Serenity landed gracefully on the Eavesdown docks.

Meanwhile, Captain Reynolds strode purposefully towards the cargo bay door. Most of the crew had already gathered, and Inara's shuttle had already made its departure.

"Jayne, Zoe, with me. Kaylee, passengers. Simon watch your sister an' the ship. No ruttin' til we're back. I want your eyes *open*."

At that, the corners of Zoe's mouth twitched, Jayne leered, Kaylee giggled and Simon went rigid.

Ignoring their reactions, Mal went on. "Tell River not to leave the ship."

The com crackled immediately with River's voice coming out of the speaker, "She understands... and comprehends."

"That's downright creepifyin, Albatross." Mal muttered, knowing full well she'd be listening in.

The com turned on again and the sound of River's laughter filled the cargo bay.

Jayne fidgeted nervously. "'Can we get goin', Mal? Y'know, 'fore she laughs us all to death?"

Zoe was sporting a full grin by this time. "C'mon, Jayne. Don't tell me you're scared of a ninety pound girl. Or are you?"

Mal climbed into the Mule. "Alright, 'nough chatter. Don't anyone enjoy themselves too much, now, not til we're done."

"I won't." Simon said seriously as Zoe and Jayne joined Mal on the Mule.

Kaylee just gave a wry smile as she went to get her umbrella and favorite chair.

********

River sat in the cockpit for over an hour, poring over star charts. The feeling of an imminent "shindig", the kind that involved guns, was only getting stronger, and she wanted to know in advance where she'd be going.

Once she was done, she sat back. A presence she hadn't felt in a year hit her like like a bolt of lightning, and she immediately sat up straight again.

"Impossible... Illogical. Academy reports are never wrong."

But there it was. The familiar brainwaves rolled over her mind, caressing parts of her she didn't know existed. She made her decision and flew down to the cargo bay.

Bounding past Kaylee (Who called out, "River, wait!), and out into to street, she stopped when she sensed the danger.

Out of an alley came three young, well-muscled men, and one older man in a suit. The man in the suit had blue hands.

Before River could scream, the Blue Hands shouted, "Eta kooram na smech!"

River dropped to the ground like a ninety-pound rock, and everything went black.

********

The man from Blue Sun waited in the Alley. His mission was simple: capture River Tam, and kill anyone who stood in the way. From there, he was to return her to the Academy. Also, he was required to prepare a report on the field performance of the three subjects from Project Spartan.

The mission had been simple so far. He had been well supplied with intel, and tracking the firefly-class ship known as Serenity had been almost too easy.

And the future looked bright. The three Academy students had only been sent with him as a precautionary measure. He was to use the safe word first. Failing that, the Academy students were strong and fast enough to apprehend her. Both he, and the students had been outfitted with implants that kept their brainwaves tucked safely inside their heads.

He stood there an hour, forming his plan, but then he smiled when he saw his target come running out, as if to meet him. He strode towards her, the three Spartans in tow. He shouted, "Eta kooram na smech!"

River fell, and the agent thought, "Success!"

He heard noise behind him, and stiffened in shock at what he saw. It was River Tam, or her identical twin, in mens clothes that were far too big for her. And she was kicking the living go se out of the three Academy students.

He felt a kick to the back of his head which sent him sprawling in the dust.

********

Foreman bounded across the rooftops toward River's presence. He stopped when he saw Serenity, open, waiting... and with a welcoming committee no less.

"They must be taking on passengers.", he said to himself. It was perfect. All he had to do was sign on as a passenger, make money on whatever worlds they landed on, he would find a way, and he could be with River for as long as she would allow.

He smiled when he saw River come running out of the ship, and he knew, he just knew, she was coming to see him. Just then, he sensed movement down in the alley.

The four men approached River, and the one with the blue hands shouted the phrase he knew to be River's safe word.

"Enemies." he growled to himself, and with no hesitation whatsoever, he launched himself off the roof, towards the men.

As he flew through the air, he altered his features and physical structure to match River's. The element of surprise was critical, and if they happened to defeat him, they would take him in alive, and he would find a way to keep River safe.

He landed just behind the three younger men, all of whom he knew. In a way, they were his children.

He immediately grabbed one from behind, and twisted his neck, snapping it. By this time, the second student had begun to react, but he fared no better than the first. Foreman put his fist into the man's throat and he went down.

The third Academy student was prepared, but was simply no match for Foreman. When he kicked high, Foreman threw all his weight into blocking the kick with his forearm. He caught the man's foot, broke his ankle with a savage twist, and pushed him down face-first into the dirt.

With his foot, he crushed the Spartan's skull. Searching for River, he found that the woman who had been sitting at Serenity's door was running toward the fallen girl.

