A/N: Set between the last episode of Firefly and the BDM.

Please review and tell me what you think!

Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize.


Shortly after the incident with the bounty hunter, Wash caught a wave and without even a discussion with the rest of the crew he turned and headed for his home planet. By the time Mal was up, he and Zoe had come up with a plan.

Wash couldn't leave her there, broken and bloody, begging her bubba to take her away from those hands that could be so kind and loving one minute and turn cruel and vengeful the next. They, along with Mal and unfortunately Jayne, would go get her. They had snuck someone into a hospital before; sneaking someone out had to be way easier.

Zoe had never met her little sister-in-law, Kala in person, before. She hadn't met any of Wash's family. His mother and he didn't see eye to eye very often and she had been livid when he had married 'that girl'. She had cut off all communication with him, save for a few late night waves from his mei-mei. He had told Zoe briefly of his family. It was the only subject he didn't like to discuss about himself. She did know, however, that he fiercely loved his little sister and having to leave her behind was his one regret from leaving home and a not insignificant amount of his pay went back to her, to keep her from falling into their mother's profession. It had been a great relief to him when she had sent him word that she was to marry. And not to man she met at the brothel where she worked as a cook. He was a good boy from a nice family and she had been nothing but shiny in her communications since then.

That's why the wave, done in secret with a sympathetic nurse's communicator, had been such a shock. His 22 year old sister had looked like a little girl, bundled up in that hospital bed bruises and bandages covering her pretty face and her long blonde hair red with blood in spots.

After Wash had told her he was on his way, she had asked their mother to bring her a mall bag of her things, to have at the hospital she said, to get up and about. A few dresses and necessities, her boots, her jewelry box the one she had, unbeknownst to mother, hidden her wages in, and finally, her cookbook. Her mother had balked at the last item until Kala had told her just wanted to work on writing down some of her newer creations. All in all, the only things of value she had in the universe fit in one small bag.

On Simon's advice, only Zoe had entered the hospital in her uniform from Ariel. Two or three porters escorting one patient around would look odd, but no one would bat an eye at one porter taking a patient down for treatment.

"Kala?" She asked, cautiously entering the room. It was in her head that there was a possibility this was a trap. Hence why Mal and Jayne had come along.

"Zoe." Kala hugged her sister-in-law she had only ever seen on Waves before. "We have to hurry. We have an hour before the nurse checks on me again."

She slipped into the wheelchair Zoe had picked up near the entrance. "Is Hoban with you?"

"Keeping the Mule running," Zoe answered. "Ready for a quick getaway." She guided the wheelchair through the halls to the back entrance. The men were with the mule a block away. At the door, she grabbed Kala's bag and helped her from the chair. The girl wasn't moving too fast and Zoe could see the movements pained her but she was determined to go.

"Hey!" A porter started towards them. "Where do you think you are going?! Patients are permitted out back."

"Ignore him," Zoe advised, "Just keep walking."

The man followed them, yelling louder.

"Run." Zoe said as he got closer. "As fast as you can."

It hurt like the devil. Kala had two broken ribs, a concussion, a broken arm, and a badly sprained ankle. She was glad the team wasn't any further away as she saw Wash and two other men, standing around an all-terrain vehicle fitted with four seats and a large platform.

"Wangbadan! I'll kill him!" Wash swore when he saw Kala. He hugged her tightly before Zoe interrupted as she threw Kala's bag on the back.

"No time. We were seen leaving. Get us out of here." she said. She helped Kala into one of the seats. "You can kill him later."

Before Kala could move, strong arms encircled her, fastening her in. She looked up at the large man and fear ran through her. He was tall and broad shouldered, with tattoos on his arms, a goatee, and muscles that even Braxton would be jealous of. He also had a very large gun slung over his right shoulder.

"Ready to go," he said as Wash took off. Jayne grabbed the frame for support and leveled Vera at the terrain behind them, in case the hospital porter had called in back up, but the getaway was way too easy for his liking.

As soon as the Mule was inside the Serenity, Wash took to the cockpit to get them in the air. He hated leaving Kala but he knew Zoe would take care of her and the more distance between them and the planet the better. Kidnapping the magistrate's future daughter-in-law wouldn't be looked upon too kindly.

Jayne jumped off the Mule and released Kala's seatbelt, lifting her, with more gentleness than anyone would have thought he possessed, on to the cargo bay floor. He hadn't liked the idea of that gorram shuairen's sister being on board. The last thing they needed was more rescued family on the ship but at least this girl wasn't a wanted fugitive. His attitude, however, had softened when he had seen her limping toward the Mule, leaning heavily on Zoe. Just as it had toward River, when Simon had shown him what had been done to her when they were on Ariel. He didn't hold with hurting innocent things. Fair fights, sure, that was all in good fun, but intentionally hurting something weaker than you, on purpose, made his blood boil.

He looked at the girl again, taking in the various injuries, not liking what he saw. Wash had told them that her gou si fiancé had beaten her up and she wanted to leave him, but Jayne hadn't been expecting this level of damage. His Pa had liked to get liquored up and beat up on his Ma and him, right up until Jayne was big enough to hit back. He had seen this same look on his poor Ma's face too many times in his life. It wasn't just the injuries, they would fade. It was the hopelessness.

"Wash is right," he said to no one in particular. "That wanbadan needs his minggen ripped off and fed to him."

Kala was staring at the floor, her face white with strain, but he thought he saw the ghost of a smile drift across her lips. She was a pretty thing, he thought. If you could get past the bruises.

"Later," Zoe replied to him as well. She wouldn't have worded it that way, but she didn't disagree with the general idea. Kala just need help first. "Let's get you to the infirmary, let the Doc check you over."

Mal had taken over for Wash in the cockpit, allowing him to go to the infirmary. Inara, Shepard, and Jayne were hanging around the door while Zoe was inside the room, holding onto Kala's hand as Simon examined her.

"Bubba," she smiled, reaching out for Wash.

He hugged her tightly and kissed her forehead. "What happened, Mei-mei?" He asked.

She shrugged. "I just couldn't get it right," she said, tears spilling over her cheeks. "I just kept messing it up." She looked out the window and wiped her eyes, wanting to hide. This was a great first impression but Wash didn't seem to care as he hugged her.

"Shh," he said, rocking her gently. "It's okay. I'm here now. No one can hurt you when I'm around." It had been a promise he had made and often fought like hell to keep when they were younger. It wasn't safe for a girl child to grow up in a brothel.

"Alright, Kala, looks like what the doctors on planet told you was pretty accurate and I don't think your daring escape did any permanent damage," Simon said kindly. "However, I would like to keep you in here, at least for tonight, to monitor you. I'm going to give you a little something for the pain, is that okay?"

Kala nodded, still hiding her face in Wash's neck as the world spun sideways and went black. Wash laid her back on the bed and took the seat Zoe had spun over to him settling in to hold her hand through the night, until he was satisfied that she would be okay, then he would the son-of-a-bitch responsible.


Translations to the best of my knowledge. Sorry, if I get some wrong.

Gou Si = dog shit

Wangbadan= Bastard

Shuairen= Jerk

Minggen= family jewels

Mei-mei= Little sister