A/N: All right, even though the comments are dwindling (ahem!) I will post chapter 7 in hopes that this might start to really show you where the story is going ... trust me, there is angst in them 'thar hills and it's only going to get worse before it gets better.

With that said - please, please, please comment ... even if you don't dig it! I'm telling you comments are like a drug - and I am in withdrawal here, people! Share the love!

Many thanks once again to Leiasky. If I were to list all I should attribute to her, it would be a posting in and of itself.

One other thing - this part starts directly after the end of chapter 6. If you haven't read it yet, I would.

***

A NEW DAY, ch. 7: Out of Control

***

In her room, Rylee awoke with a start, tears already running in tracks down her cheeks. Pulling her knees into her chest, she could feel her mother’s distress, reaching out to her like a sharp knife, poking her heart and piercing her brain with an agony no four-year-old should know. Crying heavily, Rylee rocked herself for a few minutes, trying to rid her mind and body of the pain.

But it was no use, her mother was suffering, a lot, and it was only going to get worse. Rising on shaky legs, Rylee grabbed for the doll she had taken to sleeping with and in a daze ran from her room, her small footsteps echoing along the wood in the night.

Running down and out into her grandparents’ yard, the moonlight drew a silver path into the woods by their house. Trying to escape the pain, Rylee quickened her pace and ran, her feet slipping a bit on the dirt and rocks that assaulted them, her nightgown not doing much to keep the chill of the night away. But Rylee didn’t care – she just wanted to be gone, to be rid of this agony that had ruled her heart and mind for weeks now.

Breathing hard, she just kept running.

***

Cadie awoke with a sharp gasp, the pain she felt from Kaylee causing her own mid-section to ache uncomfortably. Glancing around her darkened room, Cadie took a few deep breaths and tried to center her thoughts and her emotions as River had taught her.

Closing her eyes, Cadie focused on the pain, found the physical cause blossoming in Kaylee and watched as the expectant mother’s spirit flamed from bright red to a dull pink. Knowing that another tormented wave was inevitable, Cadie quickly turned her focus away from Kaylee and out into the night, looking for the other anguished spirit she had felt.

Sensing Rylee’s distress as she had been the girl’s shadow for the past few days, Cadie could locate her easily and her breath caught in her throat at what she saw. That black cloud they had been trying to avoid for months now was close, nipping at Rylee’s heels and almost fully obstructing the girl from Cadie’s vision.

Throwing her covers off, Cadie’s feet hit the cold floor of her room and not thinking of anything but Rylee’s agony, she took off into the night.

***

On Serenity, River sat up quickly out of a deep sleep to the feeling of a cold, sharp stab to her heart. Glancing around the passenger dorm she had been sleeping in, River knew that whatever was causing the pain she felt was not on board the ship, it was somewhere else. Taking a deep breath and trying to quiet her thudding heart, she closed her eyes and stretched out with all her senses.

What she saw brought tears to her eyes and with barely another thought, she stumbled to her feet and up to the bridge, hoping she might be able to sound the alarm before it was too late.

***

Cadie was just in time to see a shadowy figure come up behind Rylee’s sobbing form and grab her, covering her mouth so the little girl wouldn’t scream. Ducking behind a tree, Cadie fleetingly thought that she should go after the large man, knowing that if she did, she’d either be captured as well or hurt. Inching herself out from around her hiding spot, the choice of what to do was taken from her as the man set off at a dead run with her friend’s now limp form in his arms and was to a waiting shuttle in a matter of moments.

With fresh tears welling in her eyes, Cadie watched the ship take off into the sky and then, with even more anguish welling in her chest, she headed back towards her home at a dead run. ***

As River’s hand hit the controls for the wave screen she knew she was too late. With an audible sob, she wrapped her arms over herself and cried heavily, wishing she could have known, before now, what was going to happen. With a seething anger, she readjusted the burn rate on Serenity, pushing the ship to its maximum acceleration and hearing it groan in protest. The adjustment caused a bit of a buck to the system and it awakened the rest of the crew, the three of them finding River’s tense form on the bridge, her eyes locked out the canopy ahead.

Kneeling at her side, Jayne swiveled her chair so she was facing him and his breath caught as he saw the cold, calculated anger etched into her features. “River, darlin’,” he called to her lightly, resting a hand to her cheek and noting how cold she was to the touch. Wiping away a few stray tears, he asked her, “What is it?”

Her cold, brown eyes met his and Jayne knew the look on her face made his heart stop for just a split second. She opened her mouth to speak and the word that fell from her lips caused his entire body to freeze with tension and fear. “Death.”

