Author's Note: Don't worry, Chapter 9 will be up by tomorrow night.

Chapter 8

Out in the black, time moves differently, days blending into each other without fanfare. Jeremiah liked the silence. Cities were full of people crammed together, their emotions broadcasting, even when they slept. Dreams were the worst. The unconscious mind had no filters. Lust, fear and pain ran rampant through the human psyche in the throes of sleep.

"You shouldn't sit in here alone and brood," Tara said from behind him," The whole melancholy hero thing really doesn't suit you."

He felt the gentle brush of her mind in his and smiled as he stood up, "I was just thinking."

"I know, that's why I came in here. Your thoughts were getting very dark."

Jeremiah studied the woman standing in front of him. Tall and lean, she always had an air of self-confidence about her. The tattoo that ran along the left side of her face made her blue eyes stand out and accentuated the sharp angle of her jaw. Her hair was pulled away from her face in a long braid that was currently draped over one shoulder. She was stunning, more importantly,she was the one that kept him sane.. He smiled again, "Okay, I promise, no more brooding," he said as he moved to the door, "today."

As he left the room, he could hear her laughter following him. He walked to through the ship to the cockpit and sat down at the flight console. He reached down, flipping a few switches and watched as an image of Serenity came up on the screen in front of him. They were close enough now for vid capture. They had finally caught up to the other ship at the beginning of the daytime cycle and would have to wait until the crew went to sleep again before they could attempt to board. It could be done while they were awake, but it would require much more effort. Sleeping, their kind were much easier to manipulate.

After checking the nav system, Jeremiah left the cockpit and walked to the common area where the others had gathered. Catorina and Mikal sat together, silent as always, faces set in hard masks. Matias leaned casually against one wall, his eyes sharp. Tara sat on the stairs that led to the cargo bay, her arms resting on her legs. They were waiting for him.

"You got a plan for how this is going to play out?" Matias asked.

"We wait until they begin their next sleep cycle. Last night when I spoke to Ophelia, she said that Elder Mithos will try and keep the girl under long enough for us to board," he looked at Catorina, "I need both you and Mikal to focus on keeping the others in check."

"What about the Flux?" Tara asked, "Do we know which one it is?"

"No, only that it's one of the men. Elder Mithos is to far away to pick up any specifics and the council didn't want to risk mind shock trying to find out so we're going into this blind." He ran one hand through his hair, "The fact that he has no idea what's going on or how to use his connection to the girl should help us."

" How aggressive are we going to be trying to get her out of there?" Mikal asked.

"We've been ordered to do as little damage as possible. We want to help this girl, not permanently destroy the people closest to her."

The other man grunted, "So we have to keep it dialed back. Their kind are so fragile."

"Just keep in mind that this is not a battle situation, all right? As far as we know, these people aren't any real threat."

"As far as we know," repeated Matias.

oOo

Jayne sat up on the weight bench and wiped the sweat from his face with the towel he had draped around his neck. River was in the middle of the cargo bay, spinning in slow circles and humming to herself, something she hadn't done in months. He walked over and stood a few feet away from her.

"Hey girl, you gone all moon brained again?"

She didn't stop spinning when she answered, "The music has stopped. Had to make some of my own."

"What music?"

"Serenity's music, it's gone. Just a ship now, lifeless and cold. It's always cold."

She stopped spinning and looked at him, "You're never cold. I don't understand it."

As she brushed past him, Jayne could have sworn he felt a cool breeze follow her. Jesus Cobb, you're about as crazy as she is. Only, he had stopped thinking of her as crazy weeks ago. It bothered him the way he felt like he had to watch her, protect her. She wasn't his to worry about, but that didn't stop him these days. It was the damndest thing.

It only took him a few strides to catch up to her. He reached out and grabbed her hand, turning her around so she was facing him again.

"I don't know what yer thinkin' on so hard it's got you all scrambled again, but you need to snap out of it or that brother of yours is gonna convince the captain to let him drug you up and won't be nothin I can do to stop it."

River cocked her head to one side, "You're worried about me?"

"Umm...well," Jayne muttered, shoving his hands into the pockets of his cargo pants, "You and me, we sort got to be friends. Don't like the idea of him pumpin' ya full of drugs again."

River smiled and stepped closer, "You aren't the man they think you are, are you?" She reached up and brushed a kiss against his cheek, "You're mask is plain to me now. I'm sorry I couldn't take it away."

She turned away from again, leaving him standing alone in the cargo bay. This time, he didn't try to follow her.

oOo

"She's getting worse. I've watched her deteriorate rapidly over the last week. I don't know what's causing it and I don't know how to stop it."

Mal watched as Simon paced back and forth in the small infirmary, "She don't seem to be violent, the way she was last time. No outbursts that I've seen, just that far away look and some hummin'. As long as she's not tryin' to kill anyone, we got bigger problems to focus on. Like how we're gonna make the drop on Morpheus and get out without bein' seen, dong ma?"

"What happens if her deterioration doesn't stop? What happens when it gets worse?"

