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"Dead person," River said, pulling at Jayne's arm.

He twitched, and glared at her. "I ain't no dead person!" He reconsidered, and went pale. "Well, not yet, anyways - what did you see, girl?"

Always on the alert, Simon looked up from the fascinating weeping girl statuette by the door - an early Settinski, or a good imitation - and came over. "Leave him alone, River," Simon said gently. "With that hat, he's suffered enough for one day. What *did* you see?"

River allowed him to move her restless fingers to his own forearm. She led him to the shelf by the window in the little shop. The shelf covered with bric-a-brac, with the occasional more valuable item scattered throughout. "Dead," River said. She ran her index finger along the shelf, leaving a trail in the dust. "Dead, dead, dead, landed on her head, no warm soft bed, just dead, dead. . ."

Her finger stopped at a misshapen, green box, covered with swirls. Possibly runes, possibly just swirls made by a drunken artist. River picked it up, and said triumphantly, "Dead."

The shopkeeper bustled over. She was a tall, thin woman, but moved like a short, fat one, which was interesting and made Simon wonder if she had skeletomuscular abnormalities or had undergone some form of radical surgery. "You want the box, dear? It's a special, old box, from back in the mists of time - the man who sold it to me said he found it in the ruins of ancient Atlantis and it contains the ashes of Elvis himself!"

"He did not," River said absently as she stroked the sides of the box. Her voice changed, dropping two octaves and becoming raspy, like a tired old man who'd smoked joyweed all his life. "It fell off the back of a ship and it's like to be old, love, but the ashes are probably just the remains of the weevils that crawled in there and died. I had to scoop 'em out, and hell, girl, half of the mess on this here box is because I sneezed on it."

The shopkeeper stepped back, one hand on her bony chest, and gaped like a fish flopping on the side of a riverbank. "You - you what?"

Simon stepped in smoothly, pushing coins into her hand. "We'll take this, thank you." He rushed River out of the shop.

River looked up at him as they raced down the steps. "What? What's wrong?" The steps were worn and uneven, and the street was barely worthy of the name, pitted and rough, but she never stumbled.

* * *

"What'd you get, sweetheart?" Kaylee looked up from her polishing as River pirouetted through the doorway.

Simon followed River and smiled at Kaylee, never quite sure if today would be a day where she liked him, or if it would be a day where he'd already done something stupid and hurt her without realising.

"Box," River said, placing it on the table with a flourish.

"Oh, that’s real pretty, River." Kaylee added the piece of machinery to the pile of gleaming parts on the table and waved her polishing cloth. "Let's see how it looks when we clean it up."

River nodded gravely, and Simon relaxed a little internally. Not too much. But it was just good to see River react like a - like a proper girl, he thought, and instantly chastised himself for thinking that. He just wanted her to be able to have fun like other girls sometimes, to enjoy a friend exclaiming over a purchase, instead of always being fixated on killing people with her brain or picking up the things people didn't want her to say.

Then River touched the box with the cloth, a tiny cloud of dust arose, and Simon's momentary relief disappeared completely with the appearance of a strange girl on the table.

A girl with long, dark hair, pale skin, a *very* well fitting ballgown and an odd little accent. "-too many Slayers and not enough cakes! Get away from - oh." The girl straightened up and took her hands away from her face. She smiled, a deep, deep smile which revealed even white teeth, and made Simon think of Reavers, and hunters, and the way he felt whenever Zoe started in on him about learning to defend himself.

Kaylee burst forward and shook her hand. "Why, hello! I'm by the way of bein' Kaylee, this is Simon, that's River, and how did you get here? What's your name?"

The girl stepped down off the table - with the same elegant lack of stumbles that River always displayed, though here Simon felt uneasy again. River moved like a dancer, and this girl moved like a cobra. "I'm Drusilla, and thank you. Where are we?"

Kaylee babbled an explanation about Serenity, and where they were from and where they were headed. Simon and River exchanged glances. Simon interrupted when Kaylee was looking like winding down. "How did you get in the box?"

"I was destroyed," Drusilla said mournfully. "Cast down into the winds of time, until one with the right resonance could bring me back. Back to the winds! Or back from the winds." She looked confused. "Something like that, I think. Miss Edith told me I need to be careful of the wind, for it might break me, and then who would help the hurt? Who would hurt the helpful?"

She spun suddenly, focus intense and immediate. "Be in me," she said to Kaylee, pointing at her eyes with two long fingernails. Two long. . . razor sharp. . . fingernails. "Be with me." Kaylee began to sway.

River yelped, and tackled Kaylee at the knees. They crashed to the floor together. Drusilla turned, and trapped Simon in the focus of her gaze. "Be in me." Drusilla's face changed. Fangs appeared.

Dizziness. Simon started to go away, to drift off, but then he shook himself mentally. He took a step forward. "I've had a long time of dealing with a crazy girl," he said grimly. "And I like her better than I like you. You can't bewitch me."

He stepped back, feeling for a weapon. He heard Kaylee moan in pain. "River, get Kaylee out of here," he hissed.

"I won't leave you to face a VAMPIRE!" River yelled. She stood, rushed at Drusilla, but Drusilla picked her up and flung her across the table effortlessly.

Simon paled. "River!"

"Vampire?" Inara was in the doorway.

"Inara, get out of here!" Simon was frantic. All his people, all trying to get themselves hurt, and he was only one doctor -

- but then Inara hurled something at Drusilla, it speared through her chest, and suddenly Drusilla was a pile of dust.

"Vampire," Simon said in agreement, nodding his head slowly. He turned to look at Inara, impressed.

"I have a sharp, sharp hairbrush," Inara said. "I never know when I will need to defend myself. It's wooden."

"Wooden. Hairbrush. Right," Simon said. "Um, thank you."

"No problem." Inara smiled at him, and went to help Kaylee. Simon smacked himself on the forehead and helped River up. Best to get everything cleared up before the others came in.

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