Rating: R (for just an little more Jayne torture and River ass kicking)

Disclaimer: Pftt...please!

Authors Note: It's been awhile eh? I know the last chapter I put up was on March 27th, sorry about that, but I've been having a bad month.

Okay what do you need to know? Erm…I dislike writing action scenes, I'm still a little iffy on my Mal in this chapter, I feel he might be a little OOC le gasp!

So…its 8,265 words which makes it the second longest chapter I've spat out. I'm wondering if maybe I should make the chapters shorter and just have more of them? What does everyone else think about that?

Thanks as always goes to mik109 for always offering hugs on my bad days...oh yeah and she did that beta thing for me.

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"No!" Mal yelled at the screen in front of him for what he could swear up and down was for the hundredth time in the last thirty minutes. "I realize we didn't contact you before we set down last time. I told you our communications were out. That's why we walked over to you and paid face to face." Mal growled out. He was about ready to shoot the damn view screen just so he didn't have to explain it again.

"We have no record of your payment from four days ago."

"That's your gorram problem, not mine. I paid an' that's that." Mal grabbed a hold of the piece of paper he had placed on the console before waving the docks. He crumpled it in his fist as he waved it about in front of the camera. "I got the ruttin' proof of it right here!"

"You'll have to dock, and we'll need to check the validity of the paper work." The monotone voiced man on the other side of the screen answered, obviously uncaring of the amount of annoyance the whole ordeal was having on Mal. "While you're docked you ship will be searched by local authorities in accordance to…"

"What?" Mal cut him off, clutching the piece of paper in his hand even tighter. "What do you mean searched?"

"The local authorities have the proper warrants for search and seizure on all ships docking on the planet for as long as they see fit. Several individuals wanted for questioning, escaped four days ago. I guess it has something to do with that."

Mal tensed at the comment, thankful that the man on the other side of the screen didn't seem quite bright enough to realize that four days ago was when they had left Harvest. "So why are they searching incoming ships?" He asked as offhandedly as he could, which considering the lump that was growing in his throat wasn't all that offhand.

The career bureaucrat glared at the screen in front of him. This really had been a terrible day for him. First, his girlfriend left him that morning. Then, he was late so his boss yelled at him, and, now, this ben an de yi ge kong jian niu zai wouldn't stop asking questions. "I don't know. I don't work for the authorities. Maybe you should ask them." He answered in his most sarcastic voice, and attempted to stifle the sigh that he wanted to let loose.

Mal stared out the front of the ship, the deep green and blue planet of Harvest looming ahead of him. This did not bode well for his crew or him for that matter. If they were searching incoming ships, the authorities knew some of the crew had been left behind. They hadn't talked to 'Nara or Kaylee since the ship got fixed two days ago, and they still hadn't seen hide nor hair of Jayne n' River.

"Sir!"

Mal's head snapped back to the screen in front of him. The same annoyed and deeply depressed face he'd been arguing with for the last half an hour stared back at him.

"You have clearance for dock 7A in half an hour." The annoyed monotone voice droned on, uncaring of the lack of a response from Mal. "Be ready for the search and have your paper work with you. Head straight to dock controls so we can verify your payment from your last visit." With that the screen clicked off.

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"Is he going to stride in here and sweep you off your feet?"

"Simon?" Kaylee stared at the girl in front of her as the young mechanic fought hard to keep her face from breaking out into the huge grin that always came from conversations about her bao bei. "Well, he ain't really the sweep ya off your feet type of guy." Kaylee answered stifling a giggle.

The girls around her however all began to giggle like mad, something that made Kaylee feel like she was back home hangin' 'round the barn with all her friends gigglin' 'bout each other's crushes an' the like.

The only difference was that all the girls crowded around her were dressed in fancy silks and were trainin' to be certified Companions, that an' she was the only one with a guy to be giggling over. She, little grease hog Kaylee, gal from the rim, had her very own well to do doctor to giggle over.

"Is he handsome?"

"Oh, god, is he ever! Most beautiful man I ever laid eyes on." A few of the girls giggled at the thought, though most of them just sighed dreamily. "He's got the prettiest blue eyes, an' that body! Honestly, I don't know why he wears all those layers, just hidin' a good thing."

The girls all began to giggle again an' Kaylee was pretty sure that if any of their teachers were to catch 'em there would be some serious reprimanding. Honestly, some of the Companions were worse then the Captain.

The pair of large wood doors that the girls were all crowded around swung open, and Inara glided out into the open hall.

"Hey, 'Nara." Kaylee called out to her. Inara tensed at the sound of her name, which she barely believed possible due to how tense she already felt when she left the last room. She turned to address the voice and relaxed when she saw that it had only been Kaylee who called out to her and not Lyssa. She smiled at her friend who was currently sitting amongst a horde of young trainees. "Got everything with the Guild handled?"

