A/N: Here is the next installment. What exatly happened to Inara before Mal and River saw the shuttle return? I hope you like it.

Disclaimer: All things belong to Joss.

Inara came down the stairs on her way from the galley to her shuttle. Halfway there she heard an unfamiliar voice floating up from the cargo bay.

“Just keep quiet and I assure you that no harm will come to you.”

Inara stopped and leaned over the rail to look down into the cargo bay. Simon and Kaylee were sitting on the floor and they had been gagged. Two men were in the process of tying them to the grating on the floor. Another one had a gun trained on them. Kaylee looked up and saw Inara. Despite the gag, Kaylee screamed as loud as she could, hoping to warn Inara. Inara’s eyes widened with fear and she bolted towards her shuttle. If she could hit her panic button, Mal and the others would be called back. As she crossed the threshold of her shuttle another man grabbed her from behind and clamped his hand over her mouth.

“Don’t struggle, Miss Serra,” the man whispered calmly into her ear. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

Inara lifted her foot and stomped down on the instep of the man’s foot. He reeled back in pain. She lunged at her panic button and smacked in hard. To her horror, the button simply fell to the floor. The man grabbed her by the arm again, this time twisting it behind her back. The pain immobilized her.

“I saw that before you got back and disconnected it. I couldn’t take the chance of you using it,” the man informed her as he pulled out a length of rope and bound her hands behind her. “I apologize for the roughness of my actions, but you gave me no choice.”

“At least you are a polite kidnapper,” Inara said sarcastically.

The man smiled slightly at her remark.

“My name is John. Please sit down.”

John led her to her couch and guided her to a seated position.

“What do you want?” Inara asked evenly.

“I was sent by the Guild. I am actually here to help you,” John told her gently.

“By attacking up my friends?” she spat back.

“They weren’t harmed. I assure you,” he replied. He was interrupted by the comm that was in his ear. “I understand, madam. We will leave immediately.”

“Who was that?” Inara barked.

“Your House Mistress,” he answered, matter-of-factly. He walked out to the shuttle door. He yelled down into the cargo bay. “We must go. Now!”

With John momentarily occupied, Inara slid a few inches down the couch and felt for the knife that was hidden between the cushions. Slowly she started the process of freeing herself from her bindings.

Inara heard the rest of the men running up the stairs as John sat down in the pilot’s seat to initiate the sequence that would get them flying. She heard the engines power up as the other men slipped into the shuttle and closed the door. One of the men took over piloting the shuttle and John returned to Inara.

“What’s going on?” Inara demanded. She could feel her bindings loosen.

“The Alliance is coming for your friends soon,” John explained as Inara let out a gasp. “We were sent to erase all evidence of you from Serenity. We can’t let it be known that you are still here. The Guild can’t be associated with your crew at all.”

Inara felt the ropes drop free from her wrists. If only she could get to the end of the couch. There was a gun stashed in a pocket sewn into the upholstery of the couch itself. She looked up at the other two men who stood lightly holding on to the side of the hull to keep balance while they were in flight. She smiled sweetly at them.

“Well, since we aren’t going anywhere soon, why don’t I make room for the rest of you to sit down,” she said as she slid down to the end of the couch. The men looked over at John, but they didn’t move.

“My men are quite comfortable, Miss Serra.”

They rode the next few minutes in silence. Ever so slowly, Inara reached down into the pocket and grasped her gun. As she started to pull it out, she heard a gun cock to her right. She froze and turned slowly toward the sound. The barrel was not more than six inches from her temple.

“Drop it, now,” John commanded. Deflated, Inara did as she was told. One of the other men came and removed the gun from its hiding place. “I’m impressed. I didn’t see that when I made the sweep of your shuttle.”

“Would have been more impressive if I could have killed you all.”

“As I said before, I am not here to harm you. I am actually here to help you.”

“More like helping the Guild.”

“That is, of course, my primary concern,” John admitted. “The Guild cannot afford any further scrutiny from the Alliance.”

“Further scrutiny?”

“Yes. After Miranda, we had to convince the Alliance that you were taken against your will and we had liberated you,” John continued. “We told them that you were in our medical facility and that you needed recovery time from your ordeal at Captain Reynolds’ hands. It was a very traumatic experience.”

“Traumatic,” snorted Inara. “You think?”

“We will explain everything in detail later. I promise.”

“After my family is dead?”

“I’m sorry,” John said softly as he knelt next to her so she could look straight into his eyes. Inara studied his face and was surprised by what she saw. His eyes were warm. There was no animosity. He genuinely seemed concerned for her.

“When will they be there?” Inara whispered.

“An hour or so,” John told her. “We just got the tip from our contacts. We have to move fast.”

“Can’t we warn them?” she asked as a tear slipped down her cheek.

“Can’t risk it. Your crew will probably bolt if they knew. It is likely that Serenity will not be able to escape. We need time to off-load your belongings. The Guild can’t afford to take the chance of them finding anything leading back to you on board the ship.”

“But they will die,” Inara said as she looked into John’s eyes. “Please let me call them.”

“I am under strict orders. I’m sorry,” John said with compassion. “I truly am.”

Knowing that there was nothing that she could do to help her family, Inara buried her face into her hands and sobbed. John moved next to the pilot.

“We’re almost there,” the pilot informed him.

“Thank you,” John replied. “I take it that the men at our destination are waiting?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“We have to move quickly.”

“Starting landing sequence now.”

“Excellent.”

John moved back to where Inara was. He was moved by her emotion. He laid a gentle hand on her shoulder.

“If there is enough time,” he offered. “I will try to see what I can do for them.”

Thanks for reading, please comment.