Just beyond the atmosphere of Hera, a dilapidated Firefly-class spaceship hovered as its occupants watched the tapped feeds from the security cameras in the facility.

River gripped the arms of her chair as she watched the soldiers grab her brother and his wife. When the doors closed, she hit the comm button to signal Inara's shuttle.

"They're in," she said.

Inara switched the frequency to hail the four mobile comms networked with her shuttle.

"Captain Reynolds," she announced, "it worked. They took them into custody, just like you said."

"That's because the Alliance is nothing if not predictable," Mal responded. "Am I right, Abbadon?"

The senator's voice crackled over the comm. "I did not agree to your offer only to be insulted by you, Captain!"

"Nah," Mal shot back. "You came because I made you an offer you couldn't refuse."

"You threatened to expose me! That would mean my death!"

"See? Like I said, predictable!"

"Captain," Inara cut in before the irate officer could respond, "we're running out of time."

"All right," Mal replied. "Showtime, everyone! All set? Abbadon?"

"I'm here at the tower on Perseus."

"Badger?"

"Just say the word, gov! Nemesis is pretty quiet—wouldn't mind expanding my operations..."

"Just take care of the beacon for now. Zito?"

"Ready to roll on Janus!"

"Perfect." Mal let out a quick grunt. "Getting into position... and NOW!"

The audio connection popped with the surge of electricity, but otherwise, there was no indication of what the group had accomplished.

"How we looking?" He called to Inara.

"Hold on, I'll check." She switched to Serenity's frequency. "River—"

"It worked!" The girl's voice came, frenzied and laden with concern. "They're running in the hallways, shouting at one another. I can see alarms flashing... Oh no!"

Inara kept her voice calm, though her gut remained tight. "What is it?" Mal had warned them what to expect, but with River, one could not be sure just how well she was paying attention.

"The commander has just issued an order—I think they're going to execute Simon and Kaylee! NO!"

"River, listen to me!" Inara said quickly. "We knew this was going to happen, remember? We have a plan."

"We need to save them! I need to land!"

"No!" Inara knew she could not let River terminate the connection. "If you get any closer, we'll lose contact with everyone. Stay calm, River, and whatever you do, stay there!"

"But..." River whimpered pitifully. "Simon..."

"It'll be all right, River," Inara assured her, wishing more than ever that she could be there to hold her. "I promise; the captain has a plan."

"Okay."

Inara switched frequencies. "We're on to phase two," she said to Mal.

"How's River handling it?" He asked.

"Not well."

"That's why I saved the best for last."

"I know."

"You coming?"

"I'll be there to pick you up soon."

"I can hardly wait to see you."

Inside the facility, Kaylee felt as hollow and empty as the cameras they passed, flanked by guards, as if she was watching the empty shell of herself march down the hallway. The beacons were down, that much was certain—they had canceled the dispersal of Serenity because of it. It had to be Mal's doing. He loved throwing the Alliance into a panic.

But did he realize that the panic had placed them in even more jeopardy? If he was out knocking down the beacons, it stood to reason that he could not then be here, inside a locked down facility, ready to rescue them. She and Simon had sacrificed themselves for the rest of the universe. It would all end here.

The guards led them to a room with two chairs. They seated the prisoners and strapped down their arms and legs.

Kaylee choked as tears slid down her face. Almost seven years—and she still would never see Heavenry again. She could only hope that her supposed foster family was truly a good one—at least, if Captain Glass hadn't been lying about that.

The guards stood back from the chairs. The execution would begin any minute. The protracted stillness only increased the dread.

Something behind them clattered to the floor.

Kaylee heard the clack of clasps, and a sigh of relief.

"Okay," said a familiar voice. "Let's get them out of here before the executioner shows up."

"Let's hurry," grunted another familiar voice. "This armor's pinching my nethers!"

Kaylee gasped as Zoe appeared beside her like a guardian angel in white armor, unbuckling the straps, while red-faced Jayne assisted Simon.

"You two?" Kaylee gasped. "But we didn't—Cap didn't tell us!"

"That's cause the captain didn't want you two giving anything away," Jayne muttered.

Simon met his gaze; the two men had come a long way over the years.

"Thank you," he whispered.

Zoe moved to grab her helmet and handed Jayne his. "All right, let's go."

They slipped the helmets on, but rather than retrace their steps, Zoe led them deeper into the facility.

"Where are we going?" Kaylee whispered. "I thought we were leaving!"

