Last chapter, so it's kind of long. Enjoy and let me know if I should do the sequel!

Malcolm decided to go into Badger's alone. He didn't want to put them on the defensive right away and Mal knew from experience that nearly every person in that place would be armed. Two goons flanked him as they approached his den. Badger didn't get up when Mal strutted in. "Malcolm Reynolds. You got here fast. Weren't expecting you for another day or two yet."

"Yeah well, we had a reason to speed it up," he said, putting his hands to his hips and surveying the room. "Where is she?"

"Who's that?" asked Badger, innocently. Mal ground his teeth. "Oh, you mean my daughter, well never you mind with that. How bout my cut, where's that?" asked Badger, changing the subject. Mal tossed a pouch full of platinum coins onto his desk. Badger picked it up, opened it and beamed from ear to ear. "Now, how bout your cut?" he says. Mal looked at him, confused. "Well, you want the kid so bad, why don't you buy her back from me? I say, your cut of the Harrow gig, plus 15% of any gigs you do on any central planet whether it's through me or not."

Mal looked at him like he's insane now. "Now, now, Badger, there's no way I can cut that deal and keep my ship flying."

"Well then I guess it's no deal," said Badger tersely. Then, "I have something you want. Should have to buy it fair and square."

Mal lost his temper and finally raised his voice, "She's just a kid, not something to be bought or sold!" All of a sudden there was a banging and yelling behind a closet door next to Badger as Evie had finally recognized the voice yelling in Badger's office. Badger rose and calmly walked over to the closet door.

"She's my kid. I'll do what I like." Then he kicked the door several times as if trying to quiet a rowdy dog that was locked up in there. The girl stopped beating on the door. Mal clenched his teeth so hard he was afraid they could break.

"I have to talk to my crew," Mal said, somewhat resigned.

"Do what you have to, but no funny business. I own this planet, remember?" Badger said, pleased with the idea that Mal has to walk out of his den with his tail between his legs once again.

Mal looked forlorn. "Lemme see her," he asked gruffly. "I want to know that she's ok."

Badger sniffed once, considering. Then he unlocked the door and opened it and Evie nearly toppled out as she had been listening at the door. He plucked her up and she started to try to escape his clutches, but he held fast. "Mal!" she croaked, tears clogging her throat at seeing his face.

"It's alright bao bei," he reassured. "We'll get you out-" Then his gaze turned red. "What happened to 'er face?!" Badger shoveled her back into the closet in spite of her struggling against him.

"Miscommunication," he answered.

Mal turned to leave muttering something about how 'he's going to pay for that'.

"It's you who's gonna do the paying, you wanna keep her around. If not, I got other uses for 'er," he warned at Mal's retreating body.

"So he wants to sell her, like she's a-" Book began, then looked fleetingly at Inara and finished, "-slave?" They were all huddled in the mess hall, Mal dropping the news on them.

"But she's okay, right? She looks okay?" asked Kaylee, worried.

"They already knocked her around some, unfortunately. She's tough though." He looked at the young mechanic. "Not that it gets you out of any hot water, Kaylee, but you did a good job re-rigging that engine so that we could get here faster. Worried that the longer she's in there the worse off she'll be." Kaylee smiled an anxious smile.

"Not that I miss the little bugger, but there's not enough of us that we can't go in and get her?" asked Jayne.

"Wouldn't work out too well for us. Place is pretty heavily fortified and even if we were successful, wouldn't get anymore paying gigs off this planet—honest or otherwise," answered Zoe.

"And we can't afford to pay what he's asking?" queried Simon.

"Even if we could, what could stop him from grabbing her again some other time?" Wash asked. Frustrated, Mal swept his tin coffee cup off the table. Book walked over to him and put a calming hand on his shoulder. He looked up at him, surprised.

"I think... I may have an idea. But I'm not sure you're going to like it very much," he said.

The following morning, Badger had still not let Evie out of the closet. She was beginning to wish that she hadn't crumbled that teacake and she was starting to worry that she was going to have to use the bathroom in the bucket in the corner. She heard a loud ruckus and quite a bit of yelling and Badger began cursing at the noise. "Aw, what is it now?!" he exclaimed.

