"First Earth got used up with all the meddling. So we looked into the black and found new worlds, and meddled with them to make them as much like first earth as possible. Then the core planets formed the Alliance to tell us what to do, what to think. They came into our homes and into our heads when they hadn't the right. Some people fought. It didn't go well. Then the Alliance stole me away and messed around with my brainpan. My Gege Simon came and got me out. I'm River Tam, Genius, Moon brain, and pilot of Serenity. A ship of firefly class. She's home. The home that my brother found for me. Filled with the family that took us in when our first family wouldn't. My Ape-Man fighter. Sunshine mechanic. Captain Daddy. Warrior Woman. Captain Daddy's Butterfly. We lost a few: the Preacher and the Dinosaur Pilot. But they're still here. I'm just the only one who hears them. And now we'll take any job we need to, so that we can stay flying. And stay together"

A fist is flying toward River Tam's face. Or rather the space where River Tam's face was. Because she's too fast for anything to connect. As a matter of fact only a few milliseconds after the fist passes harmlessly to her right, she has the arm connected to it bent back at an unnatural angle.

This job was supposed to run smooth. But of course they never run smooth. And it's getting harder to find them, thanks to the Alliance. Despite the respite that the crew of Serenity got from the Operative's stand down order, the Alliance still hunts for the Tams. The video Mal released caused several uprisings, but none stuck. And now three months later, most people aren't willing to hire known fugitives, and even more people could use the reward money. But the Serenity crew can always find a way. And thanks to their albatross, there are certain jobs that only they can do. Jobs that are too dangerous for the other smuggling rigs. River's telepathy and clairvoyance opened them up to a whole new level of dangerous jobs. More profitable jobs too. But only if they run smooth. And they never run smooth.

This job was one of the easier ones. A rim mob boss named Finley Bryce wanted them to steal back some inventory that an upstart mob from a neighboring moon had taken. He controlled all of the medical black market for three moons, making him one of the richest men on the rim. Once the Serenity crew steals it, it will have been stolen four times over. Considering Bryce stole it off the Alliance in the first place. This is of course why Mal took the job. Always willing to help someone who's a thorn in the side of the Alliance. Three pallets of sterile medical bandages, and enough vaccinations to inoculate half a city, heavily guarded by dangerous mercenaries in the middle of the mountains. Easy. At least by their new standards.

The plan was to release several gas canisters filled with a chemical compound that would put the guards to sleep, waking up almost nine hours later with nothing more than a headache. It shoulda went fine. They had used the compound that Simon cooked up plenty of times before. But then an unexpected alliance agrosprayers came in to spray pesticides over some alliance-owned wheat fields. The spray had screwed with the compound, and instead of sending the mobster off into a blissful sleep, it merely pissed them off. River was supposed to go in first, alone, to make sure all the guards were asleep, and then Kaylee to deactivate the alarms. But then she walked into a den of very awake mobsters.

River pushed the rather dusty thug into his comrade, and then whirled around in an impossibly fast pirouette, kicking the heel of her foot into the jaw of his slow moving reinforcement. Her left hand chopping into the thick neck of another foe as her foot dropped back to the floor still gracefully in a dancer's point. She then turned quickly to her left, her hair and her skirt whirling out behind her. She was prepared to thrown a vicious right hook into another man behind her, but somebody else had gotten there first. The mercenary was lying in a heap on the floor; River's mercenary standing over him.

And then River slumps as she snaps out of her weapon mode and turns back into River girl. She never hits the floor though. Jayne is too fast for that. He steps forward and catches her, sweeping all 90 pounds of her with a practiced ease into his arms.

River would be fine. She always was, the mobsters were never the problem. They were no match for River Tam. That's why they always sent her in first. But now the crew was stranded in enemy territory, and any more alliance or reinforcements would have to be faced with out their best security. They needed to get the cargo and get out fast.

Mal, Zoey, and Kaylee walked in. "What happened? Why is she knocked out! Did she get hit with the canisters?" Mal exclaimed as soon as he saw River in Jayne's arms. "The Gorram Alliance agrosprayers screwed around with them, and they didn' work. She had to take out the guards. Then she crashed. " Jayne said frustration and worry coloring his voice. Mal's face however cleared of worry, and irritation replaced it "Mi Tian Gohn. She'll be out for a while then. We need to get this cargo outta her e fast. Before more reinforcements show up and put us in a pinch without our albatross. Zoey stay with River and keep a look out. Kaylee do as planned and disable the alarms. Jayne wave Simon and get him down here to help us move the cargo." Everyone scrambled to do as told, although Jayne's face looked a little sour at the thought of leaving River.

