I own nothing.

The Trans-U was covered in blood, none of it fresh. There wasn't a body in sight. All that really seemed missing were the Reavers themselves. "This don't make no sense, Mal." Jayne blinked, his eyes watering from the stench. "Ain't nobody in their right mind would want ta let a Reaver live, let alone take one."

"And a boatload at that," Zoe added. Mal ran his finger through the blood. It was dry. "This didn't happen recently. There's somethin' ain't right with all this. I think it ain't somethin' I'm wantin' ta be privy to neither."

"Can we get back ta the boat, I ain't 'xactly comfortable with us standin' in a blood soaked cargo bay while y'all try ta fig'er out who killed the Colonel in the library with the candlestick," Jayne snapped. Mal nodded, though glaring as they departed. River was screaming again when they entered Serenity.

"Don't put me in the black room with glass, not the black room!" She shrieked. "They'll find their answers and tear us all in half! Don't tear us in half!"

"River, it's okay," Simon cooed in hushed tones as he held her to him and rubbed her back in a soothing manner. She shook her head against his shoulder. "They'll find us, Simon, and they'll take me, take us all, fill us full of orange and then-and then we are livestock! Can't ignore what isn't there, make Kaylee disappear, make me disappear, make Inara disappear. They're crawling on our skin, Simon, they're crawling all over."

"I ain't likin' her disappearin' talk," Jayne snarled, "shut'er up an' you shut'er up now!"

If he couldn't hear her, what she said was no longer true. River looked up at him with wide eyes, shrinking back into herself. "We can't stop them. They've already decided what they'll do to us-"

"Shut up," Jayne howled at her, storming off to his bunk. Zoe and Mal watched him go before turning to confer to one another in whispered voices. Mal ran a hand over his face. "Sure coulda used Mr. Universe right about now."

"You thinkin' maybe there somethin' to this," Zoe asked blankly. Mal nodded. "Reavers don't just disappear in the middle o' the black, Zoe."

Zoe grabbed Mal's arm and turned him, away from where Simon and Kaylee were trying to calm River. "We ain't that far from Lilac, Sir, we can stop there, refuel an' see if we can't find somethin' out. If there ain't any Reavers in space there ain't gonna be any on the ground."

"I see your point, but what if there's somethin' else in its place, Zoe," Mal asked with a dark look, "somethin' can take on a passel o' Reavers, it can take on my little crew. As I said, I ain't thinkin' I wanna be privy ta whatever it is done this-"

"I understand, Sir, but whatever it is, it's gonna go Core bound an' I ain't lookin' forward ta havin' ta watch both my back an' my front."

"I see your reasoning," Mal said with a nod, "things in the Core ain't cooled since Miranda-ain't like to neither-least ways not in a good while."

"I conjure if we take care of this matter, we'll take some heat out of the 'verse, Sir. Can't continue to do rim business if there ain't no rim ta do business in."

"I agree. Change course for Lilac."

The bodies were missing chunks of flesh where human teeth had ripped into them. There weren't many bodies and the bodies they did find were that of the elderly, the sick. River walked among them silently until finally saying in a haunted voice. "Have to feed the dogs-can't let them starve. Have to be good masters."

"Let's get these people buried, gather anything we might need. Jayne, you take a walk see if you can't find any survivors." Mal handed River one of his guns. "River, you go with Kaylee an' see if you can't find nothin' useful in any place."

He gave her a comm link. "Jayne an' I'll be on t'other end if ya need one o' us holler."

They entered a general goods store first. There was nothing of value besides a lart amount of tools Kaylee could use. River broke open the register and shoved the contents into a large burlap sack. Kaylee gave her an appalled look and River frowned. "Stealing the money is the same as your stealing the tools."

Kaylee colored a bit. "Yeah, 'spose yer right, Riv."

Kaylee ran her hand over the bolts of cloth behind the counter. They moved to the back and climbed up the stairs leading to the apartment above. It was covered in blood-fresh blood. Kaylee screamed when she opened the bedroom door. River pushed the door open farther to get a better look. There was a badly injured Reaver laying in a pool of its own blood, breathing heavily. There was a thick, metal ring around its neck. It hissed at them and River leveled her gun on it as she came nearer. It continued to sit slumped up against the bed, eying them. It looked defeated, pained-not angry or full of rage.

