The .357 was starting to feel heavy in his hand. The rifle slung over his shoulder was being held in place with the other hand. The SIG Sauer Commemorative .223 caliber rifle was well made, but it would never bring her down. At the very least it wound her a bit, shock her that he was using such a low caliber weapon. The pistol in his hand and the .50 caliber one in the holster on his chest were the only things he could possibly use to finish her. He cursed under his breath and moved slowly to the other side of the marble column. His enhanced strength was one thing, but her breeding produced strength they couldn't duplicate in a normal human. He heard her laugh and rolled his eyes. She was listening to him think and it amused her. His jeans brushed the dust covered floor as he moved to the other side of the column. He edged around it and looked out to the center of the room. A shot ricocheted off the column and he jumped back around it. "Fuck, fuck, fuck! Figures he'd want to pit me against her. They know I'm gonna lose, he just won't admit it." Bo whispered to himself. "Come out, come out my little mouse. I still want to play with my dinner before I eat you." She laughed. Bo was sweating under his armored vest. His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when she landed in front of him. Her long legs were perfect, unmarked from the many knife wounds the men before him had left. Her face was covered in blood; the only discernable trait was her eyes. They were green as emeralds but glowed like Christmas tree lights in the dim light of the decimated room. Bo grabbed the barrel of his rifle and ripped it from the strap. He slammed it into her waiting fore-arm and dropped to the floor. He kicked her legs from under her, only to watch her catch herself. Bo cursed again and fired a shot at her shoulder as he leapt back over the column. He heard her curse for once and knew he had grazed her. His feet touched the floor, then his mind went black. He woke up on the dust covered floor with Skoal standing over him, a scowl darker than the space outside the complex on his face. He pushed himself up and stood, even at his full height he was only looking into Skoal's chin. "You disappointed me boy.-" -Bo ground his teeth as Skoal insulted him- " You couldn't beat that girl? I had to save your sorry ass. How do you explain yourself?" Bo remained silent. Skoal uncrossed his arms as his gaze hardened even more. Bo felt his head throb as the clarity left his mind. Human confusion returned and pain rippled through his muscles as they all began to fail. "How do you like it when I pull away what I gave you? I gave you a life you could never have dreamt of. I made your aging process slow. I made you what you are!" Skoal hollered as he grabbed Bo's throat and slammed him up on a wall. Bo's feet hung limply, at least a foot off the floor. "So then take it from me -gasp- hwoon dahn." Skoal's anger smoldered in his eyes and Bo could feel his anger emanating through the link the two shared, though not of Bo's will. He slammed his fist into Bo's face and threw him to the ground. The taste of iron swirled in his mouth as a river of crimson flowed down his chin. Skoal disappeared as Bo looked up to shoot his captor. He shook his head and wiped the blood from his chin. "Zhen ren." Bo said with a grateful sarcasm. He stumbled to the spot where his new rifle lay and looked over at the man he had taken it from. The man didn't have the top half of his head, thanks to her. He grinned as he remembered the way she walked in. Her hips swayed with each step, like the tide of the ocean. The three men in the room other than him had dropped their jaws. He watched them practically drool over her while his hand had rested on the .357 pistol at his waist reassuringly. When she killed the first man the other two had realized that this beauty was more than just appealing to the eyes. Bo had been amazed at how efficient she had been. Cutting and firing, not worrying for her own safety. Then again why should she? She could heal faster than most men could pull a trigger. Yet they had tried. They were failed experiments from other scientists vying to be the one to remake her. Bo knew better. They used her as they would use anyone that could even mimic her abilities. Bo knew that even though he had shown more adeptness to their work than the others, he could never be what she was. Not like the beast she could become. 'Two years after the war and look what I'm doing now.' he thought to himself.

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The needle pierced Bo's lower back, causing pain to rush through his entire body. He screamed in his unconscious state. Skoal watched as the steel wire ran up the boy’s spine and the pump beneath it pushed the glowing blue liquid into his body. Skoal grimaced at the sound of the boy's scream. He remembered the initial procedure. They cut into the cranial cavity and changed the correct neural receptors so that his body would be prime for the missions they needed him for. They made his hearing perfect, his sight better than. They then maneuvered specific nerve clusters to points where he wouldn't feel nearly as much pain, as well to where his body would move faster and be stronger than any other human. He and Aries had done a marvelous job, but Skoal wanted something more. He made it to where the boy could still be himself outside of the trigger, so the boy still had his humanity. He did it without authorization, without telling Aries. He had been punished for it later, because it had been his fault that Bo had not finished a job. The scar that ran down the side of his face showed his punishment. He now did as they told him, formulating the mixture that was now being pumped into his spine, into his brain. He was turning the boy into a monster, just like Green had done with the other. He was creating something that couldn't be stopped.