He looked for the blue-handed agent, and saw a red-headed woman pushing the man off of her. He had a bullet in his head. Satisfied that the woman was not an enemy, Foreman began walking toward River himself.

********

Saffron sat under an awning, having watched Serenity land some time ago. She had sat there, debating her entry strategy for the entire time.

Just when she thought she had figured out a way to sneak past Kaylee and onto the ship, River came bounding out of the ship.

"Hello, little girl." she thought. "So you're what Mal was trying to hide all this time."

She had been very observant during her first and second visits. She's seen the girl, and had also seen how much Mal had tried to keep her out of sight. At the time, if Saffron had known just who this little girl was, River would have been turned in long ago.

As it stood now, Saffron couldn't afford to have River disappear. If she was going to marry Malcolm Reynolds, she couldn't let anybody die or get arrested on the day she arrived.

All of this was going through her mind as she saw a guy with blue gloves and three goons step out of the alley and make River fall with a simple sentence.

"If Mal likes heroics, he'll get gorram heroics." she thought as she rushed towards the four men. Maybe she could hold them off until help arrived.

As it turned out, she didn't have to worry about the three goons. A girl that looked just like River seemed to drop out of the sky just in time to keep them busy.

Saffron quickly sneaked around the man with the blue gloves and kicked him in the head. As he fell, she grabbed his gun from it's holster and pointed it at him, hoping he was already unconscious.

He wasn't. The man turned over quickly and Saffron squeezed the trigger twice. The man jerked, but there was no blood. He was apparently wearing body armor.

"Tough guy." Saffron thought as her opponent flung his legs into the air, and threw himself into a standing position. She only just managed to throw one more bullet at him as he lunged toward her with a knife that seemed to appear out of thin air.

The bullet struck him in the forehead as he tumbled into her. The knife made a shallow cut into her shoulder as they both fell over, and Saffron shrieked.

Just like that, it was over. Saffron pushed the body of the man off of her and looked around. She saw Kaylee running towards the fallen River, and the other River was walking in that direction as well.

Taking the opportunity presented to her, Saffron surreptitiously made her way onto Serenity. She hid in the shadows and waited for takeoff while nursing her small shoulder wound. She prayed to every deity she could think of, praying that Mal wouldn't shoot or space her on sight.

********

Kaylee was sitting on her chair, waiting for some prospective passengers to happen along. Then, everything started to happen so fast.

River bounded out of the cargo bay, four men came out to meet her. One of them shouted something at her, and River fell. Two women came out of nowhere, and killed all four men.

And through all of this, Kaylee could only sit there and think, "OhmyGodRiverOhmyGod..."

As soon as the fight was over, though, Kaylee shouted "River!", and began to run towards the girl as fast as she could.

She reached the girl and knelt by her side. "Oh God, River are you okay?"

Just above her, she heard River's voice. "She's only asleep."

Kaylee looked up at the speaker. Then down at the girl in her arms. She looked back up. "River?"

The standing "River" shook her head. "I'm not her."

Then the girl that looked so much like Kaylee's beloved mei mei snatched said mei mei out of her arms. Kaylee led the way as they hurried back towards Serenity.

When they got to the door Kaylee ran to the com. "Simon. Simon! Are you there?!"

Simon's voice came over the speaker, "Kaylee? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, but River..."

"Where are you?"

"In the cargo bay."

That was all Simon needed to hear. He came running at full-speed from the infirmary. As he came down the steps that led to the floor of the cargo bay, he shouted, "What happened?"

"I dunno... River ran out of the ship... there were men... they said that... safe word thingie, she fell, and this..."

Kaylee's voice trailed off as she looked back at the girl who had saved River. Except it wasn't a girl anymore. It was a boy. He looked about eighteen, his hair was cut short, military style, and he had a scar that came down from just above his nose and reached under his left eye.

"This boy saved her." Kaylee managed to finish.

Simon quickly assessed his sister's condition. "She's fine, Kaylee. If it was just the safe word, then she's only sleeping. However, we probably need to get off this world before the Feds arrive. If she's asleep, she can't pilot, and that's a problem."

At that, Foreman knelt down beside Simon and River. In Chinese, he whispered, "Awake, dawn of the morning."

River opened her eyes, sat up, leaned over, and threw up. She looked at her brother.

"The dreams." she explained.

She looked over at Foreman, reached up and hugged him close. They made quite a sight, the scarred boy in his dirty farmer's clothes, and the girl with part of her breakfast still slinging to her, embracing each other.

"Okay..." Muttered Simon. Then, to Kaylee he said, "Kaylee? Maybe you'd better radio the captain."