Chapter Sixteen: She Won't Stop

Simon and Mal ran towards the ship with River in pursuit. They swept right by a few of the guards, but it was strange that the guards didn't try to shoot. When Mal looked back, he saw that River had killed them and taken their guns. He picked up the pace and pulled Simon along. However, River took a shot. If it hadn't been for Mal taking a sudden left with the doc dragging beside him, the bullet would have hit Simon's heart. Instead, it his shoulder.

The doctor fell to the floor from the sheer force of the blow. Mal stopped and helped him up, but River was about to take another shot at Simon. The captain shoved him forward against the wall, causing the next bullet to miss all together.

"The ship is where we left it," Mal instructed. "Go. I'll handle River."

"Whatever you do, don't kill her."

Mal was insulted by the notion. "I wouldn't ever do that. Get going."

As Simon ran, bullets chased him. He managed to get to the stairwell safely. Mal stood his ground with his gun pointed at her. River stopped about six feet in front of him with her gun aimed at his head. This was all too familiar. He remembered the Maiden Head clearly, but then he had Simon to keep them both from pulling the trigger.

Their eyes were locked. He swallowed dryly and tried one last time. "Sweetheart. Don't."

Her entire arm trembled as fear filled her eyes. It was the same look as two years ago. She slowly lowered the gun and Mal did the same. Gracefully, she moved closer to him. He smiled with relief. He got through to her? Well, not exactly. She punched him in the stomach and moved by him. Without a doubt, she was going to Serenity to kill the others. Mal couldn't let that happen.

Pain crushed his heart as he pointed his gun at her leg. He shut his eyes and pulled the trigger. When he glanced, she was down. It wouldn't be long before she kept going, so he leapt over her with tears stinging his eyes. Once he reached the stairwell, he darted up the steps, and all he could think was: River, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry, darlin'.

Matters got worse as he reached Serenity. It was a battlefield of its own. Zoe was holding off frontal attacks while Simon attempted to shoot the men climbing on top of the ship. He wasn't doing too badly, considering this was Simon. Jayne appeared seconds later with grenades. It took out enough men for Zoe to assist Simon as Jayne took her position. Mal shot a few as he ran by corpses to the cargo bay.

"Gorram, Mal. I'm happy to see you…for once. We need the backup," Jayne gruffly shouted over the gunfire.

"Report?" he returned while shooting one in the chest.

Zoe was the one to answer. "Kaylee got the engine runnin' a while ago."

"What's the hold up?"

"Sir, there's a bomb on the ship. They won't blow it while we're docked. It'd take half this ship with it. If we don't shut it down, we'll be faced with an explosion. Kaylee's trying to disarm it."

He rolled his eyes. Of course it had to be complicated. Briskly, he entered the ship and searched for Kaylee. The bomb was hidden beneath the floor near their bunks. She was on her stomach with all sorts of tools. He crouched beside her. "Little Kaylee?"

"Almost, Cap'in. Either these wires will stop the bomb or it'll just make it blow."

"Wait, make it blow?"

She smiled nervously. "I mean, it probably won't. It might. This ain't an exact science or nothin'. At least, not for me. I'm doin' all I can. Movin' is a mite painful, but I won't give up on my shiny girl."

"I know you can do it, mei mei. Just work as fast as you can. We need an exit."

He patted her on the head and went back to the heat of battle. The four of them fought together as a unit, and they were making some progress. It wasn't long before Mal spotted River in the back of the room. She went to the nearest man and snapped his neck. Why was she taking them out? Then, he remembered. It was her job to kill them. Nobody else could do it but her.

"River," Simon muttered. "She's coming. She's bleeding. Captain!"

"I had to slow her down. That's the end of this discussion. Tell Kaylee she has three minutes to get that thing offline."

Simon ran inside while Jayne and Zoe kept shooting. River had taken out almost half of the Alliance men in just a few moments. She was getting closer, and Simon appeared to deliver the news, "Kaylee needs more time. She said it'll be just two more minutes."

"That's too gorram long! Get her to do it!" Mal demanded.

He went back to Kaylee while Zoe glanced at Mal. "Sir, what do we do?"

"Get inside. Shut the door but leave the ramp down. I'll hold things off."

"Are you sure?" she repeated, knowing full well that this was his River and emotions could be an issue.

He sent a hard glare. "Get your boyfriend and get inside. It's an order."

"Boyfriend?" Jayne repeated enthusiastically.

It was Zoe's turn to glare. She grabbed Jayne by the shirt and they went inside. The ramp remained open, but the door was down. Mal continued to pick off the Alliance, but River was taking care of that. Soon, it was down to River and Mal. They stared and she dropped her gun. He holstered his and watched her dress swish as she walked.

When she got close enough, she punched his jaw and attempted to go around him. He got a hold of her shoulders and pushed her back. She kicked his legs out from under him, so he pulled her legs to cause her to fall. She landed beside him and looked into his eyes. He carefully moved to put a hand on her cheek, so she grabbed his wrist and twisted it only enough to sprain. He leapt to his feet and she did the same.

"You don't have to do this," he told her. "You don't have to…dance…for them."

She held her position. They were interrupted by Jayne banging on the door. He could hear his muffled voice say, "Mal! Kaylee's done! We're getting' out of here!"

Mal wished that he could take River with him, but he knew that he couldn't. He walked towards her as the ship began to lift from the ground. She started to run for the door again, so he swiftly grabbed her and shoved her to the edge of the ramp. While she was still stunned, he had to push her off completely. She landed on the floor and he ran for the door. The ramp closed and he got into the cargo bay.

