“How did you get back here?!” Kaylee whimpered fearfully.

Kaylee was in her bunk, fearfully clutching a pillow against her chest, her eyes wide in horror. At the foot of the ladder to her bunk, bounty hunter Jubal Early stood pointing his pistol at her, a length of rope in his other fist. He smiled menacingly at her, glancing about the contents of her quarters while Kaylee cowered in the corner. His cold, black eyes fell onto the dress from the party on Persephone that Kaylee had worn and was now hanging at the foot of her bed.

“Huh, well color me shocked. Here I was thinking I had you all figured out little Kaylee. I didn’t peg you much as the fancy type, getting all gussied up. Never thought you’d go to that kinda length to get into the doctor’s pants.”

Kaylee whimpered softly, tears starting to leak from her eyes while Early walked over to her and squatted down in front of her, keeping his gun pointed directly between her eyes.

“As for how I got here, did you really think I’d be floating out there all by myself forever? This is a busy, busy world we live in; people always coming and going. I wasn’t floating out there but about a couple hours before an Alliance cruiser came by. They picked me up, tracked down my ship and let me go on my way. And now I’m back here to get the Tam girl. Only trouble is, I have business to attend to with you, first.

You all may have gotten the best of ol’ Early the last time but I’m not a foolish man. I know that the captain couldn’t have gotten out of his bunk and out the hatch to send me off without help. And seeing as you’re the only other person who wasn’t knocked out or in their quarters, I figure it must have been you who helped him, even when I very explicitly warned you not to. And now I’ve come back to pay you back for that little Kaylee. You ought not to have crossed me.”

Kaylee screamed as Early grabbed her by the hair and yanked her head back. He tried to cover her mouth with his forearm but she promptly bit down upon it, causing Early to retaliate with a slap to her face. Kaylee sobbed as Early grabbed at her hands and tried to force them behind her back so he could bind them but Kaylee struggled mightily against the bounty hunter.

“No! No! Someone help! Please don’t rape me! Please! Help, somebody help me!” Kaylee cried as Early finally got her wrists bound.

“Kaylee! Kaylee!” Early shouted at her to attempt to get her to quiet down but Kaylee kept on screaming for help with her eyes clenched shut. Early grabbed her shoulders and shook her violently, repeatedly yelling her name but his voice kept getting higher and higher.

Kaylee then snapped her eyes open and found herself on the floor of the Engine Room and River Tam looking down on her, her large eyes opened wide enough that Kaylee feared they might pop out of her skull. Kaylee sat up quickly and frantically looked around for Early but found he was gone and only River was with her.

“What? What’s going on? Where’s Early at?” Kaylee squeaked fearfully.

“Shh, it’s okay Kaylee. He’s not here. He’s all gone. You were having a nightmare.” River whispered, attempting to calm down the older woman.

Kaylee dissolved into tears again, wrapping her arms around River’s thin body and holding her against herself. River gently pet Kaylee’s hair and whispered softly to Kaylee as she sobbed into River’s shoulder, dampening her blouse with tears.

“You’re okay Kaylee. He can’t hurt you anymore. I’m here. I’ll protect you.”

Slowly, River could feel Kaylee start to relax and calm down but kept her grip on the young psychic as tight as possible. River was grateful that she could help her friend but she was really starting to worry about Kaylee and her sanity. It had been almost a month now since Jubal Early’s visit to Serenity but the scars from his visit were evident on Kaylee’s demeanor. She was paranoid about being anywhere alone and would frequently ask River to accompany her to the engine room so she could work. She started losing weight just from stress and from a lack of eating. Sometimes Kaylee would have to be reminded to attend meals. She had also started losing sleep and whenever she would finally doze off from exhaustion, she would have nightmares about Early.

It was the nightmares that was the worst because Kaylee would pitch such a fit during them that the whole ship could hear her moaning and calling for help. One particularly memorable time, she passed out at the dinner table and when Wash had attempted to roust her from her slumber, Kaylee had flailed her arm out and punched him square in the nose, breaking it instantly and causing alarming blood flow. Yet no matter who would attend to her and chase the nightmare away, Kaylee would always call for River, like some security blanket. And only when River would wrap her arms around Kaylee and mutter soothingly to her would Kaylee finally calm down.

Even though she hated seeing her friend so distressed, River never minded tending to Kaylee when she called for her. It made River swell that she could be of some comfort and relaxation to her dear friend just with a simple embrace. As far as River was concerned, she could hug Kaylee forever if she was given the chance to. Kaylee was always so warm and soft and even though she was constantly covered from head to foot in some residue from the engines, she always had a pleasing smell of strawberries to her. River closed her eyes and buried her face in Kaylee’s flowing golden brown hair, nuzzling her face against her scalp which triggered a low sigh from Kaylee. Kaylee tilted her head up to look into River’s eyes, her own eyes swollen from the crying. River looked down at her, smiling warmly and gently stroked Kaylee’s cheek. They sat in silence for a few moments just gazing deeply into each other’s eyes before Kaylee reached her hand up, wrapped her fingers up in River’s hair and started to pull her in for a kiss.

