Disclaimer: These characters, the plot and all the shiny came from Joss Whedon.

SPOILERS for “Heart of Gold.”

WARNING – this chapter is Rated NC-17 and contains masturbation and heterosexual intercourse as well as some half-hearted and short -lived bondage.

Thanks to my newly acquired and scrupulously nitpicking beta-editor Wedjat and to DarkEmerald for convincing me the sex scene was the remotest bit sexy!

* * * * *

TRAUMA MEDICINE.

Chapter 17: A kind of poetry to it.

* * * * *

The recording is a patchwork of inexpertly recorded second- or third-hand waves but its content is clear enough. With the sound turned way down low, Saffron plays it through again, checking she's got every last detail right.

The first voice is that of a Federal Agent. “Thank you very much, Mister Niska. You have been most helpful. We will feed your December coordinates into our databank and expand the search from there. Fortunately we have several waystations in the Georgia system that will have picked up their trajectory, even if the ID they're flying under is an assumed one.”

A sweet-faced little old man with wire-rimmed spectacles nods. “Is pleasure. Our agreement is solid, no?”

“Absolutely, Mister Niska. Our targets are the girl and her brother. The Alliance is more than happy for you to take, uh -,” There's a pause whilst he flips through some papers - “Malcolm Reynolds, once we have them in custody.”

“Is good.”

There's a crackle and the recording loses video. “They're heading for Saint Albans.”

“Good a place as any. Get that hundan Reynolds on screen. Wanna make sure that crate's still intact. I'm getting those gorram organs back if I have to kill everyone on board that junker Firefly in the process.”

Saffron tucks the piece of paper onto which she's transcribed the salient information inside her shirt and smiles to herself. Malcolm Reynolds may be too full of self-righteous crap to turn that pretty boy and his moon-brained sister i