"Oh, God! Cap'n! You're all tore up!" Kaylee ran to the open cargo bay door to Mal, who was dripping blood on the cold metal floor. His nose was broken, and he had several deep slashes along his torso and arms.

Zoe was also wounded fairly badly. Simon noticed her limping as she walked off the mule, her hip obviously dislocated, while her torso sported roughly the same damage Mal's had.

River was still curled up on the cargo bay floor, completely oblivious to the activity going on around her. She had no tears left, and was simply rocking back and forth, whispering strange words to herself.

Simon looked around nervously. "Where's Jayne?"

Mal looked over at Simon, his face fierce with anger at what they had just gone through. "Jayne got took. There was about ten men near the bog we got lost at. Two was in fancy suits." He looked over at River quickly before looking back at Simon. "Blue gloves."

"Two by two! I told you. I explained all the math, all the math in the 'Verse, and I said. I said blue." River looked around frantically. "Two times two is four, times blue... times..."

Simon looked nervously at River, then back at Mal. "Why don't you and Zoe wait for me in the infirmary?"

Mal nodded, tight-lipped and turned to Zoe to help her.

"Mei mei, let Kaylee take you to your bunk so you can rest okay?" Simon leaned down to lift his sister from the floor as Kaylee walked toward them, but instead River flinched and stood up suddenly.

"No! We go now. They're going to hurt him. Bits and pieces lying on an operating table while his body comes back. Now! I need Jayne, now!" River started toward the mule, expecting everyone to follow. Instead, Mal stopped her gently, resting his strong hands on her shoulders while looking River in the eye.

"Listen to me, lil 'Tross. We need a plan. You know what happens when we go off all half-cocked. We end up gettin' hurt, and there's always a chance we fail, and Jayne gets hurt even worse." Mal wiped the single tear that rand down River's cheek. "We need a plan, right?"

River nodded solemnly.

"Alright then. First step of the plan, 'Tross, is for you to get some rest for an hour at least, dong ma? You can sleep in Jayne's bed, if that'd make ya feel better."

"No more than an hour. I need Jayne back."

*****

"Welcome to the Academy."

Jayne winced at the invasively cold and civilized voice. His head was pounding. Jayne knew he'd passed out, but he couldn't remember why. At the moment, he had no idea where he was or who was talking to him. Mostly because his eyes were closed to block out lights that seemed to be as bright as ones he saw in the operating rooms on Ariel.

Finally, when Jayne felt his eyes had adjusted well enough, he opened them, still squinting and looked around.

Okay creepy ass, bright hospital lights. Check. My gorram neck hurts. Think I remember them darts. And who the ruttin' hell is this prissy sonofabitch? Jayne sneered up at the well dressed man in front of him.

The man's hands were folded behind his back, and he had a deceptively pleasant smile on his face. One that feigned interest and concern.

"I understand you have a relationship with the Tam experiment, Mister Cobb." The man watched Jayne for any response before continuing. "A relationship that has progressed farther than we ever expected."

"What in the ruttin' hell are you talkin' about? You do realize I got knocked out n drugged back there, my head ain't exactly clear." Jayne was pretty sure he had a fairly clear idea what this man was talking about, but he was damn tired of River speakin' in riddles, so he sure as hell wasn't going to be decoding puzzles from what appeared to be a sane man. Despite knowing that his facade of sanity just shielded a psychopath.

"The girl, Mister Cobb. River Tam."

"What about her? She hot?" Jayne leered up hopefully.

The suited man showed no frustration if he was, in fact, feeling any. He just smiled a little wider at Jayne's smartass comment and continued.

"Don't play games, Mister Cobb. We know you have full, sexual contact with the experiment."

Jayne showed complete disregard for the authority this man seemed to expect. "Look, maybe you don't know me as well as you think I do. I rut on a girl, I ain't worried about catchin' their name first." Jayne's own grin widened. "Hell, I don't even kiss 'em on the mouth."

