Authors Note: This chapter is very short. Chapter 10 is in the works and should be up tomorrow afternoon. There may be a couple of things that don't appear to make sense, but stick with me, I promise it becomes clear.

Chapter 9

"...one has to dies several times while one is still alive." - Friedrich Nietzsche

"They have entered their next sleep cycle."

"We need to bring the Chronos along side the Serenity and prepare to board her," Jeremiah said without looking up.

Matias moved to stand next to Jeremiah. He reached over to the center console on the flight computer and hit several buttons, bringing up a schematic of the Serenity, "There are two small hatches fore and aft." He tapped the screen, rotating the image, "There's a set of cargo doors on the underside of the hull, but," he continued, rotating the image once more, "The easiest point on ingress is going to be the main airlock, here, at the rear of the ship."

Jeremiah scanned the image, "Easiest, yes, but also the hardest to do with any real kind of stealth."

"I know, but we aren't going to have a lot of time once we get in there and trying to get ourselves and a possibly unwilling Ferine out of one of the smaller hatches and back onto the ship will just complicate the extraction."

"Do we know where the girl is located?"

"Tara says there's some interference coming in, but once we're inside, she'll be able to lock down on her fast enough." Mattias laughed, "You know how she works, girls freaky fast."

"And Catorina and Mikal?"

"They just need to know what you need."

Jeremiah thought for a moment, "I want to try and get in and out without them knowing we were there, but if we need to, I think fire would be best, it will keep them pinned down."

"Primal fear?" Mattais asked, "I thought we weren't approaching this as a battle situation?"

"We're not going to use it to hurt them, just keep them in check," Jeremiah said, "But let's not forget that we don't know why that girl is on that ship or how they're keeping her there." He turned away, staring out into the darkness, "I know all to well what their kind is capable of, I'm not taking any chances."

oOo

River's eyes flew open and it took her several seconds to remember where she was. Jayne's breath was warm on the side of her face, his arm still anchored around her waist. She stayed still and listened, the music had returned. She could hear Serenity humming again. Then it was there again, the feeling that had pulled her from her sleep. She had felt something different for the last several days, but she hadn't been able to concentrate, her focus had been off. Lying here now, though, it was as if whatever had veiled her mind was gone.

She closed her eyes and leaned back against the warmth of Jayne's body. The feeling was not unpleasant. It was the first time in days she'd felt any sense of normalcy or peace. She knew that as soon as she left him, the feeling would disappear. The chaos, silence and cold were waiting for her. She knew, too, that she could not stay here.

Rolling over she studied his face in the darkness. He was very handsome, she decided. She traced the line of his jaw lightly with her finger, admiring each angle of his face. The others did not see him the way she did. When they looked at him they saw a man who was good in a fight, but they never saw deeper than that. She knew now that he kept it that way on purpose. For what reason, she did not know, but she knew there was more to him than the crude, belligerent facade he presented to the world.

She rolled over as she began to slide out from under his arm so she could return to her own room. A moment of impulsivity stopped her and she turned back to face his sleeping form once more. She leaned close to him and pressed her lips against his, lingering longer than she would have had he been awake. A rush of heat and energy swept through her and she gasped when she felt his mouth move under hers and his fingers tangle in her hair. He applied gentle pressure, deepening the kiss.

River brought her hands up between them, pressing them against his chest, but she didn't try to push away. Instead, she allowed herself to relax against him, sliding one hand up along the length of his neck and wrapping her fingers around the back of his head. As the kiss continued she felt his lips open slightly, the tip of his tongue running along her lips. She gasped again, but still made no move to pull away. She allowed him to coax her own lips open, his tongue mingling with hers.

And then, as suddenly as it had begun, it ended. Jayne's hand fell away from her head and his grip relaxed. She looked down at him and realized he was still asleep. He would be mortified if he knew what he had just done. River ran the tip of her finger along his jaw one more time and then slipped out from under his arm. She would keep her secret, hold it close to her heart for those times when she felt most alone.

Silently she padded across the room, opening the hatch as quietly as she could. As she climbed the ladder, she could feel the cold settling in again and took one last look at Jayne's still sleeping form. Although she would have no one to share it with, the memory of this moment would be precious to her forever.

oOo

Jayne opened his eyes as soon as River left his bunk. He'd been awake since the first time her finger touched his face. Her touch had been soft, softer than anything he'd ever felt. He'd held himself still, waiting for her to roll back over. When she hadn't, he'd almost opened his eyes to say something to her...and then her lips had touched his. It had taken everything he had to stay still. She kissed him twice before, both innocent and harmless, like something you'd get from your sister. This had been different, he could tell that right off.

His body had reacted immediately and again, he'd had to force himself to stay completely still. He'd lasted all of ten seconds before he'd tangled his hands in her hair and pulled her closer to him. Somewhere in the middle of it all, his mind had come back to reality. He'd dropped his hand and kept his breathing steady until he was sure she thought he was asleep. He weren't going to be one of those men that took advantage of a girl just cause she got herself a case of the hero worships.

Swearing under his breath he ran one hand down his face and called himself ten kinds of wang bao dan. He sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed, dropping his head into his hands, and tried to think of how to keep a situation like that from comin' up again. He knew that if he shut down on her, it would hurt her, but he knew that if he let it go on...he didn't even want to think about that.

"Ai ya," he swore again, standing up and pacing the length of his bunk, "You stepped in it good this time Cobb. Couldn't just keep your nose out of things, had to go and get all..." he stopped mid-sentence when he heard the first scream. Everything else was forgotten as he flung back the blanket covering his guns and grabbed Vera off the rack. He climbed out the hatch and broke into a run as soon as his feet touched metal. Another scream tore through the metal halls of the ship and Jayne felt his blood run cold.

River.

oOo

Serenity was still singing to her as River moved slowly through the silent hallways of the ship. It was more distant now, but River could still pick out the distinct sound from the tangle of energy swirling around her. She felt a sudden wave of sadness grip her, as the cold settled in again, she would be left with only the tangled chaos.

She stood at the door of the infirmary and fought back the terror. Stepping into the room she moved slowly to the cabinet where she knew Simon kept the smoothers. She hoped they would forgive her.