A/N: Here is the next installment. What exatly happened to Inara before Mal and River saw the shuttle return? I hope you like it.

Disclaimer: All things belong to Joss.

Inara came down the stairs on her way from the galley to her shuttle. Halfway there she heard an unfamiliar voice floating up from the cargo bay.

“Just keep quiet and I assure you that no harm will come to you.”

Inara stopped and leaned over the rail to look down into the cargo bay. Simon and Kaylee were sitting on the floor and they had been gagged. Two men were in the process of tying them to the grating on the floor. Another one had a gun trained on them. Kaylee looked up and saw Inara. Despite the gag, Kaylee screamed as loud as she could, hoping to warn Inara. Inara’s eyes widened with fear and she bolted towards her shuttle. If she could hit her panic button, Mal and the others would be called back. As she crossed the threshold of her shuttle another man grabbed her from behind and clamped his hand over her mouth.

“Don’t struggle, Miss Serra,” the man whispered calmly into her ear. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

Inara lifted her foot and stomped down on the instep of the man’s foot. He reeled back in pain. She lunged at her panic button and smacked in hard. To her horror, the button simply fell to the floor. The man grabbed her by the arm again, this time twisting it behind her back. The pain immobilized her.

“I saw that before you got back and disconnected it. I couldn’t take the chance of you using it,” the man informed her as he pulled out a length of rope and bound her hands behind her. “I apologize for the roughness of my actions, but you gave me no choice.”

“At least you are a polite kidnapper,” Inara said sarcastically.

The man smiled slightly at her remark.

“My name is John. Please sit down.”

John led her to her couch and guided her to a seated position.

“What do you want?” Inara asked evenly.

“I was sent by the Guild. I am actually here to help you,” John