"Mister Cobb, we've become aware that your relationship with the expermient has progressed to the point where you can feel her emotionally. She has, somehow, passed on some of her... gifts to you."

Jayne's eyes followed the man's to a small, metal table with various, metal instruments on it. He watched, eyes wide, as one of his blue gloved hands reached out to touch a long needle.

"We're going to use those gifts to locate her."

*****

Flashes of silver and cold blue flew by River's eyes. Occasionally, a burst of Jayne's pained face crossed her view, shrouded by groans and yells she could barely make out as his.

"How about now, Mister Cobb. Can you feel her?"

"Qu ni de, you gorram prick. Ain't gettin' nothin' outta me."

Another scream and a flash of blue fingers. She could feel it. Feel what they were doing to them. Needles in his temples, stickers that shocked Jayne to the bone tugging at his chest hair.

Another electric shock and River found herself screaming with him, fearing he wouldn't last much longer.

River jerked up in bed, her breath hard and ragged. It took her a moment to clear away enough of her fear to take in her surroundings. She was in Jayne's bunk, sweat drenching her body from the nightmare she'd just had.

Once she'd gotten her breathing fairly regular, River jumped out of bed. She slipped one of Jayne's shirts on over her bare form and climbed out of the bunk, running for the cockpit.

River found Mal sitting at the pilot's seat.

"Feelin' any better, lil 'Tross."

"Now, Mal. We need to go now. They're torturing him. Pain and screaming. Wires and needles and heartache. I can't let him go through that any longer. We're going now."

"I know, River. That's what we're fixin' to do. We saw a ship take off about 45 minutes ago. Locked in on it's trajectory and we're headed to where it's goin'. We're fair certain that's where Jayne is."

"Good. I'm going to kill them."

*****

After an incredibly long argument between River, Mal, and Simon over whether she should go, Serenity landed on Osiris.

Simon recognized the area rather clearly. He and River used to play in the nearby park when they were children. As River surveyed the area, her eyes caught on a large, automatic swingset. Simon watched as a tear slipped down her cheek.

"I had forgotten, Simon. There were no windows. I remember telling them I used to play there with you, but they never let me see."

"I'm so sorry, mei mei." Simon placed his hand on River's shoulder in comfort. He hated that River had gone through all the pain she had.

It had been decided that River would be going with Mal and Zoe. Originally the argument had been that if anyone saw her at the academy, they would either capture or kill her. River's winning theory was that she knew all the skills they had given her, and would be able to find her way through the facilities without being noticed.

River went into Simon's room and found the medical coat he'd worn on Ariel. She'd had Kaylee hem it up a bit so it wasn't too large on her. She put on the rest of the costume she would wear before styling her hair in a tight, neat bun.

When River was ready, she went back to her room and found the bodice dagger Jayne had given her for her birthday. River smiled gently, running her fingers over the agate handle and soft sheath before strapping it to her thigh.

*****

"You stay behind us until it's absolutely necessary, you hear me lil 'Tross?" Mal was walking along toward the Academy doors with Zoe and River, all of them anticipating in the upcoming fight.

"Shir ah. I do know what I'm doing. Won't risk Jayne for my own sake." River rolled her eyes a bit. Mal had been asking her that repeatedly over the last two hours.

"That's my girl." The group approached the door cautiously. "We all ready?"

Both women nodded in the affirmative as Mal opened the doors as silently as possible.

Zoe immediately aimed her long pistol at the guard who was standing less then a foot inside the facility. Before he could reach for his own gun, River slid up and knocked his hand away with a violent kick.

"You're going to get us as far through the retinal scans as you can. If you don't, you'll watch as I gut your wife and three year old son, dong ma?"

River's voice chilled even Zoe to the bone. The frightened man nodded and turned around. River released him so that Zoe could put the barrel of her gun between his shoulderblades, letting him lead the way.

Ten retinal scans later, the fear-wracked guard confessed he had no authorization to go any further within the compound. River forced the name of the man who could out of him before snapping his neck without remorse. River snatched the guard's clearance badge and turned to the others.