"In a sense." Inara walked over to the gaggle of giggling girls and grinned down to her young friend. "What are you girls up to?"

"Oh, nothin'." Kaylee beamed up to her. "I was just askin' 'em 'bout bein' a Companion an' they was askin' 'bout Simon an' workin' on Serenity."

Inara smiled down at her friend's obvious joy at being the one envied by all the girls, especially ones that would one day become Companions. "Yes, well, don't get too loud. You don't want Lyssa coming along and ruining all of your fun. Don't think I don't remember how it was during training, all of that practice on how to pour tea or light incense." Inara smiled at the group, who had all took to giggling again.

The girls all giggled at the thought of sneaking about when they should all be studying or practicing their tea pouring or calligraphy.

"Oh, hey, 'Nara? Did you wave the Cap'n 'fore you talked to the Guild like you said?"

Inara stopped dead in her tracks, back stiffening at the mention of Mal. "I did, but they never answered. I'm sure they were just busy. They are bound to be landing within the next few hours, especially if they've been fortunate enough to avoid any more problems."

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"Higgins said we could do anything we want with her." Gunther growled out in sheer annoyance, throwing more then his fair share of death glares toward Jonus at the helm of the ship.

"Damn, Gunther, you ain't still thinkin' on that are you?" Sammus asked, an amused grin plastered to his face as he walked onto the bridge.

"I'm a victim of circumstance, Sammy."

"I thought you called it your pecker?"

"What? No! Oh, hell, I ain't talkin' about that! I'm talkin' about us gettin' paid, and how our fearless navigator and apparent plan maker is screwin' with those plans."

"What are you going on about?"

"Go on Jonus, tell 'im the new plan." Gunther almost yelled out as he moved to stand next to Sammus.

"We're setting down in ten, could you both just shove off and lemme land the damn boat?"

"I ain't goin' anywhere till you tell Sammus the gorram plan!"

"Fine, you ning luo pang tun bu, I'll tell 'im. You know how we sent the coordinates so we could have the cops meet us when we set down?" Sammus nodded, though Jonus couldn't see it as he was busy starting the landing sequence. "Well, I figured that wasn't too smart. So instead, we're gonna set down somewhere else, and then take the girl somewhere safe where the cops'll meet us, take her off our hands, and give us the money."

Gunther growled again as he angrily gestured towards Jonus. "Why've ya got to go and change the damn plan once we got it all figured out Jonus, you dai hou ai yi chi?

"If'n Higgins figures out how much she's worth do you really think he's just gonna let us waltz out of here with her?" Jonus asks as he flips an overhead switch and punches several keys on the controls before him.

Gunther glared at Sammus before sighing deeply and turning back towards Jonus "No." he barked out, still extremely annoyed at the whole situation.

"No." Jonus repeated with a self-satisfied little grin, one Gunther would be all too willing to wipe off his face right now. "So we land, collect our money from Higgins an' go our separate ways. Take the girl, meet the guys that'r gonna take her offa our hands, get our money from them, and we'll be rich men twice over."

"I don't know. I've got a bad feelin' about that plan." Sammus finally cut in, half in an attempt to keep Gunther from skinning alive the only one on the xing jiao boat that could land it but mostly because there was something off with the plan.

"What? What problems could you have? It's foolproof." Jonus turned to stare at the two men behind him, something that made Sammus a bit worried seeing as how when he's staring at them he can't see where he's flying the ship, an' the planet was getting closer by the second.

"Nothin' is foolproof, especially since you two are involved." Sammus sighed heavily again. "Look, the longer we've got her the more chances she's got to get away."

"Oh, common, what can a bitty thing like her do to us?"

Sammus just glared at Jonus and continued as if he had never spoken at all. "An' the more chances she gets the more likely it is she'll get away. 'Sides, the longer we've got her, the longer we gotta wait to get paid."

"And if we just trade her off as soon as we land Higgins and his freak torture boy Mick 'r gonna know somethin's up. I'd take the girl tryin' to get away a couple times than Mick gettin' cut happy on me any day."

Gunther growled again as he leaned up against the bulk head. "I hate to say it, but the shao la shi has got a point. I'd rather deal with the girl."

"Fine, we do it your way then. Wave the coordinates of the room we were gonna stay in, have 'em meet us there. An' get your eyes back to flyin' the damn boat." Sammus said as he turned to leave the bridge. "Can't collect any money if we crash."

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He wanted to tell them everything, anything, things he never knew, things he wished he never knew, whatever they wanted him to say he was ready to say it.

Most parts of his brain had shut off in order to cope with the stress, and he knew if he didn't get a break soon, he was gonna die. Die a horrible and bloody death all over a bunch of money he never got to spend an' a crap heel moon he'da been happier never seein' again.