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They soared towards the black moon. It was night here, the sun on the other side of the world. River piloted the ship smoothly by the asteroids in the gravitational field. All the others had gone down stairs. Mal and Jayne were arming the others up, though they would be the only one's leaving the ship. "Now, Jayne and I are the only one's leavin, but we'll need you all here to watch the ship. Keep your guns loaded and only take them off 'safe' when Zoe tells you to. Dong ma?" Mal briefed. They all nodded, most eyes confused and scared. As the moon grew closer they all tensed with the feeling of malice the moon seemed to emanate. "Mal, we're getting close." Came River's voice.

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Bo limped into the bazaar. His leg had stopped bleeding but he could still feel the blood leaking from the wound in his chest. An encounter with another test subject gone mad, a Reaver as they were in the strictest sense. His knife was left in the body of the thing, and there was no way he was going back in that place for it. He stepped to a counter littered with guns and ammunition and pointed to a semi-automatic pistol with an extended clip. The gun was straight and a good weight in his hands. He nodded and took the ammo, dropping a handful of colorful bills on the table. He moved through the market towards a restaurant at the end of the alley. Two rusted brass arches hung over the door, the restaurant wasn't much better. Bo stumbled through the door and stared across the counter at the young woman. Behind her a man in a brightly colored Hawaiian shirt spoke up. "Hey Carol, I'm goin for a smoke break." "Whatever." The girl said as she popped a piece of gum. Bo walked around the counter towards the back door. The girl yelled something about him not being allowed back there. Bo heard the thoughts of people outside as Alliance patrolmen went storming down the alley. He slammed out the door and drew the gun on the man sitting on the barrel to his left. The man jumped, almost landing on the cigarette that was burning away next to him. The man's large obnoxious mustache quivered as he stared down the barrel of Bo's new .45. "You know how to fly a ship?" Bo asked tersely. He hated having to threaten this man, but he had to get away from here, now. "I-I-I-I can." The man said. "Lets go," Bo motioned with the gun. The man stood slowly and followed Bo out to the ship-yard. Bo grabbed the man's shoulder, more for support than for anything. They stopped at a ship and Bo pushed a combination into the ships door and dragged 'Stache inside. They walked through the not-so-large ship to the cockpit. 'Stache sat down and Bo followed suite, keeping the gun to the startled man's head. "Get me off this planet, now." Bo said as menacingly as possible. "I'm going as fast as I can here-" Bo pulled the hammer on the gun back. "I don't need any lip..." Bo paused for a name to come. "Hoban." The man sputtered. Bo stifled a laugh. "Well, Hoban, lets get off world." Hoban nodded and flipped three switches on the dash then kicked a pedal underneath and Bo felt the ship fire up. Hoban pulled the ship up quickly then flew them through the sky, burned through atmo, and soared into the black. A wave came through while Bo had moved to the back and was administering first aid to himself. "Hoban! You walked out in the middle of the day!" came a large man's yelling. "Sir, I was abducted. This guy-" "I don't care! You're fired!" Bo made his way back to the cockpit. Hoban's head was hung as Bo watched for minutes of silence. "I don't know if it means anything to you, but I'm sorry." Bo told him. "Yeah, 'cause I'm gonna believe the guy that dragged me from work and, with a gun to my head, forced me to fly him out to the ass end of space." Bo nodded. "See that planet off to the far right?" "Persephone?" "Yeah. Fly 'er there. You'll be free to go as you please." Hoban shook his head and looked back, but Bo had moved back towards the back of the ship. The ship skated along the black, headed surely towards the market planet. They landed hours later, and Bo got off quicker than Hoban. Hoban got off slowly and moved questioningly behind Bo. Bo held something out behind him. It was the gun and the barrel was wrapped in new bills. "What's this?" Hoban asked, taking the money and the gun. "All the payment I got for you, lest I see you again. Might want to look for work as a pilot. You're a great one. Feel free to put my name on anything for a referral." Hoban Washburn blinked as he watched Bo walk away and disappear into a crowd of people.