"I know that name. I can find him easily. He always stayed near the interview rooms down that hall to the left." River pointed assuredly toward the hallway leading to her right.

Mal and Zoe nodded curtly and followed River as silently as possible. With the badge she took from the last guard, River unlocked the interview door, opening it with a shaky hand. She hadn't been here in a year and a half. And the last thing she remembered was blood.

Blood that was still there. A dark, faded pool on the floor, some flaking drops in a spray pattern on the cold metal table. Even the bloody pencil lay forgotten on the floor. River tried to shake the images away. The room flickered between being spotless and sterile to being covered in blood.

River remembered his orange-red hair, the surprisingly gentle face. A flash of her torn mattress, a sudden, sharp phantom pain in her spine.

"Princess and the pea. Told him I wasn't safe. Now he isn't."

Without another word, River found a hidden door to the left and opened it. It led to another room with an Alliance Corporal.

He turned around, then gasped in surprise. River shook her head at his fear.

"You still remember. You've been watching the videos to learn about me, but you'd been watching the live feed. I had left the room before you could even come in to capture me. Could you save him?"

"He's... he died. There was no chance of repairing his... It was only a pencil."

"Yes, but I tore his entire throat with just that pencil. Wood has splinters, Corporal. It rarely makes neat little puncture wounds."

River heard a violent scream of her name. She suddenly looked very hard at the Alliance Corporal.

"You will take me to that room, now, Corporal Harris, or I will demonstrate just how much damage a pencil can do."

"And if she don't scare ya enough, I brought Vera." Mal grinned and displayed Jayne's favorite gun, bringing it only a few inches from the Corporal's throat.

Harris nodded fearfully and went back through the interview room they had come from, leading them back down the hall to the main walkway. Three retinal scans and two fingerprint identifiers later, he led River, Mal and Zoe left down another small hallway, Jayne's screams getting louder.

River silently slid her knife out from the sheathe on her thigh and came behind Corporal Harris, slicing his neck so that his throat had almost completely been severed. As he dropped to the floor, Mal and Zoe passed around him, while River stayed a moment.

"I hope that cut was clean enough." She wiped the blood that dripped off her dagger blade onto the frightened man's shirt as he tried to hold his open wound together. His eyes were wide and the slash was such that he couldn't manage to choke on the blood that rose in his mouth.

River caught up with the others, then passed them, her pace quickening in response to Jayne's sudden silence. She made it to the door, then grabbed Vera from Mal. She quickly shot four rounds into the door where the inner lock would be, handing the gun back to Mal before kicking the door wide open.

"Ahh, Ms. Tam. You've joined us. We've been doing our best to enjoy ourselves until your arrival." The eerie, well dressed man, waved his blue gloved hand toward where Jayne sat.

He was not bloody, and River hadn't expected him to be. The hands of blue never liked the sight of blood unless caused by their strange device. The only reason they tolerated it then was the knowledge that they didn't have to touch the fluid.

Jayne sat slack in the hard metal chair, his head lolled back, eyes fluttering in and out of consciousness, leaving Zoe and Mal shocked. They'd never seen Jayne weak. Afraid and trying to hide it, sure. Never weak and defenseless, the way he looked now.

Before they could even think of turning back to the man who'd done this time Jayne, River had already punched him so hard in the gut that he flew back, slamming into the wall behind him. She went over to him, her hand clasping roughly at his neck.

"What did you take from him?" River's eyes shone ferociously, her fear of this man completely erased, even though he sat there, choking with a pleased grin on his face.

"We made you... well." He barely got out the words, but the shit-eating grin on his face never faded. "You have improved since I saw you last. More control..." He coughed roughly again. "Less psychosis."

River looked over at Jayne, noting with quiet relief that Zoe and Mal had begun removing Jayne's bonds, carefully peeling the electrical pads from his chest, the needles from his scalp and arms. River looked back at the man she held captive.

