I own nothing nor do I profit from this. This chapter is a little smutty, so if smut's not your thing, don't read.

Jayne sat in the corner of his cell. It was covered in rancid blood. The smell alternated between making him sick to his stomach and making want to kill. He spent most of his time trying to remember everything outside of where he was, but all he could remember was River. He stood, walked across the room and punched the two way window. They refused to bring her to see him. He collapsed in his corner once more, turning only when he heard the bottom of the door scrape open. A bucket and a tray of food was pushed in and the door was quickly sealed shut. He kicked over the tray. They kept trying to feed him human flesh. He grabbed up the bucket. It was filled to the brim with stale water. He drank his full and then drenched himself in the rest, remembering for an instant what it had been like to take a shower with her-with River. How she had looked up at him with those big brown eyes. He shook the water from his hair and threw the bucket aside and began pacing like the caged animal he was. The room filled with sickening stench-they were gassing him again to make him sleep. He threw himself up against the window as his muscle began to involuntarily relax and was rewarded with the sound of the glass cracking as he drifted into unconsciousness.

When he awoke hours later, he could smell the disinfectant they'd cleaned him with. He was half submerged in a giant basin of water. He vaguely remembered it from when he had first been brought. Whoever was in charge was very angry with him. The first jolt that traveled through him was small.

"You have been a thorn in this endeavor's side ever since you were brought here. It was stupid of you to think you could save her then and it's stupid to continue thinking so."

Jayne could smell his putrid stench, the mucus his skin created, down to the very last enzyme.

"You'll not be seeing her again."

The second jolt was more powerful than any jolt he remembered. He didn't scream. He roared.

The four of them sat silently as the newest additions to their crew hollered and screamed about how dangerous this mission was. It was Kaylee who spoke first. "We can't just leave 'em. They's family."

The newly hired pilot and gunhand were silenced for only a minute when the pilot spoke up. "Once you get 'em back. You ain't gonna want us."

Mal sighed wearily. "It's only the girl we're after. We see Jayne, we shoot."

"What," Kaylee cried, "why?"

Mal took a deep breath and leveled his eyes on his crew. "They ain't just been kidnapped, they been tested on. Done things the likes a which Jayne ain't comin' back from."

"But he's family," Simon argued, surprising Mal, "he tried to save my sister from them and his reward is to be left there, tortured for all eternity when-"

"They turned him inta somethin' that ain't right, Doc," Mal interrupted, "you wanna bring that on board?"

"What about River?"

"They've hurt her plenty, but nothin' she can't come back from for the most part." He looked up at his new pilot and gun hand. "Now, I undertsand if'n you two are gonna walk on this one, but the rest a us is fightin'."

"I ain't gonna miss any gunplay," the gun hand said with a sneer. Mal nodded, smiling, "Glad to hear it, Marcus."

He turned to the pilot. "What about you, Alan?"

The pilot shrugged. "Someone has to fly this boat there. Might as well be me."

"Good," Mal opened the box and threw out several vials full of orange liquid. "Let's get ourselves inoculated."

River picked stood in front of the screen, waiting to be connected. Mal's stunned face greeted her. "River, how-"

"The General let me out," she explained, "Jayne and I are to be terminated at the end of the month."

"Ain't gonna happen."

"I know." She lowered her voice, "The date of our termination coincides with that of the first auction. The Ascillians will be in the main chambers awaiting their chance to purchase livestock. That is when we will attack."

"River, you forgettin' we're only five strong?" Mal asked jokingly and River shook her head. "My people are helping."

"Your people? Who?"

"The Reavers."

"What kind a nonsense is that?!"

River drew her mouth up in a scowl. "They are Jayne's people and so they are mine. I'll not abandon him."

"River, he's a monster-"

"I'll see you in a month's time. A guard will be posted to allow you entry. Should you choose to meet my clan with violence, it will be reciprocated," she leveled her gaze on him. "Reavers know right from wrong, Captain. They only need reminding."

The screen went blank and she collapsed on a hard metal chair. R-28678 came to stand next to her and she sighed. "A strained alliance. We'll have to watch our backs and his. He must be informed. Or the red will be drained and chaos will come again and the 'verse will become black."

