Inara was worried.

She hadn’t been able to wave Serenity since Wash had contacted her a second time to say there was danger afoot. As her shuttle flew towards the Ming Yu docks though, something became very apparent.

Serenity was no longer docked.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zoe finally woke up with a groan.

“Baby?” Wash called out hopefully as he was handcuffed to the outside of her locker as well as visibly worried.

“Zo?” Ru asked as well as she crouched in her makeshift cage while Gambit was lying on the floor chained to the space between her and a tearful Kaylee’s lockers.

The first mate groaned once more and slowly opened her eyes. Feeling her wrists still confined she swore in Mandarin and sat up to find herself imprisoned. “What happened?” staring at her husband, then scanning the area to find the others. “How’d they get you?” She addressed her husband, reaching up and carefully touching the welt on her jaw where her face had slammed into the floor. Wincing, watching Wash in his grey coveralls and Hawaiian shirt.

“I ain’t so tough apparently.” He divulged sadly as all they had to do was march in, grab him, cuff him and drag him out to the cargo bay. “I got Marv’ though.” He motioned to the stegosaurus next to him on the ground.

Zoe furrowed her brows. “You couldn’t fight, but you brought your favorite toy? Wash…”

“He was in my pocket.” He pressed his face against the chain link to get closer to her as his voice grew soft. “I always put him in my inside pocket of my coveralls when danger’s about on the ship… he’s my good luck charm.”

Letting out a sigh directed at Wash, she scooted closer to him, reached out and touched his face through the slots with her fingers, turning to Ru and Jayne who was on the far end. “What happened after I got knocked out?”

“Mal got shot.” Jayne announced gruffly, he was too tall to stand in his locker, so he was hunched uncomfortably. “We were fighten’ em off ‘n that yao yi bu-zai yi ling-hun capped ‘im clean through the chest….”

“Ai-ya na xie-e b