"Simon ya need to get down here. River crashed after takin' down the guards. Mal says to you need to help load." Jayne said into the small com they had brought with them. A crackling voice came dribbled out of the small machine, "Is everyone ok? Why didn't the canisters work?" Jayne rolled his eyes, "Yeah everyone's fine. Just get your Pi Gu down here."

Within a few moments Simon joined them in the compound, Kaylee had the alarms off, and they started to load the meds. They managed to get all the cargo into the cart, tied down and loaded up, before Mal saw it. A tiny shiny square imbedded in the glass of the vaccination bottles. Trackers. "Mei Yong Ma Duh Tse Gu Yong. They've tracked all the vaccines. We won't even get fifty miles from this place." Mal exclaimed. Everyone groans. "Okay, everyone stay calm. Captain, what are our options?" Zoey states in her solider voice. Mal runs a hand through his hair, his eyes wide, and then says," We can run, and leave the cargo." Jayne looks scandalized. "Captain, we haven't had a job in weeks. We need the money. Without it we don't have food, we don't have gas, and we're almost outta River's meds." Mal glares at him, "Then what do you propose we do Jayne?" Jayne rolls his eyes, "I don't know, run with the meds, and blow up any alliance that comes after us." Mal's about to retort, but Kaylee steps in and says, "We'll I don't know about blowing anybody up, but we can probably make a run for it."

"How Kaylee-bear?" Mal asks "Well, if we can just make it back to Serenity, I can rig up the ship's coms to interfere with the tracking signal. Unloading tracked goods on Bryce is another problem entirely however." Mal's face hardens as he makes a decision. "Right, well that'd be a future problem. We need to get this stuff onto Serenity before the guards start to come around."

They load River into the backseat of the cart, and wedge her gently in between Simon and Jayne, her head dropping against her brother's shoulder, Jayne's hand intertwining with hers. Zoey jumps into the driver's seat her face devoid of emotion as she takes a hold of the steering wheel and yanks them into the sky. Once they're in the air, Jayne starts to pull out an impressive array weapons. Then as they reach the fence surrounding the mob compound, Mal shouts over the roar of the air " Cover your ears this is gunna get loud." And then the sirens go off, as the perimeter sensors pick up the tracker s on the vaccine.

Within seconds there are three hover carts behind them. "Jayne-" Mal shouts. " I got 'em boss. Don't you worry. Aren't you glad I brought the grenades this time?" Jayne yells back. Mal rolls his eyes, and Zoey steps on the gas. One of Jayne's grenades hits the hull of the cart on the left and takes it down, but he misses with next one, and the center cart is gaining on them. Jayne lobs another grenade at them, but it goes wide too. Zoey starts driving the cart more erratically, no longer concerned with anything other than evasion. They are getting closer to Serenity though, and the ship is coming into sight. Zoey pumps the gas again as Jayne yells back to his crewmates that they're out of grenades. He pulls out his guns, but the likelihood of getting though the armor of the other hover carts with just a shotgun shell is minimal. Then suddenly out of nowhere another car t appears right in front of them. Zoey slams on the breaks, and all of them slam forward. River's head knocks into the seat in front of her, and starts to bleed. Simon gives a shout, and leans forward to check her head.

Then one of the mobsters stands up in the cart blocking their way and shouts, " Hand over the goods, or we'll blow you outta the sky." All the member of the crew slowly start to raise the hands in the air, as Jayne lets loose with an impressively creative stream of curses. "Now now, we ain't looking for a confrontation here. I suggest everyone calm down. We'll give back the goods if you let us leave." Mal shouts in his most genial voice. The man nods his head. But suddenly River pops up, her eyes glazed over, Vera in her hand, and promptly shoots him in the head so fast no one even reacts. She flips around and takes out each mobster as the pop their heads up to try and take action against her. It is futile. Within seconds they're all dead. River gives a small smile. " The liars' brainpans go squish." And then she slumps once again, this time into her brother's arms.

They pull the cart into the hull of Serenity, and Inara comes rushing down the stairs. Before she can ask what happened though, Mal says," River's fine. Just a bump on the head. Go and help Simon get her into the infirmary." She turns an alarmed expression on her face, and slips her arms under River's and helps Simon move her. He then turns to Zoey still in full captain mode and says, "Wheels up in five. Put us in full burn. I'm eager to be off this gorram rock."She nods and quickly turns and climbs the stairs. "Kaylee scramble those coms now-ish and then tend to Serenity." Kaylee rushes up the stairs after Zoey. Mal closes the door, and then he and Jayne start to unpack the meds.