“Kaylee? Is everything okay?”

Kaylee jerked back from River and her eyes flew to the entrance of the engine room where Simon was standing holding his med kit and seemingly the entire crew behind him. Simon had taken to bringing his med kit along anytime that they needed to wake Kaylee after the incident with Wash. Simon looked concerned but poised to help should River have taken any accidental damage from the mechanic. Behind Simon stood Mal with a worried look on his face but he stood stiffly with his arms crossed across his chest. Zoë and Wash were behind him, Wash jokingly cowering behind his wife, causing her to roll her eyes and smirk. And behind all of them was Jayne, not really paying attention to anything going on and instead was fiddling around with his pocket knife. Kaylee sniffled and wiped the tears away from her face.

“Yeah, Simon, I’m fine. No damage done.” Kaylee said as cheerfully as she could muster.

“Good, then you should be able to join us in the dining room for some food and a discussion about this problem of yours, little Kaylee. Now.” Mal said shortly, turning on his heel and striding back to the dining room Jayne followed close behind, eager to get back for some food. After a moment, Wash, Zoë and Simon all left the engine room, leaving River and Kaylee alone again for the briefest of moments. Kaylee groaned a bit and bit her lip nervously at the thought of having to discuss this with everyone but River took Kaylee’s face in both her hands so Kaylee was looking directly at her again.

“Don’t worry, I have your back.” River said.

And with those words, Kaylee felt all her fears disappear, replaced only by tender affection for River. Kaylee smiled and nodded and the two young women got to their feet and followed the rest of the crew into the dining room. They took their seats at the remaining spaces left at the table. River gracefully lowered herself into her seat next to her brother and Kaylee sat down right next to her, holding tightly onto River’s hand. Mal stood at the head of the table, leaning on his fists with his head bowed, looking to gather his thoughts. Zoë sat next to Mal with Wash next to her. Jayne sat at the end of the table munching on an apple with his feet up on the table. Once everyone had been seated, Mal took a breath and looked out over his crew for a moment before focusing on Kaylee.

"So, where's the food at? Come on, let's eat!" Jayne said looking about, wondering why no one had gone to the kitchen to get anything.

"First things first, Jayne," Mal said shortly, "we gotta talk about what's going on with Kaylee. Then you can feel free to fill your face."

Jayne muttered to himself and rubbed his stomach as it let out a growl that could be heard by everyone present.

“Okay, now we all know that since we had that run in with that chusheng xai-jiao de xiang huo, our lovely little engineer here has taken a bit of a turn for the worst. Hasn’t been eating much. Afraid to go anywhere alone. Sleeplessness. And of course, when she does sleep, she hollers and cries enough to alert the ‘verse. Now Kaylee, don’t mistake me for being annoyed, we’re just worried bout ya is all. Now we know that he tied you up but I got a powerful notion that’s not all he did. So Kaylee, if you want us to be helping you out, you gotta let us know what happened.”

Everyone’s gaze shifted to Kaylee who had lost all the courage that she had in the engine room. She sat in her place at the table, eyes looking straight down at her lap, tears dripping down her nose. She gripped River’s hand under the table as her mind raced through what had happened that night. Early sneaking up on her, tying her up and threatening to rape her if she didn’t say where River was. Kaylee closed her eyes and merely thought “Please don’t tell them,” knowing that River could hear what she thought.

“She’s afraid of Santa Claus.” River spoke slowly in that mysterious tone of hers.

All the eyes that were previously on Kaylee looked over to River, except for Jayne who merely rolled his eyes in anticipation of another wacky spiel from the moonbrain.

“He dresses in red and comes down the chimney. Says he’s going to bring presents. But he only has coal. And he wants things in return. Where does River sleep?”

Kaylee shook her head and silently thought “No, please don’t, please stop” for River but River continued on. Simon cautiously put out his hand towards River’s shoulder but she snapped her head around before it could get there and looked wildly at him.

“Throw a monkey wrench into my dealings and your body is forfeit.” River said, her voice getting higher. She turned to look at Zoë and Wash.

“Ain't nothing but a body to me.”

She turned to Jayne, who was now paying close attention and had taken his feet off the table.

“I can find all unseemly manner of uses for it.” River growled in a low voice.

Finally she turned her eyes to Mal, eyes blazing.

“The captain is right down that hallway. He can hear you.” River whispered loudly.

Everyone’s gaze briefly shifted to Mal as he sighed heavily and hung his head, knowing full well why he wouldn’t have been able to help, having been knocked out by Early and deposited into his bunk.

“The captain’s locked in his quarters. They all are. There’s nobody can help you. Say it.”

“There’s no one can help me.” Kaylee squeaked tearfully.

Everyone’s gaze shifted back to Kaylee as comprehension as to what River was talking about truly dawned on them. So no one was really surprised by what River finally whispered.

“Have you ever been raped?”

Kaylee wailed loudly and tried to get up from the table but Mal strode over to her instantly and wrapped his arms around her torso from behind, preventing her from leaving. Kaylee struggled mightily against the captain but the stronger man was able to keep her at bay.