"You're going to tell me what you did to him before I kill you. And don't count on your death being as quick as the two guards laying in the halls." She squeezed his throat harder, then released just enough so he could speak.

He gagged and remained all vain smiles. "And tireless... I hear you butchered a score of reavers a few months back. Impressive."

River almost growled in frustration, then realized her knife was still in her free hand. She gripped it tighter and rammed it low in the man's side, twisting a bit.

"What... did... you... do... to... Jayne?"

He finally broke, if only a little, as a sudden cry of actual emotion ripped from his throat. He had never been injured before, and it was much more intense than he imagined. He felt nausea that was partly from the knife buried in his belly and partly from the feeling of blood soaking through his clothing.

"All neural behaviors and responses intact. We haven't had the pleasure of cutting into his crude brain yet." Another, weaker smile crossed his face, albeit still rather smug.

River released his throat and forcefully punched him in the face, effectively breaking his nose. "You'll never get the chance, tamade hundan." River jerked the knifeblade upwards, slashing through several of his organs, including his left lung. He gasped wetly for a moment, tensing, before going completely slack, his eyes staring blankly.

She yanked her dagger out of his side, putting it on the floor before snapping his neck as an extra precaution. She looked at him, sitting slumped against the wall, bloody and lifeless. Her own eyes were just as blank as his before she suddenly spit on his lolling head.

River stood up and looked at the others, noting how weakly Jayne was standing in their arms. "Let's go."

*****

"Ren ci de fo zu. What did they do to him?" Simon looked at Jayne in shock as he limped in, his arms wrapped around Mal and Zoe. River was trailing silently behind them, tears running down her face.

Simon motioned for them to follow him into the infirmary, which they did as gently and quickly as they could.

"He's real dazed. Ain't rightly sure what they did, but when we got there he had needles in his head n' electrical doodads on his chest. He was pretty much unconscious most the time. And he past out twice in the mule." Mal was nervous as hell, knowing River had been silent the entire way out of the facility and back to the ship.

When they finally got to the infirmary they gently set Jayne in the exam chair, quickly moving out of Simon's way so he could check Jayne's vitals. He swiftly put his fingers to the older man's pulse point, watching the handheld timepiece he kept in the infirmary. Once that was done, Simon wrote some numbers down before checking Jayne's visual responses with the small flashlight he took from his emergency bag.

"Where is she, Doc? Ow... Get that gorram light outta my eye." Jayne limply swung his hand around in front of his face, attempting to knock the light Simon held away.

"She's right here Jayne, only a few feet away. Now I need to put an IV in so that you get some fluids and nutrition back in your system. You're very weak." Simon moved to get the equipment he would need as Jayne kept talking.

"Ain't a pansy-ass like you, Doc. You're the one needs... 'trition. Balls too."

Simon just rolled his eyes a little and prepared everything. He saw a small movement beside him and turned his head to find River.

"He'll be fine, mei mei. He's out of it right now. I expect he got shocked at regular intervals. He was probably given muscle relaxants, sodium pentothal as a truth serum. He may take a week or two to recover at the least, but he'll be fine." Simon turned and placed the IV needle in the back of Jayne's hand, using surgical tape to hold it in place as the drip started.

River nodded gently and went to Jayne's other side, slipping her hand in his. He attempted to squeeze her hand, but there was hardly any strength in it, making a tear fall from River's eyes.

"You didn't have to kill him, girl. That's supposed to be my job. I ain't want you to turn into that." He smiled sadly at River. "You ain't supposed to live without remorse."

"He tried to hurt you and he cut my brain up. I have more remorse for the reavers I killed than him." River's eyes held sadness that she was able to kill that way, yet they glittered with a dark strength that showed she would never second guess the decisions she made today.

"I still felt ya the whole time. Dunno how. Ya gave me somethin' special... dangerous."

"I know. Rest, Jayne. You need to heal."

"Yeah, I'll do that."

~*~*~*~*~

Qu ni de = screw you

tamade hundan = fucking bastard