sidestepped, allowing Simon to get closer.
The man fidgeted as Simon unbuttoned Buffy's top. Simon saw this and spoke before the question was asked, "It has to be injected straight into the heart.
This got the man to back off, but not calm down. He watched intently. On the other hand, it wound River up. She clasped her hands to her own shirt and viciously said, "Ask me again why I could never love you!
The man stared at River and lost it. He rushed at River, just as Simon was stabbing the syringe into Buffy's heart, and Mal pulled out his gun shooting the stranger. Buffy's sat up quickly, inhaling as the man's face transformed. Everybody's attention was pulled. The man's forehead grew two bulges on either eyebrow and he growled.
The girl on the table looked over, eyes wide. Simon tried to pulling the syringe out, but with him trying to rush to River, and Buffy not lying still, it snapped off in her chest. River screamed. The man's face quickly turned normal as he looked to the girl, throwing up over the table. "Buffy." He said as blood ran from the middle of his back where Mal had shot him.
Buffy continued to heave. Malcolm ran up to aid Simon in retrieving River which was easy now that the brown haired man was distracted. Kaylee was among the havoc, quiet, watching the man's face as Zo' and Jayne held herself in front of Kaylee, protecting her. Book quickly walked to the stranger and held out the Bible at arms length, using it as a shield.
The man threw a hand at the book and swatted it away, beginning his two foot walk to Buffy's side. "Buffy!" He repeated loudly, believing.
Mal and Simon were aiding River who had begun to ball. Zo' was with Kaylee across the room, and Book was scrambling to retrieve the Bible.
"Oh, god. It's really you." The man said, silent tears on his eyes. He ran his hand over Buffy's chest, delicately pulling the needle out. The girl winced slightly, eyes wide. Taking in the array of visions. Her breathing was returning to normal, but she wasn't comprehending what was going on.
She looked to the man that was squatting to look at her at eye level. He ran a hand over her hair, pulling it out of her face, and wiped her mouth with his other thumb. Her eyes flickered with recognition, but it died instantly as she turned to view the surrounding room.
Book had grabbed a long, sharp, knife like instrument from the counter and was tiptoeing to the man from behind. Buffy stared at him, for what must have been a second too long, because the man turned his head, face contorted again. He moved one hand from Buffy's shoulder and whacked the weapon from the preacher, who stared at the scar on his right eyebrow. He stood fully facing Book and spoke low but menacingly. "I think you ought to have a lie down." He said throwing a punch at him, and sending him to the floor.
"Shepherd!" Kaylee screamed.
The man looked at her, letting Buffy see his face in its contorted version. Nobody moved. Everyone was suspended as though time had stopped. "I heard a gun." Inara said stepping into the doorway. All heads, but Buffy's turned to her.
"Inara, go!" Mal ordered. When she didn't move he shouted, throwing himself onto the man her eyes had settled on. She, too, was staring at his odd features. "Take them and go!
The man fell to the ground, but flipped Mal over so that he was pinning the ship's captain down. Zo' pushed Kaylee to Inara, and Simon led River quickly to the door way.
"You heard the Captain!" Zo' shouted pulling her gun out of its holster again. "Lock yourselves in the bridge." She turned her attention to the man pinning Mal down. She heard Mal struggling to escape and the others shuffling away, Jayne following with reluctance. Zo' waited for an open shot on the man, watching as blood seethed through his shirt.
Instead the girl jumped off the table and kicked the man in the head. The man flew off Mal and hit his head on the bottom cupboards. Zo' sidestepped to Mal, keeping her gun on the man, but afraid to shoot as the girl was on top of him, throwing punches to his face, which again appeared normal.
Zo' knelt down and pulled Mal up by his shirt, not tearing her eyes away from the battle. Mal un-holstered his gun and aimed at the man too. He remembered Book and bent down, keeping aimed at the man, and felt for a pulse. It was there, strong too.
"Buffy." The man shouted between a blow to the face. The girl wasn't phased. He rolled his legs up and forced her off him. Again reversing the man's authority. He, now, pinned her down with his knee, and had his hands forcing her arms to stay at her side. "Buffy." He said staring into her eyes, not throwing any punches.
For a moment she writhed to get free from his grip, but stopped after he kept repeating her name. She stared at him. Zo' and Mal stared at the two. The man changed from his kneeling position into a squat, no longer holding the girl down. The girl used her arms to push herself up. She lay back on her arms staring up at him as he stared down at her. "Spike?" She asked seeing his familiar eyes. Looking at the change in his hair and clothes. "Oh, god. Spike." She said bursting into tears and throwing her arms around his shoulders.
Her sudden outburst caused Spike to topple over. They both lie on the floor, it almost looked passionate, as Buffy's shirt was still undone. "I thought you were dead." She said between sobs, obviously overjoyed he wasn't.
"There's a lot of that going around." Mal said moving closer to the two, towering over them, holding his gun. His voice was full of confusion and fury. "I want to know what's going on. And I want to know now." He said firmly, "Dong ma?