"Kaylee was able to get control of this ship's the doors. We're gettin' gone. Zoe's flying her," Jayne informed Mal.

Mal was too emotional to speak, so he went to the bridge. He sat heavily on the copilot's chair silently. Zoe flew from the Alliance ship and gave Serenity all the power they could. With shots in the black, they managed to escape without any damage. Once they felt a level of security, Zoe glanced at the captain from the pilot's seat. It was so wrong that River couldn't be in that chair.

"Sir."

That's all she needed to say. "She'll keep comin' and comin' until we're dead or she is. Unless the doc can find a way to undo it. We need to change our tracking pattern. Avoid thinkin' of any plans. Maybehaps find a new hideout she can't know of. And, we gotta keep clear of the New Independents and the Alliance."

"I'll be sure it's done. She ain't lost, sir. Simon will do anything to get her back."

"He ain't the only one. I know she's in there, Zo. She could of killed me ten times over, and she didn't even try. But, she won't stop trying to get this ship and this crew. I can't kill her."

"You couldn't do it. You wouldn't ever hurt her."

He scoffed. "I shot her in the leg. Had to throw her outta this ship. Let her get taken."

"There was nothing you could do. You did what you had to, sir."

"I never told her," he muttered with a vacant expression. "I never told her that I…"

Zoe smiled comfortingly. "You'll get to. In time. She'll be back in this pilot's seat before you know it. But, sir, we need to talk."

"About what?"

"Jayne thinks we're a couple."

"You are."

"We aren't."

"Right. And, Simon and Kaylee are just friends. Oh, and Serenity ain't wanted by every damn person in the verse. Ooh, River don't mean a gorram thing to me. And—"

"Your sarcasm is completely misplaced. We are not a couple."

He sighed in defeat. "Fine, fine. I'll stop. You take a break. I'll stay up here. While you're at it, go kiss your boyfriend. I'm sure he's missed you."

Glaring, she pointedly got up and walked off the bridge. Mal sat in the pilot's chair. As always, he could feel River there. His hand slid across the console as he sighed, "I'm getting you back, albatross."

In the infirmary, Simon had finished his self-suture on his shoulder and was pouring over River's medical files. Kaylee slid into the infirmary behind him and embraced his waist. He clung to her and painfully murmured, "We'll get her back, won't we?"

"Of course we will, honey. Everyone on this ship loves her. Well, Jayne fondly tolerates her, but he'll do whatever Zoe says these days. You know the cap'in won't sleep 'til he saves her. He loves her as much as you do."

Simon smirked. "You mean that he's in love with her. I sort of figured that out over the last few days."

"About time, husband. We'll save River. I'm just glad that we didn't die. I wanna have an official-like ceremony and River's gonna be right next to me. We'll have a real shiny wedding. I'll wear my frilly dress and you can be in a vest. Maybe a little bow tie. Then, we'll get old and crabby together. Have a bunch of little Tams on this boat. And they'll have plenty of cousins."

"Cousins?"

"River and Mal's kids. Maybehaps Zoe and Jayne can toss in a few."

Simon made a face. "I don't want to think about my sister and anybody…or Jayne and anybody…"

"Okay, okay. Jus dreamin' is all. I think we need some of that right now. Especially you and the cap'in. Maybe you should go up there. Talk to him about a plan or somethin'. It'll help you both."

"Yes dear," Simon grinned as he pecked her on the forehead.

As Simon cut through the kitchen, he found Jayne and Zoe sharing that drink he had promised. He faintly heard Jayne say something about boyfriends and Zoe tell him that it was just a drink. When he reached the bridge, he knocked and Mal turned to him. Mal's face fell.

"Here to lecture me about your sister?"

"No. I realize that you did what was necessary. I thought that maybe we could talk about a plan. To get her home."

He nodded and pointed to the other seat. Simon sat as Mal breathed carefully. "She'll come for us. We gotta be ready. Do you know how we can stop her and get that program from her mind?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure where to begin. A brain scan might be helpful, but that'd mean breaking into another Core hospital. There's a chance that they've given her a new safe word. The word deactivated her training before, so maybe it can do it again. We'd have to break into a heavily guarded Alliance building to gain access to her file."

"Then that's what we'll do."

Simon frowned with worry. "Captain, this plan is highly dangerous. This crew and this ship mightn't come back from it. Is that something you're willing to risk?"

"What do you think?" he shot back with a rough gaze.

"I just needed to be sure. River means everything to me, and I'm willing to do anything to get her home. It's killing me that we had to leave her behind, but I know that panicking and grieving won't help. She needs everyone to stay focused. We can't let our emotions ruin our chances of saving her."

Mal sent a confused look. "You make it sound like you're talking about me."

"I am. Love is a funny thing, Captain. It makes a person stronger than they could ever hope to be, but it also makes them the weakest. In my mind, love can do just about anything as long as we use our weakness as a strength. I'm going to see if I can get in touch with my old contacts. They might be able to help. Let me know if you need me."

He left Mal to look at the stars in silence. Did everyone on his boat know how he felt for River? In any case, the doctor had some wisdom in that brainy head. Simon's words washed over him, and he couldn't help wondering where his albatross was at that moment.

On the Alliance vessel, River Tam flew from the hangar in a small ship. She was coming for them.