I own nothing.

River awoke disoriented and frightened. She crawled across the soft white flooring toward the door. Like the wall, it was clear, thick glass. She placed the flats of her palms upon it and stared out at the narrow white hallway. There was whispering from farther down than she could see and she chased the light sound, pushing up against the door with her entire front and focused. She had to know where she was, if Jayne was nearby, if he was okay.

Just as she began to grasp the whispering, blood curdling screaming whipped down the hallway and River flung herself away from the door. It was then she noticed she was wearing some medical outfit meant for patients. She held her arms out around herself and began to shake when she caught sight of the needle marks. In an irrational burst of panic she ran her hands through her hair-checking for what she wasn't sure.

She crawled back to the door and leaned against it. She had to know. She clenched her fists against the smooth glass as she fought past the screaming. Everything was a swirl of chaos.

Subject Marlow, Gavin R. was terminated by Subject Malin, Arianna C.

The program has finally been perfected and Psychosis is no longer an issue.

I just want to go home!

They put flowers in the Captain's pipe again.

He's already proficient with weaponry. Very good subject, still highly maliable-

River gasped and stood to pace the length of the wall. "Jayne!"

No sooner had his name left her lips than she felt it trickle through her mind. She had arrived ahead of schedule.

Jayne knew they had her. Why they took him and what exactly they were playin' at, he weren't sure, but he weren't too comfortable with the way they kept lookin' at him. Was like they thought he was an insect. They'd told him right off the bat that he was lucky they weren't still workin' off their old program like he knew what the hell they meant. Said they figured it best to stop tryin' to physically alter their subjects.

Jayne didn't care one way or the other what they were gonna do to him when he overheard them talking about River. Said she was dead. He didn't care no more what they wanted after that. Did what they told him to. He felt better for a bit afterward, but then it was gone and all he could think about was her…They told him how pleased they were that he already knew how to kill a man or two efficiently. They didn't know his name an' they didn't know his occupation. Found it funny that they called him by a number. 23. Kinda made him think maybe they had forty-one other subjects they didn't rightly know much about.

They had him kill young ones. Kids barely outta their teens. He didn't hesitate an' he knew that it was either him or them. Sometimes he wondered if maybe they'd sent River in with someone like him an' that how she'd died. That thought made him want to put a bullet to himself.

It didn't take him long to figure out that they thought he was special. When the guards would walk him back, they would take him down corridor after corridor of plain white cells. He didn't have a cell. What he had reminded him of a two room passenger bunk on a transport ship. They fed him good, gave him every weapon he could ever want. Sometimes, they even gave him some liquor. But there was always something in it…something that made him understand why he had to do what they told them to. He couldn't feel much anymore. Weren't anything left to feel for anyhow.

It was dark when Mal finally opened his eyes. He'd been out for hours. He roused Zoe. He'd had to give her a good smack to get her to come to and they'd scoured the area. What had been Jayne and River's campsite was didn't yield any clues as to what had happened. There were boot prints all around-too many to have just come from Jayne. As they passed back through the clearing, they found a few patches of blood mixed in with the muddied earth.

"This just keeps gettin' better an' better," Mal bit out heatedly. Zoe studied their surroundings cautiously. "What do we do, Sir."

Mal shrugged helplessly. "Don't rightly know. Right now, we need to get back. We'll figure it out from there."

When they reached Serenity, the crew was down in the bay along with two unfamiliar individuals. Simon gestured to oldest of the pair. "Captain Reynolds, this is my father, Gabriel Tam."

They nodded their greetings to one another and Mal studied the younger man standing next to him. Somethin' about him set Mal's teeth on edge. Zoe wasn't lookin' at him too trustingly either. Simon pointed to him and said in a forced voice, "and this is Atherton Wing, River's fiancé."

"After being informed of my daughter's kidnapping, I felt it was necessary that I come straight away." He tossed his son a somewhat approving look. "Thank goodness Simon had enough sense to keep this incident from becoming public knowledge. Have you found anything?"

Mal nodded, his mouth set in a thin line. Kaylee knew that look and burst into tears. He sighed and cleared his throat. "Someone snatched my mercenary and your daughter."

"What," Book exclaimed, "how did those men find them?"

"No way it was them woman snatchers," Mal explained. "Whoever it was, there was a lot of 'em."

"By the look of it, it had to have been at least a dozen men, maybe more and they weren't after nothin' more than the two of them."

"How can you be sure of that?"

Zoe raised an eyebrow at the preacher. Book clutched his bible a little tighter as he reasoned it out. "River, I'm sure is well known because of your standing within the core worlds, but Jayne? The only people who know of him are those who have…done business with him or have heard tell of his reputation, which while well-known on the rim isn't core knowledge. "

"Well, then why take both a them? If they was after River, why take him, too?"

"Wouldn't know, knocked us out…" Mal trailed off as he slowly pieced it together in his mind and he didn't like what he came up with. "Sonofabitch must've fought 'em off."

"Well if'n he was puttin' up a fight, why didn't they just kill 'em," Kaylee asked, though she wasn't sure she wanted an answer. "Once Jayne gets riled like that…well we all have seen what happens."

She wrapped her arms around herself. "I ain't likin' where this is goin'."

Mal shook his head, trying to shake the anger that enveloped him. So much trouble for one girl. Now they'd lost the best gun hand in the rim. "Wash, set a course for Osiris. Time we got these folks back to their world."

Wash's face crumpled in confusion. "Mal?"

"Now, Wash."

"But…Mal," Kaylee gasped in a small voice, "what about River. An' Jayne? We just gonna leave an' pretend ain't nothin' bad happened?"

"Wash," Mal snapped and they all jumped back. Zoe took a hold of her husband's arm, head lowered. "C'mon, Dear, let's get this boat in the air."

"Zoe, he can't be serious," Wash argued as he let her lead him toward the bridge. Kaylee blinked away her tears and back away as she retreated toward the engine room. Mal ignored those left in the bay as he tromped toward his bunk to think things over.

Book stared down at the bible in his hands, eyebrows knit in intense thought while Inara stared out past the open ramp and tried hard to remain composed. She just couldn't picture Serenity without the big rough man she thought she had despised so much and she brought hand up her face in a last ditch effort to hold in a disbelieving sob.

"I'm never going to see her again, my sister…" Inara wrapped an arm around Simon's shoulder, anchoring herself to him. He clutched her around her waist and watched as the slight drizzle of rain outside turned ominous.

Book turned and left. Gabriel Tam came to stand on the other side of his son, still looking stern. "We'll find her, Simon."

Atherton retreated to his passenger dorm and called into his office. "Mr. Wing?"

"Good work, I take it River Tam is in custody?"

"Yes, Sir."

"And the mercenary? I was just informed he was also brought in. Why?"

"It was determined he could be of some use to us."

"Very well. Please keep me informed of their progress." Atherton settled down on the edge of his bunk and pulled out a large file of paperwork, all of which were marked with his company's prominent header, The Blue Sun Corporation.

To be continued in the Sequel....