Jayne, Zoe, Simon, River and Kaylee were all gathered together in the seating area outside the Infirmary. Anxious expressions were everywhere and Kaylee’s quiet sobs filled the air. She was sat curled up next to Simon, leaning on him as he held her close. He wasn’t attempting to say anything to make her feel better, he didn’t need to. River was sat in the corner hugging her knees, her dark eyes on Simon and Kaylee but they were blank and empty.

“ So they was ruttin’ when they got nabbed?” Jayne asked to nobody in particular. “No.” River said quietly. “So what was the doin’?” He asked. “They were just sleeping.” She answered. Jayne frowned and looked even more confused. So she decided to tell them all.

“ Inara has been sleeping in his arms since the night we all played Truth and Dare.” River said, making everyone feel slightly embarrassed at hearing something that innocent and personal. “ She’s been suffering from nightmares.” Simon said quietly, they all had and he didn’t wish to provoke this again. Some, like Kaylee and Simon had someone to comfort them, others were used to the nightmares. “ I saw her taking sleeping pills from the Infirmary a few weeks ago.” He said in answer to everybody’s questioning glances. “ When I questioned her about it she said she’d been having trouble sleeping - since Miranda. After that I decided to keep an eye on her. I did notice that she was looking better recently. I suppose that’s why.”

He gave a bittersweet smile. This couple who had just made the first tiny, tentative steps towards admitting a love that could do so much for both of them could soon have that snatched away from them. They could soon be dead. All the things that would be left unsaid, all the things that would be left undone. “ It happened for me.” He thought, looking down at Kaylee. “ And I’m so lucky to have her. After everything those two have done, after everything they have been through they deserve love. They deserve to have each other.”

“Two men.“ River’s small voice piped up, sounding distant and strangely hollow. “One, a dancer. He was shown Mercy but he cannot comprehend. He saw only humiliation. He seeks only revenge. His heart is cold…it holds only…lust.”

River had said all of this with her eyes shut, unmoving, arms wrapped around her knees. Then her eyes snapped open but they were blank and empty. “The second man is a foreigner, he tries to meet people but his vision is impaired.” She paused. A change came over here face and a cruel smile played in the corners of her mouth. She spoke again but the words and the voice were not her own.

“He kill my men. He destroy my reputation. The reputation now only gossip, is not fact. Reynolds must PAY!”

The last word was shouted by the voice that was not River. Then she shut her eyes and began screaming, softly. "ETA KOORAM NAH SMECH!" Shouted Simon and Zoe together, Simon leaping to his feet. They watched as River went lax and fell to the floor, deeply asleep. There was silence for a few moments until Zoe said one word. “Niska.”

*****

Inara woke, groggily rising from a drugged darkness to…more darkness. Opening her eyes she found herself surrounded by black, the only light was from a small gap under a door. “So we’re in a room.” She thought. She was freezing. The heat of her body seeping away into the cold, damp stone floor. She tried to move her limbs and found that although they were stiff and heavy she could move them. Just. Panic ensued as a million questions entered her mind all at once. “Where’s Mal? Where are we? Has anything happened to him? Is everyone else here too? Where is Mal?”

Inara took a few deep breaths to steady herself, a Companion should never lose their calm. “ A Companion should also never be kidnapped.” She thought drily. Now that she had calmed the frantic beating of her heart she began to tune her senses. Listening. At first all she could hear was the low hum of muffled voices, how may she couldn’t be sure, then she began to hear another sound. The comforting sound of another persons breathing. “Mal?” She whispered, beginning to slowly attempt to haul herself towards the source of the noise, hands reaching in front of her. Her limbs were heavy and her body was still wracked with tiredness so it was slow progress but then she found flesh in the darkness. She moved her hand down until she found a hand with rough, calloused fingers. Then she smiled slightly as she found her other hand touching a war, moving chest and suspenders. Definitely Mal.

Her hands travelled quickly up to his face. The rough skin felt puffy and bruised. “Mal!” She whispered again “Mal wake up! Tzao-gao!” She sat for a moment, not knowing what to. “Mal please wake up, I need you……help me “ She begged, her voice breaking, a tear sliding down her cheek. Something was wrong. He grunted in his sleep and she felt his hand on her arm, he pulled her into the warmth of his body. His arms around her felt tighter than usual. As if, even unconscious he sensed her fear and tried to make her safe. She reached up and slowly stroked his face. “I suppose there’s nothing we can do but wait.” She said quietly, to the darkness as the drugs pushed her to sleep again.

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And that is exactly what you will have to do, wait! How long depends on reviews!

Tzao-gao - Damn It