To all the folk who endure traumatic events and somehow find the courage to rebuild their lives.

Disclaimer: Not mine, no coin changed hands. This story has not been beta-ed. Please accept my apologies for any errors or correct me.

Rating: NC17, Adult content, violence. Sensitive readers may find this chapter too intense. You have been advised. Remarks: The next section in my long story arc following Jayne and Kaylee as they define and strengthen their relationship. Takes place between the series and the BDM, three weeks after my previous story, “Leaps of Faith”. Click on my name to read the backstories.

Italics indicate internal dialogue.

Feedback: Sincerely appreciated when civilly offered; that’s what it’s all about. Some of you have expressed distress over this story’s title. Please consider the following:

Definitions: Source: The Random House Dictionary of the English Language Raping – (3) The act of seizing and carrying off by force (7) Plundering. Serenity – (1)The state or quality of being serene, calm, or tranquil.

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Raping Serenity

Chapter Eleven - Trackin’

Serenity’s remaining crew members gather around their captain out in front of the gutted ship, their anger, anxiety and confusion clear and present.

“How in the dì yù did the bastards get onboard?” Zoë asks, stunned, shaking her head.

“Probably overrode the bay door interlock, “ Wash explains. “It isn’t that hard to…”

“Bi zuie!” Mal waves them all to silence.

“I can’t hear my own self thinkin’.” He storms up the ramp and back, raging like a caged lion, his hand stroking his jaw as he sorts out what to do while the others can do nothing but wait.

Finally he’s come up with a plan, and turns to face his crew. His hands are curled in tight fists, knuckles white with rage, and his voice is low and crackles with danger.

“So it goes like this, people. We’d best be getting ourselves armed up and loaded, ‘cause we’re goin’ after our gear. From what River says, sounds like these scarper sonsabitches are plannin’ on shippin’ out by dusk. If they get off planet with our equipment, we’re totally humped an’ that just ain’t somethin’ I’m gonna let happen. We got less than fifteen minutes, so get yourselves busy.”

“Zoë, get these gorram crates off the shuttle yesterday, and then I want everyone armed but the girl.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Wash, you wave Benning quick an’ let him know the ship got hit by scarpers whilst we was pickin’ up his goods. Let him know we’ll make his delivery, but won’t be making it back for the rest of the ore today.”

“Will do, Mal.”

“Captain, don’t tell me you’re planning on taking River, too?” Simon is obviously opposed to the thought of his sister going along on a job so likely to get ugly.

“Ain’t like we got the choice to leave her, doc. She’ll have to come along ‘cause she won’t be safe here alone. Now help unload these crates, then you grab your med kit. We’re likely to have folks needin’ care, dong ma?”

Simon understands. The captain is anticipating a firefight.

Simon puts his arm around his sister’s slender shoulders. There’s another big issue unresolved and he has to address it. “But what about Kaylee? River says one of the scavengers kidnapped her. I can't believe you'd just go off and forget about her.”

Mal ‘s haunted eyes are huge and the profound conflict within him is apparent in every fiber of his being. “Doc, I know you got special feelings for lil’ Kaylee. She’s a ray a sunshine to every one of us. But Kaylee’s a strong girl and she’s gonna have to hold her own for a little while, ‘cause we ain’t got no time to lose if we have any chance at findin’ Serenity’s electronics.”

“I can’t believe you plan to simply leave an innocent girl to suffer at the hands of whoever did all of this!” The doc is appalled.

Seeing the horror in Simon’s eyes, Mal speaks a hard truth. "We got only the one shuttle, doc. Can’t go both ways at once. This is a rough choice to make, but I’m makin’ it. Sooner we get back what’s ours, sooner we can go after Kaylee. Ma-shong!”

Mal thumbs back at the flat heavy crates within the shuttle and looks around at the others. ”You folk turn to now and move those heavy bastards out of the shuttle. No cause to bother with draggin’ ‘em into Serenity at this point.” Grabbing one corner of the first crate, Mal helps shift it over the threshold of the shuttle door and out onto the sand.

Some short distance away, Jayne crouches down, studying the pattern of tracks left by the scarpers. The braided tracks of the tractor and trailer lead toward the mountains to the north. Hoof-prints of a single horse head west across the plateau.

Large and small boot prints tangle and blur and he bends to lay his hand in one clear small impression. His blue eyes go steel-dark with fury.

The horseman has Kaylee, no doubt about it.

++++

The limping mercenary pushes past Mal and his fellow crew members as they work to shift the ore crates and heads into the empty gut of the crippled ship.

“Where the dì yù are you headed, Jayne?” the brown coated man yells after him. “Got some things I’m gonna need, Cap’n, and I’d best be gettin’ ‘em.” Jayne’s voice is low and deadly serious. The merc turns and the two men lock eyes for a moment, then Jayne turns and heads for his bunk as quickly as his bad leg allows. Half sliding down the door chute ladder, he immediately notices someone’s been in his room.

“If that moon brain girl’s been down here messin’ in my stuff again I’ll…” He finally locates a canteen that he fills from the wall sink, and grabs a few additional clips for Delilah, then he’s back up the ladder and headed for the galley. From the food lockers, he grabs half a dozen protein bars and throws them into a pouch on his belt, then heads down to the medbay.