***

Cadie burst into the clinic, knowing exactly where she’d find both Simon and Millie. Rushing down the hall to Kaylee’s room, she stopped in the doorway, panting heavily as she fought to catch her breath. She could feel the tension pulsing off of the three adults and while she knew she should try and be as discreet as possible, they didn’t have that kind of time; Rylee didn’t.

“Simon.” She spoke loudly, drawing his attention away from his wife’s discomfort. Looking to her with a distracted expression, Simon asked, “What is it, Cadie?” even as he turned back to focus on Kaylee.

Entering the room, Cadie placed a hand on his arm and tugged him towards her, needing his full attention so he would understand the severity of her next statement. With annoyance, he looked to the girl and now realized just how distraught she was. Leading her back towards the door, Simon asked her quietly, “What is it?”

“It’s Rylee,” she breathed, her eyes filling with tears as she felt her friend’s pain getting farther and farther away. “She got snatched.”

Simon’s blue eyes widened and the fear and pain he felt could have easily knocked the girl unconscious if she hadn’t been prepared. Reeling back a bit, Simon’s mind was in turmoil as he tried to fully understand what the child before him was saying. “Are you sure?” he finally asked her, his eyes darting back to Kaylee as she let out another anguished cry. “How do you know?”

“I felt her wake up, she was hurting ‘cause o’ Kaylee and I followed her,” Cadie explained quickly. “She was runnin’ out in the woods and some man grabbed her, took her on a ship.”

With a mind-numbing fear, Simon felt his knees go weak as Cadie explained and he sank into a nearby chair. Cadie moved towards him, placing a hand to his shoulder. Looking back into her tear-filled eyes, Simon’s own tears threatened to fall as he asked, “Do you know where she is?”

Shaking her head sadly, Cadie told him haltingly, “I ain’t that strong. But River is. They’ll be back soon.”

Nodding once, Simon’s mind was a blur as he heard Kaylee’s cries and thought of his beautiful and innocent daughter. How could this all be happening now? Looking back into Cadie’s pained face, Simon told her, “I need you to go wake Inara and bring her down here. Can you do that for me?”

Nodding quickly, Cadie turned and again bolted from the room, glad to get a little distance from all the pain and hurt, both physical and emotional that was flooding the place. Taking a deep breath, Simon rose slowly and made it back to Kaylee’s side. As she had again quieted, her eyes closed as she concentrated on her breathing, Simon took Millie by the elbow and led her away from his wife.

Collecting his thoughts, he met the woman’s concerned gaze and told her quietly, “Cadie seems to think that Rylee’s been kidnapped.”

Her hand flying to her mouth, Millie stifled the shocked gasp that threatened to escape her lips. Her eyes widening, Millie breathed, “What? By who?”

Shaking his head, Simon told her, “I have no idea, but she’s going to get Inara. I’m going to ask her to wake Walt and Marie and the Fryes and start looking for her.” What Simon didn’t say was that he wanted to bolt from the room right now and run into the night, shouting his daughter’s name and searching for her until he was again holding her in his arms. But looking back to Kaylee, he knew he couldn’t leave his wife, not now. And the strain was killing him.

“How is she?” he asked quietly, never taking his eyes from Kaylee’s face.

Following his gaze, Millie told him, “We need to get them babies out, Simon.” Her tone was frank, but when Simon met her eyes again, he saw a bit of fear reflected there. “With the spotting and additional crampin’, I’m afraid this is more than just false labor.”

Nodding once, Simon was about to ask her something else when Kaylee reached out a hand and called for him. “Simon?”

Rushing to her side, Simon took her hand gently in his own and kissed it lightly while sitting at her side. “I’m here, Kaylee,” he whispered, watching as her eyes focused on his face.

“What’s wrong?” she murmured, her voice strained as she fought to ignore the pain that ached through her.

Wondering just how much bad news she could take, Simon edged closer to her and said, “We need to get the babies out, Kaylee. It’s time.”

Shaking her head vehemently, Kaylee told him, “No, it ain’t. You said two weeks, it ain’t been two weeks.” She was crying again and Simon reached up the back of his hand to brush some of her tears away.

“I know, bao bei, I know, but we can’t wait any longer. Your body can’t take it. The twins will have a better chance if we get them out now.” He swallowed his own tears as he looked into her expressive eyes, clouded with worry and tension.

“Simon,” she breathed again, rolling her face into the hand he held at her cheek. “Simon, don’t let ‘em die.”