Zoe stopped and turned to her, though Kaylee could not see her face through the tinted visor. "You wanted to get your daughter back, didn't you?"

Simon blinked. "She's here?"

"Figures they'd want all their victims in one kill box, in case you tried to bring heavy artillery," Jayne remarked, warning him an elbow to the chest plate from Zoe. "Ow! What?"

"She's here," she assured Kaylee. "Captain found her before we set up this plan. Stay between Jayne and me. We'll protect you."

Her assurances fell somewhat flat when they approached the doorway, only to find that it required an identity scan.

"Great," Zoe grumbled. "We didn't think about this one."

"Wait!" Cried Simon. "I think I still have—" He dug in his pocket and pulled out one of their Alliance-issued fake identity cards. He scanned it, and the doors opened.

"Great," Jayne cautioned. "But now we gotta be fast, because I doubt whoever is on security is expecting you to be up here."

"We can bluff," Kaylee suggested. "We have before."

"Fair enough," Zoe said. "We'll watch your backs."

They ducked inside, heading past rows of sealed doors until Zoe pointed. "This one."

Kaylee opened the door. The room was more like a cell, furnished with only a small table and a bed. Upon the bed sat a young girl with her father's dark hair and her mother's bright eyes. She regarded the pair of strangers with much less familiarity than the two armored guards behind them, but hopped down immediately when Simon, in his best doctor's voice, instructed, "Heavenry, it's time to come with us now."

"Heavenry?" She asked. "Is that my name today?"

Kaylee fought to keep her emotions steady as she took her daughter's hand for the first time in countless years. "Yes dear, it's your name-it can be your name forever. Come with us."

The group maneuvered out to the hallway, alert for anyone trying to stop them. So far there had not been very many passersby. Zoe figured it was a relatively new facility, and thus not heavily staffed.

Trotting next to the mother she could not remember, Heavenry tried to make sense of this dramatic change.

"Is it more brain testing?" She asked.

Kaylee didn't respond, but she reached for Simon's hand and squeezed.

They made it to the door out to the courtyard, where River had brought up the Serenity to lay down cover fire. Zoe and Jayne picked off the guards who got too close.

Simon swept Heavenry into his arms and they charged out of the blasted-out gate, into the open range beyond. Inara awaited them with her shuttle, and took off with the shields up as soon as they boarded.

As soon as the Tams were safe, River ended the firefight and pulled away. She landed in the clearing beyond the boundary wall, ready to pick up the crew on the ground. Jayne and Zoe cleared safely, and Malcolm was just climbing up the ramp behind them when a man in a grey Alliance uniform charged up behind him, weapon drawn.

"STOP!" He commanded.

Mal froze, his hands in the air.

"Well, if it isn't the elusive Malcolm Reynolds!" declared Captain Glass.

"I've heard stories about you! Tell me," he gestured to the battered ship, and its exhausted, motley crew, "is this what you always longed for? Is this any kind of life, Reynolds? You know that if you leave, you will never know a safe day; you will always be looking over your shoulder, each day may be your last. The Alliance is strong, we can take everything you hold dear, everything you believed in—is this what you want?"

Slowly, his hands still visible, Mal turned to face the captain. He shook his head. "You fellows just don't get it, do you?"

Captain Glass never wavered. "Explain it to me, then," he said patiently.

Mal spoke with a hard gleam in his eye. "You may take my love, you may take my land—hell, take me where a body can't even stand on his own two feet! But you know what you can't take?"

Glass glared, no longer quite as patient. "Enlighten me."

Mal raised a finger heavenward. "The sky, Captain. You can't take the sky from me! You fancy-pants Alliance with your laws designed to shut people out and close others in—if there's one thing I've learned, it's that Serenity isn't happy and comfortable and makin' everybody hold hands and follow orders without question; Serenity is freedom, and there is no place I'd rather be than right here!" He emphasized his words by pointing down at the deck below his feet.

A smirk played around Captain Glass' lips. His finger closed around the trigger. "Well then, Malcolm Reynolds... This is where you—"

A gunshot drowned out the rest of his words. Malcolm stood on the ramp, gun out of its holster and smoking. Captain Glass gave one last gurgling cough and slumped to the deck.

Mal nudged the body with his foot till it rested on the ground. He trudged back up to the top of the ramp.

"Close up," he told Jayne. "Let's get out of here."

The Serenity—full of her complete crew of ragtag survivors and new family members—blasted through the stratosphere of Hera and out into the wide open space.

It wasn't much, and it sure wasn't fancy...

But to every single soul on board, it was home.