“No!” “River, plea…” “You promised….can’t lie to regret cause’ it comes back to get you….doesn’t work that way” “River!” “No needles! They won’t help!” She shouted, backing towards the stairs. Simon stared at her. His lips moved in response, but no sound came out. A few tears made their way down River’s cheeks. “Some things broke…can’t be fixed…even though you want them to….go search for the glue and when you find it you try to use it….but it won’t work….just breaks more pieces….I don’t wanta be hurt anymore,” she whispers, crying. Simon gaped at her, his eyes wide. “River, am….am I…hurting you?” he asked, not fully believing what he was hearing. He wanted to make her better, never...never…hurt her. She nodded, then took a few steps foreward and buried herself in his arms. “Not your fault. Didn’t cause it, just trying to help. I understand, but you gotta let go. Not the little girl I used to be. I’ll be fine,” she said into his arm, and he forced himself not to cry. He never wanted to let his little sister see him cry. She giggled suddenly. “always saw you…cried more than me.” He opened his mouth and she stepped away, giggling. “I did not!” he said, a grin working its way to his face. “Did too, always su…” her voice trailed away and she looked off, all the color draining from her face. Simon stepped foreward, worried. “Mei Mei? What’s wrong?” he asked, wondering if she even heard him, as her eyes had a very faraway look in them. After a moment, she refocused back on him. “trouble.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [Inara! Get my ship ready to go, now!] [I will], she replied over the radio, then hurriedly flipped the switches that powered up Serenity’s engines. When River and Mal were not piloting, she had taken up the position. She had not expected this though. Her stomach rattled with worry, as it always did when they were runnin back from an "unsmooth" job. She flipped the intercom so it would be heard from all over the ship. [Kaylee, please go to the cargo bay, and get ready to close the doors. It seems like our captain has gotten himself into trouble again.] Kaylee heard the message from the engine room, and immediately ran to the cargo bay and stood by the controls. A voice spoke from beside her, unexpectedly and she jumped. “She’s gonna be hurt,” River said, staring out the door at the cloud of dust that was making its way to Serenity. Kaylee’s stomach fluttered. “Wh…Zoe? How bad?” she asked, scared. River didn’t respond, only watched as the mule came closer and closer, followed closely by another vehicle. And that vehicle seemed to be shooting at the three people on the mule. Suddenly, and completely unexpected, the mule turned sharply and ended up on its side, with the passengers spilled out in the dirt. From beside her, River took off running. By the time she recovered enough to call her name, the girl was already out of earshot. As River ran, all emotions seemed to drift away. Like it did when the weapon took control. But this was different…this time she was in control. Mal, Jayne, and Zoe, all lookin dusty, were huddled behind the mule, and firing at the people on the oppositely parked vehicle. River, keeping her head low, came up behind them and tapped Mal on the shoulder. He jerked around in shock, and it took a moment to realize who she was. “Jii dan, mao un…dang it girl, what r u doin here?” he asked, willing his heart to beat slower. “came to help,” she replied, then looked over the mule at the people, then ducked back down. Six of them…all with armor…28963 class RG-7 lasers…not good. She shifted her feet, and Jayne finally noticed her. His eyes widened, and she felt the surprise, and anger. “River, what in the gorram hell r u doin here? It ain’t safe.” The captain and Zoe were busy firing, and didn’t notice his use of her name. She still smiled though. Then, it faded and she turned back to the Captain. “Gotta get back to the ship, Daddy. I’ll handle them.” He blinked at her, and she didn’t wait for him to question. “There’s something wrong with the ship…been programmed to leave…needs your help,” she said, confidently, and she felt his worry for Serenity. It surprised her…it was stronger than she thought. Then, he had a flashback of what she did to the Reavers, and he peered at her. “Will you be able to finish em’?” he asked, and she nodded. “Won’t disappoint you.” Zoe kept firing, but was listening in on the conversation. Jayne stopped completely and turned back around. “We ain’t leavin her here,” he protested, and she had to force herself not to smile. He forgot himself in battle…it was nice. Mal glared one of those now-ain’t-the-time-to-be-arguin-with-me glares at him. “Gotta get back to Serenity….I can take care of them,” she said, putting a hand on Jayne’s arm. Mal noticed, but made no comment. “Allright then, lil’ Albatross. Zoe, give her your gun,” he said, and River was a little surprised at how quickly she handed them over. Mal wasn’t though…he knew his first-mate. Mal and Zoe crouched down, preparing to run. River turned and started firing a few shots, waiting for Jayne. He looked from Mal back to River, then nodded. “I’ll stay with er. Wouldn’t be any help on the ship, anyways,” he said. Mal gave him a long look, then nodded and turned back to River. “Ready lil’ Albatross?” “Ready,” she replied, and Mal and Zoe took off running. She focused on aim and, instead of lifting her upper body up enough to fire, only raised her hand and the gun, and fired a few dozen automatic shots at them. She could hear a yell, then curses, and they ducked. One down. Jayne stared, wide-eyed at her. Then, slowly, a grin spread across his face. “Ready,” he repeated. After a while, the men realized how dangerous it was to lift their heads, and instead started firing around their vehicle at the mule, trying to shoot a hole through it at them. River bit her lip, then turned to Jayne, light flashing in her eyes. “Got an idea. Distract them…shoot from the left side…I’ll sneak around behind them and finish them off. It’s the only way.” More sounds rang out, as they switched to a different laser beam and fired a more powerful beam at the Mule. It groaned in protest. Jayne lowered his eyebrows, worridly. “Shouldn’t I…” “Can’t,” she interrupted, shaking her head. “I can do it better.” He smirked “Sure,” he sighed. “Allright.” Once in position, he peeked his head out from the left and shouted at them. “Yoh…uh…ya’ll!” and fired. The men on either side of their vehicle disappeared, and then a few heads popped up over the top and fired at Jayne. He ducked back for a moment, then, trying to imitate River, held his gun around the side and fired at where he thought they were. It was apparently enough, since the firing stopped. When he looked back, River had already disappeared. His insides moved with a disturbing uncomfortableness…he didn’t like this plan…especially leavin her on her own. River held two guns in her hands, and crept silently around the side of their vehicle, and saw all of them turned towards the side where Jayne was firing. She aimed at two of their heads, shot, then dashed around the back of the vehicle, ran around it, and came up behind them on the other side. Two more shots, and there was only one left. She ducked back around, waiting for him to turn to the other side where he expected her to come up, and then slid around the corner. A foot nocked the guns out of her hands, and a hand grabbed her throat and pulled her towards him. He aimed a weapon at her head and pulled her back to his chest. “Don’t move a muscle, girl, or I will blow your brains out,” he whispered dangerously. She didn’t wait, instead reared her leg back and with the back of her foot, kicked him in the groin, and used the other hand to push his arm away. Instead of shooting her head, the beam went flying off into the air. She felt Jayne curse, and start running towards them. Dang it girl, if your hurt… The thought distracted her, and instead of knocking him out with a well placed kick, her foot met his chest, but it was still enough time for him to bring the gun around and shoot…straight into her chest, right beneath her right shoulder. As she fell, she swung her foot around and kicked him in the temple, just as Jayne came around the corner. Without hesitation, he aimed and shot a bullet through his head. Then he saw her laying in the dust…and the blood. “Jia daan seos...” he whispered, then knelt down. She smiled hazily at him, as the blood seeped onto the strap of her dress. “Got four,” she said, smiling, then drifted off. Without delay, Jayne scooped her up gently and ran as fast as he could to the ship. “Gorramit,don’t you leave me, girl!” My girl.