Blinking rapidly to clear his eyes of tears, he leaned down and kissed her lightly, whispering, “No one’s going to die, Kaylee, you hear me?”

She nodded once and then with a heavy sigh, Simon quickly administered a sedative, causing her eyes to drift closed, just as Inara rounded the corner with a distraught Cadie in her arms.

Surveying the scene before her in an instant, Inara asked quickly, “Simon? What is it?”

Turning to regard his friend with a tearful gaze, Simon told her quietly, “Inara, I need your help.”

***

A half an hour later, Thom, Winnie, Walt, Marie, Inara and Millie’s oldest boys, Milo and Ben were scouring the woods behind the Frye’s home, flashlights and lanterns lighting their way in the dead of night. Cadie had described to them exactly where she’d seen Rylee taken and while she had insisted she should go, Inara, Millie and Simon had told her no. Dejectedly she’d agreed to stay behind, helping to prepare Kaylee’s room for after the surgery, while Millie and Simon prepped the pregnant woman for the procedure.

Inara blinked again to clear the tears from her eyes, still unable to believe that this was really happening. It was impossible, wasn’t it? A kidnapping in the dead of night? On Harvest? They had been safe here for so long, it seemed so unbelievable that within a span of a few short months so many things could go so wrong.

Tracing her path, Inara was about to take another step forward, when the touch of a small hand to her side caused her to whirl about suddenly, gasping. Shining her light down to her side, she saw Daniel’s big blue eyes, already full of tears and had to guess that the boy had awakened to find the house empty and feared the worst.

Kneeling in front of him, Daniel threw himself into Inara’s arms, burying his head in her shoulder as he murmured, “Where’s Ry?”

“We don’t know, baby,” she told him, smoothing a hand along his back. “Cadie thinks she got taken by someone.” Leaning back from him a bit, Inara wiped a few of his tears away and asked him, “Did you hear or see anything?”

He shook his head, his cheeks flaming with shame that he had been sleeping blissfully while his sister had been kidnapped. “Where’s daddy?”

Swallowing even harder, Inara told him, “He’s with your mom, sweetie. You know that surgery she has to have, in order to have the babies?” He nodded once and Inara continued, “Well, she has to have it tonight. So, your daddy’s very busy right now, trying to keep her and your new brother and sister safe.”

Taking in all of this startling information with a maturity that belied his age, Daniel raised his teary eyes to her and said with a firm voice, “I want to find Rylee.”

Inara was about to fight him on it, and order the boy back home, but she knew that that wasn’t fair. He was closer to his sister than anyone and for a fleeting moment Inara wondered what would have happened, all those years ago, if someone had tried to tell Simon to forget about his sister and go about his life. Knowing it never would have happened, Inara straightened and took his small hand in hers. “All right, but you stay close to me, understand?”

He nodded, not needing to be told twice as the nighttime shadows continued to dance around them.

***

Rylee awoke, her head pounding and her body sluggish. Opening her eyes slowly, she blinked them a few times to clear the blurriness from her vision and tried to identify her surroundings. The room was cold and gray and while she was lying on a fairly comfortable bed, everything around her felt icy to the touch. Lifting her head slightly in an effort to sit up, she immediately regretted the motion as the movement simply caused her head to hurt more. Slumping back against the pillow, she allowed her eyes to travel around and realized that she did recognize this place from somewhere – it kind of looked like one of the rooms on her grandma Tam’s shuttle.

“Grammy?” she called quietly, her voice small in the open space. Getting no answer, Rylee felt tears well in her eyes as she called, “Daddy? Mama? Danny?”

Still no answer and it only served to frighten her further. With big hot tears burning in her eyes, she felt them fall down her cheeks, wetting the pillow beneath her. Curling into the tightest ball she could manage, she sobbed loud and long, unaware that there was one family member on board with her.

Studying her whimpering form with no emotion, Gabriel watched the child cry herself to sleep, grateful when her whining ceased. She had been easy to grab and Gabriel smiled slightly at the thought. He hadn’t considered going for her himself until they had made it in system and he realized how effortless it would be. Of course, now that he had her, the next few weeks while they traveled back to Osiris would be an exercise in patience as he guessed that the four-year-old would try to work at his calm at every turn – just like her aunt and her father.