"Kaylee, find me a knife or a sword," River instructed. Reaver continued to wheeze as River brought the gun up to its face and shot it point blank between the eyes. Kaylee cried out at the sight of the back of the Reaver's head splattering across the bed and the far wall before she raced out of the room. Rver waited patiently until she returned with a large carving knife. River looked over her shoulder at the mechanic as she took the knife. "Look away, Kaylee. You don't want to see this."

River gripped the Reaver's head by its hair and began to saw away at his neck, just above the metal ring.

Mal was the first to see River covered head to toe in blood so much so that it had soaked through her dress, causing it to stick to her. Her hair was drenched and her face covered in several thick spatters. She dropped the sack she was carrying at his feet. "Reaver," she said in a monotone voice, "this was around his neck. I had to cut his head off."

Mal took the thick ring of gleaming, bloody metal from her hands and turned it over and over as he stared at it. "Looks like a collar," Zoe said at his side. He nodded. "Only I don't know of no one who's in the business of keepin' pets in this 'verse."

"What's that," Jayne asked as he came back. Mal looked up at him. "Reaver collar. Find any survivors?"

"Ain't a livin' soul about an' I'm thinkin' that may be a sign that we oughta get outta here."

"I agree," Mal hauled up the sack. "Everyone back to the ship, double time!"

The dust began to swirl around their feet and Mal looked up to find a large, unfamiliar ship settle over the town. There was suddenly the familiar screams of hundreds of Reavers. River began shaking as several shuttles broke off of the gigantic ship that obscured the sun from view and landed, letting the Reavers pour out in large numbers.. "It's too late, they've come for us."

"Jayne, did you bring any grenades?" Mal asked as he watched the shuttles settle around them. Jayne glowered at the first shuttle that opened. "You kiddin'? I brought my whole damn arsenal."

"Good, I think we'll be needin' it."

The first batch of Reavers stepped forward and Mal felt something inside him begin to shake. Normal Reavers didn't circle like that. They attacked blindly. One of the larger Reavers stepped closer and Mal noted with a fair amount of dread that he was wearing armor, as if he were going into battle. They all were and they were all wearing those strange collars.

"Doc, you an' Kaylee get inside the general store an' hide."

Simon didn't need to be told twice. He grabbed Kaylee and pulled her in the direction of the general store just as the line of Reavers broke and descended. River emptied her bullets into the crowd with precision. Jayne lobbed a grenade and handed River another gun. "Don't lose her," he warned her as he handed her an extra magazine. River stepped forward and pulled scimitar off the nearested dead Reaver, stepping straight into the mess.

"River," Mal screamed in warning. She didn't turn to look as she yelled back, "I am not going down without a fight, Captain."

Mal glanced over to Zoe whose stoic calm was replaced with fear. River had told them they were going down and she was never wrong. For every dozen they took out, there was another two dozen sent in until they were pushed back into the general store as well. Jayne dropped two grenades down the stairs into the store before the bolted and blocked the door. They were so busy watching the door that they all froze when the external wall to the building was ripped away. Jayne, Mal, and Zoe hefted a large block of the concrete up on its side and began firing at the skiff hovering in front of the store. Two of the reavers, who had been doing something-what they couldn't figure out- were hit and fell from the skiff to the ground, unmoving. River, who had been closest to the wall turned to come and hide behind the concrete wall beside Mal. Jayne had moved back farther behind another block with Kaylee and Simon hiding behind him. Just as River began to step forward, something hit her hard in the back of the shoulder. She lurched forward slightly and felt for whatever it was that had hit her. She pulled out the dart and stared at it. She began to wobble back and forth, her vision fuzzing slightly, all coherence dissipating. "Daddy," she mumbled to Mal with unfocused eyes, "I can't feel my legs."