For the next two weeks they wandered desperately exhausting most of their contacts trying to unload the tracked meds. Finely Bryce had refused to take the goods back, declaring them too risky. Jayne wanted to shoot him, but Mal considered that too risky. River wasn't doing well without the meds. On them she was lucid almost all the time, speaking in easily understandable metaphors instead of indecipherable riddles and was able to participate on jobs and fly Serenity with efficiency and finesse. But without them it got harder and harder for her to communicate, and control her emotions, and she reverted to almost a pre-Miranda like mental state. Zoey had taken over flying for now. It upset River not to get to fly, but the risk that she would drift her attention or slip into weapon mode while flying was too great without the meds.

Finally after 16 days, a wave came in over the com about a possible buyer on Osiris. No name was given, just a meeting place. Badger was the one who vouched for its safety. Not really a reassurance, but he liked River for some reason and everyone hoped that was enough to keep him from selling them out to the feds. It was still dangerous, even if it wasn't a trap though. They hadn't gone into the core since Miranda. But Jayne was right. They needed the money. They were down to a few cans of protein, a few gallons of fuel, and no meds for River left at all. Any chance was worth it. So they set a course for Osiris and broke out the fanciful clothes. Between Simon and Inara they had enough core clothes to pass from a distance, even if the styles were hopelessly out of fashion. And of course Kaylee had her ball gown. Not exactly inconspicuous, but it was better than her grease stained mechanics overalls. Plus Mal never could say no to Kaylee.

When they touched down in Osiris in early morning, it was foggy over the docks, and very few people were out on the streets. Inara was wearing a beautiful gold sheer wrap, looking completely relaxed. Simon had put on his arrogant spoiled brat expression and one of his nicer silk shirts from his core days, and his round red glasses to screw up any alliance retina scanners. Kaylee stood by his side, clutching his hand and practically jumping with unconcealed excitement in her huge ruffled ball gown. River was curled into Jayne's side muttering softly to herself, dressed in one of Inara's softer wrap dresses. Jayne looked ridiculous in shirt that was so tight it barely buttoned, but he didn't seem to notice. His arms were wrapped tightly around River, and he looked around warily on high alert for any threats. Zoey had on one of Inara's slinky evening gowns on, and was looking decidedly uncomfortable. But her expression was nothing to the utter embarrassment and twitchiness that Mal wore all over his face. He was dressed to the nines in an odd mixture of Simon's vest, an old spare shirt from Inara, Pants from the party on Persephone from a long time ago that were just a little too tight, and a silk cravat around his neck.

The crew all stood at the precipice of the airlock, not quite willing to venture out into any ground so heavily controlled by the Alliance. Then Mal broke the silence, " Come on. The quicker we meet this mysterious buyer, the quicker we can get outta here." And with that they all walked away from the relative safety of Serenity and into the mouth of the enemy's lair.

The meeting was in one of the nicest parts of town at a riverside café in the middle of the city. Which either meant the buyer was inexperienced or very influential and could afford the kind of security that can make a public place completely secure. Or both. The Serenity crew made their way through the city warily, everyone jumpy except for Kaylee. She seemed completely oblivious, smiling and pestering Simon with thousands of questions about what it was like growing up here, and if he recognized this street or that. The corners of Simon's mouth turned up automatically at Kaylee's chatter, and he had to fight it hard in order to keep his arrogant expression in place. As they walked through the city, it seemed to wake up, and affluent citizens began to walk the streets hurrying along to jobs and parties.

Everywhere around them there was technology. Shiny gadgets and finery. It was so different from the life they had on Serenity, and worlds away from the poverty that ravaged the rim planets. Jayne being the tactless ape-man that he was said what they were all thinking, " Wow. This is where you grew up doc? It's amazing your prissy self survived a day out on the rim!" Kaylee shot a hateful glare at Jayne, "What ? I was just sayin'." Mal held up a hand. " Shut it Jayne." The man turned towards mal, indignant, " I didn' do nothing"." Mal glared. "I meant shut up, because we're here."

In front of them was the café. A beautiful rich orange silk awning stretched across the top, it's gold mandarin letters proclaiming it to have the best noodles in the city. A smattering of small wooden tables spilled out around the doors and made the place have an air of casualty. Although the crystal vases on every table put some cracks in that illusion. The crew walked forward and Mal approached one of the many busboys readying the tables for the morning crowds. " Excuse me, but we were told to meet a business partner here. The name's Reynolds." The boys smiles and says, "Oh. He's waiting for you in the back. Please come through." Mal scrutinized the boy carefully and not seeing any guile, decided that if this was a trap the boy didn't know about it.