Gabriel sat back and thought of his next move, flipping off the screen that showed him Rylee’s room. As the image winked to black he considered sending out a wave to Simon, letting him know exactly what he’d have to do in order to get his daughter back. He could also send a wave to River, telling her what she’d have to do to get her niece back, but with a bit of a sigh, he realized, it was late, and he would be do nothing more tonight. He’d already managed to flawlessly execute one part of his plan – resting on his laurels for at least an evening seemed a perfectly acceptable plan of action.

***

Simon’s mind whirled as he washed his hands over the sink, scrubbing them judiciously as Millie prepped Kaylee. He could barely concentrate on the simple task before him, his mind was so full of fear for his daughter, his wife and their unborn children; he had no idea how he was going to get through this.

Sensing his undeniable tension, Millie came up to stand beside him and told him quietly, “All right now, Simon, you listen to me good.” Waiting until his gaze had locked with hers, Millie pointed a finger in the direction of Kaylee’s unconscious form and continued, “That woman right there needs a doctor and a might fine one like I know you are. You just keep remindin’ yourself o’ that. She’s your priority right now, her and them babies. Dong ma?”

Nodding once, Simon took a deep breath as he turned off the faucet with his elbow. Millie gave him a towel and he dried his hands before taking the gloves she handed him as well. Closing his eyes for a moment, he turned back to regard Kaylee. He moved towards her, pressing a light kiss to her forehead, and then took the scalpel that Millie handed him.

Taking one more deep breath and letting it out slowly, Simon said a silent prayer to the all the gods he could recall that Kaylee and the twins would see their way through this.

***

An hour later it was done and Simon was exhausted. Both babies were now resting comfortably in their incubators. They were too small, but they had managed to come through the surgery alive. Millie was tending to them now as Simon sat with Kaylee, her hand in his. He had closed up her incision, doing his best to keep the stitches tight so as not to leave a scar. She had yet to awaken, the sedative he’d administered meant to keep her under for at least another hour. Simon wanted her to rest, now, while she could, because he knew the minute she found out about Rylee she’d been unable to close her eyes again until the girl was back home and safe.

Rising slowly, he moved to his new son’s incubator and studied the monitors that were watching him as Millie tended to his daughter. At just a little over four pounds, the boy was in worse shape than his sister. His skin was tinted yellow from a bit of jaundice, but it was his breathing that had Simon worried the most. Blinking back tears, Simon placed his hand into the built-in plastic glove of the case and ran his finger over one of his son’s balled fists. He was so tiny, Simon couldn’t believe it. He and his sister were both so little, but at least his daughter was breathing on her own. While her skin was also a sickly yellow color, her heartbeat and respiration had been steady since he’d taken her from Kaylee and Simon was relieved. She was also a bit bigger than her twin, weighing in at just under five pounds and Simon knew the extra few ounces would do wonders for her.

Glancing back down to his son, Simon hated to see the little tube snaking its way into his small nose, helping him breathe, but he knew they had no choice. Millie stepped away from the other incubator and over to Simon and he asked her quietly, “Tell me you’ve seen worse than this in your time?”

Smiling slightly at him, the older woman rested a light hand to his shoulder and told him, “I have son that is the truth. They’re both stable, Simon and so is Kaylee. That’s sayin’ somethin’.” Looking over her shoulder to Kaylee’s sleeping form, she asked him, “You wanna move her back to her room?”

Simon nodded once and tore his eyes away from his tiny son’s chest as it raised and lowered imperceptibly with each little breath. Wiping his eyes, he told her, “Yeah, I want her to be as comfortable as possible.” Looking back to Kaylee, Simon felt his heart sink to the floor as he realized that while the next few days should be the start of a happy time for them, they would only bring more heartache to his beautiful wife.

***

By the time River brought Serenity down, it was early morning on Harvest. She could feel everyone’s pain and distress as she hurried from the bridge and into the cargo bay. Passing Jayne, Mal and Zoe as they climbed onto the mule, she sprinted down the open ramp and ran at full speed towards Millie’s knowing that’s where she’d find Simon, Kaylee and her new niece and nephew.

Bursting into the door of the clinic, she was immediately greeted by Cadie, as the girl rushed into her arms. Picking her up, River held her tight, feeling her pain and fear as deeply as her own. Kissing her lightly on the cheek, River whispered into her hair as she started to cry, “It’s okay, baby. I’m here. I’m going to make it better.”

Cadie nodded once, keeping her face buried against River’s neck as the older woman moved back towards where she could feel her brother and sister. Entering the room, she saw Simon’s beleaguered form and her heart immediately stopped at the look of pure anguish on his features. Setting Cadie down, River kept the girl’s hand in her own as she moved towards her brother.