Mal reached out to grab her when something else hit River hard, pushing her forward. It was a large, thick metal line, and her eyes widened as she realized what was happening. "Run," she screamed, as four arms shot out from the part of the line that had made contact with her back, wrapping around her tightly. It pulled back with alarming speed, dragging her with it. Mal's mouth fell open in shock. He found he couldn't move. There was an enraged howl behind him. Jayne hurled himself forward, grabbing onto the metal line and hauled himself up into the skiff even before River herself was pulled in. Jayne was nothing more than a flurry of angry fists hammering into rotten, disfigured flesh as he mindlessly beat several Reavers in his rage, hurling them from the skiff in sets of three and sometimes four. Somehow, a pair of some of the larger Reavers managed to hold him down while one of the other injected him with something, he continued to struggle against them, he's movements becoming increasingly slow and lethargic. River tried to move toward Jayne and one of the Reavers took a hold of her, pulling her out of view as she screamed Jayne's name over and over. One of the larger Reavers, obviously the leader and moved to the doorway and let out a bloodcurdling roar, his eyes piercing into Mal's soul. Mal felt himself go cold. No Reaver screamed like that, looked at a man like that. The Reaver shut the skiff door and the skiff disappeared from view.

"Mal," Zoe called next to him, shaking him. She had been shaking him for the past half hour he realized. He finally turned to look at her. "I think that Reaver just...his eyes. Did you see his eyes?"

Zoe gave him a confused look. "Mal, right now we need to figure out how the hell to get out of here before that skiff comes back for the rest of us."

Mal turned back to look at Kaylee and Simon. Kayle was sobbing hysterically and Simon's face was a mixture of disbelief and extreme anguish. "Right," he choked out. "Focus on getting out of here and then we'll focus on getting Jayne and River back."

Zoe's lips pulled back into a thin line as she grimaced. "If we can, Sir."

It was cold where she was, black. There was no light, but she could feel them watching her. She could hear the Reaver's screaming in pain as they were tortured. She could hear the wife of the general store owner crying, screaming, pleading as they...did things to her. Even though it was completely still and silent where she was, she could hear it all. The one thing she couldn't hear was Jayne. If he was alive or dead, she did not know. River waited and waited for her eyes to adjust to the darkness until finally she realized they wouldn't because there was absolutely no light to be found where she was. Due to her disorientation, she was completely caught off guard when a large clammy hand shot out and gripped her by the neck, squeezing to the point that she nearly passed out. "Our best conquest yet," he hissed at someone. She could feel them, it was a large group, all of them staring at her-she could feel the eyes watching.

"Should we persue the others? They got away, my Lord."

The hand squeezed tighter, enough for her to gasp in pain. "No, let them come to us. They will come to us. As for the Reavers, R-28678 and those under his command are to be rewarded for their captures. Give them some of the men and women from the town that are expendable. The others-they need to be reminded what happens to those who fail."

"Yes, my Lord."

"Wait," he called to the one who had begun to leave. "The man. His progress?"

"He responded well to the vaccine. He's an excellent candidate, but we're having trouble finding the proper female-"

"How is that possible?"

"I don't know, my Lord. We have been trying for several hours-"

"You haven't been trying enough."

"Yes, you are right, my Lord." She could feel them pause reluctantly as they spoke with marked hesitation. "Maybe, if we put her in the cell-"

"No," he snapped, "she is for us."

"I understand, my Lord, but-"

"No," he screeched, "you know the interest the Mark has in her abilities. She is for the Mark and the Mark only." He paused, amused. "In fact, the Mark has shown some interest in the man as well-"

"He's killed thirteen of us already, my Lord, no one will go near him. He killed R-18540 with his bare hands. Shoved his fingers right into his eye sockets, ripped his cranium open as well. No one will go near him. It takes four Reavers to restrain him and each time he manages to kill two in the process. Are you sure it's wise to allow him near the Mark?"

"It seems to me, you are doing far too much questioning," he said by way of dismissal. "Break him like we did the Reavers and he should be fine."

"Jayne," River gasped out. He squeezed harder. "If he's lucky, he'll forget all about you."

A/N: ahh so mysterious. yes, i have a plan. woot. i'm not just flying by the seat of my pants mostly. go me! Reviews would be appreciated. if you're one of those people who don't like mystery and would enjoy having me tell you exactly what is going to happen in the next chapter, ask me and i'll tell you, though to me that's totally CHEATING.

point of interest, while i was walking home from classes (i'm in college), i saw a man in a suit with blue gloves walking toward the optometry building. swear, it was seriously one of the blue hands. i had no idea what to do besides, you know, run since i didn't have any grenades. seriously scared the crap out of me. so apparently, the optometry building on my campus is in all actuality an alliance funded academy run by the blue sun corporation. makes perfect sense to me. of course, i'm probably paranoid and/or crazy.