His body felt like fire and ice were climbing through it, and he was spitting blood from internal injuries, not to mention he was pretty sure his shoulder was dislocated from hangin' there for so long.

Reasonable thought had been wiped from his mind as he felt his ribs crack under the strain of the bar Mick had begun to use on him.

The metal bar slammed into his hip. He cried out sharply and tried to pull away from the man whose sole purpose seemed to be breaking every bone in his body. The very same body that was currently betraying him, and it was pissing him off almost more then the prick that was doing the beating, almost but not quite.

He couldn't keep his eyes open let alone focused on anything, and he needed to keep them open. He'd already passed out twice, which just made Mick angrier when he woke back up, and that meant Mick would change it up and pick a new object to beat 'im with. Granted the bar was a helluva lot better than the whip, and he did not miss the electric shock at all. The point was Mick was getting down to the sharp and pointy things, and Jayne did not want to see what he could do with those.

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The ship landed with a heavy thud and a small squeak of protest from the landing gear. Jonus flipped the last few switches and shut down the ship. He grinned broadly to himself as he pushed his chair back and stood up, stretching his back out as he did so. They were all about to become very rich men.

He spun around and strutted down the hallway towards his room. All he had to do was grab his gun, say his farewells to Higgins an' grab his money. Then, it take the girl to the hotel, and after that they were home free.

As he turned the last corner to his bedroom, he briefly contemplated how lucky he was. Honestly, getting so much money so easily should be ruttin' illegal, he mused as he punched in the code to his door's lock.

The lock clicked, and Jonus pushed open the door. He looked at the wall opposite his bed, which was covered completely by guns. Most had been his pa's, and boy had that man been pissed when he found out his only son wanted to be a pilot instead a joinin' the law enforcement back home. Then again, pissed was a rather harsh way of puttin' it. He was mostly just disappointed, and Jonus would hate to know how disappointed his Pa would be of 'im if'n the man knew what he was doin' for a livin' now.

But he didn't know. Hell, he didn't exactly have a long time to be disappointed with 'im for the whole pilot thing, what with dyin' the next month an' all. But he did and that was that. Jonus found himself in the possession of all the guns he could ever want, even if he was complete go se with 'em.

He grabbed the six shooter off the end and shoved it into his holster. He spared one last glance at the one faded photo hangin' from his wall, weren't the time to be dwellin' on the past, 'specially seein' as how the future was looking all kinds of bright.

Rubbing his hands together and again grinning broadly, Jonus spun around and slammed his door shut. It was time to see Higgins off, and get this show on the road.

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Higgins stood a few feet away from the slowly lowering ramp, more then ready to get off this la shi dong xue ship. Two of the three men he had hired to find Cobb were standing behind him muttering to themselves, about what he really didn't care, but he was sure it involved him somehow. It always involved him when it came to people like them.

"No…no…would you shut up and let me handle everything?" Sammus rumbled out, half-glaring at Gunther and half-watching Higgins every move.

"Why do you hafta handle it?"

"What? Gorramit 'cause I'm smarter'n you, Gunther. That's why!" Sammus answered in a harsh whisper.

Higgins half-growled and half-sighed in sheer aggravation, though the sound was covered by the lowering ramp, and turned to glare at the two men behind him. "Stop your muttering." He barked out causing both of the men to stare at him in silence. "What is it you two are going on about?"

"Well, sir, we were just discussing the future of the girl." Sammus answered first, thankful that Gunther was finally taking his advice and letting him handle the situation.

"Kill her."

"That don't exactly work fer us." Gunther cut in with a cocky smirk.

Higgins glared at the larger man for a moment. He was almost as large as Cobb was, a bit skinnier and far greasier. The end of his nose sat at a slight angle on his face, obviously it had been broken before, and he had a large pink scar down the side of his neck. He would have been quiet intimidating if it weren't for the slightly shorter form in front of him.

There was no doubt that Sammus was the one in charge on that ship. He might not be as utterly horrifying as the man behind him. In fact, he would be considered almost attractive, almost but not quite. He was well built, only an inch or so taller than Higgins himself. He had shaggy blond hair and gray eyes. If it weren't for his rotted teeth, the man would have been very popular with the ladies. This was the thought that brought Higgins back to the current situation.

"I don't care what works for you. She is a witness, and I won't have her going to the authorities and getting me into trouble just because you want a little toy."

"Now, hold on a minute…" Sammus tried to again cut in.

"You said we could do whatever we wanted with the girl, an' we want to keep her." Gunther spat back at Higgins, ignoring Sammus completely.

"I said you could do whatever you wanted with her. I never said for how long."