"Okay, lead the way." Mal said finally. They all walked through the door, and started to follow the busboy back in to the recesses of the café, which was evidently a lot bigger than it looked. The boy stopped at a red door at the vey back of the dining room. He's in our business dining room. Your food's already been laid out and you shouldn't be disturbed." Mal thanked him, and the boy left them alone. Mal went over to River who was still plastered to Jayne's side like a barnacle, and gently put his hand on her shoulder and looked her straight in the eye. In a quiet voice he murmured, "What about it little 'tross can you see badness in there?" her eyes went wide and her hands clutched at Jayne's shirt even tighter. " Yes, but not danger." Mal looked puzzled but tried to hide it. It was after all the most complete sentence River had said in three days. "Well, there we are. If 'tross says it's not dangerous that's good enough for me", said Mal. He then squared his shoulders and entered the room.

Seated at the clean white table was a man in his sixties, dressed simply and impeccably with gray hair, a strong jaw line, and gray hair. He stood and smiled genially when Mal came in. But then Mal moved to sit down, and the man caught a glimpse of the crew members standing behind him. His face went pale and his wide with shock. Behind Mal Simon gave a shout of anger and pushed Kaylee behind him in a rough motion, and River gave an almost imperceptible whimper and hide her face against Jayne. Zoey instinctively reacted and moved to close the door and block the exit. Mal looked extremely confused and shouted, " Whoa, whoa, what's goin' on here. Who is this?," he said turning to Simon for an explanation. Simon's jaw clenched and he said in gritted teeth, "This is Gabriel Tam. My father. If you can call him that."

Immediately the room exploded in reaction. Kaylee's scared face morphed into an angry mask of fury. Zoey drew her gun. Jayne shifted River behind him and pulled Vera out of her holster. And Mal. Mal's face hardened into his war face. The cold eyes. The clenched jaw. The blank expression. His hand moved slowly down to touch his hand gun, but he didn't draw it. Mal worked his jaw open, "Right. Well. We're done here. Can't say it was nice to meet you Mr. Tam." He turned and started to leave, the rest of the crew following him.

Gabriel Tam seemed to snap out of his shock though and grabbed onto Simon's sleeve. He burst out, "What's going on Simon? What have you done? Why are there wanted vids for you everywhere? Why are you with these criminals? What's wrong with your sister? And who was that man she was clinging too?" Simon shook his dad's hand off his sleeve, his face contorting into a sneer, "Criminals? You're one to talk, buying black market meds? And as for why the feds are looking for us, don't play stupid you know exactly what's going on. Come to think of it that answers your question about what's wrong with River. They were hurting her. Just like she said. Just like I said. Only it was so much worse than that. You have no idea. The Alliance are monsters. Monsters you threw her to. And as for that man. He's none of your business. Because she's none of your business anymore."

Gabriel's mouth opened and then closed again. Then his eyes clamped tight. And then he said "I'm not a criminal. I'm wearing a wire. This is an Alliance trap. I agreed to help them with this in exchange for some more funding for hospital. They needed someone with a medical background, to make it at least semi-credible. At least that's what they told me. " Everyone drew in a sharp breathe. "Yi Da Tuo Da Bian." Mal cursed and ran his hand through his hair again. "We need to get out of here. Now that you've told us we have about ten minutes max, before the feds show. Alright. Let's move people!" The entire crew moved quickly out the door, leaving Gabriel Tam behind.

But once the crew was standing on the street Jayne stopped and yelled, "Wait we still need River's meds." Everyone turned and stared at him. Zoey spoke first. "Look none of us want this for River, but we need to leave, and we don't have the money to get River's meds." But then before Jayne protested Simon jumped in, "We don't need the money if we steal them." Everyone looked at Simon like he'd gone mad. Then Mal spoke "Look doc, I appreciate the enthusiastic suggestion of crime, but a hospital break takes planning that we haven't done, and doing it while the feds are actively looking for us is suicide." But Simon just looked exasperated. " Not if we walk through the front door, with the clearance of a top surgeon. My father's keycard with allow us nearly unlimited access, and the very last place the feds will look for us is the most prominent and secure hospital on the planet. " Everyone looks at Mal. He nods slowly. And then says, "Okay. That makes sense. I guess we need to have ourselves a talk with Dr. Tam"