"Well doc, I haven't dumped the two of you off this boat yet. Suppose we'll just have to deal with that when the time comes."

oOo

Dinner together was something Mal insisted on. Only in the harshest of moments was the rule relaxed. He felt it built a sense of family among the crew and a man fought hard to protect those closest to him. He sat at the table now and watched his little family. They'd seen their fair share of trouble, lost a couple of good people, but somehow they'd come through it. Now they were facing another patch of trouble, only this time, they didn't know the enemy, it unnerved him a fair bit. When a man knew his enemy, he could prepare for a fight. Going in blind was a recipe for getting people dead.

As River wandered in Mal noticed two things. The first thing that caught his eye was how quickly Jayne registered the girls appearance. He was quick about it, to be sure, but he took note. The second thing he noticed was that she did the same thing. Her eyes darted around the room until they came to rest on Jayne. She didn't stop moving, but he saw her shoulders relax a bit once she found him.

She sat down at the table and Mal could hear her humming to herself. The tune was soft and melodic. "What is that you're hummin'?"

River ran her fingers absently through her hair, her eyes glossing over, "Serenity's music," she said as she took another bite of her food, making a face as she swallowed, "You're cooking is still terrible Simon." She took one more bite and then pushed the plate away from herself, continuing to hum the strange tune.

Mal looked at Zoe. She raised on eyebrow and shrugged. He turned back to River, "Well now, didn't know my boat had her own tune."

"She used to, now it's gone. So I'm singing it for her."

"River," Simon said, "Where does the music come from?"

"Shhh...you'll break the rhythm," was the only reply he got.

Jayne sat silently, listening to the conversation. He'd decided that afternoon that he needed to start mindin' his own damn business again. He could feel her lookin' at him, but he wasn't going to get mixed up in her craziness anymore. Just keep your head down Cobb. Ain't none of your concern.

He heard her push her chair back from the table, but he didn't look up. Not until she brushed past him and the breeze washed over his body again, carrying with it the sound of her voice. He glanced up and she caught his eyes, a small smile playing across her lips. She lifted one hand and waggled a finger at him, reminding him of the scoldin' his ma used to give him. For some gorram reason, it made him grin.

When he turned back to the table, everyone else had gone silent as if they were waiting for an explanation. He simply shrugged and picked his spoon up again, "Don't know what ya'll are makin' such a fuss over a little bit of hummin' for," he said before he began eating again. "Not like the girls runnin' around all naked and hollerin like a Reaver or nothin'. Maybe she's just tired of listening to all yer yappin." He turned his attention back to his meal, humming to himself as he ate, "'Sides, it's kinda catchy, don't ya think?'

Mal watched in stunned silence as his hired gun casually went back to eating his meal as if nothin' strange had occurred. For the second time in two weeks Jayne was defending River, a girl he'd once thought of as such a threat he'd tried to sell her out to the Feds. The situation definitely warranted further lookin' at.

oOo

Jayne slid his hand under his pillow and grasped the pistol he kept under it as soon as he heard the hatch to his bunk open. He waited until he heard feet hit the metal floor before rolling to his back and aiming at the shape at the end of the bed.

"If you shoot me, you'll have to explain a lot of things."

He dropped his arm and sat up, "What in the ruttin' hell are you doin' sneakin' into a man's bunk like that?" he asked as he flipped on the light.

River simply stared at him for a moment, as if she were trying to make a decision, "I feel strange."

Jayne snorted, "Girl, you are strange. Always have been. Why's it a problem now."

River shook her head, "No," she said, "There's something wrong, something..." she stopped, searching for the right word, "something slow."

"Something slow? What the does that mean?"

River stretched her hands out in front of her body and wiggled her fingers, "I feel slow, like everything is to heavy." She dropped her hands back to her sides and took a step toward the bed.

When Jayne saw her start to stumble, he reached out to steady her, his hand catching her around the waist, "Whoa. I don't know about slow, you look a little drunk to me. You been getting' into the captain's stash?" he joked as he pulled her down to sit next to him on the bed.

River sank down and immediately leaned against Jayne. His warmth sinking into her bones like a blanket on a cold night. She shivered a little and moved closer.

"Jesus girl," Jayne said, "You're freezing."

"I'm always cold now. Since the music stopped I can't find the warmth."

Before he thought about it, Jayne pulled her down onto the bed and covered her with the blanket, instinctively wrapping one large arm around her and pulling her shivering form against his chest.

"Can I stay here?"

Jayne closed his eyes and sent a quick prayer to his ma that he wouldn't regret what he was about to do, "For now, sure, but we gotta get you out of here before anyone wakes up and gets the wrong idea," he said, reaching around her to turn off the light, "Now get some sleep."

He felt River nod her head and within minutes all he heard was her steady, even breathing. He closed his eyes and listened to her breath, feeling the rise and fall of her chest under his arm. It was a strange place he found himself in. Jayne couldn't think of a single time in his adult life he'd had a woman in his bed that wasn't naked, or about to be naked. Yet here he was, wrapped around this fragile girl like a protective shield and the only thing on his mind was making sure she stayed warm. It suddenly occurred to him that his ma had been right, some things were worth protecting.