Lifting weary blue eyes to her, River felt her own tears threatening to fall, as he reached out a hand to her and murmured, “River.”

Crying now, River launched herself towards him, holding him tight, trying not to crush Danny who was curled in his father’s lap asleep. “I’m so sorry, Simon,” she murmured, as she felt his tears hit her shoulder. “We’ll get her back, I promise.”

He nodded once, and then pulled back from her a bit, his eyes returning to Kaylee’s sleeping form. Following the gaze, River kept her hand on his shoulder as she straightened and asked, “How is she?”

Sighing heavily, he told her, “As well as can be expected.”

“And the twins?” she asked, feeling their tiny presences, but unable to determine if they were truly okay.

“One of them is doing well, our little girl, but our boy,” Simon told her truthfully, willing his voice not to break as he said the words. Looking back into her pained face he whispered, “Just say a prayer for all of them, okay?”

She nodded once, about to say something more, when Jayne entered the room, his own anguished look on his features. Cadie felt his presence first and rushed towards him. Picking the girl up easily, he held her tight as she cried some more, his face growing expressionless as his eyes met River’s. She knew he was aware of what was happening with Rylee and she knew that he blamed her. With a sigh, she also knew he was probably right.

Jayne turned and left with Cadie in his arms, as River sat on the edge of Kaylee’s bed, and leaned a hand out, placing it lightly on Danny’s sleeping back. “What happened?” she asked him quietly.

Shrugging, Simon’s voice was distant and unaffected as he said, “I don’t know. Kaylee woke up in labor and Cadie came running in saying that Rylee had been taken by some man.” Looking into his sister’s eyes, he asked her quietly, “How did you know she was gone?”

River bit her lip and told him honestly, “I felt something, on Serenity, we weren’t that far away. But I didn’t know for sure until we landed a few minutes ago.” Swallowing past her rising guilt, she asked, “Do you know who might have taken her?”

Simon shook his head, trying so hard to keep his tears in, trying so hard to be strong, but River knew it was killing him. “No. They couldn’t find anything, except one of her dolls, near where Cadie says she was taken.” Again lifting his teary eyes to her face, he whispered, “Find her, please.”

Nodding once, River told him firmly, “I will, Simon. I promise. You just stay here with Kaylee and keep her safe, keep her healthy.”

Rising she forced herself from the room, knowing the longer she stayed the better chance she’d have at telling him all that had happened in the past six weeks and risking his wrath. As it was, once she stepped from the room, she was greeted with Jayne’s harsh gaze, Cadie still in his arms.

Moving past him, River made it out into the clinic proper and over to her new nephew’s small form before Jayne caught up with her. “You best tell ‘im,” he muttered, his hand rubbing comforting circles along Cadie’s back, even as his tone belied his anger.

Not turning to face him, River stared in awe at the tiny infant before her. “Tell him what?” she asked, trying to keep the fear from her voice.

“You know exactly what, River an’ I’m tired o’ you pretendin’ you don’t.” Jayne’s tone was sharp and it brought a whimper from Cadie as she felt his anger spike. Whispering into her hair, he told her, “I’m sorry, baby. Why don’t you go up to your room and rest a bit? Me and River’ll be by to see you in a while, all right?”

Cadie nodded tiredly and Jayne set her back on the ground pressing a kiss into her hair as he pushed her gently towards the door. Looking back to the two of them with another anguished look on her features, Cadie slowly made her way out of the clinic and back to bed.

Once she’d gone, Jayne turned back to regard his wife with an expression that did nothing to hide his frustration. “You had best tell ‘im,” he repeated, stepping closer to her and turning her to face him. His hands on her shoulders, he forced her gaze to his and she saw his anger there and his fear. Fear that if they had been here, River or Cadie would be the one that had gotten grabbed and he would be as distraught as Simon.

“We have no idea who did this,” she told him quietly, her own eyes blazing at his quick accusation. “For all we know Rylee got kidnapped by some mercenaries coming after you or Mal.”

Meeting her angry gaze, Jayne bit out, “River-“

“No, Jayne, no.” River backed out of his grasp and crossed her arms over her chest in defiance. “Until we have some cold, hard facts, I’m not telling Simon anything. There’s no point in adding to his problems now, with something that could be completely unrelated.”