Then she heard the door to his office burst open. "Walter Badgley, you are hereby under arrest pending investigation for child abuse and neglect," an official sounding voice boomed. She heard her father cursing before the door to where she was was pulled open and Mal stood in it. She ran to him and he scooped her up and she squinted against the light of the office- not that there was much but comparative to the small prison-room it was very bright. She put a hand to her face and made out an Alliance officer handcuffing a very flustered Badger and Book standing and looking on, pleased with the show.

"Mal, how did you do this?" asked Evie in wonderment.

"Well, little one, seems Book has been keeping a few secrets of his own 'n knows a few people in high places," he said cheerfully as he watched Badger get more and more red, threatening anyone and everyone.

"Aren't you afraid he'll rat on you?" asked Evie.

"And further incriminate himself? Nah. He may be mi tian gong but he ain't stupid. There's a reason we only got him on the heinous crimes we didn't participate in. Unfortunately, he probably won't be in jail long, but with the help of Book here, we're going to make sure this can't happen again." He set her down next to the shepherd then wandered over to where Badger was slowly calming down.

"Hey uh, Badger? Remember when I said 'Wheel never stops turning?'" Badger spat at him that he was ruined. "I imagine that your attitude will change a bit when you're not so steamin' mad. But hey, do you remember what you said back to me that time?" Badger gave him a death stare. "That that only matters to people on the-," then his voice strained as he punched him right on the bridge of his nose, "rim!" Badger's nose immediately gushed blood that he couldn't wipe away being that he was handcuffed.

One of the Alliance soldiers stepped between him and Mal, but Mal just simply raised his hands and backed away. "No worries, officer. I got what I needed. A black eye for a black eye... or two," he gestured at Evie's face and the Alliance officer let out a small nod of approval.

Evie came to his side and he pulled her close. "Can we go back to the ship now?"

"Actually, Evie, there's some things we have to take care of first," Book said and then nodded someone over. Evie's face sank. It was a prim young woman in a business suit, dark hair pulled back, a face she tried to school to look friendly but couldn't quite get the edge out of it. She didn't like the looks of this at all. She bent down so that she was eye level with the little redhead. "Hi Evie. My name is Samantha Katz. I'm with Alliance Social Services," she held out her hand.

Evie snorted a laugh out, "You're with A.S.S?" Mal nudged her but couldn't help but smirk.

Obviously that wasn't the first time Ms. Katz had heard that joke because she was nonplussed. She continued. "We're here to help you. We need to ask you some questions and then we need to give you a physical exam. Do you understand?

" Evie looked fearful. "Can the Cap'n come with me?" She asked. "He may be present with you for the initial part of your interview, but I'm sorry, the physical examination is overnight at our facility. Only juveniles and government employees allowed. But you'll see him first thing tomorrow morning, I promise," she said in a soft voice at Evie's increasing state of anxiety.

"You're not putting me into the system are you?" Evie pleaded at Mal and Mal felt his heartstrings tugging. Poor little thing has had so little in her young life to trust.

"No, darlin'. I told you, everything is going to be okay. You do exactly as these people say and you'll be back on Serenity in no time," he said. She hesitated and then went to hold his midriff tight. He hugged her back then picked her up. "Let's get this party started!"

"One of these days, Shepherd, you're gonna have to explain to me how you know so many people so high up in the government," said Mal, laughing as he clapped him on the shoulder. He was in a great mood, they didn't have to surrender any of their shares of the loot, he knew the girl was safe- not that he loved that she was in some purple belly institution but at least he knew they wouldn't knock her around none.

"I was a different man at the time, Captain," answered Book, also feeling jovial. He was glad that taking the pacifist, legal route worked out for them this time.

"We was all different in the past, doesn't make it any less part of our story," Mal reasoned and Book looked impressed by his musing.

"One last thing to take care of," Mal muttered, then hit the communications box. "Kaylee, your room, 10 minutes," he ordered. Book looked uncomfortable and took his leave. He paused. Maybe he shouldn't have let the whole ship hear that, but he reckoned a little humiliation would highlight this nicely.

He opened the hatch to climb down and saw Kaylee sitting glumly on her bed. "Poutin' already?" asked Mal, hand on his belt.

