A moment of silence was had as the news set in about Kaylee before Wash spoke up, not really believing what he had just heard. “Wait wait wait, will you kindly repeat that for me? Because I could have sworn that you just said that Kaylee is missing?” “You heard that because that’s what I said.” The mood was somber, that is until Mal started yelling. “Tian xiz shou you de ren dou gai si!” “Mal…?” Inara never got a chance to finish her sentence, because she was cut off by Mal, who had begun to take action. Nobody messed with Kaylee, this was one of the unspoken rules aboard Serenity, and Mal was not about to let someone hurt his younger sister and mechanic. “Alright, Wash you stay on board the ship and make sure no one comes aboard. Inara you look after River with Shepard, Simon, I want you to stay aboard as well and set up the infirmary in case any medical issues come up. Zoe and Jayne? You two are coming with me and we’re going to find her.” Despite the urge to go with the Captain, Simon knew that Mal was right. Besides, he wasn’t going to be that much help in the search anyway, so he might as well do what he did best, medicine. He just hoped that he didn’t need to do any work in there that night. Once Jayne, Mal and Zoe were off the ship, the three decided to split up to cover more ground in a shorter period of time, and would communicate with each other via communicators. This was how Mal ended up talking to Bester of all people. “Captain Reynolds!” Hearing his name, Mal spun around and groaned inwardly. “Bester…if you don’t…” “I didn’t know you guys would be here. I thought I saw Kaylee going off with some guy, but I figured ‘nah, they wouldn’t be here’ but look! You are here!” Mal had been about to go off to continue his search until he heard his former mechanic mention Kaylee. “Which way did she go?” “Uh, down that alley. Some guy was hasslin’ her, but I figured it was just some whore or somethin’. It was good seein’ you again.” Mal nodded distractedly before running off in the direction of where Bester had seen Kaylee and this mysterious man disappear to. Grabbing his communicator while running, Mal informed Jayne and Zoe of his lead and told them to help him. Halfway in the alleyway, Mal stopped when he heard pleading, and not just any pleading, it was a voice he knew all to well, a voice that should never have to plead like that. Eyes narrowed he rushed to the area and cocked his gun at the perpetrator. “You let her go, do you hear me?” Mal’s eyes widened when he saw that the person hovering over Kaylee was none other than Jubal Early, he had pushed him out into open space! How had he survived that?! Shaking those thoughts aside, knowing he had to keep a clear mind, Mal unhitched the safety. “I said, let her go or I will…” Mal never got to finish his statement, because a shot was fired and Early fell backwards, causing the battered Kaylee to yelp in surprise. Looking over his shoulder, Mal saw a very angry Jayne. Nodding to him, Mal rushed over to Kaylee and wrapped her up in his coat, scooping her up. “It’s alright, mei-mei, he can never hurt you again…” that much was positive. Kaylee nodded weakly before passing out. It seemed that the excitement and terror of the day had caught up with her, for which Mal was thankful, and while he was grateful to Jayne for killing early, he himself wanted the honor of doing so. When they got back to Serenity, Zoe was already there, and Simon and Book were waiting in the hull. Upon seeing Kaylee cradled in her captain’s arms, Simon felt all the breath in his body just leave. How could someone do that to someone as kind and happy as Kaylee? It didn’t seem possible. “Wu de tyen ah” was all that Book said as Simon rushed over to Mal, who just carried Kaylee to the infirmary himself. Wash and Zoe were in the kitchen as Book walked in, a lot of things obviously on his mind. “How is she?” Looking at Wash, Book sighed as Jayne walked in. “I don’t know for certain. She was passed out when the Captain brought her in, but she didn’t look good…” Wash nodded slightly, deciding to wait until Mal came up and told him where to set his coordinates. In the Infirmary, Mal had taken a station next to Kaylee’s bed, and just held her hand. He had failed her, failed to protect her. As Mal sat with Kaylee to give her support should she wake up, Simon was forced to enter his doctor mode, and look over all of her injuries and tend to them. He had heard of rape kits, but as a surgeon, never had to deal with them. That is, until now. It took all of his will not to cry when he realized what had happened, but he managed. Simon had seen many injuries during his days as a surgeon; he had seen many injuries during his time on board Serenity, but never had they come with such mental repercussions as he knew was bound to happen in this case. “I want her to stay in for observation.” “I’ll be stayin’ with her” “Of course.” Sometimes, it was easier to just accept what it was Mal said without questioning, and Simon knew that this was just one of those times. Figuring