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More memories flashed through Bo's head before he finally woke from the sleep they had put him in. His body ached more than he ever remembered it having done before. The blood on the table was no longer the doctor's. He could smell his scent in it. 'Wait, how in the hell?' he asked himself. Lights flashed in succession across the room, causing his head to hurt. Another doctor came in the room. She approached his table slowly, cautiously. Bo smelled the fear in her as she tried to hide it, saw it more than she felt it. He was confused. He could smell things that he shouldn't. He could smell the copper in the blood beneath him, could smell the iron in the table itself. He could catch the scent of all those that had lain here before him. Her scent was here, both of the parts of her. The woman above him had the scent of sterility, she smelled of chlorine and formaldehyde. His own body smelled of blood, and even of pain. "Good morning Mr. Cheek." She said. "Fuck off." "Oh now, lets not have any of that." Bo felt the shock go through his spine. Pain erupted in his body and he howled with pain. Bo stopped, the pain pulsed in his body still, but his own voice had produced a real howl. His tongue ran through his mouth and he felt the teeth cut into it. Blood spilled into his mouth, and his body reacted. Pleasure shot through his body, drowning the pain in ecstasy. He felt the need for more, then he heard it. The pulsing of her heart. Each pump the organ gave to move the delectable nectar through the rest of her body made the most delicious noise his ears had ever heard. His mouth flooded as his eyes showed him just where to bite to achieve the most bleeding. His vision blurred then the clarity became astounding. Her muscles were tense, she was ready for him to break the bonds that held him and tear into her. 'She's bait,' a voice in his head told him. He blinked. It wasn't Skoal’s, nor his own. The voice sounded more like a growl than anything. 'She's a goat tied to the stake. Nothing more.' Bo smelled them outside the door. Smelled the chemical that would make him sleep. Bo felt his body change, his legs lengthened and his fingernails grew long and black. The hair on his arm turned a dark grey color. He smelled her fear mount as his body transformed. A howl of pain as his rib cage expanded, cracking his chest plate. He ripped his arm from the shackle on his wrist. Grabbing the steel tube at the base of his spine he tore it from his body. Blood and a bad smelling, blue, glowing liquid gushed from the end. The woman screamed as Bo removed his other arm. 'I will help you from this hell, child.' The voice spoke kindly as Bo felt himself losing control of his body. His teeth grew long, his eye teeth lengthening until they met the middle of his lower canines. A vicious snarl rippled from his chest as he stood and grabbed her by the neck. Bo felt his head lunge, sinking his teeth deep in her throat. Her warm nectar bathed his tongue in red as he drank from her. The sensations overwhelmed him as he tore his mouth away from her limp body and howled into the air. The door hissed open and he leapt to one side. The men wore full armor that smelled of gunpowder. A knarled laugh escaped his chest as he could feel and smell their tension. The first man fired prematurely. The clawed hand lashed out and grabbed the tiny darts in mid air. He dropped them to the floor and lunged forward, throwing the tables aside and ripping into the man's face. Blood flowed freely over his fingers as he tore deep gashes into the man's face and neck. The second fell as the body Bo inhabited lashed out and tore through bone and sinew. All four guards lay, either bleeding or dead in the floor. Blood covered his body, from his reformed chest all the way to the hems of his now torn camo pants. Bo looked around for his boots, to find they had been burned by the doctors. Only a bootlace remained. He grabbed it and tied it around his arm, much as Zoe had hers around her neck. His body returned to normal, but Bo could still feel that other presence in him. "Well done subject 139. You're one of the few to make it past the first stage. You're showing great potential. Time to see how well you adapt." Said a voice from the blank ceiling. "How 'bout you come out and we'll see how well you do with me? With your gorram toy." "Ah, but that'd ruin all my fun of testing you first. I think we'll just play my way for a while, and then maybe I'll meet you." Bo snarled and lashed his clawed hand out and tore through the white two way glass to one of the many camera's he could hear working. He moved out into the hall and walked silently down the corridor. Something moved quickly at his left, his body lashed out instinctively, leaving four gashes in the reflective material that had unfurled from the ceiling. Bo laid eyes on himself for the first time. His hair was peppered with grey and black, and while he was no taller he could have sworn his limbs were longer. His fingernails were black and sharp, but not as long as they had been in the operation room. All his teeth but his canine's had returned to normal, and for the most part so had he. He turned and continued further to the facility. A scent to his right worried him. It smelled of blood and anger. Bo knew it as soon as it registered. Reavers. This was where they worked on the creatures they wanted to create. He smelled animals and humans, pain and suffering. Suddenly his sense of smell caught something that didn't fit. He smelled a sweetness in the air. 'Poison gas.' the voice growled. Bo started running, his body stretching out over itself as he pushed it faster and faster down the hallway. White rushed along his vision as he tried to get further away from the smell of poison and closer to the smell of fresh air. In the rush of the air he could hear engines in the distance. Engines meant an opening, a way out, for him and this animal to be free. Bo sped towards the opening, his lengthened legs and muscles carrying him faster than he had ever run before. He sped towards the door that would lead him from this place, forever, and he’d kill anything that got in his way. The door lay before him, a beacon to the new animal inside him of freedom. Then he felt her. The soft brush of her mind, the gentle innocence that was looking for him. ‘No, not now.’ He skidded to a halt, the claws on his feet scratching on the tile. ‘Hmmm, another that speaks in silence. I will feed well this night.’ The voice in his head growled as it turned his body toward where it had felt the other presence. ‘No, Leave her and the rest and I’ll let you feed on all the others we come across. Just leave them alone’ Bo begged the creature. He felt the laugh reverberate in his head, and feared the creature wouldn’t listen. He felt the consciousness subside and allow him to gain control. ‘Feed me as you will, for I am weak for now. But I will not be so giving the next time.’ Bo gave an audible sigh of relief as he turned and dashed back towards where he felt River. He’d not lose her or his captain again. The fangs grew in his mouth as he smelled the other creatures here. His ears perked and his speed increased as their sounds came from where he was headed. ‘God, don’t let me be too late.’ He thought as he sped down the hallway.

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(Oh crap, writers block... LOL Just kidding. Don't you just hate cliff hangers? I know I do but they make writing so much fun. Hope you're enjoying riding with me as much as I am enjoying flying with you.)

"It- its ok. I'm a leaf on the wind." - Wash.