Like the rest of Serenity, the medical unit shows the ravages of the scarpers, holes in the consoles showing where several of the medical monitors have been removed. Drawers are half open and the contents rummaged. Injectors, ampoules of medication, rolls of weave lie scattered. The big man is searching through the supplies when Simon arrives to pack the emergency medical supplies Mal has asked for.

“Oh my god!” Simon surveys the chaos of his formerly neat infirmary with shock. “I can’t believe you did it again!”

Jayne is terse. “Not this time, Doc. Ya can thank the scarpers.”

“Look, I need your help or this whole business is gonna go to go se real fast. Shoot me up, some sort a smoother for my leg, maybe just help me move a little easier, and something to amp me up, keep me goin’.” His eyes are dark and hard with rage and fierce determination.

“That’s a dangerous combination of drugs, Jayne. Administering them together can be very hard on your heart.” The young doctor looks at the big man warily and sees something he’s never seen before.

“Why now, Jayne?”

“’Cause I’m goin’ after Kaylee. Gotta follow ‘em on foot an’ I don’t know how long my leg and stamina'll hold out.”

He looks away, his mouth tightening as he struggles with what he needs to say, then looks back at Simon.

“Look, doc, I know you love her, too. That hundan’s got a big head start and I need all the help I can get if I’m gonna find ‘im before he rapes her or worse. I know I been a right rare tah mah de to you and yer sister at times, but I’m the only ruttin’ chance that Kaylee has right now. Please do this for me, do it for Kaylee.”

The two men look at one another silently for a minute, then Simon acquiesces. “All right.” He sorts through a collection of vials in one drawer and selects two, then screws one into an aerosol injector. He applies the device to the side of Jayne’s neck and pulls a trigger, pushing the aerosolized medication through the merc’s skin. Jayne grunts softly with the brief sting.

“The smoother should help keep your pain level down for about eight hours. I’ll give you a second vial and an injector to take with you. Even if you don’t need it, Kaylee might.” Simon unscrews the empty vial and replaces it with another and recalibrates the injection volume to account for Jayne’s mass.

He tells the merc, “This will increase your lung and heart function, speed up your reflexes and…”

“I know, Doc. Just do it.”

A brief ‘psst’ and the stimulant is racing through Jayne’s bloodstream. “That should keep you up about eighteen hours, but after that you’re going to bottom out, hard. Give me a minute and I’ll gather up some things you might need.”

Simon pulls out a second vial of smoother, a roll of weave, antiseptic and gauze pads and then goes back for another ampoule, this one containing a sedative. He shows it to Jayne. “Don’t use this unless you have to. She may be in shock or…” He can’t complete the sentence.

He packs the aerosol injector and the other medical supplies in a small case and hands them to the mercenary.

“Thanks."

"There’s one more thing I need you to do, Doc.” Jayne’s jaw is clenched, his accelerated state apparent in the artery visibly pulsing in his neck. “Make sure you come back with all of Serenity’s gear. Whatever happens to Kaylee, puttin’ this ship back together is gonna be the one thing gets her through it. Do ya understand me?” Steely eyes look into brown ones.

“Yes,” Simon replies. “I understand. Good luck.”

++++

The tall, heavily muscled man burns with a white hot rage that fuels him as surely as the powerful heart now pounding quicktime in his chest. A camo jacket covers his t-shirt and his belt is loaded with water, food and medical supplies. His black hat is seated firmly on his head, eyes shielded by dark glasses. Delilah’s slung on his back and the cane that Kaylee made for him is clutched in his left hand. With long strides and only the slightest limp, he crosses the cargo bay.

Mal’s pacing back and forth, impatient to get underway. In the intervening ten minutes, the shuttle’s been unloaded and Zoë has gathered up half the ship’s armory. River stands trembling beside Shepherd Book, anxiously awaiting her brother’s return.

“The doc’s on his way,” the merc advises, striding down the ramp.

“About time.” Mal snaps. “Load up. We got half my boat to go get back.”

Jayne shakes his head. “Sorry, Cap’n. I ain’t goin’ with ya.”

Mal’s eyes flare in anger and he steps lightening fast into Jayne’s path. “What the hell did you just say?”

“I’m goin’ after Kaylee.” Jayne’s voice is flat and unwavering.

Serenity’s captain barks, ”We don’t get that equipment back, we’re dead here, Jayne. I don’t like leavin’ the girl in harm’s way any more than you do, but the ship comes first.”

Jayne stands his ground. “Not to me.”

The mercenary takes a deep breath and continues, “Look Mal, I know you gotta get that stuff back, but you got four people to back you up. Kaylee’s out there somewhere with some chùsheng xai-jiao de xiang huo intendin’ all matter of harm to her, and there’s no way I’m leavin’ her to that.”

The tension is palpable. Simon, medkit in hand, edges around the argument in progress and joins the rest of the crew who have been attracted by the loud and escalating confrontation between the large two men.

