CHAPTER 1

Mal sent Zoë to check on Kaylee armed with Emma’s prescription of a big hug, then carried his daughter to the bridge. The ship on autopilot, River had tucked her knees to her chest and folded wistfully into her chair. Emma leaned down, trying to kiss River on the cheek without falling out of her daddy’s arms. When River didn’t react, Emma kissed again.

“River,” Mal ventured, placing a hand on her shoulder.

At his touch, River inhaled sharply, like a drowning woman just breaking the water’s surface. She looked around the bridge, confused a little as to why she was there, then found her best fake smile for Emma. Though Emma smiled back, Mal wasn’t fooled.

“You want I should take over for awhile?”

“Not now,” River said quickly. “Maybe later… it’ll hit me later.”

“You look hit pretty hard now.”

“I’m…” She smiled, abashedly. “I could be worse.”

*~*

Zoë waited for Simon to leave, the drugs to metabolize, and the angst on Kaylee’s face to fade to apathy before she entered. In stark contrast to Mal’s description, Kaylee looked up right away, her smile pure sunshine.

“Hey, Zoë,” she greeted, a sparkle appearing in her eyes.

“How are you feeling?”

“Shiny as a new penny,” Kaylee lied, bravely. “Only now I can feel everything and it all hurts.”

Zoë smiled back, pulling up a chair to sit next to the bed, watching as Kaylee wriggled her fingers and toes.

“Doc will get you up and about in no time. I see you have him running through the ship doing your job again.” Kaylee had sent Simon on quite a few trips to the engine room to fix small problems, having trained him well over the course of their six year marriage.

“Captain pushes Serenity, she pushes back. She’s not as young as she used to be.”

“You’re not just trying to keep Simon out of your hair?” Zoë prodded, seeing right through Kaylee’s excuse. The mechanic averted her eyes and shifted uncomfortably, fingers still wriggling.

“You want a ratchet or something,” Zoë asked quickly, switching topics. “Your fingers ain’t stopped t