Warning: Lots o' character deaths for the Firefly people in this twisted version of the future & one messed up Simon left.

Spoilers: All of Firefly & Serenity I believe, and also up to “Wake Up Call” in Season 2 of The 4400.

A/N: Betaread by Fanwoman & rodlox.

Two by two, hands of blue. River used to sing the eerie rhyme; he thought it was nonsense. He didn't know what she meant then; these last few years, he has. They walk into the room, three of them, rather than the uniformity they tend toward of two or four. But they break their own rules these days; the old order doesn't matter. They mix with other operatives, and civilians like him, without consequence. They walk through the room, out of the middle door, into one of the adjoining labs. He's still alive; he has purpose – they don't kill any more, not the same way at least, not in this period. They lost their purpose when everything went bad; now their goal is to fix it all. That's Simon's goal, too. He wants to make it all better.

River is dead because of what was done to her. Serenity is destroyed. The others are fractured, their ragtag family broken into pieces, spread out on the few habitable planets to survive with the remnants of humanity. The Alliance is gone, the Reavers are gone, but a new threat is here.

This solar system wasn't as good a choice as had been supposed. They're not alone, and they're not safe. Neither is Earth, crippled as it has been for centuries from both overpopulation and wars. Those who were left behind are as much at risk as everyone here, though they're stubborn and won't see that. It was the first place they thought to retreat to once it was realized how dangerous this system is. Not that it's the haven they were hoping for, despite that some made the arduous journey but were sent packing – Earth rejecting them. There's nowhere left to go, no escape from their fate, but this is why he's working here – they're trying to make it safe. They'll prevent the catastrophes of the past, as well as th