Gunther turned the enormous gun he had stole from Jayne to aim it squarely at Higgins chest. "Well, I'm sayin'."

"Put your gorram gun down, Gunther." Sammus said as he glared at the man in question over his shoulder, deathly calm about the whole situation. "Now!"

Gunther glared at Higgins for a moment before turning his glare to Sammus. After a moment or two, he dropped his gun.

"Now," Sammus continued turning back to Higgins. "We want to keep the girl."

"And why would you want to do that?" Higgins continued to stare down the larger man behind Sammus as he answered.

"'Cause that's our job." Higgins eyes moved from Gunther to Sammus and narrowed slightly. "She's a fugie, so even if she did talk to the Alliance ain't exactly like they'll believe her."

"A fugitive?" Higgins stared at the two men for a few moments longer. "What's her name?"

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Inara sat in the room she was sharing with Kaylee, eyes unfocused as she lit the incense before her. She slowly brought back the incense burner and blew out the flame. The perfect silence of the room crashed down on her as she stared at the wall opposite of where she sat, her mind drifting back to only hours earlier.

i "We want you to make the choice as to your future with us, Ms. Serra."

"You want me to make the choice, so long as it's the choice you want me to make." Inara shot back, quickly losing her calm as she continued to argue with the wave from the two women and one man in front of her.

The woman on the far left side smiled sweetly, something Inara found disgustingly false considering the conversation they were having. "Inara, we need you. After everything that's taken place you know we need you."

"We wouldn't be having this conversation if you weren't vital to our continued progression of the Guild to the rest of the planets in our solar system." The man cut in, his voice as even and calm as it had been when Inara had first waved them.

"Our progression is not now, nor has it ever been, hindered by the events of the last few months." Inara continued, determined to make her point and leave this whole mess behind her. Or at least attempt to leave this whole mess behind her, she wasn't so sure that she would ever be able to really leave anything behind her for very long. "Miranda doesn't affect the Guild in the slightest."

The three stayed frustratingly silent as Inara continued to plead her point.

"Or does it? I know clients can sometimes get talkative afterwards, and almost all of the companions still located in the core have served important government officials at least once." Inara stared at the three in front of her, for the first time in years actually disgusted with the idea of the people she worked for. "You knew."

"Ms. Serra," the man cut her off, "what we did or did not know is of no importance. The fact of the matter is we want you back in the training houses, and, if you are unwilling to make that compromise, then we will be forced to take actions to ensure that you will."

Inara stared at the screen in front of her, eyes wide and worried. "What are you talking about?"

"You know exactly what we are talking about." He answered still deathly calm.

"You can't." Inara shook her head as worry edged into her voice. "You won't. That would harm the Guild, and cause more damage than just allowing me to be."

"Ms. Serra," the woman on the right gave Inara a small grin that made her queasy. "Do you really believe that we would be so foolish as to jeopardize ourselves?"

"We have strong ties with the Alliance, Ms. Serra." The man continued "Ties that allow us certain liberties, hard earned liberties to be sure, and we will utilize them in the ways in which we feel most fitting." He said with a hard glare through the screen at her. "We will make certain that what you are is known, and we will be the last ones blamed for it. We will appear to be as shocked by the information as everyone else."

"Then you won't have a choice; there is no going back after that." He smiled again, and Inara knew that she had never had a choice, if the Guild wanted her to go back to the training house then that is exactly where she was going to go. "You would be extricated from everything you know. Your entire way of life would have to change."

Inara stared straight ahead, damning the tears that had begun to prick at the back of her eyes as he continued on. "The people on that ship with you will accept you no matter what. After all, each of them has their own history, and there's nothing we can do about that." He stated offhandedly, breezing past the issue as if it was something trivial. "The rest of the Universe, however, won't be so forgiving. They don't have to be. And when money starts getting tight, and everyone on that ship is pulling their weight but you, what do you think will happen? Do you really think they'll keep you around when you have nothing to offer them?" /i

A gentle pounding the door behind her snapped Inara out of her trance. She turned to the door as a young blond girl stepped in.

"Ms. Serra, I hope I'm not disturbing you."

Inara jumped into the role of Companion instantly. "Not at all." She replied sending the girl a gentle smile. "What did you need?"

"You have a group of visitors, Ms. Serra. They are waiting for you in the main hall." The girl answered smoothly.

"I'll see to them. Thank you." Inara responded.

The girl bowed slightly, spun around and left without another word, leaving Inara to her thoughts for a moment. She took a deep breath as she turned back to the incense before her.

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The three stood in the middle of a large, and very impressive, entryway.

"This certainly is a big…round room." Mal stated to no one in particular as he spun in place, taking in the room around him.

"That it is, Sir."