“Kaylee! Kaylee! Listen, I know you been hurt but you can’t keep running from this. You have to face this or it’s going to haunt you for the rest of your life. Don’t let that hun dan and his threat ruin you Kaylee. We don’t want to lose our sunshine here so sit back down and let’s talk about this.” Mal bellowed.

Kaylee finally stopped thrashing about and merely collapsed against Mal, dissolving into wild wails of tears. Slowly, River climbed out of her chair and stood in front of Kaylee, her lip quivering. River brushed Kaylee’s hair away from her face so she could look straight into Kaylee’s eyes and she slowly traced her hands down Kaylee’s cheeks, catching several tears as they leaked from Kaylee’s eyes. Kaylee finally looked up at River and sniffled loudly and started hyperventilating a bit.

“I’m sorry Kaylee. I had to say it.” River quavered.

River slowly spread her arms out for a hug and Kaylee walked into it, holding the teen against her as tightly as she could. And like all the times before, once she was wrapped in River’s arms, Kaylee started calming down and stopped the tears. Once she had recovered, Kaylee finally took her seat once more at the table.

“Right then,” Mal stated in his most serious captain-y voice he had, “what are we fixing to do to remedy this problem? Normally, I’d say best course of action is to face your fears head-on but that don’t seem much like an option seeing as the source of your trouble is right now just a red suit floating in space. So it really won’t do no good to lock him in a room with you and you armed with a pipe wrench.”

“How about a nice getaway? We could call Inara and have her stay with her at the Companion House for a bit, give her a little vacation.” Wash said thoughtfully.

“In case you didn’t notice Wash, Inara ain’t exactly a paying member of this crew anymore. So it’s not too likely we enjoy the perks or a working relationship anymore now that she’s gone.” Mal said with just a touch of bitterness in his voice.

“I could take her shooting.” Jayne stated a bit excitedly.

Everyone merely looked at Jayne like he was a lunatic.

“Hell then, I don wanna know what you guys woulda said to my other suggestion, goin and getting little Kaylee all sexed up. If’n guns don’t make me feel any ruttin better, gettin sexed does.”

Everyone silently groaned to themselves and shook their heads at the words of the public relations officer. Jayne merely scoffed and returned to his reclining position from earlier, going back to not caring what anyone was talking about.

“I could keep her in the infirmary under my watch. Keep her on an IV to make sure she stays healthy. Give her something to help her sleep better. Might make the nightmares go away.” Simon suggested in his cool, measured tone.

“Well, much as I might not like it, it may just come down to that doc. Now I don’t much like the thought of my star engineer needing to be basically force fed and then doped up every night so’s she can sleep but if that’s the only option we have, it’s what we’ll have to do.” Mal replied. “That is, unless you have any ideas River? You’re yet to speak in this discussion. What are your thoughts?”

“What do ya think her thoughts are, Mal? They’re crazy. She’ll probably say something weird like she wants to be Kaylee’s elf to help her fight the evil Santy Claus.” Jayne guffawed.

“Jayne, shut the hell up.” Zoë snapped.

Jayne grumbled a bit for getting yelled at while everyone else looked at River who looked to be deep in thought.

“I can stay with Kaylee. Keep her company; be there for her when she needs someone.”

“Ooh, ooh, I like that idea captain.” Kaylee suddenly burst out happily, practically bouncing up and down in her seat.

“Well then I guess that’s what’s going to happen. Doesn’t appear to be any secret that lately, Kaylee seems to work at her best with you around, little one. I got no problems with you keeping watch over her.” Mal said happily, hoping this solution would work. Everyone else nodded their agreement except Simon who had bit his lip and looked uncomfortably at River.

“Um, River? I’m not sure that’s so smart. I should be keeping watch over you to make sure you don’t have any nightmares of your own.”

“I’ll be fine, Simon! Just trust me.” River snapped, annoyed at her over-protective brother.

“Ooh, this is gonna be so much fun! It’ll be like a sleepover!” Kaylee squealed happily, already plotting out fun things to do with River that night.

“Fine, it’s settled then. River, tonight and every night until further notice, you’re to report to Kaylee’s quarters for bed. Dong ma?”

River nodded, a wide grin spreading across her face at Kaylee’s excitedness, eager for the night to arrive.

“So now that Kaylee’s finally back and all, can we finally get going with dinner anytime soon?” Jayne grumbled. “’m so gorram hungry that turning into a Reaver’s looking pretty logical right about now.”

“Oh Jayne,” Wash said with a laugh in his voice, “has it really been that long since you willingly got someone to bed you that you’d turn to raping them while on the way to eating them to get yourself laid?”

The crew all laughed heartily at Wash’s comment while Jayne merely threw his napkin at the pilot. The laughs died down and Zoë and Wash stood up to start preparing the food while the rest of the crew helped set the table. Once everything was all cooked, the crew all sat down to eat while Wash regaled them with a funny tale from his days in flight school.

TO BE CONTINUED... ********************

Chinese translations:

chusheng xai-jiao de xiang huo - animal fucking bastard

hun dan - bastard

dong ma? - understand?