Kaylee tried not to look at it as she asked, "She alright?"

"Prolly be a bit of a Nervous Nelly for a while, but it's to be expected," he answered. Kaylee simply nodded. "You know I'm not mad at you anymore, right mei-mei?" She looked up at him and tears began to fill her eyes. Mal cursed inwardly. Her puppy dog tears always got the best of him. "I'm not mad. But you done wrong and I ain't seen to that yet. Wouldn't be fair if your actions didn't have consequences." Kaylee nodded, her eyes getting wetter by the second. It wasn't the first time the Cap'n had whupped her and her Daddy had done it plenty of times before that.

"Now you know what you done. Can't say that things would've been much better had you not run off and get all bent but they certainly didn't improve things. And when I give you responsibilities and orders, I expect them to be followed." Mal began to take off his belt and the sound made Kaylee cringe a little. He told her to get over the bed and she complied. He didn't take her pants down as a mercy since she was just flat out getting the belt.

He folded it over and cupped the buckle in his palm so that it couldn't do any damage. He swung back and Kaylee closed her eyes and her breath came out as a WHOOSH! as the first blow landed. The second blow came and she grit her teeth, trying to save some face. It'd been a long time since she'd felt a lickin' and she was having a hard time not crying out. Mal breathed deeply and brought the belt down three more times in rapid succession and Kaylee gripped the bed and squeaked.

He let her have a minute to catch her breath then brought it down three more times and tears began spilling out of her eyes. He steeled himself against them, remembering her actions that brought her into this position. Whack! Whack! Whack! Kaylee's lip started quivering and she sniffed loudly. Whack! Whack! Now she could barely hold down her sobs. Two more hard ones and she was sobbing openly. Another two right on her sit spot and now she was borderline howling.

Finally he finished with a flurry to punctuate his point. To her credit, she hadn't begged him to stop. Guess experience taught her how useless that would be.

He slowly pulled her up and into his arms, stroking her hair. Oh, Kaylee, always so full of sunshine. What you got to make me make you cry for? He thought as she turned the shoulder of his maroon shirt damp with salty tears. He shh'd her and told her it was over. She regained control of her emotions and smiled a wet smile at him. Only Kaylee would smile after a whupping. "Get yourself washed up, dinner should be soon."

The Alliance facility was so... regimental. Evie supposed the food wasn't all that bad and the people were nice enough when they weren't prodding and poking and taking pictures of her bruises. They'd given her a standard issue set of pajamas, toothbrush and other toiletries. She had to admit, the shower felt pretty good, but she didn't really mind being dirty either. There were other girls in this wing and other floors for other sections. She hoped the mental ward was far away from her. There was something called "The Academy" at the top floor one girl was talking about at dinner that sounded pretty badass.

She walked down the hall to the room that was assigned for her. They had sliding glass doors that locked automatically at 10pm- which was "lights out". They explained that the bed did all of the physical readings on her while she slept, but needed a certain amount of time to do it in. Hence the strictly enforced bedtime. Evie figured it was around 9:15, even though there was no clock around. She passed by a rec room were some people were playing games or reading or watching the Worldscreen and shook her head. It'd been a long day. She simply wanted to lay down.

Psst! She heard from a dark corner at the end of the hall and turned. "Little dove!" called a voice and her blood chilled in spite of it being female. "Little dove, time to fly away," said a little voice and Evie started creeping closer to it. She saw her then, a teenaged girl with long dark hair and giant eyes, blending into the dark corner as if she had been birthed from it. She grabbed Evie's shoulders and she gasped. "You have to tell him!" she said desperately.

"Tell who?!" Evie whispered thinking so much for the psych ward not being far from here.

"Tell him, tell him "The river will flow to a more beautiful world"," said the girl, getting more distressed.

"Who am I telling this to? You're not making any sense!" said Evie, getting exasperated.

"My brother, you tell my brother. Don't forget! "The river will flow to a more beautiful world!" Suddenly an alarm went off somewhere and the girl looked around at the flashing lights and took off at a run. "Two weeks! Don't forget!" she called behind her.

