Disclaimer- As before, I don't own Firefly, but alot of the stuff here is mine. Dedicated to IdiotChild- the inspiration behing Cas.

All By Myself ******************************************* Chapter 3 Six Weeks Earlier Kaylee had been down to the planet for supplies. Brego was one of those planets that put little emphasis on personal hygiene, so Inara didn’t even bother looking for clientele. Although Mal and Simon were both worried about Kaylee being down there by herself, they eventually caved under her sweet smile and let her go down. Mals only proviso was that she take a gun, to protect herself from the ruffians down there. She had so much fun down on Brego. Two days of shopping for new parts for Serenity, as well as buying a few small pressies for the crew with some left over money from their last job. Finally she had all she needed, including a brand new compression coil, sorely needed. She took the shuttle back up to Serenity, and was vaguely confused when she approached the ship. The power appeared to be out inside. By the looks of it, auxiliary life support was still working, no lights were on inside. Kaylee was intrigued by this mystery, and hurried to get parked back home. As she opened the doors of Shuttle 2 a disgusting odour met her nose, causing her to cough and wretch. She covered her nose with her shirt and commenced a search of the ship. The power was down, so she grabbed a flashlight from the table in the galley and turned it on. No sign of anyone in the galley, the bridge, any of the bunks and the engine room. Kaylee descended the stairs and explored the passenger dorms. She found the infirmary in disarray, syringes and bandages strewn across the floor. Kaylee felt so scared. The missing crew, Serenity abandoned and that revolting smell all pointed towards… Kaylee didn’t even know what. She felt lost; she didn’t know what to do. She wandered into the cargo bay and swayed as a fresh wave of nausea hit her. At first she was speechless; there were no words to describe what she saw. Then she screamed, but no one could hear her. You can’t hear anything out in the black… ********************************* Present Day Cam was hysterical. He just kept crying out to his mother, and his father. “She’s gone! They took her!” he would yell. The crew tried to calm him down, but he was frantic. Eventually Marco picked him up and carried him to the passenger lounge and sat him down on the couch. Eventually he stopped yelling, and just sobbed quietly. No matter what the crew did, they couldn’t get him to tell them what had happened. For the rest of the day Cam stayed in the passenger lounge, he didn’t sleep, didn’t eat, didn’t talk. It wasn’t until ten o’clock that night, after everyone had gone to bed, that he moved. Rhee had been watching over him all night, perched on the table in the middle of the room, her blonde curly head bent in exhaustion. “They said that I oughtn’t tell.” Cam said calmly. “That you would all die. They said that we should forget she ever existed, because she might as well not.” Rhee was shocked at Cams talking, as well as what he said. “Honey, what happened out there?” Rhee asked gently. Cams’ eyes began to tear up as he recalled the events of the day. “We went shopping. Kaylee seemed pretty happy, different to how she’d always been. We went into a store, and she was looking at parts, and then she saw someone. They were two men, and they picked me up, and grabbed Kaylee by the arm, and led us away.” Cam started to cry “She was so scared. And she was telling me not to be afraid, but I knew she was. They took us to a warehouse, and they kept us there for a long time. They left me alone, but they hurt Kaylee, and asked her questions that she wouldn’t answer. When they stopped they said they were going to kill me if she didn’t talk. But she wouldn’t let them. She said she would tell them anything they wanted if they let me go, so they did. Then they told me what I said before, and Kaylee told me…” Cam stopped, too choked up to continue. But Rhee gently coerced the rest from him “…Kaylee said to listen to what they said. ‘Run home’ she said. ‘Get off the planet and forget you ever met me. And tell the Captain that I’m sorry to cause so much trouble.’ And then I ran away and came here.” Rhee was silent once Cam was finished. Tears rolled unbidden down his cheeks now, and Rhee held her son in her arms. She didn’t know what to do. Poor Cam had had to go through that, all because some stupid little girl had enemies she failed to mention. Cam cried himself to sleep, and Rhee carried him to his bunk, situated next to her and Marco’s. Troubled, she climbed into her own bunk, and attempted to sleep. *************************************** Four Weeks Earlier Cas was almost ready to give up. They had landed at the Eavesdown Docks in order to get work, and had planned on driving the mule to their contacts’ den. If only it would work. The gorramm drive shift appeared to have gone again, and they had no mechanic to fix it. Cas was just about ready to walk when she heard a voice from above her say “It’s your carborator”. Cas looked up to see a young lady, twenty two years old at most, standing in front of her, gazing critically at the mule. “It would appear to be the drive shift, but it is in fact the carborator that causes the problem in the first place. You can fix it, but unless you own an exapting gauge, there’s no way of knowing when it’s going to play up again.” Cas was stunned, and very confused by the ladies advanced techno babble. It had been three weeks since their jin tzahng mei yong-duh mechanic had left their ship, and the crusade to find another was hardly being successful. “Say miss, I don’t suppose you’re an out-of-work mechanic looking for employment on a legitimate vessel?” Cas asked politely, but with a hint of humour. The lady smiled and held out her hand. “Hi, I’m Kaywinnit Lee Tam, Kaylee to my friends. And yeh, work is exactly what I’m looking for.” Cas smiled, hoping she had just employed a new mechanic. “However” Kaylee said. ‘Of course, always a however’ Cas thought. “You said legitimate. Does that mean Alliance Friendly?” Cas felt relieved. “When I say legitimate, I mean we don’t deal with low-life lunatics.” Kaylee smiled, and responded cheerfully “Well, it looks like you got yourself a new mechanic!” ************************************** Present Day Kaylee lay in the dark room, breathing in dust and dirt. The hard concrete floor was cold, unbearably cold. Oh, how she wished for the days when she was younger, and she used to work in her daddy’s shop. She remembered running around her yard with her brothers and sisters, and Mamma ringing the dinner bell to announce that the meal was ready. Those days seemed so simple. As much as she wished for those days, she wished even more for the days aboard Serenity. Oh, how she missed that ship, the smoothness of her ride, the warmth of her engine. She missed Mal, who would take care of her. She missed Zoe and Wash, a perfect example of the old saying- opposites attract. She missed Inara, how she used to brush Kaylee’s hair and gossip about boys. She missed Book and River, and trying to make sense of the intellectual debates they would have on the workings of the universe, and whether or not God existed. She even missed Jayne, though she wasn’t sure why. But most of all she missed her husband, Simon, and her sweet baby girl that never got a chance at life. Laying there on the cold floor, she plead to her captors- “Please, please just kill me now. Let me join them. Please.” But these were the Blue Hands. And the Hands, were not done prodding.

XOXOX-FREDIKAYLLOW-XOXOX