River, oh River, dear, come here, come here! She looked around in confusion, the darkness penetrating her mind, down into her soul. "Who... I know you." Yes, yes, yes. Good, good, good. Here are you, but where am I? Indeed, its voice seemed to permeate from whatever it was that she was in. "Choleri, it is you." Indeed, indeed, dear. I am somewhat surprised that you remember me. It has been so long, hasn't it? I missed you SO much. River placed her hand gingerly to her chest. It still hurt there, from time to time. More so that her... essence was here, now. Forever. "Too soon. It still hurts. You still hurt." I do? Then I apologize. I never meant to hurt you, River. You're my only friend. "Choleri, why do you try to destroy us? Humans... are we really that contemptable?" Her fists clenched at her side, a tear making its way slowly, meanderingly, down one grimy cheek. River, dear, are you crying? Let me- "Answer the question!!!" She angerily rubbed at the offending tear with her still clenched fist. It was all for you, River dear. Only for you. They hurt us. They hurt me. They hurt you. Why do you protect them? "Not all of them hurt. Some heal. Some heal me. Some could heal you, if you let them. I promise." How can I trust them? I wouldn't trust me, if I was them. Can't we just stay here? "No. Simon. He's important to me. He's the one who heals me. He stops those who hurt me and you. He-" He's like them! He, he, he is!!! He is just like them, he hurt me, he hurt you, he hurt us. He- "He has atoned. Please, Choleri, believe me. He-" They're here. River... run! *** Mal cursed as another bullet came perilously close to his ear. A loud blast next to him, followed by a scream of pain, let him know that Zoe was doing her job. If he had the money, he'd have given her a bonus. But, since he didn't, and didn't look like he would anytime soon, he went back to shooting. Tracey and Jayne had switched sides somehow, and now Jayne was blasting away freely as Tracey drove the mule. And River was sleeping soundly, occasionaly giving a twitch to show that she was still mostly alive. Truth to tell, Mal was a mite jealous of her- if it weren't for the fact that he was in the middle of a killzone. Otherwise... well, weren't too often he could sleep sond nowadays, whatwith the images of screaming and dying awating behind his eyes... Yeah, he was having trouble sleeping through the night. He popped another 'Liance, right 'twixt the eyes. Maybe, somehow, they'd get outta this one. Alive. Just maybe. *** It's not a dream. Just a horrible reality. It never ends. It never lets up, even for a minute. It is the always and for nevermore. Eternal winter, eternal night. Eternal cold, icy wind. And then comes the flames. This is no dream. *** "Ghost or a stranger. Please don't die on me." River blinked up at him. Mal smiled at her, not really listening to her. "Fine, fine, lil' girl. You neither." "Promise?" "Qu. Now, just duck your pretty lil' head down, so as not to get shot. Or, start busting heads with that voodoo stuff of yours." "Please?" "Qu, qu, qu. Please and thank you. Just choose one or t'other, right?" "Right." "You got something against two syllable words?" "No." "Why don't ya use 'em?" "Where's the fun in that?" Mal started smiling. The bullets slowed down a bit- probably because they were getting closer to Serenity and farther from the base. Mal had made sure to shout out to go towards the 76's location (If you were a Browncoat- Alliance folk he just shot). And then Serenity came into view. And everything seemed to slow down to a fraction of real-time. Simon came running out of the extended cargo bay, running towards the slowing Mule. Kaylee poked her head out, still all smiles. Mal heard the screams of the bugs uncomfortably close by- almost like they were near. And an Alliance soldier stood up. A shot rang out. Simon stopped smiling- it was replaced with a look of confusion. Then he coughed up blood. It dribbled down his front, a goodly portion spilling out onto the ground. Some more seeped out from the back of his head- a perfect sahot. Mal saw the spray from where the bullet had entered. Before anyone could even move, the man was skewered by a bug as it revealed itself- it hit Mal that someone had sold them out. But that didn't matter much anymore. He reached past the stunned Tracey, punching the throttle before more bugs could show up- where there was one, there were a hundred more. That was just the way of things. Kill or be killed. Like always. Like it had always been. Like it always will be. River started screaming again. So did Kaylee. But she was too stunned to move- probably for the best, since she would have ran to get Simon, see if he was alive. But he wasn't. Mal could tell. He'd seen that same shot a thousand times. Always killed. Nothing no one on either side could do, even if on the odd chancethat a medic was there at all. They usually weren't, anyways. Mal jumped out as soon as the mule was in, punched the lock so that the 'bay doors closed. Then, he slid to the ground. He felt very tired, now. More then ever before. Behind them, the ground shook with the sound of a thousand ships lifting off after them- bug ships. It was Choleri.