Simon woke with a start, unsure of what precisely had brought him from a very enticing dream of Kaylee and a moonlit lake, and thought as long as he was awake, he'd look in on River. She wasn't in her room, or sitting outside Inara's door, as he thought she might have done in the night. He looked to make certain the other shuttle was still there and void of his sister and made his way to the infirmary, checking every corner in between. He didn't really start to panic until he found himself on the track that led to the bridge and still no sighting of her. "You let me know when we're close," Mal was saying, leaving the bridge. Simon noted the sleep pants, but didn't think much of it, his mind was still trying to discover a nook or cranny in which River would have hidden herself. "Doc," Mal said, standing at his bunk's doorway. "You lookin' for your sister?" "Yes," Simon admitted. "Do you know where..." "She's here," Mal pointed to down the ladder. "You can collect her, let her know we're goin' back." "Going back?" Simon asked, gratefully coming forward. He started the descent into the captain's quarters while Mal explained. "Somethin' ain't right about leaving without everyone on board," the captain's voice followed him down. "River just confirmed it." River was, indeed, on the floor in Mal's room. She was curled into a ball, her long hair fanning out from her head. She was crying. Simon went to her softly, pulling her into his arms. He rocked her and smoothed her hair away from her face, shushing her sobs. Mal entered the room quietly and waited as Simon calmed his sister. When her tears had subsided, Simon helped her stand and they left Mal to his privacy. He went to his bed, but could not sleep. His mind was still racing, trying to find Inara through phrases or scraps of conversations...but all she ever said was she had a client. No other information. Not that he was supposed to have that sort of information. And what would he do with it, if he did have it on a regular basis? Go crazy with it, just like he was now. But what if the only reason she had for being late was a party that had gone on too long or a lost 'wave telling the crew she had extended her time with her mysterious client? What if they showed up, guns blazing, only to find her catching up with some old Companion friend from the Training House? But...there was River...his mind went again to the comfort Simon had shown her, the tears that had spilled from her eyes... He'd go in, guns ready to blaze, and if she wasn't in any trouble...he'd just let River explain. *** "Uh, Wash?" Kaylee queried from the doorway. The sleep-deprived pilot turned in his chair to see the worried face of the mechanic. "I know," he waved her off. "We're going back." "Oh," Kaylee nodded. "For Inara?" "Yeah, for Inara," Wash sighed. "Although, how we'll find her is an interesting jie I don't know we'll get around, but we're going back for her." "We'll work it out," Kaylee said, turning. "There has to be somethin' we can work with..." Kaylee almost walked right into Zoë as she contemplated the possible clues Inara may have let slip before she left. "Careful, there," Zoë smiled. "Almost fell." "Oh, sorry," Kaylee smiled back. "I was just talkin' to Wash about...hey, do you know where 'Nara mighta gone to meet her client?" Zoë shook her head, slowly. The younger girl looked disheartened. "I best get back to the engine room," she said softly, stepping around the first mate. She looked back, thoughtfully. "We can always track her shuttle, but it'd be easier to know where to go first." "We goin' back?" Zoë queried. "Yup," Kaylee nodded. "We're goin' back." She left Zoë with a shrug and a smile. The woman looked to her husband's chair, seeing his arm flipping a switch and retreat into the shelter of the shadows. She climbed the few steps into the bridge and moved to him, placing her hands on his shoulders and leaning down to kiss his cheek softly. "I missed you in bed," she whispered seductively into his ear. "And I find you here, taking us back?" "Mal's orders," Wash grumbled. "I was moments away from joining you in bed and he comes in here half-asleep and orders me to turn us around." "Half-asleep still means half-awake," Mal's voice sounded from the doorway. Zoë stood up straight and turned to face the man still buttoning his shirt. "Sir," Zoë began, her hand still on Wash's shoulder. "We're risking penalties of the unspoken kind by doing this." "Yeah," Mal said, taking the co-pilot's seat and resuming his search through 'waves that Inara had received. "You askin' why?" "No, Sir," Zoë responded quietly. "Just makin' sure you understand that." "We just need to be reassured that she's not in any danger," Mal said tightly. Then, after a pause. "River had a nightmare." "More jaws that catch and claws that bite?" Zoë asked. "Honey, I think it's jaws that bite and claws that catch, not the other way around," Wash corrected absentmindedly. Zoë turned to him slowly. He looked up, clueless. "What's all that?" Mal asked, watching the couple react to each other. "What?" Wash asked. "Where did you hear that?" Zoë murmured. "Lewis Carroll," Wash answered. "Well, not Lewis Carroll himself, but he wrote it." "Wrote what?" Mal asked again. "River said it to me yesterday," Zoë "The doctor and I thought it was just part of her nightmares come to haunt her. But she said something else about eyes of flame..." "It's the next verse," Wash shrugged. "And as in uffish thought he stood, The Jabberwock with eyes of flame Came whiffling through the tulgey wood And burbled as it came." "The Jabberwock?" Mal repeated, his hand slipping from the consul. "We've turned around for a poem?" "Well, it's a poem about hunting down a monster," Wash offered. "Maybe she got metaphorical for us." "Or maybe this is all just a mistake," Mal sighed, leaning back in his chair. He stared blindly at the lights in front of him for a moment as Wash looked to his wife in ignorance. She patted his shoulder comfortingly. "We're, ah," Wash cleared his throat. "We're almost there, Mal. What do you want me to do?" The Captain shook his head slowly. "A gorram poem," he whispered. *** More spittle dribbled out of his mouth, as his body clenched and shuddered. Inara turned her face away in disgust. When he finally released her, she could feel his eyes burning into her skin, where his long nails had not yet punctured the epidermis. She heard him smack his fat lips and his wheezing breaths as he stood once more. And he left. She held her breath, waiting. Could he have forgotten to inject her again? Was it possible she might be able to regain her strength? She waited a moment more before grasping the table leg firmly and pulling herself to a sitting position. She just needed feeling in her legs again...she needed to know more about this dark cage in which he had placed her. She rubbed her hands over her arms, feeling the crescent-shaped marks he had left with his claws. She rubbed vigorously, hoping they would miraculously disappear and she could wake up from this horrid nightmare. She fought the fogginess of her mind as she tried to remember how it had all happened. A client...she had made an appointment with a client...there had been a private dinner...he had fallen...and a face - his face - had appeared...and touched her...and she was here... But how long ago had that been? What had happened to her client - Mycroft? Her thoughts were shattered when the door was opened suddenly. She froze, seeing his form only in her peripheral vision. He held the needle. "Didn't think I'd forget you, now, did we?" She felt the tears form in her eyes and had no means with which to stop them. ------------------------------------------------------- Chinese translation: jie = knot