that Mal would rather be alone with Kaylee, Simon excused himself and went to Inara’s shuttle to check in on River, and just to talk, really. Upon entering the shuttle, Simon saw that River was sitting on Inara’s bed, being very quiet and Inara was making herself tea, most likely to keep calm. “May I come in?” after receiving permission, Simon walked to the wall and leaned against it. Inara knew why he was there, but didn’t want to voice anything with River in the room, not that River didn’t already know, but she didn’t want to upset the girl any more so. “I don’t know how to help her, Inara. Once the physical injuries heal, there will be nothing I can do.” Tears welled in the Companion’s eyes, hearing that the worst had indeed occurred. “She doesn’t need a doctor. She needs a friend.” With that, the girl who had been quiet the entire time walked out of the room, in the direction of the Infirmary. “What did she mean?” Sighing, Inara poured Simon some tea as well and handed it to him. “She is right. Kaylee will need someone to be there for her. This will take a lot of time to overcome, and I don’t know how well she will cope with it…if she comes to you for support, don’t get nervous. Just be there for her. You may not think it’s doing much, if you just hold her or try and distract her, but it will mean the world to Kaylee.” “If I hadn’t planned that damn mission on Ariel, he never would have found us. He never would have met Kaylee and hurt her like this.” “You can’t blame yourself, Simon. You had no control over what he would do to her.” “I just can’t imagine Kaylee going through that kind of pain…and I’m the reason.” Inara shook her head sadly. “You can’t change the past. This event is going to affect all of us. With every action, there is a positive and negative reaction to balance each other out. And while right now, there seems to be no positive result of this, you just need to give it time.” Simon nodded thoughtfully and sipped his tea quietly. Meanwhile, Kaylee was having difficulties. She couldn’t wake up. It hurt so much, and she was so frightened. How could people be like this, so mean and heartless? She had messed up his plans and he had come back for his revenge, just like he had said he would. It hurt so badly, but she couldn’t scream with a knife pressed against her throat. So she endured the scrapes and bruises and immense pain shooting through her body, whimpering, pleading. But it did no good. But she felt something warm, a hand clutching hers and a body hugging her and a soft voice, calling out urgently. She just had to reach it, had to escape this living nightmare. Mal had started to doze when he felt Kaylee thrashing in the bed beside him, pleading. Her face was contoured in pain, breaking Mal’s heart. How could he wake her up when everything he tried seemed to fail. At that moment, River entered the room as if in a trance and just got onto the examination table with Kaylee, arms around the older girl’s waist, her head on Kaylee’s chest. “River…” “The soul is so cold. It needs warmth.” Was all the strange prodigy said, leaving Mal confused. At that point in time, Simon entered the infirmary, passing by Jayne who was hanging outside of it, to see Mal holding Kaylee’s hand and his sister holding the girl. “How is she?” “Still unconscious, but she seems to have calmed down a bit now.” Simon nodded thoughtfully as he went and wrote in his notebook. A few moments later, Kaylee’s eyes opened and looked around. “Hey, Cap’n…Simon.” A hand lifted up and stroked River’s hair idly as she offered a weak smile to the two worried males in the room. “Kaylee! You’re awake. How do you feel?” “Always the doctor…aren’t ya?” Simon smiled weakly and replied. “It’s my job, and I need to know how to help.” “No questions. Just warmth.” Simon looked at his sister and sighed, than to Mal, who looked deep in thought. “I’m sorry, mei-mei. Had I known…” Kaylee squeezed Mal’s hand gently. “S’fine, Cap’n. Just a few scrapes is all. I’ll be shiny in the morning.” And although she smiled at him, Mal could see that something was different. He always claimed that nothing in the ‘verse could keep Kaylee from being cheerful, but it would appear that he had been wrong. Not wanting to upset her any more, Mal nodded and squeezed Kaylee’s hand reassuringly. “If you need anything, just let me or the Doc know, alright?” Kaylee nodded some, before seeming to drift back into unconsciousness. “You should rest. I can look after her.” “No. I owe her this much. But for now, I need to talk to the crew.” “You’re not going to…” “No. I’m just going to tell Wash our destination and brief them on the next job. If she wakes up or needs me, I will be in the kitchen.” Simon nodded and took Mal’s place next to Kaylee. ***

I am such a horrible person...but oh well. You all seem to keep reading this. Some more Chinese for you all. I'm hoping to get some cute Simon/Kaylee moments in the next installment.

Tian xiz shou you de ren dou gai si=Fuck everyone in the universe to death Wu de tyen ah=Dear God in Heaven