He held up the syringe and she held out her arm. "Is it the dead strain?"

R-28678 nodded. River let out a heavy sigh. "It has to be done."

R-28678 nodded once more, took River's arm in hand, and slowly slid the needle into her skin, injecting her with the syringe's contents. R-28678 moved to stand behind her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders as she began to convulse. River's eyes rolled back in her head and then flashed back forward. They darted around the room with the utmost clarity, taking in every minute detail. R-28678 took his arm from around her shoulders and came to kneel before her. She slumped down in her chair, lowering her chin to her chest as she spoke. "I must see him tonight. He must know what I have done in case my calculations were incorrect."

R-28678 stiffened in response and she glared at him. "Or would you rather him not recognize me and have them consume everything?"

R-28678 lowered his head in response. River cried out in pain, clutching her arms around her abdomen. "Everything burns. Everything-I hate it all!"

When they slept, Jayne seethed, thought of ripping them in pieces and splattering their superior brains across the walls of his cage. He would relish the chance to split them wide open and string their entrails along the black metal walls. And once he'd slaughter them all, he'd take River and...what would he do? He was barely in control of himself. Everything in him told him to kill, conquer, destroy. It was more than possible one day he would lose control and break her, kill her in a fit of rage.

He could smell her, always, but the scent wasn't as faint as usual. She was close by and getting closer. The sound of the locks on the metal door springing and the instinctual knowledge that she was on the other side drove him to his feet. The door swung open slowly and in stepped a Reaver. Jayne tensed, waiting for him to attack, but he stepped aside, revealing River. She stepped into the room cautiously. There was something different about her and he instinctively backed away a step.

"No, Jayne, it is River," she said soothingly. He stepped forward and eyed her warily. She came to stand a good foot away. "I had to do it; for us, for them."

She moved closer to him, reaching out a hand. "I'll not leave you and this is the only way. I go where you go. And so will many others."

Jayne reached forward hesitantly, letting his fingers entwine and lock with hers. River averted her gaze. "The time has not yet come and you will be made to suffer."

She looked back at the Reaver, pointing. "R-28678 has promised to watch over you. If they try to drain you, he will prevent it. You must trust him."

Jayne glared at her in response and River shook her head. "You must understand, we are not Serenity's children anymore. Our humanity hangs by a thread threatening to be cut."

She reached up with her other hand, running her fingers over his jaw. "We need them because we are them. We must lend them our gravity to build their own threads."

Jayne jerked away violently and River fought to keep a firm grip on his hand. "No, stop!"

He stilled, keeping his face turned away. River moved closer to him. "The red can't hurt me. It loves me just as much as you do."

She took his face in her hands, turning him to look at her. "I love you. I love the Jayne in you and I love the red in you."

Jayne pulled her up roughly, bringing their mouths together violently. At the sound of the door closing, Jayne hauled her up against the wall, slamming her against it with enough force that several of her vertebrae cracked in response and she let our a half pained moan. He began to pull away and River pulled him back. whispering huskily, "I want all of you, even the darkest of your red. Fill me with it."

Jayne let out a primal growl and he yanked her up roughly, crushing her against the wall painfully as he ripped at her clothing. River bit down hard on his lip, splitting it as she tore at his pants. River yanked them from his hips and without a moment's hesitation, he sank into her forcefully and they both groaned. Jayne shoved her head back as he pummeled, her biting down hard on her neck. River met his driving thrusts eagerly, enjoying the pain and pleasure it brought equally. She raked her fingers down his chest, sheering several layers of skin away and Jayne growled his approval as he sank his teeth deeper into her neck. Both River and Jayne alternated between guttural groans and erratic panting as their movements became more frenzied with each passing minute and the pressure of their bodies continued to build. Her neck was sticky with blood where he had bitten her. River wiped the pool of blood from her neck and smeared it along the side of Jayne's face and neck. River bit into his swollen lower lip, sucking it into her mouth and taking in the copper tang of his own blood. Jayne hammered into her aching body harshly in response, holding her gaze with his smoldering red eyes and igniting every last shred of her soul on fire. It erased and heightened the burning in her veins and her vision clouded to crimson as she climaxed, yanking at his hair and crying out. Jayne thrust into her more brutally as he too came with a vicious howl. Jayne let the full weight of his body rest against her and they slid down the, arms wrapped around one another and their fingernails cutting into bruised skin. Jayne inhaled and exhaled heavily against her. River let her hands fall away from him and she cocked her head to the side to get a better look at him.