Simon nodded dumbly from next to Zoe, mouth hanging slightly open. He had never visited a Companion training house, let alone one of the two most secluded ones in the 'Verse. "It's absolutely…" He turned to see a group of Companions, or trainee's most likely, coming down a short staircase to the left of him. "Breathtaking…" he finished quietly as his eyes met with those of the most beautiful woman he had ever seen as she stepped into the room.

"Simon!" Kaylee practically yelled as she ran across the huge room and into his open arms. "I was so worried 'bout ya." She said hugging him tightly.

"We're okay too." Mal said melodramatically from behind her.

Kaylee sighed happily and moved out of her hug with Simon. "Oh, I was worried 'bout you too, Cap'n." Kaylee said looking over her shoulder at him. "The both of ya." She amended giving a small grin and nod to Zoe.

Zoe gave her a small smile back, though it never did reach her eyes. "You woulda still been worrin' on us if it weren't for you."

"Yeah, I told you lately how much I love my mechanic?" Mal said, giving up any semblance of the fight he would tend to be having with his face to keep from i not /i smiling at Kaylee's sheer overabundance of joy.

"Not for at least four days." Kaylee beamed at him.

Mal scoffed at the comment, his grin falling into a smirk. "Well, those four days have been far kinder to you than the rest of my crew."

Kaylee looked around at the three of them. "I can see that." Each of them was dirty in one way or another and all obviously exhausted. "Ya looked like the cat drug ya in." She said, seriously trying to fight back the grin she so very much wanted to wear. Her eyes danced amongst the three of them, "Cap'n's covered in all kinds a dirt. Zoe's got more gunk on her than I ever seen before."

As her eyes fell back to Simon the grin broke free. She scrunched up her nose and grinned broadly at him. "An' look at you…" She ran her finger down his nose, wiping the grease off it. "You're all covered in engine grease…An' I'm the clean one." She announced proudly to everyone around them. "Me!"

Simon grinned at the obvious elation this fact brought Kaylee, only now really looking her over. "You look beautiful." He stated, quietly so only she could hear, a gentle smile playing across his face.

Mal only glared at the hugging couple and shook his head in disgust.

"Mal." Inara's voice brought his head snapping to the short stairs that lead to the travelers rooms. "What took you all so long?"

"What us? We woulda been here over an' hour ago, but Negative Nancy over there made us check every gorram bar between the docks n' here. Kept goin' on about how something awful musta happened. It's a wonder to think he ever worked with sick an' dyin' folk."

Simon glared at the captain. "They could have been in any of those bars." He shot back, choosing to ignore the name. "Besides I'm not entirely to fault. Dealing with the docks and being searched took an hour or so."

"You were searched?"

Mal nodded turning to look at Inara again. "Apparently, they're lookin' for something, or someone…"

"They weren't exactly talkative." Zoe continued as she too turned to face Inara. "Just breezed on, searched the ship and left. Never once said what they were lookin' for."

"Whatever it is, they didn't find it on Serenity. So I guess that makes us lucky twice over." Mal finished with a happy grin, the kind that he had been wearing more and more as the days moved on and things on the ship started returning to normal. Inara seriously doubted things would ever be like they used to on the ship, let alone normal, but they were settling into everything.

Inara nodded at the two before continuing. "So, what's the plan?"

Mal's grin fell at the word plan, granted mostly just because him an' plans that didn't involve lots of guns tended to not work out so great. "What?"

"The plan, as in the plan to find River and Jayne and get off this planet and back to what it is we do." Inara answered. Her small and hopeful smile of being whisked away by her knight in white armor before anything with the Guild could get any worse began to slowly fade as Mal continued to just stare at her. "You do have a plan, right?"

"Well, yeah. It's just…" He made a face, his classic 'I must come up with something quick' face, as he shifted from foot to foot in front of her. "I'm workin' out the kinks." He finished with a small wave of his hand.

"Is one of the kinks you not actually having a plan?"

"That might be one of the bigger ones, yes…"

Inara shook her head before turning and starting back up the stairs and towards her room.

Mal sighed slightly as he watched Inara storm up the stairs, a quiet string of Mandarin flowing in her wake. "We need a plan, Zo'."

"I gathered that much, Sir."

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"So let me get this straight. Our whole plan hinged on the fact that Higgins would let us keep the girl and do with her as we pleased, but without him knowin' who she was an' what she was worth. Right?" Jonus asked as he stared at his two cohorts. "An' then you went an' told him who she was an' why we was keepin' her anyhow?"

Sammus glowered at the shorter man if he wasn't so damned good at flyin' he woulda plugged Jonus long ago.

Gunther looked from Jonus to Sammus and back, secretly loving how very irritated Sammus got every time he had to work closely to their know-it-all pilot. "That's the short of it." Gunther answered, earning him a good glare from Sammus.

