DISCLAIMER: Joss is boss.

NOTE: I've taken some, shall we say, artistic liberty with dates and timelines. The technical issue is totally made up dribble. Oh, and I live in a 'verse where Wash never met up with a harpoon. Set post-BDM.

CHAPTER 1

“Kaylee!!” Malcolm Reynolds bellowed from outside the engine room. “What have I told you about my ship breaking?”

“’That if she breaks, I broke her’,” Kaylee repeated.

“So if that be the case, then why in the gorram hell does she keep breaking?”

“Cap’n, these parts are so old. We scrounge for bits here and there, try to keep her running. But things break. Metal and wire don’t last forever.”

It was beyond freezing on Serenity, and trying to keep herself warm while working on the engine at the same time was a near impossibility. The captain was aggravated, and seeing Kaylee sad and dejected just depressed the aggravation even more. Mal was wrapped in his long brown coat and a thick blanket. He lowered himself down on his haunches next to Kaylee’s outstretched legs.

“All right, Kaylee. What does she need now?”

Kaylee grabbed Mal’s offered hand and pulled herself from underneath the engine. Oil and grime covered her fingers and smudged her cheek.

“Simple fix really. Just a part we need that we don’t have. Get a new dampener for the grav boot. It controls the internal air processors, keeps the temperature regulated. And it ain’t just the cold. Oxygen’ll start going next.”

“How long?”

“Nine or ten hours,” she said, glancing away. “Maybe less. If’n we don’t freeze first.”

“Help is close. In more ways than one.”

Mal and Kaylee turned towards the source of the voice. River stood in the engine room doorway, but she didn’t look at them. She looked through them, past them, staring through the ship’s hull itself. She wore her pretty pink dress, tall black combat boots, and only a light sweater. Her eyes finally focused on Mal and smiled.

“Help needs only to be asked for. Ships