"I cannot stay here. I have to return to the barracks with R-28678." He tightened his hold around her and growled. She ran her finger through his hair, drawing circles lazily. He began to purr. River leaned up and nuzzled his chin with her nose. "I promise to come to you again when the darkness sleeps."

Jayne relinquished his hold on her and she slid away from him partially. "I may be less than I am now-more like you. You'll have to love my red."

He simply burrowed his head in her stomach. River smiled for the first time since being brought aboard the Shardak. "I could never stop loving you, either. Never."

His head darted up, his eyes blazing and he kissed her fiercely. Jayne heaved himself off of her and held out his hand to her, which she took to lever herself off the floor.

River righted what was left of her tattered clothing, shooting him a half-hearted glare. He smirked cruelly at her and she threw her arms around him suddenly, causing him to stumble and let out a bewildered grunt. She kissed and nipped his neck, pulling away just as abruptly as she had thrown herself at him. He blinked curiously at the now unfamiliar and unfathomable tenderness in her actions.

River turned away just as the first tears began to slide down her cheeks in hot rivulets, burning into her already fragile hope and turning into ash. She tensed, hoping to hide the sobs that threatened to rack her body and began to take her first steps towards the metal door when he grabbed a hold of her arm gently. River turned back to face him slowly. His eyes were clouded with memories she could still feel, smell, see vividly. He was fighting to remember. She felt her anger build. They had tried to permanently erase her by throwing him farther down the into the well. She threw herself at him once more, crying brokenly into his chest. He stood stock still for a minute then lift his arms and wrapped them around her. He remained motionless as she continued to cry, unblinking as he stared at the far wall and let her tears drench him and burn the claw marks on his chest. She laughed suddenly, mirthlessly. "It took nearly being destroyed for us to..."

He tightened his arms around her in wordless understanding. She wiped at her eyes and pulled away slowly. River planted a solitary kiss on his lips and turned away, wrapping on the metal door. R-28678 heaved it open slowly and she passed through the door with a long look over her shoulder. R-28678 swung the heavy door shut and followed River back down to the barracks. "I'm trusting you to watch over him and I will need you to bring me back nightly. The auction is in less than a week. Have the others been given the prescribed dosage?"

R-28678 nodded and River sighed. "Even after this is over, our wars will continue. Experience of survival is the key. Let's hope there is still humanity left inside us before this fight begins."

A/N: I think this chapter is somewhat self-explanatory, though if anyone isn't clear on anything, I'll be happy to answer any questions you have. "Experience of survival is the key" is a lyric from the song "Gravity of Love" by Enigma, which I feel goes along with the tone of the River and Jayne's relationship. Beautiful song. But for the overall tone of the story, I'm going to have to say the "Requiem for a Dream" by Clint Mansell that was specially remixed trumps Enigma hands down. If anyone is familiar with "Requiem For a Tower" from LOTR: Two Towers trailer, that's essentially what is is though it is originally from "Requiem for a Dream". It's also been featured in trailers for "300", "Sunshine", "Zathura", and several trailers for episodes of "Lost". It's been my inspiration for the vast majority of this story due to it's dramatic and climactic nature and it's ability to make even the gory and nauseating elegant and breathtaking. You'd have to see "Requiem for a Dream" to understand what I mean if you haven't. It's not a movie for people with weak constitutions. Much like my story would be if I hadn't decided to tone it down and save all the best carnage for my next chapter. I highly suggest listening to this composition as it tends to unleash very creative, highly useful plot bunnies.

Ali, I'm currently working on the 6th chapter of 24. It's taking longer than usual because it's being very tricky. I've also started working on a oneshot sequel to "Courting". My plot bunny Fluffy wouldn't shut up about it. To everyone else who has reviewed so far, thank you so much. I must admit, I was really worried that nobody would like this and that maybe I'm a little insane for thinking this could be possible in the Firefly 'verse.

Please review.