“Unrelated?” Jayne asked her, incredulous, backing away from her. “How can you say that? This can’t be a coincidence, River.” Holding up a hand, Jayne started to tick off what she wanted to believe were random events, drawing the conclusions for her that she refused to draw for herself. “You been pokin’ ‘round on the cortex, tryin’ to find information you know the Blue Hands don’t wan’ ya to have, then your father, who you haven’t heard a peep from in years all of sudden sends you a love note and now your niece, who just happens to be a reader, by the way, gets snatched from her home, taken on some ship.” Snorting derisively at her, Jayne said haughtily, “Oh yeah, I’m sure none o’ that’s related.”

“Keep your voice down,” River hissed at him, stepping forward and poking a finger into his chest. “I don’t want Simon to hear you.”

“You don’t want Simon to blame you, darlin’,” Jayne retorted, backing away from her. “There’s a difference.”

“You still don’t have any proof,” she told him, her arms again crossed over her chest.

Sighing heavily, Jayne let his head fall to his chest, and rubbed a tired hand across his neck. “No, I don’t, you’re right.” Bringing his blue eyes back up to hers, he said, “But I can get some,” and with that stalked out of the clinic, leaving River alone.

It was a full five minutes before she realized she was crying. Burying her face into her hands, River moved to a corner of the room and sank onto the couch there, stifling her sobs as she felt Simon’s pain rise off of him in waves, causing her stomach to churn violently. Still unable to believe that her niece’s abduction could be her fault, River did her best to collect herself and then headed from the room, looking for answers of her own.

***

As soon as Mal had made it to the Everett’s, he’d bolted up the stairs and to the room he shared with Inara, fear for what they’d all been going through making his heart pound uncomfortably in his chest. With a hand on the door jamb, he spun himself over the threshold and stopped short at the sight before him. Sitting in the rocking chair under the room’s window was Inara, Mimi’s tiny, sleeping form curled in her lap. Inara was asleep as well, no doubt exhausted from being up all night looking for Rylee.

Sighing with relief and renewed sorrow, Mal entered the room quietly, and approached his girls, placing a light kiss to Mimi’s forehead, before placing one to Inara’s as well. She stirred at the touch, her eyes blinking open and bringing him into focus. As soon as she recognized his face, fresh tears dotted her eyes and she breathed, “Oh, Mal, I’m so glad you’re back.”

Resting a hand against her cheek, Mal smiled sadly at her, and then leaned down and gently scooped up Mimi’s sleeping form. Cradling her to his chest, he reached out a hand to Inara who rose as he tugged on her hand gently and he walked with both of them over to the bed. Sitting with his back against the headboard, he smiled slightly as his daughter wiggled up tighter into him, but did not awaken. Pressing another kiss into her hair, Mal lifted his other arm, giving Inara the invitation to cuddle into his side, which she did gladly.

Resting her head against his shoulder, he pulled her tight to him, and leaned his cheek against her soft hair. “What happened?” he whispered, as he watched his wife reach out and gently brush some of Mimi’s bangs from her forehead.

With a heavy sigh, Inara snuggled closer to him and said wearily, “We don’t know. Cadie felt something, I guess, from Rylee in the middle of the night and went looking for her.” Inara’s voice was quiet, but Mal could hear her strain to keep her tears at bay. “She found her in the woods by Thom and Winnie’s just as she got taken by someone, some man, I guess, he took off with her on a shuttle.”

Sighing heavily himself, Mal closed his eyes against the bad news, having heard a quick version of the story from Walt and Marie as they’d arrived, but wanting to hear it from Inara as well. “We don’t have any idea who grabbed her?” he asked quietly, his lips whispering against Inara’s forehead.

Shaking her head, Inara told him, “No, not a clue.” Sitting in silence with him for a moment, Inara blinked back a few more tears and then whispered, “I just feel awful for Simon and Kaylee both.” With this admission, her sobs came freely and she buried her face against his shoulder to stifle the noise.

Pulling her as tight to him as he could, Mal tried to soothe her, knowing there were no words. He knew how distraught he’d be if he’d returned to find Mimi or Inara or both of them gone, taken in the dead of night by some unseen enemy. But add Rylee’s kidnapping to the birth of two new babies who were not all that healthy, and Mal could only guess the kind of hell Simon and Kaylee were suffering through.

“We were out all night looking for her,” Inara continued shakily, a few tears still running down her face. “But there was nothing, no clues. I have no idea how we’re going to find her.”

Trying to quell his own rising helplessness, Mal kissed her again and leaned back with her, trying to offer his wife some kind of comfort. “We just will, darlin’,” he whispered, his eyes drifting back to his daughter’s sweet face. “We just will.”

***

TBC