Kaylee lay upon her bunk, blood dripping out of the open wound on her neck. That blood was on the floor. That blood was on Simons hands. He looked down confusedly at his blood stained hands and fingers. His left hand held a knife.

The scar on his palm hurt, it throbbed in pain as it lay drenched in the blood of his life and lover, a scarlet ribbon against a backdrop of a red sea. That blood dripped off his palms, and off the knife which had rent Kaylees tender flesh.

No, no, it can’t be. He would never do this, never…

“Are you so sure, son?” Shepard Book was in the doorway, blocking Simons only escape. “Are you so sure? Maybe the old you would not do something like this, but the new you…the new you is just that. The new you might just do this. That’s why we are here, to help you in your time of trial.”

“What trial?” Simon shouted at the old man. “What is all this?!?!”

“Exactly what it appears to be.” Book frowned at Simon, and that simple gesture held all the pity, anger, and hate of a hundred worlds and a trillion lives. Simon fell to the floor on his knees, hands covering his ears, drowning out the silent accusations with a red tide of love and fear.

***

“Simon?” Kaylee lay over him, a concerned look on her normally cheery face. “Simon, you alrigh’?”

A dream. Just a gorram crazy dream that don’t mean a damn thing. He sighed in relief. “Its nothing, xin gan. Just a nightmare.”

She giggled, looking where he had made a tall ten inch pyramid where his legs met with the blanket. “Some nightmare, huh?”

Simon grinned at her. “Must have had a good dream before it.”

She sensuously slid onto him, over him. “Like this?”

Simon groaned into her hair. “Not half so good.”

***

Serenity drifted out in the black, an hour from breaking atom on Ariel. River sat in the pilots chair, Wash’s dinosaurs guarding it as always. Mal stood behind her, watching the glassy grey orb of storms that wove in and out of Ariel’s cloud cover.

“Call the crew, tell’m ta meet in the dinin’ roo