Chapter 1

Mal grunted as he lifted pieces of twisted metal off of his first mate. All he could see of her was an unmoving, dark-skinned arm and he knew he needed to get her free to assess her injuries. His head throbbed and his muscles burned, but he kept working, determination and adrenaline fueling his tired body. If he was alive, then the others had to be as well.

He coughed, sending tendrils of pain down his limbs, and stopped for a moment to regain his breath. He briefly looked around to see if he could find something to wrap around his chest to secure his bruised ribs, but there was nothing, and so he continued working. With each hiss of metal against metal, he could feel yet another stake being driven into his chest. Serenity was down. His ship. His girl. His home. And he held no illusions that it would take a miracle to get her back into the air again. But he had people down too. His friends. His family. He needed to get to the one closest to him first. He’d mourn the loss of his ship later, when they were safe. He grunted and brushed the sweat out of his eyes with the back of his hand.

He knew if Simon were here, he’d insist on wrapping his ribs. Mal let his mind drift to the doctor for a brief moment as he worked, and exhaled sharply through his nose, when he found himself wishing the younger man was beside him. After spending so many months at each other’s throats, it was an odd, yet not unwelcome, feeling. He remembered the look on River’s face as she left to find her brother, but pushed down the feeling of dread that pooled in the pit of his stomach at the thought and just continued to pull charred and twisted bits of metal from atop his first mate.

When he finally slid the unconscious Zoe out from beneath the fallen bulkhead that had trapped her, he leaned down and listened to her chest, relieved to find her still breathing. His eyes skimmed over her body as his hands did the same, searching for any injuries, hidden or visible.

“Zoe?,” Mal said sternly, fighting to keep th