Jonus nodded slowly, seemingly staring off at nothing as he worked things over in his head. "An' how is that anything like the plan?"

"Would you just yao di yu shang yi bai fen hong se xiao ma, Jonus!" Sammus shouted, slamming his fist on the table in front of him. "Ain't exactly like we had much of a choice anyhow. He wanted us to kill her, an' Gunther was goin' off half-cocked." Gunther growled at having the blame planted on him, didn't matter if it were the truth or not. "'Sides, it don't matter none anyhow. Soon as Higgins heard she was a fugie he let us have her."

Jonus shook his head slowly, a confused expression pulled across his face. "That doesn't make any sense. Why would he just let us have 'er after he found out how much she's worth?"

Sammus glared at Jonus, though this time out of shocked annoyance more then angry annoyance. "Thank you, Jonus. Thank you for all that faith. Do you think I'm completely stupid? 'Course I didn't tell him how much she was worth! I ruttin' lied."

"He musta bought it too 'cause he left right after the conversation anyhow." Gunther added. Eyes glued to the door that lead out of the kitchen. His mind obviously more focused on the large sums of money that seemed to loom just out of reach.

Jonus looked at Gunther like he'd grown another head before Sammus finished the story. "Said he had business to attend here, and then he threw off some line 'bout not travelin' with corpses. Said he'd meet the body an' Mick at the docks in a few days an' that we were no longer needed."

"Also said our money was bein' transferred to us today." Gunther said, eyes moving from the door to the others at the table, a leer snaking its way onto his face again. "I'm thinkin' its time we start workin' on gettin' our other payday in order."

Sammus and Jonus both stared at Gunther. They'd all been thinkin' it, and truth be told not having to listen to whatever Mick had planned as the final act on Cobb was lookin' mighty fine in-and-of itself, let alone getting the pay off.

"We got a way to transport her to the room?" Sammus asked eyes turning back to Jonus.

"We can get a Mule," Jonus answered, turning back to Sammus. "I can get it rented out while you two grab the girl. Then all we gotta do is get her to the town 'bout 10 minutes away, and pick it up."

Sammus nodded at him. "Do it."

Jonus quickly stood from the table they had gathered around and headed toward the bridge.

"Let's go grab our girl."

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The ship had gone silent over an hour ago. The engines were cut and communications turned off, and she was lost in the thrumming and chaotic sound that the silence brought.

She shot from mind to mind, never dwelling long on one, just pausing long enough to let a trickle of their thoughts wash over her. She had been doing so for the last few hours, in a futile attempt to figure out where they were headed. Unfortunately, no one was thinking about where they were going, just what they would be doing once they landed.

River had hoped the pilot would think about where they were going to land, or at least on flying. Instead, he kept imagining half naked girls on the beach, and odd alcoholic beverages served with a myriad of flowers and a little umbrella. A fat lot of good that did her.

The bigger one, the one who leered at her the way the men at the bar on Harvest had, kept thinking about sex, so she avoided his thoughts all together. The captain mostly thought about pool halls and casinos. Then he thought about the men he owed back on Persephone, and how much trouble he was going to be in once they found out he came into such good fortunes and never did intend trying to pay them back. He deserved to have his kneecaps beaten in so she left him to those thoughts.

Higgins' mind had become shut off ever since they had landed. At first, it had been consumed with anger, anger at the fact that getting what he had sought for so long had brought him so little joy. However, the anger turned into determination at the thought of getting his moon back, even though he knew he had no chance at it, with or without Jayne dead. Now though, his mind was all fog and mystery, and it concerned River more then she cared to admit.

Mick didn't think about anything but hurting Jayne. His mind was filled with darkness all rage and hate. He held more in common with a Reaver than any man she had ever known, even the ones at the Academy.

Then there was Jayne himself. She tried to stay away from those thoughts all together because every time she caught a glimpse of what was in his head she couldn't hold back the tears. She had to save him soon, because one way or another he wasn't going to last much longer. His mind was blank and body beaten. He would either give up and let himself die, or Mick would push him to death.

With a determined huff River tried again, and she began dancing from mind to mind allowing the sound of everyone surround her. Her breath caught at the last thought that flooded her mind. It was time.

Her head snapped to the side so she could stare at the thick door next to her. It wouldn't be long before those buffoons would be here, guns pointed, ready to drag her off of the ship and to town so they could collect their reward.

She strained her ears trying to hear them through the thick metal door that separated her from the rest of the ship. The quiet voices barely flitted through the heavy door, but she heard every word none-the-less.

"It's time."

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The heavy metal door swung open with a rusty squeak and Gunther pushed inside. "Well, hello again there gorgeous." He smiled down at her, Jayne's gun pointed at her. "Get up. It's long past time we get paid for draggin' your skinny ass out here. Come'on." He gestured with the gun as River gracefully rose from the ground and eyed the man before her.

