“Home?” Jayne repeated, his face screwed up in disbelief. “What in the go tsao de ‘verse are you talkin’ about?”

Kaylee ran down the stairs from the engine room, joining them as Simon carried Bethany, still asleep, from the area of their quarters. She ran to him and threw her arms about them both, trembling. He looked at her. “Kaylee?”

“I saw him,” she said, feeling the comfort of the wrench in her pocket. “He …”

“Who?”

Kaylee looked at the others, then shook her head. “No. It doesn’t matter.” But the trembling didn’t stop.

“It wasn't real,” Inara said shakily, her hand still to her face.

“Figured that much,” Jayne shot back. “But what does the doc’s sis mean by home?”

“She’s safe, like me,” River explained.

“Honey, whoever she is, this isn’t her home,” Zoe said, still feeling the pain of watching Hank impaled and unable to do a thing about it.

Simon handed Bethany to her mother. “ Bao-bei , I have to –“

Mal grabbed his arm. “No, you don’t. Freya’s talking to her.”

River stood between her brother and the door. “She’s showing her how to control it. How she controls the darkness inside.”

“Freya ain't like that!” Mal said sharply, aware he was behaving somewhat irrationally.

“No?” River asked, her pale face almost luminous in the low lighting.

He couldn’t respond. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t understand what went on in Freya’s mind, not in the depths, the corners. All he knew was that he loved her, and he’d do anything he could to keep her safe. “That’s what she did, wasn't it? Grace.”

River nodded.

“Sir?” Zoe asked.

“Our greatest fears.” He couldn’t clear it from his mind, seeing her hanging in those chains …

“What we are most afraid to lose,” River corrected gently. “She amplified them, until they became real.”

“And if Freya hadn’t broken it?”

Jayne’s head reared up. He knew what he’d have done. His brains would be spread over his guns, right now.

“I don’t know. People have died because they thought they sh