Title: Tales of a Would-be Hostage
Chapter: 3/??
Author: thefalloficarus at livejournal
Characters: This chapter: Kaylee, River, Simon, Bester, Mal, Zoe, OC Marisol
Spoilers/Warnings: Completely Alternate Universe. River never went to the Academy, certain characters have WAY different backgrounds. There's a character death in this chapter. Trust me, it's for the best, I can't write for this character worth beans.

Note: plot bunny passed on to me by lj user whitemoonflower. Sorry I've forgotten to credit you till now, and thank you so much for sharing this idea with me!
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Chapter 3: Destiny in the Making

"Simon!" River cried, rushing into her brother's arms, hugging him as tightly as she could, as if he might slip away if she let go too soon.

Simon groaned under the pressure, but didn't complain and merely held his sister, smiling brightly. "Mei mei." He said softly. "I've missed you."

"You'd better have." River said, finally loosening her grip.

Simon laughed. "It's good to see that your brattish ways are still your most apparent feature." He joked, gently placing a hand on her cheek, examining her face. "I'm so proud of you Captain Tam." He said honestly, his tone holding nothing but pride and admiration. "The way you're going, you're going to be in charge of the whole Alliance fleet soon."

River smiled shyly for a moment and then turned, allowing Simon a view of Kaylee and the rest of her crew as they de-boarded. "And of course, I think you remember my lovely new mechanic." She said, smiling at Kaylee.

Kaylee stepped forward, waving shyly. "Hey Simon."

River turned and looked at her brother after a moment of silence and had to bite her tongue to stop herself from laughing. His mouth hung open slightly, and his eyes had popped out in a look of shock and awe. Kaylee giggled nervously and River finally poked her brother, inciting a reaction at long last. "Kaylee!" He said, his voice a little higher than normal. He cleared his throat then, and tried again. "Kaylee. Hi. It's... you... I mean not you, a pleasure to see you." He said. "I... a pleasure...Sorry, it's just been years since I saw you last. You've grown..." he finished lamely.

Kaylee had the grace to look uncomfortable, tucking her hair behind her ear and adjusting the brightly colored blue jacket she'd changed into. "It's nice to see ya Simon." She said, her voice slightly shaking with nerves.

River giggled, covering her closed lips with the back of her hand. When she'd calmed herself she sighed, looking from one to the other and finally with a roll of her eyes she looked to her crew. "Okay guys, let's get the supplies off the boat and get ourselves some dinner."

The statement seemed to snap Kaylee and Simon out of their daze, and both turned away blushing, Kaylee moving to help the crew, Simon turning to let the Galley know that their guests were finally docked.

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Mal staggered onto Serenity, Zoe over his shoulder bleeding down his back and he screamed up into the ship. "Go NOW NOW NOW!!" And though he hadn't been using a com the door behind him began to close and the ship lifted off the cursed rock as gunshots rang behind him.

"You ever come back here Mal and we'll kill ya!" Came a voice from planetside.

"You're dead already Constance, you're just too stupid to know it." He yelled back before the door finished closing. "HELP!" Mal screamed into the ship, calling for any and all crew to come to his aid.

Before anyone had time to react and leak out of the metalwork into the cargo bay he strode purposefully into the infirmary and began setting Zoe up on the table. "Now, Zoe." He said soft and firm. "You gotta open your eyes and hold on."

"Captain, what's... Oh my god, Zoe!" Came a voice from the door.

"Bester, Get Marisol, tell Wash..." He paused, shaking his head for a moment but knowing what needed to be done. "Tell Wash to set a course for the Alliance Port Cruiser the Magellan, and you get as much juice out of the engine as you can, ya hear me?"

Bester nodded stunned and then turned on his heel, running to accomplish the tasks set forth to him. A moment later Marisol, the ship's cook/nurse/computer's specialist appeared.

"Holy shi.."

"Mari, I need your help. We need to pack the wound and stop the bleedin' as much as we can. We're headin' towards help, but I don't know how much time Zoe's got and we need to give her as much as possible, ya hear?" Mal interrupted, barking orders in a level headed fashion.

Marisol nodded, still starring horrified at the hole in Zoe's abdomen, and then she turned looking around, as if realizing something. "Where's Jayne?"

"Marisol, focus, I need this done." Mal said, already cutting away layers of clothing, exposing the wound.

"Captain, Where's Jayne?" Marisol demanded.

Mal paused, sighing, starring down at the wound in Zoe. "It was an ambush. Jayne's dead." He said softly. "And if you don't move, Zoe'll be dead too. So please Marisol, please. Help me get this done." He turned up to her, looking at her for a moment, his eyes hard and intense, with fear threatening to break through. Marisol looked into those eyes, took a breath and immediately began helping Mal do all they could to help Zoe hang on just that much longer. Neither one of them entirely sure if they'd arrive on time, or if they did if help would even come.