She shook her head slightly before she spoke. "It's not yours." She stated simply, staring at the gun in Gunther's hands.

Gunther grinned at her before looking down to the gun held tight in his hands. "It is now, princess." Rivers eyes darted up to his face at the name. "That's what men like me do. We see something we like…" He lifted the gun up in front of him a little further in an attempt to show it off and taunt her all at once. "And then we take it."

"You're out of your league." She said quietly, taking a tentative step towards him. "You have no idea what you have."

Gunther's crude leer didn't have time to leave his face before River moved. Her foot landed in his gut at the same time her hands wrapped around the gun.

Gunther stumbled back a step. He was hunched over and desperately gasping in an attempt to replace the air River had just knocked out of him. He straightened a little just in time to see the butt of the gun smashed into his face. With the crack of breaking bones ringing out, his body fell back, smashing into the adjacent wall.

Sammus' eyes grew wide as he watched Gunther clutch his nose in an attempt to stop the bleeding as he fell into the wall. He barely had enough time to turn towards the door before River flipped the gun around to barrel whip Sammus.

Jonus froze at the end of the hall, where he had been returning from the bridge and his renting of a mule in town, as he saw Sammus fall over. "Shit!" He grabbed for the gun on his hip, frantically trying to tug it free as River stepped out of the room.

River hefted the gun up again, ready to swing it down and knock Gunther out completely, when Jonus shot.

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Mick froze, hand hovering over his table of gleaming tools. He tilted his head to the side slightly, straining to hear over the sound of Jayne's ragged breathing. There it was again, the subtle sound of gun fire echoing through the halls of the hollow ship.

Jayne felt the urge to laugh, or maybe cry he wasn't completely sure, but he didn't. Instead, he glared hard at Mick as he swayed slightly in the air. "Oh, now, you're in trouble." he croaked out, surprised at the hoarse sound of his voice. He'd expected the comment to come out silently what with all the screaming he'd been doing.

Mick looked over his shoulder at the once strong and hulking man that hung from his arms a good foot or two off of the ground just behind him. A small smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth as he turned towards him. "And why is that?"

Jayne really was going to laugh at that, and only held it in because he knew it would hurt him a hell of a lot more than it was worth. So he settled for huffing in mild amusement. "'Cause, she's going to kill you."

Mick glared at Jayne before turning back to his table. He wrapped a meaty fist around a thick linked chain before he left the room.

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The bullet only grazed her shoulder, but it was enough to get her attention off Gunther. River swung the heavy gun down. However, instead of knocking out, Gunther she turned and aimed it at Jonus. She squeezed the trigger and let out one shot before Jonus fell to the floor, bullet lodged between his eyes.

Gunther jumped up off of the floor as his pilot crumpled to the ground, far quicker than most men of his size would have, and threw himself at River.

The gun clattered to the floor as her small frame flew into the opposite wall. He pushed her flat against the hull of the ship and wrapped his arms around hers in an attempt to keep her from struggling too much. After all, the reward would only be given if she was unharmed.

River squirmed in his tight grasp, ignoring the sticky feel of the blood from his nose rubbing off into the back of her neck, and moved to push off the wall.

Grunting in frustration, and exertion, Gunther pushed down on her smaller frame even harder. He was more than willing to hand her off to whoever wanted her, but there weren't no way she was gonna be completely not harmed after she'd already killed one of 'em as it were.

Growling in sheer annoyance at the amount of time this was taking, River shifted her hips slightly, giving herself just enough room to kick her foot back and plant it firmly between his slightly spread legs. His grip loosened as he hunched over in pain, Mandarin flowing from his mouth, all empty promises of how he would kill her. After all, he would never risk losing all that money.

River spun around and kicked him across the face, sending the remnants of his nose straight into his brain. As Gunther's body collapsed on the floor, she turned to where Jayne's gun had fallen, intent on picking it up and making her way to the room where he was being held. Instead, she found herself frozen in place with Steve aimed at her.

"Don't you ruttin' move!" Sammus spat out as he struggled to stand and still aim the gun at the same time.

A smile fluttered across her face as she watched him stand before her. Sammus glowered at the little slip of a girl who stood before him, his eyes darting from Jonus' dead form over to Gunther's severely beaten and, hopefully, merely unconscious one. "What's so funny, little girl?"

She smiled blindingly at the man. "Safety," She whispered before she lashed out, sending the gun crashing to the ground, followed shortly afterwards by the newly dead form of Sammus himself.

She swooped down to grab for the gun just in time for a heavy linked metal chain to crash into the wall beside her. River sprinted forward, making sure to kick the gun into the next room, as she desperately tried to avoid the swinging links of metal that Mick seemed so intent on pounding into her.