Evie watched, startled, as men in uniform came from every which way and chased after the girl, tackling her to the ground and shooting something into her arm with a syringe that made her go to sleep. They then carried frail lithe body and put it on a gurney and wheeled her off.

Girl's began peeking out of their rooms and the girl who'd been talking to her at dinner walked up to her. "What in the gui was that?" she asked.

"Guess someone escaped from the psych ward. Those doors to our rooms, they lock from the outside and the inside, yeah?" Evie asked, feeling chills run down her spine.

"And are we going to tell them how many times Evie's been almost killed, maimed, kidnapped?" snapped Jayne.

"Sir, Jayne's right. Plus having Social Services involved in our lives might make a dent in our less than legal work," Zoe reasoned.

"She may be 10 years old, but she's on my crew. She stays. We'll make do, dong ma?" Mal stated.

All of the tests went well, they only showed that she was underweight and Mal assured that he'd see to that. Her eye and other bumps and bruises were mostly healed do to supplements A.S.S. Had provided. Evie enjoyed being back on the ship so much that Mal barely heard a peep out of her. One last thing before they headed off Persephone and he didn't like any part of it.

He and the other crew members had to get interviewed to make sure that they were suitable guardians for Evie. Individually, they didn't seem like much good for the girl—especially Jayne. However, the way they functioned as a group lent to their cause. It also impressed them that there was a genius doctor, a Shepherd, and a registered Companion on board.

"I won't lie and say that I have my reservations about a 10 year old being reared on an transport ship, Captain Reynolds. But you do have a doctor on board which is a rarity. And Shepherd Book has sworn to keep up on her studies. And she seems to be thriving so much in the last few days. I say that our decision is clear. We grant you temporary custody of Evelyn Badgley for a period of 90 days," Samantha Katz stated, beaming.

Evie pumped her fist in the air and Mal barely contained a whoop. All of the others also talked excitedly, previous reservations aside. Even Zoe smiled softly.

Mal thanked Ms. Katz for everything and the whole crew made the walk back to the docks. Wash pushed Evie's shoulder playfully, "So you glad to be away from those purple bellies?"

"No joke, they have some loonies in there!" she scoffed.

"Oh yeah? You would've fit right in then," Mal teased and Evie kicked him in the rear. "What, can't be honest?" he said with a chuckle.

Evie shook her head and thought back to the other night. "There was this one girl, kept telling me to tell her brother something. "The river flows..."...something.

Simon stopped dead in his tracks and grabbed Evie's shoulders. "What did you say?"

"Whoa, Simon," cautioned Kaylee. "Your face is all white."

But Simon was ignoring everyone. "Tell me what you said!"

"This girl, before I went to sleep, she whispered at me. Told me to tell her brother something about 'the river flows'. She was totally freaking out. Pretty girl though," said Evie, considering.

"What did she look like?" asked Simon, barely containing his calm. Evie described the girl as best as she could, apologizing because it was dark.

"What in the gui are you playin' at here, Doc," Mal asked, growing more and more concerned at Simon's apparent freak out.

"My sister... she wanted to go into the Military. My parents were devastated because she was so gifted and smart but she wanted to go. So they sent her to a military school. But... they said that there was an accident, two years ago, during training. They never found the body..." Simon trailed off and looked at the Captain. "Her name was 'River'".

Everyone seemed shocked by the relevation and it took a minute to settle in. "My sister looked exactly like you describe. You need to remember what she said!" Simon pleaded.

"Ok, ok, just give me a second," said the little girl, closing her eyes to recount that night.

"Simon, the chances of..." said the Shepherd but Simon shh'd him.

"Uhm... "The river will flow to... a... more beautiful world?" I think?" she answered.

Simon's gaze became far away as he thought. "Beautiful world... beautiful world... beau- Beaumonde! She's going to Beaumonde!" Evie nodded and then added the 'two weeks' part, getting caught up in his excitement.

Simon looked at the crew, eyes alight. "We have to go to Beaumonde!"

I'll continue the story if people want me to, obviously going in a different direction than the show, but I'll get Mrs. Reynolds in there. I'm cutting this story off here, but the sequels will be forthcoming. Please review and tell me what you want to see!