“We’re wasting time, Jayne. I said, get on the ruttin’ shuttle! Long as I pay your wage, you take my orders.” Malcolm Reynolds voice is low and menacing.

“Well, I quit, then,” the merc bites out.

“I’m goin’ after Kaylee.” He looks out at the far horizon and his mouth tightens, then he faces the captain once again.

“Damnit, Mal! And you say I’m dim. Ain’t you figured out I love that girl an’ she loves me? Nothin’ in the ‘verse means more to me than Kaylee does. So shoot me if ya wanna, but I’m goin’ to ‘er.”

As Mal’s hand goes to his revolver, Wash and the Shepherd both step forward to intervene. Book’s voice is low as he tries to defuse the situation. “Captain, we’ve got enough people to handle the scarpers. Let him do what he can to help Kaylee. Please.”

“He’s right, Mal.” Wash affirms, offering support for Jayne’s cause. “We can cover this. Besides, there’s no freakin’ way I can completely refit Serenity without Kaylee’s help. You want the ship functional again, we need Kaylee as much as our electronic gear.”

The logic of this finally registers with Mal and he ratchets back a notch. “Alright, damnit. Go get her, then.” He tosses Jayne his two-way radio transmitter. “You find her, wave us and we’ll home on your coordinates soon as we can.”

Jayne looks to Book and the Shepherd knows his unspoken plea. “Don’t worry, son, I’ll pray for both of you.”

The big merc nods at Wash as he passes him and heads out into the barren plateau. “I owe ya one, little man.”

++++

Kaylee slips in and out of consciousness, slumping and shifting in the saddle her hands are bound to. Jed Kurtz steadies her with an arm around her middle. Her head throbs from the mild concussion caused by her fall, every jolting step of the horse making her stomach shift and heave. The crude liberties of the scarper’s roaming hands are equally nauseating.

Kurtz turns down a side trail, pushing his horse through the dense upland forest of spruce and fir. “Just a little longer, missy, and you an’ me’s gonna have some play time,” he murmurs into Kaylee’s ear and she shudders.

They crest a small rise and descend again into a sheltered valley carved by a rocky, rushing stream. The icy water sparkles in the early afternoon sunlight.

On the far side in a clearing, is a small, roughly-built log cabin. There is no sign of activity and it’s apparent that this is their destination. Kurtz urges their mount across the stream, the rushing water up to the animal’s belly, and up the far bank to the cabin.

The heavyset man dismounts and ties his horse up to a tree. “Home, sweet home,” he chuckles, nastily. He cuts the cord lashing Kaylee’s hands to the saddle horn and drags her off the horse. ”Come on down, now, missy.”

It’s all she can do to keep her feet under her as her vision blurs and clears and blurs again. Kurtz grabs her hard by the arm again and steers her around the side of the cabin, up the flat rocks that serve as steps, and onto a small porch. He pushes the plank door with his boot and it creaks, swinging inward, as he pushes her in ahead of him.

The cabin is dark and dirty, the only light source a single fly-speckled window facing the incoming trail. Once Kaylee’s eyes adjust to the dimness, she sees the dark hole of a fireplace, with a cast-iron cook pot on the hearth. Much of the small space is taken up by a narrow bunk with a stained mattress pushed up under the window and a crudely built table and single chair. The smell of wood smoke and rancid bacon fat assault her nose, along with Kurtz’ own feral stink. It’s clear no woman has ever shared this space.

Kurtz pushes Kaylee into the hard wooden chair and quickly ties her arms firmly to the rails behind her. Her mouth is thick and gummy and her face itches where blood from her bruised forehead has dripped and dried.

The scarper goes back outside and unsaddles his horse, then returns with his bedroll and gear, which he tosses down onto the mattress. From a shelf over the table, he takes down a partially full bottle of whiskey, and takes a long slug, then wipes his mustaches with the back of his hand. “Want a swig?” He offers Kaylee the bottle.

The girl looks at him with complete disgust. “Water’d be better.”

“Your call. You might rather you’dda had the whiskey, come later on…” He offers her the canteen, then smirks. “Oh, I see. Ya can’t take the cap offn th’ thing, can ya? Hands bein’ tied up like that, an’ all.” He shakes his head, clearly enjoying just messing with her. “Ask ol’ Jed real nice like, and I’ll do it for ya.”

Kaylee spits back, “Qi dì yù!”

The scarper studies her through narrowed eyes, then deliberately takes down a glass and pours water from the canteen into it and sets it on the table in front of Kaylee.

“All ya gotta do is ask… an’ in the mean time,” he backhands her hard across the mouth, “You might wanna work on that little attitude of yours. This little business between us can go down real easy or you can make it go real rough. An’ don’t even hope those people you worked with are comin’ for you ‘cause my boys have picked ‘em all off by now.”

He steps closer to the bound girl and she rears back, wide eyes flooding with tears. His cruel eyes slide from Kaylee’s face down her body to her bosom. “That zipper’s up too gorram high, you know that?” With a flick, his switchblade is open and he hooks the tab of Kaylee’s overall zipper with the tip and slowly pulls it down.

“Now ain’t you purty…”

(To be continued…)