River lost her balance as she ducked down, barely missing the metal Mick was again swinging at her. The chain cracked against the doorframe of the kitchen just before she smashed into the counter inside of the room as she fell into the mess. She spun around just as Mick flew into the room after her, chain swinging ready to attack again.

River kicked off the floor and rolled backwards, flipping over the counter that had been pressing into her back as the chain crashed into the edge of the counter behind her. The heavy metal sending splinters of fake wood into the air just behind her.

River grabbed the heaviest pan off the rack next to her and flung it at Mick's head. Mick batted the heavy pan away just in time to have another pan smash into his face.

River took the opportunity to dive out from behind the counters in the kitchen and under the large wooden table in the middle of the room. If she moved quickly enough, she could crawl out from under the table and reach Jayne's gun before Mick had enough time to catch her.

Mick growled in pain and spun around to glare at the area River had recently occupied. The sound of falling chairs brought his attention to the table, and River's quickly crawling form. He grinned and darted around the table in an attempt to cut her off.

River darted out from under the table right before Mick swung the heavy chain down again. Splinters from the table flew into the air in her wake as she slid across the floor. As her hand wrapped around the handle of the gun, Mick spun around to face her again.

As he lifted the chain up one last time, River rolled onto her back. Before he had time to swing the chain down, River pulled the trigger, and Mick fell to the ground screaming in agony. The chain fell to the floor with a violent twang of metal on metal.

River slowly stood up and looked down at Mick's bleeding and writing form. She glared down at him with obvious disgust on her face as he desperately clutched his bleeding crotch. Nothing more then incoherent wails of pain were leaving his mouth, but his eyes held all of the hate and rage he felt at the moment and said everything he wished he could.

"Deserve worse." She said simply. Then she pulled the trigger once more, and the screaming stopped.

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The door flew open, drowning Jayne in light. He flinched against the glare and weakly rolled his head to the side to stare at the silhouette in the door.

It was probably the blood loss, but Jayne could swear she looked like a Bazooka wielding angel as she stood in the door frame with the light flooding in around her.

River stepped into the room, gun held tight in her hand, and stared at the man in front of her.

"Jayne." Her eyes drifted from his broken and bleeding frame to take in the room around her. As she took another step into the room her nose scrunched up in disgust. The room was small and covered in grime and dried blood and tears began to prick at the back of her eyes at the site of all of the blood stained objects on the table next to her.

River bit the inside of her cheek and shook her head and pushed the tears back. She bent down and gently laid his gun on the ground next to her. There would be time for tears later. Right now, he needed help. With a few quick strides, she moved across the room to where the chain wrapped around his arms was locked to the wall.

She loosened the chain and slowly lowered him so his feet were planted on the ground. River locked the chain again and hurried to Jayne's side. She reached up and unlocked his wrists, causing Jayne to groan.

His heavy and sticky form fell forward onto her, and the small girl suddenly found herself trying to support his entire weight. With a muffled 'oh' of surprise, the two of them began to sink to the floor.

He was breathing heavily, though she was almost certain that was due entirely to the intense amount of joy she felt rolling off him. He grabbed her upper arms as hard as his weakened state would allow, and he desperately gasped in shaky breaths.

They were both sprawled out on the floor, and River sighed deeply. She closed her eyes and leaned forward. Wrapping her arms around Jayne's neck, she slowly ran her hands through his short hair. "Shhh…its okay." She whispered softly against his ear stopping him from trying to say anything. "I've got you….I've got you."

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Two men stood at the top of the ship's lowered ramp, eyes scanning the small docking bay. The taller of the two spotted an officer coming down the stairs that led to the crew quarters. He took a few steps and met the officer in the middle of the cargo bay.

"Sir, the ship's empty." The officer stated as he held his gun at ease. "There isn't anyone living on this boat."

"Living?"

"There are four dead bodies in various rooms on the upstairs. None of them match the girl." He answered, staring down the slightly shorter man who had asked the question. With a curt shake of his head the officer continued, "No one's been here for a few hours. They must have found some kind of vehicle and taken it into one of the nearby towns."

The man nodded his understanding. "Call your men. We're leaving." The officer nodded and turned to jog back up the stairs to his men. The man walked back to his friend's side, eyes still scouting over every inch of the cargo bay, just in case one of the officers men missed something. "We missed her."

The taller man turned towards his companion, a smile slowly spreading across his face. "Doesn't matter. She was here an' that means we're getting closer."

The sun set the horizon on fire as it slowly lowered beneath it. A harsh wind kicked up dust and caused small dirt devils to dance around the ship. The taller man turned to look out across the desert horizon that stretched for miles and miles. "We're getting closer."

TBC!